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It certainly cannot be denied that countries, of which the financial resources are very inferior to our own, have made the most liberal exertions for the promotion and diffusion of natural science: but we may now be permitted to indulge the reasonable hope that a government, which can allot thirtyfive thousand pounds for the mutilated productions of antient art, will not in future withhold its substantial patronage from the existing or modern collectors of the rare productions of

nature.

Many excellent critical remarks, for which we cannot make room, will be found in this volume, relative to the nomenclature and characters of the Falcons, the manners and physiological structure of the Gannet, the discriminative marks of the Guillemots, Gulls, Plovers, &c. and the conformation of the trachea in several of the species. Some instructive pages are likewise devoted to the Common Pheasant, and especially to the proper management of that bird when labouring under the wasteful distemper called the gapes; which seems to originate in the presence of a peculiar sort of fasciola in the throat. As the great diversity in the plumage of the Ruff, and the short duration of the long feathers on the neck of the male, have given rise to much confusion in the synonymy of this species, Mr. Montagu lays down some criteria of a less fallible nature; such as the length of the bird, the shape of the bill, &c.

The trade of catching Ruffs is confined to a very few persons, which at present scarcely repays their trouble, and expence of nets. These people live in obscure places on the verge of the fens, and are found out with difficulty, for few, if any birds, are ever bought but by those who make a trade of fatting them for the table; and they sedulously conceal the abode of the fowlers; so much, that by no art could we obtain from any of them where they resided; and, in order to deceive us, after evading our intreaties, gave us instructions that led us quite a contrary direction. The reason of all this was obvious, for after much labour and search, in the most obscure places, (for neither the innkeepers nor other inhabitants of the towns could give any information, and many did not know such a bird was peculiar to their fens,) we found out a very civil and intelligent fowler, who resided close to Spalding, at Fen-gate, by name William Burton, (we feel a pleasure in recording his name, not only from his obliging nature, but for the use of others in similar pursuits,) and strange to say, that although this man had constantly sold Ruffs to Mr. Towns, a noted feeder, hereafter more particularly noticed, as also to another feeder at Cowbit, by the name of Weeks, neither of those persons could be induced to inform us even of the name of this fowler. The reason, however, was evident, and justly remarked by Burton, for he obtained no more than ten shillings per dozen,

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dozen, whereas Weeks demanded thirty shillings for the like number he had the same day bought of Burton. The season was far advanced, and we were obliged to buy some at that price of Weeks, for Burton could not then catch us as many as were required.

At this time we were shewn into a room, where there were about seven dozen males and a dozen females, and of the former there were not two alike. This intrusion to choose our birds, drove them from their stands, and compelling some to trespass upon the premises of others, produced many battles.

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By this feeder we learned, that two guineas a dozen was now the price for fattened Ruffs; and he never remembered the price under thirty shillings, when fit for table.

Mr. Towns, the noted feeder at Spalding, assured us his family had been a hundred years in the trade; boasted that they had served George II., and many noble families in the kingdom. He undertook at the desire of the late Marquis of Townsend, (when that nobleman was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,) to take some Ruffs to that country, and actually set off, with twenty-seven dozen from Lincolnshire, left seven dozen at the Duke of Devonshire's, at Chatsworth, continued his route across the kingdom to Holyhead, and delivered seventeen dozen alive in Dublin, having lost only three dozen in so long a journey, confined and greatly crowded as they were in baskets, which were carried upon two horses.

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Nothing can more strongly evince the hardy constitution of these birds than the performance of such a journey so soon after capture, and necessarily fed with a food wholly new to them; and yet a certain degree of care and attention is requisite to preserve, and more especially to fatten them; for out of the seventeen dozen delivered at the castle of Dublin, not more than two dozen were served up to table, doubtless entirely owing to a want of knowledge, or attention of the feeder, under whose care they had been placed.

Few Ruffs, comparatively speaking, are now taken in the spring, as the old birds frequently pine, and will not readily fatten. The principal time is in September, when the young birds are fled; these are infinitely more delicate for the table, more readily submit to confinement, and are less inclined to fight. If this plan was generally enforced by the proprietors of fen-land, or made a bye-law amongst themselves, the breed would not be so reduced; but there are still some fowlers who make two seasons, and thus by catching the old birds in the spring, especially the females, verify the fable of the goose and the golden eggs; the destruction of every female in the breeding season is the probable

loss of four young.

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The Siskin, (Fringilla spinus,) which was inadvertently omitted in the Dictionary, is now introduced, and duly commemorated. The author's zeal in prosecuting the natural history of the Tree-Sparrow, (Fringilla montana,) by his per

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sonal observation, is illustrated with much naïveté in his recital of the means to which he had recourse for the accomplishment of his object: and the result furnishes a distinct and satisfactory parallel between that species and the common housesparrow. We pass to the statement of two singular physiological facts:

