North,M. E. W.

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Pagelfl6 Vol. XXlII. No.3 (100)
OUR JOURNAL:
An Appreciationfor the tOOthNumber
By MYLES E. W. NORTH
Our first issueappearedin 1910. Now, nearlyhalf a centurylater,we have
producedour looth! This, surely,is quitean achievement,sincefunds(which
usuallydependuponour subscriptions)arelimited,materialfor publicationarrives
irregularly,and the physicaldifficultiesof gettinga numberpublishedare often
surprising.Nevertheless,issueshavecontinuedto beproduced-not,indeed,as
regularlyasanybodycouldhavewished-but,whenproduced,coveringa remarkable
varietyof subjects-birds,mammals,reptiles,fish andshells;entomology,botany
andgeneralbiology;geography,travel,anthropologyandethnology.And, for a
Journalwithsuchlimitedfunds,theillustrationshaveusuallybeenprofuse! In fact,
wheneveronefindsa longishintervalbetweenoneissueandanother,or a modest
issuefollowinga lavishone,theexplanationmayoftenbe thatwe spentour last
pennyonthelavishissueandhavebeenobliged,for thetimebeing,to husbandour
resources!Theselavishnumbersareusuallyof considerablescientificvalueand
maintaintheprestigeof theJournal in thescientificworld,andpersonallyI amaU
for them,providedthatwedo not bankruptourselveson theiraccountor thatthe
breathingspacebeforethenextissueis not too prolonged,sincememberslike to
gettheirjournalsregularly.
Our Journal hasits own distinctivecharacter,whichwasformedin the first
numberof 1910andhasbeenmaintainedeversince. Therefore,it is of interesto
spenda little timeuponthispioneer1910number,whichis first-rate. To begin
with,'thereis actuallya colouredplate-of theCoqui Francolin-as frontispiece!
Owingto theexpenseof reproduction,colouredplateshavenecessarilybeenfew
and far betweenin the history of the Journal-in fact, only nine haveever
beenpublished,thelastin 1931. TheCoquiplateillustratesanarticleonfrancolins
bySirFrederickJackson(theeminentornithologistwholaterwrotetheBirds of Kenya
and Uganda). Next,therefollowsanarticleonnaturestudybyanotherof ourgreat
men,C. W. Hobley(authorof Bantu Beliefs and Magic, etc.,)whowaseithersole
or joint Editorof theJournal for thefirstfifteennumbers,from 1910-19.He was
in additiona regularcontributorto theJournalanddisplayedanastonishinglywide
rangeof interests,as someof his articlesshow-Kariandusidepositsof the Rift
Valley,EarlyManinBritishEastAfrica,Evolutionof theArrow,NotesonCrocodiles,
BaobabsandRuins,AfricanSignWriting,a Bird CollectionfromLamu,Migration
of Butterflies,theSpittingCobra,Recordsof EarthquakeShocks,theRhino and
his CuriousDiet, and SomeUnidentifiedBeasts. The paperon naturestudyis
brilliant,andin manyrespectsringsjust as truetodayasit did in 1910. I would
liketo quotea fewextracts:
January 1959 Our Journal Page127
"Theremaybemanymemberswhoareanxiousto do someworkin thisfield,
andwhoareatthesametimeratherdoubtfulastowhattheycandoandwhere
to begin; one may comparesuch to a child placedin a room full of
toysand standingwonderingand confused,doubtfulas to whichit should
selecto amuseitselfwith. Most men,if theylivelongin a countrylike this,
cannothelpfallingtosomeextenta victimtothespellsofnature;thewealthof
mammalianfaunaandits attendantsportawakensa thrill in nearlyall: some
findbirdsa fascinatingattraction,otherssuccumbto thecharmsof thevaried
insectlife,a fewareattractedby theflora,andsavagemanagainabsorbsthe
attentionof others. The sceneryof the moreruggedpartsof the country
appealsto theartisticeye,butit is fearedthatonlya fewtry to readtheriddle
andgo backto thegeologicalcausesof whichthesceneryis but theanswer.
