23 JUNE 1877, Page 24

Animal Products. By P. L. Simmonds. (Chapman and Hall.)—There are,

we believe, few works which treat of those animals from which com- mercial products are derived, and Mr. Simmonds, by preparing this de- scriptive guide to the collection in the South Kensington Museum, has supplied a want. The subject is, however, by no means exhausted, since it is only the mammals that have as yet received attention. The book is, by its very nature, somewhat scrappy, and the author has- shown no little skill in raising it above the level of a mere catalogue. It is not the products alone that are described, but the animals them- selves, their habits, and the modes of catching them, and many who know and care nothing about articles of commerce, will find much to interest and amuse them.