Among the minor poems of Saxe which we should like to quote in full, but have only room to particularize, are "The Rhyme of the Rail," a railroad lyric whose measure gives us the very helterskelter and jolt of the cars, "The Ghost Player," ,"" A Benedict's Appeal to a Bachelor," "The Cold-water Man," "Comic Miseries," and specimens of his three classical travesties. "The Proud Miss M'Bride," and "The New Rape of the Lock," remind us of Hood's Kilmanse," but only in their versification, Saxe's manner of treatment otherwise differing essentially from that of Hood. For while Hood always has an under-current of serious sentiment and melancholy, a tear in the dimple of every smile, Saxe plays and sports with his theme, and wreathes it all over with grotesque fancies and puns. Bryant, who is one of the best judges of metres in The utilitarian effect of Saxe's satire America, and not wont to talk carelessly, cannot fail to be important. He lashes says of "The Proud Miss M'Bride," that the contemptible pretensions of our own it "shows a great deal of comic power," high life," and whips, right and left, old and uncommon facility of versification." current follies. The times call for such There is not much story about the poem, scourging. which relates the ups and downs of a retired soap-boiler and his only daughter, the proud lady; but what there is, is cleverly managed; and the hits at the follies and frivolities of fashionable life are very pointed and funny. American aristocracy, that" thing of shreds and patches," comes in for a good rub : best of their kind that we have yet produced in America, and quite lately, with other of Saxe's measures, they have had much currency given them by the English and Scotch papers. "The Rhyme of the Rail" is much copied in England, and sung everywhere. As the didactic theory, the theory of utility, is all the rage now, somebody may ask, What is the use, and what the aim of Saxe's verse? To which we answer, He has none, beyond that of writ'Missing as well as he can, on such themes as happen to occur to him, and for his own amusement in his leisure as an editor and attorney. Verse is but an incident, almost an accident of his life. And when we remember the quantity of stuff which is being produced by those who make it the business of their life, we cannot but wish for more "accidental" verse, like that of John Godfrey Saxe. "Of all the notable things on earth, Among our 'fierce democracie!' That plagued some worthy relation!" One admirable point about all Saxe's verses is the careful way in which they are finished: you will not find a single nonsensical or slovenly line in his book; no slip-shod English, and no rough edges and loose ends. He is plain and straightforward in his sense, and terse and smart in his style of saying it. His heroic couplets are, we are inclined to think, the NEST-BUILDING FISHES. HE general disbelief with which stories THE of fishes taking care of their young have been received, has been somewhat shaken by the recent testimony of a celebrated naturalist. While engaged in collecting insects along the shores of Lake Sebago, in Maine, he was led to observe the action of a couple of catfish which, at his approach, left the shore suddenly, and returned to the deeper water. This movement being repeated, he was led to a closer observation. Examining more closely, a nest was discovered, in which were moving a number of little tadpoles. These were at first supposed to be the tadpoles of frogs; and to test the attachment of the old fishes to the spot, some pains were taken to experimentalize upon them. The fishes would return slowly and cautiously, looking anxiously toward the nest to see if it had been disturbed. They would approach to within six or eight feet. Large stones cast at them, or into the nest, only served to frighten them away for ten or fifteen minutes. They would then return, evidently seeking the protection of their young. The nest was formed amongst the waterplants. THE PARSONSTOWN CASTLE THE EARL OF ROSSE'S TELESCOPE. HE annexed series of engravings illustrates the history of one of the greatest scientific triumphs of our timethe construction of the LARGEST TELESCOPE IN THE WORLD, by the Earl of Rosse, at his residence, Parsonstown Castle, in King's County, Ireland, about eighty-seven English miles from Dublin. A pleasant history might be written of Parsonstown Castle; the changes it has been subject to since the time of the O'Carrols, its original possessors, being not a few. In 1642, it was besieged by the Irish, and relieved by Sir Charles Coote; in 1643, it was taken by General Preston; in 1648, it was attacked by O'Neile; in 1650, it was taken by General Ireton from the Irish, who, for some time, had possession of it; in 1688, Sir Laurence Parsons was besieged in it by Oxburgh, and it was garrisoned by his soldiers for some time afterwards; after the defeat of King James, Sir Laurence was again established in the castle, which was again besieged by Sarsfield, &c., &c. The present appearance was given to it some years ago, after it had been severely damaged by fire. These actions and events might be made interesting to our readers; but we are sure we shall meet their wishes more fully by attending, for the present, to the scientific pursuits of its possessor. His lordship has gained for himself a name of much celebrity; his high talents are combined with great perseverance, and both are happily guided by sound good sense. He seems to love science for its own sake, and, untempted by any desire for applause, he