AMERICA.

6.

New Southern Land.-Vessels from the lands situated to the south of Cape Horn have arrived in different ports, with cargoes of seal skins. The regions visited by the New York navigators lie in about the latitude of 62 deg., where vegetable life is so rare, that a little grass in a few favoured places, and some moss on the rocks, are all the forms of it that exist. The dreary climate exhibits, during the entire summer, perpetual snow and ice; not a tree, nor even a shrub appears. The minerals brought home by Mr. B. Astor, are partly primitive and partly volcanic. The samples produced to Dr. Mitchell, are-1. Quartz, in compact and crystallised forms. 2. Amethyst, in crystals. 3. Porphyry, in small masses. 4. Rough Onyx, in pebbles. 5. Lumps of coarse Flint. Elegant Zealite, like that of the Ferro group in the North Atlantic Ocean. 7. Pumice Stone. 8. Pyrites, surcharged with sulphur. The manuscript chart made by Mr. Hampton Stewart, is an instructive addition to geography, and ought to be incorporated in the charts of the globe. Geologists will learn with surprise that the high grounds and summits of the rocks in several of the spots that have been visited, are strewed with skeletons of whales, and relics of other marine animals, leading to a belief that the whole of the materials have been hove up by the operation of volcanic fire, from the depths of the ocean. Further disclosures of the natural constitution of this curious region are expected with impatience from future adventurers. There appears to be a wide field for new and original observation. It is also hoped we shall soon receive a more full and satisfactory account of the Terra Australis, or continent of the southern hemisphere, occupying the vast space between the tracts already surveyed, and the Pole.

American Antiquity. - A discovery has been made in Newfoundland, during the last summer, which has exercised the conjectures of antiquaries. About half a mile from the shores of Gander Bay, there has been found a fragment of a small pillar of white marble of octangular form; about 18 inches long, and 10 inches in diameter. Its surface is much corroded by the effects of the weather, and it is probable it has lain there for a considerable time. It cannot have been left in ballast, because it is half a

mile inland, and because no ships can come within three quarters of a mile of the shore of this place. This part of the country is not inhabited; and no similar stones, or works of art, have been found on searching in the same neighbourhood. The texture of the marble is perfectly different from any of those used in sculpture or architecture, being of a yellowish white colour, and the texture is in some places crystalline granular, of a large grain; but there are every where intermixed with it parts of very complicated curvatures ; capable of being separated in succession in parallel curved laminæ, as thin as paper.

AFRICA.

The

Accounts from Africa have been received from Sierra Leone. They relate to the mission of a Mr. O'Beirne, who had been sent to form friendly commercial relations with some of the native powers. It appears that he entered the Limba country by Laiah, a town about 20 miles from the river, which bounds the Timmanec country. The chiefs treated him kindly; and the chief of Port Logo especially, who accompanied him to Woolla, and sent his brother with him to Kookoona. From the latter place he proceeded to the Foulah frontier, but was stopped for a few days at a place called Berricouri, on his route. difficulty surmounted, he passed from Berricouri to Teembo, six days' journey, where he was most favourably received by Almanny Abdool and his subordinate chiefs. The Foutah people held a palaver, and agreed to trade with Sierra Leone, by the direct road of Port-Logo. While at Teembo, Mr. O'Beirne gave up his intention of penetrating further into the interior, in consequence of the arrival of a Seracolet messenger from Dacha, king of Sego, on his way to the governor of Sierra Leone, with a letter, inviting the visits and trade of white men to Sego. Dacha also requests the king of Teembo to protect any travellers who may pass through Foutah-Jallon to Bambarra, as his (Dacha's) strangers. The messenger was attended by three men of the late royal African corps, one of them said to be a European serjeant, who accompanied Dr. Dockard to Bambarra... It is probable that some light will be thrown upon African geography and customs by these individuals, and it may be that the Niger will be explored in this direction.

Pear Trees.-In Phillips's Pomarium Britannicum we remark an important practical hint with regard to the management of the pear tree. "The blossoms are commonly produced from buds at the extremity of last year's shoots, and, as these are often cut off by the unskilful pruner, it prevents their producing fruit, and causes the boughs to send out new branches which overfill the tree with wood. The summer is the best time to look over pear-trees, and to remove all superfluous and foreright shoots, which would too much shade the fruit. If this be carefully done, they will require but little pruning in the autumn."-The wild tree has spines, and bears very harsh fruit; but both these symptoms of its savage state are removed by civilization and grafting. Few trees under the guidance of man have exhibited so many varieties; for the French gardeners, at the close of the seventeenth century, reckoned about 700 different sorts of which, however, scarcely more than 50 were of superior quality and worthy of being reared.

