570 
beautiful productions of modern art. It 
is to be executed in marble for the here- 
ditary Prince of Bavaria. 
The Academy of Arts, Sciences, and 
Belles Lettres, of Padua, has recently 
‘yesumed its meetings, after a long sus- 
pension. According to its ancient 
practice, it has proposed. several ques- 
tions for the ensuing year; among which 
are the following:—‘* How far is that 
epinion well-founded, which maintains 
that the taste for letters must diminish 
in proportion to the progress made in the 
sciences?’ and “ What improvement 
can be made in the ploughs at present 
made use of in this country, and by what 
means may they be rendered more use- 
ful in labour, better adapted to the cir- 
cumstances of the place, and the quality 
of the different soils?’ The prizes are 
each sixteen gold Napoleons, and the 
answers must be written either in Italian 
or French, 
EAST INDIFS. 
The Abbé Duzois, who was so fortu- 
nate as to escape from France during the 
horrors of the revolution, and has since 
resided in the Mysore country, has com- 
pleted a very valuable work on the va- 
rious casts of India, It has been in- 
spected and highly approved by Sir J. 
Mackintosh and other literary characters 
in India, and by them recommended to 
the notice of the government, who have 
agreed to purchase the manuscript of the 
Abbé, and to publish it at their own ex- 
pence. The translation of the French is 
entrusted toa military officer of conse- 
quence and ability. 
The Massoolah boat, so common on the 
coasts of the peninsula of Hindoostan, is 
one of the most extraordinary inventions 
that navigation has to boast. To all ap- 
pearance any other kind of vessel would 
be safer on the water; but the fact is, 
that no boat of any other kind dare ven- 
ture over the violent surf which breaks 
along the seashore at Fort St. George. 
Tt is unique in its construction, equally 
unlike the solid canoe, and the European 
invention of caulked vessels. It is flat- 
bottomed, and the planks of which it is 
composed are literally sewn together with 
the fibres of the Kyar-rope, made from 
the cocoa-tree; and the stitches, if they 
may be so called, are so little connected, 
that it should seem there could be no se- 
curity against its leaking so much as to 
Literary and Philosophical Intelligence: 
injure its safety. To prevent an accident 
of this nature, each boat is always proe. 
vided with a baler. These boats are 
used to convey goods and passengers to 
and from the ships in the Madras roads ;. 
and, on their return from the ships, they, 
are sometimes thrown with such vielence 
against the shore, that if they did not, by 
their singular construction, yield to the 
shock, they would be dashed in pieces, 
The steersman stands on the stern of the 
vessel, and the rudder is simply an oar, 
The dexterity with which he balances 
himself in a heavy sea is perfectly astoe 
nishing. The number of boats used there 
js one hundred and twenty, and they furs 
nish occupation for upwards of ene thous 
sand natives. 
The Chinese, instead of raising their 
fruit-trees from secds or grafts, as is the 
practice in Europe, adopt the following 
method:—They select a branch fit for 
the purpose, and round it they wind a 
rope of straw besmeared with cow-dung, 
until a ball is formed five or six times the 
diameter of the branch. Immediately 
under this ball, they divide the bark down 
to the wood, for nearly two-thirds of the 
circumference of the branch. A cocoa- 
nut shell, or small pot, is hung over the 
ball, with a hole in its bottom, so small 
that water put into it will only fall in 
drops. By this the rope is kept con- 
stantly moist, a circumstance necessary 
to the easy admission of the young roots. 
In about three weeks it is supposed that 
some of the roots have struck inte the 
rope, when the remainder of the bark is, 
cut, and the furmer incision carried 
deeper into the wood; it is repeated in 
three weeks more. In about two months, 
the roots are seen intersecting each other 
on the surface of the ball, which is a sign 
that they are sufficiently advanced to ad-~ 
mit of the separation of the branch from 
the tree, which is done by sawing at the 
incision, taking care not to cut off the 
rope, which by this time is rotten, and 
the branch is planted asa young tree. It. 
is probable that a month longer would be 
necessary for the operation in England, 
from the difference of climate; but by 
this means, when the branches are large, 
three or four years are sufficient to bring 
them to a state of full bearing, Timber- 
trees, it is supposed, may be advan- 
tageonsly propagated in the same 
Waye 
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