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VARIETIES, LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL.
Including Notices of Works in Hand, Domestic and Foreign.
Authentic Communications for this Article will always be thankfully received.

THE attention which has been gene-
rally excited throughout England,
by the elegant specimens we have in-
serted in the Monthly Magazine, of Mr.
BARLOW'S COLUMBIAD, has determined
the proprietor of this work to print an
edition in London, in royal octavo. Of
the original, which is a magnificent, and
very expensive quarto, there is only
one copy in England; and in the present
state of interrupted communication with
America, it may probably be a consider
able time before any other copies of the
original can arrive.

There are at this time in course of publication, in London and Edinburgh, no less than five considerable Cyclopædias, all of them possessing peculiar claims on public notice, and enjoying, we believe, an extensive degree of patronage :

1. The GREAT ENGLISH CYCLOPEDIA, edited by Dr. REES, and to be completed in about thirty volumes quarto, at sixty guineas.

2. The ENCYCLOPEDIA LONDINENSIS, edited by Mr. WILKES, its proprietor, and to extend to about twenty volumes, quarto, at the price of forty guineas.

3. The ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, edited by Dr. G. GLEIG, and extending to twenty volumes, quarto, at the price of thirty guineas.

4. The PANTALOGIA, edited by Mr. GOOD, to extend to ten volumes, royal octavo, at the price of twenty guineas.

5. The EDINBURGH ENCYCLOPEDIA, conducted by Dr. BREWSTER, and not to exceed ten volumes, quarto, price nine guineas.

Two others of moderate extent, and perhaps not inferior in utility, were completed within the last year; one by Dr. GEORGE GREGORY, in two volumes, quarto, price six guineas; and another under the name of NICHOLSON, in six volumes, octavo, price six gujneas.

Mr. JAMES MACDONALD, late lieutenant-colonel of the Caithness Fencibles, having been wrecked in November last, on the Schaw, proposes to publish an account of his subsequent travels through Denmark and Sweden. He left Gottenburgh so late as the 13th of March.

Dr. WILLIAM NEILSON proposes to publish two large maps of ancient and modern geography combined. The first will comprehend all that part of the world which was known to the ancients, exhibiting together the ancient and modern names of each place. The second will contain only the central part, or Roman and Grecian empires, with their dependencies. And, on the sides of each map, will be alphabetical lists of all the ancient names, with the corresponding modern ones, longitude latitude, &c. So as to form a complete view of ancient geography, presented to the eye at

once.

The public curiosity, which has been so universally, and so justly excited respecting Mrs. CLARKE, and her intimacy with the Duke of York, is about to be amply gratified by the publication of two volumes of Memoirs and Original Letters, from the pen of the Lady herself.

Mr. SURR's new Novel is in the press, and will be published before the birthday.

The concluding volume of the Abridg ment of the Philosophical Transactions, will make its appearance in the ensuing month.

Mr. CUSTANCE has in the press, a new and improved edition of his Concise View of the Constitution of England.

A Selection from the Gentleman's Ma gazine, arranged under the heads of 1. History and Antiquities. 2. Ancient and Modern Literature, Criticism and Philology. 3. Philosophy and Natural History. 4. Letters to and from emi

nent Persons. 5. Miscellaneous Articles, &c. &c. in three volumes, 8vo. will shortly issue from the press at Oxford, under the superintendance and care of a gentleman of that University,

Dr. SERNEY, has in the press, a Trea'tise on Local Inflammation, more particularly applied to Diseases of the Eye.

The Rev. Dr. CARPENTER has in the press, Discourses on the Genuineness, Integrity, and Public Version of the New Testament.

Two volumes of Practical Sermons, by the Rev. Dr. REES, will be ready for publication in the course of the present month.

Mrs. HOLSTEIN will speedily publish a novel, under the title of the Assassin of St. Glenroy, or the Axis of Life.

Mr. J. RICKMAN, surgeon, of Lewes, proposes to publish, in the course of a few weeks, a small volume, entitled, Epistola Amicitiæ, or The Friendly Call.

Mr. JOHN GIFFORD, author of a Iistory of France, and various political writings, has announced a History of the Pontical Life of the late Right Honourable William Pitt, including some Account of the Times in which he lived.

The public expect with impatience Mr. CLARKE's Life of Lord Nelson. This work, it will be recollected, is brought forward under the immediate patronage of the Prince of Wales, and is founded on documents communicated by the Duke of Clarence, Earl Nelson, Mr. Rose, General Stewart, Lady Hamilton, Dr. Beatty, Sir T. B. Hardy, &c. &c.

