4-12 Bibliographical Notices. 



There is an unfortunate error at page 28 (line 1 2) caused by print- 

 ing Scotland for Iceland, which may give some little trouble, although 

 the careful reader will immediately detect it. At page 86 there is 

 some confusion concerning the northern limit of the ripening of pears, 

 which the author will do well to correct in his next edition. We do 

 not quite understand what is intended by the statement at page 154, 

 that " the length of Great Britain amounts to 120 geographical miles, 

 of Ireland only to 60 ; the breadth of the former varies from 15 to 

 65, and that of Ireland from 20 to 40." A geographical mile is 

 about 2025 yards, or rather less than one English mile and a fifth, 

 and therefore, according to his calculation, Great Britain is not more 

 than about 150 miles in length instead of 600. It has probably 

 originated from adopting the numbers given in some foreign work, 

 where the geographical miles are calculated in accordance with the 

 longer ordinary miles used in the country, apparently about in the 

 proportion of four to one of the English. These however are very 

 minute errors, and cannot detract from the value of the book, which 

 we strongly recommend to our readers. 



It is satisfactory to see that this is the first of a series of works on 

 the c Outlines of the Natural History of Europe,' of which the second, 

 ' On the Natural History of the European Seas,' by Prof. E. Forbes, 

 may be immediately expected. We are not informed of the volumes 

 that are to follow, but judging from the present work, and from Mr. 

 Forbes' s known acquaintance with the subject intended to be illustrated 

 by him, we are led to expect that the whole series will form a valuable 

 addition to our popularly- scientific literature. 



Consjiectus Cycloslomaceorum emendatus et auctus Pneumonopomo- 

 mm Monographice Prodromus, auctore Dr. Ludovico Pfeiffer. 

 Cassellis, 1852. 8vo, 74 pages. 



This small work is one of the most convincing proofs of the rapid 

 progress of modern conchology. Lamarck described twenty-seven 

 species of the genus Cyclostoma ; Deshayes added eighteen in his 

 edition of that author, being the last general work on the species of 

 shells up to 1850 ; they were all included in a single genus. 



In the Synopsis of the British Museum for 1840, as our author 

 informs us, Mr. Gray proposed to divide them into genera according 

 to the form of the operculum ; Troschel extended the number of the 

 genera ; and in 1 850 the Trustees of the Museum, under the title of 

 ' Nomenclature of Molluscous Animals and Shells in the Collection of 

 the British Museum. Part I. Cyclophoridse,' printed a list of the 

 specimens in the collection of that institution with the characters of 

 the new genera. 



The above work of Dr. Pfeiffer may be considered as a second or 

 revised edition of that work, with the description of many new 

 species; the species noticed in it amount to 4G9 divided into 29 

 genera, arranged in three sections. 



It is pleasing to observe the effect which the Catalogues, published 

 by the Trustees of the British Museum, have had on science. The 

 lists of Mammalia and Birds were followed by similar lists of the Mam- 



