Valetudine; Hieronymus Mercurialis, De arte Gymnastica 106.] perly so called, and their vascular organization is in all re spects exceedingly low and imperfect. In their manner of growth Gymnosperms correspond on the one hand with Exogens, the wood of Coniferæ being arranged in concentric circles, and on the other with EndoGYMNO'DERUS. [CORACINA, vol. viii., p. 4.] gens, the wood of Cycadaceae being very nearly like that o GYMNO'LEPAS. [CIRRIPEDA, vol. vii., p. 207.] a palm tree. In fact the class of Gymnosperms may be con GYMNOPS, a genus of birds (Goulins) established by Cu-sidered to unite the two classes of Exogens and Endogens vier and described by him as having a bill strong as that of so perfectly that not a link remains to be supplied. They the Orioles; the nostrils round, without scales or any mem- also closely border upon Acrogens, of which Cycadacea branous entourage, and a great part of the head denuded have the gyrate vernation, Coniferæ the veining, and in of feathers. He refers to Gracula calva, Gmel., Mino Du- some cases the peculiar arrangement of the male appamonti, Less and Gracula cyanotis, Lath. (Merops cyanotis, ratus. Sh.), as examples. GYMNOSOPHISTS. [HINDUSTAN.] GYMNOSPERMS, one of the five divisions under which the vegetable kingdom is now classified. The name is derived from the seeds being naked, that is to say, unprotected by a pericarpial covering, and fertilized by the pollen coming in direct contact with the ovule, not by the intervention of the apparatus called stigma and style. In this respect Gymnosperms are analogous to those reptiles which, in the animal kingdom, have eggs that are impregnated by the male after they have been deposited by the mother. The number of plants in which this peculiarity exists is inconsiderable; they entirely belong to the natural orders Coniferæ in its most extensive sense, and Cycadaceæ. Equisetaceæ perhaps have to be added, but this is a point at pre sent involved in doubt Connected with the singularity in the manner of reproduction, from which the class of Gymnosperms derives its name, is a point in the organization of the organs of vegetation equally remarkable. Although Gymnosperms contain the most gigantic trees which exist upon the face of the earth, they are nevertheless so ill provided with spiral vessels that it is in fact doubtful whether they possess any pro In addition to the differential characters of these plants we have to add that their sexes are always separate, and that their leaves, if furnished with veins at all, have them parallel as in Endogens, or forked as in ferns, and never reticulated as in the class of Exogens. The preceding figure of Juniperus Oxycedrus will show the peculiarities of this class-Fig. 1 is a male catkin; fig. 2, a scale from it having anthers on its under side; fig. 3, a female cluster of flowers seated at the end of a scaly peduncle; fig. 4, a longitudinal section of the same, showing the naked ovules seated within the scales; fig. 5 is a ripe fruit, composed of three scales, become fleshy and consolidated, and burying the seeds within their centre; fig.6 is the same fruit divided transversely, to show how the seeds are placed within the ripe fruit; fig. 7 is a seed: fig 8, a longitudinal, and fig. 9, a transverse section of the same. GYMNOTUS, a genus of fishes of the section Apodes. Generic characters:-Gills partially closed by a membrane and opening before the pectorals; the vent placed very far forwards; body without any perceptible scales, and without dorsal fin; anal fin extending the greater part of the length of the body. Gymnotus electricus (Linn.), from the resemblance it bears to an eel, and the electric power which it possesses, has been called the electric-eel. It is about five or six feet in length; the head is rather broad and depressed; the muzzle is obtuse; the body, compared with that of the common eel, is stouter and shorter in proportion; the anterior part is nearly cylindrical, but towards and at the tail it is compressed; the pectoral fins are small and rounded; the anal fin commences at a short distance behind the line of the pectoral fins, and extends uninterruptedly to the tail; there is no caudal fin. Its colour is brownish-black. The electric-eel is said to communicate shocks so violent that men and even horses are overpowered by them. This power is dependent on the will of the animal, but decreases in strength if frequently repeated, unless at considerable intervals. The organs by which this shock is produced are minutely described by Hunter in the 65th volume of the Philosophical Transactions.' All the species of Gymnotus inhabit the rivers of South America. The genus Cerapus of Cuvier contains such species of Gymnotus of the older authors as have the tail lengthened and tapering, and the body compressed and furnished with scales. They also inhabit South America. GYMNU'RA. Dr. Horsfield and Mr. Vigors, in the number of the Zoological Journal for April-September. 