846 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 126. 



species should become well established it will 

 prove especially harmful ; vigorous measures 

 should, therefore, be taken to prevent its 

 spreading. 



Samuel Hbnshaw. 

 Cambeidge, May 17, 1897. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 Das Tierreich. Eine Zusammenstellung und 



Kennzeichnung der rezenten Tierformen. 



Herausgegeben von der Deutschen Zoologi- 



schen Gesellschaft. Generalredakteur: Feanz 



EiLHAED ScHTJLZB. Berlin, R. Friedlander 



und Sohn. 1897. 



It is about a hundred years since the last 

 editions of Linnsei Systema Naturae appeared, 

 pretending to give a systematic descriptive 

 enumeration of all natural history objects 

 known at that time. Those were days when 

 one man could undertake such a work includ- 

 ing all the known animals, plants and minerals. 

 In most cases these editions were baseless and 

 uncritical compilations, but, nevertheless, their 

 influence was so stimulating that before the 

 end of the eighteenth century the task of keep- 

 ing these descriptive lists up became impossible. 

 The three kingdoms separated first, but even 

 the animal kingdom alone got beyond the con- 

 trol of the zoologists, and no descriptive list of 

 all the animals was undertaken till our days, 

 as Cuvier's Regne Animal did not pretend to 

 take cognizance of any but the more common 

 or remarkable forms. 



The only publications of recent years, how- 

 ever, which, if kept up, would finally present 

 in one series descriptions of all known animals 

 are the catalogues of the specimens in the 

 British Museum, but on the scale upon which 

 these volumes are planned it will take ages 

 before the task can be completed. 



Recognizing this, the German Zoological So- 

 ciety has boldly stepped to the front and not 

 only planned, but actually begun, a publication 

 which intends to embrace systematic diagnoses 

 of all living animals under the title ' Das Tier- 

 reich. ' The plan of this gigantic undertaking 

 is as follows : 



The various groups of animals are to be 

 worked up by specialists, a list of sixty -four 

 colaborators having already been published. 



Their work is to be supervised by a number of 

 division editors, twenty-one of whom are named. 

 At the head of the whole, as editor-in-chief, is 

 Dr. F. E. Schulze, of Berlin, assisted by an 

 editorial committee consisting of the President 

 of the German Zoological Society and Dr. K. 

 Mobius, in Berlin. 



In order to obtain uniformity, certain rules 

 have been adopted : thus the nomenclature is 

 to follow the canons of the German Zoological 

 Society ; the color designations are to be accord- 

 ing to Saccardo's Chromotaxia, the abbreviations 

 are to be uniform, etc.; subspecies are to be 

 recognized ; a short diagnosis of each form is to 

 be given, accompanied by a list of all syno- 

 nyms since 1758, as well as references to the 

 most important literature and a brief statement 

 of the geographical distribution ; systematic 

 synopsis of groups and keys to facilitate identifi- 

 cations are to be a special feature, and dia- 

 grams and figures in the text will illustrate the 

 more difficult points. Every group is to be pub- 

 lished as soon as finished, irrespective of its 

 position in the system and as a separate whole, 

 with title and index. Upon the completion of 

 each division, table of contents and index fol- 

 low, as well as a general table and index when 

 the whole work is finished. The various parts 

 are to be sold separately. The work will be 

 published in the German language ; exception- 

 ally, however, also in English, French or 

 Latin. 



It will be seen from the above that the Ger- 

 man Zoological Society has in view a most am- 

 bitious and colossal undertaking, which, if it is 

 ever brought to conclusion, must prove of in- 

 estimable value to zoological science. The 

 plan seems well considered and the names of 

 the contributors thus far secured promise well 

 for the thoroughness of the work to be under- 

 taken. But will it ever be finished? Or 

 rather, will it be finished within such a period 

 that the beginning will not be completely 

 antiquated before the editor-in-chief writes 

 finis on the last page of the last part? We all 

 remember the fate of another German under- 

 taking of vastly less ambitious dimension, viz.: 

 Brown's ' Thierklassen,' which, although be- 

 gun in 1859, is not yet completed, and anxiously 

 ask whether it may not require more thaa 



