The sea-side book; being an introduction to the natural history of the British coasts

Front matter

THE

SEA-SIDE BOOK.

" Oh, what an endlesse worke have I in hand.

Chap. I. — Introductory .... 1 „ II. — The World Of Waters . . 21

„ III. — THE SANDS AND THEIR PRODUCTIONS . 53

„ IV. — THE ROCKY SEA-SHORE; SEA-WEEDS . 84

„ V. — THE ROCKY SEA-SHORE; MARINE ANIMALS . Ill „ VI.— DREDGING . . . . .148

„ VII.— THE MICROSCOPIC WONDERS OP THE SEA . 202

„ VIII.— ON FISH AND FISH DIET ... 237

„ IX. — SEA-SIDE PLANTS, BIRDS, DRIFTWOOD, &c. . 270

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

" LONDON BRIDGE" ROCK AT TORQUAY . . .On Title Page.

ORATORY OF ST. PIRAN IN TUB SANDS ..... 1

SOUNDING IN 2677 FATHOMS ....... 21

DIAGRAM TO EXPLAIN TEMPERATURE ...... 36

FIVE DIAGRAMS TO EXPLAIN TlDES AND CURRENTS . 43, 44, & 45

CHART, WITH COTIDAL LINES 49

SHRIMP AND PRAWN CATCHERS 53

DUNLIN SANDPIPERS ......... 55

BUCCINUM UNDATUM AND NEST ....... 64

PURPURA LAPILLUS AND EGGS 65

NATICA MONILIFERA 65

FLUSTRA FOLIACEA 76

ALCTONIUM DIGITATUM ........ 79

TOR-ABBEY ROCKS AND HEADLAND, WITH BERRY-HEAD IN THE

ROOT OF LAMINARIA 85

ULVA CRISPA 92

CODIUM TOMENTOSUM ......... 92

BRTOPSIS PLUMOSA ......... 93

CLADOPHORA HUTCHINSLE 94

PADINA PAVONIA 102

GRIFFITHSIA CORALLINA ........ J04

POLYSIPHONIA PARASITICA ........ 105

CORALLINA OFFICINALIS 108

ACTINIA BELLIS 110

ACTINIA, OR SEA- ANEMONES HI

EGG OF SPONGE ......... us

CORYNE PUSILLA AND MAGNIFIED PORTION ..... H9

SERTULARIA FILICULA AND MAGNIFIED PORTION .... 121

PLUMULARIA CRISTATA AND MAGNIFIED VESICLE .... 122

CARYOPHYLLEA SMITHII 125

LUCERNARIA AURICULA ........ 126

VARIOUS SPECIES OF LEPRALI.&, MAGNIFIED .... 128

APPENDAGE OF CELLULARIA 129

BOTRYLLUS 131

SHELL FROM LYCIA, E. F 135

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PHOLAS CANDIDA Page 136

LIMPET'S TONQUB 138

AKGULA CRISTATA 140

CHITON MARGINATUS AND PASOicuLAais 141

NASSA RETICULATA ......... 144

DREDGING 148

NATURALIST'S DREDOE 149

DR. BALL'S IMPROVED DREDGE 151

DRAG 152

TOWING NET 154

NULLIPORES 155

PLANARIA VITTATA 157

SERPDLA 162

PENTACRINUS EUSOPEUS 168

PEDICELLARLE 178

THYONE PAPILLOSA . . . . . . . . .183

VlRGULARIA MIRABILI8 . . . . . . . .186

ZOEA OP THE CRAB 199

ICEBERG, WITH SEASCAPE 202

ISTHMIA OBLIQUATA ......... 205

LlCMOPHORA FLABELLATA ........ 206

LAGEN2E 214

BEROE 223

VELELLA 225

MEDUSA BUDS IN VARIOUS STAGES 229

YOUNG OF MEDUSA FORMING 231

SALPA RUNCINATA, IN ITS FREE AND ASSOCIATED STATES . . 233

MARINE FISHES 237

SCALE OF GREY MULLET 238

TRAWL NET . . . . • 241

SEAN 253

PART OF TRAMMEL 255

KEER-DRAG 257

HORNED POPPY . . 272

SALICORNIA HERBACEA ........ 275

GLAUX" MARITIMA ...... . 276

STORM PETREL .'.'.'. 298

PENTELASMIS ANATIFERA ...... . 299

YOUNG ClRRHIPODE, MAGNIFIED . 301

LlMNORIA TEREBRANS ..... . 304

CHELURA TEREBRANS .... . 304

MARINE GRAPES ....'. ' 306

For a more detailed History of the Subjects comprised in this Volume the Reader is referred to the following Works :—

