October 25, 1817.] for that contempt of danger which ren'ders a fisherman or seaman fearless. Clessel has not scrupled to affirm that the herring fishery in particular was followed on the coast of Norway, in ages prior to the historical epochas of the Greeks and Romans. Other writers have doubted this; and have placed its origin much lower. M. Noel thinks that we cannot err in placing the fisheries of Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, as far back as our earliest information will reach. In the year 888, a great quantity of herrings was caught near the island of Heligoland, if we may credit Schoning; and these were sent for sale into England; whence it is inferred, that this was a quantity over and above the demand for home consumption; and this proves the flourishing state and activity of the fisheries at that period. The following century affords new proofs of the advantages derived by the Norwegians from this pursuit. The ports distinguished by this commerce, were Bergen, Tonsberg, and Nider-Aas, now called Drontheim. In Denmark, the Lumfiord was so famous for the shoals of herrings which frequented it, that the inhabitants were reported to live on nothing else; deriving their subsistence from the sea, as elsewhere the inhabitants derive their's from the field. The preparation of such immense quantities of fish required the supply of a proportionate quantity of salt; the greater part of which was obtained from abroad, and principally from the merchants of Bremen. About this time, Iceland, which had been discovered by accident, was slowly but progressively peopled at first by adventurers who ad dicted themselves to piracy; but the fisheries insensibly drew them off from that violent means of obtaining support, and they now followed the track of the Norwegians, though not with equal success. At the period when the great herring fishery was stationed in the Baltic, and when the coast of Scania took its share in the profits, the export trade of the article was in the hands of two nations: the slaves exported by land, and the Saxons exported by sea. These people, and generally those of lower Germany, made this fish their principal food. But when the more regular appearance of the shoals off Skanor and Falsterbo was ascertained, the Brandenburghers on one part, and the Hanseatic confederacy on the other, seized on this branch of commerce. It cannot be supposed, that the kings of Denmark could view, without jealousy open or secret, this monopoly of a tained a fishing establishment on the coast of Scania, in which other Dutch ports participated by their vessels, under an agreement with the kings of Denmark and Sweden. A company was formed at Middleburgh, in 1271, under the protection of the earls of Flanders, in order to insure the stability of the fisheries, and to promote their further enlargement. commerce so valuable, by strangers. Often they attempted to expel the Hanse towns from their fisheries at Skanor. Eric, one of these kings, having caused some fishermen of Lubeck to be arrested, drew on himself the resentment of the whole confederacy. According to the chronology of Cornerus, their troops besieged Copenhagen, took it by assault, pillaged it, rased the fortress, and return- "Agriculture," says the Abbe Raynal, ed, having loaded their vessels with "could never be a leading object in Holwealth and plunder. A war was the land, although the land be cultivated to consequence; and now for the first time the utmost perfection of which it is susare mentioned those famous Sound duties, ceptible; but the herring fishery stands which have always been the subject of this country in the stead of agriculture: dispute by the maritime powers; and it is a new means of subsistence, a school which, in former times, might have taken for sailors: borne on the waves, they rise in the obligation of the king of Den- plough the seas, they draw from thence mark to protect foreign vessels from pi- their support, they struggle with storms, rates, in the North sea and in the Bal- and they learn, without hazard, to vantic. Whether this was the real intention quish difficulties and dangers."—" Withof that monarch may be doubted. He out woods, without forests," writes Bentiwas master of both sides of the Sound; voglio," Holland alone constructs more and he exercised the right of proprietor ships than almost the whole of Europe over the waters included in his domi- besides, [this was true, in his days, though nions; but his chief purpose was to bu- not true now.] She owes this ability to miliate the Hanse towns, which, far from the herring fishery; with the sturdy submitting to duties he demanded for li- arms employed in that occupation, she berty of passage, determined in a gene-disconcerted the tyranny of the Spaniard, ral assembly to have recourse to arms, and came out from the waters which and to fish for herring, and salt their fish surrounded her, victorious over oppresunder this protection, notwithstanding sion."