thousands of gold and silver," Psalm | If there were no other principle left, and if none of the old leaven continued to work, the whole man would be entirely sanctified; men on earth would be as the angels in heaven; every individual believer would be completely, what he now is but partially, a living temple to the living God, filled with his glory, ever fervent with praise, radiant with the beauty of holiness.-Hambleton. OLD HUMPHREY ON EXCELLENT IDEAS. I was sitting at a table by myself, in the corner of a public coffee-room, pondering on the pages of a book which an old friend had just lent me, now and then taking a sip of coffee, and occasionally casting a glance at the flickering gas-light, which flared within a few feet of the table. There were several well-dressed young men at the opposite end of the room, engaged in conversation, but so deeply occupied was I with my book, and my own speculations, that most likely not a word of all they said would have distinctly reached me, had it not been for an exclamation, in which one of them frequently indulged. Scarcely five minutes elapsed without his crying out, "That's an excellent idea!" After hearing this several times, I directed my eyes towards the speaker, who was gaily dressed, with a gold chain across his bosom, and a showy ring on the little finger of each hand. "That's an excellent idea," said he again, just at the moment that I lifted up my head, and I then felt a little solicitude to catch one or two of the many "excellent ideas," that were falling around me. 66 What a poor, perishing world is this, whether we consider it as an abiding place, or with respect to the fulfilment of those hopes which are continually rising in our restless hearts! Every day presents us with proofs that this is not our rest," and every hour brings forth enough to convince us that our earthly hopes, like bubbles on the running stream, only glitter one moment to burst into empty nothingness on the next. How often are we expecting much from sources that yield but little ! There may, or may not be wisdom in thus indulging in a passing reflection, when relating a common-place occurrence, but it is a habit of mine, and Old Humphrey cannot see, hear, read, write, or converse, without now and then throwing in a passing reflection. Well, as I said, I was on the look out for "excellent ideas." These are not, certainly, very often to be met with, and you may as well expect to see pineapples on blackberry bushes, as to hear "excellent ideas" from the thoughtless and the vain; but the old proverb says, "It never rains but it pours;" and however scarce "excellent ideas" may be in general, yet if I might judge by the exclamations that reached me, I was in a fair way of falling in with a profusion of them. Though I appeared to pore over my book, my ears were wide open to what was going on at the other end of the room. The conversation was on the subject of cigars, and one of the party thought it would be no bad thing to take one to church with him the next time he went there. "That's an excellent idea," exclaimed the one in the gold chain. The excellency of this idea did not at all strike me; on the contrary, it seemed to me to be thoughtless, silly, and profane. I, however, still kept my ears open. 66 Tom," said one of them soon after, "what do you think? in passing by the blind Scotchman at the Regent's-park, I dropped a pebble stone into his hat: 'Thank you,' said the old fellow, who thought he had got a capital catch." "An excellent idea!” again cried out the one with gold chains. The excellency of this idea was quite as indistinct to me as the former one. I thought both the idea and the act were mean, wanton, and cruel; but the conversation changed. "How did you manage, Ned, with your watch ?" asked one. not a whit more valuable than those of my neighbours. What an ignorant, vain, presumptuous, and inconsistent being is man! How much he knows of others, how little of himself! How quick is he to condemn the faults of his fellow-sinners, and how slow to amend his own! I had worked myself up to a pitch of virtuous indignation; I had arraigned others of manifold misdemeanors, and performed the offices of jury and judge to my own satisfaction, disposing of every case as I thought proper. You may be sure that I felt a little high-minded; but when I brought up Old Humphrey himself to the bar, I was soon humbled, even to the dust. "It's bad enough," said I, "when the young act a foolish part, thinking that 'excellent' which is unworthy, and pursuing folly instead of wisdom: but what excuse “O,” replied he who was addressed, has he whose hairs are grey, who has had "I persuaded the watchmaker that it had the experience of a lengthened life to assist a gold key to it when I left it with him, a him, and who has long taken upon him to keepsake that I would not have parted with instruct others in the way they should go? for double its value; and so he was glad What excuse has such an one as Old Humenough to get off without charging me any phrey to offer, when the light, hollow, frothy thing for the new spring.' things of time, are estimated by him as "An excellent idea!" once more ex-very excellent,' and pursued with more claimed the ornamented admirer of this ardour than the things of eternity?" fraudulent ingenuity. Now, excellent as this was pronounced to be, it was nothing less than impudence, deceit, and dishonesty. "Well," thinks I, "if Old Humphrey has not had quite enough excellent ideas' for one day, it's a pity;" so drinking up the last drop that was left at the bottom of my coffee-cup, I closed my book, and walked away, musing on the weakness, the folly, the heartlessness, and immorality of the world. When a man picks up stones in good earnest, to throw at his neighbour's windows, he may very soon break a great many panes; and, in like manner, when he sets about finding fault with those around him, he is never long at a loss for something to find fault with. I soon made out a long catalogue, not of "ideas" only, but of plans and undertakings, which, though considered "excellent" by thousands of people, are weak, worthless, and wicked. It was truly astonishing how clearly I