An Account of Books

V. A Second Letter concerning the same. Cookridge, Novemb. 2d. 1694. Honoured Sir, Yesterday I saw the Weather again, his Udder is much fallen, each side being now about the bigness of a Wallnut; there is Milk still in it, enough to stream out above half a yard. There is no Tokens at all of an Hermaphrodite in him. I compared him with another Weather, who had Teats or Paps like him, and differed in nothing but the Udder. It seems the Ewe dyed upon shearing, being over-heated, and lying on the Ground without her Fleece, took Cold, and dyed presently. The Lamb, they say, was about five Weeks old, so 'tis likely might feed partly upon Grass, as I suppose other Lambs of the like Age do, notwithstanding what they suck from their Dams, &c. VI. An Account of Books. 1. Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning. By W. Wotton, B. D. R. S. S. and Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Nottingham. London, Printed for Peter Buck, at the Sign of the Temple near the Inner-Temple-Gate, Fleetstreet. In Octavo. 1694. The Design of this Book, as the Author says himself in his Preface, is to state the Boundaries of Ancient and Modern Learning, that so Men may know know which to recur to as their Guides, if they would be Masters of any particular part of Knowledge; it being in his Opinion a very pernicious thing, and very destructive to the Increase of Solid Learning, to rest upon the Ancients where the Moderns have succeeded them; or to study Second-hand Books upon Subjects which have been borrowed from the Ancients; especially since he pretends to prove that in some things either of them have so far out-done the other, that it cannot be a matter of Dispute amongst able Judges, to which side one ought to give the preference. Hereupon, in order to make out this Proposition, he divides his Discourse into three general Parts. (1.) He enquires what Sciences the Ancients may have been supposed to bring to Perfection, chiefly because they got the start by being born first. (2.) Wherein the Ancients have excelled the Moderns, and why they may have been supposed to have been so. (3.) Wherein the Moderns have out-done the Ancients. Under the first Head he reckons Ethics and Politicks; under the second Oratory and Poetie; all the other parts of Learning have either been improved by the Moderns, or the Question cannot well be decided. (Chap. 1.) He begins with Ethics and Politicks. Here he supposes that the Ancients might have been as well skilled as the Moderns, since nothing but Experience is requisite to understand those things, which the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans could not miss of, who lived in formed Societies for so many Ages; accordingly he Instances in Aristotle's Ethics to Nicomachus, Xenophon's Cyrus, Theophrastus's Characters, Tully's Offices, and several other Ancient Books, as Master-pieces in their respective kinds, of Moral and Political Knowledge. Yet all this, according to our Author, requires no particular strength of Genius to compleat it, since the Chinese and Peruvians seem to have done as great things towards the raising of wise and lasting Governments, which must be the effects of extraordinary Skill in this part of Knowledge, as any of those Nations which are so much commended for Civil Prudence. (Chap. 2.) Next he goes to Oratory and Poetrie. He supposes that Virgil, and Homer, and Horace, and Terence may have been better Poets than any of the Moderns in their several ways; and that Demosthenes and Cicero have not been equalled by Modern Orators. He thinks that the Excellency of the Greek Poetry might at first proceed from the manageableness of the Greek Language, and afterwards from the great Veneration which was paid to their Poets, which made very many put in for the Prize, of whom some few, one or two at least of a sort, arrived to so great an Excellency, that others have despaired to equal them, since Imitation in those things, not only nauseates but clogs Mens Parts. The Constitution of their Governments, which were chiefly Republican, obliged them likewise to study Oratory, as a likely way to rise in their several States, for which Reason, as amongst many Rivals, some grew very Excellent, so when their Liberty was taken away by the Macedonians, their Eloquence decayed along with it. The same Reasons may in his Opinion be assigned for the Rise and Decay of