278 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC. 



and Miscellaneous Curiosities from different public-spirited individuals, have been 

 also added to the collection. The following is a synopsis of the present contents of 

 the Museum: — Mammalia, 36 specimens — Birds, upwards of 500 individuals — 

 Chelonia and Sauria, 40 — Ophidia, 159 — Batrachia, A— Fishes, 4 — Shells of the 

 Mollusca, 550 — Insecta, 8 cases, chiefly of the Coleopterous, Lepidopterous, and 

 Dipterous tribes — Radiata, 3—Zoophyta, 28 — In Geolo<yy and Fossil Remains 

 there are upwards of 2,000 specimens arranged in the order of the descending strata, 

 3 drawers devoted to Mineralogy, and a case dedicated to British Oology.— Besides 

 these, there are various Miscellaneous Curiosities, as the horns of several extinct and 

 existing Quadrupeds, Esquimaux Dresses, Snow Shoes, Weapons, Indian Belts, &c. 

 — Among the more recent acquisitions to the Ornithological department, is a beau- 

 tiful pair of the Bohemian Chatterer (Ampelis garrulus, Lin.), a rare and uncertain 

 visitant, the male of which was shot at Radford, near Evesham, and the female at 

 Claines, both during the past winter. 



WORCESTER LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION. 



On Monday, the 6th of April, Mr. Semonin delivered a lecture on the "Study 

 of the French Language." 



The lecturer commenced by a few observations on the utility of learning French, 

 in the course of which he adverted to the way French works are generally trans- 

 lated in this country. This led him to instance a great many blunders committed by 

 English translators : we shall subjoin a few for the amusement of our readers. 



Those who have read Gil Bias, may recollect that part where Rolando takes Gil 

 Bias through the different parts of the cavern. The original runs thus — " II me 

 fit traverser plusieurs chambres: dans les unes il y avait des pieces de loile, dans 

 les autres des etoffes de laine et de soie. Dans une autre de I'or et de V argent 

 et beaucoup de vaisselle a divertes armoiries." He made me pass through 

 divers apartments, some of which contained bales of linen, others of silks 

 and stuffs. In one I perceived gold and silver, and a great quantity of plate in 

 different cupboards. Smollett renders the French word armoiries (coats of arms) 

 by the English word cupboards. 



In the Journal of Las Cases we find that about the time of the battle of Wagram, 

 the son of a Protestant minister had laid a plan for the assassination of Napoleon, 

 "en pleine parade," that is, in the middle of the parade; but, according to the 

 English translator. Napoleon was to be assassinated with due parade. 



The translator of Madame de Genlis's Memoirs committed some strange 

 blunders. The word " rotie au vin" (mulled wine), he translated by jome roa^^ 

 meat prepared with wine. " Un livre d'heures" (a prayer-book) by a book of 

 flours. Madame de Genlis, describing her apartments at the Palais royal, says in 

 the original — " II dtait meubM magnifiquement, tapissd en damas bleu," &c. 

 They were magnificently furnished, hung with blue damask, &c. The translator 

 makes her say — " My apartments at the Palais royal were magnificently furnished, 

 carpeted with blue damask," &c. The following blunder is very ludicrous. We 

 shall give the English translation only ; it will be a kind of riddle for our readers. 

 Madame de Genlis was residing in a convent. " When any one," says she, 

 " wished to come in, he rang at the grate, and the nuns, pulling down their veils, 

 went to open the door ; besides this precaution we had a little tower built beside the 

 grate, in which were laid our letters, our packets, and the dishes for our meals." 

 What does this mean ? Why, it means nothing at all. The translator had 

 mistaken the word tour, a turn-about, a sort of turning box in a convent, for the 

 word tour, a tower. 



Another of Madame de Genlis's works, entitled " Nouveaux Contes Moraux," 

 is translated in very nearly the same intelligent manner. In the original it is 

 said — " La Duchesse courut a une fenetre et vit h travers la, jalousie, le Baron et 

 M. de FerrioUes descendre de voiture." The translation ought to have been — 

 " The Duchess ran to a window and beheld, through the blinds, the Baron and M. 

 de FerrioUes alight." But the translator thought that the French word jalousie 

 had no other meaning than jealousy, and transkted the above passage thus-~" The 



