SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

NATURAL HISTORY,

Bare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland, represented from living Subjects ; with Practical Observations on their Nature. By Sir John Graham Dalyell, Baronet.

Volume First ; containing fifty-three coloured Plates. Van Voorst. TRAMS, A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India. Illustrated with Nu- merous Anecdotes. By the Reverend T. Acland, late Chaplain at Pooree, Cuttack, and Midnapore. [Murray's Home and Colonial Library.] Murray. Unmoor,

The Mission of the Comforter, and other Sermons ; with Notes. By Julius Charles Hare, M.A., Archdeacon of Lewes, Rector of Herstmonceux., &c. In two volumes.

Lrzzasav CORRESPONDENCE, Parker. Schiller's Briefwechsel mit Kdrner. Von 1784 Ms zum Tode Schiller. Erster Theil 1784-1788. [Schiller's Correspondence with Kdmer, from 1784 MI the Death of Schiller. First part—from 1784 to 1788.] .... Verlag von Veil and Comp. Berlin.

SIR J. G. DALYELL'S RARE AND REMARKABLE ANIMALS OF SCOTLAND.

IF there was more formality of yore in literature, there was also more conscientiousness. A man who undertook a quarto devoted himself to the task, not with the occasional zest of a pursuit but with the serious earnestness of a vocation ; giving years, and heart, and strength to his work, encouraged perhaps by some vain vision of immortal fame, but cer- tainly urged and supported by a sense of responsible duty. Even the poor authors, whose shifts to conceal their poverty and evade their cre- ditors were a common theme for wits, had the feeling if not the spirit of art. This higher sense of duty could not endow men or subjects with qualities they had not, or make that permanent which was in its nature perishable, but it gave a closer and more solid character even to compila- tion, and accumulated immense stores in every branch of learning to which men's attention was then directed ; preserving the facts and cha- racters of history, illustrating the classics of antiquity, recording the manners, customs, and archaeology of countries, profoundly elaborate in divinity and law, and though less successful in the natural sciences yet preparing the way for future inquirers to follow with greater results. It is easy for us who have profited by the extracted spirit of these labours to laugh at their form; but without them the world would not have been what it now is, nor could the rapid compiler or the flashy litt4rateur of modern times have carried on his trade without them.

Rare and Remarkable Animals of Scotland is a work of the la- borious and conscientious kind we have alluded to as characteristic of olden times. With a sense of the truth "how vast is art, how narrow human wit," Sir John Graham Dalyell is still more aware of the vastness of nature, and does not expect to do more than contribute to natural his- tory some "detached memoirs, composed from an accumulation of facts," although he has devoted many years to their observation. The "rare animals " he has made the subject of his study are the class Zodphytes, or creatures resembling plants; but these fixed and seemingly mono- tonously lived animantia have been observed with a conscientious care which many naturalists do not pay to creatures very much higher in the scale of being. And by "conscientious" we do not mean a careful ac- curacy, which states nothing loosely or without the strictness we look for in evidence; but the sense of duty which leaves nothing undone within its power to do—which selects the best subjects for experiment, and re- jects them for better, and recurs again and again to the post of observa- tion till its patient industry is rewarded. Sir John Dalyell also exhibits a scrupulousness which forbids him to state as conclusive that which may not be so though his own experience would warrant him in a posi- tive affirmation. Besides time and labour, he must have expended much solid store upon his undertaking. The "rare animals" obtained from the depth of the sea could only have been procured and kept at great cost; the splendid quarto, in its mere letterpress, is as nothing to the numerous figures, magnified, diminished, or the size of life, drawn by eminent artists, and often, we opine, like Brummel's final tie, the result of many failures, or at least of successive repetitions of an object, as time afforded successive specimens of a superior kind. The animantia contained in this volume are the Hydraoid, the Ascidian, and the Cluster or Social Zoophytes; but various species are described under each class, amounting in the aggregate to nearly forty. The mode of treatment of course varies with the facts Sir John has been able to observe; but the smaller papers chiefly differ from the largest by being legit full, either of topics or of matter. When the means permit, the au- thor describes the characteristics and habitat of the Zotiphyte, its general positions in the bed of the sea, the specimens he has been able to procure and their story; the best specimen being always represented in drawing, and everything that is mentioned in words having its counterpart in figure,—" for it is irksome," says Sir John, " to read of what cannot be otherwise understood." The general form and its parts being thus dis- missed, the natural functions of the Zoiiphyte are considered ; many points being discussed, or speculations thrown out, not only in reference to the particular tribe, but to the general laws of living being. Where the specimens have admitted of the trial, accounts are given of experiments made to ascertain various questions connected with the growth, the cu- rative power and process, as well as other points of physiological interest. The composition of the work is close and grave ; the minuteness that appears in it arising from the cautions fulness of the facts, not from over-elaboration or verboseness. Frequently Sir John rises to an easy natural eloquence, induced by the thoughts and the facts before him, not passages worked up by the art of the writer. Indeed, they are so closely connected with the context, that, like some of his own Zoophytes, they can with difficulty be removed from the spot where they have grown. But the following introduction to the subject, and description of the Tubnlaria Indivisa, his first Zoophyte, may be taken as at once a specimen of his general style and his particular description, as well as an indica- tion of some of the characteristics of the ZoLiphytes themselves. " The waters of the world teem with organic life: the depths of the ocean har- bour the most beautiful, rare, and remarkable productions; marshes, rivers, lakes, and fountains, swarm with an host of animated beings, whose varied forms and

isolated habits unfold another universe, pregnant with inexhaustible sources of enjoyment to the contemplative mind.

