676 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST.  [VOL. XXXIII. 
It so rarely happens that a second edition of a systematic paper on 
insects is called for, that it may be well to note the issuance, as a 
special bulletin of the Hatch experiment station of the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College, of a revised edition of Professor Fernald’s 
Pterophoride of North America (cf. Amer. Nat., August, 1898, 
Vol. XXXII, pp. 596, 597). Five new species are characterized, but 
the date of publication, July 30, 1898, unfortunately precludes the 
consideration of the suggestions and corrections made by Lord 
Walsingham in the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine for August and 
_ September, 1898. 
The position of Yoldia and Nucula as among the most primitive 
lamellibranchs lends especial interest to Dr. Gilman Drew’s recent 
summary of the known features of the anatomy and embryology of 
American representatives of these genera (Amat. Anzeiger, Bd. 
XIV, p. 493, 1899). 
The ampullz of Lorenzini in the selachians are described by 
Forsell (Zeit. wiss. Zool., Bd. LXV, 1899), who, however, does not 
add much to our knowledge of the function of these problematical 
organs. 
. The periods of sexual maturity of the animals of the Gulf of 
Naples are enumerated by Dr. Salvatore Lo Bianco in the last Heft 
of Bd. XIII of the Naples Mittheilungen. The list occupies about 
125 pages. We have already called attention to similar work carried 
on by Professor Bumpus at Woods Holl. 
The urogenital organs of the turtles are described from the ana- 
tomical standpoint by Moller (Zeit. wiss. Zool., Bd. LXV, 1899). 
Ravn points out (Anat. Anz., Bd. XV, p. 528, 1899) that the 
septum transversum of the vertebrates is developed by the union of 
the mesocardia lateralia, which meet in the middle line. Those inter- 
ested in this subject and the closely allied one of the origin of the 
diaphragm of the mammals must consult the recent article by Hoch- 
stetter upon the formation of partitions in the body cavity of the 
saurians (Morph. Jahrbuch, Bd. XXVII, Pp. 263, 1899). 
A new edition of van Gehuchten’s admirable text-book, Ze système 
nerveux de l’homme, is announced for the end of the current year. 
The Australian Bower-Birds, their nests, eggs, and playgrounds, 
are described and illustrated by photographic reproductions in the 
Proceedings of the Edinburgh Royal Physical Society for 1897-98. 
