NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 467 



two which are preserved in America. Why it should be so rare we 

 cannot say, unless the bulk of the edition was perhaps destroyed 

 by fire. At any rate original copies are now quite unprocurable, 

 and we are indebted to Mr. Rhoads for enabling us to estimate 

 its scientific worth by means of an exact reprint which he has 

 just issued. As to the history and nature of the work, a few 

 words of explanation seem necessary. 



In 1794-95 was projected and published, in Philadelphia, a 

 sort of General Gazetteer, or geographical, historical, and com- 

 mercial Directory, which, having too long a title for general 

 quotation, came to be known as ' Guthrie's Geography.' Between 

 the date of the original edition and that of 1815, to which George 

 Ord became a contributor, there appeared (in 1814) an important 

 publication entitled "A History of the Expedition, under the 

 command of Captains Lewis and Clarke to the sources of the 

 Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains, and down the River 

 Columbia to the Pacific Ocean : Performed during the years 

 1804-5-6 : By order of the Government of the United States." 

 Ord having examined the zoological collections brought home by 

 these explorers, and having named a number of species which 

 appeared to him to be new, or undescribed, or to require naming, 

 was induced to publish the results in an article on the Zoology of 

 North America in the new edition of 'Guthrie's Geography' 

 which appeared in 1815. His name was not appended to this, a 

 prefatory note from the publishers explaining that " the modesty 

 of the author forbids a personal acknowledgment which the 

 editors would have the highest satisfaction in making." 



Only through the recognition of his associates, and in a great 

 measure owing to the citations by Prof. Spencer Baird in his work 

 on the Mammals of North America, is the scientific world enabled 

 (as Mr. Rhoads puts it) " to accord to the author of ' Ord's Zoology ' 

 the honour and distinction which he humbly sought to avoid." 



Such, briefly speaking, is the history of the work. The 

 scientific value lies in the lists of Mammals (pp. 291-92) and the 

 observations upon them (pp. 293-813) ; Birds (pp. 313-356) ; and 

 Amphibia (pp. 357-360) ; with a few remarks on Fish and Insects 

 (pp. 360-361), none of which are given in any other edition of 

 * Guthrie's Geography.' 



Looking casually through the volume, we are inclined to think 

 that its value has been perhaps a trifle overrated. 



