minutes between bedclothes or wearing apparel, the motion of the index certainly detects the existence of damp, if there be any present. Portable, and of a moderate price, this instrument deserves notice, and may save many lives. Hygrometers made of ivory, whalebone, hair, straw, and various other substances, have been known for centuries. Whether this is any more than an old discovery with a new name, we have not yet ascertained.

Miscellaneous.

Caution to Master Manufacturers and others.— It is stated in the Preston Chronicle, that in the petty sessions held at Walton-le-dale during the month of April, two cotton-spinners, of Chorley, were convicted before the justices, for paying wages in goods, and other ways than in money, in no less than nine cases, for each of which they incurred a penalty of ten pounds. This practice, we fear, is not confined to cotton-spinners. We do not want to have new laws enacted, as much as to have the old ones executed. In cases like these, the sufferers fear to complain, lest they should be turned out of employ. Some friendly neighbour, however, might render them essential service, by making their degraded situation known.

Rattlesnakes. Some curious facts respecting these formidable reptiles have lately appeared in the Richmond Inquirer, an American jour nal. A Frenchman, M. Neale, being in North Carolina, procured some rattlesnakes with à view of forming a collection. Several observations, followed by experiments, induced him to believe that they were capable of being tamed; and in this he ultimately succeeded in a most surprising degree. Their docility is so great, that having talked to them a little, and stroked them with his hand, he takes them as if they were ropes'-ends, and puts them up his breast, until they wind round his neck, and kiss him! The means which he employed to effect this object is unknown, but he himself ascribes it to the power of music, and pretends, that a tender melody is sufficient to tranquillize the greatest irritation on the part of the animal.

Maize Grain.-So remarkably retentive of the power of germinating is this grain, that, as appears by the Philosophical Transactions for 1823, the maize found in the graves of the Peruvians, who lived before the arrival of the Europeans in that country, is still so fresh, that, when planted, grows well, and yields

seed.

To destroy Insects in Gardens. Scrape or brush off the wormcasts, and then water liberally with pure lime-water; not a mixture, which leaves a white crust after it, but a sola tion of quicklime, which is quite clear, and leaves no mark.-But an instrument has been recently proposed to the Horticultural Society, for the application of pulverized quicklime to destroy insects on trees and crops. The inventor stated that this process was much more effectual than lime water. The machine is of tin, not unlike the flower of a watering-pot, and the lime-powder is shaken on through the apparatus.

Literary Notices.

Just Published.

The Old English Drama, No. 2, containing The Ball, a Comedy. By G. Chapman and I, Shirley. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.-demy, 4s.

Parts I. and II. price 2s. 6d. each, of The Modern Traveller. This work is intended to comprehend a popular description of the various Countries of the Globe. The parts published embrace Palestine.

Sermons on the Nature and Offices of the Holy Ghost. By J. Edmondson, A.M. and R. Treffry. 38. 6d.

The Pastor of Blamont, an Authentic Narrative. 1s. 6d.

Slave-holders; with suggestions for the general Emancipation, or Practical Advice to British improvement of West India Affairs. By T.

Winn.

Sacred Melodies, preceded by an admonitory Appeal to Lord Byron, with other small Poems. By Mrs. I. H. R. Mott. 5s. 6d.

The Evangelical Rambler. 3s. 6d. bds. The first number of The Cottage Bible and Family Expositor, was published early in April; to be continued weekly, price 3d. each, and completed in two vols. 8vo.

The Atrocities of the Pirates; being a faithAuthor during his Captivity among thein, off ful Narrative of the Sufferings endured by the the Island of Cuba. By Aaron Smith. 48. 6d. In the Press.

The Three Brothers; or, The Travels and Adventures of the Three Sherleys, in Persia, Russia, Turkey, Spain, &c. Printed from Original MSS. One vol. 8vo.

Directions for Studying the Laws of England. By Roger North, Youngest Brother to Lord Keeper Guilford. Now first printed from the Original MS. in the Hargrave Collection. In a small 8vo. volume.

