Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/210

182 expect that the publication will be accepted as a finality in classification, but at least it will rank as a zoological fin de siècle.

The work is written wholly in German, and will thus prove a trial to many English zoologists, though the smattering of a language sufficient to read a zoological description is not very difficult to acquire. We English are bad linguists, and prefer translations where possible; but we are not alone, for even Strauss not only praised Schlegel's translations of Shakspeare and Calderon, but wrote: "We Germans can read in translations all that has been produced since nearly three thousand years, from the Ganges to the Tagus." It is possible, however, that some future linguistic latitude may be allowed, as among the list of promised contributors we notice the names of both English and French naturalists.

However, this feature will not remove the necessity of every working zoologist consulting at least the parts which relate to his own special studies.