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diff --git a/76874-0.txt b/76874-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2f7aba --- /dev/null +++ b/76874-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1106 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76874 *** + + + + + + THE PENNY MAGAZINE + + OF THE + + Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + 15.] PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. [June 30, 1832 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + THE CAVE OF ELEPHANTA. + + [Illustration: A view of a cave, with large statues and pillars and two + people standing inside.] + +One of the earliest monuments of India that attracted the notice of +Europeans was the excavation of Elephanta, situated in a beautiful +island of the same name, called by the natives Goripura, or _Mountain +City_. This island is in the bay of Bombay, seven miles from Bombay +castle; it is about six miles in circumference, and composed of two long +hills with a narrow valley between them. + +The island has taken its familiar name from a colossal statue of an +elephant, cut out of a detached mass of blackish rock unconnected with +any stratum below. This figure has had another on its back, which the +old travellers call a young elephant, but which, as far as we can judge +from the drawing of what remains of it, has much more probably been a +tiger. The head and neck of this elephant dropped off about 1814, owing +to a large fissure that ran up through its back. The length of this +colossal figure, from the forehead to the root of the tail, was 13 feet +2 inches; and the height at the head 7 feet 4 inches. The remains of +this colossus stand about 250 yards to the right of the usual +landing-place, which is towards the southern part of the island. + +After proceeding up the valley till the two mountains unite, we come to +a narrow path, after ascending which there is a beautiful prospect of +the northern part of the island, and the opposite shores of Salsette. +“Advancing forward and keeping to the left along the bend of the hill, +we gradually mount to an open space, and come suddenly on the grand +entrance of a magnificent temple, whose huge massy columns seem to give +support to the whole mountain which rises above it. + +“The entrance into this temple, which is entirely hewn out of a stone +resembling porphyry, is by a spacious front supported by two massy +pillars and two pilasters forming three openings, under a thick and +steep rock overhung by brushwood and wild shrubs. The long ranges of +columns that appear closing in perspective on every side; the flat roof +of solid rock that seems to be prevented from falling only by the massy +pillars, whose capitals are pressed down and flattened as if by the +superincumbent weight; the darkness that obscures the interior of the +temple, which is dimly lighted only by the entrances; and the gloomy +appearance of the gigantic stone figures ranged along the wall, and +hewn, like the whole temple, out of the living rock,--joined to the +strange uncertainty that hangs over the history of this place,--carry +the mind back to distant periods, and impress it with that kind of +uncertain and religious awe with which the grander works of ages of +darkness are generally contemplated. + +“The whole excavation consists of three principal parts: the great +temple itself, which is in the centre, and two smaller chapels, one on +each side of the great temple. These two chapels do not come forward +into a straight line with the front of the chief temple, are not +perceived on approaching the temple, and are considerably in recess, +being approached by two narrow passes in the hill, one on each side of +the grand entrance, but at some distance from it. After advancing to +some distance up these confined passes, we find each of them conduct to +another front of the grand excavation, exactly like the principal front +which is first seen; all the three fronts being hollowed out of the +solid rock, and each consisting of two huge pillars with two pilasters. +The two side fronts are precisely opposite to each other on the east and +west, the grand entrance facing the north. The two wings of the temple +are at the upper end of these passages, and are close by the grand +excavation, but have no covered passage to connect them with it.[1]” + +From the northern entrance to the extremity of this cave is about 130½ +feet, and from the eastern to the western side 133. Twenty-six pillars, +of which eight are broken, and sixteen pilasters, support the roof. +Neither the floor nor the roof is in the same plane, and consequently +the height varies, being in some parts 17½, in others 15 feet. Two rows +of pillars run parallel to one another from the northern entrance and at +right angles to it, to the extremity of the cave; and the pilasters, one +of which stands on each side of the two front pillars, are followed by +other pilasters and pillars also, forming on each side of the two rows +already described, another row, running parallel to them up to the +southern extremity of the cave. The pillars on the eastern and western +front, which are like those on the northern side, are also continued +across the temple from east to west. Thus the ranges of pillars form a +number of parallel lines intersecting one another at right angles--the +pillars of the central parts being considered as common to the two sets +of intersecting lines. The pillars vary both in their size and +decorations, though the difference is not sufficient to strike the eye +at first. + +All the walls are covered with reliefs (which are yet very little known +for want of complete drawings), but are described as being in good +proportion and producing rather a pleasing effect than the contrary. All +the sculptures refer to the Indian mythology, and the temple seems to +have been the special property of the god Siva, since he appears very +frequently with his usual attributes. In one place we see him as half +man and half woman, with one breast and four hands, in one of which he +holds the snake. + +In Mr. Daniell’s Views in India (vol. v. pl. 7) we have a beautiful +drawing of the northern front of the Elephanta cave, with its +overhanging trees and shrubs. His eighth plate is that which we have +above given. “The view is taken near the centre of the temple looking +westward. The space between four of the pillars is formed into a small +temple, sacred to Mahadiva (Siva), and has an entrance on each side, +guarded by colossal figures.” “On the walls are several groups of +figures in basso-relievo, evidently relating to the Hindoo mythology; +many of them are of colossal dimensions and well executed. To the east +and west are small apartments, decorated also in the same manner. This +excavation is considerably elevated above the sea; the floor, +nevertheless, is generally covered with water during the monsoon season; +the rain being then driven in by the wind; a circumstance to which +possibly its present state of decay is chiefly owing.” + +Larger excavations of this kind are found in the neighbouring island of +Salsette. But these are far surpassed by the temples of Ellora, which +are in the province of Hyderabad, about twenty miles north-west from +Aurungabad, the capital, and 239 east of Bombay. It may be considered as +near the centre of India. Here we have a granite mountain, which is of +an amphitheatre form, completely chiselled out from top to bottom, and +filled with innumerable temples; the god Siva alone having, it is said, +about twenty appropriated to himself. To describe the numerous galleries +and rows of pillars which support various chambers lying one above +another, the steps, porticos, and bridges of rock over canals, also hewn +out of the solid rock, would be impossible; and we recommend those who +have the opportunity to look at Daniell’s designs, which will serve to +give some idea of this wonderful place. + +The rock-cut temples of India are generally supposed to be of higher +antiquity than pagodas[2] or temples, built on the surface of the earth. + + ⁂ Abridged from ‘British Museum--Egyptian Antiquities.’ + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + Mr. W. Erskine, in the Bombay Literary Transactions. + +Footnote 2: + + The word pagoda is a corruption of _Bhaga-rati_, “holy house,” one of + the several names by which the Hindoo temples are known. + + + --------------------- + + + THE WEATHER.--No. 3. + +Ben Jonson, in his play of ‘Every Man out of his Humour,’ has a +character of which some examples may still be found, even in our own +day. It is that of a credulous man, who relies implicitly on the +_Weather Prophecies_ of the almanacs of his time;--and, his barns being +full, resolves not to sow his ground, because the almanacs foretel + + “Rotten weather and unseasoned hours.” + +This species of credulity is probably not very often now carried as far +as in the instance of _Sordido_, the dupe of the play;--but still there +are some amongst us who will not cut their grass till they have seen +what “Master Moore” says about the weather. In nine cases out of ten +these superstitious confiders in an almost worn-out imposture, have in +the end to exclaim with the miser of the old dramatist, “Tut, these +star-monger knaves, who would trust ’em? One says, _dark and rainy_, +when ’tis as clear as crystal; another says, _tempestuous blasts and +storms_, and ’twas as calm as a milk-bowl. Here be sweet rascals for a +man to credit his whole fortunes with[3]!” + +Now, let us see what the almanac oracle of the present time--“Francis +Moore, Physician”--says about the weather, for June, 1832. He says, in +one of his narrow columns which runs parallel with the calendar of the +present month, “Variable, with thunder showers flying about. Some +showers at intervals, attended with electrical _phenomena_, EVEN TO THE +END.” Be it remembered that this prophecy is for _all parts_ of the +United Kingdom--for England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland;--for the +hilly districts and for the plains,--for the coasts and for the inland +countries. A correspondent, who writes to us about the weather, very +sensibly says, “Does it not often happen that they have many rainy days +successively at Manchester, whilst not a drop falls at Leeds? How then +can any man’s tables about the moon, or general rules for the weather, +or the prophecies of almanacs, answer for both the hilly and level +districts? The Cheshire men say that their rugged-topt hills knock out +the bottoms of the clouds, and leave them as leaky as a sieve while +passing over Manchester.” So much for the _universal_ application of +these astrological predictions of the weather. + +But let us further examine this prophecy of Moore’s Almanac for the +present month of June. There are some who impudently defend the +publication of such predictions, as well as the predictions of political +events which the same almanac contains;--and they say that the weather +prophecies are only intended to give the average results of many years +of actual observation, which make more impression upon the farmer’s mind +in this form than if he were to refer himself to meteorological tables +of the barometer, of the thermometer, of the hygrometer, and of the +rain-gauge. Now, here is a prediction calculated to frighten the +credulous agriculturist into a belief that the whole of June, throughout +the country, will be unfavourable to hay-making:--“Showers at intervals, +attended with _electrical phenomena_, EVEN TO THE END.” Electrical +phenomena! This is a phrase as terrific as the obscurities of the +ancient oracles. A phenomenon, as most of our readers know, is an +appearance--anything made manifest to us in any way; and as electricity +is doubtless one of the most important agents in producing particular +states of the weather, rain and sunshine, wind and calm, heat and cold, +may be equally _electrical phenomena_. But “showers at intervals, +attended with electrical phenomena,” is a phrase naturally calculated to +frighten the ignorant into a belief that the weather of June, “even unto +the end,” will be rainy, attended with heavy storms; the most +unfavourable state, because producing the greatest uncertainty and +expense in the work of getting in the hay-harvest. This prediction was +probably manufactured a year ago: it was printed in October last; and so +far from giving a notion of what is the _average_ weather for June--the +only matter upon which the prediction monger could possess the slightest +information--he prophesies directly in the teeth of the best +meteorological records; for it is a well-known fact that in June the +average number of days on which rain falls is under twelve--the lowest +number of any month in the year. June, therefore, is in general the most +favourable month for hay-making, whatever exceptions there may be in +particular years; of which “Francis Moore” could know no more beforehand +than the most ignorant peasant whom he deludes. + +But let us look a little further at the prophecies of the +Weather-Almanac. June being lost to the hay-farmer by the fear of “rain +and electrical phenomena,” July is to make him happy “with fair and hot +weather.” The hay-harvest therefore will be, if possible, deferred by +the dupes onward to July. Now in July a continuance of rainy weather +commonly happens about the middle of the month; and this periodical +tendency to rain has given rise to the popular tradition of St. Swithin. +Of course there are exceptions to this tendency; but in this, as in most +cases, the popular error has some little foundation in truth. The +chances, therefore, are that the farmer who, for fear of “electrical +phenomena,” has let June pass over without cutting his grass, will find +a very short interval between the beginning of July and the periodical +rains of the middle of that month; and thus a great deal of national +property may be destroyed, and the credulous individual’s capital +expended in vain, because he has chosen to believe in a musty cheat, of +which even the propagators of the deception are ashamed. + +We have endeavoured to show in a former Number (and we shall continue +the subject in a future paper), that by the careful use of good +instruments, some few facts may be established as guides in operations +dependent upon the weather. In the place of these the observations of +shepherds, fishermen, and others who have attended to the _passing_ and +_local_ signs of winds, and clouds, and tints of the sky, and other +omens, are not to be despised. These men are practical philosophers, who +may fairly claim some accurate knowledge of the weather from day to day. +They are much too sensible and honest to pretend to any power of +predicting if it will be fair or foul weather, for a year, or a month, +or