cloud of mystery, as unfavourable to accuracy of detail as its own coral reefs and shoals were to actual survey; and it is plea surable, in so short a time, to find that bold and enlightened researches are effectually removing that veil, and tending to ally its phenomena with those presented by betterknown regions. Royal Asiatic Society. On the 11th ult., a number of scientific men, with the members of the Institution, assembled to witness the opening of the mummy presented to the Asiatic Society by Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay. Sir Gore Ouseley was in the chair, supported by Count Munster, Lord Nugent, &c. &c. The lecturer and operator was Dr. Granville. The mummy came direct from Thebes; the outer case was a specimen of preservation and beauty. The knife of the anatomist was now to trace veins in which blood had not flowed for 3000 years. The lecturer reminded his auditors of the skill of the Egyptians in preserving to such remote futurity the frail remains of mortality-skill which displayed to men of the present day at once the temple and its builder-the latter in ruins, the former in a state of perfect preservation. The outer case was of sycamore, three inches and a quarter thick; an inner case of the same wood was of lighter workmanship, and enclosed a third case, painted with hieroglyphics and highly varnished; it was formed of five layers of coarse cloth, and the deity, Apis, at the foot, showed the mummy to have been of the male sex. The bandages which bound the body were of the same material with that which composes the dresses of the Egyptians of the present day. They cast out a strong and disagreeable odour. The body was enveloped in another series of ten wrappers, which were removed, and the body itself was presented to the view. The muscular configuration was destroyed by the hot bitumen in which the corpse had been dipped. The lecturer cut through the sternum, the membranes of which were perfect. By a longitudinal incision of the abdomen, portions of the spleen and liver, corroded by asphaltus, were withdrawn. The hair on the back of the head was perfect, short, and of a light-brown colour. The skull was opened; the brain had been extracted. The muscular parts of the flesh, where the bitumen had not burned it, were so perfect and elastic, on immersion in hot water, that the lecturer declared a preparation might be made of them. The remains are to be subject to a farther investigation. Zoological Society. The monthly meeting has been held in Bruton-street, J. E. Bicheno, Esq. in the chair. The report of the Council described the various transactions of the past month. The animals forming the collection of his late Majesty had been removed from Sandpit-gate, and large additional buildings had been completed at the garden for their reception. The number of visitors were stated at 8676. Among the donations were a collection of two hundred birds from Hindostan, by Major Franklin, accompanied with drawings made on the spot. Other specimens, from various districts of the Himalaya Mountains, were also on the table. The splendid plumage of several examples attracted particular attention; some were highly interesting to the naturalist, as exhibiting entirely new forms; others appeared identical with European species. Twentyfive new members were balloted for and elected. The Society of Schoolmasters. The general meeting of this truly excellent Society has taken place; and from the treasurer's report it appeared that no fewer than fiftytwo cases of suffering had been relieved within the last twelve months, and at the small expense of 3581. The Society was instituted in 1798, for the relief of distressed masters and ushers of endowed and boarding-schools, and of their widows and orphans. "Its income (says the circular of the year) has uniformly been husbanded with the most scrupulous economy; and every precaution has been taken, by a strict investigation into the character and circumstances of each individual petitioner, that no portion of its funds shall be wasted upon the undeserving. Yet still its revenues are extremely limited, and, even if they were increased by the subscription of every schoolmaster in the land, the Society could not confer adequate or permanent assistance, without a far more ample share of public favour than it has hitherto been its good fortune to enjoy. Death has deprived it of nearly all its early and warmest advocates, and the loss of annual subscribers has of late been severely felt. On the respectability or usefulness of their profession, the committee forbear to speak, nor is it for them, perhaps, to dwell upon its toils, and difficulties, and privations,-nor upon the influence, moral, civil, and religious, which it beneficially exercises upon the community at large. They feel confident, that those especially who can appreciate the blessings which they derive from education, while they reflect upon it the highest honour, will not be unmindful of their