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st » fi " $ outward appearance to be comical—a caricature of debauched manhood ; but a very little stuffing under the waistcoat would answer all the requirements of the part . The chief justice charges him with ' an increasing belly / but with ' a decreasing leg , ' ( Henry IV ., Part II ., act I ., sc . 2 , ) and there can be no reason for that padding of the limbs by which our stage Falstaff becomes so unwieldy . " And let the critic reply that a very little stuffing of the underwaistcoat would not answer to Jack ' s larding the lean earth as he walks along , and impregnating the air with such obesity that the room he sits in becomes itself obese ! " Coihe out of that fat room . " exclaims the Prince .
In that curious and valuable periodical , The Journal of Psychological Medicine , there is an extremely interesting paper on Homicidal Monomania , in which we find another example to be added to the long list of those who like the Genci > and the Borgia , were at once diabolical and devout : — " The notorious Burke , who was hanged for murder in Scotland , which he committed for the purpose of selling the remains of his unfortunate victims to the anatomical schools , was very partial and kind to children . He preached religious sermons , and the whole series of his murders was suggested by his confederate Hare reading aloud one winter evening the death of Ben-hadad by Hazael , in the second book of Kings . " The writer adds in a note : —
" This is a very curious fact . The diabolical suggestion arose from Hare reading the account given ( verse 15 , chap , viii . ) of tbe death of Benhadad , who was thus killed by Hazael : ' And it came to pass on the morrow , that he took a thick cloth , and dipped it in water , and spread it on his face , so that he died . ' Burke and Hare adopted the same plan . They made their victims drunk , and then covered the mouth and nostrils with wet cloths . Sometimes , by kneeling on the epigastrium they forced a deep expiration , which emptied the lungs , and tbe wet cloths prevented the re-admission of the air . This murderous method was so physiologically scientific , that it was suspected to have been suggested by some anatomist . This was not true : the above statement came out in evidence . "
Puzzling as such apparent contradictions may be to the reader unversed in psychology , we believe they admit of satisfactory explanation directly it is seen that Religion has two elements intimately related but not necessarily co-existing in the same mind—viz ., an element of Faitli or speculative Belief , and an element of Emotion issuing in practical Conduct—in other words , every Religion includes a Theology and a Morality . Experience daily teaches us that men may believe with fierce bigotry every item of a theology , and nevertheless violate the whole spirit no less than the specific details of that creed . In these cases the relation between the intellect and
the emotions is broken ; conduct does not follow the impulse of the creed . Indeed , to take a man ' s creed as an indication of his conduct is , we all know , a most fallacious test ; but if so , why is a man ' s rejection of a specific creed so frequently taken as a test ? If a man who believes in . Christianity is not by virtue of that belief to be credited with morality , why must a man who disbelieves in Christianity be credited with immorality ?
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Several of our friends have expressed their gratitude to us for the notices we have given of Alexander Smith ' s poems , and will be glad to learn that the Critic of the 1 st of October contains some more scenes of that Life Drama in which he is so prodigal of imagery , and of fine expression . The boldness and originality of his style is seen in its familiar diction , no less than in its loftier phrases . 12 . ( jr . " How frequent , in the very thick of life , JVe rub clothes -with a fate that hurries pant V That is quite Shakspearian ; and is not this Tennysonian : — " Our studious Edward from his Lincoln Fens And home quaint-gabled bid in rooky trees . " There is an echo of old Chapman , or of Beaumont and Fletcher , in this : — " I sang this song some twenty yearn sigo , Hot to the ear tips , with // mat thumps of heart , On the gold lawn , while , Ca'sar-like , the sun Gathered his robes around him sis he fell . " There is an abundance of fine passages in this poem—ringing the changes somewhat too freely upon stars , and the sea , ay usual with himbut one passage we cannot resist ([ noting : — " 'Twiih lute , for as he reached the open roads , Where night was reddened by the drudging li res , The drowsy steeples tolled the hour of Out ; . The city now was left- long miles behind , A large black hill was looming 'gainst , the slurs , He reached its summit . Far above his head , Uj > there upon the . still , and mighty n / t / hf , God ' s name was writ in worlds . "
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JMACfMLLIVRA V \ S BRITISH 1 ) 1 IM ) S . Aflintory of'BritishBirds , Indigenous ami Mit / rafon / . lly William Mwgilhvmy , A . M " 5 voIh . , On- and Co ThkEB are fow books on the subject , of Natural History more worthy of finding » conspicuous place upon our shelves than this elaborate and ori g inal jlistorp of British Birds . It , wan composed with the pnHmonato patience of delighted labour , and furnishes abundant materials to science , general literature , and Hpecial in < niirien . Not to ornithologists and philosophers alone are these pages full of pleasant , instruction , but to the school-boy , the caroJeHS reader , the busy student , and the busy man , will its contents be Jbund both novel and entertaining . It only ' remains to give the latter' a hint us to the manner of reading the work . l < 'ive thick volumes of more than five hundred pages each are enough to daunt even a oouta £ « eus idler } but if he will skim lightly over the specific
ornithological and anatomical descriptions , and read with attention those sections only which relate to the Habits of Birds , and to what the author calls " Lessons in Practical Ornithology , " we can promise him a rare treat . We shall transfer several specimens to our own columns ; but first our duty leads us to an indication of the contents of the work . l he three first volumes , published in the years 1837 , 1839 , and 1840 , embrace the whole of the Land Birds , indigenous or migrating to t he British Isles . The fourth and fifth volumes , published only the other day , comprise the Water Birds . The text is illustrated with excellent plates and several hundred woodcuts executed with great care and felicity . The descriptions are minute , unmistakable ; embracing not merely the ' general aspect , and the peculiarities of form and plumage , but also the anatomical and physiological peculiarities—the structure , modes of flight , of walking , or perching , and " habits of birds . " In this respect , aided by copious indices , it may be considered as a perfect encyclopaedia of British ornithology : as useful for reference as it is delightful to read .
