714 NATURAL SCIENCE. ^.„,,, 



for weakness in the limbs and the fear of cold, might be able to dress daily and sit 

 in the library adjoining his bedroom. His great deafness, however, prevents him 

 from seeing others than his intimate friends. 



Mr. Charles Andrews, B.A., B.Sc, is the successful candidate in the recent 

 examination for the position of Assistant in the Geological Department of the British 

 Museum. As soon as the subsequent formalities have been completed, he will 

 commence work on the fossil Vertebrata. 



The Botanical Department of the British Museum has lately benefited by the 

 acquisition of two cryptogamic collections of great value. The one is the large 

 herbarium of the late Mr. George Davies, of Brighton, and consists of some 20,000 

 specimens. It was presented by his widow. The deceased gentleman devoted 

 more than thirty years of his life to a keen study of the mosses, hepatics and 

 lichens, which he partly himself gathered in the British Isles and the south of 

 Europe, and partly received from correspondents in distant parts of the world. 

 The other acquisition is a very complete set of 494 Hepatics, collected by the dis- 

 tinguished traveller and botanist. Dr. Richard Spruce, in the River Amazon and the 

 Andes of South America, during the years 1849-60, and ably monographed by his 

 masterly hand in the Transactions and Pi'oceedini;s of the Botanical Society of Edin- 

 burgh, vol. XV. (1885). 



The second part of Mr. George Murray's Phycological Memoirs, embodying the 

 results of researches on Alga? conducted in the Botanical Department of the British 

 Museum, is nearly ready for issue. Besides papers on the West Indian Algae and 

 a comparison of the marine floras of the warm Atlantic and Indian Ocean by the 

 Editor, there will also be noies on the Fucaceae by Miss A. L. Smith, Miss Barton, 

 and Miss F. G. Whitting. 



The Smithsonian Institution has lately issued vol, xxviii. o! its " Contributions 

 to Knowledge," an elaborate work entitled " Life Histories of North American 

 Birds, with special reference to their Breeding Habits and Eggs," by Captain 

 Charles Bendire, Hon. Curator of the Department of Oology in the U.S. National 

 Museum. The volume deals only with land-birds, and is illustrated by twelve fine 

 coloured plates of eggs. It is based on the author's field notes and the collection in 

 the U.S. National Museum, and there is a reference to every published observation 

 of importance in regard to the habits and distribution of each species. 



The Curator of the Kingston Museum, Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell, is displaying 

 praiseworthy activity in his new sphere, and contributes to the current number of 

 the Journal of tlie Institute of Jamaica (vol. i., no. 4) a series of original notes on the 

 local Mollusca, Insects, Myriapods, and Fungi, several in co-operation with well- 

 known specialists. Some new genera and species of insects are described, but with- 

 out figures. The description and a quaint picture of the earthquake at Port Royal 

 on June 7, 1692, are reprinted from the originals in the British Museum and form an 

 interesting contribution to the Journal. The Institute is evidently doing good work 

 in the promotion of scientific studies in Jamaica. 



Two new parts of the Records of the Australian Museum (\ol. ii., nos. 2, 3) were 

 issued in August. Professor Liversidge contributes the first paper on some bismuth 

 minerals, illustrated by three plates. Mr. A. G. North records some additions to the 

 known Avifauna of Tasmania and Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, and also has a 

 note on the nesting of the Manucode (Manucodus comrii) with figures of the eggs. 

 Mr. J. Douglas Ogilby describes some new reptiles and fishes from Australia, and 

 Mr. C. Hedley discusses the structure and affinities of a land snail. Panda atomata, 

 with several illustrations. 



