There is an undulating motion or tumult in the air, which is excited by the heat of the sun, that indicates an immediate change of the weather. The humidity raised from the earth by the heat of the sun is sustained in the atmosphere by its heat and the agitation of the air. Though this motion is not always visible to the naked eye, yet by the help of a good telescope it becomes eminently conspicuous; every object appears to be in violent agitation, and the boundary line of the sensible horizon, which would otherwise be clear and well-defined, is waved like a field of corn agitated by the wind, or the surface of the sea in a fresh gale. While these undulations continue in the air, the vapours remain there; but when the sun departs, and they subside, these aqueous particles become condensed, and descend to the ground during night, and in the morning assume the appearance of dew. When the air is fully saturated with moisture, too, distant objects appear much nearer and larger than they usually do, from the increased magnifying medium of the dense air. There is also in this state of the air a most distinct image of objects reflected from the water, which the Italians have called fata morgana. Several prognostic signs of the weather may be collected from the various appearances of the clouds. When they appear to dissolve suddenly into air, and become invisible, it may be considered as a strong indication of fair weather; but, on the contrary, when they seem to form themselves into masses from the surrounding air, and to increase in density and magnitude, rain may reasonably be predicted. Upon the approach of heavy rain, every cloud rises larger than the preceding one, particularly when a thunder-storm is near, when small fragments of clouds collect, and in a little time cover the whole face of the sky. Fishermen by this rule frequently prognosticate a storm, from a small point of a cloud appearing on the visible horizon at sea. When the clouds appear like fleeces, deep and dense towards the middle and white at the edges, with a bright blue sky about them, either hasty showers of rain, hail, or snow, may be expected. When the clouds, as they come forward, appear to diverge from a point in the horizon, a wind may be predicted either from that or the opposite quarter. When the sky is covered with clouds above, and there are small black fragments of clouds like smoke flying underneath, rain is generally near, and frequently lasting. The most certain sign of rain, however, is two different currents of clouds, especially if the lower current flies past before the wind; when two such currents appear in hot weather, they forebode a thunder-storm. When the dew appears plentifully upon the grass after a fair day, another fair day may be expected; but if after such a fair day there is no dew upon the ground and no wind, it is a sign that the vapours ascend, and that there will be accumulation above which must terminate in rain. When the dew or hoar-frost abounds at an unusual season, and the barometer is low, it is usually a sign of rain. As the sky indicates the state of vapours in the atmosphere, its colour may be considered as an index to the weather. When the vapours which appear red in the evening are dispersed, the sky in the morning in general becomes clear; but when they continue to float in the atmosphere, the morning sky becomes red also, and rain frequently follows. When a lowering redness spreads far upwards from the horizon, whether in the morning or evening, it is succeeded frequently by either rain or wind, sometimes by both. When a redness in the sky extends towards the zenith in the evening, the wind may be expected to proceed from the west, or south-west, accompanied with rain in considerable quantity. Perhaps one of the most certain signs of fine weather is the loftiness of the canopy of the sky. As the rays of light which pass from the sun, moon, or stars, to the earth, are certainly affected in their colour by the state of the vapours through which they pass, those colours may be considered as indications of the quality and nature of those vapours. When the clouds in the east about sunrise appear of a gay orange-colour, it is generally and not improperly supposed to be a sign of rain. Virgil, the first of Roman poets, and not the last of natural philosophers, observes, that a pale moon is a sign of rain,-that a red one forebodes wind,—and that when she wears her own natural whiteness, with a serene sky, it is a sign of fair weather. The flowers, or corolla, of many plants, close or shut up when rain is impending. This is particularly true of the common weed called pimpernel, which on this account has got the name of the poor man's weather-glass. The down of the dandelion is also much affected by moisture in the atmosphere. Birds are furnished with an oil-bag near the tail, which supplies oil for their feathers to protect them from wet. Birds and fowls of all kinds may therefore be observed, previous to rain, to be very assiduous in distributing this oil over their feathers, in order to prepare them for the approaching change. Martins and swallows, and such birds