exlvi Proceedings of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. [N.S., XVII, 
times be undesirable. But the former should always be our 
aim; and the latter will perhaps not infrequently be one way 
of attaining it. More than half our difficulties, semua in the 
case of isolated werkers, are I believe due to the absence of any 
ready means of acquainting ourselves with what has been 
already done. The “ Fauna of British India” series was cri- 
ginally intended to meet this need in so far as the determination 
of species is concerned: but its earlier volumes have long been 
out of date and require either to be supplemented or rewritten ; 
and the later ones have mostly been prepared by men w ho, 
never having worked in India, cannot be expected properly to 
appreciate our needs. It thus remains for us to supply the 
need ourselves as best we ca 
our work is to be Sealy thorough we must especially 
_ against the false distinction that is now too commonly 
dra tween morphological and taxonomic zoology. No one 
can a to be a really good morphologist unless he is also a 
sound taxonomist; for otherwise he is likely to misunderstand 
anatomical distinctions—as has already happened in the case 
of certain Indian earthworms. No pne can hope to be a really 
good taxonomist unless he is also a sound morpholcgist ; for 
otherwise he is likely to confuse under one name organs ci 
similar position and appearance but different origin, with results 
disastrous to classification and most perplexing to those who 
have to interpret his descriptions without reference to specimens 
phology and biology that has brought taxonomy into its mien 
disrepute in England. Morphology and sytematics are inter- 
dependent and cannot properly be separated either from each 
other or from the s tudy of living specimens in their natural 
environment; though it is only natural that one or other should 
predominate in different pieces of work. In Europe, with its 
comparatively limited and well-explored fauna, morphology 
commonly offers much greater scope for investigation than does 
taxonomy. In India, with its much richer and largely un- 
explored fauna, this is not so, and thus it happens that all the 
greater Indian Zoologists have hitherto been taxonomists. But 
their taxonomic work has been based on careful investigations 
into anatomy and field biology, thereby establishing for usa fine 
— May we worthily maintain it in all parts of the 
country 
Observations on the aaa of some estuarine animals 
oo delta. —By B. PrasnaD. ' 
ne the ous methods of the production of a ed 
aquatic iciaale: the poor ang pe me the observations made by him aa 
