Ji-M-; 13, 1895] 



NATURE 



I =ii 



The term Platypoda, founded to include all the Pectini- 

 brancliiate Prosobranths except the Hcteropoda, is here 

 restricted and made to apply, without reason {,'ivcn, to the 

 l;unioglossa other than the Heteropoda. 



Those interesting and somewhat anomalous genera 

 Sipltonaiia and Omiinia, Mr. Cooke, in accordance with 

 the conclusions lately arrived at by Kohler, Haller and 

 Plate, places with the Tectibranchiata, creating for them 

 the sectional name of Siphonarioidea. Pelscneer, we 

 may incidentally remark, in his " Recherches sur divers 

 I )j)isiliobranches," which has only just been published, 

 objects to this conclusion of his German confreres, and 

 seemingly on very good grounds. 



The Brachiopoda, which are incorporated at the end of 

 the volume, are subdivided into "recent'' and "fossil." 

 The former i'p[). 463-88) have been undertaken by one of 

 the editors, Air. A. E. Shipley; the latter (pp. 491-512), 

 by .Mr. F. R. Cowper Reed. 



Mr. .Shipley's chapter is a compact little summary, 

 pithih- written, and whilst not erring on the side of 

 |j()|)ularity, ought to be readily followed by any average 

 student or reader. 



It consists almost entirely of anatomical description, 

 embryology, &c., for in " habits " the Brachiopoda are 

 extremely deficient, preceded by a short sketch of the 

 historical bibliography of the group, and followed by a 

 few notes on their distribution, with a synopsis of their 

 classification by Davidson. 



Mr. Shipley concludes that the affinities of the Brachio- 

 poda ''■ seem to be perhaps more lioselv with the 



Fig. 3. — Spirifer striata. Carboniferous I.imcsto u-. 



iiephyrea, and with Phoronis, than with any of the other 

 claimants " which have from time to time been advanced. 



Mr. Reed, on the other hand, by the nature of his sub- 

 ject, is reduced to a description of the shell, es|)ecially 

 emphasising such features as indicate anatomical structure 

 and to a classification or "Synopsis of F.-miilies." The 

 latter closely approximates the classification employed by 

 Zittel in his " Handbuch," and hence can hardly be said 

 to embody the very latest researches. Schuchert's classi- 

 fication should, we think, at least, have been referred to. 

 .Some allusion, too, ought to ha\e been made to Treiiiato- 

 I'ohts, which its discoverer, Mr. ('•. F. .Matthew, describes 

 as possessing articulate valves, though it is allied to the 

 < Ibolidic. Mr. Reed's descriptive « riting must be accorded 

 equal praise with that of .Mr. .Shipley for < learness of style. 



Through the kindness of the editors and the publishers, 

 we are enabled to reproduce some of the illustrations in 

 the text. These of themselves should serve to distinguish 

 "The Cambridge Natural History'' from most of its 

 competitors for popular favour, with their plentiful repro- 

 duction of ancient blocks, now, alas, too familiar to the 

 e\ e, and by no means always joys for ever. 



NOTES. 



Thk Ladies' soiree of the Royal Society look jilace yesterday 

 evening, at the time Nature went to press. 



.\n unknown donor has given to the University of the City of 

 New ^'ork, funds for a central building, on University Heights, 

 fur a library, museum, and hall, so arranged that all may be 



NO. I 



0.1/ ' 



.-OL. 52] 



turned into a library capable of holding i,coo,oco volumes. The 

 gift will amount 10 250.OCO dollars, l>eing the largest ever 

 received in the sixty-six years of the exi.stence of the University. 

 The only condition is that the name of the donor shall never !«.• 

 revealed. 



AkraNGE.MENIs arc being made by the Marine liiological 

 jXssociation for a series of dredging and trawling expeditions 

 during July, August, and September, to investigate the iauna 

 and flora of the outlying grounds between the Eddystone Rocks 

 and Start Point. In order to make the results as complete as 

 possible it is extremely desirable that the investigation of each 

 group should be carried out by a competent naturalist. Zoologists 

 and botanists who are willing to take (lart in these expeditions, 

 or to assist in working out the material collected, are requested 

 to communicate with the Director, the I-aljoratory, Plymouth. 



The summer meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects 

 was opened at Paris on Tue.sday, when Lord Bra.ssey delivered 

 his presidential address, and seveial papers were read and dis- 

 cussed. In the afternoon the members of the Institution visited 

 the Paris Observatorj' and the Arts et Metiers, and a banquet 

 was given at the Hotel Continental in the evening. After the 

 close of the meeting, we shall give a report of the proceedings. 



The annual meeting of the Societe des Amis des Sciences was 

 held at Paris last week. The .Society was founded by Thenard 

 in 1857, for the purpose of -iflbrding assistance to men of science 

 or their families. It numbers more than two thousand members 

 or subscribers, and since its foundation has distributed nearly 

 ^50,000 to deserving investigators. Crants are only made to 

 persons who have had papers or memoirs presented to the 

 Academy of Sciences, or who have published papers of equal 

 merit to those approved by the Academy. The Society lays 

 stress on the fact that the grants must not be regarded as 

 charitable doles, but as rewards for services to .science, and of a 

 similar nature to the pensions which a grateful country gives to 

 its servants. The awards are therefore publicly announced, and 

 are looked upon as honours for meritorious work. 



The Committee of the .American Public Health .Association, 

 appointed to determine the possibility of establishing co-operative 

 investigation into the bacteriology of water supplies, have made 

 arrangements for a conference of bacteriologists to be held on 

 June 21 and 22, in the Academy of .Medicine, New York city. 

 The conference will consider how to obtain increased exactitude 

 in the details of bacteriological research, and establish standard 

 methods. The conference will, in fact, attempt to establish 

 some common ground-plan for systematic work in bacteriology 

 in general, and in the bacteriology of water supplies in par- 

 ticular. The Bacteriological DejMrtments of many State and 

 Provincial and Municipal Boards of Health will be represented 

 at the conference, as also the ])rincipal universities of the United 

 States and Canada. 



I.v the eyes of the law, the Royal .Agricultural Society is not 

 a scientific institution which can claim exemption from local 

 rates. It was decided in the (lueen's Bench Division on Tues- 

 day, that, as the funds of the Society are not exclusively applied 

 to the purposes of science, but are used to promote " the 

 comfort and welfare of labourers," the Society does not come 

 within the statute under which exemption from rates is ckiiined. 



CoLO.N'Ei. J. Waterhouse has been elected President of the 

 Photographic Society of India for the current year. 



The summer meeting of the Geological Society of America 

 will take pl.ice at Springfield, Massachu-setls, on August 27 

 and 28. 



