426 Reviews — Annals of the South African Museum. 



Ill, — Annals of the South Afkican Museum, Vol. IV, Part 3 : 

 Brachiopoda from the Bokkeveld Beds (pis. xx-xxiii) ; by 

 F. K. C. Eked, M.A., F.G.S.— Part 4: The Trilobites of 

 the Bokkeveld Beds (pis. xxiv-xxviii) ; by Philip Lake, 

 M.A., F.G.S. — Part 6 : Mollusca from the Bokkeveld Beds 

 (pis. xxx-xxxii) ; by F. R. C. Reed, M.A., F.G.S. 1903-1904. 



rpHESE three papers on the fauna of the Bokkeveld Beds of 

 J_ South Africa introduce to us a number of interesting forms, 

 many of which are new species. The plates of illustrations are good, 

 and the text bears evidence of very careful work on the part of the 

 two authors. The Devonian age of the Bokkeveld Beds is apparently 

 settled, and the authors agree in stating that the South African 

 species of this date show a I'emarkable agi'eement with the forms of 

 both North and South Asnerica, and yet a dissimilarity from those 

 of Europe. This is the conclusion of Mr. Reed (pp. 192, 193) from 

 a study of the Brachiopods, and he gives a comparative table of 

 the South African and South and North American species. Then 

 Mr. Lake says of the Trilobites that they show " that the beds 

 may be referred with certainty to the Devonian, and it is probable 

 that they belong to the lower division of that formation. Few of the 



forms have any near allies in Europe The Phacopidaj, 



on the other hand, ai-e much more closely allied to the forms which 

 have been described from Brazil and Bolivia" (p. 202). And of 

 the Mollusca Mr. Reed says, "The evidence of the Mollusca points 

 the same way as that of the Brachiopoda, and emphasizes still 

 more strongly the affinities of the fauna with that of the American 

 Continent" (p. 269). 



One irritating practice we should like to bring to the notice of 

 the editor of these Annals — that the explanations do not face their 

 own plates; such is the case in Parts 3 and 4, but in Part 6 it is 

 accomplished by turning one plate the wrong way and making one 

 leaf do double duty. Even this is bad, and surely it is not worth 

 the paper saved. In our opinion all plates should face the same 

 way ; and each plate should have its own flyleaf, bearing its own 

 explanation and no more, opposite to it. With this exception both 

 authors and editors may be congratulated on an excellent publication. 

 And we may ask why the British Museum of Natural History does 

 not publish similar Annals, and so make known to the world the 

 wealth of new species which it contains ? S. S. B. 



JRIEFOE-TS .A.1T3D :F>I^OGE!:BJDII^G-S. 



Geological Society of London. 



June 8th, 1904.— J. E. Marr, Sc.D., F.E.S., President, in the 

 Chair. The following communications were read : — 



1. "The Palaiontological Sequence in the Carboniferous Limestone 



of the Bristol Area." By Arthur Vaughan, Esq., B.A., B.Sc, F.G.S. 



The zonary divisions established by the author are given in the 



