Mr. Boswell, and Mr. Wright, and Mr. Young, who have written with great ability and precision on this useful branch of agriculture. Mr. Marshall's work was not early enough in its publication to be consulted by Dr. Dickson: these, together with one or two other treatises which we alluded to in our notice of Mr. Marshall's section on irrigation, embrace a satisfactory body of instruction as to the theory and practice of it. We could have wished Dr. Dickson, who has quoted a most remarkable fact relative to the fatal effects of watered meadows upon sheep in the autumn of the year, to have investigated the particulars minutely, and have endeavoured to account for so singular a circumstance as that the grass of watered meadows should be nourishing to sheep in the spring, and destructive to them in autumn. The fact alluded to is recorded in the Sussex report: "Eighty ewes, from Weyhill fair, were turned into some fields adjoining a watered meadow: a score of them broke into the meadow for a night, and were taken out in the morning and kept till lambing they produced twenty-two lambs, all which lived, but every one of the ewes died rotten before May-day. The remaining sixty made themselves fat, nor could a rotten sheep be discovered among them." The remaining subjects noticed in this section are principally, hay-making in every part of its process; pasture lands; the methods of managing them, and circumstances to be attended to in stocking and feeding them down; cow-keeping; manner of foddering the animals in winter and summer, by soiling or by stall feeding; the various and most profitable sorts of food; suckling of calves; rearing them and weaning them; and the management of the dairy in general. Of the subject of planting (which is also introduced in this section) we are glad to see Dr. Dickson recommending that land which can bear corn should be made to bear corn, and that plantations, generally speaking, should be confined to those soils which cannot profitably be brought under arable cultivation. For what relates to the plantation of timber trees, Dr. Dickson is chiefly indebted to Mr. Nicol's valuable treatise on planting, and to a communication which we have read in the 7th vol. of the Bath papers, by Mr. Davis. On the management, &c. of the apple and pear, Dr. Dickson has with great propriety consulted Mr. Knight's very ingenious and scientific treatise on the culture of those fruits. 66 The last section (xiii.) treats “on live stock," a subject which, of late years, has certainly received its full share of attention. The first noblemen of the land now divide their time be tween the senate and the sheep-fold, art as happy in the hog-sty as the drawing. room, and can examine the points of a bullock as dexterously and as knowingly as a Clare-market carcase butcher. Time may decide upon the degree of obliga tron we are under to gentlemen of tank and fortune who condescend to be um pires on the rival and disputed beauty of two Southdown wethers, or Herefordshire oxen. Zealous to promote the in terests of agriculture, we have neverthe less our suspicions whether the publicat large is benefited by the sale of a Le cester or Merino ram for a hundred and fifty guineas; nor do we see the advan tage to be derived from making sheep and bullocks so fat-probably by the help of corn too-that no stomach but that of a Cherokee or a Bosjesman Hot tentot can digest the meat from them. Mr. Bakewell, we believe, first intro duced the fancy breeds of stock, and did unquestionable service in calling the at tention of graziers to those qualities of disposition and shape, &c. which inclie an animal to fatten on the least quantity of food, and in the shortest space of time, bearing also the smallest proportion of bone to the weight of its carcase. The treatises which have been written on the methods of improving live stock by crossing the various breeds so as to supply the defects of one by the perfec tions of another, or by continuing t breed from the best and most perfect animals in the same "line, family, or blood," and thus uniting in the progeny the perfections of the parents; the tres tises also which have been written ca the properties to be considered in shape, size, tameness, hardiness, early maturit, &c. &c. &c. are almost innumerable. Dr. Dickson has evinced great industre in consulting, and powers of condens tion in gutting the several authoribes which are considered as worthy of e teem on the breed and management oxen, sheep, horses, swine, poultry, and in short of every animal, immediatel or even remotely connected with rural economy. An appendix, containing a compendious view of the principal law. relating to agriculture (selected and d gested by Mr. Walter Williams), closes these volumes. We have now entered as much into the minutia of Dr. Dickson's work as our limits will allow, and we gave our opinion on its general merits at the beginning of this article. It is clearly to be considered as a compilation, and in this light we estimate its value highly: the possessor of these volumes will rarely have occasion to extend his inquiries beyond the limits of their pages, unless he is ambitious of entering with more minuteness into any particular branch of agriculture than the ordinary purposes of practice require. ART. VI. The Shooting Directory. By R. B. THORNHILL, Esq. 4to. pp. 466. THOUGH very villainous shots we are still fond of the sport: it is a great treat to mark the covey into a hedgerow, and pick up the birds singly; to see the busy spaniel wagging his restless tail, whilst the cautious pointer, breathless, yet afraid to breathe, draws upon the game, and his crouching companion backs him, motionless as a statue. We love the sport, though the rheumatism gets more hold of us now than it did some twenty years ago, and as we hap. pen to have a merciless twinge just at this time, it is agreeable enough to accompany Mr. Thornhill, who is an excellent shot, over mountains, through woodlands, and among marshes, without stirring from the fireside. Mr. Thornhill is full of anecdote as well as