exception, as when an effervescent and deliquescent salt were contained in the same vessel; the latter, without being in contact with the former, would deprive it of its water of crystallization,-an effect which was stated to be due to the carrying power of the air, which conveyed the moisture from the effervescent to the deliquescent salt. Variations of temperature were mentioned as causing alterations in chemical affinity: thus,—at common temperature, mercury and atmospheric air undergo scarcely any change whatever; but, at a certain increase of heat, the mercury combines with the oxygen of the air, and is converted into peroxide, whilst at a higher temperature than that required to form the peroxide, it is decomposed into oxygen gas and a species of mercury. Another experiment performed to prove that affinity is dependent upon the degree of heat, was that of mixing muriate of ammonia and carbonate of lime. At common temperature, these salts undergo no change; but, when heated, it was shown that carbonate of ammonia was evolved, and what is commonly called muriate of lime remained in the vessel. It was afterwards shown, that when the carbonate of ammonia and muriate of lime formed by heat were dissolved in water, and the solution mixed at common temperature, carbonate of lime was again formed and precipitated; while the muriate of ammonia, also reproduced at this low temperature, remained in solution. It was observed that heat, in some cases, caused only partial instead of total decomposition: thus it was shown, that when copper was put into sulphuric acid, no action took place between them; but when heat was applied, then the copper decomposed the sulphuric acid, and, taking part of its oxygen, reduced it to the state of sulphurous acid, which was plentifully given out in the form of gas. Comminution was mentioned as sometimes requisite to cause chemical action, in other cases merely accelerating it. The first proposition was proved by the insolubility of common clay, though reduced to a fine powder in an acid; but some clay, or alumina, which had been recently precipitated, and was consequently more minutely divided, was immediately dissolved by the acid. The second case, on the acceleration of chemical action by minute division, was shown by the greater rapidity with which powdered marble was dissolved in acid than in a mass of the same substance. Concentration was likewise mentioned as another circumstance sometimes requisite to induce chemical action. Mr. Phillips afterwards observed, that oxygen was necessary to cause metals to combine with acids; and this was stated to be sometimes derived from the decomposition of a portion of the acid and water, or the atmosphere, according to the nature of the metal and the acid; further, that the introduction of a third body was sometimes necessary to insure chemical action. This was proved by mixing very small portions of tincture of galls and sulphate of iron in distilled water;-no visible effect was produced until a drop of solution of ammonia was added, when the whole became instantly almost black. In some cases, dilution was necessary to chemical action, as when sulphuric acid requires water to cause action between it and zinc; this, however, was not owing to dilution as such, but because, by the decomposition of the water, the oxygen requisite to the solution of the metal was supplied to it. It was afterwards observed, that though a certain degree of oxidizement was necessary to the solution of a metal in acid, an excess might prevent it. The lecturer concluded an admirable discourse with explaining what was meant by the nascent state of bodies, which he said frequently was necessary to insure chemical action, and he expressed his regret that time would not allow him to offer any experimental illustration of this circumstance, nor to enter further into the subject, for which he had prepared additional observations and experiments.

VARIETIES.

