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The ground is considered to be the
common property of those who in-
habit it, and they are very tenacious
in observing their limits, neither per-
mitting nor making encroachments,
even in pursuit of game, and an in-
fringement of this right is a source of
deadly feud. The jungle is never cut
down, every one conceiving his safe-
ty to depend upon its being impere-
trable. They have no written lan-
guage, and correspond with those at a
distance by sticks notched in a parti-
cular manner, previously concerted, or
by knotted strings: their language
when spoken is harsh and discordant:
they do not count beyond ten, ex.
pressing all higher numbers by the
collective many.
Individuals have
no distinguishing names, but use a
descriptive epithet, as the big man or
the little man.

Their religious notions savour of
the barbarity that marks their charac-
ter; they have not an idea of an Om-
nipotent and wise Creator, nor a hope
beyond the present; but when mis-
fortunes assail them, they are ascribed
to the agency of evil spirits, whose
wrath they endeavour to appease,
when they are under the pressure of
calamity. Each performs the rites
deemed most acceptable to the evil
spirit in his own behalf, without the
intervention of priests. Deer's flesh,
honey, betel, or rice flour, rolled up
in a clean leaf, are suspended to a
bough, or laid upon a stone, as an
offering, to the Veddé Yaccon, or
Veddahs Dæmon, who is invited by
the supplicant to smell to it, and en-
treated to grant his prayer; after his
Dæmonship has been allowed a rea-
sonable time to inhale the savour, his
share of it, the supplicant himself eats
the offering. In cases of extreme emer-
gency, dancing is resorted to in order
to appease the Dæmon. A sick person
is laid on the ground, while several per-
sons dance round him to the sound of
a tom tom, or drum, made by stretch-
ing the skin of a Guana over the dried
rind of a gourd; this is their only mu-
sical instrument, and it is accompa-
nied by the yells and screams of the
bystanders: the dancers move in ac-
tive gesture till they work themselves
up to an extraordinary pitch of en-
thusiasm ; he who is the most excit-
ed declares himself possessed by the
Dæmon, upon which he is interrogat-
ed about the fate of the dead person,

which he hardily predicts. All dis-
ease is imputed to an evil spirit enter-
ing into the body, and if it is not ex-
pelled by the charms used, the person
dies, and immediately becomes the
tormentor of some one whom his spirit
enters. Songs are addressed to de-
parted relatives to propitiate their
favour in love and hunting, the only
two subjects that interest the Veddah,
A favourite song records the valour of
a Veddah, who was destroyed by an
elephant on his return from an expe-
dition to barter deer's flesh and honey
for arrow blades at Walassy: another
narrates the catastrophe that befel a
Veddah and his two faithful wives:
the hero of the tale having discovered
a rich hive of honey in a jungle,
which could not be approached with-
out danger, fearlessly let himself down
a steep precipice to remove the honey
from the twig on which it hung,
while his wives were spectators of his
enterprise; but a neighbour who en-
vied him the possession of two such
wives, thought he had only to mur-
der the husband to make them his
own. He had secretly followed the
hunter to the perilous spot, and steal-
ing upon him unperceived, cut the
boughs which supported him, and he
was in an instant dashed to pieces on
the rocks below: the wives, at no loss
to guess the motive of his cruelty, with
one impulse upbraided him with
treachery, swearing he never should
enjoy the object of his guilt, precipi-
tated themselves over the cliff, and
shared their husband's fate.

The Veddahs are always serious and gloomy, even in their dances and songs: their greatest virtue, perhaps, is their care of their sick relatives: they sell their children as slaves, without the least hesitation. During the late king's reign a female was worth about 30 rix dollars, and a male half that price, in the province of Walassy. Walussy, 2d April.

HISTORICAL ANECDOTES.

No. V.

Father Paul.

IT may not be generally understood, that the celebrated Paolo Sarpi, author of the History of the Council of Trent, besides his transcendent political and patriotic merits, was the greatest mathematician of his age, as

is formally affirmed by his illustrious contemporary, Galileo, who adds, that he regards him as his master. Magnum laudari a laudatis.

