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In the Explanatory Notes subjoined to the Tide Table, a curious fact is mentioned with respect to the difference of high-water above and below bridge. It is said to be " a well-ascertained fact, that at and near the springtides the high-water at Pepper-alley, just above the old bridge, is on the average nearly twenty minutes later than at Coxe's-quay, a little below bridge; the low-water also of spring-tides is about twenty minutes later at Pepper-alley than at Coxe's-quay. The time of highwater is about ten minutes later at Westminster Bridge than just above London Bridge." Is there not reason to apprehend that, when the old bridge is removed, a great alteration will be produced in all these respects?

The column of "Anniversaries" is distinguished, as before, by its giving all those Saints' and other remarkable days which are known to the laws and usages of the country: a consistent and, as yet, the only safe course that can be pursued. When, in speaking last week of "The British," we recommended that the saints should be uncanonized, we overlooked that the thing has been already very generally done in "The Englishman."

The "Historical Memoranda" are for the most part quite new this year, as compared with those in the preceding almanac. The labour attending the substitution of one set of names and events for another cannot, to be sure, have been great; but, small as it is, there is much in it to commend, compared with the laziness of giving the same series over and over.

The Weather column, or "Table of Meteorological Results." is not, like "The British," applicable to the metropolis, and a small circle around it, alone; but exhibits the mean results of observations taken at Portsmouth, Bedford, Paris, and Maestricht. Last year the mean results were given for London, Dublin, Edinburgh, and Carfisle; and next year we shall doubtless have the fruits of observations made at other places.

Opposite the Calendar page for each month, there are admonitory tables of what is fittest to be done during that month in "Garden and Farm." They seem compiled with care; and we have no doubt will be found of great convenience.

A considerable portion of the same page is devoted to giving, under the head of "Casualties," instructions for the treatment of persons apparently dead from drowning or other causes, or

who have taken any of the known poisons. The introduction of this information forms one of the most novel features of this year's “Englishman," and is unquestionably a great improvement. It is accompanied by a very sensible caution from the editors, which, as it cannot be made too extensively known, we shall here quote.

"We speak," they say, "only the language of professional men eminent for sagacity, learning, and experience, when we say that a very considerable portion of health is destroyed every day in this country by the abuseof the most simple remedies. It is from a conviction of the truth of this assertion, which rests on too many lamentable proofs, that we deprecate the interference of any but medical men in the administration of even the most apparently innocent materials (substances?). Hence, instead of those Directions' which some years ago used to occupy so much of almanacs, and which we fear were but too wellcalculated to encourage the prevailing vice of domestic empiricism, there will be found a series of simple instructions to be adopted on occasion of accidents, poisoning, and where delay of proper treatment may be attended with loss of life. These instructions will enable any person to interpose, successfully perhaps, between a relative or friend and the grave. Medical assistance should always be sent for in the first instance; and during the interval before it arrives, the nearest person should act."

It is due, however, to the "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge" to state, that the same sort of advice has been given by them in one of their "Companions." Nor can we say it would have lessened the merits of the "Stationers' Company," had they frankly acknowledged that they have, in this instance, but carried into effect a reform recommended by their rivals.

The "Instructions" have been chiefly derived from Orfila, Brodie, and Paris, and appear to be in general extremely discreet. As "The Englishman" may not be seen by every body (though an Everybody's Almanac), we shall extract a leaf from this part, which ought to be hung up over every fireside in the kingdom :

"Opium, or laudanum, produces stupor, ending in death. First, give five grains of tartar-emetic, in a very small glass of water; and if that does not produce vomiting, give in fifteen minutes about twenty grains of sulphate of zine, in a glass of water, and irritate the

throat. Remember that the injurious action of opium in the stomach is increased by liquids; therefore you will be sparing of them. You must rouse the patient, and keep him awake by pinching, squeezing, and irritating him. As soon as the stomach is evacuated of the poison, but not till then, you may give lemon-juice, or vinegar and water, also some strong coffee. Opium is the quacks' sheet-anchor, and forms the basis of the well-known cough-drops for the cure of colds, asthmas, catarrhis, &c. It is also the chief ingredient in Godfrey's Cordial,' which is lamentably popular with nurses. It matters little whether the administration of this cordial' to infants in large doses, in order to lull them to sleep, proceeds from ignorance, from good-nature, or from a selfish desire to avoid trouble; the effects are the same. There can be no doubt but that many children are annually cut off, or what is worse, become stupid and ricketty, from the excessive use of drops,' under one name or other, which have opium or poppy-juice for their principal ingredient. The influence of opium is so various on different constitutions, that no person should take it for the first time without good medical advice. There have been cases where even four grains have proved fatal, whilst the same quantity is sometimes taken to produce the salutary consequences which are derivable from this medicine."

