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| Title | The Story of Reptile Life |
| Author | Pycraft, W. P. FZS ALS &c. |
| Asset Number | 00483 |
| Publisher | George Newnes Ltd. |
| ISBN | |
| Published Date | 1905 |
| Edition | 1 |
| Printing | 1 |
| Description | Pictorial hardcover. Bindings and boards tight.
Inscribed: To my old trusted friend John Norton from Warwick Cheney 5/3/63.
THIS is a valuable addition to the "Newnes' Library of Useful Stories." Mr. Pycraft not only writes in a readable and entertaining style, but also has the happy faculty of selecting precisely those facts which enable him to expound general principles. The "Story of Reptile Life" is not an elementary book of natural history in the ordinary sense, but the outline of a really scientific treatise which is not too technical, to be understood by a beginner. After some introductory remarks explaining that he has to deal with a race "whose glory has departed," the author proceeds to describe each of the groups of surviving reptiles, with some reference to their immediate ancestors as revealed by fossils. In each chapter he treats first of the most salient points in anatomy, and then proceeds to select a few of the more important living species for detailed notice. The account of the existing reptiles is followed by two chapters on domestic life and reptilian liveries. The book then concludes with chapters on the extinct flying reptiles, land reptiles, and sea. reptiles. We have detected no serious errors, though it is difficult to accept all the author's speculations concerning some of the extinct forms, and there are more misprints than ought to be. The book also lacks adequate illustrations. It is, however, a worthy sequel to Mr. Pycraft's earlier "stories" of birds and fishes, and we hope he may soon complete the series by a final volume on the mammals.
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| Category | Life Science |
| Epoch | Victorian/Edwardian |
| Date Acquired | 31/05/2022 |
| Condition | (2) Very Good |
