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sides of the magnificent road now forming round the Calton-hill, to be pounded and dried carefully before the fire, in a bachelor's oven. This powder, being thrown into a wine decanter, fitted with a glass stopper, was afterwards carried to the college; and at a late lecture in the natural philosophy class (which he has been teaching this session in the absence of Professor Playfair in Italy) he showed the influence of its absorbing power on his hygrometer; which, inclosed within a small receiver of an air-pump, fell from 90 degrees to 32 degrees, the wetted bulb being consequently cooled about 60 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. The Professor, therefore, proposed on the instant to employ the powder to freeze a small body of water. He poured the powder into a saucer about seven inches wide, and placed water in a shallow-cup of porous earthenware, three inches in diameter, at the height of half an inch above, and covered the whole with a low receiver. On exhausting this receiver till the gauge stood at 2-10ths of an inch, the water in a very few minutes ran into a cake of ice. With the same powder an hour afterwards he froze a large body of water in three minutes, and he will, no doubt, push these ingenious and interesting experiments much fur

ther.

It appears such earth will absorb the hundredth part of its weight of moisture, without having its power sensibly impaired, and is even capable of absorbing as much as the tenth part. It can hence be easily made to freeze the eighth part of its weight of water, and might even resume the process again. In hot countries the powder will, after each process,

recover its power by drying in the sun. Ice may therefore be produced in the tropical climes, and even at sea, with very little trouble, and no sort of risk or inconvenience.

LONGEVITY.

The following circumstance may be interesting to those who inquire into the causes of longevity:

A gentleman of considerable research lately made a catalogue of near eight hundred persons who had attained a great age, and found their habits of life only to agree in one particular, namely, early rising in the morning. This confirms the well-known result of a similar inquiry made by one of our learned judges.

MAN WITH A HORN GROWING OUT OF HIS FOREHEAD.

From the Spanish.

Guanaxuato, (kingdom of Mexico) 21st February, 1817.-The phenomenon presented by the man of whom we here give a resemblance, is certainly one of the most singular which nature has produced, and has justly excited the attention of the inhabitants of this city. We reserve for another occasion, a description by learned physicians of this singular deformity of Pablo Rodriguez, and will confine ourselves now to a slight sketch, sufficient for the intelligence of the curious, and the explanation of the drawing.

Pablo Rodriguez, by trade a porter, and at present in the hospital of St. Andres of this city, has had for a long time the singular excrescences which are seen on the right side of his head. From a common base this tumour divides itself into three branches, which, hard and crooked (particularly the principal one, which is about 12 inches in length) present the texture of a ram's horn, fluted lengthwise; a part of it being burnt, it exhaled a smell similar to that of horn. We are not able to say whether the excrescence is really of the nature of horn, but we will add that it does not adhere to the cranium, and that being cut transversely, it appears like the agglomeration of many membranes or callous scales, connected vertically.

The discovery and examination of this phenomenon, are attributable to accident. Rodriguez, who always kept this excrescence covered, was supposed to have a large wen, until a package of sugar fell upon his head, broke the largest branch of the tumour, and obliged him to present himself at the hospital. He is now there, and has been visited by many of the curious of this city and the neighbourhood.

(Note on the foregoing by Dr. C. Wistar, professor of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania.)

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The production of horny sub. stances on the surface of the body, is not so surprising after reflection upon the subject, as it is upon the first view of it.

Most of these horns, as they are called, appear to consist of the same substance with the cuticle, and are analogous, in some respect, to those excrescences from it which are denominated corns. Notwithstanding the cuticle exists in the foetus in utero, and therefore may be considered as an original part of the body, it appears nevertheless to be dependant upon the cutis vera; for it is reproduced by the skin, whenever it is destroyed.

The nails on our fingers, and the claws of other animals, have a strong resemblance to those horny substances.-These nails and claws are continuations of the cuticle, and supply its place in covering a part of the fingers and toes; and when the cuticle is separated from the cutis vera by putrefaction, they come off with it, and leave bare the parts they covered.

They also have the same chemical qualities with the cuticle. Like the cuticle, they are reproduced by the cutis, and seem dependant upon it for their growth. It is therefore probable that a particular condition of the portion of the cutis vera which is connected with these excrescences, occasions their formation, but the nature of this condition is unknown to us. The external cause which produces corns is completely ascertained, although we are ignorant of its modus operandi.

It is mechanical pressure, which, when confined to a small spot, produces excrescences with

a small base, like corns; and when applied so as to act upon a more extended surface, occasions a general thickening of the cuticle, such as takes place on the soles of the feet.

The portrait of a person who had a large excrescence of this kind, is to be seen at Mr. Peale's museum, in Philadelphia.

(See the French work-" Dictionnaire des Merveilles de la Nature," 1st vol. title "Conformations extraordinaires," for several curious instances of the same nature.)

CHARACTER of the late ROBERT FULTON, Esq. from CCLDEN's life of that celebrated Engineer, read before the Literary and Historical Society of New York.

We cannot think that it will be imputed to an undue partiality for our regretted associate, if we say that there cannot be found on the records of departed worth, the name of a person to whose individual exertions mankind are more indebted than they are to the late Robert Fulton. The combined efforts of philosophers and statesmen have improved the condition of man; but no individual has conferred more important benefits on his species than he whose memory now engages our attention.