MK. YARRELL'S History of British Birds, and his History of British. Fishes. — PROFESSOR BELL'S History of British Crustacea.— PROFESSOR EDWARD FORBES" History of British Starfishes, ^r.— PROFESSOR E. FORBES AND MR. HANLEY'S British Mollusca—D*. JOHNSTON'S History of British Zoophytes, and his History of British Sponges, fro. — MESSRS. ALDER AND HANCOCK'S Nudibranchiate Mollusca. — PROFESSOR HARVEY'S Phycologia, Britannica, or his Manual of British Marine dlga. — PROFESSOR ANSTED'S Geology.— PROFESSOR RYMER JONES' General Outline of the Animal Kingdom, and his Natural History of Animals.— SIR JOHN G. DALYELL'S Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, and his Powers of the Creator displayed in the Creation.

Chapter I. Introductory

IT is scarcely more than a century since the several sciences to which we apply the general name of Natural History, began to rouse themselves from a sleep into which they had fallen nearly two thousand years before. The middle ages of Natural History are peculiarly the dark ages, and the darkness was dense as it was long. Throughout this long period observers were scarce ; theorisers and commentators, critics of subjects which they could not comprehend, were numerous ; and the body of naturalists occupied themselves in specious dreams. Here and there, like the flashes which cheer the darkness of the polar winter, noble minds rose above their

B

2 FANCIFUL SYSTEMS.

fellows to declare the truths which they had observed or discovered ; but such lights were rare, and soon put aside — they could not be extinguished — by the race over which a busy dulness reigned supreme.

The writers of the middle ages had built up in their own minds a perfect system, as it was supposed ; and this they imagined to be the system of the universe. Instead, therefore, of seeking out, by patient observation, the facts of Nature, and reasoning upon them, they employed themselves in cutting down to their own notions of propriety every fact which seemed to contradict what the schoolmen considered a law of Nature. A glaring instance of such prejudiced explanation is found in the theories gravely put forward by learned men to explain the existence of organic fossils. Marine petrifactions — fishes, shells, corals — were found imbedded in rocks, or in the soil, in places far removed from the existing sea, and at a considerable height above its level, — in the upland country, and even on the tops of mountains. The wise men of those days (so late as the year 1680) explained the phenomenally supposing a "plastic power" in Nature, which was exerted in moulding the living rock into mimic representations of animals and plants, for no better purpose, seemingly, than to puzzle and amuse the vulgar. This was cutting the knot of difficulty after a strange fashion. It was contrary to their theory to believe that the sea had ever occupied the places in which the marine productions were found. If it had not, how could these have got there ? There was no reply but the resolute denial that the fossils were really the relics of marine creatures ; and this, in spite of the evidence of their senses, or the deductions of sound reason, these pseudo-philosophers unblushingly asserted. It was thus that the facts of Nature were habitually twisted to suit the requirings of a preconceived theory ; and thus laborious lives were spent to no other purpose than in heaping up a mass of unreadable nonsense in our libraries.

The enunciation of the inductive philosophy was the first great blow to the fame of these writers. The perfect system of the universe was found to be no longer tenable; it fell almost at the first onset, and with it fell the charm which had embalmed every opinion handed down from classic times. The Book of Nature began to be studied with ardour, and in a new and unfettered spirit. No longer clogged with theories, naturalists found that, so far from its having been exhausted by the labours of their predecessors, Natural History was full, to overflowing, of novel interest. Facts were no longer tried by traditional authority ; but tradition was subjected to the close inquisition of newly-observed facts. In every country observers were at work; and, instead of the somnambulism of the preceding ages, naturalists, like men newly risen, went forth in their morning strength and ardour to the labour of the day. The fair sun of science was already above the horizon, and it was their privilege to drink in his earliest beams.