The Memorie Anedotte of Paolo Sarpi, drawn from his letters and papers, and other most authentic sources, by Griselini, (Losana, 1760, 8vo,) present him in new and most extraordinary lights, as a profound mathematician and natural philosopher. His biographer may sometimes be biassed, but he seems to prove from coeval testimonies: 1. That Paolo Sarpi, (commonly called Father Paul, because he was of a free religious order called Serviti,) in the mathematics anticipated several discoveries of Galileo, Kepler, David Gregory, and even Newton. 2. That he was the first who observed the valves in the veins and the circulation of the blood, before indistinctly intimated by Servetus and Cesalpinus. This discovery he communicated to his medical friend Aquapendente, who published it in his treatise De Ostiolis Sanguinis, 1579, which suggested to Harvey his clear and improved system. (See also the life of Peiresk by Gassendi, p. 137, and Wesling Epist. Cent. 1. ep. 26, who saw Sarpi's Autograph.) Harvey's book appeared 1628, five years after Sarpi's death. 3. That he was also the first who observed the contraction and dilatation of the uvea, as is acknowledged by the same candid Aquapendente, De Oculo, p. 93. edit. Ven. 1600. 4. That in his treatise on the Origin of our Opinions, (MS. then with others of his hand in the library of the Servites at Venice,) he in some passages precedes Locke.

A Scottish mathematician, now little known, Alexander Anderson, in a letter to Sarpi dated 1615, indicates the great expectation entertained at Paris of Sarpi's treatise, De Recognitione Equationum, then preparing for the press, but which never appeared. As Vieta, then the greatest mathematician in France, had left some problems unsolved, Anderson undertook that arduous task in two treatises, which he sent to Sarpi, both printed. at Paris, 1615, in 4to. 1. Alexandri Andersoni AITIOAOTIA pro Zetetico Apolloniani problematis a se jampridem edito in Supplemento Apollonii redivivi. 2. Ad angularium sectionum theoremata, &c. opera et studio Alexandri Andersoni, Scoti. The first,

as appears from the letter, had been corrected by Sarpi. Both are among his MSS. with some leaves in his handwriting, whence it appears that he dissents from the explications in the second treatise.

This life of Sarpi is very scarce, and appears to have been suppressed in Italy, which is not wonderful, as the attacks on the Jesuits are truly terrible. Their total want of morals, (afterwards so ably exposed in the Lettres Provinciales,) their artifices, by which, says Sarpi, they creep into rich houses, like hedgehogs, all smooth at first, but when in possession, they expand their prickles, and exclude the owners, are exposed with great force. Fabricius (Codex Apoc. N. T.) expresses great doubts if the Jesuits were Christians. In fact, they were mere unprincipled Atheists, who had no pursuit but their own advancement, and in China they became idolators in this view, as all know. Sarpi, who had the best political information, formally ascribes to their school Ravaillac, with his dark chambers and revelations, then practised solely by those infamous regicides.

An interesting portrait is prefixed, engraved by Griselini himself, from one on mother-of-pearl, the only genuine likeness. On the right cheek is the mark of the dagger, (stylo curiæ Romanæ,) left in the foul attempt of the Pope to assassinate Sarpi, to whom James I. of England offered a refuge and pension. The History of the Council of Trent (a work of forty years) was first printed at London, 1619.

THE ROSE UNIQUE OF BRITAIN.
Written in November 1817.

ONE lovely Rose, (no fairer Flow'r
A cruel blast has broken down
E'er bloom'd in Britain's Royal bow'r,)
With the sweet Bud of Hope unblown.
Sad ev'ry heart, dim every eye,
The Mourner's Soul must find relief
Each throbbing bosom breathes a sigh;
If Sympathy can soften Grief.
Oh Prince bereav'd! thou yet must find
Some solace for thy noble mind;
While thy lost Love's fair name appears
Embalm'd in a brave Nation's tears.
A People's joy with thine is flown,
They mourn thy sorrow, as their own;
And long shall mourn, the rapid flight
Of days so fair; and hopes so bright.

A. H.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

New Printing Machine.-A new printing machine has been invented by Mr William Rutt, of Shacklewell, near London; which, for its simplicity, and superior style of printing and making register, exceeds any printing-machine hitherto invented.

