have the coldest weather when the sun is nearest to us, viz. in the winter; for as the eccentricity of the earth's orbit bears but a trifling proportion to the distance of the Earth from the Sun, and therefore of itself can occasion no great difference of heat and cold to us in the different seasons, it will follow, that the remarkable difference we experience must be owing to the relative direction of the solar rays.

Thus in winter, the Sun's rays fall so obliquely upon us, that any given number of them will not only fall with less force, but must be spread over a greater portion of our part of the Earth's surface. Besides, the Sun's continuance above the horizon is considerably shorter in the winter, and the nights are much longer; which must further contribute to increase the cold.

Some may imagine from hence, that as the sun always gives most heat when his rays are most perpendicular, the hottest part of our summer should be when the Sun is in the first degree of Cancer; that is, towards the latter end of June. But experience tells us, that the weather is commonly hottest in the latter part of the summer. This may easily be accounted for as follows: When any part of the Earth's surface has been fairly heated, it will retain the heat for some time; and as the nights, which in the middle of summer are very short, increase but slowly, and the days are proportionably long, the heat of the Earth must be continually augmented in the day-time more than it is diminished in the night, till the Sun has declined considerably from the tropic in its return to the equinoctial. For this reason, the month of July and great part of August will be hotter than Juue, unless prevented by winds and rains; in | the same manner as we generally find it hotter in the afternoon than in the forenoon. On the contrary, those places which have thoroughly cooled will require some time to recover their heat; so that the weather will be colder a month or two after the winter solstice than before it.

It is further worthy of remark, that the Sun's rays are so much refracted, or bent down towards the Earth, by the atmosphere, at its rising and setting, as to bring it in sight every clear day before it reaches the horizon in the morning, and to keep it in view for some minutes after it has descended below it in the evening. At some times of the year, we see the Sun ten minutes longer above the horizon than we should do if it were not for this circumstance, and about six minutes every day at a mean rate. It is the atmospbere also which is the cause of Twilight, which may be explained thus: when the EARTH, by its diurnal rotation, has withdrawn the Sun from our sight, it still continues to shine upon the atmosphere above us, from which the light is reflected to us, till it is 18 degrees below the horizon: after which, the part of the atmosphere above us, which is dense enough to reflect its rays, loses them entirely, and it becomes dark. As the refraction of the Sun's rays will always be greatest where the air has the greatest density, that is, where the climate is coldest, the Sun will appear longer above the horizon in such diameter; and the duration of Twilight will also be longer than it is usually computed with us.

As the Sun at his rising and setting is seen through a greater quantity of atmosphere and more vapours, thereby being seen more indistinctly, and yet without any diminution of his disk, he is naturally imagined to be much further off than at other times when he is at a considerable height above the horizon, when he will appear much larger, as well as of dim and fiery aspect.

It is likewise observable, that just after his rising, and before his setting, he will appear of an oval figure. The reason is, because the refraction of his rays being always greater at the horizon than at any distance above it, his lowermost limb will appear to be proportionably more elevated than the uppermost, and by that means will cause his vertical diameter to appear shorter than his horizontal diameter.-Guide to Knowledge.

ture.

records, medals, and coms, which attest and explain laws | workmanship, and antiquities, than productions of naand customs; also paintings and statues, that, by imita- ture. Private collections, however, appear for the first ting nature, seem to extend the limits of creation;" as time in the sixteenth century; and there is no doubt also every thing that can exhibit the manners and cus- that they were formed by every learned man who at that toms of men in distant ages and nations. In ancient period applied to the study of natural history. About times, the word museum had no such extended signifi- the same period, collections began to be formed in Encation; it simply implied a building in which scientific gland; but not till the seventeenth century did the pubmen assembled to discuss matters of science and litera-lic derive any benefit from them, when Elias Ashmole left his valuable collection of rarities, which he had in part inherited from the Tradescants, to the university of Oxford, upon the condition that they erected a building to receive it, which they consented to, and commenced it in the year 1679, and it was completed in 1683. It is known as the Ashmolean Museum. From that time to the present, it has been continually receiving additions. The collection of Martin Lister was added to it, as also the manuscripts of Aubrey, Dugdale, and Wood, the collections of natural history of Dr. Plott, Edward Lloyd, and Borlare, the historian of Cromwell. From a list of the curiosities contained in this museum we select the following:

