The Gleaner.

and, together with the other temples and buildings | three in breadth, from north to south.* The second aunexed to it, comprehended all that space upon body was about a perch less in length and breadth which the great cathedral church now stands, part than the first; the third as much less than the "I am but a gatherer and disposer of other men's of the greater market-place, and part likewise of second; and the rest in proportion, so that upon stuf." each body there remained a free space or plain which would allow three or even four men abreast to walk round the next body.

WOTTON.

(From the History of Mexico,)

BY ABBE D. FRANCESCO SAVERIO CLAVIGERO.

The Mexicans, and other nations of Anahuac, like all civilized nations, had temples and places allotted for the purposes of religion, where the people assembled to worship their gods, and implore their protection. They called the temple Teocalli, that is, the house of God, and Teopan, the place of God; which names they applied with greater propriety to the temples erected in honour of the true God, after they embraced Christianity.

The stairs, which were upon the south-side, were made of large well-formed stones, and consisted of a hundred and fourteen steps, each a foot high. They were not, however, one single stair-case continued all the way, as they have been represented by the authors of the General History of Travels, and the publishers of Cortes's Letters, in Mexico; but were divided into as many separate, stair-cases as there were bodies of the building in the manner shewn in our plate; so that after getting to the top of the, first: stair-case, one could not mount the second, without going along the first plain round the second; nor the third, without going along the second plain, and so of the rest. This will be better understood by consulting the plate, which is copied from that of the Anonymous Conqueror,t but corrected as to the dimensions, from that author's own description, and other historians.

the streets and buildings around. Within the in-
closure of the wall which encompassed it in a square
form, the conqueror Cortes affirms that a town of
five hundred houses might have stood.* The wall,
built of stone and lime, was very thick, eight feet
high, crowned with battlements, in the form of
niches, and ornamented with many stone figures in
the shape of serpents, whence it obtained the name
of Coatepantli, or the wall of serpents. It had four
gates to the four cardinal points: the eastern gate
looked to a broad street which led to the lake of
Tezcuco: the rest corresponded to the three principal
streets of the city, the broadest and the straightest,
which formed a continuation with those built upon
the lake that led to Iztapalapan, to Tacuba, and to
Tepejacar. Over each of the four gates was an
arsenal filled with a vast quantity of offensive and
defensive weapons, where the troops went when it
was necessary, to be supplied with arms. The
space within the walls was curiously paved with
such smooth and polished stones that the horses of
the Spaniards could not move upon them without
slipping and tumbling down. In the middle was
raised an immense solid building of greater length
than breadth, covered with square equal pieces of
pavement. The building consisted of five bodies
nearly equal in height, but differing in length and
breadth; the highest being narrowest. The first
body, or basis of the building, was more than fifty
Sahagun gives to the first body upon every side
perches long from east to west, and about forty-three hundred and sixty Toledan feet, and that is the

Upon the fifth body was a plain, which we shall call the upper area, which was about forty three perches long, and thirty-four broad, and was as well paved as the great area below. At the eastern extremity of this plain were raised two towers to the height of fifty-six feet, or nearly nine perches.

measure of its length. Gomara gives it fifty brazas, which is the measure of its breadth. Three hundred and sixty Toledan feet make three hundred and eight Parisian, or a little more than fifty perches. Fifty brazas, or estados make two hundred and fifty-seven Parisian feet, or about forty-two perches.

The Anonymous Conqueror says, that what was within the wall was like a city. Gomara affirms, that the wall was a very long bowshot in length upon every side. Torquemada, although agreeing with Gomara, in book viii. chap. 2, says afterwards in ch. xix. that the + A copy of the drawing of the temple made by the circumference of the wall was above three thousand the Anonymous Conqueror, is to be found in the colpaces, which is plainly a mistake. Dr. Hernandez, in lection of Jo. Ramusio; and another in Father Kirhis prolix description of the temple, preserved in ma-cher's work, entitled, Edipus Egyptiacus. nuscript in the library of the Escurial, and which Father Nieremberg has made use of in his Natural History, allows to the wall, of every side, two hundred Toledan cubits, which is about eighty-six perches.

