Literary Notices. 341 



appear in an alphabetical form ; and, after a good deal of consideration on 

 the subject, and having had some experiments made on printing plants and 

 insects in colours, we have come to the resolution of commencing a work 

 under the title of A Universal History of Plants, to serve as a substitute for 

 Martyn's Miller's Dictionary, and to contain all the improvements which 

 the present state of botany, gardening, and agriculture admits of. We shall 

 have ample and varied assistance in the different departments of the work, so 

 as to give it every perfection of which it is susceptible ; and, till a more 

 ample prospectus, and the first part of the work, appear, the following 

 outline is submitted : — 



1. The arrangement will be according to the natural system, and all the 

 plants hitherto described will be included ; their botanical characters, natu- 

 ral and artificial history, comprising their geography, culture, uses, applica- 

 tion in the arts, &c. &c, given. 



2. Coloured figures, printed in the manner of the first three figures facing 

 p. 322., will be given, of one or more species of every genus described, of all 

 the most important species, and of all the natives of Britain. Coloured 

 figures will also be given of a number of the principal florist's flowers, and 

 of a selection of the best hardy and exotic fruits, executed in the style of 



figs. 113, 114, and 115., facing p. 322., and agreeably to our theory of the 

 best plan of figuring and describing fruits in p. 326-329., as modified by our 

 correspondent M. H., p. 330. 



5. The work will appear in parts, quarterly, under the following modifi- 

 cations : 1 . In quarto, the letter-press and corresponding plates together ; 

 2. The letter-press by itself, for one class of purchasers, and the plates by 

 themselves, with short descriptions, for another class of purchasers ; 3. The 

 letter-press and the plates of the plants of Europe, under the title of His- 

 tory of the Indigenous Plants of Europe, together and separately ; 4. In oc- 

 tavo, the letter-press and the plates of the plants of Britain, under the title 

 of History of the Indigenous Plants of Britain, together and separately. 

 This mode of publishing will accommodate every class of purchasers : the 

 gardener, who will take the letter-press only of the first modification, and 

 which will not cost him more than the present price of Miller's Diction- 

 ary ; and to the clergy, medical men, and ladies resident in the country, 

 The Plants of Britain, their figures, and history, will be of particular interest. 



4. The whole will be stereotyped, so that there cannot soon be a second 

 edition ; but, when the work is completed, a perpetual supplement will be 

 commenced, on a plan that will end in including all the plants of the 

 world, so given as to admit of any species of classification. 



5. The great advantage of the whole of this plan to the public, will result 

 from the coloured figures being printed from blocks of wood, instead of being 

 engravings coloured by hand ; by this, and the quarto size of the plates, the 

 figures of from 6 to 24 plants, or 6 to 24 florist's flowers, or 6 to 24 fruits, 

 according to their size, or as they may admit of reduction, maybe afforded 

 for little more than what is charged for one plant, florist's flower, or fruit, in 

 any of the principal botanical publications of the day. It is true, the figures 

 will not be so perfect as those coloured by hand, but we may refer to the 

 cut facing p. 322., in proof of their sufficiency for every useful purpose. 



Magazine of Natural History. — Our correspondent S. (Manchester, 

 Oct. 14th), and other readers and friends, are informed that the plan of 

 this work is completed, and that its publication in quarterly numbers, with 

 figures of plants, animals, and minerals, printed in colours, will shortly be 

 announced. In the mean time, communications on zoology, botany, 

 mineralogy, geology, and meteorology, of a popular description, may be 

 addressed, free of postage, " To the Editor of the Magazine of Natural His- 

 tory," at Messrs. Longman, Rees, & Co.'s, Paternoster Row. A detailed 

 prospectus will appear with the first number. 



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