face of the cliff, about fifty yards on our left, falling, which it did with a violent crash. So soon as our first consternation had a little subsided, we removed about ten or a dozen yards farther from the edge of the cliff, and finished our dinner. On the succeeding day, June 15th, having the consul and some other friends on board, I weighed, and proceeded with the ship towards the volcano, with the intention of witnessing a night view; but in this expectation we were greatly disappointed, from the wind freshening and the weather becoming thick and hazy, and also from the volcano itself being clearly more quiescent than it was the preceding day. It seldom emitted any lightning, but occasionally as much flame as may be seen to issue from the top of a glass-house, or foundery chimney. On passing directly under the great cloud of smoke, about three or four miles distant from the volcano, the decks of the ship were covered with fine black ashes, which fell intermixed with small rain. We returned the next morning, and late on the evening of the same day, I took my leave of St. Michael's to complete my cruize. On opening the volcano clear of the N.W. part of the island, after dark on the 16th, we witnessed one or two eruptions that, had the ship been near enough, would have been awfully grand. It appeared one continued blaze of lightning; but the distance which it was at from the ship, upwards of twenty miles, prevented our seeing it with effect. Returning again towards St. Mi chael's on the 4th of July, I was obliged, by the state of the wind, to pass with the ship very close to the island, which was now pletely formed by the volcano, being nearly the height of Matlock High Tor, about eighty yards above com the sea. fectly tranquil, which circumstance determined me to land, and explore it more narrowly. At this time it was per I left the ship in one of the boats, accompanied by some of the officers. As we approached, we perceived it was still smoking in many parts, and upon our reaching the island found the surf on the beach very high. Rowing round to the lee side, with some little difficulty, by the aid of an oar, as a pole, I jumped on shore, and was followed by the other officers, We found a narrow beach of black ashes, from which the side of the island rose in general too steep to admit of our ascending; and where we could have clambered up, the mass of matter was much too hot to allow our proceeding more than a few yards in the ascent. The declivity below the surface of the sea was equally steep, having seven fathoms water, scarce the boat's length from the shore, and at the distance of twenty or thirty yards we sounded twenty-five fathoms. From walking round it, in about twelve minutes, I should judge that it was something less than a mile in circumference; but the most extraordinary part was the crater, the mouth of which, on the side facing St Michael's, was nearly level with the sea. It was filled with water, at that time boiling, and was emptying itself into the sea, by a small stream about six yards yards over, and by which I should suppose it was continually filled again at high water. This stream, close to the edge of the sea, was so hot, as only to admit the finger to be dipped suddenly in, and taken out again immediately. It appeared evident, by the formation of this part of the island, that the sea had, during the erup. tions, broke into the crater in two places, as the east side of the small stream was bounded by a precipice, a cliff between twenty and thirty feet high forming a peninsula of about the same dimensions in width, and from fifty to sixty feet long, connected with the other part of the island by a narrow ridge of cinders and lavi, as un isthmus of from forty to fifty feet in length, from which the crater rose in the form of an amphitheatre. This cliff, at two or three miles distance from the island, had the appearance of a work of art resembling a small fort or block house. The top of this we were determined, if possible, to attain; but the difficulty we had to encounter in doing so was considerable; the only way to attempt it was up the side of the isthmus, which was so steep, that the only mode by which we could effect it, was by fixing the end of an oar at the base, with the assistance of which we forced ourselves up in nearly a backward direction. Having reached the summit of the isthmus, we found another difficulty, for it was impossible to walk upon it, as the descent on the other side was immediate, and as steep as the one we had ascended; but by throwing our legs across it, as would be done on the ridge of a house, and moving our selves forward by our hands, we at length reached that part of it where it gradually widened itself, and formed the summit of the cliff, which we found to have a perfectly flat surface, of the dimensions be fore stated. Judging this to be the most con spicuous situation, we here planted the union, and left a bottle sealed up containing a small account of the origin of the island, and of our having landed upon it, and naming it Sabrina Island. Within the crater I found the complete skeleton of a guard-fish, the bones of which, being perfectly burnt, fell to pieces upon attempting to take them up; and by the account of the inhabitants on the coast of St. Michael's great numbers of fish had been destroyed during the early part of the eruption, as large quantities, probably suffocated or poisoned, were occa sionally found drifted into the small inlets or bays. The island, like other volcanic productions, is composed principally of porous substances, and ge nerally burnt to complete cinders, with occasional masses of a stone, which I should suppose to be a mixture of iron and lime-stone; but have sent you specimens to enable you to form a better judgment than you possibly can by any description of mine, of the Horticultural Society, but through the medium of extracts in the last Monthly Review (which informed me of its existence), yet, struck with your " Hints respecting the proper Mode of inuring tender Plants to our Climate," and residing in the very warmest part of England (the South Hams of Devonshire, of which I am a native), within view of an inlet of the sea, I am led to state to you some facts, that perhaps may not be wholly unworthy of notice. In October, 1795, a camellia japonica was planted here among other shrubs in the open ground; it has stood every winter since, without the smallest shelter, thrives well, and has never had a branch or leaf injured by the weather; it is now about four feet high, the size of a gooseberry bush, but has not flowered. Two plants of the fuchsia coccinea were planted about four years ago under a brick wall facing the south. At first the branches suffered by the frost, but they put forth new shoots in the spring, with much strength, and have flowered well every summer. During the last two years I was absent, but I understand, that only the extremities of the branches were injured, and they have always flowered in great perfection. Some plants of