118 
the midst of a regenerated people, by whom 
he was adored. While the heroic energies 
of our aged Europe seemed worn out and 
exhausted, a nation, forgotten and debased, 
suddenly awakes, and at once raises itself 
to the height of the sublimest heroism. 
Lord Byron, who had wept over Greece, 
welcomed the first dawn of her liberty. 
Till then, he had known only ambitionists 
and slaves: in Greece he found men. He 
devoted his genius, his fortune and his life, 
to them. Who shall hereafter dare to say, 
that he knew not virtue ?”’ 
—$——[<= 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sir: 
IEUTENANT Evans, in his little 
work, lately published, and which 
certainly was a desideratum, says,—“ Dr. 
Halley is of opinion, that all great peren- 
nial lakes are saline—perennial lakes— 
and by observing which, the Doctor pro- 
poses ‘to determine the age of the 
world!’” 
Again, Lieut. E. proceeds :—“It ap- 
pears by his (the Doctor’s) inquiry, that 
there were no more than four or five of 
these salt-lakes known in his day.”’— 
These the Lieutenant enumerates; and 
adds,—“ Others, however, have since 
been discovered.” 
Will some one of your correspondents 
be good enough to explain this passage 
more particularly; and to name these 
said others ?—Your’s, &c. 
— 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
Variation in the StrenctH and CuE- 
_ MIcaL Prorertizs of Sacine Srrines. 
i a country like England, where so 
great a variety of mineral springs 
exist, it would be well worthy of inquiry, 
whether any change takes place, ina 
series of years, in the saline qualities of 
such waters. There is no argument 
prima facie, why such changes should 
not be induced, On the contrary, the 
saline matter, whether sulphureous, 
chalybeate, or alkaline, may be supposed 
to be gradually expended or exhausted, 
by the percolation of water through the 
strata, and the quantity carried off, in 
solution, by that menstruum. While, on 
the other hand, it is not easy for us to 
conceive any means by which the mine- 
ral or saline substances may be renewed 
in their respective beds or veins. So 
far as geological analogy can guide us in 
the research, these saline strata must 
have been formed at some remote era, 
consecutively with the adjacent strata 
in which they are embedded. But it is 
difficult to avoid the conclusion, that 
such beds of saline matter must be ulti- 
Saline Springs, §¢c.—Jnscriptions on Coins. 
[Mar. 1, 
mately diminished, inasmuch as the 
water, which filtrates through the mass, 
can carry them off, in solution. 
That a-change in the chemical con- 
tents of mineral springs, in general, 
should take place in a series of ‘years, 
is rendered highly probable, by the 
observations of M. Herrmann, with 
regard to the salt-springs at Halle, in 
Saxony. M. Herrmann states, that 
Professor Gren, having analyzed the 
brine from these springs, in the year 
1786, could not discover any trace of 
the muriate of magnesia. But Mr, 
H., having analyzed this brine, twelve 
years subsequent, found the muriate of 
magnesia in the proportion of one to 
seven with the muriate of lime: and, 
during the last year, another analysis 
shewed the magnesian salt in the pro- 
ortion of nearly double that of the 
ime. 
In the saline springs at Schdenbeck, 
also, the water, according to a recent 
analysis by M. Herrmann, contained at 
least six times the quantity of Glauber’s 
salt, in solution with the muriate of 
soda, which the same spring afforded in 
the year 1794. 
From these facts, the frequent analysis 
of mineral springs seems to be well 
worthy of attention. 
——a———_ 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
Mertuop of Reapine Inscriptions on 
OINS. 
HE following ingenious method of 
ascertaining the devices and in- 
scriptions on medals and coins, which 
have been almost obliterated by oxida 
tion, has been communicated by Dr. 
Brewster, in his late number of the 
Journal of Science. 
After alluding to the well-known fact, 
that rough surfaces radiate heat more 
freely than polished ones, it was in- 
ferred by the author, that a similar law 
prevailed with regard to the radiation 
and reflexion of ight; though there is 
not, perhaps, in all cases, a sufficient 
analogy to warrant any decisive opinion 
on the subject. In order to submit this 
question to the test of experiment, the 
author placed some coins, which had 
been partially obliterated in the impres- 
sion, on a red-hot iron, in a darkened 
room, when the letters of the inscription 
appeared more luminous than the other 
portion of the coin, in consequence of 
their oxidated surface radiating light 
more powerfully than the other parts. 
By means of nitric acid, a rough surface 
was given to one part of a coin, Lm 
; other 
