under the patronage of this society, have been widely circulated.

From India, daily defiled with innocent blood shed like water, intelligence of an interesting description is communicated. The following letter has been received by the Secretary, from the private Secretary of Lord W. Bentinck, dated Government-House, Calcutta, Dec. 22, 1828:-"I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter to the Governor-General, dated the 7th of April last. His lordship desires me at the same time to present to you his best thanks for the copies of your pamphlets which accompanied it, and to assure you that the one on the Suttee question relates to a subject, which has engaged his particular attention." The Missionaries in Calcutta, and its vicinity have petitioned the Governor-General on the subject of the Suttee. It appears by a communication from Bengal, bearing date Feb. 17, 1829, that some prohibitory regulations have been actually issued. Letters from Serampore and Calcutta, in May and July last, do not mention this prohibition of Suttees; it appears, therefore, probable, that it is on a limited scale, as an experiment. This however is a fact of great importance. The following notice, says a Missionary in India, in March, 1829, appears daily in the papers:-"The Governor-General invites the communication of all suggestions tending to promote any branch of national industry; to improve the commercial intercourse by land or water; to amend the defects in the existing establishments; to encourage the diffusion of education and useful knowledge; and to advance the general prosperity and happiness of the British Empire in India." Surely a brighter day has dawned in the East let the friends of humanity and religion improve it.

Let the friends of humanity be deeply impressed with the nature and extent of human sacrifices in the East, and they will not relax in their efforts till these abominations are buried midst the wreck of things that were." Still six or seven hundred females are annually burnt or buried alive in British India, besides what fall a sacrifice to this horrid practice in the allied and independent states; according to the philanthropic Col. Walker, " 3,000 infants are annually murdered in Western India; thousands still perish in pilgrimages, allured to shrines of idolatry, (rendered more celebrated by British connexion and support,) or are hurried down in a state of sickness and debility to the Ganges, and there cruelly murdered, and yet no inquisition is made for their blood." Why does Britain permit

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these atrocities? "Blood has a voice to reach the skies." It cries to the Senate of our land, "Relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." The cry of mercy for India “has reached the British Isles, and reverberated from her shores :-it has sounded in the ears of her Legislature; it is heard in the midst of our City; it is a loud and a bitter cry." Let cities, towns, and villages, petition for the exertion of British humanity and justice, to abolish every species of human sacrifice in India; and when the public voice is temperately and reasonably expressed, we may rest assured that it will not be suffered to plead in vain.

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

ALTHOUGH pure and nutritious bread is so necessary to health and life, there is no article more liable to sophistication. The practice of mixing potatoes with the dough has been already noticed. Potato-starch is used for adulterating flour. Of this I have a positive proof, even in the present day. A few months since, an eminent flour-factor shewed me a powder which he said had been sent him as a substance which might be mixed with flour without discovery, and requested me to examine it, declaring his intention, at the same time, of publishing the transaction. Inspection alone was sufficient to convince me that the powder was potato-starch, and a few experiments soon decided the point. This fraud has no other bad effect than in lessening the quantity of nutritious matter which a given quantity of the bread should contain, beside the extortion of charging full price for an article of less value. Inspection by a high magnifier will detect potato-starch in flour, by its glistening granular appearance.

We have heard of bones burned to whiteness, and ground to an impalpable powder, being used to adulterate thirds flour, which, being of a somewhat gritty nature, will disguise the grittiness which it is almost impossible to deprive bones of, be they ever so laboriously ground. This fraud is easily detected; for if much dilute muriatic acid, that is, spirit of salt mixed with water, be poured on such flour, there will be an effervescence or boiling up; and if the liquid be thrown on a filter of paper, the portion which runs through the paper will let fall a heavy white deposit, if pearlash be added.

