n 



THE OSPREY. 



to accuse another [Vigors] of having abused the 

 authority intrusted to him as editor of a scien- 

 tific journal [the Zoological Journal) by intro- 

 ducing' into that work private communications 

 addressed particularly to private individuals, 

 and not intended for the public (p. 97.); of abus- 

 ing the same power, by making a spirit of dis- 

 sension and of invective the conspicuous feature 

 of that journal (same page); of equally abusing 

 the influence which he is alleged to possess as 

 the ostensible agent of a scientific institution, 

 by rendering that institution far behind all 

 others, whether of France or England, in the 

 march of liberality (p. loo.); of being the detrac- 

 tor of men of merit (p. 104.); of not acting in 

 accordance with his own recorded possessions 

 (p. 98.); of rendering his professions of truth 

 being his guide utterly worthless, by not putting 

 them in practice, (p. 105.) 



He proceeded to note and answer these charges 

 categorically and at great length. The entire 

 "reply" was full of personalities and certain 

 inconsistencies of Swainson were exposed and 

 ridiculed. 



After a preliminary announcement (iv, 456 . 

 an answer to this effusion was published in the 

 November number of the Magazine (iv, 481-486) 

 as "The final statement of Mr. Swainson in 

 reply to Mr. Vigors." Swainson endeavoured 

 to explain his "connection with the Zoological 

 Society" and Dr. Richardson, defended his dis- 

 interested aid to others, accused Vigors "of 

 being profoundly ignorant of the very essenc 

 of that quinary and circular system upon which 

 he publicly lectures," and concluded with the 

 resolution: — "Nothing shall now tempt me to 

 another reply." 



One naive paragraph related to his "'grade' 

 and 'profession.'" He remarked: "My inter- 

 rogator was, or is, in the army; consequently 

 he knows, or should know, that lie of whom he 

 writes is his superior officer, and that in 'camps 

 and courts' he must give him place.' 



Meanwhile protests were made by "subscribers" 

 and "correspondents" of the Magazine against 

 the admission of such personalities as Swainson 

 and Vigors had indulged in to the exclusion or 

 delay of more important matter. Vigors conse- 

 quently suggested (iv. 3S9) that the editor should 

 publish, in the "next number such a surplus por- 

 tion of the really important materials which [he 

 knew the editor had] always in hand, as will 

 equal the space taken up by [Vigors'-.] commu- 

 nications; for the expenses of which surplus 

 matter [Vigors would] feel great satisfaction in 

 being responsible." He also enclosed a letter 

 from MacLeay completely exonerating him fri 'in 

 "having, in an unauthorized manner, published 

 [his] private and confidential correspondence," 

 which was duly printed in an "Appendix" (iv, 

 560). 



Vigors, by a reason of "absence from England 

 for some weeks," was "prevented" from seeing 



♦The pages containing Vigors's reply were intercalated and numbered within brackets as indicated so that thev 

 could be eliminated without prejudice to the regular paginal ion of the volume. 



Swainson's "Final Statement" for a time (see 

 v, 113) but. in an "appendix" to the March (1832) 

 number iv. " [191] "— " [208,] " returned to the 

 charge in another long article of 16 pages in 

 which lie selected paragraphs of Swainson's 

 answer and commented at length on them. It 

 need only be said here that considerable infor- 

 mation is incidentally furnished of the personal 

 relations of Swainson with others and the entire 

 controversy has some historical interest and im- 

 portance. Those who wish for further infor- 

 mation, however, must refer to the original. 



Vigors was not at all suppressed by Swain- 

 son's reproof as a superior officer: he replied (v, 

 2ol i: "the exact degree of precedence that exists 

 between Mr. Swainson and myself in 'camps 

 in 1 courts,' I must leave to himself to deter- 

 mine. He will find me little solicitous on such 

 points; and not tile less so because they refer to 

 matters of fact, not of words." "His connec- 

 tion with the army, as far as I can collect from 

 his own observations,— if I have mistaken him, 

 I am open to correction, — originated in his 

 being in some way employed in the commissa- 

 riat department." 



It may be recalled here that Swainson took 

 especial pride in being, when retired, the highest 

 officer for his age in hiscorps. Vig-ors of course 

 could not have been as ill-informed respecting 

 titis as he pretended. Swainson. by injudicious 

 allusions and innuendoes drew utou himself 

 not only Vigors's wrath, but became involved 

 iu controversy with or was answered bv E. T. 

 Bennett, (iv, 199-206; 211-213) and W. S. Mac- 

 Leay (iv, 506) and subscribers to his "Zoologi- 

 cal Illustrations" wire also provoked to join in 

 the fray (iv, 272-273; 457-450; 554-555.) 



Swainson subsequently was reconciled to 

 Vigors ami evidently had learned to respect his 

 ability and he made amends for his previous 

 attack. In 1S37. in his work "On the Natural 

 History and Classification of Birds" (ii. 304.) he 

 dedicated ;i genus of parrots to Vigors in these 

 terms: 



"I wish to name this interesting group, of 

 which I only know the typical distinctions, in 

 commemoration of the excellent ornithologist 

 who first defined, and ably illustrated, many of 

 the groups in this family: and whose efforts 

 towards determining their natural arrangment 

 have been conducted on sound philosophical 

 principles. I have adopted nearly all the genera 

 proposed by Mr. Vigors, simply because I have 

 found them natural. Those of Mr. Wagler I 

 have totally rejected: they are not better than 

 M. Lesson's, and have therefore no claim to a 

 preference, even on the score of bare priority: 

 they seem to me. in short, highly artificial and 

 altogether inadmissible." 



(To be Continued.) 



