393 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. Retrospective Criticism, 



Corrections to the last two Nuvibers. — In p. 128., last line, for " Am- 

 bleside," read " Keswick." P. [206.], line 8. from the bottom, for " Ne- 

 mains," read " remains." The work entitled " Popular Lectures on the 

 Vertebrated Animals of the British Islands " is wrongly arranged, p. 76., 

 among the natural history works of North America. 



Sloat. (p. 77.) — J. M. remarks, " the stoat does not change its colour 

 [in winter] here, as in the northern parts." This remark reminded me of a 

 very fine specimen of the stoat in its white state, caught near this place in 

 January, 1830; and which was much finer than many specimens brought 

 from abroad, being all over of a beautiful snowy white colour, forming a 

 striking contrast with the black tip to its tail. This was the first perfectly 

 white British specimen I had ever seen ; but I have seen many partially 

 white. I am, Sir, yours, &c. — E. H. Greenhow. North Shields^ Jan. 28. 

 1832. 



Crows covering their Eggs on leaving the Kest. (p. 144.) — The crows in 

 the vicinity of Lee uniformly cover their eggs, after they have begun to 

 hatch, with the materials of the lining of the nest; and if they comport 

 themselves differently at Walton Hall Park, I should infer the latter to be 

 eccentric crows. I speak positively to the fact as to our crows in Kent ; 

 and I doubt not some hundreds of testimonies may be got to prove the fact. 

 — James Rennie. Lee y Kent ^ March 2. 1831. 



Couch's Fishes of Cornwall new to the British Fauna, (p. 15.) — Sir, In 

 this article, I have serious fault to find with the disregard of proportion 

 exhibited in two of your figures. The wrass (jLabrus luscus Z/.), p. 18., is 

 described as being 22 in. long by 2Jin. deep; your figure (fig. 5.) repre- 

 sents its depth as at least equal to one third of its length, and so 7 in. 

 deep instead of 2iin. In p. 21., the dusky perch is described as 3 ft. in 

 length and 7 in. in depth; the figure (fig. 7.) represents it as 12 in. deep. 

 I am. Sir, yours, &c.— G. A. Goswell Roady Feb. 6. 1832. 



G. A. is thanked for his useful and judicious corrections. That he offers 

 on the iScomber maculatus, spotted or Spanish mackarel (fig. 8. p. 22.), 

 arises from his own misapprehension of the term " compass." It is described 

 as 6i in. in compass ; that is, in circumference, and not in depth, as G. A. 

 has understood it. — J.D. 



The Opinions of the Reviewer of Newman's Essay on Sphinx fespifdrmis 

 (p. 187.). — Sir, Without prejudice to the merits or novelty of Mr. Newman's 

 ingenious arrangement of insects, reviewed in p. 187., which I have not at 

 present leisure to investigate, allow me to point out how completely the 

 magical circles employed in the construction of his diagrams appear, from 

 their symmetry, to have blinded the reviewer, so far as the binary division 

 of insects into the subclasses of Mandibulata and Haustellata is concerned ; 

 and to show how slightly Mr. Newman's general arrangement really differs 

 from that adopted in my Systematic Catalogue with reference to such sub- 

 division. 



My arrangement, divested of the symbolic circles, stands thus : — 



