warrantably heavy. The first portion of the book is, to our taste, the best-the description of the Isle of Fantaisie, and the arrival of Popanilla in the great city of Hubbabub, or London, are very cleverly conceived, and produce much amusement. In most of the lighter themes, and when only the arms of playful ridicule are to be wielded, the author is particularly happy. He touches upon his subject with much felicity, and seldom loses his aim; but, to the higher attainments of strong satire and powerful sarcasm, he can lay Perhaps he has had Swift in but few claims. view, in choosing the allegorical form to convey his lesson; but, to accomplish the difficult task with complete success, he ought to have been endowed with the same abundant wit and robust humour which so strongly mark the satires of the Dean of St. Patrick. Some of the allegories in the book are rather dull and too obscure: we

are, indeed, rather apprehensive that most readers would have been thankful for a key at the end of the volume. Besides, whenever the author attempts to take up the cudgels for political skirmish, the raps are almost sure to fall upon his own head. What his notions of free constitutions may be, we really cannot surmise; but, most assuredly, every man with a moderate share of common sense, will call in question the justice of the following observation:

'Free constitutions are apt to be misunderstood until half of the nation are bayonetted, and the rest imprisoned.'

But perhaps we are attaching more importance to this agreeable trifle than the author himself ever thought of. We will, therefore, hasten to the more pleasing part of our duty, by presenting our readers with an extract, to show the author's talents:

"The canoe cut its way with increased rapidity; and, ere Popanilla had recovered himself sufficiently to make even an ejaculation, he found himself at the side of a quay. Some amphibious creatures, whom he supposed to be mermen, immediately came to his assistance, rather stared at his serpent-skin coat, and then helped him up the steps. Popanilla was instantly surrounded by an immense crowd.

"A man!" said the women; are you sure you are a real man ?"

""He must be a sea-god!" said the females.
""She must be a sea-goddess," said the males.
""A Triton!" maintained the women.
""A Nereid!" argued the men.

"It is a great fish!" said the boys.
"Thanks to the universal Linguist, Captain Popa-
nilla, under these peculiar circumstances, was more
loquacious than could have been Captain Parry.
""Good people! you see before you the most injured
of human beings.'

article might be found, and taking up a small sack, for Popanilla was very rich, his companion inquired its price, which he was informed was four crowns. No sooner had the desired information been given, than the proprietor of the opposite shop rushed in, and offered him the same article for three crowns. The original merchant, not at all surprised at the intrusion, and not the least apologising for his former extortion, then demanded two. His rival, being more than his match, he courteously dropped upon his knee, and requested his customer to accept the article gratis, for his sake. The generous dealer would infallibly have carried the day, had not his rival humbly supplicated the purchaser, not only to receive his article as a gift, but also the compliment of a crown inside.

"What a terrible cheat the first merchant must have been!" said the puzzled Popanilla, as they proceeded on their way.

"By no means!" said his calm companion; "the purse was sufficiently cheap, even at four crowns. This is not cheatery, this is competition!"

""What a wonderful nation, then, this must be, where you not only get purses gratis, but even well loaded! What use, then, is all this heavy gold? It is a tremendous trouble to carry ;-I will empty the bag into this kennel, for money surely can be of no use in a city where, when in want of cash, you have only to go into a shop and buy a purse!

"Your pardon!" said his companion; "far from this being the case, Vraibleusia is, without doubt, the dearest country in the world."

If then," said the inquisitive Popanilla, with great animation" if then this country be the dearest in the

world-if-how-"

"My good friend!" said his companion, "I really am the last person in the world to answer questions. All that I know is, that really this country is extremely dear, and that the only way to get things cheap, is to encourage Competition."

'Here the progress of the companions was impeded for some time by a great crowd, which had assembled to catch a glimpse of a man who was to fly off a steeple, but who had not yet arrived. A chimney-sweeper observed to a scientific friend, that probably the density of the atmosphere might prevent the intended volitation; and Popanilla, who, having read almost as many pamphlets as the observer, now felt quite at home, exceedingly admired the observation.

"He must be a very superior man, this gentleman in black!" said Popanilla to his companion.

666

"By no means! he is of the very lowest class in society. But you are probably not aware, that you are in the most educated country in the world."

'Delightful!"
" said Popanilla.

