a building suitable for the purpose was completed in 1829. It is in the Grecian style, with an elevated Doric front, and consists, on the basement, of dwelling apartments for the sub-curator, laboratory, workshop, and two rooms occupied with antiquities, the larger of the two being devoted to such as are architectural, of which a rich store was found in excavating for the formation of the new building. These excavations were prosecuted until the foundations and former extent of those monastic buildings were traced out, of which some splendid remains still exist above ground, but the original extent of which remained a secret, till brought to light by these explorations. An account of the whole, illustrated by numerous and beautiful plates, was drawn up under the auspices of the Society by one of its members (Rev. C. Wellbeloved), and published by the Society of Antiquaries. The ground floor consists of a vestibule, library, council-room, an elegant lecture-room, opening to the right into the mineralogical room, and to the left into the geological department; these two rooms communicate with each other at the other extremity by means of the zoological room, which is fitted up with a gallery, the whole suite being well lighted from above. The upper story consists of three rooms; one for duplicate and unarranged specimens; another for antiquities and rarities, and the bones of a Whale cut up on the Holderness shore a few years ago, and which is intended to be mounted for public inspection; the third is occupied by the specimens of Comparative Anatomy, &c., belonging to James Atkinson, Esq. The stone with which the building is fronted was presented by Sir J. V. B. Johnson, Bart. On the 27th of Sept. 1830, the Society had the gratification and high honour of accommodating within its walls those distinguished scientific men who first planned the British Association; and of giving birth in their institution to that Society now so prosperous and widely extended; and which appears likely to exert so permanently beneficial an influence on British science. Three years ago the zoological room was fitted up with glass cases and a gallery, at an expense of £500, the greater part of which was raised by subscription among the members. The collections in many departments have progressively and rapidly increased. The geological room, in particular, is one of the best arranged and most convenient for reference and instruction, in the kingdom, and reflects the greatest credit on the keeper of the museum, John Phillips, Esq., professor of geology in King's College, London, whose labours have been principally instrumental in bringing it to its present state of perfection. This room contains a good collection of specimens, from almost every British stratum having organic remains, arranged according to their geological position in the earth; also an interesting collection of fossils from the Paris basin, and one equally interesting of tertiary fossils from Sicily, lately presented by the Marquis of Northampton. Among the fossils is the jaw of a Didelphis, which possesses a high value from its being one of the only five specimens known to attest the existence of genuine Mammalia at so MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. AUDACITY OF THE SPARROW HAWK, ( Accipiter nisus).—In riding, a few mornings ago, through a village in the neighbourhood of Doncaster, a Sparrow Hawk crossed the road within a few inches of my horse's head, and dashed into an adjacent farm-yard, containing large flocks of granivorous birds, and various kinds of poultry. After whisking two or three times round a hay-stack, without any apparent motive, it darted off with that elegance for which the generality of the family are characterized, and was subsequently lost to sight by the intervention of houses, hay-ricks, &c. The Fowls sounded their accustomed alarm-note, and the Pigeons evinced considerable terror at this invasion of their territory; but the motions of the bold depredator are so rapid, and at the same time so noiseless, that the trepidation is excited in a moment, and abates almost immediately the enemy is out of sight. On the same day, towards dusk, I saw a Sparrow Hawk fly off with a Robin Redbreast in his talons, in an orchard, from the opposite side of the hedge to that on which I was standing. A Hedge Dunnock and another Robin Redbreast were hopping about quite close to the scene of action, without exhibiting the slightest apparent alarm. I have noticed this in many other instances; and, whatever the degree of fear may be before a victim has been selected and secured, my observations lead me to believe that the remaining portion of the before terrified flock will remain in the immediate neighbourhood of the Hawk whilst he is enjoying his bloody repast. On one occasion, when walking with a friend, I heard the screams of an unhappy victim to the voracity of this bird; and on approaching the spot from whence it proceeded, the tyrant flew off and was soon out of sight, and was immediately followed by a flock of Redwing Thrushes-the companions of the Sparrow Hawk's prey. In this fact, doubtless, originated the popular error that some species of Hawk habitually live with Partridges.-N. W. ARRIVAL OF THE FIELDFARE THRUSH (Turdus pilaris) IN 1836.—I think Mr. Menteath ( Analyst, vol. v., p. 347) must have mistaken the Missel for the Fieldfare Thrush, a mistake, indeed, I repeatedly find to be made in my own neighbourhood. At the period mentioned (the beginning of September), the Missel Thrushes are frequently seen in flocks of thirty or more together, and their size and appearance, when on the wing, is not unlike that of the other species, though, upon being observed with attention, the peculiar note or chatter of the Fieldfare Thrush will always be found wanting. No Fieldfare Thrushes arrived last autumn upon our coast (the first they make for on their rout from Norway, &c.) before the 22nd or 23rd of October, or nearly a fortnight earlier than the average period of their appearance, which, from long observation, I have found to be between the 5th and 20th of November.-PRIDEAUX J. SELBY, Twizell House, Northumberland. THE YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS A BRITISH BIRD.