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 tt 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- 