So long as Natural History was encumbered with its pseudo-classical incubus its votaries were few in number. The more it grew into a science founded on observation, the more it attracted popular attention. The writings of LINN^US, composed in a clear and elegant

4 NATURAL SYSTEMS :

style, and offering a systematic arrangement such as all could readily understand, contributed more than those of any other naturalist to the spread of a taste for his favourite science. He was eminently a popular writer, and, no matter what criticism may now be passed on his system, it must be admitted that to it is greatly owing the rapidity with which the natural sciences advanced in public favour in the early part of last century. Had his followers possessed a tithe of his comprehensive and singularly penetrating mind, they would have saved his memory from many an undeserved reproach. No man ever had a truer eye for a natural group, or was more deeply impressed with the value of a natural system. He has indeed left us, in his Genera, especially of Insects and Shells, grand outlines of such a system, sketched by a master's hand. But he felt that the time for erecting the temple of Nature had not come, and that his own province lay in preparing materials for the building, and to this task he devoted the chief energies of his mind.

We of the present generation are, perhaps, too apt to think that sumcient materials have already been amassed, and to set ourselves — often with but a very superficial knowledge of even a single department of a single science — to work out a system which shall embrace a much wider field, perhaps one that shall attempt to be a System of Nature. Hence the numerous systems, all called "natural," which have been proposed, both in Zoology and Botany, within the last fifty years. Hence, too, the still stranger systems and anti-systems which the history of Geology exhibits, where the same fact is often adduced by different writers as the most convincing proof in favour of directly opposite views of the histoiy of the world. These discrepancies are sufficient to prove to any unprejudiced mind that the requisite materials for constructing a perfectly natural system are not yet accumulated, and that in every department of Natural History patient observers are still required, who will be contented to store up facts, and to work out such parts of a general system as they find to be within their legitimate reach, abstaining from all general views that are not warranted by the amount, either of their own knowledge, or of that of the scientific world in general. Bold minds will now and then run a-head of absolute discoveries, and by lucky anticipation will sometimes point in the right direction. Deeply informed and comprehensive intellects will discover glimpses through the haze, like the looming of distant land, where common observers can see no indications of a solution, and their " guesses at truth," being built partly on real induction, partly on skilfully-applied analogies, often open up to us correct views of the order of Nature which subsequent discoveries only confirm and strengthen. Such minds will ever be cautious in advancing theories : but how many hasty observers, admiring the brilliant results attained by the skilful " guesser," ignorant of the liabilities to error, and therefore despising caution, rush forward on their course, and propose to the world their fanciful schemes as important discoveries. In the republic of science there is no longer a recognised head. Each panter after fame may set up a system of his own. There is no controlling power but the slow-working

6 NATURAL HISTORY.

verdict of the general voice. That, indeed, operates surely and calmly, like the inexorable laws of Nature, and consigns each bubble theory, in due time, to merited forgetfulness ; but this operation may be a long one, and many a theoriser, for the false excitement of temporary notoriety, will risk the possession of enduring fame.

The present age has produced many of those pseudonaturalists, though not so many as that immediately preceding it. The spirit is not extinct ; and therefore it is that I would caution my younger fellow-students, for whom these pages are written, against allowing their imaginations to be carried away by specious theories, or any theories which do not proceed from a deep study of Nature. Much more would I caution them against building systems of their own. Their place clearly is, to learn and not to teach, and until they have brought together a very considerable amount of observations they can scarcely have an adequate conception of what a system should be. In heaping together these observations, they will find real pleasure, and will become, as they proceed, more and more sensible of the capacity of mind and knowledge which is required in him who shall venture to sketch out a " Systema Naturae" Let not man boast, like the irreverent monument to Buffon, of having "a mind equal to the majesty of Nature ;" — and let none of us act as if we laid claim to such a mind. The portion of the created universe with which the naturalist occupies himself is indeed small, if we compare our world with the stellar system, and estimate its value by the line and the plummet ; but, the more we become conversant with its heights and depths, the more

IN THE COUNTRY. 7

shall we find that size and weight ought to have no place in our estimation of the great or the little in Nature : for they appear to have no place in the mind of the Author of Nature. The same skill and care are employed in the formation and adaptation of the minutest animal or plant as in that of the largest ; and the same law that govems the formation of a rain-drop, influences not merely that of our own world, but extends throughout the immeasurable regions of space. In Nature everything displays the same evidence of greatness of design, sufficient, when duly appreciated, to fill the largest intellect to overflowing, and to make it sensible that so far from having a capacity " equal to the majesty " of what it contemplates, its utmost stretchings are insufficient to comprehend the fulness of a single natural law.

