eagerly consulted by every man of science, and were as industriously pursued with considerable ad- The election of President is annual, but the praised with a warmth that might well encourage vantage; but the vessel unfortunately striking upon Society considered itself too fortunate in its choice young men of fortune to seek the same approbation a rock, injured it so much as to threaten the destruc- to think of changing him when the period of re by the same means. The curiosity of naturalists tion of all on board. This occasioned a considerable election returned. For the first three or four years was turned towards the new world, as containing injury to Mr. Banks's botanical collections, a great of his Presidency, all went on in harmony and with ample treasure much less known, and more peculiar, part of which were entirely destroyed. From this extraordinary advantages to science: but notwith than those which remained to be explored in the old. coast they steered for New Guinea. At Batavia, standing the zeal and assiduity with which Sir Joseph To go the narrow round of the common fashion- which they afterwards visited, every person belong. Bauks (who had been created Baronet in 1781) able tour, could appear but miserable trifling to a ing to the ship became sick except a sail-maker, an devoted himself to the duties of his office, and young man whose mind glowed with a love of scien-old man between seventy and eighty years of age, withstanding the general success of his cares, disco tific enterprise, and of the knowledge of nature. who got drunk every day. Seven died at Batavia, tents began to arise against him, eveu among the But to explore sceues unknown, and to contemplate and three and twenty more in the course of six most eminent members of the Society. A variety the beauty and majesty of nature where they had weeks after the departure of the ship from the har- of complaints, the fruit of misunderstanding and not yet been violated by art, was a plan of travel bour. At length, on the 12th of June, 1771, the prejudice, were industriously circulated in regard to worthy of the desire and the contrivance of virtue survivors brought the vessel to anchor in the Downs, his conduct in the Presidency; it was said that and genius. and landed at Deal. Science herself had never been more signally sulted thau by the elevation of a mere amateur to occupy the chair once filled by Newton. It wai alleged against him, that he arrogated to himself the exclusive power of introducing new members to the Society, and by this means to fill it withi norant aud trifling men of wealth and rank; she the inventor in art, the discoverer in science, and the teacher of knowledge, were driven away with scorn. It was said that his hostility to mathematical knowledge threatened to bring it into discredit and neglect in the Society; aud it was sarcastically but unjustly observed, that he possessed no scientific merits, but such as depended merely on bodily labour and the expenditure of money."

It was with such views operating on his mind, that Mr. Banks, upon leaving the University of Oxford in 1783, went on a voyage across the Atlantic, to the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. That voyage was not without its difficulties and dangers; but it afforded a rich compensation in the new knowledge with which it filled his mind, and in those curiosities of natural history which it enabled him to collect.

Mr. Banks was received in England with eager admiration and kindness; and the specimens which he brought at so much risk and expense to enrich the science of natural history, placed him above every other person of rank and fortune in the age, both for personal qualities and as a benefactor to mankind. At court, among men of science and literature, he was equally honoured,

It was not one voyage, even though that voyage The spirit of naval discovery, so eminently en- should be round the globe, and attended with infinite couraged since the commencement of the last reign, dangers, that could satisfy the inquiring mind of soon presented a new opportunity by which Mr. Mr. Banks; and although he did not accompany Banks was engaged in a more distant and laborious the new expedition of discovery that was sent out, voyage than that in which he made his first adven- as he at first wished, yet his directions and assist ture of scientific inquiry. This was in the first ance were not withheld, so far as these could provoyage of Lieut. Cook, whom Government deter-mote the success and usefulness of the voyage. mined to send out for the double purpose of pursu- Iceland was soon after pointed out to Mr. Banks ing still further the discoveries which had been as fertile in natural curiosities, highly worthy of already made in the South Seas, and for the benefit the inspection of one whose love of nature had led of astronomy, and all the arts dependent upon it, him to circumnavigate the globe. He therefore to observe in the latitude of Otaheite an expected hired a vessel, and, in company with his friend, Dr. transit of Venus over the sun. In this voyage, Solander, visited that isle. The Hebuda, those ceyoung Banks resolved to sail with Cook. His liberal lebrated islets scattered along the north-west coast spirit and generous curiosity were regarded with of Scotland, were contiguous to the track of the admiration; and every convenience from the Go-voyage; and these adventurous naturalists were vernment was readily supplied to render the cir-induced to examine them. Among other things cumstances of the voyage as little unpleasant to worthy of notice, they discovered the columnar him as possible.

