DECEMBBK21, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



961 



In the chapters contributed by Mr. Bourne 

 one finds side by side an admirable treatment 

 of some groups and faulty accounts of others. 

 Thus of the groups in which Mr. Bourne has 

 accomplished admirable investigations, the Al- 

 cyonaria and corals, the description is very 

 good, but for the most of the remaining groups 

 the treatment is sadly behind the times. This 

 is especially the case with the forms which he 

 includes under the order Actiniidse, because so 

 much has been accomplished within recent 

 years in connection with this group, and with 

 these recent advances the author appears to be 

 entirely unfamiliar, basing his classification, as 

 he states, on the work of Hertwig (1882, 1888) 

 and Andres (1383). It is to be remembered 

 that Hertwig's work formed merely the starting 

 point for a reconstruction of the taxonomy of 

 the Actiniidse, and the progress of the recon- 

 struction has gone on since its publication with 

 rapid strides. 



Some encase, however, may be found for 

 many of Mr. Bourne's taxonomic enormities in 

 the fact that the chapter was evidently written 

 as many as four and possibly even five years 

 ago and has since remained unpublished. But 

 when we read on p. 38 that ' pains have been 

 taken to make it (i. e., the classification of the 

 Zoantharia) as fully as possible representative 

 of the actual state of our knowledge,' and find 

 the volume in which this statement appears 

 dated 1900, we are justified in expecting some 

 record of the results of comparatively recent 

 investigations. Apparently, however, there 

 has been practically no attempt at a revision 

 of the original manuscript, and though Mr. 

 Bourne maj' not be responsible for the delay in 

 its publication, he may well be held account- 

 able for the failure to bring it up to date. 



A detailed criticism of the classification 

 adopted for the Actiniidse would almost result 

 in a comprehensive review of the entire order, 

 but a few errors may be mentioned in justifi- 

 cation of the criticism made above. One finds, 

 for instance, no mention of the family Aliciidae 

 established by Duerden in 1895, its type, Alicia 

 (Cladactis), being referred to the Bunodidse ; 

 Hertwig's family Liponemidse is retained and 

 no mention is made of the family Boloceridse 

 (McMurrich, 1893) ; the Phyllactidse are de- 



scribed as belonging to a group possessing 

 foliaceous tentacles, though their foliaceous or- 

 gans are really highly modified marginal 

 spherules, as was shown by McMurrich in 1893 ; 

 and Savaglia is suggested as a member of Her- 

 twig's family, Amphianthidee, although Carlgren 

 showed in 1895 that it is really a Zoanthid. 

 These for samples: a long catalogue of sins both 

 of omission and commission might readily be 

 made, and, naturally, the unfamiliarity with 

 recent work has led to errors of statement in 

 the descriptive part of the work. 



With the corals, as stated above, the case is 

 different, though even here the soft parts, so 

 important for the proper understanding of the 

 afiBnities of the group, are barely mentioned, 

 being dismissed with only six lines of descrip- 

 tion. And little fault is to be found with the 

 chapter on the Ctenophores, in which an accu- 

 rate and suflBciently complete description is 

 found, the author deserving especial credit for 

 the stand he has taken against the current but 

 erroneous idea that these forms are Coelentera 

 or even directly derived from any of the existing 

 Coelenterate groups. 



Attention has been directed in what has been 

 said above, chiefly to the failings of the volume 

 and possibly an erroneous impression as to its 

 general excellence may have been given. It is, 

 nevertheless, a valuable book to place in the 

 hands of the ' serious student ' for whom, the 

 preface informs us, it was written, and even 

 though it fails here and there to be an entirely 

 ' trustworthy presentation * * * of the main 

 facts of zoology ' it is assuredly worthy of a 

 place on the reference shelf of every zoological 

 laboratory. It may be stated that the illustra- 

 tions are abundant and, as a rule, excellent, and 

 bibliographic lists and good indices are given 

 at the end of each chapter. j p lyrpTyr 



Contributions a I'etude des hyminoptirea ento- 

 mophages. Par L. G. Seurat. Ann. des 

 Sciences Naturelles. Zoologie, X., Nos. 1-3, 

 Paris, 1899. Pp. 1-159. PI. I-V. 

 The development of the larvae of those para- 

 sitic Hymenoptera which" live within the bodies 

 of other insects has been the subject of much 

 speculation and of some investigation. How 

 these creatures breathe, nourish themselves, 



