purpose, and supplying the place, of the vertebral column, or spine. We are now to fill up with tow the places about the head where the flesh has been removed, and the artificial eyes are to be placed in the proper position. The projecting wire is then to be covered with tow, to nearly the original thickness of the neck of the animal, and the skin of the head and neck returned to its natural situation. Pieces of wire are to be fixed in each leg at the toes, passing them up under the skin, making them project beyond the bend of the thigh-bone and humerus, and there twisted round the vertebral wire. The vacuities are now to be filled up with tow to the original proportions of the body of the quadruped, and the specimen is to be fixed in a piece of wood, with the aid of the wires. It is then to be moulded, as it were, into a proper shape, and retained in it by means of tapes, &c.

Birds.

In preserving birds, a great object should be to avoid, as much as possible, the soiling or ruffling of the feathers. Here we make our incision either under the wing or in the belly. In skinning, the body is not separated at the hip but at the knee joint. Having made bare the legs, we proceed, as in quadrupeds, separating the wings at the first joint, and the head at the atlas, removing the brains, eyes, and tongue, and freeing the rest of the bones of the wings and legs of their flesh.

The skin is now to be dried and smeared with the preservative. In birds, only two wires are needed. One of them is to be introduced up the legs, and passed on to the head, where it is introduced into a hole bored in the skull. The other is introduced at the other leg, between the bone and the skin, but

is merely twisted round the other wire. It will also be an advantage if the bones of the wings are connected by means of a piece of string. The vacuities are now to be filled up, the incision closed, and the specimen, as in quadrupeds, fixed on a board by means of the projecting wires. The feathers are to be dressed, washing away any blood by means of spirit of wine, and enabling them to resume their places by lifting them up with a pin. The proper shape and position is now to be given, aided by means of pins, tapes, bandages, &c. As the specimen dries, they may be gradually removed. Some of the smaller birds, indeed, may be stuffed without the aid of wires, the skin when dry being capable of retaining the position originally given.

We do not say that these directions will enable any one to mount birds to his own satisfaction. By perseverance, it is true, he may attain the art to some degree of perfection. He need not hope, however, to accomplish this until after he has spoiled many birds, and unless he is in the almost daily habit of stuffing. It therefore can scarcely be recommended to any one to attempt it, unless he intends to persevere.

The most common faults of a bad stuffed bird are the feathers being rough the thickness of the body and neck being disproportionate the neck being too thick or too thin, too long or too short, for the body. It is also a common fault that the body is too forward, the thighs being behind the rump. This, indeed, always happens to those who mount a bird for the first time, even although they have received proper instructions.

Fish.

As for fish, various methods have been practised for their preservation.

The simplest method consists in dividing the fish longitudinally and vertically, taking care to preserve, attached to the side we mean to preserve, the anal, dorsal, and caudal fins. From this side we scrape the flesh, and the skin is then stretched on a board and dried. It may then be spread on a piece of paper, and kept in portfolio.

Sometimes we extract the contents of the body at the mouth, or skin the fish, and then fill it up to the natural size by means of cotton or fine sand. We are unable, however, to retain the many brilliant colours and the original lustre which animals of this class possess when alive.

Some preserve their fish in spirits of wine, all their characters, except those depending on colour, being in this manner satisfactorily exhibited.

Insects.

They may be captured with the hand, with forceps, or with a gauze net, according to the species. Care ought to be taken to preserve the different parts, such as the limbs and antennæ, entire. They are then to be transfixed with a pin through the thorax, and fixed in a box having the bottom lined with cork. In the case of butterflies, however, it is proper to kill them by passing a pin through their sides laterally; since, otherwise, they would greatly injure their beauty by rubbing off the fine coloured scales with which they are covered. In many of the beetle kind, the killing of the animal is more difficult. Some impall them, and allow them to writhe in the pin till they die of pain and hunger. Others shorten their sufferings by exposing them to the fumes of sulphur; by passing through them a red-hot needle, or one dipt in aquafortis, or by putting oil of turpentine or tobacco into their mouths. Of these, fumigation

is the most expeditious. We may also kill them by putting them in a tin box, which is to be half immersed in boiling water.

