totally foreign to subjects connected with science. The time once was when a Naturalists' Directory was a great desideratum, and the first edition of Mr. Cassino's work was valuable, but since that time there has been a steady deterioration, and it seems that at present the work has degenerated into a means of collecting an annual assessment on all the naturalists of the country for the personal benefit of Mr. S. E. Cassino.-7. S. K.

SHELL HEAPS IN JAPAN.-No doubt many of the readers of the AMERICAN NATURALIST observed in the issue for last September, a criticism by Prof. Morse on two recent publications on Japanese archæology. One of these publications, which is by myself, is entitled "Notes on Stone Implements from Otaru and Hakodate, with a few general remarks on the prehistoric remains of Japan." It was published in the transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, in February, 1880. The other publication to which Prof. Morse desires to call attention, is a handsome volume on "Japanese Archæology," by Henry Von Siebold, a gentlemen who, whilst residing in this country for over fifteen years, has for a considerable portion of this time made archæology a specialty, and accumulated materials and information, as compared with which the works of all others are but insignificant. The only other recent publication on Japanese archæology is the memoir on the "Shell Heaps of Omori," by Prof. Morse himself, a volume full of most valuable material. The conclusions which Prof. Morse deduces from his materials are probably not those which he would have arrived at had his visit to Japan been less flighty, or had he more thoroughly acquainted himself with the literature (European and Japanese) of the subjects about which he wrote. One conclusion to which Prof. Morse has come, is, that the shell heaps he describes are not those of the early Aino inhabitants of this country, but probably pre-Aino, and those who venture to put forward opinions which are contrary to his own, he evidently desires to hew and hack at until they are quite exterminated. As nearly all the workers at the archæological materials which are so profusely spread throughout Japan, have opinions which are opposed to those of Prof. Morse, the task before him is extensive. In the shell heaps of Omori, Prof. Morse has found a number of human bones, and amongst these several fragments of platycnemic tibiæ. These bones are exhibited in the museum of the Tokio University. I may remark that although I and many others have made numerous visits to the Omori heap and collected many basket loads of bones, we were not fortunate enough to find anything which was human. Speaking of the bones found by Prof. Morse, I remark in my paper referred to, "If such tibiæ are characteristic of the Ainos, and I am assured that such is the case, we have here another indication pointing in the same direction," namely, that the shell heaps in which these tibiæ are found, are probably of Aino origin. This quotation is

the only remark which I made in my paper upon this subject. In a challenge I am asked by Prof. Morse on what authority I have stated that the Ainos have platycnemic tibiæ, and further Prof. Morse would have me regarded as the author of such a statement. Assuming that what I have said places me in the responsible position which Prof. Morse, by wrongly interpreting my words, is evidently desirous that I should occupy, I will say, that if Prof. Morse had acquainted himself with the literature relating to the Ainos, he would most certainly have avoided remarks upon this subject, and thus have saved himself from a predicament which, to say the least, looks extremely awkward.

As an answer to Prof. Morse, let him refer to the well-known Russische Revue (10 Heft, vi Yahrgang), edited by Carl Röttger. He will there find a quantity of valuable information relating to the Ainos, and amongst the rest something bearing on the point now under discussion, of which the following is a translation: "With reference to the anatomy (of the Ainos) it is remarkable that the humerus as well as the tibia has a very striking form; they are marked by an extraordinary flattening (auserordentliche abplatung) such as has, up to the present, never been noticed of those bones in any people at present in existence. On the other hand this peculiarity of form has been observed in the bones of extinct people found in caves." (The italics are mine.) Further remarks upon Prof. Morse's attack are, I think, unnecessary. If those who are interested in this subject will refer to my original article, it will be seen that much of what Prof. Morse has objected to, is due either to his misrepresentation of my language, or to his want of information on some of the subjects he has written upon; and I can assure your readers that the whole of his remarks may be answered as easily as the subject of platycnemic tibia has been answered.-John Milne, Imperial College of Engineering, Tokio, Japan, Oct. 19, 1880.

THE BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA, VOL. II, BY SERENO WATSON.This beautiful volume is fully equal in beauty of finish, and botanical interest to its predecessor, which appeared in 1876.

