of liquid grandeur like the waves of the ocean on fire. During this process samples for examination are frequently brought out by the aid of an iron rod, and the glass becomes beautifully clear and transparent. The glass may now be considered as completely made, but it requires some time to cool down to the requisite working temperature. It should be just soft enough to yield with ease to any external impression, even to the force of the breath when impelled against the glowing mass, and in that state it may be bent into any required form. Such, indeed, is its tenacity, that it may be rapidly drawn into a solid string, and wound on a reel, many miles in length.

In the accompanying figure we have delineated a simple process of glass-blowing, which Professor Partington employs in his public lectures, and which is admirably fitted for glass-blowing on a small seale. It consists of a Florence flask, with a tube fitted into a cork, and bent down from the mouth of the flask so that the point is brought into contact with the flame of a spirit-lamp beneath. A little spirit of wine, or water, is placed in the flask, and the lamp beneath speedily makes steam enough to impel a stream of fire against the glass to be blown. By this means, philosophical instruments in glass, which are usually of a costly character, may readily be constructed, either by the amateur or workman.

AMERICA.

Having thus brought the glass to a state fit for what is technically called "blowing," we may introduce our readers into the METHOD OF CATCHING WILD ANIMALS IN SOUTH workshop itself, which will be best done by the aid of a graphic illustration, and the picturesque view at the head of this article, will admirably answer the purpose. In the present season of the year the temperature of the blowing-house would shame the hottest portions of the torrid zone, and while we now write, we are labouring under the enervating effects of a visit, many hours back, when the thermometer stoot 140°.

MEN in an almost savage state, who exercise their faculties but in a few ways, become wonderfully expert in those pursuits which occupy the chief of their attention. Some tribes excel in shooting with the bow, others in throwing the lance, and some blow poisoned arrows through tubes with unerring certainty.

But, perhaps, there is no country in which the truth of our observation is more apparent, than in the southern provinces of South America-the skill and precision with which the natives throw the lazo, or leathern thong with a noose at the end, is se

The workmen who are represented in the engraving, are each engaged in one of the manipulations essential to the manufacture of a common drinking-glass. For this purpose the operator takes a hollow tube, about four feet long, called a blowing-iron, and dip-great, that no other weapon is, in general, necessary, to subdue the ping it into the melting-pot, turns it round till a portion of the glass adheres to the surface. He then holds it near the ground, so that the mass is extended by its own weight, and blows strongly into the tube. The breath penetrating the red-hot mass, enlarges it, and it becomes an elongated sphere of the requisite dimensions. To separate this globe from the iron tube, an assistant dips the end of a solid rod into the glass-pot, and bringing out at its extremity some of the melted glass, thrusts it immediately against the globe at the part directly opposite the neck, so that it may be firmly united. The workman then wets a small piece of iron with his mouth, and lays it on the neck of the globe, and it immediately cracks off, leaving the globe open at the neck. This is again introduced into the fire by the new bar of iron, and afterwards rounded on the rails of a sort of arm-chair. In order to detach the foot from the iron, moisture is again applied, and it drops off. There is a final process called annealling, which consists in raising the temperature in a separate oven, and afterwards allowing the glass to cool gradually; it is less likely to break.

wild horse, the wild bull, or the fierce jaguar of the forest.

When South America was first discovered, the Spaniards set on shore some cattle and horses, which, having since multiplied prodigiously, in the rich plains of this fertile country, are now hunted by the natives, chiefly for their skins and tallow, and the bodies left on the spot where they are killed, to be devoured by wild beasts. But it sometimes happens that a South American has occasion for a horse. When this is the case, he mounts one trained to the sport, and rides into the country till he meets with a herd of wild horses. He then separates one from the rest, pursues it at full speed till he comes within a proper distance, and throws his lazo over his head.

The glass-house and apparatus we have now been describing is evidently much too costly an establishment for the performance of small experiments in glass-blowing; the same objection exists to the common apparatus employed by the Italian barometer and thermometer makers, which is costly and dirty in the extreme.

