[Tobacco introduced into Italy from England.]

A CERTAIN Dom Virginio Ursino is said by PIETRO DELLA VALLE to have been the first person who introduced tobacco from England into Italy; now some years ago," says he, writing in 1614.

[Evil from Failure of the Wheat Crop.] "THE great magnitude of our consumption, as compared with former periods, must render the pressure of any deficiency more severe, and the means of providing against it more difficult and more costly. A harvest which should be one third below an average in wheat, would bring upon this country a very different degree of suffering, and would require a very different degree of exertion and sacrifice to supply the deficiency, from what would have been required under a similar failure fifty years ago."-Report of the Agricultural Com

mittee.

[Inflammatory Causes.]

"THOUGH the beginnings of great fires are often discovered," says SIR Wм. Temple, "and thereby others easily prevented with care, yet some may be thrown in from engines far off and out of sight; others may fall from Heaven: and 'tis hard to determine whether some constellations of celestial bodies, or inflammations of air from meteors or comets, may not have a power ful effect upon the minds as well as bodies of men, upon the distempers and diseases of both, and thereby upon heats and humours of vulgar minds, and the commotions and seditions of a people who happen to be most subjected to their influence. In such

cases, when the flame breaks out, all that can be done is to remove as fast as can be all materials that are like to increase it, to employ all ways and methods of quenching it, to repair the breaches and losses it has occasioned, and to bear with patience what could not be avoided, or cannot be remedied."

[Derivation of Medoc.]

In his prolegomena concerning S. Aidanus, sive Edanus, Edanus, Aidus, Edus, Eda; alio nomine Maidoc, Maedoc, Moedoc, Modoc, Madog, Moeg (to which aliases Madoc and Madog may certes be added) BOLLAND tells us, upon the authority of Colgan, the Irish antiquarian and Hagiologist, that all these names have the same meaning, being in fact one: Nam diminutivorum nominum, (quod huc facit) duplex apud veteres Scotos est nota, an et oc. Si ergo nomini Aid sive Ed (quod ferè Gallorum aut Germanorum Eudo, Udo, Otto respondet) an addideris, Aidan, sive Edan efficies. Si vero oc, præfixâ litterâ à (quæ sic propriis nominibus addita, meum sonat, atque amorem reverentiamque indicat, quod et in Gallicis ac Teutonicis vocabulis propriis, et sæpius appellativis, observare licet) erit Maidoc sive Modoc, aut Medoc."-Acta Sanctorum, Jan. t. 2, p. 1111.

[Death from the Effects of Joy.]

"AFTER our arrival at Santa Helena I Edmund Barker went on shore with foure or five Peguins, or men of Pegu, which we had taken, and our Surgion, where in an house by the Chappell I found an Englishman, one John Segor of Burie in Suffolke, who was left there eighteene monthes before by Abraham Kendall, who put in there with the Roiall Marchant, and left him there to refresh him on the Land, being otherwise like to have perished on shipboard: and at our coming we found him as fresh in colour and in as good plight of body, to our seem

ing, as might be, but crazed in minde and half out of his wits, as afterward we perceived for whether he were put in fright of us, not knowing at first what we were, whether friends or foes, or of sudden joy when he understood we were his old consorts and countrymen, hee became idleheaded, and for eight days space, neither night nor day, took any naturall rest, and so at length died for lack of sleep."-HAKLUYT, vol. 2, part 2, p. 108.

[Catapulta at the last Siege of Gibraltar.]

A CATAPULTA was constructed at Gibraltar during the last siege, at General Elliot's desire, under the direction of General Melville, so well known for his knowledge of military antiquities. It was for throwing stones a very little way over the edge of the rock in a place where the Spaniards used to resort to the foot of it, and where neither shells nor shot could annoy them.

[Increased Danger of Pauperism.] "It is certain that the State, or the parish, ought to provide for old age, not having any resources, for the infirm and necessitous, and for young orphans; and this will never be contested where humanity has not lost all its rights. It is, however, difficult to decide whether taxes which are applied to relieve all sorts of paupers are consistent with justice and equity; particularly if it is considered that the progressive advantages of industry are never of a nature to balance the progress of population and poverty, even supposing that these advantages were exclusively dedicated to these latter.

The mass of paupers among several nations of Europe is prodigiously and will at length render the

increasing, situation where

609

pillage becoming continually more familiar to them because they have nothing to lose; and seeing in the disorders of anarchy and the subversion of social institutions nothing but the silence of the law, and impunity for crimes."-KASTHOFER'S Travels in the Lesser Cantons of Switzerland. From an extract in the Standard, 27th July, 1827.

[The Tholsel at Dublin.]

