November 20, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



753 



The scientific value of the facts and con- 

 clusions makes it regrettable that more atten- 

 tion was not paid to the manner of their pre- 

 sentation. The arrangement of the subject 

 matter is not very satisfactory and there is a 

 noticeable tendency to diffuseness and repeti- 

 tion. There is evidence on every page of hasty 

 writing or of inadequate editing and proof- 

 reading. The want of precision in statement 

 frequently leads to ambiguity. 



These faults of style detract from the pleas- 

 ure which the reader would otherwise derive 

 from the interesting subject matter. In this 

 respect the present paper is not peculiar, how- 

 ever, scientific writings being all too frequently 

 deficient in literary form. The effectiveness 

 of much good work in science is diminished 

 through lack of care in its preparation for 

 publication. 



Thomas H. Kearney 



IT. S. Department of Agriculture 



British Antarctic " Terra Nova " Expedition, 

 1910. Zoology, Vol. 1, No. 1. Fishes by 

 C. Tate Eegan, M.A. 4°. Pp. 54. PI. I.- 

 XIII. British Museum, Nat. Hist., June 

 27, 1914. 



This is the first of the reports on the Natural 

 History of the expedition conducted by the 

 late Gapt. Scott, E.N. The Antarctic fishes 

 obtained comprise twenty-five species, of which 

 four are new generic types and twelve species 

 are new to science. Nearly all are from rather 

 deep water. Most of the species belong to the 

 Nototheniiformes. A new genus of the Bathy- 

 draconidffi resembles the northern Cottoid 

 Icelus in its armature of bony spinose plates 

 and the discovery of an Antarctic species of 

 Paraliparis is interesting. 



For the first time according to the author, 

 the knowledge of the coast fishes of the Ant- 

 arctic continent is sufficiently complete to 

 make it worth while to attempt to delimit an 

 antarctic zone and to divide it into districts. 

 South of the tropical zone the distribution of 

 coast fishes is thus classified by him. (1) 

 South Temperate zone with seven districts: 

 Chile, Argentina, Tristran d'Acunha, Cape of 

 Good Hope, St. Paul Island, Australia and 



New Zealand. (2) Subantarctic zone, with 

 the districts of Magellan and Antipodes, the 

 latter including the island near and south of 

 New Zealand. (3) Antarctic zone with the 

 Glacial and Kerguelen districts. The Ant- 

 arctic zone is characterized by the complete 

 absence of South Temperate types and Bovich- 

 thydsB, and the great development of the other 

 Nototheniiformes. The facts point to the con- 

 clusion that Antarctica may have been long 

 isolated and that its coasts may have been 

 washed by a cold sea probably throughout the 

 entire Tertiary period. The author rejects 

 the idea that it may have been connected with 

 South America during recent geological time, 

 as supposed by Dollo in the " Belgiea " report. 

 There has also been, issued Vol. 11, Pt. 1, con- 

 taining a twelve-page list of stations where 

 collections were made, with full data, and four 

 maps upon which the positions are indicated. 



Wm. H. Dall 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE FAILURE OF EQUALIZING OPPORTUNITY TO 

 REDUCE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 



Seventy-two students in an undergraduate 

 course in psychology did the experiment de- 

 scribed in the note below.^ Although this 

 was primarily a test for fatigue there was, as 

 is usually the ease, an improvement with the 



1 Do experiment 36 at home and record the re- 

 sults. Follow the directions absolutely. 

 Experiment 36 



Arrange to be undisturbed through a morning or 

 an afternoon or evening. Provide yourself with a 

 watch that records seconds. Multiply mentally, 

 using the examples printed on this page, writing 

 absolutely nothing until you have the entire an- 

 swer to an example. Then write it and proceed 

 at once to the next. Record the time at which 

 you begin, and record the time at which you have 

 finished each row. Do not stop at all except to re- 

 cord these times until you have finished all the 

 examples or worked at least two hours. Do ab- 

 solutely the best work you can throughout. 



653 537 927 847 286 728 

 A. 926 453 384 265 757 487 



Nine similar rows were provided. 



