public travelling, that, for one twenty-mile stage, cases. his pride relax under the influence of wine; and when you flows were continually shifting, perhaps, after all, the trade might lie amongst a small number of hands. Universally, however, the landlords showed some shrewdness, or even sagacity, in qualifying according to the circumstances of the inquirer, the sort of credit which they allowed to the exaggerated ill fame of the roads. Returning on this very road, some months after, with a timid female relation, who put her ques tions with undisguised and distressing alarm, the very same people, one and all, assured her that the danger was next to nothing. Not so at present: rightly presuming that a haughty cavalier of eighteen, flushed with wine and youthful blood, would listen with dis gust to a picture too amiable and pacific of the roads before him, Mr Spread-Eagle replied with the air of one who feared more than he altogether liked to tell, and looking suspiciously amongst the strange faces lit up by the light of the carriage lamps- Why, sir, there have been ugly stories afloat; I cannot deny it; and sometimes, you know, sir,' winking sagaciously, to which a knowing nod of assent was returned, it may not be quite safe to tell all one knows. But can understand me. The forest, you are well aware, sir, is the forest it never was much to be trusted, by all accounts, in my father's time, and I suppose will not be better in mine. But you must keep a sharp look-out: and, Tom,' speaking to the postilion, 'mind, when you pass the third gate, to go pretty smartly by the thicket.' Tom replied in a tone of importance to this professional appeal. General valedictions were exchanged, the landlord bowed, and we moved off for the forest. My companion had his travelling case of pistols: these he began now to examine; for sometimes, said he, I have known such a trick as drawing the charge whilst one happened to be taking a glass of wine. Wine had unlocked his heart-the prospect of the forest and the advancing night excited him and even of such a child as myself, he was now disposed to make a confidant. Did you observe,' said he, 'that ill-looking fellow, as big as a camel, who stood on the landlord's left hand ?' Was it the man, I asked timidly, who seemed by his dress to be a farmer? Farmer, you call him? Ah! my young friend, that shows your little knowledge of the world. He is a scoundrel, the bloodiest of scoundrels. And so I trust to convince him before many hours are gone over our heads. Whilst saying this, he employed himself in priming his pistols: then, after a pause, he went on thus: No, my young friend, this alone shows his base purposes-his calling himself a farmer. Farmer he is not, but a desperate highwayman, of which I have full proof. I watched his inalicious glances whilst the landlord was talking; and I could swear to his traitorous intentions.' So speaking, he threw anxious glances on each side as we continued to advance: we were both somewhat excited; he by the spirit of adventure, I by sympathy with him-and both by wine. The wine, however, soon applied a remedy to its own delusions: three miles from the town we had left, both of us were in a bad condition for resisting highwaymen with effect-we were fast asleep. Suddenly a most abrupt halt awoke us; my friend felt for his pistols-the door flew open, and the lights of the assembled group announced to us that we had reached Mansfield. That night we went on to Newark, at which place about forty miles of our journey remained. This distance we performed of course on the following day, between breakfast and dinner. But it serves strikingly to illustrate the state of roads in England, whenever your affairs led you into districts a little retired from the capital routes of the FRENCH PRONUNCIATION. The ave the fuel carried out for feeding the furnaces is exhausted much sooner, in consequence of the greater thickness of the solid medium between the water and the fire. The bottoms of the boilers also are much more rapidly acted upon and destroyed by the heat. To remedy these most serious inconveniences, no other method has yet been adopted than that of very frequently letting off the steam, for the purpose of cooling and opening the boiler for the removal of the saline encrustation by the hand. But, on the contrary, this operation is productive of an extraordinary loss of time, a period of sixty hours being generally required for the purpose, and this long detention occurring of necessity after a performance of only a few days. SMALL ALLOTMENTS OF LAND. Edward Richards, aged 68, the father of six chil dren, the son of a poor man, and the youngest of eleven children, has resided in Cirencester parish fiftytwo years, and during the early part of his life was a agreed with a farmer to clear out and improve an acre common labourer. About thirty-five years ago, he years rent free, and then give it up to the owner. On of rough quarry land, on condition of having it three this unpromising spot, he and his wife expended their surplus labour to such advantage, that, during those three years, he cleared L.40. He then purchased two acres of poor land, for which he gave L.80. These productive state. two acres are now, and have long been, in a highly Soon after he entered on the culti vation of this land, he raised in one year seven quarters of wheat from it: and he has refused one hundred guineas for it. He has now been lord of this little manor for thirty-two years. By the kind offices of a worthy medical gentleman, who attended him when unwell, he obtained from Earl Bathurst twenty-five One night, a party of English gentlemen attend- perches of poor, waste, and unproductive land, subject ed the Theatre Français, at Paris, in order to see to be overflowed with water, at a quit-rent of 10s. per a popular piece acted. They had not long taken their annum. This spot, which the writer has seen, he has made their appearance could not utter a word which seats till the curtain rose, but the performers who possessed about thirty years, and has brought it to a could be heard, in consequence of an uproarious outstate of value and productiveness that must be seen to be rightly appreciated. For the last ten years, this The laborious and industrious man has rented five or six sounds and yells were deafening, but prominent above cry that broke out from all parts of the house. all the noise might be heard the thousand times reacres of land, besides the two plots already referred to; and, during that period, has kept two, and some. peated word ricat, something like a rapid combination times three cows, as also sheep, pigs, &c.; and it may of the sounds ree and cal. "Oh," said the English- not be uninteresting in these times to state, that he men, "they are crying for one Ricat, some great per- has been long a rate-payer, but never a rate-receiver. such a personage.' former we suppose, although we have never heard of In short, by honest industry, sobriety, and good conIn this plausible supposition, duct, he is now a man of substance, and an indepen however, they were egregiously mistaken. The thing dent Englishman, respectable and respected; and the which was so loudly demanded was the national air of writer, with feelings of sincere pleasure, remarked that Henri Quatre, which was no sooner struck up by the he set a high value on what it was never his good for. orchestra than the hubbub quietly subsided. Who tune to possess a sound and useful education.