244 YarrelVs British Fishes. 



Royal Humane Society : A Few Observations on the 

 Natural History of the Sperm Whale, with an Account of 

 the Rise and Progress of the Fishery, and of the Modes of 

 pursuing, killing, and " cutting in " that Animal, with a 

 List of its favourite Places of Resort. 8vo, 58 pages, and 

 4 woodcuts. London, Effingham Wilson, 1835. 



The author had been occupied, at a time shortly previous, 

 " upwards of two years in the South Sea whale-fishery ; " 

 and, in the course of the voyage, amused himself by noting 

 in a log book, " daily, the most interesting objects presented 

 to " his " notice." He did this, not in the thought of publish- 

 ing the result of his notes, but, " on returning to England," 

 and finding that " little " was " generally known of the 

 natural history of almost the largest inhabitant of our planet, 

 the great sperm whale," he has acted on the advice of friends, 

 in throwing together the whole of his observations on the 

 natural history of it, with a view to publication. " In follow- 

 ing this suggestion, I hold myself responsible for every fact 

 stated, except where I give my authority ; so that, though the 

 quantity of information is much more limited than the im- 

 portance of the subject demands, still, so far as it goes, it 

 may be depended on. The style of the author's account 

 participates the popular and the zoological. The cuts ex- 

 hibit attitudes of the whale. 



Waterton, Charles, author of " Wanderings in South Ame- 

 rica : " Second Letter to Robert Jameson Esq., Regius 

 Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh. 

 8vo, 15 pages. Wakefield, Nichols, March, 1835. 



The passenger pigeon, the vulture's power of smelling, 

 and a certain hurricane, are the chief of the subjects. The 

 first has been treated of in VII. 281 — 283.; the second in 

 V. 233—241.; VI. 83—88., 163—171.; VII. 165—169., 

 276—278. 



Yarrell, William, F.L.S. : A History of British Fishes, il- 

 lustrated by Woodcuts of all the Species and numerous 

 Vignettes. Part I. London, John Van Voorst, 3. Pater- 

 noster Row, 1835. To be completed in 14 monthly Parts. 

 Some twenty or more years ago, as we recollect, there were 

 frequent vague reports afloat, that the incomparable author of 

 A General History of Quadrupeds and of British Birds, Tho- 

 mas Bewick, had it in contemplation to give to the world also 

 a history of fishes. These reports, it should now seem, were 

 not wholly without foundation. But whether this great artist 

 ever seriously entertained the idea of completing such a task, 



