first to entertain the idea that great storms were, in fact, great whirlwinds, or cyclones (as they are called), a term which is scarcely an improvement, for every one knows what a whirlwind is; and as the chief end and aim of language is to express what is meant, nothing more was required.

The lecturer then described the progress of several hurricanes, and clearly proved that however great their rotary velocity might be, their progress in a right line never exceeded that of the ordinary atmospheric currents from ten to twenty-five miles an hour. He then said-to describe one tropical hurricane is to describe them all; and though some rage with greater intensity than others, the same general phenomena commonly present themselves. Thus a cloudless sky and resplendent sun are often obscured in a moment with dismal blackness. At other times the storm-cloud is seen gathering in the distance, ere it discharges its fury on the devoted district it is about to desolate. Towards the zenith there is sometimes an obscure circle of imperfect light, when all around is total blackness. Distant flashes of lightning, and squalls of wind and rain, with alternate calm, give unerring notice of the coming storm; the thermometer, in the meantime, fluctuating with incessant activity: and as the hurricane begins its fitful course, some houses are levelled with the ground, when the inhabitants of others scarcely a mile distant are dwelling in perfect serenity. At length the storm bursts forth in all its fury; lightning flashes follow each other in rapid succession; the gale increases-the wind shifts-the flashing lightning becomes incessant, and illuminates the whole heavens; while darts of electric fire explode around, and exceed in brilliancy the quivering blaze of light above. Streams of electric fire issue from the ground, and mingle with the vivid flashes from above. Then the astounding roar of the hurricane is at its height, and is heard as it rushes over the earth, a destroyer of man's property; but probably at the same time the renovator of the atmosphere which sustains his life :

tr

"A partial ill, but universal good."

The great quantity of electric matter in operation during tropical hurricanes is remarkable. Trees are killed by its action, without being blown down; and other vegetable

productions are scorched as though fire had passed over the land. When considering all the phenomena of storms, and the very large amount of electricity in action during their progress, that imponderable reality must be considered as the principal agent which gives rise to hurricanes, as well as to waterspouts in general.

In speaking of the enormous pressure of the wind during violent magnetic storms, the lecturer instanced one at Bombay, in which the pressure increased in a few hours from 101b. to 35lb. to the square foot. Accounts from the scene of devastation stated that in the morning the gardens appeared as if a heavy roller had passed over them; and the various directions in which the tall palm trees had fallen, afforded palpable indications of the revolving character of the storm.

Terrestrial and atmospheric electrical currents acting on the wires of the electric telegraph, were then briefly explained. Soon after the completion of the first working lines, disturbances of the needles were noticed. They were at once seen to be due to causes exterior to the apparatus itself. During the presence of the Aurora Borealis, the wires are always affected,-proving beyond doubt the electric nature of that phenomenon. In some instances, the needles of the instruments are so firmly blocked and held in one position, that the battery power in the office is quite nugatory, so that the instruments cannot be worked. This state of things may continue for hours together, so that great delay and irregularity occur in transmitting messages. When this is the case, the general public-who only look to results, without craving to inquire how those results are obtained-at once condemn the company and officials for delays which they cannot prevent.

After giving particulars of several destructive hurricanes, and pointing out by means of charts and diagrams the courses taken by them, and the manner in which they expand whilst they progress,-the lecturer described and explained the phenomena of waterspouts, one of which was seen at New Galloway, on the 17th of July, 1850.

After

moving in a southern direction for a mile or two, it changed its course to the east, and burst over the river Ken, near the lake. The foam in the river rose to a height of sixty feet, boiling and hissing like a cauldron, and resembling dense volumes of smoke. On the 10th of September of the pre

sent year (1862), as the steamer Juno, from Tenby, was passing through Cardigan Bay, a waterspout was seen at no great distance from the vessels. The pillars of sand, seen by travellers in the deserts of Nubia, were then explained to result from the action of the wind.

o WRITE a poem, man should be as pure
As frost-flowers; every thought should be in tune
To heavenly truth and Nature's perfect law,
Bathing the soul in beauty, joy, and peace.
His heart should ripen like the purple grape;
His country should be all the universe;
His friends the best and wisest of all time.
He should be universal as the light,

And rich as summer in ripe-fruited love :

He should have power to draw from common things
Essential truth; and, rising o'er all fear
Of papal devils and of pagan gods,

Of ancient satans and of modern ghosts,
Should recognise all Spirits as his friends,
And see the worst but harps of golden strings
Discordant now, but destined at the last
To thrill, inspired with GOD's own harmony,
And make sweet music with the heavenly host.
He should forget his private preference
Of country or religion, and should see
All parties and all creeds with equal eye;
His the religion of true harmony;

CHRIST, the ideal of his lofty aim,

The viewless Friend, the Comforter, and Guide,
The joy in grief, whose every element
Of life, received in simple childlike faith,
Becomes a part of impulse, feeling, thought,-
The central fire that lights his being's sun.
He should not limit Nature by the known;
Nor limit GOD by what is known of Him;
Nor limit man by present states and moods;
But see mankind at liberty to draw

Into their lives all Nature's wealth, and all
Harmonious essences of life from GOD;
And so, becoming Godlike in their souls,
And universal in their faculties,

Informing all their age, enriching time,
And building up the temple of the world
With massive structures of eternity.
He should not fail to see how infinitely
GOD is above humanity, nor yet

That GOD is throned in universal man,
The greater mind of pure intelligence.
Unlimited by states, moods, periods, creeds,
Self-adequate, self-balanced in his love,
And needing nothing and conferring all,
And asking nothing and receiving all;
Akin by love to every loving heart,

By nobleness to every noble mind,

By truth to all who look through natural forms,
And feel the throbbing arteries of law

In every pulse of Nature and of Man.

NO CROSS, NO CROWN.

T. L. HARRIS.

-The Golden Age.

NCE Care drew nigh to be my guest,
Bowed with a weary burden down;

His load he cast into my breast,

And only said "No cross, no crown!"

Then Sorrow came with visage pale,
That never yet was known to frown;

And when my heart began to wail,

He whispered too-"No cross, no crown!"

Soon Want, with forehead stained with dust,
Robed in a holy palmer's gown,

Came in and took my only crust:

He also said "No cross, no crown!"

Thereat the three were lost in One;

And while adoring I sank down,

He rose, transfigured in the sun,

And cried aloud--"No cross, no crown!"

THE HOMES OF ENGLAND.

MRS. HEMANS.

THE stately Homes of England!
How beautiful they stand,
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,

O'er all the pleasant land!
The deer across the greensward bound,
Through shade and sunny gleam;
And the swan glides past them with the sound
Of some rejoicing stream.

The merry Homes of England!

Around their hearths by night,

What gladsome looks of household love
Meet in the ruddy light!

There woman's voice flows forth in song,
Or childhood's tale is told,
Or lips move tunefully along
Some glorious page of old.

The blessed Homes of England!
How softly on their bowers
Is laid the holy quietness

That breathes from Sabbath hours!
Solemn, yet, sweet, the church bell's chime

Floats through their woods at morn;

All other sounds, in that still time,

Of breeze and leaf are born.

The cottage Homes of England,

By thousands on her plains,

They are smiling o'er the silvery brooks,
And round the hamlet fanes.
Through glowing orchards forth they peep,
Each from its nook of leaves;
And fearless there the lowly sleep,
As the bird beneath their eaves.

The free, fair Homes of England!
Long, long in hut and hall,
May hearts of native proof be reared,
To guard each hallowed wall!