Far, however, from soliciting any accommodation that might occasion expense to Government, Mr. Banks was ready to contribute largely out of his own private fortune towards the general purposes of the expedition. He engaged as his director in natural history during the voyage, and as the compapion of his researches, Dr. Solander, of the British Museum, a Swede by birth, and one of the most eminent pupils of Linnæus, whose scientific merits had been his chief recommendation to patronage in England. He also took with him two draughtsmen, one to delineate views and figures, the other to paint subjects of natural bistory. A secretary and four servants formed the rest of his suite. He took care to provide likewise the necessary instruments for his intended observations, with conveniences for preserving such specimens as he might collect of natural or artificial objects, and with stores to be distributed in the remote isles he was going to visit, for the improvement of the condition of savage life. In the course of the voyage, dangers were encountered of more than ordinary magnitude. On the const of Terra del Fuego, in an excursion to view the natural productions of the country, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander had nearly perished in a storm of snow. After passing a night on land amidst the storm, they at last, and with much difficulty, made their way back to the beach, and were received on board the ship; but three of the persons who accompanied them were lost.

At Otaheite, where the Endeavour arrived on the 12th April, 1769, the voyagers continued three months, occasionally visiting the smaller contiguous ists, surveying the coasts, cultivating the friend. ship of the natives, collecting specimens of natural history, and making those scientific observations which constituted a principal object of the voyage. Quitting these islands, they next visited New Zealand and New Holland, where the same researches

stratification of the rocks surrounding the caves of
Staffa, a phenomenon till then unobserved by natu-
ralists. The volcanic mountains, the hot springs,
the siliceous rocks, the arctic plants, and animals
of Iceland, were carefully surveyed in this voyage.
A rich harvest of new knowledge and new specimens
compensated for its toils and expense,
After his return from Iceland, where he had much
endeared himself to the inhabitants, Mr. Banks
passed his time for some years chiefly in London or
at his seat in Lincolnshire, associating with men of
letters and of rank, corresponding with men of
science in the most distant parts of the globe, and
unweariedly devoting his time and his fortune to
the great purposes of scientific beneficence.

Such were the numerous complaints against the new President: but however respectable the persons from whom these complaints emanated; however deep and general the impression which they made; they have since been proved to have been exceedingly unjust.

When Sir Joseph Banks was raised to the Presi dency, he found secretaries ambitious of assuming that power which alone belonged to his office, and that too great a facility was given to the admission of members: so much was this the case, that D'Alembert used jocosely to ask any of his a quaintance coming to England, if they wished to become members of the Society' and intimating that if they thought it an honour, he could easily obtain it for them. Sir Joseph Banks, therefore, with wise and zealous attention to the true interests of the Society, resolved to use every just and bo nourable precantion to hinder the honours of its fellowship from being in future improperly bestowed. The first principle which he thought proper to adopt. with a view to this end, was, that all persons fair moral character and decent nranners, who lad eminently distinguished themselves by discovena or inventions of high importance in any of those branches of art or science which it was the express object of this Society to cultivate, ought, whatever their condition in life, to be gladly received among its members.' But, in the next place, he was e opinion, that of those who were merely lovers of art or science, and had made no remarkably ingetious contributions to their improvement, none ought to be hastily received into the Royal Society, whose rank and fortune were not such as to reflect on that society and its pursuits a degree of new splendour as well as to endow them with the means pro moting its views on fit occasions by extraordicary expense. It is impossible to deny that by these principles (and we know no better) has the conduc of Sir Joseph Banks been ever chiefly regulated in regard to the admission of new members. Agains the specious philosophy of the theorist, the atheist It was in the year 1778 that Mr. Banks entered and the innovator delighting in mere change witho upon the duties of the office of President of the regard of its consequences, Sir Joseph Banks by Royal Society, and be immediately devoted himself also to combat, and it was his duty to presesve 18 with the most successful zeal to the faithful dis-Royal Society from their intrusion. charge of them. His attentions had the happy At length, the mutual discontents between th effect of procuring communications in the highest degree interesting and important, and of gaining an accession of persons of rank and talents to the list of members; as well as exciting the whole body to extraordinary diligence and activity in the proper pursuits of the society.

