Abstract
PROF. FLOWER'S valuable “Osteology of the Mammalia” holds so high a position among scientific manuals that the appearance of a second edition requires but a passing notice from us. The author is himself so continually adding to our knowledge of the anatomy of the higher Vertebrata, at the same time keeping fully au courant with the investigations of both British and foreign zoologists, that there are several minor additions which he has had to make after an interval of six years, since the appearance of the volume originally. Amongst the most important of these, we notice the record of the conical form of the odontoid process of the axis vertebra in the Chevrotains (Tragulina), the introduction of a summary of Prof. Parker's study of the development of the skull of the pig, the account of the hyoid bones of the Ant-eater, of the large pectineal process in Phyllorhine Bats, and of the peculiarly anchylosed tarsus in the Muntjacs. In the first edition the typography and the printing of the woodcuts was too black throughout; in the new one this defect has been entirely removed, both the type and the figures being all that can be desired. There is a new outline diagram of special interest introduced to illustrate the mutual relations of the various elements of what may be termed the typical mammalian skull. This replaces a plan drawn out for a similar purpose in which the names of the bones were distributed over a page in such a way as to indicate their relative positions. In the new diagram the employment of outlines to the bones renders the exact situation much more distinct and enables the commencing student to carry away with him a much more precise idea of the exact neighbourhood of each part of each bone than was possible from the older plan. We welcome with much pleasure this new edition of the “Osteology of the Mammalia.”
An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia.
Prof.
W. H.
Flower
By 2nd Edition. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1876.)
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An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia . Nature 15, 96 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/015096b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015096b0