ENIGMA.-No. 30.-BY A YOUNG LADY.

I am composed of 17 letters.

My 13, 2, 3, is a kind of food given to children.

My 12, 3, 13, 5. 17, is a fruit common in America.

My 9, 7, 11, 8, is a part of the body of every animal.

My 16, 15, 14, 3, is that by which we rid ourselves of troublesome quadrupeds.

My 8, 2, 13, is what people are inclined to take when they are sleepy.

My 9, 6, 12, 15, is a wild and ferocious animal.

My 13, 14, 1, is an appendage to the grate. My 15, 4, 10, 16, is a part of nearly every plant.

My whole was a man remarkable for his ambition. E. T.

THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE. AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. With numerous Engravings.

Edited by Theodore Dwight.

Is published weekly, at the office of the New York Express, No. 112 Broadway, at 4 cents a number, or, to subscribers paying in advance, $2 a year. 7 sets for $10.

Postmasters are authorized to remit money, and are requested to act as agents.

Enclose a Two Dollar Bill, without payment of pos tage, and the work will be sent for the year.

"The information contained in this work is worth more than silver."-N. Y. Observer.

"It should be in every family in the country.”— N. Y. Baptist Recorder.

We give this, not as a specimen of the pure Dutch style of cottages, but as one form of small country-houses frequently seen in this vicinity, and in some other places where the Dutch taste has had an influence in building. In Holland there has been, for centuries, a preference for long and low houses in the country, no less than for narrow and tall ones in the city. The latter, no doubt, was the resort of necessity. As soon as the traveller finds himself in the open fields, he sees the dwellings suddenly losing their elevation, and extending in long lines, at so small a height above the ground, that they are often concealed by the trees, or hardly distinguishable from the barns, which are in some places constructed in nearly the same proportions. Our print represents a low house with a second story, which is by no means a usual part of the Dutch cottages that we

have seen. The two piazzas, in front and rear, are much more common appendages. And these, truly, have several considerable advantages. They not only give an air of comfort and convenience, by offering a partial protection from rain, snow and sunshine, but they in some degree guard the sides of the house from both temporary and lasting injury by the elements. But there are many errors committed in making piazzas: as by laying the floors too near the ground, or upon it, without providing for the circulation of air beneath, to keep the timbers and boards dry, and safe from rotting.

In our opinion, (but we express it with more diffidence on architecture than on some other subjects, because less familiar with it,) many a country-house, of almost every description destitute of a piazza, would be greatly improved by the

addition of one or more; and we scarce. ly can recollect to have ever entered a dwelling provided with such an appendage, without perceiving more than one advantage arising from it. There is many a moment in the course of every stormy season, as well as of every winter, when some member of the family, occupied out of doors, finds it better to stand under a roof than wholly without a shelter while many warm summer afternoons are rendered less oppressive, and many evenings prove doubly agreeable, to families who have places like these to resort to at their pleasure.

How

Although numerous habitations are seen in our country, built in a style as destitute of ornament as the above, and with as little regard to the beauty of proportion, there are perhaps none of them to which a piazza would not add some agreeable effect, or at least afford a concealment for some deformity. ever plain the pillars or posts, that may be placed to support the projecting roof, they may be converted into columns of verdure and flowers during a large part of the year, merely by planting a few seeds at their feet in the spring; and a single bird box, fastened at a proper height, may be made the orchestra of an innocent band of volunteer musicians for several months in the year.

Still, we would by no means discourage any attempts to introduce a more refined taste in architecture, while we thus venture a few words in favor of a style of great simplicity. We never ought to be content with a style of building so destitute of beauty as that of which we have given a specimen. a specimen. The same money that would be required to build such a house, would be sufficient to erect one of more correct and agreeable proportions, with conveniences not here to be found, and yet leave enough to pay the architect for the plan, and perhaps for superintending the construction.

We add the following excellent gene

ral remarks on rural architecture, from "the Architect," the new work by Mr. Ranlett, which we announced a short time ago.

