She is the wasat* prop that stays Her husband on her doth rely Her children trust her watchful eye In fond affection's name. Such is the sacred task, young spouse, But struggle nobly on to reach And by thy bright example teach To vilest purposes by self-abasement, The what he had been, was, and should have been, LEAVES OF LIFE. BY MRS. CHARLES TINSLEY. From the Metropolitan. THE MOON was up; a full and mellow light And from thy glittering halls the voice of mirth Bow'd by their jewell'd gorgeousness, were lost Not with the weight of years, but with the sense * "Wasat is the centre or strongest prop of an Arab tent. The Arabians often seize hold of it, when they take a solemn oath, to give it more weight-meaning, if they violate it, may the prop give way and fall and crush their wives and children."-Arabian Readings, PICTURES AND THEIR REVERSES. BY MRS. CHARLES TINSLEY. MORNING, WITH ITS SUNSHINE. It was a Claude-like landscape, full of light. Stretch'd the blue sea to the horizon's verge, And then was lost, to be reveal'd again pause Made the ear ache with silence; then anon Of a fresh, grief-untried and loving heart, Of lavish kisses rain'd on lip and brow,- The wayward boy flung back and had escap'd, Then kept In the rich sun-set hours, love-lighted eyes; Broke into murmured words, or deep'ning gush'd Prayed for and watch'd for long by anxious eyes, EVENING, WITH ITS SHADOWS. Were son and sire, and that in one a race A strong and painful contrast with the low, Gushing into sweet music as a song That for the first fair record of these two Of the tomb both were bound to and for them Heaven's blessed light was there-where is it not! Well she so slept! It was a solemn thing To look upon those two, and then look back- Full of heart-breaking changes. Mission'd by its free Giver to rejoice The busy, turbulent hum that swell'd and swell'd The vain contentions wherewith sordid men THE LAST SIGHS OF THE FLOWERS. Like THE autumn wind's sighing In the garden so fair, That embalmed summer's air: Now where are they, where? beauty's pale wrecks, 'mid the sear leaves Hark! while they wither, The breezes waft hither Murmurs and moans from the desolate bowersThe sweet parting breath, the last sighs of the flowers! 'Tis not the dew steeping Oh! pleasant is the voice of youth, For it tells of the heart's confiding truth, I hear it rise in each hamlet cot, But woe for the hearth that heareth nought The glow is gone from our winter blaze, But a wakening music seems to flow As thy babe's first words come sweet and clear, Ere thine eyes grew dim with tears or pain, Alas! for the widowed eyes that trace What after light will his memory mark, Like the Dove that in spring-time sought her Ark? I STOOD by the sea in the silence of night, And sigh'd to perceive that her silvery light It griev'd me to watch her thus wooingly play The dark quiet billows that roll'd by its side. Then I paus'd, for I felt that my strictures were vain, And blam'd my rash judgment and limited sight, Which thus had presumptuously dar'd to arraign The course of so wondrous and distant a light. The moon to our gaze as a niggard may seem, Since few of her rays our perceptions may strike, Yet she casts on the ocean no favoring beam, Thus often with envy those mortals we view To whom dazzling distinctions and honors are given, Our eyes their bright track in amazement pursue, And we deem them especially favor'd by Heaven. Yet happiness shines o'er life's varied expanse, Though distance her light may appear to subdue, And the many are hourly rejoic'd by the glance Which we falsely imagine confin'd to a few. Their fame may not spread, nor their riches increase, Yet owning pure pleasures, calm thoughts, loving ties. Their homes may repose in the moonlight of peace, Though the rays be reflected not back to our eyes. God pours, with a hand unaccustom'd to spare, The light of his bounty on cottage and hall, And none should distrustfully question their share Of the radiance so amply sufficient for all. SCIENCE AND ART. dust, dirt, &c., are a consequence of the potato mischief, and not a cause of it. There is nothing new in the circumstance; we have been familiar with it from childhood, and so have many simple observers who are older in the art of taking notice than ourselves are. It is no novelty in this country, any more than elsewhere; it attracts attention because of the almost universality of its prevalence. And has not the cause been universal? Cold water is the fountain-head! Take our word for it, there is no mystery in the affair; cloudy skies and drenching rains have done it all?"-Medical Times. THE PLANET MARS.