tre, which however disappears upon the action of the file. The same happens in the fusion of rock crystal, of pure alumine, magnesia, and many other refractory bodies. The appearance of this pseudo-metallic lustre might deceive any person; but it is distinguished from reguline lustre in this circumstance, that the file removes it.

EXPER. II. Crystallized Phosphate of Lime, found near Bovey in Devonshire. No decrepitation. Phosphorescence. Fuses into a black shining slag; depositing on iron forceps a cupreous-coloured powder. Scintillation-reddish coloured flame. Upon filing the slag we observed a globule of white metal, resembling silver, which does not alter by exposure to air.

EXPER. III. Crystals deposited during the fusion of Wood Tin.-In many recent experiments for the reduction of wood tin to the metallic state, when fused, per se, before the ignited gas, we have observed a deposite of white shining vitreous crystals in quadrangular tables, the nature of which has not been ascertained. These crystals are formed upon the white oxide which results from the combustion of the metal.

EXFER. IV. Hydrogen Gas prepared by the action of zinc on water with muriatic acid, when condensed alone in the reservoir of the gas blow-pipe, and ignited, was found to have heat enough for the fusion of platinum foil, and for the combustion of iron wire.

EXPER. V. Protoxide of Chromium. Mixed with oil it was easily fused, and white fumes were disengaged, but the metal did not appear to be revived by this pro

EXPER. VI. Metalloidal Oxide of Man ganese. Admitted of easy fusion. After wards the file disclosed a metal white as silver, on which the teeth of the instrument were visible. This metal proved to be a conductor of electricity.

EXPER. VII. Alloy of Platinum and Gold. When fused in equal parts by bulk, a bead was obtained so highly malleable, that it was extended by a hammer without separation at the edges. Colour nearly the same as gold. When two parts of platinum were fused with one of gold, the alloy prov

ed brittle.

great danger, threw off the pillars to get at it, and could not pursue it farther than cleared, as they had no method of supporting the vast mass above it. The stratum of coal dips into the land in a southerly direction; and, from the altitudes taken, it ap-T pears that it lowers as it approaches to the east....

Several trials at different places have been to made to find coal, but none worth follow-f ing, except under columnar basalt, above which is a stratum of irregular whin-stones! then basalt pillars at the top. The depth of the good seams of coal is from three to five feet; the upper coal, on which the pil lars rest, is a soft mossy coal; the wooden coal is in the centre, and the best and more solid at the bottom of the pit. The blocks of wooden coal lie nearly horizontal, in an east and west direction across the face or the promontory. One of those blocks is so large in the east pit, Port Ganneye, that four men with two crow-irons could not turn it out. The land from the precipice w to the southward falls considerably."

Meteorology. At Tunbridge Wells, on the night of Wednesday, the 30th of July, about half after eleven o'clock, appeared a beautiful parasalene, or mock moon. It was at the distance of about 25 degrees south of the moon, and was highly coloured with red and yellow, and at length had the addition of a projecting and tapering band of light, extending in the direction of the halonic radius. The phenomenon lasted about three minutes. The sky was full of the cirrus or curlcloud, and the wanecloud passed over in fine veils, here and there dispersed in wavy bars. A change had been conspicuous in the clouds to-day. The long lines of cirrus extending to either horizon, large well-defined twain-clouds to leeward, and waneclouds in the intermediate region of the atmosphere, formed a character of the sky contrasted to the rapid production rainclouds and showers which had gone on almost every day for a week before. The barometer was stationary nearly all day, and till midnight, at 29-43.

91

Explosion on board a Coal Vessel.-On Friday night, July 4, as a master of a Scotch sloop lying in the Tyne, and just laded with coals, was going to bed, his candle unfor tunately ignited a quantity of gas which, had collected in the cabin, and produ ced a slight explosion, by which his face and hands were much burnt, and the curtains of his bed set on fire, but they were soon extinguished; another person was also, we understand, much burned. What renders this circumstance the more curious is, the coals were by no means fresh from the pit.

