The Scottish Naturalist. 243 



Fable and Art" and "The Fauna of Fancy") — as one of the 

 volumes — published at one shilling each — of Messrs. Ward, 

 Lock, and Tyler's, " Country House Library" — Miss Cobbe's 

 volume bearing the title " False Beasts and True : Essays on 

 Natural and Unnatural History." It is a most convenient and 

 important little Manual: but without an Index — a serious 

 defect to such a work. The " Fauna of Fancy" gives an account 

 of Griffins, Dragons, Krakens, and other purely Fabulous 

 animals. 



Miss Cobbe is well known in England as the authoress of 

 various Moral, Religious, and Social Works ; and was long a 

 member of the London Literary world as Leader-writer of the 

 Echo Newspaper. Of her, Mary Somerville in her " Memoirs" 

 (p. 305) speaks as " my dear friend and constant correspondent 



. . . the cleverest, and most agreeable woman I ever 

 met, and one of the best:" while she refers also (p. 359) to "all 

 the energy of her vigorous intellect as a Moral Philosopher." 



The practice now so common, on the part of publishers or 

 authors, of reprinting — in one or more convenient and attrac- 

 tive volumes, under an author's proper name — series of articles 

 that originally appeared anonymously in various Magazines or 

 Reviews — among other advantages has this one — that it makes 

 public the Names of many Anonymous writers, whose produc- 

 tions, and whose names deserve equally a better fate than the 

 mere ephemeral popularity of a monthly or quarterly serial, 

 whatever be the reputation of the latter. Miss Cobbe's is a 

 case in point. But, other, even more pertinent, cases might be 

 cited : — for instance, those of Frank Buckland and Dr. Wynter. 

 The chapters of which Dr. Wy liter's two volumes of "Fruit 

 between the Leaves"^ are composed, originally appeared, he 

 tells us, in such serials as the Edinburgh Review, Good Words, 

 Pall Afall Gazette, and the Graphic. The same probably is 

 the case with the various popular Natural History Works by b 

 Frank Buckland, editor of " Land and Water," in which 

 Magazine no doubt many of his popular Zoological papers were 

 first published. 



a 2 vols. 8vo., London, 1875: contain chapters on: — (1) Clever Dogs ; 

 (2) Eccentric Cats ; (3) Rats and their doings ; (4) Were-wolves and 

 Lycanthropy. 



b For instance his "Curiosities of Natural History," of which there are 

 several editions: — the last being the "People's Edition" in 4 vols., fcap^ 

 8vo., illustrated ; published by Bentley, London, 1S72-4. 



