Bibliographical Notices. 4Sf 



years, and only obscure and imperfect notices of his zoological dis- 

 coveries have hitherto seen the light. The drawings of animals 

 made by his son George have met with nearly the same neglect as 

 the text to which they refer ; having remained unpublished to the 

 present time in the archives of the British Museum. Schneider in- 

 deed, in his edition of Bloch's Fishes, introduced some of the mate- 

 rials of Forster's MSS., and Latham founded many of his species of 

 birds on the specimens and drawings brought home by the two 

 Forsters. The descriptions of Latham were however generally vague 

 and insufficient, so that it is often difficult to determine the precise 

 species or even genus to which they refer, and the exact descriptions 

 and measurements now furnished us by this work of Forster's will 

 therefore be of the utmost use in identifying many obscure species, 

 especially those of the little-known islands of the Pacific. It is in- 

 deed much to be regretted that the work before us was not published 

 at the time that it was written, as it would then have supplied the com- 

 pilations of Gmelin and Latham with materials of the highest value, 

 while Forster would have had the credit due to his labours, and the 

 scientific names which he proposed would have been generally 

 adopted. But by publishing the work at the present time, nearly all 

 Forster's specific names have lost their right of priority and must 

 take their rank as synonyms. Yet in spite of this inconvenience, the 

 work comes " better late than never ;" it will remain a monument of 

 Forster's accuracy of observation and high attainments as a natu- 

 ralist ; and though the majority of the animals described were pre- 

 viously known from other works, yet some, especially of the Inver- 

 tebrata, appear to be now first described, while the most important 

 additional light is throvni upon others. 



This volume is in fact the Zoological Appendix to * Cook's Second 

 Voyage,' and is also a valuable accompaniment to the ' Observations 

 made during a Voyage round the World,' which Forster published 

 in 1778, and to the 'Journal of the Voyage' which his son edited. 

 Some portions of it are in the form of a diary, narrating the events 

 of the expedition, but the greater part is occupied vnth minute de- 

 scriptions of the animals collected or observed. Professor Lichten- 

 stein deserves great praise for the strictness with which he has ad- 

 hered to Forster's text, and for his valuable notes on the synonymy of 

 the species described. In the latter department he has been aided by 

 Erichson, who has identified many of the insects described by Forster. 



We may hope that this publication may draw attention to the 

 drawings of the younger Forster, now in the British Museum. It is 

 much to be wished that a selection of such of these drawings as are 

 of the greatest interest to science were engraved and published. 

 Their importance is shovvm by the fact that foreign zoologists have 

 on several occasions made pilgrimages to London to inspect these 

 designs, and have quoted them as the authorities on which specific 

 distinctions have been founded. The first step towards this object 

 would be to publish an exact catalogue of Forster's drawings, distin- 

 guishing under each design the name which has been given to the 

 species by Schneider, Latham, Forster, and the modern zoologists 

 respectively. 



