892 The American Naturalist. [October, 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
Wiedersheim’s Comparative Anatomy.'—Professor Robert 
Wiedersheim has given us two distinct manuals of Comparative 
natomy. One of these, the “Lehrbuch,” although it has passed 
through three German editions, has not appeared in English, while the 
the other, the * Grundriss" was Nen several years ago. This 
latter, ita “ Little Wiedersheim,” has now appeared in a third edition, 
and all its claims to being the “little ” sis have disappeared. It is, 
in every respect, a new edition, as there is scarcely a page upon 
which new additions have not been made, while whole sections have 
been entirely rewritten. It now forms a mine of facts which no mor- 
phologist can ignore. Everywhere it seems up to date, the results of 
investigators in all parts of the world being incorporated into its pages. 
A work like this cannot be summarized in a few lines, and all we can 
do isto express our generally high appreciation of the work and to 
notice a few novelties introduced into the new edition. First of these 
is an explanation of the names of animals mentioned in the text with 
a reference to their place in m system, a feature of great value to the 
beginner. Thus we find “ Ceph mored id from the Devon- 
ian and Upper Silurian formations (belongs with the oldest fishes).” 
Another innovation in this edition is the collection of the literature (as 
in the “ Lehrbuch ") in an appendix. In this latter part we could wish 
that the ' running head” of the pages were sub-divided, so as to indicate 
at a glance the subject below ; and, while making criticisms, we would say 
that were the reference letters in the legends of the cuts arranged in 
alphabetieal order, it would be a great convenience. We learn, inci- 
dentally, that a new edition of the * Lehrbuch " is not soon to appear, 
but the “grundriss” work will be the vade mecum of all students of 
vertebrate morphology. 
Mill’s Diatomacez.’—The scope of this work is best shown by a 
statement of what it contains. The first chapter treats of what diatoms 
are and where they occur; the second of their structure; the third of 
their movements ; the fourth of their classification ; the fifth of reproduc- 
tion ; the sixth and seventh of collecting and mounting ; the eighth of 
ER Wiedersheim. vir rae der vergleichenden Anatomie der Wirbelthiere. III 
pou am pem pp. xxx 
ction to the ij of the Diatomacez, by Frederick Wm. Mills, with a 
EES bx Julien Deby. 8 vo. pp. xix, 243, London, Iliffe & Son, Washington, 
The Microscopical Co., 1893. 
