Imperial State Carriage.-The seekers after strange sights have been sadly at a loss for novelty during the last three months. There has not been one new exhibition which, by the utmost stretch of our good-nature, we could persuade ourselves to think worthy of a place in this our by no means fastidious record. At length, however, that indefatigable lion provider, Mr. Bullock, has placed before us one which, whatever else it may want, has at least the two principal claims on public attention-namely, strangeness and novelty. This is no other than the state carriage of his Golden Majesty, the great Ava, Emperor of all the Burmans, King of the White Elephants, and Defender of the want of Faith of seventeen millions of unknown people. And to say truth, if the gilding is the criterion of a monarch's greatness (which we are very much disposed to think) this till now almost unheeded enemy of our Indian empire is no insignificant person. What other European city can boast such a state carriage as our own?-And in consequence, what other was ever blessed with such a splendid succession of Lord Mayors?-But here is a state carriage which laughs all our Londoners to scorn, in the proportion of elephants to horses, a seat studded with twenty thousand precious stones to one stuffed with as many horse-hairs, and a roof as rich and almost as high as the Invalids to one that a chubby footman can overlook and lay his cane upon as he stands up behind it!-Seriously, (for in fact these Burmese gentry are a subject about which we have lately found that trifling is a rather expensive entertainment) it should appear, even by this singular exhibition if by nothing else, that there are more things between Calcutta and China than are dreamt of in the philosophy of our sage Indian rulers. The object here presented to us is merely a (not the) state carriage, lately built at one of his minor cities and by his own subjects, for the King of the Burmese, and was lately captured there, together with all its appurtenances and manufacturers into the bargain— to say nothing of the bill of parcels of its cost, amounting to the mysterious sum of a lac of rupees. As this carriage is really among the most curious and interesting evidences we have lately had, of the singular and somewhat serious mistake we appear to have been so long Jabouring under, relative to this extraordinary people, we shall give Mr. Bullock's own description of it-not feeling ourselves sufficiently accomplished in the Jan.-VOL. XVIII. NO. LXI.

art and mystery of coach-making to indite one ourselves.

"The length of the carriage itself is thirteen feet seven inches-or, if taken from the extremity of the pole, twentyeight feet five inches. Its width is six feet nine inches, and its height, to the summit of the Tee, or emblem of sovereignty, with which it is surmounted, nineteen feet two inches The carriage body is five feet seven inches in length, by four feet six inches in width, and its height taken from the interior, is five feet eight inches. The wheels, which are of one uniform height, remarkable for their lightness and elegance, and very peculiar from the mode by which the spokes are secured, measure only four feet two inches: the spokes richly silvered, are formed of a wood of extraordinary hardness, called in the East, iron wood: the felloes are cased in brass, and the caps to the naves are of bell metal, very elegantly designed. The pole is of the same hard material as the wheels, but remarkably heavy and massive, as may be imagined, from the circumstance that to it was destined to be attached that unwieldy animal the elephant, by which this splendid vehicle was intended to be drawn upon all grand or state occasions. The extremity of the pole is surmounted by the head and fore part of a dragon (a figure of idolatrous worship in the East) very boldly executed, and richly gilt aud ornamented; the part representing the scales is composed of a curiously coloured talc, a mineral substance possessing properties that entitle it to estimation among Eastern nations. The material of the other parts of the carriage is the wood of the oriental sassafras tree, which appears to combine strength with lightness, and to emit an odoriferous perfume, highly grateful to the sense-hard, though not brittle, yet easily worked upon, it appears to be peculiarly fitted for carving purposes. The body of the carriage (which is nearly square) is composed of twelve panels, three on each face or front, and these are subdivided into small squares of clear and transparent rhinoceros and buffalo horn, (other animals of their idolatry), which are highly estimated in that part of the East these squares are set in broad gil frames, studded at every angle with raised silvered glass mirrors: the higher part of these panels has a range of rich small looking-glasses, intended to reflect the gilding of the upper, or pagoda, stages: the whole body is set in, or supported by, four wreathed dragon-like

