and proves that thefe names have no other origin or principle of formation but the names of external and phyfical objects. This leads him naturally to the names of perfons and places, which, he fays, have all a fignificative value, taken from senfible objects.

He now goes back to general principles, and to the rules of the etymological art, and treats of the roots or primitive principles of language, together with the feveral branches that arise from them, and which, in common ufe, are often taken for primitives; he points out the manner of applying the art of criticifm to etymology, and lays down rules for the direction of thofe who apply themfelves to etymological researches, fhewing how they may conduct themselves from the center to the extremities, and return from the extremities to the center. He concludes his Treatife, with fketching the plan and method of forming a general vocabulary of all languages, or an univerfal nomenclature by roots. He endeavours to thew that a dictionary of this kind, far from being fo difficult a work as may appear at firft view, might be made without very great labour, and would be very ufeful for the advancement and eafy acquifition of science; and that fuch a work is neceffary, confidering the multiplicity of languages, the ftudy of which alone, without fuch affiftance, will be too much for the short period of human life.

Such is the plan and method of this Treatife, which will afford both inftruction and amufement to those who have a tafte for grammatical fubjects treated in a philofophical manner.

Obfervations fur le Commerce et fur les Arts d'une Partie de L'Europe, de l'Afie, &c. Obfervations upon the Arts and Commerce of Part of Europe, Afia, Africa, and the Eaft Indies. By Jean-Claude Flachat, Director of the Royal Manufactory at St. Chamond, Fellow of the Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres at Lyons, &c. 12mo. 2 Vols. Lyons. 1766. THE title of this work, as the Author himself acknowPedges in his preface, gives but a very imperfect idea of what is contained in it. What M. Flachat feems principally to have in view, is to point out to his countrymen the feveral branches of commerce which they may carry on to greater advantage than they have hitherto done, on the coafts of Africa and Italy, in fome parts of Germany and the North, in Turkey, and especially in Conftantinople.

THE

As he spent upwards of fifteen years in Turkey, and had fome very fingular adventures in that country, he gives a more circumftantial account of the manners of the Turks than we

remember to have any where met with. More than half of his work is employed upon this fubject; and though he enters too minutely into fome parts of it, and those not the most interesting, yet what he fays will afford no fmall entertainment to the generality of readers. His views and obfervations, with regard to commerce, appear to us, on the whole, to be judicious and pertinent; and his countrymen may derive very confiderable advantages by attending to them: nor is the usefulness of them confined to the French only; there are many hints of which the commercial part of this kingdom may avail themselves.

From his earliest years, he tells us, he had a strong paffion for travelling; and indeed, like a good citizen, he feems, thro the whole courfe of his travels, to have had the welfare of his country in view. Whatever improvements he obferved in fo' reign countries, in regard to manufactures, mechanics, &c. engaged his attention; and he gives particular defcriptions, with engravings, of fuch machines and inftruments as are curious or ufeful.

He introduces his work with fome very juft, but short reflections, upon the difadvantages which the French lie under in regard to commerce, partly arifing from the prevailing system of education, partly from national prejudices, and partly from other caufes, which he only hints at,too delicate to be enlarged upon, but eafily understood by the intelligent Reader. What he occafionally advances on this head, in the course of his work, may teach us to fet a juft value on our own fuperior advantages, and fhew us the futility of what is thrown out, upon almost every occafion, by a certain fet of men among us, in regard to the encouragement given to commerce by the French, and the danger we are in on that account.

In the courfe of his travels through the feveral cities of Italy, Germany, &c. he gives a fhort but an agreeable description of whatever is moft remarkable, and worthy of notice. His manner of writing is eafy and natural, his ftyle perfpicuous, and his work contains a confiderable fund of entertainment for almoft every clafs of Readers.

Hiftoire Naturelle, generale et particuliere, avec la Defcription du Cabinet du Roi. Tome xiv. 4to. Paris 1766.

Natural History, general and particular, with the Defcription of the King's Cabinet, &c. By Monf. de Buffon.

RESUMING that all thofe who are employed in the con

Pemplation of nature, are perfectly acquainted with the

preceeding volumes of this celebrated and truly elegant work, we fhall fay nothing of the Author's general plan, but confine

ourselves,

ourfelves, in the prefent article, entirely to the volume before us.

From the table of contents it appears, that Mr. Buffon is not the fole Author, a confiderable part having been executed by M. Daubenton. The volume opens with a differtation of no less than forty-two pages, on the different appellations of the Ape, Singe; a name which, the Author thinks, hath, with great impropriety, been generally applied to animals of very different fpecies, efpèces. We cannot proceed without obferv ing, that the word efpèces is here improperly used. Admitting finge to be a generic term, he fhould have wrote genre, or genus; for though, in common language, they are indifcriminately applied, in a fyftematic writer the diftinction is of importance.

Mr. Buffon defines the ape, finge, or fimia, to be an animal without a tail, having a flat face, with teeth, hands, fingers, and nails, resembling those of man. Of these he enumerates three fpecies, viz. the pithecos of the Greeks, or fimia of the Latins, the orang-outang, and the gibbon. The first species is the ape, commonly fo called, the fylvanus of Linnæus; the fecond the homo fylveftris, or pongo; the third is an animal fo little known as to have efcaped even the indefatigable naturalist just mentioned.