It is capable of printing any kind of work, in letter of any size, either in stereo or moveable type, with equal facility. The inking-apparatus is so arranged, that, by the action of the machine, the requisite and regular supply of ink is received by the rollers from a duct peculiarly constructed, and communicated to the type in such a manner as to produce a complete uniformity of colour, however extensive the number of impressions.

The small space which this machine requires is also much in its favour; a room 10 feet 6, by 7 feet 6, would be sufficiently large for the full operation of one equal to a work on super-royal paper. It will print as many sheets in a minute as a man can put on the cylinder, which may be about fifteen; but its rate must be regulated according to the quality of the work required to be done.

Agograph. A new invented Writing Machine, in the form of a desk, for improv. ing effectually, and with facility, the most irregular or stiff hand-writing, and adding greatly to the ease and convenience of writing in general, has recently been invented by a Lady.

This machine forms a portable desk or box, which locks up and unfolds like a backgammon board. One side is made to con. tain the paper, inkstand, pens, &c. the other side the apparatus to write upon.

The paper is placed on a board, called the sliding-board, as it slides up and down between two parallel bars; the hand rests on a board placed across the bars like a bridge, which is called the guiding-board; for the little finger being placed on the edge of that board, and sliding along, carries the pen in a straight line across the paper. When one line is written, nothing but a slight action of the fore-finger of the left-hand is required to raise the sliding board with the paper to the distance of one line.

The disadvantages of ruled lines, which have the inconvenience of fixing the eye of the writer on the lines, whereby the attention is partly withdrawn from the formation of the letters, and the hand and action of the arm is stiffened, are obviated by the machine, the slight and mechanical feeling of the little finger against the guiding-board being quite sufficient to keep the hand in a straight line.

This contrivance affords an advantage of

VOL. V.

peculiar dispatch to persons in the habit of copying, for it enables them to go on writ ing perfectly straight, while they look on the paper from which they copy; and it further possesses this advantage, essential both to health and good hand-writing, that the writer must sit straight before the board, having his hand continually (whether writ ing on the top, middle, or bottom of the page) at the same distance from the body, half the fore-arm resting on the guidingboard, which permits no deviation, but obliges the hand to start, at each line, from the same point. By this regular position the hand will soon acquire perfect freedom, united with steadiness, and the simplicity of the machine enables any person to di rect children in its use; so that, after they have been exercised upon it, they will find the advantages of a good position so natu ral, that, even without the machine, they will preserve the proper attitude and ease in writing.

Lathyrus Tuberosus.-The tubers, which have been exhibited and distributed at several of our meetings, during the late winter, are the produce of a plant called by Linnæus Lathyrus tuberosus, a native of Germany, France, Italy, and Holland, in which last country it has long been cultivated in the gardens, for the sake of the tubers produced by its roots, which are there used in the dessert. In Dutch it is called Aardaker, (earth nut,) or Muizen met staarten, (mice with tails,) the tubers with the fibres attached to one of their extremities (when half concealed in a napkin, on which they are usually served up at table) bearing a strong resemblance to the common mouse. Gerrard called them Terræ Glundes, or Pease Earth nuts.

Though the plant had been long under my charge, in the garden at the British Museum, I was ignorant of the use of its roots, till a person accidentally calling on me, and inquiring anxiously for the little black roots which the Dutch call mice, and which grow on a plant like a pea," led to the discovery; I subsequently imported roots, and they have been many years in my gardens at Croydon, as well as in that of Sir Joseph Banks at Spring Grove, to whom I communicated them.

The plant itself has been figured, as ornamental, in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Vol. IV. Plate III. It bears some resem blance to, but is much smaller than, the common everlasting pea. The tubers are formed on the long fibrous roots of the plant, to which they are attached, by what (in comparing them with mice) may be called their head, whilst, from the other end, which is the less obtuse of the two, proceeds

3 M

a small, short fibre, resembling the tail. When two inches or upwards in length, they may be considered as fit for use; and are to be prepared in the following manner. Boil them from two to three hours, till a fork will pass through them; when sufficiently soft, dry them, and roast them gently, serving them up in a cloth in the same manner as chestnuts, for which they are a good substitute; and persons used to them become very fond of their flavour.

