Chapter XIII: Letter XIX: gives a definition of the ellipsis, which would be a (7)

5. _Peculiar Crystals of Quartz_.—Mr. W. Phillips has met with some remarkable crystals of quartz, which occurred imbedded in the [p224] limestone of the Black-rock, near Cork. They are from the fourth to the half of an inch in length, and about half their length in width: they are smooth, externally, for the most part, and sometimes considerably bright; they are of the colour termed smoky, or brown quartz, externally, and may easily be separated from the limestone, leaving a cavity of their exact form. On trying to cleave them, they yielded parallel to one or other of the planes of the pyramid, like common quartz, but at such fractures appeared to consist of alternate and concentric prisms of smoky transparent quartz, and of gray opaque, and somewhat granular limestone. On applying muriatic acid to the surface, effervescence occurred along the gray parts, proving the presence of limestone, but soon ceased: after an action continued for some weeks, the gray parts became cellular, and so soft, as to admit of being scraped by a knife. Mr. Phillips says, it seems reasonable to conclude that such part of the gray substance as does not yield to the action of the acid is siliceous or quartzose; and that the prime difference between it and the smoky quartz surrounding it consists in the different circumstances of crystalline aggregation under which they are deposited. The crystals, with the somewhat analogous case of the Fontainebleau sandstone, may serve to assist in the illustration of some points relative to the laws of affinity, as operating in the formation of crystals.—_Phil. Mag._ N. S., ii. 123.

6. _Native Iron not Meteoric_.—The following notice is by Mr. C. A. Lee. Native iron, on Canaan mountain, a mile and a half from the South Meetinghouse (Conn. U. S.). This is particularly interesting, as it is the first instance in which native iron, not meteoric, has been found in America. It was discovered by Major Barrall, of Canaan, while employed in surveying, many years ago. It formed a thin stratum, or plate, in a mass of mica slate, which seemed to have been broken from an adjoining ledge. It presents the usual characters of native iron, and is easily malleable. For some distance around the place where it was found the needle will not traverse, and a great proportion of the tallest trees have been struck with lightning. Whether these phenomena are connected with the existence of a large mass of native iron, I leave for others to determine: the facts, however, may be relied on.

The specimen has been examined chemically, by Mr. Shepherd, at Yale College. It is invested with highly crystalline plumbago, and splits by the intervention of plates of plumbago into pyramidal and tetrahedral masses. It is not equal to meteoric iron in malleability, toughness, and flexibility, and has not the silvery white appearance of that iron. Its specific gravity is from 5.95 to 6.72. It has native steel intermingled in it, but contains no nickel, or any other alloy.

Major Barrall has only been to the place where this iron occurred _once_, and no other person has ever been to the place, or knows where it is.—_Silliman’s Journal_, xii. 154. [p225]

7. _Native Argentiferous Gold_.—M. Boussingault, who has had the opportunity of examining numerous specimens of argentiferous native gold from the Columbian mines, thinks that they are atomic; he has found 1 atom of silver united to 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 atoms of gold, and considers it probable that the other combinations to complete the series may occur. He has assumed 24.86 as the number for gold, and 27.03 as the number for silver. The following are some of the experimental results:—

_Native Gold of Marmato_.—Pale yellow octoedral crystals: Gold 73.45 3 atoms 73.40 Silver 26.48 1 " 26.60 Loss 00.07

_Native Gold of Titiribi:_ Gold 74.00 3 atoms 73.40 Silver 26.00 1 " 26.60

_Native Gold of Malpaso_.—Yellow irregular flattened grains: Gold 88.24 8 atoms 88.04 Silver 11.76 1 " 11.96

_Native Gold of Rio-Sucio_.—Deep-coloured large irregular grains: Gold 87.94 8 atoms 88.04 Silver 12.06 1 " 11.96

_Native Gold of the Otra Mina_.—Pale yellow octoedral crystals: Gold 73.4 3 atoms 73.40 Silver 26.6 1 " 26.60

_Native Gold of Guamo_.—Brass-yellow indeterminate crystals: Gold 73.68 3 atoms 73.40 Silver 26.32 1 " 26.60

_Native Gold of Llano_.—Small flattened grains—reddish: Gold 88.58 8 atoms 88.04 Silver 11.42 1 " 11.96

_Native Gold of Baja_.—Porous: Gold 88.15 8 atoms 88.04 Silver 11.85 1 " 11.96

_Native Gold of Ojas-Anchas_.—Yellowish red plates: Gold 84.5 6 atoms 84.71 Silver 15.5 1 " 15.29

_Native Gold of Trinidad, near Santa Rosa de Osos_.—A solid piece of 50 grains: Gold 82.4 4 atoms 82.14 Silver 17.6 1 " 17.86

_Native Gold of Transylvania (Europe)_.—Pale yellow cubic crystals: Gold 64.52 2 atoms 64.77 Silver 35.48 1 " 35.23

_Native Gold of Santa Rosa de Osos_.—A mass weighing 710 grains: Gold 64.93 2 atoms 64.77 Silver 35.07 1 " 35.23

M. Boussingault has remarked a singlar deficiency in the [p226] specific gravity of the native alloys of gold and silver when compared with calculation, or with the results obtained from an alloy similar in composition prepared by fusion; thus the native gold of Marmato has a specific gravity of 12.666, whereas, by calculation, it ought to be 16.931. The gold of Malpaso, by experiment, is 14.706, by calculation, 18.223, and by fusion, 18.1. The gold of Santa Rosa, by experiment, is 14.149, and by calculation, 16.175. This difference, M. Boussingault says, is not due to porosity in the native gold, as he has observed it in the granular and fine varieties, but a peculiar character of the metal in this state. Such an enormous difference, however, is one that can be admitted only upon repeated experimental proofs, made in the most unexceptionable manner; and, considering that it is only in some of the metals that any permanent difference in specific gravity can be established, and even with them to but a small extent, would be a fact so important as to be worth extreme trouble in the verification.—_Annales de Chimie_, xxxiv. 408.

