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The Conchologist's Companion; comprising the Instincts and Constructions of Testaceous Animals. By the Author of "Select Female Biography," &c. London: G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1824.

ONE of the great improvements of the present age is the facilitating the acquirement of knowledge. What was once within the grasp of none but the more scien- || tific, is now made familiar to the professedly unlearned. || The principles and leading facts of the whole circle of sciences, are now thrown into popular forms, and constitute not merely a source of valuable knowledge, but at the same time of useful entertainment. The volume before us belongs to this class. It is a series of letters, and contains the result of much reading and observation. It is not to be expected that they should fulfil all the conditions of a purely scientific work, or should || form a complete treatise. They touch only upon those shells which come most frequently under general observation, and handle them in the most popular way. As a specimen we will give some extracts from the bicgraphy of our old friend the oyster :

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loose stones and sand, to the very edge of the sea; particularly in such places as are screened from the agitation of the waves. The sheltered recesses of bays and harbours are therefore often filled with abundance of lofty mangroves, which grow up from the shallow bottom, and present the beautiful appearance of marine forests, consequently many of the branches either dip into the waves, or grow beneath them; and to these the parasitic oysters frequently attach themselves in such numbers, that a branch when cut off, is too heavy for one individual to carry. The loaded branch is then washed, and brought to table; where it constitutes a favourite appendage at the banquets of the rich, for the glowing tints, which nature so liberally scatters over the birds and flowers of the tropical regions, extend even to the unassuming oyster. Many of the species are beautifully shaded, and the shells of such as inhabit the Red Sea are tinted with the vivid colours of the rainbow. The animal inhabitants of the Ostrea, are apparently some of the most insignificant of created beings; yet these feeble creatures, though formerly supposed incapable of voluntary motion, and little superior to vegethat something exists exterior to themselves. They choose, tables, are conscious of their existence, and conscious also reject, and vary their operations with judgment; defend themselves by adequate and complicated means; repair their losses, and occasionally assume new habits. They possess, when young, the faculty of swimming rapidly, by means of an undulatory motion of the banchiæ, but when arrived at full growth this faculty or inclination ceases; and while their active relatives are darting round them, they remain contentedly fixed in their places of abode, surrounded by a numerous and continually increasing progeny. For the motions of this clumsy animal, if such they may be termed, merely consist in turning from one side to the other; which they accomplish more by sagacity, than by any natural agility or inherent strength. They contrive to bolster up one side, by a gradual deposition of soft mud, till they stand nearly upright; then, availing themselves of the flowing or ebbing of the tide, they open their shells, and are, tumbled over by the pressure of the water. In this respect they differ materially from shell-fish in general. But

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Nature, all her children viewing,
Equal, bounteous, cares for all.'

