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REVIEW.-Dr. Kitchener's Economy of the Eyes.

Constitution; for Southey's Book of
the Church plainly shows, that to our
religious establishment we owe the
preservation both of the Constitution
and liberty.

The Pamphlet is cautious, modest, and prudent; and we think that its object is an important national good. A resident Clergyman is a resident counsellor. Ignorant country people are perpetually flying to petty lawyers upon the most trivial occasions, and thus either pay much unnecessary money to get into scrapes, or get out of them; nor do they understand the proper management of families, the preservation of peace, the advantages of temperance, the consolations of Religion, or the comfort of having a friend in superior life, upon whom they can rely, from his independence and professional philanthropic bias. With regard to worldly conduct, the road to happiness, both temporal and eternal, must be founded upon prudence; and we therefore trust that no person, by our speaking, will presume that we mean to depreciate the doctrines of Christianity. God forbid! We only mean healing diseases by medicines.

43. Elements of Thought. By Isaac Taylor,

Jun. 12mo. Holdsworth.

THIS is by far the best elementary treatise on subjects connected with the developement of the intellectual faculties with which we are acquainted; of sufficient length for the demands of perspicuity, short enough to remedy the defect of weariness and exhaustion. To those who are not afraid of examining into the first principles of mental exertion,-to those who would emerge from the indolence of reposing on the opinions of others, and endeavour to think for themselves, this little volume will be an invaluable treasure.

44. The Economy of the Eyes; Precepts for the Improvement and Preservation of the Sight. Plain Rules which will enable all to judge exactly when and what Spectacles are best calculated for their Eyes; Observations on Opera Glasses and Theatres; and an Account of the Pancratic Magnifier, for Double Stars, and Day Telescopes. By William Kitchener, M. D. Author of the Cook's Oracle, &c. 12mo. pp. 245. BEFORE entering upon this entertaining and useful work, it may be il

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lustrative to make some preliminary remarks. In children the cornea is extremely flexible, so as to be bent by its muscular ring into any given curvathere is less occasion of contracting the ture necessary for reading, and of course pupil for distinct vision; but in old persons the cornea is stiffer, so that they can hardly read without spectacles, unless the print be large, or the light so strong as to cause a great pupilar contraction. Thus the necessity required for the two reading kinds of of spectacles; but different lenses are vision. Short-sightedness is owing to the pencils of rays converging too fast, and coming to a focus before they reach the retina. Here a concave lens relieves by making the rays diverge more before they enter the pupil of the eye. In long-sightedness the pencils of rays diverge so as not to meet in a focus till they have passed the retina. Here a verge, is of benefit. As all our readers convex lens, by making the rays' conmay not be acquainted with opticks, Priestley's History, by way of explanawe have made these remarks from tory introduction to the following important matters from Dr. Kitchener.

The best plan to preserve the eyes is they who are careful in following a renot to employ them at night in any work which tries them (p. 51); and glasses, may preserve their eyes to the gular gradation in the change of their latest period of life (p. 39); and many maturely by beginning with too great persons have worn out their sight premagnifiers (p. 40). The smaller the power, provided it be sufficient, is the most pleasant and convenient (p. 56). of trying new spectacles: Dr. K. recommends the following mode

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paper with moderately large printed letters,
By placing upright against a wall a
such as usually occur in the title pages of
octavo books, he finds the greatest distance
he can distinctly see the letters with a good
light to be the focal length of the specta-
cles." P. 56.

Using a single glass causes the idle
eye to become of a different focus to
(p. 13.)
that which is employed with the glass.

ized one eye and slighted the other, take to
"When persons who have long patron-
spectacles, they will (generally) require
glasses of a different focus for each eye."

P. 14.

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the 45th year, and the following is the test, when they become necessary to save the eyes:

"The first indication of the eye beginning to be impaired by age is, that when you wish to read a small print, you are obliged to remove it further from your eye than you have been accustomed to do, and desire the aid of plenty of light; and on looking at a near object, it becomes confused, and appears to have a kind of mist before it, and the letters of a book run one into another, or appear double, &c.; and BY CANDLELIGHT you catch yourself holding a book &c. close behind the candle." P. 26.

There are many other things in this serviceable work which every man ought to know, and every wise man will know. Dr. Kitchiner is such an

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original pleasant writer, that he makes the acquisition of fame and esteem a mere every-day birth, while to others, even Jupiters, it is that of a Minerva hammered out of the brains.

