Notices and A^ialyses, 825 



On Kidneys in the Mollusca, and Uric Acid which is secreted 

 by many of these animals. By L. L. Jacobson. Det kong. 

 danske Videnskab, selskabs naturvidenskab, og mathemat. Af hand- 

 linger ; Tom. III. p. 324. 



The author has observed, that the secreting organ of the mucus, or 

 what naturalists call the calcareous sac, has the function of kidneys 

 in snails. Chemical analysis of the matter secreted by this organ, 

 has led him to discover in it uric acid, ammonia, a calcareous salt, 

 and water. His experiments were made on the great snail, (Helix 

 pomatia.) He was unable to discover any trace of uric acid in any 

 other part of the animal. And, as in the superior animals, the 

 kidneys are the only organ which, in a state of health, secrete uric 

 acid ; and, as the calcareous sac of the snails has many other ana- 

 tomical relations with the kidneys, M. Jacobson concludes that this 

 sac represents the kidneys, and must be so considered in all the 

 mollusca which are provided with it. 



A Century of Birds, hitherto unfigured, from the Himalaya 

 Mountains. By John Gould, A.L.S. No, II. and III. Imperial 

 fblip. London. 



This work improves ; the present numbers excel the first both in draw- 

 ing and colouring. The contents are as follows : 



Bucco grandis — Phasianus alho-cristatus — Lanius erythropterus, male 

 and female — Enicurus macvlatns, (are there not specimens of this 

 species in the East India House ?) — Garrulus siriatus, (of a remark- 

 ably sombre brown, and entirely wanting the bright plumage so 

 common in this tribe ; the feathers streaked with white along the 

 shafts) — Otis Himalayanus-^-^Picus Hyperythrus — Garrulus bispe- 

 cularis. 



Description des Plantes de Guinee. Description of the Plants 

 of Guinea. By F. C. Schumacher. Kong. Videnskab sels- 

 kabs natur. og math. Afhadl. Tom. III. p. 23. 



Professor Schumacher, in a preface, points out the works to which 

 he has had recourse, — Brown's Appendix to Captain Tuckey's 

 Voyage, to Denham and Clappevton's Journey, &c. and mentions 

 that the plants he describes were principally collected by Thonning, 

 who spent three years in Guinea ; that the specimens have been 

 inspected by Vahl and Hornemann, and compared by the author 

 himself in the herbarium of Isert. The plants are arranged accord- 

 ing to the Linnaean system ; but it is to be regretted that no reference 

 is given to the natural orders in which the new genera must be 

 placed, for the time will soon arrive when no plant will be considered 

 understood unless its affinities be explained. The new genera pub- 

 lished are: — 1. Siaurospermvm. 2. Octodon. 3. Cephalina. 4. 

 Phallaria. 5. Benzonia, all among the Ruhiacece, and already adverted 

 to by D. C. in the 4th volume of his Prodromus. 6. Wormskioldia, 

 " Calyx tubulosus, 5-dentHtus, deciduus. Corolla 5-petala. Stamina 

 5. Stylus 1. Capsula linearis, 3-valvis seminibus, unico serie," 

 founded on the Raphanus pilosus, Willd. The stamens are perigy- 

 nous J the embryo is in the axis of a fleshy albumen. D. C. places 



