of preceding times, to point the way and set the example in pursuing scientific inquiries, on just and permanent principles.

From that period the study of the sciences has been, not one of the most agreeable only, but most useful, which has engaged the efforts of genius and industry. If we take in the whole compass of the sciences, indeed, as embracing the works and laws of nature in their widest extent, it may safely be said, that the modern improvements in society, view them as you may, have been owing more to the investigations of science, than to all other causes. Look at the single discovery of Newton, in demonstrating the great law of the universe; trace this law from its action on the heavenly orbs, down to the minutest objects of nature around us, and behold it regulating every motion, sustaining the organization of matter, balancing the world on its centre, and ruling the affinities between the smallest particles in the masses of material things. Examine its operations as applied to chemistry, and witness the extraordinary and beneficial results, which have grown out of this science, since it has been pursued according to the principles of the new philosophy of Bacon and Newton. The recent triumphs of science are seen everywhere, giving a new aspect to social existence, improving the arts and multiplying the enjoyments of life; they are seen in the increased facilities of navigation and commerce, manufactures, agriculture, and the minor branches of industry. And what is more than all, a barrier has been fixed, beyond which the minds of men will not range in search of impossibilities and absurdities. Whole lives of labor and ingenious research will not be lost, as formerly, in dreaming about the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, and other vagaries of a bewildered brain. Truths have been discovered, and principles settled, which will serve as future guides, and help forward, to an indefinite limit, a knowledge of the properties, uses, and ends of nature.

But when we descend to what have been called, by way of distinction, the natural sciences, as applicable to the three great kingdoms of nature, the mineral, vegetable, and animal, the utility of such studies may seem less obvious. We apprehend, however, that, if the subject be viewed in its proper relations, no objection can be raised on this ground. There is doubtless nothing in the economy of nature, which may not be known to advantage by the beings, who live here in the midst of its infinitely varied operations, and who are furnished with capacities, which enable them to turn all knowledge to some useful ac

count. Who can tell, moreover, how much one part depends on another; how much the mineral may affect the vegetable, and the vegetable the animal? We know that there are close affinities between the whole, that one relies on another for life and support, and that all contribute in general to the comfort of social man. Without aids from the mineral kingdom, we should be destitute of machinery and implements for executing the necessary operations in the arts of life; from animals and vegetables we are clothed and fed. Now it may not be clear at once, what special and immediate benefit will be conferred on the human race, by the labors of a life spent in gathering up, naming, and describing the shells, which are driven to the beach by the waves of the sea, or in examining and marking the peculiarities of different spires of grass and plants, that grow in wilds and solitudes; but let it be remembered, that great and substantial results can be brought only out of these minute investigations, that a methodical arrangement of all the parts is necessary to constitute a perfect whole; let this be realized, and these studies of the naturalist will be found to have important bearings.

The nomenclature of the sciences threatens, undoubtedly, to throw an embarrassing obstacle in the way of rapid inquiry, and to retard for a time the progress of desirable knowledge. Names are multiplying beyond the compass of memory, and almost beyond the acquisition of an ordinary life. There is no remedy for this inconvenience, but it will gradually be diminished. When all the marked varieties in the departments of nature shall have been examined, described, and named, the only task then to be accomplished will be to methodize and simplify the facts thus collected, and establish a permanent classification. The system of nature will then be exhibited in its harmony and beauty, and the extent to which its various parts may be converted to the uses of man will be understood; or, at least, all the elements necessary for pursuing the study with this view will be established.

So broad a range, indeed, we need not take, to discover the utility of the natural sciences. If nothing more were aimed at in pursuing them, than amusement, an agreeable occupation, or an elegant accomplishment, they would claim a distinguished rank among liberal studies. A mind trained to the accurate observation of nature will receive a tone, and possess resources fitting it for contentment and happiness, which it cannot derive in so high a degree from any other kinds of study. The VOL. XXIV.No. 54.

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book of nature is always open, and the person, who from habit feels a pleasure in reading it, will ever have at hand the best antidotes against those common maladies of the mind, which beset the great mass of mankind for the want of engaging topics of thought, and incitements to application. Again, the natural sciences, as now pursued, contribute to the perfection of the arts, and the taste of the community is thereby refined, as its knowledge is enlarged, and means of enjoyment multiplied. To illustrate this fact, by eminent examples, we need only refer to Wilson's and Bonaparte's Ornithology, and Say's beautiful work on insects, all published in this country, and all, we will add, deserving a place in every collection of books, public or private, in which it is deemed an object to treasure up memorials of the talents, taste, and skill of those, who have made the most successful researches in our natural history, and published them in a style that does credit not more to the authors and artists, than to the nation.

