rocks; though there is not the least appearance of mould upon the island, yet some fine large trees grow upon it; and it is entirely covered with a kind of long coarse grass. Phillip Isle is likewise covered with a long sharp grass. A valley runs through the isle. Some pines are, or were, on the summit of the hills. Hawks, pigeons, parroquets, and puffins, are numerous. When Norfolk Island was inhabited, Phillip Isle was used for the purpose of breeding and raising pigs, and as a place of banishment for the worst convicts, it being, as Milton rather curiously says,— "To the lowest depth, a lower deep." ANSWER TO A QUERY ON THE IN col. 108 of your number for January, A Juvenile Reader asks, "Why must a pendulum which vibrates seconds, be shorter at the equator than at the poles?" This is occasioned by the oblate spheroidical figure of the earth; that is, a line passing from the equator to the centre of the earth, would be longer, by about 17 miles, than if it passed from either of the poles to the same point, and, consequently, the force of gravity is less at the equator than at the poles; and it is likewise greatly diminished by the centrifugal force arising from the earth's rotation on its axis, which is greatest at the equator. The length of a pendulum, to vibrate seconds at the equator, must be 39.027 inches, and at the poles 39.197 inches.-Your's respectfully, THOS. CROSSLEY. Old-lane, near Halifax. SOLUTION OF A QUERY PROPOSED BY A" SUBSCRIBER AT ORRELL,”-COL. 304. 1. Suppose the breadth of the ditch to be 5 yards, this would reduce the diameter of the land to be covered to 190 yards. of this diameter, is 28,252 square 2.-Now the area of a piece of land yards; the half of which produces the number of cubic yards, or loads of earth, required. It would be useless to expect that Norfolk Island should prove of any benefit to Britain as a colony. The island is too small; it has no harbour, and no peculiar produce of any importance. Its utility is merely as a place of banishment; where the bodily and moral discipline shall be of such a description as to excite dread; where the wicked and profligate may be taught to procure a livelihood by honest industry; where but few temptations to crime can exist; where it is hardly possible to offend with impunity; where no resorts for the base and vile are permitted; where the contagion of vice is confined within its narrowest bounds. To effect these objects, the situation, soil, and climate, of the island are all favourable; but much depends upon those entrusted with the government of the island; if they be not able, firm, and discriminating, of irreproachable character, of persevering vigilance, the objects of the settlement will be defeated. The superior officers should either possess a knowledge of the principal mechanical arts, or have under their command, persons well acquainted with those trades; but, of course, the former would be preferable, as it would prevent the practice of many impositions. If this settlement answers its intended purpose, it will, by the dread it will inspire in England, operate very strongly upon the minds of the vicious and abandoned, and deter them from the perpetration of any offence which would subject them to a punishment they must behold with the greatest [A similar answer has been received terror; but even this will be insufficient from Wm. Oakes, of Harlow, Stafto restrain the incorrigible. SOA.fordshire.] 3.-The length of the ditch is found by ascertaining the arithmetical mean between the lengths of the two circumferences, and is 612 yards. ditch being known, we must find the 4. The breadth and length of the depth requisite to produce 14,126 cubic yards. This, by the rule of proportion, will be seen to be 43 yards nearly. Thus we have the length of the ditch, 612 yards; the breadth 5 yards, and the depth not quite 4 yards. The cube of these amounts will produce the number of cubic yards required, or the quantity of earth requisite for the undertaking; in accomplishing which, the owner will lose more than 3,000 square yards. J. L. C. DESCRIPTION OF READ'S PATENT ALMOST every person who takes no- branch of the Syringe, and next the detached socket, to the extremity of the former. The oesophagus tube is now to be passed into the stomach, which being done, insert the brass joint at its extremity, into the socket at the end of the leathern tubes; the fluid to be injected being put into a basin or other shallow vessel, the end of the Syringe is immersed in it, and the piston being put into action, any quantity may be thrown into the stomach that may be desired. To evacuate the stomach, separate the oesophagus tube from the socket (leaving the latter attached to the The apparatus