1808.) 
- eonsists in placing the small plane mirror 
in the middle of the telescope, perpen- 
dicularly on its axis and not obliquely, 
which diminishes by one half, the length 
of the reflector. The astronomer Schu- 
bert was directed to examine it, and the 
following report by him is inscribed in 
the registers of the academy:—“ That 
this very ingenious invention afforded a 
more simple method of constructing 
telescopes of larger dimensions than any 
hitherto made, and yet convenient for 
use: that it was astonishing that no per- 
son should have before hit upon the same 
idea, which resulted from the principles 
of the Newtonian telescope; and finally, 
that a reflector constructed according to 
this method would not only have the ad- 
vantage of diminished length, over those 
of Newton and Herschel, but would 
likewise permit the observer to place 
himself in front of the object he is desi- 
tous of examining, and to take a conve- 
nient position which he has afterwards 
no occasion to change. 
The foilowing official publication from 
the office of the minister of the interior, 
has lately appeared in the French jour- 
nals.“ The hopes which were enter- 
tained relative to the use of the wood of 
the chesnut tree in intermittent fevers, 
are strengthened by recent experiments. 
This is sufficient to excite the attention 
of all the officers of health, who, in the 
approaching season of fevers will ‘neces- 
sarily be at a loss for a substitute for Je- 
suits’ bark. The high price and extreme 
searcity of that precious drug, will for- 
bid the use of it. The small quantities 
which they may possess, should be re= 
served for cases when the withholding 
it might endanger the life of the patient, 
But to derive advantage from chesnut 
bark, it is necessary to have large quan- 
tities of it ready prepared and reduced 
to powder, ‘To this end attention should 
be paid to collect without delay, a crop 
of an article that promises to be of such 
important service, by lopping the small 
branches, and taking off the bark, which 
must first be dried and then pulverized. 
The precautions here mentioned are par- 
ticularly recommended by the minister of 
the interior, to the administrators of all 
hospita!s and charitable institutions, as 
well as to apothecaries in general. 
_ A bookseller of Paris, has announced 
his intention to publisha new and impor- 
tant work relative to Spain, by ALEXAN- 
DER DE LA Borpve, author of the splen- 
did Picturesque Travels in that country. 
It will be entitled, a Descriptive Guide 
through Spain, forming five volumes og- 
Literary and Philosophical Intelligence. 
157 
tavo, and will contain a statement of the 
different branches of industry, polity, 
and government, of that kingdom; its 
natural history; the characters and man- 
ners of its inhabitants; and the state of 
the arts, sciences, and literature, -at 
different periods of its history. 
AMERICA. 
The government of the United States, 
influenced by an enlightened policy, 
continues to adopt measures for ascer= 
taining the value and extent of the reyi- 
ons which it has acquired by treaty and 
purchase beyond the Mississipi. For 
this purpose, Captain Prxe, on his re- 
turn from his voyage to the sources of 
that river, was dispatched by the presi« 
dent on another expedition of discovery. 
He was attended by a military escort of 
twenty-two, and by Dr. Robinson of St. 
Louis, who accompanied bim asa vo- 
lunteer on the former occasion. The ad- 
venturers proceeded up the Missouri to 
the Osage river, and pursued their course 
along it, till they arrived at the towns of 
that nation. They there undertook the 
office of mediators between the Osages 
and their neighbours, the Kanzas; be- 
tween whom, a war of extermination 
had been for some time carried on. Hav 
ing succeeded in this, Captain Pike 
proceeded from the banks of the Kanzas 
River, where the accommodation was ef= 
fected, across the country to the River 
Arkansa, At this great stream, the par- 
ty divided; and while one portion, under 
Lieutenant Wilkinson, descended to ex- 
plore it to its junction with the Mississi- 
pi, Captain Pike,-with the other divisi- 
on, ascended towards its source. From 
the great falls where it descends from the 
mountains, he made an excursion to- 
wards the source of the river Plate, and 
returned to another branch of the Arkan-« 
sa, on which he travelled in a west-souths 
west direction, in expectation of finding 
the upper part of the Red River, in- 
tending to follow it downward to Nachi- 
toches, and the junction with the Was 
shita; where Mr. Dunbar had been en- 
gaged in exploring. In this design he 
failed. The Red River had been dese 
cribed as originating in the high moun- 
tains,whence issue the other great streams 
of Louisiana, and running a thotisand 
miles or more from north-west to souths 
east. On the supposition that this opi. 
nion was correct, Captain Pike kept so 
far to the westward, with the intention 
of striking it nearer to its source, that 
he missed it altogether; the head of the 
Red River not being so high, nor its 
course so long by far, as current reports 
had 
