the face. "I put a jewel on thy forehead.” (Ezek. xvi. 12.) The margin has, for forehead, "nose."

It does not appear to be generally known, that there is an ornament which is worn by females in the East on the forehead. It is made of thin gold, and is studded with precious stones, and called pattam, which signifies "dignity." Thus, to tie on the pattam, is to "invest with high dignity." Patta-Istere "is the name of the first lawful wife of the King." In the Sathur-Agaraathe, this ornament is called, "the ornament of the forehead."

Genesis xxvii. 27.-" He smelled the smell of his raiment, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field.” The natives are universally fond of having their garments strongly perfumed; so much so, that Europeans can scarcely bear the smell. They use camphor, civet, sandal-wood, or sandal-oil, and a great variety of strongly-scented waters.

It is not common to salute as in England: they simply smell each other; and it is said that some people know their own children by the smell. It is common for a mother or father to say, "Ah! child, thy smell is like the Sen-Paga-Poo."* The crown of the head is the principal place for smelling.

Of an amiable man, it is said, "How sweet is the smell of that man! the smell of his goodness is universal."

That delightful traveller, Captain Mangles, R. N., (with whom I had the pleasure of meeting in the East,) informed me, that, while on a short visit at the house of Mr. Barker, our Consul at Aleppo, he heard Mrs. Barker, who was a Greek lady, say something to her child, accompanied by signs of great endearment. Mr. Barker said to Captain Mangles, "You do not understand her: she says, 'Come hither, my darling! and let me smell thee.'"—Roberts's Oriental Illustrations.

+ Michelia Champacca, a flower which is sacred to Chrishna, and which tips one of the arrows of Cama, the Indian Cupid.

MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL PAPERS.

[WE occasionally insert some miscellaneous papers, extracted from the works of writers of established authority, in the pleasing and noble science of chemistry. We thus diversify our proceedings in reference to it. We now propose to furnish some observations of this kind in relation to what formerly were considered, in the very imperfect state in which the ancients possessed chemical knowledge, as the four elements,-air, water, earth, and fire (or heat).]

ON ATMOSPHERIC AIR.

CHEMISTRY, tending to the discovery of the elements of things, and of the laws by which they are controlled, presents its votary with powerful illustrations of the truth, that “ a just weight and measure are the Lord's;" that "a just weight is his delight;" that "He comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance."

The chemist endeavours to act as the humble and faithful interpreter of the wonders of the creation, and everywhere discovers proofs of the power and goodness of God. What a glorious contrast does this exalted occupation present, to the sordid pursuits of the darker ages, when the transmutation of metals, and the production of an elixir of immortality, formed the vain and presumptuous hopes of the experimenter!

Throughout the four seasons, it must be obvious that air, water, earth, and heat, are ever active and important agents; and therefore a general account of their chemical habitudes will not be out of place.

The science of chemistry is founded upon the laborious yet certain practice of experiment, and by its aid the air, or atmosphere, is proved to consist chiefly of two elementary gases, named oxygen and nitrogen: they are strongly opposed in their chemical characters; for the former will support life, and flame, for a time; but the latter will destroy both, instantaneously.

The chemist can combine oxygen and nitrogen, in definite

proportions, by weight, and produce five compounds, as shown in the following statement:

I. Oxygen, 3640+ Nitrogen, 6360-10,000 Nitrous oxide. II. Oxygen, 5333+Nitrogen, 4667=10,000 Nitric oxide. III. Oxygen, 6320+Nitrogen, 3680=10,000 Hyponitrous acid. IV. Oxygen, 6960+Nitrogen, 3040=10,000 Nitrous acid. V. Oxygen, 7410+Nitrogen, 2590-10,000 Nitric acid.

I. Is an invisible vapour, called nitrous oxide, to denote that it is not acid.

II. Is an invisible gas, called nitric oxide, to denote that it is not acid; and by the termination ic, that it contains more oxygen than the former.

III. Is an acid liquid, called hyponitrous acid, to denote that it is intermediate with nitric oxide and nitrous acid, and below the latter in its proportion of oxygen.

IV. Is an acid vapour called nitrous acid, to denote that it contains less oxygen than nitric acid.

V. Is called nitric acid, to denote its large amount of oxygen the chemist has not determined if nitric acid be solid, liquid, gas, or vapour, but he is certain of its composition.

These five compounds are deadly poisons to animated beings, and yet they contain the elements of air, which is the pabulum of life: how can this be? The chemist replies, that to constitute air, these elements are not combined, they are only mixed, and very nearly in the following weights:—

Oxygen, 2300+ Nitrogen, 7700

=

10,000 Air.

These elements are rendered incapable of combining under all ordinary circumstances: they remain intimately and uniformly mixed to constitute the first and the last food of life.

But when the lightning goes forth, as the terrible display of natural electricity in the thunder-storm, the chemist discovers that the elements of the air in the immediate passage

of the flash, are suddenly excited to combine and produce the poison, called nitric acid; but this effect is miraculously restrained by the hand of Providence, and not permitted to ensue throughout the entire volume of the air, or inevitable would be the destruction of every living thing; and the relatively minute portion of poison thus formed during a longprotracted discharge of lightning is soon infinitesimally diffused throughout the untainted volume of air, or absorbed by the waters, or neutralized by the earth, and thus deprived of virulence.

The animated creation is thus miraculously preserved amidst the elements of destruction: true, indeed, is the solemn warning, that "in the midst of life we are in death.”

These extraordinary elements, oxygen and nitrogen, form the chief volume of the atmosphere during all the vicissitudes of the four seasons; but a rigid analysis likewise proves the simultaneous existence of small quantities of two compounds, named carbonic acid and water. Reference has been made to the composition of carbonic acid, and when obtained from the air or other sources, in a pure or insulated state, it is fatal to animal and vegetable life, and is materially heavier than either oxygen or nitrogen; but as mingled with these elements, and the vapour of water, to constitute air, it has a beneficial influence, and never subsides as a distinct mephitic stratum.

The chemist discovers that water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen, an elementary gas thus named in allusion to its producing that substance. The following are the weights in which these elements combine :

Oxygen, 8890 + Hydrogen, 1110

=

:

10,000 Water.

It does not exist in the mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid, as liquid water, but as vapour of water, produced by the all-prevailing agency of solar heat. Thus it is wafted over the surface of the globe, until local changes of temperature cause its condensation, and fall, as rain or snow, and other well-known forms, according to the season.

The result obtained by a minute analysis of air, presents

This wondrous medium, or atmosphere, containing the elements of life and of destruction, enfolds the earth, as a mantle; and although the chemist cannot experimentally determine its limit, he can determine its total weight, and is perfectly astounded at its immensity. It is expressed by the sum of five quatrillions, two hundred and eighty-seven trillions, three hundred and fifty billions of tons!

The accompanying statement will show the relative proportions by weight, in which the elementary and compound constituents of air are blended, to produce this gigantic sum total:

Both the chemist and the physiologist concur in stating, from the results of numerous experiments, that no elementary gas, no compound gas, no elementary vapour, no compound vapour, no other mixture or combination of elementary or compound gases, or of elementary or compound vapours, can support the respiratory functions of the animated creation, like atmospheric air; and its ultimate analysis presents four elements, namely, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen.Griffith's "Chemistry of the four Seasons."

(To be continued.)