THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST, 27 
are themselves a prey to the most rapacious of all, thus 
every chasm in nature is filled, and no vacant space is left 
in the page of universal beauty.’’ 
Truly, this old author, whoever he is, reasons in a. 
circle, reminding one of the devout rural clergyman who, 
when preaching on the beneficent designs of an all-wise 
Creator, instanced how beautifully Providence had ar- 
ranged matters, by placing all the great rivers right along- 
side of the large towns and cities! Speaking of the pro- 
perties of some food plants, some quaint remarks are 
-made :— 
“Potatoes are agreeable to hot and thin constitutions, 
but not proper for cold stomachs, or such as are very phleg- 
matic. In general, however, they are very nourishing 
food.’ , 
“‘TLettuces of all sorts, both cool and open, and are. 
therefore good after a debauch.’’ 
“Apples are cool and loosening, and help the appe- 
tite; are best eaten raw in the morning; are good for the 
scurvy and spleen; are a most noble pectoral, and have 
cured some persons of a confirmed consumption.”’ 
Amongst notes on meat foods occurs the following :— 
“Venison, though a food which the scarcity and high 
value of it have rendered delicious to the palates of the 
luxurious, has nothing but the expense to render it pre> 
ferable to good, tender English mutton, which is always 
more wholesome; besides, the nicest palates have been im- 
posed upon by artful cooks, who have served up one for 
the other, without discovery, to their own private emolu- 
ment.”’ 
Here is an interesting statement which is new to me, 
and possibly others, and which might be submitted to ob- 
servation by some of our members :— 
““(uadrupeds that chew the cud have suet instead of 
the soft fat of other animals, and ‘rise from a recumbent 
posture upon their hind legs first.’’ 
The other volume deals entirely with questions of 
time, calendars, and astronomical data, and both are 
models of careful, patient work. The books are written 
in printed characters very neatly done. 
Mr. Manwell died in 1822, aged 70, and was buried 
at, Swanage, in Dorsetshire, England, where his tombstone 
