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NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MONTHS. VII. JULY.

THEN came hot July, boiling like to fire,
That all his garments he had cast away.
Upon a lion raging yet with ire

He boldly rode, and made him to obey:
(It was the beast that whilom did forray
The Nemean forest, till the Amphitrionide
Him slew, and with his hide did him array:)
Behind his backe a sithe, and by his side

Under his belt he bore a sickle circling wide.-SPENCER.

The direct influence

THE season which we have been so long anticipating is now fairly arrived: summer is come among us, and the warmest and richest part of the year is felt and seen to be present with us. of the sun gradually diminishes from the period of the summer solstice, yet the earth and air have been so thoroughly heated during the spring months, that

the diminution of solar influence is more than compensated.

July was originally the fifth month of the year; it continued thirty-six days, and was called by the Romans, on account of its numerical station, Quintilis. Its name was altered by Mark Antony to Julius, the gentile name of Caius Cæsar, the dictator, who was born in it. The number of days in this month was reduced by Romulus to thirty-one, by Numa to thirty, and was again restored to thirty-one at the regulation of the calendar by Julius Cæsar. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors called this month Mædmonath, from the meads being in their bloom, and Hay-monath, from the business of hay-making, which occupies the early part of July, and in northern districts is the chief employment at the close of the month.

The great proportion of our meadows, however, is cleared by the mower's scythe, and instead of the richly variegated crop they before exhibited, are now beginning to shine anew in the livery of emerald green. The hills and plains meanwhile are changing their spring attire for the more sober hues of the ripening year. The yellow rye is already looking fit for the sickle; wheat and barley fields present a surface that is daily becoming more monotonous and more distinctly embrowned, and which, towards the end of the month, seems nearly ready for the command, "Thrust in the sickle, and reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe;" the whitening ears of the oats are quivering to the least breath of air; the broad leaves of the turnip clothe a portion of the land with a mantle of rich dark green; and here and there, throughout the landscape, starting up amid the corn, and intruding painfully on the farmer's sight, may be seen the brilliant scarlet poppy, the gay blue-bottle, and other gaudy weeds, diversifying indeed the monotony of the scene, but affording no pleasing indication

to the cultivators of the soil.

The foliage of our woods and groves has now become darker in its hue, and more impervious to the rays of the sun. In the short period of the summer, during which, in this climate, we feel the heat oppressive, how delightful is the shade afforded at mid-noon by broad umbrageous oaks or elms! how delightful the stillness-the peace which nature breathes! how soft and sweet the only sounds which break the quiet of such a scene:

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The sudden rushing of the minnow shoal,
Scared from the shallows by the passing tread,
Dimpling the water glides; with here and there
A glossy fly, skimming in circlets gay

The treacherous surface, while the quick-eyed trout
Watches his time to spring.—Grahame.

While the animal creation is oppressed with languor, the insect tribes fully enjoy this noon-tide radiance; and while the flocks and herds seek shelter beneath the spreading trees, flies and gnats are disporting themselves in the sun-beams, and industrious bees are making the blossoms musical with their unceas ing hum..

the mower's scythe, has deprived us of many of the Though the increased temperature, together with flowers of the preceding month, a new generation has sprung up to supply their place. Growing up amid rushes and the yellow water-iris, the beautiful willowherb adorns the margin of the stream with its crimson blossoms; while reposing on the surface of the water, we sometimes see that most elegant of flowers, the white water-lily, beautiful when first budding when its snowy petals are half expanded, or fully its undulating leaves, and still more beautiful opened to the sun. The hedgerow, though bereaved of its clusters of blossoming may, is still attractive with the wreaths and snowy flowers of the great bind-weed, twining intricately among the crowded branches, and with the feathery garlands of wild clematis, or traveller's joy. Beneath these gay festoons of blossom perchance the hollow fox-glove hangs its head, and the tall mullein shoots up its yellow lance,

among

attractive to a host of beautiful moths that come out in the twilight to feed in its blossoms. There, too, the yellow or the white galium (bed-straw) bends its weak form, as if sinking beneath its myriad fairy flowers, and there hang the low, weeping, white flowers of enchantér's nightshade. In the corn-field, besides the corn-cockle, the corn-marigold or ox-eye, the blue-bottle, poppy, &c., there is many a beautiful little flower, such as the pimpernel, or poor man's weather-glass, that astonishes us with the brilliancy of its colour or the delicate touches which a close inspection enables us to discover in its tiny blossoms. In the green lanes and banks how many more of these beautiful productions arrest our notice, and how are our senses likewise regaled with the fine odour of the meadow-sweet, or the lingering perfume of the wood-bine. Here rise the elegant clusters of pink star-like flowers which distinguish the centaury, and the bristling fortress which protects the blossoms of the wild teazle, one of the most useful, and not the least beautiful productions of our hedges.

