BOOK NOTICES : NOTES AND NEWS. 



first gave it. European authors, we believe, are gradually approaching to this view, 

 and the sooner it is adopted by all of them the better chance have we of arriving 

 at that ' fixity of nomenclature ' which is the Will-of-the-wisp zoologists are ever in 

 pursuit of and never attaining. We quite see that its adoption by British authors 

 will bring tribulation for a space to British collectors and amateurs, till they can 

 adapt themselves to the new environment ; but we are afraid that hitherto far too 

 much regard has been paid to their convenience, to the hindrance of true scientific 

 research. One phase of this question is that in future certain species will have to 

 bear duplicated names. For instance, when the list of British mollusca is finally 

 rectified, it will include such names as Planorbis planorbis, Carychium carychium, 

 Vertigo vertigo, etc. In these instances we have hitherto been misled by a pro- 

 vision of the British Association code of nomenclature which is the bane of 

 that code, and quite out of harmony with the cardinal principle of the Law of 

 Priority. 



The laws of nomenclature are discussed in this work at great length, and 

 with abundant citation of evidence, fact, and argument ; and the discussion is 

 followed by a series of recommendations to the framers of new names which, 

 if acted upon by them, would add immensely to the convenience of future 

 zoologists. 



The second part of the book is occupied by a Check- List of North American 

 birds, which offers various improvements worthy of imitation elsewhere, but the 

 discussion of the list itself hardly falls within the scope of this journal. We must 

 conclude, therefore, by expressing our wish that the code of nomenclature could 

 be separately reprinted and circulated broadcast among British zoologists. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union fungus foray will take place on Thursday, 

 September 30th. On the following day there will be an exhibition of the specimens 

 in the Leeds Museum, kindly lent for the purpose ; and in the evening the usual 

 dinner. Several distinguished mycologists have promised to be present, and no 

 effort is being spared on the part of the officials to make it a success. 







Matter of interest to Yorkshire geologists is afforded by the fact that one of the 

 most distinguished of their number, Mr. Wilfrid H. Hudlestone, M.A., F.R.S., 

 was at the last anniversary meeting of the Geological Society of London elected 

 one of its honorary secretaries, and that he has also become an associate-editor 

 of the Geological Magazine. 



>ocX 



The Yorkshire Philosophical Society has sustained the loss of a munificent sup- 

 porter by the decease, on the 15th August, at the ripe age of 78, of Mr. W. H. 

 Rudston-Read, J. P., F.L.S., one of the landed gentry of the county. He filled 

 the offices of vice-president and ornithological curator to the Society, and long ago 

 presented what is known as the ' Rudston-Read Collection of British Birds.' 



>co* 



We note that a ' Manual of North American Birds,' by the eminent ornitholo- 

 gist, Prof. Robert Ridgway, Curator, Department of Birds, Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington D.C. , is in the press. The author has had unrivalled advantages, 

 arising from his own field experience, as well as his connection with the National 

 Museum, and the access granted him to various other public and private collections 

 of birds. The work is to contain some 425 illustrations, suitably executed, and 

 will conform to the geographical limits, classification, numeration, and nomencla- 

 ture adopted by the American Ornithological Union, and is another proof of the 

 extraordinary activity of the North American ornithologists in the cause of their 

 science. 



Sept. 1886. 



