9-2 REVIEWS. 



one third of its length from the posterior extremity, possessed 

 only in a slight degiee by the Chinese. 



The knob situated between the junctions of the coracoid 

 bones is also larger in the common goose than in the Chinese. 

 - The sternum of the hybrid bird is as long as that of the 

 tame goose, but not broader than that of the Chinese ; it is 

 consequently more elongated than either. The indentation 

 or wave in its plane is about the same as that in the Chinese, 

 as is also the size of the knob situated between the coracoids. 



The bones of the pelvis in all three are very similar in form, 

 but that of the tame goose is the largest and most massive. 

 The hybrid differs from either of its parents, in having the 

 notch situated on each side of the posterior margin of the 

 ilium, merely represented by two slight indentations. 



The cranium of the Chinese differs from that of the com- 

 mon goose, in having two tubercles at the base of the bill, 

 that part being, on the contrary, depressed in the tame goose. 

 The hybrid takes an intermediate form, being only slightly 

 elevated. 



The remaining bones do not differ in form in either of the 

 three birds mentioned ; in the tame goose, however, they are 

 larger than in the Chinese, while those of the hybrid are in- 

 termediate between the two. 



From the above brief notes the following deductions may 

 be drawn. — That the hybrid possesses characters nearly in- 

 termediate between its parents, but in one particular varies in 

 form from either : and that the most material difference be- 

 tween the parents consists in size, and in the numbering of 

 the sacral vertehrce ; in the latter particular the hybrid agrees 

 with the female parent. 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. — A Manval of British Coleoptera, or Beetles ; containing a brief 

 description of all the Species of Beetles hitherto ascertained to inhabit 

 Great Britain and Ireland : together with a notice of their chief localities, 

 times and places of appearance, <$-c. By James Francis Stephens, 

 F.L.S., &c. London : Longman and Co. 1839. 8vo. 443 pp. 



To a person unversed in zoological literature, the various 

 points of view in which the majority of the subjects of zoo- 

 logical science may be treated, must appear quite useless. — 

 Such an one would naturally be led to suppose, that when 

 you have once learned the name of an obscure animal, no far- 

 ther knowledge is requisite, or to be obtained. He would 



