according to his abilities." His merits have been duly appreciated, both by foreigners and his own countrymen; and although, in the last century, they seemed in danger of falling into oblivion, amid the blaze of the numerous discoveries and improvements then made, they are, at the present day, brought more prominently into view, when men have begun to compare systems, and to shake off the influence of party-spirit. An interesting commemoration of him was made in London on the 29th November 1828. A genus of plants was dedicated to his memory by Plumier, under the name of Jan Raia, which Linnæus changed into Rajania, and Smith into Raiana. Raia would have been more appropriate; but unfortunately it was previously occupied by the skate, and therefore could not be allotted to him of whom Sir James Smith says, that he was "the most accurate in observation,—the most philosophical in contemplation,-and the most faithful in description, amongst all the botanists of his own, or perhaps any other time." Several species of fishes, however, are named after him, in consequence of his having been the first who made men'tion of them.

"Mr Ray," says Dr Pulteney, in his Sketches of the Progress of Botany," had the singular happiness of devoting fifty years of his life to the cultivation of the sciences he loved. Incited by the most ardent genius, which overcame innumerable difficulties and discouragements, his labours were, in the end, crowned with a success before almost unequalled. He totally reformed the studies of botany and zoology; he raised them to the dignity of a science, and placed them in an advantageous point of view;

and, by his own investigations, added more real improvement to them in England than any of his predecessors. The extent of his improvements in science procured him the admiration of his contemporaries, and have justly transmitted his name to posterity, among those who have done honour to their age and country."

We have now only to present a catalogue of his more important works :—

1. Historia Plantarum Generalis, species hactenus editas aliasque insuper multas noviter inventas et descriptas complectens. Two vols folio. The first was published in 1686; the second, in 1687; and the third, in 1704.

2. Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum. The first edition was published in 1690. The second, considerably enlarged, appeared in 1696. The third, printed in 1724, was edited by the celebrated Dillenius. This edition is the one in general use, and is that referred to by Linnæus, Hudson, Smith, and other botanists. The Synopsis was illustrated by Petiver with a set of seventy-two folio plates, having twelve figures in each.

3. Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis. 8vo, London, 1693.

4. Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium. 8vo, London, 1713. A posthumous work, edited by Dr Derham.

5. Historia Insectorum. 4to, London. Printed at the expense of the Royal Society in 1710.

6. The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation, in two parts. London, 1691. There are many editions.

7. Three Physico-Theological Discourses concerning the Chaos, Deluge, and Dissolution of the World.

8. Observations, Topographical, Moral, and Physiological, made in a Journey through Part of the Low Countries, &c. London, 1673. A second edition in 1738.

To these may be added,

9. Francisci Willughbeii Ornithologiæ, Libri tres, with plates. Folio, London, 1676. There is also an edition in English, with three discourses, viz. Of the Art of Fowling, Of the Ordering of Singing Birds, and Of Falconry. London, 1678.

10. Francisci Willughbeii Historia Piscium, Libri quatuor, with plates. Folio, Oxford, 1686.

When this pious writer died, his papers were intrusted to his friend Dr Derham, who, having arranged and selected such as seemed of most importance, published a part of them in 1718, under the name of Philosophical Letters between the late learned Mr Ray and several of his ingenious Correspondents, natives and foreigners, to which are added those of Francis Willughby, Esq. The same person, as has been already mentioned, also edited. the Synopsis of Birds and Fishes, and prepared for publication his posthumous work on Insects. He moreover got ready for the press his Travels in England, Wales, and Scotland, to which he intended to prefix an account of the author; but, although the life was written, the book did not make its appearance until a later period, when, as has been noted above, it came forth under the direction of Mr George Scott, bearing the title of the Select Remains of the learned John Ray.

The principal authorities for his life and writings are, the Select Remains just mentioned; Dr Pulteney's Sketches of the Progress of Botany; the article Ray, in Rees' Cyclopædia, by Sir James Edward Smith; and that by Cuvier and Du Petit-Thouars, in the Biographie Universelle. In the two latter, his botanical and zoological labours are carefully recorded; and from the former we learn, in conclusion, that "his hand-writing was peculiarly fair and elegant;" which has been the case with few of the more distinguished naturalists. His portraits are not numerous, but there is one in oil, taken at an advanced period of his life, remaining in the British Museum; a miniature, in the possession of Dr John Sims, having been engraved in the first volume of the Annals of Botany, published in 1805; and two prints, the one by Elder, the other by Vertue, from a picture by Faithorne, being prefixed to the third edition of the Synopsis, and to the Historia Plantarum. We may add that, in the fifteenth number of the Gallery of Portraits, published under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, is a beautiful engraving by Meyer of the painting in the British Museum.

In the likeness of Ray the phrenologist will look in vain for indications of those intellectual faculties which are displayed in his writings. The forehead is contracted in all its dimensions; so as to form a direct contrast to that of Cuvier, another naturalist of equal industry and zeal, but perhaps of not more comprehensive mind.

REAUMUR.

Account of the Life and Writings of Reaumur.

Birth and Education of Reaumur-He settles at Paris, where he is introduced to the Scientific World by the President Henault, and becomes a Member of the Academy of Sciences-His Labours for the Improvement of the Arts-His Works on Natural History, of which the Memoirs on Insects are the most important-His Occupations and Mode of Life.

RENÉ ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE REAUMUR, one of the most ingenious naturalists whom France has produced, was born at Rochelle in 1683. He commenced his studies in his native place, continued them at Poitiers under the Jesuits, and finished his professional course at Bourges; but feeling less inclined to the practice of law than to the investigations of natural science, he resolved to devote himself entirely to the latter. In this respect he was the more justified in following his inclination, that he possessed a fortune sufficient to support him without engaging in any occupation merely to procure the means of subsistence. He began to prepare for his new pursuits by studying mathematics, and when he thought his proficiency such as to qualify him to make a respectable figure among the naturalists and philosophers of the capital, he removed thither in the year 1703.