September, 1902.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



205 



Two interesting new types of marine inverteln-ates, each 

 known solely by a more or less damaged examjile, have 

 recently been made kiiown. The one is a swimming type 

 of zoophyte, or hydroid polyp, from New Zealand, described 

 bv Dr. Dcndy under the name of PeJaijohydra udrahUis in 

 the Qiiiirlti-h/ Journal uf MicroscojncaJ Scienri>. For the 

 description of the second, a new form of crinoid, or "stone- 

 lily," naturalists are indebted to Messrs. Koehler and 

 Bather. This form, which was dredged off the Canaries 

 (not, as stated in the text, off the Azores) by the Prhice of 

 Monaco, is described in the Mem. Soc. ZooJ. France as 

 Grphi/rorriniis fjrimalili. Both fonns constitute new 

 generic tyjies. 



In a paper contributed to the Geological Magazine, Dr. 

 Andrews continues liis account of the wonderful Tertiary 

 vertebrate fauna of the Fuyum district of Egypt. In that 

 instalment he describes the skull of a "sea-cow," or 

 sirenian, which he regards as generically distinct from all 

 hitherto known types, and proposes to call Eosiren lihyca ; 

 and likewise two additional forms of the Proboscidean 

 genus Moeriiherium. 



Professor Noack, of Brunswick, has published in the 

 Zoologischer Anzeiger for February last an account of the 

 Mongolian wild horse {Equus przevahl-ii), based on 

 the specimens obtained by Herr C. Hageubeck, many of 

 wliicli are now living in the Duke of Bedford's park at 

 "Woburn. It appears that taha is the Mongolian name of 

 these animals, which inhabit the district east of the 

 Garchun oiisis, as well as the Zungarian desert, and the 

 neighbouring mountains to a height of 7500 feet. They 

 are now found m herds of fully a thousand strong, each 

 led by an old stallion. Certain individual differences of 

 colour noticeable in the herd brought to Europe Prof. 

 Noack attributes to the different localities whence the speci- 

 mens were obtained. The individuals from tlie open desert 

 he describes as light greyish yellow fa«ai in colour, while 

 those from the lower mountains are light yellowish brown, 

 and those from higher elevations, dark yellowish rufous. 

 In the lightest coloured individuals the muzzle is white, 

 in the darker ones bright yellow, and in the darkest rustv 

 yellow. Prof. Noack is quite convinced of the specific 

 distinctness of the Mongolian horse, alike from the now 

 extinct tarpan of the Kirghiz steppes, and the domesticated 

 or half-wild horses of Mongolia. He adds that no skins 

 or skeletons of the tarpan, which was exterminated in 

 1876, appear to have been preserved in any museum. 



In the same journal. Professor Noack describes as new 

 a stag from Zungaria, of which specimens were brought 

 to Europe by Herr Hagenbeck's expedition, under the 

 name of Cerviix ivacliei. He describes the antlers as 

 wapiti- like at the baae, but at the summit approximating 

 to those of the rusine or rucervine groups. In the absence 

 of figures it is difficult to form an opinion as to the 

 affinities of this deer. 



The bighorn sheep shot by Mr. J. Talbot Clifton in 

 North Siberia, to which allusion has been previously made 

 in these columns, has been ])resented by that gentleman to 

 the Natural History Museum, where it is now exhibited 

 in the pavilion at the end of the lower Mammal Gallery. 

 Visitors to that part of the gallery will not fail to notice 

 that the magnificent series of bison and buffaloes occu- 

 pying the large case at the west end have been mounted 

 upon artificial groundwork, with the very best results so 

 far as appearances and general effect are concerned. 



A theory has long been current that the skeletons of 

 IgiianoJon from the Wealden formation of Bernissart, which 

 constitute one of the chief attractions of the Brussels 

 Museum, were deposited in a narrow gorge cut through 

 Carboniferous strata and subsequently filled up with 



materials of Wealden age. This theory M. do Pauw, the 

 clever articulator of the Museum, demonstrates {Mem. 

