Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, says, the word Catchpoll is from catch and poll, a sergeant or bumbailiff; but, if any conjecture

Fig. 2.

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be allowed, may it not be derived from catch and pole, the instrument being fixed to a long pole?

The "Cachipollis," described in Wiclif's New Testament, (Dedis of Apostles, c. xvi.,) were sergeants under the magistrates, but are thus described in the glossary: "Cacchepoles, bailiffes, lictors, from catch and pole, because these officers, in executing their office, lay hold of the man's neck."

M. Arago recommends that a small balloon, properly secured, armed with metallic points, and communicating with the ground by a rope covered with metallic wire, like a harp-string, should be kept permanently floating in the air at a considerable height over the spot which it is wished to preserve from the effects of lightning or hail; and he expects that by such an apparatus as this, a cloud might have its electric contents entirely drawn off without any damage being caused, or that, at least, the intensity of a hail-storm would be greatly diminished. The experiment is so simple that it is well worthy of a trial.—Galignani's Messenger.

Such irons appear to be still used by the Swedish and Danish watchmen; for the watchmen of Stockholm, like the brethren of Copenhagen, are described as perambulating the town at night, with a curious weapon, like a pitchfork, each side of the fork having a spring barb, used in securing a running thief by the leg. The employment of it requires some skill and practice, and constitutes no inconsiderable part of the art and mystery of thief-catching. For the preceding curiosities and their explanation, we are indebted to a communication to the Archæologia, vol. xxii.; by J. A. Repton, Esq. F.S. A.

Scientific Facts.

HAIL-STORMS PREVENTED.

BOTANICAL MICROSCOPE.

Ar the last monthly illustration of the Society of Arts, Mr. Quekett detailed some attractive facts respecting the application of Ross' oxyhydrogen microscope to botanical subjects. The lecturer pointed out, by the aid of numerous coloured drawings of the various sections, as well as specimens of numerous varieties of wood, their mechanical properties and organization. Some were so hard as to resist the action of an edged iron instrument, and others so soft as to be easily compressed by the hand; whilst a contrast as striking was seen in the colours. The tissue and organization of the various woods were next described. Rice-paper is made by the Chinese from a plant composed almost wholly of cellular tissue, and is removed from the tree like the unrolling of papyrus. Amongst various experiments, one was shewn with a cross-cut piece of wood, about two feet long by four in width, supported on four legs, and which, on being moistened, by the contraction of the wood forced itself forwards, the legs being so fixed as to prevent a retrograde movement. Various specimens of wood, as thin sections of bamboo cane, bird's-eye maple, fir, mahogany, &c., were exhibited by the oxyhydrogen microscope, and it was remarked that there was not the least mistiness or faintness of outline, so common in the application of this chemical agent to microscopic purposes.-Abridged from the Times.

M. ARAGO has proposed a plan for discharging clouds, in cases of storms, of the electric fluid which they contain, and thus preventing the frequent occurrence of hailstorms, which, it is known, are generally produced by two currents of clouds, charged with positive and negative electricity, crossing each other. It consists in an improvement upon Franklin's experiment of the kite, with which he obtained an electric spark from a cloud, and afterwards Dr. Romas, of Nerae, and Messrs. Lining and Charles, of the United States, produced electric flashes, three and four feet in length.

LEGUMINOUS PLANTS.

ON the 9th inst. Professor Johnson delivered to the Royal Society of Agriculture an interesting lecture on the leguminous plants, which he commenced by observing that, from the earliest period of history, or even tradition, the seeds of a tribe of plants known by the name of pulse had been used as food. They derive the term leguminosæ from the character of the seed-vessel, vulgarly called a pod, but by botanists a legume, the individuals varying from a diminutive vegetable to a stately tree. Amongst other peculiarities, they are very susceptible to

