266 Fauna Japonica, Sfc. 



It is from u lull conviction that such productions as the one before 

 us lessen and degrade a favourite pursuit in the eyes of all rational 

 men, and make it a laughing-stock to the satirical, that we feel cal- 

 led upon to protest upon their heing received as evidence touching the 

 nature of our studies. So we willingly consign this one to our high- 

 est shelf, where it shall remain to gather the dust that already co- 

 vers, with a thick and undisturbed repose, the very similar volumes of 

 Mr Brookes and Captain Brown, and the " exquisite Conchologist's 

 Companion" of Miss Mary Roberts, who, however, sometimes enlivens 

 her pages with a sort of quixotical sentimentalism and a blundering- 

 absurdity that provokes a smile ; — and thus only doth she surpass her 

 competitors. 



Bibliographical Notices. 

 Fauna Japonica. Auctore Ph. Fr. De Siebold. — Ophidii ela- 



borantibus C. J. Temminck et H. Schlegel. Fol. Lugduui 



Batav. 



The Erpetologie of Japan has hitherto been sparingly illustrated. 

 The present number of this interesting work, commencing the Ophi- 

 dii, is therefore an important addition to our knowledge of the natu- 

 ral history of the Japanese empire. Former naturalists have borne 

 testimony that that department of the Fauna was very circumscribed, 

 and the present researches, in the words of Temminck and Schlegel, 

 have produced " collections a la verite riches en individus, mais ou 

 les especes sont toujours bornees a un nombre tres-limite." The spe- 

 cies here described are only ten in number : 3 species of Coluber, 2 

 of Tropiclonatus, 1 Trigonocephalus, and 4 Hydrophis. The plates are 

 lithographic and nicely executed, but uncoloured; hence all the ge- 

 neric characters, and the expression of the scaling are distinctly seen, 

 while we have to regret the want of those vivid tints which gene- 

 rally adorn the exterior of these creatures. 



A part of the introductory portion of the whole work is also given, 

 which we shall notice more in detail at an early period. 



A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and the adjacent Islands. By 

 John Gould, F. L. S. Part II. Royal 8vo. 1837. 

 The second number of this peculiarly managed work has just been 

 forwarded to us. It equals its predecessor in the beauty of its finish- 

 ing, and we have illustrations of the characters of forty species, com- 

 prised in the genera 3Ionarcha, Amadina, Pardalotus, Platycercus, 

 Nanodes, Meliphaga, Acanthorhynchus, (a genus formed from the 



4 



