Notices of Books. 
[January, 
An Introductory Text-book of Zoology , for the Use of Junior 
Classes. By H. Alleyne Nicholson. Second Edition. 
Edinburgh and London : W. Blackwood and Sons. 
A Work which, in thecompass of some two hundred pages, under- 
takes to give a general survey of the whole animal kingdom 
cannot be expeCted to enter into details. But this limited amount 
of space has been very judiciously utilised. The author, we are 
happy to find, devotes more attention to the “ invertebrate 
animals than has usually been the case in introductory works 
on zoology.” He very justly remarks that “the vertebrate 
animals are of no greater zoological value or interest than any 
other of the primary divisions of the animal kingdom,” and adds 
the very important consideration that “ any practical work under- 
taken by beginners in zoology will almost certainly lie in the 
department of the Invertebrata,” a department, we must never 
forget, which embraces by far the majority of animal species, 
which presents the greater amount of unsolved questions, and 
which includes our most formidable enemies. 
There are in the work certain traces of Cuvierian inspiration. 
Man is still placed by himself in the order “ Bimana,” though 
the author admits that the “ purely anatomical distinctions be- 
tween man and the other Mammals are by no means so striking 
as might have been anticipated.” From a consideration of this 
passage, and of another in the introduction, it would seem that 
Dr. Nicholson upholds the doCtrine of a marked distinction 
between man and the rest of the animal creation. 
Another Cuvierian feature is that in a general arrangement in 
which man comes last, the Mollusca are placed before the Annu- 
losa. Within the class InseCta, also, the Coleoptera follow after 
the “ order,” which includes our marvellous “ six-legged rivals.” 
In the Introduction, the stability of inorganic substances and the 
instability of organic matter are, in our opinion, somewhat too 
strongly insisted on. Dead organic matter, if preserved from the 
attacks of certain minute living beings, is far less destructible 
than might at first sight appear. The comparison of the living 
body to a machine is not free from dangers, and may easily mis- 
lead the student. 
Still, notwithstanding these points and certain others on which 
issue might undoubtedly be joined, the work is one which, 
supplemented by judicious oral instruction, will be of great value 
to junior students. The faCt of its appearance is, we think, a 
hopeful indication that the Natural Sciences are becoming more 
widely recognised as an essential part of a sound education, and 
are being taught upon sounder principles. From the abridg- 
ments of Goldsmith and the distortions of Buffon, which “ con- 
sule Planco ” were put in the heads of boys who showed a taste 
for Natural History, to a manual like the present is indeed a 
satisfactory change. 
