On leaving the gallery of ruminating animals, we enter that of birds. The collection comprehends upwards of 6000 individuals, belonging to more than 2300 different species. There is not so numerous a collection existing anywhere else; and yet it has been formed within these few years; for at the death of Buffon, there were only 800 species. It is well known that a great number of birds, especially those remarkable for the beauty of their colours, have a totally different plumage, according to their age, and even sometimes according to the season of the year. It is owing to this that the same bird has often been described and drawn several times under different names. We frequently see ten or twelve individuals of one species presenting the same essential characters, but differing totally in the colours of their plumage. Thus it is only after many researches, and the examination of numerous suites of specimens, that the different varieties, and the passage from one to the other, can be determined. Most of these varieties of age, sex, and season, may be observed in the Parisian collection, which, for the future, will fix the type for many new, or hitherto obscurely described species. In this collection there are 120 different diurnal birds of prey. Among these we may remark the lammergeyer, or vulture of the Alps, which is the largest European bird of prey; it measures ten feet between the extended tips of the wings. Absurd stories have been told of its carrying away children, and even cattle. This is quite a mistake; for its talons are in fact very weak, and, as Temminck observes, faiblement crochus. We read some time ago a repetition of such tales, in a Tour through Switzerland, by that ingenious Frenchman, M. Simond. He probably never saw the bird in question. We beg to assure him, for the satisfaction of his family, "qu'ils mangent sur la place, sans rein emporter dans leur serres, qui ne sont point propres à saisir;" it is a wild, solitary animal, and inhabits the steepest rocks of the Swiss Alps. In the fifth case, we see the falco destructor, or great American harpy, of a size larger than the common eagle; it is considered as having the claws and beak stronger than any other bird; but the power and veloVOL. XIV. city of its flight being greatly diminished by the shortness of its wings, its ravages, as a bird of prey, suffer a corresponding decrease. It generally feeds upon the sloth, and can carry off a fawn. There is a fine specimen of this rare bird in the Edinburgh Museum. The hawk called pygargus, deserves attention as an object of worship among the ancient Egyptians, who embalmed it after death. It was brought in the mummy state from Egypt, by M. Geoffroy St Hilaire. In the ninth case may be observed the falco cerulescens, from Sumatra, which is the smallest of all birds of prey. The eleventh and twelfth cases contain thirty-four species of owls, or nocturnal birds of prey. The collection of parrots and toucans is unrivalled. There are one hundred and sixty species of the thrush genus. Of the motacilla, which include the wrens, wagtails, and smaller warblers, there are 172 species. Among these are the nightingale and redbreast. The latter, which in Britain is a pugnacious, solitary bird, in some of the French provinces assembles in such numerous flocks, that the sky seems covered by them. The golden-crested wren is the smallest of European birds; its heart is no bigger than a pea, and weighs between four and five grains. Of the flycatchers, now divided into several genera, there are 150 species in the Museum. The twenty-second case contains twenty-seven species of swallow. "The first," says M. Deleuze, "is the hirundo apus, or swift, of all birds, best formed for flight; its feet are so short, and its wings so long, that when it is on the ground, it cannot rise again; it therefore passes the greater part of its life in the air; and when it has rested for a short while on a wall, or on the trees, it falls to recommence its flight." We have reason to discredit this. Let M. Deleuze catch a swift, place it on the ground, and see whether he or it will rise highest within a given time. We back the hirundo apus, or swift. "There is a white variety in this case; near it is the h. riparia, (sand martin,) which builds its nest in the banks by the water side; it does not quit us in the winter, but plunges deep into the mud, where it remains torpid until the return of warm weather." Is this a fact, or an imagination?-There are seven hundred individuals of the linnet and bunting tribes, belonging 4 E to 150 species. Then follow the gross beaks and cross-bills; of which last the European species is remarkable for building its nest and hatching in January, and for holding its food between its claws like a parrot. There are nine species of Paradise birds, forming a magnificent series. In the 25th case may be seen, sixty-four species of humming birds, and fifty-three creepers. In the same case is the epimachus of New Guinea, one of the rarest and most beautiful birds in the collection. Passing to the twenty-sixth case, we may observe thirty-four different species of kingfishers; and in the twenty-seventh, no less than eightyfour various kinds of pigeon. In the next division, there is an example of the wild peacock from Bengal, which is the origin of our domestic kind; and to the right of it is another and distinct species from Java, the same as that fine specimen lately added to the Edinburgh Museum. The thirtieth case contains the turkeys. By comparing the domestic species with the wild one sent by M. Milbert, from