line of elevation, or the direction of the islands, that is, N.E. and S.W., the chain of islands running N.W. and S.E.

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.-The Marquis of Bath sent two queen pine apples, weighing 5 lb. 4 oz., and 5 lb. 9 oz., and measuring each 54 in. in diameter, and 9 in. in length; the number of pips was 10. These were exceedingly handsome fruit, and were not produced by mere accident, as those exhibited by his gardener from time to time prove; but were the result of steady successful cultivation and good management. There is little doubt that in a few years the manner of cultivating the pine will be greatly altered, and that larger and better fruit will be produced than we have hitherto seen. A Banksian medal was awarded.-G. W. Ward, Esq., exhibited two bunches of grapes, weighing 1 lb. 4 oz. and 1 lb. 3 oz.; these were said to have been brought from Paris in 1840, under the French name of Raisin Monstre: they much resembled the Gros Ribier du Maroc.

PARIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.-M. Arago, in a late sitting of the Paris Academy of Sciences, alluded to the recent discoveries of Dr Belfield Lefevre in photography. The processes now made use of are empirical, and the results obtained are not to be explained in the present state of chemical science. Sir John Herschel had, indeed, pointed out the fact that ioduret of silver was, by the action of light, reduced or transformed into a subioduret; but whether such reduction took place in the camera obscura, by what chemical mechanism that reduction was effected, in what manner the accelerating substance, brome and chlorine, intervened to precipitate the action of light, are problems which Dr Lefevre is supposed to have solved; and, in so doing, to have shown that the process, as at present instituted, is founded on a wrong principle, so that success must necessarily be the exception, and failure the rule. According to Dr Lefevre, no less than six distinct elementary substances, viz., silver, iodine, chlorine, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, compose the sensitive coating which is to be submitted to the action of the light; and that these substances, by their mutual reactions, successively form seven distinct compounds; whilst the entire thickness of the coating does not equal one ten-thousandth part of that of a sheet of silver paper, and its weight, though extended over an area of 48 square inches, is not equal to the tenth part of a grain.-M. Hardy, the Director of the Central Nursery of Algeria, sent to Paris the produce of his crop of opium. It amounted to rather more than an ounce and half, from 990 poppy heads, and had been carefully extracted by means of incisions on the capsules. This opium, says the reporter, presented all the character of the best samples from Smyrna. On being analyzed it was found to contain 5 per cent. of crystallized morphine, deprived of the narcotine by ether. Two samples from Smyrna being analyzed for the purpose of comparison, they were found to contain-one 3-925 per cent.; the other 4.1 per cent. of morphine. Some samples from India were, however, found to be much more rich than either of the samples operated upon as above stated; they yielded 107 of pure

white crystallized morphine. It would ap pear, however, by a communication from M. Liautaud, that as much as 12 per cent. of morphine has been obtained from the opium of Algeria.

A report was received from M. Lewy on the analysis of wax received from China. This wax, which is of vegetable origin, is of a beautiful white colour, crystallized, and resembles spermaceti in its external character. It melts at a heat of 82.5 of Centigrade; its boiling point is superior to that of mercury. The produce of the distillation is white, and differs in its nature from the substance when undistilled. It is very soluble in boiling alcohol and ether, and is completely dissolved by the oil of naphtha. When subjected to a boiling solution of potass the wax becomes a soluble soap, and it also freely mixes with barytes. When acted upon by nitric acid, it appears to yield the same products as those obtained with this acid from bees' wax. Amongst other products is a volatile acid possessing the principal characters of butyric acid.

SCIENTIFIC NOTICES.

GALVANIC LIGHT.-An interesting experiment with the galvanic light, proposed by M. Achereau as a substitute for that of gas, has been made at Paris. The light was enclosed in a glass globe of about twelve inches in diameter. When the gas lights of the Place de la Concorde, 100 in number, were put out, the effect of the galvanic light was exceedingly brilliant, eclipsing even that of the hydro-oxygen light. It was easy to read small print at the distance of 100 yards, and it was only necessary to look at the shadow of the objects in the way of the light to be convinced of its great illuminating power. The single light exhibited did not replace the whole of the gas lights which had been put out, but we may fairly estimate it as equal, at least, to twenty of the gas burners of the Place de la Concorde. It would, therefore, require five of these galvanic lights to light the whole of the place; but the rays of these five lights meeting each other would, in all probability, give a much more intense light. The substitution of the galvanic light for gas light would be a great improvement; and we imagine that the expense of renewing the supply of the galvanic battery, by which the electric fluid is conveyed to the burner, and then thrown upon the charcoal, which becomes thus brilliantly incandescent, would not be so great as that of the generation of gas.-[We copy this from Galignani's Paris paper, and at the same time remark that we have seen the experiments performed by our countryman, Professor Bachhoffner, at the Polytechnic Institution some years ago, therefore the subject is not new, nor is the invention due to M. Achereau any further than its application to street lights, with regard to which we doubt much its efficacy, as the light cannot in the proposed manner be sustained for any considerable period.]