Now may be seen, gleaming out from the bright green grass of our lately-mown pastures, and nourished by the dews and mist that sometimes prevail during the early part of the day, the smooth-white surface of the valued mushroom, or of the larger and more remarkable production, called the puff-ball. The misty mornings, in which these fungi appear, generally follow those hasty and ample showers which sometimes come down in hot weather, drenching the earth with their sudden torrent, and leaving behind them, on their equally sudden departure, a scene of sparkling beauty and freshness truly delightful. The languid flowers that were bending beneath the fervid rays of the sun are indeed overloaded with moisture, and droop still lower than ever; but their leaves and roots drink in the welcome supply, and soon will the blossoms look up again in all their beauty. Every tree is sparkling with liquid gems, the air is cool and refreshing, and the sun shines out with more than his usual brilliancy. The landscape assumes a richer, livelier hue, and even the barren downs, which in hot

weather are almost without vegetation, look less for-
lorn. The wild thyme growing there gives out its
sweet perfume, and the little blue campanula springs
up among the scanty herbage. This elegant little
flower, familiar to us all as the bell-flower, or hare-
bell of Scotland, has been likened by the poet to the
small azure butterflies that flutter on the heath, and
in hue and delicacy of form there is certainly some
resemblance between them. There is also an elasticity
in its slender stalk which sets its drooping bells
almost perpetually in motion, so that it has been
happily imagined that the fairy queen is soothed on
night serene" with "faint sweet tones" of its "soft
bells pealing."
One can scarcely look at this simple
flower without going back in thought to the days of
childhood, and to early rambles over barren downs,
which, by occasional patches of heath, and gorse, and
wild thyme, and knots of harebells, were rendered
interesting and delightful.

Thou art the flower of memory,
The pensive soul recalls in thee
The year's past pleasures;
And, led by kindred thought, will flee
Till back to careless infancy

The path she measures.

In reviewing the floral treasures of this month, we must not forget that the flower-garden has now received a large accession, and that some of the plants, now in their beauty, are well deserving our attention. What can be more appropriate than the appearance of the jessamine at this season? The "deep dark green" of its unvarnished foliage is a relief to the eye, amid the glowing hues of summer, while the delicious odour of its star-like blossoms is equally refreshing to the sense of smell. The clematis, too, is welcome with its fragrant shade for our windows or portico, and the "syringa ivory pure." The tall white lilies breathe their delicate odour, and at their feet the many-coloured larkspurs, the gaudy nasturtium, the elegant convolvulus, the rich carnation, clove, and pink, and the peerless rose give to the parterre a most brilliant and varied effect.

The orchard and fruit garden now betoken the abundance of the future supply. As the heat becomes oppressive, we feel the value of such refreshment as is afforded us by the ripe strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and raspberries, now common. Apricots look temptingly on the sunny wall, but have not enough either of juice or of flavour to make them in high esteem. A few early sorts of apple are nearly ripe, and cherries begin to be gathered. The hopgrounds are now displaying their valuable productions. Hemp and flax are likewise approaching perfection, and will be pulled during the month. The manufacture of their tough fibres will soon give employment to multitudes of persons, and the transport of linen and cordage, and the appropriation of it to its several uses, to multitudes besides.

The

The heat of the weather drives the feathered songsters to the depth of shady woods and groves. first broods of swallows now begin to congregate, and are ever on the wing in pursuit of insects. Thus they prepare themselves for the approaching time of migration, and, at the same time, are rendering us an essential service by their immense consumption of flies. Sheep and cattle now leave their sunny pastures, and feed principally in the cooler parts of the day; frogs migrate from the ponds to the covert of the high grass; ants leave their nests, and set about establishing new colonies, and bees are busily employed in expelling from their community the lazy drones. What lessons of prudence, industry, and

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perseverance may be learned by considering the habits of ants and bees!

