220 LETTER FROM DR. LAMPREY. [NoV. 11, 



November 11, 1862. 

 Professor Huxley, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. 



The Secretary read the following extracts from a letter addressed 

 to him by Dr. Lamprey, dated Shanghai, July 31st, 1862 : — 



"I have forwarded by H.M. Steam Transport 'Urgent,' which 

 sailed from Shanghai on the 14th inst., three couples of the Pha- 

 sianus superhus ; at least, I suppose this to be the proper desig- 

 nation of these birds from their fulfilling the description of that bird 

 in the 'Naturalist's Library.' I procured six males last winter at 

 Tien Tsin, where they were sold in the market for the table, like 

 other game-birds. The beauty of the birds, then in good plumage, 

 and the remarkable length of their tail-feathers were very striking ; 

 and I hope their safe arrival in England will aiford an opportunity 

 of seeing them recover their plumage and tails, which have been 

 sadly damaged by confinement. Subsequently I procured five females 

 of the same species by sending a man to the interior, north of Pekin, 

 where they are to be found — though 1 have strong suspicions that all 

 my specimens came from the Tung Ling, or eastern burial-place of 

 the Emperors, situated some distance north-east of Pekin, in a 

 mountainous district. It is the custom to place all kinds of game 

 in the extensively enclosed grounds of the Imperial burial-places, 

 where they are carefully preserved ; but no doubt the mandarins in 

 charge make a good perquisite by disposing of the superfluous stock 

 every winter. 



" These birds are, however, to be found in the mountainous country 

 north of Pekin, in Shantung, also in Shansi ; in the latter province, 

 I am informed, there is also a Pheasant of a beautiful scarlet colour, 

 though of very small size. I have seen a drawing of this bird in a 

 mandarin's house in Tien Tsin, and would have supposed it to be a 

 sketch from fancy, were it not that I was previously informed of the 

 existence of a bird of which this might have been a good representa- 

 tion. With regard to the drawings of birds on Chinese fans, screens, 

 &c., I was hitherto, like others, under the impression that they were 

 altogether imaginary ; the brilliant colouring, attitudes, almost gro- 

 tesque, and strange outlines lead one to this conclusion ; but from 

 seeing a great variety of birds in the country, and having had the 

 opportunity of comparing them with Chinese drawings, I find that 

 they are all more or less good representations of birds which exist in 

 reality. Unfortunately that which constitutes the chief merit of a 

 Chinese artist is his skill in sketching from memory ; otherwise, were 

 they to pay more attention to minute detail, their drawings would 

 give us a good idea of the ornithology of the country. 



" It might be said that the foregoing remarks do not hold good 

 with regard to the Fung or Phoenix of the Chinese, which is evi- 

 dently one of the Pheasant tribe : it does not require any close ex- 

 amination of the Chinese drawing to see this, which corroborates in 

 a great measure the notions of the early western philosophers, who 

 held that the Phoenix was derived from a Pheasant, and not from an 