The same externally, it internally presents the large clear type, and broad margins which distinguished the earlier volume. This volume begins with the Apetala, which includes twenty-five orders. Of these the Polygonacea and Chenopodiaceæ are particularly interesting on account of the numerous species of Eriogonum (52) and Chorizanthe (25) of the former, and of Atriplex (21) of the latter. The nineteen species of willows, are arranged and described by M. S. Bebb. Dr. Engelmann contributes the article on the oaks, of which there are fourteen species.

The Gymnosperms are placed, as is usual in English and American works, before the Monocotyledons. The Gnetaceæ are represented in California by two species of Ephedra, viz: E. nevadensis (a shrub two feet high) and E. californica. The Taxa

ceæ are separated from the Coniferæ as a distinct order, including Torreya, with one species, T. californica, and Taxus, represented by T. brevifolia. The Coniferæ, proper, include eleven genera and thirty-four species. Of the latter, at least, sixteen exceed one hundred feet in height, and no less than eleven of these reach or exceed the height of two hundred feet. The Abietineæ are described by Dr. Engelmann, and the arrangement is consequently the most recent. Instead of the old genus Abies, as we all learned it in Gray's Manual, we have Abies, Pseudotsuga, Tsuga, and Picea. Under Pinus there are fourteen species.

In the Monocotyledons, the Orchidacea are not numerous. This is, however, not the case with the Liliaceæ, represented by thirty-one genera. Many of the genera are rich in species, e. g., Allium with twenty-three; Brodiæa with fourteen; Lilium with eight; Fritillaria, eight; Calochortus, twenty-one. Three palms are described as occurring in the southern part of the State, viz: Washingtonia filifera, Erythea edulis and E. armata. The sedges and grasses, the latter by Dr. Thurber, occupy more than one hundred pages of the volume. Nearly one hundred more pages are filled with descriptions of the vascular Acrogens (by Prof. Eaton), and the cellular Acrogens (Musci and Sphagnacea only). Fifty pages of "additions and corrections," mostly to Vol. 1, an excellent index, a glossary, and a "List of persons who have made botanical collections in California," by Prof. Brewer, complete this volume. The authors (Brewer, Watson and Gray, for Vol. 1, and Watson, for Vol. II) are to be congratulated upon the successful completion of this great work, and the liberal-handed business men of the Golden State are to be commended for their public spirit in furnishing the means for its publication after the Legislature had refused to do so. No other State is now provided with so excellent a work upon its native plants.-C. E. B.

BALBIANI'S LECtures on the Generation of Vertebrates.1— This work corresponds in some degree to that of Kölliker on the development of man and the higher animals, but is confined rather to the earliest stages of development, and particularly to the mode of formation of the egg and the male reproductive elements, subjects now occupying very closely the attention of observers in the different countries of Europe, while unfortunately our own land does not contain in its population of 50,000,000, so far as we are aware, a single person who is studying the points regarding early vertebrate development in an original way. Should there be any one desirous of examining into the subject, he would find the volume before us, although a little. passé in some points recently worked out by E. Van Beneden, McLeod, Balfour, and probably several biologists in Germany,

1 Leçons sur la Génération des Vertébrés. Par G. BALBIANI. Recueillies par le DR. F. HENNEGUY, Revues par le Professeur. Avec 150 figures intercalées dans le texte et 6 planches en chromo-lithographie hors texte. Paris, O. Doin, 1879.

still as useful and certainly as readable an introduction as he could desire. Balbiani has contributed additions to our knowledge of reproduction in the Arthropods and in the Vertebrates, and considerable new matter, illustrated with six chromo-lithograph plates, is given in the present volume,

ZITTEL'S HAND-BOOK OF PALEONTOLOGY.—We have previously noticed this valuable hand-book, which is being issued in parts, the present one being the fourth of Vol. I. This completes the first division of the present volume, which treats of fossil Protozoa, Cœlenterata, Echinodermata and Molluscoidea. The present part finishes the subject of fossil worms, but is mainly devoted to the Molluscoidea, namely the Bryozoa and Brachiopoda, which are placed under the Mollusca. It will thus be seen, that the classification so far from being modern, borders upon the paleozoic. Still the matter under each class heading is detailed, accurate; the fossils are interpreted by reference to the living forms, of which a concise description is given, and, as we have before said, this work of Zittel's, is on the whole, superior to any that the student can obtain.

