hard-earn'd shilling; but giving in the place of a little jingling coin a whole night's innocent pleasure. But the reader who wishes to spend his shilling profitably, as well as pleasantly, should betake himself to No. 9, Soho Square, where Mr. Cooke has a gay exhibition of drawings and engravings, by English artists. He who admires Sir Thomas Lawrence and Stothard, Turner and Wilson, and Wilkie, in their finished state at Somerset-house, may here see them in their undress,-their "studies:" And to our mind he will know more of them from these slight and sometimes careless indications, than from their more elaborate pictures. The amateur knows this; and the reader who is not an amateur may be told so, without offence. We have not room for much detail: but we will glance at those drawings which particularly struck our fancy. No. 10, is a Female Head, a study, by Sir Thomas Lawrence. The delicate way in which the President handles a "fair subject," may be seen here, in the rounding of the limbs, &c.; though we do not, for our own parts, much admire the mixture of red and black chalks, which Sir Thomas generally uses in his drawings.-No. 14, A View in Italy, by Cozens, is (as it purports to be) a "fine specimen of the artist;"-and No. 21, A Rainbow, by Turner, is a gay, rich, and alluring thing; like "a fairy vision." He is the artist, beyond all others, who throws over the atmosphere finely imagined and poetic colours. He is not real, perhaps, always; but he is a fine idealist, like Milton. We see his landscapes through a golden haze, as the traveller looks on the Pontine marshes at sunset.-No. 26, Dover Castle, is also by him, and worthy of him.-No. 29, a Scene from the famous Cloth of Gold, by Stephanoff, is a graceful miniature, reduced from a large picture, by the artist himself.-No. 28 and 30, are Scenes from the Decameron, by our old favorite Stothard. When we look at his pictures, we fancy that he is one of those who flourish in "immortal youth." It seems scarcely credible that any thing but youthful blood should prompt many of the pictures of Stothard. And yet, gen tle reader, he is an old man, grey and time-worn, with a mild (and not very intellectual) look, if we may believe his portrait (No. 172) in this exhibition. His No. 28, which represents Nymphs Bathing, reminds us of something that we have seen by Titian. When Stothard borrows (which he does, like all people of the great race," he usually borrows from Raffaelle, we think; but here he does not disdain the Venetian;' nor is there any reason why he should. In No. 30, we see a group of gentles, (ladies and men,) who are making rich the evening hours, with music and song, and delightful stories. There they are,-Pampinea, Philomena, Emilia, Neiphile, and the rest,-and also Pamphilus, and Philostratus, and Dioneus, "the pleasantest of them all." The admirer of Boccacio will recognise the party who fled from the plague, to a country seat not far from Florence; and there "in a meadow of deep grass, where the sun had little power, and having the benefit of a pleasant breeze, they sate down in a circle,” and told those stories which have made them all immortal. -No. 34 is from the pencil of Turner, A Scene on the Rhine.-No. 75, A Jew's Head, and 96, Portrait of Mrs. Haydon, are from the powerful hand of Mr. Haydon. In this sort of extempore drawing (if we may so call it) there is no English artist perhaps who surpasses Mr. Haydon. His drawings of the Elgin Marbles were quite matchless. Is it from an apprehension of flattering that the artist has made Mrs. Haydon less beautiful (at least, we think so) than she really is? No. 115, is a View in Cumberland, by Mr. Havell, one of the most delightful artists of the day. -- No. 142, is a rich little picture, a Copy from Giorgione. The expression in the woman's face is intense, beyond almost any thing we know in art. There is a print from the original picture (we have always admired it much) given in Gavin Hamilton's Schola Italica.-No. 159, A Female Head (it is in "The Cut Finger") by Wilkie, has all the minute truth of the artist.-No. 136, is an interesting "portrait" of that very clever young man, Edwin Landseer: the drawing is by his brother. There is something pleasant in this,-the one brother introducing the other to us. in propria persona. The "portrait" has a smiling but resolute fook: we can fancy it just arrived from a contemplation of the pugnacious natures of "Crib and Rosa," or the venerable old age of "Street-walker" himself. Besides these, there are others of great merit; some indeed, by Sir Joshua, Wilson, Paul Sandby, &c. &c. but we have preferred, on the whole, particularizing a few of the living artists. We regret that our limits will not permit us to do more at present. But we may probably return to this subject again, and consider the merits of our English engravers, on which subject something might be said to amuse (we will not say edify) our readers. A CHECK TO HUMAN PRIDE. It is rather an unpleasant fact, that the ugliest and awkwardest of brute animals have the greatest resemblance to man: the monkey