450 Scientific Intelligence. 



ner, in addition to a large collection of colored drawings made 

 from life by himself, while on the expedition. All that was 

 saved was this forgotten report. Shortly after its discovery it 

 was submitted by Prof. S. F. Baird, Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, to specialists for their opinions as to its value ; among 

 others, to Prof. S. I. Smith, of Yale, then the leading carcinolo- 

 gist in this country, and to the writer. Prof. Smith and others, 

 including the writer, reported that it was a very important and 

 valuable paper, that should be published at once. It gave full 

 descriptions of large numbers of new genera and species of 

 which Dr. Stimpson had published only very brief Latin diagnoses, 

 without figures, and of which the types had all been lost in the 

 Chicago fire. The writer and others repeatedly at later times 

 urged its publication, but without avail. The only reason given 

 was the lack of funds to reproduce the figures. It had to wait 

 till the cheap modern methods of reproduction were invented 

 before any department of the U. S. Government or the Smith- 

 sonian Institution could afford to print it ! Yet it was an official 

 report of an important government expedition, made by the 

 naturalist of the expedition, and the very great expense of mak- 

 ing the drawings had already been paid for, as well as the great 

 cost of making the report. It is an illustration of the lack of 

 appreciation of the value of high class, painstaking scientific 

 illustrations, and also of the difficulty of getting posthumous 

 works published, no matter how valuable. Of course, the 

 processes of engraving have been so reduced in cost for more 

 than ten years that the original excuse has not been valid for a 

 long time. It is, then, a matter for congratulation, that under 

 the present efficient officers of the Smithsonian, and with the 

 able editing of Miss Rathbun, this valuable report has at length 

 been brought out. It includes 358 species and the numerous 

 forms described by Stimpson as new are nearly all illustrated. 

 The editor has given in footnotes the modern names when they 

 have been changed. a. e. v. 



1 7. Reports on the Scientific Results of the Expedition to the 

 Eastern Tropical Pacific, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by 

 the XI. S. Fish Com. Steamer Albatross, from Oct., 190\ to 

 March, 1905. Lieut. Com. L. M. Garrett. IT. S. N. command- 

 ing. X. The Brachyura, by Mary J. Rathbun. 4to, 54 pp., 9 

 plates. Memoirs Mus. Comp. Zoology, vol. xxxv, No. 2, Aug., 

 1907. — This is an important contribution to our knowledge of 

 the Crustacean fauna of the Central and South Pacific. The 

 species are in large part from the deep sea, but many shore and 

 shallow waier forms are also included. The total number of 

 species included is 136, of which 18 species and one genus are 

 new to science. The numerous excellent illustrations are in large 

 part reproductions of photographs. a. e. v. 



Obituary. 

 M. Maurice Loewy, the eminent French astronomer, Director 

 of the Paris Observatory, died suddenly on Oct. 15 at the age 

 of seventy-five years. 



