―309―

For the Literary Magazine.

recent european intelli-
gence, literary and phi-
losophical.

A NEW society has lately been
instituted in London, under the title
of the Medical and Chirurgical So-
ciety of London; the leading objects
of which are to promote a spirit of
harmony among the members of the
profession. Dr. Saunders is the pre-
sident.

Dr. Arneman, of Hamburgh, late
professor of medicine in the univer-
sity of Gottingen, and member of
most of the philosophical and medi-
cal societies in Europe and America,
has undertaken to superinted the
foreign department of the Medical
and Physical Journal, vacant by the
decease of the late Dr. Noehden.
The high consideration in which the
Medical Journal is held on the con-

tinent, cannot fail to be increased by
this arrangement; and it may not be
improper to add, for the information
of the correspondents of this work,
that of the unprecedented number of
two thousand five hundred copies,
which are circulated every month,
nearly one thousand copies are sent
to the continent, to the East and
West Indies, and to North America.
The advantages of so large a monthly
circulation is, in this work, equally
felt by readers and by correspond-
ents.

Mr. Cottle (the author of Alfred)
is engaged in writing a heroic poem
on the subjugation of Wales by Ed-
ward I, entitled The Fall of Cam-
bria.

Mr. Irving, author of the Lives of
the Scottish Poets, lately published
in two volumes, octavo, is now en-
gaged in preparing for the press,
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of
George Buchanan.

The Rev. Dr. Kelly, one of the
translators of the Manks Bible, rec-
tor of Copford, and vicar of Ardleigh,
Essex, has in the press a Triglott
Dictionary of the Gaelic Language;
as spoken in Man, Scotland, and
Ireland: together with the English.

Mr. Young has commenced the
new series of his Annals of Agricul-
ture, and the first quarterly number
appeared on the first day of July. In
future, a volume of four quarterly
numbers will be completed annually.

A selection of all the best epi-
grams in the English language will
speedily appear, under the title of
the British Martial.

Mr. Beloe is printing Anecdotes
of Literature, from rare books in the
British Museum and other valuable
libraries.

The Life of the late Mr. George
Morland is printing, in folio.

Mr. Cruise is preparing for the
press the fifth and sixth volumes of
his Digest of the Laws of England
respecting Real Property.

Mr. Bigland, author of Letters on
History, has announced a Collection
of Essays.

Mr. Leslie proposes publishing a
Dictionary of the Synonimous Words

―310―

and Technical Terms in the English
Language.

Mr. W. Hooker, a pupil of Mr.
Bauer, botanic painter to his Ma-
jesty, has commenced the publica-
tion of a work under the title of Pa-
radisus Londinensis; containing co-
loured figures of new and rare plants
cultivated in the vicinity of London.

The second volume of Bell's Sur-
gery, containing operations of sur-
gery, may be expected in a short
time.

Mr. Louis Jonson has commenced
the publication of a work entitled
Devotional Harmony. The words
are selected from various psalms
and hymns in common use, and the
music from the most eminent com-
posers. No new tune will be insert-
ed that will not stand the test of mu-
sical criticism

Mr Swinburne is engaged in a
Picturesque Tour through Spain;
which will be illustrated with twen-
ty-two plates, and will be finished
early in 1806.

In November next will be pub-
lished, in quarto, the first volume
of Mr. Lysons's Magna Britannia
Illustrata.

The fifth volume of the Supple-
ment to Mr. Viner's Abridgment is
preparing for publication.

Mr. W. D. Evans has in the press
A Translation of Pothier's Treatise
on Obligations; with Illustrations
adapted to the English Law.

Dr. Griffiths, author of a volume
of Travels, is engaged on a transla-
tion of Lenoir's French Monuments,
which will extend to about six vo-
lumes octavo.

Mrs. Jackson, widow of J. Jack-
son, Esq., advocate general of Ja-
maica, has in the press Dialogues on
the Doctrines and Duties of Christi-
anity.