even a week beforehand. Such a man has been described by the poet:-- + + ⸻“In his shepherd’s calling he was prompt, + And watchful more than ordinary men. + Hence had he learned the meaning of all winds, + Of blasts of every tone; and, oftentimes, + When others heeded not, he heard the South + Make subterraneous music, like the noise + Of bagpipers on distant Highland hills.” + +The late Sir Humphrey Davy, one of the most successful modern explorers +of the secrets of nature, was not above attending to, and explaining +the, “weather-omens” which are derived from popular observation. In his +‘Salmonia’ he has the following dialogue between Halieus (a fly-fisher), +Poietes (a poet), Physicus (a man of science), and Ornither (a +sportsman):-- + + +“_Poiet_. I hope we shall have another good day to-morrow, for the +clouds are red in the west. + +“_Phys_. I have no doubt of it, for the red has a tint of purple. + +“_Hal_. Do you know why this tint portends fine weather? + +“_Phys_. The air, when dry, I believe, refracts more red, or heat-making +rays; and as dry air is not perfectly transparent, they are again +reflected in the horizon. I have generally observed a coppery or yellow +sun-set to foretel rain; but, as an indication of wet weather +approaching, nothing is more certain than a halo round the moon, which +is produced by the precipitated water; and the larger the circle, the +nearer the clouds, and consequently the more ready to fall. + +“_Hal_. I have often observed that the old proverb is correct-- + + ‘A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd’s warning; + A rainbow at night is the shepherd’s delight.’ + +Can you explain this omen? + +“_Phys_. A rainbow can only occur when the clouds containing, or +depositing, the rain are opposite the sun,--and in the evening the +rainbow is in the east, and in the morning in the west; and as our heavy +rains, in this climate, are usually brought by the westerly wind, a +rainbow in the west indicates that the bad weather is on the road, by +the wind, to us; whereas the rainbow in the east proves that the rain in +these clouds is passing from us. + +“_Poiet_. I have often observed, that when the swallows fly high fine +weather is to be expected or continued; but when they fly low, and close +to the ground, rain is almost surely approaching. Can you account for +this? + +“_Hal_. Swallows follow the flies and gnats, and flies and gnats usually +delight in warm strata of air; and as warm air is lighter, and usually +moister, than cold air, when the warm strata of air are high, there is +less chance of moisture being thrown down from them by the mixture with +cold air; but when the warm and moist air is close to the surface, it is +almost certain that, as the cold air flows down into it, a deposition of +water will take place. + +“_Poiet_. I have often seen sea-gulls assemble on the land, and have +almost always observed that very stormy and rainy weather was +approaching. I conclude that these animals, sensible of a current of air +approaching from the ocean, retire to the land to shelter themselves +from the storm. + +“_Orn_. No such thing. The storm is their element, and the little petrel +enjoys the heaviest gale; because, living on the smaller sea insects, he +is sure to find his food in the spray of a heavy wave, and you may see +him flitting above the edge of the highest surge. I believe that the +reason of this migration of sea-gulls, and other sea birds, to the land, +is their security of finding food; and they may be observed, at this +time, feeding greedily on the earth-worms and larvæ, driven out of the +ground by severe floods; and the fish, on which they prey in fine +weather in the sea, leave the surface, and go deeper in storms. The +search after food, as we have agreed on a former occasion, is the +principal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of +the wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place; and I +remember once, in Italy, having been long waiting, in the end of March, +for the arrival of the double snipe in the Campagna of Rome, a great +flight appeared on the 3d of April, and the day after heavy rain set in, +which greatly interfered with my sport. The vulture, upon the same +principle, follows armies; and I have no doubt that the augury of the +ancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instincts +of birds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same +source. For anglers, in spring, it is always unlucky to see single +magpies,--but _two_ may be always regarded as a favourable omen; and the +reason is, that in cold and stormy weather one magpie alone leaves the +nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs or the +young ones; but when two go out together it is only when the weather is +warm and mild, and favourable for fishing. + +“_Poiet_. The singular connections of causes and effects to which you +have just referred, makes superstition less to be wondered at, +particularly amongst the vulgar; and when two facts, naturally +unconnected, have been accidentally coincident, it is not singular that +this coincidence should have been observed and registered, and that +omens of the most absurd kind should be trusted in. In the west of +England, half a century ago, a particular hollow noise on the sea coast +was referred to a spirit or goblin, called Bucca, and was supposed to +foretel a shipwreck; the philosopher knows that sound travels much +faster than currents in the air--and the sound always foretold the +approach of a very heavy storm, which seldom takes place on that wild +and rocky coast without a shipwreck on some part of its extensive +shores, surrounded by the Atlantic.” + + +We may not improperly conclude this paper with some lines which have +been transmitted to us, as a production of the late Dr. Jenner, the +discoverer of vaccination. We, of course, do not recommend an implicit +reliance upon such _natural_ prophecies of the weather of the coming +day. But, at any rate, whatever connected with this subject tends to +open a man’s own eyes,--whatever excites in him the habit of observation +and comparison,--is a benefit; whilst a reliance, on the contrary, on +the unprincipled quackeries of the more popular almanacs which still +disgrace our country, as well as every other prostration of the +understanding before the shrine of ignorance, is the most deceptive of +all states of the human mind, and the most likely to engender a train of +other delusions which shut up the sources of real knowledge, and degrade +the whole moral as well as intellectual character. + + + SIGNS OF RAIN. + + Addressed by Dr. Jenner, in 1810, to a Lady who asked him if he thought + it would rain to-morrow. + + The hollow winds begin to blow, + The clouds look black, the glass is low: + The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, + And spiders from their cobwebs creep: + Last night the sun went pale to bed, + The moon in halos hid her head: + The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, + For see, a rainbow spans the sky; + The walls are damp, the ditches smell, + Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel; + The squalid toads at dusk were seen + Slowly crawling o’er the green; + Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, + The distant hills are looking nigh; + Hark, how the chairs and tables crack, + Old Betty’s joints are on the rack; + And see yon rooks, how odd their flight, + They imitate the gliding kite, + Or seem precipitate to fall + As if they felt the piercing ball; + How restless are the snorting swine, + The busy flies disturb the kine, + Low o’er the grass the swallow wings, + The cricket too, how loud she sings, + Puss on the hearth with velvet paws + Sits wiping o’er her whisker’d jaws:-- + ’Twill surely rain, I see, with sorrow, + Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow. + +----- + +Footnote 3: + + Every Man out of his Humour; Act iii. Scene 7. + + + --------------------- + + + THE BRITISH MUSEUM.