Dr . Macgillivray is no closet naturalist—indeed , he has somewhat too prominent a scorn for all such people , forgetting that Science is often materially aided and developed by those very men . It is not the Telescope that will now advance Astronomy . But , in truth , although Dr . Macgillivray deserves every credit for the zeal with which he has gathered together the facts of ornithological structure , it is not in science that he shines . His observations are original , accurate ; but his explanations often make one stare . To take but one example . In the following observation a philosophical anatomist will see valuable material , but he will smile at the explanation we have italicised : —
" One object of the large sternum of birds being to afford a basis to the powerful muscles by which the wings are moved , its surface is expanded , and in the median line elevated into a projecting lamina , named the crest or ridge , by which the muscular masses are kept from blending together . This part , by its greater or less size , indicates a corresponding degree of power in the pectoral muscles , and consequently the strength of flight , although by no means the actual velocity , which depends upon the form of the wing as much as upon the vigour of its muscular apparatus . In the ostrich and other birds of its family , of which the diminutive wings are not used for flying , the crest of the sternum is wanting . This bone has received so extended a development partly to afford a support to the wings , the rapid and powerful motions of which rendered such an arrangement necessary . "
We are touching here upon his weak point , and we will touch it gently , merely adding that it is in consequence of his carelessness as to philosophy that he makes such mistakes in classification—mistakes not only of appreciation but also of positive commission . And yet even upon this question we meet with good incidental remarks , e . g . : — " Much of the discrepancy of opinion respecting the limits of the genera and families of birds arises from forgetfulness of the fact that species alone exist in nature . Most persons acknowledge this truth when it is forced upon them ; but few act under its impression . A species , composed of individuals of two sexes , capable of producing similar individuals , varying however within certain , but hitherto undefined limits , and capable of continuing the race , which remains the
same for ages , and of which tbe varieties , when placed in ordinary circumst ances , tend to return to the original type , is all that we can consider as having a positive existence . It is merely because species are so numerous , and our faculties so limited , that we throw them into ideal groups , for the purpose of facilitating our recollection of their forms and qualities . Species are more or less allied to each other ; thus , a raven is very similar to a carrion crow , less so to a magpie , and in a much smaller degree to an auk or a penguin . The alliances exhibited between species give rise to the idea of connecting them in various degrees ; but tbe limits of the groups thus formed being undefined , it is not in the nature of things that those arbitrarily fixed by one man should be acknowledged by all others . It is very evident that genera , families , orders , and all the mediate sections of a class , must ever remain fluctuating , and that discussions respecting them will continue to be keenly engaged in until men clearly perceive that instead of fighting in earnest , they are merely beating the air . What is a genus ? " The first collocation class
of species in si system . " An order ? " The last or most general group in a . What constitutes a genus P " Certain palpable resemblances . " But what are they ? " Come , let us go on , and you shall see . " There is no need of qua rrelling about genera . Let us be courteous : what you call a genus , allow me to consider ius a family ; let it be a tribe with another , and an order in the . system ofu fourth . No classification of birds has ever been generally adopted ; and none has stood for twenty years . And why ? Because no system-maker ever acquired a clear perception of all tbe phenomena of nature . Without the wisdom of a Solomon , and t he longevity of a Methuselah , with many other advantages to boot , no orni thologist will ever arrange the ten thousand species which probably exist in the world , in hu order conformable to the plan of their creation . Then let us just understand that all systems must be arbitrary ; that a genus , if it be anything at all , is some thing as shadowy as one of Ossian ' s ghosts ; that , a naturalist who has studied birds , n \ n described their structures form , and manners , sidds to our knowledge , althoug h lie
may not choose to impose upon species the newest and most fashionable name , and that the first principle in the classification of natural objects is , that upecie'H alone exist in nature . " He is fond of a sarcasm against Mr . Swainson and other classiflcatorfl , and does not seem to have borne criticism very meekly himself , thoug i he is now , alas ! beyond its reach . A . certain sadness hangs over the la » volumes . They we ' re published but a few dayn before his death , »«» a "j the following niournfuf panwige—mournful hh n netting sun— he speakh o
bin labours and his approaching end : — " 1 have finished one of the many difficult and laborious tasks which 1 had nnposed upon myself . Twelve years have elapsed since the first three volumes o this work were issued to the public , and I had scarcely hoped to Hue its eomplotioj 1 , when I wau most unexpectedly encouraged to revise the liiauuucript of the two n inuining volumes , containing the Wading uud Swimming Hirds , of which the " ^ lory , in so fur as I am acquainted with it , is now given on the sumo p lan hh » ' adopted for the hand Minis . Commenced in hope , and curried <»> w , though ended in sorrow and sickness , 1 can look upon my work without '" J * ' ^^ gard to the opinions which contemporary writers may form of it , » BHur «< ^ ^ wlmt is ueeftil in it will not bo forgotten , and knowing that already it has na
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9 T 2 ^_ THE LEADER , [ Saturday ^
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 972, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1955/page/16/
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