ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA.

The thanks of all students of zoology and natural history are due to the authors and publishers of " The Animals of Australia," by A. H. S. Lucas, M.A., and W. H. Dudley Le Souef, C.M.Z.S. (Whitcombe and' Tombs, Ltd., Christchuroh). It is a fine volume in every respect. Designed as a companion work to the "Animals of New Zealand," of which Captain Hutton and Mr. James Drummond were the authors it " combines popular information with that which is purely scientific." Th© birds of Australia have had to be excluded, as it was found impossible to compress a reasonable account of all the air-breathing vertebrates of Australia into one volume. The birds are to have a volume to themselves later on. Mr. Lucas is well known as one of • the most competent observers of animal 1 life in Australia, and has held the positions of president of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, and the Naturalists' Club of New South Wales. His collaborator, Mr. Le Souef, is director of the Zoological Gardens in Melbourne, and his book, "Wild Life in Australia," has made him widely known. "Of the great wealth of illustrations, some are from photographs taken by the authors, others from the animals in the Australian Museum, and others have been supplied by various naturalist friends. The photographic reproduction is especially good. In an interesting introduction some very significant facts are given as to the importance of the Australian fur trade. Close upon 900,000 opossum skins were exported from Sydney, alone last year, scrub wallabies -coming next with a total of 352,000, rock wallabies being third, with a total of 92,000, and native bears fourth with 57,000. The authors contend that without efficient, not merely nominal protection and security during the breeding season, the animals will become extinct, for with the increase of the network of railways very few parts of the country are beyond the reach of the hunters and trappers. Although on fairly good land it is more profitable to rear sheep and cattle than to rear kangaroos and wallabies, the comparison, it is stated, is not so unfavourable in poor, rocky, arid hilly country. The authors contend, therefore, that "the feasible policy seems to be to protect the marsupials to such an extent as to prevent extermination on the good grounds, to give them a chance in poor country, and to set aside areas, the Government on a larger scale, as in national parks and reserves, and broad-minded landowners, as some are doing, on a smaller scale, in which a stock of marsupials may be preserved. "Then; when prices are favourable, it will

be at least possible to develop on a feasible scale a. fur industry which may compare with the ostrich-farming, -which has been found so profitable in Cape Colony. Australia is, unfortunately, rich in reptiles, and of these and of the Amphibia, the frogs and toads, there are some extremely interesting accounts. The illustrations, especially those of the various species of lizards, are very beautifully executed. The volume concludes with an interesting description of the Dipnoi or Australian lung-fish (Eu-ceratedus Fosteri), a most remarkable animal, part fish, part amphibian, which has an elongated body reaching to within an inch or two of three feet in length. Tho Ceratodus is one of the very small group of fishes which breathe air direct. The swimming-bladder is converted into a large lung, which the animal used regularly to reinforce the gills in respiration. Its nearest allies are the mud fishes of East and West tropical Africa, and the Amazon, but it stands alone in its order in Australia. It, is now only to be found in the Mary and Burnett Rivers of Queensland. An index of common names and one of scientific names are provided, and will be found very useful by students. The general arrangement, of the matter in the book is admirable, several varieties of type being employed to afford greater clearness and facility of reference. A coloured frontispiece, from a painting by Mrs. Ellis Rowan, represents the brown tree snake. The book will be accepted as an authority, for it is by far the' most important contribution to' the literature of Australian natural history that has appeared during recent years. OTHER PUBLICATIONS. "Priscilla of the Good Intent,"; by Mr. Haliwell Sutcliffe, is a wholesome story of English rustic life. "The Good Intent ' is a farm where lives the heroine, beloved by the village blacksmith and other young men. She falls in love with Reuben Gaunt, who had travelled and was able to tell her of the wonderful world outside the moorland village. Reuben plays double with a beautiful gipsy girl, and Priscilla insists on his marrying'her rival. Then his gipsy love falls ill with an infectious fever, and Reuben, helping the mother to nurse her, shows unexpected traits in his character. Of course, the gipsy dies, and Reuben marries Priscilla.

Mr. Sellars' latest story, "Where Every Prospect Pleases" (Win. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh), is a readable- successor of the humorous " Muggins of the Modem Side." Mr. Tanqueray, an elderly widower with pretty daughters, is pleasantly Pickwickian. The elder daughter, Marion, jilts her fiance, John Armstrong, who has gone out to Ceylon to learn tea-planting, just as she is about to go out to marry him. Tanquoray thereupon decides to go out and console tho young fellow. Arrived in Ceylon he throws himself with much gusto into teaplanting, and is joined by his younger daughter. Kit, who had loved John all the time, and who finally marries him.

Among the Periodicals: The Triad maintains its accustomed standard, particularly readable being a kindly account of Mr. Randolph Bedford, one of the most typical of living Australian authors, and particularly attractive being a page reproduction of "Bedtime." In the Westminster (July), Mr. W. D. MacGregor criticises various proposed cures for "Unemployment," and W. S. Urquhart defends higher education in India.