tannin; the peculiar vegetable principle by which the gelatine of skins is converted into leather, and to which the acid is allied in a manner hitherto unexplained."-Brayley. OXALIC ACID emits an aromatic smell, ignites when heated, and precipitates the oxides of iron. BENZOIC ACID is obtained from a resin called benzoin, in the form of a white powder. It has an aromatic smell, an acrid and bitter taste, and is soluble in boiling water. According to Mr. Hatchett, it may be obtained by dissolving benzoin, balsam of Tolu, and balsam of Peru in sulphuric acid. During digestion, a beautifully crystallized white benzoic acid is sublimed. This process is recommended by Dr. Thompson. | the neighbourhood of Paris, and elsewhere, are combinations of lime and sulphuric acid. The fluor spar of Derbyshire is composed of lime and fluoric acid; and there are masses of common salt both in the eastern and western hemisphere, which contain such immense quantities of muriatic acid as would render every attempt to calculate the amount abortive." "The large masses of celestine and ponderous spars in different parts of the earth, contain an incalculable quantity of the sulphuric acid; and the crysolite of Greenland is a compound of the bases of alumina, soda, and fluoric acid; silica, which possesses many of the properties of an acid, abounds in the form of gravel, and also in that of solid rocks, in every quarter of the SUCCINIC ACID is obtained from amber, globe; and several of the valuable minerals, and is, in itself, useless in the arts, though, together with those called precious stones, when combined with ammonia, it has the are combinations of the different earths with property of separating peroxide of iron the chromic, or the phosphoric acid, not to from its solutions. mention the annual changes which the veCAMPHORIC ACID is derived from cam-getable kingdom undergoes by the formation phor, by means of nitric acid; and by the and subsequent decomposition of the vegesame agent suberic acid is obtained from cork. table acids. LUCCIC ACID is obtained from white lac, a substance brought from the East Indies; and SEBACCIC ACID from animal fat or tallow. PRUSSIC OF HYDROCYANIC ACID is a compound of hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, and is a deadly poison. URIC ACID is procured, in a crystalline form, from urine; and the AMNIOTIC ACID from the amnios of the COW. Many other acids have, during the last few years, been added to the list we have given, and chemical investigations are constantly increasing their number. We have already more than seventy well determined acids. This class of bodies is so important in chemistry, that we may be permitted to quote the opinion of an eminent and wellknown writer upon the subject. "The uses of the acids are so many, and so important, that it is impossible to enumerate them. They are indispensable to various arts and manufactures; they are employed for culinary purposes, and for medicine; they act an important part in the great laboratory of nature; they produce that numerous class of bodies called salts, and form a great proportion of the mountainous districts of the globe. "The vast masses of limestone, chalk, and marble, which are found in every part of the world, are combinations of lime and carbonic acid. The mountains of gypsum in "Many of these bodies are formed by the action of vegetable life, such as the mallic and citric acids; some are formed principally by chemical changes effected spontaneously on dead vegetable matter; as, for instance, the acetic; and others, as the sulphuric, occur in the mineral kingdom, and are also formed artificially, in great abundance." SCRIPTURE EXPLANATIONS, NO. XXVIII. "Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south."-Psalm cxxvi. 4. IN the East the rivers in the dry seasons are little more than fleeting streams, and sometimes they are entirely evaporated by the powerful action of the sun's rays. The rainy season comes, and the beds, forsaken of the ancient river, begin to receive their annual tribute from the fruitful clouds, and the mountain-torrent, rolling in its accustomed channel, causes the streams to return again, changing the sandy waste into the majestic river, raising the sower's hopes, replenishing this parched land with the long-desired verdure, and man and beast again rejoice in the earth's abundance. Thus prayed the pious Psalmist :-" Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south:" that as the inhabitants of these sultry regions rejoice in the return of the reviving streams, so we, restored to our beloved country and temple, may rejoice in the long-expected deliverance.-W. Brown. BOTANY.-No. X. LABIATE. THIS most natural order of plants is composed of such as are of universal recognition; for every reader is acquainted with the dead-nettle, mint, sage, and rosemary. Happily for distinction they are coupled together by a general character, just as obvious, when properly stated, as the plants themselves are familiar. This character is founded in the dispositions of the blossoms, which are placed in a whorl or little circle just above a pair of opposite leaves. This order was established, under a different name, by our countryman Ray, who was followed by Linnæus. The herbage is usually aromatic, as in the rosemary and horehound; often bitter, but always harmless. The corolla is generally two lipped, and always irregular. The stamens are four in number, placed under the upper lip; one pair longer than the other. Another easy mark of distinction is found in the uniform presence of four seeds at the bottom of the cup or calyx, which does not fall off, but stays to accommodate the seeds with a lodging till they are ripe; at which period they are black. This remark, in reference to the seeds, may be verified by looking at the common white or dead-nettle. The stem is always square, and the branches invariably opposite to each other. Ballota.-There is but one species of this genus, the B. Nigra, or stinking horehound. This is nearly as common as the red dead-nettle, and is very apt to be confounded with it, and with the all-heal, which we shall presently describe. It may, however, be distinguished from them by its dull forbidding appearance and unpleasant smell; but very accurately by the presence of ten well-marked lines upon the calyx. This part of the flower is worth examination; for we see in what is always regarded as a disagreeable weed, a cup that bears all the obvious marks of the most finished workmanship, and which consequently furnishes a pleasing and accurate character for distinction. Stachys.