Читать книгу: «The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 359, March 7, 1829», страница 4

SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

The Colosseum

The curious mechanism by which it is proposed to elevate the visiters at this emporium of wonders, is as follows: A large bucket or tank of water will be connected with a movable platform that any number of persons may be placed in equilibrium with its fluid contents, and directly a sufficient quantity of water is introduced to produce a preponderance in the tank, the persons stationed on the platform will ascend.—The Atlas.

Spots on the Sun

An ingenious individual in Providence has very recently succeeded, by means of a seven-feet telescope, constructed by himself, on a new principle, in bringing the entire image of the sun into a darkened room, upon a white screen, to the size of eight feet in diameter. He writes us that his astonishment was great when he perceived that every spot now upon the face of the sun, nine in number, was distinctly transferred to the screen, and was so plain that he could see every movement of them in their various and sudden changes. He says he could plainly discover that those spots were immense bodies of smoke, apparently issuing from volcanoes; and as they seem occasionally forced upward from the craters, now forming dense clouds, and now dispersing, considers those phenomena as accounting for the rapid changes of those spots. The escape of such a vast quantity of gas from the interior of the body of the sun would, he observes, as it surrounds that luminary, produce that bright and dazzling appearance which is the atmosphere of the sun. This theory may not accord with the opinions of others who have made observations on the subject; but the writer, at any rate, entertains the strongest belief of its truth. With the same instrument, which is but just finished, he has also examined the moon, and states his conviction that that body is covered with perpetual snow and ice, the dark spots discoverable on its surface being frozen seas, and the lighter spaces land covered with snow. Those circular places, which have a rising cone in the centre, he thinks are extinguished volcanoes, as no clouds are perceptible over the moon's face; which being covered with snow and ice, accounts, as he imagines, for its clear atmosphere, or for the absence of an atmosphere. This vast accumulation of ice and snow upon the moon's surface may be explained, the writer conjectures, by the nature of the moon's revolutions. He offers to construct instruments of the above description, by which these phenomena may be observed, at prices from 50 to 100 dollars; and at the same rate to furnish solar microscopes, on a new principle, with a magnifying power at 12 feet distance, of 5,184,000.—Boston Bulletin.

National Repository

Nearly two hundred specimens of curious works in arts and manufacture have already been laid before the committee of this establishment; the opening of which will take place in a few days.

Iron Trade

In 1820, the whole iron made in Great Britain was 400,000 tons: in 1827, it had increased to 690,000 tons, from 284 furnaces. About three-tenths of this quantity are of a quality suitable for the foundry, which is all used in Great Britain and Ireland, with the exception of a small quantity exported to France and America. The other seven-tenths are made into bars, rods, sheets, &c., of which a large quantity is exported to all parts of the world.—Repertory of Arts.

Indian Claystone

In some parts of India, the claystone contains numerous small nodules or lumps of clay iron-stone, which seldom exceed the size of a walnut. These are picked up by the natives, and are smelted by means of charcoal in a very small, rude furnace, blown by the hand-bellows, common all over India, and still used in Europe by the Gipsies. Many of the hills composed of claystone are neatly devoid of vegetation; their surface being bare and smooth, and of a red or black colour. The soil produced by the action of the atmosphere is not very productive; and so liable is it, in some places, to consolidate, when deprived of its moisture, that, if it be not constantly cultivated, it soon becomes hard and bare, and checks all vegetation.

Public Improvement

The spirit of general improvement pervades every part of the continent, and is even more active in France than in Britain. In Britain, the spirit of improvement is chiefly evinced in public works, and in the useful arts and manufactures, and its efforts are characterized much more by superfluity of wealth than by science or refinement: in Germany this spirit is evinced in public buildings, in a superior taste, in agriculture, and education—Gard. Mag.

The Himalaya Mountains

This vast accumulation of sublime peaks, the pinnacles of our globe, is so extensive, that a plane, resting on elevations 21,000 feet, may be stretched in one direction as far as the Hindoo Cosh, for upwards of 1,000 miles, above which rise loftier summits, increasing in height to nearly 6,000 feet more.

To make Gold Size

Melt one pound of asphaltum, and pour into it another pound of linseed oil, rendered drying by litharge; add also to it half a pound of red lead or vermilion. When the varnish becomes thick or pasty, thin it by adding one pound, or a pound and a half of spirit of turpentine; as more is required in winter than in summer.

Indian Corn

Mr. C. Hall Jessop, of Cheltenham, asserts that he "was the first who recommended the Indian corn for field culture in this country," which he did "in a letter to G. Talbot, Esq., of Guiting, seven years ago."

Polishing Stones

The Hindoos polish all kinds of stones by means of powdered corundrum, mixed with melted lac. The mixture being allowed to cool, is shaped into oblong pieces, of three or four inches in length. The stone is polished by being sprinkled with water; and at the same time rubbed with three oblong masses; and the polish is increased by masses being used successively with finer grains.

Sensitive Plant

Mr. Burnet and Mr. Mayo have found, that at the moment the sensitive plant is touched, so as to occasion motion, it changes colour. They have also found that when a sensitive plant has been made to droop, the part in which the moving power resides is blackened, so as to absorb the light of the sun; the restoration of the plant to its natural state is much longer in taking place.

