30 NOTES ON THE DODO. 



late appearance of Insects/' in the ^'Zoologist/' page 4129, in which the 

 author states of the Pamphila Adceon these words: — "I did not procure 

 anything like the number of specimens that might have been obtained in fine 

 bright weather, although what I did get (nine dozen) were in much finer 

 condition than they would have been if the sun had shone continuously," etc. 



Imagine! nine dozen, (one hundred and eight specimens,) inter alia, of one 

 poor insect! The other instance to which I allude, is the work, lately 

 published, of '^A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast," by P. H. 

 Gosse, Esq. This book is, as all must admit, a most important addition to 

 a very little known branch of Natural History, most pleasingly written, and 

 that by a true lover of Nature and her works; but I am sorry to say that 

 the pleasure here is again lessened by the description of the various experiments 

 performed on the beautiful animals so well and minutely described therein. 

 It is the only drawback to a most delightful work. 



The comments of that healthy-toned contemporary, ^^Kidd's Own Journal," 

 in a Review of "The Naturalist," vol. iv., page 283, amply also bear me out. 



I hope, therefore, that it is only necessary to have the evil fully pointed 

 out, for these and other wholesale slaughters to cease amongst collectors. 



Dorchester^ Decemher 6th., 1853. 



NOTES ON THE DODO. 



In the December number of ^'The Naturalist," mention was made, in the 

 obituary notice of Mr. Strickland, of the work entitled ''The Dodo and its 

 kindred; or the History, Affinities, and Osteology of the Dodo, Solitaire, and 

 other extinct birds of the Islands of Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon," 

 (Published by Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, King William Street, Strand;) 

 the joint production of that lamented gentleman and Dr. Melville. Having 

 by me some notes extracted from that book, and thinking they might interest 

 such of your readers as have not seen the work, I send them to you to 

 act with as you may think fit. Notes so short as these can of course only 

 give a faint idea of the interest of the work, and of the curious and learned 

 researches which it contains. Of the various kinds of evidence adduced in 

 proof of the existence of the Dodo, the Historical evidences will, I think, 

 be considered the most important; and to these I shall confine myself. 



I. — Nothing definite is recorded of Mauritius and its productions, till the 

 year 1/598, when the Dutch, under Jacob Cornelius Neck, or Van Neck, 

 took possession of the island, having found it uninhabited. Accounts of this 

 voyage were written in French, German, Latin, and English, and published 

 in 1601; the title of the French edition is, "Le second Livre, Journal ou 

 Comptoir, contenant le vrai Discours et Narration historique du voyage faict par 

 des huict Navires d' Amsterdam au mois de Mars I'an 1598, soubs le conduitte 



