growing circulation and influence of this magazine,it is supplied by the tremendously increased interest shown from all quarters by our friends and readers generally; and that not only on one but on every question touching the Humanitarian Gospel directly and indirectly. The correspondence and inquiries with which I have been besieged during the month of February were fourfold what they have been in any previous month.

But I am afraid I brought it on myself. The completion of the British Institute of Preventive Medicine (the English facsimile of the Pasteur Institute in Paris) induced me to ask Dr. Berdoe to tell our readers his personal experience of that "Dog Hell of Paris." It struck me as so important that I extensively advertised the number, and induced the proprietors to let me print ten thousand extra copies. Our total issue for February was, therefore, twenty-one thousand, of which fourteen thousand were free specimen copies, each being sent by post to various parts of London, Ireland, and Scotland; several hundred were sent out in response to our advertised offer to give a copy to those sending their stamped address. I need not say how much this amplified our ordinary labours. For the first ten days it took us several hours to deal with the cloud of letters which came by every post. I cannot but believe that much good must have been done, much information spread, much enlightenment caused by this effort. We are indebted to a lady, who must not be named, for part of the wherewithal to meet the expense, but for the information of our friends I append a brief statement which will show how costly such an effort is :

commercial venture, and if any of them come to the conclusion, after examining our pages, that the work we are doing is a necessary and proper work, they may be induced to help us, as our other good friends have been and are doing. To those whose names and benefactions are here set forth, it is my duty and pleasure to tender, on behalf of the Committee who represent the proprietors, their most grateful thanks :

Miss Laurence Pike
Captain Quintanilha

The Hon. Mrs. Arthur Henniker
Mrs. Suckling

Mrs. Summers Hutchinson
Miss F. E. White

Dr. C. Bell Taylor..

Mrs. S. Harris

"Elfie" (per Mis. James)
Wm. Morgans, Esq.
Mrs. Paisley
Arnold F. Hills, Esq.
Miss Perry
Miss S. II. Bayles..

Miss E. Elcum Rees
"A. H."

Mrs. Dundas

Miss E. A. Wright
Mrs. Nicholl

Mrs. F. M. James

Miss Margaret Whitley

Mark Thornhill, Esq., J.P.
Col. Coulson, J.P. .
Miss M. Danvers

The Very Rev. the Dean of Durham
The Misses Tacey..

W. Hawthornthwaite, Esq.

Miss Shrubsole

..

Miss Alice Bicknell (for sending copies to school teachers)..

F. Brandauer, Esq.

Miss A. Jacks (balance of account)

£ s.

555555

4

2

2

I

1 I

I I

Mrs. Rose

£ s. d.

42

Mrs. John H. Clarke

F. Gunning, Esq.

5 10

6 O

Miss E. M. Lynch..

Mrs. Berry

29 I 8

Miss F. Radclyffe Hall

30 O O

Mrs. Edmund Phillips

Miss C. V. Hall

Miss S. Marriott

Mrs. Andrew Thomson

This is not counting the cost of illustrations, and the ordinary but necessary labour of the staff. One of the most satisfactory features is that that we have secured literally scores of new subscribers.

Now I have pleasure in appending what I trust will be found a full acknowledgment of the donations to our Sustentation and Illustrations Fund for the past eleven months. It should be explained to new readers that the Animals' Friend is a purely philanthropic organ, and not merely a

all denominations. There must be quite 60,000 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. How many we send will depend upon our friends. We will undertake to send 5,000, that is as large a number as we can afford. Every shilling will send eight copies, every half-a-crown, twenty; every five shillings, forty; every sovereign, 160 copies. Some of our readers have already started the ball, as follows:s. d.

Miss A. Tacey

2

Mrs. Suckling

2

R. Steel, Esq.

2

Miss Katie Evans

2

Miss Perry

Miss Backhouse

Mrs. Boult

Miss K. Hindley

"Two Ladies" (per Miss Brice)

Mrs. Bushell King..