1827 (vol. iii.), state that in the 13th volume of the Linnean Transactions' an animal was described by the late lamented Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, which he had acquired among his extensive zoological collections in Sumatra. A preserved specimen, according most accu rately with his description except in size, apparently in consequence of its being young, was discovered among the numerous and valuable subjects with which he enriched the muscum of the Zoological Society of London. This specimen Dr. Horsfield and Mr. Vigors caused to be figured in the Zoological Journal;' and, say the authors- Since we first examined this animal we have been fortunate enough to discover in the same collection an adult specimen that had been preserved in spirits. We are thus enabled to give a perfect description of the species, and at the same time, having all the materials complete before us, to characterize the group to which it belongs, and which appears to us very distinct from any hitherto described.' Sir Stamford Raffles referred the species to the Linnean genus Viverra, and recorded it as Viverra Gymnura. But although he did not nominally raise the animal to the importance of a genus, he gave so clear and accurate a description of its generic characters that Dr. Horsfield and Mr. Vigors do not hesitate to attribute the first indication of the group to him; and they proceed to give the generic character of Gymnura: Dental formula: incisors; canines (Lamarii), 2 2 Incisors, 2 above, remote, very large, subeylindrical, Founded at the apex; 6 below, the four intermediate approximate, rather short, inclined (proclives) compressed, the anterior surface (paginâ) convex, the interior flat, edge rounded (scalpro rotundato), the two lateral abbreviated, acute. Canines (Laniarii), 2 on each side above, remote from the incisors and shorter than them, the anterior ones the longest; 1 on each side below, very large, conical, subarcuate, looking inwards. Molars, 8 on each side above, remote from the canines, the three anterior unicuspid, the first elongated and sectorial; the second and third abbreviated; the fourth with an elongated conical point and a posterior and exterior abbreviated lobe or step (gradu) at the base; the fifth with the exterior cusp very long, and the interior one abbreviated; the sixth and seventh very large, multicuspid, the cusps subabbreviated and rounded; the eighth smaller and more fashioned for triturating (subtritorius), the cusps rather obtuse; 7 below, the three anterior unicuspid, compressed; the first and second shorter; the third subelongated; the fourth with an elongated cusp, an anterior lobe, and another posterior lobe (gradu) abbreviated; the fifth, sixth, and seventh very large, multicuspid, the cusps rather elevated and acute. Head elongated, acuminated, narrowed, compressed on the sides, flattish above. Muzzle (rostrum) obtuse, eiongated, stretched forward (protensum) much surpassing the lower jaw in length. Nostrils lateral, prominent, with the margins convoluted. Tongue rather smooth, large. Auricles rounded, somewhat prominent, naked. Eyes small. Whiskers (vibrissæ) elongated. Body rather robust, ground of the fur (cordaris) soft, but with distant erect, subelongated, harsh hairs. Tail rather long, smooth, attenuated, naked, scaly, with a few scattered hairs in youth. Feet moderate, plantigrade, pentadactyle, the forefeet with a rather short thumb, the three intermediate fingers rather long and subequal; the hind feet with a very short great toe, the three intermediate toes very much elongated, and the external toe moderate. Claws moderate, narrow, curved, compressed, very acute, retractile. Such is the character given by Dr. Horsfield and Mr. Vigors to Gymnura, and they state their opinion that the nearest affinity to this genus appears to be met with in Tupaia (Raffles). From that group however they say that Gymnura is sufficiently distinguished, besides the difference in the system of dentition, by the elongation of the rostrum, the comparative robustness of the body, the setose character of the hairs, which are sparingly mingled with the soft fur, the small retractile claws, and the nakedness of the tail. In general appearance they hold that the group bears a strong ⚫ resemblance to some species of the Marsupial genus Didelphis. Description of Gymnura Rafflesii-Gymnura, with the body, feet, stripe above the eyes, scattered occipital hairs, and the basal half of the tail black; the head, the neck, the scattered hairs of the back, and the other half of the tail white. (Horsfield and Vigors.) Gymnura Rafflesii. (Horsfield and Vigors, 'Zool. Journ.,' vol. iii.) the ninety-fourth genus, Gymnura, between the dogs with M. Lesson, whose 'Manual' bears the date of 1827, places hyana's feet (Canis pictus, Desm.; Hyena picta, Temm.), and Viverra, Linn., the first subgenus of which he makes to this