It is by a wise and merciful arrangement, that without any process of reasoning, without the aid of reflexion, we instinctively withdraw from whatever inflicts pain, and are so led to avoid at once whatever militates against the safety and preservation of our animal frame;-and hence arises a natural love of pleasure, which, were we like the brutes that perish, it would be well to indulge in; but which reason and religion teach us to enjoy with moderation, or forego altogether, when (as is too often the case) such indulgence would render us useless and unworthy members of society, or so swallowed up in sensual pursuits as to forget purer and higher pleasures in a world where pain and sorrow are not known.

We have already intimated, that sensation supposes a common sensorium, to which every impression must be referred. Hence certain animals of the lowest rank, we may conclude with reason, feel nothing; or at least, nothing analogous to what we call pain or pleasure; and here again we see proofs of wisdom. These animals are all incapable of avoiding injuries, to which they are continually liable; hence, did they feel, their existence must of necessity be one of unavoidable suffering; but such is their organization, and their tenacity of life, that they are not only divided into parts with impunity to themselves, but the parts in many animals become distinct existences. With respect to accuracy of feeling, (and in this expression we would include all the senses,) we have to remark, that it is acquired only by practice and experience; and hence, the eye is enabled to judge correctly of size and distance, as well as of the minute gradations of colour. For example: to an infant, or to one born blind, but whose sight has been lately restored, distant objects seem as near as those that are so; for a knowledge of perspective, of relative size and proportion, is yet to be gained;-by degrees, however, the eye begins to discriminate with accuracy, and at length the sense is perfect. It is thus also, with regard to the ear, it is, for the most part, practice alone, which enables us to distinguish, by the medium of this organ, between discord and harmony, and every modulation of sound; and by practice, the sense of taste likewise becomes refined and discriminating. An equally complete perfection of all the senses at once, seems almost impossible to be acquired; for it has been observed, that a more than usual development of one is generally attended by a deterioration of the rest; and that when one is lost, some of the others are rendered more acute. Thus, in the blind, we often see

an extreme liveliness and vigour of feeling, so that by the touch alone many are able to distinguish even the varieties of colour : this faculty, of course, is gained only by habit and frequent practice; but were the organs of all the senses perfect, such a result would never arise, even from the most assiduous application.

The different senses, as they are termed, although possessed by all the animals of the higher class, that is, by mammalia and birds, are not disposed among them in the same degree; nor even among all the tribes of which the human race is composed; since it appears, that different nations are more or less gifted in various points, according to their necessities, habits, and modes of life. For instance, man, in civilized society, endowed with vision sufficiently clear and distinct, possesses not this faculty in so powerful and extensive a degree as the Arab or American Indian; but over the most gifted in this respect of the human race, many animals, especially of the feathered tribe, have amazing advantage. The eagle, towering above the clouds beyond our sight, or seen only as a dark speck in the sky, surveys the wide extent of the mountain-range or plain below, and marks his prey at an almost incredible distance. The sense of smell in the dog, the vulture, and many other animals, is extremely acute and discerning; for it is by the exercise of this faculty principally, that they are enabled to procure their food. But to man, having no need of this, and in every climate depending on means far different for his support, Nature, bountiful, but not lavish, has denied a gift, which, if possessed in so great a degree, would be of no utility, if not an actual disadvantage.

In the sense of hearing, as it respects distance, although man is inferior to many animals, none possess an ear so highly discriminating and susceptible; nor does it appear, that in other animals this delicacy (as far as they do possess it) can be corrected and improved ;-among mankind, however, we must allow considerable difference to exist. Some individuals, for instance, are susceptible, from birth, of a peculiar pleasurable emotion from certain successions of modulated sounds, termed music; and the individuals thus deriving pleasure, are said to have a musical ear. To others, on the contrary, music affords no pleasure; and some can scarcely distinguish one tune from another. Still, however, a taste for music may be acquired, provided the ear be capable of discriminating well between each variety and modulation of tone, or, in other words, be, as it is commonly

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termed nice. I think we must allow, that a nice and a musical ear are distinct from each other; for (though it commonly may be so) it does not follow that an ear, possessing great discrimination between sounds, should derive much pleasure from them; yet still, by such an ear, a musical taste may certainly be acquired.

