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lished on the science of botany, than Dr. Thornton's splendid folio.

Hudson's valuable Flora Anglica, on account of its age, is naturally deficient in the newer discoveries; besides being locked up from the perusal of many, on account of the preservation of the Latin phraseology. The classical Flora Britannica of Dr. Smith, which will probably remain the standard of all future Floras of this kingdom, besides being less generally useful from the cause just mentioned, is not altogether calculated for the convenience either of the pockets or purses of many who wish to have a compendium of English botany. And though the accommodation of such as are unac quainted with the Latin language is amply provided for in Withering's Arrangement, yet, notwithstanding the ability with which many parts are drawn up, the execution is so unequal, its deficiencies and redundancies so considerable, the reformed, or rather mutilated system adopted in the last editions so objectionable, that it stands greatly in need of a thorough revision,-which, however, could not render it, after all, commodious for the pocket. The want of a correct Pocket Flora of Britain, in the English language, Dr. Hull has endeavoured to supply; and the work before us is the first volume, of the much improved second edition of his work. It must be immediately evident, that the very nature of the book precludes the display of great originality. It professes not to exhibit new systems, or hitherto unpublished discoveries; but merely to arrange, according to an approved system, discoveries already made known, substituting an English terminology for the usual technical language of botany.

The first part of this duty,Dr. H. fulfils with a laudable,though perhaps overstrained scrupulosity, adhering with religious strictness to the Linnean system. We own, that, though we think Dr. Smith's alterations in the latter classes a material improvement of this system, we are much more disposed to forgive the merely transient notice of them by Dr. H. than to sanction the destruction of these, and the foregoing class, as proposed by Thunberg. In general, our author makes Smith his guide, though he still retains several obsolete appellations, referring them to their places as more recently determined. Hyacinthus, Melissa, Myagrum, Athanasia, Filago, Cratægus, and Sorbus appear in their old stations, but are referred to the genera, to which the British species are found to belong. The principal deviations from the Flora Britannica, consist in the description of Tofieldia palustris as Helonias borealis on the authority of Wildenow, the division of the genus Erica,

into Menziesia, Erica, and Calluna*; and the alterations in the class Gynandria, according to the ideas of Swartz in his paper on the Orchidea adopted by Wildenow. As some of our botanical friends may not yet have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the revolution which this class has undergone, we hope that the following table of the present arrangement of the British species, will not be unacceptable.

CLASS XX. GYNANDRIA.

ORDER I. MONANDRIA. (no longer Diandria, the supposed two stamens, being now esteemed only two masses of pollen, adhering to the two cells of a single anther.)

1. Orchidea, spurred.

ORCHIS. Cor. 5-petalled: upper petal arched. Lip spurred underneath at the base. Anthers terminal, adnate.

O. 1. bifolia. O. 2. pyramidalis. O. 3. morio. O. 4. mascula. O. 5. ustulata. O. 6. militaris. O. 7. fusca. (O. militaris 3. Sm.) 0. 8. hircina (Satyricum hircinum, Lin, and Sm.) 0.9 latifolia. 0. 10. maculata, 0. 11. conopsea. O. 12. viridis (Satyrium viride. Lin. and Sm.) O. 13. albida (Satyrium albidum. Lin. and Sm.)

2. Orchidee, spurless.

OPHRYS. Cor. somewhat ringent, 5-petalled; petals spreading. Lip, from the base of the style, spurless spreading Anther terminal, adnate. Op. 1. monorchis. Op. 2. anthropophora. Op. 3. myodes (Op. insectifera & myodes. Lin. muscifera Huds Sm) Op. 4. apifera. Op. 5. aranifera.

NEOTTIA. Cor. ringent, 5-petalled; outer lateral petals connected anteriorly about the ventricose base of the lip. Anther parallel to the acu minate style, inserted posteriorly. N. 1 spiralis. (Ophris spiralis. Lin. Sm.) N. 2. repens. (Satyrium repens. Lin. Sm.)

EPIPACTIS. Cor. 5-petalled, erect-spreading. Lip spurless. Anther lid-like, persisting. Pollen powdery-granulated.

E 1. latifolia, (Serapias Helleborina and Lin. Ser. latifolia Sm.) E. 2. palustris, (Serapias longifolia Lin. Ser. palustris Sm.) E. 3. pallens, *MENZIISIA. Smith ic. ined. Wildenow.

