Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

her to be one belonging to a herd, which I previously understood were enclosed in a field near a mile distant. Alarmed at her appearance I went out in order to take her back; but as soon as I left the house, she ran before me apparently in the greatest concern, frequently looking back to see if I was following. In this manner she continued across several fields till she brought me to the brink of a deep and dangerous morass; where, to my great surprise, I beheld one of her associates nearly enveloped in the swamp underneath. The distressed animal, after much difficulty, was extricated from its perilous situation to the no small satisfaction of the other, which seemed to caress and lick it, as if it had been one of her own offspring.

Every observer of the animal cretion must be aware, what a regular degree of subordination exists among herds of cattle that have been long accustomed to ruminate together. The instinct of the cow, in this respect, is by no means the least predominant. When a farmer, makes his first selection, he, of course, has a great variety of the same species, and (if we may presume to judge from analogy) endued with a diversity of dispositions; hence, for some time it is entertaining to behold the many disputed points that arise among the candi

dates for precedence, before the
business can be amicably adjusted;
for it is very observable, they always
walk in lineal procession, preceded
by a chieftain, or leader, which is
unanimously acknowledged by the
whole herd. The rest follow in order,
according to their contested deci-
sions, each being most tenacious of
her allotted station; which did not
escape that accurate delineator of
nature, Bloomfield, who, in his
"Farmer's Boy," makes the follow-
ing beautiful allusion:
"The right of conquest all the law they

know:

Subordinate, they one by one succeed;
And one among them always takes the
lead:

Is ever foremost, wheresoe'er they stray,
Allowed precedence undisputed sway;
With jealous pride her station is main-

tained,
For many a broil that post of honour
gained."

But a tacit responsibility seems to devolve on their leader, for the care and welfare of the whole, which has been fully exemplified in the preceing anecdote: the concerned cow being the premier of the herd.

To account for this wonderful degree of instinct, in this part of the animal species, is beyond my penetration; I leave the subject for matured philosophy to investigate. Your's, &c.

J. HOLCROFT.

ON THE UTILITY OF COAL GAS LIGHT.

THE following details, relative to the coal gas light, one of the greatest improvements of which modern times can boast, are taken from an interesting Memoir read before the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, by Mr. Richard Gillespie, by whose publick spirit, and at whose works, this great experiment of permanently lighting an extensive manufactory by gas, was first undertaken in Scotland. The apparatus, made by

Balton and Watt, was fitted up at An.. derston the latter end of the summer of 1809, and Mr. Gillespie's works were illuminated in this manner at the beginning of November. Since that time some great improvements have been made and the whole now constitutes a very pleasing exhibition. Two iron retorts, of a semicylindrical form; each capable of containing about one cwt. of coal, yield at every charge 750 cubick feet of

gas, which, after being washed, so as to deprive it of any disagreeable smell, is conducted into a large cubical plate-iron gasometer, of a capacity equal to 1120 cubick feet. The gas evolved by the regular process of carbonization, during the day, is here stored up for use. From this magazine, which floats in a water cistern, a main pipe issues, which afterwards branches into innumerable ramifications, some of them extending several hundred feet under ground; thence to emerge diffusing over a multitude of apartments a kind of artificial day: so vivid is the illumination. The flame, however, though exceedingly bright, is very soft and steady, and free from that dazzling glare which has been so greatly complained of in the otherwise beautiful light of the Argand lamps. No trouble attends this mode of illumination; the occasional attendance of one man in the gashouse, to charge the retorts, and mend the fire, being all that is necessary. On turning a stop-cock,

1

any particular flame may be kindled immediately, and no trimming or snuffing is required; neither are any sparks thrown off, as from a burning wick: 1 1-3 cubick feet of gas yield the same quantity of light as a moulded candle of six in the pound, which is found, on the average, to last 2 1-2 hours. The contents of the gasometer are, therefore, equal to 900 such candles. To fill it requires three cwt. of coals, value at 6d. each cwt. 1s 6d. coal for heating the retorts during the composition, 18. Hence, for 2s. 6d. a quantity of light is procurable from coal gas, which obtained from candles would cost about 10%. But from the above charge for coal, we must deduct the whole expense of what goes into the retort, for this acquires additional value by being charred; and is eagerly bought up by the ironfounders. A large quantity of tar is also obtained in the condensing pit, as well as ammoniacal liquor, from both of which considerable returns may be reasonably expected.