-Lacould have imagined that Ricat meant Henri Quatre?bourer's Friend Society's Magazine. yet such is the common mode of pronouncing the words. It sions. LISBON AT NIGHT. was an affair of danger to walk home alone from a party at night. I contrived to do it with impunity, armed with an iron cane, keeping the middle of the street, and not allowing any Portuguese to walk behind me. Nothing could be more dreary and "cutthroat" than the appearance of the streets after dusk. Narrow, black with mud, and bounded by tall houses, they were only lighted at long intervals by wretched lamps on those nights when there was no moon; when the almanack said the moon ought to shine, the oil was saved. However, as there was no provision made for clouds darkening occasionally the face of the Cynthian queen, the faint glimmer of the lights at the images of the Virgin was alone seen on these occaThe people retire early to rest in Lisbon, and from nine till twelve I seldom observed any one in the streets, except an occasional sentry with his brightbarrelled musket, a solitary pedestrian hurrying along in his cloak, or dogs prowling about. A few nights after my arrival, I was returning from a soirée down the steep street Alecrim; the moon was shining bright, and I was beginning to be very sentimental whilst admiring the vine leaves and flowers hanging over the wall of the garden of the Conde Feroba, and observing at the bottom of the descent the Tagus blithely gliding in light to the sea, when my pleasant reveries were interrupted by the sudden uplifting of a window, and, accompanied by a drowsy cry of "Agua vai" (there goes water), down came a torrent within a few feet of me. There was a rush of dogs to the spot; I made a detour, and escaped to my quiet chamber. In walking the streets between nine and twelve at night, it is necessary, if alone, to keep near the middle of the thoroughfare, and to talk to one's self; or else "showers of glory" will descend without any warning cry. Alexander's Portugal. WATERS OF THE ATLANTIC AND MEDITERRANEAN. A remarkable proof of the relative degrees of salt held in solution by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, is afforded by the condi. tion of the boilers of his Majesty's steam-packet Darran, which some time ago arrived at Woolwich, after an attendance of a few months upon the fleet in the neighbourhood of Constantinople. Owing to the extensive impregnation with salt of the upper waters of the Mediterranean, it would appear that a deposit of solid salt, to the extent of one-eighth part of an inch per diem, is found at the bottom of the boilers. This deposit is further stated to be greater in one week in the Mediterranean, than the entire deposit found in six months in the boilers of the steam-packets which ply from Falmouth to Lisbon. In consequence of the extraordinary deposit of salt, it is found that INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON THE MIND. Of the solace of music-nay more, of its influence upon melancholy, I need not look for evidence in the universal testimony of antiquity, nor remind such an audience of its recorded effect upon the gloomy distemper or the perverse mind of Saul. I myself have witnessed its power to mitigate the sadness of seclusion, in a case where my loyalty as a good subject, and my best feelings as a man, were more than usually. interested in the restoration of my patient; and I also remember its salutary operation in the case of a gentleman in Yorkshire, many years ago, who was first stupified, and afterwards became insane, upon the sudden loss of his property. This gentleman could hardly be said to live; he merely vegetated, for he was motionless until pushed, and did not speak to or notice any body in the house for nearly four months. The first indication of a return of any sense appeared in his attention to music played in the street. This was observed, the second time he heard it, to have a more decided force in arousing him from his lethargy, and induced by this good omen, the saga. cious humanity of his superintendant offered him a violin. He seized it eagerly, and amused himself with it constantly. After six weeks, hearing the rest of the patients of the house pass by his door to their common room, he accosted them-"Good morning to you all, gentlemen; I am quite well, and desire I may accompany you." In two months more he was dismissed cured.-Sir H. Halford's Essays & Orations. INDIAN WIT. Notwithstanding the peculiar sombreness of the North American Indian, he is capable of exercising his wit upon occasions. For instance, one of the MicMacks, not long since, entering a tavern in one of the country towns of Nova Scotia to purchase some spirits, for which ten shillings a gallon were demanded -double the retail Halifax price-the savage exposThe landtulated on the extraordinary sum asked. lord endeavoured to justify it, by explaining the expense of conveyance, the loss of interest, &c., and illustrated his remarks by saying, it was as expensive to keep a hogshead of rum as a milch cow. dian humorously replied, "May be it drinks as much water (alluding to its adulteration), but certain no eat so much hay!" The In LONDON: Published, with Permission of the Proprietors, by ORB & SMITH, Paternoster Row; G. BERGER, Holywell Street, Stereotyped by A. Kirkwood, Edinburgh. CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF "CHAMBERS'S HISTORICAL NEWSPAPER." No. 163. NAT PHIN. In a small villa, surrounded by a little garden, and sadly jostled by the spreading streets of Liverpool, dwelt a worthy old bachelor whom all the world knew by the familiar and handy name of Nat Phin. Mr Phin enjoyed a lucrative government office in the city, and spent six hours every day in business: all the rest of his time was devoted to study and recreation. He had, from his earliest years, manifested a taste for odd and out-of-the-way antiquities, to which was rather strangely joined a fondness for natural history. The first of these predilections he indulged in a small room connected with his office in town, where he had amassed an immense quantity of old historical jackboots, and pistols, and china, and Indian gods, and other such trash, which he would sometimes be found surveying with one eye, while the other was watching the proceedings of a long vista of clerks in the neighbouring apartment. His other fancy found employment at home, where he had there stocked every room, and every bit of room, with books and objects connected with the various branches of his favourite science, or with creatures on which he had fixed those affections which other men devote to wife and children. A venerable spitfire terrier, which had been his companion at an early period of life, lay, mentally engaged in the business of rat-catching, in an old shawl of his aunt's, upon the parlour hearth. Two cats, only in a less degree ancient, having been Mr Phin's second love in the animal world, lay amicably beside the dog, with whom they had many years since come to a perfect understanding. A parroquet occupied his pole and cross-beam in the corner. Three canaries and a siskin swung in cages from the ceiling. The windows were full of frames whereon were arranged multitudes of flowerpots, the products of which formed so thick a screen as almost to darken the room. The chimneypiece bore a weighty range of the more magnificent orders of shells; and a large glass case was completely filled with geological specimens. In the room more properly called his own, besides bookcases, there was a great variety of stuffed birds and beasts, and a few of the less amiable kinds of living creatures, which his aunt and housekeeper had with some difficulty prevailed upon him to keep out of the parlour. To make up for this, he had forced hundreds of other things into her room, on the plea that there was no place for them elsewhere. She had even submitted to accommodate a dried alligator, too long for all the other chambers in the house. But the things here specified are only those which would have fallen under the observation of a stranger at the first glance. Every bit of wall, most of the ceilings, and a great portion of the floors, were occupied with things living and things dead there was a perpetual buzz, and mew, and chatter, and scream, and whistle, going on throughout the domicile. Beast called to beast, and bird to bird. A tame hawk contended with the favourite kitten for the crumbs of the breakfast-table; monkies shook their fists and made faces at each other from opposite dens; and the parrot carried on a political controversy with the blackbird, the one having been taught to croak out "God save the king," while the other had been trained to sing "Over the water to Charlie." Out of doors, every thing was on a similar footing. A little patch of garden, sunk amidst high walls, had in the course of time been filled in every corner with flowers and shrubs, indigenous and exotic, till it had become a perfect bower of beauty. Fruit-trees spread their arms