8. _Prothéeïte—a new Mineral_.—This mineral was discovered in 1826, at Rothenkoph, in the valley of Zillerthal, Tyrol. It occurs in rectangular prisms, generally without distinct summits, and rough at both ends. The angles are very seldom truncated, the faces are striated longitudinally. The crystals are of various sizes, some being very small, but they have occurred 5 inches in length, and two in width; the longitudinal fracture is lamellar, the cross-fracture conchoidal. The substance is usually fissured, nearly opaque in large specimens, translucent or diaphanous in small masses. Its colour is crysolite green or white, or between the two; its lustre between that of glass and the diamond; it is heavy; a good conductor of heat; hard enough to scratch glass; infusible before the blowpipe; highly electric by friction. The white crystals have a fibrous texture, which, as well as the colour, seems the result of decomposition. When cut and polished, the mineral assumes a great variety of aspects; the green parts then resemble the finest crysolites, but the fibrous white parts, when cut of a round form, present one or two reflections on a transparent ground which move as the stone is moved, just like those from the cat’s eye; these reflections are very brilliant, and are accompanied by numerous iris colours, which move like those on the opal. This phenomenon is often observed in the rough stone, which, when exposed to light, exhibit certain deep red tints of a cupreous colour, and metallic lustre on all the faces.—_Bull. Univ._ B. xi. 42.

9. _Volcanic Bisulphuret of Copper_.—M. N. Covelli, during his examinations of Mount Vesuvius, has observed some particular actions going on, especially in the fumeroles on the eastern side of the mountain, and within the crater. Speaking of the former, he says, “Here there are fumeroles in which pure chloride of lead [p227] sublimes into white and yellow crystallizations, which fusing in the hotter places form nacres, gum, and stalactites. In many parts the sulphuretted hydrogen, evolved within the fumeroles, reacts on the chloride, and forms sulphuret of lead, dispersed in small scales through the scoria. Other fumeroles produce very thin scales of the black oxide of copper; these are very brilliant, metalloidal, and flexible, and are produced by the action of the vapour of water at a red heat on the chloride of copper, which may be observed on disturbing the fumeroles. Here and there the reaction of aqueous vapour on the perchloride of iron produces metalloidal scales of the peroxide of iron; whilst further on, the same vapour, acting on mixtures of the two chlorides, produces oligiste iron in small crystals, aggregated on the scoria. The muriatic acid resulting from these actions, and the sulphuric acid which is formed by the decomposition of hydrosulphurets and sulphates, attack the iron, lime, copper, alumine, potash, &c., in the lavas and scoria, and hence result a number of other productions which line the passages of the fumeroles”.

M. Covelli descended into the crater, until within 300 feet of the edge of the large eastern opening, from which the great current of lava flowed in 1822. Here the fumeroles presented the most beautiful crystallizations of sulphate of lime and sulphur. On examining the scoria they were found incrusted and covered with a substance, having all the shades of colour belonging to blue, green, and black. Sometimes it resembled a spider’s web in appearance, sometimes soot deposited in the cavities of the scoria. Many specimens were collected, and also a portion of water condensed from the vapours which issued forth, and which evidently contained sulphuretted hydrogen and muriatic acid. The temperature of the vapour was as high as 85° C., in some places, and even up to 90°, at half a foot beneath the surface.

The water being examined was found to contain only a little sulphuretted hydrogen, and a little muriatic acid. The black substance was soon ascertained to be a pure sulphuret of copper. Being analyzed, 100 parts yielded 32 parts of sulphur, and 66 of copper, a loss of two parts being incurred, which accords very nearly with the composition of the bi-sulphuret of copper. The blue and bluish-green substances were found to be mixtures of this sulphuret with sulphate and hydro-sulphuret of copper.

M. Covelli concludes that this substance has been formed by the action of sulphuretted hydrogen on the sulphate and muriate of copper evolved by these fumeroles; and observes, that its composition accords with such an opinion, the deutoxide being that which forms the Vesuvian cupreous salts.—_Ann. de Chimie_, xxxv. 105.

10. _Fall of the Lake Souwando in Russia_.—This lake, situated in the parish of Sakkola, in the Russian government of Wibourg, and surrounded by the lands of the Barons Friedrichs, was near [p228] 40 versts in length, and had the form of a Γ, or Greek G. Before the year 1818, it was separated from the lake of Ladoga by an interval about a verst in width, called Taipale, on which was a sandy hill; its waters flowed into the river Wuoxa, which united the lakes of Saima and Ladoga. On the 14th May, 1818, the waters of the lake Souwando, increased by the thaw and the tempests, overcame the natural dyke at the foot of the lake, threw down the hill of sand, rapidly flowed into the lower lake, carrying away all the surrounding grounds, and for ever destroyed the barrier which had previously separated them. A chapel and a countryman’s house were carried away with the pastures and meadows; the waters of the lower lake were much disturbed, and the surface covered with ruins. The level of the lake Souwando fell 12-1/2 archines, and its length is now only 15 versts. Its waters no longer flow off by the Wuoxa, but pass into the lower lake by several falls through a deep canal. The land which has been uncovered by the water is already cultivated, and the beauty of the surrounding country said to be increased.—_Bull. Univ._, F. x. 133.

