and not for the description of his person. He was ordered, in a whisper, to write, then Tarky, blind in his left eye,' which was done, and read by the other man, to the increased astonishment of every body. Mr. Mariner then told him, that in several parts of the world messages were sent to great distances through the same medium, and, being folded and fastened up, the bearer could know nothing of the contents; and that the historics of whole nations were thus handed down to posterity, without spoiling by being kept (as he chose to express himself). Finow acknowledged this to be a most noble invention, but added that it would not do at all for the Tonga Islands; that there would be nothing but disturbances and conspiracies, and he should not be sure of his life, perhaps, another month." NEST OF THE CANARY. The nest of the canary is built, in its native regions, in the fork of an orange-tree. When kept in a greenhouse in this country, it will make a similar choice, seeming to be pleased with the perfume of the orange flowers, as well as of myrtle. It has been remarked, that the hen canary continues adding to the brim of the nest after she begins to lay, till the time of beginning to hatch, as do the humming birds and several others. Canaries are fond of lining their nests with the hair of deer or rabbits, which, like the chaffinch, they seem to prefer to down Steam-Engines-Engineers estimate the force of steamengines by a measure which they term the horse-power. This power is the force required to raise or move 528 cubic feet of water, which weighs 33,000 lbs., through one foot of space per minute. The power of a man may be assumed equal to that of raising 60 cubic feet, which weighs 3750 lbs. avoir., through the space or height of one foot in a minute, or a proportionate weight to any other height, so that the height multiplied by the weight may give the product 3750 lbs. A stout laborer will continue to work at this rate during eight hours per day. A day's labor of a man working thus continuously may therefore be reckoned at 28,800 cubic feet of water being raised one foot high; and in this proportion a one-hundred-and-fourteen-horse power is equal to the power of about one thousand men. The horse-power of the steamengine, thus assumed, is beyond the usual power of an ordinary horse, a two-horse power being equal in reality to that of three horses. For instance, the power of a ten-horse steam-engine is equal to the force exerted by fifteen horses acting together; and if the engine work night and day, while each horse can only work during eight hours out of the twenty-four, it will really perform the work of forty-five horses; for it would require that number of horses to be kept to execute the same quantity of work. Any statement of the comparative cost of steam, horse, and manual labor, can be, of course, only an approximation to the truth, as this cost must necessarily depend on the prices of fuel consumed by steam-engines, and on the expense of their wear and tear, of the keep of horses, and of the wages of manual labor-all of which vary with circumstances, and that not in a relative pro portion. Data for ascertaining this point have been given by different writers. It is estimated that a heavy horse, working ten hours, will consume 15 lbs. of oats and 14 lbs. of hay in the course of the day. An engine of thirty-horse power, working ten hours, will consume about 2952 lbs.; or, as nearly as possible, one chaldron of Newcastle coals. The Ruling Passion.-The Duke of Ormond, who was a true pattern of politeness, was visited, a few moments before his death, by a German baron, who was also one of the politest men of his country. The duke, feeling himself dying. desired to be conveyed to his arm-chair; when, turning towards the baron, he said: "Excuse me sir, if I should make some grimaces in your presence, for my physician tells me, that I am at the point of death." "Ah, my lord duke!" replied the baron, "I beg that you will not put yourself under the least constraint on my account." The Chinese Gong-Among the most curious of the Chinese manufactures in metal is the far-famed gong, the composition of which is said to be tin and copper in certain proportions, to which in some cases a small quantity of silver is added. The secret of annealing the alloy in such a way as to admit of its being hammered was discovered some years since in France, where gongs are now manufactured. Owing to some peculiarity in the composition, the metal in the state we see it is uncommonly short or brittle, and this property for many years defied the ingenuity of the workmen who at tempted to hammer it. It was at length found that by heating the metal to a red heat and plunging it into cold water, it was rendered malleable, and when the process of hammering was completed, it was only necessary to suffer it to cool gradually in order to restore its brittleness. The sonorous quality of the gong is well known, and it has been introduced with success on board ships to be used in foggy weather, when a bell is scarcely audible. The Chinese prohibit the exportation, as well as that of all military implements what ever. The gong constitutes an indispensable instrument in the frightful discords of a Chinese orchestra; and is always a symbol of official rank preceding the mandarins when going from place to place with their attendants. In boats, flat and inferior gongs are used for the purpose of saluting, and in the shops at Canton may be seen instruments of any size, from the smali disc of a few circles, used by beggars, to those of two feet in diameter. Lightning-In Virginia, the life of a stage driver was evi dently preserved during a recent thunder storm, by the accidental circumstance of his having a silk handkerchief in the crown of his hat. The lightning killed three horses near him, shivered