1826. Varieties. Great Britain. monochromatic lamp, and pointed out its advantages for observations with the microscope. This must be considered a very valuable discovery. The light of such a lamp, however, is weak, unless the alcohol flame is very large. I have, therefore, made several attempts to obtain a brighter light, and I think the following is the most convenient method. A cotton wick is soaked in a solution of salt, and when dried placed in a spirit lamp. It gives an abundance of yellow light for a long time. A lamp with ten of these wicks gave a light little inferior to a wax candle; its effect upon all surrounding objects was very remarkable, especially upon such as were red, which became of different shades of brown and dull yellow. A scarlet poppy was changed to yellow, and the beautiful red flower of the Lobelia fulgens appeared entirely black. The wicks were arranged in a line, in order to unite their effect for a microscope. A common blue glass has the property of absorbing the yellow light of this lamp, however brilliant, while it transmits the feeble violet rays. If these are also stopped by a pale yellow glass, the lamp becomes absolutely invisible, though a candle is seen distinctly through the same glasses. But the most remarkable quality of this light is its homogeneity, which is perfect, as far as I have been able to ascertain." Boletus Igniarius. An individual plant, of boletus igniarius was remarkable for its enormous size, and the fleshy nature of its substance. After a large circular incision had been made in it, the two edges were united by the first intention, and were readily consolidated. Still farther, a portion of the fungus cut off, and left on the ground for two days, was applied to a newly-cut portion of the boletus. The union took place as well as in the former case; and the separated part could only be known by the cicatrix.Amer. Journal, &c. Surveying Signals. As a signal to be employed by night in geohesical and other similar operations, a ball of lime intensely ignited and placed in the focus of a parabolic mirror (the ingenious invention of Lieutenant Drummond), will supersede every other. In the last volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, a new form of signal to be employed by day is described, that is preferable to any, except the heliostal of Gauss, at present in use. It consists of a vessel of planished tin plates, the lower part has the form of a truncated cone open at bottom, whose height is nineteen inches, the lower diameter seventeen, the upper fourteen. The vessel is closed at the top by a plate three inches in diameter, and elevated five 421 inches above the upper diameter of the truncated cone; the intervening space is enclosed by a tin-plate, which has in consequence also the form of a truncated cone of a greater vertical angle than that beneath. Under favourable circumstances of light, and distance, these signals appeared like a strong luminous disk, often requiring the use of a dark glass before the eye. Even in distances of from thirty to forty miles they presented a distinct illuminated point, when the sun was in such a position as to leave its rays reflected directly to the observer; and the continuance of this reflection is sufficiently long to admit of every necessary observation. As the point of reflection is not always in the direction of the centre of the signal, a reduction was used in America to correct the observed angle for the error arising from this cause. To perpetuate the recollection of the position of the signals, larger truncated conical vessels of earthenware were buried, with their axes exactly corresponding with the axes of the signals. As earthenware is almost indestructible, it is probable that no monument equally durable can be obtained at so small an expense. Sound attending the Aurora Borealis.Speaking of this phenomenon, M. Ramm states-"I believe that I have heard it repeatedly during a space of several hours, when a boy of ten or eleven years old, (it was in the year 1766, 1767, or 1768.) I was then crossing a meadow, near which was no forest, in winter, and saw, for the first time, the sky over me glowing with the most brilliant light, playing in beautiful colours, in a manner I have never seen since. The colours showed themselves very distinctly on the plain, which was covered with snow or hoar frost, and I heard several times a quick whispering sound simultaneously with the rays over my head. However clear this event is, and always has been in my memory, it would be unjust to expect it to be received as an apodictical truth; but should others have made similar observations, it would be important for the inquirer into the nature of the aurora borealis."-Ramsmoem in Törset, March, 1825. Phil. Mag. Ixvii. 