MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 609 



titioner. This intention is completely fulfilled in the numbers now lying 

 before us, wherein the veins of the face and neck, the arm, and the chest and 

 heart, are admirably delineated. These plates are accompanied by descriptive 

 letter- press, and a luminous reference to each plate, in which the vessels and 

 muscles are referred to by their English titles. 



We recommend this work to those among our readers who feel curious in 

 the construction of our corporeal part, and who would learn without difficulty 

 the distinctive titles of the different parts of our structure. To barristers such 

 a work must be as necessary as to the medical practitioner, for how can he 

 form a fair judgment in medico-legal cases where the soundness of the body 

 is concerned, without being himself acquainted at least with the general out- 

 lines of its anatomy ? 



We shall furnish our readers with occasional remarks upon the progress of 

 this work. 



BOTANICAL SCIENCE. 



Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum ; or, the Trees and Shrubs of 

 Britain. By J. C. Loudon, F. L. H. G. and L. S. Nos. 26, 27, 

 28. Longman and Co. 



HOWEVER incorrect it may appear in a conscientious reviewer to express an 

 agreeable bias towards the subject which his duty to the public calls upon 

 him candidly and impartially to discuss, we must confess that, with the above 

 beautiful work before us, our native hills and our native woods appeal strongly 

 for an opinion consistent with our appreciation of the agreeable task. It has 

 been our fortune to have had our attention drawn to the classical and intel- 

 lectual labours of Mr. Loudon for several years past ; we have had, moreover, 

 in our occasional tours though England and Scotland, gratifying experience 

 of the practical ability of that gentleman in the ornamental designs which 

 decorate many of the villas and parks of our nobility. 



Mr. Loudon conjoins with a perfect knowledge of the peculiarities of trees, 

 the nature of the soil which they demand, and the aspect the most favourable 

 to their growth and perfection, an acquaintance with rural architecture which 

 enables him to harmonize the graceful forms which compose this branch of 

 architectural and landscape gardening. 



The fame of English taste in the branch of ornamental design and cultiva- 

 tion has made its way even to the frigid climes of St. Petersburg, and we find 

 the emperor at the present moment engaging the services of a British land- 

 scape architect in his imperial park. 



But the value of the labours of Mr. Loudon is best observed in the continual 

 errors which have been committed in Scotland, in the selection of plantation 

 lands. Fruitless have been the attempts of our northern neighbours to raise 



geography of 

 work. 



We feel, therefore, that we are not saying too much when we advise that 

 the "Arboretum" be admitted to a place on the library table of every educated 

 gentleman who feels an interest in the cultivation and beauty of his country. 

 He will find within its pages concise and popular descriptions of all the 

 British trees and shrubs ; their English, French, and German synonymes, with 

 the derivation of their common names ; botanical and scientific characters, 

 divested of all unnecessary technicalities ; directions for their propagation and 

 culture, with historical notices of their use, their character in their native 

 countries, and their introduction into Britain. 



The letter-press is attractive and engaging ; each plant is enriched with a 

 portrait from nature, on the scale of a quarter of an inch to a foot, and the 



