00 NOTICES OF SERIALS. 



plains of Kashmir and Thibet a very high antiquity compared with any of the 

 monuments which Man himself has reared, even in the country most usually 

 regarded as the cradle of his race. Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Geolo- 

 gical Society. Miscellaneous. (E. Blanchard) Observations on the generation 

 of the Arachnida. (E. Faivre) On the Brain of the Dytici, in its relations to 

 Locomotion. (M. Sars) On Spiochaetopterus, a new genus of Annelides from 

 the Coast of Norway. (J. D. Macdonald) On the Sea Sawdust of the Pacific. 

 Obituary Notice of Dr. Ball. 



No. 114, June — (J. Koren and D. C. Danielssen) Researches on the Develop- 

 ment of the Pectinibranchata. (Andrew Murray) List of Coleoptera received 

 from Old Calabar, on the West of Africa. (Arthur Adams, Surgeon, R.N.) 

 Description of two new species of Heteropodous Mollusca. (Richard Howse, 

 South Shields) Notes on the Permian System of the Counties of Durham and 

 Northumberland. (J. Alder) Notes on Sepia biserialis and S. elegans. (A. 

 Schenten) On some Mites and their young states ; with a plate. Bibliographical 

 Notices. Proceedings of Zoological Society. Miscellaneous. — (Dr. C. Semper) 

 Note on the Anatomy of Physiology of the Pulmoniferous Mollusca. (G. 

 Lindstrom) Notes on the Invertebrate Fauna of the Baltic Sea. (M. Fairholme) 

 The Blacks of Moreton Bay and the Porpoises. (I. Jno. Moser) Eolis Land- 

 burgii. Title Page and Index to Vol. XIX. 



The Zoologist. Nos. 174, 175, March ; No. 176, April ; No. 177, May ; No. 

 178, June, 1857. 8vo. London : John Van Voorst. Price Is. each number. 



Nos. 174 and 175, March Proceedings of Societies. — Entomological 



Society. Radiata. — (E. W. H. Holdsworth) Note on Serpula contortuplicata, 

 and on a species of Othonia. Original Essays. — (Rev. J. C. Atkinson) 

 Reason and Instinct: Part the First. (R. Knox, M.D., F.R.S.E.) Zoology ; its 

 present Phasis and future Prospects. The present phasis of Zoology — so we learn 

 from this article — is industrial, and on this Dr. Knox proceeds to break the first 

 vials of his wrath. In his eyes, it would appear, Economic Geology is vexation, 

 and Economic Botany as bad ; but it is the practical application of Zoology in par- 

 ticular which makes him mad. " Of impure origin, and suited only to the muddy 

 banks of the Thames," he exclaims in an ecstasy of jubilant scorn ; again, to cap a 

 climax, we are certified that "sound Zoological science never existed here" in Bri- 

 tain. [While disposing thus summarily of all our scientific pretenders, from the days 

 of Ray down to Owen, it is clear, however, that one great Anatomist is meant to be 

 excepted — one whose authority is quoted continually in the course of this article — 

 be-asterisked in foot notes, and be-obelisked M Knox," or " Myself."] This sad ■ 

 defect of the Anglo-Saxon race (" the human Gorilla — of model England and model 

 America") he has no difficulty in accounting for — " a hypocrisy which has been called 

 4 organized,' but which must mean ' organic,' has no doubt something to do with it.'' 

 Cato the Elder, as we read, concluded every oration with *'Delenda est Carthago." 

 Voltaire was fond of winding up his letters to his satellites of the Encyclopedie 

 with " Ecrasez l'infame." Doctor Knox, censor and satirist in one, whatever the 

 subject in hand may be, is pretty sure to bolt aside for the sake of fetching a back- 

 handed stroke at his bete noire — Theology, Natural and Revealed. " The most 

 slavish of doctrines, the theory of final causes" — " the compilation ascribed to 

 Moses" — "the parti pretre, haters of truth and genius — as they must of necessity 

 ever be." Such are a few of the polished shafts that he launches against the doctrine 

 of Creative design, the integrity of Holy Writ, the belief of Christianity, when he has 

 taken his stand, as here, behind Zoology for a stalking-horse. And if he could succeed 

 in getting rid of every relation of science to the glory of God, as well as to the use of 

 man, what, may we ask, does Dr. Knox intend to retain as the object of it ? To 

 treat the pursuit of knowledge as a handmaid merely to man's physical wants and sen- 

 sual gratifications is, indeed, both to fetter and degrade it ; and if Dr. Knox had been 

 content fairly to expose that tendency wherever he found it, we could have more 

 than borne with him ; but one who makes of science a mere exercise of mental 

 power, or gratification of curiosity, is surely no better than an intellectual volup- 



