: tenance. strong and amusing resemblance to the general expression of his counthe original, when viewed under one particular aspect; but seldom, perhaps, conveyed a just and complete conception of it in all its dimensions and proportions. In a word, it was the fault of his unpremeditated judgments, to be too systematical, and too much in ex tremes. But, in whatever way these trifling peculiarities in his manners may be explained, there can be no doubt, that they were intimately connected with the genuine artlessness of his mind. In this amiable quality, he often recalled to his friends the accounts that are given of good La Fontaine; a quality which in him derived a peculiar grace from the singularity of its combination with those powers of reason and of eloquence, which, in his political and moral writings, have long engaged the admiration of Europe. Anecdotes of Mr. Robert Bakewell, of M R. Robert Bakewell, the most successful and celebrated experimental farmer ever known in England, was born at Dishley in Leicestershire, about 1725 от 6. His grandfather and father had resided on the same estate since the beginning of this century; and his father, who died about 1760, bad always the reputation of being one of the most ingenious and able farmers of his neighbourhood. Mt. Bakewell having conducted the Dishley farm several years before the decease of his father, began, about 40 years since, that course of experiments which has procured him such extensive fame. He ori In his external form and appear-ginally adopted a principle, à priori, ance, there was nothing uncommon. When perfectly at ease, and when warmed with conversation, his gestures were animated, and not ungraceful; and, in the society of those he loved, his features were often brightened with a smile of inexpressible benignity. In the company of strangers, his tendency to absence, and perhaps still more his consciousness of this tendency, rendered his manner somewhat embarrassed; an effect which was probably not a little heightened by those speculative ideas of propriety, which his recluse habits tended at once to perfect in his conception, and to diminish his power of realizing. He never sat for his picture; but the medallion of Tassie conveys an exact idea of his profile, and of of which all the experience of his future life evinced the propriety. Having remarked that domestic animals, in general, produced others, possessing qualities nearly similar to their own, he conceived he had only to select from the most valuable breeds such as promised to return the greatest possible emolument to the breeder; and that he should then be able, by careful attention to progressive improvement, to produce a race of sheep, or rather animals, possessing a maximum of advantage. Under the influence of this excellent notion, Mr. Bakewell made excursions into different parts of England, to inspect the various breeds, and to ascertain those which were best adapted to his purposes, and the most valuable of their kinds, هر : His next step was to select and pur. chase the best of all the sorts where. ever they could be found; and this selection, the result of several years experience, was the original stock from which he afterwards propagated his own. This excellent ground-work was alone fostered to its present unrivalled perfection by the persevering industry of Mr. Bakewell. Like the immortal Newton, what his genius had conceived, he happily possessed the patient industry to execute. About 1760, Mr. Bakewell sold his sheep, by private contract, at not more than two or three guineas each. Some time afterwards, he began to let out some of his rams, and for a few seasons received only 15s. and a guinea a piece for them; but, as the fame of his breed extended itself, he advanced his prices, and, by the year 1770, was enabled to let some of his rams for the season for 25 guineas. Since that time, the prices and credit of his stock have been progressively increasing; and, of late years, single rams have been let for the season, for the enormous sum of 400 guineas and upwards. It is a fact, which has no former example, that one ram, called "The Two-Pounder," produced in one season, the sum of 800 guineas, independent of ewes of Mr. Bakewell's own stock, which, at the same rate, would have made a total, the produce of a single ram, of 1200 guineas! Every branch of the Agricultural Art is more or less indebted to the fortunate genius and original mind of Mr. Bakewell. He directed his attention, however, the most successfully, to the improvement of the sheep known by the name of "The Dishley," or, "NewLeicestershire, "tolong-horned, cattle; and to strong horses of the black breed, suitable for the harness and the army. The improvement of pigs, and the cultivation of the best winter food for cattle, had latterly engaged his attention; and he had proved himself useful to the public by introducing into practice the flooding