Miscellaneous, 75 



shells may have been brought home by Capt. Belcher himself; it is 

 a satisfaction, however, to know that they are in good hands, and we 

 only hope that the zoology of his expedition will be published in a 

 style of elaborate illustration, equal to the ' Voyage de la Coquille' of 

 Lesson, the ' Voyage de l'Astrolabe' of Quoy and Gaimard, or the 

 'Voyage dans l'Amerique Mdridionale' of D'Orbigny. We are 

 sadly behind our continental neighbours in this respect, and one can 

 scarcely wonder at the very low ebb of conchological science in this 

 country. If the labours of Mr. Cuming had been made the source 

 of a national undertaking, what a glorious and important work 

 would have been the result, — a light for all nations and a credit to 

 our country in particular! 



Yours, &c, 

 August 20, 1842. Lovell Reeve. 



ARCTIC TERN. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, — I observe in the last number of the ' Annals of 

 Natural History,' that Mr. Strickland reverts to the subject of the 

 Arctic Tern, but as I do not doubt the correctness of that gentle- 

 man's observations as to the species he examined, further reply is un- 

 necessary. 



As a knowledge of the habits of animals is as essential to the 

 naturalist as it is to be acquainted with their forms, my object in 

 first addressing you on the subject was to correct what appeared to 

 me to be an error as to the birds in question being on their way to 

 the "northern regions." Though, no doubt, many of them do pene- 

 trate to the higher northern latitudes during the warmer months, yet 

 as the tern in question appeared inland so exactly at the time when 

 they usually take up their summer quarters, the true inference to be 

 deduced therefrom seemed to be, that they were prevented reaching 

 their accustomed haunts around our own shores by the strong gales 

 which prevailed at the time. 



It is not very easy at all times to distinguish between the S. arctica 

 and 8. hirundo, for some of the points relied on by ornithologists as 

 specific may be sometimes observed in birds of the same flock, and 

 may perhaps depend on age or sexual difference. The birds of the 

 season are easily distinguished from the old ones by their gray heads, 

 the black feathers never appearing till the birds are in full summer 

 plumage. 



I am, Sir, yours, &c, 



T. Austin. 



GALIUM CRUCIATUM. 



From a paragraph in the last number of the ' Annals,' vol. ix. 

 p. 519, it would appear that in consequence of the Galium cruciatum 

 not being noticed in the ■ Flora Hibernica,' it has hitherto been un- 

 known as a native of Ireland; yet K'Eogh, who published in 1735, 

 describes the plant under the English name ' Crosswort,' so minutely 

 as not to admit of any mistake. Harris, who partially investigated 

 the botany of the county of Down in 1743, enumerates the plant in 



