THE MAMMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA.
The Mammals of South Africa. By W. L. Sclater, MA., F.Z S., Director of the South African Museum, Cape Town. Vol. II., with Illustrations. (R. H. Porter. £1 10s.)—The second volume of Mr. W. L. Sclater's work on the South African mammals is marked by all the good points of the previous instalment. It is well bound and printed, the paper and text are good, and the condensed information contained • is all practical, well arranged, and adapted for reference by scientific and general readers. Unfortunately, the illustrations are even worse than in the first volume. Those of the bats, the red hare, and the ground squirrel are perhaps the most amateurish and ill drawn. An exception must be made in favour of the anatomical plates, which are good. Turning from criticism of detail to the general matter, it should be noted that this volume deals with the rodents, rats, insectivore, whales, and ant-eaters. The number of the small rodents and insect-eating mammals is very large, while the individuals are insignificant. Consequently, the matter of the earlier portions is less interesting than in the former volume, which dealt with the carnivore, ante- lopes, and other characteristic large African mammals. Each species is treated on a uniform plan of great assist- ance for reference. The pages in the principal works where the animal is mentioned are given, and the best literary references to its habits, with its scientific names and the African vernacular name,—a useful piece of information. Then follow a description of the animal, its dimensions, distribution, and habits. On the latter the author is necessarily brief, but it is clear that a great deal has yet to be done before any full know- ledge of the smaller African animals is available. "Common in the district; may be seen of a morning hopping from branch to branch among the trees; has a peculiar way of jerking the tail backwards and forwards "s—is all that we learn of the habits of one of the commonest squirrels in Africa. The springhaas, or jemping hare, is a very common animal, much shot, and esteemed for food. Yet it does not seem to be known certainly when the young arc born. One curious race of South African mammals is that of the golden moles. There are five of them, more allied to the insectivorous tenrecs of Madagascar than to the true moles. The largest is 9 in. long, with pale grey under fur and upper fur of iridescent golden brown. Most of the skins procured have been in the form of Kaffir tobaccopouches. The Cape seas were anciently noted for the whales which haunted them for the purpose of calving. We do not gather from Mr. Sclater whether species formerly numerous still survive in any numbers. The Southern right whale heads the list. It regularly came to Table and False Bays in June to calve, Mr. Sclater says "comes," We hope it does ; but on a recent voyage to the Antarctic it was said that not a single Southern right whale was seen, and that the species is extinct, or nearly so. The descriptions of the numerous whales, dolphins, and other cetacea are full and good, and the small illustrations adequate to showing the main differences between the species.
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