-"Hitherto this planet | similar composition, will give like results when has been distinguished by a fiery redness of color; in a state of decay. These acids, alkalies, atowhich, to use the language of Sir John Hers-mic defects, sporules, granules, ruptured cells, chell, indicates, no doubt, an ochrey tinge in the general soil, like what the red sandstone districts of the earth may possibly offer to the inhabitants of Mars. Such is, however, no longer the case; that planet having lost all appearance of redness, and put on a brilliant white aspect, vying in apparent magnitude and brightness with the planet Jupiter itself. The only changes which have heretofore been noticed in Mars are those the knowledge of which was derived from observations with the large reflecting telescopes of Herschell. These telescopes exhibit the appearance of brilliant white spots at the poles; which spots, from the circumstance of their always becoming visible in winter and disappearing as the poles advanced towards their summer position, have reasonably enough been attributed to the presence of snow. The novel appearance now described to us, however, by the Honorable Company's Astronomer, Mr. Taylor, is such as that the whole of the planet, with the exception of a moderately broad equatorial belt, assumes a decidedly white aspect, strongly contrasting with what he has ever before noticed."-Madras Athe næum. POTATO DISEASE.-"We give it as our decided opinion that potato-disease' and 'potato-murrain, are merely idle terms, that bear no direct relation whatever to existent things. There is no 'disease,' no murrain,' properly so called; the potatoes are just rotten; and that is the long and the short of it. The discoloration, commencing in this spot and extending to that, the softness, the waxiness, the fetor, all these things and many more such like, we have seen a score times in potatoes that have spontaneously rotted in a damp dark cellar. We can confirm what the microscopists and chemists say about appearances and reactions, and tell them plenty of untold truths besides but not potatoes only, any vegetable of : WATER WALKING.-From Hanover we hear of a practical discovery of a kind so curious as to require some further explanation before we can quite understand it; and we are rather suspicious, inasmuch as we have, or fancy we have, some recollection of a somewhat similar story making the round of the Continental papers several years ago. It is given, however, in this instance, with an imposing detail and the guarantee of namesif there be no borrowing of these for the occasion. The report is, that two young men, one a Swede and the other a Norwegian-taking the hint from that sort of foot-gear of fir-planks called skies, by means of which, in those Northern countries, the inhabitants pass through vallies and ravines filled with snow without sinking-have been exhibiting in that capital the exploit of walking on the water by means of skies-made, however, for the latter purpose, with iron plates hollow within. Backwards and forwards, much at their ease, according to the report, did the exhibitors walk and run, going through the military exercise with knapsacks at their backs, and finally drawing a boat containing eight persons, all without wetting their shoes. The Minister of War has, it is said, put a portion of the garrison of Hanover under the training of these gentlemen, for the purpose of learning what might prove so useful a military manœuvre; and as M. M. Kjellberg and Balcken propose carrying their invention into other countries, our readers will probably suspend their opinion till they have a nearer view of this novel meeting of sky and water -Mechanic's Mag. RAILWAYS.—During the first three days of this week the Atmospheric Railway between the Dartmouth Arms station and Croydon has been tested very fully; many trains full of visiters having passed along the line. The result of the experimental trips appears to have been highly successful, both as regards the great speed attained and the facility with which trains were stopped at an intermediate station by the application of the breaks. We are glad to find that the Directors of the London and Brighton Railway have adopted the plan of setting apart a carriage in every train for ladies only-Brighton Gazette. An improved locomotive engine has been constructed for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, by their superintendent engineer, Mr. Durance. "The improvements," says the Irish Railway Gazette, "consist in having a double fire-box, the combustible gases being consumed in the second, which would otherwise escape in an unconsumed state. By this means, a considerable increase of heating-power is obtained, and consequently an increased speed. The most important feature of the new engine, however, is, that in addition to increased power and speed, the fuel used is coal instead of coke, and a considerable saving in expense is thereby obtained. This is perhaps the greatest improvement, as regards the economy of railways in Ireland, that could have been suggested. Coke, the fuel used in England, must ever be a costly fuel in Ireland, particularly in the interior, inasmuch as the description of coal from which it is produced is not imported into this country; whereas ordinary coal of good quality is to be had on reasonable terms in all our seaports. The Conder, now plying on the Manchester line, draws a greater number of waggons, at a higher velocity and at less expense, than any other engine."