-" Although this fishery (of herany opposition from the king of Den rings) and the art of salting the fish," obmark. serves Voltaire, "seems to be no very Holland and Zealand are so favourably great object in the history of the world, situated for the fisheries, that the origin nevertheless, it is the basis of the greatof their commerce is self evident. The ness of Amsterdam, in particular; and to fisheries, and above all the berring fish-say truth, further still, it has converted ery, introduced them as merchants, led a country formerly barren and despicable them to distant shores, and enabled them into a rich and respectable power." Such to undertake those maritime expeditions are the testimonies of eminent writers to with which they have been familiar, and the importance of the fisheries: it need by which they have been distinguished. not be repeated, that the most eminent The first inhabitants of these marshes statesmen of the British nation have coinwere obliged to depend on the ocean for cided in this opinion, and have done their their food. The soil, though it gave them utmost to enforce it, in behalf of their birth, could not maintain them. Neces own country. sity made them fishermen and seamen ; and practice taught them the art of preparing fish equal, and at length, superior, to those of any other people. SIR, FINE ARTS. TO THE EDITOR. The Brill was the first port that conducted the herring fishery on regular THE Communication of your corresponprinciples. Zirickzee soon followed, and dent C. A. in your last Number, on the the wealth of these towns became the ob-establishing an academy for the advanceject of emulation to others: the fisheries ment of the Fine Arts, has given rise to at the mouth of the Meuse, and the the following reflections, which I subneighbouring coasts, increased, and ex-mit to the consideration of the public; tended to Scotland and to Norway. Nor were the labours of the Hollanders less successful in the old fishing stations of Denmark and Lower Germany. Cam pen, a town of Over Issel, bad long main convinced, that although they may never be acted upon, they may have some effect in rousing the public mind from the lethargy and indifference in which it has so long remained, with regard to this subject. Although the importance of these arts particular, the example of which would has long been verbally assented to (though give the ton to the rest of Scotland, it perhaps but little felt), no step has ever appears to me neither degrading to the been taken by the public, as a body, to institution, nor useless to the community, promote or patronize them; nor have that there should be a teacher of drawing they ever formed a part of the public edu- associated with the other masters of the cation of youth, notwithstanding the ma- High School, who should have suitable ny and great practical advantages with accommodation in the building. It may which this course of study is pregnant. be objected to this, that it is unnecessary, The plan of your correspondent, with as there are so many able professors in regard to the establishment of an acade- town, without attaching one to the instimy, appears to me, in the main, sound and tution; but, on the other hand, the adliberal, and, were it placed on a proper vantage will be, that many parents will footing, would be highly advantageous to be induced to send their children there, the arts; but, in order to render the la- who would not otherwise think of it at all. bours of the academy fully efficient, the A professorship or lectureship should public mind ought to be prepared, by also be founded in the University, for an founding such institutions for the instruc- annual course of lectures on the subject, tion of our youth in the principles and to include painting, sculpture, architecpractice of these arts, as would make ture, and engraving, which, treated in a them, when their education was comple-historical and critical manner, would deted, (instead of ignorant and pretending velope their principles and their relation connoisseurs,) rational and intelligent ad- to one another, and form a most instrucmirers, liberal and discerning patrons, or tive and entertaining view of the subject, skilful practitioners. And a fund might be established to form a small collection, pictures, casts from the antiques, and books connected with these arts, which, by legacies, donations, &c. would ultimately form a highly respectable accession to the University; and the books already in the College library, on these subjects, might be transferred to this department. The neglect of this is so much more to be wondered at, when we consider the great attention that is paid to most other useful and ornamental branches of education in this country; and that there are few of the