FOL. 2.] Queen of Scots' Ring-Death of Sultana Valide-Capt.Tuckey. Now, here, released from earthly care, A mournful sound is heard to sigh And often, to this very day, The simple swains believe REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES, 481 INVENTIONS, IMPROVEMENTS, HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTELLIGENCE, NECROLOGY, &C. From the London Monthly Magazines. QUEEN OF SCOTS RING. account of the voyage, was afterwards pubHE original diamond ring of Mary Queen lished. On the return of this ship to England of England, Scotland, and Ireland, quartered, but in September 1805, within a few hours' and which was produced in evidence at the sail of Cape Clear, he fell in with the Rochfort trial of the unfortunate Mary, as a proof of her squadron, with which he maintained an unpretensions to the Crown of England, was in equal conflict long enough to enable the the possession of the late Mr. Blachford, one Indiamen and convoy to escape. The Calcutta of the Lords of the Admiralty, at the time of was taken to Rochelle, and her crew were his death. The history of this fatal ring is sent prisoners to Verdun, where Captain curious. It descended from Mary to her Tuckey remained until the peace. On his grandson Charles I. who gave it, on the return to England he was promoted to be a scaffold, to Abp. Juxon, for his son Charles II. commander, and was shortly afterwards selectwho, in his troubles, pawned it in Holland for ed to command the unfortunate expedition to 3001. where it was bought by Governor Yale, Africa, where he died. During his residence and sold at his sale for 3201. supposed for the in France, he compiled a work, lately pubPretender. Afterwards it came into possession lished, entitled, "Maritime Geography." of the Earl of Ila, Duke of Argyle, and probably from him to the family of Mr. Blachford; at the sale of whose effects it was said to have been purchased for the Prince Regent. FREAKS OF FORTUNE. Died at Constantinople,of consumption,aged about 50, the Sultana Valide, mother of the Grand Seignior. According to the Mahometan usage, she was interred the same day. The Grand Vizier, the Ministers, and the Dignitaries of the Porte, accompanied the funeral procession. The event is matter of great affliction to the Grand Seignior, who was most tenderly attached to his mother. She had never exercised the least influence in State affairs. All her property, the annual income of which amounts to a million of piastres, devolves on the Grand Seignior. The Sultana was a Creole, born at Martinique, of respectable parents. On her voyage to France, for the purpose of education, the merchant vessel on board of which she was a passenger, was captured by an Algerine Corsair, and she became a slave at Algiers. The French Consul offered to ransom her; but she refused her consent, in consequence of an old Negress having predicted to her that she would become one of the greatest Princesses in the world; and notwithstanding all the entreaties of her relations, she persisted in abandoning herself to her fate. The prediction of the Negress was singularly fulfilled. The Sultana is said to have been a beautiful woman, and of fascinating manners. CAPTAIN TUCKEY. The late Capt. Tuckey, who fell a victim of the expedition to Cougo, was the youngest son of Thomas Tuckey, esq. of the county of Cork. On the breaking out of the war in 1793, he was appointed midshipman in the Suffolk, of 74 guns; shortly after made master's mate, and was present at the capture of the Spice Islands. In 1803 he was selected to be first lieutenant of the Calcutta, of 50 guns, which ship carried out convicts to form a new settlement in New South Wales, and after landing the convicts he was employed in various surveys of the coast, which, together with his 30 ATHENEUM. Vol. 2. PATENT BLACKING. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. Sir,--Throughout Europe the English are ridiculed as the easy and willing dupes of quackery; and it is a well-known fact, that in this country, whatever is most advertised Will sell the best, with very little reference to its intrinsic merit. I am led to this observation from observing the injurious effects of all the modern liquid blackings, in which the acid elixir of vitriol forms so leading an ingredient. It very soon destroys the oily property in the leather, on which its support and flexibility depends; and prepares it for the absorption of wet, by giving it a dry and parched surface, which will shine with little trouble, and crack with little wear. So completely is the oily property in leather neutralized and destroyed by the vitriol contained in all the liquid blackings, that the upper leathers of shoes Dow absorb all the rain that falls on them, and wear out sooner than the soles. I trouble you with this in the hope that some among your numerous readers may be able to communicate a receipt for making blacking, which will communicate a shining black, preserve the leather instead of destroying it, and enable it to throw off the rain, at one quarter the expense of the destructive blackings now in general use. S. D. FOOD PRESERVED IN SEA VOYAGES. A new method is now proposed for that important object, and a patent obtained for it. The principle is Pressure; by means of which the double object of space