Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/20

ORNITHOLOGY editions than any other work in Natural History in the ! whole world, and has become emphatically an English classic the graceful simplicity of its style, the elevating , tone of its spirit, and the sympathetic chords it strikes ; recommending it to every lover of Nature, while the severely scientific reader can scarcely find an error in any statement it contains, whether of matter of fact or opinion. It is almost certain that more than half the zoologists of the British Islands for the past seventy years or more have been infected with their love of the study by Gilbert White ; and it can hardly be supposed that his influence will cease. 1 The other work to the importance of which on Ornith- Bewkk. ology in this country allusion has been made is BEWICK S History of British inls. The first volume of this, contain ing the Land-Birds, appeared in 1797 2 the text being, it is understood, by Beilby the second, containing the Water-Birds, in 1804. The woodcuts illustrating this work are generally of surpassing excellence, and it takes rank in the category of artistic publications. Fully ad mitting the extraordinary execution of the engravings, every ornithologist may perceive that as portraits of the Birds they are of very unequal merit. Some of the figures were drawn from stuffed specimens, and accordingly perpetu ate ail the imperfections of the original; others represent species with the appearance of which the artist was not familiar, and these are either wanting in expression or are caricatures ; 3 but those that were drawn from live Birds, or represent species which he knew in life, are worthy of all praise. It is well known that the earlier editions of this work, especially if they be upon large paper, command extravagant prices ; but in reality the copies on smaller paper are now the rarer, for the stock of them has been consumed in nurseries and schoolrooms, where they have been torn up or worn out with incessant use. Moreover, whatever the lovers of the fine arts may say, it is nearly certain that the " Bewick Collector " is mistaken in attach ing so high a value to these old editions, for owing to the want of skill in printing indifferent ink being especially assigned as one cause many of the earlier issues fail to shew the most delicate touches ,of the engraver, which the increased care bestowed upon the edition of 1847 (published under the supervision of Mr John Hancock) has revealed, though it must be admitted that certain blocks have suffered from wear of the press so as to be incapable of any more producing the effect intended. Of the text it may be said that it is respectable, but no more. It has given satisfaction to thousands of readers in time past, and will, it may be hoped, give satisfaction to thousands in time to come. The existence of these two works explains the widely- spread taste for Ornithology in this country, which is to foreigners so puzzling, and the zeal not always according to knowledge, but occasionally reaching to serious study with which that taste is pursued. Having thus noticed, and it is to be hoped pretty thoroughly, the chief ornithological works begun if not completed prior to the commencement of the present cen- 1 Next to the original edition, that known as Bennett s, published in 1837, which was reissued in 1875 by Mr Hailing, was long deemed the best ; but it must give place to that of Bell, which appeared in 1877, and contains much additional information of great interest. But the editions of Markwick, Herbert, Blyth, and Jardine all possess features of merit. An elaborately prepared edition, issued of late years under the managementof one who gained great reputation as a naturalist, only shews his ignorance and his vulgarity. 2 There were two issues virtually two editions of this with the same date on the title-page, though one of them is said not to have been published till the following ye;ir. Among several other indicia this may be recognized by the woodcut of the " Sea Eagle " at page 1 1 bearing at its base the inscription " VVyclitfe, 1791," and by the addi tional misprint on page 115 of Saheeniclus for Schsenicjus. 3 This is especially observable in the figures of the Birds-of-Prey. tury, together with their immediate sequels, those which follow will require a very different mode of treatment, for their number is so great that it would be impossible for want of space to deal with them in the same extended fashion, though the attempt will finally be made to enter into details in the case of works constituting the founda tion upon which apparently the superstructure of the future science has to be built. It ought not to need stat ing that much of what was, comparatively speaking, only a few years ago regarded as scientific labour is now no longer to be so considered. The mere fact that the prin ciple of Evolution, and all its admission carries with it, has been accepted in some form or other by almost all naturalists, has rendered obsolete nearly every theory that had hitherto been broached, and in scarcely any branch of zoological research was theory more rife than in Ornithology. One of these theories must presently be noticed at some length on account of the historical import ance which attaches to its malefic effects in impeding the progress of true Ornithology in Britain ; but charity enjoins us to consign all the rest as much as possible to oblivion. On reviewing the progress of Ornithology since the end of the last century, the first thing that will strike us is the fact that general works, though still undertaken, have become proportionally fewer, and such as exist are apt to consist of mere explanations of systematic methods that had already been more or less fully propounded, while special works, whether relating to the ornithic portion of the Fauna of any particular country, or limited to certain groups of Birds works to which of late years the name of " Monograph " has become wholly restricted have become far more numerous. But this seems to be the natural law in all sciences, and its cause is not far to seek. As the knowledge of any branch of study extends, it outgrows the opportunities and capabilities of most men to follow it as a whole ; and, since the true naturalist, by reason of the irresistible impulse which drives him to work, cannot be idle, ho is compelled to confine his energies to narrower fields of investigation. That in a general way this is for some reason to be regretted is true ; but, like all natural operations, it carries with it some recompense, and the excellent work done by so-called " specialists " has over and over again proved of the greatest use to advancement in different departments of science, and in none more than in Ornithology. 4 Another change has come over the condition of Ornith ology, as of kindred sciences, induced by the multiplica tion of learned societies which issue publications as well as of periodicals of greater or less scientific pretension the latter often enjoying a circulation far wider than the former. Both kinds increase yearly, and the despond ing mind may fear the possibility of its favourite study expiring through being smothered by its own literature. Without anticipating such a future disaster, and looking merely to what has gone before, it is necessary here to premise that, in the observations which immediately follow, treatises which have appeared in the publications of learned bodies or in other scientific periodicals must, except they be of prime importance, be hereinafter passed unnoticed ; but their omission will be the less felt because the more recent of those of a " faunal " character have generally been mentioned in a former dissertation (BiKDS, vol. iii. pp. 737-764) under the different Regions or 4 The truth of the preceding remarks may be so obvious to nio.-t men who have acquaintance with the subject that their introduction here may seem unnecessary ; but it is certain that the facts they state have been very little appreciated by many writers who profess to give an account of the progress of Natural History during the present century.