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diff --git a/13359-0.txt b/13359-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c338c43 --- /dev/null +++ b/13359-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1439 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13359 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +Vol. 14, No. 391.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +[Illustration: GURNEY'S IMPROVED STEAM CARRIAGE.] + + + + +MR. GURNEY'S IMPROVED STEAM CARRIAGE. + + +Mr. Gurney, in perfecting this invention, has followed Dr. Franklin's +advice--to tire and begin again. It is now four years since he first +commenced his ingenious enterprise; and nearly two years since we +reported and illustrated the progress he had made. (_See_ MIRROR, vol. +x. page 393, or No. 287.) He began with a large boiler, but public +prejudice was too strong for it; and knowing people talked of high +pressure accidents; the steam, could not, of course, be altogether got +rid of, so to divide the danger, Mr. Gurney made his boiler in forty +welded iron pipes; still the steam ran in a main pipe beneath the +whole of the carriage, and the evil was but modified. At length the +inventer has detached the engine and boiler, or locomotive part of +the apparatus, which is now to be fastened to the carriage, and may +be considered as a STEAM-HORSE, with no more danger than we should +apprehend from a restive animal, in whose veins the steam or mettle +circulates with too high a pressure. Fair trials have been made of +the Improved Carriage on our common roads, the Premier has decided the +machine "to be of great national importance," from sundry experiments +witnessed by his grace, at Hounslow Barracks; and the coach is +announced "really to start next month (the 1st) in working--not +experimental journeys--for travellers between London and Bath."[1] +Crack upon crack will follow joke upon joke; the _Omnibus_, with its +phaeton-like coursers will be eclipsed; and a journey to Bath and the +Hot Wells by steam will soon be an everyday event. + +Descriptions of Mr. Gurney's carriage have been so often before the +public, that extended detail is unnecessary. Besides, all our liege +subscribers will turn to the account in our No. 287. The recent +improvements have been perspicuously stated by Mr. Herapath, of +Cranford, in a letter in the _Times_ newspaper, and we cannot do +better than adopt and abridge a portion of his communication. + +"The present differs from the earlier carriage, in several +improvements in the machinery, suggested by experiment; also in +having no propellers;[2] and in having only four wheels instead of +six; the apparatus for guiding being applied immediately to the two +fore-wheels, bearing a part of the weight, instead of two extra +leading wheels bearing little or none. No person can conceive the +absolute control this apparatus gives to the director of the carriage, +unless he has had the same opportunities of observing it which I +had in a ride with Mr. Gurney. Whilst the wheels obey the slightest +motions of the hand, a trifling pressure of the foot keeps them +inflexibly steady, however rough the ground. To the hind axle, which +is very strong, and bent into two cranks of nine inches radius, at +right angles to each other, is applied the propelling power by means +of pistons from two horizontal cylinders. By this contrivance, and a +peculiar mode of admitting the steam to the cylinders, Mr. Gurney has +very ingeniously avoided that cumbersome appendage to steam-engines, +the fly-wheel, and preserves uniformity of action by constantly having +one cylinder on full pressure, whilst the other is on the reduced +expansive. The dead points--that is, those in which a piston has no +effect from being in the same right line with its crank,--are also +cleared by the same means. For as the cranks are at right angles, when +one piston is at a dead point, the other has a position of maximum +effect, and is then urged by full steam power; but no sooner has the +former passed the dead point, than an expansion valve opens on it with +full steam, and closes on the latter. Firmly fixed to the extremities +of the axle, and at right angles to it, are the two 'carriers'--(two +strong irons extending each way to the felloes of the wheels.) These +irons may be bolted to the felloes of the wheels or not, or to the +felloes of one wheel only. Thus the power applied to the axle is +carried at once to the parts of the wheels of least stress--the +circumferences. By this artifice the wheels are required to be of no +greater strength and weight than ordinary carriage-wheels; and, like +them, they turn freely and independently on the axle; but one or +both may be secured as part and parcel of the axle, as circumstances +require. The carriage is consequently propelled by the friction or +hold which either or both hind-wheels, according as the power is +applied to them jointly or separately, have on the ground. Beneath +the hind part drop two irons, with flat feet, called 'shoe-drags.' A +well-contrived apparatus, with a spindle passing up through a hollow +cylinder, to which the guiding handle is affixed, enables the director +to force one or both drags tight on the road, so as to retard the +progress in a descent, or if he please, to raise the wheels off +the ground. The propulsive power of the wheels being by this means +destroyed, the carriage is arrested in a yard or two, though going at +the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour. On the right hand of the +director lies the handle of the throttle-valve, by which he has the +power of increasing or diminishing the supply of steam _ad libitum_, +and hence of retarding or accelerating the carriage's velocity. The +whole carriage and machinery weigh about 16 cwt., and with the full +complement of water and coke 20 or 22 cwt., of which, I am informed, +about 16 cwt. lie on the hind-wheels." + +Mr. H. then enumerates the principle of the improvements:--"That +troublesome appendage the fly-wheel, as I have observed, Mr. Gurney +has rendered unnecessary. The danger to be apprehended in going over +rough pitching, from too rapid a generation of steam, he avoids by a +curious application of springs; and should these be insufficient, one +or two safety valves afford the _ultimatum_ of security. He ensures +an easy descent down the steepest declivity by his 'shoe-drags,' and +the power of reversing the action of the engines. His hands direct, +and his foot literally pinches obedience to the course over the +roughest and most refractory ground. The dreadful consequences of +boiler-bursting are annihilated by a judicious application of tubular +boilers. Should, indeed, a tube burst, a hiss about equal to that of a +hot nail plunged into water, contains the sum total of alarm, while a +few strokes with a hammer will set all to rights again. Lastly, he has +so contrived his 'carriers,' that they shall act without confining the +wheels, by which means there is none of that sliding and consequent +cutting up of the road, which, in sharp turnings, would result from +inflexible constraint. + +"Hills and loose, slippery ground are well known to be the _res +adversæ_ of steam-carriages; on ordinary level roads they roll +along with rapid facility. In every ascent there are two additional +circumstances inimical to progressive motion. One is, that carriages +press less on the ground of a hill than on that of a plain, thus +giving the wheels a less forcible grasp or bite. But this may be +easily remedied in the structure of a carriage, and is not of very +material consequence in the steepest hills that we have. The other is +more serious. When a carriage ascends a hill, the weight or gravity of +the whole is decomposable into two--one perpendicular, and the other +parallel to the road. The former constitutes the pressure on the road, +the latter the additional work the engine has to perform. Universally +this is the same part of the whole carriage and its load together, +which the perpendicular ascent of the hill is of its length. With +these principles, if we knew the bite of the wheels on the road, +we could at once subject the powers of Mr. Gurney's carriage to +calculation. + +"Now, from one of the experiments made in the barrack-yard, at +Hounslow, I find we can approximate towards it. For instance, with one +wheel only fixed to the 'carriers,' the carriage drew itself and load +of water and coke (about 1 ton), with three men on it, and a wagon +behind of 16 cwt. containing 27 soldiers. This, at the rate of 1-1/2 +cwt. to a man, in round numbers is 4 tons. Estimating the force of +traction of spring carriages at a twelfth of the total weight, it +consequently gives a hold or bite on the road of 1-12 of 4 tons, or +6 2-3rds cwt. per wheel, or 13 1-3rd cwt. for the two wheels. This is +likewise the propelling force of the carriage. Supposing, therefore, +we were ascending a hill