Regent Fishing Bank. It is well known, that, next to the Newfoundland Banks, those of Shetland are the most productive in ling, cod, tusk, and other white fish; and by the recent discovery of a bank, trending many leagues to the south-westward, the British merchants have made a vast accession to their fishing grounds. In the small picturesque Bay of Scalloway, and in some of the other bays and voes on the western side of the Mainland of Shetland, the fishing upon this new bank has been pursued with great success. Here small sloops, of from 15 to 25 tons burden, and manned with eight persons, have been employed. In the beginning of August they had this summer fished for twelve weeks, generally returning home with their fish once a-week. On an average, these vessels had caught 1000 fine codfish a-week, of which about 600 in a dried state go to the ton, and these they would have gladly sold at about L. 15 per ton. So numerous are the fish upon the Regent Fishing Bank, that a French vessel, belonging, it is believed, to St Maloes, had sailed with her second cargo of fish this season; and though the fishermen did not mention this under any apprehension, as though there were danger of the fish becoming scarce, yet they seemed to regret the circumstance, on account of their market being thus pre-occupied.-Phil. Jour. George Bidder. This wonderful boy, who is only thirteen years old, and is well known for the singular faculty of perform ing in his mind the most complex and dif. ficult arithmetical computations, arrived some weeks ago in Edinburgh for the purpose of exhibition. It occurred to a public-spirited individual, Henry Jardine, Esq. to whose benevolence and enlightened zeal most of the charitable and scientific institutions of this city have been under great obligations, that it would be highly desirable to rescue this interesting boy from being the subject of a public show; and, having obtained his father's consent, he set on foot a subscription for providing him with the means of maintenance and education for some of the learned professions. The progress of his mind will be watched by some of the members of the Royal Society and the University.-Phil. Jour.

Germination of the Musci.-Mr James Drummond, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Cork, has lately made some very curious and important observations on the germination of mosses. He has succeeded in tracing the progress from the seed of nearly thirty species. The opinion of Linnæus, that the capsules of mosses

VOL. VI.

were only antheræ filled with pollen, was properly rejected by Hedwig, but has been revived by Beauvois; the question may now be regarded as finally settled; for in Mr Drummond's experiments, the powder from the capsules never failed to germinate; and he uniformly obtained the same species of moss from which the capsules had been taken. He tried the seeds, both in earth and in water. In the former case, he previously torrified the earth, so as to exclude the possibility of other minute seeds existing in it in a state fit for vegetation : the earth having been thus rigorously purified, was put into garden-pots; these, again, were covered closely with small bellglasses, and moisture was communicated to the pots by placing them in water that had been boiled. In the other case, he sowed the seeds on the surface of rain-water, and kept the vessel carefully covered. In the water, the germination proceeded with great rapidity, being visible the second or third day, when examined with the compound microscope. Mr Drummond found, that the seeds of all the different kinds of mosses produced at first similar articulated filaments. These Hedwig regarded as cotyledons, and Sprengel as minute confervæ; they are, however, neither cotyledons nor confervæ, but germinating expansions of the seed itself, somewhat analogous to what is called the spawn of mushrooms. On the moist earth the process of germination is more slow; in a fortnight, however, the surface of the pots is covered with a substance resembling green velvet; and in about three weeks, the proper leaves begin to appear. It has long been suspected, that many of the small confervæ would require to be expunged from botanical lists: Mr Drummond's experiments will hasten this result; the well known Byssus velutina, he ascertained to be nothing else than Polytrichum aloides in the first stage of vegetation. A full account of Mr Drummond's curious and important observations will probably appear in the next volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society.

New Society of Arts in Edinburgh.We understand that several gentlemen in Edinburgh have been occupied for a considerable time in establishing a Society for the Promotion of the Mechanical and Useful Arts in Scotland, for rewarding inventions of public utility, and disseminating useful knowledge among the industrious classes of society. A leading object of the Society will be to erect a hall for depositing instruments, and models of machinery of all kinds.

New Siliceous Grass.-In the hills be

tween the Circars and the Nagpore country, a kind of jungle grass occurs in great abundance, in the joints of which a very perfect siliceous deposit is found. Dr Roxburgh makes no mention of it. This curious fact is contained in a letter from Dr Moore to Dr Kennedy of Edinburgh.