genus in conformity with the opinion (d'après l'avis) of consist of the true Civets. He says of Gymnura, 'We form M. Desmarest, in order to place in it an animal closely approximating to the Civets, and perhaps approximating still nearer to the Paradoxuri, which are plantigrade. We place it provisionally among the digitigrades. It has a pointed muzzle, a soft tongue, rounded ears, erect and naked, compressed claws, curved and sharp, a naked tail, and the following dental formula: 'In the upper jaw the two middle incisives are the largest, and separated (écartées) one from the other; the two lateral ones are very small; the canines are moderate. The first molar has two points, the second one only; the fourth and fifth have four tubercles, the sixth has only three. In the lower jaw the canines are long. 6 Species, Gymnura Rafflesii, Viverra Gymnura, Raffles. This species, from the East Indies, has the muzzle, which exceeds the lower jaw by an inch, pointed; the eyes are small, the moustaches long; the tail, which is naked, like that of a rat, is only ten inches long, and the head and body measure one foot. The fur consists of two sorts of hair, a short under fur (bourre) very thick and soft, and a long harsh hair; the body, legs, and first half of the tail are black; the head, the neck, and the shoulders are white; a black band passes over the eyes. Habits unknown.' M. Lesson does not state from what specimen he has taken his descriptions, which vary from those of Dr. Horsfield and Mr. Vigors, in some instances essentially; but the latter state the ample materials from which they defined their characters. Cuvier, in his 'Additions et Corrections' to the first vol. of his 'Règne Animal' (1829), takes no notice of M. Lesson's description, but, referring to page 126 of his own volume, says, 'The genus Gymnura of MM. Vigors and Horsfield (Zool. Journal, iii., pl. 8) appears to approach Cladobates in its teeth, and the shrews (musaraignes) in its pointed muzzle and scaly tail. It has five unguiculated toes on all its feet, and rather stiff bristles (soies assez rudes) projecting forth from the woolly hair. It cannot be well classed till its anatomy is known.' The term Gymnura has been applied to designate a genus of sea-ducks; and Spix uses the word Gymnuri as the name of a family of South American monkeys. [FULIGULINE, vol. xi., p. 11.] GYNA'NDRIA, one of the classes in the artificial system of botany invented by Linnæus, the character of which is to have the stamens and pistil consolidated into a single body. The principal part of the class consists of Orchidaceous plants, forming in it the order Monandria. GYPA'ETOS, Storr's generic name for the Laemmergeyer, or Bearded Griffin (Gypaetos barbatus), a bird of prey which may be considered as intermediate between the eagles and the vultures. [VULTURIDE.] GYPOGE'RANUS, Illiger's generic name for the Secretary Bird. Mr. Bennet, in the Tower Menagerie,' remarks that the singular conformation of this bird, so different in many respects from that of the order to which both in its leading characters and in its habits it obviously belongs, rendered it for a long time the torment of orni thologists, who puzzled themselves in vain to assign it a definitive place in the system, and could not agree even with regard to the grand division of the class to which it ought to be referred.Thus,' continues the author, M. Temminck was at one time inclined to refer it to the Gallinaceous order; and M. Vieillot, after repeatedly changing his mind upon the subject, at last arranged it among the Waders, with which it has absolutely nothing in common except the ength of its legs. It appears however to be now almost universally admitted that its closest affinity is with the Vultures, with which it agrees in the most essential particulars of its organization, and from which it differs chiefly in certain external characters alone, which unquestionably give to it an aspect exceedingly distinct, but are not of themselves of sufficient importance to authorize its removal to a distant part of the classification. It constitutes in fact one of those mixed and aberrant forms by means of which the arbitrary divisions of natural objects established by man are so frequently assimilated to each other in the most beautiful, and occasionally in the most unexpected manner.' The Tower Menagerie' was published in 1829, and the uncertainty as to the true position of the bird does not seem to be entirely removed yet. One of the last writers on the subject, Mr. Swainson, in the first volume of his Classification of Birds' (1836), places the Secretary Vulture of Africa' among the Vulturida; but in the second volume of the same work (1837), he makes it a genus of the Aquilina, a subfamily of the Falconida. Before we proceed to lay before the reader a sketch of the opinions of systematists, it may be advisable to give some account of the habits of the Secretary Bird, so that they may be borne in mind and applied to those opinions. Habits.