shorter cut than to go by the sides of the field, which are at angles with each other. A learned philosopher will explain very optically and very logically the subject of refraction. He states that the rays of light, in passing through different media, as air and water, are diverted from their rectilinear direction, and occasion the objects of vision to be seen in other than their actual places and positions. When the rays pass from the rarer into the denser mediums, they are drawn nearer the perpendicular; but when they proceed from the denser medium into the rarer, they move in a direction further from it. In illustration of his reasoning, he takes a basin, places a shilling on the bottom, securing it by sealing-wax from shifting its position, and then pours in some water. You are required previously to retire, so as just to lose sight of the piece of money from the edge of the basin, and as the water flows in, it is perceived to rise into full view. This, he tells you truly, is owing to the refractory medium, the water; and a pretty experiment it is for juvenile philosophers. But the rustic villager has it all before him in another form, and | with the practical application of the theory. He takes his gun, or the gun of his master, to shoot a large species of fish, which he sometimes snares; but instead of aiming directly at it, he has learned to calculate upon the power of the refracting medium, and levels his piece so as to allow for it. The indirect aim secures his object, because he knows that the bullet is diverted from its immediate course, like the rays of light, by the water through which it has to pass. The history of natural arithmeticians, if the expression may be used, is remarkable. The means of acquiring their untaught knowledge have in some instances been developed—in others it has remained an impenetrable secret; and

what is curious, they have never been found capable of explaining it themselves. Thus, in the case of a girl at Bethnal-green, in the east of London, she stated that the first tendency in her own mind to numbers and calculations was discovered by continually detecting herself in counting the threads in her loom as she wove them. Her mind accompanied her shuttle, till she reckoned them with the interstices crossways, and in every form of possible or imaginary position. From addition she proceeded to multiplication, but then lost herself in the wilderness of an extensive domain of thought, which she could traverse, though she knew not how, with the utmost facility. The Devonshire boy was still more extraordinary: he could answer at once, or in the shortest time which can well be imagined for such a work, the most difficult questions proposed to him by expert calculators. Many have employed hours to prepare sums which he could give with perfect accuracy in a few minutes; but neither could he explain them, nor afterwards, although instructed for the purpose, the method of arriving at his solutions. The faculty was at first discovered in a singular way. Two butchers were disputing about the price of a hog which one had sold to the other. They reckoned so many stone at such a price; but the odd money, or fractional results, surpassed their arithmetic. The boy in question was playing with some little schoolfellows of his own age at marbles, seemingly taking no notice; but at length burst forth with a kind of triumphant laugh at their stupidity, and told them the exact amount. They were at first indignant at his impertinence, but at last yielded to his knowledge; and the circumstance becoming the talk of the village led to the further discoveries of his surprising talent.

X.

"UPON what subject shall I write ?" thought I with myself; but the visions had fled, and all was a blank to me. I called, but not one of the countless millions of things, real or imagined, would stand up and give me the likeness thereof. "I gnawed my pen, then dashed it on the ground, sinking" but, alas! not "from thought to thought;" for it was descent in sheer mental vacancy, as silent and as actionless as that of the down of a feather when it drops, heavily as lead, through the altitude of an exhausted receiver in an airpump.

I tried the three resources recommended by the matchless Stagyrite who taught the Macedonian youth to conquer the world, in order that he might impart, if possible, the learning of Greece to the people, and send, in return, specimens of the productions of all lands for the benefit of the philosopher-students at Athens.

As he directs, I looked upon the ground to see what memorial of the past would come to my assistance; but the waters of oblivion had passed over it, and not a vestige presented itself. Again I looked upward to the sky, in fond anticipation of the fore-cast shadow of some coming event; but, alas! the seal of secrecy was upon the whole, and would not be broken. I looked straight forward along the level line, in hopes to discern something of the passing day; but the day, too, was subjectless and silent. Thus was I compelled to abandon all the three resources of Aristotle.

