430 



would furnish texts for as many Bridgewater Treatises. The 

 freshness and originality of the observations taken from na- 

 ture herself, and not made up from quotations of preceding 

 writers ; the extent of the views, not bounded by any neces- 

 sity for complying with preconceived or prevalent notions, 

 but capacious as the author's mind itself, and frequently 

 leading the reader into the most interesting under-currents 

 of thought branching off from the great fountain ; these are 

 all merits belonging to the work, but not constituting its chief 

 value, — which is, that it is a collection of facts, observed 

 under peculiar advantages, such as have never since oc- 

 curred, and that it is at the present day to be consulted for 

 new discoveries. 



Now that Greece is, for the first time since the revival of 

 letters, in possession of a government capable of apprecia- 

 ting scientific investigations, a favourable opportunity offers 

 for preparing an edition of the work, at once worthy of the 

 age in which it was composed, and of that in which we live ; 

 and perhaps some individual may be found, possessing a 

 competent knowledge of the Greek language, and of zoology 

 and comparative anatomy, who, after a sufficient examina- 

 tion of the animals now in Greece, shall undertake the task 

 of editing and illustrating this great work. Such a perfor- 

 mance, properly executed, would be the resuscitation of a 

 body of knowledge, which has lain buried for above 2000 

 years ; and would certainly be no less acceptable to zoologists 

 and anatomists than to the cultivators of classical learning. 



The Rev. Dr. Todd exhibited to the Academy a gold 

 ring, the property of William Farren, Esq., which was re- 

 ceived in barter, from the natives of the western coast of 

 Africa. The similarity of the twist in this ring to that of 

 the gold torques found at Tara, and recently presented to 

 the Academy, renders it extremely worthy of attention. 

 The following extract of a letter from Mr. Weston, of Lon- 



