164 Notice of British Naturalists. 



From this period, for several years, we have no great work es- 

 pecially dedicated to British Zoology. In 1815, Lamarck, by 

 the publication in Paris, of his Histoire naturelle des animaux 

 sa?is vertebres, created a new interest in this study, and placed 

 conchology on a new basis ; one, however, of which Lister pre- 

 viously appears to have seen the propriety. In 1817, appeared, 

 likewise in Paris, Cuvier's Regne Animal. So strong a hold, 

 however, had the system of Linnaeus taken on the minds of the 

 British naturalists, that neither of these great works was as cor- 

 dially received as they ought to have been; and it has required 

 some years fully to attract attention to them ; and to show the 

 effect which they have produced on the study of the natural sci- 

 ences. 



While therefore, this study was gradually gaining ground in 

 England ; materials were being collected, and many provin- 

 cial museums and societies, were both formed, and maintained 

 with spirit. We must pass on to the year 1825, when Mr. Pri- 

 DEux John Selby, published the first volume of his magnificent 

 work on British birds. It is in large folio. The plates are drawn 

 from nature ; frequently from the living specimen, and are lith- 

 ographed. Where the dimensions will admit of it, the figures 

 are of the size of life ; and all are beautifully colored with much 

 precision and accuracy. Two volumes of letter press accompa- 

 ny this work. These are confined chiefly to the mere descrip- 

 tion and habitat ; nor indeed, however much we may lament 

 that the admirable sketches, which Mr. Selby is capable of giv- 

 ing, should be omitted, was it intended to be otherwise. For 

 he says in the preface, " I have contented myself with referring 

 by occasional notes, to any anecdotes particularly interesting as 

 to the species under consideration." In the first edition of his 

 first volume, he had chiefly followed the natural arrangement 

 proposed by the celebrated French ornithologist, M. Temminck j 

 but finding it to be imperfect, and not adapted to the natural or- 

 der, at least of British birds, in his second edition he has rewritten 

 the work, and had adopted that system which is proposed by Mr. 

 Vigors. 



Mr. Selby is living, and is still ardent in his favorite pursuit. 

 He is a gentleman -of property and of education ; and his untir- 

 ing industry is manifested by the various works which he has 

 either edited or published, and the various papers which he has 



