86 Literary and Philosophical Society, 



continents be discovered, and a new era opened, in the his- 

 tory of the globe ! I was, a few days ago, greatly pleased 

 with tracing the progress of an invention into several 

 branches of art, with which, at first, it appeared not to 

 have the remotest affinity. I refer to the cylinder, covered 

 with wire-cloth of different fineness, originally intended 

 only for sifting flour, meal, and bran, immediately as they 

 come from the millstone. For this ingenious invention, 

 Mr. Mills got a patent, the term of which is now, probably, 

 expired ; for the person who showed it me, informed me, 

 that he had himself applied the cylinder, with little varia- 

 tion, in sifting gunpowder, snuff, tanner's bark, and sand.' 



The Rev. Samuel Hall, M.A., writes of ' An Attempt to 

 show that a Taste for the Beauties of Nature and the Fine 

 Arts has no Influence favourable to Morals.' This is in 

 reply to a paper read by Dr. Percival to the Society, and 

 published among his works. See p. 94. 



LIFE IN NORTHERN LATITUDES. 



The paper by Dr. Aikin on this subject might have 

 been written for the present time. The advantage of fresh 

 meat has been appreciated, but it has also been neglected 

 without any good reason. Whether alcohol assists in deve- 

 loping scurvy has not been brought out fully so far as the 

 writer knows. The mode of obtaining a steady tempera- 

 ture and even comparative warmth by burrowing under- 

 ground is a good if not always a practicable plan. 



