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to Gottenburgh without spirits, having an allowance of dried fruit, coffee, &c. instead.' With regard to Ireland, which must always have a peculiar claim on the sympathies of the British people, the committee have recently received intelligence that two hundred ministers of religion, in the province of Ulster, have enrolled their names as members of the Society. A highly interesting meeting was held on the 26th of February, the day of simultaneous meeting, in the Capitol at Washington; when a Society was organized, entitled, 'The American Congressional Society.' The object of this Society is stated to be, by example and kind moral influence to discountenance the use of ardent spirit, and the traffic in it, throughout the community.' The Society is to consist of members and ex-members of Congress, and officers of the United States government, civil and military. An account has been received from the Cape of Good Hope of an interesting meeting of the Kat River Temperance Society, which was addressed by twenty-three of the natives, all of whom adduced instances of the evils of intemperance, and many spoke of the advantages which they themselves had enjoyed by joining the Society, or of the benefits which had resulted to others. At Calcutta, the principle of Temperance Societies has been brought into operation. A meeting took place at the governor's house, in Fort William, for the purpose of forming a Temperance Society in the Presidency division of the army. Venerable Archdeacon Corrie presided. The designation of the Society is, 'The Parent Temperance Society of the Bengal Army;" and it is designed that the residents at all military stations, and all King's and Company's European artillery and native regiments, be invited, with the sanction of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, to form branch Societies. At the close of last year, your Committee were compelled to suspend, in part, the operations of the Society's agents, owing to a total want of funds. Their efforts were for some time almost confined to laborious endeavours to obtain pecuniary support. It is owing to extraordinary exertions that the balance in the hands of the treasurer on the 1st of April was £569. 17s. 10d., a sum not more than sufficient to meet the engagements into which the Society has entered. Your Committee have thankfully to acknowledge the kind liberality of Mr. Bagster, who has placed at their disposal the sum of £119. 9s. 3d.,-being the profit accruing from the printing of the Society's tracts and monthly periodical, the Temperance Herald;' by which means the Committee are enabled to send grants of tracts to various parts of the world. It is a striking fact, that, although since the year 1830 taxes have been remitted to the amount of at least £4,000,000, yet the official returns of last year exhibit an increase

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in the poor's rate throughout England and Wales. When it is considered that the annual consumption of ardent spirits may be computed at little short of 30 millions of gallons, and that the enormous sum of nearly £20,000,000 is expended every year on an article which operates with a fatal certainty in augmenting pauperism and crime, the conclusion cannot be avoided, that intemperance is the mighty evil which oppresses the energies and impairs the resources of the country. And your Committee trust that an Institution whose object is the preservation of human life, and the overthrow of a most destructive popular delusion, will not be regarded with indifference either by the friends of humanity or the lovers of truth."

The Bishop of London, Lord Henley, the Rev. Dr. Cox, (of America,) J. J. Gurney, Esq., the Bishop of Winchester, Rev. John Clayton, and others addressed the meeting.

GLEANINGS.

Hints to Housewives.-Vessels intended to contain a liquid at a higher temperature than the surrounding medium, and to keep that liquid as long as possibly at the highest temperature, should be constructed of materials which are the worst radiators of heat. Thus, tea-urns and tea-pots are best adapted for their purpose when constructed of polished metal, and worst when constructed of black porcelain. A black porcelain tea-pot is the worst conceivable material for that vessel, for both its material and colour are good radiators of heat, and the liquid contained in it cools with the greatest possible rapidity. On the other hand, a bright metal tea-pot is best adapted for the purpose, because it is the worst radiator of heat, and, therefore, cools as slowly as possible. A polished silver or brass tea-urn is better adapted to retain the heat of the water than one of a dull brown colour, such as is most commonly used. A tin kettle retains the heat of water boiled in it more effectually, if it be kept clean and polished, than if it be allowed to collect the smoke and soot, to which it is exposed from the action of the fire. When coated twith this, its surface becomes rough and black, and is a powerful radiator of heat. A set of polished fire-irons may remain for a long time in front of a hot fire without receiving from it any increase of temperature beyond that of the chamber, because the heat radiated by the fire is all reflected by the polished surface of the irons, and none of it is absorbed ; but, if a set of rough, unpolished irons were similarly placed, they would become speedily hot, so that they could not be used without inconvenience. The polish of fireirons is, therefore, not merely a matter of ornament, but of use and convenience. The rough, unpolished poker, sometimes used in a kitchen, becomes speedily so hot that it cannot be held without pain. A close stove, intended to warm an apartment, should not have a polished surface, for in that case it is one of the worst radiators of heat, and nothing could be contrived more unfit for the purpose to which it is applied. On the other hand, a rough, unpolished surface of cast iron, is favourable to radiation, and a fire in such a stove will always produce a most powerful effect.-Cabinet Cyclopædia.

