owned that most of his changes are improvements on it, and in 
conformity with the natural arrangement of beings. The labour, 
patience, and science shown by the author are deserving of the 
greatest praise. After having said all the good I think of this 
great work, I must also submit a few critical observations on it. 
Many of Dr. Grunther’s superior divisions are established only 
on anatomical characters, and I think this most objectionable, as 
it would exclude from the study of science all those who would 
not have at their entire disposition one of the large museums of 
Europe, and even the fortunate zoologists who are so situated 
can only, in comparatively few instances, sacrifice valuable 
specimens. I think that anatomical characters ought only to be 
used to confirm zoological ones. 
Dr. Grunther, in most cases, prefers describing the colours 
from the discoloured specimens he has at his disposition sooner 
than adopting the description of travellers who have seen the 
sorts alive, and in many cases have made drawings from speci- 
mens so taken. Ecr instance, PhraatocepJialus Semiliojpterus is 
described as a fish of obscure tinges, when he had my plate 
under his eyes, showing its beautiful colours, drawn from the 
living specimen. 
He changes the names, derived from Glreek or Latin, that he 
considers badly composed, and this I think useless, as it only 
increases synonymy unnecessarily. If men with the high literary 
acquirements of Lacepede and Cuvier have committed such mis- 
takes, no one can expect to be exempt from them, and as names 
without any meaning are just as good, if not better, than those 
which pretend to have one. If a name is not well made, it is 
more simple, I think, to consider it as having no meaning at all, 
than to introduce a new one into the nomenclature. 
Dr. Grunther divides the species admitted by his predecessors 
into two classes — those that he considers well characterized, and 
those that he regards as doubtful ; he only gives descriptions 
oi the first, which have almost all been seen by himself ; and as 
to the others, it is necessary to resort to the original works, as 
amongst them a very large proportion have just as good a right 
to be maintained as those he admits. He must be approved 
of for rejecting, till further examination, all sorts established 
on figures and drawings only. Lacepede was the first to 
