432 American Work in the Department of [ June, 
As a whole, the paper is too extended to admit of a thorough 
abstract. A few new Alaskan species are described in it. 
In the Transaction of the Connecticut Academy, v., p. 177 ef seq., 
Prof. Verrill begins an exhaustive paper, largely anatomical, on 
the Cephalopods of the North-eastern coast of North America; Part 
I—The gigantic squids (Architeuthis) and their allies, etc. The 
first two signatures of this paper bear date of December, 1879, ° 
and it is proper to call attention to it, though as a whole the 
paper will not make its appearance until some time in the present 
year, and therefore will more appropriately be discussed in a re- 
view of publications of 1880. 
Descriptive, taxonomic and faunal papers —While taost of the 
papers enumerated under the. preceding head, would, in part, be 
appropriately cited here, those about to be mentioned are such as 
could not properly be classed under the former caption. 
Prominent among descriptive papers of each year for a long 
time, have been those of Verrill, based for the most part on 
material gathered by the U. S. Fish Commission and its collabor- 
ators. During 1879, however, the mollusca have been fewer than 
usual, and it begins to seem as if the molluscan fauna of the 
North-eastern American coast were pretty thoroughly described 
and enumerated so far as determination of the species is con- 
cerned, Still occasional novelties turn up, mostly deep-water or 
northern forms, and from time to time others may be expected. 
This year the American Journal of Science contains three papers 
by Prof. Verrill in which mollusca are described or enumerated. 
In “Notice of recent additions to the Marine fauna of the 
eastern coast of North America, No. 3.” 1. c. xvi, March, 1879, 
p. 241-3, Histioteuthis collinsii Verrill is described and another 
cephalopod identified doubtfully as Zaonius hyperboreus Stp. In 
the same, No. 4, April, 1879, pp. 311-18, Acanthodoris ornata and 
citrina, Coryphella rutila and Cuthona stimpsoni are described as 
new, while a number of notes are given relating to previously 
described species of gasteropods. In the same, No. 7, December, 
1879, pp. 468-70, two new species and one new genus of ceph- 
alopods are described, namely, Stauroteuthis syrtensts Verrill, n. g- 
et sp. and Octopus piscatorum Verrill, sp. n. The former is stated 
to be somewhat distantly allied to Cirroteuthis. 
Prof. Verrill also contributes a paper to the Proc. U. S. National 
Museum for November, 1879, pp. 165-205, under the title of 