as feed upon insects on the wing, are remarkably active previous to rain, and fly near the earth in search of their food. Several species of insects, those of the snail kind especially, come abroad on the approach of rain. Some other kinds, as the winged insects, are shy of venturing out when foul weather is expected. Bees have a peculiar instinctive knowledge of the approach of rain; for however far they wander from the hive, they never allow themselves to be overtaken even by the most sudden shower. Cattle feed with remarkable avidity on the expectancy of bad weather, and retire under trees, or hedges, or other shelter, as soon as they are satisfied. In settled fine weather they graze more slowly, and lie abroad, dispersed in the field, as more careless and at their ease. Finally, even from the inanimate world prognostications of rain may be gathered from the swell and expansion of timber, and the nauseous effluvia from drains and common sewers; for the air, when charged with moisture, seems to be a better conductor of volatile matter than when dry. METEORS Are those luminous balls which are occasionally seen to shoot so beautifully across the evening and midnight sky, and which are vulgarly known as "falling stars." These meteors, in ancient times, were regarded as something supernatural, and were beheld with awe and terror. The nature of the electric fluid was not then known, and such striking and unnatural appearances were always looked upon as the forebodings of some dire event. Pliny makes mention of several of these appearances. When the Lacedemonians lost the memorable battle which deprived them of the empire of the sea, a meteor of amazing length was seen in the heavens. At noon-day, too, during the fight of the gladiators, exhibited by Germanicus, a similar appearance passed rapidly across the faces of the numerous spectators. Pliny also mentions a meteor, red as blood, which fell from the heavens, about the 107th Olympiad, during the period which Philip of Macedon was plotting the downfall and subversion of the Greek republic. He relates, too, a meteoric appearance seen by himself while he kept watch in the Roman camp at midnight. In tropical climates, meteors, as well as hurricanes and other violent agitations of the atmosphere, are much more common than in this country. "As I was riding in Jamaica," says Mr Barbham, one morning from my habitation, situated about three miles northwest from St Jago de la Vega, I saw a ball of fire, appearing to me about the bigness of a bomb, swiftly falling down with a great blaze. At first I thought it fell into the town; but when I came nearer I saw many people gathered together, a little to the southward, in the savannah, to whom I rode up to inquire the cause of their meeting. They were admiring, as I found, the ground strangely broken up and ploughed by a ball of fire, which, as they said, fell down there. I observed there were many holes in the ground, one in the middle of the bigness of a man's head, and five or six smaller round about it, of the bigness of one's fist, and so deep as not to be fathomed by such implements as were at hand. It was observed also, that all the green herbage was burnt up near the holes, and there continued a strong smell of sulphur near the place for some time after." Dr Blagden gives a most minute description of two meteors which appeared in this country in the year 1783. The first was seen on the 18th of August, and was in appearance a luminous ball, which rose in the N.N.W., nearly round. It soon, however, assumed an elliptical shape, with a tail, and as it ascended, seemed to undergo a remarkable change, compared to bursting; after which it proceeded no longer as an entire mass, but was apparently divided into a cluster of balls of different magnitudes, and all carrying or leaving a train behind, till, proceeding towards the south, it gradually de Dear as the dove, whose wafting wing The green leaf ransomed from the main, Thy genial glow, returning Spring! Comes to our shores again. On many a fair and foreign strand; O'er vine-clad hills and classic plains, Of glowing climes beyond the deep; Where rest our country's fallen brave; Smiling through thy sweet tears, to strew Flower-offerings o'er each grave. scended and disappeared. It was visible about half a minute, and was seen in all parts of Great Britain, and in France and other parts of the continent, and is supposed to have passed at least one thousand miles over the surface of the earth. It appears to have burst and reunited several times, When the meteor was observed at Brussels, the moon appeared quite red, but when it was passed, recovered its natural light. The body of the fire ball, even before it burst, which took place while passing over Lincolnshire, did not appear of a uniform brightness, but consisted of lucid and dull parts, which were constantly changing their respective positions, so that the effect was like an internal agitation, or boiling of the matter. The height of the meteor seemed to vary from 50 to 60 miles. A report was heard some time after the meteor disappeared in Lincolnshire, and its progress was accompanied