In the year 1777, when Sir John Pringle retired from the presidency of the Royal Society, the best friends of that Institution did not think that they could promote its dignity and usefulness better than by the election of Mr. Banks to fill the vacant chair. The honour was just such an one as a philosopher, who was at the same time a man of rank and fortune, might with laudable ambition desire. And it cannot be denied, that if the best judges had been desired to single out the individual who possessed the most eminent union of all those qualities which were best calculated to adorn the othce and discharge its important duties, they could not easily have voided fixing on Mr. Banks.

of

President and a number of the members of th Society broke out into open discussion. Ia te course of its proceedings, Dr. Hutton, a name dea to science, was reduced to the necessity of resigni his office of Foreign Secretary, on learning that i had been accused of neglecting his duties. He how

derer explained and defended his conduct, and a vote of the Society fully approved of his defence. On the evening of the 8th of January, 1784, a bret resolution that this Society do approve of Sir Joseph Banks for their President, and will support him,' was moved in a very full meeting of the Society, by Sir Joseph's friends. It was strenuously opposed Barut by several members, and in particular by Dr. Horsey; who having been interrupted in a speech of his great force and argument, and being further irrientated by a suggestion from Lord Mulgrave, arose and spoke with great eloquence, intimating a threat, that he and his friends were disrespectfully treated by Sr Joseph Banks, they might probably secede, and form a rival society. Sir,' said he, in conclusion, we shall have one remedy in our power, if all others fail; we can at least secede. Sir, when the hour of secession does come, the President will be e left with his train of feeble umateurs, and that toy (pointing to the mace) upon the table, the ghost of that Society in which philosophy once reigned, and Newton presided as her minister." The motion made in favour of Sir Joseph Banks was, however, carried by a great majority, and the dissention soon

to

after subsided.

The Society now returned with new zeal and ananimity to the prosecution of their proper labours These labours are before the public in their Transactions, which contain a multitude of discoveries of the highest importance.

discriminating and inventive powers of an original
and vigorous mind; his knowledge was not that of
facts merely, or of technical terms and complex
abstractions alone, but of science in its elementary
principles. and of nature in her happiest forms.
Sir Joseph Banks was a member of the Privy
Council, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of
the Bath. As he had died without issue, the
Baronetage has become extinct. He has left the
whole of his property to Lady Banks, during her
life, with the exception of some few legacies, and a
pension of £200 per annum, to Mr. Brown, his
secretary. To the nation he has bequeathed his
valuable library, and a name that it will never cease
to cherish while science is encouraged or respected.

Scientific Records.

RECESSION OF THE MAGNETIC' NEEDle.

PRINTING AT OTAHEITE.

M. Turgenieff, Counsellor of state, has made a report to the Bible Society of Petersburgh, in which it is stated that the English missionaries have established a press at Otaheite, at which 3000 bibles have been printed. They were all sold in the space of three days, for three gallons of cocoa-nut oil each. The books of Moses, translated into the Otaheitean language, have been printed at the same press; also a catechism for the use of the inhabitants. These have been distributed gratuitously.— Journal of Science, No. xviii. p. 427.

LITERATURE IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

ON KILLING ANIMALS.

At Sydney, in New South Wales, there are at present three public journals, and five other periodical publications A second printing-office has also been established lately at Port Jackson. They now export cattle to the Isle of France, and the market at Sydney is considered as plentiful in the different Col. Beaufoy is induced to believe, from his mag-commodities of Europe, as well as of India and netical observations which are published in Thom-China, Journal of Science, No. xviii. p. 427. son's Annals, that the greatest variation of the compass has been attained, and that the needle is now slowly retrograding, and returning to the north. During the last nine months of 1818, the variation gradually increased, and was 24° 41′ 20 at noon. It fluctuated during January, 1819, decreased in All the voyages and travels that have been made February, and again fluctuated in March. Since during the last thirty years, have either been sug-that time the variation has been in a regular state of gested by Sir Joseph Banks, or had his approbation decrease. Col. Beaufoy places the maximum of and support. The African Association owes its rigia to him; and Ledyard, Lucas, Houghton, and western variation in the mouth of March, 1819. the unfortunate Mungo Park, all partook of that kind and fostering care which he extended to the Jenterprizing lover of science, The culture of the bread-fruit tree in the West Indies, and the estab. ishment of our colony at Botany Bay, originated solely with him.

It was not merely to the duties of President of The Royal Society, nor in the meetings of its menibeers, that Sir Joseph Banks confined his sphere of sefulness; his purse was always open to promote the cause of science; and many a traveller, when in distant and inhospitable elimes, has drawn on his bounty: and such was the veneration in which his nanie was held, wherever it was known, that the draft was received like specie, and generously ho noured by Sir Joseph Banks, though drawn without his permission.

trai

At home, his Sunday evening conversations were attended by persons the most celebrated in literature and science, whatever their rank in life; his valuable library was more accessible than that of any public institution; and he was always ready to give his advice, or to communicate his opinion, on every subject connected with science. Mr. Dibdin, in his Bibliographical Decameron, justly says, "The incomparable library of Natural History of Sir Joseph Banks, in which, as in a wood of ancient growth and primeval grandeur, amidst insects of all hues, reptiles either nocuous or innocuous, and wild beasts that walk abroad or "love the lair," you may disport at ease, and solace yourselves without injury, and to your heart's delight. Such a collection should hat be suffered to be dissipated; as neither years or centuries can erase the name of the owner of it from the records of imperishable fame.'

