glass to form one lens:-a spirit level, in which a perpendicular bar is acted upon by the flow of mercury in the horizontal tube; this bar is intended to be employed instead of the ordinary plumb line:-a magnetical apparatus for extracting small particles of steel from the eyes of persons employed in pointing of needles and other dry grinders of iron and steel :—a window turned over to prevent accidents in cleaning:-a fire escape, consisting of a rope to be attached to a staple previously fixed in the ceiling of the room, and when a fire occurs the rope is to be made fast to the staple, from whence it is to descend to the opposite house, forming an inclined plane for a chair, containing one or two persons, to be passed down; the mode of regulating the descent being by a check rope, traversed through a sheave or pulley block :-a mode of raising bricks, mortar, and other articles, to the top of a scaffold, to prevent the necessity of carrying them up ladders. A centrifugal governor for a crane :—a guard for a lock, consisting of a scutcheon to cover the key-hole, which is fixed or moved by a secret bolt, worked upon the shifting letter principle :—a safety valve for a steam-engine, consisting of a piston packed in a small cylinder open to the small boilers, which piston is kept down by a spiral spring of a power equal to the pressure at which the engine is intended to work; upon the force of the steam exceeding that point, the piston will be raised, and the steam escape through an opening in the side of the small cylinder near its top:-a pump bucket, the valves of which are of metal, with bevelled edges instead of leather :a fire escape, consisting of a long pole set in the top of an engine, to which a lever is attached, having a bucket at the end, to be raised to the windows of the house on fire-iron ties to be employed in buildings, as auxiliaries in the framing of timbers, truss girders, and roofs of a large span:-improved dock gates, constructed at Devonport :-a fire escape, consisting of a carriage with a mast in the middle, to which a cross arm is attached and drawn up by ropes and pulley blocks, at the end of the arm a chair is suspended, to be let up and down by a rope and pulley:-safe coaches, in which the centre of gravity moves as the wheels pass rapidly round a corner:-improvements to aid the sailing of ships, by addition to the keel and rudder :- -a fire escape, consisting of a trough with steps on the inside, which may be moved from the side of a house by joints, and placed to a window, whereby persons can descend:-a safety valve for a steamengine, in which the plug of the valve is stationary, but the seat is enabled to re

cede from it, and open the valve by the bending up of the plate in which the seat is fixed, as the force of the steam increases :-a bridge of tension and suspension, constructed of ropes and canes, which may be put up or taken down in a few hours; the model exhibited a facsimile of one made for passing rapids in the East Indies:-folding chairs, put together by hinge joints, which pack together in a small compass, and are peculiarly adapted for camp equipage or for shipping: -a system of gymnastic exercise for giving freedom and agility to the bodies of young persons:-a method of ventilating ships, by means of tubes which pass from the lower part up to the deck, and over the sides of the vessel down to the water's edge; the undulation of the waves causing the water to raise occasionally in the pipes, and again receding keeps up a continual air pump, which draws the foul air from the lower parts of the vessel :-the stands of a table for drawing large plans of architectural designs, by which the table is rendered capable of being raised to various heights, and of turning in every direction, as well as being inclined at different angles to the horizon:—a cooking apparatus with boilers, steamers, ovens, &c. the fire being in the middle, and the flues passing through between the several compartments:-a new mode of supporting the centering of arches of bridges and other erections:-a water wheel, which turns horizontally on a vertical axle, having float boards attached by hinges to the sides of the cross arms, so that they have a bearing and resistance against the arms on one side, as the wheel revolves, and float freely on the other :-an improved wooden leg, the socket of which is made of metal to give stability, instead of leather as heretofore :—an instrument on an improved construction for drawing teeth:-surgical instruments of several kinds, and for various purposes :—methods of adapting a lever, so as to afford the means of shipping and unshipping anchors and heavy cannon:-stages round vessels, for the purpose of repairing their outsides:-coffers for repairing ships below water :-improvements in ship building: floating leaky vessels by means of airbags on the sides, from which ropes pass under the ship's bottom, and by drawing the ropes tight, the hull is raised in the water:-timber for stern rails :-tubes of an improved kind for barometers, and other philosophical purposes :-a portable stand for a telescope :-a carpenter's smoothing plane for reducing rough timbera sextant:-a portable mill to grind corn and other grain by means of

Instead of employing a straight cylindrical barrel, the curved pipe c, c, is furnished with a piston made to work air tight, and bent in a similar curve. The cistern g is intended to receive the water raised from a well by the suction pipe d, so that in this form of the pump, the piston rod is always working in a direction parallel to the bore of the barrel.

