NA TURE 



445 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1876 



ZITTEVS HANDBOOK OF PALJ£ONTOLOG V 

 Handbnch der Falceontolos^e. Unter Mitvvirkung von W. 

 Ph. Schimper, Professor an der Universitat in Stras- 

 burg. Herausgegeben von Karl A. Zittel, Professor an 

 der Universitat in Miinchen. Erster Band. Erste 

 Lieferung ; mit 56 Original-holzscbnitten. Munich, 

 1876 : R. Oldenbourg. (London : Williams and 

 Norgate.) 



A WORK bearing on its title-page the well-known 

 names of the Professor of Geology in the University 

 of Strasburg, and the Director of the Royal Paljeonto- 

 logical Museum at Munich would, under any circum- 

 stances, command attention, but one addressed to so 

 large and so varied a circle as that for which a handbook 

 or text-book is ordinarily designed, becomes, under such 

 auspices, especially noteworthy, and although the first 

 part only has as yet appeared, it can scarcely be thought 

 too soon to bring it under the notice of such of the readers 

 of Nature as do not habitually see Continental scientific 

 publications. In few departments of science does there 

 exist the same need for a modern text-book as in general 

 paleontology, especially for a treatise suited to the require- 

 ments of the student — something broader in scope than 

 the fashionable " science primers " on the one hand, and 

 without the elaborate details of special memoirs on the 

 other — but it is at the same time true that the satis- 

 factory preparation of a manual embracing so wide a 

 subject needs qualifications of an unusual sort. The 

 opening part of the present work has therefore a hearty 

 reception assured to it, nor if succeeding instahnents 

 bear out the promise of the first, can any reasonable 

 anticipations be disappointed. The authorship of the 

 book is to be apportioned in the following manner. It 

 is to be completed in two volumes, the first of which, 

 devoted to Palaeozoology and containing also the Intro- 

 ductory matter is entirely in the hands of Prof. Zittel. 

 Of the second volume, one division, that on Palccophy- 

 tology, is undertaken by Prof. Schimper, and the other, 

 on Historical Palaeontology by Prof Zittel. 



The part before us commences with a chapter of Pre- 

 liminary Notions, and then one on Geological Succession ; 

 these are followed by a very interesting Historical Summary 

 of palaeontological discovery, from the earliest allusions 

 to fossils in the writings of the Greek historians, down to 

 the present day. A fourth section is devoted to Bio- 

 logical Considerations, and this is succeeded by a classified 

 Bibliographic List of standard works in the several depart- 

 ments of the subject. These together form the Introduc- 

 tion, and little need be said concerning it, except that it 

 is all well done. It is worth while to quote a single 

 passage from the biological section which well deserves 

 the leaded type in which it is printed — it is on the 

 question of "Species," and runs thus (page 46— the 

 italics are our own) " All those individuals, or remains 

 of individuals, are regarded as belonging to one species, 

 which have a number of constant characters in common, 

 and vfhich, ifidependeni of distribution iti space or time, 

 constitute, as a whole, a well-defined form-group, which 

 indeed may be connected by many passage forms (but 

 Vol. XIV.— No. 360 



not completely) with other form-groups." An excellent 

 and practical definition in the face of the prevalent custom 

 of re-naming the same zoological form every time it ap- 

 pears in a new area, or at a fresh geological horizon, and 

 one worth enforcing, if it were only in the interests of 

 the next generation of palaeontologists. Were the prin- 

 ciple embodied in it generally adopted, the exercise of 

 common sense in the estimation of the Isiological signifi- 

 cance of minor characters would be sufficient to clear our 

 fossil- lists of hundreds, nay of thousands, of the superfluous 

 specific names with which they are at present crowded. 



Systematic Palaeontology is introduced by an outline of 

 zoological classification based on the arrangement employed 

 by Claus in his " Grundziige der Zoologie," in which the 

 animal kingdom is primarily divided into seven sub-king- 

 doms— Protozoa, CCELENTERATA, ECHINODERMATA, 

 Vermes, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and Vertebrata. 

 The portion of the Handbook now issued treats of the 

 first of these — the Protozoa. This group is subdivided 

 into three classes, Monera, Rhizopoda, and Infu- 

 soria. The Monera are but slightly represented amongst 

 known fossils, and the Infusoria not at all, so that, prac- 

 tically, the part amounts to a synopsis of fossil Rhizo- 

 poda. Sponges, it is to be noted, are referred to the 

 CcElenterata, of which sub-kingdom they form the lowest 

 section. 



The Monera are sufificiently treated in a few pages 

 embodying a brief summa:ry of the various researches on 

 Coccoliths, Coccospheres, Cyatholiths, Discoliths, and 

 other microscopical bodies of which the precise signifi- 

 cance may still be regarded as more or less subjudice. 



The class Rhizopoda is subdivided into three orders— 

 Foraminifera, Radiolaria, and Lobosa, the last-named 

 having, of course, no fossil representatives. The Fera- 

 vtini/era are described, in brief, as Rhizopoda with many- 

 chambered or single-chambered calcareous, or less fre- 

 quently arenaceous or chitinous tests ; the Radiolaria as 

 Rhizopoda with differentiated sarcode-body, having cen- 

 tral capsule, and very regular, radiated, silicious skele- 

 tons. A detailed account of the zoology and literature 

 of each Order is given, and the subordinate groups are 

 then treated seriatim. The arrangement of the Fora- 

 minifera is largely drawn from the labours of Messrs. 

 Carpenter, Parker, and Jones, but it differs in two mate- 

 rial points from any classification hitherto proposed, and 

 to these it will be necessary briefly to allude. 



In the arrangement proposed by the above-named 

 English authors as well as in that of Prof, von Reuss, pub- 

 lished about the same time, the Foraminifera were divided 

 into two Sub- orders, Imperforata and Perforata, accord- 

 ing to the condition of the test in respect to the minuter 

 pseudopodial passages, and in so' far no change is 

 suggested. It has been customary hitherto to divide the 

 Imperforata into three families characterised by " chiti- 

 nous," "porcellanous," and "arenaceous " tests respectively. 

 Dr. Zittel, after separating the chitinous forms, divides the 

 remainder without reference to shell-structure, into two 

 families — Cornuspiridce axiAMiliolidce, each of which con- 

 tains both opaque-calcareous and sandy forms. The very 

 names, as used to distinguish two large groups, are some- 

 what anomalous, as it may be clearly shown by the study 

 of recent specimens, that the Cornuspirce are only non- 

 septate Afihola. Apart from nomenclature, there is perhaps 



Y 



