its advancement, as descriptions and representations of a ences are found to obtain, Mr Selby has figured the male, department-the productions, for example, of a particular female, and young, of each species. In his descriptious, country, district, or physical division. The splendid he has satisfactorily proved, that many arbitrarily estabook now before us is a work of this kind. blished species, distinguished by various appellations, must We admire alike the splendour of the undertaking, and be reduced to one; and as his opinions are formed upon the perseverance of the man who has executed so arduous a personal observation, their accuracy may be relied upon. task. During the short period which has elapsed since His situation in the country is favourable to ornitholothe commencement of these Illustrations, their indefati-gical pursuits, and he has embraced every opportunity gable author has drawn from nature, etched on copper with a praiseworthy zeal. with his own hand, and described, no less than one hun- The arrangement followed by Mr Selby is that of dred and eighty-six elephant folio plates, containing the Temminck, but he has differed from him in a few minor whole of our British birds, (frequently the male, female, particulars; such as uniting the two orders Insectivores and young,) and most of our occasional visitants. Every and Granivores of that author, under the designation of bird is the size of nature, except such as are too large to Passerine; retaining, however, the orders of Temminck, come within the range of his paper. About half-a-dozen as sub-divisions of that which he has formed from the birds have been contributed by Captain Mitford, R. N. union. Mr Selby likewise differs from Temminck in his The first volume comprehends the land, the second the views regarding the occasional variation in the plumage water birds of Britain. Of the latter series, the 9th of birds, which we shall give in his own words: Part has just appeared, and with it an announcement, that the work will be completed by the forthcoming Number, consisting of twelve plates, which we understand to be in a considerable state of advancement.

Here is an example of industry worthy of imitation. Mr Selby, possessed of an ample fortune, has avoided the frivolities which are but too often its concomitants. While he has seen his friends both at home and abroad, has enjoyed the occasional exercise of field-sports, has been an active magistrate in Northumberland, and high sheriff for the county, has travelled on the continent, and visited every district of his native country, he has yet found time to produce a work, which many might think sufficient occupation for an ordinary lifetime. Besides this, he has, along with Sir William Jardine, published several parts of a work on General Ornithology.

Mr Selby having drawn all his subjects from life, where it was practicable, his etchings have an air of reality in them which is seldom to be met with in drawings taken from stuffed specimens, however well set up. These plates, with one or two exceptions, are faithful pictures of the originals, the proportions of the different parts being well kept up, and the character of the feathering accurately delineated. Indeed, there is a felicity in Mr Selby's execution of some kinds of feathers, which we have never seen equalled in the most elaborate productions of engravers-namely, that freckling and clouding, exemplified in his owls, goatsucker, partridges, ptarmigans, and many of the duck tribe; there is, besides, in his general plumage an identity of texture, which at once conveys to the mind of the naturalist a genuine feeling of the real subject. The prevailing style of the etching is bold and | free, without any appearance of irregularity or slovenliWhere delicate plumage is intended to be imitated, the etching is managed with great sweetness and clear

ness.

ness.

We must, however, remark, that in some instances Mr Selby's subjects are out of drawing. This is eminently the case in the feet of the rough-legged buzzard, plate 7th. The golden Orilole, male and female, we do not think good portraits; they are both too clumsy for the shape of that handsome bird. The feet of the male look as if they were pinned to the stump rather than grasping it. We would recommend Mr Selby to re-etch this plate, as it so ill accords with the others in his work,

The illustrations of the land birds are accompanied by an octavo volume, descriptive of the habits and generic and specific characters of the birds he has engraved, together with an extensive collection of synonymes, in which he has cleared up many errors into which preceding authors had fallen. In birds there is usually a considerable difference in the colour and general arrangement of the plumage of the sexes; and, almost invariably, very dissimilar changes take place while progressing from the callow to the adult state. This has given rise in ornithology to enumerations and descriptions of many species which do not actually exist. Where these differ.