consists of the pump; leathern tubes) without withdrawing the oesophagus tube; three leathern it from the throat, and insert it into tubes; three ivory pipes, (these last, the extremity of the Syringe; let an with the third leathern tube, are used assistant now hold a vessel to the end only for enemas ;) and a detached of the leathern tube, and by working brass socket. Figure A, in the En- the piston, the contents of the stomach graving, represents the operation of may speedily be pumped into it, as is injecting fluids into the stomach, to shewn in figure B of the drawing. dilute the poison, previous to its ex- By thus transferring the end of the traction; this is effected in the follow-oesophagus tube from one situation to ing manner: Screw the two first lengths the other, the two processes of washof the leathern tubing, to the lateral ing and emptying the stomach may be repeated as often as is judged neces- | plunger; put in the tobacco, (half an ounce or an ounce,) and replace the plunger lightly upon it; then put on the cap, and screw it to the end of the Syringe; hold a lighted candle close under the bottom of the canister, and a stroke or two of the piston of the Syringe will light the tobacco. The enema tubes being now fixed to the side branch, and the pipe introduced into the rectum, the tobacco smoke is forced into the intestines as long as the Syringe is worked in the usual manner. sary by the operator. Thus it is seen that the Syringe is furnished with two valvular apertures, through one of which the contents of the stomach pass into the cylinder, and are then immediately forced through the other into the receiving vessel. This double operation is effected by repeated strokes of the piston, which slides so easily, that an infant may use it. The manner in which the Syringe is held, in these two separate operations, is very important. In the first, as is seen in the figure, a perpendicular position is the most eligible; but in the second, the Syringe must be held in an inclined position, at about an angle of 45° with the lateral tube upwards. These positions preserve the valves upon their proper bearings, without which, the instrument cannot act perfectly. I have, lastly, to speak of my Syringe as an instrument for administering Enemas, which was the original intention for which it was constructed, and, in this point of view, it is of the highest importance. The objects of administering enemas, are considered to be of three kinds. 1st. For softening and diluting retained fæces. 2ndly. For stimulating the bowels, and thus provoking evacuations; and 3dly. For producing mechanical distention. In cases of retention of urine, it frequently happens that, in consequence of hæmorrhage and other causes, the catheter becomes so obstructed that the bladder cannot be It must be obvious to every medical emptied it was suggested by Dr. practitioner, how very inadequate the Cloquet, a celebrated surgeon of old apparatus of the pipe and bladder Paris, to effect this purpose by fixing is to the completion of these objects; a pump to the catheter. The Patent and thence it is, that various instruSyringe performs this operation with ments have been, at different times, extreme facility, and has been honour-devised, to remedy the deficiency; ed with the entire approbation of Dr. Cloquet. For injecting the bladder, which is an operation every day becoming more frequent, it is, of course, equally eligible. For these purposes I have constructed elastic gum catheters to be fixed to the Syringe. As an apparatus for conveying nourishment into the stomach of persons afflicted with stricture of the esophagus, the Patent Syringe is found to possess obvious advantages. This pump is also capable of being adjusted to cupping-glasses, by which any degree of exhaustion can be made, the operator desires; and, in the same manner, it may be rendered a very effectual instrument for drawing breasts of puerperal females. I have had glasses made for these uses, which may be obtained with the rest of the apparatus. Figure C represents the Syringe, with a Canister, for the purpose of injecting tobacco fumes into the intestines. It is used in the following manner. Unscrew the cap of the canister, and take out the perforated | but ingenuity had been exercised in vain, and the profession were still in need of an instrument to effect these valuable ends, until the "Patent Syringe" supplied the desired object. GLEANINGS. Composition Leather. Dr. Bernhard, of Larris, in Germany, has made a very interesting discovery, for which he has received a patent. It consists in obtaining from animal substances, product perfectly similar to leather. A manuof which hitherto no use has been made, a facture has been established at Gambold, near Vienna, where this new species of industry is practised with the greatest activity. This discovery of Dr. Bernhard is the more importfluid state, of being formed into boots and ant, as the composition is capable, when in a shoes. Surgery. A physician of the name of Buller, residing at Hamburglr, has lately invented a new surgical instrument, by means of which be can amputate a leg in one second, and which patient, by a simultaneous pressure which achas the effect of benumbing the pain of the companies the operation. A ready Antidote against Poisons.