accounts of the various methods of instruction
adopted for this class of persons in all times and countries, with a
large body of statistical information upon the subject; an article of
great interest, but perhaps undue length:--_Death_, which conveys much
information on a subject as to which the grossest and most deplorable
misconceptions prevail; an article equally remarkable for its careful
and minute presentation of the phenomena of death and for the placid and
philosophical spirit in which it is written:--_Deluge_, in which, with
the ingenuity before shown in the treatment of similar subjects, the
various accounts of that event, and the facts and theories relating to
it, are laid before the reader in a manner to which no one, of whatever
creed, can object, and a new and very ingenious and rational mode of
accounting for the phenomenon in question is proposed;--_Dog_, the
fulness of which makes it acceptable to the lover of natural history,
the sporting man, and the general reader:--and the last article,
_Education_, one of great value, which describes the systems of
instruction pursued in all ages and countries, and which, without
entering upon the support of any one of them, presents to the reader
such an impartial and detailed summary of the distinguishing features of
them all, that he can form an intelligent opinion upon them for himself.

The volume is so meritorious, that we have not looked for faults; but,
as we turned the leaves, we noticed a few such as the following:--that
the river Dove, in England, should be mentioned as "noted for its
picturesque scenery," and yet its association with Izaak Walton and
Charles Cotton, its chief glory, be passed unnoticed; and that Discord
should be defined as, "_in music_, a combination of sounds inharmonious
and unpleasing to the ear"; whereas, although, out of music, discord
means a sound inharmonious and displeasing to the ear, in music discord
is the golden bond of harmony, the life and soul of expression, that for
which the ear yearns with a yearning that is inexpressible, and enjoys
with poignancy of pleasure. We asked, too, if Thomas Dowse should be
honored with a page and a half, in which his fall from a tree, his
rheumatic fever, and the head winds which prevented him from visiting
Europe are chronicled,--while the eminent French painter, Couture, whose
use of the pallet is marked by such striking originality, that it has
produced an impression upon the works of