The Zoologist/4th series, vol 4 (1900)/Issue 711/Notices of New Books
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
The Government of the United States of America is to-day a greater scientific publisher than that of any other State in the world. Its voluminous Reports are also scattered with the greatest generosity in every scientific centre, and though the term "exchange" is used, the actual debit must be largely on the side of our American cousins. We have just received the above, consisting of 880 pages, strongly bound and beautifully illustrated, and though of the greatest importance to the agriculturist, its zoological information is not inconsiderable. In noticing three contributions only, it must be understood that they appertain to our special studies, and are for that reason selected.
"Some Examples of the Development of Knowledge concerning Animal Diseases" is the title of a contribution by Mr. D.E. Salmon. This paper is necessarily largely pathological, but it is a full and excellent résumé of the evolution of scientific methods and discoveries; while its estimate of the earlier theories as structures without stability, representing "the individual workings of the philosopher's mind rather than the truths of nature," will apply to much thought of the present day.
"Progress in Economic Entomology in the United States" is the subject of a paper by Dr. L.O. Howard. At the beginning of the present century the United States, with its population of only 5,000,000, and its restricted husbandry, suffered comparatively little from the attacks of insects on its crops. But now the conditions are vastly altered. Increased cultivation has been accompanied by a multiplication of plant-eating insects; many pests have been imported; and now, as "the century has grown older, the need of remedies against insects has grown greater." The State has not, however, neglected its duties. "During the calendar year 1898, for example, sixty-one separate publications were issued by the different State experiment stations, either devoted entirely to matter on economic entomology, or containing articles upon the subject, the total number of pages on applied entomology reaching nearly 1400. During the same period nineteen separate publications on economic entomology were issued by the Department of Agriculture, containing a total of about 1000 printed pages." A notice of some of the principal workers is given, and excellent photographs of Asa Fitch, Townend Glover, T.W. Harris, B.D. Walsh, and C.V. Riley will be welcomed by many entomologists; while "Remedies" will be valued by the agriculturist.
Mr. T.S. Palmer has written "A Review of Economic Ornithology in the United States." The history of American ornithology may be traced back to the middle of the sixteenth century, though a great starting point may be established by the publication of Catesby's 'Nat. Hist, of Carolina, Florida,' &c, in 1731–43. A host of well-known names can be recalled since that time, but it appears to be only about the year 1850 that economic ornithology attracted attention. "As a result of fourteen years' work, the Biological Survey has brought together a collection of about 32,000 bird stomachs, of which some 14,000 have been examined. This article constitutes a fund of information respecting the destruction of birds by excessive egg collection, and by the demand for feathers established by feminine vanity.
This is really a lovely quarto volume, with its exquisite views of Alaskan lakes and scenery, and is a storehouse of information on many branches of economic ichthyology. A large section is devoted to "The Salmon and Salmon Fisheries of Alaska," and this portion is, apart from its zoological information, a practical guide to the waterways of the country. The account of "The Southern Spring Mackerel Fishery of the United States" is replete with interest, and is written by Mr. Hugh M. Smith. The schools of Mackerel usually approach the coast of the United States in the latter part of March or early in April, and are generally first seen by the fishermen off the coast of North Carolina, in the region of Cape Hatteras. The year 1885 was a remarkable one in annals of American fishing; it was a period of glut in Mackerel. About 175 vessels were engaged in the fishery, and to New York alone probably no fewer than 850 trips, all told, were made; these averaged from 140 to 150 barrels each, so that during the season about 125,000 barrels of fresh Mackerel were landed in that city, this quantity representing about 31,250,000 fish.
The reappearance of the Tile-fish (Lopholatilus chamæleonticeps) is detailed by Dr. Bumpus. Most naturalists are familiar with the facts of the recent sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of this fish; and it was included by Mr. F.A. Lucas in his memoir on "Animals recently extinct or threatened with extermination, as represented in the Collections of the U.S. National Museum." Recent investigations have shown that the area of the distribution of the Tile-fish "probably extends from 69° to 73° west longitude, and along a band of the sea bottom of varying width, and from seventy to eighty fathoms in depth, although no tests were made in deeper water." It is also clearly a "warm water" fish.
The usual American enterprise has been exhibited in all things pertaining to economic ichthyology. The demand for fresh Herring as bait in the Cod fisheries led, in 1890, to the building of a number of freezing-houses along the New England coast, where shore Herrings are frozen during the fall, and kept for use during the winter and early spring; while "The Mussel fishery and pearl-button industry of the Mississippi River," already referred to in the pages of the 'Zoologist' (1899, p. 480), receives ample and well-illustrated treatment, and again proves that man's interference with nature has not yet reached its full dimensions.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse