SOME NEW BOOKS.

A NATURALIST IN THE TRANSVAAL. By W. L. Distant. 8vo. Pp. xvi. and 277. with thirteen plates (four coloured) and other illustrations. London: R. H. Porter, 1892. Price 21s.

In this book, Mr. Distant gives us the results of his leisure during twelve months spent in the Transvaal on business. South Africa is a well-worked field, but Mr. Distant's observations have brought to light many new and interesting facts, while his collections have largely increased our knowledge of the insect-fauna of the district. The new species are described in an appendix to which many specialists have contributed. The only new vertebrate is a snake (Glauconia distanti, Blgr.), the greatest amount of attention having, naturally, been given by Mr. Distant to the insects, in several orders of which numerous forms found by him have been hitherto unknown.

The change which has come over the modern naturalist's view of nature is emphasised in the following passage:-"I could not help contrasting the different mental conceptions which dominated me when collecting in the Malay Peninsula twenty-two years previously, and those which now dominated my mind in a similar quest at Durban. Then, almost the sole aim was the discovery of new species; now, the constant wish was to make some small discovery to add to the ever-increasing knowledge of how animals derived their present shape and coloration in the struggle for existence." Accordingly, our author has given us various notes on protective resemblance and mimicry. The butterfly Hamanumida dadalus has been observed in West Africa to rest on the ground with closed wings the under surfaces of which vary in their markings to harmonise with different soils. In South Africa, however, Mr. Distant always found this insect resting with expanded wings, so that the upper surface was exposed, and assimilated to the colour of the greyish rocks and paths. The well-known Danais chrysippus was found in abundance accompanied by Hypolimnas misippus, whose female is so perfect a mimic of it. The distasteful qualities and warning coloration of the Danais afford it such protection that Mr. Distant enquires why it does not absolutely swarm, and suggests some inherent weakness or danger which produces great mortality in the early stages." An enemy of this butterfly has been discovered by Mr. Distant in one of his new orthopterous insects, Hemisega prædatoria, which lurks among the tops of tall grasses to which it bears "aggressive" resemblance, and is thus enabled to seize the Danais when it settles on the flower. specimen of D. chrysippus was obtained with wings mutilated as if by the bite of a bird, which was probably driven by hunger in the dry season, when insects are very scarce, to attempt a meal on the nauseous butterfly.

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The appearance of insects as the wet season comes on is described with much interesting detail, and the contrast drawn between the

"veld" in drought and in rain is striking. The sudden rise of the watercourses ("spruits ") is often a source of danger to travellers, though it must afford a grand object-lesson to geologists on the force of denuding agencies.

There are some notes of interest on birds. Mr. Distant tells us that the reputed fine of fifty pounds for killing the snake-eating Secretary-Bird (Serpentarius secretarius) is a myth, and that one was secured after three miles' chase on horseback, a fact which shows that the bird can run sometimes at least without breaking its legs. The heavy flight of the male Widow-Bird (Chera progne) in the breeding season is noted, its long tail being a great encumbrance, and, according to Mr. Distant, an example of the production of a disadvantageous structure by sexual selection.

On mammals, Mr. Distant has not much to say, except to deplore their extinction. The former magnificent antelope-fauna has been almost destroyed by the persistent attacks of the Boers, and the carnivora have necessarily much decreased in numbers. The prevalence of spiny acacias and hard-wooded trees is the only sign to-day that multitudes of herbivorous mammals once dwelt in the land.

Savage and civilised men alike receive attention. The Magwamba Kafirs are described in some detail, and Mr. Distant has formed a favourable opinion of the native character. A chapter is devoted to the Boer of whom our author gives what seems to be a fair and impartial criticism. It is not the Boers, however, but the English and recent Dutch and other European settlers who will make the future prosperity of the Transvaal; and, curiously, the modern Dutch emigrant is hated by the Boer. The gold and diamond mines have attracted some very undesirable speculators into the country, and some of the stories of gains and losses told by Mr. Distant are interesting and instructive. His sketches of colonial character are fresh and racy.

There is an evolution in human dress as well as in animal organs, and we are told that, in Pretoria, tall white hats distinguish lawyers and doctors, while the President is the only wearer of a tall black one! The book is well got up, and the illustrations are very good. It is rather startling, however, to read (p. 107) about "Galileos who cared for none of these things" !

G. H. C.

BREHM'S TIERLEBEN.-Third edition. Edited by Professor Dr. Pechuel-Loesche. -Die Kriechtiere und Lurche. By Dr. Alfred C. Brehm. New edition by Professor Dr. O. Boettger and Professor Dr. Pechuel-Loesche. 8vo. Pp. 825, with 167 engravings, I map, and 16 plates. Leipzig and Vienna: Bibliographisches Institut, 1892.

