ships' sides, for this purpose; and are made to serve as steps for the sailors in going aloft, by having cords (named rat-lines) tied across them. Two other large ropes extend before and behind, nearly to the deck, called the stay and back-stay, to hold the mast in those directions. The fore-stays are used also to support triangular sails, which are very useful in side-winds. They are called stay-sails, and distinguished by the names of the masts to which they belong. We will just add here, that starboard means the right hand side, and larboard the left.

The inexperienced reader, even after these few explanations, will probably be able to form some ideas of the complex machinery employed in the "working of a ship," and of the general plan of a portion of the nomenclature, by which the parts are systematically named. He will probably be able to put his finger upon the parts named in the following list, if he has the last number of the Penny Magazine also before him:

Fore-topmast, mizen top-gallant sail, starboard main-topmast studding sail, larboard main brace, main stay, main backstay, mizen staysail, and main-topmast staysail.

It may give the landsman a higher opinion of the knowledge, skill, and faithfulness necessary to a seaman, when he contemplates this complex assemblage of parts, and reflects that the sailor must not only spend one half of every night in the watch on deck, but is often roused from his short slumber, to seek in total darkness for every rope the officers name, to run up the shrouds, find his way to the end of a yard-perhaps the lofty main-top-gallant yard-and there, with a tempest breaking full upon himrain, snow, or hail-reef or furl the fluttering sail, tie it firmly to the yard, and descend to his berth, to lie in his wet clothes through the short remnant of his watch below. And

an essential trait of the sailor's character remains to be told: he does this without a

murmur.

Is it to be wondered at, that men accustomed to such a life should become at once rough in their manners, courageous in common dangers, regardless of mere luxuries, and of money, which is so worthless at sea-admirers of fortitude, skill, and generosity, which shine with pre-eminent lustre on the ocean, but who are exposed to all the dangers which await them on the shore? Is it wonderful

that they should have required the aid of an association like the American Seamen's Friend Society?

"This Society, (as we learn from their late

Appeal to the Legislature,") was formed in the year 1828, for the purpose of effecting an improvement in the social, moral and intellectual condition of Seamen; to accomplish which the Society had, and still have many obstinate and powerful difficulties to contend with and surmount.

"There is not-as many have been in the habit of supposing-any thing peculiar in the business of a seafaring life which, independent of other circumstances, tends to the formation of loose habits and morals so common among seamen: there is nothing in the nature of their employment producing this result.

"The danger to the moral character of seamen is in port and not at sea, it is the pestilential atmosphere of the places prepared for their entertainment on shore, and not the influences met upon the ocean.

"The tendency of a seaman's absence from promiscuous society, while at sea, is, by a well known principle of human nature, to counteract their distrust of men, and render easy victims to the influences met on their return.

During a large proportion of their time they are confined to the limits of their ship, and to the society of her crew; and being accustomed to the mutual good faith and confi. dence which usually prevails among fellowsailors, they become confiding, unsuspecting and easy to be persuaded to either good or evil; coming into port under such circumstances, if they fall into society, and among those who exert a salutary moral influence upon them, they readily yield thereto : and if, on the contrary, they fall among dissolute companions and designing advisers, they yield to them with equal readiness.

"We will find the residence prepared for the reception of the confiding sailor, furnished with all the fixtures and inducements for gambling, intemperance, and dissipation of every kind; his companions the most lewd and depraved of the human race; his amusements the most corrupting and destructive to his moral sense; and his confidential adviser, the liquor-selling landlord, whose purpose of gain and system of fraud are best subserved by the encouragement of dissipation and sensual indulgences among his guests.

They destroy the men to get their money. "Their mode of operation is somewhat as follows:

"The runners of the landlord, who are ever on the alert, announce the arrival of a shipthe landlord and his deputies repair to the dock and saluting a sailor by a familiar pat upon the shoulder, or a friendly shake of the hand, persuade him to put up at their house. The sailor, a stranger in the port, and favorably impressed with these apparent marks of attention and kindness, readily assents.