with a hissing noise. Judging from the height of the meteor, its bulk is conjectured to have been not less than half a mile in diameter, and its velocity must have been more than 40 miles in the second,-an astonishing speed for such a large body. The other meteor, which was much smaller, and which was visible only a few seconds, was first seen to the northward, about seven in the evening, as a stream of fire, like the common shooting stars, but larger than they generally are. It suddenly burst out into an intensely bright bluish flame, and then disappeared, leaving behind it a dusky-red streak of fire, but no tail. Its height was computed at from 40 to 50 miles. POETRY. SPRING. Thou bringest the blossom to the bee, To earth a robe of emerald dye, The leaflet to the naked tree, And rainbows to the sky: I feel the blest, benign control, The pulses of my youth restore, Opening the springs of sense and soul, To love and joy once more. Then, while the groves thy garlands twine, Thy spirit breathes in flower and tree, My heart shall kindle at thy shrine, And worship God in thee; And in some calm, sequestered spot, Whilst listening to thy coral strain, Past griefs shall be a while forgot, And pleasures bloom again.-MALCOLM. SUMMER IN SOUTH AMERICA. Summer was in its prime;-the parrot flocks There, through the trunks, with moss and lichens white, The sunshine darts its interrupted light, And 'mid the cedar's darksome bough, illumes With instant touch, the lori's scarlet plumes. Just heard to trickle through a covert near, And soothing, with perpetual lapse, the ear, A fount, like rain-drops, filtered through the stone, The lessening echoes of the distant choir.-BOWLES. THE IRON MANUFACTURE. MINERAL WEALTH OF SCOTLAND. ONE of the most important branches of industry in Scotland is that connected with the manufacture of iron. All the other metallic minerals found in this country are of small importance compared to this, either in regard to the value of the produce, or the number of people whom it employs. Iron ores are found in nature in two very distinct positions,-either as veins intersecting other rocks, or as beds alternating regularly with certain strata. Most of the Russian and Swedish iron is procured from ores disposed in the former manner, or forming veins in the older rocks. In Scotland, such veins are not uncommon, and have been wrought in a few places; but the ores are generally very difficult to fuse, and have never come into general use. Almost the only mine of this kind, now in operation, is at Auchinleck, near Auchencairn, in Kircudbright, where a vein of red hematite is wrought in the granite. It produces about three thousand tons of ore annually, which is sent to Birmingham. Far more important, in an economical point of view, are the iron ores found interstratified with the rocks of the coal formation, The ore is the carbonate of iron, but mixed with a variable proportion of clay, and carbonaceous matter. It most frequently occurs in flattened, elliptical, or irregular nodules, dispersed through the beds of shale, or slate clay. These masses of ore seem often to have collected round a shell, a fish, or other organic body, and some of them are divided in the interior, by veins of white spar, into numerous irregular prisms. In some cases the nodules unite, and form beds, either compact, or divided into rectangular masses. In some parts of the Scottish coal-field, these beds of ironstone are very numerous, twenty to thirty of them being not uncommon in one section; and in a pit near Paisley, no less than sixty-six are known, from three inches to a foot thick each, the total amount of workable ore being estimated at twenty feet in thickness. One of the most important beds of ironstone is, however, that known as the Black Band. This is found in the district round Airdrie, chiefly in New Monkland parish, and does not seem to extend beyond a space of eight or ten square miles. It is from fourteen to eighteen inches thick, and contains from thirty-four to thirty-nine per cent. of iron. Its value may be understood from the fact, that the mines of it on the property of Rochsolloch, in New Monkland, some time ago, yielded 4500 tons of ore per month, producing an income of L.12,600 per annum, from a piece of ground which, if let for tillage, would not be worth a twentieth part of the sum. Though the true black band has not been found in other parts of the coal-field, yet there are beds of ore little inferior in value, and it may be safely affirmed, that the central district of Scotland contains an amount of iron ore, which it will require many centuries to exhaust. The history of the iron manufacture in Scotland does not extend back a century. Before 1750 no cast iron was made, and the plates of this metal, used for the backs of grates, were usually brought from Germany, some of which may still be seen, ornamented with curious figures, cast in relief. In 1753, or 1754, a company from Lancashire took a lease of the forests on the Argyll estate, and seem even to have formed plantations, for the purpose of melting iron ore by wood charcoal. It took the name of the Argyll