obligations to men who are now, in many instances, old and infirm, poor and friendless, after having faithfully devoted to their important charge the best vigour of their life, and most laborious exercise of their faculties." Linnean Society. At a recent meeting of this Society, a paper, by Mr. Don, lib. F.L.S., on the plant which yields the gumammoniacum, was read. The author observes, that the gum-ammoniacum has held a place in the materia medica from a very early period, yet the plant from which it is obtained has hitherto remained totally unknown. Dioscorides, whose opinion is adopted by all subsequent writers, derives the name ammoniacum from Ammon, or Hammon, the Jupiter of the Libyans, whose temple was situated in the desert of Cyrene, near to which the plant was said to grow: but it appears to the author that Dioscorides was altogether mistaken as to its native country, and that the name ammoniacum, or armoniacum, as it is indifferently written, is really a corruption of Armeniacum; for it is now ascertained beyond all doubt that it is a native of the north of Persia; and in ancient authors the name of the apricot is sometimes found written malum armeniacum. The author then proceeds to give the essential character and a detailed description of the plant, which he regards as a new genus, and has called it dorema ammoniacum; concluding with some observations on the plant which yields the analogous gum, galbanum, which he considers also to form a new genus, and proposes for it the name of galbanum officinale. The plant which has hitherto been considered as yielding the gum galbanum, namely, the bubon galb. of Linnæus, and of the pharmacopeias, Mr. Don has shown to be totally different, possessing neither the smell nor taste of galbanum. The French Academy. - The French Academy recently proceeded to fill up the vacancies occasioned by the deaths of Messrs. Fourier, and Segur, sen. The number of members present was 27. The candidates were, Messrs. Victor Cousin, B. Constant, Viennet, Tissot, and Keratry. M. Victor Cousin was elected at once, and M. Viennet after a ballot against M. B. Constant. VARIETIES. u Immense Consumption of Pit Coal. It has been estimated by Mr. Forster, a member of the Northumberland and Durham Society of Natural History, that the consumption of coal in the copper smelting-houses, iron furnaces, and tin-plate works of South Wales, amounts to the enormous quantity of 1,500,000 tons, or nearly equal to the whole amount imported from the Tyne and Wear into the port of London. The quantity of iron manufactured in Great Britain amounts to nearly 700,000 tons, of which about one-third is made at Merthyr Tydvil and its vicinity, and that about five tons and a half of coal are consumed in the manufacture of one ton of iron. In addition to the quantity consumed in the iron and copper works, there is a yearly increasing export of coal from South Wales to Bristol and other ports of the Bristol Channel, so as to render the consumption of coal from the Welsh coal field upwards of two million tons per annum. It is difficult to arrive at any thing like an approximation of the aggregate consumption of coal in the United Kingdom, from there being no public register of such consumption, except of the quantity exported; but at the lowest estimate, the other coal districts collectively may be taken at six times that of the Welsh coal field, or from thirteen to fourteen million tons per annum! Professor Buckland, as appears by his evidence before the Parliamentary committee on the coal trade, differs very materially from Mr. Taylor, who had previously given evidence as to the probable duration of the Durham and Northumberland coal-fields. The latter gentleman is of opinion that this duration, at the present rate of consumption, will extend to 1727 years, whereas the learned, professor thinks that it will not exceed 400 years, having come to the conclusion that it is doubtful whether coal will be found under the magnesian limestone, to any material extent, and that a sufficient allowance is not made by Mr. Taylor for denudations of the strata, and for barren portions of the district; and further, that the assumed thickness of available mine is too great. It is not, we believe, generally known that the identical mace which formerly belonged to the House of Commons, and which Cromwell banished so summarily, was presented by Charles II. to the Royal Society, and is placed before the President at its meetings. By the accession of his present Majesty, the titles which he had borne became merged in the Crown. If, besides being so merged, they are to be deemed extinct, a question has been raised whether the Irish title of Earl of Munster, borne by the Duke of Clarence, is to be considered as one of those three extinct peerages required under the act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland, in order to legalize the creation of a new Irish peerage. The amount of stamp duties on Newspapers in England for the year ending January 5, 1830, was 438,6671.; the duties on advertisements in English newspapers, during the same time, was 136,0521. The Stamp duties on the Scotch newspapers, during the same period, was 42,3011.; and on advertisements, 17,592l.