Memoir of the Life of Dr. Thomas Young. 335 



the only qualities of which Dr. Young's mind was destitute ; the 

 writer of this memoir thinks this want at least doubtful from the 

 highly poetical cast of some of his early Greek translations, and is of 

 opinion that it might with more justice have been said ' that he never 

 cultivated the talent of throwing a brilliancy on objects which he had 

 ascertained did not belong to them/ and that his entire devotion to 

 the simple truth, on all occasions, made him averse to the slightest 

 degree of exaggeration, or even of colouring ; and that, whether 

 gifted or not with imagination, Dr. Young would, on principle, have 

 abstained from its indulgence. 



In all the relations of private life, Dr. Young was as exemplary as 

 his talents were great, and his whole career was one unbending course 

 of usefulness and rectitude. 



*** To this Memoir is appended a complete catalogue of all the Works and 

 Essays of Dr. Young, from memoranda in his own hand-writing, fur which we 

 hope to find space in a subsequent number of this Journal. 



Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences at Paris. 



AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL ECONOMY. 



Improvement in the Breed of Cattle. ON the 12th of September, 

 M. Silvestre, in the name of himself and M. Husarcl, made a report 

 on a memoir of M. Girou de Busaringues, on the amelioration of the 

 breed of sheep, oxen, and horses. The reporter, after enlarging on 

 the importance of the subject, and the sagacity and experience of 

 M. Girou de Busaringues, said, that the memoir in question very 

 properly confined itself to results instead of speculations. With re- 

 spect to increasing the size of cattle, the author proves that the 

 height which it is expedient to endeavour to make them attain, 

 should be in proportion to the pasture peculiar to the country. He 

 then establishes that it is better, in almost all cases, to keep cattle in 

 the fields, and not nourish them in stalls ; and afterwards expresses 

 an opinion that the fineness of the wool of sheep is in an inverse 

 proportion to the height of the animal, but in this opinion the re- 

 porters do not agree with him, as they consider the fineness of the 

 wool to be dependent on totally different causes. The author then 

 points out the different parts of the various animals to which the 

 peculiar attention of the cultivator should be directed. Thus in 

 sheep the greatest possible length should be given to the body, that 

 being the part from which the wool is derived. In horned cattle, the 

 increase of the production of milk is the most essential thing ; while, 

 in horses, regard must be had to the purposes to which they are to 

 be applied. The author's observations, in the present memoir, are 

 confined to the race-horse, and are merely a resume" of the opinions 

 which he has before given to the world, in his work entitled * Etude 

 de Physiologic appliquee aux Chevaux.' 



