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season of the year; more especially in a climate like our's, where we are subject to continual variations of weather, and sudden changes of temperature in the atmosphere.

Whether these fantastic fashions have been adopted from the French, some doubt; but, if the supposition be admitted, I believe it may be justly asserted, that they have been more pernicious and destructive in their consequences, than even French principles.

It is a well-known fact, that with us, by far the greater proportion of females die of consumption, or complaints in the chest, the foundations of which are commonly laid in colds, caught either by exposure to nightair, or perhaps, more frequently, from the omission of due cloathing: these, so often repeated, seem to produce an aptitude to disease: we hear them complain of chilliness, cough, pain in the side, or similar symptoms, which at first are looked upon as slight indispositions, are lightly treated, or perhaps wholly disregarded. Thus the insidious approaches of this direful malady are suffered to pass unnoticed. During the succeeding summer, its ravages are probably suspended, and they are flattered with returning health; but, no sooner do nipping frosts, or chilling winds, set in, than disease appears in an aggravated form, and, after a tedious confinement and illness, the hapless female is cut off in the bloom of life; or, should she be preserved by art through the cold months of winter,

it serves but to ensure her death on their return. This is not an exaggerated picture, nor designed as a bug-bear to produce fear, but is every day seen verified in numbers of instances. Yet, whilst we see females of strong stamina, and robust consitutions, who, in the natural course of things, might have lived many years, fall victims to their own imprudence; we also observe others, who, with great delicacy of frame, and even pre-disposition to disease, are, by the use of proper means (and of these warm covering

is a most essential one) safely conducted through the dangerous period of youth.

The wearing of flannel underdresses has of late been strongly recommended by some eminent men of the medical professsion, and the obvious advantages accruing from this practice have fully justified their recommendation; but it unfortunately happens, with many, the name of flannel carries with it an idea of something coarse or uncomfortable, when contrasted with the linen usually worn. This objection, however, exists but in imagination, and it requires only a trial to convince them that the wearing of it (particularly of the soft Welsh kind) is, of all other substances that come in contact with the skin, the most pleasant and genial. Without at all entering into a physical definition of its manner of acting, it need only be observed, that, by a constant transpiration from the surface of the body being kept up, an universal equable action is preserved between the superficial vessels, and those of the heart and large arteries; the functions of the organs essential to life are less liable to become disordered, and susceptibility to cold is considerably diminished.

If, then, ye aimable part of mankind, on the terms we have stipulated, the attacks of disease can be warded off, or rendered less frequent, your comfort can be secured, or your apprehensions allayed, listen to the dictates of your reason, and suffer not the tyrannical sway of fashion to beguile you out of that most estimable of blessings......... "Health."

ANECDOTES OF THE PRESENT EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ALEXANDER I.

JUSTICE and clemency are in all cases the fairest and firmest pillars of the throne; and the prince, who, like Alexander the First, acts uniformly upon this principle, may rest securely upon the affections of his people. The short period of

his administration has been distinguished already by the noblest actions; as a proof of which we have only to peruse his excellent edicts, which are so full of humanity, affability, clemency, and justice; and especially his ordinance by which he has granted an unlimited freedom from informers and spies. He wishes his people to be informed and enlightened, and hates, therefore, every species of controul. He is persuaded indeed that a supreme governor is as necessary to an enlightened nation, as it is to a people in ignorance and error; but he knows that the former will venerate its sovereign with a thousand times more affection than the latter. He knows that the best administration of a state, can only advance in a parallel direction with the best progress of sound reason. Let his imperial letter be attentively perused, which he lately wrote to one of his grandees, and which is one of the fairest jewels of his crown. In what humane and paternal language does he there express himself on the degradation and slavish misery under which the Russian peasantry for the most part groan. He detests the idea of human creatures being bought and sold in the manner of cattle; and is engaged seriously in making such arrangements as may set bounds to such abuses for the future. To himself, besides the occupation of government, he allows so few pleasures or amusements, that the Emperor might be taken for a private person. Of the simplest appearance, and generally clad in the strictest style of military uniform, he is seen almost every day on the parade, and receives the petitions of suppliants himself, or gives orders to his adjutant for that purpose. With the greatest affability, and a pleasing smile, he salutes every one that comes in his way, and gives audience to each of them himself. He then takes an airing on horseback, attended only by a single servant; and when he meets with any of those persons whom he formerly knew when Grand Duke, he enters immediately into familiar conversa

tion, and talks of past circumstances in the most engaging manner. Even those who are entire strangers to him, however disagreeable their subjects of conversation, and at times highly improper and impertinent, are frequently heard by him with the utmost composure, of which the two following are striking examples.

A young woman, of German extraction, waited once for the Emperor on the stairs, by which he was accustomed to go down to the parade. When the monarch appeared, she met him on the steps with these words in her mouth.... "Please your Majesty, I have something to say to you." "What is it?” demanded the Emperor, and remained standing with all his attendants. "I wish to be married; but I have no fortune; if you would graciously give me a dowry....." "Ah, my girl, (answered the monarch) were I to give dowries to all the young women in Petersburgh, where do you think I should find money?" The girl, however, by his order, received a present of fifty rubles.

