9() THE NAUTILUS. 



to be encountered in ordinary sliore collecting, or dredging in mod- 

 erate depths. Lovers of shells everywliere, even those not interested 

 in Pacific shells, will delight in the simple and direct English of the 

 book, and will find their knowledge of mollusk-life broadened by it. 

 There is a contagious enthusiasm in its pages. 



So much good must be said of Professor Keep's book that we 

 hesitate to mention any defects. On p. 152, Physa '' columbella^' is 

 a misprint for P. colamhiann, and Aplexa is misspelled. Fig. 136, 

 on p. 154, is ap|)arently Planorbis binneyi. Ancylus subrotundus is 

 a species of Lonx. Fig. 103, on p. 123, is Oreohelix haydeni, not 

 strigosa. The species striatellu and cockereUi are not Oreohelices. 

 Figs. 119 are not Ashinunella levettei. Various other errors occur 

 among the land shells. There are many wrong authorities given for 

 specific names, and the list at the end contains a great many errors 

 and entries of the same species under two or thi-ee names which 

 might have been avoided by submitting it to specialists on Molluscan 

 nomenclature. Such a check, to pick up loose ends, is necessary in 

 a work covering so wide a field, for part of which the author must 

 rely on published data of various periods and various degrees of per- 

 fection. Fortunately many of the errors occur in the list, rather than 

 in the main text of the work, which aside from these defects deserves 

 all the praise we have given it. — H. A. P. 



The Cypr.e.k of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and 

 NoKTH AuAiiiAN Sea. By Jas. Cosmo Melvill and Robert 

 Standen. (Jour, of Conch. XI, pp. 117-122, Oct., 1904.) About 

 35 species and varieties are recorded, including the followMng new 

 varieties : Cypraea caurica L. var. cairnsiana nov. •' This variety 

 which we dedicate to Mr. Robert Cairns * * * is precisely to the 

 typical form of caurica what coloha Melvill- (= gi-cefiori Ford) is to 

 cruenta." G. ocellata L. " var. pelidna, a pale, pinkish-livid or grey 

 shell, from Karachi, is most peculiar and remarkable. In form and 

 marking it is as the type ; the basal lineations are faint, but normal. 

 Tiie color, however, shows no trace of brown." C pulchella Sowb. 

 var. '■'■ pericalles nov. Shell uniformly smaller (32 mn).), very 

 polished, in Ibrm like the type, dorsal markings similar, and as 

 variable, with occasional dark sepia blotches, more or less distributed 

 in various examples, * * * Kiener figures the var. perlcnUes 

 (Genre Porcelaine pi. xxiii, f. 2a), mentioning it as the young form 

 (|). 26). Our specimens, twelve or more in number, are, however, 

 mostly adult, exliibiting a dwarf race of this very beautiful and still 

 uncommon species." — C. W. J. 



