FRESH-WATER Z 0 OLOGY.*
Tire attractive little book before us is likely to be one of the most useful which Mr. Furneaux has yet published. His last venture, British Butterflies and Moths, related to a subject that has lately become too hackneyed to require any further attention for the present from popular writers ; but with the exception of various monographs, and Professor Miall's Natural History of Aquatic Insects, little really useful information has hitherto been available for the use of an amateur naturalist who wished to obtain some preliminary ideas respecting the numerous and interesting living creatures which inhabit the fresh waters of Britain. We have long thought that there was room for a book on this subject, on similar lines to Gosse's Manual of Marine Zoology, which gave such an impetus to shore-collecting nearly folly years ago, but on a more popular, and at the same time more scientific, plan, applied to fresh-water zoology. Here, however, the vast number of aquatic, or partially aquatic, insects would render the work very difficult to accomplish successfully. It is not a complete manual of fresh-water zoology that Mr. Furneaux offers us, but an introductory book divided into two parts, the first discussing collecting, preserving, the micro- scope, and aquaria and their management, &c.; and the second including chapters on the lower forms of pond-life : worms, leeches, and their allies, fresh-water molluscs, fresh-water crustaceans and spiders, aquatic insects, fishes for the aquarium, and amphibians.
This is a sufficiently varied assortment of subjects ; but yet we should have liked to have seen another chapter or two dealing with water-birds, and the otter, and a few other mammals which pass much of their time in the water. But country naturalists who have no access to large zoological libraries will have reason to be grateful to Mr. Farneaux for the industry with which he has brought together a large amount of information which could only be obtained else- where scattered through a large number of expensive books. A few pages are even devoted to water-plants, it propos of aquaria; and the habits and structure of the various animals discussed receive a considerable amount of attention. We are not among those extra-scientific critics who consider it their duty to search through a book of this character (regard- less of the fact that it is intended for beginners and not for advanced students), simply and solely to ascertain if it Life is Ponds and Streams. By W. Furneaux. With 8 Coloured Plates and numerous Illustration. in the Text. London; bongmant, Green, and Co. contains a casual error, or omits the last item of technical information, perhaps published in some out - the - way periodical only known to a few specialists ; and then, if such a defect be discovered, attack it tooth and nail. Naturalists must begin with popular books, and every branch of natural history has now become so large that it is difficult even for specialists, under the most favourable circum- stances, to keep themselves fully abreast of the latest in- formation on their own particular subject. A popular writer, however, must deal with a great variety of subjects, and all that can reasonably be expected of him is that he should have a real interest in, and a good average acquaintance with natural history, and be able to treat it in a clear and attractive manner. So far as we have seen, Mr. Farneaux appears to have amply fulfilled these primary conditions ; and he has evidently given much time and attention to practical study before sitting down to write his book, The coloured plates represent an aquarium, shells, insects. fishes, frogs, toads, and newts, and are nicely executed, as are also the three hundred and eleven figures in the text. It is, however, only fair to say that these illustrations are not all original.
Every author, though he may not be exactly a specialist, is naturally more interested in certain groups than in others, and we are inclined to think that the fresh-water molluscs (which are treated of at comparatively greater length than the other leading groups of animals, except the Amphibia, of which there are only seven British species) are special favourites of our author. Here we have not only detailed accounts of the anatomy of one or two representative species, and of the structure of their shells, but tables of genera and species, and recognisable illustrations of many of the latter.
The illustrations of the Arthropoda are also very good, and much useful information is supplied, but this sub-kingdom is too large to allow of its being treated exhaustively. Neverthe- less, a considerable number of the more interesting aquatic species of the various classes and orders are described and figured. Thus, we have illustrations of the water-flea, the water-spider and its nest, dragon-flies and their larvre, caddis- worm cases, 86c. The species chosen to represent certain groups of animals are not all aquatic; thus, the structure of Helix aspersa, and the transformations of Pieria brassicw are figured.
Among the insects, the larger dragon-flies receive special attention, and tables are given of the families and genera. Mr. Furneaux says that Calopteryx Virgo, a metallic green species, is one of the earliest to appear, and that he has taken it early in May; we may mention that we have taken a small red dragon-fly (Pyrrhosoma minium) in April in Sussex.
Certain portions of the various groups discussed (as, for instance, the great order Diptera, or two-winged flies, which includes many interesting aquatic species not noticed by our author), are dealt with too briefly and somewhat inadequately, even allowing for the popular character of the book ; but we cannot expect everything interesting in the fresh-water world to be packed into four hundred octavo pages, even though they are closely (but not too closely) printed. Mr. Furneaux has given us so much that is useful and interesting in his new book that it would be ungrateful to find fault with him for not having been able to find room for more; and although he may not be unwilling to add to future editions of his book, we must not forget that Nature is infinite, but the possible expansion of a book is a strictly limited quantity.
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