Bibliographical Notices. 53 



The chief alterations and amendments which appear in this edition 

 of the ' Manual ' will be gathered from what has been already said, 

 and from a study of the preceding analysis. It only remains for us 

 to observe that there is no other work of the kind in which so great 

 pains have been taken to bring the nomenclature of our English 

 plants into conformity with that adopted on the Continent ; and it 

 will be seen that not a few of the changes which appear in the edi- 

 tion now before us have been introduced with this aim. We must 

 also remark that in no other English book can we find the same care 

 bestowed on the discrimination of closely allied species and varieties ; 

 and, whatever be thought of the respective value of the different 

 forms, no one can doubt the importance of a careful and discrimi- 

 nating study of varieties, inasmuch as it is only by this means that 

 we can hope to attain to a more exact knowledge of species. 



It is by a careful and judicious attention to matters such as these 

 that Professor Babington's 'Manual' has become identified with the 

 progress of British botany ; and we have no hesitation in saying 

 that the present edition is in every respect calculated to sustain the 

 high reputation in which its author is so deservedly held. 



British Conchology ; or, an Account of the Mollusca which now 

 inhabit the British Isles and the surrounding Seas. Volume I. 

 Land and Freshwater Shells. By John Gwyn Jeffreys, 

 F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. 



Nine years have elapsed since the publication of Forbes and Han- 

 ley's ' History of British Mollusca ' — a period brief indeed in the 

 history of a science, but long enough to have added many species of 

 Mollusca to our fauna, and of these no sufficient description has as 

 yet been given. The elaborate treatise to which reference has just 

 been made will probably remain for some time the chief illustrated 

 wovk upon the subject. The high price, however, at which it was 

 necessarily published unfortunately placed it beyond the reach of very 

 many, who have thus been hitherto debarred from following up the 

 study of British Conchology ; while its bulk has stood in the way of 

 its utility, and the student has felt the want of a portable volume 

 which should be his companion at the sea-side. The aim of the 

 author whose Manual we are about to review is to supply this want, 

 as well as to bring the history of the Mollusca up to our present state 

 of knowledge, and no one has equal facilities for undertaking and satis- 

 factorily performing the task. Possessed of an unrivalled and well- 

 nigh perfect collection of British shells, and having, moreover, a first- 

 rate conchological library, Mr. Jeffreys has those materials at his own 

 command which previous writers have been compelled to glean from 

 various sources, or search for through the cabinets of many widely 

 scattered collectors. Moreover, he has had upwards of thirty years' 

 close study of his subject, and is thus thoroughly master of it, as is 

 evidenced in the easy flowing style which characterizes that portion 

 of his work which is now before us. 



The volume is divided into two parts, — the first consisting of an 



