518 Bihliographical Xotices. 



remembrance for his splendid munificence in fitting out the expe- 

 dition of the ' Southern Cross' in 18*j8 for the exploration of the 

 inhospitable regions of the Ani arctic. Thereby the cause of science 

 has been materiylly furthered and we have advanced a stage in our 

 knowledge of these mysterious and dread shores. 



The present handsome volume, embodying the zoological, botanical, 

 and mineralogical results of the expedition, has been published by 

 the Trustees of the British Museum in return for the handsome 

 donation of the first set of all the specimens collected. The names 

 of the authorities selected to workout the collections are a sufficient 

 guarantee that the best account possible lias been obtained of the 

 several groups — animals, plants, and minerals — that were obtained 

 during these two years of arduous work. 



Captain Barrett-Hamilton's Report on the Seals will prove an 

 extremely valuable addition to our knowledge of these animals, more 

 especially as regards their dentition and the modifications thereof. 

 "Undoubtedly the most valuable of his observations is his contention 

 that the remarkable and unique teeth of Lobodon, which apparently 

 feeds almost entirely on Eujihavsia, serve the purpose of a sieve like 

 the baleen of the Balgenidaj. It is a pity that figures of these teeth 

 •were not given, since space is found for a whole plate showing the 

 dentition of Ommatophora. Not that these last are not worthy of 

 the space they occupy ; on the contrary, on account of their extra- 

 ordinary individual variability their omission would have been a 

 mistake. 



It is a matter for serious regret to read at the end of Capt. Ham- 

 ilton's introduction that, owing to the want of care after the death of 

 the anologist Nicolai Hanson and the unfortunate and inexplicable 

 loss of bis notes, the skulls are practically worthless, so that the 

 " whole work will have to be performed again from the collections 

 procured by the various expeditions which started in 1901." 



The Eeport on the Birds has been prepared by Dr. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, who has contrived to make it one of the most interesting in 

 the whole volume. By a series of judiciously selected quotations 

 from the published records of Mr. Bernacchi, the magnetic observer, 

 Mr. HughEvans,theassi8tantzoologist of the expedition, Mr. Howard 

 Saunders, and others, he has brought the account of the Antarctic 

 avifauna completely up to date. 



The Fishes weie' entrusted to Mr. Boulenger, who has described 

 eight new species, two of which belong to hitherto undescribed 

 genera. 



Of the Invertebrates the most important contributions are those 

 on the Mollusca by Mr. Edgar Smith, the Crustacea by Mr. T. V. 

 Hodgson, now the zoologist of the 'Discovery' expedition, the 

 Polychaeta by Dr. Arthur Willey, and the Actiniae by Mr. Joseph 

 Clu'bb. Two species of these Actinians possessed special brood- 

 chambers, and the description of these forms a feature of consider- 

 able value in this Eeport, since the author, in addition to his own 

 excellent work, has briefly summarized the labours of Yerrill and 

 Carlgren on the same subject. 



