December 29, 1904J 



NATURE 



213 



the addition of the latter likewise tending to popularise the 

 work. 



In his preface Dr. Elliot reiterates and emphasises the 

 remarks made in the companion volume as to " the 

 «.\cessive and probably unwarranted multiplications of 

 species and races (made easy by the too liberal application 

 of the trinomial system) " of American mammals in general. 

 Many of the forms, he adds, which have received separate 

 names are separated on the evidence of comparative instead 

 of distinctive characters. That is to say, their differences 

 from other types are so slight as to be incapable of defini- 

 tion except by comparison with the latter, often, indeed, 

 involving the necessity of placing specimens of each side bv 

 side. Consequently, in many instances specimens cannot 

 be referred to their respective species or races without access 

 to museums. 



Perhaps it is rather unfortunate that the author did not 

 see his way to go one stage further, and mention what 

 species and races are entitled, in his opinion, to recognition. 

 A step would then have been made towards the elimination 

 of the forms named on insufficient distinctive characters. 

 Nowadays it is the fashion to assign a distinct name to 

 every recognisable form, however slight may be its points 

 of difference ; but some limit in this direction will apparently 

 have to be imposed before long, unless zoology is to become 

 an impossible science. In our opinion, one way of miti- 

 gating the difficulty is by using specific terms in a com- 

 paratively wide sense, thus leaving the subspecies, or races, 

 to be recognised or not according to the discretion of the 

 individual student. 



Nomenclature is another point on which the author has 

 a good deal to say, and he mentions that some of the names 

 employed in the companion volume have been changed in 

 the present work. He hopes, however, that as the result 

 of such changes " a nomenclature that at least will approach 

 stability may, in the distant future, be expected to bf 

 reached." Possibly it may — at the cost of rendering all 

 the older standard works on zoology, paleontology, distri- 

 bution, and scientific travel worse than useless — but a pro- 

 posal like that of emending such a name as Odocoileus 

 (in universal use among his naturalist countrymen) to 

 Odontoccelus scarcely seems calculated to pave the way to 

 such a happy millennium ! 



Among changes in nomenclature that we specially regret 

 to see is the substitution of Agouti for Coelogenys as the 

 name of the paca, largely on the ground that the former 

 is the popular title of a totally different group of rodents, 

 for which reason we think its use in the scientific sense 

 should be barred. It is also distressing to see the familiar 



name Hapale, for the marmosets, banished in favour of 

 Callithrix, so long used for the titi monkeys, which now 

 figure as Saimiri. On a par with the latter is the substi- 

 tution of Tayassu for Dicotyles, of Coendu for Cercolabes, 

 and of Potos for Cercoleptes, which is like an invasion of 

 zoological Goths and Vandals into the sacred precincts of 



NO. 1835, VOL. 71] 



classic Rome. One point in regard to the plan of the work 

 — whether intentional or accidental it is not easy to say — 

 strikes us as unsatisfactory. In the case of certain species, 

 such as Odontocoelus americatitis and Ovis cervina (pp. 69 

 and 84), for example, of which the typical form does not 

 occur within the limits of the area under consideration. 



" MammaU uf Middle 



the species-name itself does not appear in the list at all, but 

 only the subspecies, such forms consequently lacking a dis- 

 tinctive number, and thus rendering the census of specific 

 types occurring within the area inaccurate. 



Otherwise we have nothing but commendation to bestow 

 on the general mode of treatment of the subject, and it may 

 be safely affirmed that the author has earned the gratitude 

 of all naturalists on this side of the Atlantic by putting in 

 .T convenient and easily accessible form such a vast amount 

 of information with regard to the mammalian fauna of an 

 extremely interesting region. The illustrations (two of 

 which are reproduced), it may be added, are, for the most 

 part, beyond praise. R. L. 



THE FISHERIES OF SCOTLAND. 

 I^HE twenty-second annual report of the Fishery Board 

 for Scotland, for the year 1903, is issued in three parts 

 as usual, the first dealing with the sea fisheries, the second 

 with the salmon fisheries, and the third being concerned with 

 ..larine research. 



With regard to sea fisheries, tables are given showing the 

 results of the trawl fishing and the line fishing. The number 

 of steam trawlers has been increasing steadily for the last 

 seven years, and rose from 109 in 1896 to 280 in 1903. 

 The average catch per vessel increased from 5030 cwt. 

 to 5594 cwt., while the value of the catch per cwt. was 

 practically the same in 1903 as it was in 1896. 



In the line fishing the number of steam liners in- 

 creased from 39 vessels in 1898 to 91 vessels in 1903, the 

 number having varied somewhat in the intermediate years, 

 23 vessels having been added in 1903. The total number of 

 boats was slightly less than in 1898, owing to a steady de- 

 crease in the number of sailing craft. The catch, since 



