some order of merit (continues the Journal) of this description has caused many a wellpowdered peer to be addressed with, "Inquire whether my carriage waits;" or, Ask for Lady A. -'s shawl."

Introduction of Vegetables, &c. into England. One of the principal advantages resulting to Europe from exploring distant .regions, has been the introduction of some of the most useful plants and fruits that are now cultivated with so much success. From the discovery of America, one of the most important benefits, perhaps, that we received, was the potatoe. The pear, the peach, the apricot, and the quince, were respectively brought from Epirus, Carthage, Armenia, and Syria. They were first transplanted into Italy, and thence disseminated by the Romans through the northern and western parts of Europe. Fruit seems to have been very scarce in England in the time of Henry VII. In an original MS., signed by himself, and kept in the Remembrance Office, it appears that apples were then paid for at the high price of one and two shillings a piece; that a man and woman received 8s. 6d. in the coin of that time for a few strawberries. It was not till the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII. that any salads, carrots, cabbage, or other such edibles, were purchased in England. The little of these vegetables that was used was formerly imported from Holland and Flanders. Queen Catharine (Henry's first consort), when she wanted a salad, was obliged to despatch a messenger thither on purpose. Sundry other kinds of fruits and plants were also first cultivated in England during this reign, particularly apricots, artichokes, pippins, and gooseberries. The currant tree was conveyed from Zante by the Venetians, and planted in England in the year 1533.

Asparagus, cauliflowers, beans, and pease, were introduced about the time of the restoration of Charles II. The delightful ornaments of our garden (flowers) are also foreign productions. The jessamine came from the East Indies; the tulip, the lily, and several others, from the Levant; the tuberose from Java and Ceylon; the carnation and pink from Italy; and the auricula from Switzerland. Nuts, acorns, crabs, and a few wild berries, were certainly the only vegetable food indigenous to our island; and the meanest labourer is now fed with more wholesome and delicate aliments, than the petty kings of the country could obtain in its uncultivated

state.

A Seventh Son-Is a faith doctor in virtue of his birth. His knowledge being intuitive, he may commence practice at the tenderest years; nor can he ever acquire any additional skill from the disclosures of others, as he already possesses all that others might com

municate. But to give full force and virtue to this charm, it is necessary that seven sons should be born in succession; should an unlucky daughter intervene, blasted are all the hopes of the expecting family; the seventh lad comes into the world with the same dull perceptions as his fellow men.Letters from the West.

The Cherry Tree, prunus cerasus-Was introduced into Italy about sixty-eight years before the Christian era, by the Roman general, Lucullus, who found it growing at Cerasus, a city of Pontus, now Keresoun, a maritime town of Asiatic Turkey. The cherry-tree, one of the fruits of the victory of Lucullus over Mithridates, King of Pontus, was regarded as so valuable an acquisition, that, in the triumphal procession decreed to the Roman conqueror, it occupied a prominent place among the royal treasures. It appears, from a passage in Pliny, that in less than twenty-six years after their introduetion into Italy, other lands had cherries, even as far as Britain beyond the ocean, though it is supposed by many that the cherry-tree was not brought into this country till more than half a century from the commencement of the Christian era. The culture of the cherry must have been extremely limited, if what is alleged be true, that the whole race of cherries brought into this country by the Romans was lost during the Saxon period, and only restored in the time of Henry VIII., when cherry-trees were brought from Flanders and planted at Sittingbourne, in Kent, which has long continued famous for the abundant produce of that fruit. In the year 1540, a cherryorchard of thirty-two acres, in Kent, yielded such a quantity of fruit as brought the enormous sum of 10007.; a certain proof of the rarity of the fruit, or of the great estimation in which it was held.

Chinese Midwives.-The accoucheuses of of China are downright legal murderesses. When a man has more children than he can easily maintain, he directs the midwife to stifle his female infant in a bason of water as soon as born; and the old hag readily complies with his commands.

Micrometer.In one of the late numbers of "Beek's Repertorium," an account is given of a Mr. Skiadan's (a Russian) invention of a micrometer capable of measuring the one ten thousandth part of an inch with accuracy.