The city and kingdom of Mexico began with the building of the sanctuary of Huitzilopochtli, or Mexitli, whence it has derived its name. That edifice was then a miserable hut. Itzcoatl, the first king and conqueror of that nation, after the taking of Azcapozalco, enlarged it. Montezuma I. his successor, built a new temple, which had some shew of magnificence; and, at length Ahuitzotl raised and dedicated that immense temple which his pre+ Sahagun makes the temple perfectly square, but decessor Tizoc had planned. This was the temple the Anonymous Conqueror, both in the description and which the Spaniards celebrated so highly after they in the figure which he has left us, represents it to have had destroyed it. been of greater length than breadth, like those of This great temple occupied the centre of the city, Teotihuacan which served as models for all the rest.

Sahagun, whose measures have been adopted by Torquemada, allows no more than seventy Toledan feet square, which is about ten perches, to the upper area; but it is impossible that five hundred Mexican nobles, as Cortes asserts, could have stood to fight against the Spaniards, in such a narrow space; especially if we believe Bernard Diaz, who says, that four thousand Mexicans fortified themselves in that temple, and that numbers had got up before the nobles ascended,,

emancipation of old Spain, for which they
both toiled; and if we are to give full credit
to this account, it was no fault of Xavier's
that the revolution of 1820 had not taken
effect in 1813.

Each was divided into three bodies, of which the lower was of stone and lime, and the other two of wood very well wrought and painted. The inferior body or basis of each were properly the sanctuaries where, upon an altar of stone five feet high, were placed their tutelary idols. One The extract forms the introductory chapof these two sanctuaries was consecrated to Huit-ter to the body of the work: and we re-feated at Belchite, a town to the southward zilopochtli, and the gods of war, and the other publish it not merely because it will not fail to prove interesting to the reader, but the perusal of a small portion may lead to a wish to possess the whole.

to Tezcatlipoca. The other bodies were destined to the keeping of some things belonging to the worship, and the ashes of some kings and lords who, through particular devotion, desired that to be done. The doors of both sanctuaries were towards the west, and both the towers termi

nated in a very beautiful wooden cupola. There is no author who has described the internal disposition and ornaments of the sanctuaries; nor indeed the size of the towers; so that what is represented in the engraving is only delineated from conjecture. However, we may venture to say without danger of mistake, that the height of the building without the towers, was not less than nineteen perches, and with the towers, exceeded twenty-eight. From that height one might see the lake, the cities around, and a great part of the valley; and it has been affirmed by eye-witnesses to be the finest prospect in the

world.

In the upper area was the altar for the common sacrifices, and in the lower that for the gladiatorial, Before the two sanctnaries were two stone stoves of the height of a man, and of the shape of our holy pyx, in which they preserved a constant fire, night and day, with the utmost care; fearing that if ever it went out, they should suffer the most dreadful punishment from heaven. In the other temples and religious buildings comprised within the inclosure of the great wall, there were six hundred stoves, of the same size and figure, which in the night time, when they used all to be burning, presented a very

effect

upon

EXTRACTS.

the formation of character.

The Spanish armies, however, were unable to cope with the numerous and veteran troops that Napoleon poured into the country, and being defeated in every regular encounter, they retreated before the French. The Catalonian army, after being deof Saragossa, fell back to Tortosa, while the French occupied the line extending in the direction of the southern frontier of Arragon and Catalonia.

