,s^, NOTES AND COMMENTS. 647 



The recent proposal for the establishment of a biological labora- 

 tory beside the reefs of Barbadoes seems to make little progress 

 towards realisation. The announcement that a large monograph 

 upon the Australian Barrier Reef is now in the press is, therefore, 

 very welcome, especially when we know that it comes from the pen 

 of so experienced a zoologist as Mr. Saville Kent.' As the fishery 

 inspector of several of the Australian colonies, Mr. Saville Kent has 

 had ample opportunities to make himself acquainted with the marine 

 fauna of that continent ; and during three years' investigation for the 

 Queensland Government of the fisheries on the reefs, he has had 

 exceptional facilities for the study of its fauna and the mode of its 

 formation. Mr. Saville Kent is well-known to zoologists as an 

 authority on the Protozoa, Sponges, and Coelenterata, and we may, 

 therefore, hope to learn much upon each of these groups. As the 

 author has, however, been engaged upon official enquiries, we must 

 expect that a large proportion of the volume will be devoted to 

 economic questions, such as the development of the fisheries. These 

 are extremely varied and valuable, including fish, oysters, pearls, 

 mother-of-pearl, trepang, sponges, dugong, and turtle. 



The work will be illustrated by 16 coloured quarto plates and 

 48 plates in photomezzotype. By the courtesy of the publishers we 

 have been allowed to see these, and to reproduce one as an 

 example. The coloured plates have all been copied from paintings 

 from nature by the author, so that their accuracy may be relied 

 on. They illustrate the fauna of the reefs, and those showing the 

 corals in the natural colours of life will be of especial value. 

 Probably, however, the most important of the plates are the repro- 

 ductions of photographs of the reef grounds, showing not only 

 great areas exposed at low tide, but also submerged parts of the 

 reefs. Among these, we may especially remark the plate of 

 Skull Reef, showing a wide expanse of coral grounds, and one of Jelly 

 Mould Reef, showing a great diversity of coral genera, including the 

 branching Madrepora, the globular masses of Pontes, and the large clumps 

 of various Astreans. Another plate shows a fine series of typical genera, 

 among which we recognise Mussa, Agaricia, Fungia, Galaxea, and 

 Madrepora. 



One of the most interesting plates to geologists is that giving 

 a view of an inshore reef when living, and one when eroded. The 

 destruction of the specimens of Madrepora, Porites, and Millepora, 

 and the persistence of the rounded banks and clumps of the Astreans 

 is very striking. 



Photographs of living coral reefs have been made before ; one 

 taken by the Hon. R. Abercromby, at Feejee, is well-known through 

 the enlarged copy in the coral gallery in the British (Natural 

 History) Museum. Mr. Saville Kent's photographs are, however, 



1 The Great Barrier Reef of Australia; its Products and Potentialities. By 

 W. Saville Kent, F.L.S. Announced by Messrs. W. H. Allen & Co. 



