PART IV.
ZOOLOGY.
UNDER THE GENERAL EDITORSHIP OF W. R. HUGHES, F.L.S.
Introduction.
It is believed that this is the first attempt to give a connected account of the Zoology of the neighbourhood of Birmingham, although the Botany of the District has long attracted diligent and enthusiastic workers. The subject, however, has not been neglected, and past and present members of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society, and other naturalists, have from time to time made public, in the Midland Naturalist and elsewhere, their observations on the more important classes of the animal kingdom. Some of the classes in the sub-kingdoms, Protozoa, Cœlenterata, Vermes, and Arthropoda (it is to be regretted) have been almost entirely neglected.
The limited amount of space allotted to Zoology in the present volume and the limited amount of time at the disposal of the contributors have prevented the presentation of complete lists in all the divisions selected, although the Editor believes that the various papers now submitted furnish—so far as they go—a very fair, if not an exhaustive account of our local fauna. It would have been desirable to have discussed, more fully than is done by the various contributors, the question of the Geographical distribution of animals in the district, but this question, for the reasons above stated, must be left until another occasion. The division of the Microscopic Fauna has been made somewhat arbitrarily, in order to meet local circumstances. It is hoped that at some future time these papers may be extended, and become the foundation for a complete record of the Zoology of the district.
Without any invidious comparison, the Editor may say that, in the domain of local zoology, by far the most systematic study has been that devoted during many years by Mr. Thomas Bolton, F.R.M.S., to the microscopic fauna of the neighbourhood. The number of new species which this able and industrious naturalist has added to science, probably equals if not exceeds that of the discoveries recorded in any other part of England during the time Mr. Bolton has been an observer. Moreover, his novel and successful method of disseminating these organisms among microscopists, has contributed largely to scientific knowledge, not only in England, but on the Continent, and even in America.
Although not coming within the category of the local fauna, very fine collections of the classes ECHINODERMATA and CRUSTACEA have been made by Mr. G. Sherriff Tye, of Richmond Road, Handsworth, who will be happy to show the same to members of the British Association. His excellent collection of MOLLUSCA, many of which are noticed in this volume, will also be on view.
The Entomological collection made by Mr. W. G. Blatch—the work of a lifetime—many specimens of which are referred to in this volume, will similarly be on view, on application to Mr. Blatch, at Green Lane, Small Heath. It is right to state that this naturalist has added very many new species to the fauna of the district. The Coleoptera occurring in the Midlands will be exhibited by Mr. Blatch in Bingley Hall.