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the Chinese in all those principles which are ne- use it, but substitutes a black hue for a coppery cessary to be understood by them, in order to their one, and invariably destroys the original covering. finding, in the conventional signs which he em- The invention is the fruit of two years' experiploys, the pronunciation of the English words; a ments on the part of Dr. Dods. The cost is stated thing which he does almost as accurately as if he to be only one-fortieth of that incurred for replathad availed himself of the sounds of the Frenching in the usual way and to restore articles with language to give expression to them. In this pub-the Argyroseum appears to be quite as easy as lication, which is merely the first part of the work, merely to clean them.-Court Journal. all the words and all the phrases are arranged according to an order the most methodical. Each Chinese word is followed by Chinese phonetic signs, which give the pronunciation of an English synonyme placed opposite. The second part will contain the rules of English syntax. We may add, that Mr. Thom has published this work at his own expense, and that he has distributed copies gratu-setts) suggests, that the enormously large birds' itously to foreigners who reside in China, as well as to the native merchants at the new ports, henceforward to be brought into constant intercourse with Europeans, and requiring the assistance which such a work affords.-Asiatic Journal

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES.-Several medals and Roman coins have lately been discovered at Bavay,

in France. There was also a statuette in bronze

THE MOA, OR GIGANTIC BIRD OF NEW ZEALAND.-[From a Correspondent.]-In relation to this extraordinary creature, of which several species have been determined by Professor Owen, from the bones sent from New Zealand to Dr. Buckland, Professor Hitchcock (of Massachunests discovered by Captains Cook and Flinders, on the coasts of New Holland, may have belonged to this gigantic biped. Capt. Cook's notice of these colossal nests, is as follows: "At two in the afternoon, there being no hope of clear weather, we set out from Lizard Island (on the N. E. coast of New Holland, and in about 15° S. lat.) to the low sandy island with trees upon it, which return to the ship, and in our way landed upon of Harpocrates, represented as a half-naked child, island we saw an incredible number of birds, we had remarked in our going out. Upon this having a scarf falling from the right shoulder over chiefly sea-fowl, which we killed; and the nest of a part of his body to the left side. On the head some other bird, we knew not what, of a most is the lotus, on the back a quiver, and on the shoulders wings. On the right arm is a small enormous size. It was built with sticks upon the cruise suspended by the handle, while the forefin-ground, and was no less than 26 feet in circumger is placed on the lips. With the left hand he found two similar nests on the south coast of ference, and 32 inches high." Capt. Flinders leans on a knotted staff, round which a serpent New Holland, in King George's Bay. "They entwines. Near him is a bird resembling a goose, at his feet a hare or rabbit, and on his left above two feet, and were of vast circumference were built on the ground, from which they rose a hawk.-Athenæum. and great interior capacity: the branches of trees and other materials of which each nest was com THE EARL OF ROSSE'S TELESCOPE-Though posed, being enough to fill a cart." We have not perfectly finished, it is stated by Sir J. South, no known bird but the Moa that would require so in a letter to the Times, that this mighty engine enormous a nest; and it therefore appears possiwas on Wednesday week directed heavenward ble, that if these gigantic birds are extinct in New for a view of the stars. The noble owner, whose Zealand, still they may be at the present time inlabors in forming every part of it, cannot be too habitants of the warmer climate of New Holland. much eulogized, writes that the metal just pol- At all events, the facts above stated are too reished, is of a pretty good figure; and that with a markable not to be worthy the attention of natupower of 500, the nebula known as No. 2 of Mes-ralists who may visit New Holland. In connexsier's Catalogue was even more magnificent than the nebula No. 13 of Messier when seen with his lordship's telescope of 3 feet diameter and 27 feet focus. Cloudy weather prevented farther observation. The diameter of this metal is 6 feet and the focus 54.-Lit. Gaz.