Chalk and whiting are also adulterations which, in small quantity, are often mixed with flour, and although such admixtures are not noxious to health directly, they are

injurious in many ways. They may be readily detected by pouring on a large quantity of dilute sulphuric acid, that is, oil of vitriol mixed with six or seven times its weight of water; if an effervescence ensue, it is proof that there is adulteration; and if after filtration, as before directed, the addi. tion of pearl-ash to the clear liquid produce no muddiness, or a very slight degree of it, the presumption is, that the adulteration was chalk or whiting.

Alum is a well-known sophistication of bread, not used on account of its quantity, but to disguise a bad quality of flour; it is said to whiten ill-coloured flour, and to harden and whiten bread made from flour which has been malted. By some respectable bakers it has formerly been used, and might still be used, if there were not a law against it, with perfect safety in so small a quantity as half a pound of alum to one cwt. of flour, it could not be in the least degree injurious; for this would be but nine thirty-fifths of an ounce to the quartern loaf. When used in double this quantity, as it often is, it becomes discoverable to the taste when the bread grows stale. Be this as it may, we can easily detect alum in bread, for it is only in bread that it need be suspected, by pouring boiling water on it, letting it cool, pressing out the water, boiling it away to one-third, allowing it to cool, filtering it through paper, and adding to the clear liquor, some solution of muriate of lime. If a considerable muddiness now appear, it is proof of adulteration, and none other can well be suspected than alum. Muriate of lime can readily be prepared by pouring a little dilute muriatic acid on more chalk than it can dissolve, and after the effervescence ceases, filtering the liquor through paper. What passes through the filter is ready for use as a test.

Salt, which in small quantity is absolutely necessary to the flavour of bread, is used by fraudulent persons as an adulteration; for a large quantity of it added to dough imparts to it the quality of absorbing, concealing, and retaining a much greater quantity of water than it otherwise would. Bread made from such dough will, on leaving the oven, come out much heavier than it ought, and the additional weight will be merely water. Fortunately the taste of such bread is a sufficient index to its bad quality; it is rough in its grain, and has this remarkble quality, that two adhering loaves will generally separate unevenly, one taking from the other more than its share. Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia, Vol. III.; being a Treatise on Domestic Economy, Vol. I.

A SABBATH IN FRANCE.

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By the Rev. J. W. MORRIS, Author of the Memoirs of Andrew Fuller.-(From Affection's Offering, 1830.)

ARRIVING at a considerable town on the continent, in the middle of June, 1829, I was not a little surprised to find the superstitious observances of former times still continued, but with an evident design to revive the interests of Catholicism, and support the declining power of the priests. The sabbath morning was fine, and great preparations were made for the celebration of one of the principal festivals, la fete de Dieu, in commemoration of the Ascension. The French are not remarkable for cleanliness, as is well known: dirt of every description is thrown from the houses into the streets, where it is suffered to accumulate till it becomes exceedingly offensive, being seldom removed more than once a week. This indecent and unhealthy practice, however, is not peculiar to France; it generally prevails in Catholic countries, as if it were the appropriate emblem of their religion. In Ireland, where French manners are unknown, the same disgusting custom is pursued, to an equal extent with our continental neighbours.

On the morning of the day alluded to, la fete de Dieu, carts and scavengers were employed to clean the streets, under the superintendence of an officer of police, who required every housekeeper carefully to sweep the front of his dwelling as he directed. The principal streets through which a religious procession was to pass, were then lined with white linen, suspended from the fronts of the houses, and strewed with leaves of the fleur de lis. Temporary altars were erected at distant intervals, covered with white linen, and adorned with pictures, pots of flowers, large wax candles, and a crucifix. Green boughs were planted behind the altars in form of a crescent: in front a carpet was spread for the priests, who on their arrival consecrated the place with holy water, the swinging of empty censers, shedding a profusion of rose leaves, and performing other gesticular ceremonies.

