THE

CRITICAL REVIEW.

For. FEBRUARY,

1786.

Various Subjects of Natural Hiftory, wherein are delineated Birds, Animals, and many curious Plants. By J. Miller. Six Numbers, at il. is, each, containing Six coloured Plates. Large Folio. Sewell.

THESE large and very beautiful prints are defigned as a

fupplement to the author's botanical work; and we equally admire the ftrength and spirit of the attitudes, the fplendid colouring, and the judicious choice of the different fubjects. We regret only, that from the great care and attention employed in the execution, they must be neceffarily beyond the reach of many ardent votaries of the fcience which they fo ftrikingly illuftrate. Six Numbers have only yet appeared; and we fhall enumerate the fubjects of each.

The first plate contains the loxia orix, a new fpecies, first defcribed in one of the Mantiffe of Linnæus, 527; and a fpecies of antholyza, the a. cunonia.

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Another species of loxia, the 1. coronata, and a very elegant one of the fplendid genus alftroemeria, viz. the a. ligta. The a. pelegrina was admitted into the palaces of the Peruvian kings, while the other ornaments were golden imitations of different vegetables *. It is now well known in our hote houfes. The loxia longicauda, and the gnaphalium eximium, from the vegetable kingdom, are the fubjects delineated in the third table. In the fourth, the colouring in the copy before. us is not laid on with the minute exactnefs which diftinguishes it in the other plates. Its fubjects are the pfittacus atricapil lus, and the chelone penftemon. In this table, as well as in moft of the others, where a flower is delineated, the different parts are feparately engraved; and, if neceffary, magnified.

In the fifth are the pfittacus aurantius, and the illicium floridanum in the fixth, the upupa promerops, though it is * Amanitates Academicæ, vol. vi.

Vol. LXI. Feb. 1786,

doubt.

doubtful whether the fpecimen be not a new species; with the eryngium alpinum.

In the feventh table is a representation of one of the most fplendid plants which the new discovered iflands of the Pacific Ocean yield. Its leaf and habit resemble the magnolia, its flower is very different. Mr. Forfter has called it the Barringtonia fpeciofa. It is found alfo on the eastern coasts of India. The next table prefents us with the ampelis Carolinenfis, and a new plant, the amaryllis crifpa: the ninth, with a new plant from Æthiopia, the antholyza Ethiopica. The tenth is the Canadian elk, the cervus alces of Linnæus. The eleventh, the lacerta chamelion, with its long tongue which entangles flies. The twelfth, the larus albus from the arctic regions and the thirteenth, the lemur murinus from Madagafcar, in its waking, and fingular sleeping state,

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The fourteenth table contains an accurate and fplendid representation of the cafuary: the next, the male and female mufcicapa ftriata, from Hudfon's Bay; and the ampelis criftata, from America. The fixteenth contains a very beautiful bird, the Columba coronota, from the Cape of Good Hope: and the two following, two fpecies of Falcon, from Tierra del Fuego and Greenland. In the nineteenth, is by much the best representation of the hyæna that we have feen; and a coloured print of the black wolf, from Hudfon's-bay. The viverra tetradactyla, from the extremes of Africa, is the only ornament of the twentieth plate; but in the twenty-first, are three little birds from North America, the parus Hudfonicus, the fringella Hudfonica, and the emberiza leucophrys. In the twenty-second is a bird of the heron kind, which, from the fhape of its bill, we have called the fpoon-bill, the platalea leucorodia of Linnæus, remarkable for building its neft in trees: In the twenty-third and thirty-fourth tables, are two fpecies of penguin, the aptenodytes Patagonica and Magelanica. Thefe birds recal ftrongly fir John Narborough's defcription. He fays they appear like children, with bibs pinned before them. This appropriated language, from strong first impreffions, is often highly valuable; and its expreffive brevity is equally ftriking, in a groupe of thefe animals, in the tailpiece.

The twenty-fourth plate exhibits the cuculus indicator, from the Cape of Good Hope, the little bird which conducts the traveller to the hoarded treasure of the indufirious bee, by first attracting his notice, and then hovering over the spot with expreffive cries. It cannot obtain the honey by its own efforts, and is therefore contented to share the plunder with a more powerful ally. Thefe birds are often highly ufeful in fuch un

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frequented deferts, as they furnish a palatable addition to the flender diet of the traveller. In the fame plate is a print of the fringilla cyanocapilla from Senegal.

The twenty fifth plate fhews the brucea antidyfenterica, a fpecies of a new genus from Africa, ufed by the natives as a specific against the dyfentery. The next is a new fpecies of teftudo called fulcata, from the Weft Indies; the shell is beautifully variegated: and the following object is the Chinese wild man. We recommend the animal to the attention of lord Monboddo; but, if we can truft general habits and appearances, it is of the monkey race. Its arms, particularly, reach far below its knees: it is, however, claffed by our author under the genus HOмO.

The twenty-eighth plate reprefents that species of falcon, fo useful at the Cape of Good Hope, called ferpentarius, from its feeding on ferpents The following plate exhibits a new fpecies of pfittacus, called, from its native haunts, Guinienfis. Two birds from India, and one from South America, fill the twenty-ninth plate. The firft is a new species of the minute trochilus, from its voracity called gularis. The second is a new species of fringilla, called torquata; and the laft, which is also new, is the motacilla gularis.

