SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No, 32J 



remarkable species, such as the mound-building megapodes and 

 the bower-birds, were quite triumphs in the way of field orni- 

 thology. Nests and eggs were collected, as well as an excellent 

 series of skins, both of mammals and birds ; and here Mr. Gould's 

 beautiful method of preparation was especially noticeable. Some 

 of his specimens, skinned more than thirty years ago, are as neat 

 in appearance, and as fresh, as the day they were prepared. Re- 

 turning in 1840, after two years' absence, he commenced the great 

 work on the " Birds of Australia," which makes seven folio vol- 

 umes, and occupied seven years in its production, being completed 

 in 1848. One of the features of this work is the great increase in 

 our knowledge of the range and habits of petrels and other sea- 

 birds, to which the author paid great attention during his travels, 

 and is by far the most important, from an ornithological point of 

 view, of all Gould's works. 



Within a year of IVIr. Gould's return from his adventurous voy- 

 age, he had the misfortune to lose his wife, and for some time he 

 was completely overwhelmed by his bereavement. His collectors 

 in Australia too, about the same period, lost their lives. One of 

 them, Mr. Gilbert, was killed during Dr. Leichhardt's expedition 

 overland from Moreton Bay to Port Essington ; and Mr. Drum- 

 mond, while collecting in western Australia, was also murdered 

 by natives; and a third collector was killed by the explosion of a 

 gun on one of the islands of Bass's Straits. It speaks volumes, 

 however, for the zeal and energy with which Mr. Gould had prose- 

 cuted his researches in the Australian continent, that very few 

 birds (sufficient only to form a supplement in a single folio volume) 

 have been discovered since he left the field of his labors in that 

 quarter of the globe. 



Another landmark in the career of this great ornithologist was 

 the publication of his " Monograph of the Trochilidee, or Family of 

 Humming-Birds." These lovely little birds had been for a long 

 time favorites with Mr. Gould, who gradually began to amass that 

 fine collection which has been the admiration of naturalists for so 

 many years. Taking advantage of the great exhibition of 1S51, he 

 obtained permission from the Zoological Society to erect, at his 

 own cost, a large building in their gardens in the Regent's Park, 

 where the collection was open to the public at a charge of sixpence 

 per head. A considerable sum was realized by this exhibition, and 

 a large number of subscribers to his monograph were obtained, in- 

 cluding nearly all the royal families of Europe. Though sketched 

 by Mr. Gould himself (for even to the last days of his life he exe- 

 cuted the designs for all his plates), the majority of the humming- 

 birds were placed on stone by Mr. Richter, who also did the same 

 for Mr. Gould's next work, the " Birds of Asia." This work, 

 though not completed at the time of his death, aged seventy- six, 

 on Feb. 3, 18S1, was brought to a satisfactory conclusion by Mr. 

 R. Bowdler Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., etc., of the British Museum, 

 acting on behalf of Messrs. H. Sotheran & Co., who have since 

 brought his other unfinished works to completion, as hereafter 

 mentioned. It is most valuable on account of the number of plates 

 of species not figured elsewhere. The " Mammals of Australia," 

 produced simultaneously with the last-mentioned work, deserved, 

 in Mr. Gould's own opinion, more credit for its issue than perhaps 

 any work he had done, because it touched upon a branch of zo- 

 ology of which he never pretended to have any very exact knowl- 

 edge. So large, however, had been his collections of Mammalia 

 during his sojourn in Australia, that some account of them seemed 

 to be demanded, and he therefore published his large folio work ; 

 but the pecuniary results were less satisfactory than with any of 

 his ornithological productions. His typical specimens of the Aus- 

 tralian Mammalia are in the national collection. No sooner were 

 the humming-birds finished than his active brain conceived a new 

 idea, to illustrate becomingly the birds of his native land, and he 

 commenced the publication of the " Birds of Great Britain." Opin- 

 ions may differ as to the merit of Mr. Gould's other works ; vol- 

 umes less ponderous than the folios which he adopted for the 

 better figuring of the objects of the natural size may take their 

 place with the student ; but no work of greater beauty will be pro- 

 duced than that on which John Gould, returning in his later life to 

 his first love, bestowed the fulness of his energy and the acme of 

 his artistic talent. The care bestowed on the plates of this work 

 was remarkable, the aim of the author being to produce a picture 



of the birds as they appeared in their natural haunts ; and especial 

 pains were bestowed on the young, particularly those of the wad- 

 ing-birds and natatores. In this fine work most of the drawings 

 were developed and placed on stone by Mr. W. Hart, who also 

 executed all the plates of the later works. 



