276 Reviews — Mr. S. A. Miller — American Palaeontology. 



II. — North American Geology and Paleontology for the Use 

 or Amateurs, Students, and Scientists. By S. A. Miller. 

 8vo. pp. 664: 1194 figs, in text. (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1889.) 



THIS is to all intents and purposes a third edition of the " Ameri- 

 can Palaeozoic Fossils," which first appeared in 1877, and which, 

 increased by a supplement, was re-issued in 1S83. These editions 

 however were without illustrations, and the later one comprised but 

 half the number of pages which the present volume, weighty certainly 

 in its mass, runs to. 



The author begins his preface with the statement that " a general 

 knowledge of Geology is probably of greater importance to the people 

 of the United States than a like amount of information in any other 

 department of natural science," a remark which may certainly be held 

 capable of application to a yet wider section of the globe. 



Turning to the work, however, it appears that " North American 

 Geology " is compressed into 100 pages, including 16 on " definitions 

 and laws of geology," and 10 on the subject of "nomenclature" of 

 fossils, whilst the remainder of the work, if we except the glossary 

 and index, is devoted to " North American Palaeozoic Fossils." 



This part is further subdivided. The " Vegetable Kingdom " 

 forms a section by itself: the "Animal Kingdom" is portioned out 

 into zoological subkingdoms, under each of which the genera are 

 arranged alphabetically, and prefaced by general remarks on the 

 group. 



The alphabetical method in a work intended for students has its 

 advantages ; nevertheless, since the zoological arrangement of the 

 subkingdoms necessitates the addition of an idea for the benefit of 

 the tyro in palaeontology, it is hard to see why the whole should not 

 either have been carried out on the dictionary plan or systematically 

 disposed. 



The chapter on nomenclature practically popularizes the British 

 Association rules, but we do not call to mind in that code any retro- 

 spective regulation to the effect that " a name should always be 

 rejected when it outrages decency." It is true names were coined 

 in early da}'s of natural history which no right-minded person 

 would even think of inventing now-a-days ; but if they pass current 

 to-day, it is assuredly not because their extraction is thought of ; 

 they are names and nothing more, and to seek to alter them now 

 would be to needlessly imitate those maiden ladies of America who 

 draped their table-legs and studiously avoided all mention of the 

 naked eye. 



Puns are abhorrent to the author, who decrees that "Latin puns 

 on names, as faba after Mr. Bean, should be rejected in all cases as 

 a poor joke." "Buffoonery," we are told, " has no place in science." 

 And yet somehow or other we cannot quite disabuse our minds of 

 the impression that the author himself is attempting to play off a 

 big joke on the geological student. 



How else are some of the following statements to be accounted 

 for? "The Palaeozoic Protozoa are included in two classes, viz. 

 Ehizopodae and Poriferae." " The Pori ferae include the Sponges and 

 are not to be regarded as any more highly organized than the 