The jerboa Capenfis, from the extremity of Africa, is a new genus of the fourth clafs of Linnæus. It is a beautiful animal, the infides of whofe ears are of a vivid pink colour. The next object is a new fpecies of lemur, the 1. bicolor; and the next a new one of the otis; the first is from South America, and the fecond from India. The two laft plates of the fixth Number represent two new species of ardea, from South America, the a. nævia and torquata.

We have thus given a fhort defcription of the different fubjects in this work, with a few remarks to point out their nature. It will be readily obferved, that the fpecies delineated are generally new, and frequently important. When they were before known, thofe chiefly are felected, which had not been hitherto engraven with fufficient accuracy. It will be obvious, that if the fame care be employed in the progress of the work, it will become very valuable; and the cost, though great, be repaid with confiderable information. At present, from the number of African animals, it is an useful addition to Sparrmann's Voyage; and we fufpect, in the prosecution of it, that it will no lefs affift the different narrations of captain Cook. At the fame time, it will be a monument of skill and knowledge, of which an Englishman may be justly proud; because it is the work of his countryman, because it is yet unrivalled, and probably will remain without an equal. G 2

A Bio

A Biographical Dictionary, containing an hiftorical Account of all the Engravers, from the earlieft Period of the Art of Engraving to the prefent Time; and a fhort Lift of their most esteemed Works. With the Cyphers, Monograms, and particular Marks, used by each Mafter, accurately copied from the Originals, and properly explained. To which is prefixed, An Effay on the Rife and Progress of the Art of Engraving, both on Copper and on Wood. With feveral curious Specimens of the Performances of the most ancient Mafters. By Jofeph Strutt. Vol. I. 4to. 1. 1s. in Boards. Faulder.

IN

'N England, the art of engraving is much cultivated, and its artists now excel thofe of every other country; yet we have till wanted a fatisfactory account of the engravers, or their works, in the English language..

In France (we are informed) the example has been fet us by Bafon, who, with the affiftance of the notes of M. Mariette, has given us a regular account of upwards of a thousand artists. It is a very ingenious compilation, and, as far as it goes, exceedingly useful. The defcriptions which he gives of the prints belonging to each artist are very accurate, and the obfer vations which occur, are no fmall proofs of the folidity of his judgment; but he has generally omitted to inform us of the ftyle or manner in which they are worked: neither has he given us the marks or monograms, which they often fubftituted inftead of their names; and thefe omiffions render his work much less valuable than it would otherwife have been, because it affords us but little affiftance in diftinguishing the works of one mafter from thofe of another of the fame name, or who might use the fame mark.

The other foreign publications upon the fubject, though very multifarious, are, nevertheless, exceedingly defective; few of them fpeak of the art of engraving abstractedly; and the greater part of them are little more than unfatisfactory catalogues of the names of the artifts, or lifts of their works, without any proper defcription. If profeffor Chrift had paid a fufficient attention to this particular, his Dictionary of Monograms would have afforded infinitely more affiftance in diftinguishing the works of the old matters, the one from the other; though it is confeffedly, as it ftands, a very defirable performance. In English, we have Evelyn's Sculptura; a fmall book entitled Sculptura Hiftorico-Technica, compiled originally by the elder Faithorne ; and the Series of Engravers, published at Cambridge: thefe, excepting catalogues of particular masters works, are all the books I can recollect of any confequence, in which the artists are generally fpoken of (for Virtue's Catalogué of the Engravers, published by the hon. Mr. Walpole,

is confined to the English school only; and that they are very defective, a small degree of examination will abundantly prove. I need not fay how expenfive it would be to purchase all the publications, which bear any reference to the art of engraving; but I fear, the information to be gained, from the far greater part of them, would be neither adequate to the cost, nor the tudy which muß neceffarily be bestowed upon them."

The title of the work fufficiently explains its form, which is well adapted to the author's defign. A fyftem of the art might have been fcientifically arranged; but the lives of the artifts require no fuch fetters, and they would leffen the utility of a work of this kind, which is rather to be referred to than read. A chronological table is, however, intended to be placed at the end of the fecond volume, with a lift of the difciples of each master.

Nearly three thousand names are included in the narrow limits of this work; the lives of the artists muft, of courfe, be drawn up in as fhort a compafs as poffible. I am well aware of the drynefs of a mere Dictionary history, as alfo of the frequent repetitions which must neceffarily occur; and I have endea voured to compenfate for thele defects, by a diligent attention to truth at the fame time, whenever I could meet with an interefting anecdote to enliven the performance, I have gladly inferted it. But fo many of the engravers lived and died in obfcurity, that little, very little matter of amufement, exclufive of the arts, can be gathered from the barren foil. Thefe unfavourable circumftances will not, I hope, be placed to my account, even when it appears, that I have chofen rather to leave the subject naked as it is, than to adorn it in a more pleafing manner, at the expence of veracity.

With respect to the general character of each artift, I have written as an engraver, and endeavoured, as clearly as poffible, to point out the flyle in which he worked, and wherein hia great excellence confifted; and upwards of twenty years expe rience may, perhaps, plead a little in favour of my judgment. I have conftantly, however, endeavoured to deliver my fentiments in the most impartial manner: and if I am in any inflance thought to speak too highly in favour of the artist, I hope to claim fome fmail fhare of indulgence, because I conftantly speak as I feel, and never prefume to give my opinion pofitively, without adding the reafons upon which it is grounded.'

So far as this work has gone, the judicious author has fulfilled his promifes; and we receive it with mcre pleafure, fince we are very fenfible of the difficulties which must have attended the execution. The feveral engravers, in this volume, appear to us very accurately characterized; and where their life has admitted of introducing any entertaining circumstances, out

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