366 Bibliographical Notices. 



Ganoid Fishes also form a separate section ; but the true Bony Fishes 

 are divided into the four orders Lophobranchii, Pectognathi, Mala- 

 copterygii, and Acanthopterygii, in accordance with the Cuvierian 

 principles. The Lepidosirens are also referred to the class of Fishes, 

 of which they form an order. 



It will be readily seen from this sketch that the views of Van der 

 Hoeven are to a certain extent intermediate between those generally 

 held by naturalists at the epoch of the publication of Cuvier's 

 * Regne Animal ' and those now adopted by the more advanced of our 

 living zoologists, of whom Leuckart on the Continent and Huxley 

 in this country may be regarded as the types. There are certain 

 points in which his * Zoology* is undoubtedly behind the age, — that is 

 to say, points which appear to us to be fully established, and the 

 truth of which is indeed admitted by our author, but the influence of 

 which upon the classification of animals he seems to be unwilling to 

 allow. 



But we must quit this criticism of the original work, which has 

 already occupied far more space than we intended, in order to say a 

 few words upon that which is the true object of this notice, — Dr. 

 Clark's translation. As far as we can judge from a tolerably minute 

 examination of the book, the translation has been well and carefully 

 effected, although in some cases we find Teutonic stiffnesses that 

 might easily have been got rid of. It is indeed nearly a literal trans- 

 lation, and, with but few exceptions, appears to be exceedingly close 

 to the original. In a few cases, however, we have noticed mistrans- 

 lations, generally of little importance, and rarely such as seriously to 

 vitiate the sense of the author. This applies to the translation of 

 the Dutch text ; that of the Latin characters of the classes, orders, 

 families and genera, which we think would have been much better 

 left untranslated, has been very indifferently performed, — a curious 

 circumstance, considering that it is the work of a Cambridge Pro- 

 fessor. In translating these short pieces of Latin, Dr. Clark seems 

 to have forgotten that the descriptive characters, even of zoological 

 groups, are subject to the ordinary rules of grammar, and that, as a 

 general rule, in the English language the adjective precedes the sub- 

 stantive which it qualifies. Thus, of the genus Arcella we are told, 

 that the animal emits " processes variable, plane, obtuse," — Difflugia 

 is said to emit " processes of the animal variable, multifidous," — 

 Alcyonium has the "body covered with polyps scattered," — and 

 Clepsine, we are told, has the " mouth unarmed, furnished with a 

 proboscis exsertile, tubular." In the case last mentioned, as in many 

 others, it would be by no means difficult for a young student to con- 

 nect the last adjectives in the paragraph with the first substantive ; 

 and the accidental insertion of a comma would justify him in so 

 doing. We cannot understand why Dr. Clark should have adopted 

 this curious form in translating very intelligible Latin. 



Dr. Clark has not, however, confined himself to the la.bour of 

 translating, but has added numerous notes, many of them of con- 

 siderable value, showing the progress of zoology during the period 

 intervening between the publication of the original work and of 