--No. 4. + + [Illustration: The Musk-Ox.] + +We shall occasionally turn aside from the monuments of Art in the +British Museum to notice some of the specimens in the collection of +Natural History. Stuffed skins and skeletons are, of course, much less +interesting, both to the scientific student of zoology and to the +ordinary observer, than the living animal, retaining his natural habits, +as far as they can be preserved, in a menagerie. But, at the same time, +a stuffed skin affords a much better notion of the animated creature +than the best drawing; and, in some cases, the living specimen cannot be +procured, or kept alive, in this country. In such cases we are compelled +to resort to such preserved specimens as that of the _musk-ox_, on the +great staircase of the Museum. + +This specimen is very faithfully represented in the above wood-cut. The +animal, of which this skin was once a part, was shot by some of the +persons accompanying Captain Parry, in one of his expeditions to the +Polar Seas; and was presented to the Museum by the Lords of the +Admiralty. The appearance of the musk-ox, as the visitor will observe, +is strikingly different from that of the common black cattle of Great +Britain. Its limbs are singularly short,--its crooked horns are broad +and flattened,--long thick hair covers the whole of its trunk, hanging +down nearly to the ground,--and its short tail, bending inwards, is +entirely hidden by the long hair of the rump and hind quarters. It will +be noticed that the hair is particularly thick under the throat, looking +something like a horse’s mane inverted. The adaptation of the structure +of this animal to the frozen regions which he inhabits, offers one of +the most striking illustrations of design which the natural world +exhibits. The shortness of the creature’s limbs prevents that exposure +of the trunk to the snow-storms and the cold, which would result from a +greater elevation; whilst he is more effectually protected from the +severity of the seasons by the dense mass of hair with which his whole +body is covered, and which, in winter, becomes a thick woolly coat, +beneath the long straight hair which forms his outer garment. The Author +of the Appendix to Parry’s Second Voyage, in noticing the remarkable +projection of the orbits of the eyes in this species, considers that +their formation is necessary to carry the eye of the animal clear beyond +the large quantity of hair required to preserve the warmth of the head. + +Thus protected from the inclemency of winter cold, the musk-ox remains +the contented and happy inhabitant of the most barren and desolate parts +of the earth. Within the Arctic Circle, in those almost inaccessible +regions which lie nearest the North Pole, large herds of these +quadrupeds are found, appearing to derive as much enjoyment from +existence as the cattle who graze on the most luxuriant pastures, +beneath a genial sky. They are not often found at a great distance from +woods; but when they feed upon open grounds they prefer the most +precipitous situations, climbing amidst rocks with all the agility and +precision of the mountain-goat or the chamois. Grass, when they can get +it, moss, twigs of willow, and pine shoots, constitute their food. The +parts of the polar regions inhabited by the musk-ox are thus described +in the Appendix to Parry’s Second Voyage:-- + + +“This species of ox inhabits the North Georgian Islands in the summer +months. They arrived in Melville Island in the middle of May, crossing +the ice from the southward, and quitted it on their return towards the +end of September. The musk-ox may be further stated, on Esquimaux +information, to inhabit the country on the west of Davis’ Strait, and on +the north of Baffin’s Bay; as a head and horns and a drawing of a bull +being shown to the Esquimaux of the west coast of Davis’ Strait who were +communicated with on the 7th of September, were immediately recognized, +and the animal called by the name of Umingmack. This is evidently the +same with the Umimak of the Esquimaux of Wolstenholme Sound, who were +visited by the former expedition, and of which nothing more could be +learnt at the time from their description than that it was a large +horned animal inhabiting the land, and certainly not a rein-deer. It is +probable that the individuals which extend their summer migration to the +north-east of Baffin’s Bay, retire during the winter to the continent of +America, or to its neighbourhood, as the species is unknown in South +Greenland.” + + +Captain Franklin, in his Journey to the Polar Sea, has given the +following account of the habits of this species:-- + + +“The musk-oxen, like the buffalo, herd together in bands, and generally +frequent barren grounds during the summer months, keeping near the +rivers, but retire to the woods in winter. They seem to be less watchful +than most other wild animals, and when grazing are not difficult to +approach, provided the hunters go against the wind. When two or three +men get so near a herd as to fire at them from different points, these +animals, instead of separating or running away, huddle closer together, +and several are generally killed; but if the wound is not mortal they +become enraged, and dart in the most furious manner at the hunters, who +must be very dexterous to evade them. They can defend themselves by +their powerful horns against wolves and bears, which, as the Indians +say, they not unfrequently kill. The musk-oxen feed on the same +substances with the rein-deer, and the prints of the feet of these two +animals are so much alike, that it requires the eye of an experienced +hunter to distinguish them. The largest killed by us did not exceed in +weight three hundred pounds. The flesh has a musky disagreeable flavour, +particularly when the animal is lean, which unfortunately for us was the +case with all that we now killed,” + + +The bulls of this species killed during Parry’s second voyage weighed, +upon an average, about 700 lbs., yielding about 400 lbs. of meat; and +they stood about 10½ hands high at the withers. + +On the staircase of the Museum are also stuffed specimens of a male and +female Giraffe, or Camelopard, which were presented to the Museum by Mr. +Burchell, the traveller in Africa. The living giraffe which was +presented to George IV. in 1827, by the Pacha of Egypt, died in 1829. +The other giraffe sent to the government of France, in 1827, is still +living in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. It is impossible from a +studied specimen to form an adequate idea of the grace and beauty of +this remarkable animal; nor of the impression produced upon the senses +by a creature of such enormous height lifting up its head to gather the +tender leaves from branches three times as high as a tall man. Till the +living giraffes were brought to