which he set up his own instead, with the following lines under it: Kings' heads are hung up for a sign, WONDERFUL SPRINGS. Pomponius Mela, in his account of the Canary or Fortunate Isles, gives an account of two wonderful springs, the water of one is of such a quality that it causes those who drink of it to die laughing; whilst the reverse is the nature of the other, which is the only remedy to heal those who have drank of the first; so that the bad qualities of the one are counterbalanced by the virtues of the other. Pomp. Mela, lib. 3, cap. ii; and also Petrarch, in one of his canzonets; Ne l'isole famose di Fortuna Due fonti hai; chi di l'una, Bee moi ridendo; e chi de l'altra scampa. Canz. 18. st. 6. MOCK SUNS. Languet and Stow relate, in their Chronicles, that in the year 1233, upon the 7th of April, four suns were seen besides the natural sun, (which, in those days of ignorance and superstition, were ascribed to be the forerunners of war, famine, pestilences, &c. &c.) for as those chronicles testify, there were much strife and dissention stirred up between Henry the Third and the lords of his kingdom; for the very next year England was wasted by fire and sword from Wales to Salisbury, which town was burnt soon after, attended with a great drought and pestilence. Also in the year 1460, three before the three Earls Edward Earl of suns made their appearance but the day the Earl of Wiltshire, fought the great March, with the Earl of Pembroke, and firmeth, in which the Earl of March put battle at Mortimer's Cross, as Stow afthe others to flight, with a great destruc tion of their soldiers. Two more instances are also chronicled: one by Fulk in his Meteors, who says, that in the year 1526, towards the slaughter of Lewis the Second, King of Hungary, three suns marched forth. The second instance is told by Inemond, who saith, that in the year 1619, were three also seen at Lovain, in the month of May, at sun-rising. "Bow, humbly bow, before that God days, "Who, when he lifts the chastening rod, To sorrow, care, or torturing pain? "And will they never bloom again?” Oh! cease thou faithful monitor within, The deathly pallid cheek, the dim sunk eye, That, rushing from the heart, appall'd my own; And listened with unfeign'd distress Proclaim'd the gratitude no words could Then stretch thy thoughts abroad, my gro velling mind, Call up to view the miseries of mankind, And let the ills thy fellow-men endure, cure. Enough! 'tis done! I need no more! Yes! I would praise Him till my latest My better thoughts condemn desponding sighs; And when I sink within the arms of Death, What though my humble name And far from grandeur, power, or fame, I covet not the splendour of the great, Take Take then, ye votaries to the world's applause, Take all the fame that empires can bestow; Pure from a richer source my spirit draws More lasting joys the balm for every woe. Who gives the sparrow skill to fly, And frolic in the yielding air? Delightful thought! power, With watchful care my varied path attends; And in the noontide or the midnight hour, My feeble soul from every ill defends. Then what is life? A sacred voice declares, Taught by the truth-illumin'd page: It soothes my spirit in a world of cares; It curbs my fiery passions, wildest rage. Be still, my heart, hush all thy sorrows, Every accent speaks to thee: Mark! oh mark, from whence it borrows Each divinely-cheering truth, To guide thy frail and wandering youth, To seats of endless bliss and purity. "Dare a living man complain, Man, whose sins the stars outnumber! "Does he hope by day to gain "Pleasures never mix'd with pain, "And free from care by night to slumber? "Ah fool! for thee in dread array The keenest disappointments wait : "This life is but a thorny way, "To lead the pilgrim to a happier state. "Forward, to the awful goal Say, frail mortal, canst thou look ; "On some great promise in the sacred book? Assured the God of boundless love, Will be on earth thy friend, thy bliss in realms on high? "Then art thou rich beyond expression, "Firm as the storm-beat rock thy soul may rest; "Life to thee is worth possession, "Alike in joy or sorrow thou art blest!" Yes, with my lips, my heart shall raise, To thee my thankful, noblest praise, Great source of happiness divine; Thy power supports my fainting soul; Thy cheering words my fears controul, And to Thy will my all I would resign. Let the proud sceptic with sarcastic sneer, Contemn those truths the best of men revere; Let him assault with all his puny rage The word of life, the heaven-indited page: But when my hands the sacred leaves unfold, In every line my wondering eyes behold The brightest, strongest, evidences shine To prove the glorious author most divine. Cast all thy weighty burden on thy God; "He will sustain thee, He will guide thy way." And when oppress'd by grief, to find My thoughts so much in love with sin; When doubts