Page images
PDF
EPUB

In 1251, the chapter of the Cathedral

of Ratisbon purchased 500 volumes for The Vatican, said to contain .
67 marcs of gold, equivalent to about The Royal Library at Paris
£10,000, or £20 for each volume.
Of pamphlets
Manuscripts

ment in their new conquests, almost all
the effects of the knowledge and the civi-
lization which had spread through Europe
disappeared. In the destruction of cities,
the libraries also shared in the universal In the succeeding century, we may
desolation, and Europe had to pass date the commencement of the revival
through a long night of darkness and ig- of learning. It gave birth to many cele-
norance. The little that remained of the brated men ; among whom, none more so
world's knowledge found refuge in the mo- than Petrarca, Boccaccio, and Richard
nasteries, where, however, these precious de Bury, Bishop of Durham, who spared
volumes were in general as little appreci- neither labour nor expense in collecting
ated as by the barbarian spoilers. It is re- manuscripts; accordingly, we find the
lated that in the middle ages manuscripts libraries throughout Europe much in-
were not unfrequently destroyed, in bind-creasing. In 1373, the library of the
ing works on useless scholastic divinity; King of France contained 910 volumes,
sometimes for the making of rackets for and had increased to about 1100 volumes
the amusement of the idle monks; and in 1425, when the greater part of it was
even what were spared lay rotting in some sent to England by the regent, Duke of
neglected corner. We ought not, how- Bedford; and in 1439, the cardinal Bas-
ever, to think too harshly of the conduct sarian, with royal profusion, had collected
of these illiterate monks: it is scarcely to 600 manuscripts, at the enormous cost of
be expected they would set much value about 30,000 Roman crowns, equivalent
upon what they could not understand. to about £26,000.
Persons of the highest rank, in those From these notices of the scarcity and
times, could not read or write; many of high price of books, it must be obvious that
the clergy did not understand the breviary, they were within the reach of but few. In-
which they were obliged daily to recite; deed, none but kings and prelates could
some of them could scarcely read it. enjoy the costly privilege of a library.
Even in late years, it is reported that Sir At last, in the middle of the fourteenth
Robert Cotton redeemed the original of century, occurred the greatest revolution
Magna Charta from the hands of a tailor in the history of literature, or of the hu-
who was on the point of cutting it up for man mind. The art of printing was in-
measures. Yet some gleams of light vented; and whilst Æneas Sylvius, Pope
shone brightly in the dark ages. To those Pius II., in 1458, was writing in his Cos-
men of learning, who devoted their time, mographia, that the destruction of all
their means, and their health, to the col-written documents would, ere long, be
lecting and preserving of the remains of
the dispersed libraries, the world owes a
debt of gratitude. The few following
facts, showing the extreme rarity and va-
lue of manuscripts in the four or five
centuries preceding the invention of print-
ing, will be neither uninteresting nor un-
instructive.

In the ninth century, the Abbot of Pontivi, in possessing 200 volumes, was considered to have the largest library in France.

In the tenth century, so scarce and so valuable were manuscripts, that a copy of the Homelies of Aymon of Halberstat was purchased by a Countess of Anjou for 200 sheep, three measures of corn, and a number of skins of valuable furs.

In the eleventh century, the abbey of Pomposa, near Ravenna, in Italy, although celebrated for the extent of its library, possessed only 63 volumes, 7 of which were volumes of the classics.

In 1048, the Abbot of Gemblours, in Flanders, had collected, in addition to 100 volumes on theological, 60 volumes on profane subjects, and imagined he had formed a splendid library.

In the twelfth century, the catalogue of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, one of the wealthiest in Europe, consisted but of 90 volumes, and yet had required the labours and journeyings of two successive abbots to collect.

inevitable, this art was impressing on them perpetuity and ten-fold value. A learned continental bibliographer has made a calculation, that from the year 1455 to 1500, 14,750 editions had been printed from presses established in 212 cities; which, at an average of 435 copies for each edition, would give 5,416,250 volumes as the circulation of books in 45 years. Again, from 1501 to 1536, the number of cities had decreased from 212 to 184, yet 17,779 editions had been produced; and, books, each edition may probably have in consequence of a greater demand for increased to 1000 copies, which would give us an amount of 17,779,000 copies. From these calculations it results, that during the interval of 81 years, from the date of the first printed book to the year 1536, no less than twenty-three millions of volumes had been circulated among mankind! Nor will our average appear an extravagant one, as it is well known that, in the year 1526, as many as 26,000 copies of the Colloquies of Erasmus were printed and sold.

