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MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

In the whole circle of our manufactures there is not any thing more curious than the one that is depicted in the above engraving. Materials which appear of themselves but little fitted for any useful purpose, are blended together so as to form compounds of a new and entirely distinct character. Indeed, an uninitiated person looking at the sand, lead, and pearl ashes, as they are prepared for the glass-house, would consider that nothing less than the wand of the enchanter could accomplish their change into a hard and crystalline body.

The ingredients usually employed in the manufacture of glass, with their relative proportions, may be thus briefly described:

120 parts of well-washed white sand

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purified pearl ashes litharge

nitre.

black oxide of manganese. When these materials are collected and properly proportioned, they receive a certain amount of calcination prior to their being placed in the meltingpot. This operation is called fritting, and is performed either in small furnaces adjoining to the proper glass furnace, and heated by the same fuel, after its principal force has been expended on the glass-pots, or else in ovens constructed for the purpose. The use of this preparatory process is to discharge all moisture from the ingredients, and to drive off the carbonic gas. This operation is performed gradually, and carried to the point of semi-vitrification. When the materials are sufficiently "fritted," they are thrown with clean iron shovels, through the side opening of the furnace, into the glass-pots, the fire having been previously

raised to its greatest intensity. When filled, the opening is closed with wet clay, excepting a small hole for examining the interior of the furnace. The mass soon begins to heave, and exhibit a mass of liquid grandeur like the waves of the ocean on fire. During this process, samples for examination are frequently brought out by the aid of an iron rod, and the glass becomes beautifully clear and transparent. The glass may now be considered as completely made, but it requires some time to cool down to the requisite working temperature. It should be just soft enough to yield with ease to any external impression, even to the force of the breath, when impelled against the glowing mass, and in that state it may be bent into any required form. Such, indeed, is its tenacity, that it may be rapidly drawn into a solid string, and wound on a reel, many miles in length. Having thus brought the glass to a state fit for what is technically called "blowing," we may introduce our readers into the workshop itself, which will be best done by the aid of a graphic illustration, and the engraved view at the head of this article, will admirably answer the purpose. In the present season of the year the temperature of the blowing-house would shame the hottest portions of the torrid zone, and while we now write, we are laboring under the enervating effects of a visit, many hours back, when the thermometer stood at 140°

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The workmen who are represented in the engraving, are each engaged in one of the operations essential to the manufacture of a common drinkingglass. For this purpose the operator takes a hollow tube, about four feet long, called a blowing-iron, and dipping it into the melting-pot, turns it round till a portion of the glass adheres to the surface.

He then holds it near the ground, so that the mass is extended by its own weight, and blows strongly into the tube. The breath penetrating the red-hot mass, enlarges it, and it becomes an elongated sphere of the requisite dimensions. To separate this globe from the iron tube, an assistant dips the end of a solid rod into the glass-pot, and bringing out at its extremity some of the melted glass, thrusts it immediately against the globe at the part directly opposite the neck, so that it may be firmly united. The workman then wets a small piece of iron with his mouth, and lays it on the neck of the globe, and it immediately cracks off, leaving the globe open at the neck. This is again introduced into the fire by the new bar of iron, and afterwards rounded on the rails of a sort of arm-chair. In order to detach the foot from the iron, moisture is again applied, and it drops off. There is a final process called annealling, which consists in raising the temperature in a separate oven, and afterwards allowing the glass to cool gradually; it is less likely to break.

Pliny attributes the invention of glass entirely to chance, and relates, that it was first made in Syria by some mariners who were driven on shore, on the banks of the river Belus; and who having occasion to make large fires on the sands, burnt the kali which abounded on that shore; and that the alkali of the plant uniting with a portion of the sand on which the fire stood, produced the first stream of melted glass that had ever been observed.

JOURNAL OF A TOUR FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF MEXICO, IN 1827, BY WM. R. BOWERS OF PROVIDENCE.

(Continued from the last number.)

March 12th. Having purchased two fresh mules and an extra horse, and engaged another guide, we departed. We had in company two Spanish merchants, each of whom was accompanied by two servants, and being all well armed we were enabled to muster a pretty respectable force. Our horses and mules were twenty-one in number. We left the city for Mexico and took the road leading by the Aciendos, or farms. This is the shortest and worst road, and is only travelled by those on horseback. But a small part of the country that we passed this day, appeared to be cultivated. I noticed two fine runs of water, several well built stone bridges, and an elegant paved causeway, two miles in length. This was said to be the work of the old Spaniards. By noon we arrived at the village of Taportaness, which contains about 3000 inhabitants, and is supported by agriculture. Distance travelled, twenty-two miles.

