188 Scientific Intelligence. 



6. The Tertiary and Quaternary Pectens of California ; by 

 Ralph Arnold. Prof. Paper 47, U. S. Geol. Surv., 1906, pp. 

 264, 53 pis. — This extensive monograph on the Cenozoic Pectens 

 of California also gives a very valuable " brief outline of the 

 different Tertiary and Pleistocene formations of California " 

 and " their typical fauna as far as known " (pp. 9-40). In order 

 to give a clear definition of the various Pectens and their geo- 

 logic range, it was necessary to examine "all of the available 

 marine Tertiary paleontologic material from the west coast." 

 The total thickness of these deposits aggregates 21,000 feet. 

 The classification of the Pectens is practically that of Dr. Dall 

 in "Tertiary Fauna of Florida." 



The genus Pecten and its subgenera JPatinopecten, Nodipecten, 

 Chlamys, Lyropecten, JEqidpecten, Plagioctenium, Pseuda- 

 musinm, Amusium, Propeamusium, and Hinnites are defined on 

 pages 45-50. Of species and varieties there are 93, and of these 

 50 are new. These are distributed as follows : Eocene 4 

 (restricted), Oligocene 5 (all pass upward), Miocene 38 (28 

 restricted, 4 pass upward), Pliocene 37(10 pass upward), Pleisto- 

 cene 20 (17 in recent faunas), Recent 25 (16 also fossil). 



The illustrations look natural, being nearly all retouched 

 photographs without attempting to show more than the speci- 

 mens reveal. It will therefore be easy for subsequent workers 

 to identify these species as defined by Dr. Arnold. The work is 

 thoroughly up to date and is indispensable to all students of the 

 Mollusca. c. s. 



7. Cambrian Faunas of China • by Charles D, Walcott. 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1906, pp. 563-595.— This is the third 

 paper on the Cambrian material collected by Mr. Blackwelder in 

 China. The final report on the fossils by Dr. Walcott, and on 

 the geology by Dr. Willis, will be published next winter by the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington. 



This paper describes 34 new species and one new genus Plack- 

 welderia. The remarkable abundance of Trilobites in the Cam- 

 brian is again noticeable in this paper, where 27 species are 

 described. • c. s. 



8. Plant Response as a Means of Physiological Investiga- 

 tion ; by Jagadis Chunder Bose, M.A., D.Sc. Professor, Presi- 

 dency College, Calcutta. London, New York, and Bombay, 1906. 

 (Longmans, Green & Co.) — In a previous notice of this interest- 

 ing and suggestive treatise, the promise was given that in a 

 subsequent issue of this Journal a short analysis would be made 

 of the principal chapters. The work is divided into nine parts, 

 which are not of equal rank, some of them being merely conven- 

 ient headings for minor but generally allied subjects. Thus, for 

 instance, two parts are devoted to the Ascent of Sap and Growth, 

 respectively ; topics which are special under larger questions. 



Part First considers Simple Response. In this the plant is 

 regarded as a machine responding to external stimuli and giving 

 distinct pulse-records. The sensitiveness of plants is practically 