along every inch of wall which the sun had chance of touching; hotbeds, for which there was no room on the ground, were exalted on stilts, so as to form a kind of second floor; and hundreds, or rather perhaps thousands of flowerpots, were piled on any SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1835. a frame in the middle, like a central book case in an over-filled library. Crowded as the place was, a small piece had been reserved for a pond, in which were kept a few zoophytes and aquatic plants, and where an old tame gull, whose usual employment was to keep down the breed of grubs, might occasionally wet his feathers. A long range of coops in a back court was devoted to a quantity of birds of what Mr Phin delighted to call the gallinaceous tribes, not one specimen of which belonged to Britain, or ever laid, as Miss Phin querulously remarked, a Christian-like egg; by which, we presume, she meant an egg that any Christian could eat. The lord of this odd little domain was one of those individuals who advance to something like age, without having ever been young. At all times of his life, he had worn a stayed and studious look, as if he knew not what love, or quadrilles, or sentimental poetry, consisted of. He had taken to double flannels before thirty, and a wig at thirty-five, and had scarcely turned forty when he found it necessary to fence himself against the winter's cold by a brown duffle spencer. His parents, who preceded him in the possession of the small villa, had seen him attain middle life, without ever supposing him to be any thing but a lad, or conceiving it to be in the least likely that Nat could form an attachment beyond the range of the family, or take it into his head to set up house for himself. Neither had any other body, young or old, male or female, ever thought of Nat as a person qualified to become a lover. He seemed to have entirely missed several of the seven ages of man, and become the lean and slippered Pantaloon at seventeen. If the idea of matrimony and the idea of Nat Phin could have been entertained at the same moment, it would have appeared a most incongruous association. No young lady, in her most meditative moments, whether in letting down her hair for a party, or twisting it up after, could have ever taken a thought of him; not even the most considerate mother of a large family of marriageable daughters could have allowed herself to imagine Nat making up to child of hers. He had not the this-world look which is required in the marrying More likely that he should gradually stiffen away into a curiosity, and, in proper time, take his place amongst those dried specimens upon which he at present bestowed so much of his affection. man. There is no end, however, to the paradoxes of human character. Nat, with all his dryness and hardness of exterior, and engrossed as he seemed by his studies, possessed a soft and kind heart, and delighted in human intercourse. He was particularly fond of receiving visits from ladies, whom, with an antique formality, he would squire about his garden; and when his aunt gathered a few of those ornaments of creation around her tea-table, Nat shone out wonderfully, conversed on albums and theatricals, and, albeit long past the kettle-handing time of life, generally performed the offices of a beau with considerable alacrity. On occasions of this kind, there was generally a great deal of merriment; and all the more so, apparently, that the young ladies and Nat were innocent of all evil intention against each other. When he, in his turn, visited their houses, he was received rather as a kind and familiar uncle than as a mere acquaintance. Light-hearted girls would tell him their love-secrets, and ask his opinion of particular young gentlemen, and accompany him to the exhibitions of works of art, and employ him to obtain for them supplies of rice paper and address cards. In the presence of a man of likelihood, they would have been silent and reserved; but with honest Nat, who was never suspected of having a hand to offer, they were most unflatteringly at their ease. PRICE THREE HALFPENCE. At length, incredible as it may appear, Nat did marry. An eccentric young lady was taken one night by some female friends to see his garden, and being told that he was wealthy, good-natured, and not expected ever to quit the single state, she laid a bet that she would bring him to her feet. How she accomplished this end, has not been recorded; but it is certain that in less than two months she was Mrs Phin. It was summer when the happy event took place, and Nat was so far affected by the new feelings which possessed his bosom, as to assume a pair of nankeen trousers and a black silk handkerchief; things which, upon him, accomplished a change more considerable than could have been expected. On the day after the marriage, he left the bride to be initiated by his aunt in all the complicated arrangements of his establishment, and proceeded as usual to attend his professional duties. It never occurred to him that the lady could wish to reform, or alter, or expunge, any thing in his house; and he therefore had said nothing to her upon the subject. How great was his astonishment, when, on his return at four o'clock, he found the parlour nearly cleared of the pets and curiosities with which it was usually stocked-the terrier yelping from the coal-cellar, where it was dying of cold; the monkies let loose in the garden, where they had brushed down, for one thing, fifty of the most magnificent dahlias; and the whole apartment wearing that waste and dishevelled look which is so apt to follow a thinning or removal of furniture. Nat stood aghast and speechless, and when he found his tongue, broke forth into a vehement denunciation of his venerable aunt as the cause of the mischief. Mrs Phin, however, soon set him to rights, by acknowledging herself to be the author of the reformation, which she defended manfully on the plea of expedi ency. "What!" said she; "am I to come home to a house like a cottar's cabin, with all kinds of birds and beasts in it? Why, Noah's ark was but a joke to it! No, no, sir; if you are to have a wife, you must allow her to manage her house for herself; the gentleman never interferes in household affairs." Nat gave in for the present, but spent the whole of that evening in re-arranging his trumpery, in consoling the offended feelings of the terrier, and reasoning with Mrs Phin about the pleasantness of having a few birds at least in one's parlour. He left her next morning, apparently reconciled to the existing state of things; but what was his astonishment, on coming home once more, to find that she had caused the whole of the honeysuckle to be cut away from the windows, and nearly a cartful of old pottery and bricks to be emptied into the pond among the zoophytes! These facts were hinted to him on his entrance, by his ancient gardener, whose heart seemed like to burst as he spoke. For some time, Nat hardly could find words. "Madam," he at length said, "you have spoilt one of the finest honeysuckles in the country, and destroyed at least fifteen unknown varieties of the Cellaria tribe of the class Zoophyta, besides some of the prettiest sea plants that ever were picked up. What in the name of wonder do you mean? Or where is all this to end?" "Why, to be sure," said the lady, "the room was a little dark, and I thought it could be improved by a few of the branches being cut away from the windows. As for the pond, it is full of the nastiest creatures in the world, and so I determined to have it filled up." "Nasty creatures!" cried the indignant husband; "they were admired by all students of zoophytology, as a perfectly unexampled collection. I had some intention of sending drawings of them to Lamarck, who, I have been told, is totally unacquainted with most of the species." The mischief, however, was done, and Mr Phin could only use measures to prevent other disasters of the common mushroom, and the morelle; there are, how-poisoned; and hemlock, which is generally believed same kind. He accordingly spent the whole of that ever, upwards of forty species in the island, out of to have furnished the poisons which were used in anevening in lecturing his wife upon the pleasures