A board of health has lately been
established, for the purpose of pre-
paring and digesting regulations for
the most speedy and effectual modes
of guarding against the introduction
and spreading of infection, and for
purifying any ship or house in case
any contagious disorder should mani-
fest itself in any part of the united

kingdom. This board is to hold its
meetings at Somerset-Place, and it
is composed of Sir Andrew Snape
Hammond, Sir Lucas Pepys, Dr.
Reynolds, Sir Francis Milman, Dr.
Hunter, Dr. Heberden, Sir Alexan-
der Munro, and Dr. Harness.

Mr. Nicholson and others have
been investigating the cause of the
noise in water just before it boils,
which is usually called simmering;
and, from some experiments, it
seems to be occasioned by the con-
dension of steam bubbles, in their
ascent through the cold fluid above.

Mr. Stodart gives the following as
a good method of gilding upon steel:
—To a saturated solution of gold in
nitro-muriatic acid, add about three
times the quantity of pure sulphuric
ether, and agitate them together for
a short time. The gold will soon be
taken up by the ether in the form of
nitro-muriate of gold, leaving the
remaining acid colourless at the bot-
tom of the vessel, which must be
drawn off by means of a stop cock.
The acid being discharged, the in-
strument to be gilt, having been pre-
viously well polished and wiped
clean, is to be dipped for an instant
into the ethereal solution, and, on
withdrawing it, as instantly washed
by agitation in clear water, to get
rid of a small portion of acid neces-
sarily taken up with the metal. If
this be neatly done, the surface of
the steel will be completely and very
beautifully covered with gold.

The travels undertaken by Mess.
Alexander Von Humboldt and Aime
Bonpland, into the interior of Ame-
rica, excites general interest. In
fact, there are few countries so wor-
thy of the attention and investigation
of enlightened men, and few travel-
lers have combined with the spirit
of observation, and the numerous at-
tainments and talents possessed by
Messrs. Von Humboldt and Bon-
pland, such ardour for the improve-
ment of the sciences, such courage
and success in the execution of the
plan they had formed. Messrs. Lev-
rault, Scholl, and Co., have published
a prospectus of the travels of these
gentlemen, the publication of which

―311―

has been committed to them by the
authors. Travellers, say they, have,
in general, introduced all their ob-
servations into the body of their
works. M. Von Humboldt has, how-
ever, thought proper to follow a con-
trary method, and to treat separate-
ly of objects which are of a different
nature. He is, therefore, determin-
ed first to give to the public detach-
ed collections, containing whatever
relates more particularly to astro-
nomy, geology, botany, zoology, &c.
before he publishes what may pro-
perly be denominated his travels,
which will embrace every thing con-
nected with general physics, the ori-
gin of nations, their manners, their
civilization, prosperity, antiquities,
commerce, and political economy.
Of this portion of his observations,
and the history of his travels, he will
at present publish only an abridged
account, entitled Abridged Relation
of Travels between the Tropics, per-
formed in the Interior of the New
Continent, in the years 1799, 1800,
1801, 1802, and 1803. Messrs. Hum-
boldt and Bonpland, continue the
publishers, being united by the ties
of the most intimate friendship, hav-
ing shared all the fatigues and all
the dangers of this expedition, have
agreed that all their publications
shall bear their names conjointly.
The preface of each work will an-
nounce to which of the two each dis-
tinct part belongs. This arrange-
ment will accelerate the enjoyment
of the public, and will facilitate to a
greater number the means of acquir-
ing what will demand a less advance
at a time. Besides, it is not agree-
able to be interrupted in the midst
of a narrative, sometimes by the de-
tails of an astronomical observation,
and at others by the description of
a plant or an unknown animal. He
will publish, at the same time, his
astronomical observations, and the
tables of his barometrical and geo-
desical measures, under the title of
Collection of Astronomical Observa-
tions, and Measures executed in the
New Continent; and, as in his voy-
age, he confines himself in mention-
ing an altitude to the statement of

