sessor at the same price-20007., for which it had been offered to the nation, It is now placed at the centre of an apart ment prepared expressly for its reception, and appropriately ornamented in the Egyptian style. The other principal treasures of the collection are a vast number of architectural models and drawings of all countries, and almost all eras, the lead being taken by the various designs on which Sir John Soane most prided himself; including especially the Bank, the National Debt Office, and the Council Chamber, among those which were executed and among those which were not, two designs for a royal palace, one drawn at Rome about 1770, and the other at London in 1821; a view of a proposed triumphal bridge, which gained the Royal Academy prize sixty years ago; and the plans for new Houses of Parliament, which received the approbation of the Legislature so long ago as 1794, but, as all the world knows, were never carried into effect. The collection of architectural books is particularly valuable; nor is the library at all deficient in literary curiosities of a more general character. It possesses the splendid copy of the great work on Egypt, presented by the Institute to Denon; and another work, an unique, of inestimable valuethe original MS. of the "Gierusalemme Liberata," in the hand-writing of TASSO himself!

The mind of Sir John Soane appears to have been rather deeply tinged with eccentricity. The two great men he held in highest estimation, were apparently Napoleon Bonaparte and William Pitt! He placed the highest possible value on a miniature of the former, which purports to have been taken in the early part of his career, expressly for the (future) Empress Josephine; and portraits and statues of the latter are profusely strewn throughout the collection-one, most appropriately, being placed on a model of the National Debt Office! The collection of pictures is in all respects of high excellence, and particularly rich in the works of modern British artists, of whom Sir John was a warm patron. He possessed some of the finest works of Lawrence, Wilkie, Westall, Stanfield, and a host of others; and the ceiling of the library is splendidly decorated with paintings from the classical pencil of Howard. To sculpture the same remarks will apply. Sir Francis Chantrey is one of the original

trustees nominated in the Act, and his productions, with those of Westmacott and other distinguished professors of the British school, hold a prominent place in the Fine Arts department of the Museum.

It is to be regretted that Sir John entertained so rooted an antipathy to his two surviving sons: it is painfully apparent even in the pages of the work devoted to a description of his " House and Museum," and seems to have originated from an impression on his mind, that they had attacked his professional reputation through the medium of the press. Be that as it may, it will hardly be worthy of the nation to take possession of the father's treasures of art, without making some provision for the sons; if it be the case, as it is understood to be, that they are (one of them at least) in destitute circumstances, and without any hope of deriving benefit under Sir John's testamentary disposition of his property.

PROCESS OF EVAPORATION.

Sir,-If W., p. 239, will carry his experiment of the inverted tumbler a little farther, he might easily ascertain how much rarefied air would pass through the bottom of the vessel; as soon as he perceives all, or the greater part of the water to have been driven from the inverted glass, let him remove the whole apparatus together from the fire that it may cool, and when cold, I am much mistaken if he does not find the tumbler again filled with water, thereby proving that not a particle of atmospheric air has passed through the bottom of the boiler. The water to be used in this experiment should be previously boiled.

The small bubbles, which he says form at the bottom of the vessel at the commencement of the operation, he will find to cover the sides also; but he will find the same appearance in a glass after it has stood still some time full of water, the said glass being thoroughly dry at the time of filling it there can be no doubt that these bubbles are atmospheric air, and if removed by agitation or any other means, they will not form again. Now, these bubbles I take to be formed by the breaking up of a very thin stratum of air which adhered to the inner surface of the vessel, and prevented the water from coming into immediate contact with the glass.

Yours, &c. TREBOR VALENTINÉ.

MR. CROSSE'S OWN ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIMENTS.

(Extract of a letter from Mr. Stutchbury, of the Bristol Institution, to the Editor of the Bristol Guardian, dated Feb. 1, 1837.)

I feel it a duty due to the cause in which I am engaged, and to the philosopher with whom they have originated, at once to take the liberty of transmitting to the press, and particularly the local press, from which so many reports have emanated, an abstract of a letter I have received from Mr. Crosse, with an account of his experiments, in the language of a private communication (not that which he would probably have chosen had he made the communication himself), and without further comment.

