as material for coffins. It is certainly true that so well did the Egyptians understand the art, that they excelled in the imitation of precious stones, and were well acquainted with the metallic oxides used in coloring glass; and the specimens of their skill, still preserved in the British Museum, and in private collections, prove the great skill and ingenuity of their workmen in mosaic similar in appearance to the modern paper weights. Among the specimens of Egyptian glass still existing, is a fragment representing a lion in bas relief, well executed and anatomically correct. Other specimens are found inscribed with Arabic characters.

All writers agree that the glass houses in Alexandria, in Egypt, were highly celebrated for the ingenuity and skill of their workmen, and the extent of their manufactures.

Strabo relates that the Emperor Hadrian received from an Egyptian priest a number of glass cups in mosaic, sparkling with every color, and deemed of such rare value that they were used only on grand festivals.

The Tombs at Thebes, the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the remains of the villa of the Emperor Tiberius, go not only incidentally to establish the antiquity of the art, but also to prove the exquisite taste and skill of the artists of their various periods.

The first glass houses, well authenticated, were erected in the city of Tyre. Modern writers upon the subject generally refer to Pliny in establishing the fact that the Phenicians were the inventors of the art of glass making. The tradition is that the art was originally brought to light under the following circumstances:-A vessel being driven by a storm to take shelter at the mouth of the river Belus, the crew were obliged to remain there some length of time. In the process of cooking a fire was made upon the ground, whereon was abundance of the herb 'kale.' That plant burning to ashes, the saline properties became incorporated with the sand. This causing vitrification, the compound now called glass was the result. The fact becoming known, the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon essayed the work and brought the new invention into practical use. This is the tradition-but modern science demonstrates the false philosophy, if not the incorrectness, of Pliny's account; and modern manufacturers will readily detect the error, from the impossibility of melting silex and so by the heat necessary for the ordinary boiling purposes.

It is a well authenticated fact, however, that there were whole streets in Tyre entirely occupied by glass works; and history makes no mention of any works of this character at an earlier period than the time mentioned by Pliny.

That Tyre possessed peculiar advantages for the manufacture, is very clear from geographical and geological data, the sand upon the shore at the mouth of the river Belus being pure silica and well adapted to the manufacture. The extensive range of Tyrian Commerce, too, gave ample facilities for the exportation and sale of the staple; and for some ages it must have constituted almost the only article, or at least the prominent article of trade. Doubtless the rich freights of "the ships of Tyre," mentioned in Scripture, may in part have been composed of a material now as common and easily procured as any of its original elements.

From Tyre and Sidon the art was transferred to Rome. Pliny states it flourished most extensively during the reign of Tiberius, entire streets of the city being then occupied by the glass manufactories. From the period of Tiberius the progress of the art seems more definite and marked, both as relates to the quantity and mode of manufacture.

It was during the reign of Nero, so far as we can discover, that the first perfectly clear glass, resembling crystal, was manufactured. Pliny states that Nero, for two cups of ordinary size with two handles, gave six thousand sestertia, equal in our currency to about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and that rich articles of glass were in such general use among the wealthy Romans as almost to supersede articles of gold and silver. The art, however, at that period, seems to have been entirely devoted to articles of luxury, and from the great price paid, supported many establishments, all however evidently upon a comparatively small scale, and confined, as it would appear, to families.

Up to this period no evidence appears to prove that any other than colored articles in glass were made. It is clear, too, that the furnaces and melting pots then in use, were of very limited capacity, the latter being of crucible shape; and it was not until the time of Nero that the discovery was made that muffled crucibles or pots, as used at the present day, were required in order to make crystal glass. (Without them, it is well known, crystal glass cannot be perfected.) It appears, further, that a definite

street in the city of Rome was assigned to the manufacturers of this article, and that at ̧ the reign of Severus, they had attained such a position and accumulated wealth to such a degree, that a formal tax was levied upon them. Some writers take the ground that this assessment was the primary cause of the transfer of the manufacture to other places.

That the peculiar property of the manufacture at this period was its clear and crystal appearance, is abundantly evident; and this, and the great degree of perfec tion to which the manufacture of white or crystal-like glass was carried, are by many writers thought to have been proved from classical sources-Horace and Virgil both referring to it, the one speaking of its beautiful luster and brilliancy, the other comparing it to the clearness of the waters of the Fucine Lake.

D. J.

STATISTICS OF NOVA SCOTIA MANUFACTURES.

From an important document, recently published, we gather the subjoined statistics of the manufacturing industry of Nova Scotia in 1851:

Value. Hands emp'd.

.No.

tons

..yds.

119,698

790,104

219,352

No.

.gals.

78,076

11,900

.No.

185

Other factories.....

Agricultural implements manufactured..

Chairs and cabinet ware manufactured

Carriages manufactured......

Other wooden ware manufactured....

Coal raised.......

.chaldrons

Lime burnt....

..casks

Bricks made.

Grinding stones quarried..

