Mrs. MARCET, whose "Conversations " have long been regarded as
the best popular introductions to the science of nature, has ap- plied her peculiar faculty of explaining natural phoenomena tothe instruction of' children. Conversations on Land and Wafer ori. ginate with a party of young folks amusing themselves with mat. ing a mimic Mont Blanc in the garden, the watering-pot furnish- ing rivers and lakes : their remarks and inquiries and mamma's answers lead to a description of the appearances and progressive changes of the surface of the globe ; their miniature world serving to illustrate the causes and efficts of inequalities and varieties of soil, until the whole process of fertilizing the earth by clouds and rivers, sun and wind, is developed. The mysteries of volcanoes and earthquakes, mineral and hot springs, hurricanes and water-spouts, and less extmordinary phsenomena, such as winds and tides, and the saltness of the sea, are satisfactorily itc. counted for.
The natural way in which one part of the subject is made to lead to the other, giving the effect of a continuous discussion- the lucid and graphic distinctness of the description, and the simplicity and aptness of the illustration employed—together with the familiar and playful style, and the pertinent anec- dotes introduced, combine to render The Conversations on Lad and Miter a delightfully entertaining as well as an instructing book for the young ; nay, more, the: information so conscisely and explicitly conveyed may be edifying to many readers of mature age. If science were oftener taught in this homely and simple way, the pursuit of knowledge would be infinitely more engaging to old and young.
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