Cal. 1-leaved, repand. Cor. 1-petalled. Filam. inserted into the receptacle. Caps. superior, 4-celled, 4-valved; dissepiments double, formed by the reflected margins of the valves. Seeds many. M. polifolia. (Erica Daboecii, Lin.)

ERICA. Jussieu.

Cal. 4-leaved. Cor. 4-cleft persisting. Filam. inserted into the receptacle. Anth. with 2 pores. Caps. superior 4-8-celled, 4-8-valved: dissepiments from the middle of the valves. Seeds many. E. 1. Tetralix. E. 2. cinerea. E. 3. vagans.

CALLUNA. Salisbury.

Cal. 4-leaved, double; inner large, corol-like. Cor. 1-petalled, 4parted. Filam. inserted into the receptacle. Caps. 4-celled, 4-valved, dissepiments single, arising from the column, inserted into the sutures. Seeds many.

C. vulgaris. (Erica vulgaris. Lin.) pp. 111, 112, 113.

(Ser. grandiflora Sm.) E. 4. ensifolia, (Ser. ensifolia Sm.) E. 5. rubra, (Ser. rubra Sm.) E. 6. Nidus avis. (Ophrys nidus avis. Lin. Sm.) E. 7. Ovata, (Oph. ovata, Lin. Sm.) E. 8. Cordata. (Oph. cordata, Lin. Sm.) MALAXIS. Cor. 5-petalled, spreading, resupinate. Lip. concavo-patulous, ascending. Anther lid-like.

N. 1. paludosa, (Ophr. paludosa, Lin.) M. 2. Læselii. Lin. Sm.)

Læselii, (Ophr.

CYMBIDIUM. Cor. 5 petalled, erect or spreading. Lip. concave at the base, spurless; lamina patulous. Anther lid-like, deciduous. Pollen globular.

C. corallorhizon, (Ophr. corallorhiza. Lin. Sm.)

ORDER II. DIANDRIA.

CYPRIPEDIUM.

ORDER III. HEXANDRIA. ARISIOLOCHIA. (see pp. 250 & seq.) Among the additions to the genera and species enumerated by Dr. Smith, we notice the following, which will sufficiently prove that Dr. Hull has not been negligent in collecting the observations of others.

Genera. Ixia, Scheuchzeria, Oenothera, Paeonia, and Calendula.

Species. Salicornia radicans, Valeriana Calcitropa, V. pyrenaica, Ixia Bulbocodium, Schoenus monoicus, S. fuscus. Agrostis fulvus, Briza maxima. Bromus leptostachyos. Avena nuda. Gallium spurium. Sagina maritima. Pulmonaria angustifolia. Anagallis coerulea. Campanula persicifolia. Viola amoena. Chenopodium acutifolium. Gentiana acaulis. Juncus supinus Scheuchzeria palustris. Oenothera biennis, Oe. pumila. Epilobium alpestre. Daphne Cneorum. Saxifraga hirsuta, S. Geum, Scleranthus polycarpus. Dyanthus barbatus. Arenaria ciliata, A. fasciculata. Sedum Forsterianum. Cerastium tomentosum. Rosa collina, R. Scabriuscula. Tilia parvifolia. Paeonia corallina. Adonis aestivalis. Caltha radicans. Orobanche rubra. Alyssum maritimum. Turritis alpina. Raphanus maritimus. Althaea hirsuta. Trifolium stellatum. Hieracium aurantiacum. Artemisia gallica. Centaurea jacea. Calendula arvensis. Chara Nidifica, Ch. translucens. Carex Oederi. Salix lanceolata, S. glauca, S. hirta.

To the introduction of several of these, as indigenous to our islands, or as legitimate species, just objections might be raised; but in a work like this, in which practical utility is kept more in view, than critical accuracy, the error on the side of exclusion is much greater than on the side of admission.

