Abstract
THIS is a sister volume to “A Fauna of Sutherland, Caithness, and West Cromarty,” which was published by the same authors in 1887, and reviewed in NATURE at that time. It may be remembered that in the preface to this work, the authors expressed their intention of following it up with others, dealing in a similarly exhaustive manner with the vertebrate faunas of other parts of Great Britain. We are glad to receive at so early a date so substantial a fulfilment of this intention; for we cannot give higher praise to “A Fauna of the Outer Hebrides” than by saying that it is in all respects worthy of its predecessor. Moreover, when we have regard to the immense amount of labour which the production of these volumes must have involved, we cannot refrain from congratulating the authors on the rapidity with which their works have followed one another. This second member of the series runs to over 250 pages, and, like the first member, is embellished by a few beautifully executed drawings of landscape scenery. Like the first member, also, it gives an exhaustive account of all the Vertebrata which occur within the area specified, together with several introductory chapters dealing with the topography of the district, and the relation (palæontological and otherwise) of its fauna to that of the rest of Great Britain. As the value of such a work consists mainly in the number and the accuracy of its details, little need be said of it in a review, save in general terms. And, as we have already indicated, the painstaking labour which has been bestowed upon this Fauna appears to us to leave nothing that can be desired in the way either of addition or subtraction. We heartily. recommend both these Faunas to all systematic zoologists, and sincerely hope that their authors may be able to continue their researches through other areas of Great Britain.
A Vertebrate Fauna of the Outer Hebrides.
By J. A. Harvie-Brown T. E. Buckley. (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1889).
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R., G. [Book Reviews]. Nature 40, 101 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040101a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040101a0