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And round the chamber makes the lubbard swing;
As long ago old Jessé's son was seen
Whirling the fatal stone in leathern sling,

Which laid Goliath sprawling on the green.
But soon the wife, with tears and blubbering,
Hath quell'd our gallant hero's wrathful spleen;
And, for her sake, he lays her husband down
Quite stunn'd, as one asleep, or in a swoon.'

Our readers have now before them a fair opportunity of judging both of the prose and the verse of this translation from the Italian. Those who think that the cares of life are wisely sweetened by a smile, as we confess ourselves to be of opinion, will not refuse that brief and pleasing testimony of approbation to the foregoing scene; while, if they wish still farther to forget the "curas hominum, et quantum est in rebus inane," they may adopt that best of all receipts for sorrow, quiet meditation on matters of little moment; and innocently employ their minds in the elegant, although sometimes the fine-spun, lucubrations of the present author. If the notes should put them asleep with their versi tronchi and versi sdruccioli, let them return to the text, when they awake; and, whether it be Rinaldo and the Landlady, or Astolpho and his Looking-glass, with the copy of Sir Geoffry Hudson from Vandyke, or Ferrau and Rinaldo, (whence, as we have before observed, the author of Ivanhoe, in the scene of King Richard and Friar Tuck, has so largely borrowed,) we feel convinced that the spirits which they gained during their slumbers will be well employed on the varied and vigorous fancies of the anglicized Carteromaco.

A most copious and convenient index is subjoined to this volume; which really contains enough to set up a small-talker, or a weekly critic, for the next summer-season.

It

We would not, however, by any means be understood to characterize the merits of any portion of the work by these its probable results. On the contrary, we think that the profoundest scholar, whether in antient or in modern literature, may here be most usefully reminded of much former knowlege, and led into many new trains of thought. would be easy to indulge a frivolous and ill-natured sneer, at the fullness into which some topics of no very extensive interest are treated: but those who read to be instructed in matters of taste, or to be entertained for a passing hour of relief from the toils and anxieties of life, will have reason (we repeat) to record with thankfulness and honor the merits of the writer who, in free and flowing English, has naturalized the last and perhaps not the least of this witty school of Italian poetry.

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ART. III. The Transactions of the Linnéan Society of London. Vol. XIII.

[Article concluded from page 233.]

ALTHOUGH the continuation or secondary division of this

volume is less diversified and entertaining than the first, it will not be found destitute of allurements to the zoological

student.

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Second Part of the Descriptive Catalogue of a Zoological Collection made in the Island of Sumatra and its Vicinity. By Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Knt. This list of birds is far from inconsiderable, and includes various new genera and species but their manners and habits are less readily ascertained than those of quadrupeds; and of some of them we are presented only with the names. Falco caligatus, possibly a new species, is above two feet in length, and more than three feet across the wings. The three species of owls in the collection differ from any with which we are acquainted, though nearly related to some of them in general appearance. Thus, Strix Sumatrana, which is the largest of them, resembles the Nyctea in color, but is horned, and in its characters is more approximated to Bubo; the Lempiji has a general resemblance to Scops, and is nearly of the same dimensions, but varies in its markings; while Scutulata is hornless, 'about ten inches in length, brown above, lighter and variegated with white below; the tail with black bands; legs feathered to the toes; yellow irids; and wings shorter than the tail.'

The Psittaci are stated to be much less numerous in Sumatra than in the more easterly islands, particularly the Moluccas; and only five species are noticed as belonging to the collection, the last of which, the Sumatranus, (or Kéké,) is from twelve to fourteen inches in length, entirely green, and furnished with a moderately long and even tail.

Besides these, there are numerous species met with in captivity, which have been brought from the more eastern islands, such as the Psittacus Gigas, cristatus, sulphureus, Dominicella, &c., which it is unnecessary to particularize, as they are for the most part well known. One of the most beautiful of these is the P. cyanogoster: an individual of this species has long been a familiar inmate of my house, and is remarkable for its extreme degree of familiarity and domestication. It is always left at perfect liberty, and associates freely with all the other animals in the house. It attends regularly at table, courts the caresses of all, and shows an extraordinary degree of jealousy if the slightest attentions are paid to any other favorite.'

Trogon Kasumba is minutely described, and appears to be a beautiful species: but nothing is said of its economy; and

the

the specimens are with difficulty preserved, from the circumstance of the feathers being slightly implanted in a thin skin. Bucco versicolor is a large species, dark-green above, and lighter beneath, with the crown of the head red, and the throat blue: but only males have yet been found, and scarcely any two of them are perfectly alike in coloring. Several new cuckoos are enumerated; and among them Cuculus melanognathus, or Phoenicophæus melanognathus of Horsfield, which is about seventeen inches long, with the back and wings of a glossy bluish-green. It lives on insects,-not, as we have been hitherto told, on fruits; and it perches on the summits of the loftiest trees. Picus Tiga is a very singular three-toed species, as remarkable for wanting the thumb-toe as the Tridactylus is for the want of the outer one. Calyptomena viridis is thus

described:

This very singular and beautiful bird is about six inches and a half in length. Its color is a brilliant green, like that of the parrots. The head is rather large, and its feathers are directed forwards from each side in such a manner as nearly to conceal the bill, giving the face a very peculiar appearance. A little above and before the eyes the feathers are of a deep velvet-black at their base, and only tipped with green; and there is a similar spot of black immediately over the ears. The wings are scarcely longer than the body, green, but crossed on the coverts by three velvet-black bands; the primary feathers, as well as the whole under-side of the wings, are dusky approaching to black, with the exception of the outer margins of some, which are edged with green. The tail is short, rounded, composed of ten feathers, which are green above, and bluish-black below. The whole of the under parts are green. This colour is lightest on the sides of the neck and round the eyes. The bill is short, wide, much depressed at the base, deeply cleft, and hooked at the point. Nostrils oval at the base of the bill, and concealed by the filiform feathers that project over them. The eyes are rather large; the irids bluish. Legs bluish black. A few feathers come down over the upper part of the tarsi. Feet gressorial; outer toe not much shorter than the middle one, with which it is united as far as the last joint.