and the bear. The monkey is ugly too, (so we think,) because he is like man-as the bear is awkward, be cause the cumbrous action of its huge paws seems to be a preposterous imitation of the motions of the human hands. Men and apes are the only animals that have hairs on the under eye-lid. Let kings know this. MEIKLE SANDIE GORDON AND WEE SANDIE GORDON. In the days of the Stuarts, the chief of the name of Gordon, a good soldier and a steady Catholic, resided chiefly abroad, leaving his Scottish lands to the care of two stewards of his own clan, distinguished among the peasantry by the names of Meikle Sandie Gordon and Wee Sandie Gordon. It happened that one Ramsay rented a small farm on the Gordon's estate; and though the land was stony, and rank with broom and thistles, it was his own birth-place, and that of his ancestors, so he wished the lease renewed. The two stewards had other views; they refused to renew the lease, and the old farmer was about to emigrate, when his Grace of Gordon came unexpectedly from abroad: he asked for, and obtained, an audience. He told his story, tradition says, in a way so characteristic and graphic, that the noble landlord was highly pleased: he renewed the lease with his own hand, and invited him to dinner. The good wine added to the farmer's joy: he told pleasant stories; said many dry and humorous things; and his Grace was so much entertained, that he took Ramsay a stiff Presbyterian-through his house. From the picture-gallery they went into the chapel, ornamented with silver images of the saints and apostles. The old man looked on them with wonder, and said,— "Who may these gentlemen be, and what may your Grace do with them?" "These," said his Grace, "are the. saints to whom we address our prayers, when we wish God to be merciful and kind; they are our patron saints and heavenly intercessors.' "I'll tell ye what," said the old man, with the light of a wicked laugh in his eye, "fiend have me, if I would trust them: when I wanted my lease renewed, I went to Meikle Sandie Gordon and Wee Sandie Gordon, and all I got was cannie words, till I made bold, and spake to your Grace. Sae drop Saint Andrew, my lord, and address his betters." His Grace soon after became a Protestant; and tradition attributes his conversion to the story of Meikle Sandie Gordon and Wee Sandie Gordon;-a story that for a century and more has been popular in Scotland. ANTICIPATION BY AN HISTORIAN OF THE MOCK FIGHT IN 1814, ON THE SERPENTINE. Smollet in his travels in Italy, speaking of the mock naval engagements of the ancient Romans in the Circus Maximus, says, "How would it sound in the ears of a British sailor, that a mock engagement between two squadrons of men of war would be exhibited on such a day in the Serpen tine river.” REPORT OF THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. Ir has for some time past been our intention to enrich our numbers with a Report of the Progress of Science, so as to make our readers acquainted with the recent discoveries in science,, so far as is consistent with the nature of our Journal. In undertaking a work of this kind we are aware, that it is difficult to select the facts so as to make them interesting to the whole of our readers; it will, however, be our endeavour to choose those subjects which are of general interest, avoiding, as much as possible, such as are connected with the more abstruse parts of science. ELECTRO-MAGNETISM. As we shall have frequent occasion to state discoveries in ElectroMagnetism, we have been induced to give a short account of what has already been done in this important subject, as it is entirely a new branch of science, and one with which, we presume, many of our readers are but little acquainted. When a Galvanic battery is filled with a diluted acid, and a communication established between its ends, the electricity excited is discharged, and at the point where the connexion is made particular phenomena are presented. Metals in the state of fine wire, and in leaf, are easily fused, and compound substances may be decomposed. According to the nature of the body used as the medium of communication between the poles of the battery, it is more or less easily discharged. Those which conduct electricity well discharge it most easily: hence the connexion is generally made by means of a metallic wire, called the connecting wire. Oersted, Professor of Natural Philosophy, and Secretary to the Royal Society of Copenhagen, discovered, in the year 1819, that the electricity from a Galvanic battery had peculiar effects on magnetic needles, which led him to prosecute the subject, by which he has been enabled to establish an intimate connexion between electricity and magnetism, and thus has given rise to what is now called electro-magnetism. Oersted found, that if a magnetic needle be left to take its natural direction, and the connecting wire of a battery be placed above it, and parallel to it, that pole next the negative end of the trough moves to the west. If the connecting wire be FEB. 1823. sunk so as to come in the same horizontal plane with the