"The captain was exceedingly desirous of witnessing the flight of the Vraibleusian Dædalus, but his friend advised their progress. This, however, was not very easy; and Popanilla, animated, for the moment, by his natural aristocratic disposition, and emboldened by his superior size and strength, began to clear his way in a manner which was more cogent than logical. The chimney-sweeper and his comrades were soon in arms, and Popanilla would certainly have been killed or ducked by this very superior man and his friends, had it not been for the mild remonstrance of his conductor, and the singular appearance of his costume.

"What could have induced you to be so very imprudent?" said his rescuer, when they had escaped from the crowd.

""Truly," said Popanilla, "I thought that in a country where you may bastinado the wretch who presumes to ask you for alms, there could surely be no objection to my knocking down the scoundrel who

dared to stand in my way.

"By no means!" said his friend, slightly elevating his eyebrows. "Here all men are equal. You are probably not aware that you are at present in the freest country in the world."

"I do not exactly understand you; what is this freedom?"

"My good friend! I really am_the_last person in the world to answer questions. Freedom is, in one word-Liberty: a kind of thing which you foreigners never can understand, and which mere theory can make no man understand. When you have been in the Island a few weeks, all will be quite clear to you. In the mean time, do as others do, and never knock men down!"'-Pp. 59-72.

FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION.

Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the
Polar Sea, in the years 1825, 1826, and 1827. By
John Franklin, Captain R.N., F.R.S., &c. and Com-
mander of the Expedition. Including an Account of
the Progress of a Detachment to the Eastward. By
John Richardson, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. Surgeon
and Naturalist to the Expedition. Illustrated with
Plates and Maps. 2 vols., 4to. Murray. London.
1828.

from us.
Mr. Kendall hastened down to despatch
Baptiste in pursuit of them, who returned an hour
afterwards to inform us that he had wounded one,
which he had been prevented from following by the
loss of his powder-horn. As there was no possibility
of our getting forward until the gale abated, Baptiste
and Augustus were sent out to hunt, there being nu-
merous tracks of moose and rein deer in the neigh-
bourhood of the tent. I also despatched Mr. Kendall,
with two seamen, to walk some distance into the in-
terior, and endeavour to clear up the doubt whether
we were upon the main shore, or upon an island. The
astronomical observations obtained at the encampment
place it in latitude 69° 3′ 45′′ N., longitude 135° 44′
57" W. A tide-pole was put up immediately on our
landing, and we perceived the water to rise about three
inches in the course of the forenoon, and to fall the
same quantity in the evening. The temperature of the
air did not exceed forty-eight degrees all this day:
when in the river, it used to vary from 55° to 70°.
Mr. Kendall came back in the evening, bringing the
agreeable intelligence that he had assisted in killing
a female moose and her calf, and that Augustus had
shot a rein-deer. Some men were sent to carry the
meat to the borders of a river which Mr. Kendall had

discovered, while the boat went round to its entrance
about one mile from the encampment. They returned at
sunset. Many geese and ducks were seen by our
hunters. Throughout the whole of Mr. Kendall's

same kind of flat land covered with the dwarf willow and the moose-berry plant, as was discovered from the tent, except one small lake, and the river that has been mentioned, issuing from it.

'The atmosphere was so thick on the morning of the 16th as to confine our view to a few yards; we therefore remained at the encampment till the sun had sufficient power to remove the fog temperature of the air 39°. Embarking at eleven A.M., we continued our its coast trending southward of east. There we landed, course along the shore of Ellice Island, until we found