With regard to other animals, although some are delighted by melody, or a succession of simple sounds, yet it does not appear that they derive that peculiar gratification from harmony which man so universally enjoys, or at least may, by cultivation.

The sense of taste, we may reasonably conclude, man to possess in a degree decidedly superior to that of all inferior animals; for although he is certainly unable by this faculty to distinguish poisonous or noxious substances, from those of a contrary nature, which we see exemplified in many animals, especially of the herbivorous class, by their rejecting those plants whose effects are known to be injurious to them; yet as this faculty is evidently the result of an instinctive perception, and therefore unconnected with delicacy of taste, it will hardly be allowed probable, that, as it is unnecessary, they should possess it in a higher, or in so high a degree of perfection as man, in whom we know this sense to be capable of such modification and refinement. The class of birds and fishes are in this point, beyond dispute, considerably below man and the mammalia; and yet these are also able to discriminate in the choice of their food, being guided merely by instinct. Hence, as it appears that it is by instinct that the lower animals are guided in the selection of food, refusing or accepting, according as it dictates, and not liking or disliking from a refined delicacy of taste, there is no reason why this endowment, in a degree equal to what man enjoys, should be assigned to them, as some physiologists have ventured.

In the sense of feeling, a property diffused so universally throughout all animated nature, man stands supremely pre-eminent. To every part of the frame this power belongs, but the hand alone can distinguish and appreciate ; —it is the regulator of the sight, and corrects its errors and mistakes,-it informs us of the size, figure, consistence, dryness, or humidity, and to a certain degree of the temperature, of bodies; and is, besides, capable of a degree of perfection scarcely credible. But among the brute creation delicacy of touch is not necessary; nor. is it indeed compatible with their mode of existence. Yet if we

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survey the animal world, we shall find that each, according to the intellectual powers (we crave a license for the expression) of the class or order to which it belongs, possesses this sense, refined to a greater or less extent; for it would seem, that between the powers of judgment and reflection, and delicacy of touch, there exists a considerable connexion; as if the latter was given to inform, aid, and direct these mental operations, and bring more accurate information upon objects, of which juster ideas will thus be gained, and on which the mind may thus be more advantageously exercised. But as none approach mankind in mental powers, so none in this respect also are equally endowed. Indeed, if we except the ape tribe, whose anatomical configuration approaches closely to that of man, we do not find any orders of beings endowed with, and using the hand, like man, as the grand organ of touch, and capable of such exquisite improvement.

But among the assembly of lower animals, the elephant stands conspicuous, unique, and remarkable for this peculiar organ of touch, with which nature has invested him; he has not a hand, but his proboscis, with what may well be called a finger at its extremity, and which is sensitive and pliable, gives him a vast and decided advantage. He is thus enabled not only to gather his food, which he does by means of this instrument, and convey it to his mouth, but to pick up and examine substances extremely minute; the performance of many actions, evincing much skill and intelligence, may have probably surprised those of our readers who have seen the noble animal lately destroyed at Exeter 'Change ;-docile as he was, it was not a little singular to witness the dexterity with which he used this organ of touch, and the precision with which he applied it; circumstances indicating at once its endow. ment with a considerable degree of sensitiveness.

But as it respects the brute creation in general, although many animals, as the squirrel, the cat, and others, make a considerable use of the arm, if it may be so called, and are certainly furnished by its means with the sense of touch to a limited degree, still we do not find this member terminating in a hand-flexible, and capable of such extensive power, and variety of motion-so exquisitely sensible also as in man. We find no distinct and accurately formed fingers, covered with a soft cushion, composed almost entirely of one mass of nervous fibres, and a network of vessels; on the contrary, in all animals in which

even an approach to the human hand is discovered, we find this organ ill-shaped, or indistinctly divided,—the fingers are not tapering, nor protected by a broad expanded nail;—this is constructed in such, for retaining or lacerating, rather than for serving as a defence to the multitude of nerves, with which the fingers in man are so abundantly supplied.

