Bibliographical Notices. 63 



rence. The more exact and extended our researches on this subject 

 become, the more clear will be our statements on the succession of 

 created beings, the more certain our applications of zoological prin- 

 ciples to determine the relative antiquity of rocks, and the more 

 satisfactory our views of the formation of the strata." 



In recommending this new and enlarged edition of Mr. Morris's 

 * Catalogue ' to the careful study of the geologist and the natural- 

 history student, we must express our hope that the Author will edit 

 at frequent intervals, supplemental notices of the new species as they 

 accumulate, as well as a set of synoptical lists and tables compiled 

 from the present work, exhibiting at a glance the stratigraphical 

 distribution of the families, genera, and species of fossils found in 

 Great Britain and Ireland. This, though seemingly but a clerkly 

 task, will require the careful supervision of a master. 



Popular Conchology. By Agnes Catlow. Second Edition. 

 London: Longmans, 1854. 12mo. 



In this little book, of which a second edition is now before us, Miss 

 Catlow has brought together, in a popular form, the characters of 

 the genera of Mollusca ; and although the work is, of course, almost 

 entirely a compilation, the fair author appears to have exercised con- 

 siderable judgment in the selection of materials, and her book, we 

 should think, will prove exceedingly useful to the younger students 

 of this branch of zoology. 



The system adopted in the present edition is derived from that 

 given by Philippi in his ' Handbuch,' founded upon the structure 

 of the molluscous animals. In the first edition, Lamarck's shell 

 system was followed. The generic characters are generally copied 

 from the works of other authors ; and, in most cases, the number of 

 species included in each genus is given from the most recent authorities. 

 Most of the genera are illustrated with very good woodcuts of the 

 shells, which will greatly facihtate the work of the young conchologist 

 in the arrangement of his collection. 



There are some things, especially in the introductory chapter on 

 the structure of the Mollusca in general, which might have been 

 improved with very little additional trouble, but which would have 

 rendered the book far more satisfactory. As an instance, we may 

 refer to the very curious account given by our author of the mode 

 of formation of shell. She tells us that from the mantle " a liquid 

 exudes, which, on exposure to air or water, hardens into shell," — an 

 explanation of the phaenomenon which we fear will hardly prove 

 satisfactory to an inquiring mind. On the whole, however. Miss 

 Catlow has produced a book which will no doubt be highly accep- 

 table to a very large class of readers. 



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