THE OXFORD GUIDE.

ACCORDING to the plan proposed in the Introduction, we commence our walk at the eastern or London entrance into Oxford. The Henley and Wycombe Roads from the Metropolis meet at

MAGDALEN BRIDGE.

This handsome stone Bridge, over the Cherwell, is 526 feet in length, and was built, under the direction of Mr. Gwynn, in 1779. On the right-hand is a view of Magdalen Walk; on the left is seen, at a greater distance, part of the beautiful Walk belonging to Christ Church.

Near this Bridge are the new and very handsome WARM and COLD BATHS, erected by Mr. A. H. Richardson, of St. Clement's, which are equal to any establishment of the kind in the kingdom. The cold bath is of an oval shape, 83 feet long and 44 wide; the bottom and sides are lined with Bath stone, and the basin contains 129,000 gallons of the most pellucid water, which is kept in a perpetual state of change by means of machinery. There are eighteen dressing-rooms, a large reading-room, and a convenient place for gymnastic exercises.

Immediately after passing over this Bridge, on the left hand, is

THE BOTANIC GARDEN,

Which was founded by Henry Lord D'Anvers, Earl of Danby. The first stone of the walls was laid by the Vice-Chancellor on the 25th of July, 1632; they were finished in 1633, are

fourteen feet high, and cost about 5000l. The fine gateway was built by Nicholas Stone, sen. from a design by Inigo Jones; the charge for its construction was upwards of 500l. It is ornamented with a bust of the Earl of Danby. On the right and left are statues of Charles I. and II. which were purchased with the money arising from a fine levied on the Oxford Antiquary, Anthony à Wood, for having libelled the character of the Earl of Clarendon, in the first edition of his Athenæ Oxonienses. This Garden has recently been very much improved, under the directions of the liberal and learned Professor, Dr. Daubeny. At his suggestion a public subscription was entered into, to which the Radcliffe Trustees contributed 5001. То this subscription was added the donation of the late Professor, Dr. Williams, amounting to 4531. 2s. 6d. Altogether was raised the sum of 29741. 8s. 10d., and this money has been most judiciously expended in effecting alterations and improvements, of which the following is a sketch:-On the left of the gateway a small neat Porter's Lodge has been erected. Near it is a new building, in which are the Library and the Professor's Study. The former contains a good collection of books on botany and other branches of natural history. The old Library, facing the Garden, is converted into a LECTURE ROOM: it corresponds with a Conservatory on the opposite side. In this Lecture-room are the celebrated herbariums of Sherard and Dillenius. Some new apartments have recently been erected for the Professor, near this room. There are now three Green-houses, two on the right of the gateway, and one on the left. Beyond the Lecture-room is a new Hot-house. Without the walls, eastward of the Garden, is a small ancient Hot-house, now used as a Green-house

only, the plants which were formerly kept in it being removed to the new Hot-house before mentioned. Near it is the experimental Garden. In the open parts of the Garden is a good collection of hardy plants. Those on the left of the centre walk from the gateway are arranged according to the Linnæan system; on the right is the natural arrangement. In the centre of the walk is an Aquarium, or basin for aquatic plants, the jet of which is supplied by the City Water Works, and has a pleasing effect. Without. the wall, on the south, is another basin for aquatic Plants, on each side of which (in the summer season) are kept the Alpine plants, in pots, placed on a series of shelves of solid brickwork, in form of an amphitheatre, and backed by rockwork composed partly of coral rag from the vicinity of Oxford, and partly of curious perforated stone from the neighbourhood of Cirencester, in Gloucestershire. To the left of this Aquarium will be found specimens of the various grasses; and the plants which are employed in Medicine, Agriculture, and the Arts. The ground on which the Garden stands was formerly a burying-place for the Jews, who resided in great numbers in Oxford until they were driven from England by Edward I. in 1290. This Garden is the oldest establishment of the kind in England. William Sherard, D.C.L. some time Fellow of St. John's College, bequeathed 3000l. to the University for the endowment of a Professorship, which is in the gift of the College of Physicians. In 1793, a Regius Professorship was established. Dr. Sibthorp, who was Professor from 1784 to 1795, travelled several years in Turkey and Greece, in company with the celebrated F. Bauer, as draughtsman, and enriched the collection with many plants from those parts, all his drawings, books of Natural History, &c.