June 15, 1876] 



NATURE 



153 



D^ 



THE MAMMALS AND BIRDS OF BURMA 1 

 ^URING the last few years of his life, the late Mr, 

 Edward Blyth— whose death on December 27th 

 1874 we referred to on the following week — devoted much 

 of his time to the production of a Catalogue of the Mam- 

 mals and Birds of Burma. This he had originally com- 

 menced as a sketch of the Natural History of Burma, 

 to form a chapter in a work on that country by Sir A. 

 Phayre ; but as he had gone too exhaustively into the 

 subject for that purpose. Sir Arthur, on receiving the 

 manuscript after its author's death, handed it over to Mr. 

 Arthur Grote, with the view of its being published in the 

 '•Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal." To this the 

 Council of the Society willinjily assented, the result being 

 that Blyth's posthumous " Catalogue of the Mammals 

 and Birds of Burma " has appeared as an extra num- 

 ber of that journal, with an interesting and detailed 

 biography by Mr. Grote. Different authors, with notes 

 and additions, edit the different sections. Dr. John 

 Anderson, the present curator of the Indian Museum of 

 Calcutta, has undertaken the Mammals, with the excep- 

 tion of the Bats, which have been placed under the 

 charge of Dr. G. E. Dobson ; whilst Lord Walden edits 

 the Birds. The editorial notes are all inclosed within 

 brackets, so that there is no difficulty in distinguishing 

 the author's own views. Without the notes and additions 

 the work would not have been a complete one ; as it now 

 appears, it is an exhaustive account of the mammali- and 

 avi-faunae of the Burmese portion of our Indian Empire. 



Mr. Blyth's peculiar power of perceiving specific differ- 

 ences, together wiih his general scientific acumen, had 

 full opportunity of displaying themselves when he in 1841 

 undertook the charge of the mass of unassorted material, 

 in the forms of skins and bones, accumulated at Calcutta 

 by the labours of Messrs. Hodgson, Cantor, and others. 

 His thorough study of these enabled him to employ to 

 the greatest advantage the opportunities which occurred 

 to him of visiting Burma, which he did on several occa- 

 sions, between i860 and 1862. The results of these are 

 embodied in the work under consideration, which as a 

 simple catalogue would have been valuable, but is made 

 doubly so by the extremely instructive comments which 

 accompany many of the descriptions, and indicate how 

 acute were the powers of their author as a naturalist. 

 This may be further proved by the fact that of the 129 

 species of mammals known to inhabit Burma, thirty are 

 recognised by names given by him. 



As a point to which we would take exception we must 

 refer to the name by which the author designates the 

 " Ear-fringed Rhinoceios," first described by Mr. Sclater, 

 from a unique specimen now living in the Zoological 

 Gardens in the Regent's Park, as Rhinoceros lasiotis. It 

 happened that Dr. Gray had given the name R. crossii to 

 the owner of a rhinoceros horn, 17 inches in length, the 

 shape of which was different from that of any known 

 species. Why, when a new species is discovered, the 

 horn should be assumed to be one of those belonging to 

 it, is far from easy to understand, and Mr. Blyth gives no 

 reasons for his nomenclature. He does place a note of 

 interrogation after the name. If we remember correctly, 

 the stuffed specimens of R. sumatrensis in the British 

 Museum bear the name of Ceratorhmus crossii, 



METEOROLOGY AT MELBOURNE"" 



THESE first three volumes of the new issue of the 

 results of the meteorological observations carried 

 on in Victoria under Mr. EUery's direction, give copious 



' "Catalogue of Mammals and Birds of Burma." By the late E. Blyth, 

 C. M Z.S. '•Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," new series, vol. 

 xliii Part 2. 



