442 Miscellaneous. 



ment in which he presides over the Zoological Department, and, 

 above all, of the Administrators or * Trustees ' under whose charge 

 it is. These enlightened statesmen, raised above low intrigues and 

 personal considerations, although imbued with a spirit of order and 

 strict economy, know how to avoid parsimony when the advancement 

 of science is in question. Of this, the publication of this fine book 

 by order of these * Trustees ' is a fresh proof, and the thanks of the 

 scientific world are due to them for it." 



If there be any class of men to whom the old proverb, that " a 

 prophet is without honour in his own country," may be more especially 

 applied, it is undoubtedly to our British zoologists ; for while plain 

 Brown, Jones, and Robinson may bawl themselves hoarse without 

 finding a hearer, the moment Professor Schafskopf or Herr von 

 "Windbeutel makes his appearance he is greeted with unanimous 

 applause ; every opinion he puts forward is treasured up as so much 

 gospel ; and although here and there a thorough John Bull may be 

 found to stand up for the merits of his countrymen, most of us are 

 as little inclined to abate one jot of our exclusive faith in foreign 

 scientific literature, as was mine * host of the Garter ' to suspect the 

 honesty of his German customers. Under these circumstances it is 

 very gratifying to find that the continental savans themselves by no 

 means treat the labours of our British zoologists with contempt, and 

 we have thought it worth while to quote the above passage from 

 Prince Charles Bonaparte's oration, as it serves to show the estimation 

 in which one of a long series of works, but little known to many of 

 our readers, is held by one who is certainly no mean authority in 

 such matters. 



The books here referred to are the Catalogues of the Zoological 

 Collections in the British Museum, which have now been appearing 

 in constantly increasing numbers for a period of twelve or thirteen 

 years. The value of their contents has also partaken of this progress ; 

 for instead of the *' Lists," containing merely the names of the species 

 existing in the national collection, with a few of the most important 

 synonyms, which constituted the earlier volumes, those recently 

 published generally include all the described species of the group on 

 which they treat, accompanied by a full synonymy and descriptions 

 of the new species ; whilst in many cases the characters of all the 

 species, and those of the genera and other groups are given. This 

 applies especially to the Catalogues prepared by Dr. Gray himself, 

 which embrace a portion of the Mammalia (the Cetacea, Pinnipedia, 

 and Ruminantia), the whole of the Reptiles with the exception of 

 the Colubrine Snakes, and the Cartilaginous Fishes ; but some of Mr. 

 Walker's and Mr. Smith's recent Entomological Catalogues present 

 the same feature. Many of them also are accompanied by plates 

 illustrative of the characters of the new genera, or, as in Dr. Gray's 

 Catalogues of Mammalia, of all the genera ; and it is with a view to 

 the more effective illustration of the subjects that these books have 

 lately cast off the form of unpretending duodecimos, in which they 

 originally appeared, and come out boldly as quartos. Such is the 

 * Catalogue of Chelonian Reptiles ' referred to by Prince Bonaparte 



