124 "The Times" o„ John Could. ["^isfocT 



cation, the animals themselves are not only tigured, but i)ortraits 

 of them from life are delineated, of which we cannot but notice 

 one of Landseerian viii^our — the physiognomy of the Tasmanian 

 W'olf. In the ])ublication of such a work Mr. Gould confesses 

 that he has departed from his original purpose of confining him- 

 self solely to ornithology, and owns that, with such profusion of 

 materials at his command, he was tempted to overstep his self- 

 assigned limits. The scientific world ought to be grateful to him 

 for having yielded to a temptation which, contrary to the normal 

 rule, is productive of good. 



With the execution of these great works. Mr. Gould's labours 

 have not yet ended. He has just completed a Monograph of the 

 Odontophorinac, or Partrid(/es of .Inicrica — a group of chastely 

 coloured, elegant birds, as attractive to the sportsman of the 

 Far West as are the partridges, pheasants, and grouse to the 

 sportsman of the Old Country. 



The completion of one work with Mr. Gould is not the period 

 of the commencement of others ; he commences a series of 

 new labours the moment he sees his way clear in the midst of 

 his then pressing engagements. At the invitation of the scientific 

 world he has commenced a grand work on the Birds of Asia 

 Is Asia the terminal terrain of Mr. Gould's ornithological 

 labours? No. He has already invaded America, and is making 

 an invasion still more formidable. While at work upon the 

 Birds of ^Isia (1850), he is at work also upon the Humming 

 Birds, the winged gems of the New World; and were he not 

 to bring out such a monograph we should at once condemn him. 

 His collection of humming birds is the finest in Europe ; and 

 almost every week he is adding, at no triflng cost, to its per- 

 fection. Here, indeed, he is regardless of expense and risk, 

 and can justly claim the i)atronage of the wealthy and the noble 

 of Europe. The humming birds, divided into many gr()ui)s or 

 genera, are extrcmel)- numerous. Lesson describes about 110 

 species. The collection of the late Mr. George Loddiges contains 

 about 200 species; that of Mr. Gould upwards of v^OO, of which 

 many are uni(|ue. W^e may here observe that the bulk of Mr. 

 Gould's collection is mounted, and arranged in revolving cases, 

 m a style befitting the value and overwhelming splendour of their 

 quivering inmates, for the specimens are set upon almost invisible 

 wires, and are tremulous as when during life they hovered over 

 the blossoms of a Mexican wilderness. 



But, then, how are the relluent glories of gems, of metallic 

 goid, green. pur])le and bronze, to be dej^icted? Can this triumph 

 of art be achieved? Even so; not indeed by common colouring, 

 but by a |)eculiar mode attained, after many and most expensive 

 trials, and requiring each figure to be worked up by the hand of 

 the ornithological artist and his able assistant, every plate being 

 in fact an original jxninting. Hie labor, hoe opus! More than 

 adequate rei)ayment of the necessary cx]ienditurc ]\Ir. Gould can- 

 not expect — unless, indeed, he receives a full measm-e of encour- 

 agement; and that his noble exertions in such an illustration. 