the Roman Eloquence and Poetry. Though in some sort of Composures, Histories for Example, where Oratory has but a Secondary share, he believes that the Moderns may have equalled the Ancients; and he thinks that the Memoirs of Philip Comines, and F. Paul's History of the Council of Trent, may be set against any of the Histories of the Ancients with which it can be proper to compare them. (Chap. 3.) This leads him to Examine Monsieur Perrault's Hypothesis, who asserts that Modern Eloquence, and Modern Poetry are preferrable to the Ancient: There he goes through the several Reasons which Monsieur Perrault brings to establish his Hypothesis, and concludes that they they are insufficient; particularly he seems to think it very hard Measure, that the Translations of the Pieces of Eloquence of the Ancients should be set against Original Pieces of the Moderns, since every Language has Beauties of its own, which can never be reached in another, though never so exact and elegant. (Chap. 4.) In the Fifth Chapter he considers Ancient and Modern Grammar, as it comes under the Cognizance of Criticks, or of Philosophers. For the first, which he calls Mechanical Grammar, he supposes that some Moderns have understood the Analogy of the Greek and Latin as well as any of the Ancients; and he thinks that Modern Tongues have been as critically scanned as any of the Ancient ones, especially English and French, which he particularly instances in. For Philosophical Grammar, he recommends Bishop Wilkins's Essay towards a Real Character and Philosophical Language, and the Third Book of Mr. Lock's Essay of Human Understanding, as Original Pieces that Antiquity has nothing to set against. (Chap. 5.) When he comes to compare Ancient and Modern Architecture, Statuary, and Painting, he abridges what Monsieur Perrault had said already upon the same Subjects in his Parallel of the Ancients and Moderns, wherein he gives the Moderns every where the Preference, without interposing his own Judgment. (Chap. 6.) After this he comes to enquire into Ancient and Modern Philosophy and Mathematicks; but before he speaks particularly of them, he examines Sir W.T.'s Hypothesis of the History of Learning step by step, against whose Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning, a great part of his Book seems to be levelled. Sir William Temple had exceedingly commended the Learning of Pythagoras and the Ancient Sages of Greece, as also that of the old Egyptians, Chaldeans, Arabs, Indians, and Chinese. Our Author thinks that Pythagoras's chief Excel- Excellency lay in Political Knowledge; and that though he was a better Mathematician and Philosopher than any Man of that Time, yet since he is commended chiefly for finding the XLVII Proposition of the First Book of Euclid, his Skill in those matters was, comparatively speaking, but very indifferent, which he also affirms of the Ancient Sages. (Chap. 7, 8.) From them he goes to the Egyptians, of whom he observes, That more may be challenged from them, than from other Nations, because their pretences to exactness in Recording Inventions and Traditions have been more considerable. Yet he thinks that their History could not be extraordinary, since both the Time when the Pyramids were built, and that when their great Hero Sesostris lived could never be determined by the Ancientest Writers now extant: That all the great Ancient Inventions in Geometry, though its Original be owing to them, are conveyed to us by Greeks as their own Inventions: That their Medicine was wholly built upon Astrological or Magical grounds: That their Pretences to the Philosophers Stone, seem to have been Father'd upon them by later Alchemists: That their skill in Anatomy was so small, that they believed that the Heart increased Annually two Drachms in weight till Men were 50 Years old, and afterwards decreased as gradually; for which reason, according to them, no Man could live above 100 Years: That with all their boasted Curiosity, they seem never to have sailed 200 Miles down the Nile into Ethiopia; since till about Plato's time, they could not give a clear Solution of the Annual Inundations of that wonderful River: And in short, That their greatest Skill lay in making Wise and Prudent Laws, which were worth going so far as the Greeks went to fetch them. (Chap. 9, 10.) He thinks that the Chaldean Learning was not so excellent as the Egyptian; that the