The UmUim: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 12S. APRIL 22nd, 1882. Vol. 3. 



NEWSPAPERS AND 

 NATURAL HISTORY. 



NEWSPAPERS were always willing 

 to chronicle, especially in the 

 "dead season,'' any natural history 

 items sufficiently out of the common 

 to be attractive to the general reader. 

 They had rather a leaning to the mar- 

 vellous, and a paragraph that could be 

 headed "Lusus Naturae" would al- 

 ways ensure insertion. In fact, they 

 were so fond of this sort of thing that 

 enormous gooseberries and monstrous 

 hens' eggs were a standing joke against 

 them. A kitten with more heads or 

 limbs than it could conveniently use, 

 or a puppy similarly gifted was sure 

 to find record, wliile the sea serpent — 

 especially in papers circulating in sea- 

 ports — commanded attention at any 

 time. Along with paragraphs of this 

 sort, travellers tales of what was new 

 and strange, anything, in short, that 

 was not plain simple natural history 

 was always willingly inserted in the 

 news column of the Provincial Press. 

 But of recent years we have noticed 

 with much pleasure that a different 



tone has begun to prevail. Newspapers 

 claim to be leaders of thought, but 

 they probably only lead sentiment 

 already declared, and do not do much 

 as advanced guards or pioneers. When, 

 however, a movement has begun to 

 command attention, the newspaper can 

 then do much to help it forward. The 

 growing popularity of natural history 

 studies may therefore be assumed from 

 the growing favour with which the 

 press regards it. Our correspondents 

 frequently send us newspapers or 

 cuttings with interesting natural his- 

 tory items in them, and we should be 

 glad to receive more when they contain 

 matters of interest. 



Perhaps no paper that has come 

 under our notice contains more valu- 

 able information on our subject than 

 the l^ewcadle Weelly Chronicle, in 

 which natural history has been a lead- 

 ing subject for a long time. Not only 

 has it had a prominent place in the 

 notes and queries columns, but there 

 have been two special departments in 

 the paper of great value. First, there 

 have been a series of articles by able 

 writers on the fauna of Northumber- 



