its dormancy, works its way to the surface of the earth, throws off its chrysalid clothing, employs its fresh wings with dexterity, rises into the new element of the atmosphere, feeds on the honey of plants instead of on maggots, and at length, pursues the very same train of actions to provide itself with a progeny, which was pursued by the parent insect that gave it a being. ON THE EMPLOYMENT AND WORKING OF ANIMAL HORN IN GENERAL.-By M. VAllet. [Translated from the French.] HORN, particularly of oxen, cows, goats, and sheep, is a substance soft, tough, semi-transparent, and susceptible of being cut and pressed into a variety of forms; it is this property that distinguishes it from bone. Turtle or tortoise shell seems to be of a nature similar to horn, but instead of an uniform colour, it is variegated with spots.. These valuable properties being known, renders horn susceptible of being employed in a variety of works fit for the turner, comb, and snuff-box maker. The means of softening the horn need not be described, as it is well known to be by warmth, but of the cutting, polishing, and soldering it, so as to make plates of large dimensions, suitable to form a variety of articles, an account may be desirable. The kind of horn most to be preferred, is that of goats and sheep, from its being whiter and more transparent than the horn of any other animal. When horn is wanted in sheets or plates, it must be steeped in water, to be able to separate the pith from the kernel, for about fifteen days in summer, and a month in winter; and when it is soaked, it must be taken out by one end, and well shaken and rubbed, in order to get off the pith; after which it must be put for half an hour in boiling. water, and then taken out, and the surface sawed even, lengthways; it must again be put into the boiling water to soften it, so as to ren der it capable of separating; then with the help of a small iron chisel it can be divided into sheets or leaves. The thick pieces will form three leaves, those which are thin will form only two, whilst young horn, which is only one quarter of an inch thick, will form only one. These plates or leaves must again be put into the boiling water, and when they are sufficiently soft, they must be well worked with a sharp cutting instrument, to render those parts that are thick even and uniform; it must be put once more into the boiling water, and then carried to the press. At the bottom of the press employed, there must be a strong block, in which is formed a cavity of nine inches square, and of a proportionate depth; the sheets of horn are to be laid within this cavity, in the following manner: at the bottom, first a sheet of hot iron, upon this a sheet of horn, then again a sheet of hot iron, and so on, taking care to place at the top a plate of iron even with the last, and the press must then be screwed down tight. There is a more expeditious process, at least in part, for reducing the horn into sheets, when it is wanted very even. After having sawed it with a very fine and sharp saw, the pieces must be put into a copper used for the purpose, and there boiled until sufficiently soft, so as to be able to be split with pincers; then bring quickly the sheets of horn to the press, where they are to be placed in a strong vice, the clasps of which are of iron, and larger than the sheets of horn, and screw the vice as quick and tight as possible; let it then cool in the press or vice, or it is as well to plunge the whole into cold water. The last mode is preferable, because the horn does not dry up in cooling. Now draw out the leaves of horn, and introduce other horn to undergo the same process. The horn so enlarged in pressing, is to be submitted to the action of the saw, which ought to be set in an iron frame, if the horn is wanted to be cut with advantage, in sheets of any desired thickness, which cannot be done without adopting this mode. The thin sheets thus produced, must be kept constantly very warm between the plates of hot iron to preserve their softness. Every leaf must be loaded with a weight heavy enough to prevent its warping. To join the edges of these pieces of horn together, it is necessary to provide strong iron moulds suited to the shape of the article wanted, and to place the pieces in contact with copper plates, or with polished metal surfaces against them; when this is done, the whole should be put into a vice and screwed up tight, then plunged into boiling water, and after some time it is to be removed from thence, and immersed in cold water, which will cause the edges of the horn to cement together, and become perfectly united. To complete the polish of the horn, the surface must be rubbed with sub-nitrate of bismuth, by the palm of the hand. The process is short and has this advantage-that it makes the horn dry promptly. When it is wished to spot the horn in imitation of tortoise shell, 1lic solution must be employed tion of gold in aqua rigia must be