it, without saying whether it was
found by the barometer, or whether
it was founded on geodesical mea-
sures. M. Humboldt then collects
into a separate work all the pheno-
mena presented by the atmosphere
and the soil of the equinoctial re-
gions. This work, the result of all
the investigations undertaken by our
philosopher during his five years
travels in both hemispheres, is en-
titled, Essay on the Geography of
Plants, or Physical Picture of the
Equinoctial Regions, founded on the
Observations and Measures taken
between the Latitude of 10° South
and 10° North. in 1799, 1800, 1801,
1802, and 1803. A large plate re-
presents a section passing over the
summit of Chimborazo, carried from
the coasts of the South Sea to the
shores of Brazil. It indicates the
progressive vegetation, from the in-
terior of the soil which contains cryp-
togamous plants, to the perpetual
snows which are the limits of all ve-
getation. Among these is distin-
guished the vegetation of palm-trees,
&c., that of fern-trees, quinquina,
and gramineous plants. The name
of each plant is written at the height
at which it is found, according to the
measures determined by M. Von
Humboldt. Fourteen scales, placed
on each side of the table, relate to
the chemical composition of the air,
of its temperature, of its hygroscopi-
cal and cyanometrical state, of the
electrical phenomena, of the hori-
zontal refraction, of the decrease of
gravitation, of the culture of the soil,
of the height at which the different
kinds of tropical animals live, &c.
It is, without doubt, the most general
physical table, of any portion of the
globe, ever attempted. The same
booksellers are likewise printing two
other works, which belong to descrip-
tive natural history; one on botany,
and the other on zoology. The herb-
ary which these travellers brought
from Mexico, the Cordilleras of the
Andes, the Oronoko, Rio Negro, and
the river of Amazons, is one of the
richest in exotic plants that was ever
conveyed to Europe. Having long re-
sided in countries which no botanist

―312―

had ever visited before them, it is easy
to conceive how many new genera
and species there must be among the
6300 kinds which they collected un-
der the tropics of the new continent.
Were they to publish at once the sys-
tematic description of all these ve-
getables, they would employ several
years in ascertaining what is really
new, or they would run the risk of
publishing, under new names, plants
already known. It therefore appear-
ed preferable to give, without any
regular order, the designs of the new
genera and species, which they have
been able sufficiently to determine,
and to publish, at a subsequent pe-
riod, a work without plates, which
contain the diagnoses of all the spe-
cies, systematically arranged. It is
with this view that they publish the
Equinoctial Plants collected in Mex-
ico, the island of Cuba, the provin-
ces of Caraccas, Cumana, and Bar-
celona, in the Andes of New Grena-
da, Quito, and Peru, on the banks of
Rio Negro, the Oronoko, and the
River of Amazons. Messrs. Hum-
boldt and Bonpland have been equally
fortunate in making interesting dis-
coveries in zoology and comparative
anatomy. They have collected, in
great numbers, descriptions of ani-
mals hitherto unknown; monkies,
birds, fish, amphibious animals; for
example, the axalotl of the lakes of
Mexico, a problematical animal of a
nature similar to the cameleon. M.
Von Humboldt has made drawings
of numerous objects of comparative
anatomy, relative to the crocodile,
the sea-cow, the sloth, the lama, and
the larynx of monkies and birds. He
has brought over a collection of skulls
of Indians, Mexicans, Peruvians, and
natives of the banks of the Oronoko;
and these drawings are not less in-
teresting for the history of the dif-
ferent races of our species than for
anatomy. These materials, among
which will be found a notice on the
fossile of elephants’ teeth found at
the elevation of 2600 yards above
the sea, will appear in numbers,
under the title of Collection of Ob-
servations in Zoology and Compara-
tive Anatomy, made during Travels

