ANTIQUARIAN AND PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCHES. CITY OF POMPEII. The following is an extract of a letter from a young Gentleman who has visited the ruins of Pompeii, to his friend in Liverpool: "This City is situated about a quarter of a mile from the Bay of Naples. We entered the ruins through a gate by the road side, into a barrack yard, which appeared to have been a fortress, and was, no doubt, at one period of time, contiguous to the Mediterranean sea. We were here shewn the original wooden stocks, in which a soldier was found sitting on a stone with his legs fastened, the unfortunate man being discovered by the workmen employed to remove away the soil. Several pillars of the Corinthian order still remain, forming a dilapidated colonnade, some of which are tolerably entire, and rendered particularly interesting, by having the soldiers' names very legibly engraved thereon, in their own hand-writing. We next inspected the two theatres, the stage, orchestra, and seats, being still discernible, with some broken particles of the marble pavement. Not far thence is the Temple of Hercules; the altars and the other relics of idolatrous superstition, as well as a variety of fanciful cornices, and other architectural ornaments, still exist in a very wonderful state of preservation; even the original paint ings on the walls are to be seen without the least deterioration. We walked through most of the principal streets, and into the houses, the floors of which were richly covered with Mosaic and Roman pavements over the front doors, carved on stone, are all the names of their quondam inhabitants, among whom we observed that of Sallust. It is not by any means difficult to discover baths, coffee houses, bake-houses, and other shops of trade, even the custom-house and other public offices. There is a subterraneous wine manufactory on the North side, near the city gates, which was examined with great attention it is very extensive, and contains the earthen vessels and bottles wherein the wine had been kept; they were arranged in the same precise order as previous to the awful eruption which desolated the city: the interior of this place much resembles cloisters, the roof being arched with strong stones. It was in these vaults where the unhappy inhabitants sought refuge from the sudden and overwhelming shower of fire and ashes, whence, alas ! they never returned. Several bodies have subsequently been dug out. We were shewn two or three skulls, in the possession of the keeper. The "A part of the antient walls remain on the North-west corner of the city; and on the outside, conformably to pristine custom, are the tombs and monuments of eminent persons, in as good preservation as when first erected; the inside contains the ashes, in small potters' vessels, fixed in cavities of equal sizes. Pompeii stands on a circumference of about three miles, aud retains its original form and situation, with all the squares, forums, temples, streets, and houses, as perfect as possible, considering the whole has been buried under ground nearly 1750 years. workmen are clearing away the rubbish with great success. During our visit they were in a house near to the Temple of Isis, where, it was conjectured, a medical person had resided, as several surgical instruments were found in the soil; we also observed some paintings, finely executed, on the plaster of the walls, emblematical of such a profession. The labour is conducted with the greatest circumspection, every particle of the soil being put into small baskets, and afterwards examined in the presence of officers. It was with great difficulty I was enabled to bring away a part of the hinge of a door, special orders having been given by Ferdinand for nothing to be taken away without his permission. "Such is the City of Pompeii; and, from the circumstance of the streets being paved with large square pieces of lava, leaves not a doubt but this beautiful country had long been previously visited by such awful storms; nay, I will venture to carry my presumption still further, by supposing that even under Pompeii another city might be discovered, if public curiosity and spirit only ventured on the research." FOSSIL ANIMAL REMAINS. In making some further excavations lately in caverns in the vicinity of Breuge, in the department of Lot, the workmen laid open a depository of bones, some of horses; some of the rhinoceros, of the same species of which fossil fragments have been found in this country, in Germany, and in Siberia; and others belonging to a species of stag, now a descript, with horns pretty much resembling those of a young rein-deer. They demy of Sciences, at Paris, by M. Cuvier, were collected, and presented to the Aca and are now in the King's cabinet. ANCIENT FAVISSA. non The Giornale Arcadico for July last, contains an account of the discovery of three 1820.] Antiquarian and Philosophical Researches. three antient favisse, by the architect Joseph de Rosso. The immediate occasion of this discovery was the operation of levelling and relaying the soil and pavement around the dome. In this place was, antiently, the temple and citadel of Faesulæ. In front of the temple were three pits, of a pyramidal form, into which were thrown the remains of the victims which had been consecrated to the gods, and which, consequently, were considered as no longer applicable to common use. The sacred pits were distinguished by the name of favissæ, or flavissæ. Marcianus says, that there were others near the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Those of Fiesoli were filled with remains of various animals, horns of goats, teeth of wolves, &c.; and among these, fragments of sacred vases, &c. These favissæ have been explained by Sig. Joseph del Rosso, who has given a plan of the localities; in which also have been discovered, at the same time, several antient Christian tombs. This will, no doubt, interest