Rymer*s Outline of the Animal Kingdom. 565 



amount of matter within such limits as shall render the work 

 neither inconveniently bulky nor expensive ; but the difficul- 

 ty of effecting this must always more or less be felt in the ex- 

 ecution of comprehensive works, intended for practical pur- 

 poses. 



The principal articles are Acetic Acid, Alcohol, Alum, An- 

 chor, Amber, Anthracite, Assay, and Beer. 



In the account of Artesian Wells, the reader finds nothing 

 to give him an idea of the depth to which they have been sunk 

 by the process of boring, though the operation itself is fully 

 described ; nor is there a word said about the usual cost at- 

 tending this important means of obtaining water ; two points 

 which we think might have been noticed with advantage. 



Art. V. — A General Outline of the Animal Kingdom. By Thomas 

 Rymer Jones, F.Z.S. Part 1. London : John Van Voorst. 1838. 



As an accompaniment to the valuable series of works on spe- 

 cific branches of British Zoology now in the course of publi- 

 cation by Mr. Van Voorst, the present outline of the Animal 

 Kingdom by Professor Jones promises to be a most valuable 

 acquisition ; and its contents, we feel confident, will be made 

 very generally available by those students of Natural History 

 who, in directing their attention to the organic and animate 

 portion of creation, do not rest satisfied with the mere ac- 

 quirement of a familiarity with the subjects of some one or 

 more restricted departments of so comprehensive a science as 

 Zoology, but who would wish to gain some general insight 

 into the various types of organisation, existing throughout 

 the known animal world, and a knowledge of those principles 

 of systematic arrangement, which are based upon the careful 

 examination of the structure and functions peculiar to the re- 

 spective classes composing it. 



The first number includes a brief sketch of the principles of 

 classification which will be adopted in the work, and the his- 

 tory of the sponges and polyps. The descriptive details are 

 given in the most accurate and careful manner ; there is an 

 absence of everything like hasty generalization ; while the 

 matter indicates the author's qualifications for the task he is 

 engaged upon, to be of a very high order. "We may also add 

 that the illustrations which accompany the letterpress, are 

 drawn and engraved in the most faithful and beautiful manner. 



