Januaky 31, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



121 



the specimens open firmly. This may be done 

 by using trays of galvanized iron with four 

 or more loops of metal soldered on the sides 

 to which ordinary heavy rubber bands are 

 attached. To these rubber bands are tied 

 small fishhooks which have had their barbs 

 filed off. These hooks are to be fastened to 

 any part of the anatomy so as to hold the 

 specimen firmly, or to pull certain parts to 

 the desired position. If a plain tray without 

 the side loops is used, the rubber bands may 

 be fastened to the ends of strong strips of 

 cloth. The cloth is placed under the tray, 

 one piece at the top and the other at the 

 bottom, and if the strips are of the proper 

 length, the rubber bands and hooks will be 

 in relatively the same position as when they 

 are fastened to rings along the edge of the 

 pans. Removing the barb allows the hook to 

 be withdrawn at any time without injuring 

 the specimen. Care should be iised not to 

 stick the hooks in the hand, for owing to the 

 strength of the rubber bands, the hook would 

 make an ugly wound should it slip. 



The advantages of this method are the 

 saving of time and the lack of trouble, for 

 we have a self-adjusting holder, as the rubber 

 band allows for any change to be made in 

 the position of the specimen or any of its 

 parts. As compared to the old methods, it 

 neither incurs the expense and the time of 

 adjusting, as is the case with chains and 

 hooks, nor the unreliability and imsteadincss 

 as in the case where string and bent pins are 

 used for this purpose. John M. Long 



Washburx College 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Papers from the Department of Marine Biol- 

 ogy of the Carnegie Institution of Washing- 

 ton. Vol. 9, pp. iii 4- 362, 105 pis., 14 figs., 

 1918. 



In this handsome and very important vol- 

 ume there is a great deal of information that 

 is of the highest value to the biologist, geolo- 

 gist, paleontologist and oceanographer. In 

 fact, there is so much of value that this notice 

 can mention but a few of the results that are 



most interesting to the reviewer. There are 

 eleven papers, of which the largest is by T. W. 

 Vaughan on " Some Shoal- water Corals from 

 Murray Island (Australia), Cocos-Keeling Is- 

 lands, and Fanning Island" (1S5 pp. and 73 

 pis.). The other authors are Alfred G. Mayer, 

 M. I. Goldman, Albert Mann, Joseph A. Cush- 

 man, M. A. Howe, R. B. Dole and A. A. Cham- 

 bers, R. C. Wells and L. R. Cary. 



The shoal-Tvater corals of the Great Barrier 

 Reef of Australia described by Vaughan in the 

 systematic part of his paper, amount to 149 

 forms and 38 genera, 1 genus and 15 species 

 being new. Certain species range from the 

 east coast of Africa on the west to the Ha- 

 waiian and Fanning islands on the east. Great 

 pains have been taken not only to determine 

 the proper names, but to give eeologic condi- 

 tions as well. The illustrations are the finest 

 we have ever seen of the skeleton of corals, 

 and as the photographs are not retouched, the 

 heliotypes look as natural as the corals them- 

 selves. Many of Dana's types are figured. 



The ecology of the Murray Island corals near 

 the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef is 

 described at length in the first paper by Mayer, 

 which is a very important one. 



More than forty species were studied, with 

 a view to determine the factors of their dis- 

 tribution. These factors, in the order of their 

 importance, are: temperature, silt, the effects 

 of moving water, and the struggle for existence 

 between the species. All corals appear to be 

 svholly carnivorous. Whenever the water is 

 agitated, cool and free from silt, the reef -flat is 

 wide and covered with an abundance of living 

 corals, but where the water is calm, hot and de- 

 positing silt faster than the corals can remove 

 it from themselves, the reef-flat is narrow and 

 the corals deficient. Much silt kills corals in 

 about two days. In a square 50 feet on a side, 

 there occurred two living corals from 375 to 

 425 feet from shore, while in the same area, at 

 from 1,400 to 1,500 feet out from land, there 

 were 1,833 heads. Four genera constitute 91 

 per cent, of the corals present. 



In r^ard to annual rate of growth among 

 the stony corals there are some interesting 

 facts. Some of the identical coral heads of 