At daylight the next day, we recommenced our journey on a road leading through a tract of country very little cultivated, although the soil appeared to be good. We travelled principally on the ascent. I noticed several settlements and small tracts of land under cultivation, and observed a rough wooden plough made by the natives, which serves for them very well. At 12, we arrived at the village of Taportlan, containing twelve or fifteen hundred inhabitants. It is supported by agriculture. Distance travelled, forty-two miles.

We departed the next day on a road leading over very extensive plains and passed occasionally fine patches of land under cultivation. This part of the country seemingly wanted water and wood. I saw large numbers of rabbits. The road we have travelled this day would do well for carriages. At

1 P. M. we arrived at the rancho called Souche gal. Distance travelled this day, forty-eight miles This miserable rancho was kept by an old woman, who, as there was only one room in the house, had taken pains to fill that with the images of saints as large as life, neglecting every other article of utility. Here my Spanish companions had an idea, that they should pass the night more pleasantly than they before had done, being in company with such high personages, whose appearance, by the way, was any thing but interesting. The nocturnal revels of the fleas and bed-bugs, however, caused my fellow travellers to think quite differently before morning.

Before daylight, we took leave of the house of saints, wishing never more to be caught in another of the kind. We proceeded over a fine carriage road and through a clear tract of country. At 3 P. M. we arrived at the village of San Juan, or St. John, containing 150 or 200 buildings and about 3000 inhabitants, principally farmers. At the place where we stopped, we had comfortable quarters. We travelled this day, fifty-four miles.

March 16th. At daylight we continued our jour ney over a beautiful coach-road, principally on the ascent, and through a very handsome tract of country, deficient however in water, as we have passed only two small streams during this day's ride. I noticed several small villages.

The native women were engaged in weaving cotton with a very rough hand loom. The business appeared slow and tedious. To take the natives generally, I think them as dirty a looking set as I ever saw.

In a few hours we arrived at the town of Yxapuato containing 600 buildings and 5 or 6000 inhabitants. Here, the landlord, to recommend his intolerably dirty house, gave us to understand that a few weeks before some soldiers had been quartered there This place being so near the celebrated mines of Guanahuatto, I think will be of some consequence It is supported by agriculture and trade. Distance travelled this day, thirty-six miles.

The next day we proceeded over a fine coachroad and through a tract of country under good cultivation. We passed two or three small villages, and in the course of the forenoon arrived at a small town, called Salamanca, containing 3 or 4000 inhabitants. Several of the churches and convents were very handsome. Here we took breakfast, and procceded on our way through a fine tract of country, which brought us to the town of Celegea. This place has several ncat public buildings, and about 11,000 inhabitants. The town is handsomely laid out in squares, and has a handsome placca, in the middle of which is a monument erected in commemoration of their independence.

Here I observed the natives trafficking considerable quantities of cotton yarn, which appeared of very fair quality. The exterior of several of the churches, which I visited, were rich and elegant. Distance travelled this day, forty-eight miles.

At daylight we continued our journey over a dusty but commodious road, and through a beautiful tract of country. We passed several small villages. At 11 A. M. we arrived at the city of Geratera, containing several churches and convents, 1200 private buildings and between 30 and 35000 inhabitants. Geratera is situated on the side of a hill: the streets are regular and well paved, and the houses built in a good style. Like most Mexican towns, it has large tracts of land appropriated

for pleasure grounds. At a little distance from the city, is a beautiful aqueduct, leading across a deep. valley. It is built on arches of massive masonry, and brings water to the city. It does credit to those who erected it.

I visited several of the first families, and found them generally polite The young ladies, particularly, seemed desirous to give me all the information which I needed. I visited one of the convents, with a Spanish friend, who went to confess. During his period of confession, I amused myself with observing the "padres" or priests playing at the game of nine-pins, and shuffle board. They seemed to be a very jovial set of fellows, and eagerly urged me to partake in their amusement. This place is supported by agriculture and trade. Distance travelled this day, forty-eight miles.

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(To be continued.)

COCOA.