The plant will grow in any ground, but a light rich soil suits it best. As the roots, if not restrained, spread extensively, as well as penetrate very deep, both which properties are inconvenient, it is advisable to form a border enclosed all round with brick work, about 20 inches deep, paving the bottom with bricks. The bed thus made is to be filled with the soil suited to them. The tubers (each of which will produce a plant) should be put into the earth, about six inches from each other, and three inches below the surface. In the first year some tubers may be large enough, but in two years they will become fit for use, and should be taken up as wanted. The bed in which they grow should be dug in regular course from one end, leaving the small. er tubers and fibres, to produce a succession of plants, and encouraging their fresh growth by the addition of some good rich soil every year. Trans. Lond. Hort. Soc.

Cultivation of the Rampion.-The rampion has, of late years, been altogether neglected in our gardens, though it is much cultivated by the French, by whom it is called Raiponce, and it is very common in their markets. It is the Campanula rapun. culus of Linnæus and of modern botanists, the Rapunculus esculentus of Ray, and the Rapuntium parvum of Gerrard. It grows wild in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the north of Italy; and has long been considered a native of England, being sometimes found, apparently wild, particularly in the neighbourhood of Croydon, in Surrey, where it was noticed by Hudson ; is, however, possible, that it may have only escaped from the hands of the cultivator, for it must be observed, that wherever it has been permitted to seed in a garden, that it comes up afterwards, for many years, in places very remote from that in which the parent plant grew, the seed being very light, and accommodating itself readily to spots where it is not disturbed.

The plant is figured in English Botany, tab. 283; it is a biennial, with a long white spindle-shaped root; the leaves grow close to the ground, until it shoots up into flower, in which state its panicle of blue flowers, about two feet high, may fairly be considered ornamental. The root is the part which is used; it is eaten raw, like a radish, having a very pleasant nutty flavour; it is also sometimes cut into winter salads, and then the leaves, as well as the root, are used.

The seed should be sown in the latter end of May, on a shady border of rich earth, not over stiff, the mould being made as firm as possible; it is better not to rake in the seed, which, being so very fine, may, by that operation, be buried too deep. If the sowing is earlier than May, the plants will sometimes run to flower in the autumn, and so become useless. Moderate waterings must be given, as they come up, through a fine rose of a watering-pot, and it is necessary that they be kept, at all times, tolerably moist.

When the plants are of sufficient size, they must be thinned out, to the distance of three or four inches apart: those drawn will bear transplanting well, if put into a border similar to the seed-bed, but care must be taken to insert the roots straight into the earth, and not to press the mould too close; the roots which become forked are not so good as the straight ones. In November, the plants will be fit for use, and will continue so until April, about which time they begin to flower; they should not be taken out of the ground till wanted; a few should be left for seed, which will be produced in abundance.-Trans. Lond. Hort. Soc.

New Machines for Travelling.-Count Drax's Velocipede, made by Mr Birch, an eminent coachmaker, of Great Queen Street, London, having been found by experience to cause ruptures and inflammations of certain muscles of the thighs and legs, it has in consequence been laid aside. This strong objection to its use led Mr Birch to apply a simple arrangement of machinery with which to turn the wheels by the action of the hands or feet; and he has in consequence produced carriages of several forms and mechanical constructions, which merit the attention of the world, and cannot fail, from their elegance, safety, and power, to command extensive patronage.

The Manivelociter is so called, from its being worked by the hands alone. This machine is entirely new in its construction. The ground-work or frame is made of iron, and forms a parallelogram, the comers being curved away. There are bosses on each side to receive the axles of the wheels, and cranks are attached to the inside-end of each axle, to receive the levers. construction supersedes the necessity of an axletree throughout the frame. After the front corners are curved away, the frame runs into a right line, from which the front wheel turns. A handle is attached to the top, connected with the pivot, which a lady may guide. The person who works the machine sits in a seat behind.

This

The Bivector has been so called by Mr Birch, from its acting by two levers. The construction or frame is the same as in the Manivelociter, with the addition of two pair of levers, to act parallel to each other;

thus at one instant the machine is propelled by a double force. The hind-wheels are four feet high, and the fore one is two feet. Stirrup-irons are fixed on each side of the fore-wheels, to receive a man's feet; a convenient seat is fixed, where he sits, with a lever in each hand, to propel as well as guide the machine; this he can do without assistance but, to render the machine more accommodating, another seat is placed behind, with levers connected with the same crank as the former, so as to impel the vehicle with astonishing swiftness.