The scull of Oliver Cromwell, or a fragment of mortality supposed to be such; a jewel of gold, once belonging to King Alfred, found in 1639 in Newton Park, a short distance northward of the Isle of Athelney, in Somersetshire, where King Alfred found shelter when the Danes had overrun the country. The jewel is enamelled like an amulet, and in Saxon characters is circumscribed, "Alfred ordered me to be made." A figure sitting crowned, appears on one side, probably Alfred himself, holding two lilies; on the other is a rudely engraved flower. This relic was given to the university by Thomas Palmer Esq. of Fairfield, Somersetshire, in 1718. A head of the bird called a Dodo, the species of which is extinct. Dr. Shaw, the celebrated naturalist, discovered it in the museum, before which, he considered the accounts of this extraordinary bird to be fabulous Besides a good collection of objects of natural history, there are also many Egyptian antiquities and a few good pictures.

Such appears to have been the museum of Alexandria, a splendid building ornamented with porticos, galleries, and large and spacious apartments; but it does not appear to have contained any thing like the collections of our museums. It is rather to the temples of the ancients that we must look as the first repositories of rare and curious things; as any rare production or natural object extraordinary for size or beauty, was consecrated to the gods. When Hanno returned from his distant voyages, he brought with him to Carthage two skins of the hairy women whom he found on the Gorgades Islands, and deposited them as a memorial in the temple of Juno, where they continued till the destruction of the city. The monstrous horns of the wild bulls, which had occasioned so much devastation in Macedonia, were by order of King Philip hung up in the temple of Hercules. The crocodile, found in attempting to discover the sources of the Nile, was preserved in the temple of Isis, at Cæsarea. A large piece of the root of the cinnamon tree was kept in a golden vessel in one of the temples at Rome, where it was examined by Pliny. The skin of that monster which the Roman army attacked and destroyed, and which probably was a crocodile, was by Regulus sent to Rome, and hung up in one of the temples, where it remained till the time of the Numantine war. In the temple of Juno, in the island | of Melita, there were a pair of elephant's teeth of extraordinary size. The head of the basilisk was exhibited in one of the temples of Diana; and the bones of that sea-monster, probably a whale, to which Andromeda was exposed, were preserved at Joppa, and afterwards brought to Rome. Many other instances of this custom are given by Beckmann, from whom we have gathered This is perhaps the earliest museum formed in Enthe foregoing, and many of the following particulars.- gland, and probably coeval with most of those on the In the course of time, these natural curiosities became continent; but they have left us far behind in the esso numerous as to form large collections; and though tablishment of institutions for the advancement and fosit is certain that all these articles were not properly kept tering of the arts and sciences. Private individuals have there for the purpose to which our collections of natural generally undertaken what could, perhaps, be only fully history were applied, yet at the same time it must be al- | accomplished by the state. Our principal collections of lowed that they might be of important use to natural-natural history have been chiefly formed by the exertions and at the expense of private individuals; and, until within a very short period, our national collection was little better than a national disgrace. No country in the world has such opportunities of rendering her collections in natural history the most perfect of any. The power of England extends to the two hemispheres; her colonies are to be found in every part of the habitable globe; yet, with the greatest means, her museums are found to be the most defective-to such a degree that our writers on natural history are necessitated to go to Paris for that information which they ought to be enabled to find at home.

ists.

The ancients appear to have had no private collections, though perhaps we must except that formed by Aristotle at the command of Alexander, as also a colJection of natural curiosities formed by the Emperor Augustus. The principal cause of their being unable to form collections, must have arisen partly from their ignorance of the proper means of preserving such bodies as soon spoil or corrupt. They employed for that parpose either salt, wax, or honey.

it may rival those of the continent; and then we shall doubtless adorn our scientific annals with names as great as Buffon, Daubenton, Cuvier, and Lamarck.

