Cucoo is explained in Loudon's Magazine, vol. viii., p. 256; but as the reviewer has not seen this, I may inform him that I conceive the bird does not say cuk-coo, but cu-co, and in this view of the matter the Romans, French, Germans, and Italians coincide, though the Greeks have the two consonants in the middle-xoxx05. If the latter be correct, the word should be written Cuccoo, the English c answering to the Greek ». Having thus set the reviewer right, I now part with him, thanking him cordially for the good opinion he has bestowed on my labours.

To the catalogue given at page 200 may be added the following: -the Buscarl Reedling (Salicaria carex, W., Silvia cetti, of Marmora); the Shore Lark (Alauda alpestris, Lin.); the Mealy Linnet (Linaria carescens, Gould); the Pectoral Dunlin (Tringa pectoralis, Bon.); the Whiteheaded Scoter (Oidemia leucocephala, Stev.); the Buffelheaded Garrot (Clangula albeola, Stev.); the Shortbilled Guillemot (Uria brunichia, Sab.); and the Brownheaded Gull (Larus capistratus, Tem.); Audubon doubts whether the Lestris Richardsonia be really distinct from the L. parasiticus. The Rusty Thrush (T. varius) has only occurred once in Britain. The Fen Reedling (Salicaria palustris) has never been seen in this country. Longirostris is, I think, preferable to Macroramfus for the genus Longbeak. For Common Merganser, read Greenheaded Merganser. The title of the Hairy Woodpecker to a place in the British fauna is very doubtful.

I must here conclude my letter, suggested by the objections of your correspondent. Should he wish to prosecute the science of Ornithology, I should advise him to procure Selby's British Ornithology and Mudie's Feathered Tribes, both now enjoying the honours of a second edition: they are worth all the other works on British birds put together, and from their moderate cost are accessible to all. For those who wish merely for a general idea of the animals of our island, I should recommend Jenyns's excellent Manual of British Vertebrated Animals, just published, which is incomparably superior to Fleming's wretched History of British Animals, the only other work of the kind which has appeared.

Derbyshire, February 9, 1833.

S. D. W.

To the Editor of The Analyst.

SIR,

YOUR correspondent S. D. W., in reply to my questions concerning the names of two small migratory birds, agrees that I am right in my conjecture that the first is the Red Lark, but that the second is certainly no other than either the Yellow or Grey Wagtail. Now I happen to know all the Wagtails perfectly well; and I am certain that the yellow bird I have but imperfectly described is as different from the Yellow Wagtail as the latter is from the House Sparrow. There is, indeed, some resemblance in the call of the two birds; but the Yellow Wagtail has much more olive brown on the back, is larger, and also much more elegant in shape, than the yellow bird I have for so many years noticed. Besides, it is never seen near cattle, fly-catching, as the Wagtails frequently are; but in the midst of fields where neither men or cattle, of any kind,

resort.

I applied to my friend Mr. Mudie for his opinion, but neither himself nor his excellent volume could give any direct information. Mr. Mudie could think of no other than the Yellow Wagtail as any way answering to my description; and as this seems also to be the settled opinion of your correspondent, I take the liberty to reaffirm what I have heretofore written of this nondescript, in order that neither your correspondent or other ornithologist may deceive themselves by the idea that I am mistaken. The bird may be met with in the southern counties of England, in the months of June and July, in fields of peas, tares, or other low growing crops.

[The length of S. D. W.'s letter rendered its curtailment absolutely necessary. We would entreat our Correspondents to be as concise as the subject under discussion will allow, in order to relieve us from so onerous and unpleasing a task as abridging their communications.—ED.]

121

PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES.

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & SURGERY.

A MEMORIAL, signed by the governors and trustees of this School of Medicine, and many of the leading individuals in the county, was recently presented to the King, by the Right Honourable Lord Howe, praying his Majesty to become the patron of the Institution, and soliciting permission to style it the " Royal School of Medicine and Surgery." The memorial represented that the Institution had become important to the public from its situation in the centre of the kingdom-from its power of communicating all that is essential in the primary education of medical and surgical students-and from its being recognized by the constituted medical authorities of the realm." His Majesty, in the most gracious manner, acquiesced in the wishes of the memorialists, and conveyed, through the medium of Sir Herbert Taylor, an assurance that His Majesty was very sensible of the great importance and utility of this establishment, and of the advantages, general and local, which the country must derive from the manner in which it was conducted." A cial meeting was subsequently held, when an address, expressive of grateful acknowledgments to His Majesty, was proposed by the Earl of Dartmouth, seconded by Dr. John Johnstone, and carried with acclamation.

spe

During the last session, upwards of ninety students pursued their studies at this Institution, and the several candidates who have sought to be enrolled members of the profession, have passed their examination in a manner alike creditable to their exertions and to the Professors of the School.

The funds of the Institution, we are happy to observe, are in a flourishing state. The donations and subscriptions received in 1835 amounted to £379. 4s., leaving a balance in hand, after paying the disbursements, of £132. 9s. 2d.

Lord Viscount Lorton, and Lord Viscount Lifford have been added to the list of honorary governors; and the Rev. Mr. Lawson, M. A., incumbent of Moseley, has been appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. The liberal founder of the Leamington Hospital, the Rev. Dr. Warneford, has presented the munificent donation of one hundred pounds towards the funds of the School; and the committee have determined, as a mark of acknowledgment and respect towards the benevolent divine, to appropriate a part of that sum in the purchase of wax models, to be termed "The Warneford Collection."