"The following is an accurate account of the experiments in which insects made their appearance:-Experiment the first. I took a dilute solution of silicate of potash, supersaturated with muriatic acid, and poured it into a quart basin resting on a piece of mahogany and a Wedgewood funnel in such a manner that a strip of flannel, wetted with the same, and acting as a syphon, conveyed the fluid, drop by drop, through the funnel upon a piece of somewhat porous Vesuvian red oxide of iron, which was thus kept constantly wetted by the solution, and across the surface of which (by means of two platina wires connected with the opposite poles of a voltaic battery, consisting of nineteen pair of five-inch plates in cells filled with water and 1-500 muriatic acid) a constant electric current was passed. This was for the purpose of procuring crystals of silex. At the end of fourteen days I observed two or three very minute specks on the surface of the stone, white, and somewhat elevated. On the eighteenth day, fiue filaments projected from each of these specks, or nipples, and the whole figure was increased in size. On the twenty-second day, each of these figures assumed a more definite form, still enlarging. On the twenty-sixth day, each assumed the form of a perfect insect, standing upright on four or five bristles which formed its tail. On the twenty-eighth day, each insect moved its legs, and in a day or two afterwards, detached itself from the stone and moved at will. It so happened that the apparatus was placed fronting the south, but the window opposite was covered with a blind, as I found these little animals much disturbed when a ray of light fell on them; and, out of about fifty which made their appearance at once, at least forty-five took up their habitation on the north side of the stone. I ought to have added, that when all the fluid, or nearly so, was drawn out of the basin, it was caught in a glass bottle placed under a glass funnel which supported the stone, and was then returned into the basin without moving the stone. The whole was placed on a light frame made for the purpose. These insects have been seen by many of my friends, and appear when magnified very much like cheese mites, but from twice to eight times the size, some with six legs, others with eight. They are covered with long bristles, and those at the tail, when highly magnified, are spiney. After they have been born some time they become amphibious, and I have seen them crawl about on a dry surface. Experiment the second. I took a saturated

solution of silicate of potash and, filled a small glass jar with it, into which I plunged a stout iron wire, connected with the positive pole of a battery of twenty pairs of cylinders filled with water alone, and immersed in the same a small coil of silver wire connected with the negative pole of the same battery. After some weeks' action gelatinous silex surrounded the iron wire, and, after a longer period, the same substance filled up the coil of silver wire at the other pole, but in much less quantity. In the course of time one of these insects appeared in the silex at the negative pole, and there are at the present time not less than three well formed precisely similar insects at the negative, and twelve at the positive pole, in all fifteen. Each of them is deeply imbedded in the gelatinous silex, the bristles of its tail alone projecting, and the average of them are from half to three quarters of an inch below the surface of the fluid.

"In this last experiment we have neither acid, nor wood, nor flannel, nor iron ore. I will not say whether they would have been called to life without the electric agency or not. I offer no opinion, but have merely stated certain facts."

NOTES AND NOTICES.

The M'Adam Memorial.-A meeting was held at Spring-gardens on the 24th of January, the Duke of Richmond in the chair, to consider the propriety of raising a subscription for the erection of a suitable memorial of the services of the late John Loudon M'Adam, Resolutions to the effect that such a proceeding was highly expedient were carried unanimously, and subscriptions to a large amount have been already raised. It is, of course, reported that the proposed monument is to be a full-sized copy of the celebrated Colossus of Rhodes.

Mr. Collier offers to give F. H―d the explana. tion he requires (see No. 701), if he will furnish Mr. C. with his name.

"Q" may have the information he requires with respect to his proposed patent, by calling at our office.

Errata.-Page 329, column 1, line 5, for "stablistichen" read "stuhlstichen" (steel-engravings). P. 348, col. 2, line 7 from bottom, for "expensive" read "extensive.”

P. 349, col. 1, line 13, for "only one, America,” read" only one America."

British and Foreign Patents taken out with economy and despatch; Specifications, Dis. claimers, and Amendments, prepared or revised ; Caveats entered; and generally every Branch of Patent Business promptly transacted.