11. _Vegetable Torpor observed in the Roots of the Black Mulberry-tree_.—A very old mulberry-tree was broken into four quarters by the wind in 1790. Two of the quarters were destroyed, the other two remained growing for a few years, but the last of them was removed in 1802. An elder-tree grew in the place of the mulberry-tree, without doubt from berries which had fallen into the middle of the old trunk of the latter. This elder-tree died in 1826, and at the time of its languishing about a dozen of mulberry shoots started forth to the day. M. Dureau de la Malle ascertained that these did not spring from seeds, but from the roots of the old mulberry-tree, which had thus lain in the ground in an apparently inactive state, for 24 years, to send forth shoots at last.—_Ann. de Sciences Nat._ ix. 338.

12. _Method of increasing the Odour of Roses_.—For this purpose, according to the author of the method, a large onion is to be planted by the side of the rose tree in such a manner that it shall touch the foot of the latter. The roses which will be produced will have an odour much stronger and more agreeable than such as have not been thus treated, and the water distilled from these roses is equally superior to that prepared by means of ordinary rose leaves.—_Œkonom. Neuigk._;—_Bull. Univ._

13. _Pine Apples_.—A great improvement may be made in keeping pine apples by twisting off their crowns, which are generally suffered to remain and to live upon the fruit till they have sucked out all the goodness. It will be very easy for fruiterers to keep a few crowns by them in water, which can be pegged or stuck on with dough, for show, when the fruit is served up, or artificial ones [p229] may be made. A pine apple will keep for a long time when its crown is removed, and will also be greatly improved in flavour, for the more aqueous parts of the fruit gradually evaporate, and leave it much more saccharine and vinous in its flavour; which natural process is totally destroyed by the vegetation of the crown, just upon the same principle that an onion or carrot loses its flavour when it begins to sprout in the spring.

14. _Mode of Condensing and Preserving Vegetable Substances for Ships’ Provision, &c._—The quantity of liquid matter which enters into the constitution of vegetables is very great; when they are deprived of it their bulk is very trifling. That preparation of animal food called _pemmican_, in which six pounds of meat are condensed into the space of one, is mainly effected by abstracting all the fluid from it. Vegetables may be treated in the same way: let them undergo the process of boiling over a fierce wood fire, so as to preserve their colour when _completely_ cooked; grind them into a complete pulp by some such means as are used to crush apples for cider, &c.; then let them be subjected to the action of the press, (being first put into hair bags, or treated as grapes are in wine countries,) till all the fluid matter is separated from them; the remainder of their substance becomes wonderfully condensed, and as hard as the _marc_ from the wine press. Then let it be rammed hard into carefully glazed air-tight jars, (or tin cases, if preferred,) and subjected to the Appertian process for preserving animal and vegetable matters, (well known, by-the-by, to our grandmothers, who preserved gooseberries in this way from time immemorial.) If jars are used, they may be sufficiently secured by having two pieces of bladder tied successively over them; when the air within is absorbed by heating the inclosed substance, their surface becomes concave by the pressure of the atmosphere, and as long as it remains in this state the matter within is safe. If it should be thought requisite to preserve the flavour of the vegetables entire, an extract should be made from the expressed liquid, and added to the _marc_. But spinage, cabbage, and many others, have abundance of flavour in them in their dry state without this addition. The preparation of the vegetable matter for use is accomplished by adding a sufficient quantity of milk, water, gravy, lime juice, &c., to the _marc_, and warming it up. Let the government, and the dealers in ships’ provision, look to this; a sufficient quantity of this _vegetable pemmican_ would be the greatest luxury to a ship’s crew, and render the scurvy utterly obsolete. It is worthy of remark, that the most irritable stomach is not offended by vegetables treated in this way.

15. _Rewards for the Discovery of Quinia, and for Lithotrity_.—The Académie des Sciences has adjudged a prize of 10,000 francs to MM. Pelletier and Caventou, for their discovery and introduction [p230] into use of sulphate of quinia; and another prize of 10,000 francs to M. Civiale, for having been the first to practise lithotrity on the living body, and for having successfully operated by his method on a great number of persons afflicted with the stone in the bladder.

16. _Upon the Gaseous Exhalations of the Skin_.—M. Collard de Martigny, having experimented on this subject, has obtained results which tend to reconcile the differences existing between previous observers. The Count de Milly first announced, in the year 1777, that an aëriform fluid escapes in great quantity from the surface of the skin, and he considered the gas as carbonic acid. Cruikshank, Jurene, and Abernethy participated in this opinion. Ingenhouz, on the other hand, maintained that the air so secreted was azote. M. Frousset adopted the opinion of Ingenhouz, and endeavoured to confirm it by experiments. Lastly, Priestley and Fontana questioned the reality of a gaseous exhalation from the skin; and Fourcroy positively denied it.

From the experiments of M. Collard de Martigny, he deduces,

i. That a gaseous exhalation really takes place from the skin.

ii. This exhalation is not morbid: it is observable in health.

iii. It is composed of carbonic acid and azote, in very variable proportions. The following experiment was frequently made. The bubbles of air which are disengaged from the skin were received into a funnel, the top of which was closed: they were then passed into a graduated tube, and agitated with a solution of potash. The height to which the solution rose in the tube indicated the quantities of carbonic acid that had been absorbed. All these operations were made at the same temperature and pressure. Neither hydrogen nor oxygen gas were discovered in this air.

iv. It does occur continually; but very often we may vainly attempt to discover it, which has been the cause of error in the results of Priestley, Fontana and Fourcroy. It is especially suspended after exercise long continued in the middle of the day, or immediately after taking an abundant meal. Sometimes it is suspended without any apparent cause.

v. The quantity also is very variable; but it was observed to be constantly in an inverse ratio to the cutaneous absorption.

vi. The proportions of the two gases vary very much, and sometimes the exhaled gas consists almost entirely of azote: in other instances the predominance of carbonic acid is so great that it appears to be the only product.—_Med. Rep._, N. S. v. 75.