of meadows. The race of Dishley sheep are known by the fineness of their bones and flesh, the lightness of the offal, the disposition to quietness, and, consequently, to mature and fatten with less food than other sheep of equal weight and value. Mr. Bakewell improved his black horses by an attention to the form which is best adapted to their use. His stallions have been let for the season for 100 guineas and upwards. About ten years since, he exhibited his famous black horse to the king and many of the nobility in the court-yard at St. James's. His long-horned cattle have been characterised by properties similar to those of his sheep, for the fineness of the bone and flesh, the lightness of the offal, and the disposition to fatten. In a word, no competitor ever had the temerity to vie with him in his horses and cattle; and his sheep continue as universally unrivalled, notwithstanding the competitions excited at various times by motives of interest or envy. In this place it may be worth while to insert the following statement of the prices given at two leading auctions of stock, bred from Mr. Bakewell's. These great prices, as well as the prices which these articles always maintain, are the most indubitable proofs of the high opinion which the best and most interested judges entertain of Mr. Bakewell's merit. The first sale which we advert to was that of Mr. Fowler, Fowler, of Rollright, in Oxfordshire. This gentleman had commenced his breeding-speculations with a couple of cows, and a bull which he had hired of Mr. Bakewell. After his death; one article of his live-stock, the horned cattle, sold for a value equal to that of the fee-simple of his farm! Fifteen head alone of bullsand cows sold for 2464 pounds, or at the rate of 164 pounds each! The other anction was that of Mr. Paget at Ibstock. Mr. Paget had been many years the intimate friend, and, in the Breeding-society, a very eminent and successful colleague of Mr. Bakewell. The sale of his stock was therefore looked up to with much eagerness by the public. At this sale, one bull sold for the sum of 400 guineas (and a sixth share of the same has since been sold for 100) and a two-year old heifer for 84! 211 ewes and theaves fetched 3315 guineas, on the average 17 guineas each; and one lot of five ewes was sold for 310 guineas! Such was the respect paid to Mr. Bakewell, in his life time. To conclude that he was sufficiently rewarded, would be to with-hold his due, if we consider the money and honours that are bestowed on projects far less beneficial than his. Perhaps, at some future period, the civic crown and public monuments will be awarded to such characters in preference to the more doubtful claims of the warrior and the statesman. Mr. Bakewell died the 1st of October, 1795, in bis 70th year. As he had never been married, his business devolves to Mr. Honeyborn, his nephew; and it is a fortunate circumstance for the public, that this gentleman is possessed of genius and enterprize similar to that of his predecessor. In person, Mr. Bakewell was tall, broad-set, and, in his latter years, rather inclined to corpulency. His countenance bespoke intelligence, activity, and a high degree of be. nevolence. His manners were frank and pleasing, and well calculated to maintain the extensive popularity he had acquired. His-domestic arrangements at Dishley were formed on a scale of hospitality to strangers, that gained him universal esteem; of the numerous visitants induced by curiosity to call at his house, none ever left it without having reason to extol the liberality of its owner. Many interesting anecdotes are related of his humanity towards the various orders of animals; he continually deprecated the atrocious barbarities practised by butchers and drovers; shewing, by examples on his own farm, the most pleasing instances of docility in the animals under his care. In fine, without the introduction of unmeaning panegyric, Mr. Bakewell was exactly such a character as every well-meaning man would wish to be. His vices were few, and without name; his virtue such as most men ought to imitate; and his utility was of such extensive consequence, as to be a proper object of emulation to all men. : NATURAL NATURAL HISTORY. singular structure, which I believe has not been hitherto noticed; and though not the object I had in view, in the examination, it will perhaps elucidate several remarkable circumstances in the natural history of these animals, and may ultimately be applied to the eyes of other animals and add one additional discovery to those already made on this beautifully constructed organ. In March, 1792, I observed, while dissecting the eyes of birds, an irregular appearance of the sclerotica, in that part of it which immediately surrounds the cornea ; and which in them is generally flat. On a more minute examination, it appeared to be scales lying over each other, and which appeared capable of