in a

but that the head and some other parts had been picked up, and that all these fragments were to be transmitted to the Edinburgh University Museum. Some vertebræ, and a number of long cirrhi, or filaments, were, you told us, accordingly received from one gentleman; and you stated, that the skeleton of the head, having been brought to the proprietor of the ground by one of his tenants, was also forthwith to be deposited in the University Museum.It was not without some surprize, therefore, that I lately observed in the newspapers, a paragraph, implying that this last specimen had found its way to London, and had been treated of by Mr Everard Home, surgeon, paper red before the Royal Society. The fragments of this curious animal, instead of being collected in one place, and examined and compared together, have thus, it seems, been dispersed; and, I can easily conceive, that from the examination of detached parts, erroneous conclusions must inevitably have been drawn. The naturalists here, judging from the specimens in their hands, and from drawings furnished to them, were, I understand, of opinion, that the Sea snake must form a new genus, to stand perhaps next to the Squalus, or Shark. Those in London, having, as already observed, by some unaccountable means, become possessed of the skeleton of the head, appear to have found in it the principal generic characters of the Squalus, and to have consider. ed the institution of a genus to be unnecessary. It had been well, however, if they had paused here; for it seems to me impossible to believe, that it should not at least be a new and nondescript species of Shark. Mr Home, however, has declared that the great Sea-Snake of Orkney appears to him to be nothing else than the Squalus maximus of Linnæus, the Basking Shark of Pennant, or the Sail-fish of this country. Several objections occur to this opinion.

In the first place, the largest Basking Sharks I ever heard of were from 28 to 38 feet long, from the tip of the snout to the extremity of the longest fork of the tail. This Orkney animal, however, was no less than 55 feet long, exclusive of the tail.—— This discrepancy of size alone would stagger some.

In the next place, Basking Sharks are by no means uncommon in the Orcadian friths, especially in the summer season, and their appearance is familiar to most of the inhabitants.— Yet no one of the persons who saw the Sea-snake ever gave a hint of its resembling the Sail-fish. The sketches, too, made or corrected by those who saw the animal in its most complete state, make not the least approach to the figure of a Basking Shark.

But, to descend, in one instance, to particulars, the mane, as it has been popularly styled, forms doubtless one of the most prominent marks of discrimination in the Sea-snake. How, then, does Mr Home dispose of the mane? If I be not misinformed, he smiles at it, and alleges that it seems probable that some lacerated fragments of the dorsal fins may have given rise to such a report! If this be the fact, he has certainly drawn conclusions beyond the evidence in his hands. It had been well if those who sent him the skeleton of the head, had favoured him also with some of the cirrhi, or filaments, composing the mane. The fact is, these filaments (of which I have seen and examined above 50 specimens,) are not only of a peculiar shining substance, altogether different from the cartilage of a shark's fins; but are of a regular cylindrical shape, exceedingly tough, and greatly resemble the sort of fishing line called Indian sea-grass. They seem quite imperishable,-not in the least inclined to putrescency; while the cartilage of a shark's fin is very ready to run into putrefaction. I shall only add, that all the persons who saw the

body

the barons, where the old trade of fighting was regarded of greater importance than that of manuring and cultivating the ground; but the ecclesiastical lands were considerably improved, and the tenants of them were generally much more comfortable and happy than those upon the estates of laymen. The reformation of religion, beneficent as it was in other respects, rather checked than promoted agricultural improvement; because the change of property, which then occurred, occasioned a similar change of tenantry, and almost took husbandry out of the hands of the only class of people by whom it was practised upon correct principles. — The dissolution of the monasteries, and other religious houses, was also attended by injurious consequences in the first instance; though latterly the greatest benefit has been derived from tythes and church lands having come into the hands of laymen. It is probable, had not these circumstances occurred, that the tythe system would have still remained in force, and Scottish husbandry have continued under a burthen, which sinks and oppresses the cultivator of the sister country. But tythes having got into the hands of lay titulars, or impropriators, were in general collected or farmed with such severity, as to occasion the most grievous complaints, not only from the tenantry, but also from the numerous class of proprietors, who had not been so fortunate as to procure a share of the general spulzie. This, added to the desire shown by the crown to resume the grants made when its power was comparatively feeble, occasioned the celebrated submission to Charles I., which ended in a settlement, that in modern times has proved highly beneficial, not only to the interest of proprietors, but likewise to the improvement of the nation. Tythes, in fact, are a burthen, which, to all intents and purposes, rate as a tax upon industry, though