-A gentleman, alluding to the numerous cases of death from accidental poisonings, and particularly to cian, Mr. Owen, (by laudanum given him in a the melancholy fate of the late royal academi mistake,) says, "I can venture to affirm, there is scarce even a cottage in this country that does not contain an invaluable, certain, and immediate remedy for such events, which is nothing more than a dessert spoonful of made mustard, mixed in a tumbler glass of warm water, and drank immediately: it acts as an instantaneous emetic, is always ready, and may be used with safety in any case where one is required. By a grand mistake, a gentleman took a full ounce of poison instead of salts; the casters were fortunately at hand, and no doubt an invaluable life was preserved to his family, by giving the mustard directly. By making this simple antidote known, you may be the means of saving many a fellow-creature from an untimely end."-Lit. Gaz. Motion of the Electric Fluid.-It has long been received as a fact, that an electrical discharge was capable of being transmitted through a very considerable distance (say three or four miles) instantaneously, and without any sensible diminution of its intensity. Mr. Barlow, however, by employing wires of various lengths up to 840 feet, and measuring the energy of the electric action by the deflection produced in a magnetic needle, has found that the intensity diminishes very rapidly, and very nearly as the inverse square of the distance. Hence the idea of constructing electrical telegraphs is quite chimerical. He found, also, that the effect was greater with a wire of a certain size than with one smaller, yet that nothing was gained by increasing the diameter of the wire beyond a given limit. Exhibition of Paintings, &c. Suffolk-street, Pall-mall East.-This exhibition was opened for public inspection on Monday, March 28, and from the number and variety of articles, in painting and sculpture, (amounting to 721,) no doubt can be entertained that it will attract very general notice; while the masterly style in which many of the paintings are executed, can hardly fail to give great satisfaction. Literary Notices. Just Published. Scientia Biblica; containing the New Testa ment in the Original Tongue, with the Authorized English Version, and a copious and original collection of Parallel Passages, printed in words at length. Dedicated, by permission, to the King. Three vols. 8vo. £3. boards. Large paper £5. boards. The Life and Death of the Christian, a Sermon occasioned by the Death of the Rev. J. Whitehouse, of Dorking. By the Rev. T. Lewis, Islington. A Manual for Church Members, drawn from the New Testament. By Dr. Newman, of Stepney. Tales of Fault and Feeling. By the Author of "Zeal and Experience.' 3 vols. 12mo. £1. 18. The Present Laws relating to Savings Banks in England, omitting the Repealed Clauses in ⚫ the Statutes; with Explanatory Notes, Forms, Life of the Rev. John Wesley. By the Rev. Henry Moore. Vol. 2. boards, 10s. 6d. The Mirven Family, or Christian Principle developed in early Life. Boards, 6s. The Stranger at Home, a Poem, &c. By the Rev. Thomas Martin. Boards. The Progress of Dissent, addressed to the Editor of the Quarterly Review. By a Nonconformist. 2s. 6d. A Farewell Sermon, preached at Horntonstreet chapel, Kensington. By John Leifchild. 1s. 6d. A Catechism on the Works of Creation. By Peter Smith, A. M. An Apology for the System of Wesleyan Methodism, being a reply to Mr. Mark Robinson's Observations on the same subject. By Humphry Sandwith. In the Press, &c. The Magistrate; or, Sessions and Police Review, Critical, Humorous, and Instructive, will be published on the 1st of May, and con tinued monthly. A second edition of Benson's Sermons and Plans of Sermons. Part 1. The Works of James Arminius, D. D. for merly Professor of Divinity in the University of Leyden. Translated from the Latin by James Nichols, Author of "Calvinisin and Tendency." Vol. the 1st. Arminianism Compared in their Principles and Reflections on the Word of God for every Day in the Year, in 2 vols. 8vo. by William Ward, Missionary at Serampore, is reprinting