It was in this gloomy situation of affairs, that Xavier Mina formed a determination which had the most important effects, not December, 1789. He was the eldest son the whole war in Spain. He resolved to Xavier Mina was born in the month of only upon his own fortune in life, but upon of a well born and respected proprietary pass through the line of the French posiwhose domains lay near the town of Mon- tion, and, gaining his native province of real, in the province or kingdom of Navarre. Navarre, to make its mountains and fastBreathing from his infancy the mountain nesses the theatre of his hostile operations; air, he was accustomed to wander in val- to hang on the rear of the invaders, to inleys rich with the fruits of Southern Eu- tercept their convoys and couriers, and cut rope, or to pursue the game which sought off their straggling detachments. in their migrations every spring and autumn In an evening walk he first communicated a passage over the mountains and isthmus to a friend and kinsman his plans and of the Pyrenees. Thus nurtured and exer- schemes, and unfolded his hopes and fears, cised, the faculties expanded, and the hardy his strong enthusiam, and visions of glory. qualities of the mind were matured in early The sky was bright with the tints of a brillife. The bold and rugged scenery of liant sun-set, and, as the sun descended mountains: the cheerful and buoyant feel- below the horizon, his fancy drew the reings they excite, and the wild aspect of semblance to the glorious death of the hero nature are well known to have a powerful who falls in the cause of his country. His kinsman heard him to the end in silence, The early studies of Mina were made at and then pointed to a gibbet that stood Pampeluna and at Saragossa. In 1808, at near," If you succeed, it will be great; the commencement of the resistance of the if you fail, there is your portion." In reply Spaniards to the French invasion, he was a to his solicitation to be permitted to put his student in the University of Saragossa. plans in execution, the Spanish General Then between eighteen and nineteen years told him it would only be throwing away and when the massacre at Madrid, on the army. "I do not (replied Mina) think I old, he felt the strong enthusiasm of the time, his life, as he would be cut off from the 2d of May, shook all Spain, and the cry of am cut off, so long as I can find a path for vengeance was heard from the Ebro to the my horse." Finally, he left Tortosa with Guadiana, he abandoned his studies, joined twelve men, and passing with skill through the army in the north of Spain, as a volun- the line occupied by the French army, arteer, and was present at the battles of At-rived in Navarre. Of those twelve one is cornes, Maria, and Belchite. The events at present a Lieutenant; another has reof that period are still in our remembrance; tired with nine wounds; the rest fell in bat The failure of Mina's attempt to free the general rising of the Spanish nation, tle. Mexico in 1816 is well known: and the and the heroism of the Spanish people, The first essay of Mina was upon a small murderous scenes in which his romantic suddenly awakening from a slumber which guard of about a dozen French; he attacked career was closed, was described by some had bound them since the days of Charles them with about twenty men, and captured officers who escaped the unsparing massacre the Fifth. them without much resistance. The next of his little army. But, so far as we know, Irritated at the capture of his armies, attempt was on a party of thirty men. The there has neither been published any circum- Napoleon at this time began to pour fresh Spaniards, having about the same number, stantial narrative of the expedition, nor any troops into Spain, and it became more im- lay concealed behind a stone wall, and rose complete developement of the internal state portant than ever for the Spaniards to have and fired upon the enemy. Some of them of society, nor institutions, in that portion of a communication with France as the means defended themselves bravely; a tall grenaSouth America. The extract we are about of procuring intelligence. The gallant dier fired at Mina with a deliberate aim, to give, is, however, from a work now in young Mina undertook the enterprize, and and, taking shelter behind a tree, encou the course of publication, that purports to availing himself of his knowledge of the raged his party; but the Spaniards leaping supply much of this information; drawn up country, the peasantry, and the passes of the wall, rushed on, and settled the combat by the Commissary General of the expedi- the mountains, he executed it with complete with their sabres. This successful begin tion, with some additional notes and re- success: establishing a secret means of ning produced most important results. The marks by Mr. Wm. D. Robinson, who fol- communication with the provinces of France spirits of the peasantry were roused; many lowed the liberating army, and has recently adjacent to the Pyrenees, by which much successful adventures took place the escaped from the prison of Cadiz. Espoz valuable information of what was passing in French foraging parties were cut to pieces; y Mina, the uncle of Xavier here men- France was obtained for the Spanish Ge- their convoys attacked and plundered, and tioned, is now reaping the fruits of that nerals. their couriers intercepted.

pleasing sight.

XAVIER MINA.

(From the Philadelphia Union.)