England and France there was a general +belief that the descriptions of this animal were partly fabulous. It is +now established that the account which was given of this animal by Le +Vaillant, one of the most amusing of travellers, who saw the animal in +its native woods, is perfectly accurate. We copy the following +description from his Second Voyage, as translated in ‘The Menageries,’ +Vol. I.:-- + + +“The giraffe ruminates, as every animal does that possesses, at the same +time, horns and cloven feet. It grazes also in the same way; but not +often, because the country which it inhabits has little pasturage. Its +ordinary food is the leaf of a sort of mimosa, called by the natives +_kanaap_, and by the colonists, _kameeldoorn_. This tree being only +found in the country of the Namaquas, may probably afford a reason why +the giraffe is there fixed, and why he is not seen in those regions of +Southern Africa where the tree does not grow. + + + [Illustration: The Giraffe.] + + +“Doubtless the most beautiful part of his body is the head. The mouth is +small; the eyes are brilliant and full. Between the eyes, and above the +nose is a swelling, very prominent and well defined. This prominence is +not a fleshy excrescence, but an enlargement of the bony substance; and +it seems to be similar to the two little lumps, or protuberances, with +which the top of his head is armed, and which, being about the size of a +hen’s egg, spring, on each side, at the commencement of the mane. His +tongue is rough, and terminates in a point. The two jaws have, on each +side, six molar teeth; but the lower jaw has, beyond these, eight +incisive teeth, while the upper jaw has none. + +“The hoofs, which are cleft, and have no nails, resemble those of the +ox. We may remark, at first sight, that those of the fore feet are +larger than those of the hind. The leg is very slender, but the knees +have a prominence, because the animal kneels when he lies down. + +“If I had not myself killed the giraffe, I should have believed, as have +many naturalists, that the fore legs are much longer than the hind. This +is an error; for the legs have, in general, the proportion of those of +other quadrupeds. I say in general, because in this genus there are +varieties, as there are in animals of the same species.... His defence, +as that of the horse and other hoofed animals, consists in kicks; and +his hinder limbs are so light, and his blows so rapid, that the eye +cannot follow them. They are sufficient for his defence against the +lion. He never employs his horns in resisting any attack.... The +giraffes, male and female, resemble each other in their exterior, in +their youth. Their obtuse horns are then terminated by a knot of long +hair: the female preserves this peculiarity some time, but the male +loses it at the age of three years. The hide, which is at first of a +light red, becomes of a deeper colour as the animal advances in age, and +is at length of a yellow brown in the female, and of a brown approaching +to black in the male. By this difference of colour the male may be +distinguished from the female at a distance. The skin varies in both +sexes, as to the distribution and form of the spots. The female is not +so high as the male, and the prominence of the front is not so marked. +She has four teats. According to the account of the natives, she goes +with young about twelve months, and has one at a birth.” + + + --------------------- + + + THE WEEK. + + [Illustration: Flaxman.] + +July 4.--On this day, in the year 1715, was born at Haynichen, near +Freyberg, in Saxony, the German poet, CHRISTIAN FURCHTEGOTT GELLERT. +Gellert was not a man of the highest genius; but appearing at a +favourable time, being animated by the finest spirit of benevolence and +virtuous ambition, and possessing just the talents and character of mind +suited to the task which he undertook, that of awakening the general +body of his countrymen to a taste for literature, he produced as great +and as gratifying an effect by his works as, perhaps, any writer that +ever lived. His father was a clergyman, and he was originally intended +for the same profession; but his first attempt in the pulpit convinced +him that his constitutional timidity would probably prevent him from +ever becoming an effective public speaker. He then resolved to devote +himself to the instruction of his countrymen through the press. At this +time Germany was almost destitute of a national literature. The country +had given birth to many great scholars; and both classical learning and +the abstruse philosophy of the middle ages were cultivated with zeal and +success in its colleges. But scarcely any one had yet arisen to write +for the people. This Gellert and a few of his friends resolved to do. +Discarding all the repulsive technicalities of the schools, they +proceeded to expound and illustrate the great principles of morality, +metaphysics, and criticism, for the use of society at large, in a +natural and popular style, such as was fitted to be intelligible and +interesting to all. In this patriotic enterprise Gellert may be said to +have spent his life. Every successive work which he produced was +received with delight by Germany; but his celebrated ‘Fables’ were read +with rapture by all classes of the population. One day a peasant +appeared at Gellert’s door in Leipsic, with a waggon loaded with +fire-wood. “Is it not here,” asked the man, “that Mr. Gellert lives?” On +being told that it was, he desired to see the master of the house; and +having been brought to him, “Are not you, sir,” he said, “the author of +the ‘Fables?’” “I am,” replied Gellert. “Well then,” said the other, +“here is a load of wood, which I have brought you, to thank you for the +pleasure which your book has given to myself, my wife, and my children.” +By such a heart as Gellert’s this was probably felt to be a more +touching tribute to his powers than the plaudits of crowded theatres +would have been. Another time he was standing in the workshop of a +bookbinder, when a villager came in with a book in his hand. “Here,” +said he, “I want this book strongly bound.” “Where did you pick up this +book?” asked the binder. “I bought it in our town,” replied the +delighted possessor of the treasure; “it has made the steward of the +manor and the schoolmaster laugh till they have almost split their +sides: I have a little boy, who is now a tolerably good reader; he shall +read from this book to me in the evening, while I smoke my pipe, and I +will go no more to the ale-house.” Even the war (commonly called the +_seven years’ war_) which ravaged a great part of Germany from 1756 to +1763, did not extinguish the popular enthusiasm for the writings of +Gellert. When Leipsic was taken by the Prussians in 1758, a lieutenant +of hussars found out the peaceable poet in his house, and not contented +with thanking him warmly for the delightful books to which, he said, he +owed so many pleasant hours, insisted, by way of more substantially +testifying his gratitude, upon making him a present of a pair of +pistols, which he had taken from a Cossack. Nay, the common soldiers +themselves used to come, almost in regiments, to hear a course of +lectures on moral philosophy, which he read in public about this time; +and it is related that one man, having obtained leave of absence, turned +a considerable way out of his road, on his journey homewards, in order +to see, as he expressed it, that _honest fellow_, Mr. Gellert, _whose +books had saved him from becoming a profligate_. The works of Gellert +have been frequently printed in a collected form, and amount, in the +fullest edition, to ten volumes duodecimo. He had been afflicted during +the greater part of his life by bad health; and died on the night of the +13th of December, 1769, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. Having +lingered long in considerable pain, he remarked to the physician, a +short time before his death, that he had not believed it would have been +so difficult to die, and asked when the termination of his sufferings +might be expected. When he was informed that another hour would probably +release him, “God be praised,” he said; “still another hour!” and then +lay in silent resignation, till the expected deliverance came. Germany +lamented, with all the tokens of national grief, the loss of her amiable +instructor; and medals and public monuments testified the admiration and +gratitude of all ranks of his countrymen. + +July 6.