With respect to the manner in which the botanical terms are rendered in English, we are aware that many beginners will complain, that they are as unintelligible as the Latin from which they are generally derived. But the fault, we conceive, is not to be ascribed to the translation, but to the circumstance that every science must have a set of terms of its own, which require study, and would equally require it, even if the words made use of were already current in our language. This difference, however, exists in favour of

the preservation of the original terms, that, when their meaning is once obtained, each conveys its distinct and appro.. priate idea; whereas, the ideas attached to the equivalent English terms substituted in their place, must always be liable to a degree of vagueness, from the latitude of signification necessarily allowed the latter in common life. The use of an English translation of a scientific work, arises less from the terms being rendered in our own language, than from their being connected according to our grammatical rules of construction and government. In our own opinion, a translation in the manner sketched by Dr. Smith in his Elements of Botany would have been preferable. As the work is professedly for such as are not classical scholars, we highly approve the accentuation of the generic and specific names; which, with a few exceptions, we have found generally, correct, and which, we hope, will save our ears some of the tortures from false accents to which they are but too frequently exposed. We wish, however, that Dr. H. had uniformly placed two accents on words exceeding four syllables, as he has done in most cases. His work, upon the whole, is executed with accuracy, diligence, and discretion; and deserves the strongest recommendation to those, who are either entering upon the study of the vegetable creation, or have hitherto only prosecuted it at random, for want of a scientific pocket companion in their native tongue.

As the author wishes to wait for the completion of Wildenow's Species Plantarum, and Smith's Flora Britannica, before he publishes his second volume, there is no probability of its appearing very soon.

Art. IX. Philemon, or the Progress of Virtue, a Poem. By William Laurence Brown, D. D. Principal of Marischal College and University, Aberdeen, &c. 2 Vols. 12mo. pp. 495. Edinburgh, Oliphant and Co. Longman and Co. Rivingtons, &c. 1809.

IT is always unfortunate for the credit of a work, when the

pretensions of its first approach are calculated to raise any kind of expectation which a more familiar acquaintance will not gratify. Horace has judiciously advised the poet, in the proposition of his subject, to be simple and unassuming; and had he lived in the age when books are bought by their advertisements, he would perhaps have recommended, that the design of a performance should exactly correspond with its inscription.

The poem before us is called Philemon, or the progress of virtue.' These appellations, however, we can by no means regard as convertible or synonymous. Philemon' is not the progress of virtue, whatever that expression may

mean, but the life of a particular personage, who was born of pious parents in the year 1700; and after passing through the discipline of a grammar school,keeping terms at St. Andrew's, and leading a bear over Europe, marries his cousin, settles on a living, and dies respected at the good old age of three score years and ten. It is true, the author has favoured his hero with two or three visions, and placed him under the special patronage of a guardian angel; he has contrived to introduce in the first and second books a summary of sacred and profane history, and a syllabus of university lectures in the fourth but this management, though highly ingenious, does not, we conceive, quite obviate every objection. A poem that professes to trace the progress of virtuous sentiments, principles, and opinions in the human mind,' should converse with general nature, and not with artificial distinctions; and a hero who is to exhibit these principles in a corresponding course of action,' should not be the individual of a class, but the representative of virtuous man. Perhaps it may be questioned whether the author, in thus attempting to unite principle and operation, in the same performance, has not subjected himself to needless inconvenience. To the

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kindling majesty' of philosophical truth the muse is never insensible, and she willingly veils herself in the softer and more captivating graces of allegorical description. But versified biography has seldom, if ever, been attempted with any tolerable success; and is indeed, of all subjects, in a poetical point of view, the most untractably stubborn. Nothing in nature can be more plain and straight-forward than the conduct of the poem before us; insomuch that we have been more than once chilled with the suspicion, that what was originally prose has been done into verse by a subsequent operation.

The Progress of Virtue is divided into ten books, beginning with childhood, proceeding through the several stages of youth and manhood, and terminating in death. To confer distinction on his native country, our author has made Philemon a Caledonian. He is born among the Grampian mountains, where he remains till the usual period of going to the university. Here he prosecutes his studies upon the whole with laudable diligence. He is betrayed, indeed, into some inaccuracies, from too close an imitation of his friend Eugenio, a young man of fortune; but is soon rescued by the timely succour of his guardian angel. Unfortunately, however, in the first ferment of his revulsion, and instigated by the artifices of one Vulpellus, a wolf in sheep's clothing, he composes a satire on the spirit occasionally observable in the seat of learning. For this indiscreet effusion he narrowly escapes

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