The cacao is a native of South America, where it was not only used for food, but the seeds served as money. The tree is not unlike that of the cherry in form, and seldom exceeds twenty feet in height. The leaves are oblong, and pointed at the end, and when young are of a pale red. The flowers, which generally spring from the wood of the large branches of the tree, are small, and of a light red color, mixed with yellow; the pods which succeed them are oval, and are green when young, but as they ripen they become yellow or red. They are filled with a sweet, white pulp, which surrounds the many seeds contained in each of the five cells, or divisions. When travelling, the native Indians eat this pulp, and find it very refreshing. The seeds are steeped in water previous to their being sown, and lose the power of reproduction in a few days after they are taken from the pod. As the plant grows up, the shade of the coral-tree is considered so essential, that it is called by the Spaniards the Madre del cacao, or mother of the cocoa. When this tree is covered with its bright scarlet blossoms, it presents a splendid appearance.

It appears that there are two varieties of the cocoa in Trinidad, to which colony, and that of Grenada, the English plantations are now chiefly confined; the one variety is called the Creole cocoa, which is by far the best, but not so productive as the other sort, which has nearly superseded it, and bears the name of Forastero, or foreign. The former suits the Spanish market best, the latter having a somewhat bitter taste. The Creole begins to bear after about five years' growth, but does not reach perfection till the eighth year; it, however, yields good fruit for twenty years. The Forastero produces fruit at three years, and both, probably, come from the Spanish Main. It was formerly the practice in Trinidad to grant manumission to every slave who could at any time deliver up to his master one thousand cocoa-trees, planted by himself, in a space expressly allotted to them, in a state of bearing. Many instances of freedom obtained in this way might be cited, as the cultivation of them at any time did not infringe too much upon the daily tasks, and where nature had already provided shade and moisture, was comparatively trifling. In Grenada the plantations are beautifully situated among the mountains, and the laborers can work at all hours in the shade, but the cocoa walks are now chiefly cultivated by free colored people, most of whom are settlers from the Spanish Main.

Leaf, flower, and fruit of the Cacao, with a pod opened. The seeds of the cocoa-tree are gathered twice every year, but the largest crop is yielded in the month of December; the other is ready in June. When picked, and extracted from the pods, they are placed in heaps, on platforms of clay, where they are suffered to ferment for forty-eight hours or more; they are then dried in the sun, exactly imitating the process used with coffee. When required for use, they are roasted till the husks may be readily taken off; and if to be converted into chocolate, they are bruised and worked with the hand into a paste, which is afterwards made still finer by a smooth iron. This is afterwards flavored with various ingredients, the principal of which are cinnamon and vanilla; the latter is a climbing plant, indigenous to Trinidad, and bears long slender pods. A great consumption of chocolate takes place in Spain, where it is considered as a necessary of life. In France it is also much used, and is fashioned into an endless variety of forms.

When the seeds are to be made into cocoa they are ground to a fine powder. The husks, boiled in milk, make a thin and delicious beverage, and are in great request in France, for delicate persons who find the paste or powder too rich for them.

ADVENTURES IN INDIA

The following extract is from a work recently published in England, with the title of "Pen and Pencil Sketches; being the Journal of a Tour in India. By Captain Mundy." Some peculiarities of style will be obvious in the captain's narrative; but few can object to his hilarity and buoyancy of spirit:

"I retired to my tent this evening pretty well knocked up; and during the night had an adventure, which might have terminated with more loss to myself, had I slept sounder. My bed, a low charpoy, on four feet,' was in one corner of the tent,