METHOD OF COATING BOBBIN NET OR LACE WITH COPPER.-Stretch a piece of net or lace by placing a copper wire around it; then black-lead the lace thoroughly with pure powdered plumbago, using a large camel

hair brush for the purpose; then place the lace between two copper plates, positively electrified, connecting at the same time the copper wire round the lace with the negative pole of a galvanic battery. The lace becomes rapidly coated with copper, which can be electro-gilded or silvered, and will give it a beautiful appearance; the lace, when so covered with a metallic coating, will be useful in the manufacture of little articles, such as jewel-cases, &c.

THE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE.-The last stone of the tower was set on Tuesday week. The vane will be the same grasshopper (the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham) which adorned the old Exchange, and escaped the fire. It has been repaired and will be regilt before put up. The chimes will be restored, and the peal of bells increased from eight to fifteen. It will be finished and open for the use of the merchants by the middle of next year. The portico is completed, with the exception of the fixing of the sculpture in the pediment, which will consist of sixteen figures, in high relief. Bank buildings will be removed, the space arranged, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington, by Chantrey,

erected.

Reviews.

Flowers and Fruits; or Poetry, Philosophy, and Science. By James Elmslie Duncan. Smith, Elder, and Co.

THE praise of intrepidity is due to an author who, in these times, dares publish poetry on his own account. The encouragement given of late to such experiments has not been excessive. Mr Elmslie Duncan has a good deal of vivacity, and he has written in a variety of measures. He is not always so nice in his rhymes as he ought to be. "Taste," does not sound much like "nest;" nor "hell" like "will," yet these and many similar instances of negligence occur. They deserve to be rebuked, as in some instances he has produced elegant verses, and seems to have an ample command of language to save him from the necessity of putting off his readers with such make-shifts.

As he can write gracefully we should advise him to think when he is choosing a subject whether he has anything to say about it. We shall best explain what we mean by copying the first twelve lines of

his

MONODY ON THE DEATH OF THE LATE MRS HONEY.

"Alas, and art thou from us torn?

Ah, has Death struck the fatal blow? And is it ours to weep and mourn

For thee, thus soon? Ah, surely no! But ah! these tears declare 'tis so,

Yes, thou hast pass'd the mystic bourn,Well may we sigh in tearful woe,

From whence no traveller doth return.— Life's summer had not long entwined

It's rose-wreath 'round her sunny browBut who-ah, who could have divined

That Death thus soon would lay thee low ?"

66

Now here all that in effect is said, is "Can she be dead? Impossible! Who would have thought it ?" Was it worth while writing so much to express so little? Such spinning out not all the pathos of his four "tragic ahs!" will render very acceptable to readers of taste. We think, had he done himself justice, he could have thought of something more worthy of being committed to paper, but suspect that, writing with facility, he too leniently allowed his rhymes to pass as worthy of publication, and dignified them with the title of a Monody." Some of his Scotch songs are very lively, but in these, also, we detect some negligence, which tells us that the writer could do better things. Besides poetry, it will be seen he undertakes to give us philosophy and science. his prose we find some very sensible and humane remarks, mingled with a touch of hair-brained enthusiasm, which, if we do not applaud, we care not to reprehend. this he stands up manfully, and as the best He is an advocate for vegetable diet. interests of society, if he is right, are connected with the adoption of his views on the subject, it may be well to let him speak for himself. After rather an elabo"The breathing, rate description of moving wonder-man," he tells us

In

For

"The thousands who have adopted the better in health for having so done; we are, vegetable and water diet find themselves the therefore, warranted in supposing their longevity will be the greater for it. And the greater portion of those celebrated for their extraordinary age have all been, more or less, more than usually temperate and simple in their diet, have approached, more or less, more than usual, in fact, to the vegetarian diet. Thousands of cases in point might be brought forward, but let the following suffice:-Jenkins and Parr were both exceedingly temperate and simple in their diet, they were almost strict vegetarians and

'teetotalers.' And it is well known that it was the opinion of the medical men of the times, from a post-mortem examination of his body, that the latter would have lived much longer than he really did, had he not been absolutely killed by having his own wonted simple diet changed for that of the Court of King Charles II.