"Eighty species are assigned by naturalists to the genus Ostrea; a well-known branch of the numerois family of Multivalve, whose habitats and instincts are designed to form the subject of this letter. They present onsiderable variety in form and beauty, and are divided into seven classes, or divisions, which are again subdivided. The first and second comprise the numerous varieties of esscallop, or scallop shells; and are distinguished from each other by the proportions of their ears. The surfaces are usually adorned with divergent ribs, variouslydiversified with beautiful colours and delicate chequer-vork, and are usually covered with undulated and transverse striæ, not unfrequently assuming the appearance o elevated scales, as in the O. imbricata, or Imbricated Cyster, and 0. dubia. The animal inhabitants possess the faculty of leaping to a considerable distance, by suddenly opening and closing their valves: and though inclosed in floating citadels of considerable weight and thickness, can swim upon the water or move on land. They are eleganty termed To one she gives the faculty of locomotion; to another the butterflies of the ocean: as, when, darting though the means of safely remaining in its allotted station; and while sparkling waves, and flitting rapidly from place to place, the Solen Donex and Mytilus frequently migrate to conthey rival the glowing colours of the papilionaceaus tribes.siderable distances from their usual places of abode, the In fine weather they congregate together and nount the stationary oyster firmly moors himself to rocks and stones, billows, forming little fleets, with half their shels erected by means of a bundle of small cords, denominated a byssus. to catch the breeze; the other, which contains the animal, Such are the instincts which nature has assigned to the remaining emerged below. When any foe appars, or a feeblest of her offspring, for its preservation and defence; sudden squall begins to ruffle the surface of theleep, the but these are not the only proofs which she has given of her shells are instantaneously shut, and the pigmy vesels dis- maternal care. What think you of a little lamp, which appear. The remaining divisions of the genus Orea con- lights the darkness of its solitary dwelling? An attentive sist of those which, in substance, form, and coloring, are observer recently remarked, on opening an oyster, a shinmore nearly allied to the common, or eatable oystr. The ing matter, or blueish light, resembling a star, about the individuals of this family are generally of an regular centre of the shell, which appeared to proceed from a small form; rough, and plated on the exterior, while te inside quantity of real phosphorus. On being taken from the of their habitations are smooth and glossy, and smetimes animal, it extended nearly to half an inch in length; and richly varied with a steel-blue or metallic lust. The when immersed in water, seemed in every respect the same most remarkable species in the third division i the 0. as the phosphorus obtained from bones, &c. The oyster malleus, or Hammer Oyster, which resembles a pek-axe; itself was perfectfy alive and fresh: consequently the light others that are parasitical present the appearace of a could not proceed from any decomposition of the shell or dried leaf, and thus elude the vigilance of birds f prey. animal, but must have resulted from some other source. Such is the O. folium, or Foliated Oyster; andthe 0. The microscope has been elegantly termed a portal to arborea, or Tree Oyster, of the Atlantic and Indin seas things invisible,' as it opens to the naturalist a knowledge where the latter is generally found attached to the rots and of such phenomena in nature as are too minute to be inbranches of the mangrove tree. This curious fact hs been spected by the unassisted eye. On submitting this appadoubted by some naturalists, but admits of an eay solu- rent phosphorus to a high magnifier, it was found to contion. In hot countries, a great variety of shrubs ad lofty sist of three different sorts of animalcules; one of which trees grow on the margin of the rivers, and evermong had no less than forty-eight legs, attached to a slender

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The voyage itself was not distinguished by any uncommon event, except the being fired at by a Portuguese ship of war through mistake, and the being attacked

body; a black spot on the head, which was evidently its only eye; and the back exactly resembled that of an eel when deprived of its outer coating. The second insect, Polypheme, had also a solitary eye, and numerous feet; a nose resembling that of a dog, and a body made up of seve-by some Malay pirates in the Straits of Banka. From ral rings, The third was very different, having a speckled body, a head resembling a foal's, with a tuft of hair on both sides. Each of these extraordinary insects was beautifully luminous, and altogether resembled a blueish star.

We shall henceforward feel a tenfold pleasure in swallowing a fine fat Colchester, since we know so much about him. The letters on pearls, snails, and corals, are likewise very readable, and indeed the book altogether deserves high commendation.

L' Ermite du Gange, ou L'Apostat, Conte moral Indien. Par MARIN DE LA VOYE. London and Paris: Bossange and Co. 1824.

THIS is a little tale of more than common interest, whilst it contains as much information as many octavos, written for purposes of instruction merely. It is the story of a youth of good family, brought up as a Carmelite Friar, and sent out from France to Cochin China as a Missionary. He travels through Persia into India. His personal history is extremely entertaining. It abounds with curious adventures, and relates to his wanderings as a mendicant, his exploits as an officer, his loves and sufferings, his apostacy, and his solitary life in a hermitage at the foot of the Cataract of Gangoutra, the source of the Ganges. The author has mixed up with the narrative, much pleasant description of Asiatic customs, and his book may read with great advantage, even by those who would dislike to be considered as still in the age of boyhood. The style is neat and correct, and altogether it is a very creditable production.

