38 REVIEWS. 



supply the craving we have alluded to ; and some two years since, Messrs. 

 E. Laukester and G. Busk, whose names are a guarantee for the ability of 

 any similar undertaking, commenced to edit " The Quarterly Journal of 

 Microscopical Science;" a staff of writers were collected around them, among 

 which, names of European celebrity will be recognised. A judicious 

 arrangement was made with the council of that prying body the Micro- 

 scopical Society by which it was made the organ for publishing their 

 proceedings. A new impulse was given to the science of observation and 

 the unsatisfied longings of many isolated students, while a periodical, 

 Minerva-like, sprang into full vigour in an instant. Two yearly volumes of 

 this journal are now before us, full of rich treasures for the thoughtful student. 

 The works we have been previously glancing at, were the aids to the 

 naturalist; here we have stored, in rich luxuriance, the fruit of his 

 labour, and, as such, we cannot so summarily dismiss them. The volumes 

 are divided into two sections, with separate titles, indices, and pagination. 

 The first portion contains, properly speaking, the "Journal of Microscopical 

 Science ;" here the contents are both varied and interesting, presenting an 

 agreeable record of what has been done by observers, both here and on the 

 Continent ; while, " in order," as the editors observe, " to gather up frag- 

 ments of information, which, singly, might appear to be useless, but, 

 together, are of great importance to science, a department has been opened 

 for short notes, memoranda, and correspondence, to which they would 

 especially invite the attention of their scientific friends, as they believe 

 there are few possessors of a microscope who have not met with some 

 stray fact, or facts, which, published in this way, may not lead to im- 

 portant results. They hope, also, to relieve the graver or more scientific 

 matter of the journal by lighter contributions, such as will be found useful 

 to the beginner, not uninteresting to the advanced observer, and of interest, 

 perhaps, to the general reader." The reviews, which are contained in this 

 portion of the journal, are most interesting; and we are glad to find among 

 them a large proportion of Continental works of merit, which, without its 

 aid, might have remained long unknown to the English public. To this 

 first portion of the journal the naturalist is under especial obligations 

 for the careful manner in which the memoirs are written ; these we 

 need not specify in detail, a reference to the pages of our present and past 

 numbers, when treating of the serial literature of each three months, show 

 how much aid the naturalist has received from this journal. 



The second portion into which the journal is divided contains an autho- 

 rized report of the transactions of the Microscopical Society of London. 

 Here we naturally look for papers of a higher tone, and expect to find 