"The Englishman's" List of the House of Peers exhibits this year the addition to each name of the date of the person's birth, and a description of his crest-an improvement easily made, and of obvious utility.

Great merit is claimed for an Alphabetical List, in an abridged manner, of Counties, Cities, Boroughs, &c. with the names of their respective representatives; but we are dull enough not to perceive where the merit of the manner lies. Abridgment of names for any other purpose than that of saving room appears to us to be worse than useless; and in nine cases out of ten, the names in this list are shortened merely to leave a blank space at the end of them. We have, for example, "Dov." for Dover, "Dub." for Dublin, "Leg." for Legge, "Will." for Williams, "Wo." for Wood, "Jon." for Jones, "La." for Lamb, Pig." for Piggot, "Pr." for Price, &c. while in each instance there is space enough to give the name at full ngth.

It is stated at the end of the list, that "the House of Commons begins its

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sittings at four o'clock in the afternoon, at which moment, if there be not forty members in the House, the Speaker must declare it to be adjourned." This is incorrect the Speaker is only bound to declare an adjournment when a member insists on the House being counted, and there happens not to be forty mem bers present. Nor is the rule limited to the commencement of the proceedings; an adjournment can be enforced on the same ground at any period of the evening.

"The Englishman" is said by its editors to present, "for the first time in England, the amount of salaries or parliamentary allowances of the members of the Royal Family, and the various great officers of state, together with the expenses of the chief establishments, civil, judicial, military, naval, &c." We believe this to be only literally true. Although this sort of information may not have been before included in any almanac published in England, it has been long a prominent feature of the almanacs published in Scotland; though not, perhaps, given in any of them so fully as in "The Englishman.”

The particulars furnished by this almanac respecting the leading institutions throughout England connected with education, is more full and minute, than we have been accustomed to meet with in publications of this description. The following general notice on the subject will be read with interest :

"Mr. Brougham recently received 500 different returns from different parishes in England and Wales, on the subject of education, from which it appears that there were in these places in the year 1818, 1450 endowed schools, while in 1828 they amounted to 3200. The number of scholars attending these schools was in 1818, 50,000, in 1828, 104,000. The learned gentleman calculates that if the same ratio of increase has gone on in other parts of the kingdom, the number of children attending endowed schools will be found to be upwards of 1,000,000. There are 2000 parishes in England (with however only a population of half a million) which have no schools at all. The establishment of Sunday-schools, to which in a great measure may be assigned (ascribed?) the late rapid extension of education, is attributable to Mr. Raikes, a printer at Gloucester, who at his own expense opened a Sunday-school in that city, in the early part of the year 1782. The system gradually spread through the country, and in September 1785, a

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Among the Commercial Lists we observe two new ones of considerable value. One is a List of the Treaties of Reciprocity or Commercial Agreements which have been concluded between Great Britain and other countries-a list which we are glad to observe, already includes the subjects of fifteen different governments. The other is a List of the Warehousing Ports in England, Scotland, and Ireland. A statement is added of the total number of vessels belonging to the ports of each country; it would be better if the number belonging to each port could be given.

There are a good many more features of improvement, which might be noticed in "The Englishman ;" but as we have still to pay our respects to its new comFanion, "The Tradesman's and Mechanics' Almanac," and perhaps to some others of the class, we must now draw our notice of it to a close. We may say of it generally with great truth, that in point of quality as well as quantity, it is far better worth every-body's money, than any other almanac in the field.

"The Tradesman's and Mechanics' " we do not like quite so well. The following explanation of the circumstances which have led to its appearance is somewhat in an ad captandum taste, but it contains a well-merited tribute to the intellectual improvement of the class to whose services it is dedicated.

"The causes which have led to the publication of such a work must be sufficiently obvious to those who have watched the active progress of general society in recent years. They must have perceived that from various quarters a stimulus has been communicated to the minds of that comprehensive class of our countrymen, the members of which were formerly contented to gain distinction merely by their handsuntil at last the trading and working population has been reared into a body not to be excelled by any other in the State for intelligence and attainment."

