December 1, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



^21 



pelagic — ' etc., seeming to use the terms as 

 synonymous. Again, there is something of 

 doubt in the validity of certain references to 

 symbiotic relations, as in the following: 

 ' Hydractinia and even the sea-anemone form 

 interesting partnerships with the hermit-crab.' 

 This is all admirable and beyond dispute. But 

 that * the polyps cover up the shell occupied 

 by the crab, thus concealing it from its ene- 

 mies and its prey' may be seriously doubted. 

 Indeed, every observer knows that there are 

 more hermit-crabs without the hydroid colo- 

 nies than with them. And furthermore, the 

 reviewer has found larger colonies of this par- 

 ticular hydroid on bits of water-logged spars 

 and on the piles of a dock than the combined 

 colonies of scores of crab-shells. 



The figures are for the most part well se- 

 lected and executed. In a few cases figures 

 are rather too diagrammatic for accviracy. In 

 its mechanical aspects the book is a creditable 

 piece of press-work. The typography is excel- 

 lent and mistakes few. A slight one may be 

 noted in the description of Fig. 68, where the 

 expanded and contracted vorticellse are wrong- 

 ly indexed. C. W. H. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The American Naturalist for October con- 

 tains but two papers : ' The ISTaididse of Cedar 

 Point,' by L. B. Walton, and the ' Mechanism 

 of the Odontophoral Apparatus in Sycotopus 

 canaliculatus/ by J. C. Herrick. The micro- 

 scopic Oligochaeta have received little atten- 

 tion in this country and Professor Watson's 

 paper deals with the local species systematic- 

 ally, giving a key to the genera and describing 

 seven new species. Professor Herrick de- 

 scribes in detail the structure and workings 

 of the rasping apparatus by means of which 

 the winkle bores through and destroys so many 

 clams and similar moUusks. He decides that 

 Huxley's views were correct and that the 

 radular membrane bearing the teeth slides 

 back and forth over the supporting cartilage 

 like a chainsaw. 



The Bulletin of the College of Charleston 

 Museum for October is mostly devoted to the 

 early history of the museum which may pos- 



sibly claim to be the oldest public museum of 

 natural history in the United States. The 

 rival claimant is the collection of minerals 

 of Harvard which dates back to 1798. 



The Museum News of the Brooklyn Insti- 

 tute for November has articles on the * House- 

 keeping of a Large Museum,' ' The King Pen- 

 guin ' and on ' The Woodward Jade Collec- 

 tion.' This last contains a good resume on 

 the history of jade objects and the methods 

 of working. The principal article in the 

 Children's Museum section is devoted to ' Bird 

 Life in Bedford Park.' 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



On May 23, 1906, the club held a special 

 meeting in commemoration of the tenth anni- 

 versary of the commencement of work in the 

 development of the New York Botanical 

 Garden. 



The meeting was held in the lecture hall 

 of the Museum Building at the Botanical 

 Garden. President Eusby presided, and there 

 was an attendance of 125. The following per- 

 sons were elected to membership: Percy L. 

 Eicker, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C; Miss Winifred J. Eobin- 

 son, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; 

 Miss Bina Seymour, 115 West 84th Street, 

 New York City. 



After the election of new members the club 

 listened to an illustrated lecture by its presi- 

 dent on ' The History of Botany in New 

 York City.' 



Dr. Eusby presented a historical sketch of 

 the development of botany in the city of New 

 York, giving special attention to the history 

 of local botanical gardens, of the botanical 

 department of Columbia College and of the 

 Torrey Botanical Club. The earliest local 

 work related to the botanical gardens of 

 Colden, Michaux and Hosack, and to the publi- 

 cation of local catalogues and floras. The 

 second period was that of text-books, man- 

 uals and other educational works. Out of the 

 associations resulting from local work, the 

 Torrey Botanical Club developed so gradually 

 that it was impossible to fix the date of its 



