Bibliographical Notices. 40'.] 



l)ostlarva, their inherent stuges and changes, thoir wanderings, and 

 so on ; the further growth of the young fish, their habits, migra- 

 tion, food, &e. ; 8exual maturity and conditions respecting the 

 adults ; ditferences in development, habits, (S:c. of families and species 

 of a genus, and other significant facts connected with their life- 

 histories ; besides matter of a kind atfecting the fisheries — altogether 

 a vast store of information. 



What is denoted as " Ontogenie migration," that movement 

 towards and fnmi the shallow shores and estuaries again to deep 

 water, of the larval and postlarval forms, and which is shared by 

 several families, Pleuronectidie included, is rnther ingeniously 

 indicated graphically in diagrams in the case of the lesser sand-eel 

 and the herring. These both have a spring and autumn spawning- 

 period, which overlap each other, and the young and older stagen 

 get mixed shorcwise, so that it has been puzzling to ascertain their 

 age and rate of growth. To these diagrams the Italian phrase 

 se no)i e vero e ben trovato appears aj)plicable. 



In discussing Delage's discovery of the transformation of that 

 curious form Leptoceplialus Morn'sii into a young conger, and the 

 further observations of Grassi and Calandruccio on L. hrtvirostr'if: in 

 relation to the eel, our authors seem to throw cold water on the 

 question. They boldly ask :— (a) What is the normal habitat of 

 the LeptoceplmJi, at least L. Irevii'ostris and L. MorrisH'? (b) Why 

 arc they not found in abundance on our coasts ? (c) Do abnormal 

 Leptocephali occur, or, indeed, is a Leptocephaline stage a normal 

 part of the Murtenoid life-history at all ? It is worth while 

 remarking that Giinthcr (' Study of Fishes ') regards L. Morri.ni as 

 an abnormal larval condition of the conger, and he suggests that 

 shore-spawning fish-ova through untoward circumstances hatched in 

 mid-ocean may not develop or attain their normal growth. 



But we have said enough to justify our preliminary remarks, that 

 the St. Andrews volume is both interesting and likely to prove 

 useful. 



In only one sentence is a solitary jdaint heard, for otherwise 

 throughout the tone is cheerful and encouraging. It runs thus: — 

 " The authorities entrusted with the patronage of posts in which 

 marine zoology could be studied as a rule and with a singular 

 impartiality {_sic~] filled them with those accustomed to other depart- 

 ments of the subject, while men imbued with enthusiasm for marine 

 zoology are stationed far inland." The old story of the angular 

 man stuck in the round hole. By-the-bye, was not that high-souled, 

 most eminently gifted naturalist Louis Agassiz spurned the Edin- 

 burgh chair, when the authorities should have felt proud of his 

 application? We believe even Darwin Avould have been refused on 

 the same grounds given by the objectors. Sic transit rjloria mundi ! 