" On surveying the legions thus dispersed, we are absorbed in admiration of the profound, the grand, and uniform design which obviously regulates their existence. Each has its appointed time and place. No deficiencies restrain the action of those, but so many simple atoms to our imperfect senses, void of external or subordinate parts. No embarrassments confuse the exercise of what to us seem useless, un- manageable, or redundant organs: nothing precludes the operation of such func- tions as are essential for self-preservation and the continuance of their race. Each has that perfection which is necessary for it individually, while forming a portion of that harmonious whole wherein all are comprehended. "Entire tribes, as yet unnamed—and many yet unseen—incessantly originate, and flourish and decay, where most remote from notice, or most inaccessible to mankind. When casually withdrawn from their recesses, it is as if in derision of our vaunted knowledge, and to prove our ignorance of the wonderful works of creation. Now the entire aspect of animated nature changes before us. * • *

" An animal product, which the superficial observer might conclude a flourish- ing vegetable, dwells at the depth of thirty or forty feet from the surface of the sea. This, a yellow fistulous stem, fall of mucilaginous pith, is rooted on a solid substance below, and crowned by a living head, resembling a fine scarlet blossom, with a double row of tentacula, and often with pendent clusters like grapes, em- bellished by various hues, wherein red and yellow predominate.

" Though perfect as a single stem, this production seldom appears in a solitary state: two, three, fifty, or even an hundred and fifty stalks crowded together— their heads of diverse figures, shades, and dimensions—constitute a brilliant ani- mated group, too rich in nature to be effectively portrayed by art."

The following description of the reproduction of the head of the Tabu- laria Indivisa furnishes an example of scientific description, and indicates the care and difficulty of the observation to be encountered in this pur- suit.

" When the head of the Tubularia has attained complete maturity from age or increment, the tentacula become much recurved, their wonted regularity is im- paired, and their extremities exhibit approaching decay. The pendent ovarian clusters spread luxuriantly over them; the central pouch, as if its faculties were exhausted, is empty and contracted; the whole betrays a languishing, sickly as- pect. Next, a point of intersection may be discovered amidst the ruddy pith near the summit of the stalk; and the head soon separating there, falls amidst the surrounding element, but not to perish immediately: demonstrations of life continue during many hours; nay, they are protracted for eight days or longer in

vigorous specimens. • •

" Meantime, the florid summit of the vacant stalk is fading; a kind of cicatrix closes the wound. But on the lapse of a certain interval it darkens again; an internal bud is advancing, which speedily. ascending, bursts a transparent invo- lucrum, and flourishes as a new head, precisely from the same point whence its precursor had fallen, and of equally vivid hue. " Singular to be told, the regenerative faculty is not exhausted here; for, after an indefinite time, this second head droops and dies, and is dissolved on its fall. Then it is replaced by a third, and the third by a successor. How often the like may be repeated—how many successive heads may be generated anew, throughout the whole life of the zoophyte—cannot be readily ascertained, and that for various reasons.

" All marine productions dislodged from considerable depths are liable to the greatest injury. Though casually obtained clean and entire, most of them are profusely invested by parasites, which, fatally and invisibly wounded, speedily corrupt the circumambient fluid in their decay. Even under the best conditions, no trivial embarrassments impede the artificial conservation of delicate creatures abounding in the sea. The water, also, sometimes contracts a noxious principle, from causes eluding conjecture and observation. But it may be fit to warn the naturalist against employing. tall vessels, with copious vacuities above the water, on all occasions; for if the air, vitiated by respiration escaping from the surface, be reabsorbed, it cannot be Otherwise than deleterious. This is well illustrated by attempting. to keep fishes in deep vessels, with a scanty proportion of water, to prevent their leaping over the side: they generally perish m a short time; hence shallower vessels nearly full are preferable."

This passage on Circulation at once exemplifies the author's cautious habit and is a useful contribution on the subject.

"A subject of much interest might admit of some discussion—namely, does any vital fluid, resembling the blood which circulates throughout the system in the higher order of animals, perform a corresponding function in this race of zo- ophytes? " Here I acknowledge my observations have not been conclusive. Some authors affirm that they have witnessed currents ascending and descending the stem of the Tubularia Indivisa. On no occasion have I been alike fortunate. I havesub- jected all different specimens, ages, and parts, to the microscope ; all different views and positions have been chosen: yet I was uniformly unsuccessful. Nascent spe- cimens, still of the palest grey, almost white, which were more manageable than adults, never afforded any evidence of the fact.

"Nevertheless, let not these remarks be held as an imputation on the accuracy or on the veracity of other naturalists; though I have no reason to believe their vision more acute, or their instruments more perfect than mine.

"Extraordinary embarrassment always accompanies the diminution of light, from the use of such powerful magnifiers as are necessary to bring very minute objects into view. Thence, although present, they may be concealed amidst the super- vening obscuration. "All that I can say, therefore, concentrates in my inability to discover circula- tion in the Tubnlaria Indivisa; reminding the reader that some observers of no mean note have denied facts advanced by naturalists from the same cause, which later authorities confirm."