( 



Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge. 301 



spire to establish the truth in the minds of that large and re- 

 spectable class of individuals, who combine both these characters 

 in one.' 



" In the present state of geological knowledge, it is impossible 

 to read the passages I have cited, without animadverting upon 

 the extraordinary delusion they betray. Much as we agree with 

 the professor in his reverence for the scriptures, w^e have long 

 come to the opinion, on this side of the water, that it is the ham- 

 mer and not the bible we are to take up when we would enter 

 upon the study of geology ; besides, all Europe is now on the side' 

 of the igneous origin of the inferior rocks, and nothing can be 

 more superfluous than such an extravagant chemico-aqueous 

 abyss. 



" I make these strictures with reluctance ; the acknowledged 

 friend to science they concern, must break through the web he is 

 weaving around himself and others, if he would not obscure his 

 reputation by indulging in empiricisms unworthy of the age." 



ON THE CAUSES WHICH RETARD THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 ZOOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 



Critical JSTotice of " Synopsis JReptilium, or Short Description of the Species 

 of Reptiles. — By John Edward Gray, F. R. S. F. G. S. &c.—Part 1. — 

 CataiPHBacta. London, 1831." 



The higher branches of mathematics, politics, and metaphy- 

 sics, for many years occupied the vigorous intellect of the British 

 nation, whilst natural science was comparatively neglected. — 

 For some time, however, its various branches have excited great 

 interest, and their importance is now duly appreciated and ac- 

 knowledged, in many departments vying with the most forward 

 nations, and in Geology, absolutely taking the lead. 



In the work before us we have a very neatly printed octavo 

 of eighty pages, constituting one, of the many attempts of English 

 naturalists to classify and arrange a very interesting department 

 of zoology; but one which has been characterized by great 

 confusion, and which yet requires much labour and research to 

 make the system complete. To us it appears that the great 

 fault of most of the writers on zoological nomenclature since the 

 days of Linnaeus, consists in a laboured effort at a display of 