Squinting. Children, when they first begin to perceive, always turn anxiously to the light. Besides the agreeable sensation, the retina is strengthened by the action of the rays. Whenever, therefore, care is not taken so to place the infant that the light may strike both eyes equally, one generally becomes stronger than the other: and it is not sufficiently known

Egypt. This fertile country yields, to every grain sown, fifty grains of corn, fifteen grains of barley, eight to ten of maize, and twenty-four grains of rice. Its other agricultural productions are linseed, beans, peas, lupins, and flax, which give abundant crops. One moiety of its produce of wheat, beans, and peas-one third of that of maize-and two-thirds of its produce of flax and rice, are left over from its domestic consumption, for the purposes of exportation. Of cotton-the better species of which resembles the best kind of Brazilian-more than 200,000 cwt. have been brought to market in one year; though the cultivation of this article has not been pursued above seven years. The sugar-cane is grown in Upper Egypt, and produces between 40,000 and 50,000 cwt., one-half of which circulates as merchandize, in a raw state. Were this article treated with proper skill and attention, it might not only be cultivated with much profit and to an immense extent, but would be found, from its intrinsic excellence, far superior to any West India produce for the refiner's use. The raising of indigo has been attempted, on a considerable scale, and with great success, of late years; and of this product 60,000 oka, or 135,000 pounds, have been sold, from one twelvemonth's growth. The finest of the three qualities which are raised, is esteemed quite equal to the best East India indigo. Some Christian settlers from Syria have begun the cultivation of silk; but nothing certain is yet known as to its fitness for the purpose of exportation. Nature has endowed this country with a lavish hand-whether we look at its capabilities for vegetable or animal productions; and Mengin has calculated, that if it enjoyed the advantage of a mild and intelligent government, it might, independently of a considerable export-trade, be rendered capable of maintaining a population of 8,000,000 of human beings; whereas, under the iron grasp of its present ruler, it does not support above 2,500,000, including 3000 Jews and 170,000 Christians of various persuasions; but exclusive of fifty tribes of Arabs, whose numbers amount to 120,000, or thereabouts, dispersed in villages, or following a nomadic life. The same writer estimates the annual revenue at 2,000,000/-one-half of which is derived from the miri, or land-tax-the regular force, trained after the European fashion, at 10,000 infantry, 9000 cavalry, 1200 artillery

Evaporation on Mountains.-It has been ascertained by the experiments of M. Van Marum, that vapours are more largely exhaled from the summits of lofty mountains than from the plains below, in consequence, it is supposed, of the diminution of atmosperic pressure.

Animal Food.-It seems pretty certain that animal food is not necessary to sustain either the health or vigour of the human body. The Arabs of the Red Sea, who live with little exception, on dates and lemons, carry burdens of much greater weight than can be borne by Europeans; and the Afghan, whose sole aliment is bread, curdled milk, and water, and who inhabits a climate which often produces in one day the extreme of heat and cold, and undergoes as much fatigue, and exerts as much strength, as the London coal-heaver, who lives on beef and porter.

Episcopal Mode of Furnishing a Library. -The Catholic Bishop of Louisiana, M. Dubourg, in his travels through Flanders with the Prince de Broglio, became acquainted with a gentleman and his daughter who were very bigoted. The latter, in a confidential conversation with the bishop, communicated to him her scruples at having in her possession a copy of the "Encyclopedia," a work in which the church was so shamefully treated, and asked him if she should not throw the obnoxious volumes into the flames. The bishop replied, that if she would intrust it to him, he would take care that it should do no harm to any one. He thus saved from destruction a copy of this splendid work, with which he took care to enrich his own library.-Reise des Herzogs Bernhard, Weimar, 1820.

Chess.-The origin of this game-if it be lawful to call it a game is lost in remote antiquity. The philosopher Xerxes, the Grecian prince Palamedes, and the brothers Lydo and Tyrrheno, have each in turn received the homage of inquirers as the inventors; others ascribe the honour to the Egyptians, and others to the Chinese. In the first book of the Odyssey, supposed to be written a thousand years before the Christtian era, there is a game mentioned, which was probably chess. In China, the game is somewhat different from ours. A river separates the two contending parties, and the king is entrenched in a fort, where only he can move. The mandarin (our bishop) is unable through age to cross the river; and, instead of a queen there are two princes to support his majesty. The only other peculiarity is a rocket-boy (still used in the Indian armies), who is stationed between the lines, and vaults, rocket-like, over intervening ob

stacles, till he picks off his man at the other end of the board.