Vienna
Munich
Gottingen
British Museum

Volumes.

500,000.

350,000.

[ocr errors]

300,000.

50,000.

300,000.

400,000.

200,000.

181,000.

65,000.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

20,000. 200,000.

George III.'s Library
Manuscripts

Bodleian

In addition to these, almost every scientific and literary institution, and most of the ecclesiastical foundations in Europe, have libraries attached to them, of greater or less extent. These vast repositories contain not only such works as are most useful, but such as, from their costliness or scarcity, are inaccessible to ordinary students.

Thus has useful knowledge been extended and cheapened by the exertions of the moderns. The difficulty of the student is no longer to obtain, but to select, the best sources of information from the bewildering accumulations with which he is surrounded. If the literary world be in an unhealthy state, it arises from plethora

from so vast an abundance of resources, as distracts investigation, and prevents the formation of a judicious choice. At all events, there can now be no excuse for ignorance. That power which our immortal Bacon attributes to knowledge, is wielded by the hands of millions; and it now becomes the special and increasing duty of the moralist and the Christian, to heighten its benefits, by keeping pace with its progress, and, by the assiduous inculcation of virtuous principles, to prepare the world for those important changes, which all the phenomena of society appear to indicate.

ities of Literature for the following extraWe are indebted to D'Israeli's Curiosbooks printed from the first invention of ordinary calculation of the number of the art.

discovered that the four ages of typoA curious arithmetician has graphy have produced no less than 3,641,960 works! Taking each work at three volumes, and reckoning each impression to consist of only three hundred copies (which is a very moderate supposition), the actual amount of volumes which have issued from the presses of Europe, up to the year 1816, appears to by 3,277,640,000! And if we suppose From this period, books became acces-thickness, they would, if placed in a line, each of these volumes to be an inch in sible to all classes of society; and, after cover 6069 leagues!! a few years, national public libraries were ever, indebted," says this entertaining "We are, howformed, which have ever since continued writer, " to the patriotic endeavours of to increase, and which have mainly contributed to the subsequent advance of chemists of literature; they annihilate our grocers and trunk-makers, the alliterature. The principal throughout the gross bodies without injuring the Europe arefiner spirits."

A PUBLIC DINNER IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MONTE VIDEO. ABOUT two o'clock, we arrived at the house of our host, and found the company assembled, among whom we presently took our seats at the table, which was continued through two rooms. The party consisted partly of patriot Spaniards, with some Americans, French, and Portuguese; altogether about sixty in number. The dinner was profusely abundant; but no dish appeared very remarkable, except a large roast of beef with the hide on. This mode of cooking has the effect of retaining the juice of the meat; and, from the number who partook of it, it appeared to be a favourite viand. The wine, of which there was variety, went merrily round during the entertainment; and, by the time the cloth was removed, the organs of articulation had become so volatile, that you could scarcely hear your next neighbour. Some Spaniards, who were less clamorous, amused themselves with shooting little bread balls at one another across the table, and aiming at the face. This amusement was an annoyance to me; but, by my remaining neutral, they allowed me to sit in peace. Their national toasts were drank in quick succession; but on their Vice-president proposing the toast of, "Long live King Ferdinand the Seventh," nearly the whole company dissented, and loaded him with a torrent of abuse; to which he replied with so much acrimony, that the table of expected friendship and conviviality soon presented a scene of the most inveterate warfare. The Vice-president prudently, however, sat in silence for a few minutes, by which means order was restored, and the offended party vented their rage on the wine, which, in half an hour, was fast becoming conqueror. Glasses and plates flew to destruction; and, to crown the whole, an agile Spainard mounted the table, making a variety of antics, which so destroyed the economy of it, that no further hint was necessary to advise us to depart; and we rose, got seated in our noddy, and drove homewards. Thus ended the dinner, which, in the whole, had occupied not more than two hours and a half.-Weddell's Voyage towards the South Pole.

APPARENT VIOLATION OF THE

LAW OF NATURE.