On another occasion, at the very moment when the Emperor had given the word of command, and the guard on the parade was just on the point of paying him the usual military honours, a fellow approached him with ragged garments, with his hair in disorder, and a look of wildness, and gave him a slap on on the shoulder. The monarch, who was standing at that time with his face opposite to the military front, turned round immediately, and, beholding the ragamuffin, started at the sight, and then asked him, with a look of astonishment, what he wanted. "I have something to say to you, Alexander Paulowitz," answered the stranger, in the Russian language. "Say on then," said the Emperor, with a smile of encouragement, and laying his hands upon the vagabond's shoulders. A long solemn pause followed; the military guard stood still; and nobody ventured by word or motion to disturb the Emperor in this singular

interview. The Grand Duke Constantine alone, whose attention had been excited by the unusual stoppage, advanced somewhat nearer, to his brother. The stranger now related, that he had been a captain in the Russian service, and had been present at the campaigns both in Italy and Switzerland; but that he had been persecuted by his commanding officer, and so misrepresented to Suwarrow, that the latter had him turned out of the army. Without money and without friends, in a foreign country, he had afterwards served as a private soldier in the Russian army; and being wounded and mangled at Zurich (and here he pulled his rags asunder, and showed several gun-shot wounds) he had closed his campaign in a French prison. He had now begged all the way to Petersburg, to apply to the Emperor himself for justice, and to beg him to inquire into the reason of such a shameful degradation from his post. The Emperor heard him to the end with patience; and then asked, in a significant tone, "if there was no exaggeration in the story he had told?""Let me die under the knout, (said the officer) if I shall be found to have uttered one word of falshood!" The Emperor then beckoned to his brother, and charged him to conduct the stranger to the palace, while he turned about to the expecting crowd. The commanding officer, who had behaved so shamefully, though of a good family, and a prince in rank, was reprimanded very severely; while the brave warrior, whom he had unjustly persecuted, was reinstated in his former post, and had besides a considerable present from the Emperor.

Every thing that savours of harsh ness or cruelty is abhorent to the temper of this aimable Monarch: as an evidence of which we need only mention the well-known story of the torture inflicted on a poor Russian, who had fallen under the suspicion of having wilfully set fire to buildings. No sooner was the VOL. I...NO. I,

good-natured Emperor informed, that this poor wretch had, upon mere suspicion, been put to the rack in the most inhuman manner; that he had given up the ghost in the midst of torments, and asserted his innocence with his last breath, than he sent immediately an officer to Casan, to investigate the matter to the bottom; and published at the same time that remarkable edict, in consequence of which, the term torture is for ever blotted out from the legal language of Russia.

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS,

A new flexible tube for the gazes has been invented: it consists of a brass wire, twisted round a long thin cylinder, and covered with oiled silk, twice wrapped round, and, fastened, by means of thread, between the grooves of the wire. It is then again varnished, and covered in a spiral manner with sheep-gut, slit longitudinally, and again secured with thread. Lastly, to protect the whole from external injury, it is to be covered with leather in the same manner as the tubes of inhalers. These flexible tubes answer the same purpose as the very costly ones of elastic gum, similar to the hollow bougies made for surgeons.

Mr. E. Walker, in his experiments on the quantity of light afforded by candles, observes, that when a lighted candle is so placed, as neither to require snuffing, or produce smoke, it is reasonable to conclude, that the whole of the combustible matter which is consumed, is converted to the purpose of generating light; and that the intensities of light, generated in a given time by candles of different dimensions, are directly as the quantities of matter consumed; that is to say, when candles are made of the same materials, if one produce twice as much light as another, the former will, in the same time, lose twice as much weight as the latter. The following general law Mr. Walker states as the result of many experiments: Where combustion is com

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plete, the quantities of light produced by tallow candles are in the duplicate ratio of their times of burning and weights of matter consumed. For, by experiment, it is found, that if their quantities of matter be equal, and times of burning be the same, they will give equal quantities of light; and, if the times of burning be equal, the quantities of light will be directly their weights expended: therefore, the light is universally in the compound ratio of the time of burning and weight of matter consumed. Mr. Walker concludes, with observing, that it is the sudden changes produced by snuffing, and not the light itself, that does so much injury to the eye of the student and artist...an injury that may be easily prevented by laying aside the snuffers, and, in the place of one large candle, to make use of two.

It has been ascertained by Mr.W. Wilson, that the shavings of wood, cut under certain circumstances, are strongly electrical. From sundry experiments, it appears, that where very dry wood is scraped with a piece of window-glass, the shavings are always positively electrified; and, if chipped with a knife, the chips are positively electrified, if the wood be hot, and the edge of the knife not very sharp; but negatively electrified, if the wood be quite cold; if, however, the edge of the knife is very keen, the chips will be negatively electrified, whether the wood be hot or cold. If a a piece of dry and warm wood is suddenly split asunder, the two surfaces, which were contiguous, are electrified, one side positive, and the other negative.

