Valuable Scientific Works. 



A First Class Work of Science^ puh. £3. 35 ; cloth^ £1. lis 6c?. 

 MURRAY (A.) Geographical Distribution of MAMMALS, 



with a copious synonymic list of Sj)ecies, stout 4to. 103 

 coloured plates and maps, sheioing the geographical distri- 

 hution of each separate family 1866 



" A book of such solid and sterlinj^ merit that we feel no apology to be due to our readers 

 for bringing to their notice what cannot now be called a new publication. Our regrets should, 

 if anything, take the form of excuses for not having found an earher opportunity of drawing 

 attention to its marked, and in many respects, exceptional merits. The great breadth of view 

 adopted by the writer for his inquiry, the extent of his reading and research, and the width 

 together with the caution of his generalizations, would remind us of that patient and persistent 

 toil which we associate in general with the plodding genius of Germany, were it not for that 

 more calm and wary tone of speculation which marks the less imaginative intellect of the 

 North Briton. The hardy fibre of his national temperament is well displayed in his laborious 

 heaping together of the results of wide travel and exploration, as well as in the shrewd, 

 methodical, and well-sustained conclusions which he proceeds to build np on these data. The 

 immense amount of scattered information which has of late years been made public regarding 

 the geographical distribution of plants and animals suggested to his mind the desirableness of 

 its being " classified and methodically displayed, so that some general and connected view of 

 the facts, and of their bearing upon each other, should be attained." .... Addressing himself in 

 the main to the professed naturalist, Mr. Murray has kept concurrently in view the wants of 

 the general reader. It has been his object to keep clear, as far as possible, from technical 

 nomenclature where words in connnon use would fulfil their piu-pose, endeavouring to hit, 

 both in his text and in his references, the happy mean between a burdensome display of 

 erudition and a selection too meagre to be of use. It is no small credit to him to have suc- 

 ceeded in producing a work at once so full and comprehensive in its treatment of these 

 multifarious heads of inquiry, and so clear and readable as regards its method, its argument, 

 and its style. . . . There is in his handsome volume an amount of sound reasoning, as well as of 

 curious and well digested facts, to entitle him to the confidence and gratitude of the public. 



" The leading theory of Mr. Murray's work is that the successive changes in the forms 

 of organic life are the result of corresponding alterations in the physical conditions of the 

 earth.'' — Saturday Eeview, 28</t Nov. 18G8. 



Long out of print, a few copies have just been obtained: 



Owen (R.) Odontography; or, a Treatise on the COMPAEA- 

 TIVE ANATOMY of the TEETH; their physical relations, mode of 

 development, and microscopic structure in the Veetebkate Animals, 

 one vol. text, and Atlas containing 168 beautiful plates, engraved with mar- 

 vellous minuteness, (pub. at £5. 56-) hf hd. morocco, ^^£2. 2s 1810-45 



The same, LAEGE PAPEE, India Pnoors ; together 2 thick vols. 4to. 



(pub. at £10. IO5) hf russia, £6. 305 1810-45 



One of the great modern productions which mark the present wonderful advance of scientific 

 knowledge. Dr. Owen stands on a pedestal of eminence which is rai'ely attained. 



" The present Mork on the Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Teeth, considers — 

 I. The Teeth in their relation to the Osseous System, and the intimate structure of their com- 

 ponent tissues; II. The Teeth, regarded as parts of the Digestive System, and, besides their 

 structure, their various configurations and proportions, in subserviency to the habits and food of 

 the different species; III. Tlie development of the Teeth considered in connection with that ot the 

 epidermal appendages of the Tegumentary System, in consequence of a close analogy in the form, 

 structure, temporary duration, and reproduction of the formative matrix. 



"The views of the structure and development of the Teeth, and the consequent deductions as 

 to their place in the system of tissues, their physiological relations, and their value as zoological 

 characters, are fully and connectedly treated of in this work. 



" The Dental System is in this work traced from its more simple to its more complex con- 

 ditions, but this progress is partially subordinated to the limits of zoological arrangement; for, 

 although tne tooth of a Mijliohates or a Labyrinthodon be, in structure, more complex than many 

 Mannnalian teeth, yet this complexity is associated with other characters, such as mode of 

 attachment, frequent shedding and renewal, &c., which indicates an essentially inferior grade, 

 nnd connect them, respectively, in closer natural relationship with the more simple teeth of other 

 species of Fishes and Eeptiles. A distinct Part, or division of the Work, is, therefore, appro- 

 priated to the Dental System of each of the three great Classes of Vertebratcd Animals which 

 possess teeth. — Preface. 



