always bear in memory that they have one important function less than animals-sensibility. The losing sight of these circumstances, particularly the former, led the ingenious Darwin into a labyrinth of error; and has exposed his memory to the sarcasm of malevolent wit and the derision of ignorance. -That part of our subject, therefore, which refers to the economy of the vegetable system, should first engage the attention of the student. It constitutes phytology, and comprehends the anatomy and physiology of plants; and is the most amusing, and certainly not the least instructive, part of the science. The anatomy of plants is more difficult than that of animals, from the minuteness of their parts, the union of them, and the extreme difficulty of separating them without destroying their texture. If, however, it be more difficult, it is less disgusting, and the microscope very much facilitates our inquiries. Without it we can have no idea of the structure of plants, and consequently no correct notions of their functions can be obtained. In studying the anatomy the terminology is acquired, an acquaintance with which is absolutely necessary for securing a knowledge of systematic arrangement. By combining with these the study of the physiology, on which modern chemistry has thrown the most brilliant light, the tediousness of acquiring the terms of art is diminished, and much interest excited in the pursuit," Following the natural order in which the conservative organs are successsively described, we notice some curious observations respecting the root. "The usual situation of roots is in the ground; but many plants, although their seeds be sown in the earth, yet, will not vegetate in it, their proper soil being the bark of other living plants. Such, are named parasitical, owing to their nourishment being obtained from those plants on which they fix, and which they rob of a part of their juices, often injuring them to a very considerable degree. The Misle, toe (Viscum album); the Broom Rape, Orobanche; the majority of Lichens; the Mosses; some of the Ferns; many of the Orchis tribe; those minute fungi, which produce the diseases of corn and of some grasses, known by the names. of rust, blight, and mildew; the Sclerotium crocorum, a sort of tuber which attacks the bulb, of the Saffron; and the dry rot, to the destructive powers of which the noblest specimens of architecture occasionally fall sacrifices; are parasitic plants. Some of this des cription of plants, however, originally grow in the earth, and do not lose their attachment to it until they find another plant to, lay hold of, and into which they can dip their caulinar roots, or rootlike absorbents, which are protruded from the stem, in order to share its nutriment, and, on which they are afterwards supported; as, for example, the Cuscuta, or Dodder, which may be regarded as the natural parasite of our indigenous Heaths and Hops. "Some plants, after they have arrived at a certain age, do not even require that their roots should be fixed to any spot; but maintain life on what they can procure by absorption from the atmosphere. Such are the Cacti, a curious tropical tribe of succulent plants; on which account one of the species, the Indian Fig, Cactus opuntia, was recommended to the notice of seafaring people, by the late Dr. Anderson of Madras, for the purpose of supplying vegetable food on long voyages; and as a preventive of scurvy. But the most curious instance of this kind is the aerial flower, Epidendrum flos aeris, an East Indian parasitical plant, which continues to grow, blossoms, and even perfects its seed, when it is torn from the tree on which it originally grew, and is suspended in the ceiling of an apartment. Many aquatic plants, also, have roots which serve no other purpose than to fix them for a short time to the spot where they have germinated, from which they afterwards separate and float upon the surface of the water. Thus the common Duck Weed, Lemna minor, which rises to the surface almost as soon as it has germinated, has filiform roots from three to six inches in length, which hang perpendicularly in the water, and having no attachment to any body, allow the plant to float freely in every direction." In treating of the anatomy of stems, after an elaborate investigation concering the direction, the divisions and branching; the covering, colour and figure, the sub. stance and organisation; he proceeds to demonstrate the component parts of the stem and branches, and thus speaks of the formation of wood. "Wood in its soft state, or that in which it forms the outer circle in every Jigueous dicotyledonous stem and branch, is, as has been already mentioned, named alburnum. While it continues so, it is endowed with nearly as much irritability as the liber; and, as shall be afterwards fully des cribed, performs functions of great im. portance in the vegetable system; but when it becomes hard, these functions cease, and in time it loses even its vitality; not unfrequently decaying in the centre of the trunk of trees; which, nevertheless, still flourish and put forth new shoots as if no such decay existed. To carry on, therefore, the functions of the wood, a new circle of it is annually, formed over the old; and thus, also, the diameter of the trunk and branches present, by the number of these annual zones, a pretty correct register of their age, each zone marking one year in the life of the part. There