Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/341

Rh W A H W A I 317 Madagascar, M. flavivcntris, as well as in that which it much re sembles, the so-called Grey Wagtail of Britain, M. melanope (M. boarula or sulphured of some authors), a great part of the lower surface is yellow. The species last mentioned is one of the most graceful of birds, and though having a very wide range in the world at large is curiously local in its distribution in Britain, being almost wholly confined in the breeding-season to the neighbourhood of rocky streams in the west and north, and a line drawn from the Start Point, slightly curving to round the Derbyshire hills, and ending at the mouth of the Tees, will, it is believed, mark off its breeding-range in England. Then there is a section which by some systematists has been raised to the rank of a genus, Budytes, con taining the Wagtails in which yellow takes a still more prominent part in their coloration. Of these, 8 species, besides several sub species, are recognized by Mr Sharpe (lit supra, pp. 503-532). One of these is the common Yellow Wagtail of England, M. rail (by some mistakenly called M. campcstris), which, though very gene rally distributed throughout the country, is much less numerous than the Pied Wagtail, and more addicted to wet meadows; but, just as M. lucjubris is regarded by some as a local form of the more widely-ranging M. alba, so does M. raii hold the same relation to Al. flava, the Bine-headed Wagtail, which has a very extensive distribution in the Old World, and even crosses the Pacihc to Alaska, presenting also a great number of varieties or races (most of which are treated by Mr Sharpe as real species) differing from each other chiefly, if not solely, in the colour of the head, a character which in this section can hardly bo deemed specific, while their geographical range intersects and inosculates in a most puzzling manner. Much credit is due to the author just named for the enormous trouble he has taken, after study of a vast series of speci mens, to clear up the questions herein involved ; but it will probably be long before ornithologists can agree on many of the disputed points, and it is certain that the last word has by no means been spoken concerning them. The genus Motacilla (an exact rendering of the English &quot; Wagtail,&quot; the Dutch Kuoikstaart, the Italian Codatremola and other similar words), which, as originally founded by Linnams, contained nearly all the &quot; soft-billed &quot; birds of early English ornithologists, was restricted by various authors in succession, following the example set by Scopoli in 1769, until none but the Wagtails remained in it. Most of the rest are now commonly classed as Syh iidse (cf. WARBLER), while the Wagtails with the PIPITS (q.v.) constitute the Family Motacillidse. (A. N.) WAHABEES, or WAHHABIS. See ARABIA, vol. ii. p. 260. WAINEWRIGHT, THOMAS GRIFFITHS (1794-c. 1852), journalist and subject-painter, was born at Chiswick in October 1794. He was educated by his distant relative Dr Charles Burney, and served as an orderly officer in the guards, and as cornet in a yeomanry regiment. In 1819 he entered on a literary life, and began to write for The Literary Pocket-l&amp;gt;ook, Blackwood s Magazine, and The Foreign Quarterly Review. He is, however, most definitely identified with The London Magazine, to which, from 1820 to 1823, he contributed some smart but most flippant art and other criticisms, under the signatures of &quot; James Weathercock,&quot; &quot;Mr Bonmot,&quot; and &quot; Herr Vinkbooms.&quot; He was a friend of Charles Lamb, who thought well of his literary productions, and in a letter to Bernard Barton, styles him the &quot; kind, light-hearted Wainewright,&quot; and of the other brilliant contributors to the journal. He also practised as an artist, designing illustrations to Chamber- layne s poems, and from 1821 to 1825 exhibiting in the Royal Academy figure pictures, including a Romance from Undine, Paris in the Chamber of Helen, and the Milk Maid s Song. Owing to his extravagant habits, Waine- wright s affairs became deeply involved ; and in 1830 he insured the life of his sister-in-law in various offices for a sum of 18,000. The lady died in the December of the same year, and payment of the amount was declined by the companies on the ground of their having been misrepre sentation when the insurance was effected. Wainewright now retired to France, but here he was seized by the authorities as a suspected person, and imprisoned for six months. On his being examined there was found upon his person a quantity of strychnine, a poison by means of which it was afterwards found he had destroyed, not only his sister-in-law, but also his uncle, his mother-in-law, and a Norfolkshire friend. He returned to London in 1837, but was at once arrested on a charge of forging, thirteen years before, a transfer of stock, and was sentenced to transportation for life. He died of apoplexy in Hobart Town hospital, about the year 1852. The Essays and Criticisms of Wainewright were published in 1880, with an account of his life, by W. Carew Hazlitt ; and the history of his crimes suggested to Dickens his story of &quot;Hunted Down,&quot; and to Bulwer Lytton his novel of Lucrctia. WAITZ, GEORG (1813-1886), one of the most distin guished of modern German historians, was born at Flens- burg, in the duchy of Schleswig, on October 9, 1813. He was educated at the Flensburg gymnasium and the uni versities of Kiel and Berlin. His strong bent to historical studies and the influence of Ranke early diverted him from his original purpose of studying law, and while still a student he began that series of researches in German mediaeval history which was to be the occupation of his life. On graduating at Berlin in August 1836, Waitz went to Hanover to assist Pertz in the great national work of publishing the Monumenta Germanise Historica ; and the energy and learning he displayed in that position won him a summons to the chair of history at Kiel in 1842. The young professor soon began to take an interest in politics, and in 1846 entered the provincial diet as representative of his university. His leanings were strongly German, so that he became somewhat obnoxious to the Danish Govern ment, a fact which made an invitation in 1847 to become professor of history at Gottingen peculiarly acceptable. The political events of 1848-49, however, delayed his appearance in his new chair. When the German party in the northern duchies rose against the Danish Government, Waitz hastened to place himself at the service of the pro visional Government. He was sent to Berlin to represent the interests of the duchies there, and during his absence he was elected by Kiel as a delegate to the assembly at Frankfort. Waitz was an adherent of the party who were eager to bring about a union of the German states under a German emperor ; and when the king of Prussia declined the imperial crown the professor withdrew from the assembly in disappointment, and ended his active share in public life. In the autumn of 1849 Waitz began his lectures at Gottingen. His style of speaking was dry and uninteresting ; but the matter of his lectures was so practical and his teaching so sound that students were attracted in crowds to his lecture-room, and the reputation of the Gottingen historical school spread far and wide. At the same time Waitz s pen was not idle, and his industry is to be traced in the list of his works and in the Pro ceedings of the different historical societies to which he belonged. In 1875 Waitz removed, to Berlin to succeed Pertz as principal editor of the Monumenta Germanise Historica. In spite of advancing years the new editor threw himself into the work with all his former vigour, and took journeys to England, France, and Italy to collate works preserved in these countries. He died at Berlin on May 24, 1886. He was twice married, in 1842 to a daughter of Schelling the philosopher, and -in 1858 to a daughter of General Von Hartmann. Waitz is often spoken of as the chief disciple of Ranke, though perhaps in general characteristics and mental attitude he has more affinity with Pertz or Dahlmann. He is an industrious and painstaking historian, who, with out troubling himself about the graces of style, has collected and published an immense quantity of valuable and care fully sifted material. His special domain was mediaeval German history, and he rarely travelled beyond it.