the most vigorous periods of the Roman em- partial injury, which the reformation has occasioned. In lieu, then, of displaying our zeal for the reformation of manners by anathemas against particular errors and imperfections, we should build our efforts at reformation upon the only proper basis, that of religion, as illustrated by liberal-knowledge. In the truly enlightened Christian, the reformation of each error will be closely followed, or accompanied, by that particular instance of beneficence, which would obviate the evils that might result from his change of manners. He would commence his own reformation by at once relinquishing every kind of luxury is much greater than any other evil its refothat was decidedly vicious; as the evil of sin mation could produce. Next to those luxu ries that were grossly vicious, or most inju rious in point of example, he would retrench those that occasioned an unprofitable consumption of his own precious time. to lor, able only to maintain himself, would Striking illustrations of the question might be drawn from countries that have suddenly diminished their population. Was the population of Spain vicious, i. e. superabundant to an injurious excess, while the Moors continued in that kingdom? expel the Moors: now let succeeding He would seek after some employment both ages determine whether the remedy be not more advantageous to themselves and worse than the disease; and whether the community, for those, who were injuthose extensive plains which loudly de-riously affected by the retrenchment of any of his needless expences. mand the cultivator, and would readily maintain a doubled population, are not more truly terrific to the philanthropist and to the statesman than all the crowds of Canton or of Pekin? Britain is an instance of contrary effect. We doubt not but Shakspeare put the language of the prescient of his day into the mouth of honest Launce lot Gobbo, who complains of the number of Christians being augmented; as "they were fully as many before as could live by one another :" and alarmed at the difficulty of procuring food, he tells us, that if the conversion of Jews should continue," they should not have a rasher of bacon on the coals for money"-Yet we do see, and Xsee it with thankfulness too, that this little island maintains a more than doubled population with ease; and would do more -if its wastes were diminished.XXX Whatever is sudden is suspicious, even sudden reformation has its dangers: they are thus described by our author: Virtues and vices are so blended together in the imperfect character of men, that, in an attempt to reform one species of vice and error, there is some hazard, fest a virtue, or excellence, with which it is accompanied, should be subverted, or some more atrocious imperfection be the result; and a partial reformation may, eventually, prove a public injury. In attempting, therefore, to reform the public nanners, we should endeavour to promote a more judicious employment of time and wealth, and advise the means of repairing the If a gentleman of truly liberal and ingenuous education, is obliged upon marrying to live quietly at home for the most part, can he find no satisfaction in the society of his own beloved family, that shall amply compensate him for the loss of an acquaintance, with whom he can no longer vie in the profusion 34. nobleness of mind, will have most reason to of his expences? I presume, a man of true look down with contempt or pity upon those who value their associates only according to their ability to cope with them in the splen dour and magnificence of their equipage and entertainments; nor will he think himself more degraded by an occasional intercourse with honest and industrious tradesmen and farmers, who are an ornament and a blessing to the community. And I trust every lady, who has as much virtuous sentiment as I am persuaderi falls to the lot of the greater part of my fair country-women of middle rank, grossfly defective, or perverted, as I think female education is at present; would readily adopt the same opinions, and not one of them would be willing to relinquish her dear nurslings for all the frivolity and insipidity of fashionable dissipation. And if a father should subuni to some reputable employment, by which he might improve his finances, in lieu of wasting them in aping the manners of his superiors in opulence, he would no ways degrade himself in the estimation of any man of fortune, who has the true character of a gentleman. An Introduction to Physiological and Sys. tematical Botany. By James Edward Smith, M.D. F.R.S. &c. &c. President of the Linnean Society. pp. 556, price 14s. Longman and Co. London, 1807. DR. SMITH is distinguished among the lovers of Botany by the advantages he enjoys for the study of that science. He is himself a man of extensive information, and ardent in the pursuit of knowledge; but he is still further favoured in possessing the collection formed by Linnæus, and in being able to trace many thoughts and conceptions of that immortal naturalist; which do not appear in his published works. Almost as much advantage may be derived by an intelligent observer from the abandoned speculations of such a man as the Swede, as from those which he determined to mature: since the detection of error is no trifling effort of sagacity, and whoever introduces novelties in science will find frequent occasion to relinquish many suggestions, favourite, perhaps, for a time, and advanced to a certain degree, yet in the sequel found to be