Bibliographical Notices. 391 



errora in these works (for no Entomological work, at least of any 

 extent, can be expected to be free from them) ; but we may fairly 

 give the authors and publisher the credit of having produced two 

 works which will be a groat boon to all students of Lepidoptera. 



w. r. K. 



Guide to the Galleries of Reptiles and Fishes in the Department of 

 Zoology of the British Museum {Natural History). Demy 8vo. 

 Printed by order of the Trustees, 1887. 



A General Guide to the British Museum {Natural History), Cromwell 

 Road, London, S. W. 8vo. Printed by order of the Trustees, 



1887. 



The authorities of the British Museum at South Kensington are 

 certainly taking the best possible course to render the splendid col- 

 lections under their charge available for the instruction of the 

 people. Dr. Giinther has followed up the Guide to the Mammalia 

 with one dealing with the Eeptiles, Batrachians, and Pishes. There 

 is wanting only a guide to the collection of Birds to complete the series 

 of vertebrate animals. Let us hope that the invertebrate classes may 

 speedily receive a similar attention on the part of the zoological officers, 

 and we may then have a series of text-books, forming together 

 a popular manual of zoology, which will possess a special value as 

 being founded directly upon magnificent collections which are access- 

 ible to every one. The cost also will be exceedingly moderate — in 

 the present case purchasers get for sixpence a book of over 120 

 pages, illustrated with 101 good woodcut figures, and a plan of the 

 galleries the contents of which are here described. 



Excellent as the present Guide-book may be, there are oue or two 

 points in which we think it is decidedly susceptible of improvement. 

 One of these is the equalization, or more properlj^ coordination, of 

 the general statements as to the structural characters of various 

 groups. Thus the " General Notes " on Reptiles occupy about two 

 and a half pages and those on Batrachians about the same, while 

 over eleven pages are devoted to the general description of Fishes ; 

 and valuable as such particulars are to the student, we do not think 

 the names of all the bones forming the Teleostean skeleton will be 

 of much interest to those for whom this Guide is specially intended. 

 At the same time in order to realize that vision of a cheap popular 

 zoological handbook in which we have indulged above, we would 

 rather see this and the corresponding sections relating to other 

 groups judiciously enlarged than the generalities on the class of 

 Fishes cut down. It would also be advantageous and would not 

 occupy much space if these parts of the book could be made to give 

 the reader some hints upon the comparative morphology of the groups, 

 so as to lead him, when inspecting the collections, to recognize the 

 way in which such multifarious results arise from the modifications 

 of the same fundamental plan. The great quantity of classificational 

 names with which this Guide-book bristles seems to be a misfortune ; 