When the

Spanish Government had scarcely finished
their rejoicing for the first success of Mina,
they were again surprised when he sent
them a large body of prisoners, with a
Lieutenant-Colonel; and, at another time,
seven hundred prisoners, with a quantity of
military equipments, stores and money.
The French were not passive spectators
of these chivalrous exploits. Upwards of
thirty individuals nearly or remotely con-
nected with Mina's family, were suddenly
arrested and sent into France. Among the
relatives of Mina, thus torn from their
country, was an accomplished young lady,
the object of his early attachment. Sepa-

ever.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE GLASGOW
CHRONICLE.

Towards the end of the year 1739, the Empress Catherine gave a comical entertainment. Prince Gallitzin was the occasion of it: though about 40 years of age, and even having a son serving in the army, SIR,-In levelling the ground for the Rev. Dr. Dick's in the rank of lieutenant, he was made at once new church in Albion-street, about 250 to 300 complete page and buffoon of the court, by way of punish-human skeletons have been found in good preservation, ment for his having changed his religion. His first embedded in fine loam, about 6 feet from the surface, wife being dead, the Empress told him he ought to of the ground. They were uniformly placed with the marry again, and that she would be at the expense head to the west and the feet to the east: in some cases of the wedding. He accepted the proposal; and, the body lay on one side. There was no instance of pitched upon a girl of low life, acquainted the more than one in a grave, nor any bones but those be Empress of his choice, and claimed her promise. longing to the body. There was one instance where The Empress, in giving this entertainment, had three bodies lay by the side of each other: no vestige of a rated from each other, time and the waves coffin or clothing is to be seen, nor is there the least dis. a mind at the same time, to see how many diffe- crimination of rank or condition. There are no children's of an adverse fortune, bore them still far-rent kinds of inhabitants there were in her vast bones, nor those of half-grown persons, nor the bones of ther asunder, and the tender affections, the dominions. Accordingly, she caused orders to be any other animal found among them. Every skull had sport of events, sunk and were lost for despatched to the governors of the provinces to a case of excellent teeth, both in the upper and unsend up to Petersburgh several persons of both der jaw; and although I examined at least fifty of Repeated expeditions were undertaken. sexes. These being arrived, they, at the expense them, I could not discover any traces of tooth-ache, to destroy Mina, but the affections of every of the court, were new-dresserl, each in the habit of and many of them were so young as to want the dentes peasant being with him, and having correct his respective country. M. Walinsky was appointed sapientia. Are we not to infer from this that they were intelligence of every movement, he was enabled not only to baffle and elude his manager of the arrangements for this wedding, young persons, in the vigour of life? One skull had a enemy, but frequently to come on them and winter was the season chosen for the celebra- cleft in the forehead, four inches long. These bones owe their preservation to the close nature of the red tion of it. The Empress, to make it the more comunexpected, defeating and destroying his mud in which they were found; and it is remarkpletely extraordinary, had a house built wholly of able, that although there is two feet of rich soil above pursuers. When he found the forces op. posed to him too numerous to be openly ice; it consisted of two chambers, in which every this mud, there is no visible trace of it down to these resisted, he appointed a place of rendezvous, thing of furniture, even the bed-place for the new-bodies, so that the graves must have been made previous dispersed his band, and, separating, eluded married couple. was to be of ice. There were four to the formation or deposition of the black soil. The pursuit. The armed mountaineers retired small cannon and two mortars made of the same bones are all of an age, that is, they are all in the same to their homes or to secret recesses, and matter. The cannon were fired several times with state of preservation, and seem to have been buried all there waited till their leader gave the sig-an ounce of powder in each, without bursting; and at one time. nal, when there appeared to spring from little wooden grenades were thrown out of the the earth, like the men of Cadmus, a legion mortars, without their being damaged. of soldiers. Mina himself, with a select band, the nucleus of his army, retired to the mountains. A hill near his father's mansion was his principal retreat. He was familiar with its fastnesses and solitary retreats, and the neglected flocks of his own family furnished him and his brave companions with food. When he determined on striking a blow, he gathered his forces like the tempest on the mountain top, then he descended in terror and swept the province to the very gates of Pampeluna.