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A Voyage to Cochin China. By JOHN WHITE, Lieutenant in the United States Navy. London: Longman and Co. 1824.

the first they escaped by superior sailing, and from the latter by "force of arms." The description of Sumatra we must pass over, and come to the first interview with the Cochin-Chinese. Notwithstanding the "tea and sweetmeats" with which they were treated by the natives at Canjeo, and in spite of the favourable descriptions of former voyagers, Lieutenant White was "convinced that the Cochin-Chinese were in many respects but little removed from a state of deplorable barbarism." Certainly the "first blush" was by no means in their favour :

"In person the Cochin Chinese are perhaps somewhat smaller than their neighbours the Malays, and of the same colour, though generally not so well formed: their constant habit of chewing areka imparts to their mouths a most disgusting appearance; and what is very remarkable, they never wash their faces and hands, or bodies; for in all other parts of the East, frequent ablutions have been thought so indispensable to health and purity, that it is enjoined by their priests as a religious rite, and most scrupulously adhered to, both from duty and inclination.

"The habit of the higher classes, in permitting their nails to grow to an enormous length, cannot be supposed to conduce to cleanliness or comfort; and it is remarkable with what anwearied pains they cultivate them, as a person bearing this badge is supposed not to be obliged to perform any manual labour; and the longer the nails, the more respectability do they confer on the wearer. Their garments are seldom taken off by night or by day, after having been first assumed, excepting in cases of ceremony, when they are temporarily superseded by other dresses, till rotten by time and filth, when they are permitted to fall off of themselves. These dirty habits engender vast swarms of vermin, and render their bodies highly offensive to more than one sense; and the epithet frowzy, which has been applied to the Chinese, is exemplified in these people in the most emphatic sense.

our landing. With this escort we proceeded immediately to the house of the chief, through several defiles, strewed with rotten fish, old bones, and various other nauseous ob

old boats, pig-styes, &c. which surrounded us in every di

"On our approach to the shore, our olfactory nerves were saluted with the rankest compound of villainous smells that ever offended nostril;' and the natives of the place, consisting principally of men, women, children, swine, and mangy dogs, equally filthy and miserable in appearance. HALF the officers of the American Navy were origi-lined the muddy banks of this Stygian stream to welcome nally in the Merchant Service, and now that peace has left them little employment, many have returned to their old vocation. Such we suspect to be the casejects, among the fortuitous assemblage of huts, fish-pots, with the author of this volume, which records a commercial expedition under his command to the coasts|rection; and, in order that no circumstance of ceremony of China. From such a person, travelling under such circumstances, we have no right to expect a very complete and regular book. There are few Basil Halls in the Navy of England or America. Still Mr. White has written a very pleasant book-full of information, and agreeably diversified with personal anecdote. He apologizes for any deficiencies which habits, the reverse of literary, may have occasioned, and as these deficiencies are very few, none will quarrel with him.

Lieutenant White left Salem, in January, 1819, and touching at Bahia, Tristan d'Acunha and Batavia, arrived at the Bay of Vung-tau, on the 6th of June.

should be omitted, to honour their new guests, a most harmonious concert was immediately struck up by the swarm of little filthy children, in a state of perfect nudity, (which formed part of our procession,) in which they were joined by their parents, and the swine and dogs before mentioned."

The old mandarin from whom permission was sought to ascend the Don-nai river, as far as the city of Saigon, appears to have been a pleasant personage enough. He hugs the Lieutenant "with the most unyielding pertinacity" round the neck, and like the monkey in Gulliver," thrust his dirty betel-nut into my mouth from his own, leaping on me like a dog." The Lieutenant however, like a gallant sailor,

got to the windward" and remained there. The mandarin after drinking copiously of brandy pocketed the bottle and glass. The same spirit of appropriation marked all his actions, and he appears to have possessed the organ of furtiveness in an eminent degree. The voyagers here remained several days in expectation of permission to proceed up the river to Saigon. They were exposed to the constant depredations and insolence of the chiefs, and after much disappointment set sail again round the coast, and thence to the Manillas, iu order to procure an interpreter through whose means they hoped to obtain the desired permission. From the detailed account of the Manillas we cannot afford much extract :