Scotchmen.-It is said that a Scotchman returning home, after some years' residence in England, being asked what he thought of the English, answered :"They ha'e na ower muckle sense, but they are an unco braw people to live amang;' which would be a very good story, if it were not rendered apocryphal, by the incredible circumstance of the Scotchmen going back. They would be the best people in the world, if there was nobody but themselves to give them a character.-Crotchet Castle.

Travellers. All travelling has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own; and if fortune carries him to a worse, he may learn to enjoy it.-Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides.

Singularities of the Weather.-Some singular facts are connected with the winter that has just passed. As little of severe weather has been felt in this country as under more northern skies. The merry tone of the lark was heard in Denmark in the beginning of March; nor has there been any intense cold

in the north of Russia. At St. Petersburgh the thermometer never stood so low as 18 but for a single day; and the whole season has hitherto proved unusually mild. The centre of Europe has experienced but little cold weather, and still less snow; even in Prussia scarcely a flake has been seen. The south, however, exhibits a singularly inverted contrast to its usual temperature; and the midland of Asia seems to have been the rallying point of cold. Turkey in Europe, too, has been affected in a similar way; at Odessa severe weather has prevailed without intermission; and the Ottoman Monitor tells us, that the cold in Turkey in Asia has been such as to have greatly contributed to the suspension of military operations. In Persia, and the southern provinces of the Russian empire, it is said to have been altogether unprecedented in its severity. Such a thing as winter is known by name only, in Teflis and Erivan, where the roses bloom in the month of January; but this year the cold has been more intense than was ever felt in the north of Europe.-Salisbury Journal.

Ancient Bedstead.-The lovers of curiosities would find a great treat in the inspection of a bedstead in the furniture store of Mr. Dale's warehouse, in Andover. By the date, rudely cut on the cornice, it appears to have been made by a subject of queen Elizabeth, and the beautiful carving reflects great credit on the artizan of that day. The bedstead is formed entirely of English oak, and being constructed before the invention of bedstead screws, is curiously put together. From the circumference of the posts (upwards of half a yard) we should judge the weight to be a quarter of a ton. A watch-hook of Charles I. is attached to it.-Salisbury Journal.

Absorption of the Skin.-Many facts testify the action of cutaneous or external absorption. It is proved by direct experiment, that the human hand is capable of imbibing, in a quarter of an hour, an ounce and a half of warm water; which, for the whole body, is at the rate of six or seven pounds per hour. Au interesting narrative is on record, of a ship's crew, who were exposed at sea for several days in an open boat; they had consumed all their water; they had no fluid of any kind which they could drink; they soon began to suffer from thirst; the feeling at length became intolerable, and the drinking of sea-water was found only to increase its intensity. When nearly exhausted, they were exposed, during several hours, to a heavy shower of rain. As soon as their clothes became thoroughly wet, their thirst began to abate, and before the rain had ceased their thirst was gone. They did not fail to profit by this experience. From this time each man, as soon as he began to feel thirsty, dipped his shirt in the sea-water and wore it next to his skin, which had invariably the same effect of removing his thirst; the absorbents taking up the particles of water, but rejecting the saline matter dissolved in it.-Penny Cyclopædia.

Flattery. During Mungo Park's travel to the Niger, he had an interview with the king of Bondou's wives, most of whom were young and handsome, wearing on their heads ornaments of gold and beads of amber. They were much struck with the whiteness of his skin, and the prominency of his nose, and insisted that both were artificial: the first, they said, was produced, during his infancy, by dipping him in milk, and his nose by being pinched every day till it had acquired its present unnatural appearance. Mr. Parke, without disputing his own deformity, paid them compliments by expressing his admiration of the glossy jet of their skins, and the lovely depression of their noses; when they informed him that honey-mouth, (that is, flattery,) was not esteemed in Bondou: yet notwithstanding their apparent insensibility to compliments, they presented him with some honey and some fish, afterwards.