The Calendar pages of this almanac

are not so well filled as those of "The Englishman," and exhibit omissions for which it is rather difficult to account. They contain nothing about either highwater or the weather, and no historical memoranda whatever. Are we to conclude that in the estimation of the Stationers' Company, tradesmen and mechanics form a class to whom the treasures of history are of no account, and foul and fair weather, high and low water, all the same?

Among the matters peculiar to this almanac peculiar because they are supposed to be more immediately interesting to the trading and mechanical classes, than any others-those which we have observed with most satisfaction, are-a List of the Incorporated Trading Companies of London, including those without Halls and those without Liveries, and specifying when and where they have such business-A List of the Penalties incurrable under the Stamp Act-An Equation Table to regulate the investment of money; showing the value which the public funds and landed estates should bear to each other, to yield the same annual interest (a much more useful table than the one of a similar description in "The British")An article on Savings' Banks, and another on Friendly Societies (both excellent)-A List of the Public Schools, with the conditions of admission to each-Forms of variousDocuments, such as bills, receipts, memorandums of agreement, &c.- Directions how to address Persons of all Ranks, (an useful addition to which would be an explanation of the abbreviation of titles in common use,)—And a table headed,

Consumption and Taxes," showing that the weight of the latter falls chiefly on articles consumed by the middle and lower classes of society.

In a note subjoined to the form of a will, the writer labours under a great mistake; so at least a friend learned in the law assures us. It is here stated, that "the words of sound and disposing mind seem essentially necessary to the validity of wills, and should never be omitted to be noticed and acknowledged." Now, though it is necessary, as every one knows, to the validity of a will that the testator should be of a sound and disposing mind, yet as a statement to that effect in the will itself is no evidence of the fact (for who so mad as to call himself so?) we are informed that it has long been considered by lawyers perfectly nugatory, and is now rarely introduced in practice.

At p. 36, we have a Table for computing decimally the daily expense that is equivalent to any given yearly income; and at p. 38, another for computing also decimally simple interest at different rates for years and days. We do not know that a greater compliment could be paid to the "trading and working population" than is conveyed by the nature of these tables. How many years may it be since the notion of offering decimal tables of any kind for the use of tradesmen and mechanics would have been laughed at? We cannot, at the same time, award the tables before us our entire approbation. We are of opinion that no decimal tables of simple interest for years or months, however carefully calculated, can be of any practical use; because the direct calculation is so simple, that any person who could make use of such tables with due expertness, could perform it more quickly without their aid. The case is different with regard to interest for days; and if the Editor had given decimal tables for days, occupying two or three entire pages, they might have been of some practical utility.

The "Tables of Weights and Measures" given at pages 54 and 55, seem to us to be borrowed, without acknowledgment, from the Useful Knowledge Society's "Companion" for 1829, but sadly mutilated and spoiled in the transfer. Had the Editor given the article entire as he found it in the "Companion," the adoption of it would have done credit to his judgment; for we believe we shall not exaggerate its merit, when we say that it contains the only systematically arranged set of tables which has hitherto appeared for popular use. It is given entire in the "British" for 1830.

The article which follows, entitled "French and English Weights and Measures compared," is derived from a recent report by a Mr. Mathieu to the Society of Agriculture of Paris; but all the information contained in it might have been found much nearer home had the Editor done us the honour to consult our Eighth Volume, where there is a table by our able and esteemed correspondent, Mr. Woollgar, in which all the calculations of Mr. Mathieu are anticipated. As far as regards the measures, the two tables agree almost exactly; but with respect to the weights, the two computers differ to the extent of a grain in the value of the gramme, which of course affects all the other values connected with it. In the present Editor's edition of the tables there

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are two errors. For 2-473614 acres we should read 2:47114, and for 4.84345794 livres 4.54, &c. The latter is evidently an error of the press.

"Tables of the Coins of Foreign Countries, with the corresponding Values in English," ought naturally to have followed this comparison of the English and French weights and measures; but they are given at the bottom of the calendar pages, where they occupy places that would have been much better filled with matter more appropriate to a calendar.

