come from southern Europe and Asia. Consequently, till remains of earlier forms of these groups are found in Africa (and if they were so found an opposite conclusion would by no means certainly follow), the presumption seems still to be all on the side of the Huxleyan hypothesis, namely, that the immediate ancestors of their modern Ethiopian representatives were immigrants— at a much later period than the ancestral Proboscidea and Hyracoidea-from the north and east. This view of the case is strengthened by the absence of practically all the aforesaid types from Madagascar; and the advocates of an autochthonous origin for the modern Ethiopian fauna have to show how, on their hypothesis, its ancestors failed to obtain an entrance into that island while it still formed part of the continent.

There is, however, yet another argument in favour of the Asiatic origin of the modern Ethiopian ungulate fauna. As we have seen, kudus, elands, and bushbucks (or 'harnessed' antelopes) are near relatives of the nilgai; and remains of extinct species of both groups are known from the Tertiaries of India and China, where those of nilgai have hitherto alone been discovered. On the hypothesis that Africa was the great centre of development and radiation for the antelopes, it is necessary to assume that all these animals (together with many others mentioned above) were new arrivals in Asia in the Pliocene epoch; and that, soon after they arrived there, they all died out with the exception of the nilgai, which, although an apparently primitive type, must have been a new development in that continent. This, it need scarcely be said, is absolutely opposed to all that we know in regard to the history of groups of animals when they reach a new country, where they appear, if conditions are favourable, to start on a fresh course of development, and at the same time tend to die out in their old habitat.

On the other hand, if we regard the aforesaid ruminants (with the exception of the nilgai, which appears to have stayed behind in the ancestral home) and other animals as immigrants, during the Pliocene age, from Asia into Ethiopian Africa, we find them developing, as we should expect, to a marvellous extent in the new land, and gradually dying out in their original habitat, Vol. 200.-No. 400.

2 K

where the country, from some cause or other, may have become unsuited to their existence. For not only is it conceivable, but it is highly probable that, as pastures (even of large extent) become in course of time unsuited to the rearing and maintenance of blood-horses, so entire countries in the course of ages may become unfitted for the existence of the large mammals they have hitherto nourished.

Special importance must, I think, be attached to the case of the Indian nilgai; for, on the hypothesis of an African radiation, there could scarcely have been time for the development of this new type in Asia during the Pliocene, in deposits of which age its remains occur over a large area in that continent. Moreover, as already said, it is apparently a primitive type, and therefore ought to be at least as old as the elands, kudus, and bushbucks—as, indeed, it is on the hypothesis of an Asiatic origin for the whole group.

The scope of this article might be further extended so as to include a discussion of the reason why deer, bears, true swine, and tapirs have always been unrepresented in the Ethiopian fauna. It may be mentioned, by the way, that both ancestral antelopes and ancestral deer are met with in the middle Tertiary deposits of Europe, which is a fact fully in accord with the theory of a migration from Asia to Africa, but very difficult to reconcile with a migration in the opposite direction. We might also take into consideration the extraordinary difference between the Malagasy and the Ethiopian mammalia, and the modes by which this has been brought about. Such discussions would, however, necessarily occupy much space, and would, moreover, to a great extent tend to divert attention from the main issue raised in this article, namely, whether the Huxleyan hypothesis as to the origin of the Ethiopian fauna is true or false.

With certain modifications rendered necessary by the new paleontological discoveries in Egypt, this hypothesis, it may be submitted, not only remains unshaken, but is actually strengthened by the evidence afforded by recent investigations into the past history of the mammalian fauna of the northern half of the eastern hemisphere. At any rate, I venture to think, the onus of demonstrating the falseness of this theory rests entirely with those who

would have us believe that the Dark Continent was the birthplace and the centre of dispersal not only of the majority of the modern larger mammals of the Old World, but likewise of many of those of the western hemisphere.

The question will probably be asked by readers of this article whether there is any trustworthy text-book in which they could find fuller descriptions of the wonderful extinct mammals to which I have had occasion to allude. To this I must reply that, owing to the comparatively recent date at which the extinct Eocene mammals of Upper Egypt were discovered, there is no work of this nature in which they are noticed; and reference must accordingly be made to the original memoirs in which they are described, three of which are quoted in the list at the commencement of the article.

