58 



NATURE 



\Nov. 23, 1871 



of the Professors of the University for the highest intel- 

 lectual training, and the Ladies' Educational Association 

 of the Scottish capital has been among the most success- 

 ful in the kingdom. Emboldened probably by the favour 

 with which the cause of female education was received in 

 Edinburgh, several ladies applied to the University for in- 

 struction in a purely medical course of studies; and, the 

 required permission having been obtained, pursued with 

 credit and success the earlier portion of their studies. 

 When they had advanced thus far, however, an unexpected 

 obstacle arose, and the highest governing body of the 

 University, the Senate, stepped in and barred all further 

 progress. The mode, indeed, in which the authorities of 

 the University have played fast and loose with the ques- 

 tion of the medical education of women redounds little to 

 their credit. It remains to be seen whether the Council 

 will consent, at the bidding of the Senate, to rescind the 

 regulations which they themselves freely passed in 1869, 

 with the sanction of the Senate, viz. : — 



" Women shall be admitted to the study of medicine 

 in the University. The instruction of women for the 

 profession of medicine shall be conducted in separate 

 classes, confined entirely to women. The professors of 

 the Faculty of Medicine shall, for this purpose, be per- 

 mitted to have separate classes for women. All women 

 attending such classes shall be subject to all the regula- 

 tions now or at any future time in force in the University 

 as to the matriculation of students, their attendance on 

 classes, examination, or otherwise." 



Any proposal for mixed classes of both sexes in purely 

 medical subjects excites so great a repugnance both among 

 the teachers and students of medicine that it would be 

 extremely unwise to press it ; but it will be observed that 

 no such question has been raised here, and no such re- 

 quest has ever been made by the lady medical students 

 The best of the medical as well as the general press of 

 London has been almost unanimous in pointing out the 

 undignified position in which the Senate now stands ; and 

 it is earnestly to be hoped that wiser counsels will pre- 

 vail, and that the University will in future pursue a course 

 which will give greater satisfaction to all its best friends. 



We noticed with pleasure the large and comprehensive 

 views expressed by Lord Lyttelton when presiding last 

 week over a meeting of the National Union for Improving 

 the Education of Women of all Classes. Lord Lyttelton's 

 position as Chairman of the Endowed Schools' Commis- 

 sion rendered peculiarly important the opinion he ex- 

 pressed as to the misappropriation of the enormous 

 educational endowments of the country to the benefit of 

 male students only. 



The extreme importance to all women, as great if not 

 greater than to men, of an acquaintance with the elements 

 of human physiology and of the laws which govern the 

 body in health and sickness, was admirably set forth in 

 an introductory lecture by Prof. Bennett to his ladies' 

 class at Edinburgh, a portion of which will be found in 

 our present number. The advantage which the com- 

 munity, no less than individuals, will gain when some 

 knowledge of Natural and Physical Science is spread 

 throughout our female population, is so obvious that we 

 have no fear but that the movement now happily inaugu- 

 rated will spread and prosper in spite of temporary checks 

 and disappointments. 



ALLEN'S MAMMALS OF FLORIDA 



On the Mammals and Winter Birds of East Florida : 

 with an Examination of Certain Assumed Specific 

 Characters in Bird Fauna: of Eastern North America. 

 By J. A. Allen, Cambridge, U.S.A. 1S71. 



THIS essay forms a portion of the second volume of 

 the " Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 

 at Har\'ard College, Cambridge, Mass.," in which work 

 Prof. Agassiz and his disciples are giving to the world the 

 results arrived at from the study of the rich collections 

 accumulated during the past few years under their charge. 

 Its author is almost new to the particular branch of 

 zoology which he now enters upon, and puts forward his 

 views in a very decided and uncompromising manner. Yet 

 he has obviously taken great pains in the investigations 

 which have conduced to his results, and has, it must be 

 allowed, to a certain extent, proved his point, although, 

 as is usual with most reformers, he has in some cases 

 pushed his theories too far. 



Mr. Allen's paper embraces, as he tells us in his Intro- 

 duction, " five more or less distinct parts." The first con- 

 tains remarks on the topography, climate, and fauna of 

 Florida, based principally upon observations made during 

 a three months' expedition to that country in the winter of 

 1868-9. The second portion contains an annotated list of 

 the Mammals of Eastern Florida. In this list some 

 unusual identifications are made — e.g., the Common 

 American Fox {Cants fnlvus, auct.) is identified wit 1 iiiis 

 viilpes of Europe, and the American Black Bear {Ursns 

 americanus) is considered inseparable from Ursns arctos. 

 In Part III. we have the reasons which have led the 

 author to adopt these and similar views as to certain 

 species in the class of birds hitherto considered to be 

 distinct put forward at considerable length. The exami- 

 nation of the e.\tensive series of the common North Ameri- 

 can Birds in the Museum of Comparative Zoology " has 

 disclosed a hitherto unsuspected range of purely individual 

 differentiation in every species thus far studied. . . . 

 Local or geographical variations have been likewise care- 

 fully considered, with results that were a short time since 

 unsuspected. . . . These several lines of investigation 

 have shown that in many instances what have been re- 

 garded as reliable characteristics of species have in not a 

 few cases little or no value, thit the importance of many 

 diagnostic features has been too highly estimated, and 

 that consequently a careful revision of our published 

 fauna; will be necessary for the elimination of the merely 

 nominal species." To all this every true naturalist will 

 give his cordial assent. We are all for reform and revision, 

 when founded on sufficient evidence. But on turning to 

 Part IV. of our author's work, it would appear that some 

 of his identifications have been based on mere conjecture 

 without any evidence at all. For example : Qiiiscalns 

 brachypterus of Porto Rica and Q. crassirostris of Jamaica 

 are placed as synonyms of O.purpnreits. Yet it does 

 not appear, or at all events is not stated, that the author 

 has ever examined authentic specimens of the two former 

 species. Again, Chordeiles texercis is united to C. 

 popetiie without any further remark than that " this 

 widely distributed species presents the usual variations in 

 size and colour." Such and similar errors will, we fear, 

 tend to discredit the identifications which Mr. Allen has 



