NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 155 



" Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis." In other points most orni- 

 thologists will cordially agree, especially in the remark that "the 

 correction of an author's orthographical errors is a pernicious 

 practice, though much in vogue ; ' science is not literature,' 

 neither has it any concern with what an author should have 

 done or meant to do, but only with what he actually did." 



The synonymic references to the species are very ample, and 

 have been compiled with much care. The book is essentially a 

 publication that cannot be neglected, and must be consulted by 

 all who study this avian fauna. 



Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. Vol. xix. 

 Washington : Government Printing Office. 



This, the last volume received, maintains its scientific value 

 and excellence in illustration. No fewer than twenty contributors 

 are answerable for its contents, and it is, of course, impossible to 

 give a notice of each essay. Capt. R. W. Shufeldt records his 

 " experiments in photography of live fishes," and nine plates 

 attest the success of his efforts, which were made at the aquaria 

 of the U.S. Fish Commission building in Washington. Prof. 

 Mead is the writer of an elaborate paper on " The Natural History 

 of the Star-fish." Among traditions attached to this animal was 

 one relating to their mode of locomotion, as " that of clinging 

 together in great clusters, and rolling along the bottom with the 

 tide." Prof. Mead had seen balls of Star-fish clinging to each 

 other, but upon examination it was found that the "Stars" were 

 all endeavouring to devour some animal held in their midst. For 

 the purpose of testing the ability of Star-fishes to creep over soft 

 surfaces, vaseline was smeared thickly on a vertical glass plate, 

 and on the under side of a horizontal glass plate, and these plates 

 were submerged in an aquarium. Star-fishes measuring two or 

 three inches from tip to tip were observed to travel over both 

 these surfaces with no apparent difficulty. These experiments 

 were made in an economic interest, and to solve the problem of 

 how to prevent the invasion of these animals to the Oyster-beds ; 

 Collins, in 1888, having estimated the damage done by them 

 to the beds in the Connecticut waters alone as amounting to 