The

There are many facts and appearances in nature which fail to strike us at once with surprise and admiration, only because they are so common. Among these, the motion of a fly upon walls and ceilings, and the adhesion of the gecko, a species of the lizard, to even the most polished surfaces, deserve to be classed. Familiar as the fly has been to our observation from earliest infancy, few persons have seriously attempted to explain the manner in which that insect is enabled to advance, so much at its ease, in apparent opposition to "nature's universal law," gravitation. cause of it appears never to have been correctly assigned, till Sir Everard Home, by carefully examining both the fly and the gecko, discovered, in the peculiar structure of their feet, the pneumatic mechanism by which they are enabled to carry on progressive motion against gravity. It appears that their feet are so constructed as to act like a cupping glass or common sucker, and thus, by the pressure of the air, attach them to any substance with which they may be in contact; or, on its relaxation, to allow the animal to move at its pleasure. Having detected this wondrous mechanism in

the foot of the fly and the gecko, the anatomist above referred to has extended his researches to a much more bulky animal, the walrus, in which he found an analagous provision, for an apparently similar purpose. The hind flipper or foot of the walrus bears so general a resemblance to the foot of the fly, that there seems no reason to doubt the similarity of its intention.

"It is a curious circumstance,” remarks Sir Everard, "that two animals, so different in size, should have feet so similar in their use. In the fly the parts require being magnified one hundred times to render this structure visible; and in the walrus the parts are so large as to require being reduced from diameters to bring them within the size of a quarto page. As a knowledge of the structure of the fly's foot led to the detection of the use of the hind flipper of the walrus, so, on the other hand, an examination of the toes of the walrus has enabled me to make out the use of a part of the foot of the fly which I did not sufficiently understand. On comparing them with the outer toes of the walrus, they are evidently intended to surround the exhausted cavity, so that a vacuum may be more suddenly and perfectly formed."

On dissecting this flipper, it soon lost all appearance of a foot, and took that of the hand of a giant, so far as respected the bones and muscles, but differing from it in having a web covering all the other parts, and extending beyond the point of the thumb and fingers. On the back of the flipper, too, was found the tendon of the indicator muscle.

"That this gigantic hand is employed as a cupping glass to prevent the animal from falling back in its movements, whether on the ice or in climbing the rocky cliffs, there can be no doubt; for it is only necessary to take the human hand, and envelope it in an elastic web extending some way beyond the points of the fingers, to prove that it could perform such an office: but, when we find the cumbricales muscles wanting, the only use of which is to clench the fist, it adds to the proof; and when the indicator is met with, a mode of opening a valve to let in the air is pointed out.'

THE CAPTIVE AFRICAN.
THERE was no sound upon the deep,
The breeze lay cradled there,
The motionless waters sank to sleep,
Beneath the sultry air;
Out of the cooling brine to leap,
The dolphin scarce would dare.
Becalm'd on that Atlantic plain,
A Spanish ship did lie ;
She stopp'd at once upon the main,
For not a wave roll'd by ;
And she watch'd six dreary days in vain,
For the storm-bird's fearful cry.

But the storm came not, and still the ray
Of the red and lurid sun,
Wax'd hotter and hotter every day,
'Till her crew sank one by one,
And not a man could endure to stay
By the helm, or by the gun,

And deep in the dark and fetid hold,

Six hundred wretches wept ;
They were slaves that the cursed lust of gold
From their native land had swept;
And there they stood, the young and old,
While a pestilence o'er them crept :

Cramm'd in that dungeon-hold they stood,
For many a day and night;
"Till the love of life was all subdued

By the fever's scorching blight;
And their dim eyes wept, half tears, half blood-
And still they stood upright:

And there they stood, the quick and dead,
Propp'd by that dungeon's wall;
And the dying mother bent her head

On her child-but she could not fall;
In one dread night the life had fled
From half that were there in thrall.

The morning came, and the sleepless crew,
Threw the hatchways open wide;
Then the sickening fumes of death up-flew,
And spread on every side;
And, ere that eve, of the tyrant few,
Full twenty souls had died.

They died, the gaoler and the slave

They died with the selfsame pain ;They were equal then, for no cry could save Those who bound, or who wore, the chain; And the robber white found a common grave With him of the Negro stain.