For some years Sir Joseph Banks was much afflicted With the gout; and during the last few months his health was su much on the decline, that he expressed a wish to resign the office of President of the Royal Society. He was induced, however, to retain it until his death. G K KAN

Sir Joseph in person was tall and manly, and his Countenance expressive of dignity and intelligence. His manners were polite and urbane; his conversation rich in instructive information, frank, engaging, naffected, and without levity, yet endowed with ufficient vivacity. His information was general And extensive. On most subjects, he exercised the

ANIMAL MAGNETISM,

The French work, Revue Encyclopedique, tom. 4, p. 185, states that a new mode of killing animals intended for food, has been adopted by a great many butchers in London. The mode is said to be to make them expire by hitrogen gas, which they say makes the meat preserve longer, and gives it a finer

flavour. We never before heard of nitrogen gas being employed for this purpose, but have often heard carbonic acid gas suggested, although we know not whether it has ever been actually used.Edit. Kal.

WELSH INDIANS IN AMERICA.

The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin have proposed Animal Magnetism as a prize subject. It is suggested to the candidates, that wonderful recitals are not required, but a description of those The Gazette of St. Louis on the Missouri, anconstant laws to which magnetism is subject, and nounces the equipment of an expedition, the object the connexion which it has with other natural phe-of which is to ascertain the existence of a race of nomena.-Edit. Kal.

PLATINUM LEAF.

Indians said to have descended from Welsh emaigrants, and of whom we have inserted various accounts in the preceding volume of our old series, vol. i, pages 49, 53, 54, 61, 65, 73, 93, 97, 140. It is ramifications of the Missouri, within the limits of the expedition. The conductors of this expedition are Messrs. Roberts and Parry, both Welshmen.Edit. Kal.

Platinum is now prepared in Paris in leaves as intended to comprehend all the extensive southern thin as those of leaf gold.

NATURE OF HAIL.

M. Delcros has published the idea, that hail generally, and especially when small, is composed of the fragments of crystalline spheres of ice. During ten years' observation, he had observed that the particles of hail were spherical pyramids, varying in size, but having the same form. The apex had sometimes disappeared, but when present was apparently part of a hard nucleus; next to this came another and larger portion, radiated from the apex as a centre, and this was covered on the side opposite to the apex by a drusy portion of ice. From the constancy of these appearances, he concluded, that, in the production of hail, a nucleus, composed of concentric spheres, was first formed, on which a second radiated formation was superposed, and that these masses were then broken into pieces by a kind of explosion.

In a storm which happened at la Bacconière, in the Department of Mayenne, in France, on the 4th of July, 1819, M. Delcros had an opportunity of observing these spheres, the fragments of which he supposes generally form hail. The hail-stones which fell at that time were very large, some of them being 15 inches in circumference, and they were globular. When broken they consisted of a very small nucleus, round which a larger had formed, and then this again was surrounded by a very compact radiated ice, more transparent than the rest; the surface exhibited the appearance of pyramids ranged one by the side of another.-Biblioth Univer, 13. p. 154,

EXPLORATION OF AFRICA.

Mr. Bowdich, the conductor of the late mission

to Ashantee, has published a prospectus of another expedition, in which he pledges himself to devote his life to the interests of science. He requires a subscription in the form of five-pound shares. A small sum will be sufficient, as says Mr. Bowdich, "The mission to Ashantee did not cost £1,500 sterling money, including expensive presents, some mixmanagement in the outset, much inexperience, and the protracted maintenance of nearly 100 followers." We wish Mr. B. every success in this very spirited undertaking, and, from his known abilities, many important geographical, mineralogical, and botanical discoveries may be expected.-Edit. Kal.

RUSSIAN NORTHERN EXPEDITION,

Letters from St. Petersburgh (says the Journal of Science) dated March, state, that a new voyage of discovery is to be made this summer. The expedition is to sail from the mouth of the Leua for the Frozen Ocean, exploring the coast of Siberia, and the islands which were a few years ago discovered to the northward. A suspicion seems to exist that a passage may be possible through these islands.— Edit, Kal,

Barcarolles are, according to Rosseau, (Dictionnaire de Mu

Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. sic,) the songs chanted by the Venetian Gondoliers.

The Naturalist's Diary,

For AUGUST, 1820.

[To be continued throughout the year.]

AUGUST.

