[291]. [The following Letter probably alludes to the Association for promoting the Discovery of the interior parts of Africa, of which Sir John Sinclair was the presiding genius. “The result of their labours,” says Hugh Murray, in his Account of African Discoveries, “has thrown new lustre on the British name, and widely extended the boundaries of human knowledge.”—Ed.]
[292]. [Buonaparte’s Bulletin.—Ed.]
[293]. [Sir John Sinclair, the celebrated author of the History of the Public Revenue, the Statistical Account of Scotland, and many useful agricultural and other works.—Ed.]
[294]. [Dr. Parr’s noted Latin Preface to his edition of Bellendenus de Statu. T. De Quincey, in his famous dissection of Dr. Parr and his writings, beseeches the “gentle reader” of Bellendenus to pronounce the penultimate syllable short, and not long, as is usually done.—Ed.]
[295]. [I.e., from Bob Adair, a dull fool, to Nicholl [Nicholls], a wretched goose.—Ed.]
[296]. [Sir Geo. Aug. Wm. Shuckburgh, M.P., F.R.S., author of papers in the Phil. Trans.—Ed.]
[297]. [Sir John Sinclair.—Ed.]
[298]. [The following are Dr. Darwin’s instructions for the transportation of Ice Islands:—
“There, Nymphs! alight, array your dazzling powers,
With sudden march alarm the torpid hours;