to pieces a stable near the spot and killed a man who stood in the door, knocked down the driver and stunned him so that he lay sometime insensible: his hat was severed to pieces, and the silk handkerchief scorched: he complained of soreness of the breast, but was entirely free from any pain about the head, and exhibited no traces of the lightning about his body. THE PEOPLE'S MAGAZINE. Price one dollar a year, in advance. Six cents single, 50 cents a dozen. Each number being stereotyped, the back numbers can be supplied in any quantities. All orders post paid, promptly attended to. The postage on this Magazine is three quarters of a cent for 100 miles, and one cent and a quarter only, the greatest distance. Published every other Saturday, by H. L. & H. S. BARNUM, Cincinnati. MAHLON DAY, New York. COLLINS & HANNAY. New York J. MCFARLANE & Co., Kingston, Upper Canada Sold by all the principal booksellers in the United States. The leopard of Southern Africa is known among the Cape colonists by the name of tiger; but is, in fact, the real leopard, the felis jubata of naturalists. It differs from the panther of Northern Africa in the form of its spots, in the more slender structure of its body, and in the legs not being so long in proportion to its size. In watching for his prey the leopard crouches on the ground, with his fore paws stretched out and his head between them, his eyes rather directed upwards. His appearance in his wild state is exceedingly beautiful, his motions in the highest degree easy and graceful, and his agility in bounding among the rocks and woods quite amazing. Of this activity no person can have any idea by seeing these animals in the cages in which they are usually exhibited in this country, humbled and tamed as they are by confinement and the damp cold of our climate. The leopard is chiefly found in the mountainous districts of South Africa, where he preys on such of the antelopes as he can surprise, on young baboons, and on the rock badgers or rabbits. He is very much dreaded by the Cape farmers also, for his ravages among the flocks, and among the young foals and calves in the breeding season. The leopard is often seen at night in the villages of the negroes on the west coast; and being considered a sacred animal, is never hunted, though children and women are not unfrequently destroyed by him. In the Cape Colony, where no such res pect is paid him, he is shier and much more in awe of man. But though in South Africa he seldom or never ventures to attack mankind, except when driven to extremity, (unless it be some poor Hottentot child now and then that he finds unguarded,) yet in remote places, his low, half-smothered growl is frequently heard at night, as he prowls around the cottage or the kraal, as the writer of this notice has a hundred times heard it. His purpose on such occasions is to break into the sheep-fold, and in this purpose he not unfrequently succeeds, in spite of the troops of fierce watch-dogs which every farmer keeps to protect his flocks. The leopard, like the hyæna, is often caught in traps constructed of large stones and timber, but upon the same principle as a common mouse-trap. When thus caught, he is usually baited with dogs, in order to train them to contend with him, and seldom dies without killing one or two of his canine antagonists. When hunted in the fields, he instinctively betakes himself to a tree, if one should be within reach. In this situation it is exceedingly perilous to approach within reach of his spring; but at the same time, from his exposed position, he becomes an easy prey to the shot of the hunts man. The South African leopard, though far inferior to the lion or Bengal tiger in strength and intrepidity, and though he usually shuns a conflict with man, is nevertheless an exceedingly active and furious animal, and when driven to desperation becomes a truly formidable antagonist. The Cape colonists relate many instances of frightful and sometimes fatal encounters between the hunted leopard and his pursuers. The following is a specimen of these adventures. It occurred in 1822, when the present writer was in the interior of the colony, and is here given as it was related to him by an individual who knew the parties engaged in it. Two African farmers, returning from hunting the hartebeest, (antilope bubalis,) roused a leopard in a mountain ravine, and immediately gave chase to him. The leopard at first endeavored to escape by clambering up a precipice; but being hotly pressed, and wounded by a inusket-ball, he turned upon his pursuers with that frantic ferocity peculiar to this animal on such emergencies, and springing on the man who had fired at him, tore him from his horse to the ground, biting him at the same time on the shoulder, and tearing one of his cheeks severely with his claws. The other hunter seeing the danger of his comrade, sprang from his horse and attempted to shoot the leopard through the head; but, whether owing to trepidation, or the fear of wounding his friend, or the quick motions of the animal, he unfortunately missed. The leopard, abandoning his prostrate enemy, darted with redoubled fury upon his second antagonist, and so fierce and sudden was his onset, that before the boor could stab him with his hunting-knife, the savage beast struck him on the head with his claws, and actually tore the scalp over his eyes. In this frightful condition the hunter grappled with the leopard; and, struggling for life, they rolled together down a steep declivity. All this passed far more rapidly than it can be described in words. Before the man who had been first attacked could start to his feet, and seize his gun, they were rolling one over the other down the bank. In a minute or two he had reloaded his gun, and rushed forward to save the life of his friend. But it was too late. The