American Apples.-There were lately taken up from among potatoes in a field near Paisley, many hundreds of seedlings from American apples. A quantity of spoiled American apples had been deposited in a dunghill, and with this dung the potatoes had been planted. Many attempts to raise seedlings from American apples in this country have been unsuccessful; but it is supposed the preparation of the seed in the dunghill was the cause of so complete a success in the present instance.

Mowing Corn. Mr. Weld, jun. of London, has published a letter on the subject of harvesting corn, in which he strongly recommends mowing in preference to the sickle, agreeably to the practice in Switzerland, where a boy walks on the outside of the standing grain with a pole, which being placed against the upper part of the straw, it presents to the mower a fair stroke for the scythe, and lays the crop much smoother in the swathe. The advantage held out by this mode is, the quicker gathering in the harvest, an object so essential in precarious weather. The writer further recommends the bands for the sheaves to be made of straw, preparatory to a harvest, as a saving of time in the field.

Black Currant.-A new species of

black currant has been cultivated in Cambridgeshire, the fruit of which is so large, that in some instances a single berry weighs 61 grains, and measures in circumference two inches and a half.

Extraordinary Produce.--Doctor Roulston, of Raphoe, in Ireland, lately dug in his garden a single potatoe top, which produced 568 evenly sized potatoes.

Cucumber.-A cucumber has been cut from Mr. Martell's garden, at Southsea, Hants, measuring five feet in length.

Horticulture.-A most beautiful and singular Auricula was gathered lately in the garden of Mr. Tanby, of Bath; it had eight distinct stalks, combined in one flat stem, completely incorporated together, and bearing a calix containing 107 petals.

Culture of Opium in Great Britain.— Mr. Young, who has successfully and lucratively cultivated British opium, says, in a communication to the Society of Arts, "Last summer I produced 194 pounds of opium, 25 gallons of poppy oil, and at the rate of 40 bolls of early potatoes, from 129 falls 18 yards, being 30 falls less than one acre of ground, by the mode of cultivating communicated to the Society of Arts, and afterwards more particularly detailed in the second and third Numbers of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, with this difference, that the gatherers collected the milky juice with their thumbs instead of brushes, which I consider to be a material improvement in the mode of gathering; and although I had from twelve to twenty boys, from twelve to fourteen years of age, employed during the season, only two were affected with drowsiness, and I could not be certain whether this was the effect of the absorption of the opium, or of the extreme heat of the weather. By this new mode of gathering the milky fluid of the poppy, one of the boys, more than once during the season of gathering, filled his flask in one day, of ten hours work: the flask contained fourteen ounces, which, when evaporated, gave three ounces and two drachms of solid opium. I may observe, that owing to the extreme heat, and want of rain, during the last opium harvest, my plants came so rapidly to maturity, that I did not get so much opium as I probably should have done had thore been occasional showers."

On the Application of Mineral Colours to Stuffs, by M. HAUSSMAN.-Being myself a manufacturer of printed goods, and having some knowledge of chemistry, I succeeded, as long as forty-six years ago, in fixing the colour of Prussian-blue on cotton stuffs, and in changing olive colours, the mordant of which is alumine and oxyd of iron, into very beautiful greens, by immersion into a colour-vat, slightly acidulated, and charged with Prussian-blue. These kind of goods, dyed in Prussian-blue, then into olive transformed into green, were at that time a considerable article of trade. By using processes similar to those which I employed for cottons, I obtained the same shades and colours on samples of silk; and for these last ten years, I have been able to fix Prussianblue on wool, and to produce with it on woollen cloth the same colours as on cotton and silk. I have even often had satisfactory results. The nitric solution of red oxyd of mercury, precipitated on a sample of cotton cloth, has given me a very fine yellow: a like colour was produced by the precipitation, by ammonia, of a solution of gold; but this turned brown by keeping, probably by the loss of part of its oxygen. Suspecting that this salt of gold might prove fulminating, I dried the cloth with great precaution, but nothing of the kind occurred. The oxyd of silver fixed on the cloth gradually became more and more dark, and therefore produced nothing beautiful. Cassius's purple precipitate of gold gave me curious results; for having been able to obtain it in a solution of a very fine purple tint, I obtained two samples on silk and on cotton, of common violet, lilac, and grey, which could be only destroyed by combustion, and the ashes of which gilded silver in the cold. I have also tried to fix upon stuffs the sulphurets of arsenic, antimony, and mercury; but as these experiments produced nothing satisfactory, particularly for cotton prints, I gave them up, which I did with the less regret, as I could obtain nearly the same colours by the use of weld and quercitron joined to madder and cochineal. Many of these yield in nothing to the finest chromate of lead colours, the pattern-printing of which still presents some difficulties, which, however, may probably be surmounted.An. de Chimie.