E. Millard, Esq.

Miss Wedderburn

I 4

HE Home Secretary has received a memorial, numbering 183,706 signatures, stated to be the largest ever sent up from London since the time of the Chartists, praying him not to register the British Institute of Preventive Medicine on the Chelsea Embankment, London, for experiments on, inoculations of, animals. The task of getting up this memorial was undertaken by a group of ladies and gentlemen calling themselves "The Protest Committee." Amongst the signatures were the following:-The Duke and Duchess of Somerset, Lord and Lady Monkswell, Lord Coleridge, Q.C., Lady Coleridge, Sir Henry (Mr. Justice) Hawkins, Sir Arthur Arnold (Chairman of the London County Council) and Lady Arnold, the Bishop of Southwell, Bishop Barry, Canon Basil Wilberforce, Rt. Hon. Charles H. Hemphill, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Thornton, G.C.B., P.C., Lord Hatherton, C.M.G., Earl Dartrey, K.P., the Earl of Ilchester, Viscountess Wolseley, Viscount Sidmouth, Lord and Lady Muncaster, Lord Robartes, P.C., Lady Mary Cross, Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Fanny Fitzwygram, the Hon. Eric Barrington, C.B., the Countess of

Miss A. St. John Partridge ... 2

Every sum received not later than March 20th, shall be acknowledged in our next issue. When you

And now I must close.

write please be as brief as possible and don't write across what you have already written. I want to reply to every correspondent, as far as is practicable, by return of post, and if you observe the foregoing you will greatly assist

Your faithful and sincere EDITOR. P.S.-I have more than sufficient dog and cat anecdotes to last me for months

Camperdown, Lady Abinger, Gen. Sir Arnould B. Kemball, K.C.B., Sir Henry Irving, Mrs. Keeley, Mr. Hayden-Coffin, Mr. Sant, R.A., Mr. Faed, R.A., Mr. Bret Harte, Mr. Clifford Harrison, Miss Marie Corelli, Mr. Jerome K. Jerome (Editor of the Idler), Mr. Reader Harris, Q.C., the Rev. H. M. Webb-Peploe, Rev. H. E. G. Bevan, Rev. B. M. Kitson, Rev. H. R. Haweis, Rev. Dr. Hiles Hitchens, Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker, Rev. Dr. Newman Hall, Lord Henry Bentinck, M.P., Col. Lockwood, M.P., Hon. Philip Stanhope, M.P., Mr. Swift MacNeill, M.P., Mr. Justin McCarthy, M.P., Mr. Geo. W. E. Russell, Mr. Channing, M.P., Mr. Samuel Smith, M.P., Mr. John Burns, M.P., Mr. Bernard Shaw (the well-known critic), Surgeon-Genl. Thornton, C.B.,SurgeonGenl. Gordon, C.B., Surgeon-Genl. Reade, C.B., and many other peers, members of Parliament, guardians, vestrymen, London county councillors, clergymen, doctors, and influential people of all ranks. The memorial was presented at the Home Office on Monday. February 15th, its dimensions being so great that a large 'bus had to be chartered for its conveyance.

hope of ever being successful.

There is

a great difference to be observed in the character of the entries, some of them are very amateurish, and give one the impression of a tract of country, covering an area of a mile or two brought into one-and-ahalf or two inches square, with a field the size of a postage stamp, and a COW or horse or flock of sheep looking like blurred specks. Others sent us very large studies indeed. We prefer a study somewhat the size of a cabinet photograph, though we can always reduce the larger prints. Silver prints reproduce much better than platinotypes or bromides. Instead of giving one prize of half a guinea, we have

decided to allot five prizes, as follows:

AFTER THE TOIL OF DAY IS OVER.

of "Heart of Oak," the property of the working-man who stands beside and who rules his fine and honest beast by kind and gentle treatment.

The Rev. H. H. Blake, Quailey Rectory, near

Mr. R. W. Copeman, Henstridge, Blandford, Dorset, 7s. 6d., for his very picturesque study, "The Path to the Mill."

Andover, 2s. 6d., for a typical country scene capitally produced, "After the Toil of Day is over."

Mr. W. Fisher, Offord Road, Burnley, 2s. 6d., for his striking photograph, "Cattle in Bolton Woods."

"Trial by Jury"

IT T is common knowledge among ornithologists that trial by jury is not unknown among certain families of birds. For a good example of the feathered trial by jury, we need go no further away than the Shetlands.

THE CROW JURY.

