REVIEWS—CONTTIBUTIONS TO PALZONTOLOGY. 187 
old and new processes; both as applicable to domestic purposes, and 
to the preparation of vinegar on the large scale. Although there is 
certainly a large portion of the above work which might have been 
omitted without greatly detracting from its usefulness, yet on the 
whole it may be safely recommended as a very complete and trust- 
worthy manual on this particular branch of manufacture. 
H. C. 
Contributions to Paleontology, 1858 and 1859, with additions in 1860. 
By James Hall, Geologist and Paleontologist. (Thirteenth Annual 
Report of the Regents of the State Cabinet, &c., of Albany.) 1861. 
It has been said that to stand still in science is really to retrograde. 
If this be true of science in general, it is more especially true of 
paleontology. Within the last ten years, to carry our retrospective 
view no farther, the entire domain of this science has been subjected 
to many and material changes ; and, as these are still going on, our 
most elaborate works become rapidly obsolete, or fail, at least, to keep 
up with the progress of thetime. In this light, the valuable contri- 
butions of Professor Hall to American Paleontology, as published in 
the Reports of the Regents of the University and State Cabinet of 
Albany, are always welcome. The present series embraces a wide 
field: Graptolites, Brachiopods, Cephalopods, Trilobites, and other 
types, come under review ; and new forms and points of structure are 
educed ineach. Amongst the graptolites, a species of Barrande’s genus 
Rastrites, hitherto unrecognised on this continent, is figured and 
described from the Hudson River shales of the environs of Albany. 
Some curious illustrations are also given of the old species G. gracilis, 
a form which will probably be found to include several of the more 
recently established species. Notwithstanding the comparatively per- 
fect structures obtained from the Quebec rocks, our knowledge of the 
true nature of the graptolite still remains obscure, and much uncer- 
tainty prevails respecting the characters on which species may be 
legitimately founded. In the linear forms, so far as present observa- 
tion goes, the form and comparative distances of the serratures or 
cells, appear to be the only trustworthy characters (and that only in 
part) available for this purpose. If the mode of branching, or that 
of the general aggregation of the stipes be employed, it is evident 
that many identical forms will be described under different specific 
