76 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
taken years to prepare and name, entirely destroyed through the 
ill-mannered behaviour of a couple of cats? 
There was one Crustacean about which some difficulty had 
arisen. It was Mysis spinifera, which Edward had first found in 
the Moray Firth in 1858. He had sent it to one of his correspond- 
ents to be named, but it remained unnoticed and unknown for at 
least four years, when it was re-discovered in Sweden by M. Goes, 
who at once published the fact. “Thus,” says Edward, “the 
first finder, as well as the country in which this Crustacean was 
first found, have both been ignored in the records of Science.” 
But the day of disappointment, we trust, has passed: after years 
of unceasing labour in the pursuit of knowledge, and withal of 
patient struggling with adversity, perseverance has had its reward. 
Fortune at length has smiled upon our naturalist (in a twofold 
sense), and few will read the ‘ Life of a Scotch Naturalist’ without 
echoing the words of the Queen, who, “touched by his successful 
pursuit of Natural Science under all the cares and troubles of 
daily toil,” has graciously conferred on him a well-merited reward. 
If we have abstained from criticising Mr. Smiles’ share in this 
book, it is because we think that the sense of gratification which 
he must feel in having been the means of obtaining a pension for a 
most industrious and deserving man will be a far greater recompense 
to him than any praise bestowed by unknown critics. 
Whether it is desirable to write a man’s biography in his life- 
time is a question upon which there may be two opinions. Mr. 
Smiles has anticipated the objection in his preface, where he pleads 
justification on the ground that his hero’s life is well-nigh ended, 
and that bis work is done. A further argument in his favour may 
now be found in the fact that had the ‘ Life’ not been written, the 
Scotch naturalist would not have received his pension. Let us 
hope that he may yet live long to enjoy it. 
Our Birds of Prey; or, the Eagles, Hawks, and Owls of Canada. 
By Hewry G. Vennor, F.G.S. With thirty Photographic 
Illustrations by W. Notman. 4to. Dawson Brothers, Mon- 
treal; Sampson Low & Co., London. 1876. 
Mr. Vennor, in his “ Introduction,” tells us that he has been 
engaged on the present work for thirteen years; and he writes :— 
