Domestic Notices : — England. 105 



that exist, though we admit it is always good to promote the personal assemblage of literary and 

 scientific men, whether in a society or a club-house : we confess we prefer the latter, as every 

 thing connected with letters ought to be republican rather than autocratic. Free personal inter- 

 course, in our opinion, is the chief good which has resulted, or can, or ever will, result, from 

 literary and scientific societies as such, from the Royal Society downwards. No great mind will 

 ever set much value on the medals or other rewards granted by such societies ; the public voice 

 can alone bestow a reward worthy of the greatest minds. 



We cannot quit the subject of the Medico-Botanical Society without noticing the fact of its 

 reckoning among its members almost all the crowned heads of Europe, and a great many of the pub- 

 lic characters of all countries. There are, we are told, eleven or twelve kings, and some hundreds of 

 titled nobility. The merit, such as it is, of bringing these names together, belongs entirely to Mr Frost, 

 and as that gentleman cannot be considered as eminent either in science or in rank, the fact of 

 his having had so much influence shows the possession of some extraordinary tact. The foreign 

 monarchs were evidently not enlisted against their will, for three of them have conferred on Mr. 

 Frost orders of knighthood, and the Duke of Cumberland created him surgeon-extraordinary. 

 It is, however, extremely difficult for kings and princes to distinguish brass or mosaic from ster- 

 ling gold. They accept the currency of the day, provided it will but pass, and looks bright to the 

 eye. We scarcely think there is an instance of success parallel to it, except that of Mr. Sabine 

 in the Horticultural Society. The test of any principle, it is said, is to push it as far as it will 

 go ; but this test, it would appear, was too much for Mr. Frost's principle of action, whatever 

 that may be ; for the Duke of Cumberland, who had consented to become president of the Society, 

 has withdrawn his consent, and deprived the Knight of the Polar Star of the office of surgeon-ex- 

 traordinary ; and the Society have deprived him of the office of director, by abolishing that office. 

 We hope these reverses of fortune will be useful to Mr. Frost, and that the history of this Society 

 will not be lost on the scientific part of the public. — Cond. 



The Colosseum, Regent's Park. — The panoramic view of London is finished, 

 and this picture, and several other things here, are well worth going to see. 

 It is deserving of remark, that the picture is seen to most advantage in a 

 foggy day, and the reason is, the light thrown on it is received through the 

 dome at the height of upwards of 100 ft. from the surface, and consequently 

 through a less dense stratum of fog. The spectator, on arriving at the gallery 

 from which the view is obtained, cannot help imagining that he is in a different 

 country, or that the day has suddenly become clear and fine. This is calculated 

 to give a good idea of the value of elevated situations and lofty buildings in 

 such a valley as that of the Thames ; and if a wealthy man were to build a 

 lofty house, with his living rooms at the top, and all his offices, even to 

 coach-houses and stables under, we do not see that he could do better, than 

 have a balanced platform, like that at the Colosseum, for ascending and de- 

 scending. This platform is a small room, balanced by two iron weights, 

 exactly on the principle of the common chandeliers in churches. The mo- 

 tion is procured by a man in a concealed situation operating on machinery ; 

 but it might easily be communicated by the party to be raised or lowered, 

 in the manner adopted in Bentham's Panopticon, as executed by General 

 Bentham at Petersburg. 



Among the models in the" Saloon of Arts, we observed one, by Mr. Fowler 

 (the ingenious young architect who reduced to regular architectural design 

 the magnificent conservatory at Syon House), of a market intended for 

 Covent Garden, but not exactly the design now executing. The same artist 

 has since formed a design and model for Hungerford Market. It is grati- 

 fying thus to see the public attention directed to the improvements of 

 buildings and establishments of common every-day use. How incomparably 

 superior in every point of view are such public monuments as the bridges 

 over the Thames, the London University, the Hungerford Market just 

 completed, and the Covent Garden Market far advanced, to the columns, 

 obelisks, and pyramids, proposed by some architects to be erected to com- 

 memorate the late peace, or the battle of Waterloo ! The age for useless 

 national monuments is gone, and, we trust, for ever. The builder, who erects 

 such a line of street-houses as that of Anderson in the Regent's Park ; and 

 the association, parish, Or proprietor, that erects such bridges and markets as 

 those which we have mentioned, and such public offices as those of Day and 

 Martin in Holborn, Hoare in Fleet Street, or Thompson and Fearon in 

 Bond Street, deserve far more of their country, than the designers of triumphal 

 arches, metropolitan gateways, and other architectural extravagances, which, 

 in as far as they can have any effect, are calculated to carry the mind back 

 to ages of tyranny and slavery, instead of forward to equality and liberty. _ 



The line of conservatories is completed, and, considered as a passage, it is 

 tolerable. There is a fountain, consisting of a circle of jets, which throw 



