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while the piece of glass laid upon its back will keep open the book, and allow access to the light.

2. Another process.-Make a solution composed of half a drachm of nitrate of silver to two ounces of water, and spread a few drops of this solution over a sheet of paper by means of a glass phial. When dried in the dark, it is fit for use. Proceed precisely as in the above process, to copy the picture; and after being left exposed to the light for about five to fifteen minutes, according to the thickness of the picture, a negative picture will be found on the prepared paper, having the light part of the original dark, and the dark parts light. It now becomes the question how to turn this negative picture into a positive one; and this is effected in the following way: After the negative has been well washed in pure water, and fixed by passing it two or three times through a solution of common salt, it is ready, when dry, to print from. Prepare your sheet of paper in the same way as the other, and when dry, press its prepared side against the negative picture; then allow the back of the negative to be exposed to the light, and in a few minutes you will have obtained a fine positive picture, which can be fixed by passing it through a solution of common salt. 3. Process for copying positive collodion portraits from glass on paper.Make a solution composed of half a dram

of nitrate of silver to one and a half ounces of water, and spread a few drops of this solution, by means of a glass phial or rod, over a sheet of paper, which must then be put in a dark place till dry, when it is fit for use. The portrait or picture to be copied need not be taken out, but the back of the passe-partout merely opened. Sometimes liquid jet is employed for backing collodion pictures, but more commonly cotton velvet. If velvet, it can be removed, and a piece of the prepared paper, sufficient to cover the portrait, substituted, taking care that its prepared side be pressed against the collodion side of the portrait. Having done this, the face of the passe-partout may be exposed to the light, and in a few seconds the prepared paper at the back of the portrait will be seen to darken. When sufficiently dark, the passe-partout may be removed from the light, and the prepared paper taken off, when it will be seen to present a positive copy of the picture on the glass. To fix these impressions, just pass them once through a solution of common salt, and wash in pure water.

The expense of this process is hardly appreciable, since from 200 to 300 copies may be produced by half a drachm of nitrate of silver, in one and a half or two ounces of water, the cost only threepence; two or three drops of which are sufficient for an ordinary-sized portrait.

NAVICULE are numerous, and widely | acus the finest. Certain diatoms are comdispersed. The green Navicula, about mon both to the old world and the new. the hundredth part of an inch in length, was found by Dr. Mantell in a pool on Clapham Common. The golden Navicula is another beautiful species, so named from the numerous points within the shell giving it a bright yellow appearance. The shell is an oblong oval, and has upon it numerous delicate and regular flutings. In the vicinity of Hull many very interesting varieties of Diatomace have been found, the beauty of the varied forms of which delight the microscopist. It has been shown by Mr. Sollit that the markings on some of the shells were so fine as to range between the thirty-thousandth and the sixty-thousandth of an inch; the Pleurosigma strigilis having the strongest markings, and the Navicula

The beautiful Meridion circulare abounds in many localities in this country; but there is none in which it presents itself in such rich luxuriance as in the mountain brooks about West Point in the United States, the bottoms of which, according to Professor Bailey, are literally covered in the first warm days of spring with a ferrugineous-colored mucous matter about a quarter of an inch thick, which, on examination by the microscope, proves to be filled with millions and millions of these exquisitely beautiful siliceous bodies. Every submerged stone, twig, and spear of grass is enveloped by them; and the waving plume-like appearance of a filamentous body covered in this way is often very elegant.

BALLADS OF SWEDEN.

BALLADS now are almost forgotten but to the few, who treasure them up as memorials and illustrations of the mind and manners of the past. They represent the moral feelings of a nation, and the characteristics and modes of thinking of bygone generations of men. Scholars are not indifferent to their value, both on historical and philological grounds. Extensive collections of ballad literature have been made in this country; and there is scarcely a people of Europe which is not striving with a kind of religious zeal to collect and preserve every fragment of the traditions and popular songs of their fathers. In this respect the Germans have been especially industrious. They have been collecting the folklore, traditions, and popular poetry, not only of their own country, but of all the countries of Europe. It is in German only that we can read the ballads of various peoples, from Finland to Gibraltar, and from the German Ocean to the Caspian. And now Brockhaus, of Leipsic, is bringing out a beautiful edition of the Swedish ballads, collected some forty years ago by Geijer and Afzelius. The translation into German has been made by the well-known literary antiquarian, Dr. Ferdinand Wolff, and, as far as the two languages would permit, has been faithfully made. The Svenska FolkVisor fran forntiden (the Swedish ballad poetry of antiquity) has much in common with that of our own. There is love and adventure discoursed of in them, war and peace, faith and fraud, and perhaps a larger amount of the tragical than we find in our collections.

