April 27, 1893] 



NATURE 



607 



recorders at present do the same work many times over, and 

 suggest a plan by which it can be avoided. The salient feature 

 lies in separating the duties of recorder and bibliographer, and 

 in having the entire mechanical work dvtie once for all concerned 

 in the preparation of the record. The plan is an admirable 

 one, but why thus restrict the blessings oi a competent biblio- 

 grapher ? The scheme to which I have alluded in the preceding 

 paragraph simply substitutes a bibliographical bureau for the 

 bibliographer, a feature necessitated Dy the additional duties 

 imposed upon it. 



The business of recording a publication according to the 

 latter plan may be referred to three stages. Let me suppose the 

 bureau constituted at a centre such as the British Museum, and 

 show its working. The Jirst stage of recording is conducted 

 wholly by the central bureau, with such aids from outside as 

 might be found expedient. [I refer to assistants in other 

 countries. In the case of Russia it would be at first probably 

 necessary, although in general to be avoided as far as possible.] 

 In the first place the bureau would make complete lists of all 

 zoological papers as they are published. At intervals of a week, 

 or of two weeks, these lists would be given to the press and 

 printed successively in two forms. One would constitute a 

 pamphlet similar to the bibliographical part of the Zoolog. 

 Ameig., but would give all the titles /r^/«///y. The other form 

 in which the list would be printed would have the titles widely 

 spaced, would be printed on strong, stout paper, and would 

 appear in sheets, leaving one side blank. These sheets could 

 then be cut up at will into slips of uniform size and shape to 

 serve further bibliographical elaboration. During the printing 

 of the slips it would have been the duty of the bibliographer to 

 have sorted the titles carefully, and, in the case of larger works 

 and works with ill-characterised contents, it would further have 

 been his duty to have ascertained the topics dealt with, so that 

 at the end of the period he would be able to so7-t and classify 

 the 150 titles, which appear at present weekly. 



Thereupon the second stage of recording would be begun. 

 Each reviewer would receive at once slips indicating the papers 

 concerning him, together with a page-number in the case in 

 which his topic is only incidentally dealt with. Thus the 

 mechanical labour of the reviewer would be reduced to a 

 minimum. Not merely, however, the reviewers could be thus 

 informed, but also any specialist whose field of work sufficiently 

 coincided with one of the divisions of the Record to induce him 

 to subscribe to the series. Thus, for example, a worker on the 

 development of the vertebrate nervous system would find his 

 wants admirably met. The second stage of recording would be 

 carried on wholly by the reviewers, who, however, in addition 

 to writing reviews as at present, would also index the topics of 

 the paper in a more detailed way than would be possible for the 

 bibliographer in his first hasty survey ; or this work might be left 

 to the bibliographer, who, in;what I have called the third stage, 

 collates the reviews which have been returned to him. The 

 reviewer should also note any incidental observations of interest 

 to other reviewers which the bibliographer may have over- 

 looked. 



In stage 3 the bibliographical bureau becomes a bureau of 

 publication, and it is believed that with such an organisation the 

 Record for the year could be very promptly issued. At the 

 same time, however, the bureau would be able, by the use of 

 the slips at its disposal, to embody the indexes furnished by the 

 reviewers (or, possibly better, made out by the bibliographer 

 from their abstracts) in a permanent slip index, which would 

 grow with the years and become a record of inestimable value. 

 This part of the plan alone, I see, has been independently 

 advocated by Mr. Cockerell (Nature, vol. xlvi. p. 442) ; but, in- 

 asmuch as he overlooked the indefinite multiplication made 

 possible by the use of printed slips, he failed to note the highest 

 use which the bureau can serve. To my mind this consists in 

 informing the individual investigator of every work which con- 

 cerns his speciality by sending him the proper slips. 



The value of such a service can hardly be exaggerated. It 

 relieves the individual of endless labour : it gives a completeness to 

 his knowltdfje of the literature that no individual endeavour could 

 attain ; and finally, it saves him the annoyance which indefinite 

 titles occasion him in using the ordinary means of seeking for 

 papers relating to his subject. So long as a fundamental ob- 

 servation on the development of the Wolffian Duct can be 

 published under the title, "Observations on the Lymph," so 

 long as the bulletins announce "Contributions to the Develop- 

 ment of the Vertebrates," we have no right to expect authors to 



NO. 1226, VOL. 47] 



have a full mastery of their subject, unless they can receive aid 

 from a central bureau such as I have described. 



