ORIGINAL POETRY. SUNRISE. And forth from out the eastern hall, And o'er yon eastern fields of blue But oh! behold what o'er yon hill is streaming! The Sun! the Sun! Apollo's forehead TO THE ROSE. EMPRESS of all the flowerets of spring! Thine is the homage of every bosom : Whether you breathe on the zephyr's wing, Or smile on the sylphs that around thee sing, Or blush at the kiss of thy fairy king, We think of delight as we gaze on thy blossom. And lovelier still at the silent hour, When fled is thy smile and thine aspect of gladness, When over thee drooping the evening shower Hath shed all its tears, then my beautiful flower! When we find thee weeping within thy bower, We call thee an emblem of beauty in sadness. THE MOURNFUL HARP. C. My harp no more is twined with flowers, The bough on which I leant is rotten, Yet all the joys that once were ours Are far too sweet to be forgotten! No string will sound to pleasure's touch; No note awake that speaks of gladness; Such is my mournful harp, and such The heart, which thou hast doomed to sadness. In vain for me the spring bequeathes The calm, where Beauty's wing reposes; In vain for me the summer breathes Its blushing flowers and fields of roses. In vain for me the joyful hearth; The cheeks that glow, the eyes that glis Blow on, thou swift and sweeping breeze, When first that index bright of thought Too quick, too true, on words to wait? THE PICTURE. ALONG the alley green I strayed Where it was wont to be; My bosom sank, nor did I ask It was a vain-a needless task- I marked her glances, as they moved Fix on the lines of her I lov'd- I felt the memory of the past, In all its freshness, dart, The tone of beauty, by distress Farewell-farewell-beloved scene C. "The bliss-fraught raptures that have been, Where hope is but a dream, and mirth M. THE night wind roams with lonely sound, Amid the bleak autumnal wood; And skies of blackness stretch around This dim unpeopled solitude; Is pattering on the chesnut leaves, The countenance of night is brightening! And shed thy tears, dark frowning cloud; Flash on, ye lightnings, through the trees, And peal, ye thunders, deep and loud; The dream that broods o'er vanished Is like the waters of a linn, Descending to a dark abyss, Even now, as here alone, I rest, Breaks in upon me with a fever, And sun descending o'er the hills; Even thou, that with thy beauties won me, Dost at our parting frown upon me! And thou, whom I so long have loved, Ah! sweetest one, it ill behoved, That thou, at such a time, should'st fly! Nor show of anxious thought a semblance; One tear-one token of remembrance. Well, since it hath been, and must be, That thou art what I deemed thee not; Oh pluck me from thy memory, And let our meetings be forgot ;— "Tis better that my griefs are lonely. From scenes that I have loved too well; Think not of one, who there hath met thee, And could not, if he would, forget thee! May days and years of happiness Roll on to bless thy happy lot; When visiting this lonely spot, Is more congenial to my soul, The low-the lone-the broken-hearted. M. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. Durham Coal Field. We understand that it is in contemplation at present to open the Coal Field of Durham into Yorkshire. In the mean time, a bill is to be brought into Parliament to carry a railway from Bishop Auckland to Darlington and Stockton. Mr Stevenson, of Edinburgh, one of the most accomplished engineers of this country, has been called by the committee of subscribers to give an opinion as to the best line. The work is estimated at about L. 120,000, a great part of which is already subscribed. Society of Arts.-Bank Notes.-At a numerous meeting of the Members of the Society in the Adelphi, the Report of the Committee of Polite Arts, relative to the different plans which had been presented to the Society, for improved methods of making Bank-notes, was presented and read. It contained certain plans, consisting of superior specimens by eminent artists of engravings of a very peculiar description by Indians, of such mathematical exactness as wholly to exceed the artist's skill in lineal varieties; and of printing with diamond type, an imitation of which type would present insurmountable difficulties, the expence being prodigious, the skill firstrate, and the length of time necessary for finishing a fount of type for the purpose being several months. It recommended a combination of engraving and printing, thus rendering necessary an union between the engravers and printers, as the most probable means of securing detection, in the event of imitation. In order to obviate the objection of expence, so likely to be felt by the Bank, it was proposed, in consequence of the opinion given of the first artists on the subject, that steel plates should be used instead of copper. Copperplates, it was stated, were not capable of striking off more than 6000 impressions each, and the expence of the plates amount to a considerable sum, the estimate of the number struck off every day at the Bank being 30,000. Steel, by being softened, would take the engraving, after which it should be case-hardened, and by this process each plate would be capable of impressing an infinite number. To prove the practicability of this plan of substituting steel for copper, the practice of the Banks in the United States was quoted, and several American bank-notes were exhibited to the committee, and respectable evidence heard by them. Galvanism. On the 4th of November last, various galvanic experiments were made on the body of the murderer Clyds dale, after it had hung an hour, by Dr Ure, of Glasgow, with a Voltaic battery of 270 pairs of 4-inch plates. On moving the rod from the hip to the heel, the knee being previously bent, the leg was thrown out with such violence, as nearly to overturn one of the assistants, who in vain attempted to prevent its extension! In the second experiment, the rod was applied to the phrenic nerve in the neck, when laborious breathing instantly commenced; the chest heaved and fell; the belly was protruded and collapsed, with the relaxing and retiring diaphragm; and it is thought, that but for the complete evacuation of the blood, pulsation might have occurred! In the third experiment, the supra-orbital nerve was touched, when every muscle in the murderer's face " was thrown into fearful action." The scene was hideous; several of the spectators left the room, and one gentleman actually fainted, from terror or sickness! In the fourth experiment, the transmitting of the electric power from the spinal marrow to the ulnar nerve at the elbow, the fingers were instantly put in motion, and the agitation of the arm was so great, that the corpse seemed to point to the different spectators, some of whom thought it had come to life! Dr Ure appears to be of opinion, that had not incisions been made in the blood-vessels of the neck, and the spinal marrow been lacerated, the criminal might have been restored to life! New Scientific Institution.