PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED, From November 23 to November 29th.

THE week has been remarkable for an irflux of publications of cha- racter and promise, such as are not common at any season, but least of all at the end of November. We have before now noticed a similar briskness at holyday-times, such as the festival of Christmas, and.at Easter : but perhaps the publishers intend to turn over a new leaf, and instead of pouring forth their wares when people are too busied in pleasure to attend, wisely resolve to take advantage of the "slack," instead of contending with a strong stream.

Books.

Memoirs of Joseph Shepherd Munden, Comedian. By his Son. Contributions to the Edinburgh Review. By FRANCIS JEFFREY, DOW one

of the Judges of the Court of Session in Scotland. In four volumes. Memoirs of Admiral the Right Honourable the Earl of St. Vincent, &c. By JEDEDIAII STEPHENS TUCKER, Esq. In two volumes.

The Life, Voyages, and Exploits of Admiral Sir Francis Drake, Knight. With numerous Original Letters from him and the Lord High Admiral to the Queen and Great Officers of State ; compiled from MSS. in the State Paper Office, British Museum, and the Archives of Madrid, never before published. By Joins BARROW, Esq.

George Selwyn and his Contemporaries; with Memoirs and Notes. By JOHN HENEAGE JESSE, Author of "Memoirs of the Court of England during the Reign of the Stuarts," Sic. Volumes III. and IV.

The Soldier of Fortune. By BERRY CURLING, Esq. In three volumes. The Light Dragoon. By the Author of "The Subaltern," &c. In two volumes.

The Grove-Digger; a Novel. By the:Author of "The Scottish Heiress." In three volumes.

The Physiology of Inflammation and the Healing Process. By BENJA- MIN TRAVERS, F.R.S., Surgeon Extraordinary to the Queen, and Sur- geon in Ordinary to H. R. R. Prince Albert.

Stories from Greek History. In a series of Tales, related to his Son, by B. G. NIEBUHR. Translated from the German.

[These tales were originally composed by the great Roman historian for the use of his son when four years old, by whom the German edition is published : and they undoubtedly form a remarkably curious, interesting, and useful work. They are curious, not only as showing the profound scholar descending to write to the capacity of a child, but writing with a distinctness, simplicity, and pie- tare-like manner, which professed authors of juvenile books might envy, and imitate if they could. They are interesting from the fulness of their knowledge and the closeness of their style: the quintessence of all that the ancient writers have said about the Argonauts, Hercules, the Heracleids, and Orestes, is pre- sented in a few pages, and presented with a homely simplicity, just as if a pa- triarch of the heroic ages were telling the tales to his family. The Stories from Greek History, or rather from Greek Mythology, are useful, not only as conveying the fullest information on the respective subjects, in a style adapled to the capacity of children, but as affording the same instruction to grown-up men. Any one who wishes to learn the mythology of the subjects we have mentioned, will learn it more completely and pleasantly here than elsewhere. The only thing to be regretted is that the work was discontinued so soon.] Magnetical Investigations. By the Rev. WILLIA3I SCORESBY, D.D. Part II. Comprising investigations concerning the laws or principles affecting the power of magnetic steel plates or bare ill combination, as well as singly, under various conditions as to mass, hardness, quality, form, &c., as also concerning the comparative powers of cast-iron. [The appearance of this volume is particularly opportune, at a time when magnetical observations are in progress on such an extensive scale under the auspices of Government. The object of the observations and experiments re- corded by Mr. SCORESBY was in a great measure practical—to determine the comparative magnetic power, and retentiveness of that power, of magnetized steel and iron, in simple bars or in an aggregate of bars. The importance of this inquiry, with a view to supply the best possible magnetic instruments for our observatories, and to furnish a test of the value of particular observations, is obvious. In another point of view, the importance of these experi- ments is no less apparent, as a means of improving ship-compasses and rendering navigation less hazardous. The range of experiments has been wide, and patiently persevered in for a tract of years. The selection for record in the present volume has been made with much judgment ; and the arrange- ment of observations and results is lucid and satisfactory. It augurs well for the progress of the science when minds like Mr. SCORESBY'S are laboriously working out such experimental details, at the same time that minds like SA- awes are arranging observations gathered from the remotest corners of the globe. The combination of such different powers and processes must lead to important results. It deserves to be remarked, that in the course of Mr. SCORESBY'S practical investigations, phnotnena are incidentally noticed Pregnant with suggestions as to the nature of the magnetic agent.] Thoughts on the Causes of Compass-Variation, and the Motions of Planets, Comets, Whirlwinds, Hurricanes, and Earthquakes. By PETER CUR.. NEIGHAM, Surgeon, It.N. [This is a very different kind of work from Mr. SCORESBY'S. It indicates great power of observation and combination ; but not of the patient, pro- tracted, snail's-pace observation, which goes to the formation of a sound theory. The author's mind is hypothetical rather than theoreticaL His

