REVIEWS. 
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extemporise a stomach, by, as it were, pushing their food into the substance 
of their bodies. We were not aware either, that all plants exhaled 
oxygen, or that all animals gave off carbonic acid ; but it is well even in 
1867 to have these hitherto debateable points clearly established. We must, 
however, raise our voice against the classification which places the Desmidice 
and Infusoria together as the lowest forms of animal life, and which ranges 
the former under the sub -kingdom Protozoa. 
Passing to another branch of the subject we find the Teredo described as 
“ a worm which enters wood in salt water, and there expands until it has 
attained the size of a finger.” It is true that this information is given 
under the head of Boring-worm, but then as the paragraph contains no 
allusion to the Mollusca, and as the definition of the Teredo in another 
volume is never referred to, the casual reader of course carries away the 
valuable instruction that the Teredo is an annulose creature — a very common 
mistake, and one which a dictionary like Dr. Brande’s should lose no 
opportunity of correcting. The cirripeds are defined to be “ a class of fixed 
homogangliate animals,” &c. Now what is the knowledge thus conveyed P the 
term homogangliate is seldom used now-a-days, and very few people under- 
stand that it refers to a symmetrical nervous system ; but even assuming this 
knowledge on their part, how erroneous an idea is conveyed of the history 
of the Cirripedia, by the statement that they are fixed animals. It is idle to 
say in excuse that in other paragraphs the fact is conveyed that in their early 
life these creatures are free. The definitions should have been carefully 
framed, and not given piece-meal, as disjecta membra , scattered over the 
3,000 pages of three large volumes. The ' Ciliograda — a bad term, we admit — is 
certainly not properly said to be a 11 tribe of Acalephans.” By the term Acalephce 
the reader understands the functionally independent reproductive bodies of 
certain of the Hydrozoa, whereas if we mistake not, researches, not of a very 
recent character either, have determined the affinities of the Beroe and a Cy- 
dippe to be with the Actinozoa. On the same page on which this paragraph 
appears we notice one termed ciliary , in which to our utter astonishment we 
see no allusion whatever to the muscle of the name ; the old word ligament 
is used, and its attachments are very incorrectly and imperfectly given. 
Why, we would ask also, is the class JEchinodermata said to be a class of Radiate 
animals ? Surely enough has been written upon the structure and develop- 
ment of these interesting animals to show that they should be removed 
from the Hydra and Actinia, with which they have no more structure in 
common than a man has with cuttle fish ! Numerous similar examples of 
what we have alleged could be pointed out, but the few above given are 
sufficient, ex uno disce omnes. The orthography, too, is frequently very defec- 
tive, and shows carelessness on the part of the scientific 11 reader ;” of this 
we have instances, such as saccode for sarcode, Zapadidse for Lepadidce , Pali- 
nunus for Palinurus. 
As to the manner in which microscopy has been dealt with, we can only 
say that little or no attention has been given to the subject. There is an 
article of about two or three pages upon the general principles of the 
microscope, but it is obvious that the subject could not have been properly 
treated in so short a space. 
Elsewhere, we find one or two references to pieces of microscopic 