"In some cases, the male bird particularly is liable, though not to an actual change of feather, yet to a considerable variation either in colour or in brilliancy of hue on certain parts of the plumage at the season of pairing. This variation has been attributed by Temminck to the action of the air, and a gradual wearing away of the edges of the feather; but I am sorry to be compelled, from the result of long-continued observation, to dissent from the opinion of so eminent a naturalist. I am induced to consider the plumage to be so far an actual part of the living bird, as to be under the influence of such constitutional change as the bird may at any time experience, and such a change is strongly demonstrated at the season alluded to; witness its effects in the high degree of spirit frequently demonstrated, and in the superior song generally called forth at this parpervading the feather, appears from the striking difference ticular period. That there is an invisible circulating fluid in elasticity and brilliancy of colour between the feather of a bird whilst alive, and upon the same bird but a short time after death. In water birds, this principle of life in the feather (if I may be allowed the expression) is singu. larly apparent; as the plumage that is impervious to water upon the living bird is, almost immediately after death, feather may not be influenced by the constitutional state of There can be no reason, then, why the permeable to it. the bird; and as that is in its highest degree of vigour immediately previous to the season of propagation, why may not such vigour be exhibited to the very extreme points of the circulating medium, by a partial variation of colour, or an increased lustre of tone in the former hue of the feather? pathology, that the state of health may, in man, be ascerIt is not fanciful, for it has been established as a maxim in tained by the occasional flaccidity or crispness of the hair; and have we not repeatedly met with well-authenticated instances of great and sudden changes having taken place in its colour, under strong mental affections, acting only, of course, through the organic structure of the body?”

The plates are coloured by Mr W. H. Lizars, with that beauty and skill which generally characterise his works in this department of art.

Examination of the Claim of John Lindsay Crawfurd to the Titles and Estates of Crawfurd and Lindsay; CORtaining an Exposure of the Forgeries on which that Claim is Founded, and a Refutation of the Statements in the Book entitled "The Crawfurd Peerage." By James Dobie, F.S. A. Scot. 4to. Pp. 37. Edinburgh : William Blackwood. London : Thomas Cadell.

THIS is a sensible and well-written book. The extraordinary attempt of the person whose life and practices it exposes, to obtain a peerage and estate by the aid of suborned witnesses and forged documents, is more like a story which one is accustomed to meet in a romance, than a piece of authentic biography. The work now before us will possess an interest for those districts of Scotland and Ireland, in which John Lindsay Crawfurd played his desperate game; and we are much mistaken if the extraordinary nature of his story do not attract

binations has ceased to perplex the memory; for by the genius of Dalton, by the zeal and industry of Berzelius, and by the aid of other distinguished coadjutors, it has been reduced to rule; and the numerous mass of facts regarding combination, which are now known, are more easily embraced by the memory, than the scanty and illdetermined quantity which was known fifty years ago. Thus has this wonderful science gone on, encountering difficulties, removing errors, discovering truth; and, instead of being ready to fall under the weight of its discoveries, it seems only to be acquiring new vigour.

But if the memory has been thus relieved by the discovery of new doctrines, it has been far otherwise in the practical application of chemical knowledge. The processes of chemistry have been greatly simplified and improved; but still the objects to which chemical manipulation is applied, have become greatly more numerous, and consequently that knowledge of detail, which alone can make the practical chemist, is more than ever a desideratum. Every work, therefore, like that now before us, we hail as a valuable acquisition to the science.

To enter into a minute examination of its merits, would be foreign to the objects of this Journal. Yet, having

