BOOK NOTICES. 
OBER’S PORTO RICO. 
The amount of information crowded into 
the 282 pages of Ober’s “Porto Rico’ is 
great, and most of it is fairly reliable. 
The author first visited Porto Rico in 
1880 and again in 1892. Besides these 2 
trips to this particular island Mr. Ober 
has traveled extensively among the West 
Indies. He has writ:en a great deal about 
the islands individually and collectively, 
and in this volume on-Porto Rico he has 
not hesitated to make use of his earlier 
writings. While the book contains a vast 
deal of information regarding Porto Rico 
there is much that is more applicable to 
other islands of the West Indies or to the 
West Indies as a whole. Much of the in- 
formation is too general, lacks definite- 
ness as pertaining to the particular island. 
This is perhaps the chief defect of the 
book. The account of the hurricanes that 
visit this island is interesting, to say the 
least. “The fierce roar of the water and 
of the trees being destroyed by the winds, 
the cries and moans of people, the bel- 
lowing of cattle and neighing of horses 
which are being carried (!) from place to 
place by the whirlwinds, the torrents of 
water inundating the fields and a deluge of 
fire being let loose in flashes and streaks 
of lightning, seem to announce the last 
convulsions of the universe and the death 
agonies of nature itself.” . 
. Among the animals inhabiting Porto 
Rico Mr. Ober gives the agouti, the ar- 
madilla, and possibly the deer, none of 
which probably occurs there. The only 
native mammals known to occur on this 
island are several species of bats. The 
common rat and the mongoose (the rikki- 
tikki-tava of Kipling’s jungle stories) are 
introduced species. 
The majority of the fishes he names are 
not characteristic fishes of the island and 
some of them do not occur there at all. 
But notwithstanding these defects, that 
the book is so largely a compilation, and 
that the writer’s style is rather heavy and 
uninteresting, this book is doubtless the 
most useful of the several on Porto Rico 
so far as published. . 
“Puerto Rico and Its Resources,” by 
Frederick A. Ober, 8vo., pp. 282. Price 

$1.50. D. Appleton & Co., New York. 
; JORDAN’S BIBLE. 
The 2 books which have had most influ- 
ence in creating and fostering an interest 
in America in the study of animals are 
Coues’ “Key to North American Birds” 
and Jordan’s “Manual of Vertebrates.” 
Each of these has passed through many 
editions, and the sales increase with each. 
In this eighth edition of the ‘“‘Manual” 
many important changes have been made. 
“The decade which closes the century has 
seen greater activity in the study of spe- 
cies of animals and their relation to their 
environment than has been known in any 
other corresponding period in the world’s 
history. Such study has given much 
greater precision to our knowledge of the 
characters and distribution of species.” 
The changes in this edition are those 
necessitated by the results of this activity 
in the study of the species. The nomen- 
clature is made to conform to our present 
knowledge, and the new species have been 
added which have been described since 
the former edition. The “Fishes” has been 
made to correspond to Jordan & Ever- 
mann’s ‘Fishes of North and Middle 
America,” recently published in 4 vol- 
umes; plate corrections in the Reptiles 
and Batrachians bring those groups up to 
date; “The Birds” has been fully revised, 
and “The Mammals” has been entirely re- 
written and printed from new plates. 
The great value of this book lies in the 
fact that it can be used only with the ani- 
mal in hand; and this is the only way in 
which species can be studied. Reading in 
books about animals is not zoology or 
natural history study; nor does it give any 
knowledge of species. The best thing that 
the study of zoology in our high schools 
and colleges can give the student is to fos- 
ter, strengthen andrationalize hisinterest in 
nature, and to teach him the great value 
of seeing things as they are; the spirit of 
the naturalist which most children possess 
before entering the schools, but which the 
book methods of our schools usually de- 
stroy, should remain with one through 
life. 
The spirit of the naturalist, regulated 
by the method of science, is the best safe- 
guard against shams and frauds. I know 
of no better book than Jordan’s “Manual 
of Vertebrates” to strengthen the former 
and to lead one to the latter. 
For one who wishes to know the fishes, 
batrachians, birds, and mammals of the 
Northern United States there is no better 
book than this. 
“A Manual of the Vertebrate Animals 
of the Northern United States,” by David 
Starr Jordan. Eighth edition, newly re- 
vised and enlarged. A. C. McClurg & 
Co., Chicago; 8vo. 307 pages. Price $2.50. 
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