534 



NATURE 



{April ^, 1888 



quite recent examples of many species of reptiles, fish, 

 and the lower animals, the true characters of which, in 

 many cases, were but imperfectly known, from their 

 having been described from often badly-preserved 

 specimens. 



The value of such a work will be readily granted, and- 

 the energy of the Victorian Government will be duly ap- 

 preciated by those of us in the mother country who 

 know the difficulty there would be in our obtaining 

 Government sanction for the publication of like descrip- 

 tions of the animal inhabitants of these islands. 



Of all the forms described and figured in these decades, 

 the originals are preserved in the National Museum at 

 Victoria. The first volume was completed with the tenth 

 decade in 1885, and it forms a large octavo volume of 

 100 plates and over 200 pages, with a classified index. 

 Since then, Decades 11 to 15 have been published, 

 bringing the date to last year. 



On this important work, which we fear is not so well 

 known in this country as it ought to be, we venture to 

 make the following remarks. Of the century of plates 

 forming Vol. I., fifty-four are illustrative of vertebrate 

 forms, and forty-six of invertebrate ones. Of these latter 

 no less than twenty-eight are exclusively of Polyzoa, 

 which seems to us a somewhat unfair treatment of the 

 other groups. We cannot object to it on the score of the 

 advancement of science, but we think we justly may, so far 

 as the usefulness and interest of these decades are for the 

 public. Another criticism, and we have done : the refer- 

 ences to where the species have been described are for 

 the most part useless. For example, to the species figured 

 on the 1 00th plate, Cotiioddaris tubaria (Lam.), where we 

 find " Cidarites tubaria (Lamk.), Anim. sans Vert.," there 

 is not another word added, and this reference is not only 

 defective but erroneous. This is a subject that ought to 

 be attended to : we do not demand a full and detailed 

 synonymy, but would, in such a publication, be content 

 with just such information as would enable a student to 

 see where the generic and the specific names adopted by 

 the author were to be found first described ; and to give 

 this, few would be better qualified than Prof. McCoy. 



With scarcely an exception, the plates have been 

 exceedingly well executed ; those on insects by A. 

 • Bartholomew demand a special word of praise, and the 

 same artist has also done full justice to the fishes and 

 the Mollusca, the plates representing the " tuberculated 

 argonaut" being nearly perfect Another artist whose 

 work we may allude to is Dr. Wild, well known in connec- 

 tion with the Challenger Expedition ; among the drawings 

 executed by him, that of the Australian fur seal, a group 

 with the adult male, female, and a cub, is worthy of 

 praise. 



The descriptive details vary, as might be expected, in 

 interest ; sometimes we have most interesting and full 

 accounts of the life-history of the species, as notably in 

 the cases of the fur seals just referred to, of the case 

 moths (Metura), the bell frog, the great cicada, and others 

 too numerous to mention ; and were our space unlimited 

 we would gladly show how all-sided is the information to 

 be gained from these decades. The following will serve 

 as an example. A common moth, first described from 

 New South W^ales by Lewin VisPhalcenotdes glycine, from 

 the larvae feeding on the leaves of a leguminous plant 



{Glycine bimaculatd), is equally common in the colony o 

 Victoria, but there the larvae fed on Gnaphaliuiii liiteo- 

 album, a common weed. Since the planting of vineyards 

 this moth has increased in enormous numbers, and the 

 larvae have completely abandoned their original food, and 

 now devour only the leaves of the grape vine, on which 

 the moth multiplies beyond measure. It is a puzzle how 

 the female moth was guided to deposit her eggs on a 

 plant of so different a character from that which she had 

 been accustomed to, and which must have been to her 

 unknown. The injury done to the vineyards of Victoria 

 by this insect is enormous, and would seem, in spite of 

 many remedies, to be increasing. Insectivorous birds 

 will not eat the marauding larvae ; and children, who 

 might keep down the plague by hand picking, must, by 

 law, attend their schools. 



We hope to again notice these decades on the com- 

 pletion of the second volume. In the meanwhile we have 

 said enough to call our readers' attention to the value and 

 interest of the information which they contain ; and we 

 congratulate Prof. McCoy and the Victorian Government 

 on their publication. E. P. W. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Teclmological Dictionary. In 3 vols. English-German- 

 French, French-German-English, German- French - 

 English. Third Edition. (London : Triibner and Co., 

 1888.) 



The inventions and discoveries of the present cen- 

 tury have introduced a very considerable number of 

 new words into the various languages of the world, but 

 more especially into the European languages. As these 

 words do not occur in ordinary dictionaries, special dic- 

 tionaries embodying them are necessary to a great number 

 of persons. Thus, to facilitate communication in com- 

 mercial transactions between one country and another, 

 and to enable students of science and technology to pro- 

 fitably consult works written in languages other than 

 their own, they are indispensable. As regards the three 

 principal languages of Europe, this want is supplied by 

 the work before us, the third edition of which has recently 

 been completed by the publication of French-German- 

 English, and German-French-English volumes. The third 

 edition of the English- German-French volume was pub- 

 lished in 1878. The first edition dates as far back as 

 1852, and since then the work has been thoroughly revised 

 and new matter added. 



The work embraces the terms employed in the arts and 

 sciences, engineering, architecture of every description, 

 navigation, astronomy, meteorology, mining, artillery, &c. 

 In addition to the terms relating to the various appliances, 

 processes, and substances, there are also those applied to 

 the different orders of people concerned with them, from 

 the " doft'er " of the spinning mill to an " Admiral of the 

 Fleet." Teachers of scientific and technological subjects 

 will also find the equivalents of the great majority of the 

 terms they find it necessary to employ, the names of 

 chemicals and minerals included. The work is wonder- 

 fully comprehensive, and the arrangement is all that could 

 be desired. 



The best authorities have been consulted, and tedious 

 processes adopted, with the view of obtaining indisputable 

 accuracy, and this has practically been accomplished. No 

 effort has been spared to make the work deserving of the 

 important place in literature which it should naturally 

 occupy, and no recommendation of ours is necessary. It 

 certainly ought to be available for reference in all libraries 

 of any importance. A. F. 