saw the errors of others, how sagely I reflected on the matter, and how eloquently I reproved the follies and frailties of mankind. At last it occurred to me that it might not be amiss, after going abroad so much, to come a little nearer home; for perhaps I might find in my own head and heart some 66 cellent ideas," and admirable undertakings, ex Of all ploughing and harrowing, the ploughing and harrowing of our own hearts is the hardest work, and I think I may add the most productive of good. I felt determined to give myself no quarter. I had been fierce as a lion in my attack, but was tame as a lamb when obliged to defend myself; and after half an hour's rigid examination of my own heart, you might have trodden on the toes of Old Humphrey without his reproaching you; so much was he humbled in his own estimation. It may be that you also have been pluming yourself on some "excellent ideas," which will no more bear the test of christian consideration than some of mine. If it be so, try, at least, to avoid bitterness, and to manifest a forbearing spirit towards an offending brother. If we have both erred, let us both try to amend together; for however "excellent" our "ideas" may be, one practical illustration of the christian principle of forbearance and charity will be worth them all. JOHN DAVIS, 56, Paternoster Row, London. Price d. each, or in Monthly Parts, containing Five W. TYLER, Printer, 4, Ivy Lane, St. Paul's. THE Banana, is the Musa Sapientium of Linnæus, who converted the Egyptian naire mauz into the more classical form of musa; intending, perhaps, at the same time, to commemorate Antonius Musa, the physician of Augustus. It grows plentifully in all the warmer climates, and flourishes prodigiously wherever it meets with a rich and crumbling soil. The name of plantain tree, which it bears in some places, is from the Spanish platano, which is itself derived from planta, the latin term for an offset, in allusion to the young VOL. III. shoots which spring in great plenty from the root, to succeed their short-lived parent. The rapidity with which this tree waxes from a tender plant to a magnificent tree, is one of the most remarkable features of its history. Within the brief span of two years, it has commenced its existence as a bud, spread forth its lofty and imposing foliage, borne a massy cluster of fruit, and exhibited all the symptoms of decay and immediate dissolution. But the shortness of its existence is amply made up by the number of its offspring; its stay is short U indeed, but the young trees which hasten to supply the place of their forerunner, leave us no reason to complain. The banana affords a pleasing and affecting instance of that system of compensation which pervades all the orders of creation. The same kind hand that has withheld one advantage, bestows another to fill up its room, that in the end there may be no lack. The tree under consideration dies after a❘ short period of utility, but it dies only to make way for others to spring up, which in the following year will do as much for the eater as if the space and productiveness of the old tree had been continued. In the mountains they often grow wild, as loving a black and mouldering soil, which is there furnished by the moisture and decayed vegetables. But if you want a plantation of bananas, where they are found, you have only to raise a fence by laying stones together, as represented in the sketch at the top of this paper, fill the area with loose soil of rotten vegetables, plant a few offsets removed with their attendant roots, and all is done. Year after year you may look for crops of bananas, without troubling yourself to clear the ground, or dress it with manure; for the old trees by heat and moisture are soon decomposed, and thus furnish a pabulum for their successors. We need not inform the intelligent reader, that wherever vegetables are cultivated or made to grow on a variety of soils, there are also a great variety of kinds. The potatoes will furnish an easy exemplification; for they are raised upon soils differing widely in quality; we have therefore many sorts of potatoes. In like manner, the banana vegetates on soils and in situations of great dissimilarity: we find, therefore, a numerous assortment of fruit, differing in size, from a foot in length to an inch and a half. Their qualities are no less varied some cannot be eaten till they have been boiled; others possess the most delicious flavour, in the fullest state of ripeness. There is a sort of "kind deceit " in the banana: the stomach, in hot climates, is apt after fatigue to loathe food, but the ripe fruit of the banana is welcomed; for the wearied person being enticed by the name of fruit, eats, and presently finds by experience, that it was not only to please the palate that he had eaten, but to replenish the exhausted powers of nature. We can speak from observation, and can bear witness, without exaggeration, that there is no other fruit which is at once so grateful and nutritive as that of the banana. : The fruit is of an oblong three-cornered shape, and is arranged in a thick cluster upon the lower part of the fruit-stalk, as is represented in the sketch. The skin is tough and leathery, and finally turns to a bright yellow. The pulp is of an orange colour, with scarcely any traces of a seed. On the fruit-stalk the attentive reader discovers a bare space with a few scales, once occupied by the barren flowers, which fall off before the fruit ripens. These flowers contain a quantity of honey, and for that reason are attended by the humming-birds, who are said to live chiefly upon the nectareous juices of flowers. While the writer was at Rio Janeiro, the stomachs of several of these little birds were opened, and found not only to contain the honey which they had thence obtained, but the insects which feed upon it. For the latter are often entangled in that sweetness which had allured them, and in this way become the easy prey of the humming-birds. These feathered beauties not only feed upon honey, but the honeysuckers also. The leaves of this tree are remarkable for the beauty of their veins, which run parallel to each other, and so form a series of