HYDRAULIC ORRERY.

A very curious piece of mechanism under this title was exhibited by Mr. Part. ington in his lectures at the Spitalfields Mechanics' Institution. It was originally invented by Mr. Busby, and is highly deserving of scientific notice; not so much for its astronomical display, as for its developement of great effects produced by a very small mechanical force; a small syphon, in the first instance, setting the whole machine in motion, whilst new forces are generated by that motion to an extent that may render the principle one of high importance in the useful arts. As an orrery, it shows, by a very ingenious

adjustment, the exact motion of the moon through her nodes, and the relative motions of Jupiter's moons in a diminishing ratio of force and motion, on a very simple principle, but which seems capable of more extensive application.

BLEACHING OF SPONGES.

These articles are in such general use that the following directions for cleansing and bleaching them may not be unacceptable.

The sponges are first to be steeped in cold water for some days, then washed repeatedly in fresh water until it comes clear, and afterwards in hot water several times. If they contain much calcareous matter, they are now to be placed for about twenty-four hours in a weak solution of muriatic acid; after which, being washed, they are to be placed for about eight days, in a weak solution of sulphuric acid, again repeatedly washed in fresh water, and then dried slowly in the open air.-Journal de Pharm. :

BOILING POINT OF FLUIDS.

From some experiments and observations lately made, it would appear that the boiling point of water and other fluids, is by no means so uniform, under equal degrees of pressure, as has generally been imagined; for it seems fully established that the introduction of any solid matter, such as chips of wood, bits of glass, metallic particles, &c. into a heated fluid, will cause it to boil up, that is, to discharge vapour, and at a lower temperature than it otherwise would have done. Something of this kind has, we believe, for a considerable time been practised by the keepers of steam-engines, for the purpose of accelerating and augmenting the disengagement of the steam, but without being well understood or attracting great attention; lately, however, the fact has as it were forced itself into notice, and it has already been proposed to take advantage of it in the process of distillation, to which it may, in all probability, be very happily applied.

Review and Analysis.

A VISIT TO GREECE IN 1823 AND 1824. BY GEORGE WADDINGTON, ESQ., 8vo.

MURRAY.

MR. WADDINGTON is only a bird of ill omen on the present state and future prospects of Greece. He is a man of doubts and misgivings, and really seems unable to make up his mind whether this classic land had not better slumbered on a few centuries longer under the Turkish yoke, than incurred the agitations and casualties attending her struggle for freedom. With a lively sense of the evils which obscure her present efforts, Mr. W. appears to forget the greater calamities from which she has escaped, and the future good that awaits her triumphant exertions. In his unfavourable character of the Greeks and their leaders, however, we can discern nothing but what might have been anticipated in a nation emerging, after an arduous trial, from a state of great moral and social degradation. In civil conflicts the bravest rather than the best assume the foremost place, and it is only when the storm of battle is over that the less obtrusive claims of virtue and talent are recognised. But the question between the present prospects of Greece, and the state in which she was likely to continue under her Ottoman oppressors, lies in a very small compass. In the former she has every thing to hope; with free institutions, her resources, industry,

and intellect may expand; but under the Turks, the future would have been like the past, and all the advantages of fine climate, fertile soil, and an ingenious people, lost in the stagnant pool of despotism.

Leaving these general considerations, let us come to our author's publication. It commences with a very prolix introduction, in which the reader is amused with a variety of conjectures on the causes of the Greek revolution, and a

great deal of general reasoning, characterised by a singular sort of metaphysical imbecility. The body of the work is made up of insulated sketches, dated at Constantinople, Athens, London, Zante, Corfu, and other places, and concludes with an elaborate defence of the government of sir Thomas Maitland in the Ionian Islands, and finally with an appendix of state papers and illustrative documents. Deducting the outward members, the body of the book occupies 220 pages, and it is from these we shall make a few selections; requesting the reader to bear in mind the peculiar mental texture of Mr. Waddington, and those evanescent circumstances, which we have already hinted as likely to exert a temporary influence over the character of the Greeks and their chiefs.

DESCRIPTION OF ATHENS.

