20 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



Pilsbry, Henry A — Tryon's Manual of Conchology, scr. ii, vol. xv. (pt. 58), 

 pp. 49-1-28, pis. 16-34. Philadelphia : Academy of Natural Sciences. 



Continuing tlie genus Coelocentrmn, a further new species, C. exlex, is 

 described and figured. The genus Holospira, Marts., is next dealt with. 

 Dr. I'ilsbry remarks that these snails are capable of enduring great heat. 

 Living examples of H. strebeliana and H. nelsoni survived immersion in 

 actually boiling water for some minutes, and, unlike other snails, they did 

 not retract in the water. Some account of the anatomy of the genus is given 

 and illustrated. The kidney is long and narrow, being slightly longer than 

 the pericardium. Apparently there is no secondary ureter. The genera- 

 tive organs are characterised by the short penis, long vas deferens, the 

 great length of the oviduct and (in //. nelsoni) the receptacular duct also 

 and the absence of accessory organs. The free retractor muscles are exces- 

 sively long, attached proximally to the axis at about the junction of the cone 

 with the cylindrical portion of the shell. The following species are new : 

 II. tetrelasmus (xMexico) ; //. nelsoni (Sierra Guadalupe, Mexico), a species 

 resembling H. teres, Mke. ; //. dalli, from the same locality, is an extra- 

 ordinary species, in which the internal column is wider than in any other 

 known form of the genus, and //. strebeliana, a species chiefly remark- 

 able for its long, cylindrical, many-whorled shell, very blunt at the ends. 



Passing next to the Urocoptinae, a short sunnnary of the leading anato- 

 mical features of the genus Urocoptis, Beck, is given, while the following 

 species, etc., are new : U. lata, C.li.Ad., var. antunionis, var. manchionea- 

 lensis, subsp. ichnostele ; U. ovata, Deshaycs, var. sanctaeannae, and 

 U. hendersoni. 



A word of praise nuist be gisen to the illustrations, \\hich arc certainly 

 above the average. 



Ortmann, A. E.— P^ei^orts of the Princeton University Expeditions 

 to Patagonia, 1896-1899 ; vol. iv, Pakcontology— Part II. Tertiary 

 Invertebrates. 1902, pp. 45-332, pis. xi-xxxiv. 

 To most readers the associations of the name of J. Pierpont Morgan lie 

 " in the steamship in the railway, in the thoughts that shake mankind," 

 rather " than in the march of mind." We remark with pleasure and grati- 

 tude the notification on the title-page of the bulky volume before us that 

 this millionaire defrayed all charges. 



Dr. Ortmann's report is framed on broad lines. Instead of the usual 

 list of species collected and diagnoses of novelties, we have received a complete 

 monograph of the subject. The history of the Tertiary moUusca of South 

 America commenced Avith Darwin's visit in the " Peagle," and concludes 

 with Hatcher's investigations. From the Patagonian beds are enumerated 

 132 molluscs and brachiopods. All the species, new and old, are described 