Thus was began the Spanish insurrection in the province of Navarre. From this period, bands of Guerillas were organized throughout the country, and thus commenced that system which was the great means of keeping up the spirit of desperate animosity, and, eventually, the means of delivering Spain from her invader. The success of Mina ran through the country with a powerful stimulus on the minds of the people, and he soon raised a respectable division of troops, whose numbers were increased by the peasantry, when it was contemplated to strike a blow. The central Junta at Seville conferred upon him the title of Colonel, and soon after, the dignity of Commandant General of the Army of Navarre. The Junta of Arragon also appointed him Commandant General of Upper Arragon.

(To be concluded in our next.)

On the wedding-day that the feast was to be celebrated, all the guests were assembled in the court. yard of Walinsky: thence the procession set out, and passed before the Imperial palace, and through the principal streets of the town. There was a great train, consisting of more than 300 persons. The new-married couple were placed upon an elephant, in a great cage. The guests two and two, were in a sledge drawn by all kinds of beasts, as rein-deer, dogs, oxen, goats, hogs, &c. Some were mounted on camels. After the procession had gone the round prescribed, it was brought into the duke of Courland's riding-house, where a flooring of there was a dinner prepared for them on several planks had been laid for the purpose, and where tables; each was treated according to the manner of cookery in his own country. After the repast, there was a ball; each nation had its own music, and its own way of dancing. When the ball was over, the bridegroom and bride were conducted into the house of ice, where they were put into a dismally cold bed, with guards posted at the door, that they might not get out before morning.

Sir Thos. Gresham, who built the Royal Exchange, was the son of a poor woman, who left him in a field, ing a boy to the place where he lay, his life was prewhen an infant; but the chirping of a grashopper leadserved. From this circumstance the future merchant took the grasshopper for his crest; and hence the cause of that insect being placed over the Royal Exchange.

A Society of Men of Letters is at present occupied in laying, in the South of France, the foundation of a town, in which the only language spoken shall be Latin!

We are informed in one of the histories of Sir Wil. liam Wallace, that in year 1300, (that is 520 years ago) our immortal countryman, with his uncle Adam Wallace, and Boswell, of Auchinleck, with 300 cavalry, marched from Ayr, and on the same day attacked Earl Percy and Bishop Beak, with 1000 men, whom they found drawn up in the order of battle on ground near where the College now stands, that he killed Earl Percy with his own hand, 700 of his men were also slain, and the remainder pursued by Wallace to the castle of Bothwell: here again he fell in with a new party of the English, whom he also attacked and beat.

From what has been before mentioned, it would ap

pear that these skeletons are the remains of Earl Percy's
men who fell in this battle; and in confirmation of this
conjecture, three bodies were found under similar cir-
cumstances in College-street, when laying some of the
den, never having been built upon or turned up.
large water pipes; that ground, like Mr. Rattray's gar-

It would oblige some of your readers if any of your
ingenious correspondents could throw some light on this
subject, through the medium of your paper.
I am, Sir, &c.

TO THE EDITOR.

A CITIZEN.

SIR,-The following expenses of the materials for a dinner given by William Mingay, Esq. Mayor of folk, &c. the Lords, Knights, and Gentry of the Norwich, at which he feasted the Duke of Norcounty, in the year 1561, the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; compared with what the expenses would at this day amount, will perhaps be amusing to some of your readers, And if you, Mr.

4 Brace of Partridges,

6 Plovers...

...

4 Couple of Rabbits

2 Guinea Pigs...

..........

4 Couple of Hens

.......

2 Bushels of Flour...

16 Loaves of White Bread,
2 Couple of Mallards..................

34 Eggs.....

18 Loaves of Wheaten Bread

3 Ditto of Mislen

010
020
0 18
01 0
020
1 6
004

1 0
1 0
09

0

0

Ditto....

0 0 3

1 Barrel of Double Beer..................

0 2 6

0 1 0

1 Ditto of Small Ditto.......

1 Quarter of Wood....

0 2 2

Nutmegs, Mace, Cinnamon, and Greens 0
Four pounds of Barberries and Sugar.. O
Fruit and Almonds.......

.......

0

2 0

0 9 0 0 5 0 0 3 0 6 £1 18 1

The following speech after dinner was made by One Johnny Martin, of Norwich, a wealthy, honest

man :

Poetry.

