Page 8. 1. 5. for plan,' r. plant. 30. 1. 19. from bott, for following piece,' r. fowling piece. 178. 1. 10. from bott. for might,' r. may; and 1. 8. fr. bott, for 'may's, might. THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For SEPTEMBER, 1805: ART. I. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Vol. VII. 4to. PP. 355. 11. 118. 6d. Boards. White. 1804. FEW Ew naturalists will peruse these communications without expressing a wish, that the learned body from whom they proceed may be long enabled to persevere in their labours of diligence and zeal. The liberal terms of their royal charter, and the considerate spirit of their bye-laws, (copies of which are prefixed to the present volume,) certainly augur well to the permanence and prosperity of the institution; and a still more flattering presage of laudable exertion may be deduced from the highly respectable character of the memoirs already published. Of the twenty-two additional papers now before us, the first is intitled, A new Arrangement of the genus Aloë, with a chronological Sketch of the progressive Knowledge of that Genus, and of ether succulent Genera, by Adrian Hardy Haworth, Esq., F.L.S. -So far as the extrication of this hitherto neglected and confused genus is concerned, Mr. Haworth has the strongest claims to the gratitude of every intelligent botanist. His synoptical view includes not fewer than fifty one distinct species, independently of varieties, and of nine species described on the authority of Muntingius, Plukenet, Petiver, Commeline, and Tilli. When we reflect that scarcely any one of these sixty species can be tolerably preserved in an herbarium,-that only fourteen are particularized in the enlarged and improved edition of Millar's Dictionary, now publishing by Martyn, that Mr. Haworth has, during these fifteen years, assiduously collected and cultivated all the sorts of alcës and succulent plants which he was able to procure, and that forty-one of the species which he describes are still alive in his possession,we may form some notion of the importance and extent of this gentleman's investigations. I have given, (says he,) among other select synonyma, a reference to every figured Aloë in my possession: so far at least as they belong VOL.XLVIII. B to to the plants I have described. This is more than I intended, in the outset of the business, to have done; but finding the very involved and intricate state of the whole genus absolutely required it, I redoubled my exertions and new-modelled the whole; and, with the assistance of the living plants themselves (which I found indispensably necessary to have always before me), have given to my specifica differentia that decisive kind of perspicuity which they could not possibly have received in any other way. I claim no merit on this account, because any other person, of equal diligence, might have done as much, perhaps more, had he been in possession of the same advantageous materials.' Where do we find persons of equal diligence, and possessed of the same advantageous materials? Or, if both could be easily procured, we might still lament the absence of those discriminating talents which are so conspicuously manifested by the writer of the present paper. As, however, to avoid prolixity, he has suppressed the detailed descriptions, and selected merely some of the best references, we trust that we may regard his new arrangement as only the prelude of a more extended and finished monography. On the Germination of the Seeds of Orchidea. By Richard Anthony Salisbury, Esq. F.R.S. and L.S.-Mr. Salisbury's observations prove that the seeds of several of these tribes both germinate and vegetate; and that, therefore, the received opinion concerning their sterility is a mere prejudice. The experiment succeeded with him upwards of a hundred times on Orchis morio, —mascula,—latifolia,—maculata,—apifera, Ophrys spiralis, all the Limodora' which happened to be in the garden, and Epidendron cochleatum. Account of the Tusseh and Arrindy Silk-worms of Bengal. By William Roxburgh, M.D. F.L.S.-As these insects have been already described by naturalists, we shall not follow Dr. Roxburgh in all the particulars which he mentions relative to their scientific characters and habits. It may suffice to observe of the Tusseh insect, that it has been found in Bengal and the neighbouring provinces, from time immemorial, in such abundance as to have afforded the natives a large quantity of very durable coarse silk, which forms a cheap, light, and cool dress; that, when its larva approaches to its full size, it is too heavy to crawl in search of its food with its back up, and therefore traverses, suspended by the feet; and that, in its perfect state, it is destitute of a mouth, or any channel by which food can be received. The Arrindy, or Phalana Cynthia, occurs in two of the interior districts of Bengal, and is cultivated in houses as the common silk-worm. As it feeds on the leaves of the Palma Christi, Christi, Sir Wm. Jones mentions it under the denomination of Phalana ricini; an appellation which Dr. Roxburgh is unwilling to retain, lest it should be confounded with Bombyx ricini of Fabricius, which is a different insect. In its larva state, it is extremely voracious, devouring many times its own weight in the course of a single day. So very delicate is the silk which is obtained from this insect, that it cannot be winded off the cocoons, but is spun like cotton. It is then manufactured into a sort of coarse white cloth, which is extremely durable. Description of the British Lizards; and of a new British species of Viper. By Revett Sheppard, A.B. F.L.S.-To the three species of British Lizards so imperfectly described by Pennant, Mr. Sheppard has added three more, two of which are nondescripts. The first of these he denominates Lacerta OEdura, or swelled tailed Lizard; the second he presumes to be the L. anguiformis of Ray, and to be often mistaken for a viper; and the third, he calls L. maculata, or spotted Lizard. The author's strictures on Mr. Pennant's remarks on the larvæ of Lizards are pertinent and ingenious. Mr. S. next describes a beautiful species of Coluber, to which he gives the name of cæruleus, from the azure blue of its belly. This certainly deserves (he says) to be ranked as a distinct species full as much as C. Prester. When I killed the animal, I took down an account of the scuta and squamæ, which I have since lost. They differed in number from those both of C. Berus and C. Prester; but among the great number of snakes and vipers that I have killed and examined, I scarcely ever found two of the same species that had a like number of scuta and squamæ : a sufficient indication how imperfect a part of the specific character these form.' Mr. S. is unaccountably silent concerning the particular places in which he found his additions to British zoology. Description of Bos Frontalis, a new Species, from India. By -Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq., F.R.S. V.P.L.S. -This nondescript species is a native of the mountainous tract of country which separates the province of Chittagong in Bengal from Arracan. Soon after the drawing was taken, the animal, which had been sent by the Marquis Wellesley to David Scott, Esq., died, to all appearance owing to the change of climate. A cow of the same species died on the passage. Description of the Esox Saurus. By the Rev. Thomas Rackett, M.A. F.R.S. and L.S.-This laconic communication is chiefly valuable on account of the accurate figure which accompanies it, and which represents the fish in its natural size. |