Amongsuchabewilderingrangeof subjectsthechoicemust,of course,restto a
greatextentwiththewould-bestudent'snaturalaptitude,or his likingfor any
particularbranch,andalsoto someextentuponthelocalityin whichhechances
tolive.... Thereisalwaysatendencyamongneophytestoassumethatsuch-and-
sucha thinghasbeendonebysomeoneelse,andthateverythingis knownand
hasbeenworkedout;asa friendsaida littletimesince,'Oh,whatis theuseof
collectingbirds? Mr. X. hasdoneall that',whereasthegreatestmanof science
knowsthatfor eyesthatseeandbrainsthatseek,thefieldfor researchis never
so wide as it is at present,and that the eternal'why' can neverbe fully
answered.... Oneof thegreatobstaclesto naturestudyin thiscountry,both
at presentand for yearsto come,is thescatteredstateof studentsand the
consequentdifficultyof frequentlymeeting·anddiscussingquestions,but this
hasnot preventedsuccessbeingattainedin othersimilarcountries,and we
mustnot be discouragedon that account.... A few wordswith regard
to collecting:theprimefactorof successin thisbranchis not to becometoo
diffuse;if a mandecidesto collectbirdsthenlethimstickto birds,if heprefers
insectslethimstickto insects... hewill thenlearnbyexperiencewheretheyare
to befound... andwill quicklyacquirea workingknowledgeof thedifferent
genera."
Hobleyrecommendsa naturecalendaronthelinesof GilbertWhiteandmakes
manyothervaluablesuggestionswithregardto thevariousbranchesof study,and
concludeswitha listof books. Never,in thewholehistoryof theJournal.canthere
havebeena more stimulatingpaper. There follows an articleon plantsby
E. Battiscombe(latertheauthorof TreesandShrubsof Kenya)andoneonbutterflies
bytheRev.K. St.A. Rogers(wholatercollaboratedwithDr. V. G. L. vanSomeren
in a greatbutterflycontribution,mentionedbelow);then,furtherarticlesandshort
notes,includinga finepictureof theHadadaIbis by Dr. R. van Someren.This
completesthefirstnumber,whichhasneverbeensurpassed.Thereweregiants
in thosedays!
Veryearlyin ourhistory-in 1914-thereappearsthefirstarticleof ourleading
editor,contributorandartist,Dr. V. G. L. vanSomeren.As editor,for a period
of 15yearsfrom1922-36,hewaseitherinsoleorjointcontrol,andcovered44numbers.
page128 Our JourMI Vol.XXIII. No.3 (100)
or nearlyhalf theproductionof the Journal to date! As a contributorhe was
primarilyconcernedwith birds and butterflies.His outstandingornithological
workis,of course,theBirdsof KenyaandUgandawhichwasissuedseriallybetween
1925and 1935. This coversthegamebirds,pigeons,ducks,geese,bustardsand
waders,andrunsto some300pages,withillustrationsof nearlyall thespecies.His
outstandingentomologicalwork (part of whichwas donein collaborationwith
CanonRogers)is theButterfliesof KenyaandUganda,issuedseriallybetween1925
and 1939andprofuselyillustrated.An artist,vanSomerenalwaysillustratedhis
workseitherwithdrawingsor photographs,andit is difficult,withsomuchmaterial,
to selectanyspecialexamplefor mention. However,six out of ourninecoloured
platesareby him,andamongtheseoneof themostdelightfulis of Hymenoptera
Sand-wasps(1919). By theway,severalothermembersof thevanSomerenfamily
havebeenintimatelyconcernedwith theJournal-his son,G. R. C., his brother,
Dr. R., andhisnephew,Dr. V. D.
In 1938Dr. V. G. L. vanSomerenledan importantexpedition,sponsoredby
theCoryndonMuseum,to theChyuluHills nearKibweziin Kenya-a fascinating
forestedmountainrange,almostuninhabitedand little explored. The results-
againprofuselyillustrated-werepublishedin theJournalfor 1939-43byvanSomeren
himself,witha usefulmap(donejointlywithA. M. ChampionandC. S. Hitchens),
andbyP. R. O. Bally,A. J. F. Gedye,W. D. Hincks,Sir A. K. MarshallandB. P.
Uvarov.
From1941-6therewasanotheroutstandingeditor,J. R. Hudson,whopublished
no fewerthan21 numberscontainingmuchexcellentmaterialduringthisperiod.
He also performeda uniqueact in the historyof the Journal, by publishinga
comprehensiveIndex(undersubjectandauthorheads)of thecontentsof Numbers
1-80(1910-43).This is an invaluablework, for whichall studentsof theJournal
aresurelymostgrateful.
From theyear1947onwards,as a resultof post-wardifficulties,thecostand
delayof publicationbecameincreasinglyacuteandtherewerelong gapsbetween
Journals. To fill thevacuum,a modestbutvaluablelittlequarterlycalledNature
in EastAfrica,printedby theFalconPress,of Nairobi,wasstarted. This supplied
the'ShortNotes'sectionof theJournalandranfor 11numbersbetween1947and
1950beforebeingdiscontinuedwhenconditionsfor printingtheJournal itselfhad
becomeeasier. It performeda mostusefulservice,and considerationhas since
beenmorethanoncegivento thequestionwhetherit shouldberevived. Myself,
I wouldpreferto continueto publishsuchmatterin theNatureNotessectionof
theJournal,wheretheyarelessliableto getoverlooked.
