MISCELLANY.
Public Lands.—The highly important bill, for changing the mode of disposing of Public Lands, so that hereafter they shall be offered for sale in half quarter sections, the minimum price to be one dollar and twenty-five cents, and all to be paid in cash, has passed both Houses of Congress, by great majorities, and now wants only the signature of the President to become a law.—This bill is to take effect from the 1st of June next.
From a late London paper it appears, that a new and easy method has lately been discovered, in England, of preventing the destruction of the young turnip plants by the fly, and for which the discoverer was rewarded with 200 guineas. It is merely to sow about 2 lbs. of radish seed on every acre of turnip land, with the turnip seed; the fly, preferring to feed on the radish plants, will, in such case, leave the turnip plants unmolested.
One of the most effectual methods of preventing the ascent of insects on fruit trees, in the spring, is to draw a streak of tar round the body of the tree; but the surface of this soon becomes incrusted by the warmth of the atmosphere, and then the insects are enabled to pass this barrier. To remedy this, mix a proportion of oil with the tar, which will prevent the hardening of the exterior for a considerable length of time; and when the effects of the oil are dissipated, let the exterior be again softened with oil.—This plan is certainly one of the most efficacious for preventing insects from ascending the bodies of fruit trees.
The scab in sheep.—The shepherds, in Spain, cure this disease with an ointment made of the trunk and roots of the juniper, by breaking them in small pieces, and infusing them in water. The sheep of this country are, however, but little liable to the scab.
It is a fact well ascertained, that when apple trees are in bloom, if the farina be gathered from the blossoms of a tree bearing sour fruit, and scattered on those of a tree bearing sweet, the apples produced from these blossoms will partake of the flavour of both trees. In this way the flavour of fruit may be changed for the better—a matter worthy of note, though perhaps not very profitable in practice.
From Munich, Germany, we learn that Dr Vogel has announced the important discovery, that sulphuric acid, diluted with a certain proportion of water, and then applied to saw dust, to old linen, to paper, &c. will change these substances into gum and saccharine matter. M. Chaptal, somewhere in his book on chymistry, has ventured to offer his opinion, very modestly however, that even the chemical art of making gold (the great secret of the philosopher's stone) will yet be discovered—that chymists will yet be convinced that all matter is the same, only different modifications.
Calculation of the Period of a Second Deluge.—According to the calculations of the learned astronomer of Bremen, M. Olbers, after a lapse of 83,000 years, a comet will approach to the earth in the same proximity as the moon; after 4,000,000 years it will approach to the distance of 7,700 geographical miles, and then, if its attraction equals that of the earth, the waters of the ocean will be elevated 13,000 feet, and a deluge will necessarily ensue! after a lapse of 220,000,000 years, it will clash with the earth.
During the late inundation of the Rhine, a hare, dislodged by the water took refuge in a tree. One of the boatmen who were traversing the inundated country, in canoes, to pick up the sufferers, observed the hare, steered for the tree, and without making his boat fast, climbed hastily up to seize the poor animal. The hare perceiving his danger, sprang from the tree into the boat, which was put in motion by the leap of the hare, and floated down the stream, leaving the boatman in his place upon the tree, in the disagreeable necessity of watching the rise of the waters.
The Rhetorical Society at Cortryk, in the Netherlands, has lately offered a gold, and a silver medal, as a prize for a poem of 100 lines, and an epitaph of 12 lines, upon Kotzebue.
From a London paper we have the following advertisement—A new species of man. Among the wonders of nature none have exceeded this extraordinary phenomenon—a man covered with scales, that rattle at the touch, is now in exhibition at the public rooms, 23, Bond Street. Physicians and natural philosophers will find an extensive field open for their inquiries.
By another of a late date it appears, that in Dublin a steam coach is advertised to commence running between that city and Belfast, on the 1st Feb. and is to run from one city to the other, and return every day. It is calculated to run at the rate of about 13 Irish (equal to about 20 English) miles an hour. It is to carry the mail between the two cities. It is calculated that it will be found a safer mode of conveyance for passengers than carriages drawn by horses. The whole weight of the carnage and apparatus is estimated at about 4 tons.