or Lorn Furnace Company, and erected works in various convenient situations, as at Goatfield, in the south of Inverary parish, and at Bunawe, on Loch Etive. The furnaces at the former place continued for upwards of forty years, and at the latter are still in operation, the lease of the woods not expiring for some years. This company can, however, scarcely be considered asconnected with the mineral wealth of Scotland, the iron ore being all imported from the west of England. The vessels which brought down the ore, returned loaded with pig-iron, timber, and oak-bark, and the trade is said to have been both profitable to the parties, and highly beneficial to the country. It is, however, chiefly interesting, as showing how little was then known of the real wealth of this country, as the vessels bringing this ore from the south must have passed along the shores of Ayr, and up the Firth of Clyde, and thus within sight of a mineral field, containing iron ore in perhaps greater abundance than any other portion of the British islands. The real foundation, therefore, of the Scottish iron manufacture, may be placed in 1760, when Dr Roebuck, from Sheffield, Mr Garbet, from Birmingham, and Mr Cadell, founded the Carron works, on the river of the same name, near Falkirk. Besides the vicinity of the materials, the water-power, and the convenience of carriage by sea, seem to have determined the choice of this situation, at that time a barren moor, with scarcely a house upon it. The workmen were at first brought from England. In 1773, the company obtained a charter, and for a long period, with the exception of those mentioned in the west, was the only iron work in Scotland. In 1780, and the five or six following years, furnaces were erected at Wilsontown, Omoa, and Clyde, in Old Monkland parish. Before the close of the century, similar works were established at Muirkirk in Ayrshire, and at Devon in Clackmannanshire, the introduction of improved steamengines for draining the pits having given a great stimulus to the coal-trade, and enabled the proprietors to work many seams, formerly impossible from the water. About the commencement of this century, several other furnaces were erected, but the increase was very slow till the introduction of the hot blast, in 1828. In 1796, when Mr Pitt had an intention of laying a tax upon coal, the number of furnaces in Scotland was ascertained to be seventeen; in 1814, they were stated at twenty-one; and, in 1827, the number is said to have been only eighteen, though, in consequence of various improvements, the produce of iron had more than doubled from the first period. In the nineteen following years, to 1845, the increase was very rapid, in the end of 1843 there being no less than sixty furnaces in blast, and thirty-eight out of blast; in October 1845, they had again increased to eighty-six in blast, forty-two out, and fifteen building, the number actually working being thus five times more than fifty, or even twenty years earlier, existed in the whole country. The most extensive works are now those of Gartsherrie, though Carron still retains its ancient pre-eminence in manufacturing certain articles. This is especially true of artillery, for which it has long been celebrated, and about ten years ago it was visited by some French military engineers, sent to superintend the manufacture of some guns, for which they had obtained permission from the British government. The amount of iron produced has increased in a still higher proportion. In 1788, it was 7000 tons, of which 1400 tons were made by wood-charcoal, at Goatfield and Bunawe, leaving thus 5600 tons as the real produce of Scotland. In 1796, it was estimated at 16,086 tons, and the General Report on Scotland gives the amount, probably for 1811, at 32,760 tons, worth, at L.7 per ton, L.229,320 sterling. Carron, one of the largest works, then produced about 6500 tons of iron annually. In 1827, the produce has been estimated at 36,000 tons, but this is probably too low. In 1843, the produce should have been about 330,000 tons; and, in October 1845, it was 9180 tons a-week, or 477,360 tons annually. Instead of importing iron, Scotland now exports a very large quantity. In 1845, there were shipped, of pig-iron from the Clyde, coast-wise, 89,876 tons; and to foreign parts, 21,918 tons, making in all, 111,792 tons. From Grangemouth, the principal port for the iron works in the eastern division of the country, 37,000 tons were shipped in the same time, making a total of iron exported from Scotland last year, of nearly 150,000 tons. The price of Scottish iron varied considerably, having been L.3 per ton in January, and so high as L.5, 11s. in April; but, averaging it at L.4 per ton, the iron produced in Scotland last year must have been worth L.1,900,000, and that exported from the Clyde and Forth about L.600,000. Even that sent to foreign countries should have been worth L.120,000. This most important national result has arisen, in a great measure, from the introduction of the hot blast. The first hint of this improvement seems to be contained in a paper by a Mr. Sadler, in Nicholson's Journal for 