GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF

PARIS.

AT a meeting of the above society, the Abbé Anduze gave in an account of his travels in North America, in the course of which he stated the fact of a coin of bronze being found in the Valley of Bones, to the southwest of the Missouri, the natives of which declare they had never seen an European. The Abbé examined the coin, and found it to be Roman, struck in the reign of Newa. He adds, that upon digging a well in Pennessee, there had been found an earthen pot buried in the earth, and which contained a vast quantity of gold money of unknown character. The Abbé thinks that a knowledge of the eastern tongues might elucidate the different dialects of the savage tribes in America, especially those which inhabit the shores of the Pacific Ocean, amongst whom there appears to be two principal languages, which serve as a universal medium; one is in use in the high, and the other in the low country. The Abbé also pointed out a singular analogy between a trait in the manners of these people and the Hebrews as described in Leviticus. "A savage,

he says," marries along with his wife all the sisters she may have; or at least he is bound to provide for their establishment, that is, their marriage: those of them for whom he cannot procure husbands, remain with him as wives."

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

A PAPER was read at a late meeting of the above society, from the President, T. A. Knight, Esq., upon the culture of the mando and cheri

moyer. Its object was to suggest some improvements in the management of these and other trees cultivated in stoves, deduced from an application of Dutrochet's electrical theory of vegetation to practice. It has now become generally known, that this observer is of opinion, that the motion of the fluids in plants depends upon two currents of electricity, setting with very unequal force between the denser fluid of the tree and the lighter fluid of the soil in which the tree is planted: the more powerful current setting from the latter to the former, and so producing absorption, by conveying aqueous particles into the roots, through the vegetable membrane of the epidermis. In applying this theory to practical purposes, Mr. Knight recommends that the pot in which the cherimoyer or mango is planted, should itself be surrounded by a medium through which an equable and regular supply of fluid may be conveyed to the roots, and that the naked surface of the pot should by no means be exposed to the free action of the atmosphere. Without entering upon any question of the accuracy of the French philosophers observations, it is quite certain that such a mode of cultivation is that which is most congenial to plants, and which is indispensable to those of a habit at all delicate. The common practice of plunging pots into a tan-bed, or among sand, if in glass-houses, or in the earth, if in open borders, is a proof of the necessity that gardeners have found, of securing as regular a temperature and degree of humidity as is possible for the outside of their flower-pots; through the pores in which, moisture is chiefly conveyed to the roots, which always cling to the inside surface of the pot.

IN the archives of Durham Cathedral is preserved a small thin volume in folio, consisting of twenty-four pages. It was composed by order of Bishop Hugh de Pudsey, who lived in the twelfth century, and who completed a general Survey of all ancient Demesne Lands and Possessions in his Bishopric. This record is called the Boldon Buke, and contains inquisitions, or verdicts, of all the tenants' names, stating the quantity of land each of them held at that time, and what rents were reserved for the same. It has been produced and read in evidence on several trials at law, on the part of the bishops, in order to ascertain their property.

THE first Exhibition of the Birmingham Society of Arts was opened during the course of last month. The catalogue contains two hundred and forty-seven subjects, and the names of eighty-four artists. Some of the paintings are very clever pictures, and show much skill and management in the artists who executed them; and the whole form an exhibition which merits the patronage of amateurs and promoters of the fine arts.

IN the Escurial is a magnificent chapel, called the Pantheon; it is thirty-five feet in diameter, and thirty-eight feet high from the pavement, which is of marble and jasper inlaid. The whole inside of the chapel is of black marble, except the lantern, and some ornaments of jasper and red marble. The remains of the kings and queens of Spain are deposited in this chapel; there are only places made for twenty-six, eight of which are already filled up.

AFTER painting had arrived at the greatest perfection among the Greeks, by the exertions of Zeuxis and Parrhasius, Apelles found nothing to add to the art except grace: in the

same manner among the moderns, after Raphael had appeared, grace was the only thing wanting in the art, and Corregio became the Apelles of Europe. Painting was by him carried to the highest degree among the moderns; the taste of the best critics and the eye of the vulgar were equally gratified. Peter de Cortona afterwards became remarkable for his study of composition or arrangement, and what the artists call taste. ancient Greeks employed a very small number of figures in their works, in order to make the perfection of those which they admitted more evident. The disciples or imitators of Cortona, on the other hand, have sought to conceal their imperfections by multiplying their figures.