17. _Effects of Galvanism in Cases of Asphyxia by submersion_.—M. Leroy d’Etioles has addressed a letter to the Académie de Médecine, in reply to an assertion made by M. Thillaye respecting the inutility of galvanism in cases of asphyxia. The former says, that when a short and fine needle is inserted in the sides of the body between the eighth and ninth ribs so as to come in contact with [p231] the attachment of the diaphragm, and then the current of electricity from 25 or 30 pair of inch plates passed through them, that the diaphragm immediately contracts, and an inspiration is effected. Upon breaking the communication, and again completing it, a second inspiration is occasioned, and by continuing these means, a regular respiration may ultimately be occasioned. This power thus applied has always succeeded with him in experiments on drowned animals.—_Bull. Univ._, C. xi. 213.

18. _Recovery from Drowning_.—M. Bourgeois had occasion accidentally to give assistance in a case where, after a person had been twenty minutes under water, he was taken out, and by a very common but serious mistake, carried with his head downwards. The usual means were tried unremittingly, but unsuccessfully, for a whole hour, but at the end of that time a little blood flowed from a vein that had been opened, and a ligature being placed on the arm, ten ounces of blood were withdrawn: the circulation and respiration were then gradually re-established, horrible convulsions, and a frightful state of tetanus coming on at the same time; copious bleeding was again effected, after which a propensity to sleep came on: a third bleeding the following morning was followed by the recovery of the patient. Hence M. Bourgeois concludes that the means of recovering a drowned person should never be abandoned until the decomposition of the body has commenced.—_Bull. Univ._, C. xi. 213.

19. _Preservation of Cantharides_.—It is stated by M. Farines that the active part of cantharides exists only in the soft organs of the insect; that these are the parts which are attacked by a species of acarus, and that in this way the cantharides are injured. Camphor has no power of preventing the attacks of the acarus; but M. Farines believes that pyroligneous acid will be found effectual, and proposes to prepare cantharides with it, and even to kill them at the time when they are collected by submersion in it.

20. _Chloride of Lime in cases of Burns_.—The good effect of chloride of lime in cases of burns is confirmed by the experience of M. Lisfranc. He has applied it in many cases of that kind, sometimes immediately after the accident, sometimes after the application of emollient cataplasms. Lint is moistened in a solution more or less strong of chloride of lime, and then applied to the place, being covered over with waxed cloth. The cure has been singularly hastened under its influence and in one case where almost the whole of the lower limbs, the arms and face, had been burnt, the use of the chloride recovered the patient from the stupor into which he had fallen at the end of four days, and a perfect recovery was effected two months after the accident.—_Bull. Univ_., C. xi. 77. [p232]

21. _Cure of Nasal Polypi_.—Dr. Primus of Babenhausen asserts, that the saffronised tincture of opium (of the Prussian Pharmacopœia) possesses the property of gradually destroying nasal polypi when applied to them. Certain cures, which have been thus effected, have already been published, and a striking one occurred in January, 1826. A man, 46 years of age, had one in each nostril. The tincture was applied several times a day to the bases of the polypi, by means of a small hair-brush or lint roll. In eight days the tumours had assumed a paler appearance, and lost a little in volume; a serous secretion from the nose, which had existed for a long time, was diminished, and the pituitary membrane had acquired a more lively tint, as if in a sub-inflammatory state. The application was continued, the tumours continued to decrease, and at the end of three weeks had entirely disappeared.—_Mediz. Chirurg. Zeitung_, 1826, p. 13.

22. _Bite of the Viper_.—M. Jacopo Sacchi, of Barzio in Valsasina, having had occasion to take charge of some cases in which injury had been inflicted by the bite of a viper (Coluber Berus), transferred his observations upon them into the hands of Professor Paletta. From these it appears that ammonia, recommended by Dr. Mangili, in 1813, although an excellent remedy in many cases, is by no means sufficient in all, but must occasionally be seconded by every possible means. Although sometimes nature alone has power sufficient to overcome the bite of a viper, yet, at other times, the injury is so great and sudden as to resemble the effects of hydrocyanic acid. In these cases he recommends that the patient should be put into a hot bed covered with woollen clothes, and the most powerful sudorifics with some tonics administered internally. Friction should be applied all over the body, and at the same time the wounds are to be enlarged, cupping-glasses applied, and tow, dipped in ammonia, applied to the spot.

23. _Experiments on the Poison of the Viper_.—M. Desaulx confirms the fact that dogs can swallow with impunity even large quantities of the poison of vipers. He observed also that when this poison was withdrawn from the vesicles it soon lost in power, and after a certain time became inert: a portion ten days old being introduced into a fresh wound of a living animal, only caused slight tumefaction on the part. Mangili, on the contrary, found it, when hermetically sealed up, to retain its virulence for many months. The species of viper from which M. Desaulx obtained his poison is not mentioned.—_Bull. Univ._ C. xi. 142.

24. _Destruction of Moles_.—The following method of destroying moles is asserted, by the Count de Boisseulh, to be excellent. Grounds much infested by these animals have been perfectly freed from them by means of it. A number of worms must be procured, killed, and powdered with pulverised vomica-nut; the whole is to [p233] be mixed and left for twenty-four hours. The mole-tracks are then to be opened, and two or three of these worms placed in each hole. If the meadow is large, they cannot be placed in every hole; but by multiplying them as much as possible, a good result is sure to be obtained.—_Ann. de Agricul. de la Charente_.