* Results of Observations in Meteoro'ogy, Terrestrial MaKnetism, «c., 

 taken a. the Melbourne Observatory du.ring the year;, 1872, '73. '74, with 

 Abs r^ctsfrom Meteorological Observations obtained at various Localities in 

 Victoria, under the supeiintendence of Robert L. J. Kilery, Government 

 Astronomer. 



details of all the work done at Melbourne, the chief 

 observatory of the colony, the means and extremes of 

 barometer and thermometer at from six to ten stations, 

 and the amount and days of the rainfall at from twenty- 

 six to thirty-four stations, the latter being the number of 

 rainfall stations in 1874. To these are added, copious and 

 very valuable resumes from all the thirty-four stations, of 

 electrical phenomena, hail, frost, snow and sleet, fog, hot 

 winds, storms of wind, auroras and earthquakes, most 

 of which form so important elements in the climatology 

 of Victoria. 



The daily results for pressure, temperature, and evapo- 

 ration, which are printed for Melbourne from obser- 

 vations made at 6 and 9 A.M., and 3 and 9 P.M., have 

 been " corrected" so as to render their values, and those 

 derived from them, equivalent to those deduced from 

 hourly observations, presumably from the hourly values 

 determined by Dr. G. Neumayer. This method of pub- 

 lishing results is objectionable particularly as regards 

 daily observations ; and even as regards monthly means, 

 it is not free from serious objection, because, owing to the 

 varying limits of the daily oscillations, this method of 

 correcting observations must frequently mislead. 



The anemometrical results for Melbourne are extremely 

 valuable. In the summer months southerly winds and 

 in the winter months northerly winds largely prepon- 

 derate. Thus in 1874 — while in January northerly winds 

 (N.E., N., N.W.) showed a percentage of 11-3, southerly 

 winds ',S.E., S., S.W.) showed a percentage of 74-0; in 

 July, on the other hand, the numbers were, northerly, 

 589, and southerly, 23*2. Again, in July, the three hours 

 of the day showing the least velocity of the wind are 4 

 to 7 A.M., the mean being 7-2 miles per hour, and the 

 three hours of greatest velocity noon to 3 P.M., the mean 

 being 1 1'8 miles. But in January the three hours of least 

 velocity are 3 to 6 A.M., the mean being 63 miles, and the 

 three hours of greatest velocity 2 to 5 p.m., the mean 

 being 15 8 miles. Hence in summer, even though storms 

 of wind are then least frequent, the maximum daily 

 velocity of the wind which occurs two hours later, is 4 miles 

 greater an hour, being the direct result of the powerful 

 action of the sun on the healed plains of the interior of 

 Australia. It is to be hoped that in future issues Mr. 

 Ellery will be able to add to these invaluable tables, a 

 table showing the mean hourly variation in the direction 

 of the wind for each month, a climatological datum of 

 the first importance in Meteorology to which we have 

 recently drawn attention in reviewing the reports of 

 Toronto and Habana. 



To each month's results are added the barometric, ther- 

 mometric, hygrometric, and rain averages for eight of the 

 stations, and since nearly all these averages are for periods 

 varying from eleven to sixteen years, some interesting 

 conclusions of a general character may now be drawn 

 applicable to the whole colony. Thus in January the 

 average pressure at 32° and sea-level is 29-962 inches at 

 Cape Otway, on the coast, and 29-893 inches at Sand- 

 hurst, in the interior; but in July the averages are respec- 

 tively 30042 and 30-110 inches. These results show a 

 diminution of pressure d-iring summer in advancing 

 inland, and an increase in winter, a distribution of atmo- 

 spheric pressure in accordance with the prevailing winds 

 in these seasons. In January the mean temperature 

 varies from 6o°-6 at Cape Otway to 70° 8 at Sandhurst ; 

 and at Beechworth, which is still more decidedly inland, 

 the mean temperature is 2°-o above that of Sandhurst, 

 though it be fully 1,000 feet higher. At Cape Otway the 

 difference between the coldest and warmest months is 

 i3°-4, whereas at Sandhurst it is 25°- r. 



The mean annual temperatures of Cape Otway S4°-7, 

 and Portland 6i°-5, call for examination. Cape Otway 

 and Portland, whicn are nearly in the same latitude, both 

 on the coast and only about fifty miles apart, show thus a 

 difference in their mean temperatures of 6°-8, or a differ- 



