952 The American Naturalist. [O¢tober, 
robably about those of the sea-otter (Enhydris marina). No form 
representing the otters has been known hitherto from this region ; but 
a much smaller species, Lutrictis lycoptamicus Cope, has been described 
from probable Loup Fork beds of Oregon.—E. D. Cork. 
Macfarlane’s American Geological Railway Guide.'—This 
book is one of especial utility to the geologist, since it is an index to 
the book of nature, whose pages are disclosed to us in the railway 
cuttings of the country. Such exposures are the principal ‘source of 
geological knowledge in the eastern region of our continent, where 
the generous rain-fall covers the natural scars and abrasions of the 
earth’s surface with ample vegetation. The preparation of such a 
work was a happy inspiration of the late James Macfarlane, and that 
asecond edition is called for shows that it has met with deserved 
appreciation. The authorities of the country are generally cited, and 
information is compiled from all available sources, We think a few 
more maps would be of much utility. We also find the treatment of 
the Cenozoic formations to be less thorough than that accorded those 
of the ages which preceded them. The nomenclature adopted is 
generally that required by priority, the only exception being found in 
the reports of Messrs. S. F. Emmons and G. K. Gilbert, of the U. S. 
Geological Survey, where some names are used which are not warranted 
by the law of priority or by general custom, Such is the use of 
Niobrara instead of Loup Fork. Niobrara is the name of a Creta- 
ceous horizon, and has nothing to do with the Loup Fork Miocene. 
A Catalogue of British Fossil Vertebrata.?— This work 
Supplies a want that paleontologists have felt who are desirous 
of learning the extended literature of vertebrate paleontology 
as developed by Englishmen or on English material. This literature 
is largely prior, of course, to that of America, and it is especially 
important for Americans to become acquainted with the sources 0 
information and of nomenclature so far as they apply to the paleon- 
tology of their country. In this work they will find it fully indexed, 
and full references given. A nomenclature has been adopted by the 
authors, so far as it has been personally investigated by them, based 
on the rules promulgated by all scientific bodies ; but in cases where 
they have followed others they have not adhered to them in that one 
T An American Geological Railway Guide. By James Macfarlane, Ph.D. Second 
en James R. Macfarlane. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1890. 8v0- 
PP. LI 
? A Catalogue of British Fossil Vertebrata, by Arthur Smith Woodward and Charles 
Davies Sherborn. London: Dunlan &Co., 37 Soho Square. Jan., 1890. 8vo. pP. 398. 
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