Animal Life in WinterReview by: W. J. HamiltonThe Scientific Monthly, Vol. 50, No. 5 (May, 1940), pp. 464-465Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/17131 .

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464 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

the price of copra rose to four hundred dollars a ton. This was paid for in 90 per cent. white flour and refined sugar and 10 per cent. cloth and clothing. Dental decay made its appearance for the first time. When, after the war, the price of copra dropped to four dollars per ton and the trading ships no longer called, tooth decay stopped.

There is much in this book besides the foregoing, which some might consider self-evident. Dr. and Mrs. Price have been to out-of-the-way places, which the white man rarely reaches. This was an essential part of their program. The description of tribal customs and taboos makes the volume a travelogue of great interest not only to students of dietetics but to all whose interests include the habits and customs of mankind in all parts of the world.

Although the volume may be read with profit there are points which are subject to criticism. Dr. Price has carefully studied the oral cavities of the inhabi- tants of those remote regions. He is a dean among American dentists, and none would question his findings. But in his conclusions he goes much farther than the observations warrant, attributing both physical and moral deterioration and demoralization of the white man to present-day dietary deficiencies. At a time when a Lombroso 's stigmata of degeneracy are passing into the discard, he presents a new series of stigmata, summarized in under-development and mal-development of the bones of the middle part of the face. He presents confirmatory evidence in his study of modern criminals, but very little in the way of comparison with non-criminals or normal controls. Although reason tells us that there may be much to what he says, his conclusions are not justified by the evidence presented. Unfortu- nately, Dr. Price presents his conclu- sions, as generalizations, in the intro- ductory chapters. As a consequence a critical reader is apt to become slightly dubious after the first few pages.

One who starts his reading at chapter three will discover a most interesting travelogue with a discussion of the effect of the modern dietary on tooth decay and certain facial deformities, which should be provocative of real concern. In the concluding chapters one will find generalizations which are at least food for thought.

WARREN T. VAUGHAN

ANIMAL LIFE IN WINTER' IT is a lamentable fact that naturalists

seem to prefer the cloistered library or fireside during the winter months and do not rouse from their lethargy until the first red-wings pronounce that spring is at hand. Then there ensues a mad scramble to make for the fields and woods, to study animals during their altogether too brief reproductive period. With the approach of cold weather out- door science is soon forgotten and the field notebook, camera and collecting kits are laid aside until another spring.

There is no longer reason for this winter lassitude. Dr. Morgan 's "Field Book of Animals in Winter" has opened an entire new vista, previously known to a privileged few. Her scholarly ac- count of the winter habits of animals generally, from the sponge colonies of swift-flowing brooks to the dormant woodchuck in his subterranean chamber, should prove of interest to the profes- sional biologist and the layman alike. No longer can one excuse himself from winter field work by stating that there is nothing to see nor study.

The volume sets forth in some detail the devices used for meeting the inhos- pitable winter season and how animals migrate, either from the tree-tops to the leaf mold below, or shun completely the snow and ice by retiring to more tem- perate climes. The subject of hiberna- tion is treated adequately, and an able discussion is set forth on winter com-

1 Field Bookh of Animals in Winter. By Ann Haven Morgan. 16mo. 283 illustrations. 4 colored plates. $3.50. 1939. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

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BOOKS ON SCIENCE FOR LAYM EN 465

rniunities of land animals and the sea- sonal changes inL fresh water and its ani- nmal inhabitants. Nineteen chapters are devoted to the fresh-water sponges, hydras, flatworimis and planarians, roti- fers, bryozoans, annelids, leeches, crus- taceans, insects (both land and aquatic) spiders, molluses and the vertebrates. The nmany illustrations from the author's camera and facile pen are guarantee enough that she knows the animals of which she writes so well.

In a volulmie of this magnitude, errors obviously are inevitable; the wonder is that there are so few. The author (p. 365), quoting Benedict, states that wood- chucks nmay actually gain weight during hibernation. I-t has long been estab- lished that, under niatural conditions, all hibernating manmmuals lose considerable weight. On pages 25 and 427, the red squirrel is said to hibernate, although it is said not to hiberinate on page 465. The latter statement is correct. On page 431 we read that hay has been found in the winter burrows of woodchucks, thus inmplying that they store food, which is not true. The star-nosed mole does not imate in November (page 442) but has a breeding season similar to that of other mnoles, in the spring. Sorex cinereus personatus (p. 443) should read Sorex cinereus cinereus. The marten, like muany other mustelids, exhibits delayed implantation and mates in late July or August, but never in January (page 453). The muskrat house is not "a dome of mud overlaid with cat-tail stems and weeds" (page 472), in fact, little mud is used in its construction. -Several plates in Chapt;er 25 should be credited to the Journal of Mamnmalogy and not the American Journal of Mammalogy. While Cox has shown that tlle snowshoe hare emigrates, such movements are not comparable to t;he great lemming migra- tions of Europe (page 477). Mild win- ters are not particularly inducive to breeding; it is questionable whether cot- tontail rabbits breed the year round where winters are mild (page 478). But

these are all minor errors, an-d do not detract in any ineasure from the value of this book. Some might wish for a plate or two of tracks; a feature which would add to the interest of winter hikes.

Every nature lover, whether he be a professional zoologist or school child, will profit from reading this book. It should find a place in every school library.

W. J. HAMILTON, JR.

TREES AND MAN' WHEN one realizes that the continents

were carpeted and forested for millions of years with mosses and ferns, or fern- like vegetation, a number of speculations come to mind. Olle of these is; what forms of animal life would now stalk the earth (or creep over its surface) if the seed plant had never evolved? Would the appearance of Man have been pos- sible, or having taken his place with animal life, what would be the present status of Man if there were no fruit-bear- ing or wood-producing plants? How could Man have adapted himself to a life where only ferns or fern-like trees were the dominant vegetation? Cer- tainly the entire physical, physiological, psychic and economic history of the organism known as Man and his present- day institutions would be vastly different if only these simple plants provided his food and materials.

Pertinent to such a question one might speculate a little further and inquire into what Man's present status would be if only plants with seeds borne in cones (Gymnosperms) had evolved. How dif- ferent would be the food problems of Man to-day; our farm problems (if any) ; our trade agreements on foodstuffs; our diet, if we had no fruit-bearing plants (An- giosperms) nor the multitudinous sub- stances obtained from the seeds of such plants (either directly or indirectly).

One of the achievements of Lamb's re- 1 Book of the Broadleaf Trees. By Frank H.

Lamb. Illustrated. 367 pp. $3.75. 1939. W. W. Nortoni and Company.

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