Art. VI. 1. The Botanists Companion, or an Introduction to the Knowledge of Practical Botany, and Uses of Plants, either growing wild in Great Britain, or cultivated for the Purposes of Agriculture, Medicine Rural (Economy, or the Arts. By William Salisbury, of the Botanic Garden, Sloane Street. 2 Vols. 12mo. Price 12s. London. 1816. 2. A Botanical Description of British Plants in the Midland Counties, particularly of those in the neighbourhood of Alcester; to which is prefixed, a short Introduction to Botany, and the Knowledge of the Principal Natural Orders. By T. Purton geon, Alcester.mbellished with Eight Coloured Engravings, by James Sowerby F.L.S. 2 Vols. 12mo. Price 11. 1817. WHEN the pompous Sir. John Hill, who was the Solomon and Brodum of his day, found that he had outlived his feme with the booksellers, he betook himself to writing pamphlets in recommendation of his Essence of ater-dock, Tincture of Valerian, Balsam of Honey, and Elixir of Bardana, ascribing to them unbounded nosological virtues; and thus, by imposing on the credulity of the public, was enabled to drive a chariot, dress splendidly, dispute at Batson's, appear at masquerades and the playhouses, to the admiration of the high and the low vulgar. But the writers now before us, not content with the ephemeral reputation of a stitched or sewed pamphlet, advertize themselves to the public, each in two solid volumes, as, the one a botanic gardener, the other, a surgeon at Alcester. Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, Mr. W. Salisbury's first volume is made up of a frontispiece of his 'Botanic Garden, a poverty-struck introduction to the science, an English translation of Linnæus's Delineatio Planta; (the writer carefully avoiding to inform us whence he gets it ;) and a reprint, nearly, of Galpine's Compendium of British Botany, arranged after the very worst of all possible methods-alphabetically. But then it was necessary to transform it thus much, or it would have been absolutely the same, and might have subjected the plagiarist to the Chancellor's injunction. Not one word of originality can we discover through the whole of it; though the Author professes to be a practical cultivator of plants, a demonstrator of Botany, after a manner peculiar to himself, and the successor of Curtis, one of the most acute Botanists this or any other country ever produced. Although the volume has been published subsequently to the completion of the English Botany, and of Sir James E. Smith's Compendium Flora Britannice, and to the article by the same author in Dr. Rees' Cyclopedia (Plants British) which takes notice of the most recent additions and alterations, Mr. Salisbury has not condescended to avail himself of this assistance; but tells the world boldly, that he finds such deficiencies in the works of all authors who have preceded him, as to be under the necessity of putting his own manual into the hands of his pupils. Nevertheless, he is himself guilty of having omitted at least a hundred new species of plants, if not more. His second volume, however, does him somewhat greater credit. Here he has collected many remarks on plants useful in agriculture, in the arts, and in medicine, so as to form an instructive and pleasing assemblage; and had this part of his work been published alone, with the humble pretensions to which it may lay claim, all might have been well. But we shall take leave of Mr. Salisbury, and hasten to join our friend, 'Culling of simples,' The Apothecary, who it may be premised has been so unreasonable in the geographical limits he has prescribed to himself in the "Midland "Flora," that we are persuaded he must have left undescribed some hundreds of species. Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Oxfordshire, Stafford, and Derby, cannot be so poor in rarities as we are led to infer from these volumes. Indeed, we happen to know that even within the Author's more immediate scope, are to be found Scirpus acicularis, Dipsacus pilosus, Cynoglossum sylvaticum, abundance of Bromus pinnatus, Galium pusillum, Arenaria tunuifolia, Sedum rupestre, acres of Ulex nanus, Lathyrus sylvestris (which he has probably mistaken for L. Latifolius, which we believe not to be British,) Corex ampullacea, Typha angustifolia, Anchusa sempervirens, &c. &c. &c. But besides these omissions, he has not taken notice of any of the new species published in the latter volumes of English Botany; such for instance as Myosotis versicolor, Valeriana dentata, the new Scirpi, (and of the old ones he has given only two, though in all there are fourteen,) Juncus Acutiflorus and Lampocarpus, the most common of plants; the new Grasses or the new Roses; and a great number of others too tedious to be enumerated. Nor has he introduced any of the new genera, though they stand on the authority of the best botanists both native and foreign. Liriodendron Tulipifera, Rheum Raponticum, Æsculus Hippocastanum, Delphinium Consolida, he has described, though they are no more indigenous than myrtles. Veronica Triphyllos he says is not rare with him, whereas it is one of the scarcest plants in the kingdom, being found only in the narrow sandy tract in Norfolk and Suffolk. Had be cleared up the obscurities in regard to the plants found, or said to have been found, in his neighbourhood, he would have essentially contributed to the progress of the science. Had he, for example, thered or us, and described fully two of Withering's Galia, Mollugo 8, and Montanum (Witheringii of Flor. Brit.); Scandix Cerefolium, which is said to grow near Worcester; Enphorbia Characias and Cyparissias, two as great rarities as we have, the former of which Ray states that he found in Haywood Park, and which we believe has not been gathered there since, the latter is said to grow at Enville, he would have done a réal service. We have heard that E. Characias grows at Malvern. Erica multiflora and Cerastium tonscutosum, mentioned by Pilkington in his "View of Derbyshire," ought to have been ascertained. Verbascum virgatum, said to have been found about Worcester, and which is suspected to be nothing but Blattaria, was worth describing a little more fully, so as to have cleared up this point. With the Fungi the Author appears to have been more intimate, and indeed this is the only part of his two volumes that renders them at all tolerable. Of this difficult and almost unknown tribe it is no small praise to have described more than one hundred species, among which are some new ones never before determined. He has given plates of Riccia glauca, Auricularia elegans, and Peziza crispa, which do Mr. Sowerby's graver more credit than some of his English Botany attempts. The rest of the