192 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



teen uncoloured Plates. By Prof. W. C. M'Intosh, M.D., F.R.S., 

 etc. Ray Society, 1908. 



It is with genuine pleasure that we call attention to the issue 

 of a further part the second dealing with the Polychaeta of 

 Prof. M'lntosh's great Monograph. Needless to say, the high 

 standard of excellence which characterised its predecessors has been 

 fully maintained. Clear and ample descriptions of the families, 

 genera (29), and species (75, several of them new), together with 

 an extensive synonymy, information as to habitats, distribution, re- 

 production, etc., occupy the 232 quarto pages of text. Considera- 

 tion of the classification of the Polychaeta is reserved for the 

 summary. The author claims that amongst the marine bristle- 

 worms are to be found some " of the most beautifully ornamented 

 invertebrates ; indeed, many vie with the gaudy tints of butterflies 

 and birds or the burnished splendour of beetles," a dictum which, 

 we think, no one who looks at the beautiful plates will dispute. 

 The paucity of localities cited, while due to some extent, no doubt, 

 to a reluctance on the part of the author to accept records which he 

 is unable to verify, shows how much there is still to be done in 

 working out the distribution of this group of animals on our coasts. 

 The publication of the Monograph, the next part of which, it is 

 gratifying to learn, " lies ready for printer and lithographer," will, let 

 us hope, lead to a rapid accumulation of data on this aspect of the 

 subject. W. E. 



