& 
perfeSly well for the manufa&ture of 
tinned iron-plates, and for tinning copper- 
veflels. : 
Dr. VILEaARs, of Grenoble, the able au- 
thor of the Flora of Dauphiné, has pub- 
hited the Refults of feveral Barometrical 
Ricafurements, lately made by him among 
the French Alps, which, if corre&t, give a 
wauch greater height to thefe mountains 
wham has been generally fuppofed, In the 
department des hautes Alpes, the cime del’ 
@xzew is equal to 2104 toifes, and there are 
three fammits {till higher, but which have 
enly been meafured by approximation. 
‘Fhe departement des baffes Alpes, alfo pof- 
dees a peak near Manriz a la Elapiere of 
the heighth of 2055 toifes. The moft 
lofty mountains, as indeed is the cafe 
through all the Alps, are granitic; but 
there are ridges in thefe departments en- 
tircly calcareous upwards of 1500 toifes 
zbove the level of the fea. 
From a late analyfis by Ktarrotn of 
the flate porphyry, (porphyrichieffer) it 
appears to contain about eight per cent. of 
foda; thus another fubftance is added to 
the litt of fteny coneretes, of which fixed 
alkali is an eflential conftituent part. 
Among the recent mineralogical difco- 
werjes in France, may be reckoned that of 
the Emerald. Citizen LELiEVRE obfervy- 
img in the vicinity of Limoges a hard 
greenif {ubftance contained in the ftones 
wed for repairing the high-road, was in- 
auced from external charaéters to confider 
3t as a variety of beryl or emerald; col- 
Ie&ting, therefore, {pecimens of it, he fent 
fome to VauQUELIN and Havy, ard 
found his own fufpicions confirmed by 
the mechanical ftrucéture of the mineral as 
afcertained by the latter, and by its chemi- 
cal compofition as demonftrated by the for- 
meer of thefe eminent philofophers. The 
bad colour and confufed cryftallization of 
thefe ftones difqualify them for the purpofe 
of the jeweller, but the difcovery will be 
of importance to the French chemiits, as 
pening to them a cheap and abundant 
fiepply of the new earth glucine. 
A work of SennEBIER’s on the Influ- 
eice of Various Gaffes in the Germination 
of Seeds, has lately made its appearance : 
3t may be confidered in fome fort as a Sup- 
plement to the Vegetable Phyfiology of 
the fame author. Among a number of 
important faéts the following may be fe- 
le€ted.—The prefence of oxygen is necef- 
fary-to the germination of all feeds, and 
in mof cafes it is requifite that the oxygen 
fhould be uncombined with any thing but 
caloric; a few feeds, however, fuch as 
Literary and Philofephical Intelligence: 
(Feb: 1, 
the pea, are capable of decompofing wa- 
ter, &c. therefore if well moiftened with 
water, even deprived of its air, will ger- 
minate in almoft any kind of gas, andeven 
in oil, Pure oxygen-gas, however, though 
it accelerates’ germination, renders the - 
plants very feeble, and the moft favourable 
proportion is that of one-fourth oxygen 
‘and the reft azot, which is the fame as 
common air: in an atmofphere of lefs than 
one-eighth oxygen germination will not 
take place. An excefs of carbonic-acid is 
more injurious to feeds than of azot, and 
of this than hydrogen. A mixed air of 
hydrogen and oxygen by germination, is 
converted into hydrocarbonous-gas. 
A circumftance is mentioned, in the re- 
port by Tessier and HuZARDy concern- 
ing the flock of Spanifh theep at Ram- 
bouillet, which, we believe, is entirely at 
variance with the obfervations of the 
fhepherds and wool-growers in South Bri- 
tain. Some of the fheep were allowed to 
be two years without being fheared, and 
by this management the fleeces were 
found to be twice as heavy and twice as 
long as the yearly fleece of thofe which 
had been fheared twice in the fame period, 
nor did the animals themfelves appear to 
be at all incommoded ; thus a ftaple of - 
double the ordinary length was obtained, 
and half the expences of fhearing ‘were 
faved, without any lofs in the quantity or 
quality of the wool. i a 
Accounts from French Guiana men- 
tion, that the bread-fruit-tree is cultivat- 
ed there with the greateft fuccefs, but that 
the plant is found to be unfit for a moift 
foil: in any other it thrives extremely 
well, 
Chinefe lich, which bears a fruit of a 
fpherical form, containing beneath a thick 
rind a pulp, whofe tafte may be compared 
to that of a Mufcadine raifin. The clove- 
tree, and pepper-plant are alfo in a very 
profperous fate. 
A kind of pulfe grows in the ifland 
of Ceylon, which is poffefied of very va- 
luable properties, and will be an article of 
import to Bengal. It is called hane, and 
might be rendered of very great utility. 
The ftem of this plant is from three feet 
and a half to four feet in length, and fur- | 
nifhes a flax, which is twifted into long 
ropes. It is’ particularly employed by 
fifhermen for their nets and lines, trom the 
extraordinary quality it pofiefles of never 
decaying or rotting in the water. It ap- 
pears, however, to be rather deficient in 
elafticity, but that is attributed to its 
never having been fufficiently fteeped. 
From 
They have alfo introduced the | - 
