112 AMERICAN JOURNAL 



NOTICES AND REVIEWS 



NEW CONCHOLOGICAL WORKS 



BY GEO. W. TRYON, JR. 



I.— AMERICAN. 



Proceedings of the Portland Society of Natural History. Vol. 1. 



Part 2, 18G9. 



The Clio borealis 07i the coast of 3Iaine. By Dr. W. Wood. 



This rare arctic visitant of our shores was detected at Port- 

 land from the beginning of April until May 7th, 1868. Its 

 appearance is described to the unusual severity of the season. 

 There is no record of its occurrence in our waters previously 

 since 1833, when it was observed in the vicinity of New York. 



Observations on the genus Unio ; together with Descriptions of new 

 species in the family Unionidae, and Descriptions of new^ species 

 of the Melanidee and Paludinae. By Isaac Lea, L.L.D. Vol. xii. 

 (With 26 plates). 1869. 



Tivelve volumes almost entirely devoted to the description 

 and illustration of new species in a single family of fluviatile 

 mollusca ! Over forty years of the life of a gentleman of liberal 

 culture — an active and successful business man withal — almost 

 unremittingly devoted to the study of fresh-water clams ! The 

 general public still scoff and cry cui-hono ? and men with a 

 smattering of science admit the service done by Dr. Lea as a 

 contribution of facts to the sum of human knowledge, but object 

 that he has ridden his hobby entirely too hard, and has made 

 species where there are no differences. It is unfortunate for 

 Dr. Lea's popular reputation that these critics have not a better 



