Geology and Natural History. 407 



was obviously the front side in the progress of the meteorite 

 though the air, shows in the first place a border area quite 

 covered with the usual pittings; also a number of round well- 

 defined bore-holes mostly near the lower border explained by the 

 disappearance of cylindrical nodules of some sulphide as troilite ; 

 and, finally a series of deep open basins and broad channels of 

 great size, which are regarded as owing their origin to the friction 

 of the compressed air in the rapid passage of the meteorite. 

 The base of the mass, 10 ft. X 7 ft. in dimensions, is also remark- 

 able in another way, since the once continuous surface is now 

 largely replaced by a labyrinth of basin-like cavities, some of 

 them very large. These are believed to have been formed by the 

 decomposition of the mass under the action of terrestrial agencies, 

 chiefly water, as it lay for an unknown period with the side exposed. 

 An etched surface of the iron shows the usual crystalline figures 

 and assigns the meteorite a place in the group of octahedral irons. 

 The analysis shows that the mass contains 8 per cent of nickel. 

 The plates accompanying the paper give striking views of the 

 remarkable features of this extraordinary mass. The ownership 

 is at present the subject of litigation, so that the final disposition 

 of the specimen is yet in doubt. 



8. British Tyroglyphidm ; by Albert D. Michael. Volume 

 I, 1901, pp. xiii-f 291 ; plates xix; Volume II, 1903, pp. vii-f 

 183; plates xxxix. London (The Ray Society). — Mr. Michael's 

 ability as a student of Acarina was well demonstrated by his 

 excellent monograph of the Oribatidae, published by the Ray 

 Society in the 40th year of the Society (1883) and the 44th year 

 (1887). His work upon the Tyroglyphidae has, therefore, natu- 

 rally attracted much attention from systematic workers in Arach- 

 nology. The first volume contains a full history of literature, an 

 account of the classification, an extended description of the 

 external and internal anatomy, and a chapter on the development 

 of the immature stages. These chapters are followed by Part II, 

 which contains systematic descriptions of the genera and species 

 through the important and remarkable genus Glycyphagus. The 

 second volume, beginning with the genus Chortoglyphus, com- 

 pletes the British fauna in this important family. There is added 

 to this a list of the species foreign to Great Britain, and a bibli- 

 ography. In his review of the classification of the Acarina, Mr. 

 Michael, I think, does an inadvertent injustice to an American 

 author, Mr. Nathan Banks, in his criticism of Banks's classifica- 

 tion published in 1894. In the classification of the American 

 writer little attempt was made at novelty in the characters 

 employed. It was based upon the previous classifications of 

 Canestrini and Trouessart, and, with slight modifications of these 

 systems, consisted mainly in the erection of the principal groups 

 into superfamilies with the " oidea " termination now generally 

 adopted by systematic zoologists as indicative of superfamily 

 rank. The points criticised by Michael in the classification are 

 points originated by Trouessart and Canestrini and not by Banks. 



