Читать книгу: «The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 284, November 24, 1827», страница 2
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF HELEN
Princess Helen was born of an egg,
And scarcely ten years had gone by,
When Theseus beginning to beg,
Decoyed the young chicken to fly.
When Tyndarus heard the disaster,
He crackled and thunder'd like Etna,
So out gallop'd Pollux and Castor,
And caught her a furlong from Gretna.
Singing rattledum, Greek Romanorum,
And hey classicality row.
Singing birchery, floggera, borum,
And folderol whack rowdy dow.
The newspapers puffed her each day,
Till the princes of Greece came to woo her,
Then coaxing the rest to give way,
She took Menalaus unto her,
So said they, "though we grieve to resign,
Yet if ever you're put to a shift,
Let your majesty drop us a line,
And we'll all of us lend you a lift.
With our rattledum, &c."
Menelaus was happy to win her.
But she soon found a cure for his passion,
By hobbing or nobbing at dinner,
With Paris, a Trojan of fashion.
This chap was a slyish young dog,
The most jessamy fellow in life,
For he drank Menalaus' grog,
And d—me made off with his wife.
Singing rattledum, &c.
The princes were sent for, who swore
They would punish this finikin boy;
So Achilles and two or three more,
Undertook the destruction of Troy.
But Achilles grew quite ungenteel,
And prevented their stirring a peg,
Till Paris let fly at his heel,
And he found himself laid by the leg.
With his rattledum, &c.
The Grecians demolish'd the city,
And then (as the poets have told)
Dame Helen might still be called pretty,
Though very near sixty years old.
Menelaus, when madam was found,
Took her snugly away in his chaise,
So Troy being burnt to the ground,
Why the story goes off with a blaze.
And a rattledum, &c.
HORSE-CHESTNUTS
(To the Editor of the Mirror.)
In a recent number there was a notice of the uses of the Esculus Hippocastaneus, or horse chestnuts; but a very important one was omitted, namely, its substitution occasionally for Peruvian bark in cases of intermittent fever. This disorder, known better by the name of ague, had been formerly epidemic in Ireland, where the humidity of the atmosphere is continually increased by the exhalation of the lochs and bogs with which the country abounds. In consequence, however, of the formation of the Grand and Royal Canals, and the drainage of the waters in their vicinity, the tendency to this disease was greatly lessened; and about twenty years ago the disorder was so rare in Dublin and the neighbourhood, that the medical students often complained that they graduated without ever having an opportunity of seeing in the hospitals a single case of this once almost universal disorder. In consequence, however, of the extreme wetness of one summer and autumn, agues again resumed their ascendancy, and the hospitals and dispensaries became crowded with intermittent patients, and all the bark of the druggists and apothecaries was put into requisition; but to the surprise and disappointment of all the medical men, this infallible specific was altogether inert and powerless, and after repeated trials and disappointments, it was abandoned as useless. It was now a matter of importance to ascertain the cause of this extraordinary failure, whether it arose from the altered character of the complaint, or from the deteriorated quality of the medicine; and it was found to be the latter. In consequence of the long cessation of intermittent fever, bark had been little used or called for, and the stock had remained so long on hand, that it had become effete and worthless. It was necessary then to try some substitute. Quassia-wood, the acorus calamus, and other bitters and aromatics, were tried; but that which seemed to succeed best was the bark and kernel of the horse-chestnut. The nut was moderately dried in a stove, so as to be capable of being powdered, and in that state was exhibited in substance with cayenne pepper and other aromatics. The bark was taken in infusions and decoctions with quassia, and the effects were sometimes very decided and satisfactory, forming a providential substitute for the only kind of bark then to be procured in Ireland.
W.
SONNET
(For the Mirror.)
Say what repays the gamester's nightly toil,
Can hell itself more hideous woes impart?
Can glitt'ring heaps of ill-begotten spoil,
Appease the cravings of his callous heart?
For this alone he severs every tie,
For this he marks unmov'd the orphan's tear,
E'en nature's charms, a smile from beauty's eye
No longer can his blasted prospects cheer.
But now prevails the dice's rattling sound,
The loud blaspheming oath, and cry of woe,
From tables set with spectre forms around,
Hurrying with frantic haste, th' expected throw!
Than this no greater foe to man remains
This is the mightiest triumph Satan gains!
E.L.
ORIGINAL TRANSLATIONS
(For the Mirror.)
Horace.—Ode xxx.—B. 1
TO VENUS
He invokes her to be present at Glycera's private sacrifice
Venus! leave thy loved isle,
And on Glycera's altar smile;
Breathing perfumes hail the day,
Haste thee, Venus! haste away.
Bring with thee the am'rous boy;
The loose-rob'd Graces crown our joy!
Youth swell thy train, who owes to thee
Her charms, and winged Mercury!
ODE xxvi.—B. 3
TO THE SAME
He renounces Love
Not without renown was I,
In the ranks of gallantry.
Now, when Love no more will call,
To battle; on this sacred wall,
Venus, where her statue stands,
To hang my arms, and lute commands;
Here the bright torch to hang, and bars,
Which wag'd so oft loud midnight wars.
But, O blessed Cyprian queen!
Blest in Memphian bow'rs serene,
Raise high the lash, and Chloe's be,
All e'er proud Chloe dealt to me!
W.P.
Arcana of Science
Smoke of Lamps
A recent number of Gill's "Technical Repository," contains a simple mode of consuming the smoke that ascends from the turner of an argand lamp. It consists of a thin concave of copper, fixed by three wires, at about an inch above the chimney-glass of the lamp, yet capable of being taken off at pleasure. The gaseous carbonaceous matter which occasionally escapes from the top of lamps, is thus arrested beneath the concave cap, and subsequently consumed by the heat of the flame, instead of passing off into the room, in the form of smoke or smut on the ceiling and walls.