"His baggage is then removed from the ship, his wages received from the master, and deposited with the landlord, as he supposes for safe keeping, and he enters as a boarder. The landlord, to carry out his plan, must now make the sailor drunk and purloin his money himself; or, if this fail, he must have the cooperation of his concealed accomplices to steal it for him.

"If the sailor be sufficiently intemperate, he is put into an insensible state of intoxication, and after being kept so for a few days, he is finally told by the landlord that he has received all his money, and is presented with an account bringing him in debt. Not having been in a proper state to remember all that has passed, the sailor has no ground to dispute the account, and must abide by it. He is then reshipped-the landlord receives his advance wages to settle the balance of his account, and so ends the result of the poor sailor's voyage.

"But there are cases where the use of rum proves ineffectual as a means of cheating the sailor. In such cases he is next introduced to the association of its colleagues, concealed in a back apartment, whom he supposes to be separate and distinct from the house. The landlord then pays him his money, in order that they may steal it in his behalf, which they do and decamp; the sailor complains and proposes a search, but is advised by the landlord that it would be of no use, and he also is reshipped, leaving his advance wages to pay a balance claimed by his landlord. Such are the means extensively used in defrauding and destroying seamen, and this su peradded to gambling, and various other devices, constitute the great danger peculiar to the life and situation of this useful and numerous class of men; the source of their tendency to become reckless and intemperate, and the cause of the numerous marine disasters and cruelties which so often occur, to remove which is the object of the present effort of the American Seamen's Friend Society.

"No effort has been lost to persuade and induce sailors' landlords to change the character of their houses, to make them respectable, and furnish them with influences favorable to the formation of good character, instead of the facilities and temptations to dissipation and ruin which they afforded to their inmates.

"These efforts proving fruitless, the Society resolved to make the experiment of striking at the root of the calamity, and in the year 1839 opened a boarding house in a rented building, where, on reasonable terms, a limited number of seamen could find a home of safety, comfort, and moral discipline, secure alike from the perils of the sea, and the destructive jaws of the dens of pollution on shore.

State for assistance. This application was responded to by a loan of $10,000 for five years, without interest, to be secured by a mortgage on the property.

"The house was completed in the year 1842, at an expense of $42,000; a mortgage was executed thereon to secure the payment to the State of the loan of $10,000, and it was put into operation as a sailors' boarding house, called the SAILORS' HOME, under the direction of the Society. It has been conducted on principles believed to be best adapted to the accomplishment of the object of the Society, that of elevating the standard of Seamen's character; protecting them against the frauds and corruption of mercenary conspirators, and rendered them more trustworthy agents of the commercial and naval interest of the country."

[A print of this noble institution, with a description of it, may be expected in our next.]

The Crater of Vesuvius.-A writer in the Polytechnic Review describes the crater of Vesuvius, as it is at present, as a vast circular pit, with nearly perpendicular walls about two miles in circumference and 200 feet deep. Its bottom consists of waves of black lava or scoriæ, and in the centre of it rises a cone of scoriæ to the height of 150 or 200 feet. This cone has two openings on its summit, from which a continual emission of white vapor takes place; and about once in five minutes there is an explosion heard far within the mountain, and which is followed in a few seconds by the ejection of a vast quantity of fumes and fragments of melted lava, which by daylight have the color of blood, but after sunset are of a dazzling white heat, while the vapor is brilliantly illuminated, so as to appear like flames. Lava escapes in abundance from the base of the cone, and flows beneath the hardened crust which forms the floor of the crater. Occasionally, however, it melts its way through, and flows in a broad stream over the surface, which, in its turn becomes hardened by cooling, and a fresh eruption takes place elsewhere. In this manner the whole crater will eventually be filled up, and when this occurs an eruption on a great scale may be expected. Recorder.

In Meridan, Conn. there is an ivory comb manufactory, where seventy hands, mostly females, are constantly employed. In another establishment of the same kind, at the same place, $500 worth of combs are made in a day.

If you can do good to-day, defer it not till

to-morrow.

JUVENILE DEPARTMENT.

From Prof. Olmsted's Natural Pdilosophy.
THE MOON.