ion with this statement, it may be well to mention that the gigantic birds' tracks on the new red sandstone of Connecticut, indicate that at a very remote period, species equally colossal existed; and we may add, that there has very recently been placed in the Gallery of Organic Remains in the British Museum, two large slabs with the imprints of numerous birds' tracks, obtained POLISH FOR PLATED WARE.-The means used through the agency of Dr. Mantell, from Dr. for cleaning and polishing plated ware cannot Deane, of Massachusetts, by whom they were probably be improved; but it is nevertheless cer-discovered in a quarry near Turner's Falls. tain that the most judicious cleaning only hastens These specimens are the finest examples of these the period when the under-surface, with its cop-extraordinary "footsteps on the sands of Time," pery hue, must be discovered; and then, the only hitherto observed.-Athenæum. resource hitherto, has been the expensive one of replating by the old method. A physician has obviated this. The powder which he prepares from pure silver, chemically combined with other substances, is called by him Argyroseum. After being moistened by water, it is applied to the surface requiring to be coated, and the result is a layer of pure silver in intimate adhesion, with an exceedingly high polish. In the trumpery imitations of this discovery quick-silver is employed, which not only affects the health of those who |

STATUE OF LAPLACE.-The statue of Laplace, for his native town of Caen, is to be of bronze, and placed in the Collège des Arts, now the seat of the Faculty of Sciences of that town, and the place in which the illustrious author of the Mécanique Céleste commenced his scientific studies. Government has promised a contribution to the amount of one-half the cost, estimated at 11,000 franes; and the municipal and academic councils are engaged in raising the rest.—Athenæum,

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OBITUARY.

JOHN DALTON, D. C. L., F. R. S. July 27. At Manchester, in his 78th year, John Dalton, D. C. L. Oxon., F. R. S. London and Edinburgh, President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.

Dr. Dalton was born at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, in Cumberland, on the 5th of September, 1766, of respectable parents, members of the Society of Friends. He gave early indications of mathematical ability. In 1781 he became a mathematical teacher in Kendal, from whence he contributed largely upon mathematical, philosophical, and general subjects, to the two annual works called the "Gentleman's" and "Lady's Diary." In 1788 he commenced his meteorological observations, which he continued throughout his life. In 1793 he published an octavo volume of " Meteorological Observations and Essays." In the same year he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the New College, Mosley-street, Manchester, and continued to hold his office until the college was finally removed to York.

In 1808, he published "A New System of Chemical Philosophy." and a Second Part in 1810. He also frequently contributed to Nicholson's Journal, the Annals of Philosophy, and the Philosophical Magazine, as well as to the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, of which, for half a century, he was an active member, having, together with his friend Dr. Edward Holme, M. D., F. L. S., been elected on the 25th of April, 1794. Indeed they were the oldest surviving members of the society, with the sole exception of Sir George Phillips, Bart., who became a member in 1785. Dr. Dalton had been President of this society since 1817. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821 or 1822, and was also a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and of several foreign colleges. In 1826, he was presented with a gold medal by the Royal Society, for his scientific discoveries; and in 1833 the sum of £2000 was raised by his friends and townsmen for the erection of a statue to perpetuate his remembrance. The task was intrusted to Sir Francis Chantrey, who brought to the execution of his subject a warm admiration of the man, and a proportionate desire to do him justice; and the statue when completed, was deposited in the entrance hall of the Royal Manchester Institution.

The University of Oxford did itself high honor in conferring on the septuagenarian philosopher the degree of Doctor of Civil Law. During Dr. Dalton's visit to London, about 1833, it was thought by his friends that it would be proper (if

not inconsistent with his private feelings,) that he should be presented to the King, and in that case that the robes to which his academic degree entitled him would be the fittest costume for him at the levee. The Lord Chancellor (Brougham) being made acquainted with these feelings, not only immediately approved of them, but offered himself to present Dr. Dalton to the King Dr. Dalton having been made acquainted with the usual forms, agreed in the propriety of the view taken by his friends, and attended the levee. King William received the philosopher very graciously, and kindly relieved the little embarrassments of such an unusual position, by addressing to him several questions respecting the interests of the town of Manchester.