-This genus is chiefly distinguished from its kindred genera by the position of the stamens after the anthers have shed their pollen. At first we see them upright; but after their office of scattering that fine powder is accomplished, they seem as if averse to each other; for one pair is leaning towards one side, and the other pair towards the other side. The stachys sylvatica, or hedge allheal, is common by hedges, and differs in its appearance from the purple dead-nettle by being more erect and taller than the latter. The size of the stem with its foliage gradually tapers to a point at the top. If in walking forth with a friend, conversation should flag for want of interest, we might at any time in summer pluck up the stachys, and point out the mutually averted position of the stamens. Many reflections upon the wisdom of God in creating, his goodness in diffusing instruction in every corner of his vast dominions, would spontaneously arise, and lead us to fresh remembrance of Him who has so kindly made and garnished all things for our use, improvement, and delight. Mentha Serpyllum, mother of thyme. -Its scent, which resembles the garden thyme, will always denote this plant, which may be found upon the elevated parts of heaths, and in mountainous places. The essential and distinguishing character of the thymus is found in the calyx, which is two-lipped, and has its mouth filled with fine hairs. If at any time we meet with a plant in travelling that resembles the mint in smell and general appearance, we apply to the calyx for a touchstone or criterion: if one lobe points upward and the other down, and if withal we see a barrier of white hairs defending the entrance, we put it down as belonging to the genus thymus, without further question. The wild basil, found in corn-fields, the field and the mountain calamint belong to this genus. The two last are sometimes met with on the road side, and may be known by their aromatic smell, and the presence of the criterion just described. Glecoma Hederacea, ground ivy.-An extremely well-known plant, with round or kidney-shaped leaf, a blue flower, on all our ditch banks. If we pluck the flower of this strong-scented weed, and look at the stamens, we perceive that each pair of anthers are so placed that they compose a picture of St. Andrew's cross. Teucrium Scorodonia, woof-sage. The resemblance which the leaves of this plant bear to the common sage, will readily point it out among its wild companions. In the neighbourhood of London, especially about Hampstead-heath and Caenwood, it may be found in the greatest abundance. Homer tells us that the nurse of Ulysses recognised her master, after an absence of twenty years, by a mole that grew upon the hero's great toe. It is the object of the botanist to look for marks equally unerring and satisfactory. Now in the wood-sage we find the upper lip as completely abstracted as if it had been cut off with a pair of scissors. This circumstance leads us directly to the genus teucrium, of which the generic character is the absence of one upper lip. Betonica Officinales, wood betony.-In every wood we find the wood betony. Its small purple flowers, weak stem, and scolloped leaves will serve to recall its name to our recollection, whenever our footsteps are directed through the opening glades and pathways of a sequestered wood. Among the foregoing examples, though few in comparison of the number growing wild in this country, the inquisitive reader will find materials for study and comparison. The square stem, the leaves coupled in pairs, the curious twolipped blossoms, (corolla) the four stamens, paired in two friendly couples, of unequal length, are points of resemblance as general among the labiata, or two-lipped plants, as they are obvious and easy of recognition. We therefore commend the study of this very natural assemblage of vegetable creation to the particular attention of our readers. If any one should say, "I have but a little time to spare for recreation, I cannot afford to lose myself among the ever-doubling mazes of botanical disquisition," the answer is, that this is by no means necessary; for as the science is divided into wards or families, which we call orders, a person may take his choice, and study one division apart from all the rest. Nor is an apparatus of technicalities necessary; ten or a dozen well-defined terms will effectually do the business, when the object is single, that is, when one order only is studied. Should choice lead one to either the umbellifera or labiata, a never-exhausted source of remark and ingenious deduction would be found. All that is requisite is summed up in a patient observation, and the habit of recording the results of it upon paper: for one of the very best precepts for improvement in all studies is-Write down what you think. THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE REV. W. Yate says, that in New Zealand the door is now thrown wide open for the admission of christian missionaries, so that they might go east, west, north, and south, through the length and breadth of the land. There was scarcely an individual who was not ready to receiv instruction by means of the schools, and by means of a preached gospel, if there were missionaries to provide them such instruction. The natives had come down in great numbers, earnestly praying that they might receive instruction, and that, to use their own mode of expression, their hearts might be so "bothered with the love of Christ," that they might no longer be able to act as they had done. A chapel was built, schools were formed, and about ninety men and women had been brought under the influence of christian society. The people to the southward had long been in the habit of fighting with the Bay-of-Islanders; they had made great depredations upon the people; they had destroyed numbers of their tribes; and the enmity seemed to be increasing. They had told the missionaries, that if any of them from the Bay-of-Islands attempted to go down and live there, they should