When the animal is dead, it is to be placed in a proper position till dry, when it is to be added to the collection. The collection itself may be kept either in drawers of hardwood, or in cases with a moveable glass cover. The bottom of each drawer is to be lined with cork, or wax, for the reception of the pins. It is then to be washed over with corrosive sublimate or arsenic, and white paper glued over it. The insects are to be distributed in rows, with their names marked below. The collection must be frequently inspected, to see if any insect depredators have got admission. These must be carefully removed, and their eggs destroyed by baking the suspected specimens in the sun, or before the fire.

Preserving in Spirits.

The

We will conclude this account of the different methods for preserving animals, with mentioning that entire animals, and the parts of others, may be kept in spirit of wine. When the object is large, it may be proper, previous to immersing, to inject a quantity of the spirits into the interior, to prevent incipient putrefaction, and consequent discoloration of the spirits. great inconvenience that attends this method is the evaporation of the alcohol, and the risk of having the specimen destroyed by putrefaction. The mouth of the vessel ought therefore to be covered with two or three folds of bladder bound tightly round the edges with pack-thread. These layers ought to be well-coated with mucilage of gum arabic, glue, or the white of egg. Lastly, the surface of the outer layer is to be covered with coloured varnish, to improve the appearance of the

preparation. The advantage attending a covering of glue, or mucilage, is that unlike the varnishes; it is insoluble in alcohol.

Botanical Subjects.

A collection of dried plants is called a herbarium, or hortus siccus. The plants are prepared by placing them, separated by folds of blossom paper, between two boards, changing the sheets as often as they become moist, and placing the whole near the fire, or in some warm situation. The plants must be gathered at that period of the year when they are in flower, and possess all their peculiar characters. When they are dried, they are to be laid on a sheet of white paper. As plants also are liable to insect foes, they are to be washed with a strong solution of corrosive sublimate in spirit of wine. Many beautiful preparations of aquatic plants, such as the algae, may be made by spreading them out under water, on fine paper, laid over a plate of glass. They are then gradually to be raised out of the water, and dried.

Minerals.

As for minerals, little need be said. Than a well arranged and well kept collection of this kind,

few spectacles can be more interesting and beautiful. To have frequent access to such, is absolutely necessary to any one who aims at an acquaintance with the species in mineralogy. It is to be regretted that there is no cabinet of, this kind in Glasgow, with the exception of the Hunterian Museum, where the specimens are but few in number, are not properly arranged, and have no names attached.

Collections of minerals for sale, are kept by Mr. Mawes, No. 149, Strand, and Mr. Hewland, London. There are also several persons in Edinburgh who usually have a few on sale.

I may lastly mention, that there is a considerable duty on natural productions imported into this country-the tax on birds set on wires being 50 per cent. on the value, and when they are merely skinned, and on minerals 20 per cent. This is perhaps one of the most absurd impositions that this or any other government ever continued; since, while it can yield but a mere trifle to the revenue, it must tend materially to retard the progress of science. It is also remarkable that ours is the only state in Europe where such a regulation exists. X. X. X.

Glasgow, 16th Feb. 1825.

LITHOGRAPHY, or the art of taking impressions from drawings or writings made on stone, is quite a modern invention. It, unlike letterpress or copperplate printing, which are altogether mechanical processes, depends entirely upon chemical principles, and has therefore been called in Germany, chemical printing. The principles on which it is founded are, first, the quality which a compact granular limestone has

of imbibing grease or moisture; and, secondly, the decided antipathy of grease and water for each other. A drawing is made on the stone, either with ink or with a crayon of a greasy composition; it is then washed over with water, which sinks into those portions of the stone which are untouched with

the grease of the drawing. A cylindrical roller, charged with printing ink, is then passed all over the

stone; and, while the drawing receives the ink, the rest of the stone is preserved from it by the water, on account of the greasy nature of the ink.

