Retrofped? of French Literature—Natural Hiffory. 
proceeding with great celerity towards 
aconciultion. It 1s to confilt of twenty 
volumes, large octavo, ornamented and 
iJluitrated with 300 copper-plates. The 
fubjects are not only claffed under dif- 
ting& heads as ufual, but confided to 
the pens of men eminent in the refpec- 
tive branches of the animal, vegetable, 
and mineral kingdoms. The articles 
man, quadrupeds, birds and cetaceous 
animals, are entrufted to Sonini, the 
famous traveller, Virey, author of 
the Natural Hiltory of the Human 
Species, Vicllot, Defmarets, &c. &c. 
The veterinary art, and domeftic eco- 
nomy, are undertaken by Parmentier, 
and Huzard ;° fitfhes, reptiles and 
worms, by Bofc; infects by Olivier and 
Latreille ; botany, by Chaptal, Cels, 
and Thouin; and mineralogy, geology, 
and phyfics, by Chaptal, Patrin, and 
Libes. 
Di&tionaries 11 general are little 
better than mere compilations, borrow- 
ed from each other, but in the prefent 
work are to be found many new and 
original articles ; fome of them are de- 
feribed in a very fcientific manner, par- 
ticularly the term arbre, in the firft vo- 
Jume, under which head we finda mi- 
nute anatomical defcription of a tree, 
then its phyfiology, after which follows 
an account of its culture, its maladies, 
the beft modes of pianting, tranfplant- 
ing, propagating, &c. 
In the fucceeding volumes, other ar- 
ticles engage the attention, particularly 
the following: cacao, café, cameleon, 
canard, cochon, coquillages, coton, 
crocodile, &c. 
Sonini has defcribed the hiftory of 
the great eagle with a brilliancy of 
{tile calculated to charm the reader. 
Bofc has been peculiarly happy in his 
account of filhes; and M. Dutour has 
written a detailed article, relative to 
the fugar-cane, which he himfelf for- 
merly cultivated in his plantations at 
St. Domingo. He is contequently en- 
abled to g ve the neceflary information, 
as to the making of fugar, rum, &c. 
&c. The Preliminary Difcourfe has 
been the fubje&t of much elogium in 
France. t 
‘*Faune Parifienne ; ou, Hiftoire abré- 
gée, &c.”—An abridged Hiftory of the 
Infeéts in the. Neighbourhood of Paris, 
ciaffed according to the Syitem of Fa- 
bricius, and preceded by a Difcourfe on 
Iniects in general, intended to ferve as 
an Introduction to the Study of Ento- 
molozy ; accompanied with feven en- 
647 
graved Plates. . By C. A. WaLcKeE- 
NAER, 2 Vols. 8Vv0. 
This work is not calculated to in- 
ftitute an epoch in the annals of ento= 
mology, but it is fo contrived as to en- 
gage the attention of all thofe who are 
interefted in the progrefs of this {cience, 
and will be found very convenient at 
leaft, even tothe experienced naturalift. 
Before the appearance of thefe vo- 
lumes, no fewer than feven or eight 
works had made their appearance, all 
of which were confined to the plants 
produced in the neighbourhood of 
Paris; but not a fingle one was dedi-. 
cated to the contemplation of the ani= 
mals. It was accordingly defigned at 
firft by the author, to publith the qua= 
drupeds, birds, &c. in the vicinity of 
the metropolis ; but particular circum=- 
{tances have induced him to invert the 
natural order, and begin with the in- 
fects. 
On this occafion he has adopted the 
fyftem of Fabricius, although he 
has not copied that great naturalilt 
in a fervile manner; the nomenclature 
in particular is abfolutely neceflary.as it 
is now univerfally adopted; and ferves 
asa common interpreter both to thofe 
who admit, and thofe who reject, 
his authority on other occafions. C, 
A. Walckenaer, however, has taken 
upon him to alter fuch of the charac- 
ters of the claffes, as did not appear 
to be correct ; he has alfo done the 
fame in regard to feveral of the genera, 
but his alterations are founded either 
on long obfervation on his own part, or 
that of feveral celebrated entomologiits, 
which he has been at the pains to exa- 
mine and verify. To the charaéters of 
the genera,he has been careful to add an 
abridgment oftheir hiftory,andadefcrip- 
tion of their various metamorphotes.- 
The {pecific phrafes of Fabricius are 
for the moft part made ufe of, but they 
are augmented when they do not ap- 
pear to be fufficiently explicit, or ine 
tirely changedwhen deemed unfaithful. 
The belt known figure of every infeét 
is always quoted, and the ftudent is 
conitantly referred to the works of two 
eminent men,* for a more detailed de- 
{cription. 
Notwithftanding all his care, this 
catalogue of the iniects in the neigh- 
bourhood of Paris is far from being 
complete, although it includes a con= 
fiderable number of {pecies, which 
* Geotiroy and Fabricius. 
402 have 
