FIRST EDITION PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1894. 



VOL. IL AMPHIOXUS AND THE ANCESTRY OF 

 THE VERTEBRATES. 



By ARTHUR WILLEY, Sc .D., BalJ 'our Student of 'the University of Cambridge. 

 316 pages. 135 Illustrations. Price, $2.50 net. 



" This important monograph will be welcomed by 

 all students of zoology as a valuable accession to the 

 literature of the theory of descent. More than this, 

 the volume bears internal evidence throughout of 

 painstaking care in bringing together, in exceedingly 

 readable form, all the essential details of the structure 

 and metamorphosis of Amphioxus as worked out by 

 anatomists and embryologists since the time of Pallas, 

 its discoverer. The interesting history of the changes 

 it undergoes during metamorphosis, especially its sin- 

 gular symmetry, is clearly described and ingenious 

 explanations of the phenomena are suggested. Most 

 important, perhaps, are the carefully suggested homol- 

 ogies of the organs of Amphioxus with those of the 

 embryos of the Vertebrates above it in rank, especially 

 those of the Marsipobranchs and Selachians. Though 

 the comparisons with the organisms next below Am- 

 phioxus, such as Ascidians, Balanoglnssus, Cepha- 

 lodiscus, Rhabdopleura, and the Echinoderms, 

 will be found no less interesting. In short, the book 

 may be commended to students already somewhat 

 familiar with zoological facts and principles, as an 

 important one to read. They may thus be brought 

 to appreciate to what an extent the theory of descent 

 is indebted to the patient labors of the zoologists of 



the last forty years for a secure foundation in observed 

 facts, seen in their correlations, according to the com- 

 parative method. . . . The present work contains 

 everything that should be known about Amphioxus, 

 besides a great deal that is advantageous to know 

 about the Tunicata, Balanoglossus, and some other 

 types which come into structural relations with Am- 

 phioxus." 



Professor JOHN A. RYDER, 



in The American Naturalist, Philadelphia. 



" The observations on Amphioxus made before the 

 second half of the present century, amongst which 

 those of Johannes M iiller take a foremost place, showed 

 that this remarkable animal bears certain resemblances 

 to Vertebrates : and since then its interest in this re- 

 spect has gradually become more apparent. ... A 

 consecutive history of the more recent observations 

 was, therefore, greatly needed by those whose oppor- 

 tunities did not permit them to follow out the matter 

 for themselves, and who will welcome a book written 

 in an extremely lucid style by a naturalist who can 

 speak with authority on the subject." 



Professor W. NEWTON PARKER, 



in Nature, London. 



VOL. m. FISHES, LIVING AND FOSSIL. 



AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY. 



By BASHFORD DEAN, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Zoology, Columbia University. 

 300 pages. 344 Illustrations. Price, $2.50 net. 



This work has been prepared to meet the need of the general student for a concise knowledge of the living 

 and extinct Fishes. It covers the recent advances in the comparative anatomy, embryology, and palaeontology 

 of the five larger groups of Lampreys, Sharks, Chimaeroids, Teleostomes, and Dipnoans the aim being to 

 furnish a well-marked ground plan oplchthyology. The figures are mainly original and designed to aid in prac- 

 tical work as well as to illustrate the contrasts in the development of the principal organs through the five groups. 



" The intense specialization which prevails in 

 zoology at the present day can lead to no other result 

 than this, that a well-educated zoologist who becomes 

 a student of one group is in a few years quite left 

 behind by the student of other groups. Books, 

 therefore, like those of Mr. Dean are necessary for 

 zoologists at large." 



The Atheneeum, London. 



" Dr. Bashford Dean is known to zoologists, first, 

 as the author of exhaustive and critical articles in the 

 publications of the United States Fish Commission, 

 on the systems of oyster culture pursued in Europe, 

 and, secondly, as an embryologist who has lately been 

 doing good work on the development of various Ga- 

 noid fishes and the comparison that may be instituted 

 with Teleostei. His recent addition to the well-known 

 ' Columbia University Biological Series," now being 

 brought out by The Macmillan Company, under the 

 editorship of Professor H. F. Osborn, is an interesting 

 volume upon fishes, in which considerable prominence 

 is given to the fossil forms, and the whole subject is 

 presented to us from the point of view of the evolu- 

 tionist. This is the characteristic feature of the book. 

 From the very first page of the introduction to the 

 last page in the volume, preceding the index, which 

 is a table of the supposed descent of the groups of 

 fishes, the book is full of the spirit and the language 

 of evolution." Professor W. A. HERDMAN, 



in Nature, London. 



" The length to which this review has extended 

 must be evidence of the importance of Dr. Dean's 



work. The suggestions here offered may be of use 

 for another edition. That another may be called for, 

 we may hope. For the work as it is, and for the care 

 and thought bestowed on it, our thanks are due." 

 THEODORE GILL, 



in Science, New York. 



" L'ouvrage de M. Bashford Dean nous parait fait 

 avec soin; les illustrations sont excellentes et tres 

 nombreuses, et il merite le meilleur accueil de la part 

 des zoologistes." 



CH. BRONGNIART, 



in Le Revue Scientifique, Paris. 



" For the first time in the history of Ichthyology, 

 students are now provided with an elementary hand- 

 book affording a general view of the whole subject. . . . 

 The last sixty pages of the volume are devoted to 

 a list of derivations of proper names, a copious bibli- 

 ography, and a series of illustrated tabular statements 

 of the anatomical characters of the great groups of 

 fishes. These sections bear signs of having been 

 prepared most carefully and laboriously, and form an 

 admirable appendix for purposes of reference. There 

 will be much difference of opinion among specialists 

 as to the value of some of the tables and the judgment 

 pronounced by the author; but we have detected a 

 very small proportion of errors for so bold an enter- 

 prise, and students of the lower Vertebrata are much 

 indebted to Dr. Dean for an invaluable compendium." 

 ARTHUR SMITH WOODWARD, 



in Natural Science, London. 