disqualified by insuperable imperfections for the purposes which ingenuity had hoped to accomplish by them. Dr. Smith must also be more extensively and accurately, than any other man, acquainted with the deficiencies under which this science laboured in the days of Linnæus and for which the extent of botanical knowledge at that time, afforded no remedy. Plants from all parts of the globe had not then been brought into Europe, neither had Europeans ransacked every country where they could penetrate, either by power or by permission, for the vegetable treasures with which nature had enriched it. Sovereigns had not then interested themselves, as they since have done, in promoting the cause of science and interchanging the productions of the different hemispheres, with a view to their mutual benefit. This glory is of later date: and it sheds, in our own island, no small lustre on the days of George the Third. By a familiar acquaintance with discoveries since the days of the projector of that system which now triumphs in complete establishment, Dr. Smith is also qualified to appreciate its failures, as well as its excellencies, and to form a judgment on it, as well on the parts as the whole. From these causes, the work before us is entitled to peculiar attention; and we have experienced great pleasure in receiv ing it from the pen of a professor so competent and judicious. He is a generous, not a slavish, follower of Linnæus: he corrects, but with modesty. His sentiments, when speaking of the generic characters, may be taken as applicable to the whole of his work. tain, not only the plan, but the very words For my own part, says he, I profess to reof Linnæus, unless I find them erroneous, copying nothing without examination, but altering with a very sparing hand, and leav ing much for future examination. I cannot blame my predecessors for implicitly copying the Linnæan characters, nor should I have been the first among English writers to set a contrary example, had I not fortunately been furnished with peculiar materials for the pur pose. The volume proceeds in a regular order to examine the texture, nature, parts, &c. of plants, the root, the stem, the leaves, the flowers, the fruit: explains the terms used in describing them, their parts, and distinctions: illustrates the genera, and species of the Linnaan system, adding remarks on some of them, and proposing by sundry diminutions to simplify their combinations, and increase their utility. It is evident that this can be, generally speaking, little other than a repetition of the same explanatory language to which we have heretofore been accustomed. We' are not to look for novelty. There are two purposes of which a system for general use must never lose sight; the easy instruction of a student, who is supposed to be wholly ignorant, till introduced to these rudiments; and the gratification of an adept, who is capable of observing, and of drawing conclusions for himself. In a study so extensive as Botany, we have great reason to dread confusion: and this cannot be too anxiously guarded against in the first instance, lest the mind," not inured to habits of inquiry, should be deterred from perseverance, and progress on the other hand, the adept should have as little as possible to drop, of what he has learned, not without some pains and attention. As we know not by what means to compress a satisfactory analysis of this volume into the space we can allot to it, we must content ourselves with com- our limited apprehensions; and while we mending it generally as containing much, admire, it is impossible not to adore." science and information, and expressing our approbation of the judgment which departs from the system of Linnæus when warranted by later discoveries. This, however, is a delicate subject: and if the spirit of innovation should extend its operations (pleading the example of the author, perhaps), with its usual carelessness of consequences, the science will feel disadvantages both serious and lasting. There is no difficulty in the Clusses of Linnæus, the Orders are less simple: Dr. S. dismisses the sixth order in Syngenesia, that of Monogamia, "because the union "of the anthers is not constant:" he removes this to the fifth class. He confesses that the system does not claim the merit of conformity to nature, though it has the advantage of all other systems in facility. Linnæus was aware of this, and therefore in his artiicial orders, and sections of those orders, he has arranged his genera according to the natural affinities of plants. This principle ought to be well understood, and never to be abandoned. The science will not arrive at perfection, till this union of art with nature be complete. The Genera Plantarum of Jussien owes its existence, and its merit, to the desire of its author to promote this principle. Hence its value to those who have already made a progress in the science, and are studying the philosophy of botanical arrangement. We are of opinion that Dr. S. might have illustrated some of the particulars belonging to plants by more frequent comparison and reference to others, the subjects of daily observation among animals. The failing of leaves have no distant resemblance by way of elucidation to the moulting of feathers: the "gelatinous matter exuded from the surface of the wood of a cherry tree, when stripped of its bark, and formed into fresh bark,"appears to be analogous to that gelatinous matter exuded from the body of a snail when his shell is broken, with which he repairs all breaches, and forms a new sheil we have seen this effected most wonderfully, by a snail that had been trodden on accidentally, and left for dead, whose shell was completely smashed. The torpidity of animals during winter, might have illustrated that of trees, &c. These are obvious and well known instances. Dr. S. considers as the true sap-vessels, those which former observers believed to be vessels for the circulation of air and he appeals to Mr. Knight's experiments (Phil. Trans. 