classical antiquaries; and we should like to see the further enquiries on the nature and destination of these pits. So far as recollection serves at the moment, only remains of sacrifices offered to the infernal deities could be thus disposed of. These offerings were attended with peculiar ceremonies; they were also esteemed devoted, in the strongest sense of the term. But Jupiter Capitolinus was not an infernal deity and there should seem to be either some mistake in reference to his temple; or victims of a peculiar nature were occasionally offered to this deity perhaps as deprecating public evils. MINERAL ANIMAL MATTER. Sig. Carlo di Gimbernat has discovered a peculiar substance in the thermal waters of Baden and of Ischia, of which he gives the following description in the Giornale di Fisica:-"This substance covers, like an integument, many rocks in the valleys of Senagalla and Negroponte at the foot of the celebrated Epomeo, beneath which mountain the poets confine Typhon. It is remarkable that in this very place should be found a substance similar to skin and human flesh. One portion of this mountain that was found covered with this substance, measured 45 feet in length by 24 in height. It yielded, by distillation, an empyreumatic oil; and, by boiling, a gelatine, which would have sized paper. I obtained the same results at Baden. It may therefore be considered as confirmed that an animal principle is present in these thermal springs, which being evaporated becomes condensed in their neighbourhood. To this principle the name of "Zoogene" is given. The Editors of the Giorn. Fis. state, that they have seen the substance obtained by 157 M. Gimbernat, and that externally it has the appearance of real flesh covered with skin. RECTIFICATION OF ALCOHOL. A Correspondent of the Giornale de Fisica reports an experiment which may be applied with advantage to this purpose. It is a well-known fact, that water passes with facility through bladder, while alcohol is almost perfectly retained by it. If a bottle of wine be closed by a piece of bladder, instead of a cork, a portion of the water will be found to have evaporated and passed off through the membrane, and the wine left will be found proportionally stronger. If a bladder half filled with alcohol of the specific gravity of 867, and having its orifice closed, be exposed to the sun, the air, or the heat of a stove, iu a short time the alcohol will be found rectified to 817 spec. gr. and in this manner all the water may be evaporated. If the same bladder with its contents be then exposed to a humid atmosphere, (as in a damp cellar,) it will imbibe water, and return to 867 spec. grav. which water may again be separated by hanging it in a dry place. In one word, the bladder is a filter, which suffers water to pass through it, but not alcohol. NEW THEORY OF THE EARTH. This A curious commentary, or rather an attack, upon the received system of the planetary motions, has recently been published, in a small pamphlet, by Captain Burney, which is likely to excite the attention of the scientific world, and may lead to the discovery of very unexpected astronomical facts. The author deduces the motion of the whole of our system from the progressive motion of the sun itself; a quality which, he says, must be equally possessed by all the heavenly bodies, resulting from the universally acknowledged laws of gravitation. He argues a priori, that from progressive motion rotation is produced, and, a posteriori, that a body in free space, having rotation round its own axis, is a clear indication of its being in progressive movement. he corroborates by the general belief now entertained that our sun and planets are advancing towards the constellation Hercules. The opinion that the sun has progressive motion was not entertained till long after its rotatory motion was disco-, vered. Capt. Burney states his conviction, that if, from the discovery of the sun's rotation, and the acknowledged universality of gravity, its progression had been inferred, when Kepler first suggested that the planets moved round the sun by means of its atmosphere, the system of this philosopher would have obtained immediate and lasting credit, and that the hypothesis of these bodies being continued in motion by an original projectile impulse would not have been resorted to in accounting for the phenomena of their motions. ARTS ARTS AND SCIENCES. PRINTED MAPS. Mr. Firmin Didot is at present devoting his attention to the engraving of dies for moveable types for printing Maps, which will, it is affirmed, equal those engraved on copper, and which invention seems to be exclusively his own. Many attempts have already been made to print maps with moveable types, among which the specimens from the presses of Messrs. Haas of Basil, and Periaux of Rouen (who exhibited in the exhibition of Arts this year, a beautiful map of the Department of the Lower Seine) are particularly distinguished; but they do not satisfy the expectations of connoisseurs; it is therefore hoped, that Mr. Firmin Didot, by his talents and zeal, will succeed in conquering the difficulties which have hitherto op. posed the complete success of this important branch of typography.