A complete list of Patents from the earliest period (15 Car. II. 1675,) to the present time may be examined. Fee 2s. 6d.; Clients, gratis. Patent Agency Office,

Peterborough-court, Fleet-street.

LONDON: Published by J. CUNNINGHAM, at the Mechanics' Magazine Office, No. 6, Peterborough-court, between 135 and 136, Fleet-street, Agent for the American Edition, Mr. O. RICH, 12, Red Lion-square. Sold by G. W. M. REYNOLDS, Proprietor of the Erench, English, and American Library, 55, Rue Neuve, Saint Augustin, Paris.

CUNNINGHAM and SALMON; Printers, Fleet-street.

PAGE'S MORTICING-MACHINE.

At the Fair of the American Institute, in October, 1835, Mr. George Page, of New Hampshire, was awarded a silver medal, for a morticing-machine, the following description of which we extract from the American Railroad Journal:

"CCBA (see front page), the frame, consisting of two cross pieces or sills, with an upright post from their centre, and a piece projecting upward in front at an angle.

"dd, the slide, with a socket in the lower end, into which the chisel is inserted. This slide is of iron, connected with the lever h, and sustained in its place by two boxes passing through the upright, which are regulated by thumb-screws on the side of the post.

the chisel; it is made of cast steel, about six inches in length, from th to an inch diameter. The cut is perpendicular on one side, and bevelling on the other, with side-cutters, projecting backward about one-fourth of an inch, which serve not only to make the sides of the mortice as smooth as the ends, but also to clear the chips as the chisel is withdrawn from the mortice. This chisel is either single or double, cutting one or two mortices of equal width and depth at the same time. It has also a tool for making dowells, and another for cutting holes in Venetian blinds for the cord to pass through. The two latter are of much use, especially that for making dowells, or pins of any size, from one-fourth to an inch diameter, and 4 to 6 or 9 inches in length; and the other performs at one pressure of the foot an operation which in any other way requires five times the labour.

"f, the stop which is made fast to the upright by a bolt and thumb-screw, to prevent the timber from rising when the chisel is drawn up by the spring.

66 gg, the connecting rod between the lever h and the treadle. The rod is moveable, to accommodate the depth of the mortice.

"h, the lever passing through the upright post and front brace, to which it is connected in front by two straps of iron. The lever is about three feet in length, and at its extreme end, connected with a spring poll to raise the chisel from the mortice.

"ii, the treadle or foot-board, by which the machine is put in motion. This footboard is also like the lever, about three feet in length; passing through a long mortice in the lower part of the upright post, and made fast at the back end to a short upright standard rising about 14 inches from one of the cross sills. It is then connected by an iron rod in the rear of the upright post with

the lever at the top, which rests upon the slide dd, into which the chisel is inserted. The lever h, acts upon a pivot in front, resting, at about nine inches from the pivot, upon the top of the slide dd, which is moveable, and is connected by a rod with the treadle ii, which acts upon a pivot at the extreme back end. By placing one foot upon the foot-board, and pressing it down, the end of the back lever h, also descends, and causes the chisel to perform its office upon the timber, which is laid upon the rest . It will be readily perceived that a powerful leverage is obtained by this arrangement, and that a rapid motion is easily produced with the foot by which the chisel is driven into the timber, and drawn out again by the aid of the spring pole.

"The timber to be morticed is placed in its place on the rest , until it receives a thrust from the chisel, when it is moved forward one-eighth of an inch by hand, or otherwise, as the chisel rises and falls again by the aid of the foot. When the mortice is headed down at one end to its proper depth, the chisel is turned the half of a revolution by the aid of a spring and moveable box n, and again confined by a spring in a proper position, and the timber is caused to retrace its course, and the mortice is completed to a uniform depth, and headed down at the other end; and on turning it over, the chips will either drop out, or may be easily picked out, as the chisel is so constructed with side-cutters as to cut at both sides as well as at the end; and therefore the mortice is not only perfectly true or uniform in its sides, but also smooth or free from splinters, arising from cross grain, as is frequently the case in the ordinary mode of morticeing.

