Miscellaneous, 271 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Note on 0. Fischer de Wuldheim's ' OryctograpTiie du Oouvernement 

 de Moscou,' ' Hist. Nat. Mnsquensis,' and ' Entom, Mosquensis.' 

 By LoTTis B. Pbout and C. Davies Sherbokn. 



Fischer de Waldheim, like many of his countrymen, suffered the 

 loss of his manuscripts during the Napoleonic wars. As he says in 

 his Avertissement to the ' Oryctographie ' : " Je ra'etois propose de 

 reunir toutes les notices possibles, pour former une description 

 physique, historique, statistique et pittoresque du gouvernement 

 de iloscou. . . . J'avais reuni beaucoup de materiaux et un nombre 

 considerable de dessins, dont cinquante etaieut deja graves. . . , 

 L'incendie de Moscou en 1812 m'enleva toutes mes collections, 

 ainsi que les materiaux et les gravures pour I'ouvrage deja com- 

 mence." He then proceeds to point out that his collaborators are 

 dead, he has no longer the energy, and must confine himself to 

 fossils. Therefore " Tout ce qui, dans mon travail, est etranger aux 

 Fossiles, doit etre regarde comma addition ou comme hors-d'oeuvre, 

 et par consequent ne saurait aspirer a etre considere comme 

 complet." 



It may interest zoologists to be reminded that there are two 

 editions (issues) of the ' Oryctographie,' a fact pointed out by 

 Brunei ('Manuel du Libraire,' ii. 1271), but apparently forgotten 

 since. It is the first edition (1830) to which Fischer refers in his 

 Avertissement, although his same words appear in the Avertisse- 

 ment appended to the second edition (1837). This first edition 

 seems to be somewhat scarce, and may be described as follows : — 

 A T., T.P. Oryctographie | du \ Gouvernement de Moscou, ! pubHe'e 

 I par I le Directeur de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de 

 Moscou 1 GotthelfFischer-de-Waldheim. | Map | Moscou, | del'Im- 

 priraerie d'Auguste Semen, | Imprimeur de TAcademie Imperiale 

 Medico-chirurgicale. | 1830. ] — IX sign, a-f [^'J (folio) Plates 

 A-G (maps and sections) I.-XLIV. (fossils) I,-XVI. (Eecent 

 animals and 1 plant) 



These last sixteen plates have distinct interest, and we therefore 

 quote them from the copy in the Library of the Zoological Society 

 of London :— 



I. Pterorays volans. 



II. do. do. (dissection). 

 III. Strix torquata, Fisch. 

 lY. Emberiza aureola. Pall. 



Y. Plate of Land and F.\Y. Shells (Linn. & Drap.). 