We shall end our remarks with a piece of apposite pleasantry in p. 42. Every man ought to use magnifying spectacles at a feast, for the conversion of morsels into mountains, and may check over-gorging, a rule of no small moment; for it seems that the usual allowance at a turtle feast is six pounds live weight per head, an enormous ration, exceeding even Fielding's Parson Thwackam, who used to eat at one dinner only two pounds of beef, and as many of pudding.

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, &c.

Ready for Publication.

The Third Portion of the History of Modern Wiltshire; containing the Hundred of Branch and Dole. By the Rev. John Offer and Sir R. C. HOARE, Bart.

Part IV. of Progresses of King James. Mr. BRAYLEY'S Historical Descriptions of the London Theatres, illustrated by 14 exterior Views (besides ground plans), coloured.-His Londiniana, or Reminiscences of the British Capital, &c. is likewise far advanced through the Press, and will appear at the commencement of the ensuing winter, with numerous graphic illustrations. Roman Antiquities; or the Durobrivæ of Antoninius Identified, in a Series of Plates illustrative of the excavated remains of a Roman Station in Castor, Northamptonshire. By E. T. ARTIS, Esq. F. S. A. who has nearly ready for publication, Antediluvian Phytology, illustrated by a Collection of the Fossil Remains of Plants peculiar to the Coal Formations of Great Britain.

No. X. of Mr. BRITTON'S Illustrations of the Ancient Architecture of Great Britain, to complete the Volume; another Number of the Cathedral Antiquities; and vol. III. of the Beauties of Wiltshire.

Remains of the Rev. Christian Frederick Schwartz, Missionary in India; consisting of his Letters and Journals.

The Secret Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon and the Princess des Ursins, from the original Letters in the possession of the Duke de Choiseul, containing an interesting account of the political transactions of the Court of Louis XIV.

A Treatise on Epidemic Cholera, and Sketches of the Diseases of India, including Statistical and Topographical Reports, &c. By JAMES ANNESLEY, Esq.

GENT. MAG. August, 1825.

Preparing for Publication.

A new and enlarged Edition of the Rev. Mr. BREWSTER'S History and Antiquities of Stockton upon Tees.

Four Volumes of Sermons, by the late Dr. DODDRIDge.

Essays on practical, religious, and moral Subjects. By the Rev. S. HOPKINSON, Rector of Etton, Northamptonshire.

The Speeches of the Right Honourable GEORGE CANNING on various Public Occasions in Liverpool.

Dr. CHARLES PARRY, of Bath, F. R. S. Author of a valuable Work of the Arteries, &c. &c. is engaged in publishing new Editions of his late, father's Medical Works, and extensive Collections from his unpublished medical writings. Of the latter, one interesting Volume has already appeared, and with it an introductory volume by the Editor, in which the scope and tendency of Dr. Parry's doctrines are exhibited.

Of Telescopes; being the result of thirty years' Experiments with fifty-one Telescopes, of from one to nine inches in diameter, in the possession of WILLIAM KITCHINER, M. D. author of " The Cook's Oracle," &c. &c. &c.

A Translation of the Six Cantos of Klopstock's Messiah, in verse.

Practical Observations on the Nature, Causes, and Treatment of Water in the Brain. By Dr. SHEARMAN.

A Practical Treatise on Poisons; forming a comprehensive Manual of Toxicology. By JOHN GORDON SMITH, M.D.

A Work, displaying the Useful Arts and Manufactures of Great Britain, similar to "les Arts et Metiers" of France. By Dr. BIRKBECK.

The Session of Parliament for 1825, containing

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taining a careful estimate of all the Parlia mentary parties and interests, the state of Ireland, the Catholic question, and the whole business of the Session, &c.

Attic Fragments. By the Author of the << Modern Athens."