of 1 foot rise in 8, which I am assured +exceeds in steepness any hill we have, we should be able to draw a +load behind of 2 tons 2 cwt., or between 3 and 4 tons altogether.... + +"On a good level road I think it not improbable it might draw, instead +of 7 tons which our experiment would give, from 10 to 11, besides +its own weight, or 100 ordinary men, exclusive of 2 or 3 tons for +carriages; and up one of our steepest hills, 3 tons besides itself, or +25 men besides a ton for a carriage. This it would do at a rate of 8, +9, or 10 miles an hour. For it is a singular feature in this carriage, +and which was remarked by many at the time, that it maintained very +nearly the same speed with a wagon and 27 men, that it did with the +carriage and only 5 or 6 persons. But there is a fact connected with +this machine still more extraordinary. For instance, every additional +cwt. we shift on the hind or working wheels, will increase the power +of traction in our steepest hills upwards of 4 cwt., and on the +level road half a ton. Such, then, is the paradoxical nature of +steam-carriages, that the very circumstance which in animal exertion +would weaken and retard, will here multiply their strength and +accelerate. This, no doubt, Mr. Gurney's ingenuity will soon turn to +profitable account. + +"It has often been asserted that carriages of this sort could not +go above 6 or 7 miles an hour. I can see no reasonable objection +to 20. The following fact, decided before a large company in the +barrack-yard, will best speak for itself:--At eighteen minutes after +three I ascended the carriage with Mr. Gurney. After we had gone about +half way round, 'Now,' said Mr. Gurney, 'I will show you her speed.' +He did, and we completed seven turns round the outside of the road +by twenty-eight minutes after three. If, therefore, as I was there +assured, two and a half turns measured one mile, we went 2.8 miles +in ten minutes; that is, at the rate of 16.8, or nearly 17 miles per +hour. But as Mr. Gurney slackened its motion once or twice in the +course of trial, to speak to some one, and did not go at an equal rate +all the way round for fear of accident in the crowd, it is clear that +sometimes we must have proceeded at the rate of upwards of twenty +miles an hour." + +The Engraving will furnish the reader with a correct idea of such of +Mr. Gurney's improvements as are most interesting to the public. The +present arrangement is certainly very preferable to placing the boiler +and engine in immediate contact with the carriage, which is to convey +goods and passengers. Men of science are still much divided on the +practical economy of using steam instead of horses as a travelling +agent; but we hope, like all great contemporaries they may whet and +cultivate each other till the desired object is attained. One of them, +a writer in the _Atlas_, observes, that "if ultimately found capable +of being brought into public use, it would probably be most convenient +and desirable that several locomotive engines should be employed on +one line of road, in order that they might be exchanged at certain +stages for the purposes of examination, tightening of screws, and +other adjustments, which the jolting on passing over the road might +render necessary, and for the supply of fuel and water." + +An effectively-coloured lithographic of Mr. Gurney's carriage (by +Shoesmith) has recently appeared at the printsellers', which we take +this opportunity of recommending to the notice of collectors and +scrappers. + +[Footnote 1: "Literary Gazette," Sept. 19, 1829.] + +[Footnote 2: The propellers, I am informed, are not absolutely +discarded. They are now not fixed, but movable, and reserved for +extreme possible emergencies, or for certain military purposes.] + + * * * * * + + +PUNNING SATIRE ON AN INCONSTANT LOVER. + + You are as faithless as a _Carthaginian_, + To love at once, _Kate, Nell, Doll, Martha, Jenny, Anne._ + +SWIFT. + + * * * * * + + +BRIMHAM ROCKS[3] BY MOONLIGHT. + +(_FOR THE MIRROR._) + + + The sun hath set, but yet I linger still, + Gazing with rapture on the face of night; + And mountain wild, deep vale, and heathy hill, + Lay like a lovely vision, mellow, bright, + Bathed in the glory of the sunset light, + Whose changing hues in flick'ring radiance play, + Faint and yet fainter on the outstretch'd sight, + Until at length they wane and die away, + And all th' horizon round fades into twilight gray. + + But, slowly rising up the vaulted sky, + Forth comes the moon, night's joyous, sylvan queen, + With one lone, silent star, attendant by + Her side, all sparkling in its glorious sheen; + And, floating swan-like, stately, and serene, + A few light fleecy clouds, the drapery of heav'n, + Throw their pale shadows o'er this witching scene, + Deep'ning its mystic grandeur--and seem driven + Round these all shapeless piles like Time's wan spectres risen + + From out the tombs of ages. All around + Lies hushed and still, save with large, dusky wing + The bird of night makes its ill-omened sound; + Or moor-game, nestling 'neath th' flowery ling + Low chuckle to their mates--or startled, spring + Away on rustling pinions to the sky, + Wheel round and round in many an airy ring, + Then swooping downward to their covert hie, + And, lodged beneath the heath again securely lie. + + Ascend yon hoary rock's impending brow, + And on its windy summit take your stand-- + Lo! Wilsill's lovely vale extends below, + And long, long heathy moors on either hand + Stretch dark and misty--a bleak tract of land, + Whereon but seldom human footsteps come; + Save when with dog, obedient at command, + And gun, the sportsman quits his city home, + And brushing through the ling in quest of game doth roam. + + And lo! in wild confusion scattered round, + Huge, shapeless, naked, massy piles of stone + Rise, proudly towering o'er this barren ground, + Scowling in mutual hate--apart, alone, + Stern, desolate they stand--and seeming thrown + By some dire, dread convulsion of the earth + From her deep, silent caves, and hoary grown + With age and storms that Boreas issues forth + Replete with ire from his wild regions in the north. + + How beautiful! yet wildly beautiful, + As group on group comes glim'ring on the eye, + Making the heart, soul, mind, and spirit full + Of holy rapture and sweet imagery; + Till o'er the lip escapes th' unconscious sigh, + And heaves the breast with feeling, too too deep + For words t' express the awful sympathy, + That like a dream doth o'er the senses creep, + Chaining the gazer's eye--and yet he cannot weep. + + But stands entranced and rooted to the spot, + While grows the scene upon him vast, sublime, + Like some gigantic city's ruin, not + Inhabited by men, but Titans--Time + Here rests upon his scythe and fears to climb, + Spent by th' unceasing toil of ages past, + Musing he stands and listens to the chime + Of rock-born spirits howling in the blast, + While gloomily around night's sable shades are cast. + + Well deemed I ween the Druid sage of old + In making this his dwelling place on high; + Where all that's huge and great from Nature's mould, + Spoke this the temple of his deity; + Whose walls and roof were the o'erhanging sky, + His altar th' unhewn rock, all bleak and bare, + Where superstition with red, phrensied eye + And look all wild, poured forth her idol prayer, + As rose the dying wail,[4] and blazed the pile in air. + + Lost in the lapse of time, the Druid's lore + Hath ceased to echo these rude rocks among; + No altar new is stained with human gore; + No hoary bard now weaves the mystic song; + Nor thrust in wicker hurdles, throng on throng, + Whole multitudes are offered to appease + Some angry god, whose will and power of wrong + Vainly they thus essayed to soothe and please-- + Alas! that thoughts so gross man's noblest powers should seize. + + But, bowed beneath the cross, see! prostrate fall + The mummeries that long enthralled our isle; + So perish error! and wide over all + Let reason, truth, religion ever smile: + And let not man, vain, impious man defile + The spark heaven lighted in the human breast; + Let no enthusiastic rage, no sophist's wile + Lull the poor victim into careless rest, + Since the pure gospel page can teach him to be blest. + + Weak, trifling man, O! come and ponder here + Upon the nothingness of human things-- + How vain, how very vain doth then appear + The city's hum, the pomp and pride of kings; + All that from wealth, power, grandeur, beauty springs, + Alike must fade, die, perish, be forgot; + E'en he whose feeble hand now strikes the strings + Soon, soon within the silent grave must rot-- + Yet Nature's still the same, though we see, we hear her not. + +J. HORNER. + +_Wilsill, near Pateley Bridge, Sept. 1829._ + +[Footnote 3: Yorkshire. This wonderful assemblage lies scattered in +groups, covering a surface of nearly forty acres of heathy moor. +The numerous rocking-stones, rock-idols, altars, cannon