18S4-I Corrcs/io//(/e)ice. 2O3 



noticed the slatcinonl that the author had no opportunity for proof-rcadiiig 

 his paper he would scarcely, I think, have committed so grave an olVence 

 against the canons of just criticism, with which he may be presumed to 

 1)0 fairly well acquainted, as to employ the severe terms he does without 

 an accompanying statement that the author's absence during the passage 

 of his report through the press removes all blame from his shoulders. 

 As I am compelled to believe he must have overlooked this note at the 

 head of the errata slip, printed though it is in type of no inconspicuous 

 size, it may chance that others may do so also; and I therefore take occa- 

 sion to state — mainly for the benefit of those who may see Dr. Coues's 

 strictures without having access to the report itself and the accompanying 

 errata slip — that, while accepting full responsibility for all statements of 

 fi^ct contained in the paper, I cannot consent to be held accountable for 

 errors of omission and commission in the way of proof-reading and typo- 

 graphical execution. My absence from Washington while this report w.is 

 in press is regretted by no one so much as myself, but was unavoidable. 



Very respectfully, 



E. W. Nel-son. 

 Tucson. Arizona. 



[It was certainly not our intention to hold Mr. Nelson responsible for 

 the typographical errors of his report; for we did notice his statement dis- 

 claiming responsibility therefor, and intended the general tenor of our 

 'strictures' to imply that the typographical eccentricities were no fault of 

 his, although we failed to formally so state. — E. C] 



A Plea for the Metric System in Ornithology. 



To THE Editors of the Auk : 



Dear Sirs : It seems to me extremely unfortunate that most of our or- 

 nithological writers persist in the employment of the confusing and 

 irrational system of inches and hundredths, or, still worse, inches and 

 lines, in the measurement of birds and their eggs. 



The metric system is so simple, and its advantages so numerous, that it 

 has already become the acknowledged standard in all departments of 

 science. Certainly none will gainsaj' that its universal adoption is inevi- 

 table sooner or later. Then why defer the hour and thereby increase the 

 already too great number of measurements that must eventually be 

 reduced to the metric system.? The labor of converting a series of meas- 

 urements from one scale to another is not small, and life is too short for 

 busv men to be obliged thus needlessly to waste valuable time. 



If we were the only people who have occasion to measure birds the case 

 would resolve itself into one of the relative convenience of the two sys- 

 tems (and even then the choice could but fall to the metric) ; but as a mat- 

 ter of fact there are ornithologists in all parts of the world, and the 

 comparison of published measurements has become an every day neces- 



