524 Reviews — Dr. F. A. Bather — On Botryocrinus. 



attained a higher degree of devehipment than the museums, and 

 that they perhaps excel those of Europe in structural details and in 

 administrative methods, hut that this is not so decidedly the case 

 with the museums. The opinion of the late Dr. von Zittel, of 

 Munich, is cited to the effect that the Americans had begun (1883) 

 to make their natural history treasures accessible to the public and 

 to specialists in a manner worthy of admiration and of imitation. 

 Again, Alfred Russfl Wallace (1887) considered that the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University (known as the 

 Agassiz Museum) far excelled all European museums as an educa- 

 tional institution for the public, for students, and for the special 

 investigator. The author was much impressed with the adminis- 

 trative capacity of the Americans, and considered tliat museum 

 affairs on the whole stood on a higher plane than in Europe. This 

 view refers rather to scientific than to art institutions. 



A few figures will best illustrate the develo[)ment of libraries and 

 museums in the United States as compared with Germany, France, 

 and England. There are in the United States 8,000 public libraries, 

 containing 50,000,000 volumes. The increase in the number of 

 museums does not keep pace with these amazing results, although 

 it has often been recommended that a small popular museum should 

 be attached to each public library. There are 350 public museums, 

 of which 250 are devoted to natural history. Germany has perhaps 

 600 or more, 150 of which are natural history niuseums. France 

 has 300 of the latter, and Great Britain 250. A remarkable feature 

 in some of the large American museums is a section specially 

 adapted to the comprehension of children, and this is supplied also 

 in nearly all of the large libraries. The object is to develop the 

 minds of children and to inspire them with a love for nature. This 

 idea had long ago been suggested by Louis Agassiz. 



This voluminous paper is admirably illustrated with pictures of 

 many of the museums and libraries visited by the author. 



A. H. F. 



II. — The Species of BoTRrocniNUS. By F. A. Bather. Ottawa 

 Naturalist, vol. xx, pp. 93-104; August 15, 1906. 



THIS paper contains a comparison of all previously described 

 species, with fresh diagnoses based on the dorsal cups. The 

 species are : — Swedish, B. rnmo»issimus, Aug., B. cucurbitaceus (Ang.); 

 British, B. ramosns, Bather, B. decadactylns, Bather ex Salter MS., 

 B. pinnulatus, Bather, B. quinqiielobus, Bather ; Australian, B. longi- 

 brachinltis, Chapman ; North American, B. nucleus (Hall), B. polyxo 

 (Hall), B. crassus (Whiteaves), B. americauun, Rowley. All these 

 are Silurian except the last two, which are Devonian and approach 

 the Carboniferous Barycrinus in shape. American workers are 

 invited to consider the relations of Botryocrinus to CosmocrinuB, 

 Barycrinus, and Vasocrinus. 



