198 MR. W. J. BRODERIP ON THE DODO. 



at the commencement of the seventeenth century, and painted landscapes with many 

 animals, executed with great care, but in rather a dry manner'. Of De Heem, the 

 celebrated painter of still life, it would be superfluous to say anything. We may con- 

 clude, then, that in this joint production the landscape and animals were painted by 

 Goeimare, and the shells by De Heem. 



In this picture, which seems to have been intended as a record of rarities, the fore- 

 ground represents a sea-shore from which the tide has retired, leaving empty shells 

 of the following genera : — Nautilus, Pteroceras, Strombus, Triton, Pyrula, Cassis, 

 Cypraa, Conus, Mitra, Turbo, Nerita, Mytilus, Ostrea, &c. Behind, on elevated ground, 

 are two Ostriches ; and below, to the right of the spectator, the Dodo is represented as 

 in the act of picking up something from the strand. The head and body of the bird, 

 covering an area as large as the palm of a man's hand, are seen; but the legs are hidden. 

 The painter of the Dodo, in my picture, has given the only complete foreshortened back 

 view of the bird known to me. In the Duke's picture the head and body are presented 

 to the spectator on a larger scale ; and I have nowhere seen the hood or ridge at the 

 base of the bill, from which the bird obtained the name of Cygnus cucullatus, so clearly 

 represented. Near the Dodo are a Smew and other aquatic birds, and further off 

 Hoopoes and Terns. In the distance is the ocean, with a sea-monster awaiting the attack 

 of Perseus, who descends on a winged steed to the rescue of Andromeda chained to a 

 rock. Those who have had occasion to describe and figure new species of Testacea, 

 know how difficult it is to find a draughtsman who can give a correct design of the shell 

 to be represented. Unless the artist, like Mr. G. B. Sowerby, jun., is aware of the 

 internal structure of the shell, and acquainted with its organization, a lamentable failure 

 is generally the result. In the picture before us, with one exception — and even in that 

 the specimen may have been distorted — so accurate was the eye of the painter, that if 

 he had been aware of the organization of each shell — knowledge which he probably had 

 not — he could not have represented the objects more correctly. The Nautili^, Strombus 

 gigas, Triton, and Pyrula are painted with great breadth and power, and all are drawn 

 and coloured with wonderful truth ; indeed a conchologist may name every species. 

 One of the Nautili is partially uncoated, to show the nacre, and the other dissected, to 

 display the concamerations. None of the shells have the epidermis, and all are of the 

 natural size. The artificial condition of these subjects, and especially of the Nautili, is, 

 it must be allowed, rather out of place in an assemblage of testaceans left on the sands 

 by the retired tide, unless we are to suppose that the sea-nymphs had been amusing 

 themselves by polishing the specimens and displaying the internal structure of one of 

 them ; but this very treatment shows that the designs were accurately made from real 

 objects then considered as rarities. With the exception of the Dodo, none of the 

 natural objects represented are now rare. The shells, especially those whose habitats 



' I am indebted to Mr. Russell for this information. " Nautilus pompitius. 



