An Account of Some Books

insomuch that I cut a little of the upper end of the branch which was very tender, and then indeed I saw a little moisture appear at the end that was in vacuo, but that enough only to form one drop; and there appear'd no bubble of Air. Then I cut the branch yet a little lower, and then there was form'd one drop of water at the end that was in vacuo, but it fell not. And having cut the branch yet a little more, the drop of water fell down in vacuo. This shews, that they were not the valves of the plant that hindered the water from passing whilst the branch was entire; but rather that it was the great tenderness of the leaves, suffering themselves to be comprès'd by the pressure of the Air, and that so the water could not insinuate itself between their parts. An Account of some Books: I. Francisci Willughbeii de Middleton Armigeri, &c Reg. Societate, ORNITHOLOGIÆ Libri tres; in quibus Aves cimnes habentur cognita, in methodum naturis suis convenientem redacta, accuratè describuntur; Descriptiones iconibus elegantissimis & Vivarium Avium simillimus, ari incisis, illustrantur: Totum opus recognovit, digestit, supplevit Joh. Rajus, pariter & Soc. R. Sumptu in Chalcographos fecit Illustriß. D. EMMA WILLUGHBY, vidua. Londini, Impensis Joh. Martyn, Typographi Soc. Regiæ, ad insigne Campanæ in Cæmeterio D. Pauli, 1676, in fol. As the person, that hath review'd, methodized and supplied this Work, Mr. John Ray, hath given to the worthy and learned Author thereof his just Elogy in the Preface; so we cannot but very thankfully acknowledge not only the Industry, Care and Accuracy of the said person in digesting and perfecting it, but also the Bounty of that Excellent Lady, the Authors Relict Widow, enriching the same with so vast a Number of Elegant and Costly Figures; whereby She hath indeed immortalised Herself as well as her Deserving Consort, and manifested to the World, that in a time when many stain their lives by unworthy pleasures, she knew how to adorn hers by the exercise of Ingenuity and Virtue: In the doing of which, as she hath put a lustre upon herself, that makes her outshine many of her Sex; so she hath raised in Us very great hopes, that she will continue the same nobleness in the publication of the rest of the History of Animals, mention'd in the Preface. Having Having paid this small Tribute to the merit of this Generous Lady, I shall now proceed to take notice of the Work itself; and First, of the design thereof, which is not to give Pandects of Birds, or to collect indiscriminately what hath been already published, whether true or false, on this subject; but to illustrate and put into good order the History of Birds, partly by describing the Birds themselves upon Ocular inspection, partly by borrowing the description of those, of which the Author and Publisher themselves could not get a sight, from the best Writers upon this Argument: Endeavouring principally, to describe and difference all the known species of Birds, and to reduce them to their several classes, and thereby to take away that confusion and obscurity, which this History hath hitherto laboured under. Secondly, The Work itself is divided into three Books; whereof the first treats of Birds in general; the second, of Land-fowl; and the third, of Water-fowl. Concerning the first, in it are described the principal both Outward and Inward Parts of Birds, such as are either peculiar to them, or shew a peculiar structure and use in them. In the external parts, the Author observes, among other particulars, that the Pectoral Muscles in Birds are the thickest and strongest of all, serving for the motion of their Wings that require great strength; whereas in Man, the Crural Muscles are stronger than those of his Arms; whence, if Flying were either possible or fit for Man, his legs, furnish'd with a succedaneum to wings for compressing and beating the Air, would serve him better for that purpose, than his Arms. In the internal parts, he notes, among many other things, the considerable difference there is between the Brain of Birds and that of Man and Quadrupeds; adapted in Birds more for the exercise of the Locomotive faculty, than for Imagination and Memory. Discoursing in this Part of the Generation of Birds, he judgeth it highly probable, that their Females have in them, from the time of their being first born, all the Eggs or the Primordials of Eggs, that they shall lay as long as they live: which he thinks to be true of Human and all other Females; making the Incubation of the Eggs of Fowl to be equivalent to the Gestation or Bearing of other Animals; and calling the Ovum an Uterus expostus, forasmuch as it ministers aliment to the fetus of those that are commonly call'd Oviparous, in like manner as the Womb doth in the Viviparous. Treating Treating of the Age of Birds, and of some of their observable proprieties and qualities, he notes, that they live long; that their structure somewhat resembles the built of a Ship; that some of them, as Partridges and Pigeons, lead a Conjugal life, and that of those Birds that do so, there are more Males than Females, as among those where one Male is sufficient for many Females, there are more Females than Males; that some of them are very ingenious, and imitate the Human voice, as Parrots, Thrushes, Blackbirds, Jackdaws, Starlings, Nightingales, of which last, and of Parrots, he relates very extraordinary