Selection from such parts of that Gentleman's Papers as relate to the War in Italy, and the occupation of Sicily by the British. This work will comprise Letters from many distinguished Characters.

We understand that that part of Mr. Dibdin's "Tour," which relates to the account of Literary Characters, Booksellers, Printers, &c. at Paris, has been translated by Mr. Crapelet, author of the "Souvenirs de Londres," and a printer of great celebrity; who has added notes and anecdotes.

M. Simonde de Sismondi, the well known author of the History of the Italian Republics, is engaged in a work of the first importance, the want of which has been long and universally acknowledged -A Complete History of the French Nation. The patience and sagacity display ed by the author in his multifarious researches, his perspicuous style and excellent arrangement, and above all the spirit of liberty which never ceases to animate him, afford abundant proof that, if he lives to complete his design, he will raise a literary monument worthy of his own reputation, and of the great nation whose deeds he is about to commemorate.

M. Lartique has executed a map of France, in relief, on a scale of 18 lines to a degree, with all the details. The basins of the rivers are distinctly shewn, also the chains of mountains, and the heights of their summits, all with scrupulous exact ness. The sea-coasts are also laid down according to their elevations. The same person has executed the Gulph of Mexico on the scale of an inch to a degree. 2. The Archipelago of the Mediterranean. 3. Europe, &c. &c. all in relief.

LIVERPOOL ATHENAUM.

Moses Samuel, esq. of Bold-street, Liverpool, has presented to the Library of the Athenæum a Manuscript Pentateuch, or Sacred Law of the Jews. This singular curiosity is of very great value, and beauLifully written on a roll of fine vellum, four inches wide, and upwards of forty-five feet long; it is attached at each end to an ivory roller, and the whole is enclosed in a splendid case of crimson velvet. A special meeting of the committee was summoned for the purpose of receiving this valuable present; and an ark was ordered to be prepared for its preservation, under Mr. Samuel's directions. Rich as this library has always been in literary treasures, it is now indebted to the generosity of Mr. Samuel for its greatest rarity.

an appendix to the two volumes already published. After noticing the Egyptian modes of writing in hieroglyphics, and in what has been thought alphabetical or hiératique, he comes to the conclusion, that the Egyptian MSS. of the second kind are not alphabetical. 2ndly. That the second mode of writing is only a simple modification of the hieroglyphic, and differs only in the form of the signs used. 3dly, That the second species is the hiératique of Greek authors, and should be regarded as a hieroglyphic tachygraphy. 4thly. That the hieratic characters are signs of things, and not of sounds. M. Champollion has endeavoured to find the numerical signs in this species of writing; and he was not a little surprised to discover that some of the characters corresponded with the cyphers of the Hindoos and Arabs, and like them derive a value from position.

EARLY TALENT.

At Copenhagen, is the youngest female writer, probably, now living. Her name is Virgilia Christiana Lund, and she is not above ten years of age. Last year she published a family picture," Clotilda, or Two for One ;" and lately she has published a small dramatic piece, called “ Infidelity detected."

THE UNICORN.

Mr. Campbell (the missionary) has kindly favoured us with the following description of the head of a very singular animal which he has just brought from the interior of Africa. We also have bad an opportunity of seeing it, and fully agree with Mr. Campbell, that the animal itself must have answered the description of the Reem or Unicorn, which is frequently mentioned in Scripture.

"The animal," says Mr. Campbell, "was killed by my Hottentots, in the Mashow country, near the city of Mashow, about two hundred miles N. E. of New Lattakoo, to westward of Delago Bay. My Hottentots never having seen or heard of an animal with one horn of so great a length, cut off its head, and brought it bleeding to me upon the back of an ox. From its great weight, and being about twelve hundred miles from the Cape of Good Hope, I was obliged to reduce it by cutting off the under-jaw. The Hottentots cut up the rest of the animal for food, which, with the help of the natives, they brought on the backs of oxen to Mashow. The horn, which is nearly black, is exactly three feet long, projecting from the forehead about nine or ten inches above the nose. From the nose to the ears measured ROYAL ACADEMY OF INSCRIPTIONS. three feet. There is a small horny proAt a late meeting, M. Champollion pre- jection of about eight inches immediately sented to the Academy a part of his work behind the great horn, designed for keepon Egyptian writings, designed to forming fast or steady whatever is penetrated

by

Literature and Science.

