72 CURRENT LITERATURE. 



author at times is in doubt as to the distinctness of certain "species," whilst in other 

 cases the t^eneric position is a matter of doubt. All the specimens have been excel- 

 lently described and figured, although in not a few instances reliance has had to be 

 placed upon very secondary characters. — W. E. C. 



NamiaS, J. — Collezione di Molluschi Pliocenici di Castellarquato esistenti nel 

 Museo di Mineralogia e Geologia dell' Universita di Modena. 8vo, pp. 214. 

 Modena: 189S. Reprinted from the Atti Soc. Naturalisti Modena (s. iii), 



vol. XV.) 



This is a copiously annotated synonymic catalogue of such of the species of 

 mollusca from the Pliocene beds near Castellarcjuato as are preserved in the Geolo- 

 gical Museum attached to the University of Modena. 



Castellarquato, which lies between Parma and Piacenza, is a classical spot to the 

 Italian geologist, not much quoted in manuals it is true, though Issel has created 

 the group Piacenzian for the reception of the deposits there. The present ccjllection 

 is the result of the labours of Doderlein. Prof. Pantanelli, and the author, who 

 states that the beds appear to have accumulated in a littoral sea, or one of moderate 

 depth. 



The molluscan remains are as abundant as in our own Crags if not more so, and 

 we have counted (unfortunately they are not numbered) 573 species enumerated in 

 the catalogue, whilst there is a further list of 291 species which have been cited as 

 occurring at Castellarquato, but which are not represented in the museum at Modena. 

 By an oversight Tapes hronni, Mayer, occurs in both, and one would wish that the 

 same classification had been followed in the two lists; but these are minor matters. 

 It is more instructive to compare in certain cases the number cif sjiccies known and 

 reported for a given genus: thus 2 species of I'ccfcn occur in the Modena Museum, 

 whilst 20 others have been recorded, ^hircr appears to be the genus best repre- 

 sented, 19 species being in the collection, whilst Rhaphitoma possibly comes next 

 with 14; on the other hand but two land-shells appear, an indeterminate species of 

 Gla'iidina and Helix brocchii. 



Our author describes 6 new species : Admctc iripUcata (p. 39), Mitra postacuta, 

 and M. pantanelli (p. 43), Dosinia placcntina (p. 169), I'apcs intermcdius (p. 175) 

 and Gaslrana folivsa (p. 195). Seeing that now-a-days the soundness of concho- 

 logical work on the continent may generally be reckoned to be in inverse proportion 

 to the percentage of new species founded, this small number is strong evidence of 

 the good (juality of Prof Namias' work. By a clerical error four species of Scalaridce 

 have " De Boury n. sp." after them; but, as the synonymy shows, these were 

 described by that author in 1S90, and are therefore hardly new. 



Unfortunately our author's new species are not accompanied by figures, and there 

 is no index of any sort to the monograph ; but apart from these drawbacks, the work 

 is a solid contribution to palteontological literature, and Prof. Namias is much to be 

 thanked fur, and congratulated on, its production. — B. B. Woodward. 



Siemiradzki, J. von. — Monographische Beschreibung der Ammonitengattung 

 Perisphinctes. Palaeontographica, 1S99, Bd. xlv, pp. 69 — 352, T. xx — xxvii. 



For some time past Dr. J. v. Siemiradzki has been working at the descent of the 

 Upper Jurassic Ammonites, and this work has led him to a revision of the genus 

 Fcrisphindcs which is so numerously represented in the Upper Jurassic rocks. 

 Founded by Waagen in 1869 as a subgenus of Stcphanoccras and shortly afterwards 

 raised to generic rank by Neumayr, Zittel and Waagen himself, this genus has now 

 become so large that any attempt to classify the forms that have been included in it 

 is not only a very difficult task, but entails a vast amount of labour and research. 

 For the present monograph the author therefore deserves our best thanks. He tells 

 us that in the preparation of the work he has consulted 12S separate publications in 

 German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Polish, and Russian ; and besides his own 

 collection which contains several hundred examples of the genus, he has examined 

 the collections of several private individuals as well as those of various continental 



