D A R 



Darwin, tions, which it every where displays, rentier it an ex- 

 ^"""V"""' haustless repository of interesting facts, important to 

 the health and comfort of mankind. It has, however, 

 ceased to be popular : its doctrines are not always infal- 

 lible ; but some of its speculations have been since veri- 

 fied by the great discoveries made in chemistry.* 



About the year 1 7Q5, Dr Darwin published a small 

 Tract, in 4to, on female education. It contains some 

 good rules for promoting the health of growing chil- 

 dren ; but, on the whole, it is a meagre work, of little 

 general interest, and it consequently attracted but little 

 notice. 



Early in 1800, Dr Darwin published another large 

 4to volume, entitled, Phytologia, or the Philosophy of 

 Agriculture and Gardening. His conviction that vege- 

 tables are remote links in the chain of sentient exist- 

 ence, often hinted at in the notes to the Botanic Gar- 

 den, is here avowed in a regular system. The Phyto- 

 logia insists, that plants have vital organization, sensa- 

 tion, and even volition ; and a number of instances 

 are adduced to support the theory. This work ob- 

 tained but little attention from the public, and was suf- 

 fered to pass almost unnoticed. 



The last production of Dr Darwin, is the Temple of 

 Nature, or the Origin of Society, 4to, with notes. This 

 work, ■" the setting emanation of this brilliant day-star," 

 the Doctor had prepared for the press, a few months 

 before his death, and was published in 1 803. It treats 

 of the production of life ; the re-production of life ; the 

 progress of the mind ; and of good and evil. It seems 

 designed to illustrate the theory laid down in the first 

 volume of the Zoonomia. Its aim is simply to amuse, 

 by bringing distinctly to the imagination, the beautiful 

 and sublime operations of nature, in the order in which 

 the author believed the progressive course of time pre- 

 sented them. This work, like all his productions, 

 contains some beautiful and inimitable passages. It is 

 not, perhaps, equal to his Botanic Garden. It exhibits 

 all his excellencies, and all his faults : it shews that the 

 vigour of his body had not outlived the vigour of his 

 mind — that the lamp of genius burnt brightly to the 

 last. These, together with some papers in the Philoso- 

 phical Transactions, and the share he had (which was 

 considerable) in the formation of the System of Vegeta- 

 bles of ' Linnceus, published in the name of the Botani- 

 eal Society of Lichfield, are all the published works of 

 Dr Darwin. 



During his residence in Derby, he founded a Philo- 

 sophical Society there, and was its able and attentive 

 president till the time of his death In the library be- 

 longing to that society, a biographical tribute to his 

 memory was lately read by one of his friends : from 

 that paper, the writer of this article, who is also a mem- 

 ber, has extracted some interesting matter, for which 

 he returns his acknowledgments to the author. 



In perspicuity, which is one of the first excellencies of 

 poetic, as well as prose composition, Dr Darwin has, 

 perhaps, few equals. He is clear, even when descri- 

 bing the most intricate operations of nature, or the 

 most complex works of art ; and there is a lucid trans- 

 parency in his style, through which we see objects in 

 then exact figure and proportion. He delights the 

 eye, the taste, and the fancy, by the strength, distinct- 

 ness, elegance, and perfect originality of his pictures ; 

 and gratifies the ear by the rich cadence of his num- 

 bers. But the passions are generally asleep, and sel- 



587 



D A U 



dom are the nerves thrilled by his imagery, impressive 

 and beautiful as it is. The greatest defect in Dr Dar- 

 win's poetry is want of sensation ; — that sort of excel- 

 lency, which, while it enables us to see distinctly the 

 objects described, makes us feel them acting on our 

 nerves ; and, perhaps, the dazzling, and excessive po- 

 lish of his lines, may have a tendency to cloy, from 

 their riclmess. His picturesque descriptions are ele- 

 gantly drawn. In general his poetry is addressed to the 

 reason, for it relates to science ; and to the imagina- 

 tion, for it is employed in fiction — but it seldom touches 

 the heart. The outlines of his figures are drawn with 

 astonishing strength and accuracy ; but they have a 

 hardness and a coldness. By foregoing the use of that 

 which is addressed to the feelings rather than the eye, 

 he has not availed himself of those fine and fleeting cir- 

 cumstances and associations which are beyond the 

 reach of the pencil, but which, in poetical painting, 

 may be made to contribute powerfully towards the ge- 

 neral impression. In the notes to his different works, 

 we discover the botanist, the philosopher, the chemist, 

 and the man of an exalted and daring genius. But 

 though he often appears to advantage, it must be con- 

 fessed that, in many instances, he sacrifices too much l » 

 imagination. Had Dr Darwin written less, his fame 

 woidd have been greater. 



In considering the character of Dr Darwin as a phy- 

 sician, the first observation that occurs, is the novelty of 

 his practice. The cause of his not following the com- 

 mon mode of treating various diseases, was not the ef- 

 fect of mere singularity, nor the idle vanity of differing 

 from others ; but the result of much thought, labour, an 

 ingenious and acute observation, of extensive views, and 

 an unusually accurate acquaintance with the human 

 frame. Success almost invariably resulted from the 

 exertions of his genius. His strength of mind and 

 courage increased with his deviations from the usual 

 practice ; and there were many instances of his giving 

 back his dying patient to existence and to health, by his 

 novel mode of treatment. The whole of Dr Darwin's 

 life was spent in meditation and study. His thoughts 

 were uniformly, intensely, and actively, devoted to the 

 attainment of elegant literature ,• to scientific researches, 

 to the investigation of disease, and to the luminous de- 

 velopement of the laws of nature, (d. p. n.) 



DASYPOGON, a genus of plants of the class Hex- 

 andria, and order Monogynia. See Brown's Prodromus 

 Plant. Nov. Holl. #<?. p. 263; and Botany, p. 195. 

 DATAMES. See Persia. 



DATISCA, a genus of plants of the class Dicecia, and 

 order Dodecandria. See Botany, p. 338. 



DATURA, a genus of plants of the class Pentandria, 

 and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 139. 



DAUBENTON, Louis Jean Marie, a celebrated 

 French naturalist, was born at Montbar in Burgundy, 

 on the 29th of May, 1716, and was the son of a notary 

 in that village. He received his education in a college 

 of the Jesuits, and from his earliest years he exhibited 

 that sweetness o disposition, and that love of study, 

 which formed the principal traits in his character. Af- 

 ter having spent some time at Paris in the study of di- 

 vinity, Daubenton seems to have abandoned all thoughts 

 of the church, and to have devoted himself entirely to 

 the medical profession. He attended with great zeal 

 the lectures of Win slow, Hunauld, Antony Jussieu, and 

 Baron, and took his degree of doctor of medicine at 



Djrwia 



I! 



Dauben. 



ton. 



* A very able examination of the principal doctrines in the Zoonomia, will be found in a work, entitled, Observations on Br Dar- 

 trn , t Zoonomia, by Dr Thomas Brown, now Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. E». 



