- 
: oOo 
1808.] 
“Mr. Tuomas’s Lectures on the Prin- 
tiples and Operations of Surgery, will 
-* Commence early in October, as usual. 
A Prospectus inay be had at his house, 
Leicester-place, or at the Theatre of An- 
atomy, in. Windmill-street. 
Dr. Buxton will, on Monday, Octo- 
ber 3, commence a Course of Lectures at 
the London Hospital, on the Theory and 
Practice of Medicine, and one on Materia 
Medica, 
The Medical Lectures in the Univer- 
sity of Glasgow, will begin on Tuesday 
“the ist of November, at the following 
honi's :— 
Dietetics,Materia Medica,and Pharmacy,by 
Dr. Mitvag, at ten o’clock in the forenoon. 
Midwifery, by Mr. TowErs, at eleven, 
Theory and Practice’ of Physic, by Dr. 
Freer, at twelve, 
Anatomy and Surgery, by Dr. 
at two e’clock in the afternoon, 
Chemistry and Chemical Pharmacy, by Dr. 
CLEGHoRN, at seven. 
Clinical Lectures on the cases of patients in 
the Royal Infirmary, on Thursday evening 
the 10th of November, at six. « 
Dr. Brown will commence his Lectures on 
Botany about the beginning of May next. 
Dr. Forxurs, of Edinburgh, is engaged 
on a Translation of Pliny’s Natural His- 
tory, which isto be accompanied ‘with 
such notes and illustrations as may be 
necessary to elucidate the context, a 
Life of the Author, and a Preliminary 
Dissertation on the Origin of Natural 
History, and on its progress and gtadual 
improvement from infancy, to its pre- 
‘sent state of comparative maturity. 
The translator in thus announcing his in- 
Jerrray, 
to observe, that the thirty-seven books 
of the Natural History of Caius Plinius 
Secundus, may justly be regarded as the 
st inquisitive and industrious author, 
has collected all the facts recorded by 
_ every Greek and Roman writer, previous 
_ to his own time, concerning the animal, 
the vegetable, and the mineral king- 
doms; and detailed in a clear and lumi- 
nous arrangement, all that the aceumu- 
lated experience of past ages had ascer- 
tained relative to the nature of animals 
ny, botany, medicine, 
, Pliny’s work may be divided into 
: parts, geography, natural histo- 
» and the materia medica. Of his 
geographical inquiries, the most impor- 
tant perhaps are, his Strictures on the 
Interior Part of Africa. He detived the 
Sources of his information on this subject, 
Literary and Philosophical Intelligence. 
tention to the public, may be permitted | 
encyclopedia of antiquity, since the 
and vegetables, to meteorology, astro- 
chemistry,’ 
155 
from the Carthaginians; and from what 
he has recorded respecting the natives 
and products of these regions, it appears 
that the ancients were much better in- 
formed than the moderns are, regarding 
this quarter of the globe, which from re- 
cent events, and the consequences likely 
to ensue from a great act of national 
Justice, deservedly excites in this coun- 
try no sinall share of public interest. 
The Materia Medica exclusively occu- 
pies fifteen books, and constitutes a 
most curious and instructive department 
ef the author's investigations. It cans 
not be denied that Pliny discovers his 
ignorance in particular points, and that 
he records with great gravity many ab- 
surd fables, and anile stories. But he 
perhaps might have adopted the language 
of Quintus Curtius Eguidem plura tran- 
scribo, quam credo, (Lib, 1X. cap 1.) and 
we know that he occasionally discovers a 
proper degree of scepticism on various 
points which come under his review, and 
directs his severe rebukes against the 
vanity and self confidence of the Greek 
authors, from whom he-derived his in- 
formation, And notwithstanding all the 
censure to which he is obnoxious on the 
score of credulity, his eloquent and ine 
structive history must ever be regarded, 
as an immortal monument of its author’s 
indefatigable industry, and Roman spi-+ 
rit. Pliny’s History is indéed to be ¢onsi-= 
dered as an inyaluable treasure, more 
especially on account of its containing 
an infinite. number of excerpts and ob- 
servations, illustrative of the various 
subjects of which the author treats; ex- 
tracted from the books of many ancient 
writers, whose works have perished 
through the injury of time. It may then 
appear surprising that no English trans- 
lation of this admirable work, has been 
offered to the public, for more than two 
centuries. It is the present translator's 
wish to supply to the best of his abilities, 
(such as they are) this desideratum in 
English literature. One great object which 
the translator will keep in view in his 
notes and illustrations shall be to ac- 
‘commodate Pliny’s descriptions of ani- 
mals, plants, and minerals, to the no- 
menclature of the Systema Natura Lin 
net. This, he is duly aware, will con- 
stitute by much the most difficult part of 
his labour, and he despairs of execu- 
ting it with full satisfaction either to the 
public or to himself. But as in the pres 
sent state of natural history a transla- 
tor of Pliny’ cannot be excused from 
making the attempt, he may be permit- 
"ted 
‘ 