civil employments that the educated part of the community may be engaged in, such as medicine, engineering, and mechanics, that would not derive assistance from the fine arts, and that so many of our youth are destined for the army or navy, for situations either civil or military in our possessions in Asia, America, &c. in all which the cul tivation of the fine arts will ever be the most agreeable amusement, and very frequently a source of great advantage to themselves, as well as to their country. It cannot be doubted that our youth who travel, from want of sufficient know ledge in these arts, lose many opportunities of acquiring and communicating useful information; while from want of other amusement, when on distant and secluded stations, many of our officers of the army and navy have, contrary to their natural inclinations, yielded to the allurements of dissipation and debauchery, in order to relieve their minds from the tedium and ennui of their situations. It appears to me that this evil might in a great measure be remedied, were there an accredited teacher of drawing in every great public seminary, as there are already in the provincial academies of Perth, Ayr, &c. and that the influence of the great should be exerted to promote the object. With regard to this place in [October 25, 1817. would revive in Scotland the glories of Athens, instead of imitating the clumsy forms of Gothic barbarity, or obstructing the prospects of our finest buildings; and our public walks, instead of the tastelessness which they at present exhibit, would rival the gardens of Pompey and Lucullus. THE DRAMA. DRURY-LANE. Mr Maywood, though somewhat short, has not a bad face or voice, and is perhaps an intelligent man, as most persons possessing a decent talent for the stage are likely to be; but he undertakes great parts, and he is not at all fitted for them. He has got a notion of being easy and natural-which, by the way, bas very observably made its way among the actors lately, chiefly, no doubt, from the example of Mr Kean-but he cannot act up to it. As little will Mr Stanley supply the place in comedy. Since his first appearance, his friends have lowered their tone respecting him; but we do not think that he will succeed even to the extent, or at least not in the way, they imagine. He wants all the essential spirit of comedy, high or low. We do not know what he may have been in the habit of acting at Bath; but a habit of acting at a country theatre is a very different thing from true acting in a metropolis. His Ranger, the The Trustees' Academy might also be other night, in the Suspicious Husband, transferred to suitable apartments in the was as deficient in real levity, in enjoyCollege, (where I believe it originally was) ment, in continuousness, in short, in aniand the magnificent collection of casts mal spirits, as his Rover in Wild Oats; from the antique already belonging to this and the want was the more observable, institution, might be conveniently arran- inasmuch as the part of Ranger is less ged for the twofold purpose of study and broken into by any thing serious. He ornament, while free access to the pub- wants even self-possession, when there is lic might be afforded at seasonable hours. nothing particular for him to do ;-it is As the present apartments in Picardy- his part, and not the spirit of it that ocplace, though sufficiently elegant, are nei- cupies him. Thus nothing could be more ther commodious for the students, nor in truly heavy than his first scene, where he a situation fitted to excite the attention appears in his chambers, as the lawyer. It of the public, which ought to be attracted was a lawyer indeed, but it was not Rantowards it by conspicuousness of situation ger, who is no lawyer ;-it was not a and facility of access, I conceive that, be- young and sprightly lawyer-when he sides giving becoming dignity to the in stood listening to his friends, he was like stitution, by associating it with the Uni-a clerk in court, holding a book while versity, it would be highly beneficial to the national taste, and to the cause of art, to deposit this collection in so respectable a place. If all this were done (and there is cer tainly nothing chimerical in it) we might then hope to see a Royal Scottish Academy of the Fine Arts-then every thing tending to promote the arts would prosper-we might then hope to see (as fine stones do not always constitute fine buildings) our city improved by edifices which the barrister is talking. His voice also, now that we are upon these associations, reminded us of a stiff, solid, and solemn one we have heard at the bar. We repeat our opinion, that the proper part of Mr Stanley is in the middle walk of either comedy or tragedy-which is in fact neither comic nor tragic, but when well trodden, gives an actor the title of respectable. Mr Stanley may be at the top of this; and we shall be extremely glad to meet and applaud him there.