166 MISCELLANEOUS. 



any impression from being produced, nor will any impression be produced if the 

 design be not exposed to the action of the sun previous to contact. 



A luminous design traced Avith phosphorus upon a sheet of white paper, will, 

 without previous exposure to the light, act very quickly upon the prepared paper, 

 but not through glass. 



M. Niepce concludes his paper, which was received with lively interest by the 

 Academy, thus : — r"Such are the principal facts I have observed. I have not space 

 to enumerate all the experiments I have made ; there are many others to be made; 

 therefore I hasten to publish this paper without waiting to complete it. I may be 

 permitted I hope, to believe that my new discoveries of the properties of light, 

 scarcely suspected or imperfectly verified up to the present, will excite the atten- 

 tion of natural philosophers and lead to important results." 



J. B, C. 



MIS C E LL ANE OUS. 



Dr. Charles Mackay, in his tour through the States, continues to receive a most 

 cordial and hearty welcome; and in his own genial way, responds in equally well- 

 set prose and rhyme, to the friendly greetings of his American hosts. On the 

 14th of January he was entertained at a public dinner at Washington, where dis- 

 tinguished senators, and representatives of American Literature, united to give 

 brilliancy and interest to the reception of the British Poet. Inreturn for a wel- 

 come so gracious and friendly, Dr. Mackay repaid them in full, in the currency of 

 Parnassus. General Shields, who presided, having proposed, in a few graceful 

 and appropriate remarks, a sentiment of welcome to their guest, instead of re- 

 sponding in the established common-places of prose, and declaring " the present 

 the proudest moment of his life!" <fec., cfec. Dr. Mackay delighted the company 

 by reciting the following humorous and genial poem, embodying a pleasant alle- 

 gory of the first fruits of the anticipated triumph of science, in the successful 

 completion of the submarine Atlantic Telegraph : 



JOHN AND JONATHAN. 



Said brother Jonathan to John, 



" You are the elder born. 

 And I can bear another's hate, 



But not your slightest scorn. 

 You've lived a life of noble strife, 



You've made a world your own, 

 Why, when I follow in your steps, 



Receive me with a groan ? 



" I feel the promptings of my youth, 



That urge me evermore 

 To spread my fame, my race, my name, 



From shore to fuithest shore. 



