50 
MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 
racters of an animal, its distinction from vegetables 
and other natural bodies, and to explain the funda- 
mental principles of zoology. This introduction 
may be regarded as furnishing a synoptical view of 
all the author’s peculiar opinions on the origin and 
developemcnt of living beings, which are illustrated 
more in detail in separate works. The first five 
volumes are mitten entirely by Lamarck, but he 
was assisted in the part relating to insects by M. 
Latreille. A portion of the sixth volume and the 
whole of the seventh, were drawn up by his daughter 
from his notes and papers, his want of sight pre- 
venting him from undertaking that labour himself ; 
and that part of the sixth, which relates to the 
mytilacis , malliaces, pectinides, and ostraces, is 
written by M. Valenciennes. The first part was 
published in 1815, and the other parts appeared at 
intervals up to 1822, when the whole was com- 
pleted. Besides a luminous and comprehensive 
account of the general history of the different groups 
and genera, the principal species are cited and 
briefly characterized, with their synonymes, reference 
to figures, and localities. The enumeration of species 
sometimes includes all the known kinds, and is 
particularly copious and instructive in relation to 
sponges and shell-bearing mollusc®. The genera 
are established with much discrimination, and ju- 
diciously characterized by obvious properties, such 
as form, proportion, nature of the surface, and 
structure. The synonymy is unravelled with great 
care, and the descriptions, though necessarily often 
