%oolo<fical JoiirnaL 49 



"t> 



Art. II. Catalogue of Worhs on Natural History, lately published, 

 ivith some Notice of those considered the most interesting to British 

 Naturalists. 



Britain. 



Stark, J. : Elements of Natural History, adapted to the present state of the 

 Science. 2 vols. 8vo. 1/. 12*. 



Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Vol. XV. Part III. Lon- 

 don. 4to. 



Hewlett, Esther, now Copley: Scripture Natural History for Youth. 



London. 2 vols. 16mo, 82 plates. Bound in cloth, 12*.; with coloured 



plates, 18*. 



" Quite a treasure for any deserving child, from six years of age to the 

 time of teens." {Lit. Gaz.) 



Trimmer, Mrs. M., Author of the Nutural History of Man, &c. : A 

 Natural History of the most remarkable Quadrupeds, interspersed with 

 interesting characteristic Anecdotes. London. 2 vols. l2mo, 300 cuts. 8*. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Zoological Journal, No. XIV. London. Svo. Quarterly. 7*. 6d. 

 plain; 10*. coloured. 



The first paper is on the supposed identity of Whitebait and Shad, by 

 William Yarrell, Esq. F.L.S. The diminutive fishes called whitebait have 

 hitherto been generally considered as the young of the shad (Ciupea v416sa). 

 Mr. Pennant gives the whitebait as an appendage to the bleak (Cyprinus 

 alburnus) ; and Dr. Shaw also describes the whitebait as a species of the Cypri- 

 nus, or carp genus. Dr. Turton, Mr. Donovan, and Dr. Fleming determine 

 th'e whitebait to be the fry of the shad. Mr. Yarrell was first led to investigate 

 this subject by observing the early appearance (March) of whitebait in a 

 fishmonger's shop ; and, knowing that shads, which they were supposed 

 to be, did not make their appearance till much later (May), he took up 

 and persevered in a course of investigation which lasted from March to 

 August, 1828. The details we shall not enter into; but the specific dis- 

 tinction between the two fishes, on which he relies as of the greatest value, 

 is the difference of their anatomical character, and especially in their num- 

 ber of vertebrae. " The number of vertebrae in the shad, of whatever size 

 the specimen may be, is invariably fifty-five ; the number in the whitebait 

 is uniformly fifty-six ; and even in a fish of two inches, with the assistance 

 of a lens, this exact number may be distinctly made out.'* To show the 

 vafue of this character as a specific distinction, he gives the following quo- 

 tation from Dr. Fleming's excellent work on the Philosophy of Zoology, 

 vol.ii. p. 311. : — " The number of the bones of the vertebral column in 

 different species of fishes being exceedingly various, suggested to Artedi 

 the use of this character in the separation of nearly allied species. Among 

 the species of the genus Cjprinus, for example, a difference in the number 

 of vertebrae has been observed to the amount of fourteen. In ascertaining 

 this character, Artedi recommends the greatest circumspection. The fish 

 should be boiled, the fleshy parts separated, and the vertebrae detached 

 from one another ; and these counted two or three times in succession, to 

 prevent mistakes. This character is of great use, as it is not liable to 

 variation ; individuals of the same species exhibiting the same number of 

 vertebrae in all the stages of their growth." 



The other new facts in this and preceding numbers ^of the Zoological 

 Journal will be found in due time among our Collectanea. 



Vol. IL—No. 6. e 



