ii8 llie Irish Naturalist. [May, 



reach of Croaghaun (2,192 feet), and we promised ourselves a 

 glorious day on the crest of its famous sea-cliffs when we 

 turned in that night. We had a lively day's work, though not 

 quite what we had expected, for when Tuesday morning broke 

 a half gale was blowing from the west, with frequent bursts of 

 rain, and the clouds lay heavy on the flanks of Croaghaun 

 down to 300 feet above sea-level. It was manifestly impossible 

 to sta}' fuming within doors in such weather, so we started for 

 the mountain armed with waterproofs and a compass, and felt 

 our way to the top by bearings taken from the shores of 

 Loughacorrymore. The last half hour's .struggle up the final 

 scree, on all fours against the powerful blast, was inspiriting, 

 but botanising was far from easy, and the only result achieved 

 here was a high station for Hymenophyll^im tunbridgense, which 

 we found in good fruit at 1,900 feet. The alpine species 

 observed numbered but three : — A^xtostaphylos Uva-ziisi, 

 J2i7iiperus na7ia, and Car ex 7'igida. 



We came back to Dooagh by way of Keem Bay and the fine 

 cliff road, held a Gaelic symposium that night, at which the 

 local '* men of light and leading " attended to read and discuss 

 Dr. Hyde's folk-tales in the vernacular, and on the morrow 

 turned our faces regretfully towards the east and civilization. 



Rathmines, DubHn. 



STARFISHES AND THEIR RELATIONS. 

 A Treatise on Zoologry. Edited by E. Ray Lankester, LL-D., 

 F.R.S. Part III. The Echlnoderma. By F. A. Bathrr, M.A. ; 

 J. W. Gregory, D.Sc, and E. S. Goodrich, M.A. Loudon: Adam 

 and Charles Black, 1900. Pp. viii. -f- 334. 15^. net. 



Ten years ago it was difficult to find an English work which gave a 

 good account of general zoology, and those in use were mostly 

 translations from the German. But a number of general works on this 

 subject have been published within recent 3^ears, so that things have very 

 much changed now. The difficulty at present seems rather to know 

 which one to choose among the number of books written by British 

 authors. What is known as the " type-system " of zoological work has 

 been much in vogue for some years, and the market is now well supplied 

 with books containing minute descriptions of one species or " type " out 

 of every large group of animals, everything else being condensed to the 

 utmost. 



