388 
Letters, Announcements , fyc. 
liave ample time to propose Candidates ; and the Committee 
promised to take this suggestion into consideration. 
A discussion ensued as to whether the B. O. U. could in 
any way cooperate with the Selborne Society in trying to put 
a stop to the wholesale destruction of birds for the purpose of 
feminine decoration. A proposal by Mr. R. B. Sharpe for 
the appointment of a Committee of the B. O. U. to “consider 
whether any and wdiat steps should be taken to stop the undue 
destruction of wild birds ” was put to the Meeting and lost, 
A vote of thanks to the Chairman, as also to Captain 
Shelley for the use of his room, was carried unanimously. 
The Meeting then adjourned, and the Annual Dinner, 
held at the Cafe Royal, was attended by twenty-eight 
Members and guests. 
Obituary. Prof '. E. von Boeck, of Cochabamba. —We much 
regret to hear from Dr. W. Blasius of the sudden death of his 
correspondent, Prof. Eugen von Boeck, Director of the Central 
School of Bolivia, and Member of the Permanent Interna¬ 
tional Ornithological Committee. Prof. v. Boeck died at 
Cochabamba on the 30th of January last, of an attack of 
cholera. One of his first ornithological articles was a paper 
on the Birds of Valdivia (Naumannia, 1855, pp. 494-513), the 
last those on the Birds of Cochabamba [vide supra, pp. 365, 
366). At the time of his decease Prof. v. Boeck was engaged 
on a translation of TaczanowskPs f Ornithologie du Perou.* 
Under very disadvantageous circumstances the Professor 
exerted himself in every way to advance our knowledge of 
South-American ornithology. 
Heer Franqois P. L. Pollen. —We are informed that Heer 
Pollen, the explorer of Madagascar in company with D. C. 
Van Dam, and fellow-author with the late Prof. Schlegel of 
the volume of Mammals and Birds of the ‘ Recherches sur la 
Faune de Madagascar’ (1868), has recently died at Scheve- 
ningen, where he was German Consular Agent. 
