938" 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 209. 



Enough has been said to give some idea 

 of the wealth of information given. As 

 no other has had such opportunities of in- 

 vestigation as Mr. Boulenger, so no one has 



Eggs of HyJa. 



\ "" 



Eggs o£ ' Bana temporaria.' 



had greater capacity to use his material. 

 Undoubtedly his monograph will long con- 

 tinue to be the standard of nomenclature. 

 ISTevertheless, there will be dissenters from 

 some of the taxonomic ideas and some of 

 the names adopted. For example, some 

 may be disposed to differentiate the Pelobates 

 cultripes from the genotype and call it Cul- 

 tripes provincialis (with Cope) or Cultripes 

 cultripes. Less likely will be the resurrec- 

 tion of Ammoryctes or Eptidalea. Others too 

 may assign higher value to forms desig- 

 nated as varieties of Bomblnator paehypus, 

 Alytes obstetrieans, Hyla arborea, Rana eseulenta 

 and Rana temporaria. 



Again, there may be differences of opin- 

 ion as to various specific names. Bomhina- 

 tor ignev^ may be replaced bj' B. hombinus 

 or possibly (but not probably) by B. varie- 

 gatus. (The Rana variegata of Linnseus was 



supposed to be a foreigner ' at large' — ' hab- 

 itat in exteris regionibus.') For the Bomblnator 

 paehypus may be revised the name B. salsus. 

 The toad may be called Bufo bufo or B. 

 rubeta. The Rana arvalis may be deemed to 

 be entitled to the Linnajan name R. tempo- 

 raria on the ground that it was the species 

 to which the name was limited in the Fauna 

 Suecica. Then the R. temporaria of the 

 Tailless Batrachians may be called R. muta, 

 as by Camerano and Bedriaga. Finallj^ 

 for the R. agilis the name R. dalmatina may 

 be preferred. In refei'ence to the last, Mr. 

 Boulenger has noted, " the strict law of pri- 

 ority would require the adoption of this 

 name * * -■-. However, this is one of those 

 cases in which, it appears to me, conserva- 

 tism is desirable." Mr. Boulenger adds: 

 " Similar considerations have guided me in 

 the naming of the two species of Bomblnator, 

 and I hope, in the interest of the stability 

 of nomenclature, they will commend them- 

 selves to future workers." 



But whether we agree with Mr. Boulenger 

 or not in his views as to nomenclature, he 

 certainl}^ has given us a work which well 

 deserves to be recognized as a standard and 

 is alike meritorious for text as well as for 

 illustrations. We maj"^ be allowed to hope 

 that a companion volume on the remaining 

 Amphibians of Europe will be published in 

 time. From him who has given so freelj', 

 much will be expected. 



Theo. Gill. 



SKELETOX LEAVES. 

 It has for a long time been known that 

 the best method of skeletonizing leaves is 

 to put them in a still pool containing moss, 

 algse or other living aquatic plants. In a 

 few months, as a rule, all the softer por- 

 tions of the leaf will disappear, leaving the 

 vascular system perfect!}' clean from meso- 

 phyll and epidermis. The removal of the 

 soft parts will take place more quickl}' if 

 the leaves are killed before they are put in 