Eleazar, an Interesting Narrative of one of the Jewish Converts on the Day of Pentecost; Bingham. One vol. 12mo. supposed to be related by himself. By Thomas

The Rev. Henry Moore has in the press a Life of the Rev. John Wesley, including that of his Brother Charles; compiled from authenpublished. It will be comprised in two large tic Documents, many of which have never been svo. volumes, the first of which is expected to be ready by the first of June.

Sancho, the Sacred Trophy, and the Unparalleled Operations of Episcopacy, with a Presbyter's Hat, is preparing for the Press. By the Rev. S. H. Carlisle.

servation of the Sabbath, answered. In eight Ingenuous Scruples, chiefly relating to the ob Letters. Forming a supposed series from a Father to his Daughter. By Alicia Catherine

Mant.

QUERIES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

1. Query by a Framework-knitter. An Inquirer asks Are there any framework-knitters in the United States of America? if so, in what states and towns are stocking manufactures carried on? Does this branch of trade exist in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or particularly in the town of Pittsburg? An answer through the medium of this magazine will oblige him, 2. Respecting Gas, by A.B.C.-A. B. C. having seen some directions for generating gas for domestic purposes, has made several experiments, which have not answered his expectations.-He wishes to know what method he must adopt to

procure a steady light without much expense in apparatus? The town of Abergavenny is said to be lighted on an improved principle. He wishes to know in what its superiority consists

MEMOIR OF

GIOVANNI BATISTA BELZONI.

SCIENCE may be said to have its martyrs in one sense, as well as religion; and it is painful to reflect on the numbers of ingenious men, who have, of late years, fallen victims to the spirit of curiosity. But of all the regions on the globe, Africa has proved most destructive to enterprising travellers; and yet the rapid succession of losses does not seem to damp the ardour of inquiry, or to deter other adventurers from attempting to explore the interior of that interesting, though, in a great measure, unknown quarter of the habitable earth. The catastrophe of the amiable and indefatigable Park, was followed by that of Burkhardt, Tuckey, and Smith, to which catalogue we have now to add the no less celebrated names of Bowdich and BELZONI.

This last extraordinary character was born at Padua, but spent most of his younger days at Rome, the former abode of his ancestors. Here he received a liberal education with a view to the monastic state; but the sudden entry of the French army into that capital, in 1798, altered his destination, and he became a wanderer. Though supplied with occasional remittances by his family, yet, as his parents were far from being wealthy, and their circumstances, from the pressure of the times, became daily narrower, he did not choose to be a burden to them, and therefore contrived to live on his own industrious exertions, and the knowledge he had acquired in various branches of science. His principal attention was paid to hydraulics, which he had learnt at Rome, and now turned to his advantage, by the public exhibition of curious machines and experi

[1824.

appearance, his stature considerably above six feet, remarkably straight and well formed; his head and upper part of the body not exceeding the ordinary size, but from his hips downward he was extremely muscular. Shortly after his arrival here, he commenced an exhibition of hydraulics, in which he was a complete adept, shewing the various fantastic forms into which water might be thrown by the power of different kinds of machinery. After some stay in London, he went to Bristol, where he married; but he did not tarry in that city long, moving northwards to Edinburgh, and thence to Ireland. Finding the resources of the mind not sufficient to feed the curiosity of his visitors, he determined to call in the aid of his powerful strength; and accordingly between the acts of his hydraulic experiments, he would bear upon his gigantic frame, not fewer than fifteen, sixteen, or even twenty persons.Thus he has been seen at the Cork theatre, lifting up the superabundant weight of individuals, strapped around his hips, shoulders, and neck, and moving across the stage with this living apparatus, as stately as the elephant surmounted by a body of Indian warriors.

