REVIEWS. 207 



4 Have the ocean powers 



Made their quiet bowers 

 In thy fanes and thy dim recesses ? 



Or, in haunts of thine 



Do the sea-maids twine 

 Coral wreaths for their dewy tresses ? 



v But we know not where, 



'Neath the desert air, 

 To look for the pleasant places 



Of the youth of time, 



Whose austerer prime 

 The haunts of his childhood effaces.' " 



We think those exiled from their native land, that repair to Madeira for 

 to spend the winter months, should be extremely grateful for the pains Mr. 

 Wollaston has been at in defining the places where such and such 

 Coleoptera are to be found, in order to incite them to follow the cap- 

 tivating pursuit of entomology ; however, on this point our author shall 

 speak for himself : — 



" It may, perhaps, be objected, that I have sometimes been over-minute in de- 

 scribing my localities, and in recording the precise circumstances under which 

 many of the species were observed ; and, indeed, had I employed myself in writing 

 for the scientific world only, far removed from the scene of action, there would 

 have been considerable force in the accusation ; for it can clearly matter but 

 little to the universal collector to know even what island his specimens are peculiar 

 to (and, therefore, a fortiori, the exact spot in that island), so long as he be fully 

 convinced that they have come from our present group. But let it be remembered 

 that one of my principal designs in the following pages has been, not only to 

 afford a complete catalogue, to the general naturalist, of Madeiran Coleoptera, 

 but also to put into the hands of the sojourner there, for a short period (of which 

 there are several hundreds every winter from England alone), a full and intelligible 

 account of the actual stations in which he will, probably, be able to procure the 

 several insects required. By this means, indeed, I am emboldened to hope that 

 my researches may be turned to some practical account, for the amusement of that 

 unfortunate class of wanderers, whose lot it is to submit, year after year, to an 

 eight months' exile in Funchal. For plainly to point out one way (be it but one) 

 in which even a few stray minds may find an ample field to sport in during a 

 banishment, under emergencies not the most enviable, is a boon which ought not 

 (for the sake of a useless brevity) to be overlooked, in dealing with a subject, thus 

 voluntarily undertaken (however small it may be, and imperfectly performed), for 

 the general good." 



And for those who are resident for a longer season than that which is 

 ordinarily appointed for invalids, and who have health and strength suffi- 

 cient to tempt them beyond the limits in which the more cautious adven- 

 turers are permitted to roam, we have the following remarks on tent life, 

 which we quote in full : — 



** The admirer of Nature who has passed a long winter at the mountain's base, 

 contented merely to gaze upon the towering peaks — which, though clear and cold 

 at night, seldom reveal themselves during the day with sufficient constancy (through 

 the heavy canopy of cloud which hangs ai'ound them), to warrant an ascent — hails 

 with unbounded joy the advance of spring, knowing that the time is at hand when 

 he will be able to revel at large on this Atlantic paradise, in remote spots, seldom 



