INTRODUCTION 61 
changes and other physiological data supply, is the only sure basis of 
classification.” He was quite aware of the taxonomic value of the vocal 
organs of some groups of Birds, presently to be especially mentioned, and 
he had himself ascertained the presence and absence of cxca in a not 
inconsiderable number of groups, drawing thence very justifiable infer- 
ences. He knew at least the earlier investigations of L’Herminier, and, 
though the work of Nitzsch, even if he had ever heard of it, must (through 
ignorance of the language in which it was written) have been to him a 
sealed book, he had followed out and extended the hints already given by 
Temminck as to the differences which various groups of Birds display in 
their moult. With all this it is not surprising to find, though the fact 
has been generally overlooked, that Blyth’s proposed arrangement in 
many points anticipated conclusions that were subsequently reached, and 
were then regarded as fresh discoveries. It is proper to add that at this 
time the greater part of his work was carried on in conjunction with Mr. 
Bartlett, the present Superintendent of the Zoological Society’s Gardens, 
and that, without his assistance, Blyth’s opportunities, slender as they 
were compared with those which others have enjoyed, must have been 
still smaller. Considering the extent of their materials, which was 
limited to the bodies of such animals as they could obtain from dealers 
and the several menageries that then existed in or near London, the 
progress made in what has since proved to be the right direction is very 
wonderful. It is obvious that both these investigators had the genius for 
recognizing and interpreting the value of characters ; but their labours do 
not seem to have met with much encouragement ; and a general arrange- 
ment of the Class laid by Blyth before the Zoological Society at this 
time! does not appear in its publications, possibly through his neglect to 
reduce his scheme to writing and deliver it within the prescribed period. 
But even if this were not the case, no one need be surprised at the result. 
The scheme could hardly fail to be a crude performance—a fact which 
nobody would know better than its author ; but it must have presented 
much that was objectionable to the opinions then generally prevalent. 
Its line to some extent may be partly made out—very clearly, for the 
matter of that, so far as its details have been published in the series of 
papers to which reference has been given—and some traces of its features 
are probably preserved in his Catalogue of the specimens of Birds in the 
Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which, after several years of 
severe labour, made its appearance at Calcutta in 1849; but, from the 
time of his arrival in India, the onerous duties imposed upon Blyth, 
together with the want of sufficient books of reference, seem to have 
hindered him from seriously continuing his former researches, which, 
interrupted as they were, and born out of due time, had no appreciable 
effect on the views of systematizers generally. 
Next must be noticed a series of short treatises communicated by 
Johann Friedrich Brandt, between the years 1836 and 1839, to the 
Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, and published in its Mémoires. 
1 An abstract is contained in the Minute-book of the Scientific Meetings of the 
Zoological Society, 26th June and 10th July 1838. The Class was to contain fifteen 
Orders, but only three were dealt with in any detail. 
f 
