J 44 THE NAUTILUS. 



From the beginning Prof. Hyatt's researches were very largely 

 devoted to evolutionary questions, and to the special study of fossil 

 Cephalopods ; at the time of his death he was one of the foremost 

 authorities upon the fossil Cephalopoda. The true value of his work 

 upon this group must be left for the future ; memoirs such as the 

 Genera of fossil Cephalopods, and the chapter on the Cephalopoda 

 contributed to the English issue of Zittel's Palaeontology cannot be 

 properly estimated by the present generation ; they require prolonged 

 and detailed study founded upon large series of specimens. His 

 theory of parallelism based on acceleration and retardation, and his 

 discoveries concerning the laws of development, growth and decline 

 were advocated with persistence and vigor; and while his treatment 

 is not always lucid, he is to be credited as the originator of a distinct 

 school, a school devoted to exact methods of research. The growth 

 of this so-called Hyatt school, never of greater importance than at 

 the time of his death, was a source of sincere gratification to him. 



Prof. Hyatt possessed traits of character the worth of which can- 

 not be exaggerated ; his private life, though uneventful, was attended 

 with many blessings ; he had vigorous health, congenial work and 

 many friends. He enjoyed scientific meetings and general society ; 

 his welcome to his own home, where he was the most charming of 

 hosts, can never be forgotten. — C. W. J. 



We record with great regret the death of Prof. A. G. Wetherby, 

 which occurred Feb. 15. Further notice will appear next month. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Serridens oblongus Cpr. — During one of my recent collecting 

 trips to Pt. Loma and Pacific Beach, I found a number of these in- 

 teresting little bivalves nestling under the mantle or clinging to the 

 outside of the shell of Ischnochiton cowpicuus. Their minute size 

 seems to make it especially appropriate for them to depend on their 

 big neighbors for protection and support. The specimens were iden- 

 tified by Dr. Dall, who tells me that Pristophora being pre-occupied, 

 the genus has been named Serridens. He states that up to the date 

 of my finding tlitm here, only the single valve, found by Dr. Car- 

 penter at San Diego, in 1866, was on record. — F. W. Kelsey, San 

 Diego, Cat.. 



