NATUKE 



[JULV 28, I9IO 



the CanidjE, comprising tine wolf, the fox, and the 

 Arctic fox. This part is illustrated by six plates, and 

 there are a number of text-figures and tables of com- 

 parative measurements which should prove useful, 

 but nothing calls for special notice except the deter- 

 mination of the problematic Lycaon anglicus, Lyd., 

 as a somewhat abnormal wolf, a conclusion which 

 seems justified by the evidence now available. 



For our knowledge of the Paleeozoic fishes of the 

 famity Palseoniscids we are mainly indebted to the 

 researches of Dr. R. H. Traquair, who continues his 

 account of the British Carboniferous members of the 

 family, describing the genera Acrolepis, Nemato- 

 ptychius, and Cycloptychius ; the last three of the 

 seven plates illustrate the genus Rhadinichthys, which 

 will, presumably, be described in the next part. The 

 predaceous habits of the larger Pateoniscidje are 

 shown by a specimen of Ncniafopfyclnus greeuocki, 

 with the remains of a good-sized Acanthodes in the 

 abdominal cavity, and another point of some interest 

 to which Dr. Traquair directs attention is that in 

 round-scaled Palaeoniscida; (Coccolepis, Cryphiolepis, 

 &c.), the scales on the urfturned portion of the tail 

 always preserved their original angular form, as they 

 do even in the modern Chondrosteans. The probable 

 explanation is that the markedly heterocercal tail of 

 these fishes was a powerful organ of propulsion, and 

 that no sacrifice of strength could be made to gain 

 increased flexibility; the Palasoniscidae were strong 

 swimmers with wide gill-openings, differing in their 

 manner of life from the more sluggish Crossopterygians 

 and Dipnoans, with their restricted branchial aper- 

 tures, paddle-like paired fins, and diphjcercal or 

 hetero-diphycercal tail. 



In the fifth part of his monograph of the fossil 

 fishes of the English Chalk, Dr. A. Smith Woodward 

 concludes the Teleostomes and commences the 

 Chimseroids. Lophiostomus and Neorhombolepis are 

 ■described as highly specialised Eugnathids, but of most 

 importance is a very full description, accompanied by 

 a restoration, of the Coelacanthid Macropoma man- 

 ti'Ui. Our knowledge of the Crossopterygian fishes of 

 the order .Actinistia is gradually becoming more 

 complete; it is now some years since Dr. Smith 

 .Woodward made the interesting discovery that the 

 pectoral fin was supported by a series of four hour- 

 glass-shaped pterygials, exactly as in typical Teleosts, 

 and in the present case he has elucidated many details 

 of cranial structure. 



Mr. Henry Woods gives another instalment of his 

 elaborate monograph of the Cretaceous Lamellibranchs 

 of England, describing the Solenidee, Saxicavidse, 

 Pholadidae, Teredinida;, Anatinidas, Pholadomyidse, 

 Pleuromyidse, Poromyacidae, and Cuspidariid». 

 Several new species are included, and the preparation 

 of the synonymy of some of the others must have 

 been no light task. 



The Palaeontographical Society spares no expense 

 in order to ensure that its monographs are properly 

 illustrated, and the present volume contains twenty- 

 nine plates, ten of which are assigned to Mr. Woods's 

 memoir; the beautifully executed reproductions of 

 English Cretaceous fishes, drawn by Mr. A. H. Searle 

 NO. 2126, VOL. 84] 



to illustrate Dr. Smith Woodward's monograph, call 

 for special mention. Indices to the Cretaceous Ceph- 

 alopods and the Jurassic Belemnites, described many 

 years ago, conclude the volume. C. T. R. 



COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 



Ilandbuch der vergleichcndcn Physiologie. Edited by 



Hans Winterstein. Band ii., Physiologie des Stoff- 



wechsel ; Physiologie der Zeugang. ist and 2nd 



fasciculi, pp. i to 320; 3rd fasciculus, pp. 321 to 



482 of the first half of the 2nd volume; 4th fasci- 

 culus, pp. I to 160; 5th fasciculus, pp. 161 to 304 of 

 the 2nd half of the 2nd volume ; 6th fasciculus, pp. 



483 to 658. (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 1910.) Price 5 

 marks per fasciculus. 



THERE are being published in Germany just now a 

 number of important works of a biological nature, 

 in which eminent investigators are collaborating to 

 produce a more or less exhaustive presentment of their 

 special branches of knowledge. The fasciculi are pub- 

 lished at short intervals as they are ready, and not 

 necessarily in the sequence in which they will ultimately 

 be bound together. The present work is the latest 

 example of this method of publication, and the grov^-- 

 ing science of comparative physiology is receiving its 

 due share of attention. The editor, Prof. Hans 

 Winterstein, has an ambitious programme before him, 

 and hopes to complete the work in four volumes. 

 The list of selected collaborators contains the names 

 of some of the best known of modern investigators ; 

 the majority of these are Germans, but the names of 

 Fredericq, of Liege, Carlson, of Chicago. Tigerstedt, 

 of Helsingfors, Bottazzi, of Naples, and Godlewski, 

 of Cracow, also occur upon the title-page. 



The fasciculi at present to hand will all ultimately 

 be found in one or other of the two parts into which 

 vol. ii. is to be divided. The • first three 

 fasciculi and the sixth are occupied with a 

 single article from the pen of Prof. W. Bieder- 

 mann, of Jena, and it deals with the diges- 

 tion and assimilation of nutriment in the various 

 classes of organisms ; the article includes the con- 

 sideration of plant as well as of animal life, so the 

 term comparative is used in the widest sense. The 

 article is left to be finished in future issues. 



The fourth fasciculus is devoted to an interesting 

 monograph by Prof. L^on Fredericq on the secretion 

 of protective substances, in which we have an account 

 of such materials from the nematocysts of protozoa 

 up to the more elaborate means of defence found in 

 the vertebrata ; this includes an account of toxins, 

 antitoxins, and the numerous other substances in- 

 cluded in a general study of the vast subject of 

 immimity. The monograph overlaps into and nearly 

 fills the fifth fasciculus also, which concludes with the 

 commencement of an article by Dr. R. Burian, an 

 authority well qualified to deal with the subject allotted 

 to him, namely, excretion. 



The enterprise of our German brethren is to be 

 admired in the conception of such a monu- 

 mental work, and the preliminary fasciculi hold out 

 the best promise for its future successful realisation. 



W. D. H. 



