90 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
very considerable space ; and we certainly are not ourselves possessed of 
any cavity within our garments, sufficiently capacious to contain his 
treatise. The illustrations, which are exceedingly numerous, will he 
admired by every one who reads the volume ; but since they are almost 
unexceptionally thos# which long since appeared in the works of another 
author, we can hardly award much praise to Mr. Pennel on that score. 
As regards the typography and general finish of the volume, we need only 
say that it has been sent out in that garb which characterizes all Mr. Van 
Voorst’s books. 
The text is divided into two portions, the earlier pages being confined to 
an outline of the principles of ichthyology, whilst the remainder of the 
volume is devoted to descriptions of the habits and zoological characters of 
our native fresh- water fish. We do not think that the author has been 
very felicitous in his endeavours to give a popular delineation of the organ- 
ization of fishes, as even in the outset we detect a very decided error in his 
definition of the class. In defining the group he says, “Fishes are ovipa- 
rous vertebrata with a double circulation , and respiring through the medium 
of water.” It is hard to believe that Mr. Pennel comprehended the 
meaning of his own definition ; for a double circulation is one of the 
characters which fishes have not, and which reptiles, birds, and mammals 
possess in common. Again, the author is decidedly wrong when he asserts 
that fishes respire atmospheric air by the gills. The habit which fish, in 
impure water, exhibit of coming to the surface and taking in air by the 
mouth has been often explained. It has been found that the air thus taken 
in is swallowed, and instead of passing through the gills is transmitted to 
the stomach. In the taxological portion of the work we are treated to the 
natural history of British fresh- water fish, and this is certainly the more 
correct and interesting division of Mr. Pennel’s book. For although 
the materials are drawn to a great extent from the excellent standard 
“History” of the late Mr. Yarrel, yet there are many new facts intro- 
duced, and the descriptions abound in anecdotes of an amusing and 
instructive character. The chapter on the salmon family, if we exclude 
the allusion to the insect nature of the Lernea, and that on the Cyprinidse 
or carps, will prove acceptable to the general reader. 
THE ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND* 
I T cannot be denied that there is a strong prejudice in this country 
against everything in the shape of fungi ; and when it is considered 
that our shipping, our potatoes, and even our wheat crops often fall 
victims to these lowly organized growths, the prejudice appears to have a 
* “ A Treatise on the Esculent Funguses of England.” Containing an 
Account of their Classical History, Uses, Characters, Development, Struc- 
ture, Nutritious Properties, Modes of Cooking and Preserving, &c. By 
Charles D. Badham, M.D. Edited by F. Currey, M.A., F.R.Si 
London: Lovell Reeve. 1863. New Edition. 