TO THE OCEAN.

[From the Marcian Colonna; a Poem.]

BY BARRY CORNWALL.

O Thou vast Ocean! ever sounding Sea!
Thou symbol of a drear immensity;
Thou thing that windest round the solid world,
Like a huge animal, which, downward hurl'd
From the black clouds, lies weltering and alone,
Lashing and writhing till its strength be gone!
Thy voice is like the thunder, and thy sleep
Is as a giant's slumber, loud and deep.
Thou speakest in the East and in the West
At once; and on thy heavily laden breast
Fleets come and go, and shapes, that have nor life
Nor motion, yet are moved, and meet in strife.
The earth hath nought of this: no chance nor change
Ruffles its surface, and no spirits dare

Give answer to the tempest-waken air;

But o'er its wastes the weakly tenants range
At will, and wound its bosom as they go;
Ever the same, it hath no ebb, no flow;
But in their stated rounds the seasons come,
And pass like visions to their viewless home,
And come again, and vanish: the young Spring
Looks ever bright with leaves and blossoming,
And Winter always winds his sullen horn,
When the wild Autumn, with a look forlorn,
Dies in his stormy manhood; and the skies
Weep, and flowers sicken, when the Summer flies.
Thou only, terrible Ocean! hast a power,
A will, a voice; and in thy wrathful hour,
When thou dost lift thine anger to the clouds,
A fearful and magnificent beauty shrouds
Thy broad green forehead. If thy waves be driven
Backwards and forwards by the shifting wind,
How quickly dost thou thy great strength unbind,
And stretch thine arms, and war at once with Heaven!
Thou trackless and immeasurable Main!
On thee no record ever lived again
To meet the hand that writ it; line nor lead
Hath ever fathomed thy profoundest deeps.
Where haply the huge monster swells and sleeps,
King of his watery limit, who, 'tis said,

"Maister Mayor of Norwich,-And it please your
worship, you have feasted us like a King: God bless
the Queen's Grace! We have fed plentifully, and
now whilome I can speak plain English, I heartily
thank you, Maister Mayor, and so do we all.
Answer, boys, answer.-Your beer is pleasant and
potent, and will soon catch us by the caput, and
stop our manners. And so, huzza! for the Queen's
Majestie's Grace and all her bonny-browed Maids of
Honour. Huzza! for Master Mayor, and our good
dame Mayoress, his Noble Grace, there he is, God
save him! and all this jolly company. To all our
friends, sound country, who have a penny in their
purse, and an English heart in their bodies, to keep Can move the mighty ocean into storm.
out Spanish Dons, and Papists with their faggots to Oh! wonderful thou art, great element!
burn our whiskers.-Shove it about-twirl your cap-And fearful in thy spleeny humours bent,
cases-handle your jugs-and buzza! for Maister And lovely in repose: thy summer form
Mayor, and his brethren their Worships.

METHOD OF KEEPING CHEESE.

The late Archbishop of D- ―n, Lord N―n, who was very penurious in his habits, went one evening, muffled in a cloak, to Moore's a cheesemonger, and bought a cheese. After completing his purchase, he asked the seller which was the best way to keep it. Moore, who had smoaked his Lordship under his masquerade, replied, with true Irish naiveté, "Why, Sir, I don't know how to keep cheeses; my business is to sell them; but if you follow the Archbishop's plan, you will find it answer to admiration." "What plan is that, my friend?" "Faith, by my conscience, neither cut it yourself, nor let any body else cut it!"

SONG.

My blithesome love! my bosom's pride!
Wha's opening graces charm mine ee;
Tho' hills and streams maun us dívide,
My heart shall ever be wi' thee.
Oft shall I through the garden stray,
Or sit beneath our fav'rite tree,
Whar, at the close o' Simmer's day,
I lov'd to win a smile frae thee.
Then, while the winds o' Winter howl,
And sob the billows o' the Dee,
I'll power the sorrows o' my soul,

And breathe a fervent prayer for thee.
Oh! if thou felt'st what now I feel,
Soon, soon would'st thou return to me;
But vain is sorrow,-fare thee weel!
I shall, sweet maid, remember thee.