the forests of Virginia, it will be seen that domestication has deprived them of that metallic lustre which adorns their plumage in the native state. At the bottom of the case is the meleagris ocellata, a new species, described by M. Cuvier. It is one of the most beautiful birds known; it comes from the Bay of Honduras, and is the only specimen in Europe. The thirty-second case exhibits a series of the different varieties of domestic poultry, and several wild species from India and the Moluccas. It cannot yet be decided from which of the latter our common barn fowls have sprung. Probably from more species than one. Temminck is decidedly against the claims of the Jungle Cock to that honour. The Museum possesses ten species of pheasant, besides that rare bird the napaul, or horned pheasant from Bengal; of which there are several specimens in the Edinburgh collection. The numerous family of the grouse, of which they possess fiftynine species, entirely fills the thirtyfourth case. Among these is a white quail, shot by Lewis the XVth, and presented by him to Buffon. The birds of the two next genera differ from all other land birds, in being deprived of the power of flight. The first is the ostrich, (struthio camelus,) celebrated in the remotest ages. It is sometimes eight feet high, lives in herds, in the sandy deserts of Africa, and is the swiftest of all running animals. They leave their eggs, which weigh three or four pounds, to be hatched by the heat of the sun in the tropical climates; but in colder regions they sit upon them like other birds. In the thirty-seventh case, there are nine species of bustard, three of which have not yet been described; that of Europe lives in plains, and uses its wings chiefly to accelerate its course along the ground. The male, which is double the size of the female, is very rare, and is the largest of European birds. After these come 30 species of plover, and different kinds of ibis; the most brilliant of which, is the tantalus ruber, from Cayenne and Surinam. There is a fine series of this bird in the Edinburgh Museum, shewing the singular changes which the colours of its feathers undergo, from the plumage of the young to that of the adult bird. The 39th case contains 50 species of the genera analogous to the woodcock (scolopax.) The common woodcock, which, in Britain, is a winter bird of passage, in several of the continental countries of Europe dwells on the mountains during summer, and descends into the plains in autumn. In the 41st case, there are 39th species of heron. Among the cranes is the agami, or trumpeter, a South American bird, which is frequently trained to protect and drive the barn-yard fowls, as dogs do sheep. There are thirty species of rails in the 45th case. By the side of the coots is a very rare bird, which forms a genus by itself, called the sheath-bill, (vaginalis, Lath,) on account of the singular form of its beak. There is nothing known of the habits of this bird, which is found in the Malouin Islands, whence it was brought by the naturalists attached to M. Freycinet's expedition. Passing over several genera, we come to the 50th and 51st cases, which contain the longipennes. Some of these have been met with 600 leagues from land. The frigate birds are in the 53d case. Their wings, which measure from 10 to 12 feet, are so powerful, that they fly to an immense distance from land, especially between the tropics; they dart upon flying fish, and strike the birds called boobies, to make them quit their prey. The tropic birds occupy the bottom of the case; they keep constantly in the tropical latitudes, the approach to which they announce to sailors. The swans and ducks occupy the remaining four cases of the gallery. The beak of the wild swan is yellow at the base, and black at the extremity; it is a distinct species from the domestic swan, which has a red beak. The black swan from New Holland, and that with a black neck sent from Brazil, by M. St Hilaire, are remarkable species. Among the geese is an Egyptian bird, very common in Africa. We see it often represented on ancient monuments; it was worshipped for its attachment to its young, and the Egyptians called it chenalopax, or fox-goose. The ornithological department is terminated by 78 species of the duck genus, and the mergansers. The collection of reptiles is unquestionably the richest in the world. It consists of 1800 individuals belonging to more than 500 species. But what renders it of incalculable advantage to the student is, that it contains almost all the individuals from which the plates of Seba were copied; and that it was from them that Linnæus composed his descriptions. Here also are to be found the originals which served for the work of M. de Lacépède. Our limits forbid our entering into any farther detail. The collection of fishes is also the most complete that anywhere exists of that class of animals. It comprehends about 5000 specimens belonging to more than 2200 species. It offers the elements of the classification which M. Cuvier has established in his Règné Animal, the type of the ichthyological memoirs which he has inserted in the Annals-the far greater part of the fishes which M. de Lacépède has described or figured in his great work -and almost all the known genera. Of each species, it possesses generally one preserved in spirits of wine, which affords the facility of examining its interior organization in case of necessity. The greater number of those which are dried, have been covered with a varnish which has revived the colours; and they appear almost as brilliant, as they