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THE HUMAN EYE.

The Parts of the Human Eye. CASE.

a Cornea
b Sclerotic.

REGULATORS. c Curtain

d Ad: Muscles f Ad: Leaves MAGNIFIERS. g Principal Magnifier

Vitreous Hu

mour.

RETINA.-4 Layers 1 Vascular Membrane

2 Fibres

3 Globulets

4 Jacob's Coat

LINING-Four Layers, 2 and 3 only represented. 1 Fold of JaJacob's Coat

2 Mondini's

3 Venous
4 Vascular

CASE
Sclerotic

Having, in the six last numbers of this magazine, given drawings and descriptions of some parts of the mechanism of eyes in certain brutes, we have reason to presume that some of our readers must feel prepared to attend with more interest than before to the curious, delicate, and complex organs of sight which they bear in their own heads, which they use with such frequency and efficiency, which are so essential to their happiness and usefulness, by means of which, alone, they have obtained every idea they ever possessed of color, and almost all their conceptions of form, size, and distance, which now enables them to read this page. Let it not be said of us, that we never shall learn properly to value our eyes, or to be grateful for their possession until we are deprived of their use.

We find in Dr. Wallis's treatise on the eye, the above view of the parts of the human eye, each being represented as if separate, turned upward, and viewed sidewise.

The Cornea, a, is the hard, convex, transparent covering of the middle part of the eye seen in front. It covers the iris and the pupil. It is the first magnifier, being a perfect lens. Behind it is a bag of water, shaped nearly like it, which is the 2d. magnifier.

The Selerotic coat, b, is the white, tough and smooth skin which covers the entire eyeball, except the cornea. We see the forepart of it, and call it the white of the eye.

The adjusting muscles, d, ff, act for the same purpose as those of animals described on pages 356, 394 and 408.

g is the principal magnifier, or crystalline lens, composed of numerous coats, formed of fibres, which are more compact towards the

centre.

Behind this is another collection of water, which serves as the fourth magnifier, but divided by numerous skins.

For the American Penny Magazine. WILLIAM, THE CONQUERER. The following sketch of the personal appearance and character of William of Normandy, who conquered England in the year 1066, is taken from Sir William Temple's Introduction to the History of England, a rare old book, published in 1695:

"WILLIAM, surnamed the Conquerer, was of the tallest statute among those common in his age and country; his size large, and his body strong built, but well proportioned; his strength such as few of his Court could draw his bow. His health was great and constant, which made him very active in his business and his pleasures, till about the decline of his age, he grew something corpulent; from all which, I suppose, came the story in some Norman writers that he was eight feet high, or the size of Hercules.

As he was of goodly personage, so his face was lovely, but of a masculine beauty, the loins being strong rather than delicate, his eyes were quick and lively, but when moved, something fierce; his complexion sanguine, his countenance very pleasant, when he was gay and familiar; when he was serious something

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severe.

His pastimes were chiefly hunting and feasting; in the first, he spent much time, used great exercise, and yet much moderation of diet; in his feasts, which were designed for magnificence or conversation, to know or to be known among his nobles, and not for luxury; he was courteous, affable, familiar, and often pleasant, and which made him the more so to his company, was easy at those times in granting suits and pardons.

It is by all agreed, that he was chaste and temperate, which, with a happy constitution and much exercise preserved not only his health, but vigor to the last decline of his

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it not only in his own conduct and reasoning upon all great occasions, but also in the choice of his ministers and friends, wherein no prince was happier or wiser than he.

He talked little, never vaunted, observed much, was very secret, and used only Sanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, with an universal confidence, both as a counsellor and a friend, to whom he was ever meek and gentle, though to others something austere, as if this conqueror had been himself subdued by the wisdom and virtue of that excellent man.

In his purposes he was steady, but not obstinate, and though constant to his ends, yet applicable to occasions, as appeared by his favoring and trusting the Normans in his troubles of England, and the English in those of Normandy; and was either very wise or very happy in the arts of gaining enemies and retaining friends, having never lost but one, which was Fitz Auber.

He was a prince deep in his designs, bold in his enterprises, firm in his prosecution, execlling in the order and discipline of his armies, and choice in his officers, both of his army and his state; but admirable in expedition and dispatch of civil as well as military affairs; never deferring till to-morrow, what should be done to-day.

Above all, he was careful and prudent in the management of his treasure, proportioning always the expenses of his gifts, his buildings and his enterprises to the treasure he was master of for defraying them, and thereby compassing all he seemed to design.

