A MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. H. S. "Being lately within a few miles of Earl's Colne, in Essex, went thither to see the monuments of the de Veres, Earls of Oxford. Others being likely to do so, it should be generally known that the Church no longer contains a trace of these venerable remains. They have been wholly removed to Colne Priory. Access to them seems to be readily granted; but a stranger naturally feels unwilling to intrude upon a private family, and he might even be tempted into some notice of the very questionable title under which these antiquities have been appropriated. In defence of such appropriation, it is pleaded, that the parish, needing more pewroom, desired the removal of these monuments, and that originally they were placed elsewhere. They were, in fact, removed from the Priory church, at the dissolution. It is painful to think that they are no longer in a public edifice of any kind, but must hereafter be liable to the negligence, necessities, and caprices inseparable from private ownership. Some convenient position for them might surely have been found within the Church; and an English gentleman, in using his influence for such a purpose, would have had the satisfaction of protecting his country in the possession of her historical evidences, and antiquarian treasures." L. A. remarks, "In an article of the last number of the Quarterly Review, on the valuable letters of M. Von Raumer, illustrative of the history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the reviewer has expressed on one point surprise almost amounting to distrust. He professes his utter inability to conceive who, or what, that English ambassador could be, with a name anything like what the French have made into Ompson, who, in addressing a challenge to the Duke of Guise, in the year 1588, boasts of being worthy of his sword by blood not inferior to that of the Princes of Loraine. The following explanatory remarks may perhaps, by solving the difficulty, serve as a vindication, on this point, of the accuracy of a very eminent labourer in the field of historical research. The letter in question has not now been given for the first time to the English public. Many years ago, when documents concerning Queen Elizabeth and her Court formed the matter of my studies, I met with it in some collection of State Papers, but at this distance *We apprehend it was in Fuller's Worthies, where Sir Henry's challenge is given, or in Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. iii. p. 85, where it is quoted.-EDIT. of time I am unable to say what. It struck me however with the same surprise as the reviewer, although the name was there given in its correct form-Sir Henry Unton-until I found in Sir E. Brydges's Peerage, under the article of Seymour Duke of Somerset, what I believe to be the true key to the mystery. It is there mentioned that Anne, eldest daughter of the first Duke, by his wife Anne Stanhope, married first, the eldest son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and secondly, Sir Edward Unton, of Wadley in Farringdon in Berks, Knight of the Bath. The ambassador in question was the son of this marriage; as grandson of the Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector, as a near kinsman of Edward VI. and as a lineal descendant by his maternal grandmother, and through the great house of Bourchier, of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, and youngest son of Edward III. he had some claim to place his lineage on a footing of equality with that of Guise; and it may be added, that he could have inherited little of the spirit of that proud wife of Somerset, who struggled for precedence, even over the widow of Henry VIII. had he failed to assert himself to the utmost. A Sir Edward Unton, probably son to Sir Henry, is mentioned in the Peerage as married to a daughter of the Earl of Huntingdon. Perhaps some of your correspondents learned in family history may be enabled to add further notices of the Untons." For these our correspondent is referred to Gent. Mag. vol, lxvi. pp. 13, 1069. The communication of H. B. on the Antient Classics is declined. BETA lately heard a dispute whether the Adjectives 'first' and 'last' could be correctly used with numerals, as 'the two last,' 'the three first;' or whether they could respectively only apply to one of a series, as the first,' the last.' I cannot at this time recollect an English authority for the use of numerals; but Cicero has Ad 'duo prima capita epistolæ suæ.' Famil. 3. 8. It was attempted to be argued, that there was a distinction between the two last,' and the last two; but no authority was quoted, and I cannot perceive the difference. Perhaps one of your correspondents would favour me with an answer to this grammatical query ? ERRATA.-P. 100 a. line 6 from bottom, for Sercold read Serocold. - P. 134 b. 19, for proves r. prove.-P. 137 a. 16, read British and American.-P. 138 a. 11, read Asiatiques.-P. 139 b. 39, for Tartar read TATAR (So Mr. Gutzlaff affects to write the word Tartar.")-P. 181 a. 15, for Roman design," read "Norman donjon; THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. ON THE HISTORY, HABITS, AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. 