THE Sympathy excited in the public mind by the Polar expeditions, has rendered the narrative of the undertaking a work of deep and universal interest. The former publications of the individuals who conducted the enterprises were received with the most anxious curiosity, and are now placed as valuable additions to our national collection of voyages and travels. The present narrative of Captain Franklin is little less interesting than the former accounts, and abounds in information of the most valuable kind. The expedition, it will be remembered by our readers, set out in February, 1825. The party proceeded to New York, and from thence to Methye River, where it joined a detachment sent forward with provisions, on the 29th June. It was from this point, the enterprise was considered as commencing. The official instructions given to Captain walk, of twelve or fourteen miles, he saw only the Franklin were, that, having established his winter quarters on the Western side of the Great Bear Lake, he should, early in the spring of 1826, proceed down Mackenzie River, so as to avail himself of the first breaking up of the ice in the Polar Sea, for his voyage along the coast to Icy Cape. Captain Franklin was also further directed, on arriving at the mouth of the Mackenzie, to despatch Dr. Richardson and Mr. Kendall to explore the coast between this and the Copper-Mine River. From Methye River, the party, accordingly, proceeded to Fort Chipewyan, and from thence to the Mackenzie River. Several curious circumstances are recorded as having occurred, even in this early part of the journey, particularly the meeting with two old copper-Indians, with whom Captain Franklin had formed an intimacy on a former octo cease all wars with their enemies, that they casion, and who now declared their determination might co-operate with the expedition. Having arrived at Fort Norman sooner than could have been expected, Captain Franklin found he had five or six weeks of open weather remaining, and accordingly resolved on a voyage to the sea. The narrative of this little additional enterprise is highly entertaining, as it presents, in a very rapid detail, most of the incidents and objects which may be expected to occur in a more important voyage of discovery. Passing over the previous parts of the account, we shall extract the description which the Commander of the expedition has given, of the scene which followed the successful termination of the undertaking. The little incident which appealed so forcibly to the personal feelings of Captain Franklin, is very affectingly, though slightly, alluded to:

In the morning of the 15th the wind blew a gale, as it had done through the night, and every object was obscured by a thick fog. About six. A.M. we took advantage of a temporary abatement of the wind to cross over to some higher land on the eastern side, which we Owing to the thickness of the fog, we were guided had seen the preceding evening, appearing like islands. in our course at starting solely by the compass. When we reached the channel of the river, the gale returned with increased violence, and its direction being opposite to the current, such high waves were raised, that the boat took in a good deal of water. The fog now cleared away, and the three eminences, mistaken for islands, were ascertained to be conical hummocks, rising above the low eastern shore. We pushed for the nearest, and landed a short distance from its base at eight A.M. On going to the summit of this eminence, in the expectation of obtaining the bearings of several distant points, we were a little disappointed to find that only the low shores of Pitt Island were visible, extending from S.E. to W.N.W., though we were repaid for our visit by observing two moose deer quietly browsing on the tops of the willows, a short distance

and were rejoiced at the sea-like appearance to the northward. This point is in latitude 69° 14' N., longitude 135° 57' W., and forms the north-eastern entrance to the main channel of the Mackenzie River, which, from Slave Lake to this point, is one thousand and forty-five miles, according to our survey. An island was now discovered to the N.E., looking blue from its distance, towards which the boat was immeand of a more green colour, though still fresh, even diately directed. The water, which, for the last eight miles, had been very shallow, became gradually deeper, when we had entirely lost sight of the eastern land. In the middle of the traverse, we were caught by a strong contrary wind, against which our crews cheerfully contended for five hours, though drenched by the spray, and even by the waves which came into the boat. Unwilling to return without attaining the object of our search, when the strength of the rowers was nearly exhausted, as a last resource, the sails were set doublereefed, and our excellent boat mounted over the waves in the wind enabled us, in the course of another hour, to the most buoyant manner. An opportune alteration of fetch into smoother water, under the shelter of the island. We then pulled across a line of strong ripple which marked the termination of the fresh water; that on the seaward side being brackish; and in the further progress of three miles to the island, we had the indescribable pleasure of finding the water decidedly salt.

'The sun was setting as the boat touched the beach, and we hastened to the most elevated part of the island, about two hundred and fifty feet high, to look around; and never was a prospect more gratifying than that which lay open to us. The Rocky Mountains were seen from S.W. to W.N.; and from the latter point, entirely free from ice, and without any visible obstrucround by the north, the sea appeared in all its majesty, tion to its navigation. Many seals, and black and white whales were sporting on its waves; and the whole scene was calculated to excite in our minds the most

flattering expectations as to our own success, and that of our friends in the Hecla and the Fury. There were two groups of islands at no great distance; to the one bearing south-east I had the pleasure of affixing the name of my excellent friend and companion, Mr. Kendall, and to that bearing north-east the name of Pelly was given, as a tribute justly due to the Governor of the Hudson-Bay Company, for his earnest endeavours to promote the progress and welfare of the Expedition. A similar feeling towards my much-esteemed friend,

Mr. Garry, the Deputy Governor of the Company, prompted me to appropriate his name to the island on which we stood,-a poor, indeed, but heartfelt expres

1828.]

LITERARY AND CRITICAL JOURNAL.

sion of gratitude, for all his active kindness and indefatigable attention to the comfort of myself and my companions.