brochure is, however, worthy of the attention of more patient inquirers : there is matter in his suggestions. He places in a striking point of view phwnomena which have been neglected, and indicates inquiries which deserve to be fol- lowed up.]

Experimental Researches, Chemical and Agricultural, showing Carbon to be a compound body, made by plants, and decomposed by putrefaction. By ROBERT RIGG, F.R.S. [The object of the experiments narrated in this volume, and the arguments by which they are accompanied, is to show that carbon is not a simple but a com- pound body ; and produced to a considerable extent in the plants themselves, instead of being derived from carbonic acid supplied to them. Supposing this theory of Mr. Rtoo's to be established, the principles it contains are not only important as principles, but in their consequence ; for chemical science must undergo a change, and many received axioms or discoveries will be overturned. If carbon is a compound body, it is pretty certain that many of the other elements of chemistry are compound too : if plants possess the power of generating carbon, it is more than probable that they have the power of pro- ducing other elements ; and there can be small doubt but that animals possess it also : in which case, LIEBIG'S views, and those of his followers, would go for little or nothing, their base being altogether false.

To go through all the experiments narrated in Mr. Rico's book, may be necessary to establish any soundness in his views ; but such labour would not be needed to show their fallacy, for any detected error might suffice to throw a doubt upon the whole. Into this course we cannot be expected to enter ; for any experiment would be a work of time, and those derived from the practice of agriculture would involve the observation and experiment of years. Those who may feel inclined to investigate the subject for themselves, will find Mr. Rico's style clear and his expositions ingenious.]

On Superstitions connected with the History and Practice of Medicine cued Surgery. By THOMAS JOSEPH PETTIGREW, F.R.S., F.S.A., Surgeon to H. R. H. the Dutchess of Kent, &c.

[A. very agreeable book, the gossip of learning and medical science. Alchemy, astrology, talismans, amulets, charms, royal touching for the evil, and the more worthy subject of the influence of the mind upon tbe body, are among the topics handled by Mr. PETTIGREW; who exhibits in a small compass the results of a great deal of reading; though his treatment of his subjects is sometimes rather superficial than profound—more amusing than instructive.] Records of Scenery, and other Poems. By the Honourable JULIA AUGUSTA MAYNARD.

[The poems in this volume are of two classes ; one consisting of lofty or heroic subjects as "Napoleon," the other of more simple or domestic themes. The latter kind are amiable in sentiment and easy in versification, but scarcely rise to poetry : the grander subjects have more sound, but they are mere reflections of other poets, and not always judicious imitations. "Trafalgar" reminds one of " Hohenlinden "; with this incongruity, that some of the warlike images are military, not naval.] The Domestic Hearth, and other Poems. By ISABELLA CAULTON. [A series of miscellaneous poems, arranged in classes according to the general subject of each. The principal division, and that which gives its title to the volume, consists of family incidents and topics from domestic life ; and several poems in the othcr classes are on similar themes.] A flat to the Wild West; or a Sketch of the Emerald Isle, Picturesque and Political, during the past Autumn. By an English Traveller. [Less than thirty pages of letterpress, and what is really to the purpose might have been presented in about half that quantity. The best parts of the brochure are an account of a visit to a monster-meeting, and the writer's testimony to the general expectation of getting Repeal, entertained by the lower classes. Neither of these points, however, possess any novelty.]