-Dr. Sparrman first saw this bird (a drawing of which, given by M. Vosmaer under the denomination of Sagittarius, he alludes to) in the neighbourhood of the warm baths of Hottentot Holland. It is not,' he says, 'a very shy bird, but when scared begins at first to endeavour to save itself by alternately hopping and scudding along very swiftly, and afterwards does it more effectually by flight. In external appearance, in some respects it resembles the eagle, and in others the crane, two birds certainly very unlike each other; though in my opinion it ought to be referred to neither of these genera. The Hottentots give it a name most suitable to its nature, viz., as translated into Dutch, Slangen-vreeter (or Serpenteater); and in fact it is for the purpose of confining within due bounds the race of serpents, which in Africa is very extensive, that nature has principally destined this bird. It is larger than our crane, with legs two feet and a half long, and the body in proportion less than the crane's. Its beak, claws, stout thighs covered with feathers, and short neck, are like those of the eagle and hawk kind.' Then follows a particular description of the bird, after which the Doctor continues thus: This bird has a peculiar method of seizing upon serpents. When it approaches them it always takes care to hold the point of one of its wings before it, in order to parry off their venomous bites; sometimes it finds an opportunity of spurnmg and treading upon its antagonist, or else of taking it up on its pinions and throwing it into the air: when by this method of proceeding it has at length wearied out its adversary, and rendered it almost senseless, it then kills it and swallows it without danger. Though I have very frequently seen the Secretary Bird, both in its wild and tame state, yet I have never had an opportunity of seeing this method it has of catching serpents; however I can by no means harbour any doubt concerning it, after having had it confirmed to me by so many Hottentots as well as Christians; and since this bird has been observed at the menagerie at the Hague to amuse and exercise itself in the same manner with a straw. If, finally, this Serpent-eater is to be referred to the Accipitres, or the Hawk kind, the name of Falco serpentarius appears to be the most proper to distinguish it by in the Systema Naturæ. It has even been remarked that these birds, when tame, will not disdain now and then to put up with a nice chicken.' Sparrman, it is true, did not himself see the scene which he describes: but that his account is correct in the main will not be doubted when we present the reader with a translation of the testimony of an eye-witness- of one at whose relations the devoted admirers of Buffon were too apt to smile incredulously, but whose accuracy is new generally allowed to be unimpeachable. We give it entire, because, even in those parts which are not directly illustrative of the habits of the bird, the difference between the actual observer, the field zoologist, who had studied nature in her own wildernesses, and the cabinet theorist, who had only viewed her through the false medium of his own brilliant but delusive imagination, is strikingly displayed. Le Vaillant, in one of his journeys in the Namaqua country, arrived at a spring at the very moment when a Secretary was drinking there: he killed it at the first shot, and gave to the well the name of the Secretary's Fountain. His narrative then proceeds as follows: "The Dutch have named this bird the Secretary, on account of the tuft of plumes which it carries at the back of the head; for, in Holland, clerks (gens de cabinet), when they are interrupted in their writing, stick the pen among their hair behind the right ear, so as to imitate in some degree its crest. Buffon, speaking of it, says that it has only been known at the Cape recently; and the proof which he adduces is, that Kolbe and other succeeding writers say nothing of it. This is advancing a groundless assertion (un fait faux), and endeavouring to prove it by another as true as the first. The Secretary is known in the Colonies both under the name of Secretaris and that of Slang-vreeter. It is under this last denomination that Kolbe speaks of it; and he certainly knew it, at least from the relation of others, because he exactly enumerates all the kinds of food which it habitually takes. It is true that, in his description, he translates the Dutch word Slangvreeter by the French word Pelican, and that consequently he makes- a single species out of two very different ones. But Kolbe was no naturalist, and his work contains so many other errors that it would be astonishing not to find this. I have been more surprised, I confess, to see that our modern naturalists, even those who have spoken of the Secretary in the greatest detail, make no mention of three bony and blunt protuberances