A THIRD edition of the celebrated work, "Brehm's Tierleben," is now in course of publication, under the able editorship of Professor PechuelLoesche, and we have just received the seventh volume, dealing with the Reptiles and Batrachians. For the preparation of this volume the editor has had the good fortune to secure the co-operation of Professor Oscar Boettger, one of the most distinguished of modern herpetologists. To Brehm's admirable descriptions of the habits of these animals, Professor Boettger has added much of his own observations, and brought the work thoroughly up to date as regards the systematic aspect, and thus raised it much above the usual standard of popular Natural Histories. In fact, as it now appears, Brehm's volume on the Reptiles gives not only an unequalled account of the

habits of this interesting group of vertebrates, but serves as a most useful book of reference to all interested in the classification and geographical distribution of recent Reptiles and Batrachians. So thoroughly has the revision of this volume been carried out, that even the results of observations recorded within the last few months have found their way into its pages. So often do we find books of a popular character inaccurate and behind date, that we cannot speak

FIG. 1.-Psammodromus algirus, from the Western Coasts of the Mediterranean. The specimen figured above represents the recently described var. nollii, from Algeria.

too highly of the value of a work such as the present one, which combines elegance of style with the strictest scientific accuracy.

We are pleased to find the classification in the volume before us conform to that adopted in the rearrangement of the collections in the British Museum. Thus, Snakes are no longer primarily divided into poisonous and harmless; the Slow-worm finds its place near the Sheltopusik and the Glass-snake of North America,

instead of being associated with the Scinks; and adaptations to the different modes of life are considered as subordinate in classifying the Chelonians and Batrachians. The characters of all families (with but a few exceptions) and higher groups are given; and the maps, showing the geographical distributions of the various groups, will prove most useful, drawn up as they are by so competent an authority as Dr. Boettger from the latest data available.

FIG. 2.-Ceratobatrachus guentheri, the horned frog of the Solomon Islands, discovered by

A large number of new figures, mostly from the skilled pencil of Mützel (two of which we are able to reproduce through the courtesy of the publishers), have been added, some to replace less satisfactory ones in the previous edition, others to represent little-known or newlydiscovered forms. Among the new figures, we notice excellent representations of Anguis fragilis, Rana arvalis, and other German species, all of which are now figured in the "Tierleben." A few of these

new engravings may, however, evoke some criticisms. It is doubtful, for instance, whether the representation of Rana agilis will afford much help in the recognition of this rare frog in Germany; and the new figure of Heloderma, the poisonous Lizard, which represents H. suspectum (not H. horridum, as stated in the letterpress), is inferior to the old one. The figure given on p. 146 as Lacerta agilis is surely taken, magnified, from L. vivipara, as correctly stated in the former editions; the snake on p. 467 is apparently Vipera russellii, not Ancistrodon rhodostoma; and the representation of Ceratophrys boiei on p. 690, stated to be of the natural size, is much enlarged, the frog, so far as we know, not exceeding a length of 3 inches.

PROPERTY ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. By Ch. Letourneau. (The Contemporary Science Series.) 8vo. Pp. xii., 401. London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1892. Price 3s. 6d.

If this work dealt with the origin and development of property simply from an historical point of view, it would merit no notice in this magazine. Professor Letourneau, however, is an anthropologist of the modern school, fully alive to the value of the ethnographic method, which, in the spirit of Natural Science, seeks to explain the evolution of social institutions by an appeal to the manners and customs of the lower races. What these races now are, such it may be assumed in broad terms our ancestors once were. Those who refuse adhesion to this fundamental tenet need not concern themselves with the study of the present volume; since, disagreeing radically with the author's method of enquiry, they will, of necessity, refuse to accept his conclusions. Those, on the other hand, who have faith in the simple method of seeking to interpret the unknown past of our civilisation by a consideration of the present condition of less civilised peoples, will find in Professor Letourneau's volume a storehouse of information and suggestion on some of the most interesting problems of sociology.

The desire of appropriation, whence springs the origin of property, seems referable to the imperious instinct of self-preservation, and is consequently common enough in the animal world. Man is proverbially an acquisitive animal, but other animals are largely acquisitive, and the naturalist will have no difficulty in multiplying the instances cited in the early part of this volume. When the shrike forms a collection of impaled victims, the creature provides, with instinctive foresight, for the wants of the morrow, much as a savage may hoard his food when fortune brings him more than is required to supply his daily need. House property is also common among birds and other animals, and even the possession of landed property is recognised in a certain sense. A strong animal, like a lion, may lay claim to a certain area as its hunting-ground, and be prepared to defend his right, in truly leonine fashion, against all intruders. Primitive man, on the contrary, would generally be too weak, single-handed, to defend his own area against the invader; hence he was led to associate with his fellows for the defence of common property. Isolation meant death; weakness led to union, and union to strength. Once in possession of conscious strength, a man's egoism asserts itself, and, gradually becoming forgetful of his obligations to his associates, he grows discontented with communal property and yearns for private possession. One man,