544 
pert gurinéis, bringing down their prey at the 
first discharge. This fish, in a state of na- 
ture, frequents the shores and sides of the 
sea and rivers, in search of food. When it 
spies a fly settling on the plants that grow 
in shallow water, it swims on to the distance 
of from five or six feet from them ; and then, 
with surprising dexterity, it ejects out of its 
tubular mouth a single drop of water, which 
never fails to strike the fly into the sea, 
where it soon becomes its prey. 
Goéthe’s Herman and Dorothea.—The 
following anecdote of a circumstance which 
took place in Germany nearly a hundred 
years ago, is said to be the foundation of 
this celebrated poem. In the year 1732, in 
consequence of a great persecution of the 
Protestants in the principality of Salzburgh, 
great numbers of them were compelled to 
emigrate, and about 20,000 of them came to 
Prussia. The sor of a rich farmer happen- 
ing to meet with one of these emigrant par- 
ties, and entering into conversation with a 
young woman belonging to it, was very 
much smitten with her; but, being unwil- 
ling to make her more serious proposals till 
his parents should have seen her, asked if 
‘she would be willing to engage as their ser- 
vant. Having assented to the proposal, she 
went with him to his father’s house. After 
some time, the young man, having obtained 
his father’s consent, offered her his hand, 
which she, fancying he was merely in jest, 
at first resented ; but, being soon satisfied by 
his father that the proposal was serious, she 
joyfully consented, and then drew from ner 
bosorh a purse, containing 130 pieces of 
gold, which she offered him as her marriage 
portion. The story is related in a Berlin 
journal of the year in which it happened. 
Influence of Electricity on the Emana- 
tion of Odours.—When a continued current 
of electricity traverses an odoriferous body 
—camphor, for example—the odour of this 
substance becomes more and more feeble, 
and at last entirely disappears. When this 
has taken place, and when the body, with- 
drawn from all electrical influence, is put in 
communication with the ground, it will re- 
main without odour for some time. The 
camphor, however, resumes its former pro- 
perties gradually and slowly. M. Libri, of 
Florence, the author of this curious experi- 
ment, has promised to describe it with more 
detail. 
Important to the Studious. — Edmund 
Castell, one of the scholars of the seventeenth 
century, of whom England may be most 
justly proud, devoted his whole time and his 
eyesight to complete his Lexicon Hepta- 
glotton—a most extraordinary monument of 
learning and industry. It is important, how- 
ever, for scholars to know, that the regular 
application of eighteen hours a day, for se- 
yenteen years, did not so far impair his con- 
stitution as to prevent his reaching the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-nine. 
Metcoric Iron.—A great quantity of na- 
tive iron, which, from its containing cobalt 
Varieties. 
LNov. 
and nickel, may safely be considered of me- 
teoric iron, has been found in the province 
of Atacarna, in Peru, at a distance of about 
twenty leagues from the port of Cobija, in 
large masses, imbedded in a mountain in 
the neighbourhood of the village of San Pe- 
dro, and scattered over the plains at the foot 
ef the mountain in question for a distance of 
three or four leagues, and sometimes in frag- 
ments of considerable magnitude. From 
specimens that have arrived in this country, 
it seems to be entirely similar to the Siberian 
mass of native iron, which hitherto has stood 
unrivalled. 
Protection against Damp, Rust, §¢.— 
If linen or woollen cloth be immersed in 
water saturated with quicklime and sulphate 
of soda, and then carefully dried, delicate 
steel instruments folded up in it, even if 
themselves damp, are effectually preserved 
from rust or oxidation. The rust of iron is 
found to contain a carbonate of that metal, 
and the aqueous particles of “ rust” and 
* damp” are, it is proved, decomposed by 
the contact of iron at all temperatures, and 
with increased effect at an elevated one: 
hence the formation of rust or oxida- 
tion, &c. It is probable that the caustic 
lime not merely absorbs any minute quan- 
tity of carbonic acid present in the air, by 
damp brought into more immediate contact 
with the iron or steel, but also absorbs the 
first portions of present damp : perhaps, too, 
caustic lime may even take upoxygen. The 
efHorescent sulphate of soda does not attract 
humidity, but rather casts it off, even its 
own water of crystallization. It is evident 
that an enyelop of cotton or woollen cloth, 
saturated as described, would not only be a 
protection against damp, in the case of steel, 
plate, &c., but also of equal value for the 
preservation of deeds, &c., whether on 
paper or parchment. These articles, &c. 
may be very well preserved if bruised in 
powdered quicklime. By suspending, by 
means of a silk, &c. thread, finely-polished 
and magnetized steel bars in lime-water, so 
as to float freely in this medium from the 
point ef suspension, it points out an admi- 
rable methed by which the magnetic virtue 
may be preserved for an indefinite period. 
A ring of iron, inclining to the “ angle of 
no attraction,’ pointed out in Dr. Barlow’s 
researches, might surround the phial or little 
glass globe, and the ordinal points be en- 
graved by a diamond on a circular line ex- 
ternally. Under these circumstances, poised 
in an uniform medium of unvarying density, 
no atmospheric mutations would disturb it, 
and the finely-polished steel needle would be 
preserved even free from oxidation—the 
fatal antagonist to magnetism, 
Shower of Ice.—On Saturday, 9th of Au- 
gust last, there was a fall of solid ice at Hors- 
ley, in Staffordshire. Some of the pieces 
were three inches long by one inch broad, 
and others were about three inches in cir- 
cumference, and quite solid. One gentle- 
man in Dudley had £70. worth of glass. 