leopard had seized the unfortunate man by the throat, and mangled him so dreadfully, that death was inevitable; and his comrade (himself severely wounded) had only the melancholy satisfaction of completing the destruction of the savage beast, already exhausted with the loss of blood from several deep wounds by the desperate knife of the expiring huntsman. MANUFACTORIES IN METAL. Although the globe on which we live presents but few traces of metallic veins on its surface, and at the period of its creation probably presented even fewer than it does at present, it is, nevertheless, an undoubted fact, that so soon, and progressively, as what may be called the arts of life took place of the primitive rudeness of nature, mankind appear to have discovered and turned to account the various metals within their reach. Nor should the observation, however trite, be discarded, that it is a striking illustration of the providence of the Creator, that those metals which are the most useful are likewise the most abundant, though it must at the same time be remarked they are the most difficult of access. Mineralogists have started the puzzling question -Whether all the mineral treasures which have he extracted from, and those at present existing in, the bowels of the earth, were formed like the materials amidst which they mostly lie, at the creation, or whether they may not, at least in many cases, have been the production of subsequent periods, either resulting from some of those singular phenomena, which are obviously attributable to a deluge, or from chymical changes perpetually going on according to fixed laws throughout all the regions of nature with which we are acquainted? With respect to the existence of gold as a primary element of our globe, we appear to have the affirmative testimony of Moses in the second chapter of Genesis, where, mentioning the situation of Eden, he likewise describes the four heads of the river by which the garden was watered, and says "The name of the first was Pison, that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good." This is certainly the earliest instance on record in which mention is made of the existence of any metal. The presence of gold, silver, lead, and probably copper, must, in the earliest times, have become, in various ways, too obvious to allow the art of smelting the ores to have remained long undiscovered. The detection of virgin pieces, or the accidental effects of fire upon the more fusible ores, are circumstances which account at once for the early notions and strange fictions which exist among the ancients on this subject; especially the natural and poetical idea of the conflagration of forests by the rubbing of trees against one another during a high wind, and the consequent fluxion of some of the metal from ores lying exposed on or near the surface. POPULAR INFORMATION ON SCIENCE. No. II. ATTRACTION. This Before proceeding farther, it may be necessary to inform the reader of the manner in which gravitation operates on its amplest scale in regulating the movements of the unnumbered orbs which compose the system of the universe. All bodies have a tendency to continue in the state of motion or of rest in which they are put. In other words, bodies do not acquire motion, nor lose motion, nor change the kind or degree of their motion, unless some force or another be applied to them. property, as it may be termed, is called in scientific language, the inertia of matter. For instance, when an arrow is shot from a bow, it would proceed onward through the infinity of space to all eternity, if some force did not curb its speed, and finally draw it to the earth. And what power is this? Plainly that of attraction. Besides, there is the resistance which the air offers to every body heavier than itself passing through it. Now, space originally was a vast vacuity, we shall suppose, in which there being no matter, there could exist none of the laws of matter. When the Divine Creator brought into existence our own system, to take a familiar instance, he placed the sun in the centre, and endowed it, so to speak, with power and authority over all the other bodies within its range; they were compelled to pay obeisance to it like the surrounding sheaves to the central one in Joseph's dream. The lesser or subordinate orbs may be supposed, for the sake of illustration, to have been hurled from the plastic hands of the Deity in a straightforward course, in which they would forèver have moved, had not the sun possessed the power of attracting them to its centre, and compelling them to revolve round him. There was just as much attraction given as would keep them in their proper orbits of motion, and just that degree of impetus imparted which would prevent them from coalescing with the sun on the one hand, or departing beyond the sphere of his attraction on the other. With what wisdom, and yet with what simplicity, have not the "worlds been framed." To each of them the Creator has traced out its course. "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." And they cannot for a moment cross the boundaries he has assigned. "Lightnings and storins his mighty word obey, To this principle we are also indebted for the flux and reflux of the tides, which, as is well known, are caused by the moon's attraction "For this the moon through heaven's blue concave glides, Exalts her watery zone and sinks the poles."