-In Ireland, the total number of newspaper stamps is sued in that year, was 3,953,550.-The amount of Stamp duty on Almanacks, in the year ending January 5, 1830, was-in England, 30,789l.; Scotland, 591.; Ireland, 1,0621. 7s. The Almanack publish ers in Scotland procure their stamps from London. Alteration in the Terms. The Act of Parliament for regulating the Terms comes into operation in January. In future, Hilary Term will commence on the 11th of January, and end on the 31st; Easter Term will commence on the 15th of April, and end May 9; Trinity Term will commence on May 23rd, and end June 13th; and Michaelmas Term will commence on the 2d November, and end the 25th. FOREIGN VARIETIES. Snakes.-M. Duverney, one of the Professors of the Strasburg Academy, lately read to the French Academy a very curious paper on the anatomical distinctions between venomous and non-venomous snakes; in which he showed that salivary and lachrymal had been frequently mistaken for venomous glands; and much of the mortal character of venomous snakes depended upon the position of the fangs. The Jews. By a recent decree of the Emperor of Russia, it is stated that the Jews who cannot pay their taxes are obliged to become soldiers. A Beryl. There is at St. Petersburgh (says the Mining Journal published there,) a beryl found three years ago near Murzinskaja, in the district of Catherinenburg, which is above eleven pounds in weight, and valued at more than 7,000l. Natural Rocking-Stone in Auvergne.Dr. Hibbert has at length found a rockingstone, so much the object of religious worship with our Celtic and Teutonic ancestors in Auvergne, a country where the natives, from their peculiar dark complexion, show decisive marks of a Celtic origin; and where the monuments of antiquity resemble those of Wales and Cornwall. It is of granite, its site is near to the village of Tonbeyrat, and it is surmounted by a Christian cross. Auvergne is equally remarkable for memorials of rock worship in cromlechs; and what is interesting, as illustrating the ancient attire of the Gael, is, that the costume of the figures represented on the surmounting pedestal of the cross is that of the Scottish Highlands, even to the kilt. Human Fossil Bones.-M. Bernardi has visited a grotto at the foot of Mount Griffon, and precisely at the extremity of that little post which commands the sources of Mare Dolce, near Palermo. The following is the order of succession of deposits: 1. bones mingled with calcareous stones and clay; 2. bones cemented to the rock and to calcareous tuffa; 3. bones cemented to the rock and to indurated clay; 4. bones cemented to pieces of rock and to quartz, by means of a calcareous cement. The walls of the grotto above the deposits are rough, and pierced by a species of modiola, while those beneath are smooth, and, as it were, polished. The bones have evidently been deposited at different periods; and besides those of the human species, belong to hippopotami of different sizes, to the mammoth, and to other mammifera. Giornale officiale di Palermo, April 1830. The gallery of the Luxembourg has been opened with a collection of pictures, exhibited for the benefit of the wounded in the late revolution. Among the principal works are compositions by Guérin, Girardet, Gérard, and others, illustrative of the most striking events in the history of the French empire under Napoleon, now brought forth from the obscurity to which they had been condemned since the restoration of the Bourbons. A large establishment has been projected at Paris, for the purpose of enabling any individuals, by the annual payment each of 700 francs (less than 30l.) to enjoy all the pleasures of social, with all the independence of domestic life. For that sum they are to have lodging, board, clothes, and washing; the use of a library, the daily papers, billiard-rooms, play, conversation, &c. The whole to be under the management of a committee chosen by themselves. The prospectus even holds out the expectation of a country-house and free admission to the theatres! Population of Poland. - At the beginning of 1829, the kingdom of Poland (i. e. the Russian province so called, of which Warsaw is the metropolis,) contained 4,088,289 souls, exclusive of the army. The increase since the year 1825 had therefore been 383,983. The Jewish portion of the inhabitants had been almost universally located in distinct quarters; they amounted to 384,263 individuals. The extent of property insured in the Warsaw Assurance Office was 420,000,000 guldens (33,250,0001.) in value. Warsaw itself possesses a population of 136,554 souls, independently of a garrison of about 15,000 men; and of this population 30,146 are of the Israelitish faith. fire. RURAL