THE WHIRLWIG.

ST. JEROME beautifully remarks, that "it is not only in the creation of the heavens, of the earth, of the sun, of the sea, of elephants, camels, horses, oxen, leopards, bears, and lions, that the power of the Creator is rendered wonderful; for he appears not less mighty in the production of the smallest animals, such as ants, flies, gnats, worms, and other insects, which are much better known to us by sight than by name." This could not be more strikingly illustrated than in the economy and structure of the little water insect usually called the whirlwig, of which the Journal of a Naturalist contains the following account :

Water, quiet, still water, affords a place of action to a very amusing little fellow (gyrinus natator), which about the month of April, if the weather be tolerably mild, we see gamboling upon the surface of the sheltered pool; and every schoolboy, who has angled for a minnow in the brook, is well acquainted with this merry swimmer in his shining black jacket. Retiring in the autumn, and reposing all the winter in the mud at the bottom of the pond, it awakens in the spring, rises to the surface, and commences its summer sports. They associate in small parties of ten or a dozen, near the bank, where some little projection forms a bay, or renders the water particularly tranquil; and here they will circle round each other without contention, each in his sphere, and with no apparent object, from morning until night, with great sprightliness and animation; and so lightly do they move on the fluid, as to form only some faint and transient circles on its surface. Very fond of society, we seldom see them alone, or, if parted by accident, they soon rejoin their

busy companions. One pool commonly affords space for the amusement of several parties; yet they do not unite, or contend, but perform their cheerful circlings in separate family associations. If we interfere with their merriment, they seem greatly alarmed, disperse, or dive to the bottom, where their fears shortly subside, as we soon again see our little merry friends gamboling as before. This plain, tiny, gliding water flea, seems a very unlikely creature to arrest our young attentions; but the boy with his angle has not often much to engage his notice, and the social, active parties of this nimble swimmer, presenting themselves at these periods of vacancy, become insensibly familiar to his sight, and by many of us are not observed in after life without recalling former hours, scenes of perhaps less anxious days.

Land animals see indifferently under water, and aquatic animals imperfectly in air; and an animal with an eye equally fitted for seeing in water and in air, can have, on account of the great difference of the mediums, but imperfect vision in either. The insect just alluded to, in order to obviate this difficulty, is furnished with two sets of eyes, one pair being placed on the crown of the head for seeing in water. As it swims half submerged, the latter pair must be very useful in warning the insect of approaching danger from fishes, &c., below, and from being surprised from above, their great quickness of sight being quite surprising, as they dive with the rapidity of lightning when an idle boy, or an eager entomologist, attempts to disturb their eccentric dances.

CHROMATE OF IRON

Is used in painting, dyeing, and calico-printing; and its value is so

great, the proprietor of a serpentine tract in Shetland, where chromate of iron was found by Professor Jameson, cleared, in a few years, 8,000l.

TANNING.

A tanner named Rapedius, of Bern Castel, on the Moselle, has discovered a new species of tan proper for dressing leather. It is the plant known by the name of Bilberry or Whortleberry, (Vaccinium Myrtilus or Myrtillis,) which should be gathered in spring, because at this season it dries more readily, and is more easily ground. Three pounds and a half of this tan suffice for dressing a pound of leather, while six pounds are required from the oak to produce the same effect. By this new process, tanners can gain four months out of the time required for preparing strong leather. A commission having been appointed at Treves to examine the leather so prepared, reported that they had never seen any as good, and that every pair of shoes made therefrom lasts two months longer than what are manufactured from common leather; that the skin of the neck, which it is difficult to work, becomes strong and elastic like that of the other parts. The shrub should not be pulled up, but cut with a bill, to obtain the reproduction of the plant the following year. When cut, damp does not deteriorate it, which is not the case with oak bark, which loses ten per cent. of its value by being wetted.

MOCK SUNS.