the attention of a wider public. The natural talents and address of a man who, with little education, could invent a story which misled many persons of fair average sagacity, and deport himself so as to win their esteem, must have been of no common order. The misdirection of a mind such as his, and those of one or two of his coadjutors, is another of the many clamorous facts directing the attention of the nation towards Irish education. There is a moral as well as an intellectual education requisite for every people: the one is the business of the clergyman, the other of the schoolmaster. The manner in which the two offices have been allied in Scotland has produced the happiest effects. In Ireland they have generally been placed in inimical relations. The poor hedge schoolmaster, adventuring at his own risk to communicate his little knowledge to his countrymen, was the natural enemy of a well-paid, haughty, non-resident priest, of an alien faith. Placed almost without the pale of society, as recognised by the wealthy and influential of the land, he was but too apt to lose self-respect, and with it sound moral feeling. He put the strong engine of knowledge into the hands of his pupils, but without the only check that can render its possession safe-high moral principle. They were taught that "cuteness and larn-examined it with considerable care, we venture to give a ing" would make them rise in the world; but moral short account of its plan. It possesses the great merit, as delinquency was not held up to reprobation, and its a practical work, of proceeding to business at once; and slighter grades were even laughingly encouraged. There beginning in that manner which is easiest to the student was no help against this in the established clergyman, desirous of information. The work is divided into two upon whom the peasantry had been taught to look with parts; the first, consisting of 200 pages, treats of qualisuspicion there was but too seldom in the Catholic tative analysis, (or detecting the presence of substances); priest, dependent upon his flock, and more anxious for the second, consisting of 450 pages, treats of quantitative its love than its respect. The fruits of such a system analysis, (or ascertaining the quantities of substances prehave been tasted in this country-not alone in rare in- sent); this part is subdivided into three sections. stances of grand and ambitious profligacy, like that which author, having selected nine acids and twenty-five bases, has suggested this remark. The medium between man (in both cases such as are most likely to be met in pracand man, our currency, has been rendered eminently tice,) he first gives rules for detecting any of these in insecure by it. The most frequent crime which engages combination, on the supposition that the substance under the attention of our Scottish criminal judges, in the cir- examination is a pure salt, consisting of one of the given cuits held on the western side of the island, is that of acids, and one of the given bases. He next gives rules vending or passing forged notes. For years it has been on the supposition that several of the acids and bases are thus. In almost every instance, the notes have been mixed; and, lastly, he gives particular rules for applying found to be imported from Ireland. In short, it is evi- all the known discriminative tests, with a view to ascerdent that there is in that country a regular and systematic tain all the principal acids and bases. The instructions establishment for the manufacture of base money. Let given under this last head, are intended to verify more those who are not moved by the sufferings and degrada- particularly the conclusions which might be drawn from tion of a naturally generous people, remember this. Let the experiments taught under the two former. them think of their own interest, if higher motives will not move them. Royal and Parliamentary Commissioners have been investigating this matter year after year-they have accumulated proof where it was not wanted-they have demonstrated axioms, but they have done nothing. Longer delay will be fatal. But let it be remembered, that the remedy must be searching and complete, as it must be suddenly applied. The blow must be struck at the very root of the evil.

A Manual of Analytical Chemistry.
Professor of Chemistry at Berlin.
the German. By John Griffin.
Tegg. 1831.

By Henry Rose,
Translated from
8vo.
London.

AMONGST the sciences which have been so assiduously cultivated in our day, chemistry still stands pre-eminent, both for the surprising nature of its discoveries, and for its rapid progress. During the last twenty years, it is perhaps not too much to say, that a greater amount of accurate and conclusive experiments has been performed in chemical research, than was ever before performed in the whole body of the experimental sciences. The consequent accumulation of facts has been wonderful; but the systematic use which has been made of them has presented their becoming a burden to the memory. On looking at the objects of chemical analysis, we are startled by their variety; but the investigations of chemistry have succeeded in reducing them to about fifty different substances variously combined. Even the variety of com

The

The arrangement, in treating of quantitative analysis, is exceedingly simple. The author gives a section to each of the simple substances, with the exception of oxygen. In treating of the first substance in his list, he speaks of the method of ascertaining the quantity of it contained in its compounds; in treating of the second substance, he does the same, and adds how to ascertain the quantity of the first and second when they occur together; in treating of the third, he likewise embraces the first and second, and so on; thus exhausting all the possible intermixtures.

Of the execution of this work, we cannot express our opinion truly, without expressing ourselves strongly. No volume, published in English in the present century, is better adapted to the diffusion of chemical knowledge; not that the work contains discoveries before unpublished or unknown, but, in this country at least, the knowledge of them has been confined to a few individuals; and, therefore, the great mass of chemical students will find in it the information which for them must have the interest and value of originality.