long time before the benefi

cial consequences of withdrawing them were fully understood, or even discerned, in this country.

The accession of James to the crown of England is understood to have been unfavourable to the agricultural interest of Scotland; inasmuch as the nobles and gentry, being by that event led into great expences, raised the rents of the tenantry considerably, whilst the very circumstance which occasioned the rise, contributed to lessen the means of the tenant for making good his engagements. Scotland, however, was much benefited by the soldiers of Cromwell, who were chiefly English yeomen, not only well acquainted with husbandry, but, like the Romans at a former period, studious also to improve and enlighten the nation which they had subdued. The soldiers of Cromwell's army were regularly paid at the rate of 8d. per day, a sum equal at least to the money value of two shillings of our currency.And as this army lay in Scotland for a great many years, a flux of money thereby found its way into the country. Perhaps the Low-country districts were at that time in a higher state of improvement than at any period since the demise of Alexander III. This improvement does not altogether rest upon conjecture, but is supported by many facts. In the counties of Lanark, Renfrew, Ayr and Kirkcudbright, the rentals of various estates were greater in 1660 than they were 70 years afterwards; and the causes which brought about a declension in value are ascertained without difficulty. For instance, the large fines enacted from country gentlemen and tenants in these counties, during the reigns of Charles II. and his brother James, were almost sufficient to impoverish both proprietors and cultivators, had they even been wealthy as they are at the present day. Added to those fines, the dreadful imprisonments and other oppressive measures pursued by those in

as

power,

power, equally contrary to sound policy as to justice and humanity, desolated large tracts,-drove the oppressed gentry, and many of their wealthy tenants, into foreign countries, -and extinguished the spirit of industry and improvement in the breasts of those who were left behind. A succession of bad seasons soon after the Revolution, heightened these calamities, and in short, completed the ruin of the tenantry. It is well, known, that innumerable farms at that period remained unoccupied; proprietors having to search after tenants, who were able to stock and cultivate the ground, with almost the same assiduity that must now be displayed by tenants who are out of possession.

It would be unpardonable to omit noticing the active efforts of a Society, formed in 1723 for the improvement of agriculture, consisting of the principal noblemen and gentlemen of Scotland, who continued their labours for more than 20 years, greatly to their own credit, and to the public benefit. Of this we have sufficient evidence from a volume of their Transactions, published in 1743 by Mr Maxwell of Arkland, under the auspices of the celebrated Mr Hope of Rankeillor, one of the most intelligent gentlemen of that period,

Several enactments of legislature, however, had been made in the seventeenth century, which latterly have produced much benefit to agriculture. Independent of the regulation of tithes, a measure of primary importance to husbandmen, the laws relative to the enclosing of land, and dividing of mixed possessions, may be ranked as peculiarly calculated to excite improvement, in so far as the trouble of accomplishing these objects was greatly lessened, whilst precise rules were laid down, by which these improvements might be carried into effect. In these branches of rural legislation, Scottish practice holds out

