difficult, if not impossible, to divide a family so that grown-up persons of different sexes, brothers and sisters, fathers and daughters, do not sleep in the same room. Three or four persons not unfrequently sleep in the same bed. In a few instances I found that two families, neighbours, arranged so that the females of both families slept together in one cottage and the males in the other; but such an arrangement is very rare, and in the generality of cottages I believe that the only attempt that is or that can be made to separate beds, with occupants of different sexes, and necessarily placed close together from the smallness of the rooms, is an old shawl or some article of dress suspended as a curtain between them. At Stourpain, a village near Blandford, I measured a bed-room in a cottage consisting of two rooms, the bed-room in question up stairs, and a room on the ground floor in which the family lived during the day. There were eleven in the family: and the aggregate earnings in money were 16s. 6d. weekly (Dec. 1842), with certain advantages, the principal being the father's title to a grist of a bushel of corn a week, at Is. below the market price, his fuel carted for him, &c. They had also an allotment of a quarter of an acre, for which they paid a rent of 7s. 7d. a year. The following diagram shows the shape of the room and the position of the three beds, A, B, C, it contained. The room was 10 ft. square, not reckoning the two small recesses by the sides of the chimney, about 18 in. deep. The roof was the thatch, the middle of the chamber being about 7 ft. high. Opposite the fire-place was a small window, about 15 in. square, the only one to the room.

"Bed A was occupied by the father and mother, a little boy, Jeremiah, aged 1 year, and an infant aged 4 months.

"Bed B was occupied by the three daughters,—the two eldest, Sarah and Elizabeth, twins, aged 20; and Mary, aged 7.

"Bed C was occupied by the four sons, -Silas, aged 17; John, aged 15; James, aged 14; and Elias, aged 10.

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There was no curtain, or any kind of separation between the beds.

"This I was told was not an extraordinary case; but that, more or less, every bed-room in the village was crowded with inmates of both sexes, of various ages, and that such a state of things was caused by the want of cottages.

"It is impossible not to be struck, in visiting the dwellings of the agricultural labourers, with the general want of new cottages, notwithstanding the universal increase of population. Everywhere the cottages are old, and frequently in a state of decay, and are consequently ill adapted for their increased number of inmates of late years. The floor of the room in which the family live during the day is always of stone in these counties, and wet or damp through the winter months, being frequently lower than the soil outside. The situation of the cottage is often extremely bad, no attention having been paid at the time of its building to facilities for draining. Cottages are frequently erected on a dead level, so that water cannot escape; and sometimes on spots lower than the surrounding ground. In the village of Stourpain, in Dorsetshire, there is a row of several labourers' cottages, mostly joining each other, and fronting the street, in the middle of which is an open gutter. There are two or three narrow passages leading from the street, between the houses, to the back of them. Behind the cottages the ground rises rather abruptly; and about three yards up the elevation are placed the pigsties and privies of the cottages. There are also shallow excavations, the receptacles apparently of all the dirt of the families. The matter constantly escaping from the pigsties, privies, &c., is allowed to find its way through the passages between the cot tages into the gutter in the street, so that the cottages are nearly surrounded by streams of filth. It was in these cottages that a malignant typhus broke out about two years ago, which afterwards spread through the village. The bed-room I have above described is in one of them."

It were much to be desired that every landed proprietor would have a Report made of the actual condition of the cottages on his estate; not by the resident steward, whose interest it might be to disguise their actual state, but by a stranger. But much good might be done by the personal inspection of the proprietor himself. Gentlemen in the country enter into the details of their farmyards, stables, dog-kennels, and pigsties. Why should not they pay some attention to the dwellings of human beings? Would ameliorating the condition of their labourers afford them less satisfaction than providing for their cows and horses? But almost every thing in this country depends on fashion. Could it once be rendered fashionable to improve the dwellings of agricultural labourers, how wonderful would be the change in the appearance of the country, and in the comforts of country labourers; and, in the course of a generation, in the morals of the working classes. What the consequence will be, if things are allowed to go on in their present state, with our hourly increas ing population, it is fearful to contemplate.

The Art of Living. By Dr. Henry Duhring. 8vo, pp. 144. London and New York, 1843.

The most useful branch of useful knowledge, Dr. Duhring observes, is that which "teaches us, in what manner, and by what means, we may hope to render our existence as pleasant or happy as it possibly can be." He does not propose to enter fully into the subject, but has preferred singling out for discussion and illustration the five following principles :

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First Principle.—The nature of human life is twofold, mental and physical; and human happiness is the result of the well-being and harmony of both. "Second Principle.-Providence has constituted us with a view to activity; and in accordance with this law of our nature, labour, either of the mind or body, is the only source or means of our enjoyment.