VOL. III. NO. IX.

The Apograph.-This is a new-invented instrument for copying drawings, &c. so called by the learned who have seen it. It is so constructed, that drawings of any kind may be copied by it upon paper, copper, or any other substance capable of receiving an impression, upon a scale either extended, reduced, or the same as the original. The arts, we understand, furnish no instance of an instrument resembling this, either in its appearance or operation, save what is called the pantograph; and even from this machine it differs materially. The beam in the former is suspended vertically from an universal joint, whereas the beam of the latter is supported on an horizontal plane. There is also a counterpoise added to the apograph above the centre of motion, which relieves the hand almost entirely of the weight it would otherwise have to sustain when the beam is out of the vertical position. A Mr. Smith, of Ayr, is the inventor.

Cleaning of Medals.-Professor Lancellotti, of Naples, in order to remove from ancient silver medals the rust that covers, and often renders them illegible, first lays the medal in oxidated acid of salts, afterwards in a solution of salammoniac for a short time; and then rubs it with a piece of linen until all the rust disappears.

Useful Discovery. It is not generally known that soap and water rubbed upon a hone, as a substitute for oil, is peculiarly effective, and gives a much smoother and finer edge to a razor than can be produced by oil. It is suggested that this is also a better material for setting surgical instruments than oil.

New Saddles.-Mr. S. Fletcher, of Walsall, has taken out a patent for improvements on saddles, saddle straps, saddle-girths, and saddle-cloths. The object is to render saddle-girths elastic by the addition of springs; which is effected by attaching one end of the usual strap to a worm spring: when the body of the horse contracts, the elasticity of the spring keeps the saddle firmly secured to the horse's back. The worm spring is formed and tempered so as to allow the strap to which it is attached to draw out in a small degree, by the action of a power or weight equal to twenty-five or thirty pounds; and its resistance is such, that not less than fifty 3 N

or sixty pounds so suspended, will closely compress it.

New Musical Instrument.-A poor blind man, of the name of James Watson, of Edinburgh, has invented and brought to perfection a musical instrument, which unites the power of two violoncellos; it has a range of sixtyfour semi-tones, and more could be added, if necessary: upon this instrument he displays a remarkable degree of practical dexterity.

New Madder Lake.-Mr. Field, after more than seven years' labour and a thousand experiments, has prepared a Lake from Madder, which in point of brilliancy and strength, both for oil and water colours, has, till within a short time, had nothing comparable to it in the arts; it is also of a very durable nature. Sir Josh. Reynolds was known to say that he would give a thousand guineas for such a desideratum.

Cast-iron Tombstones.-At Vienna it is common to cast slabs for the lids of tombs. Moveable types are inserted in the moulds to trace the inscription, and a basso relievo of emblematic design mostly adorns the tablet. The poet Körner is thus interred; and the design on his monument represents a lyre and a sword: he fell, like Kleist, fighting for a country, which his lyric and dramatic verses had delighted and illustrated. Marble slabs are in this country very costly; it is probable that tombstones of cast-iron could be substituted with economy, and with increased grace and elegance of sepulchral architecture.

NEW PATENTS.

T. ALLINGHAM, of Chelsea, for a Lamp, intended to be called "The Economical and Universal Lamp," constructed by Means of the Flame of the Wick being kept in a constant and equal Degree of Contiguity to the Oil, so as to consume, in Proportion to the Light it gives, a less Quantity of Oil than other Lamps, and also to give a continued Light of almost unvaried Brilliancy.