things, p.79,161. To all which he subjoyns some Queries of particulars, further to be satisfied; and then takes notice of some Isles, Rocks and Cliffs about England, notable for great multitudes of Birds breeding therein. He concludes this first Book with an accurate Division of Birds, and with a Catalogue both of such as do constantly abide in England, and such as come at one season of the year, and go away in another. In the second Book, treating of Land-fowl, he considers first those that have Hooked Beaks and Claws; and secondly those that have them more Straight. The former are either Carnivorous, and of these, some intent upon their prey by day, others by night; or Frugivorous. Concerning the Carnivorous or Rapacious, he takes notice: 1. That, though Aristotle gives out, they fly solitary, when he saith, ἀπολαμβάνουσιν ἐν τῇ δύναμις; yet that holds not in all, seeing that Vultures have been observ'd to fly in troops, fifty or sixty together. 2. That the Females of the Ravenous Birds are bigger, stronger, and of greater courage than the Males; Nature seeming to have been so provident as to furnish those Females with such advantages, upon the account that they must procure food not only for themselves but also for their young ones. 3. That whereas all other Birds make their own nests, if need be, and sit upon and hatch their own Eggs, the Cuckow makes use of other nests, deserts her Eggs, and leaves them to be hatched by other Birds. Of the Frugivorous he observes amongst other particulars: That, as Quails eat Hellebore, and Starlings Hemlock, without any harm to themselves; so Parrots not only eat innocuously the seed of Carthamus or bastard Saffron, but also grow fat thereby; which yet is a Purgative to Man. To which he adds relations out of Clusius of some uncommon Parrots, so docile, as to learn whatever they are taught by those that instruct them. Amongst those that have Straight Beaks and Claws, he observes: That the Cassowary (as well as the Pelican) is without a tongue; swallowing not only bits of Iron as the Ostriches, but also red-hot Coals; yet not digesting the Iron, but voiding it whole, as the Ostrich also doth: That Capons may be made to keep, feed, call together, and cover under their wings young Chickens, just as Hens will do; adding the method for accustoming them to it: That the Custom of making use of Pigeons for carrying of Letters is as ancient as the Seige of Mutina or Modena, in the time of Hirtius and Brutus: That Pigeons-field is good for Paralytical persons: That Swallows, distilled with some Casterum, Pyony roots, and White-wine, are an approv'd remedy against the Epilepsy, &c. And so much of the second Book. The Third, treating of Water-fowl, is subdivided into three parts: The first contains those Birds, that live near water, but not in or upon it. The second, those that live much in the water, being Fissipeds (having their toes sever'd,) and long-shanked, and of the amphibious kind, partaking of the nature of both those that live near water and swim in it. The third, those that are Palmipeds, whose toes are joyned together with a membrane. Of those that live near wet places, some again live upon Fish, or Slime (out of which they suck something that is oleose, and from thence yield a delicate flesh, as Wood-cocks, Snipes, Curlews, &c.) or on Insects. Of the Piscivorous, the Stork is by our Author noted to be seen in England only when he is driven thither by high winds or other accidents. The like is observ'd by Faber the Lyncean Academist, of Italy: Which may be somewhat wondered at, since 'tis certain, that Storks do, before the approach of Winter, pass away out of Germany, (where they summer in great numbers,) into warmer places, and yet not into Italy, which is contiguous to Germany, and much warmer than it. The Penguin, though it likewise lives on Fish, yet is said not to tast of it, as other Fish-eaters do: Besides, the same is observ'd to digg deep holes, like Conies, on the Sea-shore, and to make the whole ground thereabout so hollow, that the Seamen walking over it do often fall in knee-deep. The Anser Baffanus, the Soland Goose, breeding in the Isle of Fassa, near Edinburgh, lays and hatches no more more than one Egg at a time. They come thither in Spring, and fly away in Autumn, but whither, is not known. The Columba minor, or Diving-pigeon, has such a structure of parts, that he moves much more easily under water than on its surface, or aloft: He raises himself from the water with great difficulty; but when he is got up into the Air, he can then continue his flight long enough. The Swan is very long-lived, and takes almost two months time in hatching her Eggs: And the wild kind of Swans have their wind-pipes passing into the Sternum, and there reflecting or turning back; the Use of which is thought to be, that when this Bird sometimes for near half an hour with his whole head and neck dives to the bottom for food, turning up his feet on high, there may then from that part of his wind-pipe, which is included in the said sheath of the breast, as from a repository, be furnish'd Air sufficient for so long a time of diving. The Bernacle or Clam, of the Goose-kind, is not bred out of the rotten boards of ships, nor of fruit fallen from Trees into the Sea, nor of Sea-shells; there being no such thing as equivocal generation in Animals; and those Bernacles being known by the experience of