The same author announces, Naval Records of the Late and Present Wars; consisting of Historical Accounts of our principal Engagements at Sea, since the Commencement of the War with France in 1793; accompanied by a Series of Engravings from original designs, by NICHOLAS POCOck, esq.

Mr. ADOLPHUS is far advanced in his Account of the Political State of the British Empire; which is to contain a general View of the domestic and foreign Possessions of the, Crown, the Laws, Commerce, Revenues, Offices, and other Establishments, Military as well as Civil..........

There is at this time in progress, an Edinburgh Annual Register for the year 1608 it will appear in two volumes,

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Messrs. MURRAY, of London, and BALLANTYNE, of Edinburgh, have aupounced splendid collection of the

most esteemed Novels and Romances, printed from, and collated with, the best editions; including Translations, selected from Foreign Languages; with Critical and Biographical Prefaces, in twenty volumes, royal 8vo.

Certain booksellers of London, the proprietors of the best novels, have announced another Collection of Novels, to be edited by Mrs. BARBAULD, and to contain every work of merit in that department of literature.

Proposals have been issued by Jons LLOYD, of Celutaes Macutwrog, Meriquethshire, for publishing by subscrip tion, a work entitled, The Records of North Wales, consisting of all the statepapers relating to that part of the Priucipality; the correspondence between the ancient Welsh princes and the English court; grants to the different Brough towns; ancient letters relating to the affairs of the Principality, or respecting some conspicuous part of it, as its castles and the articles of capitulation of castles in the civil wars, grants of lands to any other public bodies, as to the monks of any particular monastery, and lists of the sheriffs of the six counties from the first appointinent by statute to the present time, and in short every document that will throw light on the history of former times, as to North Wales or any public part of it; arranged and digested in proper order, with notes historical and explanatory.

Mr. RENOUARD, of Trinity college, Cambridge, will speedily publish a Treatise on Spherical Trigonometry.

A new edition of Quintilian, after the manner of ROLLIN's Compendium, is nearly ready for publication.

A System of Surgery, will soon appear in four volumes, 8vo. by Mr. RussELL, of Edinburgh.

There is also in the press another System of Surgery, of the same size, by Dr. JOHN THOMPSON, Professor of Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons, and Regius Professor of Military Surgery, in the University of Edmburgh."

Two volumes of Sermons, by the late Bishop HORSLEY, are intended to he published by subscription, and will be ready in June next.

Mr. M. MURFITT, of Trinity college, Cambridge, is about to publish an Essay on the Life and Character of Agesilaus,

Son of Archidamnus.

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A correspondent has favoured us with the following account of the floating is land which lately appeared in Derwent water:-"It has emerged from the bottom of this lake, three times in the course of about thirty years; or, according to other accounts, it has been in the habit of repeating its visits after an interval of seven or nine years. It began to emerge on the 20th of July, and, in a very short time, appeared above the surface. It is situated at the head of Keswick lake, about a stone-cast from the shore. It contains about an acre of ground, and is quite stationary; at first it was of a darkbrown colour, but soon became covered with verdure. By thrusting a pole m several places to the depth of three yards, the water rushed up; consequently it is of that thickness and unconnected with the bottom. That it is also unconnected with the shore is evident, as boats sailed entirely round it, and sounded with long poles without finding a bottom. It is of an oblong shape, and in the middle of it is a large hole about eight yards long and two broad, evidently made by the confiued rarified air. The depth of soil composing it, is in some parts two feet, and in others more: and in forcing a stick through it in different places, air arose in large bubbles; and as this confined air escapes, the island, I conceive; lessens, and at length sinks by its own weight, to become again the bottom of the lake. Its sides adhere to the neighbouring soil with a steep descent, except at one corner about six yards in length, which appears like a bank. This bank has actually been the remains of the sides of a hole of a former island; for these temporary islands are found to change their positions at every appearance; and the present one is somewhat nearer the shore than the former ones have been. The plants which form the vegetation are the lobelia dortmanna, the isoetes lacustris, the lettorella lacustris, the arundo fragmites, and the scirpus lacustris. A secondary island made its appearance about the same time, at some distance from the principal one, and nearer the shore, of a circular form, about eight yards in diameter and divided completely in two by a rent of about one yard wide, and three yards deep, reaching to a considerable distance on each side of this island, and evidently being one of those numerous cracks which may always be discovered in the bottom of this part of the lake, which I presume is a communication of the waters beneath with those above. The sland gradually sunk during some weeks

till the night of Friday the 7th of October, when, in consequence of rain,the lake rose about five feet and the island was covered with water. The lake rose above a foot higher on the 7th of August, than on the 1st of October, and yet the island was larger in extent, and higher above the water than on the former day."