Among the collection of two hundred Arabic, Persian, and Turkish MSS., which have been purchased of M. Rousseau, French Consul-general, and Charge des Af faires at Tripoli, by the Emperor of Russia, for 15,000 francs, are some which will supply deficiencies in the most interesting periods of modern history. There is the History of the Arabs in Spain, by Ahmed Almagari; the Bark Yainani, or History of the Conquest of Arabia Felix by the Othmans; an Arabic translation of the History of the Jews; and a History of the Sultan Noureddin; but of which Noureddin we cannot state. Certain we are, that the Emperor has made a most valuable acquisition for the Asiatic Museum of St. Petersburgh. At Mr. Evans's sale, on the 20th and 21st of July, the celebrated Mazarine Bible, printed on vellum, was purchased by Mr. Perkins, the opulent brewer, for 480 guineas. The Duke of Sussex bought the Latin Bible, in 2 vols. without date, place, or name of the printer, but undoubtedly from the press of Ulric Zell, for 44 guineas; likewise the Latin Bible printed at Nuremberg, by Frisner et Sensenschmin, 1475, for 48 pounds. Mr. Thorpe purchased the excessively rare Latin Bible, in 2 vols. without signatures, date, place, or name of the printer, but certainly one of the earliest and noblest productions of the press of Metellin, and printed before 1466, for 180 guineas. Mr. Thorpe also bought the original drawings by Francis Grose, most of which have been engraved for the Antiquities, for 100 guineas. The Musée Francais, in 4 vols. folio, was bought by Arch, the bookseller, for 1264. The first edition of Martial, in folio, produced 14l. 10s. The first edition of Plutarch, in 2 vols. without date, brought 211. Mr. Heber gave 91. 12s. for Plinii Historia Naturalis, 1472. A collection of the documents chiefly relative to the Abbey of Culross, one of the most ancient Abbeys in Scotland, was bought by Sir Thomas Phillipps, for 40l. 19s. The four days' sale amounted to between two and three thousand pounds.

LONDON UNIVERSITY.

There is every prospect of this Institution being soon established and brought into active operation. Its principal object is to bring the means of a complete scientific and literary education home to the inhabitants of the metropolis, who may thus be enabled to educate their sons at a moderate expense, and under their own immediate superintendence. Under existing circumstances a

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young man cannot be maintained and instructed at Oxford or Cambridge at a less charge than 2001. or 250l. per annum : while the expenses of most exceed this sum, and nearly five months in the year are allowed for vacations. The whole expense for each student's instruction at the London University, will not exceed 251. or 301. per annum, (this supposes a student to attend five or six of the general classes, but the medical education will be necessarily more expensive, from the costs of the anatomical department;) with not more than ten weeks of vacation. A treaty is now in progress for a suitable piece of ground, in a central situation, for the buildings and walks; and it is expected that the structure will be completed in August, 1826, and the classes opened in October following. The vacations will comprise a fortnight at Easter, about six weeks from the middle of August to the end of September, and a fortnight at Christmas. The capital (300,000l.) is to be raised by 3000 shares of 100l. each, or donations of 50%. which will entitle the donor to the same privileges for life, as a shareholder of 1001. Each holder of a 1001. share will receive

interest at a rate not exceeding four per cent. per annum, payable half-yearly, and be enThe shares will be transferable by sale and titled to present one student for each share, by bequest, and descend to the holders' representatives in cases of intestacy. The money will be called for by instalments, as wanted; but it is calculated that not more than two thirds of the amount will be required, and the remaining third will thus be in reserve, to provide for an extension of the plan, or any unforeseen contingency. No person to hold more than ten shares; and a donor of 50l. to have all the privileges of a shareholder during life, except the receipt of interest and transfer of his rights. The interest on the shares will be paid out of the surplus revenue of the institution, after defraying all the expenses of conducting the same, and arising from the annual payment of five guineas by each Student to the General Fund, exclusive of one guinea per annum to the Library, Museum, and collection of Maps, Charts, Drawings, and Models. The rules of this establishment will be submitted to a general meeting of shareholders and donors; who it is anticipated will be induced to vest its government in a Chancellor, ViceChancellor, and 19 ordinary members of Council (a proportion of which will go out of office annually), to be elected by the shareholders and donors, voting either in person or by proxy. The Professors will have moderate salaries, but their emoluments will principally depend on the fees received from students.

SINGLE BLOCKS OF STONE.

The enormous columns of granite destined for the portico of the new church now building in the Place d'Isacc, at St. Petersburgh,

are

1825.]