[The "Technical Repository," may have the credit of introducing this contrivance to the British public; but it is somewhat curious that it had not been previously adopted, since scores of lamps thus provided, are to be seen in the cafés and restaurateurs of Paris. Apropos, the French oil burns equal in brightness to our best gas, and as we are informed, this purity is obtained by filtration through charcoal.—ED.]
Caddis Worms
The transformation of the deserted cases of numberless minute insects into a constituent part of a solid rock, first formed at the bottom of a lake, then constituting the sides of deep valleys, and the tabular summits of lofty hills, is a phenomenon as striking as the vast reefs of coral constructed by the labours of minute polyps. We remember to have seen such caddis-worms, as they are called by fishermen, very abundant in the wooden troughs constructed by the late Dr. Sibthorp, for aquatic plants, in the botanic garden at Oxford, to the cases of which many small shells of the G. Planorbis Limnea and Cyclas were affixed, precisely in the same manner as in the fossil tubes of Auvergne; an incrusting spring, therefore, may, perhaps, be all that is wanting to reproduce, on the banks of the Isis or the Charwell, a rock similar in structure to that of the Limagne. Mr. Kirby, in his "Entomology," informs us, that these larvae ultimately change into a four-winged insect. If you are desirous to examine them in their aquatic state, "you have only, (he says) to place yourself by the side of a clear and shallow pool of water, and you cannot fail to observe at the bottom little oblong moving masses, resembling pieces of straw, wood, or even stone—of the larvae itself, nothing is to be seen but the head and six legs, by means of which it moves itself in the water, and drags after it the case in which the rest of the body is enclosed, and into which, on any alarm, it instantly retires. The construction of these habitations is very various. Some select four or five pieces of the leaves of grass, which they glue together into a shapely polygonal case; others employ portions of the stems of rushes, placed side by side, so as to form an elegant fluted cylinder; some arrange round them pieces of leaves like a spirally-rolled riband; other species construct houses which may be called alive, forming them of the shells of various aquatic snails of different kinds and sizes, even while inhabited, all of which are immovably fixed to them, and dragged about at pleasure. However various may be the form of the case externally, within it is usually cylindrical and lined with silk."—Introduction to Entomology, by Kirby and Spence.
Engraving on Glass
Cover one side of a flat piece of glass, after having made it perfectly clean, with bees' wax, and trace figures upon it with a needle, taking care that every stroke cuts completely through the wax. Next, make a border of wax all round the glass, to prevent any liquor, when poured on, from running off. Then take some finely powdered fluate of lime (fluor spar,) strew it even over the glass plate upon the waxed side, and then gently pour upon it, so as not to displace the powder, as much concentrated sulphuric acid diluted with thrice its weight of water, as is sufficient to cover the powdered fluor spar. Let every thing remain in this state for three hours; then remove the mixture, and clean the glass, by washing it with oil of turpentine; the figures which were traced through the wax will be found engraven on the glass, while the parts which the wax covered will be uncorroded. The fluate of lime is decomposed by the sulphuric acid, and sulphate of lime is formed. The fluoric acid, disengaged in the gaseous state, combines with the water that diluted the sulphuric acid, and forms liquid fluoric acid, by which the glass is corroded.
Habits of Seals
The brain of this animal, observes Dr. Harwood, is I think, doubtless, of greater proportionate magnitude than in any other quadruped, and not only does it exhibit in its countenance, the appearance of sagacity, but its intelligence is in reality far greater than in most land quadrupeds: hence its domestication is rendered much easier than that of other animals, and it is susceptible of more powerful attachment. The large seal, which was exhibited some time ago at Exeter 'Change, appeared to me to understand the language of its keeper as perfectly as the most faithful dog. When he entered at one end of its long apartment, it raised its body from the water, in which it was injudiciously too constantly kept, supporting itself erect against the bar of its enclosure, and wherever he moved, keeping its large, dark eyes steadfastly fixed upon him. When desired to make obeisance to visitors, it quickly threw itself on one side, and struck the opposite one several times in quick succession with its fore-foot, producing a loud noise. The young seal, again, which was kept on board the Alexander, in one of the northern expeditions, became so much attached to its new mode of life, that after being thrown into the sea, and it had become tired of swimming at liberty, it regularly returned to the side of the beat, to be retaken on board. Such examples might be greatly multiplied; and I cannot help stating, that aware of this disposition to become familiar, and this participation in the good qualities of the dog, it is astonishing that mankind have not chosen this intellectual and finely organized quadruped, for aquatic services scarcely less important than some of those in which the dog is employed on the surface of the land.—Quarterly Journal.
Gas from Resin
Mr. Daniel, the meteorologist, has contrived a process for generating gas from resin; which he effects by dissolving the resin in turpentine, or any other essential oil, and then allowing the fluid to drop gradually in a heated cylinder of iron.
Liquorice Paper
A mode has been discovered in France of fabricating paper solely from the Glycyrrhiza Germanica, or liquorice plant. It is said that this paper is cheap, that it is of a whiteness superior to that generally made, and that size is not requisite in its manufacture.
Tachygraphy
A mathematical instrument maker at Paris, of the name of Conti, has conceived the notion of a portable instrument which he calls a tachygraph, by means of which any person may write, or rather print, as fast as any other person can speak. M. Conti, however, like many other ingenious men, is not rich; and he has applied to the Académiè des Sciences, for pecuniary assistance, and a very favourable report has been made upon his request.
