the source of corruption in customs. My pleasing literature is that of knowing truth; but not to learn fables or chimeric accounts, lest they are not turning on morals, as allegories are." Have you studied metre, and are you able to detect false quantities ?—that is, do you know whether, in Latin verse, a word consists of spondees or dactyls ? "Deaf and dumb as I am, I could feel no charm in harmony; therefore I would not endeavour to render myself acquainted with that branch of knowledge." We appeal to the reader, if the foregoing are not indications of a most excellent heart, and singularly good understanding. After communicating our lively satisfaction to the young man, and examining more fully the details of the institution, we departed, greatly gratified, and not a little affected with our interesting visit. IRISH WHALE FISHERY.+ [The following information, relative to the Whale Fishery in Ireland, will be new to many of our readers. If, in an improved state of Irish trade and commerce, its beneficial revival could be accomplished, it would be an important advantage to the island.] IN the year 1763, the Irish parliament granted to Messrs. Nesbit and Company the sum of 1500," for the encouragement of the whale fishery on the north-west coast of Ireland, and the manufacturing the bone and blubber." In a private committee which had been appointed to examine their petition, the following particulars appeared, though not reported: In the year 1736, a certain lieutenant of the name of Chaplin, quartered at Gibraltar, and who had been formerly employed in the Greenland fishery, was informed by Captain Nesbit, who was also quartered in that garrison, that in the spring of the year many whales frequented the north-west coast of Ireland, from Tyland-head, in the county of Donegal, to the bay of Sligo. Chaplin being an enterprising man, sold his commission soon after he had received this information, and came to Ireland with a view to fish for these whales; he accordingly procured two boats to be made, upon the model of those used in the Greenland seas, and furnished himself with harpoons and other instruments; but he was able to kill only two whales in eight years. As then whales were in great plenty on the coast, he imputed By a Contributor to the Dublin Literary Gazette.-No, LV. In the year 1759, Messrs. Thomas and Andrew Nesbit, who lived near Killibegs, on the sea-coast of the county of Donegal, and who were very skilful in the herring and whale fisheries carried on there, seeing whales in great numbers, revived Chaplin's undertaking, and took for granted that he miscarried either for want of money, or perseverance. In this project they engaged Messrs. Benson and Irwin, gentlemen of credit and property, and procured a ship to be fitted up in the Greenland fashion, with five boats of a new construction: they also procured harpooners, and other persons.experienced in the Greenland fishery, and in the year 1760 they began to fish; but though they saw many whales, they were able to kill none. Mr. Thomas Nesbit afterwards killed one large whale with his own hand; and as there was no manufactory for the bone or blubber in Ireland, he sent it to London. After procuring some alterations made another attempt, with five of the ablest and improvements to be made in his ship, he and most skilful harpooners he could get, and eight boats, extremely well provided: yet not a single whale was killed that season, though great plenty were seen, and opportunities of striking them often offered. At length the company having expended 30007. in the undertaking, it was discovered that the method of fishing and harpooning in Greenland would not answer in these seas, because that in Greenland, the waters being always calm, the boats are not agitated, so that the harpooner is more sure of his stroke, and the whale frequently bends his head downwards, in order to plunge under water, which the fishers call backing, and which straining or tightening the skin, the harpooner seizes that instant to strike, and the harpoon enters deeply, which it would not do if the skin hung loose over the blubber. In our seas, on the contrary, or at least off Donegal, the water is always rough, either by a wind or a swell, so that the harpooner can take no aim, and the whale seldom backing (bending his back), but lying extended on the water, with the skin loose and flaccid over the fat, the harpoon, though it may reach him with considerable force, does not enter. Mr. Nesbit, therefore, in order to give force to the harpoon, and also to the lances, which are discharged at the fish every time he rises after the harpoon has entered, contrived to discharge both the harpoon and the lance from a swivel-gun, which succeeded so well, that in the year 1762 the company killed three whales, two of which were between sixty and seventy feet long, and the other above fifty; and in this year, 1763,† they have killed two whales of a large size, which is more than many ships have done that have been fitted out for Greenland, at a vast expense. In this state of the undertaking, they petitioned parliament for aid, and this committee granted them 1000, as mentioned above. It is to be observed, that in the sea off the coast of Donegal, there are, besides the whales that yield only bone and blubber, the train-fish, the porpoise, the sun-fish, and the spermaceti-whale, besides seals in abundance. The teeth of the spermaceti-wha'e are shaped like a cucumber, and are about eighteen inches long; they are as white as ivory, take a fine polish, and make very beautiful and durable handles for knives, &c. The sun-fish is valuable for the oil that is extracted from the liver, each fish yielding about a ton: they are found all the year, and are taken with great ease: the other fish and the seals are of little value. Here then is an opening for a company, affording as plausible a ground for enterprise, and as fair a source of speculation as can well be presented. It is true it has failed; but then if we consider the improved state of general science and information, there is now every reason to hope that national and parliamentary encouragement seasonably granted, might, upon a renewal of the trial, present a very different result from that which we have above recorded. A town of no small extent has been built at Donegal, or rather the town and harbour of Donegal have been considerably improved within these last five or six years; it is principally (if not altogether) the property of the Earl of Arran, and under the superintendence of an active and intelligent agent, has risen to great prosperity, and promises to be a place of very respectable trade and commerce. Here I am led to believe, every encouragement to rational adventure would be held out. and a grand scope afforded to our national resources. 