LITERARY NOTICES. 



703 



that will facilitate the work of the student. 

 We believe that the volume will become a 

 popular text-book on the subject. 



A HISTORY OF CRUSTACEA. RECENT MALACOS- 

 TRACA. By Rev. THOMAS R. R. STEBBING, 

 M. A. With Numerous Illustrations. 

 New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1893. 

 Pp. 466. Price, $2. Being No. 71 of 

 the International Scientific Series. 



IN the preface to this work the author 

 says that his ambition was to prepare a vol- 

 ume " to which beginners in the subject will 

 have recourse, and one which experienced 

 observers may willingly keep at hand for re- 

 freshment of the memory and ready refer- 

 ence." He has succeeded eminently well in 

 carrying out that project; for, besides giving 

 the classification, physiology, habits, and de- 

 scription of some thousands of Crustacea, 

 Mr. Stebbing has added several new species 

 to the already voluminous list of crustaceans, 

 and made interesting reading of what stu- 

 dents and beginners so often find dreary and 

 unentertaining. 



The chapter entitled " Specimens " con- 

 tains some very useful information on the 

 collection of Crustacea for examination, and 

 the author rather humorously points out that 

 even at the breakfast table examples of three 

 very distinct orders can be obtained " in -a 

 dishful of prawns." In the same chapter he 

 explains the best methods of capturing crus- 

 tacea, and tells of some new genera which 

 are found at the enormous depth of three 

 thousand and fifty feet. 



The chapters on the various tribes, 

 legions, and families of the suborders Ma- 

 crura and jBrachyura, . which contain among 

 them the edible crab, lobster, shrimp, etc., 

 are full of interesting and valuable in- 

 formation, and the author has in many in- 

 stances corrected the errors of former natu- 

 ral historians who named certain mem- 

 bers of the smaller crustaceans before they 

 had properly developed from the larval 

 stage. Mr. Stebbing also bemoans "the 

 hard fate of natural historians," particu- 

 larly beginners, for he says that the con- 

 fusion of names would sometimes deter a 

 timid person from pursuing the study. He 

 believes in the simplest possible nomencla- 

 ture, and he has himself endeavored to sim- 

 plify his work by making it easily under- 

 stood by those who are inexperienced. The 



chapters on the habits of the cocoanut crab 

 (Birgos) and of the various kinds of land 

 crabs will be read with very great interest 

 by all classes of people, apart from those 

 who are engaged in the study of the crus- 

 tacea. As a matter of fact, the entertaining 

 manner in which the author tells of the 

 curious habits of these most curious animals, 

 of their strangely developed instincts, and of 

 their general modes of living, makes more 

 interesting reading than is generally found 

 in such exhaustive scientific works. 



The vexed question of the position and ex- 

 istence of eyes in some of the crustaceans ia 

 finally set at rest in this work. Mr. Stebbing 

 also proves beyond question that the crab uses 

 the bases of his walking legs as mandibles a 

 fact which has heretofore been accepted only 

 in theory by a few scientists. In describing 

 the latter peculiarity of the edible and other 

 species of crab, the author humorously re- 

 marks that, although it may seem as strange 

 for a crab to use his feet for the purpose of 

 mastication as it would be for a human being 

 to have his teeth upon his elbow for a simi- 

 lar purpose, it is nevertheless a fact indispu- 

 tably proved. Over three thousand species of 

 crustaceans are defined in this volume, which 

 can not fail to interest the general reader, as 

 well as being of much importance to the 

 student and as a book of reference. 



ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM. By EDWIN J. 

 HOUSTON. Pp. 306. ELECTRICAL MEAS- 

 UREMENTS. By EDWIN J. HOUSTON. Pp. 

 429. Price, $1. New York : The W. J. 

 Johnston Co., 1893. 



THERE are already so many elementary 

 books on electrical subjects, addressed either 

 to the student or the general public, that a 

 new book must needs have distinctive merit 

 to justify its publication. This is possessed 

 in an eminent degree by the above collection 

 of primers from the pen of Prof. Houston. 

 He has the gift of lucid exposition, and is, 

 moreover, thoroughly familiar with his sub- 

 ject. Not the least of the merit of his expo- 

 sition is his interpretation of the phenomena 

 in the light of more recent electric theory, 

 which has undergone marked changes hi the 

 past few years. Each book consists of a 

 collection of chapters complete in itself, 

 which the author terms a primer, the closing 

 chapter being a brief review of all the oth- 



