46 CURRENT LITERATURE. 



SYSTEMATIC WORK. 



Aldrich, T. H. — " Descriptions of two new Eocene Solariidae from Alabama," 

 Naut., ix., 1895, pp. 1-2, pi. 



A var. oi Solarium daboratum and Sohiii'iiin plani/onuc. 

 Cockerell, T. D. A.— [See under " Fausa " : — Vci'on!Ci;!la in Central 

 America."] 



Professor Cockerell points out how important it is, in describing new 

 species of this somewhat difficult genus, to have "at least a dozen mature 

 examples of each species," as " there is danger of taking varietal characteristics 

 for specific ones." Notes are given on V. oUvacea, Stearns, 1871 ; V. morelcti, 

 Crosse & Fischer, 1S72 ; V. mexicana, Pfr. and Strebel, 1873 ; V. strebellii, 

 Semp., 1885 (?) ; and V. dccipiens, Semp., 1885 (?). Two forms in the British 

 Museum are described, but for the present left un-named ; these are (i) 

 Vcvonicclla, sp. nov., vel. mcxican.i, var., Honduras; (2) VeroniceUa, sp. nov., 

 vel. punctatissiina, sub-sp., Panama. It seems that Heyneman has written 

 "nov. sp. ? " on the first. Judging from the descriptions of the above- 

 mentioned specimens, we doubt very much their right to specific distinction. 



W. E. C. 



Cooper, J. G.— [See under "Palaeontology" ;— Pliocene F. W. Fossils of 

 California.] 

 Margaritana suh-angulata, n. sp. 

 Cooper, J. G. — [See under " Fauna " : — Mollusca of Lower California] 



Melaniella tastensis, n. sp. 

 Dall, W. H. — " An undescribed Mercti'ix from Florida." Naut., ix., 1895, 

 pp. lO-II. 

 Meretvix siinpsoni. 



Dall, W. H. — "Contributions to the Tertiary Fauna of Florida: Part iii. 

 A new classification of the Pelecypoda." Trans. Wagner Free Inst., 

 1895, vol. iii., pt. 3, pp. 485-570- 



" In preparing the descriptive portion relating to different groups of the 

 Pelecypoda, a point was reached when it became necessary to consider the 

 general arrangement. As recent morphological and palaeontological studies 

 have thrown a new light on the relations of the I-'elecypoda, necessitating a 

 revision of the earlier systems, and as a complete revision is nowhere 

 accessible in print, it was thought that a statement of the characters chiefly 

 relied on for classifying these animals, with comparable diagnoses of the 

 several families in zoological order, would be useful for students of 

 Palaeontology, and might form a proper introduction to the descriptive 

 part of this memoir." 



The above is Dr. Dall's own introduction to this most useful and valuable 

 revision of the Pelecypoda of Florida, which, like all his writings, is 

 characterised by a lucidity and thoroughness only too rare amongst students 

 of the Mollusca. As our space does not permit of any lengthy review, it is 

 sufficient to say that no student interested in either recent or fossil Mollusca, 

 can afford to overlook so important a contribution, while those working at the 

 Pelec3'poda will welcome it as a most useful and valuable work. 



A series of "Notes on Nomenclature" on pages 561-565 is well worth 

 reading. W. E. C. 



Dall, W. H. — " New species of land shells from the Galapagos Islands." 

 Naut., viii., 1895, PP- 126-127. No fig. 

 Bnlimulus (Naesiotits) rcibischii and Biilhnulus (Nacsiotus) fanneri. 



Dall, W. H. — " New species of land shells from Puget Sound." Naut., viii., 

 1895, pp. 129-130. 



New species : — Patulastra ? {Punctum ?) pugetensis and Pyramidula P 

 randolphii. 