The pest-ship slept on her ocean bed,
As still as any wreck,

Till they all, save one old man, were dead,
In her hold or on her deck:

That man, as life around him fled,
Bow'd not his sturdy neck.

He arose the chain was on his hands,
But he climbed from that dismal place,
And he saw the men who forged his bands,
Lie each upon his face;

There on the deck that old man stands,
The lord of all the space.

He sat him down, and he watch'd a cloud,
Just cross the setting sun,

And he heard the light breeze heave the shroud,
Ere that sultry day was gone,
When the night came on, the gale was loud,
And the clouds rose thick and dun.

And still the negro boldly walk'd

That lone and silent ship,,
With a step of vengeful pride he stalked,
And a sheer was on his lip;

For he laughed to think how death had balk'd
The fetters and the whip.

At last he slept-but the lightning flash
Play'd round the creaking mast,
And the sails were wet with the ocean's plash,
But the ship was anchor'd fast;
'Till at length, with a loud and fearful crash,
From her cable's chain she passed.

Away she swept, as with instinct rife,

O'er her broad and dangerous path;
And the midnight tempest's sudden strife
Had gather'd sounds of wrath;

But on board that ship was no sound of life,
Save the song of that captive swarth.

He sung of his Afric's distant sands,
As the slippery deck he trod;
He fear'd to die in other lands,

'Neath a tyrant master's rod;
And he lifted his head and fetter'd hands,
In a prayer to the Negro's God.,

He touch'd not the sail, nor the driving helm; But he look'd on the raging sea,

And he joy'd-for the waves that would o'erwhelm,

Would leave his body free;

And he pray'd that the ship to no Christian realm,

Before the storm might flee.

He smil'd amid the tempest's frown,

He sang amidst its roar;

His joy, no fear of death could drown;
He was a slave no more!
The helmless ship that night went down,
On Senegambia's shore.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have received Contributions from W. R. P., F., and B. H. Their services will always be acceptable.

The articles signed R. S., and C. R. T., are not

suited to "The Tourist."

THE TOURIST. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1832.

As the dissolution of Parliament is drawing near, it becomes every friend of humanity and justice to exert himself to the utmost in order to secure the return of such candidates as favour the

to confess, that, of all the forms which
hypocrisy assumes, there is none for which
we feel so superlative a contempt as for
that which is exhibited by many pro-sla-
very candidates. We could name men
who are known to be slave proprietors,
and advocates of the slave system, who
can yet venture in the light of day to
impose upon the ignorant and the credu-
lous by professing an abhorrence of sla-
bondsmen at the proper season.
and a willingness to manumit their
such men are frequently heard talking,
in no measured terms, of the hypocrisy
of the saints, as though this vice were, of
all, the most hateful in their sight. Now,

very,

And

mand for myself, the liberty of private judg ment; but, in a matter of practical importance, involving the rights of near a million of beings, than fellow-subjects, and moreover involving a who ought to stand in no other relation to us question most intimately connected with the great measure of reform, I feel that I should be guilty of a compromise of principle, were I to give my suffrage to one who can, upon any principle, uphold, for the shortest period, so iniquitous a system as that of slavery. The subject appears to me to lie in very small compass. I know that thou wilt grant me the pobirthright of every human being, of which no sition, that personal freedom is the inalienable authority of law can deprive him, unless he have forfeited it by some overt act against the peace or security of society; and consequently, by such professions; but we cannot think legislative enactment, in seizing this birthright, or withholding it from him. In this position, so meanly of the English public as to then, are the negroes of the West Indies, and, believe the delusion will be extensive. morally, can be looked upon in no other light The friends of truth and fair dealing thau a free people, though physically enslaved, should unmask the hypocrite wherever he since they have committed no overt act to subis found. Nor is it difficult to do so.ject them to the loss of liberty. Therefore, Two or three plain questions put at any compact entered into between this government and the planters, involving the violation public meeting may elicit the truth. If of the birthright of the negroes, must be viewed the candidate hesitate to reply-or if as a foul conspiracy, and constitutionally inhis answers be vague-or if he talk valid. Whence it is evident that, in the conof the pecuniary interest of the proprietor sideration of the just and equitable claims of as though it were of more importance the several parties, any such compact cannot than the freedom of the negro-or of the supersede or in any way operate as an expeunfitness of the slave for liberty-the dient to the restoration of this cruelly injured people to rights of which they have been deelectors will know what to think of his prived by the wicked policy of cruel and unsincerity, or how far they may confide to principled men. Thus far in justice to the him the protection of their rights. It negroes, as a constitutional question. The will happen in some cases, and this we claim of the negroes is an inalienable right— Should a majority of the next parlia- be dissolved. On this great question we much regret, that long connexions must that of the planters a power acquired by violence and injustice, and maintained by a sucment be favourable to the continuance of must know neither father, nor brother, imbecile-the planters are rich and powerful. cession of wrongs. The negroes are poor and our slave system, it will be in vain that nor friend. No matter how long, or how Whence I argue that that man's principles, as the nation petitions for change. Some laboriously, certain candidates may have a reformer of abuses and the upholder of polislight modifications may be attempted-represented us in parliament, the quessome unimportant and ineffective regula- tion we have now to determine is, whetions may be introduced; but the horrors ther we can answer it to God and our of slavery, its brutality and its vice, will conscience to return him again if we continue undiminished. "Now, then, is the accepted time; now is the day of vote for the worst system of oppression know, or have reason to think, he will salvation." This is emphatically the crisis and slow murder which has ever been of the negro's history, and upon its imestablished on earth. provement or neglect depends the whole complexion of his future destiny. Never was the feeling of the people so awakened