The moment he has done this, he stops his own horse, which, accustomed to the duty, stands in such a posture as is best calculated to sustain the expected shock, the lazo being fastened round its body. As soon as the wild horse has run the length of the thong, it is suddenly stopped with such violence as frequently to be thrown to the ground.

The hunter then alights, puts a bridle in its mouth, mounts it, and in spite of all the efforts of his captive to throw him, keeps his seat until he has completely subdued it, and rendered it subservient to his will. The animal is, ever after, docile and tractable.

The wild cattle are caught in the same manner, except that sometimes the lazo seizes them by the leg, sometimes by the horns, and sometimes round the body. So great is the skill of the hunter, that he can throw his weapon with unerring aim, so as to entangle any part of the body that he may choose.

But it is hunting the tiger, or jaguar, that calls forth all the skill and courage of the horse and his rider. In his natural state, the horse flies from this formidable foe; but, when trained by man to this sport, he faces the danger with great intrepidity, and contributes nearly as much as his master to the success of the combat. That tribe of natives in Paraguay, called Guanches, are particularly addicted to this sport. They are brave and active, and used to encounter hardships of every kind, and their horses are trained so admirably as to obey the slightest indications of their master's will, and to advance boldly against their terrible enemy.

When the Guanche is about to set out on an expedition of this

kind, he furnishes himself with no provisions, although he may not see a human habitation for many hours. When he is hungry, he, with his lazo, catches a wild horse or bullock, cuts off a piece of its flesh for his repast, and sets the creature at liberty, to recover or perish, as it may happen.

The roar of the jaguar soon announces to him the haunt of the dread object of his pursuit. Directed by the sound, he advances, till he comes in sight of the animal, when he stops, and prepares for the dangerous encounter. As Mr. Arago, a gentleman who has published a narrative of his voyage round the world, gives an animated description of this combat, we shall take the liberty of transcribing his words:

"The Guanche whirls his lazo; he speaks, he calls aloud, he is ready for his enemy-his terrible enemy-who, with his belly almost touching the ground, is astonished to see any being awaiting his approach, and provoking him-his eyes roll furiously, he opens his vast jaws, still red with the blood of his last victim, and, indignant at finding an opponent, he seeks with his eye for the place on which he intends to spring.

"The Guanche is, all the time, fierce, prudent, and tranquil-join in the conversation, But wholly without the means of profiting governing his astonished, but obedient courser, with his feet; he makes him retreat without turning his face from the tiger, who follows him step by step, watching for a false movement. The Guanche knows this, he therefore makes his horse rear up-the tiger darts forward and is caught; the horse then runs away, with all his power, dragging the ferocious beast after him.

So constantly are additions (making to the discoveries of NA-him to overcome difficulties, otherwise almost insuperable, to disTURALISTS and PHILOSOPHERS, and so numerous are the methods by which truth can be presented to the attention of the student, that new publications, if executed with judgment and ability, are still in request, and may prove highly beneficial, even though their subjects have been, in some measure, anticipated.

These phenomena have been erected by NEWTON, and others, into a beautiful system, called the "Solar System," and which we exhibited to our readers at p. 17, No. III., of this work, and we here present them with an engraving of the telescopic appearances of the planets showing their relative sizes; and also a table of their distances from the sun; their several diameters, and the period occupied by each in its revolution round the sun.

WONDERS OF NATURE.

THE small works of the mighty Author of Nature are not less wonderful than the great; in some respects they are indeed more wonderful, as wanting the attribute of magnitude which forms a part, and a considerable part of all merely human wonders. Of these little wonders, the earth, the sea, and the air are full; and that the multitude heed them not is the fault of the multitude. We shall occasionally notice some of these little wonders, and as we are anxious to add to knowledge, and not merely to retail in scraps that which others have before told in connexion, we shall, as often as possible, choose subjects upon which we can say something that has not been said before. For this purpose, we shall notice a species of

THE HAIRWORM.

Of the Hairworm, called Gordius by naturalists, from the singular coils into which it twists itself, there are several species described in the books; they all belong to that class of animals called Annulasa, by modern naturalists, from their bodies being composed of a number of little rings.

The hair worms are all slender, not much thicker than a horsehair, though one species (the Guinea worm), reaches four, or even six feet in length. These I have found in England seldom exceed so many inches.

