REVIEWS. 27 



ralist ; the works which were then in his hands were totally inadequate as 

 helps in this particular pursuit ; but, thanks to the beautiful book whose 

 title stands at the head of the present notice, the difficulty has been almost 

 entirely removed. Of Mr. Smith's work, only the first volume has as yet 

 appeared it is to be completed in two and we anxiously look forward to 

 the publication of the second, what we have as yet "had affording an earnest 

 of what we have still to expect. 



It is proposed to figure and describe eveiy species of British Diatom. 

 The figures contained in the volume now before us are admirable examples of 

 accurate natural history drawings ; they are from the pencil of Mr. Tuffen 

 West, and indicate something more than the qualities of a mere draughtsman 

 in the artist. It is quite evident that he understood and appreciated his 

 subject, and that he is himself not destitute of the observing and discri- 

 minating powers of a naturalist. Our author's descriptions are excellent 

 free from that vagueness which is too common in systematic works, dis- 

 gusting the young inquirer with a confused mass of unintelligible diagnoses 

 and convertible characters. 



The present volume is preceded by an introduction, in which the author 

 enters into numerous important and interesting details concerning the habits 

 and general appearance of the Diatomacese, their structure, movements, and 

 other physiological phenomena. 



There are, however, one or two points in which we cannot agree with 

 him ; we cannot, for example, assent to his opinion where he attributes to 

 the siliceous cases of the Diatomaceae a composition out of cellular tissue as 

 the true explanation of the various markings which they present. . To us 

 it appears, that we may just as well attribute to a similar cause the sculpture 

 on the pollen granule of the flowering plants. The Diatom, as well as 

 the pollen granule, is simply and essentially an unicellular organism ; all its 

 structural peculiarities and physiological phenomena connect themselves 

 with this fact ; and to attribute to any portion of it a mullicellular structure 

 is, certainly, opposed to our own observation, and appears to us contradicted 

 by general analogy. 



This criticism, however, is not intended, in any degree, to detract from 

 the general usefulness and value of the "Synopsis of the British Diato- 

 maceae" a work which has long been called for by the students of one of 

 the most charming departments of microscopical research. We believe 

 that Mr. Smith's Synopsis has already given a decided stimulus to the study 

 of the Diatomaceas in this country, and that many facts of value in science 

 have, even now, resulted from it ; and we cannot conclude the present 

 notice without congratulating the microscopic student on the fact, that Mr. 



