NOTES AND COMMENTS [march 



Bibliography of Zoology. 



Dr. H. H. Field, writing in the American Naturalist for December 

 1898, states that the work of the Concilium Bibliographicum, hitherto 

 carried on with heavy pecuniary loss to himself, has now been made 

 safe for the future by a permanent subsidy voted to it by the Swiss 

 Confederation, the canton, and the town of Zurich. The office now has 

 its own composing-room, where three type-setters and a head typo- 

 grapher are at work all day. Hard by it has its own large cylinder 

 press, as well as a paper-cutting machine in charge of a special 

 machinist. With this staff 100 cards a day can be turned out, and 

 this is estimated to be more than double the actual rate of zoological 

 publication. A separate staff is employed to sort and check the cards, 

 and to distribute them to subscribers. The use of the classificatory 

 numbers enables this to be done with an almost automatic precision. 

 This system of numbers is a purely practical device for enabling the 

 cards to be sorted at once into their assigned places by any one that 

 can read Arabic numerals. For purposes of subscription almost any 

 conceivable topic may be ordered, no matter how restricted it may be ; 

 the price varies from one-tenth of a penny to a halfpenny a card, 

 according to the size of the order. These details refer to the zoological 

 portion of the catalogue only ; but the anatomical and physiological 

 bibliographies are also in an advanced state of preparation, and will 

 soon be supplied with regularity. 



The Museum and Gardens of Trivandrum. 



TrivAndrum, the capital of Travancore, in the extreme south of India, 

 has a museum and public gardens. The director of these is Mr. 

 Harold S. Ferguson, who recently gave two interesting lectures on 

 these institutions. From the report published in the Western Star we 

 learn that both were originated by Mr. J. A. Brown, who in 1852 was 

 appointed astronomer at Trivandrum. This most enthusiastic worker, 

 though strongly supported by the Eesident, General Cullen, was 

 unable to make much headway against the peculiar ideas of the native 

 authorities. His successors, the botanist Colonel Heber Drury, Captain 

 Drury, Major Davidson, and finally the chaplain, Mr. Pettigrew, were 

 not more successful, though all, except Captain Drury, had correct 

 ideas of what such a museum should be. In 1879 the management 

 of the museum was placed in the hands of a committee of three, pre- 

 sided over by the British Eesident, and, thanks chiefly to the honorary 

 secretary, Colonel Ketchen, the whole establishment was reorganised. 

 Mr. Ferguson himself joined the committee in 1880, and in 1886-87 