C

figures, answering the purposes of pillars to the pagoda ;-these, which are of idolatrous origin, are fantastically entwined, carved and ornamented in a style of vigour and correctness that would do credit to the most refined European designer: the scaly or body parts are of talc, and the eyes of pale ruby stones. The interior roof is also set with small lookingglasses studded with raised mirrors:the bottom or flooring of the body, is of matted cane, covered with crimson cloth, edged with gold lace, and the under, or frame, part of the carriage, is also of matted cane. The upper part of each face of the body is composed of sash glasses, set in broad gilt frames, which are drawn up and down after the European fashion, but the catches to secure them when up, are curious, and the strings of these glasses, of crimson cotton, show the people to be by no means deficient in the art of weaving such fabrics. On the frames of the glasses is much writing in the Burmese character, which being unknown in this country, cannot be decyphered; it may, however, be supposed to be some adulatory sentences to the "Golden Monarch" seated within. The body is staid by braces of leather, and the springs, which are of iron, richly gilt, differ not from the present fashionable C spring, now in general use in this country though massive, they give to the carriage a motion peculiarly easy and agreeable. The steps merely hook on to the outside, and therefore must be carried by an attendant: they are light and elegant, formed of a gilt metal, with cane treads.

But the most beautiful and imposing part of this magnificent object is the Pagoda roof, with which it is surmounted. This is formed of seven stages, progressively diminishing in the most skilful proportions, until they terminate in the tee, the emblem of royalty, which is supported by a pedestal. Here the gilding is resplendent, and would do credit to any artist, whether English or foreign. The design and carving of the rich borders which ornament each stage are no less admirable, and these are studded with gems of every description and variety, many of them of extreme beauty and

:

rarity, in which the amethyst, emerald, jargoon diamond, garnet, hyacinth, ruby, and tourmaline, predominate drops of amber and crystal being also interspersed. The greenish and purple amethysts which are set in the moveable belts of the tee, are very large, and the very summit of this emblem of royalty bears a small crystal banner which floats in the wind. Gilt metal bells surround the chief stage of the Pagoda, as well as the tee, which, when the carriage is in motion, emit a soft and pleasing sound. To these bells are appended heart-shaped crystal drops, and at every angle will be seen a slight spiral gilt ornament, enriched with crystals and emeralds.

The seat or throne, for the inside, is moveable, so that when audience is given at any place the carriage may be destined to stop at, this throne can be taken out and used for the purpose. It is made of cane work, very richly gilt, folds in the centre, is covered by a velvet cushion, and the front is studded with every variety of precious stone. To enumerate these would be a task of much labour; suffice it to say, that in it may be seen the onyx, cat's-eye, pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire, both white and blue, coral, carbuncle, jargoon diamond, garnet, cornelian, &c. the whole being disposed and contrasted with the greatest taste and skill. The centre belt is particularly rich in stones, and the rose-like clusters or circles are uniformly composed of what is termed the stones of the orient: viz. pearl, coral, sapphire, cornelian, cat's-eye, emerald, and ruby."

Besides this principal object, the present exhibition contains a variety of others, which, though not striking in appearance, offer curious evidence of the state of civilization to which this at present so much talked of people have arrived. The most conspicuous are a collection of military musical instruments, including a whole set of metal gongs arranged so as for their sounds to harmonize with each other, and a sort of harmonica composed entirely of wood, which when struck yields a sound nearly like that produced by pieces of glass arranged in a similar manner.

"Cambridge, Nov. 11.-The Rev. J. Procter, D.D. Master of Catharine-hall, was on Friday last elected Vice-Chancellor of this University for the year ensuing.

The following is the subject of the Norrisian prize essay for the year ensuing :"The Mosaic Dispensation not intended to be perpetual."

The sports at the Six-mile-bottom have at length attracted the serious attention of the Heads of the University, and the following notice has been issued:-"Whereas many students have of late been engaged in riding races, and otherwise promoting racing in the neighbourhood of the University. We, the Vice-Chancellor

and Heads of Colleges, hereby order and decree, that if any person in statu pupillari be hereafter found guilty of the of fences above described, he shall be puDished for the first time he so offends by rustication, and for the second by expulsion.

Nov. 18.-At a congregation held on Wednesday, the Rev. J. C. Hare, M. A. Fellow of Trinity College, was appointed an Examiner for the Classical Tripos, in the room of Professor Scholefield.