and preservation is gained. The inventor is a captain in the Swedish navy, ARTIFICIAL CONGELATION. New theories of Chemistry and Geology may now be expected to start up from the recent discoveries of Professor Leslie, whose frigorific process by absorption surpass in rapidity and power any thing that evaporation can produce. He has lately ascertained that the congealing power is not confined to the absorbent earins, particularly the porphyritic trap, but that oatmeal is capable of producing 482 The Atmosphere-Sir Wm. Herschell on the Extent of the Universe. [voL2 the same effects, by spreading about two quarts of it on a large dish and putting it in an exhausted receiver, when it will freeze nearly a pint of water in a few minutes; the latter establishment at Maghull, seven miles from being in a pot of porous earthenware. The fact itself is valuable not only to confectioners and private families at home, but also the residents in the hottest climes. The absorbent powder recovers all its qualities, after operation, if dried in the sun, or before a fire. THE ATMOSPHERE AT DIFFERENT SEASONS. M. Theodore de Saussure has published the result of a number of experiments to determine the relative proportion of carbonic acid in the atmosphere during summer and winter. His method was to fill a large glass globe with the air to be examined, and to put into it a quantity of barytes water. The carbonic acid in the air was determined by the quantity of carbonate of barytes formed. In winter 10,000 parts of air in volume gave a mean of 4,79 parts of carbonic acid gas in 10,000 measures of air. In summer 10,000 measures of air gave a mean of 7,13 parts of carbonic acid gas in 10,000 measures of air. NEEDLE-WORK BY MACHINES. A Tyrolian has lately invented at Vienna a machine for Needle-work, by which it is said every kind of sewing may be executed with the utmost precision. The Emperor of Austria has granted a patent to the inventor. Should these mechanical perfections make much farther advancement, every thing in the world will shortly be executed by machines. THE ELEPHANT'S TRIP TO The fair. Hill, near Liverpool. This lady, at her sole expence, supports a Sunday school of about 60 boys and 40 girls at Cockerham, and a similar Liverpool. She has likewise a daily school and a resident teacher annexed to her estate at Edge Hill, where from 40 to 50 poor girls are prepared for their entrance into life; and when at the age of 14, she interests herself in procuring them situations. EXTRACTION OF HEAT. A German naturalist, named Werturner, thinks he has discovered in light a power of extracting their caloric from bodies, and that by this theory he can make light serve for obtaining every species of congelation. It is to this action that the formation of ice and hail is attributed. Some German Journals think that Werturner's experiments are preparing a revolution in Physics and Chemistry. LOAVES, BAKED 1700 YEARS AGO. ITALY.In the ruins of Herculaneum there have lately been found loaves which were baked under the reign of Titus, and which still bear the baker's mark, indicating the quality of the flour, which was probably prescribed by regulation of the police. There have also been found utensils of bronze, which, instead of being tinned like ours, are well silvered. The ancients doubtless preferred this method as more wholesome and more durable. EXTENT OF THE UNIVERSE. heavenly bodies. Upon this principle he has drawn up a formula for the purpose of comparison; and, if the assured principle is correct, it thence follows, that the distance of the smallest star visible to the naked eye is twelve times greater than that of a star of the first magnitude. Considerable light, without a pun, has been thrown on that subject, by some recent observations of Sir W. Herschell upon the stars, The elephant formerly in the menagerie of read to the Royal Society. The idea which the king of Wirtemburg, and since purchased he reasons upon is the probability that the by a private individual, recently made a whim- light emitted by any star, in its effect upon sical escapade on his way from Dresden to the the human eye, is inversely as the square f fair of Leipsic. About day-break, he suc- its distance, when compared with other ceeded in removing the beams that confined him within his moving prison, walked off unobserved by his keeper, and quietly took the road to Pirna, whilst the poor keeper and his caravan took that of Leipsic. Some peasant women on their way to the market of Dresden, A observing the enormous animal moving towards them,and having never before seen an elephant, ran off in great consternation, abandoning their carts with provisions of various kinds for the market. The elephant came up, and comfortably regaled himself with a plenteous breakfast of eggs, bread, butter, &c. which he selected with great taste, and even some economy; for, whilst he devoured, he took care to commit no waste. The keeper soon discovered his loss; came back out of temper and out of breath, and easily induced the elephant to return with him for the purpose of edifying the good people at the fair of Leipsic. CI A } YEAST. The following receipt will produce barm: ---infuse malt, and boil it as for beer; in the mean time, soak isinglass, separated to fibres, in small beer. Proportion