OF CONCHOLOGY. 173 



NOTICES AND REVIEWS 



OP 



NEW CONCHOLOGICAL WORKS 



BY GEO. W. TRYON, JR. 



I.— AMERICAN. 



Laud and Fresh Water Shells of North America. Part 1. Pul- 

 monata Geophila. By Wm. G. Binney and Thomas Bland. 8vo., 

 316 pp. Smithsouiau lustitution, Washington, D. C, February, 1869. 



This work is in many respects a decided improvement on the 

 former volumes of the series, prepared by Mr. Binney for the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The descriptions are full and accurate, 

 and the wood-cut illustrations, numbering over 500, are entitled 

 to the strongest commendation. The gravest objection which 

 can be urged against the book is that Mr. Binney's well-known 

 (and in many cases commendable) conservatism having induced 

 him to place in the synonymy of. the old^ species many of those 

 recently described, instead of quoting in such cases the de- 

 scriptions, and giving figures of such supposed synonyms, as in 

 his former works, he has omitted both, thus compelling most of 

 his readers to accept his decisions as final, because no opportu- 

 nity is afi'orded for tho exercise of individual judgment. I must 

 also protest against the practice of many authors to write spe- 

 cific names, complfmentary to individuals, with small initial let- 

 ters, when those who gave the names used capitals : thus I 

 object to being quoted for Succinea greerii, because I wrote it 

 G-reerii. If Mr. Binney thinks the use of the small initial 