25. _On growing Salad-herbs at Sea_.—On long sea-voyages, whatever esculent roots, or fruit, or whatever vegetable essences may be stowed in the steward’s stores, whether for the use of the officers or crew, nothing can be a greater treat to the former, especially within the tropics, than a dish of fresh salubrious salad-herbs. The want of such an addition to the ordinary fare on board a ship has often been a cause of disease, and misfortune, and even death!—it is needless, therefore, to insist on the usefulness, or to state the antiscorbutic, and consequently sanatory qualities, of fresh vegetables in such situations; and however limited the means to supply such a want as is described below, yet, as it may be highly useful to convalescents, and in individual cases, the publication may not be deemed altogether valueless.

Provide one, two, or three deal boards, made of well-seasoned inch stuff, sixteen inches square, with a ledge all round, rising one inch above the smooth surface of the board; and as it is intended to hold water, the ledges must be closely and neatly fitted: at each corner a nail, or small hook, should be placed, with strings tied into a loop above, by which the board may be slung in the necessary horizontal position; a thin covering-board, made of the same material and dimensions, is also necessary, and which will serve for all the boards.

Pieces of the _thickest_ flannel must be had for each board, cut so as to fit exactly within the ledges. These flannels require to be well soaked, and repeatedly washed in boiling water, before they can be used, to discharge from them whatever is pernicious to vegetation as they come from the manufacturer’s hands.

The board and flannel thus prepared, dip the flannel in water, and place on the boards; sow the seeds pretty thick and regularly; sprinkle them lightly with the hand, till all are moistened and the flannel completely saturated; in which state it should always be kept during the growth of the plants. Too much water floats the seeds when first put on, and are thereby shifted from their places by the motion of the ship. The cover-board must now be put on, and the whole hung up in its place. The use of this board is to assist the vegetation of the seeds, which it will do sufficiently in the course of twenty-four hours; after which it may be laid aside.

The board must be frequently examined, and when the moisture thereon is diminished by evaporation, or imbibed by the crop, a supply must be given, just enough to keep the flannel in the proper saturated state.

In six or seven days the crop will be (if the weather has been favourable) two inches high,—it is then fit for use. The produce [p234] of one board yields about as much as will fill a middle-sized salad-bowl, and when dressed up with the usual condiments of onion, salt, vinegar, and oil, a most agreeable salad will be composed, and a most acceptable treat to the guests at the captain’s table.

It is necessary that the board, as well as the flannel, be scalded, well washed, and dried in the sun, before it can be used again;—and as one board yields one crop per week, two, or even three boards may be used at the same time, in order to secure a regular supply. Larger boards are not so convenient, because they can only be hung in some by-corner of a cabin, quarter-gallery, or state-room, where they may not only be out of the way, but out of the sun and currents of air.

The herbs suitable to be raised in this way are, radish, mustard, and common garden-cress. The two first answer best within the tropics; the last does not, being too delicate and diminutive;—but this does very well when the ship is no nearer the equator than thirty degrees of latitude. One peck of radish, another of mustard, and two quarts of cress, will be sufficient for an India and China voyage,—a supply of which may be had in China. I. M.

26. _Chinese Method of fattening Fish_.—The Chinese are celebrated for their commercial acumen, indefatigable industry, and natural adroitness,—in making the most of every gift of nature bestowed on their fertile country. Useful as well as ornamental vegetables engross their every care; and animals which are the most profitably reared, and which yield the greatest quantity of rich and savoury food, are preferred by them for supplying their larders and stews. Their _hortus dietetica_ would form a considerable list; and though they do not use such a variety of butcher’s meat and fowl as Europeans do, yet in the articles of pork, geese, and ducks, they surpass, in the use of fish they equal, us, and in their domestication and management of them they excel all other nations.

A few observations on their _piscinas_, or fish-stews, is the design of this paper; not merely as an historical description, but as an object for imitation in this or any other country.

For twenty or thirty miles round Canton, and as far as the eye can reach on each side of the river on which that city stands, the general face of the country appears nearly a level plain, with but little undulation of surface. The level is, however, richly studded with beautiful hills, which diversify the landscape, and seem to rise out of the plain so abruptly, that they form the most picturesque features, united with the most pleasing combinations. The soil of the plain consists of a pure alluvial earth of great fertility and depth, and very retentive of water; which, by the by, is a proof that, notwithstanding their claim to high chronological antiquity, the waters of the deluge remained much longer (perhaps for ages) on this portion of the continent of Asia, than it did in the interior: and the circumstance of many of their hills being cultivated to the [p235] very top, their numerous water-plants, and their almost amphibious habits as to their domiciles, are still further proofs that the country was, once, more of an aquaium than it now is. Hence the facility of making canals, which are their high-roads (as wheel-carriages, and beasts of draught, are too expensive appendages, for the systematic economy of the celestial empire!) and hence the ease with which a pond may be made in any otherwise useless corner. Such tanks, or ponds, are generally met with in market-garden grounds, where they serve the double purpose of a reservoir, and a stew for rearing and fattening fish.

When a pond is made for this purpose, and filled with water, the owner goes to market, and buys as many young store-fish as his pond can conveniently hold; this he can easily do, as almost all their fish are brought to market alive. Placed in the stew, they are regularly fed morning and evening, or as often as the feeder finds it necessary; their food is chiefly boiled rice, to which is added, the blood of any animals they may kill, wash from their stewing-pots and dishes, &c., indeed any animal offal or vegetable matter which the fish will eat. It is said, they also use some oleaceous medicament in the food, to make the fish more voracious, in order to accelerate their fattening; but of this the writer could obtain no authentic account.