immediate abolition of slavery. No time it is possible that some may be deluded that no party can be morally justified, by any

must be lost-no effort spared. We have
but a few days in which to work; and
the happiness and existence of our negro
fellow-subjects are dependant on our la-
bours. The cool calculations of prudence
must be laid aside, and our whole strength
be consecrated to vigorous exertion. Our
opponents are numerous, subtle, and ac-
tive. They will spare no pains, nor shrink
from the adoption of any measures, how
ever reprehensible, to accomplish their
purpose. To expect honesty from the
abettors of theft would be to stultify our-
selves, and to betray our cause. We must,
therefore, be decided and active.
must work in season and out of season,
esteeming every hour as pregnant with
consequences in which humanity is deeply

interested.

We

to the diabolical character of colonial sla

The following letter, from an elector of
Maidstone to Mr. Robarts, a member for
that town, and a candidate for its future
representation, is highly creditable to the
writer.
good sense and moral principle of the

RESPECTED FRIEND,

very as it is at present. The national
conscience has been aroused, and a ge-
neral cry for redress and freedom is raised
throughout the kingdom. If, then, the
friends of humanity are but faithful to I take great pleasure in acknowledging the
their undertaking-if their efforts are but receipt of thy liberal remittances of two ten
proportioned to the interests which are at pound notes-one on thy own account, and the
stake-if they labour with a simplicity other on that of thy respected colleague, C. J.
and zeal commensurate with their high Barnett, Esq., for the furtherance of the ob-
and holy calling—they cannot fail. The jects of the British School Society in this
place; and, as the agent of that society, and a
spirit of the times, the growing intelli-humble promoter of the cause of education, I
gence of the nation, its commercial pros-
perity and religious principle, alike insure

success.

beg to express to you both my sincere thanks for your generous contribution, which, I have no doubt, will be heartily ratified by a minute Our only fear arises from the possibi-With respect to the latter subject to which and vote of the committee, when it meets. lity of our enemies imposing, to any considerable extent, on the anti-slavery public. This is a day of profession both in the church and the world; but we are free

thou art pleased to allude, I heartily wish we
could coincide in our views. Were the subject
at issue between us one of mere opinion, I
should be quite disposed to give, what I de-

tical rights and privileges, are little deserving of confidence, who (forgive me if I say from considerations of self-interest) will support the usurped power of the rich and powerful, acquired by fraud and injustice, against the inalienable right of the poor and the weak.

compensation, I say, let the negroes have their In regard to the claims of the planters to right-let a system of free compensated labour be tried; and then, if the planters can make out their case, I, as an individual, and I doubt them to the full of the loss that they can prove. not the government, would cheerfully grant say this in the full confidence that the plant

