REVIEWS A MONOGRAPH OF THE TROCHILIDAE. 47 



Echinida. A description (with figures) of the sessile species, Agela- 

 crinites DicTcsoni, mentioned in the Report for 1856, is also given 

 under this section. Beyond this, we have a detailed description by 

 Messrs. Salter and Billings, of two species of their new and very 

 remarkable genus, Cyclocystoides, a type apparently intermediate 

 between the crinoids and the asteridge. Finally, the memoir already 

 alluded to, on the Bivalve Entoraostraca of Canada, by Mr. T. R, 

 Jones, concludes the volume. 



Our brief analysis of the contents of this " Decade" will be suffi- 

 cient, we trust, to show the rare value of the work thus given to the 

 Canadian student, and to palaeontologists generally, by the Director 

 of our Greological Survey. "Without doubt, in a scientific point of 

 view, this publication must be regarded as the most important that 

 has yet issued from the Canadian press. 



E. J. C. 



A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Humming Birds : By John 

 Gould, F.R.S., &c. Parts 1 to 16, fol. : 240 plates. London: 

 Published by the author, 20 Broad St., G-olden Square. 



Mr. Grould has published various splendid ornithological works 

 which rank among the very best for the beauty of their illustrations, 

 whilst they also contain a great deal of accurate and valuable inform- 

 ation. Their artistical qualities are truly admirable. The aid they 

 afibrd to the scientific ornithologist is varied and important. Their 

 great expense, the unavoidable accompaniment of the kind of excel- 

 lence they possess, limits their usefulness and provokes an occasional 

 grumble from the student of moderate means, as it often excludes 

 them even from respectable public libraries, and makes them the 

 privilege of wealth, instead of the companions of the earnest seekers 

 after the knowledge of nature. 



Under these circumstances, in our remote situation, and in a coun- 

 try not yet overflowing with wealth, we should hardly have thought 

 ourselves called upon to notice the latest and perhaps most beautiful 

 and attractive of Mr. Gould's works, had we not enjoyed opportuni- 

 ties in England of examining the splendid collection of preserved 

 specimens of Trochilidae, which was the foundation of the work, as 

 well as that formed by the late excellent Mr. G. Loddiges, with 