a judicious pattern for the imitation of our Southern neighbours, who are confessedly behind in every one of them, and, in fact, cannot move an inch without the aid of the legislature. Want of capital stock was the greatest impediment to Scottish agriculture; but this was partly removed by the rebellion of 1745, when vast sums of money were poured into the country; and, since that period, the husbandry of Scotland has progressively impro ved in such a manner as to bear comparison, local circumstances considered, with that of any country in Europe. Even the abrogation of the feudal system, by passing the Jurisdiction Act, was of material advantage, inasmuch as the security of cultivators was thereby increased, and their situation rendered infinitely more independent, than in former times. Since the conclusion of the American war in 1782, improvement has proceeded with singular rapidity in every district; and while the rent rolls of proprietors have been doubled, tripled, and quadrupled, the condition of the tenantry, and of the lower ranks, has been ameliorated almost in a proportional degree. These circumstances are sure tokens of agricultural prospe rity; demonstrating, in the most forcible terms, that husbandry is a main pillar of the state, and that the happiness and welfare of the community depends greatly upon the manner in which the art is executed. No nation, whose husbandry is feeble and imperfect, can be considered as really prosperous, notwithstanding that considerable advances may be made in other arts; because when the art of raising food is neglected, all others must ul. timately be forsaken. In a word, to promote and encourage husbandry, to remove every obstacle that stands in the way of exercising it, and to secure those concerned in carrying on the art, are duties obligatory upon the government of every country; and according as these duties are dis

charged,

charged, so will the wisdom of such a government be estimated by every man who feels for the prosperity of the state, or is attentive to the sources whence that prosperity proceeds. *

Memoirs of the Progress of MANUFACTURES, CHEMISTRY, SCIENCE, and the FINE ARTS.

MR Joseph Hume has discovered a

new method of detecting arsenic. The test which he proposes as a substitute for those hitherto used, appears to be more efficacious, inasmuch as it produces a more copious precipitate from a given quantity of that substance. It is composed in the following manner :-Let one grain of white oxide of arsenic, and the same quantity of carbonate of soda, be dissolved by boiling in ten or twelve ounces of distilled water, which ought to be done in a glass vessel; to this let a small quantity of the nitrate of silver be added, and a bright yellow precipitate will instantly appear. This is a more decisive test than sulphate of copper, which forms Scheele's green, (arse niate of copper) and though the process answers very well with potash or lime-water, yet Mr Hume is inclined to prefer the common sub-carbonate of soda.

A correspondent of the Philosophical Magazine, taking into consideration the present imperfect mode of finding the rates of time-keepers, suggests the establishment of a public observatory for trying time-keepers and keeping their rates, to which every maker, if he thought proper, might have access at stated hours, and where he might be allowed always to keep a certain limited number of pieces. Here he might try the effect of improve

* In our last, we referred for this atticle to the Farmer's Magazine; we now find, that it appeared first in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia.

ments and gain experience; then alter and try again till he succeeded to his mind; an advantage which he could not, perhaps, enjoy in his own house, for want of instruments of sufficient accuracy and leisure to make the necessary computations. A book containing the rate of each time-keeper might be kept always ready for the use of the owner, and, if he thought proper, for the inspection of the public, by which he would be enabled to fix a price on the machine, proportioned to the excellence of its going. From this place captains of ships and others might always be furnished with time-keepers, suitable to the price they could afford, or adapted, with respect to accuracy of going, to the purposes for which they might be required. The writer expresses his surprise that, considering the many evident advantages of such an institution, the watch-makers have not already established one at their own expense.

M. Vauquelin has examined the root of a species of polypody, known by the appellation of Calaguala. Of the substances which compose it, only those soluble in alcohol and water are capable of producing any effect on the animal economy. These are saccharine matter, mucilage, muriate of potash and resin, which last he conjectures would be found to destroy the tape-worm. He has likewise made similar experiments on the roots of the common polypody and male fern, and obtained from them precisely similar principles and nearly in the same proportions as from the calaguala. The former roots, however, contain a small quantity of tannin. Thus the analogy of organization, which led Jussieu and Richard to conclude, that the medicinal virtues of the calaguala-root must be similar to those of other ferns, is fully confirmed by chemical analysis.

The following method of making artificial stone in the vicinity of Dun