to painting sticks. He has often given great pleasure here and cisewhere; especially in playing the slower Scotch airs. He had two extra bells for the occasional sharps or flats, in each octave. Troston, June 1, 1811. A CAPEL LOFFT. For the Monthly Magazine. ARCHWAY through HIGHGATE-HILL, S this great public work is an object of much importance, it is hoped that a description of it will not be wholly devoid of interest; but it appears necessary to preface it with a brief sketch of the present line of road, its inconveniences, and danger Highgate is a populous hamlet, little more than 4 miles north of St. Paul's, on a hill upwards of 450 feet above the level of the Thames. It stands in three parishes, but principally in those of Hornsey and St. Pancras. From the city through Islington and Holloway, and from the west end of the town through Kentish-town, pass two roads, which unite on the summit of this hill and form the great north road, leading through Barnet, &c. to all the northern parts of the kingdom. There are other roads over this hill, but they are of less importance and little frequented. Formerly the only roads to Barnet were from Clerkenwell and Gray's Inn Lane, through Maidenlane and Hornsey-lane; and, after taking this circuit eastward round the hill, ran through Hornsey-park to Colney Hatch, &c. But, as Norden states, "this road, being very miry and deep in winter, it was agreed between the bishop of London and the landholders in this part of the country, that a new one should be made by the former through the park at Highgate hill, and that he and his successors should be authorised to collect a toll from all passengers." This road passed through a high gate, from which this place is supposed to have derived its name, and which was taken down and the road widened at this spot, in 1769, (many years subsequent to the first forming this road) at the expence of the Islington and Whetstone Trust, for the hetter accommodation of the public. From the late surveys, which were made with great accuracy, it is proved that a carriage, travelling from Holloway over this hill, has to ascend 240 feet in less than half a mile, and on the Kentish town line, 244 feet, which ascent, for a considerable distance, exceeds four inches in every yard. The number of carriages in this united road is very considerable. It is calculated that there are at least one hundred public coaches and twenty waggons daily, and even these form a very small proportion of the aggregate, as the carriages of pleasure, of business, and of agriculture, are extremely numerous, It therefore became an object of serious consideration, as being one of so much public importance, that some plan should be devised, not only to remove the labo rious task to which so great a number of valuable horses are daily subjected, but also to save the great loss of time, and reduce the number of those serious acci dents which but too frequently occur, from the sudden rise and declivity of the present line of road*. Various plans at different times have been suggested, but the first ever submitted to parliament was in 1809. The projector, Mr. Robert Vazie, engineer, proposed that there should be an archway formed, twentyfour feet wide and eighteen feet high, through the bill. The first, or east, branch, to commence at the verge of the hill on the Holloway road, and from thence pass in a northern direction to a vale in the centre of the line, where there was to have been constructed a large shaft or central opening, the archway was then to have extended from this spot to the Barnet-road, near a brook below the fifth mile-stone from Loudon, In order that passengers travelling from the west end of the town might also be accommodated, another branch was to have been constructed, from Kentishtown to the central opening. Each of these archways, from one side of the hill to the other, would have been 880 yards, or half a mile in length. A great oppos sition was made to this plan by the inhas bitants of Highgate, and on the third reading of the bill it was lost by a majo, rity of forty to thirty-nine. The follow ing year (1810) Mr. Vazie submitted to parliament his second plan, which is now executing, and already in a considerable state of forwardness. The objections which were made to the former being now removed, by altering the line of the road to the east side of the hill, which * Th writer of this article, during the last three years, has had under his care, twa persons with compound fractures of the legs, who suffered amputation; two simple fractures; a boy who had lately his skull frac ture, and died a few hours after; besides a variety of contusions, &c. from the falling of horses and oversetting of carriages. reduces reduces the length of the archway so much, that it will not exceed 300 yards, and where, from the diversity of the scenery and extensive views, the beauty of the line will be exceedingly great, has already produced the effect of reconciling the minds of those who so violently opposed it. The entrance to this road from London is immediately at the foot of the hill in Upper Holloway. It commences by a deep cutting on the right of the present line of road, which is continued, encreasing in depth, until it reaches the intended archway, a distance of 550 yards, where the vertical height of the surface above the line of the road is up wards of sixty