if 74 



NATURE 



[A 



I 'I' II. 



6, 191 1 



w hich (?jves us a very complete and critical review of 



,ll| (lie f.Kls 1,1 tlir |.ll\ siu|i,;^\ <if ni,ri.(liicti<iii. l! 

 uill iii.i!<c .1 \\i-\\ ■• iiiin|)ln--i.|| pl.Ki." .1- llii- AiiK-ti- 

 t .111-- ^.i\ ■-, ill ii-..iMli, .iikI il i-. iiii.n ..'> I r. .idiiiii .il>l\ 

 wiillcii. .\-> ,111 iiiiini III , ■ ' 1 . I il. -i - ! 111. ■ Il Is ;is 

 iiiirrrsiin- ;is .1 nu\<i," i " li'" 'i ^^ '" 



|„ 1m-1|) 1,. .ill lli..~. w no .11 ' .MM .iO\ \\orkint4 



,11 11 I. ;iii(l .1 sliimiliis to fiH(>ur;ij.ir in'w 



U(.ii,.i . I nr will! is inlcirsiid in htrcdiii^ 



we v,,,iil(l . .1 lliis li.M.k. ili(in;;li it is 11. it, 



lui\M-\fr, ill .in>. s. iisi- .1 |i.i|iiil,ir uiuk. 



,s ( M / / / I /■/;/( I \ ( /vW s / I ( /■. 1 . 



/l);»Nl/s ~'\ tin' •^•'lllll \ln,(UI \|l(^r■unl. \nl. \l., 



|),iri i\-.. (1: Cinrral ( '<il,th'i;ii,' nl >.-;//// Ajiirdu 

 Criistiircd (|i;iri \. nl S..\. ( 'nisnuci , lor llic 

 Marine I in rsi ii^.ii imis in Snutli .Mric.i). I>\ the 

 Rev. T. R. K. sirliliini.;. J-'.R.S. l^- ■'>'' .S't.v 

 plates \\ wii. |('a|)e Town: South .Miican 

 .Mus.uin; I.oikIoii: \\ esi , Newman, and Co., 

 i()io.) I''rire Jj.v. 



I\ the siiuh ol the j;( oi^r.iphical distribution of 

 111, nine animals, ccrlain rei^ioiis are ot s|)ecial 

 sii.;niruaiuc tiom the jaet that they lie on ihc border- 

 lines briween eonlrasiicl launal areas, and offer, or 

 in.i\ ha\c olTered in the past, possible routes of 

 niii;iaiion from one lo the other. One of these 

 (ritiral regions is found at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 where the faunas of the Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific, 

 and tile L;reat southern oceans meet and, to some 

 extent, overla|). 



In recent \(ais murli information regarding the 

 fauna of the Cape seas has been obtained in the 

 course of investigations conducted under the super- 

 intendence of Dr. J. D. F. Gilchrist for the Cape 

 Government, and published under the general title of 

 "Marine Investigations in South Africa." To this 

 series Mr. Stebbing has already contributed four im- 

 port.int nuinoirs on the Crustacea. In a fifth memoir, 

 now published, he brings together the results of his 

 own work and that of his predecessors who have 

 dealt with this groups of animals, in a " (ieneral Cata- 

 logue of South African Crustacea," including^ the 

 freshwater and terrestrial as well as the marine 

 species. 



In the present state of faunistic carcinologv it is 

 hardly possible to over-estimate the usefulness of such a 

 catalogue, prepared, as it has been, with the thorough- 

 ness and detailed precision characteristic of ail Mr. 

 Stebbing's writings, .\part from the descriptions and 

 figures of the numerous new and interesting species, 

 the compilation of the bibliographical references alone 

 must have involved a great amount of labour, of 

 which subsequent students will reap the benefit. 

 Although Mr. Stebbing touches only incidentally on 

 geographical problems, his catalogue will provide a 

 sure basis for future work on this subject. 



