denly disappeared. From the Glasgow newspapers, we find, that it was seen forty miles to the westward of Edinburgh, much about the same time; and, by accounts from Dundee, we learn that it was visible as far to the northward of this city, also about the same hour.

Oct. 18. A small shoal of herrings has made its appearance in the frith of Forth; the fishing is at present confined to the neighbourhood of Queensferry, the principal rendezvous of the

shoal.

20. The uncommon severity of the late gales at sea, cannot be better illustrated than by the statement of a remarkable fact that has just come to our knowledge. A Stormy Petrel, (one of the uncommon marine birds above mentioned,) had been driven by the tempest, so far inland, as to alight in the bleachfield at Roslin, about six miles from the frith. This was on the 18th inst. ; and as the gale had abated two days before, it is not unlikely that the poor bird had been forced much farther inland, and was then on its return towards the sea.It seemed exhausted with fatigue, and died soon after being taken up. It was sent to the editors of the Edinburgh Star, and was by them kindly communicated to the writer of this article. In the course of preserving it as a specimen, the intestines were found to be full of a blackish matter: the animal does not seem therefore to have perished for want, although it may possibly have swallowed unsuitable food.

P.S.-NARWHALS. For some time past, stuffed specimens, said to be male and female, of the Narwhal (Monodon Monoceros) have been exhibited in a sort of ambulatory museum (belonging to a Mr Sands from Northumberland) at the Head of Leith Walk. The larger specimen is 16 feet long, and has one tooth, or horn as it is generally called, project ing about 7 feet from the upper lip.

The smaller specimen is only 10 feet long, and has no tooth. Many Narwhals are taken every year in Davis' Straits and the Greenland seas.Those now exhibiting were brought from the latter place by a Shields whaler, in the course of the past summer. Considering the quantity of fat or blubber situated immediately below the skin, and firmly attached to it, the preserving and stuf fing of these Narwhals must have been a work of no common difficulty and labour; and considerable praise is certainly due to Mr Sands for having presented for the first time, to the inspection of the British Public, those curious members of the cetaceous tribe. But it is to be regretted that, in order to the improvement of their external appearance, these specimens have been considerably deteriorated in the eye of the naturalist: They seem to have been laid over with a coating of whitish oil-paint, and numerous dark spots appear then to have been superinduced, without due regard to the disposition, shape or delineation of the natural spots: The iris of the artificial eye has, very injudiciously, been painted of a bright yellow colour,-very different indeed from what prevails among the Ceta: in the Narwhal we can state upon good authority, the iris is of a chesnut colour. The long tooth of the large animal is situated on the left side of the upper jaw; the rudiments, or perhaps the remains, of another tooth exists on the right side. The long tooth has been loosed from its socket, and its weight ascertained to be 11 lbs. It is spirally striated, and the striae run in a direction from right to, left. It is alleged by the owners, that the smaller animal, said to be the female, never had any tooth or horn; and the exploded opinion that the female is always destitute of this weapon is confidently reported to the visitants of the museum. It may however merely be mentioned, that

amon

among the few specimens described by naturalists, in which both teeth have been found complete and of equal length, one happens to be a female: we refer to that figured in the Encyclopedie Methodique. From the circumstance of only one tooth being generally found complete, the narwhal very often gets the name of the Sea Unicorn; and, as an improvement on this name, the narwhals in question have been announced in the newspapers simply as "Unicorns." The unicorn is universally considered as the emblem of strength and agility, and is represented in paintings as partaking of the appearance of the horse and the stag. If the printed advertisements led any person to expect to behold some such animal at Sands's museum, they must have been greatly astonished when they were shown a whale! Many, we believe, are not aware that the unicorn of heraldry is entirely a fabulous animal; and that the Reem of Sacred Scripture, which our translators have rendered Unicorn, is by judicious expositors supposed to be the Rhinoceros.

Since we are upon the subject of Narwhals, we willingly embrace this opportunity of communicating a fact which must be somewhat interesting

ly one tooth or horn ; this was 27 inches in length, and spirally twisted, the striæ running from right to left, or according to the course of the sun. The upper part of the body of the animal was dusky, with still darker spots, not however very perceptible. The darkness gradually decreased downwards on the sides, and the spots then became more distinct., These spots were horizontal or longitudinal, but of no determinate shape. The belly was pure white. The pupil on the eye was black; the iris, chesnut; the cornea, white. The tail was 30 inches broad, very slightly forked; by no means deeply forked, as represented in Dr Shaw's figure of the Monodon in his General Zoology. In the stomach were some remains of animals of the Mollusca order. This is the second instance on record of a narwhal having been stranded on the British shores; this may therefore with propriety be marked as an occasional visitor of our seas.-Our information was derived from an able naturalist, the Rev. JOHN FLEMING, who inspected the animal on the spot soon after it came on shore.

Edinburgh, 26th Oct. 1808. N.

SIR,

A

at GLASGOW.

To the Editor.

N abundant supply of water has justly been considered a very great advantage to a city, but while it is confined to that obtained from pit-wells, great inconvenience arises to the inhabitants, in carrying it to houses; and in cases of accidental fire, the carriage of the water is a great hindrance to the exertions of the firemen, and thereby much increases the danger of the conflagration.

But when a town is supplied by means of pipes, the ease of obtaining water, by promoting cleanliness, must be of great advantage to the health

and

and comfort of the inhabitants, while the fire-plugs, and other conveniences, greatly facilitate the means of extinguishing accidental fire. It is therefore almost incredible to think, that the citizens of any large place should feel satisfied without so essential means of health and safety, which in general lies so easily within their reach.