-An înstitution, entitled the "Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Society," has been established in Cornwall, for the advancement and cultivation of national and experimental philosophy, general history, biography, and the fine arts. The establishment of a museum is also one of the objects of this society, in which there are already great promises of success. The internal arrangements of the Edinburgh College Museum are rapidly advancing, and promise, when completed, to rival the most admired works of this description in Europe. The splendid galleries of the great rooms are to be appropriated for the reception of a magnificent collection of foreign birds from Paris. Colonel Imrie has presented his collection of Grecian minerals, and also his valuable collection of Greenland minerals. Mr Adie's Sympiesometer and Hygrometer. Mr Alexander Adie of Edinburgh has taken out a patent for his Sympiesometer, an instrument lately invented by him, and which promises to supersede entirely the common marine barometer. It has been tried, we understand, in a voyage to India, and still more lately in the Northern Expedition, and the result in both cases has been such as to hold out the most flattering hopes of its extensive use and adoption in the navy. The motion of the ship had no effect upon the accuracy of its indications, and it invariably marked the slightest changes in the atmosphere, hours before any change was indicated by the barometer commonly used. We have seen one fitted up in a portable form, for the measurement of heights, for which pur. pose, also, it seems to possess many advantages over the barometer now in use. Mr Adie has likewise invented a Hygrometer of great delicacy, which promises to be a valuable addition to our stock of philosophical instruments.' Potters' Clay. Near the Halkin Hills, in Flintshire, and within four miles of the sea, some miners discovered, about two years ago, a vast bed of a substance said to be adapted for the manufacturing of earthenware without the addition of any other material. It lies immediately under a stiff red clay, and coals abound in the neighbourhood. The miners and Mr Bishop, of Stafford, have taken a lease of the ground from the proprietor, Lord Grosvenor. A specimen of the substance has been brought to London, but has not yet been analyzed. Near the same place also has been found a hollow siliceous rock, abounding in organic impressions, which has been supposed likely to become a substitute for burrstone, but it appears to be too brittle for this purpose. A singular Machine denominated the Pedestrian Hobby-Horse, invented by Baron Von Drais, a gentleman at the court of the Grand Duke of Baden, has been introduced into this country by a tradesman in Long Acre. The principle of this invention is taken from the Art of Skating, and consists in the simple idea of a seat upon two wheels, propelled by the feet acting upon the ground. The riding seat, or saddle, is fixed on a perch upon two double shod wheels, running after each other, so that they can go upon the footways. To preserve the balance, a small board, covered and stuffed, is placed before, on which the arms are laid, and in front of which is a little guiding pole, which is held in the hand to direct the route. The swiftness with which a person well practised can travel is almost beyond belief; eight, nine, and even ten miles may, it is asserted, be passed over within the hour, on good level ground. The machine, it is conjectured, will answer well for messengers, and even for long journeys; they do not weigh more than fifty pounds, and may be made with travelling pockets. George Bidder, of Morton-Hampstead, is in London, and is astonishing the first mathematicians by his truly wonderful powers of mental calculation. He is but twelve and a half years of age; and, though he never learnt arithmetic, is able, in a few minutes, to give the multiple of nine figures by nine figures, to cube five or six figures, or extract the root of twenty figures. In the presence of the Editor of this miscellany, he cubed four figures in as many minutes; and told, in two minutes, the number of seconds from the accession of George 111. on the 25th of October 1760, to the 10th of February 1819, taking the years at 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes. It merits special notice, that he asserts, he can communicate the principle on which he makes these accurate calculations.-Monthly Magazine. Measurement of an Arc of the Meridian in India. Many of our readers are probably aware that a trigonometrical survey of India has been going on for a good many years, at the expence of the British government in that country, and under the superintendence of British officers well qualified for performing a task of that kind. Lieut.-Col. William Lambton, F.R.S. of the 33d regiment of foot, took the opportu nity of this survey to measure, at different times, an arc of the meridian from north latitude 8° 9′ 38′′ to north latitude 18° 3 23.6", being an amplitude of 9° 53′ 45′′, the longest single arch that has ever been measured on the surface of the globe. The full details of this great measurement are partly contained in the 12th volume of the Asiatic Researches; and will be partly inserted in the 13th volume of that work, which will not probably be published for these three or four years. Col. Lambton has inserted an abstract of the principal results into a paper, which has been published in the second part of the Philosophi cal Transactions for 1818. From a table exhibiting the result of Col. Lambton's calculations, it appears, that the length of a degree of latitude at the poles is At lat. 45° At lat. 51° At lat. 90° 68-704 English miles. 