--Examiner. October 25, 1817.] NOTICES Notices Biographical, Historical, &c. nobles under the whole regime an excellent mo. RIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, MORAL, &c. tached to him; his enemies esteemed him; and Miss McAvoy.The singular and inexplicable 81 consist of fifteen or twenty persons. It would be unnecessarily tedious to detail all that occurred at this visit; we shall therefore confine our relation to a general statement of those facts which seem to have the most direct tendency to elucidate the rationale of the case. To a casual or unskilful observer, there does not appear to be a defect in the usual organs of vision, the eyes being in all respects apparently perfect; but this would seem to be of little consequence, as she readily consents to have her eyelids entirely closed. The experiments we are about to relate were performed with equal facility. When the goggles (described in our last) were tied closely over her eyes-when the eyelids were shut, and goldbeater's skin cemented over them, -and when either the goggles, or a handkerchief, were tied upon the gold beater's skin, several pieces of coloured silk were placed before her; and, passing her fingers over them, she readily told the different shades, and pointed out the patterns of various prints. A small glass vial was put into her hands, containing several pieces of silk of different colours, and she diseriminated, in like manner, the various shades through the vial. Some letters were produced, the directions of which she readily decyphered, through a piece of common window-glass, placed at equal distances between the object and her face, her fingers touching the glass. With a magnifying-glass, placed in the same situation, her powers of discernment appeared to be increased. She also described the features of several individuals in the company, as reflected in a looking-glass placed on her knee. The faculty which, it is said, she possesses of distinguishing objects when placed behind her, was not, on the present occasion, at all in operation; for whenever her attention was called to an object not placed in a direct line downwards from her face, she uniformly failed to ascertain any of its qualities; her powers seemed also gone, when any thing opake intervened between her face and the object she endeavoured to recognize.The case thus remains enveloped in mystery, in whatever light it is viewed. Against the theory of the touch alone being concerned, is the fact we have just stated, that, as far as our observation goes, she requires an uninterrupted communication between her face and the object examined, which could not be necessary if the ideas were conveyed to the brain (as some have supposed) through the nerves of the fingers. On the other hand, we can scarcely conceive it possible that she should see through the usual channel, after the means we have described had been adopted to keep down the eyelids. Mal du pays, or Home-sickness of the Swiss.— I know not (says M. Von Bonstetten) a more remarkable phenomenon than the disorder known in Switzerland by the name of Mal du pays.— When I was in office at Gessenay, I became ac quainted with a village schoolmaster, who was passionately fond of botany. The inhabitants of cities can scarcely form a conception of the hap piness to be found in a simple life, where the desires never exceed the means of gratifying them. Faverod-this was the name of the schoolmaster-had no affections but what were engrossed by his wife, his only daughter, his dog, and the plants of his valley. His library consisted of an old botanical work, and Linnæus and Haller were known to him but by name. Such was his love of this science, that to the great offence of the villagers, he had banished almost all the culinary vegetables from his garden to make room for Alpine plants. This gar by gradual increase, gradually extended to the great aqueous abyss: the waters rose higher and higher, the surface was utterly broken up and destroyed, and an unusual deluge took place; at length dry land began to appear, owing to a gradual subsidence of the waters, which retired into caverns and crevices originally existing in the nucleus, or formed by the disruption of the crust; upon the increasing dry land vegetation began again to exist, and our present islands and continents were formed, while the sea still occupied in part its original bed. The objection to Burnet and bis followers is, that they fanci fully go back to the chaotic state of the earth, and after enlarging, embellishing, and obscuillustrated and proved it. Woodward pretends to be a matter-of-fact man; but having collected a few observations respecting the contents of strata, hastily proceeded to the erection of a theory. He observed the existence of fossil shells, and remarks, that the lower strata of