The refreshment of bathing is now both healthful and delightful, and as the time is short in which it can be safely used in this country, every opportunity should be taken which presents itself, and when it can no longer be practised in the open air, some substitute should be contrived within doors.

Bathing, (says Dr. Aikin,) is a delightful amusement at this season; and happy is the swimmer, who alone is able to enjoy the full pleasure of this healthful exercise. The power of habit to improve the natural faculties is in nothing more apparent than in the art of swimming. Man, without practice, is utterly unable to support himself in the water. being short, few in proportion can swim at all, and to those In these northern countries the season for pleasant bathing who have acquired the art, it is a laborious and fatiguing exercise. Whereas in the tropical countries, where from their very infancy both sexes are continually plunging into the water, they become a sort of amphibious creatures, swimming and diving with the utmost ease, and for hours together, without intermission.

When noticing those remarkable productions of this season, the mushroom and the puff-ball, we ought to have spoken of that kind called the subterraneous puff-ball, or truffle, so much esteemed as a luxury for the table. Truffles grow in clusters, three or four inches underground, without any visible root. When becomes blackish on exposure to the air. first dug up their outer skin is white, but it soon The smell seldom exceeds three or four ounces. of this production resembles hartshorn; its weight Truffles grow plentifully in Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Kent, and dogs are trained to hunt for them by the scent, and to scratch up the ground under which they lie.

The beginning of the dog-days is usually fixed in nation on the eleventh of August, as preceding and the calendars on the third of July, and their termifollowing the rising of Canicula, or the Dog-star; but it happens that this star does not now rise till the latter end of August, and therefore its influence in producing heat must be quite imaginary.

The heavy rains which so seasonably refresh the the superstitious with a legend of Swithin, bishop of earth during the summer's drought are connected by Winchester, whose story does not belong to our forty days' rain, after the 15th of July, is firmly bepresent subject, but whose influence in producing lieved in by the uninstructed and the credulous.

SONNET TO WORDSWORTH.

WORDSWORTH! great potentate of verse and song,
Thou'lt grieve, and who so deep as poets mourn }
Because another light* is of its glory shorn,
Amongst the noble and transcendent throng
Of dazzling gem-stars, that of right belong

To Charity's gold coronet!-Though worn
Almost in twain be thy life's cord, and torn
The page, wherein the brightest far among
Ten thousand thousand hopes is doomed

To languish 'neath the burden of disease;
O be the evening of thy days ungloomed

By bodily sufferings, that torture and decrease
The brightest functions of the mental sphere,
The birth-place and the home of joys that never sere!
Penrith, Cumberland.
G. B.

Alluding to the death of the late lamented Countess of Lonsdale.

LONDON.

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE.

Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom.

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I.

DISTANT VIEW OF THE ISLE OF CORFU.

HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND LEGISLATION. THE Ionian Islands form a remarkable portion of the British colonial possessions. They are situated near the entrance to the Adriatic Sea from the Mediterranean, with Turkey and Greece on the east, and Italy and Sicily on the west of them; extending from 36 to 40° south latitude, and from 20° to 23° east longi

tude.

There are several of these islands; but the more important are seven in number, viz., Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Cerigo, Ithaca, Santa Maura, and Paxo, which together form the republic of the Seven Ionian Islands. Their history is replete with interesting events: we shall therefore devote the present paper to a slight sketch of their history, and shall describe the islands in future papers.

Corfu was known to the ancient Greeks by the name of Corcyra, and was, like the other islands, under their dominion:-the history of Corfu is, indeed, nearly that of all the islands. The early Grecian Anthology is intimately connected with them; but without going so far back, we may say, that the inhabitants shared in the numerous wars and changes of dynasty which marked the career of the Greeks. At one time Corcyra appears to have been a republic, and to have fought bravely for its independence. During the Peloponnesian war, the Corcyreans joined the Athenians against the Spartans.

After having been under the yoke of the king of VOL. XVII.

