Mine is the fire the subtle Titan stole,

That in the forms I choose

Can wake a living soul,

And bid them figure on the pictured page;
And with their strifes, their wrongs, their woes,
The young, the old, the unthinking and the sage,
Bound in deep trance of sympathy shall melt,
Shall weep for sorrows never felt,

And still the tale shall live, from age to age.

I can evoke the dead of centuries past,
For whom Fame's trump in vain
Once rang its deafening blast;

Can bid their navies' hide the chafing seas,
Marshal their armies o'er again,

Muster their squadrons as the muse may please;
The King of Men, his warriors and his host
Had in the o'erclouded past been lost,
Without the strain of old Mæonides.

I can make holy ground; and pilgrims there,
Shall after ages long,

With reverent feet repair,

And sacred relics find in every stone.
Winged words live in immortal song;
Sceptres may crumble, empires be o'erthrown,
Yea, those who tread their dust beneath their feet,
Their fathers' language may forget,

But in my strain their speech shall still be known.

My fame, like fire that in the noon-day beam
A sickly lustre shows,

On earth burns pale and dim:

And the dark grave may hide sometimes its light,
Like Rosicrucian lamp that glows

In charmed cavern; but emerging bright,
In its full time, thenceforward it shall shine,
In the clear cope, with beams divine,

Through the long future's undiscovered night.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New-York. Vol. 1. Part 1. 8vo. Wilder & Campbell. New-York. 1825.

NAPOLEON, in a fit of spleen, once called the English a nation of shopkeepers, and we believe this annoyed them quite as much as his victories. Some of their writers very foolishly winced under this epithet, and attempted to show that "the free and haughty Briton" could not, by any possibility, have the humble condescension of a shop-keeper, and that it was exceedingly ridiculous to associate the idea of "the world's last hope," with the traffick in rum, molasses and tobacco. A better class,

however, boldly maintained that trade in itself was not degrading; that its exercise gave scope to the highest powers of the mind; and as a proof that it occasioned no narrow views or parsimonious habits, they demonstrated clearly, that all, or nearly all the charitable and literary institutions in Europe, were originally founded by merchants, and were supported by them down to the present day. This dispute was, however, an idle one. Men naturally take their standing in society, in the exact proportion to their usefulness, or their importance to the common weal. Thus at Rome the priest is pre-eminent, at Paris the soldier, at London the merchant, at Gottingen the learned man, and at Washington, peradventure, the politician. In this country we are unconsciously imitating the slang of the lowest Grub-street scribe, when we attempt to ridicule the honorable standing of the merchant. He may not, it is true, be profoundly acquainted with "longs and shorts" of prosody, but he understands them thoroughly when applied to the staple of the country. He may be ignorant of the value of the Greek article; but, what is far better, he comprehends the value of every article of commerce. He may even affect to smile at the niceties of book learning, but he takes care that his own books will bear the most rigid inspection. He cultivates the society of "good" men; and surely no one regrets more sincerely the failings of his neighbors.

We have been insensibly led into these remarks by the perusal of the volume before us. It comes from a society which has silently risen up among us; and the first notice we have of its existence, is the appearance of this unpretending volume. Composed, as we believe the society chiefly is, of young merchants, it is not only highly creditable that they have devoted their leisure hours to the study of the Natural Sciences, but that they should have exhibited (as this volume testifies) a proficiency that will bear an honorable comparison with the labors of the learned of Europe. Among the contributors, we perceive few of those titled gentlemen who, from immemorial usage, are considered essential to the well being of a scientific society; and few indeed of those "doctores sed non docti," who so often figure before the public with all the consequence derived from the addition of a few cabalistic letters to their names. It strikes us, indeed, as exceedingly curious, that the members of a liberal profession, whose reputation for learning has arisen from their labors in these sciences, should in this country bestow so little of their attention to the cultivation of Natural History. "On such researches and such studies," observes the justly celebrated Lawrence, " on a foundation no less extensive than the whole empire of living nature, the science of medicine must be established, if indeed if be destined to occupy the rank of a science; if, in short, it shall be permanently raised above the early state of an empirical and blind belief in the virtues of herbs, drugs and plasters, or above its more modern, but equally deplorable condition of servile submission to the dogmas of schools and sects, or subjection to doctrines, parties, or authorities." From this quarter we must expect the future improvement of the profession,-not from the addition of new medicines to a catalogue already too long-not from fresh accessions to that mass of clinical observations which lie unread on the shelves of our medical libraries. An acquaintance with these subjects is necessary to the rational improvement of the science of medicine, but by no means so to the mere routine of practice, and the very successful prosecution of the trade. But we are wandering from the subject. It is perhaps natural to express surprise at finding merchants more learned than the members of a learned profes