the earth's surface were generally harder than the upper, which were of more light and pulverulent materials; whence, he concluded, that at the period of the deluge, the earth had acquired a new crust, deposited upon it by the waters, in the succession of the specific gravity of the materials; the heaviest, coarsest, and hardest bodies, forming what to us seem a nucleus, covered by finer and lighter deposits. Leibnitz supposes the earth to have been in a state of combustion for many ages, and at length to have gone out for want of fuel. A glassy crust was thus formed, which gave rise to sand and gravel; other kinds of earth resulted from sand and salt; and as the globe cooled, the water, which had before been kept in the state of steam, assumed fluidity, and falling to the earth, produced the Whiston having blended the follies of Burnet, Woodward, and Leibnitz, endeavoured to conceal his imbecility under the lion's skin of mathematical calculation; and taking many things for granted, of which there is not the most distant probability, leaves us bewildered and perplexed. Whitehurst passed much of his time in Derbyshire, and investigated with con den was called by the country people The Latin Garden. This excellent man was fond of the solitude in which he lived among his plants. He would spend hours in the Alps in examining a plant, and admire with rapture all its peculiarities. He was acquainted with all those of his valley, and every spring he beheld them return with the same feelings as he would have welcomed old friends. His dog was his guide; he apprized him in his rambles of the time for his meals, and sometimes of the approach of night. A decisive taste for any object, be it what it will, is almost invariably productive of a certain elevation of mind. I was astonished at Faverod's relish for the beautiful. I made him acquainted with Linnæus, Haller, and Dil-ring the Mosaic history, they pretend to have Jenius. None but a botanist, and one who has lived in seclusion, can conceive the delight which their works imparted. Faverod had never quit. ted his mountains; he had never beheld the plain, nor even imagined that there was any other world than that in which he lived. Haller's work excited in him the strongest desire to make bimself acquainted with the flowers of the plains, and that genus of plants which inhabits morasses. I proposed to him to accompany me to Valleyres, and to explore the places where Haller resided, and which he frequently mentions in his works. This journey, of about 60 miles, was a circumnavigation of the globe, or rather, a transportation into the empyreal regions. We arrived about noon at Valleyres. What was Faverod's rapture on finding himself in this land of promise, where at every step new discoveries were to be made, and new treasures explored! At day-break the next morning he set out on his researches. I expected him back to dinner, but it was evening before he returned. I went to meet him, expecting to find him the happiest of men; but what was my astonishment to see him pale, dejected, and quite an altered creature! I entreated him to inform me what was the matter, and what accident had befallen him. He made no reply. I then requested him to step into my room, and discovered that it was the mal du pays (home sickness) which had produced this change. He was ashamed to confess his complaint. I fortunate.siderable ability, the stratification of that rich ly guessed it, and directed him to return as soon as he pleased. These words infused new life into him. He set off immediately, and walked the whole night without stopping or taking refreshment. Robbers plundered him by the way, but this circumstance gave him little concern. He perceived no diminution of his disorder till he arrived within sight of the mountains contiguous to his village. On reaching his own house it vanished entirely, like a dismal dream before the rays of the morning sun. NATURAL HISTORY. Theories of the Earth.-Burnet, in his "Sacred theory of the earth," begins with the separation of elements from a fluid mass. The heaviest particles sank, and formed a nucleus, and water and air took their respective stations: upon the water, however, the air afterwards deposited a rich unctuous crust, which begat vegetation, and a beautiful verdure clothed the whole. There were no mountains, no seas, no protuberances, or inequalities; and the equator being coincident with the plane of the ecliptic, all the charms of spring were perpetual. This state of things, however, did not thus continue for many centuries; for the sun caused large cracks and fissures in the exterior, which, ocean. [October 25, 1817. ponderous materials. Then the sun, and winds, and tides, and the earth's motion, and other causes, became effective in producing new changes. The waters were much elevated in the equatorial regions, and mud, gravel, and