This lamp consists of a cylindrical or globular glass, open at the top; at the bottom is a chamber, of smaller diameter, to contain the oil. At this end of the glass is a shank or stem, made for the purpose of its being inserted in a stand, by which means the glass or lamp is supported; which stand may be made of any material capable of being formed for the purpose. A float of Savannah cedar, or any other light wood, or of

cork, or of any other floating substance, such being painted, varnished, or japanned, to preserve it from the oil, must be made so as to contain and support the wick at the top of the oil, having a groove, cut deep enough round the edge thereof, or in any other way, to allow sufficient wick to be wound or placed therein or thereon to last three months, more or less. And in the centre, or other part or parts of this float, may be fixed a tube or tubes, made of brass or other metal, about one inch in length, more or less, and the diameter therein according to the number of threads required, from two to any number. The wick is to be wound in the groove of or round the float, and the end inserted into the tube at the bottom, and brought out at the top, leaving about one-eighth of an inch, or more, for lighting. As the oil is consumed, the float of course will lower in the cylindrical glass; but as the float constantly swims on the oil, the burning-wick at the top of the tube in the float, is invariably kept in an equal and uniform degree of nearness to the oil by which it is supplied, whereby a constant light, of almost invariable brilliancy, will be produced while any oil remains; whereas in other lamps, in proportion as the oil is consumed, the light from the wick being removed to a great distance from the oil, diminishes in splendour, unless frequently trimmed and replenished. The wick forming part of this invention, is carded with cylinder or perpetual cards, and spun, by mull-frames, to the size of eight hanks to the pound, with not more twist in it than wefts the cotton-wool, and it must be picked perfectly clean. Three threads of this twist are sufficient for the nightlamp, but common cotton wick may be used, though the light will not then be quite so good.

C. HILTON, of Darwin, near Blackburn, for a Process for improving and finishing manufactured Piece Goods.

This invention consists in applying a pulp, such as is obtained by grinding cotton or linen, to improve the appearance of cotton or linen manufactured piece goods, which is accomplished as follows:-The goods being already prepared, as heretofore practised by the trade, they are introduced on an even surface, of about three yards in length, formed by small rollers, and the pulp applied, and permitted to filtre itself into and on the manufactured piece goods, which are made to pass over the

said surface at the rate of about twelve yards in a minute, for the purpose of allowing the water to escape, and the pulp to form itself; after which it is pressed between two rollers of metal, or other suitable materials, situated at the end of the rollers, and driven by gear, the top roller being covered with a felt or flannel, and supplied with a stream of clean water, to prevent the pulp from adhering to the roller, which it would otherwise do. It is to be observed, that the pulp, previous to its being applied, should be kept in a state of agitation, and be considerably diluted with water, more or less, according to the fineness or coarseness of the goods; the proper degree of which dilution must be left to the discretion and judgment of the workmen the diluted pulp is made to flow evenly on the surface of the cloth, by passing through a box with several divisions in it. This invention consists principally in applying such pulp as is obtained by grinding cotton or linen to cotton or linen manufactured piece goods, or a mixture of the same, instead of, or

in addition to, the stiffening them with starch.

J. HEARD, of Birmingham, for an invention of certain improvements in Cooking Apparatus.

This invention consists in the construction of a stove or fire-place for the purposes of baking, boiling, roasting, &c. as well as for heating the apartment, with a very small consumption of fuel, and is as well adapted to ships as to dwelling-houses. It is intended to be insulated, or stand in the middle of a room without brickwork; the frame or case is of cast or sheet-iron, or other plates of metal, screwed or riveted together, and standing on feet to admit a current of air passing under it. The patentee considers the essential part of his invention to be in that construction of his apparatus which affords the portability of form, the facility of dismemberment, and the means of removing it in detail from place to place, and which allows it to be fitted together, without the aid of tools, or the necessity of brickwork.

Sir W. Congreve, of Cecil-street, bart. and J. N. Colquhoun, of Woolwich, Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery; for certain improvements in the art of killing and capturing of whales, and other animals, to which such means are applicable. June 7, 1821.

J. Vallance, of Brighton, for improvements on a patent granted to him on the 20th of June last, for a method and apparatus for freeing rooms and buildings (whether public or private) from the distressing heat sometimes experienced in them, and of keeping them constantly cool, or of a pleasant temperature, whether they are crowded to excess or empty, and also whether

GRANTED.

the weather be hot or cold; and the said John Vallance hath invented or discovered improvements relative thereto, and in some cases with, and in some cases without, a gas or gasses extended, or additional applications of the principles. June 19, 1821.

C. Newman, of Brighton, for an improvement in the construction of the body and carriage of a stage or other coach, by placing a certain proportion of the outside passengers in the centre of the carriage, and a proportion of the luggage under the same, producing thereby safety to the coach, and convenience to the passengers. July 17, 1821.