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Hunter remain a lasting and memorable example of what may be achieved by the talents and perseverance of one man; and while they would in every case be of value from their extent and variety, they are rendered far beyond all price as being explana tory of the original and comprehensive views of nature which that great philosopher entertained. Besides the numerous specimens now exhibited, he left behind him nearly one thousand drawings, with a view either of illustrating the preparations now in the collection, or of supplying deficiencies. In these the external forms of many animals, as well as their anatomical structure, are delineated, and particularly those delicate and evanescent peculiarities in the organization of some plants and animals which are discernible only in living subjects. These most curious and valuable materials have long been suffered to remain in obscurity; the knowledge of their existence even has been till lately concealed from the public; but we rejoice, no less for the honour of the College of Surgeons than for the interests of science, that the publication of a selection from the drawings is now in contemplation as soon as a descriptive catalogue of the collection can be completed. Such a catalogue has long been wanted, and the Board of Curators could not have chosen a person more eminently qualified for the task than Mr. Clift. But notwithstanding his profound anatomical knowledge and industry, we foresee with regret the inevitable delay that must attend such an undertaking, imposed as it is on an individual. The present state of the collection is such that the public may, we fear, regard the accomplishment of the desirable objects above mentioned as almost indefinitely postponed.

For illustrating the internal organization both of animals and plants, and the manner in which, under different circumstances, the same functions are carried on in different genera and species, we may pronounce this superb collection to be unrivalled. But in its osteological department it is far excelled by the Gallery of Comparative Anatomy in Paris; that of the College of Surgeons being deficient in some of the genera, while the museum at Paris contains nearly all the species of at least the higher order of animals. Publications of the highest merit in comparative anatomy have lately appeared in France, for which the very materials might have been long wanting, had not their national museum been enriched under the active superintendance of M. Cuvier with such noble accessions. It is humiliating to acknowledge, that no Englishman could even now be the author of similar works, without access to museums such as exist not in his own country. As there is not sufficient space in the College of Surgeons for the display and arrangement of a great portion of such osteological treasures as are at present deposited there, and as these are consequently referred to

with great inconvenience, it is a subject well deserving serious consideration, whether an osteological collection should not find a place in some of the new apartments to be erected in the British Museum. That such a collection should be wanting, in a country enjoying in so pre-eminent a degree every facility for obtaining materials, reflects discredit on the nation. Even the private collection of Mr. Brookes, a spirited and meritorious individual in our metropolis; surpasses that of the College of Surgeons in this noble department of anatomy. An acquaintance with the structure of the inferior animals enlarges our knowledge of the human frame;—a complete gallery of comparative anatomy is therefore peculiarly desirable in England, where our students procure human subjects with so much difficulty and expense. Osteology has also recently acquired an additional source of interest from its intimate connexion with geologya connexion supplying a new and striking illustration of the -mutual dependance of the sciences on each other.

In 1801 a library was commenced by the court of directors at the India House, which contains a large collection of Oriental MSS., maps, and books on general literature and science. A museum has since been added, in which are assembled both Oriental antiquities and objects of natural history: the most remarkable among the latter are many quadrupeds, birds, insects, &c. from the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, and an herbarium of Indian and Javanese plants. We feel a stronger interest in this museum than its present magnitude may seem to warrant, for we cannot but think of the facility with which the East India directors might call forth, from the vast territories over which their influence extends, such treasures as would soon raise it to a pre-eminent rank in Europe, and display the prodigious power of commerce, when animated with a liberal and enlightened spirit, in affording patronage to science.*

*Not only have our countrymen in general been remiss in cultivating natural history in our eastern possessions, but so many instances have occurred in which they have even permitted their own discoveries to be first given to the world in the works of foreigners, that we cannot refrain from citing some of the most remarkable. 1. The Binturong of Sumatra, (Ictides ater) though mentioned in the Transactions of the Linnean Society, was first defined as a genus by M. Valenciennes, and a figure was afterwards given by M. F. Cuvier it was discovered by Sir Stamford Raffles, of whom it is but justice to say, that his conduct ever formed a splendid exception to the want of zeal displayed in our colonies in the encouragement of investigations in natural history, and who, in addition to the able discharge of most important political duties, rendered invaluable assistance to zoology.

2. Bos Silhetanus, (the Jungle Cow of Bengal,) after having been long disregarded by the British in their own territory, was first described and engraved by M. F. Cuvier from a communication of M. Duvaucel.

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The Horticultural Society established in 1804, although designed rather to promote luxury than science, must not be omitted here, since memoirs are found in their Transactions which throw light on the physiology of the vegetable kingdom, and a portion of their ample funds is employed in procuring foreign plants, of which a rich assemblage already exists in their extensive garden at Chiswick.

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The London Institution, for the Advancement of Literature and the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,' was founded in 1805, and chartered in 1807. The original sum raised for its support was £80,000, and further subscriptions have since been added. £35,000 were expended on the building. The library, once under the direction of Porson, contains already above 25,000 volumes, and £500 is every year laid out in the purchase of new books. The laboratory and philosophical instruments are excellent, and lectures are delivered annually in the theatre on various branches of natural philosophy and literature, to audiences commonly exceeding 500 in number.

