312 Bibliographical Notices. 



manual of our Freshwater Fishes, this Httle work will be welcome to 

 many a naturalist who may be desirous of working upon this branch 

 of zoology. 



It seems to us, however, to be rather a defect in the book, that it 

 is too exclusively zoological. The infusion of a little more angling 

 information into it would have rendered it a far better angler's hand- 

 book than any that we possess ; and this information might easily 

 have been given in the space which is at present occupied by con- 

 siderable digressions, such as that at pp. 223-232, in which numerous 

 examples of fishes making terrestrial excursions are detailed. In 

 one of these little digressions, which happens to be peculiarly apropos 

 de bottes, the author falls into a curious muddle, describing the 

 Pinna under the name of " Nacre," as the source of mother-of-pearl, 

 and giving Oppian's account of the relation between the MoUusk and 

 the Pinnotheres. It would, however, be an invidious task to point 

 out the two or three little errors of this description which have crept 

 into a book otherwise excellent, and which we can highly recommend 

 to all who are desirous of investigating the fishes of our fresh waters ; 

 and in taking leave of Mr. Pennell, we can only hope that we may 

 speedily see a second edition of his book, containing some additional 

 species, to the discovery of which it may have contributed. 



Introduction to Zoology; for the Use of Schools. By Robert Pat- 

 terson, F.R.S. Twenty-eighth Thousand. Belfast : Simms 

 & M'Intyre. London: Longmans & Simpkins. 1863. 12mo. 



Mr. Patterson's ' Zoology for Schools ' has been too long and 

 favourably known to need much notice at our hands. We are glad 

 to see that it has attained so large a circulation, as, from the cha- 

 racter of the information contained in it, and the clearness and 

 attractiveness of its style, it cannot fail to communicate to the young 

 readers for whose benefit it is intended sound views of the general 

 subject of zoology. 



In the present edition, we find that Mr. Patterson has introduced 

 many changes rendered necessary by the recent progress of zoological 

 science. Amongst these we may mention especially the adoption of 

 the subkingdom Protozoa, the transfer of the Polyzoa to the Mol- 

 lusca, and of the Entozoa and Rotifera to the Annulose series, and 

 the separation of the Batrachia from the Reptiles as a distinct class. 

 Mr. Patterson still retains the subkingdom Radiata, although indi- 

 cating the existence of the great group of Ccelenterata ; it seems to 

 us that he would have done better to have adopted the latter divi- 

 sion, with its subdivisions, as giving a far clearer insight into the 

 somewhat difiicult subject of the diversity of generations in the 

 Hydrozoa. This, however, is a small matter ; and in other respects 

 this little book is deserving of the highest praise, the author having 

 succeeded in giving a remarkably uniform picture of the whole ani- 

 mal kingdom, well illustrated by references to examples, and enlivened 

 by a number of interesting anecdotes told in a lively manner. 