It may not perhaps, be foreign in this place to remark, that the presence, absence, and relative perfection of the clavicle, or collar-bone, in animals, furnishes a characteristic mark of the degree of motion enjoyed by the arm, (as we venture to call it,) and consequently, of an organ of greater or less similitude to the human hand, as it regards use and sensibility. For example, in the horse, cow, &c. the motion of the fore-limbs is confined, being merely progressive;-in these the clavicle is wanting, and their foot bears not the slightest resemblance to the hand, either in configuration or sensibility; but, on the contrary, in the ape we find a perfect clavicle, and an arm and hand differing but in few points from the human, and enjoying perfect freedom of motion. In the squirrel, the mouse, and others, the clavicle, though existing, is imperfect; the hand bears a much more distant resemblance to the human; the power of rotatory motion in the arm is more circumscribed; the nails are formed for seizing and retaining, and the sensibility of the hand is inconsiderable. Below these animals, are the feline tribe;-the cat, for instance, has a still less perfect clavicle, and the motion of the fore-limbs is still more limited, while the foot or paw, (for here it cannot be called hand,) incapable of holding or grasping objects, as in the squirrel, is furnished with nails, destined to seize and lacerate: thus do we find, among the inferior mammalia, according to the perfection or absence of the clavicle, a nearer or more distant approach to the human arm and hand in shape, sensibility, and power of motion.

The sense of touch, properly so called, is enjoyed universally by the skin or integument surrounding and enveloping the frame; but, as we have intimated, not by every part of it in the same accurate degree of perfection; for as this depends, in a great measure, on use and habit, (supposing also a nicer organization,) where it is the most exercised in a way accordant with nature, it will, of course, be the most perfect.

The term skin is employed to designate a texture, composed of three membranes, differing from each other in use and composition; these are the cutis vera, or true

skin; the rete mucosum, or mucous web; and the epidermis, external membrane, or cuticle. The cutis vera is a texture formed almost entirely of vessels and nerves,-at least, they are distributed most abundantly throughout its whole composition. Here, numerous minute arteries terminate in exhalants,-here the absorbent system commences, and the nervous filaments end. If this membrane be accurately examined, multitudes of small papillæ or eminences are found arising from its surface, disposed in regular order, but varying in different parts in shape and magnitude: these are the pulpous extremities of the nerves, thus elevated, for the purpose of increasing their power of perception, and surrounded by a web of the most exquisite fineness. In those parts where the sense of touch is most exercised and in the highest perfection, as in the hand and tips of the fingers, these papillæ are the most distinct and elevated. Over this cutis vera is spread the rete mucosum, so called from its gelatinous consistence and net-like structure, being perforated universally by the exhalant vessels, absorbents, and nervous papillæ ;-the principal use of this delicate web seems to be, to preserve the nerves in a state of moisture, favourable to their sensibility and action.

In all climates the colour of the rete mucosum is found to vary; but from what cause it is difficult perhaps to determine. In the negro it is black; in the American, copper-coloured; in the Asiatic, tawny or olive; and in the European, from a darkness almost equal to the negro, to a white : in fact, it would seem, that as we recede from the temperate climes to the tropic, or to the pole, the skin gradually assumes a darker hue, till, under the equator at least, it becomes completely black.