ARTS AND SCIENCES.

FORMATION OF MISTS IN PARTICULAR

SITUATIONS.

By Sir Humphrey Davy, Bart. All persons who have been accustomed to the observation of Nature, must have frequently witnessed the formation of mists over the beds of rivers and lakes in calm and clear weather after sun-set; and whoever has considered these phenomena in relation to the radiation and communication of heat and nature of vapour, since the publication of the researches of MM. Rumford, Leslie, Dalton, and Wells, can hardly have failed to discover the true cause of them. As, however, I am not aware that any work has yet been published in which this cause is fully discussed, and it involves rather complicated principles, I shall make no apology for offering a few remarks on the subject to the Royal Society.

As soon as the Sun has disappeared from any part of the globe, the surface begins to lose heat by radiation, and in greater proportion as the sky is clearer; but the land and water are cooled by this operation in a very different manner; the impression of cooling on the land is limited to the surface and very slowly transmitted to the interior; whereas, in water above 40° Fahrenheit, as soon as the upper stratum is cooled, whether by radiation or evaporation, it sinks in the mass of fluid, and its place is supplied by warmer waters from below; and till the temperature of the whole mass is reduced nearly to 40° F. the surface cannot be the coolest part. It follows, therefore, that where. ever water exists in considerable masses, and has a temperature nearly equal to that of the land, or only a few degrees below it, and above 45° F. at sun-set, its surface during the night, in calm and clear weather, will be warmer than that of the contiguous land; and the air above the land will necessarily be cooler than that above the water; and when they both contain their due proportion of aqueous vapour, and the situation of the ground is such as to permit the cold air from the land to mix with the warmer air above the water, mist or fog will be the result; which will be so much greater in quantity, as the land surrounding or inclosing the water is higher, the water deeper, and the temperature of the water, which will coincide with the quantity or strength of vapour in the air above it, greater.

STAINED GLASS.

A Correspondent, in the Literary Gazette, states, that "the art of painting on glass has long been an object of attention, but may be said to have remained in a continued infancy till within these few years. It has often been a subject of regret that the art was lost, but if we may

found our opinion on the antient specimens which still remain, we should be led to conclude, that the art never attained any thing near the perfection to which it has lately been brought.

"The specimens which still exist of Queen Elizabeth's time, are formed like Mosaic, by various pieces of glass being joined together with lead. But these, from their mechanical construction, scarcely deserve the appellation of paintings.

"Another method, which has been much practised in a neighbouring country, is the following:-A plate of glass is painted upon after the usual manner, and protected from the action of the air, by having a thin plate of clear glass placed before, and a ground plate behind it. But the colours of specimens formed after this manner, though they may, for a short time, put forth the most brilliant appearance, have, nevertheless, been found, in the sequel, to be even more evanescent than those upon canvass.

"The last method, and that which, indeed, all others have had in view, though they have never been able to accomplish their object, is, to paint the glass, and, by afterwards heating it in a furnace, to incorporate the colours with the glass itself, so that one could not be destroyed without the destruction of the other. But it was found by experiment, that the common colours could not be brought to bear the action of fire, and, consequently, the chemists have, for a great length of time, been employed in examining various minerals and metals, with the view of obtaining from them the colours which they were in quest of, reasonably concluding, that if they could obtain colours from these materials, the only effect which they would experience from the action of fire would be, that of embedding them in, or with the glass itself, in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of an after-separation. This desirable object has, we are led to believe, at last been accomplished, by Mr. and Mrs. Pearson, who are now exhibiting paintings ou glass in vitrified colours, which do great honour to the art, if not to the nation. Independently of the patronage which the merits of these productions are calculated to obtain from the public at large, they are particularly entitled to the notice of every individual who may follow the same pursuit or profession.

"The cartoons of Raphael are, we believe, the only specimens which have been lately added to this collection. They are finished in a style which must claim the admiration of every one, and with a fidelity of delineation, and a happiness of colouring, which will not disappoint those who may have enjoyed the delight of beholding the originals."

CAPT.

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CAPT. MANBY'S METHOD OF RESCUING PERSONS FROM VESSELS STRANDED ON A LEEWARD SHORE. (Continued from p. 167.)

