38 
REVIEWS. 
supply the craving we have alluded to; and some two years since, Messrs. 
E. Lankester and G. Busk, whose names are a guarantee for the ability of 
any similar undertaking, commenced to edit “ The Quarterly Journal of 
Microscopical Science;” a staff of writers were collected around them, among 
which, names of European celebrity will be recognised. A judicious 
arrangement was made with the council of that 'prying body—the Micro¬ 
scopical Society—by which it was made the organ for publishing their 
proceedings. A new impulse was given to the science of observation and 
the unsatisfied longings of many isolated students, while a periodical, 
Minerva-like, sprang into full vigour in an instant. Two yearly volumes of 
this journal are now before us, full of rich treasures for the thoughtful student. 
The works we have been previously glancing at, were the aids to the 
naturalist; here we have stored, in rich luxuriance, the fruit of his 
labour, and, as such, we cannot so summarily dismiss them. The volumes 
are divided into two sections, with separate titles, indices, and pagination. 
The first portion contains, properly speaking, the “Journal of Microscopical 
Science;” here the contents are both varied and interesting, presenting an 
agreeable record of what has been done by observers, both here and on the 
Continent; while, “ in order,” as the editors observe, u to gather up frag¬ 
ments of information, which, singly, might appear to be useless, but, 
together, are of great importance to science, a department has been opened 
for short notes, memoranda, and correspondence, to which they would 
especially invite the attention of their scientific friends, as they believe 
there are few possessors of a microscope who have not met with some 
stray fact, or facts, which, published in this way, may not lead to im¬ 
portant results. They hope, also, to relieve the graver or more scientific 
matter of the journal by lighter contributions, such as will be found useful 
to the beginner, not uninteresting to the advanced observer, and of interest, 
perhaps, to the general reader.” The reviews, which are contained in this 
portion of the journal, are most interesting; and we are glad to find among 
them a large proportion of Continental works of merit, which, without its 
aid, might have remained long unknown to the English public. To this 
first portion of the journal the naturalist is under especial obligations 
for the careful manner in which the memoirs are written; these we 
need not specify in detail, a reference to the pages of our present and past 
numbers, when treating of the serial literature of each three months, show 
how much aid the naturalist has received from this journal. 
The second portion into which the journal is divided contains an autho¬ 
rized report of the transactions of the Microscopical Society of London. 
Here we naturally look for papers of a higher tone, and expect to find 