The stomach of this bird contained nothing but vegetable substances, chiefly wild grains. It is found in the retired parts of the forests of Singapore and of the interior of Sumatra; and being of the colour of the leaves, and perching on the higher branches of the trees, it is not easily procurable. The female does not differ in appearance from the male.'

Eurylaimus lemniscatus, and E. ochromalus, also rank among the rara Aves. All the species of Paradisea are represented as natives of the Papuan archipelago. Individuals of the apoda, or common species, lived with Sir Thomas Raffles

for

for seven months, and were fed on grasshoppers. It is affirmed that the smallest quantity of salt occasions the sudden death of Gracula religiosa; and the natives assert that the mere sight of blood is equally fatal to that bird.

The Argus Pheasant, or Kuaow, the pride of the Malayan forests, in elegance of form and richness of attire is perhaps unequalled in the feathered race. They are found in the deep forests of Sumatra, generally in pairs: they are said by the natives to make a galangan, i. e. to dance and strut about each other in the manner of the peacocks. The plumage is too well known to require description. Their total length is frequently five feet, and the two middle tail-feathers exceed three. In a Malay poem, descriptive of the birds of Sumatra, the Argus Pheasant is thus shortly but aptly characterised: "In the superb and many-coloured Kuaow, it is impossible to discover a single fault save one, the difficulty of pronouncing its name."'

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The remaining classes of animals are dismissed in a few pages, with the apology that the largest proportion of the subjects are forwarded for examination and description in Europe, it being impossible to enter into minutiæ in this country, without occasioning delay and detriment to other more pressing avocations. Drawings of the most remarkable have been made, and the specimens, for the most part preserved in spirits, and accompanied by a catalogue, will afford every facility for detailed examination at a distance.' A short appendix comprizes descriptions of Lemur Tacsier, Buceros comatus, and a species of Strix, which were made known to the author after he had finished his analytical labors.

A Monograph of the Genus Saxifraga. By Mr. David Don. It appears that Mr. Don's pretensions to exhibit a distinct extrication of this complicated but interesting family of plants are grounded on his application to the subject during seven years, and the opportunities which he has enjoyed for cultivating many of the species, observing most of those that are indigenous to this island in their native abodes, and consulting the rich and extensive herbaria of the late Sir Joseph Banks and Mr. Lambert, the latter including that of Pallas. Mr. Don's descriptive catalogue is accordingly more comprehensive and accurate than those even of Haworth or Sternberg, amounting to 108 species; of which the characters and principal synonyms are diligently registered, and occasionally accompanied by critical remarks. In consequence of a patient and laborious revision of the tribe, he has been induced to discard the subdivisions of certain botanists, who have distributed it into several genera on grounds which will not stand the test of rigid examination: but he has had re

course

course to sections and subordinate groupes, the characters of the former being derived from the parts of fructification, and those of the latter from the leaves and differences in habit. His detailed descriptions of species are preceded by synoptical views of the genus, sections, and subdivisions.

S. cordifolia is recorded as a distinct species, and not as a garden or hybrid variety of crassifolia; both because its characters, when the plant is raised from seed, are constant, and because it has been found native in Siberia. Ligulata has been discovered in the mountains of Nepal, and in the eastern parts of Bengal. Spicata appears to be very distinct from geum, with which Pursh had confounded it. The specimens preserved in the Banksian herbarium, 'were collected in Sledge island, on the north-west coast of America, by Mr. David Nelson, a very indefatigable botanist, who accompanied the celebrated Captain Cook in his third voyage, and who has made many interesting discoveries in those regions. For some other rare species we are indebted to the same source. As a sample of the author's discriminating talents, we subjoin his remarks on S. sedioides.

The present species is readily distinguished by its slender habit and numerous ascending leafy stems, of a beautiful green, which are furnished with a few thin and scattered, short, glandular hairs; by its long, slender, capillary peduncles; and, lastly, by its small, linear, pointed petals, scarcely exceeding the length of the calyx. I regret having been obliged to differ so widely in opinion from the Count de Sternberg, who certainly has not studied the present species with due care, as is evident from his description and figures, both of which are miserably defective in point of botanical accuracy. The following species, S. tenera, is distinguished from this, to which it is nearly related, by its much more tufted habit; by its obtuse leaves, which, together with the stems, are thickly clothed with glandular hairs; by the oblong lacinia of its calyx; and in having the flowers double the size, with obovate, retuse petals, nearly twice the length of the calyx. In the figures of S. sedioides, given by Sternberg, the petals are erroneously exhibited as obovate; and were it not for the habit, which is clearly that of S. sedioides, I should certainly have been inclined to refer them to the following species. The figure given by him under the name of S. Hohenwartii, shews the flowers much more correctly. The variety ẞ I have not seen it therefore rests wholly on the authority of Sternberg, who states the petals and anthers to be of a purplish colour. The varieties I have marked agree with S. sedioides in every essential point; but how far they are to be regarded as permanent varieties I have not had opportunities of determining.'

Most of the species noticed towards the conclusion of this article are rare; and several of them have been lately detected

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