M. Buffon begins with the natural hiftory of the homo fylveftris, which, notwithstanding the opinion of other writers, he believes to be nothing more than an ape. If we were to

credit the accounts which travellers have given of this animal, it would be impoffible not to rank him among the human fpecies. Bontius, who was chief phyfician in Batavia, was fo ftruck with the actions of the fatyrus, as to declare, there was nothing human wanting but the voice: Quod meretur admirationem, fays he, vidi ego aliquot utriufque fexus erectè incedens imprimis fatyram femellam tantâ verecundia ab ignotis fibi hominibus occulentem, tum quoque faciem manibus tegentem, ubertimque lacrymantem, gemitus cientem & cæteros humanos actus exprimentem, ut nihil humani ei deeffe dicere præter loquelam. Gaffendi, on the report of Noël, a phyfician refiding in Africa, affures us, that there is in Guinea a fpecies of ape, called baris, of uncommon fagacity; that it plays upon mufical inftruments, and that fœmina in iis patiuntur menftrua, & mares mulierum funt appetentiffimi. M. Broffe, in his voyage to the coast of Angola, tells us, that the orang-outang takes great pains to carry off the fe male negroes, which he keeps as concubines. I knew, fays he, at Lowango, a female negro who had lived three years with thefe animals.' Linnæus informs us, that this animal expreffes itself by whistling; that it thinks, and believes the world created for its ufe, and that the time will come when it fhall be reftored to the government of the earth: he adds how

ever, fi fides peregrinatoribus. Our Author is of opinion, that the travellers who have related thefe ftories, must have mistaken a white negroe for the homo nocturnus; and that the real orang-outang, or pongo, is an ape of the fame fpecies with that which he particularly defcribes in this volume. The orang-outang, fays M. Buffon, which I have feen, walked conftantly upright, even in carrying a burthen. Its air was folemn, motion flow and regular, its difpofition mild, and very different from that of other apes or monkeys. A fign or a word was fufficient to influence this creature, whilft the others frequently require fevere chaftifement. I have feen this animal give its hand and conduct a perf n to the door, walking gravely as one of the company. I have feen it fit at the table, open its napkin, wipe its lips, make use of a spoon and fork, fill its glais, and ring it against that of a gentleman, fetch a cup and faucer, put fugar into it, pour out the tea, and wait till it cooled ; and all this without any other inftigation than a word or fign from its mafter, and frequently without either.-It eat almoft of every thing, but preferred ripe and dry fruits to all other food. It drank wine, but in fmall quantity, always leaving it for milk or tea, or any fweet liquor.' But these apparent indications of human fagacity are to be confidered chiefly as the effect of education. This creature was inftructed by his master. True; and fo are we instructed. May we not, with reason, doubt whether a human being, without inftruction, would appear even fo rational a creature as this homo fylveftris ? But the great difference lies here; man is inftructed by his own fpecies, but the ape by man.

The homo fylveftris, according to our Author, differs externally from a man, in his nose not being prominent, his forehead fhorter, his chin not raised at the bottom, his ears larger, his eyes too near each other, the space between his nofe and mouth too great, his thighs too fhort, his arms too long, his thumbs too fmall, the palms of his hands too long and narrow: his feet resemble our hands. Les parties de la generation du male ne font differentes de celles de l'homme, qu'en ce qu'il n'y a point de frein au prépuce; les parties de la femelle font a l'exterieur fort femblable à celles de la femme. Internally he differs from the human fpecies only in having thirteen ribs, the vertebra of the neck shorter, the pelvis narrower, the orbits of his eyes deeper, and in wanting the fpinal procefs to the firft vertebra of the neck. His kidneys are fomewhat rounder, and the ureters, bladder and gall bladder, are of a form different from thofe of a man. All the other parts of his body are fo perfectly like our own, that one cannot, fays our Author, help being aftonished, that from fuch exact conformity of parts, from an organization abfolutely the fame, there fhould not refult the fame effects. For examples

and all the organs of fpeech are alike, and yet the orang-outang does not fpeak; his brain is exactly of the fame form and proportion, and yet he does not think. Can there be a stronger proof that matter alone, however perfectly organized, can neither produce thought nor words, which are its figns, unless it be animated by a fuperior principle?'

How this celebrated naturalift could fuppofe, after the hif tory he has given of the homo fylveftris, that it does not think, is very amazing. How far Mr. Buffon may be obliged to regulate his opinions by the religion of his country, we do not know; but it feems impoffible, that a perfon fo well acquainted with animal nature should not be convinced, that not only the hemo fylveftris thinks, but that brutes in general both think and reafon; for though they may commonly act in confequence of what we are pleafed to call instinct, yet nothing can be more demonftrable, than that many of their actions are the refult of reflection, the confequence of a comparifon of ideas and as to his conclufion, that even words cannot be produced without that fuperior principle, that aura divina, he is certainly wrong upon his own principles; for parrots and other birds are taught to fpeak, though, according to our Author, they are without this fouffle divin. The truth of the matter we apprehend to be, that the diftinction between man and brute confifts entirely in the quantity or degree of the power of thinking or reafoning, in the fame manner as brutes differ from each other, in proportion as the neceffities of their fituation required, and not in any particular perflatus, or favour from our Creator, except what confifts in the more perfect formation of the brain; for if it were otherwife, how comes it that an accidental depreffion upon our reafoning organ fhould fo entirely annihilate this peculiarly divine principle, as to deprive a man of all thought and reafon in an inftant? Befides, there is evidently a much greater diftance between the apparent reafon of one brute and another, (the homo fylveftris and the oyfter, for instance) than between the firft of thefe and ourselves, Mr. Buffon was, perhaps, under a neceffity of denying thought to the brute creation, because he muft otherwife have allowed, that brutes have fouls, or that matter can think; either of which being granted, might prove rather too much. Thanks to our good fortune, that we do not live in a country where a man is obliged to facrifice his reafon to modes of prescribed saith!

We fhall now tranflate the author's account of the Gibbon, an animal of which we do not remember ever before to have met with a description. The Gibbon always walks upright, even when he moves upon four feet, his fore legs or arms, being fo

g as to reach the ground, even when he is in an erect pof

ture,