o'clock, however, an unusual number of falling stars were observed in various parts of the heavens. Statistics of Crime. Of the French population, it is estimated that annually one individual out of every 4,460 inhabitants is tried for some crime; that of 100 tried, 61 is the regular proportion of the condemned. From a table of the number of the murderers, it appears that there were, in 1826, 241; in 1827, 234; in 1828, 227; and in 1829, 231.

Indian Coal.-An examination of several varieties of Indian coal was laid before the Asiatic Society of Calcutta at their meeting on the 8th of June. The coals of that country differ principally from those of Europe in the quantity of earthern ash which they leave behind on burning, and which in the best English pit coal does not exceed one or two per cent. The Chinese coal contains very little volatile matter, and consequently burns slowly and without flame; it is therefore unfit for steam engines, but it seems well adapted for purposes to which coke would be applied.

Atmospherical Phenomena.-In New Grenada, from the 11th of December, 1808, to the end of January 1809, the disk of the sun at his rising appeared pale, and totally divested of its dazzling splendor, so that it was often mistaken for the moon. However, after gaining a slight elevation, it reassumed its ordinary aspect. Both in the morning and evening, it often appeared tinged with a slight shade of rose-colour or light green, and sometimes of a bluish grey, nearly resembling the hue of steel. The cold, during the whole of this time, was more sensibly felt than

general; and frequently in the morning the plains in the neighbourhood of Bogota were covered with a hoar frost, which nipped the tender shoots of plants, a circumstance before unknown in this district within the memory of man. The sky was constantly clothed with a transparent haze, uniformly extended, and continuing during the day as well as the night. This haze produced none of those coloured halos, which are generally observed on such occasions surrounding the sun and moon. It concealed all stars below the fourth magnitude. The air was constantly free from moisture, and generally calm ; and the winds which blew at short intervals, came always from the south. This phenomenon was observed at Pasto Popayan, Neba Tunja, and Santa Martha, that is, from the first to the twelfth degree of south latitude.

Advantages of Rail-Roads.Before the establishment of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, there were twenty-two regular and about seven occasional extra coaches between those places, which, in full, could only carry per day 688 persons. The railway, from its commencement, carried 700,000 persons in eighteen months being an average of 1,070 per day. It has not been stopped for a single day. There has occurred but one fatal accident on it in eighteen months. The fare by coach was 10s. inside, and 5s. outside-by railway it is 5s. inside, and 3s. 6d. outside. The time occupied in making the journey by coach was four hours-by railway it is one hour and three-quarters. All the coaches but one have ceased running, and that chiefly for the

conveyance of parcels. The mails all travel by the railway, at a sav ing to government of two-thirds of the expense. The railway coaches are more commodious than others. The travelling is cheaper, safer, and easier. A great deal of traffic, which used to go by other roads, comes now by railway; both time and money are saved, though the length of the journey may be often increased. The proportion of passengers carried by railway, over those carried by coach, has been as twenty-two to ten, in winter, and seventeen or eighteen to ten in summer. A regiment of soldiers has been carried by the railway from Manchester to Liverpool in two hours. Gentlemen's carriages are conveyed on trucks by the railway. The locomotives travel in safety after dark. The rate of carriage of goods is 10s. per ton; by canal it used to be 15s. per ton. The time occupied in the journey by railway is two hours; by canal it is twenty hours. The canals have reduced their rates 30 per cent. Goods delivered in Manchester the same day they are received in Liverpool. By canal they were never delivered before the third day. By railway, goods, such as wines and spirits, are not subject to the pilferage which existed on the canals. The saving to manufacturers in the neighbourhood of Manchester, in the carriage of cotton alone, has been 20,000l. per annum. Some houses of business save 500l. a-year in carriage. Persons now go from Manchester to Liverpool and back in the same day with great ease. Formerly they were generally obliged to be absent the greater part of two days. More persons now travel on their own business. The

