ST. JAMES'S ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



We have received a prospectus of this society, the object of which is stated to 

 be the " forming a collection of water-birds in the garden of St. James's Park ; 

 and its operations will subsequently be extended to other parks, if the funds of 

 the society be found sufficient." As naturalists, every project of this nature has 

 our sincere wishes for its success, and perhaps, as the moderate subscription of 

 one pound is all that is required, some of our readers may be pleased to take the 

 opportunity of assisting an institution which will doubtless afford facilities for " ob- 

 servations upon the variations and periodical change of plumage, which are so in- 

 teresting to naturalists." The names of Yarrell, Swainson, Mudie, and Jesse, so 

 well known in the scientific world, are a pledge that some useful purpose is designed 

 by, and will be obtained from, the " Ornithological Society." But if purposes of 

 show only were intended we should still advocate the plan as a probable means of 

 raising the standard of taste among the lower orders in London, who may now, 

 perhaps, for the first time observe the members of the feathered tribes without 

 the mischievous wish to pelt them being gratified. Much has been done by the 

 present age in this respect, and all we want is to see the principle carried out to 

 its fullest extent, so that animals may be seen, admired, and examined, without the 

 insane wish to bait, torture, or injure them. The birds in St. James's Park will 

 have this advantage, that they will be " open to the view of all classes of the 

 people" every day, and thus even the poor mechanic and his family, shut out from 

 light and almost hope for a dreary week, may, in the intervals of public worship 

 on Sundays, solace their eyes with a sight which no philanthropist would wish 

 them to be deprived of. Living specimens, we perceive, of any of the rarer 

 swans, geese, ducks, divers, grebes, waders, &c, will be very acceptable to the 

 society, to whom we can only say " Go on and prosper." 



REVIEW. 



Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons ; illustrating the Perfections of God in the 

 Phenomena of the Year. Part I. : Winter. By the Rev. Henry Duncan, 

 D.D. Edinburgh. 1836. 



The author of this work furnishes a beautiful instance of one who is " not 

 weary in well-doing," but who has been continually " going about doing good." 

 After devoting many years in the earlier part of his life to ensure to the poorer 

 classes of his countrymen the benefits of habits of prudence and economy, by 



