retained, the mariners falling a prey to this savage bird, so that the inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago always carefully avoid that spot. With such, and many even more strange ideas respecting its place of growth and history, it is not wonderful that this nut should have been highly prized; and in the Maldivian islands, it was death to any man to possess it all that were found became the immediate property of the king, who sold them at a very high price, or offered them as the most precious of regal gifts. Their value was estimated at from sixty to one hundred and twenty crowns; but those nuts which measured as much in breadth as in length, were the most esteemed; and those which attained a foot in diameter, were sold for one hundred and fifty crowns. Nay, some kings have been so greedy of obtaining these fruits, as to have given a loaded ship for a single one.'

The albumen of this marvellous fruit, triturated in vessels of porphyry, and mixed with coral, ebony, and stag's horn, was in the highest value as an infallible Mithridate: like the wonderous Orvietan of the middle ages, in Europe, it cured all kinds of disease, and against poison was a specific. The shell, too, was supposed to possess medicinal properties, and to neutralise the injurious qualities of whatever substance might be deposited in it. The discovery of the Seychelles, or Mahé islands, at once put an end to all these ingenious speculations, and ascertained the localities where these fruits were to be found. On three mountainous and rocky isles in that groupe, while the seacoast produces in abundance the common Cocoa-nut (Cocos nucifera), all the interior is covered with Cocos de Mer'. The representations given in the present work, are from specimens forwarded by Mr. Telfair of the Mauritius; and they leave but little to be desired in the way of general information. The same gentleman transmitted, for the Royal Botanical Garden of Glasgow, a living nut; but, notwithstanding all possible care, it did not vegetate: since then, however, germinating nuts have reached England from the same quarter.

Six or seven plates, some of extra size, well drawn, clearly outlined, and, in general, excellently coloured, are given in each Number: and when we compare them with the price, we are puzzled to know where the remuneration of author, draughtsman, engraver, colourer, and proprietor, can possibly come from. The only suggestion of improvement that seems worth offering, relates to the more complicated examples. There are two or three of these, in which a few judicious touches of shadow would give meaning and precision, where there is now a little vagueness of effect and uncertainty of form.

The Botanical Miscellany is intended to supply a deficiency of which the inconvenience has been often felt by men of scientific pursuits. In Botany, as in other departments of knowledge, there is usually a considerable quantity of information

afloat, in the shape of report, memorandum, and unrecorded observation, which it is highly desirable to secure, and to bring into specific and available form. There are, moreover, appearing, from time to time, especially on the Continent, valuable memoirs on distinct branches of botanical inquiry, which, in this country, are but imperfectly known. In short, it must be obvious, that a publication professing to collect and communicate the novelties and miscellanea of this interesting science, has a prima facie demand on our favourable disposition: it remains that we examine how far this claim is sustained by the execution.

Some years back, an experiment was made, by König and Sims, how far the public might be inclined to patronize a work of this kind; but their Annals of Botany', though of very respectable character, were continued only for a brief period. Dr. Hooker has now stept forward to fill up their place, and the undertaking could not have fallen into abler or more efficient hands; nor could a first Number be reasonably expected to hold forth a higher promise of skilful performance, than is given, and thus far fulfilled, in the part which now lies before us. It comprises twenty-four spirited delineations, the cryptogamic examples carefully coloured, of plants, new, rare, or particularly interesting. There are some clever drawings of the Mutisiæ, and among the cryptogamia we may distinguish the representation of that most noble of all mosses', the Spiridens Reinwardtii. A detailed account of the Mahogany Tree (Swietenia Mahagoni) will give us an opportunity of illustrating Dr. Hooker's mode of treating such subjects in the present work. This valuable wood, independently of its ornamental qualities, has valuable properties of a higher kind. It is said to be indestructible by worms or water, and to be nearly bullet-proof. The Spaniards used it largely in the construction of their vessels; and its tough texture, combined with the lightness obtained from its consequent divisibility into very thin planks, recommended it to Captain Franklin as the best material for the boats of his Arctic expedition. The Jamaica wood is the most valuable; and it is rather singular, that this tree should flourish best on elevated and rocky sites. The largest importations are from the Honduras, and the various processes of cutting and embarking are well described by Dr. H. from accurate information. Sir Walter Raleigh's carpenter, while his ship lay at anchor on the coast of Trinidad, in 1595, is said to have first discovered the beauty of this wood; but more than a century elapsed before Dr. Gibbons made it fashionable in England. The growth of two hundred years is required before this noble plant reaches its full perfection. The season of felling commences in August, and the 'gangs' employed in the work, con