from the Serampore edition, and will be speedily published in one thick vol. 12mo. A new periodical work, entitled the Christian Repository, will be issued on June the 1st, and continued monthly. Price 1s. A Series of Discourses on the Millennium. A new edition, in 2 vols. 12mo. Revised by the Rev. D. Bogue, D. D. An Essay on the Equity of Divine Govern. ment, and the Sovereignty of Divine Grace. By the Rev. E. Williams, D. D. A new edition in 1 vol. 8vo. The Life of John Chamberlain, late a Missioary of distinguished eminence in India. By Mr. Yates of Calcutta. Edited by F. A. Cox, A. M. Hackney. The Quarterly Review and the Dissenters: A Letter to the Rev. Ralph Wadlaw, D. D. of Glasgow. By Mr. John Bird, of Manchester. A new 8vo edition of Gostling's Walk in and about the City of Canterbury. Embellished with plates, and edited by the Rev. John Metcalf, M. A. To be published by subscription, in 1 vol. 4to, price 2 guineas, Memoirs of Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, Emperor of Hindustan, King of Ferghana, Samarkand, Kabul, &c. Written by himself, in the Taghatai Turki, and translated, partly by John Leyden, M. D. Secretary to the Asiatic Society, partly by William Erskine, Esq. LONDON: PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY H. FISHER. THE Emperial Magazine; OR, COMPENDIUM OF RELIGIOUS, MORAL, & PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE, MAY.] "READING IS THE CIRCULATING MEDIUM OF INTELLECTUAL COMMERCE." MEMOIR OF ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD. [1825. that place. There Anna, as well as her brother, the late Dr. John Aikin, of literary and philosophical acquaintprofited greatly by the enlarged circle ance which that situation afforded. But though Miss Aikin evinced proofs of a poetical genius at a very early age, she sent none of her productions into the world till she was near thirty, when a small volume of her poems was printed at Warrington, and dedi A HISTORY of female literature is much wanted, to complete the general stock of elegant and useful biography. In such a constellation, the number of British names would be great and splendid, to a degree far surpassing what could be boasted by any other country, either ancient or modern. Many years ago, the honest and in-cated to her estimable friend, the dustrious antiquary, George Ballard, Lady Mary West. This publication printed a small quarto, at Oxford, within a few months passed through with the title of "The Lives of the three editions, and commanded, as it Learned Ladies of Great Britain;" deserved, the admiration of the critics. but valuable as the book is, its errors The variety of its contents displayed and deficiencies are considerable. Since his time, several of our fair equal ease with which she could mathe versatility of the writer, and the countrywomen have attained a high nage gay and serious, humorous and station in the temple of fame, by their sublime subjects. The first poem, in literary accomplishments; such as blank verse, entitled "Corsica," writMrs. Elizabeth Carter, Miss Elizabeth ten in 1769, is highly dignified, and Smith, Mrs. Montague, and many now much in the manner of Thomson. living. In this galaxy shone, for a long period with undiminished lustre, "How raptur'd fancy burns, while warm in Anna Letitia Barbauld; and so long I trace the pictur'd landscape: while I kiss, thought as letters shall be cultivated in Bri-With pilgrim lips devout, the sacred soil, tain, or wherever the English language Stain'd with the blood of heroes. CYRNUS, shall be known, so long will the name of this lady be respected. She was the eldest of the two children of the Rev. Dr. John Aikin, a dissenting minister at Kibworth, in Leicestershire, and was born there, June 20th, 1743. Her mother was the daughter of the Rev. John Jennings, well known as the friend of Watts and Doddridge, and the author of a practical treatise upon "Evangelical Preaching;" to which the former eminent writer gave a recommendatory preface. Her education was entirely domestic, and was principally superintended by her father, who, perceiving her aptitude for learning, took great pleasure in imbuing her mind with classical instruction. Dr. Aikin at that time kept a respectable boarding-school, but in 1756 he removed to Warrington, in Lancashire, where he became principal of the dissenting academy at 77.-VOL. VII. hail! Hail to thy rocky, deep indented shores, Incessant foaming round their shaggy sides. cliffs, Down the steep channel'd rock impetuous pour shade Scarce seen, amongst the craggy hanging cliffs, And shrub of fragrant leaf, that clothe their sides With living verdure; whence the clust'ring bee Extracts her golden dews: the shining bax 20 |