238 Recent Literature. [April, 
importance in the origin of species than Darwinians as such seem willing 
to admit. 
The errors of detail in the chapters we have read seem very few, and 
the wonder is that there should not be more. We notice that Phryno- 
some, or horned toads, are stated on one page to exist in New York and 
on another in Florida. We are not aware that the genus occurs east 
of the Mississippi River. Siredon is referred to the family Proteide, 
when it has been shown by Dumeril and Marsh to be simply a larval 
Amblystoma. An attractive feature of the work are the twenty full- 
page illustrations, showing the chief forms of land vertebrates character- 
izing the subregions. They are drawn with skill and evident fidelity, 
though the skunk on Plate XX. is not well sketched. Through the 
courtesy of the American publishers our readers can judge of the excel- 
lence of the plates by a glance at the two accompanying illustrations 
(Figs. 28 and 29). The colored hypsometrical maps add greatly to the 
value of the work. In that of North America the author colors yellow 
supposed desert tracts east of the Rocky Mountains, which farmers in 
Wyoming and Colorado would consider as reflecting on their possessions, 
and over which herds of buffalo a few years ago must have grazed with 
satisfaction. 
In conclusion it may be said that while our author has shown that 
life has probably originated in northern lands, the question still remains 
to be answered, and the problem will probably not be solved for genera- 
tions. What caused the radical differences in the life of the several 
continents? The united efforts of future paleontologists and biologists 
will be concentrated on this task, and centuries hence, if we mistake not, 
Alfred R. Wallace will be regarded as the pioneer in the work. 
Recent Books AND Pampnverts. — The Naturalist’s Guide in collecting and pre- 
serving Objects of Natural History, with a Complete Catalogue of the Birds of East- 
ern Massachusetts. By C. J. Maynard. With ee by E. L. Weeks. Sa- 
lem: The Naturalists’ Agency. 1877. 12mo, pp. l $2.00. 
he Naturalist’s Directory, containing the Names a Naturalists, Chemists, Physi- 
cists, and Meteorologists, arranged alphabetically, with an Index arranged acco ording 
to iE By Samuel E. Cassino. Salem, Mass; The Naturalists’ Agency. 
1877. o, pp. 20. Interleav 
Mih towards a Knowledge of the meo i Development of Insects. By 
Prof. M. Ganin. Warsa 1876. 4to, with p 
_ Biologische Studien. You Prof. Ernst eat dudes Heft : Studien zur Gas- 
trea-Theorie. Mit 14 tafeln. Jena. 1877. 8vo, pp. 99. 
Beitrage zur Naturgeschichte der ee Von Prof. August Weismann. 
Parts II.-IV. Leipzig. 1877. 8vo, pp. 161. 
On the Serneture and Relations of the Aleyonarian Heliopora coerulea, W eme 
Account of the Anatomy of a Species of Sarcophyton, Notes on the abe sf Spe- 
cies of the Genera Millepora, Pocillopora, and Stylaster, and Remarks on the Affini- 
ties of Certain Paleozoic Corals. By H. N. Mosely. (From the Philosophical Trans- 
actions of the Royal Society.) London. 1876. 38. i 
F dings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian Institute of Natural Science of 
Halifax, Nova Scotia. IV. part 2. 1875-76. 8vo. 
