Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

to bear with calmness; and that of the Emperor, which is rendered less afflicting by the accession of two promising young sovereigns to the supreme power. The empire is rescued from all its perils by the exertions of the veteran hero ; and, by a concurrence of most unexpected circumstances, all who deserve to prosper are made most wonderfully happy.

This romance abounds with the same principles of outrige ous loyalty and submissive humility to the will of princes, which have distinguished the latter works of Madame DE GENLIS; and which, in the instance of Belisarius, appear to have been but too conformable to the truth of history. The high minded chief talks of the loss of the monarch's favour as his own ruin and degradation, and of the deprivation of power and office as if it could lessen the value of his own character. This is too much like the language of our own times, which hails the premier (whoever he may be) as the great man of the day, and says, when a statesman resigns his place * from an alleged conscientious motive, "that the course of his greatness is o'er."-This lady also takes some pains to exhibit her orthodoxy, by making Gelimer, the king of the Arian Vandals, a good catholic in his heart; which a little surprised us. when we recollected that he refused to accept the rank of senator, on account of h's objections to the Athanasian creed. The difficulty, however, is not ill reconciled by the royal hermit's assertion-though at the time of refusing the proffered dignity, says he, "I was perfectly disposed to renounce errors, which had been exploded from my mind even in my childhood, the idea of trafficking my conscience inspired me with horror. Of all earthly goods, my honour alone was left me; and I was determined to preserve it pure and spotless" This is certainly human nature, and the best part of human nature; and it may furnish an useful hint to those who fancy that a religion is to be put down by a system of exclusions.

We must not conclude without remarking a resemblance to two celebrated lines in Thompson's Agamemnon, which, if accidental, is curious; and if designed, is a judicious and happy imitation. We all remember the description of his feelings given by the faithtul subject of the Argive king, when left alone on a desolate island by the hired banditti of Ægisthus; "All ruffians as they were, I never heard A sound so dismal as their parting oars."

Belisarius, speaking of his abandonment in the wilderness, exclaims: "How can I paint what I underwent at that moment?

See Mr. Canning's song, delivered at the celebration of Mr. Pitt's birth-day, when that statesman was out of office.

Hh 3

Judge

Judge of it, when I tell you that the idea of that dreadful separation from all nature filled me with such horror, that I trembled when I heard the satellites of the tyrant quit me and retire with precipitation; the flight of my assassins appeared like a desertion !"

An historical notice is subjoined to this story, which we are sorry to describe as rather a vehicle of spleen against other writers, especially Marmontel, than as a very useful collection of facts connected with the romance.

ART. V. Histoire Naturelle des Crustacés, &c.; i.e. The Natural His tory of Crustaceous Animals, &c. By M. LATREILLE.

THE

[Article concluded from the last Appendix, p. 498.]

HE fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes of this elaborate publication are devoted to a new and summary exposition of the crustaceous animals; hitherto an ambiguous title, which had long perplexed the cultivators of systematical arrange ment. As the reasons which have at length induced M. LATREILLE to assign to them a separate station result from an examination of their external and internal structure, they appear to us to be perfectly legitimate and satisfactory. In fact, our present state of physiological knowlege will warrant the conclusion, that the organization of the Crustacea is of an order superior to that of insects; since it usually, comprizes a heart, or at least a system of circulation, gills instead of stigmata, a hard and calcareous case for antennæ, a more complex apparatus of feeding instruments, and a less transient existen e, than are allotted to the bulk of insects, properly so called. Proceeding on these data, and keeping in view the discriminations and discoveries of his immediate precursors, Lamarck and Cuvier, the present author extends his definition of Crustacea so as to include under that term both the Entomostraca of Muller, Lamarck, &c. and the Malacostraca of the antient Greek naturalists; Crustacea thus denoting a class, and the two other denominations its principal divisions, or (as the author, somewhat unphilosophically, designs them) sub classes.

British readers will, perhaps, expect that we should here pause for a moment, and enter our protest against the admission of all harsh sounds and uncouth phraseology in the nomenclature of science. With respect, however, to the composition of such works as that which is now before us, remonstrance would be equally tardy and unavailing; for the evil is not only committed but sanctioned. Fabricius was the da

ring innovator; and the continental ear seems not only to have acquiesced in the rugged erudition of his vocabulary, but to welcome every new and pedantic term, regardless of its length, or the jarring of its elements. Hence the disciples of the Linnéan school, if they are solicitous to comprehend the writings of some of our most eminent entomologists of the present day, must encumber their memory with a novel and heavy jargon, and study to recognize their old acquaintances under some disguised, or very unfamiliar appellation. That many of the proposed alterations, in point of arrangement, are founded on accurate principles, we are willing to admit: but we must be allowed to regret that the language, in which they are announced, is so remote from simplicity, and from the easy comprehension of the uninitiated. Having premised thus much, in the way of general objection, we resume our analysis.

The crustaceous tribes, according to M. LATREILLE, are composed of animals destitute of vertebræ, with articulated feet, which are often ten in number, apterous, invested with a calcareous covering, furnished with four antenna, palpigerous mandibles, with several jointed and imbricated pieces beneath, and feet destined only for walking, or swimming: sometimes they are covered with a horny or soft substance, with not more than the usual number of antenna, and rarely any, mandibles naked, and unprovided with the numerous jointed pieces beneath, feet hookless, some of them apparently furnished with branchial processes, and two or four of them sometimes antenniform. This is a straggling and rather clumsy definition: but it embraces both the subordinate divisions already announced, and lays down some of the most prominent external charac ters, a circumstance of infinite benefit to the practical student.

