74 ScientiJlG Intelligence, 



interest because of its rare and exceptional character. In fact, it 

 is the only example of this highly explosive type of eruption that 

 has occurred in modern times under circumstances that permitted 

 scientific examination, or the testimony of intelligent observers. 

 Eruptions of this kind might well be designated as the oxy- 

 hydrogen explosive type^ the principal destruction being caused 

 by the explosion of vast volumes of these gases, while in the 

 much more common type of eruptions the explosions are caused 

 mainly by the escape of steam under very high pressures. Ex- 

 plosive eruptions of intermediate kinds, due to various mixtures 

 of steam and the explosive gases, also occurred here. The later 

 eruptions (as on May 26) from the summit crater of Mt. Pelee 

 were evidently of this mixed kind, in which steam predominated. 



A. E. VERRILL. 



10. The Fauna and Geography of the Maldive and Laccadive 

 Arehipelagoes. Edited by J. Stanley Gardiner. Vol. i. Part II, 

 pp. 119-222, 7 plates, 16 figs. — The principal coral reefs of the 

 Indian ocean were made the special object of studj^ by an expedi- 

 tion headed by J. Stanley Gardiner in 1899 and 1900. The pres- 

 ent paper is a continuation of a previous report (this Journal, vol. 

 xiii, p. 321) and contains the following papers on fauna : 



Amphibia and Reptilia, by F. F. Laidlow; Lepidoptera, by 

 Ed. Meyrick ; Echiuroidea, by A. E. Shipley ; Sipunculoidea, by 

 A. E. Shipley; Land and Freshwater Mollusca, by Edgar A. 

 Smith ; Pigments of Corals, by C. A. MacMunn ; Marine Crusta- 

 ceans, by L. A. Borrodaile ; Chaetognatha, by Leonard Doncas- 

 ter ; Dragon Flies, by F. F. Laidlow. 



INIr. Gardiner has continued his studies on the origin of the 

 coral island groups (pp. 146-184) and finds that the subsidence 

 theory is untenable for the great Maldive plateau. To quote the 

 author : " My conclusion then is that an almost flat plateau at a 

 depth of 160 fathoms was at one time formed, and that on this 

 the banks severally arose." The details of the formation of the 

 group are given graphically on page 183. Part III of vol. i is 

 promised for October, 1902. 



1 1. Report on the Actinians of Porto Rico ; by J. E. Dcerden. 

 Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission for 1900, pp. 323-374, 13 plates. 

 — This valuable paper is devoted largely to the anatomy and 

 histology of the species treated, of which there were only thirteen 

 in the collection. A single new species (Bunadosoma spherulata) 

 is described. Two of the plates give general views of five 

 species. The other plates are devoted to sections, and are well 

 executed. a. e. v. 



^' 12. The Ascidians of the Bermuda Islaiids ; by W. G. Van" 

 Name. Trans. Conn. Acad. Sciences, vol. xi, pp. 325-411, 19 

 plates. Feb. 1902. — This is an excellent monographic work on 

 the Bermudian Ascidians, which had previously received but 

 little attention. The total number of species and marked varieties 

 is 46, representing 23 genera. Four new genera are described 

 and 21 new species, besides 11 subspecies or marked varieties. 