1801, 1804, 1805) as des cisive on this subject. Dr. Darwin and Mr Kuight have, by the most simple and satisfactory experiment, proved these spiral vessels to be the channel through which the sap is conveyed. The former placed leafy twigs of a common Figtree about an inch deep in a decoction of madder, and others in one of logwood. After some hours, on cutting the branches across, the coloured liquors were found to have ascended into each branch by these vessels, which exhibited a circle of red dots round the It is the office of vegetable life to transform dead matter into organized living bodies: as it is the office of animal life to transform vegetable matter into organized pith, surrounded by an external circle of vesanimal bodies. The vital principle is the sels containing the white milky juice, or segreat agent in this process: and the great Mr. Knight, in a similar manner, inserted creted fluid, so remarkable in the fig-tree. actuator of this agent is the Deity, Dr the lower ends of some cuttings of the ApS. is tempted to conclude, that the vital ple-tree and Horse-chesnut into an infusion principle is an impulse of the Divine agen of the skins of a very black grape in water, cy, "the immediate agency of the Deity:" an excellent fiquor for the purpose. The reand thus he coincides in opinion as in ad-sult was similar. But Mr. Knight pursued miration, with another fanious investiga- his observations much further than Dr. Dartor of nature (Willis) who exclaimed, af- win had done; for he traced the coloured liter examining the principles of animal life, quid even into the leaves, but it had neiDeus est anima brutorum We perfect-ther coloured the bark nor the sap between it ly agree with our author, and we thank and the wood; and the medulla was not afhim in the name of science as well as ofed at its edges." Phil. Trans. For 1801, fected, or at most was very slightly' tingpiety, for his avowal of the sentiment, that "the more we study the works of The result of all Mr. Knight's experiments the Creator, the more wisdom, beauty, and remarks seems to be, that the fluids desand harmony become manifest, even to tined to nourish a plant, being absorbed by p. 335. the root and become sap, are carried up into the leaves by these vessels, called by him central vessels, from their situation near the pith. A particular set of them, appropriated to each leaf, branches off, a few incues below the leaf to which they belong, froin the main channels that pass along the alburnum, and extend from the fibres of the root to the extremity of each annual shoot of the plant. As they approach the leaf to which they are destined, the central vessels become more numerous, or subdivided. To these vessels, says Mr. Knight, the spiral tubes are everywhere appendages." p. 336. : In p. 239, the Dr. gives very ingenious reasons for the disappearance of many valuable varieties of apples and pears, known in former times and for the dwindling away of others before our eyes. Each individual propagated by cuttings has only a determinate existence; in some cases longer, in others shorter. New varieties of Cape Geraniums, raised from seed in our greenhouses, can be preserved by cullings for a few successive seasons only; yet several of these stand in our botanic works, with all the importance of real species. Gardeners know how many of the most hardy perennial herbs require to be frequently renewed from seed to exist in full vigour; and though others ap pear, to our confined experience, unlimited in that respect, we have many reasons to believe they are not so. Propagation by seeds is therefore the only true reproduction of plants, by which, each species reinains distinct, and all variations are effaced. Thus does Nature resume ber authori hitherto been from removing this reil, that they have not even been able to approach it. All these operations, indeed, are evidently chemical decompositions and combinations; but we neither know what these decompositions and combinations are, nor the instruments in which they take place, nor the agents by which they are regulated." The vain Buffon caused his own statue to be inscribed," a genius equal to the majes ty of nature," but a blade of grass was sullicient to confound his pretensions. The vain Buffon would have done much better had he recollected the inscription on the Isis of Sais: " I ain the universal mother; and no one has yet been able to lift up my veil."