The Geological Society of London, established in 1807, and chartered in 1825, has been eminently successful in giving a new impulse to the study of geology in Great Britain. In no 'department of science was the co-operation of numerous individuals more required, as a great variety of attainments is necessary for the prosecution of this study, and the facts and observations which bear upon it must be collected from a great extent of country. Of the Transactions edited by this institution, six volumes are now before the public; they contain a vast body of new and interesting matter; many memoirs, illustrated by maps and well executed plates, in which information is found concerning the mineral structure of some of the most distant quarters of the globe; but, of the strata of England, in particular, they supply us with details more ample than have as yet appeared respecting any tract of the same extent in the world. Their library, collection of maps, and museum, have the rare merit of being very accessible. The latter contains a very full suite of the rocks of Great Britain and of the organic remains which they inclose, arranged according to the order of the super

3. Ursus Tibetanus (the Bear of Thibet) was obtained by the French in the British dominions, and first described and figured by M. F. Cuvier, from a drawing of M. Duvaucel.-Hist. des Mam. Livr. 41.

4. But every English naturalist must particularly regret that the large Tapir of Sumatra (Tapirus Malayanus), a fine specimen of which is now preserved in the museum at the India House, should have been first figured and described by a foreigner, although the animal was not only discovered by the British, but a living subject, sent from Ben coolen, had been long kept in the menagerie at Barackpore.a

a Lin. Soc. Trans. vol. xiii. 270. F. Cuvier, Hist, des Mam. Livraison 4.

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position of the strata. The labours of this society, which has ever cultivated geology as an inductive science founded on observation, have tended much to remove the discredit cast upon the study by the wild speculations of earlier authors, and by the vehemence and passion displayed by the Edinburgh school during the controversy respecting the Wernerian and Huttonian hypotheses for explaining the original formation of the strata on the earth's surface.

The institution of the Astronomical Society of London in 1821, was actively promoted by many of the most distinguished fellows of the Royal Society. Besides an excellent volume of Transactions already published, we have pleasure in being able to state other important benefits which have resulted from their efforts. A valuable set of tables for reducing the observed to the true places of stars is preparing at the expense of the society, including above 3,000 stars, and comprehending all known to those of the fifth magnitude inclusive, and all the most useful of the sixth and seventh. An incident which occurred during some of the proceedings of this society has given origin to one of the most extraordinary of modern inventions. To ensure accuracy in the calculation of certain tables, separate computors had been employed, and two members of the society having been chosen to compare the results, detected so many errors, as to induce one of them to express his regret that the work could not be executed by a machine, To this the other member, Mr. Babbage, at once replied, that this was possible;' and persevering in the inquiry, which had thus suggested itself, he produced at last a working model of a machine for calculating tables with surprizing accuracy. The government, with equal judgment and liberality, have encouraged this admirable invention, and induced Mr. Babbage to undertake the construction of an engine applicable to more extensive calculations, which is now proceeding as rapidly as its very difficult and complex nature will admit.*

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After this brief enumeration of the chief scientific institutions of the metropolis, which the reader cannot peruse without being struck with their recent increase, we hasten to consider the rise and progress of similar institutions in the provinces. The progress of these forms, indeed, a still more novel and characteristic feature of the times; and as they are capable of being extended almost indefinitely, they may exert hereafter a more important influence on the character and intellectual attainments of the nation

For a more full account of this extraordinary machine, see Mr. Babbage's Letter to Sir H. Davy, On the Application of Machinery to the Calculation of Mathematical Tables,' published by Boothe, Brook-street, Portland-place. L 2

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than even the societies of London. We shall first consider separately the establishments for promoting astronomical science. The Observatory of Oxford came next after the royal foundation at Greenwich already mentioned. It was begun in 1772, from funds bequeathed by Dr. Radcliffe, and observations have been regularly registered there ever since its completion. The superior accuracy obtained by the comparison of independent corresponding observations, and the necessity of multiplying the positions of observers in a country where changes in the state of the atmosphere are so frequent, constitute sufficient grounds for desiring the foundation of observatories at all our universities. But they may also be appropriated to the instruction of academical students, as they afford opportunities for the delivery of lectures illustrating the practical application of mathematics to astronomy, and may add a powerful stimulus and zest to the prosecution of mathematical studies in general. We cannot mention the excellence of the Radcliffe Observatory, and the costliness and beauty of the instruments, without remembering with regret the scanty attendance of students on the astronomical lectures at Oxford. We have already declared our opinion of the superior advantages of tuition by private lectures, the system at present adopted in our universities;* but consistently with this plan, and without wishing that the cultivation of physical science should constitute a leading branch of the regular education of our academical youth, we feel satisfied that public lectures may be introduced with propriety, as accessary to other studies, wherever the exhibition of philosophical instruments and experiments, or specimens of natural history, is required.

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The Observatory of Dublin was begun in 1783, but many years elapsed before it was completed. The instruments are now considered as equal to those of Greenwich. Scarcely a year for the last fifteen has elapsed in which the Transactions of the Royal Society, and of the Royal Irish Academy, have not been enriched with valuable memoirs from the eminent astronomer at the head of this institution. The lectures on astronomy delivered by Dr. Brinkley have also been of eminent utility.

An observatory was erected at Armagh, and endowed, in 1793, by the late primate of Ireland, Lord Rokeby, who munificently provided funds out of his private property for the maintenance of an astronomer and one assistant. We may refer our readers to the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, and to the Philosophical Transactions of 1806, for proofs of the utility of this institution. The valuable instruments now constructing at the expense of the present primate, and his recent judicious choice of Quarterly Review, No. LXV. p. 265.

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