Scientific Notices.

CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

[ORIGINAL.]

The discovery of the circulation of the blood by Dr. Harvey, in 1628, forms an important era in the annals of medical science; it has contributed, in an eminent degree, to the improvement of the healing art, and has unfolded one of the most beautiful systems of providential arrangement in the entire department of organized nature.

The blood may be considered as the fountain of life; it circulates through our system by means of two sets of vessels, which, from their respective offices, are called arteries and veins. The heart is the centre and the great moving power of the circulation. The arteries and veins are hollow, cylindrical tubes, which pervade almost every part of the body, and which serve as channels through which the blood is constantly circulating. The external appearance of the heart is familiar to every one: its internal structure and economy are so extremely beautiful, and evince in so many points the admirable contrivance of the Supreme Architect, that we conceive we shall perform an acceptable service to our readers, by rendering it the subject of a future essay. The object of the present one will be fully answered, by stating generally, that the heart is divided, by means of a strong muscular partition, into two cavities, which, from their respective situations, are called the right and left cavities of the heart. A large artery, called the arises AORTA,

from the left cavity of the heart; in its progress this artery divides itself into innumerable branches, through which the blood is conveyed to every part of our system. The blood thus distributed from the heart, by the arteries, is returned to this organ by the veins.

The ARTERIES convey the blood from the heart to all parts of the body. The VEINS convey this fluid from all parts of the body to the heart. The ARTERIES increase in number, and decrease in size, in their progress from the heart, till, ultimately divided into an innumerable series of minute branches, they terminate in, and pour their contents into the veins. The VEINS collect the blood by their extreme branches, which increase in size, and decrease in number, till they ultimately constitute two great trunks, which terminate in, and pour their contents into the heart; to which the blood returns as to its source, and from whence it is again circulated and diffused.

The blood is the great vital current from which all our secretions are elaborated, and from which the fluid, as well as the solid parts of our bodies, the bones as well as the muscles, derive the principles of their formation, growth and renovation.

The office of the STOMACH is to recruit the mass of the circulation with fresh supplies, to enable it to continue the performance of the important purposes for which it is designed. The nutritive portion of the food which we consume, is, by the action of the stomach and other organs, converted into a milky-like fluid, called CHYLE. This chyle is poured into the blood, to which it becomes assimilated by the function of respiration, and then it forms a homogenous part of the general circulation.

Thus the nutriment which we derive from our food becomes, by the operation of a variety of agencies, ultimately converted into blood; while this vital and sanguine stream, pursuing its uninterrupted course through an innumerable series of vessels, is incessantly

repairing the waste, supplying the accession of new | merable ramifications as fine as hairs; so that every
substance, and distributing to every part of our frame
the nourishment which it requires.

.

The foregoing outline affords a general idea of the circulation of the blood, so far as it is connected with our growth and nutrition; but when considered with reference to RESPIRATION, it will be necessary to take a more particular review of this function. The heart is a double organ; it is, as we have already mentioned, divided into two cavities, each of which is the centre of a particular and distinct circulation.

part of the organization contributes to bring the atmosphere and the blood as nearly as possible in a state of contact: thereby manifesting the necessity of air to the healthful constitution of this latter fluid.

From the variety of important purposes answered by the blood in its course through the body, it must be evident that the health and vigour of our system mainly depend on the purity of this vital fluid; and this most essential object is no less accomplished by respiration than it is by digestion. As air and aliment contribute so eminently to the formation and constitution of the blood, the healthy condition of the animal frame depends, in a great measure, on a conjoint supply of these two essentials in a state of purity.