There is no account of any collections during the middle ages, except in the treasuries of princes, where, besides articles of great value, curiosities of art, antiqui- A taste for natural history has become more prevalent ties, and relics, there were occasionally found scarce and among all classes of society, as may be collected from singular foreign animals, which were dried and preser- the support given to the Zoological Society and other ved. Such objects were to be seen in the old treasury institutions of a similar nature. Our national museum at Vienna; and in that of St. Denis were exhibited the has already felt the impulse given by the advancing knowclaw of a griffin, sent by the king of Persia to Charle-ledge of the people. Let us hope that, in a few years, magne, the teeth of the hippopotamus, and other things of the like kind. In later times, we find menageries were established to add to the magnificence of courts, and stuffed skins of rare animals were hung up as memorials of their having existed. Public libraries also were made receptacles for such natural curiosities as were from time to time presented to them. At a later period, collections of this kind began to be formed by private persons. The object of them was rather to gratify the sight than to improve the understanding; and they contained more ran ies of art, valuable pieces of

The British Museum, which will soon be one of the most splendid institutions of our metropolis, contains under its roof our national library, which is peculiarly rich in MSS.; a collection of Greek and Roman sculptures; Egyptian antiquities and sculptures; Terra Cottas and Roman antiquities; a splendid collection of coins and medals; a very fine collection of prints; as also the collections of natural history.-The Tourist.

WE herewith present the only correct likeness yet published of this individual. It was sketched by an officer of the army, who served with General Atkinson during the whole of the recent campaign on the frontiers of Illinois, was in the action in which the Indians were finally defeated, and was subsequently stationed at the military post where the captured chiefs were for a long period imprisoned.

his recent pursuits. "No!" said the Black Hawk, ap. parently indignant at the proposal, "no spear for me! 1 have forever done with spears!"

It may not be amiss here to relate an anecdote of Nah-pope, another Sauk chief, notorious for his bitter, implacable, and unforgiving hatred of the white Americans. This chief (who was also a prisoner at Jefferson barracks) it was deemed necessary to confine in chains. The painter above spoken of, when about to commence the likeness of Nah-pope, asked him if he chose to have his pipe (as the Black Hawk had done) represented ?The chief stooped down, took up his chain, wound it round his arm, and struck it two or three times violently. "There," said he, "paint that! and let the Americans see that they have Nah-pope-a prisoner, and in irons!" The commanding officer (General Atkinson) answered that there could not be the smallest objection to this, so that the painter also placed in the other hand a representation of the scalps of women and children taken by him during the war.

Black Hawk is a man of near sixty years of age, agreeably to his own statement, though he does not appear quite so old; he is about five feet eight inches in height, and well proportioned-of a dignified and majestic manner, though, since his misfortunes, manifestly much depressed in spirits. His dress as represented, is that which he wore during his confinement, and the pipe and fan which he holds in his hand, he was, for a long time, never seen without-believing, probably, that carrying these, rather than any thing like a weapon, would be thought by the officers under whose charge he was, as an evidence that he considered himself and his nation no longer at war with us. As a proof that this is his idea, the following fact is stated: recently, while a painter of some celebrity (Catlin) was, with the permission of the commanding officer, engaged in painting the likenesses of the principal chiefs who were confined at Jefferson barracks, he proposed to Black Hawk, that he should be represented with a spear, as being more emblematical of