between the Tropics. While these
various works are in the course of
publication, M. Von Humboldt will
complete the engraving of the Geo-
logical Atlas of the Cordilleras of
the Andes and of Mexico, contain-
ing profiles founded on measured
heights; of the Essay on Geological
Pasigraphy, or on the manner of re-
presenting the phenomena of the
stratification of the rocks, by per-
fectly simple signs: and of the Geo-
graphical Atlas, which will contain
a map of the river la Madelaine, in
four plates; others of the Oronoko,
Rio Negro and Cassiquaire, and the
general map of the kingdom of New
Spain: the latter will be accompa-
nied with a statistical account of the
country. All these maps were drawn
by M. Von Humboldt himself, from
his own astronomical observations,
and a great number of interesting
materials which he collected. He
will, at the same time, put the finish-
ing hand to the first volume of his
travels. To the subjects already
mentioned as being particularly
treated of in that work, should be
added, observations on the climate
relative to organization in general;
considerations on the ancient state
of civilization of these regions; and
detailed notices on the management
and produce of the mines. A folio
volume of engravings will exhibit
several views of the Cordilleras,
and valuable designs of the anti-
quities of Mexico and Peru, such
as the elegant arabesques which co-
ver the ruins of the ancient palace,
several enormous pyramids con-
structed of brick, statues, and chro-
nological monuments, which have a
very striking analogy to those anti-
quities of Indostan with which we
are acquainted. Several of these
plates are already engraved with
great care. As M. Von Homboldt
publishes these different works at
the same time in German and
French, both editions may be consi-
dered as originals. The Equinoctial
Plants, by M. Bonpland, will appear
only in French; a great part of the
text being in Latin, it will therefore
be understood by the literati of all

―313―

Europe. The following is a list of
their works, which are either in the
course of publication, or shortly will
issue from the press: Abridged Nar-
rative of Travels between the Tro-
pics, performed in the Interior of
the New Continent during the years
1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803,
quarto, which was to appear in the
month of July. Collection of Astro-
nomical Observations and Measures
executed in the New Continent;
same size and paper, to appear in
the course of the present year. Es-
say on the Geography of Plants; or
Physical Picture of the Equinoctial
Regions, founded on Observations
and Measures taken between the
Latitude of 18° South and 10° North,
in 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803,
quarto, with one plate. Equinoctial
Plants collected in Mexico, the Isl-
and of Cuba, the Provinces of Carac-
cas, Cumana, and Barcelona, in the
Andes of New Grenada, Quito, and
Peru, on the banks of the Rio Ne-
gro, Oronoko, and the River of the
Amazons, with plates, folio. Collec-
tion of Observations in Zoology and
Comparative Anatomy, made during
Travels between the Tropics; quar-
to, with plates. All these works col-
lectively will bear the general title
of Travels of Messrs. Alexander
Von Humboldt and Aime Bonpland.
They will all be printed uniformly,
excepting the Equinoctial Plants,
for which a larger size was required
on account of the figures. A trans-
lation of these important travels is
announced in London, by Mr. Phil-
lips, of Bridge-street.

M. De Stratimirovus, Greek arch-
bishop and metropolitan of Carlow-
itz, in Hungary, has caused Dr.
Neustadter's Instructions concern-
ing Vaccination to be translated into
the Illyrian and Wallachian lan-
guages. This work, composed for
the use of the lower classes, has
been gratuitously distributed, to the
amount of 25,000 copies, among the
inhabitants of those and the neigh-
bouring provinces.

The well known German journal,
entitled Allgemeine Deutsche Bibli-
othek, which has been carried on

forty years, and during great part
of that time possessed of considera-
ble influence, will cease with the
present year; the editor, M. Nico-
lai, being obliged, by his great age,
to resign the undertaking.

A work of considerable magni-
tude, on the Northern Mythology,
has been announced at Leipsick.
The author is professor Grater, and
M. Goeschen has undertaken to ex-
ecute it with the utmost typographi-
cal luxury. It will appear at the
same time in German and French,
in thirty parts, of a small folio size.

