CONTENTS.-No. VII. ... ... ... ... PAGE 301 ... 311 ... 322 ... 334 ... 345 OUR FRESH-WATER POLYZOA; Two Page Plates. By Rev. W. Houghton, Quatrefages' Metamorphoses-Ansted's Channel Islands-Hart- 354 Science on the Continent - Schools of Science-Geometry and Astronomy - Botany - Chemistry-Geology and Palæontology - Mining-Photography-Physic-Zoology NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. All communications intended for the Editor must be addressed to No. 8, Jubilee Street, Everton, Liverpool. No notice can be taken of anonymous contributions. Intending contributors are respectfully requested to send their names and addresses; and, if accompanied with stamps, unsuitable manuscripts will always be carefully returned. Articles in the POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW are Copyright, and the Right of Translation is reserved. THE POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW, VOL. I., Is now ready, containing 550 pages of Letter-press and 27 Coloured and Plain Plates, price 12s. Cloth cases for binding the volume may be had, price 1s. each. CORN. By Prof. James Buckman, F.L.S., &c. Illustrated by the Author.-THE CROWN ANIMALCULE. By Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S. Illustrated by the Author.-THE DAISY. By Mrs. Lankester. Illustrated.-THE LOWEST FORMS OF LIFE. By the Editor, with Illustrations.-IRON AND STEEL. By R. Hunt, F.R.S.-WESTERN EQUATORIAL AFRICA. By the Editor, with a Coloured Map.-ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. By Prof. Ansted, F.R.S.— THE BREATH OF LIFE. By W. Crookes.-DoGs. By Ed. Jesse, F.L.S., &c.—THE GREAT COMET OF 1861. By J. Breen. No. II., price 2s. 6d., contains:— CAVERNS. By Prof. Ansted, F.R.S.-LoWEST FORMS OF LIFE. By the Editor. Illustrated by Tuffen West and G. H. Ford.-THE FLOWER ANIMALCULE. By P. H. Gosse, F.R.S. Illustrated by the Author.-COTTON. By Dr. Lankester. F.R.S. Illustrated by Tuffen West.-GRASSES. By Prof. Buckman, F.L.S. Illustrated by J. E. Sowerby.-THE REPLEX THEORY AND DR. MARSHALL HALL. By G. H. Lewes.-SOLAR CHEMISTRY. By R. Hunt, F.R.S. 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By the Editor. -THE PHYSICS OF A SUNBEAM, with a Coloured Plate. By R. Hunt, F.R.S.-THE ENGLISH CALIFORNIA. By G. P. Bevan, F.G.S.-THE CONTENTS OF CAVERNS (concluding Part). By D. T. Ansted, F.R.S.-THE MICROSCOPE, with Directions for its Use. By C. Collingwood, M.B., F.L S.-THE BUILDER ANIMALCULES, with Plate. By P. H. Gosse, F.R.S.-THE COMMON TRUFFLE, with Plate. By Jabez Hogg, M.R.C.S., &c.Miscellanea, Reviews, and Scientific Summary of Progress in Science. Vol. II.-No. V., price 2s. 6d., contains: THE BRITISH No. VI., price 2s. 6d., published January, 1863, NOTES OF THE EXHIBITION (Concluded): V. The Machinery Department, with Woodents. OUR FRESH-WATER POLYZOA. BY THE REV. W. HOUGHTON, M.A., F.L.S. OF F all the beautiful forms of animal life that tenant the waters of our rivers and ponds in marvellous profusion, there are none, I think, that excel, and few that equal in elegance and interest, the Polyzoa. It is invidious, perhaps, to draw comparisons in nature, where all is perfect; the naturalist will see as much to admire in the common earthworm as in the rarest and most prized zoological treasure, not that in external form the humble worm recommends itself as an object of attraction, but because its structure, like that of every created thing, is so admirably adapted to the wants and habits of the animal. Be this, however, as it may, there is no doubt that beauty of external form, although it may be the only point for which the uninitiated care, is an additional charm in the eyes of the zoologist. Who does not remember the thrill of pleasure that ran through him when first he beheld, through the magic crystals of the microscope, a group of Vorticelle with their delicate spiral stems and ciliated glassy bells? or who that has ever watched the beaded Melicerta mould its tiny round bricks, and then bend itself down and add pellet after pellet to its tube, will say he has not experienced a more than ordinary treat, and a kind of gratification which it is impossible to describe? This is the month of April, and it is too early to attempt to find specimens of any of the species of Polyzoa, with the exception of Fredericella Sultana, of which more anon. Still, take your collecting bottles and pocket lens, and come along with me: I shall be able, I know, to teach you a useful lesson in the art of discovering Fresh-water Polyzoa; for you must know that it is quite possible you may be living close to a pond in which live hundreds of one of the most prized species, and yet be quite unable to find a single specimen. We will go to this large reservoir, which supplies the canal; here the water is beautifully clear, and in the summer time the willows and alders on the margins of the bank form a pleasant shade, and ever and anon let fall their dead branches into the water, a VOL. II.-NO. VII. Y |