After perambulating the united kingdom nine years, Mr. Belzoni turned his attention towards home, and proceeded to Lisbon; but instead of going, as he intended, to Italy, he went to Gibraltar, and from thence to Malta; and on being informed that the Bashaw of Egypt was a great encourager of the sciences, he embarked with his wife and an Irish lad for Alexandria, where they arrived on the 9th of June, 1815. The principal cause of his taking this cruise to Egypt was, the project of constructing hydraulic machines to irrigate the fields, by a system much easier and more economical than what was then in use in that country.

From Alexandria, at the beginning of the following month, they proceed21

66

ed to Cairo, where Belzoni, soon after his arrival, had nearly fallen a victim to Turkish barbarity. Going," says he, "to the citadel of the bashaw, we had to pass through several of the principal streets, which are always crowded with people, and for this reason a stranger supposes the capital to be very populous; but except these streets and the bazars, the rest of the town is quite deserted, and a great number of falling houses, and much rubbish, are to be seen every where. We were mounted on our asses, the most convenient and only mode of travelling for Franks in that city. We met a soldier on horseback, who, when he came near, gave me such a blow with his staff, upon my right leg, that I thought he had cut it in two. The staves of the Turks, which are like shovels, cut very sharp; and one of the corners catching the calf of my leg, tore off a piece of flesh in a triangular form, two inches broad and pretty deep. After this, he swore two or three oaths at me, and went on as if nothing had happened. The blood ran out copiously; and instead of seeing the bashaw, I was taken to the convent of Terasanta, as the nearest Christian place I could go to. There was at that time a great discontent among the soldiers against the bashaw, for having given orders that they should learn the European military evolutions; and, as I was in a Frank's dress, I suppose the fellow paid me for what he had learned of European fighting. From the convent I was taken home to my house at Boolak, where I remained under cure for thirty days before I could stand on my legs. When I recovered, I was presented to Mahomet Ali Bashaw, who received me very civilly. Seeing that I walked lamely, and being told the cause, he said, such accidents could not be avoided, where there were troops. I made an arrangement with him, and undertook to erect a machine, which would raise as much water with one ox, as the machines of the country with four. He was much pleased with my proposal, as it would save the labour and expense of many thousands of oxen in the country; a matter of importance, since these animals are scarcely of any other use than working; for, though they are in pretty good condition, they are seldom killed for food,

the Turks eating mutton, and the Arabs buffalo's flesh, when they can afford it.

"The place where I was to erect my machine, was in Soubra, at the garden of the bashaw, on the Nile, three miles from Cairo. We went to reside there, in a small house within the walls of the governor's palace, which was closed at night by large gates. I had many provoking difficulties to encounter before I became acquainted with the people of the place, as they supposed that the introduction of such machines into the country would throw many of them out of work; consequently, I was not welcome among them; and the very persons who were to furnish me with what was necessary in wood, iron, carpentry, &c. would be the first to suffer by it, if the machine succeeded. It may therefore easily be imagined that I had to contend with many obstacles, besides the prejudices against all strangers, and innovators on the customs of the natives. As a proof of this, may be cited the hydraulic machine already in Soubra, sent as a present from England to the Bashaw of Egypt, which is said to have cost ten thousand pounds. It was neatly put up, though the engineer, who was in charge of it, met with many difficulties before he effected it. At last it was set to work; but as it was imagined that an English machine would inundate the whole country in an hour, the quantity of water raised was not adequate to their expectation, and it has been left useless ever since.This failure gave me an early surmise of what might be my own fate; and I was not mistaken.

"At length the hydraulic machine was completed, and though constructed with hard wood and iron, it was a question whether it did draw six or seven times as much water as those in common use. The bashaw gave his decision, that it drew up only four times as much. This calculation, however, was to my satisfaction, as it decided on the accomplishment of my undertaking. Still Mahomet Ali perceived the prejudice among the Arabs and the Turks who were concerned in the cultivation of the land; for, instead of four hundred people, and as many oxen, they would have only to command one hundred of each, which would make a considerable difference in their profits: but as it happened,