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pectation to the naturalifts in the United States, 'The talents of Dr. BARTON, as a teacher of Medicine and Natural Hiftory, and as a writer on thefe fubjets, have been many years refpectably known; but this performance will greatly extend his reputation, as it will generally be confidered by competent judges as the most perspicuous, inftructive, and com. prehenfive elementary work on this fub. ject now extant. In the first part of the work, a description of vegetables is given in very ample detail. This comprehends a full account of all the parts of which they confift in due order, with the technical and appropriate names belonging to each. The fecond part treats of the phyfiology of plants. And the third part is devoted to an explanation of the fexual fyftem of Linnæus which the author adopts. An appendix is fubjoined to the volume, which contains a fynopfis of the feveral fyllems that have been invented by botanists, for the arrangement of vegetables, and for the establishment of method in this department of natural history. The work is illuftrated by thirty elegant plates.

Mr. WILLIAM BARTRAM'S "Account of the Species, Hybrides and other Varieties of the Vine of North America," pub-. lifhed in the Medical Repofitory, forms an interefting communication. As there is good reason to believe that a large proportion of the territory of the United States is favourable to the culture of the Vine, and that fome of it may hereafter be devoted to the making of wine, it be comes interesting to oblerve and collect as many as poffible of the facts on this fubject. Mr. BARTRAM's attachment to botanical purfuits, and the rare degree of fkill which conftant application and experience have given him, confer import ance on every thing he chooses to advance on this subject.

AGRICULTURE.

"Papers on Agriculture," confifting of communications made to the Maffachu fetts Society for promoting Agriculture, contain much important matter which cannot but be interesting to a country, fuch as the United States, the citizens of which are chiefly occupied in tilling the ground. This refpectable Affociation contifts of the Governor of the Common-wealth of Maffachusetts, and of many others of the moft diftinguished perfons in the State. They are frequently convened; they offer, at stated intervals, very liberal premiums for the encouragement of agriculture, and the publication of their tranfactions at

regular periods is likely to be productive of the best effects.

Mr. BORDLEY's "Abridgment of Forfyth's Treatife on the Culture and Management of Fruit-trees," accompa nied by many important oblervations of his own, will be a very instructive and ufeful manual for all fuch as wish to attend to this branch of rural economy. Mr. BORDLEY'S good fenfe and long experience in all the details belonging to this fubject, render his obfervations and opinions extremely valuable to the community.

Mr. BINNS's Treatife on practical Farming," abounds in obfervations and inftructions which demonftrate good sense, and great maturity of experience on all the fubjects of which he undertakes to treat. One of the most prominent parts of his performance is, that which concerns the usefulness and management of Gypfum, which he feems to have employed on his own farm with fingular profit and advantage. In reciting his experience with the different forts of gypfum, Mr. BINNS gives the preference for quickness and efficacy, first, to the red kind from Nova Scotia, next, to the yellow kind from the fame place, and thirdly, to the gypfum from France. Many other manures are also treated of with a great deal of intelligence and difcrimination. The author urges in ftrong terms the propriety of deep ploughing and of thick lowing as very advantageous, particularly on rich land. His obfervations on the raifing of Sheep, on the cultivation of Rye, and on the management of Peach and Apple-trees, though concife and fententious, indicate an obferving mind. A few pages on the Tipula Tritici, or wheat infect, and on fome other infects, are likewise valuable.

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mendation in the author's native State of Maffachusetts. The partiality of friends and acquaintance for the performance of a promifing youth, whofe riper years in all probability will do much better, is natural and common. This poem contains fome lines which are not only smooth and harmonious, but may lay claim to the higher qualities of fpirit, animation and loftiness. Others are miferably rough, hobbling and profaic. It is to be hoped that this fpecimen of youthful and adventurous compofition is only a prelude to fome happier exertion hereafter, which may fuftain the author's flight towards the elevated and fublime regions of genaine poetry.