5,857

Soap manufactured..

28,277

Candles manufactured

21,210

Maple Sugar manufactured

Vessels built.

Tonnage..

57,776

Boats built..

2,654

THE FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AUSTRALIA,

The Whitehaven Herald gives the following information respecting the first discov ery of gold in Australia:—

"The first piece found was by a native. He was a bushman. The scale of intellect of the Australian is remarkable for its lowness. Seeing his master counting a lot of Sovereigns he said he had found a piece of "yellow stuff,' far bigger than all those together, which he had hidden, and would bring it to his master, if he would give him a new suit of corduroy. The bargain was struck, after which the man went and produced a lump of Golconda, weighing one hundred and six pounds, and valued at £5,077 48. nd."

THE CUMBERLAND COAL AND IRON COMPANY.

The first report of the directors of the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company is just published. This company was organized on the 3d of May last, and owns, in Alleghany County, Maryland, about 7,000 acres of coal lands, with three opened working mines, with fifteen feet coal veins, and the necessary rail-tracks, houses, shops, coalyards, &c., all of which property formerly belonged to the "Washington," "Astor," “Preston,” “Buena Vista," and "People's" Mining Companies, and to some smaller associations.

The cost of this real estate is set down at....
The company is also proprietor of canal boats and barges, worth.
And has on hand cash and bills receivable for..

From which deduct debts to be paid by the company.....

Capital stock not yet issued

$3,064,800

35,884

$255,538

156,222

99,316

1,800,000

$5,000,000

Making its capital

Lowell Holbrook, of New York, is President, and the following gentlemen constitute the Board of Directors:

J. W. Tyson and C. M. Thurston, of Maryland; William Young, E. W. Dunham, H. B. Loomis, Charles Day, Henry Coggill, D. Randolph Martin, William H. Appleton, Thomas W. Gale, and Charles B. White, of New York.

Their report expresses a confident opinion of the great value and favorable prospects of the company's property. The expense of getting the article to market is not named in the report, but we learn that such reductions will soon be made in the items constituting its cost, as will allow of its delivery at New York at not far from $3 50 per ton.

Say cost of mining and delivery at Cumberland...
Tolls on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal......

Freight from Cumberland to Alexandria

Freight from Alexandria to New York from $1 25 to.

Total...

$0.60

046

1 10

150

$3.66

THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD DIGGINGS.

Advices have arrived by the Stebonheath, from Port Philip direct, to the 22d April. It appears that the production at the mines was steadily increasing, and was now estimated at £100,000 per week, or at the rate of more than £5,000,000 per annum for this colony alone. The present vessel has brought about 60,000 ounces, valued at £230,000; and the Vanguard, which sailed a few days previously, but which has not yet arrived, took 17,490 ounces, nearly £70,000 worth. The quotation was 60s. to 61s. per ounce. Great complaints continue to be made of the prevalence of crime, owing to the influx of convicts from Van Dieman's Land, many of whom were among the most successful people at the mines. Rain had begun to fall at Mount Alexander, but not so as to increase the facilities for working, and in the other districts it was still delayed. The statement of the public revenue of the colony for the quarter had created both satisfaction and surprise, the increase being £95,592; a sum nearly equal to the whole public revenue of the corresponding quarter of last year. Much of this arose from the duties on spirits, tobacco, and foreign goods. In the territorial revenue, likewise, there was an extraordinary augmentation. For the corresponding quarter of 1851 the total of that revenue was £9,138, and now it was £156,827; the chief items of increase being the land sales, which amounted to £95,248; the gold licenses, which produced £48,597; and the gold escort, which produced £4,489. The rate for bills on England was about 8 to 10 per cent discount.

A letter from Melbourne says:-"The total population at the diggings is estimated by the chief commissioner at about 35,000, but a considerable portion is migratory,

and not half that number of licenses are issued. The present weekly produce cannot be under 30,000 ounces, or about £100,000 in value, as the government escort alone now brings down about 20,000 ounces, independent of the large quantity conveyed privately. From the post-office to the River Loddon, a distance of six or seven miles, the bed and slopes of Forest Creek present the appearance of being covered with a series of gigantic molehills, interspersed with miserable small tents of every description, the occupants of which have a very squallid, unhealthy appearance, from expos ure, privation, and dust, sore eyes being universally prevalent. The roads are now very bad, the cost of carriage from Melbourne being £22 to £25 a ton; but most people are of opinion that, when the rain falls, in about a month, they will be all but impassable, and serious apprehensions are entertained of a scarcity of food during the winter months. The gold is found both in deposit and in the matrix, a quartz vein having been struck at about twenty or thirty feet below the surface, and traced for some distance, which is worked successfully with no other tools or machinery than pickax, hammer, and tin dish. It has also been found in deposit in various strata of alluvial earth, clay, and gravel, and even below the trap-rock, leaving little room to doubt that the supply is not likely to be soon exhausted; while the Mitta-Mitta Fields, near the boundary of the colony, on the Murray, are still all but untried."

