EECENT LITERATUKE 
189 
Atlantic to the Pacific,” ranging to about 3000 to 3500 feet altitude on the slopes 
of the higher mountains. It is divided into two nearly parallel areas, the humid 
or northern, and the arid or southern, characterized by a greater and more con- 
tinuous rainfall in the humid area. The Upper Tropical Zone is of comparatively 
small extent, occupying four small isolated areas, two at the eastern and two 
at the western end of the republic. It occupies the crests and slopes of the 
mountains up to about 8000 feet. The Temperate Zone is confined to a small 
area on Volcan de Chiriqui above an altitude of about 8000 feet. The life zones 
are indicated in color on the accompanying large-scale map, which shows the 
drainage and locality names with great distinctness. The faunal zones and 
areas are characterized in the text by not only their physiographic features but 
by lists of their characteristic mammals, birds and plants. The author calls 
attention (p. 25, footnote) to the agreement, in their general bearings, of the 
life zones of Panama, as here worked out, with those established by Doctor 
Chapman for Colombia, based on the birds. ‘‘Although working independently,” 
he says, “the results are substantially in accord regarding the number, approxi- 
mate boundaries, and appropriate nomenclature of the zones.” 
The “General Account of the Mammals” occupies nearly two hundred pages 
and includes 175 forms (species and subspecies). ^ The treatment consists of 
brief general comment under the higher groups, a reference to the place of 
original description of the species or subspecies and statement of the type 
locality, with synonyms Vv^hen such exist, followed by remarks on the distribution, 
habits and relationships of the forms, and finally a list of the specimens exam- 
ined and their localities, and, when not contained in the National Museum, the 
name of the museum to which they belong. It is therefore an elaborately anno- 
tated faunal list of the known mammals of Panama, with hitherto unpublished 
field notes of the author and all available information on the ranges and life 
histories of the forms recorded, supplemented by historical and technical infor- 
mation where such comment is required. The work is also liberally illustrated. 
The first nineteen of the thirty-nine halftone plates are scenic, effectively illus- 
trating the physiography and the vegetation of various types of environment. 
The remaining twenty halftone plates illustrate the type skulls of forty-six 
forms of mammals, all but three of which were originally described by the author 
in earlier papers. Noteworthy among these are Neacomys pictus and Icticyon 
panamensis, which greatly extend the known range of their respective genera. 
The text illustrations consist of life size figures (front views of head) of twenty-four 
of the thirty-three genera of bats here recorded from Panama. An annotated list 
of sixty-seven titles of papers (by twenty-nine authors) cited in the text, and an 
index of forty-three pages complete a work of great merit and permanent value. 
The ‘ 'Mammals of Panama” is thus a critical and comprehensive review, for 
which specialists of Central American mammalogy, as well as a much broader 
clientele, should feel deeply grateful. 
— J. A. Allen. 
1 These are listed on pages 42-44, but are not numbered, nor are the authori- 
ties for the names included, nor are page references given. Had these been 
included, and the list inserted as part of the table of contents, it would have 
greatly facilitated finding any desired species in the text. Apparently the num- 
ber of forms is nowhere stated, although an item of statistical information usually 
of much interest. 