The Show Folks. By Pierce Egan, Author of "Life in London." Embellished with fine characteristic designs on wood, by the late Mr Theodore Lane, and engraved by Mr John Thompson. To which is added, A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Mr Theodore Lane. London. M. Arnold. 1831.

THE late Mr Theodore Lane was born in 1800, in the

Why is fishing for whitebait in the Thames illegal? "Because they float with the tide, and are taken against the stream.”

Our domestic Socrates is equally at home in the mysteries of zoology.

Why do carnivorous animals prey on those which derive their food from the vegetable kingdom? "Because the food of all animals is derived mediately or

neighbourhood of London. His father, a teacher of
drawing, having been rendered incapable of pursuing his
profession by repeated and severe attacks of the gout and
rheumatism, the boy was, in his fourteenth year, appren-
ticed to Mr Barrow, a colourer of prints at Battlebridge.
During his apprenticeship, some of his sketches attracted
the attention of his master, who encouraged him to pro-
ceed, and kindly and judiciously instructed him. He
first introduced himself to public notice in that depart-immediately from vegetables.
ment of art to which the talents of George Cruikshank
have given so much popularity. He aimed, however, at
something higher, and contributed to more than one of
the London exhibitions oil-paintings of distinguished
merit. His career was suddenly terminated by a fall
from the roof of the horse-bazaar in Manchester Street,
Gray's Inn Lane, while engaged in taking a sketch.

Mr Lane's best picture is his "An Hour before the Duel." A man, apparently about thirty years of age, is sitting in an apartment partly lighted by an expiring taper -partly by the first cold grey light of morning. By the quantity of papers which he has been arranging, and by the general appearance of the chamber, he must be a man in affluent circumstances. He is gazing on a miniature, and grasps with one hand convulsively and unconsciously the weapon he soon must use. The fearful expression of struggling reluctance and pride in his countenance is heightened by the accessories-the feeling of discomfort obtruding into the lap of luxury. His "Enthusiast" is a picture of quite a different character: humorous to the borders of burlesque, but still evincing high talent. An old gouty gentleman, his legs swathed in flannels, sits beside a table, on which are arranged cordials and nostrums of every description. He is a brother of the angle, and, unable to gratify his longings abroad, has a tubful of perch and dace brought into his chamber. His rod and tackle are in order, and a huge fellow is just nibbling at the bait. The ecstasy in the old boy's countenance is

ineffable.

There is intense melancholy in the contemplation of Lane's career. Possessed of such varied talent, he had just overcome those difficulties which, crowding around young genius, are the truest test of its reality; he was cut off without a warning. He had no time to produce any work likely to command the admiration of posterity; and his only eulogiums have been a begging advertisement for his destitute widow and children, and a flippant and heartless sketch of his life by the low historian of the turf. and the ring, dedicated to Sir Martin Shee, as if to complete the medley, by reminding us how well cabal and paltry jealousy had succeeded in making the members of the Royal Academy degrade their profession, by adorning with the highest honours they could bestow, one who, whatever other merits he might possess as an artist, was nobody. 'Tis a strange world we live in!

Knowledge for the People; or, the Plain Why and Because. By John Timbs, Editor of "Laconics," "Arcana of Science and Art," &c.

London S. Low. Edinburgh: Henry Constable. 1831.

"Why is fox-hunting still kept up in England?
"Because the breed is not extinct."

Let us now hear a specimen of his antiquarian lore.
"Why is an allowance to ladies called pin-money?
"Because pins were acceptable new-year's gifts to ladies,
instead of the wooden skewer they used till the end of the
fifteenth century.

"Why is a chief magistrate called a mayor?

"Because of its derivation from the Teutonic meyer, a

lover of might!

"Why are mint and sugar a general sauce for lamb? "Because the Jews contrived to diminish the bitter flavour of the tansy, by making it into a sauce for their pas chal lamb."

Unlike his great predecessor, Falstaff, Mr Timbs has reasons, plenty as blackberries." It must be admitted, however, that not a few of his "whys" and "becauses" remind us strongly of a riddle we once heard given by an erudite friend:

"Why is a plum-pudding like a red morocco slipper? "Because you can put your foot into it."