MISCELLANY.

INK POWDER.

A report has been made to the French National Institute, on a memoir by M. Tarry, relative to the composition of writing ink. The author has succeeded in making an INK which cannot be destroyed by the acids or alkalies, and which has only the slight inconvenience of allowing its colouring matter to be deposited rather too easily. "The discovery of M. Tarry," says the reporter, "promises a great benefit to society; viz. the introduction of an ink, which, not being susceptible of being obliterated by the chymical agents at present known, will put an end to the falsification of writings, which is but too common."

PRESERVATIVE PLASTER PARIS.

A committee has been busily employed in examining a process of the late M. Bachelier, for the composition of a PRESERVATIVE PLAS

TER OF PARIS. Houses built of stone, are quickly covered with an earthy coating, of a dirty gray colour; and this first change is the cause of the deterioration which they soon afterwards undergo. A small kind of spider fixes his web in the hollows on the surface of the stone. These webs accumulate, and, with the dust which they collect, form the earthy crust just mentioned, in which lichens sometimes take root, and which naturally retain a constant humidity at the surface of

1

the stones; the frosts then produce considerable injury, and give occa sion for those raspings, which are, in themselves, a real deterioration. -A plaster, therefore, became a desideratum, which should fill up the inequalities of the stone, without making the angles look clumsy, or deadening the carvings, and which should resist rain and other effects of weather. The late M. Bachelier had made some interesting experiments on this subject; and the above committee, aided by his son, have succeeded in producing a plaster which has resisted the tests to which

they exposed it, and which gives fair grounds to expect that our buildings will, in future, be protected from the causes of decay above

enumerated.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR-A correspondent requests some of your readers will inform him of the best method of preparing the composition which is now used for VARNISHING COLOURED DRAWINGS AND PRINTS, so as to make them resemble paintings in oil.

I do not pretend to assert that the

following is the best method of preparing a composition for that purpose; but I have used it, and found it answer. Take of Canada balsam one ounce; spirit of turpentine two ounces; mix them together. Before this composition is applied, the drawing or print should be sized with a solution of isinglass in water; and, when dry, apply the varnish with a camel's-hair brush.

W. W.

Subterraneous Passage discovered. The subterraneous passage, by which the Roman emperours went privately from the palace of the Cesars, on Mount Celius at Rome, to the Flavain amphitheatre, has lately been discovered, besides a number of architectural fragments, capitals, cornices, and vases, the remains of its splendid decorations. Some fine

torsos have also been found, and a head of Mercury, which appears to have belonged to the statue in the garden of the pope, and now in the Chiaramonti museum. Several pipes and gutters for carrying off water were also discovered, and twenty rooms of very small dimensions, lighted only from the top. These are presumed to have been the fornices, frequently alluded to by Martial, Seneca, and Juvenal.

JOHN D.CASSINI.

He had such a turn for Latin

poetry, that some of his compositions were printed when he was only eleven years old. In 1652, he determined the apogee and eccentricity a planet from its true and mean place, a problem which Kebler had pronounced impossible. In 1653, he corrected and settled a meridian line on the great church of Bologna, on which occasion a medal was struck.

In 1666, he printed at Rome, a theory of Jupiter's satellites. Cassini was the first professor of the royal observatory in France. He made numerous observations, and in 1684, he discovered the four satellites of

Saturn; 1695, he went to Italy to examine the meridian line he had settled in 1653; and in 1700, he continued that through France which Picard had begun.

SIR ISAAC NEWTOΟΝ.

SIR Isaac had a great abhorrence of infidelity, and never failed to reprove those who inade free with Revelation in his presence, of which the following is an instance. Dr. Halley was sceptically inclined, and sometimes took the liberty of sporting with the Scriptures. On such an occasion sir Isaac said to him: "Dr. Halley, I am always glad to hear you when you speak about astronomy, or other parts of mathematicks, because that is a subject which you have studied, and well understand; but you should not tattle

1

of Chrirtianity, for you have not studied it; I have, and know you know nothing of the matter."

