December 15, 19 10] 



NATURE 



209 



rife in certain parts of the British Empire," and, by 

 prohibiting their import into England, to discourage 

 the wearing of birds' skins, feathers, and plumes. 



Of course, the badly informed humanitarians are the 

 ornithologists and the lovers of birds in all parts of the 

 civilised world. These people form, however, a large 

 body of highly educated men and women, who among 

 them have closely studied bird-life in every corner ot 

 the globe ; and who, entirely disinterested, are pos- 

 sessed of — let us say — quite as much common sense, 

 are as little led by "sentiment," and know "the 

 true facts of the case through long years of experi- 

 ence," as well as Mr. Harold Hamel Smith and the 

 feather traders. 



The book is full of red-herring trails across the 

 question, and of mean suggestions (c/. pp. 31, 41 

 (footnote), and 56) which are not worth our while to 

 notice, and from which even Sir J. D. Rees, who 

 writes a foreword to the book, dissociates himself. It 

 would be reslaying the slain to discuss the question 

 whether or not the slaughter of many kinds of birds 

 for trade purposes is cruelly carried on or not. "Their 

 [the plumers'J ravages are simply sickening," says 

 Prof. Newton, one of the most accurate and unsenti- 

 mental ornithological historians that ever lived. The 

 evidence is overwhelming. Nor is it worth while dis- 

 cussing whether or not many species of birds are, 

 through the same agencies, becoming exterminated. 

 That question is also beyond contention. The paper 

 on extinct and vanishing birds, by the Hon. Walter 

 Rothschild, in the Proceedings of the fourth Inter- 

 national Ornithological Congress (1905), should be 

 read by those interested in this question, and also the 

 remarks of Prof. Newton on Extermination in his 

 "Dictionary of Birds." "The collection of skins for 

 ornithological museums or fishing tackle," we are told, 

 " is far more likely to exterminate a few rare birds than 

 the millinery trade" — who, we are also told, are "the 

 real protectors of birds" — "ever will be." The great 

 bird collection in the British Museum, the largest in 

 the world, contains probably about 500,000 skins, the 

 result of more than a century's assiduous amassing. 

 The present writer has been witness of that number 

 of humming-birds (chiefly) and other bright-plumaged 

 denizens of the Brazilian woods, all killed in the 

 breeding season, being shipped in one consignment 

 (and that not the solitary one of the season) from 

 Rio de Janeiro to London ; and has seen in the 

 Moluccas a single canoe-load brought by native 

 hunters consisting of scores of thousands of the most 

 gorgeous members of the New Guinea avi-fauna spread 

 out like wheat in a godown awaiting shipment to 

 Europe. 



Such extensive massacres, in which not onlv the 

 parents but the nestlings perish, may go on for years 

 and not become very obvious without investigation on 

 the spot; but history shows that the results appear 

 only when it is too late for protective measures to 

 be taken. When a species has been reduced in 

 numbers below a certain point, natural enemies, 

 "red in tooth and claw," and causes difficult to de- 

 termine, begin to operate, and these complete the 

 ruthless work of man without his further interfer- 

 ence. Another good reason for legal regulation of this 

 trade is that, by the extinction of dominant species in 

 a region, the equilibrium of nature is disturbed, and 

 results disastrous to agriculture and in other direc- 

 tions arise. These questions formed the theme of 

 many serious discourses by ornithologists from all 

 parts of the world at the congress held this summer 

 in Berlin. There the concensus of opinion was that 

 measures must be taken internationally to prevent the 

 present wanton slaughter of birds. 



The burden of this book is that the plume-traders 

 NO. 2146, VOL. 85] 



will suffer great loss by the exclusion of skins and 

 feathers from this country. The same cry was raised 

 by the slave-traders against the emancipators who 

 struck at a "legitimate and honest trade" and "an 

 important industry in this country." One correspon- 

 dent of the Times writes (p. 98) it is " generous of 

 you to offer your columns to both sides of this con- 

 troversy." Mr. Smith, less generous, e.xcludes all 

 correspondence sent to the same journal on the pro- 

 tectionists' side. From one of the letters he publishes 

 we learn that the feather trade is rapidly going to 

 other countries, for reasons independent of threatened 

 legislation or of interference by " badly informed agita- 

 tors." 



If it be true that the really large part of the trade 

 is done in "the millions of poultry and game-birds' 

 plumage, quills, and tails " (p. 105), w'hy, then, this 

 great outcry against the protection — which the traders 

 say they desire — of the most beautiful and useful of 

 living creatures, since tropical skins form in England 

 so sinall a portion of the trade. Among the demands 

 of the traders one is protection for the birds at their 

 natal centre only. This the Government to some extent 

 has done, and can do only, in its ow^n possessions ; 

 still, its legislation instead of " not securing the pre- 

 servation of a single bird " (p. 84), is providing, and 

 will increasingly provide, very large areas of sanctuarv 

 for them. It would stultify itself if it allowed the 

 importation of feathers from everywhere else, but pro- 

 hibited it from its own dominions. Another demand is 

 a close season (in India, for instance), after which 

 skins and plumes would be allowed to be exported. As 

 it is in the breeding season chiefly during which the 

 birds don the ornamental plumage for which high 

 prices are paid, it is obvious — human avarice being 

 what it is — that bird slaughter would be carried on 

 surreptitiously during that season, and the results 

 quietly stored away until the closure was over. The 

 expense of enforcing a close season being prohibitive, 

 the next best means of staying the evil is prohibition 

 of export. The " agitation " has been taken up bv the 

 Ornithological Congress, and we may shortly look 

 forward to international regulation of the trade. 



This book may contain " the truth " about the col- 

 lection of "aigrettes and bird skins" as it appears to 

 Mr. Harold Hamel Smith ; but we conscientiously 

 believe that every unprejudiced, disinterested humani- 

 tarian in this country will repudiate his assertion. 



A MONOGRAPH OF THE OKAPI.^ 



'X' HOUGH this monograph is replete with exact, 

 -*■ and in many cases novel, information regarding 

 the outward aspect and bones of the okapi, it will 

 certainly strike the general reader, as well as the 

 zoologist, as being an incomplete treatment of the 

 subject. This may not be the fault of its principal 

 author, Sir E. Ray Lankester, and is certainlv not 

 that of the keeper of the Natural History Museum, 

 Dr. Sidney F. Harmer, but is apparently due to the 

 financial control disliking the expense of publishing 

 the volume of text, which should have accompanied 

 the mere illustrations included in the volume under 

 review. The reason given is that as Jules Fraipont 

 has already published a monograph of the Okapi for 

 the State Museum of Tervueren, Brussels — an admir- 

 able piece of w^ork, it is generally admitted to be — the 

 publication of the text of Sir E. Ray Lankester's 

 studies and deductions would be superfluous. It is 



1 "A Nfonograph of the Okapi." Bv Sir E. Ray Lankester. K.C.B., 

 F.R.S., assisted by Dr. W. G. Ridewood. Pp. viii+48 plates. (London : 

 British Museum (Natural _Histfr>') printed by Order of the Trustees, 

 Longmans and Co., B. Quaritch, Dulau and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 2^s. 



