378 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
yellowish brown and grey chiefly towards the larger end. Capt. 
Hutton described eggs found on Little Barrier island as of a bluish- 
white colour, spotted with brownish grey and violet, the spots being 
closer together near the thick end of the egg! The egg measures 
nearly one inch four lines in length, with a breadth of eleven and 
a-half lines. 
(To be continued). 
REVIEW. 
Elementary Text-book of Zoology: General Part and Protozoa to In- 
secta. By Dr. C. Claus; translated and edited by Adam Sedg- 
wick, M.A., with the assistance of F. G. Heathcote, B.A. 
(London: W Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1884.) 
At last the English teacher of Zoology is provided with a text- 
book which he can safely recommend to his students as being at once 
elementary, well-arranged, and thoroughly scientific. Of the works 
hitherto at his disposal Gegenbaur’s “Elements ” dealt with Animal 
Morphology in so general a way that the reader must have a fair 
acquaintance with the facts of the science before he can properly 
benefit from its perusal. Professor Huxley’s two hand-books, always 
invaluable to the. teacher and to the advanced student, present the 
stores of knowledge contained in them in a form so concentrated as to 
be very difficult of assimilation to the beginner, who is likely to be fairly 
crushed under the weight of facts. Dr. Macalister’s two manuals, 
while forming valuable works of reference, are so thoroughly uninteres- 
ting and devoid of perspective, as to be quite unsuitable for putting 
into the hands of any one in whom it is desired to beget a love for the 
subject; finally, Professor Nicholson’s Text-book is one which no one 
who values accuracy in detail or scientific treatment would willingly - 
recommend. 
Now, thanks to Mr. Sedgwick, we are provided with a really 
satisfactory text-book. Some faults may perhaps be found with 
certain parts of the classification adopted and with one or two other 
comparatively trifling matters, but taking it altogether, we think no 
one will hesitate in calling the English “Claus” by far the best 
elementary work in the language; well-written, well-arranged, well- 
illustrated, well-printed, and well-indexed. 
The present volume includes the “General Part” and the first 
portion of the “ Special Part,” viz., from Protozoa to Insecta; the 
second volume, which we are glad to. see is promised shortly, will 
contain Mollusca, Molluscoida, Tunicata, and Vertebrata. 
The “ General Part” is on much the same lines as the masterly 
introductory chapter to Huxley’s /uvertebrata, but has the advantage 
of being fuller, occupying five chapters (179 pages) or about one-third 
of the volume. The first chapter deals with the differences between 
organized and unorganized substances, and the second with the 
differences between animals and plants. The third is a very impor- 
tant chapter, occupying more than 100 pages: it treats of such 
