EXTERMINATION IN ANIMAL LIFE. 345 



marred by several serious mistakes." For the correction 

 respecting Marsupials we thank our unknown critic, but he 

 has omitted to mention that the statements he controverts were 

 not given as our own, but as a verbatim quotation from the 

 writings of Mr. J. M. Tyler, Professor of Biology at Amherst 

 College, Mass., and the quotation was given with exact reference 

 to publication ; not for new facts in distribution, but to show 

 that author's attitude in regard to the question of "missing 

 links." Any argument based on inaccuracies is of course beyond 

 the pale of legitimate consideration ; but we have little doubt 

 that, like Prof. Tyler, our anonymous critic, who writes as " a 

 man set under authority," must cry mea culpa himself. 



We are also told that " minor errors, such as nummulitids 

 for nummulites, are also noticeable." No mention is unfor- 

 tunately made of the other minor errors, and certainly this 

 "error" only exists in the imagination of our critic. The 

 genus Nummulites belongs to the family Nummulitidcs, and the 

 word " Nummulitid " is used, as it is usual to speak of one of 

 the Arachnidce as an " Arachnid." The term " Nummulitids " 

 has been employed, to give one instance only, by the late Prof. 

 Pvupert Jones, who was at least a master on this subject. We 

 do not deny that the term Nummulites may not be, nor is not 

 frequently used, but certainly not without a capital letter as 

 written by our very confident critic.*] 



(To be continued.) 



* The paragraph also contains a remonstrance against the method of 

 editing this magazine in reference to Mr. Steele-Elliott's note (ante, p. 808) 

 on the Lesser Horseshoe Bat, referred to by that writer as Noctilio hippo- 

 sideros. It is urged that " the editor might have pointed out that Noctilio 

 is not the generic title for these Bats." Our contributor doubtless chose a 

 rather archaic genus in thus following the terminology of Bechstein ; but how 

 far in generic nomenclature is alteration compiilsory in these pages ? Our 

 best and latest authorities, and those which we should undoubtedly follow 

 ourselves, are Mr. Oldfield Thomas (cf. Zool. 1898, p. 97) and Mr. Millais in 

 his ' Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland.' These writers are practically 

 in accord as regards the nomenclature of British Bats, and, except in one 

 or two instances, in disagreement with the generic identifications of Mr. 

 Lydekker (' Handbook to the British Mammalia,' 1896). Our critic, to be 

 logical, would therefore seem to advise that, at least as regards British Bats, 

 the generic names given by Lydekker should be suppressed in our pages ; a 

 drastic method we have no intention to pursue. 