The rete mucosum we have stated to be gelatinous; and to prevent the evaporation of moisture, and preserve it in its natural state of humidity, it is entirely covered by the epidermis, or cuticle. This is a thin, transparent, and insensible membrane, being supplied neither with nerves nor vessels of any description. If minutely examined, it is found to be abundantly perforated in every part by the orifices of the exhalants and absorbents, commonly called the pores; but besides preventing evaporation, the use of the epidermis is also to cover the nervous papillæ, and thereby moderate the sensation, too vivid, and amounting to pain, which the actual contact of even the most delicate bodies would produce. When removed, as by blisters or scalding water, the epidermis is quickly reproduced, but

by what precise process, is still doubtful.Some animals shed the cuticle periodically, entire like a sheath, as serpents; from other animals it is thrown off in the form of scales or dust, a new cuticle being previously prepared. Besides these natural changes, it undergoes others, as thickening from pressure, which we may observe in the palms of the hands, or soles of the feet, sometimes assuming the consistence of horn. The cuticle offers a variety of appearances in different animals, from a texture soft and delicate, and even like mucus in some aquatic animals, to scales, shells, and plates, constituting a natural armour.

These are the membranes composing the

skin; but besides this, there is universally

or partially between it and the muscles, in most animals, what is called the cellular membrane. This is a tissue composed of membranous cells, formed by the crossing of the membrane in all directions, and serving as the receptacle for the fat. Its use appears to be to weaken the impressions of external injuries, and protect against the effect of changes of temperature in the surrounding element; but especially to serve as a magazine for the deposition of the superabundant nutriment which the system is supplied with, to be re-absorbed as the wants of the body may require. The skin, too, is furnished with various appendices; some to protect against cold, others against injuries; these are hairs, feathers, horny productions, scales, shells, and crusts: but to enter into a minute detail on these heads, would be foreign to our present design, and would lead us into too extensive a field of inquiry. Hammersmith.

W. MARTIN.

ACCOUNT OF LA PEROUSE.

THIS celebrated, but unfortunate French navigator, sailed from Brest on a voyage of discovery round the world, in August, 1785, and prosecuted his arduous undertaking through the years 1786, 1787, 1788, amidst those vicissitudes and incidents which are common to such daring enterprises, having under his command two frigates, the Boussole and the Astrolabe. Of his voyage, discoveries, and incidents, accounts were from time to time transmitted to Europe, and published to the world. Thus things continued until the month of January, 1788, when he took his departure from Botany Bay, intending to reach the Isle of France; but was never seen, and only indirectly heard of, afterwards. Respecting this mysterious and

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disastrous event, the publisher of his voyage makes the following observations.

"The Journal of La Perouse proceeds no further. La Perouse, according to his last letters from Botany Bay, was to return to the Isle of France in 1788. For two

years France in vain impatiently expected his return. Perhaps, the apprehensions of his countrymen may have been more agonizing has been cast away upon one of the islands than his actual sufferings. Perhaps, he of the South sea, whence he stretches out his arms towards his country for protection. We have not now even the consolation to doubt that he has experienced some dreadful calamity. We cannot reasonably hope that his vessels are still ploughing the surIt is indeed much to be face of the ocean.

apprehended that this navigator and his companions are no more; or thrown upon some frightful shore, lost in the immensity of unknown seas, and confined in the extremities of the world, to struggle against the climate, against wild beasts, against men, and against nature. The information we have, concerning the fate of this navigator, is so imperfect and unsatisfactory, that even the idea of his existence is improbable. As we know the route which he had intended to perform, and as he possessed a number of medals struck on occasion of his voyage, these medals may, at some future period, point out to us nearly in what spot his misfortunes interrupted it."

Anxious for the fate of their adventurous countryman, the National Assembly of France, amidst all the convulsions of the Revolution, passed a decree, early in 1791, that an expedition should be immediately fitted out in search of La Perouse. Two ships, accordingly, sailed from Brest in the September following, and continued their voyage during the years 1792 and 1793; but although they pursued the track he was supposed to have taken after he departed from Botany Bay, every attempt proved unsuccessful. Of the commander and his crew no information could be obtained, nor could they learn that any vestiges of his ships, supposing them to have been wrecked, had ever been discovered. Conjecture, indeed, taking an advantage of this melancholy mystery, over which silence had thrown her impenetrable mantle, was always ready to supply the place of fact; and from the period of his disappearance, suppositions, perhaps as numerous, as plausible, and as unfounded, as those which have been advanced respecting the author of Junius's Letters,

"Count de La Perouse.