and fears distract my mind, And shame and darkness reign within Blest source of comfort! then I fly, Anxious to hear thy soul-reviving voice, That tells me Jesus left the worlds on high, And died, that sinful mortals might rejoice! Yes, while on earth through his forgiving love, In glorious hope of endless joys above. Oh tis enough! here would my spirit rest, And bid life's changing seasons roll along; These srered truths compose my troubled breast, And will inspire my last triumphant song. Ah! then no more my restless heart, Indulge one anxious, wishful sigh: With cheerful hope perform thy part; And look for perfect bliss beyond the sky. This mortal frame must soon decay: Soon the messenger will come To lead me home! Then will this painful conflict cease, And all the ills I now deplore: Then will my spirit rest in peace, A prey to grief and sin no more. Trowbridge, Wilts. ALBERT. TO MARY. WHEN sad reflection me oppresses, In her I find those manners sweet, Oh could I then this fair one move, 'Twould soothe a passion tender; "Twould rid me of all earthly strife, My heart, my hand, my all, through life, To Mary I'd surrender. EDGAR, PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. ▼▼HE Medical Society of London have recently published the first volume of their Transactions, containing many interesting articles, and among others the following: On the Land Winds of Coromandel, and their Causes, by Wil liam Roxburgh, M.D. The land-winds on the coast of Coromandel, says Dr. Roxburgh, are those hot winds which blow at a particular season of the year and hour of the day, from the western hills, commonly called the Ghauts, towards the bay of Bengal. In the more inland countries, as above the Ghaurs, they are not confined to any regularity, though they are felt sometimes with a great degree of severity, and for hours together. I understand also, that in the upper parts of Bengal, they are sometimes experienced very severely; but whether from the west or the northward, or in what part of the year, I have not been able to ascertain. As far as this only tends to prove the insufficiency of the denomination, it would signify little, although in other respects it would be of more moment As they are generally supposed to be peculiar to this country, and are felt during several months in the year, we should imagine their history and causes to have been perfectly investigated and understood; but, I know not why, neither the one nor the other has as yet been satisfactorily explained. The most plausible reason generally given for the great accumulation of heat in them, is the heat of the season in which they prevail, and the long tract of country over which they have to pass. That this, however, is not the true cause, it shall be my endeavour to demonstrate; to which I will add an attempt to point out the most probable one, founded on known chemical principles. Respecting the theory I have to offer, I regret that it has found but few patrons in this country, which, however, I flatter myself, may be ascribed more to the manner in which it has been proposed, than to the foundation on which it is constructed. In order to facilitate the explanation of my sentiments, as well as to show that the land-winds really deserve some attention from the philosopher, I shall briefly recount the phænomena accom panying their beginning and progress, as well as the effects by which they are ge Herally followed. Could my pen equal my sensations, I should be able to paint their effects in the most lively colours, aided by eight years experience in a country the most noted on the Coast, for their intensity. The land-winds are preceded in the latter end of March, or in the beginning of April, by whirlwinds, which between eleven and twelve o'clock at noon, hurry in various directions, mostly from west to east, towards the sea. These are called by the natives Peshashs or Devils, because they sometimes do a little mis chief to the lighter buildings. About the same time, or a little after the appearance of the whirlwinds, we may observe all ranges of hills garnished as it were with clouds, which become daily darker and heavier, until they dis charge themselves with much thunder and lightning in a heavy shower of rain After this marked phænomenon, the land-winds set in immediately with all the violence of which they are capable. Their commencement is generally in the latter end of April, or beginning of May, and their reign lasts to the earlier days of June, during which period they generally exert their violence from ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, until about three or four o'clock in the after. noon. In this season, the atmosphere is commonly hazy and thick, except that in the evenings and nights, the sky is serene and clear, provided the land-winds do not continue the whole day. The rising sun which portends a landwind day, appears