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chemical action, in order to explain to them many of those important changes which are continually going on in the great laboratory of nature, and which give rise to products affecting the vitality of both plants and animals.

It is a beautiful provision of nature that nothing should be lost or destroyed. Matter, so far as human agency is concerned, is perfectly indestructible. If we pile fuel upon our domestic hearth, or light a piece of paper, a candle, or a lamp, we are not merely supplying the heat or light necessary to our comfort, but, during the apparent destruction of the materials employed, we are agents in the hands of nature for the reproduction of two important compounds, water and carbonic acid; one the essential food of plants, the other necessary to the existence of both animals and vegetables. In the course of these papers, it will be more especially our duty to explain clearly the chemical changes which, during the combustion of common fires, give birth to the compounds to which we have already referred. However, even thus early, we would recommend one experiment, by means of which the production of water, while burning wood or paper, may be seen. Take a cold dry glass vessel-a tumbler for instance-and invert it over the flame given off from a piece of wood or paper. The glass loses its transparency, owing to the condensation of watery vapour upon its sides. Thus, comparing small things with great, and remembering how large an amount of combustion must be going on throughout the whole world, we may form some idea of the vast quantity of water given off from flame. If chemistry could teach us this one practical truth, and no other, it would be worth years of laborious research, offering, as it does, to our minds, a most convincing proof of that wisdom which has created all things, and watches with untiring care the wants of every portion of organized life.

In order that we may render the subject of agricultural chemistry as intelligible as possible, it is our intention to adopt the following arrangement:

We shall consider, first, the constitution of plants, and the nature of the elements entering into their composition.

Secondly. The nature of soils, and the sources from which they are produced and renovated.

Thirdly. The nature of the food upon which plants live, derived from the atmosphere and from the soil.

Fourthly. The changes which are produced in the atmosphere during combustion, respiration, and thunder storms, and which changes are necessary to the fertilization of the soil, and the vitality of the plant.

We shall, in treating these important

topics, avoid as much as we possibly can all unnecessary technicality and scientific detail, assuming that our papers will find their way, as well to the kitchen hearth of the plain husbandman, as to the drawing room of the more wealthy agriculturist.

Miscellaneous.

KNIGHT-ESSES OF THE GARTER.-There is reason to believe that as well as knights there were knight-esses, or ladies, of that order. In 1358 Queen Phillippa, it appears from the Wardrobe accounts, received 500l. from King Edward, for her dress and that of her ladies, in which they attended the chapel in Windsor Castle, on Saint George's day, their attire being, it is presumed, the livery of the Garter. On the same authority we learn that in the days of his successor, in 1379, an order for ladies' habits for the feast of Saint George was made. Two thousand three hundred garters, bearing the well-known motto of "Honi soit qui mal y pense," were prepared by command on that occasion, with robes and hoods of long woollen cloth, for the King, the Duke of Lancaster, and other Knights of the Garter, and "also for the King's mother, and other ladies newly received into the same society of the Garter, against the Feast of Saint George." "Ladies of the fraternity of Saint George" was the name at that time bestowed on the

high-born dames admitted to the honour.

WHAT OATH SHOULD A FOREIGNER TAKE?-On the discussion of "The Oaths Validity Bill," June 15th, 1838, Lord Denman laid down, and strongly insisted on the principle that the forms proper to be used were those which the individual to be sworn held to be binding on his conscience, however strange they might appear to the natives of the country where he took the oath. This, he contended, was the common law of England. His lordship said he had taken the liberty of referring their lordships, the last time this subject was under discussion, to one of the most important and enlightened judgments that had ever proceeded from the distinguished men who presided over courts of justice in this country. The case was tried by Lord Hardwicke, and the question was, whether an individual swearing according to the Hindoo form was a competent witness. That learned judge felt the case to be a novel one, and he obtained the assistance of the heads of the other three courts in determining on the admissibility of a person as witness who swore in a form utterly abhorrent to our English notions and forms of Christianity. The arguments of Lord Mansfield, who was then SolicitorGeneral, and of Sir H. Ryder, were such as none of their lordships could read without great admiration and profit, if it so

happened that they had not looked into them already; and the consequence of the trial was the full and complete settlement of the principle that the conscience of the individual was the only law to be resorted to in swearing him.