The Oyster and the Mouse.-The Limerick Chronicle has recently recorded the following singular scene which occurred at the Oyster Bazaar, at Swinburn's Hotel. The capture and death of a strong mouse in the fangs of an oyster, where he was held fast between both shells as firmly as if in the grip of a vice, paying for his temerity as a poacher, at the cost of life. It is known, that at a certain stage of the tide the oyster is used to open his jointed shell, apparently anxious for immersion in its natural element, and while in this state, the mouse must have been lured by the scent, to try the flavour of shell-fish. The oyster immediately fastened on him at the first attempt, and held the intruder in a deadly grasp, until the squeaking of the captive called the attention of the person in charge, when oyster and mouse were found locked together as described.

Ancient Sepulture.-On opening a barrow, at Mukleford, near Dorchester, on a recent occasion, a large stone was found under the centre, of a triangular form, convex on the top, and nearly five feet from angle to angle. It was of so hard a nature, that the tools would make no impression on it. On removing this

stone, which was with difficulty effected by six horses, it was found to be flat at the bottom, and about two and a half feet thick in the middle, decreasing to about one foot at the sides. It was supposed to weigh two and a half tons at least. Underneath was a quantity of rubble chalk, in which, at a further depth of about six feet, were the bones of a human being, and with them the head of a spear, with three rivets, and also a pin, about six inches long, with a double head. Salisbury and Winchester Journal.

Stilton Cheese.-This delicious cheese may be made by the following process. To the new milk of the cheese-making morning add the cream from that of the preceding evening, together with the rennet, watching the full separation of the curd, which must be removed from the whey without breaking, and placed in a hoop that will receive in without much pressure. The cheese, as it dries, will shrink up, and must, therefore, be placed from time to time in a tighter hoop, and turned daily, until it requires the proper degree of consistence for use or keeping.

Battles and Loves of Leeches.-"The effect of full bellies in promoting harmony and tranquillity is wonderfully apparent. Radicalism and terrorism have been choked by cheap bread. A French author. M. Noble, has lately shewn that the same fact is true of leeches.-As long as these little water serpents can find the blood of man or beast to suck, they live in great harmony with one another, go on depositing their eggs, and propagating their kind, nine, ten, eleven, and even as many as fourteen in a family, When, however, they have exhausted their stock, like the Irish, they turn on one another, and, like cannibals, feed on their own dead. Among the causes (says this physician) which augment very much the mortality of leeches, must be placed those battles (of course they are naval battles, though the physician has not described their Nelson or their Van Tromp,) which they fight when they are too numerous in the same vessel, or when their food is not sufficient; the weakest fall, and the others feed on them. To obviate this inconvenience, it was found only necessary to place them in a large reservoir, supplied with a stream of fresh water. When the winter came, like Laplanders, they buried themselves in the mud; and when the returning warmth of spring brought them forth, they were attended with a great number of young ones. Holes were found in the sides of the reservoir, and in each of these was deposited a cocoon of an oval form, and as large as the cocoons of the silk-worms. They were of the texture outside, and had the appearance of very fine sponge. Several of them were opened; some were found empty, and their interior was compact and polished, as if covered with a coat of varnish; others were filled with a transparent and homogeneous jelly. In the most advanced, nine, ten, and even fourteen young leeches were found."-Bulletin des Sciences Technologiques.-Chemist.

Immediate Extinction of Colonial Slavery.-What is meant by immediate emancipation? The following is the answer to this question, which has been published as the explanation of the Anti-slavery party :The right of property in man must be entirely and for ever extinguished. No third party must be allowed to interfere between man and his Maker. Freedom of conscience, and personal liberty, without which freedom of conscience cannot exist, must be secured upon solid foundations. That accountableness to himself which the Creator has imposed upon every created being, must not be controlled by any human power. This, in our view, implies the removal of every restraint upon liberty, (not essential to the wellbeing of society;) but it is not inconsistent with the rigorous enforcement of every obligation which members of society owe to each other. We therefore insist upon the necessity of substituting, for the present authority of the master, a system of legal constraint, of equal, if not superior vigour; and of maintaining that system by regulations of police, as severe as the case may require. In a word, we would abolish slavery, but we would establish law. We would supersede the private cart-whip, and replace it by the magisterial tread-mill. The magistrate, and not the irresponsible owner, must be the judge of what shall constitute offence; and a jury, not an overseer, must pronounce whether such offence has been committed. The protection, as well as the punishment of law. must also be administered by authority equally removed from suspicion. Any man who can object to immediate abolition, thus explained, is unconscious and grossly ignorant of the privileges which he himself, as an Englishman, enjoys.

