50 



NA TURE 



[November 19, 189] 



the instance of a plaice, it is shown that, if all its ova 

 were ripe at once, the mass of eggs would them- 

 selves weigh a pound and a half heavier than the body 

 of the fish without the ovaries. 



Fish with demersal ova are distinguished from fish 

 with pelagic ova, and tables are constructed which show 

 the ratio of the weight of the ova present at one time, to 

 the weight of the rest of the fish taken at looo. The 

 final results are given in the form of mean ratios. Dr. 

 Fulton then goes on to draw three conclusions from his 

 data. First, he says, it appears " to explain the majority 

 of cases in which the females of a species are in excess 

 of the males." What precisely explains this we are quite 

 at a loss to see, and we cannot imagine an explanation 

 which has not in it either a statement regarding the pre- 

 ponderance of the female element in the early nuclear 

 plasma of the eggs, or an account of a wholesale destruction 

 of males. The second point is the generally greater size of 

 the female, and the third, " not merely the gradual growth 

 of ova to replace mature ova shed during a prolonged 

 spawning period, but the more or less sudden increase of 

 bulk, which occurs in the ovum shortly prior to its ex- 

 trusion." The second point seems to us to be like the 

 first in requiring a more complete explanation ; the third 

 to be the clearest point advanced. The remainder of the 

 paper is taken up with detailed statements, treating the 

 fish according to their classification. 



Among the papers following we have examples of Mr. 

 Scott's conscientious systematic work in his second paper 

 on " The Invertebrate Fauna of the Inland Waters of 

 Scotland," and "Additions to the Fauna of the Firth of 

 Forth." 



Dr. Fullarton contributes a paper on " The Develop- 

 ment of the Plaice— Preliminary Report." There area 

 number of excellent figures, but as there seems to be 

 little that is new in the text, we do not give it further 

 mention. 



Prof. Mcintosh adds to his already long list of observa- 

 tions " On the Life-Histories and Development of the 

 Food and other Fishes." Interesting forms, such as a 

 hybrid brill, lesser weaver, and sand-eel, are dealt with^ 

 as well as several unknown eggs and a curious unknown 

 post-larval form. 



Prof. Prince, so often associated with Prof. Mcintosh, 

 follows with " Notes on the Development of the Angler 

 Fish (Lophius)." 



In his statement that "hitherto no British observer has 

 secured the ova," he has overlooked the fact that, in some 

 previous notes by one of the naturalists to the Fishery 

 Board, the procuring of a mass of ova was recorded. 

 This, of course, in no way detracts from the interest of 

 Prof. Prince's valuable paper. 



The biological section closes with a note on " A Case 

 of Hermaphroditism in a Haddock," by W. Ramsay 

 Smith. Both ovary and testis appeared perfectly normal, 

 and were removed from a fish 1 8 inches long, and 3 pounds 

 in weight. 



The physical investigations of the Board are dealt with 

 by Dr. Mill in Section C. ; and a review of the contem- 

 porary scientific fishery investigations, by Dr. Wemyss 

 Fulton, forming a fourth section, brings the Report to a 

 close. 



NO. I 151, VOL. 45] 



THE MAMMALS OF INDIA. 

 Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. 

 By W. L. Sclater, M.A., F.Z.S., Deputy Superin- 

 tendent of the Indian Museum. Part II. (Calcutta : 

 Printed by order of the Trustees of the Indian 

 Museum, 1891.) 

 npHE Indian Museum at Calcutta is rich in Mammals. 

 -L Not only are those of our Eastern possessions well 

 illustrated, but it possesses also a good general series 

 from other parts of the world. The collection has, more- 

 over, the advantage of being well catalogued. In 1863, 

 the late very zealous and acute zoologist, Edward Blyth, 

 published a catalogue of the specimens contained in the 

 Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. This Museum, 

 when transferred to the Government of India, formed the 

 nucleus of the present Indian Museum. The 1330 

 specimens mentioned in that catalogue have now in- 

 creased to 4872, representing 590 species, of which 276 

 are found within our Indian Empire, and 314 are exotic. 



Of this greatly augmented collection Dr. John Anderson 

 commenced a catalogue, and the first part, containing the 

 orders Primates, Prosimiee, Chiroptera, and Insectivora, 

 was published in 188 1. In consequence of Dr. Ander- 

 son's relinquishing his appointment as Superintendent of 

 the Museum, the work has remained in abeyance for 

 some years ; but it has now been taken up and completed 

 by Mr. W. L. Sclater,the present Deputy Superintendent, 

 and eldest son of the distinguished Secretary of the Zoo- 

 logical Society of London. This volume contains the 

 orders Rodentia, Ungulata, Proboscidea, Hyracoidea,^ 

 Carnivora, Cetacea, Sirenia, Marsupialia, and Monotre- 

 mata. 



The Mammals of our Indian Empire have attracted the 

 attention of many well-qualified zoologists. Hodgson, 

 Blyth, Jerdon, Tickell, Horsfall, Elliot, Dobson, Ander- 

 son, and others, have contributed much to elucidate their 

 history, habits, and distribution. The work now being 

 published under the auspices of the Indian Government 

 by Mr. W. T. Blanford, the first part of which appeared in 

 1888 (see Nature, vol. xxxviii. p. 513), contains a valu- 

 able summary of all that is known upon the subject 

 up to the present time. Mr, Sclater's work is of a less 

 ambitious kind, professing to be only a catalogue of 

 the Mammalia contained in the Museum, not mention- 

 ing any other species. Such catalogues are not only 

 invaluable for working purposes in the institution itself, 

 but they have also a more extended area of useful- 

 ness, being often works of reference which no zoologist 

 investigating the group they treat of can dispense with. 

 In the present case there will be found under the head- 

 ing of every species much information as to its literature, 

 synonymy, and geographical distribution. As catalogues 

 naturally deal largely with names, the selection of those 

 which accord best with a common-sense interpretation 

 of the rules of zoological nomenclature is a matter of 

 primary importance, and in this respect Mr. Sclater 

 appears to have shown upon the whole great judgment, 

 having been careful to avoid unnecessary alterations in 

 generally accepted names, either such as are caused by 

 splitting genera, or by reviving obsolete, long-forgotten, or 

 never received specific appellations. Although no de- 



