Abstract
A THOROUGHLY up-to-date and scientific account of the mammals of the British Isles, written in such a style that it may be acceptable to the field-naturalist as well as to the specialist, has long been a desideratum. So far as it is possible to judge from the first part this want promises to be supplied, at all events, from the scientific aspect, by Major Barrett-Hamilton's work, which is to be published in twenty-four monthly parts, so arranged as, when complete, to form three volumes, of which the first is to be devoted to the bats, while the third is to include the whales and dolphins, with an appendix on extinct and domesticated species. Whether the work will appeal with equal strength to that section of the general public interested in natural history remains to be seen. A distinctly popular element is, however, supplied by the twenty-seven coloured plates, reproduced from sketches made for the work by that accomplished artist-naturalist, Mr. E. A. Wilson. The plate in the present part is a group of dormice in a sloe-bush, which we hope will prove the least successful of the series, as the two uppermost figures are scarcely satisfactory, while the eyes of all the individuals appear too small and lacking in prominence.
A History of British Mammals.
By G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton. Part i., October. Pp. xvi + 88. (London: Gurney and Jackson, 1910.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
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L., R. A History of British Mammals . Nature 84, 493 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/084493a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/084493a0