The Scottish Naturalist. 291 



constantly the aspects of science are being altered by new data, 

 and by new ways of looking at old data. Stereotyping, in such 

 a series of volumes as those of the " International Scientific 

 Series," prevents an author, in the various editions through 

 which most of the said volumes have run, or will run, making- 

 desirable or necessary corrections, additions, or subtractions. 

 The result of which is, that an author, in such a series, cannot 

 be too careful as to what he first prints, seeing that his errors, 

 of whatever kind, will be perpetuated by stereotype in three 

 great languages, and in four great literary and scientific coun- 

 tries. He cannot, therefore, — resisting the pressure put upon 

 him by impatient publishers, translators, critics, or readers, — 

 take too much time to mature his opinions or inferences, and 

 classify the facts upon which his general conclusions are based ; 

 the more especially if such conclusions are opposed to long- 

 cherished, popular beliefs. 



There is another Encyclopaedia, now being published in 

 Edinburgh as a rival to that of the Messrs. Chambers — the 

 " Globe Encyclopaedia." To its Editor I made an application 

 similar to that which I addressed to Dr. Findlater, as to the 

 authorship of its Zoological articles. But in this case no notice 

 was taken of my simple request. The legitimate inferences 

 from the non-compliance of an Editor in such a case are, either 

 that he is 



(1) Chargeable with business remissness; 



(2) Or with personal or official discourtesy ; or that 



(3) He is not prepared to give a satisfactory reply : in other 

 words, that he cannot satisfy inquirers as to the character of his 

 contributors, of whose talents or qualifications and so forth it is 

 far too common, in the copious advertisements of such publica- 

 tions, to make egregious boast. 



In certain cases, as in that of Miss Cobbe and the " Quarterly 

 Review," it proved that the third inference could not have been 

 justified by the facts ; and in that case, moreover, there was the 

 intrinsic evidence of the ability of the article and the authen- 

 ticity of its narrative. But, in other cases, where an Editor 

 withholds a simple reply to a simple question, the suspicion is 

 naturally created that the sources, or compilers, of information 

 are not trustworthy, and cannot afford to have their names made 

 public. Wherever such a suspicion exists, the works to which the 