sist of from twenty to fifty, slaves and free labourers being indiscriminately mingled. Attached to each gang is an active, intelligent man, called the Huntsman', whose business it is to explore the Bush' in search of fit trees.

'He cuts his way into the most elevated situation among the thickest woods, where he climbs the tallest tree he can find, and thence minutely surveys the surrounding country. At this season, the leaves of the mahogany tree are invariably of a yellow-reddish hue; and an eye accustomed to this kind of exercise can, at a great distance, discern the places where the wood is most abundant. To such a spot are his steps directed; and without compass or other guide than what his recollec tion affords, he never fails to reach the exact point at which he aims. On some occasions, no ordinary stratagem is necessary to be resorted to by the huntsman, to prevent others from availing themselves of the advantage of his discoveries; for, if his steps be traced by those who may be engaged in the same pursuit, which is a very common occurrence, all his ingenuity must be exerted to beguile them from the true scent. In this, however, he is not always successful, being followed by those who are entirely aware of the arts he may use; and whose eyes are so quick, that the lightest turn of a leaf, or the faintest impression of a foot, is unerringly perceived; even the dried leaves which may be strewed upon the ground, often help to conduct to the secret spot; and it consequently happens that persons so engaged must frequently undergo the disappointment of finding an advantage they had promised to themselves, seized on by others. The hidden treasure being, however, detected, the next operation is the felling of a sufficient number of trees to employ the gang during the season. The mahogany tree is commonly cut about ten or twelve feet from the ground, a stage being erected for the axe-man employed in levelling it: this, to an observer, would appear a labour of much danger; but it is very rarely that an accident happens to the people engaged in it. The trunk of the tree, from the dimensions of the wood it furnishes, is deemed the most valuable; but for purposes of an ornamental kind, the limbs or branches are generally preferred, the grain of them being much closer, and the veins more rich and variegated.'

Having felled a sufficient number of trees, the next operation is, to cut out roads to the nearest navigable river; and this, from the hardness of the forest timber to be cut down in clearance of the path, and from the irregularity of the ground, is generally a task of much labour. A hastily constructed village rises at the point of embarkation; and the work of 'cross-cut'ting', or sawing the trunks into logs of a proper size, having been completed, the business of conveyance commences. This can be carried on only in the dry season: it is effected by 'trucks', worked in the night by oxen and by men, and the scene is described as highly picturesque.

Nothing can present a more extraordinary spectacle, than this process of trucking or drawing down the mahogany to the river. The six

trucks will occupy an extent of road of a quarter of a mile-the great number of oxen, the drivers half-naked, (clothes being inconvenient from the heat of the weather and clouds of dust,) and each bearing a lighted torch; the wildness of the forest scenery, the rattling of chains, the sound of the whip echoing through the woods: then all this activity and exertion, so ill corresponding with the still hour of midnight, makes it wear more the appearance of some theatrical exhibition, than what it really is,-the pursuit of industry which has fallen to the lot of the Honduras wood-cutter.'

Advantage is taken of the rainy season to float the masses of wood down the rivers. The largest log ever cut in Honduras, was seventeen feet long, by fifty-seven inches broad, and sixtyfour inches deep.