The mortal remains of this highly-esteemed individual were interred on the 12th August in a vault in Ardwick Cemetery, about a mile and a half distant from Manchester. The body lay in state at the Town Hall, on Saturday, Aug. 10, and the public were allowed to pass through the room during the greater part of the day. At 11 o'clock on Monday, the procession moved from the Town Hall in the following order-About 500 members of various societies, 22 carriages, 300 gentlemen, 10 carriages, 100 members of the various institutions, 36 carriages, the last of which contained the Mayor of Manchester. The hearse, drawn by six horses. Six mourning coaches, drawn by four horses each, containing the relatives and friends of the deceased, followed by the members of the Philosophical Society. The procession moved through the principal streets of the town, and was joined near the cemetery by a large body of the Society of Friends. Most of the mills and workshops were closed, as were also the whole of the shops in the principal streets of the town. The vault in which the body was laid was allowed to remain open until five o'clock in the evening, during which period many thousand persons viewed the coffin.-Gentleman's Magazine.

REV. THOMAS GILLESPIE, L.L. D. Sept. 11.At Dunino, N. B., the Rev. Thomas Gillespie, L.L. D., Professor of Humanity in the University of St. Andrew's ; an individual well known to the literary world for his many beautiful contributions to the poetry of his country, and known also to the classical world as an author and a teacher.

Dr. Gillespie was formerly minister of Cults, in the Presbytery of Cupar, where, after the manner of the Spanish adventurer, he had the words of the Roman poet carved over the portal

"Inveni portum, spes et fortuna valete; Sat me ludistis, ludite nunc alios."

ponding Member of the French Institute, the Royal Academy at Berlin, and other learned and scientific bodies. Mr. Baily, we believe, was, in His immediate predecessor in the ministry at popular phrase, the architect of his own fortune. Cults was the Rev. Mr. Wilkie, father of the late In early life his struggles were great, and we lamented Sir David Wilkie; and we have heard have heard that he emigrated to America. Be Dr. Gillespie condemn his own want of taste in this as it may, we find him at the beginning of having, upon his entering to the manse, uncon- this century resident in London, employed in the sciously, in the cleansing process, washed away office of a stockbroker, and for many years eking many rude drawings from the walls of the nurseout his small salary by a series of useful publicary, the work of the infant painter. Like a kin- tions, generally on insurance, annuities, and like dred spirit, the Doctor had a great admiration of subjects; the last an Epitome of Universal Histhe genius of Wilkie; and, in the course of history,' published in 1813. Eventually his talents pilgrimage in Cults, he collected many interesting were discovered and appreciated, and he soon obanecdotes of Sir D. Wilkie's juvenile efforts and tained what only he desired, a sufficient fortune encouragements, and which were communicated to justify his retiring altogether from business, by him to Allan Cunningham, and hold a place and devoting himself wholly to science; and in his last work, "The Life of Sir David Wil-nobly did he employ his leisure and his fortune, kie " as the records of the Astronomical Society bear Dr. Gillespie having been appointed assistant honorable testimony.-Athenæum. and successor to his father-in-law-that distinguished classical scholar, the late Dr. John Hunter, Professor of Humanity in St. Andrew's-in the year 1828, vacated the living of Cults, and settled in the city of St. Andrew's.

GRANVILLE PENN, ESQ., F. S. A., died last week at his seat, Stoke Park, Berks, at the patriarchal age of eighty-two, and for nearly half a century occupied a marked place in the literature of England, especially as connected with sacred subjects. Of a name and family of great note, both in the old and new world, his later years were passed in great retirement, amid some of the most lovely scenery in our isle. The following works are from his pen :

Very few men had greater versatility of imagination or power of satire; and few indeed could commit their overflowing thoughts more easily to paper, ready for the eye of the printer and the critic. There is a vast amount of his writings, both in poetry and prose, extant in the magazines of the day, as well as in the newspaper press of Scotland, particularly in that of Fife and Dum-don. 1790. fries.

