Bibliographical Notices, 163 



*' Devonshire Coast." On the other hand, several of the chapters 

 (or Letters as our author calls them) contam excellent descriptions 

 of things, which although previously well known to zoologists, will 

 undouhtedly he exceedingly interesting to the general reader, in the 

 elegant costume in which they are here presented to him. Amongst 

 these we may notice the development of the Decapod Crustacea and 

 Barnacles, of Clavellina and the Echinida. One chapter is devoted 

 to the description of the Pedicellarice, which Mr. Gosse, with the 

 principal authorities of the present day, regards as component parts 

 of the Echinoderms on whose surface they are found ; our author 

 gives a very full description of the structure of these curious bodies, 

 and besides the three kinds or species described by Miiller, notices 

 a fourth form, to which he gives the name of Pedicellaria steno- 

 phylla. The Actinire and their beauties naturally take up a good 

 <leal of Mr. Gosse' s attention, — they are frequently referred to in 

 various parts of the work, and three new species are described in his 

 last letter ; whilst in an Appendix he gives some extracts from his 

 paper on Peachia hastata in the Linnsean Transactions, in which he 

 establishes the genera Sayartia and Bunodes at the expense of the 

 old genus Actinia^ and gives his views as to the nature and affinities 

 of the family of the Sea Anemones. 



Mr. Gosse is, however, by no means constant in his attachment to 

 the sea, and two of his letters are devoted exclusively to the fresh- 

 water Rotifera ; — in one he describes the mode of capturing these 

 little creatures, and in the second the way in which they are to be 

 observed under the microscope, and the structure of several striking 

 species. 



Two circumstances must prevent our giving any extracts from 

 this charming little book, — one of these is the difficulty of selection 

 where so much is excellent, and the other the want of space. In 

 taking leave of it, however, we cannot but feel that it will do much to 

 open up new sources of delight to thousands who may visit not only 

 Tenby but other watering-places, by awakening in their minds some 

 little interest in the many apparently insignificant, but truly inter- 

 esting creatures, which they would otherwise pass contemptuously in 

 their objectless saunterings by the sea. We may add that the work 

 is illustrated with twenty-four coloured lithographic plates, executed 

 by the author, most of which are exceedingly good. 



Manual of British Botany, containing the Flowering Plants and 

 Ferns arranged according to the Natural Orders. By Charles 

 Cardale Babington, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. Fourth Edi- 

 tion, with many additions and corrections. London : Van Voorst, 

 1856, pp. 446! 



An examination of Mr. Babington' s fourth edition suggests little 

 that we have not already said, still less that we might not have said, 

 respecting its predecessor. The countless silent rectifications of 

 diagnosis, which give Mr. Babington's writings their chief value, will 

 hardly be appreciated except by assiduous use ; but the marks of 



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