ornithologist's text-book 29 



attending to. In simplicity it almost rivals that 

 of the illustrious Swede, and is infinitely its supe- 

 rior in exactitude and preciseness. It is the clas- 

 sification we had ourselves adopted, before we had 

 investigated the merits of the circular system, as 

 illustrated and explained by those excellent Natu- 

 ralists, Swainson and Vigors, in the Northern 

 Zoology, Linncean Transactions, Zoological Jour- 

 nal, and other valuable works, which we have 

 perused with equal attention and pleasure. — Tem- 

 minck employs sections — or subgenera — where he 

 supposes his genera to require some division. The 

 Warblers {Sylvia, Lath.), for instance, he divides 

 into Becfins riverains (Salicaria, Selby), and Bec- 

 fins sylvains, which comprises the rest of Latham's 

 Sylvia {Sylviad<e,Vig.) — The scientific details and 

 the tables of synonymes, in this useful work, are 

 almost always correct, but with regard to habits 

 and manners, Temminck had less success. The 

 Ornithologist will do well to possess himself of 

 this work, nor indeed could he easily do without it. 

 Another edition of the Manuel cCOniithologie ap- 

 peared in 1820, 2 vols. 8vo. 



Regne Animal, distribue d'apres son Organisa- 

 tion, par G. Cuvier. Paris. 1817. 4 vols. 8vo. 



The Regne Animal is the only systematic work 

 since the Sy sterna Natures, which includes the 

 whole range of Zoology. The zoological system 

 of Cuvier — which has erroneously been termed 

 natural — has certainly far less merit than those of 

 Linnaeus and Temminck, and its fame was, accord- 

 ingly, short-lived. Cuvier"' s classification is founded 

 on the organisation; and here lies its chief defect ; 

 a system founded on any one character, must ne- 

 cessarily be defective, if that character is invariably 

 c 3 