changes of temperature, and the inclination which is produced by the retraction of the stem, is called the sleep of plants. The most extensive tribe is the papilionaceous, so named from the resemblance of its flowers to the figure of a butterfly. Many of their seeds, as the bean and pea, contain much more nutriment than grain, and a variety called lentils is still more nutritious; but the laburnum and other poisonous varieties of cytisus belong to this class. Many of their productions are of great commercial importance, both in medicine and the arts. From a pea-plant (glycyrhiza glabra) is obtained the inspissated juice called liquorice. Manna is the production of another species common to Persia and Tartary; and gum tragacanth is obtained from another called the milk vetch. Dragons' blood and kino, celebrated for their astringency and value in dyeing, are the product of others; as also, the red and yellow sanderswood. Gum lac is obtained from a species of butea; indigo from several species of indigofera; and soy is the product of a species of dolichos-all of which are butterfly plants. Another extensive tribe of the leguminous plants is the mimosa, including the sensitive plant of our hothouses, and the acacias of our greenhouses and conservatories. Although the genera are small, the tribes are very numerous, as upwards of 400 varieties of acacias are known; and which, as a great many come from Australia, are likely to be considerably increased in number. One of their most important products is gum arabic, of which 450 tons are annually imported from the East Indies and the Levant. An extract from the bark, which is very astringent, is now, however, largely imported as a substitute for oak bark and other materials used in tanning.-Times.

New Books.

LITERARY CONGLOMERATE.

[THIS is a very amusing volume of some six hundred 66 pages, or a Combination of various Thoughts and Facts, on various Subjects," read by the author, Mr. B. R. Duncan, to the Literary Institution in Bath, the contents being-Essays on the Choice of Subjects in Painting; Foreign Travel; a Gentleman's Day in ancient Rome; Motives of War; on Hair; Human Drink, Smoking, and Snuff-taking; Somnambulism; Sculpture; Instinct; Migration; Voice of Birds; Spiders; Balance of Destruction and Preservation of Animals. The title of the work is by no means felicitous; the author tells us that he calls his work "Conglomerate" only because it is composed of various

not

to

subjects, but also because it is the detritus of various authors: good; but have not the million, for whom this book has many intrinsic attractions, a somewhat droll application of the term "conglomerate a strange confusion of ideas-an interpretation by no means characteristic of the well-arranged materials of the volume before us. Nevertheless, the author turns his "geological title" to playful account, dedicating the work to those eminent geologists, the Rev. Dr. Buckland, and W. Conybeare, observing :-"I have no doubt that your geological eyes will detect many slips and faults in my strata; and possibly you may have some difficulty about the chronology of some of my depositions, but I trust you will use the critical hammer with gentleness, and not consider all that I have collected as mere rubble." We add a few specimens.]

The

English Art.-A great advance in all the fine arts has been, within a few years, manifested among us. Sir Thomas Lawrence, in his first Address to the Royal Academy, says, "The rising school of England ought to do much, for it proceeds with great advantages. It has the soundest theory for its instruction, the brightest example for its practice, and the history of past greatness for its excitement." liberality with which noblemen and gentlemen allow their finest pictures to be publicly exhibited, the patronage of the arts displayed by King George the Fourth, in the establishinent of the National Gallery, have already a perceptible influence on the productions of our modern artists, and warrant our just anticipation of a brilliantly glorious day of good sense and good taste; when music, poetry, sculpture, and painting, shall all co-operate, in different ways, to one great and glorious end -the improvement, the gratification, and the exaltation of the best feelings of our nature.

Foreign Travel.-Would travellers give the public only such observations on men and things as their previous education and studies entitle them to speak of with judgment and taste, we should not have so many silly details of vagabond inanity. Had Burney criticised the governments, and Williams the laws of foreign countries, instead of their music and paintings, the world would probably owe them little obligation for their remarks. I remember an Oxford cook, who published his travels in France, and wisely confined his criticism to the markets and the kitchen. As travellers write best on their own favourite topics, I think Mr. Wyndham did very wisely in selecting the best from each traveller in his Compilation of Travels in Spain.

A Gentleman's Day in Ancient Rome.Having now traced the steps of my Roman from his up-rising to his going to bed, I will consider in what particulars he may be said to differ and in what to agree with a modern gentleman in London; for we must not forget that Rome was the luxurious capital of an extensive empire.