which it has at the bend and last joint of the wings, but infinitely less apparent than in the Jacana or in the Kamicki. This omission has appeared strange to me, in Buffon particularly, who has not described it from the relation of others, but from an individual which he had before his eyes, and which I believe was in the cabinet of Mauduit. It is nevertheless an essential omission, because it deprives the Secretary of one of its principal distinctive characters, and because the protuberances of which I speak form one of the arms of the bird, as I shall presently show. I shall permit myself moreover to make a remark on what Buffon has written. According to him the Secretary differs from other birds in its tiraid nature; and its timidity is even such, says he, that when attacked by its enemies it has no other resource for its preservation excepting flight. This is an error. Those who have been able to study this bird know that, living especially on reptiles, it is continually at war with them: that it seeks them everywhere, and attacks them courageously, For this assertion I cite the testimony of Querhoent, and bring forward in proof of it the fact which I have witnessed. In descending from a mountain into a very deep bog (fondrière), I perceived, nearly perpendicularly below me, a bird which raised and lowered itself very rapidly, with very extraordinary motions. Although I well knew the Secretary, and had killed many of these birds at Natal, it was impossible for me to recognise it in the vertical situation in which I found myself, and I only suspected that it was one from its bearing. Having found means, by favour of some rocks, to approach sufficiently near, noiselessly and without being discovered, I found that this bird was a Secretary combating a serpent. The fight was very sharp on both sides, and the skill (la ruse) equal on the part of each of the combatants. But the serpent, which perceived the inequality of its strength, employed that adroit cunning which is attributed to it, in order to save itself by flight and regain its hole; while the bird, divining its intention, stopped it at once, and throwing itself before the serpent by one spring, cut off its retreat. Wherever the reptile essayed to escape, there it always found its enemy. Then, uniting skill with courage, it crected itself fiercely to intimidate the bird, and presented, with a frightful hiss, a menacing gape, inflamed eyes, and a head swollen with rage and poison. Sometimes this offensive resistance suspended hostilities for an instant; but the bird soon returned to the charge; and covering its body with one of its wings as with a shield, struck its enemy with the other, with the bony protuber ances of which I have already spoken, and which, like small clubs, overpowered it the more surely, inasmuch as it presented itself to the blows. In effect, I saw it reel and fall extended: then the conqueror threw himself upon it to finish his work; and with one blow of the bill split its skull. At this moment, having no further observations to make, I killed it. I found in its crop (for it has one, which nobody has stated), on dissecting it, eleven rather large lizards, three serpents as long as one's arm, eleven small tortoises very entire, many of which were about two inches in diameter, and, finally, a quantity of locusts (sauterelles) and insects, the greater part of which were sufficiently whole to deserve being collected and to be added to my specimens. The lizards, the serpents, and the tortoises had all received the stroke of the bill on the head. I observed besides, that independently of this mass of aliments the craw (poche) of the animal contained a species of pellet, as large as a goose's egg, and formed of the vertebræ of serpents and lizards which the bird had devoured previously, scales of small tortoises, and the wings, feet, and corselets of different scarabæi. Doubtless when the undigested mass is become too large, the Secretary, like other birds of prey, vomits it and gets rid of it. It results from the superabundant quantity of nourishment which this specimen had secured, that in attacking the serpent of the bog, it was not hunger which had stimulated it to the combat, but the hatred and antipathy which it bears to these reptiles. Such an aversion as this is of an inappreciable advantage in a country where the temperature wonderfully favours the multiplication of an infinity of noxious and venomous animals. In this point of view the Secretary is one of nature's real benefactions; and indeed its utility and the services rendered by it are so well recognised at the Cape and in its neighbourhood, that the colonists and Hottentots respect it and do not kill it: herein imitating the Dutch, who do not kill the stork, and the Egyptians, who never injure the ibis. 