54 



NATURE 



[May 1 8, 1882 



is only what it professed to be — " Illustrations of the 

 Land and Freshwater Shells of British India." The 

 letterpress gives a dry list of species and synonyms, not 

 arranged in classified order, with occasional notes. This 

 is admitted by the editors, who state that they "do not 

 acknowledge the validity of many of these species, but 

 merely illustrate them." They also state their " regret 

 that the figures of some of the more minute shells are 

 not so well executed as they expected ; but lithography 

 is scarcely compatible with sharp definition." We fully 

 concur in the last remark. Although this is not a review 

 of their work, we cannot help noticing the fact that 

 certain species of freshwater shells belonging to the 

 northern portion of British India, and which are enume- 

 rated in the " Conchologia India," are also natives of 

 Europe. Such are Limnaa auricularia and stagnalis of 

 Linne', L. peregra and truncatula of Miiller, and Valvata 

 piscinalis of Midler ; but there is no species of Unto, 

 Anodonta, Sphccrium, or Pisidium common to the two 

 regions. The occurrence of the first-named five species 

 in countries so geographically and widely separated, may 

 be partly explained by these species having spread from 

 Siberia, which they likewise inhabit ; but the mode of 

 their original distribution from Europe to Siberia, or vice 

 versa", still remains a problem. If water-fowl or other 

 animals had been instrumental in such distribution, why 

 should not any of the freshwater bivalves, which are like- 

 wise European and Siberian, have been similarly trans- 

 ported to British India ? 



The present work is intended to be published in parts, 

 of which the first has now appeared. It contains seven- 

 teen octavo pages of letterpress and four quarto plates. 

 The descriptions of new species, as regards both the shell 

 and soft parts or animal, have been most carefully written, 

 and the author has properly given the distinctive charac- 

 ters of each species in a correlative order, which is a point 

 of material assistance in comparing one species with 

 another. There are, nevertheless, a few exceptions to 

 this useful rule in species of Kaliella and Microcystina 

 (pages 5, 12, and 13), where the umbilicus is described 

 firsthand before the shape of the shell. The shells are 

 admirably drawn, although the colouring is unsatisfactory. 

 Without having critically studied the specimens figured, 

 and especially " a hatful " cf them, one might, on look- 

 ing at the illustrations, be inclined to question the specific 

 distinction of several. But all naturalists are never likely 

 to agree in that matter ; and perhaps it may be immaterial 

 whether certain forms are called species or varieties. The 

 minds of some naturalists have a synthetic and of others 

 an analytic tendency. 



Col. Godwin-Austen seems to attach considerable im- 

 portance to the odontophore or lingual riband as an 

 element of classification. We believe that this affords a 

 good auxiliary character in defining genera or higher 

 groups of the Solenoconchia and Gastropoda ; but the 

 recent investigation of the subject by Herr Friele in 

 respect of northern species of Buccinum shows that the 

 odontophore varies so greatly in individuals of the same 

 species that it cannot be fully relied on for distinguishing 

 species. Some Gastropods, e.g. Odostomia and Eulima, 

 have no odontophore, in consequence of their food con- 

 sisting of soft polyparies. 



The work now noticed is a very valuable contribution 

 to the natural history of India, and has been intrusted to 

 a naturalist who is by no means less competent because 

 he is actuated by modest aspirations. 



J. Gwyn Jeffreys 



Mimoires de la Socn'te des Sciences Physiques et Salu- 

 retics de Bordeaux. 2' se"rie, tome iv. 3 C cahier. 

 (Bordeaux, 1881.) 



This cahier contains nine papers, all mathematical. We 

 recently called attention (vol. xxv. p. 408) to an article in 



the second cahier, by M. Paul Tannery, on the Arithmetic 

 of the Greeks. The same writer now furnishes two con- 

 tributions — one, "Sur la mesure du cercle d'Archim^de," 

 in which he discusses how far Archimedes (in his kvkKov 

 ptTprjais) was acquainted with methods which form the 

 base of the solution of what is now called the Pellian 

 problem; the second is entitled "De la Solution Ge"o- 

 mdtrique des problemes du second degre* avant Euclide," 

 and in it he discusses questions very nearly allied to those 

 considered by Dr. Allman in his " Greek Geometry from 

 Thales to Euclid." 



M. Ordinaire de Lacalouge also contributes two papers 

 — one on the tramways of Bordeaux (" en regardant poser 

 les rails et marcher les premieres voitures des tram- 

 ways on a tout naturellement la l'idde de rechercher le 

 rayon minimum des courbes oil ces vdhicules peuvent 

 circuler. lis ont, sous certains rapports, de l'analogie 

 avec les wagons de chemin de fer, mais en different, 

 surtout par leur vitesse de translation"); the second dis- 

 cusses the " the"orie ge'ome'trique du pendule de Fou- 

 cault" as against M. Yvon de Villarceau ; it is modestly 

 written, and is valuable from its furnishing many interest- 

 ing historical references. Regarding the views broached 

 in the article, the author concludes with '■ le temps dira 

 si e'est une illusion." 



M. Kowalski, in a " Note sur les systemes coordonne"s 

 d' unites eHectriques spdcialement surceluide l'Association 

 Britannique et ses applications," does good work in giving 

 a concise elementary account of these systems of units, 

 " notions que les trace's classiques de physique publiees 

 jusqu'ici en France passent k peu pres completement 

 sous silence." 



The remaining four papers are by M. Saltel, viz. "Re- 

 flexions sur la mesure du volume de la sphere" (with a 

 demonstration); " Etude de la variation du cercle oscu- 

 lateur en un point M d'une section plane d'une surface"; 

 " The"oremes gdneYaux sur la decomposition des enve- 

 loppes, the"oreme sur les surfaces deVeloppables";" Contri- 

 bution a la th^orie du changement des variables dans le 

 calcul des integrates simples et multiples." 



On and Offi Duly : being Leaves from an Officer's Note- 

 Book. By S P.Oliver. (London: W. H. Allen and 

 Co., 1881.) 



The chief contents of this handsome volume are derived 

 from the rough notes and sketches made by Capt. Oliver, 

 some years ago, when a young subaltern of artillery. 

 They show that, whether in Turania, Lemuria, or 

 Columbia, he took notes of all the strange things he saw, 

 and although many of his observations have appeared 

 from time to time in the journals or proceedings of 

 various societies, or as articles in periodicals, they were, 

 we think, interesting enough to be collected into a 

 more permanent form, which we trust may stimulate 

 others of Her Majesty's officers to follow Capt. Oliver's 

 example. 



The first part of the volume is devoted to an account 

 of the author's visit to China and Japan. There is a 

 graphic description of the visit to Tsing-Yuen, to see 

 that the treaty (1S60) of peace was properly posted up as 

 required. Snakes are mentioned as abounding ; and we 

 learn that snake's flesh is eaten from choice not rarely by 

 the Chinese :• indeed, boiled-snake soup is a favourite 

 febrifuge for invalids. The author says that at Shao- 

 K'ing numerous bodies of the rebels were floating past 

 with the stream, and that though the majority were de- 

 capitated, all the bodies of the men floated on their backs, 

 whereas all the bodies of the women floated "face down- 

 wards." The notes on Japan are of interest, as inter- 

 course with foreigners is so improving the Japanese, 

 that such peculiar games as Jon-noki are not now- 

 adays to be commonly seen played : and the author 

 was ; rtunate to see Yeddo ere it ceased to be the 

 exclusive city. 