2 Vol: BY THE REV. WILLIAM KIRBY, M.A. F.R.S. (BRIDGWATER TREATISE.) 1835. IF Mr. Kirby's volumes should not prove the most popular among the elegant and philosophical treatises which have been produced by the golden influence of the Bridgwater legacy, it will certainly not arise from their inferiority to those of his learned coadjutors. Mr. Kirby has been long and honourably known as a very eminent naturalist, particularly in the branch of entomology. To a familiar acquaintance with the different sys. tems of the zoologist and naturalist, he has added a practical knowledge of the subject, and has studied both in the museum of the collector, and in the larger repository of nature. He seems equally acquainted with the systematic arrangements and classifications which have been formed by men of science, and with the organization and nature of animal creation, from his own observation. Hence, in the present volumes, he has not only amassed a most copious and curious collection of facts on the habits and instincts of animals, particularly of the simpler and lower order of the creation, which we will venture to say were quite unknown to the general reader; but he has arranged them in luminous and scientific order, traced the causes of many singular phenomena they present, examined many subtile questions connected with their physiology, and then risen to the very highest and most abstract province of the natural historian, in his examination of the development of their intellectual and sensitive powers,-their growth, their modifications, and their mutual dependencies and connections. The object of the treatises with which the well-directed munificence of the Earl of Bridgwater has enriched the history of science, is'the illustration of the power, the wisdom, and goodness of the Deity as manifested in the works of the creation." While this argument was unfolded by Mr. Whewell in the contemplation of the planetary system and of general physics; by Sir Charles Bell in the beautiful and curious mechanism of the human hand ;* by Dr. Kidd in the adaptation of external nature to the physical condition of man; and in like manner, each in his department, by other eminent writers; to Mr. Kirby was allotted the very delightful but difficult subject of tracing through the minutest inhabitants of the globe (the existence of many of which the unassisted eye cannot perceive), the various principles on which their nature appears *Perhaps the following sentence, in Mr. Kirby's treatise, might as well have been omitted. He is speaking of the superior organ of the body, the human hand. "The Deity himself also condescends to convey spiritual benefits to his people by means of the hands of authorized persons, as in confirmation and ordination. And the blessed friend and patron, and advocate and deliverer of our race, when he was upon earth, appears to have wrought most of his miracles of healing, by laying on his hands; in benediction also, when children were brought unto him, he laid his hands on them, and at his ascension he lifted up his hands to bless his disciples." On this subject, speaking with the profoundest reverence, it has always struck us as rather singular, that, amidst all the miracles of our Lord, no instance of a lost limb restored is mentioned. Has this been ever noticed before, and if so, what reason is assigned? formed; of examining the instincts and habits which so harmoniously adapt them to the situations in which they are placed, and the purposes they have to fulfil; which harmonize them with the other parts of the creation, and which are all subject to certain laws impressed on them by the hand of that great and wise Being who formed them, and which no power of theirs, or of man can control or gainsay. The nomination of Mr. Kirby was most judiciously made by the trustees. There are very few persons, at least in our country, who possess such an extensive fund of knowledge on the subject required, or who can claim so enlarged an acquaintance with the history of the microscopic products of animal nature as the rector of Barham: and the only misgiving which we have on the subject is, that, while his work will be highly esteemed by profound naturalists, it may display too recondite a research for the uninstructed reader. The object of these treatises undoubtedly is to be of general benefit; to act upon the public mind, to produce belief and conviction on those classes of society whose education has enabled them to pursue and enjoy these and similar theories, yet short of a scientific or systematic knowledge of them. Now, we are not sure that a smaller number of examples, selected from the different genera and species of animals, and well grouped and arranged, would not produce a stronger effect upon the mind, and take a deeper hold of the feelings, than the vast multitude which Mr. Kirby's commanding knowledge has enabled him to accumulate; particularly as the greater part is selected from the minute and concealed tribes of universal life, many of them, by the common eye confused with the productions of the vegetable world, and whose forms, names, and dwellings are scarcely known to any but the scientific