Assyrian History, which we have from the Chaldeans, contradicts the Jewish: That the Chaldean Astrology was downright Knavery: And that for other things, had they been very consider- able, there would have been more Memorials of them preserved. The Arabian Learning is, according to him, all in a manner owing to the Greeks, so that its Anti- quity or Extent cannot here be alledged. (Chap. 11.) He believes the Chinese Natural Knowledge to be very inconsiderable, and their Speculative Skill in Medicine entirely Phantastical: To prove which he produces a long Citation out of an Old Chinese Book, called, Nuy- Kim, Printed by Cleyer in his Specimens of Chinese Phy- sick. (Chap. 12.) He divides the Grecian Learning into Four Parts; Lo- gick, Metaphysics, Mathematicks, and Physicks. Logick, as it is the Art of Disputation and Method, is in his O- pinion, to be ascribed to the Ancients; as it is the Art of Invention it is more owing to the Moderns, since the Methods of Invention which the Ancients made use of, seem to be entirely lost. Here he commends Des Cartes's Meditations, Tschirnhaus's Medicina Mentis, and Mr. Lock's Essay of Humane Understanding. In Metaphysics he thinks the Writings of Des Cartes and his Followers may be set against all that the Platonists say upon those Subjects, though they of all the Ancients Discourse the most upon Spirits and Incorporeal Substances. (Chap. 13.) When he speaks of Ancient and Modern Mathematicks, he produces a Discourse of that Excellent Geometer, Mr. John Craig, who endeavours to prove that Modern Geometry is of infinitely larger extent than the Anci- ent; and that it has been enlarged by Methods in a good measure unknown to, or at least, not compara- tively cultivated by the Ancients, which are, Algebra and the Method of Indivisibles; the particular Advan- tages of the former of which in improving Arithmetick and Geometry he does at large insist upon. (Chap. 14.) Afterwards when he comes to Physics, our Author observes that there are several Instruments and Arts, which are necessary Tools to a good Philosopher, that have been either invented, or very much improved by Moderns, for want of which it was impossible for the Ancients to understand Nature so well as it has since been understood. Among Instruments wholly Modern he reckons, (1.) Printing, which is useful to all Learned Men alike. (2.) Engraving upon Wood and Copper, which is peculiarly useful to all Writers of Natural History and Mathematicks. (3.) Telescopes, first invented by Zacharias Joannides, a Spectacle-Maker of Middleburgh about the Year 1590, whereby the Heavens have become more accessible to Modern Astronomers than they were to the Ancients. (4.) Microscopes, the Invention of the same Joannides, of infinite use in discovering the Texture of Minute Bodies. (5.) Baroscopes, by which the Comparative Gravitation of Air upon Terrestrial Bodies may be found out. (6.) Thermometers to adjust the variations of Heat and Cold. (7.) Air-Pumps, very useful in discovering many hidden Properties of the Air. (8.) Pendulum Clocks, necessary for Astronomers in Measuring small Subdivisions of Time, when they make their Observations. (Chap. 15.) Amongst Preliminary Arts he reckons Chymistry and Anatomy: By Chymistry he understands the Art of Separating Bodies by Fire; and he observes that though the Ancients could refine Metals from their Dross to a good degree, yet for want of Aqua Fortis they could not part them from one another so well as they can at present. He says, Chymistry, properly so called, is mostly owing to the Arabs, and that the Greeks knew scarce any thing at all of it; but yet that the use of Chemical Preparations in Physick is almost entirely owing to the Physicians of this and the last Age, since the Time of Paracelsus. (Chap. 16.) Of Anatomy he says, That the Ancients Skill in it reached only to those Parts that are discoverable by the naked Eye, and even there not so far as the Moderns have carry'd it in any one Particular: That the Extent of the Ancients Knowledge in that matter may be certainly known from the Anatomical Discourses of Galen: That if we descend to Particulars, the Anatomy of the Brain was not known to any tolerable degree before Malpighius and Willis: That the Ancients knew little of the Texture of the Eye, in comparison of what may be found in the Writings of Dr. Briggs: That the Glands which supply it with