1799. In 1816, a patent was actually taken out by Mr Stirling, minister of Kilmarnock, for throwing "a constant stream of heated air" into the furnaces, and by this means effecting a saving of fuel. This patent seems never to have come into operation, and practical men continued of the opinion that the colder the air the better and more abundant the iron produced. In 1824, Mr Neilson, manager of the Glasgow Gas Works, had his attention turned to this subject, and by a simple experiment with a common smith's forge, proved that heated air produced a more intense temperature than cold. In October 1828, he took out a patent for his invention, having, however, been obliged to give up a share of the profits to certain friends, in order to secure the necessary capital, and the successful trial of his process. It was first introduced at the Clyde and Calder iron works, but its merits were soon so evident that before the expiry of the patent in 1842, it was used in every furnace in Scotland with the exception of one at Carron, at half the furnaces in England, and very commonly in America and on the Continent. Mr Neilson and his partners in the patent, charged for its use the moderate sum of one shilling a-ton on the iron produced by it. This, however, did not prevent certain parties from disputing their rights, but after a long litigation, in which the law expenses on each side could not have been less than L.20,000, a compromise, favourable to the patentees, was effected, by which they received in some cases, ten, in others fifteen times the sum originally charged. The whole profits of the proprietors have been estimated at L.300,000, of which Mr Neilson's share would be L.90,000. In using this patent, several improvements have been successively adopted. One of these was the use of common coal instead of coke, by Mr Dixon of Calder Iron Works. Another important improvement was, substituting small pipes cased in brick-work, for the large vessel in which the air was formerly heated. This, we believe, was first done by the Messrs Baird, and enabled them to give the air a temperature of 600° to 612o, or that at which lead would melt, instead of 240°, the highest formerly attained. The result of these various improvements on the cost of producing iron is very striking. In 1788 the average annual produce of each furnace was from 800 to 1000 tons; in 1827 it had increased to 2000 tons; and last year to 5550 tons. The saving on coal and limestone, by using the heated air, has been estimated at from L.1, 3s. 6d. to L.1, 9s. 6d. per ton, to which the saving in wages and in capital,each furnace now doing more than the work of two,must be added. How much this has operated in favour of the consumer, will appear from the fact mentioned in the Mining Journal, that the price of Scotch pig-iron in the ten years 1821-30, was L.7, 2s. 6d. per ton; in the years 1835 to 1844, only L.3, 17s. 6d., or a saving of more than L.3, 5s. a-ton. This, the same authority states, cannot have saved less to the country in these ten years, than three and a quarter million 'pounds sterling. Of how much greater importance must it be at present, when the demand for iron has been so enormously increased by the formation of railways? It is a remarkable fact, that with all this production of iron, and an exportation of it and steel of the declared value, in the year ending 5th January 1845, of upwards of three millions sterling, Great Britain should still be under the necessity of importing iron for various purposes. In 1833 to 1835, the average annual importation of bar-iron, principally the produce of Sweden and Russia, was upwards of 17,000 tons; and in 1841 to 1844, it was still above 13,000 tons. The mere money carried out of the country for this material is of small importance, as it will be restored in some other way; but this fact appears in another light when we regard it as a proof, that even in this great national manufacture, Britain is still surpassed, in certain respects, by other countries. The British isles produce considerably more than half the iron manufactured in Europe; Scotland alone more than any of the continental kingdoms; and yet certain of the finer kinds of iron must be introduced from abroad. No doubt the quantity is rapidly diminishing, as, previous to 1785, above 70,000 tons were imported; yet the fact remains, that in strength, cohesive power, and other properties, Swedish and Russian iron is superior to British, and can compete with this even in our own markets. This superiority, we have no doubt, arises partly from the nature of the ores, partly from the fuel employed in smelting. Common coal is frequently deteriorated by sulphur in various forms, which always exercises an injurious influence on iron. From this the wood charcoal employed in the north of Europe is wholly free. But wood is not now to be procured in sufficient quantity for this purpose in Britain, and unless some method of using peat instead can be devised, no improvement in this respect can be looked for in British iron. In reference to the ore, we conceive that the hematites or oxides of iron chiefly used in Sweden and