direction: in the breed and management of dogs, the choice of guns, &c. We must take for granted that his instructions, as they are derived from experience, may be safely depended upon. We shall content ourselves with inserting a few anecdotes and observations which throw light upon the habits and manners of some birds, and which, on that account, though extracted from a "shooting directory," are not unworthy the attention of the naturalist. The grous. These birds begin to pair in January; if the weather is severe they collect in great numbers, thirty, forty, or fifty brace. Their principal food is the black whortle berry, the red whortle berry, and the common heath berry: they delight in the tops of heath, and are fond of gravelly ruts. When you intend to shoot grous, you should be always guided by the barometer, for the birds can foresee bad weather and will shift their ground accordingly. When you are going out, and expect bad weather from the fall in the glass, you will usually find the birds about midway on the hills, and if it is very bad weather, the butts of the mountains are the places to resort to, but in fine weather they are near the tops; if you are out in the morning, and you find them she were never to rise more; but she always takes care that the dogs shall not come near enough to catch her; at this time, the sportsman ought to draw off his dogs, and all that need be said, is, that a person who would fire at a hen, in that situation, would not be to be pitied, if his gun should burst. This frequently happens, at the time of breaking dogs on the moors, a practice that should not be permitted at this time of the year; for it is astonishing to conceive, the number of young grous, that are generally destroyed by dog-breakers." Grous, like partridges, may be reared up so tame that when a dog is brought into a room with them, they will take not the slightest notice of him, or give any indication of fear. Mr. Thornhill says, that at the pairing season, old cock-birds will drive off the young ones, and prevent their breeding: "The late earl of Kingston, had a great quantity of grous on his mountains in Ireland, before they were preserved; who thought, by leaving them quiet for a couple of seasons, that he would have had an abundance, as he actually did not allow a shot to be fired on those mountains for two seasons, and it is well known they were carefully preserved on collecting, however, a large party the third season, and going out to grous, many of the gentlemen who had been in the habits of shooting there, prior to its being preserved, were surprized to find a great scarcity, the reason of which was, certainly, that the old birds drove the young ones off; and all the mountains adjoining the earl of Kingston's, were swarming with game, although they had not been preserved. It is the same with partridges; the late Colonel Hyde, of Castle-hyde, county of Cork, Ireland, who wished much to increase the breed of them on his grounds, pursued the following plan, which proved successful, having the desired effect. His game-keeper, in the early part of the season, netted a number of birds, reserving all the young ones with some old hens, and destroying all the old cocks; he turned the young birds into a large place he had built purposely for them, and let them go again on the first of February following, and he had, in consequence, a great abundance about him." The pheasant bears captivity ill: she lays fewer eggs than in her wild state, sits impatiently, and is less careful of her young. On the authority of a celebrated poacher, Mr. Thornhill tells us, that when pheasants roosting at night are fired at, the discharge of the gun alarms the cocks and they all fly away, but the hens remain, and allow themselves to be killed one after another. "We are informed by Salerne, that the hen pheasant, when she has done laying, and sitting, will get the plumage of the cock, and after that, become so little respected by him, as to be treated with the same incivility as he would shew to one of his own sex. "The circumstance of the hen acquiring the plumage of the cock, after a certain time, is not we find confined to the pheasant only: the instance of a pea-hen, belonging to lady Tynte, now or lately in the Leverian museum, evinces the contrary; which, after having many broods, got much of the beautiful plumage of the cock, and what is more to be remarked, she had also the addition of the fine tail feathers: but their changes are said to be still more frequent, when these birds are in a confined state. The following curious circumstance, which happened within and near Bath, is well worth stating, respect the memory of many of the inhabitants of, ing poultry changing their plumage. Major Brereton, of the above place, had a noted game cock, entirely of a dark red, and after his great match, on which depended the sum of thirty-six thousand pounds, in hard cash, and winning the odd battle, he turned hi to a walk, at a place near Bath, called Hogget's-bottom, the bird had not been long there, when the owner of the farm came to the major and informed him, he was all spangled with white; in a few days after, when the major went to see him, he found him all over white, or, as it is termed by cockers, a complete smock, not a red feather was to be seen. In the course of some time after, he resumed his former plumage. The major has his picture, which was taken at each time of his changing, and every feather, by the drawings, seems to have exactly preserved its own shape. "A gentleman, who is a very particular acquaintance of the compiler (Mr. Tessdale, of the county of Lowth, Ireland) assured him, he had once a game hen, which chang▾ ed her plumage every season: she was origi nally black, but every second year became white. He also added, that when she was changing her plumage, he observed its daily progress, which became more or less spangled, until the whole plumage was uniform. "About a year since, a Mr. Law, of Sheffield, had a hen perfectly black, which has since changed her colour and plumage, and become