I

ers would be gainers instead of losers by the change; but, as a matter of abstract right, I ask, why the planters should be indemnified for the abstraction of a privilege which has cost them nothing? The planters entered npon this speculation in the confidence that the system of slave labour was more profitable than that of free labour. If they have found it so, their speculation has answered-they have received their remuneration; but, in justice, every penny that they have gained by it belongs to the slaves-they are the parties that have a right to demand remuneration. If they are disappointed in their expectations, and they find that they have been playing a losing pensation for the change? And, after all, game, what ground have they to demand com

what is it that the abolitionists require? That the peasantry of the West Indies should receive an equivalent for their labour-to substitute judicial for the private and irresponsible au

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed]

Deep in the windings of yon secret glade, . Where the thick coppice forms a darker shade, With arrows blunted and extinguished fires Innoxious, sleeps the god of soft desires. Too well I know, too oft have felt his power, Nor dare I visit that enchanted bower, Lest, by some magic, he from slumber start, His lamp rekindle, and new point his dart. Take thy repose, sweet tyrant, sovereign love: For me, eternal may thy slumbers prove! THE preponderance of imagination in the intellectual character of oriental nations, and that love of the marvellous that is so generally found to obtain in times of remote antiquity and of comparative ignorance, have together generated those systems of mythology which up in the east, and have descended to us, variously modified and tinctured by the notions and national character of

OLD MAIDS.

sprung

I LOVE an old maid-I do not speak of an individual, but of the species-I use the singular number, as speaking of a singularity in humanity. An old maid is not merely an antiquarian, she is an antiquity-not merely a record of the past, but the very past itself; she has escaped a great change, and sympathizes not in the ordinary mutations of mortality. She inhabits a little eternity of her own. She is Miss from the beginning of the chapter to the end. I do not like to hear her called Mistress, as is sometimes the practice, for that looks and sounds like the resignation of despair, a voluntary extinction of hope. I do not know whether marriages are made in hea

CUPID SLEEPING.

[ocr errors]

those who have subsequently entertained Sometimes he was represented as a winged them. They are, in fact, only the varie- boy, occupied in some childish amuseties of idolatry, consisting chiefly of per- ment; sometimes as a conqueror, armed sonifications of such qualities as are either with a helmet and spear; and sometimes, attributed to the Divinity, or observed in to show the extent and supremacy of his human nature; and the tendency that dominion, he is represented as breaking has ever been manifested by the mind of in pieces the thunderbolts of Jupiter. It man thus to personify seems resolvable is not necessary to specify the various deinto the principle, that we are naturally vices under which this potent deity has more susceptible of impressions from sen- been worshipped: he exhibits one more sible objects than of such as are made affecting instance of the mutability of immediately on the mind. It is not, human honours, on which the homilies of therefore, at all surprising that an all-innumerable moralists save us the trouble pervading sentiment, like that of love, of enlarging; and, having received the should have been embodied in the my- ardent homage of the world for ages, here thologies of antiquity; and accordingly he lies, degraded from his divinity, in the we find it, in one or other form, in the very earthly character of a garden ornapantheons of all the ancient nations.

ven; some people say that they are; but I am
almost sure that old maids are. There is
something about them which is not of the
earth earthly. They are spectators of the
world, not adventurers nor ramblers; perhaps
guardians; we say nothing of tatlers. They
are evidently predestinated to be what they
are. They owe not the singularity of their
condition to any lack of beauty, wisdom, wit,
or good temper; there is no accounting for it
but on the principle of fatality. I have known
many old maids, and of them all not one that
has not possessed as many good and amiable
qualities as ninety and nine out of a hundred
of my married acquaintance. Why, then, are
they single? It is their fate!-Friendship's
Offering.

ment.

SAVINGS' BANKS AND FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

MR. PRATT, the barrister appointed to certify the rules of savings' banks and friendly societies in England and Wales, has published a table, showing the increase or decrease of savings' banks, depositors therein, friendly societies, and charitable societies, in every county of England, Wales, and Ireland, between November, 1830, and November, 1831. The results are highly gratifying: the increase in the number of depositors in savings' banks is 13,750, and the increase in investments in the funds on account of savings' banks, £114,998. There has also been an increase in the number of accounts kept for friendly and charitable societies

of 453.

SOLAR RAYS.