This useful art was invented by mere accident. Alois Senefelder, the son of a performer at the Theatre Royal, Munich, a student of jurisprudence in the University of Ingoldstadt, after the death of his father, took likewise to the stage; but, being unsuccessful in his pursuit of it, he afterwards became an author. Poverty was, indeed, in him, the mother of invention; for, being too poor to publish his works, he tried various plans, with copperplates and compositions, as substitutes for letter-press, that he might thus become his own printer. In the course of his experiments, he found that a composition of soap, wax, and lamp black, formed an excellent ink for writing with on plates; as, when dry, it became firm and hard, and resisted aquafortis. He wanted facility, however, in writing backwards on the plates; and, that he might practise this, at less expense, he procured some pieces of Kilheim stone, as a cheap material, on which, after polishing their surfaces, he might practise. Having been desired by his mother to take a list of some linen about to be sent to be washed, and having no paper at hand, he wrote it out on a piece of stone with his composition. When he was afterwards about to efface his writing, it occurred to him that impressions might be obtained from it; and, after he had eaten away the stone, with an acid, for about the hundredth part of an inch, he found that he could easily take successive impressions. It appeared to him, that the new mode of printing was of very considerable importance; and he therefore, through great difficulties, persevered in im

proving it, and in attempting its application to practical purposes.

He soon found that it was not necessary to have the letters raised above the stone; but that the chemical properties which keep grease and water so effectually separate from each other, were quite sufficient for his purpose. He afterwards bestowed much labour and assiduity in constructing the proper press, and other apparatus, for printing. The first essays to print for publication, were some pieces of music executed in 1796; afterwards he attempted drawings and writings. He still, however, found great difficulty in writing backwards, and this led him to think of the process of transfer; and the use of dry soap, which was found to leave permanent traces which would give impressions, naturally led to the mode of chalk drawings.

In 1799, after having made many improvements, Mr. Senefelder obtained a patent privilege for Bavaria. He then made known his invention to Mr. André, of Offenbach, with whom he entered into partnership, and proposed to establish printingoffices, and take out patents at London, Paris, and Vienna. In order to establish presses in England, Senefelder came to London with a brother of Mr. André's; and most of the English artists made trial of the art. But, unfortunately, it was not then fully understood; and the difference of materials of Germany and those of England, used both for the purposes of drawing and printing, caused constant failures, and the artists in succession abandoned it.

An attempt was made, in 1800, by Senefelder alone, to establish presses in Vienna; and, after great difficulty, a patent was obtained : but bad management, and some unfortunate circumstances, prevented it succeeding, and he returned to

Munich in 1806, leaving the establishment which he had formed in other hands.

In 1806, Mr. Mitterer, Professor of Drawing in the public school at Munich, practised lithography to obtain copies for his pupils. He is said to have invented the chalk composition in its present form, or at least to have improved it greatly.

The practice of the art now be gan rapidly to extend and improve, more particularly at Munich, where several establishments were formed for the purpose of applying it to the fine arts, as well as for printing writings and official forms for the different departments of the Government, In 1809, Senefelder was appointed Inspector of the Royal Lithographic Establishment at Munich, for printing from stone a complete map and survey of Bavaria ; since which period he has devoted

his time to experiments, and to writing the history of his invention. In England it can hardly be said to have been entirely given up from the time of its first introduction in 1800, yet it was little practised or thought of after 1806, until it was revived in 1817. Since this it has been more generally attended to, and some of the establishments having now become well acquainted with the process of printing, specimens have been produced in England equal to those of any other country. In France but little was done in lithography till 1815, when it was established at Paris by Lasteyrie; and, being taken up by good artists, it soon attained great excellence. About the same time it extended to Russia and other parts of Europe.

(To be continued.)

Lincolnshire Sheep.

THE sheep of this county are almost peculiar to it. They are of a large size, have horns, and produce heavy fleeces of long wool, highly prized in the manufacture of stuffs, and some kind of baizes. The flesh is, however, rank in flavour; and, unless the animals are improved by crossing, is not generally relished. As the foundation of an excellent breed, they were selected by the late judicious Mr. Bakewell, who, from mixing them with other races, produced those excellent sheep known by the name of new Leicesters. The fleeces of the pure Lincolnshire sheep, in general, weigh from 10 to 12 lbs. but extraordinary instances have been known in which they have attained more than 20 lbs.