Remarks on the Preceding. 181 



proper place according to the system followed. This shows 

 that the second edition must have been supervised by some 

 one having competent knowledge of Ornithology, and turning 

 to WalschV" Naturforscher," for 1774 (Heft 1, pp. 267, 268 

 note), one finds on the authority of " C. G. v. M." (Christopher 

 Gottlieb von Murr) that the Editor was Pallas. 1 



What strikes me as the most extraordinary thing in Dr. 

 Bureau's copy of these plates is the change in their lettering, 

 which he has accurately described in his " Memoire," but it 

 must be remarked that the pagination inserted in the copy is 

 that of the edition of 1760, and includes references to the 

 " Supplement," which of course could not have been done 

 until the work was finished, and, moreover, that could not 

 have any reference to the alleged edition of 1788. Conse- 

 quently this copy of the plates throws no light on the 

 question of the existence of such an edition, and though this 

 copy be at present the only one known showing the change 

 of lettering I can hardly think that it can be unique. To 

 change the lettering of so many plates (261) must have been 

 costly, and one can hardly imagine the object of making it, 

 if only a single copy of each was to be printed. Other 

 copies I think are likely to be found now that attention is 

 called to this peculiarity of lettering — not at all necessarily 

 coloured, but in black and white as they are ordinarily found. 



With regard to the coloration of this copy, when compared 

 with that of the " Planches enluminées," also executed by 

 Martinet for Daubenton, it seems to me probable that the 

 same colourists were employed on both works, for the effects 

 of time on each are nearly the same. The same tints, 

 whether keeping their colour well, faded, or vanishing, show 

 the same results. In each the greens have suffered the most 

 by becoming much darker. But this same condition of the 

 plates shows that the colours used had the same chemical 

 composition, and thus that the colourists of the two works 

 were most likely the same. I must, however, add that the 

 coloration of the " Planches enluminées " seems to have 



1 Referring to the six species of Conroucou given by Brisson in his 

 original work, von Murr writes : — " Aber der vom Herrn Pallas besorgten 

 Leydener Ausgabe, in 8, 1763. T. II. ist. S. 91, der Trogon Ceylonensis 

 Le Couroncou de Ceylon völlig beschreiben,'' u. s. v. 