"Our mental and physical tastes are equally the product of divine power and wisdom, and equally designed by the Creator to be exercised in lawful gratifications hence aesthetics, or the science of beauty, is as legitimate a study as the culinary art. It is important to cultivate a proper balance in taste, especially in the ordinary ranks of society: for, while an artist is excusable in being absorbed in one of its departments, there is something repulsive, and bordering on the monstrous, in a development of it, which, like Shenstone's, cultivates and ornaments, in a high degree, the garden and other grounds, and neglects the dwelling, to the manifest discomfort of the family and guests.

"But the most important feature of this subject is its moral aspect. There is so intimate a connection between taste and morals, that they modify each other. Hence, whatever serves to cultivate the taste of a community, will be likely to improve their morals. From this view it follows, that he who corrects a vicious or improper developement of public taste, or opens the way, or provides the means of proper æsthetic gratification, is to be looked upon as a public benefac

tor.

"While the products of painting and sculpture are necessarily limited and selfish in their effects, being shut up from public gaze, and designed to gratify only the proprietor and his chosen friends and guests, landscape-gardening is claimed as producing a far greater amount of public good, by spreading its beauties before the public eye, allowing the rich and the poor alike to look upon them and be delighted. Still more diffusive is the influence of architecture. Though the beauties of the garden are of a high grade, their lowly position requires a near approach,

that they may be appreciated: but many of the beauties of architecture are reared aloft, as if in the sunlight of heaven, to challenge the gaze and delight the minds of the passers by, far and near.

"Architecture, having no pattern in nature, is the most difficult and least regulated of all the fine arts. Painting and sculpture are imitations of nature; and the perfection of these arts is only the ability to make those imitations perfect. Poetry is a sublime and measured expression of the author's conception of grandeur and beauty. Landscape gardening was formerly the imitation of geometric figures: hence the ancient mode of it was called the geometrical style of gardening. In late improvements it consists in the imitation of nature: in curved walks and winding waters, and trees and clumps of natural shape; hence the present mode is called the natural style. Architecture is not the imitation of anything in nature or science: it is wholly artificial; and hence improvements in it are more difficult, being new intellectual creations. Indeed, for the number of styles, we might almost venture to multiply the number of civilised nations by the number of ages in which they have lived.

"The construction of dwellings is a department of enterprise and investment, which involves various considerations of vast moment. It should always be remembered that a dwelling is constructed 'for the accommodation of a family. Sound philosophy and good taste require that the site, form and character of a building, should be suited to its use and expressive of its destination."

TIME FOR TRANSPLANTING TREES.-AUtumnal transplanting should be peformed as soon as the frost checks the growth of trees. The soil is then mellow and easily pulverised; it becomes well settled about the roots, and the trees commence growing without interruption in the spring, and are not so liable to be injured by drought.

રૂ.

Great Iron Railway Bridge and Viaduct.

An iron bridge is to be erected in England, with a viaduct across the Tyne, from Gateshead to New-castle-uponTyne, for the Newcastle and Berwick railway, according to the designs, and under the instructions of R. Stephenson, Esq. It is to consist of six cast iron circular arches, with a curved approach at each end, and will, in fact, be a double bridge; the railroad on the summit, and a carriage road and two foot paths suspended from the arches. The span of the arches will be 125 feet, supported on pillars 21 1-2 feet high, and 14 inches square, and the approaches from both Newcastle and Gateshead will be 251 feet in length, and precisely similar. Two courses of 3 inch planking will be placed beneath the rails, between which will be a layer of Borrowdale's patent asphalted felt, to render them waterproof; and the carriage road beneath will be paved with wood to prevent vibration, and the foot path planked. Ev. ery arch will be completely erected on the contractor's premises by itself, when the engineer will inspect and test its strength and fitness. The quantity of iron required will be about 6,000 tons, and the contract is stated to be £120,000. The entire cost inclusive of lands and buildings, will be £300,000, and it is to be finished, so as to be available for public traffic, by the 1st of August, 1848.

