MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. 149 



side being most ingeniously adopted by the contrary side in favour of their 

 reasons. All that appears certain is, that it swims backwards, like other ani- 

 mals of the same kind, and makes use of its two long palmaled arms, with 

 which it envelopes the shell, as if holding it on. A report made to the Aca- 

 demie des Sciences of Paris, on the proceedings of Captain Rang, concludes 

 with a request to that gentleman to make the following observations, which 

 ■we extract for the sake of others who may be inclined to put them in prac- 

 tice : 1st. To make the animal quit the shell, in the manner of Mr. Cranch's 



experiment, both in and out of the water, and especially in shallow places on 

 the sea shore ; 2nd. To ascertain the sexes of the individuals provided with 

 shells, and whether they contain eggs ; 3rd. Carefully to examine the posi- 

 tion of all the individuals in the shells, whether they are taken from the bot- 

 tom of the sea or from the surface, and see whether the position be alike in 

 both instances ; 4th. To repeat Madame Power's experiment, and ascertain 

 whether the separation made of the broken shell by the animal takes place 

 on the edge of the shell as well as elsewhere, and to note the duration of the 

 experiment ; 5th. To examine the nature of the piece of shell thus repro- 

 duced, with a magnifying glass and with chemical tests, and compare it with 

 the rest of the shell, examined in the same manner; 6th. To repeat the se- 

 cond experiment of Madame Power, if it be possible, and find out if (against 

 all analogy) the shell be not existing in the ^gg, whether it appears on the 

 animal a few days after birth, and to note all the circumstances of its appear- 

 ance and development. 



Church Music It may safely be asserted that no nation can boast of so 



many sterling composers for the organ as the English ; and in order to sup- 

 port this assertion it will only be necessary to mention the names of Purcell, 

 Orlando Gibbons, Croft, Child, Boyce, &c. But, at the same time, in no 

 other civilized country is church music so shamefully neglected. It is true 

 that almost every parish church throughout the kingdom has a good organ ; 

 but where is the advantage of this, when the choice of an organist and the 

 training of singers are almost, it may Le said, left to chance ? The organists 

 of many of our cathedrals are excellent musicians and performers, but the 

 singing is never what it ought to be, and the selection of music is anything 

 but satisfactory. Music is almost universally considered indispensable in 

 the service of the Church of England : why then limit it to the performance 

 of a few psalms, badly played and worse sung ? The only mode of remov- 

 ing this stigma from our church, would be to increase the salary of the organ- 

 ist very considerably, and at the same time to require him to organize the 

 choir on week days, so as to be able to sing anthems, &c., in such a manner 

 that competent musicians might be able to attend divine service without 

 offence to their ears. That this would be a means of improving the taste of 

 the English, both musical and general, cannot, we think, admit of dispute — 

 Ed. 



Phrenology At Vienna, in 1796, Dr. Gall for the first time delivered 



lectures on his system. Thus, although nearly 6,000 years have elapsed 

 since the creation of man, the most important discovery ever made has been 

 known only within the last forty years. Gall will ever be regarded as the 

 greatest benefactor of his species. What Galileo has achieved for Astrono- 

 my, Harvey for Anatomy, Hahnemann for Medicine, that has Gall achieved 

 for a subject which eclipses them all — for the Mind : and to use the words 



