NATURE NOTES 
ours. While we know the cockchafer as a May bug, in America it is the “ May 
beetle,” while the lady-bird on the other side of the water becomes the “ lady 
beetle.” The book under consideration forms an excellent introduction to 
zoology. It is very pleasantly written, while the illustrations, of which many 
are new, are exceedingly good. The method of arrangement differs from that 
which is usual in text books. As a rule, these either begin wiih the lowest forms 
of life, on the assumption that one should proceed from the simple to the com- 
plex, or start with highest animals, judging it best to argue from the known to 
the unknown. Drs. Linville and Kelly use the insects as a starting point and 
then descend to the Protozoa at the bottom of the scale ; afterwards the reader 
is taken from the fishes up to man. 
Each important division of the Animal Kingdom is illustrated by the descrip- 
tion of a type, and in accordance with the modern trend of Zoology the relation- 
ships of the creature to its surroundings are rightly considered. A general 
Figures. — Tiger-Beetle and Larva. Figure 9. — Photograi'h of Jungle P'owl. 
(From “ A Text-Book in General (The ancestor of the Barndoor Fowl) 
Zoology,” by the courtesy of Messrs. (P'rom “A Text-Book in General Zoology,” by 
Ginn and Co.) the courtesy of Messrs. Ginn and Co.) 
discussion of the allies of the tjpe usually follows. The earthworm affords an 
opportunity for discussing Physiology, while there is a chapter on the doctrine of 
evolution and another dealing with the origin of the Invertebrates and the ancestry 
of the Vertebrates. Under the heading of birds their economic importance is 
considered, and although it is recogni^ed in America that certain injurious birds 
should be exterminated, it is there that the most sweeping acts of legislation in 
favour of birds have been passed. An interesting account is given in the book 
under review' of the steps taken in Bird Protection. The last chapter treats of the 
historical development of Zoology, and Selbornians will be interested in the 
following extract : ‘‘ One of the earliest writers in the field which we have 
termed Ecology or Bionomics, was the English Clergyman, Gilbert White (1720 to 
1793)1 *he Author of The Natural History and Auli<iuities of Selhorne. The 
authors still use the term Vermes to include the segmented worms, the flukes, 
thread worms, and wheel animalcules, which most modern Zoologists place in 
separate groups, in fact these, together with the sea-mats, and lamp-shells, which 
many years ago were separated from them, are described under the heading of 
“Allies of the Earth-worms.” It should, however, be said that the authors own 
