Lapland. Neither are we prepared to assert, that the forests of that country are never fired by lightning; and, in the case already quoted, the conflagration may have been caused by a bone fide discharge of the electrical fluid: But Linnæus seems not to have been aware, that the Laplanders frequently set fire to the woods, to prevent the timber from being used for the operations of mining. If they know of the existence of any metallic ore, they also studiously conceal it, that they may not be subjected to the toil of working it, to gratify the cupidity of the Swedish colonists, who pay them very ill for their labours. Högström states this fact in the strongest terms; and adds, that a Laplander having discovered a rich mine of silver, every family of the district gave him a rein-deer, on the express condition, that he would not reveal the secret to the strangers.

Taking these circumstances, then, into consideration, as well as the low state of geological science at the period when Linnæus made his observations, and his decided predilection for Botany and Zoology, we can be at no loss to account for his very crude and imperfect indications of the nature of the soil, and of its mineral productions. In the mere catalogue, however, of specimens collected in the Lapland Tour, which is set forth not without some air of parade, we had looked for a more varied and precise list than that of thirteen articles, including four varieties of real or supposed alum (for one of them has no taste), two of silver ore, various alpine micaceous stones, marl, quartz, sandstone, containing three per cent. of iron, black slate, petrified cords, and iridescent fluors. In a country whose surface is so much broken by hills and water-courses, as that of Lapland, ample stores of mineral riches may, probably, one day reward the searches of the curious; but the mining art can never be practised on an extensive and profitable scale, till regular communications be established, and the inhabitar is treated with justice and humanity. Accurate observations and trials, also, should be instituted, before much expense be incurred in the excavation of the soil, or the erection of machinery; and sober calculations should be made of the number of workable days, and the quantity of attainable fuel.

In a geological point of view, we have scarcely patience to dwell for a moment on the very loose and undefined intimations which are scattered at random through the Journal. If granite, of all different kinds existing in the world, abounds every where in the forests, why not describe a few of the more rare and beautiful varieties? What scientific ideas can we possibly attach to such expressions as large red stones; a stone which appears to be of a very compound kind; mixed spar, which composes a mountain; stones all of a fossile kind; a curious stone or radiated fluor, composed of square parts; a curious iron ore; a curious kind of limestone, &c. &c.?

Various mineral springs are pointed out, in different parts of the country; and most of them, we presume, impregnated with iron, because an ochreous appearance and filmy surface are more than once mentioned. In other instances, however, we are yet in total darkness respecting their ingredients and properties. Of that, for example, near Swartlär, we are very ingenuously told, that whatever may be its qualities, nobody has yet made any inquiries concerning them.' Of the best which our traveller met with in the north, and which is situated on the south-west side of Tornea, we should have been glad of a little more details; but we are dismissed from the salutary fountain with the laconic information, that its water is not ill-tasted; and that it comes out, soiled, as it were, from the earth, and covered with scum. The taste of the mineral water at Ulaborg also seemed good. All these streams, however, are not to be tasted with impunity; for a gouty Dean had chalk-stones formed by tampering with the Lulean spring; and, by drinking of one of the sources at Röbäck, several persons have lost their lives.'

The enumeration and description of the various species of vegetables with which we are here presented, are far more ample and satisfactory: but our botanical readers, to whom alone they can prove acceptable, require not to be told, that they appear to far greater advantage in the Flora Lapponica, of which an excellent edition was published, not many years ago, by the learned editor of the present work. We may be permitted, however, in passing, to express our agreeable surprise at meeting with the vernal anemone, herb Paris, hops, truffles, and tobacco, in such northern latitudes, and to exhibit the following sample of Westbothnian horticulture.