We give a specimen :

Liten Karin (Little Katie) is rather a tragical ballad, but characteristic of remote times and of days when kings could do wrong with impunity.

"Little Karin served in the young king's hall, and she shone like a star there among the maidens all. She shone like a star there, the very fairest maid; and thus to little Karin the young King said: Oh! hear thee, little Karin, if thou wilt be but mine, gray horses and gold saddles and all shall be thine.'

'Gray horses and gold saddles I may not think upo'; give these unto your young queen; let me with honor go.'

'Then hear me, little Karin; if you will be but mine, my crown made of the reddest gold, and that shall be thine.'

'Your Crown made of the reddest gold I may not think upo'; give that unto your young queen,

let me with honor go.'

'Yet hear me, little Karin; if my leman thou wilt be, the half of all my kingdom, that shall I give to thee.'

'The half of all your kingdom, I may not think upo'; give that unto your young queen, let me with honor go.'

'Then hear thee, little Karin; if thou wilt not be mine, a barrel spiked with nails shall certainly be thine.'

'If you put me in a spike-barrel, God's angels will see me, and away with little Karin to Heaven they shall flee.'

They put her in a spike-barrel, they did not heed her pain; and all the King's young pages rolled her up and down again.

Then down there came from Heaven two doves of spotless white, and Karin made the third dove that flew to the angels bright."

Of this song, which is known all over Sweden, there are several versions. One intensifies the cruelty of the young king, by stating that he assisted his pages in rolling little Karin about in the tun spiked with nails, and ends:

"Her cheeks were pale and torn, and down the red blood ran; O God in Heaven highest, look down on this proud man!

They took the little Karin out, and wiped her body o'er, and all the little maids at Court bewailed Karin sore.

They laid her on a golden bier, and cover'd her body fair, and all the little maids at Court they

curled Karin's hair.

And they laid the little Karin in the dark, dark grave to lie; and all God's little angels were standing then thereby."

The ballad of "Herr Olof" has the burthen of "Men Linden gror väl !” It runs to the effect that:

"Sir Olof he saddled his charger gray, and away rode he; to the mermaid's house, away went he. And green grows the linden.

Sir Olof he mounted his saddle of gold; and away to the mermaid he galopp'd so bold." 'Welcome, Oh! welcome, Sir Olof, to me, for five long years I have waited for thee.

'But where were ye born and where were ye bred? and where was thy hosen and and courtly dress made ?'

At the court of the Kaiser I born was and bred; and there my hosen and jerkin were made; And there I have father, and there I have mother; and there I have sister fair, there have a brother.

'There I have acres, there I have land, and there my bridal bed fairly doth stand.

And there have I my sweetheart so true; with her I shall live, with her I shall dee. And green grows the linden.'

'Now hear ye, Sir Olof, and come now with me, and ye'll have bright wine in gold filagree. And green grows the linden.'

'Where were ye born, and where were ye bred? and where were thy hosen and country dress made?

Where is thy father, where is thy mother? where is thy sister fair, where is thy brother?' 'No father have I, and I have no mother; I have no sister, and I have no brother. But green grows the linden.'

'Where hast thou thine acres, and where is thy land; and where does thy well-deck'd bridalbed stand?

'And where doth remain thy lady-love true, with whom thou wilt live, with whom thou wilt dee?'

'It is here, here I have my acres and field; it is here my love's bower I shall build. And green grows the linden.'

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They have eyes so blue, and serenely fair,
And eternal flowers in their golden hair,
And their flashing wings-which to thee would

seem

Of silvery moonshine, a dazzling beamThe angels wave so stately and light, From rosy morn till the dewy night.

"Now list while I tell thee, my darling child,
How softly and light soar the angels mild!
As lightly as flutters from heaven the snow,
As soft as o'er earth the pale moonbeams glow,
As light as the mist in silver wreath curls,
As soft as the bud into blosom unfurls,
As lightly as leaflet is borne from the tree,
As soft as the lightfall o'er land and o'er sea.
Thus lightly and softly, my darling child,
On pinion of air soar the angels mild!

"Now list while I tell thee, my darling child! Where dwell the angels so lovely and mild! Where the voice of the poor is heard in need, There haste the angels with manna to feed; Where o'er her sick babe the young mother weeps,

Bright angels flock nigh, and the little one sleeps ;

Where the worn and weary faint and fear,
Where trembles a soul, where falls a tear,
There swiftly speed, my darling child,
On ministering wing the angels mild!

