sel. We hold that the points made, the authorities cited, and the distinctions taken by counsel, should be stated clearly and without confusion in the reports. In this, Mr. Pickering is certainly not so happy as he might be.

As critics, we feel obliged to give no quarter to the modern incorrect use of the word, coerce. Its meaning is, to restrain, to keep in order by force. But it has of late been used in the sense of to compel, that is, to force to some act. In page 497, of the book in our hands, we read of taking measures to coerce payment.' In the common newspapers, those great corrupters of our language, this might pass without comment. But Mr. Pickering is an accomplished scholar, and his inadvertencies are not so harmless.

66

Lyrical, and other Poems. By WILLIAM G. SIMMS, Jr. Charleston. Ellis & Neufville. 1827. 18mo. pp. 198.

THE author makes, in his Preface to this little volume, an apology, on account of his youth, for any imperfections which may be apparent in it. This apology we readily accept. Juvenile poems are rarely faultless; the best of them are little more than evidences of talent, and promises of what the writer's matured powers may produce. The poems before' us have an abundant proportion of such blemishes as are to be expected in the works of very youthful writers; but they have also passages which show the possession of no ordinary degree of poetical talent. Perhaps one of the last things which a poet learns, is the art of suppression, or the skill of keeping back whatever is feeble or extravagant and unworthy of himself and the public. The following is a specimen of the better things in this volume.

TO A WINTER FLOWER.

[Written in the Creek Nation:]

When winter comes with icy mien,
To silver o'er this brook,

Thy form in loneliness is seen,
By all forsook.

No shrub upon the fields remains
To feed the watchful gaze,

Nor blade of grass the earth retains,
Nor sprig of maize.

The Indian here shall rest his eye,
And meditate alone

That thou, when all his race shall die,
Wilt still be known.

Pensive, in anxious, thoughtful mood,
His rifle at his side,

He'll wonder how alone thou 'st stood,
When all have died.

What secret spring of life is thine,
Or what art thou, to gain

Such partial favor, as to shine,
Last of thy train ?

Methinks such lot can ne'er be blest

To feel ourselves alone,

On earth the latest, only guest,

When all are gone.

pp. 97, 98.

The Class-Book of American Literature; consisting_principally of Selections in the departments of History, Biography, Prose Fiction, Poetry, &c. from the best Writers of our own Country. Designed to be used as a Reading-Book in American Schools. By JOHN FROST. Boston. J. H. A. Frost. 12mo. pp. 288.

RECKONING from the appearance of "Scott's Lessons" and Lindley Murray's compilations among us, we confidently assert, that no real improvement has since been made in books of this nature. We know not where can be found a more judicious selection from the best English authors, than is presented in the former of of these publications. It might well assume the more ambitious title of Elegant Extracts, calculated, as it is, to improve the taste, inform the understanding, and enrich the mind of the youthful reader. We may return to it in riper years, with renewed delight, and still find it a most interesting repository of literary gems, whose lustre is far from being dimmed by age. Much might, likewise, be said in praise of Murray's selections; but these, as well as "Scott's Lessons," are too well known to need being characterized by us; and, notwithstanding their long use, we believe that few teachers would wish to see them entirely banished from their schools. The only valid argument that can be brought in favor of new compilations, must be derived from a consideration of the valuable additions which writers of a more modern date furnish, and the importance of familiarizing them to the minds of the young. By interspersing among the selections from standard English authors, a small proportion of pieces taken from the best writers of our own country, the value of the compilation to an American student is considerably enhanced. It was with these views, we presume, that the Rev. Mr. Pierpont made the selection known, and for the most part admired, as the "First Class-Book," and with the same views, Messrs. Greenwood and Emerson have more recently compiled the "Classical Reader."

We are disposed to accord the most unqualified praise to the last named gentlemen for the very judicious manner in which they have executed their task.

"The Class-Book of American Literature," as its name imports, is entirely composed of American productions. We confess we were not altogether pleased with the plan of a work for schools. which should exclude the finest passages of Addison and Pope, in order to give place to the less classical productions of our own writers; but this predisposition to dislike was far from being confirmed on perusal; and we are willing to admit, that the book has very considerable claims on the score of elegance and good taste. Moreover, the editor, we find, disclaims any intention of excluding from our schools the classical writers of Great Britain. But he says, and we think justly, that, in the education of every American youth, there may be a period devoted to the study of his native literature. A selection from American writers possesses-beside the assurance it gives of a favorable moral and political tendency in the character of the pieces-many peculiar advantages for the purpose of school-reading. The glow of patriotic feeling is one of the first and strongest emotions caught in boyhood, and furnishes the best preparation for that native eloquence of the heart, of which the finest efforts of elocution are but an imitation, and which must form the basis of all successful culture in this department of education.

In recommending Mr. Frost's work, we do not mean to say that a happier selection might not have been made from sources so copious. But his book is designed for juvenile readers; and his circle of choice was necessarily restricted by the capacity, if not the taste, of those for whose use the volume was compiled.

In regard to some of the pieces, especially the poetical ones, we think it would have been more judicious to give them a longer term of probation before admitting them into a work designed as a permanent Reader. We fear that some of the flowers, on losing the gloss of novelty, will part with much of their attractiveness. We cannot, however, find it in our hearts to reproach that laborious class of persons to which Mr. Frost belongs, in whose duties there is at best so much tiresome uniformity, we mean the instructers, for desiring to enliven their toils as far as practicable, by the use of new books. On the whole, we think that the general reader will be gratified to find, that a book containing so great a variety of useful, elegant, and entertaining matter, should have been constructed of purely American materials.

