444 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 196. 



Uelle and lies to the north of the Aruwimi river. 

 The pigmies, among whom Captain Burrows 

 has lived, are a race about 4 feet in height ; but, 

 unlike all the other inhabitants of this region, 

 they are not cannibals. ' Spinifex and Sand, ' by 

 the Hon. David Carnegie, will be a narrative of 

 five years' pioneering and exploring in Western 

 Australia, including a journey across the water- 

 less deserts of the interior and through a vast 

 territory that had not been previously explored. 

 The foreign members of the Zoological 

 Congress made an excursion, says the Lon- 

 don Times, to the zoological institution which 

 owes its existence to the enterprise and 

 generosity of the Hon. L. "Walter Eothsohild. 

 A party of over 150 members of the Congress 

 travelled by special train to Tring, and drove 

 from the station to the museum, over which 

 they were conducted by Mr. Walter Eoths- 

 child, Mr. Charles Rothschild, Dr. Hartest and 

 Dr. Jordan. The museum is still young and 

 has grown rapidly from small beginnings. Mr. 

 Rothschild when a boy began to make a col- 

 lection of birds and insects. Owing to his ex- 

 penditure of time and money the collection 

 increased rapidly. A special house known as 

 the ' Cottage' was built for it in 1889, to which 

 a, public exhibition gallery was subsequently 

 added. The museum consists of two parts — 

 a large hall containing a general zoological col- 

 lection, and a series of private rooms contain- 

 ing the special collections, which are only 

 available to students. The public gallery is 

 packed with material, all of high quality, and 

 much of it unique. The general collection is 

 so rich that it is diflScult to select objects for 

 special mention, but the value of the material 

 may be illustrated by reference to the un- 

 rivalled collection of the birds of paradise ; to 

 the specimens of the rare Caspian seal and the 

 BOW extinct quagga ; to the fossil birds from 

 Chatham Island described by Mr. Andrews, 

 and the unique monotreme from New Guinea 

 {Prwchidna nigroaculeata). Among specimens of 

 Tnore general interest may be mentioned the 

 beautifully mounted Grevy's zebra, and the 

 ' white' rhinoceros killed in Mashonaland by 

 Mr. Rhodes's secretary, Mr. Coryndon, and 

 the Chimpanzee 'Sally.' Although the exhi- 

 bition gallery is full of specimens such as these, 



the special study collections of birds and insects 

 are the most important part of the museum. 

 In spite of its recent foundation the museum 

 contains some 40,000 bird skins, and the num- 

 ber of butterflies and beetles is reckoned by 

 hundreds of thousands. Mr. Rothschild early 

 realized the need for systematic work on 

 zoogeography. The area to which he has de- 

 voted most attention is Malaysia, where he 

 maintains a staff of collectors, who go from 

 island to island and thus trace the distribution 

 of the various elements in the Malaysian fauna 

 with a precision less systematic efibrts could 

 never attain. The collections are sent to Tring. 

 Since 1894 memoirs on the collections have 

 been published in a special journal, the Novi- 

 tates Zoologicee. Four complete volumes have 

 been published. Attached to the museum is a 

 paddock, where there is a collection of living 

 animals. 



Some members of the Zoological Congress 

 also visited Woburn to see the valuable collec- 

 tion of deer in the Abbey Park. To avoid dis- 

 turbing the herds more than necessary, the 

 Duke of Bedford's invitations were limited to 

 about 50. The zoologists were met at Woburn 

 by Mr. Lydekker, whose recent monograph, 

 'The Deer of all Lands,' is illustrated by nu- 

 merous photographs of the Woburn herds, 

 taken by the Duchess of Bedford. The deer 

 there may be seen living under exceptionally 

 favorable conditions. Many of the species, 

 such as the elk and Pere David's deer of north- 

 ern China (Elaphurus Davidianus), are allowed 

 to run at large about the open park ; others, 

 such as the small Indian muntjacs, live in the 

 coverts. Those which cannot be allowed such 

 liberty are confined in paddocks. The largest 

 enclosure contains 150 acres, and is occupied 

 by a herd of wapiti, sambar and bison. In a 

 slightly smaller paddock are some Altaian 

 wapiti, including the first living specimens 

 brought to this country. The Indian spotted 

 deer, or chital, share a third enclosure with some 

 Virginian deer and Caspian red deer. Although 

 the collection is of recent foundation it already 

 includes 40 species, and the herds are much 

 larger than can be seen in the Zoological Gar- 

 dens. With the exception of a dredging expe- 

 dition in connection with the Marine Biological 



