Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 713 



Proposed General Index to ' The Ibis.' — In response to the 

 demand of some of the Members of tlie Union the Committee 

 propose, if a sufficient number of Members will subscribe, 

 to publish an index to the bird names in 7th, 8th, and 9th 

 Series of ' The Ibis' (1895-1912). The last General Index 

 of this kind was issued in 1897 and dealt with the 4th, 5th, 

 and 6th Series (1877-1894), and consisted of two portions, 

 a Subject Index and a Name Index. Since than a complete 

 Subject Index has been issned for each completed series in 

 the final volume of that series, but in order to obtain a 

 reference to names of species it is necessary to look over the 

 indices for each successive year. 



The Name Index, edited by Mr. O. Salvin, and issued in 

 1897, was a very complete one, and each name was indexed 

 under its specific and generic heading. This required a 

 volume of 472 pages. Since then the general adoption of 

 trinomials has taken place, and to index every name under 

 generic, specific, and subspecific headings would make a 

 most unwieldly and costly volume. The question to be 

 settled, therefore, is whether the names should be indexed 

 only under generic headings (as is the Annual Index at the 

 end of each volume) or under specific headings, or under 

 both, as in previous volumes, and in the case of subspecies 

 should they be indexed three times under generic, specific, 

 and subspecific headings, or only under two — generic and 

 subspecific. 



A circular has been issued to Members asking them to 

 record their wishes in regard to this matter^ and to subscribe 

 to the Index on completion. 



Forthcoming works. — Mr. John Henry Gurney,M.B.O.U., 

 has just completed a monograph on the Gannet or Solan 

 Goose. It will be published at the end of October by 

 INIessrs. Witherby at a subscription price of 25*. 



The Gannet is notable not only for its life-history, but 

 also for its antiquarian interest, and Mr. Gurney has been 



