increased without limits, where man had not fettled. The lion and the tyger reftore, the equilibrium, by the destruction of the milder animals; but thefe, again, will not eat bones, and feldom carcafes. The wolf and the hyena then fucceed, and what escapes them is devoured by different infects; fo that fucceffive crops are preferved on the earth, and the air kept free from a poisonous exhalation.-Such is the wisdom of Providence, to produce the beft effects from apparently the moft fatal caufes! and fo blind is man, to doubt of its mercy and goodness, because he fees through a glass darkly, because he perceives but one link of that vaft chain, which extends from earth to heaven!

The tyger-wolf, the fpotted hyena of Mr. Pennant (Hiftory of Quadrupeds, N° 149, page 250), is a fingular beast, and very little known.

The night, or the dusk of the evening only, is the time in which thefe animals feek their prey, after which they are used to roam about both feparately, and in flocks. But one of the most unfortunate properties of this creature is, that it cannot keep its. own counfel. The language of it cannot eafily be taken down upon paper; however, with a view to make this fpecies of wolf better known than it has been hitherto, I fhall observe, that it is by means of a found fomething like the following, aquae,. and fometimes coao, yelled out with a tone of defpair, (at the interval of fome minutes between each howl,) that nature obliges this, the most voracious animal in all Africa, to difcover itself, just as it does the most venemous of all the American Serpents, by the rattle in its tail, itself to warn every one to avoid its mortal bite. This fame rattle fnake would feem, in confequence of thus betraying its own defigns, and of its great inactivity, (to be as it were nature's ftep-child,) if, according to many credible accounts, it had not the wonderous property of charming its prey by fixing its eye upon it. The like is affirmed alfo of the tiger-wolf. This creature it is true, is obliged to give information against itself; but on the other hand, is actually poffeffed of the peculiar gift of being enabled, in fome measure, to imitate the cries of other animals; by which means this arch deceiver is fometimes lucky enough to beguile and attract calves, foals, lambs, and other animals. As to the howlings of this creature, they are, in fact, as much the natu ral confequences of hunger, as gaping is of a difpofition to fleep; and as the flowing of the faliva, or the water coming into the mouth, is of the fight of fome delicacy, which excites the ap petite. There muft, indeed, be fome physical caufe for this. The very hollownefs of the found, or fome other quality of it which I cannot well defcribe, induces me to conjecture, that it proceeds from the emptinefs of the ftomach. In the mean

while,

while, that a difpofition to this yelling is abfolutely implanted in the animal by nature, I am apt to conclude from the inftance of a young tiger-wolf that I faw at the Cape, which, though it had been brought up tame from a whelp by a Chinefe refident there, and was then chained up, was faid nevertheless to be filent in the day time, but very frequently in the night (being then probably hungry) was heard to emit the yelling noise peculiar to its kind."

This power of imitating other voices was known to the ancients, though generally difbelieved by the lefs credulous, and fometimes fceptical moderns. We are glad to find it fup. ported by our author's authority; and those who examine Mr. Pennant's article, which we have purposely referred to, will fee alfo the foundation of another opinion, that the hyæna was able to change its fex.

Among the quadrupeds of this fouthern promontory, we find too an apparently infignificant animal, but one capable of deftroying the fyftems of the philofopher, and the theories. of the fpeculatift, viz the viverra putorius. This is an animal of North America, and not to be found, as Buffon has pofitively afferted, in the fouthern parts of the old world. He has afferted it, not from examination, but because he would allow no animals to America, which could not be supposed to migrate through the ftrait between the two continents eastward of Siberia. This is an additional argument to thofe which we lately produced, in our review of Mr. Pennant's Artic Zoology,' refpecting the improbability of the new world being peopled from the old. We fincerely wish, with our author, that Mr. Buffon, and we may add other naturalists, would be contented with the contemplation of nature, ⚫ which is never without its use, without endeavouring to lay down univerfal laws for her.'

We must pursue this very entertaining and useful narrative in another article.

Medical Sketches. Part I. By Richard Pew, Member of the Royal Society at Edinburgh. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Bew.

THIS

HIS little volume is to be enlarged by fucceffive publica-. tions, under the fame title; and we fhall follow, with pleasure, the improving hints of a young, but active mind. If, in the first part, we perceive much theory, and too extenfive quotations, we hope, in the fucceeding ones, to diftinguish that careful found observation, which can alone ilJuftrate the natural history of the body in a morbid ftate. The

Sketch

sketch before us is not deficient in this refpect; but those which fucceed may be more abundantly supplied with it.

The first fubject is epilepfy, of which the remote causes, affigned by Dr. Pew, are perhaps too numerous, and a little too redundant. Inequality of the bones of the head," and preternatural tuberofities,' are the fame in their effects. Of this effect from inflammation,' we have no evidence in fact; and acrimony' is a vague idea, and requires more explanation; in reality it must be reduced to fomething elfe, before we can acknowlege it as a cause of epilepfy. The proximate caufe of the disease is more exact. It is founded on the nervous pathology of Dr. Cullen, and is not very different from his opinion. To this, fome cafes which occurred to the author, and others compiled from different obfervers, are added. The fubject is concluded by farther obfervations on fenfibility and irritability, which are very ingenious.