Russia, furnish metal of better quality than the earthy carbonates of the coal formation. One cause of this is probably the small portion of alloy of other metals the former contain. Berzelius ascribes the superiority of Swedish to British iron, to the manganese mixed with it. Perhaps also a slight admixture of some of the rarer metals, rhodium, iridium, platina, may adapt it better for cutting instruments. Whatever be the cause, it is worthy of consideration whether some of the veins of iron ore dispersed through the primary and transition mountains of Scotland might not be wrought with advantage, either for smelting by themselves for a finer species of iron, or to mix with the common ore, in order to improve the quality of the produce. Mines which a few years ago were of no value on account of their distance from coal, are now placed in very different circumstances, in consequence of improvements in the mode of transport. Roads are now formed where formerly even a foot-path hardly existed, and railways are penetrating to the wildest Highland glens and the most retired valleys of the southern mountains. In this way the mineral wealth of the country is becoming available to an extent which a few years ago could have scarcely been conceived. As in the end of last century, the iron ores of England were brought to Scotland to be melted, in ignorance of the true wealth of both countries, so it is not improbable that before long ore may be exported from the primary mountains of the latter to the rich coal-fields of the former country. The chromate of iron, found in considerable abundance in the serpentine rocks of the most northern of the Zetland islands, may be mentioned in this connection, though it is valued, not as an ore of iron, but of chrome, used as a colouring material. It was first discovered by Dr Hibbert, scattered in loose masses over the surface of the hills north-west of Balta Sound. In the native rock it is disseminated either in granular particles like gunpowder, or in large masses weighing an hundred pounds or more. It is also found in veins, though less commonly than in concretions. The loose fragments are probably the remains left during the decomposition of the rock. After its true value was pointed out, some thousand pounds' worth of this mineral was collected and exported. Though now less abundant, cargoes of it are still occasionally procured. This picture of material prosperity is darkened by the moral condition of the people, by whose labour it is produced. Whilst the commercial condition of the country has been flourishing in the extreme, and our iron masters and manufacturers reaping profits surpassing the revenues of princes, the character of their working people has been sinking lower and lower, their physical welfare has not advanced, their moral and social condition greatly retrograded. In New Monkland parish, the population in the present century has increased more than ten-fold, but with no corresponding addition to the means of moral and religious instruction. In many countries the miners are distinguished as a moral and intelligent class of men, and in a previous article we mentioned the high character which the miners of the Leadhills have maintained for more than a century. But the collier population have never attained this rank, and they have always been regarded as the most ignorant, vicious, and lawless part of the community. Down to 1775, they were little better than slaves or serfs, attached for life to the property on which they were born, and when it was sold, transferred with it to a new master. In the year mentioned they were declared free by act of Parliament, and entitled to "enjoy the same privileges, rights and immunities with the rest of his majesty's subjects." But even this law did not set them wholly free, and another act was required for this purpose in 1799. But this legal freedom did not at once bring with it moral freedom; and the colliers are still distinguished among the population of Scotland for rudeness and ignorance. No one who has looked into the Government reports can entertain a doubt on this subject, even should we allow that the worst features of their character and condition were brought out there in rather too strong relief. Some have ascribed this condition of this class to the nature of their employment-shut up in the dark and dingy mine, excluded from the salutary influence of light and free air, with little intercourse with other portions of the community, and with scarcely the possibility of personal cleanliness and were this the case, then their condition would be truly hopeless. That it is not so, a little intercourse with them soon shows. On matters connected with their own employment, I have found them intelligent and inquisitive, perhaps more so than other classes in the same rank of life. Many individuals among them are also equal to the best class of the Scottish peasantry, both in intelligence and morals, and what has been attained in these instances might at least be approached in all were the proper means taken. The evil qualities of the mining population have appeared in the strongest