Britain has long been considered mistress of the seas, but hitherto no peisen had thought of valuing that part of her domains. A curious calculation has been made of the value of the Briush sea por acre; and when it is considered that much more profit might be drawn from the oc an around our coast, 'than we procure at present, we presume that this estimate is not unworthy of attention. The circumference of Britain is about 1086 miles; allowing a tract of fifteen miles from the coast for the fishery, which is considerablýwttain the truth, there will then be near twenty tuillions of square acres of sea, which, at the rate of one pound ten shilings per acre, would amount to thirty millions per annum. The Irish coast may be calculated in proportion.

Few persons in this country know any other use of the aloe than the medicine which it affords; but it serves for a num ber of other beneficial purposes in the countries where it grows In the East Indies, aloes are employed as a varnish to preserve wood from worms and other insects; and skins and even living animals are anointed with it for the same reason. The havoc committed by the white ants in India first suggested the trial of aloe juice, to protect wood from them; for which purpose the juice is either used as extracted, or m solution by some solvent. Aloes have also been found effectual in preserving ships from the ravages of the worn, and the adhesion of barnacles. The ship's bottom, for this purpose, is smeared with a composition of hepatic aloes, turpentine, taliow, and white lead. In proof of the efficacy of this method, two planks of equal thickness, and cut from the same tree, were placed under water, one in its natural state and the other smeared with the composition; when, on taking them up after being im mersed eight months, the latter was found to be as perfect as at first, while the former was entirely penetrated by insects, and in a state of alsolute rottenness. aquatic solution of hepatic aloes preserves young plants from destruction by insects, and also dead animals and vegetables from putrefaction; which renders it of great use in the cabinets of naturalists. The spirituous extract is best for the pur

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pose, though in this respect it is inferior to that of cantharides, prepared by infusing two grains in one ounce of spirits, which has been found to be so effectual in the extirpation of hugs. Parner asserts, that a simple decoction of aloes communicates a fine brown colour to wool. Fabroni, of Florence, has extracted a beautiful violet colour, which resists the acids and alkalis, from the juice of the fresh leaves of the aloe exposed to the air by degrees. The liquid first becomes red, and at the end of a certain period turns to a beautiful purple violet, which adheres to silk by simple immersion, with out the aid o. acids.

RICHARD WALKER, esq. of Oxford, has proposed an alteration in the scale of the thermometer, which suggested itself to him during a long course of experiments, and which has been adopted by himself and his friends from the persuasion of its being founded on the truest principles." The two fixed points, the freezing and boiling points of water as they have hitherto been, will (he observes) probably never fail to be continued, as being perfectly sufficient for the accurate adjustment of thermometers. The commencement of the scale, and the number of divisions only appear to claim attention. With respect to the first, since neither the extremes of beat or cold are likely to be ascertained, the hope of fixing 0 at either of these may be entirely relinquished, and it remains to fix it at the fittest intermediate point. Here I propose the following mode of graduation. Having ascertained that the temperature of 699 of Fahrenheit is the temperature at which the human body in health is conscious of no inconvenience from heat or cold, and that a deviation from that point of only one or two degrees, above or below, actually produces that effect under ordinarycircunstances, I fixed my zero or 0 there. I adopted the divions of Fahrenheit, considering those of Reaumur, the centigrades, &c. as too few, Bad decimaldivisions unnecessary. Hence it will follow that O being placed at 62° of Fahrenheit, 150° will be the boiling, and mmus 30°, the freezing point of water; and all other points on Fahrenheit's scale may be reduced to this, by subtracting 62 for any degree above 0 of Fahrenheit, and adding, 62 for any degree below 0. For ordinary meteorological purposes, a scale of this kind extending to 650, above, and na many below 0, will be sufficient."

It has been found that camphor mixed with different fixed oils and sand, in order to divide the particles, may be purified of

its oily particles, and deprived of its empyreumatic smell, when sublimed with a small quantity of potash. The process by which this effect is produced, is described as follows: two drachms of camphor, with considerable empyreumatic smell, and dirty, were mixed with one of olive oil, and eight of sand; after which twenty grains of pure potash were added and heat applied; but though it was greater than is necessary for its sublimation, the product was perfectly free from empyreumatic smell, and a little whiter that it generally is The substitution of linseed oil produced no alteration in the product. The subcarbonate does not answer the purpose, because in that state the affinity of potash for oils is less than when entirely deprived of carbonic acid,

FRANCE.

