Bihliographical Notices. 257 
LONGICORNIA. 
PRIONID^. 
Tragosominse. 
Enneaphyllus, gen. nov. 
Apical joint of labial palpi slightly elongate, subfusiforni, 
truncate at the apex. Thorax transverse, with a small sharp 
upturned spine on each side. Scutellura parallel-sided at the 
base, narrowed at the apex. Elytra elongate, parallel, de- 
pressed, not spined at the sutural angle. Prosternum very- 
narrow. Femora not dentate at the apex. Abdomen with 
the fifth segment emarginate at the apex in both sexes. 
($ . Antennae as long as the whole insect ; third joint 
scarcely longer than the first ; the fourth to tenth joints gradually 
become flatter and slightly increase in length, the third to tenth 
opaque, each emitting from the apex below a very long flat 
branch ; the eleventh joint long, arched, lamelliform. 
$ . Antennse two thirds the length of the insect, slender 
and simple ; the third joint as long as the two following taken 
together ; the apex of the third and the following joints 
entirely poriferous below. 
This genus should be placed between Prionoplus and Tra- 
gosoma. 
Enneaphyllus ceneipenms, sp. n. 
Elongatus, parallelus, piceus, nitidus ; elytris senescentibus, crebre 
punctatis ; corpore subtus femoribusque testaceis ; pectore longe 
piloso. 
Long. 12-15 lin., lat. 3|-4i lin. 
Head and thorax very thickly and rugosely punctured ; the 
latter a little broader than the head, flattened on the disk, 
with a single spine on each side. Elytra parallel, somewhat 
Eeneous, straight at the base, so that the shoulders, although 
rounded, are rectangular ; the sides very finely margined, 
obtusely rounded at the apex, and with no sutural spine. 
Hah. Tasmania. Brit. Mus. 
British Museum, Feb. 20, 1877. 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
Ostriches and Ostrich- Farming. By Julius de Mosenthal, Consul- 
General of the South- African Republics for France, &c. &c., and 
James Edmund Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S., «&c. With Illustrations. 
Trubner & Co., 1877. 
This interesting work appears to have had its origin in the pubHc 
demand for information consequent upon the exhibition at Vienna 
258 Bibliographical Notices. 
by Mr. de Moaeuthal, as Commissioner for the Soutli- African Colonies, 
of an assortment of ostrich feathers from tame birds, and a model of 
an artificial incubator. Desirous of laying the details of this new 
and important industry before the public, he was fortunate in ob- 
taining the cooperation of Mr. Harting, who combines the attain- 
ments of a scientific naturalist with a flowing and poj)ular style ; 
and as the occasion seemed a favourable one for giving a brief and 
readable monograph of the Ostrich family, the result has been that 
what was originallj^ intended to be a mere pamphlet has swelled to 
the dimensions of a volume of nearly 250 pages — a " process of evolu- 
tion" of which the reader will, we think, have no reason to 
complain. 
Of the two families, Struthionidae and Apterygida?, which make 
up the order Uatitce, as at present existing, only the first furnishes 
members which have up to this time ministered in any important 
manner to the wants or luxury of man ; and, looked at from the 
purely utilitarian point of view, only two of the five genera into 
which these families are subdivided have been of much service ; for 
neither the Cassowaries nor the Emus have done more than provide 
meals and rude clothing for fast disappearing savages, whilst the 
Apteryx has hardly done even that. Mr. Harting has, indeed, 
slightly apologized for introducing them into the present work ; but 
we think that imder the circumstances he has not exceeded the 
privilege conceded to an author who is writing a popular treatise; 
and those who have never read the original accounts of the breeding 
and domestic economy of the Emu in confinement will doubtless take 
a lively interest in the present condensed reprint. To have left out 
the Apterygidae would have marred the completeness of the mono- 
graph ; and the space occupied is very brief ; whilst it is undoubtedly 
an advantage to have- an abstract of the latest information respect- 
ing the Oasuarince in an accessible form, compiled from Mr. P. L. 
Sclater's papers in the ' Proceedirgs of the Zoological Society,' and 
illustrated with reproductions of the heads of the different species. 
By far the most valuable portions of the work are undoubtedly 
those which relate to the Ostrich (Striithio camelus), respecting which 
a fuU and carefully compiled account is given ; and the collation of 
the reports of various travellers, and the working-out of the geo- 
graphical range of the species must have involved an immense 
amount of research on the part of Mr. Harting. We do not feel 
nerfectly satisfied with the evidence adduced as to the occurrence 
of this species, either in a fossil or in a living state, in any part of 
India ; nor do we consider that the identity of the North-African 
and Arabian ostrich with the South- African bird is definitely settled ; 
for not only the difference in the plumage of the limited number of 
specimens available for examination, but also the constant distinc- 
tions in the character of the eggs, seem to point the other way. The 
distinctness of the two species has been upheld by Mr. P. L. Sclater, 
Mr. A. D. Bartlett, Mr. Gurney, and by that eminent practical 
authority the late Mr. Andersson, the noted African traveller, who 
is even inclined to increase the number of species to three, whilst 
Bibliogra^Mcal Notices. 259 
on the other side are Dra. Finsch, Hartlaub, and Blasius junr. ; so 
the matter must be left in abeyance until a larger series of speci- 
mens can be examined. An important step has lately been taken 
by Mr. do Mosenthal in shipping a pair of first-class Barbary birds 
to South Africa with the view of improving the breed of the Cape 
Ostrich ; and comparison of the birds from the two extremities of 
the continent may tend to solve the question. 