69.030 69.105 69-368 So that the mean length of a degree of latitude is almost exactly 69 miles and one-tenth of a mile. Of consequence, the common estimate of 69 miles and a half to a degree is very erroneous. Icelandic Literature has received, and is still receiving, accessions from the exertions of M. Liligren. This gentleman, who is professor at Lund, is engaged in translating a number of Icelandic manuscripts, which are preserved in the Royal Library at Stockholm. A volume of these translations has already made its appearance. Dr E. D. Clarke has in the press a treatise, entitled the Gas Blow-Pipe, or 1 Art of Fusion, by burning the Gaseous Constituents of Water; giving the history of the philosophical apparatus so denominated; the proofs of analogy in its operations to the nature of volcanoes; together with an appendix, containing an account of experiments with this blowpipe. NAPLES.--The traveller Belzoni, so well known for his discoveries of antiquities in Egypt, is not dead, as has been reported in English and other journals. Lord Belmore, who has been for some time at Naples, having lately returned from a scientific tour through Egypt, Palestine, Syria, &c. has lately received letters from him dated Thebes, 27th October 1818; he remains in Egypt, and continues with unabated zeal his search for antiquities. Lord Belmore himself had advanced into Nubia above 150 leagues beyond the Cataracts. His Lordship remained six weeks at Thebes, where he employed one hundred Arabs daily in digging for antiquities, and has made several very interesting discoveries. This journey will prove also of great advantage to geographers, as he determined, by astronomical observations, the latitudes and longitudes of most of the places through which he passed. It may, therefore, be expected, that when he returns to England he will publish much interesting information. WEST INDIES.-Volcano.-In a recent number of the Dominica Chronicle, we observe an interesting notice respecting "a perfect volcano in miniature," formed, it appears, in the parish of St John in that island. Twelve months ago it was only a few inches in circumference, and still fewer in height. In July last its dimensions had increased a hundredfold, and, should it continue to make a proportionable increase, it is apprehended, that at no remote period it may assume an appalling sight. The boiling lava, or liquid earth, perpetually discharges from the mouth. A long staff was thrown into the body of it--the matter which adhered to the staff had the appearance of a thick bluish marl, of a sulphureous smell and sweetish taste. The rumbling of the boiling liquor within can be distinctly heard. Some accounts have been published by Dr Allbin, of Constantinople, and Dr Laford, of Salonichi, to show that vaccination has the power to prevent the susceptibility to the infection of the plague. It is stated that, of six thousand persons vaccinated at Constantinople, not one became affected with the disease during a period when it was prevalent; and also that the Armenians are described as being entirely free from it, in consequence of having recourse to this measure. The head of Memnon, sent to England by Mr Salt, has been recently placed on a pedestal in the Egyptian room in the British Museum. It may, perhaps, be considered as the most perfect specimen of Egyptian art in the world. From the proportion of the features, it may be conclud ed that the figure, when perfect, was about twenty feet in height. The head has suffered a loss of part of the right side of its skull, yet the features are all entire. The back part of the figure is charged with hieroglyphics. The mouth is closed; and the figure, from the particular colour of the strata, has a singularly beautiful appearance; the whole of the head being of a reddish, and the lower part of the greyish, granite. Near this head is placed the enormous fist, corresponding to a figure, of which this fist formed a part, of at least sixty feet in height. Ίρις, ἢ τὰ νῦν ̔Ελληικά, a periodical work, is announced, written in ancient or modern Greek only, and by natives of Greece; the principal object of which is to make the friends of the Greek nation acquainted with the present state of knowledge amongst them, and with their endeavours for their regeneration. Paris. The first volume of the History of the Spanish War against Napoleon Bonaparte has lately been translated from Spanish into French. It is pretty generally known, that the Spanish Government appointed a committee of officers, of every arme to edite, under the superintendence of the Minister of War, the history of the war of independence. This work will comprise about 8 volumes, which are to appear in succession. The first volume contains merely the introduction; it gives an excellent explanation of the causes which brought about the war, and the situation of the country at the period of Bonaparte's invasion. The authors acknowledge that the administration of Spain was then very badly conducted, and in a state of complete decay, which rendered the contest between the inhabitants and the usurper very unequal. To this first volume are added, the official documents referred to in the course of the work, together with a list of the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French works which the authors have compared with their materials. The work cannot fail to prove exceedingly interesting, from its great extent, and the vast care that has been bestowed on it. If it be not entirely impartial, the editors deserve high praise for the tone of moderation which pervades the whole. It is to be accompanied by a collection of maps and military plans. |