140 Bibliographical Notices. 



We find in the preface that to make up for the numerous quota- 

 tions on those branches of science of which the author confesses 

 himself to possess an imperfect knowledge, " other parts of the work 

 contain more original observations and opinions, many of which will 

 be new to the reader." We do not know whether the statement at 

 p. 288, that the author has "seen the heads of common Mackerel 

 shining brightly in a dark cellar," is one of these new observations ; 

 but his application of the fact to the establishment of the luminosity 

 of fish in the sea, is certainly novel, as is also the implied statement 

 t\i?itPyrosoma is a fish, given on the same page. One of the *' original" 

 opinions is undoubtedly that expressed at p. 241, which attempts to 

 account for the production of Hermit-crabs by the accidental intro- 

 duction of the larval form of some common Crab into empty shells. 

 Mr. Sowerby has not yet made the necessary experiments for the 

 establishment of this theory, and **in the meanwhile we must," as 

 he advises us, "be content to take the obvious facts as we find 

 them." 



Some of the animals referred to appear to us to be very absurdly 

 introduced into a book on the Aquarium. Such are especially the 

 freshwater Tortoises, Turtles, and Alligators, none of which are 

 within the reach of the ordinary possessors of aquaria. Still more 

 ridiculous is the introduction of an account, two pages in length, of 

 Professor Owen's Euplectella, a sponge from the Philippine Islands, 

 which Mr. Sowerby seems to hope may yet be seen "living and 

 flourishing in our tanks." What interest Mr. Sowerby can possibly 

 have in the matter we cannot tell ; he would certainly know no more 

 about Euplectella after seeing it, than he does now by simply reading 

 about it. 



We might vdthout much trouble extend our list of Mr. Sowerby' s 

 errors, but such a treatment of such a work would be almost 

 like breaking a fly upon the wheel, an operation which we have no 

 desire to imitate. We have, indeed, already devoted to it far more 

 space than it deserves on any consideration, except as it furnishes 

 such a striking example of that wholesale and disgraceful pillage of 

 standard works on science, by ignorant and careless compilers, which 

 now threatens to become so much the fashion. Considering the 

 number of works of all prices already existing upon the same sub- 

 ject, we cannot think that the present book was necessary on public 

 grounds ; and if the necessities of his series compelled Mr. Reeve to 

 bring out a work on the "Aquarium," he ought at least to have 

 taken care that the workman to whom he confided its production 

 was rather more a master of his craft than the one whose literary 

 offspring we have just been examining. We must add, that the 

 volume, which is one of Mr. Reeve's popular series, is as usual illus- 

 trated by twenty coloured plates. These are drawn on stone by the 

 author, and most of the figures are tolerably eff'ective. One or two, 

 however, are bad, especially that representing the Newts and Water- 

 beetle, which is positively a ridiculous caricature. 