In the centre of the heavens above us, the sun began to break through the mist, forming a clear space, which, as it grew wider by the gradual retreat of the mist and clouds, was enclosed or surrounded by a complete circle of hazy light, much brighter than the general aspect of the atmosphere, but not so brilliant as the sun itself. This circle was about half as broad as the apparent size of the sun, through which it seemed to pass, while on each side of the sun, at about the distance of a sixth of the circumfe

rence of the ring, which likewise traversed them, were situated two mock suns, resembling the real sun in everything but brightness, and on the opposite side of the circle two other mock suns were placed, distant from each other about a third of the circuit of the band of light, forming altogether five suns, one real and four fictitious luminaries, through which a broad hoop of subdued light ran round an area of slightly hazy blue sky. The centre of this area was occupied by a small segment of a rainbow, the concave side of which was turned from the true sun, while on its convex edge, in contact with it at its most prominent part, was stretched a broad straight band of prismatic colors, similar to the rainbow in all but curvature. Across the space, within the circle of light, there was a broad stream of dusky cloud, formed of three distinct streaks, and reaching from one of the most distant mock suns to another opposite to it, in the shape of a low arch; but in a little while one extremity of this bar moved away from its original position, while the other end remained stationary, leading me to suppose that it was merely an accidental piece of cloud.

As noon approached, or rather as the clouds dispersed, the blue hazy sky extended beyond the ring of light, and while the day advanced, and the heavens grew more clear, the whole meteor gradually disappeared, the circle vanishing first, and then the imitative suns. My companions assured me they had never before witnessed a similar exhibition during voyages in these seas; but more learned Thebans describe them as phenomena frequently witnessed in high latitudes, and have assigned them the designation of parhelia. There was, during this solar panorama, a large and complete semicircle of haze, lighter in color than the surrounding fog, resting on the horizon perpendicularly, like a rainbow, but this appearance my associates informed me was familiar to their sight.-Tales of a Voyager in the Arctic Ocean.

TO MAKE KITCHEN VEGETABLES

TENDER.

When peas, French beans, and similar productions do not boil easily, it has usually been imputed to the coolness of the season, or to the rains. This popular notion is erroneous. The difficulty of boiling them soft arises from a superabundant quantity of gypsum imbibed during their growth. To correct this, throw a small quantity of subcarbonate of soda into the pot along with the vegetables, the carbonic acid of which will seize upon the lime in the gypsum, and free the legumes from its influence.

WHOLESOMENESS OF COFFEE.

The general effect of coffee upon the nervous coat of the stomach is, unquestionably, a gentle stimulant; and as, like most substances of that class, it has, to a certain extent, a tonic power, it is not hesitated to be recommended to invalids whose powers of digestion have been debilitated by stimulants of a more powerful character, such as fermented liquors, wine, spirits, &c. The custom of taking coffee after a late dinner, and just before retirement to rest, is bad; because its stimulant property upon the nerves of the stomach exerts a power destructive to sleep-it promotes an activity to the mind, and gives a range to the imagination which prevents self-forgetfulness, that sure harbinger of repose.

EXTRACTION OF POTASH FROM POTATOE TOPS.

The "Register of Arts for March" details the process, adopted in France, for extracting potash from potatoe tops, the upper part of which contain so considerable a portion, as to render the extracting it a very profitable operation. The potatoe tops are to be cut off, at four or five inches from the ground, with a very sharp knife, the moment that the flower begins to fall, that being the period of their greatest vigor. Fresh sprouts spring, which not only answer all the purposes of conducting the roots to maturity, but tend to the increase of their size, as

the sprouts require less nourishment than the old tops. From the results obtained in France, it is estimated that the quantity of land under annual cultivation with potatoes, in the United Kingdom, which exceeds 500,000 acres, might be made to yield nearly as many tons of potash; an amount nearly fifty times that of our annual importation from America!

LITHOGRAPHY.

We have seen some specimens, from Mr. Hulmandel's office, of the application of the ruling machine to the stone, with reference to architectural, ornamental, and other subjects, in which evenness and regularity of line are desirable, the clearness and sharpness of which much transcend any lithographic production that we have heretofore met with. We understand, also, that this style of lithography is cheaply executed, and is capable of yielding a great number of good impressions.

MURIATE OF LIME.

The use of a solution of muriate of lime has been recently adopted with good success, in the South of France, in the growth of Indian corn and other farinaceous vegetables. Two patches of corn were planted in a similar soil, one of which was watered regularly with the muriate of lime, and the other treated in the ordinary mode. The vegetation of the corn to which the muriate was applied was much more rapid than that of the other, and the produce was finer in quality and one-sixth greater in quantity.

FULMINATING SILVER.

It has been ascertained that Bertholet's fulminating silver is formed of oxide of silver and ammonia.

HUMBOLDT'S JOURNEY TO SIBERIA.

Humboldt, although now past his sixtieth year, left Germany in the spring, accompanied by Professor G. Rose, for Siberia. He will probably extend his researches to the high land which separates India from the Russian empire.