In 1865, Mr. Gould republished his letterpress of the big work in 

 an octavo form, under the title of " A Handbook to the Birds of 

 Australia," but with all the additional species inserted in their 

 proper families : these two volumes are therefore of great use to 

 the student. After the completion of his work on " British Birds," 

 Mr. Gould devoted himself to the continuation of the " Birds of 

 Asia " and the supplement to the " Birds of Australia," until, in 

 1875, he commenced a work on the " Birds of New Guinea," which 

 was to contain also descriptions of any new species that might be 

 discovered in Australia or any part of the Australian region. Of 

 the last-named work, eleven parts had appeared at his death, and 

 it has since been completed by Mr. Bowdler Sharpe. The follow- 

 ing works were also left unfinished : " A Monograph of the Pitti- 

 dffi, or Ant-Thrushes of the Old World " (one part published) ;, 

 and the supplement to the "Monograph of the Humming-Birds," 

 which has also been completed by Mr. Sharpe, with the co-opera- 

 tion of iVIr. Osbert Salvin. 



Thd above list enumerates all the works published by Mr. Gould, 

 with the exception of the " Icones Avium " (issued about 1838, and 

 containing supplementary plates to his previous volumes, with de- 

 scriptions of new species), " A Monograph of the Odontophorinse, 

 or Partridges of America,'' " Synopsis of the Birds of Australia,'" 

 and "A Monograph of the Macropodids " (published in 1841-42). 

 In addition to the folio volumes, he was also in the habit of reprint- 

 ing the introductions to his larger works in an octavo form for 

 presentation to his friends. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Hints for Teachers of Physiology. (Guides for Science-Teaching,. 

 No. XIV.) By H. P. Bowditch, M.D. Boston, Heath. 24°. 

 At the present time physiology is taught in most of the gram- 

 mar-schools; and the author has attempted to show how a teacher 

 may supplement text-book instruction by means of simple observa- 

 tions and experiments on living bodies or on organic material, thus 

 imparting to the pupils a knowledge of the foundation on which 

 physiology rests, and at the same time bringing the impressions 

 made on the senses to aid the memory in retaining the facts com- 

 municated in a purely didactic way. The reputation of Professor 

 Bowditch as one of the foremost physiologists of America is a 

 guaranty that the advice which he gives is based on scientific prin- 

 ciples, and we heartily commend this manual to all teachers of 

 physiology. Even those who are giving instruction to students 

 more advanced than those in grammar-schools will find here many 

 useful hints and suggestions. 



The Leading Facts of French^ History. By D. H. MONTGOM- 

 ERY. Boston, Ginn. 12". $1.25. 



This work is intended for the use of schools, and is well adapted 

 to its purpose. It treats, as its name implies, of the leading facts 

 only, very few passages being filled with detail ; and the story is in 

 the main well told. The author's style is simple and easily under- 

 stood, and the book is divided into sections with suitable headings 

 for the student's use. Its principal defect is that it is almost ex- 

 clusively a political history ; the general progress of civilization, 

 and the more special histories of literature, science, philosophy, 

 and art, being almost wholly neglected. Mr. Montgomery puts on 

 his titlepage the remark of Guizot, that " there is hardly any great 

 idea, hardly any great principle of civilization, which has not had 

 to pass through France in order to be disseminated ; " but, owing 

 to the scanty information furnished about the progress of civiliza- 

 tion, this remark receives but slight illustration from this work. 



The political history itself, however, is well treated, the really 

 important topics being put in the foreground, while battles and 

 court intrigues are relegated to their proper place. The earliest 

 periods of French history are of course passed over somewhat 

 lightly, but as much is said about them as most students will care 

 for, and particular care is taken to show how the kingdom grew 



