Star.
London, England, 1824-01-23 00:00:00

Rivingtons' Annual Register far 1822.
This bulky octavo volume of nearly .a thousand
swell-printed pages, which has been expected some time,
has at length appeared, an I forms, like its in elecessors,
a fall, faithrnl, an.l impartial record of. the lito: atuee,
politics, science, an.l at is of the period. There is a tem-
perate tone in tha politics of Rivingtoni! Annual Re-
gister, which renders it p%rticularly valuable, and a care
manifested in the collection of facts, State Papers, &c.
N‘hich entitles it to the most implicit confidenee, as a
depository of public records and events.

ARCTIC zoormov.
At a Nfeeting of the•Wetnerian Society of Edin-
burgh, on Satur,tay last, specimens of the quadrupeds
collected by Captains Parry and Franklin, and Dr. Rich.
ardson,.were exhibited, and, an account of the animals
Collected during the overland Arctic Expedition, was
read by that intrepid and intelligent fellow--traveller of
the celebrated Captain Franklin, Dr. Richardson. It
is understood that tile University of Edinburgh bas
the first selection front these- present collectislns; a pre-
ference which must .be highly gratifying to all those
who take an interest in • Scottish National Collection,
and which, we helievei •his been secured to this Uni-
iteriity, not only from the justice of compensating to'
he fbi baiting had only the second choice out of for-
int gonfalons, but also as a tribute due to the eele-.
brity of ounPiefessor of Natural Histoty, who is un-
questionably the most eminent in that branch of science
of all EtiOsh N:itnraliqf. These specimens werenot
all comprehended in tie .Memoir Lead by Dr. Richard-
son, hut he knew them all,;and very obligingly an-
swered several questions proposed to him, relative to
those animals which had been collected in the Naval
Arctic Expedition.
An account of two or three of the quadrupeds col-
lected during the overland Arctic Expedition, had been
read to the Society on a fofmer day, and Dr. Richard-
son took up the Memoir from the place where it had
been broken off. He began with the Wolverine, an ani-
mal strongly allied to the fox, wolf, and dog tribe ; he
disctisced this apparently intermingled class of animals
at considerable length, though in so low a tone of voice
tlidt ivt.e had a good.deal of difficulty, at first, in hear-
itsg-uhal he said. Amongst other things, we particu-
Ittfly troticed a circumstance which he related, tespect,,
_ltig the mode in which the Arctic dogs hunt an animal,
leglich,from its size, they may be afraid of attacking.
They aporoach it gradually and cautiously in a semi-
tittle; if the animal spew no symptoms of fear, they
pause; if, on the contrary, it appear terrified, they drive
it about till it is exhausted, when they attack it, and
easily overcome it.
. The hair of the Wolverine was dark brown, long,
and wiry ; nit the sides near to the tail, if had 3 yellow-
ish tinge. The tail was short,.aticlftitaished with lruigif
hair, the ears short. •
The next animal described by Dr. Richardson was
the rctic Fox. Of this species, three•specimens were
produced, to thew. the varieties in the colout and ap-
pearance of the fox, at.diCerent periods of the year. The
winter clothing of these animals is white; and Dr. Ri-
chardson observed that this alteration happened, not
from a change of the hair, but from a change of its
Voloilr. In winter, the soles of the feet of this animal
are covered with a thick coat of hair, which, by some Na-
turalists, stems to have been considered to be 'a saficittit,
th'iracteristie td constitute a specific difference between
die Arctic and the more southerly fox. We should,
however, regard it only as forming a variety, not a spe-
cies, in the same way as the feathery-legged Bantam
Chanticleer is only a vat iety of the naked.legged High-
lander-like common fowl.

The skins of the,e foxes form a valuable and consi-
der:olle ankle of commerce.

The next animal mentioned by Dr. Richardson was
the Mouse ; several specimens were placed on the table.
These mice are about the size of our common Hanove-
rian rat; the body loots round and far, the head is
enundisb, the snout not being pointed, as in our mice;
ght ett ate short; but the mast remarkable featute
which characterizes this mouse is its tail: this member,
so prominent and conspicuous a one in all the rat and
*route family (whether in town Or country), with which
tVe 'haft Whoa° been acquainted, is most particularly
ilitirt in the mouse of Hudson's Bay; in short, it seems
Miter to have been appointed for the purpose of chew-
ing the spot to %shich tails are *many affixed, and by
*bay Of an apology for the a'b'sence of that lengthy appen-
dage, than to have been intended for one. This mouse
misch resembles the mole; in the shape and size of the
body and tail, but not in any either particulars.
• Dr. Richardson stated, that, occasionally, very nu-
inerous bodies of these short-tailed mice were-seen tra-
velling over the ice, and darkened it in large.spots; for
what purpose, or in what direction they were rambling,
.vre did not learn; but it is probable that want•of food
occasions, such migati,ns. Similar ercurtions hive
been noticed in other places.
• The nett animal presented ,to the attention of the So--
•elety was. a species of Marmot, called Arttoinys Par-
ryii, This was
.a very, beautiful little animal, with si
body somewhat larger than that of our common squir.:
rel. The colour of the fur was a light brown, slightly.
but thickly spotted over the back with white indistinct
spots. the eyei sere lare and prominent; the head
-rather roundish. In. its stotnacii, at one period of
the year, were found the. fruit of the cranberry ; at
• anothet, the seeds of a polygoriunCs and seine other
seeds. Its cry somewhat reietithla the sound Of a
%ratchet-lan's rattle: and the Esquirmrux call it " Sic
Sic," a name formed by an attempt to convey a notion
of the sound ejaculated 'by the creature; in the same'
Way as was adopted, if we re'menther rightly, by Aris-
topliaries, in his imitation of the songs of (togs in their
xprengtide water parties—" ko-at." This ani-
mal, when alarmed, spreads out the hairs of its tail,
which is about three inches wt..
Dr. Richardson then proceeded fa the teriPits Taran-
dus, the Reindeer; and described a ereateivatiefy i'n
the growth and' shape Of the hbftSS, than we ha'd any pre-
*Vititrs itrta Of: The growth of these excrescences, in
midst animals, appearg to be regulated 'by established
lois, and the:horns, from site to son, assume the same
sfigykiitid ragbion : in this SpeCies of deer. we Were in-
't atite/ that-our travellers obseried very considerable
variations-in that extraordinary ornament. The rein-
srp well-known in this country, since Air. B-ul-
iseltristaertiosti to. proeure and exhibit them, that we
need Wet sat- any' meri about it: One particular we
Cahn& Oda, Which belongs More especially to the
science of gastronomy, though it is not yet publicly

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