re purblind; they return home and dream
of Desdemona, sing themselves to sleep with the notes of the last song,
are haunted with the odd physiognomy of Liston, and repeat the
farce-laugh till the dream is broken. Next day it is mighty pleasant to
read how many hundred people the theatre will hold, how many pounds they
all paid to get there; and how the splendid pile of Drury Lane rose on
the area of a cockpit: and how Garrick played Macbeth in a court suit,
and John Kemble enacted the sufferings of Hamlet in _powdered_
hair. Upon all these subjects the Companion is conversant, although he
does not set up for Sir Oracle, or shake his head like Burleigh. In
short, he tells of "many things," from the cart of Thespis and the Roman
theatres, with their 6,000 singers and dancers, to the companies on the
present stages.

Thus, we have the Origin of the Drama--Rise of the Drama in
England--Early English Theatres--Descriptions of all the London
Theatres--and a pleasant chapter on the Italian Opera. The Appendix
contains pithy chronologies of the dramatists and actors, bygone
and contemporary--origin of all the varieties of the drama--the
topography of the stage and scenery, costume--expenses of the
theatres--masquerades--play-bills and editions of plays, and a host
of theatrical customs. In truth, the book is as full as the tail of a
fine lobster, and will doubtless repay the time and research which its
preparation must have occupied. There is also a, frontispiece of the
fronts of the twelve London Theatres.

* * * * *

ORNITHOLOGY.

Mr. James Jennings has favoured us with a copy of his _Ornithologia;
or the Birds_, a poem; with copious _Notes;_ &c. The latter
portion is to us the most interesting, especially as it contains an
immense body of valuable research into the history and economy of birds,
in a pleasant, piquant, anecdotical style, without any of the quaintness
or crabbedness of scientific technicality. Mr. Jennings's volume is
therefore well adapted for presentation to young persons; whilst the
knowledge which it displays, entitles it to a much higher stand than a
mere book of amusement. To illustrate what we have said in its praise,
the reader will find in the _Supplement_ to the present Number, two
or three of the most attractive _Notes_ under "THE NATURALIST,"
which likewise contains _Three Engravings_ of very curious subjects
in other departments of Natural History.

*