108 Bibliographical Notice. 
details respecting localities. It does not, however, include descrip- 
tions of the families, genera, or species, and is unillustrated. On 
the contrary, in the present volume we find short diagnoses of the 
various groups and species, and a woodcut of a typical species of 
each generic and sectional group, but no complete synonymy, merely 
a reference to the original descriptions and M. Locard’s and a few 
other works. Precise habitats are not quoted, but only the parti- 
cular sea in which the various forms occur, and the bathymetrical 
distribution is indicated by three zones, namely the littoral, the 
herbaceous (=laminarian), and the coralline. 
The classification adopted is practically the same in both works, 
but we notice a few omissions and alterations. For example, no 
mention is made of the families Xenophorids and Siphonariide, 
both of which occur in the ‘ Prodrome.’ The genus Jsocardia is re- 
moved from the Cardiide to the Cyprinids, Circe and Astarte from 
the Cyprinide to the Astartide, Galeomma from Kelliidee to Galeom- 
mide, Spondylus from Ostreide to Spondylide, and in the Brachio- 
poda Megathyris, Cistella, and Thecidea are placed in the family 
Megathyridee instead of Terebratulidee. 
In the first hundred pages, which are a fair sample of the rest, 
we observe that half a dozen genera and about ten species occurring 
in the ‘ Prodrome’ are here abandoned ; at least eight species are 
placed in different genera, and in about a dozen instances the names 
of species have been changed. We also find about twenty so-called 
new species and at least twenty-five others not contained in the 
‘Prodrome’ ! 
This excessive multiplication of species could not occur anywhere 
except in France—for that is the special function of the “ Nouvelle 
école”” in that country. By all serious conchologists this practice is 
strongly condemned, and no opportunity should be lost of loudly 
protesting against it. What is more ridiculous than the supposition 
that within the last five or six years M. Locard has discovered about 
a hundred and sixty species of Mollusca (one seventh of the total 
number in the book!) from the shores of France, which have escaped 
the attention of his compatriots and others for a hundred years ? 
This is the only work as yet published which contains descriptions 
(albeit they are too brief and inadequate) of all the known shells 
met with on the French coast. It consists of 384 pages of text and 
is illustrated with 348 fairly good woodcuts. 
No reference whatever is made to the soft parts or animals, and 
the shell-bearing species only are treated of; consequently such 
groups as the Cephalopoda, Nudibranchiata, Pteropoda, Heteropoda, 
and a few others are entirely disregarded. ‘These are serious 
omissions to scientific students, for whom, however, the work is 
probably less intended than for shell-collectors. 
In conclusion, we cannot commend this volume as possessing any 
special scientific value, nor is it in any way comparable with the 
works of Forbes and Hanley and Jeffreys on the Mollusca of the 
British coasts. 
