154 ornithologist's text-book. 



Hence the inefficiency of these works to fulfil 

 the purpose for which they were intended, being 

 fully established, it becomes our business to con- 

 sider the most expedient means of obtaining a 

 work which might always be consulted with safety 

 and advantage, and which should be within the 

 reach of almost every one. That such would be 

 far from difficult to accomplish, we shall fully 

 prove in the sequel. In the mean time a few 

 general remarks on the subject may perhaps be 

 useful. 



We would propose that there should be an Edi- 

 tor, to arrange and superintend the whole work, 

 and that the most eminent Naturalists should be 

 employed in composing the various departments. 

 The Editor must of course fix on the classification 

 he wishes to adopt ; and this system must be 

 strictly adhered to throughout. The evils arising 

 from allowing each writer to adopt the classifica- 

 tion he thinks best, as in Partington's Cyclopedia, 

 must be obvious to every one. If the same system 

 is not adhered to throughout, it would be far better 

 to leave out classification altogether, as such laxity 

 is calculated to confuse the student and impede his 

 progress, rather than to assist him. Thus if one 

 writer informs you that the Golden Eagle belongs 

 to the genus Falco, whilst another declares that 

 the same bird is ranked amongst the Falconidce, 

 and in the genus Aquila, what assistance can be 

 derived from the systematic portion of that work ? 

 Most assuredly none. And there can be little 

 doubt that every sentence relating to classification 

 in such a work would be time and labour thrown 

 away. We would much rather that the Linnaean 

 system should be adopted throughout, as in La- 

 tham's last production, than that the system should 

 be altered in the course of publication, to suit the 

 continually advancing state of science. To adopt 



