The Australasian Association. 28*7 



or rare treasure from the deep. Of dredging we have had 

 but little done, and only in shallow waters, with the excep- 

 tion of a few casts of the deep sea trawl from the Challenger. 

 When funds permit a zoological station for the study of the 

 habits of our sea fishes and for the propagation of such in- 

 troductions as the lobster and crab would be advantageous. 

 I observe that lately such an establishment has been placed 

 on the Island of Mull, Scotland, at a cost of £400, and that 

 it is expected to be nearly self-supporting. "With respect 

 to food fishes, and still more with respect to some terrestrial 

 forms of life, we, in common with all the Australasian Colo- 

 nies, require a more scientific and a less casual system of 

 acclimatization than we have had in the past. One must 

 talk with bated breath of the injuries that have been in- 

 flicted on these colonies by the rash disturbance of the 

 balance of nature. Had our enthusiasm been properly 

 controlled by foresight, our settlers would probably not have 

 to grieve over the losses they now suffer through many in- 

 sect pests, through small birds and rabbits, and which they 

 will in the future suffer through the vermin that are now 

 being spread in all directions. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



Elements of Crystallography. 1 — This admirable little book 

 will, it is believed, fill a want which has long been felt by 

 teachers and students of mineralogy and chemistry, and for 

 the first time affords to the English-speaking student a clear 

 and readable statement of the elementary principles of crys- 

 tallography. Hitherto, chemists have too frequently ignored 

 the subject, and failed to recognize its very important bearing upon 

 their work. For this no doubt the crystallographer has been 

 largely to blame ; for as a rule he has presented the subject in such 

 a way as to terrify rather than attract the student. Prof. Williams' 

 book is not of this kind, and while he only claims for it a place 

 among elementery works, we are sure that any one who studies 

 it with care will have learned a great deal of crystallography. 



Questions relating to the mode of molecular arrangement in 



1 The elements of Crystallography for students of Chemistry, Physics and Min- 

 eralogy. By G. H. Williams, Ph. B., Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins 

 University. Pp. viii + 250, with 383 Figs. New York : Henry Holt & Co., 1890. 