The work standing second in our list is, in the main, a translation of the late Professor Karl von Zittel's invaluable 'Grundzüge der Palæontologie,' which is an abbreviation of the equally well-known 'Handbuch' by the same author. The translation and editing of the English edition have been undertaken by the well-known American paleontologist Dr C. R. Eastman, with the assistance of the author and a number of specialists.

As we learn in the preface to the first volume, it was at first intended to bring out a literal translation of the original work. But palæontology is a constantly progressive science; and, as it was doubtless found that many portions of the original work were more or less out of date, it was resolved, with the assent of Professor Zittel, that a large portion of the translation of the first volume (which is devoted to the invertebrates) should be remodelled, enlarged, and brought as nearly as possible up to date. As a matter of fact, only the chapters on the Protozoa and Colenterata have been left in anything like their original condition; while those on the Molluscoidea, Mollusca, and trilobites have been entirely rewritten.

As being somewhat more akin to the subject of the present article, a rather fuller notice may be given of the second volume, which includes all the vertebrates with the exception of mammals. In this volume we are told in the preface that, while the translation has been carried

out on the same general plan as in its predecessor, with considerable enlargement where necessary, yet, on the whole, the original text has been more closely followed, the classification departing only in a few minor particulars from that adopted in the 'Grundzüge.' Indeed, the chapters on fishes and amphibians are almost in the nature of a literal translation; and it is only in the sections treating of reptiles and birds that we encounter, and then only in places, a marked departure from the original text. In this more conservative spirit we are sure the editor has been well advised.

In securing the services of Dr Smith Woodward of the British Museum, the most eminent authority on the fossil members of that group, for the revision of the fishes, the editor has been specially fortunate. As an example of the manner in which Dr Woodward has discharged his task, we may cite the case of the so-called Palæozoic lamprey, which is left practically as incerta sedis; the wisdom of this being demonstrated by the result of recent investigations.

The amphibian section was revised by Dr E. C. Case, a well-known American authority, who also assisted in the translation of the chapters devoted to the reptiles. In connexion with the latter, the editor deplores the untimely death of the late Professor G. Baur. His place has, however, been filled, so far as possible, by Messrs Hatcher, Osborn, and Williston, whose names are a sufficient guarantee for the manner in which their portions of the great task has been carried out. Birds fell to the lot of Mr F. A. Lucas.

While we cannot refrain from deploring the great changes from the plan of the original made in the first volume, we shall be only expressing the opinion of all palæontologists in emphasising the value and importance of this English edition of the most famous palæontological work that has ever been published. And we shall look forward to welcoming the third and final volume of what must long remain one of the most valuable textbooks of its kind in our language.

R. LYDEKKER.

Art. VIII. THE COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN THE UNITED STATES.

1. Addresses and Presidential Messages of Theodore Roosevelt, 1902-4. With an introduction by H. C. Lodge. New York: Putnam, 1904.

2. Greater America. By A. R. Colquhoun. New York: Harper, 1904.

3. Organised Labour. By John Mitchell. Philadelphia: American Book and Bible House, 1903.

4. The Social Unrest.

Macmillan, 1903.

By J. G. Brooks. New York:

5. Protection in the United States. By A. M. Low. London King, 1904.

IN the Presidential campaign the Republicans have the prestige of office and the advantage of unified organisation. Such disagreements in regard to policy as may exist have, for the present, been settled behind closed doors. They claim that their tenure of power has conferred upon the country at home a new policy in regard to the preservation and reclamation of public lands, more effective regulation of the trusts, and reorganisation of the army and of the militia; abroad, the settlement of the Alaskan boundary dispute, the strengthening of the Monroe doctrine, the establishment of the Cuban Republic, the establishment of civil government in the Philippines, arrangements for an isthmian canal, and successful policy in regard to China.

As for the Democrats, it was eight years ago that their Radical western wing captured the party organisation; and in a fit of frenzied enthusiasm the Democrats declared for free silver. Ever since that time the Democratic leaders, who, for the most part, took up the silver cry simply as a political expedient, have, in their desire for office, endeavoured to shelve this issue. Now the Democratic leaders desire such a reconstruction as will unite the Democrats of the south and west with the Conservative element of the north and east.

Ex-Senator Hill, who stands for political expediency rather than for political principles, has, in the management of the campaign which led to the nomination of Mr Parker, endeavoured to avoid anything which might