are, however, exceptions to the criterion thus afforded of the age of the plant, for circumstances may occur to prevent the zone from being formed of a thickness which will be perceptible after a few years have passed over, and it is pressed between other zones. If the summer be unusually cold, or if the leaves of the tree or the shrub happen to be much devoured by caterpillars, it gains very little that season in diame ter. 1 tions. Indeed, when wood acquires its firmness by the natural means connected with its growth, it is a wellknown fact that the hardest is always of the slowest growth; as exemplified in the comparative hardness of the wood of the Oak, which is of very slow growth, compared with that of the Willow or Horse Chesnut, which are trees of rapid growth; and even in that of the wood of the same tree when grow. ing in a dry and in a moist situation." The botanical reader will be particularly interested in perusing the ninth lecture, in which the author investigates the structure of leaves. It is greatly to be regretted, that for the reason already assigned, those portions of it which are strictly anatomical cannot here be quoted; but some opinion of its merits may be formed, from the remarks which are offered in reference to a definition of the leaf, deduced from its functions. " "Leaves are organs of essential importance to the vegetable. They are, also, objects of great delight and interest, whether we examine them individually as the clothing of a single plant, or collectively as producing the lively freshness of the verdant vale, and the massive luxuriance of the darkeued forest. The most beautiful flower loses half its charms when it is displayed on a naked stem; the miserable hovel becomes picturesque when spread over with the foliage of the Vine; the ruins of former magnificence acquire more reverence, and command a double share of our respect, when seen through the tracery of the Ivy; and the horrors of the frowning rock are softened into beauty when mantled with pendent creepers or Alpine shrubs. Leaves are still more important when we regard them as affording food to man and the rest of the animal creation; and supplying medicinal agents to relieve their sufferings, in disease. Notwithstanding, however, the interest which they thus excite; and our familiarity with leaves, as objects of sight, from our earliest years, it is impossible to form an unexeeptionable definition of the leaf. This difficulty arises from the great diver From the same cause, the zones are also of unequal degrees of hardness: but, independent of the comparative density of each, the hardness of the whole increases with the age of the tree, so that they are hardest in the centre, and less and less hard as they approach the circumference. The outermost layer, being alburnum, is always soft, and continues so until another Jayer is formed over it; but if the tree be barked the alburnum assumes the apparent character of wood in the same year; and hence it has been recommended to bark trees the year before they are intended to be cut down. 'The German foresters,' however, 'have proved that wood, treated in this manner, is less elastic, and is more easily injured by humidity and insects; which I conceive is owing to the natural change of alburnum into wood not depending on a simple hardening or condensation; but on such a deposition of ligneous and other particles in its, texture, as tends to increase the cohesive attraction of all its parts, and consequently to augment both its hard-sity of figure, substance, surface, and ness and elasticity; while the exposure of the alburnum, by stripping off the bark, produces merely a simple condensation of the solid matter, a hurried crystallization of the salts, and a hasty consolidation of the other secre colour which it assumes in different plants. If we cannot, therefore, define it accurately from its external charac'ters, we must have recourse to its functions; and perhaps the following is the least exceptionable definition we ean offer:-The leaf is a temporary organ of plants, which performs nearly the same function in the economy of vegetable life as the lungs perform in that of animal life: or, in fewer words, leaves are the respiratory organs of plants. It may be objected to this definition, that some plants, as for example the Dodder, Cuscuta Europea, the Stapelias, and many of the Cactus tribe, are devoid of leaves; but in these instances, and in all aphyllous plants, the surface of the stem performs the function of the leaves." FROM the numerous works we have already had upon travels, by men of considerable repute in the literary world, one would be almost inclined to think, on first consideration, that it is a subject with which an author, who would wish to please through novelty, could not have very high hopes of succeeding. When we come, however, to think more maturely on it, this first consideration vanishes entirely. We 'must observe, that the laws, customs, &c. of nations are continually changing, and that the result of those changes is not always the same-and hence that every traveller, who visits a country at a time different from other travellers, must always bring us something new respecting these matters. We must also observe, that all travellers do not take the same rout; that they do not all meet with the same incidents; that they are not all equally happy in their observations; and, that they do not all