Spring water has been very often used in preference to river water, for the purpose of supplying towns by means of pipes. But this preference was given merely from its apparently greater purity. For spring water, however pure to the eye, often contains foreign ingredients, hurtful to the human constitution: these ingredients, modern chemistry has enabled us to detect.

This subject will be well illustrated in a work speedily to be published, under the title of " An Analysis of the "pit-wells and mineral waters of "Glasgow and its vicinity, with ob"servations medical and economical, "by Dr URE, Professor of the An"dersonian institution, Glasgow."

But whether the foreign matter in spring water happen to be hurtful or not to the human constitution, yet river water, from its softness, is the fittest for washing, for culinary purposes, for the processes of bleaching, dying, and for manufactures.

In its usual state, however, river water contains certain earthy particles which give it a muddy, unpleasant appearance. In order to get rid of this, filtering stones and other contrivances have been long in use. But of late, in this part of the kingdom, the filtration of water on a more extensive scale has been a subject of much attention with bleachers, and has for several years past been success fully practised.

At Glasgow, filtration has lately been conducted on a very large scale at the Cranston Hill water works, for supplying that city from the west, executed under the direction of Mr

Robertson Buchanan, civil engineer. -There is reason to suppose that this is the first instance in Britain, of filtration being accomplished on so great a scale with sufficient purity. The effect is such, that though the Clyde, during floods, is very muddy the water, even at such times, is rendered as transparent as spring water. The construction of the filter is extremely simple, and might be easily adopted in any other situation where a large supply of pure water is required. The advantage of a plentiful supply of good water to bleachers, dyers, &c. begins already to be powerfully felt about Glasgow.

In order to procure good water, manufacturing establishments have of ten been erected in remote situations, labouring under great disadvantages, from want of hands, long carriage of goods, &c. Manufacturers are now convinced, that it is a very great advantage to have their works near the market. Hence cotton mills are almost entirely confined to the manufacturing towns. Those operations which depend on good water, such as bleaching, dying, and callicoe - printing, will of course also be brought to those towns where good water can with ease be procured. This will naturally have the effect of increasing the riches and prosperity of such places.

While the public are benefited by such undertakings, it is satisfactory to observe, that, when judiciously con ducted, the individuals more imme diately concerned receive ample returns for the capital which they em bark.

For example, every one knows the very great rise which has taken place in the shares of the New River company, where shares, which originally cost on ly one hundred, have risen to the normous sum of thirteen thousand pounds.

ACCOUNT of BOOKS committed to the Flames, suppressed, or censured. (Continued from p. 653.)

“ΟΝ

the Recall of the Jews: by Isaac la Peyrere, (without "name of city or printer,) 1643, "Svo." This work made a great noise when it first appeared, and the copies were stopt and suppressed by order of the magistrates. The author proves, that the Jews will regain possession of the Holy Land, and will be ruled by a more just and victorious king than their last princes; and this temporal king is to be the King of France, for many reasons: 1. Because he is his most Christian Majesty, and the eldest son of the Church: 2. Because it may be presumed, that if the kings of France have power to cure scro phalous sores which afflict the Jews in their body, they will also have the faculty of curing the inveterate maladies of their souls, which are unbelief and obstinacy: 3. Because the kings of France wear on their arms a fleur de lys, and the beauty of the church is compared, in scripture, to the beauty of lilies He reduced all religion to the belief in Jesus Christ, and thus hoped to reconcile, not only the Jews, but all the sects who had separated themselves from the church.

"The Manners of the Age, in dialogues, by M. de la Popliniere, with "indecent figures." This book, the existence of which seems doubtful, is said to have been found among the papers of M. de la Popliniere, who died in 1762; it was suppressed and carried off by order of the king, if we may believe the account given in the Secret Memoirs of the Republic of Letters, 15th July 1763. This infamous production would be one of the rarest books known, if it really existed. The account given is, that there were found only three copies, which were adorned with numerous and beauOctober 1808.

tiful plates. When this discovery was made, Mademoiselle Vaudi, one or the heirs, made a dreadful outcry, and said, that this diabolical production ought to be thrown into the flames. would require the concurrence of the The commissary remarked, that this other heirs; he proposed, therefore, that it should be put under seal, till which was done. The commissary some resolution had been formed, then mentioned the occurrence to M. ched an order from the king, enjoinde St Florentin: the minister dispat→ ing him to seize the work in name of liniere is given at length in Marmonhis Majesty. The character of Pop

tel's Memoirs.

"Principles of French Legislation, "proved by the monuments of the "history of that nation, with a re"ference to the affairs of the time.

1771, 8vo." This work, which relates to the business of the parliaments, has been severely proscribed, on ac

count of the freedom of its strictures upon the French constitution, and the royal authority. It appears from his statements, "that the French were to whom they gave the title of kings, originally a free people, elected chiefs,

either for the execution of laws established by themselves, or for leading them to war. These assemblies,

he states to have had the power of judging in all cases of revolt or treason, of regulating the whole internal government of the monarchy, and the imposition of taxes: the choice of peace and war, as well as the manner in which the war should be conducted, was determined by them. He proves that the States General exercised, in whole or in part, all these functions, till 1258, under the regency of the Dauphin, when the princes, taking advantage of public commotions, encroached successively upon them; that the last assemblage of the States, under Louis XIII,.in 1514, gave the most severe blow to French liberty;

but