November 2, 1893] 



NATURE 



latter to the Milanji mountains resulted in the discovery 

 of several new species, allied representatives of others 

 inhabiting Kilimanjaro, Elgon, or even the Camaroon 

 peaks. The collections made by Emin Pasha and Dr. 

 Stuhlmann in Uganda resulted in the discovery of some 

 interesting novelties, which have been described by Dr. 

 Reichenow, at Berlin, who has also received some im- 

 portant collections from the Camaroons,from Dr. Preuss, 

 and from Togoland. Mr. Johnston, at the present 

 moment, appears to be the only patriotic Englishman 

 who is taking pains to explore the natural history of the 

 countries under his rule, whereas the Germans seem to 

 have in every one of their " spheres of influence " and 

 protectorates some well-informed naturalist who occupies 

 himself with the natural history of the district. 



The Indian region, formerly the scene of so much 

 ornithological activity, seems, during the last few years, 

 to have passed into a quiescent stage, and the principal 

 work is now being done by Mr. Hose and Mr. Everett 

 in Borneo, and Mr Styan in Southern China. Dr. 

 Modigliani's collections, from the Island of Nias, were 

 described last year by Count Salvadori, and showed that 

 some of the species found by the traveller were akin to 

 those of the Nicobars, while, curiously enough, others were 

 allies of Bornean forms rather than Sum.atran, though 

 the latter affinity would have been expected. The death 

 of Mr. Davison, at Singapore, has deprived us of one of 

 the best-known Indian naturalists. His explorations in 

 Tenasserim gained him immortal fame as a collector, 

 and, had his health been stronger, he would no doubt 

 have continued his researches into the natural history of 

 the Malay Peninsula, where much still remains to be 

 done. His last expedition to Pahang resulted in the 

 discovery of a very fine new starling {/EtJiiopsar 

 t07-quatus). 



Dr. A. B. Meyer, who has identified himself with the 

 pursuit of Natural History in New Guinea and the 

 Moluccas for many years, has received some collections 

 from Kaiser Wilhelm's Land in north-eastern Papua, 

 wherein have been some interesting new species, while in 

 the southern portion of the great island Sir William 

 McGregor has discovered some extraordinary new forms 

 of birds, one of which, FaratnytJiia, is such a puzzle that 

 no one has been able to define its place in the natural 

 system with any confidence. The completion of Count 

 Salvadori's " Uccelli di Papuasia e delle Molucche " 

 marks an epoch in the history of Austro-Malayan 

 ornithology, and this wonderful work with its ap- 

 pendices will remain for ever a monument to its pains- 

 taking and accomplished author. 



In Australia the most notable work of recent years has 

 been Mr. A. J. North's description of the nests and eggs 

 of the birds inhabiting that continent.^ This book not 

 only contains a vast amount of additional material 

 on the nesting-habits of Australian birds, but is accom- 

 panied by photographic illustrations of the eggs, while 

 a few coloured copies have been prepared, one of 

 which has been sent to the Natural History Museum. 

 An appendix describes the nests and eggs of the birds 

 inhabiting Lord Howe and Norfolk Island. 



In New Zealand Sir Walter Buller has been assidu- 

 ously collecting additional notes to supplement his 

 recently completed work on the birds of that country, 

 and Prof. Hutton has given some notes on the Moas, 

 which will have to be critically compared with Mr. 

 Lydekker's recent determinations of these struthious 

 birds. By far the most interesting event, however, of 

 recent years has been the discovery by Mr. H. O. Forbes, 

 the celebrated Malayan traveller,of the remains oiAphan- 

 apteryx in the Chatham Islands. A f>ha?iapteryx wa.s pre- 

 viously known only as a former inhabitant of the Island of 



' Xorih, A. J. '■ Descriptive Catalogue of the Nests and Eggs found 

 breeding in Australia and Tasmania." (Catalogue No. 12 of the Australian 

 Museum, Sydney, N.S.W.) 



NO. T253, VOL. 49] 



Mauritius, and the discovery of identical remains in a 

 locality so far distant as the Chatham Islands, has opened 

 up possibilities of speculation of the most intense interest, 

 and Mr. Forbes' recently exploited theory of the former 

 existence of a great Antarctic continent has changed the 

 ideas of many zoologists with regard to the origin and 

 geographical distribution of many forms of animals and 

 plants. It is decidedly the most interesting episode of 

 the year 1892. 



Polynesian ornithology has undoubtedly been forcibly 

 brought before our notice by the careful work which has 

 been done by Mr. Wiglesworth, in his " Aves Polynesiae," 

 and a complete list of the species inhabiting the Pacific 

 Islands, with their synonymy and geographical distribu- 

 tion, has been published in the " Abhundlungen" of the 

 Dresden Museum, under Dr. A. B. Meyer's care. Mr. 

 Scott Wilson, with the help of Mr. Evans, has reached 

 the fourth part of the " Aves Hawaienses,'' ^ and with one 

 more part the work will be brought to a conclusion. Mr. 

 Wilson gives some interesting notes on the habits of the 

 species, but it is doubtful whether he has obtained all the 

 material necessary for a monograph of the Hawaian 

 Avifauna, judging by the number of new species which 

 the Hon. Walter Rothschild has been receiving from his 

 collector, Mr. Palmer. These may, of course, be included 

 in the final part of the work, thus bringing it up to date. 

 A visible improvement is to be noticed in the plates of 

 Mr. Frohawk, and the coloured figures of the species look 

 something like the actual birds, instead of being a sort of 

 map, as heretofore. 



Except forthe splendid paper by Dr. Gadow, before men- 

 tioned, on the classification of birds, very little anatomical 

 work has scarcely been done, in England at least ; and 

 it is to be hoped that Mr. Beddard, who has before now 

 written some useful ornithological papers, and on whom 

 the mantle of Garrod and Forbes is supposed to have 

 fallen, will give us some further results from the splendid 

 opportunities which he enjoys as prosector at the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens. 



R. BOWDLER SHARPE. 



HENRY OLDENBURG, FIRST SECRETARY 

 OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 



" C IR, you will please to remember that we have taken 

 "--^ to taske the whole \'niverse, and that we were 

 obliged to doe so by the nature of our Dessein. It will 

 therefore be requisite that we purchase and entertain a 

 commerce in all parts of >* world w*'' the most philo- 

 sophicall and curious persons, to be found everywhere." 

 So writes Henry Oldenburg to Governor Winthrop of 

 Connecticut on October 13, 1667. And in these words he 

 briefly expresses what was the chief aim of the best years 

 of his life. It was mainly by his immense correspondence 

 that Oldenburg forwarded the cause of science, or, as it 

 was then called, ot the " new experimental! learning," by 

 that and by his assiduous discharge of secretarial and 

 editorial work. Without being a man of brilliant genius, 

 he was just such an intelligent, reliable, energetic, and 

 conscientious worker as was needed at that time to form 

 a centre for the new movement. In the history of litera- 

 ture Henry Oldenburg is a familiar figure as the friend 

 and correspondent of Milton ; in the history of philosophy, 

 as the friend and correspondent of Spinoza ; but neither 

 literature nor philosophy is indebted to him to the same 

 extent as science. 



It is somewhat remarkable that, although the name 

 of Henry Oldenburg is so familiar in the history 

 of the seventeenth century, no complete life of him 

 has ever been written. The only attempt at a con- 



1 Scott B. Wilson, .-issisted by A. H. Evans. "Aves Hawaienses: r^h 

 Birds of the Sandwich Islands." Paits iii. iv. 410. (London: R. W 

 Potter, 1892, 1393). 