INTELLIGENCE.

Fossil Bones. After the various geological systems which have been framed to account for the different fossil remains dispersed over the continents of Europe and Asia, we are scarcely surprised at any new hypothesis, unless it carry with it an appearance of truth. A gentleman of the name of Ranking, in a recent publication of the highest merit, has stated as his opinion, that the remains of different animals which have been found in countries very remote from those to which they belong, have not been transported to their present localities by the action of a deluge, but are some of them the result of the Roman sports in the amphitheatre, and of the great hunting matches of the Mongols, while the rest have accompanied the armies of these two nations, the mighty conquerors of the Eastern and Western world.

Fossil Animals. The researches of modern geology have brought to light, at different times, specimens of the organized remains of a former order of things on our globe, of which by no means the least remarkable characteristic is their enormous size. Professor Buckland, some years ago, discovered what at first seemed a fossil tree, but, upon examination, proved to be a thigh bone, with all the characters belonging to the genus Saurus (lizard, crocodile, &c.) Soon after a fragment of a jaw, presenting similar indications, was found. From the known proportions of the existing species, he calculated that the length of this reptile must have been upwards of sixty feet, and its bulk equal to that of an elephant seven feet high. It has been appropriately termed the megalosaurus, A discovery of a yet more formidable monster has very recently been made. Teeth have been found by some French naturalists, having the character of the shark species. From accurate measurement and comparison with existing sharks' teeth, it has been computed that they must have belonged to animals (upon the very lowest estimate) in one instance thirty, and in another forty-three feet in length.

Snails. It is stated by M. De Martens, that the annual exports of snails (kelik pomatia) from Ulm by the Danube, to be used as food in Lent, at the convents of Austria, formerly amounted to ten millions of these animals, which were fattened in the gardens in the neighbourhood. Before the revolution in France, large quantities of the H. aspersa were exported from the coasts of Aunis and Saintonge, in barrels, for the Antilles, and some are still sent to those islands, and to Senegal, for food. The consumption of snails is still very considerable in the departments of Lower Charente and the Gironde. In the isle of Rhé alone, it is estimated at the value of twenty-five thousand francs. At Marseilles the commerce in these animals is also considerable; the species eaten, are the H. rhodostama, H. aspersa, and the H. vermiculata. In Spain, Italy, Turkey, and the Levant, the use of snails as food is common.

The Walrus. The ability of the Walrus to climb steep surfaces of ice, and smooth high rocks, which has often astonished Polar navigators,

has been found by Sir Everard Home to be owing to their hind feet, or flippers, being furnished with a cupping-like apparatus, similar, but on a gigantic scale, to those in the feet of flies, which enable the latter to walk on upright glass, or even on a smooth ceiling, supported by the atmosphere pressing against the vacuum they are enabled to form in the cavities of their feet. It is the same also with the geoo, a rat-like animal, which, in India, runs up and down the faces of the smoothest walls in chase of flies and insects. The bones of the walrus flipper, in a surprising manner represent a gigantic human hand, capable of spanning twenty-eight inches or more; although these animals sometimes weigh a ton and a half, there seems little reason to doubt their capability of supporting this great weight by pedalian suction against a mass of ice.

Newspapers in the United States. There were but seven papers published in the United States in 1750; in 1810 there were three hundred and fifty-nine (including twenty-five published daily), which circulated twenty-two million two hundred thousand copies in the year. In 1823 they had increased to the number of five hundred and ninety-eight. The number of copies circulated in the year by these journals, it is calculated, exceeds thirty millions. The whole of continental Europe, containing one hundred and sixty millions of inhabitants, does not support half the number of journals that exist in the United States.

Newspapers in India. The number of newspapers published in the languages of India, and designed solely for native readers, has increased, in the course of seven years, from one to six. Four of these are in Bengalee, and two in Persian.

Printing on Zinc. At the bookstore of Leak, at Darmstadt, has appeared the first great work whose prints are taken from plates of zinc; it is a collection of architectural monuments, which will consist of twenty numbers. The drawings are made upon zinc as upon stone, and the expense of engraving is thus avoided. The editor is, in consequence, able to sell each number, containing twelve folio plates, at five francs, upon common paper. In an economical point of view, this process deserves to be recommended.

Russian Universities. In the seven Russian Universities, there are at present three thousand students, two hundred and twenty professors, lecturers, &c. The students are organized in almost a military manner, wear a uniform, and are under a very strict superintendence.

Calcutta Medical Society. At a late meeting of the Calcutta Medical Society, a paper was read by Dr. Kennedy on the barbarous Indian penance, called Gulwutzy Chumk. "It is very surprising," says Dr. Kennedy, "how the self-devoted victims, who have for some time been suspended by iron hooks inserted into their flesh, can run about, upon their descent from their elevation, as if nothing had happened, and how speedily the wounds heal without inflammation or suppuration." Dr. Kennedy makes various remarks upon the subject, in a medical point of view, with reference to the employment of setons; but his paper further shows, that this monstrous practice of Paganism is not, as has been conjectured by some persons, a mere Indian juggle.