592 Scientific Intelligence. 



restorations of the extinct ostracoderms, which the author consid- 

 ers as representing an annectant but " entirely distinct class 

 lying between the arthropods and vertebrates, and having 

 some of the characteristics of each, but not truly belonging to 

 either. Their supreme interest lies in the force they give to the 

 suggestion that the vertebrates sprang from the arthropods.!' 



Professor Patten has done a brilliant, painstaking piece of 

 work, wmich will prove of great value as a contribution to the 

 morphology and embryology of arachnids, ostracoderms, and ver- 

 tebrates, whether his main thesis receives general acceptance or 

 not. #> r. s. L. 



2. Die Wirbeltiere ; erne Ubersicht ilber die fossilen und leben- 

 den Formen ; von Dr. Otto Jaekel. Pp. viii, 252; 280 text 

 figures. Berlin, 1911 (Gebriider Borntraeger). — Perhaps the most 

 remarkable feature of this book is. the taxonomic scheme which 

 the author presents, in parts the most radical departure from the 

 generally accepted classifications which we have seen. Briefly, 

 Jaekel divides the Vertebrata into three " Unterstamme," Prote- 

 trapoda, Eotetrapoda, and Tetrapoda : the first including the 

 tunicates, the second the fishes, and the third the higher forms. 



The third Unterstamm, Tetrapoda, includes no fewer than 

 seven classes with some curious transpositions of groups, such, 

 for instance, as the inclusion in the class Paratheria of such 

 orders as the Therapsidi, Testudinati, Anomodontia, Therio- 

 dontia, and monotremes ! 



This classification, extreme as it is, will find few supporters, as 

 it implies phylogenies much at variance with the best opinion. 

 Many of the illustrations, which are from various sources, are 

 excellent, though very few were specially prepared for the book 

 under review. Some of the author's original restorations, most 

 of which have appeared elsewhere, are grotesque to say the least. 



r. s. L. 



3. American Permian Vertebrates ; by Samuel W. Willis- 

 ton. Pp. 145, with frontispiece, pis. i-xxxviii, and 32 text figures, 

 University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111., 1911. — This book, as 

 the author says, " comprises a series of monographic studies, 

 together with briefer notes and descriptions, of new or little-known 

 amphibians and reptiles from the Permian deposits of Texas and 

 New Mexico." The collections upon which the studies are based 

 are mainly three : that of the University of Chicago made in 

 recent years by field parties under the charge of Mr. Paul Miller 

 or the author, earlier collections of the University of Texas made 

 by Professor E. C. Case, and the great Marsh collection in the 

 Peabody Museum at Yale, which proves an increasingly fruitful 

 field for research as its varied treasures are brought to light. 

 Professor Williston's work is offered more as a contribution to 

 our knowledge of ancient reptiles and amphibians, with such sum- 

 maries and definitions, based chiefly upon American forms, as our 

 present knowledge permits, than as a final classification of these 

 ancient forms. The illustrations of the work throughout were 

 made by the author. r. s. l. 



