Natural History Essays ¹

Abstract

ON the whole, Mr. Renshaw appears to have been well advised in re-issuing in book form the sixteen articles and lectures which constitute the volume before us, since several of them contain much important information with regard to species now verging on extinction, or which have been already exterminated, while all are eminently readable and full of interest. Whether the author has quite done himself justice in the title he has chosen for his work may be open to question, seeing that all the articles relate to a single subject, namely, the mammals of Africa. Undoubtedly the most generally interesting and important articles of the series are the two dealing with the quagga and the blaauwbok, next to which may perhaps be ranked those on the white rhinoceros, the pigmy hippopotamus, and the giraffe. The book is abundantly illustrated with reproductions from photographs, many of which, like the one here shown, are excellent examples of animal photography.