382 Miscellaneous. a spiral ; it is the oblique or spiral type.... What characterise them all are not only the oblique relations of right and lefty but also the presence of one or more peculiar contractile bodies, the so-called contractile vesicles, and a diffuse digestive system^ He describes, in the ninth chapter, how the sinuses of the digestive cavity in certain Infusoria came to be described by Ehrenberg as saccules or pouches. In treating of the Mollusca, he agrees with Oken in regarding as the rudiment of a left valve, homologous with that of a Lamellibranch, the operculum of the operculated Gastero-pods. At the same time he makes no allusion to the absence of correspondence between these two organs in respect of the relative periods of their formation. The Articulata are briefly touched upon in the twelfth chapter. He there shows some good reason for the promotion of the Sipunculoids to the Worms. The Diptera are placed by him at the top of the branch, on account of the extreme concentration of their bodies and the versatility of their heads. It is questionable, however, whether this is their true position, not-withstanding these points in their organization, because the typical form of the Insecta proper seems upon the whole to be four-winged, from which the abortion of the posterior pair constitutes a marked deviation ; and it would be quite an exceptional circumstance were an abnormal group to constitute the highest of its class, to say no-thing of a branch. The division of the body into three groups of segments, and the versatility of the head, obtain to an equal extent in the Hymenoptera. Professor Agassiz's arguments in favour of the supremacy of the Lepidoptera are not yet shown to be fallacious; and though in some particulars their organization may seem to be inferior, in others (^. g. antennse) it is of a grade decidedly superior to that of the Diptera. The third part is devoted to the embryology of the five branches of the animal kingdom. Many other details are worthy of notice ; and, excepting some obtrusive claims to originality, and some personalities, the book is pleasantly written and well worth reading. MISCELLANEOUS. On the Organization of Cryptoprocta ferox. By MM. A. Milne-Edwards and A. Grandidier. Cryptoprocta ferox was completely unknown when in 1833 the English zoologist Bennett received a specimen of it, to which he called the attention of naturalists ; but this unique specimen was so young that it was impossible to ascertain its precise zoological affini-ties, the dental system having not yet acquired its definitive form. Bennett thought the species should be placed in the family Viverridse, close to the Paradoxuri, although he indicated some points of re-semblance to the Felidse. Blainville obtained a drawing of the skull of this young individual.
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