other means he would be likely to gain 
his object. A continual repetition of 
the same sounds in different words, 
must be the best w&y to familiarise it. 
~ I shall conclude these extracts with 
the following: ‘* Every good speaker,” 
says Mr, Smart, ‘‘ must be able to pro- 
nounce the rough 7 with energy. Many 
persons, from the force of habit, are, 
however, utterly incapable of doing this; 
but substitute a weak sound, not unlike 
i, or something like dh. Others pro- 
Nounce it with suflicient strength, but 
the jar is formed in the wrong hes by 
the lower part of the tongue against the 
. palate, not far from the entrance of thee 
throat, while the top remains inactive. 
This erroneous formation is sure to 
produce, at the same time, a disagree- 
able noise or burr. All these faults are 
to be corrected by attending to the man- 
ner in which r should really be formed. 
Let the pupil begin with. making a buz- 
zing ngise which constitutes z, propelling 
his voice and breath with violence. 
Let him curl his tongue in a_ very’ 
slight deyree from this position, keeping 
the middle part stiff, and the top flexible. 
To assist himself in this respect, he may 
insert at one corner of his mouth a 
piece of strong gold or silver wire, so 
bent as to keep that part of the tongue 
which makes the improper Jar at a dis- 
tance from the palate. By observing 
these directions, and by persevering ef- 
forts, he will, at some fortunate mo- 
ment, acquire the true jar of the tongue 
in which the sound consists; and when 
this is once obtained, in ever so slight a 
degree, it may quickly be improved by 
practice, “Demosthenes is said to have 
-eured a defect which he had in pro- 
nouncing r, by endeavouring to sound 
it with pebbles in his mouth.” 
I have ever felt it my duty, as an in- 
structor of yeuth, to pay every possible 
vattention to this branch of education; 
nor have iny labours been unavailing. 
Children cannot be too early corrected 
of bad habits of pronunciation, for at 
Mo time will the organs of speech be 
more flexible. , : 
_ Sheffield, 
Feb, 9, 1811. 
_ P.S. As several of your correspondents 
mave given their opinion respecting the diss 
ery of the pernicious acid which is sup- 
d to be in some kinds of vinegar, I also 
you mine. If a piece of a tobacco-pipe 
t has not been in use, be put into the fre 
till it is quite hot, and immediately put into 
vinegar, the latter, if it be bad, will make 
he pipe black or of a dirty colour ; and, if the 
be good, it will have the contrary 
“Mow tax Mas. No, 211, 
Jacop Woop. 
_ Rules relative to Spectacles. 
233 
effect.—What is the real cause of the pipe 
turning black? 
—= 
‘To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
PECTACLES, by assisting the eyes 
to converge rays of light, restore and 
preserve to us one of the most noble and 
valuable of cur senses. They enable the 
mechanic to continue his labours and 
earn his subsistence till the extreme of 
old age. By their aid the scholar pur- 
sues his studies and recreates his mind 
with intellectual pleasures; thus passing 
away days and- years with delight and 
satisfaction, which might otherwise have 
been devoured by melancholy, or wasted 
in idleness, 
Spectacles, when well chosen, should 
neither enlarge nor diminish objects, and 
should shew the letters.of a buok black 
and distinct; nor ought they in any de- 
gree to fatigue the eye. 
Everyone must determine for himself 
the glasses which produce the most dis- 
tinct vision, yet some attention should 
be paid to the judgment of the person 
of whom they are purchased. By trying 
many spectacles the eye becomes fa- 
tigued in accopimodating itself to the 
several changes, and the purchaser often 
fixes on a pair-which is injurious to his 
sight. 
People often injure those tender or- 
gans, and deprive. themselves of future 
assistance from glasses, by purchasing 
them of hawkers and pediars, who are 
equally ignorant of the science of optics, 
and of the construction of the eye. 
RULES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE 
SIGHT. ; 
1. Never sit for any length of time in 
absolute gloom, or exposed to a blaze of 
light, and then remove to an opposite 
extreme, 
2. Avoid reading a very small] print. 
3. Never read by twilight, nor by fire- 
light, nor, if the eyes are disordered, by 
candle-light, F 
4. Du not permit the eye to dwell on 
glaring objects, particularly on first awa= 
king in a morning. 
5. Long-sighted persons should. ac- 
custom themselves to read with rather 
less light, and somewhat nearer to the 
eye, than is- naturally agreeable; while 
the short-sighted should habituate them- 
selves to read with the book as far off as 
possible. 
6. Nothing preserves the sight longer 
than a, moderate degree of light; too lite 
tle strains the eyés, and too greata quan- 
tity dazzles and inflame; them. 
2G Do 