DR SCHONBEIN'S DESCRIPTION OF QUEEN VICTORIA.-The Doctor, being at Windsor, got posted at a door leading to the park. After waiting some time, he says, "At last two noble chargers stretched their proud heads through the narrow doorway. In an instant the expectant crowd ranged themselves in due order; the hat flew from every male head; a moment or two elapsed, and the maiden of twenty, on whom fell the singular lot of being called to reign over the mightiest nation in the universe, and to be the mistress of more than a hundred millions of human creatures, appeared mounted on a noble palfrey. The cavalcade was followed by a light calêche, drawn by four elegant little ponies, to be used in case the Queen should be tired by her ride. As her Majesty rode out quite slowly, and I had planted myself so close to the door, that the royal garments almost touched me, I was thus enabled to view the object of my curiosity with sufficient leisure to impress its image distinctly on my memory. Though it would be palpable exaggeration to describe the British Queen as the perfection of female beauty, it would, on the other hand, be as great a deviation from truth to deny her the possession of grace and of an attractive appearance. The expression of her roundish face has a certain fresh youthfulness, an engaging and truly feminine expression; and her person appeared to me beautifully proportioned, and of more than common gracefulness-a point on which I had a good opportunity of judging, as the English riding dress displays the female bust better than any other. Placed as I was, so near the royal person, I did not fail, of course, to express my respect for her, not merely by uncovering, but by a low reverence, which was the occasion of procuring for my humble person (meine Wenigkeit) the unmerited honour of a benignant and condescending glance from her Majesty, and even besides this, the distinguished favour of a gracious nod."

OPENING OF A ROMAN TUMULUS.-An interesting discovery, illustrative of the funeral customs of the Anglo-Romans, has been made in the parish of Rougham, on the estate of Mr Philip Bennet. At the corner of the two roads leading to Hesset and Bradfield Manger, and within a few feet of the highway, stands the half of a hill, called Eastlow hill, and a slight distance therefrom were two semicircular mounds, about 50 or 60 feet in diameter, covered with herbage and shrubs. The men belonging to Mr Levett's farm were

engaged in clearing away one of these mounds, to lay the soil upon the land, when, having come to the centre, the pick of the workmen broke into an oven-shaped cist or cavern, containing sepulchral remains. A hole, between three and four feet square, appears to have been first dug about three feet below the general level of the country. Four rows of red hollow tile bricks, each eleven inches long, about six inches wide, and seven inches deep, and nearly an inch thick, and having a circular hole in the middle of each end, were then placed on the soil, and covered over with large flat tiles. The whole was arched over with flat tiles, forming a chamber of about two feet and a half square and two feet deep, open at one end. Each tile was ornamented with two striated bands, placed diagonally from angle to angle, and crossing in the centre. In this chamber was a large square canistershaped urn of emerald green glass, with a handle on one side. It was nearly sixteen inches high, and eight inches wide; and was about half full of burnt bones. By the side of the urn was a large plain iron lamp, of the accustomed form, in length from the wick chamber to the handle nearly a foot. This part of the country must have been extensively occupied by the Romans, for pateræ, and pieces of pottery, swords, spurs, and other articles of iron have been frequently and for many years discovered within two feet of the surface in this part of Rougham, and within the adjoining parish of Whelnetham. The land was common till within the last thirty years, and so many human bones were found, it is said, on removing part of the Eastlow hill, that the then owner of the estate (Mr Kedington) refused to permit any more of the hill to be cleared. Adjoining to the tumulus which has been opened is another, as yet quite undisturbed; and near to them are the pits or trenches whence, it is probable, the soil was procured to heap up these simple and longenduring resting-places.-Suffolk Herald.