moisture, are by no body so well described as by Monsieur Nuck: That the Ear, with its inner Cavities, was little known before Monsieur Du Verney: That the knowledge of the Texture of the Tongue is owing to Malpighius; of the Glands of the Mouth, Jaws, and Neck, to Wharton, Steno, and Nuck; and of the Lungs, to Malpighius: That the Primary use of the Lungs was wholly unknown to the Ancients, who had no Notion of the Circulation of the Blood; since all that can be collected from the Writings of Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle, is, that the Blood had a constant recurrent Motion through the Body, which they could not distinctly describe: That this Motion through the Veins to the right Ventricle of the Heart, thence through the Lungs into the left, and so through the Arteries over the whole Body till it meets again with the Veins, first called by Cæsalpinus the Circulation of the Blood, was first discovered by Servetus, then pursued somewhat further by Columbus and Cæsalpinus, and at last made perfectly Intelligible by Dr. Harvey, whose Discoveries were lately made compleat by Mons. Leuwenhoek: That the Texture of the Heart was first discovered by Dr. Lower, of the Coats of the Stomach by Dr. Willis, of the Fibres of the Intestines by Dr. Cole, of the Chyliferous Vessels by Asselius and Pecquet, Pecquet, of the Lacteal Vessels in Women by Monsieur Nuck, and of the Liver by Malpighius: That the Ductus Pancreaticus was first discovered by Wirtzfungus, and the Spleen and the Reins found to be Glandulous Bodies by Malpighius: That the Lympha and its Ducts were never thought of, till they were discovered by Bartholin, Rudbeck, and Jolliffe: That Dr. Havers found out the Mucilage in the Joynts, with the Glands which preserve it: And lastly, That the Anatomy of Bruits has been as carefully examined as that of Men, of which he gives several Instances. (Chap. 17, 18, 19.) In Treating of Philosophy, he begins with Natural History, and with that of Elementary Bodies and Minerals as the simplest. He observes that the Ancients knew little of the Nature of Air; that though Aristotle believed it to gravitate, yet his Disciples so little understood him, that they asserted the quite contrary; that the Doctrine of its Spring is owing to our truly Noble Countryman Mr. Boyle, whose Histories of the most conspicuous qualities of Terrestrial Bodies have much enlarged that part of Natural History. In his Account of Minerals he instances in the Loadstone, whose Noblest Properties were Anciently unknown; and he enlarges upon their use, with the increase of Wealth and Knowledge, which thereby have accrued to these European Nations, in these two last Ages. (Chap. 20.) Of the Natural History of Plants he Observes, that all Ancient Descriptions are confused and lame, and in number very deficient: That nothing which they did can be compared with Gerhard's, Parkinson's, and Bauhines Herbals, much less with Mr. Ray's, who first drew up a Methodical History of all the Plants yet known. (Chap. 21.) Of Insects he Observes, That the Ancients only medled with the most Remarkable sorts, and there rarely took notice of any but the most conspicuous things: So So that all which Malpighius and Rhedi say concerning their Generation, all that is in the Writings of Goedartius and Swammerdam concerning the Time and Nature of their Transmutations, may be looked upon as wholly new. And as for Histories of larger Animals, he pretends that Willoughby's Histories of Birds and Fishes, Ray's Synopsis of Quadrupeds, besides a great many Modern Discourses upon particular Animals, are without comparison better than the Histories of Aristotle, Aelian, or Pliny. (Chap. 22.) Afterwards he inserts a Discourse written by that most excellent Astronomer Mr. Halley, concerning Ancient and Modern Astronomy and Opticks; who says, that the Egyptian and Chaldean Astronomy was little worth in itself, and the Greek Astronomy not much better, if compared with the Modern: That Ptolemy's Hypothesis of the Planetary Motions cannot be set against Kepler's and Newton's; nor Hipparchus's Catalogue of the Fixed Stars against Tycho Brahe's and Herelius's: That the Ancients could know but little of Opticks, since they were so meanly skilled in Perspective; and of Dioptricks, they were wholly ignorant, since they had no Notion of the Properties of Refraction, which Des Cartes first reduced to a