[ocr errors]

I. In the prosecution of his plan, M. LATREILLE first treats the ENTOMOSTRACA, which he thus characterizes: Mandibles always naked, or wanting. Four jaws at most. Body often inclosed in an univalve or bivalve case, more horny than calcareous or membranous, terminating in a point, or setigerous tail; eyes usually sessile; antenna for the most part wanting, or apparently supplying the place of gills; feet clawless at the extremity; and some of them, at least, seemingly furnished with branchial appendages, and sometimes shaped like antenna. As the animals of this description, with a few exceptions, are very minute, and all of them inhabit the water, they are still very imperfectly understood. Most of the particulars, however, which Swammerdam, de Geer, Geoffroy, Muller, &c. have been enabled to observe relative either to their

[blocks in formation]

structure or their modes of existing, are here stated with fairness and precision; and this recapitulation is followed by a brief notice of the methods of managing them, adopted by Linné, Fabricius, Cuvier, and Lamarck. We then enter on the regular developement of the author's own scheme of distribution of his first subordinate class, which he disposes into sections, orders, genera, and species. The two sections are intitled Operculated and Naked; and the first is subdivided into Clypeaceous and Ostrachodes. Before we proceed, therefore, we are again under the necessity of explaining terms. The first section comprizes all those individuals which are covered with a crust, or operculum. When this operculum presents the form of a shield, or buckler, the animal belongs to the Clypeaceous division: but, when it more nearly resembles a bivalve shell, its inhabitant is termed an ostrachode. The second section seems to be improperly denominated, since the animals belonging to it are not destitute of a crustaceous covering, though it is disposed in the form of a series of rings, of which the first is the largest. The orders comprehended under the first section are, Xiphosura, Pneumonura, and Phyllopoda; and those under the second, Ostrachoda, Pseudopoda, and Cephalota.

1. Xiphosura. This term, which is equivalent to Swordtailed, has been, retained in compliment to Schaeffer, who first introduced it, as well as on account of its characteristic propriety. This family is chiefly distinguished by the presence of mandibles, and by simple feet, formed for walking or swimming: but, for its critical history, and the modifications of structure which exclusively characterize it, we must refer our readers to M. LATREILLE's minute and masterly details. Its only genus is limulus, whose definition, in course, accords with that of the order. The species here particularized are heterodactylus, Moluccanus, polyphemus, and rotundicauda; of which the first and last are described from dried specimens in the Parisian Museum; and the two intermediate were formerly included under Monoculus Polyphemus Lin. They are all natives of the seas of both the Indies, and are very common about the Moluccas, the coasts of China and Japan, and especially the West Indies and Carolina. The inhabitants of the last mentioned country ascribe a poisonous quality to the sting of the tail but Bose, who had frequent opportunities of observing and handling them, suspects that this is the language of prejudice; and their motions are so slow and circumscribed, that their contact, if hurtful, may be very easily avoided. In the hot summer evenings, they often approach the shore, and remain all night, half emerged from the water, the male usually resting on the back of the female, and both equally

careless

careless of every thing but very instant danger. Some of them. have been known to measure two feet in length, including the tail. A very small part of their flesh is eatable but their eggs, which are numerous, are reckoned a great delicacy. They are frequently killed merely by turning them on their back in the sunshine, or by a fracture in their crust which usually proves mortal.

2. The Pneumonura are so denominated, because their tail seems to be furnished with branchial, or respiratory appendages. Their feet are simple, and formed for walking. They are parasitical animals, adhering to various fishes, frogs, tadpoles, &c. from which they draw their nourishment. They are all oviparous, and very small, the largest not exceeding four lines in length. This order comprehends three genera, viz. Caligus, with the tail formed of filaments, or tubes; Binoculus, with the tail of feathered laminæ, and no inflated feet; and Ozolus, with the same sort of foliaceous and feathered tail, and two inflated feet. The species are very few, and their history is generally obscure: but Ozolus gasterostei has been well described by Cuvier under the denomination of Monoculus Gyrini.

3. The Phyllopoda, or leaf-footed, have all their feet foliaceous, or branchial, and formed only for swimming or breathing. The general observations on this order are avowedly translated from the monography of the laborious Scheffer; and the summary account of its solitary genus Apus is, in like manner, borrowed from Bose's interesting history of the Crustacea. Here we cannot help remarking, much to M. LATREILLE's credit, that he uniformly avails himself of the most respectable sources of information, and is never ashamed to quote them. The two species of Apus, viz cancriformis and productus, are described with neatness and precision.

4. The Ostrachoda have their body covered with a crust, resembling a bivalve shell, particularly that of the oyster, but more of a horny than calcareous consistence. From the anterior part of their body proceed two hairy filaments, disposed in a pencil, or branched like arms. Some have two distinct eyes, and others only one. The genera are, Lynceus, Daphnia, Cypris, and Cythere.

The characters of Lynceus are, pencilled antenna, and two eyes. This genus, and its nine species, were instituted by Muller, and seem to have been unknown to former writers. Through their transparent bodies, the heart and intestinal canal are said to be discernible, though the largest species is only about two lines in length.

Daphnia,

« ПредишнаНапред »