--The birth-day of JOHN FLAXMAN, the late eminent sculptor, whose +works have done so much to form the English school of design. Flaxman +was born in 1755, in York, from whence he was removed in his infancy to +London, where his father, who was a moulder of figures, subsequently +kept a shop in the Strand for the sale of plaster casts. The father’s +occupation, no doubt, contributed to call forth the genius of the son; +but the boy very early began to give evidence of fondness for those arts +to which his future life was devoted, and of singular taste and skill in +the efforts of his uninstructed pencil. Like many more of the most +distinguished cultivators of literature and art, he was prevented by the +weakness and delicate health of his early years from mixing in the ruder +sports of boys of his own age; and this, of course, gave him more time +for solitary study. His father was not able to afford him the advantages +of a regular education; but he rapidly acquired a great deal of +knowledge by his own unaided efforts. When he was fifteen he was +admitted a student in the Royal Academy. Here he was successful in a +competition for the inferior honour of the silver medal; but on the +contest for the gold one, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the President, awarded +the prize to another. This was, perhaps, upon the whole, not an +unfortunate incident for Flaxman, though he severely felt what he +thought an injustice. His rival, notwithstanding his good fortune on +this occasion, never rose to any distinction; but Flaxman, with the +heroism of true genius, resolved to obliterate this defeat of his youth +by future triumphs, of the glory of which no such decision should be +able to rob him. And this resolution he nobly fulfilled. His first +employment was given him by the Messrs. Wedgewood, the productions of +whose porcelain potteries he embellished with designs that gave at once +a new character to this branch of British manufactures. In 1782 he +married; and five years afterwards proceeded to visit Italy, where he +remained till 1794, studying the celebrated monuments of the fine arts +with which that country abounds, and at the same time exerting his own +pencil in the production of works which soon spread his fame over +Europe. Having then returned to England, he was in 1797 elected an +Associate, and in 1800 a Member, of the Royal Academy. After this he +executed many great works in marble; and, as a lecturer, afforded some +valuable contributions to the literature of his profession. For many +years before his death his name ranked with the highest of the living +artists of England. But we must refer the reader for an account of his +performances to Mr. Allan Cunningham’s interesting life of him, lately +published, or to the abstract of that memoir in the second number of the +Gallery of Portraits. He died at his house in Buckingham-street, on the +7th of December, 1826, in the seventy-second year of his age. + + + --------------------- + + + IMPROVEMENT IN SOCIAL CONDITION. + +The history of the United States of North America is, in some respects, +one of the most instructive that we can turn to; because we are +accurately acquainted with the origin of this social community, and are +also enabled to trace its history in all its important facts, from the +first establishment of the several colonies up to the present condition +of the Union. Of all historical records none can be put in comparison +with legislative enactments, as showing the condition of the people at +any given period, and the degree of mental culture diffused among them. +In the American States, even under their former colonial government, +there were few men of any importance in the provinces who did not +participate in some of the functions of government; and we may therefore +consider the laws enacted at that period as indicative of the opinions +held by the most influential classes. + +We happen to have before us an old collection of Virginia laws, +entitled, ‘A complete collection of the Laws of Virginia, at a Grand +Assembly held at James City, 23d March, 1662;’ a few extracts from which +may not be uninteresting. + +There appears to be in this volume only one law about education, which +prescribes the founding of a college “for the advance of learning, +education of youth, supply of the ministry, and promotion of piety.” The +law states how the money is to be raised; but as to its application +nothing more is said, except that a piece of land is to be got, and, +“with as much speed as may be convenient, housing is to be erected +thereon for entertainment of students and scholars.” The _housing_ +department seems to have been the uppermost thing in the legislature’s +thoughts; the providing of good teachers was a secondary consideration. + +There are several enactments about “rewards for killing wolves,” which +at that time infested even the lower parts of Virginia. At the present +day, owing to the increase of population, the wolf and other wild +animals, though occasionally heard of, are but rarely seen even in the +mountains, and seldom do any damage. The reward “for every wolf +destroyed by pit, trap, or otherwise, is 200 pounds of tobacco.” + +Tobacco was the most common standard of value in Virginia at that time, +as we see from this and numerous other instances, where fines, &c. are +estimated at so many pounds of tobacco. Thus it is stated in enactment +35, that “the court shall not take cognizance of any cause under the +value of 200 pounds of tobacco, or twenty shillings sterling, which a +private justice may and is hereby authorized and empowered to hear and +determine.” + +The following recipe for good order is contained in an enactment, +entitled ‘Pillories to be erected at each Court:’--“In every county the +court shall cause to be set up a pillory, a pair of stocks, and a +whipping-post near the court-house, and a ducking-stool;--and the court +not causing the said pillory, whipping-post, stocks, and ducking-stool +to be erected, shall be fined 5000 pounds of tobacco to the use of the +public.” + +In those days the following provision was made for extending the +elective franchise, which appears founded on a rational principle: +“Every county that will lay out 100 acres of land, and people it with +100 tytheable (taxable) persons, that place shall enjoy the like +privilege” of sending a burgess. The burgesses, together with their +attendants, were free from arrest, from the time of election till ten +days after dissolution of the assembly; this privilege, however, was +somewhat modified by several clauses. Every burgess was allowed during +the sitting of the assembly “150 lbs. of tobacco and cask per day, +besides the necessary charge of going to the assembly and returning.” +This practice of paying legislators, which, in America, originated under +the Colonial system, is still continued in the United States. It did not +entirely cease in England until the reign of Charles II. Andrew Marvell, +one of the burgesses of Hull, was the last member of the House of +Commons who appears to have accepted the wages which all were entitled +to receive. + +Among commercial restrictions we find an enactment prohibiting the +planting of tobacco after the 10th of July, which was done for “the +improvement of our only commodity tobacco, which can no ways be effected +but by lessening the quantity and amending the quality.” That the former +effect might possibly be produced by the enactment, without securing the +latter, seems pretty certain. Another object that the government had in +view was to compel the people to become silk-growers against their will. +“Be it therefore enacted,” says the legislature, “that every proprietor +of land within the colony of Virginia shall, for every hundred acres of +land holden in fee, plant upon the said land ten mulberry-trees at +twelve foot distance from each other, and secure them by weeding and a +sufficient fence from cattle and horses.” Tobacco fines, as usual, were +enacted in case the planting and weeding were not duly performed; and +further, “there shall be allowed in the public levy to any one for every +pound of wound silk he shall make, fifty pounds of tobacco, to be raised +in the public levy, and paid in the county or counties where they dwell +that make it.” This act was passed in 1662, and probably continued in +force for a long time; but Virginia did not therefore become a +silk-growing country, nor has it yet, though many parts are well adapted +to raise this commodity. People, we presume, have hitherto found other +things more profitable than silk. + +The following enactment has a most barbarous character about it, not +unmixed with something extremely ludicrous as to the idea of the +legislature trying to prevent women from talking: “Whereas many babbling +women slander and scandalize their neighbours, for which their poor +husbands are often involved in chargeable and vexatious suits, and cast +in great damages:--Be it therefore enacted, that in actions of slander, +occasioned by the wife, after judgment passed for the damages, the woman +shall be punished by ducking; and if the slander be so enormous as to be +adjudged at greater damages than 500 pounds of tobacco, then the woman +to suffer a ducking for each 500 pounds of tobacco adjudged against the +husband, if he refuse to pay the tobacco.” + +This old statute book of Virginia is full of enactments such as we have +quoted; some exceedingly mischievous, and others very ludicrous. It +would, however, be unfair to say that there are not also some good +regulations in it. Were a history of our own or any other country to be +written, founded on the legislative enactments and illustrated, whenever +it was possible, by individual cases on record, we should then begin to +have some idea of what history is. Instead of the splendours or the +follies of a few who occupy the attention of the historian, we should be +able to form a more complete picture of the condition of the whole +community, and a more exact estimate of the progress which has been made +in social knowledge. + + + --------------------- + + + THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE. + +On the 29th of August, 1782, it was found necessary that the Royal +George, a line-of-battle ship of 108 guns, which had lately arrived at +Spithead from a cruise, should, previously to her going again to sea, +undergo the operation which seamen technically call a _Parliament heel_. +In such cases the ship is inclined in a certain degree on one side, +while the defects below the watermark on the other side are examined and +repaired. This mode of proceeding is, we believe, at the present day, +very commonly adopted where the defects to be repaired are not +extensive, or where (as was the case with the Royal George) it is +desirable to avoid the delay of going into dock. The operation is +usually performed in still weather and smooth water, and is attended +with so little difficulty and danger, that the officers and crew usually +remain on board, and neither the guns nor stores are removed. + +The business was commenced on the Royal George early in the morning, a +gang of men from the Portsmouth Dock-yard coming on board to assist the +ship’s carpenters. It is said that, finding it necessary to strip off +more of the sheathing than had been intended, the men in their eagerness +to reach the defect in the ship’s bottom, were induced to _heel_ her too +much, when a sudden squall of wind threw her wholly on her side; and the +gun-ports being open, and the cannon rolling over to the depressed side, +the ship was unable to right herself, instantaneously filled with water, +and went to the bottom. + +The fatal accident happened about ten o’clock in the morning; Admiral +Kempenfeldt was writing in his cabin, and the greater part of the people +were between decks. The ship, as is usually the case upon coming into +port, was crowded with people from the shore, particularly women, of +whom it is supposed there were not less than three hundred on board. +Amongst the sufferers were many of the wives and children of the petty +officers and seamen, who, knowing the ship was shortly to sail on a +distant and perilous service, eagerly embraced the opportunity of +visiting their husbands and fathers. + +The Admiral, with many brave officers and most of those who were between +decks, perished; the greater number of the guard, and those who happened +to be on the upper deck, were saved by the boats of the fleet. About +seventy others were likewise saved. The exact number of persons on board +at the time could not be ascertained; but it was calculated that from +800 to 1000 were lost. Captain Waghorne, whose gallantry in the North +Sea battle, under Admiral Parker, had procured him the command of this +ship, was saved, though he was severely bruised and battered; but his +son, a lieutenant in the Royal George, perished. Such was the force of +the whirlpool, occasioned by the sudden plunge of so vast a body in the +water, that a victualler which lay alongside the Royal George was +swamped; and several small craft, at a considerable distance, were in +imminent danger. + +Admiral Kempenfeldt, who was nearly 70 years of age, was peculiarly and +universally lamented. In point of general science and judgment, he was +one of the first naval officers of his time; and, particularly in the +art of manœuvring a fleet, he was considered by the commanders of that +day as unrivalled. His excellent qualities, as a man, are said to have +equalled his professional merits. + +This melancholy occurrence has been recorded by the poet, Cowper, in the +following beautiful lines:-- + + Toll for the brave! + The brave, that are no more! + All sunk beneath the wave, + Fast by