to are explained in three plates; the specimens being brought from the South Sea and the Northern Ocean. Sir E. Home intends his observations for the use of geologists, in the event of fossil remains of these animals being discovered.

No. XVI. Account of an Assemblage of Fossil Teeth and Bones of various Animals, discovered in a Cave at Kirkdale in Yorkshire, in 1821, with a comparative View of similar Caverns. By the Rev. W. Buckland, F.R.S. F.L.S. and Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at Oxford, &c. The principal facts stated in this paper, the whole of which is one of high interest in relation to the evidence brought forward in it for the belief in a diluvian action, may be reduced to the following.

In the limestone rock in the eastern part of Yorkshire, a small cave or fissure has been discovered, penetrating about fifty yards into the rock, and having a perpendicular section of about four feet square. The top and sides are covered with what has evidently been a gradual formation of stalactite. The floor of the cave, however, is perfectly level, and formed of a solid bed of mud. In some parts, the stalactitic incrustations of the sides have formed over this mud, having apparently been arrested in their course down the sides, and thus spread themselves on the surface of the mud. There are also several insulated deposits of stalagmite on its surface. These are important to be noticed, as bearing upon the question of the comparative ages of these depositions. The mud being removed to about the depth of a foot, we come to another formation of stalactite forming the real bottom of the cavern. In this evidently older stalactite, in some places are found portions and fragments of various bones aggregated and cemented together by the deposition. The principal circumstance, however, consists in a variety of fragments of bones preserved in the mud. Respecting these, several curious particulars are to be observed. In the first place, these fragments are in various stages of decay; some quite recent, others nearly destroyed. Then again, they are all, without exception broken, and many of them into very small fragments; the fracture being evidently the work of violence, and not of the force of water or attrition; the edges and even the finest splinters being perfectly sharp and well preserved. There is a much larger proportion of teeth and the smaller and harder bones, than of any other parts. The principal animals to which the various bones are ascertained to have belonged, are the hyæna, tiger, bear, wolf, fox, weasel, elephant, rhinoceros, horse, ox, deer, rabbit,

water-rat, and several species of birds. The remains of the largest animals are found in the inmost recesses of the cavern equally with the smaller. It is evident also that none of the larger animals could ever have entered the cave entire. These, we believe, are the principal facts brought forward; and, to account for them, Mr. Buckland has displayed the utmost ingenuity in bringing every minute circumstance to bear upon the proof he has made out, of this cavern having been, previously to the deluge, a den of hyænas. It is the practice of these animals to prey both upon living animals and carrion. They will drag even the largest dead bodies from a considerable distance, and devour them in their dens. This will account for the assemblage of bones in the cave. The hyæna devours bones; this accounts for the broken and evidently gnawed state of the fragments: the teeth and a few small hard bones having been left untouched. The bones of hyænas appear to have suffered equally with the others: this accords with the habits of this animal, in devouring those of its own species which are wounded or aged. Some of the teeth appear to have belonged to hyænas which had died in their old age, being worn down to the very sockets. Things being in this state in the den, Mr. Buckland supposes the waters of the deluge, impregnated with mud, to have suddenly entered the cave, allowing perhaps a few living hyænas to escape, and, on their subsiding, to have enclosed and preserved the fragments which covered the bottom of the den, in a stratum of mud, which, from the fissure having been since closed, has remained undisturbed to the present time. This we are aware is a very imperfect outline of the extremely well-written and forcibly disposed arguments of Professor Buckland. They are spoiled by any attempt to abridge them; and for a great number of lesser evidences, all bearing upon the confirmation of the same view of the subject, we must necessarily refer our readers to the original paper. Our limits also will not permit us to enter upon the comparison which the Professor has instituted between this and similar caverns in other parts of Europe.

ART. X. The British Botanist, or a Familiar Introduction to the Science of Botany, explaining the Physiology of Vegetation, the Principles both of the Artificial and Natural Systems of Linnæus, and the Arrangement of Jussieu; intended chiefly for the Use of Young Persons. 12mo. pp. 268. Rivingtons. 1820.

ART. XI. Hortus Anglicus, or the Modern English Garden: containing a Familiar Description of all the Plants which are cultivated in the Climate of Great Britain, either for Use or Ornament, and of a Selection from the established Favourites of the Stove and Green House; arranged according to the System of Linnæus ; with Remarks on the Properties of the more valuable Species. By the Author of " The British Botanist." 2 Vols. 12mo. 16s. Rivingtons. 1822.

THE first of these works is one of the most simple and unpre tending introductory manuals which has ever chanced to fall in our way. Besides an explanation of the classes and orders of Linnæus, which, after all, must be considered only as a dry dictionary of names, much information is also given as to the nature, uses, and cultivation of different plants. Annexed to these also is a brief analysis of the system of Jussieu, which, on the continent, has already been able in great measure to supersede the arrangement of his great botanical predecessor. The whole is conveyed in plain terms, which in a book of science we hold to be the greatest of all possible recommendations, and as few of the supererogatory agrémens of the epistolary style are scattered over it as the adoption of that most mawkish of all sorts of writing will permit. It is the only point in which we think the author might have done better.

