We were more astonished to read a little further on,- "I have also for the first time, in a general Flora, introduced the natural orders of our plants, and have, under each genus, subjoined a compendious view of its natural habits, characters, and qualities!" It is charity to suppose that this candid and benevolent author, although possessing an expanded mind (see Introd. xxxii.), forgot, at the time of writing the sentence, Hull's excellent Elements, or the more modern Natural Arrangement of British Plants by Gray; in the latter of which he must have found the plants arranged in the natural order, with a Linnæan Key to the families, and the characters and qualities of the genera marked indeed, those given by Sir J. E. Smith, often appear like copies or paraphrases of them.

In a few sentences further on, he observes, "he has offered no natural arrangement of the British plants." He might have added, that, if the taste of the country, and the progress of science, had not rendered it absolutely necessary for him to notice them, he would not, of himself, have written a word about them; his last compilation respecting them shewing his entire ignorance of the subject. And, moreover, of what use can it be, to merely quote under the name of each genus, the Linnæan and Jussieuan natural order to which they belong, unless there were given at the end of the volume a table of the natural orders, with their genera, both arranged according to their natural affinities, instead of a meagre alphabetical index?

The synonymes, Dr. Smith affirms to have been an object of great attention; but how does he reconcile this affirmation with the exclusion of all the recent foreign names? It is well-known to the more learned botanists, that the radical fault in all this author's works is, that he does not bestow sufficient attention to the labours of the foreign botanists of the present day. This may be, in some measure, owing to his living at a distance from London. He refers to Hooker, instead of Beauvois, for the fructification of Lemna, in page 32. His reference to even British authors is so extremely partial, that persons who use this work, in order to understand their friends and correspondents, must frequently refer to some other British Flora, as the systematic or the natural arrangement; the latter of which has the great advantage of giving nearly all the names used by the modern continental authors; whilst the present author leaves his readers ignorant of nearly half the names by which a plant has been called.

With respect to the technical part of the work, the Latin edition has been so long before the public, that it is scarcely necessary to say any thing concerning it. The propriety of calling a fruit inclosed in a calyx, as in Valeria, vol. 1, p. 42, a naked seed, may be strongly doubted: indeed, no British plant can be said to have naked seeds. If the bromus madritensis of Linnæus is the same plant with the bromus diandrus of Curtis, why does this author use the latter name? and why does he change the name of the genus luzula,which is universally adopted among botanists, into luciola, which he acknowledges has been already applied to a very different plant?

As, on the whole, we consider this work unworthy the name of a Flora, should the author wish to know what we should esteem worthy of that title, we refer him to Wahlenberg's Flora Lapponica; where, in addition to the merely botanical part of the work, he will find not a

parcel of fancy names, but those actually given to the plants by the natives of the places where they grow, and a geographical distribution of the plants; two objects which, in our opinion, are absolutely necessary to the Flora of any country.

The Animal Kingdom, arranged in conformity with its Organization. By the Baron Cuvier, &c. &c. &c. With additional Descriptions of all the Species hitherto named, and many not before noticed, and other original Matter; by Edward Griffith, F.L.S. and Others. 18 plates, 8vo. pp. 203.

"THE animal kingdom, by Cuvier !" we exclaimed, when this work was first put in our hands. Yes; with a description of all the known species," was the answer we received, when, from the smallness of its size, we had observed, that it must be an outline of his distribution, or syllabus to some person's course of lectures.

But, on examination, we found that it was the first part of a translation of the "worst of Cuvier's productions," his Regne. Animal, which was published seven or eight years ago, in Paris, for thirty shillings, in four small octavo volumes, with many plates, the first hundred pages of which is here, with the "original matter," spread out into a fifteen shilling part, consisting of the preface, introduction, and division of the animal kingdom, and his first order of Bimanes.

We consider the translator as rather unfortunate in the choice of this work, as the original was only intended as a syllabus to the author's lectures, and not as a general system of animals; and it has never been popular, even in France; or else, with the immense number of students that flock to Paris, it would, before this time, have reached a second edition. It has been as little thought of in England; as may be found, by referring to the Reviews at the time of its publication, especially one by Dr. Leach in Thomson's Annals, x. 126; and the remarks of Mackleay in his Hora Entomologia.

Nor has the editor been more successful in what he calls his original matter, as they are generally compiled from Lawrence's suppressed work, or from Prichard's History of Man.