credible Observers to lay and hatch Eggs as other Birds do. But if we should take notice here of all the curious and remarkable Observations, recorded in this excellent Work, we should then be obliged to fill up many of these Tracts with them alone. We must therefore, having only given the Reader a taste of them, refer him to the Author himself, who will doubtless satisfy his expectation and curiosity in innumerable particulars: Amongst them of the extraordinary melodious singing of some Birds; the annual Moulting of all Birds; the Medicins to be prepared out of some of them, and their very Excrements; the artificial Nests of many of them; the tasting of the Indian Raven of Nutmegs, on which he feeds; &c. II. The Comparative Anatomy of the Trunks of Plants; together with an Account of their Vegetation grounded thereupon, by Nehemiah Grew M.D. and Fellow of the Royal Society: Printed by the Assigns of John Martyn Printer to the said Society, for Walter Kittilby, in 8°. As there hath been a very happy Concurrence of these two eminently Learned persons, Signor Malpighi, and our present Author Dr. Grew, both Fellows of the R. Society, in making and exhibiting their ingenious and accurate Beginnings concerning the Anatome of Plants, and thereby giving a New Country of Philosophy; so they have both been very industrious in pursuing this subject, in many things confirming one anothers Observations, and in some few ones supplying one anothers defects; the particulars of which we shall rather leave to the sagacious and impartial Reader to find himself in perusing and comparing both their Books, than make a stay here to specify them. Instead thereof, we shall present him first, with some genera's of this Philosophical Mapp, and then, with the particulars represented therein. In general, it is noted by our Author, that it will here appear, that there are those things which are little less wonderful within a Plant than within an Animal; that a Plant, like an Animal, hath Organical parts, some whereof may be called its Bowels; that every Plant hath Bowels of divers kinds, containing divers Liquors; that even a Plant lives partly upon Air, for the reception whereof it hath peculiar Organs. Again, that all the said Organs, Bowels, or other parts are as artificially made, and as punctually for place and number composed together as all the Mathematical Lines of a Flower or Face; that the Staple of the Stuff is so exquisitely fine, that no Silkworm is able to draw so small a thread; that by all these means the Ascent of the Sap, the Distribution of the Air, the Confection of several sorts of Liquors, as Lymphas, Milks, Oyls, Balms, with other acts of Vegetation, are all contrived and brought about in a Mechanical way. In particular, we find in the first of the two Parts of this Book; 1. A Description of six several Trunks of Plants, as they appear to the naked eye, viz. of Borage, Dandelyon, Colewort, Holyoak, wild Cucumber, Endive. 2. An accurate Description of several Trunks and parts of Trunks, as they appear through a good Microscope; which parts are, the Bark, the Wood, and the Pith. Of the Bark he describes the Skin, the Parenchyma, and the Vessels; the last of which he finds in the Bark to be always and only Sap-vessels; which yet are specified and distinguish't one from another, both in the same Plant, and in the several Species's of Plants, by many properties, which are not accidental, but such as shew the constant and universal design of Nature: Which he shews by the description of the Barks of several Trunks, viz. Holly, Hazel, Barberry, Apple, Pear, Plum, Elm, Ash, Walnut, Fig, Pine, Oak, Sumach, Wormwood. In some of which he finds Sap-vessels to be only Lymphaducts; in others, Lymphaducts and Lactiferous; in others, Lymphaducts and Resiniferous; lastly, in some, two kinds of Lymphaducts, and one of a sort of Resinous. To which he subjoyns an Answer to that curious Question, viz. if the Stringy parts of the Bark are made up of Tubes, what these Tubes themselves are made up of? And that done, asserts the Analogy betwixt the Vessels of an Animal and a Plant. 3. Having thus described the Bark, he proceeds to the Woody part; and here, in the several Trunks aforesaid, he considers their two general parts, namely the Parenchymous part or Insertions, and the Vessels: The Insertions much diversified according to the several Species of Plants, for number, position and texture: The Vessels have likewise much variety, yet are of two general kinds, namely, Sap-vessels and Air-vessels, whereas 'tis proper to the Bark, (as was intimated above) to have only Sap-vessels. Of both these kinds of Vessels he notes the variety, as to number, situation, and size; these affections being in no two species of Plants the same. 4. Lastly, he describes the Pith, first in general, and proves it to be, as to its substance, the same with the parenchyma in the Bark, and the Insertions in the Wood: And then, he observes both the variety of its size, being not the same in any two branches, represented by him; and its being compounded of two parts, a Parenchyma and Sap-vessels: The Parenchyma made up of Bladders, of very different different sizes and shapes in different plants, and being of such a texture, that the sides of the greater bladders are compos'd of lesser; in the same manner as the Sap-vessels are but greater fibers made up of lesser. To clear the better all he