THE MAGAZINE

OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

JANUARY, 1829.

ART. I. Remarks on the present State of Natural History in Germany. By W. J.

FROM the time that Germany, now ruled by so many princes who love and favour art, was freed from the yoke of Napoleon, it has been rapidly advancing in science. The natural sciences, in particular, have been cultivated with great zeal; and we shall not be far from the truth, if we assert that it was by the very agitation of the period alluded to, when Paris had also become the capital of Germany, that the great progress which these sciences have made was accelerated. The German is a collector by nature; and in almost every city of moderate size, a collection of some sort may be found, belonging to some private inhabitant or scholar. During the sway of the French, many learned men from Germany had occasion to go to Paris, where they were inspired with a noble emulation on beholding the splendid collections that have been made in that city since the time of Buffon. Before the revolution, Linnæus, and the phlogistic school of chemistry, reigned triumphant in Germany. The antiphlogistic chemistry (the father of which, Lavoisier, fell himself a victim to revolutionary violence) was afterwards embraced in Germany with great zeal. Priestley, and a number of other discoverers, contributed to the application of the new chemical views of physiology; and thus, in Germany, the scene was completely changed in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The incomparable Werner enlarged mineralogy; and his school, spreading from Freiberg over the whole world, gave to his views an almost canonical authority: but, as the Germans prefer truth to personal considerations, this great man had the mortification of seeing Raumer, and others of his pupils in the neighbourhood of Freiberg, discovering facts and relations in direct opposition to his system, Romé de Lisle's experiments in crystallography did not meet VOL. I.- No. 5.

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with much encouragement in Germany, but Häuy soon after found many adherents; and Steffens, who tried to unite his views with those of Werner; Leonard, who modelled the terminology after the French; and others, attracted great attention towards the French doctrine. Mohs and Weiss introduced a new and more active life into mineralogy: the former, by pursuing, in a certain measure, the track of his teacher, Werner; and the latter, by the enlargement of crystallography, and by bringing it, through the application of numbers, into affinity with the calculating chemistry of Berzelius. Fuchs unites the views of the crystallographers with that of the chemical constitution of minerals, in order to arrive at a scientific unity in mineralogy.

In botany, the doctrines of Linnæus had for a long time been maintained in Germany, although several Germans produced various new systems; such as Heister, the predecessor of Jussieu, who had made good use of his labours; and Büttner. It was not till the middle of the last century, that the study of the natural families of plants began to be zealously pursued ; at which period the Germans had, by means of correspondence, travels, &c., begun to obtain possession of larger collections of plants. Voigt translated Richard's treatise on fruits, and reduced Jussieu's method into a tabular form; and Sprengel gave popular lectures on the doctrine of the natural families of plants, in 1817. The great poet Goëthe also contributed his share, by means of a little book, long overlooked, in which he attempted, with the acumen of a true naturalist, to reduce the principles of vegetation to simple laws, and to explain, in a general manner, the various phenomena of apparently different organs. In consequence of Goethe's views, which were continued by others, the Germans felt themselves powerfully attracted to the necessity of considering the organs of plants, according to their metamorphoses; and they now speak in botany of a morphology, which may otherwise be termed organography viewed in the light of all changes of phenomena appearing in the leaf. Ever since Hedwig, the founder of muscology, and of Persoon, the founder of mycology, a great inclination has been observable among the Germans for the study of the Cryptogàmia. This study became, as it were, the key to higher views, by making its followers acquainted with the simplest parts of the organs of plants. Nees von Esenbeck entered into the examination of mushrooms in a morphological sense, and the result of his labours, notwithstanding his numerous theoretical speculations, excited, by the soundness of his views, an interest for such delicate and difficult investigations. Link, Röper, and E. Meyer pursued the road pointed out by Goëthe: particularly

the first, whose views were peculiar to himself; and Von Martius, who sought the metamorphosis of the leaf in its evolution round the axis of the plant, and endeavoured to explain, from this circumstance, the variety of flowers. Cotta, Meyer, and Gærtner have done much in the physiology of plants, with respect to the history of vegetation, the functions of the organs, fructification, and anomalous productions; in which Gartner, the son of the great carpologist, repeated and extended Kälkbrenner's experiments. The discoveries of the Germans in phytotomy are very considerable. Sprengel, Link, Rudolphi, Moldenhauer, and Treviranus have collected and observed with great industry, and Kiefer has united the different facts into the most comprehensive system. The geography of plants also, which originated with Humboldt, is now diligently cultivated; and the descriptive works, among which that of Kunth is the largest and most meritorious, contribute not a little to place this science on a sure foundation.