entomologist. Such are the molluscans, the annelidans, the cephalopods, and still more the infusories, the microscopic animalcules, the acrita, or indiscernibles, and the amorpha, or the formless; the minim animals that may be said to be universally dispersed, that inhabit the sea, the rivers, and other waters; that are supposed to float in the air; that are found in the blood and urine; in the tartar of the teeth; in animal substances, in vinegar, in paste, in vegetable substances, and in fruits, seeds, and grain; in sand, among tiles, in wells, on mountains; whose numbers are infinite; hundreds of thousands of whom may be seen in a single drop of water; whose minuteness is so extensive, that some are not more thanth part of a line in length, and yet these animals possess a mouth and a stomach. Curious and valuable beyond all dispute as such investigations are, requiring also not only a very accurate habit of observation, but also most logical powers of arrangement and analysis, yet they may be carried too far for the general reader: and we think it very probable that Mr. Kirby may be called by the public voice to afford them a popular abridgment, or perhaps selection from his great and elaborate work. However that may be, the present volumes are repositories of a vast number of most curious facts, brought from remote quarters, grouped in most commodious masses, illustrated by extensive information, authenticated by veracious and sound authorities, and presenting much that is new, even to professional readers. After describing the creation and distribution of animals, a subject which the deepest inquirer must be contented to see still lying under much darkness, and surrounded by difficulties that defy any satisfactory solution, Mr. Kirby commences with the functions and instincts of animals,-beginning at the foot of the scale,* and termi At p. 13, is a curious inquiry as to the existence of the intestinal worm, in the body of the first man created sinless and perfect. Mr. Kirby cannot believe that man nating with man at the summit," thus making a gradual progress towards the most perfect being it was his will to create, and ending with him. So, (says the author,) I think it will best manifest His power and properties if I endeavour to trace out the footsteps of the Deity, in the same direction as He proceeded; and instead of beginning, as is usually done by systematic writers, with the highest grade of animals, I ascend upwards from the lowest." In pursuance of this plan the work is divided into twenty-five chapters; fifteen of which are occupied with the history of animals, beginning with the infusories, and ascending gradually through the polypes, molluscans, worms, and annelidans and others, to the condylopes. The five remaining chapters treat of fishes, reptiles, birds, mammalians, and man. * Having now informed our readers of the general plan of this ingenious and interesting work, all that remains for us, is to extract a few of the observations, which will both be of value in themselves, and also afford an example of Mr. Kirby's manner of composition. In the conclusions that sometimes Mr. Kirby arrives at, as the result of his reasonings on disputed points in the history of the animal creation, we are not always prepared to join; and we confess that we have long since ceased to feel any confidence in the opinion which he maintains in the following passages (vide vol. i. pp. 19-21). He is speaking of the supposed extinction of some auimals which formed part of the original creation; and whose destruction, in consequence of exclusion from Noah's ark, he considers as not warranted by the very precise and comprehensive language of Scripture.† "But there are doubtless very many animals still existing on the earth and in its waters which have not been discovered. When we consider the vast tracts of terra incognita still shut out from us in the heart of Africa, that fatal country, hitherto as it were hermetically sealed to our researches, and from whose bourn so few travellers return-how little we know of central Asia, of China, and of some parts of North America-we may believe that our catalogues of animals are still very short of their real numbers, even with respect to those of the largest dimensions. Burchell and Campbell appear to have met with more than one new species of rhinoceros in their journey from the Cape of Good Hope into the interior; the same country may conceal others of the same gigantic or other tribes, which, when it is more fully explored, may hereafter be brought to light. Again, with respect to the productions of the various seas and oceans that occupy so large a portion of our globe, we know comparatively few, especially of its molluscous inhabitants. What are cast up on the shores of the various countries washed by their waves, and what the net or other means may collect in their vicinity, find their way indeed into our cabinets; but what are these compared with such as inhabit the depths, and caves, and beds of of the infinite ocean, which never net in his pristine state of glory and beauty and dignity, could be the receptacle and the prey of those unclean and disgusting animals. This, he says, is surely