Notices of New Books. 4887 



I need only mention the Foraminifera, the Covered-eyed, and Cilio- 

 grade Medusae, the Turbellaria, the Sessile-eyed Crustacea, the An- 

 nelida, and a portion of the Polyzoa, in proof of this alleged 

 deficiency. 



" Let it not be supposed that I think lightly of the Monographs 

 I have alluded to. I should only convict myself of gross ignorance 

 if I were to do so. They are of the highest value, — models of 

 scientific research, acumen and accuracy ; but the very care and 

 labour which have been bestowed upon them, to give them the per- 

 fection they confessedly possess, have necessarily put them (as a 

 whole body of science) out of the reach of the great multitude of 

 students. My little book is not a rival, but an introduction, to these 

 elaborate works. It is a Manual that can be carried in the pocket, 

 and referred to as the tyro sits upon a weed-fringed rock, or stands 

 on the tide-washed beach. 



11 I do not speak theoretically only, but experimentally, when I 

 say that such a work as this is a felt need. Most of the books I have 

 alluded to above are in my own library, but still I have often felt the 

 want of a Manual which should contain the characters of every class, 

 order, tribe, family and genus, of our native marine animals, so 

 arranged as to be suitable for ready reference. The Manual did not 

 exist, and 1 set myself to make it. 



" I believe the student will find here the means of learning, with as 

 little trouble and doubt as possible, the generic name of every animal 

 that has been recognised by naturalists as inhabiting the British seas; 

 from the lowest sponge up to the whale. To this universality there 

 are only these exceptions : — 



" 1. That the intestinal worms {Entozoa) are not included. Properly 

 speaking, they are no more marine than they are terrestrial animals; 

 for though some of them live in marine animals their proper sphere is 

 not the water or the land, but the living tissues of other creatures ; 

 they have a world of their own. 



" 2. That the swarming millions of animalcules, known as Infusoria, 

 which the microscope reveals in the sea, as well as in fresh water, 

 I have not included in detail, for reasons which will be found under 

 the head of this class. 



" Knowing by experience the difficulties which lie in the way of 

 identifying animals by published characters, I have laboured to 

 remove or to lessen those difficulties as far as was possible. I have 

 endeavoured to make these pages practically useful to the beginner, 

 while yet they should be precise enough to serve the advanced 



