Letters, Announcements , S^'c. 503 



South-African zoology, Mr. J. II. Gurney has most obligingly 

 submitted to our inspection a copy of " A Catalogue of the 

 South-African Museum : now exhibiting in the Egyptian Hall, 

 Piccadilly. The property of a Society entitled ' The Cape of 

 Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa,' " which 

 bears date " 1837. '^ This Catalogue contains the names of a 

 good many species of birds which are apparently used for the 

 first time ; but no descriptions, fortunately, are appended to them. 

 We have occasionally seen reference to this publication made in 

 some ornithological works ; but we never before met with it, 

 and it must be simply regarded as a literary curiosity and not 

 as throwing any light, at least so far as ornithology is concerned, 

 on disputed points of nomenclature. Mr. Gurney's copy was ob- 

 tained at Temminck's sale, and, as appears from a few lines written 

 on the title, w^as sent to the Museum at Leyden in anticipation of 

 the disposal of the collection, which was " advertized for sale on 

 the 6th of June, 1838/' Most of the important specimens were 

 subsequently transferred to the British Museum. 



A short time since, a friend of ours, who, though no naturalist, 

 was aware of the store set upon old representations of the Dodo, 

 was good enough to inform us that he had lately been making 

 some literary researches in Holland, and had been shown a 

 manuscript copy of an old journal kept during a voyage to 

 Mauritius, which was illustrated by several drawings, apparently 

 contemporary, of Dodos. We immediately communicated this 

 intelligence, with all the additional particulars we could gfither, 

 to Professor Schlegel, who, in I'eturn, informs us that the book 

 had been already brought to his notice, and that its pictorial 

 contents are of great value, the figures of the Dodo and other 

 birds having been most beautifully drawn from life by a man who 

 knew well what he was about. We understand tiiat the narra- 

 tive has been printed before, but no account given of the figures 

 with which it is embellished. However, Professor Schlegel tells 

 us he is preparing a short memoir on the subject ; we therefore 

 have no desire to anticipate him by mentioning at present the 