Then I tried my usual sources of reminiscence, the corners of the room,-the books in or out of place, the coal-skuttle turned the right way or the wrong,--and all those little artificial helps which I had aforetime found so redolent in ideas; I even dared to cast a glance upon

that sacred cobweb in the corner, the contemplation of which had aforetime enabled me to solve, in so satisfactory a manner, the knotty problem as to whether an angle can pass through empty space, and solid iron, with equal rapidity and absence of fatigue. The cobweb enabled me to say, "Yes," in the case of the angles; and I would maintain it sturdily to this day against the whole host of the Jesuits, and the convocations of Cam and Isis to boot: but on the present occasion the cobweb was as mute of information as the spider which constructed it; which spider must have gone the way of all spiders more than twelve months ago. I was thus reduced to an extremity. The pens, the ink, the paper were all ready, and there was a willing mind; but not a subject would present itself by means of which I could enter the lists of immortal fame upon the arena of "WARD'S MISCELLANY." I went into the garden in despair; a branch of a Maddock's cherry-tree extended across the walk, and there was pendent from it a single withered leaf, the last remnant of that foliage which had been so gay and green upon it in the season of the year's beauty. Just as I approached it, it dropped down, not by the agitation of the wind, for there was not a breath stirring; but by the gentle law of nature's allbountiful Author in the fulness of its accomplished work. I caught it between my hands ere it reached the ground; and there came over me a thrill of exultation, as if I had been touched by the Spirit. Here," thought I to myself, "is a subject ;" and with this subject I returned to my study.

A leaf, slightly as we pass it by, and heedlessly as we tread upon it, in consequence, probably, of the frequency of its occurrence, is one of the most wonderful productions of nature. The first consideration upon this, as upon every other subject, is to know exactly what we mean by the word we make use of; which, in the present instance, resolves itself into a correct answer to the question, "What is a leaf?" To find a correct answer to this is the more necessary, because many modern botanists, infected by a species of mania, to which they have given the name of "morphology," or the doctrine of forms,-and when they dreamed of which they must have been spell-bound by Morpheus, or some power more leaden still,—have endeavoured to persuade the world that thorns, and roses, and berries, and apples, and all sorts of fruits, are nothing but changed leaves; in short, lord Peter's conversion of the brown loaf into all the luxuries of the larder, was nothing to the metamorphosis of the leaf under the hands of these gentlemen. And, in order to complete the parallel, they stand ready to inflict as deep an anathema upon all who are sceptical as to their dogmas, as lord Peter did upon his two brothers, Martin and Jack, when they would not receive and eat the brown loaf as a shoulder of mutton.

A leaf, in the proper sense of the word, knows no metamorphosis. Sometimes it is well expanded, and sometimes not, according to circumstances; and its form changes even in the same plant, when that plant requires a difference of habit. There is no leaf, properly so called, upon the cellular plants, the mosses, the lichens, and the fungi; and, indeed, the latter of these, as they appear above the ground, or external of the bark of those trees on which they are parasitical, are flowers, and nothing but flowers. Sometimes the discrepancy in appearance and size between the flower, and the plant which produces it, is so great, that, while the flower is absolutely splendid in its magnitude, the plant is so very small, that it can with difficulty be discerned with the microscope: thus, for instance, the krûbút, (raffelsia arnoldi,) which grows in Sumatra, is in the shape of a well-formed flower, consisting of fine petals, of a foot in length each, with a nectary in the centre which would hold twelve pints, and the whole weighing fifteen pounds. This grows upon decaying wood in the wild forests of the oriental islands, much in the same manner as common fungi, or toad-stools, grow upon decaying wood in our own forests. But, notwithstanding the magnitude of this flower, which is greater than that of any other known one, observation searches in vain for the plant, and no root, no stem, and no leaf, can be discovered. This is but one specimen of a very curious class, which we shall probably have again and again to introduce to the notice of the readers of the " Miscellany." The whole class are, however, leafless; and were we to seek a practical answer to our question, "What is a leaf?" our appeal to them would be unavailing.

No herbaceous plant, that is, no plant the stem of which dies down seasonably, either with or without a similar perishing of the root, possesses a leaf, in the proper sense of the term; a blade of grass or corn, for instance, though a green development of the plant, and calculated to answer nearly the same purpose which a leaf answers in those plants which have leaves, is not a leaf.

