2j8 Bihliographtcal Notices. 



by Mr. de !Mosenthal, as Commissioner for the South-African Colonies, 

 of an assortment of ostrich feathers from tame birds, and a model of 

 an artificiid incubator. Desirous of laying the details of this new 

 and important industry before the public, he was fortunate in ob- 

 taining the cooperation of Mr. Harting, who combines the attain- 

 ments of a scientific naturalist with a flowing and popular style ; 

 and as the occasion seemed a favourable one for giving a brief and 

 readable monograph of the Ostrich family, the result has been that 

 what was originally intended to be a mere pamphlet has swelled to 

 the dimensions of a volume of nearly 250 pages — a " process of evolu- 

 tion" of which the reader will, we think, have no reason to 

 complain. 



Of the two families, Struthionidce and Apterygida), which make 

 up the order Katita;, as at present existing, only the first furnishes 

 members which have up to this time ministered in any important 

 manner to the wants or luxury of man ; and, looked at from the 

 purely utilitarian point of view, only two of the five genera into 

 which these families are subdivii^ed have been of much service ; for 

 neither the Cassowaries nor the Emus have done more than provide 

 meals and rude clothing for fast disappearing savages, whilst the 

 Ajjteryx has hardly done even that. Mr. Harting has, indeed, 

 slightly apologized for introducing them into the present work ; but 

 we think that under the circumstances he has not exceeded the 

 privilege conceded to an author who is writing a popular treatise; 

 and those who have never read the original accounts of the breeding 

 and domestic economy of the Emu in confinement will doubtless take 

 a lively interest in the present condensed reprint. To have left out 

 the Apterygida) would have marred the completeness of the mono- 

 graph ; and the space occupied is very brief; whilst it is undoubtedly 

 an advantage to have an abstract of the latest information respect- 

 ing the Cusuarince in an accessible form, compiled from Mr. P. L. 

 Sclater's papers in the ' Proceedirgs of the Zoological Society,' and 

 illustrated with reproductions of the heads of the different species. 



By far the most valuable portions of the work are undoubtedly 

 those which relate to the Ostrich (StnitJdo camdus), respecting which 

 a fuU and carefully compiled account is given ; and the collation of 

 the reports of various travellers, and the working-out of the geo- 

 graphical range of the species must have involved an immense 

 amount of research on the part of Mr. Harting. We do not feel 

 perfectly satisfied with the evidence adduced as to the occurrence 

 of this species, either in a fossil or in a living state, in any part of 

 India ; nor do we consider that the identity of the North-African 

 and Arabian ostrich with the South-African bird is definitely settled ; 

 for not only the difference in the plumage of the limited number of 

 specimens available for examination, but also the constant distinc- 

 tions in the character of the eggs, seem to point the other way. The 

 distinctness of the two species has been u]dicld by Mr. P. L. Sclater, 

 Mr. A. J). Bartlett, Mr. Gurney, and by that eminent practical 

 authority the late Mr. Andersson, the noted Afrigan traveller, who 

 is even inclined to increase the number of species to three, whilst 