"And wouldst thou, my child, the angels view?
That on this earth thou canst not do;
But, if holy and pure thou livest here,
A beauteous angel will ever be near;
And in that hour when realms of light
Refulgent dawn o'er the dimming sight,
Thou'lt see them then, as they beckon aloft,
Expand thy budding wings so soft!
And lo! in Elysium, my darling child,
Thou wilt be triumphant, an angel mild!"

ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS.The importance of statistics, the source from whence the modern statesman draws that knowledge so essential to all good government, has brought it within the pale of sciences. Dealing in facts alone, the results are sure; and these rest on the axiom that the laws which operate on the moral and physical condition of the human race are constant. In dealing with the individual, or a fact, everything is uncertain; but, taking man or facts in the aggregate, the results that are elicited are governed by certain and well-defined laws. Thus, on the momentous question of poverty and crime, it has been too often loosely asserted that "guilt and poverty are closely connected." The records of the past year alone will disprove the position; and it may be shown, from

the data derived from the calendar of crimes and convictions, that guilt arises more frequently from drunkenness and ignorance than from poverty; although, taking the statistics of real and great offenses, the general conclusion is, "that when the people are comfortable they are well conducted, while, when a time of privation comes, crimes increase."

The enormous export of silver to the East, which has had some effect on the monetary affairs of Europe, has called general attention to the fact. It appears that from 1851 to 1855 inclusive no less than £22,000,000 of silver had been exported to the East through England alone, and in 1856 the amount reached £9,000,000. Such is the fact; the cause as yet remains unexplained.

From the London Critic.

THE SONG

0 F

THE SNOW.

THE angels looked down through the frosty night,
And their eyes were filled with a pitying light,
As they saw the poor earth lie, shrivell'd and dry,
Gather'd up close, as a varlet old

Huddles his limbs when the North blows cold.
Then swift through the chambers of Heaven they go,
Snapping the cords of the canopy white-and lo!
'Tis loosen'd-'tis loosen'd-'tis trembling-'tis fall-
ing.

First hither and thither a feathery flake,
Softly and softly they winnow and shake;
And then in light handfuls 'tis sifted and scatter'd,
And then comes a burst, like a cloud that is shat-
ter'd;

Then-steady and fast, and still faster it falleth,
Still steady and fast through the silent night,
Still steadily down through the dim dawning light,
Tufting the tops of the mountain pines,
Crowning the crags with long silvery lines,
Peaking the porches and gables old,
Cresting the low thatch'd roofs, and roll'd,
Wreathed, and toss'd, as with fairy intent,
On parapet, balustrade, and battlement.
Over the woods and the bare brown hedges.
Wrapping a lace-work fine and clear,
Pluming the willows light, and the sedges

| There on the verge of the frozen mere.
And look, in the city, lane, and street,
Where the living currents part and meet:
Silent they come and silently go,

And the traffic-din is dumb in the snow.
Now, borne in the lap of the Norland gust,
Through the mountain gorges where life is hush'd,
'Tis driving like surge of a winter sea;
Whirling in columns of thin white dust,
Breaking like spray over stone and tree.
Vainly the grim king dwelling afar

Where the ice-towers mirror the Polar star-
Vainly he bade that strong wind go
Forth on its errand to scatter the snow;
For see, never heeding, how steady 'tis falling;
Falling and falling from east unto west-
Faster and faster from east unto west.

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WHAT IS A POUND.-What is a pound? Paris with a railing ten feet high. Were asked Peel. What is a milliard? asked a miliard of franc pieces laid down on a lately the Assemblée Nationale. We are road twelve feet wide (the usual breadth not about to distress the reader with a of a French highway) close to each other, financial subject, but to give him the re- a street so paved would extend three sults of a curious calculation, which he leagues farther than the distance from may apply to the National Debt if so Paris to Rouen. A single line, composed minded. "In general," says our contem- of a milliard of franc pieces, would porary, "few people can form a proper have a length of 23,000,000 toises, or notion of a milliard-or 1,000,000,000 750 leagues more than the circumferfrancs (£40,000,000) in silver." And then he proceeds to tell us about this milliard -or, as we would say,-billion-of franc pieces.

ence of our earth. Lastly, if at the birth of Christ a milliard franc pieces had been inclosed in a machine capable of throwing one out every minute, the machine would have to work for sixty-two years longer before it had discharged itself of its silver burden.

