Bibliographical Notices. 53 The chief alterations and amendments which appear in this edition of the ' Manual ' will be gathered from what has been already said, and from a study of the preceding analysis. It only remains for us to observe that there is no other work of the kind in which so great pains have been taken to bring the nomenclature of our English plants into conformity with that adopted on the Continent ; and it will be seen that not a few of the changes which appear hi the edi-tion now before us have been introduced with this aim. We must also remark that m no other English book can we find the same care bestowed on the discrimination of closely allied species and varieties ; and, whatever be thought of the respective value of the different forms, no one can doubt the importance of a careful and discrimi-nating study of varieties, inasmuch as it is only by this means that we can hope to attain to a more exact knowledge of species. It is by a careful and judicious attention to matters such as these that Professor Babington's * Manual* has become identified with the progress of British botany ; and we have no hesitation in saying that the present edition is in every respect calculated to sustain the high reputation in which its author is so deservedly held. British Conchology ; or^ an Account of the Mollusca which now inhabit the British Isles and the surrounding Seas. Volume I. La7id and Freshwater Shells. By John Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., F.G.S. &c. Nine years have elapsed since the publication of Forbes and Han-ley's 'History of British Mollusca' — a period brief indeed in the history of a science, but long enough to have added many species of Mollusca to our fauna, and of these no sufficient description has as yet been given. The elaborate treatise to which reference has just been made will probably remain for some time the chief illustrated work upon the subject. The high price, however, at which it was necessarily published unfortunately placed it beyond the reach of very many, who have thus been hitherto debarred from following up the study of British Conchology ; while its bulk has stood in the way of its utility, and the student has felt the want of a portable volume which should be his companion at the sea-side. The aim of the author whose Manual we are about to review is to supply this want, as well as to bring the history of the Mollusca up to our present state of knowledge, and no one has equal facihties for undertaking and satis-factorily performing the task. Possessed of an unrivalled and well-nigh perfect collection of British shells, and having, moreover, a first-rate conchological library, Mr. Jeffreys has those materials at his own command which previous writers have been compelled to glean from various sources, or search for through the cabinets of many widely scattered collectors. Moreover, he has had upwards of thirty years' close study of his subject, and is thus thoroughly master of it, as is evidenced in the easy flowing style which characterizes that portion of his work which is now before us. The volume is divided into two parts, — the first consisting of an
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