276 RevieiDS — Wachsmuth 8f Springer's Monograph on Crinoids. 



on in the foregoing statement. From the purely exploratory point 

 of view much might be urged in favour of an Antarctic Expedition 

 at an early date ; for the further progress of scientific geography it is 

 essential to have a more exact knowledge of the topography of the 

 Antarctic regions. This would enable a more just conception of the 

 volume relations of land and sea to be formed, and in connection 

 with pendulum observations some hints as to the density of the 

 sub-oceanic crust and the depth of ice and snow on the Antarctic 

 continent might be obtained. In case the above sketch may 

 possibly have created the impression that we really know a great 

 deal about the Antarctic regions, it is necessary to restate that all 

 the general , conclusions that have been indicated are largely 

 hypothetical, and to again urge the necessity for a wider and more 

 solid base for generalizations. The results of a successful Antarctic 

 Expedition would mark a great advance in the philosophy — ^apart 

 from the mere facts — of terrestrial science. 



" No thinking person doubts that the Antarctic vrill be explored. 

 The only questions are : when ? and by whom ? I should like to see 

 the work undertaken at once, and by the British Navy. I should like 

 to see a sum of £150,000 inserted in the estimates for the purpose. 

 The Government may have sufficient grounds for declining to send 

 forth such an expedition at the present time, but that is no reason 

 wh}"^ the scientific men of the country should not urge that the 

 exploration of the Antarctic would lead to important additions to 

 knowledge, and that, in the interests of science among English- 

 speaking peoples, the United Kingdom should take not only a large 

 but a leading part in any such exploration." 



The Duke of Argyll, Sir J. D. Hooker, Dr. Nansen, Dr. G. 

 Neumayer, Sir Clements Markham, Dr. Alexander Buchan, Sir A. 

 Geikie, Dr. Sclater, Professor D'Arcy Thompson, Admiral Sir 

 W. J. L. Wharton, and others, took part in the discussion which 

 followed. 



I?, E "V I E VT- S. 



Wachsmuth and Spkingbr's Monogkaph on Crinoids. 



The North American Crinoidea Camerata. By Charles 

 Wachsmuth and Frank Springer. Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. 

 Harvard, vols, xx and xxi, containing 838 pp. and 83 plates. 

 (Cambridge, U.S.A., May, 1897). 



First Notice. 



IN the last letter that he wrote me, Charles Wachsmuth repeated 

 a wish already expressed by word of mouth, namely, that in 

 some English publication I should review this grand monograph, 

 then in active preparation. Although, through the kindness of 

 Mr. Alexander Agassiz and Mr. Frank Springer, a copy has been in 

 my hands for a twelvemonth, yet the wish of my departed friend is 

 still unfulfilled. The reasons for delay have been two. The first is 

 the size and importance of the work, coupled with my desire to do it 

 justice. What has taken twenty years to write cannot be digested 



