22 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST 



precautions necessary for success, and tlie specific uses to wliich 

 they may be applied. It only remains for members , of this Club 

 to reduce the precepts to practice, and possibly to originate new 

 methods. Thus the different ingredients might be varied, possibly 

 vrith useful results. A solution of bichromate of potash, and 

 sulphate of soda, hardens like chromic acid, without leaving the 

 specimens brittle, and it would be interesting to note how eucalyptus 

 oil would act in the final stage. Whether success crowns your 

 efforts or not, in seeking to advance the bounds of science, there is 

 always a pleasui e which the investigator alone knows, and you may 

 Lave the satisfaction, among the sweetest of human delights, of 

 having added to the sum of human knowledge. 



THE AQUILINE OR EAGLES. 

 By T. a. Forbes-Leith. 



The Eagles are a sub-family of birds, and belong to the order 

 Accipitres, division A, or Accipitres Diiirni, and family Falcoiudce^ 

 The bill is strong, compressed, and curved at the top, in the shape 

 of a hook; the margins in some of them being more or less festooned, 

 and the tarsi feathered almost to the toes. 



Just as the lion among animals has been called the king of 

 "beasts, so among the feathered tribe has the Eagle been named the 

 king of birds ; as from the earliest ages to the present time, it has 

 always been considered amongst birds as first for strength, courage, 

 and boldness, for when roused to anger, it fears neither man nor 

 fceast. 



Often in boyhood, from the mountain tops of my native land. 

 Lave I watched that glorious bird, the Golden Eagle, soaring aloft 

 in the sapphire sky, till to the naked eye he appeared no larger, on 

 the cloudless summer canopy of heaven, than the smallest fixed star 

 Tve can distinguish on a clear night. 



The Golden Eagle was the emblem of France in the days of the 

 Great Napoleon, and in Byron's poem on his farewell to the 

 French nation, before being sent to St. Helena, one verse alludes, 

 fip-uratively, to this national emblem, in the following words : — 

 " Oh ! for the veteran hearts that were wasted 



In strife with the storm, Avhen their battles were won ; 

 Then the eagle, whose gaze in that moment was blasted, 

 Had still soared with eyes fixed on victory's sun." 



Wlien Prince Louis Napoleon landed in the north of France in 

 184:8, to rouse the enthusiasm of the French people, especially the 

 army, he took with him a Golden Eagle, which an attendant was 

 told to let go when the Prince landed, and it is said that a tempting 

 piece of fat pork was placed on his Imperial Highness's head, with 