A Catalogue of the Medical and
Physical Library of the late profes-
sor Baldinger, of Marpurg, has been
published. He was, perhaps, the
most curious man in Germany with
respect to every thing connected
with the medical science. His li-
brary comprehends 16,000 volumes,
exclusive of detached dissertations,
treatises, or memoirs. The number
of editions which he possessed of the
Aphorisms of Hippocrates alone, ex-
ceeded one hundred; but the most
remarkable circumstance connected
with his library is, that it is not des-
titute of any necessary or essential
work. The proprietor was fifty
years in collecting it, and his heirs
wish to dispose of it, if possible, en-
tire.

M. Proust, professor of chemistry
at Madrid, announces that he has
discovered in Spain the earth of
which floating bricks are made. He
imagines that it is almost of the
same nature as that employed for
the same purpose by Fabroni. He
intends speedily to publish the result
of his experiments on this subject.

M. Reichard, counsellor in the
service of the late duke of Saxe Go-
tha, has resolved to erect a monu-
ment of his gratitude to that prince,
not in a public place in some town in
his dominions, but on the summit of
the Rigi, one of the highest and most
frequented mountains of Switzerland.
The simple stone which will form
this monument, and which will be
fixed to one of the blocks of granite
of the mountain, has been prepared
at Zug. It bears the following in-

―314―

scription in German: “To the pi-
ous memory of Ernest II, Duke of
Saxe Gotha, illustrious for his birth
and his talents, and still greater for
his noble and liberal sentiments, this
monument is consecrated in the face
of the Alps, and of the free people
whom he loved and esteemed.” It
was M. Fusseli, the painter, of Zu-
rich, who chose the picturesque si-
tuation in which this inscription will
be placed, and obtained permission
for that purpose from the competent
authorities. He intends soon to pub-
lish a Picturesque Tour of the Rigi.

M. de la Drouette, prefect of the
upper Alps, has addressed to the in-
stitute a Memoir on the Discovery
of the ancient city of Mons Seleucus,
which appears to have been over-
whelmed and destroyed by an ex-
traordinary inundation. The re-
searches hitherto made have disco-
vered an edifice 598 feet in length,
and 360 in breadth, a furnace, a semi-
circular basin, stoves, brick cellars,
covered with several strata of very
fine cement, canals and aqueducts,
lined throughout their whole length;
apartments for the directors of the
manufactory, lodgings for the work-
men, gardens, &c. In front, the
streets terminate in an extensive
place, and in the avenue of the prin-
cipal edifice; that above-mentioned
was surrounded by a great number
of houses. The labourers have like-
wise found many articles in bronze,
fragments of statues of alabaster,
bas-reliefs in marble, a great quan-
tity of fragments of mosaic-work,
besides a vast number of vessels of
glass and earth, which afford a high
idea of the art of pottery in ancient
times; numerous Celtic and Roman
medals of silver and bronze; and,
lastly, some inscriptions in better
or worse preservation.

M. Marechaux has invented a
new and very sensible electrometer.
It consists of a glass cylinder, about
an inch and a half in diameter,
and five or six inches high; in this
a piece of leaf-silver is suspended
from a small pair of nippers, capa-
ble of being lowered or elevated.

The piece that carries the nippers
may likewise be moved horizontally,
so that the leaf may be moved near-
er to or further from a sphere of cop-
per, which is one of the poles of the
instrument. If a slender glass tube
be rubbed but twice, and brought
within several inches of its summit,
it passes through the whole extent
of its scale. On account of its great
sensibility, and because only very
weak degrees of electricity can be
measured by it, the inventor calls it
a micro electrometer.

