December 11, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



527 



which comes up for discussion, the number some- 

 times being very large, as in Chromodoris with its 

 95 species. The remarkable new genus Bathy- 

 doris, dredged in mid-Pacific at depths of 14,550 

 feet, is described at great length, and elaborately 

 figured. 



The family Onchidiadae — 'modified shell-less 

 pulmonates,' resembhng in form certain nudi- 

 branchiates — are treated of in an appendix, with 

 historical and critical notes. Bergh beheves that 

 the ti-opical seas, though hitherto but shghtly 

 explored for nudibranchiates, will ultimately prove 

 to be the headquarters of this group. The absence of 

 allusions to American work emphasizes the fact, 

 already pretty well appreciated on this side of 

 the Atlantic, that in the study of this group there 

 is an excellent opportunity for some one of our 

 young naturaHsts who has not yet chosen a 

 specialty. 



The venerable George Busk prints part i. of 

 his report upon the Polyzoa (part xxx. vol. x.), 

 which treats of the Cheilostomata, enumerating 

 286 species from the Challenger's work, of which 

 180 are described as new. The workmanship of the 

 paper is in the author's own peculiar style of excel- 

 lence. There are nearly a thousand figures, and the 

 pages devoted to an explanation of terms used in 

 description are especially acceptable. The general 

 conclusions arrived at by Mr. Busk are evidently 

 withheld for the second part of his report. The 

 geographical and bathymeti'ical distributions of the 

 group are treated at great length, and illustrated 

 by an instructive map. Four species of Polyzoa 

 were taken by the Challenger in the North Pacific 

 at the depth of 3,125 fathoms ; and one of these, 

 Cribrilina monoceras, was taken in the Australian 

 region at a depth of 35 fathoms, — an instance of 

 extensive range in depth unparalleled elsewhere. 



Dr. Hoek's report upon the Cirripedia (part xxv. 

 vol. viii.; part xxviii. vol. ix.), although the au- 

 thor mourns that his studies upon the deep-sea 

 material have not yielded results equal to his 

 own anticipations, is a very important contribution 

 to zoology. It is printed in two parts, and is 

 brimful of concisely stated observations and preg- 

 nant criticisms. It is an excellent example of the 

 scholarly work which the naturalists of the Nether- 

 lands have of late been producing, and is no un- 

 worthy continuation of the classic memoir upon 

 the same subject pubhshed a third of a century 

 ago by Darwin. The systematic portion of the 

 reports is devoted entirely to the description of the 

 Challenger's collection, but in the introduction is 

 given a critical review of all that has been dis- 

 covered or written concerning the gi-oup since the 

 time of Darwin, and also a new zoogeographical 

 arrangement of all known species. 



One of the most surprising of the recent reports 

 is that by Dr. von Graff upon the Myzostomida 

 of the expedition. Fifty-two of the 68 sx)ecies 

 discussed appear here for the first time. In fact, 

 all the known species of the group have been 

 brought to light by Dr. von Graff, with the 

 exception of three described by Leuckart, by 

 whom the genus Myzostoma was first discovered. 

 These very remarkable animals, by Dr. von Graff 

 placed among the arachnids, by other authorities 

 among the worms, near Tomopteris, and only found 

 parasitic upon and in crinoids, are being found in 

 all the zoological collections, now that attention 

 has at last been directed to their very inconspicu- 

 ous existence. Twenty-two species, 14 of them 

 new, are attributed to the explorations of the 

 U.S. steamers Bibb, Hassler, Blake, and Corwin. 

 A concise account of what is known concerning 

 the Myzostomida serves as a preface, and there is 

 a curious colored diagrammatic figure printed in 

 with the text. The Hthographic plates are exquisite. 



In a second paper upon the Entomostraca (part 

 xxiii. vol. viii.). Dr. G. Stewardson Brady treats 

 of the Copepoda. His paper is mainly descrip- 

 tive, and is, of course, prepared in his usual 

 scholarly manner. There are 55 plates, diagram- 

 matic and useful, but not artistic ; and 142 pages 

 of text, treating of 90 free-swimming species, and 

 15 fish parasites obtained by the Challenger, only 

 one of which, Pontostratiotes abyssicola, dredged 

 in a depth of 2,200 fathoms, is undoubtedly a 

 deep-sea species. 



The report upon the calcareous sponges, by Pi'o- 

 fessor Polejaeff of Odessa, a pupil of Schulze's, 

 enumerates 30 species, 23 of which are new. A 

 considerable portion of the paper is devoted to 

 destructive criticism of the previous work of Pro- 

 fessor Haeckel, and the construction of a new 

 'natural classification' of the group. There are 

 four superb plates of white sponges upon black 

 backgTounds, as well as a number of anatomical 

 figures beautifully drawn by the author. 



Mr. Hem-y B. Brady's ponderous memou- on the 

 Foraminifera, in two volumes, — one of text, 814 

 pages ; and one of illustrations, 115 plates and at 

 least 2,000 figures, — is really a monographic revision 

 of the enthe group, with an exhaustive bibhogTa- 

 phy, from the year 1565 to the present time, and 

 a chapter on classification, historical, critical, and 

 constructive, leading up to an elaborate syn- 

 opsis of families and genera. The synonomies 

 and the tables of geographical distribution are 

 made up in a very workmanhke manner, and the 

 index is a delight to weary eyes. 



The animals of this gi*oup are distiibuted eveiy- 

 where over the ocean-bottom, as well as at the 

 surface and in mid- waters. The presence or ab- 