WHETHER the solar rays are so far homogeneous that the same rays produce both heat and light, or whether each requires for its production a separate set of rays, is a question which has frequently occupied the attention, and divided the opinions, of philosophers.

The celebrated Dr. Hooke appears to have been the first who contended for this distinction, which was afterwards supported by M. Scheele, Dr. Herschel, and Sir Henry Englefield. The two latter, especially, inferred, from their experiments, that the sun emits illuminating rays which give no heat, and calorific rays which are not accompanied with light. On placing a thermometer in the wellknown figure called the Spectrum, this thermometer seemed to be the more affected the nearer it was placed to the red margin, and less as it approached the opposite or violetcoloured edge. But the most remarkable effect of all was, that the thermometer indicated the greatest heat when placed just without the red margin, where none of the visible rays reached it at all. They, therefore, concluded that this effect was produced by a set of dark colorific rays, which are less refrangible than any of the other rays. M. Berard, by repeating these experiments, obtained similar results, except that he found the maximum of heat in the red ray. These experiments were very elaborately conducted, and afforded much reason for the conclusion we have mentioned, that the illuminating rays are distinct from those which produce heat. Professor Leslie, how ever, has questioned the accuracy of this conclusion, having, by a different mode of experimenting, found it impossible to detach any of these dark rays from the light. Having rendered a circular spot opaque in the middle of a large convex lens, he received the light transmitted by the remaining transparent ring upon a surface of black wax, held at such a distance that the light formed upon the wax an iris, or ring, composed of a set of distinct concentric rings, which severally possessed all the various colours of the common Spectrum. Mr. Leslie then carefully observed the effect of these rings on the wax, and found that none of it was melted beyond where it was covered by the iris; whereas, if a set of dark calorific rays had existed, these ought to have more thoroughly melted a larger ring than that whereon the light fell; for the dark rays, if less refrangible than the light, would have fallen without the margin of the red ring which includes all the others. As this experiment, which is of a more simple and decisive cast than any performed by the gentlemen above-mentioned, seems to render their conclusion doubtful, Mr. H. Meikle has suggested what appears to him the principal source of deception. If a prism, such as Dr. Herschel employed, be heated, a very delicate thermometer will, cæteris paribus, be more affected when it is held opposite to one of the flat sides of the prism, than when opposite to one of its edges; because heat escapes from glass and many other substances, when smooth or polished, chiefly in straight lines, perpendicular to the surface. Now, if we attend to the position of Dr. Herschel's prism and thermometer, this will help to explain why the thermometer indicated heat, even when none of the illuminating rays reached it at all; as, also, why the heating power of the red rays seemed so much to surpass that of the other colours, &c.; because, the more directly opposite the thermometer was to the flat side of the prism, the more of its heat would it re

COMPLAINT OF A ZOOLOGICAL
GARDEN QUADRUPED.
To the Editor.

