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After the death of this young man, the collections, library, and even the manuscripts, of his father, were offered for sale, and purchased by Sir James Edward Smith, the founder of the Linnæan Society of London. They are now in the possession of that illustrious body, whose labours have tended so much to forward the progress of natural history in general, and of botany in particular. The herbarium, which is contained in two deal presses, similar to the model described in the Philosophia Botanica, is to the botanist an object of great interest, and has been the means of elucidating many doubtful points. The building in which[Pg 391] his museum was kept at Hammarby, although it now contains only the chair in which he sat when delivering his lectures, and a stuffed crocodile suspended from the roof, continues to attract the notice of strangers, who generally carry away with them a specimen of the Linnæa, which grows profusely in the neighbourhood.
It may be mentioned, in conclusion, that the widow of the great Swedish naturalist survived him fourteen years, having died in 1806, after attaining the 94th year of her age.
[K] A singular objection, remarks Sir James E. Smith, from the great sharp-eyed cryptogamist!
[L] Life by Sir J. E. Smith.
Printed by Oliver & Boyd,
Tweeddale Court, High Street, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, June 1834.
The Edinburgh Cabinet Library having now reached its Sixteenth Volume, the Proprietors are desirous of offering a few observations, with a view to elucidate the general character and plan of the Publication more fully than could be done in the original Prospectus.
The primary object of this undertaking was to construct, from the varied and costly materials that have been accumulating for ages, a popular Work, appearing in successive volumes, and comprising all that is really valuable in those branches of knowledge which most happily combine amusement with instruction. A scheme so comprehensive necessarily embraced a wide range of subjects; all of which, however, though treated by separate writers, were designed to form component parts of one uniform system. To record the prominent changes and revolutions in the history of nations;—to follow the progress of inland and maritime discovery, embodying the researches of those fearless adventurers who have traversed stormy oceans, or penetrated into the interior of barbarous kingdoms;—to mark the steps by which the sciences and arts that refine and improve human nature have arrived at their present stage of advancement;—in short, to exhibit, under all their variety of circumstances and forms, Man and the objects by which he is surrounded,—are among the leading features in the design of the Cabinet Library.
Its reception hitherto has exceeded the most sanguine anticipations of the Proprietors; and they need only refer to the favourable notices in almost every journal in the British empire, for evidence that it is now established in the estimation of the public as a Work of acknowledged merit. It has also been reviewed with much commendation in numerous foreign periodicals; on the Continent, translations of it continue to be executed from time to time; and in America, the volumes, as they appear, are regularly stereotyped. The method adopted from the beginning, of not restricting the publication to monthly issues, has proved of material advantage,—by allowing the different authors ample time to finish their respective contributions in the most satisfactory manner; while, by employing on the more important subjects a combination of talent, and sometimes devoting to them two or three volumes, means are secured for rendering each work as perfect as possible. It needs but a cursory glance at what is already done to be convinced, that although the field of enterprise is wide and diversified, the various subjects are so methodically treated, and so closely allied in their nature, as to amalgamate into one regular and connected whole, which, when completed, will form a full and comprehensive Cabinet of truly valuable information for all classes of the community. The entire plan may be briefly detailed under four subdivisions:—
These form properly the basis of the system; for surely no study can be more interesting, or more instructive, than that which makes us acquainted with the political institutions and domestic habits of foreign nations; with their productions and resources, their literature, antiquities, and physical appearance; the principal events of which they have been the theatre; and with the condition of their present inhabitants. The Proprietors conceive that the manner in which these branches of knowledge are combined in the Cabinet Library, is an advantage which distinguishes its design; as by this means the reader is put in possession of the history, the geography, and the statistics of every particular country in one work, instead of having to search for them in many volumes, and these frequently so expensive as to be beyond the reach of ordinary readers. This department, in so far as it has yet advanced, may serve to illustrate the general plan.
The African division of the globe has been nearly completed, three volumes on the subject,—the second, third, and twelfth of the series,—having already appeared. The first of these, entitled Narrative of Discovery and Adventure in Africa, not only describes the natural features of that continent, and the social condition of its people, but also exhibits a view of whatever is most interesting in the researches and observations of those travellers who have sought to explore its interior, from the times of the Greeks and Romans down to the recent expeditions of Park, Clapperton, and Lander; thus presenting within a narrow compass all that is known of those immense deserts which have hitherto been a blank in the geography of the world. A View of Ancient and Modern Egypt, and an Account of Nubia and Abyssinia, the Ethiopia of the ancients, are comprised in the third and twelfth volumes. These countries, alike interesting to the antiquary and the scholar as the cradle of the arts, have been carefully illustrated from the descriptions of the classic writers, as well as from the labours of scientific travellers, who, in recent times, have contributed by their discoveries to disperse the clouds that so long enveloped the splendid monuments of the Pharaohs, and obscured our geographical and historical knowledge of that portion of the globe. The greater part of the northern coast of the African continent still remains to be described; but when this want is supplied, by an Account of the Barbary States, which is now in progress, the public will be in possession of a concise survey of the History, Geography, and Statistics of one grand division of the earth.
To Asia several works have already been devoted, and others are in a forward state of preparation. The fourth volume of the Library, which treats of Palestine, or the Holy Land, gives a succinct abridgment of its annals, with an account of the antiquities, constitution, religion, literature, and present condition of the singular people by whom it was inhabited;—embracing a topographical delineation of the cities, towns, and more remarkable scenes, chiefly drawn from the works of travellers and pilgrims who have successively visited the country.
