LITERARY NOTICES. 



S6i 



facts which the expeditions have added to 

 knowledge, separating them according to 

 their classes, and relating those of each class 

 topically. Mr. Agassiz may call himself a 

 veteran in thalassographic work, for his con- 

 nection with it began in 1849, when, as a 

 boy, he accompanied Prof. Agassiz in his 

 cruise of the Bibb off Nantucket. He aft- 

 erward, in 1851, served as the professor's aid 

 in his survey of the Florida Reef. After- 

 ward he reported upon a part of the collec- 

 tions made by Pourtales in the Bibb in deep 

 water in 1867-68. Since then he been al- 

 most continuously engaged on deep-sea work. 

 In the brief chapter in which is embodied 

 the narrative of the expeditions are given 

 some observations, with pertinent illustra- 

 tions, on the physiognomy and structure of 

 the smaller West India Islands. In the first 

 volume, after a full account of the equip- 

 ment of the Blake for its work, including 

 Sigsbee's improvement in sounding-appara- 

 tus, and a " Historical Sketch of Deep-Sea 

 Work," the characteristic features are gen- 

 eral discussions of the fundamental facts 

 and principles ascertained in the research. 

 The chapter on "The Florida Reefs" em- 

 bodies a study of the manner in which the 

 peninsula of Florida and its hemming reefs 

 originated and have come to their present 

 condition — in which Darwin's theory of cor- 

 al reefs is found not to apply. Next is con- 

 sidered the " Topography of the Eastern 

 Coast of the North American Continent," of 

 which only the most general features were 

 known before the explorations of the Blake. 

 The further presentation of the general prin- 

 ciples comprises the discussion of such top- 

 ics as the " Relations of the American and 

 West Indian Fauna and Flora " ; " The Per- 

 manence of Continents and of Oceanic Ba- 

 sins " ; " Deep - Sea Formations " ; " The 

 Deep - Sea Fauna " ; " The Pelagic Fauna 

 and Flora " ; " Temperatures of the Carib- 

 bean, Gulf of Mexico, and Western Atlan- 

 tic " ; " The Gulf Stream " ; " Submarine 

 Deposits " ; and the " Physiology of Deep- 

 Sea Life." All these papers are of great 

 physiographical importance, and present at 

 considerable length and in detail the re- 

 sults obtained by the Blake expeditions, 

 supplemented by those derrived from the 

 Challenger and other investigations. The 

 second volume is occupied with fuller and 

 VOL. xxxiii. — 36 



specific descriptions of the various forms of 

 deep-sea life obtained by the surveys and 

 dredgings, beginning with a summary re- 

 view of the " West Indian Fauna," and con- 

 tinued with chapters, illustrated by original 

 figures, either prepared for this work or bor- 

 rowed from the office of the Coast Survey, 

 on "The Fishes," "Crustacea," "Worms," 

 " Mollusks," " Echinoderms," "Acalephs," 

 " Polyps, " " Rhizopods," and " Sponges." 

 The essentials to every good book, a list 

 of figures and an index, are not forgotten, 

 but are given in a full and satsfactory style. 



American Fishes. By G. Brown Goode. Il- 

 lustrated. New York : Standard Book Co. 

 Pp. 496. Price, $5. 



The rule which has guided Prof. Goode 

 in selecting, from the 1,750 species indige- 

 nous to our waters, the fishes to be described 

 in this book, is to include " every North 

 American fish which is likely to be of inter- 

 est to the general reader, either because of 

 its gameness or its economic uses." The. 

 author gives the physical features of each, 

 fish, tells its range and season, its habits in 

 regard to feeding, migration, and breeding,, 

 with something about methods of capture,, 

 and value as food. Mingled with these facts 

 is much curious information about the differ- 

 ent names of fish in different places, many 

 exciting fishing adventures, and appropriate 

 quotations in prose and verse from Izaak 

 Walton and other writers, both old and re- 

 cent. " This volume has been prepared," 

 says Prof. Goode, in his prologue,, " for the 

 use of the angler, the lover of nature, and 

 the general reader. It is not intended for 

 naturalists, and the technicalities of zoologi- 

 cal description have therefore been avoided. . 

 ... A figure of almost every species dis- 

 cussed is presented, by the aid of which any 

 one interested in fishes can determine the 

 correct zoological name of the form before 

 him." To prevent a possible mistake as to 

 the scope of the work it may be well to re- 

 peat the author's caution that it contains 

 "no discussions of rods, reels, lines, hooks, 

 and flies, and no instructions concerning 

 camping out, excursions, routes, guides, and 

 hotels." The field occupied, however, is 

 wide enough to make the book interesting 

 to a large circle of readers, and its reliability 

 may be inferred from the author's intimate 