He was religious in frequenting divine service, giving much alms, building abbeys and endowing them, sending presents of crosses of gold, rich vestures and plate to many other churches, and much treasure to Rome.

He was a great lover of learning, and though he despised the loose, ignorant Saxon clergy he found in England, yet he took care and pleasure to fill ecclesiastical dignities with persons of great worth and learning from abroad, as Sanfranc, Durand, Anselom, with many more.

He was a lover of virtue in others, and hater of vice, and by the consent of all writers and the most partial or malicious to his memory, as well as others, he is agreed to have ben a prince of great strength, wisdom, courage, clemency, magnificence, wit, courtesy, charity, temperance, and piety. This short character, and by all agreed, is enough to vindicate the memory of this noble prince and famous conqueror, from the aspersions or detractions of several malicious or partial authors, who have more unfaithfully represented his Reign, than any other period of English History."

The above sketch by Sir William Temple, will be considered by many as much too favorable a view of the character of the conqueror, and most Americans, who have Anglo-Saxon blood in their veins, will agree with Mr. Sullivan, who, in his Historical causes and effects, considers William as a barbarian

and tyrant, although, as he remarks, "a very able man for the day in which he appeared, whether as a civil ruler or military chief; no doubt the most capable and successful monarch of that age. So far as can be discerned, in looking back through the obscurity of ages, it was a grievous and unmitigated misfortune to the Saxon race, to England, and to the civilized world, that William, the Conqueror, had not been conquered and slain himself, instead of Harold, at the battle of Hastings."

To show the descent of Queen Victoria from William, the Conqueror, we have prepared the following table, which furnishes genealogical information not readily obtained, and we doubt not will be gratifying to the curious as well as interesting to most of our readers. Lineal descent of the present Royal Family of Great Britain, from WILLIAM, the Conqueror.*

GENERATIONS.

1. William I, the Conqueror, ascended the throne of England in 1066.

2. Henry I, son of William I, succeeded his brother William II, 1100.

3. Matilda, daughter of Henry I, married Geoffrey Plantagenet, a Frenchman.

4. Henry II, son of Matilda by Plantagenet, crowned 1154.

5. John, son of Henry II, crowned 1199. 6. Henry III, son of John, crowned 1216. 7. Edward I, son of Henry III, crowned 1272.

8. Edward II, son of Edward I, crowned 1307.

9. Edward III, son of Edward II, crowned 1327.

10. Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III.

11. Philippa, (daughter of Lionel,) married Earl of March.

12. Roger Mortimer, (son of Philippa,) Earl of March.

13. Anna Mortimer, (his daughter,) married Richard, Duke of York.

14. Edward IV, (son of the last) crowned 1461.

15. Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV, married Henry VII, of Lancaster, who ascended the throne in 1485.

16. Margaret, daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth, married James IV, King of Scotland.

17. James V, King of Scotland, son of James IV and Margaret.

18. Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V, married Darnley, a Scotch noble

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The Wingless Bird, or Apteryx.
Abridged from the Magazin Pittoresque.

For the American Penny Magazine. This is truly a singular name, conveying, to the common reader at least, an express contradiction. It is not to be wondered at, that its extreme rarity should for a long time have left the world incredulous of its existence. A single specimen only, and that a very imperfect one, was to be found in Europe, until recently. Shaw had indeed added descriptions and drawings of what he showed as the remains of a real specimen: but, forty years ago, it was still by many pronounced a fabulous being.

In 1834 Lord Derby presented Shaw's specimen to the Zoological Society of London; after which a particular description was published with a drawing; and ere long five individuals were brought to Europe, some of which were carefully dissected. Two of them were presented to the Museum of Natural History of Paris, by M. Dumont d'Urville; and now the singular animal is well known. It is covered with large feathers, soft and flexible, interspersed with bristles, which make it appear, from a distance, as if dressed in loose fur. In the place of wings it has two very small projections, something like a finger with a nail at the end; and it is also destitute of a tail.

It belongs to the same natural class with the ostrich and cassowary, in its general characteristics, having no organs of motion except its legs: but it is of much inferior size, being no larger than a common fowl. It swims and jumps with surprising ease, and is extremely swift on foot. It inhabits the most dense and retired forests of the northern island of New Zealand, where it is called Kiwi. Being nocturnal in its habits, it conceals itself in the daytime under the shadow of shrubs of the cavex abounding in those dark and humid regions, or in the cavities formed by the roots of the rata, (metrosideros robusta.) Its nest, which is found in such situations, is rudely formed, and never contains more than one egg, which is of the size of a duck's.