But, if this part, which contains only one species, is to be considered as the pattern of the remainder, we do not know whether the translator is aware of the magnitude of his undertaking, nor are we able to guess, as the Americans would say, at the number of volumes to which it will reach, as there are upwards of 100,000 species of animals to be described.

The work is, in general, very clearly written, and neatly printed; but the plates, which are not taken any notice of in the titlepage, are, perhaps, the best part of it. They consist of eighteen engravings, which, from their style and similarity of the name, incline us to believe, that the editor is the person who engraved for the later volumes of Shaw's Zoology. Two of them are etched and drawn by I. Landseer, of which the lion is a very spirited performance. Next to these in goodness is the wapity, copied from Le Seur's Travels; but it is nothing like the original, which may be considered the chef d'œuvre of American engraving. And then follows a bird after Peletier, and two plates of mollusca, engraved by Bassire; the last of which is copied from Savigny; the rest, except two plates

of sculls, copied from Lawrence, are generally well executed. We must also except the kola, and plates of butterflies, which are completely out of drawing: these we should certainly recommend to be cancelled, or, at least, retouched.

By the advertisement at the end of the work, we find that it is to be continued Quarterly; that it will be "so compressed, as not to be unreasonable in bulk or expense;" therefore, we shall suspend any further judgment on the work till we have seen a Second Part, when we shall be able to guess at its bulk; but its present appearance puts us very much in mind of the commentaries of the elder author in the work of the ancients, whose notes were ten times the size of the original work, and so it must be, to come any way near to the advertisement of the editor.

The Genera of recent Fossil Shells, for the Use of Students in Conchology and Geology. By G. B. Sowerby, F.L.S. With Oriental Figures, by J.D. L. Sowerby, F.L.S.-8vo. 5s. per Number. Sherwood and Co. THIS work, which is published in monthly numbers, consisting of six plates each, and their corresponding letter-press, descriptive of the character of the genus, with notices of the state in which they occur, is conducted in a manner highly creditable both to the author and the artist. We have only to regret the want of references to the authorities from whence the remarks are taken, which greatly add to the reputation and authority of a work, and that want of similarity in relative value between the genera, which must always be the case in a periodical work, if it is not all written before the publication of the first number. Thus, the genera Physa and Lymnea, and Ostrea, Gryphæa, and Podopus, &c. are united into single genera, but with good divisions; whereas, the genera Oliva, Ancillaria, and Eburna, are kept distinct. Hoping that the author will, in the future, obviate these errors, and correct those that have passed at its conclusion, we cannot too strongly recommend his work to our readers.

USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

The History of Ancient and Modern Wines.-4to. pp. 408. £2. 2s. Baldwin and Co.

THIS interesting work is from the pen of Dr. Alexander Henderson, who, although he has, from modesty, omitted his name in the title page, has subscribed it to the preface.

A work on this subject has long been considered as a desideratum in literature. The only authors of any consideration who have preceded Dr. Henderson in this path, are Bacci, in 1596, who, as might be supposed, is diffuse on ancient and Italian wines, but gives very little information respecting the modern wines of other countries; and the Count Dandolo, whose works contain very valuable hints for the improvement of the wines of Italy.

The present author has taken a wider range, and divided his history into two distinct portions; in the first of which he treats of the

ancient wines, and in the other, of the modern. These two parts are preceded by an introduction on the principles of fermentation, and the constituents of wine in general.

The history of ancient wines, although very curious, is, however, of less consideration than the history of the modern: accordingly, Dr. Henderson has devoted to the former only about one-third of his work; in which he treats, in eight chapters, of the vineyards of the ancients; the management of their vintage; their wine vessels and cellars; the principal Greek, Roman, and Asiatic wines; the mode used by the ancients in diluting and cooling their wines; and the use made of wines at the feasts of the Greeks and Romans. On all these subjects, Dr. H. presents his readers with a well-digested epitome of the information contained in the writings of Dioscorides, Galen, Columella, Varro, and that indefatigable collector, Pliny the younger.

It is in the second part, or history of modern wines, that the industry and researches of Dr. Henderson appear to most advantage. Here, after some preliminary observations, he considers, seriatim, the wines of France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Hungary; those of Italy, Sicily, Greece, and the Grecian Islands; those of Madeira, and of the Canary Islands; as also the wines of the Cape of Good Hope, and of Persia.

