378 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 560. 



iii. Drumming muscle absent in both male and fe- 

 )nale, and no drumming sound produced by 

 either sex Menticirrhus. 



It has been observed in Pogonias and other 

 genera that the drumming sounds are heard 

 most frequently during the spawning season; 

 and it is evident that this function is pri- 

 marily sexual. Coexistent with the ability to 

 make sounds there should be the ability to ap- 

 preciate them; and Dr. George H. Parker's 

 recent study of the squeteague ear, at the 

 Woods Hole laboratory of the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries, has shown in that species a well-devel- 

 oped sound-perceiving organ. It is a sug- 

 gestive fact that in the Scigenidse the otoliths 

 are exceptionally large; and as a meager con- 

 tribution to this interesting subject I may 

 mention that in Menticirrhus (in which no 

 drumming sounds are produced) the otoliths 

 are relatively smaller than in any of the other 

 genera that have been examined. 



Hugh M. Smith. 



Bureau of Fisheries, 

 Washington, D. C. 



PETER ARTEDI. 



On March tenth of this year occurred the 

 bicentenary of the birth of Artedi, distin- 

 guished Swedish naturalist, founder of modern 

 systematic ichthyology, friend and preceptor 

 of Linnsevis, and coworker with the latter in 

 various departments of natural history. Pre- 

 maturely cut short in his career, he left an im- 

 perishable legacy to science in his own 

 writings, and in so far as he helped stimulate 

 the activity of his more famous fellow country- 

 man. It is little wonder that Artedi's name 

 should be held in pious regard by nearly all 

 students of his favorite science, and that the 

 two-hundredth anniversary of his birth should 

 have been commemorated by some tribute of 

 homage. 



On behalf of the Swedish Royal Academy of 

 Science, a biographical sketch of Artedi, with 

 an appreciation of his service as an investiga- 

 tor in biological science, was prepared by Pro- 

 fessor Einar Lonnberg, of Upsala University, 

 and has been translated into English by W. E. 



Harlock.^ This is a plain and straightforward 

 narrative, interesting and instructive, sympa- 

 thetic but without pretense of eulogy; and 

 though the mutual dependence of the two twin- 

 stars of Swedish natural science is clearly set 

 forth, there is no attempt to add luster to the 

 one at the expense of the other. Brother 

 students and pioneers, their relations are as 

 pleasing to contemplate as those between Dar- 

 win and Wallace, and such comparisons as are 

 drawn between them in this bicentenary mem- 

 oir have every appearance of being true and 

 fair-minded. 



Many details of Artedi's life, his difficulties, 

 devotion, temperament, methods of work and 

 other matters not generally known are told in 

 this brief biography. Those interested are 

 commended to read the sketch itself. Only a 

 word may be said here in appreciation of his 

 ichthyological writings. The high regard pro- 

 fessed for them by Dr. Glinther and President 

 Jordan in their popular works on ' Fishes ' is 

 well known, and it is rare that one meets with 

 less favorable comments. Dr. Gill, however, is 

 inclined to take a somewhat depreciatory view, 

 since he remarks in Science (XXIL, p. 140) : 

 " I can by no means assent to the estimate as 

 to ' the extremely valuable historical and bib- 

 liographical works of Artedi.' * * * " We 

 hope that our learned critic will not take it 

 amiss if we set over against his opinion the 

 following extracts from the biography now in 

 our hands : 



The fourth part of Artedi's ' Ichthyologia ' is 

 called ' Synonymia Nomium Piscium.' In it, as 

 Griinther truly remarks, references to all previous 

 authors are arranged for every species, very much 

 in the same manner as is adopted in the sys- 

 tematic works of the present day; these references 

 and quotations are inserted under the diagnosis 

 of each several species, entailing for the author 

 a vast amount of labor, as Linnaeus had occasion 

 to find out when editing the work, for Artedi had 

 not quite finished off the copying of them in. 

 The laboriousness of the task becomes patent to 

 all, when it is known that Artedi was so con- 

 scientious that he went back even to the ancient 

 Greek and Latin writers, and endeavored to eluci- 



^ ' Peter Artedi : A Bicentenary Memoir,' by A. 

 J. E. Lonnberg. Upsala and Stockholm, 1905, 

 pp. 44. 



