132 



short distance away and at a lower elevation were very much smaller. 

 It would appear from this that the decrease in size towards the north is 

 not constant and cannot be altogether dependent on climatic conditions. 

 The light-coloured variety of the Mountain Sheep ranges along the 

 Rocky Mountains from the Arctic Ocean southward, so I am informed, 

 to the great break in the chain through which the Liard flows (Lat. 59° 

 30' N.). It is also found on all the higher mountain ranges of Alaska 

 and the adjacent part of the North-Western Territory of Canada. It is 

 not found east of tiie Rocky Mountains nor does it occur, according to 

 the information I obtained from fur traders and others, in the continua- 

 tion of the Rocky Mountains south of the Liard. 



:o:- 



NATURAL SCIENCE IN ILLINOIS. 



The opening of the. Natural History Hall of the University of 

 Illinois, at Champaign, 111 , on i6th November last, shows the high 

 appreciation of Economic Science in the Western States, where the 

 "making of money " is supposed to be the sole consideration of all 

 classes of society. 



The building and equipment of such an Institution as is described 

 below, proves that if even the most abstruse scientific investigations can 

 only be shown to be of public utility, the necessary money will bo tbrth- 

 coming for their prosecution. This Natural History Hall may be con- 

 sidered to be a monument to Prof S. A. Forbes, the eminent State 

 Entomologist of Illinois, to whose unceasing and well directed efforts 

 its completion is so largely due. Prof. Forbes is too well known as an 

 accomplished investigator in various fields of Natural History, to make 

 a detailed notice of his work necessary here. He was appointed to his 

 present position in 1882, and, in addition to his official reports as State 

 Entomologist, has issued niany valuable papers in scientific publications. 

 His studies of the food habits of birds and fishes are of the highest 

 merit. He is now engaged in the preparation of the second volume of 

 the Ornithology of Illinois. Part I, already issued, is a Descriptive 

 Catalogue (520 pages, 33 plates), by Dr. Robert Ridgway ; Part II, 

 Economic Ornithology, will be the work of Prof. Forbes. These 

 volumes are the first of a series on the Zoology and Cryptogamic Botany 