"We have now seen, I think, that vegetable diet is best, in, at least, as far as the foundation or the body is concerned. We will next consider it in connexion with man's animal nature. It is not well known that a rich diet, as it is termed (for it should rather be called a gross one), inflames the blood, as the expression is-unduly stimulating the passions, and at the same time clouding the intellect, and, moreover, seeming also to dull the moral feelings. Wines and spirits are proverbial for disposing to anger; various sorts of animal food for stimulating Nature's most ungovernable tendency-a tendency sufficiently powerful of itself-a tendency which, given way to improperly and intemperately, is a source of the most

and

"With respect to the question in its higher, and perhaps more important point of view, namely, as it respects man's moral nature;-among the lower animals, the most gentle are those living on vegetables; and the most amiable and gentle of the human race are the vegetable-eating Hindoos. The slaughtering of the lower animals naturally tends to stimulate the animal passions, and to deaden the moral tendencies. The whole sale and universal slaughter of animals for amusement, and for the gratification of depraved appetite, and a thousand other similar things now tolerated-for instance, the cruel lashing of the noble horse to goad him to draw loads, perhaps beyond his strength the non-checking of children, when destroying living creatures for mere amusement, or even their encouragement in it by their elders, by actual example-must not this all tend to make man selfish? to look upon himself and self-gratification as everything, and the feeling of other creatures as nothing as created for the gratification of his own whims and caprices, and gross appetites? And he naturally comes to regard his fellow-man in much the same light; and is prepared by this bloody and cruel education for the ensanguined battle-field itself.

"It may be said that we cannot drink a draught of water without destroying myriads of living creatures, nor walk in a field without crushing creatures innumerable beneath our thoughtless footsteps; but to these and such like arguments I would answer thus: can it possibly have as searing an effect on the feelings to destroy involuntarily that which we neither see nor think of, and what, moreover, we cannot by any possibility avoid destroying, as to cruelly slaughter creatures associated with all that is most beautiful in nature-creatures endeared to us by association-creatures which have been, perhaps, our pets and companions, and which we can avoid destroying? creatures whose cries of agony we can but too plainly hear, and whose convulsive writhings are but too visible, whose blood stains our fingers."

In the subsequent extracts some remarkable facts will be found.

“To consider man anatomically, he is decidedly a vegetable-eating animal. He is constructed like no flesh-eating animal, but like all vegetable-eating animals. He has not teeth and claws like the lion, the tiger, or the cat, but his teeth are short and smooth, like those of the horse, the cow, and the fruiteating animals; and his hand is evidently intended to pluck the fruit, not to seize and rend his fellow-animals. What animal does man most resemble in every respect? The ape tribes: frugiverous animals. Doves and sheep by being fed on animal food (and they may be, as has been fully proved), will come to refuse their natural food: thus has it been with man.

On the contrary, even cats may be brought up to live on vegetable food so that they will not touch any sort of flesh, and yet be quite vigorous and sleek. Such

cats will kill their natural prey, just as other cats, but will refuse them as food. Man is naturally a vegetable-eating animal; how, then, could he possibly be injured by abstinence from flesh? A man, by way of experiment, was made to live entirely on animal food; after having persevered ten days, symptoms of incipient putrefaction began to manifest themselves. Dr Lambe, of London, has lived for the last thirty years on a diet of vegetable food. He commenced when he was about fifty years of age, so he is now about eighty, rather more, I believe, and is still healthy and vigorous. The writer of the 'Oriental Annual' mentions that the Hindoos, among whom he travelled, were so free from any tendency to inflammation, that he has seen cases of compound fracture of the skull among them, yet the patient to be at his work, as if nothing ailed him, at the end of three days. How different is it with our flesh-eating, porter-swilling London brewers: a scratch is almost death to them."

Adventures of Telemachus. Translated by THOUGH a cheap, this is a very superior Dr Hawkesworth. Willoughby and Co. edition. It opens with a life of Fénélon. It is handsomely printed, and it is illustrated with more than a hundred woodcuts, many of which are very beautiful. Of this we give one as a specimen, though it ought to be added machine printing can hardly do justice to the elaborate style of the engraving.

