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present publication, in which I trust they will all soon make their appearance.'

The Thyrsoides has received its appellation from the resemblance which the fructified specimens bear in miniature to the figures of the thyrsi used by the Monades, in their Bacchanalia. It inhabits the coasts of New Zealand, of Jamaica, and of the Red Sea.

The following articles deserve to be quoted at length:

Fucus Menziesii. frond coriaceous, compressed, linear, branched; branches long, simple, beset with membranaceous, distichous leaves, between linear and cuneiform, placed near each other, and with eliptical vesicles.

On the western coast of North America, generally in deep water; at Nootka; Trinidad; Monterrey. Mr. Menzies.

Perennial.

RooT, fibrous, with several incurved, branching fibres.

FRONS, twenty fathoms and more long, rising with a short roundish stipes divided into several long simple branches, of almost equal height, rough all over both to the touch and sight with minute black tubercles, flat, every where preserving an equal width of about a quarter of an inch, except that towards the apices they are slightly dilated, and then again narrowed, so that the extremities are of an obtusely lanceolate form. The branches throughout their whole length produce on either side a series of distichous, horizontal leaves, placed near to each other, flat, gradually widening from a filiform base, so as to be of a long and narrow cuneiform figure, their margins irregularly and minutely crenulated, sometimes, but seldom provided with one or two teeth, their length about two inches, but those near the base and end of the frond shortest, their surface perforated with mucifluous pores; mixed with these here and there grow vesicles, ar ranged without any certain order, and with an interval of nine inches in some cases, and of not above half an inch in others, between them, elliptical, about the size of an olive, smooth without, hollow and empty within, producing at their ends a leaf similar to the others, and supported upon cylindrical petioli, two lines long, and rough like the branches.

FRUCTIFICATION, at present unknown.

COLOR, in the leaves olive, semitransparent; in the branches darker, opaque.

SUBSTANCE, of the leaves, between membranaceous and cartilagi nous, thin; of the branches, between coriaceous and woody, tough. Ops. In a dried state, the leaves and vesicles frequently fall off, which gives the plant a naked appearance in places.

It is greatly to be lamented, that in all works containing figures of plants it is impossible to represent every species of its natural size, and that authors are consequently reduced to the alternative of either confining themselves to a part alone, or of giving a representation of the whole so much reduced that the character of the original is often altogether lost. Among the Fuci, such a case must not unfrequently. occur, and I trust I shall be considered as having determined rightly,

if in those instances where the mode of growth is uniform throughout, I prefer the figuring of a portion only, and leave it to the imagination of my readers to supply the remainder from the description. For many of the particulars in the account of the present Fucus, as well as for the specimens from which the drawing is made, I am entirely indebted to Mr. Menzies, who brought it home with him in his first expedition round the world, and after whose name I have had a peculiar pleasure in calling it, being convinced that no man better deserves to be enumerated among the promoters of botanical science, from the zeal with which he has prosecuted it, and the liberality which he has shewn in dispersing his treasures. F. Menziesii is a very singular and elegant species, so much removed from every other hitherto described that there is not only no fear of confounding it, but that it would even be difficult to say to which it is most a-kin. I should be inclined to place it near to the tribe of F. natans, and should from its color and texture apprehend its fructification to be similar to that of the Fuci proprii of Weber and Mohr, but where this fructification is borne, or what is likely to be its figure, I am unable to form any conjecture. From the mode of growth of the plant, it appears impossible that either the leaves or the vesicles should lengthen into new branches: the former bear a considerable resemblance to the pinnæ of F. esculentus.'

Fucus Griffithsii, frond cartilaginous, cylindrical, filiform, dichoto mous; branches of equal height; tubercles oblong, embracing the frond.

At Sidmouth, in Devonshire, near the Chit Rock, in a little channel formed by sea-water, as it runs off during the ebb-tide. Mrs. Griffiths Shore at Balbriggen, near Dublin. Dr. Scott. Annual? - Cctober-December.

ROOT, a small, expanded, blackish, callous disk.

FRONDS, numerous from the same root, cylindrical; filiform, two or three inches long, and in thickness but little exceeding a hog's bristle, branched with dichotomies beginning near the root, and afterwards six or seven times repeated at short, but uncertain distances, the forks patent, the upper ones divaricated, and occasionally deflexed, the segments all of equal height, the apices not unfre, quently thickened and compressed.