rocks, &c. +evidently point out this spot as having been used by the Druids in +their horrid and mysterious ceremonies. The position of some of these +rocks is truly astonishing; one in particular resting upon a base of +a few inches, overhangs on all sides many feet; while others seem +suspended and balanced as if they hung in air.] + +[Footnote 4: Human sacrifices formed part of the religious rites of +the Druids.] + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + + * * * * * + + +PLEDGING HEALTHS. + +The origin of the very common expression, to _pledge_ one drinking, +is curious: it is thus related by a very celebrated antiquarian of +the fifteenth century. "When the _Danes_ bore sway in this land, if +a native did drink, they would sometimes stab him with a dagger or +knife; hereupon people would not drink in company unless some one +present would be their _pledge_ or surety, that they should receive no +hurt, whilst they were in their draught; hence that usual phrase, I'll +_pledge you_, or be a pledge for you." Others affirm the true sense of +the word was, that if the party drank to, were not disposed to drink +himself, he would put another for _a pledge_ to do it for him, else +the party who began would take it ill. + +J.W. + + * * * * * + +RUSSIAN SUPERSTITION. + +The extreme superstition of the Greek church, the national one of +Russia, seems to exceed that of the Roman Catholic devotees, even in +Spain and Portugal. The following instance will show the absurdity of +it even among the higher classes:-- + +A Russian princess, some few years since, had always a large silver +crucifix following her in a separate carriage, and which was placed in +her chamber. When any thing fortunate happened to her in the course +of the day, and she was satisfied with all that had occurred, she +had lighted tapers placed around the crucifix, and said to it in a +familiar style, "See, now, as you have been very good to me to-day, +you shall be treated well; you shall have candles all night; I will +love you; I will pray to you." If on the contrary, any thing happened +to vex the lady, she had the candles put out, ordered her servants not +to pay any homage to the poor image, and loaded it herself with the +bitterest reproaches. + +INA. + + * * * * * + + +THE SELECTOR; + +AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + * * * * * + +LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE. + +_FRUITS_. + +This Part (5) completes the volume of "Vegetable Substances used in +the Arts and in Domestic Economy." The first portion--_Timber Trees_ +was noticed at some length in our last volume (page 309,) and received +our almost unqualified commendation, which we are induced to extend to +the Part now before us. Still, we do not recollect to have pointed +out to our readers that which appears to us the great recommendatory +feature of this series of works--we mean the arrangement of the +volumes--their subdivisions and exemplifications--and these evince a +master-hand in compilation. + +Every general reader must be aware that little novelty could be +expected in a brief History and Description of Timber Trees and +Fruits, and that the object of the Useful Knowledge Society was not +merely to furnish the public with new views, but to present in the +most attractive form the most entertaining facts of established +writers, and illustrate their views with the observations of +contemporary authors as well as their own personal acquaintance with +the subjects. In this manner, the Editor has taken "a general +and rapid view of fruits," and, considering the great hold their +description possesses on all readers, we are disposed to think almost +too rapid. We should have enjoyed a volume or two more than half a +volume of such reading as the present; but as we are not purchasers, +and are unacquainted with the number to which the Society propose +to extend their works, we ought not perhaps to raise this objection, +which, to say the truth, is a sort of negative commendation. Hitherto, +we have been accustomed to see compilations of pretensions similar +to the present, executed with little regard to neatness or unity, +or weight or consideration. Whole pages and long extracts have been +stripped and sliced off books, with little rule or arrangement, and +what is still worse, without any acknowledgment of the sources. +The last defect is certainly the greatest, since, in spite of +ill-arrangement, an intelligent inquirer may with much trouble, avail +himself of further reference to the authors quoted, and thus complete +in his own mind what the compiler had so indifferently begun. The work +before us is, however, altogether of a much higher order than general +compilations. The introductions and inferences are pointed and +judicious, and the facts themselves of the most interesting character, +are narrated in a condensed but perspicuous style; while the slightest +reference will prove that the best and latest authorities have +been appreciated. Thus, in the History and Description of Fruits, +the Transactions of the Horticultural Society are frequently and +pertinently quoted to establish disputed points, as well as the +journals of intelligent travellers and naturalists; with occasional +poetical embellishments, which lend a charm even to this attractive +species of reading. + +To quote the history of either Fruit entire, would not so well denote +the character of the work as would a few of the most striking passages +in the descriptions. In the introductory chapter we are pleased with +the following passage on _Monastic Gardens_. + +"The monks, after the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, +appear to have been the only gardeners. As early as 674, we have +a record, describing a pleasant and fruit-bearing close at Ely, +then cultivated by Brithnoth, the first Abbot of that place. The +ecclesiastics subsequently carried their cultivation of fruits as +tar as was compatible with the nature of the climate, and the +horticultural knowledge of the middle ages. Whoever has seen an old +abbey, where for generations destruction only has been at work, must +have almost invariably found it situated in one of the choicest spots, +both as to soil and aspect; and if the hand of injudicious improvement +has not swept it away, there is still the 'Abbey-garden.' Even though +it has been wholly neglected--though its walls be in ruins, covered +with stone-crop and wall-flower, and its area produce but the rankest +weeds--there are still the remains of the aged fruit trees--the +venerable pears, the delicate little apples, and the luscious black +cherries. The chestnuts and the walnuts may have yielded to the axe, +and the fig trees and vines died away;--but sometimes the mulberry is +left, and the strawberry and the raspberry struggle among the ruins. +There is a moral lesson in these memorials of the monastic ages. The +monks, with all their faults, were generally men of peace and study; +and these monuments show that they were improving the world, while the +warriors were spending their lives to spoil it. In many parts of Italy +and France, which had lain in desolation and ruin from the time of +the Goths, the monks restored the whole surface to fertility; and in +Scotland and Ireland there probably would not have been a fruit tree +till the sixteenth century, if it had not been for their peaceful +labours. It is generally supposed that the monastic orchards were in +their greatest perfection from the twelfth to the fifteenth century." + +Again, the + +_NATURALIZATION OF PLANTS._ + +"The large number of our native plants (for we call those native which +have adapted themselves to our climate) mark the gradual progress of +our civilization through the long period of two thousand years; whilst +the almost infinite diversity of exotics which a botanical garden +offers, attest the triumphs of that industry which has carried us +as merchants or as colonists over every region of the earth, and has +brought from every region whatever can administer to our comforts and +our luxuries,--to the tastes and the needful desires of the humblest +as well as the highest amongst us. To the same commerce we owe the +potato and the pine-apple; the China rose, whose flowers cluster round +the cottage-porch, and the Camellia which blooms in the conservatory. +The addition even of a flower, or an ornamental shrub, to those which +we already possess, is not to be regarded as a matter below the +care of industry and science. The more we extend our acquaintance +with the productions of nature, the more are our minds elevated by +contemplating the variety, as well as the exceeding beauty, of the +works of the Creator. The highest understanding does not stoop when +occupied in observing the brilliant colour of a blossom, or the +graceful form of a leaf. Hogarth, the great moral painter, a man in +all respects of real and original genius, writes thus to his friend +Ellis, a distinguished