1879-1 
123 
Notices of Books. 
which, though brief and elementary, is scientific, it would have 
been better to point out that the potato-beetle, as belonging to 
the Chrysomelidae, has four main joints in each tarsus, especially 
as the three-jointed tarsi of the ladybird had just been mentioned. 
On p. 129 we find the statement that “ On the lower lip in the 
larvae of some moths there is a tubular spinning gland, which, 
when the larva has reached its full size, secretes a silken cocoon 
within which it is enclosed.” This unhappily expressed sentence 
wili lead learners to believe that silk is secreted by some species 
only, instead of, as is the faCl, by all lepidopterous larvae. If 
grammatically construed it also conveys the meaning that the 
cocoon is secreted as such, instead of merely in the shape of a 
silken thread from which it may be spun. 
In treating of the distribution of animals the author says : — 
“ Sometimes the presence of one animal prevents the diffusion 
of others : thus in Africa the tzetze fly renders whole traCts un- 
inhabitable by oxen and deer, which are destroyed by its poisonous 
bites.” It so happens, however, that with the exception of the 
Mediterranean coasts deer are absent throughout Africa, in dis- 
tricts free from the tzetze as well as in those which it infests. 
We hope to see these defects remedied in a future edition. 
Vertebrata. By Prof. A. Macalister. (“ The London Science 
Class-Books.”) London : Longmans and Co. 
In this little volume Prof. Macalister completes the brief view 
of the animal kingdom begun in his treatise on the Invertebrata. 
We are unable to agree with him in his estimate of the compa- 
rative importance of these two great divisions of the animal 
kingdom. In his introductory remarks he expresses the opinion 
that “ they (the Vertebrata) present to us a greater number of 
interesting points in structure, function, and habits than all the 
other sub-kingdoms put together; and as they are, for the most 
part, of large size and of complex organisation, they require a 
more careful and detailed study than do the animals which make 
up the other sub-kingdoms.” We grant, of course, the larger 
size and the superior complexity of the Vertebrata, but on all 
other points we are compelled to join issue. We consider that 
among the Invertebrata there is not only a much larger number 
of species, but greater range of strudture, and especially of 
habits, than among the vertebrate animals. We are glad to find 
here the order Primates — freed, however, from the lemurs — in 
place of the Cuvierian groups of Quadrumana and Bimana, and 
to come upon no hints as to the propriety of referring man to a 
separate class, or even sub-kingdom. The seals are quite justi- 
fiably separated from the Carnivora, which order is thus restricted 