As an example of the interesting points of detail 

 contained in these memoirs, the case of the Cape 

 lobster, Homarus (or, as Mr. .Stei)bini; prefers to call 

 it, Astacus) capetisis may be mentioned. This pretty 

 little species has been involved in obscurity since its 

 first description in 1702 by Herbst, who stated that it 

 NO. 2162, VOL. 86] 



il , M 



lived in m<»uni.iiii -n. mis ^ii 1 



Iviw aids |;tl.-r t;a\e :, hi 

 hill .idded 110 inlormati 



1 elcl I iil^ toil, s.i\ s ; 



■ I iilUsi i.,iili~~ 11:', -.1' •■•' h. in .1 state of hojielcs", 



|,.ip|e\it\ lobstiT which 



is s.iid lo ' , ' . i Hope." 



Mr. Stehi)inL; now siip|)lies .1 full desrription of the 

 sjitiies iroin spetinieiis >fiu lo him hy Dr. Gilchrist, 

 and rin.ilK (ii'^pos.•s ol the story as to it> freshwater 

 h.ihit.it. Like- ih<- other two spe. ic s of the genus, the 

 luirope.in and .Xini'rican lohsiei-- ot the north -Xtlantic, 

 it li\es in the s.-.i, ;md its i cniotencss irom the areas 

 oci iipied h\ its conveners oilers ;i noteworthy example 

 ot ■■ disc (.niinuous distrihutioii." It may be men- 

 tioned in p.issing th.it the only iigurc of the Cape 

 lohsi.r r.lerred to h\ Mr. Stebbing original 



one ot llerhsi, w hit 11 is very inaccui.. ■. \n excel- 

 lent limne was^iM'ii liv 11. Milne-luiw ards C-Anr.. 

 Sci. N.it.. Zooi." 1,0. \vi., i.\S'. I'l'"'' ^i-- ''"'ii- I); hut 

 as it oreurs anion- the ilhisir.it ioiis of a morphological 

 p,i|),r, it is e,isil\ oMrlooked. 



Mr. SlehhiiiLi's Use of the -.-nerie name Astacus 

 lor the Cape lohsh-r a lU irds ;m instance of the difficul- 

 ties into which ■■retornis-- of no"ien, hiiure may lead 

 the unwary stutlent. In ihi- ilie detailed 



syiionvnn which Mr. StehhiiiK ^'^'^ i^revents anv 

 ;imi)ii;uit\ . hui, unlortun.itei) , other writers are not 

 so c.irelul, and, in view of the long-standing error 

 as to its freshwater hahit.il, it may not be superfluous 

 to warn the student of L;eograj)tiic.il distribution that 

 "Astacus capoisis" is >ii>t a cra_\ tish. 



In manv other points of nomenclature the catalogue 

 challenges criticism. Mr. Stebbing is well known as 

 an uncompromising^ advocate of the strict rule of 

 ])rioritv, hut he is hv no means ready to surrender the 

 rit,^iu of i)rivaie judgment, and is even capable of 

 treatini; disrespectfully the decisions of the Inter- 

 national Conimission on Zoological Nomenclature. At 

 all events, wh.iieMr m.iv be the case with genera 

 and species, there i^ no l,iw to compel, nor any per- 

 ceptible advantage to recommend, a renaming of the 

 accepted orders and sufxiasses of Crustacea; and 

 there can be little douht .is to the opinion of zoologists 

 in general on the proposals to substitute Thyrostraca 

 for Cirripedia and Ostr.ipoda for Ostracoda. 



\V. T. C. 



SCIESCE FOR THE CKM-KM. KF.M^I-h'. 

 Science In Modern Life. Prepared under the Kdilur- 

 sliii^of Prof. J. K- Ainsworth Davis. \'ol. v. Pp. 

 ix + jo;. (London: The Cresham Put)li>hing Com- 

 pany, i()io. I Price (xv. net. 

 THJ.S volume comprises four contributions, namely, 

 by Prof. Jaines Wilson on aijriculture (32 pp.), 

 bv Dr. John Heard on philosophical biology (32 pp.), 

 b\ Prof. Benjamin Moore on physiology and medicine 

 (90 pp.). and bv Dr. H. Spencer Harrison on anthrc^X)- 



logy (5^ PP-)- 



The first article is almost entirely historical; it con- 

 tains an account of the chief advances in British 

 agriculture from Saxon times, but has little to say on 

 present-day problems and researches. More space 