traveller and naturalist:--'As for your pretty +little seed-cups, or vases, they are a sweet confirmation of the +pleasure Nature seems to take in superadding an elegance of form to +most of her works, wherever you find them. How poor and bungling are +all the imitations of Art! When I have the pleasure of seeing you +next, we will sit down, _nay, kneel down if you will_, and admire +these things.' + + * * * * * + +"It is one of the proudest attributes of man, and one which is most +important for him to know, that he can improve every production +of nature, if he will but once make it his own by possession and +attachment. A conviction of this truth has rendered the cultivation of +fruits, in the more polished countries of Europe, as successful as we +now behold it." + +The work then divides into _Fruits of the Temperate Climates_, and +of _Tropical Climates_; the first are subdivided into Fleshy, Pulpy, +and Stone Fruits and Nuts, in preference to a strict geographical +arrangement. Under "the Apple" occur some very judicious observations +on + +_CIDER._ + +"The cider counties of England have always been considered as highly +interesting. They lie something in the form of a horse-shoe round +the Bristol Channel; and the best are, Worcester and Hereford, on +the north of the channel, and Somerset and Devon on the south. In +appearance, they have a considerable advantage over those counties +in which grain alone is cultivated. The blossoms cover an extensive +district with a profusion of flowers in the spring, and the fruit is +beautiful in autumn. Some of the orchards occupy a space of forty or +fifty acres; and the trees being at considerable intervals, the land +is also kept in tillage. A great deal of practical acquaintance with +the qualities of soil is required in the culture of apple and pear +trees; and his skill in the adaptation of trees to their situation +principally determines the success of the manufacturer of cider +and perry. The produce of the orchards is very fluctuating; and the +growers seldom expect an abundant crop more than once in three years. +The quantity of apples required to make a hogshead of cider is from +twenty-four to thirty bushels; and in a good year an acre of orchard +will produce somewhere about six hundred bushels, or from twenty to +twenty-five hogsheads. The cider harvest is in September. When the +season is favourable, the heaps of apples collected at the presses are +immense--consisting of hundreds of tons. If any of the vessels used in +the manufacture of cider are of lead, the beverage is not wholesome. +The price of a hogshead of cider generally varies from 2l. to 5l., +according to the season and quality; but cider of the finest growth +has sometimes been sold as high as 20l. by the hogshead, direct from +the press--a price equal to that of many of the fine wines of the +Rhine or the Garonne." + + * * * * * + +_OLD APPLE TREES._ + +"At Horton, in Buckinghamshire, where Milton spent some of his earlier +years, there is an apple tree still growing, of which the oldest +people remember to have heard it said that the poet was accustomed +to sit under it. And upon the low leads of the church at Romsey, in +Hampshire, there is an apple tree still bearing fruit, which is said +to be two hundred years old." + +The _Fig_ and the _Fine_ are equally interesting, and in connexion +with the latter we notice the editor's mention of the fine vineyard +at Arundel Castle. Aubrey describes a similar vineyard at Chart Park, +near Dorking, another seat of the Howards. "Here was a vineyard, +supposed to have been planted by the Hon. Charles Howard, who, it is +said, erected his residence, as it were, in the vineyard." Again, "the +vineyard flourished for some time, and tolerably good wine was made +from the produce; but after the death of the noble planter, in 1713, +it was much neglected, and nothing remained but the name. On taking +down the house, a stone resembling a millstone, was found, by which +the grapes were pressed."[5] We were on the spot at the time, and saw +the stone in question. Vines are still very abundant at Dorking, the +soil being very congenial to their growth. "Hence, almost every house +in this part has its vine; and some of the plants are very productive. +The cottages of the labouring poor are not without this ornament, and +the produce is usually sold by them to their wealthier neighbours, for +the manufacture of wine. The price per bushel is from 4s. to 16s.; +but the variableness of the season frequently disappoints them in the +crops, the produce of which is sometimes laid up as a setoff to the +rent."[6] + +We have heard too of attempts in England to train the vine on +the sides of hills, and a few years since an individual lost a +considerable sum of money in making the experiment in the Isle of +Wight. + +At page 257, observes the editor, + +_A VINEYARD_ + +"Associated as it is with all our ideas of beauty and plenty, is, +in general, a disappointing object. The hop plantations of our own +country are far more picturesque. In France, the vines are trained +upon poles, seldom more than three or four feet in height; and 'the +pole-clipt vineyard' of poetry is not the most inviting of real +objects. In Spain, poles for supporting vines are not used; but +cuttings are planted, which are not permitted to grow very high, but +gradually form thick and stout stocks. In Switzerland, and in the +German provinces, the vineyards are as formal as those of France. +But in Italy is found the true vine of poetry, 'surrounding the stone +cottage with its girdle, flinging its pliant and luxuriant branches +over the rustic veranda, or twining its long garland from tree to +tree.'[7] It was the luxuriance and the beauty of her vines and her +olives that tempted the rude people of the north to pour down upon her +fertile fields:-- + + 'The prostrate South to the destroyer yields + Her boasted titles and her golden fields; + With grim delight the brood of winter view + A brighter day, and heavens of azure hue. + Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose. + And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.'[8] + +"In Greece, too, as well as Italy, the shoots of the vines are +either trained upon trees, or supported, so as to display all their +luxuriance, upon a series of props. This was the custom of the ancient +vine-growers; and their descendants have preserved it in all its +picturesque originality.[9] The vine-dressers of Persia train their +vines to run up a wall, and curl over on the top. But the most +luxurious cultivation of the vine in hot countries is where it covers +the trellis-work which surrounds a well, inviting the owner and his +family to gather beneath its shade. 'The fruitful bough by well' is of +the highest antiquity." + +Passing over the Mulberry, Currant, Gooseberry, and the Strawberry, +the account of the Egg Plant is particularly attractive; and that of +the Olive is well-written, but too long for extract. + +Among the _Tropical Fruits_, the Orange and the Date are very +delightful; and equal in importance and interest are the Cocoa Nut +and Bread Fruit Tree. In short, it is impossible to open the volume +without being gratified with the richness and variety of its contents, +and the amiable feeling which pervades the inferences and incidental +observations of the writer. + +A word or two on the embellishments and we have done. These are +far behind the literary merits of the volume, and are discreditable +productions. Where so much is well done it were better to omit +engravings altogether than adopt such as these: "they imitate nature +so abominably." The group at page 223 is a fair specimen of the whole, +than which nothing can be more lifeless. After the excellent cuts of +Mr. London's Gardener's and Natural History Magazines, we turn away +from these with pain, and it must be equally vexatious to the editor +to see such accompaniments to his pages. + +[Footnote 5: Picturesque Promenade round Dorking. Second Edit. 12mo. +1823, p. 258, 259.] + +[Footnote 6: Ibid p. 143.] + +[Footnote 7: The Alpenstock, by C.J. Latrobe, 1829.] + +[Footnote 8: Gray's Alliance of Education and Government.] + +[Footnote 9: See the second Georgic of Virgil.] + + * * * * * + + +SHAKSPEARE'S BROOCH. + +[Illustration] + +(_TO THE EDITOR OF THE MIRROR._) + +Having frequently observed in your valuable publication the great +attention which you have paid to every thing relating to the "Immortal +Bard of Avon," I beg leave to transmit to you two drawings (the one +back, the other front) of a brooch or buckle, found near the residence +of the poet, at New Place, Stratford, among the rubbish brought out +from the spot where the house stood. This brooch is considered by the +most competent judges and antiquarians in and near Stratford, to have +been the personal property of Shakspeare. A. is the back; 1 and 2, +faint traces of the letters which were nearly obliterated, by the +person who found the relic, in scraping to ascertain whether the +metal was precious, the whole of it being covered with gangrene +or verdigris. 