most economical thing in the world) if you take a soft morsel of the crumb, and work it a little between your fingers, till it is reduced again to a sort of paste, and then with this stop up the opening in the ball, you will see that from that moment the quicksilver no longer rises and falls in the glass, but remains immoveably standing where it was. Why? Because the air cannot now act upon the quicksilver, and never will again, unless your father discovers the trick that has been played, and has the best mind in the world to give you a box on the ear: who knows whether he won't, should you do it a second time?

"When he has succeeded, however, in freeing the opening from the obstruction, the air will again, stronger or weaker, as the case may be, press upon the quicksilver as before, which re-commences its old merry game of rising and falling. You see, therefore, that every change in the weather-glass proceeds from the air which enters through the opening in the ball, and presses upon the quicksilver.

"That it is the atmosphere alone which has the effect of forcing the quicksilver up in the tube to the height of twenty-eight inches, and of keeping it, as it were, floating at this altitude, may be proved in this way:-Should the tube be broken of at its upper end, so as to admit the air at this point also, and allow it to occupy the space where there was nothing at all, you remember, before; the quicksilver in the tube sinks till it balances that in the ball, and then the game is up; for the air in the tube and the air in the ball, pressing with equal force, neutralize each other the quicksilver, having now free play, can follow its natural inclination, which is, by reason of its great

weight, to be as near the bottom of the vessel that contains

it as it can get.

"And now, in the sixth and last place, you have to observe what long experience has taught us; namely, that when the air begins to expand, and consequently to press upon everything with greater force, the weather may generally be expected to be dry and fine. But when the air is relaxed and weak, from some cause of which we are ignorant, then, generally, rain is at hand, or a storm is brewing. Therefore, inasmuch as the rising and falling of the quicksilver indicates a stronger or weaker expansive power in the atmosphere, it becomes to us a prophet of sunshine or of rain, should no other operating cause come between, for sometimes, as the reader well knows, all our prognostications, as well as all our hopes, fail.

"For Almighty God has, in his secret storehouse, various other means of modifying the changes in the weather, which, as yet, no one has been able to penetrate or explain. Weather-wise people have long puzzled their brains upon this subject, but as yet with no satisfactory result.

"So stands the case, therefore, with respect to the nature and construction of the weather-glass.-By the way, observe also, that if you wish to give the thing a learned name, which, however, is not necessary, you must say Barometer."

Paper made of Cotton rags was in use in A.D. 1000; that of Linen rags, in 1170; the Manufactory introduced into England, at Dartford, 1588.

Missionary Entelligence.

FIRE AT TORONTO.

THE following letter from the Bishop describes a great calamity, of a kind but too well known to our North American cities,-the total destruction by fire of the CATHEDRAL OF TORONTO:

"On the morning of the 7th inst., I was roused from sleep about four o'clock, with the horrific sound, that all the city was on fire. The cry was the more alarming, as my house stands in the midst of my garden, detached from any street, and the person who made the cry had to climb over a high wall, for the gates were locked; and it instantly struck me that it must be something terrible, or he would not have taken such trouble to give the alarm. Finding, on getting up, that though pieces of fire were visible in the air, my residence, from the surrounding trees, and its great distance from other buildings, did not appear in danger, I ran to the part of the city where the conflagration was raging.

"The fire, it seems, commenced about one o'clock in the morning, in a small stable in rear of a tavern in the thickest part of the city, and the wind blowing a gale, and constantly veering, it spread on all sides with frightful rapidity. When I came in sight, the whole atmosphere seemed in a blaze; and large flakes of light burning wood and shingles were flying all around, and lighting on the roofs of houses, and setting them on fire. Unfortunately one of these flakes, rising to a great elevation by the violence of the tempest was dashed upon a venetian blind, on the upper part of the

steeple of the cathedral, which was of wood, and the only vulnerable part of that noble building; the blind communicated the fire to the inside, and in a few minutes the steeple was in a flame. It was too high for the fire engines to reach, and although the body of the Church might still have been saved by cutting away the upper part of the steeple, which was of wood, had it been the only building on fire; yet, when more than fifty houses were burning, and others catching every moment, and from the hurricane, or rather whirlwind, the whole city was threatened with destruction, no assistance could be procured. The fire companies were overworked, and became discouraged and confused, and the inhabitants ran to their own houses, however distant, to protect their roofs, chiefly of shingles, from the showers of fire; and but for such vigilance, every quarter of the city would have taken fire, and perhaps been consumed.

"We have since found that pieces of burning coal, sufficiently powerful to ignite dry substances, were carried in one direction upwards of two miles by the impetuosity of the wind. The loss is estimated at upwards of £100,000 sterling, of which perhaps sixty are insured. There was no loss of life, except one, a master printer. He was a good man and pious Churchman, who perished from his anxiety and zeal to assist a friend whose house was burning.

"This is the second time that we have lost our Cathedral by fire, and we feel it sadly. It was built of stone, the roof was covered with tin, and so completely isolated and distant from other buildings, that we thought it quite impossible that it could take fire from without and yet it is now a desolate ruin.

"It is the privilege of Christians to be tried by afflictions and tribulations, and I firmly believe that the sad event under which we are suffering will be over-ruled by a gracious Providence for good; that it will call forth greater zeal for the glory of God, and a nobler spirit of exertion than has yet been found among us, to restore our ruined sanctuary. We have already been refreshed by much kind sympathy from our neighbours, who participate in our sorrows, and by their brotherly love and spiritual consolation show us the tender ties by which the disciples of our Lord are united. Such it should be, and such it has always been among the faithful members of the Church of God.

"The Church of St. James's, which by courtesy was always called the Cathedral, cost, I believe, in its finished state, nearly £12,000. It was only insured for £8,500, or about £7,000 sterling; unfortunately there was a debt upon it of about £3,000 in a state of liquidation, but which has now to be paid, leaving £5,000 to commence the erection of a new Church. Had it been a first effort, or had the province and city been in a prosperous condition, and our people not great sufferers by the fire, much might have been done to increase the £5,000; and, as we have many true hearts among us, much will still be done after some reasonable interval; but, at the present moment, we are much depressed, and need encouragement. The two Cathedrals which have been burnt, the first on the 6th of January, 1839, and the second on the 7th of April, 1840, cost together £22,000 all raised among ourselves, and now we are called upon to commence a third Cathedral with only £5,000, or perhaps, after some strenuous exertions, £6,000.