The modern town of Athens was never remarkable for beauty or regularity of construction: it has now suffered the demolition of about one-third of its buildings. Many Turkish houses were burnt by the Greeks, in the first siege of the eitadel: many Greek houses were ruined during the occupation of the place by Omer Brióni; and many of both have fallen into the streets from mere humidity and neglect. The churches and mosques have not met with greater mercy in this religious war; and even the ashes of the dead have not been allowed to repose in security. The spacious Turkish burialground at the foot of the Areopagus, formerly solemn and sacred, and now scattered over with the fragments of its monuments, and profaned by the insults of the conqueror, attests the fury of a revenge not to be satiated by blood.

By a singular change of national character, modern Athens is, of all the cities of Greece, the least maritime. In fact, she does not possess one single vessel of any size or description,-not one Athenian sailor exists to pay homage at the tomb of Themistocles. The commerce of Attica is, therefore, entirely in the hands of foreigners, and the natives have ro means of supplying even their own wants and necessities. It is possible that this

cause may have contributed to augment their sufferings.

In my daily rides among the mountains and villages, (by which, though unarmed and alone, I risk little under the vigorous government of Odysseus,) I observe little else than distress and poverty. The villages are half-burnt and half-deserted; the peasants civil, but suspicious; the convents abandoned or defaced, and their large massive gates shattered with musketballs; while human bones may sometimes be discovered bleaching in the melancholy solitude. In the mean time, there is no appearance of depression or indolence. A great portion of the ground is cultivated, and crops are sown, in the uncertainty who may reap them "for the immortal gods:" the olives too, and the vineyards, are receiving almost the same labour which would be bestowed upon them in a time of profound peace.

In the city, the Bazaar exhibits a scene of some animation; and, owing to the great influx of refugees from Thebes and Livadia, some of whom have even preserved a part of their property, there is here no appearance of depopulation. There is even occasionally some inclination to gaiety; genuine, native hilarity will sometimes have its course in spite of circumstances, and the maids of Athens will dance their Romaic in the very face of misery. But it will scarcely be credited, that the celebration of the Carnival is at this instant proceeding with great uproar and festivity. Drunken buffoons, harlequins, and painted jesters, are riotously parading the streets, while Gourra's sulky Albanians sit frowning at the fortress-gate, and the Turks and the plague are preparing to rush down from Negropont and Carysto.

Mr. W. estimates the present population of Athens at 13,000, many of whom are in a state of the greatest wretchedness

and destitution.

THE GREEK NAVY.

Let me now attempt to give some account of the celebrated Greek navy, whose exploits, real and imaginary, have filled us all with so much admiration for the last two or three years.

Every one is acquainted with the causes to which this fleet is indebted for its existence; nor is it less generally known that the vessels are without exception the private property of the different merchants of the three islands; there is not, in fact, in the whole Archipelago one government ship. I have beheld too much of the real nature of this singular contest to retain much disposition to en

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thusiasm; but when I recollect the floating masses which I have lately left at Constantinople, and in the Dardanelles,

when I recollect the magnitude and resources of the Turkish empire, its ports, its forests, and its opulence, and when I behold a few individuals, the inhabitants of three naked rocks, whose several cities do not nearly equal the area of the mere seraglio of the sultan, animated by a variety of feelings, of which some at least are honourable, in support of a whose purity is unassailable, when I see these daring islanders successfully bid defiance to their gigantic enemy, and even defeat in open sea his unwieldy force, I will not attempt to qualify the admiration which is extorted from me by so singular a combination of genius and audacity.

cause

The Greek vessels are almost exclusively brigs, mounting from eight to twenty guns; not above two or three corvettes are usually to be found in their largest fleets, and those are little more formidable than their companions. Every expedition is attended by a certain number of fire-ships, in which the entire hope of every offensive operation appears to be placed.

The largest number that ever has been mustered was from a hundred and twelve to a hundred and sixteen sail, in the first year of the insurrection. The Hydriotes usually compose about two-fifths of the united fleet, the Psarians and Spezziotes forming the remainder, in the proportion, perhaps, of three to two; and such is nearly the proportion of the population of the three Islands. The admiral, or commanding captain, is a Hydriote, nomi nated, probably, by the primates of that island, who consult in their election the wishes of the people.