fragments, were transported thither from the poles; hence, says Buffon, the highest mountains lie between the tropics, the lowest towards the poles; and hence the infinity of islands which stud the tropical seas. The globe's sure, face, once even and regular, became now rough and irregular; excavations were formed in one part, and land was elevated in another; and during a period of ages, the fragments of the original materials, the shells of various fish and different other exuviæ, were ground up by the ocean, and produced calcareous strata, and other lowland depositions. Those relics of marine animals, we find at such heights above the present level of the sea, as to render it more than probable that the ocean once overwhelmed the earth. Of these phenomena, Buffon takes par ticular notice, and draws from them a series of curious and minute conclusions, not, however, very satisfactory or logical. Every one who now contemplates the earth's surface, must trace upon it marks of the most dire and unsparing revolutions, which, from the present order of things, it appears impossible should recover, except by the united and continuous agency of the most active powers of destruction. This, says Buffon, arose from the soft state of the former crust of the earth; and those causes, now imbecile and slow in their operation, were then more effectually exerted, and results were obtained in a few years, for which centuries would now be insufficient. This amusing theorist next proceeds to contemplate the production of rivers, which he regards as having cut their own way to the ocean, as gradually wearing down the mountainous lands, filling up valleys, and making their exits into the ocean, by the transportation of finely divided materials. Thus, every thing is slowly returning to its former state; the mountains will be levelled, the val leys heightened, excavations filled up, and the ocean will again cover the earth. Pallas, Kirwan, De Luc, and others, have animadverted upon, but can scarcely be said to have improved Buffon's hypothesis. Many other theories I pass over in silence, as the authors, though they have sometimes clothed their fictions in new dresses, or presented them under new forms, have taken Buffon or Burnet for their guide.-Brande's Lectures. Mahogany. The Mahogany tree, which is a native of Jamaica, Cuba, and the Spanish main; becomes a magnificent tree, and has been long celebrated as a commercial commodity, and for its extensive use in cabinet-work; it thrives well in almost every soil, but the wood of the closest texture, and most beautifully veined, is obtained from trees which grow on rocky ground. The mahogany tree has been met with in Jamaica more than 100 feet in height; and one which was cut down in the parish of St Eliza. and interesting county, hoping, as he expresses it, to obtain such knowledge of subterraneous geography, as might be subservient to the purposes of life, by exposing new treasures which are concealed in the lower regions. In his inquiry into the original, state and formation of the earth, he has assiduously collected facts, among which his account of the strata of Derbyshire retains much value at the present day, though repeated investigations have since been made, with all the advantages of modern improvements; and as to his theoretical views, they are the best extant. But no one has proceeded to the form ing of a theory of the earth with the pomp and circumstances of Buffon. He supposes the planets in general to have been struck off from the sun by a comet; that they consisted of fluid matter, and thence assumed a spherical form; and that by the union of centrifugal and centri-beth measured 12 feet in diameter; it produced petal forces, they are restrained in their present orbits. The earth gradually cooled, and the cir cumambient vapours condensed upon its sur. face, while sulphureous, saline, and other matters, penetrated its cracks and fissures, and formed veins of metallic and mineral products. The scarified or pumice-like surface of the earth, acted upon by water, produced clay, mud, and loose soils, and the atmosphere was constituted❘ of subtle effluvia, floating above all the more nearly £.400 sterling to the proprietor, but it must be observed that this happened in the time of the American war, when the price was high. Mahogany is now scarce in Jamaica, and is rarely met with, excepting in mountainous situations, from which it is with difficulty brought to convenient shipping-places for the market. The introduction of mahogany into England took place about the commencement of the last century, and its first application was to the ig October 25, 1817.] noble purpose of a candle-box. A Captain Gibbons, in the West India trade, brought home some planks of it as ballast, and presented them to his brother, a physician in London, who was then building a house; but the wood being found