-Falconer. mulate its motion, however, and the hand in vain pursues it. Take an instance on a vast scalesay the cataract of Niagara. Slow and heavily the broad column of waters bend over the precipice. It grows thinner and thinner, while its motion rapidly increases, until at last it plunges down the deep descent into the Phlegethon below, with irresistible force and swiftness, carrying all before and It is also the cause of the roundness of our earth, of the moon, the planets, and the sun itself. Hence it may be inferred that originally all matter was, to a certain extent, in a fluid state, and that at the divine behest the atoms were endowed with attractive qualities, by which they were impelled to a common centre; and thus the congregated masses assumed a globular form. At New South Wales, which is situated nearly opposite to England on the earth's surface, planets hang and stones fall towards the centre of the globe, just as they do here. And the people there are standing with their feet towards us; hence they are called our antipodes, from two Greek words-anti opposite, and podes the feet. A plummet suspended near the side of a mountain will be attracted to it in a degree exactly proportioned to its magnitude. This fact was ascertained by Dr. Maskeleyne near the mountain Shehallion in Scotland. But the plummet was not so strongly attracted to the mountain as it was to the earth, because the magnitude of the latter was so much greater than that of the former. Let it always be kept in view that it is size, in connexion with distance, which determines the force of gravitation, and this may be illustrated by a few familiar facts. it, "Rivalling the lightning's glance in ruin and in speed." All bodies, whatever their size or weight may be, should, from the law previously laid down, fall to the ground with the same speed. But this is found not to be the case. Here, for instance, is a ball of lead and a ball of cotton dropped from the same altitude at the same moment, and the lead has reached the earth sometime before the cotton. At first sight this would really appear to be quite consistent with the law of nature; because there being, we shall say, an hundred parts more matter in the bullet than in the cotton, it will be drawn to the earth with an hundred times more force, the power of gravitation being always proportioned to the quantity of matter. But again, if there be an hundred parts more matter in the lead than in the other body, it of course requires an hundred times more attraction to bring it down, for bodies destitute of this quality, as was formerly observed, have no tendency to fall; and every atom of every description of matter is drawn to the earth with the same degree of force. What is it, then, which prevents the cotton from reaching the ground at the same moment with the weightier body? The resistance of the air. The bulks are equal, and of course the resistance offered to both is alike, but the one having a far greater number of atoms, and hence a far greater power of attraction in proportion to its bulk than the other, it overcomes the resistance with greater ease, or, in other words, it has far greater strength to expend with only the same obstructions to overcome, and hence it reaches its destination sooner. For illustration's sake, let us suppose there are two boats to start for the same goal. They are of equal size, and of course their bows present the same breadth of surface to the water, and are alike impeded by it. In the one boat there are two rowers, we shall suppose, and in the other six. They all pull with equal skill and power, and it is unnecessary to say which boat will reach its destination first. But suppose that the boat which had the smallest number of rowers were to be reduced in size, weight, and resistance in a proportion which exactly counterbalanced the power which the other had over it, they would both arrive at the same time. Thus, if the cotton ball were reduced to the density of the lead, they would both reach the earth at the same time. The powers of attraction possessed by the two substances, without attenuating our simile to an invisible thinness, may be compared to the physical energy exercised in the two several boats, and though the comparison be not perfect in some respects, it is sufficiently so in others to give a forcible illustration of the subject. In fine, it is found that in the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, that is, a glass vessel deprived of its air, a feather and a guinea fall to the bottom at the same instant. It would not serve the end contemplated were the subject of gravitation to be pursued through all its labyrinths, and demonstrated by mathematical symbols. The point aimed at is rather to kindle up a desire for philosophical study, than to supply the A falling body receives fresh velocity every moment of its descent, while a body projected into the air loses velocity every moment of its ascent. Both propositions are illustrated by a very simple experiment. Sling a stone into the air, and the eye will be found incapable of following it till it has reached a certain height, when we can easily observe its progress. Upwards it rises slower and slower, and for a moment before it has reached and after it has passed its climax, there is scarcely any motion perceptible; just as the tide at the full appears for a moment neither to ebb nor to flow. Downwards the stone descends, however, gathering fresh velocity in every inch of its declination, until, as it approaches nearer to the earth, the eye can scarcely follow it. This may, no doubt, be partly accounted for from the well known circumstance, that, to the eye, bodies seen at a distance seem to move slower than they do when we stand nearer to them. But, in our calculations, the fallacy arising from this circumstance is comparatively trifling. The propositions have not only been proved by the most incontestable philosophical experiments, but a few familiar facts, when recalled to memory, will settle the point. Let a ball drop from the hand, and it can be caught easily the first instant; let it accu materials of it. We do not mean to conduct the reader through the promised land, but only point it out from Mount Pisgah. Very little need be said respecting the