The procession commenced in the forenoon, amidst the roar of cannon from the ramparts, and other military demonstrations. The concourse of people was immense; the lower classes traversing the streets, and those of a higher grade witnessing the fete from their windows. The procession was lined on both sides with a long train of children, walking two abreast with an open mass-book in their hands, the boys wearing dark coats, the girls dressed in

white caps and neckerchiefs, and some of them covered with lace veils. Superintendents or teachers attended them, some in black, others in white flannel hoods and dresses, with beads and crucifixes suspended from their sides. The interior was formed of a long train of monks and priests in their respective vestments, alternately singing psalms, and being relieved by martial music. In the centre was born the hoste, under a crimson canopy, supported by a number of ecclesiastics.

The whole procession was headed by the military, many of whom appeared with arms in the centre, and brought up the rear with a flourish of drums and trumpets. On the approach of the hoste, the people bowed themselves, and continued in a bending posture till it had passed by. For my own part, I was so stupified with amazement, that I neglected to pay the accustomed homage to the hoste, scarcely knowing whether I was in Christendom, or on the plains of India, witnessing one of the fetes of Juggernaut. A police officer awoke me from my reverie, by putting forth his wand, and calling out, "Otez votre chapeau. A Frenchman standing near and observing it, shrugged up his shoulders, and laughed at the officiousness of the police. I moved my hat, and walked on.

The people generally, all perhaps but the grossly illiterate, evidently regarded the ceremony as a mere farce, or sort of religious entertainment, and would have laughed the priests out of countenance, had it not been for the presence of the military, which formed by far the most imposing part of the spectacle. There was no zeal, no fervour, no enthusiasm of any kind; nothing could be more formal and monotonous. Nearly all the figures in the scene exhibited a character, phrenological and physiognomical, of impenetrable dulness and stupidity, of heads without brains, and countenances without the slightest degree of animation. Meanwhile the streets were full of tumultuous noise, laughing, talking, trifling, till the procession moved on to the great church, where mass was performed, and hundreds rushed for admission. This done, the rest of the day is devoted to gaiety and dissipation, and the sabbath becomes the vainest part of the week. Trade is carried on, with windows and doors partially closed, mechanics follow their employments, carriers deliver goods from the country, taverns and tea gardens are crowded with visitors, and the theatres conclude the profanations of the day.

A most unaccountable mixture of levity and devotion presents itself, such as is unknown 136.-VOL. XII.

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in Protestant states, except among a certain class of church-going people, who visit the temple as a sort of apology for the excesses they intend to commit, and so contrive to make what they call their peace with God. Catholic worship begins here as early as five o'clock in the morning, when the chapels are thronged by the lower class, and even milk-women may be seen entering the sanctuary with their pails, preferring rather to attend public prayer in the midst of their business, than wholly to omit the devotions of the day. Yet as soon as the multitudes descend the steps of the porch, they are met by ludicrous fiddlers and songsters, and find no difficulty in immediately joining in the mirth and revelry. Such is modern France, and such the farcical religion which Catholicism has produced.

Yet with all this strange composition of character, there is a species of public morals in which the Catholics of France appear to excel. They are vain and frivolous, guilty of petty frauds and impositions, readily disregard the hospitality due to strangers, and have, no doubt, their share of other vices; but public crimes and brutal outrage are seldom heard of. More of these are brought to light in one week at Bow. street, than are known in any town of France for a whole year, the capital alone excepted. The streets here are generally still and quiet at ten o'clock, and people retire to rest without any anxiety about doors and windows; the outer doors are slightly fastened, and the upper windows often left wide open, with bed-clothes and other articles hanging into the street; yet such is the general security and confidence, that no danger is apprehended, and no violence committed.

In Alfred's reign, the glory of the British annals, it is said, that a person might travel with untold gold in his possession; but such times have scarcely been heard of since in England. Yet in that part of France which I have visited, a similar state of things still exists, in spite of all the meaner vices. If you visit a retail shop, money may be seen lying about in heaps, and completely within reach, yet there is not the least apprehension of danger. Women come from market with half a peck of loose copper money in a skep or open basket, slung at their backs, protected neither by the eye nor the hand of the owner; yet they walk about at their ease, amidst crowds of people, without fear of sustaining any loss.

