which, as a precedent, might have been of considerable importance to the navy, and which reflects high credit on his perseverance. nas som into The return of peace has of course suspended the exertions of Sir R. Curtis's naval talents; but he is one of those men to whom the country look with confidence, should any future occasion call our navy. action, and we congratulate ourselves on possessing such a man, who to a vigorous understanding and great zeal for the service, joins that degree of nautical skill and professional experience, the result of observation during a long life of peril and fatigue, that promises, whenever he may again be called to arms, to lead our gallant seamen to victories equally glorious with those in which he has borne a part so conspicuous and honourable. DR. THORNTON, BOTANICAL LECTURER AT GUY'S HOSPITAL, &c. &c. ROBERT JOHN THORNTON, M. D. is the son of the justly celebrated Bonnell Thornton, so well known as the greatest humourist, and one of the best classical scholars of his day.* He lost his father early * Mr. Bonnell Thornton was the author of several humorous pieces both in profe and verse. He died in 1768, and left behind him the greater part of a translation of Plautus. Being a man of ready wit, and at the fame time addicted to conviviality, he was never at a loss for an apology for any thing he chofe to indulge in ; and it is reported, that an old female relation having found him in bed in life, but had the good fortune to be left under the guidance of a lady of very elegant manners, who proved at the same time the fondest of parents. In consequence of her maternal care he received a liberal education, and being removed from a public school, to which he had been at first consigned, he was placed under the tuition of a gentleman, in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, who paid remarkable attention to the cultivation of his mind, and was as much attached to him as if he had been his own son. This schoolmaster only received six boarders, and was remarked for what was often accounted a whimsical mode of education, in consequence of copying closely the system of J.J.Rousseau, which he greatly admired. Among the schemes adopted by him, for the purpose of instruction, in order to render the memories of his pupils more retentive, he was in the habit of making them form general indexes to histo bed at noon, exclaimed, "Ah! Bonnell, Bonnell, I see plainly you are determined to shorten your days!" "Very true, Madam, (replied he) but by the same rule, I shall lengthen my nights." Boswell records (Life of Johnson, vol. i. p. 227), that Dr. Johnson was charmed with his burlesque ode on St. Cecilia's Day, adapted to the ancient British music, viz. the Salt-box, the Jew'sharp, the Marrow-bones and Cleavers, the Hum-strum or Hurdygurdy, &c. "Johnson (says the author of his Life) praised its humour, and seemed much diverted with it. He repeated the following passage: "In strains more exalted the salt-box shall join, "Up and down leaps the flap, and with rattling rebounds."[ rical works, &c. &c. To his judicious plans may be attributed, in a great measure, the reputation Dr. Thornton has since acquired as a literary man. His "Medical Extracts" contain a variety of information respecting the new discoveries in chemistry and medicine; and the perfections of each writer being selected with care and judgment, he has thus formed a most complete body of medical facts and rational reasoning. His "Politician's Creed," in two volumes, is equally the result of much reading and a retentive memory; and by interweaving his own remarks, and often drawing his own conclusions, he has given to both publications an air of originality. The first of these, which is to be found in the library of every man of taste and knowledge, has already gone through three editions, and a fourth is preparing for the press. When Dr.Thornton was at Trinity College, Cambridge, the precepts of Rousseau were even there adopted by him. He also paid great attention to the classics, and besides his public tutor, had the Rev. R. Hartley, of Christ's College, since master of the grammar school at Bingley, for his private preceptor. Divinity at first apppeared to be the object of his pursuit, and he accordingly studied the sacred Scriptures in their original language. He also attended the lectures on law, delivered by Dr. Jowet, of Trinity Hall, with as great ardour as if he had been intended for the bar; and at the same time studied botany, under Professor Martyn; chemistry, under Dr. Milner, master of Queen's College; and anatomy, under Professor Harwood. After finishing his education at Cambridge, with much reputation, he was sent abroad, and travelled for some time; on his return, he had the choice laid before him of any one of the three learned professions, for each of which he had been qualified by a learned and liberal education. He accordingly decided in favour of medicine, and has since greatly distinguished himself as the coadjutor of Doctor Beddoes in the establishment of pneumatic remedies. His letters to that gentleman have been well received by the faculty, and his practice very generally approved of. Dr. Smith, president of the Linnæan Society, observing the attention of this gentleman to his lectures, first took him under his own immediate protection, and afterwards resigned to him his botanical chair at Guy's Hospital, where he himself has since given public lectures, greatly to the satisfaction of his auditors. He now stands forward as the editor of a splendid work on botany, called "A new Illustration of Linnæus," which promises to become a national publication, and bids fair to confer lustre both on himself and his country. The object of this work is to trace, in as perspicuous a manner as possible, the philosophical principles of botany, from the earliest times up to the present period, and by faithful and well executed engravings of the several subjects of investigation, to bring this curious and interesting subject within the comprehension of every man of common sense. Following the order of nature, he begins with the seed committed to the ground, and traces its various evo lutions, lutions, until the root, stem, branches, and leaves are formed. He here chiefly dwells on the anatomy of the root, and the diversity of its forms and offices. The object of the next consideration is to display the organized structure of the stem and branches, when he takes occasion to consider the several juices of plants, with the motion of the sap. After this he contemplates the various appendages attached to the stems and branches, explaining the organization and design of each. Then he examines into the structure and variety of the leaves; their relationship to light, and the evolution from them of oxygene and other airs. The last enquiry is the food of plants, when he enters widely into the consideration of the principles of agriculture. Arriving at the flower, he considers its structure, and while contemplating the uses of the several parts which compose it, he enters fully into the sexual system, and recapitulates and refutes the various objections which have been raised against this doctrine. He next lays before his readers an account of the origin of systems, when those of Rivinus, Tournefort, &c. are detailed; after which follows a full explanation of the sexual system of Linnæus. In the order of the discoveries, the lives of the several eminent botanists are comprehended, and an account given of the most celebrated professors and botanical writers of the present day. After this introduction, he commences with a translation of the "genera" of plants of Linnæus; to which is added, all the late discoveries made since his time. In order to |