For the Monthly Magazine. INTRODUCTION to the STUDY of ARCHEOLOGY, or the KNOWLEDGE of ANTIQUE MONUMENTS. From the FRENCH of A. L. MILLIN, CONSERVATOR of the MUSEUM of ANTIQUITIES in PARIS, &c. &c.

RCHEOLOGY is the fcience com

tiquities. The latter expreffion is too vague, feeing that the knowledge of antiquities, reduced to a theory, ought, in common with all the other fciences, to be defignated by a particular and univocal name. We ought, therefore, to fay archeology, as we fay mineralogy, zoology, phyfiology, &c.

Pleasure and Utility of Archeology. The definition which has just been establifhed fuffices to point out the importance and extenfiveness of archeology, which, as it treats of man both in his public and private life, may be confidered as the most interesting part of history.

The ancients themfelves were fenfible of the utility of, and acquainted with the intereft attached to, refearches having antiquities for their object. The works of the philofophers, hiftorians, and poets, conftantly abound with traits and allufions relative to the nations which were ancients to them. The writings of Homer, Herodotus, Plutarch, Pliny, and Athenæus, are replete with details of the customs, ufages, and monuments, of the nations by which they were preceded. This is precifely what renders the perufal of their productions fo amusing and inftructive.

In archeology is comprehended the study of antiquities, or, in other words, that of the antique monuments and ancient ufages which have been tranfmitted to our time. Archeology confits, therefore, in the knowledge of whatever relates to the cuftoms and ufages of the ancients. He who is thus accomplished is ftiled archeologift, but more commonly antiquarian. The former of thefe names is, however, more cuftomarily applied to the perfon who ftudies the customs and ufages: the datter, to him who ftudies the monuments, and who is likewife entitled archeographer. Ernefti diftinguishes two kinds of archeology, that which is properly fo called, and that which is purely literary. By archeology properly fo called, he under-, ftands the knowledge of the manners, rites, and ufages; and by literary archeology, that which treats of the monuments, but merely in an hiftorical point of view, without referring to the excellence of the art. The term archeo. graphy, employed by Spon, appears to me to be preferable to the latter. I, therefore, understand, by archeology, the ge. neral ftudy of antiquities; and of this tudy archeography conftitutes a part.

Archeology is abfolutely neceffary to thofe who wish to acquire a competent knowledge of letters and of the arts. Several authors have written on the different parts of this science; but few of

lity.

It is true that Klots has published, in the German language, a fmall treatife on the ftudy of antiquities, which, from the celebrity of its author, it was to be prefumed, would be of fome utility in appreciating the charms and advantages of this fcience. It is, however, filled with common-place phrafes, which are far from attaining the aim it profeffes to have in view. Notwithstanding the defects of this treatife, its author adduces feveral' ftrong arguments to confute thofe who confider the fcience of antiquities as a futile acquirement. He shows that this opinion is the offspring of ignorance and pride; and likewife demonftrates that its origin may be traced to those who, being in other refpects very well informed, give themselves out as connoiffeurs in antiquities, without being in reality fo, from a mistaken idea that taste must be conftantly accompanied by erudition. He concludes by feveral confiderations on the utility of the fcience itself; and shows that, to be accomplished even in the fcience of legiflation, a knowledge of antiquity is neceffary.

With the exception of a fmall treatife, by Birnbaum, on the Nature and Ufe of the Study of Antiquities, the above is the only work with which I am acquainted, that treats of the delight and fatisfaction refulting from the fcience in queftion, together with the neceffity of having a competent knowledge of archeology, anp the amusement it affords.

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As, before the ftudy of a fcience is entered on, it is effential duly to appre ciate whether it merits the time that is to be bestowed on it, I fhall endeavour to prove, by a few examples, how very indifpenfable the fudy of antiquity is to him even who merely feeks to acquire a fuperficial information on fubjects in general.