1. Critical Remarks on Isaiah vii. 18. 4to. Lon

2. Remarks on the Eastern Origination of Mankind and of the Arts of Cultivated Life. 4to. Same

year.

Dr. Gillespie was twice married, his former wife being a daughter of Dr. Hunter, already mentioned; and his second, who survives to lament his loss, a daughter of the late Rev. Dr. George Campbell, of Cupar-Fife, and sister of the Right Hon. Lord Campbell.-Gentleman's Maga-Fifth. 8vo. 1802.

zine.

CAPT. BASIL HALL, R. N.-With sincere sorrow we record the death of this accomplished and gallant officer, at Haslar, on the 11th, in his 56th year. At present we have not had an opportunity of writing such a notice as his naval character and literary celebrity demand. He was of an ancient Scottish family, and entered the service early in life. In 1818 he published his voyage to China in the Lyra; and his visit to Corea and Loo-Choo on his return from Lord Amherst's embassy, was full of the most novel and interesting matter. Since then his literary publications have been numerous and exceedingly popular. No writer ever excelled him in vivid description: and especially at sea. He was also a valued and liberal contributor to several of our best periodicals. Unfortunately his constitution gave way under excitement of mind, after being severely tried by foreign climates; and it is remarkable that he was the last person to bid farewell to Sir Walter Scott, when in a similar condition, his account of which was affecting in the extreme-Lit. Gaz.

3. Three copies of his Greek Version of the Inscription on the Stone from Egypt, containing a Decree of the Priests in honor of Ptolemy the

4. A Christian Survey of all the Principal Events and Periods of the World. 2d edit. 8vo. 1812.

5. The Bioscope; or the Dial of Life explained. 8vo. 1812.

6. The Prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Gog, the last Tyrant of the Church; his Invasion of Ras, his Discomfiture, and Final Fall examined and in part illustrated. 8vo. 1814.

7. Original Lines and Translations. 8vo. London. 1814.

In a later work, Mr Penn opposed the rising science of Geology on somewhat similar religious grounds to those taken up by the Dean of York.

-Lit. Gaz.

THE REV. ROBERT TAYLOR, so notorious as the sacred ally of Carlile in the preaching of infinotorious Miss Richards of the Rotunda, now Mrs. delity, and the contracted husband of the no less Dorey, died last month at Tours, in France, whither he had gone to avoid paying damages for his breach of promise to the lady, and where he practised as a medical man. He was fifty-two years of age, and has left a widow and a lot of manuscripts Taylor received a university education, and rather distinguished himself at college; he was dis-priested for his pestilent doctrines, and afterwards fell into that train of bold atheistical license which procured him the unenviable distinction of being called "The Devil's Chaplain."

FRANCIS BAILY-It is with regret that we announce the death, on the 30th ult., in the 71st year of his age, of Mr. Francis Baily, President of the Royal Astronomical Society. Mr. Baily, whose scientific attainments are well known, was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1821, was a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Corres--Lit. Gaz.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Great Britain.

the cause of Biblical Criticism, by rendering the Septuagint accessible to general readers; for, until public attention is directed to the issue, scholars are not likely to undertake the labors necessary to lead to a right decision.—Athenæum.

Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic
Sloth, Mylodon robustus, &c. By Richard Owen,
F. R. S., &c.

