I'ebruary 21, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



193 



duced; but no silver was deposited on the 

 paper. Washing the glass with a certain kind 

 of soap appears to interfere witli the silver- 

 ing process; while another kind of soap seems 

 to be as effective as caustic potash. 



Using a glass container, partially filled with 

 the silvering solution, then (after the deposi- 

 tion of silver had started) filling the container 

 with solution it was found on completion of 

 the operation, that but little silver had de- 

 posited on the upper half of the container. 

 The line of demarcation was sharp, just as 

 though, once the deposition of silver had be- 

 gun, the metal was attracted more readily to 

 that part, of the receptacle. To conclude, it 

 seems worth while to find a container that will 

 not attract silver. 



tv. w. coblentz 



Washington, D. C, 

 January 6, 1919 



SYSTEMATIC PAPERS PUBLISHED IN THE GER- 

 MAN LANGUAGE 



My friend. Dr. W. T. Holland, has sent me 

 copies of his article on the above subject in 

 Science of November 8. 



We are all agreed in our wish for the ad- 

 vance of knowledge and that the " eternal 

 verities " are the only thing that will count in 

 the long run ; but in zoology the Russian, Hun- 

 garian, Japanese and other languages have 

 never been recognized and I can not think that 

 Dr. Holland himself would recognize descrip- 

 tions published in the language he cites — Choc- 

 tau. German is, without doubt, a barbarous 

 language only just emerging from the stage 

 of the primitive Gothic character, and I ven- 

 ture to suggest that it would be to the advan- 

 tage of science to treat it as such from the 

 date August 1, 1914. The science of botany is 

 in many ways in advance of zoology. At the 

 Botanical Congress at Vienna in 1905 men of 

 Russian and various other nationalities ob- 

 jected to their languages not being recognized 

 in science and it was found that the only 

 method of arriving at an agreement was to 

 insist on a Latin diagnosis being added in 

 systematic papers in all languages, and this 

 was agreed to. This regulation, though it has 

 obvious disadvantages, may be found neces- 



sary in zoology also, the only alternative that 

 I can see being descriptions in either English 

 or French, the language of diplomacy. In 

 recent Japanese works on entomology an Eng- 

 lish description is always added to the Japan- 

 ese text. 



G. F. Hampson 

 62 Stanhope Gardens, 

 London, S.W. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



A Synopsis of the Bats of California. By 

 Hilda Wood Grinnell. University of Cali- 

 fornia Publications in Zoology, Vol. 17, No. 

 12, pp. 223^04, pis. 14-24, 24 figs, in text. 

 January 31, 1918. 



This work constitutes a notable contribution 

 to the literature of California mammalogy and 

 is characterized by the minute detail, thorough- 

 ness of treatment, and painstaking accuracy 

 which one has come to expect in the publica- 

 tions of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 

 of the University of California. 



Following the introduction, the treatment is 

 taken up under main headings as follows: 

 Senses of bats, habits, voice, enemies, eco- 

 nomic value, origin, geographic distribution, 

 dentition, coloration, age-variation, sexual 

 variation, nomenclature, classification, keys 

 for identification, and table of comparative 

 measurements, followed by treatment of the 

 thirty-one forms belonging to eleven genera 

 and three families of bats represented within 

 the geographic limits of California. 



Under each specific or subspecific heading 

 appears a full annotated synonymy embracing 

 the nomenclatural changes leading up to the 

 name in current use and all references to the 

 form as occurring in California. The par- 

 ticular species or subspecies is then discussed 

 under the headings, diagnosis, description (in- 

 cluding head, limbs and membranes, pelage, 

 color, skull, teeth, measurements), synonymy 

 and history, distribution, specimens examined, 

 and finally natural history. 



Data on senses and habits of bats are pre- 

 sented, chiefly compiled from the work of 

 Halm, Ackert, ^Merriam, Miller, Howell and 

 others, but supplemented by original obaerva- 