Coal in Russia.An attempt to raise coal is now about to be made in Russia, under the immediate patronage of the Emperor. The spot fixed upon for this purpose is in the vicinity of Tula, celebrated for its extensive iron-works. Tula is the capital of the government of that name, distant from

Moscow 115 miles, and situated on the river Upha, in long. 37° 24′ E. and lat. 54° 10' N. All the measures were concerted in London with his Excellency Count Lieven, the Russian Ambassador; and on June 20, Mr Longmire, of Whitehaven, came to London, with an assistant draughtsman and four pitmen belonging to Whitehaven, and two borers previously engaged at Newcastle. They sailed from Gravesend, for St Peters burgh, on July 1, all their equipments for the voyage being on the most liberal scale. They are to winter at Moscow, excepting a few occasional visits to Tula, as the season may allow, and to commence operations as early after that as the climate will permit.

Sir George Cayley has proposed a public subscription for the purpose of ascertaining how far the principle of balloons, supporting heavy burdens in the air, may be made useful as a medium of conveyance. When the subscription amounts to £1000, he suggests, that an annual committee of seven members be appointed, and that no experiments be undertaken but by order of this committee, with the advice of such civil engineers as they choose to consult. Towards this object Sir George offers £50, but by no means wishes gentlemen disposed to forward it to subscribe upon a high scale, as a greater amount may probably be obtained in smaller sums.

Mr J. Tatum has found, from recent experiments, that vegetables, like animals, convert the oxygen of the atmosphere into carbonic acid gas; and that those very gases which are fatal to animals are equally so to vegetables. By observations on the effects of fruits, flowers, new-cut grass, &c, on the atmosphere, he has found, that in most cases the whole of the oxygen was converted into carbonic acid gas in a few days.

It is expected that Mr Abernethy will publish his excellent Observations on the discoveries of the late celebrated John Hunter in Comparative and Human Anatomy, delivered at the College of Surgeons during his lectures. He has shewn, that we are in reality indebted to Hunter for many facts in natural history and the kindred sciences appropriated to themselves by the modern writers on physiology.

FRANCE.

M. Champollion Figeac has published the inedited Letters of Fontenelle, from MSS. in the library of Grenoble. A relation of that celebrated writer lately died in the department of the Orne, leaving to his son some valuable manuscripts, among which is a work by Fontenelle, and a considerable collection of Memoirs and Letters of Marshal Catinat, who was uncle to the deceased.

M. Abel Remusat has published, in the Journal des Savans, some curious particulars relative to a Japanese geographical work in his possession. It is a description of the parts contiguous to Japan, published at

Yedo in 1785, and was brought to Europe. by M. Titsingh, formerly ambassador to China. It is in the Japanese language, and accompanied with five maps, drawn with great care, and having the degrees marked. The first is a general map of the parts adjacent to Japan, representing Kamschatka, Jeso, the island of Tchoka, the coast of Tartary, the peninsula of Corea, the coast of China as far as Formosa, the Japan and Lieou-Khieou islands, with another group which will be noticed presently. 2. The particular map of Yesoo, with the neighbouring part of the continent, and the nor thern point of Japan. It furnishes curious details respecting the whole southern part of Yesoo, often visited by, and since that time subject to, the Japanese. The north is not so full of names, and we may perceive the efforts made by the Japanese geographers to reconcile their own information with the notions derived from Europeans concerning the island of Tchoka, the mouth of Sakhaliyan-Oula, &c. 3. The map of Corea. That which D'Anville introduced into his atlas was drawn up by Father Regis from the descriptions given to that missionary by Chinese and Mantchous. It is but natural that the two maps should widely differ from one another. That of the Japanese is very detailed, and seems extremely exact: the distinction of capital and secondary towns, villages, fortresses, encampments, &c. is carefully marked by particular signs, and the distance of the principal places from the capitals of each province is expressed in days' journeys. Unluckily the names are written in Chinese only, with the exception of the capitals, to which the Japanese names are added; hence we have not the native names, which the Corean pronunciation must render very different from the others. 4. The map of the islands of Lieou-Khieou, Madjikosima, and Thaiwan, with those of the south-west point of Japan. The number of islands composing these different groups is much more considerable than in our latest maps, and even in that drawn up in 1809 from the journal of the Frederic of Calcutta. The distances between the principal and the tracts from Japan to the Chinese continent are marked in ri, or Japanese miles. 5. Lastly, the map of a small archipelago which has no name, or rather which has not yet found a place in our maps. They are called by the Japanese Bo-nin Sima, Uninhabited Islands, not because they are at present uninhabited, but because they were long so to their knowledge, till colonists removed thither from the south-east point of Nifon. They lie nearly south of the latter, apparently between the latitude of 25 and 29 degrees, and occupying about 2 degrees of longitude. The Japanese description reckons two large, four of middling size, and four small ones. The largest are, respectively, 7 and 74 leagues in circumference. The rest, 80 in number, have no particular designation,