needle, the needle does not turn as before; it attempts to move vertically, but is prevented by the manner in which it is suspended. If the connecting wire be put below the needle, the pole next the negative end of the battery moves in a contrary direction— it is propelled towards the east. For recollecting these movements, Oersted has given the following formula. "The pole of the magnet above which the negative electricity enters, is turned to the west-under which to the east.” These experiments show, that the electricity of the battery inclines the, needle to move in a circle round the connecting wire, which it would do but for its imperfect suspension and for the earth, the magnetic force of which tends to restore it to its proper position the moment it begins to turn. If these interfering circumstances be removed, as when the. needle is suspended, so as to allow free motion in all directions, and the earth's magnetism is counteracted by other needles, the motions become more distinct. If the connecting wire be brought near the centre of a needle, the needle immediately moves, and places itself at right an-. gles to the wire, and the poles are invariably in a certain position according to that of the battery. Thus, if the positive end of a trough placed before us be on the right hand, and the negative on the left, a needle suspended over the connecting wire will have its north pole from us; if suspended below, the north pole will be next us. If the connecting wire be drawn from the centre towards either end of the needle, the latter is instantly attracted by it; so that the astantly wire has the power of attracting both the north and south pole. If, while the needle and wire are in this position, the former be turned, so as to bring near the latter the pole formerly opposite to it, it is immediately repelled; and this occurs whether the north or south pole be approached; so that the part of the wire which before attracted, now repels both poles. If, when the wire is near the extremity of the needle where the strongest attraction is, it be moved round the end, so as to go from one side to the other, keeping the same point towards the needle, its power of attraction increases as it approaches the end; but the moment it gets round it diminishes, ceases entirely when opposite the pole, and begins to repel as it moves along the other side, the repulsion increasing till it reach the extremity of the pole on the opposite side to where the wire was first situated. These different experiments show, that any part of the connecting wire of a Galvanic battery may be made attractive or repulsive of either pole of a magnetic needle, merely by changing its position. It has been found that the magnetic property does not depend on the metal of which the connecting wire is made. When the ends of the trough are connected by a tube filled with mercury, the same effects are produced, and the magnetic influence extends through substances, and affects the needle just as common magnetism does; a plate of glass placed between the wire and needle does not in the least diminish the attracting or repelling power. The connecting wire does not produce any motion on needles of brass, of glass, or gumlac. Such are the principal facts discovered by Oersted concerning electro-magnetism, and these have been fully proved by other philosophers. In a subsequent number we intend to continue this subject, and point out the discoveries of others in this interesting branch of science. ON THE STATE OF WATER AND AERIFORM MATTER IN CAVITIES FOUND IN CERTAIN CRYSTALS. A very interesting paper has been lately published on this subject, by Sir H. Davy, in which he has shown the nature of the contents of the ca vities in crystals, and endeavoured, from his observations, to elucidate the changes that the materials of the surface of this globe have undergone. The crystallisations constituting the rocks called primary, and those occurring in the rocks termed secondary, prove that a great part of the materials of the surface of the earth has been either fluid or aeriform, as these are the only states of substances from which crystals are formed, and of these the fluid is generally considered the most probable: but geologists differ with respect to the cause of the fluidity; some asserting, that it was produced by the agency of water; others, by that of heat. Sir H. Davy, in the course of his chemical researches, had frequently endeavoured to discover some facts which might throw light on this interesting subject, but without success till about three years ago, when it occurred to him, that the manner in which erys-tals were formed by nature might be ascertained by examining the state of the fluid and aeriform matter contained in them. It is well known that water, and all fluids at usual temperatures, are more expansible by heat than siliceous or earthy matter. Supposing then that crystals were formed at a temperature and pressure nearly the same as those of our atmosphere, the fluid enclosed in them ought to occupy almost the same space as when it was included, and the aeriform