166 
such an enormous quantity of nonsense as the col- 
lection of the works of Albertus Magnus, which you 
mention. Of all dull books, the most dull are those 
of scholastic writers; and only the desire of having 
all books on natural history, good, bad, and indif- 
ferent, could induce me to take up Albertus Mag- 
nus’s book on animals, among the wants. If the 
edition of Rome 1478, or Mantua 1479, should ever 
occur for a couple of guineas, I suppose we must buy 
it, though it is throwing away money on trash. 
We have at last received Hedwig’s answer to the 
prize question at Petersburg, with 37 coloured plates, 
and also the two first fasciculi of his Sterpes Crypto- 
gamice. Thave had his account of the fructification 
of Filices and Alga, and have no objection to his 
account of them, except as far as relates to Lguz- 
setum, which does not seem convincing to me. 
Lycopodium he acknowledges not to have been able 
to find the male parts of. I have not yet had time 
to read what he says about Fungz. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your very faithful friend and servant, 
J. DRYANDER. 
J. EF. Smith to his Father. 
Honoured Sir, Paris, Sept. 13, 1786. 
Paris is wonderfully like Edinburgh im many re- 
spects ; nor should I at all like to live here. Some 
places here are very fine and beautiful, as the Tuil- 
leries, to which we have nothing comparable. The 