-On November 25, 1836, a beautiful specimen of the Yellow-nosed Albatross (Diomedea chlororhynchus, Lath.) was observed hovering above the river Trent at Stockwith, near Gainsborough, and was shot nearly opposite the Chesterfield canal basin. Thus, according to the rule generally agreed on by Naturalists, this bird may now be included in the British fauna. There are four species of of science, we cannot but feel that it is entitled to a much larger share of support, by annual subscription, than it has hitherto received. It is open gratuitously to all strangers bearing a member's order, and to all residents accompanied by a member; but as complaints have been made as to the inconvenience of this system, admission may now be obtained by the payment of one shilling-a regulation made by way of trial. Those who can procure a member's order are still admitted without payment. About £65 was received during the year from the shilling tickets, and those who obtained admission by payment did not form a third of the strangers who visited the museum. The same arrangement is continued for the current year. DONCASTER LYCEUM. It is with much regret that we notice the undue attention paid by this Society to Politics, which we think should be wholly excluded from such institutions. Politics require no further encouragement than is most amply afforded by the newspapers and political magazines; but to excite a taste for science and literature, great and continued exertions are needed. Let us not be mistaken. We are most desirous that useful knowledge should be communicated to the people in every possible manner; and amongst these subjects politics ought to obtain a considerable share of attention. But when we see tradesmen enter a scientific and literary society solely with the view of reading a large number of newspapers for a small sum of money, to this perversion of the objects of the institution we most decidedly object. £20 per annum is spent in this ephemeral literature at the Lyceum, and some of the quarterly members* are actually desirous of increasing the number of papers. As the Society wishes to expend some portion of its funds in newspapers, Dr. Ferguson Branson facetiously moved, at one of the meetings, that one penny per annum be dedicated to this purpose, a motion which receives our hearty approval. A petition against the abuse we are noticing has been drawn up, and very numerously and respectably signed, and we suspect, that if the error is persisted in, the Society will lose many of its more influential members, who, well aware of the real interests of such an institution, will naturally feel averse to giving it their countenance and support after so gross a perversion of its rational aim and objects.-Another subject we find it our duty to expose, is the delivery of a lecture on nutrition and digestion, by Mr. J. E. Morey, Surgeon, of Doncaster, the greater part of which was copied verbatim from one of Dr. Combe's It will be remembered, that in our last report of the Lyceum, we observed that the subscription of the annual members is £1; that of the quarterly members, 10s.-EDS. VOL. VI.-NO. XIX. works. Now nothing could be more useful than to disseminate Dr. C.'s admirable views; but if Mr. Morey was desirous of enlightening the inhabitants of Doncaster and the neighbourhood by reading them a chapter from that work, surely some kind of acknowledgment was due to the author. We are willing to testify to the skill of Mr. Morey as a surgeon; but when he descends to such barefaced plagiarism, he may rest assured we shall not spare him. In fine, we wish the Lyceum every success, and whether or not our hints are acted upon, we hope they will be taken in the same kindly spirit in which they are written. CHESTER MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. The Rev. Edward Stanley, Rector of Alderley, Cheshire, recently delivered a lecture, at this Institution, on the Uses of Studying Natural History, in the Royal Hotel Assembly-room. The Rev. Gentleman, in dilating on Natural History, pointed out in the most glowing colours, and with his accustomed energetic eloquence, the vast advantages to be derived in the increase of moral and religious feeling, as well as general knowledge, from the study of this subject. The whole of his discourse was listened to with the utmost attention, and at the close the Bishop of Chester rose and thanked Mr. Stanley for his admirable and very instructive lecture.-A lecture on Geography has been delivered to the Institution by Henry Raikes, Esq., Member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The Romance of Nature, or the Flower Seasons Illustrated. By Louisa Anne Twamley. With twenty-eight Plates, engraved after original Drawings from Nature by the Author. Second Edition. London: Tilt. 1836. Beauties of the Country, or Descriptions of Rural Customs, Objects, Scenery, and the Seasons. By Thomas Miller, Author of A Day in the Woods. London: Van Voorst. 1837. WE are induced to group these two works together, not only because they have much in common (though ostensibly the one refers to specialities, and only occasionally touches on generalities, while the other refers to generalities, and rarely concerns itself with spe cialities), but because we consider the nearly simultaneous appear. ance of these and other works of a like character, evidence of what our American brethren term a “ revival,” or a return of " the heart of the nation" from the unsatisfying pursuits of war and the frivolities of fashionable life, to a taste for the pure and uncloying charms of nature and the country. Several of our poets, about the end of the last century and beginning of the present, endeavoured to give this more healthful direction to the mind; but amid the fierce contention of political strife, and the clangour and din of arms, their voice was either unheard or made but a feeble impression. Among the number of this glorious band it is enough to mention Cowper, Burns, Coleridge, and Wordsworth; the last named of whom we yet possess, and who is unquestionably the greatest poet of the present day in the sense in which Nature understands a poet, as one who ministereth continually in her temple, listening to the gentlest whisper of her voice, that, having caught, he may convey it, and interpret its deep meaning to the multitudes that stand without. To him is Miss Twamley's volume most appropriately dedicated the offering of a young and beautiful daughter to a revered and venerable sire. Fortunate it is for us that he and some others of the tuneful train perceived that "The world is too much with us; late and soon, We have given our hearts away-a sordid boon !" and earnestly do we hope that by the mild, but powerful, influence of song we may, ere too late, be enabled to "Win back our way, Our angry spirits healed and harmonized By the benignant touch of love and beauty.” We deem it not one of the least peculiar of the features attendant upon the revival above spoken of, that the voices calling upon us to return have proceeded from the strongholds, the fastnesses, the very citadels of trade, commerce and manufactures; from Sheffield, from Leeds, and from Birmingham. Out of Sheffield came the voice of Ebenezer Elliot, like the vivid flash of the lightning bursting from the lurid thunder-cloud, shewing that men whose hands were hard with daily toil, were yet possessed of hearts melting with all the genial feelings, and radiant with all the brightest attributes of humanity. Leeds, too, can boast of one "Whose soul can sicken at the tale Of sorrow springing from the sordid ore; Whose heart can feel for crippled childhood's wail, The mammon-worshipper's idolatry," |