The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-28 00:00:00

LONDON,

LITERATURE.
DROPS OF WATER. By Agnes Catlow.

A most useful and ioterestiok work to ell those
who tlke pleasure in becoming acquitinted with
the wonders of nature. It treats of "the marvellous
and beautiful inhabitants" of drops of water. It is
illustrated by several beautifully coloured plates, which
convey a good idea of the creatures they represent.
The volume belongs to Reeve and Bonham's excel-
lent set of scientific works.

THE EQUESTRIA v MANUAL. By S. C.
Wayte.

, In this work the author has undertaken the by no
means easy task of instructing theoretically an art
which can only be perfectly acquired by long practice.
He seems to be fully aware of the difficulty of the un-
dertaking ; but, although he objects to the pupil
restricting himselt entirely to the riding-school, he
adheres with professional partiality to the advan-
tages derived from the first class riding master it,
. preference to the inferior or amateur teacher. Mr.
Wayte has commenced with a somewhat long, but by
no means uninteresting, history of the horse, and of his
first adaptation to the use of man in different countries,
and the various ways in which he was ernpinyed.
There are a variety of amusing anecdotes to be found
throughout the book, of which the folloWing is a
sample :
" The Persians are great admirers of horsemanship,
at.d a bad rider affords them infinite arnusment. An
officer ofone of the English frigates having gone ashore
to visit the envoy, and being mounted on' a very spiritec.
horse and a very bad rider, caused great entertainment
to the Persian populace by his bad horsemanship. Tni-
next day the man who supplied the ship with vegetables,
who spoke a little English, met him on board and said.
' Don't be ashamed, Sir, nobody knows you bad rider.
I tell them you like all English ride well, but that time
they see you very drunk.' We were much amused at
this conception of our national character. The Persian
thought it would have been a reproach for a man of a
warlike nation not to ride well, but none for an Euro-
pean to get drunk."
Notwithstanding that the book is spun out to an
unnecessary length, whether in giving instruction or
advice to the pupil, or. in exposing the frauds and
knavery of the dealer, the attention of the reader is
never suffered to flag, and the work is worthy of the
perusal of those who take an interest in its subject,
whether for instruction or ammement.

PHYSICIAIV AND PATIENT. By Edward
Bentley, M.D., from a text by William Hooker,

M.D.

Tuis is an abridged edition of a work by W.
Hooker, in which Air. Bentley endeavours to present
to the reader, in a condensed form, the principal and
most interesting portions of Air. Hooker's more volu-
minous work, by leaving out certain chapters and ex-
tracting the most interesting portions of others, which
from their length and prolixity would prove tedious
to the general reader. A great feature in this work
is its endeavour to expose quackery, both in the
profession and with the patent medicine vendors.
Amongst others, Homeepathy comes in for its full
share of censorship, the account of the origin of
which, as given by the author, may not prove unin-
teresting :—" Hahneman, the founder of the homaya.-
thic system, was born at Meissen, in Saxony, in the
year 1775. At the age of twenty he went to Leipsic,
and while pursuing his education he supported him-
self chiefly by translating English works of medicine.
After taking his degree, instead of practising medicine,
he gained his livelihood by translating books, and
contributed to various scientific journals. In 1790
he first broached the idea which is the great principle
of his system, and which was to overturn all other
medical practice. In 1796 he published his first
paper on the subject of homcepathy ; in 1805 his first
work. He died a few years since at Paris at an
advanced age, having lived to see his system very
extensively adopted." The fourteen chapters to which
this book is confined treat respectively of the duties
of physicians, patients, and their friends, and contain
many useful directions to them all ; and the author
comments without bias on the faults of all.

HISTOIRE DE FRANCE. Par Messrs. Mon-

targis and Mageur.
A concise and instructive biscory of France, con-
taining much information in a small compass. It is
clearly written, and is furnished with notes for its
translation into English. It will thus attain the
double object of instruction in French history and
English translation, and is especially deserving of the
notice of schools.

LIGHTS and SHADES of IRELAND. By
Asenath .Nicholson.
This volume is divided into three parts :-1. Early
History ; 2. Saints, Kings, and Poets of the Early
Age 3 ; and, 3. The Famine, 1847-8-9. The account
of the sufferings of the poor in the late famine is
naournlul and full of horrors; while the cruelties
that took place in the reign of Queen Elizabeth do
not add much to her fame. There is much informa-
tion to be obtains d from it, not only of the early his-
tory of Ireland, but of its latter state and fortunes.
Its kings, chief towns, and various classes are all
described.