l895 . SOME NEW BOOKS. 63 



less than 12 Annual Reports, 20 Monographs, and 99 Bulletins (subse- 

 quently increased by this present batch) have been issued, a fact 

 which is highly creditable both to the Geological Survey and to the 

 United States Government. The generous methods of distribution 

 are explained in full, and a comprehensive index is added to the 

 volume. 



Dr. Bowdler Sharpe and Mr. C. W. Wyatt have completed their 

 " Monograph of the Hirundinidae, or family of Swallows," the first part 

 of which appeared in September, 1885. The last parts (xviii., xix., and 

 xx.), issued as one, appeared in October, and contained in addition to 

 the completion of the text, a detailed paper on the geographical distri- 

 bution of these birds, and an account of the literature of the subject. 

 In this bibliography the authors have carefully explained the books 

 referred to, and given a critical account of the species of each 

 author, as well as an identification when necessary of the birds 

 figured. Careful and elaborate digests of literature such as these 

 are invaluable, and until they are done in every group there will still 

 be much groping in the dark. 



Mr. Stanford has issued "A Catalogue of Atlases, Books, and other 

 Publications," October, 1894. The Index to Authors supplied at the 

 end is a most commendable institution. The firm of Nijhoff, of the 

 Hague, also send Catalogue no. 255, containing books on Spain, 

 Portugal, and the Philippines. Many of the items relate to works on 

 the languages of the Eastern Spanish Possessions. We have 

 received from Messrs. Dulau & Co., of 37 Soho Square, London, a 

 Catalogue containing the titles of over 1,500 works on the Anatomy, 

 Morphology, and Physiology of Plants ; and a similar Catalogue 

 devoted to Crystallography, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and Mining. 



Periodicals and Excerpts. 



We have received from Dr. Michaelsen an interesting excerpt from 

 " Die Tierwelt Ost-Afrika's " upon the earthworms of East Central 

 Africa, in the neighbourhood of Albert Edward Nyanza. We fully 

 agree with Michaelsen's prefatory remarks in which he says that this 

 group of animals " offers the most weighty documents for the 

 history of continents and oceans," and we sympathise also with his 

 lament that it is so difficult to get people to collect them. To secure a 

 worthless horn or two of some totally uninteresting antelope a 

 travelling naturalist will cheerfully risk life again and again ; but 

 it is hard to induce him to stop and pick up the worm at his feet. 

 There is an innate belief that nothing which is abundant and easy to 

 get can be of interest. It so happens that tropical Africa has yielded 

 quite the most interesting animals belonging to this class, to our 

 knowledge of which Dr. Michaelsen has largely added on this as on 

 former occasions. The curious family Eudrilidae, which teem with 

 new and unexpected anatomical characters, often of more than 

 family importance, are the principal inhabitants of tropical Africa, 

 both east and west. In the present paper two new genera of this 

 family, which are named Unyoria and Eminoscolex, are described and 

 well illustrated, besides new species of the characteristically East 

 African genera, Polytoreutus and Stnhhnannia. 



