theatres, the churches, sundry balls, the opera, and all the admirable gayeties of New York, she had recently come to the conclusion that America was a very good country pour s'ennuyer, and for very little else." - Vol. ii., p. 103.

"As in certain American cities- she is esteemed the greatest belle who can contrive to utter her nursery sentiments in the loudest voice."- Vol. ii., p. 105.

Though a pretty extensive traveller, I have never been able to discover that it is any advantage abroad to be one of the 'fourteen millions of freemen.'" - Vol. ii., p. 115.

"Many was the secret fling, and biting gibe, that these pious devotees passed between themselves, on the subject of so flagrant an instance of immorality, [card-playing,] in a family of so high moral pretensions; the two worthies not unfrequently concluding their comments by repairing to some secret room in a tavern, where, after carefully locking the door, and drawing the curtains, they would order brandy, and pass a refreshing hour in endeavoring to relieve each other of the labor of carrying their odd sixpences, by means of little shoemaker's loo." Vol. ii., p. 121.

"Nothing is easier, than for an Englishmen to become popular in America, especially if his condition in life be above that of the vulgar. He has only to declare himself pleased with America; or, to be sincerely hated, to declare himself displeased.” — Vol. ii., p. 129.

"I do not know whether you were struck with the same peculiarity, but whenever I felt in the mood to hear high monarchical and aristocratical doctrines blindly promulgated, I used to go to the nearest American legation."- Vol. ii., p. 133.

We especially commend the following to Mr. Cooper's own notice :

"I could always get along with all the attacks that Europeans are so fond of making on the American system, but those which they quoted from the mouths of our own diplomatic agents."-Vol. ii., p. 135.

"In common with all of New York, that town of babbling misses, who prattle as water flows, without consciousness or effort, and of whiskered masters, who fancy Broadway the world, and the flirtations of miniature drawing-rooms, human nature.” - Vol. ii., p. 159.

"The progress of American literature, returned the editor, is really astonishing the four quarters of the world. I believe it is very generally admitted, now, that our pulpit and bar are at the

very summit of these two professions. Then we have much the best poets of the age, while eleven of our novelists surpass any of all other countries. The American Philosophical Society is, I believe, generally considered the most acute learned body now extant, unless, indeed, the New York Historical Society may compete with it, for that honor. Some persons give the palm to one, and some to the other; though I myself think it would be difficult to decide between them. Then to what a pass has the drama risen of late years! Genius is getting to be quite a drug in America!" Vol. ii., p. 173.

"Between ourselves, I may say, after a close examination of the condition of the press in other countries, I have come to the conclusion, that, for talents, taste, candor, philosophy, genius, honesty, and truth, the press of the United States stands at the very- Vol. ii., p. 173.

'What, then, do you deem our greatest error — our weakest point? Provincialisms, with their train of narrow prejudices, and a disposition to set up mediocrity as perfection, under the double influence of an ignorance that unavoidably arises from a want of models, and of the irresistible tendency to mediocrity, in a nation where the common mind so imperiously rules." - Vol. ii., p. 175.

"In a nation like this, without a capital, one that is all provinces, in which intelligence and tastes are scattered, this common mind wants the usual direction, and derives its impulses from the force of numbers, rather than from the force of knowledge. Hence the fact, that the public opinion never or seldom rises to absolute truth.". - Vol. ii., p. 175.

"The private citizen, who should presume to discuss a political question, would be deemed fair game for all who thought differently from himself. He would be injured in his pocket, reputation, domestic happiness, if possible; for, in this respect, America is much the most intolerant nation I have ever visited here, it seems to be sufficient to justify falsehood, frauds, nay, barefaced rascality, to establish that the injured party has had the audacity to meddle with public questions, not being what the public chooses to call a public man.". Vol. ii., p. 176.

"By the pandects of American society, a man may philosophize on love, prattle about it, trifle on the subject, and even analyze the passion with a miss in her teens, and yet he shall not allude to it, in a discourse with a matron. Well, chacun à son goût; we are, indeed, a little peculiar in our usages, and have promoted a good deal of village coquetry, and the flirtations of the may-pole, to the drawing-room."- Vol. ii., p. 179.

"Then the approaching marriages at the Wigwam had to run the gauntlet, not only of village and county criticisms, but that of the mighty emporium itself, as it is the fashion to call the confused and tasteless collection of flaring red brick houses, martenbox churches, and colossal taverns, that stand on the island of Manhattan; the discussion of marriages being a topic of never-ending interest in that well regulated social organization, after the subjects of dollars, lots, and wines, have been duly exhausted.” — Vol. ii., p. 214.