matter ought to be in the same state of density. On the contrary, if they were formed at a high temperature, a vacuum, to a certain extent, might be expected in the cavity, from the shrinking of the fluid as it cooled, and a consequent rarefaction of the aeriform body. For ascertaining the state of the included substances, holes were drilled in the crystals under water, oil, and mercury. In the experiments which Sir H. Davy first performed, he found that the moment the opening was made, the fluid, in which the crystal was placed, rushed in, and the globule of air contracted to about a sixth, and in some cases to a tenth of its original bulk. In one instance the cavity occupied a space equal to 74.5 grains of mercury; the liquid equalled in volume 481 grains of mercury, and the globule of elastic fluid, after the experiment, was of the same bulk as one of mercury, weighing 4-2 grains, so that it had contracted between six and seven times, when the opening was made in the cavity. In another case it diminished to 1-10th its original volume. .. The fluid in the preceding experiments was water nearly pure, and the elastic matter appeared to be azote. Sir H. Davy found that the substances included in the cavities of productions generally allowed to be formed by the action of heat, were in the same condition, though in these the aeriform matter was in a much more rarefied state, being from 60 to 70 times rarer than atmospheric air. In considering these experiments, he is inclined to think that the crystals must have been formed at a temperature far above that of the surface of the globe, the water and the siliceous matter of the crystal having been in chemical union, and separated during cooling. Lime, it is well known, retains water, though heated to 250° of Fahrenheit; and baryta, even though fused at a red heat, does not part with it. It is extremely likely that a liquid compound of silica and water would exist under pressure at a high temperature, and, like all liquids exposed to the air, would probably contain a small portion of it. On such a supposition the phenomena presented by the water in crystals may be accounted for,-that they have been deposited from a substance rendered fluid by heat, aided by a high pressure. Two experiments performed afforded results different from those already stated, but the same conclusions may, perhaps, be drawn from them. In one crystal the cavity contained about a sixth part of its bulk of an oily fluid, which had an odour similar to that of naphtha, and was inflammable; the remaining space did not, however, contain any aeriform matter; for the moment the opening was made, the liquid in which it was immersed rushed in and filled it. In the other experiment, the elastic fluid in the cavity appeared to move as if it were condensed, which was found to be the case; for when the crystal was pierced, it enlarged to about ten times its former bulk. If crystals of this nature be of igneous origin, they must, it is supposed, have been formed under an immense pressure, sufficient to occasion a compression greater than what was capable of compensating the expansive force of the high temperature at which they were produced. SUCCESSFUL ASCENT OF MONT BLANC. A successful attempt has been made by an Englishman, Mr. F. Clissold, to ascend Mont Blanc, which he accomplished on the 20th of August. Mr. Clissold left Chaumony on Sunday the 18th, at half past ten p. m. with six guides. They reached the summit of the mountain called De la Coté at three o'clock of the following morning. After a short halt they crossed the glacier, and at half past seven reached the rocks termed Grands Mulets, from which they immediately proceeded, ascending the ice by means of steps cut in it by hatchets, and at half past seven in the evening arrived at the Petits Mulets; but as they found it impossible to reach the summit that night, they descended to a convenient place, where they slept for four hours in a square pit dug in the snow. In this situation the cold was sufficiently intense to produce ice in a bottle of Hermitage wine, and thoroughly to freeze their lemons, but it was too dark to allow them to observe the height of the thermometer. At four in the morning they again set off, and arrived at the summit at half past five, without experiencing many dif ficulties. After remaining there about three hours they descended, and arrived at the priory of Chaumony at half past seven in the evening, having completed the journey in the short space of forty-five hours. While on the top of the mountain the sky was without clouds, and a vast number of summits were observed, some covered with ice, others with pasture. Jura bounded the horizon on the north-west. To the south-east the eye penetrated beyond the plains of Lombardy, as far as the Apennines. Mr. Clissold has brought with him specimens of the rocks from the summit, some of which contain small globules of a black glass, supposed to be occasioned by the action of lightning on the materials of which the rock is composed. In this ascent he found that his progress across the |