Of an enamour'd Goddess, and the cell Make them indeed immortal, and impart The intensely personal nature of Byron's poetry was never so perfectly displayed, as in his meditations over the ruins of the imperial city. Deeply as he is impressed with the nothingness of individual sorrows, when set by the side of departed nations and deserted cities, he cannot look either at the coliseum, the pantheon, the forum, or the capitol, without mingling with the meditations which these excite,the agonizing wanderings of his own wounded spirit. He is standing by moonlight within the coliseum-our readers have not forgotten the beautiallusion to the same scene in Man tred. And thou, who never yet of human wrong Thy former realm, I call thee from the dust! thou shalt, and must. 133. It is not that I may not have incurr'd Which if I have not taken for the sake- Our extracts have run out to a very fault for which we expect an easy pardisproportionate extent, but this is a It was a thought worthy of the great don. Once more, and we have done. spirit of Byron, after exhibiting to us ing scenes of earthly grandeur and his pilgrim amidst all the most strikearthly decay,-after teaching us, like him, to sicken over the mutability, and vanity, and emptiness of human greatness, to conduct him and us at last to the borders of "the great deep." It is there that we may perceive an image of the awful and unchangeable abyss of eternity, into whose bosom so much has sunk, and all shall one day sink,— of that eternity wherein the scorn and the contempt of man, and "the love of woman, and the melancholy of great, and the fretting of little minds, shall be at rest for ever. No one, but a true poet of man and of nature, would have dared to frame such a ter mination for such a pilgrimage. The image of the wanderer may well be associated for a time with the rock of Calpe, the shattered temples of Athens, or the gigantic fragments of Rome; but when we wish to think of this dark personification as of a thing which is, where can we so well imagine him to have his daily haunt as by the roaring of the waves? It was thus that Homer represented Achilles in his moments of ungovernable and inconsolable grief for Patroclus. It was thus he chose to depict the paternal despair of Chriseus. 66 Bn δ' ακέων παρα θαλασσης.”. 178. θινα πολυφλοίσβοιο Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime sublime LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. On the raising of Olive Trees."-Trials have been frequently made, but without success, to multiply the olive by sowing the seeds; it has always been found necessary either to employ cuttings, or to procure wild plants from the woods. One of the inhabitants of Marseilles, astonished to find that we cannot obtain by cultivation what nature produces spontaneously, was led to reflect upon the manner in which the wild plants were produced. They proceed from the kernels, which kernels have been carried into the woods, and sown there by birds, who have swallowed the olives. By the act of digestion, these olives have been deprived of their natural oil, and the kernels have become permeable to the moisture of the earth, the dung of the birds has served for manure, and, perhaps, the soda which this dung contains, by combining with a portion of the oil which has escaped digestion, may also favour germination. From these considerations the following experiments were made: A number of turkeys were caused to swallow ripe olives; the dung was collected, containing the kernels of these olives, the whole was placed in a stratum of earth, and was frequently watered. The kernels were found to vegetate, and a number of young plants were procured. In order to produce upon olives an effect similar to that which they experienced from the digestive power of the stomach, a quantity of them was macerated in an alkaline lixivium; they were then sown, and olive plants were produced from them as in the former experiment. This ingenious process may be regarded as a very important discovery, and may be applied to other seeds besides that of the olive, which are, in the same manner, so oily, as that, except under some rare circumstances, the water cannot penetrate them and cause their developement. Of this description is the nutmeg, which will seldom vegetate in our stoves; but which, perhaps, would do so, was it submitted to the action of the stomach, or of the alkaline solution. On the Magnetizing Power of the Violet Rays of the Solar Spectrum.-The reported discovery of M. Morichini, respecting the magnetizing power of the violet rays, which was scarcely credited in this country, has received the confirmation of Professor Playfair, as related in one of the late Numbers of the Bibliotheque Universelle. He gives the following account of an experiment of which he was a witness, and which was performed by M. Carpe : After having received into my chamber a solar ray through a circular opening made *Journ. Phram. de March 1817. in the shutter, the ray was made to fall upon a prism, such as those which are usually employed in experiments in the primitive colours. The spectrum which resulted from the refraction was received upon a skreen; all the rays were intercepted except the violet, in which was placed a needle, for the purpose of being magnetized. It was a plate of thin steel, selected from a number of others, and which, upon making the trial, was found to possess no polarity, and not to exhibit any attraction for iron filings. It was fixed horizontally on the support by means of wax, and in such a direction as to cut the magnetic meridian nearly at right angles. By a lens of a sufficient size, the whole of the violet ray was collected into a focus, which was carried slowly along the needle, proceeding from the centre towards one of the extremities, and always the same extremity, taking care, as is the case in the common