"A very considerable proportion of the population of Manilla is composed of the Mistezas: they are the offspring of the intermarriages of the Spaniards with the native women, and these again forming connections with the whites, or with the native Indians, (the latter, however, less frequent) combine in stamping upon their descendants a great variety of features and shades of colour; a general resemblance is, however, to be traced; and waiving colour and manners, a Misteza could not easily be mistaken for an Indian. This class of the inhabitants is held in nearly the same estimation as the whites. They are very cleanly in their persons, and neat in their dress, which, among the males, consists generally of a pair of cotton trowsers of various colours, as fancy dictates, and shoes in the European manner, a frock or tunic of striped grass manufacture, worn outside the trowsers, in the manner of the Asiatic Armenians, (but without the sash or girdle) the collars of which are tastefully embroidered, and thrown back on their shoulders; an European hat completes their costume, which is light, cool, and airy; and after a stranger has been a short time accustomed to see what he at first would call a perversion of dress, his prejudices subside, and he has no hesitation in pronouncing it very proper and graceful. They are remarkably fine-limbed and well-built-the females especially, who are really models of the most complete symmetry; their hair and eyes, which, unlike their skins, seldom vary from the original jet black of their native parents, bestow upon them the primary characteristics of the brunette. This people, unlike the generality of mixed colours in the human race, have been improved by their intermixture: they are more industrious and cleanly than the Spaniards, possess more intelligence and polish || than the Indians, and are less malicious and revengeful than either. The men are employed mostly as writers, || brokers, agents, and overseers; many of them hold lucrative offices under government, and they not unfrequently arrive at wealth and consideration. The women are also industrious, and capable of great intellectual improvement: they have a natural grace and ease in their manner, and make excellent wives and mothers. This character must not, however, be taken in an unlimited sense, for we cannot expect this rule to be without its exceptions; and it is true that some of these females do degenerate, and copy after the manners of the Creoles, or white natives; but this is only the case when by their intercourse with the whites, their Indian blood is merged and lost in the European. That part of the population in which is blended the blood of the Chinese and Tagalis, is named the Chinese Mis

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but irascible, and when excited are very sanguinary; their natural bias to this revengeful and cruel character is doctrines of the Roman Catholic religion, as dictated to strengthened and rendered more intense by the mistaken them by the designing and interested priests who reside among them. The culprit always finds a sanctuary in the mulct, he satisfies the demands of the priests, obtains absonearest church, till by the payment of some pecuniary lution, appeases the resentment of the relations of the deceased, and eludes the arm of justice; he grows hardened by impunity, repeats his offences, and again escapes as before."

There is a notice of the Philippine company which contains much that would be useful to commercial men, but not very entertaining to the general reader: Lieutenant White's description of the manners, customs, amusements, productions and natural history of these islands is well drawn up, for one who is not a professional author. Occasionally he indulges in fine writing, and always fails. The locusts are a great scourge here, though their ravages have of late years been checked by the exertions of Government, which pays a bounty for their destruction. Their voracity is incredible, and the young sugar canes are to them a great luxury :—

"An instance of the summary devastation occasioned by these invaders, occurred while I was in Manilla, in 1819. A Frenchman, who, from various misfortunes in trade, had lost a large property, retired with the wreck of his fortune to this island, where he farmed an extensive sugar plantation, and put it under immediate cultivation. The season was fine; the young plants had come forward, assumed every appearance of health and vigour, and clothed his grounds with the most lively verdure. These auspicious appearances excited in the bosom of the owner the most pleasing emotions, and gave birth to happy presages, and the hope of being enabled to retrieve his fallen fortunes. In this felicitous frame of mind, he was seated at the door of his cottage, with his family around him, enjoying the beauties of a fine tropical evening, which was spent in mutual congratulations on the prospects of future independence, to which their anticipations gave rise. On the following morning, the astonishment and agony of the unfortunate planter may be conceived, on finding that not a vestige of vegetation was to be discovered upon his extensive grounds: nothing was presented to his view, but a bare and melancholy expanse of brown earth. The locusts had poured down in legions upon his defenceless lands, and robbed them of their valuable burden.

