144 Bihliograpidcal Notices. 



natural history, no department occupies a more importanjt . place 

 than that which treats of the geographical distribution of organized 

 beings. It is from considerations founded upon this that nearly all 

 the questions connected with the origin of species must be decided ; 

 and upon our solution of these depend, in great measure, our views 

 of the philosophy of natural history. From this point of view it is 

 almost impossible to overrate the importance of limited faunistic 

 works, such as this of Mr. Stainton's ; and its value is the greater as 

 it relates to that remarkable region which constitutes the point of 

 contact of the three great continents of the Old World. 



The Fishes of Zanzibar. Acanthoptertgii, by Lieut.-Colonel R. 

 Lambert Playfair, Her Majesty's Political Agent and Consul at 

 Zanzibar. Phartngognathi &c,, by Albert C. L. G. Guntheb, 

 M.A., Ph.D., M.D. 4to. London : Van Yoorst. 



Since Adam Smith brought the phrase into vogue, the " division of 

 labour " has been by most persons regarded with favour ; but, some- 

 how or other, naturalists were a long time before they found out the 

 convenience of such an arrangement ; and hence sprang a thick crop 

 of controversies which had an awkward habit of developing into very 

 pretty quarrels. May we hope that this contentious age has passed 

 away, and that the outdoor observer, whose lamb-like \irtues were 

 aforetime sounded in our ears, has, once and for ever, lain down 

 comfortably with the closet collector, undeterred by his leonine den- 

 tition and claws. In the work now before us the compact of eternal 

 friendship is signed, sealed, and delivered (to the public) by person- 

 ages no less than Lieutenant-Colonel Playfair, some time Her Ma- 

 jesty's Consul and Political Eesident at Zanzibar, and Dr. Albert 

 Giinther of the British Museum. To say that they have succeeded in 

 their undertaking is almost unnecessary ; for that would of course be 

 expected from the gallant Scottish gentleman who, until recently, 

 superintended British interests on the East Coast of Africa, and the 

 able German philosopher who presides over the " bottle-department " 

 of the National establishment in Great Russell Street. But we think 

 a word of recognition is also due to the authorities of the Bombay 

 Government, who have most liberally encouraged the present work. 

 Ichthyology has never been a popular branch of study, and in con- 

 sequence ichthyological books have seldom been lucrative under- 

 takings. Pew but the initiated can distinguish at sight between a 

 Cyprinoid and a Salmonoid, and fewer still give themselves the trouble 

 to undergo the course of scientific study which such an initiation, to 

 be well founded, properly requires. Goggle eyes and scaly bodies 

 of unsightly form, sometimes beset by confusing appendages, some- 

 times free from them, but always immersed in a liquid more or less 

 resembling the mixture which advertising wine-merchants term 

 " Golden Sherry," are the sole reminiscences which most persons 

 cai'ry away with them after looking over a collection of fishes in a 

 museum. This arises from the necessity of the case. We know not 

 how to make an ichthyological cabinet attractive to the public, and 



