126 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



NOTES ON SOME ADDITIONS TO THE BOTANY OF AYRSHIRE. By 

 A. Gilchrist. Annals of Kilinarnock Glen field Ramblers' Society, 

 1901-4, pp. 37-42. 



THE GREATEST TREES OF THE KILMARNOCK DISTRICT, WITH 

 THEIR ASSOCIATIONS. By D. Landsborough. Annals G. K. R. 

 Soc., 1901-4, pp. 20-36. 



ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF AYRSHIRE FERNS. By A. Laing. 

 Annals K. G. R. Soc., 1901-4, p. 43. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



THE CAMBRIDGE NATURAL HISTORY. Vol. VII. HEMICHOR- 

 DATA. By S. F. Harmer, Sc.D., F.R.S. ; ASCIDIANS and AM- 

 PHIOXUS, by W. A. Herdman, D.Sc., F.R.S. ; FISHES, by T. W. 

 Bridge, Sc.D., F.R.S. ; and G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. (London : 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1904.) 



This volume fills an important want in modern natural history 

 literature. Many years have elapsed since a comprehensive treatise 

 on Fishes has been issued by the British press, and many, great, and 

 far-reaching have been the discoveries made relating to this great 

 and varied Class of Vertebrates in the interval. Of the present 

 volume no less than 589 pages are devoted to the consideration of 

 Fishes, wherein their systematic position, external characters, 

 skeleton, internal organisation, muscular and nervous systems, 

 classification, and finally their systematic treatment under Subclasses, 

 Orders, Suborders, Families, and Subfamilies, both fossil and recent, 

 are dealt with. Under these numerous sections a vast amount of 

 information is afforded ; and Professor Bridge is to be congratulated 

 on having secured the co-operation and assistance of such eminent 

 specialists as Mr. Boulenger and Dr. Traquair. 



The treatment of the other groups covered by the volume leaves 

 little or nothing to be desired. Professor Herdman is well known 

 as the leading authority on the Ascidians, and his treatment of 

 their anatomy, life- history, and classification is thorough and 

 masterly. 



Dr. Harmer's contribution deals with a smaller group, but it is 

 nevertheless an important one, for his section comprises, among 

 other marine forms, the famous Balanoglossus, whose position in the 

 animal kingdom as an ancestor of vertebrates has made that worm- 

 like creature famous in the annals of natural history. 



The volume is the most bulky of the series yet issued, for it runs 

 to no less than 760 pages; and its illustrations are excellent, chiefly 

 original, and 440 in number. 