The following is a new and eco-
nomical method, invented by M.
Goettling, for separating copper
from silver. Having ascertained
the proportion of silver in the alloy,
take one part of sulphuric acid for
every part of silver, and for every
part of copper, three parts and
three-fifths of a part of the same
acid. Dilute the acid with half its
weight of water, and pour into a
matrass on the alloy reduced to very
small pieces. The matrass is then
to be placed in a sand heat, and the
acid brought to a state of ebullition.
In two or three hours, the alloy is
converted into a sulphate; while it
is still hot, add six or eight times its
weight of boiling water. The sul-
phate of copper will be dissolved,
and great part of the sulphate of
silver will be precipitated.

Dr. Richter, of Berlin, has dis-
covered a new metal, which is sub-
ject to magnetic attraction. As it
generally accompanies nickel, and
is similar to it in appearance, he has
given it the name of nicolan.

M. Brotero, professor of botany,
at the university of Coimbra, has
published a “Flora Lusitanica.”
This work is the fruit of seventeen
years labour and travelling in every
part of Portugal. The same author
is publishing a work in numbers,
under the title of “Phytographia
Lusitanica Selectior.” The first
number contains descriptions of
more than thirty vegetables, many
of them imperfectly known, or non-
descripts.

The excavations begun in Sicily,

―315―

under the direction of Landolini,
have already procured a statue of
Venus, and other antiquities.

A variety of valuable antiquities
have been discovered in Thessaly,
under some ruins. Among them are
the busts of Aristotle and Anacreon,
a large statute of Ceres, with a coin
of Lysimachus, and some remarka-
ble pillars. A Greek MS., contain-
ing a commentary of Nicephorus on
the ancients, and the ancient Greek
church, was discovered at the same
time.

The assessor Scholz, of Haynau,
in Silesia, has in his possession a
water animal, half toad and half fish,
which was taken out of a well at
Muchelsdorf. It has a grisly head,
a flat, broad, smooth belly, projecting
sides, and hind legs like a toad; the
back, in colour and shape, resembles
a gudgeon, and its tail and size ex-
actly correspond with that fish. The
lower part is much shortened, and
has no fins: the mouth resembles
that of a fish more than of a toad. It
is preserved in spirits at Haynau.

The learned Mr. Giesecke, mem-
ber of the Prussian board of mines,
intends, by desire of the Danish
government, to undertake a voyage
to Greenland, where he will remain
a year for the purpose of examining
the country in a geognostical and
mineralogical point of view.

Another building has been dug out
from the lava which buried the city
of Pompeii in the year of Christ 79.
In it some articles in a good state of
preservation, such as vases, coins,
musical instruments, a beautiful
bronze statue, representing Hercu-
les killing the hind, which he had
overtaken on Mount Mænalus, and
several paintings in fresco, have
been found.

At the town of Fiesole, near Flor-
ence, a beautiful amphitheatre has
been discovered, and the greatest
part of it cleared from the rubbish.
It is supposed that it would contain
at least thirty thousand persons.

The following are some particu-
lars relative to the Russian embassy
to China: Count Potocki, known by
his historical labours, is at the head

of the embassy; and is accompanied,
as zoologist, or naturalist, by Adams,
who had before travelled with count
Mussin-Puschkin to Mount Cauca-
sus; as botanist, physician, and ento-
mologist, by Redowsky, formerly
botanist to count Alexis Razumofsky;
by Pansner as mineralogist and geo-
logist; by Schubert, as astronomer,
and by Klaproth, junior, as philolo-
gist. The literati, with their assist-
ants, painters, artists, artificers, and
a detachment of fifty men as a guard,
set out this day, the 14th of May;
but the ambassador himself will not
set out till some time after. Their
route lies through Moscow, Nisch-
ney-Nowgorod, Kasan, Ekatarinen-
burg, to the south of Tobolsk, to
Omsk, Kolywan, Irkutzk, as far as
Kyachta, the Russian staple on the
border of Chinese Tartary. Here
they are to wait for the ambassa-
dor and the Chinese ta-dschins,
who are to escort the Russian em-
bassy, now consisting of more than
one hundred men, through the desert
of Yobi and Kellow Mongolia. It is
to be wished that the researches of
these naturalists, from whose zeal
and knowledge much may be ex-
pected, should be the less limited
during their progress through the
country of the Mongols and the de-
sert, as on the other side of the wall
the jealousy of the Chinese will
throw but too many obstacles in their
way. May the sciences derive as
much advantage from this expedi-
tion, as they have from other mis-
sions of the Russian government!