find arts, sciences, public games, buildings, &c. in the same state. Hence we should not feel surprised that a writer should hope to shine with a new Justre in this species of composition. Mr. Bramson, no doubt, had all this in view when he began to write "Remarks on the North of Spain;" and hence his work possesses that originality and novelty which could only be expected from those who first visited the country. In short, when we come to consider what seems to have been Mr. B.'s only object in writing these remarks,, we ought not to expect more than we find; his object then seems to be to give us as much information as he possibly could, in the most concise manner, and this he has done. We get through his book rapidly, and if not with that delight occasioned by poetic description of foreign landscape and scenery, where we must allow there is often more of poetry than truth, at least we it do with a satisfaction almost next to conviction, that we are impartially informed and amused. Mr. B. says, in his preface, “If the following remarks have no other merit, they certainly are entitled to that of being unbiassed by party feelings; and I assure those who may be inclined to peruse them, that I had firmly resolved on leaving the Lazaretto of Behobia, to keep aloof from politics, and from the conta gion of party, which resolution I have in my travels always firmly maintained; and whenever it has been my lot to depict scenery, customs, manners, or party feelings, I have never heightened the picture by false colouring to excite admiration, or given exaggerated statements, with the design of flattering the views of my political readers." We have quoted the above, since it seems not in the slightest manner belied by the work. We give the two following short extracts which, indeed, must seem very curious to every one who has any knowledge of the encouragement that arts and literature in general receive in this country. The author was at this time in Bilboa,-" They give little or no encouragement to the arts: even physicians not being able to obtain support; and I was told that a respectable French physician, who resided here for some time, was forced to return to Bayonne for want of encouragement; and only visits Bilboa when some rich patient sends for him. The consequences are, that many diseases, which at first are not of a very serious nature, are often mistaken by the quacks who practice here, and therefore frequently prove mortal. The same inconvenience is attached to the few apothecaries' shops." The next is at the end of the same page.-"I visited the few booksellers shops; but looked in vain Don for new Spanish works. Quixote always stared me in the face; it stood forlorn, yet conspicuous on the shelf; and I was told, that were it not for the newspapers and proclamations, the press would be in a state of profound lethargy. Is it not surprising that the enthusiasm of patriotism, which generally affords such scope for the exercise of the imagination, should not have inspired some one of the natives, like Tyrtæus of old, to kindle, by the poetic effusions, the military ardour of his countrymen; and that the beautiful and romantic scenery with which the country abounds, should not again have roused the descriptive powers of some modern Cervantes, or Lope de Vega." Journal of a Tour in France, in the Years 1816 and 1817. By Frances Jane Carey, 8vo. pp. 502. London. ALTHOUGH the subject of foreign travel has of late years occupied the pen of a great number of writers, yet much remains unnoticed in so wide a field of observation. The scene of nature is continually changing, and the various lights in which travellers of different opinions and different talents observe and relate what passes before their eyes, give a different hue to every object, and present us with a pleasing and endless variety. In beholding the manners and customs of foreign nations, a thousand original and valuable remarks must continually arise to amuse the casual spectator, and to instruct the more philosophical observer of human nature. In no species of writing, perhaps, are the real characters of nations so strikingly depicted as in the slight sketch, and unassuming outline given of them in a well written tour; and in this particular line, we think the work before us bears a stamp of higher merit than almost any pro-duction of the sort that has been written for many years. And one thing, which gives Mrs. Carey's remarks a greater air of novelty is, that most of her observations are directed towards her own sex, but though the rest of the work is remarkably spirited and concise, yet when she is on her favourite hobby of singing the praises of the fair sex, in our opinion (in this, perhaps, our fair readers may differ from us) she is rather inclined to be prolix. Her journal, however, is decidedly calculated to give a correct view of the present state of France, and it exhibits not only strong powers of reflexion, and a habit of accurate observation; but also, except where the cause of the fair sex is introduced, a soundness and impartiality of judgment rarely to be met with. The Practical Book-keeper; or Merchant's Assistant, being a comprehensive Method of Book-keeping, founded on the real Practice of the Counting-House. By George Wilson, General Accountant, &c. Sherwood, Jones, and Co. London, 1823. 