son. The unequalled manual skill of the Indian weaver may be thus explained:-It is a sedentary occupation, and thus in harmony with his predominant inclination; it requires patience, of which he has an inexhaustible fund; it requires little bodily exertion, of which he is always exceedingly sparing; and the finer the production, the more slender the force he is called upon to apply. But this is not all: the weak and delicate frame of the Hindoo is accompanied with an acuteness of external sense, particularly of touch, which is altogether unrivalled, and the flexibility of his fingers is equally remarkable. The hand of the Hindoo, therefore, constitutes an organ adapted to the finest operations of the loom, in a degree which is almost, or altogether, peculiar to himself.

It is, then, to a physical organization in the natives, admirably suited to the processes of spinning and weaving; to the possession of the raw material in the greatest abundance; to the possession, also, of the most brilliant dyes for staining and printing the cloth; to a climate that renders the colors lively and durable; and to the hereditary practice by particular castes, classes, and families, both of the manual and chemical processes required in the manufacture; it is to these causes, with very little aid from science, and in an almost barbarous state of the mechanical arts, that India owes her long supremacy in the manufacture of cotton.

One fact strikingly manifests the national character of this people. It is said that all the Indian weavers, who weave for common sale, make the woof of one end of the cloth coarser than that of the other, and attempt to sell to the unwary by the fine end, although almost every one who deals with them is perfectly aware of the circumstance; and it is, therefore, a rare chance if a single opportunity occurs to the weaver to gain by this means during the whole course of his life!

Description of the Bridge at the Niagara Falls.

The bridge across the rapids of the river Niagara is placed only two or three hundred yards from the edge of the great falls. It extends from the American bank of the river to Goat Island, which separates what is called the "American" from the "British fall." The superstructure of the bridge is formed of timber. It is 396 feet in length, and is supported on six piers, formed partly of stone and partly of wood. When I visited the falls of Niagara in the month of May, the ice carried down from Lake Erie by the rapids of the river was rushing past the piers of this bridge with

a degree of violence that was quite terrific, and seemed every moment to threaten their destruction.

The following very interesting account of this work is given by Captain Hall:

"The erection of such a bridge at such a place is a wonderful effort of boldness and skill, and does the projector and artist, Judge Porter, the highest honor as an engineer. This is the second bridge of the kind; but the first being built in the still water at the top of the rapids, the enormous sheets of ice, drifted from Lake Erie, soon demolished the work, and carried it over the falls. Judge Porter, however, having observed that the ice in passing along the rapids was speedily broken into small pieces, fixed his second bridge much lower down, at a situation never reached by the larger masses of ice.

"The essential difficulty was to establish a foundation for his piers on the bed of a river covered with huge blocks of stone, and over which a torrent was dashing at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. He first placed two long beams, extending from the shore horizontally forty or fifty feet over the rapids, at the height of six or eight feet, and counterbalanced by a load at the inner ends. These were about two yards asunder; but light planks being laid across, men were enabled to walk along them in safety. Their extremities were next supported by upright bars passed through holes in the ends, and resting on the ground. A strong open frame-work of timber, not unlike a wild beast's cage, but open at top and bottom, was then placed in the water immediately under the ends of the beams. This being loaded with stones, was gradually sunk till some one part of it-no matter which-touched the rocks lying on the bottom. As soon as it was ascertained that this had taken place, the sinking operation was arrested, and a series of strong planks, three inches in thickness, were placed, one after the other, in the river, in an upright position, and touching the inner sides of the frame-work. These planks, or upright posts, were now thrust downwards till they obtained a firm lodgment among the stones at the bottom of the river; and, being then securely bolted to the upper part of the frame-work, might be considered parts of it. As each plank reached to the ground, it acted as a leg, and gave the whole considerable stability, while the water flowed freely through openings about a foot wide, left between the planks.

"This great frame or box, being then filled with large stones tumbled in from above, served the purpose of a nucleus to a larger pier built round it, of much stronger timbers firmly bolted together, and so arranged as to form an outer case, distant from the first pier

about three feet on all its four sides. The intermediate space be. tween the two frames was then filled up by large masses of rock. This constituted the first pier.

"A second pier was easily built in the same way, by projecting beams from the first one, as had been previously done from the shore; and so on, step by step, till the bridge reached Goat Island. Such is the solidity of these structures, that none of them has ever moved since it was first erected, several years before we saw it."

Thomas Godfrey,

The inventor of the Quadrant, was born in the year 1704, near Germantown, Pennsylvania. Losing his father when very young, and his mother marrying again, he was put out to learn the business of a painter and glazier at Stanton, a village in the neigh. borhood of Philadelphia.