The Gatherer.

The

Suspicion Removed.-Some years ago a noble duke was fleeced of a large sum of money at hazard, by means of false dice. The duke, suspecting the deceit, when the play was over put the dice into his waistcoat pocket, and retired to bed. plunderers were alarmed lest they should be detected; and resolved, therefore, when he should be asleep, to enter his bed room, take the false dice from his pocket, and put others in their place. As they threw dice to decide who should in this instance officiate, he on whom the lot fell ordered his domestic to invite the duke's servant who attended him to take a bottle of wine

with him below. When everything was quiet he proceeded to the bed room, where he found the duke asleep, and silently accomplished his purpose. His grace, on splitting the dice next morning, found them to be correct, and was satisfied.

Parliamentary Anachronisms.-Before the debates of Parliament were published as we now see them, the substance of what was said used to be given as orations made by Greek or Roman lawgivers or heroes. The effect was ludicrous enough, as Solon would occasionally refer to what had passed in the time of Queen Anne, Lycurgus would refer to Coke upon Littleton, and Cato would speak of the Conduit in Cheapside, and insist upon the necessity of repairing Newgate, or pulling down the Little Old Bailey.

Ingenious Torture. In the prisons of the Inquisition in Spain, three kinds of torture were in use, of which that by water was the most agonizing. The patient was extended in a kind of trench or coffin open at the feet and at the head; his face was covered with a wet cloth, on which water was thrown, intended to filter drop by drop into the throat; and as the nose and mouth could not breathe through this cloth, which intercepted at once the air and water, the result was that on removing it the cloth and throat were found full of blood, from the small vessels which had burst.

Structure of Woman.-A handsome woman is not only the most beautiful spectacle in the world, she does not only entertain the sight more agreeably than any other object whatsoever, but she passes imperceptibly into the brain and heart, and inspires all with love and devotion at the same time. The reason is, her eyes are quick interpreters of her thoughts, and the spirituous rays of these have the same influence upon the soul as the beauty of her person has upon the sense. God is said to make man, but to build woman; and all anatomists agree, that her interior structure is full of wonders; as if the Creator had contrived in her, apartments as well for the reserve of the most precious curiosities, as the entertainment of a more sublime and spiritual essence.-Gentleman's Magazine for 1747.

Jack Ketch.-This soubriquet of the common hangman is perhaps not generally known to have been derived from Sir Richard Jaquett, of whom no other memorial exists but an almost illegible deed of the reign of King Edward VI, of England, wherein he is appointed "Lord of the Manor of Tyburne,' with its appurtenances, including the gallows. It is to a corruption of Jaquett that antiquaries attribute Jack Ketch.-Liverpool Mercury. French Literati.-De Launoy and Baillet, two learned critics, employed themselves in tracing the real histories of those who,

"

in times comparatively modern, had been named saints. Their labours cleared up a multitude of fables, false miracles, and fictitious stories; whence they got the name of Denicheurs de Saints-Unroosters of saints.

Singular Religious Institution.-In the last century a new religious fraternity started up, and was approved by the Pope, called the "Barefoot Clerks of the Passion of Jesus Christ." The religious of this order were bound by a particular vow to inculcate, in their missions and other exercises, a devotion to the passion of our Saviour.

Melancholy.-Why is it that, at the moment of deepest enjoyment, we often feel the most melancholy? What power does the pale, quiet planet, passing along in solitary grandeur, possess over the hidden springs of feeling, that she always disposes the heart to regret, and to memory, never to hope!-Sketches of Corfu.

"What's in a Name?"--The title of the 'Rambler' was so little understood at the time of its appearance, that a French journalist translated it, 'Le Chevalier Errant;' and when it was corrected to 'L'Errant,' a foreigner drank Johnson's health one day by innocently addressing him by the appellation of "Mr Vagabond."

