1829] 
particularly the case with D’Anvyille—pos- 
sessing much critical acumen, profound 
learning and great industry, united in a 
degree which we believe was never before 
nor since found among his countrymen ; his 
works are for the most part unknown at 
present, and ancient and modern compara- 
tive geography has scarcely advanced one 
step since his death. D’Anville’s maps 
have been reduced and_re-published usque 
ad nauseam. Even where that great man 
had fallen into error, his servile copyists 
have blindly followed; and this country, 
though professedly classical in its pursuits, 
could not boast any decent atlas of the an- 
cient world. This state of things which 
had been of such shameful continuance, at 
last attracted the attention of the first school 
in the kingdom, and Eton has been the 
cause of giving to the world, by far the best 
system of ancient geography which Europe 
can boast. We give Mr. Arrowsmith, 
whose name this Comparative Atlas bears, 
full credit for the undertaking, which we 
recommend to the public as equally suited 
for the instruction of youth, and for a com- 
panion to the scholar’s library. The an- 
cient and the modern map of each country 
being arranged opposite to each other, af- 
fords an unusual facility of reference, of 
which we availed ourselves with much plea- 
sure, when we found that the number of 
ancient towns and cities ascertained by 
D’Anville had been nearly doubled, and 
humerous corrections in the positions of 
others, which only more extensive research 
into ancient authors, combined with the re- 
sults obtained by recent travellers, could 
haye enabled him to effect. To render the 
work more generally useful, a map of the 
western hemisphere has been introduced ; 
we could have wished that one of North, and 
another of South America had also been 
given—the trifling addition to the cost of a 
very cheap work, would scarcely have been 
grudged by those who think it as requisite 
to have an universal knowledge of geogra- 
phy, as an acquaintance with those parts of 
the world which fell within the limited 
knowledge of the ancients. 
Substitute for Tea or Coffee.—At one 
of the last meetings of that very useful in- 
stitution, the Medico-Botanical Society of 
London, a communication was read from 
Sir H. Willock, K.L,S., Charge d’ Affaires 
at the court of Persia, on the cichorium in- 
tybus of Linnzus. The author states, that 
the root of this plant, which is well known 
in England under the name of indive, or 
Succory, is employed, when roasted and re- 
duced to powder, by the inhabitants of 
Moscow, and indeed the greater part of 
Russia, 2s a substitute for tea or coffee ; and 
that he himself had derived so much benefit 
from its. use as a beverage, that he had pro- 
vided a considerable quantity to take with 
him to Persia. We trust that this hint 
will not be thrown away. 
Velocity of Sound.—An account has been 
Varieties. 
93 
recently published of some experiments made 
between Untersberg and Moenchstein, near 
Saltzbourg, by Major Myrbach and M. 
Stampfer, on the velocity of sound; the 
distance between the stations was 30,601 
Parisian feet, and the difference of level 
4,198. The mean of 88 observations gave 
1025-9 Parisian feet for the velocity of 
sound per second, at the temperature of 
melting ice. 
Hindu Sculpture.—A writer in the Ma- 
dras Gazette states, that the proportions of 
the human form, as exhibited in all Indian 
sculptures, are derived from an ingenious 
tule laid down in the Si/pi Sastra, or Prin- 
ciples of the Fine Arts, which is an ancient 
Sanscrit work—by comparing these propor- 
tions with those of some celebrated ancient 
statues, as given in the Encyclopedia Bri- 
tannica, the rule will be found surprisingly 
parallel: Let the height of the figure be 
measured, including the crest, as AB; then 
bisect AB at C, BC at D, AD at E, BE 
at F, make EG==EF; bisect AG at H, 
GC at K, CK at L, GK at M, AK at N, 
meke BP—=AH. Now if we assume a line 
of 24 inches, and divide into 480 parts, 
being twentieths of an inch, the proportions 
are as follow :—15 parts AH, the crest; 
53 HN, the face (GM is also 53); 15 NM, 
the neck ; 53 MK, the breast; 53 KL, the 
waist (or 52 ? the umbilieus); 53 LC, the 
middle (pubis); 90 CF, the upper leg ; 
30 FD, the knee; 102 DP, the lower leg 
(or 104 ?); 16 PB, the foot; G and E are 
merely measuring points. The proportions 
correspond very nearly to those of the Apollo 
Belvedere, the Grecian Shepherdess, the 
Antinous, and some other standard works 
of Greek sculpture; but all the old sta- 
tues are net on the same proportions. A 
curious circumstance connected with these 
Indian measures is, that they are always 
made with a straw, a strip of cocca-nut or 
plantain leaf. The sculptor who explained 
the result, used a piece of paper, the folds 
in which may all be made in a few mo- 
ments. The cross measurements are de- 
rived from these thus: the Indian artist 
requires the face to be nearly round; the 
width of the breast to equal two faces, and 
also that of the loins, the waist one face, 
and so forth. 'The same proportions are 
used in statues of either sex ; but the arms 
are always (according to European ideas) 
made disproportionately long. The for- 
mula of this measurement has been altered 
in a few points, for the sake of perspicuity, 
from the native method, but the results are 
precisely those given in the Sanscrit rule for 
folding the leaf. 
Height of the Aurora Borealis.—The 
ability displayed by M. Dalton in the va- 
rious researches in which he has been en- 
gaged, and the cautious diffidence with 
which his various discoveries have been an- 
nounced to the world, imparts to his opi- 
nions a weight which those of more ha- 
zardous philosophers do not enjoy. From a 
