48 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



* 



of domestic fowls, by Raymond Pearl and M. R. Curtis {Jouni. 

 Agric. Research, vol. vi., No. 25, 191 6), describing the results of 

 examinations of close on 300 specimens, found during eight years' 

 observation. The rarity of dwarf eggs is emphasised only one 

 was found for every 1158 normal eggs. The cause of the formation 

 of the eggs seems to lie in a premature stimulation of the glands 

 of the oviduct by an incomplete or broken yolk, or even by a 

 foreign particle, so that the egg-shell is deposited before the 

 contents of the egg are complete. It was found that in roughly 

 a third of the eggs examined, the yolk was altogether absent, while 

 in the remaining two-thirds it was either small or fragmentary. 



"The Zoologist." 



All British naturalists must deplore the passing away of a 

 familiar and old-established friend in The Zoologist, which ceased 

 to be issued with the close of the year. Since its first volume 

 appeared in 1843, The Zoologist has held a special place among 

 the few British journals devoted to general natural history, for it 

 has constantly kept in touch with the collector and observer, 

 avoiding the dangers of a too intense specialisation. The result 

 has been that its pages contain invaluable records of the occurrences 

 and habits of British mammals, birds, fishes, Crustacea, and other 

 invertebrates, records which, but for its hospitality, would most 

 likely have been lost to science. In its earlier days it was the 

 recognised medium of British natural history, and there are few 

 of the great naturalists who have not contributed to its value. 

 Jonathan Couch, P. H. Gosse, Thomas Bell, H. W. Bates, William 

 Yarrell, Francis Day, Alfred Newton, P. L. Sclater, Howard 

 Saunders, Alfred Russel Wallace, are but a few of the famous 

 names that meet the eye on its pages. The "incorporation" of 

 The Zoologist with British Birds will greatly restrict its value 

 from a general point of view, for many English records of 

 vertebrates other than birds, and of invertebrates, will now find 

 themselves homeless. 