In an articleof this lengthit is unfortunatelyimpossibleto mentioneven
aselectionoftheleadingpaperscontainedin theJournal. I have,however,beenable
to mentionsomeof thosepublished uringourearlyandmiddleyears,sowill now
citethreesamplesof recentyears,eachentirelydifferentbut,in its individualfield,
of greatinterest. The firstis of outstandingvalue-G. H. SwynnertonandR. W.
Hayman's'Checklistof theLandMammalsof TanganyikandZanzibar'(issue90of
1950). This isjustthekindof listthateveryterritoryshouldhavebutwill belucky
JtI1IUIl1Y 1959 Our Journal Page129
to obtain. Thesecondis of outstandingoriginality-D. G. MacInnes'Explanation
of ScientificNomenclature'(issue95of 1954). This containsan excellentglossary
of thescientificnamesof our birds,givingtheoriginof thename(Latin,Greekor
composite)and an explanationof its meaning.For instance,how manypeople
knowthatthenameof theShrikeRhodophoneusmeans'rosymurderer'? My third
sampleis,tome,outstandinglystrange-somenotesonthecarnivoroushabitsof the
duikerby M. Dalton(issue94of 1953p. 73)andH. F. Stoneham(issue97of 1955
p. 205). Apparentlyduikers like meat and are even preparedto catch it,
paceStoneham,whosays:"I havemanytimestoldtheAfricansto proveto methat
duikersattackfowls[asalleged],andtheyhavesincedoneso. About dusksome
yearsagotheycalledmetowitnessa stalk. Theduikerapproachedstealthilyonthe
feedingfowlsandwewaitedandwatched. Eventuallyit wascloseenoughto seize
onewitharushandI shottheduikerin theactwiththefowlin itsmouth,thoughnot
muchhurt."
Many distinguishedpeoplehavecontributedsubstantiallyto the Journal. I
wouldlike to mentionjust a fewof themhere:for birds,Belcher,Benson,Brown,
Guichard,F. J. Jackson,Leakey,Moreau,thevanSomerens,StonehamandWilliams;
for mammalsand reptiles,Hayman,Hesse,lonides,Loveridge,BlayneyPercival
and Swynnerton;for fish, Copley; for shells,Verdcourt;for entomology,Hale
Carpenter,Gedye,T. H. E. Jackson, Pinhey,Poulton, Rogers,van Someren,
TownsendandUvarov;for botany,Bally,Battiscombe,Jex Blake,·Dale, Moreau
and Napier; for archaeology,Andrews, Hobley, Kirkman, Leakey, Mary
LeakeyandMoysey;for geographyandtravel,JuxonBarton,BrooksandChampion;
forgeology,Glenday,Gregory,Hobley,Pulfrey,RichardandSykes;foranthropology
and ethnology,Darroch,Dobbs,Hull, Orchardson,MichaelSampson,Thorp and
WynstoneWaters.
With regardto ourprinters,thetwoleadingfirmsareMessrs.LongmansGreen
of London,from 1910-22(18numbers),andMessrs.EastAfricanStandardLtd. of
Nairobi, from 1922-45(no fewerthan66numbers).Since1945therehavebeen
severalchanges,theworkbeingperformedattimesbyMessrs.Witherbyof London,
andbyMessrs.Boyd,E.A. PrintingPress,EnglishPressandE.A. StandardofNairobi.
To all of these,andespeciallyto theStandard,wearemost grateful. Frankly, I
thinkweareabitofanuisancetoourprinters,sincewedemandthehigheststandards
of productionfor relativelyfew copies! However,I hopethat it maybe some
consolationto themthat,unlikemanyotherproductions,ourJournalsarekept,and
readagainandagain. For instance,in howmanyperiodicalsis it easyto referto
thecontributionsof 1910,asI havebeenableto do in thispaper?
OneimportantfunctionofourJ ourna!whichmaynotbewellknowntoeverybody
is thefactthat,witheachissue,a considerablenumberof copiesaredispatchedto
scientificinstitutionsandpublicationsall overtheworld,andin exchangewereceive
manyjournalsof thegreatestvaluefor theenrichmentof our Library.
In conclusion,I amsurethatall themembersof theSocietywillgivetheJournal,
underitspresentEditor,Mrs.MaryAldridge,andhersub-committee,Messrs.Bednall,
BowlesandMagner,everygoodwishfor thefuture.


Our Journal: An appreciation for the 100th Number

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Our Journal: An appreciation for the 100th Number

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