16 SEPTEMBER 1899, Page 22

The History of the European Fauna. By R. F. Scharff,

B.Sc. (Walter Scott. Gs.)—Mr. Scharff modestly ascribes to his book a tentative character. It indicates, he hopes, a " suitable method of treatment." It seems to us, as far as we are able to judge, for indeed Mr. Scharff is an expert whose conclusions are not lightly to be questioned, a very sound piece of work. The author proceeds, so to speak, pedetentim, as an explorer should do when the light is so uncertain and the ground so full of pitfalls. The subject is, of course, closely connected with the physical history of the earth, with the distribution of land and water in the past, and with the great temperature epochs. When we come to the details of the subject we are struck with their vast multi- plicity and with the necessity for a careful and cautious con- sideration of them. We may take an instance which is ready to hand, and in which many will feel a special interest. The Alpine flora is of a very peculiar character. It might be supposed to be very robust and to be able to endure great cold. As a matter of fact it is nothing of the kind. At Kew the Alpine plants have to be provided with glass protection during the winter. One of them, the mountain evens, flourishes wild in the very mild climate of the Galway coast, where the mean temperature of winter is 44' (Fehr.) How, then, do these plants survive in the Alpine regions ? Because they are protected by the snow from very low temperatures, and are also permanently supplied with moisture. Here are a number of quite unlooked-for facts confirming what we may call a paradoxical-looking result arrived at in another way, that the Alpine flora is a survival of a pre-glacial epoch. The reader of this volume, one of the " Contemporary Science Series," will often find himself in the presence of similar surprises. We can warmly recommend the book.