The moon is a constant attendant or satellite of the earth, revolving around it at the distance of about 240,000 miles. Her diame ter exceeds 2000 miles, (2160.) Her angular breadth is about half a degree-a measure which ought to be remembered, as it is common to estimate fire-balls, and other sights in the sky, by comparing them with the size of the moon. The sun's angular diameter is a little greater.

The Full Moon, as seen through a Telescope.

This

When we view the moon through a good telescope, the inequalities of her surface appear much more conspicuous than to the naked eye; and by studying them attentively, we see undoubted proofs that the face of the moon is very rough and broken, exhibiting high mountains and deep valleys, and long mountainous ridges. The line which separates the light from the dark when the moon is not full, is called the Terminator. line appears exceedingly jagged, indicating that it passes over a very broken surface of mountains and valleys. Mountains are also indicated by the bright points and crooked lines, which lie beyond the terminator, within the unilluminated part of the moon; for these can be nothing else than elevations above the general level, which are enlightened by the sun sooner than the surrounding countries, as high mountains on the earth are tipped with the morning light sooner than the countries at their bases. Moreover, when these pass the terminator, and come within the enlightened part of the disk, they are further recognized as mountains, because they cast shadows opposite the sun, which vary in length as the sun strikes them more or less on a level.

Spots, also, on the lunar disk, are known

to be valleys, because they exhibit the same appearance as is seen when the sun shines into a teacup, when it strikes it very obliquely. The inside of the cup, opposite to the sun, is illuminated in the form of a crescent, (as every one may see, who will take the trouble to try the experiment,) while the inside, next the sun, casts a deep shadow. Also, if the cup stands on a table, the side farthest from the sun casts a shadow on the table outside of the cup. Similar appearances, presented by certain spots in the moon, indicate very clearly that they are valleys. Many of them are regular circles, and not unfrequently we may see a chain of mountains, surrounding a level plain of great extent, from the centre of which rises a sharp mountain, casting its shadow on the plain within the circle. When the moon is five days old, the terminator is very uneven, and that white points and lines within the unenlightened part of the disk, indicate the tops of mountains and mountain ridges. Near the bottom of the terminator, a little to the left, we see a small circular spot, surrounded by a high chain of mountains, (as is indicated by the shadows they cast,) and in the centre of the valley the long shadow of a single mountain thrown upon the plain. Just above this valley, we see a ridge of mountains, casting uneven shadows opposite to the sun-some sharp, like the shadows of mountain peaks. These appearances are, indeed, rather minute; but we must recollect that they are represented on a very small scale. The most favorable time for viewing the mountains and valleys of the moon with a telescope, is when she is about seven days old.

The full moon does not exhibit the broken aspect so well as the new moon; but we see dark and light regions intermingled. The dusky places in the moon were formerly supposed to consist of water, and the bright places, of land; astronomers, however, are now of the opinion that there is no water in the moon, but that the dusky parts are extensive plains, while the brightest streaks are mountain ridges. Each separate place has a distinct name. Thus, a remarkable spot near the top of the moon is called Tycho; another, Kepler; and another, Copernicus; after celebrated astronomers of these names. The large dusky parts are called seas, as the Sea of Humors, the Sea of Clouds, and the Sea of Storms. Some of the mountains are estimated as high as five miles, and some of the valleys four miles deep.

The moon revolves about the earth from west to east once a month, and accompanies the earth around the sun once a year. The interval in which she goes through the entire circuit of the heavens, from any star round to the same star again, is called a sidereal month, and consists of about 274 days; but the time which intervenes between one new moon and another, is called a synodical month, and is composed of 29 days. A new moon occurs when the sun and moon meet in the same part of the heavens; for, although the sun is

400 times as distant from us as the moon, yet as we project them both upon the face of the sky, the moon seems to be pursuing her path among the stars as well as the sun. Now the sun, as well as the moon, is travelling eastward, but with a slower pace; the sun moves only ab ut a degree a day, while the moon moves more than thirteen degrees a day. While the moon, after being with the sun, has been going round the earth in 27 days, the sun, meanwhile, has been going eastward about 27 degrees; so that, when the moon returns to the part of the heavens where she left the sun, she does not find him there, but takes more than two days to catch up with him.