'During our absence the men had pitched the tent on the beach, and I caused the silk union-flag to be hoisted, which my deeply-lamented wife had made and presented to me, as a parting gift, under the express injunction that it was not to be unfurled before the I will not attempt to deExpedition reached the sea. scribe my emotions as it expanded to the breeze-however natural, and, for the moment, irresistible, I felt that it was my duty to suppress them, and that I had no right, by an indulgence of my own sorrows, to cloud the animated countenances of my companions. Joining, therefore, with the best grace that I could command, in the general excitement, I endeavoured to return, with corresponding cheerfulness, their warm congratulations on having thus planted the British flag on this remote island of the Polar Sea.

'Some spirits, which had been saved for the occasion, were issued to the men; and with three fervent cheers they drank to the health of our beloved Monarch, and to the continued success of our enterprise. Mr. Kendall and I had also reserved a little of our brandy, in order to celebrate this interesting event; but Baptiste, in his delight of beholding the sea, had set before us some salt water, which having been mixed with the brandy before the mistake was discovered, we were reluctantly obliged to forego the pretended draught, and to use it in the more classical form of a libation poured on the ground.

Baptiste, on discovering that he had actually reached the ocean, stuck his feathers in his hat, and exultingly exclaimed, "Now that I am one of the Gens de la mer, you shall see how active I will be, and how I will crow over the Gens du nord," the name by which the Athabascar voyagers are designated. No fresh water was found on Garry Island until Augustus discovered a small lake, the streams that poured down The temperafrom the cliffs being as salt as the sea. ture of the sea water was 51°; the fresh water we had left five miles from the island 55°; and that of the air 52°.-Vol. i. pp. 33-37.

Our next extract is taken from Mr. Drummond's account of his operations during his separation from Captain Franklin. The greatest praise is due to him for the perseverance and energy with which he carried on his designs; and men of science owe a great debt of gratitude to him for the pains he took in exploring regions which very few but himself would have had the resolution to visit, much less the hardihood, to expose themselves to the dangers and fatigue he suffered during a protracted stay. It is pleasing to read the testimony of true comrade-like affection and respect which Captain Franklin has paid him in speaking of his labours. The best proof of its being richly deserved may be found in the following:

"I remained at Cumberland House about six weeks after the departure of Captain Back and Mr. Kendall, in June, 1825, when the Company's boats with the brigade of traders for the Columbia, arriving from York factory; I accompanied them up the Saskatchawan River two hundred and sixty miles to Carlton House. The unsettled state of the Indians in that neighbourhood rendering excursions over the plains very unsafe, I determined on proceeding with the brigade as far as the Rocky Mountains. We left Carlton House on the 1st of September, and reached Edmonton, which is about four hundred miles distant, on the 20th of the same month. Sandy plains extend without material alteration the whole way, and there is, consequently, little variety in the vegetation; indeed, I did not find a single plant that I had not seen within ten miles of Carlton House, although I had an opportunity of examining the country carefully, having performed the greater part of the journey on foot. After a halt of two days at Edmonton, we continued our route one hundred miles farther to Fort Assinaboyn on the Red Deer River, one of the branches of the Athapescow. This part of the journey was performed with horses through a swampy and thickly wooded country, and the path was so bad, that it was necessary to reduce the luggage as much as possible. I therefore took with me only one bale of paper for drying plants, a few shirts, and a blanket; Mr. M'Millan, one of the Company's chief traders, who had charge of the brigade, kindly undertaking to forward the rest of my baggage in the ensuing spring. We left Fort Assinaboyn to proceed up the Red Deer River to the Mountains, on the 2d of October; but the canoe appointed for this service being very much lumbered, it was necessary that

some of the party should travel by land, and of that
number, I volunteered to be one. A heavy fall of snow,
on the third day after setting out, rendered the march
very fatiguing, and the country being thickly wooded
and very swampy, our horses were rendered useless be-
fore we had travelled half the distance.

