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the first chapter of this work the author gives a brief account of the relations of physiology to other departments of science; a description of the composition and properties of organic matter; definitions of the principal functions; and a couple of pages on the neucleated corpuscle, which he is disposed to regard as the ultimate physiological unit. Connective tissues; the skeleton and its function, with the minute structure of bones, ligaments, and cartilages; muscles, their structure and mode of action; and the structure and functions of the skin and mucous membrane, form the subjects of the four succeeding chapters. Alimentation, and the apparatus and process of digestion, are next treated; and then follow in the usual order chapters on the blood, the circulation and its organs, and respiration. The structure and functions of the glands are next disposed of; and three chapters are given to the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, including the organs of special sense. Voice and speech are next treated; and the book closes with a chapter on the subject of reproduction and development. The matter of the work is largely anatomical, too much so, in our opinion, for a book on physiology; but, as the author says that it is intended for those "previously unacquainted with anatomical details," this feature may be exactly suited to their needs. In this case, however, the physiology should have been similarly graded, which it is not, being much too advanced for pupils ignorant of anatomy. The work is mainly a compilation, the author claiming originality only in his method of grouping the facts. The style is clear, the illustrations are numerous and well executed, and both a glossary and index are appended.

title of this book is doubly misleading. It is called a zoology, when, in fact, it deals with only one department of that great subject, viz., comparative anatomy; and, instead of giving the elements of this, goes rather to the opposite extreme, being little more than a bare statement of those later generalizations embodied in modern systems of classification. The book is not adapted to the wants of beginners, and is, therefore, quite out of place in an "elementary series." Those, however, desiring a brief summary of this branch of zoological science will find it of service, though the works of Huxley, from which it is mainly derived, put the subject in a much more attractive shape. The book is copiously illustrated, has a series of questions attached to each of the chapters, and is provided with a glossary.



Observations of the Transit.—So far as heard from, the numerous expeditions which went out to observe the recent transit of Venus met with a fair measure of success. By the wise liberality of the various governments, the contingencies of fair or foul weather were provided against, and the view, which at one point was obstructed by clouds, was more successfully had at some other station in the same latitude, where the skies were more propitious. At Wladiwostock, the most northern station 