Such facts speak strange things in favour of Catholic France, and the facts themselves are indisputable, Some of the

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between them, but the priests have made a practice of hearing confessions in private rooms, and generally at their own lodgings. This would not be endured in Italy, though each family there are priest-ridden by one of the innumerable orders of friars and monks, who is privileged as an inmate. There is no charge meant here against the chastity of the Irish priesthood, for if they were not very chaste, their opportunities would render their whole communion depraved; but it is a situation in which no fair penitent, of from 15 to 40, and blooming young priest, should be placed.

After mass the priests' houses are crowded with young females, to pour their sorrows into his compassionate bosom. No Dr. Dryasdust, emaciated by fasting, but a ruddy, red-cheeked, plump, smiling young fellow, with all the advantages of nature, sanctioned by that deocracy assumed by the human-spiritual authority of the church of Rome; and there is such a horror of the sacrilege of casting an imputation on the priest's character, that the female must be a heroine, as well as a real penitent, who would tell tales, as the universal voice of condemnation and double infamy would consign her to destruction.

H.

THOUGHTS ON COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.

As there is no subject more amusing or instructive than the study of the works of God, so no part of those works is more worthy of our attention than animal structure, or the science of comparative anatomy. This, though usually confined to the precincts of the dissecting-room, is still comprehensible, and forms a delightful object of contemplation to the reflecting mind. In consequence of the importance of this science, as well as its intrinsic peculiarities, I have selected the following out of many instances of singular construction in animals to fit them for the stations in which they are placed, and the various circumstances by which they are surrounded.

Ruminating Animals.—It is a peculiarity of such of this kind as feed on pulse, or other hard substances, that the articulation of the jaw is lined with a very thick and elastic cartilage, which prevents the jar that would be otherwise occasioned to the brain in breaking their food.

In examining the stomachs of ruminating animals, we find them each to possess a peculiar structure. The first and second are reduplicated, and the folds furnished with strong ligamentous fibrous edges, which probably, by the action of contraction and expansion, produce a powerful concussion,

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thus separating the matted particles of the herbage swallowed. The coats of these two first stomachs are rough, and armed with small fibrous papillæ of different degrees of fineness. These serve to break the mass; and a slight degree of incipient fermentation may be produced by the agency of the gastric juice, which is poured into them from their peculiar gastric glands.

The third stomach is not furnished with such strong fibrous folds, but its coats are formed into cells like a honey-comb. Into this the food returns after the process of rumination. Then digestion is continued; and the food, having been comminuted by rumination, is fitted for the action of these fibrous cells, which, from their form, are adapted to macerate, separate, and concoct the pulpy substance. Muscular action, upon such forms of surface, would produce every variety of shape fitted to divide a pulp, and separate it into the most minute particles. The gastric juice in this stomach is probably of a more solvent and fermentative quality, and fits the food for its passage into the fourth stomach. In this last, digestion is completed, and absorption of the nutritious particles takes place. From hence the residuum passes into the bowels, when the lacteals and other vessels perform their destined offices; but owing to the nature of the food, its quantity, with the difficulties of assimilation, and the tedious nature of the process, the length and size of the intestines are proportionably greater than in carnivorous animals.

As this class of animals have no incisores in the upper jaw, a curious contrivance is substituted in its place. The tongue is so constructed as to twist round the grass on which they feed, and thus tear it off from the roots. They are seldom found to pull up the root, which, from its strong and fibrous character, takes a firm hold on the soil. It is also a singular circumstance, that the tongue, on its upper surface, even to the point, is covered with a rough and prickly cuticle, the hard papillæ or prickles of which tend from the point to the root. As most grass is in a degree rough on its outer surface, the skin of the tongue appears intended to resist this, and thus come in aid of the muscular action that twists the blade.