14 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 653 



previously known forms, and on nomencla- 

 ture, leave nothing to be desired. The volume 

 ends with two pages of glossary, two of bibli- 

 ography, eight of explanation of plates, forty- 

 nine plates, and a good index of three pages. 

 The plates are of more than usual excellence, 

 thirty-six being photographs (many enlarged), 

 light figures on a black background, while 

 the remainder are drawings of morphological 

 details, chiefly by Dr. Fisher himself. The 

 Bureau of Fisheries and Dr. Fisher are both 

 to be congratulated on the appearance and the 

 contents of this report, which will rank here- 

 after, in importance to students of the Aster- 

 oidea, with the classic works of Perrier and 

 Sladen. 



The report of the Echini of the Valdivia 

 collections" is a great contribution to the 

 taxonomy of the Ecliinoidea, from one of the 

 most eminent of living Echinologists, and is 

 the most elaborate work which he has yet 

 produced. Among other reasons, it is notable 

 for the attempt made to show details of struc- 

 ture, particularly the pedicellarise, by means of 

 microphotography. It is a quarto volume of 

 228 (63-290) pages, dealing with nearly one 

 hundred different Echini, of which 71 were 

 collected by the Valdivia at 62 stations. Of 

 these, 23 were new to science at the time they 

 were taken, but only three or four are de- 

 scribed here for the first time, as preliminary 

 reports on the collection were published in the 

 Zoologischer Anzeiger in 1901 and 1905. 

 Doderlein's work is, however, far more than a 

 mere systematic account of the Echini of the 

 Valdivia, for the first part of the volume con- 

 sists of a discussion of the new system and 

 principles of classification proposed by Mor- 

 tensen, in which the pedicellarise play such 

 an important part. After a brief introduction 

 and some remarks in regard to his methods 



' " Die Echinoiden der deutschen Tiefsee-Expedi- 

 tion." Von Dr. Ludwig Doderlein. Mit 42 Tafeln 

 und 46 Abbildungen im Text. Abdruck aus Wis- 

 senschaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschen Tiefsee- 

 Expeditioii auf dem Dampfer Valdivia, 1898-1899. 

 Im Auftrage des Reichsamtes des Innern heraus- 

 gegeben von Carl Chun, Professor der Zoologie in 

 Leipzig, Leiter der Expedition. Fiinfter Band. 

 Verlag von Gustav Fisher in Jena, 1906. 



of illustration, Doderlein proceeds to a short 

 review of the recent works of Mortensen, de 

 Meijere and A. Agassiz, following this with 

 a dozen pages of discussion of the pedicellarise 

 and their value for purposes of classification, 

 in which the writer reveals his sympathy with 

 Mortensen's methods, although not oblivious 

 to the difficulties which they involve. Several 

 pages are given to remarks on the interrela- 

 tionships of the different groups of Echini, 

 and then comes an outline of the classifica- 

 tion of the recent Echinoidea, as Doderlein 

 would have it. This classification leaves out 

 of account the evidence of paleontology and 

 lays particular stress on the pedicellarise. It 

 divides the Echinoidea into two subclasses, 

 Cidariformia, with the single family Cidarida3, 

 and Diadematiformia, with two orders, Kegii- 

 laria and Irregularia. The Regularia in- 

 cludes two suborders with a single family 

 each and two with five families each. The 

 Irregularia consists of two suborders, Cly- 

 peastroidea with four families and Spatan- 

 goidea with six families. It is hardly probable 

 that this classification will be widely accepted, 

 for it is diiScult to believe that the Spatan- 

 goids are more nearly related to the Dia- 

 dematidse and Eehinothuridae, than are the 

 Cidaroids, and surely the mere position of the 

 anal opening is not of greater morphological 

 significance than the presence or absence of 

 the complicated " Aristotle's lantern," as the 

 position assigned the Clypeastroids forces one 

 to believe Doderlein assumes. Following the 

 outline of the proposed classification, 183 

 pages are given to a discussion of the seven- 

 teen families represented in the Valdivia col- 

 lection, with full descriptions, models of their 

 kind, of all new species, important accounts 

 of many little-known forms, and elaborate 

 descriptions of the pedicellarise of all species, 

 not yet so treated by Mortensen. Special at- 

 tention is given the Cidaridse the genera pro- 

 posed by Mortensen are discussed in detail 

 and a new grouping of the species into ten 

 genera, with five subgenera, is suggested. 

 This is the least satisfactory section of the 

 report, owing to needless and confusing 

 changes in long-established names and to a 

 curious lack of consistency, due apparently to 