The productions of the celebrated wri. ters, both ancient and modern, are replete with allufions relative to the manners and ufages of antiquity. Now, may I be permitted to afk, how the delicacy of these allufions can be felt, and the merit of the compofitions which contain them appreciated, without a fomewhat profound knowledge of the cuftoms, ufages, and opinions of the ancients?

Our great poets have attained the elevation by which they are diftinguifhed in no other way than by an attentive ftudy of the ancients. For inftance, in the Phædre of Racine is to be found whatever belongs to remote antiquity and to the mythology of the Greeks. Again, in his Athalie, we trace the customs and ufages of the ancient Hebrews. It is impoffible to form a competent opinion of thefe two masterly productions, without a knowledge of all that has been handed down to us relatively to the Greeks and the Hebrews,

The violent dispute which fubfifted between several celebrated characters in the reign of Louis XIV. would not have been entered on, it thofe who endeavoured to turn into ridicule the finest paffages of the ancients, to fecure the fuccefs of the cause of the moderns, had been better acquainted with archeology. They would then have feen that the ideas which appeared to them to be fo extraordinary, refulted from the ufages of antiquity; and that Homer, Sophocles, and Arifto phanes, could not, in their immortal productions, conform themselves to the cultoms of our times.

It is this want of archeological knowledge which has occafioned fo many harsh fentences to be pronounced on the works of the ancients. The chorufes of their tragedies will certainly be found very unnatural, if an eftimate be formed of them from our prefent manners : but when we reflect that the poets, to conform themselves to the taste of their contemporaries, were under the neceflity of introducing chorufes in which political queftions were difcuffed, we cannot refrain from admiring the art with which the ancient dramatic authors contrived to connect these choruffes with the action.

Those who are ignorant of the importance annexed by the Greeks to their chariot-races, will confider Sophocles as having been guilty of a great fault in his Electra, when he puts into the mouth of the perfon who comes to recount the death of Oreftes, a long defcription of the above forts.

Those who are unacquainted with the Homeric cuftoms, may be led to make many injudicious criticifms, relative to the works of Homer. That pompous and folemn made of expreffion which the Greek and Trojan heroes conftantly adopt, will appear to them to be unnatural. They will be difgulted with the poet, on account of the barbarity with which he makes the warriors of Homer treat their prifoners, as well as with their ferocity towards the bodies of their vanquished enemies, which they either deftine as food for their dogs, or practice on them every mark of barbarity. The Princefs Nauficæ, playing with a ball, and washing her linen, will appear to them as ridicu lous as the Princes who prepare their own repails. The fage Neftor will have the air of wishing to ftimulate the Greeks to a brutal action, when he holds out to each of them the profpect of bringing back with him a Trojan woman, to attend on him, and share his bed, to fuch as are not aware that this was the lot which the Conquerors invariably deftined for the vanquished; and that whatever makes us thudder, in these conceptions and ideas, belongs to the customs of the time, not to Homer, who was under the neceffity of conforming to them.

It is, therefore, impoffible to form a found and correct judgment of the tafte and genius of the ancients, without a knowledge of antiquity. What is fill more, it is impoffible, without fuch a knowledge, to comprehend the fenfe of certain paffages in the ancient authors. For inftance, the well known verfe of Horace which has been fo often quoted,

"Cane tulit punctum qui mifcuit utile dulci," cannot be fully comprehended by any one who is ignorant of the mode adopted by the Romans in chufing their magiftrates, namely, that of making a dot at the end of the name of the individual on whom their choi.e fell. I could cite a thoufand fimilar inftances of the neceffity of the ftudy of archeology, in acquiring a tho rough knowledge of claffical authors.

This obfervation is not confined to the poets alone, feeing that the hiftorians and orators are in the fame predicament, and equally unintelligible to those who have not been initiated in the myfteries of an

tiquity,

tiquity. Finally, without the ftudy of antiquity, it is impoffible to comprehend the allegory of a bas-relief, or of a picture, and to judge of the truth of the coftumes, decorations, and other parts of a theatrical representation.