Science, (Chap. 23.) Of Musick he determines nothing positively, but seems to think that since the grounds of Musick have always been the same, and that the Moderns use more Gradations of Half-Notes and Quarter-Notes than the Ancients; and that the Symphony's of the Ancients were only Consorts of several Voices and Instruments to the same Part; that Modern Musick, considered as Art, is perfecter than the Ancient, which was so much extolled by those that heard it, because it was the most excellent they had ever heard, and so had a right to the greatest Commissions which they could give it. (Chap. 24.) Of Medicks also he determines nothing, as to Ancient and Modern Methods of Practice, only allows Hippocrates to have been a very great Genius, perhaps not equalled by any Physician that have come since: Yet considering how much Botanicks, Chymistry, and Anatomy have been enlarged, he thinks that Modern Theories of Diseases are much more valuable than Ancient ones, for want of those helps could possibly be. (Chap. 25.) In speaking to Ancient and Modern Methods of Philosophizing, he gives the preference to the latter; because no Principles of Nature are there allowed, but what are in themselves intelligible; and the business of forming Parties is now in a manner out of doors, and Mathematical Reasonings are constantly urged as valid ways of Proof, in all Physical Enquiries where they can be brought in: Hereupon he takes occasion to enlarge upon the Design of the ROYAL SOCIETY, and hints at the great things which its Members have effected towards the compleating of Physical Knowledge. (Ch. 26.) Having gone through those Sciences which lie equally open to Men of all Ages to make Discoveries in, he goes on to those which have their whole Foundation in Antiquity, whereina by consequence the Moderns seem to have no Pretence to a Comparison; such as Philology and Divinity. Yet he says, that if we consider how much Printing has altered the state of Learning, how wide a thing Antiquity is in all its compass, how many things rarely meeting in one Man, are requisite to make a Man a through Critick; we ought to conclude, that though every Age of Antiquity knew itself better than we can pretend to know it, yet in the gross, the Scaligers, the Vossius's, the Ushers, the Seldens, the Bocharts, and such Modern Philologers have had a greater extent of Ancient Learning, than any single Man among the Ancients could possibly have. (Chap. 27.) And as to Divinity he says, That though the Scriptures and the Writings of the Ancient Fathers be the Foundations upon which every Divine ought to build; yet if we consider that the Text of the Bible itself by a familiar conversation with the Oriental Languages is now better understood: That Casuistical Knowledge lies as obvious now as ever it did: That the Art of Preaching is more Methodical, and by consequence more Instructive: That Controversies have been managed more nicely, and more exactly, we must allow Modern Divines to have been the better Workmen, though the Matter which both they and the Ancients have jointly wrought upon, has been the same. (Chap. 28.) His last Chapter is employed about Answering some Reasons which Sir W.T. assigns for the decay of Learning; such as, (1.) Disputes in Religion; which in his Opinion have rather increased Knowledge than otherwise, since the Spirit of Opposition, when once raised, will shew itself in every thing as well as in those matters which first gave it Life. (2.) Want of Favour from Great Men, of which, according to him, there is not so much Reason to complain, considering that the French King, Q. Christina, and several others whom he there mentions, lived all of them in this Age. (3.) Pedantry; which also he pretends to be in a manner quite Banished out of the World. The whole Book seems to be designed for a Vindication of that sort of Learning, which it is the intention of the Royal Society to promote, for which Reason probably he took no Notice that he had the Honour to be a Member of that Body. 2. Horti Malabarici. Pars Decima, Undecima, Duodecima, & Ultima. With some Remarks upon them by T.R. M.D. S.R.S. Nine Tomes of this great Work being already mentioned in these Transactions, No. 145. No. 198. No. 200. I will here finish the Account of the remaining Volumes. The Tenth Part contains 94 Plants with their Descriptions, Figures, and Uses, all Natives of the Kingdom of