180 lieriem — R. Kidston — Fossil Plants. 



Palaeozoic rocks of this country and other regions in the interval ; 

 and no mention is made of the occurrence of fossil representatives of 

 the Lithonine Calcisponges. 



In the chapter on the Corals a valuable addition has been made 

 by the very clear description of the microscopic structure of their 

 skeleton, accompanied by excellent figures, which has been con- 

 tributed by Mrs. Dr. Ogilvie Gordon. Von Zittel still retains the 

 Tetracoralla or Eugosa as a distinct order of the IMadreporaria 

 sclerodermata, on the ground of its possessing a combination of 

 characters, including that of the feather-like arrangement of the septa, 

 which never occur in the Hexacoralla. The classification of the 

 Hexacoralla follows the system of Dr. Ogilvie Gordon, and the 

 Aporosa and Perforata are not continued as independent groups. 



The families of the Favositidfe, Cb^tetida?, and Monticuliporidas 

 are placed, with some others, near the Alcyonaria, but their 

 systematic position is considered doubtful. Tiie Monticuliporidfe 

 and its allies are treated very briefly, in strong contrast to the 

 elaborate description of the group by Ulrich in the Textbook, where 

 they are referred by him to the Bryozoa, and the evidence strongly 

 supports this view of their position. 



The recent work of Bather and of Jaekel on the Cystoidea has 

 necessitated a rearrangement of this division, which is now placed 

 in the orders of Thecoidae, Jaekel, Carpoidaj, Jaekel, and Hydro- 

 phorid?e, Zittel. 



The classification of the Brachiopoda in the first edition of the 

 " Grundziige " was based on that of Thomas Davidson, and it is 

 continued substantially the same in the present one, though, of 

 course, due mention is made of the systems of Beecher and of 

 Schuchert, which depend mainly on the embr^'ological features 

 of these organisms. 



Also with respect to the Cephalopoda, in the description of which 

 the author was assisted by his friend Dr. Pompeckj, the classification 

 of 1895 is retained with some needful modifications, and that of the 

 late Professor Hyatt in the Textbook is passed over, the author 

 remarking that it might be considered as an original treatise, much 

 of which related to facts which had not previously been published. 



In conclusion, we venture to think that apart from its own merits 

 this volume will be highly valued by palseontologists as the final 

 work of a great master of the science, who spared no efforts in his 

 devotion to it, and died, as he had lived, in its service. 



III. — The Fossil Plants or the Carboniferous Rocks of 

 Canonbie, Dumfriesshire, and of Parts of Cumberland and- 

 Northumberland. By R. Kidston. Trans. E03'. Soc. Edinburgh, 

 vol. xl, pt. 4 (No. 31), pp. 741-833, with 5 plates. 



IN the February number of the Geological Magazine (p. 82), a 

 notice appeared of a memoir by Messrs. Peach and Home on- 

 the geological structure of the Canonbie Coalfield of the Scottish 

 borderland. The present paper by Mr. Kidston forms an important 



