berculous teeth of the fox exhibits symmetrical excavations more deep and decided than in the dog and the wolf, so that those of the upper and lower jaw very accurately correspond in their indentations. From this arrangement it follows that the mastication of the food should be much more complete in the fox than in any of the other two animals with which we are now comparing it.

We have another observation to make relative to the tuberculous teeth of the lower jaw ;-the last, or smallest, placed behind that one which is next to the carnivorous tooth is never wanting in any jaw-bone in the wolf. On the contrary, this tooth is often wanting in the lower jaw of the dog and fox. Sometimes it exists in certain individuals, and in others there is no trace of it; sometimes it may be seen in one side of the jaw, whilst there is no trace of it in the other. Such anomalies are never noticed in the wolf; so that the presence of all the tuberculous teeth in lower jaws, of which fragments only are obtained, is a presumption that they belong to the wolf.

Respecting the maxillary bones, whether superior or inferior, they are proportionally much shorter in the dog than in the wolf and fox. This character is evident even in those races of the dog which are largest in size, and most devoid of intelligence. The lower jaw, especially, is stronger, thicker, and fuller in the dog than in the wolf. It is also more arched towards its base, which is most strikingly witnessed when the several heads are placed upon the same horizontal plane. In this way it may easily be perceived, that, whilst the inferior edge of the jaw in the dog describes a curved line, this line is almost horizontal in the wolf, and slightly bent in the fox. Hence it follows that the elevation or the height of the sides of this jaw-bone from its base to the alveolar border is greater in the dog than in the wolf or fox.

If we place, in the position already indicated, on a horizontal plane, the head of a dog, and measure the height of the head by drawing a line from the posterior part of the backmost molares, or the tuberculous teeth, perpendicularly to the forehead, it will easily be observed that its height, other proportions being in keeping, is much more considerable

in the dog than in the wolf and fox. The arched form of the jaw-bone in dogs, joined to its greater size, contribute greatly to produce this result. This character is so inherent in their organization, that it is almost as apparent in those races which are least intelligent as in those which man rears with the greatest assiduity. Nor is it useless to observe, that the distance between the two condyles of the jaw-bone is greater in the dog than in the two other animals, which is owing to the larger development of the base of its cranium.

Finally, the depression which is seen externally in the ramus of the lower jaw-bone, and which is intended to lodge the masseter muscle, is much deeper in the dog than in the wolf. Though this peculiarity may not be so striking as most of those we have already pointed out, yet it still deserves to be remembered, as it may assist in distinguishing isolated fragments, of which description specimens almost always are.

What we have now done regarding the characters supplied by the comparison of the head of the wolf and the fox with that of the dog, we might also have executed with equal advantage with the other parts of the skeleton. But we are not to forget that we meant to confine ourselves within these limits; and, besides, this subject would unquestionably be better handled by those anatomists who reside in Paris, or other capitals, where they have the advantage of great museums, and numerous objects of comparison are ever within their reach. As to what we have performed, we believe it will be found entitled to considerable confidence, inasmuch as Messrs Dubreuil, Professor of Anatomy to the Medical Faculty at Montpellier, and Dr Jeanjean, with whom we have had the pleasure of publishing various memoirs, have had the kindness, on this occasion, to verify the more important statements.-Bibliotheque Universelle, March 1835.

VOL. XIX. NO. XXXVIII.-OCTOBER 1835.

First Annual Report regarding New Inventions and Improvements in the Useful Arts throughout Europe; ordered by the Society of Arts for Scotland: Being a Report on the recent Improvements of the Carpet Manufacture. By Mr EDWARD SANG, Teacher of Mathematics, and Lecturer on Natural Philosophy, Edinburgh, M. S. A.*

THE progress of almost any of the arts may be safely taken as an index of civilization. The arts, indeed, are so intimately interwoven, that one of them can scarcely flourish without giving rise to and receiving support from others. Our farms could not be cultivated, nor their produce brought to market, unless many preparatory labours had been gone through; nor could these labours have been attempted, until the improvement of agriculture itself had procured some leisure for the human race. In like manner all the arts mutually receive support from and assist each other; so that, in attempting to view the present state of society, we would need to consider the arts, not in detached pieces, but as one vast and compact whole. But if our object be to compare one age with another, and to ascertain the rate of civilization, as it were, we may easily select departments which, receiving active assistance from many others, may indicate with sufficient nearness the general state of the whole. There are arts, such as the manufacture of glass, which have, as yet, depended so slightly upon others, as to afford no criterion of the general progress. Our ignorance of high temperatures, and the incorrodible nature of glass itself, have prevented this important manufacture from receiving that powerful assistance which chemistry might have been expected to have yielded to it: the method of forming glass vessels has thus remained almost unchanged, and still entirely depends on the strength and dexterity of the workman.