Fires.—A letter from St. Thomas, of the 2d March, mentions that the whole city of Ponce, in Porto Rico, with the exception of one church, was destroyed by fire on the 27th of the preceding month. On the 1st of January last, a fire broke out at Smyrna, which consumed 1500 buildings. On the night of the 2d March, a spacious hotel in Lexington, (Ken) was consumed—loss estimated at 40,000 dollars.
From Pittsburg, it appears that a part of the vast beds of coal in the hills surrounding that place, has been on fire for about 25 years past; that the fire has, until lately, remained in a smouldering state, but has at length got vent, and that during the night it now exhibits the appearance of flame like a volcano. It is apprehended that much of the valuable material of coal, in the vicinity of that place, will probably be consumed before the fire will become extinguished.
At Canton, the imports from the U. States, for the last season, are stated at 7,414,000 dollars, in specie, and 2,693,011 dollars, in merchandize; exceeding that of the English Company three or four millions.
Congress have passed a law for taking another census of the United States. The enumeration to commence on the first Monday of August next, and to be completed in six months thereafter. Accounts of manufacturing establishments, and of the numbers is employed therein, are to be duly noted.
A Check to Intemperance.—The select men in Bedford, (Mass.) have posted up, at the tavern in the town, a list of the names of persons notoriously addicted to drunkenness, and forbidden the sale of liquor to them, under penalty of the laws of that state against intemperate drinking.
The steam-boat Swift, rigged as a brig, is to depart from New York, for Rio de Janeiro, on the 5th of May—is now advertising for freight and passengers.
The grand jury of Putnam county, (Geo.) lately presented, as a grievance existing there, (and probably not less there than in many places elsewhere) the practice, indulged in by the bar of villifying, without sufficient cause, the characters of suitors and witnesses. They request the aid of the court in discountenancing insolence of this kind.
From a late Petersburgh, (Va.) paper, we have the following account of part of the remains of the formidable confederate tribes of Indians, found in Virginia when Sir Walter Raleigh first ascended St. James' river, at the head of which confederacy was Powhattan, the father of the celebrated Pocahontas. These remains are a few of the tribes of the Nottoways, to which tribe Powhattan belonged, the Panunkies and a few of the Mattahonies. Of the Nottoways, says the account, only 27 now remain, at the head of which is a woman, styled their queen, of the name of Edie Turner, of the age of about 60, and said to be quite intelligent, though illiterate. She is comfortably situated in a cottage, with the necessaries of life about her, and her share of the lands, (about 7000 acres, on Nottoway river,) tolerably well cultivated. The language of her tribe is only spoken by her and two others. It is said to be of Celtic origin, and as harmonious and expressive as the Erse, Irish, or Welch.
'Benefit of Clergy.'—Paper was not made earlier than the fourteenth century—and printing in the century following. The art of reading made a very slow progress. To encourage it in England, the capital punishment of death was remitted if the criminal could read, which is termed 'Benefit of Clergy.' Yet so small an edition of the Bible as 600 copies translated into English in the time of Henry VIII. was not wholly sold off in three years.
Nugæ Antiquæ.—Before A. D. 1545, ships of war in England had no port-holes for guns; they had only a few cannon placed on the deck.
There is no mention of writing in the time of Homer. Ciphers, invented in Hindoostan, were brought into France from Arabia about the end of the tenth century.
Respiration in Frogs.—It appears from a series of curious experiments, performed by M. Edwards, that frogs, toads, and lizards, are preserved alive and in health under water for weeks, by means of the air contained in the water, which they abstract, not by the lungs but by the skin.
Chinese Alphabet.—The Chinese have 11,000 letters in use, and in maters of science they employ 60,000, but their articulate sounds do not exceed thirty.
Method of rendering Glass less brittle.—Let the glass vessel be put into a vessel of cold water, and let this water be heated boiling hot, and then allowed to cool slowly of itself, without taking out the glass. Glasses treated in this way may, while cold, be suddenly filled with boiling hot water without any risk of their cracking. The gentleman who communicates the method, says, that he has often cooled such glasses to the temperature of 10°, and poured boiling water in them without experiencing any inconvenience from the suddenness of the change. If the glasses are to be exposed to a higher temperature than that of boiling water, boil them in oil.