n6 Notes and Comments. 



the case probably to go, when finished, on some pet bracket, 

 or convenient niche in his house, of which the ' tradesman ' 

 who mounts it knows nothing beforehand ; if a rare bird, it 

 probably ends its days in a museum, another oddity in case,. 

 size and mount. No ! it is not always the fault of the 

 taxidermist first concerned that museum acquirements are 

 often such incongruities ; I have had customers order impossible 

 landscapes, foreign butterflies, and exotic marine shells in 

 cases of British subjects, because ! one expense would do for 

 the lot ; a country ' stuffer ' cannot always shape his cloth, 

 with the money staring him in the face. Yes — latitude now 

 must be given, and many museum acquirements must be looked 

 at through spectacles of say fifty years ago ; and so must be 

 rearranged to modern ideas, thankful that the older hands 

 did their best.' 



HAIR CUT AND BIRDS STUFFED. 



' One example of the trials of a ' decent ' man in the trade, 

 and I have done. I was once told by a person in a high position 

 in life, that my work was too dear, as he could get in his 

 local town the same done for 4/6 that I was charging 7/6 for. 

 I told him that if the lower price and work was satisfactory, 

 to go there in future. A year or two later, I was in the same 

 town, and looked up this cheap ' stuffer.' I found he was a 

 barber and hairdresser, who did such work in his spare time ; 

 needle, s to say the finished job was a monstrosity.' 



SIEGLINGIA DECUMBENS. 



The'Rev. E. A. Woodruff e-Peacock has a note on ' Sieglingia 

 decumbens in Lincolnshire,' in The Journal of Botany for 

 December, pp. 359-360. The species was first recorded for 

 Lincolnshire in 1851, by H. C. Watson. It is found in ten out 

 of the eighteen divisions ; but the heath-peat upon which it 

 occurs, however thin, must be limeless, and for certain months 

 of the year fairly moist. It is distinctly a damp-loving species, 

 but not a ' lime-water lover.' The plant has not been recorded 

 for Lincolnshire for carr-peat, though the writer cannot, say 

 why. 



SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



We have received the January number of this interesting 

 quarterly journal, which is edited by Sir Ronald Ross, and 

 published by John Murray (pp. 361-544, 5s. net). It contains 

 original articles, reviews, summaries of recent advances in various 

 branches of science, etc. There is also an admirable ' Essay- 

 review ' by the editor, who refers to recent poems by Masefield 

 and Gollancz. Sir Ronald Ross gives an account of a visit 

 to the Valley of the Muses on Mount Helikon. ' There, in the 

 old days, I thought, men were wise enough to worship, not 

 this Muse or another, but all the Muses ; for their temple was 



