r/ 



576 



Sicilian ; a number of charitable individuals 

 have come forward to provide tliis interest- 

 ing boy with a suitable education. 



Natural History.- — Two lions, which 

 died a few months ago in the royal mena- 

 gerie at the garden of plants, in Paris, 

 afforded an opportunity of verifying a curious 

 fact noticed in some old works, but which 

 modern authors have generally omitted in 

 their writings. It is, that there existed at 

 the extremity of the tail of the lion, a small 

 nail concealed in the midst of tlie tuft of 

 long black hair with which it is terminated ; 

 it is a corneous excrescence, about two lines 

 in length, appearing in the shape of a small 

 cone, slightly curved, and which adheres by 

 its base to the skin only, and not to the tail 

 vertebra?, from which it is separated by a 

 space of about two or three lines. This 

 small nail exists in both sexes. The com- 

 mentators upon Homer thought they could 

 explain by the presence of this nail a curious 

 and true remark made by tlie author of the 

 Iliad, viz., that the lion is the only animal 

 which, when irritated, violently agitates its 

 tail and strikes its sides with it. They 

 thought the lion endeavoured to excite him- 

 self by pricking his sides with the goad of 

 his tail. Blumenbach verified, some years 

 since, the existence of this goad ; but the 

 pamphlet in which he had inserted his obser- 

 vations on the subject was not known among 

 naturalists, and without doubt this curious 

 fact itself would have been long unknown if 

 M. D'Eshayes had not found the indication 

 of it, and engaged the naturalists particu- 

 larly occupied with the mammalia, to make 

 some observations on the subject. This 

 nail, adhering only to the skin by the cir- 

 cumference of its base, is very easily de- 

 tached, so that no trace of it is generally 

 found in stuffed specimens. It has not as 

 yet been ascertained whether it is also to be 

 met with among the other great species of 

 the genus /(?/ii. To the above accoimt we 

 may add, that an idea is very prevalent 

 among the peasantry of the united king- 

 doms, that a similar excrescence is to be 

 met with at the extremity of the tail of the 

 wild cat. 



To prevent Seasickness A patent was 



obtained in the month of Blay last for an 

 embrocation for sea-sickress, in some cases 

 for preventing that malady, in others for 

 curing the person afilicted with it, and in 

 others for mitigating its severity ; the man- 

 ner of preparing and applying it is as fol- 

 lows : — Take of crude opium two ounces 

 averdupois, two drachms of extract of hen- 

 bane, ten grains of powdered mace, and two 

 ounces of hard mottled soap, and boil them 

 in sixty ounces of soft water, letting it boil 

 for half an hoiu-, stirring it well all the 

 time. When cold, add one quart of spirits 

 of wine, at sixty degrees above proof, and 

 three drachms of spirits of ammonia. Rub 

 a dessert spoonful of this embrocation well 

 in over the lower end of the breast bone, 

 and under the left ribs the latest time, you 

 ean conveniently do so previons to embarka- 



Varidles. ' [[Nov. 



tion, and again on board as soon as you 

 have an opportunity. If, notwithstanding 

 this, sickness supervene, apply the embroca- 

 tion as before, and continue the application 

 while the sickness continues. 



Iodine and Bromine in Waters in Eng- 

 land — Dr. Daubeney, Professor of Chemistry 

 at Oxford, has made a discovery of iodine 

 and bromine in several salt springs and 

 mineral waters of this country. He has 

 obtained the latter princi])le in a separate 

 state from one of the Cheshire brine springs, 

 and has fully satisfied himself of the exist- 

 ence of the fonner in two or three ; but as 

 he has not as yet had time to ascertain the 

 proportions in which they occur, must con- 

 tent himself for the present with the simple 

 announcement of the fiict. He has found 

 iodine not only in more than one of the 

 Cheshire salt springs, but likewise in several 

 waters containing purgative salts, such as 

 those of Cheltenham, Leamington, Glou- 

 cester, and Tewkesbury, while bromine is of 

 still more frequent occurrence, and is per- 

 haps entirely absent from none of the Eng- 

 lish springs which contain much common 

 salt, except that of Droitwich in Worcester, 

 shire, although the proportions in which it 

 exists, seem to vary considerably. 



Continental Pitblitihers Brussels is ra- 

 pidly advancing in the art of printing ; one 

 individual published no less than 250,000 

 volumes in the year 1827. Books are pub- 

 lished much cheaper than in Paris, which 

 creates no small jealousy there. Didot pro- 

 jected to bring his press into Brussels, but 

 found that he had been forestalled by the 

 labours of more than one printer. Neither 

 the type nor the paper equal the printing of 

 London or Edinburgh, or perhaps Paris, 

 but they are daily improving, and an im- 

 meuse number of books are exported. A 

 society is also forming in Brussels for the 

 cherp publication of good books, and it is the 

 intention of this body to circulate for about 

 twelve francs what elsewhere would cost 

 from thirty to forty. 



Statistics "When so much is said about 



the prospect of English manufactures, and 

 the little cause of fear we need entertain 

 from any foreign competition, we think it 

 ought to be knowTi that there are above 

 twenty thousand cotton spinners and Rea- 

 vers in full activity in the city of Ghent ; 

 machinery is fabricated at Bruges, and per- 

 haps the largest iron foundry in the world, 

 has been established some years in the neigh- 

 bourhood of liiegc, in which the king of the 

 Netherlands has a large share, having in- 

 vested in it nearly a hundred thousand 

 pounds sterling, and not less than four thou- 

 sand hands are employed in it. 



Composition for rendering Leather Wa- 

 ter-proof. — Take of rosin 161bs., of tallow 

 51bs., which are to be boiled together in one 

 gallon of linseed oil, untQ the rosin is per- 

 fectly dissolved and mixed with the tallow 

 and oil ; to this add one pound and a half of 

 spirits of turpentine, in which has been pre- 

 viously dissolved about an ounce and a half 



