January 27, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



137 



classification, especially when it becomes 

 the foundation of a philosophy." (Pp. 

 119-120.) 



" The true method of classification is not 

 by invention, but bj^ discovery." (P. 113.) 

 Lester F. Ward. 



INCONSIDERATE LEGISLATION ON BIRDS. 

 The following bill has passed the House, 

 and, as amended by Senator Hoar, has met 

 with the approval of the Senate. If the 

 amended bill meets with the approval of 

 the House Conferees it will probably be- 

 come a law : 



An Act to Extend the Powers and Duties of the 



Commission of Fish and Fisheries to Include 



Game Birds and Other Wild Birds Useful to 



Man : 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 

 Representatives of the United States of America 

 in Congress assembled, that the United States 

 Commission of Fish and Fisheries shall here- 

 after be known and designated as the United 

 States Commission of Fish, Fisheries and Birds. 

 The duties and powers of said commission are 

 hereby enlarged so as to include the propaga- 

 tion, distribution, transportation, introduction 

 and restoration of game birds and other wild 

 birds useful to man. For such purposes they 

 may purchase, or cause to be captured, such 

 game birds and other wild birds as they may 

 require therefor, subject, however, to the 

 laws of the various States and Territories in 

 which they may conduct such operations. 



The object and purpose of this Act is to aid 

 in the restoration of such birds in those parts of 

 the United States adapted thereto where the 

 same have become scarce or extinct, and also 

 to aid in the introduction of new and valuable 

 varieties or species of American or foreign birds 

 in localities where they have not heretofore 

 existed. 



Said Commission shall from time to time col- 

 lect and publish useful information as to the 

 propagation, uses and preservation of such 

 birds. 



And the said Commission shall make and 

 publish all needful rules and regulations for 



carrying out the purjjoses of this Act, and shall 

 expend for said purposes such sums as Congress 

 may appropriate therefor. 



The Amendments are as follows : 



That the importation into the United States 

 of birds, feathers or parts of birds for orna- 

 mental purposes be and the same is hereby 

 prohibited : Provided, however, That nothing 

 herein contained shall be construed as prohibit- 

 ing the importation of birds for museums, 

 zoological gardens, or scientific collections, or 

 the importation of living birds or of feathers 

 taken from living birds without injury to the 

 bird. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 

 authorized to make regulations for carrying 

 into effect the provisions of this section. 



That the transportation of birds, feathers or 

 parts of birds, to be used or sold from any State 

 or Territory of the United States is hereby pro- 

 hibited. Whoever shall violate the provisions 

 of this section shall, upon conviction in the 

 district where the offense shall have been com- 

 mitted, be punislied for each such offense by a 

 fine of $50. 



That the sale, keeping or offering for sale, 

 within any Territory of the United States, or 

 within the District of Columbia, of birds, 

 feathers or parts of birds for ornamental pur- 

 poses, except such as are excepted in the first 

 section of this Act, be and the same is hereby 

 prohibited. Whoever shall violate the pro- 

 visions of this section shall, upon conviction, be 

 punished for such offeDse by a fine of $50. 



In view of the high grade of ornitliological 

 work which the Department of Agriculture 

 has already performed, and of the eminently 

 scientific character of its personnel, it seems 

 a great pity that work so clearly of an agri- 

 cultural nature should be given to the Fish 

 Commission, a department wdiich has 

 neither the experiment stations, the men 

 nor the means to effectively undertake such 

 duties, and whose hatcheries are in locali- 

 ties so remote from sources of supply that 

 the work can only be done, if at all, at a 

 great sacrifice of time, money and energy. 



The introduction of new species into a 

 country is, in any case, a dangerous ex- 