The blood distributed by the aorta from the left cavity of the heart, is brought back again by the veins, not to the left cavity, from whence it set out, but to the right cavity. Another large artery, called the PULMONARY ARTERY, arises from the right cavity. If a due portion of wholesome food be necessary to This artery is distributed solely through the lungs, enable the stomach to recruit the waste of the sanguiwhere it becomes subdivided into extremely minute ferous system-a due supply of pure air is equally nebranches. By means of this artery the blood is pro-cessary to enable the lungs to assist and perfect the pelled from the right cavity of the heart through the operations of the stomach. If the digestive organs lungs, and having been there exposed to the influence convert food into chyle-respiration converts chyle into of the air, which we are constantly respiring, it is blood-and while the former are engaged in replenishconveyed, by the PULMONARY VEINS, to the left cavity ing the mass of the circulation with fresh supplies, the of the heart, to be again circulated through the general the lungs are employed in the equally essential offices of freeing it from its impurities, and in fitting it for the sustension of health and life.

system.

The importance of the lungs, and of respiration, is rendered more evident through this admirable mechanism, by which the blood, having run one course through the body, to administer to its various functions, is then circulated through the lungs, to be fitted to perform a second circulation.

We will form a more accurate estimate of the great
extent of the action which the inspired air exerts on
the blood, from reviewing the ample provision made

by nature for its exercise, both in the rapidity of the
circulation and in the structure and economy of the
lungs. The number of arterial pulsations varies in
different individuals, and varies also in the same per-
son at different periods of life. The passions of the
mind, the state of the health, and other causes, may

accelerate or retard the notion of the blood.

We may state generally the number of arterial
pulsations as seventy-five per minute, during which
period the heart also contracts seventy-five times,
and at each contraction it pours its contents into
the arteries. The quantity of blood discharged by
each contraction of the heart, and the total amount of
this fluid circulating in the system, are questions of
extremely difficult solution. It must be evident too,
that the amount is liable to considerable variation from
difference in age, sex, constitution, structure, and other
causes. If we estimate the quantity of blood dis-
charged from the left cavity of the heart by each con-
traction at two ounces and a half, the total amount of
the circulating fluid at 30 pounds, and the contractions
of the heart at 75 per minute, it follows that the entire
mass of the blood passes through the heart 23 times in
an hour,or that it describes one circuit through the body
in less than three minutes. The whole volume of the

blood therefore passes through the lungs 552 times in
the course of the day, to be subjected to the influence
of the air which we constantly respire.

The structure of the lungs is extremely well calculated
to facilitate the exercise of the chemical affinity which
prevails between the air and the blood. The mem-
brane which lines the cavities of the lungs is thinner
than the finest cambric, and if disengaged from its
evolutions and extended, it would cover a space
equal to the whole external surface of the body. On
this delicate and extensive membrane, the branches of
the pulmonary artery and veins are spread out in innu-

The circulation of the blood, and its connection with the stomach is, not unhappily, described by the poet in the following words:

The blood, the fountain whence the spirits flow,
The gen'rous stream that waters ev'ry part,
And motion, vigour, and warm life conveys
To ev'ry particle that moves or lives,
This vital fluid, thro' unnumber'd tubes
Pour'd by the heart, and to the heart again
Refunded-scourg'd for ever round and round,
Enraged with heat and toil at last forgets
Its balmy nature; virulent and thin
It grows; and now, but that a thousand gates
Are open to its flight, it would destroy
The part it cherish'd and repair'd before.
Besides the flexible and tender tubes
Melt in the mildest most nectarious tide
That rip'ning nature rolls, as in the stream
Its crumbling banks. But what the vital force
Of plastic fluids hourly batters down,
That very force those plastic particles
Rebuild; so mutable the state of man.
For this the watchful appetite was given,
Daily with fresh materials to repair
This unavoidable expense of life,
This necessary waste of flesh and blood.
Hence the concoctive powers with various art,
Subdue the cruder aliments to chyle,
The chyle to blood, the foamy purple tide
To liquors which through finer arteries
To different parts their winding course pursue,
To try new changes and new forms put on.

Scientific Records.

PHILOLOGY.

Mr. Jacks, librarian to the Royal Library at Bamberg, has discovered there a manuscript of the Roman history of Eutropius, which was probably brought from Rome by the Emperor Henry, the founder of the Bishopric of Bamberg. The MS. is more complete than any of the best editions hitherto published of this author, and very likely to correct a number of false readings. Professor Goeller, of Cologne, had previously discovered in the Royal Library a MS. of Livy.