of which Dr Greville, one of the most distinguished bo- cient times, and especially among the Greeks, for disthe study of natural history, and impressing upon her tanists in Britain, enumerates no fewer than twenty-patching criminals, and so often mistaken for fennel, the identity of his comfort with the preservation of six different species growing abundantly in our woods asparagus, parsley, and particularly parsnip, often the objects with which he had filled his house. She and fields, which, although most of them utterly ne. become the ministers of death to the unwary. The yielded a kind assent to the most that he said; but the glected in this country, are all of them considered water hemlock, too, Cicuta virosa; the dead-tongue, calin into which she thus lulled him was treacherous. eatable, and many highly delicate, abroad. General or hemlock dropwort, Enanthe crocata of botanists, On returning to dinner next day, he was met in the directions have been laid down for distinguishing the often mistaken for hemlock by collectors of medicinal very threshold with the sight of a vast mass of pre- esculent from the poisonous kinds; but it is very vegetables, a mistake of serious consequence; and cious trumpery which he had kept in his own bed-questionable if these rules are always safe; and cer- another of the umbelliferous tribe of plants, the fool's room, now exclusively his own no longer; and again tainly they are not always accurate, as they would parsley, thusa cynepium, which has often occasioned there was a thunderstruck stare, an angry inquiry, exclude many species in common use on the Continent. accidents by reason of its resemblance to parsley-from and a petulant answer. "What! shall a lady not It appears, however, that most fungi or plants of this which, however, it is at once distinguished by the see after the arrangement of her own room?" To in- description, which have a warty cap, more especially leaves being black, and glistening on their lower surcrease the poignancy of his grief, he found her substi- fragments of membrane adhering to their upper surface, and by the nauseous smell they emit when rubtuting a quantity of ladies' work-wretched composi-face, are poisonous. Heavy fungi, which have an un-bed-often prove fatal when introduced into the stetions of card and colouring-trifles destitute of taste, pleasant odour, especially if they emerge from a vulva mach. But among the vegetable poisons, opium, with utility, and every other valuable quality for the ines- or big, are also generally hurtful. Of those which its preparation of laudanum, is the most common and timable specimens of animated nature, which it had grow in woods and shady places, a few are esculent, the most destructive, being frequently administered in cost him so many years to collect. Nat now began to but most are unwholesome; and if they are moist on a poisonous dose either by accident or design. And fear that he had committed a great mistake, and that the surface, they should be avoided. All those which here, as indeed with all those which we have enume the happy days of his life were at an end. It was in grow in tufts or clusters upon the trunks or stumps rated, our first object must be to remove the poison vain that he entreated his aunt to preserve order in his of trees, ought likewise to be shunned. A sure test from the stomach, and, in the absence of the medical absence; the old lady, not very well pleased with the of a poisonous fungus is an astringent, styptic taste, man, an emetic furnishes the readiest means. Wher marriage, and not on over-friendly terms with Mrs and perhaps also a disagreeable, but certainly a pun- it is to be obtained, the best is the sulphate of zinc, Phin, declared herself totally unable to interfere. Day gent odour. Some fungi possessing these properties in a dose of half a drachm, which, if it fails to act, after day did he come home to some new scene of desola- have indeed found their way to the table; but they may be repeated after a short interval. When the tion and change, and night after night did he spend are of very questionable quality. Those whose sub-poison, as in laudanum, is of a narcotic nature, our in bewailing his lot. On some occasions, it was a stance becomes blue soon after being cut, are invari- next endeavour must be to keep the patient constantly glass case demolished and thrust into the lumber- ably poisonous. Those of an orange or rose colour, roused; and the best method is to drag him up and room; on others, a favourite bird liberated, or a plant and those of a coriaceous or corky texture, or which down between two men, who must be cautioned against rooted up. A marmozet with a young family was have a membranous collar round the stem, are also yielding to his importunate entreaties and occasional packed out of doors, to take her chance, like a child- unsafe. Even the esculent mushrooms, if they are struggles to get free and rest himself. If the emetic laden beggar, of a wayside subsistence; and a sloth partially devoured by insects, and have been abandon- is about to fail in its effect, cold water dashed upon was put to his top speed, to avoid a fire of damp strawed, should be avoided, as they have in all probability the head restores the patient for a few moments to sen. which Mrs Phin kindled in pure fun under his kennel. acquired injurious qualities which they do not usually sibility, during the continuance of which it will proDahlias and fuschias of the highest excellence were possess. There is great difficulty in laying down any bably operate. In our endeavours to rouse the patient, broken off to make nosegays; and the coops of the rules by which poisonous fungi can be distinguished stimulants, as hartshorn, camphor, musk, or strong gallinaceous tribes being left open by intentional mis- by those not intimately acquainted with botany; and coffee, &c. will be beneficial. take, seeds of the greatest rarity and value would there is still greater difficulty in forming, even for the sometimes go as a single meal to those insatiable peckers botanist, a correct list of those which are poisonous, and scrapers. In about a twelvemonth, such a change because certain species are innocent in one climate and was wrought in the house, garden, and person of Mr poisonous in another; and not only this, but their Nathaniel Phin, that no one who had known them qualities are considerably influenced by a dry or in former days could have recognised them. The rainy season, and the period of the year at which they house was a dismantled toy, the garden a desolated are produced. Rules may serve as useful guides, but bower, and the man himself a worn-down human they must not be implicitly relied upon, for all are existence-a withered leaf shivering, the last of its subject to exceptions. It may be well to mention that tribe, in the November blast-a being apparently not there is a peculiarity attending this class of poisons, long for this world. in so far as the symptoms are slow in beginning and The time, however, at length arrived for the re- of unusually long duration. They have not, in some storation of Nat to comfort. A baby daughter, pre-instances, commenced for twelve, and in several they sented to him one fine morning, opened a new train have lasted for more than forty-eight hours. of affections in his heart, and soon engrossed so much of his attention, that he began to lose all regard for his curiosities. He ceased to look after his garden, helped with his own hands to banish a chest of dried moths in order to make way for a cradle, and in a short time became quite a different man. Further additions, which in time were made to his family, completed and confirmed the alteration. He dis covered that the things to which he had formerly devoted himself were mere substitutes for those more delightful objects which he now found it so much more agreeable to fondle; and that, these having been placed within his reach, the others were worse than useless. He therefore consented to reserve only a portion of his garden for ornamental purposes, the rest being devoted to rearing honest useful vegetables. His foreign gallinacea were exchanged for worthy regular English hens, whose eggs were generally eatable. His wife