210 Miscellanies. 
province of Ceara, and over the village of Macao, at the entrance of the 
Rio Assu; it burst with a noise like thunder, and an immense quantity 
of stones fell from it, in a line extending more than ten leagues. The 
largest portion fell-at the entrance of the river, and in various places they 
pierced through several dwellings, and buried themselves several feet 
deep in the sand. No human life was lost, but many oxen were killed, 
and others severely hurt. The weight of those taken out of the sand 
varied from one to eighty pounds. —The Athenaum, (London,) Dec. 16, 
1837, p. 915. 
9. New Magnetical discoveries Ste have been favored with an op- 
portunity of inspecting some proof sheets of a work by Dr. Henry Hall 
Sherwood, of New York, which will shortly be published, containing dis- 
coveries in magnetism of a very extraordinary kind, and probably of great 
importance. They include apparently unexceptionable demonstrations of 
the latitude, longitude, rate of motion, and periodical revolution of the 
magnetic poles, or “ vortices” of magnetism, round the terrestrial poles ; 
of the angles of the magnetic with the terrestrial meridians in every part 
of the earth, at any given time ; together with a universal method of de- 
termining latitude, longitude, and variation, under all possible circum- 
stances, by the dipping needle alone. The perfect regularity of the lines 
of no variation, and the value of their angles with the terrestrial axis in 
every parallel of latitude, also seem to be demonstrated ; and this, in con- 
nection with the relative position of the nodes of the magnetic with the 
‘terrestrial equator, which is found with the utmost facility and precision, 
forms the basis of calculations for determining the past, present, and fu- 
ture variation of the compass needle, at any given’place on the globe. 
These calculations are tested by numerous observations made in various 
countries, and the agreement is zeae emilsingly exact in all the erungie 
adduced. 
' One of the most interesting Sols ene established in this work, is 
that the magnetic poles revolve in the latitude of the arctic and ant-are- 
tic circles, or 23° 28' from the terrestrial poles ; and this coincidence is 
ascribed to the solar origin of these magnetic vortices, and to the correla-’ 
tive fact that the inclination of the earth’s axis to the plane of the eclip- 
tic is 23° 28’. In short, these discoveries, (here only partially and eur 
sorily mentioned,) sustained as they are by extremely simple calculations, 
which evidently harmonize with all the recorded and original observa~ 
tions to which they have been applied, seem to warrant the expectation 
that terrestrial magnetism, at least, will soon be rescued from its present 
state of uncertainty and confusion, and elevated to a distinguished station 
among the exact sciences. We await = publication of Dr. Sherwood’s 
Dieses ~ae sore of inte est.——-Communica ted. ssi 