the quantity of each, of one ounce of isinglass to two quarts of beer: this would suffice for a hogshead of boiled wort, and you may diminish or increase your preparation accordingly. After soaking five minutes, set the beer and isinglass on the fire, stirring till it almost boils: turn it into a dish that will allow beating it up with a syllabub-whisk, to the consistence of yeast, and, when almost cold, put it to the wort. FEMALE BENEVOLENCE. A Correspondent of the Lancaster Gazette e holds up to the imitation of the opulent, the benevolent example of Miss Mason, of Edge But that is a trifle, when we consider his further observations upon the milky-way, the stars of which it is composed, being at least 900 times farther distant than stars of the first magnitude in the Heavens. The human mind is lost in wonder and bewildered by such a calculation; yet what is that when we reflect that the whole of Creation, visible to us, is but as a mote in a sun-beam, when compared with the existing universe! INDUSTRY. A Cornish Newspaper relates the following praiseworthy example of persevering industry, and of the benefit of attaching small pieces of ground to cottages:---Peter Skewes resides at Blackwater, in the parish of St. Agnes; he holds a small tenement consisting of about an acre and three quarters of land, the soil of which is naturally sterile. This is divided into two nearly equal plots. One of these he plants with potatoes, and the other he tills to wheat; and so on alternately, every year one of his litle fields producing potatoes, au the other wheat. By proper attention in the cultivation, he has, on an average, 80 Cornish bushels of potatoes, and nine of wheat, each season. He keeps two donkeys which graze on the neighbouring common during the sunmer, and are partly fed on the straw of l wheat in the winter; with these he carries couls, &c. for his neighbours, and collects ma VOL. 2.] Cruelty-Firmness of a Highlander-Cocoa Oil-Sugar, &c. nure for his ground. The refuse potatoes, &c. enable him to feed a pig, which, with fish purchased in season, affords all that is required for food, in addition to the produce of his fields and little garden. Skewes passed the last seven years, and supIn this way has Peter ported a wife and a family, now consisting of six children, not only without parish aid, but with a degree of comfort and independence of which there are not many examples in his situation in life;---he never wants the means of satisfying any demands that are made upon him, whether for parochial assessments, or for supplying the wants of his family. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. A master butcher, of Ipswich, named Beard, for a wager of 101. undertook to ride his hackney mare, 14 hands high, from Ipswich to London, and back again, a distance of 133 miles, in 19 hours! The barbarous owner, who weighed 10 stone, started from Ipswich at six o'clock in the evening; he reached London at two in the morning, rested about two hours, and arrived in sight of Ipswich, and within half a mile of his own house, twenty five minutes within the time allowed, when the poor animal fell exhausted and soon expired. The following lines were printed and stuck up in various parts of the town of Ipswich the same evening :-- A man of kindness to his beast is kind; ENCOURAGEMENT TO POPULATION. The corporation of Norwich have voted a piece of plate, value 25 guineas, to Dr. Rigby and his lady, as a memento of the birth at one time of their four children: the event is to be recorded in the city books, and inscribed with the names of the children on the plate. Dr. Rigby is a great grandfather, and probably never before were born, at one birth, three great uncles and a great aunt---such being the relationship between the abovementioned parties and the infant son of John Bawtree, esq. of Colchester. ROADS. Mr. Blaikie, agricultural steward to Mr. Coke, of Holkham, has written a letter on the subject of road-making, in which, after ably discussing the merits of concave and convex roads, and strongly recommending the inclined plane in their formation, he maintains that three loads of riddled gravel will be more efficacious in repairing roads than six loads of unriddled, consequently half the carriage would be saved by using the former. HIGHLAND FIRMNESS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. Sir--The narrative from Batavia, New York, relative to Artemas Shutack having separated his foot from the ancle, to extricate himself from the risk of expiring suspended from a tree, where the foot had been imprisoned, has been by many treated as fabulous--as excess of pain would probably suspend the functions of nature, or loss of blood wholly exhaust them. But medical gentlemen, who have served with the peninsular army, have given it as their opinion, that, by firmly tying a handkerchief or any ligature round the leg, a great hemorrhage would be prevented, and sense of 483 pain deadened. I am at all times anxious to authenticate instances of fortitude under bodily anguish---the most ennobling and decisive proof of the superiority a human soul can therefore been anxious to vindicate the resomaintain over its earthly tenement; and have lution of Artemas Shutack. displayed by a Highland gentleman last June: A very singular