REVIEWS. 
85 
that as it may, it is without doubt a piece of work novel in its kind and 
thoroughly well executed, and withal it is a work which cannot fail to make 
the space in the laboratory at South Kensington more sought after than ever. 
And what is the plan of this hook, it will he inquired P It is simply 
that which anyone who has gone through a little elementary course of 
training can readily master. It is constructed on a plan entirely sui generis, 
and it is intended to give the reader who works with it an accurate insight 
into Biology generally. Therefore it is, of course, a work which deals with 
both Vegetable and Animal life. It is divided into thirteen chapters, in each 
of which is discussed the following subjects, and the last section of each 
chapter is devoted to what is termed Laboratory work — i.e. to certain obser- 
vations and experiments tried upon the animal or plant under examination, 
in order to make out practically its structures and functions. The first of 
these is on Yeast, which is dealt with very fully and very practically ; and 
then follow the other subjects : Protococcus, Amoeba, Blood-globule, Bac- 
teria, Penicillium, Mucor, Stoneworts, the Bracken fern, the Bean- plant, the 
Bell-animalcule, the Hydra, the Fresh-water Mussel, the Fresh-water Cray- 
fish, the Lobster, and last, but by no means least, the Frog. Very naturally 
the author has dealt more fully with the amphibian than any other animal 
or plant, because it is the only vertebrate animal dealt with in the book, and 
it is universally abundant, and is so easily chloroformed and then “pithed,” so 
that pain is thus completely prevented. The preceding animals and plants 
occupy 151 pages of the book, while the frog takes up the remainder of the 
volume, minus three pages ; that is to say, 106 pages are devoted to its de- 
scriptive anatomy, which is minutely dealt with. In fact, there is an ela- 
borate account of the general anatomy of the frog, which is completely 
• dissected, including its brain, nerves, muscles, and vascular tissues. And 
further, the author treats not only of the structure of the animal so far as it 
may be followed by the naked eye, but he deals also most fully with its 
microscopic anatomy, and, in this instance as in all the others, makes the 
laboratory work follow the anatomical description. And both of these 
sections are dealt with as those familiar with Professor Huxley’s work 
can readily imagine for themselves. Whether it is the examination of 
the blood, or the preparation of the vascular system for dissection, or 
the method of cutting in order to expose the brain or the eye, or the best 
mode of going to work with a view to properly examine the epithelium, or, 
finally, the practical teaching in reference to the physiological properties of 
muscle and nerve, in all these we recognise at once the practical skill as well 
as the scientific knowledge of a master-mind. 
Throughout the other part of the book we observe the same thoroughly 
practised hand in the working of the several sections. This is what is so 
valuable to the student, as, for example, when there are given those 
hints as to the use of osmic acid solution in dealing with the Infusoria, the 
best mode of killing the hydra, the guarding the bristle with wax, the 
examination of the circulatory apparatus in the lobster, &c. &c., all of which 
point to the decidedly practical form of the work. We are glad to notice 
too that in speaking of magnifying powers he uses the definite expressions 
% or j or ^ of an inch objective, and that there are only one or two instances 
in which the foreign method of designation, such as No. 7 or 8, is employed. 