were some hours after being taken out of the water. This collection has been newly arranged according to the method of Cuvier, and all the species have been ticketed with the greatest exactness. Of crustaceous animals, including the crabs, lobsters, &c. the Museum possesses about 600 species belonging to 54 genera. In regard to the collection of insects, we have already mentioned, that prior to the new organization of the Museum, it contained very few animals of that class. These came chiefly from the private cabinet of Reaumeur. The great additions made of later years by Olivier, and many other scientific travellers, have now rendered it equal to any in Europe. Including the arachnides, (the spiders, scorpions, &c.) it is composed of about 50,000 specimens belonging to more than 20,000 species, remarkable for their variety of form, and the wonderful instincts by which they are distinguished. Insects are equal to birds in the richness and splendour of their colours: They even surpass them in some respects, particularly in regard to the phosphoric light which emanates from many species, and while they divide with them the empire of the air, they far exceed them in number, for their tribes are even more numerous than those of plants. The researches of M. de la Marck on conchology have proved, that the characters of a shell indicate those of the animal to which it belongs, as the genus of a quadruped is indicated by its teeth. Prior to this observation, shells were of little interest in zoology, as the animals to which they belonged were not thought of, and they were collected chiefly as objects of an ornamental nature. The distinction between terrestrial, river, and sea shells, and the comparison of those belonging to living subjects with those in a fossil state in different strata of the earth, have also led philosophers to decide upon the origin of different formations. In consequence chiefly of the numerous researches and the classification of M. de la Marck, conchology has become not only an important branch of zoology, but also one of the principal bases of geological science. The first shells in the cabinet were brought by Tournefort from the Levant, and presented by him to Louis XV. When Buffon had the superintendance of the Garden, he obtained permission to have them deposited there. Adanson presented those which he had collected in Senegal-the spe cimens which came from the cabinet of Reaumeur were likewise added, and, since the new organization, the travelling naturalists have enriched it by numerous collections from all quarters of the globe. In addition to the shells, there is a large assemblage of radiated animals, corals, sponges, &c. We shall terminate this summary by a reflection of our amiable author's, which will not fail to gratify those to whom the spectacle of social harmony and domestic felicity is not less interesting, than that of Nature. How delightful, amid the agitation of a great city, to behold an establishment, in which are united fifty families, li ving in peace, usefully occupied, contented with their lot, attached to the place of their abode, and priding themselves in its prosperity; strangers to professional rivalry and political dissensions, and grateful at once to the government which supports, and the administration which directs them. May their joint efforts continue to be guided by the same spirit of unanimity, and those enlightened views, which have hitherto pervaded them; and every liberal mind will rejoice in applying to them the dying words of Father Paul to the sacred institutions of his country," Estote perpetuæ!"* In order to complete the history of this establishment, we shall here mention some additions which have been made to the Museum since the main body of the work, of part of which we have presented the preceding abridgment, was sent to press. M. Leschenault de la Tour, and M. Auguste de Saint Hilaie, returned a few months ago: Among the mammifera brought by the former, is the bear of the Mountains of the Gates, two apes of Ceylon, the paradoxurus typus, which was wanting in the cabinet, and also some fishes and reptiles of the Isle of Bourbon. The latter, who for six years had been travelling throughout Brazil and the settlements of Paraguay, from the 12th to the 34th degree, has taken notes upon all the animals, and has brought home one of the most considerable and curious collections, both of botany and zoology, that ever arrived at the Museum. The following is an extract from a report, by the professors to the Academy of Sciences:-" The collection contains, 1st, 129 individuals of the mammifera, forming 48 species, of which 13 were not in the Museum.-2d, 2500 birds, forming 451 species, of which 156 were not in the Museum. The greater number of these make us better acquainted with the birds described by Azzara.-3d, 21 reptiles.-4th, About 16,000 well preserved insects, of which M. Latreille judges there are 800 unknown.