le of Lovell; Lord Leicester not having then
been promoted to the earldom. Mr. Coke, with a becoming respect for the
valuable collection of his ancestors, was desirous to have the
manuscripts unfolded, bound, and arranged, both with a view to their
preservation and to the facility of consulting them. They had lain for
half a century neglected, and in part verging towards decay, when he
engaged his valued friend, William Roscoe, to undertake the labour so
congenial to his taste and habits, of securing these treasures from the
ravages of time. From the great number of the manuscripts, the state in
which many of them were, and the distance of Mr. Roscoe's residence,
this was necessarily a work of time. After above ten years employed on
it, the task is now finished. Each work is beautifully and classically
bound; and to each Mr. Roscoe has prefixed, in his own fair hand
writing, a short account of the particular manuscript, with the
bibliographical learning appertaining to it.--_Library of Useful
Knowledge_.

* * * * *

PHRENOLOGY.

Mr. Crook, of the Phrenological Society, has just published a
"Compendium of Phrenology," which cannot fail to be acceptable to the
ingenious inquirers after that very ingenious science. It is a lucid
little arrangement of principles, and will materially assist them; but,
for our part, we confess we would sooner take the public opinion of the
contents of our cranium than that of a whole society of phrenologists;
and if our head be as full as our sheet, we shall be content. But,
joking apart, the little synopsis before us cannot be too highly
recommended; and by way of hint to some friends who send us witty
articles for "the Gatherer," we take the following:--

"Wit. _Primitive Power._ Perception of the disjunction or incongruity of
ideas; the analytical faculty. _Uses_: Separation of compound or general
ideas into those that are elementary or more simple; knowledge of
characteristic differences and discrepance. _Abuses_: A disposition to
jest or ridicule; irony, sarcasm, and satire, without respect to truth,
or the circumstances of person, place, or time. _Organ_, on the other
side of Causality.

"It is not the definition of Wit, but the function of a particular
portion of the brain at which I aim. Dr. Spurzheim, in some of his
works, calls the faculty connected with this organ, 'the feeling of the
ludicrous;' in his later ones, 'Gayness,' and 'Mirthfulne