Febkuaby 14, 1902. J 



SCIENCE. 



269 



most the only evidence since the time of Willis 

 that any master-hand has been working in 

 this important field. The present publication 

 places on record, in a convenient form, a con- 

 siderable collection of such work and one likely 

 to prove valuable to all mechanical engineers 

 and draughtsmen. 



The points here discussed and graphically 

 treated are the general principles of the sci- 

 ence, angular velocities, instantaneous axes, 

 contact motions, including cams, rolling con- 

 tacts, eccentric and related motions, linkwork, 

 including 'slow advance and quick return' 

 compositions, which are extensively treated, 

 and, finally, the accelerative motions. 



These discussions are concise, accurate, di- 

 rect and clear. The theory of each case is 

 developed as the construction progresses, in an 

 admirable manner, and the gi-aphical work is 

 always equally clear, exact and legible. The 

 author is an expert in this field and his skilful 

 hand is recognized in the graphical construc- 

 tions and their beautiful lines quite as well 

 as in the text. 



The book is printed on fine paper — which 

 is, in fact, essential to the proper production 

 of the illustrations — and the type and finish 

 are alike appropriate to the artistic work of 

 the writer of the treatise. 



R. H. T. 



GENERAL. 



On behalf of the Committee on Historical 

 Documents of the American Historical So- 

 ciety, Supreme Court Justice Mitchell re- 

 ported at the last meeting that arrangements 

 had been made for the publication in full of 

 the original journals of Lewis and Clark. 

 These notebooks were deposited with the 

 Society nearly a century ago by Governor 

 Clark at the request of President Jefferson, 

 under whose direction was sent out the expedi- 

 tion which gave the country the first knowl- 

 edge of the newly acquired northwestern pos- 

 sessions. 



The Berlin and Copenhagen Academies of 

 Sciences have commenced the task of collect- 

 ing all the manuscript left by Galen and com- 

 piling a new and complete edition of his 

 works. 



The preliminary work upon the preparation 

 of a revised catalogue of the birds of Ohio has 

 resulted in the addition of twenty sjjecies to 

 the list since Dr. Wheaton's catalogue was pub- 

 lished. Nearly 150 preliminary lists have been 

 sent out for additions and corrections, but 

 hardly a third of them have been returned to 

 date. From those returned annotated much 

 valuable information has been gained, particu- 

 larly of an ecological nature, furnishing a 

 basis for comparisons with conditions in Dr. 

 Wheaton's time. Considerable field work must 

 still be done in the extreme western, the east- 

 ern and the southern fifth of the State before 

 the ideals upon which the work of revision was 

 founded can be even approximately realized. 

 As an aid to the furtherance of this work the 

 compiler solicits information from all who are 

 familiar with Ohio birds, who have not already 

 examined a preliminary list. Communicate 

 with Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 348th meeting was held on Saturday 

 evening, January 25. 



Under the heading of notes W. H. Dall 

 called attention to the practice indulged in by 

 some writers of rejecting names in biology 

 which differ only by terminations indi- 

 cating gender, as Cyprina from Cyprinus. He 

 reprobated the practice as, if carried out strict- 

 ly, likely to overthrow many names which hn^'e 

 been in universal use for a century or so, and 

 with absolutely no gain to science. As a par- 

 ticularly glaring instance of this he cited a 

 recent experience with the work of Dumeril, 

 'Zoologie Analytique,' issued in 1806. Dumeril 

 gave names to the animals of mollusca, dis- 

 tinct from those applied to the shells, by add- 

 ing to the latter the termination arius. Thus 

 we have the animal of the shell called Nassa 

 by Lamarck, referred to a genus Nassarius by 

 Dumeril. On the ground that this name ex- 

 isted, though, like all Dumeril's names an ab- 

 solute synonym, the later genus Nassaria of 

 Adams and Reeve has been rejected by a re- 

 cent writer. On looking up the facts in the 