employed; to spot it black, a solution of silver in nitric acid must be used; and for brown, a hot solution of mercury in nitric acid. The right side of the horn must be impregnated with those solutions, and they will assume the colour intended. The brown spots can be produced on the horn by means of a paste made of red lead with a solution of potash, which must be put in pieces on the horn, and subjected some time to the action of heat. The deepness of the brown shades depends upon the quantity of potash used in the paste, and the length of time the mixture lies on the horn. A decoction of Brazil wood, a solution of indigo with sulphuric acid, a decoction of saf fron and Barbary tree wood is sometimes used. After having employed these materials, the horn may be left for half a day in a strong solution of vinegar and alum. In France, Holland, and Austria, the comb-makers and horn turners use the clippings of horn, which are of a whitish yellow, and tortoise shell skins, out of which they make snuff-boxes, powder-horns, and many curious and handsome things. They first soften the horn and shell in boiling water, so as to be able to submit them to the press in iron moulds, and, by the means of heat, form it into one mass. The degree of heat necessary to join the horn clippings must be stronger than that for shell skins, and which can only be attained by experience. The heat must not be too great, for fear of scorching the horn or shell. Considerable care is required in these operations, not to touch the horn with the fingers, nor with any greasy body, because the grease will prevent its joining perfect. Wooden instruments should be used to move them while they are at the fire, and for carrying them to the moulds. HEALTH AND LONGEVITY. IN the wildest scenes of nature-with the solitary savage of the frightful forest, the shepherd on the bleak and barren hill, the hermit in his unfrequented cell, and the retired peasant of the glade-we endeavour in vain to trace either the inroads of disease, or to find the couch of sickness: we may become acquainted with the traditionary spot where some celebrated chief was butchered, the field where a deadly feud was terminated, or the mountain whence a warlike tribe was expelled; but among the “... hardy sons of rustic toil," in vain we search for the records of sickness or disease. In more polished society we are introduced into circles of ostentatious magnificence-variety of splendour; we speed from pleasure to pleasure; we revel in every possible luxury; but the heart sickens at the contemplation of misery, even in the most magnificent palace; ere the period of manhood is attained, the mind is decayed, every noble faculty either utterly destroyed, or perverted to the very worst purposes; the body enfeebled and emaciated; and what might have otherwise been the happiest period of existence, through idleness, pleasure, and luxury, is rendered "A life of pain."on Health, and a lengthened existence, is the natural ambition of every mortal; and, perhaps, it is the greatest blessing we can enjoy in a temporal state. Since, therefore, health and existence is so much to be desired, it must, to every rational creature, appear a matter of necessity, that we exercise the means for the attainment of this coveted treasure. The relation of means to the end, and the necessity of exercising these means for the attainment of the end, is a doctrine obvious to the most casual observer. Health and existence, then, is an end to be attained, and TEMPERANCE is evidently the most proper mean of attaining it. In the time of Cyrus, the Assyrian legislators did not consider the strength of their armies to consist in the number of their soldiers, or in the number, variety, and ponderous quality of their armour; but, more rationally, in the individual strength, spirit, and activity of their troops-both officers and men; and, therefore, they selected the objects of their future hopes from, I may say, the very arms of their mothers; and the whole time of their youth was spent in the schools of discipline, and the initiatory practice of military tactics; they were temperately fed and clothed, inured to every privation, and every attention paid to them, which the greatest possible foresight could suggest; and thus we find them courageous in the field of blood, fearless in danger, equal to the most disheartening journeys, undergoing incredible fatigue, and accomplishing the most successful enterprises: but mark the conclusion of the reign of Cyrus-what a change!