February 19, 1903] 



NA TURK 



365 



estimate of the number and thickness of the Lias 

 and Jura deposits to be too great. In spite of 

 Pilcher's care in selecting a traverse apparently free 

 from complications, Wahner contends that thrusting 

 and over-folding have produced a repetition of the 

 beds. 



In the chapter on stratigraphy, each member is 

 dealt with in order. Incidentally, several points of 

 interest are raised, such as the discovery in the 

 Weisser Riffkalk of a true Coralline, to which the 

 name Cheilosporites Tirolensis (Wahner) is assigned 

 on account of its affinities with the modern Cheilo- 

 sporum ; there is also a doubtful Hydrozoan which 

 more nearly resembles the Palaeozoic Stromatoporoids 

 than the Upper Jurassic Ellipsachinias and 

 Sphasractinias, but is none the less morphologically 

 nearest to the Triassic Spongiomorphidas. Calcareous 

 algae, hydrozoa and corals contribute to the up- 

 building of the reefs, but Dr. Wahner finds the last- 

 named organisms predominating. 



The greatest interest attaches to the " Radiolarien- 

 gesteine " and the " Hornstein-Breccie." Dr. 

 Wahner, in common with his predecessors, had been 

 accustomed to regard the structure of this area as 

 being far simpler than he now finds it. He de- 

 monstrates a large amount of thrusting and folding 

 (" Aufwolbung "), the greater part of the movement 

 having acted about the Hornstein-Breccie, the rocks 

 above being comparatively little influenced. On all 

 sides there are signs of pressure — brecciation, suture 

 structure — and the term " Druckbreccien " is sug- 

 gested as an expansion of Brogger's " Breccias in 

 situ " for this widespread occurrence. The Hornstein- 

 Breccie is proved to be a true "dislocation-breccia," 

 and to contain blocks both of older and younger 

 recks. 



In his anxiety to leave no doubt as to the tectonic 

 origin of this breccia, the author appears to have 

 somewhat laboured certain points that seemed to tell 

 in his favour ; for instance, he insists on the abyssal 

 character of the over- and under-lying rocks because 

 of the abundance of Radiolaria in them, especially 

 the occurrence of a few Nassellarian forms — an argu- 

 ment that is not very safe, nor, in view of the other 

 good evidence, is it very necessary. Again, the state- 

 ment that the cloudy centres of some calcite crystals in 

 the more or less marmorised limestones represent the 

 finest powder of the crushed rock may be quite 

 correct ; but the same thing may be observed in semi- 

 crystalline limestones of various ages, which have 

 suffered no such considerable crushing, though it 

 is true that the crystals more often exclude the im- 

 purities during their growth. 



The author and his supporters, the Gesellschajt 

 z. forderung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst, u. 

 Literatur in Bohmen, may be congratulated on the 

 production of an excellent piece of work. The con- 

 tinuation will be looked for with interest; it is to be 

 hoped that Dr. Wahner, in addition to the half- 

 promised geological map, will also furnish a series 

 of photomicrographs of the numerous rock-sections 

 he has examined. J. A. H. 



NO. 1738, VOL. 67] 



SHERBURN'S INDEX ANIMALIUM. 

 Index Animalium sive Index nominum quae ab A.l>. 

 MDCCLVIII generibus el speciebus animalium imposita 

 sunt, Socielatibus Eruditorum adjuvantibus, a Caroler 

 Davies S her born confectus. Sectio prima, a kalendis 

 Januariis MDCCLVIII usque adfinem Decembris MDCCC,. 

 Canlabrigiae. E. typographico Academico MDCCCCII. 

 1 vol. Pp. lix + 1 195. (Cambridge : University Press,. 

 1902.) Price 25J. net. 



DARWIN was so convinced of the pressing want of a. 

 dictionary of the names of plants that he devoted 

 by his will a considerable sum of money to be employed 

 in compiling such a work. This gigantic task, which- 

 was completed in 1S95 by Mr. B. Daydon Jackson, and 

 published by the University of Oxford under the title of 

 " Index Kewensis," has been of enormous utility to 

 working botanists. It was obvious that our zoologists 

 would not be content without a similar convenience in 

 their branch of natural science, and in 1890, accordingly, 

 Mr. C. Davies Sherborn commenced his labours 

 on the present work. His scheme for its preparation 

 was set out in a letter published in this journal (NATURE, 

 vol. xlii. p. 54, May 15, 1890) and in "La Feuille des 

 Jeunes Naturalistes," and suggestions for the improve- 

 ment of the plan were at the same time invited from 

 many working naturalists. After these had been studied, 

 the scope of the proposed "Index Animalium" was 

 finally defined as follows : — 



(1) To provide a complete list of all the generic and 

 specific names that have been applied to animals since 

 January 1, 1758, when Linnaous inaugurated the binomial 

 system. 



(2) To give, as far as possible, an exact date for every 

 quotation of a name. 



(3) To give a reference to every' name sufficiently 

 exact to be intelligible to the specialist and the layman, 

 so that they may know where to look for it. 



Mr. Sherborn commenced regular work on July 1, 1S90 

 After two years, an unfortunate breakdown in health, 

 which interrupted more than once his assiduous labours, 

 caused him to lose altogether three years, so that the 

 actual time spent on the preparation of the present 

 volume has been about eight years. 



In 1S92, the importance of the work was brought to the 

 knowledge of the British Association, and a committee 

 was appointed to assist its progress. The late Sir 

 William Flower was its chairman, and Dr. Sclater, Dr. 

 Henry Woodward and Mr. W. L. Sclater were other 

 members. The committee has been reappointed every 

 year, Dr. Woodward succeeding Sir W. Flower as chair- 

 man, and Dr. F. A. Bather becoming secretary when 

 Mr. W. L. Sclater went abroad. The British Association 

 has consistently supported the finances of the com- 

 mittee, and valuable contributions have been received 

 from the Zoological Society of London and from the 

 Government-grant fund of the Royal Society. Great 

 assistance to the work has also been furnished by the 

 permission of the authorities of the Natural History 

 Museum to find storage and cabinets for the MS. of the 

 work in the library at South Kensington, where the 

 author has carried on most of his labours. 



In 1897, in pursuance of a suggestion made by Dr. 