Glass from Straw.-Wheat straw may be melted into a colourless glass with the blowpipe, without any addition. Barley straw melts into a glass of a topaz-yellow colour.

Annual Quantity of Salt raised from Earth in Europe. It would appear, from a careful examination of the most accurate returns, that the European salt-mines and salt-springs afford annually from 25 to 30 millions of hundred weights of salt.

Silk of the Pinna Marina.-The pinna shell occurs on the Neapolitan coast, particularly on the shores of Calabria, and affords a kind of silk, which, after dressing, is wove with common silk, and made into various articles of dress. A pair of men's gloves cost 13 carlinis.-women's gloves 18,-pair of stockings 6 ducats,-waistcoat 30, and coat 100 ducats.

Canary-Bird without Feathers.It is generally supposed that birds cannot live without feathers, or that they linger out a miserable existence for a few days or weeks. This, however, does not appear to be true; for we find it stated in the Memoirs of the Society of Natural History of Wetterau, that a Mr Schæpf of Gottorf reared a featherless canary-bird, which continued living and in good health for upwards of three years.

Method of taking Impressions of Gems and Seals in Shell-lac.-Take a piece of mica, and put some lac upon it; hold it over the fire till the lac is softened, which must then be spread evenly over the mica; on the surface of the lac put a piece of goldleaf or coloured foil, about the size of the impression to be taken; and cover this also with a thin layer of lac; it must now be softened at the fire, and the impression taken as with sealing-wax. The lac takes a very sharp impression; and the reflection from the gold-leaf gives the figures a fine relief. The mica is convenient for melting the lac upon, and the impression easily separates from it, leaving the back with a fine shining surface, and beautiful iridescent colours, occasioned by a thin plate of the mica adhering to the lac. The same piece of mica may be used for many impressions. In softening the lac, the heat should not be so strong as to make airbubbles rise, as it is difficult to get quit of them again.

Experiments on the Colour of Minerals. -The Yellow Carnelian may be changed into a fine red, by exposing it in a crucible with sand to a heat under redness. In India," the stones are put into an earth

en-pot, and covered with six inches of dry goat's dung: fire is then applied; and in twelve hours the pots are sufficiently cool to be removed." Black Rock-crystal may be made quite colourless by heat. Some specimens may be obtained of a yellow colour by not continuing the heat too long. The colour of the Amethyst may be taken away by a moderate heat; if the heat be increased, it becomes white and opalescent. The amethyst is more apt to crack with the heat than rock-crystal. The Beryl is changed with a moderate heat to a light blue; when the heat is raised, it becomes like mother-of-pearl. The Emerald has the same kind of pearly lustre when heated. The colour of the Chrysoberyl is not altered with a red heat. Dr Clarke exposed a Diamond of an amber colour to the flame of the gas blowpipe; it became colourless and transparent; by continuing the heat it became white and opaque, and was volatilised. Blue Fluor-spar changes to a kind of red when heated, and when the heat is raised, it is often rendered colourless.

France.-Natural History.-M. de Lalande, associate naturalist to the king's garden, Paris, is now employing his time in foreign travels. In May 1817, he embarked from the harbour of Brest, in the Golo, one of the king's ships, to visit the isle of Bourbon. He is authorized to remain for some months at the Cape of Good Hope. He will there pursue his researches in botany, zoology, and all the departments of natural history. Afterwards he will proceed on his voyage to India, to prosecute the ulterior and principal objects of his mission in the Indian Seas.

Economy of Fuel.-M. Valette, mechanist, of Paris, has brought to great perfection his new inventions for economizing combustible materials. His process has been submitted to, and received the sanction of, the Academy of Sciences, and the Society of Encouragement. It embraces an extensive plan for supplying families with moveable warm-baths in their own houses, and for a sort of ambulatory cauldrons or flesh-pots, for the use of naval armaments or of soldiers by land. means also to adapt it to the coppers or large kettles of dyers and brewers. In all these cases the expence will be diminished three-fourths; and, what is of high importance, the wounded in a field of battle may always have a supply of soups. Very superior advantages are expected from this invention.

He

Dr Wollaston has recently ascertained the existence of potash in sea-water. He estimates the proportion of this alkali, which he supposes to exist in the state of sulphate, at something less than 1-2000th part of the water at its average density.