proof of manly firmness was --He underwent the dreadful operation for the stone without uttering a complaint; and, when laid in bed, requested the doctor's leave to sing his favourite Gaelic hunting song. The patient was past seventy years of age when be angling at a rivulet near his house. Let the underwent the operation, and in six weeks was scoffers at immorality consider how invaluable is the hope of a better life! B. G. COCOA OFL. Street, a quantity of cocoa-nut oil has recentAt the suggestion of Mr. Hoblyn, of Sloane ly been introduced in this country from the Island of Ceylon. It has been ascertained that this oil may be very advantageously employed as a substitute for spermaceti oil, as it is considerably cheaper, burns with a clear, bright flame, and is free from smell or smoke. It will be found useful also in the manufacture of soap, candles, and the finer articles of perfumery, and is likely to become a source of great revenue in Ceylon, and of great importance to this country. Soap made with it costs about ten per cent. more than tallow soap. POISON OF VIPERS. Professor Mangili has made some experiments with a view to clear up the question respecting the danger or innocence of the poison of vipers when introduced immediately into the stomach. Young blackbirds were five, and six vipers. For about an hour they made to swallow the venom of three, four, appeared languid and heavy, but then recovered their usual vivacity. One of the assistants convinced by these experiments, swallowed the poison of four large vipers without being in the least affected; and the venom of seven large vipers was taken by one pigeon, and that of ten by another, with impunity. From other experiments the Professor has demonstrated the error of Fontana's assertion, that the dry poison does not preserve its venomous properties longer than nine months, and proves, them many years. that when kept with proper care, it may retain INVASION BY INSECTS. during the present season with an invasion, in The Empire of Russia has been threatened which the forces altho' not so formidable as those employed in the invasion by Bonaparte, are not less numerous and daring. In the circle of Mostock immense quantities of grasshoppers, and in the envirous of the city of Bobro immense swarms of worms destroyed vegetation. Their number increased like locusts, every means to destroy them was attempted was made and holy water sprinkled. The next without success; at length a solemn procession day a cloud of ravens and other birds arrived, who ate up all the worms in a few days! EXPERIMENTS WITH SUGAR. and distilled water. In about a fortnight it M. Majendie lately fed a dog upon sugar became lean: on the twenty-first day an ulcer appeared in the centre of the cornea of each eye, which gradually increased, penetrated the cornea, and the humours of the eye ran out: the leanness continually increased, the animal lot its strength, and died on the thirtysecond day. A second and third do 484 Improvements in London-Dr.Jung-Stilling-Suffocation by Charcoal. [vol.2 yoke likewise upon sugar and water, shared a similar "When yet may I trace, through my highfavour'd race, fate. Two dogs fed upon olive oil and water "That mind,in its progress,with splendour keeps pace, died on the thirty-sixth day, with precisely And view some fair fane, in whose shades they may the same phenomena, except the ulceration in the cornea. Several dogs were fed with gum and water: their fate was precisely the same. A dog fed on butter died on the thirty-sixth day, with precisely the same phenomena. From these experiments it is obvious, that none of these articles are capable of nourishing dogs; and hence we may infer, that they are incapable of nourishing man. WATERLOO BRIDGE. The length of stonework, within the abutments, is, from one river bank to the other, 1240 feet, whose harmonizing straight line, running parallel with the river, or water-line through it, gives it that simple elegance and grandeur which is not equalled by any work of this description in Europe. The length, or gentle incline of plane from St. George's Fields, to obtain the summit of the Bridge, is 1250 feet and carried on partly by a mound of earth and brick arches. The length, from the North shore, from the abutment to the Strand, is 400 feet; the road principally carried over on brick arches, and almost directly level with the former. The total length of the Bridge, with its approaches, from the Strand to St. George's Fields, is 2890 feet. The span of the nine stone arches over the river, all of which are of equal dimensions, is 120 feet each. The width of the Bridge, within the balustrades, is 42 feet, divided on each side by a footway of 7 feet, leaving the carriage road 28 feet. The number of brick, or dry arches, on the South shore, is 40; and on the North, or Strand side, is 16. So that the total number of arches which have been carried over, for the completion of this grand work, is 65. The whole of the exterior of the Bridge is executed with durable Cornish moor-stone. THE COLLEGE OF THE LONDON INSTITUTION. (With an Engraving.) “The ivy of Science with Commerce's oak ?” The length of this noble building, so creditable in all respects to Mr. W. BROOKS, the Architect, is to be 108 feet, exclusive of the wings, each of which