Method of producing the Effects of Age in New Wine. --It has been lately found that the mellowness which age gives to wine may be attained in a very short time by a simple contrivance. Soemmering put four ounces of red Rhenish wine into a tumbler in winter; its mouth was tied over with a moist bladder, and

the tumbler placed in the shade. In eighty-one days the wine was reduced to one half, was in high preservation, had crystals of tartar floating on its surface, and others on its bottom; it was of a darker colour than before, but was brighter and finer than ordinary; its smell was stronger and more enticing; its tast, although stronger, more spirituous, and more aromatic, was yet milder, more grateful, and more mellow than ordinary; it was found to contain onehalf more alcohol than similar wine which had not been so treated in the tumbler. Thus the bladder had permitted the evaporation of water, but had prevented that of alcohol; hence the strength of the wine, and the deposition of the acid salts. Sommering, therefore, proposes that wine should be kept in bottles not corked, but tied over with soft bladder, in which state it will in twelve months become as mellow as in twelve years in the cask. The shallower the vessel, and the wider its mouth, the sooner will the effects be produced. These facts have in substance been confirmed by M. St. Vincent. He states from long experience, that by closing bottles of wine, by means of parchment or bladder instead of corks, we may attain in a few weeks the good effects of many years.-Lardner's Domestic Economy, vol. i.

Wonders of Nature.-There were lately dug up at Masillon, Starke county, state of Ohio, two large tusks, measuring each nine feet six inches in length, and eight inches in diameter! The weight of one was as much as two men could lift. The outside covering was as firm and as hard as ivory, but the inner parts were considerably decayed. They were found in a swamp, about two feet below the surface of the ground, and were similar to those found some time ago at Bone Lick in Kentucky, the size of which animal, from the bones found, was at least sixty feet in length, and twenty-two feet in height, and twelve across the hips. Each tooth found weighed eleven pounds. This animal as much surpasses the mammoth as the elephant does the ox. We were shown a portion of one of the tusks by J. W. Smith, Esq., of this place, who brought the same from Ohio. Clearfield Banner.

Migratory Birds.-Captain Flinders, in his voyage to Australasia, saw a compact stream of stormy petrels, which was from 50 to 80 yards deep, and 300 yards or more broad. This stream, for a full hour and a half, continued to pass without interruption, with nearly the swiftness of the pigeon. Now, taking the column at 50 yards deep by 300 in breadth, and that it moved 30 miles an hour, and allowing nine cubic inches of space to each bird, the number would amount to 151 millions and a half. The migratory pigeon of the United States flies in still more amazing multitudes. Wilson, in his "American Ornithology,' "Of one of these immense says, masses, let us attempt to calculate the numbers, as seen in passing between Frankfort on the Kentucky and the Indian territory. If we suppose this column to have been one mile in breadth, and I believe it to have been much more, and that it moved four hours at the rate of one mile a minute, the time it continued in passing would make the whole length 240 miles. Again, supposing that each square yard of this moving body comprehended three pigeons, the square yards multiplied by 3, would give 2,230,272,000," that is, two thousand two hundred and thirty millions two hundred and seventy-two thousand, nearly three times the number of all the human inhabitauts of the globe, but which Mr. Wilson reckons to be far below the actual amount. Dick on the Diffusion of Knowledge.

Literary Notices.

Just Published.

Part XXIX. of Baines's History of Lancashire,proceeding with that gigantic branch of our national industry, the Cotton Manufacture; a complete history of which will be comprised in about four of its Parts, presenting a body of information on this subject never before collected in one work.

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The Right Hon. Edmund Burke; the Right Rev. Daniel Wilson, Lord Bishop of Calcutta; and the Right Hon. John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, embellish Part 51 of the National Portrait Gallery.

Part II. of a New Edition of the above splendid Work contains Portraits and Memoirs of the present Premier, the Right Hon. Charles Earl Grey; the Right Hon. Admiral Alan Gardner; and of the Right Hon. Lloyd, Lord Kenyon, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench.

Edinburgh Cabinet Library: Nubia and Abyssinia.