The table which is given under the head of "State of Trade," on the authority of Alderman Waithman, is very undeserving of the distinction conferred on it. The Editor seems half ashamed of it himself, for he apologises for its insertion by observing that the Alderman's "facts" have been denied-his "inferences" disputed, and that he merely gives it as an "ingenious document which may facilitate inquiries into the important matters of which it treats." But considering that this ingenious document is, at the same time, notoriously one of the most erroneous ever put forth, we must be permitted to say, that it seems quite as likely to obstruct as to facilitate inquiry; while, in the mean time, it is serving to give currency to all manner of evil impressions with respect to the trade and resources of the country.

The table under the head of "Waste Land" forms another great page of error. It pretends to exhibit the exact number of acres in each county in Great Britain and Ireland, now lying waste, but alleged to be convertible into fine arable fields, gardens, meadows, or chards, &c. The thing had its origin, we believe, with a "Society for the Encouragement of Industry and Reduction of Poor Rates." which meets some where in the Poultry, and consists of a Secretary and one or two other old women; and possesses precisely that degree of authority which might be expected from the character of its parentage. Every well-informed and practical man knows, that to talk of there being many millions of acres of land in Great Britain and Ireland unprofitably neglected, is pitiable delusion.

Of minor faults, we find a good many in our notes; but shall content ourselves with pointing out one or two that seem most to require correction. The Stamp Duties on Probates and Administrations, and on Presentations to Livings-the Excise Duty on Auctions, and (stranger still!) the penalty for

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giving false characters with servantsare all given under the head of Assessed Taxes!

In estimating the merits of the "Tradesman's and Mechanics' Almanac," it deserves always to be kept in mind, that this is its first appearance. Although not now so good as our favourite "The Englishman," it is to be hoped that we shall next year find it contesting the palm of superiority on more equal terms. Of its being a work wanted by the class of persons for whose use it is intended, there can, we presume, be no doubt; and both on that account, and on account of the great quantity of useful matter already embodied in it, it is deserving of every encouragement.

(To be concluded in our nest.)

THE LATE RAILWAY COMPETITION.

Finding that considerable misapprehension generally prevailed with respect to the comparative dimensions of "The Rocket," "The Novelty," and "The Sans Pareil" steam-carriages, in consequence of our wood sketches of them having been drawn to different scales, we have now had the whole engraved on stone to the same scale, and on one sheet, which accompanies the present Number. We have taken the opportunity of correcting an error in the original sketch of "The Sans Pareil," in which the furnace and tender should have been represented at the end of the engine next the chimney; also some trivial inaccuracies in the other engravings.

RAILWAYS IN IRELAND.

We understand that Mr. Nimmo, the engineer, who has so eminently distinguished himself in connexion with the roads and bridges of Ireland, has surveyed the country between Limerick and Waterford, with the view of laying down a railway between these two important towns.

THE NAUTICAL ALMANAC.

Mr. Editor,-I have for a length of time been much gratified at the scientific results elicited in your truly

entertaining miscellany; and purpose offering you, from time to time, such nautical and astronomical observa tions, as a hard course of service for twenty years has enabled me to scrape together-more particularly on tides and currents of the ocean: the digests of which, however, are so much at variance with most or all of our renowned theorists, as theirs have been with common sense, that perhaps they may not be favourably received. My object, however, at present, is to express my regret (as a well-wisher to the circulation of the "Mechanics' Magazine") at the extraordinary assertions of" Orion" in the Magazine for August, 1829. It must, I think, appear evident to all those who are willing to render to Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's, that the naval branch at least of our administration, since 1818, has spared neither pains, expense, nor arrangement, to render every operation under its control connected with maritime affairs, plain, efficacious, and easy of access. That some mistakes have partially intruded themselves into our ephemerides, the constant habit of consulting those books for the last twenty years compels me to admit; but I have seen nothing to warrant "Orion" in his charge of disgraceful notoriety, or indeed any part thereof, which their errata-sheet, or a competent proportion of brains, would not at once elucidate-certainly nothing which could affect materially the position of a cruising ship in the Mediterranean. I pledge myself to refute this anomalous insinuation against the majesty of the "British Almanac," whenever "Orion" will do me the favour to state specifics.

That an English captain (and such a one as Captain Smyth too) should only find his way to England from the Mediterranean, through the fortuitous means of a foreign almanac, or ephemeris, will, I think, appear just as likely, as that a Spanish captain should have suddenly been placed hors de combat, through the errors of an English one!

To the opinion of the learned gentleman mentioned in "Orion's" letter I bow with great submission: his ideas are always pithily expressed,