was allowed to make such alterations in his house, as rendered it a comfortable family mansion, instead of a menagerie and museum; and by the same magic bands various reformations were made in his own person, so as to transfigure him from a dried specimen into a very tolerable middle-aged gentleman. Nat finally became a solid, easy, contented-looking family man, regularly squiring his wife to church, and frequently to be seen walking of an evening with his "boys." He spent many happy years in this manner, and the last time we saw him he confessed that all his bachelor and curiosity-collecting days seemed to have been spent in vain, and that now only did he truly enjoy life. VEGETABLE AND MINERAL POISONS. CONTINUING the subject of vegetable poisons, one of the most deadly which comes under our notice is that which is found in fungi, or the tribe of mushrooms. Accidents arising from these are of frequent occurrence; yet not so frequent here as upon the Continent, because, in Britain, only three species of mushrooms are used, while abroad, a great variety of them have found their way to the table, many of which are not only liable to be confounded with poisonous species, but are even themselves of doubtful quality. Mr Miller tells us that the true .eatable mushroom, Agaricus campestris, may be easily distinguished from poisonous or unpleasant species by the following characters :-"When young, it appears of a roundish form, smooth like a button; which, together with its stalk, is white, especially the fleshy part of the button; the gills within, when broken, are livid. As it grows larger, it expands its head by degrees into a dat form; the gills underneath are at first of a pale flesh colour, but become blackish on standing." The species used by us are the truffle, the No antidote or specific remedy is known where With modest blush in bosky dells, There's poison on her glowing lips! Triumphant over winter's power, is still fraught with death and desolation to those Laurel leaves, and the meadow saffron, are also poi- Although we have not mentioned all the vegetable poisons, we have, we think, said enough to afford such information about them as may be useful in time of need, and the absence of the medical man, if it is not enough to warn persons against using unknown plants. We shall not occupy much time with the mineral poisons; because the subject is one, concerning which, without an extensive knowledge of chemistry, it were impossible to become so sufficiently acquainted as to do more than render a little assistance in the absence of the scientific practitioner. That little, however, may be useful, and therefore we shall devote a short space to the consideration of those more common mineral poisons which are sometimes taken accidentally and by mistake for other substances. The first mineral poison we may notice is oxalic acid, which is often and fatally swallowed for Epsom salts, which it so closely resembles, that it is difficult even for the practised eye to point out which is the laxative and which the poison. Many plans have been proposed for effectually distinguishing between the two, but the safest one is to taste the draught before taking it-the poison is very acid, while the Epsom salt is strongly bitter. Another test is to take a little common writing ink, and drop it on one or two of the suspected crystals. If they be Epsom salts, no alteration will occur; but if oxalic acid be present, the ink will become of a reddish brown; and, again, blue sugar-loaf-paper is reddened by a solution of the acid, but not affected by the salts. Oxalic acid is little adapted for the murderer; for although easily given as a laxative, its real nature so soon betrays itself, that secrecy is effectually prevented. It seems to be the most rapid and unerring of all the common poisons. Cases are recorded where patients lived scarcely ten minutes; and few of those who have died survived one hour. The smallest dose seems to have been half an ounce; but there can be little doubt that less would be sufficient to cause death. It is too evident, that on account of its dreadful rapidity, remedies are of little avail, unless resorted to immediately after the acid has been swallowed; and the strongly burning sensation it occasions in the throat and stomach almost instantaneously indicates what has happened. The object then in view is to administer as speedily as possible large doses of chalk, or magnesia, if chalk cannot be easily procured. These substances not only neutralise the acid, so as to take away its corrosive power, but form with it a new compound, which is insoluble, and therefore unable to enter the system. Time should never be lost in exhibiting emetics; but, above all, it is necessary to avoid giving warm water in hopes of accelerating vomiting, as dilution promotes the entrance of the poison into the blood, if it has not the effect of immediately expelling it. Where oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid), or spirits of salt (muriatic acid), have been swallowed, in the absence of the medical man large doses of the common car. bonate of magnesia are to be given, and vomiting promoted with hot water; and if these cannot be procured, a solution of soap must be given. And here we would most earnestly caution mistresses of families where there are children, never to allow their housemaids to leave exposed for an instant the bottles of the mixture with which they clean their grates. This composition is formed with powerful acids; and a child is very apt to put the bottle to its mouth and drink from it. We are acquainted with a fatal case of this nature which occurred lately. Nitre, or saltpetre, has sometimes been taken instead of Glauber salts; but it is seldom fatal. Emetics, mucilaginous drinks, and milk, are to be had recourse to. There are several preparations of arsenic, all of which are highly deleterious when taken even in very amall quantities. Unfortunately we have no antidotes to neutralise the effects of this poison, and hence vinegar, sugar, butter, and other oily substances, lime water, bitter decoctions, and many other things, once vaunted as antidotes, are now justly forgotten. The Continental papers tell us that two Swedish phy. sicians have lately discovered the oxide of iron to be an antidote for arsenic; but until this is fully established as a fact, our sole dependence must be upon emetics-sulphate of zinc, if possible and compelling the patient to drink plentifully, both before and after romiting, of milk, which appears to be the best sub. stance for enveloping the powder, and so promoting its discharge. Corrosive sublimate, and other mercurial preparations, are very energetic poisons; but here we possess, what is so much wanted in arsenic, a convenient and effectual antidote, viz. the white of eggs. The following extract from Professor Christison's work on poisons fully illustrates this fact:-"Twelve grains of corrosive sublimate were given to a little dog, and allowed to act for eight minutes, so that its usual effects might fairly begin before the antidote was administered. The white of light eggs was then given; and after several severe fits of vomiting, the animal became apparently free from pain, and in five days was quite well. According to Peschier, the white of one egg is required to render four grains of the poison innocuous. Its virtues have also been put to the proof in the human subject with equally favourable results; numerous cases are recorded of its success, and a few years ago it was the means of saving the life of Mons. Thenard, a distinguished chemist. While at lecture, this gentleman inadvertently swallowed, instead of water, a mouthful of a strong solution of corrosive sublimate; but having immediately perceived the error, he sent for the white of eggs, which he was fortunate enough to procure in five minutes. He suffered no material harm, and without the prompt use of the antidote, he would almost infallibly have perished." of adulterating pickles with copper; for in many cook. ery books, the cook is told to put a few halfpence among them, in order to produce a fine green colour! To prevent accidental impregnations, copper vessels are usually tinned; yet this, too, is but a partial