 Sor. Ilaiimiif, May, 1902) to be founded on a misconcep- 

 tion. The iguanodons, as amatter of fact, lived on the 

 borders of a lake, where in due course they died and their 

 bodies became buried in the mud. It is generallv con- 

 sidered that these reptiles always walked in the upright 

 position, but ^F. de Pauw believes that they went fre- 

 quently on all fours, and commonly assumed this attitude 

 when leaving the lake. 



A ])rehistoric drawing on a slab of limestone found ne.ar 

 Schaffhausen, together with fossil remains from the same 

 locality, are regarded by Prof. T. Studer (Denis. Srlnreiz. 

 Naf. Ge^., Vol. XXV.) as sufficient to indicate the existence 

 during the Pleistocene period of the Kirghiz wild ass, or 

 chiggetai, in Switzerland. 



-♦ ■ 



j^oticcs of Boofts. 



"Studies in Heterogenksis." By Dr. 11. Charlton Bis- 

 tian, F.K.s. Part II. Pp. 63— 147 and xvii. llatcs VI.— XI. 

 (Williams & Norgate.) 7s. 6d. — Dr. Bastian is very ciuidid as 

 to the reception which the scientific world has given to his 

 observations. The Roj'al Society of London, the Academies of 

 Science at Paris and Berlin, and the Accademia dei Lincei of 

 Rome will have none of them ; so in the memoir before us, and 

 the one which was published a few months ago, a statement of 

 the case for heterogenesis is placed before students of biological 

 science independently of scientific societies. In this position 

 Dr. Bastian should be content to leave his heterodox conclusions 

 as to the production of several kinds of organisms from one cell 

 substance. He can scarcely expect zoologists to accept his 

 interpretations, whatever they may think of his observations. 

 He announces that he lias " witnessed on very many occasions 

 the stages of this remarkable transformation of the contents of 

 a Rotifer's egg into a Ciliated Infusorium." To ap])ly strictly 

 scientific tests to each stage of observation involved in this 

 conclusion would take months of investigation, and there are 

 so many a priori reasons against its validity, that zoologists are 

 justified in hesitating to accept Dr. Bastian's views until they 

 have the opportunity to make their own observations and analyse 

 his methods of procedure. There are still people who believe 

 the earth is shaped like a Cheddar cheese, and they can bring 

 forward evidence apparently in support of this theory. Dr. 

 Bastian would find it difficult to state observations which com- 

 pletely dispose of their conclusions ; and biologists are in much 

 the same position in relation to his work. Or shall we compare 

 him to a Galileo who has seen new worlds and desires others to 

 look for themselves and be convinced of their reality '? 



"Pl.\nt Relations: A First Book of Botany." By John 

 M. Coulter, A.M., I'H.D. Second Edition. Revised. Pp. ix. and 

 266 ; and "Plant Stkuctures : ASecoxij Book of Botany." 

 By the same author. Pp. ix. and 348. Both illustrated. 

 (London: Hirschfeld Bros. Ilt02.) Each63.net. — The number 

 of botanical text-books published in this country and America 

 within the last few years must almost create some perplexity in 

 the minds of students and teachers in selecting one most suitable 

 for their purpose. Professor Coulter, who has had considerable 

 experience as a teacher, and has written treatises on nearly 

 every branch of botany, might be expected to be especially well 

 equipped for the production of a text-book, and no doubt can 

 exist as to the excellence of those now under our notice. 

 Lucidly written, beautifully and copiously illustrated, the works 

 cannot fail to interest and teach all who may use them, and it is 

 with pleasure that we recommend both volumes to our readers. 

 The first edition of "Plant Relations " was issued in 189'.) in Xew 

 York. The jiresent one, though practically the same in the first 

 eleven chapters, has been much modified in the latter part 

 dealing with plant societies, both in text and illustrations, as 

 '• this has been made necessary by the recent rapid development 

 of the subject, by a larger field experience, and by the availability 

 of more suitable illustrations." " Plant Structures," which forms 

 the second part of the work, was originally published in 1899, 

 and the copy before us, dated 1902, is, we presume, merely a 

 reprint of the American edition. " PJantRelations" is devoted to 

 the study of the natural history or, as it in often termed, the 