Germany.An order has been issued

for founding at Dusseldorf a polytechnic school, and an academy of the fine arts. The government allows for these foundations the annual sum of 28,000 francs. Austria.—Statistics of Austria.-M. Antoine Strauss, bookseller at Vienna, intends publishing a work, that cannot fail to illustrate the general history of the states comprehended within the Austrian monarchy. In this work, entitled the Ecclesiastical Topography of Austria, it is proposed to give detailed notices of every parish, from chronicles extant in the churches, or from other documents in the archives of the chapters and convents, or of those appertaining to the state. The history of each parish to be preceded by a geographical, physical, and historical, description of the situation wherein the parish stands; also with sketches of its antiquities, monuments, tombs, and inscriptions, of its schools and hospitals. The number of parishes is more than fifteen hundred, and there still remain more than sixty chapters and convents, in all of which valuable documents are to be found. It will correspond with Sir John Sinclair's Scotland.

Italy Italian Language.-The Italians appear to interest themselves in the Provençal language and literature, from the affinity which it bears to their own. In their comments on the work of M. Schlegel, published last year at Paris, on the same subject, they controvert the position assumed therein, that the oldest monuments of the modern languages derived from the Latin, with the exception of the Roman Provençal, cannot be traced higher than the twelfth century. In support of their opinion, they advance authorities from Muratori, Carli, Ciampi, &c. who all ascribe an higher antiquity to the Italian language. Very recently there has appeared a fragment from a manuscript of the twelfth cen. tury, which exhibits an Italian translation from the Latin and from other Italian writings, all of which prove, as is asserted, that the Italian language, at that period, was adult.

Excavations at Pompeii.-In prosecuting the excavations at Pompeii, they have lately discovered several edifices in the fine street that leads to the temples of Isis and Hercules, and to the theatre. In a house supposed to have belonged to some man of science, some surgical instruments were found of excellent workmanship; also some paintings representing fruit and animals, executed with great truth.

Manuscript of the Iliad. There has recently been discovered, in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, a manuscript copy of the Iliad of Homer, of the fourth century; with sixty pictures, equally ancient. The characters are square capitals, according to the usage of the best ages, without distinction of words, without accents or the aspirates; that is to say, without any sign of

the modern Greek orthography. The pictures are upon vellum, and represent the principal circumstances mentioned in the Iliad. M. Angelo Maio, Professor at the Ambrosian College, has caused the manuscript to be printed in one volume, with the engravings from the pictures, and the numerous scholia attached to the manuscript. These new scholia fill more than thirty-six pages in large folio; they are all of a very ancient period, and the greater part of them are by authors anterior to the Christian era, and to the school of Alexandria. The authors quoted are one hundred and forty in number, whose writings have been lost, or are entirely unknown. The manuscript, however, does not contain the Iliad entire, but only the fragments which relate to the pictures.

Sweden.-German literature has been very much cultivated of late years in Sweden. Exclusive of a collection of classical German authors printed at Upsal, in the original language, (sixty-six volumes in the whole,) the best works of various authors have been translated into Swedish.

Denmark. The King of Denmark has granted a pension of two hundred crowns, for two years, to four gentlemen of celebrity, for the purpose of making tours and voyages in foreign countries. Their names are Bask, a philologist; Ingemann, a poet; Clausen, a theologian; and N. Gode, a naturalist of Kiel. Schew the botanist, and Leize the naturalist, have likewise been fur nished with the means requisite for continuing their voyages.

Professor C. F. Severin, at Copenhagen, has published a small work on the subject of popular instruction in Denmark. It appears from this, that the rise and progress of such instruction may be referred to the era of Frederick IV. who founded in one single year, 1721, two hundred and forty new schools. Christian VI. was not less zealous than his predecessor, for promoting the culture of the sciences and of letters, and for the general advancement of knowledge. But the first seminary for the express purpose of providing good teachers and instructors was not established till the year 1791, under the reign of Christian VII. This was erected near Copenhagen, and it served for a model to several others that have since been set up in the provinces. The great proprietors, copying the example set by government, have founded different schools on their estates.

Greatest Waterfall in Europe discover. ed in Lapland. In the mineralogical report of Lapland presented to the Swedish Government, amongst other curious facts, the discovery of a great waterfall in the River Lulea is particularly mentioned. It is said to be one-eighth of a German mile broad, and at its greatest height to fall 400 feet perpendicular.