protection, as the tinning is apt to be worn away without attracting the attention of servants; and hence the use of both copper and brass utensils in the kitchen is becoming every day more and more limited, espe cially since the manufacture of cast-iron vessels has been brought to such perfection. The symptoms caused by copper in man, are, in a general point of view, the same as those occasioned by arsenic or corrosive sublimate-obstinate and severe colic, retching and vomiting, costiveness, flatus, burning pain at the pit of the stomach, in the loins and extremities, and paralytic weakness in the arms; a peculiarity, how. ever, exists in a coppery taste in the mouth. Here again the white of eggs is the best antidote. We have thus concluded our rapid sketches of the more common poisons derived from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, and detailed the method of treatment to be adopted if no medical man is present; and should any of our readers be in a situation requiring the exercise of the means of relief we have pointed out, we trust we have done so in a manner so clear and lucid, that little difficulty can attend any one possessing a cool and unembarrassed understanding in his endeavours to put them into execu. tion. On joining the regiment to which I exchanged, for ther officers to whom I was presented by the major the sake of serving in Spain, the very first of my bro commanding, was the captain of the company to which was attached. I never was so prepossessed in favour of any one at first sight. He was a fine handsome young man, of most elegant address, full of ready wit, and apparently burning with military ardour. He was a prodigious favourite in the regiment. Nothing could exceed his attentions to me, except the pains which he took to instil a portion of his own gallant spirit into mine. The first time I went into action with this new regibefore our brigade was ordered to advance. He was ment, Captain X was unfortunately taken ill, just obliged to let me lead on his company, and his regret he suffered more mental anguish than bodily, even made a deep impression on me. It appeared to me that though, I think, he specified his being desperately ill in three places. After we had succeeded in driving the enemy from and good health, all his spasms having given way to a strong redoubt, the captain joined us, in great spirits either "kill or cure" with him. He almost wept at some violent habitual remedy, which he told me was finding that the fighting was all over. We had several smart skirmishes soon after this affair. Captain X—was often in the field, but I never happened to see him through the smoke, except of a pocket-glass, with which he constantly looked out on one occasion, when he showed great tact in the use from behind a tree or a mound of earth, and gave orders with great coolness to me and the other subalterns, to advance and retreat as occasion required. Sugar of lead (acetate of lead), and Goulard's extract (subacelate of lead), are sometimes taken accidentally; and here the phosphate of soda is an excellent antidote, as also Epsom salts. If the patient does not vomit, it will be necessary to make him do so by giving an emetic of the sulphate of zinc. Many diseases are caused by this metal; lead-miners, smelters, painters, glaziers, and others who employ it in their work, are all likely to be seriously affected by it; but all this would not accord with our purpose were we to enter into it. Perhaps, also, it would be better were we to delay our observations upon the effect of lead upon water until we treat of the adulterations of food; but, nevertheless, we shall now shortly allude to that subject. Most spring waters have little or no action upon lead; the Edinburgh water is an example of this; and the leaden cisterns and pipes used in that city are perfectly innocuous. All springs, however, unfortunately, are not similarly situated, and thus very fatal cases are recorded of persons who have been poisoned by drinking spring water which had been kept in leaden reservoirs. Should water contain a minute quantity of certain saline matter, though kept in contact for any length of time with lead, it is perfectly harmless; but all salts are not equally efficacious. Dr Christison has demonstrated that complete protection is afforded by 1-2000th of muriate of soda (common salt), 1-4000th of sulphate of soda, and 1-27,000th of phosphate of soda. But even the spring water which has no sensible action upon lead, may acquire the ca. In a storming business, when I was detached with a few men, a serious accident was near happening to pability of acting on it by substances which may have Captain X. As soon as the place was taken, and been received into it, such as leaves, for instance; and I returned to the regiment, I received a pressing rehence the necessity of keeping leaden cisterns very quest to repair immediately to him, as he feared he was clean; and also a reason why rain or river water should not be kept in such reservoirs. But, on the at his last gasp-dreadfully wounded. I ran to his whole, there can be no doubt that the mode of preserv-quarters, in a house just under the rampart, to which ing water intended for food or drink in leaden cisterns is highly improper; although, as we have said, pure water exercises no sensible action upon lead, yet the metal is certainly acted upon when air is mixed with it. The white line which may be seen at the surface of water so preserved, and where the air is in contact with it, is a carbonate of lead, formed at the expense of the metal; and this substance, when taken into the stomach, is highly deleterious. This was the reason which induced the ancients to condemn, and in some cases even to forbid, leaden pipes for the conveyance of water; and it would be occasionally well if their practice was in these days adopted. Sulphate of potash, or sulphate of soda, is a delicate test for detecting minute portions of lead. Dr Thom regiment on my way, foreing him to abandon some he had crawled; and I picked up the surgeon of the other patients to give his whole attention to my friend. We found him lying on a mattrass, almost insensible. "What has happened? where are you hit, my dear X-?" said I. He could not speak, but placed his hand on his side. "Let me examine you, Captain X," said the surgeon. "I have not a minute to lose; we have others wounded-officers and men." many sufferer, opening his eyes for the first time. "How "Ah, my dear doctor, are you there?" said the kind this is !but never mind me hurry off to my poor fellow-soldiers-it is of little matter what be comes of me I am too far gone for help-I am a "Is there any mark ?" "Why, no-no-not decidedly a mark I cannot say there is a direct contu sion; it might have been, in fact, the wind of a twelvepound shot, or something of that kind-you may, in short, put me down (to save the feelings of others, very dear to me) you may put me down 'slightly wounded." "Why, really, Captain X-" "Not a word, not a word, my worthy friend-off to your duty-go, go along-you must put me down 'slightly'-whatever you like, in short-something-any thing-only pray let my name be in the list of the wounded! Not another word good bye, good bye, my dear, my very dear doctor!" The doctor smiled, as bitterly as though be had just swallowed a dose of rhubarb. He left the place; and to my infinite surprise, and that of the whole army, I may say, the London Gazette, which some weeks after brought us the official account of the storming, showed us the unprecedented notification, in the list of casualties, of Captain X-being "very slightly" wounded. He was the only individual o the regiment who was not thoroughly ashamed of this, and who did not feel the actual cautery of the sur geon's printed sarcasm. I now began to know my man, and was not much surprised, at the night attack on a fortress soon after, to hear myself called loudly from the head of the company (I occupying my post in the rear, as we advanced in subdivisions to the breach), by Ned Flanagan, of Galway town, Captain X's covering serjeant "Mr Hartigan, Mr Hartigan! Come up, come up, quick, and lade the company-the captain's run away already." Every one knows what a hot affair Fuente d'Onore was but no one took it so coolly as Captain XThe village had been taken and retaken several times, till a final charge, in which our regiment bore a part, drove the enemy out, and left us in possession of the place. As we forded the river, in close column of companies, Captain X quietly slipped behind, and took up a position among the rubbish of an old on, a Scotsman, who was by hereditary right as brave house, which afforded him a fine view of the busi ness. The colonel, by whom we were that day led as a lion, turned round suddenly to the adjutant, and asked him, "Where is Captain X— ?”' .. 