177. Natural History. It is generally known that cold countries have fewer species of plants than warm ones. A learned botanist shows that this difference follows pretty constantly the progression of the temperature: according to him, there are in Spitzbergen only thirty species of plants; in Lapland, 534; in Iceland, 553; in Sweden, 1,500; in Brandenburg, 2000; in Piemont, 3,800; in Jamaica, 4,000; and in Madagascar, 5,000. FOREIGN VARIETIES. Academy of Sciences. The only communications of any interest made during the last sittings were the following. M. Robinet explained a process for removing stones from the bladder by means of chemical dissolvents, and displayed his apparatus for the purpose. M. Geoffory St. Hilaire showed two remarkable cases of incubation, where a pullet's egg contained twins. In the first instance, the subjects had died after about the third part of the ordinary time of incubation had elapsed; that which had lived the longest continued to grow, and was about double the size of the other. In the second example, the subjects had increased in size till the incubation was finished; one emerged from the shell and lived; the other perished in its envelope, and only on the twenty-first day. Each had a separate umbilical cord, but they were connected by a common canal going from one yolk to the other. In reply to a question that had been submitted by the Minister of the Interior, regarding the use of hail-rods, M. Fresnel, in the name of the philosophical department, said "that the electric theory of hail does not rest on a sufficiently solid basis, and the affinity of hail-rods appears too uncertain for us to recommend the employment of them." No attempt hitherto made has given any positive result, and to decide the question by suitable experiments would require much time and expense, disproportionate to the probability of success. M. Arago presented an aerolite which fell in the principality of Ferrara, January 19, 1826, which had been sent by M. Creoli, professor of natural philosophy at Bologna, and of which M. Cordier undertook the mechanical analysis by the microscope. The statistical and mechanical prizes, founded by M. de Monthyon, were not adjudged this year, but the amount will be doubled for the ensuing one, if any deserving productions should appear. The decision of the physical prize was postponed till March 1, 1827, but M. de Monthyon's physiological prize was awarded to M. Breschet, author of a memoir on the functions of the nervous system. The Royal Institute of France has offered prizes for the following inquiries :For 1827. To investigate the political state of the Greek cities of Europe, of the Islands, and of Asia Minor, from the commencement of the second century before our era, down to the establishment of the empire of Constantinople. For 1828. To trace the commercial relations of France and of the other states of Southern Europe with Syria and Egypt, from the empire of the Francs in Palestine to the middle of the sixteenth century; to ascertain the nature and extent of those relations; to fix the date of the establishment of consulships in Egypt and Syria; and to point out the effects which the discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, and the establishment of the Portuguese in India, produced on the commerce of France and Southern Europe with the Levant. The Heart.-M. Larrey lately presented to the Academy of Medicine in Paris, the heart of a man who, in a fit of derangement, produced by grief, stabbed himself with a watchmaker's file. After having penetrated several inches, the instrument broke off, level with the skin. The unhappy being was conveyed to an hospital, where it was determined that no operation could be attempted. He survived for twenty-one days, in but little pain, and without feeling any difficulty in changing his position. On opening the body, it was seen with surprise that the file had not only pierced the pericardium, and one of the coats of the heart, but that, entering that organ at three inches from the point, it had passed obliquely, from the left to the right, and from the lower to the higher part; crossing the left cavity, the middle membrane, and the right cavity! Electricity of the Atmosphere.-M. Ponillet has proved that electricity is developed during the vegetation of plants, showing itself the moment that the germ appears above ground. He, therefore, concludes that this is a fertile source of atmospherical electricity. Academy of Medicine. In the last sitting of the Academy of Medicine, several cases were described, in which cures had been effected under circumstances hitherto deemed beyond the resources of the art. One of the most extraordinary was that of a girl, twelve years of age, completely cured, by M. Larrey, of a cancer in the lower jaw, occupying nearly the whole of the right side of that bone. Some years ago, the dreadful and almost certainly fatal operation of amputation had been recommended by a very skilful surgeon, in this very case. M. Larrey, after hav