extends 16 feet. The ground-floor contains an entrance-hall, decorated with columns and pilasters, and commanicates with a news-room, and pamphlet-room, in front, and a committee-room, clerk's office, &c. behind. In a projecting building, at the end of the entrance-hall, is the great staircase, leading to a library 97 feet long and 42 wide, with a gallery on each side, and lighted by a double range of windows. An entrance of the first landing of the great staircase leads into a hexagon vestibule, immediately communicating with the theatre or lecture room, 63 feet by 44. Private staircases communicate with the librarian's apartments, additional library, observatory, &c. &c. DR. JUNG-STILLING. A death is announced in a Swiss Journal, with the following character of the deceased: Dr. Jung-Stilling was celebrated throughout Germany for his numerous writings and his piety which in course of time degenerated into illuminism. In his youth, he followed the trade of a tailor, and afterwards that of a teacher : he then became successively a physician, a moralist, a religious writer, a journalist, a political economist, a visionary, a naturalist, and an excellent oculist. He successfully cured, by surgical operation, two hundred poor peo ple who were afflicted with cataracts. He firmly believed in the existence of Ghosts, and wrote a book, in which he seriously explained his doctrine. In his Journal, the Grey Man, he prophesied that the Antichrist would apIt is so pear within the forty years of the present century. His works have been much read in Germany, because he wrote with simplicity and interest, and possessed the great art of accommodating his style to all classes of society. This literary Institution was established about ten years since, somewhat on the plan of the Royal Institution, but adapted to the accommodation of the City, and the east end of London. The spirit of the managers soon raised it to distinction by their liberal purchases of valuable books; and its library has, in consequence, been long known as one of the most valuable in the metropolis. The same public spirit determined the managers to erect a building worthy of their library, and of the honours which literature ought to enjoy in this great metropolis; and, accordingly, they availed themselves of the removal of Bethlem Hospital, and of the projected improvements in Lower Moorfields, and fixed upon that site for an erection. placed, that, when a projected new street is finished from Moorfields to the Mansion-house, that structure will fill the eye at one end, and this building at the other. The foundation of the splendid and classical edifice of the new college was laid November 1815 in the Amphitheatre, Moorfields, on the spacious plot of ground, which has been purchased of the City for the purpose. The following song was sung at the dinner given on this occasion. INSCRIPTION from a large grave-stone lately erected in the Churchyard of St. Nicholas, Warwick: "Beneath this stone, in one grave, lie interred the remains of OLIVER NEWEY, aged 38, late a private in the Warwick-shire Militia ; of REBECCA his wife, aged 42; and of JAMES, To the pow'rs that above rule the nations below, their only child, aged 12, who were all suffoThe Queen of all Cities thus pour'd forth her spirit:cated in the night of Nov. 19, 1815, by the "O! crown'd with all honour that Fame can bestow, "Wealth, Freedom, firm courage, and Virtue's bright merit, fumes of burning coal, which they had incantiously placed, on retiring to rest, in their chamber, This monument to the memory of a VOL.2.] Necrology.-Duke of Northumberland-Messier, the Astronomer. 485 Eight mourning coaches, with 6 horses and 4 pages to each, followed by the Duke's carriage, and 28 carriages, mostly with 6 horses, the servants wearing mourning, proceeded to St. Nicholas's Chapel where the interment took place in the family vault. brave Associate in Arms is erected by a few of horsemen attended the Bannerols and Banners. his military comrades, in testimony of their high respect for his character as a good soldier, and an honest man; and with the ardent hope of holding forth, in the awful death of three unfortunate sufferers, a salutary caution to the living. Reader! if ignorant, be instructed; if instructed, be warned, by the melancholy event recorded on this stone: and use your utmost endeavours to inform your fellow-creatures that the sure and dreadful consequence of breathing contaminated air, arising from burning fuel in confined apartments, is instantaneous suffocation." DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND. July 10,1817,died at Northumberland House, in his 75th year, his Grace Hugh, Duke of Northumberland, Earl and Baron Percy, Baron Warkworth, Lucy, Poyntings, Fitzpayne, &c. His Grace early adopted the military profession, and served under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in the Seven Years war. On the commencement of hostilities between the mother country and her colonics, he was sent to. America, where he commanded at the battle of Lexingtom in 1775, and essentially contributed, in November of the following year, to the reduction of Fort Washington near NewYork. Soon after his return to England this Nobleman was fixed upon as a fit person to be placed at the head of the