5 ° 
Recent Literature. 
[ January 
llcrmt |Trterafurf. 
The Transactions of the Linnaean Society.* — For some time past 
it has been rumored that the Linnaean Society of New York contemplated 
publishing “Transactions,” and more recently these reports have received 
substantial confirmation by the appearance, in advance, of extras of 
papers by Dr. Merriam and Mr. Bicknell; closely following these comes 
the volume of which they form a part. It is large octavo of one hun- 
dred and sixty-eight pages, illustrated with a frontispiece — a portrait of 
Linnaeus from an old engraving in the possession of Mr. L. S. booster, by 
whom it is contributed. 
From the introductory announcement we transcribe the following ex- 
planation of the origin and future aims of the Linnaean Society : 
“The Linnaean Society of New York was founded March 7, 1878, by the 
following-named gentlemen: — H. B. Bailey, John Burroughs, Ernest 
Ingersoll, Franklin Benner, Harold Herrick, Newbold T. Lawrence, Wil- 
liam C. Osborn, Eugene P. Bicknell, Dr. Frederick H. Hoadley, C. Hart 
Merriam.” 
“Abstracts of the proceedings of the Society, and papers read before 
it, have appeared in different scientific serials, but much valuable matter 
has been withheld from lack of a direct medium of publication. The 
necessity for such an organ has now become manifest, and the present 
volume is designed to be the first of a series in which papers coming be- 
fore the Society may be permanently preserved.” 
The Officers for 1882-83 are: Eugene P. Bicknell, President: H. B. 
rJailey, Vice-President-, L. S. Foster, Recording Secretary ; Newbold T. 
Lawrence, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer ; Eugene P. Bicknell, 
Dr. C. Hart Merriam, and Newbold T. Lawrence, Committee on Publi- 
cation. 
The above array of names is a guaranty that anything published by 
the Linnaean Society will possess a high order of excellence. A glance 
through the pages of these “Transactions” is enough to show' that 
this assumption is well founded. There are three papers: the first, by 
Dr. Merriam, on “The Vertebrates of the Adirondack Region, Northeast- 
ern New York” ; the second, by Mr. William Dutcher, discussing the ques- 
tion, “Is not the Fish Crow ( Corvus ossifragus Wilson) a winter as well as 
a summer resident at the northern limit of its range”; the third, by Mr. 
Bicknell, devoted to “A Review of the Summer Birds of a part of the 
Catskill Mountains, with prefatory remarks on the faunal and floral fea- 
tures of the region.” 
* Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York. Volume I. Published by the 
Society, December, 1882. New York : Press of L V S. Foster, 35 Pine Street. MDCCC- 
LXXXII. 