We would like to extract the passages which refer to the Effinghams, which describe "their finished air and quiet dignity, the simple elegance of their carriages and of their attire, the party altogether superior to any thing that had yet appeared, the accuracy and finish of their Parisian toilette, and the antiquity of their families," and display in such self-complacent terms, their superiority, their aristocratic origin, their freedom from the low provincialism which marks every thing else American, but we can trespass no farther upon our limits; besides, we have already made extracts enough to prove that our opinions of the work are sustained by the sentiments it contains.

Had we aimed at a literary criticism of these works, we should have had frequent occasion to point out verbal inaccuracies, such as the repeated use of understandingly, which does not belong to our language; of bluff, which is known only as a maritime word; of imperious, instead of imperative, and many others; and we should also have had occasion to contrast the flat, feeble, vapid, and unmeaning character of Mr. Cooper's productions, since his self-love and vanity have corroded his heart and bedimmed his understanding, with the lofty, spirited, and delightful ones of his earlier days. But the literary offences seemed to be so completely merged in the moral one, as to be undeserving of notice.

ART. VIII.-CRITICAL NOTICES.

1. North American Herpetology; or Description of the Reptiles inhabiting the United States. By JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK, M. D., Professor of Anatomy in the Medical College of South Carolina. Philadelphia: 1836-1838. 2 vols. 4to.

THERE is probably no branch of Natural History which finds fewer amateurs, than that which relates to the great class of animals, described by Cuvier under the name of reptiles, and which have since been subdivided into reptiles and amphibia; the former comprehending serpents and the oviparous quadrupeds, which do not respire through gills, the latter including all the oviparous quadrupeds which respire either during their whole life, or during their first stage of existence only, by the aid of gills, in the same manner as fishes. It is unimportant to point out why so little attention is bestowed upon this class of animals. The deformity of toads, the strong contrast of colors in the salamanders, the sly and sudden movement of serpents and lizards, are among the least important of the causes of the disgust which they generally excite.

But if we find few attractions in observing the habits of those animals, of which some persons cannot bear even the sight, it is not so, when we come to observe them in the works of anatomists and naturalists. We then see that these animals, which seemed to have been produced by nature, as it were in her anger, present a most instructive interior organization, by the double relation of the harmony which exists in every being between its organization and its habits, and that of the relations which exist between beings differing widely from each other. The family of the Batrachia, for example, (which comprehends the animals analogous to the frog,) presents, in different periods of their life, forms so different, and interior organization so different, that it is impossible to recognise in the animal which comes from the egg, the characters of that from which it proceeds. Every thing is different; the tadpole resembles fishes, in the form of its body, and in its mode of respira tion, and is herbivorous; whereas the adult animal respires by lungs, is carnivorous, and has four legs.

But we proceed no further in our general remarks on Herpetology, deeming it more appropriate to refer our readers to the work of Dr. Holbrook, in which they will find the most ample details upon the general anatomy of reptiles. It is, however, more particularly in another point of view, that the two splendid volumes al

ready published of his work are to be recommended. The object proposed by the author being not to give the natural history of reptiles generally, but that of the reptiles of the United States, we naturally expect to find him bestowing his principal care upon the descriptive part of his work; and in this respect nothing could be better done. The descriptions of the different species of tortoises, lizards, toads, serpents, etc., found in our country, are given with the greatest exactness, from living subjects, with colored plates, executed in a superior style, by an able artist. Each description is accompanied with details of the habits and geographical distribution of the animal, following the drawing. This circumstance alone cannot fail to secure to the American Herpetology the most general favor, even among persons who do not wish to make a profound study of reptiles, for if they are not loved, they are feared, and every one must be interested to know how far the terror they inspire is well founded.

It is, however, to science itself that the author renders an immense service, in giving the description from living subjects of animals, of which a great number at the present day are known only from mutilated skins, or preparations changed and discolored by alcohol. The naturalists of Europe, especially, must be grateful to him for his drawings, so true to life, and exact descriptions of the reptiles of a large part of this continent; still more, when he shall make known, as he promises, the results of his anatomical researches upon each one of the subjects described by him. We cannot but hope that Dr. Holbrook will be followed in his labors by the young naturalists of our country, and the whole field of our natural history be as thoroughly explored as this division of it has been done by him. We hope soon to have occasion to thank some one for laying open to us the mysteries connected with the birth of that most curious animal, the Diadelphis Virginiana.

2. A Manual of Conchology, according to the system laid down by Lamarck; with the late improvements by De Blainville. Exemplified and arranged for the use of Students. By THOMAS WYATT, M. A. New York: 1838. Harper and Brothers. 8vo. pp. 191.

IMAGINE a collection of two hundred shells as types, arranged in order, each one accompanied with a catalogue, and descriptions of a great number of species which have characteristic affinities with the specimen, and it gives a correct idea of the work whose title is cited above. It should also be understood, that the speci