Oxford, Dec. 10.-The following subjects are proposed for the Chancellor's Prizes for the ensuing year, viz. :—

For Latin Verses. Montes Pyrenæi." For an English Essay." Is a rude or refined age more favourable to the production of works of fiction?"

For a Latin Essay.-"Quibus præcipue de causis in artium liberalium studiis Romani Græcis vix pares, nedum superiores evaserint ?"

The first of the above subjects is intended for those gentlemen of the University who have not exceeded four years from the time of their matriculation; and the other two for such as have exceeded four, but not completed seven years.

Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize.-For the best composition in English verse, not containing either more or fewer than fifty lines, by any undergraduate who has not exceeded four years from the time of his matriculation-" Trajan's Pillar." The Exercises are all to be sent under a sealed cover to the Registrar of the University on or before the 1st day of May next. None will be received after that day. The author is required to conceal his name, and to distinguish his composition by what motto he pleases; sending at the same time his name under another cover, with the motto inscribed upon it. No person who has already obtained a prize will be deemed entitled to a second prize of the same description.

Royal Academy. The annual meeting of the Royal Academy for the election of officers and distribution of rewards, took place last month. Sir Thomas Lawrence was re-elected President; Henry Thompson, Esq. Keeper; and Henry Howard, Esq. Secretary. The following gentlemen were appointed Professors :-of Painting, Thomas Phillips, Esq.; of Sculpture, John Flaxman, Esq.; of Architecture, John Soane, Esq.; of Perspective, J. M. W. Turner, Esq.; of Anatomy, J. H. Green, Esq. F.A.S.

The following Prizes were then presented, by the hand of the President, to the successful candidates :-In Historical Painting-To Mr. Wood (pupil of Mr. Sass), the gold medal, with the Discourses

of Reynolds and Barry, superbly bound and inscribed. The subject-"Joseph interpreting the dreams of the Butler and Baker. In Historical Sculpture-To Mr. Deare, the gold medal, with Lectures, &c. The subject-" David slaying Goliah." In Architecture-Mr. Bassett, the gold medal, with books, &c. Painting School-Copies in Oil-Mr. Webster, silver medal, with books, &c. Mr. Edward Fencourt (pupil of Mr. Sass), the silver medal. Model Academy-Drawing from the living figure-Mr. John Wood (pupil to Mr. Sass), the first silver medal, with books of Lectures, handsomely bound and inscribed, containing those of Opie and Fuzeli. Mr. Slous, the silver medal. Models of the living figure-Mr. Joseph Deare, the silver medal, with books, &c. Architectural Drawings- Mr. S. Loat (pupil of Mr. Sass), the silver medal, with books, &c. Antique Academy-Drawings from the human figure-Mr. Evan Williams (pupil of Mr. Sass), the first silver medal, with the Lectures of Fuzeli and Opie, superbly bound and inscribed.

Mr. S. C. Smith, a silver medal. Mr. G. Presbury, a silver medal. Models from the Antique-Mr. Gallagher (pupil of Mr. Behnes), the silver medal, with books, &c.

Mr. Constantine Panormo (pupil of Mr. Behnes), a silver medal.

Sir Thomas Lawrence then addressed the Students, congratulating them on the successful result of their exertions in Art, and expressing the highest approbation of himself and the other members of the

Academy at their progress; and declared the present display of talent an honour to the Academy.

Western Literary and Scientific Institution.-On Thursday, 24th November, a General Meeting of the Members of this for the purpose of receiving the Report of Institution was held at Freemasons' Hall, the Provisional Committee, and of adopting certain rules and regulations by which the Institution is to be in future conducted.

The chair was taken by Mr. Thomas Campbell, supported by the members of the Provisional Committee, and a great many other gentlemen. The members present amounted to 451. Various resolutions were then entered into, and communications made from the Committee, the principal of which were verbally as follows:

"Your Committee have received various communications in reference to the objects of the institution. Of these, they feel called upon to notice specifically the following offers of gratuitous services, honourable alike to the gentlemen who

tender them, and to the Institution to which they are made.

