given; the supplements to the different orders embody all that is known of the genera and species, and the engravings, which are admirable both in their spirit and truth, are taken from rare specimens, and executed with much richness and freedom. They are also selected with great judgment: to have chosen those that are known to all, would have been of comparatively little value, as all that the student who found the living specimens in their native haunts could have done, would have been to criticize and compare; but by giving those chiefly which are rare and foreign, and comparing the figures with the descriptions, the student will be enabled, from the descriptions alone, to distinguish the native species whenever he meets with them. This is the most successful way of instruction, because, while it gives the lesson, it hides the schoolmaster. If we were to give a short opinion of it, it would be, that the book and the subject were equally delightful. Take the description of the manners of that most interesting bird, the Wood Grouse, which, though now unfortunately lost to the Ornithology of this country, still abounds in the extreme north of the continent, and of Asia; it is part of the appendage to the order Gallinæ, and a fair, but not flattering specimen of the work.”—Literary Gazette. "The Editors of this superior performance-certainly the best of the kind now in course of publication, beyond all comparison-prosecute their labours with unhalting diligence. The present fasciculus completes the Order of the Gallinæ, and embraces, besides, nearly the whole of the Grallæ, or Wading Birds. Of the Gallina, the most extended account is naturally that of the domestic cock and hen-so much better known as they are-in the course of which the very curious process of Egyptian mechanical hatching is minutely described, as is also another matter equally curious, the mode of converting the capon into a nurse, according to Reaumur's suggestions, to accomplish the same purpose without the cruelty previously practised. The change in the self-bearing of the bird, on his becoming again of importance, though not according to his original instinct, is worth attention. ""Instead of being melancholy, abased, and humiliated, he assumes a bold, lofty, and triumphant air; and such is the influence of audacity over all animals, that this borrowed courage completely imposes on the cocks and hens, and prevents them from disturbing him in the fulfilment of his charge. At first he is a little awkward in the exercise of his office. His ambition of imitating, in his gait, the majesty and dignity of the cock, makes him carry his head too stiff, and prevents him from seeing the chickens, which he sometimes thus inadvertently tramples under foot. But experience soon teaches him to avoid such mishaps, and accidents of the same kind do not occur again. As his voice is not so expressive as that of the hen, to engage the chickens to follow and assemble near him, this deficiency has been supplied by attaching a little bell to his neck. When he is once instructed to conduct chickens in this way, he always remains capable of doing it; or, at all events, it is very easy to bring him back to the habit of it when required, &c. The capon has also been taught to hatch eggs-every thing, indeed, except to lay them.' "The plates are excellent, and on a good scale.”—Monthly Magazine. CUVIER'S ANIMAL KINGDOM. 5 THE CLASS REPTILIA, Complete in Three Parts, FORMING ONE VOLUME, WITH SIXTY ENGRAVINGS, Demy 8vo. £1. 16s.; royal 8vo. £2. 14s.; royal 8vo. coloured, £3. 12s. ; demy 4to. India proofs, £3. 12s. "We have more than once noticed this work in its progress towards completion, and bestowed our meed of praise on its conductors, for the judicious manner in which they have blended interesting illustrations of the habits and nature of animals with the scientific system of Cuvier. Like all other sciences, zoology has its own peculiar phraseology; which to the general reader presents nothing but a dry catalogue of hard names, while to the student of the science it furnishes the only means for systematising knowledge and classifying observations. The great advance which has been made in the study of natural history within the last few years, has been owing rather to the accuracy than to the extent of the information acquired by modern travellers; when once the distinctive marks of the different classes and orders have been determined, the chances of mistake are infinitely diminished; we no longer meet with statements of anomalies and exceptions, but find that amid all variations and diversities there is a beautiful harmony in nature; that there are invariable laws for the animate as well as the inanimate creation; and that though within certain limits, there is room for many diversities, yet that those limits are never overpassed. The study of animated nature, always delightful, has thus acquired a new charm; for, in addition to its inherent interest, it has obtained at once the certainty and simplicity which constitute so great a portion of the pleasure derived from the study of the physical sciences. In man, nature has displayed the powers of the brain and the nervous system; to beasts she has given muscular energy; to the winged tribes of air she has presented a powerful pulmonary apparatus; and to the reptile kingdom she has assigned superior muscular contractility—whose results are ever the source of wonder and surprise. Each portion of zoological science has thus attractions peculiarly its own: in the mammalia we admire the display of strength and muscular exertion, while we trace the grades of docility and intelligence which find their consummation in man: the varied plumage and the rich harmony of the birds irresistibly arrest our attention; but in the reptiles we have to wonder at the amazing diversity of their forms, their wondrous tenacity of life, and, above all, their power of reproducing parts whose loss in other animals would be the certain termination of existence. It may well excite our astonishment, that there should be a common law of life to the alligator, the great terror of Southern America, and the harmless earthworm that we turn up in our fields; but it is no less true; and different as they are in outward form, it will be found that this general law produces a multitude of particular