1893- NOTES AND COMMENTS. 329 



In regard to one of those belonging to the former genus, the describer 

 observes that specimens may subsequently show a transition from 

 the supposed new form to one which he has previously named S. hosei, 

 in which case the former will have to be reduced to the rank of a 

 variety. Nevertheless, he adds, " in the absence of such intermediate 

 forms, and in view of the great constancy in the coloration of 5. hosei 

 already noted, it seems best to give a name to the striking variation 

 from it now described." We venture to have doubts as to the 

 wisdom of this course. 



Pictures at Brighton. 



It is not often that Art and Science go hand in hand, therefore 

 two collections of pictures now exhibited on loan at the Brighton 

 Corporation Art Gallery are of an unusually interesting and instruc- 

 tive character, from a scientific point of view. The series of African 

 scenes, lent by Mr. Robert White, painted in oils by Mr. Thomas 

 Baines, the well-known explorer, illustrate the geology, zoology, 

 botany, and ethnology of the South and West regions of that 

 continent. The successive river-terraces of the Great Zambesi, and 

 its winding, deep-cut, canon-like gorge, are well depicted by the 

 artist, a brother of Mr. Geddes Baines, discoverer of the Dicynodonts. 

 There is a picture of the spot where remains of one of those extra- 

 ordinary reptiles were first found. Miss C. F. Gordon Gumming 

 exhibits a series of water-colour sketches of Ceylon and Fiji, including a 

 fine set showing the river-terraces, silica-deposits, sulphur, mud, and 

 hot springs of the volcanic district of New Zealand, where the whole 

 aspects of the region were so completely changed by a subsequent 

 convulsion of Nature, that these pictures portray scenes no longer in 

 existence. The luxuriant flora of Ceylon is well illustrated, and 

 there is a capital sketch of the sacred Singalese relic " Buddha's 

 tooth," whether " shed " or " removed " tradition is silent. 



Fauna of the Ploner-See. 



We are glad to welcome the first number of the FoYschungsherichte 

 aus der Biologischen Station zn Plon (Berlin: Friedlander), by Otto 

 Zacharias, the Director. The number opens, as it should do, with a 

 list of the Fauna of the great Ploner-See, the compilation of which 

 has brought to light many new forms, all duly described and figured 

 in the succeeding pages. These include a Rhizopod, a Heliozoan, a 

 Mastigophore, an Infusorian, a Turbellarian, and eight Rotifers. If 

 so good a result is achieved in making up a first list, we may expect 

 a large addition to our knowledge of fresh-water life from the work 

 done at the Biological Station at Plon. 



