The Zoologist/4th series, vol 2 (1898)/Issue 683/Notices of New Books
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
The name of Audubon is a household word wherever Ornithology is followed; it is interwoven in the annals of Zoology; and with that of Agassiz is cherished in the fast advancing and now important cult of American Natural History. As stated in the Introduction: "His place as naturalist, woodsman, artist, author has long since been accorded him."
Audubon was an ornithologist by instinct and not by training; he found his subject in the woods and took it from nature; he deserted every pursuit to follow bird-life, as his financial experiences prove, and in losing everything which goes to make what is vulgarly called "success," he found the pleasure of his life, and achieved a lasting fame. From his own journal, which is here reprinted, two extracts relating to early days and manhood will mark this period of his career: "My father being mostly absent on duty, my mother suffered me to do much as I pleased; it was therefore not to be wondered at that, instead of applying closely to my studies, I preferred associating with boys of my own age and disposition, who were more fond of going in search of birds' nests, fishing, or shooting, than of better studies. Thus almost every day, instead of going to school when I ought to have gone, I usually made for the fields, where I spent the day." In later life when he separated from his business partner Rozier, each wrote as they felt, Audubon saying: "Rozier cared only for money, and liked St. Genevieve;" Rozier writing: "Audubon had no taste for commerce, and was constantly in the forest."
Consequently we are not surprised at a subsequent period of deep depression when, "without a dollar in the world, bereft of all revenues beyond my own personal talents and acquirements," he felt, the only time in his life, "when the Wild Turkeys that so often crossed my path, and the thousands of lesser birds that enlivened the woods and the prairies, all looked like enemies, and I turned my eyes from them, as if I could have wished that they had never existed." But this was only the probationary period, and Audubon was to emerge from the wilderness.
The "European Journals," which occupy a large portion of the first volume, detail his visit to these islands, with his portfolio of matchless drawings of the birds he had studied so long, and which belonged to the country he loved so well. He was well, nay, warmly received, and when in Liverpool, to which he was so grateful, Manchester that scarcely equalled his expectations, and Edinburgh, which fairly captivated him, we find recorded the friendships of many well-remembered eminent men, and traits and reminiscences of others perhaps more familiar to some of our readers, as Bewick, Jardine, Selby, and Swainson. We have one delicious insight into the then current philosophy of society. Captain Basil Hall "called to speak to me about my paper on Pigeons; he complained that I expressed the belief that Pigeons were possessed of affection and tenderest love, and that this raised the brute species to a level with man." It was during this journey that Audubon sought and obtained subscribers to his great work, and published the first numbers of the same. The visit to Paris produced few subscribers, but afforded an intercourse with the great Cuvier.
The trip to Labrador was made in 1833, with the object of "procuring birds and making drawings of them for the continuation of the 'Birds of America,' the publication of which was then being carried on in London. The Journal of this excursion is replete with the details of bird-life, and exhibits Audubon as a writer of great descriptive power. As we sail with him to the desolate land we are gradually prepared for the physical horrors of this ornithological paradise. "When we landed and passed the beach, we sunk nearly up to our knees in mosses of various sorts.... A poor, rugged, miserable country; the trees like so many mops of wiry composition, and where the soil is not rocky it is boggy up to a man's waist." The weather is most frequently described under the appellations of rains, fogs, hurricanes. The drawings were made on board ship, with all its uneasy movements, and the cold was sometimes so intense as to render holding the pencil a difficult task. Yet many nests were found, numerous birds procured, and some good observations recorded. "The Scoter Ducks, of which I have seen many this day, were partially moulted, and could fly only a short distance, and must be either barren or the young bachelors, as I find parents in full plumage, convincing me that these former moult earlier than the breeding Ducks."
In 1843 Audubon made an expedition in the interest of the 'Quadrupeds of North America,' the narrative of which constitutes "The Missouri River Journals," and which is now in its entirety published for the first time. There is a great charm in the naturalist's account of a region which, as he saw it then, can never be witnessed again. The old frontier life, the wretched Indians, and the then abundant big game, are soberly described, and we read:—"We have seen much remarkably handsome scenery, but nothing at all comparing with Catlin's descriptions; his book must, after all, be altogether a humbug."
The "Episodes" which conclude the second volume exhibit Audubon as an adept in that most difficult literary art of "short story" writing, and in these days of popular reprints we shall never be surprised to see them reissued in a separate form. Dr. Elliott Coues has proved an efficient zoological editor throughout, and has contributed many valuable notes. Audubon was clearly not an all-round zoologist, for not only does he seem to make the very common and excusable error of most travellers respecting the identity of the Dolphin, but also on more than one occasion speaks of the Porpoise as a fish.