INDIAN COQUETRY.

The Chawanon Indians, inhabiting the lake Mareotti, and who are considered the most warlike and civilized of the American Indians, have a manner of courtship which we believe to be peculiar to themselves. When such of their young women as have pretensions to beauty, attain their twelfth year, which is the usual period of their marriage, they either keep themselvs quite secluded at home, or when they go out muffle themselves up in such a manner, that nothing is seen but their eyes. On these indications of beauty, they are eagerly sought in marriage, and those suitors who have acquired the greatest reputation as warriours or hunters, obtain the consent of the family. After this, the lover repairs to the cabin, where the beauty is lying enveloped on her couch. He gently approaches and uncovers her face, so that his person may be seen, and if this be to her mind, she invites him to lie down by her side; if not, she again conceals her face, and the lover retires. A husband has the privilege of marrying all his wife's sisters as they arrive at age, so that after, often before, his first wife is thirty, he has married and abandoned at least a dozen.

AN EXPERT MARKSMAN.

A late traveller, giving an account of the rostrated chœtodon fish, at Batavia, informs us that " it was first introduced to our notice by M. Hommel, governour of the hospital in that city. It frequents the sides of rivers in India in search of food. When it sees its prey, viz. a fly, on the plants which border the stream, it approaches in a very slow and cautious manner, till within four, five, or six feet of the object, and then rests a moment, perfectly still, with its eyes directed towards the fly.

When the fatal aim is taken, the fish shoots a single drop of water from its mouth with such dexterity, that it never fails to strike the fly into the water, where it soon becomes its prey The fish never exposes its mouth above the water."

DR. MOORE, father of the late heroick sir J. Moore, used to relate the following anecdote with great humour. A French student of medicine lodged in the same house, in London, with a man in a fever. This man was continually teased by the nurse to drink, although he nauseated the insipid liquors she offered him. At last, when she was more importunate than usual, he said to her: "For God's sake, bring me a salt herring, and I will drink as much as you please." The woman indulged him: he devoured the herring, drank plentifully, underwent a copious perspiration, and recovered: whereupon the French student inserted this aphorism in his journal; " A salt herring cures an Englishman in a fever."

On the student's return to France, he prescribed the same remedy to his first patient in a fever. The patient died: on which the student inserted in his journal the following

caveat:

"N. B. Though a salt herring cures an Englishman, it kills a Frenchman."

Two men happening to jostle each other in the streets, says one, " I never permit a blackguard to take'the wall."-" I do," said the other, and instantly made way.

A shabby beau (who now and then borrows a suit of his tailor, when he cannot afford to buy) appearing a few weeks ago in a suit of black, was asked by a person he met if he was in mourning for a friend? "Oh, no," says he, "I wear it because it is Lent."

[blocks in formation]

LINES ON THE DEATH OF HUGH MEYLER.

Written on Good Friday, 1809.

[By Joseph Blockett.] "Muse of sorrow, heavenly guest, Come, possess my aching breast! Quick my trembling hand inspire To touch with skill the hallowed lyre; The hallowed lyre, whose strains impart Comfort to the bleeding heart.

Alas! see where, in manhood's bloom,
A victim to the dreary tomb,
The parent's hope profoundly sleeps;
And see; oh see! what parent weeps:
Weeps o'er the plant he reared with pride;
Which scarcely blossomed e'er it died.

"Come then, soother sweet of grief,
Muse of sorrow, bring relief.
From thy solitary cell
Kindred notes of passion swell;
Notes, like Gilead's balmy power,
To assuage the anguished hour.

"But what sounds are those I hear,
Hovering on my listening ear?
Sure some heavenly minstrel brings
Solace from celestial strings:
Yes, I see, in yonder cloud
An angel strikes his harp aloud,
And with strains of soothing peace
Bids the muse of sorrow cease.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« VorigeDoorgaan »