872 
-kingdom, we felt a recurrence of the 
same wish witha greater degree of soli- 
citous earnestness. ‘The readers who re- 
quire an English translation of that part 
of the work which describes the animal 
kingdom are comparatively few. Zoo- 
logy, in its full extent, and in its more 
dificult branches, is not a fashionable 
pursuit with the unlearned ;, and there 
are many circumstances which will pro- 
bably prevent its ever becoming gene- 
rally prevalent. But botany has charms 
which are almost universally attractive : 
the love of plants is found in all ranks of 
life, and is peculiarly suited to the ele- 
gant taste and delicate feelings of the 
female sex. The number of greenhouses 
and stoyeshas rapidly increased within the 
course of a few years, and may justly be’ 
ranked among the most refined luxuries 
of the present age. The pleasure of pos- 
sessing these must be greatly increased 
by a scientific acquaintance with their 
contents, and a capacity to arrange them 
according to their respective relations 
and affinities. ‘It was, therefore, highly 
desirable, that the second part of the Sys- 
tema Nature should appear in our na- 
tive language, with the addition of the 
numerous exotics which, since the death 
of Linneus, have been poured in upon 
us from the remotest regions of the earth. 
We were accordingly disposed to give a 
cordial welcome to this part of Dr. 
Turton’s labours; but our pleasure was 
not a little diminished by the apprehen- 
sion that our unlearned, and especially our 
fair readers, were to contemplate these 
treasures in the perverse arrangement 
of Gmelin. This was clearly announced 
to usin the title page. The fifth, as well 
as the former volumes, is szid to be 
translated from Gmelin’s last edition of 
the celebrated Systema Nature. But 
here, as in many other instances, we 
have found reason to acknowledge the 
truth of the old adage, fronti nulla fi- 
des;_an adage which a reviewer almost 
instinctively translates, there is no trust- 
ing to title pages. Many a time has the 
discovery given usa painful mortifica- 
tion. For once, it affords us a lively 
pleasure. Dr. Turton, certainly not for 
his own advantage, has sacrificed truth 
to the uniformity of his title pages; and 
beet even thought it worth his while, 
either in a preface or by any other me- 
thod, to give us any intimation of his 
departure from his original plan; and 
yet his fifth volume may with almost as 
much propriety be stiled a translation of 
edition of the Systema Vegetabilium. 
He has not only separated the classes 
icosandria and polyandria, whieh have 
been most absurdly blended together by 
the last editor, but has also replaced all 
the classes which had before been abo- 
lished by. Thunberg, and has restored the 
whole of the Linnean arrangement, with 
the single exception of the order mono- 
gamia, in the class syngenesia. And in 
this small deviation from the original 
system he is sanctioned by the sterling 
judgment of Dr. Smith and Professor 
Willdenow. He has, in fact, given the 
English reader an abridged translation 
of the last and incomparably the best 
edition of the Species Plantarum, now 
publishing at Berlin. The order of the 
genera and species, the terms of his ge- 
neric and specific characters, and the ad- 
ditions of new plants are all taken from 
Willdenow, wherever Willdenow varies 
either from Gmelin or Linneus. But it 
is not merely a copy of Willdenow; the 
new genera chiefly of Austrasian plants, 
instituted by Dr. Smith, with many new 
species under the old genera, which were 
not known to Willdenow, are carefully 
added; so that Dr. Turton’s work has 
a just claim to be esteemed the fullest 
enumeration which has ever appeared, 
and will enable the female botanical stu- 
dent to find out the genus, species, and 
name, of the rarest exotics which she 
may have the happiness to possess. 
Dr. Smith and Professor Willdenow 
having, without the knowledge of each 
other, named distinct genera in honour 
of Persoon, an honour well merited by 
his skilful investigation of the intricate 
tribe of fungi, Dr. Turton inadvertently 
inserted both genera, each in its proper 
place, under thesame name. ‘This error 
he has corrected in his table of errata, 
and has properly directed that Willde- 
now’s personia should be called caraba, 
the name originally given to it by Aublet, 
its first describer; a disposition to which, 
we doubt not, the candour of the learned 
Professor will readily submit, from the 
consideration that Dr. Smith’s genus is 
an original one, which has not been pre- 
sented to the scientific world under any. 
other name. — 
The translation is, as in the former. 
volumes, generally faithful and judicious, 
and will be readily understood by all 
who are possessed either of pias ep 
Hull’s, Martyn’s, or any other English 
elementary work. And to some of these 
‘ f 
sia at 
NATURAL HISTORY. : 
Ray’s Historia Plantarum as of Gmelin’s- 
¥ 
} 
