298 



NA TURE 



\_7uiy 29, iStio 



Proceeding to the outlying parts of the Austrahan region, 

 ■vre tind New Zealand also well provided with Analida;, 

 nine species being comprehended by Dr. Buller in his 

 lately-published work on the birds of New Zealand, while 

 the adjacent Auckland Islands are tenanted by two very 

 peculiar ducks, quite unknown elsewhere, namely Neso- 

 iictta aucklandica and Mcrgus aiistralis. 



In Polynesia Anatida' are scarce, Dendrocygjia vagans 

 and Anas stip^rciliosa being the only species known until 

 we come to the Fanning group, where the peculiar 

 Chaulelasmus couesi has lately been discovered. 



In the Sandwich Islands two peculiar species occur, 

 Bcrnicla sandviccnsis and Anas ivyvilliana. 



V. Neotropical Anatid.e. — The Neotropical region 

 is better supplied with Anatidas than any other of the 

 divisions here adopted except the Arctic, thirty-nine spe- 

 -cies being specially attributable to it. Besides these, as 

 I\Ir. Salvin and I have shown in our articles on the Neotro- 

 pical Anatida; published in the Society's Proiccdiiii^s for 

 1S76,' twenty-three of the Arctic Anatida: are more or less 

 regular visitants to it during the winter season. 



The generic types of Anatida; restricted to the Neo- 

 tropical area are four, namely, Heteroiietta, Cai?-ii!a, 

 Tachyi-ivs, and Mcrganclta. There are, however, only 

 six species belonging to these peculiar genera, so that the 

 mass of the Neotropical Anatida belong to Arctic forms. 



On the whole the Neotropical Anatifauna (if such an 

 expression be allowable) is not so peculiar, as that of 

 Australia, where there are five generic types not found 

 elsewhere. In true Anatida: the Neotropical region is 

 specially rich, possessing twenty-three species against the 

 Arctic eighteen. 



In Fiiligiilincv, on the other hand, it is very poor, 

 having only one species against the Arctic twenty-six. 



In concluding my lecture I would venture to urge those 

 who have friends and correspondents abroad, or who are 

 so fortunate as to travel themselves, not to let any oppor- 

 tunity pass of adding to the Society's living collection of 

 Waterfowl. In a paper recently read before the Zoolo- 

 gical Society I have given a complete list of the known 

 species of these beautiful birds, and an exact account of 

 the introduction of each species that has been obtained 

 aUve, and if not, where it is to be found. I shall be happy 

 to supply any one interested in the subject with a copy 

 of this paper when in type, as it will shortly be. Mean- 

 while I may venture to specify some of our principal 

 desiderata in different parts of the world. 



1. Freshly-imported examples of the Ccrcopsis goose of 

 Australia to cross with the present European stock. 



2. Examples of the Bcrnicla cyanoptera of the high- 

 lands of Abyssinia, never yet obtained alive. 



3. Examples of David's swan {Cygniis davidi) from 

 Pekin. Even skins of this little known bird would be 

 very desirable for our museums. 



4. Specimens of the canvas-backed duck and smaller 

 white swan (Cygniis aiuciicanits) of North America. 



5. The pink-headed duck of India, of which we have 

 only yet received a single pair in 1874. 



6. The Radjah shieldrake of Oueensland (Tadorna 

 radjah), a most beautiful species allied to our Tadorna 

 •viilpanscr. 



Any examples of these species would be most gratefully 

 received by the Society for their living collection. 



NOTES 



As we have already intimated, the German Association of 

 Naturalists and Physicians meets at Danzig from September iS 

 to 24. Contributions from non-German workers in science are 

 earnestly asked for, and we are sure that any foreigners who 

 desire to be present at the meeting will receive a hearty welcome. 

 Applications for quarters sliould be made before September 10 

 to Herr L. Biber, Brodbiinkengasse 13, Danzig. Besides the 



' Revision of the Nectropical Anatidie, Pivt. Zml.Soc, 1876, p. 358. 



usual excursions, concerts, and other social gatherings which the 

 Germans know how to manage so well, there will be plenty of 

 work in the twenty-three sections. Among the public lectures 

 to be given are the following :— On September 8, "On Writing, 

 Printing, and the Prevailing Shortsightedness," by Dr. Hermann 

 Cohn of Breslau ; "On some Characteristics of Cell-life," by 

 Dr. Strasburger of Jena. September 21— "The Food of 

 Marine Animals," by Dr. Moebius of Kiel; "The Statics of 

 Continents and the alleged decrease of the Water of the Ocean," 

 by Dr. Jentzsch, of Kcinigsberg ; "The Scientific Standpoint 

 of Psychiatry," by Dr. Wernecke of Berlin. September 24— 

 " Polar Expeditions or Polar Observatories," by Dr. Neumayer 

 of Hamburg; " Foreign Domestic Birds, with special reference 

 to the scientific results of their Breeding," by Dr. Carl Russ of 

 Steglitz. 



Much capital is being made out of the reports of some of the 

 inspectors in the new Education Report,' who attempt to enhven 

 their pages by giving some of the results of the recent attempts 

 at higher education in elementary schools. The answers are 

 certainly ludicrous enough sometimes, almost as ludicrous as 

 those said to be given occasionally by the undergraduates of 

 Oxford and Cambridge. But [the rational conclusion to be 

 drawn from this state of things- is not that wliich finds favour 

 with Lord Norton and his friends, that the attempt to improve 

 elementary education should be abandoned. As the Times well 

 puts it: — "They are firstfruits of the attempt to put to a 

 liigher and more exacting work instruments fashioned for a 

 lower and a simpler one. All such results are at first necessarily 

 imperfect, and nothing is easier than to make them appear 

 ridiculous. The true remedy, however, is not to reject the 

 instruments, but to adapt them, or give them the means of 

 adapting themselves, to the higher fnnction. " If science is to 

 be taught in elementary schools, let it be taught in a proper 

 manner by properly trained men. 



Evidently the Government of New Zealand have no fear of 

 over-educating the people. From the Colonics \\e learn that 

 the New Zealand system of education has been characterised by 

 the Governor, Sir H. Robinson, as " the most ambitious yet 

 adopted in any country in the world." To quote the words of 

 Sir Hercules : — " It is proposed in New Zealand to provide the 

 whole juvenile population with instruction free of charge in the 

 following subjects : — Reading, writing, arithmetic, English 

 grammar and composition, geography, history, elementary 

 science, drawing, object lessons, vocal music, drill, and, in case 

 of girls, needlework and the principles of domestic economy. 

 The scheme includes also provision at the public expense for a 

 system of scholarships, for the maintenance of normal schools 

 for training teachers, for the efficient inspection of public schools, 

 and for the erection of suitable school buildings. As soon as 

 sufficient school accommodation has been provided the Educa- 

 tion Act contemplates that attendance at public schools shall be 

 made compulsory on all children between the ages of seven and 

 thirteen vho may not be otherwise under efficient or regular 

 instraction." While Sir Hercules thinks the programme may 

 be too varied and too costly, he attaches little weight to the 

 objection that there is a risk of over-educating the masses above 

 their occupations and so making them discontented with their lot 

 in life. While he criticises the scheme in some of its details, 

 still he says ; — " I think that your scheme of national education 

 is one of which any country might \\ell feel proud, and that it is 

 being administered with an earnestness and an ability which is 

 deserving of all praise. I have been much struck, in travelling 

 about the country, with the deep interest which is universally 

 taken in this most important question, and with the determina- 

 tion which pervades the whole community that the blessings of 

 education shall for the future be placed within the reach of a'.l. 