The

As soon as the art of printing was invented, the first use made of it was to print the Sacred Scriptures in the vernacular languages of several nations, and this happened more than half a century before the commencement of the Reformation. The earliest printed Protestant version of the Bible is that in the German language, by Martin Luther. The New Testament of that version was printed in 1522; the Old in 1530. It had been preceded, first by Fust's celebrated Bible, printed at Mentz in 1462; secondly by Bemier's, printed at Augsburgh in 1467; and, thirdly, by the four versions mentioned by Beausobre, (Hist. de la Reformation, liv. 4). The earliest printed French Protestant version, is that of Olivetan, assisted by Calvin. It contains the whole Bible, and was finished in 1537;

the year 1535, which is the date mentioned in the title-page, being the year in which it was first committed to the press. This version had been preceded, first by the French version of the New Testament, by Julian, an Augustinian monk, printed in 1477; secondly, by the French version of the whole Bible, by Guy

ard des Moulins, printed in 1490; and thirdly by that of Estables, the New Testament of whose version was printed iu 1522, and the old in 1528. The last of these editious was particularly used by Olivetan. The earliest printed Italian Protestant version appeared in 1562. It had been preceded first by Malermi's, printed in 1471; and secondly, by Bruccioli's, in 1532, which last version the Protestant translator generally followed. The first printed Protestant Belgic version was made from Luther's, and appeared in 1527: it had been preceded by a version of the Four Gospels, printed in 1472; and by one of the whole Bible, printed at Cologne in 1475; at Delft in 1477; at Gonda in 1479; and both at Antwerp and Louvain in 1518.

VARIOUS are the materials on which mankind in different ages and countries have contrived to write their sentiments; as on stone, bricks, the leaves of herbs and trees, and their rinds or barks; also on tables of wood, wax, and ivory; to which may be added plates of lead, linen cloths, &c. At length the Egyptian papyrus was invented, then parchment, then cotton paper, and, lastly, the common or linen paper. In some places and ages they have even written on the skins of fishes; in others on the intestines of serpents; and in others, on the backs of tortoises. There are few sorts of plants but have at some time been used for paper and books; and hence the several terms, biblos, codex, liber, folium, tabula, philma, scheda, &c., which express the several parts on which they were written; and though in Europe all these disappeared upon the introduction of the papyrus and parchment, yet in some distant countries the use of divers of them obtains to this day. In Ceylon, for instance, they write on the leaves of the talipot; and the Bramin manuscripts sent to Oxford from Fort St. George are written on leaves of the ampana, or palma malabarica.

ENGLAND appears to be the first country in Europe that formed a regular establishment for the conveyance of letters, though it was not till a late period that it assumed anything like a regular form even here. In the reign of Edward VI., however, some species of post must have existed, as an act of parliament, passed in 1548, fixing the rate of post-horses at one penny per mile; the post-horses here referred to, were, it is probable, chiefly for travelling, and the carriage of letters or packets only on occasional service. In 1581 we find in Camden's Annals mention made of a chief postmaster for England being appointed. How his office was [managed does not clearly appear; the limited state of the correspondence of the country probably rendered it of trifling consequence. King James I. erected a post office under the control of one Matthew de Quester, for the conveyance of letters to and from foreign parts, and king Charles I. established, in 1635, a letter-office for England and Scotland under the direction of Thomas Witherings.

IN the course of 1826 there were shipped from Newcastle eight hundred thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven of Newcastle chaldron of coal, one of which is nearly equal to two of the London measure; being about fifty-six hundred weight, and containing sixty-eight Winchester bushels; whilst the London chaldron is only equal to thirty-six Winchester bushels, and only weighs twenty-eight hundred. These coals all went coastwise: there were besides, sixty-two thousand, six hundred and twenty chaldron, which went over sea. From Sunderland were shipped during the same year coastwise, five hundred and forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty-six chaldron, and fourteen thousand one hundred and ten chaldron over sea. During the same period were shipped from Hartley and Blythe, coastwise, fifty-one thousand, five hundred and thirty-three chaldron; and over sea, one thousand three hundred and ninety-five thousand; making a total of one million,

four hundred and seventy-five thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one Newcastle chaldrons. The total of coals imported into the Port of London during 1826 amounted to one million, four hundred and fifty-six thousand, one hundred and sixty-two chaldron, London measure; besides about fifty thousand chaldron by canal from the Midland Counties.

The coal field of Durham occupies a subterraneous area twenty-two miles long, and about eleven broad; the seams are mostly five feet thick, and yield annually upwards of one million five hundred thousand chaldrons of twenty-eight hundred weight each. Coal is found in abundance through the greatest part of North

umberland, particularly in the lower district; in the south-east quarter it is of the best quality, where are also the most numerous and thickest seams, from which those vast quantities are exported which supply the great consumption of the London market, as well as the coasting and foreign trade. The system of screening coals is now in general use, and immense heaps of coal are raised at the mouths of the pits, where they soon take fire from the heat of the decomposing pyrites; and it has been computed that not less than one hundred thousand chaldrons are thus annually destroyed on the shore of the Tyne, and nearly an equal quantity on the Wear.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FRANCE.