About the 11th of August, the puffin (alca arctica) migrates. Priestholme, or Puffin's Island, about three quarters of a mile from the Isle of Anglesea, abounds with these birds; and their flocks, for multitude, may be compared to swarms of bees.

In the middle of the month, the swift disappears and probably migrates to more southern regions. Sextilis was the ancient Roman name of this Rooks begin to roost in their nest trees, and young mouth, being the sixth from March. The Emperor brooks of goldfinches (fringilla carduelis) appear; Augustus changed this name, and gave it his own, lapwings (tringu vanellus) and linnets (fringilla because in this month Cæsar Augustus took posses-linota) congregate; the nuthatch chatters; and, to sion of his first consulship, celebrated three trimphs, wards the end of the month, the redbreast is again reduced Egypt under the power of the Roman people, and put an end to all civil wars.

Now past each gentle zephyr, summer gale,
The raging heats of Sirius prevail :
No more the air refreshing breezes yields,
Whose balmy breathings scent the mantled fields:
Fair Flora now to Ceres leaves the plain,
Diffusing plenty o'er her wide domain;
She opes her stores, and strews them through the mead,
And golden harvests all the surface spread.

We have commonly fine wather* in August, and
this is particularly desirable, that the principal
TEA source of the farmer's wealth may be safely housed.
Now o'er his corn the sturdy farmer looks,
And swells with satisfaction to behold

The plenteous harvest which repays his toil.
We too are gratified, and feel a joy
Inferior but to his, partakers all

Of the rich bounty Providence has strewed
In plentiful profusion o'er the field.
Tell me ye fair, Alcanor tell me, what
Is to the eye more cheerful, to the heart
More satisfactive, than to look abroad,
And from the window see the reaper strip,
Look round, and put his sickle to the wheat?
Or hear the early mower whet his scythe,
And see where he has cut his sounding way,
E'en to the utmost edge of the brown field
Of oats or barley? What delights us more,
Than studiously to trace the vast effects
Of unabated labour? To observe
How soon the golden field abounds with sheaves?
How soon the oat and bearded barley fall,
In frequent lines before the keen-edged scythe?
The clatt'ring team then comes, the swarthy hind
Down leaps and doffs his frock alert, and plies
The shining fork. Down to the stubble's edge
The easy wain descends half built, then turns
And labours up again. From pile to pile
With rustling step the swain proceeds, and still
Bears to the groaning load the well-pois'd sheaf.
The gleaner follows, and with studious eye
And bended shoulders traverses the field
To cull the scattered ear, the perquisite
By heaven's decree assigned to them who need,
And neither sow nor reap. Ye who have sown,
And reap so plenteously, and find the grange
Too barrow to contain the harvest giv❜n,
Be not severe, and grudge the needy poor
So small a portion. Scatter many an ear,
Nor let it grieve you to forget a sheaf,
And overlook the loss. For He who gave
Will bounteously reward the purposed wrong
Done to yourselves; nay more, will twice repay
The generous neglect. The field is cleared;"
No sheaf remains, and now the empty wain
A load less honourable awaits. Vast toil succeeds,
And still the team retreats, and still returns
To be again full fraught. Proceed, ye swains,
And make one autumn of your lives, your toil
Still new, your harvest never done. Proceed,
And stay the progress of the falling year,
And let the cheerful valley laugh and sing,
Crowned with perpetual AUGUST. Never faint,
And ever let us hear the hearty shout
Sent up to Heaven, your annual work complete
And harvest ended.
Hurdis.

There are some exceptions. In the year 1799, perpetual rain rendered the country in August as green as it usually is in May. Many thousand acres of wheat and other grain were covered with water. The rivers overflowed, and swept away the produce of whole farms; and a great scarcity of bread ensued.

heard.

At the beginning of August, melilot (trifolium officinale), rue (ruta graveolens), the water parsnip (sysimbrium nasturtium), horehound (marrubium vulgare), water-nut (mentha aquatica), the orpine (sedum telephium), and the gentiana amarella, have their flowers full blown. The purple blossoms of the meadow saffron (colchicum autumnale) now adorn the low moist lands. The number of plants in flower, however, is greatly lessened in August, those which bloomed in the former months running fast to seed. Yet, we are continually reminded of the bounty of our Creator; though the flowers of Spring and the lovely rose are no more, the fruits of Summer and of Autumn now pour in their abundant stores.

Heaths and commons are now in all their beauty; the flowers of the various species of heath (erica), covering them with a fine purple hue. Ferns also begin to flower, the commouest sort of which is the fern or brakes (polypodium filix-mas); but the female (pteris aquilina) is the most beautiful plant.