THERE is a building in Dublin called the Tholsel, i. e. Toll-Stall-being the place where the toll-gatherers formerly sat to receive the toll for such goods as were liable to city duties. This is probably the origin of the word Tolsey; the corruption is very easy-Toll-stall, Tollstle, Tollsel-Tollsey.

[The Lake of Buchcinoe.]

"THE lake of Buchcinoe, according to the testimony of the inhabitants, is endued with miraculous powers; it sometimes assumed a greenish hue; in our days it has appeared to be tinged with red, not universally, but as if blood flowed partially through certain veins and small channels. Moreover it is sometimes seen by inhabitants covered and adorned with buildings, pastures, gardens, orchards. In winter, when it is frozen over, and the surface of the water is converted into a shell of ice, it emits an horrible sound resembling the moans of many animals collected together, but this perhaps may be occasioned by the sudden bursting of the shell and the gradual ebullition of the air through imperceptible channels."-HOARE's Giraldus, vol. 1, p. 39.

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IF THEVET's authority may be taken, the best sugar, and the greatest supply of it, at this time came from the Canaries. The Greek islands used to supply it, but when they fell under the yoke of the Turks, every thing was soon neglected."-Frana Antarctique, ff. 9.

[Short-lives the Result of hot-bed Culture.] HAKEWILL says that "the Highlanders and the wild Irish commonly live longer than those of softer education, a nice and tender bringing up being no doubt a great enemy to longevity, as also the first feeding and nourishing of the infant with the milke of a strange dug; an unnaturall curiosity having taught all women but the beggar to finde out nurses which necessity only ought to commend unto them. Whereunto may be added, hasty marriages in tender wherein nature being but yet greene and growing, we rent from her and replant her branches, while herselfe hath not yet any roote sufficient to maintaine her owne top, and such halfe-ripe seedes, for the most part, wither in the bud and waxe old even in their infancy. But above all things the pressing of nature with over-weighty burdens, and when we finde her strength defective, the helpe of strong waters, hot spices and provoking sauces, is it which impaires our health and shortens our life."P. 169.

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[Mandive Juice made to resemble Soy.] THE juice of the mandive is also so prepared as to resemble soy.-PINCKARD, vol. 2, p. 257.

[The Cataract of Yervenkyle.] "WE had been extremely anxious to see a cataract in winter, and that of Yervenkyle did not disappoint our expectations.

ACERBI.

"It is formed by the river Kyso, which, issuing from a lake of the same name, precipitates itself through some steep and rugged rocks, and falls, so far as I can guess, from a height of about seventy yards. The water dashing from rock to rock, boils and foams till it reaches the bottom, where it pursues a more tranquil course, and, after making a large circuit, loses itself again between mountainous banks, which are covered with fir trees. That we might have a more commanding view of the picture, we took our station on a high ground, from which we had a distant prospect of a large tract of country of a varied surface, and almost covered with woods of firs, the pleasing verdure of which, acquiring additional lustre from the solar rays, formed an agreeable contrast with the snow and masses of ice hanging from the margin over the cas

cade.

"The fall presented us with one of those appearances which we much desired to see, as being peculiar to the regions of the north, and which are never to be met with in Italy. The water, throwing itself amidst enormous masses of ice, which here and there have the aspect of gloomy vaults, fringed with curious crystallizations, and the cold being of such rigour as almost to freeze the agitated waves and vapours in the air, had formed gradually two bridges of ice across the cascade, of such solidity and strength, that men passed over them in perfect security. The waves raging and foaming below with a vast noise, were in a state of such violent motion, as to spout water now and then on the top of the bridge; a circumstance which rendered its surface so exceedingly slippery, that the peasants hands and knees."— ACERBI. were obliged to pass it creeping on their

[Block and transparent Ice.] "HITHERTO the ice, being covered with snow of a dirty surface, and far from showing the smallest transparency, made us for

the most part forget that we went upon water: we were now to learn what sort of sensation we should experience in passing over a river, where the ice, transparent as crystal, discovered under our feet the whole depth of the element below, insomuch that we could see even the smallest fishes. In the first moment of surprise, having had no previous notice of the change, we fancied ourselves inevitably lost, and that we should be swallowed up and perish in the awful gulf. Even the horse himself was startled at the novelty of his situation; he suddenly stopped short, and seemed unwilling to go forward. But the impulse he had acquired | in travelling, pushed him forward in spite of himself, and he slid, or rather skated, upon his four jointless legs, for the space of eight or ten yards.