3 and 4 are the remains of the hinge to the pin. +Fortunately the W. at the corner was preserved. B. represents the +front of the brooch; 1, 3, and 5, are red stones in the top part +(similar in shape to a coronet) 2 and 4 are blue stones in the same; +the other stones in the bottom or heart are white, though varying +rather in hue, and all are set in silver. + +HJTHWC. + +N.B. The above is shown to the curious by the individual who found +it--a poor man named Smith, living in Sheep Street, Stratford. + + * * * * * + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + * * * * * + +The greater portion of the following Notes will, we are persuaded, be +new to all but the bibliomaniacs in theatrical lore. They occur in a +paper of 45 pages in the last Edinburgh Review, in which the writer +attributes the Decline of the Drama to a variety of causes--as +late hours, costly representations, high salaries, and excessive +taxation--some of which we have selected for extract. In our affection +for the Stage, we have paid some attention to its history, as well +as to its recent state, and readily do we subscribe to a few of the +Reviewer's opinions of the cause of its neglect. But to attribute this +falling off to "taxes innumerable" is rather too broad: perhaps the +highly-taxed wax lights around the box circles suggested this new +light. We need not go so far to detect the rottenness of the dramatic +state; still, as the question involves controversy at every point, +we had rather keep out of the fight, and leave our Reviewer without +further note or comment. + + +NOTES ON THE DRAMA. + +(_FROM THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, NO. 98._) + +_ORIGIN OF ADMISSION MONEY._ + +There were at Athens various funds, applicable to public purposes; one +of which, and among the most considerable, was appropriated for the +expensed of sacrifices, processions, festivals, spectacles, and of +the theatres. The citizens were admitted to the theatres for some time +gratis; but in consequence of the disturbances caused by multitudes +crowding to get seats, to introduce order, and as the phrase is, +to keep out improper persons, a small sum of money was afterwards +demanded for admission. That the poorer classes, however, might not +be deprived of their favourite gratification, they received from the +treasury, out of this fund, the price of a seat--and thus peace and +regularity were secured, and the fund still applied to its original +purpose. The money that was taken at the doors, having served as a +ticket, was expended, together with that which had not been used in +this manner, to maintain the edifice itself, and to pay the manifold +charges of the representation. + +"_DRAMATIC REPRESENTATIONS NATURAL TO MAN._" + +Travellers inform us, that savages, even in a very rude state, are +found to divert themselves by imitating some common event in life: but +it is not necessary to leave our own quiet homes to satisfy ourselves, +that dramatic representations are natural to man. All children +delight in mimicking action; many of their amusements consist in such +performances, and are in every sense _plays_. It is curious, indeed, +to observe at how early an age the young of the most imitative animal, +man, begin to copy the actions of others; how soon the infant displays +its intimate conviction of the great truth, that "all the world's a +Stage." The baby does not imitate those acts only, that are useful +and necessary to be learned; but it instinctively mocks useless and +unimportant actions and unmeaning sounds, for its amusement, and for +the mere pleasure of imitation, and is evidently much delighted +when it is successful. The diversions of children are very commonly +dramatic. When they are not occupied with their hoops, tops, and +balls, or engaged in some artificial game, they amuse themselves in +playing at soldiers, in being at school, or at church, in going to +market, in receiving company; and they imitate the various employments +of life with so much fidelity, that the theatrical critic, who +delights in chaste acting, will often find less to censure in his own +little servants in the nursery, than in his majesty's servants in a +theatre-royal. When they are somewhat older they dramatize the stories +they read; most boys have represented Robin Hood, or one of his +merry-men, and every one has enacted the part of Robinson Crusoe, +and his man Friday. We have heard of many extraordinary tastes and +antipathies; but we never knew an instance of a young person, who +was not delighted the first time he visited a theatre. The true +enjoyment of life consists in action; and happiness, according to +the peripatetic definition, is to be found in energy; it accords, +therefore, with the nature and etymology of the drama, which is, +in truth, not less natural than agreeable. Its grand divisions +correspond, moreover, with those of time; the contemplation of the +present is Comedy--mirth for the most part being connected with the +present only--and the past and the future are the dominions of the +Tragic muse. + +_GRECIAN THEATRES._ + +The climate of Athens being one of the finest and most agreeable in +the world, the Athenians passed the greatest part of their time in the +open air; and their theatres, like those in the rest of Greece and +in ancient Rome, had no other covering than the sky. Their structure +accordingly differed greatly from that of a modern playhouse, and the +representation in many respects was executed in a different manner. +But we will mention those peculiarities only which are necessary to +render our observations intelligible. + +The ancient theatres, in the first place, were on a much larger scale +than any that have been constructed in later days. It would have +been impossible, by reason of the magnitude of the edifice, and +consequently of the stage, to have changed the scenes in the same +manner as in our smaller buildings. The scene, as it was called, was +a permanent structure, and resembled the front of Somerset House, of +the Horse Guards, or the Tuileries, and was in the same style of +architecture as the rest of the spacious edifice. There were three +large gateways, through each of which a view of streets, or of woods, +or of whatever was suitable to the action represented, was displayed; +this painting was fixed upon a triangular frame, that turned on an +axis, like a swivel seal, or ring, so that any one of the three +sides might be presented to the spectators, and perhaps the two that +were turned away might be covered with other subjects, if it were +necessary. If parts of Regent Street, or of Whitehall, or the Mansion +House, and the Bank of England, were shown through the openings in +the fixed scene, it would be plain that the fable was intended to be +referred to London; and it would be removed to Edinburgh, or Paris, +if the more striking portions of those cities were thus exhibited. The +front of the scene was broken by columns, by bays and promontories in +the line of the building, which gave beauty and variety to the façade, +and aided the deception produced by the paintings that were seen +through the three openings. In the Roman Theatres there were commonly +two considerable projections, like large bow-windows, or bastions, +in the spaces between the apertures; this very uneven line afforded +assistance to the plot, in enabling different parties to be on the +stage at the same time, without seeing one another. The whole front of +the stage was called the scene, or covered building, to distinguish it +from the rest of the theatre, which was open to the air, except that +a covered portico frequently ran round the semicircular part of the +edifice at the back of the highest row of seats, which answered to +our galleries, and was occupied, like them, by the gods, who stood in +crowds upon the level floor of their celestial abodes. + +Immediately in front of the stage, as with us, was the orchestra; +but it was of much larger dimensions, not only positively, but +in proportion to the theatre. In our playhouses it is exclusively +inhabited by fiddles and their fiddlers; the ancients appropriated it +to more dignified purposes; for there stood the high altar of Bacchus, +richly ornamented and elevated, and around it moved the sacred Chorus +to solemn measures, in stately array and in magnificent vestments, +with crowns and incense, chanting at intervals their songs, and +occupied in their various rites, as we have before mentioned. It is +one of the many instances of uninterrupted traditions, that this part +of our theatres is still devoted to receive musicians, although, +in comparison with their predecessors, they are of an ignoble and +degenerate race. + +The use of masks was another remarkable peculiarity of the ancient +acting. It has been