Insects still continue to swarm; they sport in the sun from flower to flower, from fruit to fruit, and subsist themselves upon the superfluities of nature. The white-bordered butterfly (papilio antiopa) ap. pears about the beginning of August, lives through the winter, and appears again in the spring, in company with papilio io, the peacock butterfly, &c. There is something very extraordinary in the periodical but irregular appearances of this species, edusa and cardui. They are plentiful all over the kingdom in some years, after which, antiopa in particular will not be seen by any one for eight or ten or more years, and then appear again in as great abundance as before. To suppose they come from the continent is an idle conjecture, because the English specimens are easily distinguished from all others by the superior whiteness of their borders. Perhaps, their eggs in this climate, like the seeds of some vegetables, may occasionally lie dormant for several seasons, and not batch, until some extraordinary, but indiscovered coincidences awake them into active life. (Haworth's Lepidoptera Britannica) Papilio autiopa was in great abundance in the year 1792; but scarcely a single specimen has been since time. P. cardui was common in 1808, but very scarce till 1818. P. edusa was common in the years 1808, 1811, and 1818; but, in some seasons, scarcely a single specimen has been observed.

In their own bright Kathaian bowers,
Sparkle such rainbow butterflies,
That they might fancy the rich flowers,
That round them in the sun lay sighing,

Had been by magic all set flying. Lalla Rookh. The caterpillar of the death's-bead, bee-tiger, jessamine-hawk, or potato-moth (sphinx atropos), is found about this time upon potatoes, artfully concealing itself in the day time on those parts of the stems of the plants which are best covered with over-shadowing leaves. They are sometimes found also upon green elder and jessamine. A'specimen of this rare and noble insect, taken in July 1818, is described as being about four inches long, yellow, with purple spots on the back, and purple streaks down the sides. It ate the tops of potatoes very greedily. It is the only insect of the lepidoptera order that has a voice.

The harvest-bug (acarus ricinus), in this and the following month, proves a very troublesome and disagreeable insect, particularly in some of the southern counties of England. The best cure for the bite is hartshorn. Flies now abound, and torment both men and animals with their perpetual buzzing. Wasps and hornets become, in this and the succeeding month, very annoying to us in our rural walks. Another troublesome insect which abounds in August, is the tabanus pulvialis, sticking on the hands and legs, and, by piercing the skin with its proboscis, causing a painful inflammation. Cattle are severely exposed to its attacks, though the dragon fly (libellula), the beautiful insect that frequents the shaded ponds, bears the blame of the other's mischief, under the name of horse-stinger, but is perfectly harmless. (To be concluded in our next.)

Correspondence.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR-In your last week's Kaleidoscope appeared a letter, the author of which seemed considerably annoyed at the support which the Eye Institutions lately established in this town were receiving, and thought the money subscribed towards the establishment of one of them might be more usefully appropriated to other charitable purposes and subjects; the propriety of handing over the subscriptions towards the formation of another Dispensary; that another Dispensary would be highly useful nobody can deny but at the same time subscriptions solicited for a purpose ought to be devoted to that only for which they were intended; and at the same time I must observe, that I think the money could not be employed to more beneficial purposes, than in affording relief to those labouring under that most afflicting of all diseases, sore eyes, which incapacitates the sufferer from following his usual avocations, and without immediate relief, in some cases, the poor creatures who derive the benefit from these institutions would loose that valuable blessing eye-sight; and the superior skill which surgeons attached to these places must have in the treatment of that tender organ, whose practice will, in a large town like this, be of the greatest benefit in taking out of the hands of ignorant quacks the power of doing evil, of which description, I believe your author Aliquis, to be, from the virulence with which he attacks one of the Institutions, or else he is a disappointed candiSome of the Chinese butterflies, called, in the lan-date for dispensaral honours, and hopes by the forguage of the country, 'flying leaves,' have such shining colours and are so variegated, that they may mation of another Dispensary, to have a forlorn hope be truly called 'flying flowers;' and, indeed, they of sometime getting employment. are always produced in the flower gardens.

Above the sovereign oak, a sovereign skims,
The purple emp'ror, strong in wings and limbs;
There fair Camilla takes her flight serene;
Adonis blue, and Paphia silver queen;
With every filmy fly from mead or bower,
And hungry sphinx who treads the honied flow'r;
She o'er the larkspur's bed, where sweets abound,
Views every bell, and hums th' approving sound;
Pois'd on her busy plumes, with feeling nice
She draws from every flower, nor tries a flowret twice

Crabbe.

Yours, TIMOTHY.

Miscellanies.