plates, of which there are four, are of plants well understood, and are the same as those in the work just mentioned, and even not worth inserting to enhance the price of the book. Mr. Purton, like Mr. W. Salisbury, has been most liberal in bis quotations, having extracted about forty pages from Rousseau's Botany, for his Introduction. His table of contents refers the reader to a disquisition on the systems of Cesalpinus, Ray, and Tournefort; but on turning to the page we were surprised to find the whole subject dismissed in two or three lines. A similar disappointment will occur on turning to the description of the geographical site of Alcester, where the reference is nearly as full as the description referred to. Upon the whole, neither of these publications is adapted to reflect credit upon the science; and though we would not say that no one will be benefitted by them, yet we regret that the Authors knew so little as to be incapable of measuring their own at tainments. VOL. IX. N.S. Art. VII. A Voyage round the World, from 1806 to 1812; in which Japan, Kamschatka, the Aleutian Islands, and the Sandwich Islands, were visited. Including a Narrative of the Author's Shipwreck on the Island of Sannack, and his subsequent Wreck in the Ship's Long-boat. With an Account of the Present State of the Sandwich Islands, and a Vocabulary of their Language. By Archibald Campbell. Illustrated by a Chart. 8vo. 9s. Edin. burgh. 1816. THIS HIS is a tale of perilous adventure, of hair-breadth escapes, and of overwhelming calamities. It bears, however, so far as we can judge from general inspection and comparison, the marks of authenticity, and excites sensations of sympathy and compassion for the hapless individual whose disasters it narrates. The Editor is Mr. James Smith, of Jordan-hill, who states, that he first met with Campbell on board of one of the steam boats, which ply upon the river Clyde. His appearance and manners, as well as his miserable and mutilated condition, awakened the curiosity and pity of Mr. S. and he obtained from him, at different intervals, partly in writing, and partly by verbal communication, the particulars of his melancholy story. Archibald Campbell was born at Wyndford, near Glasgow, on the 19th of July, 1787. His father, who was a soldier, died in the West Indies, and his mother returned to Scotland. Campbell received the elements of education, and at an early age was put to the loom. A strong propensity to rambling induced him to quit this sedentary mode of life, and at the age of thirteen he went to sea. After having made several voyages, he was pressed into the King's service, and in 1806, made his escape, and entered as seaman on board the Thames Indiaman. The destination of this vessel was to Canton, where Campbell was tempted, by the offer of a handsome gratuity and high wages, to desert his ship, and engage with the American Captain O'Kean, of the Eclipse, whose vessel was chartered by the Russian American company, for their settlements at Kamschatka and on the N. W. coast of America; her lading consisting chiefly of Chinese produce. While he lay concealed, with another English sailor under similar circumstances, in the American factory, he narrowly escaped detection. Being in want of provisions, we sent out a Chinese to buy some bread, and gave him a dollar stamped with Captain Riche's initials. Instead of fulfilling his commission, he took the dollar to the captain, and brought him to the factory. When we saw them approach, we made our escape from a window to the top of an adjoining house, and ran along the roofs, till we reached a warehouse, which we asked permission to pass through; this the owner refusing, I went out on a beam that crossed the street, and dropped on the ground, being a fall of about eighteen feet. When the Chinese observed this, he allowed my comrade to pass through the house. I was a good deal stunned with the fall, but soon recovered myself. We then got to the river side, where we hired a san-pan, or small boat, to take us to Wampoa, and reached the ship with no other interruption.' pp. 25, 26. They first stood over to Japan, where they vainly attempted to trade. They were supplied gratuitously and abundantly with fresh fish, hogs, and vegetables, and on their departure, were towed out of the bay, by the Japanese boats. Their next object. was Kamschatka, and on the eighth of July, 1807, they anchored in the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul. The town and its neighbourhood are infested with an immense number of the dogs used for sledges in winter. At this season, they are allowed to go at large and find food for themselves. They live almost entirely upon fish, which they obtain either by springing upon them as they lie in the water, or picking them up dead along the shore. In winter, they are fed upon dried fish, which are cured in large open sheds, erected for that purpose on the shore, and which, it would appear, they prefer to any other food. Our sailors, by way of amusement, often purloined a few to give to the dogs. In consequence of which kindness, thousands of these hungry creatures watched the landing of our boat, and flocked after us, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants. This practice became at last so troublesome, that the Russians insisted on our putting an end to it. Their howling every morning at day-break, was so intolerable, as to awaken us even on board the ship' pp. 37, 38. When they quitted this place, they stood over towards the American Continent, and on the 10th of September, about ten at night, the alarm was given, that there were breakers a-head. Every preparation was instantly made by Brinkman, the mate, to wear the ship, but the Captain, with incredible rashness, insisted that the foaming appearance of the sea was nothing more than white water, and ordered the ship's head to be kept in the same direction. Hardly had he uttered the order, when the vessel struck with terrific violence, and carried away her rudder. She drove, however, over this reef, with seven feet water in her hold, but in a few minutes struck on another, and shortly afterwards was thrown on her beam-ends, by a tremendous sea. The whole crew were precipitated into the water, the long-boat was washed from the deck, and the jolly-boat hung beyond their reach. About fifteen individuals secured the main-topmast, and floated from the ship for an uncertain shore at the distance of several leagues, in a dark and stormy night, with a heavy sea. They clung, however, to the mast with a desperate love of life, till they 'drove across a reef, where the force of the breakers carried away several of our unfortunate companions. We crossed several |