474 Analytical J\i^otkes of Books. 



the higliest praise. In this anatomy of the Seal, it was hardly to be 

 expected that he could add much of absolute novelty to what was 

 previously known ; but either the confirmation or the correction of the 

 accredited statements by so practised an anatomist cannot be regarded 

 with indifference. There is nothing, however, in the paper so strikingly 

 new as to call for particular observation here. In common with most 

 recent anatomists Dr. Rosenthal regards the closure of the /oramen ovale 

 and of the ductus arteriosus as the normal structure in these animals, 

 and their occasional perviousness as an exception to the general rule. 

 Figures of the heart, liver, mesenteric glands, lacteals, and female 

 organs, accompany the paper. 



Baron von Ockskay describes the " Mus pratensis''^ as anew species, 

 inhabiting such situations only as are indicated by its trivial name, in the 

 western parts of Hungary. He gives its specific character as follows; 

 " M. Cauda longitudine corporis ; auriculis rotundatis, pilosis, vellere 

 " parum promiimlis ; palmis tetradactylis cum pollice ungulato ; dorso 

 " ferrugineo, ahdomine albo ;'''' and states that its body measures 2 J 

 inches in length, and 1 inch and 2 lines in height. According to the 

 authour it is the most agile and vivacious of the genus, but exceedingly 

 savage even in captivity ; its ferocity being such that the female destroys 

 and devours her young, and the male his mate. They live on the seeds 

 and roots of grass and other herbaceous plants, and build their nests, 

 among the herbage on the surface of the ground, of fragments of decayed 

 grass. The female produces five or six young several times in the year. 



Some " Fernere Untersuchungen iiber Blutlauf in Kerfen," by Dr. 

 Carus of Dresden, add much to the authour's previous discoveries with 

 regard to the circulation of the blood in insects. As he has himself given 

 a summary of the results of his observations on this most important 

 subject, we cannot do better than translate that portion of his paper ; 

 observing that the conclusions which he regards as satisfactorily made out 

 are designated by an asterisk, while those not so distinguished must be 

 considered as more oi less hypothetical. 



" *1. The blood flows in the dorsal vessel from the abdomen to- 

 wards the head. 