not remain there long, for that they would drive them away, or destroy them. But God had enabled the missionaries to interfere with success. Three thousand of the Bay-of-Islanders had been prevented by their means from engaging in the work of destruction. Some persons were sent down at the risk of their lives, to request the missionaries to give the same instructions to them, which they had given to their countrymen. Formerly, the missionaries had not been allowed to land at that place; but on the present occasion, they were met by fifteen hundred natives; and when they landed, the chiefs said it was their intention to make some speeches. They called first upon an old chief, who spoke for nearly an hour, and who said, "The missionaries, he was sure, were come to that place to blunt the points of their spearsto snap their clubs asunder-to draw the bullets out of their muskets-to bury their bayonets in the ground-to bring this tribe and that tribe together-and to make them all to live in peace." A loud shout then burst from the whole assembly, "We will have them We will have them! And then this tribe and that tribe shall live in peace, and we shall no longer kill each other as we have been accustomed to do." This gave the brethren great joy, for it convinced them that the Lord was at work among that people, though they had not been aware of it. The people were very anxious for an answer. The missionaries told them that when they were about to engage in any work, it was always their custom to seek guidance and direction from God. "Well, then," they said, "seek guidance and direction from God now." He told them that it was the intention of the brethren to hold a service, and after that to explain their views and intentions as to the requests the chiefs had made. He gave out a hymn, and, with five or six boys whom he had taken with him, raised a tune to his great astonishment, he found that the majority of the people not only knew the words of the hymn, but joined in the tune to which it was sung. When he began to read the church service, his astonishment increased to find that they united in the confession, and in the various responses, with all their hearts and voices. The circumstance which had led to that which so astonished him was afterwards explained. A boy, a sort of slave, who had lived with him, and who had been redeemed with two or three blankets, had gone among them while on a visit to his relations, and had taken with him his prayer and hymn books; and with the little knowledge he had obtained, had established a sort of school, where he taught those who went to sing the tunes he had learned, and to join in various portions of the service of the church. ROMISH CONFESSION IN FRANCE. A ROMISH Country curate was disputing with a bible and tract hawker, concerning that excellent tract, "The Blind Man and the Soldier," and observed, "Your books are very good, but they say nothing about the sacraments." 66 Why, sir, this book is only about a soldier's conversion; and therefore cannot mention every thing.' "But if he were converted, he would have gone to confession, and received the sacraments : this is a protestant book. God has ap BENEFITS OF THE ALLOTMENT SYSTEM. In the evidence before a parliamentary committee, it was stated by Mr. Monk, to show the beneficial effects of allotments of land to labouring people, and the ease with which their bad habits may be amended, that formerly his cottages were in bad order; their pavements and windows broken: I had them all paved, and the windows glazed. I told the cottagers that I did not like shabby, broken windows, with patches of paper, and things stuffed in, or broken and that I disliked Irish filth, and all pavements, which they could not clean; Irish habits of living. I engaged, after the cottages were thoroughly repaired, to pay repair. I undertook to make the repairs twenty shillings a-year for keeping them in myself, and deduct the expense from this wanted, they were to have the whole themtwenty shillings; but if no repairs were selves. This course, I find, formed habits of care; and their cottages are now so well taken care of, that very little deduction is annually made from the one pound. They now abstain from chopping wood carelessly on their pavement; and as I give them two score of fagots towards their fuel, I save my hedges and fences; and the cost of all this to me is not more than the keep of one fat coach horse. Many persons accuse the poor of ingratitude, but I find them the most grateful people alive for these little attentions." A SINFUL LIFE.-He that lives in sin and expects happiness hereafter, is like him that soweth cockle, and thinks to fill his barn vi. 7, 8.-Bunyan. with wheat or barley, Luke vi. 44; Gal. A CONTRAST.-Better to be a lost sheep than a goat or swine.-Marshal. JOHN DAVIS, 56, Paternoster Row, London. Price d. each, or in Monthly Parts, containing Five Numbers in a Cover, 3d. W. TYLER, Printer, Bolt-court, Fleet-street. THE striking resemblance between the dress of a Levite, as shown in our engraving, drawn from the best authorities, and the modern oriental dresses, must be obvious to every reader. It is admitted that the Levites wore no particular habit till the time of king Agrippa, whose innovation in this respect is censured by Josephus. It appears their official dress was a simple robe. The trumpet which this figure is blowing, is intended, we suppose, to represent the ram's horn of holy writ. The Levites were descendants of Levi, by Gershom, Kohath, and Merari, excepting the family of Aaron; for the children of Moses had no part in the priesthood, and VOL. III. were only common Levites. God chose the Levites instead of the first-born of all Israel, for the service of the tabernacle and temple, Num. iii. 6, &c. They served the priests in the ministrations of the temple, and brought to them wood, water, and other things necessary for the sacrifices. They sang and played on instruments in the temple, &c., they studied the law, and were the ordinary judges of the country; but subordinate to the priests. God provided for the subsistence of the Levites, by giving them the tithe of corn, fruit, and cattle; but they paid to the priests the tenth of the tithes ; and as the Levites possessed no estates in the land, the tithes which the priests LL |