186 
REVIEWS. 
EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE.* 
A NEW edition of an old and excellent work has made its appearance. 
What shall we say of it P That it is a most admirable hook cannot 
for a moment he denied, and that it is written by one who is no mere 
compiler, hut is himself a thorough and complete master of his subject, are 
unquestionable facts. But still we have fault to find. We do not think that 
the author gave himself very much pains in his production of the new 
edition. And we say this because we do not find that much new matter has 
been added to the old one. We do not say that the old matter is not 
full of interest and valuable from a histological point of view, hut we cer- 
tainly should have expected a greater proportion of absolutely new matter 
in an issue of a work which first made its appearance fifteen years ago. We 
think that Mr. Gosse would have done infinitely better had he given the 
book to some experienced microscopist to bring out the new edition. 
However, as it is, the volume is an excellent one ; in point of style it is 
wondrously clear, even to a reader who has no knowledge of science ; for the 
author, having a thorough acquaintance with the subject, has been careful to 
avoid the introduction of technicalities, and has withal avoided the employ- 
ment of that “free-and-easy” method which is too often used by the would-be 
popular author. With regard to illustration, we think Mr. Gosse is somewhat 
to blame for not introducing a greater number of cuts. The entire number is 
about 114 in all j there are no plates, and moreover the cuts, so far as we have 
seen, are badly worked, and reflect very little credit on the printer. It is 
when we come to compare the book for a moment, merely as to illustrations, 
with Dr. Carpenter’s that we see how sadly deficient it is in this respect. 
Carpenter’s has over 400 woodcuts interspersed with the text, and admirably 
“ worked ; ” besides, it possesses no less than twenty-five exquisite plates. If 
we leave aside these objectionable features in the new edition of Mr. Gosse’s 
book, we have much indeed to please us. For assuredly there are few more 
interesting studies than the microscopic structure of the various animals and 
their processes in the Invertebrate sub-kingdom ; and there are few subjects 
of general interest in the wide range that extends from the sponge and 
other protozoa to the insect and the crab, that have not found a place in this 
* “ Evenings at the Microscope ; or, Researches among the Minute Organs 
and Forms of Animal Life.” By Philip H. Gosse, F.R.S. A New Edition. 
London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1874. 