conformations. The structure and frame of the different classes of animals ever determine the laws of their existence; and when the anatomist has discovered the relative power and deficiency of the several organs, the history of the animal's life is known. The organic conformation which distinguishes the reptile tribes, is clearly shown in the work before us. "The present Number contains the order Chelonia (tortoises), and part of the Sauria (lizards and crocodiles). The former division is enlivened by a very interesting account of the establishments for breeding turtle, in the West Indies; but we cannot understand why the writer should suppose that such depôts will lead to the destruction of these animals. Though civic banquets may at present consume more than can be reared in the turtle-grounds, and consequently cause these establishments to be rather feeding-stores than breeding-places, the opportunities they afford of closely observing the animal's habits and economy, must eventually lead to the formation of a good system for their regular production, and thus ensure the continued glory of civic dinners, and the luxurious gratification of gourmands.”—Literary Gazette. "This is part of a great work on Natural History, which we have long had in contemplation to notice as its interest and importance deserves; but a constant recurrence of more temporary matter has prevented, and must still prevent us from fulfilling our wish for the present. In the meantime we may state, that this work of the illustrious Cuvier is commensurate in extent and value with the great reputation which its author enjoys throughout civilised Europe, and that it offers, for the first time, a completely intelligible, satisfactory, and available system of zoological knowledge-a system that even the splendid labours of Blumenbach and Linnæus left still a desideratum. The distinctive difference between the arrangement of Linnæus and that of Cuvier is well explained in the following passage, from the Introduction to the English edition of his work :— ""The first leading distinction between our author and Linnæus is in the grand division of the animal world. These the Baron makes to rest on the nervous and sensorial, not on the circulatory and respiratory systems. From a profound study of the physiology of the natural classes of vertebrated animals, he discovered, in the respective quantity of respiration, the reason of the quantity or degree of motion, and consequently, the peculiar nature of that motion. This last gives rise to the peculiar form of their skeletons and muscles; and, with it, the energy of their sensations, and the force of their digestion, are in a necessary relation. Thus, zoological arrangement, which had hitherto rested on observation alone, assumed in the hands of our illustrious author, for the first time, a truly scientific form. Calling in the aid of comparative anatomy, it involves propositions applicable to new cases; it becomes a means of discovery, as well as a register of facts; and, by correct reasoning, founded on copious induction, it partakes of the demonstration of mathematics, and the certainty of experimental knowledge; in short, it becomes what it never was before,-a science.' "The present number (the 25th) forms Part I. of the class Reptilia, which it is proposed to complete in three parts. It contains seventeen plates, several of which are executed with much skill and spirit; and the work is got up altogether in a manner highly creditable to the state of the arts and of the scientific literature among us in the present day; and, that it has already reached five-andtwenty twelve shilling numbers, is no less creditable to the spirit of encourage. ment which works of this nature receive among us, when prepared in a manner answerable to their interest and importance."-Court Journal. "This class of the animal creation (Reptilia) is well worthy of notice, inasmuch as many of the subjects it includes are rarely seen in Europe. The first order is Chelonia, in which the Tortoise and Turtle are included. The second The order, Sauria, includes the Crocodile, Alligator, and Lizard species. descriptions are clear and explicit, and the work well supports its previous popularity, not falling off in the slightest degree from the early numbers. It is a most excellent book for youth, to whom the study of Natural History is indispensable."-New Monthly Magazine, Sept. 1830. Price, demy 8vo. £4. 4s.; royal 8vo. £6. 6s.; royal 8vo. coloured, £8. 8s.; demy 4to. £8. 8s. "Nothing can be more complete than the method with which Mr. GRIFFITH treats every subject which he touches. He follows his illustrious guide with the feelings of an enthusiast, and yet with the patience of a philosopher, through the various orders of insects which form the subject of his elaborate and masterly treatise. We have only glanced at those topics which appeared to us to possess some novelty; but we should be doing great injustice to Mr. GRIFFITH'S labours, if we did not add, that we have occasionally found our attention fixed much more eagerly upon his supplemental observations, than upon the minute, often dry, and technical observations of Cuvier."-Monthly Review, July, 1832. "Their task has been performed in the most praiseworthy manner in the volumes before us; the translations are generally correct, and neither labour nor expense seems to have been spared in the literary and pictorial illustrations." -Dublin University Magazine, No. III. THE CLASSES ANNELIDA, CRUSTACEA, AND ARACHNIDA. IN ONE VOLUME, WITH 60 ENGRAVINGS, Demy 8vo. £1. 16s.; royal 8vo. £2. 14s.; royal 8vo. coloured, £3. 12s.; demy 4to. India proofs, £3. 12s. THE CLASSES MOLLUSCA AND RADIATA, IN ONE VOLUME, WITH 64 ENGRAVINGS, Demy 8vo. £1. 16s.; royal 8vo. £2. 14s.; royal 8vo. coloured, £3. 12s. ; THE CLASS PISCES, IN ONE VOLUME, WITH 60 ENGRAVINGS, Demy 8vo. £1. 16s.; royal 8vo. £2. 14s.; royal 8vo. coloured, £3. 12s.; The Work is so arranged, for the convenience of those who may confine The engraved Illustrations of this Work are in a superior style of execution A SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME ON THE FOSSIL REMAINS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. THE CLASSIFIED INDEX TO THE WHOLE WORK. In demy 8vo. 12s.; royal 8vo. 18s.; demy 4to. 24s. Printed by J. Rider, Little Britain, London. |