operation of magnetizing, never to go back in the opposite direction. After operating in this manner for half an hour, the needle was examined; but it was not found either to have acquired polarity or a sensible attraction for iron filings. The process was then continued for 25 minutes more, 55 in the whole, when the needle was found to be strongly magnetic; it acted powerfully on the compass, the end of the needle which had received the influence of the violet ray repelling the north pole, and the whole of it attracting and keeping suspended a fringe of iron filings. It is stated, that a clear and bright atmosphere is essential to the success of the experiment, but that the temperature is indifferent. At the time when the above experiment was made, about the end of April. the temperature was rather cool than warm, Blue Iron Earth. The blue iron earth, or native Prussian blue, as it was formerly called, has been found in many parts of the Continent of Europe, and also in Iceland and in Shetland; but it had never been discovered in the island of Great Britain, until it was observed by Dr Bostock, at Knotshole, near Liverpool. On the north-east bank of the Mersey, about a mile and a half above the town, a small glen, or dingle, is formed, apparently by a fissure in the brown sandstone, which, in this place, rises up to the edge of the water; the sides of the dingle are covered with brush-wood, and at the bottom is a flat swampy pasture. The upper stratum of the soil of the pasture is chiefly sand, mixed with a little vegetable mould; but at the depth of four or five feet, there is a body of stiff white clay, mixed with a considerable quantity of vegetable matter, consisting principally of the roots and stems of different species of rushes, and other aquatic plants. last Number, Mr J. H. viz. that the particles of water ascend upward from the sea, in the phenomenon called a water spout: "Barkworth, Dec. 11, 1816, in lat. 4° N. long. 1290 E. (having passed through the Siao channel yesterday) at 11 A.M. the officer of the watch, Mr Dudman, came down and informed me there had been a whale blowing close to the ship for several minutes, and that it was continuing to do so. I then, from curiosity, went upon deck, and was surprised to find it was the vortex of a water spout, within one hundred yards of the ship, on the windward quarter :ordered a gun to be got ready, by which time it had passed under the stern, within thirty yards of the ship, which afforded us an excellent opportunity of observing this wonderful phenomenon. "The space it occupied upon the sea was apparently about thirty feet in circumference, and the water so much agitated in the centre, as to be quite frothy, ascending in a spiral form in visible particles like rain, and making a rushing noise about as loud as the blowing of a whale continued, and communicating with a spout depending from a black cloud over head, gradually passing to leeward, and disappearing about a mile off."-Phil. Mag. for April 1818. Improvement in the purification of CoalGas.—It is sufficiently known, that the production of carburetted hydrogen obtained from coal, and its fitness for the purpose of illumination, varies much according to the circumstances under which the gas is obtained, and the means employed for purifying it. To deprive coal-gas of that portion of sulphuretted hydrogen, with which it is always more or less contaminated, it has hitherto been made to act on quicklime, either in a dry state, or combined with water in particular vessels, so constructed as to bring a large surface of the lime into contact with the gas. This method must naturally be very imperfect, on account of the feeble action of sulphuretted hydrogen upon lime. In proof of this statement, the gas supplied to this metropolis, need only be examined in in the following manner: Collect a four ounce phial full of the gas, in a wash-hand bason, or other vessel full of water, in the usual manner, and then plunge into it a slip of paper moistened with a solution of nitrate of silver, or super-acetate of lead. The paper will instantly acquire a brown colour. A new method of getting rid of the sulphuretted hydrogen gas has been lately resorted to with success; and the facility, cheapness, and expedition, with which this process may be employed in the large way, give reason to believe that it will be highly beneficial to the manufacturer of coal-gas in general. The process consists in passing crude coal-gas, as it is disengaged from coal, through a heated iron cylinder, or other vessel, containing fragments of metallic iron (the waste clippings of tinned iron will do very well), or any oxide of iron at a minimum of oxidation; for example, clay iron-stone, so disposed as to present as large a surface as possible: by this means the sul-" The captain and mate report, that though phuretted hydrogen becomes decomposed by the metallic iron, and the gas is obtained in a pure state. This iron, if in a state of a metal, acquires by this process a crystalline structure, and affords abundance of sulphuretted hydrogen by the affusion of dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid, a proof that it is converted into a sulphuret ;—a quantity of sulphuric and sulphureous acid is likewise collected at the extremity of the vessel. The gas thus treated, affords no disagree able odour during combustion, and its purity is attested by its not acting upon the solutions of lead, silver, or any of the white metals. Water Spouts. The following observations of Captain Thomas Lynn, commander of the East India Company's ship Barkworth, afford a striking corroboration of the statement of the ingenious writer in our New Alkali. The experiments of Arvedson, relative to the discovery of the new alkali called lethson, have been confirmed in France by M. Vanquelin. Ice. As every fact relative to the state of the Arctic regions