Fish so fed and treated, advance in size rapidly, though not to any great weight; as the kind (a species of perch) which came under observation, never arrive at much more than a pound avoirdupois; but from the length of three or four inches, when first put in, they grow to eight or nine in a few months, and are then marketable. Drafts from the pond are then occasionally made; the largest are first taken off, and conveyed in large shallow tubs of water to market: if sold, well; if not, they are brought back and replaced in the stew, until they can be disposed of.

This business of fish-feeding is so managed that the stock are all fattened off about the time the water is most wanted for the garden-crops. The pond is then cleaned out, the mud carefully saved, or spread as manure,—again filled with water, stocked with young fry, and fed as before.

An intelligent Chinaman, from whom the writer had the above detail, and who showed him as much of the process as could be seen during a residence of three months, declared as his belief, that a spot of ground, containing from twenty to thirty square yards, would yield a greater annual profit as a stew, than it would in any other way to which it could possibly be applied.

That fish may be tamed, suffer themselves to be caressed, and even raised out of their natural element by the hand, has been long known to naturalists; witness the famous old carp formerly in the pond of some religious house at Chantilly, in France, with many other instances on record. But it is probable no people has carried the art of stew-feeding fish, and practising it as a profitable concern, to such lengths, as is done by the Chinese at this day. I. M. [p236]

METEOROLOGICAL DIARY for the Months of June, July, and August, 1827, kept at EARL SPENCER’s Seat at Althorp, in Northamptonshire.

The Thermometer hangs in a North-eastern Aspect, about five feet from the ground, and a foot from the wall.

+------------------------------------------------------+ | FOR JUNE, 1827. | +-------------+--------------+-------------+-----------+ | | Thermometer. | Barometer. | Wind. | | +------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+ | |Lowest|Highest|Morn. |Eve. |Morn.|Eve. | +----------+—+------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+ |Friday | 1| 47 | 65 | 29.50| 29.50| SW | SW | |Saturday | 2| 42 | 62.5 | 29.60| 29.43| S | WbS | |Sunday | 3| 44 | 63 | 29.67| 29.67| W | W | |Monday | 4| 44 | 62 | 29.70| 29.79| W | W | |Tuesday | 5| 47 | 59 | 29.70| 29.59| W | W | |Wednesday | 6| 47 | 58 | 29.47| 29.60| W | NW | |Thursday | 7| 43 | 60 | 29.78| 29.88| W | NW | |Friday | 8| 36 | 63 | 30.02| 30.07| NW | W | |Saturday | 9| 45 | 72 | 30.13| 30.17| W | W | |Sunday |10| 48 | 68.5 | 30.17| 30.10| NE | NE | |Monday |11| 46 | 70.5 | 30.09| 30.02| NE | NE | |Tuesday |12| 46 | 66 | 30.02| 30.02| NE | NE | |Wednesday |13| 51 | 65 | 30.02| 29.94| NE | NE | |Thursday |14| 48 | 65 | 29.89| 29.78| NE | NE | |Friday |15| 51 | 60 | 29.70| 29.60| NE | NE | |Saturday |16| 52 | 71 | 29.60| 29.57| NE | S | |Sunday |17| 54 | 73 | 29.66| 29.66| WSW | W | |Monday |18| 54 | 72.5 | 29.78| 29.79| W | W | |Tuesday |19| 50 | 68 | 29.79| 29.69| W | W | |Wednesday |20| 48 | 65 | 29.65| 29.67| W | WbS | |Thursday |21| 44 | 66.5 | 29.70| 29.73| SW | W | |Friday |22| 43 | 64 | 29.80| 29.88| W | W | |Saturday |23| 48 | 63 | 29.90| 29.94| W | W | |Sunday |24| 43 | 66.5 | 29.94| 29.97| W | W | |Monday |25| 49 | 66 | 29.97| 29.90| WNW | NNW | |Tuesday |26| 46 | 69 | 29.90| 29.86| W | WbS | |Wednesday |27| 53.5| 67 | 29.80| 29.69| SW | SW | |Thursday |28| 56 | 66 | 29.48| 29.46| SW | SW | |Friday |29| 56 | 70 | 29.46| 29.53| SW | SW | |Saturday |30| 52 | 72 | 29.59| 29.68| W | W | +----------+—+------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+

+------------------------------------------------------+ | FOR JULY, 1827. | +-------------+--------------+-------------+-----------+ | | Thermometer. | Barometer. | Wind. | | +------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+ | |Lowest|Highest|Morn. |Eve. |Morn.|Eve. | +----------+—+------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+ |Sunday | 1| 55 | 69 | 29.60| 29.63| E | SW | |Monday | 2| 49 | 66.5 | 29.70| 29.60| S | SW | |Tuesday | 3| 49 | 69 | 29.63| 29.78| WbS | WbS | |Wednesday | 4| 48 | 73 | 29.99| 29.99| W | WbS | |Thursday | 5| 58 | 67 | 30.06| 30.20| NE | NE | |Friday | 6| 42 | 70 | 30.29| 30.27| E | WNW | |Saturday | 7| 55 | 75 | 30.27| 30.26| WNW | WNW | |Sunday | 8| 53 | 74 | 30.26| 30.21| WbN | WbN | |Monday | 9| 54 | 73.5 | 30.19| 30.08| W | W | |Tuesday |10| 54 | 72 | 30.02| 29.87| W | WbN | |Wednesday |11| 55.5| 67 | 29.90| 29.98| NW | W | |Thursday |12| 45 | 68 | 30.02| 30.04| W | ENE | |Friday |13| 44 | 73 | 30.06| 30.04| E | E | |Saturday |14| 46.5| 71.5 | 30.04| 30.00| ESE | E | |Sunday |15| 45 | 71 | 29.98| 29.91| E | NE | |Monday |16| 47 | 71.5 | 29.91| 29.90| E | E | |Tuesday |17| 46.5| 77 | 29.90| 29.88| SE | WbS | |Wednesday |18| 57 | 72 | 29.83| 29.87| WSW | W | |Thursday |19| 51 | 68 | 29.87| 29.71| W | SW | |Friday |20| 57 | 69 | 29.59| 29.62| W | W | |Saturday |21| 50 | 69 | 29.77| 29.80| W | W | |Sunday |22| 45 | 64 | 29.82| 29.80| ESE | SE | |Monday |23| 57 | 73 | 29.83| 29.88| EbS | W | |Tuesday |24| 58 | 75 | 29.90| 29.89| W | WbS | |Wednesday |25| 60 | 72 | 29.82| 29.82| SW | WNW | |Thursday |26| 46 | 69.5 | 29.92| 29.78| W | SSW | |Friday |27| 54 | 74 | 29.90| 30.00| W | W | |Saturday |28| 58 | 79 | 30.00| 30.02| W | W | |Sunday |29| 54 | 78 | 30.04| 29.92| ESE | SE | |Monday |30| 65 | 75 | 29.62| 29.80| SSE | W | |Tuesday |31| 52 | 72.5 | 30.03| 30.10| W | W | +----------+—+------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+