The Swedish traveller, Sparrman, more than a century ago, men- 
tioned the fact of tame ostriches being kept by some of the farmers 
at the Cape ; and Capt. Lyon, in 1820, mentioned the similar fact 
with regard to North Africa ; indeed, up to the present time, a 
large portion of the feathers from Kordofan are known to be the 
produce of tame birds, all, however, hatched by female ostriches, and 
without the aid of an artificial incubator. With the increased de- 
mand for feathers it became plain to all reflecting minds that there 
was a gTeat risk of the extermination of the wild birds at no distant 
period ; and in 1859 the Acclimatization Society of Paris offered 
premiums for the successful domestication of the species in Senegal 
and Algeria, and for breeding ostriches in Europe. Prince Demi- 
doff was to some extent successful at Florence ; and similar experi- 
ments, with satisfactory results, were made at Marseilles, Grenoble, 
and Madrid. It was, however, reserved for the colonists at the 
Cape to carry out the plan on a large scale ; and of the rapid rise 
and results of this new industry some idea may be formed when 
we read that, although only commenced in 1866, the number of tame 
ostriches at the census of 1875 amounted to no less than 32,247. 
Of these a considerable number have been hatched out by Douglas's 
incubator, by means of which Mr. John Noble succeeded in rearing 
in a single season from six ostriches (four hens and one cock) one 
hundred and thirty birds ! This is a vast improvement upon the 
wholesale slaughter formerly necessary to provide plumes for the 
European market ; for although the feathers of the wild birds have a 
crispness which no " tame feathers " possess, yet the demand for 
the second class is sufficient to make ostrich-farming a very profi- 
table business. Contrast the state of things in the Argentine pro- 
vinces, where the unfortunate Ehea, or South-American Ostrich, seems 
in a fair way of extermination, nearly half a million having been 
slaughtered annually for some years, without any compensation in 
the way of artificial production. Respecting the habits, manner of 
hunting, and the characteristic distinctions of the two species found 
in the southern portions of the American continent, a long account 
is given ; and it is somewhat amusing (as throwing light upon many 
" trade " names) to learn that the best feathers of the Ehea are 
known as Vautov.r plumes, whilst the white and half- white ones are 
termed gerhes indiennes, or Indian sheaves. It is much to be regretted 
that the unenterprising half-breeds who inhabit a large portion of the 
River-Plate States should never have made any attempt to protect 
and foster these handsome birds ; for the experiment of M. Vavaseur 
in France, after an experience of fifteen years in Uruguay, shows that 
in a ci\ilized country, and one not in a state of chronic revolutionary 
260 Qeological Society. 
disturbance, there is no difficulty in farming Rheaa as well as 
Ostriches. 
For further details we must, however, refer our readers to the 
work itself, every page of which is replete with interest, as well as 
really novel and valuable information. 
On the Foraminifera of Barhadoes. {Etude sur les Foraminifhres de la 
Barbade, Sec) By M. Erioist Vai^dex Broeck, &c. 8vo. 98 pages, 
with 2 plates. Brussels, 1876. (From the ' Annales de la Soc. 
Beige de Microscopic.') 
This memoir on some recent Foraminifera collected by the late 
L. Agassiz at about 100 fathoms depth, near Barbadoes, in the 
West Indies, is of considerable interest on account of the careful 
treatment of the Microzoa under notice, the elegant and trustworthy 
illustrations, and the enlightened views of Foraminiferal classification 
and nomenclature which the author clearly and earnestly advances. 
The series of forms is not numerous, but very interesting as 
varieties and subvarieties of well-known t3'pes ; and these serve as 
a groundwork for a thoughtful exposition of the principles of clas- 
sification adopted by Von Reuss in Germany and by Carpenter and 
others in England. The Foraminifera described and figured are : — 
Lituola Soldani, P. ^ J!, var. inter- Frondicularia alata, D'Orh., v^. 
media, nov. lanceolata, nov. 
Dentalina obliqua, L., var. sulcata, F. complanata, Defr., var. coucin- 
Nils. na, 7iov, 
D. nodosa, UOrh. Globigerina bulloides, D'Orb., var. 
D. communis, UOrb. cretacea, D^Orb. 
D. communis, 2)' OrS., var. obliqua, G. bidloides, D'Orb., var. rubra, 
nOrb. I)' Orb. 
P. communis, D'Orb.^ var. annula- Textularia trochus, D^Orb. 
ta, Uss. Verneuilina communis (I)' Orb.). 
D. pauperata, Z)' Orb. Pulvinulina Menardii (i)' Orb.), var. 
Marginulina glabra, UOrb. cultrata (D^Orb.). 
Cristellaria rotulata, Z?w. (passing Polymorphina lactea ( W. 8f J.) and 
into C. vortex, F. Sf M.). Truncatulina lobatula ( W. 8c J.) are 
C. cultrata (M.). also described and commented 
Frondicularia alata, UOrb., var. upon. 
sagittula, nov. 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
June 7th, 1876.— Prof. P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S., 
President, in the Chair. 
" On the British Fossil Cretaceous Birds." By Harry Govier Seeley, 
Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., Professor of Physical Geography in Bedford 
College, London. 
In this paper the author gave an account of the remains of birds 
which have been collected from the Cambridge Upper Greensand.