ing cut out the fungous part of the bone, had recourse, for the cure of the remaining part, to the employment of fire; of which he has availed himself most successfully in a number of desperate cases. He used the actual cautery. The young patient underwent forty or fifty applications of the red-hot iron; but those applications were by no means so painful as 1826. Foreign Varieties. - Germany-The Netherlands. might be imagined. The child walked to M. Larrey's, and returned home in the same way. She did not utter a single cry during the operation, and admitted that she suffered very little. The cure is perfect. GERMANY. Dresden. A society has just been established at Dresden, under the protection and patronage of the principal persons in the kingdom of Saxony, the object of which will be to search for monuments of architecture, and of the arts of imitation (such as the ancient painters and sculptors produced with the most various materials, on vases, implements, &c.), to preserve them; and finally, to describe and explain them, in works to be published for that purpose. Prince Frederic is the president, and Prince John the vice-president of this society, to which the King of Saxony has granted a place for its sittings, and a considerable sum of money. Printing on Zinc. At the book-store of Leake, at Darmstadt, has appeared the first great work the prints of which are taken from plates of zinc; it is a collection of architectural monuments, which will consist of twenty numbers. The drawings are made upon zinc as upon stone, and the expense of engraving is thus avoided. The editor is, in consequence, able to sell each number, containing twelve folio plates, at five francs, upon common paper. In an economical point of view, this process deserves to be recommended. Numismatics. The lovers of this interesting science will read with great pleasure an Essay on the Ancient Coins of Cunobelinus, by M. de la Goy, of Aix, in which he endeavours to show that the opinion entertained in France, on the authority of Eckhel, that the Britons had no money of their own before their subjugation by the Romans, is not well founded. Several passages in Cæsar, in Polydorus Virgilius, and in various his torians of Great Britain, prove, on the contrary, that the Britons, under their ancient kings, had brass and iron money. M. de la Goy describes several brass coins, with various emblems, and which have for their legend the word CVNO. or CVNOBILIN. He attributes them, with great appearance of reason, to King Cunobelinus, whose sons, Caractacus and Togodumnus, according to Dion Cassius, were contemporaries of the Emperor Claudius. ITALY. Truffles. About the middle of last century, the Abbé Vigo, who was a professor in the University of Turin, devoted a 423 short, but elegant, Latin poem to the celebration of this valuable tubercle. A better poet, however, than a gardener, his instructions for its culture were not very useful. A German, of the name of Bornholz, has lately published a treatise on the best manner of obtaining, artificially, black and white truffles, in woods and gardens. He advises the choice, for the establishment of the plants, of a soil similar to that in which they naturally grow. In speaking of the cultivation of the tender white truffle in Italy, M. Bornholz commits an error; the white truffle of higher Italy is never obtained by culture; it is found exclusively in that part of Piedmont which is on the right of the Po, in a district extending about 60, or at most 70 leagues from the environs of Mondorie. It grows only on land which is never irrigated: it is found more frequently on the hills than in the plain; and is gathered, not throughout the year, but only from the commencement of September, until that of the snowy season. Thorwaldsen, the famous sculptor, has been appointed President of the Academy of St. Luke, at Rome. He is soon expected at Warsaw, to fuse the metals, and erect the monuments he has undertaken to Copernicus and Joseph Poniatowsky. Long Hair. There is at present at Naples a very singular phenomenon, in the person of a young man, twenty-eight years of age, a native of Brischel, in Barbary, whose hair has grown to the extraordinary length of four feet. It resembles hog's bristles in its texture. THE NETHERLANDS. Royal Institution in the Netherlands.The Brussels Royal Institution has offered a prize of a gold medal, value five hundred florins, for the best answer to each of the subjoined questions:-1. Has chemistry, by the analysis and examination of the elements of the products of nature, thrown any light on the essence and properties of different classes of remedies, and on the manner in which they affect the solid and fluid parts of the human body; and what are the advantages which the medical sciences have thence derived?