-idleness, luxury, and splendour soon undermines constitutions, which neither climate nor hardships once could shake; and he who traces the subsequent history of this people, will find lamentable proofs of the destructive inroads of luxury and of vice. And indeed, but with all deference be it spoken, the histories of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and other nations that were once great on the earth, furnish ample evidence of the degrading influence of luxury. To condescend on particular instances is unnecessary. On this subject, the author of a certain celebrated treatise remarks:~-~ "There is not perhaps any opinion more universal, nor, if we may credit the testimony of the oldest writers extant, more ancient, than the common one, which supposes a kind of progressive degeneracy in the human race, an unremitting depravation in all the endowments of man, degrading each succession of actors on this great stage, and setting them below their predecessors in every thing valuable, amiable, or great. Every generation complains of its own inferiority in size, vigour, and health, and becomes in its turn an object of admiration to its successor, which, to escape the prospect of debility, deformity, and disease, looks back with rapture to the imaginery pre-eminence of former days." And again, "The families of kings, heroes, and nobles, after dwindling through a short succession of generations, at length totally disappear, their places are supplied from the pasture or the plough, and the new possessor of wealth and dignity entails upon his posterity the joint and inseparable acquisition of opulence and infirmity, luxury and disease. The country, the true officina gentium, the great workshop of humanity, is continually sending in supplies from her forests and mountains, and despatching her hardy and prolific sons to fill up the chasms of population; while cities and great towns, those immense gulphs in which the redundancies of creation are absorbed, stand open night and day to receive the voluntary victims of disease and death, • Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis.'" Every candid mind must, and will allow, that, as nature requires but little sustenance, a perseverance, or even an occasional indulgence, in luxury and intemperance, inasmuch as it becomes contra res natura, will more or less be the cause of ill health. Nature does not require it, and therefore it is perverting our faculties to purposes diametrically opposed to that for which we enjoy them. Habit, no doubt, may be urged as an excuse, but man is a rational creature, and such habits should be guarded against; and there is no habit but may, by using the necessary means, be ultimately overcome. "What least of foreign principles partakes Is best.". CURIOSUS. MISCELLANIES. Amsterdam Canal.-It may be said, with justice, that Great Britain has outstripped all the other countries of Europe, in what regards the undertaking and execution of public works, in which utility and and grandeur of conception go together. We had been accustomed to consider as unique in its kind, both with respect to its extent, and its other dimensions, our Caledonian Canal, which can carry a large frigate from the North Sea to the west coast of Scotland; but the new Amsterdam Canal, which establishes a direct communication between the ocean and this important place of commerce, surpasses in depth and breadth every thing of the same nature existing in Great Britain. It appears that a frigate of 44 guns has already passed along its whole extent, and it is even capable of receiving vessels of 80 guns. The projected Portsmouth Canal, which is intended to receive vessels of the line, would rival that of Amsterdam as to depth and width, and surpass it in length, in the proportion of a hundred to fifty miles. Hydraulics.-M. Schwebel, a mechanic of Strasburg, has invented a singular machine, with a lever, to replace the hydraulic lever, which possesses the double action applicable to all machines moved by water or horses, either for spinning, flour-mills, sawing, forge-bellows, &c. It increases the power of the machine to which it is applied, and, while giving it a more regular movement, fills the place of two horses where four were required: it is also very useful in times of drought, as it will work a machine with half the quantity of water usually required. Hazel Nuts found in a singular state at a great depth.-A quantity of hazel nuts were lately found in a bog upon the estate of Sir J. Hay, Bart. of Hayston, near Peebles, about eight feet below the surface. On opening them it was found that the kernel in all of them had entirely disappeared, though the membrane which enclosed it, and the nut itself, were as entire as if the nut had been fresh and ripe. By opening the nut carefully, the membrane could be taken out in the form of a perfect bag, without the least opening. The substance of the kernel must therefore have escaped through the membrane and the shell in a gaseous form, or must have passed through them when decomposed or dissolved by water. In some of the nuts that had not arrived at maturity the bag was very small, and was surrounded, as in the fresh nut, with the soft fungous substance which had resisted decay. Published every Saturday, by W. R. M'PHUN, 155, Trongate, Glasgow, to whom Communications (post paid) must be addressed. CURLL, PRINTER. |