The Rev. George Walker, well
known for his Treatise on the
Sphere, is elected president of the
literary and philosophical society of
Manchester, in the room of the late
Dr. Percival.

The Rev. James M`Donald is ad-
mitted professor of natural philoso-
phy, at St. Andrews, in the room of
the late Dr. Rotheram.

The literary club has begun a sub-
scription for erecting a monument
in St. Paul's cathedral, to the me-
mory of sir Joshua Reynolds, the
founder of that society.

In America a very simple and in-

―316―

genious borer is in general use; it
consists of the common centre bit of
the carpenters, followed by a wide
flat screw, hammered up from a plate
of iron or steel; and it possesses the
property of clearing away the cutting
without requiring to be drawn out, as
is the case with the augur, the gim-
blet, &c. For the cuttings are, partly
by their weight, and partly by fric-
tion against the internal cylindrical
surface, prevented from revolving
along with the screw. The conse-
quence is, that they are pressed
against its thread, and slide along it
towards the handle. And as this mo-
tion or shifting of the thread is quick-
er than the motion of boring, by
which the whole tool is carried in-
wards, the cuttings must come out
with a velocity nearly equal to the
difference of these two motions.

The mountain Ortless, situated
between the vallies of Sulden and
Drosny, has been ascended by M.
Gebhard, by whose barometer its
height is found to be 14,406 Paris
feet above the level of the Mediter-
ranean, which is higher than any
mountain on the old continent, ex-
cept Mont Blanc; this, according to
Saussure, is 14,556 feet.

W. Werner is enabled to dissolve
wax in water by the following pro-
cess: for every pound of white wax
he takes twenty-four ounces of pot-
ash dissolved in a gallon of warm
water. In this he boils the wax, cut
in small pieces, for half an hour, and
at the end of this time he takes it
from the fire, and suffers it to cool.
The wax floats on the surface, in
the form of white soap; triturated
with water, it yields what is com-
monly called milk of wax, and may
be applied to furniture, pictures, &c.
An hour after the application, the
coated parts are to be covered with
a piece of woollen cloth, which will
give a great brilliancy to paintings,
and a fine polish to furniture.

It is said that M. Schroeter has
ascertained the existence of an at-
mosphere to the moon, by some new
observations on the twilight round
this secondary planet, which extends
from 2° 38′ to 3° 6′. The atmos-

phere of the moon is 28–94 times less
dense than the terrestrial atmosphere.

A. F. Skjeldebrand, a colonel in
the service of the king of Sweden,
has published at Stockholm a work
entitled Voyage Pittoresque au Cap
Nord. The work is in four volumes,
and contains a number of views, with
descriptions of the appearance of the
country. This author was the tra-
velling companion of Acerbi, who,
some years since, published an ac-
count of his travels through Sweden,
Lapland, &c. In their narratives
they have pursued different tracts;
the one having written as a philoso-
phic observer of men and nature, the
other as a painter and lover of the
fine arts.

Julius Klaproth, son to the cele-
brated chemist, in consequence of his
great skill in oriental literature, is
appointed by the Petersburg Acade-
my of Sciences, to attend the embas-
sy of count Golowkin, which is about
to be sent from Russia to China. The
embassy will consist of 3,000 per-
sons, and it is hoped that very con-
siderable accessions of knowledge, in
respect to the Chinese empire, will
be derived from it.

The new edition of Osterwald's
Geography has, by French influence,
been prohibited in Switzerland.

Dr. F. Munter has published, at
Copenhagen, in two volumes, a very
complete History of the Reforma-
tion.