-The art of printing Maps with moveable types, is originally a German invention. It is well known that one of the earliest printers, Conrad Sweynheym or Schweinheim, in troduced this art into Rome, in company with Arnold Pannarz, on the occasion of printing the twenty-seven maps for the cosmography of Ptolemy. He died be fore the work was quite finished, and it was therefore executed by another German, Arnold Buckinck (Bucking) at Rome, in October 1478. The practice was continued for some time in the 16th century, but afterwards abandoned, probably because it was too difficult and tedious, till the second half of the 18th century, when two Germans, almost at the same time, and without knowing any thing of each other, renewed the attempt. The first who published a specimen was Augustus Gottlieb, a Prussian, deacon at Carlsruhe, and who corresponded with the celebrated printer William Haas, of Basil, that he might cut types for him on a certain plan, to be used in map-printing. His first attempt was made in 1776. It anticipated Breitkopff in the publication and execution of his ideas, and was called typometry. In the same year, however, appeared the Environs of Leipsig, by Breitkopff, as a specimen; and his second attempt, in 1777, in which, and also in succeeding essays which were not made public, he constantly endeavoured to improve his invention.Mr. Didot will now probably find some method to facilitate the very troublesome process. NEW STEAM ENGINE. The prospectus of a new machine has been circulated at Paris, which, if we may believe the authors, will overturn all our present system of hydraulics. They engage to supply a small portable steam engine, which will raise the water to the height of sixty feet, at the rate of fifteen quarts per minute. The machine will consume no more than the value of one pennyworth of coals in an hour, to raise nine hundred quarts of water to this height. It will cost six hundred fraucs, and will last more than a hundred years. No payment is required till the engine has been tried, and given satisfaction; till it is fixed, and raises the water from the well to the roof of the house, which will thus be secured against fire. They offer, for progressive prices, machines which shall raise double, triple, decuple quantities of water, to double, triple, decuple heights, (i. e. 120, 180, or 600 feet) and this in infinite progression. The authors had at first concealed their names, and this mysterious conduct excited suspicion. They have now made themselves known. They are Messrs.. Croissen, brothers, both pupils of the Polytechnic School, and one of them Commandant of Artillery, whose talents inspire the greatest confidence. They keep their discovery a secret, and will not divulge it till they have raised subscriptions for twenty thousand inches of water, according to their way of calculating. ROLLER PUMP. ciple, for which a patent has been obtain- SUBSTITUTE FOR COFFEE. Dr. Maex, a German physician of some eminence, ascribes great medical virtues to an infusion of acorns used in the same manner as coffee. In 1793 he published some experiments on this subject, and gave the following directions for preparing and using the acorns :-Take sound and ripe acorns, peel off the shell or husk, divide the kernels, dry them gradually, and then roast them in a close vessel or roaster, keeping them constantly stirring; in doing which especial care must be taken that they be not burnt or over-roasted, either of which would be hurtful. The Doctor recommends half an ounce of these roasted acorns, ground and prepared like coffee, to be taken morning and evening, either alone or mixed with coffee and sweetened with sugar, either with or without milk. The author says that acorns have always been esteemed a wholesome nutriment for men, and that by their medical qualities they have been found to cure slimy obstructions in the viscera, and to remove nervous complaints. SELECT [ 159 ] SELECT POETRY. ON MY BIRTHDAY, 1820. One serious ill on Age attends- Of "Wedded Love" tho' long bereft, With scenes of innocent delight. J. N. The King of the fair and the free- Alas! for thee. thou wert shrouded in In the hues of the heavens-that beautiful But its setting no splendour won Came sudden and darkling,— Not a gleam was there sparkling The eve of the summer was wintry and wild, Thou wert shorn of the rays, they may envy who can, On the Death of his Most Gracious Majesty But, bereft of the Monarch, we felt for KING GEORGE THE THIRD. By J. A. HERaud. Author of " Tottenham," a Poem. the Man! III. Weep not-for he was fearless in his woe, And life was lost in him who bore it so, Unconscious of its being or its blindness The scions of his house were rent away, And that he felt not, oh! 'twas heaven's kindness Else had his spirit been subdued to clay, -For they were portions of it, and his heart,[the anguish And maddened with the fierce sense of That of his phrenzy ever had been partAnd he again had seen them fade and languish, they cameAnd from the tomb raved for them, till Then he had blest them-and all hope WEEP, Erin, weep! in deepest green, We've lost our fair vice-regal Queen, Born in the bosom of our isle, The fairest of the fair, The beauteous form, the mind serene- By angels borne away, To rend Earl TALBOT's heart; And ev'ry age their harmony to reach: No art is sought to paint th' omnific Lord; And light there was, th' expanse of worlds "Let there be Laws," the will of God de[lead. creed; And Laws there were the mind below to 1 Above the confine of Parnassian height, On Sion boundless reign'd Jehovah's might, Beyond the path + of years, or solar sky Burst forth the voice of Immortality; 'Tis, "Thou shalt have none other Gods, but Me." Beyond the string of earthborn harmony, I leave thy music hallow'd, and untri'd, Of ev'ry world thou parent God, and guide. Let list'ning mortals recognise their Lord, And pause abash'd at each denouncing word, And threat'ning heav'n revere §.-Thou shalt not make Whilst desolation dogg'd their panic flight, Whilst lambent lightnings scath'd the torn ravine, And grav'd the fun'ral majesty of scene! 'Tis Nature thus, the heav'nly vengeance walks And penal empress o'er creation stalks! And torn with blast and execrated grove, Annuls the worship that insults th' Above. * Longinus selects "yeveσow pws," as an instance of sublime brevity; and of Moses, he says that "he is not an ordinary man, oux & ruxav åvnp.” င် "Extra anni solisque vias."-Virg. First Commandment. The words themselves, or the substance of each Commandment shall be introduced. Second Commandment. || σε Γλυκυμανθεις σε Καίρια, και σιγών όμμασι τέρενα λαλεις.”Anthologia. Thus |