three antient favissa, by the architect Joseph de Rosso. The immediate occasion of this discovery was the operation of levelling and relaying the soil and pavement around the dome. In this place was, antiently, the temple and citadel of Faesule. In front of the temple were three pits, of a pyramidal form, into which were thrown the remains of the victims which bad been consecrated to the gods, and which, consequently, were considered as no longer applicable to common use. The sacred pits were distinguished by the name of favissæ, or flavissa. Marcianus says, that there were others near the temple of Jupiter Capitoliuus. Those of Fiesoli were filled with remains of various animals, horns of goats, teeth of wolves, &c.; and among these, fragments of sacred vases, &c. These favisse have been explained by Sig. Joseph del Rosso, who has given a plan of the localities; in which also have been discovered, at the same time, several antient Christian tombs. This will, no doubt, interest classical antiquaries; and we shonld like to see the further enquiries on the nature and destination of these pits. So far as recollection serves at the moment, only remains of sacrifices offered to the infernal deities could be thus disposed of. These offerings were attended with peculiar ceremonies; they were also esteemed devoted, in the strongest sense of the term. But Jupiter Capitolinus was not an infernal deity and there should seem to be either some mistake in reference to his temple; or victims of a peculiar nature were occasionally offered to this deity :perhaps as deprecating public evils. MINERAL ANIMAL MATTER. Sig. Carlo di Gimbernat has discovered a peculiar substance in the thermal waters of Baden and of Ischia, of which he gives the following description in the Giornale di Fisica:-"This substance covers, like an integument, many rocks in the valleys of Senagalla and Negroponte at the foot of the celebrated Epomeo, beneath which mountain the poets confine Typhon. It is remarkable that in this very place should be found a substance similar to skin and human flesh. One portion of this mountain that was found covered with this substance, measured 45 feet in length by 24 in height. It yielded, by distillation, an empyreumatic oil; and, by boiling, a gelatine, which would have sized paper. I obtained the same results at Baden. It may therefore be considered as confirmed that an animal principle is present in these thermal springs, which being evaporated becomes condensed in their neighbourhood. To this principle the name of " Zoogene" is given.The Editors of the Giorn. Fis. state, that they have seen the substance obtained by M. Gimbernat, and that externally it has the appearance of real flesh covered with skin. RECTIFICATION OF ALCOHOL. A Correspondent of the Giornale de Fisica reports an experiment which may be applied with advantage to this purpose. It is a well-known fact, that water passes with facility through bladder, while alcohol is almost perfectly retained by it. If a bottle of wine be closed by a piece of bladder, instead of a cork, a portion of the water will be found to have evaporated and passed off through the membrane, and the wine left will be found propor tionally stronger. If a bladder half filled with alcohol of the specific gravity of 867, and having its orifice closed, be exposed to the sun, the air, or the beat of a stove, in a short time the alcohol will be found rectified to 817 spec. gr. and in this manner all the water may be evaporated. If the same bladder with its contents be then exposed to a humid atmosphere, (as in a damp cellar,) it will imbibe water, and return to 867 spec. grav. which water may again be separated by hanging it in a dry place. In one word, the bladder is a filter, which suffers water to pass through it, but not alcohol.. NEW THEORY OF THE EARTH. A curious commentary, or rather an attack, upon the received system of the planetary motions, has recently been published, in a small pamphlet, by Captain Burney, which is likely to excite the attention of the scientific world, and may lead to the discovery of very unexpected astronomical facts. The author deduces the motion of the whole of our system from the progressive motion of the sun itself; a quality which, he says, must be equally possessed by all the heavenly bodies, resulting from the universally acknowledged laws of gravitation. He argues a priori, that from progressive motion rotation is produced, and, a posteriori, that a body in free space, having rotation round its own axis, is a clear indication of its being in progressive movement. This he corroborates by the general belief now entertained that our sun and planets are advancing towards the constellation Hercules. The opinion that the sun has progressive motion was not entertained till long after i's rotatory motion was discovered. Capt. Burney states his conviction, that if, from the discovery of the sun's rotation, and the acknowledged universa. lity of gravity, its progression had been inferred, when Kepler first suggested that the planets moved round the sun by means of its atmosphere, the system of this philosopher would have obtained immediate and lasting credit, and that the hypothesis of these bodies being continued in motion by an original projectile impulse would not have been resorted to in accounting for the phenomena of their motions. ARTS ARTS AND SCIENCES. PRINTED MAPS. Mr. Firmin Didot is at present devoting his attention to the engraving of dies for moveable types for printing Maps, which will, it is affirmed, equal those engraved on copper, and which invention