The immense bones of

The Septuagint Version in English. Translated by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, Bart. Bagster. Dr. Wall was the first who directed the attention of Biblical students to the important fact, that most of the discrepancies between the Septuagint version and the existing Hebrew text, have arisen from the efforts of the Rabbins to introThe researches of geologists, or rather paleozoduce a system of vocalization into their language, the want of which was of course felt when Heologists, have, within the last few years, brought brew ceased to be generally spoken. According immensely beyond that of any previously known, to light the relics of a series of animals, of a size to this theory, Hellenistic influence may be traced not merely in the Greek translation of the Bible, and not confined to the class of reptiles. The but even in the Hebrew text itself, as it is now gigantic bones recently brought from America by preserved by the Jews; and the pointed Hebrew Mr. Koch, and exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Bible must be regarded as a translation, not as an are now deposited in the British Museum, where original record. The Septuagint and the pointed they have been scientifically put together, and Hebrew are thus placed on the same level as rival size compared to the fictitious height given to form (notwithstanding the somewhat diminished versions. Dr. Wall's theory goes further, for it them by Mr. Koch) one of the most extraordinary impugns the originality of even the unpointed text, for the attempt to vocalize it by the intro-subjects in our National Museum, being, moreduction of the letters Ahevi must, from the nature birds, lately sent from New Zealand, belong to a over, unique in Europe. of the Hebrew language, have led to many per- (or, in fact, to several) species far larger than the versions of the sense. It has been announced that Dr. Wall's work, minutely examining the largest ostrich; whilst it is only during the past internal evidence in support of this theory, will startled by the discovery of the bones of a tortoise season that zoologists and geologists have been be published in the course of the present year. which must have measured 18 or 20 feet in length. Sir Lancelot Brenton's translation suggests some One of the bones of this creature is now placed historical inquiries which may throw light on the external aspect of the question, and we shall in a case in the British Museum, and by its side very briefly state the outlines of these investiga- which latter animal measures about two feet in the corresponding bone of the Indian tortoise, length, and the relative proportions of the bones The memoir before us contains a very elaborate are nearly similar to those of a wren and a turkey. description of another of these gigantic animals, belonging to the family of the sloths, but which, when living, was a perfect Titan compared to its present representatives. With a trunk shorter than that of the hippopotamus was combined a depth, that of an elephant! and a tail equalling the pelvis equalling in breadth, and exceeding in hind limbs in length, and proportionably as thick and strong, whilst its ribs were equal in breadth to those of the elephant, and its feet (especially The bones of this creature were discovered in of the anterior extremities) of enormous power. 1841, near Buenos Ayres on the fluviatile deposits constituting the extensive plain intersected by the from the pen of Prof. Owen, needs no praise at great Rio Plata. A memoir on such an object is treated not only with reference to the precise our hands. The subject, as the title-page notices, determination of the abstract structure of the various portions of the skeleton, but also with especial reference to the various habits indicated by each bone; and the whole is illustrated by a series of plates of great precision and delicacy.—

tions.

The great question to be decided is, the extent to which Hellenization was carried in Central and Western Asia under the Macedonian empire of Alexander and his successors. Egypt, under the Ptolemies, is the portion of that empire of which we have the most perfect account, and there can be little doubt that the language and literature of that kingdom became perfectly Greek. There is evidence that the Selucida endeavored to bring about the same change in their Syrian kingdom; and though they were not equally successful, we find, from the New Testament, that Greek was the common spoken language in Palestine itself; so that when Christ on the cross made an exclamation in Syrian (Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani), the bystanders did not understand his words (they said, "He calleth for Elias.") It is noticed as a remarkable circumstance, that St.

Paul on one occasion addressed a Jewish mob in

the Hebrew tongue, and far the greater part, if not the whole of the New Testament was written in Greek. To this may be added, that the quotations made from the Old Testament in the New, are taken from the Septuagint or some other Greek version, but not in any demonstrable case from the original Hebrew. It is not necessary to extend this inquiry further, else it would be easy to show that the Jews who settled in Alexandria exercised a very decided influence over their brethren in Palestine, and that this influence increased the tendency to Hellenism, which it was the policy of the Macedonian rulers to establish.

Nothing but a very minute and critical examination of the internal evidence would justify a decision in favor of the present Hebrew text or of the Septuagint in the passages where they differ, and Sir Lancelot Brenton has done good service to

Athenaum.

The Pencil of Nature. By H Fox Talbot, Esq., F. R. S. No. I. London. 1844. Longman and Co.

Under this elegant and appropriate title, we have before us "a series of plates, or pictures, wholly executed by the new art of Photogenic Drawing, without any aid whatever from the artist's pencil," the first attempt at such a system

GREAT BRITAIN.

