336 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 167.^ 



ward Velain described another related shell 

 from the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam, 

 ander the name of Hochstetteria ; and still 

 more recently the writer made known an- 

 other species oi Philobrya, dredged by the Al- 

 batross on the Argentine coast, and called 

 attention to the fact that the nepionic shell 

 in this genus presented the characters of the 

 Glochidium stage of the Unionidse, and sug- 

 gested that in Philobrya also this might 

 correspond to an encysted parasitic stage. 

 In an excellent paper on Philobrya and Hoch- 

 Btetteria, Bernard has added greatly to our 

 knowledge, showing that the Glochidium in 

 these genera represents a more advanced 

 stage of development, including the presence 

 of a provinculum, absent in the Unionidse, 

 and that the peculiarities of the shell are 

 probably correlated with a large vitellus 

 in the egg, rather than with any state of 

 parasitic incubation. The soft parts in 

 Philobrya^ before the dissoconch is devel- 

 oped, have already passed the larval stage. 

 These curious little shells, according to 

 Bernard,* represent an early stage, not so 

 much of any. particular genus of Pteriidse 

 as of the group in general. It is certain, 

 however, that the possession of a glochidial 

 shell by both Unionidte and the present 

 group is a common character of no little 

 significance, notwithstanding the fact that 

 the inauguration of the dissoconch begins 

 at slightly different stages in the two. 

 Two systematic papers of unusual interest 

 have recently appeared in the Transactions 

 of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences. 

 One by Professor Verrillf discusses the 

 classification of the Pectinidse, to which the 

 author brings much erudition as well as a 

 wide knowledge of the group. We believe 

 that the subdivision of groups has been 

 carried to an excessive minuteness, yet even 

 this is preferable to the superficial study 

 which slurs over points of difference with- 



*Jonrn. de Conchyl.Vol. 45, pp. 1-47, PL 1, 1897. 

 t Vol. X., pp. 41-96, PI. XVI.-XXI , 1897. 



out consideration. In the second paper 

 Miss Bush * discusses the minute gastro- 

 pods generallj' referred to Cylodrema, Adeor- 

 bis, Vitrinella and related genera. She shows 

 that an enormous amount of confusion has- 

 reigned among them and does much to- 

 clear it up, incidentally describing quite a 

 number of new groups to which portions of 

 the assembly are to be referred. 



Dr. H. von Ihering, the direcbor of the 

 museum at San Paulo, Brazil, has followed 

 in the steps of Burmeister in his energetic 

 efforts to elucidate the natural history of his 

 adopted country. In the second volume of 

 the Eevista do Museu Paulista, recently re- 

 ceived, with his report for the year 1897, 

 beside articles on plants, crustaceans, in- 

 sects and fishes of Brazil, he has published 

 a review of the Arcidse and Mytilidse of the 

 Brazilian coast, an enumeration of the mol- 

 luscan fauna of the Brazilian island of San 

 Sebastian, and one, which is perhaps the- 

 most timely of all, on the MoUusks of the- 

 Patagonian Tertiary, mostly referable to 

 what Hatcher has so recently shown to be 

 horizons of Miocene age. These are well 

 illustrated with seven very good plates and 

 numerous figures in the text. 



The leisurely manner in which scientific 

 publication proceeds in Prance is well illus- 

 trated by two instances which have lately- 

 attracted attention. One is the announce- 

 ment of the final fasciculus of the monu- 

 mental work of Crosse and Fischer on the 

 land and fresh-water mollusks of Mexico, 

 which is a report of the authors on material 

 collected during the ill-fated expedition of 

 Maximilian more than thirty years ago. To 

 this has been added much from other 

 sources and valuable anatomical work, in- 

 dispensable to all students of the subject, as 

 well as a wealth of illustration of the high- 

 est quality. "We can only lament that the 

 junior author did not survive to see the 

 completion of the publication. 



*0p. cit., pp. 97-144, PI. XXII. -XXIII., 1897. 