+------------------------------------------------------+ | FOR AUGUST, 1827. | +-------------+--------------+-------------+-----------+ | | Thermometer. | Barometer. | Wind. | | +------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+ | |Lowest|Highest|Morn. |Eve. |Morn.|Eve. | +----------+—+------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+ |Wednesday | 1| 51 | 72 | 30.04| 29.95| W | | |Thursday | 2| 46 | 77.5 | 29.82| 29.67| W | | |Friday | 3| 56 | 74 | 29.60| 29.50| SW | W | |Saturday | 4| 58 | 71 | 29.48| 29.63| SW | W | |Sunday | 5| 53 | 66 | 29.91| 30.06| W | NE | |Monday | 6| 51 | 67.5 | 30.13| 30.18| NE | ENE | |Tuesday | 7| 42 | 70 | 30.18| 30.10| E | E | |Wednesday | 8| 40 | 68 | 30.04| 29.98| E | E | |Thursday | 9| 41 | 70.5 | 29.93| 29.80| EbN | SE | |Friday |10| 57 | 70 | 29.60| 29.48| SW | W | |Saturday |11| 47 | 66 | 29.48| 29.44| W | W | |Sunday |12| 50 | 62 | 29.55| 29.67| WSW| WNW | |Monday |13| 46 | 67 | 29.76| 29.73| W | WbS | |Tuesday |14| 51 | 70 | 29.53| 29.43| SW | SW | |Wednesday |15| 60 | 68 | 29.22| 29.25| SE | WbS | |Thursday |16| 51 | 67 | 29.30| 29.36| S | NE | |Friday |17| 56 | 68 | 29.60| 29.76| NE | NE | |Saturday |18| 54 | 60 | 29.87| 29.87| NE | NE | |Sunday |19| 48 | 65 | 29.89| 29.90| NE | NE | |Monday |20| 42.5| 59.5 | 29.90| 29.90| NE | NW | |Tuesday |21| 56 | 67.5 | 29.90| 29.95| NE | NE | |Wednesday |22| 51 | 59 | 30.03| 30.10| N | NW | |Thursday |23| 48 | 68 | 30.20| 30.20| NW | NW | |Friday |24| 52 | 63 | 30.14| 30.08| WNW | WbN | |Saturday |25| 49 | 60 | 30.00| 30.04| WNW | W | |Sunday |26| 44 | 58 | 30.08| 30.08| NW | N | |Monday |27| 42 | 67 | 30.12| 30.16| N | NW | |Tuesday |28| 47 | 64 | 30.16| 30.16| W | NW | |Wednesday |29| 50 | 63 | 30.24| 30.24| NNE | NW | |Thursday |30| 47 | 63 | 30.18| 30.07| W | W | |Friday |31| 52 | 63 | 30.12| 30.20| N | NE | +----------+—+------+-------+------+------+-----+-----+

TO OUR READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.

The pages of this Journal are impartially open to all communications upon the subjects of Science, Scientific Literature, and the Arts: it is requested they may be forwarded to the Editor one month previous to the publication of each number.

We shall be happy to receive papers from Provincial Scientific Societies, and to publish them either on the part of the Society, or of their respective authors.

Papers deemed unfit for this publication, will be immediately returned to the source whence we received them, with our reasons for their return.

* * * * *

The letters signed B. and T. R. S. we have thought it prudent to suppress for the present.

* * * * *

Several books have reached us for notice in this Journal; but unless they are sent earlier in the Quarter, we cannot insure attention to them.

* * * * *

We have been favoured with communications from Mr. Swainson, Dr. Littledale, Mr. Rose, and E. Z., which we are obliged to postpone.

* * * * *

A letter from a “Member of the Zoological Society,” reached us too late for the purpose it was intended to answer. We fear we shall not agree with him in opinion, but perhaps his _second communication_ may clear up the difference.

* * * * *

We presume that “A Mechanic” will find the information he requires in Mr. Farey’s account of the Steam Engine.

* * * * *

“An old Subscriber” is much in error—the _proceedings_ he alludes to are copiously given in contemporary monthly publications; if therefore we followed his advice, our information would be stale. The motives he alludes to are out of the question.

* * * * *

We cannot give “A Vapourer” any authentic information respecting the Steam Carriage, nor do we hear that the Gas Engine has advanced.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, Albemarle Street, _December 3, 1827_.