Epirus, these islands shared the fate of the other Mediterranean powers, in becoming part of the Roman Empire. During the domination of Rome, the inhabitants were converted to Christianity. From the Romans the islands passed to the Eastern Empire, and changed hands frequently during the stormy These we must pass over, events of the dark ages. and come to the times when European governments became more firmly settled.

In 1386, the inhabitants of the islands, feeling that they had become the football of contending powers, solicited the protection of the then powerful state of Venice.

This the Venetians were perfectly willing to grant, and the agreement was as follows:

1. That the Governor sent by the Republic of Venice should have supreme control over the civil, political, and military powers.

2. That the Venetian code of laws should replace the one in use by the Corcyreans.

3. That the island should be ready at all times to furnish a contingent number of troops for the service of Venice, whenever required.

4. That the assembly of nobles should enjoy the right of the different employments, and of recommending persons to fill them: this, however, to be under the sanction of the Governor General.

5. That the Greek religion should retain all its bene

fices and lands; and exercise its various functions without

molestation.

6. That the nobility and peasantry should remain in full enjoyment of their property and effects; and that they should have the right of arresting for debt. 515

7. That the Venetian Republic pledged its word never to surrender or place the island of Corcyra under any foreign power; and that on all occasions the republic guaranteed to protect the islands against any attempt from their enemies. The government of the Venetians seems to have been very popular among the Islands, and nothing particular occurred to disturb it until 1537, when the Turks, under Barbarossa, besieged Corfu. Pesaro, the governor, fortified the ramparts to the best of his ability, sent the useless mouths into the interior of the island and prepared for a desperate resistance. Barbarossa landed his forces near the town of Corfu, and opened his batteries with such good effect that the Corfiotes were driven from an eminence commanding the town. Several sorties were made, and the besiegers saw winter approach without having gained any material advantage. Famine and plague also began to make dreadful havoc in their camp; and, after several ineffectual attempts, the siege was abandoned.

The islands then remained tolerably unmolested till 1716, when the Turks under Achmet the Third determined to besiege Corfu with 80,000 men. (Throughout these details Corfu may be considered as the representative, generally, of all the islands). The Venetians and Corfiotes prepared for a vigorous resistance. On July the 15th the Turkish admiral, having twenty-two ships under his command, approached Corfu. He was met by the Venetian admirals, Pisani and Cornari, whose force consisted of two parts, viz., galleys and galliots under Pisani, and ships under Cornari. The Turkish admiral was attacked and defeated by Pisani. The seraskier endeavoured to storm the citadel in a night attack; but the Venetian general made a counter sally with 2000 resolute men, and took the Turks by surprise in the rear, who fled, leaving 4000 dead in the trenches. After several other unsuccessful attempts, the Turks raised the siege, with a loss of 15,000 men, 56 pieces of cannon, and all the equipages, provisions, and baggage.

The islands again remained tolerably quiet for about ninety years, when, after a possession of four centuries, the Venetians were doomed to lose them in the storm arising out of the French Revolution. The French army took possession of Corfu in 1797; but in 1798 the combined Russian and Turkish fleets sailed from Constantinople to expel them from the Adriatic; and after having taken Cerigo, Zante, Cephalonia, and Santa Maura, conquered Corfu on the 1st of March, 1799. A constitution was soon after organized for the government of the islands, by which they were placed under the joint protection of Russia and Turkey. It was arranged that Corfu, Zante, Cephalonia, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Paxo, Cerigo, and all the smaller islands situated opposite the western coast of Turkey and Greece, should be formed into a republic, under the name of the Republic of the Seven United Islands, and to be jointly protected by Russia and Turkey.

Soon afterwards, by the intrigues of Bonaparte, the islands became solely submissive to Turkey. When war broke out between Russia and Turkey, in 1807, the ambitious Ali Pasha thought it a fitting opportunity to seize the Ionian Islands; but General Berthier, with a French force of 17,000 men, arrived at the islands and took possession of them, which the French

retained until 1814.

