1826.] Phitoiophkal, Clianicul, and Scientific Miscellanies. 



291 



distance to the cast of tlie city, nenr the 

 place wlicre tlio disease was most fatal. The 

 blacks, ronniii!,' about one-third of the popu- 

 lation, lost oidy one-half ])cr cent. ; the 

 Frencli, one ; the Germans, one anda-half ; 

 the Diitcii, two ; the Americans, three ; 

 ^.' the English, four. Men of u sanguine tem- 

 perament were most in danger, for they 

 lost one-tentli : l>iiious jieojjle only one- 

 fiftieth. The mortality was one-half less 

 among women than among men. 



Cranic/iH/;/ — Dr. Patterson, of Calcutta, 

 has observed, tiiat the skulls of Hindoos 

 are to those of Europeans as two to three; 

 or that tlic head of an European of fifteen 

 years is eqn-il in size to that of an Hindoo 

 of thirty. If the size of the head indicate 

 a corresponding intellectual capacity, it 

 may now be conceived how 20,(X)0 Euro- 

 peans have in subjection 1,000,(J(X),000 of 

 L Asiatics. 



B< Indian Medicine. — The dried and ))ul- 

 T verized root of the gigantic asclespia fur- 

 nishes to the inhabitants of Bengal, and it 

 is presun)cd it would be equally erticacious 

 in Eiiro|)e, a powerful remedy for. cuta- 

 neous and gTandular diseases, for leprosy, 

 rheumatism, ru))turcs, &c. The doses in 

 which it is daily exhibited are of ten grains. 

 Zduhyy. — The ornithoryncus, platipous, 

 is oviparous, and frecpiently found in New 

 South Wales. Two or three of these sin- 

 gular animals are preserved in Paris, where 

 the observation has been verified, that the 

 spurs on the hind legs of the male, who alone 

 is armed with them, are hollow, and com- 

 municate with a bag in which a poison is se- 

 creted, which, infused into the wound they 

 may inflict, occasions a swelling, accompa- 

 nied with extreme pain, but death does not 

 ensue. 



Poland. — The number of institutions for 

 public instruction in Poland, amounted in 

 1821 to 1206, and the students to -tS.STl ; 

 so that the number Of students and degree 

 of civilization in this country, were to the 

 same in Germany as one to two, since from 

 the census taken in the latter country in 

 1817, the number of students was to the 

 population as one to .'5,.532, whereas in 

 Poland it is as one to 7,273. 



Siatistics. — Yvom the census taken in 

 Prague in 1823, it appears that that city 

 contains 107,325 inliabitants, of whom 

 86,494 are Christians, 7,308 Jev/s, 1,085 

 occupy the ancient citadel, and 12,350 are 

 military. In the librarv of the university 

 are 1.3,000 volumes. 



Telescopes — The use of telescopes of 

 high power has frequently been considered 

 ai3 indispensable for accuracy in astrono- 

 mical instruments. From observations, 

 however, recently made by Captain Kater, 

 I it has been found that with a pow er of sixty 

 ! there cannot be an error of one-eighth of a 

 second, so far, at least, as vision is con- 

 I cerned. The cause of the uncertain, per- 

 ' haps we might say capricious, performance 

 ^ of reflecting telescopes, which has lately 



engaged the attention of the same gentle- 

 man, seems not to liave eluded his sagacity, 

 and of his verj' ingenious remarks on 

 this subject we shall give some account in 

 a future number. 



Haja Erinaceits. — In the American Jour- 

 nal of Science, a description is given by iMr. 

 Mitchill of a fish, on which he lias be- 

 stowed the name of llaja Erinaecus - the 

 hedgehog-ray. It is taken in the .\tlantic 

 near New- York, and has this specific 

 character : — a tail, b?;iring two dorsal lins, 

 with the vestige of a third at the extre- 

 mity ; thickly aculeated on the sides, 

 though destitute of the spines called stings ; 

 having a pale brown prickly skin, over 

 ■which dark brown spots are distributed ; 

 and having also a patch of about twenty 

 spines on each wing or flai), which, while 

 the wings or flaps are extended and lie flat, 

 are concealed or covered by the skin, but 

 when the wings or flaps are' coutrac ted, 

 come forth and are erected like the claws 

 of a cat, when they are capable of arresting 

 or tearing soft objects presented to them. 



Venire. — The population of A'enice, which 

 amounted in 1787 to 118,000, has now de- 

 creased to 1(X),(XK), of whom one-third are 

 destitute of sulHcient means of support. 

 The ancient nobles, who drew part of their 

 enormous revenues from the places they 

 held in the rci>ublic, are broken down by 

 tile taxes and by the exjiense of maintaining 

 their palaces, while all the working classes 

 can obtain no employment. Venice wan 

 an artificial creation, and can never recover 

 her ancient splendour, unless, under an en- 

 lightened administration, she become a free 

 ])ort, which would render her a dcjiot for 

 the productions of every neighbouring state. 



2\mds. — Tlie popidar belief in the ve- 

 nomous nature of the toad, though of great 

 antiquity, has been rejected as a vulgar 

 prejudice by modern naturalists — decidedly 

 so by Cuvier ; but like many other long- 

 received and prevalent opinions, it is a true 

 one, and the denial of it by philosophers 

 has resulted from superficial examination. 

 Dr. Davy has communicated to the Royal 

 Society that he found the venomous matter 

 to be contained in follicles, chiefly in 

 the cutis vera, and about the head and 

 shoulders, but also distributed generally 

 over the body, and even in the extremities. 

 On the application of pressure, this fluid 

 exudes, or even spurts out to a considerable 

 distance. It is extremely acrid when ap- 

 plied to the tongue, resembling the extract 

 of aconite in this respect, and it even acts 

 upon the hands. Though more acrid than 

 the poison of the most venomous serpents, 

 it produces no ill effect on being introduced 

 into the circulation : a chicken inoculated 

 with it was not affected. 



Population. — It appears from the public 

 registers, that during the seven vears from 

 1817 to 1823, 3,458,965 males, and 

 3,246,813 females were bom in France : 

 these two numbers being to each other ax 



2 P 2 



