60 
like so many livid serpents, pursued the 
Juckless quadrupeds, and gliding under 
their bellies, communicated the most 
violent and rapid shocks, The terrified 
horses, suffering agonies, raising their 
manes, and flashing fire from their strain- 
ing eye-balls, rolling in pain, in vain en- 
deavoured to escape. In less than five 
minutes two of them sunk under the 
water, and were drowned. Victory 
seemed now to declare for the gymnoti. 
But their activity began to diminish ; fa- 
tigued by the repeated exertions of their 
pervous energy, they less frequently dis- 
charged their electric fluid. The horses 
which had survived the early attacks, 
gradually recovered their strength, and 
at the end of an hour the gymnoti retired 
from the combat in such a state of lan- 
guor and exhaustion, that they were 
without difficulty drawn to the shore by 
cords having hooks at their ends. 
. EAST INDIES. 
The Pagoda of Chillembrun is among 
the most considerable establishments of 
jtskind. The tank is about 600 fathoms 
square. The hall of the thousand columns 
Patents lately Enrolled. 
[Feb: t, 
really contains 3 thousand columns, dise 
persed in rows twelve feet distant from 
each other. ‘The tallest are 24 feet 
high; theshortest 15 feet. Alate French 
traveller took the pains to measure this 
hall correctly: he says it is 70% fathoms 
in length; and 35 fathoms in breadth. 
The number of persons in the service of 
this pagoda, is enumerated, by that tra- 
veiler, to be, Brahmins for the religious 
ceremonies 5,000; Pandarons, to dress 
the altars, 300; dancing girls 100; mue 
sicians and writers 40: 5,440. The po- 
pulation of Chillembrun, to the amount 
ef 30,000, is wholly in the employment 
of the Brahmins or the pilgrims which res 
sort to the temple. 
Wrst INDIES, 
A dreadful hurricane visited the island 
of St. Domingo, or Haiti, and the island 
of Cuba, which lasted from the 23d to 
the 26th of September. In the Havan. 
nah alone 70 vessels were wrecked. 
The city of St. Jago de Cuba, was en- 
tirely destroyed by an earthquake, in the 
month of October last. 
PATENTS LATELY ENROLLED. 
— a 
MR. WILLIAM CLERK’S, (FDINBURGH,) 
for a newly-constructed Grate for 
preventing Smoke, and regulaling 
Heat. 
HiS invention consists chiefly in 
surrounding the open part of the 
fire-place with a glass screen. When 
the grate stands against a wall, it is re- 
commended, that before the part that 
looks ta the room, and at the distance 
of abont nine inches from the fire, there 
should be-a frame of iron-work made to 
hold small squares of glass, which is 
completely to enclose the opening of the 
fire-place. The bars of) iron are not to 
be set farther than about three inches, 
to prevent the heat of the fire trom crack- 
ing the glass. This frame-work is to be 
moveable on hinges, not for the supply 
of air, for that is to be conveyed by 
means of a pipe from the apartment in 
which the fire is, or from any other, as 
may be most convenient and agreeable. 
The back and sides of the upper part of 
the grate, are to be lined with plates of 
jron, so completely as to leave only-a 
small-opebing for a pipe, or funnel, to 
carry off the smoke fros the fire, and to 
give a free circulation to the air. Th 
advantages of this invention are, accords 
ing to the patentee, that no smoke or 
dust can be introduced into the room ; 
and that the heat and pleastre arising 
from an open fire, will nevertheless be 
experienced. And it is said, the tem- 
perature of the room will be rendered 
more equable by this mode of heating, 
than by any other yet in use. 
Observations—In this, as in many 
other inventions, we fear that the prac 
tice will not correspond with the theory ; 
a great part of the heat will unquestion- 
ably be lost in its. progress through the 
screen, the glass itself will stop much ; 
the iron-bar work, which admits of open- 
ings only three inches square, will stop 
much more. Another material incon- 
venience will be found in the small funnel 
leading from the fire to the chimney, it 
must be perpetually filling with soot, and 
of course must every two or three days, 
be taken down to be cleansed. We 
shall, however, be glad to see the scheme 
reduced to practice, and we have been 
informed. that the trial is to be made in 
one or both houses of parliament. 
MRe 