has been working silently and for himself, until the magnitude of the results have forced themselves on the notice of the world. He has particularly distinguished himself by attaining an end, which has been for a long time a desideratum to scientific men-the production of large metallic reflectors. Until he accomplished the casting of his speculum, six feet in diameter, it was thought to be impossible; and the difficulties and obstacles he met with in the prosecution of his object, would have deterred a smaller mind. For several years there has been erected, on his lawn, a reflecting telescope, made by himself, (a view of which we give,) the con cave speculum of which is three feet in diameter, and whose focal length is twentyseven feet. It is elevated and depressed with the greatest ease, being accurately balanced by heavy weights over pulleys; and it is turned to any part of the heavens by means of wheels running on a graduated iron circle, fixed in the ground. The casting, grinding, and polishing of this speculum, and the machinery of the tube, and its suspension, were all accomplished under his lordship's eye, and by his own direction. We give a view of the exterior of his workshop, and of the house, where, by help of a steam-engine, all the processes connected with the producing of the speculum were performed. It will be interesting to know more exactly what were the operations carried on in this laboratory. We will attempt a description, necessarily very brief, and as much on the surface as possible: a more scientific and elaborate one will not befit a popular pictorial article like this. A detail of the several steps taken in the THE TELESCOPE ON THE LAWN. making of the large speculum will suffice for our purpose. Lord Rosse has discovered that the only metals which should be employed in forming speculum metal are copper and tin, and that the proportion should be, copper 58.9 to tin 126.4. Of these metals for his large speculum he melted three tons, in three cast-iron crucibles. In his first trial to melt the metal, he found that the weight was so great that it insinuated itself into the heated crucible, and oozed through it at the bottom. To remedy this, his lordship had crucibles cast with their faces upward. Crucibles are always cast with the bottoms up; and so, the air rising, makes those parts porous, and caused the oozing of the metal. The plan he adopted of getting them cast face upward-allowed the air to lodge at the top; and he completely succeeded in his next attempt. Having sunk in the ground three large furnaces, each about four feet in diameter, and six feet deep, and connected with a chimney about nineteen feet high, and four feet broad, tapering slightly to the top, he heated them with turffires, which he preferred to coal. One crucible, holding one ton of metal, was placed in each, and for nineteen hours was subjected to an intense heat. The shape on which the metal was to be cast being made ready, and three sleepers being rightly placed to receive the crucibles, they were lifted, by means of an immense crane, from their furnaces; and at nine o'clock on the evening of the 18th of April, 1842, without accident or delay, they simultaneously poured forth their glowing contentsa burning mass of fluid matter, hissing, heaving, pitching itself about for a minute, and then calmly settling into a monument of man's industry forever. There were a great many, witnesses of this scene, and not one can forget the entire composure of the Earl of Rosse's manner. While every other person seemed anxious and fearful, he directed the men as collectedly and easily as if it was one of the most ordinary occurrences of life; and his only answer to the many proffered suggestions of the bystanders was, "There's no fearthere's no hurry." When the metal had settled, it was drawn by a capstan into a heated oven, and built in, where it remained for sixteen weeks, annealing. The great difficulty experienced in producing large reflectors is, that in cooling the metal generally cracks; and when this does not occur, the number of holes often found in the solid mass renders it of no use. Lord Rosse has the merit of overcoming completely both these obstacles. The plan usually adopted in casting is to make the shape in sand; this substance, however, in his lordship's experiments, allowed the under portions of the metal to remain heated as long as the upper, and both surfaces setting together, left the central portions the last to cool, which thereby caused warping and cracking in the speculum. Lord Rosse thought that if the metal was cast in the shape of iron, its high conducting power would cool the under surface rapidly, and that the cooling would extend itself gradually to the top. This he found, on trial, to be the case; but the air and gas that is always mixed with the fluid metal not having the porous sand to allow its escape, rose through and filled with holes the speculum, and consequently destroyed it. The problem now was, to find some substance of sufficiently high conducting power to cause rapid cooling; but, at the same time, sufficiently porous to allow the escape of air when the metal was poured on it. In a happy moment the noble mechanic solved it. He thought LORD ROSSE'S WORKSHOP. that by binding together layers of hoopiron, and turning the required shape on them edgewise, that the interstices would be too small to let the metal pass, and large enough to give the air exit. The existence of the six-foot speculum is a magnificent proof of the truth of the