-2. Is it true, (as appears from the observations of the late M. Brugmans, and as several naturalists have remarked) that the roots of plants produce a matter, which, in several species, is pernicious to other plants; and ought not this phenomenon to be regarded as the principal reason why several sorts of plants will not easily grow, either simultaneously or even successively, with other sorts, in the same ground; and ought not regard to be had to this circumstance in planting? What are the experiments and proofs which sufficiently establish this hypothesis, if it be well founded? and what is the explanation of the phenomena, if this hypothesis ought to be rejected?-3. A clear, accurate, and sufficiently detailed account of all that belongs to the planting, grafting, growth, and general culture of the fruit-trees which are the most important in the kingdom of the Netherlands, and of the means of obtaining the best species. The answers, with the exception of those to the last proposition (which must be in the language of the country), may be written either in Flemish, French, Latin, English, or German; and ought to be sent, free of postage, to the Perpetual Secretary of the First Class of the Institution, before the 1st of March, 1827. SWEDEN. M. Sjöborg, of Stockholm, a member of several learned societies, has published a very interesting quarto volume, with plates, on Swedish and Norwegian Antiquities. They are divided into seven distinct classes: 1. Public manuscripts and acts, such as the Eddas, the Sagas, and other ancient poems, general and local laws, political and religious statutes, diplomas, and other writings of importance. 2. Runic and Gothic inscriptions, belonging not only to the times of paganism, but to the first ages which followed the introduction of Christianity into the north. 3. Images and figures used in Pagan and Christian worship, amulets and emblems, instruments for sorcery and other purposes. 4. Ruins. 5. Monies and Coins. 6. Utensils, arms, jewels, and other objects of luxury. SPAIN. Cochineal.-In several towns in the southern provinces of Spain, great efforts have been making to reconcile the cochineal to the climate. The Economical Society at Cadiz has succeeded in this useful undertaking beyond its hopes. At Murcia and at Carthagena, several successful experiments have been made. It is known that this valuable insect feeds on the leaves of a particular kind of cactus, which for many centuries has flourished in Andalusia, and serves to form impenetrable fences round the vineyards and the woods of olive-trees. RUSSIA. It appears that the population of the empire of Russia, at the death of Catherine II., in 1796, amounted to about 33,000,000; and in 1825, at the death of Alexander, in consequence of conquests from the Turks, and recaptures of domiminions in Poland, the amount was 50,000,000. In the course of three centuries and a half, the power, in point of population, of the Russian empire, has multiplied itself more than eight times, while in extent of territory it has been increased nearly twenty times. AMERICA. Young persons convicted of petty crimes in New York are now sent to the House of Refuge, where a neat building has been erected within a few months for their reception, 150 feet long, in the midst of a large tract of ground walled in and partly devoted to a garden, where the boys raise their own vegetables. The boys are lodged in small separate rooms, ingeniously ventilated with cold air in the summer, and warm air in the winter; each being bolted outside and a watch stationed all night. Twenty-five are employed in making shoes, by which they earn a shilling a-day each, the first year, and eighteen pence the second. Twenty. five weave. A boy bakes for the institution; and the washing, making, mending and cooking are done by girls, who inhabit another building surrounded by a fence. The whole number is about sixty boys and fifteen girls, cleanly dressed, and well behaved. The children are trained to a regular exercise during the hours of intermission, and the healthy appearance of them all shows that their manner of life, as well as their plain diet, is wholesome in a high degree. Some of the girls braid straw very beautifully; and their common room, which is large, is not only devoted to various specimens of their work, but is ornamented with maps on one side, which are used by them, in school hours. The boys work nine hours out of the four-and-twenty. A Polytechnic and Scientific College is about to be established at Philadelphia, for the cultivation of literature and the arts and sciences. A petition to the ensuing Congress will claim its legal sanction, and the principal inhabitants of the city itself patronize the plan of the institution. A company to encourage the culture of the sugar-cane in the Floridas and Louisiana has also been formed: it holds ont the prospect of supplying the entire consumption of the United States. A silver mine of prodigious value is said to have been recently discovered near Coquimbo. Much native ore is represented as being found on the very surface, and the promised wealth as greater than even Potosi itself. 