His hours of rising were earlier. As many a Roman was probably like Horace,

Parcus Deorum cultor et infrequens,

His

I will say nothing of their devotion as a subject of comparison. His visits to the forum must be paralleled by our London gentleman's attendance on the House of Commons, or occasional visits to the lawcourts or the club-rooms for news. visits of ceremony and to friends were at a much earlier hour than those of modern days: our cricket, tennis, and billiards, must be set off with his sports in the areola; and our horse-races against the sports of the circus. Their theatres were a mid-day amusement, and the dramas, represented there, more resembled our operas than our plays.

Our breakfast and luncheon, corresponding to the Roman dinner, are like his comparatively slight repasts. Our use of linen precludes the necessity of frequenting the bath, as he did, every day; but our dinners, which follow, are not more luxurious; though, to our ideas, they may be much more enjoyable in point of taste and comfort. The Roman position in beds would be found very unsuitable to our present mode of eating: as they had no knives or forks, they helped themselves, as the Turks do at present, with their fingers. Their cookery and wines, however different from ours, were probably no less gratifying to their palates. Their dancing, and music, and dice, correspond to our evenings'

amusements.

Thus, we see that, due allowance being made for variety of climate, religion, and government, the life of a Roman gentleman was but little different from that of a gentleman in our own metropolis.

By closer comparison, a still more minute resemblance might undoubtedly be shewn between the ancient and modern Romans than with Englishmen. Printed books and newspapers render it unnecessary for multitudes to assemble in public porticos and squares for daily information of passing events. The absence of commerce may have given to ancient Rome rather the air of modern Paris than of London. Religion wore an air of pomp which Protestantism has renounced, but to which modern Rome adheres. The general intent of feasting and public exhibitions being everywhere the same, namely, to indulge appetite, and kill time and thought,

a general resemblance in the modes of effecting these purposes is observable in all countries. Extended science, and art, and mechanical skill have, however, given splendour and variety to the establishments of our own times; and the advance of science and literature of the present day has added dignity of thought and refined intellect to entertainments altogether new, which the scientific lectures frequently delivered within the walls of numerous Institutions abundantly exemplify.

Periodicals.

THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. No. 139.

Public Characters.

66

WE resume (from page 63) our notes from Lord Brougham's masterly Sketches, with Lord Tenterden. "Like most English lawyers, he married early in life, and lived wholly in his own family; associating less with his brethren at the bar than any man of the day. But his hours of relaxation were not passed in idleness. The classical acquirements, in which he surpassed most men, formed the solace of his leisure; and, to the end of his life, he not only had a high relish for such pursuits, but wrote Latin verses with peculiar eloquence and perfect ease. What is far less rarely met with,-especially added to such tastes and such acquirements, he was well versed in natural philosophy, particularly in the various branches of mechanical science. Nor, did any one out of the trade better understand all the details of machinery, in examining which his accurate mind took a peculiar pleasure." Of Lord Tenterden's singular defect, the Reviewer says: his temper was naturally bad: it was hasty, it was violent; forming a marked contrast to the rest of his mind. But, it was singular with what success he fought against this, and how he mastered the rebellious part of his nature. It was, indeed, a study to observe this battle, or rather victory; for the conflict was too successful to be apparent on many occasions." On the Bench it rarely broke out; but after such an occasion, "it was an edifying sight to observe Lord Tenterden, whose temper had been visibly affected during the trial, addressing himself to the points of the cause, with the same perfect calmness and indifference with which a mathematician pursues the investigation of an abstract truth; as if there were neither the parties nor the advocates in existence, and only bent upon the discovery and elucidation of the truth." It is allowed that his eminence as a judge was great: "yet it is certain that, for some time, he formed no very remarkable exception to the rule. He