The French Bar.-France, with her absolute monarchy, her despotic and barbarous jurisprudence, boasts a race of lawyers uniformly distinguished for their resistance to oppression and persecution, their endeavours to reform or mitigate the law, their zeal for justice, humanity, and religious toleration-while in England, with her free constitution, and the most popular of tribunals, the lawyers have been notorious for their prostitute servility. We find them ministering to the despotic pedantry of James I. by precedents from the lower empire, and vindicating, under the succeeding princes of his house to its downfall, imposts by prerogative-the star-chamber-arbitrary imprisonments, and the dispensing power. "It is no marvel," said Lord Clarendon, "that an irregular, extravagant, arbitrary power hath broken in upon us like a torrent, when our banks, and our bulwarks the laws, are in the custody of men who have rendered that study and profession which, in all ages, hath been of an honourable estimation, so contemptible and vile, that it would tempt men to that quarrel with the law itself, which Marcius had to the Greek tongue, who thought it a mockery to learn that language, the masters of which lived in slavery."-Foreign Review.

66

Idealism. The idealist boasts that his philosophy is transcendental, that is, as cending beyond the senses;" and which he asserts, all philosophy, properly so called, by its nature is and must be; in this way he is led to various unexpected conclusions. To a transcendentalist, matter has an existence but only as a phenomena; were we not there, neither would it be there; it is a mere relation, or rather the result of a relation between our living souls and the great first cause; and depends for its apparent qualities on our bodily and mental organs; having itself no intrinsic qualities, being in the common sense of that word, nothing. The tree is green and hard, not of its own natural virtue, but simply because my eye and my hand are fashioned so as to discern such and such appearances under such and such conditions. Nay, the idealist would say, even on the most popular grounds must it not be so? Bring a sentient being, with eyes a little different, with fingers ten times harder than mine; and to him that thing which I call a tree shall be yellow and soft, as truly as to me it is green and hard. Form his nervous structure in all points the reverse of mine, and this same tree shall not be combustible, or heat-producing, but dis-soluble and cold-producing, not high and convex, but deep and concave; shall simply have all properties exactly the reverse of those I attribute to it. "There is, in fact," says

Fichte, "no tree there; but only a manifestation of power from something which is not I. The same is true of material nature at large, of the whole visible universe, with all its movements, figures, accidents, and qualities; all are impressions produced on me by something different from me.—Ibid.

Formation of Coral.-The increase of a coral reef ceases when the small animal,' which forms the architect, is no longer exposed to the action of the sea. Thus the fabric will proceed in an irregular form beneath the surface, till it has reached the level of the spring-tides, above which the worm cannot extend its operations. The adjacent parts, however, proceed in succession, till a sort of platform of considerable extent is elevated to the surface of springtides, beyond which coral rocks can never be carried, except by the deposit of earthy matter by sea-birds, and the collection of marine vegetables, which eventually form a stratum of soil, and afford a foundation for a future vegetable, and perhaps animal subsistence. Though the coral rocks never rise much above the level of the sea, they extend for leagues in the South Seas, and from the perpendicular sides of the rocks, they present a very dangerous impediment to navigation.

Chinese Gastronomy.-The French are far outdone by the Chinese in the science of good eating. With nothing more than a few beans, the meal of rice and corn, and some spices and herbs, the latter prepare a variety of savoury dishes. Horse-flesh, rats, and mice, are standard articles of food, and sold publicly at the butchers; a fact which reflects credit on the taste and good sense of the Chinese, for there are not more cleanly animals than those existing. The love of hog's flesh, which they share in common with the refined inhabitants of Europe, we have less to say for; neither do we altogether approve of dog-eating-at least after the animal has arrived at the age of foraging for himself. Birds' nests are another article of food; but neither mud nor sticks enter into their composition. The nests are found in the rocks along the coasts of Tonquin, &c. and are built by birds resembling the swallow. They are constructed, as is supposed, of a small species of sea-fish, cemented by a glutinous matter exuding from the bird itself; and when fully formed, resemble the rind of a large candied citron. Bears' paws form another favourite dish. They are rolled in pepper and nutmeg, and dried in the sun. When about to be dressed, they are soaked in rice-water to make them soft, and then boiled in the gravy of a kid, and seasoned with various spices.

