78 Scientific Intelligence. 



the specific name porites, if used at all, should be applied to one 

 of the remaining species of those mentioned by Pallas, as varie- 

 ties. Pallas mentions first in his description (p. 324) a massive, 

 gibbous species " massse, gibbae, tuberose, tunicatse," and on p. 

 395, "Notse," he speaks first of "massa informes, gibbas," "ex 

 India," with stars subequal to those of Mad. astroites = Orbicella 

 annularis. This East Indian, gibbous, massive species, with 

 large stars, was evidently a Rhodarwa, probably R. calicularis 

 (Lam., diameter of calicles 4 mm ). Therefore, it seems best to 

 restrict porites to that species and call it Rhodarma porites, thus 

 avoiding the repetition of porites and conforming with the prin- 

 ciple of recognizing prior eliminations at one and the same time. 

 None of the species of true Porites have the "stars" much more 

 than l-5 mm in diameter, rarely 2 mm . 



Mr. Vaughan agrees with Brook and the writer in uniting all 

 the West Indian forms of Isopora ( — Acropora) as varieties of a 

 single species (Muricata L.). The principal varieties are pal- 

 mata, fiabellum, cervicomis, and prolifera. To these I have 

 recently added others : columnaris, cornuta, perampla, palmato- 

 prolifera, flabello -prolifera, surcido-palmata, etc. a. e. v. 



2. The Alcyonaria of Porto Rico ; by C. W. Haegitt and 

 Chas. G. Rogers. Pages 265-287, 4 plates and cuts in the text, 

 Dec, 1901. — This is a very useful report, though the number of 

 species treated is not large. In the first part there is a good 

 general synopsis of the families and genera of Alcyonaria, with 

 diagnoses of the genera found in the West Indies. 



The species described and figured include many of the common 

 shallow water forms, as well as a considerable number from deep 

 water, several of which are new. a. e. v. 



3. The Mollusca of Porto Rico ; by Wm. H. Dall and C. T. 

 Simpson. Pages 351-524, 5 plates, received Dec, 1901. — This is 

 an important report, for it gives descriptions of a large number 

 of species, hitherto scattered through a great mass of literature. 

 It includes 653 species, of which 107 species are terrestrial ; 42 

 are described as new marine forms. A large number of species 

 are here, for the first time, recorded from Porto Rico. a. e. v. 



4. The Birds of North and Middle America ; by Robert 

 Ridgeway, Part I, Family Fringillidw, Bulletin of the IT. S. 

 Nat. Museum, No. 50, 1901, 715 pages, 20 plates. — This rather 

 elaborate report consists of a descriptive catalogue of the higher 

 groups, genera, species, and subspecies of all American birds 

 occurring north of the Isthmus of Panama, and also those of the 

 West Indies and Galapagos Islands. 



It amounts to a complete monograph of all the Fringillidse 

 occurring within these limits. a. e. v. 



5. Capillar analyse beruhend auf Capillar Hats- und Adsorp- 

 tionserscheinungen, mit dem Schlusskapitel : das Emporsteigen 

 der Farbstoffe in den Pflanzen ; von Friedrich Goppelsroeder. 

 Basel, 1901. — It is a familiar fact that when one end of a strip of 

 bibulous paper is dipped in an aqueous solution of coloring mat- 