close to a door, and I woke several times from a feverish doze, fancying I heard something moving in my tent; but could not discover any thing, though a cherang, or little Indian lamp, was burning on the table. I therefore again wooed the balmy power, and slept. At length, just as the iron tongue of midnight had told twelve' (for I had looked at my watch five minutes before, and replaced it under my pillow,) I was awakened by a rustling sound under my head; and, half opening my eyes, without changing my position, I saw a hideous black face within a foot of mine, and the owner of this index of a cut-throat, or, at least, cut-purse disposition, kneeling on the carpet, with one hand under my pillow, and the other grasping-not a dagger!but the door-post. Still without moving my body, and with half-closed eyes, I gently stole my right hand to a boar-spear, which at night was always placed between my bed and the wall; and as soon as I had clutched it, made a rapid and violent movement, in order to wrench it from its place, and try the virtue of its point upon the intruder's bodybut I wrenched in vain. Fortunately for the robber, my bearer, in placing the weapon in its usual recess, had forced the point into the top of the tent and the butt into the ground so firmly, that I failed to extract it at the first effort; and my visiter, alarmed by the movement, started upon his feet and rushed through the door. I had time to see that he was perfectly naked, with the exception of a black blanket twisted round his loins, and that he had already stowed away in his cloth my candlesticks and my dressing-case, which latter contained letters, keys, money, and other valuables. I had also leisure, in that brief space, to judge, from the size of the arm extended to my bed, that the bearer was more formed for activity than strength; and, by his grizzled beard, that he was rather old than' young. I, therefore, sprung from my bed, and darting through the purdar of the inner uoor, seized him by the cummerbund just as he was passing the outer entrance.* The cloth, however, being loose, gave way, and ere I could confirm my grasp, he snatched it from my hand, tearing away my thumb-nail down to the quick. In his anxiety to escape, he stumbled through the outer purdar, and the muchesteemed dressing-case fell out of his loosened zone. I was so close at his heels, that he could not recover it; and jumping over the tent-ropes-which, doubtless, the rogue calculated would trip me uphe ran towards the road. I was in such a fury, that, forgetting my bare feet, I gave chase, vociferating lustily," Choor! choor!" (thief! thief!) but was soon brought up by some sharp stones, just in time to see my rascal, by the faint light of the moon through the thick foliage over head, jump upon a horse standing unheld near the road, and dash down the path at full speed, his black blanket flying in the wind. What would I have given for my double-barrelled Joe at that moment! As he and his steed went clattering along the rocky forest road, I thought of the black huntsman of the Hartz, or the erl-king! Returning to my tent, I solaced myself by abusing my servants, who were just rubbing their eyes and stirring themselves, and by threatening the terrified sepoy sentry with a court-martial. My trunks at night were always placed outside the tent, under the sentry's eye; the robber, therefore, must have made his entry on the opposite side, and

The tents in India have double flies; the outer khanaut, or wall, forming a verandah, of some four feet wide, round the interior pavilion.

he must have been an adept in his vocation, as four or five servants were sleeping between the khanauts. The poor devil did not get much booty for his trouble, having only secured a razor, a pot of pomatum (which will serve to lubricate his person for his next exploit,*) and the candlesticks, which on closer inspection, will prove to him the truth of the axiom, that all is not gold that glitters,' nor even silver. The next morning, on relating my adventure, I was told that I was fortunate in having escaped cold steel; and many comfortable instances were recited, of the robbed being stabbed in attempting to secure the robber."

NECESSITY AND INVENTION.

A curious catalogue might be made of the shifts to which ingenious students in different departments of art have resorted, when, like Davy, they have wanted the proper instruments for carrying on their inquiries or experiments. His is not the first case in which the stores of an apothecary's shop are recorded to have fed the enthusiam, and materially assisted the labors, of the young cultivator of natural science. The German chemist, Scheele, whose name ranks in his own department with the greatest of his time, was, as well as Davy, apprenticed in early life to an apothecary. While living in his master's house he used secretly to prosecute the study of his favorite science by employing often half the night in reading the works that treated of it, or making experiments with instruments fabricated, as Davy's were, by himself, and out of equally simple materials.

Like the young British philosopher, too, Scheele is recorded to have sometimes alarmed the whole household by his detonations-an incident which always brought down upon him the severe anger of his master, and heavy menaces, intended to deter him from ever again applying himself to such dangerous studies, which, however, he did not long regard. It was at an apothecary's house, that Boyle and his Oxford friends first held their scientific meetings, induced, as we are expressly told, by the opportunity they would thus have of obtaining drugs wherewith to make their experiments.

Newton lodged with an apothecary, while at school, in the town of Grantham; and as, even at that early age, he is known to have been ardently devoted to scientific contrivances and experiments, and to have been in the habit of converting all sorts of articles into auxiliaries in his favorite pursuits, it is not probable that the various strange preparations which filled the shelves and boxes. of his landlord's shop would escape his curious examination. Although Newton's glory chiefly depends upon his discoveries in abstract and mechanical science, some of his speculations, and especially some of his writings on the subjects of light and color, show that the internal constitution of matter, and its chemical properties, had also much occupied his thoughts. Thus, too, in other departments, genius has found it sufficient materials and instruments in the humblest and most common articles, and the simplest contrivances Fergusson observed the places of the stars by means of a thread with a few beads strung on it, and Tycho Brahe did the same thing with a pair of compasses. The self-taught American philosopher, Rittenhouse, being, when a young man, em