Three Weeks in Palestine and Lebanon; with Views. Small octavo.

Domesticated Animals; considered with Reference to Civilization and the Arts, Small Octavo. With Engravings.

Sacred Poems, for Sundays and Holidays. By Mrs. West, Author of Letters to a Young Man. Biographical Recollections of the Rev. Robert Hall, A.M. By J. W. Morris. 8vo.

Facts Fables. By Charles Williams. 18mo. Conversations on Church Polity. By a Lady. 12mo. A Ransom for All, the only Scriptural Ground for Invitations to All. By T. Keyworth. 18mo.

Prosperity of the Church proportioned to the Character of its Members: a Sermon. By the Rev. B. Parsons. 18mo.

A Teacher's Lesson on the Creation; with a Catechism. By Charles Baker. 18mo.

Christ the First Fruits of the Resurrection. By E. Steane. 12mo.

The Blind Lieutenant: a Brief Memoir of Mr. John Savery. By J. Wooldridge. 18mo.

Part I. Memoirs of the Life, Ministry, and Writings of the Rev. Rowland Hill. By William Jones, M.A. Author of the History of the Waldenses, &c. &c." with Fifteen Sermons preached in the 89th and last year of his Life.

Parts I. to IV. the Artificers Complete Lexicon, for Terms and Prices. By John Bennet, Engineer, &c. &c.

Sermons on Various Points of Christian Practice and Experience. By J. B. B. Clarke, M. A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo.

A Letter to Robert Gray, D.D., Lord Bishop of Bristol. By Jacob Stanley, Author of "Dialogues ou Popery." 12mo.

Political Economy, No. XVI. By Harriet Martineau-Messrs. Vanderpet and Suoek.

Also, by the same Authoress, and under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.-Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated: No. I. the Parish, a Tale.

Letters on the Divine Origin and Authority of the Holy Scripture. By the Rev. James Carlile, junior; Minister of the Scots Church, in Mary's Abbey, Capel-street, Dublin.

The Pulpit. Vol. XXI.

Prayers for Schools. By the Rev. S. Rickards, A. M. Rector of Stowlangtoft. 12mo.

The Clerical Duties of the Church of England opposed to Allegiance to Christ: Letters to an Evangelical Clergyman. By W. Giles, Sen.

The Voice of Humanity, by the Association for Promoting Rational Humanity towards the Animal Creation; Vol. III. Nisbet.

Cuvier on Zoology; the first Number of a New English Version of the Great Work of Cuvier"Le Regne Animale."

The Encyclopædia of Romance; consisting of Original Novels, Romances, and Tales. Conducted by the Rev. H. Martineau.

The Magazine of Botany and Gardening, British and Foreign. Edited by J. Rennie, M. A.

Ten Minutes' Advice to the Consumptive. By a Physician.

The Mother's Oracle, for the Healthful and Proper Rearing of Infancy.

In the Press.

Early in August may be expected, Travels in the United States and Canada: containing some Account of their Scientific Institutions, and a few Notices of the Geology and Mineralogy of those Countries. By J. Finch, Esq., Cor. Mem. Nat. Hist. Soc. Montreal, &c. &c.

Conrad Blessington; a Tale. By a Lady; in 1 Vol. Foolscap 8vo. is nearly ready,

Nearly ready, in 2 Vols. Post 8vo. Traditionary Stories of Old Families; and Legendary Illustrations of Family History; with Notes, Historical and Biographical. By Andrew Picken, Author of Dominie's Legacy.

A new work, entitled, "On Man: his Motives, their Use, Operatiou, Oppositions, and Results. By W. Bagshaw Clerk, M. A., &c. will shortly appear, in 2 vols. foolscap, 8vo.

The Second Volume of the Naturalist's Library. Edited by Sir William Jardine, Bart. will be published on the 1st of August, and contain the first Vol. of the Natural History of Monkeys.

Mr. Brockedon has in the Press a Volume, con taining his Personal Narrative of the Journeys he made to illustrate the Passes of the Alps.

The Lectures lately delivered by Dr. Wardlaw, of Glasgow, at the Congregational Library, Bloomfield. street, Finsbury.

LONDON: PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY H. FISHER, SON, AND CO.

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THE RT HONBLE GEORGE JAMES-AGAR ELLIS, BARON DOVER, FRS. EAS.

Dover

1 ISHER SON & CO LONDON 1833

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