When the affairs of Europe were settled in 1815, the seven Ionian Islands were declared to be a single, free, and independent republic, under the protection of England. In 1817 a constitution was granted to the islands, setting forth the mode in which they were to be governed. In April, 1819, the final

arrangement was made by a Treaty between England and Turkey, in which the latter renounced all claim to the islands in the following article:

The Islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo, known under the name of the Seven United Islands, as well as the small islands, partly inhabited and partly desert, which depend thereon, were formerly under the sovereignty of the Sublime Porte, rendering tribute and receiving protection; but the vicissitudes these islands having fallen into the possession of Great of time have produced changes in this state of things; and Britain, have been placed under the exclusive and immediate protection of His Britannic Majesty, in conformity with the convention between the four great powers, solely relating to the said islands.

Having thus traced the manner, in which the islands came under the government or protection of Great Britain, we proceed to state the mode in which they are governed. The civil government consists of a Legislative Assembly, a Senate, and a Judicial Authority. Our authority for what follows is Mr. Montgomery Martin's valuable History of the Colonies.

Legislative Assembly.-This body consists of forty members, including the president; of the forty, eleven are integral members, and twenty-nine elected from the various islands in the following proportion: Corfu seven, Cephalonia seven, Zante seven, Santa Maura four, Ithaca one, Paxo one, Cerigo one. Each of the three last in rotation elects a second. The elections and all civil appointments are valid for five years; and the session of the parliament of the states is held every two years. The votes are viva voce, and the sittings open; ten members, and the president or vice-president constitute a legal meeting; and conferences with the senate, &c., are managed by the eleven integral members of the assembly, who form, with their president, the primary council. These eleven integral members, in the case of parliament having run its full course of five years, consist of the president and five members of the old senate, the four regents of the larger islands during the last parliament, and one of the regents of the smaller islands; but in case of a dissolution, instead of the regents, the lord high commissioner names five members of the late legislative assembly.

The Senate. This forms the executive power, and is composed of the president and five senators: the senators are elected out of the body of the legislative assembly in the following proportion, viz., Corfu one, Cephalonia one, Zante one, Santa Maura one, Ithaca, Paxo, and Cerigo one. The power of placing a member of the assembly in nomination for a senator rests with the president, on an application being made to him in writing, signed by four members of that body: the president places in nomination any person when eight members make a demand. The election takes place three days at farthest after the meeting of the assembly, and is decided by the plurality of votes, the president having a casting vote. The sanction of the lord high commissioner is necessary to the validity of the election. The senate remains in office five years, the president, half that period. The senate names. its own ministerial officers, with some exceptions, and has the power of nominating the regents to the different islands, the judges, and other officers. During the recess of the parliament the senate has the power of making regulations which have pro tempore the force of laws: it has the power of originating laws, as well as disallowing any passed by the legislative assembly.

The Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands is appointed by the British Crown. He appoints in each island a resident, or representative, who is a fieldofficer of the regiments on duty in the island. The

regent, advocate, fiscal, secretary, and architect of each island, are appointed by the senate, subject to the approbation of the lord high commissioner. The municipal administration of each island consists of five members, independent of the president, (who is the regent.) The electors, or syndita, of each island, choose ten persons, out of whom the regent selects five to form the municipal body.

The judicial authority in each island consists of three tribunals,—a civil, a criminal, and a commercial; and there is a court of appeal in each island, the judges being appointed by the senate, subject to the approval of the lord high commissioner. Besides these courts, there are in each island tribunals for the trial of minor criminal offences, and for the adjudication of small civil suits: these are presided over by justices of the peace for the island, appointed by the regent,

At the seat of government, (Corfu,) there is, in addition to the foregoing courts, a superior or high court of appeal, denominated the "Supreme Council of Justice," and consisting of four ordinary members, two English and two Greek, and two extraordinary members, viz., the lord high commissioner, and the president of the senate. Trial by jury does not exist; nor are there any assessors to aid the judges: it is understood that Lord Nugent, when lord high commissioner, wished to introduce trial by jury into the islands; but that circumstances prevented it.

Before the cession of the islands to England, the laws were partly Venetian, partly Greek; but a new code has since been adopted. Among the laws abolished was a very singular one relating to property, viz., that a purchaser was compelled to restore a property to a seller several years after the bargain, for the same price at which it was vended, if the vendor tendered the original sum. It is said that lawyers are exceedingly abundant in the islands, every tenth individual being in some way connected with the legal profession.

