Knowledge for the People, 703 



the intermediate shores ; and I should not have presumed to 

 lay this Catalogue before the Natural History Society of 

 Northumberland, did I not feel assured that it will be found 

 to contain, not probably a complete, yet such a full list of 

 their zoophytes as will suffice to convey an accurate view 

 of their number and variety ; and may be of service to any 

 one who shall in future attempt to illustrate their distribution 

 on the shores of Britain." 



" The descriptions of the species have been invariably made 

 from the specimens before me, and in almost every instance 

 without previous reference to the descriptions of others; a 

 circumstance which I have thought it proper to mention, 

 because it may enhance the value of a local catalogue to know 

 to what extent it may be relied on, as affording data to deter- 

 mine how far peculiar situations affect the appearances of 

 species. Several of the descriptions are accompanied by 

 figures, which, in general, illustrate zoophytes either hitherto 

 imperfectly known or not at all." 



The descriptions are entirely in English, and are full and 

 clear : the author under some species admits several varieties, 

 and exhibits in some cases quite an array of synonymes ; his 

 practical intimacy with these creatures having doubtless led 

 him to guard against the very liable error, a too extensive 

 multiplication of species: 22 genera and 68 species, besides 

 varieties, are described ; and it is a pity this valuable contri- 

 bution to systematic zoology is not separately attainable by 

 all students of zoophytes, to whom it would afford very con- 

 siderable assistance. 



Timhs^ John (Editor of " Laconics," " Arcana of Science 

 and Art," &c.) : Knowledge for the People, or the Plain 

 Why and Because, in Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and 

 Meteorology ; familiarising subjects of useful Curiosity and 

 amusing Research. 12mo, 284- pages. London, 1832. 45. 



There is in this little book, we dare say, the price's worth 

 of information, and so it may be bought for the pockets of 

 youth. We should describe the portion of the book devoted 

 to botany to be a higgledy-piggledy collection of scraps of 

 knowledge compiled from authors of repute, and allocated to 

 respond to questions purposely framed to ask for the inform- 

 ation which the extracts or scraps contain. The parts of the 

 book devoted to mineralogy, geology, and meteorology may 

 be better; but of these we are less able to judge. At all 

 events, " the Botany " has given us a prejudice, not soon to 

 be cured, against the " why and because " form of commu- 

 nicating knowledge ; it seems but a last means of stringing 

 together things incongruous. 



