Welsh Journals

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Systematic Dictionary of Mammals of the World. By MAURICE BURTON, Museum Press Ltd., London. 307 pages. 1962. 35s. As late Deputy Keeper at the British Museum (Natural His- tory) the author obtained a close insight into the classification of the world's mammals. He has arranged them systematically under orders and families, with notes on general characters, habits, habitat, food, breeding, present status, range, longevity, and special comments and statistics. Illustrations cover a considerable number of the species listed. A concise and useful work of reference. R.M.L. The Wonderful World of Nature. Constable and Co., Ltd., and Longman Green and Co., Toronto. 214 pages. 1962. 32s. 6d. This beautiful book contains 300 photographs and illustrations of fauna and flora. Part of the proceeds from the sale of this superbly attractive pictorial record are being given to the World Wildlife Fund. Some 60 wildlife photographers have contributed. The English text is by Mary Phillips, and the introduction by Edwin May Teale. As a gift book to a lover of nature it can hardly be excelled at the price. Quite apart from the good cause to which profits are given, the excellence of the photographs, many in colour and many enlargements of insect and plant life, makes this book worth double its sale price. R.M.L. Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behaviour. By V. C. WYNNE- EDWARDS. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. 635 pages. 1962. 55s. In this thick volume the author puts forward what is claimed as a novel point of view. Briefly, the social and gregarious be- haviour of animals, hitherto unexplained and including the functions of male adornment and sexual selection, are seen as being the means of providing conventional forms of competition. These discoveries even throw light on conventional human behaviour. Even if the author is really saying what has been said already in other words on the natural self-regulation of animal populations, including human tribes, by various types of conven- tional behaviour, the book is highly interesting and a valuable contribution to our knowledge of a subject which, in a world men- aced by rapidly expanding human numbers, it is necessary for all to understand. The author has covered an immense field in search of material to illustrate this theme of social behaviour and population balance, from the lower Cambrian evidence, protozoa,