QUESTIONS.

Of what is the moon a satellite? Distance from the earth-diameter-angular breadth? Why is it important to remember this?

How does the moon appear to the telescope? What is the Terminator? How does it appear? What does its unevenness indicate? What signs of mountains are there in the dark part of the moon? When the ter minator passes beyond these, what signs of being mountains do they give?

Valevs, how known? Illustrate by the mode in which lights ines into a cup What shape have many of the valleys? What do we sometimes see surrounding the valley? What ris ng in the centre of it? Point out mountains and val'eys on the diagram.

What is said of the telescope view of the full moon? What were the dark places in the moon formerly sup. posed to be? What do astronomers now consider them? How are places on the moon named? Repeat some of the names. What is the height of some of the mountains, and depth of the valleys?

Revolutions of the moon. What is a sidereal month? How long is it? What is a synodical month? When does a new moop occur? Why is the synodical longer than the sidereal month?

How Scientific Societies are Formed.

When I was a boy, I was taking a walk one day with my brother, and I saw a little stone on the ground, that had a spot on it. The stone was white, and the spot was black. I wondered why one part was different from the other; why was it not all white? or why was it not all black? Then I thought that perhaps some man could tell me: but perhaps it would be called a foolish question if I should ask it and I do not want to be called foolish. But it is a strange looking stone. and not like our common stones. How did it get here? who brought it? and why did grow here? Do stones grow, or not? dont't know. I cannot answer any of these questions; but I will take it home because it

it

is pretty.

The stone was taken home, and put on my little shelf, and my brother and myself soon had a row of stones by the side of it. A friend heard of them, and sent us some stones

wrapped in papers, with names written on them. One of them was Red Ochre, such as Indians paint their faces with. Other friends brought or sent us more.

Some of our playmates soon began to collect stones, also, either for us, for themselves, or for each other; and they too found friends to help them. Many a pleasant walk we had together, and we added curious leaves, seeds, coins, &c. to our collections. One day my uncle came home from sea, and he brought me some shells, two or three curious little fishes, and a leaf from a cocoanut tree, about ten feet long. Then the boys came to see us, and had a great deal to say about them, and the West Indies, where my uncle had been.

When we grew older, some of us learned something about chemistry; some went to other places and countries, and brought home pieces of coral, iron, lead ore, copper ore, jasper, and other things. Since then several of us have helped to make cabinets in different towns and cities where we have lived, and invited children to come and see them, and also libraries for them to read. We have sent boxes of stones to other societies, or to persons we had heard of, and received some in return. Then we would get papers and books printed by some of those societies, and read in them what new minerals, plants, or animals they had seen, and many useful things which wise men often find out.

PRAYER AT THE MAST-HEAD.-A sailor, recently returned from a whaling voyage, and in conversation with a pious friend, spoke of the enjoyment whlch he had in prayer while afar off on the deep. "But," inquired his frisnd, 66 in the midst of the confusion on ship-board, where could you find a place to pray?"

"O," said he, "I always went to the mast-head."

I have heard of closets in various places, but never in one more particular than this. Peter went upon the house-top to pray. Our blessed Lord prayed upon the moun tain-top. Others have sought the shades of the forest. I remember hearing of a youth who came home from the camp during the last war, and his pious mother asked him, "Where, John, could you find a place to pray?" He answered, "Where there is a heart to pray, mother, it is easy to find a place."-Selected.

Do good to him who docs you evil, and by these means you will gain the victory over him.

MISCELLANEOUS.

CHINESE DIPLOMATIC STYLE.-The following letter from Commissioner Ching, acknowledging the receipt of a letter from the President to the Brother of the Sun, was addressed to Mr. Cushing:

TO HIS EXCELLENCY, C. CUSHING:

I have to communicate that a translation in Chinese of the letter of the President of your honorable nation has been forwarded by Pwan, the Circuit Judge, the sentiments of which are superlatively beautiful, assuredly, both as to the perspicuous translation in Chinese, and also as to the original letter, full of thought and elegant expressions. When I, the Minister, opened and perused them, I could not restrain my spirit from delight, and my heart from dilating with joy.