'The Secretary is easily tamed, and when domesticated, every kind of nourishment, cooked or raw, agrees with it equally. If care be taken to feed it well, it not only lives amicably and peaceably with the poultry, but when it sees any dispute going on it runs to separate the combatants and to restore order. It is true that if it be permitted to suffer from hunger, it provides for itself, and then falls without scruple upon the ducklings and chicks. But this abuse of confidence, if abuse of confidence it can be called, is nothing but the imperious effect of want, and the pure and simple exercise of that necessity which devotes the half of ail that breathes to the appetite of the other half. I have seen tame Secretaries at many houses. The eggs ordinarily amount to from two to three, nearly as large as those of a goose, and white like those of a hen. The young remain a long time before they quit the nest, because their legs being long and slender, they sustain themselves with difficulty. They may be observed, even up to the age of four months, unable to progress except by leaning on their heels; which gives them a strikingly clumsy and ungraceful air. Nevertheless, as their toes are not so long nor their claws so curved as the other birds of prey, they walk with much more facility than those. So that when they have attained the age of seven months they may be seen to develop easy and graceful movements which suit well with their noble bearing, Buffon, quoting the Dutch naturalist, says, that when the latter was drawing his Secretary, the curious bird came to look upon the paper with outstretched neck and upstanding crest, as if admiring its likeness, &c. Certainly the Secretary is sufficiently interesting on account of its instinct and natural qualities, without requiring to be gifted by its historian with an admiring taste for drawing and a sort of pride at seeing itself represented. If Vosmaer's Secretary approached him, stretching out its neck and raising its crest, it was, in my opinion, neither from curiosity nor delight, but only from a sort of habit which is common to many other birds. We know that the majority of them, when they are familiar and domesticated, love to have their polls scratched; that this titillation seems to give them pleasure; and that they present themselves to the first comer and stretch out their neck to beg for this service. We see this in Europe with reference to the peacock and the parrakeet. "The Secretary is found on all the arid plains in the neighbourhood of the Cape. I have found it in the East, on the P. C., No. 722. | whole line of coast, in Caffraria, and even far inland. But in the west, although this part of Africa presents deserts still more arid than those of the East, and although it consequently offers to the bird the different sorts of food which are congenial to it, I have never met with one beyond the country of the Great Namaquas. I will add only one word on this interesting animal: it has not the bill of a gallinaceous bird, as Vosmaer says it has; but a true bill of a bird of prey. Nor has it, as Buffon declares, the leg bare of feathers like the shore birds (oiseaux de rivage). For the rest, I refer to my Ornithology,' where I shall enter into greater details on the subject of the Secretary.' (Le Vaillant, Second Voyage dans l'Intérieur de l'Afrique, &c., tom. ii. M. Lesson quotes the account of Mr. Smith, who relates that one day he saw a Secretary take two or three turns on the wing at a little distance from the place where he was. The bird soon settled, and Mr. Smith saw that it was attentively examining an object near the spot where it had descended. After approaching it with great precaution the Secretary extended one of its wings, which the bird continually agitated. Mr. Smith then discovered a large serpent raising its head, and appearing to wait the approach of the bird to dart upon it; but a quick blow of the wing soon laid it prostrate. The bird appeared to wait for the serpent's raising itself, in order to repeat the blow; but this the serpent, it seems, did not attempt, and the Secretary walking towards it, seized it with the feet and bill, and rose perpendicularly into the air, whence the bird let the serpent fall on the ground, so that it might be securely destroyed. Gmelin placed the Secretary (Secrétaire and Messager of the French) at the head of the genus Falco, and in the first division (femoribus longissimis), immediately after the genus Vultur. . Lacépède arranges the bird, under the name of Serpentarius, at the head of his Oiseaux de rivage,' with the Kamichi (Palamedea) and Glareola; which three genera constitute his thirty-first order. M. Duméril makes the order of Rapacious birds (his first) contain three families; and, in the second family (Plumicolles, or Cruphodères), the Secretary is found, together with the genera Griffon, Eagle, Buzzard, Autour (Astur, Goshawk), and Falcon. Illiger's Raptatores form his third order, and Gypogeranus appears in the Accipitrine section of that ornithologist in company with Falco and