LONDON.

ON the first of February 1820 will be published a Treatise on Trolling, by T. F. Salter, author of the Angler's Guide.

Mr Leigh Hunt has ready for publication in course of February, Amyntas, a Tale of the Woods, from the Italian of Torquato Tasso, with a brief notice of the author.

The first volume of the series of new novels, to be published periodically, under the title of The Circulating Library,' will consist of an exquisite Edinburgh tale, under the title of "Glenfell."

A new and improved edition of Burns's works, edited by his brother, Mr Gilbert Burns, is in preparation. It will be accompanied by the account of his life, and a criticism on his writings, and some observations on the character and condition of the Scottish peasantry, by Dr James Currie, of Liverpool. To which will be now first added, somé further particulars of the author's life, some new notes illustrative of his poems and letters, and many other additions.

A new edition is printing of the Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; with a biographical and critical preface; embellished with twenty engravings by Mr C. Heath, from a series of designs by T. Stothard, Esq. R. A.

The next Part of the Journal of New Voyages and Travels will comprise a faithful translation of Cordova's Voyage of Discovery to the Strait of Magellan.

Mr O'Meara, late surgeon to Napoleon, will shortly publish a second manuscript from St Helena, containing an authentic history of the events which occurred in France, from the period of the Emperor's return in 1815, until the battle of Waterloo, including a variety of observations on the conduct of the Generals opposed to him on that memorable occasion. The announcement of this unquestionable production of Napoleon, as the second manuscript of St Helena, proves that he recognizes the first as his; and, indeed, we have the authority of Dr O'Meara for stating, that the first manuscript from St Helena, as well as the manuscript from Elba, were undoubted productions of Napoleon. Hitherto public opinion has been divided on the subject; and the works, in consequence, have lost much of that importance to which they are entitled. Monthly Mag.

Proposals are circulated for publishing by subscription, Specimens of the Architectural Antiquities of Normandy, in a series of one hundred etchings, representing exterior and interior views, elevations, and details, of the most celebrated and most curious remains of antiquity in that coun

try; by John Sell Cotman, Esq. author of Architectural Antiquities of Norfolk, &c. The drawings were made by him in the summers of 1817 and 1818, and are to be accompanied by historical and descriptive notices. It seems, the two royal abbeys at Caen, though shorn of much of their former grandeur, are, happily, still nearly perfect; the royal castle of Falaise, and the more important ones of Arques and Gaillard, retain sufficient of their ancient magnificence to testify what they must have been in the days of their glory: the towns and chateaus, which were the cradles of many of our most noble and illustrious families, the Harcourts, Vernons, Tankervilles, Gurneys, Bruces, Bohuns, Grenvilles, St Johns, &c. are still in existence; and of more modern date, when our Henrys and Edwards resumed the Norman sceptre, numberless buildings of the highest beauty are, says Mr Cotman, everywhere to be met with.

The concluding volume of Dr Clarke's Northern Travels through Denmark, Sweden, Lapland, Finland, Norway, and Russia, with a description of the city of St Petersburgh during the tyranny of the Emperor Paul, will soon be published.

The seventh and eighth volumes of Dr Ranken's History of France are in the press.

An Historical and Topographical Account of Devonshire is preparing for publication; being the ninth part of Magna Britannia, or a concise account of the several counties of Great Britain; by the Rev. Daniel Lysons, A.M.F.R.S.F.A. and L.S. rector of Rodmarton, Gloucestershire; and the late Samuel Lysons, Esq. F.R.S.F.A.S. keeper of his Majesty's records in the Tower of London.

The second volume of Travels in various Countries in the East; more particularly Persia; by Sir Wm. Ouseley, LL. D. and private secretary to Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart. will be published in the course of the ensuing spring.

A Journal of a Tour through part of the Snowy Range of the Himala Mountains, and to the Sources of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges; with notes, on the hills at the foot of the Himala range between the rivers Sutley and Alacknunda, in the course and towards the close of the Goorkha war in 1815, is announced; by James Baillie Fraser, Esq. with a map of those regions.

Twenty Views in the Himala Mountains, in elephant folio, uniform with Daniel's Oriental Scenery, and Salt's Views in Abyssinia, illustrative of Fraser's Tra vels, engraved from the original drawings

made on the spot by the author, are in preparation.

