LTNNEAN BOCIETr OP LON^DON. xlix 



ideas of genera and species ; they can exhibit the generic or specific 

 characters more or less divested of specific or individual peculiarities. 



Drawings, on the other hand, are, much more than specimens, 

 liable to imperfections and falsifications, arising from defective obser- 

 vation of the model and want of skill in the artist ; and errors thus 

 once established are much more diflScult of correction than even 

 those conveyed by writing. A pictorial representation conveys an 

 idea much more rapidly and impresses it much more strongly on the 

 mind than any detailed accompanying description by which it may 

 be modified or corrected, and is but too frequently the only evidence 

 looked into by the more theoretical naturalist. This is especially 

 the case with microscopical and anatomical details of the smaller 

 animals and plants, the representations of which, if very elaborate 

 and difficult to verify, usually inspire absolute confidence. Draw- 

 ings are also costly, often beyond the means of unaided science, who 

 here, again, as in the case of gardens and museums, is obliged to have 

 recourse to the paying public : the public in return require to have 

 their tastes gratified ; artistic effect is necessarily considered, thus 

 increasing the cost, and removing the pictures still further fi'om the 

 reach of the working biologist. It appears to me that collections 

 of drawings systematically arranged have not generally met with 

 that attention which they require from Directors of Museums, and 

 that their multiplication in an effective and cheap form ought to be 

 a great object on the part of governments, scientific associations, and 

 others who contribute pecuniarily to the advancement of science. 



To be effective, the first requisites in a zoological or botanical 

 drawing are accuracy and completeness ; it is a faithful representa- 

 tion, not a picture, that is wanted. Many a splendid portrait of an 

 animal or plant, especially if grouped with others in one picture, 

 has been rendered almost useless to science by a graceful attitude 

 or an elegant curve which the artist has soxight to give to a limb or 

 to a branch ; and those analytical details which are of paramount 

 importance to the biologist are neglected because they spoil the 

 general effect. We next require from an illustration as from a de- 

 scription that it should be representative or to a certain degree 

 abstract ; and this requires that the artist, if not himself the natu- 

 ralist, should work under the naturalist's eye, so as to understand 

 what he delineates. Great care should be taken to select for the 

 model an individual in a normal state as to health, size, &c., and 

 in the selection and arrangement of the anatomical details, so as to 

 represent the race rather than the individual — aU of which requires 

 a thorough acquaintance with the questions to be attended to. It 



