712 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1142 



College of Agriculture at Cornell University 

 exists for the benefit of the farmers. It is a 

 college of agriculture, it is not an institution 

 of general education. 



The New York State College of Agriculture 

 has stood in the forefront among the agricul- 

 tural colleges of America. Its work, how- 

 ever, has only just begun and vast possibilities 

 are opening up for the future. The extent to 

 which the college can realize these possibilities 

 and the rate at which it can continue to 

 progress will depend largely on how adequately 

 its growing needs are met by appropriations 

 from the state of New York. — President J. Q. 

 Schurman in his Annual Report. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Catalogue of the Fresh-water Fishes of Africa 

 in the British Museum. Vol. TV. By G. A. 

 Boulenger. London, British Museum (Nat- 

 ural History). 



The fourth volume completes the account of 

 the fresh-water fishes of Africa, based on a col- 

 lection of over 15,000 specimens, and includ- 

 ing 1,425 species. In addition to the enormous 

 collection of the British Museum, on which 

 the work is primarily based, the author ex- 

 amined many specimens belonging to other 

 museums, and did everything possible to make 

 a complete survey of the subject on the lines 

 laid down. Like other British Museum " Cat- 

 alogues," this is in reality a monographic re- 

 vision of the whole group of animals discussed. 

 When noticing a former volume, we had oc- 

 casion to refer to the magnitude and im- 

 portance of Mr. Boulenger's labors in this 

 field. It may perhaps be opportune to call at- 

 tention to the extraordinary value of such a 

 worker to any museum or country. We are 

 not only amazed at the amount of work which 

 may be accomplished by a single man, but we 

 observe how he secures the cooperation of col- 

 lectors, men who can not themselves do tech- 

 nical work in zoology, but are more than glad 

 to furnish materials to those who can make 

 such good use of them. Collecting in tropical 

 Africa is always difficult and often hazardous, 

 but many enthusiasts have searched the rivers 

 and lakes of that continent for Mr. Boulenger, 



proud to be partners in so great an undertak- 

 ing. The aid thus rendered has been fully and 

 exactly recognized in publication, following 

 the excellent methods long ago established by 

 the British Museum. In our own National 

 Museum the staff in certain departments has 

 always been inadequate, while the possibilities 

 of development have never been appreciated 

 by Congress. Curatorial work on the collec- 

 tions is, of course, the first necessity; but it is 

 not realized that it would be a splendid in- 

 vestment to secure experts to take charge of 

 those divisions of zoology and botany which 

 have been least developed, and which super- 

 ficially appear to stand least in need of atten- 

 tion. The Museum, employing one man, really 

 secures the services of many, who become col- 

 laborators and contributors of specimens from 

 all over the world. In 1870, only 255 species 

 of fresh-water fishes were known from Africa; 

 who could have guessed what intensive work 

 would bring forth? The materials gathered 

 together can not be sold; it is impossible to 

 accurately define their value in money, but it 

 ought to be sufficiently apparent that the work 

 pays, whether we regard the tangible or in- 

 tangible results. 



The volume under review begins with the 

 Carangidse, and includes the more specialized 

 or higher families of fishes. More than half, 

 however, is occupied with " Addenda," descrip- 

 tions of the numerous species discovered dur- 

 ing the publication of the work. The addi- 

 tional species belong mainly to the Cyprinidse, 

 Siluridas and Characinidse, as might have been 

 expected. The already enormous genus Barbus 

 receives very many additions. The plan of 

 the work does not permit any reference to the 

 proposals by C. Tate Began and others to 

 break up the so-called family Characinidas ; 

 nor does it allow the inclusion of those illumi- 

 nating discussions of the geographical distri- 

 bution of the various families which the au- 

 thor himself has published elsewhere. Al- 

 though scales are used continually in the keys 

 and descriptions, there is no reference to the 

 microscopical characters they present and no 

 word or line indicates that they have ever re- 

 ceived anything but the most superficial at- 



