36 General Notices. 



" attend closely to the subject of the present volume for a number of years ; 

 and it has occurred to" him, " that a simple book, embodying some of the more 

 important truths, in a popular form, and without any of the pretence of phi- 

 losophy, might be readable, and, if readable, useful." With respect to the 

 subject, "the study of the mind," he says, " its nature, its capacity, its phe- 

 nomena, and the full and rational assurance of its immortal duration and 

 eternal happiness or misery, after all the elements of the present body are 

 rendered back to inorganic matter, is one of the most magnificent and im- 

 portant, and at the same time, in its own nature, one of the most easy and 

 inviting departments in the whole field of human knowledge." (Pref.) 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General Notices. 



Self-Improvement. — I think you will be pleased to be informed that the 

 most influential of the tea-dealers, druggists, and drapers, of Birmingham, have, 

 in compliance with the wishes of the young men in their respective employ, 

 agreed to close their shops an hour earlier each evening than formerly, to 

 enable the young men to devote so much more time to mental and (it is not 

 unreasonable to hope) to moral improvement. 



Although not immediately connected with gardening, I am persuaded, if you 

 were to dilate on the subject in the Gardener's Magazine, it would induce 

 many others to do likewise ; and, as you take so deep an interest in, and so 

 much advocate and recommend, self-improvement, I do hope you will not 

 think it too much trouble to insert this. — M. C. Edgbaston, Nov. 1 1. 1838. 



There is no class of apprentices or journeymen, who require to have their 

 hours of labour shortened with a view to mental improvement, so much as 

 gardeners ; but such an amelioration can only originate with the masters and 

 the proprietors. We have no doubt that, with the progress of things, and, 

 more especially, with the progress of the cultivation of benevolence and other 

 social feelings among the higher classes, so desirable a result will be obtained. 

 The masters and proprietors, in the end, would feel the beneficial influence of 

 such a concession, more than even the apprentices or journe3'men, by the su- 

 periority of the productions which their gardens would afford, and the higher 

 degree of order and keeping, and the superior taste, which their gardens would 

 display. — Cond. 



Registering Thermometers. — It would be well to recommend registering 

 thermometers to be universally adopted where journals of the temperature are 

 kept, for then just comparisons could be drawn between those of any two 

 places. Such is not the case when one observes at different stated hours, 

 say 8 A. m., and another at 9. Besides, a registering thermometer gives the 

 correct extremes of maximum and minimum ; and, I believe, the mean of these 

 is the surest mode of obtaining the true mean temperature that could be 

 generally adopted. — R. T. Nov. 7. 1838. 



Growing Plants under Glass Cases ivithont changing the Air or Water. — The 

 principle upon which ferns and other plants are grown by Mr. Ward may 

 briefly be stated to be, the imitation, and preservation for indefinite periods, of 

 the natural condition of the plants, free from disturbing causes ; and it is ap- 

 plicable to the whole of the vegetable kingdom where such conditions can be 

 imitated. In this climate of ours, there are two sets of plants which are 

 difficult to be managed: 1st, Those which in their native situations enjoy 

 nearly double the quantity of light that we can give them, as the Cape Pro- 

 tedcecE, &c. ; and 2d, Those, as the inhabitants of the arctic regions, which 

 during three fourths of their existence are in a state of absolute rest. — W. S. 

 October 5. 1838. 