PARIS.-We cannot read without some interest the account of the increase of population which has taken place in this capital during the last year. In the year 1826, there were at Paris 29,970 births, of which number 15,187 were boys, and 14,783 were girls. Of the aggregate number it is with a feeling of abasement for human weakness that we state, no less a portion than 10,502 to have been natural children, and of this number only 2,604 were affiliated. There were 7,755 marriages. The total of deaths was 25,341, of which 12,562: were males, and 12,779 females.. Thus the number of births exceeds the number of deaths by 4,629. In comparing this statement with that of the preceding year 1825, we find an increase in the year 1826, of 717 in the number of births, and 204 in the number of marriages. The amount of deaths too has experienced the sensible diminution of 1,552. This difference must in part be attributed to the small pox. The victims of this cruel disease alone in 1825, extended to the number of

2,194, while in 1826, they amounted but to 240 persons.

SPAIN.

The insurgents of Catalonia made a fresh attack on Gironne, but were repulsed with loss. They took possession of Sarria and Sardinia, villages which cross the high road of France. General Manso, after having supplied Hostalrich with provisions and ammunition, sallied forth to the mountains, but the mutineers fled at his approach. On his arrival at Villa Franca he destroyed a band of 200 of the insurgents, which he discovered there. The city of Mataro, on account of its excellent state of defence. and the spirit which animates its inhabitants, will probably not fall into the hands of the discontented. Discord has already begun to reign among the chiefs, for Jeps del Estangs has lately. been put under arrest by le Caragol, and sent to the prisons of Mauresa, for refusing to give an account of his operations to the pretended junta. This junta has issued an order, that the goods of all persons who leave their homes shall be confiscated and sold unless they return in fifteen days.

Every country occupied by the faction has become the scene of thefts, devastations, arrests, and assassinations. When the little garrison of Puycerda was effecting its retreat for want of ammunition it was very much distressed by the firing of the insurgents, which did not cease even when they had entered on the French territory, and reached Bourg-Madame.

PORTUGAL.

The decree of the emperor Don Pedro, bearing date the 29th of June, has been published at Lisbon. It sets forth that the Infant Don Miguel shall take upon himself the regency of the kingdom of Portugal, and dispenses him for this effect from the conditions required by the charter. As soon as it was known in Portugal that the Infant Don Miguel was nominated to the Regency, the clergy, nobility, and magistracy presented themselves at Queluz every day to kiss the hands of her majesty the queen dowager, and congratulate her on the near return of her son, and his nomination. The infant Don Miguel, will return to Portugal by France and England; and he will stop a few days in London.

ALGIERS.

Notwithstanding t he approach of the bad season, the blockade of Algiers continues to be as close as possible. The division on station before this port, which consisted of seven frigates, has had an augmentation of several sloops. On the 14th of September, three French sloops disembarked on the shore near Algiers, and, in the face of a brisk cannonading from the Moors, succeeded in destroying a ship laden with grain. Two days af ter a boat of one deck, on its way from Tunis, laden with salt, fell into the power of the same sloops although the crew were exposed to the fire of the Bedouins, who were posted on the shore. In these two little engage ments, Mr. Lion our ensign, having distinguished himself in a particular manner, the king caused him to be admitted among the number of the officers of the royal marine.

The English vessel, Maidstone,
C. M.-VOL. VIII. NO. 71.

which cruizes on the coast of Africa, has, in one week, captured six ships from the negroes. On board of one. was found 306 slaves, who had all been marked with a red hot iron, the men on the arms, and the women on their breasts. Twenty of these poor wretches perished under the operation.

ants.

AUSTRIA & GERMANY, &c. In the Austrian States 170,000 Protestants live in the midst of ten or twelve millions of Catholics, nor do we find that they are burnt as heretics, or that they are subjected to fines, restrictions, and vexations, as are the Catholics of a neighbouring island. In Bavaria, one-third of the population is composed of Protestants, who enjoy equally with the other subjects, protection from the laws, and are neither insulted nor despised by their Catholic fellow-countrymen. In Saxony a Protestant population of about a million and a half inhabitants live tranquilly under a Catholic prince, who is himself an example of piety. In the kingdom of Wirtemberg about one half of the population is composed of Catholics, who live on very friendly terms with the ProtestIn Prussia, where the Catholics form one-third of the whole population, as in the British islands, they are not treated with insignificance, excluded from office, and declared incapable of assisting in the regulation of the State. Even in Hanover, under the domination of a prince, nearly related to the king of England, the subjects have received an assurance that no distinction shall be observed between Catholic or Protestants. Thus then have we in Germany near three millions of Protestants living under Catholic princes without entertaining towards each other either hatred, contempt, or distrust. It is evident then that the Catholics are not necessarily persecutors, and that even where they are the more numerous and the more powerful, they strive not to extirpate a rival communion. It is clear too, that in Germany, we do not see the Protestants keeping the Catholics in a state of degradation and abasement under the pretext that the latter would crush Protestantism if they once be come the stronger party. This is a

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