400 Domestic Notices. — 'England. 



'b" 



ence, approaching to that of the brutes. How different from the half-civilised 

 state of the happy islanders of the Oceanic race, whose soil, rich and fertile 

 in nutritious fruits, is sufficient to insure the existence of tribes, which do 

 not require to provide for their daily subsistence by such fatigues ! {Lesson 

 in Jam. Phil. Jour., Dec. 1827, p. 164.) 



Aspect of Fegetation. — Although the edges of Fish River are pretty agree- 

 able, they yet present the monotony which is universally the characteristic 

 of the vegetation of these countries. Besides about a score of species of 

 Eucalyptus, the appearance of which is very much alike, there are only to 

 be seen, and with no variety, Mimosce, Metrosideroses, Protece, Casuarinse, 

 and a very few European genera along the edge of the waters. Hence, the 

 forests of Australasia have a sad and lugubrious aspect, in crossing the Blue 

 Mountains, one cannot fail to remark the uniformity which nature has given 

 to the leaves. Their form, except, perhaps, those of some Mimosa with 

 bipinnated foliaceous expansions, is generally simple, and they are more or 

 less dry, stiff, and smooth. She would seem to have accommodated them to 

 the dryness of the soil, by giving them an oblique direction, for the purpose 

 of presenting the greatest possible surface to the air, which must furnish 

 their principal nutriment. New Holland, alone, presents the singular phe- 

 nomenon of entire leaves, or foliaceous petioles, in trees which are every 

 where else remarked for the extraordinary elegance of their divided foliage. 

 {Id. ibid., p. 165.) 



Art. II. Domestic Notices* 

 ENGLAND. 



Hot Water in Earthen Pipes. — I have got the hot water laid on in two 

 of our pine stoves this spring : one has been at work for six weeks past, 

 the other will be finished almost immediately. I am quite delighted with 

 it, and, luckily, I did not make a single blunder in putting it up, although I 

 had only the assistance of a country mason, who never saw or heard of such 

 a thing ; indeed, it is the only thing of the kind in this part of the country. 

 I had one narrow escape in laying the pipes, as I made up my mind to lay 

 the under pipes below the level of the boiler ; but, luckily, I altered my 

 mind before we began. The pipes are of earthenware, made strong and 

 large, 7^ in. in diameter, and cost only Is. 6d. per foot. We took pains in 

 putting them together with good Roman cement ; and, although one of your 

 correspondents says that they cannot be made watertight, yet I can 

 scarcely think so, as in the house I have had at work for six weeks, in 

 which there is lOO ft. of pipes, there is not a single leak or drop in any 

 part ; in the house we are about finishing, the pipes have been full of cold 

 water this week past, neither is there any leak in them : but, in tv/elve or 

 eighteen months, I shall be able to say more. I must again say, that I am 

 highly delighted with this invention ; notwithstanding whatever your steam 

 correspondent may say, yet the very circumstance of a country gardener 

 and a country mason being able to put up the whole apparatus, without a 

 single mistake, and this from no information but what was obtained from 

 the Gardener's Magazine, without either of them ever having seen the 

 apparatus itself, speaks volumes in its favour. I am. Sir, &c. — Robert Reid. 

 Montrath House, near Collumpton, Devonshire, June 9. 1828. 



Management of Bees. — We have received from Mr. S. W., of Lancas- 

 ter, an account of an easy and ingenious mode of managing bees, and 

 taking their honey without killing them. A common straw hive is used in 

 the first place, prepared by having two doorways instead of one : the first. 



