320 Bibliographical Notices. 
Malacologia Monensis : a Catalogue of the Mollusca inhabiting the Isle 
of Man and the neighbouring Sea. By Edward Forbes, For. Sec. 
B.S. &c Edin. 1838. Duod. pp. 63, with three plates. 
We are partial to books of this description, which, although requi- 
ring no high attainments on the part of their authors, and productive 
of little fame and no money, are essential towards the completion of 
a British Fauna, and are very acceptable to that class of men who 
find their "hobby" in the quiet pursuit of collecting objects of na- 
tural history, — men whose pleasure it is to discover species hitherto 
unknown, and who accustom themselves to see 
" Form in things which to the eye 
Half-read is but deformity ; — 
Grandeur in mean things and small, 
And God's great handiwork in all ! " 
To such this will be an acceptable volume, containing as it does a 
copious list of species found in a little island, of the conchology of 
which little is to be learned in works of more pretension and greater 
extent. A few more notices illustrative of habit in the creatures, 
and an occasional note relative to anything remarkable in the habitat, 
would have been agreeable, and would have served to keep the reader 
lingering a little over pages which are essentially a catalogue, and ex- 
hibit scarcely more than a list of species. We would strongly im- 
press on the attention of local Faunists the extrinsic aids and orna- 
ments by which they might render their "opuscula subseciva" some- 
what more extensively interesting and attractive. 
As we glance over the pages, we remark that Doris Flemingii, as 
D. nigricans of Fleming is here called, is no other than D. pilosa, 
confirming a conjecture offered at p. 55 of the ' Annals.' The Me- 
libcea fragilis of Mr. Forbes, rather ambiguously characterized, is M. 
coronata of the 'Annals,' p. 117. Eubranchus, a new genus among 
the Nudibranchia, is thus defined : 
Corpore ovato, convexiusculo ; tentaculis quatuor; oculis nullis; dorso 
branchiis ovatis instructo : 
and the only species, E. tricolor, 
Corpore albo-cameo ; branchiis pyriformo-ovatis tricoloribus. Long. + 
un. Lat. \. 
The genus is referred, erroneously in our opinion, to the family Glau- 
cea : it rather belongs to an aberrant group, not yet defined, and to 
which Triopa likewise appertains. In many ensuing pages there is 
nothing to detain us until we reach the " Naticida," which Mr. F. 
has attentively studied, and his remarks on the species will interest 
Bibliographical Notices. 321 
the conchologist. Under Lima and Area there are remarks equally- 
attractive ; and lastly, we find the author of opinion that the Unio 
Roissyi is merely one of the variations of U. margaritifera. 
This brochure is a specimen of a more extensive work which we 
hope the author will prosecute and complete : we must bargain, how- 
ever, for better plates. 
Archiv fur Naturgeschichte. In Verbindung mit mehreren Gelehrten, 
herausgegeben von Dr. Ar. Fr. Aug. Wiegmann, Professor an der 
Friederich Wilhelms-Universitat zu Berlin. Viertes Jahrgang. 
Erstes Heft. Berlin, 1838. 
As this is the first occasion of mentioning this journal in our pages, 
we shall take the opportunity, before noticing the contents of the 
present part, to inform our readers of the general tenor of this work. 
Its plan resembles our own except in one point, namely, in the an- 
nual Reports on the progress of the various branches of natural sci- 
ence which it contains, and which are of the greatest value to all 
naturalists. The zoologist finds notices of all the works which have 
appeared in any couritry on zoology, with short criticisms ; also every 
new species, and generally with the characters, giving him much of 
the information which is most essential. The lover of vegetable phy- 
siology will find in the valuable reports of Prof. Meyen the various 
labours of physiologists, and the conclusions to which they have 
come, criticized and compared with each other ; so that without the 
necessity of consulting works, many of which are extremely expen- 
sive, he may be sufficiently informed with regard to the objects of 
his pursuit to know generally what has been done, and not to ima- 
gine he is making discoveries merely because he is unacquainted with 
what others have accomplished ; whilst in regard to those subjects on 
which further information may be desired, the sources from whence 
it may be obtained are carefully indicated. We cannot too much re- 
commend these reports to our countrymen, as the labours of foreign 
naturalists are from various causes too tardily and imperfectly known 
here ; and as they are the productions of persons well known to the 
scientific world as being well qualified for the task of preparing them. 
The zoological report is drawn up by Prof. Wiegmann ; that on 
helminthology by Dr. v. Siebold ; on entomology by Dr. Erichson ; 
on palaeontology (Petrefactenkunde) by Dr. Quenstedt ; on vegetable 
physiology by Prof. Meyen ; on phytochemistry by M. Marquart of 
Bonn. Of these, Meyen's report for the year 1836 has been trans- 
lated in part, and Marquart's on phytochemistry for 1835 entirely, 
and are to be found in the Philosophical Magazine. On account of 
Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol.1. No. 4. June 1838. y