A Collection of Letters, which
passed between Leibnitz and several
of his correspondents, and which had
not hitherto been given to the world,
has lately been published at Hano-
ver.

By an imperial ukase in the court
gazette of Petersburg, the rights of
citizens have been given to the Jews
throughout the whole extent of the
Russian dominions. The children of
the Jews will, henceforth, be admit-
ted, like the other Russian subjects,
into the schools, colleges, and uni-
versities. The Hebrews will be di-
vided into four classes; viz. of farm-
ers; artificers and workmen; mer-
chants; and citizens. The farmers

―317―

will be free, and, as well as the arti-
ficers, may purchase lands; and
those who wish to engage in agricul-
ture, and have no fortune, are to
have a certain portion of the crown
lands. Those who will establish
manufactories are to enjoy, in their
commerce, all the franchises of Rus-
sian subjects.

Professor Kiesewetter has made
a variety of observations on the deaf
and dumb, at Berlin; and he has
discovered, that, when taught to
speak, they have a great tendency
to speak in rhyme!

At the first annual meeting of the
British and foreign bible society,
held on Wednesday, the 1st of May,
at the New London tavern, Cheap-
side, the right hon. lord Teign-
mouth, president, read from the
chair a report of proceedings. It
appeared from this report, and the
extracts of correspondence which
were afterwards read by one of the
secretaries, that the society had
made in the course of this, their
first year, a very considerable pro-
gress; a society upon a similar prin-
ciple has, under their auspices,
been established in the free imperial
city of Nurenberg, and a great de-
gree of zeal has been excited in
many other parts of the continent,
both among protestants and catho-
lics, for procuring and distributing
the holy scriptures. It also appear-
ed that in Ireland, Scotland, and
Wales, the views of the society had
been cordially embraced, and that,
in the two latter, collections had
been made which already amount to
more than two thousand pounds.
The report and revised plan of the
society were unanimously adopted,
and, on the motion of the lord bishop
of Durham, seconded by Mr. Wil-
berforce, the warmest thanks of the
meeting were voted to the right
honourable the president, for his
lordship's faithful, zealous, and per-
severing attention to the interests of
the society, during the whole period
of his connection with it. Thanks
were also severally voted to the
right reverend, and the other vice-

presidents; to the treasurers and
secretaries for their gratuitous ser-
vices; to Granville Sharp, Esq.,
for a valuable donation of versions
of the scriptures in various modern
languages; to the presbytery and
synod of Glasgow for their respec-
tive resolutions to promote collec-
tions for the society; and to the se-
veral congregations throughout the
united kingdom, from which collec-
tions have been received. The re-
port is, we understand, in the press,
and to that we must refer the pub-
lic for a more particular account of
the design and success of this insti-
tution.

Mr. Knight, of Herefordshire, re-
lates a curious fact respecting the
ingenuity of the spider. “I have
frequently,” says he, “placed a
spider on a small upright stick, the
base of which was surrounded with
water, to observe its most singular
mode of escape. After having dis-
covered that the ordinary means of
retreat are cut off, it ascends to the
top of the stick, and, standing nearly
on its head, ejects a web, which the
wind readily carries to some con-
tiguous object. Along this the insect
effects its escape, not, however, till
it has previously ascertained, by se-
veral exertions of its whole strength,
that its web is properly attached at
the opposite end.”

The earl of Selkirk will shortly
lay before the public, observations
on the present state of the High-
lands of Scotland, with a view of ex-
plaining the causes and probable
consequences of emigrations.

M. Doberimer proposes the fol-
lowing method to make white lead.
Dissolve litharge in weak nitric
acid, and precipitate this solution
with prepared chalk. The precipi-
tate washed and dried affords a ce-
ruse of the whiteness of snow.

Mrs. Warren is engaged in a
History of the Rise, Progress, and
Termination of the Revolutionary
War between Great Britain and the
United States of America; inter-
spersed with biographical, political,
and moral observations.