Varieties. 



Archaeology. A fisherman of Calais drew 

 up, a short time since, a cannon, of very 

 ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by 

 means of his nets. M. de Rheims has since 

 removed the rust from it, and on taking off 

 the breech, was much surprised to find the 

 piece still charged. Specimens of the pow- 

 der have been taken, from which, of course, 

 all the saltpetre has disappeared, after a 

 submersion, as it is supposed, of three cen- 

 turies. The ball was of lead, and was not 

 oxidized to a depth greater than that of 

 half a line. 



Artificial Fulminary Tubes We men- 

 tioned in a late number some enormous 

 tubes of vitrified sand, produced by light- 

 ning, which were presented to the French 

 Academy of Sciences. MM. Brudant, 

 Hachette, and Savaiy, undertook the task 

 of endeavouring to make some by artificial 

 means. The natural ones are hollow the 

 channel through them notbeing straight the 

 sides are smooth within, and rough exter- 

 nally. The one which gave rise to these 

 experiments was seventeen feet in length. 

 The philosophers engaged in this experiment, 

 succeeded, by means of a most powerful elec- 

 tric battery, in producing tubes altogether 

 similar to the natural ones, only being of 

 less consistency, and not exceeding a few 

 centimetres in length, or about half an inch. 



Disease of Silk Worms, and its Cure. 

 In the southern provinces of France, where 

 silk worms are bred, it is very common to 

 find them attacked by a disease called the 

 jaundice, in consequence of the colour ac- 

 quired by them : and very careful examina- 

 tion is continually made for the discovery of 

 such worms as may be attacked by it, that 

 they may be removed, kst the disease, being 



contagious, should spread to the others. 

 The Abbd Eysderic, of Carpentras, had re- 

 course to a remedy in these cases, which, 

 though apparently dangerous, has been war- 

 ranted by the success of twenty years. He 

 used to powder his worms over with quicklime, 

 by means of a silk sieve ; he then gave them 

 mulberry leaves moistened with a few drops 

 of wine, and the insects instantly set about 

 devouring the leaves with an eagerness 

 which they did not usually show ; not one 

 of the hurdles upon which he raised his worms 

 appeared infected with the jaundice. It was 

 at first supposed that the coecoons of silk 

 were injured by this process ; this however 

 is not the case, and his method of practice 

 is now adopted generally in the department 

 of Vaucluse. 



Patent Fleam. On several occasions we 

 have mentioned the ingenious inventions of 

 Mr. Weiss the superiority of his stomach 

 pump is acknowledged by all who require to 

 employ such an instrument an apparatus for 

 restoring suspended animation, to which we 

 alluded some time since, having received 

 many improvements, has been found of the 

 greatest practical utility. We have re* 

 cently met with a fleam by this indefatiga- 

 ble artist, by which the former cKimsy and 

 uncertain method of venesection of animals, 

 effected by impelling the blade with a blow 

 from a stick, is superseded by a spring, the 

 action of which can be rendered propor- 

 tionate to the force required, while a smaller 

 spring immediately throws back the blade 

 from the vein which has been opened. We 

 need not expatiate on the advantages of 

 this machine, but cordially recommend it to 

 the patronage of the pubMe* 



WORKS IN THE PRESS AND NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



WORKS IN PREPARATION. 



Mr. Cooper, the Author of the Spy, Pio- 

 neers, Red Rover, &c. has a Work on the 

 eve of publication, entitled Notions of the 

 Americans, picked up by a Travelling 

 Bachelor, in 2 vols, 8vo. 



I. D'Israeli, Esq. has nearly ready, in 2 

 vols, 8vo., The Life and Reign of Charles I. 

 King of England. 



On Deafness, its Causes, Prevention, and 

 Cure. By John Stevenson, Esq. 



On the Curative Influence of the South- 

 ern Coast of England, more especially that 

 of Hastings. By Dr. Harwood. 



The Rev. R. Walsh, LL. D., M.R.I.A., 

 has nearly ready, in 1 vol., post 8vo., a 

 Narrative of a Journey from Constantinople 

 to England. 



Brief Remarks on the Practicability of 

 applying a Spheroidical Correction to the 

 Bearings by Compass at Sea. By Lieut. - 

 Colonel J. Hobbs, Royal Engineers. 



The Rev. S. T. Bloomfield, M.A., an- 

 nounces, in Eight Volumes, 8vo., a new 

 English Translation, with Notes, of the 

 History of Thucydides. 



A Barrister is preparing An Essay on the 

 Power of Rectors and Vicars to lease their 

 Glebe and Tithes for Twenty-one Years, or 

 for Three Lives, so as to bind their Succes- 

 sors. 



A Supplement to the Rev. G. S. Faber's 

 Difficulties of Romanism, in Reply to an 

 Answer by the Bishop of Strasbourg, late 

 of Aire. 



A Spinster's Tour in France and Italy. 



Fishes of Ceylon, after Drawings from 

 Nature. By John Whitchurch Bennett. 



Subterraneous Travels of Niels Khiu, 

 from the Latin of Lewis Holberg. 



A Series of Treatises on the Principal 

 Branches of Manufacturing Chemistry. By 

 M. Astley, of Edinburgh, is about to be 

 published. 



Mr. Edward Upham, after much labo- 