'Hiding under that wall, sir," answered the adju. tant, pointing to the reconnoiterer. "That's too bad!" exclaimed the indignant colo ceived. "what's "Nay, nay, my good friend," said X. the use of being so confoundedly hasty? Just let me say a few words in explanation. May I die, my dear friend, if " jutant, putting spurs to his horse, and dashing back "Die and be hanged!" abruptly uttered the adto his post, where he had scarcely arrived, when a musket shot through both his cheeks tumbled him to the ground, and put an end to his gallant conduct for that day. As soon as we were thoroughly in for it at Salamanca, when the grape-shot began to pepper the head of the column, and the men dropped right and left, into a dry ditch; and those who could not distinguish an officer of ours was seen to throw himself bodily who it was, thought we had another brave fellow knocked over. But those who identified Captain X were quite satisfied that he was in safe quarters. As soon as the business of that hard-fought day was well and thoroughly done, we had ceased firing, and were charging after the broken enemy, when an officer was dimly observed through the smoke that was clearing off, about fifty yards in front of our line, waving his hat with its long streaming feather, in one hand, and flourishing his sword in the other, cheering on the regiment, with shouts of most vociferous valour. A roar of laughter burst along the line, and became particularly loud when our company joined in it, for we soon recognised our resuscitated captain, and knew better than any others how to appreciate his prowess. ploit, occurred not long after this, at the siege of a But his best, and, poor fellow, it was his last explace memorable for the determination of its defence, as well as the vigour with which it was attacked and carried. The approaches of the English army were pushed on with a frightful proximity to the place; so much 50, that the guns from the bastions were fired point blank at individual officers and men, who had the temerity to raise their heads above the trenches; and they were often hit from cannon of large calibre, with as dead a certainty as though the most unerring son discovered, by means of it, one part of lead in dying man-yet you need not exactly say 'killed' in sharpshooters had levelled at them with rifles. 100,000 parts of water. It produces a cloudy appearance in the water if lead be present. Wines are sometimes adulterated by lead; but of this we shall speak when we come to that subject. Poisoning with copper was formerly of common occurrence; it even now sometimes occurs, in conse your report; I don't wish to shock my friends too suddenly. Merely put me down 'dangerously wounded.'” "What is your wound, sir? Of what nature, I ask you again ?" "It must, I think, have been a cannon shot-I feel Our entire company was ordered down from the camp, on a working party, one fine morning, out of our turn of duty, and not a little to our surprise, to replace another which had taken its place in the trenches during the night, but was almost annihilated soon after daybreak, by the terrible cannonade from One of our subs was killed the day before, so that Captain X had but myself and the ensign, a gigantic Kerryman of about twenty years old, and six feet five inches high, under his command. We were under cover as soon as we came within range quence of the metal being much used in the fabrication my side almost battered in that is to say, a spent the enemy's works. of vessels for culinary and other domestic purposes, or ignorantly resorted to in order to impart a good colour to sweetmeats and preserves.. It seems indeed to have been at one time the custom to make a point shot." This amusing sketch being copied from a collection of pieces, which it originally appeared. we are sorry we are unable to give the name of the publication in " of the enemy's guns; and so hot was the fire, that not one of us felt disposed to despise the captain's example of keeping as close as possible. There were several small redoubts thrown up along the trenches, from which elevations the officers on duty could keep a sharp eye on the men at work. I stept or rather crept into one of these, to relieve the last surviving officer of the company we replaced. He was in the act of eating a crust of bread, which his servant had procured him for breakfast; and as he was leaving his post to my occupation, he incautiously raised his head, to look at the hostile ramparts, when it was carried clean away by a twenty-four pound shot, and the body knocked several yards out of the redoubt. These were not pleasant occurrences for any man's comfort, but least of all so to one of Captain X's temperament. I was scarcely settled in the redoubt, when I saw him moving towards me along the trench, stooping much lower than the utmost prudence required; and he soon came crawling into the redoubt, requesting me to change places with him, and take the command of the whole party, as he wished much to sketch the bastions of the fortress; and he took out his sketch-book and pencil for the purpose. I could not refuse his request, a most unlucky one for him; for had he staid where his duty required, he had most probably escaped the catastrophe which ensued. I had not changed places with my captain five mi nutes, and had just stepped up on the ridge of the trench where the soldiers worked, to look about, as it was my duty from time to time to do, when the general of the day galloped up, attended by two aides-decamp, and a couple of orderly dragoons. He was one of the bravest of the brave; too brave, indeed, as was proved by his death not long after, on a distant service unworthy of his fine talents. He, too, was an Irishman, and knew our regiment well. "Who commands this party, Mr Hartigan ?" asked he. "I do, sir," answered I. "There is a whole company here, isn't there? Who is the captain? where is he?" were the rapid questions next put. "There is an entire company-Captain X- is the captain-he is sitting in that redoubt, sir," were my immediate answers. "Sitting in that redoubt! What is he doing there? Hark ye, sir," added he, addressing our finger-post of an ensign, "you have long legs; step out then quickly go to that redoubt, and bring back Captain Xhere instantly. Stoop, sir-stoop low-lower, I tell you, or you'll not have a head left on your shoulders." The intrepid Kerryman strode along, but cared nothing for the general's caution, and scorned the shelter of gabions or fascines. When he came to the redoubt, he summoned out the captain, repeating verbatim the general's speech. "What a hotheaded fellow!" exclaimed X"Go back to him, my trusty ensign, and tell him I am taking a sketch of the first importance; I am proving the engineers to have been all wrong. Tell him the service will absolutely suffer if he disturbs me. The ensign strode back again, and delivered this message to the general, who was moving about busily, giving various orders around him. "Taking a sketch! The engineers all wrong! What an impudent scamp! D'ye hear me, sir-go back-tell your captain, once again, that I order him to come here; and if he refuses, drag him neck and heels out of the redoubt, and up to this spot." "I'll tell you what, my friend," said Xply to this second summons, and hoping that, while he temporised, the general would take himself off-or, possibly, that he might be taken off" I'll tell you what" in re "Don't give yourself the trouble to tell me any thing, Captain X—, but come out of this immediately, I tell you again," said the ensign. At this instant his cap, which was visible above the wall, was knocked off his head, perforated by a cannon ball. "God bless me, what a narrow escape !