1826. (425) RURAL ECONOMY. On destroying Thistles with Salt.-A correspondent in the "Farmer's Journal," who dates from Worcestershire, says, "I have no doubt that salt may be made use of with good effect for destroying thistles. I have made several experiments, which have uniformly been attended with success. The most effectual way is, to cut off or bruise the thistle, and then put a small portion of salt upon it: very few will survive this treatment. It may be accomplished without this trouble; but the land should be gone over more than once, to see if any have escaped. Salt is also very serviceable for destroying weeds of all kinds, say nettles, docks, &c. that grow around farm buildings; but you must be careful not to use it too near fences or trees, or perchance you may destroy those also."-Another correspondent confirms this; he says, " A small quantity of common salt, about a tea-spoonful, is taken between the finger and thumb, and placed firmly on the centre of the thistle. In two or three days the thistle will turn quite black; and in eight or ten days the root and every part of it will be destroyed. I have found this a cheap and certain mode of clearing land from thistle. One person will salt as many as four or five would cut up in the usual way; and with this difference, that salt completely destroys the weeds, whereas the spud merely retards them for a short period, to be ultimately more productive. The salt should be applied to the large thistles before the stem is put forth; and care should be taken that it is not dropped upon the grass or cinquefoil." Weevils. Accident has discovered to a French farmer a very simple mode of destroying weevils in corn warehouses. Happening to lay in the corner of a granary, in which there was a large quantity of corn, some sheep skins with the fleece on, he was not a little surprised to find them, a few days after, covered with dead weevils. He repeated the experiment several times, and always with the same success. At last he ordered his corn to be stirred up and not a single weevil remained in it. It appears therefore, although the case has not yet been ascertained, that greasy wool, when in the neighbourhood of weevils, attracts and destroys them. Mr. Davis, of Slough, has published the result of an experiment for ripening wall-fruit, by covering the wall with black paint, which has completely succeeded, besides adding to the weight of grapes nearly two-thirds. To preserve Fruit and Flowers the whole year round without spoiling.-Mix one pound of nitre with two pounds of bole ammoniac, and three pounds of clean common sand; then, in dry weather, take fruit of any sort, which is not fully ripe, allowing the stalks to remain, and put them one by one into an open glass till it is quite full; cover the glass with oiled cloth tied closely down. Put it three or four inches down in the earth, in a dry cellar, and surround it on all sides to the depth of three or four inches with the above mixture. The fruit will thus be preserved quite fresh all the year round. Yeast as a Manure. It is not generally known that this is one of the most powerful manures in existence. From experiments tried with grass-plots and different culinary vegetables, it appears that a very small quantity of yeast, after it has become putrid and useless to the brewer or baker, will effect wonders when mixed with water and applied to plants as liquid manure: the only danger seems to be in making it too rich. It is recommended to be tried on pines, vines, the Brassica family, especially cauliflowers, the potatoe, as a pickle for wheat and other seeds, and for watering new sown turnips and similar oleaginous seeds. New Invented Rat-Trap. Take a barrel, and stretch a skin of parchment over it with a string; cut it across and athwart, nearly to the outside. Take some dripping, and mix it with meal; smear it on the middle of the parchment. The rats will smell it, and treading on the parchment, it will give way, and they will fall into the water in the barrel. Put a plank for them to creep up to the barrel's brink outside, and strew some oatmeal on it. You must not let the water be too deep, but set a brick endways in it, and the first rat that is caught will make a noise, which will entice more; so that they will fight for possession of the brick, and the noise will draw others. Thus, in one night, the house may be cleared of rats, be they ever so many. Mice, and other vermin may be caught in a similar way. USEFUL ARTS. Patent granted in France. Mademoiselle JULIE MANCEAU, of Paris, for a Process for making with Raw Silk Hats imitating Oct. VOL. XVIII. NO. LXX. the Italian (or Leghorn) Straw Hats. April 16, 1818.-The raw silk being chosen of the finest quality, is to be first 31 |