light in the vicinity of Airdrie, where a vast mass of human beings has been suddenly congregated from all quarters with no regard to character, and no attention to sufficient means of intellectual or religious instruction. As Mr Tancred states, these things have been left to accident or chance, and " in the meanwhile, a population has been growing up, immersed more deeply than any I have met with in the most disgusting habits of debauchery. I feel that my powers of description are wholly inadequate to convey the feeling inspired by a visit to these localities. Every thing that meets the eye or ear tells of slavish labour united to brutal intemperance." The evidence of the Catholic clergyman and other respectable persons residing in the vicinity is no less strong and decided. The results of the investigation which then took place, may have produced some improvement, but much still remains to be done. A well organised home mission, with schools and churches open to the mass of the people, is needed to rescue them from destruction. But before this can take effect the migratory unsettled condition of the population must be corrected. At present the people have no security of remaining in one place beyond a few weeks, or days. At the end of a month or a fortnight they may be sent out to seek a new master and a new home. They are thus almost like savages, without any local attachment, or any fear of the consequences of losing their character, so as to be obliged to seek employment in another place. In accounting for the high character of the miners at the Leadhills, too much importance can hardly be ascribed to the fact, that each of them had a cottage he could call his own, a home from which he was in no danger of being removed against his will. It will almost invariably be found that the comfort and character of the labouring classes depends less on the amount of their wages, than on the certain nature of their employment and the length of the period for which they are engaged. Hence we conceive that the first step to promote the welfare, and elevate the character of the population employed in this or other branches of manufacture, would be to substitute engagements for six months, or a year, in place of those for a week or a fortnight as is the present practice. By this we believe the true interests both of the masters and work people would be promoted, and the moral improvement and physical welfare of the latter rendered far more easily attainable.* Science. THE PETRIFIED Forest near CAIRO.-The specimens consisted of about forty-five pieces of wood;-trunks, roots, knots, and branches, from three inches to three feet in length; some were exhibited sliced and transparent, showing the sap vessels and the medullary rays; some cut into bracelets and brooches. In explaining the peculiarities of these, Dr Buist stated that few things were more remarkable-few less noticed (considering how worthy it was of examination)—than the petrified forest near Cairo. From the city you proceeded, by the Caliphs' Tombs, to the south-east. Passing for five miles through an arid valley, through which a river torrent appeared to have flowed, skirted on both sides by low, brown, rocky ridges, the traveller turns suddenly off to the right, and beyond the first range of sandhills finds, spreading far as the eye can reach, a vast expanse of rolling hillocks, covered with prostrate trees. At first sight these wear exactly the aspect of rotten wood dug out from a Scottish or Irish peat-bog. The colour and the amount of decay seem the same. They are lying in all positions and directions on the surface of the burning sand-some forty or fifty feet in length, and one or two feet in thickness; not continuous or entire, but in a line broken across, left in their places like sawn trunks. On touching them, instead of proving mouldering and decayed, they turn out to be hard and sharp as flints. They ring like cast-iron, strike fire with steel, and scratch glass. The sap-vessels and medullary rays-the very bark and marks of worms and insects, and even the spiral vessels-remain entire; the minutest fibres of the vegetable structure are discernible by the microscope. Here you have the carbon-the most indestructible matter known to us-entirely withdrawn, and substituted in its place a mass of silica-a matter insoluble by any ordinary agent, and at any common heat. Yet so tranquilly has the exchange been accomplished that not one atom has been disturbed; the finest tissues remain entire; the most delicate arrangements uninterfered with. The limits of the petrified forest are unknown; it probably extends over an area of many hundreds, perhaps thou*In preparing this account of the iron manufacture of Scotland, I have consulted the Reports on the Employment of Children in Mines, with appendix; the articles on iron making and smelting in the Encycopodia Britannica, and various numbers of the Statistical Reports. See also an article in No. VII, of the North British Review. Fuller details of the geological character, and the amount of ironstone in various coal basins will be found in my Guide to the Geology of Scotland. |