calculation. Nothing could have answered more fully. We should be proud to think that the greatest scientific triumph was not the creation of a happy chance, but the result of reason. The speculum being cast, was left for sixteen weeks in the annealing oven; and we may well envy, but can scarcely imagine, the feelings of its maker when, on removal, it was found without spot or blemish. The surface had now to be ground and polished. The figure required for the surface of a reflecting speculum is that of a parabola. There is, in general, very great difficulty in producing this curve; and it has been such a terror to opticians that few can be found willing to undertake a speculum of larger diameter than six or eight inches. However, Lord Rosse, by a combination of motions, both of the speculum and polishing tool, easily produced the desired effect. The speculum was placed in water, and turned round by the steam-engine, while the polisher had a horizontal motion given by the same means these two motions were the most apparent, but there were others, into the consideration of which we could not enter sufficiently briefly. The grinding-tool was made of iron, turned to the required shape in his lordship's workshop; it was then cut by grooves into octagonal-shaped pieces on the surface, and holes bored through it in different places to allow sand and water to run from the upper surface between it and the speculum: the supply of sand and water was constantly kept up. The entire weight of the grinder was not allowed to rest on the speculum; it was partly counterpoised by a weight hung to an attached lever. It required six weeks to grind it to a fair surface. The polishing generally requires only six hours. The same tool that grinds it is, for the purpose of polishing, covered over with pitch, on which crocus is spread: nothing else is necessary. The division of the tool into small parts on the surface by grooves is requisite for producing a good shape. If an even surface of pitch were used, the heat that is produced by the friction making the pitch soft, it would accumulate in some places more than others, and so destroy the right shape; but, when the surface is divided into those small portions, the pitch cannot be pushed to any distance from its original position, and, of course, the surface must be constantly true. In the view of the tower of the workshop there is seen a long pole running up from the top. On the summit of this is a little crossbar, to which is attached a small dial of a watch. It is directly under this that the speculum was polished. The body of the tower serves as a tube, and the dial is reflected in the speculum below; the polishing is continued until the picture produced is absolutely perfect. When this process is finished, the speculum is ready for the tube; and such a tube as is prepared for it! a company of soldiers might go through their manœuvres in it. It is fifty-two feet long, and seven in diameter. It was built in a long gallery, over a range of outhouses, and this had to be thrown down to take the leviathan away. It is made of wood, and hooped with iron. The mechanism by which it is suspended and moved is the result of deep calculation, and is not the least meritorious of Lord Rosse's works. When we see this enormous instrument moved about and regulated by one man's arm, and placed in its position with more ease and certainty than a hand-instrument can be, we will then appreciate the plan and the mind that conceived it. We could not at all enter into a detailed account of the several pieces of the machinery: they would require a diligent study. The chief means employed is a large cast-iron hinge, which is attached to the bottom of the tube, and which allows it either to be elevated or depressed, or turned from side to side. This hinge is supported on and fixed into solid masonwork in the ground, and keeps one end of the tube stationary. The walls which support the machinery -a sketch of one of which we give-are built exactly in the meridional line, so that the telescope, lying between them, only takes in objects as they pass this line. They can be kept in the field of view for half an hour on each side of the meridian. The speculum is six feet in diameter, with a focal distance of fifty-two feet; its power of magnifying may be judged of by the fact, that a portion of the moon, the size of a common house, can be visible. Before being placed in the tube, it was fastened to what is called an equilibrium bed, a support made of triangular pieces of iron which have a motion among themselves, and so disposed that they adapt themselves to every change of state of the speculum produced by variation of temperature and other causes, and so prevent warping and its consequences. The iron pieces are lined with frieze and pitch. His lordship has also erected an equatorial instrument. It is eighteen inches in diameter, the largest ever made, and, by its peculiar mechanism, the truest ever used. Sir James South laid out $35,000 in erecting one, and had to break it up afterward because it did not answer. Lord Rosse has been entirely successful. This instrument alone is a wonderful piece of work; but, taken in connection with all the rest, it is truly marvelous how much and how well one man has done. Lord Rosse's pleasure-grounds are most elegantly and tastefully laid out. A large lake has been added to the other beauties of the place, and has given his lordship an opportunity of trying his skill as an engineer; the water for the lake being supplied from a distant part of a |