"We reached the Mountains on the 14th, and I
continued to accompany the brigade, for fifty miles of
the Portage-road, to the Columbia, when we met a
hunter, whom Mr. M'Millan hired to supply me with
food during the winter. The same gentleman having fur-
nished me with horses, and a man to take care of them,
I set out with the hunter and his family towards the
Smoking River, one of the eastern branches of the
Peace River, on which we intended to winter. My
guide, however, loitered so much on the way, that the
snow became too deep to admit of our proceeding to
our destination, and we were under the necessity of
leaving the Mountains altogether, and taking up our
winter-quarters about the end of December, on the
Baptiste, a stream which falls into the Red Deer
River. During the journey, I collected a few speci-
mens of the birds that pass the winter in the country,
and which belong principally to the genera tetrao and
strix. I also obtained a few mosses, and on Christmas-
day, I had the pleasure of finding a very minute gym-
nostomum, hitherto undescribed.

533

I was, however, collecting plants for that season. very desirous of crossing the Mountains to obtain some knowledge of the vegetation on the Columbian River, and, accordingly, I commenced drying provisions to enable me to accompany the Columbia brigade, when it arrived from Hudson's Bay. I reached the Portage on the 9th of October, and on the 10th the brigade arrived, and I received letters from Captain Franklin, instructing me to descend in the spring of 1827, time enough to rejoin the Expedition on its way to York Factory. It was, therefore, necessary that I should speedily commence my return, and, having gone with the brigade merely to the west-end of the Portage, I came back again on the 1st of November. The snow much to my collections in this hasty trip over the covered the ground too deeply to permit me to add mountains; but it was impossible to avoid remarking the great superiority of climate on the western side of that lofty range. From the instant the descent towards the Pacific commences, there is a visible improvement in the growth of timber, and the variety of forest trees could not but deeply excursion were so fine, that greatly increases. The few mosses that I gleaned in the regret that I was unable to pass a season or two in that interesting region.

"Having packed up all my specimens, I embarked on the Red Deer River, with, Mr. M'Donald, one of the Company's officers, who was returning from a long residence on the Columbia with his family, and contifrost. I then left Mr. M'Donald in charge of the bagnued to descend the stream until we were set fast by the

the purpose of procuring horses, I reached it on the be obtained, and they were several more in travelling fifth day. It was several days before the horses could from the Fort to Mr. M'Donald, during which time that gentleman and his family were very short of provisions. The relief, however, arrived very opportunely, and they reached the Fort in safety. After resting a few days, I set out for Edmonton, where I remained for

"In the winter, I felt the inconvenience of the want of my tent, the only shelter I had from the inclemency of the weather being a hut built of the branches of trees. Soon after reaching our wintering ground, provisions became very scarce, and the hunter and his fa-gage, and, proceeding on foot to Fort Assinaboyn, for mily went off in quest of animals, taking with them the man who had charge of my horses to bring me a supply as soon as they could procure it. I remained alone for the rest of the winter, except when my man occasionally visited me with meat; and I found the time hang very heavy, as I had no books, and nothing could be done in the way of collecting specimens of Natural History. I took, however, a walk every day in the woods to give me some practice in the use of snow shoes. The winter was very severe, and much snow fell until the end of March, when it averaged six feet in depth. In consequence of this, I lost one of my horses, and the two remaining ones became tunate, ten of his young colts having died. exceedingly poor. The hunter was still more unfor

"In the beginning of April, 1826, setting out for
the Columbia Portage road, I reached, it after a fa-
tiguing march on the sixth day, and, two days after-
brought me letters from Dr. Richardson, informing me
wards, had the pleasure of meeting Mr. M'Millan, who
of the welfare of the Expedition; and he also placed me
in comparatively comfortable circumstances, by bringing
my tent, a little tea and sugar, and some more paper.
I remained on the Portage preparing specimens of birds
until the 6th of May, when the brigade from the Co-
lumbia arrived. On that day the Anemone and cunei-
folia, and Ludovisiana aud Saxifraga oppositifolia, be-
who had, in the mean time, returned to our late win-
gan to flower in favourable situations. My hunter,
his mind, and would not accompany me into the
tering ground, now sent me word that he had changed
Mountains, as he had engaged to do. His fickleness
main with the man who had charge of the horse used
deranged my plans, and I had no alternative but to re-
on the Colombia Portage, and botanize in that neigh-
bourhood.

some months.