delicate lines from one end to the other. At these, however, the leaf soon rends asunder, and gives the spectator the first notice of the coming fall. These leaves are applied to a singular purpose by the natives of the South Sea Islands, and are made to fulfil an office, which no stranger would ever think of guessing. For who would imagine that to dress a joint or a fowl after the best possible method, was to wrap it up in green leaves! Yet this is the approved practice, and has the double effect of preventing the respective evils of roasting and boiling; namely, the loss of nutriment in one instance, and the hardening of the fibre in the other. They impart no taste to mar its flavour, defend it from being burnt, and check the egress of its juices. It seems not, in the nature of things, possible to invent an apparatus that should answer the purpose more completely than a heated oven, which is merely a hole in the earth, a few large stones, and an envelope or dressing of banana leaves, THE BENEVOLENT SUNDAY-SCHOLAR. A CLERGYMAN from one of our Western States, says the "New York Observer," a few weeks since, visited the town of H., New Hampshire. On the sabbath, he represented to the congregation the wants of a feeble church, in the place where he resided, who were then struggling to build a house of worship. A son of the clergyman of H., a lad of twelve, and a sabbath-scholar, listened to the account with deep interest. After worship, he applied to his father for a few halfpence, which he wished to contribute to aid the feeble church. But the father, to his regret, was compelled to deny him, as he had just emptied his own purse for some benevolent object. The next day was the fourth of July. There was to be a splendid celebration near, and the boy had received promise of this as a holiday. In the evening, the father sent him a short distance on an errand. On his way, he met with a farmer, to whom he offered his services for a moderate compensation. The farmer, being pressed in business, hired him; and the boy laboured faithfully all day, sacrificing the pleasures of his anticipated festivity for one shilling, which he joyfully contributed to aid the above-mentioned church. CHEMISTRY. No. VIII.* EARTHS. No. 1. WHEN We attempt to calculate the number of substances that belong to the mineral kingdom, it appears almost impossible that we should obtain any distinct or certain information concerning them. The diversified appearances of the various rocks, gems, ores, and metals, almost prevent us from attempting their classification. Certain distinguishing characteristics have, however, been discovered, by the investigation of | their several properties; and the different mineral substances may, though so numerous, be arranged under distinct classes, each of which has some plain marks of distinction. The particular class of substances which we now proceed to notice, is known by the name of Earths. "To a cursory observer, the earths appear infinitely diversified; so much so that he would probably think the different kinds innumerable. However, notwithstanding the various appearances of the earths under our feet, of that of the furrows of the field, and of the mountainous parts of the world, whose diversified strata present to our view substances of every texture, and of every shade, the whole is composed of only nine primitive earths; and as three of these occur but very seldom, the variety which is produced by the other * When speaking of the formation of hydrogen, in page 108, it was not distinctly stated, that iron filings must be added to the dilute sulphuric acid, in order to obtain the gas. It is the iron which decomposes the water, and taking possession of the oxygen, liberates the hydrogen. six becomes the more remarkable. This may be fairly adduced as one instance of the infinite skill of the Deity, as it bespeaks an Artist, master of his work, acquainted with his materials. To give a still greater variety to the works of nature, these earths are endowed with an affinity for acids and metallic oxides; whence arise the gems, spars, and precious stones of every colour and every species." The earths are distinguished by the following general properties: they are tasteless; incapable of dissolution in water; unaffected by heat; and are between four and five times heavier than water. Most of the earths have been decomposed by Sir Humphrey Davy, and from the results of his experiments, there can be no doubt that all the earths are compounds of metals |and oxygen or metallic oxides; but if there had remained any doubt after the investigations he made, recent experiments have proved the truth of the statement. | There are nine earths; called, silica, alumina, zirconia, glucina, yttria, barytes, strontites, lime, and magnesia. The last four are called alkaline earths, on account of their possessing certain properties which give them a resemblance to a class of bodies called alkalies. All our readers are acquainted with a stone called flint, very frequently found, and distinguished from all others by its texture and hardness. This substance, in its pure state, is that earth called, in chemical language, silica, which is of a white colour, without smell, and capable of enduring the most violent degree of heat without alteration of character. It is very abundant in nature, and is the principal component of quartz, an extremely hard white substance, found in almost every part of the world, sometimes in a massive, and sometimes in a crystalline state; and it is the principal ingredient in gravels and sand. Though silica is not capable of fusion by the most intense heat, yet if it be mixed with the two alkalies, potash and soda, it may then be melted into glass. Mortar, earthenware, and cement, owe their hardness to the silica they contain, and it is the chief ingredient of those solid rocks which have resisted the effects of ages, and "constitute the most bulky materials of the solid parts of our globe.' Silica enters into the composition of the amethyst, cornelian, Egyptian jaspar, opal, calcedony, agate, and other precious stones. Its specific gravity is 2 degrees. ALUMINA, So called from its being the • Parkes. |