Malabar, collected and design'd during the Memorable Government of that Excellent Person, The Heer Van Rheed. Amongst these are the Manga-Nari, an Aromatick Spicy sort of Veronica, given in Fevers and Vertigo's. Schada-veli-Kelangu, or Asparagus maximus, aculeatus, Sarmentosus, radicibus multis fusiformibus, Scorzonera sapore, which makes one of the most delicious Dishes in India. Brami, or Glaux Portulacæ folio, flore majore diluto cæruleo, albicante colore; the eating whereof swells their Cattel with milk, and clears the Voice more powerfully than our Liquorice. Two Kirganeli's, a-kin to the Vitis Idea, used by the Indians as a Specifick in Dysenteries. Kurundoti or Cistus Indica humilis, Ciceris folio, flore flavo, of daily use in all Convulsive and Nervous cases. Katu-Tsetti-Pu or Ambrosia Orientalis, Artemisia folio odoratissimo, floribus flavis, a most excellent Anodyne and Hypnotick. Ana-Coluppa or, Ranunculo Affinis Planta Indica, floribus purpureis, which is said to Cure the Falling-Sickness, and to expel alone the virulent Poyson of that Famous Indian Serpent, commonly called Cobra-Capello. Bena-Patsha, a sort of Heliotrope or Turnsole, given very successfully in the Venomous Bitings of those Astatic Foxes, vulgarly named by Travellers, Jakhals, or Jacals. Kalengi- Kalengi-Canshava, or in the Brachman's Language Bangi, and commonly Bangue amongst us Europeans, a true Species of Hemp both by the Icon and Description, and very much taken notice of for its Narcotick and Inebriating Faculty, therefore of general use in India for the promoting of Venery, (for which the Dutroy, a sort of Stramonium, is celebrated in that Country) and in stopping of Fluxes, but most Specifically given in that Endemial Disease called Pitao, a sort of Jaundice, contracted by the frequent drinking of Arak or Rack, the abuse of Betel and Faufel, and the daily working under a scorching Sun. Naga-Dante, a sort of Ricinus or Palma Christi, of that violent and subtile Purgative Nature, that the very smell of the red Seeds will excite the Stomach and Guts into Cathartick Motions. The Leaves externally apply'd drive away Arthritick Symptoms. Several Tirtava's or Scrophularia's, one of which is in Flower all the Year, and is consecrated to the God Vishnu, therefore in high Veneration amongst the Brachmans, none of which are ever observed to be without it. To these might be added many beautiful Species of Chrysanthemum's, Amaranthoides, Albine's, Rubia's, Titthymals, Althaea's, Conyza's, Solanum's, Nepeta's, Cardiac's, a-kin to the Leonurus of the Cape of Good Hope, &c. all described and figured, with their Uses, in this Tenth Volume. Horti Malabarici, Pars Undecima. This Eleventh Tome comprehends 65 Plants with their stately Icons drawn from the Life. The first whereof is the Kapa-Tshakka or Ananas, called by our American Planters, The Pine-Apple; 'twas first brought into the East from the West-Indies, and grows larger here than in its own Native Soil. Its delicacy and use are well known. Elettari or the common Cardamum of our Shops, (of which there are three Species) delineated and described in all its Parts. It grows plentifully in shady moist places on the declivities of Hills and in Valleys round about Cochin and Calicut, impatient of the Beams of the Sun. The Vertues are given at large in most Writers of the Materia Medica. Kua or Zerumbeth of our Shops, a Species of Ginger, agreeing in its uses with the Long Zedoary. 'Tis much doubted whether this was known to the Arabians. The Root rasped affords a fine Flour or Powder, much esteemed by the Natives, who make a Paste and Pottage out of it. Tsana-Kua, or the Costus Arabicus of Dioscorides, and of our Shops, delighting in shades. Upon bruising it smells of Ginger, but vapid and of little taste, unless when fresh. Malan-Kua, or the Zedoary of our Shops, a sort of Colchicum: The long and round seem to be different parts of the same Aromatick Root, growing in the muddy places of Malabar, Java, and other Parts of India. Manja-Kua and Manjella-Kua are two sorts of Curcuma or Turmeric, which flourish all over the East, and are of general and known uses. Inschi vel Inschi-Kua, is our Ginger, which abounds in shady places both in the East and West Indies, tho' perhaps transplanted at first. The fresh Roots upon Distillation afford a Volatile Aromatick Oleose Salt like Camphire, of notable Vertue in many cases. The