conjectured, that the tragic mask was invented +to conceal the face of the actor, which, in a small city like Athens, +must have been known to the greater part of the audience, as vulgar +in expression, and it sometimes would have brought to mind most +unseasonably the remembrance of a life and of habits, that would have +repelled all sympathy with the character which he was to personate. It +would not have been endured, that a player should perform the part of +a monarch in his ordinary dress, nor that of a hero with his own mean +physiognomy. It is probable, also, that the likeness of every hero of +tragedy was handed down in statues, medals, and paintings, or even in +a series of masks; and that the countenance of Theseus, or of Ajax, +was as well known to the spectators as the face of any of their +contemporaries. Whenever a living character was introduced by name, as +Cleon or Socrates, in the old comedy, we may suppose that the mask was +a striking, although not a flattering portrait. We cannot doubt, that +these masks were made with great care, and were skilfully painted, +and finished with the nicest accuracy; for every art was brought to +a focus in the Greek theatres. We must not imagine, like schoolboys, +that the tragedies of Sophocles were performed at Athens in such +rude masks as are exhibited in our music shops. We have some +representations of them in antique sculptures and paintings, with +features somewhat distorted, but of exquisite and inimitable beauty. + +_THE ROMAN STAGE._ + +The Drama of ancient Rome possesses little of originality or interest. +The word _Histrio_ is said to be of Etruscan origin; the Tuscans, +therefore, had their theatres; but little information can now be +gleaned respecting them. It was long before theatres were firmly and +permanently established in Rome; but the love of these diversions +gradually became too powerful for the censors, and the Romans grew, +at last, nearly as fond of them as the Greeks. The latter, as St. +Augustine informs us, did not consider the profession of a player as +dishonourable: "Ipsos scenicos non turpes judicaverunt, sed dignos +etiam præclaris honoribus habuerunt."--_De Civ. Dei_. The more prudish +Romans, however, were less tolerant; and we find in the Code various +constitutions levelled against actors, and one law especially, which +would not suit our senate, forbidding senators to marry actresses; but +this was afterwards relaxed by Justinian, who had broken it himself. +He permitted such marriages to take place on obtaining the consent +of the emperor, and afterwards without, so that the lady quitted the +stage, and changed her manner of life. The Romans, however, had at +least enough of kindly feeling towards a Comedian to pray for the +safety, or refection, of his soul after death; this is proved by a +pleasant epitaph on a player, which is published in the collection +of Gori:-- + + Pro jocis, quibus cunctos + oblectabat, + Si quid oblectamenti apud + vos est + Manes, insontem reficite + Animulam." + +_COSTUME._ + +It is probable that the imagination of the spectator could without +difficulty dispense with scenes, particularly if the surrounding +objects were somewhat removed from the ordinary aspect of every-day +things; if the performance were to take place, for example, in the +hall of a college, or in a church. + +The costume that prevails at present almost universally, is so +barbarous and mean, and it changes in so many minute particulars so +frequently, that it is impossible to conceive the hero of a tragedy +actually wearing such attire. A more picturesque dress seems therefore +to be indispensable; but the essentials of the costume of any time, +from which dramatic subjects could be taken, are by no means costly. +All that is absolutely necessary in vestments to content the fancy, +might be procured at a trifling expense, and the hero or heroine +might be supplied with the ordinary apparel of Greece, or Rome, or of +any other country, at a small price. We must carefully distinguish, +however, between the necessaries and the luxuries of deception; the +form, and sometimes the colour, demand a scrupulous accuracy; the +texture is always unimportant. We may comprehend, therefore, how the +old English theatre, notwithstanding the small outlay on decorations, +by a strict attention to essentials, possessed considerable +attractions; we may readily believe, that there were many companies +who were maintained by their trade; "that all those companies got +money and lived in reputation, especially those of the Blackfriars, +who were men of grave and sober behaviour." + +_THE OLD DRAMA._ + +Our literature is remarkably rich in old dramas; but they are of +little use to the present age. Fastidiousness and hypocrisy have grown +for many years, slowly but surely, and have at last arrived at such +a pitch, that there is hardly a line in the works of our old comic +writers, which is not reprobated as immoral, or at least vulgar. +The excessive squeamishness of taste of the present day is very +unfavourable to the genius of comedy, which demands a certain liberty +and a freedom from restraints. This morbid delicacy is a great +evil, for it renders the time of limitation in all comic writings +exceedingly short. The ephemeral duration of the fashion, which is +all the production of a man of wit can now enjoy, discourages authors. +There is no motive to bestow much care on such compositions, and they +fall below the ambition of men of real talents--for the best part of +the reward of literary labour consists in the lasting admiration of +posterity; and as some new fastidiousness will consign to oblivion, in +a short time, every comic production, it is plain that such a reward +cannot be reasonably anticipated. We are more completely, than any +other nation, the victims of fashion. Everything here must either be +in the last and newest fashion, or it must cease to be. The despotism +of fashion in dress, in furniture, and in the pattern of the edges of +plate, is perhaps inconvenient--it is, however, not very important; +but it is a cruel grievance that it should interfere with and +annihilate an entire department of our literature. + +_HOURS OF REPRESENTATION._ + +Dramatic representations were formerly given, not only in Greece and +Rome, but in England also, in the daytime, and in the open air. "The +Globe, Fortune, and Bull, were large houses, and partly open to the +weather, and there they always acted by daylight;" and plays were +first acted in Spain in the open courts of great houses, which were +sometimes covered, in whole or in part, with an awning to keep off the +sun. The word _sale_, which is used as a stage direction, meaning not +_exit_, but he enters, i.e. he comes out of the house into the open +air, is an evidence of the old practice. We are inclined to think +that the morning is more favourable to dramatic excellence than the +evening. The daylight accords with the truth and sobriety of nature, +and it is the season of cool judgment: the gilded, the painted, the +tawdry, the meretricious--spangles and tinsel, and tarnished and +glittering trumpery--demand the glare of candle-light and the shades +of night. It is certain, that the best pieces were written for the +day; and it is probable, that the best actors were those who performed +whilst the sun was above the horizon. The childish trash which now +occupies so large a portion of the public attention could not, it is +evident, keep possession of the stage, if it were to be presented, not +at ten o'clock at night, but twelve hours earlier. Much would need to +be changed in the dresses, scenery, and decorations, and in many other +respects, in the pieces, the solid merits of which would be able to +undergo the severe ordeal; and if we consider _what_ changes would be +required to adapt them to the altered hours, we shall find that they +will be all in favour of good taste, and on the side of nature and +simplicity. The day is a holy thing; Homer aptly calls it [Greek: +ieron aemar], and it still retains something of the sacred simplicity +of ancient times. It is, at all events, less sophisticated and +polluted than the modern night, a period which is not devoted to +wholesome sleep, but to various constraints and sufferings, called, +in bitter mockery, Pleasure. The late evening, being a modern +invention, is therefore devoted to fashion; to recur to the simple and +pure in theatricals, it would probably be necessary to effect an +escape from a period of time, which has never been employed in the +full integrity of tasteful elegance; and thus to break the spell, by +which the whole realm of fancy has long been bewitched. An absurd and +inconvenient practice, which is almost peculiar to this country, of +attending public places in that uncomfortable condition, which is +technically called being dressed, but which is in truth, especially in +females, being more or less naked and undressed, might more easily