Not so with the manufacture of carpets: this, like the other branches of weaving, has received improvements at every hand, and has lately made important advances. The very fact of the existence of such a manufacture speaks volumes as to the increase of our domestic comforts. But a few generations back,

* Read 12th August 1835.

the royalty of England was contented with that fare which we now confine to our stables, and lands were granted for the servitude of providing clean straw for the royal chambers. Well scoured deals and good Kidderminsters have now displaced that vehicle of infection, and that not merely in the houses of the wealthy, but even in the dwellings of the industrious artizan. To some, the introduction of such luxuries may appear to savour of effeminacy; those who admire nations only when formidable in war, who glory in bloodshed and devastation, may fear that, when each peasant treads upon a well-made carpet, when the cot boasts of luxuries unknown two centuries ago, even in the palace, nations will lift but feeble hands in encroachments upon each other. But he is much mistaken who regards such comforts as marks of effeminacy. Were they the results of Roman spoliation,—were our furniture, our china, and our carpets, torn from the industrious of conquered provinces,— had we our silks for tribute and our cottons for booty, then indeed would we be effeminate and vicious. But those comforts

which we so richly enjoy are the results of industrious and upright toil. Every luxury that surrounds us is the fruit of skill and energy: the procuring of it has exercised our patience and improved our strength, while the enjoyment of it restrains us from wanton aggressions on our neighbours, and nerves us in our own defence. The spread of comforts among every rank, guards us against tumult on the one hand and oppression on the other; and every improvement on our manufactures, every cheapening of our commodities, is a step forward in the path to happiness and security.

It is not merely by its existence that the carpet-manufacture bears testimony to the advanced state of society; the elegance of its processes, and the beauty of its products, speak a language no less distinct.

In the superficial texture of the common carpet, nothing appears to distinguish it from an ordinary web; and a first observer is at a loss to imagine by what means its variety of colours can be produced. On examining the figure more narrowly, it appears that the designer has laboured under considerable difficulties; for in many places where purity of colour would have been advantageous, a mixed colour only is to be

found, while scarcely any gradual shading of the tints depending on the nature of the figure is to be seen. A still closer examination explains at once the source of these imperfections. The carpet is found to consist of two contiguous webs, intermingled with each other in such a manner as to produce the pattern: each of these webs, if woven singly, would have a striped appearance, being parti-coloured in the woof. One set of coloured stripes is thus imposed upon another; and in designing the colours of the pattern, no selection beyond what is afforded by the judicious arrangement of these stripes can be made. The number of full colours is thus very limited these can only be obtained where woof traverses warp of the same colour. To bring up then a part of the figure full red, red warp of the whole breadth must be traversed by red woof of the whole length of the spot; these colours can be immediately concealed by sending the threads to the other web, but were they to remain long there, both webs would become monotoIt is therefore extremely difficult to avoid a strong tendency to striping in the colours, and, except on the principal part of the figure, the colours can hardly be well managed, the secondary embellishments being almost matter of chance. Yet in the face of all these difficulties, patterns of great beauty are daily formed on the carpet loom.

nous.

The invention of the triple carpet by Mr Morton of Kilmarnock, has almost removed these difficulties. This carpet is composed of three webs, which interchange their threads in order to produce the pattern. The primary object in the introduction of the third web, appears to have been the obtaining of greater variety and brilliancy of colouring; but another curious effect has followed, that the two sides of the carpet are not necessarily counterparts to each other. To a certain extent the figure of the under must depend on that of the upper side, since threads may be needed from the under web to produce what is wanted in the chief pattern, but there still remains the choice of an interchange of threads between the two inferior webs. It is obvious that the tendency to striping must be much less on this than on the common carpet, and that the designer having a far greater choice of colours, may produce effects that could not before have been attempted. It appears