When we have taken a view of what he has done, and bestowed some consideration on its effects, it will not appear that this praise is exaggerated, and we shall be obliged to acknowledge that though others may have been conducted in the paths of science by superior learning, and may have had a more dazzling career, the labours of no individual have been

more honourable, meritorious, or practically useful.

The establishment of steam navigation will form an important epoch in the history of our species. -The name of the man who accomplished it will live to the remotest ages, if he be not robbed of the fame which is due to the employment of a superior genius, with surprising courage, industry, perseverance, and success.

Robert Fulton was born in the town of Little Britain, in the county of Lancaster, and state of Pennsylvania, in the year 1765; he was of a respectable though not opulent family. His father, Robert Fulton, was a native of Kilkenny, in Ireland. His mother was also of a respectable Irish family, by the name of Smith, established in Pennsylvania.

In his infancy he was put to school in Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, where he acquired the rudiments of a common English education.

His peculiar genius manifested itseif at a very early age. In his childhood, all his hours of recreation were passed in the shops of mechanics, or in the employment of his pencil; and at this early period of his life he had no other desire for money than to supply himself with the necessary materials to indulge his taste for mechanism and drawing.

By the time he had attained the age of seventeen years, he became so much an artist with his pencil, as to derive emolument from painting portraits and landscapes, in Philadelphia, where he remained till he was about twenty-one. In this time he had made the ac quaintance of our celebrated coun. tryman Doctor Franklin, by whom he was much noticed.

Mr. Fulton throughout his

463

course as a mechanist and civil | his machines were broken or dis-
engineer, derived great advantage
from his talent for drawing and
painting. He was an elegant and
accurate draftsman.

It is gratifying to find, that Mr. Fulton ever felt as an American. His long residence abroad did not enfeeble his attachment to his country. Thoughts of her prosperity and welfare were connected with all his projects; and those that he thought might be of advantage to her, he communicated with a promptness and disinterestedness which marked his desire to serve her.

Ardour and perseverance were characters of Mr. Fulton's mind; when he had conceived what he thought a practicable and beneficial project, he left no means untried, and spared no pains for its accomplishment.

It may be well to notice here, a matter not otherwise of importance, than as it serves to mark the pliancy of Mr. Fulton's mind, and the versatility of his genius. At a time when he was taking a step which, as he thought, would be decisive to the fate of nations, which put his life at risk, and might determine his own fortune, he amused himself with making sketches from the scenery of Holland, and representations of the manners, figures, and costume of the Hollanders; some of them are broad caricatures, which cannot but excite a smile. They are found in his port folio, and though in general they are but sketches, they show that they are from the hand of a master, guided by wit and genius.

Throughout the whole course of his experiments, no opposition or contradiction, no failure or disappointment, irritated, discouraged, or discomposed him. When

ordered, he, with the utmost calmtheir defects or the causes of his ness and composure, pointed out failed, though it had cost him disappointment. If an experiment great pains and labour in the preparation; and although the failure owing to the awkwardness or unwas frequently, and obviously, skilfulness of those who assisted him, his temper could not be disturbed; he would not hear the scoffs of some of the numerous bystanders, which were frequently expressed in whispers intended to reach his ear. Not a fretful or angry disappointment he recommenced word ever escaped him, and after a his preparations with the same ardour, and with the same calmEven when his physical strength ness, with which he at first began. corporeal exertions, and the excesmust have been exhausted by his sive fatigue he would sometimes undergo through a sultry day, his spirits were never for a moment depressed. On these occasions he showed himself as much a moral as a mechanical philosopher.

We have all witnessed with
his time, his talents, and his
what zeal Mr. Fulton bestowed
for the promotion of the useful
purse,
and the fine arts. One of the last
acts of his life manifested this dis-
position. By his will, which was
made but a few days before his
death, he devised that, in certain
of his property not otherwise dis-
events, his pictures, and one half
posed of, should go to an academy
of fine arts, when such an academy
should be established, at the place
which may be the seat of the na-
tional government.

high. His person was slender, but
Mr. Fulton was about six feet
ed.-Nature had made him a gen-
well proportioned, and well form-

tleman, and bestowed upon him ease and gracefulness. He had too much good sense for the least affectation; and a modest confidence in his own worth and talents, gave him an unembarrassed deportment in all companies. His features were strong, and of a manly beauty: he had large dark eyes, and a projecting brow, expressive of intelligence and thought: his temper was mild, and his disposition liveły: he was fond of society, which he always enlivened by cheerful, cordial manners, and instructed or pleased by his sensible conversation: He expressed himself with energy, fluency and correctness, and as he owed more to his own experience and reflections, than to books, his sentiments were often interesting from their originality. In all his domestic and social

relations he was zealous, kind, generous, liberal, and affectionate. He knew of no use for money but as it was subservient to charity, hospitality, and the sciences. But what was most conspicuous in his character, was his calm constancy, his industry, and that indefatigable patience and perseverance, which always enabled him to overcome difficulties.

He was decidedly a republican. The determination which he often avowed, that he never would accept an office, is an evidence of the disinterestedness of his politics; but his zeal for his opinions or party, did not extinguish his kindness for the merits of his opponents. Society will long remember and regret him; but he will be most lamented by those, by

whom he was best known.

END OF VOLUME II.

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