their native shore. + + Eight hundred of the brave, + Whose courage well was tried, + Had made the vessel heel, + And laid her on her side. + + A land-breeze shook the shrouds, + And she was overset; + Down went the Royal George, + With all her crew complete. + + Toll for the brave! + Brave Kempenfeldt is gone; + His last sea-fight is fought; + His work of glory done. + + It was not in the battle; + No tempest gave the shock; + She sprang no fatal leak; + She ran upon no rock. + + His sword was in its sheath; + His fingers held the pen, + When Kempenfeldt went down, + With twice four hundred men. + + Weigh the vessel up, + Once dreaded by our foes! + And mingle with our cup + The tear that England owes. + + Her timbers yet are sound, + And she may float again, + Full charg’d with England’s thunder, + And plough the distant main. + + But Kempenfeldt is gone, + His victories are o’er; + And he, and his eight hundred, + Shall plough the wave no more. + + + --------------------- + + +_Strange Mode of curing a vicious Horse._--I have seen vicious horses in +Egypt cured of the habit of biting, by presenting to them, while in the +act of doing so, a leg of mutton just taken from the fire: the pain +which a horse feels in biting through the hot meat, causes it, after a +few lessons, to abandon the vicious habit.--_Burckhardt._ + + + --------------------- + + +The Bedouins never allow a horse, at the moment of his birth, to fall +upon the ground; they receive it in their arms, and so cherish it for +several hours, occupied in washing and stretching its tender limbs, and +caressing it as they would a baby. After this they place it on the +ground, and watch its feeble steps with particular attention, +prognosticating from that time the excellences or defects of their +future companion.--_Burckhardt._ + + + --------------------- + + +_Tremendous Earthquakes._--Earthquakes have caused many melancholy +changes in Calabria; and every thing bears testimony to the cruel +ravages occasioned by that of 1783. This frightful catastrophe, which +has altered the aspect of these countries in an inconceivable manner, +was preceded by the most appalling indications. Close, compact, and +immoveable mists seemed to hang heavily over the earth: in some places +the atmosphere appeared red hot, so that people expected it would every +moment burst out into flames: the water of the rivers assumed an ashy +and turbid colour, while a suffocating stench of sulphur diffused itself +around. The violent shocks which were repeated at several intervals from +the 5th of February to the 28th of May, destroyed the greater part of +the buildings of Calabria Ultra. The number of inhabitants who were +crushed under the ruins of their houses, or who perished on the strands +of Scylla, was estimated at about 50,000. Rivers arrested in their +course by the fall of mountains, became so many infected lakes, +corrupting the air in all directions. Houses, trees, and large fields +were hurried down together to the bottom of the deep glens without being +separated by the shock: in short, all the extraordinary calamities and +changes which can be effected by earthquakes were beheld at this +deplorable period, under the various forms which characterize +them.--_Calabria, during a Military Residence._ + + + --------------------- + + +_Age of Sheep_.--The age of a sheep may be known by examining the front +teeth. They are eight in number, and appear during the first year, all +of a small size. In the second year, the two middle ones fall out, and +their place is supplied by two new teeth, which are easily distinguished +by being of a larger size. In the third year two other small teeth, one +from each side, drop out and are replaced by two large ones; so that +there are now four large teeth in the middle, and two pointed ones on +each side. In the fourth year the large teeth are six in number, and +only two small ones remain, one at each end of the range. In the fifth +year the remaining small teeth are lost, and the whole front teeth are +large. In the sixth year the whole begin to be worn, and in the seventh, +sometimes sooner, some fall out or are broken. + + ⁂ From ‘the Mountain Shepherd’s Manual,’ a useful little tract on the + nature, diseases, and management of sheep, being No. 24 of the + ‘Farmer’s Series,’ published under the Superintendence of the + Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + + + --------------------- + + +_Anecdote of the late Honourable Henry Cavendish._-- One Sunday evening +he was standing at Sir Joseph Banks’s, in a crowded room, conversing +with Mr. Hatchett, when Dr. Ingenhousz, who had a good deal of pomposity +of manner, came up with an Austrian gentleman in his hand, and +introduced him formally to Mr. Cavendish. He mentioned the titles and +qualifications of his friend at great length, and said that he had been +peculiarly anxious to be introduced to a philosopher so profound and so +universally known and celebrated as Mr. Cavendish. As soon as Dr. +Ingenhousz had finished, the Austrian gentleman began, and assured Mr. +Cavendish, that his principal reason for coming to London was to see and +converse with one of the greatest ornaments of the age, and one of the +most illustrious philosophers that ever existed. To all these high-flown +speeches Mr. Cavendish answered not a word; but stood with his eyes cast +down, quite abashed and confounded. At last, seeing an opening in the +crowd, he darted through it, with all the speed he was master of; nor +did he stop till he reached his carriage, which drove him directly home. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + ⁂ The Office of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is at + 59, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. + + LONDON:--CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST. + + _Shopkeepers and Hawkers may be supplied Wholesale by the following + Booksellers:--_ + + _London_, GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley, Paternoster Row. + _Bath_, SIMMS. + _Birmingham_, DRAKE. + _Bristol_, WESTLEY and Co. + _Carlisle_, THURNAM; and SCOTT. + _Derby_, WILKINS and SON. + _Falmouth_, PHILIP. + _Hull_, STEPHENSON. + _Leeds_, BAINES and NEWSOME. + _Lincoln_, BROOKE and SONS. + _Liverpool_, WILLMER and SMITH. + _Manchester_, ROBINSON; and WEBB and SIMMS. + _Newcastle-upon-Tyne_, CHARNLEY. + _Norwich_, JARROLD and SON. + _Nottingham_, WRIGHT. + _Sheffield_, RIDGE. + _Dublin_, WAKEMAN. + _Edinburgh_, OLIVER and BOYD. + _Glasgow_, ATKINSON and Co. + + Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford Street. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + +This file uses _underscores_ to indicate italic text. New original cover +art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Itemized +changes from the original text: + + • p. 124: Added period after abbreviation “lbs.” in phrase “weighed, + upon an average, about 700 lbs., yielding about 400 lbs. of meat.” + • p. 125: Added period after phrase “Doubtless the most beautiful part + of his body is the head.” + • p. 126: Supplied missing letters in word “style” in phrase “in a + natural and popular style.” + • p. 126: Added period after phrase “the highest of the living artists + of England.” + • p. 128: Removed closing double quotation mark after phrase “under the + various forms which characterize them.” + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76874 *** |