FRUCTIFICATION, oblong, blackish purple, or even black; tubercles, surrounding the upper branches in an annular form, and often two or three upon a single one, covered with the same epidermis as the frond, and in appearance resembling warts: if dissected they appear wholly to consist of parallel, jointed filaments, their joints oblong, very closely placed together, and mixed with roundish seeds.

COLOR, purple, subdiaphanous, sometimes blackish purple: much darker when dry: turning white if exposed to the sun.

SUBSTANCE, cartilaginous, pliant, tough; horny in a dry state. OBS. Specimens are now and then, but, as it appears, by no means commonly found, provided with a few short lateral horizontal branches-when dried, the plant does not adhere in the least to paper.

Among the many Botanists who have lately directed their atten tion to the investigation of the submersed Alge of Britain, I am

acquainted

am acquainted with no one to whom this department of science is under greater obligations than to Mrs. Griffiths of Ottery, in Devonshire, or to whose unwearied zeal and extraordinary acuteness I shall in the course of the present work have more repeated occasions to bear testimony. It is to her that we are indebted for the discovery of the Fucus before us, which I feel myself happy in the opportunity of laying before the public under her name. It appears to be a very scarce species, as, though some years are passed since she originally found it, she has not hitherto succeeded in detecting any second station for it; nor have I seen any specimens of it besides those communicated by her, excepting a single one, which was gathered on the Irish coast near Balbriggen by my friend Dr. Scott, Professor of Botany to the University of Dublin, and in the size of all its parts greatly exceeded those produced by the shores of Devonshire. F. Griffithsii is the plant alluded to under F. rotundus, as being intermediate between that Fucus and F. plicatus, nor indeed could I for some time satisfy myself that it ought to be considered as in reality distinct. It, however, certainly differs from the former in its purple color and horny substance: from the latter, in its regular dichoto⚫ mous mode of growth and branches of equal height; and from both in its fructification, when destitute of which it is not to be denied that it may escape the notice even of an attentive and experienced observer. I am much inclined to suspect that Baron Wulfen was deceived by it in this barren state, and that the figure of the plant which he has called F. fastigiatus, and which I have quoted above under F. rotundus, was actually taken from a specimen of F. Griffubsii. It certainly agrees best with this species; but, if such a suspicion be admitted, it must be allowed that the noble author had confounded three distinct species, since Professor Mertens saw the true F. fastigiatus of Hudson under that name in his Herbarium, and Dr. Esper sent me some time ago F. rotundus, var. y, which he had received from him under the same denomination.'

Without wandering beyond the limits which the duty of our multifarious office imperiously prescribes, we cannot dwell on F. erinaceus, pristoides, Mackaii, Valentia, Seaforthii, and many other curious additions to our stock of marine botany.

Of F. tenax, it is observed that it is in very extensive use in China, on the coasts of which it is gathered in great abundance.

It is found there in almost every part, but is principally collected in the provinces of Fokien and Tche-kiang. The quantity annually imported at Canton is about 27,0colbs., and it is sold in that city at about 6d. or 8d. per lb. In preparing it, nothing more is done than simply drying it in the sun, after which it may be preserved like other Fuci, for any length of time, and improves by age, when not exceeding four or five years, if strongly compressed and kept moist. The Chinese when they have occasion to use it, merely wash off the saline particles and other impurities, and then steep it in warm water, in which, in a short time, it entirely dissolves, stiffening as it cools, into

