Miscellaneous. 461 



which are within the reach of almost every one, and while confining 

 himself pretty strictly to the description of strictly microscopic 

 objects, contrives at the same time to fnrnisha tolerable general sketch 

 of the animal kingdom. 



Of the vertebrates, of course, Mr. Gosse cannot speak as micro- 

 scopic objects, but he describes the structure of hairs, feathers, and 

 scales, and the characters presented by the blood of these animals. 

 Had he gone a little further and noticed the structure and mode of 

 formation of bones and teeth, and of some of the more important 

 soft parts, he might have made thi3 section of his work far more in- 

 structive. In the treatment of the invertebrate animals, Mr. Gosse 

 arranges his subject in accordance with the generally received classi- 

 fication, devoting a chapter or more to each of the great groups or 

 classes (which he notices separately), and describing in a clear and 

 pleasant style all those parts in the investigation of which the use of 

 the microscope is necessary. Not unnaturally the Kotifera, the Sea- 

 Anemones, and some other groups, upon which Mr. Gosse has worked 

 with results well known to all zoologists, come in for a favourite's 

 share of his attention: but on the whole he has behaved with a com- 

 mendable impartiality; and the student who works through the 

 course of study here laid down by Mr. Gosse, will rise from his 

 labour with no contemptible amount of zoological knowledge. We 

 may add that the book is adorned with a considerable number of 

 good wood-engravings, and, although published by the Society for 

 promoting Christian Knowledge for the express purpose of indicating 

 the wonders of the Divine handiwork in the animal world, is not 

 disfigured by any undue obtrusion of the natural-theological element, 

 such as we are but too much accustomed to in many books with a 

 similar purpose. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Note on Ablepharus pusillus. By W. T. Blanford. 



In the description of the above-named species in the ' Annals ' for 

 July last, p. 33 of the present volume, a serious error occurs, the 

 number of transverse rows of ventral scales between the axils being 

 stated to be 26 instead of 36. The latter number is correct ; and 

 as the only important difference between A. pusillus and A. Brandti, 

 Strauch, consists in the number of scales between the axils, which are 

 fifty in the last named form, whilst Blepharosteres agilis of Stoliczka 

 (Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, 1872, p. 126) has forty to forty-five, and 

 appears from the description to agree in every other character of 

 importance with the other two species, there is every probability 

 that these three races must be considered varieties of one species, 

 which will bear Strauch's name A. Brandti. The type of the latter 

 is from Turkestan ; Dr. Stoliczka's species is from the Punjab ; and 

 A. pusillus was procured by me close to Basrah, commonly called 

 Bussorah, the port of Mesopotamia on the estuary of the united 

 Tigris and Euphrates ; so this scinque has a wide range in Asia. 

 Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xiv. 33 