Recovery of Treasure by the Diving Bell.-One of the most interesting and gratifying experiments ever made with that extraordinary machine, the diving bell, is that which has lately been performed by the Honourable Commander De Roos, for the recovery of the treasures and stores of the Thetis, a King's ship, which sunk in a cove to the south-east of Cape Frio, in 1830. The following is an abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society. The Hon. Commander De Roos, commanding his Majesty's ship Algerine, was instructed to conduct the enterprise. He reached Cape Frio on the 6th of March, 1832, with eleven officers and eighty-five men. A sufficient number of hands were left on board the ship, which was moored in a harbour two miles from the scene of action; others were employed in the boats which they had erected near the Cape, and the remainder, amounting to thirty-five men, were stationed at the wreck. The island, which forms the south-eastern extremity of Cape Frio, is an immense promontory of granite jutting into the Atlantic ocean, sixty miles east of Rio de Janeiro. The cove in the middle of which the Thetis sunk is a square indentation in the cliff, 600 feet deep by as many wide. It is surrounded by nearly perpendicular masses of granite, from 100 to 200 feet high, and is exposed to the whole swell of the South Atlantic, which sets in with remarkable force in that direction. The weather is singularly variable, and transitions frequently take place in the course of a few hours, from perfect stillness to the most tremendous swell. Few scenes in nature are more sublime than those presented by the cove during a gale of wind from the south-west. Frequent interruptions were experienced from the state of the weather, and the almost incessant agitation of the water, which was often so powerful as to render the diving-bell almost unmanage able, and to expose the divers to great danger. The diving-bell consisted of a one-ton ship's tank, with eight inches of iron at the bottom, in order to give it more depth, and having attached to it seventeen cwt. of ballast, which was found sufficient to sink it. So soon as the requisite arrangements were completed, the Commander made a minute survey of the bottom by means of the diving-bell, and ascertained the exact position and shape of all the large rocks which covered the spot where the treasures and stores of the Thetis had been scattered. The shape of the area, where the precious metals in particular had been deposited, was an ellipse of which the two principal axes measured forty-eight and thirty-one feet; large boulders of granite had rolled over these treasures, and required being removed before the latter could be recovered. The superincumbent pressure of the sea, aided by the huge materials of the wreck of the frigate, which under the influence of the swell, acting like a pavior's hammer with enormous momentum, had jammed together the rocks, and produced a strong cohesion between the fragments of wood and the gold, silver, and iron. The divers suffered much from an intolerable stench arising from decomposed animal substances. The first labour of the divers was to clear away every portion of the wreck; and after this was accomplished, to loosen and remove all the large rocks in succession, beginning with the smallest, and ending with the largest and most unwieldy. Some of these which the adventurous party succeeded in rolling from their situations into deep water, weighed about thirty or forty tons; and the largest, which it required immense efforts to move from its place, was computed to weigh sixty five tons. This last effort served to prove that no part either of the wreck or stores was left unexamined. After fifteen-sixteenths of the property had been recovered, the enterprise, which had so entirely succeeded, terminated on the 24th of July, and the Algerine returned to Rio de Janeiro on the 1st of August. The climate appears to have been favour able to the health of the party; few suffered from sickness, and the expe

dition was unattended with the loss of a single life. On one occasion the divers were visited by a whale, which approached so near the diving-bell as to place the party in imminent danger, but fortunately the enormous creature changed his course without doing any injury.

Places of Worship in England and Wales. - Abstract of the total number of parishes in each diocese of England and Wales containing a population of 1000 persons and upwards; the number of churches and chapels therein; number of persons they will contain; and the number of dissenting places of worship therein. Dated May 20, 1812.

(Memorandum.-The population for the diocese of Bangor, Bristol, Chester, Lincoln, Oxford, and Salisbury, has been collected for this abstract from the population returns in 1801.)

Fire Damp and Choke Damp.-A return of the number of persons who have been destroyed by fire damp and choke damp in the mines and collieries of England and Wales, so far as the same can be ascertained by the Clerks of the Peace from the returns made by the Coroners since the year 1810, to an order from the House of Commons, has been printed, and furnishes the following particulars :-Chester, since 1814, 7; Cumberland, since 1810, 140; Derbyshire, since 1814, 19; Durham, no return yet

Nov.-VOL. XLII. NO. CLXVII.

2 D

made; Gloucestershire, since 1810, 3; Lancashire, incomplete.-No return yet made from the Rochdale district, nor the borough of Wigan. The return from the West Derby hundred is from August, 1827, only, that from the Manchester district so recent as July, 1832, 135; Monmouthshire, since 1810, 3; Northumberland, since 1814, incomplete. The Coroners deliver their inquisitions to the Judges of Assize at the opening of their Courts, and not to the Clerk of the Peace, it is therefore expected that the Clerk of the Assize will be able to furnish a correct account. Nottingham, since 1810, 18; Shropshire, since 1810, 89; Somersetshire, since 1810, one! Staffordshire, since 1818, 104; Warwickshire, since 1810, 3; Worcestershire, no return yet made. York, North Riding, since 1810, 29; West Riding, since 1810, 346. Of these persons, although the whole were killed in the mines and collieries of this district, the particular causes of the deaths of 230 of them have not been stated in the Coroners' returns. In Brecon, since 1815, 15; Flintshire, since 1810, 39; total to August 30, 1834, 1028.