and are mere rocks. The author enumerates the different kinds of trees and animals found in these islands. Among the former he mentions the kian-mou, or hard tree; this, he says, is the most valuable: another very high tree, the Japanese name of which is unknown to M. Remusat, the areca, the white louan, the katsiyasi, the sandal, the camphor-tree, a large tree with shining leaves as if varnished, and many others. Enjoying a very mild temperature, the hills and valleys produce all sorts of pulse and corn, wheat, rye, small rice, &c. Birds and fish are equally abundant. The Japanese government has never taken formal possession of this group of islands; but, as M. Remusat observes, it is more than probable that it would take umbrage at the formation of an European settlement upon them.

The French government is proceeding in a spirited manner with the grand Description of Egypt, begun by the command of Bonaparte. Two livraisons, as it is well known, have appeared. The third will be divided into two sections, the first of which is nearly ready. This section contains 200 plates; 74 of antiquities, 45 belonging to the modern state, and 81 to natural history. They are accompanied with four parts of text, namely, two of antiquities, one of modern state, and one of natural history. The price of this section is 800 francs on fine, and 1200 francs on vellum, paper. The second half of the third livraison, which will complete this magnificent work, will appear in the course of the year 1818. will contain 200 engravings belonging to the three departments of antiquities, modern state, and natural history, and a geographical atlas of Egypt, comprising a general map of the country, in 53 plates. The price of the two papers will be 1200 francs and 1800 francs.

It

petual secretary, in the place of the late M. Suard.

M. de Lalande, one of the directors of the Museum of Natural History, is preparing for a new voyage for the promotion of that science. During a short excursion to Brazil, he collected more than four thousand zoological subjects, which prove how much yet remains to be done before we can acquire just and sufficiently extensive notions of those remote regions.

French Academy.-M. Roger was, on the 28th, elected a member of the French Academy, in the room of M. Suard, deceas ed.

On the 29th, Count Maxime de Choiseul d'Aillecourt, Prefect of Orleans, author of a work on the spirit and influence of the Crusades, which obtained the prize about seven years ago, was elected a mem ber of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, in the room of the Count de Choiseul-Gouffier, his uncle. M. Auger has been appointed successor to the same person in the Dictionary Committee. The candidates were, MM. Roger, Treneuil, Benjamin de Constant, Jay, De Wailly, and Debrieu. It was not till the seventh ballot that the absolute majority of 16 could be obtained for any one person: it then fell on M. Roger (who had each time the greatest number of votes). This gentleman, author of a comedy entitled L'Avocat, and who is secretary-general to the post-office, was therefore declared duly elected.

M. Raynouard, the new secretary, read a proposition for instituting an annual premium for the work that should be publish ed most favourable to the improvement of the manners of the country.

GERMANY.

The Emperor of Austria, desirous of ad vancing useful knowledge, and transplanting to his dominions some of the valuable natural productions of the New World, has availed himself of the opportunity of the marriage and departure of his daughter the archduchess Leopoldine, to send to Brazil a number of men of science, who, with the permission of the King of Portugal, are directed to explore the most remarkable parts of that country, to examine the different productions of the three kingdoms of nature, and to enrich the European collections with specimens of them. His imperial majesty has granted the sums necessary for the expedition, and given the chief direction of it to Prince Metternich. The persons appointed to proceed to Brazil for this pur pose are-Dr Mikon, a physician and professor of botany at Prague; M. Gatterer, belonging to the cabinet of natural history; M. Enders, landscape painter; M. Schott, botanical gardener at the palace of Belvedere; Professor Pohl, advantageously known by several works on mineralogy; M. Buchberger, painter of plants; and M. Schick as librarian. The first four sailed from Trieste in the frigates Austria and Augus,

ta, and the other three will embark at Leghorn with the archduchess. M, Schreiber, director of the Imperial Cabinet of Natural History, is appointed to write the account of the voyage. Messrs Spix and Martens, members of the Academy of Sciences at Munich, have joined the expedition.

