Glimpses of Animal Life. By William Jones, F.S.A. (Elliot Stock.)—Any
reader who begins the first chapter of this book, entitled "Animal Playfulness," will certainly finish it, and having finished it, will certainly go on to those that follow. Every one knows that cats and dogs are playful; but the prevalence of this temper among other creatures, wild as well as domestic, is nothing less than surprising, when we see the collection of proofs that Mr. Jones puts before his readers. One traveller has seen bears playing in front of his palanquin, as if expressly to amuse him. Humboldt speaks of a monkey which used to ride on a pig. From Broderip, one of the closest of observers, we get a curious story of the gambols of a lemur and a beaver. Weazels and ferrets are frolicsome, and the gambols of young foxes are known to all who are acquainted with woodland life. Cowper's hares are famous. Even ravens have their times for unbending. The second chapter is on "Animal Training," and here, too, are some marvellous stories of capacity in the animal, and, it may be added, patience and ingenuity in the instructor. Of all marvels, the training of fleas is the greatest. The account of this, borrowed from Mr. Frank Buckland, is as curious a thing in its way as we have ever read. It is an incidental proof of the dignity of man, that only human fleas are capable of education. The other chapters deal with " Musical Fishes," " Nest-Building and Walking Fishes," "Luminous Animals," "Birds'-Nests in Curious Places," and " The Mole." The mole, it seems, has lessons to teach man.— Along with this may be mentioned Wayside Sketches, by F. Everard Hulme. (S.P.C.K.)—Mr. Hulme takes a wider range of subjects than that traversed in the volume noticed above. He speaks of plants as well as animals, and even has something to say about the heavenly bodies. A better book to put into the hands of a boy or girl living in the country we do not know. It teaches in a very happy way the habit of observation, and gives numerous examples, very various in kind, of the interesting results which this habit secures for its possessor.
Previous page
