AND OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



39 



of public attention. Attempts to hatch eggs in ovens are of old date, but 

 have never succeeded on a permanent or large scale in this country. In 

 Esrypt the practice has been more successful ; y?t even there, with the 

 advantages of a superior climate, one of five of the hatched birds dies, and 

 many are deformed, doubtless from the unequal application of the heat. It 

 has only been by his Eccaleobion, as far as I can learn, that the birds 

 have been brought out with certainty, or been reared successfully after 

 being hatched ; every bird is perfect, and will grow to its full size. The 

 distinguishing characteristic of this invention is exact regulation of tem- 

 perature at different stages of advancement ; for eggs, as is well known, 

 develope heat naturally in the course of hatching, and, consequently, the 

 artificial heat requires to be judiciously diminished as the natural beat in- 

 creases. By employing steam or hot water pipes, the temperature is not 

 onlv capable of being exactly regulated, but is diffused generally and 

 equably throughout the oven, and acts upon all sides of the egg alike. 

 Hence the eggs require no handling or turning during the process — there 

 is no fear of their being either roasted on one side or cold on the other. 

 Provided all is as fair as the proprietor describes, there can be no difficulty 

 in multiplying egg-hatching and chicken-rearing establishments all over 

 the country. Poultry is at present a dear article, on account of the very 

 limited and imperfect manner of its production ; but this need not be 

 the case any longer. There is nothing to prevent every town in the king- 

 dom having its chicken manufactory as well as any other branch of busi- 

 ness. Wherever there are establishments with l steam-engines having a 

 small redundancy of steam, it would be the easiest thing in the world to 

 erect a fowl-producing apparatus in connection with the works. And if 

 this did not in some degree improve the resources of the country, and the 

 condition of its people, I do not know what would. 



BOTANY. 



THE TEA PLANT IN BRITISH INDIA. 



In the fifth volume of the Agricultural Society of India, there is a valuable 

 Report, on the Tea Plant of Upper Assam, to which we must advert. 

 It was not till near the end of 1834 that it was discovered that the genuine 

 Tea Plant was indigenous in Upper Assam ; and, from the representations 

 of Captain Jenkins, the Government agent fir the north-east frontier, it 

 was resolved that the districts, or rather tracts, producing the plant, 

 should be examined with care by a scientific deputation, consisting of Dr 

 Wallich, and Messrs Griffith and M'Clelland. These gentlemen examined 

 the Tea Plant in its native state at five different places, where it was 

 found to grow abundantly. Two of these, which are in the Siuglie 

 country, and within the British territory, were Kufoo and Ningrew. 

 Nadowan and Tingrei are situated in the Bengmora country, which, al- 

 though it belongs to a nominally independent native Rajah, is consider- 

 ably within the control of the British authorities. Another locality was 

 Gulroo Purbut, within the territory of Rajah Poorundur Singh; and various 

 others were shortly afterwards intimated and examined. These places are 

 comprehended in a tract of country situated between the parallels of 26° 

 and 27° N. Iat. and 94° and 96° E. long. In all the above localities the 

 Tea Plant only occurs in patches of very limned extent, a circumstance 

 which points out the similarity of the Assamese and Chinese plants which, 

 according to Mr Ellis, "always occur in small patches." Those specified 

 are all in low spots, that at Gulroo being perhaps the only one which is 

 always exempt from inundation. All were characterized by excess of 

 humidity; and Kufoodoo alone had no stream near it. In every instance the 

 neighbourhood was clothed with excessively thick tree jungle; and such 

 shrubs and herbaceous plants as love shade were found abundantly inter- 

 mixed with the Tea. 



In concluding his admirable Report, Mr Griffith states his convictions, 

 that the successful cultivation of the Tea Plant in Assam is certain, for 

 the following reasons : — 1. That the plant is indigenous to, and distributed 

 extensively over, large portions of Upper Assam. 2. That there is a simi- 

 larity of configuration between the valley of Assam, and two of the best 

 known Tea provinces in China. 3. That there is a similarity between the 

 climate of the two countries, both with regard to temperature and humidity. 

 4. That there is a precise similarity between the stations of the Tea Plant 

 in Assam, and its stations in those parts of the provinces of China which 

 have been traversed by Europeans. And, 5. That there is a similarity 

 both in the associated and general vegetation of Assam and the Chinese 

 Tea provinces situated about the same latitude. 



In a late Number of our Journal we took occasion to report, that a few 

 boxes of the Assam Tea had reached this country ; that trial parcels of 

 their contents had been somewhat extensively circulated over the countiy, 

 and had afforded general satisfaction. To this succeeded an arrival of 

 eight boxes, which were bought up at an enormous price ; and we have 

 now to add that, during the current year, a company has been formed in 

 London for its cultivation ; and so great was the avidity to obtain shares, 

 that, before the projectors had time to call a public meeting on the sub- 

 ject, the whole of the shares had been subscribed for. 



