512 The American Naturalist. [June; 
d’Invilliers’ report on the Mauch Chunk red shale and Pottsville con- 
glomerate series, outside of the anthracite region, and the results of 
w. Smith’s studies of the anthracite coal measures. 
From the report upon the Mauch Chunk shales we find that geolo- 
gists still have before them the problem of the abrupt transition from 
the finest red mud to the coarsest pudding stone or gravel rock which 
is observed throughout the eastern part of the State, a transition which 
does not conform to any theory yet devised. 
Mr. Smith’s paper is a detailed account of the comparative quantity 
and quality of the coal basins in the different “fields” of the anthra- 
cite region. 
The illustrations include 190 page plates showing maps, sections and 
diagrams, and figures of the representative fossil forms found in the 
beds under discussion. 
U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, Pt. XX.'—This 
volume contains the reports of the Commissioner and his assistants for 
the year ending June 30, 1894. The subjects to which attention is 
directed are the propagation and distribution of food-fishes and the ex- 
plorations of fishing-grounds. More than half of the volume is de- 
voted to appendices comprising papers by specialists based on the work 
of the Commission. 
The summary of distribution shows that during the year 33 species 
of fish and 1 crustacean, the lobster, were sent to various parts of the 
United States and to the following foreign countries : Canada, Mexico, 
United States of Columbia, Belgium, France, Scotland, Switzerland, 
and Japan. 
Animals at Work and Play.’—This little volume, of some 320 
pages, comprises a series of papers dealing with the general activities 
and emotions of animals in their every day life. The author points 
out their little fads in bed-making and in house-keeping generally ; 
their social instincts, fondness for play and consequent sense of humor; 
their delight in personal cleanliness and the different methods of mak- 
ing their “ toilettes;”” how they resort to herbs for ailments, and a va- 
riety of other interesting customs among what we are pleased to term 
“the lower creatures.” In fact, he so “humanizes” his birds and 
beasts that the reader finds them most companionable. One chapter 
ê Report of the U. S. Commissioner Fish and Fisheries for the year ending June 
30, 1894. Washington, 1896. 
TAnimals at Work and Play. By C. J. Cornish. Macmillan & Co,, New 
York, 1896, 8vo., $1.75. 
