a 383 
to pebbles and were finally cast again upon the shore—in all these and 
other facts Dr. Mantell finds topics of most interesting and delightful 
instruction. It is almost superfluous to add that the style is lucid, at- 
tractive, eloquent, poetical and philosophical; for all these attributes 
are combined in his writings. The elegant form of the little book, its 
snowy paper, excellent type and pictured engravings and cover, recom- 
mend it to the eye of taste ; while to the philosopher as well as the pupil 
it presents truly a first lesson in geology, and cannot be perused without 
pleasure and profit. It has passed through six editions, and we 
wish they may be repeated as long as stars glow or waters flow. 
6. On the Growth of Plants in closely glazed cases ; by N. B. Warp, 
F.L.S. London, 1842. pp. 95, 8vo.—The earliest published account 
of Mr. Ward’s new method of cultivating plants without open exposure 
to the air, was contained in a letter to Sir Wm. Hooker, pub 
the Companion to the Botanical Magazine for May, 1836. The little 
volume before us presents a fuller account of this discovery, and of its 
important applications, indicated at the time, which subsequent experi- 
ence has abundantly confirmed. Passing over the first and second 
chapters of this essay, which treat “* Of the natural conditions of Plants,” 
and “ Of the causes which interfere with these conditions in large towns, 
&c.” we extract from the chapter ‘‘On the imitation of the natural 
conditions of plants in closely glazed cases,” an account of the manner 
in which Mr. Ward arrived at these unexpected results; which, singu- 
lar as they at first seem, are only what an hour’s reflection upon the 
physiology of vegetables might have anticipated. 
“ The science of botany, in consequence of the perusal of the works of the im- 
mortal Linneus, had been my pinaaien from my youth up; and the earliest ob- 
ject of my ambition was to possess an old wall covered with ferns and mosses. 
To obtain this end, I built up some rock-work in the yard at the back of my house, 
and placed a perficited pipe at the top, from which water trickled on the plants 
beneath; these consisted of Polypodium vulgare, Lomaria spicant, Lastrea dilata- 
ta, L. Filta-mas } Athyrinens Filiz- femina, a Trichomanes, and a few other 
ferns, an E e woods in the neighborhood of London, 
ee pi wood sorrel, Pr &ec. Being, however, surrounded by 
numerous manufactories and enveloped in their smoke, my plants soon began to 
decline, and ultimately ene my endeavors to keep them alive proving 
fruitless. When the attempt had been given up in despair, I was led to reflect a 
a 
moist mould contained in a wide-mouthed glass bottle, covered with a lid. In 
watching the bottle from day to day, 1 observed that the moisture which during 
‘the heat of the day arose from the mould, became paces on the internal sur- 
Se et Sere bee appearance on the surface of the 
