ORIGINAL MEMBEKS. 113 



publication of the ninth edition of the ' Enc3^clop8eclia 

 Britaiinica ' he was chosen, as a matter of course, to write 

 ahout Birds. That he was one of the most valued contri- 

 butors to that very useful publication no one can. doubt, 

 and the numerous articles bearing his signature have been 

 incori'orated, with some additions and emendations, in the 

 ' Dictionary of Birds/ to which also other writers of eminence 

 have contributed. The article '^ Birds/' for instance, is 

 essentially composite, whilst that on '•'^ Fossil Birds'' has 

 been largely reconstructed with the help of Mr. Lydekker, 

 and formed the subject of an address delivered before the 

 Second International Ornithological Congress at Budapest 

 in 1891. The article ''Ornithology" is Newton's very own 

 and embodies in a most condensed form the results of his 

 long experience. That there still lemained a touch of 

 caustic in the author can be inferred from a note in the 

 Introduction, where he expresses a hope that persons indif- 

 ferent to the pleasures of Natural History may tind in it 

 {i. e. in the Dictionary) some corrections to the erroneous 

 impressions commonly conveyed by sciolists posing as 

 instructors. 



The 'Ootheca Wolleyana ' has been justly described as a 

 monumental work, since, as the editor and joint-author 

 remarks, it is largely a record of ancient friendships. It 

 may be safely asserted that none but the late editor possessed 

 the knowledge to nndertcdce or the perseverance to execute 

 this enormous compendium of oological research. Tlie 

 whole of the huge AVolley collection of Birds' Eggs had 

 devolved upon him, and this, in conjunction with his own 

 accumulations of over half a century, he presented in his 

 lifetime to the University of Cambridge. 



Hitherto w'c have regarded Newton mainly as an ornitho- 

 logist, but Avc must also consider him in the more extended 

 domain of Zoology, bearing in mind that he occupied that 

 chair at Cambridge for a period of forty-one years. From 

 early days he evinced considerable interest in the anatomy 

 of vertebrates, and especially in osteology, which he certainly 

 was very competent to teach. 



