l86 CURRENT LITERATURE. 



Godfrey, R. — Scpiola ronddctii (Leach) in the Firth of Forth. Ann. Scott. 

 Nat. Hist., 1900, p. 125. 



KellOg'g', J. L. — Tiie Ciliary Mechanism in the Branchial Chamber of the 

 I'elecypoda. Science, N.S. vol. xi, pp. 172 — 173. 



Pilsbry, Henpy A. — Note on the Australian Pupidae. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 I'hila., 1900, pp. 426 — 430, figs. I — 5. 



Four genera of this family are represented, of which one, Cyliiulrovertilla, is 

 known from Australia and New Caledonia only, the remaining three — Piqwides, 

 Pupa and Bijidarla — being widely distributed. So far as their Australian distri- 

 bution is concerned, they agree with the Epiphallogonous Helices and probably 

 reached Australia by the same land connection and at the same time, from the 

 northward. 



Pilsbry, Henry A. — Note on Polynesian and East Indian Pupidae. Proc. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Phila., 1900, pp. 431 — 433. 



Dr. Pilsbry removes the Madeiran group Staurodon of Lowe from the nomen- 

 clature of Oriental Pupidae. In referring East Indian forms to this group undue 

 weight has, he thinks, been given to a mere analogy. Four groups are recognised, 

 viz. Bijiditria, Sterki, Cy/iudrover/JUa, Bttgr. . Cusligo, Btlgr., and Xcsojmpa, Pils. 

 (type N. tantilla, Gld.) In this latter gnnip two sections are defined Ncsiqnqm ss., 

 and Lyropupa, nov. (type N. lyrala, Gld.). 



Pilsbry, Henry A. — Additions to the Japanese Land snail fauna — 11. Proc. 

 Acad. Nat. .Sci. Phila., 1900, pp. 443—448, pi. xiv. 



The new forms are Clausilia Jiakoneiisis, C. awajiensis, C. subaurantiaca, C. 

 aulacophora, C. hirasci, C. hyperoptyx, and C japonica var. surugae. 



Ihering, H. von. — On the South American Species of Mytilidae. Proc. Malac. 

 Soc. Lond., 1900, vol. iv, pp. 84 — 98. 



Dr. von Ihering here gives an excellent summary and classification of the 

 American Mytilidae, a family which embraces two very difficult genera — Mytilus, 

 L., and Modiolus, Lam. This family has previously attracted the attention of one 

 of the most distinguished students of the Pelccypoda, Dr. W. H. Dall ; and is now 

 no less fortunate in having so able an exponent as the author of the present paper. 



The great reliance whhich has been placed upon the position of the umbones, 

 and the presence or absence of teeth, is here regarded in a much less important 

 light; and the sculpture c;f the shell, and the presence or absence and ptjsiiion of 

 the shell muscles are taken into consideration. In this particular feature the author 

 differs from Dr. Dall ; but it should be remembered that since part 4 of the 

 "Tertiary Fauna of Florida " was published (1S98). Dr. Dall himself is less 

 inclined to attach the same importance to such characters, indeed, judging by his 

 very apt remarks upon the "dentition" of the hinge in the Lejytonacca (see this 

 Journal p. 76), such characters are quite secondary. 



While the present grouping seems to be an advance on any previously published, 

 we must confess our surprise that all the characters of the actual mollusc, excepting 

 the shell muscles, are entirely ignored. It is surely very evident that shell characters 

 alone are unreliable, and we doubt very much if upon such, we can ever expect to 

 see a classification which will indicate the phylogenetic relationships of any class or 

 group of molluscs. 



The following subgenera are new: Eumytlius, n. n. ( = Mytilus, s. s. ), type 

 M. cdulis, L. ; trichomya, type M. hirsutus, Lam. ; Eumodiolus, n. n. { — Modiolus, 

 s. s. ), type M. Tnodiolus, L. — W. E. C. 