The late suspension of the trade with China, and the future difficulties 

 which appear to threaten it, confer increased importance upon this sub- 

 ject. The last notice from the country we have seen intimates that there 

 were plants in cultivation equal to the production of 100,000 pounds of 

 Tea, if the means of manufacture were procured Steps were being taken 

 to remedy the deficiency of hands, by procuring families in numbers, on 

 easy terms, to proceed and settle in the country, and a correspondence 

 was opened with Singapore to obtain Chinese aitizans conversant with 

 the details of the preparation. As so large a quantity had in so short a . 

 time been procured, well-grounded expectations may assuredly be enter- 

 ta'ned, that, if the cultivation be prosecuted by private and public enter- 

 prise, a sufficiency of Tea will, in a very few years, be produced to render 

 this country entirely independent of the Chinese market. 



GEOLOGY. 



E\RTHQUAKES IN SCOTLAND. 



It may not be uninteresting to put on record in these pages, that the 

 month of October last was signalized in Scotland by the occurrence 

 of an Earthquake, more generally and severely felt throughout the coun- 

 try than any other since the year 1755, the time of the great Earthquake 

 of Lisbon. Nor ought we to speak of it a« one Earthquake ; for, although 

 one was more violent than the rest, yet in various districts there were 

 many, and they continued, more or less, lor weeks. The southern de- 

 clivity of the Grampian range, extending to the south-western parts of 

 Perthshire, appears to have been the locality exposed to the rudest shocks, 

 corresponding with the well-known fact, that the environs of Crieff and 

 Comrie have long been liable to these subterranean phenomena. With- 

 out farther preamble we shall now introduce the testimonies of various 

 competent witnesses, conveying far more vivid impressions than any ge- 

 neral statements can do. 



Crieff In one of the local newspapers we read — A series of Earth- 

 quakes took place last week (October 13 — 19) in Crieff and the 

 neighbourhood, with a violence which has not been felt for many 

 years past. One of these occurred about four o'clock on the morn- 

 ing of Thursday last, (the 17th,) and was distinctly felt throughout this 

 and the upper portion of Strathearn. The shock generally resembled a 

 smart but severe crash, accompanied with a tremulous motion, and loud, 

 continued noise, not unlike distant thunder, but more hollow and deep 

 in its tone. On Saturday, again, (the 19th,) no fewer than four shocks oc- 

 curred during the day, one of which, about 3 p m., was very violent ; so 

 much so, that general attention was arrested by it, and many of the in- 

 habitants ran into the street. Considerable excitement prevailed in the ■■ 

 town : in some of the shops the bottles and crockery were reeling in the 

 shelves, and in private houses similar effects among the furniture, &c. 

 were very apparent. To the west, we hear the Earthquake was also ■ 

 very forcibly felt, although in no instance any eruption or damage has as 

 yet been experienced. 



As already hinted, however, the phenomenon was not confined to that 

 locality, and the most widely extended shock having occurred a little after 

 10 P.M. on Wednesday the 23d, much general attention was directed to 

 the subject. On this occasion the shock was felt quite across the island, 

 from North-Berwick to Glasgow, and northward as far as Inverness. 



Edinburgh and Leith In Edinburgh and Leith the Earthquake was 



but slight ; having excited the attention of comparatively but few, and 

 these residing principally in the northern and eastern parts of the city. 

 Notwithstanding, there were many who, on the morning of the 24th, were 

 full of the event, dilating upon the solemn impressiveness of the sensation, 

 and the astonishment and alarm it excited in themselves and families. 

 Here it was attended with little or no noise, and lasted but for a few se- 

 conds. In several instances it was accompanied with the cracking of fur- 

 niture, and the rattling of crockery. In some parts of Leith, the hells of 

 houses were set a-ringing, and the pictures on the walls were observed to 

 move like a pendulum : the vessels in the docks were also noticed by se- 

 veral individuals to heave unusually. 



North- Berwick From ISorth- Berwick the following was transmitted 



by a correspondent of the Scotsman newspaper, — On Wednesday night 

 last, about a quarter past 10 o'clock, a smart shock of an Earthquake was 

 felt by a number of the inhabitants. The doors were shaken on their 

 hinges, and the windows rattled, those who were in bed were moved as 

 by the rocking of a suspension cradle, and those who were sitting were 

 violently shaken, even the birds in the cages fluttered, and showed symp- 

 toms of alarm for a considerable time. A slight sensation was felt about 

 five minutes afterwards : the first continued about three seconds, the lat- 

 ter not so long. 



Dollar — The following interesting account is from Dollar in Clack- 

 mannanshire. — The Earthquakes that have of late been agitating the 

 south-western parts of Perthshire have been extending their alarming vi- 

 brations to our Arcadian vale. Since Saturday the 12th, repeated shocks, 

 contemporaneous, 1 believe, with those at Connie, have been felt, not only 

 in the valley, but along the southern acclivities of the Ochill-hills. Those 