Telemachus is one of a series of cheap publications. They are thus enumerated by a London contemporary:

"Robinson Crusoe,' with three hundred woodcuts, beautifully executed by an eminent artist, is issued at ten shillings; The Vicar of Wakefield,' with two hundred engravings, six shillings; 'Asmodeus,' with two hundred cuts by Tony Johannot, six shillings; "The Life of Napoleon,' with five hundred engravings by Horace Vernet, and twenty original portraits by Jacque, seventeen shillings; Gil Blas,' with five hundred engravings by Gigoux, twelve shillings and sixpence; 'Telemachus,' translated by Dr Hawkesworth, and illustrated with about a hundred and

eighty first-rate woodcuts, eight shillings; and Mythology of the Ancients,' embellished with two hundred and odd engravings, six shillings. All these works are printed in the demy octavo form, upon beautiful paper, and are bound in cloth, figured and lettered, and with gilt edges. We have been thus particular in giving an account of these works in detail, because we conceive that they constitute invaluable presents for parents to bestow upon their

children. The Heathen Mythology' is an admirable work, being weeded of all indecencies, and rendered suitable to the germinating intelligence of the youth of both sexes. Mr G. Moir Bussey observes with much elegance and feeling: The

hearts. They arrived at excellence in the highest, in order that their statues might be installed in their national temples as those of demi-gods, and the struggle brought them sufficient knowledge and energy to win deathless renown among men. All that they achieved, all that they meditated, bespeak the soaring of a race bent upon conquering every obstacle -natural or artificial-which stood between them and absolute perfection, whether in legislation, in philosophy, in art, in science, in poetry, in war, or in dominion.' Such is the charming description of heathen 'Mythology;' and we now recommend to universal notice the volume in which its incidents are condensed."

To this praise we cordially subscribe.

ON READING OF THE EXCELLENT PROVISION MADE FOR MR BUCKINGHAM IN THE FOREIGN INSTITUTE.

THOUGH patriots never care for pelf,

They do not number one neglect, And taking good care of himself, Great" Buckingham grows circumspect."

The Gatherer.

Covent Garden Theatre.—The opening of the fourth or fifth season this autumn is not announced. Mr Wallack retained possession in opposition to the wishes of the proprietors. His continuing to hold on he thus explained:

Here good for evil you may see;
A manager of nous

I, if the house will not keep me,
Resolve to keep the house.

Peace has now been concluded, and the doors are to be again opened, it is said, for his benefit.

A Second Lord Mayor's Show.-The day after Lord Mayor's show, the citizens were astounded to see something like a repetition of the grand pageant of their monarch. Every one wondered. Strange signs and portents were spoken of, when the whole business was explained to be neither more nor less than a puff for one of the pictorial newspapers!

A Good Hint to Railway Directors.-We find the following in the Brussels papers: "The public are informed that from the 25th of October instant, the open carriages will be withdrawn from railways, and covered carriages substituted for them during 'the winter." English directors make their second and third class carriages as uncomfortable as possible, to compel passengers to go in the first.

Corn Tax in Holland.-There is a tax on grinding corn at the mill in Holland. It was extended by the Dutch government to Belgium, and proved one of the main causes publicly stated to have brought about the barricades of Brussels, the revolution of 1830, and the ultimate separation of the two countries.

Russian Policy.-Russia situated between four tottering yet extensive powers, Persia, Turkey, Japan, and China, she waits to absorb them at her leisure. It is there she will try to recruit her legions of disciplined slaves when the progress of civilization shall diminish the sources of her present supply.

Reading aloud.-A modern critic saysThe habit of reading well aloud should be encouraged in schools, both to discover whether the meaning be fully understood by the reader, and to produce an accomplishment of more extensive utility to others than even music, that of presenting the views of an author by reading, so as to give them all their force.

Sepulchral Arrangement.-In the East the difference between the sexes is observed in the grave. In family vaults there is generally a partition wall to divide the remains of the women from those of the men; and in Medina it is not allowed to a male pilgrim to enter the sepulchre in which repose the female members of the prophet's family.

Good Manners in Egypt.-In most Egyptian houses the ground floor belongs to the male portion of the family; the women are carefully boxed up in the upper stories. Thither no stranger of the ruder sex may venture; or even if invited so to do, he is bound to announce his approach by an audible exclamation of destur (by your leave).

On his

Anecdote of General Kosciusko. Kosciusko wished to send some bottles of good wine to a clergyman at Solothurn, and gave the commission to a young man of the name of Zeltner, and desired him to take the horse he himself usually rode. return Zeltner said that he never would ride his horse again, unless he gave him his purse at the same time. Kosciusko asking what he meant, he answered, "when a poor man on the road takes off his hat and asks charity, the horse immediately stands still, and won't stir till something is given to the petitioner; and as I had no money, I was obliged to make belief to give something, in order to satisfy the horse."