Notes and Comments. 



35 



RAY society's PUBLICATIONS.* 



The working zoologist has every reason to be thankful that 

 such societies as the Ray Society are in a position to publish 

 monographs on such a lavish scale as that before us. Other- 

 wise the book could not be produced at a cost less than several 

 times the price of the present volume, if produced at all. 

 The Carnegie Trust has also given assistance for three years 

 in regard to the artist, and section making, consequently the 

 volume has been produced at a minimum of cost to the pur- 

 chaser. The Society and author have also had the advantage 

 of the knowledge and experience of Mr. John Hopkinson, the 

 Secretary of the Ray Society, who has had much to do with the 

 production of the work, and to whom the author duly acknow- 

 ledges his great indebtedness. 



BRITISH MARINE ANNELIDS 



In dealing with the British Marine Annelids, the author 

 has had an extremely difficult task, partly on account of the 

 paucity of really reliable literature on the subject ; partly 

 because of the difficulty in securing! fresh material, and partly 

 on account of the various classifications adopted by various 

 authors. Prof. Mcintosh does not feel warranted in adopting 

 any of the recent classifications of the Polychseta, e.g., that of 

 Prof. Benham in the Cambridge Natural History : ' because 

 none relieves the difficulties encountered in the older and more 

 simple classification into errant and sedentary forms by 

 Audouin and Edwards.' Some idea of the difficulties exper- 

 ienced in dealing with the literature upon the subject is shewn 

 in the case of Nephthys cceca, where two of these large 

 pages are devoted to a list of synonyms, varying in date from 

 1758 to 1906. 



AND THEIR COLOURS. 



The annelids dealt with in the present volume are surely 

 amongst the most beautifully ornamented of the invertebrates, 

 and, as the author points out, they vie with the gaudy tints 

 of butterflies and birds, or the burnished splendour of beetles. 

 This is strikingly borne out by the numerous coloured plates, 

 upon which are shewn some of the most charming representa- 

 tions of these gaily coloured annelids that could possibly be 



* 'The British Annelids,' Vol. II., Part 1. Polychseta, Nephthydid^ 

 to Syllidse, by Prof. W. C. Mcintosh, M.D., F.R.S. 232 pp., plates. 

 Issued to the members of the Ray Society. London : Dulau & Co. , 25/- net. 



1909 February i. 