With so copious a theme before him, the only danger to an author of Dr. Henderson's abilities was, that he might be tempted to bestow too great attention on some favourite points, and to neglect others; but this is not the case; for in each of the several chapters, it presents the same fulness of information, and the same critical attention to the evidence, in those cases in which the author, from the want of personal experience, was obliged to rely upon the assertions of others. If the chapter devoted to the wines of France is by much the longest, it is because, from the propinquity of that kingdom, French wines are the most various, and best known to us.

Although the French themselves have given the palm to Champagne, Dr. Henderson considers Burgundy as the most perfect wine, as "in richness of flavour, and perfume, and all the more delicate qualities of the juice of the grape, it undoubtedly ranks as the first in the world; and it was not without reason, that the Dukes of Burgundy, in ancient times, were designated as the Princes des bons vins." Unfortunately, on account of their palates being dulled by the common use of the coarsest produce of Portugal, few Englishmen are capable of forming a judgment of the respective value of wines. Mr. Henderson justly animadverts on the debauched palates of the English, who deride the ancients for adding to their wines sea-water, or resinous substances; substances which, certainly, did not alter the flavour of the wine so much as a great quantity of coarse brandy, which regularly, since the year 1715, has been added to the red wine of Oporto; to which, in consequence of the treaty of Methuen, we are, in a manner, compelled to drink; and which, through the interference of the Portuguese Company of the Alto Douro, we are not only obliged to purchase at an increased price above its very low natural value, but are denied the advantage of procuring it in its most perfect state.

The whole of this work will be highly interesting to the consumers

of the finer wines; but the chapter on the wines used in England, will be read with pleasure by the antiquarian, however sober in his habits, however averse to the exhilarating cup of Bacchus. The author shows, in a convincing manner, that although, in ancient as well as modern times, the wine was partially cultivated in particular spots, yet the vineyards were always few in number. In Domesday-book, mention is made of them only thirty-eight times; and most of these, which were planted after the Conquest, were cultivated by wealthy societies, or by individuals, more for amusement, or rarity, than profit.

Dr. Henderson finishes this chapter with the following obser

vation :

From the preceding details, it is manifest that the taste of the English in wine has varied considerably during the two last centuries. For five or six hundred years, the light growths of France and of the banks of the Rhine were imported in largest quantity, while the rich sweet wines of the Mediterranean and the islands of the Archipelago were keld in highest estimation. Then came the dry white wines of Spain, which, for a time, were preferred to all others, on account of their strength and durability. At the close of the seventeenth, and beginning of the eighteenth, the red growths of the Bordelais were in most frequent demand: but the wars in which the country was then involved, put a stop to their importation, and led to the substitution of the rough vintages of Portugal. From the long continued use of these strong dry wines, which are made doubly strong for the English market, the relish for sweet wines, which was once so prevalent, has gradually declined; and several kinds, such as Canary, Mountain, &c., which, as several of my readers may be old enough to remember, were drunk very generally by way of 'morning whet,' are now scarcely ever met with. Since the peace of 1814, the renewal of our intercourse with the continent has tended to revive the taste for light wines, and to lessen materially the consumption of the growths of Portugal and Spain."

The author's account of the modes, keeping, and mellowing of wines, and of the dietetic and medicinal qualities of wine, are followed by an appendix, mostly of a commercial nature, and relative to the extent of the French vineyards, and the produce of Portugal and Cape wines; the prices of several wines; the old and present wine measures; and the discussion of some other miscellaneous topics.

The beautiful vignettes and initial letters, all designed from antique designs, relative to Bacchus, and the Bacchanalia, or other Bacchanalian emblems, must not be forgotten. They constitute highly decorative illustrations, and render the work worthy of the library of the gentleman, without running into that excess of splendour, which would limit the circulation of the work to the sphere of the inordinately wealthy.

FINE ARTS.

An Enquiry into the Authenticity of the various Pictures and Prints, which, from the Decease of the Poet to our own Times, have been offered to the Public as Portraits of Shakspeare; containing a careful Examination of the Evidence in which they claim to be received; by which the pretended Portraits have been rejected, the genuine confirmed and established: illustrated by accurate and finished Engravings by the ablest Artists, from such Originals as were of indisputable Authority. By James Boaden, Esq.-8vo. pp. 206. 15s. Triphook.

It is very remarkable, that whilst we are exhibiting portraits of Scipio, Cicero, or Cæsar, the faithfulness of which no man doubts, we should be unable to produce indisputable portraits of many of the most