Again, no plant which, standing for more than one season, grows from the centre only, or is what botanists call endogenous, which just means growing from the centre, possesses a leaf, in the true sense of the word; and there are some of the ever-green exogenous trees of tropical countries, of which it is very doubtful whether the green expansions come properly under the designation of leaves. The palms are stately trees of great beauty and long endurance; and the green expansions which form the crown of the palm are among the most graceful productions of the vegetable kingdom; but still not one of them is a leaf, they are part and parcel of the stem of the tree, which stem consists of nothing but the remains of those green productions.

He slumbers long, sweet mother,
Upon thy gentle breast,

Thou'rt weary now with watching,
Sweet mother, go to rest:
There seems no pain to stir him,

The peril sure is past;

For see, his soft hand clasp'd in thine,

He heeds nor storm nor blast.

Why dost thou gaze so wildly?
Why strain thy strong embrace?
Unlock thy fearful clasping,

And let me see his face.

So down that mother laid him,

In her agony of care,

And kissed that cold and marble brow

With calm and fix'd despair.

O weep! there's holy healing

In every gushing tear,

Nor question thus that beauteous clay,— The angel is not here:

No shut of rose at even-tide

Was with a peace so deep;
As thus thy youngest, fairest one
Sank down in dove-like sleep.

Where best he loved to hide him,
In that dear sheltering spot,
Just there his tender spirit pass'd-
Pass'd, and she knew it not.

Or a science so generally despised as entomology has been, it is very natural that the few votaries should find pleasure and satisfaction in each other's company; and, conscious of having a worthier pursuit than men give them credit for, should hold sweet council together, and look down on the very world that was looking down on them.

Many attempts have, therefore, been made in this country to establish entomological societies, the history of which it is the duty of the author to record, as far as he is able, from the remaining documents.

First. The Aurelian Society, which was held at the Swan Tavern, in 'Change-alley; the date of its formation is unknown, but from Moses Harris we learn

that it existed in the year 1745. The laws and regulations of this society have not descended to us.

On the 25th of March, 1748, the great fire which happened in Cornhill burnt down the Swan Tavern, together with the society's valuable collection of insects, books, &c., and all their regalia.

The society was sitting at the time; yet so sudden and rapid was the impetuous course of the fire, that the flames beat against the windows before they could well get out of the room, many of them leaving their hats and canes.

His fond lip never trembled,

Nor sigh'd the parting breath,

When strangely, for his nectar'd draught, He drank the cup of death.

Full was thy lot of blessing,

To charm his cradle hours,

To touch his sparkling fount of thought, And breathe his breath of flowers,

And take the daily lesson,

From the smile that breathed so free
Of what in holier, brighter realms,
The pure in heart must be.

No more thy twilight musing
May with his image shine,
When in that lonely hour of love
He laid his cheek to thine:
So still and so confiding

That cherish'd babe would be,
So like a sinless guest from heaven,
And yet a part of thee.

But now his blessed portion
Is o'er the cloud to soar,
And spread a never-wearied wing
Where sorrows are no more,
With cherubim and seraphim

To tread th' ethereal plain;
High honour hath it been to thee
To swell that glorious train.

SOCIETIES.

Their loss so much disheartened the members, that, although they several times met for that purpose, they never could collect a sufficient number to form a society, so that, for fourteen years, there was no meeting of that sort.

Second. The Aurelian Society was established in the year 1762; it arose, phoenix-like, out of the ashes of the old; four years afterwards this society was in existence, as appears from the fact, that, in 1766, Moses Harris dedicated to it his work entitled the "Aurelian." We have no further account of it.

Third. The Society of Entomologists of London was established in the year 1780; its minute-book is carried down to the first week in August, 1782, at which time it appears to have discontinued its sittings. We hear from Mr. Haworth, that the cabinet of two of its members, Mr. Tinley and Mr. Bently, were rich in lepidoptera and coleoptera.

Fourth. The Aurelian Society was established in the year 1801; it was proposed and managed by the late Mr. Haworth, the author of "Lepidoptera Britannica." The collection was Mr. Haworth's own property, and was to be given up to the society as soon as it should consist of twenty members, which number it never reached.