-5th, An herbal, composed of about 30,000 specimens, forming nearly 7000 species of plants in good preservation, two-thirds of which M. Desfontaines judges to be new, and which will furnish new genera, and perhaps new families." M. Duvaucel, who continues his researches in India, has just sent home the skeleton of a very large elephant, a gangetic dolphin, more than six feet long, and a great number of birds, amongst which 43 species are unknown to the cabinet. From the same quarter a collection of fishes is ere long expected, amounting to 500 species, and 2000 individuals. From M. Leseur, have been received the greater number of the fishes and mollusca described by him in the Journal of Sciences of Philadelphia; and M. Milbert has transmitted several unknown fishes from the lakes of the United States. Lastly, M. Dussumier, on his return from India, presented a gazelle of Bassora, a species of dolphin, and 28 species of birds not in the cabinet. MR EDITOR, THE CONFESSIONS OF A FOOTMAN. SEEING that the world, through the medium of the Press, is rapidly becoming acquainted with the miseries of all classes; that drunkards, hypochondriacs, water-drinkers, and opium-chewers, are alike received with sympathy and commiseration; I take leave shortly to address you upon the grievances of footmen ; a set of men, I do believe, more universally persecuted than any other body of artists within his Majesty's dominions. I will not occupy your time, sir, (for time I know is precious,) with complaining of the nick-names bestowed upon us by both high and low; of our being "Bone polishers" with one party, "Piebald rascals" with another, and " Bipeds," (as I once heard a gentleman of peculiar fancy express himself)-" Bipeds bedizened with lace," with a third; although, if we do polish bones, what is that but an argument against the cruel ty of our masters, who allow us no meat? And for lace, Heaven knows we reap little advantage from that! for, now-a-days, they make it almost entirely of worsted! And, as for the livery is it our fault that every demi fortune driving fiddler will clothe his kidnapped charity boy in a coat of many colours? or what is such a coat but a symbol, and usually, God help us! too true a one, of the snubbings and bodily inflictions, which said charity boy is to suffer? And here, Mr Editor, I cannot help thinking, that the players and playwriters of modern times help very much to delude the public, as to the condition of us servants. People of all ranks go to the theatre; and scarcely a new play, or an after-piece, ever comes out now, but we find some footman in it, set up quite upon equal terms with his master-represented to be as well maintained, and often better dressed; advised with, and rewarded, and treated quite with familiarity. And the spectators, I do believe, many of them, sit looking sometimes at this romance, until they fancy that what they have seen is a true picture of life, and that every man who stands behind a carriage has the better of him that rides in it; while, in truth, Mr Editor, a footman gets no more by the frippery that he wears than a soldier, (as my tall brother in the 10th hussars used to say,) than a house soldier does by the feather and sheep-skin, with which he is loaded; the dragoon having, indeed, at one point, the worst of the comparison; viz. that a good deal of his foppery is paid for out of his own pocket. But my wish is to reason with the world about its treatment of servingmen-(pray, don't ever call them "Flunkies" any more, Mr Editor!) and so, instead of wasting time upon grievances in the beginning, which will be more than sufficiently illustrated in the close of my narrative, I should rather tell you, at once, how it happened that I joined the "partycoloured" society. In sooth, Mr Editor, my being a footman is a matter of accident. I began the world in quite a different line-as a barber's apprentice in Birmingham. When I was a lad I had always an ear for music; and was within an inch of becoming a soldier like my brother, for I should have gone to India, to a certainty, if the serjeant of horse had thought ine tall enough for a trumpeter. Indeed, there was a corporal of militia, as it was, that wanted to enlist me for a drum-boy, and declared that the fife was every way a prettier instrument than the trumpet. But I disliked the uniform of infantry soldiers; and, perhaps, it was my fate to be first a country barber, and afterwards a London servant; at all events, I resisted the temptation of Corporal Stock's " ven guineas," and took my first degree in life with Mr Latherbrush, hairdresser of Birmingham. "From Indus to the Pole !" * se Mr Latherbrush was a tradesman, who lived in the great square of Birmingham, called "The Bull Ring," and stood, as the folks said, in his business, "something betwixt and between;" that was, between the avowed tonsor of the canaille, Mr Snickchin, and Frizzlewig, in New Street, who used to dress the gentry. He wrote up a motto over his door, which a schoolmaster gave him, "Qui facere assuerat Candida de nigris," with "Perfumery from Paris," on one side the window, and " Walk in and be Shaved," on the other. He kept a chair in the open shop for the once-aweek customers; had a little back parlour, with a fire in it, for the three-day people; and took his penny for shaving, with "Thankye," when twopence was not forthcoming. My father apprenticed me to Mr Latherbrush, in all the usual forms; and sixpence was paid down, as the nominal premium, for which I was to learn the art of removing people's beards, without at the same time displacing their noses; the real " consideration" of my indenture being, however, that I should wash the shaving cloths, and boil the potatoes; sweep the shop, and light the fires; scour the saucepans, and make our beds; for Mr Latherbrush, who was a widower, kept no female domestic. I entered upon these avocations with a gay heart and ready hand; for I had read in an old volume of Gil Blas, which I borrowed from Corporal Stock, of so many strange adventures, and strokes of luck befalling barbers, that I looked upon even the initiated of the calling as a protected class of beings; the " magnetic strap," duly wielded, seeming more potent to me |