-how very lucky that you were not three inches taller!" exclaimed the captain. "Never mind whether I'm tall or little, Captain X-," said the Kerryman, coolly clapping the shattered cap on his head again. "I'll tell you what: the short and the long of it is, if you don't come with me, quietly and by fair manes, I'll drag you out of it, dead or alive; so come along, I advise you." X-finding all resistance or subterfuge to be vain, stood slowly up and followed the Kerryman along the trench; muttering that "a man's life was not safe a minute on service with these infernal mad-brained Irishmen." The enemy seeing a general officer so close, sent their missiles towards us in double quantities. One of the orderlies was literally cut across with a shot, and an aide-de-camp's horse severely struck with the splinter of a shell. Captain X- saw all this as he came forward; and by way of ending the business, and stopping the general's mouth, he held forth the little sketch-book, and began some stammering sentence. the group, and the report was instantly followed by a 999 What was the astonishment of the general, who thus pronounced Captain X-'s funeral oration, on riding back to the camp about an hour afterwards, to see the identical Captain X- unharmed, unblushing, and unabashed, dressed, as was his wont, better than any man in the army, and cantering his little Arabian pony along the lines with a feather streaming from his hat nearly as long as the pony's tail? And what was my surprise when I met him the next morning! But this could not last. A significant hint was that day conveyed to him from the highest authority. The following morning brought him (he said) letters, requiring his instant return to England. He set out at once. The next Gazette announced his resignation; and as Captain X- has been ever since an ex-captain, I have nothing more to say of him. the chase, and the lowly sheltie, from the wild horses described by the ancients as small in stature, and covered with curly hair and manes; the majestic New. foundland and the snarling cur, from the shepherd's dog; and many other examples which we might ad. duce: the same causes which regulate the production of these, so different in aspect from the stock to which they owe their origin, have effected those changes of character which we often see in the gold and silver fish. us. But leaving this interesting subject, we find the original habitat, or place of abode, of these fishes to be a lake situated on a high mountain in China, called Tsienking, in the province of The-kiang, and about the 30th degree of latitude. They seem easily adapted to a great variety of climate, for they have been naturalised in many parts of the world. According to Block, they were introduced into this country in 1611, since which they have become great favourites with There are now few nursery gardens-we would particularly mention the Messrs Lodiges', near London, and that of Mr Page at Southampton-or gen tlemen's shrubberies in England, which do not boast of small pools of water in which they sport, and greatly ornament; and they adorn many a drawing-room, and more humble apartment. With regard to the pool or pond in which it is wished to cultivate the species, its borders should be irregular, and its bottom clear, smooth, and free from weeds; a few branches of trees may be placed in it, upon which the spawn is deposited. When the soil is rich and loamy, it affords sufficient nourishment for the fish; but when it is of a sandy nature, it is necessary to provide them occasionally with small portions of bread, or of cake made of hempseed. In winter they require little food, being then in a very torpid state. When kept in a room, they must oftener be fed, and they delight in crumbs of bread, the yolks of hard-boiled eggs finely minced, small portions of fresh meat, and insects, such as flies, and small snails. In summer, the water in which they are placed should be changed at least every GOLD AND SILVER FISH. third day, and much oftener if the weather is warm THERE are many kinds of pets, but among them all and sultry; in winter once a-week will suffice. It is we know of none more attractive than the gold or sil. essential that the opening of the vase or vessel in ver fish. Alike ornamental to the richly furnished which the fish are kept, should be very wide and free. The colour of the fish varies with its age: during boudoir, redolent with luxurious elegance, and to the its first year it is nearly black, while a few silvery humble cottage window-sill where meekly blooms the spots merely indicate the brilliant colours it is aftersweetly smelling wallflower, the crystal vase, or unpre-wards to inherit; these spots, however, soon extend, tending earthen bowl, in which, glistening with beauty, and, uniting, we have the silver fish: it is only in "sport the silver fry," cannot fail to attract the admi- silvery coat does not always precede the golden one, after-life that it assumes its splendid golden hue. The ration, and solicit the affections, even of the cold and which is sometimes found in very young individuals: callous-hearted. The beauty, and elegance, and the others, when old, altogether lose their golden livery; rapidity of the movements of the fish, excite our won- their colour fades, and again becomes silvery; in which der; and the facility with which they are tamed and state, from their greater size, and often having three lobes to their tail, some naturalists have supposed them made to know their master, demands our attention to a distinct species: this, however, is not the case. In a curious example of the power of art and persever- extreme age, the silver hue degenerates into simple ance of man in conquering nature herself. All know white; and when inhabiting a large pond, the fish the effects of domestication and education upon the often attains to a foot in length. The great beauty horse and the dog, by which these generous animals of the golden and the silver fish, the transparency of vient to his wants and necessities, by means of the have become not merely useful to man and subsertheir fins, the brilliancy of their colours, and the facility with which they are tamed, render them uniphysical powers which they possess, but they have even versal favourites, and we know none more adapted to amuse, if not instruct, the kind and gentle-hearted. been made to be his protector when in danger, and BOOK-PUFFING A CENTURY AGO. IN the Life of Daniel De Foe, connected with Ballantyne's Novelist's Library, and written, it is under. stood, by the late Mr John Ballantyne, some remarks are made upon the art which the author of Robinson Crusoe eminently possessed of giving an appearance of reality to the fictitions incidents which he undertook to relate. The biographer suggests that the secret of this dexterity lay in his assuming the homely colloquial language which might be expected to proceed from the individuals whom he represents as relating the incidents, and in his throwing in here and there certain characteristic traits of narration, such as are generally thought to mark the eyewitness. “Those,” he remarks, “who are in the habit of attending courts of justice during the leading of evi dence, frequently hear, not only from men or women of observation, but from 'iron-witted fools and unrespective boys,' such striking circumstances as the following:-A horrible murder had been committed by a man upon a person whom he had invited into his house in friendship; they were alone together when the deed was done, and the murderer, throwing on his coat, hastily left the house before the deed was discovered. A child of twelve or thirteen years old gave evidence that she was playing in the under part of the dwelling, and heard the accused person run hastily down stairs, and stumble at the threshold. She said she was very much frightened at the noise she heard; and being asked whether she had ever before thought of being frightened by a man running hurriedly down stairs, she replied no; but the noise then made was like no other she had ever heard before. The poet of the most active imagination would hardly have dared to ascribe such impressive effects |