76 NATURAL SCIENCE [August 
already; it is only necessary to keep careful account of locality 
and horizon, and to spare the fossiliferous stones of ancient build- 
ings. There is plenty of sport in fossil-hunting, and the merest of 
mere collectors may provide the most arabes peat al of palaeontolo- 
gists with valuable material, and in this way increase the value of 
his own collection. 
FROU-FROU AND FEATHERS 
ALL moralists have assured us that “ when lovely woman stoops to 
folly,’ she stoops very low indeed. And so when women attempt 
to emulate the glories of a Choctaw chief or a South Sea islander, it 
is not considerations of art or humanity or self-respect that will 
stop them. Consequently it is not likely that the insensate votaries 
of fashion, who disfigure their heads with baskets of artificial flowers 
(irrespective of the season), virulently dyed scraps of ribbon, twists 
of steel, and unnaturally chipped or coloured bird-feathers, will pay 
any attention to a paragraph in a scientific journal. But we are 
willing to leave the irresponsible half of creation all their chiffons 
elian mean ‘rags’ or ‘women’s dress’ as you please), their 
coal-tar dyes, and their scrap-iron, if only they will leave us our 
birds. The rate at which some of the rarest and most beautiful 
birds on our planet are being destroyed to gratify this extraordinary 
taste can hardly be realised. On the 13th of April last nearly 
half-a-million birds were sold at an auction in London, and the 
details of the consignment were thus given by Mrs Edward Phillips 
at the annual meeting of the Selborne Society :— 
Osprey plumes, ; : E : 11,352 ounces 
Vulture plumes, : ' : 186? pounds 
Peacock feathers, : 2 . 215,051 bundles 
Birds of Paradise, . ; 4 , 2,062 
Indian parrots, : , .. 223288 
Bronze pigeons, including he goura, . . LGTY 
Tannagers and sundry birds: ¢ i ; 38,198 
Humrning birds, , é : . 116,490 
Jays and kinefishers, : 48,759 
Impeyan and other pheasant amd faced fowl, . 4,952 
Owls and hawks, .. . ; : 7,163 
A similar sale took place in February, and others were to follow 
in July and October. 
It is small consolation to us to think that in a few years the 
price of these luxuries will be prohibitive, or that, unless fashion 
changes in the direction of sea-weeds or turnip-tops, there will soon 