Specimens of the Corals have been presented by Lady Charlotte Law, a hortus siccus of the Mosses and Jungermanniæ, by the Rev. Mr. Gisborne; and various other specimens of Anatomy, Natural History, &c., have been added by Dr. John Johnstone, Mr. J. E. Piercy, Mr. W. H. Osborn, Mr. Beilby, and Mr. W. Fletcher.

BIRMINGHAM PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTION.

WE regret exceedingly that Mr. Ryland's lectures "On the Geographical Classification of Animals," were delivered so late in the month, as it would otherwise have given us pleasure to have inserted a fuller abstract than we are now enabled to do, from the pages of The Analyst being nearly pre-occupied before their delivery. In the following summary we by no means do justice to these lectures; but we can conscientiously express our admiration of their merits.

Mr. Ryland introduced his first lecture by some remarks upon the earliest records of animal existence being coeval with the Noachian deluge, and their distribution over the earth. It is gratifying to behold those sacred truths which seem identified with our existence, upheld by the reasonings of philosophy, which, from misunderstanding and evil prejudices, has too long been rejected by the religious mind, as an enemy to its faith. The lecturer rested his opinions upon the Scriptures, not opposing, but, by facts, carrying out and confirming, the divine declarations, by the discoveries of the natural philosopher.

As soil and vegetation depend especially upon atmospherical temperature, exhibiting in their character so many changes in the different regions of the globe, with which animal existence always corresponds, both in structure and habits, the "geographical distribution of animals" must be regulated according to the peculiarities of the various species.

"We observe," says Mr. Ryland, "in the first place, that the number of animals, of almost every description, is far greater in the warmer regions of the earth than in the colder climes. The degree of heat in the torrid zone appears to be favourable both to the increase of the number, and the development of the size, of animated beings; and as we advance towards the poles the number of living creatures diminishes, till we come to latitudes where the cold is so intense that man, with all his resources, is unable to maintain existence. The same observations hold good with regard to the vegetable world: in tropical countries we find the greatest exuberance of vegetation; without culture of any kind, the surface of the earth is covered with innumerable plants, shrubs, and trees, of gigantic size. Almost the only limits to the extension of vegetable nature are formed by the decrease in the temperature of the air, and by the absence of humidity.”

In order to observe more particularly the effect of temperature upon the geographical distribution of animals, Mr. Ryland proposed the simple plan of dividing the earth into three separate climates, each comprising 60 degrees of latitude. First, the torrid or tropical climate, extending 30 degrees on each side the equator; the temperate climate next in succession, bounded by the north and south latitude; and lastly, the frigid zone, which completes the third division of the globe.

Mr. Ryland enumerated the animals of the torrid climate, begining with the type of the Felida-the Lion, Tiger, Leopards, &c., as now confined to the burning regions of the tropics; "comparing these ferocious and huge animals with those of South America the

Jaguar and the Puma," and the remarks upon the production and preservation of this species were extremely interesting. Roaming within the immense and gloomy forests, beyond the pursuit of their greatest foe-supplied with sufficient food by the multiplicity of animals, and supported by an atmosphere which is the very embryo of life. The lecturer then enumerated and compared some of those prodigious creatures inhabiting the African and Asiatic regions, which seem to be the type of those monsters whose remains call forth our wonder and admiration-the emblems of remote time.

Mr. Ryland pointed out the distinction between the African and Asiatic Elephant and Rhinoceros, also the Dromedary and Camel, the Hippopotamus, the Tapir, the beautiful Giraffe, the Zebras and Quaggas, frequenting the plains of South Africa, and the innumerable herds of Antelopes, constituting a striking peculiarity of South African zoology.

The lecturer continued his subject with much interest through the numerous animals; thence to the birds of this division-as the Eagle, Condor, the Humming-birds, the dazzling-coloured Rollers, the magnificent Plantain-eater, and a whole host of gorgeous creatures, on whom Nature seems almost to have exhausted her powers of beauty.

The reptiles appertaining to these regions exhibit the same gigantic form as other creatures the huge monsters, that rise as if engendered from the slimy rivers by the rays of the burning sun, are but the type of the vast Megalosauri. The serpents and smaller reptiles were included in this description, and the account of the Ants, those "mighty pioneers," was highly instructive.

The first division was concluded by an examination of the insect class. As with the higher species of animals of this latitude, the production and increase of insect life is, beyond calculation, favoured by the same prolific causes. The pied colours of these creatures were represented as rivaling, in intensity, the dazzling lustre of metals. Like the Bratrachian family, the Gnat, Bee, and Fly seem citizens of the whole world, appearing in myriads wherever there is an asphaltis to engender them. Mr. Ryland gave a short and pleasing account of the zoology of Australia-as the marsupial animals, &c.

Such is a very imperfect outline of this first part of the lecture, which was completed by an enumeration of the animals of the temperate zone, including that portion of the globe between the 30th and 60th degrees of latitude, comprising the immense continent of North America (exclusive of Mexico), that part of Africa bordering upon the Mediterranean, all Europe, except Norway, Sweden, Lapland, part of Russia, &c. In each boundary running into the torrid and frigid zones, the animals are distinguished by a resemblance of either north or south, according to their geographical contiguity. The predacious quadrupeds, as the Tiger, Hyenas, Jackalls, of the southern, Bears, Wolves, Foxes, Badgers, Racoons, &c., &c., of the northern parts of this division.