43 VARIETIES. Curious Physiological Fact.—A girl was seized with a dangerous fever, and in the delirious paroxysms accompanying it, was observed to speak in a strange language, which for some time no one could understand. At This was written in 1763. last it was ascertained to be Welch-a tongue of which she was wholly ignorant at the time she was taken ill, and of which she could not speak a single syllable after her recovery. For some time the circumstance was unaccountable, till, on inquiry, it was found that she was a native of Wales, and bad been familiar with the language of that country in her childhood, but had wholly forgotten it afterwards. During the delirium of fever, the obliterated impressions of infancy were brought to her mind, and continued to operate there so long as she remained under the mental excitation occasioned by the disease, but no longer. The Philosophy of Sleep. The Characteristic Termination.-A Chinese observer remarks, that the lie is to be found in composition with all the descriptions of periodical writings in England, as expressive of the prevailing practice. There are, he says, the day-lie papers, the week-lie papers, the month-lie publications, and the quarter-lie reviews. He asserts, that incessantly, instantly, curiously, magnificently, stupendously, certainly, surely, &c., are all compounds of the same word, as he always traces the lie in their use, and finds them resolvable into incessant lie, instant lie, curious lie, magnificent lie, stupendous lie, certain lie, sure lie. To these he adds, as striking examples, kingly and ministerially, or, as he writes them, the king-lie and ministerial-lie. He remarks, that the lie is the grand termination of English discourse, and conjectures that mendacity is derived from the common practice of menan error, showing at least his ignorance of Latin and the origin of words, however right he may he in his estimate of the import of our language.—Examiner. Garlick.-The charge for garlick and onions for the workmen employed in building the great pyramid amounted to one thousand six hundred silver talents— 600,0007. sterling! See "Herodotus, Euterpe," 125. All those who had eaten garlick, were forbidden to enter the temple of the mother of the gods. Stilpo, the disciple of Euclid, paid so little regard to this prohibition, that he not only entered the temple after having eaten garlick, but even lay in it. He thought he saw the goddess, who said to him. "Stilpo, do you, who are a philosopher, violate the sacred laws?" He imagined that he answered her, "Give me something better to eat, and I promise you to leave garlick." See" Athenæus," book 10, chap. 6." Pliny" reports, book 19, chap. 5, that onions and garlick were reckoned among the deities of Egypt. See also "Minucius Felix," chap. 28, and "Dioscorides," book 1, "Hasselquist," however, says, p. 290," that garlick does not grow in Egypt, and, though it is much used, it is brought from the islands of the Archipelago.". Niebuhr states. that garlick is made use of by the modern Arabs as a preservative against the deadly quality of their hot winds. Evaporation Prevented. Mr. Gilbert Burnett says "To prove the power of oil in preventing the evaporation of water, I have kept two ounces of water in an open graduated measure, covered only by a very thin stratum of oil, for upwards of two years without any sensible diminution.-Journal of the Royal Institution. Frozen Potatoes.-In the time of frost, the only precaution necessary is to keep the potatoes in a perfectly dark place for some. days after the thaw has commenced. In America, where they are sometimes frozen as hard as stones, they rot if thawed in open day; but if thawed in darkness, they do not rot, and lose very little of their natural odour and properties.—Ibid. Prepared Ox-Gall for taking out Spots. -Boil together one quart of ox-gall, and four ounces of pulverised alum. After several boilings, add four ounces of common salt. Let the liquor settle, and then decant and preserve it in well-stopped bottles. It may be rendered aromatic, by adding a little of the distilled essence of lemon, which also augments the properties of the preparation. Changes in the Colour of Fishes.-Mr. Stork, states in a communication made to the" Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal," that he confined minnows in a white basin, from which he excluded the light, and on examining them the following morning, he found that the former colours of the back had faded; that the bright bars on the sides had nearly disappeared; and the belly had become almost white. On exposing the vessel to light again, the fish regained their original colours; and on again replacing it in the dark, they became of a pale sandcolour. Similar experiments were repeated with the stickle-back, loche, and perch, all of which showed that when confined in a dark vessel, the colours of the fish, assumed much the colour of the vessel; when transferred into a white basin, they lost in a short time their characteristic markings, and became of a pale sandy colour; hence these observations illustrate the principle, that fish possess the faculty of accommodating their colours to the ground, or bottom, of the waters in which they reside. The late American President Jefferson's Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life.