do 



Literary and Phlhfophlcal Intelligencei 



[Aug. 1, 



vatJons, and Meafures executed in ihe 

 New Continent ; and, as in his Voyage, 

 he C(in/incs himfelf in mentioning an alti- 

 tude toihe ftatenient of it, without laying 

 whether it was found by the barometer or 

 whether it was founded on geodefical 

 mealures. M. Humboldt then coileils 

 into a feparate work ail the phtnomena 

 prefented by the arinofpheie and the foil 

 of the eqninoflial regions. This work, 

 the.refiilt of all the inveftigations under, 

 taken by our philof ipher during his five 

 years travels in both heniifpheres, is en- 

 titled, ElTayon the Gi0gra,hy of Plants, 

 or phyfiLal P.ftuie ot the equinoflial 

 Regions, founded on the O'olervations 

 and Meafures taken between the Latitude 

 of 10° south and 10° North, in 1799, 

 jSoo, i8ot, 1802, and 1803. A large 

 plate repreH-iits a I'eflion pafling over the 

 iiHjimit of Ciiimborazo, c:irri.d from the 

 coal'ts of the South Sea to the fhores of 

 Brafii. It ii.dlcates the prog.elTive vege- 

 tation from the inteiior of the foil which 

 confa^ns'ciypt' gamoiis plant's, tothe per- 

 pe.usj I'nows which ave the limits of all 

 vegetation. Ain-.jng thefe is diliinguirtied 

 the vtgvtation J palm trees, &c. that of 

 fern trees, quinquina, and gramineous 

 phnts. The name of each plant is writ- 

 ten at the height at which it is found, 

 according -o the nieaiui;es deiermined by 

 M. VON Humboldt. Fourteen fcales, 

 placed on each fide of the table, relate to 

 the chemical compofition of the air, of 

 its temperature, of its hygi()fc< pical and 

 cyancinctucal (late, of the ek-flrical phe- 

 nomena, of the horizontal icfrai>ion, of 

 the dtcrrafe ot giavitatipn, of theculture 

 of the.foii, of tiie height at which the 

 cllffeicnt kinds of tropical animali live, 

 &€. It. is, without doubt, the moll ge- 

 neral phyfical table, of any portion "f the 

 globe, ever attempted. The fame book- 

 felJei.s are 1 kewile printing two other 

 vvbiks, wh.ch beloni' to del'criptive natu. 

 rai hiilory ; one on botany and the other 

 en zoology. The herbr.iy which thefe 

 tra\elltrs I roughl frcm Mexico, the Cor- 

 dilleras o! the Ard.s, the Oionoko, Kio 

 Negi.), r:n I the river of Ain..zons, is 

 onecf the ri.heft in exotic pl,j;iis that was 

 ever conveyed to Eilrope. Havlr.g, lang 

 lefided in countries whicli no botanift had 

 ev^r vifite.. before them, it is cdfy to con- 

 ed, e ho^ many new g..n.Ta and fpecies 

 there mull he among the 6300 kinds 

 whicli they c llcfled under the tropics cf 

 tii'e new coi.tinent.' Weie they to puiililli 

 at once the fyuematic ddcripticn of all 

 thefe vegetable*, ihey would employ fcve- 

 lal yeajg in afctrtaining what is really. 



new, or they would run the rifli of pub- 

 lilhing, under new names, plants already- 

 known. It therefore appeared preferable 

 to give, without any regular order, the 

 defigns of the nevsr genera and fpecies, 

 which they have been able fufficiently tq 

 determine, and to publish at a fubfeque.nt 

 period, a work without plates, which 

 contain the diagnofes of all the fpecies, 

 fyftematically arranged. It is with this 

 view that they publilh the Equinoflial 

 Plants collefled in Mexico, the Illand of 

 Cuba, the Provinces of Caraccas, Cuma- , 

 na, and Barcelona, in the Andes of New 

 C^renada, Quito and. Peru, on the Banks 

 of Rio Negro, the Oronoko, and the Ri- 

 ver of Amazons. Mefirs. Humeoldt 

 and BoNPLAND have been equally fortu- 

 nate in making interefting difcoveries ia 

 zoology and comparative anatomy. They 

 have colleiSed, in great numbers, defcrip- 

 tions of animals hitherto unknown j mon- 

 kies, birds, firti, amphibi us animals j for 

 example, the axalotl of the lakes of Mex- 

 ico, a problematical anbnal of a nature 

 fimil.ir to the cameleon. M. VON Hum- 

 boldt has msde drawings of numerous 

 objefls of comparative anatomy, relitive 

 to the crocodile, the fea-cow, the fljth, 

 the lama, and the larynx of monkies and 

 birds. He has brought over a collc(Sion 

 of fkulls of Indians, Mexicans, Peruvi- 

 ans, and natives of the banks of the Oro- 

 noko ; and thsfe drawings are not lefs in- 

 terefting for the hiitory of the different 

 races of our fpecies than for anatomy. 

 Thefe mateiials, among which will be 

 found a notice on the foflile elephants* . 

 teeth found at the elevation of 2600 yards, 

 above the fea, will appear in numbers, 

 under the title of Colleiflion of Oblerva- 

 tions in Zoology and comparative Ana-^ 

 tomy, made during Tnvels between the 

 Tropics. While thefe various works are 

 in the courfe of publication, M. voN 

 Humboldt will complete the engraving 

 of the Geological Atlas of the Cordille- 

 ras of the Andes and of Mexico, con- 

 taining profiles foonded on meafured 

 hsights ; of the Eday on geological Pafi- 

 gvaphy, or on the manner of reprefenting 

 the phenomena of th; ftratification of the 

 rocks, by perfe6\ly iiniple figns ; and of 

 the Geographical Atlas, which will con. 

 t.iin a map of the river la M^dehnne, in 

 four plates ; others of the Ororoko, Rio ' 

 Negro and Caffiquiare, and the gencial 

 map i.f the kiigdom of New Spain: the 

 litter will be accompanied with a ilaiifti- ' 

 cal account of the country. All thefe 

 maps weie drawn by M. VON HUM- 

 EOLDT himfelf, from his .ownaftronomi- 

 4 ^A^ 