On the Uses and Pleasures of History, preparatory to the study of History. By Washington Shirley Maturin.

of transcription, and, unlike first attempts in gen- SELECT LIST OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS. eral, almost attaining perfection. The plates have been obtained by the mere action of light upon sensitive paper, the representations of the objects being "impressed by Nature's own hand." Mr. Fox Talbot has the merit of having discovered, so long ago as 1833, the rudiments at least of this very curious and extraordinary art, which employs Nature herself in the capacity of an artist. In a " Brief Historical Sketch of the Invention of the Art," he has developed the successive stages of its progress, from a rude idea of the pos-Christ. sibility of rendering permanent the images transmitted through the instrumen: absurdly called the Camera Lucida, to "the important epoch of the announcement of the Daguerreotype," at which period he had succeeded in fixing the images of objects upon sensitive paper.

The present number contains five plates, or pictures-1. Part of Queen's College, Oxford; 2. The Boulevards at Paris; 3. Articles of China -that is, a view of the inside of a closet or cabinet of porcelain; 4. Articles of Glass; 5. Bust of Patroclus. These pictures possess all the beauty of tinted drawings or plates, in conjunction with a fidelity of outline and truthfulness of character which no human artist's hand could reach. The book is luxuriously printed.-Asiatic Journal.

Germany.

Vollständige Grammatik der Englischen Sprache, vorzüglich für jene bestimmt, welche nicht alluin die Regeln derselben gründlich Kennen lernen, sondern auch in ihren Geist eindringen ibre besten Klassiker Kritisch würdigen, und sich einen natürlichen, genauen und eleganten Styl in dieser Sprache aneignen wollen. Von S. Hirst, Graduirtem Mitgliede der Universität zu Cambridge.

[This lengthy title-page declares that Mr.

Hirst's Graminar is intended for those Germans who, not contented with a profound study of gramatical rules, wish also to penetrate into the spirit of the English language, attain a critical knowledge of its best classics, and acquire a natural, accurate, and elegant style. Title-pages of this kind are apt to remind one of the pictures outside of wild-beast caravans, raising expectatious the interior cannot gratify. An examination of Mr Hirst's quarto (!) has convinced us that in his case the suspicion was just. It is the substance of Lindley Murray and Walker broken up into analytical tables, in which the excessive subdivision and classification which is the besetting sin of one school of German writers is exaggerat ed beyond all bounds. It would require as long

Brief Views of Greek Philosophy, from the Age of Socrates to the coming of

Distinction between Crime and Insanity. A Premium Essay. By T. C. Morrison. Six Thousand years Ago; or, the Works of Creation illustrated. By Mrs. Best. Practical Instructions for using Guano as Manure, illustrated by Practical Results.

GERMANY.

Das Leben des Augustinus, vol. i., bis zu seiner Taufe; oder bis zum Schlusse des geschichtlichen Theils der Confessionen. Von C. Bindemann. Berlin.

Anaximenis Ars Rhetorica quæ vulgo fertur Aristotelis ad Alexandrum. Recens. et illustr. L. Spengel Zurici.

System der christlichen Lehre. Von C. J. Nitzsch. Bonn.

Ueber die geologische Natur des armenischen Hochlandes. Von Dr. H. Abich Dorpat.

Geschichte des Hauses Habsburg. Von C. M Lichnousky. Wiem.

Geschichte des Ursprungs und der Entwickelung des Französischen Volkes. Vol.I. Von E. Arnd. Leipzig.

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l'Océanie.
Despraz. Paris.

RUSSIA.

a time to master Mr. Hirst's distinctions and defi nitions as a foreigner usually requires to master our Language; and after they were learned, the study of the language would still have to be begun. The work is commonplace in its matter, with an affectation of originality and scientific Die Unidi-Affixe, mit Anmerkung. u. arrangement in its form, that renders it, if not uninfelligible, at least useless as a grammar.]-Spec- Indices. Von O. Boehtlingk. St. Peters

tator.

burgh.

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