A COURSE OF SIX ELEMENTARY LECTURES ON CHEMISTRY, adapted to a Juvenile Audience, will be delivered during the Christmas Recess, by MICHAEL FARADAY, F.R.S., Corr. Mem. Roy. Acad. Sciences, Paris; Director of the Laboratory, &c. &c.

_The Lectures will commence at Three o’Clock_.

_Lecture_ I. Saturday, December 29. Substances generally—Solids, Fluids, Gases—Chemical affinity.

_Lecture_ II. Tuesday, January 1, 1828. Atmospheric Air and its Gases.

_Lecture_ III. Thursday, January 3. Water and its Elements.

_Lecture_ IV. Saturday, January 5. Nitric Acid or Aquafortis—Ammonia or Volatile Alkali—Muriatic Acid or Spirit of Salt—Chlorine, &c.

_Lecture_ V. Tuesday, January 8. Sulphur, Phosphorus, Carbon, and their Acids.

_Lecture_ VI. Thursday, January 10. Metals and their Oxides—Earths, Fixed Alkalies and Salts, &c.

Non-Subscribers to the Institution are admitted to the above Course on payment of One Guinea each; Children, 10_s._ 6_d._

The Weekly Evening Meetings of the Members of the Royal Institution will commence for the ensuing Season, on Friday the 25th of January, 1828, at half past Eight o’Clock, and will be continued on each succeeding Friday Evening, at the same hour, till further notice.

The Lectures will commence for the Season on Saturday the 2d of February, at Three o’Clock, by WM. THOS. BRANDE, Esq., F.R.S. Lond. and Edin., Prof. of Chemistry in the Royal Institution.

The Library of the Royal Institution is open for the use of the Members and Subscribers every day on which the House of the Institution is open; in Winter from Ten till Four, and from Seven till Ten in the Evening; and in Summer from Ten till Five, and from Seven till Ten in the Evening.

* * * * *

Mr. BRANDE and Mr. FARADAY will commence the Spring Course of their Chemical Lectures and Demonstrations, in the Laboratory of the Royal Institution, on Tuesday, the 12th of February, at Nine in the morning precisely. A Prospectus may be obtained at the Institution, or of the respective Lecturers.

* * * * *

_In the Press, and nearly ready for publication_,

A COLLECTION OF CHEMICAL TABLES, for the use of Practical Chemists and Students, in Illustration of the Theory of Definite Proportionals; in which are shewn the Equivalent Numbers of the Elementary Substances, with the Weights and Volumes in which they combine; together with the Composition of their most important Compounds, and the Authorities for their Analysis.

By WILLIAM THOMAS BRANDE.

THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART. OCT.–DEC. 1827.

_On the Means generally used with the Intention of curing a Stoop_.[37]

When the chest and the head fall forward, the most common method of trying to correct the stoop is to put on some instrument by which the shoulders and the head are held back. To operate upon the shoulders, the common back-collar is applied, and to hold back the head, a riband is brought over the forehead and fastened to the collar.

While these instruments are kept on, the figure looks straight, though stiff and constrained; but the moment they are taken off, both the head and the shoulders fall more forward, than before their application. Many examples of the bad effect of artificially supporting the head might be offered. The following, although observed in the figure of a horse, is very demonstrative. When the rein (called the bearing-rein), by which the head of a carriage-horse is reared up, with the intention of giving him a showy figure, is loosened, the head immediately falls forward, and the neck, instead of preserving the fine arch that is so much admired, droops between the shoulders. Looking to this effect, we should at first be inclined to condemn the practice followed by horse-dealers, of reining up the head of a young horse in the stable, by means of the apparatus called a dumb-jockey. But on examining into this mode of fixing the head, it will be found to operate on a different principle from the bearing-rein. Instead of a [p238] simple bit, such as the horse in harness can lean his head upon, without suffering pain, a bit, calculated to tease and fret, is put into the young horse’s mouth. To relieve himself from the irritation produced by this, and which is increased by the constant pull of the elastic piece of iron to which the rein is fastened, he curls up his neck, and thus brings all the muscles of the back of the neck into strong action, instead of allowing their power to be superseded by the artificial support afforded by the bearing-rein to the horse in harness[38].

Many different contrivances, but all acting nearly on the same principle as the _bearing-rein_, have been proposed as means for obliging a girl to keep her head erect.

There is one mode which, to a person ignorant of anatomy, seems to be particularly well adapted for this purpose; but it is, in fact, more objectionable than the plan of tying the head back with a riband. A piece of lead, of some pounds weight, [p239] is slung over the back in such a way that it must be supported by a riband put around the head.

Although this contrivance prevents the head for a time from falling forwards, its bad effects may be demonstrated. When the weight is on, the muscles of the back of the spine are passive, while those on the fore-part of the neck are necessarily brought into action to prevent the head from being pulled too far back: this is easily proved; for if we put the fingers on the sternal portions of the sterno-cleido muscle, which, with the small muscles on the fore-part of the throat, pull the head forwards, we shall feel them tense and in action. The increased activity of the muscles on the fore part, and the passive condition of those of the back, may be further exemplified by raising the weight when the girl is not aware of our doing so; the head will then be immediately poked forwards.

We have many opportunities of observing the incorrectness of the principle on which all similar plans for the cure of a stoop have been founded. For instance, porters who carry burthens on the back, by the assistance of a band round the forehead, always stoop; while those who carry baskets before them suspended by a band round the back of the neck, are peculiarly erect. But the most remarkable example of the effect of the head being pulled back by a weight hung behind, is the condition of the women who carry salt in the streets of Edinburgh, for they may be recognised as much by their miserable Sardonic grin, which is caused by the constant excitement of the platysma myoides muscle, as by their stoop.