JUNE 3, 1915] 
NATURE 
369 

Fawcett and Rendle state that there are more 
than six hundred species of Peperomia, and they 
carefully discriminate thirty-six species as occur- 
ring in Jamaica, in the distribution of five naming 
Trinidad, with which Kingsley was concerned. 
Unfortunately in their technical keys and de- 
scriptions they do not take into account “little 
green mouse-tails ”’ as a distinguishing character ! 
This omission does not prevent our perceiving how 
great a boon this work of theirs will be to all 
botanists, amateur as well as professional, to 
whom the West Indian flora makes any sort of 
appeal. 
(2) and (3) Turning now to the zoological trea- 
tises, in two trifles, regarding not matter but mode, 
the reader may find Mr. Gude’s volume better to his 
liking than its companions. Its alphabetical index 
is simple and continuous for genera and species, 
whereas the botanists less conveniently divide up 
theirs into a simple series for the genera, but for 
the species as many separate series as there are 
genera. Sir George Hampson’s alphabetical index 
agrees in principle with Mr. Gude’s, but parsi- 
moniously omits several generic names altogether. 
Also, like the botanists, where no saving of space 
can be pleaded, he disfigures names of authorities 
by abbreviation, supplying such forms as Butl., 
Dogn., and the unpronounceable WhHlgrn. and 
Hmpsn., to compare with the equally illustrious 
botanical writers Miq., Moq., and Mill., Ham., 
and Jacq., Nutt., Plum., and Tréc. 
Sir G. Hampson reports that since the first and 
second volumes of the “Catalogue of Moths” 
were published in 1898 and r1goo respectively, to 
a total of 426 genera and 2401 species in one 
family and part of another, there have been added 
ninety genera and 1941 species, the monstrous 
increase dealt with in the present volume. 
Similarly in Mr. Gude’s work, the family of 
Helicidz alone occupies nearly 200 pages, though 
far from covering the complete distribution of 
these familiar snails. In this subject the grow- 
ing importance of malacology is ever tightening 
its grip upon conchology, the immediate effect 
being to expose earlier classification at many 
serious 
points to need of revision. An _ en- 
thusiast in the eighteenth century, wishing 
to teach mankind how to estimate  char- 
acter by the curves and angles of the forehead, 
says, “For this purpose, I would advise 
the physionomist to procure a collection of sculls 
of well-known persons,” evidently expecting that 
well-known persons would readily lend their skulls 
in the interest of scientific investigation. The 
modern student of mollusca wants, not so much 
the skull-cap so prized by the conchologist, as 

with its ribbon of (often multitudinous) teeth, to 
examine the intimate parts of the hermaphrodite 
structure, and to note, it may be, as Mr. Gude 
has done in the genus Corilla, curious differences 
between immature forms and their parents. 
Both our zoologists evidently intend to uphold 
the pedantic, inconvenient, and unscholarly rule 
that the specific name should agree in gender with 
the generic. The rule is unscholarly, because, 
while all sexual species of animals contain male 
individuals, the Latin tongue gives a preference 
to the masculine gender, where it has to do with 
genders in combination. The rule is inconyeni- 
ent, because cases are continually occurring, as 
has been several times shown, in which naturalists 
are deceived as to the real gender of a generic 
name. Had he been content to leave specific 
names in the masculine gender, Mr. Gude would 
have been spared three out of the seven items of 
his list of errata. Yet in the body of the work he 
leaves Pupisoma miccyla (neuter and feminine) by 
the side of Pupisoma cacharicum, and, while him- 
self using P. constrictum, quotes Godwin-Austen 
for Pupa (Pupisoma) constrictus. He treats 
Zootecus as masculine, though by its termination 
it should be regarded as neuter. In like manner 
among the moths we have the generic names 
Sphecosoma, Chionaema, Chrostosoma, Cosmo- 
soma, Empyreuma, neuter forms, all treated as 
feminine, though apparently by accident Spheco- 
soma nigrifer escapes a change into nigrifera. 
Why the genus Mesothen, with a Greek adverb 
for sponsor, should be deemed feminine, remains 
obscure. But, apart from any grammatical mys- 
teries, it remains clear that the several authors 
have applied much sound learning and solid labour 
to their very arduous tasks. 
T. R. R. STEBBING. 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Ancient Hunters and Their Modern Representa- 
tives. By Dr. W. J. Sollas. Second Edition. 
Pp. xxiii+ 591. (London : Maemillan and Co., 
Ltd., 1915.) Price 15s. net. 
Pror. Sollas’s treatise on prehistoric archeology 
having the title of ‘‘ Ancient Hunters and their 
Modern Representatives ’’ was published four 
years ago. We are not surprised to know that 
the first edition was soon exhausted, for the book 
was well designed to meet the needs of a large 
public. In the present edition the author has 
incorporated accounts of the more recent dis- 
coveries relating to ancient man, including 
Mr. Dawson’s important find at Piltdown. 
Prof. Sollas had anticipated the discovery of such 
a form as Eoanthropus ‘‘ as an almost necessary 
stage in the course of human development.’’ He 
| apparently differs from Dr. Smith Woodward as 
the molluscous body, to dissect out the radula } regards the antiquity and size of brain of 
NO. 2379, VOL. 95| 
