JULY 1, 1915] 
NATURE 
485 

ing Leucandra cliarensis, with dermal monaxon | tion of the rich micro-fauna of the “ Polygordius 
spicules visible to the naked eye and giving the 
sponge a characteristic silvery-white appearance ; 
on the Turbellarians reported on by Mr. Southern 
(forty-five from the sea and five from fresh water) ; 
on the Polychetes tackled by the same energetic 
worker (249 species, sixteen new—by far the 
largest list as yet recorded from any limited area) ; 
on the new genus Grania discovered by Mr. 
Southern, the first Oligochet found beyond low- 
water mark and occurring down as fat as twenty- 
four fathoms; on the spiders recorded by Mr. 
Denis R. Pack-Beresford (108 species and ten 
Phalangids besides); on the fresh-water mites 
dealt with by Mr. Halbert (eighty species, four 
new)—but it is obvious that we must not continue. 
It is needless to pick and choose where all the 
workmanship is good. Some of the studies— 
notably on Marine Alge, Phanerogams, Poly- | 
chets, and Foraminifera—are much more com- 
plete than others, and this, it should be noted, 
is in part due to the simple fact that some of the 

ground ’’—a sub-littoral habitat with gravel, sand, 
and broken shells lying in about twenty-five 
fathoms of water. It abounds in the primitive 
Annelid Polygordius, and yielded six new genera 
and twenty-eight new species of small fry. 
We should like to have been able to refer to 
the discussion of marine ecology by Mr. Southern, 
to the admirable introduction, narrative, and 
summary by Mr. Lloyd Praeger, and to the re- 
ports on history and archeology, place names and 
family names, Gaelic names for plants and ani- 
mals, agriculture, climate, geology, tree-growth 
(rather a negative quantity), and non-flowering 
plants; for this model regional survey has been 
as comprehensive in its scope as it has been 
thorough in its treatment. The survey has been 
completed in six years, which means hard work 
and loyal co-operation. We heartily congratu- 
late those who have contributed to an achievement 
| to be proud of, and most of all the secretary and 
editor, Mr. Lloyd Praeger. 
PROF. BARNARD’S ASTRO- 
NOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHS.} 
“THE name of Barnard is not 
only familiar to all astro- 
nomers, but also very generally to 
those who have from time to time 
perused illustrated astronomical 
books. The photographic record- 
ing of celestial objects has been 
carried by him to a very high state 
of perfection, and thereby not only 
has his own fame and that of the 
Lick Observatory been consider- 
ably enhanced, but our know- 
ledge of the visible and invisible 
universe has been greatly extended. 


Photo.) 
Harbour on extreme left. Krom ‘‘ Clare Island Survey.” 
specialists were able to visit the island oftener 
than others. This readily intelligible inequality 
was, of course, to some extent counteracted by 
co-operation in collecting. 
Looking into the novelties more analytically, 
we find fifteen new genera—one among Fungi, 
three among Mites, three among Chetopods, and 
eight among Nematodes. As to the last, it must 
be borne in mind that our knowledge of British 
free-living Nematodes has been of the scantiest, 
and we are not surprised that Mr. Southern should 
speak of one of the gatherings as furnishing “an 
apparently inexhaustible source of new and in- 
teresting species.” It was among the Lower 
Invertebrates and Lower Cryptogams that the 
biggest hauls of new records and new species were 
obtained. Thus there were thirty-three water- 
bears recorded, all new to Ireland (for there had 
been no water-bear list before), eleven new to 
the British Isles, and five new to science. One 
of the most interesting results is the demonstra- 
NO. 2383, VOL. 95] 

Unfortunately, it is an extremely 
difficult matter to reproduce, with 
complete accuracy, such photo- 
graphs as are obtained by the 
combination of a telescope and a photographic 
plate, for not only do delicate lights and shades 
become relatively altered, but other errors may 
and do creep in during the process of reproduction. 
Further, the attempt to secure such high accuracy 
in reproduction increases very considerably the 
cost of publication. It will be gathered, there- 
[G. P, Farran. 
Fic. 2.—Clare Island from E.N.E. Croaghmorein the centre. Lighthouse on extreme right. 
fore, that the extreme fineness and _ beauty 
of the original pictures cannot necessarily 
be judged by plates that have so far heen 
| published. 
It is a great pleasure now to record the fact 
| that, by a generous response for financial aid 

and with the assistance of considerable skill in 
reproduction, Prof. Barnard has been able to pub- 
lish a selection of the photographs he took during 
the years 1892 to 1895. The volume contains 129 
plates reproduced by the collotype process, and 
1 ‘ Photographs of the Milky Way and of Comets, made with the Six-inch 
Willard Lens and Crocker Telescone during the Years 1892 to 1895." By 
E. E. Barnard, Astronomer in the Lick Observatory, University of California. 
Publications of the Lick Observatory, vol. xi., 1913. 