The objects of this society were to form a complete and standard cabinet of the entomological productions of Great Britain; to ascertain their names, uses, and distinctions, the places and times of their appearance, food, economy, and peculiarities; and to point out to the public the readiest and most desirable methods of destroying such as possess properties which are inimical to the welfare of mankind.

Any person desirous of becoming a member of this society was to be approved by every member of the society at the time being; was to give up one specimen of every species in his own collection which the cabinet of the society did not possess. The elected member was to receive in return duplicate specimens from the society's collection, or money, if he preferred it.

By these means (say the rules) the Aurelian cabinet must ultimately arrive at the standard of perfection; and the separate collection of every member of the society will gradually increase both in number and valne. But, alas! neither the society nor the collection ever attained perfection; the society was dissolved in April, 1806, and the collection returned to Mr. Haworth. Fifth. The Entomological Society of London arose the same year, 1806, as it were, out of the ashes of the first, and consisted of nearly the same members which were in this society. No member was compelled to give up unique specimens to a general collection, but a small collection was formed, principally by the generosity of Mr. Haworth.

This society made more progress than either of the preceding; it met regularly, and published three numbers of Transactions, the last of which appeared in 1812; but after this, the death of some members, and other defalcations, brought the society into considerable trouble, and regular meetings were abandoned in the following year, 1813.

Sixth. The Entomological Society of Great Britain. A third society was formed in 1822, like the preceding, out of the ruins of the old one. This was a nonsubscribing society; it lasted only two years, and then merged into the Zoological club of the Linnæan Society of London.

Seventh. The Entomological Club was formed in 1925. This was also a non-subscribing society; it consisted of eight members, with no power to increase the number. Since its establishment, two vacancies only have occurred, each of which has been instantly filled by the election of another member; and the

club has continued to meet every month since the day of its establishment.

In the winter of 1831-2 it was agreed, at a meeting of the club, to publish a quarterly Magazine, the man. agement of which was undertaken by members then present; the Magazine was to be open impartially to all contributors, no preference to be given to the members of the club. The first number of the Magazine, called, "The Entomological Magazine," was published on the 1st of September, 1832, since which period it has appeared every three months, with the utmost regularity.

The Entomological Magazine" is published by Messrs. Westley and Davis, and has attained a very extensive circulation, not confined to this country, but on the continents of Europe and America. It treats not only of scientific entomology, but devotes a large portion of its pages to the history of insects, as con. nected with agriculture and horticulture.

Eighth. The Entomological Society of London was formed in 1833; its first scientific meeting was held on the 2d of December of that year; and succeeding meetings have been held on the first Monday of every month from that time to the present.

This society has been much more extensive than either of the preceding, having reached, in November, 1834, to the number of one hundred and twenty-seven members; a remarkable number, considering the unpopular nature of the subject, and the short time of the society's existence. It included among its members most of the publishing entomologists of the present day.

Unhappily, however, dissension has arisen on the propriety of expending the funds of the society in publishing Transactions. The advocates for publication being in power, the measure was carried against those of a contrary opinion, greatly to the dissatisfaction of some of the members.

On the 1st of November, 1834, a first part of the Transactions was accordingly published. And now another trouble arose those entrusted with the publication had introduced into the Transactions an uncourteous review of the "Entomological Magazine," a work which, from the first, had zealously supported the society. This has alienated the friends of the "Entomological Magazine," and not them only, but many others, who insist that it is an unworthy act of a society to descend to such a course.-Newman's Grammar of Entomology.

the painter and the engraver a wide field for the exertion and display of their talents. Whether the evil and the good have been equally balanced, we are not prepared to determine. With a few splendid exceptions, the latter has been gradually deteriorating, and we are sorry to add, that there has been no improvement in the former. Long before the gilt on the covers of these gorgeous nothings has been tarnished, by their exposure to the handling of all comers, on the drawingroom table, their insipid tales and namby-pamby verses are forgotten. Of "FISHER'S JUVENILE SCRAP-BOOK" for the present year, we can speak as highly as of any of its contemporaries. The pictorial department is well supplied with beautiful specimens of design and execution; but they are evidently not illustrations of the literary contents of the volume: the artist has not ministered to the writer, but the writer to the artist; and this, probably, will account for their great disparity in point of merit. "Wrington Church," by William Martin, is touching; and, in a true poetical spirit, breathes of nature and religion. But what has it to do with Wrington any more than with Clifton? What reference has it to the grave of Hannah More? At the close there is, indeed, an allusion, but too slight when compared with the interest and the claims of the subject. Hannah More is entitled to far higher distinction than a passing tribute, though she is above eulogy, and has reared her own imperishable monument in her works.