railway is assessed to the parochial rates in all the parishes through which it passes; though only thirtyone miles, it pays between 3,000l. and 4,000l. per annum in parochial rates. Coal-pits have been sunk, and manufactories established on the line, giving great employment to the poor; manufactories are also erected on the line, giving increased employment, and thus reducing the number of claimants for parochial relief. The railway pays onefifth of the poor-rates in the parishes through which it passes; fresh coal-mines sunk, owing to facilities of carriage, and price reduced. It is found advantageous for the carriage of milk and garden produce; arrangements about to be made for milk to be carried fifteen miles at 1s. for ten gallons, (i. e. less than one farthing per quart). A great deal of land on the line has been let for garden ground, at increased rents. Residents on the line find the railway a great convenience, by enabling them to attend to their business in Manchester and Liverpool with ease, at little expense. No inconvenience is felt by residents from smoke or noise; and, on the contrary, great advantage is experienced by means of travelling, to and fro, distances of ten miles in half an hour for 1s. and without any fatigue. The engines only burn coke. The value of land on the line has been considerably enhanced by the operation of the railway; land cannot be purchased but at a large increase in price. It is much sought after for building, &c. The railway company, in their late purchases, have been obliged to pay, frequently, double the price they originally paid for their land. A great deal of land

has been sold for building, at three times its former value. Much waste land on the line has been taken into cultivation, and yields a good rent.

European Population.-In Prussia, the number of marriages was greatly increased after the expulsion of the French. During the years 1817, 1818, and 1819, one person was married in 98; in the subsequent years, the numbers again fell to one in 108, one in 111, and one in 118. In France, from the year 1815 to 1822, the number of marriages was much less than before the revolution, although the population was greater by several millions. After 1817, the number of annual marriages increased by about 8,000, and continued stationary at that rate till 1821; but in 1822, after the evacuation of the country by foreign troops, the number quickly rose by 20,000, and, in the ensuing year, even by 40,000. It again declined during the administration of Villèle, and increased after the overthrow of his ministry. Even in Russia, from 70,000 to 80,000 couples less than usual were married in 1812. The proportion of deaths among children under five years is also remarkable, as it seems to keep pace with the degree of education and comfort of the inhabitants. It is smallest in the large towns, and would be smaller still if it were not for those who die in workhouses and hospitals, deserted by their parents. The degree of fertility of marriages seems to vary between 3,500 and 5,500 children, to 1,000 couples. From an average of more than 77,000,000 births, and also 17,000,000 of marriages, all extending over a period of several years, the following results have

the two Sicilies and Zealand being the extremes. Marriages appear to be less prolific as the countries lie nearer to the north. A fourth point of importance in these investigations is the growing excess of males over females since the gene. ral peace, which, if correctly stated, is not a little alarming, and seems to make a periodical return of war an indispensable evil. Thus, in Russia, the increase of males over females, in fifteen years, was 804,453; in France, 347,254; in Prussia, 69,764; in Naples, 25,796; in Bavaria, 8,398; in Bohemia, 69,172; in Sweden, 15,195; in Wurtemberg, 6,877; in Hesse, 3,361; in Nassau, 6484;-briefly, ina total population of 101,707,212, an excess of 1,356,754 males. If this proportion be applied to all Europe, with a population of 215,000,000, the excess of the males would amount, in the same period of peace, to 2,700,000. In the southern provinces of Russia, near the Caucasus, in the two Americas, and the Cape of Good Hope, the disproportion is still greater.

feet. The inhabitants at first thought it was snow, but on examination it appeared to have the properties of cotton, having, on being torn, the same tenacity; but on being put into a vessel filled with water, it assumed the consistence of rosin. On being put to the fire in its primitive state, it burnt and sent forth a flame like spirits of wine; but in its resinous state it boiled on the fire without be coming inflamed, probably because it was mixed with some portion of the snow from which it had been taken. After a more minute examination, the rosin had the colour of amber, was elastic like Indian rubber, and smelt like prepared oil, mixed with wax."