Very little has been preserved respecting his history. From all accounts he must have been a person of considerable ingenuity. His affection for mathematics occurred at an early period from a chance opportunity of reading a book on that science. Finding the subject perplexed with Latin terms, he applied himself with such diligence as to overcome the difficulty arising from this

source.

It is related that when Sir Isaac Newton's celebrated mathe. matical work made its appearance, the best scholars were obliged to study it with care, and those of a lower rank durst not venture upon it at all. The American glazier, without encouragement from any quarter, and wholly self-taught, ventured upon and mastered this great work at an early age, and finally, with the embar. rassments of an humble trade and extreme poverty, produced one of the most useful of instruments.

There has been heretofore considerable controversy existing, as to whom belonged the honor of this invention. The conclusion now is, that Hadley and Godfrey invented their instruments nearly simultaneously and independently. While the Englishman, with every advantage of oursuit, "stumbled upon" the invention, and is honored in its name, to our countryman belongs the true glory, for his was the result of unassisted genius, acting under adverse circumstances.

Peace to his ashes: although no storied urn or monumental bust marks the spot of his repose, yet his memory will live as long as his country preserves a just sense of the merits of her sons, or the wings of commerce spread the sea.

Musical Kaleidescope.

Some years ago an attempt was made-it was said, successfully-to produce tunes on a principle not unlike that by which the kaleidescope was made to produce carpet and shawl patterns. The materials employed for the purpose consisted of prepared cards, on each of which a bar of an air was arranged according to a certain rhythm and key. Four packs of these cards, marked A, B, C, and D, were mingled together, and the cards were drawn and arranged before a performer at random. Thus an original air was obtained. The plan was said to succeed particularly well in waltzes.

Bernard Palissy.

The celebrated BERNARD PALISSY, to whom France was in. debted, in the sixteenth century, for the introduction of the manufacture of enamelled pottery, had his attention first attracted to the art, his improvements in which form to this time the glory of his name among his countrymen, by having one day seen by chance a beautiful enamelled cup, which had been brought from Italy. He was then struggling to support his family by his attempts in the art of painting, in which he was self-taught; and it immediately occurred to him that, if he could discover the secret of making these cups, his toils and difficulties would be at an end. From that moment his whole thoughts were directed to this object; and in one of his works he has himself given us such an account of the unconquerable zeal with which he prosecuted his experiments, as it is impossible to read without the deepest interest.

For some time he had little or nothing to expend upon the pur. suit which he had so much at heart; but at last he happened to receive a considerable sum of money for a work which he had finished, and this enabled him to commence his researches. He spent the whole of his money, however, without meeting with any success, and he was now poorer than ever. Yet it was in vain that his wife and his friends besought him to relinquish what they deemed his chimerical and ruinous project. He borrowed more money, with which he repeated his experiments; and, when he Jad no more fuel wherewith to feed his furnaces, he cut down his chairs and tables for that purpose. Still his success was inconsiderable. He was now actually obliged to give a person, who had assisted him, part of his clothes by way of remuneration,

having nothing else left; and, with his wife and children starving before his eyes, and by their appearance silently reproaching him as the cause of their sufferings, he was at heart miserable enough. But he neither despaired nor suffered his friends to know what he felt; preserving, in the midst of all his misery, a gay demeanor, and losing no opportunity of renewing his pursuit of the object which he all the while felt confident he should one day accomplish. And at last, after sixteen years of persevering exertion, his efforts were crowned with complete success, and his fortune was made. Palissy was, in all respects, one of the most extraordinary men of his time; in his moral character displaying a high-mindedness and commanding energy altogether in harmony with the reach and originality of conception by which his understanding was distinguished.

Although a Protestant, he had escaped, through the royal favor, from the massacre of St. Bartholomew; but, having been soon after shut up in the Bastile, he was visited in his prison by the king, who told him, that if he did not comply with the established religion, he should be forced, however unwillingly, to leave him in the hands of his enemies. "Forced!" replied Palissy. "This is not to speak like a king; but they who force you cannot force me; I can die! Your whole people have not the power to com pel a simple potter to bend his knee!" He never regained his liberty, but ended his life in the Bastile, in the ninetieth year of his age.

Dyeing Cloth of two Colors.

The following method of dyeing the opposite sides of cloth different colors, is practised by the manufacturers :-A paste is prepared of the finest flour, which is spread on one side: the cloth is then doubled, and the edges closely sewn together: on its immersion in the heated dye the enclosed air expands, and none of the coloring matter affects the inside of the cloth. When this process is completed, the cloth is unsewn, a paste spread on the side already dyed, and the same method is pursued with regard

to the other color.

Remarkable Wooden Bridge.

Near Rochester, in the state of New-York, there are the remains of a bridge over the Genessee river, called Clyde Bridge,