seems to be exclusively his own. Many attempts have already been made to print maps with moveable types, among which the specimens from the presses of Messrs. Haas of Basil, and Periaux of Rouen (who exhibited in the exhibition of Arts this year, a beautiful map of the Department of the Lower Seine) are particularly distinguished; but they do not satisfy the expectations of connoisseurs; it is therefore hoped, that Mr. Firmin Didot, by his talents and zeal, will succeed in conquering the difficulties which have hitherto opposed the complete success of this important branch of typography. The art of printing Maps with moveable types, is originally a German invention. It is well known that one of the earliest printers, Conrad Sweynhey or Schweinheim, in troduced this art into Rome, in company with Arnold Pannarz, on the occasion of printing the twenty-seven maps for the Cosmography of Ptolemy. He died be fore the work was quite finished, and it was therefore executed by another German, Arnold Buckinck (Bucking) at Rome, in October 1478. The practice was continued for some time in the 16th century, but afterwards abandoned, probably because it was too difficult and tedious, till the second half of the 18th century, when two Germans, almost at the same time, and without knowing any thing of each other, renewed the attempt. The first who published a specimen was Augustus Gottlieb, a Prussian, deacon at Carlsrube, and who corresponded with the celebrated printer William Haas, of Basil, that he might cut types for him on a certain plan, to be used in map-printing. His first attempt was made in 1776. It anticipated Breitkopff in the publication and execution of his ideas, and was called typometry. In the same year, however, appeared the Environs of Leipsig, by Breitkopff, as a specimen; and his second attempt, in 1777, in which, and also in succeeding essays which were not made public, he constantly endeavoured to improve his invention.Mr. Didot will now probably find some method to facilitate the very troublesome process. NEW STEAM ENGINE. The prospectus of a new machine has been circulated at Paris, which, if we may believe the authors, will overturn all our present system of hydraulics. They engage to supply a small portable steam engine, which will raise the water to the height of sixty feet, at the rate of fifteen quarts per minute. The machine will consume no more than the value of one pennyworth of coals in an hour, to raise nine hundred quarts of water to this height. It will cost six hundred francs, and will last more than a hundred years. No payment is required till the engine has been tried, and given satisfaction; till it is fixed, and raises the water from the well to the roof of the house, which will thus be secured against fire. They offer, for progressive prices, machines which shall raise double, triple, decuple quantities of water, to double, triple, decuple heights, (i. e. 120, 180, or 600 feet) and this in infinite progression. The authors had at first concealed their names, and this mysterious conduct excited suspicion. They have now made themselves known. They are Messrs, Croissen, brothers, both pupils of the Polytechnic School, and one of them Commandant of Artillery, whose talents inspire the greatest confidence. They keep their discovery a secret, and will not divulge it till they have raised subscriptions for twenty thousand inches of water, according to their way of calculating. ROLLER PUMP. A roller-pump on ciple, for which a patent has been obtainan improved prined, has for some time past been erected at Worcester, for the purpose, we believe, of raising water from the Severn into the large basin of the Worcester canal. will throw up nine hundred gallons in a minute. SUBSTITUTE FOR COFFEE. It Dr. Maex, a German physician of some eminence, ascribes great medical virtues to an infusion of acorns used in the same manner as coffee. In 1793 he published some experiments on this subject, and gave the following directions for preparing and using the acorns:-Take sound and ripe acorus, peel off the shell or husk, divide the kernels, dry them gradually, and then roast them in a close vessel or roaster, keeping thein constantly stirring; in doing which especial care must be taken that they be not burnt or over-roasted, either of which would be hurtful. The Doctor recommends half an ounce of these roasted acorus, ground and prepared like coffee, to be taken morning and evening, either alone or mixed with coffee and sweetened with sugar, either with or without milk. The author says that acorns have always been esteemed a wholesome nutriment for men, and that by their medical qualities they have been found to cure slimy obstructions in the viscera, and to remove nervous complaints. SELECT SELECT POETRY. ON MY BIRTHDAY, 1820. ON wings more rapid than the last, One serious ill on Age attends- Of "Wedded Love" tho' long bereft, With scenes of innocent delight. J. N. The King of the fair and the free The Lord of the bright and the braveAnd such shall dew the cheek for thee, And worship at Glory's grave! But did'st thou in glory set? Alas! for thee-thou wert shrouded in gloom, [come And gone from the eye, ere thy hour were To sink on the Western hill's bright co ronet, In the hues of the heavens-that beautiful But its setting no splendour won Came sudden and darkling,- Not a gleam was there sparkling The eve of the summer was wintry and wild, And the land was a desert where Hope never smiled Thou wert shorn of the rays, they may envy who can, On the Death of his Most Gracious Majesty But, bereft of the Monarch, we felt for KING GEORGE THE THIRD. By J. A. HERAUD. Author of "Tottenham," a Poem. the Man! III. Weep not-for he was fearless in his woe, And life was lost in him who bore it so, Unconscious of its being or its blindness The scions of his house were rent away, And that he felt not, oh! 