This singular bird, unlike others which are active only in the night, has very small eyes; yet it finds, as by instinct, the swampy spot, where the grubs abound, on which it feeds;

and, after scratching up the ground with its feet, dexterously seizes them, by thrusting its long bill into the mud. The natives esteem their flesh for food, and formerly used their feathers, to form their most precious mats, by working them in with their flax. They hunt them only at night, and then either catch them with dogs, or blind them by suddenly presenting a torch, when they can seixe them by the neck. When the Europeans first came among them, they had already destroyed them all in some places, and they are now but little hnnted.

THE WAR IN PALESTINE.

The late dreadful civil war among the Duzes and Maronites in and near Mount Lebanon, is attributable to the unwise interference of the powers of Europe, with England, who undertook to make changes among them in 1841. According to a long and instructive letter in the New York Observer, from Mr. Smith, missionary in Palestine, and now at New Haven, containing extracts from the letters of Mr. Thompson, his associates and others, the Sultan has been wishing to see the contending parties weaken, and almost destroy each other, as they have been troublesome subjects. Our missionaries sustained a humane, disinterested and useful part, laboring, at great personal sacrifice, and exposure, to prevent the burning of towns, and the butchery of men, women and children, often with success. It is very remarkable that both parties treated them as friends, and with great respect, even in the midst of their bloody feud.

This war had no relation to the protestants of Hasbeya, of whom many of our readers have had some information; but the results are likely to be rather favorable to them, Our countrymen in Syria long to see some judicious measures taken, to secure the safety of those wretched people who have suffered so severely from a civil war, that may break out again at any time. There is at present no government

among them.

ROMANISM AND AMERICA.-The Protestant Churchman says that "no less than four open and avowed Romanists were

found, upon the catalogue of the New York Episcopal Seminary, during the last session. One was from Delaware, and another from Connecticut.”

LIVING SKETCHES OF ITALY. NO. III.

For the American Penny Magazine.
Austrian Oppression in Lombardy.

A very spirited pamphlet has just appeared in London, entitled Austria, Italy and the Pope, addressed to Sir James Graham, by J. Mazzini, the most influential of the Italian exiles in England, whose private correspondence was so shamefully violated in the post office by the former. Signor Mazzini has before shown, in an Italian pamphlet, published in Paris, and entitled "Ricordi dei Fratelli Bandiera," &c., some of the consequences of that violation of public faith, in the murder of the two Bandieras in Calabria, after seizing them by stratagem Sir James, to shelter himself from some portion of the obloquy, which he has most justly brought upon himself, had declared, that the Austrians govern Lombardy with much mildness and justice, foster education, and promote improvement in several important points, which he specifics. This, he would have the world believe, places the Italian patriots, who are opposed to the Austrian usurpation, in the position of mere disaffected men, and enemies of the public peace of their country. The pamphlet now before us, undertakes to disprove the assertion of Sir James; and, truly, the learned and pa. triotic writer has succeeded, in the most overwhelming manner, while the numerous and astonishing facts he presents, illustrating the oppressive weight of Austrian oppression in Lombardy, can hardly fail to open the eyes of men and raise much sympathy for the Italians.

And Lombardy is selected in this case, not because it is the most unhappy part of the peninsula, but for the very opposite reason, that it is acknowledged to be the only portion which is not absolutely intolerable."

Mr. Mazzini gives us a long list of the principal posts held by foreigners in the Lombardo-Venitian provinces, from which it

appears that all departments are chiefly filled by Austrians: the government, police, censorship, university, philosophical schools, mint, post office, tobacco inspection, frontier-guards, tribunals, army, &c. The Central Assembly may petition for a few objects of a physical nature, roads, bridges, &c., and the Austrian authorities notice them or not as they please. The provincial and the town councils are somewhat similarly situated.

"Austria is aware that she only encamps in Italy for a time," and "as far as she can she resists all progress." When obliged by the public feeling, she reluctantly appears to favor improvement. The public schools are closed on Sundays, when alone many of the poor might attend; and the law forbids the admission of children poorly clad. Public and infant schools, demanded and often established by the people, she almost ruins, and by means often ingeniously bad. "Subjects," says the school catechism, "ought to behave towards their sovereign like slaves towards their master," because he is so, and controls their persons and property. Not a word of Italian history is taught. In the gymnasiums, a complete course cannot be gone through until the 25th year. The Lyceums teach an obscure German philosophy, and nothing of Italian literature. Professors are made in the Universities only after answering questions sent from Vienna, in a manner approved there. They must teach by Vienna themes; and any expression opposed to Austrian views is followed by expulsion. In political science, the student is confined wholly to the answers in his books; and subjected to restrictions and often indig nities from German police. The expenses are great, the delays numerous.

