NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 399 



country, and even doubting the testimony of Gyraldus, the his- 

 torian, relates that he took council of a certain man, whose up- 

 right conduct he had often proved, " a theologian by profession 

 and an Irishman by birth, Octavian by name, whether he thought 

 Gyraldus worthy of belief in this affair, who, taking oath upon 

 the very Gospel which he taught, answered that what Gyraldus 

 had reported of the generation of this bird was absolutely true, 

 and that with his own eyes he had beholden young, as yet but 

 rudely formed, and also handled them," &c. This statement 

 should find a welcome by Mr. Tegetmeier, who has for so long 

 been drenched with similar testimony relating to the more than 

 questionable proceeding of the Adder swallowing its young. 



It is surprising how much actual observation and frequent 

 acute criticism is contained in this small work, " written in a 

 space of less than two months," by this sorely vexed divine ; at 

 one time imprisoned for preaching without a license ; again 

 fleeing his country to escape the importunities of other divines 

 during the reign of Queen Mary ; and even under Elizabeth, as 

 dean and rector, suspended for nonconformity. Is it pre- 

 sumptuous to imagine that many of these trials might have been 

 avoided, and the knowledge of ornithology very greatly advanced, 

 had Turner been able to quench his dogmatic fire in the still 

 pure stream of nature ? For he writes as an original observer, 

 though sometimes he gives what is perhaps a sample of contro- 

 versial style in other subjects, as, when advocating that Aristotle's 

 Spinus is the Greenfinch, he feels that some may probably object 

 to this identification, and rejoins: "I should like the man who 

 thus objects to me to know," &c. But enough is said on this 

 subject; evidently Turner was a naturalist at heart, but in- 

 tellectually dominated by a passion for theology. 



We thank Mr. Evans for giving us a delightful little volume, 

 which should be read, and then certainly treasured, by not 

 ornithologists alone. There is a literary impression on every 

 page that will charm a competent book-lover, and we hope the 

 Syndics of the Cambridge University Press may see their way 

 to publish further contributions to a knowledge of patristic 

 zoology. 



