The picture of Innocence alluded to, as being so beautiful, was painted by Mrs. Carpenter. "Her face is fair-yet not the pure, the bright, The holy, cloudless face of Innocence; A bright flower closed in night; and not since then The face of Innocence." The slight blemishes observable in some parts of the versification, at which we have hinted, are more than redeemed by the spirited and beautiful etchings which adorn this volume, a first attempt, it appears, of the authoress in etching upon copper, from drawings, too, of her own design and execution. The title-page has a view of the entrance to the Great Hall at Kenilworth, which can vie with the similar productions of the most finished artist. There is a circular vignette of singular taste, in the centre of which is enclosed the name of the author of the Pleasures of Memory, to whom the volume is dedicated-the north transept of Tintern Abbey, most chastely executed-a vase of flowers, tastefully grouped, and charmingly etched-and a S. W. view of Kenilworth Castle, accurately drawn, and finished with admirable correctness and skill. We recommend this volume to all the patrons of genius, and all the lovers of unsophisticated verse, with the indisputable opinion that it only need to be seen to attract unmingled admiration. A History and Description of the late Houses of Parliament and ancient Palatial Edifices of Westminster; including a particular account of those Buildings, with their official appendages, from the AngloSaxon Dynasty to the final arrangement of the National Parliamentary and Legal Courts, at the same place. By John Britton and Edward W. Brayley. Nos. 1 and 2. John Weale (Taylor's Architectural Library), 59, High Holborn, London. The names of Britton and Brayley are a sufficient guarantee of the utility and interest of any publication which they may send forth to the world. Had these well-known authors not already established their fame as writers on Antiquarian and Topographical subjects to a wide extent, this "History of the late Houses of Parliament and Palatial Edifices of Westminster," would have been amply sufficient to establish their claim to eminence in this engaging branch of literature. To develope the genuine history of these buildings, by a diligent in quiry into their origin, appropriation, and architectural characteristics, and by an earnest endeavour to furnish an insight into the relative states of courtly and national society at different periods, appears to be the professed design of this work. Two numbers only have yet appeared, but from a perusal of these, it is evident that the authors have resorted to every available source of authentic record, and placed before the reader such a distinct narrative of essential facts as cannot fail to awaken his curiosity, inform his mind, and satisfy his judgment. Such evidence is here adduced, and such particulars narrated, relating to Westminster generally, and its Monastery, as tend to elucidate, or at least to indicate its original and progressive occupancy as the national seat of royalty. As the publication advances, it seems, from the design anannounced, that the critical antiquary and historian will be furnished with many passages from ancient records and the Monastic Chronicles, in which the most scrupulous attention is promised to names, dates, and references. We have no doubt of this promise being fulfilled to the very letter, in which event, this will be one of the most copious and complete histories of the metropolitan abbey and ancient palace of our kings that has ever yet been published. That an opinion may be more correctly formed of the style and pretensions of this work, we extract the following account of Edward the Confessor's Palace and Church : "The earliest document of a remote age, from which the existence of a palatial residence on this spot may be directly referred, is a charter given by Edward the Confessor to the abbey of Ramsey. That charter was 'made' at Westminster ;* and although there is no date attached, we are enabled, from the name of Archbishop Stigand occurring in it, as a subscribing witness, to determine that it could not have been granted before 1052, in which year that prelate was first promoted to the see of Canterbury. “About this period, as there is every reason to believe, King Edward was proceeding with his re-construction of St. Peter's Church and Monastery at Westminster; and it may be offered as a reasonable surmise, that he himself erected the PALACE there, from a desire to forward, by his own presence, the efficient progress of the splendid work which he had undertaken. Sulcardus says, 'he pressed on the work very earnestly, having appropriated to it a tenth of his entire substance in gold, silver, cattle, and all other possessions. Compared with the former edifice, it was a very magnificent fabric; and according to Matthew Paris, † it afterwards became an example much followed in the construction of other churches; its general plan being that of a cross, to which the historian appears to allude, by the words novo compositionis genere construxerat ;' the earlier Saxon churches having been built without transepts. Edward, on the completion of his church, determined to have it dedicated in the most solemn and impressive manner; and with that intent summoned a general assembly, at Westminster, of all the Bishops and great men in the kingdom, to be witnesses of the ceremony, which was appointed to take place on the day of the Holy Innocents (December the 28th), 1065. 