The miscellaneous department contains information of considerable value. The most interesting paper is a translation, from the German, of a letter written by Professor Schultes, of Landshut, in Bohemia, and describing with amusing frankness, the results of a scientific visit to England, in 1824. He landed at Harwich, and, while floating with the tide up the little river Orwell, had leisure to admire the park-like scenery which skirts its banks. He was much struck with the 'deep, full, verdure of 'the meadows', and the rich green, almost black', of the hedge-rows. At Norwich, he met with a courteous reception from Sir James Edward Smith. He expresses his mortification at the chances which consigned the collections of Linnæus to England, instead of some continental state where they might be more accessible to the botanists of terra firma. He takes occasion, moreover, to castigate the University of Cambridge for refusing to Sir James the appointment of botanical professor. Dr. Schultes next, in his way to London, visited the Garden at Cambridge: while he praises its neatness and the diligence of its Curator, he very naturally regrets the little attention that seems to be paid, academically, to natural history. His first stay in London was very short; and he took advantage, as the worthy Professor rather waggishly observes, of one of those clear days which are so uncommon in England', to make a trip to Oxford, where he appears to have been sadly annoyed by the miserable pretext of a Botanical Garden, though he was indemnified by the rapturous vision of the herbaria of Dillenius and Sherard.

Professor Williams related to me the following anecdote respecting Linnæus, which is traditionally preserved in the Oxford Garden, and which deserves to be also known in Germany.-Linnæus presented himself at Oxford to Dillenius and Sherard, being then a very young man, and his system having as yet made but little noise in the world of science. The latter received him with cordiality; but Dillenius was

very cool, and said to Sherard, "This is the young fellow who is putting all botanists and botany into confusion". Linnæus did not understand the English language, in which this remark was made, but yet he recognized in the word canfiuschjen (so pronounced by Dillenius in his German accent), the Latin epithet confusio. He was silent. Sherard and Dillenius walked up and down in the Garden with their new acquaintance, and stopped by a wall overgrown with Antirrhinum (Linaria) Cymbalaria; a plant upon which they were desirous to have the opinion of Linnæus, as much doubt had existed respecting it. Linnæus removed these difficulties with his natural perspicuity. The gentlemen again pointed to a second, and a third plant, of which they felt uncertain; and again the Swede explained the dubious points with perfect ease. Dillenius was surprised, and Sherard observed to him, that he could perceive "no confusion at all" in Linnæus. He invited the stranger to dine with him; and during the several days that Linnæus remained in Oxford, he found that the dislike which Dillenius had at first entertained towards him, wore gradually away, and gave place to esteem and friendship. On taking leave, Linnæus remarked to Dillenius, that he should be very sorry to have brought confusion into the Garden at Oxford. Dillenius blushed, and apologised for the hasty word which had escaped his lips.'

In London, our Traveller found the half a month' was too brief a season in which to accomplish the work of 'half a year': he was, however, alert and busy, though now and then a little unreasonable; as when he wonders that the possessor of a valuable herbarium should lock it up, and keep the key in his own possession. Lambert's Sanctum' threw the doctor into ecstasy, and while he was viewing this rich cabinet, an interesting rencontre took place.

A little man dressed in black entered the apartment; and he cast a glance full of sorrow and indignation upon some packages which belonged to the herbarium of Ruiz and Pavon. This look attracted my attention, as did the general elevated physiognomy of this person. I could not suppress my curiosity, and asked Mr. Don who this little man might be. When he replied, Senor Lagasca! I threw myself into the arms of my old friend, who was much puzzled to imagine who I could be, for we had only known each other by correspondence, which had continued for some years; and here we met, as in a dream, where we least expected to see one another. Poor Lagasca! He had not only lost all his domestic happiness, (his wife and five children being in Cadiz,) and his fortune, but also his great herbarium; the manuscript of his Flora of Spain, on which he had been employed for more than twenty years, and which was ready to be printed; even the manuscript of his Monograph of the Cerealia, with the dried specimens belonging to it, on which he had laboured at Seville, and there completed it,―all, all were destroyed! He saved nothing from the shipwreck of that Cortes to which his talents and virtue had raised him, but his own life. Far from his beautiful country and his beloved re