1829] 
The late Dr. Marcet in. his examination of 
sea water, has been unable, for want of a 
sufficient number of specimens of water, 
taken at various depths in the Mediter- 
ranean, to draw any certain inference as’ to 
what becomes of the vast amount of salt 
brought into that sea by the constant cur- 
rent which sets in from the Atlantic through 
the straits of Gibraltar, and which, as the 
evaporation of the water, must either remain 
in the basin of the Mediterranean or escape 
by some hitherto unexplained means. In 
the hope of obtaining further evidence on 
this question, he had requested Captain 
Smyth, R.N., who was engaged i in a survey 
of that sea, to procure specimens of water 
from the greatest accessible depths. The 
specimens collected by Captain Smyth were, 
in consequence of Dr. Marcet’s death, given 
to other persons, and applied to other ob- 
jects; Dr. Wollaston, however, obtained 
the three remaining bottles of the collec- 
tion. The contents of one of these, taken 
up at about fifty miles within the Straits, 
and from a depth of 670 fathoms, was 
und to have a density exceeding that of 
istilled water by more than four times the 
sual quantity of saline residuum. The 
esult of the examination of this specimen 
cords completely with the anticipation 
hat a counter current of denser water might 
ist at great depths in the neighbourhood 
‘of the Straits, capable of carrying westward 
into the Atlantic as much salt as enters into 
the Mediterranean with the eastern current 
near the surface. If the two currents were 
of equal breadth and depth, the velocity of 
the lower current need only be one-fourth 
of that of the upper current, in order to 
prevent any increase of saltness in the Medi- 
terranean. ; 
Culture of Indigo in Senegal.—Indigo, 
which forms so material an article of com- 
_mercein France, and of which they have been 
‘such extensive purchasers in the English, 
or rather Anglo-Indian market, has been, at 
length raised in the French African Colony 
of Senegal, and from recent accounts, it 
seems probable that the Indigo, which now 
; _Yivals in quality the best produced in 
: 
Bengal, will, at no distant period, supersede, 
_— from its quality, what has hitherto been 
plied from English culture. 
Extraordinary Invention. — An inge- 
us hat-maker has recently taken out a 
nt which, so far as we can judge of its 
‘meaning, far surpasses in absurdity even 
any that has as yet been enrolled. He pro- 
ne to recover the spirits which have been 
_ employed in dissolving the gums used in 
_ “stiffening hats, hat bodies, bonnets, caps, and 
divers articles of merchandize, and convert 
ing such spirits (after rectification) into use, 
by submitting the said old hats, caps, bon- 
nets, &c. to a sort of distillation” !! ! 
Anatomical Description of the Foot of a 
Chinese Female.—That the standard of 
beauty is different in different nations is 
readily admitted, but that any set of men 
Ae 
Varieties. 
vessel. 
* 669 
should regard, as an embellishment, such a 
perversion of the gifts of nature as render 
these last perfectly unfit to discharge the 
functions for which they were designed, 
would, but for the evidence of the fact, be 
utterly incredible. Mr. Bransby Cooper 
has just communicated to the Royal Society. 
an anatomical description of the foot of a 
Chinese female, which is much too curious 
to be omitted here. The foot was obtained 
from the dead body of a female found 
floating in the river at Canton, and had all 
the characters of deformity consequent upon 
the prevailing habit of early bandaging for 
the purpose of checking its natural growth. 
To an unpractised eye it had more the 
appearance of a congenital malformation 
than of being the effect of art, however long 
continued ; and appears, at first sight, like 
a club foot, or an unreduced dislocation. 
From the heel to the great toe the length of 
the foot measures only four inches; the 
great toe is bent abruptly backwards, and 
its extremity pointed directly upwards ; 
while the phalanges of the other toes are 
doubled in beneath the sole of the foot, 
having scarcely any breadth across the foot 
where it is naturally broadest. The heel, 
instead of projecting backwards, descends in 
a straight line from the bones of the leg, 
and imparts a singular appearance to the 
foot, as if it were kept in a state of perma- 
nent extension. From the doubling in of 
the toes into the sole of the foot, the ex- 
ternal edge of the foot is formed in a great 
measure by the extremities of the metatarsal 
bones ; and a deep cleft or hollow appears 
in the sole across its whole breadth. From 
the diminutive size of the foot, the height of 
the instep, the deficiency of breadth, and 
the density of the cellular. texture, all 
attempts to walk with so deformed a foot 
must be extremely awkward ; and in order 
to preserve an equilibrium in an erect posi- 
tion, the body must necessarily be bent for- 
wards with a painful effort, and with a very 
considerable exertion of muscular power. 
We may remark, that in all Chinese 
paintings wherein a female of the higher 
class is represented as standing, her position 
is invariably such as has been described by 
this excellent anatomist. 
Steam Navigation.—That the character 
of maritime war will be materially changed 
by the introduction of steam is universally 
admitted; we have already apprised our 
readers of the proposition of Mr. Waghorn 
to perform the voyage to and from India 
with despatches in six months, and Captain 
Ross, whose voyage to the northern regions 
opened the path in which Parry so suc- 
cessfully advanced, is now. about to 
depart on a polar expedition in a steam 
A little more experience will soon 
convince the mercantile part of the British 
community that the greatest effect can be 
produced by a steam vessel when it is em- 
ployed to tow, not for freight. 