"The winter express brought me a letter from Dr. Richardson, requesting me to join him at Carlton House in April; and I accordingly set out for that place on snow shoes, on the 17th of March, taking the mountains, lest any accident should happen to the with me single specimens of all the plants gathered on Two men with a sledge, drawn by dogs, accompanied duplicates which were to come by canoe in the spring. me; but the Indian inhabitants of the plains, being very hostile, we made a large circuit to avoid them, and did

not reach Carlton House before the 5th of April. We suffered much from snow-blindness on the march; the

baggage on our backs, and had nothing to eat for seven days. These sufferings were, however, soon dogs failed from want of food; we had to carry the Dr. Richardson, and Mr. Prudens, the Company's Chief Trader at Carlton; and the hospitable entertainforgotten in the kind welcome which I received from ment and good fare of the latter gentleman's table enabled me speedily to recruit my lost strength.

""My collections on the mountains amounted to about fifteen hundred species of plants, one hundred and fifty birds, fifty quadrupeds, and a considerable number of insects.'"-Vol. ii., pp. 311-313.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF ZOOLOGY.
Illustrations of Zoology; being Representations of New,
Rare, or otherwise Remarkable Subjects of the Animal
Kingdom, drawn and coloured after Nature, with De-
scriptive Letter-Press. By James Wilson, F.R.S.E.,
Member of the Wernerian Natural History Society.
Atlas 4to, with Coloured Plates, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Edinburgh, 1828.

"On the 10th of August, I set out with another hunter, upon whom I had prevailed to conduct me to the Smoking River; although, being disappointed in a travelled for several days without meeting with any supply of ammunition, we were badly provided. We with the hunter's family. On the 15th we killed a THE tide of fashion, which has long been ebbing animals, and I shared the little dried provisions I had Mountain sheep, which was quickly devoured, there not being the smallest apprehension at the time that from the once popular study of the natural history of animals, has at length begun to turn; and the famine would overtake us-day after day, however, current is already setting in with no less rapidity passed away without a single head of game of any dethan was so a ely exhibited in the opposite direcscription being seen, and the children began to complain loudly; but the hunter's wife, a young halfbreed woman, bore the abstinence with indifference, tion of the stream. The press, always so powerful crease of works, both of a scientific and popular the 21st, we found two young porcupines, which were although she had two infant twins at the breast. On in its influence, has taken the lead; and the inshared amongst the party, and two or three days after-cast, has been followed or accompanied by the wards, a few fine trout were caught. We arrived in the Smoking River on the 5th of September, where our abstinence, for, before the sheep were eaten, he the hunter killed two sheep, and a period was put to shot several buffaloes.

"We proceeded along the mountains until the 24th of September, and had reached the head waters of the Peace River, when a heavy fall of snow stopped my

attention to museums.

The most distinguished incorporation of public societies, and increased of the works to which we allude, is Čuvier's Animal Kingdom,' by Griffiths, distinguished for its scientific accuracy no less than for its interesting details of the habits of animals,-the only part of the subject which general readers care for. The

cærulescens) feeds upon insects, a circumstance
which does not accord well with the popular opi-
nion of kites and falcons. Mr. Wilson thinks,
indeed, that from its strongly-toothed bill and
muscular limbs, it must usually pursue larger
game; and Mr. Harsfield accordingly says, that it
boldly attacks small birds. The circumstance,
however, recorded in the last Number of 'THE
ATHENEUM,' respecting the Kestril, (Falco tin-
nunculus,) preying upon cock-chafers, tends, in
part, to corroborate Timminck's opinin.

tion of birds, as explained by their rapidity of
On the highly interesting subject of the migra-
flight, Mr. Wilson has recorded the following re-

:

two first volumes of the Introduction to Entomology, by Kirby and Spence, was prior even to this; and is very superior, in plan and execution, to any work of natural history with which we are acquainted; beginning by interesting, amusing, and accurate narratives, intermixed with occasional theories and speculations; so that the reader is fascinated with the subject before the drier details of nomenclature and terminology are brought into view. It is in this way that all the sciences ought to be taught, when the object is to gain proselytes. It was thus that the eloquent Buffon made zoology popular; and, had his accuracy and knowledge of science been equal to his enthusiasm and his skill in rhetorical embellishment, we might not, per-markable facts :haps, have had now to complain of the neglect into which the study has latterly fallen. The incorporation of the Zoological Society, followed by that of the Zoological Club, and the publication of the Zoological Journal,' (though rather too scientific in its general features,) and of Loudon's Magazine of Natural History,' must be considered as strong indications of the change which is taking place in the public mind. The deplorable state of the public museums indeed, disgraceful to a country boasting of so extensive a marine intercourse with all parts of the globe,-has been, and is now, a great drawback to the study; but this may, perhaps, be remedied at no distant day, if the public can be got to patronise such works as the splendid publication of Mr. Wilson now on our table. It is the work of a private gentleman, enthusiastically devoted to the study, and intended to illustrate, by beautiful coloured figures, the most interesting specimens in the Edinburgh Museum. Were the directors of the British Museum to undertake a publication on a similar plan, we know of nothing which would contribute more to attract the national attention to the collections there, deficient though they be, and huddled together so as in many cases to render them of little use.

