Many methods have been suggested for saving life in cases of accidents on the water: the following was stated to me as an experiment actually made by the relater; he had thus supported himself in the sea, at Plymouth, for twenty minutes, and could have done it much longer. As danger of overturning or of sinking appears, have your hat in readiness, and place it under your chin, holding it with your hands in the same position upon the water as on the head. The air in the crown will prevent the water from rising, and is sufficient to keep the whole head above water.
Homerton. James Edmeston.
ANNIVERSARIES IN JULY.
MONDAY, 15th.
St. Swithin’s Day.—See Saturday Magazine, vol. i., p. 14.
1685 Execution of Duke of Monmouth, after his defeat at Sedgemoor.
1815 Napoleon went on board the British ship Bellerephon, Captain Maitland, after his defeat at Waterloo.
1817 Died, at Paris, the Baroness de Staël, the daughter of M. Necker, and author of several political works, which enjoyed considerable popularity while the events of the French Revolution, with which the name of M. Necker is so intimately connected, were recent. Her works evince much knowledge of the human heart.
TUESDAY, 16th.
622 On this day the flight of the impostor, Mohammed, from Mecca, took place, and from it his followers date the events of their history. This epoch is called, from the Arabic word, which signifies to fly, or to leave one’s country, the Hegira.