Author gives three Species of this Plant. I will Remark here once for all, that the Cardamomum majus & minus, the Bengala Indorum (out of which our Muslins are said to be made) the Costus Arabicus, the Galingals, the Zedoary, the Zerumbeth, Ginger, and Turmeric, do all agree in the same Fructification and Characters of having Tuberose Roots, oblong broad Leaves alternately set, Tetrapetalose deformed Flowers coming ont of the Scales of the Leaves, and tricapsular Seed-vessels, which may clearly be observed in comparing their several Icons and Histories. Kurka, Kurka, called in Ceylon Fusula, a sort of Glans Terristris, and eaten in the same manner. It grows plentifully in Sandy places. Kodda-Pail, or Sedum Indicum palustre, foliis latissimis, crispis, floribus albicantibus pilosis, floats on the Water like the Stratiotes or Aloe Palustris, used much in Bloody-Fluxes, Coughs, and Lumbago's. Besides these many more might be enumerated out of this Eleventh Volume, of daily use in the Indian Pharmacopoeia, as some Aloes, great varieties of the Arisarum, the Dracunculus or Arum Polyphyllum, many Nymphæa's, Gladioli Palustres, Tribulus Aquaticus, several sorts of proud Lillies, Narcissi, Arrow-heads, Bastard Species of Passion-Flowers, abundance of curious Bindweeds, &c. which make up this Tome. Horti Malabarici, Pars Duodecima & Ultima. This Volume concludes the whole Work, the Noble Author dying on Ship-board the last Year before Suratt, where the Dutch East-India Company have ordered a most Magnificent Monument to be erected for this Great Benefactor, and Ornament of their Republick. 'Tis to be wish'd that his Papers and Designs relating to the rest of the Dutch Colonies in Asia and Africa (where he has some time resided under Publick Characters) may have fallen into Generous Hands, that will not suffer any part of the Creation to be absconded from Mankind, nor the Works of Great Men to lie buried in Oblivion, or destroyed by Vermine. This last Tome contains 79 Icons together with Descriptions, and a general Index to the whole Work. It begins with several beautiful Orobanche's or Abortive Orchi's growing like Mistletoe upon Trees, used by the Indians in Convulsive and Feverish cases. The Woods in these Climates must afford pleasant Prospects, the Trees being loaded with variety of Herbs either climbing to the tops of them, or shooting out of their Trunks and Branches, of which this Volume gives many Species, called properly Epidendra, and Anadendra. As the Maravara's, an Arborescent Aloe, called so from its Vegetation out of Trees; many Scendent Ferns, Harts-tongues, Polypadies, &c. of which some are Spineose, and serve for Fences to their Gardens and Fields. Enadi-Kourengo, a sort of large Club-Moss putting forth of the Jack-Trees and Mango's. The Christians of St. Thomas call it Flagellum S. Thomæ, and the Portuguese Couda de Sto Francisco, to which they ascribe many wonderful Vertues. This seems to be described by Breynius, under the name of Selago Indiæ Orientalis, five Phlegmaria admirabilis Ceylanica. Kalpanna-Maravara, a fine sort of Adiantum or Maiden-hair, sprouting upon the Trees in stony shady places, used by the Indians in Heetick, Phtisick, and Asthmatick cases. To these I might add great variety of elegant Ferns described and figured in this last Part, but they will be best known by consulting their lively Pictures. These with many other different Herbs spreading and running upon the Trees cloak and venom them. Of the Climbing Ferns the West-Indies afford many Species. The Author gives here some new kinds of Indian Reeds, Rushes, Grasses, Mosses, &c. for which the Work may be consulted; only it may be noted here, that the Natives are better acquainted with the uses of all their Simples than the European Nations are with theirs, having indeed more of pure Instinct and undebauched Nature than the Civiliz'd People can pretend to. Here ends the Admirable Product of the Heer Van Rheed; whose Performances in the Vegetable History may perhaps raise up some Successor to carry on the like in the Animal and Fossil, which seem to lie uncultivated, and reserved for a Second Rheed. Besides these, another sort of History would become the Greatest Men that reside in either India, I mean that of the Arts, and Mechanicks practised by the Natives, or by Strangers, of equal Advantage to Mankind with the Natural, both depending on each other.