A.G. More was one of those unique personalities with whom contact invariably produced friendship. Combined with this rare gift of provoking attachment, and being void of offence, he possessed the instincts of a true naturalist, and was endowed with many intellectual gifts; but in a world of limitations and compensations he was cursed with persistent ill health, which curtailed his official career, but could not prevent his rendering signal service to Irish Zoology and Botany. Apart from his long service in the Royal Dublin Society's Museum, in which he eventually for a short period—until complete physical collapse ensued—succeeded Dr. Carte as Curator, his life-work must be sought in quiet and unobtrusive contributions to biological knowledge, to the assistance always rendered to other workers, and to the directing power given and enthusiasm afforded to the studies of young naturalists. Under these conditions it is difficult to analyze the career so well told in this volume, written by a sister who with unusual modesty describes on the title-page her memoir as a preface.
More's official connection with the Royal Dublin Museum commenced with his appointment as "first assistant naturalist" at the commencement of 1867. He succeeded the late Dr. Carte in the curatorship near the end of 1881, and after long physical suffering and hoping against hope for the renewed strength that never came, he resigned his position in 1887. During these twenty years, we read, "his room (in the museum) was the rendezvous of all naturalists who came to Dublin"; and after the assumption of his curatorship we find him writing to Prof. Newton: "I don't at all intend to die, or retire, for a long time yet. Not until you shall see what a Museum I will make it." He made many local natural history expeditions on behalf of his museum, and on one of these, in 1873, "a dredging and collecting expedition to Achill and the adjacent coasts," he met with an untimely adventure, from the effects of which he probably never recovered. On the lonely island of Inishkea, about eight miles north of Achill, is, or was, among its solitary inhabitants, a fetish named "Neve-ogue," about which the visitor was wise neither to enquire nor speak about. But stories had got abroad about the benighted condition of these western Irish, and a letter had appeared in print headed "Idolatry in the 19th Century."
This had aroused the fierce indignation of the islanders, and, as not unusual, the wrong man paid the penalty. The unoffending More was surrounded by a group of angry islanders, "and before he could gather the meaning of the situation, a blow from a heavy piece of timber had stretched him on the ground" in an unconscious condition.
After his resignation, and while a hopeless invalid, he was still able to help the cause he had at heart, and from time to time to engage in correspondence. In one of his letters at this time is an admonition that may be well laid to heart by all who are not thoroughly competent observers. "Do try and give up thinking you have seen any rare bird which you do not shoot. It is the most unsafe course in natural history, and leads to innumerable mistakes, and to the discrediting of the observer."
Of his papers reprinted in this volume are those "On the Distribution of Birds in Great Britain during the Nesting Season"
('Ibis,' 1865), and a supplement consisting of "Manuscript Notes in Mr. A.G. More's interleaved copy, with a Summary"; "On the Geographical Distribution of Butterflies in Great Britain," written in conjunction with T. Boyd ('Zoologist,' 1858); and "Outlines of the Botany of the Isle of Wight" (Stanford's 'New Guide to the Isle of Wight').
Mr. More was an old contributor to this Magazine during a period extending from 1849 to 1894, and many of the notes he thus published are also reprinted in the Appendix.
British Zoology is not without a literature, and, judging from the plentitude of new books on the subject, we may rejoice that a popular taste has arisen for natural history subjects. Though well provided with standard books by competent authors on the different British Vertebrates, there was still room for a volume which combined the whole in an introductory but authentic method. This opportunity Mr. Aflalo has attempted to seize, and his book will be, no doubt, welcomed by those who wish to consult a primer that will prove an incentive and guide to more specialized study.
It is not an altogether unusual reproach, that some readers, and a few reviewers, are satisfied with the perusal of a preface or introduction. We can only remark that if such scanty attention was paid to this volume, the result would still be an acquaintance with one of the most interesting general essays on British Zoology that has been written for a long time. We are too apt to seek biological phenomena in other zoological regions, and to ignore the lessons to be learned in our own islands. Many who have studied the peculiarities of insular faunas can well be reminded that that of the Isle of Wight is a home lesson, and as our author remarks: "Yet it is surely not quite devoid of interest that in that little outpost of England, separated from the New Forest and the most fishful rivers in the south country by a mere ditch, the woods should afford shelter to but few Owls and Woodpeckers, the streams hold neither Pike, nor Perch, nor Chub, nor Gudgeon; that the Ring Ousel should abstain from breeding there; that the Toad should be commoner than the Frog, the Viper in excess of the more harmless snake." Again, among the many singular and obscure causes which regulate or modify the presence of migratory species, an excellent example is drawn from the Channel Islands, where, according to Smith, 'Birds of Guernsey,' "since gin took the place of cider as the national beverage, the orchards have been abandoned, and the whole country is under vegetables for the early London market."