too hard for the tools of the carpenters, was laid aside as useless. Mrs Gibbons, desirous that the wood might not be lost, employed Mr Wollaston, cabinet-maker, to make a candlebox; he executed the task, but complained also of the hardness of the wood. Dr Gibbons then proposed to have a bureau made of the same wood; its agreeable colour and fine polish were universally admired; and, among the rest of his friends who crowded to see it, the Duchess of Buckingham was so delighted with its beauty, that she requested as much wood as would furnish her with a similar piece of furniture; the same cabinet-maker was employed; the fame of mahogany and Mr Wollaston spread far and wide, and the use of this wood soon became general. Encyc. Edinensis. Argonaut and Nautilus.-Dr. Leach, of the British Museum, lately read a paper to the Royal Society, containing some observations on a new genus of marine animals inhabiting the argonaut and nautilus shells. The animal found in these shells is not the fabricator of them, but a parasite which has taken up its occasional abode there when it chooses to shield itself from the direct action of the waves. Sir E. Home has also presented a paper somewhat similar, detailing his remarks on the mode and period of generation of the animals found in nautilus and argonaut shells. He found them to be oviparous animals, and to be nourished nearly like snails. Natural History.-Arts and Sciences. ARTS AND SCIENCES. Early history of Printing and Engraving.It is yet a question, whether Holland or Germany was the seat of the invention of printing types, and consequently of printing. The learned of Germany exert no little diligence and zeal in proving that Mentz was the first city where this art was practised: the learned of Holland no less tenaciously maintain that the art, with its first materials, was stolen from their countryman, at Haarlem. | 88 sufficiently shewn; and it is acknowledged that the East, particularly China, has practised the art of printing from wooden blocks from time immemorial. But, these advantages were not confined to the Chinese, to the exclusion of other eastern nations; and Mr Ottley thinks that Europe might receive it from the orientals, most probably, through the intervention of the Venetians, who traded very extensively to those countries. This hypothesis is strongly supported by a document, dated in 1441, discovered by Temanza, among the archives of the old Mr Ottley, who has just now published an company of Venetian painters, and published by eight guinea work on this subject, determines Count Algarotti in the Letteri Pittoriche, tom. v. the question of letter types in favour of Lau-This document proves, that the art had been rence Coster, at Haarlem; but, he adduces evi- long practised; for we find the artists were nudence in proof that figures, with their explanatory merous ;—that it had been popular; for the arinscriptions, were printed in Italy before the tists had their accustomed shops," (bolcge); time of Coster. Now, we know that these in and that it had formerly been more flourishing scriptions were not always cut on the same than it was at this period; which implies a time block as the figures; and should any separate as well for its former rise, as for its later decay. impression, or proof, of such inscriptions be discovered, the progress to a still further separation of parts would become obvious. From stereotype lines, to moveable types, the transition, though inexpressibly fortunate and ingenious, yet is natural, and orderly, if not consecutive. In the earliest ages of Christianity, sculptures or pictures were admitted into certain parts of Christian edifices. We have accounts of the explanations of such representations entering into the instruction given to worshippers (perhaps, to strangers generally) who came to church, be. fore the regular service began; we know, that over the entrance of the Church of the Holy The claims of Haarlem to the discovery of Sepulchre at Jerusalem is a tablet, representing printing types rest principally on the testimony the triumphal entry of Christ into that city; of Junius, who informs us, that about 128 years which is thought to be at least co-eval with the before he wrote (supposed to be in 1568) Laubuilding. Dr. E. D. Clarke says of this per- rence Coster resided in Haarlem, opposite the formance :-" Over the door we observed a bas-royal palace; during his afternoon walks in the relief, executed in a style of sculpture meriting more attention than it has hitherto received. At first sight, it seemed of higher antiquity than the existence of any place of christian worship: but, upon a nearer view, we recognized the his Clouds of Insects.