CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 339 



Selections from the Phrenological Journal ; comprising Forty Ar- 

 ticles in the first 5 vols, of that periodical ; chiefly by George 

 Combe, James Simpson, and Dr. Andrew Combe. Edited by 

 Robert Cox. pp. 360, sm. 8vo. Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, 

 and Liverpool. 1836. 



Phrenology had made comparatively little progress in this 

 country, and the principles of this new mental philosophy were un- 

 dergoing an extraordinary opposition, at the time when a "Journal 

 was started for the purpose of recording such observations, facts, 

 and inductions, as would tend to establish the truth of these princi- 

 ples, and to illustrate their influence in ameliorating the physical, 

 moral, intellectual, and religious relations of man. The first num- 

 ber of the Phrenological Journal was published in Dec. 1 323 ; the 

 10th vol. is now in progress, and it continues to flourish vigorously, 

 both in importance and usefulness. Entirely free from invective 

 and resentment, untarnished with the withering blights of preju- 

 dice and bigotry, its pages are pre-eminently distinguished by a con- 

 stant manifestation of the best sentiments of our nature — candour, 

 justice, and piety, associated with the generous magnanimity of an 

 enlightened and high-disciplined intelligence. 



Mr. Cox, the ingenious and talented editor, has accomplished his 

 self-imposed task with admirable felicity. His Selections are chosen 

 with exemplary prudence and discernment ; we refer to his volume, 

 for the evidence which perfectly confirms the judgment pronounced 

 on the merits of the work and its execution. From the scarcity of 

 many of the early numbers of the Phrenological Journal^ the repub- 

 lication of the choicest papers in a neat and convenient form, will, 

 we sincerely believe, be appreciated as an acceptable and praisewor- 

 thy boon by every one who experiences pleasure and discharges a 

 duty in contributing to the diffusion and advance of useful know- 

 ledge. The volume contains an almost infinite variety ; and from 

 the simple and practical manner in which the majority of the sub- 

 jects are discussed, it will prove as interesting to the non-phrenolo- 

 gist, as useful to the phrenologist. , 



The Naturalist's Library. Conducted by Sir William Jardine, 

 Bart. Ornithology, Vol. VI. — The Parrot Family. By 

 Prideaux J. Selby, Esq. Edinburgh: W. H. Lizars. ]836. 



Often as we have been presented with partial or entire histories 

 of the Parrot family ( Psitlacidas ) , we never before had the plea- 

 sure of examining figures of these splendid birds — in a popular 

 work, and of so small dimensions — half so beautifully and faithfully 

 executed. None of the previous ornithological volumes of this 

 series will in any way bear comparison with that under investiga- 

 tion as regards the execution of the plates. The descriptions of 

 species, too, though necessarily short, are in the usual unexception- 

 ble style ever observable in the writings of Mr. Selby. The affi- 



