
No. 426.] NOTES AND LITERATURE. 503 
the unicellular forms and working upward to the higher animals, 
but he prefers the arthropods for the introductory work because they 
are so convenient for teaching the fundamental principles of 
comparative anatomy. 
Apparently there is no special reason for the position of the lesson 
on the ascidians between those on the mollusks and echinoderms. 
Probably most teachers will prefer to place this type at the end of 
the course on invertebrates, when there is a natural transition to 
the study of the vertebrates. 
In the plan of the laboratory directions there is a general resem- 
blance to the well-known guides by Huxley and Martin, and Marshall 
and Hurst; but there is a great and important difference in that 
there is not placed before the student a description so complete as 
to limit the laboratory work to that of merely examining the natural 
objects in order to verify the printed statements. On the contrary, 
we find a judicious combination of description of the difficult and 
time-wasting points with practical directions for suggested problems 
which are not beyond the student's ability and time for investiga- 
tion. Such an arrangement gives a desirable mean between two 
common extreme methods of laboratory teaching, — the one aiming 
to inform the student through verification of quite complete descrip- 
tions, the other attempting to stimulate originality and investigation 
by leaving him largely dependent upon the natural materials, with a 
minimum of direction. A combination of the two methods ina labo- 
ratory manual will be welcomed by all teachers who believe that the 
aim of zoólogical instruction is not only to furnish students informa- 
tion concerning the science, butalso to give them practice in acquiring 
some knowledge through their own investigations. 
In addition to the practical directions, the book contains a useful 
appendix on classification of animals and one with short definitions 
of the principal groups. An excellent glossary of zoólogical terms 
serves also to indicate where they occur in the lessons ; and there 
is a general index. 
In all essential respects this new laboratory manual appears to be 
excellent, and it deserves the attention of all teachers who use 
 invertebrate types in their courses of zoólogy. u AER 
Notes on Birds. — A very good local list of the birds of north- 
western Montana is presented in he Summer Birds of Flathead 
Lake, by P. M. Silloway, issued as a bulletin of the University of 
Montana. It includes an annotated list of 128 species noted between 
