1855.] 



CANADIAN ISINGLASS— REMARKABLE LOW TEMPERATURE AT ISLE JESUS. 



171 



wo are apt to forget that saccessful attempts have beoQ made ia Eng- 

 land to fui'nish the public with the works of eminent author.s, illustrated 

 and got up in a very superior style, and at a price which places them 

 within the reach of every reading man. Mr. Bohn is not the only 

 British publisher of ' Literature for the People,' whose works are dis- 

 tributed in every quarter of the globe where the English language is 

 spoken. It was only dm-ing the second quarter of the century that any 

 serious attempts were made in Britain to furnish a Litci'ature for the 

 people. In 182-5, Constable's Miscellany commenced at 3s. Gd. stg. 

 a volume. In 1829, the Waverley Novels at 5s. a volume appeared ; 

 the Family Library, by Mr. Murray ; Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopcedia, 

 by Messrs. Longman ; the Library of Eaterlaining Knowledye, by Mr. 

 Charles Knight ; the Library of Useful Knowledge ; Valpy's Family 

 Classical Library; and Valpy's Illustrated Shalcspere. In 1832, the 

 Edinburyk Cabinet Library, came forth. JIany of these our readers 

 may find, perhaps, in isolated volumes or in complete series on their 

 shelves. In 1844, Mr. Chas. Knight published, at one shilling a volume. 

 Lord Brougham's Statesmen ; also Mrs. Jameson's History of Painting. 

 In 1844, Mr. Murray's Home and Colonial Library, was published at 

 4s. 6d. a volume. It was in the year 184G, that Mr. Bohn gave a new 

 impetus to the publication of Literature for the people, by commencing 

 Bohn's Libraries. These volumes appear at the rate of five or six 

 every month, and up to the present date over three hundred and fiftj' 

 have been issued. The price of these books varies from 3s. 6d. to os ; 

 they are either valuable reprints of standard works, or translations of 

 ancient and modern authors. Many of Mr. Bohn's modern translations 

 are of peculiar interest, and introduce the English reader to foreign 

 literature of a high order ; we have from time to time noticed at length 

 several of these translations, among which our readers will remember 

 the preliminary remarks of Dr. Richard Lepsius, on the result of his 

 journey to Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai,* which 

 appeared at the close of the last volume of the Canadian Journal. 

 Bechstein's Cage Birds is another illustration of instructive foreign 

 literature, for which we are indebted to Mr. Bohn. 



It has been said by an able Reviewer in the London Times, that " Mr. 

 Bohn's books constitute in themselves a Librai-y with which exclusivelj' 

 any man might be content to endow Lis son." All who are desirous 

 of dispelling the gloom of ignorance, and while encouraging a taste 

 for literature are anxious that the means for enjoying it should not be 

 wanting, will be glad to know that the great project in which 

 Mr. Bohn is engaged is no longer doubtful in its pecuniary aspect, 

 but promises a speedy and substantial reward. 



Cauadiaii Isinglass* 



At a meeting of the Society of Arts in December last. Professor 

 Owen again called attention to the supplies of Isinglass which might bo 

 expected from Canada, in consequence of the wide distribution of the 

 Sturgeon in the lakes and rivers of this country. There can be no 

 doubt that a profitable branch of industry might be encouraged among 

 the fishermen of the great Lakes. In Lake Huron particularly, the 

 sturgeon is a very abundant fish, and at certain seasons of the year, 

 could be caught in vast number-s. The subject well deserves atten- 

 tion at a time when the Russian commodity is neither supposed 

 to be accessible, or in favour. 



Professer Owen "was much struck when fulfilling the duties of 

 Chairman of the Jury on Raw Materials from the Animal Kingdom 

 at the Great Exhibition in 1851, to find that no specimens of 

 Isinglass were exhibited in the Canadian department. — The finest 

 and best specimens of that commodity were exhibited in the 



(See Canadian Journal, Vol. 11.) 



Russian department. Isinglass of an inferior description was seen in 

 tlie Indian department, and amongst the produce of South America and 

 the West Indies. The property of Isinglass which made it most valu- 

 able for tlie refinement of fermented vinous liquors, was dependent 

 upon the peculiar organization of the fibre of the air-bladder, and was 

 not connected with its chemical nature. The air bladder of the stur- 

 geon in particular contained that pure gelatinous material in the great- 

 est quantity, and it was that peculiar characteristic and complex fibre 

 which gave the material the power of catching the feculent matters, 

 and performing all the offices required in the management of fermented 

 vinous liquors. There were unquestionably other fishes which afforded 

 that form of gelatine. Many such were to be found in the Ganges and 

 the Indus, and in the fresh waters of the immense rivers of North 

 America, but in none that he was acquainted with was that peculiar 

 form of Isinglass so fully developed as in the stm-geon species. Looking 

 at the geographical relations with the organic products, he should have 

 expected to find the sturgeon in the North American rivers, and on 

 inquiring of the chief of the Canadian department, he found that such 

 was the fact, and that they were brought by the steamers to Quebec 

 for food, but that the air-bladders were all thrown away. There was 

 a source of wealth which he thought they ought to welcome. He be- 

 lieved the Canadian merchants were capable of affording very large 

 supplies of Isinglass, and he had taken pains to arouse them upon the 

 subject, and he had put the representatives of that department in com- 

 munication with some of the largest Isinglass merchants in London, 

 and he hoped by this time attention had been awakened to the matter ; 

 for be was sure that when a cargo of Isinglass from the air-bladder of 

 the sturgeon arrived from our colonies in North America, it would meet 

 with a pecuniary reward, which would be the best stimulus they could 

 have." 



Hemarltable LiO%v Temperature at Isle Jesiisj on tUe 2'jud and 

 aSrd December, IS54. 



[Communicated by Dr. Smallwood.) 

 On Thursday, the 21st December, 1854, at noon, the thermometer 

 stood at 20°-2 Fahrenheit, with a S.S.W. wind, accompanied with 

 slight snow. The atmosphere dui-ing the morning indicated a high 

 electric state. A little before 2, p.m., the wind veered to the N.E. by 

 N., the temperature suddenly fell, and the thei-mometer stood, at 10, 

 p.m., at 14°-2 (below zero). On Friday morning, the 22d, at 6, a.m., 

 the thermometer stood at 3P-0 (below zero). 



At 8, a.m., at 31°-6 (below zero). 



9. ... ... 27°-0 do. 



10, ... ... 19°-1 do. 



11, ... ... 17''-8 do. 



12, noon, ... 16°-6 do. 



1, p.m., ... 12°-1 do. 



2, ... ... ll°-8 do. 



3, ;.. 



10, 



... 



Midnight 



28d, at G, 



a.m., 



8, 



■■■ 



10, 





12, 



noon. 



2 



p.m.. 



4, 



... 



6, 





10, 



... 



8°-l 



do. 



230-4 



do. 



26<'-9 



do. 



28°-2 



do. 



34<'-8 



do. 



SC^ 



do. 



36°'0 



do. 



84'>-3 



do. 



24''1 



do. 



13°-4 



do. 



12°-0 



do. 



9»-l 



do. 



12»-6 



do. 



9°-l 



do. 



There was no display of Aurora Borealis on Uic night of the 21st, 

 and but a faint Auroral light at the horizon on the night of the 22d. 

 The zodiacal light was very bright, and wcU-dofincd, on the morning 

 of the 22d. 