Indian Mills

In India, granite is hewn into hand-mills for grinding corn; two or four of which are a load for an ass or a bullock, and are thus carried to the bazaar for sale. These are the primeval mills of all countries, which are mentioned in Scripture, and are still common among all uncivilized nations.

Musk

Dr. Davey, by some recent experiments, has proved that when musk, in admixture with quicklime, smells of ammonia, it is impure or adulterated; and further, that, to preserve it well, it should be made perfectly dry; but when it is to be used as a perfume, it should be moistened.

Loch Lomond

Mr. Galbraith has recently determined the quantity of water annually discharged by the river Leven from the basin of Loch Lomond to be about 59,939 cubic feet per minute. Now, as 36 cubic feet of fresh water are very near equal to a ton, this gives 1,665 tons per minute; and, supposing the year to be 365 days, 5 hours, 40 minutes, the annual discharge, at that rate, will be 877,295,085 tons. But as the river was rather below its average height, one-third may be added to this result; and we have about 1,200,000,000, or twelve hundred millions of tons per annum.

MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. ⁸

SCOTCH MARRIAGES

Our English love-smitten lads and lasses are pretty generally aware of the facility with which the most awful and holy of all engagements may be contracted in North Britain. They sometimes make the experiment in their own persons; and, "by the simplicity of Venus' doves," old boys and old girls have been known to follow, as fast as post-chaises, horses, and lads could carry them, close upon the heels of their juniors, (bound on the same errand,) to the blissful land o' cakes and matrimony. An English gentleman, known to the writer, was making a few purchases in a shop, wherein stood three or four other customers. A man and woman entered, and the former, addressing the master of the shop and his aforesaid customers, used, as he took the woman's right hand, words to this effect:—"Witness, ye that are here present, that I (N. or M.) take this woman (N. or M.) for my wedded wife." In like manner the sposa desired all present to witness that she took the man for her wedded husband, with her own full acquiescence in, and approbation of, his determination. The English gentleman who had witnessed, in silent amazement, this (to him) novel engagement, was informed, after the departure of the happy couple, that the marriage was to all intents and purposes valid by Scotch law, having been solemnized as effectually as if by religious rites, in the presence of respectable housekeepers, who, as such, were efficient witnesses, and all that were requisite of ceremonial to make the marriage good!

I give this anecdote as related to me by the gentleman who saw the incident mentioned; should there be any discrepancies in his relation, I shall feel obliged by a correct account of the manner of contracting marriages in Scotland, from any of your correspondents capable of giving such.

CAPUCHIN INTERMENT

A gentleman, who had resided many years abroad, and particularly amongst the Italian Catholics, once described to me the manner in which the Capuchins inter the brethren of their order. These defunct freres are embalmed, arrayed in their peculiar habits, as when living; and in the vaults of their monastic churches or chapels, ranged upright in niches formed for this purpose. On certain days, particularly on the Feast of All Souls, the doors of these cemeteries are opened to the public, who, as a religious duty, flock in to view these singular and affecting relics of mortality. The bodies undergo but little alteration in appearance for centuries; but Mr. M. being tempted to touch the very long nose of one old fellow, who looked "a leathern Pharoah, grinning in the dark," it disappeared in a shower of dust beneath his fingers.

A PARTY AT PALERMO

"Palermo," said a lady whom I saw immediately after her return from a tour in Sicily, "is indeed a beautiful city; but I thought some things strange in the manners of the inhabitants. Mr. H. and myself were invited to a music-party, at the house of a person in the best society, whereat appeared most of the ladies in coloured and high morning dresses. Two tallow candles and a small lamp stood on the piano-forte in the music-room, and from this room we descended by three or four steps into another, containing a bed, over which was a shelf; upon the shelf was placed one bottle of wine and a few glasses; and this being intended expressly for the ladies, they were expected to go and help themselves when they pleased; but a fresh bottle of wine was brought when the first was exhausted."

FRENCH COUNTRY LIFE

"The dinner-hour in the country," said a relation of the writer, who spends a great deal of time in France, "is generally two o'clock, even when company are invited to partake of the dinner; in which case, the whole party has quitted the house by six or seven in the evening,—a custom which ill accords with English ideas of sociability. Three table-cloths are usually laid upon the table, the first and second of which are, or may be, removed during the repast; but the third is never drawn off, except to be changed for a clean one. In England, we pride ourselves upon the fine mahogany of which our dinner-tables are made; we endeavour to obtain, in the first instance, an excellent piece of wood, and to improve it by assiduous rubbing and polishing. In France, it matters not of what material the table is framed; a cloth is always upon it; and I have seen the hospitable board of many families of rank literally formed of deal."

A DIFFERENCE

"In this part of the world," says a private letter from India, (Hyderabad,) "we do not talk of striking gongs for dinner, but ghuzzies,—ghong meaning a horse or mare."

BOARDING

In Ireland, when a man marries, who cannot afford to treat his friends to whiskey upon the occasion, they take the door of his house off the hinges, lay him upon it, and carry him thus upon their shoulders all day. In the evening he is allowed to return to his deserted bride. This custom is called "boarding," and is so frequent, as I myself can attest from personal observation, as to attract but little attention from the commonalty, and nothing like a mob.

M.L.B.