A Witty Way.-Flowerdew, when teacher of rhetoric and elocution, at Hackney, was patronized by several of our first citizens and Aldermen. Calling to pay a friendly visit to a worthy Ex-Mayor, Alderman, and Pastry-Cook, among other refreshments he was honoured by Mr. L B serving him with a glass of whey on a silver salver. Upon taking the cooling and unintoxicating beverage, observed-Pray, Sir, is this your whey? Certainly, was the reply. Then, Sir, this is my way, and away F. went.

ANECDOTE OF OUR LATE KING AT HIS
CORONATION.

After the annointing was over in the Abbey, and

The Drama.

In the first volume of the old series of the Kaleido. scope, No. 38, we gave at great length the singular story of The Vampyre. This horrid narative has since become the groundwork of a new and popular melo drama, of the plot, &c. of which, we the following outline, abridged from the Ex: THE VAMPYRE.

"A new melo drama called The Vampyre was pro

Areful event. An article from Coblentz of the 14th ult. describes the following magnificent, but calamitous event-On the evening of the 7th a manifest motion was observed throughout a considerable part of the great mountains of Seven Hours, [Siaben Uhren], situated on the Moselle, something less than a mile from Bruttig. As large fissures had been previously remarked on the top of the hill, the circumstance excited much anxiety, which was fully justified by the result. About midnight of the 7th, huge fragments of rock began to roll from the upper region of the hill; as they descended, they bore along with them masses of the mountain of greater size; and the whole side at length gave way, pouring down an uninterrupted torrent of earth and recks, which the crown put upon the King's head, with great shout-duced at the English Opera on Wednesday, and me continued rolling until four o'clock the following morning, the two Archbishops came to hand him down from He told them ing. Forty vineyards were completely overwhelmed with the throne to receive the sacrament. the prodigious ruin, which bore before it houses, trees, he would not go to the Lord's Supper, and partake of and every other obstruction until it reached the river, that ordinance, with the crown upon his head; for he the bed of which it soon filled up, throwing back the looked upon himself, when appearing before the King water upon the cultivated country to a height of three of kings, in no other character than as a humble Chrisor four feet; thus effecting a second mischief, the extent tian! The Bishops replied, that although there was of which cannot be appreciated. no precedent for this, it should be complied with. Immediately he put of his crown, and laid it aside. He then desired that the same should be done with respect to the Queen. It was answered, that her crown was so pinned on her head that it could not be easily taken off. To which the King replied, "Well, let it be reckoned a part of her dress, and in no other light."

Middleburg (Virginia) May 30.-On the 13th instant, a piece of land of upwards of five acres, lying on the east side of the bank of the Lake Champlain, sunk about forty feet into the lake, throwing the bed of the lake up about ten feet above the surface of the water. A part of the land was covered with small trees of various | kinds, some of which were torn up by the roots. The pressure against the water occasioned it to rise nearly three feet on the opposite shore, which is about a thile

and a half distant.

Horrid Transaction. The Western Reserve Chroni. cle, of Ohio, of the 1st ult. gives a distressing account of the death of Philemon, William, and Cyrus, three only children of Mr. Zaphna and Mrs. Lois Stone, of Kinsman, in that State, who were drowned by the hand of their mother! The circumstances are peculiar, and were communicated for publication by a clergyman. Mr. and Mrs. Stone possessed amiable dispositions, sustained unblemished characters, and had lived together in the utmost harmony. During a late revival of religion, Mrs. S. was awakened, and supposed she had experienced a change of heart. Soon after, however, she settled down in a state of gloom and melancholy, and declared that she had committed the unpardonable sin. Under this impression, and believing, that if taken off at their present tender age, the children would be happy, and believing also that, having committed the unpardonable sin, no injury would follow to herself, while her husband was gone to meeting, on Sunday, the 14th day of May, she drowned the little innocents in a spring about three feet deep.-The verdict of the Coroner's inquest was"Drowned by the mother in a fit of insanity."

Extraordinany Fact.-A short time since, two genslemen residing at Brighton, having visited Horsham, looked into the workhouse of that town, to observe how the poor were taken care of. The master conducted them about most parts of the building, and at length pointed to a door in the yard, in which was a small grated opening, remarking, that therein was confined a poor lunatic, a female, named Evans, who had been there for several years, and whose father had been an occupant of the same cell for many years also, previous to his daughter's affliction, from a similar cause, his malady only terminating with his dissolution. Curiosity induced the gentlemen to take a peep through the grate at the unhappy woman: she was seated on a low chair. and busied in a most extraordinary employment, that of feeding two enormous rats in her lap with crumbs of bread, which she had evidently reserved for them. The approach of the strangers had been noticed by her, and while hush" gently issued from her lips, she lightly motioned with her hand for them to depart, lest their presence should disturb her company. What she apprehended presently occurred, and the rats the next instant disappeared. The maniac was now convulsed with rage, and in her ravings uttered imprecations the most dreadful that could be listened to, and which had the effect of occasioning her overlookers to retire. This poor creature they found, of whom every possible care was taken, derived a solace in her affliction from the employment they had witnessed, which nothing else could bestow, and which, as the vermin never injured her, was allowed, to avoid plunging her into those horrible paroxysms, in one of which they had left her, and which they were told was not likely very soon to subside.

