The ancients believed that if a man encountered a _Wolf_, and the animal first fixed its eyes upon him, he was deprived for ever of the power of speech: connected with these ferocious brutes is the fearful superstition of the _Lycanthropos_, _Were-wulf, _Loup-garou,_ or _Man-wolf_. "These _were-wolves_," says Verstegan, "are certain sorcerers, who having anointed their bodies with an ointment they make by the instinct of the devil, and putting on a certain enchanted girdle, do not only unto the view of others seem as wolves, but to their own thinking have both the shape and nature of wolves so long as they wear the said girdle; and they do dispose themselves as very wolves, in worrying, and killing, and waste of human creatures." The Germans had a similar superstition regarding wolves, and the same respecting the wild boar; and with these let us compare the British belief, that warlocks and weird women possess the power of transforming themselves into hares, cats, &c. _Swine_, which are strangely uneasy in or against tempestuous weather, are believed to see the wind. In some parts of Great Britain it is a popular belief that, on commencing a journey, if a sow and pigs be met it will prove successful, but if a sow only crosses the road, the traveller, if he cannot pass, must ride round about it, otherwise ill luck will attend him. (_To be continued_.) [1] Much of the ill-treatment of the Cat has arisen from its being invariably the attendant of reputed Witches. (_See page 174, of the present Sheet_.) In later times the practice of such cruelties may be referred to the vituperations of naturalists: surely Buffon is among them. We are happy to see that our Correspondent, M.L.B. writes in the kindlier spirit towards the poor, persecuted Cat.--ED.M. * * * * * THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. ADVENTURES OF A YOUNGER SON. We continue our extracts from this extraordinary work. _Madagascar_. "Madagascar is one of the largest and most fertile islands in the world; nearly nine hundred miles in length, and three hundred and fifty in its greatest breadth. There is a chain of glorious mountains, winding through its entire length, of varied height, whence many large and navigable rivers take their source. The interior of this vast island, and its inhabitants, are little known; but those parts on the coast which, at that time and afterwards, I have frequently visited, give abundant indications that nature has here scattered her riches with no stinting hand. Nothing seems wanting but knowledge to place this magnificent island in the foremost rank of great and powerful empires. When I was there, the line, distinguishing the man from the animal, was hardly visible." _The Mauritius_.