"In the garden the Governor showed me (May 24,) the garden orache, sallad, and red cabbage, which last thrives very well, though the white will not come to perfection here; also garden cresses, winter cresses (Erysimum barbarea, ß. Fl. Sues.) scurvy-grass, chamomile, spinach, onions, leeks, chives, cucumbers, columbines, carnations, sweetwilliams, gooseberries, currants, the barberry, elder, guelder-rose and lilac.-Potatoes here are not larger than poppyheads. Tobacco, managed with the greatest care, and when the season is remarkably favourable, sometimes perfects seed. Dwarf French beans thrive pretty well; but the climbing kinds never succeed. Broad beans come to perfection; but peas, though they form pods, never ripen. Roses, apples, pears, plums, hardly grow at all, though cultivated with the greatest attention. The garden, however, affords good radishes, mustard, and horse-radish, and especially leeks, chives, winter-cresses, columbines, goose-tongue (Achillea ptarmica), rose-campion (Agrostemma coronaria), scurvy-grass, currants, gooseberries, barberries, wild rose, and lovage (Ligusticum levisticum), though scarcely cherries, apples, or plums."

Some sensible observations occur on the pasture grounds of Lycksele Lapland; and the author betrays an amiable and patriotic anxiety in searching for means to prevent the recurrence of rushy plants and mosses where the soil has been reclaimed by draining. Had he lived in the present times, he would have probably recommended a dose of the curious limestone. The colonists settled in Lapmark sow a great deal of turnip seed, which frequently succeeds. So fond are the native Laplanders of this root, that they will often give a cheese in exchange for a turnip; 'than which, as the sage writer of the Journal very profoundly observes, nothing can be more foolish.'

If we next turn our attention to the zoological items of this curious medley, the Rein-deer, as might be expected, will be found to be the most prominent object. The numerous detached notices concerning its history and economical uses, would, if strung together, compose a moderately sized pamphlet; but they are of too multifarious a complexion to be reduced into a convenient abstract; and we pass them over in silence with the less reluctance, because their amount is already very agreeably detailed in the fourth volume of the Amanitates Academica. In this place, therefore, we shall merely beg leave to observe, that the clattering noise of the hoofs is differently explained in two different passages; that the circumstance of this herbivorous animal feeding on frogs, snakes, and lemmings, is nearly as extraordinary as the disgusting mode of mutilating the bucks in the mountainous districts of the country; and that a single wolf will sometimes kill twenty or thirty deer at a time; whereas the bear can scarcely catch one of them, unless it comes on it unawares.

"Hunting the bear is often undertaken by a single man, who, having discovered the retreat of the animal, takes his dog along with him, and advances towards the spot. The jaws of the dog are tied round with a cord, to prevent his barking; and the man holds the other end of this cord in his hand. As soon as the dog smells the bear, he begins to show signs of uneasiness, and by dragging at the cord informs his master that the object of his pursuit is at no great distance. When the Laplander by this means discovers on which side the bear is stationed, he advances in such a direction that the wind may blow from the bear to him, and not the contrary; for otherwise the animal would, by the scent, be aware of his approach, though not able to see an enemy at any considerable distance, being half blinded by the sunshine. When he has gradually advanced to within gunshot of the bear, he fires upon him: and this is the more easily accomplished in autumn, as the bear is then more fearless, and is continually prowling about for berries of different kinds, on which he feeds at that season of the year. Should the man chance to miss his aim, the furious beast will directly turn upon him in a rage, and the little Laplander is obliged to

take to his heels with all possible speed, leaving his knapsack behind him on the spot. The bear coming up with this, seizes upon it, biting and tearing it into a thousand pieces. While he is thus venting his fury, and bestowing all his attention upon the knapsack, the Laplander takes the opportunity of loading his gun, and firing a second time: when he is generally sure of hitting the mark: and the bear either falls upon the spot, or runs away."