ceive; and, in the course of such an experi- | 8000 miles, occupying 89 days, arrived off
ment, there can be little doubt that the prism Rio de Janeiro, having, in this interval, passed
became considerably heated by absorbing a through the Pacific Ocean, rounded Cape
portion of the solar rays. This deserves con- Horn, and crossed the South Atlantic, without
sideration.
making any land, or even seeing a single sail,
with the exception of an American whaler off
Cape Horn. Arrived within a week's sail of
Rio, he set seriously about determining, by lu-
nar observations, the precise line of the ship's
course, and its situation in it at a determinate
HONOURED BIPED SIR,-If you have ever moment; and, having ascertained this within
been at our gardens, you may have observed from five to ten miles, ran the rest of the way
in one of the cages near-but I must not too by those more ready and compendious methods
minutely describe my locality, lest. I should be known to navigators, which can be safely em-
subject to fresh annoyances-a quiet demure ployed for short trips between one known point
little animal, your present humble quadru- and another, but which cannot be trusted in
pedalian petitioner. If you have, pity my long voyages, where the moon is the only sure
sorrows and those of my brethren, who have guide. The rest of the tale we are enabled,
not one day's rest all the year round. Would by his kindness, to state in his own words:-
not six days in one week be sufficient for "We steered towards Rio de Janeiro for some
poking parasols into my poor eyes, but a days after taking the lunars above described,
seventh must be added? I always understood and, having arrived within fifteen or twenty
(so far as a quadruped could understand such miles of the coast, I hove to at four in the
matters), that you Christian bipeds rested one morning, till the day should break, and then
day in seven, and gave your eattle and all other bore up; for, although it was very hazy, we
things rest too: but, to my sorrow, I find this could see before us a couple of miles or so.
to be quite a mistake; and equally a mistake the About eight o'clock it became so foggy that I
old notion that man may be defined to be "a did not like to stand in further, and was just
religious animal," as no other animal is so; bringing the ship to the wind again before send-
for I now see that our Zoological Garden mas- ing the people to breakfast, when it suddenly
ters are not religious animals any more than cleared off, and I had the satisfaction of seeing
their horses, whom, as well as our two-footed the great Sugar Loaf Rock, which stands on one
keepers, they work on Sundays as well as other side of the harbour's mouth, so nearly right
days. Much, it seems, has been said in a re-ahead that we had not to alter our course above
ligious way about this matter; but those who a point in order to hit the entrance of Rio.
manage the Gardens have not felt the force of This was the first land we had seen for three
this appeal; being, I suppose, not of the reli- months, after crossing so many seas, and being
gious genus. Our "half-reasoning" elephant, set backwards and forwards by innumerable
a very judicious observer, who does not much currents and foul winds." The effect on all
mind the annoyance of company, in considera- on board might well be conceived to have been
tion of their dainty contributions of fruit and electric; and it is needless to remark how es-
confectionary, is inclined to believe-so far I sentially the authority of a commanding officer
mean as he comprehends the question-that over his crew may be strengthened by the oc-
our worthy governors are great hypocrites for currence of such incidents, indicative of a de-
excluding the shilling-a-head public on Sun- gree of knowledge and consequent power be-
day, while they admit themselves, their fami-yond their reach.
lies, their friends, and visitors. They have, it
is true, a nicer quieter day, while their neigh-
bours are at church; but if it be a sin to open
the Gardens to a thousand persons, it must be
so to five hundred, unless the God of Chris-
tians makes a distinction between guinea sub-
scribers and the shilling-a-head people. But
this is a matter for your consideration, being
too puzzling for your poor persecuted servant,

A ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN QUADRUPED.
Christian Observer.

TRIUMPH OF SCIENCE.

MASSILLON AND LOUIS XIV.

THE publisher of Massillon's Sermons describes, in the preface, the bishop's method of preaching, by saying, that "what formed the distinct character of Father Massillon's eloquence was, that all his strokes aimed directly at the heart; so that, what was simply reason and proof in others, was feeling in his mouth. Hence the remarkable success of his instructions. Nobody, after hearing him, stopped to praise or criticise his sermon; each auditor retired in pensive silence, with a thoughtful air, THAT a man, by merely measuring the downcast eyes, and composed countenance, moon's apparent distance from a star with a carrying away the arrow fastened in his heart. little portable instrument held in his hand, and When Massillon had preached his first advent applied to his eye, even with so unstable a at Versailles, Louis XIV. addressed these refooting as the deck of a ship, shall say posi-markable words to him: Father, I have heard tively, within five miles, where he is, on a many fine orators in my chapel, and have been boundless ocean, cannot but appear to persons very much pleased with them; but as for you, ignorant of physical astronomy an approach to always when I have heard you, I have been the miraculous. Yet, the alternatives of life very much displeased with myself.' ,, and death, wealth and ruin, are daily and hourly staked with perfect confidence on these marvellous computations, which might almost BRINDLEY, the great engineer and conseem to have been devised on purpose to show structer of the Bridgewater canal, was a singuhow closely the extremes of speculative refine-lar instance of professional enthusiasm. This ment and practical utility can be brought to approximate. We have before us an anecdote communicated to us by Capt. Basil Hall, R.N. a naval officer, distinguished for the extent and variety of his attainments, which shows how impressive such results may become in practice. He sailed from San Blas on the west coast of Mexico, and, after a voyage of

THE RULING PASSION.

he evinced, in a rather amusing way, upon his examination before the House of Commons, in which he spoke with so much contempt of rivers, as means of internal navigation, that an honourable member was tempted to ask him for what purpose he supposed rivers to have been created. Brindley, without a moment's hesitation, replied, "to feed canals!"

« PreviousContinue »