Bibliographical Notices. 359 



before, resembles nothing so much as the spine of a Mammaliaa 

 scapula. It is a V-shaped bone, placed exteriorly on the per- 

 pendicular side of the scapula, to which it is attached for 

 nearly 4 inches, widening from nothing in front to 1^ inch 

 where the attachment ends behind. The exterior border is 

 produced backward till the bone is 6^ inches long; but the inner 

 border contracts in a curve so as to produce a free spine 2-|- inches 

 long, which overhangs the glenoid cavity. 



The clavicle holds the same relative position that it has in 

 Ichthyosaurus. 



My thanks are due to Mr. W. Farran for the interest taken 

 in producing the beautiful photographs from which the plates 

 are taken. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 

 Plate XIV. 

 P. eleutheraxon (Seeley) : a, ilium ; ^, scapula; a', distal end of left ilium ; 

 y, analogue of lesser trochanter on the under side of left femur ; 

 h, great trochanter, on the upper side of left humerus ; e, large 

 haemapophysial pit of first caudal vertebra ; i. cervical and pec- 

 toral vertebrae; ii. dorsal vertebrae; iii. pelvic; iv. caudal. 



Plate XV. 

 P. cliduchus (Seeley) : a, episternum ; j3, coracoid ; y, scapula ; 8, clavi- 

 cle ; 6, pectoral foramen ; f, glenoid cavity for humerus ; i. last 

 three cervical vertebrae; ii. pectoral vertebrae; iii. dorsal. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



A History of British Ferns. By Edw. Newman. The Fourth or 

 School Edition. London : Van Voorst. 



This does not pretend to be a scientific work, and, in that respect 

 as well as many others, differs from the author's former books upon 

 Ferns; but why it is called a "school edition" we cannot under- 

 stand. A work for schools ought to possess something of an educa- 

 tional character ; but the total omission of scientific arrangement is 

 not the most fitting mode of teaching. We should rather say that 

 this book is intended for the purely unscientific collector and culti- 

 vator of these beautiful and now popular plants. Even for such a 

 purpose we much doubt if it is desirable to neglect the chance of 

 conveying some knowledge of science, and transforming the mere 

 collector into something, however little, of a botanist. Doubtless 

 many who commence as collectors do really in time leai'n to desire 

 some scientific knowledge of the objects in which they take an in- 

 terest ; and therefore the book placed in their hands sheuld give the 

 information that they at first require, 



Mr. Newman brings forward the difference of opinion that exists 

 amongst botanists upon the division of Ferns into genera as a suffi- 



