The Washington times., 1901-12-08
BOOK REVIEWS.
Some of Our Predecessors.

Animals Of the Past is a book Of pop
ular science by Frederic A. Lucas, cura-
tor Of the Division of Comparative Anat-
omy in the United States National Mu-
scum. In IL the various species Of pre-
historic animals are taken up and de-
scribed in a way which will give the aver
age reader as good an idea Of them as
possible Unlike some books intended TO
make science popular, this one is really
scientific as well as interesting. The
use of overt technical terms is avoided,
and the general principles on which the
study of geology has been developed are
SO clucidated that they viii not be diff
cult for the general public to understand.
There are numerous well-chosen illustra-
tiuns. and. in short, the book is as COM
plete and as satisfactory as anything of
the kind can be. 1t will be useful in all
school libraries. and valuable in any fam
fly where there are children beginning
the study of natural science.
The chief objection made to geological
theories by unscientifc people has been
that the proof seems so incomplete. But
Mr.. Lucas answers this objection in his
Introduction. He says. in part:
Even after an object has become fosil-
ICED. il is far from certain that il viii
remain in good condition until found,
while the chance OF its being found at all
is exceedingly small. When we remem-
Der that IL is only here and there that
nature has made the contents OF the rocks
accessible by turning the strata on edge,
heaving them into cliffs or furrowing
,l Ifga
what vast number of pages OF the fossil
record must remain not only unread, but
unseen The wonder is. not that we know
80 little Ct the history of the past, but
that we have learned so much, for, not
only is nature careless in keeping the
records-preserying them mostly in scat
tered fragments but, after they have
been laid away and sealed UP in the rocks,
they are subject to many accidents. Some
specimens get badly fattened by the
weight Of subsequently deposited strata,
others are cracked and twisted by the
movements OF the rocks during periods Of
upheaval or subsistence. and whom, at last,
they are brought to the surface, the same
sun and rain. snow and frost, from which
they once escaped. are ready to renew the
attack and c.umtie even the hard stone
TO fragments. Such. very briefly, are some
Of the methods by which fossils may be
formed, such are some Of the accidents
by which they may be destroyed; but this
description must be taken as a mere out
line and as applying mainly to verte-
brates, or back boned animals, since il is
with them that we shall have to deal.
II may, however, show why IL is that fos-
sils are not more plentiful, why we have
mere hints Of the existence OF many ami
mails, and why myriads Of creatures may
have fiourshed ard passed away without
SO much as leaving trace OF their pres
enee behind
The marvels Of the prehistoric world
will be made remarkably real to the i'm
agination Of the reader by even hasty
perrsal CT this book. and the only sug-
gest;on which might be made as TO its
Improvement is that the index might well
be turned into dictionary of pronuncia-
tion. There are comparatively few people
who wish to attack the pronunciation OF
such names as Triceratops, Phororacos or
Dlplcdocus entirely unassisted. tNew
York Mcclure. Phillips & co. s2.0OD