Gypaëtos. The Accipitrine birds are followed immediately by the Vulturine section; the remaining section (the first) consists of the Nocturnal Birds of Prey (Strix). Baron Cuvier arranges the form among the Falcons. M. Vieillot places the Secretary (Ophiotheres) in the Uncirostral family of the Tetradactylous tribe (the second) of the Grallatores. M. Temminck, finally, refers the bird to his first orderthe Rapacious Birds. M. de Blainville (1815, 1821, 1822) divides the Raptatores into Diurnal and Nocturnal. The Diurnal he separates into two sections-the first, The Anomalous (The Secretary), the second, The Normal (Falco, Linn.). But in the further development of M. de Blainville's arrangement by his pupil M. Lherminier (1827), the birds are divided into two subclasses-the first, Normal, the second, Anomalous. The Secretary here appears as the second family of the Normal subclass; the first being the Accipitres, (Linn.), and the third Strix. M. Latreille places the Secretary in his second family of the Diurnal tribe of Rapacious birds, viz. the Accipitrine The Vulturine is the other family. 6 Mr. Vigors, in his paper On the Natural Affinities that connect the Orders and Families of Birds,' (1823), after observing that there are three important groups in the order Raptores, viz. the families of Vulturidae, Falconidæ, and Strigidæ, corresponding with the Linnæan genera Vultur, Falco, and Strix, goes on to state that there may perhaps be added a fourth group, the Gypogeranus of Illiger, which, he observes, though it has sometimes been disposed in a different order, is now generally admitted to be a bird of prey. After reasoning upon the structure of the bird, Mr. Vigors states that he conceives it may be arranged next the Vultures, to which family it bears a nearer affinity than to the Falconida, in its naked cheeks and the looseness of the plumage about the head. The construction of the feet VOL. XI.-3 U also,' says Mr. Vigors in continuation, brings it more close to the Vultures, while the comparative straightness and bluntness of its toes distinguish them from the hooked and pointed talons of the Falcons. The greater development of the membrane which connects the toes affords an additional reason for placing it near the Vulturida. Its natural situation therefore appears to be immediately preceding this family, from which indeed it seems only to deviate in the length of its tarsi and its reptile food.' (Linn. Trans., vol. xiv.) M. Lesson makes the third and last family of his Diurnal birds of prey consist of Gypogeranus; the first consists of the Vulturida, and the second of the Falconidae. Mr. Swainson's views in considering the Secretary to be the third and last type of the family Vulturida are noticed in part in the article DoDo (vol. ix., pp. 54-55), and we refer the reader to that article and to the work itself (Classification of Birds, vol. i., p. 285, 1836) for his reasoning on the subject, merely remarking that he there comes to the conclusion that Gypogeranus is evidently a compound both in structure and habits of the vulture and the falcon, and that he can incur no risk in placing it as the most aberrant of the former, seeing that, without any reference to his theoretical opinions on the subject, such an intervening station has been assigned to it by all the most eminent writers. In the Synopsis' (Classification of Birds, vol. ii., part 4, 1837), he places Gypogeranus among the Aquilina, his first subfamily of the Falconida. Mr. Ogilby, at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London (July, 1835), observed that a Secretary (Gypogeranus) in Mr. Rendall's collection offered some peculiarities when compared with the common Cape animal, which at first induced Mr. Ogilby to believe that it might be a distinct species, and in this opinion he was in some degree confirmed by Mr. Gould; but he stated that a more attentive comparison of specimens from both localities (Mr. Rendall's having been sent from the Gambia), had considerably shaken his original opinion. Mr. Ogilby remarked however that still greater differences are indicated by Sonnerat in his figure and description of the Secretary of the Philippine Islands, and which, as far as the former was aware, had not been noticed by more recent naturalists. Whether or not the Secretaries of these three localities, the Cape of Good Hope, the Gambia, and the Philippines, may eventually turn out to be really distinct, or only varieties of the same species, must, he further remarked, be left for future observation; but, as it would be at least useful to direct the attention of travellers, collectors, and zoologists to the subject, he stated the principal marks which appeared to distinguish each, giving them provisionally specific names derived from the localities which they respectively inhabit, as follows: also inhabits Africa, and is known at the Cape of Good Hope. He speaks of the bird as being of the size