Zoology has been pursued according to the system of Cuvier, who, having received his education in Germany, has become the teacher and guide of the many Germans who visit Paris. Zoology and zootomy are so closely united, that, in most universities, they are taught by one and the same professor. The celebrated veterans, Sommerring and Blumenbach, have excellent disciples in this branch in Bojanus, Tiedemann, Otto, Weber, Rudolphi, &c., who diligently investigate not only the larger animals, but also the minute zoophytes of the sea, &c. The view of natural families in animated nature, first proposed by Illiger, has been introduced into zoology through zootomy. Meigen, Gravenhorst, Tiedemann, and Ochsenheimer have done much in the branch of insects; and Klug, by his unwearied industry, has become the German Latreille. Von Bär, of Konigsberg, is a zealous observer of the inferior animals. The cabinets of Vienna and Berlin have been so much enlarged, that, in some respects, they outrival that of Paris. The mineralogical collections also, as well as the botanical gardens of Vienna, Berlin, Munich, and Göttingen, display riches which, twenty years ago, could hardly be met with in Europe, except in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris.

Upon the whole, it is pleasing to contemplate, in a country so various in its forms of government and religion, the zeal for the investigation of nature so universally diffused, and not, as in France, limited to one capital; and to observe the progressive advancement of science. It forms a picture of the intellectual improvement of man, which, in spite of all obstacles, verifies the old saying of Plus ultra !

Munich, Nov. 1828.

W. J.

ART. II. On Juvenile Museums, with an Account of a Boy's Herbarium. By J. RENNIE, A.M.

ALL children appear to be more or less fond of natural history, from their earliest years; and, were this natural propensity duly encouraged, an extensive acquaintance with natural productions might be obtained by young people, at little or no trouble or expense to their parents, and with great pleasure and interest to themselves. The three most, obvious departments best adapted for this purpose are, botany, conchology, and mineralogy, and particularly the first. I do not speak upon conjecture or speculation; I can adduce more than one case in which I have seen such plans carried into effect, with a success far surpassing the most sanguine expectations that could have been previously formed; and, as particular examples are more apt to attract attention than vague or general remarks, I shall, as an illustration of my views, give a brief history of what has been, and may be, done in this way.

Account of a Juvenile Herbarium.

A boy, who is now eight years old, began, at the age of five, to collect plants, for the purpose of drying them, to form a little herbarium; but it may be necessary to state that he previously knew, by memory, the scientific names of many of our more common wild and garden plants, some of which names, indeed, were amongst the first words he had been taught to speak. It was in winter when he first commenced his herbarium; and this was so far an advantage, that the evergreens, such as Ilex, Hédera, Búxus, &c., as well as mosses, particularly the larger Hýpna and Dicràna, are more easily dried than the succulent plants of summer; besides, they require less nicety in spreading and arranging the foliage and branchlets, which is the most difficult thing for a child so young as this to manage dexterously, so as to display the characters of a plant in the specimen.

The method pursued was, to lay the specimens evenly between sheets of thick blotting-paper, of the folio size, over which were placed a number of large books. The specimens were shifted every day, either into fresh paper, or into a dry part of the same sheet, to prevent moulding and rotting; and this daily operation of shifting the specimens, was always looked forward to with as much delight as to a holiday, or any other treat of juvenile interest. At the same time, it renewed

acquaintance with the specimens, and served to fix their names in the memory by reiteration. There was another source of interest, however, which I must not overlook; the boy was not alone in his study, if I may be permitted to call it so.

The sister of our juvenile botanist is 18 months younger than he; and, at the time he began his collection, was little more than three years of age. Accustomed to imitate her brother in most things, the little girl begged to have some blotting-paper for her tiny specimens; and accordingly she had some given her, of an octavo size, as more easily managed. The reader will scarcely believe that the specimens, dried without assistance, by this child of three years of age, would not disgrace any herbarium in the empire; yet her little collection, consisting of several hundred plants, native and cultivated, is in existence to prove the fact.

These two children spent, and now spend, many a delighted hour in examining, arranging, or adding to their little collections thus gaining a practical acquaintance with the works of nature, while other children are, to say the least, not so usefully or pleasantly employed. Out of doors, still more, their collection employs them, in active search for specimens, in all the fields within their reach. It is not to be supposed, however, that they could have done all this without being carefully directed, and their attention turned to what appeared likely to interest them in this their mother was very assiduous; but as they have just been deprived of her by consumption, they have now lost their chief guide in forming habits of observation.

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It is proposed that they shall next begin little collections of minerals and shells, as soon as appropriate boxes, drawers, &c., shall be constructed for their reception. An account of their proceedings in these departments, shall be furnished on some future occasion, as it may serve to stimulate others to follow their example. In the mean time, it may not be amiss to mention one method of making boxes for shells, &c.

Juvenile Cabinet for Shells.

In one of Miss Edgeworth's delightful little books for young people (I forget which), there is an account of a pasteboard tray, furnished with divisions, fitted to hold shells, &c., arranged according to their genera and species. As this is precisely what young people want, to give them habits of order and arrangement, such trays ought to be given them, or they may (as in the case of Miss Edgeworth's young friends) be taught to construct the trays themselves. The method of doing this may be found in an excellent little work, lately translated from the German, entitled the Art of working in Pasteboard, which, with its companion volume, the Papyro-plastics, or the Art of working in Paper, ought to be in the hands of all juvenile naturalists; for, next to the pleasure of collecting in the