The Trivector is so called, from acting by three levers. The ground-work of this complete machine is nearly the same as that of the Bivector, the frame-work being extended so as to receive three sets of levers, which act parallel with one another, and are so connected, that every pull or push which the fore-man gives, the others must act in unison. It has three wheels; the front one three feet high, and the hind ones five feet. The front man sits and guides it by his feet, turning the front-wheel on a pivot, which has a stop, to prevent its turning beyond a certain point. Beneath the two other seats is a regular floored bottom for luggage, which renders the machine as safe and convenient as any chaise.

This Trivector went from London to Brighton, on Saturday, Sept. 11, worked by three men, in seven hours, where they dined; after which they proceeded thirteen miles further, making together a distance of sixty-seven miles within the day. It would, however, be possible to run this machine 120 miles in the day, without distressing the men.

Academical Institution.-An institution, founded on Milton's plan of education, and, in many respects, similar to that of the colleges at the English universities, and of the inns of court in London, has been opened in the New Buildings, Lothian Street, No. 18. The members are to have the opportunity of dining together in the hall every day at five o'clock, if they please, of breakfasting from seven to eleven o'clock, and of having access to the common room at all times. The classes, which they also have an opportunity of attending, have been thus arranged:

Every day except Saturday, from two to three o'clock, Electricity, Animal Chemistry, and Experimental Philosophy.

From three to four, the rudiments, pronunciation, and affinities of Greek, Gothic, Latin, Italian, French, Anglo-Saxon, German, and English; together with all that is known upon the Philosophy of Language.

From four to five, Legal and Medical Logic.

The other classes, for which the hours will not be fixed till the classes are formed, but for which the first masters have been engaged, are,

1. An opportunity of extensive Medical Practice among the poor, under the immediate eye of an experienced practitioner.2. Medical Examinations in Latin, upon the subjects which the students have been attending to in the University.-3. Dissections of the Lower Animals and Veterinary Art.-4. The higher Greek and Roman classics.-5. The lower Greek and Roman classics.-6. The Hebrew Language.-7. Persic and Arabic.-8. Italian, Spanish, French, and German.-9. Astronomy and Geometry.-10. Painting.-11. Music, vocal and instrumental.-12. Fencing.

A full detail of the manner in which each class is conducted, with the whole of Milton's letter to Hartlib on education, and with the letters of Dr Barclay, Mr John Clerk, the late Sir Samuel Romilly, and Lord Erskine, upon the prospectus of this institution, together with a copy of "a minute of the Magistrates of Edinburgh (Patrons of the University) during the time of Principal Carstares, highly approving of a design somewhat similar, and voting a sum of money to the spirited individual who had undertaken it to encourage him to carry it on," is published by Mr Laing, and by Longman and Co London.

France.-France has a society appropriated exclusively to the investigation of the national antiquities; also of the provincial dialects, manners, customs, &c. in different parts of the kingdom. The society was originally established in 1805, under the title of "The Celtic Academy;" but it has been since re-organized, and placed under the protection and patronage of the king, with the title of "Royal Society of Antiquities of France."

M. Jouard has discovered, that the numerical characters of the ancient Egyptians were to the number of five; representing the numbers 1, 5, 10, 100, and 1000, which leads to the conclusion that this people were ignorant of the ingenious method borrowed from the Indians by the Arabs, and in which the cyphers acquire a value from position. The Egyptian method was nearly the same as that of the Romans and the Greeks, in capital letters.

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The number of the "Bibliotheque Universelle des Sciences" for April, published at Geneva, contains a series of Hygrometričal observations, made every day for a period of fifteen months at Geneva and the Hospice on Mount Bernard; by M. A. Pictet. The same number of this Journal also contains a notice relative to the determination of the figure of the earth, and the results of the observations on the pendulum, made in 1817, in the Shetland Isles; by Chr. Biot.

Germany.-M. Kuhn, doctor and professor at Leipsic, intends publishing, by subscription, a complete edition of the Me dicinal treatises that remain to us of the

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