Get class name in static method

Hi all, I'm wanting to define a static method on a base class that then instantiates and returns an object of the type the static method was called on. I've searched the docs and Googled but everything I find says it's not possible and I just wanna check to make sure before I admit defeat. Say I have the following... class Foo {

       public static function & Create()
       {
          $classname = ???;
          return new $classname;
       }

} class Bar extends Foo { } $obj = Bar::Create(); What do I put where the ???s are? I've tried __CLASS__ and get_class() but both give me the base class name. Short of passing the classname to the static function I'm at a loss as to how to do this. However, Bar::Create('Bar') is a bit too sucky for me to be happy with it and kinda defeats the object. Thanks. -Stut