feet. This open cutting is nearly completed, the slopes on each side of the road are cultivated and fenced with osier, holly, and hawthorn, and present a pleasing entrance to this greatwork, The archway is not yet completed: but, as an auxiliary, however, a drift has been cut, (an opening 4 feet wide and 5 feet high) through this wing of the Jill, by which means the favourable quality of the earth has been ascertained. This drift was executed by sinking perpendicularly three shafts or wells, from the surface to the level of the intended road, at the distance of one hundred yards apart, and from the bottom of each a direct line was formed to the extremities of the hill. From the information I have been able to procure, it appears that the arch will be the segment of an ellipsis, having its longer axis vertical twenty-eight feet, and its shorter axis horizontal twenty-four feet, the under part of the arch being drawn to a radius of twenty-six feet. The space for car. riages and foot passengers to pass each other, will be twenty-four feet in width, and twenty feet in height. The surrounding earth will be supported by brick and iron work so firmly cemented, as to become one solid mass. The breadth of the arch is considered amply sufficient to admit the passing and repassing of the largest carriages, and yet to allow a foot-path on each side. It is the intention of the promoters of this undertaking, to shorten the arch as much as the nature of the surrounding earth will permit; and it is now confidently stated, that the length of the archway 'will not exceed three hundred yards. The remainder of the line, to the north of the archway, is in a considerable state of forwardness. It is formed by deep cuttings through the east and north wings of the hill, the earth being depo sited in the adjacent vales, and thus an easy regular ascent is preserved the whole length of the line, which will be one mile and an half. This work, although it did not commence till July last, is in a state to create confidence, that in less than twelve months the pub. lic will be accommodated. To render this design complete, there has been procured during this session, an Act to enable a direct line of road to be formed from the Assembly House, at Kentishtown, to the archway. This great un dertaking, for want of being sufficiently understood, was in its infancy ranked among some of those ephemeral schemes never to be executed. But the promptness and ability with which this work has hitherto been conducted, will in the lberal and enlightened mind be an object of much consideration, and is highly ho nourable to those engaged in it. To the experimental and experimental philosophy, the greatness of a nation owes much; and almost all our pubhc works hold out a field, not only for dis playing, but frequently an opportunity of improving, practically these important sciences; and hence, by such enterprizes, lasting national monuments are raised of, our strength in intellect and industry. arts, The naturalist and geologist have, in the excavations made in these works, much to engage their attention, as the fossils are numerous and inter. esting. It would exceed the limits of this article to enter into a minute description of them, I shall therefore only enumerate a few of the most striking. The hill is composed of alluvial earth, and different strata of clay. The stratum of brown clay is interspersed with finely crystallized selenite, or gypsum, and the common argillaceous iron stone of Kirwan, or Septariæ, formerly known by the name of Ludus Helmontii. These stones, when burnt, form a cement, well known by the name of Parker's cement, and will prove a considerable acquisition in forming the archway. In the blue stratum these stones are also very abun dant, brilliantly studded with pyrites, and often contain a variety of small shells. The septa of these fossils, in both strata, are composed of calcareous spar, or finely crystallized carbonate of line, having a beautiful velvet appear. ance, of various hues. Here also are found some fossil teeth, commonly called shark's teeth, sometimes swordfishes teeth, but unlike either; petrified fish, fruit or nuts, more resembling the palm nut, nut, and a great variety of shells. The JAMES GILLMAN. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, HOW OW often has it not been remarked, that there is nothing new under the sun; the most brilliaut and famed dis. coveries having been made long before the time of those who reap the glory of their invention. This remark forcibly struck me in stumbling upon a passage the other day in Hasselquist's Travels in the Levant, from which it appears that the remedy,. lately introduced into the Materia Me tirely from the inside of the flowers, and. when they were closed, ceased; the day had been very hot and showery, with much distant thunder, the sun was just set, the evening calm, and the dew falling. I mention these circumstances, as I have been frequently on the watch since for the saine appearances in a different state of the weather, without success. It is observed by Dr. Smith in the 8th volume of Sowerby's English Botany, that the scarlet pimpernel (anagallis arvensis) from opening only in fine weather and closing infallibly against ram, has been called the poor man's weatherglass. I wish to bear testimony to the extraordinary fidelity of this little monitor, and strongly to recommend it to the attention of laymakers and others interested, it being a very common weed. in all cultivated land, and flowering pleu-, tifully all summer long. One trifle more, if your room and patience will admit, and I have done. The roots of the ornathogalum umbellatum are said (I think in the same work) to be Query, at good eating when boiled. what time of the year?