took no general and comprehensive view of a case; he examined its details part by part; he did not, like a leader, get up on an eminence, and from thence survey the subject in all its bearings; nor was he aware of the relative importance of its different portions. But, in order to perform his office, he would select one particular compartment, and he would choose not the most difficult. To this he bent his attention, and seemed a good deal troubled, and even impatient, if it were drawn away to other points not within the limits which he had chosen to trace. It is remarkable, not only how this habit wore off, instead of being confirmed and extended; but also how great a start he made in improvement after he had been five or six years chief of his court; and, on the occasion of a long and severe illness, that seemed to render his retirement from the Bench inevitable. His temper was softened; his attention became more comprehensive; he viewed things more upon an enlarged scale; his industry was not relaxed, increased it could not be; and, during the last seven or eight years of his time, he exhibited a very eminent instance of great judicial capacity. At all times, his law was safe, and accurate, and ready; but he could now deal far more ably with facts. He never was without great influence on the jury, but as he could now enlighten their minds more fully, his weight was increased." To witness his scientific acquirements, as displayed in presiding over a complicated patent case," was a very great treat, whether to a lawyer or a man of science. It was a singular exhibition of legal, combined with mechanical, skill,— each keeping within its own proper sphere, but each conspiring with the other to obtain the full investigation of the cause in all its bearings, and its clear elucidation to the jury. He it was, too, who at first leant against the absurd, unjust, and mischievous refinements, by which almost all former judges conceived it fit that they should display a constant acuteness to defeat the claims of a Patentee, upon the unreflecting notion of his right being a monopoly, and the public interest being damaged by it; wholly forgetting that his genius and labour had been first given to the public in reversion to purchase the temporary possession of that monopoly." Of the few defects of Lord Tenterden, the greatest was his different measure of patience and courtesy for different classes,even for different individuals.

"It could

not be said of him that he was no respecter of persons:" though his conduct, in this respect, was confined to the mere accident of outward behaviour and manners; nothing beyond that. "When on one occa

ad

sion, he had, with some roughness, dressed to a witness, who was looking another way, an advice not unusual with him, and not very delicately couched, 'to hold up his head, and speak out like a man,' it was amusing to observe the fall of both countenance and voice when the witness turned upon the judge the face of the Chairman of the Honourable EastIndia Company."

To the portraiture of Lord Tentenden succeeds that of Lord Ellenborough, whence we have only room for an anecdote or two. "He had no mean power of ridicule-as playful as a mind, more strong than refined, could make it; while, of sarcasm he was an eminent professor, but of the kind which hacks, and tears, and flays its victims, rather than destroys by cutting keenly. His interrogative exclamation in Lord Melville's case, when the party's ignorance of having taken accommodation out of the public fund was alleged

indeed, was proved-may be remembered as very picturesque, though, perhaps, more pungent than dignified. •Not know money? Did he see it when it glittered? Did he hear it when it chinked?' On the Bench, he had the very well-known, though not very eloquent, Henry Hunt before him, who, in mitigation of some expected sentence, spoke of some who 'complained of his dangerous eloquence.' 'They do you great injustice, sir,' said the considerate and merciful Chief-Justice, kindly wanting to relieve him from all anxiety on this charge. After he had been listening to two Conveyancers for a whole day of a long and most technical argument, in silence, and with a wholesome fear of lengthening it by any interruption whatever, one of them, in reply to a remark from another judge, said: 'If it is the pleasure of your lordship that I should go into that matter.' 'We, sir,' said the Chief-Justice, 'have no pleasure in it any way.' When a favourite special pleader was making an excursion, somewhat unexpected by his hearers, as unwonted in him, into a pathetic topic—' An't we, sir, rather getting into the high sentimental latitudes now?'"

The two distinguished Scottish lawyers, Erskine and Blair, follow: of the former it is felicitously recorded: "He was, in all respects, one, the charms of whose social converse were unbounded, of a demeanour that every instant shewed his noble birth; in manners, of perfect ease, polish, and grace; of a temper the most sweet, and of spirits the most joyous and gay, without ever being boisterous, turbulent, or obtrusive; of conversation the most various, never refusing a serious turn, though delighting in every species of mirth, from

refined comedy to broad farce-he was the life and soul of every circle with which he mixed. Affable to those below him; full of firmness and independence to his superiors; altogether, without a particle of envy, or jealousy, or gall, in his whole composition-no wonder that he was the darling of the age and the country in which he lived; and was most happily and most justly described by one who knew him well, as the best beloved man in all Scotland.'".

Mr. Blair, so long SolicitorGeneral, and afterwards Lord President of the Court of Session, is characterized of an indolent nature; although "his indolence was rather the vis inertia that often attends genius, than the ordinary listlessness or aversion to labour, that marks little minds." Such were his earnestness, gravity, and sustained dignity, that his sway over the Bench was supreme. "And there are many now alive who may recollect, that when the Court found themselves compelled to decide against him, they faultered, paused, would fain have avoided the hard necessity,-seemed distrustful of their own opinion, and all but apologized for taking so extraordinary a liberty with such a great legal authority."