"The year 1819 was peculiarly marked by the visits of these destructive insects. Their appearance is similar to that of a fall of thick snow in a calm, with the exception, however, of difference of colour, which in them is brown, and direction of motion, which is horizontal. They move in a regular phalanx, with a slow, unvarying, silent progress, watching an opportunity to pounce upon the first unprotected spot which occurs. I have passed for hours under swarms of these pests, while riding in the country, and have not unfrequently, for half an hour at a time, been sheltered from the rays of a tropical sun by bodies of them in "thick array," the air assuming the appearance of twilight, or rather that awful, silent, and impressive gloom, which is occasioned by a total eclipse of the sun. Fortunately this is not the case every year, and many years have sometimes elapsed without an invasion from the locusts. A naturalist would probably enter into an elaborate detail of their specific character, habits, &c. I can only say, that they appear to resemble externally our large flying grass

hopper; they possess, however, the advantage of poising their bodies for a great length of time upon the wing, which the grasshopper cannot do. It has never been satisfactorily ascertained from whence these insects visit the plantations, or where the reproduction of the species is effected; whether in the neighbouring continents or islands, or whether in the mountains and uninhabited parts of Luconia, or whether they emerge at once from the chrysalis state near the places where they first make their appearance. The latter hypothesis is best supported by the circumstance of their simultaneous appearance in places far distant from each other in the island, and their transition never being observed remote from the scene of their depredations. Difficulties, however, occur in this supposition; for if the larva of these insects is deposited in or near the theatre of their ravages, why do sometimes three or four years elapse without a visit from them? Again, why are not they seen at the time of emersion from the aurelia? And further, if they do not migrate, what becomes of these countless myriads, when no longer seen? Upon the whole, I conclude, with deference, that they do migrate, and travel in the night as well as in the day, of which the beforementioned case of the Frenchman is, I presume, a clear proof."

At the Manilla, Lieutenant White met with another American vessel, whose commander had the same object in view, to trade with Cochin-China. They returned in company to Canjeo, and after a deal of trouble and dispute, they succeeded in their wishes, and proceeded up the Don-nai. This is a considerable river-crowded with vessels of the country-and running through a charming country. In their course they experienced a curious natural phenomenon:

"Our ears were saluted by a variety of sounds, resembling the deep bass of an organ, accompanied by the hollow guttural chant of the bull-frog, the heavy chime of a bell, and the tones which imagination would give to an enormous Jew's harp. This combination produced a thrilling sensation on the nerves, and as we fancied, a tremulous motion in the vessel. The excitement of great curiosity was visible on every white face on board, and many were the sage speculations of the sailors on this occasion. Anxious to discover the cause of this gratuitous concert, I went into the cabin, where I found the noise, which I soon ascertained proceeded from the bottom of the vessel, increased to a full and uninterrupted chorus. The perceptions which occurred to me on this occasion were similar to those produced by the torpedo, or electric eel, which I had before felt. But whether these feelings were caused by the concussion of sound, or actual vibrations in the body of the vessel, I could neither then nor since determine. In a few moments the sounds, which had commenced near the stern of the vessel, became general throughout the whole length of the bottom.

"Our linguist informed us, that our admiration was caused by a shoal of fish of a flat oval form like a flounder, which, by a certain conformation of the mouth, possesses the power of adhesion to other objects in a wonderful degree, and that they were peculiar to the Seven Mouths. But whether the noises we heard were produced by any parti- || cular construction of the sonorific organs, or by spasmodic vibrations of the body, he was ignorant. Very shortly after leaving the basin, and entering upon the branch through which our course lay, a sensible diminution was perceived in the number of our musical fellow-voyagers, and before we had proceeded a mile, they were no more heard."

