756 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [VoL. XXXVI. 
which it has vanished ”; and, says Mr. Roosevelt, “ if we are a sensible 
people, we will make it our business to see that the process of extinc- 
tion is arrested. At the present moment the great herds of caribou 
are being butchered as in the past the great herds of bison and 
wapiti have been butchered. Every believer in manliness, and 
therefore manly sport, and every lover of nature, every man who 
appreciates the majesty and beauty of the wilderness and of wild 
life, should strike hands with the far-sighted men who wish to pre- 
serve our material resources, in the effort to keep our forests and our 
game beasts, game birds, and game fish — indeed, all the living 
creatures of prairie, and woodland, and seashore — from wanton 
destruction. ... But this end can only be achieved by wise laws 
and by resolute enforcement of the laws." 
The work is thoroughly non-technical in character, even to the 
omission of the scientific names of the species throughout most of 
the chapters, yet it loses nothing in scientific interest or value 
thereby. As a contribution to the natural history of the big game of 
North America its importance cannot easily be overestimated, there 
being here brought together more first-hand knowledge of the life 
histories of the species treated than has ever before been placed on 
record. Mr. Rungius's illustrations are effective and appropriate, 
while the numerous half-tone cuts of heads and antlers of moose and 
caribou are important and interesting features. The seven maps, by 
Dr. Merriam, showing the ranges of the deer, elk, and pronghorn in 
the year 1900, have a melancholy interest and great permanent 
value. That showing the present range of the elk is a sad com- 
mentary on the wasteful destruction of big game in North America. 
A hundred years ago this animal ranged from near the Atlantic sea- 
board westward to the Pacific coast, and from southern Canada 
into Mexico, forming, in some sections of the country, bands of 
thousands. Now its range is restricted to a narrow strip of country 
in the main Rocky Mountains, from Alberta to the northern 
border of New Mexico, with a few isolated areas of very small 
extent in California, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, and 
Minnesota. 
The Deer Family is thus not only a book of special interest io the 
sportsman and the general reader, but an invaluable contribution to 
the natural history of the deer tribe in North America. It should 
also stimulate interest in the protection by all rational means of the 
waning remnants of the former great herds of these noble and 
attractive creatures. hob 