'About midwinter,' says the Saxon Chronicle, King Edward came to Westminster, and had the Minster there consecrated, which he had himself built to the honour of God and St. Peter and all God's saints. This church-hallowing was on Childermas Day, and he was buried on Twelfth Day in the same Minster.'‡ * He died either on "Historia Ramesiensis,' cap. cxiii. Gale, XV. Scriptores. "This writer, speaking of King Edward, says, 'Sepultus est Londini, in ecclesia quam ipse novo compositionis genere construxerat à qua post multi ecclesias construentes exemplum adepti, opus illud expensis emulabantur sumptuosis."-Historia Major; p. 2, Tiguri, 1589. "This is corroborated by the 'Saxon Chronicle,' copied by Lambard, and now preserved in the library at Christ-Church, Canterbury. See Lye's Saxon Dictionary (Manning's edition) Appendix. The following is the passage:-And King Edward came to Westminster about midwinter, and the minster there which he had himself built, he let be hallowed on Childermas Day; and he died on the eve of Twelfth Day.' the 4th or 5th of January, 1066, and was buried before the high altar in the new church.* "That the palatial buildings at Westminster formed the principal residence of King Edward, may be inferred from the fact of our early chroniclers having assigned the occurrence of several of his recorded visions to that spot. * Tradition has has even identified the chamber where he died, as that which after generations called the Painted Chamber, and by which name it is even yet distinguished." Enough has been selected to shew the character of this singularly interesting work. It is distinguished too, we must observe, by remarkable neatness and accuracy; and the engravings, of which there are four in each number, are no despicable specimens of the art. The Botanic Garden, or Magazine of Hardy Flowering Plants cultivated in Great Britain; by B. Maund, F. L. S. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. Nos. 121-2. (Bordered edition.) The number which completes the fifth volume of this unique publication contains, in addition to four exquisitely coloured engravings, with an account of each plant and the " Auctarium," a Floral Register, descriptive of new and interesting plants, which will greatly enhance the value of the work, and must necessarily tend to increase its circulation. The spirited proprietor, in his preface to the sixth volume, observes, “A continued and still augmented patronage now enables us to offer to our subscribers another tribute of gratitude. In a pecuniary point of view, the most unprecedented success alone could warrant another enlargement of our work. As, however, it would be advantageous to every cultivator of flowers to possess a regular record of every new plant, as it is introduced or becomes known in Great Britain, we have made arrangements for adding to each subsequent number of the Botanic Garden a Floral Register, in addition to the Auctarium. In this we intend to give, monthly, every requisite particular of nearly twenty newly-introduced or interesting plants, belonging either to the stove, the greenhouse, or the open garden; and we hope to illustrate it in a manner that shall render it, ultimately, one of the most complete works of reference ever attempted in this department of science. Like the Auctarium, it is intended for separation from the Botanic Garden, to form an independent volume. Thus three distinct works will be proceeded with simultaneously, constituting a body of garden knowledge, in such forms as we trust will be considered unique." Each flower in the "Floral Register," is illustrated with a neatly executed wood engraving; the class, order, natural order, height, time of flowering, and description of each plant is then given, together with the derivation of the name, and instructions for culture. The number for February opens with the Anagallis Fruticosa, to which succeeds the Scutellaria Peregrina, the Orobus Hirsutus, and the Tulipa Sylvestris. The Floral Register describes 16 plants; and the Auctarium, amongst other useful and pleasing information, contains an interesting account of the Desmodium Gyrans, or moving plant. * "Robert of Gloucester states that he died on the 4th of January, 1066, immediately after he had related the vision in which the calamities which were to desolate his country had been revealed," Arboretum Britannicum; or the Hardy Trees of Britain, Native and Foreign, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described. By J. C. Loudon, F. L., H. G., and Z. S. &c. Author of the Encyclopedias of Gardening, Agriculture, and of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, &c. &c. Longman and Co. London. This is not only a history and description of the trees which endure the open air of Britain, as the title might seem to infer, but a history of the trees of all similar climates throughout the world, shewing what has been done in the way of introducing them, and what may be anticipated from future exertions. The Arboretum Britannicum may, therefore, be considered as a general history of the trees of temperate climates, but more especially of those of Britain. Trees are not only ornamental, but are eminently useful-they not only supply an important part of the food of mankind in many countries, but furnish the more delicate luxuries of the table, and the most exquisite of human beverage in every part of the globe. Wine, cider, arrack, and other liquors, are the products of trees; and there is hardly an art or a manufacture, in which timber, or some other product of trees, is not, in one way or other, employed. They are also the grandest objects of natural scenery, for what would landscapes be without trees? In all ages and countries, trees