TJie Scottish Naturalist. 87 



ists the desirability of giving more thought to a subject which would add im- 

 mense interest to their studies, but which has been too generally neglected — 

 viz. , the origin and causes of distribution of faunas and floras. ' Prehistoric 

 Europe ' shows clearly and distinctly the main lines on which the distribu- 

 tion has taken place, and points out the causes thereof. It is open to every 

 naturalist to work out, for his own country or district, the details which, 

 carefully and conscientiously studied, cannot fail to throw a ray of light upon 

 much that is yet obscure. 



The London Catalogue of British Mosses and Hepatics. Published under 

 the direction of the Botanical Record Club. 2d Edition. London : David 

 Bogue. 1 88 1. 



So far as a neat " get-up" this catalogue leaves little to be desired, and 

 will doubtless be found useful for "marking desiderata in exchanges of speci- 

 mens," and even as an index to ' British Herbaria.' Exception, however, 

 may be taken to an infringement of the rules of botanical nomenclature, inas- 

 much as the compilers have adopted the method of zoologists in quoting after 

 the name of a species the author who first described the species, even though 

 it has been removed to a genus subsequently founded. For example, Rhab- 

 doweissia fugax Hedw. and R. dentiadata Brid., though both Hedwig and 

 Bridel describe the species as belonging to Weissia, and it was not till long 

 afterwards that Bruch and Schimper founded the genus Rhabdazueissia. 

 Zoologists hold that it is correct to write R. fugax Hedwig, but botanists 

 say that it must be written R. fugax Bruch and Schimper, and whether this 

 be right or wrong, we think it is a pity that the compilers of this catalogue 

 have not conformed to the rules by which the majority of botanists have 

 bound themselves. The catalogue of Hepatics is equally open to -criticism in 

 this respect. Another weak point in the catalogue is the attempt to indicate 

 the distribution of each species. This is done by affixing to each the num- 

 bers of the " Watsonian provinces" from which it has been recorded. It is 

 very right that all care should be taken not to include any provinces without 

 good grounds, but that does not account for the extraordinary omissions that 

 have been made. Hence no dependence can be placed on this part of the 

 list as throwing any light upon the distribution of Mosses in Britain. 



A List of British Birds. Compiled by H. W. Marsden, Gloucester. Pub- 

 lished by the Compiler. 1881. 



The Graduated List of British Birds, specially compiled for Lahelling 

 Eggs. Same Compiler and Publisher. 



The ' ' List has been compiled with the view of giving to Ornithologists and 

 Oologists a reliable list of the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland ; resident 

 and migratory, and occasional and accidental visitors. " It is well printed, 

 and, so far as we have observed, generally correct, and ought therefore to fulfil 

 its object. It may be noticed that no mention is made of Pants britannicus 

 and Acredicla rosea, which all ornithologists are not however agreed in con- 

 sidering distinct from P. ater and A. caudata. On the other hand, one or 

 two species whose occurrence in Britain has never been proved are included 

 in the list. The " Graduated List " gives the names (English) in such sizes of 

 type as will permit of a labelled name being stuck upon every egg, no matter 

 how small it may be, and will prove useful to those who think it is desirable 

 to label their eggs. 



