THE ZooLocist—May, 1875. 4439 
reprint, since it proclaims what Mr. Tegetmeier has certainly no 
desire to conceal, that this edition is printed, not from the original 
work, but from a manuscript copy of that original, written by Miss 
Rose Adams. I have no reason to doubt its accuracy of the copy, 
but old book-worms like myself will see at once that it is not exactly 
the same thing. I have often utilized manuscript copies, most 
obligingly made for me by ladies, of passages from books that have 
come before me in my editorial capacity, and on reading them “ by 
copy,” have always found them more or less deficient in exactness. 
I mention this by no means as implying the existence of in- 
accuracies in this reprint, but rather as inculcating the uecessity 
of utilizing the original, and not a transcript, in cases like the 
present, in which minute accuracy has been so strongly insisted on 
as the great merit. 
To me this accuracy is a matter of indifference: before twelve 
months, perhaps before six, have passed over our heads, some 
other nameless work of older date than Boddaert will doubtless be 
discovered, musty and worm-eaten, and the worthy Dutchman’s 
names will become synonyms. 
I am quite ready to admit the good intention, enterprise, in- 
dustry,—aye, even the accuracy,—of Mr. Tegetmeier’s labours; 
but I fail to see their utility, for supposing a dozen or even two 
dozen names may be changed in deference to Boddaert’s authority, 
as is very possible, it will be a matter of regret, rather than 
rejoicing, and will cause infinite labour to future compilers and 
infinite confusion to future students. The “ Law of Priority,” as 
explained by the “ British Association” and worked out by restless 
nomenclators, is essentially a law of change. The task of name- 
altering, once begun, can never be ended; it is a pouring of water 
into vessels that have no bottom; it is the ascending a tread-wheel 
that can revolve only on its own axis; it is the laborious manu- 
facture of “ Dissolving Views.” 
Epwarp NEwman, 
Zoology. By ALFRED NEwToNn, M.A., F.R.S. 
THIs appears to be one of a series of Manuals of Elementary 
Science, published by the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 
ledge, and I cannot say that [ at all admire Professor Newton’s 
mode of teaching, as illustrated by this specimen. In the year 