By an agreement concluded by the courts of Weimar and Gotha, the clear revenues of the university of Jena have been augmented to more than £3,500 Sterling-so that, with the other resources which it possesses, it will in future enjoy an income exceeding £5,500.

On the 3d of July, the Royal Academy of Berlin celebrated, by a public meeting, the anniversary of Leibnitz, its founder. The class of history and philology resolved to offer a prize of 100 ducats for the best historical and juridical account of the proceedings of the Athenian courts of justice, both in public and private causes. M. Bode read a memoir on the newly discovered plan. ets, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta, and produced a brass model, shewing the true position of their orbits in the solar system; and M. Uhden communicated some observations on the mortuary lists of the ancient Etruscans.

The Journal of Augsberg, of the 8th ult. has published the following observations made in the observatory of that city:

On the 7th inst, at 42 minutes past eight in the evening, Professor Stark observed, in a serene sky, a luminous band, of a colour similar to the Milky Way, in the direction of the head of Serpentarius, in the constellation Hercules; and which, passing below the Northern Crown, and then between the tail of the Great Bear and the head of the Little Bear, ended in the star Alpha of the Dragon. Its length was 71 degrees, and its breadth, almost every where uniform, was two apparent diameters of the moon. This phenomenon, which had a great resemblance to the prolongation which rapidly took place on the 13th of September 1811, in the tail of the great comet, disappeared at 58 minutes past eight. From this moment until one o'clock in the morning, the Professor observed that the nebulous part No 8 of the constellation of the Buckler of Sobiesky, when the luminous band had commenced, seemed to be surrounded with an aureola greater, more lively, and more sparkling, than usual.

The great spot or crevice, which appeared on the 23d of July last on the sun's disk, disappeared on the 4th of August. There were afterwards formed a great number of small spots, arranged in several groups, which Professor Stark intends to describe in a work which he proposes to publish very

soon.

RUSSIA.

Letters from Constantinople of the 13th September 1816, announce the death of the celebrated Russian traveller, Mr J. Richter.

He had not been long returned from his tour in Egypt, Syria, and other southern regions. He has left many very curious antiquities and interesting manuscripts. His death was occasioned by a putrid fever, caught while examining the environs of ancient Ephesus.

At the end of May, the Bible Society of St Petersburg held its fourth general meeting at the palace of Tauride, under the presidency of Prince Gallitzin. From the report read on the occasion, it appears that there are already more than a thousand societies engaged in distributing the Holy Scriptures among the lower classes of socie ty; of these there are upwards of 700 in Europe, and more than 200 in the other parts of the world. America contains about 150, thirteen of which were founded by females.

The university of Dorpat in Livonia now numbers 300 students, some of whom come from very remote parts of the empire, as well as from the provinces bordering on the Baltic. The buildings for the university are finished. One is occupied by a philoso phical cabinet, and another by the library, containing nearly 30,000 volumes. In these buildings have also been provided halls for public orations and other solemn acts of the university. The professors hold their lectures in a fine and spacious edifice situated on the Dornberg; the anatomical theatre is arranged with taste. From amidst the ruins of the ancient cathedral rises another superb structure, one part of which con tains the museum, and the other serves for the university church. Professors Jäsche and Morgenstern are distinguished by their worth and erudition. In the Lounge, or reading-room, a stranger meets with all the scholars of Dorpat, and also the foreign literary, political, and philosophical jour nals.

M. Fontani, librarian at Florence, an nounces the speedy publication of the inedited Letters of Poggio, in two or three 8vo volumes. He also purposes publishing the catalogue of the MSS. of the Riccardian library. This catalogue will occupy three or four folio volumes, each of which will cost the subscribers a ducat and a half.

A letter from Rome, dated the 15th May last, gives the following interesting particulars relative to the antiquities lately discovered in that city: "You have probably heard of the discovery near Albano, of an ancient burial-place, covered with the lava of the volcano which afterwards produced the lakes of Albano and Nemi. At this place were found a great quantity of vases of terra cotta, containing others of a peculiar form of the same material, also utensils, fibula of bronze, small wheels, and ashes of the dead. M. Alexander Visconti, in a dissertation read before the Archæological Academy, attributes them to the Aborigines.

