204 NATURAL SCIENCE [September 



played a marvellous zeal in the hunting up of ancient literature and 

 the compilation of synonymies, but have not greatly assisted the 

 student ; others again have been dry lists of specimens, jotted down 

 in haste and repented of at leisure, but having at least this merit, 

 that they told us what material the Museum contained. 



The present volume seems to us to combine the advantages, with- 

 out the defects, of those predecessors to which we have referred. The 

 descriptions of the species are most carefully drawn up, each being 

 based, where possible, on examination of the type-specimen itself, and 

 following a uniform plan, which greatly facilitates comparison. A 

 useful diagram explains the terms employed. The difficulty of 

 describing the all-important suture-line has been avoided by giving 

 a tracing made from an actual specimen, if possible the type. There 

 are also woodcuts of specimens, many of them from original drawings 

 by Miss G. M. Woodward. The references to literature, in the form 

 of lists of synonyma, are carefully done, but occupy a disproportionate 

 space. When a species has never received more than one specific 

 name, e.g., Prolecanites becheri, it seems unnecessary to trace this 

 through all the obvious genera, such as Ammonites and Goniatites, to 

 which it has been referred by older authors, including the compilers 

 of text-books and nomenclators. The information is useful, but might 

 be put in less compass. Finally, this is a true catalogue ; every 

 specimen in the Museum is mentioned in such a way that it can be 

 identified, and the number under which it is entered in the Museum 

 lists or registers is printed. Thus the foreign student can gauge pre- 

 cisely the wealth of the collection, can tell whether what he wants to 

 see is contained in it, and on reaching the Museum can ask for the 

 definite specimen he requires. 



One or two improvements may be suggested for future volumes of 

 this and other catalogues. The statements of locality are misleading : 

 under each species comes a series of statements made with reference 

 to the species in general, including the usual size attained. After 

 "Size" follow "Form, and Log" These, however, refer not to the 

 species, but to the particular specimens in the Museum. It would be 

 better to give the general geological and geographical distribution of 

 the species, and to refer to definite localities under the individual 

 specimens, as is already done in cases where more than one locality 

 is represented. It would be well to draw more forcible attention to 

 the type-specimens, e.g., by broad-faced type, also to distinguish 

 cotypes, paratypes, and the rest. It is good to know the names of 

 donors, especially when they are such men as J. E. Lee and John 

 Kofe ; but it would also be good in other cases to know the names of 

 those from whom specimens have been purchased, since these must 

 often have been geologists of repute, whose statements of locality and 

 the like would be of more value than those of an ordinary dealer or 

 inefficient collector. It is sad to see how many specimens are entered 

 with "History unhwivn" and of how many others " Transferred from 

 Mas. Pract. Gcol." the necessary details are not recorded; but this is 

 no fault of Messrs Foord & Crick. 



A catalogue is not a text-book ; nevertheless the Catalogues of 

 the British Museum have come to be looked for by us outsiders as 

 likely to introduce some improved system, and to unravel the tangle 