MCALPINE'S BIOLOGICAL ATLAS.-The title sufficiently describes this atlas, the plan of which is pretty good, though often the figures are clumsy, and more or less misleading. For example, the figures of the anatomy of the lobster are coarse, rough, and convey little idea of the parts as they exist in nature; they look as though they were copied from rough colored-chalk diagrams sketched off-hand on the blackboard. The "zoea of the lobster" is a rough figure of some decapod zoëa, but not the young freshly hatched lobster, which, as the authors should have known, has a much more advanced form than here represented. The drawings of the nervous system and eye of the same animal are abominable. Indeed, we could scarcely recommend the book for use in our schools and colleges. Something much better could have been prepared for the same money.

EATON'S SYSTEMATIC FERN LIST.-Prof. Eaton, of Yale College, has recently issued a "Systematic Fern List," which will prove useful to our botanists, who wish to know what proportion of our native ferns they have in their collections. The list includes all the known ferns of the United States, and gives the geographical range of every species, and is intended "to serve as a check-list, and at the same time to show the classification of the genera. Of the one hundred and fifty-one species enumerated, one hundred and forty are true ferns (order Filices), the remaining eleven be

'Biological Atlas. A guide to the practical study of plants and animals, adapted to the requirements of the London University, Sciences and Arts Department, and for use in schools and colleges, with accompanying text, containing arrangement and explanation, equivalent terms, glossary and classification. 423 colored figures and diagrams. By D. and A. N. MCALPINE. Edinburgh and London, W. and A. K. Johnston, 1880. 4to, pp. 49.

longing to the order Ophioglossaceæ. Of the true ferns, one hundred and twenty-nine species fall under the sub-order Polypodiaceæ, one under Ceratopterideæ, two under Hymenophyllaceæ, four under Schizæaceæ, and three under Osmundaceæ. The pamphlet, which contains twelve pages, and bears date of September, 1880, may be obtained for ten cents by addressing the author.-C. E. B.

THE ZOOLOGICAL RECORD FOR 1878.-The fifteenth volume of this series is a little more bulky than the fourteenth, an evidence that the cultivators of the science of zoology are neither diminishing, nor the number of notices, articles and works contributed by them to journals and transactions. The editor and his assistants are the same as in the preceding volume, and we may feel sure that the omissions and errors inevitable to such work are comparatively few. It is a pity that so large a proportion, indeed almost the entire volume, is taken up with references to descriptions of new genera and species; these seem unfortunately to be as numerous as ever, and to draw away the attention of zoölogists, from the more pressing and legitimate objects of study.

The space devoted to biological and anatomical zoology should, it seems to us, be much greater than at present, and be made fully as prominent a topic as purely descriptive work; for this reason the parts on Cœlenterata and Echinodermata, Mollusca and Crustacea, with their analyses of discoveries made in the anatomy and physiology of these animals, is treated with more care and judgment than some other chapters. It seems to us that abstracts of articles in such journals as Siebold and Kölliker's Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie, Troschel's Archiv für Naturgeschichte, and the similar French journals of MilneEdwards and Lacaze Duthiers, as well as the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, should be fuller, as these periodicals really contain the best material, i, e., that which contributes most to the advancement of the science, and is or should be most eagerly read by students. As the new species get worked up, we may hope that more room will be found for such abstracts, as these are especially desirable for American students, who are exposed to the temptation of forsaking the true objects of zoölogical study, and betaking themselves to the mechanical, and not particularly intellectual work of describing new species and genera, and preparing local faunal lists without reference to future monographical work. We may add what we have said in notices of previous volumes of this series, that no American student of systematic zoology can afford to be without the Record, particularly those living away from large libraries.

JOURDAN'S ZOANTHARIAN CORALS OF THE GULF OF MARSEILLES. This important and well illustrated memoir, which appears in

The Zoological Record for 1878; being volume fifteenth of the Record of Zoölogical Literature. Edited by E. C. Rye, F. L. S., etc. London, 1880. 8vo.