526 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vou XXXIII. 
for instance, the wryneck and the nuthatch, shows how vastly superior 
the modern figures are as zoological illustrations. In the limited 
space of this volume much room could not be spared for pictures, but 
figures are given of representatives of most of the important groups. 
It may be disputed, however, whether the selection of species illus- 
trated is the best one which could have been made for a book of this 
scope. Over one-third of the species figured are English, some of 
them the most common and best known birds with which every 
reader of the book is thoroughly familiar. It can hardly be doubted 
that a figure of Podoces would have been more valuable than that of 
the raven, or that Pyrrhuloxia would have been preferable to the 
house sparrow. However, the author is probably not to blame in 
the matter. Editors and publishers usually have a way of interfering 
with his best intentions — concerning the illustrations. 
The author expresses the hope that the work may be of real use, 
not only to the tyro in ornithology, but also to the traveler or resident 
in foreign parts interested in the subject, who, without time or oppor- 
tunity for referring to the works of specialists, may yet need the aid 
-of a concise account of the species likely to cross his path. There 
certainly was a need of such a book, and the present one meets it as 
well as it can be done in the limited space. From the treatment of 
the various groups I may add that the class of people most likely to 
derive the greatest benefit from the book is the traveling sportsman 
with an eye open for other birds and game in the strictest sense. But 
even the working naturalist, let alone the tyro, will find it an inex- 
haustible mine of solid ornithological facts. 
. LEONHARD STEJNEGER. 
Blind-Fishes of the Caves. — In Science for February 24, Dr. 
Carl H. Eigenmann describes a new genus of blind-fishes, which he 
finds a remarkable case of the convergence of characters. The spe- 
cies, first obtained by Mr. Garman from the caves of Missouri, was 
identified by him with Zyphlichthys subterraneus; a blind species in- 
habiting the caves of the Ohio Valley. The two forms are almost 
identical superficially, but Dr. Eigenmann finds in fresh material 
abundant evidence that they are descended from distinct forms. 
The genus Chologaster, of the swamps of the South, is regarded as 
evidently the’ ancestor of Typhlichthys, but the new form from Mis- 
souri, called by Eigenmann 7rogdichthys rose, must have had a differ- 
ent ancestry in the same family. ‘Judging from the degree of 
degeneration of the eye, Troglichthys has lived in caves and done 