The Black Hawk is (or was) the chief of a band of Sauks and Foxes, consisting of about four hundred warriors, and previously to the cession of the country, residing on the Rock river, about three miles from its mouth. This land was, in 1821, sold by the Indians to the Americans, with the understanding that the Indians were to be suffered to remain there until the land was placed in market by the American government. In 1829 or 30, the land was sold to individuals who settled on it, and the Indians left it and moved across the Mississippi. In 1831, they recrossed and attempted to retake possession of the site of their old village and corn-fields-committed many acts of violence and insolence, and were only prevented from doing much mischief, by the movement of General Gaines and a military force to the spot. This difficulty was settled, by the Indians again signing a treaty in July, 1831, at Rock-Island, one article of which is, that they would never, on any pretext, recross the Mississippi again, without the consent of the government of Illinois, and the President of the United States. In violation of this, the Sauks attacked the Menomines at Prairie des Chiens in the fall of 1831, and refused to surrender the aggressors-and finally, after attempting in vain to induce every other Indian nation to join them in a war of extermination against the Americans, asserting that the English had promised to join the Indians, they resolved to commence the war themselves. This they did, by invading our country in April, 1832, in numbers, seven or eight hundred warriors, headed by the Black Hawk, Nah-pope, Wesheet, the I-o-way, and other chiefs; and they were joined by Waw-be-ga-zick, (the Winnebago prophet,) with his band, after crossing.General Atkinson, the officer commanding our troops, after mildly but positively urging their immediate return, and receiving nothing but outrageously taunting and insolent messages in return, advanced on the Indians.The campaign was an exceedingly arduous one, but was prosecuted amidst many difficulties, with the utmost perseverance, energy, and skill. The Indians being all well mounted and armed, were enabled to scatter their war parties over the country, by which means they succeeded in destroying many lives and doing much mischief-breaking up the settlements, and killing whole families-waylaying the roads, and cutting off travellers -until the army reached their neighbourhood. Afte a very severe pursuit through the country north of Rock river, and across the Wisconian, over mountains and rivers, through woods and marshes almost impassable, the rear guard of the Indians was attacked and defeated by the troops under General Henry on the bank of the Wisconian; and their main body was finally defeated (with great loss) by the army under the immediate command of General Atkinson, on the bank of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the upper I-o-way river, on the 2d of August, 1832. The Black Hawk escaped from this fight, but subsequently surrendered himself to the commanding officer at Prairie desChiens.

Soon after the settlement of New England, Governor Dudley, taking a walk, met a stout negro begging, and saying he could get no work. The Governor told him But," to go to his house, and he would give him work." said the negro," why you no work, massa ?" "O," said the Governor, "my head works." He, however, turned out an idle, good-for-nothing fellow, and his master found it necessary one day to have him flogged. With this view, he gave him a letter, desiring him to carry it to the keeper of the workhouse. The negro, suspecting its contents, committed it to the care of one of his comrades, who got a sound whipping for his trouble. The Governor having learned this, asked Mungo why he did so. O, massa,' ," said he, "head work."

A lady of the west country gave a great entertainment at her house to most of the gallant gentlemen thereabouts, and, among others, to Sir Walter Raleigh. This lady, though otherwise a stately dame, was a notable good housewife; and in the morning betimes she called to one of her maids who looked to the swine, and asked, "Are the pigs served?" Sir Walter Raleigh's chamber was close to the lady's. A little before dinner, the

being diverted from its ordinary course by some accidenascend to the surface, becomes, by such means, pretertal obstruction in the pores through which it used to

HAVING been disappointed respecting an expected work on History, we reluctantly suspend that depart-naturally assembled in a greater quantity than usual in ment once more, but hope to resume it next week. In its place, we substitute an interesting article on Earthquakes, from the "Hundred Wonders of the World."

That fires to a very great extent, and produced by various causes, exist at different depths beneath the surface of the earth, must be evident to those who have attentively perused what has been given under the head of Volcanoes; and recent experiments have shown, that, where the substances in which such fires occur lie at a considerable depth, and are surmounted by a very deep and heavy superincumbent pressure, more especially when they contain large portions of elastic gases, the effect of such fires will be much greater and more diversified than where these circumstances are absent.

one place, and thus causes a rarefaction and intumescence of the water of the abyss, throwing it into greater commotions, and at the same time making the like ef fort on the earth, which being expanded on the surface of the abyss, occasions an earthquake. Mr. Mitchell supposes these phenomena to be occasioned by subterraneous fires, which, if a large quantity of water be let loose on them suddenly, may produce a vapour, the quantity and elastic force of which may fully suffice for the purpose. Again, M. Amontus, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, endeavours to prove, that on the principle of experiments made on the weight and spring of the air, a moderate degree of heat may bring that element into a state capable of causing earthquakes.