The Guinea worm (Gordius Medinensis), gets into the flesh of the human body, in warm countries, and causes a very disagreeable itching: and if it be broken in the attempts to extract it, it works deeper, and produces ulcers, and sometimes gangrene and death. None of the British species have that dangerous habit, they are obscure, harmless creatures, and their habits are but imperfectly

known.

The most common one is gordius aquaticus, which is found in ditches, brooks, and other shallow waters, in most parts of the country. The vulgar belief used to be that these worms were the hairs of the tail of entire horses, which, falling in the water, became animated there. That, of course, is not true.

The other species are argillaceus, which, from the name, lives in clay, or rather in the ooze at the bottom of ditches; filum, which means like a thread, and so may be any thing; and lactaus, which means whitish, and may also be descriptive of most of the species.

That which is figured in the cut has not the abode attributed to any of the described species, and therefore it is the more worthy of attention. It is not found in clay; and it appears to avoid water. It appears on the grass or in shrubs after heavy thunder storms, which have followed dry and hot weather; and therefore there is reason to conclude that it is bred only within the earth, and that, driven from the earth by the shower, it seeks to escape

the moisture by climbing up plants. Sometimes it appears in such numbers as to alarm the country folks, who think it has been raining little insects; and, if I mistake not, it got, in some part of South Wales, the blame of bringing "CHOLERA MORBUS" on its' little light back.

It has been more than usually abundant this summer. The first time that I saw it was about the middle of June; the rain had fallen in torrents all night; and in the morning, about two hours after sunrise, the blades on a little grass-plat were so thick with the hair-worms, coiling and twisting, in apparent search of somehing higher, that the whole seemed animated. After the shower had dried up, the worms disappeared, nor did they again make their appearance till about four weeks after, in the morning following a similar night of rain.

On that occasion I found them on the leaves of shrubs, at least four feet from the ground. They were most plentiful on the common laurel; and there were none seen on any of the coniferous evergreens; but whether that was choice or accident, I cannot say.

Observing one on the extremity of a laurel twig, wriggling, as shewn on the smaller leaf in the cut, I removed the two leaves and worm, and then made a sketch of them. Putting the worm on the other leaf, which was so far expanded as to be nearly flat, it put itself into two close coils, of a good many turns each, with the head advanced from the one, and the tail elevated from the other; and in that position it moved over the leaf, like a pigmy pair of spectacles on their brows. The means of its locomotion, without the undulations of the malvor, the aquatic gordius, or the elongations and contractions of the leech, and the common earthworm, would be no bad exercise for those who profess science in animal mechanics. Indeed the whole habits of the animal are worthy of investigation and this is the time for it, as I (at least), hav not seen it until the middle of September; and never but in dry places, on the mornings, after summer showers. The propagation, food, and habits of the gordius, are little known; and even its uses in the economy of nature. That renders the study of it the more necessary, and that necessity is increased by the fact, that the species under consideration may be several of these that are set down as species in the books. These are distinguished by colour, and in worms colour is nothing. The common earthworm is red, in good, dry, vegetable mould, and pale and greenish in marshes. The red ones when put into moss and milk to render them tough for the angler, become pale; and when healthy they all have an equal play of colour in them. When found in the damp, the gordius were of a russet, with the head yellow; when found more elevated, and exposed to the sun, it was straw-coloured, with a fine red line marking the intestinal canal, (or blood): and when kept a day or two in paper that line had nearly disappeared. Some of the water species are said to be revivable, by humidity, after long being dead; but this species, after being in water for some time, shewed no sign of returning life, but withered away on exposure to the air. M.

Mr. Rennie, of King's College, is numbered among your coadjutors. Surely nobody can be better qualified for solving this "Gordion knot" than he ?-M.

To do an ill action, is base; to do a good one, which involves you in no danger, is nothing more than common; but it is the property of a good man to do great and good things, though he risks every thing by it.-Marius.

Whatever busies the mind without corrupting it, has at least this use, that it rescues the day from idleness; and he that is never idle will not often be vicious.-Johnson.