have been held in high consideration. They are first mentioned in the Sacred Writings, and afterwards in the works of Hesiod and Homer. The garden of Alcinous is said to have contained various sorts of fruit trees: and directions are given in Hesiod for lopping the poplar and other species for fuel; and falling the oak, the elm, and other kind of large trees, for timber. Respecting the trees, however, known to the natives of antiquity, down to the time of the Greeks, the only positive source of information is to be found in the works of Theophrastus. Stackhouse, in his edition of Theophrastus's "Historia Plantarum," has endeavoured to shew the modern botanical names for the plants of which Theophrastus has treated; and Sprengel has done the same thing in his "Historia Rei Herbariæ.” Of this useful and ingenious work, two numbers only have yet appeared, and as they are chiefly occupied with introductory remarks, we are unable at present to extract the marrow of the publication, and it is, therefore, somewhat too early for present criticism, but it certainly strikes us already to be replete with interesting information. The plates are numerous, and the work, in general appearance as well as in matter, has no want of respectability and attraction. It is an undertaking which reflects high credit on the talented author-and we deem it of so much importance that we purpose to allude to it hereafter, when the publication shall be more advanced. EPIGRAM. "Oh, Doctor, you're thinking of mischief, I vow," F. F. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC. LECTURE ON THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR AND WATER. On Thursday, the 22nd of January, Mr. Woolrich, Lecturer on Chemistry, &c. in the Birmingham School of Medicine, delivered a Lecture on the above subject to the Subscribers of the Kidderminster Public Library. "Air and water," Mr. W. observed in his introduction, were formerly considered as elementary bodies; it was not until after the discovery of oxygen by Dr. Priestly, in 1774, that their real composition was ascertained. It is remarkable how little we are indebted to the ancients for discoveries in chemical science, and that amidst all the learning of the Egyptians, and of the Greeks and Romans, there is not the slightest intimation that they were acquainted with any of those elements which constitute atmospheric air and water; and, until Galileo discovered the pressure of the atmosphere, in the beginning of the 17th century, they do not appear to have been acquainted even with the physical properties of these bodies. "The atmosphere is that transparent elastic fluid which surrounds the globe. It is highly elastic and compressible, and subject to all the physical properties of matter. Its pressure at the surface of the earth, on a level with the sea, is about 15 pounds on a square inch; but as its weight or pressure is dependent on attraction of gravitation, it diminishes in geometrical progression the higher we ascend. By this pressure, as Galileo first shewed, water is raised in pumps to the height of about 34 feet, and mercury is supported in the barometer-tube at the height of 30 inches. A column of mercury one inch in diameter and 30 inches high, being just equal in weight to a column of water of the same diameter 34 feet high, and to a column of air extending to the utmost limits of the atmosphere. Air is about 815 times lighter than water: 100 cubic inches weigh 31.0117 grains. "The compressibility of air is only limited by the strength of the vessels containing it, and the space which it occupies is inversely as the pressure; thus, 100 measures of air under any given pressure will, when subjected to double that pressure, occupy the space of 50 measures; and when compressed by only half the original pressure, the same air will occupy the space of 200 measures. Upon the elasticity and compressibility of air all its mechanical properties depend. No means that have ever yet been employed have condensed it into a liquid state, therefore we know not what power would be required to effect this object. There are some bodies which exist in a gaseous state at the ordinary temperature and pressure of the atmosphere, which have been compressed into a liquid state, viz. carbonic acid gas, chlorine, sulphuretted hydrogen, &c. The term gas is applied to all aeriform bodies except atmospheric air. "The extent of the atmosphere has often been a subject of discussion among philosophers, some contending that it is unlimited, while others conceive that it is confined to a distance not exceeding 50 miles. If its extent were unlimited it would be expected that the sun, and moon, and planets, as well as the earth, would each attract around themselves an atmosphere proportionate to their several masses. Dr. Woolaston, in his 'Essay on the finite extent of the Atmosphere,' remarks, that astronomers have not been able to discover any atmosphere about the sun nor about the planet Jupiter, hence he conceives that the atmosphere of the earth is limited, but he supports this opinion by other considerations. He conceives that atmospheric air is composed of particles or atoms incapable of division, (an opinion which now generally prevails as to the constitution of all kinds of matter,) and that when these particles are separated from each other to a certain distance, the further expansion of the air is prevented by the attraction of its particles, and the atmosphere thus becomes limited to that height where calorific repulsion and attraction balance each other; this is supposed to be at the distance of about 45 miles. Observations |