1881. ]| Recent Literature. 47 
longing to the order Ophioglossacee. Of the true ferns, one 
hundred and twenty-nine species fall under the sub-order Poly- 
podiacez, one under Ceratopteridee, two under Hymenophyl- 
lacezee, four under Schizzacez, and three under Osmundacez. 
The pamphlet, which contains twelve pages, and bears date of 
September, 1880, may be obtained for ten cents by addressing the 
author.—C. £. B. 
THE ZooLoGIcAL REcorD FOR 1878.\—The fifteenth volume of 
this series is a little more bulky than the fourteenth, an evidence 
that the cultivators of the science of zodlogy are neither diminish- 
ing, nor the number of notices, articles and works contributed b 
them to journals and transactions. The editor and his assistants 
are the same as in the preceding volume, and we may feel sure 
that the omissions and errors inevitable to such work are com- 
paratively few. It is a pity that so large a proportion, indeed 
almost the entire volume, is taken up with references to descrip- 
tions of new genera and species; these seem unfortunately to be 
as numerous as ever, and to draw away the attention of zoologists, 
from the more pressing and legitimate objects of study. 
The space devoted to biological and anatomical zodlogy should, 
it seems to us, be much greater than at present, and be made 
fully as prominent a topic as purely descriptive work; for this 
reason the parts on Ccelenterata and Echinodermata, Mollusca 
and Crustacea, with their analyses of discoveries made in the 
anatomy and physiology of these animals, is treated with more 
care and judgment than some other chapters. It seems to us that 
abstracts of articles in such journals as Siebold and Kolliker’s 
Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zodlogie, Troschel’s Archiv fur 
Naturgeschichte, and the similar French journals of Milne- 
Edwards and Lacaze Duthiers, as Well as the Quarterly Fournal of 
Microscopical Science, should be fuller, as these periodicals really 
contain the best material, 7. ¢., that which contributes most to the 
advancement of the science, and is or should be most eagerly read 
by students. As the new species get worked up, we may hope that 
more room will be found for such abstracts, as these are espe- 
cially desirable for American students, who are exposed to the 
temptation of forsaking the true objects of zodlogical study, and 
betaking themselves to the mechanical, and not particularly intel-_ 
lectual work of describing new species and genera, and preparing 
local faunal lists without reference to future monographical work. 
We may add what we have said in notices of previous volumes — 
of this series, that no American student of systematic zoology can 
afford to be without the Record, particularly those living away 
from large libraries. 
Jourpan's ZOANTHARIAN CORALS OF THE GULF OF MARSEILLES. 
This important and well illustrated memoir, which appears in 
1 blogt. - being volume fifteenth of the Record of Zo6- — 
i Slirgiras Soh Traited by ne Rye, FL: S,, etc. ‘London; 1880. 8v0. 