James Mitchell, LL.D., FR.S., and other persons have offered to deliver lec tures on the terrestrial and celestial globes, and other branches of science; Doctor M'Intyre, F.L.S., a course of lectures on botany; Mr. George Francis, six lectures on the human eye; Mr. A. Rennie, surgeon, a course on physiology; Doctor Robert Allen (a member of the Institution), a course on the construction of the Latin language, to superintend a class in that language, and to afford his aid to the members in philology generally; Don Pablo Mendibil, a distinguished Spaniard, has offered his services to promote the knowledge of his native language; and Mr. T. C. Banks, of the Inner Temple, author of the Dormant Peerage of England, to deliver a course of lectures on history, genealogy, heraldry, &c. Mr. John Holland offers to teach languages; and Mr. Kerby to deliver two lectures on the steam engine, to be illustrated by his own numerous and excellent working models.

"Your Committee have also to report that Mr. Henry Drummond has authorized his name to be put down for a donation of 501., with a large collection of chymical apparatus; Dr. Gilchrist has entered his name at Messrs. Ransom and Co.'s, as a donor of five guineas; and Mr. Bellamy, of the House of Commons, has given 51., in addition to a year's subscription for himself and his son. R. H. Black, Esq., LL.D., and Benjamin Golding, Esq., M.D., have each presented works to the library, of which they are, respectively, the authors; Mr. Rennie, in addition to the offer of a course of lectures, has promised to present a botanical collection, consisting of about four hundred speciinens of dried plants, many of which are not generally known; Mr. Peter Moore, M.P., has presented a collection of books for the library, about 150 volumes, many very valuable and important; and several volumes have been received from Mr. R. Morris, F.L.S., and, from Mr. R. Rees, Anderson's Origin of Commerce. A small library, consisting of about 300 volumes, has also been presented to the Institution from the Society for Mutual Improvement. This library is in the possession of the Honorary Secretary to your Committee, and is ready for the use of the Members, so soon as a proper place shall be fixed upon for its reception.

"Your Committee have been engaged on various inquiries respecting premises suitable to the purposes of the Institution; but feeling that much consideration is ne

cessary before any engagement of that nature is permanently formed, and being, since their appointment, occupied with business which admitted of no delay, they can only report at present that they have engaged very spacious rooms, well adapted to the purposes of the Institution. in Suffolk-street, Charing-cross, belonging to the Society of British Artists.

Botanical experiment. — The following experiment was lately made by Mr. Henry Phillips, to show the different effects of natural and artificial light on plants. He selected plants of the mimosa elegans, nova, and decurrens, whilst their pennated leaves were fully expanded.—On placing them in a dark room, the leaves almost immediately collapsed like the sticks of a fan, or as the feathers of a bird's wing fold over each other. The strongest artificial light that could now be thrown over them had no effect on the automatic motion of the plants, and the foliage remained in a collapsed state until they were removed into the natural light of day, when their sensitive properties immediately became perceptible, and the whole of the leaflets were seen moving towards their natural and elegant direction with as much regularity as a regiment of soldiers file off at the word of command.

At a numerous meeting of the members of the Bath Literary and Scientific Institntion, lately held in the Lecture Room, Sir G. S. Gibbes in the chair, it was resolved to form a Literary and Philosophical Society, in connexion with the Institution. Sir G. S. Gibbes, F. Ellis, esq., Rev. J. Hunter, Dr. Davis, F. Page, esq.. J. S. Pratt, esq., and the Rev. J. Haviland, were appointed a Committee to digest a code of regulations, to be submitted to the consideration of a general meeting.

Psittacidae.-Baron Field, Esq., late chief judge in New South Wales, has made a beautiful addition to the Ornithology of Australia, which, in just acknowledgment, is called Psittacus Fieldii. It is thus described :-general colour, green; head, chesnut-brown; wings, beneath, black; under wing-covers cerulean blue; tail rounded. In size rather larger than the Ceram Lery: bill comparatively thick and strong; upper mandible slightly sulcated down the middle of the culmers; under mandible longer than deep; gonix ascending; tip thick and obtuse, as in the short-tailed parrots of the New World; under part obtusely triangulated; cere entirely naked, and nostrils very large and round: upper plumage of a rich changeable grass-green, in some lights tinged with golden yellow, and in others with brown; under plumage paler, and more

inclined to yellow; quills, on the outer surface, dark green, on the inner dusky black; second and third slightly longer than first quill; tail, moderate length, and feathers ovately or obtusely pointed; colour above, green; interior yellowish, which tint is predominant on the lower surface. The tarsi are black and short.