-Certainly not in F. June. Ryton, June 13, 1811. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. dica, with such success for the tape. L worm, or at least one analagous, has been I SIR, ET the light of reason acquaint your Reverend Correspondent, (page 403,) and his R. R. Bishop, that Cicero and Cæsar impose no penalties for infidelity, nor is it of any alleged consequence who wrote their professed, their matchless, works. The argument, therefore, is worse than childish! They know very well that such testi-, mony as they affect to call.good on this subject, would not convict any man of a› petty larceny, or be received in deciding . on the slightest question in any court of law. ALPHA-OMEGA. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, tium (tropaolum majus) emitted sponta- The who has proposed a magnetical query in the last number, is, I conceive, to produce a perpetual motion. experiment would not succeed because the descent of the iron pendulum would be as much retarded by the attraction of the nearest magnet, as its ascent was accelerated by the same force. The two magnets would render the oscillations of greater greater extent, but, in all other respects, would be totally inactive. B. Chichester, May 21, 1811. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, I KNOW of few of the minor desi derata of medicine more important than that of some mode of increasing the breed, and consequently decreasing the price, of that useful animal the leech. How shocking must it be to the relations of a poor man to be told, that his case requires the application of perhaps a dozen leeches, when, if to be had at all, he is forced to pay for them three or four shillings a piece; (their present price in most great towns.) And, if the late rage for draining proceeds, it is clear that even the rich will be unable to procure them, at any rate, as the race will soon be extinct. What we want to know is, first, how the great mortality amongst them, after being caught, may be prevented; and secondly, how they may be artificially bred. That much of the destruction amongst hem is caused by injudicious practices, I have little doubt. I have now, in my possession, two individuals of this tribe, which I have had for at least two years, and they are as healthy as at first. In this time they may have been applied to the process of phlebotomy half a dozen times, at distant intervals. They were made to disgorge the blood taken in, by the application of salt, then well washed, and returned to their abode, a capacious glass jar, half filled with spring water, and containing a little moss. The water has been changed once or twice every two or three months, certainly not oftener. But, as it will be in vain to expect any great saving in the consumption of leeches, attention should be chiefly given to some mode of propagating them in considerable numbers, which there can be no reason to doubt is practicable. All that wants ascertaining is, such particulars respecting their natural history as can direct us into the right path. It seems pretty clear, that, though they will live for years in pure water, they will not increase in it either in size or number. Something essential to them then is far uished by their native marshes. What this is, requires to be determined, and the experiment may be easily made by any one living in the neighbourhood of the places where they are found. Let three or four pair of the two sexes be introduced along with a portion of the water and mud which they inhabit, into a capacious glass vessel. When the annual increase, of which they are susceptible, was ascer tained, the practicability of breeding them to profit would be determined. Judging from the their tribe, we might conjecture, their broods of young would be numerous, and soon attain maturity. If this proves to be the case, I see no reason why they might not be propagated in any numbers, as easily as silk-worms. Probably one reason of their small increase in marshes, is the destruction made by other animals that prey upon them, and a want of sufficient food. If therefore a pond were stocked with them, from which their enemies were excluded, and into which plenty of food was introduced, we might perhaps find them multiply with rapidity. But to ascertain these points, we must know all the circumstances of their na tural history, their mode of propagation, number of young, food, the enemies that attack them, &c. &c. These being known, I have great hopes that it might be as easy to breed these invaluable insects, as poultry; and that the cottager would find it a more profitable employ. ment, cannot be doubted. I conclude this hasty scrawl with two observations. 