REVIEWS 707 



as typical of the class of research carried on under the direction of Dr. H. M. 

 Smith, the able Commissioner of Fisheries of the United States. 



Mr. Mast's paper refers to the changes that occur in the shade, colour, and 

 pattern in fishes, with special reference to their extent and biological significance, 

 and the factors involved in their production. These changes are classed as 

 psychic, sexual, and adaptive. The paper, which is magnificently illustrated (19 

 plates), is, unlike many technical contributions to zoology, of considerable general 

 interest, and likely to appeal to other than professional naturalists. Mr. Mast 

 experimented with two American flounders, Paralichthys and Ancylopsetta, keep- 

 ing them under various conditions of background and light. Full details of the 

 experiments, and a summary of results, are given. It is hardly necessary to say 

 that a careful perusal of this work is indispensable to all students of protective 

 coloration or colour-changes in animals. All the Documents published by the 

 United States Bureau of Fisheries may be obtained from the Superintendent of 

 Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., and in the 

 case of those under review, at the prices stated above. We must congratulate 

 Mr. Mast on a most valuable contribution to the subject. 



Now that scale examination is fashionable, fishery experts all over the world 

 will welcome Mr. Taylor's paper. Taking as material the Squeteague (Cynoscion 

 regalis) and the Pigfish (Orthopristis chrysopterus), Mr. Taylor investigates the 

 scale characters employed in the determination of life-history, their origin, con- 

 stancy, bearing on life-history, the various methods of detecting them, together 

 with other observations not closely allied to the main subject. From a practical 

 fishery standpoint an important section of his work is that devoted to the applica- 

 tion of scale characters to age determination. Although Mr. Taylor deals with 

 species not known in Europe, his conclusions are of considerable general interest, 

 if, indeed, conclusions they can be called, since the last word has by no means 

 been said on the subject. 



Dr. Coker gives an account of the Fairport Fisheries Biological Station, ot 

 which institution he was formerly Director. Fairport is situated on the Mississippi 

 River about half-way between St. Paul and the mouth of the Ohio, and conse- 

 quently is devoted to the investigation of problems concerning fresh-water fish. 

 It is not to the credit of British Fishery Administration that no similar institution 

 exists in the British Isles. Of course, the fresh-water fish and fisheries of the 

 United States are quite unlike those of the British Isles, and some of the ques- 

 tions which loom large in the former country, e.g. mussel propagation, are not met 

 with here. Nevertheless the fresh-water fish and fisheries of this country are of 

 sufficient importance to justify the erection and equipment of a station devoted to 

 their investigation. In this connection a description of the buildings and equip- 

 ment at Fairport is valuable. 



The paper by Dr. Kuntz, like the two first, is a contribution from the United 

 States Fisheries Biological Station, Beaufort, N.C. It deals with the fertilised 

 egg and early development of five American Teleosts. Students of Teleostean 

 development will be interested to compare the stages with closely allied European 

 or Asiatic forms. J. T. J. 



The Hunting Wasps. By J. Henri Fabre. Translated by Alexander 



Teixeira de Mattos, F.Z.S. [Pp. ix + 393.] (London : Hodder & 



Stoughton, 1916. Price 6s. net.) 



The present volume is a further instalment in the series of translations of the 



works of J. Henri Fabre, and is in the main from vol. i. of his Souvenirs Entomo- 