Natural History promises to become, ere long, a favorite study in America; and the encouragement afforded to the Boston Journal of Science, to the New-Haven Journal, to the Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, strengthens this opinion. Independent of the charms which it holds out as a pleasing relaxation from the graver duties of life, its study may be urged on higher grounds: through it, we become acquainted with the laws and operations of nature, the great variety and beauty of her forms; and the classification of these numerous objects forms a most excellent exercise and discipline of the mind. We say nothing of the actual benefit the country derives from all researches into its botanical and mineralogical treasures, as these must be obvious to the most unlearned of our readers.

In a short and modest advertisement prefixed to this volume, the following are stated to be the reasons which led to its publication.

"The object of the Lyceum in publishing its annals, is to record new and valuable facts in Natural History; and to advance the public good by the diffusion of useful knowledge. The importance of this science is, at present, every where acknowledged; and the attention bestowed on it in our own country, has already been amply repaid. A great variety of new, useful and elegant productions have been discovered; and important facts connected with the agricultural, commercial and manufacturing interests, have been elucidated. In our attempts to bring to light the hidden riches of our country, we solicit the assistance of the public; we ask no emolument, we expect no gain; we cherish the hope that our exertions will be encouraged, that we shall be enabled to proceed in the course which we have now commenced."

The contents of the volume are obviously of a multifarious nature, and are illustrated by thirteen plates highly creditable to the art of engraving in this city.

But we wish our readers themselves to become acquainted with the book; our own pages are too limited to make extracts. To those who feel an honest pride in the literary and scientific character of the city, we hope that enough has been said to secure their patronage. To the members of the Lyceum, we tender our warmest wishes that they may continue to display the same industry and zeal in the study of these noble and ennobling sciences, and earn the high reputation of "accurate observers of nature." May they be encouraged to proceed in their career of usefulness by the reflection that their pursuits are intimately connected with the best interests of their country!

1. Lectures on the Elements of Botany. Part I. By Anthony Tod Thom son, F. L. S. 8vo.

2. Elements of Physiological and Systematic Botany. By T. B. Stroud. 8vo. London. 1824.

To the mere observer, who regards only the beauty and fragrance of nature, who finds in these alone sufficient sources of enjoyment, and who cares not to inquire into the exquisite organization by which Providence has chosen to produce the wonders he admires, the physiology of botany will always appear an unnecessary and uninviting branch of study. Regaled with the odors of fruits and flowers, or pleased with the richness of natural colors, he is satisfied with the grateful sensations which these qualities afford to his senses, and the pleasures which their skilful arrange

ment imparts to his taste. Indeed, a great part of the world go no farther than this, and stop short in the pursuits connected with natural history, when their general effect only is perceived. They suppose it unnecessary, if not presumptuous, to proceed beyond the limits of our senses; and from them proceed the ridicule and opposition which have so much retarded the progress of the natural sciences.

On the other hand, however, botany has had its enthusiastic admirers, and generally captivates, even on the slightest acquaintance. The dangers of unknown seas have been incurred, the inhospitality of distant shores, and the cruelty of ferocious savages have been braved, to make new acquisitions in her cause. Indeed, the biography of most botanists is but a repetition of misfortune, and a narrative of continual exposure to poverty, disease, disaster and death. We should therefore regard, with especial favor, a science for which so much has already been done, but for which there remains so much to do; and if any of us should not immediately perceive the tendency or utility of preliminary pursuits, we should remember that it is only by a laborious collection and compilation of facts, that the foundation is laid upon which the sublime truths of natural philosophy repose.

Botany is ordinarily divided into the three following branches: 1. The description and arrangement of plants.

