7 1885.] Recent Literature. 977 
of that exhilarating relief from labor and fatigue) seemed to move 
past, my eyes of its own accord, and afforded me a continued and 
massive sensation of delight that nothing could disturb, and 
which can be but faintly conceived by those who have not 
experienced this uncommon mode of travel which is absolutely 
different from that by any other water-carriage.” 
Unfortunately Mr. Forbes lost large collections of plants, and 
the zodlogical novelties he obtained were not of special impor- 
tance. Descriptions by various specialists of the new forms dis- 
covered are added in fine print, with lists of plants, among them 
a new species of Brugmansia of the family Rafflesiacez. 
The illustrations of such a book should be attractive, but on 
` the contrary all are some sort of process work and are excep- 
tionally coarse and unsatisfactory, as samples on Pls. XXXIV- VI. 
On the other hand the maps are frequent and well engraved. 
THE REPORT OF THE FIFTY-FOURTH MEETING OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION.—One very tangible result of the last meeting of the 
British Association, held at Montreal in August and September, 
1885, is a volume containing 980 closely-printed pages, besides 
more than 200 pages occupied by the table of contents, list of mem- 
bers, etc. More than forty reports upon the state of science, by 
various committees and individuals, and about 340 papers read in 
the various sections make a total too long for review, and the 
NATURALIST is therefore compelled to notice only a few of the 
papers read upon biological and geological subjects. Among 
these the report of Messrs. Etheridge, Woodward and T. R. 
Jones, upon the fossil Phyllopoda of the Palzozoic rocks (pp. 
75-95), that of Messrs. Sorby and Vine upon the fossil Polyzoa 
(pp. 97-219), that upon the Zodlogical Station at Naples (pp. 
25 3-263), that on the Archzan rocks of Great Britain, by Profes- : 
sor T. G. Bonney (pp. 529-551), and that upon the characteristics 
of the North American flora, by Professor Asa Gray (pp. 555-568) 
may be especially mentioned. A most thoughtful and pregnant 
article is the address of W. T. Blanford, president of the Geologi- 
cal Section. It deals with the startling exceptions to the rule 
that beds exhibiting “homotaxis,” or similarity of fossil forms, are 
in reality contemporaneous. By a comparison with each o 
of the faunas of the Pikermi beds, of the Siwaliks, Gondwana 
and other fossiliferous strata of Hindostan, and of the Australian 
coal measures and associated beds, he proves that homotaxis or 
the want of it is not sufficient to prove the synchronism or lack 
of synchronism of beds situated in different parts of the world. 
No less than forty-eight papers were read in the Geological sec- 
tion, and are represented here by abstracts of moderate length. 
The address of Professor H. N. Mosely, president of the Bio- 
logical section, deals with the phenomena of pelagic and deep-sea 
life, the amount of oxygen, nature and quantity of food, zones of 