It is not easy to select from a volume of this kind. We take the following passage very much at random, as giving a fair specimen of the general character of the composition.

"Shall I tell you that the inducement which chiefly led me to become a botanist, was the uncomfortable state of ignorance in which I found myself whenever I met with the classical name or description of a plant: I really felt myself as deplorably at a loss as if I had been suddenly dropped upon an unknown country, without being acquainted with the language of its inhabitants. As to feel our wants seems to be one of the first steps to supply them, let us, at the expence of a little attention, acquire some knowledge of a large class of plants which, with great propriety, are called

compound flowers, and which, indeed, there is some difficulty in understanding.

"If you examine the common daisy, (Plate 8.) Bellis Perennis, you will be surprised to find that it is composed of nearly two hundred separate flowers, each one having its own corolla, pistil, or stamen, all those apparent petals, which are white above and red underneath, are, in reality, so many true flowers; and every one of those tiny yellow things in the centre, which probably you have mistaken for stamens, are real flowers also: pull out one of the white exterior petals, look carefully at the lower end by which it is fastened, and you will see that this end is not flat, but in the form of a tube, and that it contains a thread ending in two horns, which thread is the forked style: if you are assisted by a magnifying glass you will discover that the yellow florets which have expanded bear some resemblance in the shape of their corolla to the well-known lily of the valley; but those florets immediately in the centre are, probably not yet open, for they expand from the edge of the disk inwards; each of these florets contains five anthers, which are united together in the form of a tube, and surround a style, which passes through them, and is forked at the summit: all the florets are contained in one common calyx, which is composed of a double row of leaves. You must remember, that the essential character of a compound flower is the union of the anthers; so that you will not mistake for such a head of clover, which may be called an aggregate flower, being merely an assemblage of small flowers of the papilionaceous tribe, each flower in its own separate calyx.

"Could you have imagined that this humble plant afforded such matter of speculation?" British Botanist, P. 24.

The observations below on Jussieu seem to us extremely judicious.

"Thus I have set before you a brief sketch of the celebrated system of Jussieu, published in 1789: it is scarcely doing it justice to pretend to explain it by a reference to British plants alone, as one of its principal merits is the comprehensive view which it enables the botanist to take of the whole range of the vegetable world. To a practised philosopher it affords many curious and unexpected analogies, but as a perfect system of natural arrangement, I cannot but think that it shews the hopelessness of such an attempt, as greater ingenuity or learning can be expected from no author. If the affinities of plants cannot be traced by a coup-d'œil, and explanations are necessary, the system becomes at once artificial, and as much less perspicuous than the classes of Linnæus, as the insertion of the stamens is more perplexing and difficult to understand than the mere counting of their number: and in doubtful cases no two persons would place the same plant in the same order. Linnæus, in his natural system, ranks Viola amongst his

Campanaceae, Jussieu amongst his Cisti; perhaps no student would expect to find it in either of these orders: for my own part, I see no great resemblance between the hop and the nettle; and who would think, with Jussieu, of seeking for a currant-bush amongst the Cacti, which contain the creeping cereus and Indian fig?

It is certain, however, that the facility of the sexual system has drawn away the disciples of Linnæus from the study of natural affinities, in which study the talent of understanding genera chiefly consists; and in forming new genera, which are frequently to be separated by very nice and delicate intervals, a consideration of the mode of the insertion of the stamens or corolla is found to be of the first necessity. The nature of the seed, also, with regard to its cotyledons, often presents the most important distinctions.

"Upon the whole, in comparing this system of Jussieu with the artificial system of Linnæus, we must keep in mind the different purposes to which they are fit to be applied. Jussieu may sharpen the tact of an advanced practitioner, in throwing light upon some of the more recondite parts of botany, but he can never supersede Linnæus, to a beginner, since it is scarcely possible that by the assistance of Jussieu alone, an unpractised enquirer would be able to ascertain the knowledge of a plant with which he was previously unacquainted." British Botanist, P. 258.

The "Hortus Anglicus" is chiefly founded on the list of plants cultivated in the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew. The generic characters are extracted from Wildenow's Species Plantarum, and the place of each genus is inserted, both according to Linnæus and Jussieu. Many other works of acknowledged merit have been used to supply the remaining parts of this useful compilation, and the whole work is put together very clearly and methodically. We must content ourselves with one short extract, which may be equally useful to the naturalist, the student of health, and the Gourmand.

"Order Fungi.

"XIV. AGARICUS, from Agaria, a city, or Agarus, a river of Sarmatia. Nat. ord. Linn. and Juss. Fungi. 634 Species, Micheli. "1. A. Campestris. Common Mushroom. Gills pinky, changing to a dark liver colour, crowded, irregular; pileus convex, white or brown; stem white, cylindrical, curtain white;" plant varying very much in size, from an inch to a foot in diameter. August to September. Britain.

This species is esteemed the best and most savoury of the genus, and is in much request for the table: it is eaten fresh, either stewed or broiled, and preserved either as a pickle or in powder. The sauce called Ketchup is made from its juice, with salt and spices. The wild Mushrooms are more delicate than those which are raised on artifical beds; the flesh of the latter being less tender. Buttons are the Mushrooms in their young state, before that part