MEXICO.*

THE republic of Mexico, taken on the grand scale, may be considered as a succession of small mountain-plains at different heights, separated by mountains, and increasing in magnitude as the coast recedes on both the eastern and western sides, until the great centre plain be reached, which, though much broken by mountain ridges, tends to the north, maintaining nearly an equal elevation. The snow-capped mountains of Orizava, the volcanos of Puebla and Toluca, are among the most splendid objects in the world. The Mexicans divide the regions of their country into Tierras calientes, Tierras templadas, and Tierras frias, according to the climate. Throughout the whole country there is a lamentable want of water, and of navigable rivers. The lakes, too, appear to be yearly decreasing in extent, the immediate consequence of which is, that the elevated portions of the interior are nearly stripped of vegetation, and the soil covered with an efflorescence of carbonate of soda, there called Tequisquita, resembling very closely the plains of the two Castiles, and recalling to the eastern traveller the desolate wastes of some parts of Persia.

The effect of elevation on the temperature

is most marked, and it is no uncommon thing to be shivering on one side of the street in the city of Mexico, and to be literally scorched by the rays of the sun on the other. Changes are upon record of 55 deg. of Fahrenheit within three hours, on one of the mountain-plains at the same height with the valley of Mexico.

Notwithstanding the volcanic character of Mexico, earthquakes are by no means so frequent there as in some of the neighbouring countries. One of the most memorable

on record occurred on the 14th of September, 1759, when the volcano of Jorullo, with several smaller cones, forced the surface of the soil, destroying all before it.

The infinite variety of climate and soil fits this country for the production of the fruits of all regions, from those of the hottest within the tropics to those of the severest cold, where cultivation can be carried on. But the want of ports, and of navigable rivers on the Atlantic, oppose the advantages that might result from this variety of production, though on the Pacific there are a few admirable ports, such as Acapulco. The prevalence of the "Nortes," or northerly winds, at certain seasons, seriously affects the navigation on one side, while that of the "papagallos" is as inconvenient on the other.

* Abridged from the Foreign Quarterly Review.

-No. VII.-of,

Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne. Par M. Humboldt, Paris, 1827-8. VOL. III.

Y

The ancient population of Mexico appears to have been very much exaggerated: all indeed that is certain is, that it was, as it continues to be, most dense in the interior. Humboldt supposes that it may now amount to about seven millions.

The natural progress of the population has been much impeded by the small-pox-a wretched malady, called "matlazahuatl"famine-and the civil wars that have prevailed of late years.

The Mexican population is commonly divided into seven classes:-1. European Spaniards, commonly called "gachupines." 2. White Creoles.

6. Pure

3. Mestizos, descendants of Whites and Indians. 4. Mulattoes, descendants of whites and blacks. 5. Zambos, from Indians and negroes. Indians. 7. African blacks. But this classification may be reduced to four:1. Whites. 2. Indians. 3. Blacks. 4. Mixed races, the various gradations of which may be considered almost infinite.

The Indians consist of a considerable

The

number of distinct tribes, differing in many points of appearance, and speaking-not dialects but-languages entirely different. traced, and of fourteen of them there are No less than twenty of these have been Indian population is chiefly centered in the already grammars and dictionaries. great plains, and towards the south; and the north to the south. Humboldt thinks that it has flowed from "The indigenous Mexican is grave, melancholic, silent, so long as he is not under the influence of intoxicating liquors. This gravity is peculiarly remarkable in Indian children, who, at the age of four or five years, display more intelligence and precocity than the children of whites. The Mexican loves to

the

attach mystery even to his most trifling actions; the strongest passions do not distransition is frightful when it passes sudplay themselves in his countenance; denly from a state of absolute repose to that of violent and unrestrained agita

tion."

Humboldt considers the Mexican Indian as destitute of all imagination, though, when to a certain degree educated, he attributes to him facility in learning, a clearness of understanding, a natural turn for reasoning, and a particular aptitude to subtilize and seize trifling distinctions.

The music and dancing are as dull as might be expected among beings so full of phlegm. The Mexican has a turn for painting and sculpture; and retains the same fondness for flowers that struck Cortez so forcibly upwards of three centuries ago. The "Indios Bravos," or Wild Indians, are said to display more energy; but our information respecting them is remarkably scanty; for it is impossible to win them to