But we are wandering wide of our purpose. We did not design, when we began, to read a solemn lecture on the ancients, nor to compose a dissertation on the dignity of science, nor to talk of the utility and influence of a just knowledge of nature; we set out with no other intention, than to hazard a few remarks on the two works, whose titles are printed at the head of this article. We say hazard, for really we have not the affectation to pretend to an acquaintance with the subjects on which these books treat, and therefore we shall not say a word about genus or species, nor discuss any such question as whether the Forktailed Flycatcher' is properly called Muscicapa Tyrannus, according to Linné, or Tyrannus Savana, as set forth by Vieillot, and adopted by Mr Bonaparte. Matters of this dignity belong only to the initiated, and should not be lightly handled. Besides, were we as deep in the mysteries of science, as Linné himself, or Buffon, our Journal would be no place in which to display this knowledge, either to instruct the unlearned, or to astonish the skilful by the compass of our ́attainments. After this frank acknowledgement, we hope no offence will be taken, that we should presume to review books, which we do not understand. A sad, dull, heartless employment indeed, would reviewers have of it, if they were to be shut up within these limits, and if all books must be understood before the critic can be allowed to sharpen his quill. In the first place, it may be charitably believed, that very few authors understand

what they write. Why deny to reviewers the same privilege? In the next place, the craft would soon come to an end, if such rigid rules were adopted; for how many can you find, who will confess, that they fully understand another's book, however successful the author himself may have been in fathoming his own thoughts? It is a well established axiom, in short, drawn from the practice of ages, that writing and understanding are quite different things. Let it not be charged against us, therefore, that we abet any innovation in uttering a few remarks, touching two books on ornithology, although we are fain to own, that we know not one bird from another, except as we see them flying in the air, or hear their warblings in their wonted haunts.

After these confessions, we presume our readers will be quite as well pleased to listen to the authors themselves, in their own language, as to anything we can say; and in this particular we shall gratify them pretty freely in what remains of this article. In addition to the high scientific value of these works, they present specimens of the most beautiful typography, accurate delineations from nature, and exquisite coloring, which have appeared in this country. The first, called a Supplement to Wilson's Ornithology, published by Mr Ord, contains several plates, which exhibit birds engraved from Wilson's original drawings, and intended by that distinguished ornithologist for a part of the ninth volume of his great work, had he lived to complete his task. Mr Ord deserves the warmest thanks of the public, for bringing forward these remains of Wilson, in a style so elegant, and with accompaniments, which give them additional value and interest. A large portion of the volume is occupied with a memoir of the author, interspersed with many original letters, and closed with a series of critical remarks by the editor on the various literary productions of the ornithologist. Although these materials are thrown together without studied method, or rigid selection, yet they are fraught with entertainment, and show the prominent points of his character in strong relief.

So much has already been said of Wilson, so justly are his labors appreciated, and so wide is his fame, that we shall forbear to enlarge on these topics. He was a Scotchman by birth; the first years of his residence in this country were devoted to schoolkeeping in Pennsylvania; an early acquaintance with the venerable Bartram kindled within him a love of science, and after he commenced his ornithological inquiries, he pursued them for the remaining short period of his life with an enthusiasm,

perseverance, and self devotion, which have rarely been equalled. He died in Philadelphia, August 23d, 1813, at the age of fortyseven. His American Ornithology, executed under every possible disadvantage, and with encouragement so slender, as hardly to keep him from the heavy pressure of want, is a monument to his name, that will never decay. The old world and the new will regard it with equal admiration. 'We may add, without hesitation,' says Mr Bonaparte, that such a work as he has published, in a new country, is still a desideratum in Europe:' To accomplish such a work, with all the facilities, which the arts and knowledge of Europe afford, would confer no common distinction; but when it is considered, that Wilson taught himself, almost unassisted, the arts of drawing and engraving; that he made his way in the science with very little aid from books or teachers; that he entered a path in which he could find no companions, none to stimulate his ardor by a similarity of pursuits or communion of feeling, none to remove his doubts, guide his inquiries, or to be deeply interested in his success; when these things are considered, the labors of Wilson must claim a praise, which is due to a few only of the solitary efforts of talent and enterprise.

In the strictest sense of the terms, Wilson was a man of genius; his perceptions were quick, his impressions vivid ; a bright glow of feeling breathes through his compositions. In the professed walks of poetry his attempts were not often fortunate, but his prose writings partake of the genuine poetic spirit; a lively fancy, exuberance of thought, and minute observation of the natural world, are strongly indicated in whatever has flowed from his pen. He travelled for the double purpose of procuring subscriptions to his book, and searching the forests for birds; and some of his graphic descriptions of the scenery of nature, and the habits of the winged tribes, are inimitable. Sometimes he walked ; at others descended rivers in a canoe; again he was on horseback, in a stagecoach, or a farmer's waggon, as the great ends of his wanderings could be most easily attained. The cold repulses of the many, from whom he solicited subscriptions, he bore with equanimity, undaunted by disappointment, unsubdued by toil and privation; the acquisition of a new bird, or of new facts illustrating the habitudes of those already known, was a fountain of joy in his gloomiest moments; it poured the waters of oblivion over the past, and gave him new energy in his onward course. The following beautiful extract is from a letter to Mr Bartram.