916 



SGIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 208. 



that fish Is a ' braia food ' is combatted, but it 

 is stated that ' most physiologists regard fish as 

 a particularly desirable food for persons of sed- 

 entary habits.' 



The second and third volumes of Jordan and 

 Evermann's ' Synopsis of the Fishes of North 

 and Middle America ' have appeared, but the 

 volume of illustrations, it is understood, may 

 be delayed for some months. When the last 

 volume is published, a review may be expected 

 in Science. 



The new ' Life of Michael Faraday,' by Pro- 

 fessor Silvanus Thompson, which Messrs. Cas- 

 sell & Co. will publish shortly, contains, says 

 Literature, many points that have not appeared 

 in any earlier biography. Several hitherto un- 

 published letters and a poem by Faraday him- 

 self are included, as well as a number of ex- 

 tracts from his laboratory note-books, from 

 which also some sketches of apparatus are re- 

 produced in facsimile. Fresh light is thrown 

 upon Faraday's refusal, in 1836, of the pension 

 offered him by Lord Melbourne. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 The American Naturalist for December opens 

 with an article by Mr. L. P. Gratacap of the 

 American Museum of Natural History on the Re- 

 lations of James Hall to American Geology and 

 a portrait of Dr. Hall is given as a frontispiece. 

 The work on the Wings of Insects by Professor 

 Comstock and Dr. Needham is continued. 

 Professor J. L. Howe contributes an interesting 

 article on variation in the shell of Helix Nemora- 

 lis in the Lexington (Virginia) colony. Mr. H. 

 H. Field describes the work of the Concilium 

 Bibliographicum. He states that it has been 

 conducted at a considerable loss, but that its 

 future is now assured by the subsidy voted to it 

 by the Swiss Confederation, the Canton and the 

 town of Zurich. It is said that, while South 

 America and Hawaii have ordered several com- 

 plete sets of the cards, there is only one such set 

 in New England. The last article of the num- 

 ber is by Mr. O. P. Hay on ' Protostega, the 

 systematic position of Dermochelys, and the 

 morphogeny of the Cheloniau Carapace and 

 Plastron. ' We regret to see^that Dr. Robert P. 

 Bigelow feels compelled to resign his position 



as editor-in-chief of the Naturalist, as he is un- 

 able to devote to it the large amount of time re- 

 quired for its management. 



The American Geologist, for December, con- 

 tains the following articles : ' On the Dikes in 

 the Vicinity of Portland, Maine,' E. C. E. 

 Lord ; ' Thomsonite and Lintonite from the 

 North Shore of Lake Superior,' N. H. Win- 

 chell ; ' Primitive Man in the Somme Valley,' 

 Warren Upham ; ' The Great Terrace of the 

 Columbia and other Topographic Features in 

 the Neighborhood of Lake Chelan, Washing- 

 ton,' Israel C. Russell ; ' The Occurrence of 

 Cretaceous Fossils in the Eocene of Maryland,' 

 Rufus Mather Bagg, Jr. 



The Biologische Centralblatt issued on October 

 27, 1898, contains a memorial notice of the late 

 Professor Theodore Eimer by his former assist- 

 ant, Grafln Dr. Maria von Linden. It may be 

 remembered that Dr. von Linden contributed 

 to this Journal (Vol. IV., p. 308) an account 

 of Elmer's work in certain directions. 



We have received the first number of the L' 

 Intermediare des neurologistes et des alienistes, 

 edited by the competent neurologist, M. Paul 

 Sollier, and published by M. Felix Alcan, 

 Paris. A most curious feature of the journal 

 is the publication of its contents in French, 

 German and English versions, a plan that 

 Avould scarcely occur to a German or an Eng- 

 lishman. It is no wonder that under these con- 

 ditions the editor asks that, considering the 

 space required by ' the threefold texte,' corre- 

 spondents are requested to write ' in the most 

 possible short manner.' It would, we feel sure, 

 be interesting to quote in full the editorial in- 

 troduction, but we have only space for the con- 

 cluding sentences: "The interest of informa- 

 tions taken and given, the pleasure of exposing 

 personal opinions on subjects of high importance 

 with the hope of being useful to others equally 

 interested to them will, I hope, be sufficient 

 movus to permit us to expect a collaboration 

 which will find us very grateful. It will de- 

 pend of them to whom we address that this 

 organ, modest at its beginnings, should take, in 

 the course of time, more and more importance 

 and more extent, and we pray for some credit 

 before any judgment." 