NEW PLANING MACHINE.-Mr. Job Sheldon, of New Haven, Ct., has invented a machine for planing boards, in which is combined more originality of mechanical movement, with judicious proportion and application, than we have seen in any new invention within the year past. In this machine, the inventor has boldly struck out on entirely new principles of operation, and there appears nothing about the machine which bears any resemblance to those of Woodworth, Daniels, or any other in use. carries a series of planing cutters, which work with a reciprocating motion, cutting transversely, but with oblique edges, in each opposite direction. Measures are already in progress for securing a patent, and the invention will, in some measure, relieve this branch of industry from the monopoly.-Sel.

It

Scientific Survey of the State of New York.

Concluded from page 39.

New York lies within the temperate zone, in the form of an irregular triangle, with its apex on the Atlantic, and its sides on the western border of New England, the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, and the northern boundaries of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Long Island forms a singular appendage to the territory of the state, being a long, sandy spur, extending from the harbor of New York, eastward, one hundred and forty miles. In a zoological point of view it is one of the most interesting small tracts of lands in the country, as the reader will find in the sequel. Including Long Island, the state extends through eight degrees of longitude, and from 40 degrees, 3 minutes, to 45 degrees, of North Latitude, with an area of more than 46,000 square miles. It therefore covers a surface greater than Poland, Scotland, or Naples and Sicily: three times larger than Switzerland, and almost equal to England. It is nearly in the same latitude as Italy, the south of France and the north of Spain; and resembles them in the heats of summer: but yet the winters are as severe as those of the northern countries of Europe. Observations, made for ten years, show that the mean length of the winter in the state is 165 days, or about five months; and the mountains, although none of them exceed the height of 5000 feet, have a much colder climate than corresponding elevations in Europe. We have, therefore, within our boundaries, animals which are found, in the old world, only at great distances from each other as the Cervidæ and Mustelidæ of the south of Europe, and the Muridæ and Vespertilionide of the north.

Dr. Dekay divides the state into four districts, which are distinguished by geographical peculiarities, and not less by zoological.

1st. The Western District is bounded east by the Mohawk Valley, and is chiefly elevated on the Allegany table-land, furrowed by vallies lying north and south, once probably outlets of an inland ocean. The descent westward is sudden, to Lake Erie; while ten or twelve small lakes in the middle are drained by the Genesee river, and visited by salmon from Lake Ontario. The great Lakes

have much influence on the climate. Here are found the Northern Lynx, with the Deer-Mouse and Porcupine. Streams flow from this district to the Mississippi, and to the Susquehannah and Delaware.

2. The Northern District has mountains, some 5000 feet in height, with Lake Champlain, 140 miles long; and is inhabited by several fur-bearing animals: the Sable and Beaver, and also by the Moose and the Wolverine. It is the southern limit of migration of many of the Arctic birds, as the Canada Jay, Spruce-grouse, Swan, Raven and Arctic. Woodpecker.

3. The Hudson Valley District lies in the form of an inverted L; and, though small, is highly interesting, as it contains many of the animals of the adjacent N. England States, while on the west it has the Kaaterskill mountains, some of which rise 4000 feet, and are still the habitation of wolves, deer, panthers and bears. The Erie Canal has brought into the Hudson the soft-shelled Turtle and the Rock Bass from the Lakes; as the Yellow Perch and the Muskalonge have found their way from Lake Erie to the Mississippi through the Ohio Canal. The southern. part of this district teems with inhabitants of the ocean. It is remarkable that some species of animals find the Hudson their natural eastern boundary as the Opossum, Chain-snakes. Brown Swift, Buzzard, and several other birds come to its western borders, but never cross it. At the same time, there are some species which abonnd in the countries on the eastern side, but are never seen on the

western.

4. The Atlantic District or Long Island, runs about 150 miles North-Easterly, with a mean breadth of 10 miles, having low sand hills in the northern part, only in one place 300 feet high. The Bear, Wolf and Otter have been exterminated: but the Deer remain; and, although much huuted, are believed to be on the increase, since they have begun to be protected by law during the breeding season. This remarkable tongue of land, stretching nearly at right angles from the coast south of it, is the first resting-place offered to many of the birds, on their migrations from the West Indies and other southern regions, after a long flight over the waters of the ocean. happens also to lie in such a latitude, that it is at once the northern limit of the

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