The Naturalist. 265 



frontispiece ; and the last, by far the most important of all, 

 an intimation that " the papers admitted will be of a more 

 practically interesting and useful character than heretofore : 

 and fairness and impartiality may always be relied on by 

 authors appearing before the critical tribunal of the Na- 

 turalist" The former conductors will, doubtless, fully ap- 

 preciate the compliment thus paid to them, in their editorial 

 capacity, by the " proprietors," in framing this seventh alter- 

 ation. After, however, the notice which appeard in the 

 Naturalist of " British Song Birds," we own that some hint 

 about future impartiality in the reviewing department was by 

 no means impolitic. We certainly felt, when perusing that 

 critique, rather puzzled to comprehend why the reviewer 

 should so " deeply marvel," and express such profound as- 

 tonishment, at a production which, from a casual acquaint- 

 ance, appeared to us not to indicate anything more than that 

 its author possessed, in common with a host of others, the 

 power of observing the habits of birds, and of committing 

 those observations to paper. The article forcibly brought to 

 our recollection a passage in the first number of the Na- 

 turalist, where Mr. Mudie speaks of those ages in which 

 " single scintillations " were regarded as " stars of the first 

 magnitude, after which the benighted children of men won- 

 dered and worshipped." Shortly, however, after Mr. Neville 

 Wood's prodigious attainments had been thus blazoned forth 

 in the Naturalist, his name appeared, in conjunction with the 

 editor of that periodical, as joint editor of the Analyst ! 



We must turn, however, to the number before us, being 

 the seventh from the commencement, and the first of the 

 second volume ; and here we have great satisfaction in ob- 

 serving that its contents fully justify the promise, held out in 

 the prospectus, of an improvement in the general matter and 

 tendency of the articles admitted. The communications have 

 not that artificial character with which many of those ap- 

 pearing in the early numbers were invested ; and we do not 

 remark one that deserves to be spoken of otherwise than in 

 terms of commendation. 



The subjects introduced are, first, a paper on the Lemuridae. 

 The writer treats of the general habits and characters of the 

 Lemur family, and its relations to allied groups, which are 

 pointed out in a clear and interesting manner. The genera 

 Lemur, I'ndris, Propithecus, Galeopithecus, and Cheirogaleus 

 are described in detail ; and the subject is to be continued in 

 a future number. The author's name is not given ; but his 

 remarks seem founded on personal observation, and indicate 