-Spectator. FARADAY ON THE RELATION OF LIGHT, ELECTRICITY, AND MAGNETISM.-He shows that powerful electro-magnets so act upon transparent bodies, solid and liquid, but especially the silicoborate of lead, that a beam of poliarized light passing through it is affected, and that the rotation is from left to right. This effect, however, is only produced when the magnetic lines of force are parallel to the ray of light. Numerous dimagnetics were tried, and, with few exceptions, all exhibited this phenomenon more or less; the rotative powers of those substances naturally possessing this property being increased or diminished according as their rotating agency was opposed to or in conformity with the direction of the electro-magnetic influence. Various gases also were submitted to experiment; but as yet no similar effect had been detected in them.-Literary Gazette. ceived his death wound, at the Battle of Trafalgar-for presentation to Greenwich Hospitaltakes occasion to bring together a number of examples in illustration of the large sums paid under the relic-and-rarity-mania; particularly by the rich enthusiasts of our own island-more especially, it seems, subject to that species of influenza. Some of the cases reported will require testimonials, not likely to be forthcoming, ere they will be inclined to admit these amongst the statistics of the passion. The ivory chair which Gustavus Vasa received from the town of Lubeck, was sold, the Journal des Débats says, in 1823, for the sum of 58,000 florins-not far short of £6,000! This is a startling anecdote to begin with; but such a one was absolutely necessary to prepare the mind for the reception of the following.—The coat worn by Charles the Twelfth, of Sweden, at the Battle of Pultawa-preserved by Colonel Rosen, who followed the adventurous monarch to Bender-was sold, in 1825, at Edinburgh, for the_sum of £22,000 sterling! This anecdote, the French paper itself thinks should have confirmation. It makes the rest, however, easy of acceptance-though there are some even of these which might be a little difficult of digestion, by a faculty less powerfully stimulated.— M. A. Lenoir, the founder of the French Museum, relates that, during the transport of the remains of Abelard and Heloise to the Petits Augustins, an Englishman offered him 100,000 francs (£4,000) for one of the teeth of Heloise!-At that quotation of the price of bone, Lord Shaftesbury had a great bargain of the tooth of Sir Isaac Newton, for which he paid only £730, in 1516!-For want of an Englishman at Stockholm, in 1820, the head of Descartes (teeth and all) was absolutely given away, as the phrase is, at the sale of Dr. Sourmon's cabinet for 99 francs.-The following cases fall within the more mild and familiar examples of this affection-though it will be seen that the English examples continue to be far more striking than the foreign pronunciations. Voltaire's cane was sold, in Paris, for 500 francs (£20); Rousseau's waistcoat for 949 francs, and his copper watch for 500;-Kant's wig, in spite of all the promise contained in the apothegm which suggests the seat of a doctor's wisdom, brought only 200 francs; whereas, the wig of Sterne fetched, in London, 200 guineas-5,250 francs! Luckily, the inference, against the philosophers, as to the relative value (according to collectors' measure) of the good things severally covered by the two latter articles, is escaped by virtue of the differences in the development of this passion established in the previous cases.The hat worn by Napoleon at Eylau, was, in 1835, carried off, by M. Lacroix, from thirty-two competitors, for the sum of 1,920 francs-about £77; while Sir Francis Burdett paid £500 for the two pens used in the signature of the treaty of Amiens.-Athænum. FIRE-DAMP OF COAL MINES.-"A report on the composition of the fire-damp of the Newcastle coal-mines, and the means of preventing accidents from its explosion," by Prof. T. Graham. The gases experimented on were from the five-quarter seam in the Gateshead colliery, the Bonsham RELICS.-The Journal des Débats, speaking of seam in the Hepburn, and from the Killingworth the purchase some time since made by Prince Al-colliery in the neighborhood of Jarrow. They bert, of the coat worn by Nelson, when he re- were collected with every precaution to insure |