There are at present 1634 students on the books of
Trinity College, Dublin; an unprecedented number;
Oxford has 4102, and Cambridge 3058 members; also
quite beyond all former example.

THEATRICAL COINCIDENCES.

TO THE EDITOR.

with an excellent reception, which it continued to a perience on the succeeding nights. It is founded on the story which was lately imposed upon the public as Lord Byron's, who had suggested it in conversation. The hero (if we may call such a brutal phantom of a fellow a hero, as indeed is too often the case) is a spirit of the class of Vampyres, who are doomed to be annibited when they can no longer sustain themselves withiman blood. He gets into the body of Earl Ruthven, vo has lately died, and re-appears before Lord Roncia, TM of the Earl's travelling acquaintances who had witnessed his expiring moments. His Lordship's astonishme may be conceived; but the Vampyre has spells about him, which help him over these kind of obstacles, and by the same means he contrives to inspire his Lordship's daughter with a sudden passion for him. In fact, he has no time to lose; he must have his usual meal the very evening, or be annihilated. The nuptials therefore under pretence of his being obliged to go to softe distant place upon business, are fixed for the afternoon; and the Earl in a transport of delight, looks at his far bride as if he could devour her. Our feminivorous bridegroom however is somewhat inconsistently repte. sented as consenting to exist in this manner, and yet capable of being touched with pity. The beauty and qualities of his intended supper give him a pang of remorse, and finding that there is a very pretty piece of

I think the following will answer to the queries in flesh about to be married to a young rustic, he attempts

your last.

No. 1. answers to The Farmer.

The Romp.

Tale of Mystery.

Wedding Day.

The Lottery.

Sleeping Draught.

2

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Blind Boy.

10.

II.

12.

ADONIS.

Miller and his Men.

Mignight Hour.

Illusion.

Follies of a Day.

Past Ten o'Clock.

the sea.

to carry her off secretly, in order to give some respite at least to his other dish. Unluckily the second car shrieks; and the young rustic coming up, deliver tr from his jaws by shooting him. Lord Ronald is new witness the second death of his friend Ruthven; but the spell is still upon him, and he consents, with lemn oath to fulfil his " more last words" in keeping his death a secret till the going down of the moon, and throwing a ring he gives him into a particular part of He does so; when he hears a voice which he takes to be his friend's spirit, exclaim, Remember your oath." There is a little bit of underplot here with the rustic, who has fled from his Lordship's vengeance, and meets him on the sea-shore. Ronald thinks he ha killed and thrown him into the sea; but he survives stá meets his friends again, who, encountering a drunken clown, that is going to fetch a friar for Lord Ruthees wedding, sees that there must be some terrible mystery in the business, and resolve to go and inform the old man at all events. Lord Ronald, in the mean while, retur home, and does not know how he shall break the fatal intelligence to his daughter; when she astonishes hin by saying that she has just parted with Ruthven, who has urged her to marry him before the going down of the moon. The truth instantly flashes upon the horre stricken father, who, on Ruthven's entrance, exhibits a phrenzied loathing, calling out to his daughter not to touch him, and exclaiming that he saw him die, and "Rember your oath!" says the Vampire apart; and the honourable old man falls into new lamentations. He only entreats his daughter not to marry before the going down of the moon: but his conduct appears to her so unaccountable, that the spec tre persuades her that he is seized with a fit of madness; and she is so much under the influence of his spells, that when her father is taken out half lifeless by the attendants, she consents that the wedding shall take place. The chapel is accordingly prepared, the priest and others in readiness, the altar blazing, the bride and bridegroom about to approach it. The lady here hesi tates a little, and begs him to indulge her poor father in his wish, however idle; but he gets impatient, and the ceremony is just about to proceed, when the old man's Your correspondent Stagebox, has preceded me invoice is heard, coming in, and he appears with the rus No. 6; but as my friend Puff says, it is but two men tic and others, and forbids it. The goblin tries to sty thinking alike, and I believe you will think that I press his fury and horror, and he urges his apparent thought first. trifling wish so fiercely, that we are bound to suppose it incompatible with the spell that is upon his bride, for