SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



327 



.-1 vJiiion J»d His Journjls. By Maria R. Audubon. 

 i.ioo pp. large Svo and 37 illustrations, in two 

 volumes. (London : John C. Nimmo, 1S9S.) 

 j'i 105. net. 



This handsomely produced book was recently 

 published in America, and the English edition 

 before us is practically identical. The two volumes 

 make an interesting addition to any naturalist's 

 library, especially for those who are fond of 

 ornithology. Miss Audubon has included some 

 zoological and other notes by Dr. Elliott Coues 

 which add to the value of the journals in clearing 

 up occasional doubts that might have arisen in 

 the minds of readers with reference to the identity 

 of birds mentioned by Audubon. 



The name of Audubon is familiar to every 

 naturalist and field worker in the world ; but 

 on the American 

 continent it is 

 loved and rever- 

 enced much as is 

 the name of Gil- 

 bert White in 

 thiscountry. It is 

 rather the fashion 

 in these times 

 to speak depreci- 

 atingly of field 

 naturalists such 

 as Audubon, and 

 to remind people 

 that their work 

 was unscientific. 

 Those who take 

 this line of 

 thought are apt 

 to forget that true 

 scientific work 

 grew from the 

 early observa- 

 tions of men 

 like Audubon. 

 No one regretted 

 more than him- 

 self his absence 

 ■A early scientific 

 Training. This re- 

 v-ret is repeatedly 

 sea in his 

 journals, espe- 

 cially towards the 

 i his active 

 life. For i n - 

 stance, writing 

 during his 



Marct. he exclaims, as though address- 



ing hi Oh, my Lucy, that 1 also b 



ceived a University education." What one admires 

 ;an aught else, in reading Audul. 



• the earnestness and self-sacrifice 

 displayed from quite an early period We should 

 remember that be came from 1 class and lived in 

 here, and at a time when, the study oi 

 Natural History was looked upon with m 

 less disdain. In those days th<:r>: was available no 

 systematic scientific training as now undei 

 Indeed, the social 



natural science studies, I be 

 ■ ■> gr<:at set 



to I*: de 

 accumulating dollar 

 e . the v.- 



John Janes Laiokbst Audubon. From "Audubon and His Journals.' 



on the score of it being impertinent to inquire 

 into the works of Providence. The volumes 

 before us show much affectionate thoughtful- 

 ness on the part of the great ornithologist's 

 grand-daughter in editing his journals, and she 

 has collected with care everything which has 

 tended to produce an admirable monument to 

 Audubon. The volumes include much which has 

 not previously appeared in public, including three 

 of his hitherto unpublished drawings of birds. 

 Audubon commenced his journals early in 

 life, and in one place mentions twenty-seven 

 volumes. Unfortunately numbers of these have 

 utterly disappeared, and no trace of them can 

 now be discovered. Luckily, however, the 

 years represented in these recently published 

 volumes are among the most important of his 



life. Including 

 other years, they 

 cover the period 

 of his visit to 

 Europe while 

 seeking subscri- 

 bers for his great 

 work on the birds 

 of America. 

 They give his 

 impressions of 

 people he met in 

 Great Britain, 

 where he seems 

 to have been re- 

 ceived with much 

 kindness and 

 some honour. 

 The book was 

 published by sub- 

 scription, and the 

 reader of these 

 journals will not 

 fail to follow with 

 pleasure Audu- 

 bon's anxieties, 

 hopes and suc- 

 cesses, which in 

 the recounting 

 show him to have 

 been very human. 

 The whole work 

 was completed in 

 iSjS.and appears 

 to have been 

 originally issued 

 from Edinburgh 

 and London in 

 eighty-seven 

 parts of five folio plates each, making a total of four 

 hundred and thirty-five plates, giving <>ne thousand 

 and sixty-five figures of birds. On completion the 

 plates were bound in four volumes without text 

 description, the original price being two guineas 

 each part. A complete copy of the original in good 

 condition is now worth upwards of /)oo, and is 

 impossible to obtain, even at that high price 

 The work was afterwards Issui 1 vitfa text and 

 ther, under the title ol " ' irnithological 



iphy,"in five large octavo vol is, published 



in Edinburgh in 1 1 ■ 1 1 to 1 83 ni >ther edition 



ired 1 i" 1 1 1 vm h i' 1 and plates, 



under the original title ol "Bird of America." 



I hen other editions have been publl ihed, At 



nmencemeni ol the fit il volume of" \udubon 



and His |ournala Is a sketch written by him • II 



of his active life. This sketch is continued up to 



