or vetches, in March or April, its effects are most extraordinary; in a few days the yellow sickly plants will assume a dark green, which is as much a test of health in plants as the rosy checks of a dairy-maid. The fact is, plants receive nearly as much nourishment from the air as the roots; and as the soot is continually throwing off abundance of gases, which are imbibed through the pores of the leaves, it gives a healthful vigour to the plant, and enables it to throw forth its roots to supply nourishment during the stages of blossoming and perfecting the seed: hence it is, that broad-leaved plants exhaust land less than narrow.

The Comparative Strength of different Kinds of Wood. Mr. Peter Barlow, jun. has communicated to the Philosophical Magazine, a statement of various experiments made at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to ascertain the strength of various sorts of wood. The experiments originated in an investigation of the comparative properties of acacia and oak, by W. Withers, Esq. of Norfolk, whose object appears to have been to encourage the planting of the former in many situations, instead of the latter, as a wood of great durability and of quicker growth. At the Royal Arsenal there were in store many woods not in common use; but which are grown abundantly in some countries, and from the appearance of which great strength was anticipated. Mr. Bossey, foreman in the carriage department, was requested to prepare specimens, which were submitted to the same test as the former ones, The apparatus made use of in the experiments consisted simply of two upright posts, fixed securely at one end in the ground, and at the other to the tie-beam of the roof of a shed; on each of these were firmly attached two pieces of hard wood formed to an edge, on which the specimens to be experimented upon were placed, and a scale suspended from the centre to receive weights. To ascertain the relative stiffness or elasticity, the weight which caused a deflection of one inch was registered, which was denoted by a rod attached to the tie-beam, so as to point downwards in front of the middle of the specimen, and one inch below the upper surface-so that when one inch of deflection had taken place, it was shown by the rod just passing clear of the piece under experiment. The pieces were each accurately cut and planed two inches square and five feet in length, and the distance of the props on which they were broken was exactly fifty inches; they were selected with great care by Mr. Bossey, who

assisted at the experiments. The results of the oak experiments seem certainly to be in favour of the fast-grown. "These experiments" (Mr. Withers observes) "throw new light upon the subject, and lead to the most important conclusions. They prove not only that fast-growing timber is superior in quality to that of slower growth; but that by the constant application of manure to the roots of trees, planted even in good soil, nearly double the quantity of timber may be obtained in the same period, while its strength (instead of being diminished) will be thereby increased."

"The grub of the large Tipula, provincially Tom Taylor or Tommy Longlegs," says a writer on this subject, "commits its ravages chiefly in the first crop, after the breaking up of the grass land; also after clover and after beans; the fly, from which this insect is produced, having deposited its eggs on the soil amongst the grass, clover, or beans. I endeavoured, some few years ago, to acquaint myself with the natural history of this insect; and I was so successful as to ascertain the different stages of existence through which it passes-the fly, the egg, the grub, and the chrysalis-a -as well as the season of the year when the different changes take place, and some degree of usefulness was the result. I found that it took the fly state about the beginning of the month of August; I therefore concluded, as we got our clover hay from the land a little after midsummer, that if we ploughed our clover stubble any time after that, and before the month of August, it would be nearly free from the grub, as instinct has directed the fly not to leave its eggs upon the naked soil, where no living vegetable is growing. I know of no application to the land that will in any degree destroy the grub; but we are much indebted to the rook, and a variety of other birds, for keeping its depredations within limited bounds. A family of rooks would consume 3,847 grubs per day; supposing the consumption to be con tinued throughout the year, it would amount to 1,504,155; and supposing a grub to destroy as many wheat and other plants as may grow upon a space of equal to nine inches square, a family of rooks would preserve from destruction more than two acres of corn. If we extend our ideas further, and suppose all these grubs to live and propagate their species, it appears to me more than probable, that if this species of bird alone were extinct, the labour of the husbandman would be nearly, if not altogether, in vain."

A patent has been granted to Phineas Meigs, of New Haven County, Connecticut, for an improvement in the carpenter's plane.

The objects to be attained by this invention are to cause a single iron to have the effect of a double iron; and to secure or detach it with greater facility than in the ordinary mode of fastening. The plane is, in fact, a double iron plane of a peculiar, and, undoubtedly, a new construction.

The opening, forming the mouth of the plane, is mortised through in the usual manner, excepting at the ends, which are perfectly flat, as no wedge is to be used. A plate of iron is let in on each end of the mortise, extending from the top to the face of the plane, and secured in its place by grooves, into which its edges fall, and by a screw passing into the stock. A flat plate of iron, similar to the cap of the double iron, has a pin projecting from each side of it, at about three fourths of an inch from its lower end; these pins pass into grooves prepared for the purpose on the side plates, and a joint is thus formed upon which this cap iron moves; the pins rest upon the bottoms or lower edges of the grooves, which keep the iron at a proper distance from the face of the plane. Near the upper end of this cap piece, there is a thumb screw, which serves instead of a wedge to fasten the cutting iron. The cutting iron is dropped into its place, between the cap iron and the stock; when there, the thumb screw is turned, and its point, bearing on the cutting iron, throws the lower edge of the cap against that of the cutting iron, and fixes it in its place; the whole bearing being against the pins in the groove.

A patent has been recently granted to Mr. Abraham Adolphe Moser, an engineer, of Kennington, for improvements in certain descriptions of fire-arms.

This new way of firing muskets, fowling pieces, and pistols, requires a very different mode of loading, and a different sort of

The

lock, from those in use at present. object is to ignite the powder at once by a flame of considerable size within the chamber, and without the narrow passage or touch-hole, which is easily stopped up, and gives out a small line of flame to the powder instead of a broad sheet, as it ought to give. No priming, therefore no percussion caps, are used by Mr. Moser.

