On the present state of Zoology. '29 



We are not without hope that the above and other obscure tribes 

 of animals, which have of late years attracted much notice from a few 

 eminent observers, will continue daily to be brought more to light. 

 We would also hope, that as there are already some in our own coun- 

 try who have devoted themselves to these departments, there will not 

 be wanting others to join in the inquiry. The shores of Britain offer 

 great advantages for the study of the marine Invertebrata. Those, 

 especially, who are resident on the coast, have it in their power, not 

 only to examine these animals in a recent state, but to follow up a 

 series of observations on the same individuals, so as trace with ac- 

 curacy the successive changes through which they pass before attain- 

 ing to maturity. There are, however, many groups inhabiting fresh 

 water not less deserving the attention of the inland naturalist. The 

 held may be here more limited, but it is still extensive. Our rivers, 

 streams, and ditches, abound with various forms of animal life ; of 

 which, if some, belonging to the higher classes, have been well inves- 

 tigated, there are others, low down in the scale of organization, offer- 

 ing a rich harvest to the attentive naturalist. It is here that we meet 

 with the Planarice, so remarkable for their singular modes of propa- 

 gation ; — the Hydrce, which have already immortalized one observer; 

 — the Vorticellce, imitating in exact miniature the most elegant forms 

 of vegetable life ; — the Rotatoria, so called from that astonishing me- 

 chanism by which they secure their prey, and to which it would be 

 difficult to find anything parallel in other classes. It is here that 

 we have the opportunity of searching into the real structure of the 

 Polygastric Infusoria : it is here, especially, that we may investigate, 

 in all their details, those ambiguous productions, to which we have 

 already alluded, as oscillating, if we may so speak, between the two 

 great kingdoms of organized beings. 



In expressing a hope that before very long, we shall have much in- 

 creased our acquaintance with the lower animals, — we have been guid- 

 ed by the circumstance, that many groups are now attended to by na- 

 turalists, which, till recently, have been very little thought of. A 

 spirit of inquiry has arisen up amongst us, which is no longer con- 

 tent with treading in the old beaten paths. If Entomology, perhaps 

 the most attractive branch of the science under our consideration, still 

 usurps an undue share of the attention of naturalists, it is at least 

 studied in all its several departments, and with a degree of zeal no 

 longer restricted to the mere desire of accumulating rare specimens. 

 It was observed five years back, * that the Coleopterous insects en- 



* Bull, des Sci. Nat. 1831, tome 27, p. 102. 