In contrast to the inventors of fanciful systems, how gladly do we turn to such a writer as Gilbert White, the well-known author of " The Natural History of Selborne." Within the bounds of a single country parish he found ample materials for one of the most delightful and instructive books of Natm*al History ever written. It does not require to be located in a peculiarly favoured district to discover sufficient to arrest the attention of the observant naturalist, or even to add something to the general stock of knowledge. The naturalist is more independent of circumstances than most men. Give him fields and hedges, the barren moor, or the quarry, — from each and all he will collect a store of useful and entertaining facts. No part of the country is so absolutely barren that it will not afford employment to the

THE SEA-SHORE.

cultivator of some department of Natural History ; and employment of that nature that will keep his mind pleasantly and profitably occupied, in the midst of the most complete retirement. One therefore wonders that a taste for Natural History is not the universal accompaniment of a country life.

But if country life naturally lead us to contemplate the objects of creation with which we are there surrounded, how much more does a residence, and especially an occasional residence, on the sea-coast attract us into the field of observation ! The numerous marine watering-places, which are thronged in the summer and autumn months, ought to be so many schools for naturalists. Placed on all our coasts, they offer the greatest variety of aspect and climate that the limited shores of the British Islands can supply. The sheltered bay — the open strand — the bold rocky barrier against which breakers constantly roll — each has its peculiar animal and vegetable inhabitant ; and each variety of shore is more or less perfectly represented in one or other of our watering-places. By visiting different parts, therefore, of the coast in succession, year by year, we may investigate to the greatest advantage the productions of the sea. These are never exhausted : and once that an interest in the pursuit is awakened, it never flags. There is no need to import the winter resources of cities — balls, parties, and theatrical representations — to the wateringplace. Half the year ought to suffice for these amusements. Let the summer and the sea-side preserve their native pleasures undisturbed. There is so much to be enjoyed on the sea-shore when the mind is once opened

GEOLOGY. 9

to the pleasure afforded by the study of Natural History, that no other stimulus is wanted to keep the interest of the visitor constantly awake. Instead of finding his time hang heavy, he will often wonder how rapidly the long summer-day has flown by, while he has been occupied with some investigation in the midst of which darkness overtakes him. When visiting the sea, to seek relaxation from business, it is astonishing with what zest a person will enter on the pursuit of Natural History, and how invigorating and refreshing he will find it. After a short time, the mind of an habitually busy man finds no relief in complete idleness. He must occupy himself in some manner. He is removed from his ordinary business — perhaps, forbidden by a physician from receiving letters that require thought ; his mind is too active to rest unemployed, and there is nothing in the neighbourhood to rouse him. If on the sea-shore, and happily possessing a turn for Natural History,, he is at once supplied with occupation of the most healthful character. His pursuits lead him to take exercise of body, and, without fatiguing the mind, give it that pleasurable excitement which rapidly restores its tone when suffering from having been over -wrought. It matters little to which of the Natural History sciences he devotes his attention, or whether each in turn engages it. Probably, a valetudinarian will find most relief in variety. He can indulge a taste for Geology, either in investigating the sections of strata which the headlands of the coast often admirably exhibit, or in watching the thousand evidences of forces in operation which are gradually changing the level of our

10 GEOLOGY.

present seas, and which explain to us the greater operations of a former era, or show us how, in slowly-accumulating periods, changes as great are in preparation even now. The formation of beds of the remains of recent testacea, Crustacea, and fishes ; the gradual induration of conglomerates under the sea; and the drifting of sands by the wind, may all be observed in different parts of our coast, and in some to a very remarkable degree. The changes effected by wind-blown sands have very materially altered the features of several parts of the British coasts, converting tracts of fertile land into deserts as sterile as those of Africa. Lyell mentions a district in the north of Cornwall, once cultivated and inhabited, where the drifted sands now form hills composed of minute fragments of sea-shells, several hundred feet above the level of the sea. Here the sand may in several places be found undergoing a process of indjiration, and in some parts the change is so far advanced that blocks are used as building-stone ; and thus the geologist can trace the gradual formation of a sandstone-rock. But the interest of this locality is not confined to the geologist. The archaeologist will visit it as the residence of one of the early missionaries, by whose labours Christianity was introduced into this remote part of Britain, and where, on the overthrow of so many British Churches by the subsequent incursions of an unchristian horde, the light of truth continued to shine till the commencement of a happier era. Here, toward the close of the fourth century, St. Piran, born of noble parents, in the county of Ossory, in Ireland, A.D. 352, and converted to the Christian faith in 382,