"Third Principle.-As the human machine, like a common piece of mechanism, wears out most rapidly where there is the greatest friction and straining, relaxation of both our mind and body is an indispensable condition to man's happiness.

"Fourth Principle. The study of nature, and the practice of horticulture, constitute the surest foundation of man's happiness.

"Fifth Principle.-There is nothing to be found in the wide world so preg

nant with satisfaction, interest, and happiness, as the associations that cling to a happy home."

"To make us feel, appreciate, and relish whatever pleasures our existence is capable of affording, delicacy and purity of mind and heart, and health of body, are the most indispensable requisites. But, above all, let us strive to improve our mind; for to insure our happiness against every possible vicissitude, we must endeavour to create for ourselves enjoyments always at our command, in whatever circumstances we may be placed." The work may be read with profit and pleasure.

An Inaugural Lecture on Botany, considered as a Science, and as a Branch of Medical Education. Read in King's College, London, May 8th, 1843. By Edward Forbes, F. L. S., F. B. S., Professor of Botany in King's College, Loudon. Pamph. 8vo, pp. 23. London, 1843.

A highly philosophical discourse, in which botany is viewed in its relations to medicine; and to a certain extent to agriculture, chemistry, zoology and geology; and justice is done to the memory of Linnæus. "In saying these few words in favour of the Linnæan system, I know I am pleading an unpopular cause; but I speak out freely, partly because I mean to proceed on a different basis in conducting the botanical studies here, and partly because, after the once over-enthusiastic attachment to the Linnæan method which prevailed so long in Britain, and which was carried so far as to impede the progress of botany, a reaction has taken place which threatens to blind the eyes of the younger botanists to the merits of a device which was, and ever will be, a most valuable auxiliary of the science."

Manual of British Botany, containing the Flowering Plants and Ferns, arranged according to the Natural Orders. By Charles C. Babington, M.A., F.L.S., G.S., &c. Small 8vo, pp. 400. London, 1843.

There are already so many British floras that we were curious to know on what grounds Mr. Babington has added to their number. He himself says, he could not expect that after the labours of Smith, Hooker, Lindley, and others, and the publication of so invaluable and unrivalled a collection of figures as is contained in Sowerby's English Botany, there could be many questions left undetermined. He had not however advanced far in the critical examination of our native plants before he found that a careful comparison of indigenous specimens with the works of eminent Continental authors, and with plants obtained from other parts of Europe, must necessarily be made; for it appeared that in very many cases the nomenclature employed in England was different from that used in other countries, that often plants considered as varieties here were held to be distinct species abroad, that several of our species were only looked upon as varieties by them, and also that the mode of grouping into genera was frequently essentially different.

"The discovery of these facts produced considerable astonishment, and the author was led to consider what could have been the causes of so remarkable a discrepancy. The following appears to be the most probable explanation. It is well known that at the close of the last century Sir J. E. Smith became the fortunate possessor of the Herbarium of Linnæus, and was thus enabled to ascertain, with very considerable accuracy, the British species which were known to that distinguished man, and to publish, in the most improved form that he had given to his system, a remarkably complete and excellent Flora of Britain. Then followed the long-continued separation of this country from France, and indeed from most of the European nations, by which we were almost completely prevented from observing the progress which botanical science was making in other countries, and at the same time our own flora was continually receiving accessions of new plants which it was nearly impossible to identify with the species detected and published in France and Germany. At the conclusion of the war we had become so wedded to the

system of Linnæus, and it may even perhaps be allowable to add, so well satisfied with our own proficiency, that, with the honourable exception of Mr. Brown, there was at that time scarcely a botanist in Britain who took any interest in, or paid the least attention to, the classification by natural orders which had been adopted in France, and to the more minute and accurate examination of plants which was caused by the employment of that philosophical arrangement. Let it not, however, be supposed that the author wishes at all to detract from the value of the Linnæan system- -a system which was considered by its author as merely a provisional arrangement, or kind of index to the known plants; for no hotanist has more strongly stated the value of a natural classification than Linnæus himself, - -as he fully believes that without some such artificial scheme by which newly discovered plants could be catalogued for easy reference, the multitudinous species which distant countries have supplied would long since have formed so enormous and confused a mass as to have reduced botany to a state little better than that into which it had fallen at the commencement of the Linnæan era.”

