36d " Cwoier^s liegne AriimaL 



Murray, John, Esq. F.S.A. F.L.S. F.H.S. F.G.S., &c. : A Glance at some of 

 the Beauties and Sublimities of Switzerland ; with excursive Remarks on 

 the various Objects of Interest, presented during a Tour through its pic- 

 turesque Scenery. London, 1829. 12mo. Is. 



This is a most agreeable little book, which no body will be sorry for 

 having purchased. The author seems to have been accompanied by his 

 wife, which must have greatly enhanced the enjoyments of that delightful 

 region at the time, and laid the foundation for the most interesting and 

 agreeable associations and recollections. Of all ways of enjoying the honey- 

 moon, none appears to us at all comparable to that of travelling in a foreign 

 country; not flying through it in a close carriage, in the manner of the 

 English nobility, but taking the public conveyances, now and then hiring a 

 post-chaise, a cabriolet, or char a banc, and stopping a day or two at the 

 most interesting towns or situations, and examining them and the neigh- 

 bourhood on foot, as did Mr. and Mrs. Murray, 



Conversations on Vegetable Physiology ; comprehending the Elements of 

 Botany, with their Application to Agriculture. By the author of" Con- 

 versations on Chemistry," " Natural Philosophy," &c. London, 8vo, 

 2 vols. l2mo. 



An excellent work, which we shall notice more at length in next No. 

 Anon. : The Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom displayed. In a series of 

 Letters. London, 1829. 2d edit. 12mo. 6s. 



France. 



Cumer, M. le Baron, &c. : Le Regne Animal distribu^ d'apres son Organi- 

 sation, pour servir de Base a I'Histoire Naturelle des Animaux, et dTn- 

 troduction a TAnatomie comparee. Nouvelle Edition, revue et augmentee. 

 Paris. Five vols. Svo. 



The present, or second, edition of Baron Cuvier's " Animal Kingdom 

 arranged according to its Organisation," is extended to five volumes, only 

 four of which have reached this country. The third volume, containing 

 the Mollusca and Radikta, will complete the work, and is expected shortly 

 to appear. It is now twelve years since the first edition of this valuable 

 work was published. If the Paris editions of distinguished works do not 

 exceed in number of copies those of the London booksellers, we cannot 

 but express our surprise that so long a period should elapse between the 

 publication of the first and second editions of the Regne Animal, a work 

 which forms an epoch in the science of zoology. Our surprise is further 

 increased when we consider the moderate price of the former edition of 

 four volumes (about 206-. English), and that a large number of copies must 

 have been sold to different parts of Europe. This fact proves that, out of 

 Paris and its immediate vicinity, the number of scientific readers in France 

 is comparatively very small. In Paris and other large cities in France, 

 from the houses being generally occupied by several families, there is 

 little accommodation for forming private libraries : it is the same in Geneva j 

 we were informed, when there, that only two or three gentlemen in the 

 place had any number of books which could deserve the name of a library. 

 This inconvenience is partly remedied by public libraries, which are open 

 almost every day throughout the year, and to which readers have free 

 access. Making due allowance for this, still the great length of time which 

 is required for the sale of a single edition of many valuable works that 

 we could mention, shows that scientific readers are more rare in the pro- 

 vinces of France than in Great Britain. The provinces of France are in 

 respect to science, what England was a century ago, when Addison informs 

 us that " few country squires knew that they were living upon a planet." 



