114 Analysis of Seientifie Books. 
nevertheless remark, that he has here attempted to give generic 
characters, which, in some other cases, he has oddly enough seemed 
to have thought unnecessary. Surely if a genus or a name is to be 
erected for an ichthyolite, or any other kind of lite, the purpose is, if 
there be any purpose at all, to allow others to refer to it, and to 
arrange their discoveries under the appropriate division. If this is not 
to be, if there is only to be a paleeo—something, without characters, 
we do not see what natural history, ichthyology, or geology is to 
profit by such a coinage of crabbed words; while we do see that, 
on the same principle, we may shortly have as many genera as there 
are specimens; a proceeding likely to be attended with no con- 
venience that we know of to compensate for the vexation of such a 
catalogue, except that of inducing gentlemen to turn the leaves of the 
long-forgotten Lexicon ; that unlucky book, thumbed in the Anglo 
Greek division by every projector who wants to dazzle our under- 
standings with a Diatalaiporou, a Therapolegia, an Anthropomono- 
troche, « or an Apolepsia alexicacon. 
Of these new genera we shall give the characters of that in which 
our author has been most successful and appears most justified, asa 
compensation for some of the others which we have noticed. 
“« Paleothrissum.” “ Ila pour caractere essentiel: d’etre abdominal, 
malacopterygien, de n’avoir qu’une scule nageoire superieure située 
devant \’anale, entre les pelviennes et elle, et surtout d’avoir la queue 
bifurquée, et le lobe supéricur ordinairement beaucoup plus long que 
Yinferiecur, et couvert d’ecailles dans toute sa moitié supérieure.” 
There are four species of this: but Kruger thinks that one of them is 
a pike; it is doubtful if two of the others are not the same, though 
each one has its own name; and, what is worse, the geological rela- 
‘tions of the rock in which these are found is doubtful. 
That one which follows is called stromateus ; but, as is most usual, 
has no generic characters assigned. How species are to be established 
before a genus is determined, rather surpasses our comprehension ; 
nevertheless there are three, with the names major, gibbosus, and 
hexagonus, (surely the love of arrangement is a terrible disease,) and 
two more without names, the genera of which, are, however, left in 
doubt, We shall extract a few words from these descriptions that 
naturalists may see what marks they may have to deal with when 
they take to the investigation of ichthyolites, 
No. 11.—On trouve encore & Eisleben une autre en d’ichthyo- 
lite, mais qui jamais, ou fort rarement est entiére: d’aprés la grandeur 
de sa téte, on suppose quelle pouvoit avoir prés de trois pieds: sa 
peau etoit, dit on, comme chagrinée. D’aprés cette indication, je 
- supposerois volontiers que les ‘oryctographes indiquent par la un 
poisson fossile, dont j’ai vu l’empreinte d’une partie de la peau dans 
Ja collection de Monsieur Brongniart. On y peut reconnoitre a ce 
qwil m’a semblé, une assez erande nageoire dorsale; mais ce me 