-But perhaps we are blaming Buffon, when we should blame some would-be compli mentary friend: possibly the superintendant of the Jardin des Plantes, where that statue stood. When the roots are luxuriantly prolific, (says Dr. S.) the flowers are in some measure defective, Nature, relaxing as it were from her usual solicitude, and allowing her children to repose, and indulge in the abundance of good things about them. But when wast her energies are exerted to secure the future threatens, she instantly takes the alarm; all progeny, even at the hazard of the parent stock, and to send them abroad to colonise more favourable situations. We doubt whether the worthy Dr has not in this instance attributed to nature a sentiment unknown to her (perhaps this effect of superabundant feeding and fatis not the only one.) He well knows the may often express the properties of plants, and those properties may be well deserving of our acquaintance. We therefore would not wholly banish the scarcely -pronounce able Mexican names themselves:-let them be placed in the margin. The ap ty, after having parted with it for a little while, to her favourite child; the child of ness in cases not referable to such a rereasoning, and of experimentative powers. laxation of nature's solicitude. Dr S. is, We regret that we cannot do justice to with great propriety, zealous against the the chapter on leaves: it possesses, if we introduction of barbarous names into may trust our feelings, peculiar interest: scientific botany: yet we venture to we must introduce the close of it. think, that names given by nations, in When we attempt to consider how the par-parts where such subjects are indigenous, ticular secretions of different species and tribes of plants are formed; how the same soil, the same atmosphere, should in a leaf of the vine or sorrel produce a wholesome acid, and in that of a spurge or manchineel a most virulent poison; how sweet and nutritious herbage should grow among the acrid crowfoot and aconite, we find ourselves totally un-plication of the names of persons to plants, able to comprehend the existence of such wonderful powers in so small and seemingly simple an organ as the leaf of a plant. The agency of the vital principle alone can account for these wonders, though it cannot, to our understanding, explain them. The thickest veil," says Dr. Thomson at the end of his chapter on vegetation, covers the whole of these processes; and so far have philosophers has been most horribly abused in France. We recommend the acquisition of sufficient skill in drawing, to delineate any plant correctly: this will be found an effectual assistant even to a Hortus Siccus, which presents the very plants themselves, in a dried state. In drying, many of the colours of plants suffer considerably: their general forms and attitudes often become | min. The last-mentioned family can scarce stiff, and awkward: whereas, the colours of drawings will stand for ages, if carefully managed; and all the grace of the original while growing is preserved. Ne vertheless, as a Hortus Siccus is, with great justice, a favourite manner of preserving plants, and highly conducive to the prosperity of the science, we shall add a hint or two dropped by the Dr. on this subject. After all we can do, plants dry very variously. The blue colours of their flowers generally fade, nor are reds always permanent Yellows are much more so, but very few white flowers retain their natural aspect. The Snowdrop and Parnassia, if well dried, continue white. Some greens are much more permanent than others; for there are some natural families whose leaves as well as flowers turn almost black by drying, as Melampyrum, Bartsia, and their allies, several Willows, and most of the Orchidea. The Heaths and Firs in general cast off their leaves between papers, which appear to be an effert of the living principle, for it is prevented by immersion of the fresh specimen in boiling water. Nandina doméstica, a Japanese shrub, lately introduced among us by Lady Hume and Mr. Evans of Stepney, is very remarkable in this respect. Every leaflet of its very compound leaves separates from its stalk in drying, and even those stalks all fall to pieces at their joints. Dried specimens are best preserved by being fastened, with weak carpenter's glue, to paper, so that they may be turned over without damage. Thick and heavy stalks require the additional support of a few transverse strips of paper, to bind them more firmly down. A half sheet, of á convenient folio size, should be allowed to each species, and all the species of a genus may be placed in qne or more whole sheets. On the latter the name of the genus should externally be written, while the name of every species, with its place of growth, time of gathering, the finder's name, or any other concise piece of information, may be inscribed on its appropriate paper. One great and mortifying impediment to the perfect preservation of an herbarium arises from the attacks of insects. A little beetle called Ptinus Fur is, more especially, the pest of collectors, laying its eggs in the germens or receptacles of flowers, and others of the more solid parts, which are speedily devoured by the maggots when hatched, and by their devastations paper and plants are alike involved in ruin. The most bitter and acrid tribes, as Euphorbia, Gentiana, Prunus, the Syngenesious class, and especisally Willows, are preferred by these ver ly be thoroughly ried before it is devoured, The herbarium is best kept in a dry room without a constant fire. We wish we could praise the execution of the plates annexed to this volume: but whoever has been conversant with their originals, will think them deficient in character and masterly touch. The example of wood seen through a microscope, is not satisfactory; this article deserved a plate to itself. The explanation of each plate should have faced its own plate, singly which would have avoided the trouble of turning the leaf, and the still greater disadvantage of hazarding a confusion of ideas. : Lessons for Young Persons in Humble THIS volume appears to us to contain manners? 2 P4 We mean |