Accordingly, it cannot be expected that any progrefs can be made in letters, without a knowledge of antiquity. The ferences go hand in hand; and it is eafy to prove that archeology principally lends its aid to all the others.

Ancient geography is indispensable to him who is defirous to reap advantage from the perufal of hiftory; and this fcience receives its principal lights from numifmatics. Medals not only fupply us with the reprefentations of feveral celebrated places; but we likewife find on them the names of a great number of provinces, colonies, cities, and municipalities, which, unless for them, would either not have been known to exift, or would have left us in uncertainty as to their true fite and position.

Chronology, that other torch of hiftory, likew se repotes on the monuments, and principally on the medals and infcriptions. They contain intefragable proofs by which celebrated epochs and important eras are fixed; at the fame time that the series of events is proved by them in a certain and determinate manner. Relatively to the infcriptions, it will be fufficient to cite the high authority of the Arundel marbles, and of other celebrated monuments of the fame kind. By the help of medals, archeologists have been enabled to trace the hiftory of nations, and of kings, who were without hitorians, and whofe memorable actions would, without fuch a refource, have been with difficulty brought together. The names of different magiftracies; the determination of different weights; and the titles of various princes, are, in many cafes, to be acquired in no other way than by ancient medals. Finally, without the aid of the different defcriptions of monuments, it is impoffible to eftablish the authenticity of certain events, which have been altered in the recitals handed down to us.

Mythology, by which painting and poetry are animated, is one of the most curious parts of antiquity. Those who have not entered profoundly into its ftudy, can neither be fenfible of the merit of the greater part of the allegories, nor divine the fubject of a piece of fculpture, or of a picture. But how is mythology to be learned, without a comprehenfion, not only of the ancient authors, but of the monu

ments. Spence, in his Polymetis, hap proved the degree of intereft with which the works of the poets and those of the artists mutually explain each other. Pine's Horace, Sandby's Virgil, and feveral other fimilar claffical productions, evince the great value which the ancient monuments, applied to the paffages of the poets, add to the editions of their works. The poets may serve to fix the age of the mythological monuments, by making us acquainted with the different changes fables have undergone fince the time of Homer, either in the manner of relating them, or in their representation; but we are indebted to the monuments for a multitude of details relative to the religion of different nations. We find in them the names of the gods, the func tions of their minifters, and the inftructions and ceremonies of their worship.

The civil and military ufages of the ancients are as well explained by the monuments, as are the facred customs and religious opinions. We notice in them the urenfils neceffary to domeftic life, the warlike machines, the order of the battles and marches, as well as of the fieges and encampments, the feenic games, the fpectacles of the amphitheatres, and a multitude of hiftorical fingularities equally inftructive and amufing.

Unlefs for the monuments, where would the elements of the ancient languages and ancient writings be found? The literary history of all the fciences, cannot, with any certainty, be fupported on any other bafis than that of the antique monu

ments.

Several ancient laws, and juridical formules, as well as the names of the ancient magiftrates, cannot be ascertained without the help of medals. The natural hiftory of the ancients is elucidated by the great variety of animals and plants reprefented on the monuments, and, more especially, on the engraved ftones and medals. The figure of the Hyæna, and that of the Hippopotamus, or Sea-horse, were preferved on them, after these animals had ceafed to be known in Europe; and the bicorne Rhinoceros was depicted on them, at a time when its existence was obftinately denied.

The monuments afford us alfo on opportunity of viewing the traits of men celebrated on account of their virtues, of their knowledge, of their valour, and even of their vices. A comparison of the bufts, engraved ftones, and medals, enables us to afcertain the exactitude of the resemblance; and we may thus fee the faithful delineations of the men by

whole

whofe talents we are enlightened, and whofe great actions ftimulate us to virtue, while they elevate our courage.

