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NOTICES OF NEW _ BOOKS. 

Final Natural History Essays. By Granam Rensuaw, M.B., 
F.Z.S. Sherratt & Hughes. 
Tuts is the third and final volume of Dr. Renshaw’s natural 
history essays. It is solely contined to mammals, and refers to 
twenty-four different species of animals from various parts of 
the world. The volume is both popular and scientific ; the first 
element is found in an eloquently written dream or reminiscence 
of the species in its original environment, the scene sometimes 
laid in prehistoric times; the second and very prominent feature 
is to be found in much bibliographical information as to the 
first description, status, and distribution of the creature. Nearly 
all the species are well illustrated from photographs taken by the 
author. 
Many of the species which form the studies for these essays 
are, alas! approaching perilously near extinction, the lines 
which conclude the volume being almost too suggestive :— 
‘* And I beheld and saw them one by one 
Pass, and become as nothing in the night.” 
With some ghosts of their former selves, such as the South 
African Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus), Dr. Renshaw has ren- 
dered distinct service by recording the number of specimens 
brought to Europe, and their location. 
We are sorry to read that these are final essays, but finality 
is only an abstract term, and there is an element in the papers 
to which Dr. Renshaw will find it difficult to write finis. We 
shall therefore look forward to ‘‘New” or ‘‘ Supplementary 
Essays” from the same writer, and the promise, we think, can 
be safely made that they will be as favourably received as their 
predecessors. These pages mark a very distinct advance on the 
general literature now so abundant on natural history topics. 
We would rather have found an index than ‘‘ Press Notices ”’ 
at the end of the volume. 
