ff 
ae.” ; 
Retrofpect of French Literature—Botany—Bisgraphy. 
Jiam had but known how to have profited 
by his faults.” 
BOTANY. ji 
Phyfislogie Végétale, &c.—Vegetable 
Phyfiology ;\containing a Defeription of | 
the Organs of Plants, and an Explanation 
of the Phenomena produced by their Or- 
ganifation, byJ.Senebier. Geneva, eighth 
year of the French Republic, 5 vols. 8vo. 
a new edition. 
As mankind feem to have begun by oc- 
cupying their minds about the worlds 
that roll over their heads, itis but natural 
enough that they fhould conclude, by re- 
marking fome of the properties of thofe 
plants that are trampled under their feet. 
Vegetables of all -kinds have been long 
fubjeGicd to the rules of elaffification, but 
“It is not above fifty years fince their parti- 
cular organifation, and the various pbeno- 
mena produced by it, have been ftudied. 
Subfequent tg that period indeed, a” va- 
riety of curious, and interefting — facts 
have been explored; but we do not 
poffefs any other work, which, like that 
of Senebier, contains all hitherto difcover- 
ed relative to the phyfiology of plants. 
The author has already diftinguithed him- 
{elf upon many former occafions, and par- 
ticularly by his Digtionary, which ap. 
peared in 1791. We mentioned the firt 
edition of the prefent work, on a former 
occafion, 
Botanique des Enfans, &c.—A Syftem 
of Botany, calculated for the Ute of Chil- 
dren; or, a General and Particular Hif- 
tory of the Vegetable Kingdom, 1 Vol. 
8vo. Paris. 
This work contains : 
1. Fhe Elementary Letters of J. J. 
Rouffeau, relative to Botany. 
2. A Supplementary 
the Study of that Science: 
3- A Defcription of more than 4000 
different Species of European Plants, dif- 
tributed, after the Linnedn method, into 
claffes, orders, fetions, genera, [pecies, and 
varieties, witha table, Latin and French, 
of the gezera, natural families, &c. as 
well as a complete. vocabulary of all the 
technical terms. 
It is evident that this work is ndét in- 
tended for the learned ; it would appear, 
however, that it is above the capacity cf 
children, and ought to be deftined, there- 
fore, for. the initruétion of youth alone. 
Experiences fur la Germination des 
Plantes, &c.—Experiments relative to 
’ the Germination of Plants, by F. A. Le- 
febure, Strafburg. 
Lefebure, like Le Vaillant, the cele- 
brated traveller into the remote regions of 
Introduétion to. 
657 
Africa, appears to be duly impreffed with 
the utzlity of the flulies to which the cu- 
rious and learned, during the prefent age, 
have applied their time, and directed their 
experiments.. He accordingly remarks, 
with him, that, ‘ /aveugle curiofite, qué 
formoit feule autrefois toutes nos collections 
a hiftoire naturelle, céde aujourd'hui la place 
& des motifs plus nodles et plus precieux.” 
The prefent muft be allowed to be a 
work at once ufeful and interefting. The 
author has divided it gto two parts. In 
Part I. We treats of the feed, and what 
occurs to it during the proce/s of vegeta 
tion, ‘ 
2. Of the qualities neceflary to make it - 
germinate. And | Ur ; 
3. Of the changes experienced by it at 
this epoch. ; 
In Part [I. he confiders the influence of 
certain agents, and enquires :— 
1. Is the earih effentially neceflary t 
germination? 
2. Cannot this operation take place in 
consequence of the intervention of other 
fybftances ? f 
3. What is the influence of the caloric, 
water, air, the eleétric fluid? All thefe 
queftions are attempted to be refolved by 
the author. The ftyleis in general clear, 
precife, and well-fuited to the purpofe. 
BLOGRAPHY. : 
La Vie et les Aventures Politiques, &c.— 
The Life and Political Adventures of 
Napier. Mrrza-sHan, Prince of Perfa, 
now in Paris,.Governor of the Province 
of Guilan, Commander in Chief of the 
Army of Mazandaran, and General of 
the Cavalry of the King, his eldeft Bro- 
ther, third Son.of Charok Shah, who was 
Son of Rolaiki-Mirza Shah, who was 
fon of Nadir Shah, known to Europeans 
by the name of Thamas-Kouli-Khan;: 
collected and publifhed in defence of this 
Prince, by Denss Montrrort,Geological 
Affiftant ia the Nationakdinfeum of Natu- 
ra] Hiftory at Paris, an 8vo. pamphlet of 
104. pages, adorned with a portrait +f Na- 
dir- Mirza-Shah, in the Perfian drefs, with 
a fhield containing his arms, fupported by 
two lions. 
Lecourbe, a French General, while lead- 
ing a column ef the republican army 
through Germany, having learned that a 
foreigner had been detained in prifon, by 
order of the Archduke Charles, inftantly 
fet him at liberty. This foreigner, on his 
arrival at Paris, immediately aflumed the 
name and titles affixed to this pamphlet, 
and all the world was difpofed to believe 
the fory of the unfortunate franger. But 
the Citizen Olivier, a’phyfician, who had 
juik 