It is impoffible, as I have already had occafion to obferve, to explain without a knowledge of archeology the different fubjects reprefented by the arts; and it is equally impoffible, without fuch a refource, to judge folidly of the works of art. The immortal writings of Winckelmann, of Mengs, and of Sulzer, have demonftrated how effentially neceffary this 'fcience is, in forming the tafte, and in acquiring a juft idea of the different degrees of the beautiful and fublime.

Laftly, what fatisfaction can refult from travels, if the perfon who undertakes them is unable to appreciate the merit of the monuments diiperfed in the different courtries through which he palles; and to inspect, with fome hare of difcern ment, the productions of the living ar tifts, together with the mufeums, cabi nets, &c.? How, indeed, can he travel with advantage to himself and others, without a preliminary knowledge of the different branches of archeology?

Thefe details are fufficient to point out the great utility of archeology, and to demonftrate that it is the most intruc'tive and moft amufing part of history. (To be continued.)

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

Tie

O the information given by " A Porter Drinker," in page 12 of your laft Number, allow me curforily to add a few particulars.

The elder Pliny fomewhere mentions beer as used by the Gauls; and, whether they borrowed the art of brewing from any other nation, or were folely indebted for it to their own ingenuity, the practice could not have been novel among them in Pliny's day; for the ufe of the liquor itself must have been long known, before the drinkers of it learned to employ its feum (or yeast) in fermenting their bread; which Pliny fays that the Gauls did.His words, if I rightly quote from memory, are Galli cerevifiæ fpuma panem fermentant." This paffage naturally calls the attention to note the revolutions produced in arts and domeftic economy by accidental circumstances. Though the ule of yeast seems to have been general among the Gauls in Pliny's time; yet, after the wine had been propagated through their country, and Bacchus had fnatched the cup from the hand of Ceres, yealt appears to have gradually fallen into difule and oblivion fince, on an at

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tempt of the Parifian bakers, about a couple of centuries ago, to introduce it as a new improvement, a hue and cry was railed again't it, as unwholesome and poiforous; and a grand confultation of phyficians was held, to determine on the propriety or impropriety of fuffering it to be employed.

Virgil mentions beer as ufed by the Scythians, and the northern nations in generalPocula læti Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea forbiswhich words I cannot pafs over, without fubmitting to the judgement of better critics than myself, whether, instead of Fermento, we ought not to read Frumento, ás in the paffage of Tacitus quoted by your correspondent. The phrafe, pocula vitea, is a marked expreffion; and, in two of the three cafes, the poet points out, not the liquor itself, or the mode of preparing it, but the natural production fro.n which it was derived. By the correction, Frumento, we find his phrafeology perfectly uniform and confiftent, that from corn and fruits they extracted liquors which ferved as fubftitutes for the juice of the vine or grape." Befides, what other paffage, in the whole compafs of Latinity, can be adduced to prove that fermentum was ever ufed to fignify fermented liquor, as it is here commonly interpreted?

VIZ.

Earlier than Tacitus, Pliny, or Virgil, we find that Xenophon, in his "Anabafis," mentions beer, which he found among fome of the favage tribes through whole countries he paffed in the famous retreat of the ten thousand. He calls it

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barley-wine-vos upitvos—and, accuftomed as his Greeks were to good wine from the grape, this barbaric liquor was, by his account, too frong for them, unlefs they tempered it with water-es per Tis dop ExE01, or words to that effect.From his defcription of its strength, we might be tempted to confider this barleywine as fomething like the Scoth or Irish whiskey, if he had not added the characteristic circumftance of its carrying a high head of froth, which brings it nearer to our modern beer.

The Jews too, it appears, were acquainted, in our Saviour's time, with fome other inebriating liquor befides wine ; fince we find the angel, in the gospel, predicting that John the Baptift should not drink either wine or "SİKERA." Leaving to learned Orientalifts to determine whether that fikera was beer, cider, or whiskey, I think highly probable, that, from their intercourfe with the Egyptians,

the

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