The merchants of the three naval islands, on whom has fallen mainly the whole expense of equipping the fleet, were compelled to make enormous sacrifices during the first year of the insurrection, partly from the vast number of vessels which it was at first thought necessary to employ, and partly from the very high pay which the sailors appear to have demanded; from ten even to fifteen dollars a month, were the wages usually received by them. However, in 1822, the pay was fixed at fifty Greek piatres (five dollars) a month, and still remains at that rate.

NAVAL DISCIPLINE.

In a Greek fleet, there appears to exist neither any gradation of rank, nor any sort of discipline whatsoever. An admiral

does indeed exercise the nominal command, but with very slight means of enforcing his orders, even on board his own vessel. All the rest is pure democracy. Every sailor is made acquainted with the object of every expedition, and generally forms, and sometimes offers, his own particular opinion, as to the best means of accomplishing it. And, were it not that every individual is animated with the most violent hatred against the common enemy, and is strongly sensible of the advantages of unanimity, I can perceive no tie by which a fleet so constituted could be held together for an hour. Indeed, I have heard a frequent complaint, that the admiral, at the moment of some important operation, has often made at daybreak the melancholy discovery, that many of his squadron have deserted him in the night; some, perhaps, ou a visit to their families at home, and others in pursuit of some private scheme of profit or plunder. The sight of a fine flock of sheep, grazing on a neighbouring shore, has been known not unfrequently to seduce from obedience the least disorderly among the Hellenic mariners.

It is for these and similar reasons, that the Greeks, notwithstanding their occasional successes, have, in fact, lost many excellent opportunities of action: nor do I believe that they could keep the sea for a week against any naval enemy, except a Turk or an Austrian.

On board their vessels separately, the only attempt at subordination which I have ever perceived or heard of is at meals, and I know not whether this be not an invention peculiar to Hydriote pride. The captain dines alone, and the mate, (the nostr' uomo, who acts as lieutenant,) also munches his beans and caviar in solitude. Next in respect are four of the elder sailors, who generally stand at the helm, and who also have a separate table. These five, if we like, we may call officers, and, indeed, the mate is often a kinsman or connection of the captain, and has, therefore, some claim to that title. Again, the common sailors have a subdivision of messes, regulated, I believe, according to their age, and observed with scrupulous severity.

Now, though I cannot learn that any soul on board (except the captain, who is generally owner) possesses any acknowledged authority over any other, yet I am still persuaded that the above culinary distinctions act in some measure as a substitute for real gradation of rank, and are of use in the introduction of some sort of discipline. At any rate, they contain the rudiments of a system, which, under better circumstances, will probably be

brought to considerable perfection; for the Greeks possess all the materials for an excellent navy; and, in some of the most useful qualities of sailors, as adroitness, activity, ingenuity, they are individually inferior to no seamen in the world.

CHARACTER OF THE WAR.

The present will prove, if I mistake not, the most innocent civil war on record. Scarcely a movement will be made, of which some intrigue shall not previously have secured the success. With abundance of negotiation, threats, promises, bribery, and perjury, there will happily be extremely little bloodshed. Greeks are any thing rather than hard fighters: indeed, they will never fight, if they can avoid it, except under the most favourable circumstances of position, numbers, or darkness. A few hundred marksmen defend one of those impenetrable passes, with which the country abounds, against a body of Turkish cavalry, who present themselves, stupidly rather than courageously, to be butchered and plundered. Any offensive movement is a surprise, generally nocturnal. I know no single instance, during the whole contest, of a battle well disputed,* on equal terms, on fair open ground, and in the face of day. Ev de páei kaì dλeσσov, is no longer the motto of Grecian heroism; "dolus an virtus," is discovered to be the securer principle.

LEVEES OF COLOCOTRONI.

I have presented myself three or four times at the levees of Colocotroni, and have received from him repeated assurances of his peculiar respect for the English nation, and his attachment to its individual members; and in fact, he immediately provided me with an excellent lodging, which I could not otherwise have procured. These professions amuse me the more, as the old hypocrite is notoriously anti-Anglican, and is continually and publicly accusing the British government of designs to occupy and enslave the Morea. His manners, however, to do him justice, are utterly devoid of urbanity, and, like his countenance and dress, are precisely those which best become a distinguished captain of banditti. His court seems to consist of about fifteen capitani, who seat themselves on the sofa which lines three sides of his spacious hall; from the walls are suspended Turkish muskets

The battle of Petta approaches most nearly to an exception; but that was fought by Germans, and lost by the treachery of Greeks. The battle of Carpenissi, in which the Greeks attacked, was a night action.