October 14, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



505 



point can scarcely be discussed here, but ex- 

 aminations of large suites of material have 

 convinced the reviewer that the criteria used 

 by Mr. Gardiner for their differentiation are 

 not valid. That is, he says, ' Omloria has a 

 true columella, whereas Mwandrina has merely 

 trabecule extended out from the septa to fill 

 up the axial fossa.' The generic name 

 Hydnophora was originally proposed by 

 Fischer v. Waldheim, 1807, for a genus of 

 Paleozoic corals and can not be used for the 

 recent corals to which the name was applied 

 by Milne Edwards and Haime.* Monticularia 

 Lamarck, 1816, is available for the Hydno- 

 phora of Milne Edwards and Haime. 



Mr- Gardiner spells such names as Gonias- 

 ircea with the diphthong ' se.' The original 

 spelling of these names by Milne Edwards 

 and Haimef is with an ' e,' but in their ' His- 

 toire !Naturelle des Coralliaires ' they change 

 the ' e's' to diphthongs, ' se's.' The reviewer 

 is of the opinion that the original spelling 

 should be followed instead of the innovation 

 of 1857. The genus Prionastrwa M. E. and 

 H., should be changed to FavUes Link. J 



The two criticisms made on Mr. Gardiner's 

 memoir are: (1) He should not have sup- 

 pressed any data that he possessed regarding 

 the influence of environment on variation. (2) 

 It is regrettable that he has not utilized, and 

 incorporated in his work, recent studies on the 

 classification of the genera treated in his paper, 

 and that his nomenclature is often faulty. 

 However, Mr. Gardiner has given us some of 

 the data regarding environmental influence 

 on variation and his work is thoroughly com- 

 prehensible even if he has not utilized modern 

 investigation on the reclassification of these 

 corals. His memoir is decidedly the best 

 contribution that has been made to the so- 

 called ' Astrseid ' corals of any one area in the 

 Indian Ocean, and its value is very much en- 

 hanced by six excellently executed half-tone 



* Trautschold, ' Die Kalkbriiohe von Mjatsch- 

 kowa,' 'Nouv. M4m. Soo. Imp. Natur. de Uoscou, 

 t. xiv., p. 38, 1879. 



t Comptes Rend., Vol. XXVII., 1848. 



J Vaughan, ' Fossil Corals from the Elevated 

 Eeefs, Curacao, etc.,' p. 21, 1901. Verrill, Trans. 

 Conn. Acad. Sci., Vol. XI., p. 89, 1902. 



plates which illustrate 32 out of the 69 species 

 discussed. The criticisms made above may be 

 regarded merely as suggestions for considera- 

 tion in future work. 



T. Wayland Vaughan.. 

 Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, D. C. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The contents of the October number of the 

 American Chemical Journal are as follows: 



Contributions from the Chemical Laboratory of 

 Harvard College : ' On Certain Derivatives of the 

 l,3,5-Triiod-2,4-dinitrobenzol,' by C. Loring Jack- 

 son and J. F. Langmaid ; ' The Existence of 

 Hydrates in Solutions of Certain Non-Electrolytes 

 and the Non-Existence of Hydrates in Solutions 

 of Organic Acids,' by Harry C. Jones and Fred- 

 erick H. Getman; 'The Existence of Aleoholates 

 in Solutions of Certain Electrolytes in Alcohol,' 

 by Harry C. Jones and Frederick H. Getman. 

 Contributions from the Sheffield Laboratory of 

 Yale University : CXIX., ' Researches on Pyri- 

 midines: 2-Oxy-4,6-diaminopyrimidine,' by Henry 

 L. Wheeler and George S. Jamieson,' CXX., ' On 

 the Action of Phenylhydrazine on Benzoyl- 

 pseudoureas : l,5-DiphenyI-3-aminopyrro-a,/3'-dia- 

 zole Derivatives,' by Treat B. Johnson and George 

 A. Menge ' ; ' On the Ii'ate of Potassium Myronate 

 in the Animal Organism and Its Hydrolysis by the 

 Ferments of the Liver,' by J. H. Kastle and Eloise 

 Chesley MeCaw; 'On the Oxidation of Sulpho- 

 eyanie Acid and Its Salts by Hydrogen Peroxide,' 

 by J. H. Kastle and Claude Robert Smith. Con- 

 tributions from the Chemical Laboratory of the 

 Nebraska Wesleyan University : VII., ' The Prep- 

 aration of Aromatic Nitroso Compounds,' by Fred- 

 erick J. Ahvay; VIII., ' The Nitrosocinnamic Acids 

 and Esters,' by Frederick J. Alway and Walter D. 

 Bonner; IX., ' On Certain Nitrogen Compounds,' 

 by Frederick J. Alway and Reuben M. Pinckney; 

 X., ' The Molecular Weights of the Yellow Nitroso 

 Compounds,' by Frederick J. Alway and Ross A. 

 Gortner. Reviews. 



The Popular Science Monthly for October 

 may be termed a British Association number, 

 being devoted to the addresses delivered at the 

 last meeting by the presidents of various sec- 

 tions. It opens with ' A Traveler's View of 

 the British Association Meeting,' very pleas- 

 antly presented by Henry S. Pritchett and 

 illustrated with views of many of the more 

 noteworthy buildings in Cambridge. Fol- 



