140 NATURAL SCIENCE. Feb., 



modify the statement that it was so named " in order to distinguish 

 it from the Ichthyosmivus, and to record the fact that it was more 

 nearly alHed to the hzard than the latter." What exact signification 

 the author may attach to the term the lizard, we are, of course, quite 

 unaware, but the sentence as it stands is certainly misleading to the 

 uninstructed. Again, on page 58, we are totally at a loss to imagine 

 what special resemblance the Plesiosaur presents to " the strange 

 Ornithorhynchus " (with which term, of course, all the readers of the 

 book would be perfectly familiar ! ), If the author had written 

 Ichthyosaur instead of Plesiosaur, there mij.,dit have been something 

 in the statement. 



Before leaving the subject of reptiles, we should like to know 

 why the author retains the name Colossochelys for the giant extinct 

 Indian Tortoise, seeing that it has been conclusively shown to be 

 inseparable from Testudo ; and we also think he would have been better 

 advised had he made no mention of the grossly-exaggerated restora- 

 tion of its shell which still disfigures the fossil reptile gallery of the 

 British Museum. Indeed, the whole fable of the mythological Indian 

 tortoise, which Falconer sought to identify with this fossil, might well 

 have been consigned to the oblivion it merits. 



Two plates are devoted to birds, the one representing the 

 toothed Hesperornis of the North American Cretaceous, and the other 

 two of the New Zealand Moas. In representing Hesperornis with a 

 steganopodous foot, that is to say, with the hallux connected with 

 the other toes by a web, the artist has certainly no justification, 

 this feature being at variance with the colymbine affinities of the 

 genus. Here, then, we again meet with an instance where the 

 author's want of acquaintance with the most ordinary facts of 

 zoology has rendered him unfit for the task of supervision. We 

 do not, of course, mean to assert definitely that this bird may not 

 have had all the toes joined by membrane ; but since its osteology is 

 so close to that of Colymbns, it is probable that the hallux was separate, 

 and it should have been restored accordingly. That the author 

 adopts the view that the extermination of the Moas took place during 

 the period that man has inhabited New Zealand, is evident from 

 his plate ; we regret, however, to find that he has not seen fit to 

 follow the view of all living authorities on the subject that the two 

 species of these birds selected for illustration belong to widely dif- 

 ferent genera. 



In regard to mammals, we have not much to remark. One of 

 the most striking illustrations is that of the Glyptodont in plate xviii. 

 (herewith reproduced), where the proper form of the tail is given. 

 Readers of the work are, however, likely to be somewhat puzzled on 

 finding another member of the same genus depicted on page 174 with 

 a totally different tail ; and in common fairness they ought to have 

 been informed that in this case the tail belongs to a totally different 

 animal from that to which the carapace pertained. We do not, more- 