We must not omit, in this place, to remark a circumstance that clearly shews what nature will perform, in order to restore her works that have been deranged by accident. A wounded Swan was sent to us by the same kind friend from whom the other living specimen was received; but this unfortunate creature had a most complicated fracture in the bone of the wing near the body. It lived for about four months, fed heartily till within a short time of its death, and at that period the wound in the wing certainly did not affect its health; but it never got up in flesh, and the direct occasion of its decease appeared to be a flux. Curious to know what nature had done with the fractured bone, the wound was examined, and we found a large fragment of the os humeri, about an inch in length, still projecting through the skin, but which was surrounded by a callous, like a tooth in its socket, that protected the flesh from its sharp and ragged edges. When this was removed, we found, that about an inch of the remaining stump of the os humeri attached to the ulna and radius of the fore-wing, had deflected, and the joint become nearly motionless; but what surprized us most, was the commencement of a new joint forming at the fractured part. The joint had greatly enlarged, and had shot out strong cartilages, to unite with the fractured end of the interior part of the os humeri, the point of which was also enlarged and closed. An union was thus formed at the lower part, and the commencement of a socket in one to receive the head of the other was evident, and a motion was obtained upon these points of contact, and no doubt a rude joint properly inosculated would have been formed, so soon as the large splinter had been removed, and which in a little time would have been naturally effected, for it had risen considerably by the pressure of the enlarged joint. Upon a further dissection of the body, a bullet, the size of a pea, (the same probably which had fractured the wing,) was found to have entered the flesh on the same side of the body, and lodged between the ribs. Within the body, in the direction of the bullet, a large unnatural substance of the size and figure of a hen's egg, and of the colour of liver, was observed between the liver and the gizzard. This was doubtless formed by the extravasated blood caused by the contusion, and had not been taken up by the absorbent vessels. This oval body was enveloped in a membrane, and was attached to both the liver and the gizzard, by an extension of its surrounding membrane, and by that means held in one place. It was tender, fragile, and more dry in its consistence than liver, though similar in colour when first divided by the knife, but by its rapid absorption of oxygen, on exposing the interior part to the air, it became in a few minutes of a bright.

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red; a circumstance that proves its sanguineous property, as blood is known to powerfully attract oxygen, and by its chemical union the change of colour to a bright red is effected. It is an extraordinary circumstance, that so large a portion of coagulated blood should have preserved its living principle without vessels, so generally necessary for the support of vitality; but as it had retained the vital spark for four months, there can be no reason for supposing it would have vanished, but with the life of the animal. After this body had been exposed some days to the air, it became putrid, like all other animal matter divested of its vital principle. Hence we may infer, that blood, or the circulating fluid of an animal, retains in itself a large portion of that which is its office to convey to the system in support of life; and that under certain circumstances, it is perhaps the only animal matter capable of retaining vitality without organization, or, in other words, that is not corruptible under similar circumstances.'

The different species of British Terns, including the Roseate, with the history of its recent discovery by the late Dr. M'Dougall of Glasgow, are reviewed at considerable length, and with careful discrimination; and even the Woodcock gives rise to some new and interesting observations. Of the partial resi dence of this last species in Great Britain, throughout the whole year, fresh proofs have been obtained; and, from the collation of many specimens, it has been demonstrated that the female is generally the largest, and usually exhibits more of the ferruginous and less of the cinereous hue than the male. The first feather in the wing of the male is not always white on the outer web; and that part in the female is barred like the other quill-feathers. Accidental varieties (or, as the author terms them, lusus woodcocks) have been frequently killed that were of a pale-brown, or cream-colour, and rarely white. On the 5th of April, 1805, a brood of four was hatched in a wood, at Shireoaks, near Worksop, in Nottinghamshire; and the old bird had been frequently seen on the nest, which was composed of moss, bents, and dry leaves. Woodcocks naturally devour an enormous quantity of worms: but raw flesh, and even bread and milk, have been gradually substituted for the latter with success; and it is hence conjectured that many birds of congenial habits might in confinement be induced to change their diet by degrees.

Of the Olivaceous Gallinule, which was fortunately rescued from the spit, and consequently from oblivion, by the hand of science,' we have an account in the present volume as a nondescript water-hen, discovered by Mr. Foljambe, in May, 1812. It is presumed, however, that sportsmen may have mistaken it for the water-rail; and, if so, it may perhaps be found to breed in the fens of the eastern parts of our island.

Strix Nyctea, or the Snowy Owl, is also admitted into the British Fauna, on the tangible authority of Mr. Bullock.

The plates exhibit representations of the female Cirl-Bunting; the Pigmy Curlew, in its winter plumage; the Ferruginous Duck; the Ash-coloured Falcon; the Little Gallinule; the Eared Grebe; the Little Gull, in its immature state; the Freckled Heron; the Little White Heron; the Austrian Pratincole; the Green Sand-piper, in its infantine plumage; the Little Sand-piper, old and young; the Long-legged Sandpiper; the Brown, Jadreka, Red-breasted, and Spotted Snipes; the Gull-billed, Roseate, and Sandwich Terns; the Solitary Thrush; and Tracheæ of Anas Nyroca, Glacialis, &c.

In conclusion, we have only to intimate our wish that some person, duly qualified for the task, would undertake to mould the Dictionary and Supplement into a consecutive whole; supplying such occasional deficiencies as extensive reading and observation may still detect, and imparting more harmony and purity to the style.

ART. VI. Manuel; a Tragedy, in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. 8vo. pp. 84. 4s. 6d. Murray.

IN

Five Acts; as performed at By the Author of Bertram. 1817.

the advertisement to this second drama, the author of Bertram makes a complaint of a very unusual nature against the critics. They did not, it seems, find sufficient fault with his first effort! It is incumbent on them, certainly, to remedy this defect on so fair an opportunity as the present; and, although we should have imagined that, in our examination of the claims of Bertram to the popularity which it was then partially enjoying*, we did say enough against that anomalous production, yet we shall now endeavour to supply any possible deficiency of censure on the former occasion. We have, indeed, already denounced the bombastic taste and imperfect morality of this writer: but, as he seems to exclaim, "Lay on, Macduff!" we will take him at his word, and proceed accordingly.

Not a syllable is said by the dramatist on the subject of bombast; and we may infer, therefore, that he tacitly acquiesces in the justice of our strictures on that point. He confesses, both by this silence and by the less ambiguous proof of the general tone and character of the tragedy which is now before us, that Bombastes Furioso is his true and ap

* See M. R. Vol. lxxx. p. 179.

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