hath discoursed of the structure of a plant, he resembles the whole Body of it to a piece of fine Bone-lace, at such time as 'tis wrought upon the Cushion. For, saith he, all the Parenchymous parts, as the Pith, Insertions, and Parenchyma of the Bark, are nothing else but Lace-work; the Fibers of the Pith running horizontally, as do the threads in the Lace, and bounding the several Bladders of the Pith and Bark, as the threads do the several holes of the Lace; and making up the Insertions without Bladders, or with very small ones, as the same threads likewise do the close parts of the Lace; which they call the cloath-work: And lastly, the Vessels, standing perpendicularly, run cross to the horizontal fibers; even as in the Lace the Pins do the threads. And this he makes to be the true texture of a Plant, and the general composure, not only of a Branch, but of all the other parts, from the seed to the seed. To proceed to the second part of this Book, which gives an Account of the Vegetation of Trunks, grounded upon the foregoing Anatomy, and shewing the Use that may be made of the same in order to explicate the manner of Vegetation; the chief Heads, to which this whole matter is reduced, are these seven; viz. 1. The Motion and Course of the SAP; where he observes two kinds of Bleeding in the Plants; gives the causes of both; together with the cause of the Sap's Ascent. 2. The motion of the AIR; that it first enters the Plant by the Trunk, but chiefly by the Root, and is thence in a peculiar manner distributed throughout the whole Plant. Where he notes the use of the Insertions herein, and compares this use with that of the Membranous parts of the Lungs. 3. The Structure of the PARTS; where he explains the Union of the Bark to the Body of the Tree, with the cause of it: Considers the various Surface and Falling off of the Bark; the lessening of the Pith in the Elder branches; the ruptures of the Pith, and for what ends made; further, how the Air-vessels come to be less in the Trunk of the same Plant than in the Root; and those of the first year usually much less than those of the years following; as also, how the Air-vessels come to be formed alwaies late in the year. 4. The Generation of Liquors, depending upon the Structure and Formation of the Parts: Where he shews, that the concurrence of two specifically distinct liquors is as necessary to Nutrition in Plants as in Animals; and that the Vessels are the chief Viscera of a Plant; the Viscera of an Animal being but Vessels conglomerated, and the Vessels of a Plant, but Viscera drawn out at length. To which he adds a particular explication, how a Winy Sap is made, how a Resinous, Oily and Milky; likewise, how the liquors of Plants come to be white; what is a Rosin properly so called; what a Gum; what a Mucilage. 5. The Figuration of Trunks; where he renders the cause of a Shrub, a tall Tree, a slender, and a thick Tree; as also of the roundness or angu'arness, of a Tree. 5. The Motions of Trunks: where occurs the cause of their Ascent, and Descent into the ground; their Horizontal and Spiral motion; and whence Solar and Lunar Plants are distinguished; some winding together with the Sun in its Diurnal motion, by South from East to West; and others with the Moon in its Monthly motion, from West to East. 7. The nature of Trunks as variously fitted for MECHANICAL USE: where he shows, whence woods are soft, whence fast, hard, clevesome, tough, or durable; why the Heart of Timber most durable; and why some Trees have Heart, and not others: Likewise, whence the toughness of Flax; and what sorts of Plants serve for the best Tow: Giving lastly an account, How all prosperous Conjunctions in Graffing may be known, and what is the chief Use of Graffing, viz., to accelerate the growth of good fruit. III. The ROYAL ALMANACK, &c. by N. Stevenson, one of his Majesties Gunners. As I was exceeding glad, to see this ingenious and truly useful Almanack begun to be publish't the last year; so I could not but give notice to the world of its continuation: Being chiefly a Diary of the true Places of the Sun, Moon, and the other Planets, their Rising, Southing, and Setting; High water at London bridge, with Rules to serve other places after the New Theory of Tides, and Directions of Sir Jonas Moor: To which are added the Eclipses, Tables of the Suns Rising, Moons Southing, Moons Rising and Setting; as also a Table of the Suns Right Ascension in Time for every Day at Noon, and of Thirty one of the most notable Fixed Stars: With the Moon and other the Planets Appulses to the Fixed Stars, for the Meridian of London, A. 1676. And lastly, instead of giving the impertinent guesses of the Weather hap-hazard, the Author gives notice of that useful Instrument the Baroscope, telling the changes of weather before-hand, even to admiration. All done with great pains and accurateness, according to the Rules of Art, for his Majesties Use, and at his Command, by N. Stevenson, one of his Majesties Gunners. Printed in London for the Company of Stationers, 1676. in 12°. Note. The Reader is desired to compare Mr. Boyle's Physico-Mechan. Experiments touching the Air, Exp. the 22th, p. 176. ff. with pag.468. lin.7. of this Tract. Errata left uncorrected in Numb. 119. Page 462. l.31.r. Bounds for Hounds. p.463. l.15. r. Wild boar. ibid. l.44. r. each such charming. London, Printed for John Martyn Printer to the R.Society, 1675.