"k, a back-board or fence which serves to keep the timber parallel.

0, the spring-pole (shown in part), which acts upon the lever h, and of course the slide and chisel which are connected with it.

"It will be readily perceived, that by pressing the foot-board down to C, the chisel e, will be brought down in a perpendicular line near to the top of the rest 7; and it may be repeated a hundred times a minute, and thereby cut a mortice three inches or more in depth, and six to twelve inches in length, according to the wood, in a minute."

LANE'S MODERN EGYPTIANS.

The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge has just favoured the world with an original work of considerable interest, on the subject of the modern state of Egypt.* Like Mr. Davis's work on China, it is got up in a style of general resemblance to the Society's series, "The Library of Entertaining Knowledge," but, also like that, it takes its Station as an independent work, and challenges attention on the ground of its own merits, without calling to its aid the imposing array of names of Committeemen, &c. which usually graces the publications issued under the same imposing auspices. Luckily, it possesses sufficient merit of its own to enable it to dispense with such a cumbersome support.

The work owes its origin to a sojourn made by its author in Egypt in 1825 and the three following years, mainly for the purpose of acquiring that familiar acquaintance with the Arabic language, which could only be expected to result from a residence of some length amongst a people with whom it is the mothertongue. Some of the notes made by Mr. Lane on that occasion, he tells us, fell into the hands of certain members of the Useful Knowledge Society, who entertained such an opinion of their value, that he was induced to make his second visit with the express intention of com pleting and extending them for publication. The result is the work before us, small portions of which have already appeared, from time to time, in the pages of the Penny Magazine, but only in sufficient quantity to whet the edge of appetite: the great mass of its contents is altogether new.

敢

Of the antiquities of Egypt, Mr. Lane, in his present work at least, has nothing whatever to say, nor of its ancient history. He confines himself to a description of the manners and customs of its living inhabitants, devoting none of his space to dissertations on the probable intentions of the builders of the pyramids, and taking neither one side nor the other in the discussion as to the meaning of the

* An Account of the; Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, written in Egypt during the years 1833, 34, and 35, partly from notes made during a former visit to that country, in the years 1825, 26, 27, and 28. By Edward William Lane. London, 1836. Charles Knight and Co. 2 vols. 8vo., pp. 428-427.

hieroglyphics which abound in them; and yet, without the assistance of either pyramids or hieroglyphics (component parts, as it were, of the idea of Egypt), he has contrived to produce two volumes not deficient either in interest or importance. He enjoyed peculiarly favourable life of the Moslem Egyptians, from the opportunities for observing the interior intimate knowledge of their language which he acquired, and from his conforming to the utmost possible extent, to their national customs and religious prejudices, so that, as he very complacently informs us, he passed, among all but his most familiar acquaintance, for an indifferent good follower of Mahomet, and gave no outward indication, by dress or manner, that he was not "native, and to the manner born." Such precautions were, of course, absolutely necessary in the acquisition of that minute information on domestic life, of which a great portion of the work consists; and fortunately our author did not put off the insatiable curiosity and the observant eye of the Frank, along with the Frankish costume.

The first volume opens with an introductory chapter on the general characteristics of the country and its climate, with a very particular description of Cairo, and especially of the construction of its houses, the arrangement of its streets, and the general appearance of its inha bitants. This is full of information, and the letter-press is powerfully assisted by the numerous illustrative wood-cuts with which it is interspersed. Among these, a view of a street in Cairo, showing the arrangement of the shops of the Egyptian capital, and two views of the exterior and interior of a private mansion, are particularly deserving of attention, having evidently been executed with elaborate minuteness, and with every appearance of complete fidelity. The chapter which follows on the "Personal Characteristics and Dress of the Moslem Egyptians," is of similar interest, and also profusely illustrated; but this yields, perhaps, in importance to that "On Infancy and Early Education," by which it is suc ceeded. This is full of entertaining, if not instructive matter, and gives, on the whole, but a low idea of the present state of the science of "Pedagogy" on the banks of the Nile. We are told at home that the schoolmaster, is abroad,"-and "abroad "all such schoolmasters as those