magnetic and electric attractions. They act only on certain bodies, or under peculiar circumstances, giving rise to a distinct class of phenomena. In so far as they operate on masses of matter at sensible distances, they coincide with gravitation. When certain bodies are submitted to friction, they exhibit electrical attraction. If a dry glass rod or a stick of sealing wax is rubbed upon a piece of silk, and then presented to light bodies, such as bits of paper or straw, these latter are attracted to the other body. With respect to the magnet, it is universally known that it possesses the property of attracting particles of iron or steel. Its undeviating tendency to turn to a certain point of the earth is also well known. No phenomenon of nature has been so often pressed into the service of poetry in the shape of a simile as this. What poet for the last two hundred years has not used it? "The obedient steel with living instinct moves, And veers forever to the pole it loves."-Darwin. It is unnecessary to enter more particularly into these subjects at present. SIR ISAAC NEWTON. The most distinguished philosopher of modern times, was born on the 25th of Dec. 1642, in the manor-house of Woolsthorpe, a hamlet of Coltersworth, in Lincolnshire, England. The house stands in a pretty little hollow, on the west side of the valley of the river Witham, which rises at a short distance. This was the paternal estate of Newton, and here he was brought up and educated by his widowed mother. The following is a view of the house in which he was born. "Every memorial of so great a man," says Dr. Brewster, in his Life of Newton, "has been preserved and cherished with peculiar veneration. His house at Woolsthorpe has been religiously protected by Mr. Turner of Stoke Rocheford, the proprietor. Dr. Stukeley, who visited it in Sir Isaac's lifetime on the 13th October 1721, gives the following description of it in his letter to Dr. Mead, written in 1727: T is built of stone, as is the way of the country hereabouts, and a reasonable good one. They led me up stairs and showed me Sir Isaac's study, where I suppose he studied when in the country in his younger days, or perhaps when he visited his mother from the university. I observed the shelves were of his own making, being pieces of deal boxes which probably fe sent his books and clothes down in on those occasions. There were some years ago two or three hundred books in it of his father-in-law, Mr. Smith, which Sir Isaac gave to Dr. Newton of our town. "When the house was repaired in 1798, a tablet of white marble was put up by Mr. Turner in the room where Sir Isaac was born, with the following inscription: "Sir Isaac Newton, son of John Newton, Lord of the Manor of Woolsthorpe, was born in this room on the 25th December, 1642.' Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night, God said "Let Newton be," and all was Light. "The house is now occupied by a person of the name of John Wollerton. It still contains the two dials made by Newton, but the styles of both are wanting. The celebrated apple tree, the fall of one of the apples of which is said to have turned the attention of Newton to the subject of gravity, was destroyed by wind about four years ago; but Mr. Turner has preserved it in the form of a chair. "The modesty of Sir Isaac Newton, in reference to his great discoveries, was not founded on any indifference to the fame which they conferred, or upon any erroneous judgment of their importance to science. The whole of his life proves, that he knew his place as a philosopher, and was determined to assert and vindicate his rights. His modesty arose from the depth and extent of his knowledge, which showed him what a small portion of nature he had been able to examine, and how much remained to be explored in the same field in which he had himself labored. In the magnitude of the comparison he recognised his own littleness; and a short time before his death he uttered this memorable sentiment: I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.' "In the religious and moral character of our author there is much to admire and imitate. While he exhibited in his life and writings an ardent regard for the general interests of religion, he was at the same time a firm believer in Revelation. He was too deeply versed in the Scriptures, and too much imbued with their spirit, to judge harshly of other men who took different views of them from himself. He cherished the great principles of religious toleration, and never scrupled to express his abhorrence of persecution, even in its mildest form. Immorality and impiety he never permitted to pass unreproved; and when Dr. Halley ventured to say any thing disrespectful to religion, he invariably checked him and said, 'I have studied these things, -you have not." " Pronunciation. The difficulty of applying rules to the pronunciation of our language may be illustrated in two lines, where the combination of the letters ough, is pronounced in no less than seven different ways, viz: as o, eif, of, up, ow, oo, and ock: Though the tough cough and hiccough plough me through, It is computed that there are in the United States about 300 whale ships, employing about 1000 men, and which bring home every 30 months, about 227,960 barrels oil, the value of which is not far from $4,000,000. The outfit of each ship, for 30 months' cruise, is from 15,000 to 20,000 dollars. A writer, M. De Candolle, has given the following ages of trees. Whether they are common or extraordinary we do not know:-Elm, 335 years; Cypress, 350; Ivy, 450; Larch, 575; Orange, 630; Olive, 700; Oriental plane, 720; Cedar of Lebanon, 800; Oaks, 810, 1080, 1500; Liine, 1076, 1148; Yew, 1214, 1458, 2588, 2880; Toxodium, 4000, 6000; Baobab, 5150. The last named tree is a native of Africa, and grows to the circumference of 60 feet. |