of a Turkey (Coq d'Inde), and as having the bill and feet of the Gallinaceous birds, but notices that the legs are denuded of feathers to just above the knee. Of the accuracy of the description, as far as the alleged Gallinaceous bill and feet are concerned, the student will have an opportunity of judging from the African specimens in our museums, and the living bird in the menagerie of the Zoological Society of London at the Regent's Park. But travellers and collectors will do well to bear Mr. Ogilby's provisional distinctions in mind; for the form, as we have seen, is so interesting to zoologists, that every modification of it must be considered of value. Speaking of the manners of the bird described in the Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée,' Sonnerat says that it is sociable and lives in a state of domesticity; that it hunts rats, and might, in this point of view, become useful in the colonies, where probably it would not be difficult to multiply it. Although he describes the bill and feet of the Secretary as being those of the Gallinaceous birds, he states that it feeds on flesh, and ought consequently to be placed in the ranks of the Birds of Prey, among which, he adds, it forms an entirely insulated genus. Bill of Secretary Bird. by its skeleton, a true Bird of Prey, with long legs: the Gypogeranus is, as M. Lesson has stated, and as appears number of the cervical vertebræ, an important feature ac1. Gypogeranus Capensis, with the plume of long cervi-cording to the views of some zoologists,* is thirteen, the cal feathers commencing upon the occiput, spreading irre- atlas included. It is difficult to draw the line between the gularly over the upper part of the neck, narrow throughout dorsal and cervical vertebræ in birds; but in two skeletons the greater part of their length, as if the beard had been of the Secretary in the museum of the Royal College of cut on each side close into the shaft of the quill, and Surgeons (No. 1207 and No. 1207a), there are nineteen verspreading only at the point. Inhabits the Cape of Good tebræ, counting from the ilium to the cranium, and of these Hope. costal processes are anchylosed. thirteen may be considered cervical, because in them the 2. Gyp. Gambiensis, with the cervical crest commencing some distance below the occiput, arranged in two regular series, one on each side of the neck, with the intermediate space clear, and composed of long spatule-shaped feathers, much broader throughout than in the last species, though similarly decreasing in width towards the root. In both these species the two middle feathers of the tail are considerably longer than the others. Inhabits Senegambia. the head, strong, very much hooked, curved nearly from its Generic Character.-Bill rather slender, shorter than origin, and furnished with a cere at its base, rather vaulted, from the base, lateral, pierced in the cere, diagonal, oblong, compressed at the point; nostrils placed at a small distance open. Feet very long, slender, the tibia feathered, but not the feathers come a very little below the joint before; tarsus quite to what is called (improperly) the knee behind, whilst long, more slender below than in its upper part; toes short, warty below, the anterior toes united at the base by a membrane; hind toe articulated upon the tarsus. Wings 3. Gyp. Philippensis, with the cervical crest spread irregularly from the occiput to the bottom of the neck, the longest feathers being those situated the lowest, which is just the reverse of what is observed in Gyp. Gambiensis, and with the two exterior tail-feathers the longest, so that the tail appears forked. This is apparent not only in Son-long, armed with obtuse spurs; the five first quills the longest and nearly equal. nerat's figure, but is expressly mentioned in his detailed description, and, if confirmed by future observation, is clearly indicative of a specific distinction. Inhabits the Philippine Islands. Described and figured in Sonnerat's Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée,' p. 87, t. 50. The colours of the three species or varieties here indicated do not, says Mr. Ogilby, in conclusion, seem to be materially different in other respects. Sonnerat commences his description by saying that the Secretary is not only found in the Philippines, but that it Serpentarius, Gmel.) composes this genus, and that attempts M. Lesson says that a single species (African) (Falco have been made to introduce the breed into the French sugar islands (Martinique, &c.), in the hope that it might Yellow Serpent of the Antilles (Trigonocephalus lanceola diminish the race of the formidable Trigonocephalus, the See Mr. W. S. MacLeay's learned and interesting paper On the Com rative Anatomy of certain Birds of Cuba,' Linn. Trans., vol. xvi., where remarks that the numbers of the cervical vertebra in two very remarkal genera, Gypogeranus and Tachypetes, are unfortunately not known. |