THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST, di 
exist in name and history only. Viewed from this latter 
aspect, the ethnological collections in the Australian Museum 
at Sydney—and kindred institutions in other parts of the 
Commonwealth—are of the highest anthropological import- 
ance, and are altogether beyond the scope of value as defined 
by pounds, shillings and pence. 
DeatH OF AN EMINENT OrnrrHoLocist.—News was re- 
ceived, in the early part of January, of the demise of R. 
Bowdler Sharp, LL.D., Assistant Keeper of the Department 
of Zoology of the British Museum. The late Dr. Sharp was 
undoubtedly the greatest ornithologist of his age, and its 
most prolific writer. Indeed, few men have contributea 
nearly so much to scientific literature as he, but the great 
keynote to.his success was accuracy. No fact published by 
him was too small or too insignificant to verify. The late 
Dr. Sharp was appointed Librarian to the Zoological Society 
of-London in January, 1867, which position he resigned in 
1872 ; in September of the same year he was appointed Senior 
Assistant in the Department of Zoology, British Museum, 
and Assistant Keeper in 1895. Dr. Sharp was in his 63rd 
year at the time of his death. 
DEMISE OF A WELL-KNOWN ENnTOMOLOGIST.—The No- 
vember number of The Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine 
(London) contains the announcement of the death of James 
Harold Bailey, M.B., Ch.B. In early life this distinguished 
entomologist evinced a preference for the Lepidoptera, but 
gradually transferred his attention to the study of the Coleop- 
tera. He was a well-known contributor to entomological 
literature, and at the time of his death had all but completed 
a work on Manx Coleoptera. It is not at all improbable that 
the MS. of this posthumous work will be ‘acquired and pub- 
lished by the Manx Natural History and Antiquarian Society. 
Tuk ARAB AND THE BirD.—Brehm, the eminent natur- 
alist, thus wrote :—‘‘Birds are perfectly aware that they can 
implicitly trust the Arab. No young Scamp ever thinks of 
robbing their nest; no sfortsman is lying in wait near their 
bewer to kill the newly-fledged youngsters. In the eyes of 
the ‘Arab, the naturalist, even, who only destroys an occa- 
sional pair of birds, or takes an egg or two for the purposes 
of science, is not held to be excused. They have often called 
down the curse of heaven upon my head for so doing ; and, 
indeed, my brown servants used to tremble for me, as they 
said that the curse was bound to take effect. I never abused 
them in return, for I could not but admire the feelings which 
inspired them on those occasions, sentiments so noble, and 
. 