ILLUSTRATED WORKS AND PRINTS.

The Prism of Imagination. By the Baroness de CALABRELLA. The Illustrations to the Tales by HENRY WARREN; the Borden and Ornamental Titles by OWEN JONES, Architect.

[This is beyond question the most superbly embellished gift -book of the season : its exterior is resplendent with yellow and gold, and its illuminated pages are a perfect "paradise of dainty devices." The five little tales, of which as literature consists, are printed in the most beautiful style of typography on vellum-looking paper, each page surrounded with an arabesque border in gold or colour : no two leaves are ornamented alike ; the title and initial pages of each tale are adorned with emblazonry, fanciful in device, and sumptuous in enrich- ment; and the narratives are illustrated by lithographic designs in neutral. tint. The title of " Prism " is appropriate only as applied to the effect of the dazzling hues on the eye, for the mind is not excited in a proportionate degree by the contents of the pages: the casket is refulgent with gems of decorative art, but it contains no treasures from the mines of thought or the realms of fancy. The tales belong to the lightest kind of Annual literature : they arena only brief and filmy in texture, but devoid of character, originality, or point; being composed of commonplace incidents, narrated smoothly, but with no great skill, and eliciting the mint obvious reflections. The want of substance and brilliancy in the matter and style of the writing, is more apparent by contrast with the prodigality of the decorations. The elegant taste and fertile invention of Mr. OWEN JONES are conspicuous in the illuminated arabesques ; and to him also belongs the credit of print- ing them in gold and colours so splendidly. Mr. WARREN'S designs are grace- ful, though tinctured with French mannerism; but they are not so expressive as could be desired, and the coarse charcoal tints of the lithography appear to great disadvantage beside the bright hues and gilding of the borders : indeed, these two kinds of embellishment do not at all accord.]

Old England; a Pictorial Museum of Regal, Ecclesiastical, Baronial, Municipal, and Popular Antiquities. By CHARLES KNIGHT. Part I. [This appears to be a collection of the wood-engravings in the Pictorial His- tory of .1..ngland, and perhaps in other works published by the same firm, with new letterpress sufficient to explain what the several objects are—the pictures without the bulky text, for those to whom amusement is the main object. The engravings are various, clear, and often effective. To each part is to be prefixed a wood-engraving printed in colours, by a process for which Mr. CHAIM= KNIGHT has taken out a patent. In this new method, the separate colours use printed without shifting the sheet of paper. The specimen before us, a print of the coronation-chair at Westminster Abbey, resembles a free and roughish water-colour drawing. Its defects are, a deadish opaque quality, especially in the shadows; and some want of exactness in placing the colours, which may perhaps be mended as the printer acquires expertness by practice.]

ALMANACKS.

The British Almanack of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know- ledge, for the year of our Lord 1844.

The Companion to the Almanack ; or Fear-Book of General Information, for 1844.

[These publications are so well known that they scarcely need a remark; bat we may observe that the Companion contains even a greater selection of cur- rent topics than usual, in the analysis of the Population Returns, of the Re- gistrar-General's Report, and the various information connected with the Chinon quarrel and the Chinese trade. But the crack article of the book is Professor DE MorroAres, on Arithmetical Computation. The object of the paper is to form "habits which will both shorten the work and alleviate the pain" of computation. Besides the masterly survey of arithmetic, and the directions for self-training, the paper contains a brief history of arithmetical literature, some account of our national character for computing, past and present, and a sketch of the principles on which a habit of ready com- putation must rest. And this, strange to say, is based upon the practice of dancingrnasters and drill-sergeants,-especially the drill, which the Professor of Mathematics has evidently watched with a critical eye. This gives a peculiar character to the article, somewhat resembling the effects of Colonel THOMPSON'S quaintness. But, though this is a great merit in point of execution, the value of the work will be found in the soundness of its rules, displaying the Professor of Mathematics, and in the sagacity which pervades the directions, exhibiting something better than mathematics-sound sense. The root of the whole is, that there is no royal road to ready-reckoning ; and those who have fancied other- wise had better take the axiom upon trust, and save themselves the trouble of finding it out by experiment.]