A Review of Recent Attempts to Classify Birds: An Address Delivered Before the Second International Ornithological Congress on the 18th of May, 1891 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from A Review of Recent Attempts to Classify Birds: An Address Delivered Before the Second International Ornithological Congress on the 18th of May, 1891

Forbes, only four days before his death on the Niger, wrote in his diary My final idea as to the classification of birds (cf. Ibis, 1884, p. 119)

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Excerpt from A Review of Recent Attempts to Classify Birds: An Address Delivered Before the Second International Ornithological Congress on the 18th of May, 1891

Colleagues, -

It was at first my intention, in addressing you at the present Congress on the Classification of Birds, to have laid before you a brief history of Ornithology from the time of Linnæus to the present day. I found, however, that this has been so admirably done by Professor Alfred Newton in his article "Ornithology," published in the 18th volume of the 'Encyclopædia Britannica,' that to have attempted such a task would have involved me in the most barefaced plagiarism; and, even if this crime had been condoned, I should have been unable to teach you anything that you have not already learnt from his more talented pen. From the time of our great master, Linnæus, and even from that of the patriarchs of Science, Professor Newton traces the gradual development of Ornithology; and not only do I find little to add to this masterly treatise, but my very criticisms are there forestalled, and I offer this tribute to the genius of my talented countryman, not without a slight feeling of envy at the vigorous English in which the memoir is composed, and the truly wonderful way in which his facts are marshalled and arranged. With some regret, therefore, I have laid aside my exposition of the various schemes of Classification which I had intended to place before you, because I feel that I could not say anything which Professor Newton has not said ten times better; and although his article may not be "milk for babes," by the earnest devotee of Ornithology it will be read with intense interest.

Since the article appeared in 1884, however, some considerable additions to our knowledge have appeared in print, and I propose to-day to invite your attention to these important events in what may be deemed the "Evolutionary" period in the history of Ornithology.

There seem to be three great Epochs in the history of our Science, which we may call the Linnean Epoch, the Cuvierian Epoch, and the Darwinian or Evolutionary Epoch.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.