gosse’ s omphalos. 
55 
The Archencephala include one order, Bimana, and but one genus, 
Homo, worthy of this high position both by reason of zoological and 
physical distinctions. 
Such is the simple and comprehensive system adopted by Professor 
Owen. The general result of his arrangement may be seen upon inspec¬ 
tion of the accompanying Table.. 
Class— MAMMALIA. 
Sub-class. Order. 
Archencephala,.Bimana. 
Quadrumana. 
Carnivora. 
Artiodactyla. 
Perissodactyla. 
Proboscidia. 
Toxodontia. 
Sirenia. 
Cetacea. 
Bruta. 
Cheiroptera. 
Insectivora. 
Bodentia. 
Marsupialia. 
Monotremata. 
Omphalos—Ah Attempt to TJhtie the Geological Knot. By Philip 
Henry Gosse, P. B,. S. London: Yan Voorst. 1857. 
We have no hesitation in pronouncing this book to be the most impor¬ 
tant and best written that has yet appeared on the very interesting 
question with which it deals. "We believe the logic of the book to be 
unanswerable, its postulates true, its laws fairly deduced, and the whole, 
considered as a play of metaphysical subtlety, absolutely complete; and 
yet we venture to predict that its conclusions will not be accepted as 
probable by one in ten thousand readers. 
In reading “ Omphalos,” we have frequently been reminded of two 
works, very different from it and from each other: we mean Bishop 
Berkeley’s “Dialogues,” and Pontenelle’s “ Plurality des Mondes.” We 
pay Mr. Gosse the highest compliment in our power by comparing his 
work to those of such accomplished writers, but we are certain that he 
will not agree with us in thinking that the felt unreality of his book is 
one of the principal charms in common. The admirable manner in which 
Berkeley draws his reader on, step by step, until at length he compels 
him, to his astonishment, to deny the existence of an external world, 
finds a parellel in the process by which Mr. Gosse leads his readers to the 
conclusion that the fossils and other proofs of past duration, imbedded 
in the crust of the globe, are prochronic and not historic; that they 
Gyrencephala,.< 
Lissencephala,.• < 
Lyencephala,. 
