532 Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
and who knew full well that no such opportunity had hitherto 
presented itself for the acquisition of the actual types or of 
typical specimens. It had been hoped that this entire col¬ 
lection, consisting of upwards of 8000 specimens (the British 
portion haying gone to Edinburgh), would have been acquired 
by the British Museum of Natural History; but we believe 
that a very reasonable offer was refused, and one which even¬ 
tually proved to be in excess of the total obtained at the sale. 
Either the catalogues were sparingly circulated or else they 
were sent to the wrong people : the result was a poor attend¬ 
ance and, as a rule, ridiculously low prices. If, in addition 
to the sale catalogue, the printed copies which the auctioneers 
held of Sir William’s detailed catalogue, consisting of 208 
pages, had been circulated or even sold for a small sum, there 
can be little doubt that the amount realized would have been 
far greater. We were glad to see that both the Cambridge 
University and the British Museum secured some valuable 
lots; and the buyer for the latter obtained, in a lot of unspe¬ 
cified mounted birds, nothing less than the type of Bulwer’s 
Petrel, for a few shillings. If this specimen had been cata¬ 
logued, or if its existence had been known, it would probably 
have fetched many pounds. A sadder sight than the throw¬ 
ing away of this fine collection among dealers and plumassiers 
has seldom been witnessed: but through no fault of the 
auctioneers, who did their best with this, to them, novel de¬ 
scription of property. 
New Work by Professor JR. Ridgway .—We are glad to hear 
that Messrs. J. B. Lippincott & Co. have in the press a 
f Manual of North-American Birds 9 by our valued Foreign 
Member Prof. Bidgway, of Washington. The work is to 
contain 425 illustrations, suitably executed, and, as regards 
geographical limits, classification, and nomenclature, it will 
be in conformity with the Code of the American Ornitho¬ 
logists' Union. 