incredible, and gives different hypotheses on the subject: but as Mr. Kirby allows that the animals who now live on flesh, were herbivorous and harmless before the fall; why should not the tape-worm partake of the general change? Suppose that it existed in the body of animals, and was transferred to the stomach of cannibal man. Mr. Kirby would not object, that the perfection of the original animal system rejected this supposition; it might act as a check, as a gentle disease, as a mode of death to the animal. The introduction is employed in refuting the irreligious and unphilosophical systems of La Place and La Marck, examining their views with respect to nature and life, and showing how defective and unphilosophical the doctrines of materialism are. Mr. Kirby's observations on the language of Scripture, on subjects connected with natural objects, we consider to be most judicious, and indeed clearly right: and had we room we should willingly quote from p. xliv. to p. xlvii. The latter part on the Cherubic images, and symbolical language of Scripture, is very learned and ingenious. See p. lxx. to lxxxvii. + "Of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark."-If sort could be interpreted species or genera, the difficulty would be lessened. dragged, nor plumb-line fathomed. Who shall say what species lurk in those unapproachable recesses, never to be revealed to the eye of man but in a fossil state. The giant Inocerami, the singular tribe of Ammonites, and all their cognate genera, as even La Marck seems disposed to concede. The Baculites, Hamites, Scaphites, and numerous others, then, have space enough to live unknown to fame, while they are reckoned by the geologist as expunged from the race of living animals. I do not mean to assert that these animals are not extinct, but I would only caution the student of nature from assuming this as irrefragably demonstrated; since we certainly do not yet know enough of the vast field of creation, to say dogmatically, with respect to any species of these animals, that this is no longer in being." We would grant, with Mr. Kirby, that there are probably, nay, assuredly, many species of the smaller part of the animal kingdom, tenants of the interminable wildernesses of the earth, that have never beheld the form of man, nor ever been called before him to receive their name from his mouth; but we agree, we believe with Cuvier and other illustrious naturalists, in the opinion which they have deliberately formed and always maintained, that it is all but hopeless to expect to behold the gigantic monsters of the antediluvian world issue from their shaggy forests in the remote depths of the Californian deserts, or hear the thunder of their midnight bellowings shaking the Ural mountains, or see their vast unwieldy forms bending to drink of the mysterious fountains of the Niger or the Nile. Experience has not proved that the remote depths of ocean are inhabited at all; and arguing from analogy, which we bring from the solitude and silence of the interior of the largest and wildest of forests, where neither the form of life is seen, nor its voice heard, we should presume that it is not. Were the depths of the distant oceans inhabited, either those who dwell in them must dwell in perpetual darkness, where never the sweet light of day hath visited them; or another kind of ocular apparatus must be provided for them. Again, the larger animals were herbivorous, and if also gregarious, like the elephant, or like the great bison-armies of America, if they had to migrate south and north, as the season and supply of food obliged, they would not be easily concealed from the inquisitive eye of man. It is true the interior of Africa presents a vast space of untrodden solitudes; but it is also true that we are tolerably well acquainted with the outward edge or rim of this interior circle; and that we find a considerable similarity in its zoology, from the Desarts of Barca and the banks of Senegal, to the Cape of Good Hope. The lion, the hippopotamus, the giraffe, the ostrich, are found in parts most remote from each other, and under every meridian; and indeed vast extent of space alone, unless accompanied with change in soil, climate, and other circumstances, does not promise a richer Flora to the botanist, or more varied forms of animal life to the naturalist. But Mr. Kirby has another hypothesis, into which he was led by Mr. Mantell's hypothesis of the age of reptiles. Mundus Subterraneus, but merely to inquire whether there are any probable grounds for thinking that some creatures may be placed by their Creator at such a depth within the earth's crust as to be beyond all human shew!" "Besides the unexplored parts of the surface of the earth, and of the bed of the ocean, are we sure that there is no receptacle for animal life in its womb? I am not going here to revive the visionary speculations of Athanasius Kircher, in his Mr. Kirby then proceeds to suggest reasons why it is probable that a central cavity exists in the globe, an abyss of waters under the earth, distinct from the ocean, though in communication with it *-1 -the prin *Compare Job xxviii. 14, xxxviii. 16, 17; Genesis xlix. 25; Deut. xxiii. 13; Jonah ii. 6. |