ECONOMY. British Tapioca. The specification of a patent for preparing a farinaceous substance for food from potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and other fibrous roots, indigenous to Great Britain, has been recently enrolled in the Patent Office, by J. M'Innes, Esq. of Woodburn, N.B. The directions of the patentee for the preparation of this patent food scarcely differs in any essential degree from the well known process of making potato starch, which consists in grating or grinding down the roots into a pulp, and afterwards allowing the feculæ to subside to the bottom of the vessel; and after repeated stirring and washings, in order to purify it from the bitter astringent principle contained in the rind of the potato, the feculæ is to be dried slowly in an oven, or cast-iron vessel, over a slow As beet-root, parsnip, and carrot, contain, in a given weight, weight, much more saсcharism in combination than an equal weight of potato pulp, combining the pulp of the tap roots with the farina of the potato would be decidedly advantageous to the nutritive quality of the British Tapioca. But we are of opinion that very little advantage could result from the manufacture of this patent flour on a large scale, more especially as a question of rural economy, from the small qu quantity of farinaceous substance yielded by these roots in comparison with that from potatoes, and the great liability to failure in the crops during dry seasons, and a consequent impossibility of obtaining an adequate supply. It is only in the case of failure of corn crops that British tapioca can ever become an article of remunerating ma USEFUL Improvements in Watch-making.-A considerable improvement has been recently made in the construction of watches by a Mr. Bennet, watchmaker to the Duke of Sussex. Notwithstanding the supposed advantages from a diminution of friction between the pivot and pivot holes of watches, by forming the latter out of pieces of ruby or other precious stones; yet, as the jewels are exceedingly liable to crack, owing to the difLrence of expansion between the stone and the metal plate, it has been found that, in such cases, the pivot is not only ground away much faster than it would have been in an ordinary brass pivot-hole of a common watch, but the friction, and consequently the rate of going of the time-piece, will be affected in a proportionate degree. It has, therefore, been long known to chronometer makers that jewelling the pivot holes of the better sort of watches, independent of the adJan. VOL. XXXIII. NO. CXXI. nufacture in Great Britain. For it is well known that the vegetable fibre of potatoes, which constitutes a considerable portion of the mass, when these substances are boiled for domestic use, affords a considerable portion of sustenance as well as the farina. But in the preparation of the patent flour, (or potato starch,) the whole of this vegetable fibre, as well as the mucilage, is sacrificed by the process. Patent mode of Kneading Dough.-As a counterpart to the above mentioned mode of preparing patent flour from roots, Mr. Edwin Clayton, a baker at Nottingham, has just enrolled a patent for machinery for the substitution of manual labour in kneading paste for making bread. Though we are decided advocates for the use of machinery in all extensive manufacturing processes, which require the employment of horses, or where manual labour would be totally inadequate to the purpose, yet, in so simple a process as that of kneading dough, we should be sorry to find machinery employed extensively, while so many of the labouring classes are compelled to resort to parochial aid. We shall, therefore, abstain from giving any detail of Mr. Clayton's complicated kneading apparatus, which consists of a cylinder, turned by a winch, and connected to a set of bevil wheels turning horizontal arms, almost similar in principle to the mashing machines of the large bre.veries, except that, in the latter case, the primary motion is vertical, and in the kneading machine it is horizontal. ARTS. ditional expense, is attended with more evils than advantages in numerous instances. For, if the stone has a flaw or crack in it, it will inevitably work away the pivot into ruts in the balance pivot like the edge of a grindstone. To obviate these disadvantages, Mr. Bennet proposes an alloy of 3 dwts. of pure gold, I dwt. 20 grains of silver, 3 dwts. 20 grains of copper, and I dwt. of palladium. In a small pamphlet, describing the various experiments he made with the view of obtaining an alloy that should combine several advantages of hardness, tenacity, and freedom from oxidation by the action of the atmosphere and impure oil, Mr. Bennet says, " I found the above alloy nearly as hard as wrought iron, rather brittle, but not so brittle but that it could be drawn into wire. Its colour is a reddish brown, and its grain as fine steel. It takes a very beautiful polish; and the friction with steel was very F as much less than