condary Education.-3. Superior, or University Education.-4. Special, or Professional Education.-5. Supplementary Education. If their materials are as extensive as they hope, the Committee will issue, periodically, separate publications, in each of these departments. The Society is to be supported by subscription, and conducted by a committee of management,— portion of whose members are to retire periodically.

-a

PARTIALITY OF the Garden OwZEL (MERULA vulgaris) TO THE COLOUR RED. I am credibly informed, that in the gardens at Scampston Hall, near Malton, Yorkshire, the flowers of the red daisies on several of the borders used frequently to be plucked off and scattered about, while those of all other colours remained unmolested. For a considerable time the little manipulators were not discovered, but they were at length seen in the act. The Garden Owzel (or, vulgarly, “blackbird"), like the Turkey, and some other birds, is known to be partial to the colour red.-N. W.

LIGHT HOUSES ON THE BLACK SEA.-Experiments have been made by Mr. W. H. Barlow, who is resident at Constantinople, by order of Halid Pasha, the sultan's son-in-law, with a view to the establishment of light houses on the Black Sea. The Pasha suggested the use of Drummond's light, with which, however, Mr. Barlow was acquainted only by report. Experiments, however, were made upon the subject, and the delight and astonishment of the Turks, when the light first shone forth in all its brilliancy, was unbounded. Oil lamps will, however, probably be adopted. It must be generally gratifying to know that the Turks, hitherto so bigotted to old manners and religious prejudices, are availing themselves of the most refined discoveries of modern philosophy. Mr. Barlow is constructing a brass-foundry and boring apparatus, upon a large scale, at Constantinople, with a view of remodelling the Turkish artillery.-Philosophical Mag.

DISTILLATION.-A very ingenious apparatus for distilling and rectifying spirits, at one operation, has been invented by Mr. Coffey. A general idea of the principle may be formed by conceiving steam passing through a vast number of small perforations in a series of copper plates, over which wash, previously heated, is flowing. As the boiling point of water is 212o, while that of alcohol is about 172o, the steam condenses, while an equivalent portion of spirit evaporates. The wash flows on to the plates in an uninterrupted stream, and runs off completely exhausted of its alcohol, which passes over sufficiently rectified. For the details we must refer to The Records of Science, vol. iii., p. 37. According to the common process, it requires 12tbs. of coal to distil a gallon of proof spirit, of which 9lbs. are saved by the new system; and assuming the whole of the spirit distilled in the empire at 36,000,000 gallons, which (Colonies included) we believe is not over the mark, the saving of fuel arising from the new methods of distilling, will amount to 140,000 tons of coal per annum ! Our continental readers have no idea of the enormous size of some of the Distilleries of the United Kingdom. The apparatus of Mr. Coffey, at Inverkeithing, distils 2000 gallons of wash per hour; and one which he has subsequently erected at Leith, for the same proprietors, upwards of 3000 gallons per hour. There are several of equal magnitude, and we have seen a statement, which we have reason to rely on, which shews that those now erected, or being erected, are of capacity to distil half a million of gallons of wash per day; this wash yielding, on an average, 11 to 12 per cent. of proof spirits."

WEWILS.-M. Vallery has read to the Academy of Sciences at Paris a paper upon a new method of preventing the ravages of Wewils, and other insects, on corn in granaries. His plan is founded upon the observation of the habits of these animals; and it has the farther advantage of obviating the fermentation that takes place in grain when laid up in heaps. Having ascertained that these insects never breed unless in a state of quietude, and at a certain elevation of temperature in the surrounding medium, he proposes by frequently stirring and turning the grain and exposing it to the air, thus to prevent its fermentation, and at the same time the propagation and increase of the Wewils.

TEMPERATURE.-M. Arago has published an article to prove that the temperature of the Holy Land has not sensibly changed since the time of Moses. The Duke of Ragusa (Marshal Marmont) in a letter to the Acade. my, disputes the grounds of this assertion and of a similar one respecting Egypt. M. Argo states that there are now scarcely any Palm trees in Palestine, and those that exist are almost barren; whereas, there are some at Rome that bring their fruit to perfection. The limits assigned to the vine are also contested. It is stated in the article, that the vine is not productive where the mean temperature is above 70° Fah., as is the case at Cairo; but there are vineyards still at Fayoum, the hottest province of Egypt, that produce exellent wines; and the cultivation of the grape is extending. The Marshal's letter also contains a note on the change of temperature in Lower Egypt. Formerly it scarcely ever rained, and only for a short time at Alexandria, now it rains there for thirty or forty days annually, and sometimes after the middle of October it does not cease for five or six days together. At Cairo, instead of a few drops falling, and those rarely, there are from fifteen to twenty rainy days every winter. It is supposed that this change of climate is owing to the immense plantations of the Pacha, twenty millions of trees having been planted below Cairo. What countenances this idea is the contrary effect that has been produced in Upper Egypt by the destruction of the trees there.—The following are the results obtained by M. Mollet, from some experiments performed with much care on the effect produced upon the temperature of the soil by a covering of turf. With only two exceptions the temperature under the turf was higher than at an equal depth in the bare soil; amounting in the morning sometimes to 3o Fah., and generally to one degree at night at eight o'clock,—the morning hour of observation being nine. The experiment was continued for a month. [It is to be regretted that the time of year at which the experiment was made is not given; and that the experiment was not continued for a whole year. Had this been done, considerable light might have been thrown upon the question of changes of climate in ancient and modern times effected by cultivation. At present, the general idea is that a country covered with vegetation is hotter in summer and colder in winter, than where the soil is bare; such at least is the result of observation in the United States from the clearing of the woods.-ED.]