Spontaneous Combustion.-The German papers contain the following remarkable intelligence, dated from the Lake of Geneva, August 18:"The extraordinary heat which has prevailed, almost without interruption, for nine weeks, has produced phenomena in the countries bordering our lake to which there is no parallel on record. At Geneva, a spontaneous combustion took place in the churchyard of Plain Palais, though in a rather damp plain (plana palus). The high grass on the graves, the cypress, and fir-trees, took fire, and it was necessary to bring the engines to extinguish it, which was effected, but not without difficulty. A more remarkable event took place in Savoy, near the village of Magland (province of Faucigny). All at once the alarm-bell was sounded, not only in the village, but the whole surrounding country, and in the whole valley, to summon the inhabitants with all speed to extinguish a dangerous fire, of a kind hitherto unheard of; for it was not houses, or trees, or heath

that was burning, but the roots of the trees, two feet under the ground. This strange fire began at Seine (in the commune of Arrache): nothing appeared on the surface; the furze and bushes were untouched, till at once several trees fell, and were then consumed by the fire that burnt from their roots. The people, indeed, felled the wood, that the fire might not spread, and would willingly have turned up the ground to extinguish the fire that was burning the roots; but, in the terrible drought, where were they to get water? This subterraneous fire, therefore, consumed 250 acres of fine forest. The fear of the subterraneous fire had such an effect on the inhabitants, that many villages, (for instance, Colsane) were wholly deserted : and as the people were also afraid of going into the forest, they remained exposed to the scorching rays of the sun (generally 40° of Reaumur) in the naked plain, where the wells began to dry up. This subterraneous fire is doubtless closely connected with the flames which at the same time issued from the earth in several places in Lausanne. The rain which came a few days ago, and considerably lowered the temperature, seems to have checked this fire, though many persons fear that the rain was by no means of sufficiently long continuance to penetrate so deep into the earth as to remove all danger of the fires beginning again on the return of hot and dry weather, such as seems to be setting in."

Improvement of the Navigation of the Rhine.-A great improvement in the navigation of the Rhine has been effected by the ex plosion of the rocks forming the well known danger of the passage called the Bingen-loch, between

Coblentz and Mentz, which was happily effected in the presence of prince Frederick of Prussia, and a great concourse of spectators, the rock being bored in different places, charged with powder, and fairly blown out of the water. This interesting spectacle lasted two hours. The vessels on the Rhine were decorated with the Prussian flag and innumerable other colours, and the shores lined with music and rejoicing multitudes. Every trace of danger is now obviated: steamers and ships deeply laden can now pass, notwithstanding the lowness of the water, during the heat of the summer.

French Budgets.-The "Quotidienne" gives the following table of the annual budgets of France from the year 1801, said to be drawn from official docu

The "Quotidienne" adds, that the above sums only represent the regular budgets, but in order to form a just estimate of how much the revolution of July had cost the country, the loans already contracted, and the deficit concealed by a large issue of treasury bills should be taken into account.

Physiological Phenomenon.-A patient in the hospital Della Vita, at Bologna, is subject, every third day, to violent convulsions, during the continuance of which, he loses entirely the use of all his senses, and can neither hear, see, nor smell; his hands also become so firmly clenched that it would be impossible to open them without breaking the fingers. Nevertheless, Dr. Ciri, the physician, under whose charge he is placed, has discovered that the epigastric region, at about two fingers-breadth above the navel, receives all the impressions of the senses. If the patient be spoken to, while the finger is placed on this spot, he gives answers, and, on being desired, opens his hands of his own accord. If any substance or matter is placed there, he can describe its form and quality, its colour and smell. As long as the finger is kept on the stomach, the convulsion gradually diminishes till it entirely disappears; but if the finger be placed on the heart, the convulsion returns with increased violence, and continues as long as the finger is kept in that position. If a flute be played while the finger is kept on the stomach, the patient hears the music; but if the finger be taken for an away instant, and placed on the heart, and then taken back again to its former position, the man asks why they play by intervals, though the flute has never ceased.

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