BthliograpJiical Notices. 61 



the subject has been laid under contribution, and the materials thus 

 obtained worked up into a connected whole with great care and 

 in the clearest and most intelligible manner. Mr. Balfour has ap- 

 pended to each section and subsection of his work a bibliography of 

 the memoirs cited in it ; and as these are cited throughout by con- 

 secutive numbers, he has reprinted all the separate bibliographies 

 in a connected list at the end of the volume. This is exceedingly 

 convenient for reference. The book is also freely illustrated with 

 woodcuts, most of which are very good, and many of them beauti- 

 fully executed. 



In this first volume only the Invertebrata are treated of; the 

 second, which we hope will not be long in making its appearance, 

 will deal with the Vertebrate animals from the same phylogenetic 

 point of view which is adopted in the present volume, and will also 

 treat of another special department of the general subject, namely 

 the evolution of organs. When completed, the book will certainly 

 constitute one of the most important of recent contributions to the 

 literature of zoology ; and whether the author's fear that his attempt 

 at a systematic exposition of the facts of embryology may be re- 

 garded in some quarters as " premature " proves to be well founded 

 or not, we are quite sure that the gratitude of those to whom his 

 book will be a perfect godsend will far outweigh any cavils that 

 may be raised against it. 



Memoirs of tlie Science Departvient, University of ToTcio, Japan. 

 Vol. I. Part 1. Shell-Mounds of Omori. By Edward S. Morse, 

 &c. 4to. 36 pp., with 18 plates. Published by the University, 

 Tokio, Japan. Nisshuska Printing-office. 2539 (1879). 



The Japanese have taken up the study of Archaeology with warmth 

 and earnestness. A native Archaeological Society flourishes at 

 Tokio, the Government interdicts the exportation of the antiqui- 

 ties of the country ; and it is hoped that the ancient temples, monu- 

 ments, gateways, idols, and tombs of Japan will be officially pro- 

 tected. Both from its many antiquities and the fidelity of its very 

 ancient records of civilization and history (for nearly, if not quite, 

 two thousand years), Japan is eminently favourable to the study of 

 archaeology. The enthusiastic pursuit of science in modern Japan, 

 the institution of the University of Tokio, the advent of many first- 

 class teachers of philosophy and science, and the cultivation of 

 observing and thinking minds among the many willing native 

 students, have given a high standing to all those connected with 

 this state of progress among our scientific brethren in the North 

 Pacific. 



The Professor of Zoology at the University of Tokio, Mr. E. S. 

 Morse, had ardently studied prehistoric shell-heaps in Maine and 

 Massachusetts, U.S., for several years in company with Profs. Jeffries 

 Wyman and F. W, Putnam ; and he was not long in discovering a 

 large shell-mound on the Yokohama railway at Omori, about six 