We approve highly of the principles as well as the plan of Mr. Wilson's work. He is fully aware of the importance of introducing something more than a Linnæan Catalogue Raisonnée of his splendid engravings, with lists of synonimes, now unfortunately indispensable, from what our author very justly designates as frequent and unnecessary changes in nomenclature, unaccompanied by corresponding improvements in the essential ground-work of a luminous and philosophical system,' which, as he adds, have darkened the very face of nature by a cloud of confused and contradictory synonimes.'-Preface, page 3.

In the execution of his arduous work, accordingly, we find that Mr. Wilson has not endeavoured to distinguish himself for his skill in compounding new names from his Greek Lexicon. He is more anxious to make his readers acquainted with the animals delineated, as well as with their kindred of the same class or order. For example, in introducing the puma or American lion, he gives us such remarks as the following on the genus Felis:

Animals of the cat-kind are, in a state of nature, almost continually in action both by night and by day. They either walk, creep, or advance rapidly by prodigious bounds; but they seldom run, owing, it is believed, to the extreme flexibility of their limbs and vertebral column, which cannot preserve the rigidity necessary to that species of movement. Their sense of sight, especially during twilight, is acute; their hearing very perfect, and their perception of smell less so than in the dog tribe. Their most obtuse sense is that of taste ; the lingual nerve in the lion, according to Desmoulins, being no larger than that of a middle-sized dog. In fact, the tongue of these animals is as much an organ of mastication as of taste; its sharp and horny points, inclined backwards, being used for tearing away the softer parts of the animal substances on which they prey. The perception of touch is said to reside very delicately in the small bulbs at the base of

the mustachios.'

Timminck, the first ornithologist of the age, informs us that the finch falcon of Bengal (Falco

'Montagu is of opinion that many birds, when exthan thirty miles per hour. Even a sparrow has been erting themselves to the utmost, fly at a rate of not less calculated to fly at the rate of thirty miles in an hour, and Major Cartwright appears to have ascertained, by frequent experiments, that, during the same short period, the flight of an eider-duck is equal to ninety miles. The common kite (falco milnus) has been observed to pass, without great exertion, over a space of a quarter of a league, in a minute, and it could fly with day, were an instinctive tendency so to do combined ease from Cape Pruth to the Land's End in a single sessed. It appears probable, therefore, that the most with the physical power of which it is actually posextended migratory movement which any species is called upon to accomplish, may, in the greater number of cases, be performed in a couple of days, more frequently in the course of a few hours.'

My intelligent friend, Mr. Andubar, of Louisiana, ings has lately excited such general interest in Edinwhose magnificent collection of ornithological drawburgh, has communicated to me a singular fac trelating to the powers of flight of the passenger-pigeon excursion through the forests; and, on dissection, found of America. He has shot that bird during his hunting the digestive process, must have been swallowed not its stomach full of fresh rice, which, to have resisted many hours preceding its death, but could not have been obtained within 800 miles of the place where it was killed.'

This power of flight, so clearly demonstrated,
tends to diminish our wonder at the distances to

which many of our birds of passage migrate; and
swallows, for instance, in all probability, winter
in Africa, as they have both been seen on their
passage (for instance, by Mr. Dryden, the son of
the poet, and by Charles Buonaparte,) and on
their arrival. Had the last fact been recorded by
a common traveller, we might have doubted whe-
ther those African swallows were the same as our
European species; but so distinguished a natural-
ist as M. Adamson could scarcely be mistaken;
and he, more than once, witnessed the arrival of
swallows in October and November, as far south
as Senegal. These swallows, he remarked, did
not build, but remained about the sea-shore,
usually in pairs. It is no less probable, that our
nightingales, and other summer visitants, migrate,
in autumn, to Barbary and Egypt, and come to
our less sultry climate to rear their young.