ANOTHER mode of bringing the crew on shore, after communication is once gained, is by a basket or cot, as in the subjoined figure.

It is furnished with lashings, to prevent the person within it from falling or being washed out. The want of a bottom of canvas is supplied by a strong netting, by which the water is let through, that otherwise collecting in it in its passage and repassage between the ship and the shore, would retard or stop it by greatly increasing its weight, and, possibly, drown the person conveyed by it. This mode is peculiarly adapted for bringing on shore helpless women and children, or the sick and wounded.

In employing this cot the following directions are to be minutely observed and practised: First, drive three strong stakes deep into the ground, in such a position with regard to one another that they form a triangle, and from a wide base meet close at their heads, which are to be lashed firmly together, and have a gun-tackle purchase made fast to them. As soon as communication has been effected with the distressed vessel, by the rope carried out by the shot from the mortar, the crew will haul on board by it from the shore a large rope, and also a tailed block, rove with a smaller rope, both ends of which are to be kept on shore. When these are made fast on board, the large rope, after it is passed through the roller at each end of the cot, is to have the gun-tackle purchase fast to the stakes lashed to it. The ends of the small rope are then to be made fast one to each end of the cot, and the cot travelling by the rollers on the large rope is to be worked by the bite of it to the ship, and back by the people on shore t. The gun-tackle purchase is for the purpose of keeping the rope, on which the cot runs, at a proper degree of tension. It is to be most carefully attended to, for, if it be slackened, as the vessel rolls out towards the sea, the liability of the rope to be broken will be prevented; and if gathered in, on the other hand, as the ship rolls in again towards the shore, the too great slackness of the rope, which would hinder the free passage of the cot, and plunge it more than is necessary in the water, will be avoided.

The basket or cot should be made buoyant by corks or kegs of air. But where the coast is extremely rocky, or the beach very rugged, it will be necessary, to protect the person coming to the shore from injury when dashed by the violence of the sea against the side of a cliff or beach; this will effectually be prevented, as well as the danger of drowning, by a hammock stuffed with cork shavings: buoyant jackets may be made upon this principle, at the expense of a very few shillings.

+ If there are several persons at hand, the large rope may be hauled tort by them without using the purchase-tackle.

GENT. MAG. September, 1821.

Another

Another method of passing the crew to the shore, in the absence both of a boat and the cot, is by a grummet of rope, in the manner described in an extract from the narrative of Lieutenant Woodger of the Royal Navy, on the 20th of January, 1814.

"In firing the second shot from the top of the cliff, I had the satisfaction of throwing the line over the vessel, which was full two hundred and thirty yards from the cliff. On signs being made to the people on board, they hauled a sufficient quantity of the line on board for the bite to return to the shore, they then made a hawser fast to it, that was fortunately lying abaft: as soon as the people on the cliff had hauled the said hawser on shore and tort from the vessel, I cut a piece of the hawser off, and made a grummet on the hawser with it, sufficiently large for a man to sit in, to which I made the bite of the line fast: on waving to the people on board, they hauled the grummet along the hawser to the vessel, and one man got into it at a time, and was hauled on shore hang ing on the hawser; and the grummet was hauled to the vessel again, by which method the whole of the crew, consisting of five men and two boys, were saved. The vessel immediately afterwards broke up."

In case of shipwreck, under circumstances of great destitution, in which none of the modes above described can be put in practice, the crew, on receiving the rope thrown on board by the shot from the mortar, will secure it; and then, drawing on board so much as will fully reach from the vessel to the shore, make a clove hitch in it, like the figure; which is to be put over the shoulders and arms of the person to be brought on shore, and drawn tort, close under the arm-pits; care being taken to fix the

knot on the breast-bone, as described in the annexed design.

Terrible as this alternative may appear, its success may be relied on. NINE FOREIGNERS have been saved by it in cases of extraordinary peril on the coast of Norfolk; and some time ago, the MASTER, FOUR SEAMEN, a BOY, and the MASTER'S DAUGHTER, were brought in safety to the shore by it, at Winterton, in the same county, just before the vessel went to pieces.

The attempt to swim on shore, without some such aid, is almost certain destruction to the strongest and most skilful swimmer, although he be furnished