be +dispensed with by day, and on that account, and for many other reasons, +it would be less difficult to return home. + +_DECLINE OF THE DRAMA._ + +It is not unlikely that the drama would be more successful if it were +conducted more plainly, and in a less costly style. The perfection +of the machinery and scenery of the modern theatres, seems to be +unfavourable to the goodness of composition and acting; since the +accessaries are so excellent, the opinion is encouraged, that the +principals are less important, and may be neglected with impunity. +The effect of good scenery at the first glance is, no doubt, very +striking, but it soon passes away. If we saw a Garrick acting +Shakspeare in a large hall, without any scenes, we should cease in a +few minutes to be sensible of the want of them. We are almost disposed +to believe, that exactly in proportion as scenery has been improved, +good acting has declined. + +The present age is too much inclined to make human life, in every +department, resemble a great lottery, in which there are a very few +enormous prizes, and all the rest of the tickets are blanks. The +stage has not escaped the evil we complain of; on the contrary, it is +a striking instance of the mischief of this unequal partition. The +public are of opinion, that it is impossible to reward a small number +of actors too highly, and to pay the remainder at too low a rate; +to neglect the latter enough, or to be sufficiently attentive to the +former. On our stage, therefore, the inferior parts, and indeed all +but one or two, and especially in tragedies, where the inequality +is more intolerable, and more inexcusable, are sustained in a +very inadequate manner. In foreign theatres, on the contrary, and +especially in France, the whole performance is more equal, and +consequently more agreeable. There is perhaps less difference than is +commonly supposed between the best performers and those in the next +class. Whatever the difference be, it is an inconvenience and an +imperfection that ought to be palliated; but we aggravate it. The +first-rate actor always does his best, because the audience expect it, +and reward him with their applause; but no one cares for, or observes, +the performer of second-rate talents: whether he be perfect in his +part, and exert himself to the utmost, or be slovenly and negligent +throughout, he is unpraised and unblamed. The general effect, +therefore, of our tragedies, is very unsatisfactory; for that is far +greater, where all the characters are tolerably well supported, than +where there is one good actor, and all the other parts are inhumanly +murdered. This latter is too often the case on our stage for with +us art does little, nothing being taught systematically. The French +players, on the contrary, are thoroughly drilled, and well instructed, +in every requisite. + + * * * * * + + +BISHOPS' SLEEVES. + +To Joan it has been always conceded that she is as good as her lady +in the dark, but it is only of late years that Joan has presumed to +rival her mistress in the light. The high price of silks and satins +protected the mistress against this usurpation of her servant in the +broad day. Clad in these, she was safe, as in a coat of mail, from +the attack of the domestic aspirant, who was seldom able to obtain +possession of the outworks of fashion beyond an Irish poplin or a +Norwich crape. The silks and satins were a wall of separation, as +impenetrable as the lines of Torres Vedras, or the court hoop and +petticoat of a drawing-room in the reign of George III. The new +liberal commercial system has entirely changed the position of the +parties. The cheapness of French silks, and other articles of dress, +has placed female finery within the reach of even moderate wages, and +a kitchen-wench will not condescend to sweep the room in any thing +less than a robe of _Gros de Naples_ or _batiste_. Something must be +done on the part of the mistress to arrest the progress of invasion, +and assert the vested rights of the superior classes of female +society. Invention is the first quality of genius, and to woman it +is granted in a high degree. Thus gifted, the mistress, in a happy +moment, conceived the idea of bishops' sleeves, an article of dress +which precludes all hope or chance of imitation in the kitchen. A +muffled cat might as well attempt to catch mice, as a maid-servant to +go about the business of the house in bishops' sleeves. She could not +remove the tea-equipage from the table without the risk of sweeping +the china upon the floor; if she handed her master a plate, he must +submit to have his head wrapped up in her sleeve; and what a figure +must the cook present after preparing her soups and sauces! The female +servant thus accoutred might, indeed, perform the office of a flapper, +and disperse the flies; but although this was an office of importance +among the ancients, it is dispensed with at a modern table. With the +introduction of bishops' sleeves, the rivalry on the part of the maid +must cease, and the mistress remain in undisturbed possession of her +pre-eminence. Every friend of good order, every one who would retain +each individual female in her proper place in society, and prevent its +members from trespassing on each other, must, therefore, rejoice in +bishops' sleeves; and devoutly pray, that differing from every other +fashion that ever preceded it, the fashion of bishops' sleeves may +endure for ever.--New Monthly Magazine. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY + + * * * * * + + +_IRIS LUNARIS._ + +That rare and beautiful phenomenon the _Iris Lunaris_, or moonlight +rainbow, was observed by Mr. W. Colbourne, jun. and a friend of his, +from an eminence about a quarter of a mile from Sturminster, on the +evening of the 14th instant, about twenty minutes before nine o'clock, +in the north-west. Its northern limb first made its appearance; +but after a few minutes, the complete curvature was distinctly and +beautifully displayed. The altitude of its apex seemed to be nearly +forty degrees. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the appearance of +this arch of milky whiteness, contrasted as it was with the sable +rain fraught clouds which formed the background to this interesting +picture. It continued visible more than five minutes, and gradually +disappeared at the western limb. + +RURIS. + +_Sturminster_. + + +_WESTPHALIA HAMS_ + +Are prepared in November and March. The Germans place them in deep +tubs, which they cover with layers of salt and saltpetre, and with a +few laurel leaves. They are left four or five days in this state, and +are then completely covered with strong brine. At the end of three +weeks they are taken out, and left to soak for twelve hours in clear +well-water; they are then exposed, during three weeks, to a smoke +produced by the branches of juniper.--_From the French._ + + +_LONDON PORTER._ + +The bitter contained in porter, if taken wholly from hops, would +require an average quantity of ten or twelve pounds to the quarter +of malt, or about three pounds per barrel; so that if we consider the +fluctuation in the price of hops, we shall not be surprised at the +numerous substitutes, by which means the brewer can procure as much +bitter for sixpence as would otherwise cost him a pound. + +Quassia is, probably, the most harmless of all the illegal bitters. +The physicians prescribe the decoction to their patients to the extent +of a quarter of an ounce of the bark a day--as much as the brewer was +accustomed to put into nine gallons of his porter.--_Library of Useful +Knowledge_. + + +_BLACK GAME_ + +Have increased greatly in the southern counties of Scotland and north +of England within the last few years. It is a pretty general opinion, +though an erroneous one, that they drive away the red grouse; the +two species require very different kinds of cover, and will never +interfere.--_Note to White's Selborne, by Sir W. Jardine_. + + +_BIRDS OF PREY._ + +All birds of prey are capable of sustaining the want of food and water +for long periods, particularly the latter, but of which they also seem +remarkably fond, drinking frequently in a state of nature, and during +summer washing almost daily.--Ibid. + + +_EGYPT._ + +M. Champollion, in one of his recent letters, tells us that the whole +of the island of Elephantina would hardly make a park fit for a good +citizen of Paris, although certain modern chronologists would fain +make it into a kingdom, in order to dispose of the ancient Egyptian +dynasty of the Elephantines. + +In another letter dated March last, he says, "Our establishment is in +the Valley of Kings, which may truly be called the abode of death, as +not a blade of grass is to be found in it, nor any living creature, +except the jackall and hyæna, which the night before last devoured, at +the distance of 100 steps from our palace, the ass which had carried +my Barabra servant Mahomet, during the time that he was agreeably +passing the night of the Ramadan in our kitchen, which is in a royal +tomb, entirely dilapidated."