January 20, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



Ill 



be shown that the two species have been de- 

 rived from a common ancestor ; in other cases 

 one species is evidently derived from another 

 occurring stratigraphically below it. ' ' 



Contrary to the prevailing opinion that fossil 

 oysters, on account of their great variation, are 

 of little value in the recognition of strata, our 

 authors are led by their observations to conclude 

 "that certain forms of the Ostreidffl possess 

 very distinct specific characters, have definite 

 geologic horizons, and are of the greatest value 

 in stratigraphic work." They recognize the 

 fact, also, that no scheme of classification can 

 be entirely satisfactory until both fossil and 

 recent oysters have been " the subject of thor- 

 ough investigation from a phylogenetic and 

 morphologic standpoint, according to the lines 

 of research followed out by Hyatt in the cepha- 

 lopods, Jackson in the pelecypods, Beecher and 

 Schuchert in the brachiopods and Von Koch in 

 the stony corals." 



Sixty-one accepted species and varieties of 

 fossil oysters are listed as occurring in the 

 Texas Cretaceous, and twenty-three indefinite 

 and abandoned species. Of the former forty- 

 seven are tabulated as characteristic of definite 

 horizons (p. 31). 



Under the caption ' Historical Statement of 

 the Discovery in the Texan Region of the Forms 

 referred to Oryphsea pitcheri, Morton,' the con- 

 fusion of various authors concerning this famous 

 fossil is clearly presented and the sources of 

 error pointed out. The following topics of more 

 than ordinary interest are also discussed : ' Dif- 

 ferentiation,' 'Geographic and Stratigraphic 

 Distribution of the Lower Cretaceous Gry phaeas, ' 

 'Specific Classification and Evolution of the 

 Lower Cretaceous Gryphseas,' and the bulletin 

 closes with careful descriptions of six species, 

 characteristic of the Lower Cretaceous, which 

 the authors believe to merit recognition, sup- 

 plemented by a brief statement of their rela- 

 tionship. The excellent and copious illustra- 

 tions which accompany this paper deserve 

 especial commendation. Of thirty-five plates, 

 thirty, including copies of figures from Hall, 

 Marcou and Eoemer, are devoted to Gryphjeas ; 

 of the remainder, one is a view of a living 

 oyster bed, showing the profusion of molluscan 

 growth, the others sections showing the strati- 



graphic occurreuce of the Texas Cretaceous 

 Ostreidse. 



Frederic W. Simonds. 

 University of Texas. 



books received. 

 Calml de gencralisalion. G. Oltramare. Paris, 



Hermann. 1899. Pp. viii-figi. 

 BepoH of the Commissioner of Education for the year 



1S96-97. Washington, Government Printing Office. 



1898. Vol. II. Pp. 1137-2390. 

 The Human Body. H. Newell Martin. Fifth 



Edition, revised by George Wells Fitz. New 



York, Henry Holt & Co. 1898. Pp. xiv-f 408. 

 Elements of Graphic Statics. PROFESSOR L. M. Hos- 



KINS. New York and London, The Macmillan 



Company. 1899. Pp. viii-1-199, and eight plates. 



$2.25. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 The American Naturalist for January opens 

 with an article by Dr. Arthur Hollick discuss- 

 ing the relation between forestry and geology 

 in New Jersej'. Professor W. M. Wheeler 

 gives a biographical sketch of the late George 

 Baur, which is accompanied by a biographical 

 sketch containing 144 titles. Articles follow by 

 Miss Julia B. Piatt, describing certain phe- 

 nomena of geotaxis ; by Professor Cockerell, on 

 'Vernal Phenomena in the Arid Regions,' and 

 by Professor E. W. MacBride, reviewing Seitaro 

 Goto's work on the development of Asterias 

 pallida. 



The American Geologist for January opens its 

 twenty-third volume with a notice of Edward 

 Drinker Cope, by Miss Helen Dean King, with 

 a portrait and a bibliography containing 815 

 titles. There follow articles by Dr. N. H. 

 Winchell, on ' Thalite and Boliugite from the 

 North Shore of Lake Superior,' and by Mr. 

 Marsden Monson, on ' The Loss of Climatic 

 Evolution.' 



The Journal of the Boston Society of the 

 Medical Sciences for December, 1898, contains 

 an abstract of an interesting paper by Dr. 

 Morton Prince entitled ' An Experimental Study 

 of Visions,' also an important paper by Dr. 

 Franklin W. White upon ' the Germicidal 

 Properties of Blood Serum.' Among the con- 

 clusions reached are these : Human blood 

 serum differs greatly in its germicidal action 