By far the most important production of these islands, and to which the attention of the inhabitants is most particularly directed, is currants,—those which we receive in a dried form: nearly twenty million pounds' weight of currants, valued at 180,000%., are yearly exported. The other exports are olive oil, wine, spirits, valonca, salt, and a few other articles. The native manufactures are cottons, silks, woollens, earthenware, coarse clothing, shoes, hides, cordage, hardware, soap, casks, and barrels, &c. The imports in the year 1834 amounted to 609,9771.; the exports, 565,6651. Currants, olive oil, and wine, the staple produce of the islands, pay an ad valorem export duty of 18 per cent; and soap one of 8 per cent: vessels purchased by foreigners 5 or 6 per cent. All other articles are export free; and the import duties are generally light.

These general details will prepare us for a description of the islands individually, in a few subsequent papers. We will conclude this article by quoting a remark by Mr. Martin :

The importance of these islands to England has reference principally to their geographical position, by which they are admirably adapted for protecting our trade in the eastern parts of Europe, and of extending our commerce as soon as Greece becomes more settled and civilized. It would be well if trial by jury were introduced into the islands, and a free press promoted, and I would suggest that the wines bonâ fide prepared in the Ionian Isles be admitted into England, on the same footing as those of the Cape of Good Hope or any other colony. There can be no doubt that we have effected some good in elevating the character of the Ionians. By a perseverance in our present system, we shall be laying a permanent foundation for the extension of the British name and commerce throughout eastern Europe.

GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. II.

A DESCRIPTION of the mode of working the diamond has been already given in the seventh volume of this Magazine, page 20, and representations have been furnished of the most celebrated diamonds in the world. By comparing the very small size of these stones with their immense price, it will be evident that, of all known substances, diamonds contain the greatest value within the smallest bulk. The value of precious stones is estimated in a different way from that of most other substances. For two ounces or gold, for instance, we must pay twice the price for one ounce, whether the two ounces be in one piece of in several. The case is very different with precious stones; for it is much more rare to meet with stones of a large size, than with small ones, and we cannot, as in the case of gold, melt, or otherwise join together, several pieces. Hence, a diamond, or other gem, of two ounces' weight, would be worth much more than two similar gems of one ounce each. The mode therefore of estimating the value of a diamond of moderate size is this. The weight of all gems is expressed in carats, one of which is equal to four grains. Now, instead of multiplying the weight in carats by the price per carat, the number of carats is first squared, or multiplied by itself, and then by the value of one carat. Hence, if a diamond of one carat were worth 21., one of six carats would be worth, not 127., but 727., that being the product of six multiplied by itself, and by 21. In very large diamonds, however, the price follows no fixed rule, but depends principally on the relative wishes of the buyer and seller.

Of the extreme hardness of the diamond the ancients seem to have been well aware, for its name, both in Greek and Latin, is expressive of that quality, the word adamas implying invincible hardness. They believed that it would yield neither to fire nor hammer, and yet imagined that it could be dissolved by goats' blood. As long ago as the year 1609 it was conjectured by Boetius de Boot that the diamond was an inflammable substance, and, in 1694, some dia monds were burnt in the presence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, by means of a strong lens. These experiments appear to have attracted little attention, and were apparently unknown to Sir Isaac Newton, for he was led to suspect the combustible nature of diamonds by observing their very great refracting power. The relation which he supposed to exist between this refractive power and the inflammability of substances was confirmed by the experiments of Dr. Brewster on phosphorus and sulphur; and the investigations of this celebrated optician on the properties of the diamond led him to the conclusion that it has originated, like amber, from perhaps vegetable matter, which gradually acquires a crystalline form, by the influence of time, and the slow action of corpuscular forces.

One of the most startling and unexpected discoveries of modern science is, that the diamond is composed of nothing but pure carbon, which is the name given by chemists to common charcoal, when divested of all its impurities. In fact, the purest charcoal differs in no respect from the diamond except in its state of aggregation; the diamond being crystallized, and the charcoal uncrystallized. All the attempts, however, to crystallize charcoal artificially, and so to produce diamonds, have hitherto failed. The more we purify charcoal, the blacker and more opaque does it become. In one case, where the heat of a powerful galvanic battery was employed, the charcoal became so hard as to scratch glass: there

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