We recommend Mr Timbs to add this to the next edition of his domestic science.

The Royal Register, Genealogical and Historic, for 1831.
By Peter Joseph Burke. London. Jennings and
Chaplin.

little more than a translation of the Almanac de Gotha.
THIS book is, notwithstanding the caveat in the preface,
German for little more than the idea of the historic out-
The author, it is true, alleges that he is indebted to the
line of the Sovereign Houses of Europe. This is strange
enough; for we have not been able to find an idea in it.
The book is, however, a useful one, and very elegantly
the Sovereign Princes of Europe, in alphabetical order,
got up. It is divided into four parts. The first embraces
with all the living members of their respective families.
The second, the Princes not invested with sovereign
power, with the members of their families, also alpha-
betically arranged. The third, the Ministers of State of,
and the Corps Diplomatic at, the different courts of
outline of the Sovereign Houses of Europe, which shall
Europe. The fourth, the commencement of an historic
be continued in the ensuing annual volumes. These
changeful times are, however, sad enemies to a work of
this kind. Since the compilation of the materials for
1831, the article respecting the Netherlands has become
matter of history; so far as Belgium is concerned, it refers
"to a state of things no longer in existence."

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4. The Didoniad; a Semi-Virgilian Nautic Epic, in Nine Cantos. Edited by Paul Heidiger, Esq. late Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. 12mo. Pp. 278. Edinburgh Henry Constable. London: Hurst, Chance, and Co. 1831.

WE Submit a few specimens of this admirable book for the edification of the reader, premising that it is a catechism "de omni scibile."

Under the head of " Domestic," we find among others the following interrogatories and responses:

"Why does a smoke-jack in a chimney resemble a windmill?

"Because it is driven by the ascending current of air in the chimney.

"Why is the French method of braizing superior to

ours?

"Because meat, poultry, or game thus dressed, keep in the braize, or jelly, a fortnight.

WE have carefully perused these nine mortal cantos, (we hereby promise a reward of £10 sterling to any person who shall bring a certificate from the minister and two elders of his parish that he has had perseverance to do as much,) but have been unable to discover either their wit or meaning. The author has evidently read much, but he has mistaken his forte. and some of his remarks indicate sense and shrewdness,

Dr Llacayo commenced his lecture by endeavouring to On the morning of the 31st, however, we were all on prove that Spain was the native country of the guitar. | the alert, and in high spirits. Great satisfaction was exIf we rightly understood him, he claimed for it an anti- pressed by the men, on being informed that they were to quity higher than that of the first Roman invasion. But land with their great-coats and haversacks only. At half the full force of his argument was directed against the past nine A. M. we weighed anchor, the transports consupposition, that the instrument was of Moorish origin-taining the sixth brigade taking the lead, and those on an opinion which he most satisfactorily disproved. The board of which we were, following in the wake of the

Circe frigate. About 11, a gun-brig stood in towards the shore, and received some shots from a battery, several of which passed over her. Some shells also were discharged, but they all burst in the air. About 12, we cast anchor. We could see no signs of any steps being taken to land the sixth brigade; orders were, how-flame was discovered apparently in the neighbourhood of ever, given to dine at one, lest we should still land. We spent a long, listless, and dreary afternoon. Every thing had been packed up, and our usual occupations laid aside. Our minds had been bent for entering immediately into action, and the whole day had passed as inactively as if we had been lying off a friendly coast. We lay stretched upon the deck in perfect apathy.

We now learned the reason of all this delay. The Marquis of Huntly had addressed a requisition to the commanders of the men-of-war for a sufficient number of boats to land at one time 2000 men. He was told that they could only give boats for 600. The Marquis❘nalising, and it was agreed to enter the event upon rerefused to land his men in such numbers as must have rendered them inevitably a sacrifice to the enemy. This want of concert and right understanding between the commanders of the land and sea forces, was the first symptom of that wretched want of due organization in the expedition, which must have rendered fruitless a more rational undertaking.