The distance from Canjeo to Saigon, was about 60 miles. They were graciously received by the governor, who dispensed in their behalf with the customary

genuflexions, Kostos, &c. which form so large a portion of Chinese etiquette. Indeed, the necessity of the case destroyed all the merit of the concession, for the sturdy spirit of the Republican sailors refused to yield an atom. in the way of obeisance. They landed and marched procession-wise through the city, by "streets strewed with every species of filth; beset by thousands of yelping mangy curs," and stunned by the vociferations of the wondering natives, whom they were obliged to repel with their canes, until they arrived at the Palace. The Viceroy received them in state, and gave them permission, after receiving many valuable presents, to carry on their trading speculations with the

nation.

Saigon is a large city, containing about 180,000 inhabitants. It is principally built of wood, the houses thatched with palm leaves or rice straw, and one story in height. The streets are regular, and some of them spacious, but all very dirty. There is a christian church here, and of the seventy thousand roman catholics in Cochin China, a considerable number reside at Saigon. The naval yard and arsenal are more than respectable, and the navy itself by no means insignificant.

The account of the barter carried on by the natives, is not generally interesting. The Saijonites appear to have been abundantly dishonest. The country is fertile in almost every species of natural production, and the climate singularly fine. Lieutenant White's descriptions are quite enthusiastic.

The commerce is not great, compared with the means of the country. The sugar is produced in less quantities than formerly, owing to the vexatious and despotic measures of the government. The king is an ambitious, cruel, and warlike tyrant.

"The royal city of Hue, which he makes his constant residence, has been the object of his greatest solicitude for more than twenty years; during which period he has lavished immense sums, and sacrificed the lives of thousands of his subjects, by keeping them at labour, without intermission, upon its ramparts. It is certainly a stupendous object, and would be esteemed so, even in Europe. It is situated upon a barred river, accessible to large vessels at high water only. It is surrounded by a ditch nine miles in circumference, and about one hundred feet broad; its walls are of brick, laid in a cement, of which sugar is a principal ingredient, and are sixty feet high; the pillars of the gates, which are of stone, are seventy feet high; over the arches, which are of the same materials, are towers from ninety to one hundred feet high, to which access is had by a handsome flight of stairs, on each side of the gateway, inside the walls. The fortress is of a quadrilateral form, and built on the plan of Strasburg in Germany. It has twenty-four bastions, each mounting thirty-six guns, and the distance between each bastion is twelve hundred Cochin Chinese perches, of fifteen feet each; the smallest guns are eighteen pounders, and the largest are sixty-eight pounders, cast in the king's own foundery. The whole number of guns to be mounted, when the works are completed, is twelve hundred. The casemates within the fort are bomb-proof.

"One hundred thousand men are constantly employed upon the works, and it will require, when finished, forty thousand troops to garrison it. It is now nearly completed.

"The king has also a fleet of gallies at Hue, and was building, in 1819, two hundred more, some of which were pierced for fourteen guns. Of this number, about fifty are schooner-rigged, and constructed partly in the European style: their sterns are completely European, while their bows are a mixture of that and the Onamese model. These people have great quickness of perception, and a disposition to acquire a knowledge of the arts and sciences, and, with the exception of their coasting craft, which are decidedly primitive, they have, under the instruction of the French, made considerable advances in naval architecture, according to European ideas; nor have they been inattentive to fortification, the art of war in general, and the manufactures connected with it. These facts prove, beyond a doubt, that there is no physical defect in them; and the annals of the country, with the testimony of travellers, show, in respect to moral characteristics, that while they were under a mild and equitable government, they were a kind, hospitable, polite, vivacious, honest, and industrious people.

"Cochin China is perhaps, of all the powers in Asia, the best adapted to maritime adventure, from her local situation in respect to other powers, from her facilities towards the production of a powerful navy to protect her commerce, from the excellency of her harbours, and from the aquatic nature of her population on the sea-board, the Onamese rivalling even the Chinese as sailors."

The sketch of the society, usages, ceremonies, superstitions, and general character of the Cochin Chinese, is very amusing. But our space will not allow us to make any further extracts. Lieutenant White succeeded in the midst of great difficulties, in procuring a cargo of sugars, and returned to Salem after an absence of one year and eight months.

