240 



NA TURE 



{Jan. 13, 1 88 1 



Bangweolo seeking for the '•'fountains of the Nile" ; and 

 that one mistake cost him hi, life. Men like Sir Thomas 

 Maclear, Prof. Owen, and Sir Roderick Murchison testify 

 to the high value of his observations in various depart- 

 ments of science ; and it is due to his example and 

 initiative that Africa is now covered with an army 

 of explorers. Livingstone was a man who was consumed 

 with a definite and noble purpose, which he firmly be- 

 lieved it was his duty to carry out unto death. In doing 

 so he was bound to give offence, and he did make 

 enemies : and so must every man who is able to conceive 

 a great purpose and possesses strength of will and energy 

 of physique sufficient to carry it out. Had he been 

 weakling enough to be swayed by the scruples of others 

 he would never have left Cape Town. No great work 

 was ever yet accomplished without sacrifice ; and we have 

 here mainly to do with the work which Livingstone 

 accomplished for science. That work is the highest of 

 its kind, and had Livingstone been either a Byron or a 

 Napoleon in character, the value of that work would not 

 have been less. Fortunately it is clear from Dr. Blaikie's 

 pages — which consist largely of Livingstone's own journals 

 and letters — what indeed was pretty clear before, that 

 Livingstone was a pure and tender-hearted man, full of 

 humanity and sympathy, simple-minded as a child, 

 with a healthy ambition to do a great work for Africa 

 and for science, and with energy and courage sufficient to 

 carry it out. The motto of his life was the advice he 

 gave to some children he addressed in a humble Scotch 

 meeting-house when he returned from his first great 

 journey and found ^himself a great man — "Fear God 

 and work hard." 



SALVADORPS ORNITHOLOGY OF 



NEW GUINEA 



Oniitologia del/a Papttasia e dclle Mobicche di Tomniaso 



Salvadori. Parte prima. i vol. 4to. 540 pp- 



(Torino, 1880.) 



IN the second volume of the Linnean Society's Jouninl 

 of Proceedings, published in 185S, will be found an 

 article by Mr. Sclater on the Birds of New Guinea, 

 which gives in a few pages a summary of the then 

 existing state of our acquaintance with this subject. 

 The bulky quarto now before us, to be followed by three 

 or four other similar volumes, is no bad evidence of the 

 vast mass of additions that has been made to our know- 

 ledge of the Papuan avifauna since that period. 



In 1857 the only modern authorities on the birds of 

 New Guinea were the naturalists of the French circum- 

 navigating expeditions, who had explored the vicinity of 

 Havre Dorey in the northern peninsula of the island, and 

 the collectors for the Leyden Museum, who had visited 

 Lobo Bay and other points on the south coast. Although 

 much is still wanting to complete our knowledge of the 

 Papuan avifauna, much has been done since those days. 

 In 1858 our famous countryman Mr. Wallace passed 

 some months at Havre Dorey, and made excellent collec- 

 tions in every branch of zoology. Moreover in the 

 neighbouring island of Batchian Mr. Wallace was fortu- 

 nate enough to come across a new form of paradise bird — 

 one of the few recent additions to this remarkable group 

 — which was deservedly named after its discoverer. 



Semioptera ivallacii. Mr. Wallace was also the first 

 of modern exj^lorers to visit the Arroo Islands — which 

 belong strictly to the same fauna as New Guinea, and in 

 his well-known work on his " Travels in the Malay Archi- 

 pelago " has given us a most interesting account of the 

 habits of the paradise birds as there observed, and of the 

 manner in which the natives procure their specimens. 



After Mr. Wallace the Italian travellers D'Albertis and 

 Beccari were the next to visit New Guinea, and succeeded 

 in carrying their investigations further into the unknown 

 interior than it had been hitherto believed possible to 

 penetrate. The ascent of the Arfak Mountains was 

 first accomplished by D'Albertis in 187;, and Beccari 

 succeeded in making the same dangerous journey some 

 years later, besides visiting many localities on the north 

 coast which had not been previously explored. Both 

 these naturalists were active collectors of birds, and 

 transmitted large collections to Europe. In 1875 and 

 the following year D'Albertis turned his attention to the 

 southern portion of New Guinea, and during his excur- 

 sions up the Fly River made fresh additions to our know- 

 ledge of Papuan ornithology. In the meantime a German 

 naturalist. Dr. A. B. Meyer of Dresden, was engaged on 

 new explorations on the shores of the great Bay of 

 Geelvinck, and did not fail to make considerable additions 

 to the rich avifauna of that district. 



While Prof. Salvadori has not neglected to consult every 

 existing authority on Papuan ornithology, and, we believe, 

 to visit every European museum which contains speci- 

 mens from the Papuan region, it is mainly upon the large 

 series accumulated by his countrymen D'Albertis and 

 Beccari, to which must be added the numerous specimens 

 obtained by the hunters of Heer A. A. Bruijn of Ternate, 

 that his present labour is based. These collections, or at 

 any rate all the important portions of them, have passed 

 into the Museo Civico of Genoa, either through the 

 liberality of the Marquis G. Doria, the founder of that 

 institution, or through assistance given by the Italian 

 Government. Their extent may be judged of from the fact, 

 stated in the preface to the present volume, that they 

 contained no less than 9539 specimens, which have thus 

 come directly under Prof. Salvadori's obser\-ation, besides 

 the examples examined in the Museums of Paris, London, 

 Leyden, Bremen, Berlin, Dresden, and Vienna, which, as 

 already stated, our author has visited for the purpose of 

 preparing his work. It is evident therefore that materials 

 did not lack, and Prof. Salvadori's well-known abilities as 

 an ornithologist give us every confidence that these 

 materials will have been well used. 



Such indeed is doubtless the fact. If the succeeding 

 volumes of the " Ornitologia della Papuasia " shall be ex- 

 ecuted in the same style as that in which the first volume 

 has been prepared, there can be no question that a most 

 important work will have been accomplished. Not only 

 is every species fully and accurately described, but its 

 complete synonymy is given, a detailed list of the speci- 

 mens from various localities and remarks on their differ- 

 ences are added, and, in fine, every necessary particular is 

 given that cin contribute to a perfect history of the 

 species. Would that other geographical works on ornith- 

 ology were carried out with equal exactness and similar 

 strict attention to details ! 



In conclusion we have only to express our thanks to 