Mr. John Harriott has invented a new engine for raising and lowering weights, and for other purposes, by the action of a column of water. The principle of this engine consists in combining the power of the syphon with the direct pressure of a column or stream of water, so that they may act together. It works by means of the syphon constantly acting in concert with the

feeding stream of water, so that each alternately act on the upper and lower part of a piston, within a cylinder, as it were, reversing the syphon at each change; and the power is equal to a column of water of the same diameter as that of the cylinder, and equal in length to the height of the head above the tailwater. By this engine, it is said, that a boy can raise or lower goods of any weight, without other exertion than that of merely turning a cock to the stop-mark in the index. It raises and lowers goods with thrice the velocity usually produced by manual labour. The ingenious inventor has pointed out a variety of other purposes to which this discovery may be applied.

It is said, from evidence arising from long experience, that straw or loose twigs, scattered over any plant or bed of plants, preserve from frost better than a solid or close covering; and that nets, three or four thick, hung on a wall before fruittrees in blossom, preserves them better than any substance that quite excludes the air in any direction.

It has been found, that bags steeped in a solution of nitre will effectually keep off the weavil, and other destructive insects, from corn during the longest voyages.

It is said, that olive-oil, gently boiled for a considerable time, in a copper vessel newly tinned, is an effectual cure for cancers. The cil must be brought to the consistency of ointment, and then constantly rubbed on the part affected for two or three weeks or longer.

A new and cheap polishing substance has been found out. It consists of pieces of old hat (which are dyed with iron) immersed for a few minutes in sulphuric acid: the iron passes to the state of red oxide, and they then become excellent pieces for giving the last polish to the hardest matters.

The following is recommended as a simple and easy method of obtaining water in almost any situa tion:-The ground is perforated by a borer. In the perforation is

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placed a wooden pipe, which is driven down with a mallet, after which the boring is continued, that the pipe may be driven still farther. In proportion as the cavity of the borer becomes loaded, it is drawn up and emptied, and in time, by the addition of new portions of wooden pipe, the boring is carried to any depth, and water is generally obtained.

The following are the antiquities which have been collected in the excavations at Herculaneum, and presented to the French government :-In gold, a bulla, a collar, a pair of bracelets, a pair of earpendants, a ring with a stone (diamond), and a simple ring. In silver, a needle to hold the hair. In bronze, a small statue of Hercules, another of Mercury, a Priapus, a Tripod, a Patera, a Fræfericula, a gilt cup with two handles, a scal, two craters with feet, six candle-sticks, four lamps, a lamp-supporter, to which four lamps are suspended, a vessel for oil, a patera for perfumes, four currying combs to be used in the baths, an oval vessel to throw water over the back, a casque, two pieces of armour for the defence of the legs, and part of the thighs, two pieces of armour for the defence of the lower part of the legs, an armour for the defence of the shoulders, and a frying pan.

It appears, from some experiments made by Mr. E. Walker, that acoustic instruments may be constructed, for conversing at a distance, without the assistance of tubes to convey the sound. "Ex. 1. I took a deal rod, sixteen feet long, and about an inch square, and, after having fixed one end of it into the small end of a speaking trumpet, I laid it upon two props, in an horizontal position. One of the props was placed under the trumpet, about three inches from its wide end, and the other prop was placed near the other end of the rod another speaking trumpet was then laid across the rod, about three inches from the end. The wide part of this trumpet rested upon the rod, but the other end was sus

pended by a riband. The apparatus thus adjusted, I introduced a watch into the end of the trumpet, and, applying my ear to the crosstrumpet, I heard beats much louder than if the watch had been at the distance of a few inches only. The sound appeared to come out of the cross-trumpet, although the watch was at the distance of seventeen feet and a half; and, when it was laid into the cross-trumpet, it was heard equally well at the end-trumpet. Ex. 2. My assistant in these experiments being seated at one end of the trumpet, and myself at the other, a conversation took place through this apparatus, but in whispers too low to be heard through the air at that distance. When the ear was placed in a certain position the words were heard as if they had been spoken by an invisible being within the trumpet; and the sound was more distinct, softer, and more musical, than if they had been spo◄ ken through the air." Mr. Walker infers from these experiments, that, if a communication wsa made on this principle between a shop or warehouse, and the dining-room, &c. it might contribute to the dispatch of business; and instruments might be formed on the same principle, and introduced between the parlour and servants-hall, so that directions might be given to a domestic without his entering the room, and in whispers too low to disturb the company.

Captain Wilson, the gentleman who was wrecked at the Pelew Islands, is just returned from China, and reports, that the Keys to the Chinese Language, lately published in London by Dr. Hager, have been presented to the gentlemen of the English factory at Canton, and to some of the Chinese literati, and that the work has met with their complete approbation. Several persons, and among them a son er Captam Wilson, have been induced, by the aid of this introduction, to commence the study of the Chinese Language. Dr. Hager is now at Paris, preparing for publication a Chinese and French Dictionary, un

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