Baron Grundell showed the author skins of blue and black foxes; and mentioned, that he had sent to the King of Sweden a live Farf or Glutton; and that he once had another of the same species so much domesticated, that when he would have turned it into the water it would not leave him, nor would it feed on any kind of live fish. Linnæus asserts, without quoting his authority, that it never meddles with the rein-deer; by which he alludes, we presume, to the tame flocks near dwellings; for Thrascheninnikow, if we rightly recollect, in his description of Kamtschatka, positively states, that, to compensate for the slowness of its motions in the pursuit of prey, it lurks in the branches of trees, to surprise the horse, elk or rein-deer that may accidentally come within its reach; and that it darts on them from its hiding-place with unerring certainty, fixing itself between the shoulders with its teeth and claws, maintaining its position, and sucking the blood of its enraged victim, till the latter falls down, exhausted with pain and fatigue. The same author, we believe, alludes to the stratagem to which it has been known to have recourse, in order to allure the rein-deer, namely, by throwing down some of that animal's beloved moss, so as to divert its attention. But the accounts of the Glutton's eating till its skin is ready to give way, and of its being obliged to unload itself, by squeezing its body between two trees, are quite fabulous, and might with more plausibility be referred to some Roman emperor or city corporation. Tho the Glutton has his name from his voracity, his appetite, it should seem, is not always of that insatiable nature which has been ascribed to him. The individual, indeed, which was kept at Dresden, would easily despatch thirteen pounds of flesh in a day; but that which Buffon possessed, though it fed with great greediness, consumed only four pounds; and another, belonging to the Hudson's-Bay Company, was usually satisfied with the ordinary allowance of a mastiff dog. In fact, the more closely that we investigate the history of any species of animal, the greater diversities, both of physical and intellectual temperament, we shall probably find to obtain among the individuals of which that species is composed. Gmelin, we believe, is solitary in the opinion that this animal inhabits the warmer regions of the globe, equally with the latitudes of the North. But, even the weight of his name is in

sufficient to establish such a curious fact, unless it can be proved by the distinct and respectable testimony of some ocular witness. We could have wished to have offered some remarks on the Lemming, and other native quadrupeds of Lapland, which the author sometimes deigns to describe by characteristic definitions; but few of which he recommends to our attention, by noting their peculiarities of physiology or disposition. His observations on the common seal, appended to the Journal, are less exceptionable in this point of view; but they are not free from inaccuracy; and the subject readily admits of more varied and entertaining illustration. We have searched in vain for any specific account of the breed of Lapland dogs; of which, Regnard informs us, that they are trained to rock the children in the cradle; an office which they are said to perform with great gentleness and attention.

As our limits, however, unavoidably compel us to quicken our critical pace, we hasten to observe, that the list of the feathered tribe which the most diligent scrutiny could extract from these pages, is far from numerous, especially when we reflect on the multitudes which resort to the lakes and marshy grounds of the northern latitudes, for the important purpose of breeding. Frequent mention is made of the cock of the wood and the ptarmigan; and we meet with the names of black-grous, snipe, swan, crane, ruff and reeve, sandpiper, ringed plover, wild and tufted duck, black-throated diver, gull, goosander, razorbill, little-eared grebe, common and eagle owl, crow, sprike, cuckoo, thrush, water-wagtail, cross-bill, yellow and snow bunting, mountain finch, thrush, &c. The wheat-ear and ortolan started on us rather by surprise. Some swallows were observed in a fen, on the 24th of May; but the species is not particularized; nor do we find the most distant allusion to the very pointed assertion of Regnard, that swallows are often taken by the fishermen from beneath the ice of the lakes and rivers, and completely revived by the application of a due degree of heat.

The catalogue of fishes is still less copious than that of birds. Pike, perch, salmon and charr, appear to be very abundant ; but the sey, swordfish, grayling, lamprey, gwiniad, and some of the smaller Cyprini, are also incidentally noticed.

The insects, and more imperfect animals need not for a moment detain us; for such of them as were deemed rare or curious by the Journalist, are now much better known, and have been more skilfully delineated by our recent entomologists.

From the very loose and ambiguous manner in which the author's observations on the Laplanders are scattered over his pages, we cannot always determine whether they were meant to apply to the whole population of Swedish Lapland, or only to the inhabitants of particular districts or provinces. Of seventy thou