Although Lieutenant White's book does not indicate any extraordinary talents for observation, yet it is very modestly got up, and cannot be read without great entertainment, and considerable instruction.

TO THE

of these, we have a short account in the Biography of the Honourable Mr. Horace Walpole, but there are others which have eluded his research, or rather that of Mr. George Vertue, from whose papers Mr. Walpole handsomely acknowledges he compiled his history. But there are amongst these presentation pictures, enough evidence of art, to lead us to wish to know something of the artists who painted them, although perhaps, the enquiry would now be fruitless.

At the upper end of the hall, are large whole_length portraits, in their state robes, of King Charles the Second, and Queen Catherine, painted by Housman.

A curious long picture of the Great Fire of 1666, painted by old Griffier, from which I think there is an engraving in Pennant's account of London.

A large sea piece by Monamy, who served his apprenticeship to a house painter residing on London Bridge, although his best pieces are said to be little inferior to Vandevelde.

Endymion and Luna, painted by Palmateer.
Orpheus flaying Pan, painted by Bruhl.

An upright composition of architecture, painted by Trevit.

A companion, presented by Mr. Thomson, the City Painter, about one hundred and twenty years ago. Query if such an appointment is now held, and whether it was similar to the office of Serjeant Painter to the crown, still existing, and once possessed by Hogarth?

A landscape composition, painted by Aggas. Heraclitus and Democritus, painted by Penn. Studies of Fish and Fowl, by Robinson. the celebrated folio edition of Esop's Fables. Studies of Birds, by Barlow, who designed an engraved Composition of Fruit and Flowers, by Everbrook. A picture of architectural ruins, by Griffier. A Magdalen's head, a cabinet picture in oil, framed and glazed with plate glass. To this piece there is attached a told me the company had been offered four hundred pounds little history, which I will endeavour to obtain. Mr. Catton for it. It is a curious piece, with a profusion of hair.

There are several portraits belonging to the company, and some other pictures, the account of which I will send to you after my next visit. One portrait I must not neglect to mention, it is of William Camden, sometime styled the British Pausanias, in the costume of Clarencieux King at Arms, who was a member of this company.

Mr. Camden gave the Painter Stainers' Company a silver

EDITOR OF THE SOMERSET HOUSE GAZETTE. cup and cover, which they use annually on St. Luke's day

SIR,

As you are so indefatigable in your researches in bringing to light curiosities in art, I as one of the subscribers to your gazette have to thank you, this part of your labour in particular having afforded me amusement and delight. With this on my mind, I offer you the following contribution, and with it my best services.

at their election; the master drinking to his successor then elected, out of it. On this cup is inscribed: Gul. Camdenos Clarenceux filius Sampsoris pictoris Londinensis dono dedit. I will not vouch for the correctness of my catalogue, as I took no notes, and have assisted my memory by a manuscript, copied from some authority more than a century old, in which however is no mention of the Magdalen.

The pictures are very yellow, from the changing of the varnish. There is a painted ceiling, and much within the building to repay the curious in these enquiries for a visit Painters' Hall. X. Y. Windsor.

In one of your works you have spoken of Painter Stainers' Hall, in Little Trinity Lane; your description of that place excited my curiosity to see it. Your account of Mr. Charles Catton's having presented Sir Joshua Rey-to nolds with the freedom of that company, on their anniversary, St. Luke, in 1784, and slightly knowing that great man, as well as Mr. Catton, and also Mr. William Sharpe, who painted the sheet of vellum, which contained the freedom, I lately whilst on a visit to London, went to Trinity Lane, and by favour of Mr. Tomlins, who received me with great politeness, obtained a sight of the collection in that interesting little hall.

Could I describe what I felt, on looking round upon the walls of this venerable hall, covered with the works of so many ingenious artists of our early school, I could furnish you with an article which I think would entirely correspond with the kind spirit of your publication. Of some

ARTISTICAL SCRAPS.

To the Editor of the Somerset House Gazette.
SIR,

You have dealt in signs so much of late, that I am wandering about old London in my sleep, and disturbed by

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