Steam Gun experiments. — At length this formidable weapon, destined, if ultimately adopted, to change the whole system of modern warfare, has been so perfected by Mr. Perkins that the effects of its projectile power, from a musket bore and with a lead ball of the usual weight, may be fully judged. A trial was last month made at Mr. Perkins's manufactory in the Regent's Park, before the Duke of Wellington and staff, together with the field officers of the engineers and artillery from Woolwich, most competent to judge from their scientific knowledge. Some preparatory experiments having been made, about the hour of nine, A. M., Mr. Perkins commenced his discharges separately, but at short intervals, against an iron target at the distance of thirty five yards, being the utmost length the court-yard of the manufactory would admit. The bullets were rendered perfectly flat with the lowest pressure employed; and on increasing it they were shivered to small pieces. Twelve one-inch deal planks, framed in grooves an inch apart, were then opposed to the gun at the same distance, and the ball passed through eleven of them. It was also discharged at a block of wood, against which the utmost force of gunpowder had projected bullets, and it was found equal to all that gunpowder could do. Musket balls were also sent through an iron plate one-fourth of an inch thick, on which the utmost force of gunpowder had been tried; while that of the steam was not half as high as it was possible to carry it. The pressure used was about 900lb. to the square inch, or 65 atmospheres, while it might be carried as high as 200 atmospheres with perfect safety. Hitherto steam had shown its equality with gunpowder in force, and at 100 times less expense. For example, it would require 250 musket-discharges to project the same number of balls as the steam gun at a slow rate, say 250 discharges per minute, or 15,000 per hour, which would demand 15,000 charges of powder every hour. The steam gun would do this with five bushels of coals. The difference of cost of 15,000 charges of powder and of five bushels of coals is easily calculated. It next became needful to show wherein this terrible weapon of destruction left all that gunpowder could do far beyond competition. To discharge

single balls a hopper had been filled with them, and they were dropped one by one into the barrel at the breech as quick as the hand could move a small winch. This winch, with its valve, was now unscrewed, and the barrel communicated with the steam through an apparatus resembling the nave of a wheel, into which it was screwed. A tube, projecting like a single spoke, was screwed into this nave (numerous radii of the same kind were shown in a model applied to one nave, so that in one revolution each would stand in turn perpendicularly over the gun): close to the gun it had a valve, above which were fiftytwo musket balls, and a screw closing the orifice of the tube at the top. This tube being perpendicular, the bullets, on opening the valve, fell into the gun by their own gravity, and were projected one by one, at intervals barely perceptible to the senses, at the rate of 1000 per minute. The roar of the discharge resembled that of the loudest thunder; and the contents of one tube discharged in three or four seconds, afforded the most awful evidence of the power of this "mighty fluid," that imagination can conceive. After a discharge or two of this kind at the target, in which the balls were shivered to atoms, and the ground strewed with their fragments, a plank of deal about two feet wide, placed horizontally against a brick wall, was fired at, giving the gun a trifling lateral motion at the same time. The bullets perforated the board from end to end, regularly, at a few inches only apart from each other, and with astonishing regularity, the gun being capable of motion like the pipe of a fire engine, in any direction. Thus one musket-bore barrel would, in a second or two, annihilate a company of infantry opposed to it in line, and discharge nearly three times as many balls at once, as a company of ninety men could do with muskets previously loaded: -to recharge their pieces before such a weapon would be impossible. What then could not fifty such guns effect? The astonishing precision with which the balls are projected, each hitting within an inch of its predecessor, was exemplified by a discharge against a brick wall 18 inches thick. One discharge literally dug out a hole nearly a foot in diameter half through its entire thickness, and this with common lead balls only, iron ones would have gone through it. A laudable anxiety has been displayed by Government to avail itself of this tremendous application of steam, and we may now rest assured it will not be lost. Ten steam cannon would in a field of battle be more than equal to 200 on the present system, and a vessel of only 6 guns would be rendered