i895. SOME NEW BOOKS. 425 



In the chapter on the geographical distribution of the OHgochaeta, 

 the author first describes the factors, which may be the cause of the 

 migrations of the terrestrial forms (our knowledge about aquatic forms 

 is, in this respect, much too scanty). Allolohophova Kud LumhvicHshe\or\g 

 to the most widespread species, then follow Endrilus eugenicv, Pontoscolex 

 corethrnrus, and some species of Perichata. In respect to species, the 

 Nearctic and Palaearctic regions show the greatest similarity. This is 

 also true of the Oriental and Australian forms ; here the Crypto- 

 drilidae and Perichaetidee are the principal forms. The Neotropic and 

 Ethiopic regions are the richest in genera (15, 11), the Oriental and 

 Australian are almost equal, then comes the Palffiarctic (4, 5), and, 

 finally, the Nearctic. 



Writing of the classification of the OHgochaeta, Beddard starts 

 with the comparison of the characters of Claparede's groups, Limicolae 

 and Terricolse, with the family Moniligastridae, and states with 

 justice that these earthworms are a family of the Limicolae, which, 

 following Benham, he describes as Microdrili. Equivalent to this 

 group are the two remaining Megadrili of Benham (Terricolae sens, str.) 

 and the Aphanoneura of the reviewer, which division may be deemed a 

 very happy one. That the last-named group of the Aphanoneura 

 takes the lowest place among the OHgochaeta — lower, indeed, than the 

 so-called " Archiannelida " — has been already stated by the reviewer. 

 On the other hand, it is very hard to agree v/ith Beddard's view that 

 the Phreoryctidae represent one of the primitive families of the Micro- 

 drili. The chief representatives of this family, PJireovyctcs menkeamis 

 and P. filiformis, are very little known in respect of their sexual organs, 

 and P. sinithi must perhaps be referred to some other genus than 

 Phreoryctes. In the same way, the derivation of the remaining families 

 of earthworms does not seem permissible to the reviewer, especially as 

 the Naidomorpha represent a much earlier group than the rest, from 

 which the Tubificidae, Enchytraeidae, and Lumbriculidae can easily be 

 derived. The Chaetogastridae, a very distinct and characteristic 

 family, which at any rate can easily be derived from the Naido- 

 morpha, Beddard, without reason, associates with the latter ; and, on 

 the other hand, he gives no reasons why the Discodrilidae (with 

 BranchiohdeUa) are separated from the system of the OHgochaeta. 

 Even the description of the individual genera of Naidomorpha, which 

 are much better characterised than the modern genera of Enchy- 

 traiida;, seems to the reviewer not allowable. In this respect — but in 

 this only — Beddard's system will have to be revised; in other respects 

 his book represents a model monograph, which all future workers 

 must consult, whether they intend to work at the morphology of 

 animals or to advance the special study of the OHgochaeta. 



Prague University. F. \'ejdovskv. 



A Would-be Legislator. 



The Migration of British Birds, Including their Post-Glacial Emigrations as 

 Traced by the Application of a New Law of Dispersal, being a Contribution to 

 the Study of Migration, Geographical Distribution, and Insular Faunas. By 

 Charles Dixon. Pp. 320, with maps. London ; Chapman &. Hall, 1895. 

 Price 7s. 6d. 



Mr. Charles Dixon, or his publisher, is a good-natured man, willing 

 to relieve the reviewer of the tedium of reading his book ; for there 

 is inserted behind the title-page an agreeable little printed slip — a 

 skeleton review in which the main points of the book and their im- 

 portance are pleasantly set forth. We must reluctantly decline, 



