b o o k t h e ihperintendence of thecollege and phy f i c garden .T h e king
. —v j of .Poland has eilabliihed in this place a Royal Academy of
-Phyiicki for Lithuania, in which ten ftudents are inftrudted in
phy fick, and twenty in furgery. They.are all lodged, boarded,
and taught at his majefty’s expence.: an inftitution that reflects
the higheft honour-upon the king, and which has
greatly flouriihed under the royal patronage and protection.
The phyiic garden, which did not exift in 17 76 , made,
when I pailed through the town in 17 78, a very refpedtable
appearance; which was entirely owing to Mr. Gillibert’s
attention and care. -It contained ¡1500 exotics, amongil
which were ieveral delicate American plants Town in the
open air, and which thrived remarkably well in this climate.
Mr. Gillibert told me, that he had difcovered 200 fpecies of
plants, in Lithuania, which were only thought indigenous in
Siberia, Tartary, and Sweden.; and that in the whole duchy
he had obferved 980 fpecies, excluiive of the forts common
rto moft countries in Europe.
Mr.Grillihert had -lately formed a fmall collection, chiefly
-coniifting of the productions of Lithuania; and was employed
in arranging materials- for a natural hiftory of this
duchy: he propofes to begin his publications upon that
fubjedt with a Flora Lithuanica; which will he fucceflively
followed by an account of the mineralogy, infedts, quadrupeds,
and birds. Coniidering the infant Hate of natural
knowledge ,jn this country, the delign will require great
length of time and perfeverance before it is completed ; but
•there is nothing which aflxduity and attention will not effedh
The animals roving in the boundlefs forefts of Lithuania
-are the hear, the wolf, the elk, the wild-ox, the lynx, the
heaver, the glouton, the wild-cat, &c.
At Grodno I had an opportunity of feeing a female of the C^ P-
wild-ox, probably the fame quadruped which is defcribed by -— ,— 1
Ariftotle under the name of Bonafus, ftyled Ur us in the
Commentaries of Caefar, and called Bifon by fome naturalifts. ■
That which fell under my obiervation was not full grown,
about the fize of-a common Englilh eow, ihaped like a buffalo,
but without, the. protuberance over its fhoulders : its
neck was high and thick, and covered with long , hair, or
mane, which fringed down the throat and breaft, and hung
almoft to the ground,. fomewhat refembling ..that of an old
lion ; the. forehead was narrow, with two horns turning inwards'*,
and the tongue of-a bluiih colour. The male, as-'
we were informed, is fometimes. fix- feet in height, and is •
more fierce and ihaggy than the female.-
Linnaeus has clafled the Bonafus, the Urns, and the Bifon’
(probably the fame animal with different names) under three
fpecies; Buffon reduces them to two, the Urus and the ■
Bifon-, and Pennant has comprifed them all under, one .fpecies
t. His opinion has been lately adopted by Pallas, in a very
curious differtation publilhed- in the Acts .of the Imperial
Academy of. Sciences of St. Peteriburgli. That celebrated *
naturalift informs us, that this fpecies of the-wild-ox,-which
was formerly very common -in Europe, .exifts no where in »
that continent, but in thefe Lithuanian forefts, in fome parts
of the Carpathian mountains, and perhaps in- the Caucafus. -
* Ariftotle defcribes the' horns o f ‘ the * and cannot be admitted as forming a ipe-
Bonaftis as xcJta/Au<*§05 aVttjAa, ' cific difference. See Ai'ift.. Hift. Anim. L.
“ crooked and bending towards-each other.” ' IX. c. 4.5. alio Camus Hift. des Aoimaux,
A •circumftatice■ which feems- to have puz- cited in 'M aty ’s Review-for April, 17&3, -
zled fome naturalifts who have commented p. 313, &c.-
upon Ariftotle,-who did’ not conilder. th at. f Syftema Naturse. BufFon’s Hift. N a t. -
the figure o f the horns varies exceedingly in Pennant’ s Hift, o f Quad. p. 15, .
the fame fpecies, ins a wild or Tame ftate,
V o l. i t . F. f t He •