is now of more than usual interest, we transcribe the following postscript to the journal of the brig Jemima, which sailed last summer from London to the Moravian Missions in Labrador :- for these three years past they have met with an unusual quantity of ice on the coast of Labrador, yet in no year since the commencement of the mission in 1769, has it appeared so dreadfully on the increase. The colour likewise of this year's ice was different from that usually seen, and the size of the ice-mountains and thickness of the fields immense, with sand-stone imbedded in them." As a great part of the coast of Greenland, which for centuries has been choaked up with ice, apparently immoveable, has, by some revolution been cleared, perhaps this may account for the great quantity alluded to. * We could not perceive the communication with the spout, the particles being too minute for the eye to discern much above the sea, but we had no doubt of the fact. WORKS PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION. LONDON. The Rev. James Raine, of Durham, has circulated a prospectus of the History and Antiquities of North Durham, with engravings from designs of Mr Edward Blore, in a folio volume. Mr Blore has also made a set of drawings for the Rev. Mr Hunter's History and Antiquities of Hallamshire, which will likewise make a folio volume, and contain many interesting particulars respecting the Talbot family, as well as many topographical and antiquarian memoirs. Sir Richard Colt Hoare has prepared a third and supplemental volume to the Rev. Mr Eustace's Classical Tour through Italy. It is intended to complete the labours and supply the omissions of that traveller, and to describe such parts of Italy as he had not visited, and others have rarely explored. The author has enlarged its contents by a Tour round the whole island of Sicily, an Account of Malta, an Excursion to Pola in Istria, and a description of the celebrated monasteries of Montserrat in Spain, and the Grande Chartreuse in France. Speedily will be published, a translation of Extracts from a Journal kept in Greenland in the years 1770 to 1778, by Hans Egede Saabye, formerly missionary there; with an Introduction respecting the Way of Life of the Greenlanders, the Mission in Greenland, and other subjects connected with it, by Mr G. Fries. Dr Aikin is preparing an Enlargement of his England Delineated, under the title of England Described. A Life of John Howard the Philanthropist, by Mr Brown, in one volume 4to, will speedily make its appearance. The first volume of the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, is expected to be ready for publication in the course of May. A new volume on the Diseases of the Eye, by the late Mr Ware, is in the press. A volume of Sermons, by the Rev. James Bryce of Calcutta, will speedily appear. Mrs Darke, of Calne, has in the press a volume of Sonnets and other poems. Mr Papworth will shortly publish an architectural work of original designs for villas, ornamented cottages, lodges, park entrances, &c. many of which are tasteful, elegant, and useful. The Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Holy Land, Mount Libanon, and Cyprus, by Captain Light, are nearly ready for publication, in one volume 4to, with plates, including a view of Jerusalem. Mr William Carey is preparing for the press, a Biographical Sketch of B. R. Haydon, Esq. with Critical Observations on his Paintings, and some Notice of his Essays in the Public Journals. Captain Bosquett's long promised Treatise on Duelling will be published this month. In the press, and speedily will be published, a new edition, considerably improved, of Dr Withering's Systematic Arrangement of British Plants, with an easy Introduction to the Study of Botany; illustrated by copperplates, in four volumes, 8vo. A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions, for the Discovery of a Northern Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, from the earliest period to the present time; accompanied with a general Description of the Arctic Lands and Polar Seas, as far as hitherto known; by John Barrow, F. R. & L. S. 2 vols 8vo.The history of the early voyages and discoveries of the maritime nations of Europe is distributed among such a multitude of large, expensive, and scarce books, which are seldom looked at for the purpose of being read, that a brief abstract of the various efforts that have been made for the discovery of a northern passage, by the east and by the west, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, accompanied with a general description, from the most authentic and some original sources, of the arctic lands and polar seas, may, at least, serve as a preparative for the history of the proceedings of the two expeditions now pending, which have attracted, and deservedly so, no common share of the public attention of European nations: and in this view it is hoped the present work will not be deemed altogether superfluous nor unacceptable. The proprietors of the Rev. H. J. Todd's edition of Dr Johnson's Dictionary beg to inform the public, that they are preparing an Abridgement of that valuable work, under the direction of the editor, which will be very soon published. Prince Hoare, Esq. is preparing for the press, Memoirs of the late Granville Sharp, Esq. composed from his own MSS. and other authentic documents, which will form a quarto volume. James Morier, Esq. has in great forwardness, a Second Journey through Persia and Constantinople, in 1810-16, in a quarto volume, with maps, coloured costumes, and other engravings. Lieut.-Col. Johnson is printing, in a quarto volume, a Narrative of an Overland Journey from India, performed in the present year, with engravings of antiquities, costume, &c. Capt. Bonnycastle, of the royal engineers, is preparing for publication, Spanish America, or an Account of the Dominions of |