3 SEPTEMBER 1831, Page 21

An account of the origin of Steam-boats, and of their

introduc- tion and employment upon the Thames, is a brochure of no great pretensions, but which may form an agreeable companion for a Yew hours on occasion of a trip to Margate or Gravesend, on one of the subjects of its inquiry. The historical part of the work .cannot even pretend to any original research : it is probably de- rived from FAREY, or some other work of the same kind,—or per- haps immediately from M. ARAGO'S succinct and intelligent his- tory in the Annuaire, the French scientific almanac.