76 Bihlioijfaphical Notice. 



in which, in one case, this assistance was bestowed, caused extreme 

 uneasiness to both author and publisher, and occasioned the lamented 

 delay." However, "All's well that ends well;" and we believe we 

 are correct in saying that, although the charming introductory 

 chapter to the history of the VespertUionidce appears almost in its 

 original form, yet the greater part of what is new and interesting 

 in the subsequent account of that hitherto little-known family has 

 been contributed by the peccant coadjutor. 



Those who are desirous of paying especial attention to the study 

 of British bats will be grateful for the lucid arrangement of certain 

 obscure groups, which until now have been frequently confounded. 

 For example, the shape of the ear and tragus, and the relative pro- 

 portions of the ear to the tragus and to the head, as well as the den- 

 tition, were formerly employed to point out two distinct divisions of 

 the simple-nosed species (the formula of dentition and the shape and 

 structure of the tragus combining to prove the correctness of this 

 view) ; but, besides these well-known characters, the separation in 

 the present edition of the old genus Vespertilio from Scotophilus, 

 the arrangement of the former into two groups, and the latter into 

 three (the distinguishing characters of which are principally ob- 

 tained from the extent of the wing- membranes, reaching in some to 

 the base of the toes, and in others only to the distal extremity of 

 the tibia, leaving the foot free), appear to us equally justifiable and 

 ingenious, while the author has happily avoided the too common error 

 {sin we were almost about to say) of elevating these " groups " to 

 the rank of subgenera. Many a youthful aspirant, indeed, has been 

 deterred from prosecuting the scientific study of Natural History by 

 the Babel of modern nomenclature. It should never be forgotten 

 that species alone exist in nature ; and the student is frequently lost 

 in a labyrinth of genera and subgenera which are a mystery to him, 

 but in the manufacture of which the mere closet-naturalist finds his 

 chief delight. 



We observe the same laudable disinclination to admit, or fabri- 

 cate, a new species without anatomical evidence, in the account of 

 the otter {Lutra vulgaris). In the Museum of the Zoological So- 

 ciety of London there is a specimen of an otter that was killed in 

 Ireland; and we are told that the gentleman who presented it " has 

 long considered the Irish otter as constituting a distinct species from 

 that of England," on account of the intensity of its colouring, which 

 approaches nearly to black, both on the under and upper surface, 

 and a presumed difference in the size of the cars, and tlie peculiarity 

 of its habits and manners, " being a more marine animal, and con- 

 stantly betaking itself to the sea when alarmed or hunted." Now 

 we have killed many otters in Ireland, both in inland rivers and in 

 estuaries on the coast, and can corroborate the accuracy of this 

 account as to their fondness for salt water and salmon (quite suffi- 

 cient to account for their greater size as compared with their ill-fed 

 representatives in this country) ; but we do not believe that there is 

 any difference in the dimensions of the ears ; and as to the colour of 

 the skin, although generally of a much darker hue than that of 