"I was at some pains to satisfy myself as to the reason why the ice was so clear and pellucid in particular parts of the river only, and I think I discovered it in the united action of the solar rays and of the wind. The wind having swept away the snow, and cleared the surface of the ice, the sun, at the end of March and beginning of April, having acquired considerable force, had melted and rendered smooth the surface, which at first is always somewhat rough and uneven; this being frozen during the night, formed a mirror of the most perfect polish. The lustre of the ice on this river is very remarkable; had it not been for the little shining and perpendicular fissures, which shewed the diameter of the ice's thickness, it would have been utterly impossible for us to distinguish it from the water below. Where the river happened to be of a profound depth, we could perceive our vast distance from the bottom, only by an indistinct greenish colour: the reflection that we were suspended over such an abyss, made us shudder. Under this terrifying impression, the vast depth of the river, and dazzled by the extraordinary transparency and brilliancy of the ice, we crept along the surface, and felt inclined to shut our eyes, or turn away our heads, that we

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[Broken Ice-Danger of.]

"You meet often in those parts with what may be termed disruptions of the ice, which form a strange picturesque appearance, sometimes resembling the ruins of an ancient castle. The cause of these disruptions is the rocks, which happen to be at the depth of some feet under the surface of the water. During the prevalence of the intense cold, the water freezes frequently three feet or more in thickness; the elevation of the sea is consequently diminished, and sinks in proportion to the diameter of the ice that is formed: then those shelves and rocks overtop the surface, and break the cohesion of the ice, while accident deposits the detached masses and fragments in a thousand irregular forms. It is extremely dangerous to traverse the ice in those parts during night, unless you have the compass in your hand, and even with it you are not always safe.”—Ibid.

[Destructive Winds in the Forests of Nor

thern Europe.]

"It seems wholly inconceivable in what manner the wind pierces through the thick assemblage of those woods, carrying ruin and desolation into particular districts where there is neither opening nor scope for its ravages. Possibly it descends perpendicularly from heaven in the nature of a tornado, or whirlwind, whose violence nothing can oppose, and which triumphs over all resistance. Trees of enormous size are torn from their roots, magnificent pines, which would have braved, on the ocean, tempests more furious, are bent like a bow, and touch the earth with their humbled

of making the stoutest resistance are the most roughly treated; and those hurricanes, like the thunder of heaven, which strikes only the loftiest objects, passing over the young, and sparing them, because they are more pliant and flexible, seem to mark the strongest and most robust trees of the forest, which are in a condition to meet them with a proud opposition, as alone worthy of their rage. Let the reader fancy to himself three or four miles of forest, where he is continually in the presence of this disastrous spectacle; let him represent to his imagination the view of a thick wood, where he can scarcely see one upright tree; where all of them being thus forcibly inclined, are either propped by one another, or broken in the middle of the trunk, or torn from their roots and prostrated on the ground: everywhere, trunks, branches, and the ruins of the forest, interrupting his view of the road, and exhibiting a singular picture of confusion and ruin."-Ibid.

[Journey over the Ice.]

"This passage over the frozen sea is, doubtless, the most singular and striking spectacle that a traveller from the south can behold. I laid my account with having a journey more dull and unvaried, than surprising or dangerous. I expected to travel forty-three miles without sight of land, over a vast and uniform plain, and that every successive mile would be in exact unison and monotonous correspondence with those I had already travelled; but my astonishment was greatly increased in proportion as we advanced from our starting post. The sea, at first smooth and even, became more and more rugged and unequal. It assumed, as we proceeded, an undulating appearance, resembling the waves by which it had been agitated. At length we met with masses of ice heaped one upon the other, and some of them seeming as if they were suspended in the air, while others were

whole, they exhibited a picture of the wildest and most savage confusion, that surprised the eye by the novelty of its appearance. It was an immense chaos of icy ruins, presented to view under every possible form, and embellished by superb stalactites of a blue green colour.

"Amidst this chaos, it was not without difficulty and trouble that our horses and sledges were able to find and pursue their way. It was necessary to make frequent windings, and sometimes to return in a contrary direction, following that of a frozen wave, in order to avoid a collection of icy mountains that lay before us.

"During the whole of this journey, we did not meet with, on the ice, so much as one man, beast, bird, or any living creature. Those vast solitudes present a desert abandoned, as it were, by nature. The dead silence that reigns, is interrupted only by the whistling of the winds against the prominent points of ice, and sometimes by the loud crackings occasioned by their being irresistibly torn from this frozen expanse; pieces thus forcibly broken off, are frequently blown to a considerable distance. Through the rents produced by these ruptures, you may see below the watery abyss; and it is sometimes necessary to lay planks across them, by way of bridges, for the sledges to pass over."-Ibid.

[Rein-deer Moss, and Morasses.]

"AFTER We had ascended four miles, the mountain began to assume a flattish and naked aspect, without a single tree. It was wholly covered with the common moss of the rein-deer, save where this extensive carpet was broken and chequered with morasses, basons of water, and lakes, altogether forming a landscape the most dreary and melancholy conceivable. There was nothing to engage our attention, to amuse our fancy, or to console and cheer our spirits. A vast expanse lay before us, which