Mr. Aflalo is very conservative in the admission of visitant species to our fauna. Thus he omits the Turtles from the list of British Vertebrates, and gives an instance of how these Chelonians may have had a purely artificial introduction. He is, however, somewhat obscure in the paragraph devoted to the Flying-fish, which, we read, finds its way into our waters, if ever, at long intervals only; and subsequently that "there seems to be little doubt of the occurrence of living examples on our south-west coast." The italics are our own.
It is impossible in our space to notice or summarize the main details of the book, which are devoted to the Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fishes, and Lowest Vertebrates—Lampreys and Hag-fishes. The information thus given will prove useful to those who seek concise information in a convenient referential manner, though it must be remembered that few writers are sufficiently equipped to prevent some stumbles in so wide a purview of British Zoology.
Two useful Appendices are given, which comprise "Materials for a Bibliography of Books on the British Vertebrate Fauna," and "A List of Natural History Societies and Field Clubs in the United Kingdom." With reference to the first, and in relation to the scanty literature on British Reptiles, mention should have been made of the series of articles by the late Edward Newman in 'The Zoologist' for 1869.
This publication forms Vol. III. of the "Essex Field Club Special Memoirs," and is a welcome addition to our county faunistic lists. With Mr. Miller Christy's 'Birds of Essex' we now possess handbooks—so far as present knowledge permits—of the vertebrate fauna of the county.
Essex offers unusual advantages to the naturalist; Epping Forest alone is a household word; it possesses a sea-board; six rivers—Thames, Lea, Chelmer, Blackwater, Colne, and Stour—afford means of investigation in the freshwater fauna; there are wide margins of marsh; whilst now that environmental conditions are more studied it must be remembered that "the climate of Essex is dry, the average rainfall being lower than in any other English county." To these natural advantages may be added the institution of the "Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists' Field Club," which has really fostered the study of the local natural history, and focussed the work of Essex naturalists. Thirty-eight terrestrial mammals—excluding two doubtful Bats (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum and Vespertilio murinus), and an introduced species of Jackal—are enumerated, and ten marine mammals, which, however, include so scarce or unwilling a visitor as the Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus). In the Reptilia, besides the Viviparous Lizard and the Blind Worm, the Common Snake, three Batrachians, and three Newts are found. The Natterjack Toad has still to be discovered and recorded. In Fishes 113 species are enumerated, but here of course large additions will constantly be made as the marine fauna is more studied. Local lists of fishes in the different rivers supply a want, though none was procurable relating to the Cam, which rises in the northwest corner of the county, but soon leaves the district. This river "holds two species, apparently naturally absent from all the rest of our Essex rivers," the Grayling, lately introduced into the Lea, and the Spined Loach,
Some beautiful illustrations by Mr. H.A. Cole embellish a small but most useful book.
Hawking is an old pastime. We often in the present day hear, or read, that racing is "the sport of kings," but there is no doubt that hawking really once came under that description. Dear old Burton, in his 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' referring to the writings of Paulus Jovius, remarks of that author, that he doth in some sort tax "our English nobility for it, for living in the country so much, and too frequent use of it, as if they had no other means but hawking and hunting to approve themselves gentlemen with." It must, however, have been a fine sport then, and in an attenuated form can be still practised now, as Mr. Harting's pages amply testify. Possibly its mildest aspect was — again quoting Burton—when the Persian kings hawked butterflies with sparrows "made to that use."
This is one of those interesting books which prove how a scientific ornithologist can write like a good sportsman—using that word in its real and not current definition; and also shows how sport and a knowledge of natural history can and should go together. Both in "Hints on the Management of Hawks," and in the space devoted to "Practical Falconry," the reader who does not pursue the sport will find much to instruct him in the nature and names of birds of prey, while the chapters on "Devices for taking Hawks" and "Indian Snares for Hawks" enter the domain of another work on the 'History of Fowling,' recently noticed in these pages (ante, p. 134).
The illustrations leave nothing to be desired, and Mr. Harting is to be congratulated on issuing a revised and amplified second edition of a work which appeals both to the sportsman and the naturalist, and possesses the literary charm incidental to a wide reading on the subject.