Modern electrical discoveries have thrown much light on this subject. Dr. Stukely strenuously denies that earthquakes are to be ascribed to subterraneous winds, fires, or vapours, and thinks that there is not any evidence of the cavernous structure of the earth, which such an hypotheses requires. Subterraneous vapours, he thinks, are altogether inadequate to the effects produced by earthquakes, more particularly in cases where the shock is of considerable extent: for a subterraneous power, capable of moving a surface of earth only thirty miles in diameter, must be lodged at least fifteen or twenty miles below the surface, and move an inverted cone of solid earth whose basis is thirty miles in diameter, and axis fifteen or twenty miles, which he thinks absolutely impossible. How much more inconceivable is it, then, that any such power could have produced the earthquake of 1755, which was felt in various parts of Europe and Africa, and in the Atlantic ocean; or that which in Asia Minor, in the seventeenth year of the Christian era, destroyed thirteen great cities in one night, and shook a mass of earth three hundred miles in diameter. To effect this, the moving power, supposing it to have been internal fire or vapour, must have been lodged two hundred miles beneath the surface of the earth! Besides, in earthquakes the effect is instan

Among the most powerful and extraordinary of these effects, earthquakes are to be reckoned. They are unquestionably the most dreadful of the phenomena of nature, and are not confined to those countries which from the influence of climate, their vicinity to volcanic mountains, or any other similar cause, have been considered as more particularly subject to them, their effects having oft been felt in the British isles, although not in so extensive and calamitous a degree. Their shocks and the eruptions of volcanoes have been considered as modifications of the effects of one common cause; and where the agitation produced by an earthquake extends further than there is reason to suspect a subterraneous commotion, it is probably propagated through the earth nearly in the same manner as a noise is conveyed through the air. The different hypotheses which have been imagin-taneous; whereas the operation of elastic vapour and ed on this subject may be reduced to the following:

Some naturalists have ascribed earthquakes to water, others to fire, and others again to air; each of these powerful agents being supposed to operate in the bowels of the earth, which they assert to abound every where with huge subterraneous caverns, veins, and canals, some filled with water, others with gaseous exhalations, and others replete with various substances, such as nitre, sulphur, bitumen, and vitriol. Each of these opinions has its advocates, who have written copiously on the subject.

In a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions, Dr. Lister ascribes earthquakes, as well as thunder and lightning, to the inflammable breath of the pyrites, a substantial sulphur capable of spontaneous combustion; in a word, as Pliny had observed before him, he supposes an earthquake to be nothing more than subterraneous thunder. Dr. Woodward thinks, that the subterraneous fire which continually raises the water from the abyss or great reservoir in the centre of the earth, for the supply of dew, rain, springs, and rivers,

its discharge must be gradual, and require a long space of time; and if these be owing to explosions, they must alter the surface of the country where they happen, destroy the fountains and springs, and change the course of its rivers:-results which are contradicted by history and observation.

To these and other considerations the Doctor adds, that the strokes which ships receive during an earthquake must be occasioned by something which can communicate motion with much greater velocity than any heaving of the earth under the sea caused by the elasticity of generated vapours, which would merely produce a gradual swell, and not such an impulsion of the water as resembles a violent blow on the bottom of a ship, or its striking on a rock. Hence he deems the common hypothesis insufficient, and adduces several reasons to show that earthquakes are in reality electric shocks. To confirm this opinion, he notices among other phenomena, that the weather is unusually dry and warm for some time before they happen.

(To be continued