The existence of gold-mines in France, was long questioned, even in that country, but it is now well known, that what was formerly the province of Dauphiné, posscsses several of that description. These mines are of two different kinds, some affording native gold, others containing this metal mixed, or so intimately combined with different metallic substances, that its presence is to be detected only hy the assay. The native gold-mines in the above-mentioned province are: that of la Gardette, that of Dormillouse, or la Freissinière; those of Orel, and the auriferous sands of the Rhone. Dormillouse is situated in the present department of the Upper Alps, and Orel in the department of the Drôme. The mountain of Gardette rises above the village of the same name, four miles south of the town of Oisaus. Its mine was included in the circle of mines, granted to StanisJnus, Count of Provence, brother of Louis XVI. by a decree of the council of state, This mountain, which is 1410 yards above the sea, has at its foot a perpendicular cliff, above 220 yards in beight. Its base is a reddish granite, composed of red feltspar, green steatitic quartz, and grey mica. Above this is a laminar quartz rock, of a blackish grey. This micaceous rock, in which the gold is found, is covered by a secondary linestone, which forms the whole of the upper part of the mountain. This is of a deep blue grey, and contains belemnites and ammonites. The inclination and direction of its stratn, vary greatly; but in general they incline to the north, at a greater or less angle, which appears to he determined by the slope of the primitive

Tock,

rock, on which the lime-stone rests. The vein of la Gardette, is quartz in mass crystallized, wherever the siliceous matter has not been sufficient to fill the whole of the vein. It is enchased in gneiss. Its direction is west north-west,

its dip to the south 80°; its thickness varies from two to three feet and upwards. Its length has been ascertained for about 500 yards from the foot to the summit of the mountain.

REVIEW OF NEW MUSICAL PUBLICATIONS.

A Military Concerto for the Piano-forte, with Accompaniments. Composed for his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, by T. Latour. Esq. Pianiste to bis Royal Highness. 8s. 6d. HIS concerto consists of an introductory movement, larghetto, a bold and spirited movement, forming the main body of the composition, and a rondo in two crotchets in a bar. The

TH

opening of the piece is short and simple, but not without interest, since it judiciously apprises the auditor of the import ance of what is to follow. It is no trivial praise to Mr. Latour to say, that the expectation excited, is by no means disappointed. Considerable science, and Buch vigour and originality of conception, are displayed in the succeeding pages, which have the additional recommendation of exbibiting sufficient variety without inconnection or inconsistency. Mr. L. will, however, allow us to notice a violence of harmonic transition, which has escaped him in the second bar of the seventh page, where the introduction of Dfat, does not come within any theoretical rule with which we are acquainted. The general excellence of this movement well apologises for the oversight we have mentioned, and Mr. Latour's professional merit is too well known for it to be ascribable to want of better information. The subject of the rondo is strikingly pleasing, and marked with novelty, and the whole composition exhibits much real genius and a respectable portion of science. Three Sonatas for the Piano-forte. Composed, and dedicated to Miss Curry, by J. B. CraEsq. 8s. 6d.

mier,

These sonatas, in which we find introduced the favorite air of "When Wars Alarms," "The De'ils awa' wi' th' Exciseman," "Gentle Youth," and "This is no mine ain Hunse," are every way worthy the pen of their ingenious author. Spirit, taste, and an ingenious turn of idea, aided by scientific resources not within the reach of ordinary composers, serve to distinguish the present work from the common productions of

the day, aud to render it worthy its author. The airs are given with much felicity of enibellishment, and the general effect cannot but excite admiration. Six Canzonets, composed and dedicated to the Princess Sophia of Gloucester, by Thomas Forbes Walmesley. 10s. 6d.

These canzonets, though not without not, we must in candor say, of that dis some claims to our commendation, are tinguished merit to justify our speaking of them in terms of the highest praise. Mr. Walmesley is by no means deficient either in natural taste or the great requisites of expression; but the one requires higher cultivation, and the other marks of a talent worthy of all the im more force and clearness. We discover when exercise has polished away a cerprovement it wants, and doubt not that tain grotesque crudity of style prevailing in the present pieces, and not to be wholly Mr. W. will make a respectable stand in avoided, perhaps, by a young author, this species of composition.

Flights of Fancy. A Collection of Varieties for the Piano-forte, composed by J. Hock, Esq.

55.

rities," consists of minuets, waltzes, This pleasing little "Collection of Vaalemandes, gavots, hornpipes, dances, polaccas, &c. and will be well received amongst juvenile performers on this instrument, for which they are intended. To say these pieces are trifles, is only avowing for the auther what he himself intends them to be considered. As trifles, we recommend them; and as trifles they will not fail to please. Christmas Eve, or "Full sell our Christian

Lives of Old," from Marmion" of Floddem Field, by W. Scott, Esq. e Glee, for three Voices. Composed by T. Attwood. 21. 6d. Mr. Attwood has set these words with all the judgment and propriety we should have expected from so respectable a master. The passages are plensing, connected, and impressive, and the general effect natural and characteristic. The

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