-1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do to-day. 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened. 9. Take things always by their smooth handle. 10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry,' a hundred.-Jefferson's Personal Memoirs. Capet's Capon.-The Polignac family is originally Venetian: the name is Pollastrone, which means large capon. This name being. somewhat rustic, was but rarely used. They. bought the Polignac estate, near Pay-enVelay, and took that name. They were not known in France before the time of Catherine de Medicis.-Atlas. The six Gems in the Belgic Crown.—I find the six principal towns of Belgium thus depicted by one of our ancient poets: "Nobilibus Bruxella viris, Antwerpia nummis, First Coffee-house in England.—In the year 1612, Mr. Daniel Edwards, a Smyrna merchant, brought over with him to England a Greek servant, named Pasque, who made. his coffee, of which he drank two or three dishes at a time, twice or thrice a-day. This gentleman seems to have been one of the first that made use of coffee in England, though Dr. Harvey, the discoverer of the. circulation of the blood, is said likewise to, have frequently drank it. It gradually made its way into private houses, which induced Mr. Edwards to set up Pasque as a coffeeman. He got a shed in the churchyard of St. Michael's, Cornhill, and thus opened the first coffee-house in England. In the year 1699, the annual consumption of coffee in Great Britain amounted to about one hundred tons, and it sold at the rate of 147. per ton. The price of coffee in England, since that period, has fluctuated between 50%, and 180%. per ton; and the consumption has been multiplied an hundred-fold. Grub Street Writers.-Mention is often made of Grub Street writers and Grub Street publications, but the terms are little understood: the following historical fact will explain them during the usurpation, a prodigious number of seditious and libellous pamphlets and papers, tending to exasperate the people, and increase the confusion in which the nation was involved, were from time to time published. The authors of these were, for the most part, men whose indigent circumstances compelled them to live in the most obscure parts of the town; Grub Street then abounded with mean and old houses, which were let out in lodgings, at low rents, to persons of this description, whose occupation was the publishing anonymous treason and slander. One of the original inhabitants of this street was Fox the Martyrologist, who, during his abode there, wrote his "Acts and Monuments." It was also rendered famous by having been the dwelling-place of Mr. Henry Welby, a gentleman of whom it is related, in Wilson's “Wonderful Characters,” that he lived there forty years without being seen by any. Elaborate Puns.—An outrageous punster being told that an actor had turned coachman, but not lost his propensity for the theatre, said, "I have no doubt of it," at least during rainy weather."-" Why during rainy weather?" asked his informant. "Because," said the punster, "he must then feel the hat trickle." The same person, who was in delicate health, being asked if he would venture on an orange, said, "No, I thank ye, I should roll off." A shilling being dropped in a hackney-coach, and somebody telling him that he must make up his mind to the loss, he observed, that, on the contrary, it would be the most productive shilling he ever had, "for," said he," it is in the straw."-Tatler. Portuguese Man-of-War.-A recently published number of the "North American Review" contains a description of this very singular animal, of which but little was previously known. "This little animated creature must rank amongst the most curious of natural phenomena. A worm, between six and eight inches in length, which is found but in certain latitudes, has seemingly the skill and knowledge of an experienced navigator, and is itself a perfectly well-managed little ship. Its evolutions are according to the winds; it raises and lowers its sail, which is a membrane, provided with elevating and depressing organs. When filled with air, it is so light, that it swims on the surface of alcohol, and is at the same time provided with a structure, which furnishes the necessary gravity for its descent in salt water. When high winds would endanger its safety, it immediately sinks into the sea. From the under side of the body project tubes, which extend twenty feet in length, and so elastic and delicate, that they wind in a spiral form, like a screw, serving at once as anchors, defensive and offensive weapons, pneumatic tubes, and feelers. The insect has the colours of the rainbow; its crest, which performs the office of a sail, is intersected with pink and blue veins, trimmed with a rosy border, and swells with the winds. The fibres contain a viscous matter, which has the property of stinging like the nettle, and produces pustules. It acts so strongly, that vessels in which they have been kept for a time must be repeatedly washed before they can be used with safety. The most curious part of the whole is, that these fibres may be cut off without depriving them, or the insect, of the principle of life." END OF VOL. V. INDEX то THE FIFTH VOLUME. ABERDEEN, waggeries of, 114 Adelaide, Queen, memoir of, 345 Air, a tree living in the, 255 Amitie, 6 Amsterdam, prison discipline at, 112 country justices, 291 Anecdotes of Porson and Parr, 269 of Mr. Abernethy, 384 of George IV., 57, 117 of Mr. John Clerk, 112 of Lord Coleraine, 117 of H. B. Dudley, 117 of Porson, 127 of Foote, 131 of Charles X., 160 Animals, cleanliness of, 433 Animalized bread, 62 Anglo-Saxons, words from the, 175 Animalcules in snow, 190 VOL. V. 3 M |