It is certain, that as these vases were covered with the lava they must be anterior to the foundation of Alba Longa, which was built after the extinction of the volcanoes. The excavations are continued at the Forum, as also on the declivity of the Capitol facing it. The Portuguese ambassador, the Count de Funchal, a very intelligent man and zealous antiquary, has caused the ancient Clivus Capitolinus, or street which ascended from the Forum to the Capitol, to be cleared at his own expense. The ancient pavement was found constructed in the usual manner of Roman pavements, of basaltine lava, which they called silex.

The street ran from the arch of Septimus, between the temples commonly called those of Jupiter Tonans and of Concord; and in the distance of 140 feet between those two temples and the arch, there is a difference in the level of 13 feet, which must have rendered the ascent very inconvenient. By the side of the temple of Jupiter Tonans, towards the Mamertine prison, the government has just cleared the remains of an edifice hitherto totally unknown, and highly decorated. It seems to have been destroyed by fire; but there is still an ancient pavement formed of slabs of Numidian, Phrygian, and African marble; and many fragments and blocks of marble which formed the decorations. They are of the most exquisite workmanship, very delicate and very rich, which leads me to believe that the building was of the age of the Vespasians; and, since it is known that near the arch of Septimus stood the temple of Vespasian, I am inclined to attribute these relics to that edifice, especially as the trunks of two colossal statues have been found there, one of an emperor, and the other of a female having the air of a Juno, but who might possibly be an empress under that form. This, however, is but conjecture. Among these relics have been found fragments of columns of Numidian and Phrygian marble, which decorated the interior of the cella. The walls were also faced with Phrygian and Carystian marble. It is to be hoped that some inscription will remove all doubts on the subject, and determine the use of the edifice. The column of Phocas is almost entirely cleared, at the expense of the Duchess of Devonshire, and under the direction of our mutual friend, M. Akerblad. Two sepulchral inscriptions have been found here. They do not belong to the column, and must have been brought hither in the middle ages. A very interesting discovery has however been made respecting this column, namely, that it was erected on a pyramid of steps, one of the four sides of which is in good preservation. -It has been erroneously stated, that the discoveries made near the edifice commonly called the temple of Jupiter Stator, or the temple of Castor and Pollux, corroborate the idea, that these are the remains of the Museum. There was no edifice at Rome VOL. I.

known by that name; but the most likely opinion is, that it was the Comitium, or place to which the people resorted to vote for the acceptation of the senatus consulta, and the election of priests; and this opinion, first advanced by Nardini, is daily rendered more probable. There is every appearance that the Forum will be entirely cleared—a work of very great interest for the topography of Rome. Without the gate of St Sebastian, near the Via Ardeatina, in a farm belonging to the Duchess of Chablais, called Tor Marancio, have been found a considerable number of ancient Mosaic pavements, antique paintings, and fragments of sculpture. Inscriptions on the leaden pipes which conveyed the water thither, seem to indicate that this was the villa of the Manutia Family. The pavements represent nothing but trellises or compartments, only one of which displays different colours; the others generally are white or black. One of these pavements is very remarkable : upon it are seen the ship of Ulysses and the Syrens, one of whom, with birds' feet, is playing on a lyre. In another part of it is represented Scylla, half woman, and half fish, enfolding two men with her two tails, and striking the water with a ship's rudder. The paintings decorate a small chamber, and are remarkable for the subject alone; they represent three females of infamous celebrity, but in the most decorous attitude. They are inscribed beneath: Pasiphae, Myrrha, and Canace. A fourth, whose name is effaced, appears to be Scylla,"

M. Michele Leoni has lately translated Goldsmith's Traveller into Italian verse. In the preface to this version, which was published at Florence, the translator endeavours to vindicate Italy against what he terms the prejudices of the British poet.

UNITED STATES.

An American journal states, that Mr David Heath, jun. of New Jersey, has made a very important improvement in the steam engine, by which all accidents may in future be prevented. It consists in a new contrivance of the boiler, by which a high temperature of the steam is obtained without the use of the condenser. The balance wheel and the beain are rendered unnecessary, so that a whole engine of four horse power is reduced to the small space of 60 cubit feet.

A remedy for the stone is stated to have been discovered in America by the following circumstance:-A physician, who for twenty years had been afflicted with this painful disorder, repaired two years ago to the medical springs at Bedford, in Pennsylvania, to make use of the waters. After taking them some time to no purpose, an African negro offered to cure him for a few pounds. This offer he treated with contempt; till at length finding that he could not long survive without relief, he sent for the negro, who disclosed the secret as the price of his 4 N