--_Translated in the Literary Gazette_. + + +_BEET-ROOT SUGAR._ + +The Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter for September, among the advantages +which will probably lead to the discontinuance of the cultivation of +sugar by slaves, enumerates the rapid extension of the manufacture of +beet-root sugar in France; a prelude, as the editor conceives, to its +introduction into this country, and especially into Ireland. + + +_DRY ROT._ + +The American Commodore Barron recommends pumping air from the holds of +vessels as a remedy against dry rot; the common mode of ventilation, +by forcing pure air, or dashing water into the hold, being found an +imperfect preservative. + + +_ALLOYED IRON PLATE._ + +Iron, coated with an alloy of tin and lead, so as to imitate tin +plate, and not to rust, is now manufactured to a considerable +extent in Paris; and its use for sugar-pans and boilers, and in the +construction of roofs and gutters is expected to be very considerable. + + +_INTERESTING QUESTION._ + +Whether in the sea there be depths where no creature is able to +live, or whether a boundary be assigned to organic life within those +depths, cannot be ascertained. It, however, clearly appears from +the observations made by Biot, and other naturalists, that fishes, +according to their different dispositions, live in different depths of +the ocean.--_From the German_. + + +_CATS._ + +In Kamtschatka, Greenland, Lapland, and Iceland, there are no cats, +nor does the lynx in Europe extend farther than Norway.--Ibid. + + +_VESSELS MADE OF THE PAPYRUS._ + +The last number of the _Magazine of Natural History_ contains an +article of great interest, on Vessels made of the Papyrus, illustrated +with cuts, from which it appears that vessels have from the earliest +times, been formed from the paper reed, and that they are at present +in use in Egypt and Abyssinia. The author is John Hogg, Esq. M.A. +F.L.S. &c. whose antiquarian attainments have greatly assisted him in +the elucidation of this very curious subject. + + +_REMAINS OF LA PEROUSE._[10] + +M. Derville, who commanded the Astrolabe, in the lute-voyage +undertaken to search for traces of the expedition of La Perouse, +considers the island, the summits of which were observed fifteen +leagues to windward, by the frigates La Récherche and L'Esperance, +which composed the expedition of Admiral D'Entrecasteaux, in 1793, and +to which the name of the Isle de la Récherche was then given, to be +the identical island, Vanikoro (or Vanicolo) on the shores of which +the remnants of La Perouse's vessel have been found. The geographical +position of latitude and longitude of the Isle of Vanikoro, agrees +exactly with that of the island to which the name of Récherche was +given by D'Entrecasteaux. That island was then confounded with the +number of other islands, which had been seen by the expedition, and +which it had been found impossible to examine in detail.--_Athenæum_. + + +_STUDY OF CHEMISTRY._ + +Numbers there are, far above the lower classes, who still consider the +elements of all things as consisting of earth, air, fire, and water; +an error which classical-learning, no less than the expressions of +common parlance, tends to perpetuate. Let us hope that the days are +at hand, if not already arrived, in which the acquirement of such +fundamental knowledge will be looked upon as at least equally +necessary with the study of languages, and the cultivation of taste +and imagination.--_Library of Useful Knowledge_. + +[Footnote 10: For a Report of this discovery, see MIRROR, vol. xiii p. +409.] + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.--SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +ORIGIN OF THE WORD WORSTED. + +Worsted, in the county of Norfolk, though formerly a town of +considerable trade, and much celebrity, is now reduced to a village, +and the manufactures, which obtained a name from the place, are +removed to Norwich and its vicinity. + +Shakspeare has not been very courteous towards the _worsted gentry_; +had he lived in our times, they might have _worsted_ him for a libel: +he says in King Lear, "A base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three suited, +hundred pound, filthy, worsted stocking knave." + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + +I asked a poor man, how he did? He said, he was like a washball, +always in decay.--_Swift_. + + * * * * * + + +CAT-FANCIER. + +Lady Morgan gives the following anecdote in her _Book of the Boudoir_. +"The first day we had the honour of dining at the palace of the +Archbishop of Taranto, at Naples, he said to me, you must pardon my +passion for cats, (_la mia passione gattesca_) but I never exclude +them from my dining-room, and you will find they make excellent +company." Between the first and second course the door opened, and +several enormously large and beautiful Angola cats were introduced by +the names of Pantalone, Desdemona, Otello, &c. They took their places +on chairs near the table, and were as silent, as quiet, as motionless, +and as well behaved, as the most _bon ton_ table in London could +require. On the bishop requesting one of the chaplains to help +the Signora Desdemona, the butler stepped up to his lordship, and +observed, "My Lord, La Signora Desdemona will prefer waiting for the +roast." + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT FAMILY. + +There was much sound truth in the speech of a country lad to an idler, +who boasted his ancient family: "_So much the worse for you_," said +the peasant, as we ploughmen say, "_the older the seed the worse the +crop_." + + * * * * * + +At North Ferryby, in Yorkshire, the following very instructive +lines, are inscribed on a handsome tablet to the memory of Sir T. +Etherington, an Alderman of Hull, and late a resident in the above +place:-- + +"Taught of God we should view losses, sickness, pain, and death, +but as the several trying stages by which a good man, like Joseph, +is conducted from a tent to a court; sin his disease, Christ his +physician, pain his medicine, the Bible his support, the grave his +rest, and death itself an angel expressly sent to relieve the worn out +labourer, or crown the faithful soldier!" + +Louis XIV. was presented with an epitaph by an indifferent poet, on +the celebrated Moliere. "I would to God," said he, "that Moliere had +brought me yours." + + * * * * * + + +ON MEMORY. + +What an unknown and unspeakable happiness would it be to a man of +judgment, and who is engaged in the pursuit of knowledge, if he had +but a power of stamping all his own best sentiments upon his memory in +some indelible characters; and if he could but imprint every valuable +paragraph and sentiment of the most excellent authors he has read, +upon his mind, with the same speed and facility with which he read +them?--_Watts_. + + * * * * * + +Upon a stone in St. Margaret's churchyard, at Lynn, in Norfolk, is the +following inscription to the memory of William Scrivenor, Cook to the +Corporation, who died in the year 1684:-- + + Alas! alas! _Will Scrivenor's_ dead, who by his art, + Could make death's skeleton edible in each part, + Mourn, squeamish stomachs, and ye curious palates, + You've lost your dainty dishes and your salades; + Mourn for yourselves, but not for him i'th' least + He's gone to taste of a more heav'nly feast. + +At Whitchingham Magna, in the same county, is the following epitaph to +Thomas Alleyne, gent. who died Feb. 3, 1650, and his two wives:-- + + Death here advantage hath of life I spye, + One husband with two wives at once may lye. + + * * * * * + +A recent American newspaper has the following notice to its +readers:--"The editor, printer, publisher, foreman, and oldest +apprentice (_two_ in all,) are confined by sickness, and the whole +establishment is left in the care of the _devil_." + + * * * * * + + +LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE + +Following Novels is already Published: + + s. d. + Mackenzie's Man of Feeling 0 6 + Paul and Virginia 0 6 + The Castle of Otranto 0 6 + Almoran and Hamet 0 6 + Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia 0 6 + The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 0 6 + Rasselas 0 8 + The Old English Baron 0 9 + Nature and Art 0 8 + Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 0 10 + Sicilian Romance 1 0 + The Man of the World 1 0 + A Simple Story 1 4 + Joseph Andrews 1 6 + Humphry Clinker 1 8 + The Romance of the Forest 1 8 + The Italian 2 0 + Zeluco, by Dr. Moore 2 6 + Edward, by Dr. Moore 2 6 + Roderick Random 2 6 + The Mysteries of Udolpho 3 6 + Peregrine Pickle 4 6 + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +and by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror Of Literature, Amusement, +And Instruction, No. 391, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13359 *** |