2. The anatomy and physiology of plants.

3. Their agricultural, economical, and we may add, their medicinal uses. This arrangement has been found the most convenient, and is, therefore, for practical purposes, decidedly the best. The system at present observed in the description and arrangement of plants, is synthetic in its method, for it proceeds from general principles to their widely spread results; and in a concise and comprehensive classification it embraces the whole of the vegetable world. The artificial arrangement has happily superseded the necessity of a tedious and analytical process of investigation. Yet this method must necessarily have been adopted in the infancy of the science. Man, in his uncivilized state of being, goaded by hunger, eats the natural food which surrounds his habitation. Chilled by the inclemency of the weather, he converts to his use the skins of animals, or unites the leaves of plants by their fibres into temporary covering. Overtaken by disease, he seeks restoratives among the spontaneous productions of the earth, and learns from experience their peculiar properties and uses. The child of nature relieved from want, then tears them in pieces to find their hidden qualities, and wonders at the singularity of their interior structure. In new searches after food and medicine, he classes insensibly, what is nourishing and what injurious, what is beautiful and what deformed, and learns gradually to distinguish, by similarity of external appearance, the different families of plants.

But art beginning where nature left off, retraces her steps at ease through all her modifications. First she seeks and examines the individuals, embracing all their numerous varieties; next collects them into groupes; then investigates their internal structure and cause of life; examines their hidden springs of action, and stops at last where the child of nature commenced, in applying them to the necessities and comforts of

life.

The collection and classification of plants have as yet occupied the principal attention of botanists. Ray, Townefort and Linnæus have successively been engaged in this pursuit, and their chief care was so to arrange them, naturally and artificially, that order should be maintained, in their respective ranks, and that that each individual should be known by the definite characteristics. In short it was a system, which they aimed at,

not the intimate knowledge of what they were systematizing. It would at this time be useless and irrelevant to discuss the peculiarities of the different systems of these distinguished men, as their works can be easily referred to, and are within the reach of every one. The system of the Swedish naturalist has been generally adopted; and even in France, where all the passion of originality and love of invention which distinguishes that nation, have been exercised in the formation of a natural arrangement, it has now very recently been acknowledged, that their methods are only productive of confusion and disorder.

While, therefore, the industrious collector has every facility in the classification of his plants, and while we must, with unfeigned pleasure, admire his zeal, his perseverance and his success, we fear that there is too general a disposition to stop at the confines of the vegetable kingdom, without attempting to pass its boundaries, penetrate into its interior, and explore the wonders of that almost undiscovered region.

The second head of the arrangement before mentioned will therefore, for the present, receive our more particular attention. According to Mr. Thompson, the recent historian of the Royal Society, and the author of one of the works before us, most if not all the discoveries by which the physiology of botany has been advanced, have been made since the year 1800; and indeed, the silence of the elder botanists corroborates, if it does not establish, the assertion. Grew, Hale and Malpighi, scarcely advanced the general principles of the science. The physiology of plants implies the knowledge of their nature, their habits, their health, and their anatomy. To make this apparent and palpable, it has been common to compare plants with animals, as far as their functions are similar, and if the comparison will hold between them, their physiology is not more amusing than important to the botanist.

Thus the bark of plants is like the skin of animals; it clothes and defends them, discharges moisture, and absorbs it. The medullary substance of pith, like that in the human body, may perform the offices of exhalation and absorption, and may be a part of a nervous system of plants. The wood of plants in their trunk and branches, gives, like bones, figure, stability and permanence. The sap is the vital fluid, the blood of plants. They have also proper juices, which are their necessary diluents and solvents, varying in strength with the constitutional habits of the individual. The pores of the wood and bark, so apparent when subjected to a magnifying power, are of different sizes and formation, each having respective duties in facilitating the passage of the fluids, conveying the nutriment of the earth, and assisting the rise of the sap to the remotest branches of the the plant. These are the veins and arteriesof the tree; and without these both fruit and flowers would die upon "the parent stem." The leaves are compared to the lungs of animals ; they expectorate, imbibe moisture, and decompose air.

Thus far the comparison is pretty obvious, and the general resemblance is readily acknowledged; but a wide field of inquiry is here offered to investigation. The offices of the constituent parts already named are scarce. ly understood, and their action is still a secret which is almost entirely unknown.

We shall now briefly mention the different topics for consideration, which fall within the limits of the physiology of botany, and state what yet remains to be done with regard to them.

I. The propagation of plants is one of the first importance. This is effected by buds, seeds, bulbs, and cuttings, which are variant with the nature, climate and locality of plants. It has also been found that by the