382 ConversiXtiom on the Animal Economy. 



The ttieritso/the descriptive poetry, which is thickly inter- 

 spersed, we leave to other critics. Those who are destined 

 to live in the " fuliginous tenebrosity" of this smoke-satu- 

 rated metropolis, and to breathe an atmosphere *' sated with 

 exhalations rank and fdl," care little about the first peeping 

 forth of the modest snowdrop, or the early bursting of the 

 golden crocus ; but such as reside in the country will be 

 glad to have their attention pleasingly directed to the suc- 

 cessive products of the field, the flower-garden, and the 

 green-house. 



Conversations oh the Animal Economy, By a Physician. 

 2 vols, small 8vo. London, 1827. 



We have more than once expressed our opinion on the sub- 

 ject of conveying information to young people in the way; 

 of ** Conversations," which in the present volumes are car- 

 ried on between Dr. A., Harriet, Sophia, and Charles; they 

 are at once instructive and amusing, and evidently the pro- 

 duce of one possessed of much information upon the subjects 

 discussed, and, what is more to the point, of the art of 

 pleasantly and intelligibly conveying it. 



The Conversations open with an account of the coverings- 

 or integuments of animals ; their arrangements by systematic^ 

 writers are then adverted to, and a short but useful descrip- 

 tion is given of the varieties of mankind, as enumerated by 

 Blumenbach and illustrated by Camper. The bones and 

 muscles form the subjects of the fifth and sixth conversations ; 

 they are concisely described, and with sufficient accuracy. 

 The brain and nervous system and the organs of sense are 

 next talked about. The doctrines of phrenology are fairly 

 explained; and in the conversations on smell and taste, 

 vision, hearing, and touch, the anatomy of the respective 

 organs, and their varieties in the different animal tribes are- 

 treated of, the dulness of the details being relieved by phy-« 

 siological illustrations. The remaining conversations are 

 occupied with an account of the principal functions o£ 

 animals, and of the several organs chiefly concerned in their, 

 performance ; the varieties of teeth and stomachs are here, 

 treated of, and the structures of the heart and blood-vessels^ 

 as concerned in circulation and respiration. The produc- 

 tion of heat by animal systems is then noticed ; and the 

 twentieth and concluding conversation is employed in the 

 exposition of the general phenomena of growth ^nd decay. 