The work is intended to be a field book or travelling companion for botanists, but it has, what we consider a very great deficiency, viz., "synonymes have been almost wholly omitted." It is true that references to figures are given, but that, in our opinion, will not compensate for the want of synonymes, more especially to the travelling botanist; while, in a historical point of view, it prevents us from connecting the work with other floras of the same kind which have gone before it. In every other respect we like the book much.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ART. I. Domestic Notices.

ENGLAND.

THE Horticultural Society of London held its first show in the Chiswick Garden on May 13th it was as well attended as usual, and the specimens of superior culture, in various instances, surpassed those ever before exhibited. Their arrangement in the tents also was better. See the Gardener's Chronicle of May 20.

The Royal Botanic Society of London held its first exhibition for the season in its gardens in the Inner Circle, Regent's Park, on the 24th of May, when many of the best plants exhibited in the Chiswick Garden were again displayed. The meeting was well attended, and the progress made in laying out the garden seemed to give general satisfaction. In short this garden, without in the slightest degree interfering with any other, is already affording a very high degree of enjoyment and intellectual entertainment to the families in the neighbourhood. Very great praise is due to the committee of management, and to the curator, Mr. Marnock.

Waterer's Exhibition of American Plants, in the King's Road, has this year, as before, excited general admiration, notwithstanding the gloomy state of the atmosphere. The area in which the plants are planted being covered with canvass suggests the idea that a roof of glass, to be shaded occasionally by canvass, would be better; and also that covering an acre or two in some spot nearer the centre of London would afford an interesting town garden. It might be furnished with plants from the open ground, so as to form a covered promenade throughout the year; but we have often before thrown out the idea. Soho Square would make an excellent garden of this sort, but still better Lincoln's Inn Fields. Mr. Waterer deserves very great credit, not only for the immense expense which he incurs annually in getting up this exhibition, but for the great taste which he displays in arranging the plants; mixing the

warm colours of the azaleas with the cold colours of the rhododendrons and kalmias, and relieving the tufted masses of dwarfs with occasional standards. We observed some very interesting foreign varieties. - Cond.

ART. II. Retrospective Criticism.

CEMETERIES. In your "Principles of Landscape-Gardening applied to Public Cemeteries" you have not forgotten the poor man, even in death. It is often shameful to witness the disrespect shown to the remains of the poor after they have travelled through a world of pain and sorrow, and in a country too that professes to show much benevolence towards the human race.

I have often felt grieved in witnessing the funeral of the poor, the attendance at times being scarcely sufficient to convey them to their last restingplace, while their oppressors shall have a long train of unnecessary followers accompanying them to the grave. But the glorious prospects which the Christian religion holds out to the believer in Jesus, beyond death and the grave, reconcile the traveller to heaven, in a great measure, to all the scorn and neglect that may befal him in the way: he knows that,

"Under ground

Precedency's a jest ; vassal and lord,

Grossly familiar, side by side consume."

You have already shown the pernicious effects the living are exposed to by a careless neglect of the dead, and it is really a matter of wonder that that carelessness should still be persisted in. When we think of the disagreeable effluvium which proceeds from a dead mouse or dead mole when decomposing on the surface of the earth or but partially covered, the evil effects upon the living in the neighbourhood of an improper burying-ground must be incalculable.

You have also pointed out (p. 299.) how the funeral expenses have been lessened about the metropolis; and perhaps it may not be uninteresting to some of your readers in the country, to be informed of a cheap and convenient mode of conveying the dead now in use in various parts of Scotland. West Plean and Auchenbowie are about three miles from the churchyard of St. Ninian's, and it was sometimes found to be very laborious work to carry a dead body when few attended the funeral, especially when the day was wet and the roads dirty. Some time ago it was resolved that a hearse should be got to the place for the use of the inhabitants; a meeting was accordingly called, and the thing set about briskly. Plans were drawn out, and estimates received from the coach builders of Stirling; one was fixed on, and we have now a very neat article which cost about 50%. A house was

also built for it, which cost nearly 201., and the whole has only cost the members of the company 7s. 6d. each. We however, got some assistance from gentlemen and farmers in the neighbourhood: one gave the ground for the house to be built on free; another gave 107., and another 57.; while the farmers carted the stones, lime, and slates, free of expense. One shilling and sixpence is paid to the keeper of the hearse when it is required; and a farmer seldom charges anything for the use of a horse for two or three hours. A pall or mort-cloth is scarcely ever used since the hearse came to the place. We have handspokes, and a folding-seat for the coffin to rest on when taken from the hearse, so that we do not require those belonging to the parish: this is also a saving. What has been done in one rural district may be done in another; and it has been acknowledged, even by those who were indifferent about it at first, to be a great improvement obtained at a trifling expense.

The members, in forming the regulations regarding the use of the hearse,