November 4, 1898 ] 



SCIENCE. 



613 



been distributed with an octavo resume of 

 115 pages in German. In the recent fauna 

 Dreissensia is confined to Europe and west- 

 ■ern Asia, while Congeria is distributed in 

 west Africa and the tropical and sub-tropi- 

 cal regions of America. This is curious, 

 since fossil Congerias are extremely abun- 

 dant in some of the Tertiaries of eastern 

 Europe. A small area in Farther India 

 produces mollusks not distinguishable by 

 the shell from Dreissensia, but which our 

 author suspects are different anatomically 

 and refers to as ■psendo- Dreissensia. !Not- 

 withstanding the abundance of Dreissensia 

 in Europe and of Congeria aAmost under the 

 •shadow of the Johns Hopkins University, 

 a complete account of the anatomy is still 

 a desideratum, while the imperfect data 

 recorded have given rise to the most di- 

 verse hypotheses as to the relations of this 

 familj', of which by far the larger number 

 of species are only known in a fossil state. 



Although somewhat belated,notice should 

 be taken of a magnificent contribution to 

 the paleontology of the Alpine Trias by A. 

 Bittner.* This work is devoted to the 

 Pelecypoda of St. Cassian, covering fifty- 

 six genera, of which ten are newly insti- 

 tuted. One of these, Arcoptera Bittner, 

 bears a name which has already been used 

 by Heilprin for a Pliocene fossil, f The 

 later genus is ■ based on two very elegant 

 little species of Arcacea, and we would sug- 

 gest that the preoccupied name be replaced 

 by Bittnerella. The fauna is one of classic 

 interest, and is illustrated lavishly by ad- 

 mirable lithographic plates. 



The current volume of the Journal de 

 Conchyliologie contains an important ar- 

 ticle by H. Fischer, summarizing the works 

 of the late Dr. Felix Bernard on the de- 



*Eevision des Lamellibrancliiaten von Set. Cassian. 

 Abh. K. K. Geol. Eeichsansfc. Bd. XVIII., Heft. 1, 

 236 pp., 24pl.,4to. 



tTrans. Wagner Inst. Soi., Philadelphia, Vol. 1, 

 1885. 



velopment of the shell in Pelecypoda.^ The 

 premature decease of this promising and 

 estimable student came as a shock to those 

 who had admired and profited by his ex- 

 cellent researches. While one might feel 

 disinclined to accept in their entirety the 

 theories he based upon them, the collection 

 of new facts relating to the development of 

 the hinge in Pelecypods is a solid contribu- 

 tion to science for which we shall always 

 be in his debt, while his excellent anatom- 

 ical papers have met general commendation. 

 Dr. Fischer's summary, in default of the 

 general work contemplated by Bernard, will 

 possess a permanent value. 



In this connection we may express our 

 regret at the death of the veteran M. Hip- 

 polyte Crosse, senior editor of the Journal, 

 to which he devoted many years of con- 

 scientious and conservative attention. M. 

 Crosse had attained the age of 71 years, and 

 died on the 7th of August last, followed 

 five days later by Bernard, in the 85th 

 year of his age — two most regrettable losses 

 for French malacology. 



We are informed, though it has not yet 

 come to hand, that an index to the last 

 twenty volumes of the Journal has been 

 issued, which will be indispensable to all 

 students of mollusks, recent or fossil. We 

 trust that the editorial staff will in future 

 do away with the inconvenient practice of 

 antedating the issues of the Journal, which 

 has gradually come about of late years 

 through the delay in publishing some of 

 the numbers. The volume for 1897 (largely 

 issued in 1898), besides the paper above 

 mentioned, includes interesting data on the 

 genus Cypircea in the Mediterranean, by the 

 Marquis de Monterosato ; on minute shells 

 from the ISTew Caledonian Archipelago, by 

 the E. P. J. Hervier, and on the Quaternary 

 fossil shells collected by M. Piette in the cave 

 of Mas d'Azil (Ariege), by Dr. H. Fischer. 



*.Tourn. de Concliyl., Yol. XLV., No. 4, pp. 209-224, 

 1898. 