Literature and Science.

are very remarkable. In order to form a proper estimate of their size, we may give the comparative magnitude of the largest blocks known, both ancient and modern. 1. The column of Alexandria, commonly called Pompey's Pillar, holds the first rank: it is of a single block of red granite, 67 ft. 4 in. 11 lines. 2. The columns of the Church d'Isacc, just mentioned, in height 56 ft. 3. The columns, whose ruins are near Mount Citoria, at Rome, height 52 ft. 4 in. 4. Columns of the portico of the Pantheon, height 46 ft. 9 in. 11 lines. 5. Columns of the Cathedral of Casan, at St. Petersburgh, height 42 ft. 6. Two columns of the Church of St. Paul, at Rome, without the enclosure, height 38 ft. 4 in. 7. The columns near the Baths of Dioclesian, and those of Caracalla, now placed at Florence, near the Pont Trinité, of the same height as the preceding. To these may be added a beautiful column of white marble, about 40 ft. long, taken from a quarry on the south side of the Simplon road; it was destined by Napoleon for the ornamental improvements of Milan.

COMPARATIVE HEIGHTS OF THE HIGHEST
EDIFICES KNOWN IN THE WORLD.
Eng: Feet.

Pyramid of Gizeh in Egypt

Steeples of the Cathedral at Cologne Steeple of the Minster at Ulm

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543

501

431

476

.486

452

442

431

426

422

396

395

384

382

357

Steeple of the Cathedral at Antwerp
Steeple of the Minster at Strasburg
Pyramids of Cheops in Egypt
Steeple of St. Stephen's at Vienna
Cupola of St. Peter's at Rome
Pyramid of Cephrenes in Egypt
Steeple of St. Martin's at Landshut
Steeple of the Cathedral at Cremona
Steeple of the Minster at Friburg
Cupola of the Cathedral at Florence
Steeple of St. Persina in Saxony
Cupola of the Cathedral at Milan
Steeple of the Cathedral at Utrecht
Pyramid of Sackkarah in Egypt
Steeples of Notre Dame at Munich
Cupola of St. Paul's at London
Steeple of St. Ascharius at Bremen
Steeples of the Cathedral at Magdeburg 335
Steeple of St. Mark's at Venice
Cupola of the Jesuit's Church at Paris 314
Assinelli Tower at Bologna
Cupola of the Invalids at Paris
Steeple of St. Mary's at Berlin
DIAMONDS.

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356

356

348

347

345

328

314

295

202

The weight of diamonds is estimated in carats, 150 of which are equal to one ounce troy. The average price of rough diamonds is about 21. per carat. According to this scale, a wrought diamond, 3 carats, is worth 721., and one of 100 carats 80,0001. The largest diamond probably ever heard of is one mentioned by Tavernier, who saw it in the possession of the Great Mogul. It was about as big as a hen's egg, and weighed

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900 carats in the rough. The largest dia mond ever brought to Europe is one now in the possession of the Sovereign of Russia. It weighs 195 carats, and was long employed as the eye of a Braminical idol. A French soldier discovered the value of the gem; and changed his religion, worshipping at the altar of the god, that he might deprive him of his splendid eye. At length he succeeded in substituting a piece of glass for the diamond, and again became a good Christian! After passing through several hands, the Empress Catherine at length fixed it in the possession of the Russian Crown, giving for it 90,0004, and a perpetual annuity of 1000l. It is cut in the rose form, and is the size of a pigeon's egg. One of the most beautiful is the Pitt diamond, which is a brilliant, and weighs rather more than 136 carats; it was brought from India by Governor Pitt, and purchased by the Duke of Orleans, who placed it in the Crown of France, where it still remains. (See p. 106.) The celebrated Pigot diamond is now in the possession of Messrs. Rundell and Bridge..

GIGANTIC ORGANIC REMAINS.

We lately mentioned (says the New York Evening Post of July 15) that the bones of a nondescript animal, of an immense size, and larger than any bones that have hitherto been noticed by naturalists, had been discovered about twenty miles from New Orleans, in the alluvial ground formed by the Mississippi river and the lakes, and but a short distance from the sea. It now appears, that these gigantic remains had been disinterred by a Mr. W. Schofield, of New Orleans, who spent about a year in this arduous undertaking. A fragment of a cranium is stated to measure twenty-two feet in length; in its broadest part four feet high, and perhaps nine inches thick; and it is said to weigh 1,200lbs. The largest extremity of this bone is thought evidently to answer to the human scapula; it tapers off to a point, and retains a flatness to the termination. From these facts it is inferred, that this bone constituted a fin, or fender. One of its edges, from alternate exposures to the tide and atmosphere, has become spongy or porous, but, generally, it is in a perfect state of ossification. A large groove or canal presents itself in the superior portion of this bone, upon the sides of which considerable quantities of ambergris may be collected, which appears to have suffered little or no decomposition or changes by age. It burns with a beautiful bright flame, and emits an odoriferous smell while burning; it is of a greasy consistence, similar to adipocere. It is evident that there was a corresponding fin, or fender. The animal, therefore, must have been fifty feet in breadth from one extremity of a fin to the other, allowing for wear and tear, as well as a disproportionate width of the back