The sketches of English characters are then resumed with a portrait more historically attractive than its immediate predecessors-that of "a distinguished person, who presided over the councils of this country for a longer period than any other minister, excepting Walpole and

Pitt; and for a period incomparably more glorious, in all that is commonly deemed to constitute national renown.

"Lord Liverpool was Prime-minister of England for fifteen years, after having filled, in succession, almost every political office, from Under-secretary of State upwards; and passed his whole life, from the age of manhood, in the public service, save the single year that followed the death of Mr. Pitt." Then follows a rapid sketch of this eventful ministry, "in which party ran higher and took a far more personal turn than at any other period of our political history;" whence it is scarcely adapted for our pages, save in this singular coincidence: "having signalized his outset in political life, by a supposition which he propounded as possible-a march to Paristhis was then deemed so outrageous an absurdity, that it became connected with his name as a standing topic of ridicule; yet he lived to see the impossibility realized, was Prime-minister when the event happened, and did not survive the dynasty

The late Lord Kinnaird, in the House of Commons, himself amongst the most quick and delightful, as well as honourable, of men.

which he had mainly contributed to restore."

Another extract, and we pause; and surely, in this there is "more than meets the eye." Having spoken of the personal good fortune of Lord Liverpool, in escaping the vulgar outcry against the unpopular acts of his administration, the Reviewer adds: "Such was the happy lot of Lord Liverpool; such are the comforts which a respectable mediocrity of talents, with its almost constant companion, an extreme measure and discretion in the use of them, confers upon its possessor in lieu of brilliant reputation, with its attendant detraction and hate. While the conqueror mounts his triumphal car, and hears the air rent with the shouts of his name, he hears, too, the malignant whisper appointed to remind him, that the trumpet of fame blunts not the tooth of calumny; nay, he descends from his eminence when the splendid day is over, to be made the

Elsewhere, in this Sketch, there occur a few

piquant observations, which we cannot resist quoting,

on account of the experience of their writer: the passage is a lesson for parliamentary wits.—“ A wit, though he amuses for the moment, unavoidably gives frequent offence to grave and serious men, who don't think public affairs should be lightly handled, and are constantly falling into the error, that, when a person is arguing the most conclusively, by shewing the gross and ludicrous absurdity of his adversary's reasoning, he is jesting and not arguing, while the argument is, in reality, more close and stringent, the more he shews the opposite picture to be grossly ludicrous, that is, the more effective the wit becomes. But, though all this is perfectly true, it is equally certain that danger attends such courses with the common run of plain men..... Nor, is it only by wit that genius offends: flowers of imagination, flights of oratory, great passages, are more admired by the critic than relished by the worthy baronets who darken the

porch of Boodle's-chiefly answering to the names

of Sir Robert and Sir John; and the solid traders,the very good men who stream along the Strand from 'Change towards St. Stephen's Chapel, at five o'clock, to see the business of the country done by the Sovereign's servants. A pretty long course of observation on these component parts of Parliamentary audience, begets some doubt if noble passages (termed 'fine flourishes'), be not taken by them as personally offensive." The examples are smartly told-"such fine passages as Mr. Canning often indulged himself, and a few of his hearers with; and which certainly seemed to be received as an insult by whole benches of men accustomed to distribute justice at Sessions. These worthies, the dignitaries of the empire, resent such flights as liberties taken with them; and always say, when others force them to praise-' Well, well-but it was out of place. We have nothing to do with King Priam here-or with a heathen god, such as Eolus; those kind of folk are very well in Pope's Homer and Dryden's Virgil; but, as I said to Sir Robert, who sat next me, what have you or I to do with them matters? I like a good, plain man of business, like young Mr. Jenkinson, a man of the pen and desk, like his father before him—and who never speaks when he is not wanted:-let me tell you, Mr. Canning speaks too much by half. Time is short-there are only twenty-four hours in the day, you know.' This is a delicious morceau, quite à la Tomkins and Jenkins.