Tarring and Feathering.-This ludicrous but painful punishment would appear to be an European invention, as one of Richard Cœur de Lion's punishments for sailors was, if any man were convicted of theft, or pickery, he should have his head polled, and hot pitch poured upon his pate, and upon that the feathers of some pillow or cushion shaken aloft, that he might thereby be known for a thief."- Holinshed.

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Scandal on Queen Elizabeth.It is curious to note how fond the populace are of connecting the name of some great personage with the spots they themselves inhabit. Thus the people of Bisham believe to this day that Queen Elizabeth resided among them, and insist, notwithstanding the opinion of all the world to the contrary, that she died no maid. They point out in this church a small monument with the sculptured figures of two children, which they assert was erected by that princess in memory of twins, of which she was delivered in that village; of course they are but the old women of both sexes who believe this story, but it has been current for nearly two centuries and a half.Mackay.

Interesting Discovery-On the site of the old Julia Cæsarea, at Algiers, a fine statue of white marble has been found, representing a youth taking a thorn out of his foot: and near it a monument of a knight piercing a soldier with his lance, and above it an inscription in tolerable preservation.

Advantages of Travelling.-Of all the pleasures in this pleasant world, travelling is surely the most delightful; not only as it enhances the enjoyment of the present moment, but because it enables one to lay up in the mind's storehouse a series of pictures wherewith to amuse the after-hours of life, when we shall be quietly seated in the arm-chair of old age.

Town and Country Funerals.-Nothing can be more widely different in feeling and effect than town and country funerals. In town a strange corpse passes along amid thousands of strangers, and human nature seems shorn of that interest which it ought especially in its last stage to possess. In the country, every man, woman, and child goes down to the dust amid those who have known them from their youth, and all miss them from their place. Nature seems in silence to sympathise with the mourners. The green mound of the rural churchyard opens to receive the slumberer to a peaceful resting place, and the yews or lindens which he climbed when a boy in pursuit of bird's nest, moth, or cockchaffer, overshadow, as it were, with a kindred feeling his grave.-Howitt.

Comparative Longevity.-There is nothing in the system of nature which appears so unintelligible as the scale of longevity. All that is known of domesticated animals tends to the strange result that longevity bears no relation to strength, size, complexity of organization, or intellectual power. Thirty is a great age for a horse; dogs usually live only from fourteen years to twenty; but the goose and hawk exceed a century. Fish, evidently a lower rank in creation than either, are longer lived than birds; it has been said of some species, and of certain snakes also, that they grow as long as they live, and as far as we know, live till some accident puts an end to their indefinite term of life. And the toad! it cannot, indeed, be said that the toad lives for ever, but many of these animals, who were cased up at the general deluge, are likely to live till they are baked in their cells at the general conflagration.-Southey.

"I like a child that cries," said the Abbe Morelatt. "Why?" "Because then it will be taken away."

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On Friday, the 18th ult., the first stone of the Queen's College of Medicine, at Birmingham, was laid by the Principal, Dr Johnstone, assisted by Mr G. Drury, the architect. The visitor of the College is Dr Warneford, of whose beneficence it is another monument.

The 'Medea' of Euripides, recently set to music by Taubert, was performed for the first time on the 7th inst., before a select audience, in the theatre of the palace at Potsdam. It was to have been performed publicly at the Opera House at Berlin; but this, we regret to learn, is im

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The Emperor of Russia, in testimony of the services which Mr Murchison has rendered by his geological researches in Russia, has, in addition to the decoration of St Anne, received in 1841, presented him with a vase of Hyaline quartz (Avanturine) upon a pedestal of porphyry, both extracted from the Altaic mountains, and wrought at Kolyvan. Also a plateau of watered damask steel, wrought at Stataust, in the Ural mountains, with gold ornaments in relief, representing the chief mining operations of those countries, and bearing a Russian inscription, of which the following is a translation:-"To the geologist Murchison, in testimony of its peculiar esteem, the administration of the mines of Russia."

