316 ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. 
obligingly supplied me with a number of pamphlets and curious 
memoirs from his private collection. 
Page 94. Buffon.—I think that now-a-days we too readily forget 
that this great generalizer has not the less received and recorded a 
number of very accurate observations furnished him by men of special 
vocations, officers of the royal hunt, gamekeepers, marines, and persons 
of every profession. 
Page 96. The Penguin.—The brother of the auk, but less’ de- 
graded; he carries his wings like a veritable bird, though they are 
only membranes floating on an evoided breast. The more rarified 
air of our northern pole, where he lives, has already expanded his 
lungs, and the breast-bone begins to project. The legs, less closely 
confined to the body, better maintain its equilibrium, and the port 
and attitude gain in confidence. There is here a notable difference 
between the analogous products of the two hemispheres. 
Page 103. The Petrel, the mariner’s terror.—The legend of the 
petrel gliding upon the waves, around the ship which he appears to 
lead to perdition, is of Dutch origin. This is just as it ought to 
be. The Dutch, who voyage en famille, and carry with them their 
wives, their children, even their domestic animals, have been more 
susceptible to evil auguries than other navigators. The hardiest of 
all, perhaps—true amphibians—they have not the less been anxious 
and imaginative, hazarding not only their lives, but their affections, 
