March 3, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



347 



Of the author's numerous first-hand obser- 

 vations of great value we may cite only the 

 following : 



An alligator seized a fighting enemy by one 

 leg, and using his tail as a propeller, whirled 

 himself round and round like a revolving shaft, 

 until in about five seconds the leg was twisted 

 off, close up to the body! 



Very noteworthy is the incident of the en- 

 tombed live frogs in Ceylon, which were dug 

 up in the dry bed of what in wet weather was 

 a shallow brook. 



Of melancholy interest are the full ac- 

 counts of the extinction of the bison, and of 

 other species of birds and mammals, and 

 of the threatened extinction of the moun- 

 tain sheep, bighorn, antelope, etc., for the 

 preservation of which the author gives prac- 

 tical suggestions. Fishing and the fishery 

 industries receive considerable attention. 



Many popular fallacies and myths are set 

 right. Bats never ' get in your hair.' Certain 

 bats, birds and rodents suspected of injuring 

 the fanner are shown to be his best friends. 

 The gila monster is not ferocious and its bite 

 is not necessarily fatal. No snakes are slimy; 

 the tongue of a snake is never capable of in- 

 flicting a wound or conveying poison. Rattle 

 snakes add more than one joint a year to their 

 rattles. The gavial and mugger crocodiles of 

 India are harmless to man, and so are the 

 American crocodiles and alligators. 



Of the errors, misstatements, misinterpre- 

 tations and omissions observed we may note 

 the following: The 'Missing Link' question is 

 discussed, without any reference to the Pithe- 

 canthropus ercctus. Now, whatever may be 

 thought of this remarkable fossil, it should at 

 least have been mentioned. The flippers of 

 the manatee are described as ' well-nigh use- 

 less,' except to a limited extent in assisting to 

 convey the food to the mouth. But the mana- 

 tees in the New York Aquarium may be seen 

 any day using their flippers to good effect in 

 swimming about leisurely. The manatee is 

 further said to be compelled to live on aquatic 

 plants because its molar teeth are weak — but 

 this is probably ' putting the cart before the 

 horse.' The unique horizontal action of the 

 upper lip of the manatee when pulling food 



into the mouth is not mentioned. Good op- 

 13ortunities to teach the very simplest and 

 most interesting facts of comparative anatomy 

 are neglected. For example, it is nowhere 

 pointed out that birds' wings are modified 

 reptilian hands, bearing long feathers — a fact 

 which might easily have been mentioned in 

 the references to Archceopteryx — that in the 

 several groups of aquatic mammals the flip- 

 pers represent modified hands and feet; that 

 in hoofed mammals, for purposes of speed, etc., 

 the ancient five-toed foot has been, as it were, 

 made over and cut down into the odd-toed 

 and the even-toed types (the use of the term 

 ' divided hoofs ' simply confirms a common 

 misconception) ; that the hoofs of ungulates 

 are really highly improved nails, etc. 



The female kangaroo is stated to transfer 

 the young at birth to her pouch by means of 

 her paws instead of by her lips as stated by 

 Owen and other observers. The monotremes 

 are regarded (p. 359) as bridging over the 

 chasm between the classes of birds and mam- 

 mals, a thoroughly discredited notion. The 

 African ostrich is described as a worthy de- 

 scendant of the moa. Apteryx is stated to be 

 ' absolutely without wings,' although Owen, 

 T. J. Parker and Pycraft have all described 

 the wings in great detail ; the wings are vestig- 

 ial, it is true, but they retain an elaborate 

 musculature, spiny remiges and an alar claw. 

 The gills of Ceratodus (p. 381) are stated to 

 be small and imperfect and ' of little use.' 

 But this is quite contrary to the observations 

 of Semon.* 



Throughout the book a curiously artificial 

 importance is placed upon so-called ' zoological 

 rank,' whether ' high ' or ' low.' The Cetacea 

 (perhaps the most complexly organized of 

 mammals) are considered to be ' low ' because 

 they lack hair and are fish-like in form. 

 The Dipnoi, we are told, are the ' highest ' 

 among fishes because most like amphibians; 

 the eels are very low hecaiise they lack scales 

 and paired fins ! 



In classification the author apparently does 

 not trouble himself to distinguish similarities 

 due to analogous, parallel or convergent evolu- 

 tion from similarities due to blood kinship. 



* ' In the Australian Bush,' pp. 92, 93. 



