Notices of New Books. 4691 



unpleasant flavour of which is to be concealed in the saccharine 

 vehicle of Natural History ? 



It must, however, in fairness, be stated that Mr. Gosse's ' Aquarium ' 

 is a most agreeable and delightful book, and that the saccharine 

 vehicle predominates to a great extent. There are multitudes of 

 passages marked for extract, passages which nothing but the want of 

 space prevents my transferring to the ' Zoologist,' and which may still 

 be considered as standing over for a more leisure moment: in the 

 mean time, let me intreat Mr. Gosse to separate his theological from 

 his physical labours, and to learn the truth that a Natural-History 

 writer may be truly pious, may even convey religious instruction to 

 his readers, without making the dose so powerful as that presented to 

 us in the ' Aquarium.' 



' A Brief Memoir of the Life and Character of William Baker, 

 prepared principally from his Diary and Correspondence.' 

 By John BowExN. Taunton : May, 1854. 128 pp. 8vo. 



This is a brief but interesting memoir of a most intelligent man : it 

 is penned by one who, to feelings of true and genial kindness towards 

 the deceased, adds an amount of veneration that seems almost bound- 

 less for his scientific acquirements ; and thus we have an inflated pane- 

 gyric rather than a faithful biography. Poor John Bowen had paid 

 the debt of nature before this memoir reached my hands: he sur- 

 vived his friend but six months: William Baker died on the 8th 

 of October, 1853; his devoted friend and biographer on the 29th of 

 March, 1854. 



" Scarce had lamented Forbes paid 

 The tribute to his minstrel's shade: 

 The tale of Friendship scarce was told, 

 Ere the Narrator's heart was cold." 



It is difficult to say a word in depreciation of a memoir published 

 under such circumstances as these ; but Mr. Bowen was no naturalist, 

 and, believing Mr. Baker to be a profound one, and taking in the most 

 implicit faith omne iynotum pro rnagnifico, he brings into painful pro- 

 minence little inaccuracies over which a naturalist would have drawn 

 a veil : for instance, Mr. Baker wrote and pronounced a very common 

 word " amphibcea ; " Mr. Bowen preserves the spelling : Mr. Baker 