The expense of maintaining at several points a complete index, 

 such as that in the bibli< graphical bureau, is not such as to make 

 it infeasible, and I fancy it would be done in several zoological 

 centres. The labour of the bureau would probably assume 

 considerable proportions ; but, inasmuch as it would in 

 each case save much more of the scattered and oft-repeated 

 labour of individuals, it would be quite self supporting. For 

 the perfect working of the scheme it is important that authors 

 should send "extras" to the bibliographer. Mr. Bathers sug- 

 gests that they would gladly do this if there were only one asking 

 for them instead of a number, as is now the case. Here Mr. 

 Bathers again writes as a recorder. I was unaware that papers 

 were desired, and would not know even where to send a copy. 

 With the scheme I have proposed, also those who now unin- 

 tentionally withhold their papers would contribute them ; for 

 the organisation would at least be well known. 



Respecting further details, there is no occasion of bringing 

 these forward now. I may simply add that 1 have had oppor- 

 tunity of seeing paper slip catalogues in use in a very large 

 scale in the Government service in Russia, and learned that they 

 gave excellent satisfaction. It may be also of interest to any who 

 may further concern themselves w ith this subject that the present 

 volume of zoological publication is not far from 2000 pages 

 weekly. 



I have made inquiries among many of my friends in different 

 countries in respect to their interest in such a plan as I here 

 propose, and it has received such endorsement that I cannot 

 doubt that it affords a remedy for a real evil. I am well aware that 

 such a plan needs to be much modified ; but I submit it in this 

 form. I have already a long list of persons and institutions who 

 have promised to subscribe to the slips, could they be obtained 

 at a reasonable price ; among others of librarians, who would 

 use them to save copying in making out the "card catalogues " 

 in vogue in America. This support was obtained when the 

 scheme was but little elaborated, and when there was almost no 

 prospect of success. I am confident that were the undertaking 

 once begun the support would be very great. It needs organised 

 action such as the various scientific bodies can give it. Let the 

 British Association appoint a committee and invite others to join 

 them in forming an International Commission, or let them re- 

 spond should the call come to them. Let all considerations of 

 national pride be set aside. Surely England, with her enormous 

 library and museum facilities, will receive her share. 



Leipzig, Germany, April 16. Herbert H. Field. 



Lion-tiger and Tiger-lion Hybrids. 



Since the date of my previous communication on the above 

 subject (see Nature, p. 390) I have had some correspond- 

 ence with Mr. John Atkins, son of Mr. Thomas Atkins, 

 the result of which has been not only to clear up several 

 discrepancies which I pointed out as occurring in the pre- 

 viously published accounts by Sir Wm. Jardine and Mr. 

 Griffiths, but moreover it enables me to present for the 

 first time a detailed account of what, so far as I can ascertain, 

 are the only authenticated cases of the interbreeding of a lion and 

 tigress. I am aware of the classical references to the reputed 

 breeding of the leopard and lioness ; but that part of the subject 

 I do not propose to discuss now. In the first place I should 

 state that the proprietor of the menagerie, when the first hybrids 

 were seen, was Mr. Thomas Atkins, not " F." or "J. 

 Atkins" as quoted previously. Mr. John Atkins came into 

 possession later on. The parents of the hybrids were the same 

 all through for ten years, from 1824 to 1833, during which 

 period six litters were born. The lion was bred in Mr. Atkins's 

 menagerie from a Barbary lion and a Senegal lioness. The 

 tigress was born in the Marquis of Hastings's collection in Cal- 

 cutta, and was purchased when about eighteen months old by 

 Mr. T. Atkins from a captain, to whom she had been given by 

 the Marquis. Being of the same age as the lion, she was 

 placed together with him in the same cage, and two years 

 afterwards she proved to be in cub. 



The following statement regarding the successive litters has 

 been revised by Mr. John Atkins, and as he has preserved notes of 

 the facts which are recorded, they may be accepted as authentic. 

 I need hardly add that but for his ready and full response to my 

 queries this account could not have been written. 



First Litter. — Born October 24, 1824, at Windsor, two males 