-The Courier of the Lower Rhine states, that in two communes of that department, and at Strasburgh, an absurd re. port has spread amongst the people, that a quantity of grain kept up by certain persons, who wished, as they thought, to starve them, had flown away in the shape of butterflies. What gave rise to this report was, it seems a cloud of insects, with white wings, called ephemeres albi-tory of the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem pennis, of which the bodies really resemble the multitude strewing palm-branches before grain in shape, had covered in an instant a com- him. The figures were very numerous. Permune near Benfield, and inundated a street of haps it may be considered as offering an examStrasburgh. The lamps were darkened, the shops ple of the first work in which Pagan sculptors shut, and such quantities of these insects were represented a Christian theme." We except gathered, that the people thought at least 10,000 strongly against the allusion to Pagan sculptors, sacks of corn in granary must have taken flight. on this occasion: no such profanation would The Empire of Russia has been threatened with have been tolerated. Were there no Christian an invasion, in which the forces, although not sculptors at the time? That pictures were adso formidable of those employed in the invasion mitted into churches, we learn from the calumof Bonaparte, are not less numerous and daring. niating criticisms of Julian the Apostate, who In the circle of Mostock, there have appeared, forces an indecency into that very common subas last year, such immense quantities of grass-ject, Adam and Eve in Paradise, as we gather hoppers, that it has been found necessary to take extraordinary measures for their destruction. from the answer of Augustine to the censorious Rapidity of Poisons.-Two instances of the rapidity of animal poison are recorded in the Sydney gazette. John Wood, a private of the Royal Veteran Company, while on duty, was, owing to the bite of a snake, carried off in a few moments. The fatal wound was inflicting subjects are, almost without exception, aled on the foot, and the deceased, putting his hand upon it, had scarcely time to speak, when he fell upon his face and expired. Putrescence ensued, and in a few hours the body became entirely black. A sheep was also bit, and died immediately, exhibiting symptoms of putrescence in a few moments. These snakes are said to be from five to six or seven feet long, are of a dark colour, and have large heads. lusions to the resurrection :—the deliverance of fifth centuries. That the ancients were acquainted with the mode of illustrating books by delineations, and that blocks of wood, or metal, were employed at Babylon to imprint the bricks destined to the various structures in that metropolis, have been Part of Mr O'.s volumes is that in which he supports the history given by Papillon, who asserts having seen in 1719 or 1720 a series of prints from wood, dedicated to Pope Honorius İV. by Alessandro Alberico Cunio, Cavaliere, and Isabella Cunio, twin brother and sister. The subjects were exploits of Alexander, the hero of Macedon. Honorius was pope only two years, from April 2, 1285 to April 3. 1287. If, therefore, this instance be authentic, it refers the art of printing from wooden blocks to a date long prior to whatever has (independently of this evidence) been suspected. vicinity of the city, he began by amusing himself with cutting letters out of the bark of the beech tree, and with these, one after another, the letters being inverted, he printed small sentences for the instruction of his grand-children, Being an intelligent man, he afterwards improved his types, his ink, and enlarged his powers. One of his workmen, becoming master of his secret, took the earliest opportunity of robbing Coster of his newly-invented art, and his materials; with which he escaped, first to Amsterdam, thence to Cologne, and lastly, he took up his residence at Mentz, whence, in 1442, issued two works, printed with the stolen characters. This testimony of Junius is not without support from other writers, apparently independent witnesses. We come now to the important discovery of-not the art of engraving, for the ancients were doubtless in possession of that art, of which they have left us many specimens, butthe art of printing from plates already engraved, in such a manner as to afford portable impressions. This discovery is without question to be ascribed to Maso (or Tommaso) Finiguerra, a goldsmith, or rather an ornamental engraver for the embellishment of goldsmiths' wares. He lived in the fifteenth century (1400 to 1460,) at which time it was customary to add to the value of chalices, reliquaries, ruxes [small boxes for containing the Host] sword-hilts; also clasps, and other female ornaments, by engraving on them subjects analogous to their several applications. To render this pattern more distinct, after it was executed with the graver, the excavated strokes were filled with a composition called niello, which, by its blackness, contrasteri |