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Linseed oil, sufficient in quantity to make the mass into a paste. Spread the paste over the silk with a knife, which is made for the purpose, being flexible in the blade, and has two handles; when dry, any unevenness can be rubbed down with a piece of pumice stone and water; lastly, varnish it over with copal varnish. This silk is used for covering for hats, cloaks, &c.

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Varnished Silk for sticking, or court, plaister, is made as follows:-Soak any quantity of isinglass for twenty-four hours in warm water; expose it to heat to dissipate a great part of the water. Supply the place of the water with alcohol, or proof spirit of wine, which will combine with the isinglass. Strain the whole through a piece of linen. care that the mass, when cool, shall have the consistence of jelly as used at table. When applied, warm it, and put it upon the surface of the silk with a badger-hair brush. You must apply stratum after stratum until you make the plaister of the required thickness of the preparation of isinglass. As soon as the whole is dry, varnish it with one or two coats of a strong tincture of the balsam of Peru. This is the real court plaister: spurious articles are made for sale.

Dyer-Black and scarlet colours can be dyed in the following easy manner :-Dip the calico into a strong solution of acetate of iron. Dry it quickly, and put it by for two or three days. Wash it afterwards in hot water, then boil it for ten minutes in a strong decoction of Brazil wood; it will now be black. Dry it, and then take any device cut in wood which has attached to the pattern part a cloth which will absorb a small quantity of a solution of the muriate of tin. Press this on the black cloth, and the figure will assume a scarlet colour, the ground remaining black.

LONDON: Published by CUNNINGHAM and MORTIMER, Adelaide Street, Trafalgar Square; and Sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen. Printed by C. REYNELL, 16 Little Pulteney street, and at the Royal Polytechnic Institution.

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Original Communications.

ANCIENT CHURCHES.-OLD

CLEVEDON.

A SOCIETY was formed at Bristol, two years and a half ago, under the title of "The Bristol Architectural Society." Its objects are described to be

"To promote the study of English Gothic architecture, and of medieval archæology, by surveys of old churches, and other ecclesiastical buildings; as well as of baronial edifices. By collecting of books, prints, and drawings; models, casts, and other architectural specimens; and by making grants from the funds of the society towards the restoration or building of churches."

It now comprehends many influential inhabitants of Bristol, and has recently brought out an archæological magazine in furtherance of its views. Those who regret the fast-vanishing monuments of the past will agree that nothing better can be attempted to console the lovers of antiquity than to explore, and, if possible, preserve, what remains of objects of real interest, and, where this cannot be done, to give descriptions and graphic representations of structures about to disappear.

The society have done their best to preserve for posterity a correct representation No. 1180]

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of Old Clevedon Church, which appears at the head of this article. It stands in the lap of an insulated hill at the western extremity of Old Clevedon, facing the south, and open to the sea towards the north. It is a cross-church, with a tower at the intersection; a south aisle to the nave, and a south porch. The figure of a knight is found in the south transept, seven feet in length, wearing armour of the time of Edward the Third. In the churchyard there are the remains of an old stone cross. Of the manor we have the following ac

count:

"At a period antecedent to the erection of any part of the now-existing church, the manor of Clevedon, or Clivedone, was granted to Mathew de Moretania, by William the Conqueror; but shortly afterwards we find its possessors, or occupants, bearing the name of De Clivedon. William de Clivedon held it in 1166, of William earl of Gloucester, and was succeeded by Mathew de Clivedon, who held it at the close of the twelfth century. In 1297 (25 Edward I) John de Clivedon was summoned to perform feudal service, by attending the king, with horse and arms, into possession in 1360; Richard, his son, in 1387; foreign parts. Mathew de Clivedon was in and Alexander de Clivedon in 1409. These last,' says Collinson, seem to have been out of the regular line of descent; for it is expressly shown, that Edmund de Clivedon [VOL. XLIII,

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