perfectly white." A milk white woodcock was shot (Jan. 1, 1804), by the gamekeeper of A. Ludlow, Esq. in the woods adjacent to Heywood-house, near Westbury, Wilts.Snipes and woodcocks abound in Ire land: Mr. Thornhill says, "that if a sportsman is fond of cock shooting it will answer his purpose very well to take a trip" (to this seat as we conjecture of his birth,) there he will find plenty of cocks and plenty of claret; it sigu fies not one flash of the pan, where he goes, he will be every where welcome, and the longer he stays the more welcome will he be. Mr. Thornhill says of the hare, that it lives in such a continual state of apprehension from its dangerous and innumerable enemies, that the poor animal cannot get fat. In hare-warrens, he informs us that the warreners stop the ears of the hares with wax, which prevents them from being alarmed at any sound: they are sure to grow fat in consequence of this fancied security, and are often known to die from fatness." Before we had finished this sentence, we were struck with the remark that Providence should have afflicted any animal with such an anxious apprehensive disposition, that in the midst of abundance, it should not testify its enjoyment, as all other animals do, by thriftiness. The hare does not grow fat, and the reason is very obvious. Fatness would retard her speed; that speed which Providence has bestowed upon her as the only defence against her enemies. Hares, we have no doubt, enjoy good living, as we know that they will travel a long way to procure it: when they are preserved in covers or warrens, they grow tame and fleshy, in proportion as they are domesticated. In their wildest state they are found to be in good order, for the same reason, no doubt, that in the most luxuriant pastures they rarely grow fat: namely, that a lean and weakly hare would be as little able to escape from the pursuit of dogs, as a fat one. Mr. Thornhill says that a hare, when coursed, is not improvident or prodigal of her strength; she always pays attention to the force or swiftness of her pursuer, and regulates her motion and speed by his. If he is slow and sluggish she is not profuse of her strength, yet she takes care to avoid the clutches of her pursuer, and reserves her principal strength for the time of her greatest necessity. He assures us also that a hare can foresee the change of weather, and adapts her seat to it: if the weather is fine she sits facing the wind, and if she finds a change about to take place she will shift and sit with the wind in her back, and when started, will either run down the wind or sideways. Mr. Thornhill has given an abstract of the game laws, with which professed sportsmen should certainly have some acquaintance. His observations on the construction of fowling pieces, barrels, breeches, locks, &c. and his remarks on the range of barrels, gunpowder, shot, &c. will be found useful. The compilation is altogether enter. taining, and we doubt not instructive to those who are ambitious of being good shots. CHAPTER XV. NATURAL HISTORY. THE British naturalist will observe with pleasure, that in the course of the last year many valuable additions have been made to the natural history of his own country. Six of the articles in the present chapter relate entirely to British animals and vegetables, and several of the papers in the new volume of Linnæan Transac tions have, as might naturally be expected, the same object. The field of general natural history has been also in some degree extended. Dr. Shaw's great work continues, as it began, to promise as complete a system of animated nature as the present state of our knowledge will afford; and, from the attention which is now paid to botany as a science in some of the universities of North America, we have reason to expect a growing acquaintance with the vegetable riches of its very various climates. We have the satisfaction to add, that every work which has occurred in the present department of our annual labours has received from us our cheerful tribute of honest praise. ZOOLOGY. ART. I. General Zoology; or, Systematic Natural History. By GEORGE SHAW, M.D. F. R. S. &c. Vol. 5; in two Parts. IT is with lively satisfaction that we report to our readers the regular progress of our excellent English naturalist in his great work on the animal kingdom; and we think ourselves happy in the promise which it affords us that, for some years to come, each of our volumes, as it successively appears, will be enriched with the fruit of his skilful labours. The public are already well acquainted with the plan of the General Zoology, and have given decisive proof that they approve the manner in which it is executed. All that remains for us to do, is to state the steps by which it has advanced, and to make such observations as seem to ourselves likely to promote its nearer approach towards per fection. In a work of less merit we should be not solicitous to point out minute inadvertencies and deficiencies; but in the systematic natural history of Dr. Shaw nothing should be passed over as immaterial or of little consequence. The fourth volume contained the first three orders of fishes; the present one, which like all the others is divided into two parts, completes that great natural class. The first part is devoted to the order abdominales; the second, to the cartilaginei, which had been arranged by Linnæus with the amphibia, but have been brought back by Gmelin and others to the rank assigned them by former naturalists. Dr. Shaw, in concur. rence with Gmelin, has placed them at the end of the class: the count de la Cepede and other French authors at the beginning, preserving the order of suc cession, though not the systematic ar rangement of Linnæus. In the order abdominales, Dr. Shaw has retained all the Linnæan genera except teuthis, which had already been abolished by Bloch and Cepede, and one of its two species, the hepatus, referred to acanthurus; the other, the javns, to chatodon, but Dr. Shaw doubts whether it be the chatodon guttatus of Bloch. The new genera introduced are ana |