The following lines convey an impressive moral, and in a style of great simplicity :

But yet be sure

Within abides the soul-fashioned to soar,
That, when the world hath perish'd, will endure
For evermore.

We do not like the engravings the worse for having presented themselves to us on a former occasion, and under different associations. The pleasures of memory are among the purest enjoyments of life; and scenes and faces are not less welcome because they are familiar.

We have traced the progress of "THE CHRISTIAN KEEPSAKE," this best of the Annuals, with unfeigned satisfaction. Every year has added to its improvement; the spirit of the publishers has kept pace with the patronage of the public, and the volume upon our table is the result of both. To begin with the portraits :How often, when the poetry of Felicia Hemans has

stirred our bosoms with the loftiest and tenderest emotions, have we fancied to ourselves the form and features of a being so gifted, and so worthy of our admiration and esteem! and when her bust appeared, the spirituelle which classic taste had thrown around the marble, and which seemed to realize to our imagination all that we had conceived of an original, which we scarcely considered as belonging to the earth, we were gratified. But still there was something wanting -there was the poet, and nothing more. But what shall we say to the poet and the woman so sweetly blended in the portrait now before us? At the first glance we confess we felt something like disappointment; the features did not appear to possess all the delicacy and refinement, the form rather approaching to the en-bon-point, all the poetical elegance we anticipated. But we saw at once that it must be a likeness; and as we perused the countenance, which we did, till the eyes beamed on us with living intelligence-and the very lips had language-we felt that we were holding communion with the being who had so often carried us through her forest sanctuary up to the heaven of heavens. We now possess all of Felicia Hemans that cannot die; art has rendered the beautiful permanent, and her mind lives and breathes in her works.

Dr. Carey occupies in this volume his appropriate place the first of Missionaries, the apostle of modern times, is worthy of all the honour that the Christian catholic church can possibly confer upon him. We thank Mr. Dyer for this brief memoir; we wish it could have been more extended, especially as the work of Eustace Carey is in so many respects below his subject, and, as we think, injurious to that high reputation which he had earned, as possessing the noblest order of intellect, and the purest elements of moral and religious character.

Thomas Clarkson. Both portrait and narrative are executed with fidelity and grace. The moral of the latter is, "The mighty effects single good men may realize by self-devotion and perseverance."

The next portrait, that of the Rev. William Jay, is inferior as a work of art, and, as a likeness, is a total failure. It ought to have been cancelled. Among all the portraits of this most justly popular and eminently useful preacher, how has it happened that not one has caught a single characteristic expression of his fine and now strongly-marked countenance?

The portrait of Bishop Ryder has all the individuality which we suppose the episcopal costume will allow. Lawn sleeves and a cauliflower wig may do very well to set off a picture, and to give an imposing appearance to their wearer; but the man they disfigure by excess of ornament. Dr. Ryder was a devout Christian, and a worthy pastor of souls under the great and good Shepherd.

Jan Zatzoe, a Christian chief of the Amakosæ, South Africa, is a spirited performance.

The subjects of the remaining illustrations are, Missionary Grave at Eimeo-Feast of the Mohurram -The Mountains of Aboo, in Guzerat-Dome at Worms-The bath in which Bishop Heber diedRhodes Church of Vasili Blagennoi, and part of the Kremlin, Moscow-Marina, Malta-Dr. Doddridge's mother teaching him Scripture history by the Dutch tiles-Basle.

We promise our readers the highest gratification of taste in these splendid productions of art, and an equal mental pleasure in the perusal of the literary contributions by which they are accompanied. Two pieces, with the signature, T. Aveling, Highbury College-"The Missionary's Grave," and Mountains of Aboo," are fine specimens of talents which we rejoice to see consecrated to the work of the Christian ministry.

"The