28 
NATURE NOTES. 
her own. ‘ Feathers,’ wrote Professor Newton, ‘ on the outside 
of any biped but a bird naturally suggests the association of 
tar.’ We could wish it were possible to make every woman fee 
that by wearing feathers she tars herself with the brush of cruelty, 
and outrages, unconsciously it may be, but still inexcusably, the 
best instincts of her womanly nature. Only so can the Moloch 
of fashion be cheated of those innocent victims which are now 
sacrificed in countless numbers on its altars.” 
The Times is not alone in its belief, expressed in the words 
italicised, that the clergy have the power, if they would but 
exercise it, of dealing effectually with this evil. As much has 
been said, and continues to be said, by many organs of public 
opinion. “ Peradventure,” writes Sir Herbert Maxwell in the 
current number of Good Words, “ the thought may enter the 
mind in one of our fashionable London churches, while the 
preacher sends a sympathetic thrill through a forest of feather- 
decked bonnets, how he might venture sometimes to chide the 
cruelty of fashion, as well as its vanity and selfishness.” The 
thought is everywhere, and is more than a sufficient justification 
of the present appeal. As Canon Rawnsley said, in a sermon 
preached at Crosthwaite Church, on Martinmas Sunday of last 
year, it is a travesty of religion, and a mockery, for women 
with heads decked with aigrettes to sing in the words of the 
Benedicite, “ O all ye fowls of the air, bless ye the Lord, praise 
Him and magnify Him for ever ! ” 
If too high an estimate has been formed of the influence 
possessed by the clergy ; if they, like others, feel powerless in 
the face of this sudden flood of barbarity ; it is, nevertheless, 
clearly within their province to lift up their voices against the 
desecration of the Churches ; and it is certain that in so doing 
they would have the heartfelt approval of all right-thinking 
persons. 
W. H. Hudson. 
THE MYCETOZOA.=‘= 
(N our number for January, 1892, the author of the new 
Guide to the British Mycetozoa, published under the title 
of “ An Open Field,” a most useful introduction to the 
knowledge of these interesting plants. That introduc- 
tion will be found a suitable prelude to this enumeration, by the 
publication of which, at so nominal a cost, the Trustees of the 
British Museum have conferred a boon upon field naturalists. 
The Mycetozoa, as Mr. Lister pointed out, may be sought 
in damp woods, decaying leaf heaps and juicy bogs; in fact, 
wherever there exists moisture and decaying vegetation. One 
of the most romantic situations in which they might be 
* Guide to the British IMycctozoa, CNliibited in the I )ep.irtinenl of Hot.any, 
•Arthur Lister, K. L.S. I’p. xlii., 43 figs., 8vo. Price 3d. 
British Museum, try 
