184 Miscellanies. 



tween 21° and 22° cent. (69°.8 and 71°.6 Fah.) the maximum of 

 temperature that the vine can bear when productive, and to justify 

 this assertion, it states, that at Cairo, where the mean temperature 

 is 71°.6 Fah., the vine is not cultivated on the great scale, and that 

 there are there only detached vine plants. This is the fact in regard 

 to the past, but then the cause is quite of another description. Con- 

 siderable plantations of vines have lately been made, which promise 

 to afford excellent returns ; but a decisive fact is that there have al- 

 ways been and still are, vines in Fayoum, which Is one of the hot- 

 test provinces in Egypt, owing to the hills of sand which surround 

 it on all sides. These vines are situated at the villages of Fidemia, 

 Adjamira, and Tumban ; they are cultivated by the Cophts, and 

 yield agreeable wines. That which I have drunk presents a phe- 

 nomenon which is rare in such a climate ; it does not affect the 

 head, and is drinkable after the second year. Pocoke, who traveled 

 in 1737, speaks of the cultivation of the vine by the Cophts in Fay- 

 oum, and what is still more important, there is in the higher parts 

 of Upper Egypt, at Esne, twelve leagues to the south of Thebes, 

 a vineyard which has an extent of several feddams. Its original 

 object was to yield grapes for eating, but Jussuff Kiacheff, formerly 

 soldier in the army sent to Egypt, and who was taken prisoner by 

 the Mamelukes at the period of the evacuation, and remained in the 

 east, informed me that he farmed the vineyard ; that he made ex- 

 cellent wine of the produce, and obtained a quantity equal to that 

 afforded by the vineyards of Europe. We may then conclude from 

 these facts, that if in Egypt, till within a few years, the vine has not 

 lDeen cultivated on a great scale, it is because the inhabitants do not 

 drink wine, and that we are not to draw the inference, that there is 

 a maximum of temperature above which the vine does not yield the 

 means of making wine." — Edin. New Philo. Jour. April, 1836. 



8. The Mathematical Miscellany, conducted by C. Gill, Pro- 

 fessor of Mathematics in the Institute at Flushing, Long Island, New 

 York. — We notice with great pleasure, the receipt of the first num- 

 ber of this unassuming periodical, and we cordially recommend it to 

 our young friends, as one of the best means of drawing out the 

 mathematical talent of the country. Works of this kind have always 

 been beneficial in their influences ; and when conducted with a prop- 

 er spirit, and good judgment, have been quite efficient in fostering 

 emulation, and in promoting the circulation of science. The very 