Education in Factories.-The Central Board, with a view to obtain correct information as to the state of education amongst the operatives, in the forms sent out made columns in which should be entered one by one whether the operative could read or not, and write or not; a large body of information had thence been obtained. Most of the factories which made a return as to wages made also a return as to education, but several did not do so. On the other hand, many more factories which did not return an account, one by one, of the wages, have given information as to reading and writing. The result may be seen by the following table:Can Cannot Can Cannot Read. Write. Write.

Yorkshire
Lancashire

Cheshire

Read.
9087

Derbyshire

The following is a summary of the fourteenth annual report of the commissioners for building new churches:-Churches and chapels completed, 208; ditto building, 5; plans improved, 2; grants proposed to be made for building other churches and chapels, 10; total, 225. Accommodation in churches and chapels completed:-in pews, 125,481; in free sittings, 153,568; total, 279,049.

Militia. The Commissioners lately appointed by Government to inspect the Militia Staff in the three kingdoms have finished their report, which states that a great number of the non-commissioned officers are inefficient, and consequently recommends their discharge. They further recommend that the small regiments should be united, and that it would be desirable for them to recruit the regular army. That this plan will be carried into effect, there cannot be a doubt, for operations to that effect have already commenced. The correspondence in future is to be carried on through the Commander-in-Chief's Office.

Education of the Poor.-During the past and the present year 328 schools have been received into union with the National Society, carrying.

up the amount of schools in union to the number of 2937; and 66437. have been voted in aid of the building school-rooms in 104 places, the total expense of the buildings being estimated at 20,000l. The Society has recently made a general inquiry into the state of education under the Established Church in all parts of the kingdom; and an account has been obtained concerning 8650 places, which were found to contain about 11,000 schools, with 678,356 children. It is calculated that there cannot be less, in England and Wales, than 710,000 children under the instruction of the Clergy.

Steam-Navigation.-A return recently published gives the following account of the steam voyages made in the United Kingdom and its dependencies:

It appears from the above that steam-navigation has increased about oneninth part last year, as compared with the year before.

Import of Cotton.-The number of bags of cotton imported into this country from America, from the 1st of January to the 29th of August, 1834, was 663,256. The total number imported in the whole of 1833 was 652,822, being an increase of 10,424 bags, imported in the first eight months of 1834, over the whole imports of 1833.

The exports of cotton goods and yarns from the United Kingdom, from the 5th of January to the 5th of July, 1834, appear, from a Parliamentary paper just printed, to have been as follows:

Cotton Yarn

Cotton Goods

£2,348,655 declared value.
7,395,193

£9,743,848

If the exports of the second half year should equal those of the first, the cotton exports of 1834 will considerably exceed those of any former year.

Assessed Tax Composition.-By the 4th and 5th William IV. c. 54, Compositions for Establishments may be entered into from the 5th of April, 1835, for a term of five years, upon the articles assessed in the present year, including any set up since the 5th April last, paying in addition 1s. in the pound on the amount; and certain of the existing compositions may be renewed in respect of Establishments for a similar term from 5th of April, 1835. The notice of intention to compound or renew to be given by the 5th April next. Articles kept for trade, or charged on persons in partnership, or let or used for hire, are not allowed to be compounded for.

Window Duty-The 7th section of the same act allows a person duly assessed for windows for the present year the privilege of making or opening free of duty any additional window in his dwelling house, warehouse, shop, or other premises; in case of not being assessed by reason of having less than eight windows, his opening an additional number will not make him liable; but in neither instance can he erect or build any addition thereto, or open communication with any other tenement or building adjoining or near, without subjecting the windows in the whole to assessment together, as heretofore.

The quantity of coals consumed in England and Wales is calculated as follows:-In the manufactories, 3,500,000 London chaldrons; in household consumption, 5,500,000-making 9,000,000 London chaldrons, consumed from inland collieries. The quantity sent coastwise on both sides of the island is 3,000,000 chaldrons-making 12,000,000 in all.