PERRANZABULOE. 1 1

having been ordained bishop at Home, fixed his abode among a simple people, and passed a long and exemplary life in instructing them. Nor did he confine himself to the functions of his sacred calling, but, we are told, he was equally zealous in instructing his parishioners in the useful arts, and especially in the working of metals. Hence, it is not without reason that "the Cornish miners venerate the name of Piranus as their tutelary saint and benefactor; and to this day the tinners of Cornwall keep his feast on the oth of March, and hold a fair near his church in honour of St. Piranus." The church, long buried under the sands, has recently been exhumed, and the vignette at the head of this chapter represents its present state.* Another instance occurs on the coast of Suffolk, where, in the lapse of a century, the sands have spread over more than 1000 acres of land. On the coast of Sligo an equally destructive sand-inundation has taken place, and, though partially checked, is still in progress. This has already destroyed from seven to eight hundred acres of fertile land, burying in its course a considerable village. Strange to say, the village is not yet a "Deserted Village," though buried in the midst of a desert. Its inhabitants still cling to their wretched huts, only the roofs of which now rise above the sands, and these, with the entrances, are kept clear only by the constant labours of the inmates. It is a singular sight in walking over extensive sandy downs, where

* See an interesting publication by the Rev. Collins Trelawney, called " Perranzabuloe — the lost church found," 1836, and also " Perranzabuloe ; with an Account of the Past and Present State of the Oratory of St. Piran in the Sands," by the Rev. W. Haslam, 1844.

12 BOTANY.

scarcely a blade is seen, to come suddenly on a rude chimney from which the peat-smoke rises, and to see a pig, followed by a troop of ragged children, rise up from under our feet. Much care has been taken to induce the occupants of these tenements, who subsist on fishing, to quit the ground, but hitherto unsuccessfully. They pay no rent for the burrows ; and are contented to act as geological hour-glasses.

In exploring maritime scenes like this, the geologist, not to speak of the philanthropist, will find interesting objects of research. If he be a botanist, he will probably occupy himself also in devising plans for the detention of the sands, and their gradual fixation and conversion into cultivable soil. It is well known that many plants may be advantageously used as binders to loose sands. Of these, the Sand-reed (Ammophila arundinacea), which naturally grows on the sandy shores of Europe, is one of the best. Its roots penetrate to a considerable depth, ramifying in all directions, and forming a complete system of rope-work which soon binds together the loosest sands : while its strong tall leaves protect the surface of the soil from drought, and afford shelter to numerous small plants, which soon grow between the reeds, and gradually form a new green surface on the bed of sand. Were this reed planted on the Sligo sands, and protected for a very few years from the donkeys of the imbedded inhabitants, the further progress of the sand-flood would be effectually stopped, and the land now lost to cultivation gradually restored to a part, at least, of its former value. Several other plants will flourish under the protection of the Sand-reed. One of the most valuable (re-

BOTANY. 13

commended a few years ago by Mr. W. Andrews*) is the Sea-pea (Lathyrus maritimus), which produces a fair crop of excellent herbage, while its penetrating roots bind the sands nearly equally with those of the Sand-reed. Were the latter planted on the most exposed places, and the Lathyrus under its lee, a most valuable herbage would be acquired. The Lathyrus is perennial ; if browsed by cattle it does not often blossom, but it extends, by means of runners and suckers, over a wide space, forming a close carpet of nourishing leaves.

Inquiries such as these are, however, more the applications of Botany. I would rather speak of the science, apart from its economic relations, as of itself affording enjoyment to the invalid who visits the shore in search of health and strength. When land plants cease to attract his attention, the sea has vegetable treasures in great variety and of inconceivable beauty. The number of British sea-weeds, of the larger class, is not far from four hundred, and if we add purely microscopic species, we shall have upwards of five hundred kinds. In collecting and preparing specimens of those beautiful object^ and tracing out the affinities which link one kind with another, and bring the whole into a wellordered family, many happy hours may be filled up. Nor is this a selfish pleasure. The true naturalist is always ready to share his pleasures with others, and only half enjoys what he cannot share. The value he attaches to the acquisition of a new plant is quite different from that by which a mere collector estimates his treasure. A collector seeks for unique specimens,

* In a paper read before the Dublin Natural History Society.

