216 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



constant observation, he says, has proved that it rains more fre- 

 quently when the barometer is low than when it is high. On the 

 other hand, observation shews that the barometer is lower in the 

 first quarter of the moon than in the last, and lower when the moon 

 is in perigee than when it is in apogee. From which it necessarily 

 follows that there ought to be more rainy days in the first quadra- 

 ture of the moon than in the second ; and, similarly, there ought 

 to be more rainy days when the moon is in perigee than when it is 

 in apogee ; which is in perfect concordance with numerous obser- 

 vations. — Antologia,'No. 101. 



27. Decomposition of Rocks. — The decomposition of rocks into 

 globular masses has often been noticed. Dr. Klipstein quotes a 

 case in Wetteravia, at Roosfield, near Holzheim, where schistose 

 basalt is surmounted by prismatic basalt. The upper parts of the 

 prisms are decomposed into small globes, which are more regular 

 the nearer they approach to the surface. At Fauerbach, near 

 Friedberg, a basaltic colonnade rises through diluvial sand ; the 

 columns are everywhere of the same thickness, and are divided 

 into balls, which increase in regularity from below upwards. The 

 basalt passes into wacke. — Hertha. Bull. Univ. B. xvii. 321. 



28. Swedish Iron. — The quality of Swedish iron, and consequent 

 demand of it for particular purposes is well known : at. the same 

 time, the quantity produced is but small. The following is the 

 sale for 1828, given in tons: — 



29. Commerce of the Sandwich Isles, in 1828. — The Berlin Ga- 

 zette contains the following extract from a letter written and dated 

 March 4, 1828, from Honoluno, in Oahu, one of the Sandwich 

 Islands : — 



" The merchant vessels which go from America to the East 

 Indies, find sale here, more or less advantageously, to the amount 

 of 20,000 or 30,000 piastres of their cargoes, in glass, cloth, linen, 

 &c. &c. Civilization and commerce have made great progress in 

 these islands during some few years past. To this time the indi- 

 genous sandalwood has been the principal article of exchange, and 