ABRIDGED LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS,

From June 9 to September 9, 1836.

Aristotle's Rhetoric, with Notes by the Rev. F. J. Parsons, 8vo., 14s. Barlow on the Manufactures and Machinery of Great Britain, 4to., 31. 6s. Barlow's (Thos.) Trip to Rome, 18mo., 5s.

Bateman's (W.) Magnacopia, or Library for the Chemist, &c., 18mo., 6s. Beattie's Switzerland, 2 vols. 4to., 31.

Berkeley Castle, a Romance; by the Hon. G. Berkeley. 3 vol. post 8vo., 31s. 6d.

Bickmore's Course of Historical Instruction, 12mo., 10s. 6d.

British Association, Fifth Report (Dublin), 8vo., 13s. 6d.

British Cyclopædia: Geography and History, 3 vol. royal 8vo., 21. 5s.
Botanist's (The) Manual, fcap., 2s.

Caldwell's (Dr.) Thoughts on Physical Education, 12mo., 3s. 6d.

Cooper's (J. F.) Excursions in Switzerland, 2 vol. post 8vo., 21s.

Coulson on Deformities of the Chest, post 8vo., 3s. 6d.

Chateaubriand's Sketches of English Literature, 2 vols. 8vo., 24s.

Chorley's Memorials of Mrs. Hemans, 2 vols. post 8vo., 21s.

Clark's Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System, post 8vo., 9s.

Empson's Narratives of South America, 8vo., 10s.

Gallery of Modern British Artists, vol. 2, 4to., 11. 10s., hlf.-bd.

Goethe's Faust, in German, with English Notes, 18mo., 5s.

Hagemeister's Report on the Commerce of the Black Sea, post 8vo., 10s. 6d. Harris's Mammon; or Covetousness the Sin of the Church, post 8vo., 6s. 6d. Hazlitt's (the late W.) Literary Remains, 2 vol. 8vo., 28s.

Higgins's Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations, &c., 2 vols. 4to., 5l. History of Van Dieman's Land from 1824 to 1835, 12mo., 5s.

Hoding's Land Log-Book (United States), 12mo., 5s.

Jardine's Naturalist's Library, vol. 13 (Elephants, &c.), 12mo., 6s.

Jesse's Angler's Rambles, sm. 8vo., 10s. 6d.

Knox's Anatomist's Instructor, 12mo., 4s. 6d.

Lardner's Cyclopædia, vol. 80 (Greece, vol. 3), 12mo., 6s.

Lardner's Cyclopædia, vol. 81 (England, vol. 6), 12mo., 6s.

Lardner's Cyclopædia, vol. 82 (Foreign Statesmen, vol. 3), 12mo., 6s.
Lewis's Spanish Sketches, imp. fol., 41. 4s., bound

Library of Useful Knowledge:

History of France, pt. 1, 8vo., 9s.

Mathematics, vol. 1, 8vo., 6s.; vol. 2, 11s. 6d.

Large Maps of the Stars, imp. 4to., 11. 10s. plain, 21. 2s. coloured.
Companion to ditto, by A. De Morgan, 8vo., 3s. 6d., roy. 8vo. 5s.

Magazine of Popular Science, vol. 1, 8vo., 10s.

M'Kay's Flora Hibernica, 8vo., 16s.

Mudie's Popular Mathematics, 12mo., 7s.

Philosophical Transactions, 1836, part 1, 4to., 30s.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society, pt. 3, 1835, 8vo., 6s.

Rhind on the Geology, &c. of Edinburgh and its Environs, 18mo., 2s. 6d.

Ronalds' Fly Fishing Entomology, 8vo., 14s.

Selections from the Phrenological Journal, edited by R. Cox, 12mo., 5s. 6d. Transactions of the Linnean Society, vol. 17, pt. 3, 4to., 11. 1s.

Turton's Angler's Manual, fcap, 3s. 6d.

Twamley's Romance of Nature, 8vo.,31s. 6d.

Von Tietz's St. Petersburgh, Constantinople, &c. in 1833-34, 2 vol. p. 8vo.21s. Walker's Beauty in Women, illustrated by Howard, roy. 8vo., 31s. 6d. Watson's Statistics of Phrenology, 12mo., 5s.

Yarrell's (Wm.) British Fishes, 2 vol. 8vo., 21. 8s.; roy. 8vo. 41. 16s.; imp. 8vo. 71. 4s.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

THE Report of Sir David Barry and Dr. Corrie on the Medical Charities of Ireland will shortly be published. These gentlemen were appointed, by Government, Commissioners. for investigating the Management of Hospitals and Asylums.

COPYRIGHT. Amongst the Parliamentary Notices which stand for next session, is the following from Mr. Serjeant Talfourd-" To call the attention of the house to the law of copyright, with a view to the extension of the time during which the interest of authors in their works shall continue."

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT.

During the first week in June, after the dry winds in May, some genial showers fell. Towards the middle of the month the temperature rose to 76°; the latter end of the month again brought some welcome showers and a mild summer heat. Once during the first week in July, the thermometer rose to 84°; at the middle and latter end of the month showers fell, and the temperature was variable.—August was chiefly fine and seasonable: on the 23rd rain fell abundantly, and the weather for the rest of the month was tempe rate and pleasant.