a perfect

a perfect gelatine, which, like glue, again liquefies on exposure to heat, and makes an extremely powerful cement. It is employed among them for all those purposes to which gum or glue are here deemed applicable, but chiefly in the manufacture of lanthorns, to strengthen or varnish the paper, and sometimes to thicken or give a gloss to gauze or silks. For this information respecting it, as well as for my specimens, I have to acknowledge my obligations to Sir Joseph Banks, and to Mr. H. H. Goodhall, the former of whom communicated it to me some years ago, inquiring if it was not also found upon the shores of Britain, or if we had not some other species indigenous in our islands that might be applied to the same purpose, and thus save a part, at least, of the immense expence which the importation of Gum Arabic annually costs the nation. To both these questions, I am sorry to say, that it was necessary to reply in the negative, for though, from similarity of habit, texture and substance, I have not the smallest doubt but this is the case with F. kaliformis, F. clavellasus, and F. asparagoides, as well as with the more gelatinous Confervæ, and Ulva rebens, U. filiformis, and U furcellata, yet none of these are known to occur on any parts of our shores in sufficient quantity to render the collecting of them otherwise an object than as a matter of curiosity. There are, indeed, few of the submersed Alge that are not possessed of some degree of viscidity, and many of our British Fuci will in great measure, if not entirely, melt, when boiled in water over a quick fire. Such is particularly the case with F. ciliatus and F. cri pus, both which, on cooling, form into a gelatine resembling glue in appearance, but, unfortunately, by no means in tenacity, of which they are altogether destitute; nor have I found them applicable to any purpose, except to the fixing of those sea weeds on paper, which do not themselves possess a sufficiently adhesive quality. For this purpose they are admirably calculated, as they impart no stain like glue, or glare like gura: nor is any thing farther necessary than to rub over with them the paper on which the specimens are to be preserved, and the delicate membranaceous species will, by pressure, be fixed so firmly, as to be afterwards inseparable. F. tenax, in point of size, shape, and ramifica tion, approaches most nearly to Ulva furcellata, from which it is so different in its fructification, its color, and its acuminated reflexed apices. Among those, with which it agrees in fruit, it is perhaps to none so much allied as to F. acicularis, of which, as observed under that species, it wholly wants the lateral horizontal, aculeiform ramuli.'

To venture on any minute examination of the various cri tical points which are included in the range of the author's discussion, would require a more ample consultation of recent specimens and of foreign publications, than is at present within our command: but we deem ourselves completely warranted in asserting that the present work, as far as it has proceeded, contains a richer fund of accurate information than any single performance relative to the same subject with which we are acquainted. An amiable spirit of modesty and candour is manifest in every page; and while we respect the profound and extensive knowledge of the writer, we admire the diffidence and ingenousness of the man.

ART.

ART. VIII. A Tour to Sheeraz, by the Route of Kazroon and Feerozabad; with various Remarks on the Manners, Customs, Laws, Language, and Literature of the Persians. To which is added, a History of Persia from the Death of Kuneem Khan to the Subversion of the Zund Dynasty. By Edward Scott Waring, Esq. of the Bengal Civil Establishment. 4to. pp. 329. 11. 5s. sewed. Cadell and Davies.

A

MID the variety of occupations which enter into the province of Reviewers, and the superior claim which works of a higher order possess on their early attention, it will some times happen that books of secondary rank are exposed to considerable delay. Mr. Scott Waring's production, being evidently a juvenile performance, has been unavoidably postponed for others of greater interest: but, since our late connection with Persia, the publications relative to that empire have received an additional claim on the attention of our countrymen; and it would be improper to delay any longer our report on the merits of a book which forms one of our latest accounts of the morals and politics of our new ally.

Mr. Waring begins by mentioning that few countries have been oftener visited than Persia, yet few more inaccurately described, the travellers having in general been too intent on their own concerns to attend to matters of a public nature, Such has often been the observation of a traveller in regard to his own particular track, from an early era in the history of voyaging down to our contemporaries Mr. Waring, Mr. Jackson (of Morocco), and that more extensive surveyor of distant regions, Lord Valentia. The fact however is, that the remark is no more applicable to Persia, Morocco, or Arabia, than to the various other states which are devoid of European settlers, respecting all of which we have still much to learn. The conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from the complaint of each of these travellers, is that the books hitherto published on the particular country which he visited are altogether unequal to what an eye-witness knows to be requisite ; and the concurrence of these complaints from so many different quarters amounts to tolerably strong evidence that the sum of our knowlege concerning them is very imperfect. Mr. Waring having embarked in April, 1802, (at what port he does not mention, but we suppose at Bombay,) arrived after a tedious passage of six weeks at Bushire on the Persian Gulf. This town does not appear to have received any material improvement since it was visited three years before by Mr. Parsons, whose account of it we lately laid before our readers. Travelling into the interior is performed on the back of mules and horses, and See Rev. Vol. lxi. N.S.

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