228 Book Notice. [yT' 



Nat. 

 XXX. 



Palaeontology — chapters are devoted to Fossil Forms of Plants ; 

 Foraminifera and Radiolaria ; Sponges, Corals, and Graptolites ; 

 Star-fishes, Sea-lilies, and Sea-urchins ; Worms, Sea-mats, and 

 Lamp-shells ; Shell-fish, Trilobites, Crustacea, and Insects ; 

 Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals. To the 

 student perhaps the most satisfactory feature of the work are 

 the excellent illustrations, no less than one hundred and fifty 

 figures being included, a large number of them being original 

 from the author's own negatives, but the number of figures by 

 no means represents the number of species figured, for many of 

 the blocks contain as many as six species, so that a large 

 amount of ground is covered by the illustrations. Another 

 valuable feature is the series of almost exhaustive references 

 given to previous literature. Taking the chapter on Fossil 

 Foraminifera and Radiolaria as an example of the arrangement 

 of the matter, the author first gives a brief description of the 

 foraminifera and their habits, then refers to the principal fossil 

 forms found in the different strata, commencing with the oldest, 

 where few Australasian forms have been found referring to 

 those of other countries. The Radiolaria are treated in a 

 similar way, each being illustrated with figures in the text. 

 Then follows a list of the characteristic fossils of the chapter, 

 giving name, formation, and (broadly) locality, and lastly, the 

 references to the literature of the subject, arranged under 

 formations. A short appendix on the collection and preserva- 

 tion of fossils contains much practical information for the 

 collector. The work is well indexed — 20 pages, double column — ■ 

 a separate locality index being an important feature. An 

 outline map of Australia and New Zealand, giving the principal 

 fossiliferous localities, will be useful to readers at a distance, 

 whose knowledge of Austrahan geography is often somewhat 

 hazy. The volume is well printed and bound, the cover being 

 impressed with a representation of a giant Victorian Trilobite. 

 That the work will become a recognized authority the world 

 over, and a text-book in Australian universities, there can be no 

 doubt. An excellent portrait of the author appears in the 

 Australian Book-Buver for March. 



Wasps' Nests. — A curious choice by some wasps of a place 

 for their nests is given in a recent "Nature Note" in the 

 Argus. The empty bowls of some pipes, in a pipe rack hanging 

 on a wall, had been taken possession of by the wasps, each of 

 the bowls being filled with spiders in a stupefied state, and then 

 cemented over with clay in the manner common to these 

 insects. 