Mr. Wilson, we are glad to perceive, has not
limited his range of Illustrations to quadrupeds
and birds, but has given specimens from the other
divisions of Zoology. On the fertile and exten-
sive subject of insects, we find the following in-
teresting notice:

'When one of these (the larvae of the gnat) is examined, a singular tunnel-shaped organ, terminating in angle with the last segment of the body but one. five points, like a star, will be perceived, forming an In the interior of this organ is a tube, which conveys the air to the trachea, and communicates with the atmosphere by means of several perforations in the centre of the star. The diverging rays of the star suspend the wards, till it wishes to descend. It has no sooner asanimal at the surface of the water, with its head downsumed the pupa state, than the respiratory tail disappears, and the insect (still an inhabitant of the water) sembling a cornucopia, which proceed from the upper then breathes through two projecting horns, each reassunder, and the perfect gnat, or winged insect, makes part of the trunk. Ere long the skin of the pupa bursts its appearance with neither caudal nor thoracic appen

dages, but breathing by means of numerous lateraş pores.'

ing is described as belonging to the root-tailed A still more extraordinary apparatus for breathworm, the larva of a species of fly (Elepolus pendulus.) The tail is formed of retractile tubes like times the length of its body. This tail also tera telescope, and capable of being extended twelve. minates in a star-like appendage, which forms a perceptible dimple on the surface of the water, while the body of the larva lies in the mud below, the height of the surface above its lair. On asthe tail being contracted or extended according to suming the pupa state, this tail is cast off; and, being no longer an aquatic animal, it breathes through four horns placed on the upper part of the thorax. When it becomes a fly, it again changes its respiratory apparatus, which now consists, as in other insects, of lateral spiracles.

but wish him every success in this great underIn taking our leave of Mr. Wilson, we cannot taking, though we regret to think that the necessarily high price of the work must confine it to the libraries of the opulent.

The West India Question plainly stated, and the only
Practical Remedy briefly considered, in a Letter to the
Right Honourable Henry Goulbourn, by Fortunatus
Dwarris, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister at
Law. J. Ridgeway. London, 1828.

This is a sensible, temperate, and judicious pamphlet;
and must be considered as the production of a person
intimately acquainted with the localities of the West
speak 'ex cathedra on the subject of which he treats.
India Colonies, and, therefore, fully competent to
West Indian by birth; and is already advantageously
Mr. Dwarris, our readers perhaps are not aware, is a
of Justice in the West Indies. The changes which Mr.
known as a Commissioner of Inquiry into the Courts
D. desires to see effected in our West Indian posses-
desire to see accomplished as soon as possible. These
sions, are such as every friend of the human race must
are a pure and equal administration of justice; the re-
vising and softening of the law, with regard to slaves;
of task labour; the limitation of slavery itself; and, in
the non-separation of black families; the introduction
conjunction with all these desirable ends, the compen
sation of the master and the conciliation of the colonist.
Mr. Dwarris satisfactorily (at least to our minds) de-
monstrates that all these objects are attainable in prac
tice, and may be pursued, not only without danger,
and with safety to the Empire at large.
but with positive advantage to the Colonies themselves,

In conclusion, we recommend this pamphlet as a judicious mean between the fanciful theories of Wild Emancipists, and the more despicable advocates of perpetual slavery.

The Boy's Own Book. Square 8vo. pp. 447. Vizetelly.

London.

nothing can be more desirable than the union of amuseTHE plan of this volume is an excellent one; for for the young. In the directions given on the different ment and instruction in a work intended exclusively gymnastic exercises, every thing is said that can be required by the self-instructed pupil, and the chemical experiments and mathematical problems are well sealso given of the various kinds of pigeons, rabbits, &c. lected and described. Several amusing accounts are in which the young merchant may choose to speculate. Thus far the publication merits considerable praise; but the low and wretched juggling tricks, with directions to perform them, with which the latter part of the volume is taken up, ought never to have been given. They are not merely useless, or in bad taste, but are calculated to do much mischief. But, if this may be said with regard to such things generally, it applies with much stronger force to the directions given for conjuring with cards, in some of which the youthful student is most strongly advised to be particularly skilful in

Forcing and Shuffling.' We trust, in another edition of this otherwise useful little work, these blemishes will be removed.

JESUITS.

Court of Paris, has, it is said, distinctly and energeThe Baron Seguier, First President of the Royal finding a domicile in France, and has addressed his tically, expressed his opinion on the illegality of Jesuits statement, officially, to the Archbishop of Paris.