of a fiery red, and as if involved in mist, which mist is changed afterwards into clouds that lie heavy on the Ghauts. The land-wind of each day is almost always preceded by a long calm, and inmediately by a cloud of dust. Their diurnal violence is terminated along the coast about two or three o'clock, by the setting-in of the sea-breeze which wafts delight and health as far as its influence extends, which is not more than ten or twelve miles inland. An abatement of their intensity from thence to the Ghauts, is all that can be hoped for. Samulcotah, in the Northern Circars. The The sea-breeze regularly begins in the afternoon, at one or two o'clock, blowing pretty steadily until sun-set, when it dies away gradually, and at sun-rise it is again perceptible, though weakly. When I say its influence is only felt ten miles inland, I do not wish to be understood that it does not extend further: I mean only its powerful refreshing properties, which it loses in proportion to the distance from the sea, and in an inverse ratio to its strength, which is not great. In general, it arrives at thirty miles distance from the sea, in the even ing, and is then only agreeable by the ventilation it effectuates, In the country above the Ghauts, as in Mysore, the east wind prevails also in the afternoon, but from a period much earlier, or cotemporaneous with the seabreeze on the coast, which renders it clear that this inland breeze either does not extend further than to the Ghauts, or really originates there; a point which deserves to be ascertained, as another phænomenon depends upon this circum stance. Should the sea-breeze fail, as sometimes happens, the land-wind decreases gradually until it dies away in the beginning of the night, which, on account of its calmness, is dismal to a degree: next morning, a little motion of the air is again perceptible, but at the usual time the wind sets in as strong and hot as the day before. Every thing we put our hands upon is then distressing to the touch, which must be the case when the temperature of the body is inferior to that of the atmosphere. This we experienced for almost a fortnight in the year 1799, in the Northern Circars, when the thermometer, at eight o'clock in the night, stood at 108°, and at noon at 1120. Shades, globes, tumblers, then very often crack and break to pieces, and the wooden furniture warps and shrinks so much, that even the nails fall out of doors and tables, &c. In their greatest intensity, however, I have never seen the thermometer rise higher than 115°, viz. in the coolest part of the house, though some say they have observed it at 1300. The Ghauts, and the hills at no great distance from them, are then seen lighted all night by spontaneous fires, and often in a very picturesque manner. These illuminations appear, in general, about the middle of the mountains, and seldom or never extend to the top or bottom of them. They take place espe cially on those bills on which the bam. boos grow very thick, which has proba bly led the natives to explain this pha nomenon so rationally, by ascribing it to the friction of these bushes against each other. Lieutenant Kater, of his Majesty's 12th regiment, thinks that the corky bark of the adenanthera pavonina, is often spontaneously inflamed, as he has frequently found, on his surveys, its bark. converted into charcoal, and several of these trees burnt down to the roots, although they were not in the vicinity of any other trees. In Europe, I know these spontaneous ignitions have been much discredited; and I doubt not, but should these few sheets ever be published, many objections will be raised against what I have related: but I have endeavoured to state facts only, which a luxuriant imagination might have painted in more striking colours, but I am sure not with stricter adherence to truth. The land-winds are noted for the dryness which they generally produce on the face of the country, as well as on that of the animal creation. This sensation is particularly felt in the eyelids, which become in some measure quite stiff and painful. This is owing to the immediate volatilization of all humids that irrigate our organs, and which, in this particular one, probably gives rise to inflammations of the eyes, so frequent. at this time of the year." The continuance of this wind causes pain in the bones, and a general lassi➡ tude, in all that live; and in some, paralytic or hemiplectic affections. Its sudden approach has, besides, the dreadful effect of destroying men and animals instantaneously. It is very common to see large kites or crows, as they fly, drop down dead; and smaller birds I have known to die, or take refuge in houses, in such numbers, that a very numerous family has used nothing else for their daily meals than these victims of the inclemency of the season and their inhospitality. In populous places it is also not very uncom |