On the fubject of fever, he endeavours to oppofe the opinion of the periodical revolution of the disease, depending on the diurnal one of the conftitution, because intermittents occur at every different hour. But this is not quite exact; for their general tendency is fixed, and they are only changed in confequence of fome irregularity in diet, or fome effect of medicine. We fee the regular exacerbation of remittents and continued fevers, ftill more diftin&tly and accurately. We allow that fevers, inftead of anticipating or poftponing paroxyfms, have fometimes a fhorter interval; but we have frequently feen the former, when on examination it appeared more strictly an anticipating paroxyfm than our author fufpects; for it has been brought on by irregularity in diet. Befides, the greater number of inftances establish the general rule, and that is clearly in favour of fuch paroxyfms, independent of irregularity. We refer our author only to the changes from a remittent to a continued fever.

In the proximate caufe of fever, Dr. Pew fuppofes a stimulating caufe, acting ultimately on the brain, and the fhivering to be the effort of nature to preferve fo effential an organ. We. cannot enlarge on this fubject, but shall only remark, on the one hand, that the very peculiar nature of febrile debility has occafioned great errors in those who have oppofed the Cullenian doctrine; and on the other, that perhaps it would be materially affifted, as a caufe of fever, by its being fuppofed owing to a morbid matter actually prefent. The arguments in fupport of the opinion of our author are acute; but we think he is lefs fuccefsful in his attempt to fhow, that the double tertians may be ftyled an eighteen or thirty-hour in

ter

termittent. This difpute muft ultimately depend on that concerning the general regularity of febrile acceffion.

On the fubject of apoplexy, Dr. Pew thinks it must depend fometimes on the effential caufe of fever, because its recurrence is, at fome periods, fo frequent, as to appear almost like an epidemic. But, in a large practice, every chronic difeafe will appear in the fame way. Somewhat may be owing to` accident, and fomething to the ftate of weather an humoral asthma among old people is almoft epidemic in cold and moist air, and apoplexy very frequent in hot weather, entirely independent of fever; fo that the frequent occurrence of any dif ease at a particular period, is not enough to establish it as a febrile epidemic.

Our author concludes with an examination of Dr. Brown's fyftem. His account of it is clear, and we believe exact. His arguments against it are fhrewd and humorous.-We fhall not enlarge on this fubject, as we find the Brunonians are equally ignorant of the operations of nature, and the effect of medicines. Nothing but difgrace can be gained even from victory.

Richardi Relhan, A. M. Collegii Regalis Capellani, Flora Cantabrigienfis, exhibens Plantas Agro Cantabrigienfi indigenas, fecundum Syftema Sexuale digeftas. 8vo. 10s. 6d. White.

WE

E fhall felect an account of this work, in the words of the diligent and attentive author.

The very great number of plants, indigenous to this country, is fufficiently known from the catalogue of Ray, and those of our very respectable botanical profeffors. I had not, therefore, the confidence to suppose, when I engaged in this undertaking, that I could find new fpecies, except in the clafs Cryptogamia: a few, however, and thofe rather scarce, I have described. But it must be allowed, that the stations of fome of the plants, marked in this work, and not mentioned in the catalogue of our profeffor, together with various obfervations, were very obligingly communicated by him.

The works of Linnæus have furnished the effential and requifite characters: the defcriptions and distinctions are added from the best authors, for the fake of those bonatifts who had not access to the works themselves: I have paid great attention, and not without fuccefs, in fearching for the cryptogamic plants, and have added, with little hefitation, my own obfervations, fully fatisfied if I fhall have rendered the stud of butany more eafy.'

We

We are forry to obferve that this account is unufually partiaf; fince Mr. Relhan has not remarked that he has, with great pains, felected the defcriptions from a great variety of the most valuable modern authors, and added plates of the rareft plants. This unusual partiality, for we are generally promised more than the author performs, has induced us to add a little to his account, and to fupply what he has modeftly concealed, Among other works, of the first note and highest authority, we find the celebrated Flora Roffica of Mr. Pallas, Schoeffer's Plates, Scopoli's Flora, Weber's Specilegium, Wiegel's Flora and Obfervations, and Weis's Cryptogamic Plants of Gottingen. In fhort, we recollect no modern work of credit which Mr. Relhan does not appear to have confulted. Mr. Curtis and Mr. Hudson feem to have been particularly attended to.

Among the more remarkable plants, we may mention the mountain ftone-parsley, the athamanta libanotis Linnæi, which has not hitherto been confidered as an English plant, but was difcovered by our author in 1783. This plant is represented in an annexed plate. The new flag next engraved, is the lichen mufcorum, the mofs lichen: it is not included in Linnæus' fyftem. We shall felect the defcription from Weber.

'Cruftra parum cohærens, farinofa, Byffo incanæ Lin. omnino fimilis, colore pariter varians cinereo, aut ex cinereo virefcenti. Tubercula in ficcioribus interdum planiufcula, alias convexa, nitentia, atra, copiofa, magna, ætate fæpius turbinata. Weber.'

There is another fpecies of lichen, difcovered by our author, of which a plate is added: it is ftyled the fubimbricated lichen. Crufta orbicularis, craffa, margine fubimbricato. Diameter 1-4 uncialis. Scutelle innumeræ.

The next fpecies of lichen reprefented in a plate, and first difcovered by Mr. Relhan, in England, is the lichen lentigerus, or white lichen.

Scutellæ juniores perexiguæ, concava, poftea convexa, tandem tuberculis fimiles.

This is a fufficient specimen of our author's attention; and we have confined ourselves to the plates, to give in the shortest compass the most information. The other plates reprefent the cineraria alpina of Linnæus, the anemone pulfatilla, and the thefium linophyllum. They are all executed with accuracy rather than elegance, and serve to inftruct more than they will amufe. On the whole, we think this a very refpectable and ufeful work.

An