Bibliographical Notices. 301 



For the same reasons we would object to some of the Cetaceans 

 which appear in the hst. The Iligh-finned Cachalot, in fact, has 

 never been captured on the Northumberland and Durham coast at 

 all, and is included merely because it is said to have been seen at sea 

 off the Dogger Bank ! Sailors, however, are not always safe authori- 

 ties for the naturalist to follow ; and though they may have seen the 

 ('etacean in question, they are just as likely to have seen something 

 else which they mistook for it. 



But the most injudicious or ludicrous (we scarcely know which) 

 insertion is that of the Alpine Hare (Lepus variabilis), of which the 

 authors coolly state, " We are not aware that this species has been 

 met with in our district, though we see no reason why it should not 

 occur on the Cheviots and high fells which separate our counties 

 from Cumberland and Westmoreland, the mountains which it inha- 

 bits." Now really this is too bad, and indicates such an utter want 

 of carefulness on the part of the authors as to throw suspicion over 

 the whole catalogue. For it is quite evident that, besides the species 

 which they knou} to exist in Durham and Northumberland, they 

 likewise include those which they think ought to exist — two very 

 different tilings. Certainly, if this be the fashion after which the 

 Catalogue of the Northumberland and Durham mammals has been 

 ciiustrncted, no wonder that it is the largest local list that has yet 

 a|)peared in England ! 



Ill a paper by Mr. G. S. Brady, on the Zoology of llylton Dene, 

 we have an account of a carcftd examination of the faunas of a series 

 of pools of brackish water, of different degrees of saline strength, 

 situated on some marsh-land near to the River Wear, about two miles 

 and a half from its mouth. The pools which are the most saline 

 are solely inhabited by marine species (the common Stickleback ex- 

 cepted), among which are Nudibranchiate Molhisca, Shrimps and 

 otiier Crustacea, Foraininifera, ami Annelides. In pools further re- 

 moved from the induence of tidal action, and hence containing a 

 smaller jjercentage of saline matter, some of the above forms are 

 absent ; but, as no freshwater species appear, the fauna remains 

 marine. Further away still, is another pool, which the overflow of 

 the highest tides rarely reaches, and which is therefore virtually 

 freshwater. Here are Water-rats, Beetles, Freshwater Mollusca, 

 Entomostraca belonging to Crjpris and Cyclops, and other freshwater 

 animals and plants ; and the banks of the pool are fringed with 

 grasses and brushwood. But amidst all these indications of fresh- 

 water conditions likewise appear two or three species of Prawns and 

 Shrimps, which, as the author says, " it is strange to see gliding 

 among tlie leaves of the Callitiiche, and overshadowed by the blos- 

 soming wild-rose and whin." The author further observes that 

 these marine Crustaceans do not seem to have deteriorated from their 

 residence in fresh water, except in the case of the Prawn, which is 

 rather small. 



There are few subjects in natural history that promise more in- 

 teresting and important results than that which Mr. Brady here 

 lakes up. For the zoology of an estuarine or brackish region, whe- 