A milliard weighs 5,000,000 kilogrammes. It would require 2000 four-horse waggons to carry it by land, and, on water, a ship as big as Noah's ark, 300 cubits A pound weight of silver is coined into long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. sixty-six shillings. Here is a datum. Let Were the 50,000,000 kilogrammes forged the "ingenious reader," as he was wont into bars a square inch thick, the length to be called, go to work, and tell us what of the same would be more than 655,000 mry be accomplished with a billion of yards, more than enough to surround English shillings.

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ARCTIC ADVENTURE BY SEA AND LAND, FROM THE EARLIEST DATE TO THE LAST EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. Edited by EPES SARGEANT, with Maps and Illustrations. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. London: Sampson, Low, Son & Co. 1857. Pp. 480.

THIS volume, presented to the reading public in the neat and tasteful typography and dress characteristic of the enterprizing publishers, is a timely contribution to the great chapters and facts of Arctic history and explorations. It is a most interesting panorama of the northern world, before which the reader may sit down, and, looking through its graphic scenes and descriptions, may see what has been done and suffered by the host of hardy adventurers in bygone years, to unlock the great ice regions of the north, and bring down to the people in the milder climes of the sunny south the geographic and scientific treasures of knowledge which had so long been hid from the human mind. Mr. Sargeant has done a good service to the literature and history of our country. The explorations of Dr. Kane and his compatriots, and his recent sad demise, have turned the public mind to the north, and we commend this book to many readers, and especially to the young men and women of our country. Books of this stamp are well charged with literary oxygen, which will serve to strengthen and invigorate the mind more than a cargo of vapid love stories.

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IN our humble judgment, rarely have the Sundayschool Union published so good a book, so full of practical wisdom, so instructive, so suggestive and so replete with most important cardinal principles which enter into the well-being and guidance of children, youth and age, and which have so influential a bearing on human happiness in this world and in that to come. We might expect such a book from the learning, the piety, the long practical experience and observation of Dr. Alexander, as a Sabbath-school teacher, minister, pastor and eloquent divine, whom we have long known, and to whose Sabbath ministrations we have often listened with profit and pleasure. We only add, that we earnestly commend this good book to the attentive perusal of every parent, every Sunday-school teacher, and any one interested in training up young minds for usefulness in this world and happiness in the next.

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roy of Egypt to explore the sources of the Nile, had resigned or been removed from his post; but letters recently received from him, in Paris, represent that he still remains chief of the expedition, though some of the savans appointed it to have declined to act under his direction. Lieut. Twyford, one of the English members of the expedition has, say the letters in question, succeeded, in spite of the most formidable difficulties, in getting over the three great cataracts of the Nile, the two steamers, five dahabiehs, (large decked barges,) and three smaller vessels, provided for the expedition. This operation ford's success in it is described as doing the highest was considered almost impossible, and Lieut. Twyhonor to his scientific skill, his energy, and courage. At the second cataract in particular, the local authorities and his pilots declared that it was impossible to get the vessels over, and the Egyptian soldiers and in what they considered the desperate attempt; but sailors placed under his orders refused to assist him former, and the result was that he triumphed; but he paid no attention to the representations of the to do so, it is said that he required the assistance of four thousand men! On the 18th of December, he was within five days' sail of Dongolah-el-Adjous, and it was believed that he would have to remain had received in their terrible descent. Count d'Esthere some months to repair the injury his vessels cayrac was at Cairo, and did not contemplate setting out to join Lieut. Twyford before Febuary.-Literary Gazette.

EXTRAORDINARY APPEARANCE AT SEA.-The passengers and crew of the Pera on her last outward Voyage witnessed a singular phenomenon when approaching Alexandria on the 3d ult. At noonday, the sun became almost invisible, and a dense fog obscured the firmament; the ship with her spars and rigging were covered with a fine powder, which entered the ears and mouths of the passengers, causing the greatest inconvenience. The utmost alarm was felt on board, and some dire calamity was apprehended. The hatches were battened down, and Captain Soy, the commander of the packet, turned her head and ran off to sea again. During the time of this almost complete darkness, the wind was blowing from the south, and the sea was frightfully disturbed. Although the Pera proceeded forty or fifty miles out to sea again, still the dense fog prevailed far to seaward, and toward the coast darkness literally overspread the land of Egypt. This phenomenon lasted for eight hours, when the fog cleared away, the wind lulled, and the sea went down. This extraordinary appearance was owing to what is called the khamseen or sand-storm, and its extending so far to sea is a most unusual circumstance. From the direction of the wind, the khamseen must have originated in the Great Sahara. It raises the sand there in masses which move in a spiral figure, and the heavy particles of sand soon drop to the earth, while

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