The best works are not accessible in the libraries, and there working-men are not admitted. In the bookstores no foreign works except immoral romances. Nothing can be printed which has not been approved by five or six censors. There are no newspapers, except government gazettes, and these are taxed two cents a copy. No literary journal can exist without permission from Vienna, and Francis 1st said, in 1821, "I wish my subjects may only learn to read. and write." Not more than one literary man of note has escaped persecution, yet Austria pretends to patronize learning!

60,000 livres are annually sent to Vienna in money, by about five millions of people. The capitation tax, that on trades and labor, and the exclusion of all foreign goods except German, are ruinous. The guards of

the customs, &c., are very numerous and the worst of men, who often smuggle themselves. Salt, tobacco and nitre are monopolized, and salt is at double and triple its price in neighboring countries.

Reve

nue is raised on lotteries. Stamps are required in every contract, even agreements for a day, and almost anything else possible. The stamp law is very obscure, but its violation is punished by fine and distraint.

In these and many other ways, Lombardy is more burthened than other parts of the Austrian empire. Though its population is less than one-eighth of the whole empire, it pays more than one quarter of the revenue. Milan is ruined by the contraband trade thus produced; and internal trade is embarrassed by many needless obstacles.

JUVENILE DEPARTMENT. EDWARD'S SUMMER WALKS. Edward did not really go to school in the summer, but had lessons set him at home, and recited sometimes to his father and sometimes to his mother. After they were over, towards evening, he usually took a walk, in company with his sisters and their young friends, or with his own. Occasionally one of his parents was of the party, and now and then both of them.

In July and August some of the trees were filled with caterpillars, which ate the leaves, and then changing to the chrysalis state, disappeared. Many persons, walking under the trees during the time when the caterpillars were most numerous, appeared to be greatly annoyed by them; and some, especially ladies and children, expressed fears of being bitten. But Edward had been assured that they were harmless in that respect, although highly injurious to the plants which they feed upon; and was not afraid of them himself, nor would he allow his companions to entertain such ill-grounded apprehensions.

As he had been told, that scientific men were constantly endeavoring to discover how these hurtful little creatures might be prevented from doing injury, he sometimes observed their movements and tried to invent some way to destroy them. But he felt that he was too ignorant of their nature and habits, to lay any plan for that purpose, and thought he would make more enquiries, observe and read. His father told him that much was still unknown on the subject.— Even the greatest naturalists have not had

time and opportunity to learn half that is important; and it seems a good kind of work for children, who have leisure, and often are among trees, bushes and flowers, when men are called to other places by business.

One of the most curious operations to be observed, was that performed by the insect, figured in number 19th of this magazine, page 300, in forming the covering for its chrysalis. After the conversation with his father, which is mentioned there, he had many opportunities to see them, swinging by a fine string from the button-ball or sycamore trees, on which they usually fed in his neighborhood, or, when the thread had broken, creeping

up the trunk. How they formed the little tunnel-shaped bag, which they carried about them, he never could discover. It appeared to be all made of pieces of dry leaves, dropped by the worms while feeding; and sometimes too large pieces, like wings, were stuck to the sides, which made it difficult for the creature to creep. The inner part, however, was made of something like strong paper, which his father could not tear without trying very hard several times. Probably the worms came down from the trees in the night, and weaved this strong coat, and somehow or other, stuck the bits of leaves to it before morning. Neither Edward nor his father, (who usually rose before him, and was more observant,) ever could find a worm at this work, or with his covering partly made.

The worms are black, with six small tapering legs or feet in front, bending in a curve, which they use in climbing, and also in slowly drawing themselves up to the tree by the web on which they let themselves down. Like the measuring worms, they pull themselves up by putting their two four feet over the string as they hold it in their mouths, then throw the head back, by which they raise themselves about the twentieth part of an inch; then the second pair of legs take the slack thread, and make it up into a ball with the rest, and so they work till they reach a twig, and stick fast to it. It is dif ficult to draw them out of their covering, and yet they appear not to be attached to it. Edward observed that, when touched, a worm would draw in his head and close the opening like a bag; yet he could not discover how he did it. There was no string to be seen touching the rim. Altogether, he thought these the most remarkable of the caterpillars; and he took several home, and hung them by their silken threads upon a rose-bush in his garden, intending to watch them.

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