Le Chamois, by Marcel A. J. Couturier. 4 to., xi + 855 pages, with 110 tables, 15 x-rays, 473 illustrations from photographs, 34 maps, bibliography and indices. Grenoble: B. Arthaud, 1938.

Although the author brought out his monumental work on the chamois almost three years ago, few copies have reached this country. But it is by all odds the most important book dealing with rupricapra.

Part I, comprising more than half of the book, contains a minute description of the chamois, from x-rays of the embryo to variants of the adult horn, as well as its distribution in ancient and modern times. There is a discussion of fossil remains, geographic variations, maladies and parasites. Interesting sections deal with the chamois in history, art, numismatics and heraldry. Part II sums up the external life of the chamois, its terrain, nutrition and annual cycle. Part III presents the methods of the chase, game-laws governing it, followed by engaging short biographies of early hunters (from Maximilian I to Colani) and their equipment. The bibliography concluding the book contains 1064 items.