motion on each other. These appearances I shewed to Dr. Fowler, of London, and likewise to Mr. Thomson, surgeon, Edinburgh. In June, this paper was copied out, at my request, by Mr. Irving, who resided in the same house with me. On investigating this singular structure, the scales were found to be of tony hard ness, at least much more so than any other part of the sclerotica. On the inside of the sclerotic coat of the eye there was no appearance of these scales, that part of it being similar to the rest of the sclerotica. Tendinous fibres were detected spreading over the scales, and terminating at last in forming the four recti muscles belonging to the eye, so that, upon the contraction of these muscles, motion of the scales would be produced. This imbricated appearance of part of the sclerotica, and the destruction of the tendinous fibres spreading over scales, terminating at last in the four recti muscles, led me to consider the use of this structure, what would be the effect of motion of the scales upon the vision of birds, and how far this can be applied to other animals. It is a fact so well known to persons acquainted with optics, that it is almost unnecessary to mention it, that the rays of light, passing through a lens, will be refracted to a point or focus, beyond the lens, and this focus will be less distant, in proportion as the lens approaches, to a sphere in shape. Now this principle is very naturally applied to the explanation of the use of this apparatus. These scales lying each partly over the next, so as to allow of motion, will, on the contraction 1 traction of the recti muscles, inserted into and covering them, move over each other, and thus the circle of the sclerotica will be diminished, and of course the cornea, which is immediately within the circle made by these scales, will be pressed forwards, or, in other words, rendered more convex, and thus the focus of the eye becomes altered, its axis being elongated. This construction, and consequent convexity of the cornea, must render small objects near the animal very distinct. On these muscles relaxing, the elasticity of the sclerotic coat will restore the cornea to its original flatness; it thus becomes fitted for viewing objects placed at a greater distance from the eye, and this will be in proportion to the degree of relaxation. There seems to exist in nature an economy of motion, to prevent fatigue and exhaustion of the animal powers by continued voluntary muscular action. If two opposite actions of the same frequency occur in two muscles, the one being antago. nist to the other, the action of one ceasing, the action of the other must take place previously to farther motion of the part; for instance, on the biceps flexor of the arm acting, the arm will be bent, but on discontinuing its action the arm will remain in the same state, unless it was straightened by the action of the bicepts exterior, its antagonist; but where one action in a part is required to take place almost constantly, and the opposite action but seldom, to save the animal from fatigue necessarily induced by muscular contraction, she gives an elastic ligament, which from its elasticity may be said to be in continual action, without exhausting the animal. Thus, when the opposite action, which is of less frequent occurrence, is required, it is performed by overcoming the resistance, or elasticity of this elastic ligament, which, on the muscle giving over its action again, resumes its former state. The elastic cartilages of the ribs performing, in some degree, the functions of a muscle, are of use in respiration; likewise the elastic ligaments which support the claws of all the feline genus, keeping them from friction against the ground. These claws, at the volition of the animal, by muscles appropriated for that purpose, are brought into action or extended. From the abovementioned structure, the same thing appears to take place in the eyes of animals. When an animal is desirous of seeing minute objects, the recti muscles act, and thus, by rendering the eye more convex, enlarge the angle under which the object is seen. How necessary is this structure to these animals in particular; for without it a bird would be continually exposed to have its head dashed against a tree when flying in a thick forest, its motions being too rapid for the common structure of the eye. The eagle, when soaring high in the air, observes small objects on the earth below him, inconceivable to us, and darts upon them instanta neously. Here we must allow that there must be an extraordinary alteration in the focus in this eye, in almost an instant of time. How could this be performed unless the animal had this apparatus? The eyes of quadrupeds, as I shall afterwards shew, can perform this alte ration, though not in the same degree, as it is not necessary, their modes of life being different. A swallow, sailing through the air, pursues a great |