Beside, stili agreeably to the former deliberations, taking the copy of Chinese translation of the letter and appending it to the original letter, and in your behalf transmitting it to the Emperor, I also send this letter in reply, commending your tranquility and goodness. There are other affairs not yet attended to.

Signed, (in Tartar) TSIYENG WRITES." Taou Kwang, 24th year, 5th month, 25th day. (July 9, 1844.)

No. 1-Extract of a letter from Hwang Gan Tung, to Dr. Parker, dated Canton, Nov. 14, 1844.

The commercial articles formerly deliberated upon, according to the original Treaty, were presented for the Imperial inspection, and the deliberation of the Boards granting them to be adopted, have been received, and not a character has been altered. And as to Ke-Hung Paou's duly prepared memorial, that is on record, and the original despatch did not exceed several lines, just slightly glancing at the general subject. I do not understand why the translation in the Hong Kong papers should be so exceedingly remote from the original despatch. This is very surprising! It is a circulated forgery, and utterly deserving of credence. I now take the original despatch and copy and forward it for your perusal, that you may be relieved of all suspicion. Not expressing all I wish to say, please to wait for the magistrate Woo, who will confer with you face to face, and verbally express what I have not time to write.

No 2-Copy of a translation of the Imperial Commissioner's Report:

MEMORIAL.

Having negotiated and settled a Treaty, I respectfully make up a despatch, and duly memoralise the throne, and looking up, beseech the sacred inspirations thereof.

Whereas, Cushing, the Ambassador of the United States of America, having commissioned his officers, Webster and others, to take the commercial regulations and separately to write them out, article by article; your Minis

ter then again examined the same, each article by itself, and under his direction the Provincial Treasurer, Hwang Gan Tung, and several deputed officers, in conformity to justice, met and deliberated thereon, and thus the Treaty was negotiated and settled. And at Macao, duplicate copies were written, and our seals affixed in faith thereof, and with the Ambassador decided, each receiving duplicate copies as evidence.

Afterwards your Minister returned to the Provincial city, and with the Ministers Ching (the Lieutenant Governor) and Wan, (the Superintendent of Customs) publicly and unitedly re-examined them, and our opinions coinciding, we respectfully unite our sentiments, and respectfully make up this despatch, and send it by post, duly memorializing the throne, and also take the Treaty and respectfully presenting it for the Imperial inspection, prostrate beg the Emperor's sacred inspection, and orders to the Boards speedily to reply thereto and grant it to be done.

A faithful translation of a copy of the origi nal, furnished by H. E. Hwang Gan Tung. (Signed) PETER PARKER. Canton, 15 November, 1844.

A MAN KILLED BY AN ELEPHANT.-The large male elephant belonging to Hopkins & Co.'s menagerie at Baton Rouge, La. on the 8th inst. killed the person who had been employed for a long time to take charge of him. He refused to cross a bridge, and on being urged by his keeper, caught him on his tusks and threw him high in the air, catching and throwing him again several times-the tusks at times running completely through the unfortunate man's body-until at last he was deposited between two trees, which saved him from further violence. The enraged animal then returned to where a female elephant and a camel were chained to a tree, and carried off the camel by its trunk, throwing it into the air and catching it again on his tusks. whole volley of balls were fired at him, and finally a keeper procuring a spear, mounted a horse, and succeeded in wounding the infuriated beast so that he screamed with pain, and finally brought it under subjection.

A

This is the same animal which killed one of its keepers, some two or three years ago, at Algiers, La. and was only stayed from further mischief after fourteen shots had been fired into it.-Mirror.

Six Presidents on Temperance. Albany, Feb. 1, 1845. Messrs. Editors-Being in Virginia during the life of President Madison, and while the friends of Temperance, under an ap prehension that distilled liquor was the chief cause of intemperance, were exert ing themselves to abandon the use of such liquor as a beverage, the undersigned called on that distinguished statesman, and procured his signature to the subjoined decla