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Reviews and BooJz Notices, 



We have received part I. of Wild Beasts of the World, published by 

 Messrs. T. C. and E. C. Jack, and to be completed in seventeen shilling 

 parts. The text is written by Frank Finn, and the coloured illustrations 

 are by Louis Sargent, C. E. Swan, and Winifred Austen. The part before 

 us deals with the Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Orang Utan, Hoolock Gibbon, 

 Lungoor Monkey and Guereza Monkey. The text is carefully written, 

 and the coloured illustrations are all that can be desired. When completed, 

 the work will be a marvel of cheapness. We can thoroughly recommend it. 



Garden Rockery : How to Make, Plant, and Manag-e it, by Francis 

 George Heatll. Loudon : George Routledge. 173 pp., price i/- 



By the aid of forty-five illustrations, Mr, Heath admirably shews what 

 to do, and (what is of more importance) what not to do, in order to have 

 a successful rock garden. He deals with the best soil to use ; the rocks and 

 their arrangement ; large and small rockeries, etc., etc. The volume is 

 thoroughly practical, and is evidently the result of a wide experience. 

 To all who are interested in gardening, and especially ' wild ' gardening, 

 the book will appeal. It has a good index, and is well printed, and well 

 bound. We cannot understand how the publishers are able to produce 

 it at so low a figure as one shilling. 



African Nature Notes and Reminiscences, by F. C. Selous. 348 pp. 



President Rooseveldt, who is so well qualified to judge of matters 

 pertaining to wild sport and natural history field work, has done good 

 service in urging the issue of the present volume to which he contributes 

 an introduction. In it, Mr. Selous not only tells us more of his fascinating 

 hunting experiences, but also gives admirable studies of the habits and 

 natures of the principal feral animals of South Africa. Which of these is 

 most combative and dangerous, has long been a moot point. Our author 

 places them in the following order : lion, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, 

 bringing forward many proofs that the dispositions of the two last are 

 much less rampant than is commonly reputed, and his conclusion being 

 founded upon exceptionally long and intimate acquaintance with all of 

 them, will naturally carry much weight. Doubtless, however, the members 

 of a species occupying even a limited area show great variation of tem- 

 perament, individually, and in widely separated or climatically differing 

 regions, probably collectively, which may account for the divergent views 

 of big-game'.hunters'as to their respective aggressiveness. The book contains 

 an interesting chapter on the Tse-tse fly, and much instructive material 

 relating to the vexed questions of Protective Colouration and Influence of 

 Environment. In connection with the former, it may be noted that Mr. 

 Thayer's recent experiments with regard to ' Obliterative Colouration,' 

 seem to show that strong distinctive patches of colour on an animal tend 

 by breaking up its outline to make it inconspicuous rather than the reverse. 

 The book has good illustrations by Mr. Caldwell, and also some remarkable 

 photographs of the progress of a struggle between a full-grown rhinoceros, 

 and its unseen and victorious crocodile antagonist, or antagonists. In 

 short, from beginning to end it is full of interest and information, and from 

 a natural history point of view is perhaps the most important of Mr. 

 Selous' works. 



Vol. XIX. of the Transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway 

 Natural History and Antiquarian Society for 1906-7, is recently to 

 hand. It is a substantial volume of over 200 pages, and contains abstracts 

 of the various papers read before the society, some of which are illustrated. 

 There are articles on all manner of subjects, from the Presidential Address 

 of Professor Scott-Elliot, on ' The Migrations of Man,' to ' Scottish Mer- 

 maids,' by Mr. R. J. Arnott. Mr. R. Service deals with Bird Migration at 

 Southerness, and in Dumfriesshire ; and there are papers on the local 

 castles, climate, trees, reptilia, ancient sanitation, as well as several his- 

 torical items. The society does not limit itself to its own area, and we find 

 a paper on Yorkshire Abbeys. 



Naturalist, 