In those islands, a regular assembly of crows of the hooded kind takes place at certain intervals. It seems to be composed of deputa. tions from different districts; and the testimony of close and unromantic observers goes to show that all business is abstained from until the convocation is complete; so that early comers have now and again to wait a day or even two for the arrival of the more belated deputies. A particular hill or field suitable for the impending momentous work is selected, and when everything is ready the court opens in a formal manner. The criminal or criminals are produced at the bar; but what may be the exact nature of the offence charged against him or them, of course, the purblind human spectator cannot divine. The charge is not made individually, nor is the evidence given by separate witnesses; but a general croaking and clamour is collectively raised, and the judgment delivered, apparently, by the whole court, which is in this respect like an assemblage of women, where all speak at once and where everyone hears what is said by everyone else. As soon as the sentence is given, the entire court, "judges, barristers, ushers, audience and all," fall upon prisoners at the bar and beat them until they kill them. Directly the execution is over, the court breaks up, and all the members go their several ways. Who shall say what the offence has been ? Was it murder under revolting circumstances, or did the rooks' sense of justice demand this extreme penalty of the law for what we regard as a trifling peccadillo, which would be adequately punished by three months' hard labour? Possibly it was theft. Rooks are addicted to pilfering, and if the robbery be detected as it seems invariably to be-the offender is punished by his elders.

A ROOK JURY.

A case reported not long ago by the Rev. Dr. Cox affords another illustration of crow justice. This gentleman was riding along a quiet road near Norwich when he was startled by sounds of an extraordinary commotion among the inhabitants of an adjacent rookery. He left his horse tied to a gate, and crawled for a hundred feet or so to a gap in the hedge of a green field, which afforded him an opportunity of investigating the proceedings. He found that a trial by jury was going on. According to his account of the occurrence, the criminal rook at first appeared very" perky and jaunty," although encircled by fifty of his fellows, who were evidently indignant and assailed by the incessantly vehement cawing of an outer ring numbering many hundreds, each and all showing even greater indignation than was displayed by the select number.

amongst Birds.

Even the scouts, although hovering about in all directions, were so deeply absorbed in the judicial proceedings that they failed to notice the uninvited visitor. After a short time, the manner of the accused was seen suddenly to change. His head bowed, his wings drooped, and he cawed faintly, as though imploring mercy. But there was no mercy: he could not appeal to the Queen for mitigation of sentence; his doom had been pronounced, and was irrevocable. The inner circle closed in upon him, pecked him to pieces in a few moments, and left nothing but a mangled carcase. Justice having been satisfied, the assembly set up a tremendous screaming, and dispersed, some seeking the adjacent rookery, and others-by far the greatest number-flying away across the fields.

These singular exhibitions are not confined to rooks. We hear of them among ravens and sparrows in our own land, among storks on the Continent, and among flamingoes in India. MARTIN JUSTICE.

SPARROW AND

Sparrows, it would seem, are creatures too volatile to submit to all the formalities prac. tised by some other birds; but they "get there all the same." A small punitive force of five or six birds deputed for the purpose pounces upon an offender, and belabours him for the space of a few minutes, at the same time uttering a most violent clamour-no doubt to express their unbounded indignation. Father Bougeant tells an amusing story of bird vengeance in which a sparrow figured. This sparrow found a martin's nest, newly built, and straightway appropriated it. The owner called for help to expel him, and an unnumbered crew of martins answered the call. But the intruder was in the nest, and so was covered on every side, and, presenting only his beak, was really invulnerable. He made the bolder of those that approached too near regret their temerity. The fight endured for a quarter of an hour, when the siege was raised, and the martins disappeared. In a few moments, however, they returned, and, each having procured a little of that tempered earth with which they make their nests, they all at once fell upon the sparrow, and inclosed him in the nest to perish there. Thus was justice done to the thief.

RAVENS AND FLAMINGOES.

If we may draw an inference from the cases in which ravens figure, these birds follow the same code as the rooks; and we have a flamingo anecdote on the authority of a Bengal missionary. This gentleman was sailing in his boat up the Hooghly, when his attention was attracted to a large congregation of flamingoes in a field some little distance away. He hid himself behind a tree to investigate. After much clamour, they resolved themselves into a circle, in the centre of which was one of their number, who did not seem to appreciate the prominence accorded to him. There was the customary amount of screeching bird oratory, after which all the birds fell