(From the Hobart Town Times, Feb. 16.) "We last week mentioned having received some interesting information, which appeared to throw some light on the fate of the unfortunate French admiral, Count de la Perouse, and pledged ourselves to give a detail of the circumstances this week. following statement we have been favoured with, and, as we can place dependence on the veracity of our correspondent, we lay it before the public as we received it :"

The

"On the 8th of January 1810, I was sent on shore with several other men, from the ship Sydney Cove, Capt. Charles M'Larren, at the South Cape of New Zealand, in order to procure seal skins. After leaving the vessel, I made towards the shore, and was some distance from it, when it began to blow a gale of wind directly off shore. This forced me to go into a bay near the cape, contrary to my wish, as I had passed it before, and saw that it was iron bound, having no beach. I proceeded to the north-west end of this bay, to procure the best shelter I could, and found, to my surprise, an inlet. At the end of the inlet there was a pebbly beach, where we hauled up our boat for the night. The next morning one of my men told me he had found a mast near the beach; I went to look at it, and found it to be a ship's top-mast, of a very large size. It was very sound, but to all appearance had lain in the water a long time. It was full of turpentine, which of course had preserved it. As I was compelled by contrary winds to remain three days in this inlet, I had time narrowly to examine this mast; I measured it, and found its length 64 feet from the heel to the upper cheeks. There were two lignum vitæ sheaves near the heel, which I took out. Each of these sheaves was 16 inches in diameter, had an iron pin, two round brass plates, a quarter of an inch thick, and four small iron bolts or rivets, which went through the sheaves, and the two brass plates to secure them. I have been some years in the British navy, and am well assured that this bushing was not English. On taking off the plates from

the sheaves, I found inside each of the plates No. 32, which was, without doubt, the number of the vessel the mast belonged to.-Every ship in the British navy is numbered, and I doubt not it is the case in other countries. When the ship came for me and my men, I informed Captain M'Larren about the mast. He looked at the work, and gave it as his opinion that the bushing was French. He observed, that he did not know of any vessel that was ever lost on that coast that required a topmast of that size, except the Endeavour, which was towed into Dusky Bay, and every thing belonging to her got on shore. I am inclined to believe that this top-mast belonged to the vessel in which Admiral de la Perouse sailed, which was never heard of since a month after she left Botany Bay, at the time Governor Philip was about forming a settlement at that place. It is well known that he shaped his course for New Zealand; and it is very likely he might have been lost on a very dangerous double reef, called the Traps,' which is about twenty miles out at sea, nearly opposite to where I found the mast. The Traps were not charted when De la Perouse was on discovery. The Sydney Cove was nearly lost on them one night, and I understand Mr. Kelly, our harbour-master, had also nearly fallen a victim on them. I had almost forgotten to say, that, at Captain M'Larren's request, I gave him the sheaves and the mast to carry them to Europe, but as the ship he sailed in was confiscated at Rio de Janeiro, it is probable they may have been lost. Captain M'Larren, however, is still sailing out of Rio, and it is very likely he has some memorandum which will corroborate this statement of mine-the greater part of which I have taken from my log.

"W. NICHOLS.""

"From the foregoing, it appears more than likely that the mast discovered was part of the wreck of La Boussole, in which De la Perouse sailed, especially when we consider his being about to proceed to the coast where the mast was found, when the last tidings were heard of him. The question appears now to rest wholly upon the number 32, which, if the number of La Boussole, proves the identity of the mast beyond a doubt-at all events, it leaves room for much conjecture, which can only be confirmed or refuted by proving what vessel No. 32 belongs to, which has been lost in these seas."

The gleams of light which a concurrence of circumstances had cast over the probabie