1896. SOME NEW BOOKS. 337 



glacial classic, and no one interested in the long controversy on the 

 nature of glaciers, and the cause of their movements, can afford to 

 ignore it. It is true that most of the second part of the volume was 

 re-issued in an abridged and somewhat more popular form, in 

 Tyndall's " Forms of Water " ; but for advanced students, the original 

 and longer discussion of the subject is to be preferred. The accounts 

 of Tyndall's Alpine ascents, given in the iirst part of the book, are of 

 great interest, though, perhaps, not equal to the author's " Hours of 

 Exercise in the Alps." The present edition has a, greatly improved 

 index, but otherwise Mrs. Tyndall has wisely left the text unaltered. 

 A short introductory chapter on the advances made in the subject 

 since the first edition would have been extremely useful, as the volume 

 will, no doubt, find its way into the hands of many visitors to 

 Switzerland who know nothing of later researches. 



Plankton Pelecypods. 

 Die Acephalen der Plankton-Expedition (Ergebnisse der... Plankton-Expedition 

 der Humboldt Stiftung, etc. Bd. ii., F.e.). Von Dr. H. Simroth. Pp. 44, 3 pis. 

 Kiel and Leipzig, 1896. 



We have on a previous occasion (vol. viii., p. 343) called attention to 

 the section of this work by the same distinguished author, treating of 

 the gastropod forms, mostly larval, met with on the Plankton 

 Expedition; the present part, though much smaller, is conducted on 

 the same lines and with the same care. 



With one exception the Pelecypoda prove to be larval forms 

 belonging to taxodont, desmodont, and probably other groups. 

 Most of them had passed the velar stage, and were dimyarian and 

 integropallial. The greater number were probably pelagic only by 

 accident, and exhibited no special adaptation for the life. Nor did the 

 only perfectly formed bivalve met with, Planktomya henseni, n.gen. et 

 sp., though its foot was largely aborted. This truly pelagic little 

 mollusc is only from -5 to '75 mm. in length, and occurs in the warmer 

 regions of the Atlantic. Its shell appears to be destitute of lime. 



Prefixed to the paper, which contains many points of great 

 interest not limited to its subject matter, is a chapter, with a table, on 

 the development of the different groups of Mollusca under different 

 conditions of environment. Among other forms tabulated one is 

 surprised to find that mythical monster, the 'hypothetical primitive 

 mollusc,' and to learn that it dwelt between tide-marks and in the 

 littoral zone, while its larval form was hemipelagic. 



New Serials. 



It is a genuine pleasure to observe how steadily the study of 

 Ornithology is gaining ground in the United States. The Osprey is 

 the youngest of American magazines, but it has left the eyrie under 

 happy auspices. It is edited by Walter A. Johnson and Dr. A. C. 

 Murchison, and published at 217 Main Street, Galesburg, 111. The 

 papers contributed to the first number, issued in September last, 

 embrace a variety of subjects, including a paper on Terns, an 

 admirable essay on the " Nesting of the Ferruginous Buzzard," and 

 other reports of useful field-work. An interesting feature of this 

 journal is to be found in the picturesque photographs which are 

 reproduced in its pages. We are glad to observe that The Osprey " is 

 not a money-making scheme, nor wholly dependent upon the first 

 year's receipts." We congratulate the editors upon the plucky start 

 which they have accomplished, and trust that their venture will 

 receive wide support. 



