August 9, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



189 



writers have contended. He believes that 

 many of the forms that now have their center 

 of dispersal in the southeast originally came 

 from the southwest, either directly or possibly 

 by way of the West Indies, and that changes 

 in climate since the early Tertiary have ex- 

 tinguished the primitive forms in the south- 

 west. 



It has been possible in this review only to 

 touch upon a few of the main points in the 

 book, but enough has been said to show that 

 many of Dr. Scharff's conclusions will not 

 meet with general acceptance. However, even 

 if they should be entirely overthrown, the gen- 

 eral usefulness of the book will not, in the 

 opinion of the reviewer, be impaired, for the 

 summary of data and generalizations can only 

 be of the greatest use and a source of inspira- 

 tion to students of the American fauna. 



Alexander G. Euthven 



eecext antarctic work 

 National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904. 



Natural History, Vol. VI., Zoology and 



Botany. London, British Museum. 1912. 



4to. Pp. xvi + 81, 8 plates. 



With the publication of this volume, the 

 series of reports of this expedition relating to 

 the natural history is brought to a close. The 

 special reports included in it are " On a Col- 

 lection of Young Holothurioids," by Pro- 

 fessor E. W. Macbride; on the Polychsta, 

 by Professor Dr. E. Ehlers, and on the fresh- 

 water algffi, by Dr. F. E. Eritsch, these being 

 the only freshwater organisms obtained by 

 the expedition. 



The series comprises altogether some fifty 

 memoirs descriptive of the fauna and flora of 

 the Antarctic region. This area, like other 

 cold seas, teems with species, of which 227 

 new forms have been described in these vol- 

 umes. Of some Amphipod Crustacea 10,000 

 to S0,000 were occasionally taken at a single 

 haul and in the collection one species of 

 Schizopod is represented by nearly 10,000 

 specimens. The great kelp (Lessonia) has a 

 frond as much as 24 feet long, but the mosses 

 show signs of degeneration. No evidence in 

 favor of the theory of " bipolarity " has been 



gathered from the collection. Twenty-three 

 new genera of animals, and 201 new species 

 were obtained, and 26 new species of plants. 

 The collection of young echinoderms includes 

 free-swimming larvas of three out of four 

 groups of echinoderms, which is of interest 

 in view of the opinion, which had been ex- 

 pressed, that all species of the polar seas 

 would be found to have development of the 

 shortened type without free larvas. 



The freshwater algae are exceptionally nu- 

 merous in species, 91 in all, belonging to 35 

 genera, of which 25 species are Diatoms. 

 Huge sheets of Phormidium and occasionally 

 of Lynghya flourish in the ice and during the 

 milder portion of the year in the waters of 

 the ponds and lakes. These sheets serve as a . 

 substratum for a rich grovrth of other forms 

 and are probably the breeding places for the 

 bulk of the algal flora. The scarcity of green 

 alg» is notable, while Diatoms are rather 

 scarce, but desmids are relatively abundant. 

 Microcystis sometimes colored the ice of a 

 dull brick red. The conclusion is reached that 

 reproduction in the bulk of the Antarctic 

 algse is a very slow process and possibly sev- 

 eral seasons elapse before a new generation 

 reaches maturity. 



The plates of this volume attain the same 

 high degree of excellence noticeable in the 

 previous issues of the series, and a conveni- 

 ent index to the whole set is included both for 

 authors and subjects. 



Expedition Antarctique Frangaise, 1903-1905, 

 Commandee par le docteur Jean Charcot. 

 Hydrographie-Physique du Globe, par A. 

 Matha et J. J. Eey. Paris, Bureau des 

 Longitudes. 1911. 4to. Pp. vi -f 615, 9 

 plates, with figures in the text. 

 The expedition of Dr. Charcot on the 

 schooner Francais was due to the enthusiasm 

 of its leader and the generosity of private in- 

 dividuals aided by the efforts of the Parisian 

 journal Le Matin; through which after a 

 hard struggle something less than $100,000 

 was obtained, a small three-masted schooner 

 built, and outfitted for two years. Instru- 

 ments and books were lent, the members of the 

 party served freely or for a nominal wage. 



