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VARIETIES, 



SCIENTIFIC AND AMUSING. 



Chronometers, Constructed with glass 

 balance springs are now undergoing a 

 course of trial at the Royal Observatory. 

 On comparing the glass with the metallic 

 springs, it was found that while the loss in 

 twenty-four hours in the gold spring was 

 eight minutes four seconds, that of steel 

 six minutes twenty-five seconds, and that 

 Palladium two minutes thirty-one se- 

 c onds, while that of glass spring was only 

 forty seconds. 



Newspapers. In England there are 274 

 newspapers, in France 234, in Prussia 288, 

 and in the other German States 305, in 

 Holland 150, in Russia and Poland 84, in 

 Austria 82, in Denmark 80, in Belgium 62, 

 in Switzerland 36, in Portugal 17, in Spain 

 12, and in Australia 9. In Europe there 

 are published 2148, in America 1138, in 

 Asia 27, and in Africa 12. 



Fires in London. The number of fires 

 which have occurred in London within the 

 last twelvemonths is 642, and the property 

 thus consumed is estimated at nearly 

 1,000,000/., only one half of which was in- 

 sured. 



These facts are gathered from the report 

 book kept by "The London Fire Esta- 

 blishment.' 



Royal Printing Office at Paris. This 

 establishment contains the types of fifty-six 

 founts of oriental characters, which com- 

 prehend all the known alphabets of the va- 

 rious nations of Asia, (ancient as well as 

 modern). The consumption of paper in 

 this office in a single year amounts to from 

 80 to a 100,000 reams per day, and the 

 number of workmen regularly employed 

 averages from 350 to 450. 



Patronage of Artists in Russia. Du- 

 ring the stay of M. Horace Vernot in Rus- 

 sia, a Lieutenant General is said to have 

 been attached to his person, and having ex- 

 pressed a desire to visit Moscow, the Em- 

 peror lent him his own relays by which he 

 performed the journey between that city 

 and St. Petersburg!! in thirty-six hours. 

 He received numerous proofs of the Empe- 

 ror's munificence, amongst others a suit of 

 Oriental armour enriched with prec : ous 

 stones, and had commissions given him to 

 the amount of 300,000 roubles. M. Tan- 

 neur, a Marine Painter, has also received 

 an order to paint the " Russian Ports," for 

 which he is to receive 150,000 roubles. 



Rapidity of Flight of North American 



Birds. From a variety of experiments 

 which have been made at different periods 

 it appears, that the Hawk, the Wild-Pigeon 

 and several species of Wild Ducks fly at 

 the rate of a mile in a minute and a half 

 that is, at the rate of forty miles an hour 

 480 between the rising and the setting of 

 the sun, and 960 miles in twenty-four 

 hours. 



Swallows fly at the rate of a mile in a 

 minute, which averages 1440 miles in 

 twenty-four hours. 



Interesting Fact Respecting the Masto- 

 dons. It has been remarked by De la 

 Beche, and is in conformity with the re- 

 ceived opinion of geologists, that the rela- 

 tive age of the deposit in which the remains 

 of the mastodon maximus occur, has not 

 been satisfactorily ascertained. Mr. Rid- 

 dell however, in his " Remarks on the 

 Geological Features of Ohio," relates that 

 the tusk and decayed bones of an unusually 

 large Mastodon were found about three 

 years ago in a morass, near the Ohio canal, 

 which from the character of the surround- 

 ing soil indisputably belongs to the group 

 of modern formations. This fact tends to 

 prove that the North American Mastodon 

 became extinct in comparatively recent 

 times. 



Importation of Eggs from France. 



Out of 73,000,000 of eggs annually im- 

 ported into England from France, Ger- 

 many, the Netherlands, Jersey, Guernsey, 

 and other countries, France contributes 

 55,000,000. The import duty of French 

 eggs landed in England is one franc fifty 

 cents, consequently the annual sum received 

 by the British Government from this source 

 is nearly 500,000 francs. 



Patients in Hospitals. At St. Bartho- 

 lomew's Hospital lastyear,5275 in-patients, 

 7458 out-patients, and 15,137 casualty pa- 

 tients. 



At St. Thomas's the numbers were 3165 

 in-patients and 20,627 out-patienfs, in- 

 cluding casualties, making altogether, 53500 

 persons relieved in one year. 



Middlesex Lunatic Asylum. A parlia- 

 mentary return furnishes us with the fol- 

 lowing statement. 



Total number of patients admitted since 

 1831, 1183. Readmissions 41, permanent 

 cures 181, deaths 386, weekly charge for 

 each patient during 1825, 6s. 5d., which is 

 reduced this year to 5s. lOd. 