8vo. THE Practical Book-keeper is one of those few works which are of real practical utility. We have works without number on this important subject, not important, indeed, in its own nature, for in many countries it would be a useless art, but important from its connexion with the trade and commerce of the British Empire; but most of these works have been justly consigned to oblivion by those for whom they would appear to have been immediately intended, men in actual business. The reason is obvious: all our systems of book-keeping have been compiled by mere theoretical writers, who knew as much of the practice of the counting-house as a tiger does of charity. This is the production of a man whose principles and system are the result of actual experience, and, therefore, it possesses that clearness and simplicity, that immediate application to the practice of the counting-house which are so frequently but so vainly sought for in our theoretical systems of book-keeping. We, therefore, recommend it to those to whom such a subject possesses any interest, for to us it possesses none. We should look with indifference on the finest system of bookkeeping that ever proceeded, or ever shall proceed from the pen of man, and, therefore, we notice the work before us, not because it sorts with our taste, but because it is a duty we owe to its author, and to all those who are connected, however humbly, with the trade and commerce of their country. THE FINE ARTS. We are happy to find the art of of Die Engraving taken under the protection of the Royal Academy, a circumstance which is one of the most pleasing features in the progress of the Fine Arts. This art has been suffered to fall into comparative oblivion, and if the Academy were to neglect it a few years longer, no doubt we should know it hereafter only through the medium of the history of the arts. The second annual premium was obtained in this art from the President and Council by Mr. A. J. Stothard. The subject was the head of Venus from the group of Venus and Cupid. It was a three-quarter view of the head, a rare occurrence in the medallion art. ROYAL ACADEMY.-At the late distribution of prizes, Sir Thomas Lawrence called the attention of his hearers to the character of his Predecessor in the Chair of the Academy, both as a man and an artist; noticing, with just praise, Mr. West's untired attention to the Students, for whose instruction he was ever ready to unfold his various and extraordinary stock of knowledge. Sir Thomas also remarked, that since this visit to the great works of art in Italy, his admiration of the high attainments of the deceased Artist had been greatly increased. On Monday evening, Dec. 15, Sir A. Carlisle, the Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy, finished an interesting Course of Lectures, at Somerset-Honse to the Members and Students of that establishment. There must be considerable difficulty in arranging Anatomical Lectures, to adapt them to the puposes of the Arts of Painting and Sculpture; to select that which is necessary for the painter and sculptor, from the great mass of materials necessarily connected with the human frame in all its ramifications. It requires not merely the science of a skilful anatomist, but the knowledge and mind of an experienced artist. Sir Anthony appears happily to combine these qualifications, dwelling, in the course of his Lectures, with great perspicuity on those parts, the particular knowledge of which is ne cessary to the advancement of the student in his professional pursuits, and only touching on those phenomena of nature, which, though not immediately connected with the subject of pictorial anatomy, every young gentlemen of education is expected to be conversant with. In the course of his lectures, he requested the students to consider anatomy as an auxiliary to the other studies, and as entirely subservient to the arts of drawing and painting; that, when it was made a first principle, it usurped a place to which it was not entitled, and led the student to an affected display of knowledge, to the destruction of beauty of form and expression, the two chief objects of pictorial representation. This he illustrated by a comparison of the muscles stripped of their natural clothing, the fat and skin, by which their appearance was harsh and angular, with the living figure, where the interstices being filled up and the whole compactly bound round, the irregularities disappear, and the lines flow undulating and harmonious. The skeleton he recommended as the first and most essential part with which the student should become acquainted, as being the strueture on which the other parts are fixed, and as forming the principal points by which the representation of a figure is given, determining the length, breadth, and depth, and consequently the proportions of its various parts. On the skeleton likewise depends the boundaries of motion, which Sir Anthony particularly called to the notice of his audience: for without such an attention no person can give strength to action, or grace and simplicity to repose. Sir Anthony next pointed but the principal muscles, their origin, insertion, and action, recommending the audience to study well the fine statues of antiquity, to acquire a knowledge of form in its most beautiful and perfect state, and then to confirm their knowledge by a reference to the most perfect living models. Dissection for an artist be did not consider necessary, but an occasional visit to the Schools of Anatomy, to confirm the informa |