MANUFACTURE OF COMBS.

The greatest comb manufactory in the world is in Aberdeen, Scotland; it is that of Messrs. Stewart, Rowell & Co. There are 36 furnaces for preparing horns and tortois-shell for the combs, and no less than 120 iron-screw presses are continually going in stamping them. Steam-power is employed to cut the combs, and an engine of fifty horse-power is barely sufficient to do the work. The coarse combs are stamped or cut out two being cut in one piece at a time, by a machine invented in England in 1828. The fine dressing combs and all small-tooth combs, are cut by fine circular saws, some so fine as to cut 40 teeth in the space of one inch, and they revolve 5,000 times in a minute. There are 1928 varieties of combs made, and the aggregate number produced, of all these different sorts of combs, average upwards of 1,200 gross weekly, or about 9,000,000 annually; a quantity that, if laid together lengthways, would extend about 700 miles. The annual consumption of ox horns is about 730,000; the annual consumption of hoofs amounts to 4,000,000; the consumption of tortoiseshell and buffalo horn, although not so large, is correspondingly valuable; even the waste composed of horn shavings and parings of hoof, which from its nitrogenized composition, becomes a valuable material in the manufacture of prussiate of potash, amounts to 350 tons in the year; the broken combs in the various stages of manufac ture average 50 or 60 gross in a week; the very paper for packing costs $3,000 a year.

A hoof undergoes eleven distinct operations before it becomes a finished comb. In this great comb factory, there are 456 men and boys employed, and 164 women-in all 620 hands. This company commenced business twenty years ago on a very small scale, being much smaller than the smallest works in England. By that determined energy, perseverance, and shrewdness which is characteristic of that people, they have shot ahead of all competitors in Britain. There is a temperance society and a library connected with the works.

MANUFACTURE OF LUMBER IN THE NORTH-WEST.

The number of saws running in 1851, on the Wisconsin River and its tributaries, were, above

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

"AN OLD MERCHANT'S ADVICE."

FREEMAN HUNT, Esq., Editor Merchant's Magazine, etc. :—

SIR:-Your Magazine for July, 1852, has just been handed me by a young gentleman in my employ, and my attention expressly directed to a letter, or rather a piece entitled "An Old Merchant's Advice." With my young friend, (whose principles are too well established to be misled by such articles,) I agree that said piece should never have been admitted into your Magazine without a condemnatory notice from you as conductor of said publication.

Your Magazine, as no doubt you are aware, is extensively used by the younger class, and after you have read over that piece again, you will surely agree with me that it will have a decidedly bad tendency, and cannot be without bad effect on the minds of many who need no additional aids to roguery.

I trust you will excuse the liberty thus taken, and regard me as no doubt you are, a friend to good morals. Very truly yours,

BALTIMORE, AUGUST 5, 1852.

C. F. P.

Proverbial wisdom has declared the “counsel of a friend" to be of the highest valne, and we are the last to deny the truth, "he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." We therefore feel not only strengthened in the assurance of our wisdom, but confident that our correspondent in Baltimore will be assured that we regard as the act of a true friend the admonition he has sent us, touching a certain "jeu d'esprit" with which we thought to enliven the "MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES" in the number of the Merchants' Magazine for July, 1852 (p. 136). Our explanation-our defense we have already anticipated the piece was a jeu d'esprit. It purports to be "An old Merchant's advice,” and in an apparently serious vein of real irony, it gives hints as to the various tricks of trade by which many men make haste to get rich, and which the experience of most who try it, proves the saddest example of "more haste less speed." Pretending to tell the young merchant what he ought to do, it really tells him what he ought not to do, and in a tone of assumed seriousness, exposes practices which men will consent to follow, but hardly dare to confess to themselves, much less frame them into formal maxims of life. By throwing them into the form of grave maxims, their revolting wickedness is made most strikingly apparent.

The same principles, taught in a more serious tone, will be found in the article on "Honesty in Mercantile Life," in our June number (p. 776). Our friend cannot mistake its meaning, and he will please credit us with that meaning, as the one we would always be understood as inculcating.

Our correspondent has heard of parodies. This little piece is a prose parody on the practices of dishonest traders. Perhaps the take-off would have been a little more effectual, had the irony been a little more plainly brought out; but if he will read it over again, he can hardly fail to see the real drift of the piece, and confess that the current dishonesties of trade could hardly be more effectually shown up in their true colors than by such satire. At the same time we must needs admire the moral sensitiveness of our friend, which is up in arms at the slightest assault which he thinks is designed upon the bulwarks of mercantile morality. No one, he may rest assured, feels a livelier anxiety for the preservation, not only from any stain, but from any suspicion, of that mercantile character which should be of the purity of Caesar's wife, than the editor of the Merchants' Magazine, and we shall be gratified for the advice of all our friends in assisting us in the promotion of this paramount object.