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ployed as a agricultural laborer, used to draw geometrical diagrams on his plough, and study. them as he turned up the furrow. Pascal, when a mere boy, made himself master of many of the elementary propositions of geometry, without the assistance of any master, by tracing the figures on the floor of his room with a bit of coal. This, or a stick burned at the end, has often been the young painter's first pencil, while the smoothest and whitest wall he could find supplied the place of a canvass. Such, for example, were the commencing essays of the early Tuscan artist, Andrea del Castagno, who employed his leisure in this manner when he was a little boy tending cattle, till his performances at last attracted the notice of one of the Medici family, who placed him under a proper master. The famous Salvator Rosa first displayed his genius for design in the same manner. To these instances may be added that of the late Engglish musical composer, Mr. John Davy, who is said, when only six years old, to have begun the study and practice of his art by imitating the chimes of a neighboring church with eight horse-shoes, which he suspended by strings from the ceiling of a room in such a manner as to form an octave.The Pursuit of Knowledge.

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FASCINATION OF SERPENTS.

There is a very general opinion, which has been adopted even by some eminent naturalists, that several species of serpents possess the power of fascinating birds and small quadrupeds, by fixing their eyes upon the animal, so that the poor victim is unable to escape from his formidable enemy. Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia, published, in 1796, a 'Memoir concerning the fascinating faculty which has been ascribed to the Rattle-snake, and other American Serpents,' in which he maintains that this supposed power of fascination does not exist, and offers some ingenious explanations of the origin of what he considers a popular mistake. Our readers will, we think, be interested by an extract or two from this work:

"In conducting my inquiries into this curious subject I endeavored to ascertain the two following points, viz. first, what species of birds are most frequently observed to be enchanted by the serpents? and, secondly, at what season of the year has any particular species been the most commonly under this wonderful influence? I supposed this would furnish me with a clue to a right explanation of the whole mystery.

"Birds have an almost uniform and determinate method of building their nests, whether we consider the form of the nest, its materials, or the place in which it is fixed. Those birds which build their nests upon the ground, on the lower branches of trees, and on low bushes (especially on the sides of rivers, creeks, &c. that are frequented by different kinds of serpents,) have most frequently been observed to be under the enchanting faculty of the rattle-snake, &c. Indeed, the bewitching spirit of these serpents seems to be almost entirely limited to these kinds of birds. Hence we so frequently hear tales of the fascination of our cat-bird, which builds its nest in the low bushes, on the sides of creeks, and other waters, the most usual haunts of the black snake and other serpents. Hence, too, upon opening the stomachs of some of our serpents, if we often find that they contain birds, it is almost entirely those birds which build in the manner I have just mentioned

Red-winged Maize-thief and Black Snake. "The rattle-snake seldom, if ever, climbs up a tree. He is frequently, however, found about their roots, especially in wet situations. It is said that it is often seen, curled round a tree, darting terrible glances at a squirrel, which after some time is so much influenced by these glances, or by some subtile emanation from the body of the serpent, that the poor animal falls into the jaws of its enemy. Is the animal's fear and distress a matter of any wonder? Nature has taught different animals what animals are their enemies; and as the rattle-snake occasionally devours birds and squirrels, to these animals he must necessarily be an object of fear. Sometimes the squirrel drives away the serpent, but occasionally approaching too near his enemy, he is bitten or immediately devoured. These hostilities, however, are not common.

"In almost every instance I have found that the supposed fascinating faculty of the serpent was exerted upon the birds at the particular season of their laying their eggs, or of their hatching, or of their rearing their young, still tender and defenceless. I now began to suspect, that the cries and fears of birds supposed to be fascinated originated. in an endeavor to protect their nest or young. My inquiries have convinced me that this is the case.

"I have already observed, that the rattle-snake does not climb up trees; but the black snake and some other species of the coluber do. When impelled by hunger and incapable of satisfying it by the capture of animals on the ground, they begin to glide up trees or bushes upon which a bird has its nest. The bird is not ignorant of the serpent's object. She leaves her nest, whether it contains eggs or young ones, and endeavors to oppose the reptile's progress. In doing this, she is actuated by the strength of her instinctive attachment to her eggs, or of affection to her young. Her cry is melancholy, her motions are tremulous. She exposes herself to the most imminent danger. Sometimes she approaches so near the reptile that he seizes her as his prey. But this is far from being universally the case. Often she compels the serpent to leave the tree, and then returns to her nest.

"It is a well-known fact, that, among some species of birds, the female, at a certain period, is

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