solanum pseudocapsicum, or amomum Plinii, are also under a brick wall (but not nailed against it), which have stood many years, and only a small part of the very extremities of their branches has been injured by frost. Myrtles of every kind (even the double blossomed and orange) do exceedingly well in the open ground, though the silver, from the richness of the soil, soon be comes plain. The buddlea globosa likewise stands the climate; and some of the plants are ten feet high, spread wide, and make a handsome appearance. One of them is placed in a situation open to the northeast winds, where the sun cannot shine during the short days, yet it has stood there since 1794, and never had more than the extremities of the branches hurt. About two miles from my house is the small seaport town of Salcombe, just between those two well known points, the Prawl and Bolt-head, the latter of which is in the parish whence this letter is written, a place that the sea washes on three sides. Perhaps of all spots in the British isles, Salcombe is the very first for climate and shelter. The celebrated Doctor Huxham used to call it the Montpellier of England. In 1774, a large American aloe, only twenty-eight years old, and which had always stood in the open ground, without covering, flowered there; it grew to the height of twenty-eight feet, the leaves were six inches thick and nine feet in length, and the flowers, on forty-two branches, innumerable. Several plants of the verbena triphylla are growing at Salcombe in the open ground, and are now six feet high, I have not tried any of them myself; but as I expect to be more at home in future, than for some years past, I shall not fail to add this plant to those tender shrubs already growing around me. Oranges and lemons, trained as peach trees against walls, and sheltered only with mats of straw during the winter, have been seen Alston, near Kingsbridge, ACCOUNT OF THE VICUNA. By Mr. Larrey, Physician in Chief of the Imperial Guard, one of the Inspectors General of Military Hospitals, &c. From Nicholson's Philosophical Magazine. A merchant of Cadiz, a lover of natural history, brought from Peru two young Vicunas, a male and female. He first landed them at Cadiz at the beginning of the year 180S; and toward the end of April in the same year conveyed them to Madrid. They did not appear to be inconvenienced by the change of climate, or difference of food, 4 till the weather began to get very hot. They were very badly lodged in a small, dark room, not well ventilated. In this hole I had an opportunity of seeing them, examining their figure and gait, and studying their manners and ha bits. The female, which was larger and older than the male, being about three feet high, died soon after, during a short tour I made in the neighbourhood of Madrid to inspect the hospitals. I could not learn the cause of her death; but, as the body quickly putrefied, it was thrown into the fields. On my return I hastened to visit the two strangers, but found only the male, sad, dejected, and uttering plaintive cries at the slightest touch. He ate but little, and remained constantly squatted on his four legs: but he appeared better and more lively in the cool of the evening and morning, which he seemed to seek; while in the heat of the day he was overcome, aud breathed with difficulty. Thus melancholy and unwell he passed the first week of June; and about the 15th symptoms of inflammation appeared, a few days after which he died. Foreseeing this event, I had obtained permission of the owner to dissect the animal after his death, and dispose of his skin. My first care was to remove this with due caution, that I might be able to preserve the natural shape of the animal in stuffing it: after which I proceeded to examine the visce→ ra, the articulations, and the general disposition of the muscles. On opening the abdomen I found the linea alba, or aponeurosis uniting the large muscles, was extremely strong, and much thicker than than is usually observed in other quadrupeds. The viscera of the abdomen exhibited marks of the inflammation I have mentioned. The stomachs were distended with gas, and the mucous membrane inflamed. The epidermis of the ruminating stomach had already peeled off, and the intestines were nearly in the same state. There was no urine in the bladder. The epiploons exhibited nothing but very thin membranous skins destitute of fat. The distribution and figure of the stomachs were the same as in the camel. The second was full of vesicles, from which a serous or aqueous fluid issued abundantly. The paunch and the other two stomachs did not differ in the interior form of their cavities from those of the camel. The cellular stomach was remarkable for the internal arrangement of the cells; they having apertures of communication furnished with membranous valves, which no doubt may still be discovered in the dried stomach of the animal. The last stomach is united to a portion of intestine, which may be considered as the duodenum. This was continued in another intestine of equal bulk, which, after forming an arch in the circumference of the abdomen, terminated in the left lumbar region in a cul-de-sac ; whence issued another intestinal tube, very slender and smooth, and forming ten or twelve concentric circles in the space made by the former. The circumvolutions were attached to a common mesentery. This slender intestine afterward made a thousand circumvolutions in the abdomen, terminating at length in another cæcum without an appendage like the former; whence issued a portion of intestine of considerable bulk, which, after forming two or three curves in the manner of a colon, terminated in the rectum. Thus it appears, that the vicuna has three sets of intestines, the first and third large, and the middle slender. I met with no worms in the intestines, the infinite windings and intersections of which would appear favourable to their formation. The liver, which I did not at first perceive, was found deeply concealed behind the stomach, and attached by very close membranous ligaments to the crura of the diaphragm, and to the corresponding dorsal vertebrae. It was of very small bulk, of an oval figure, flattened transversely, and exhibiting two lobules at its anterior edge. It was destitute of a gall bladder; and the bile was taken directly from the liver by a duct, that conveyed it into a portion of the duodenum. This duct and the vena portæ crossed each other. The spleen, which was likewise very small, and of a rounded form, was situate in the left lumbar re gion, contiguous to the kidney of the same side. These two organs were inclosed in one common du plicature of the peritoneum. The lungs exhibited nothing remarkable. They partook of the general inflammation, and the bronchiæ were filled with a frothy sanguineous fluid. The trachea and larynx had the same figure and organization as those of the camel. The heart, which was of a size proportional to the animal, formed almost a perfect cone; only its point, which was very acute, curve ed |