commission appointed to negociate with the Colonies; but this service he is said to have declined, because the ministers refused his application for one of the blue ribands which then happened to be vacant. After this he for some time represented the city of Westminster, in Parliament, till, on the demise of his father in 1786, he succeeded to the family honours and estates. His Grace has not since been actively engaged in public affairs. His time and attention have been chiefly employed in continuing and completing the improvements begun by his father in the princely mansions of Northumberland House, Sion House, and Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, where, on his extensive domains, upwards of a million of timber and other trees were annually planted for many successive years. The large income of his Grace, estimated at not less than £140,000. st. per annum, was expended in these useful pursuits, and in keeping up the antient feudal splendour in the castle of the Percies. During the late war with France he raised, from among his tenantry, a corps of 1500 men, under the denomination of the Percy Yeomanry, the whole being clothed, appointed, paid and maintained by himself; government finding arms and accoutrements alone. To his tenants he was a most excellent landlord. One custom which he introduced among them was that of providing for the industrious of every large farm, by giving them a cottage and ten acres of land. In ready money his Grace was for many years considered the most wealthy man in England, which he often employed in rescuing industrious families from ruin. His estates were let at 10s. per acre less than any in the same county. His Grace was perhaps long the only nobleman in England who kept up the ancient feudal splendor---his castle, the public days, the Percy Yeomanry,commanded by his son Lord Percy, all denoted this; and he was usually met by 2 or 3000 of the inhabitants of the county on going to his residence. At the Duke's funeral his numerous domestics were in new mourning, the hearse was drawn by six beautiful black horses, ornamented with plumes, escutcheons, &c. Forty CHARLES MESSIER. This celebrated astronomer, a member of most of the great academies of Europe, a member of the French Institute and of the Board of Longitude, died at Paris in April last at thre age of 87 years. He was born at Badonvilliers in Lorraine, and having early devoted himself to the study of astronomy, became the pupil and confident of the celebrated Delisle. When the return of Halley's famous comet was expected, all the astronomers of Paris looked up for its discovery to Delisle, who had read to them a memoir on the most proper means for facilitating that important observation. Delisle committed the business to his pupil, who soon verified the correctness of the prediction. This good fortune, the result of long and tedious time, might have obtained great credit for a young man, and have in time opened for him the doors of the Academy. From a weakness, however, unworthy a man of science, Messier's master wished to reserve for himself the honour of having confirmed the return and perfected the theory of the comet. He accordingly commanded secresy, and refused to shew the observations of his pupil, till the astronomers, having received information from another quarter, were able to dispense with that assistance, which two months before they would have gratefully accepted. Some portion of the censure incurred by the master fell upon the too-compliant pupil, whose observations, which for want of an object of comparison could not possess the same accuracy, or inspire the same confidence, were long rejected. M. Messier was not discouraged; he became only the more assiduous in watching the movements of the heavenly bodies. Almost all the comets that appeared during the succeeding years were discovered by him alone, and each of these discoveries procured him admission into some foreign academy. Two astronomical vacancies having taken place in the French Academy, Messier and Cassini were admitted on the same day in 1770, as Lalande and Legentil were in 1758. Accustomed to pass whole nights in observing eclipses of every kind, in seeking comets and describing nebulæ ; employing all his days in following the spots on the sun, or making charts of his numerous observations, Messier could never be induced to quit this rather nar row circle, alledging that the field of science was sufficiently extensive for the astronomers to share its different parts, which would thus be but the better cultivated. Moderate in his desires and in his ambition, and connected by the closest friendship with the President Saron, who entrusted him with his most valuable instruments, Messier had no occasion for wealth. The revolution deprived him of all his resources at once; the first retrenchment took from him the moderate salary attached to his place of astronomer to the navy; his friend Saron, the last chief president of the parliament of Paris, fell beneath the revolutionary axe; and Messier, in order to be able to prosecute his labours, was necessitated to go every morning to one of his colleagues to replenish the lamp that bad served him in his nocturnal observations. The storm was fortunately but transient. Ashamed of the excesses into which |