that of brass and steel. It is better worked than any metal with which I am acquainted, except brass. Nitric acid has no sensible effect on this alloy. I have constructed a watch, and made the holes of this metal, and it answers fully my expectations in regard to hardness, allowing the oil to remain perfectly fluid, and produces less friction than jewelled holes." "With regard to expense also, this metal has a decided advantage over jewelled holes; the expense of jewelling all the holes of a watch being from six to nine pounds, whereas the same number of holes may be made of this metal for as many shillings. This valuable improvement in watch-making, instead of being made a patent right, has been thrown open to the trade generally, in a manner highly creditable to the liberality of Mr. Bennet. From the description, we apprehend this new alloy will prove a very useful metal for making surgical instruments and other cutlery, from its valuable propensity of hardness, and effectually resisting oxidation. Improvements in Chain Bridges. - A Patent has been recently enrolled by Captain Brown, R.N. for farther improvements in the manufacture of bolts, or links of chains, employed in the construction of suspensionbridges. It is well known that in almost every instance where a parting takes place either in a chain-cable, or in the chains or bolts of a chain-bridge, the fracture occurs at one of the weldings of the iron, rather than in the solid bar, from the impossibility of depending on the welding-joint. With the view of obviating this difficulty, as far as possible, Captain Brown proposes to leave the portion of the two bars, where the welding-joint is to be made, considerably thicker than the other part of the bar, so as to have a greater bearing surface on the junction of the two ends. This is accomplished by drawing the bars or bolts, from which the links are formed, through a set of apertures different from the grooved rollers through which rods and bars of hot iron are usually drawn for the manufacture of chain-cables, or other purposes; but which will not admit of accurate description here without the aid of a drawing. The cylinders through which the metal is drawn, have alternate chambers formed in the circular grooves to suit the length of the rods intended for the links, with the narrow and wide parts at proper intervals. By this means the grain of the iron is carried on through the larger portion of the link as well as the smaller part, which would not be the case provided the thick portion of the rod consisted of an additional piece of metal welded on to the bar. After the rods have been cut off to the requisite lengths, in an oblique direction, they are to be welded together, in the usual manner, into links or bars, as the case may be. It may be readily understood, even from this short description, that the improvement contemplated by Captain Brown consists in the mode of manufacturing these links, rather than any specific improvements in the chains themselves; for if the process of welding be not perfectly attended to, the separation of chains in cables or suspensionbridges may take place equally with the bars prepared by the patent rollers, as in the ordinary mode of drawing wrought iron for rods or bolts through parallel cylindrical rollers. The principle of Captain Brown's improvement may be summed up in a few words-that of giving a greater extent of surface to the welding-joint, and at the same time preserving the longitudinal grain of the iron (and consequently its tenacity) to a greater degree than is obtained in the usual process of manufacture for the links of chaincables and bolts of suspension-bridges. 41 PATENTS LATELY GRANTED. S. Clerk, of South Down, Brixham, Devonshire, for certain improvements in making or preparing saddle-cloth and girths, for keeping saddles in place on horses and other animals of burthen. Oct. 20. 1830. Sir T. Cochrane, Knt. (commonly called Lord Cochrane) of Regent-street, Middlesex, for his invented apparatus to facilitate excavating, sinking, and mining. Oct. 20, 1830. T. Mason, of 56, Great Portland-street, Middlesex, Brush-maker, for an improvement in the manufacture of painting brushes, and other brushes applicable to various purposes. Oct. 20, 1830. S. Clegg, of 16, Sidmouth street, Gray's iun-lane, Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for an improved gas meter. Oct. 20, 1830. H. Calvert, city of Lincoln, Gent. for an improvement in the mode of making saddles, so as J. Collings, Lambeth, Surrey, Engineer, for an improvement or improvements on the apparatus used for hanging or suspending the rudders of ships, or vessels of different descriptions. Nov. 1, 1830. B. Cook, of Birmingham, Brass founder, for an improved method of making a neb or nebs, slot or slots, in shells or hollow cylinders of copper, brass, or other metals, for printing calicoes, muslins, cloths, silks, and other articles. Nov. 1, 1830. L. Aubrey, of Two Waters, Herts, Engineer, |