1. That any of your cor respondents who can point out where the natural history of this animal is to be found detailed, will confer a great be nefit on the public by doing se. The other: that if no such detail exists, the Society of Arts could not offer a premiure more called for, than thirty or forty guineas for the institution of the neces sary experiments. June 12, 1811. C. S. For the Monthly Magazine. JOURNAL of a recent vOYAGE to CADIŽ, Cadiz, Feb. 1809. FTER a fatiguing ride of two days, I A am again arrived here. I left Gibraltar on Thursday, in company with two English friends, and re-crossed in the passage-boat to Algeciras. Before we could land, we were obliged to submit our passports to examination, and our trunks were carried to an office, from whence they were soon restored, on payment of a few rials. There happened to be some Spanish women in the boat with us, one of whom shewed us with a sort of pride the "New Testament in Spanish," which had been given to her at Gibraltar, and was one of those winch are circulated by the Bible Society in London, which I dare say you have heard of: she seemed to be much pleas ed with the possession of it. We talked of religion and politics, and one of her companions expressed herself vehemently against the French, and, in the name of her sex, said, that "if the Patriot Army should want assistance, the women of Algesiras would join them." Our first attention after we got to an inn, was to procure mules for our journey; we had some difficulty in mak ing our bargain, and at last agreed to give about a dolla a league from Alge siras to Cadiz, a distance of about sixty to seventy miles, besides finding wine and provisions for the muleteer. As it was almost dark before we landed, we could not see much of the town; we ascended an exceedingly steep hill from the water side, which led into a spacious square, in the centre of which is a large marble fountain, the corners being ornamented with sculpture. The houses are white-limed, and large, but poor looking, and very few of the inhabitants were to be seen: we were freely accosted by numbers of the female sex, who paraded in groups about the inn; and it was the first time I ever saw any of them admitted to such a place. I understand however that the practice is common in Spain, and that the frail.ones unhesitatingly enter the coffee-houses, &c. and take refresh ments. Curiosity led us into a billiard-room, where some of the meanestlooking fellows were engaged in play; but their appearance, and the stench of tobacco, oil, &c. was too forbidding for us to remain long among them; indeed we scarcely saw a welldressed person in the place, and we heard many complaints of the want of trade, and of the suffering of the town, since the Spanish troops, who used to be quartered here, were gone off, and so many men had been drafted into the army: the place, they said, was nearly deserted. I slept comfortably on a straw mattress and trussel bedstead until break of day, when our muleteer awoke us, and, after a refreshment of a cup of good coffee, we got on our steeds, laughing at each other to see how we were mounted. About a mile from the town we crossed a river, where a great number of females, with their garments neatly tucked up around them, were standing in the midst of the water washing linen, MONTHLY MAG, No. 214. which is an operation performed by beating the clothes on a flat stone while immersed in the stream. Not far from hence we passed beneath an aqueduct of about three hundred yards in length, of no great height or width; it appeared to be very old, but without any remarkable beauty in the structure. The present system of engi neering would have conveyed this water from one hill to the other with much less trouble and expence than by erecting such an aqueduct. The ruggedness of our forbidding road now commenced, over hillocks, waterchannels, and fragments of rock, each of us making the best of his own way, our muleteer leading the van. We soon began to ascend the mountains, the mules and horses scrambling along the acclivitics, among the olive, the cork, and the ever-green oak; sometimes our advance was facilitated by getting into a gulley, which time and the rains had formed into a deep path, but so narrow that we could only follow each other singly, while our feet were now and then wrenched by hitching in the projecting parts of rock. Such tracts as these are called “ Passes," and it is vain to seek for a better road where none could be found, it was perfectly an "Hobson's choice;" for, if any person mounted had been on the descent while we were getting up, one party or the other must have made a retreat, as it would have been impossible for a dog to find space to pass us. On gaining the suminit we were enveloped in rain, and we felt it very cold, Our descent was not more agreeable to our terrified feelings than we had before experienced: the mules would now and then slide over and between the protu > berances of the rock, on the edge of a precipice, overhanging a romantic valley, adorned with a variety of ever-greens, heaths, broom, &c. while the sides were fringed with periwinkles, jonquils, heaths, &c. in abundance; they are also covered with quantities of a lichen, which in England is valuable, and is imported from the north of Europe for the purposes of commerce. * We at length got into a plain about a league distant from Algeciras, and found, i by more means than one, that we had been riding upwards of, three hours. It was now time to have recourse to our alforjas (bags containing provisions) which it is necessary for every one who travels in Spain, to provide himself witho→ previous to beginning a journey, or cheat 32 will |