i66 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October 



the 271 pag-es of this work only those who have attempted launistic 

 lists can realise. True, it is largely drudg-ery : but it is pioneer 

 work without which no future progress is possible. That a larg-e 

 proportion of the species of Spong^es, Echinoderms, Worms, 

 Hydroids, Mollusks, Crustaceans, Ascidians, etc., have passed 

 through the author's own hands — a considerable proportion dredged 

 by himself, is clear from the references : but in the preparation of 

 so ambitious a list as that covering the invertebrate fauna of our 

 Atlantic coast, reliance has also been placed upon the reports 

 published by various United States workers, and many of the de- 

 terminations of these workers are already undergoing revision. 

 It seems, for instance, hardly credible that our Atlantic waters can 

 boast at least nine distinct species of Spirorbis, the sedentary, 

 almost ectoparasitic, habits of this Polychgete, when adult, favour- 

 ing variations in the form and physical characteristics of its coiled 

 tube, which may not justify the creation of so many species. As 

 Verrill has pertinently remarked, and Dr. Whiteaves quotes the 

 observation on p. 68, "The animals of the various species of 

 Spirorbis are still very imperfectly known, and many species have 

 been described from the tubes alone. Accurate descriptions or 

 figures of the animals are necessary before the species can be de- 

 termined satisfactorily." The Marine Biological Station founded 

 in 1898 by the Dominion Government, freely opening its doors to 

 all qualified scientific workers in the Dominion, will no doubt 

 render substantial aid in confirming or in correcting current diag- 

 noses of such species, a station of this character facilitating the 

 study of the animals in a living or, at least, in a fresh condition, 

 and providing the needed facilities for the accurate determination 

 of species. It is revealing no secret to say that several marine 

 invertebrates and vertebrates secured by the staff of the Canadian 

 Station at St. Andrews, N.B., in 1899 and 1890, and at Canso in 

 1 901, are not referable to any recognized Canadian species, and 

 will of necessity be announced as additions to oar marine fauna. 

 A Priapuliis dredged at Canso last August did not appear to re- 

 semble any known Canadian species.*" But while such additions 



* Dr. Whiteaves appears to be in doubt as to the identity of the specimens 

 he secured in adjacent N. S. waters, and places a query after Priapnlus caii- 

 datus. Lmk. (p. 89). 



