158 The I?ish Naturalist. July, 



seeing that the tubers, leaves, and the stalks of the inflorescences have 



been shown to be so. What their effect on rabbits might be could only 



be ascertained by trial. 



As regards the evolution of heat by the upper portion of the spadix, 



this was first recorded by Lamarck in 1777. This organ contains, when 



the spathe is unfolding, a large quantit}' of starch in its cells, and by the 



rapid oxidation of this starch by breathing, the temperature of the air 



within the spathe has been found at certain times to be many degrees 



above that of the surrounding atmosphere. The literature on this 



matter will be found fully referred to in Pfeffer's " Physiology of 



Plants." 



Gko. H. Pethybridge. 

 Royal College of Science, Dublin. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Lankester's Treatise on Zoology. 



In the June number of the Irish Natmalist, " R. F. S.'" in his appreci- 

 ative review of Dr. Caiman's vohime on Crustacea in Sir Ray Lankester's 

 " Treatise on Zoology," repeats a criticism that has been made ))y 

 several reviewers of several volumes in this series, to the effect that the 

 work does not deal sufficiently with geographical distribution, habits, 

 and economic relations. 



Having been made responsible by Sir Ra}- Lankester for the first 

 volume that was published of his "Treatise," I think I may venture to 

 say that his intention, which we contributors have followed out to the 

 best of our ability, was that the work should be essentially a systematic 

 zoolog)' on modern lines, that is to sa}', taking into account evolutionarj- 

 and phylogenetic principles, and necessaril}' incorporating the extinct 

 with the living forms in one scheme of classification. Facts, whether 

 morphological, physiological, bionomic, or economic, that have no 

 obvious bearing on taxonomy, have therefore no place in such a work. 

 Many habits or economic details of considerable interest and importance 

 are found only in single species, and when the groups dealt with are 

 so large that it is barely possible even to mention all the genera by 

 name, it is clearly impossible to give specific details, however interesting 

 to the general reader. 



Another reason for the omission of the facts desiderated by " R, F. S." 



is that there was already in course of publication the admiralde 



Cambridge Natural Histor}-, which made an account of such facts its 



chief aim. When my own volume was criticised for similar omissions, 



I did not think it worth while to repeat the explanation already given 



in the prospectus, but since such criticisms continue, it may once again 



be pointed out that, the object of the " Treatise on Zoology " is not to 



compete with but to complement existing "Morphologies" and 



"Natural Histories" in the English language. 



F. A. Bather. 

 British Museum. 



