Literary Notices. 229 



natural history work. Great benevolence, not restricted by con- 

 ditions of creed, and a habit of incessant Latin quotation (in -which 

 his friend, Dr. Hobson, participates), and a strong perception of 

 humour, were other characteristics of the " old squire ;" and it is no 

 wonder that he should have conciliated much affection while living, 

 and that his friends should delight to honour his memory now that 

 he is dead. 



Many of the stories told by Dr. Hobson are highly amusing, 

 including the famous rattlesnake scene at the doctor's house. An 

 assembly of professional friends was arranged to try the compara- 

 tive effects on rabbits of the rattlesnake bite, and the wourali poison 

 which Mr. Waterton obtained in South America. An American 

 showman, with a collection of the dangerous reptiles in glass cases, 

 was invited to the party, and Mr. Waterton astonished them all by 

 the boldness with which he put his hand into the cases and caught 

 any snake that was wanted by the neck. One of the reptiles nearly 

 escaped • the doctors fled pell-mell and helter-skelter down stairs, 

 some rushed hastily into the street and did not return, but Dr. 

 Hobson pressed the lid of the case door so as to obstruct the com- 

 plete exit of the snake, and Mr. Waterton quietly took hold of it 

 and remitted it to its prison. Mr. Bartlett of the Zoological Gardens, 

 and Dr. Giinther of the British Museum, handle venomous snakes 

 with equal confidence and impunity ; but Mr. Waterton's perform- 

 ance caused him to be looked upon as little less than a conjuror by 

 those who were not acquainted with the character of reptiles, and 

 the circumstances under which they may be safely seized. 



The Waltonian mode of stuffing animals consisted in soaking 

 the skins in a solution of corrosive sublimate, and moulding them 

 from within before they dried to the exact form of the living object. 

 A few mechanical supports were used while the skins dried, and 

 they retained their shape for ever after. 



On Porce : Its Mental and Moral Coerellates ; and on that 

 which is supposed to underlie all Phenomena with Speculation and 

 Spiritualism, and other Abnormal Conditions of Mind. By Charles 

 Bray, Author of the "Philosophy of Necessity," the "Education 

 of the Peelings," etc. (Longmans.) — Mr. Bray commences his work 

 by reviving the proposal to dispense with the belief in matter, and 

 confine our credence to " centres of force." The objection to such 

 a proposal is that we cannot get on without the idea of matter, how- 

 ever incomplete, and possibly incorrect that idea may be. The one 

 term centre of force will not carry us far, either in the description 

 of phenomena or in reasoning upon them. Let us take one of Mr. 

 Bray's sentences and see if we can make it fit his philosophy. He 

 says, " It is a limited quantity of force that is derived from the food, 

 and the mode of its action depends upon its distribution over the 



body while digestion is going on the powers of thinking and 



feeling are proportionably increased." Are we to say it is a limited 

 quantity of force which a man derives from eating centres of force 

 for breakfast. While he is digesting centres of force, his powers 

 of thinking and feeling, themselves consisting of other centres of 

 force, are proportionably decreased, and so forth ? Most persons will 