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Antiquarian Researches.

to the length of the fins. There are several of the dorsal vertebræ, and one of the lumbar, and a bone answering to the cocygis in our anatomy. The vertebræ are sound, and corresponding in size to the largest bone; the protuberances of the vertebræ are three feet in extent; they lead to the supposition that the animal had considerable protuberances on the back; the

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body of each vertebræ is at least twenty inches in diameter, and as many in length; the tube or calibre for containing the spinal marrow is six inches in diameter; some of the arterial and nervous indentations, or courses, are yet visible. There is a bone similar to our os calcis, one foot in length, and eight inches in diameter.

ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES.

An Essay on the Composition of the Ancient
Earthen Vases, commonly known by the
name of Etruscan. Read before the Royal
Society of Gottingen. From the Latin of
Professor Hausmann*.

The ancient painted vases chiefly dug up in many districts of Lower Italy, have excited much interest among the learned, and the admirers of ancient art. While the elegance and diversity of their forms, together with the singularity and boldness of their figures, delight the eye of the beholder, the variety of design and subject in the paintings with which they are decorated, equally conduce to the illustration of mythology, history, and ancient art. The investigation of these paintings has already contributed in no small degree to improve our knowledge of antiquity; nor has the imitation of the forms of those vases been less a source of profit as applied to the art of pottery. The famous Wedgwood ware owes its celebrity as much to the successful imitation of the forms of those vases as to the excellence of its material. In like manner, the beautiful ornaments observed upon these vases, have, in our times, been transferred to the subjects of many other arts; and have been employed for the decoration of buildings, rooms, furniture, articles of dress, and other works of luxury, insomuch that antique forms have become so common in modern art, that their origin has been nearly forgotten. Although ancient art has, in this manner, made its way into the shops of potters and other artificers, and even into our drawing-rooms, yet the scientific study of technology, and the history of the mechanical and chemical arts, have hitherto been little advanced by the investigation of those ancient vases.

In the writings of the ancients we scarcely find any passages in which positive mention is made of them; and none in so far as I know, where their composition is spoken of. This point, therefore, can only be ascertained by an accurate examination of the vases themselves. During a journey which I made last year through Italy, I had opportunities of examining the splendid collections of those vases which adorn the museums

of Florence, Rome, and Naples. The plea

From the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal for April 1825.

sure derived from this investigation was much augmented by some observations which it suggested to me regarding their composition. The little that I have learned with regard to this subject, either during my journey, or from subsequent observation and experiments, I shall endeavour to expose in the following essay.

Sect. 1. Of the vases, commonly called Etruscan, in general.-We shall confine ourselves to the vases commonly called Etruscan, although the greater part of them are not of Etruscan, but of Grecian origin. The celebrated Winkelmann was the first who refuted the opinion chiefly supported by Gorius and Buonarotti, that these painted vases of pottery-ware had been manufactured in ancient Etruriat. But although it cannot be denied that the greatest quantity of vases has been dug up in those parts of Italy and Sicily, which were formerly inhabited by the Greeks, nor that the style of their paintings and their inscriptions sufficiently demonstrate their Grecian origin; yet it is probable, that the art of fabricating painted vessels of earthen-ware was not confined to that portion of Italy, but also extended to other districts, since, in many places remote from it, vases of the same general description have been dug up, which, however, possess so much diversity of character, with regard to their forms and paintings, as to induce the inference, that they had not been transmitted to those parts by commerce. was this art confined to ancient Italy alone, but was also practised in Greece, and thence made its way into some of the neighbouring districts of Pontus §, The painted vases found in these countries are essentially the same as those discovered in Italy.

Nor

The vases found in different parts and situations of Italy, differ more or less from each other, both with respect to the quality of their material, and to the workmanship and style of painting; the cause of which difference is to be sought for in the different natural qualities of the materials, or in a different degree of perfection in the art. + Geschichte der Kunst, p. 193 et seq.

Clarke's Travels, vol. iv.-Walpole's Memoirs, 2d edit.-Antiq. of Athens, p. 322.-Ritter's Vorhalle Europäischer Volkergeschichten von Herodotus, p. 232. § Ritter, as above, p. 231.

For

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