'twas heaven's kindness Else had his spirit been subdued to clay, -For they were portions of it, and his beart,[the anguish And maddened with the fierce sense of That of his phrenzy ever had been part— And he again had seen them fade and they cameAnd from the tomb raved for them, till Then he had blest them-and all hope languish, "His saltem accumulem donis, WEEP, Erin, weep! in deepest green, Born in the bosom of our isle, The fairest of the fair, Hers was the sympathetic smile The beauteous form, the mind serene- Thither her gentle spirit's gone, By angels borne away, But, ah! what poignant feelings rise To rend Earl TALBOT's heart; Who could such worth so highly prize, And bear that worth to part? Here, hold-repress the mournful strain, Deep sorrow's words are brief; May Heaven assuage our Viceroy's pain, And sanctify his grief! Lifford, Jan. 1, 1820. ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. I THEE invoke, eternal great "first cause," [laws; That gav'st to Nature, and to Mind their Their laws thou gav'st Mosaic Muse to teach, And ev'ry age their harmony to reach: No art is sought to paint th' omnific Lord; And light there was, th' expanse of worlds "Let there be Laws," the will of God decreed; [lead. And Laws there were the mind below to Above the confine of Parnassian height, On Sion boundless reign'd Jehovah's might, Beyond the path † of years, or solar sky Burst forth the voice of Immortality; "Tis, "Thou shalt have none other Gods, but Me." Beyond the string of earthborn harmony, I leave thy music hallow'd, and untri'd, Of ev'ry world thou parent God, and guide. Let list'ning mortals recognise their Lord, And pause abash'd at each denouncing word, And threat'ning heav'n revere §.-Thou shalt not make With art fictitious, or whate'er the wave Creates, or the wide worlds of waters lave,Whate'er in gloom nocturnal earth conceals In parent womb of ev'ry thing that feels Whate'er in heav'n midst starry nature shines, Or miracle in other worlds confinesWhate'er in canvas sweet converse we seek, Or timely consolation eye can speak- vere. * Longinus selects "yiviola pwr," as an instance of sublime brevity; and of Moses, he says that "he is not an ordinary man, oùx ò ruxwv åvnp.” "Extra anni solisque vias."-Virg. First Commandment. The words themselves, or the substance of each Commandmeut shall be introduced. Thus the same God, whom mortal culprits scorn, Can raise, lay low, extirpate. or adorn. Call'd to no human inj'ry to relieve, To its own Hell, in slumber + colourless, That can't e'en † vision's mimic shade confess This, execrator, is thy penal self, And Guilt's own fall, its own rewarding pelf. And now th' expanse of cavern'd world had wav'd, Which swell inebriate gigantic lav'd! Now Nature's self from birth-pang was releas'd, And from chaotic strife recumbent ceas'd, Till (whilst along the sev'nfold bound'ry, sings, And rest harmonious o'er Creation brings; Thro' six days' course when time has urg'd his wheel, Ordain'd repose laborious thou shalt feel; As o'er the seventh the workless trauquil calm [balm; (Recumbent world!) shall pour its sacred "Sev'nth is the Sabbath of our God, the Lord :" [word, No earth-born tongue shall dare the holy By mortal grasp untri'd, the strings refuse Th' unhallow'd efforts of the palsi'd muse; This day forbids the lab'ring voice intrude; And voiceless is the charm of gratitude. I bear the voice that gives another life, That needs no claim from § "dull reluctant strife," I hear "thy father and thy mother honour," Man, Forgetful reptile of thy short-liv'd span, Will not thy blood its fountain heart re trace, And search instinctive nature, and solace? But other tones (that parent life command, Can Britain e'er that bravery forego? That brav'ry at which continents grew pale, [tale. And wash'd out Europe's guilt, and envy's But lurking guilt midst Rome's piazza gloom, Now low'rs with death, yet shudders at the doom It pauses to inflict! then starts aghast At its own shade that conscience self must cast! **Let blaze engem the vari'd lambent day, [rayThat paint the di'mond's concentrated Let Eastern empires boast the gold controul[soulLet song devolve the raptures o'er the Whate'er from vernal sweets the gales that [go; blow Catch on light wing, and scatter as they Compar'd with loveliest of the lovely tribe, What nature boasts, or wealth can use, to bribe; The brightest wealth, the brightest gem of day, The charming fabled tongue, or syren lay, Cease silent; and vauescent cease to shine, Compar'd, angelic Spouse, to charms like thine, Made more than earthly, when but marriage tie To more than mortal being can ally, Persons subject to excessive anger often fall down dead in the act of taking oathsthis is introduced before execration is mentioned, as forbidden by the Third Commandment. The want of sight, amongst other apoplectic symptoms, &c. Vide" Burnet's Theory," &c. where the Deluge is accounted for consistently with the Bible and Natural Philosophy; and this, here, is introduced preliminary to the Fourth Commandment. Alluding to the conflict of the Deluge. The Fifth Commandment. The Sixth Commandment. **In attempting to paint the injury, and therefore the guilt of Adultery, the value of connubial happiness is introduced, prefatory to the Seventh Commandment. GENT. MAG. February, 1820. Th' |
