/ Af\ \ rMoiitlily Microscopical 



Jouniiil, Jan. 1, 1»70. 



NEW BOOKS, WITH SHOKT NOTICES. 



Tlie Anatomy and Physiology of the Blow-flij (Musca Vomitoria). A 

 Monograpli by B. T. Lowne, M.E.C.S. London : Van Voorst, 1870. 

 — It would be impossible fur us to give too high praise to this 

 excellent work, which, as the author styles it, is indeed a mono- 

 grajih on the blow-fly, Microscopists generally are disposed to 

 look uj)on a blow-fly as an insect which contains a proboscis that 

 makes a handsome object for exhibition under low j)owers. But 

 Mr. Lowne does not belong to that category : he is one much 

 more akin to those German histologists who devote themselves so 

 assiduously to describing all that is known on a certain subject. 

 In this path Mr. Lowne has followed, and in the 120 pages of this 

 work, and the ten well-executed j)lates which accompany them, he 

 has told us nearly everything that is to be told of the anatomy of 

 the familiar insect on which he has written. 



It is hardly necessary to remind our readers that Mr. Lowne's 

 work is not simply a comj)ilation from other works : it is a book 

 in which the author sets down all his own careful observations 

 conducted during a series of years, and in which he also describes 

 the work of other students, and analyzes the current doctrines on 

 the subject of dij)terous histology. As an indication of the elabo- 

 rate character of the book, we will quote the headings of the dif- 

 ferent sections into which it is divided, these being grouped under 

 the two divisions of general and minute anatomy. These are as 

 follow : — Development, Integument, Nervous System, Wings and 

 Legs, Digestive System, Kespiratory System, Fat Bodies and 

 Ductless Glands, Organs of Si)ecial Sense, Generative Organs. 



The foregoing are the sections which deal with the general 

 Anatomy and Physiology. These are the headings under which the 

 sjjecial anatomy is treated uj)on : — Integument of Head, Proboscis, 

 Salivary Glands, Alimentary Canal and Appendages, Eectal Pajiillas, 

 Integument of Thorax, Thoracic Ajipendages, Abdominal Seg- 

 ments, Eespiratory Organs, Dorsal Vessel, the Nervous System, the 

 Comi)ound Eyes, the Ocelli, the Antennae, the Maxillary Palpi, 

 the Frontal Sac, the Cephalo-Sternum, the Halteres and Wing 

 Organs, the Folliculate Glands, the Male and Female Generative 

 Organs, the Development of the Ovum, and the Formation of the 

 Pupa. It would be impossible, in the mere space of a notice, to 

 criticize any of the author's views, but we may express a belief that 

 from the very decided tone in which certain views are laid down, 

 that Mr. Lowne will draw ujion him the controversial j)ens of other 

 workers. We see this sort of thing illustrated here and there 

 throughout his admirable book. In the case of the so-called 

 ductless glands, for instance, it is well exemplified. The author 

 having described one of the glands, says, " From the great similarity 

 of the contents of these follicles to those of the spleen and other 



