1828. 
statement recently published at New York, 
it appears that there were 593 vessels of dif- 
ferent sizes in the harbour of that city, viz. 
96 ships, 124 brigs, 137 schooners, 167 
sloops, 24 tow boats, and 43 steam boats ; 
besides a great number of coasting vessels. 
Of the above 96 ships, 33 were built at 
New York, and their tonnage amounted to 
16,000. 
Preservation of Eggs.—Various experi- 
ments haye at different times been made to 
ascertain a sure process for preserving eggs 
from putrefaction : it was discovered a short 
time since that chlorate of lime was effec- 
tual for the purpose—this substance being 
manufactured in England on a very large 
scale, may be obtained at a very trifling ex- 
pence, and it is only necessary to dissolve 
one ounce of it in a pint of water. 
Mammoth.—In excavating the Morris 
canal near Schooley’s Mountain, New Jer- 
sey, United States, the skeleton of a mam- 
moth was found, in July 1827, about three 
feet beneath the surface, in a remarkable 
state of preservation. It is said to be enor- 
mously large, and that one of the tusks 
weighs 150 pounds, being two feet in cir- 
cumference, and seven in length, and from 
appearances it is supposed to have been of a 
much greater length. The teeth are entire ; 
the enamel on them is round and perfect, 
and of a shining bright blue veined marble 
colour: the dimensions of one of them 
taken on the grinding surface, were three 
and a half inches wide, and seven long; it 
weighed four pounds. The remains of a 
huge megatherium were also discovered, at 
the beginning of this year, in New Jersey, 
in a marl pit nine miles south-east of Phi- 
ladelphia. 
The Comet of 1832 ( Damoiseaw’s ).— 
‘Some mischievous wag has been terrifying 
‘the old women, as well in petticoats as 
without, both in this country and on the 
_ ontihent, with fearful prognostications of 
‘the destruction of the world in the year 
1832, by a ballistic visitation from a comet 
—the one of which the elements were deter- 
mined by Damoiseau, whose name it bears, 
‘and the periodic time of which is 6-75 
‘years. It is almost needless to say, that 
‘from this body there can exist no rational 
“cause of apprehension; at its nearest ap- 
roach to the earth it will be more than 44 
millions of miles distant from it, and might 
‘approach a million of times nearer without 
‘Oceasioning any serions consequences. In 
me @ comet approached within 2,062,500 
: Lalande estimates at 35,750 miles 
‘the distance at which a comet might pro- 
‘duce upon the earth any sensible effect. 
Gold and Platinum Mines of the Oural 
*Mountains.—The following statements col- 
ected from some official Russian journals, 
will not, we conceive, be devoid of interest, 
‘particularly in connexion with some articles 
_we have already published on the subject. 
“The quantity of gold obtained during the 
year 1825, and the first six months of 1826, 
_ 
Varieties. 
203 
amounted to 17,448 pounds. Of these; 
5,030 pounds were found in the mines be- 
longing to the crown, and the remainder, 
12,418, in the mines belonging to private 
people ; making an excess of 7,388 for the 
latter. The value of this prodigious quan- 
tity of gold, estimating it at £62. 10s. per 
pound, is £894,063 sterling. In the same 
space of 18 months, 1,031 pounds of plati- 
num were procured; of which 410 came 
from the mines of the crown, and the re- 
mainder, 621, from the mines of private 
persons—giving an excess in favour of the 
latter of 211 pounds. The town of Cathe- 
tineburg, near which ali this quantity of 
gold and platinum has been obtained, and 
which consequently is of some importance, 
is situated in the government of Perm, 
under the 56° 50’ 38” of northern latitude, 
and with longitude 20° 30’ E. of Peters- 
burg; about 1,105 miles from Moscow, 
1,560 from Petersburg, and 225 from the 
city of Perm. 
Spontaneous Human Combustion.—The 
phenomenon of spontaneous human com- 
bustion is one that has been much can- 
vassed of late years, and from their own 
peculiar views of the subject been rejected 
by some philosophers. A distinguished 
French physiologist, M. Julia Fontenelle, 
having investigated the subject, and paid 
strict attention to every case of this nature, 
supported by credible testimony, has com- 
municated to the Institute the result of his 
researches. 1. Persons who have died by 
spontaneous combustion have for the most 
part made immoderate use of alcoholic li- 
quors. 2. That this combustion is almost 
always general, but may be only partial. 
3. Itis much rarer among men than among 
women; and nearly all the women who 
have been the victims of it, have been aged 
—one only being of the age of 17 years, and 
her combustion was but partial. 4. That 
the trunk and the entrails have been con- 
stantly burned, while the feet, the hands, 
and the top of the skull have almost always 
escaped. 5. Although it is known from 
experiment that a considerable quantity of 
wood is required to reduce a body to ashes 
by the ordinary process of cremation, yet in 
spontaneous combustion the incineration 
takes place without the most combustible 
surrounding objects being burned. In one 
instance, very remarkable from the coinci- 
dence of a double spontaneous combustion 
taking place in two individuals in the same 
chamber, it was found that the apartment 
and furniture did not take fire. 6. It is 
not proved that the presence of an ignited 
body is necessary to develop spontaneous 
human combustion—every thing leads to a 
different conclusion. 7. Water, far from 
extinguishing the flame, seems to increase 
its activity ; and when the flame has disap- 
peared, the internal combustion still con- 
tinues. 8. Spontaneous combustions take 
place more frequently in winter than in 
summer. 9. Partial combustions have been 
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