Views of Paris; consisting of sixty engravings, by Mr Charles Heath, and other artists, from views taken in the French capital and its vicinity, by Capt. Batty, of the Grenadier Guards, are announced, and will be conducted on the same plan as the Italian and Swiss Scenery, and consist of twelve numbers, each number containing five plates.

The admirers of the secret history of literature are at length about to be grati. fied with the publication of that long-lookedfor book, “Spence's Anecdotes ;" the whole of the manuscript remains of the late Mr Spence are in the hands of Mr Singer, who is about to publish them, with many addi tions from the original notes and memorandums. It is said, that this work will contain many very curious particulars of Pope and his contemporaries, hitherto unpublished, with other miscellaneous matter of very great interest.

Mr W. Gardener of Leicester, justly respected as the author of the Sacred Melo dies, is about to publish an oratorio of "Judah," which he has selected from the canon of the Old Testament, and connected with sacred compositions of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, which have never yet appeared. It will be published in three parts, and the first part will appear in February or March.

Speedily will be published, Part I. of a Series of Portraits of the British Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper and Beattie. The portraits will be engraved in the line manner by Messrs Armstrong, Englehart, Finden, Fittler, Pye, Rhodes, Robinson, C. and A. Warren, Wedgewood, Worthington, &c. from drawings made expressly for the work by Mr Thurston, from the most authentic originals, many of them not hitherto engraved.

A periodical work, to be published quarterly, is announced, under the title of the Retrospective Review, consisting of criticisms upon, analyses of, and extracts from, curious, useful, and valuable books in all languages, which have been published from. the revival of literature to the commencement of the present century; edited by a Society of Members of the University of Cambridge.

Dr Whitaker's History of Yorkshire, Part II. is in the press. The whole of the landscapes in this work will be engraved from beautiful drawings by J. M, W. Turner, Esq. R. A. and the architectural subjects by Mr Buckler, which will be executed in the very best style of the art.

No. XII. which completes Miss Batty's Italian Scenery, will be published on the 1st of February 1820.

The Views in Switzerland, from drawings by Major Cockburn, engraved by

Charles Heath, and others, will be completed in twelve numbers.

Views in Greece, from original drawings by Edward Dodwell, Esq. F.S.A. will be completed in twelve parts, each part containing five beautifully coloured plates, mounted to imitate the drawings, on royal folio, the size of Stuart's Athens.

A new English Dictionary is proposed to be published by subscription, in two volumes quarto, price L. 4, 4s. in boards, under the title of an Analytical Dictionary of the English Language, by Mr David Booth, author of the "Introduction to an Analytical Dictionary," and other works. It will be published in four parts, or halfvolumes, with an interval of three months between the publication of each.

An enlarged edition is printing of Dr Reid's Essays on Hypochondriasis and other Nervous Affections.

An English edition of Gen. Lacroix's History of the Revolutions in St Domingo, with notes and illustrations, is in a forward state of preparation for the press.

Mr Doncaster is preparing a work for the press, illustrative of his new System of Hydro-agriculture and Mechanical SpadeCultivation; together with the proposition and selection of his newly-discovered agricultural paradox; and also on the propriety of parcelling out the glebe lands of the country into convenient-sized poultry farms, for the employment of the poor in spade cultivation thereon, as well as for the advantage of small capitalists.

In January will be published, Part I. of Illustrations of Hudibras, being a series of portraits of celebrated political and literary characters, impostors,and enthusiasts, alluded to by Butler in his Hudibras; to be completed in ten parts, each part containing six portraits.

Sir Arthur Clarke, author of an 66 Essay on Warm, Cold, and Vapour Baths," has nearly ready for publication, a small volume, entitled the Mother's Medical Assistant, containing instructions for the prevention and treatment of the diseases of infants and children.

Speedily will be published, a volume called the Canadian Settler, being a series of letters from Lower and Upper Canada, in June, July, and August, 1819, by T.

Carr.

Mr Bayley's History of the Tower of London, with biographical anecdotes of royal and distinguished persons, deduced from records, state papers, manuscripts, and other original and authentic sources, will appear shortly.

Hora Homileticæ, or Discourses in the form of Skeletons upon the whole Scriptures, containing altogether at least 1200, similar to, but distinct from, those in the five volumes already published, are announced by the Rev. C. Simeon, M. A.