His next object is to save time, and prevent the necessity of ramming down the cartridge. It is possible, nay necessary, according to his plan, to make the cartridge so much less in diameter, than the calibre of the barrel, as to allow it to run home instantly, by merely dropping it into the muzzle; and to keep it in its place till fired, and to give it the force it gains from confinement, a small pin or plug, dependent on the trigger guard, contracts the space of the barrel to that of the cartridge by a single motion, and keeps it in its position, till the trigger, being pulled, allows of its escape.

The mode of combustion is by a small pellet of detonating mercury secured to a common piece of card wadding, and forming the inner end of the cartridge. This by way of priming. Instead of flint and steel, there is a long pin, secured within a sheath, and moving through the powder chamber by means of strong springs. When the gun is loaded, and the cartridge secured, this pin is quiescent in its sheath; but when the trigger is pulled, the springs expand and force the pin beyond its sheath, to the detonating pellet on which it acts, causing explosion, and creating a sheet of flame within the chamber which is exposed to the powder; ignition takes place, and the gun goes off; the finger is removed from the trigger, the springs recoil, and the pin returns to its sheath till another cartridge is introduced, and it becomes necessary to repeat the action. The lock is very ingenious, but it is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to be described accurately without a marked drawing; the principle, however, is as we have stated it.

Grant Preston, of the city of London, nautical brazier, for his improvements in ship's compasses. Frederick Steiner, of Church, near Blackburn, in the county palatine of Lancaster, manufacturing

chemist and Turkey red dyer, for the invention of a certain process by which spent madders that have been previously used can be made to yield a great quantity of colouring matter; and for dyeing with

Views of the River Fleet; from Drawings by Anthony Crosby; with Historical Notices from the earliest periods to the present time.

The Miscellaneous Papers of the late Major Rennell, F.R.S. &c. &c. with Notes on the whole, and some Observations made during a recent Survey of the British Channel and the Coast of Cornwall. By T. Webb, A. M., Civil Engineer: who has also in the press, a Work, addressed to the Government and Landowners of Great Britain, on the En. croachments of the Sea upon the Shores of the Kingdom; with Suggestions for arresting its de.

structive Progress, and for preserving the Land from its future Ravages.

"Elements of Materia Medica." By A. T. Thomson, M. D.

A Collection of the Exercises which have obtained Prizes in Charter House, from 1814 to 1832, "Memoir of the Court and Character of Charles the First." By Lucy Aikin.

A new Edition of an "Introduction to Botany." By - Bancks, F. L.S., with Improvements. "Outlines of the First Principles of Horticulture," By John Lindley, Esq.

MISS ANNA MARIA PORTER.

This accomplished lady and popular novelist died lately at Clifton, after a short illness. She was descended, on the father's side, from an Irish family of great respectability, which acted a conspicuous part in the contest between James the Second and the Prince of Orange. Mr. Porter held a commission in a regiment of dragoons, and, dying at an early age, left his widow with five young children; three sons, one of whom was the present Sir Robert Ker Porter, and two daughters, of whom Anna Maria was the younger, the elder being the highly accomplished Miss Jane Porter. Mrs. Porter, who possessed an excellent understanding, bestowed her utmost care on the education of her daughters, imbuing their minds from infancy with that literary taste, and training them to those habits of studious application, which laid the foundation of their after eminence in that pleasing department of literary composition to which they devoted themselves. Anna Maria evinced an unusual precocity of genius. When not more than thirteen years of age, she commenced her career of authorship by the publication of a small work, suitably entitled Artless Tales. These little stories betray, as might be supposed, many marks of a juvenile pen; but there are also discernible in their construction and composition numerous indications of that fertility of invention and fluency of narration, which imparts so great a charm to her subsequent productions. Her next work, which appeared after an interval of a few years, was a novel in one volume, entitled Walsh Colville, founded, we believe, on some incidents in real life, in which the fair and youthful author was in some measure personally interested. The favourable reception experienced by these works encouraged her to proceed, and she shortly afterwards published another novel in three volumes, entitled Octavia; which was fol

lowed, though we think with the intervention of another smaller work, by the Hungarian Brothers, a novel, in three volumes; and by Don Sebastian, or the House of Braganga, an historical romance, in four volumes. These works obtained a very extensive circulation, and placed the author among the favourite standard novel-writers of the time. She now prosecuted her literary labours with great ardour, and published several other works with increasing reputation. Among her more popular productions may be enumerated, The Recluse of Norway, in four volumes; The Village of Mariendorpt, also in four volumes; and The Fast of St. Magdalen, in three volumes. She also published a volume of Ballads and Romances, with other poems.

For

Miss Porter's continued mental exertions proved too much for her bodily constitution, which was naturally rather delicate. some years her health had been gradually on the decline, her sight especially being greatly impaired. She had just entered, with her sister, on a plan of relaxation, for the summer months, when she was suddenly cut down while partaking the kind hospitalities of a valued friend at Clifton.

The death of this lady will occasion a chasm in the world of letters, that will not soon be filled with equal talent, or receive such general acceptance. Her qualification for the species of literary labour to which she directed her genius with such honourable success, were of the highest order. To a fertility of invention, not often surpassed for its exuberance, she united a close observation of living manners, and a quick and accurate discrimination of human character. From the combination of these rare endowments, she acquired the power of moulding the creations of her fancy into the forms and incidents of actual life, and of imparting to them, with an intensity immeasurably increased, all the deep and affecting interest which springs from