the ancient Dibio, Divio, Dicionense Castrum), a town of France, formerly the capital of the duchy of Burgundy, now of the department of Côte d'Or, and of an arrondissement of its own name. This town is of considerable antiquity, and is said by some to have been in existence previous to the Roman Conquest; but if so, it must have been a place of small importance. The more common opinion is, that it was founded by Marcus Aurelius, by whom it was also surrounded with walls, flanked with towers. It was considerably enlarged and improved by Aurelian about 274. It seems to have been, probably about this time, important for its manufactures of iron, from an inscription found here which speaks of the inhabitants as, "Fabri Ferrarii Dicionenses." Dijon, if not the capital, was at least one of the principal towns of the first kingdom of Burgundy. It was destroyed by fire in 1137, but rebuilt twenty years afterwards; and from 1179 to the death of Charles the Rash it was the ordinary residence of the dukes of Burgundy.

Dijon is situated in a pleasant and fertile plain at the foot of the Côte d'Or mountains, 105 miles N. of Lyons, and 160 S.E. of Paris; in 47° 19'. 25". N. Lat., and 6° 2'. 5". E. Long. It is surrounded by ramparts planted with trees, and has five gates. Outside the walls are avenues, parks, and other agreeable promenades. Its southern walls are washed by the Ouche; and the small stream of Suzon traverses it from N. to S. by a channel under the streets, and contributes greatly to the cleanliness for which this town is remarkable. Dijon is generally well built, the streets are wide and well paved, and the houses neat and built of freestone. It contains many remarkable buildings, some of them of great antiquity. The present cathedral, dedicated to St Benigne, was rebuilt in 1271, the previous edifice having been founded in the fifth century. It is a fine specimen of the Gothic style, contains some handsome monuments, and is surmounted by a light and elegant wooden spire 330 feet in height. The church of Notre Dame is a singularly fine specimen of the purest Gothic, and is remarkable for the boldness of its construction. The portal of the church of St Michael is composed of three circular arches, with a very fine frieze above. Many of the ancient churches have been converted into stables, warehouses, &c. That of St Etienne is now used as a covered market, and St Philibert as cavalry barracks; some of these, however, are still worthy of notice for their architecture, as St Jean, which is remarkable for the span of its roof. The palace of the dukes of Burgundy has had its principal front modernized, but otherwise it still retains most of its ancient features. It is now used as public offices, and a portion of it is allotted to an extensive museum. It is surmounted by lofty towers, now used as an observatory. The castle, commenced by Louis XI., and finished by Louis XII. in 1513, became in the eighteenth century a state prison, in which the duchess of Maine, Mirabeau, and others were confined; and now serves as a barracks for the gens-d'armes. Dijon is the seat of a bishop, a royal court, tribunals of primary instance and commerce, and of a university and academy, having faculties of law, science, and literature; and has a special school of the fine arts, a royal college, a primary normal school, a seminary, a royal academy of sciences and belles-lettres, a botanic garden, agricultural society, and a public library of upwards of 40,000 vols. It has manufactures of woollen, linen, and cotton goods, hats, leather, soap, vinegar, mustard, starch, and brandy; but its principal dependence is on the wine trade, being the chief depot and market for the sale of Burgundy. Dijon has produced a number of cele- he appear to have ever followed any branch of the practice of physic. In botany he was strictly a practical observer, having addicted himself but little to the principles of classification, and not at all to the physiology of vegetables. Some branches of zoology occasionally engaged him, which in their native situations can hardly escape an assiduous collector of plants, so closely are these studies, especially that of insects and the lower tribes of animated beings, connected with botany. Dillenius, whilst at Giessen, wrote several papers for the *Ephemerides Naturae Curiosorum*, on American plants naturalized in Europe, on coffee, on opium obtained from poppies in Germany, with some minute critical remarks on *Spergula pentandra*, as well as on various cryptogamous plants. He published also a paper on leeches, and on two species of *papilio*. He printed at Giessen in 1719 his *Catalogus Plantarum sponte circa Gissam nascentium*, a valuable little octavo volume, with figures drawn and engraved by his own hand, of the parts of fructification, particularly designed to illustrate the generic characters of plants previously not well arranged or understood. In this work he established many new genera, which have for the most part kept their ground. His great merit as a general botanist consisted in a constant attention to the only sound principle of scientific botany, the discrimination of *genera* by the parts of the flower and fruit. This principle, first proposed by the great Conrad Gesner, Dillenius applied to practice, with a severer judgment and closer attention than perhaps any other person from Gesner to Linnæus. The little book in question is arranged most inconveniently according to the times of the plants flowering. In the preface, however, he enters into the subject of classification, a subject to which young botanists are generally prone, but of which they as generally, after having embroiled it, take their leave, in proportion as they acquire more practical knowledge. Dillenius so far displayed his judgment, that he rather showed the faults of the systems of Tournefort, Knaut, and Rivières, than offered anything of his own. This led him into some controversies, from which he soon disengaged himself, and never subsequently took up the question at all.

The great William Sherard, while returning in 1718 from Smyrna through Germany, met with Dillenius, whose scientific merit could not have escaped so eminent a botanist. He brought him to England in 1721, and excited him to publish, in 1724, that valuable enlarged edition of Ray's *Synopsis* of British plants, which has ever since been in general use, and which the editor enriched with engravings of his own. In this publication, compared with the *Catalogus* of the plants of Giessen above mentioned, we cannot but perceive the difference between an author working upon his own original materials, and the commentator or illustrator of the labours of another. Though Dillenius made numerous and correct additions to Ray's work, in the cryptogamic tribes at least, he rather confused than improved the other parts of the book, especially with regard to synonyms, in which department he was never supremely accurate.

In 1732, Dillenius published his magnificent *Hortus Elthamensis*, in two volumes folio, containing 324 plates, engraved on pewter, with his own hand. Their merit consists in their very great precision and fidelity. The descriptions, and historical as well as botanical remarks, render this a classical book in botany. Its style is good, and the whole performance is worthy of the author, and of his eminent patron, whose brother, Dr James Sherard, was the owner of the garden at Eltham, which furnished the rich materials of this publication. Before this book appeared, its author was established at Oxford, in the new professorship founded there by the will of William Sherard, who died in August 1728, and who left £3000 for the purpose, besides his own library, manuscripts, and ample herbarium.