NEW ZEALAND ANIMALS.

Wairarapa Age, 31 October 1924, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND ANIMALS.

A STANDARD MANUAL. A fourth edition of Hutton and Drummond’s very popular volume on “The Animals of New Zealand,” has made its appearance. The first issue appeared twenty years ago. An , enlarged edition was called for within twelve months. A third and still larger followed in 1909. The one mow available, it may be confidently pdedictcd, will not be the last, for knowledge grows from more,” and an increasing demand for an authoritative manual of just this kind is to be reckoned among the literary certainties. There will be a growing welcome for this book outside the Dominion. Indeed, its earliest appearance had an influence beyond our shores. It was the means of establishing a notable series, including “The Plants of New Zealand,”'by R. M. Laiqg- and E. W. Blackwell, all modelled on “The Animals of New Zealand,” whose success has led also to the publication of scores of other valuable works on natural history. Some of these have been published by the New Zealand and Australian Governments, and several as private ventures by Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, the producers of this volume, which is issued at 15s. Its wide popularity is attested by the fact that it has been largely bought by scientific associations in France, Germany and Italy. Captain F. W. Hutton, whoso portrait appropriately forms its- frontispiece, laid well and truly the foundations of the wbrk. He was one of our most skilful and devoted naturalists, and as a university teacher and museum curator, rendered excellent service. He was among the first to recognise the significance of Charles Darwifi’s work on “The Origin of Species,” and his review of it in the “Geologist” elicited from the author a letter of appreciation which is included in the abridged eaix»on ■ r, f Darwin’s “Life,” In writing “The Animals of New Zealand,” he had as collaborator Mr James Drummond, F.L.S. of Christchurch. In this edition important alterations and additions are incorporated. Some interesting notes arc added on introduced birds. There is a descrip tion of a rare species of frog, not known until 1918, but discovered then on Stephen Island, in Cook Strait. Accounts of the Maori dog and the Maori rat are also among the book’s new features. Of great interest arc Mr Drummond’s comments on the fortunes of our native birds. “For many years,” as he says, “ornithologists were under the impression that New Zealand’s birds were rushing headlong to destruction, and that they would soon pass completely away.” Mr Drummond’s investigations give a brighter prospect. “There is no convincing evidence,” ho* states, “'that any New Zealand bird, except the Stephen Island wren and the native quail, has been exterminated by the European inhabitants of this country.” An improvement is made on previous editions thanks to the assistance of Archdeacon Williams, of Gisborne. This is a revision of the Maori names of our birds. Those previously assigned were not always the names most generally given by tho Maoris.