standing the many proofs they adduce, I am still suspicious, that they are deceiving themselves.

I learn from them, that the attacks of the disease upon the brute creation are by no means equal to what they have been for some years past, although no Cod. fish has been used for their benefit. And I suspect, that the same cause that has operated in favour of the cattle, has relieved the people, and the Cod-fish has accidentally got the benefit of it.

In using this medicine, the Cod-fish is eaten by the patient; some of it is steeped in water, with which water the neck is washed, and some of the water they drink. Lastly, some of the fish is bound on the neck, over the part affected. Onondaga, April 16th,

1801.

XII. Memorandum concerning the influence of Music on the Common Mouse. Communicated to the EDITOR, by SAMUEL CRAMER, M. D. of Jefferson-County, in Virginia.

THE following circumstance was related to me by a gentleman of undoubted veracity.

One evening, in the month of December, as a few officers on board of a British man of war, in the harbour of Portsmouth, were seated around the fire, one of them began to play a plaintive air on the violin,

He had scarcely performed ten minutes, when a mouse, apparently frantic, made its appearance, in the centre of the floor, near the large table which usually stands in the wardroom, the residence of the lieutenants in ships of the line. The strange gestures of the little animal strongly excited the attention of the officers, who, with one consent, resolved to suffer it to continue its singular actions unmolested. Its exertions now appeared to be greater, every moment. It shook its head, leaped about the table, and exhibit. ed signs of the most extatic delight.

It was observed, that in proportion to the gradation of the tones to the soft point, the extacy of the animal appeared to be increased, and vice versa. After performing actions, which an animal so diminutive would, at first sight, seem incapable of, the little creature, to the astonishment of the delighted spectators, suddenly ceased to move; fell down, and expired, without evincing any symptoms of pain.

Facts somewhat similar to the preceding, but not (that I know) so circumstantial, are recorded by dif ferent authors. Linnæus notices the circumstance in two words. Speaking of the Common Mouse (Mus Musculus), he says "delectatur Musica."-Systema Naturæ, &c. Tom. I. p. 83. No. 13. Gmelin, in his edition of the System, omits this part of the Lin

næan history of the animal.

EDITOR.

XIII. Description of the Falls of Niagara. Extracted from the Journal of a Gentleman, who visited them, a few years since.

THE Falls are formed by a general descent of the country between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, of about 300 feet, the slope of which is generally very steep, and in many places almost perpendicular. This general descent of the country is observable for about 100 miles to the E., and above 200 miles to the W., or rather N. W., of the Falls.

The slope is formed by horizontal strata of stone, great part of which is lime-stone. At Fort-Erie, which is 20 miles above the cataract, the current is sometimes so strong, that it is impossible to cross the river in the ferry-boat. Proceeding downwards, the rapidity of the stream increases. It may, however, generally be crossed by hard rowing in a boat, opposite to the mouth of Chippewa Creek. As we rode along the St. Laurence (viz. from Fort-Erie, on the Canada side), we heard the sound of the Falls, at the distance of ten miles. The wind was N. E. and the air clear: had it been N. W., we should have heard it at a much greater distance. In heavy weather, and with a fair wind, the sound is sometimes heard 40 or 50 miles.

The Rapids, or First Falls, begin about half a mile above the great Cataract. In one instance has a man been saved, who had been carried down to them.

His canoe was overturned: he retained fast hold of it, and it very providentially fastened itself to the uppermost rock. Some people on shore, seeing this, ventured to his assistance, and saved his life, at the risk of their own.

As we approached the Falls the first time, the sun was low in the west, which gave us an opportunity of viewing the beautiful rainbow, which is occasioned by the refraction of his rays, on the cloud or fog, that is perpetually arising from them. We afterwards found, that the whole phenomenon is never viewed to so much advantage, from the Canada side, as in a clear evening. The vast fog, ascending from the grand cataract, being in constant agitation, appears like the steam of an immense boiling cauldron. summer, it moistens the neighbouring meadows, and in winter, falling upon the trees, it congeals and produces a most beautiful crystaline appearance. The view of this fog at a distance, which, when the cause of it is known, is in itself a singular phenomenon, fills the mind with awful expectation, which, on a nearer approach, can never end in disappointment.

In

The first sight of the Falls arrests the senses in silent admiration. Their various hues, arising from the depth, the descent, and the agitation of the water, and the reflection of the sun-beams upon them; their great height; their position between lofty rocks, and their roaring noise, altogether render them an unparalelled display of nature's grandeur. But what chiefly distinguishes them, and gives them a majesty

incomparably superior to any thing of the kind, in the known world, is the vast body of water which they precipitate into an immense abyss.

The St. Laurence is one of the greatest rivers of America. It is very deep, and about 742 yards wide at the Falls. The perpendicular descent there is about 140 feet, down to the level of the water below. How far the water rushes downwards, still further within the chasm underneath, is uncertain. It falls 58 feet within the last half mile above the Falls, which adds to the force and velocity of the cataract. The sound occasioned by the great and precipitate fall of such a vast body of water has the most grand effect that can be conceived. It far exceeds in solemnity any other sound produced by the operations of nature. It is only at the Niagara-Falls that the force of that figure made use of, in the book of Revelations can be fully felt: "I heard a voice as the voice of many waters." And what did, that voice say? It proclaimed aloud, as if all Heaven spoke, "Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." This is the language that has been thundered, for ages, from the Falls of Niagara.

Every hour of the day, and every change of the weather, varies the scenery of this romantic, this magnificent display of the wonders of nature, compared with which, every attempt of art to produce the sublime, sinks into utter insignificance. The first day that we spent there, the weather was clear. The next day, it became cloudy, and rained a little.

F