14 ZOOLOGY.

and will even destroy duplicates, that he may enjoy the silly boast of having the only specimen in existence. A naturalist ever wishes for a series, that he may trace the connection between one form and another, and thus see the limit of variation in different species and genera. He works with a constant remembrance of the unity of Nature. The more he discovers traces of affinity between different groups, the more the unity of design manifests itself, and the more his conceptions of a personality in the scheme of Nature are strengthened, and become fixed. From faint and weak beginnings, they gradually expand, and acquire the solidity of truth. Thus, step by step, and as it were "from glory to glory," the mind of the true naturalist is led on to the discovery of laws, and to a just appreciation of the System of Nature.

Pleasures of this kind do not belong to any one department of Natural History in particular. I have alluded to them under the head of Botany; but, in truth, Zoology, in its far greater copiousness and variety, offers an immeasurably wider field. The sea teems with animal life. The various classes of marine animals, and the innumerable species comprised in the whole, are full of interest. Few, even of the most careless, can visit the shore without being struck by their beauty. The gathering of shells is a favourite amusement ; but few know anything of the curious animals which have dwelt in them. The dead husks of Zoophytes attract us by their gracefulness and by the truth with which they simulate a vegetable form ; but of the animals whose habitations they are, most persons are ignorant of the very exist-

ZOOLOGY. 15

ence, believing that the horny skeleton is a veritable sea- weed. The very Jelly-fish, as it swims in the wave, expanding and contracting its umbrella, and thus propelling itself through the water, has its beauty ; but few are aware of the singularity of its history, — how its eggs are of the nature of seeds, which, sown on their rocky bed, sprout and grow, throwing out buds and suckers, each of which forms an animal stem, quite unlike the parent Jelly-fish ; till, at a certain time, young Jelly-fish begin to be formed, and to be thrown off by the several branches, just as flowers are formed, and expand on the several branches that originate from a vegetable-seed. And if the abject Jelly-fish, whose body consists of little more than organized water, have a history so wonderful, shall we not expect to find, in tracing the history of other tribes of animals, matter of equal interest 1 The structures, as we ascend in the scale, gradually become more complex ; and if those strange metamorphoses which arrest our attention in the lowest tribes give place to more accustomed phenomena, we are amply compensated by the progressive development of the wonderful faculty of instinct. In observing the variations of structure of the analogous organs of different animals, and noticing how, according to the necessities of their life, they are provided with proper instruments, innumerable proofs of the care of Providence over His creatures are offered to our contemplation. These cannot fail to interest us, if for no other reason, because they forcibly remind us of our own dependence on the same bountiful Hand, and thus soothe the most desponding with the thought that, if

16 ZOOLOGY : — ITS SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS.

creatures so humble in the scale of creation are cared for, and their wants supplied, the human soul, though linked to a frail body, and placed in a world that seems as nothing in the universe, must, in the sight of its Author, be of that inestimable worth attributed to it by Revelation. If the truths of Astronomy witness to the majesty of God, those of Natural History witness no less to the proper dignity of man ; and while the first teach us to humble ourselves before Him "who inhabiteth eternity," the second show us that true humility consists, not in supposing ourselves to be beneath the care, or unworthy the notice, of the " High and Lofty One," but in claiming the privileges of that position in His creation which He has assigned to us, and fulfilling its duties because they are of His requiring.

Such, then, are some of the pleasures of Natural History, whatever branch of the subject we select for our researches. I have glanced at those pleasures under the heads Geology, Botany, and Zoology. Each of these might be again divided ; and the last, especially, is so extensive that its several branches are spoken of as distinct sciences. Thus we have Ornithology, Ichthyology, Entomology, Conchology, &c., all branches of the great science of Zoology. The British amateurnaturalist is particularly fortunate in possessing a series of admirable monographs, copiously illustrated by figures, on each of the several zoological sciences ; so that, whatever tribe he wishes to study, he can have the advantage of consulting a carefully-written systematic work, which places that particular tribe distinctly before him, and gives him all the striking points