memory of their miraculous escape were instituted by all the individuals who shared in it, and that they were gratefully performed by all their descendants who preferred a settled to a wandering life.

But there are no grounds for the opinion that either the books mentioned above as antediluvian, or the literary monuments in Greece which were lost in a flood, (Diod. Sic. v. 74.) probably the same as the former ones, were written in alphabetic characters. From the extreme improbability that whosoever had enjoyed the inestimable advantage of alphabetic, would not have abandoned them for hieroglyphic characters, we conclude that the Chinese and Egyptians never possessed the former; and as, if one of the children of Noah had been acquainted with them, all would have been so, and as two of the most ancient nations were ignorant of them, we hesitate to believe that the Sanscrit alphabet is coeval with the flood. (Sir W. Jones, Trans. Asiat. Soc.) Mr. Astle has endeavoured to shew, from the Books of Moses, that alphabetic writing is spoken of before the Tables of the Law were given, alleging that as Moses was commanded to engrave on stones and on plates of metal, he must have known the use of alphabetic letters, to which we cannot assent, (the cuneiform characters, the lapidary writings of the Persians, lately deciphered by Mr. Price, "Antiquities of Persepolis," seems to be a case in point,) and attributes to the Phoenicians the merit of the discovery. This is contrary to the direct evidence of Diodorus, v. 74, who says that the Phoenicians only changed the form of the letters, but did not invent them. From there being no direct testimony to prove the existence of letters prior to the time of Moses, but, on the other hand, from no writing being specified on an occasion where it would seem to be required, (Genesis xxxi. 46.) and from alphabetic characters having been used shortly after the exodus; from the voice of antiquity, which describes letters as a gift of the gods to men; from the casual mention of Moses as the inventor of the Hebrew letters; and from all of them, with the exception of Teth, being comprised in the Decalogue; from the Coptic, Samaritan, Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac alphabets manifestly having but one root, it seems very probable that alphabetic characters date from the æra when the Law was given from Sinai.

With all due allowance for the knowledge he possessed from tradition and revelation, there is abundant internal evidence that Moses composed his history from the Egyptian books mentioned above; but that these books were very little beside a bare catalogue of significant names, is evident from the dry, sterile "book of the generations of Adam," compared with the more noble style that distinguishes the rest of his work. Some of the ablest commentators on Scripture (Grotius and Le Clerc) have thought that the names recorded in the Pentateuch have been translated into the Hebrew,the persons themselves being denoted by hieroglyphic figures, representing some action or circumstance by which they could be identified, at the time a sort of universal graphic language, comprehended by all mankind, but absolutely spoken by none, as the Chinese

written language is intelligible when the oral dialects of it are not understood.n

24. Comparison of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Mountains of Scandinavia.-The following comparison between the three great chains of European mountains, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Scandinavia, has been made by Professor Schouw, of Copenhagen. The Pyrenees lie between 42 and 431 N. lati; the Alps between 434 and 48°; the mountains of Scandinavia be tween 58 and 71°. The Alps and Pyrenees are consequently at an almost equal distance between the Equator and the North Pole; the Scandinivian chain extends to the polar circle; the Pyrenees are not more than a degree of latitude in breadth; the Alps occupy four de grees and a half; the Scandinavian mountains thirteen. It is clear that these last must present a greater variety of temperature, and have, in general, a much colder climate. In longitude the Pyrenees extend from 16 to 21°, the Alps from 22 to 35%, and the Scandina vian mountains from 22 to 48° from the meridian of Ferro. The heights are well known of the Alps and Pyrenees, but those of the more remarkable of the Scandinavian chain, never having before ap peared in print, we insert at length. TO İLİ: 2£

25. Meteorological Observations made at Geneva and at Saint Bernard. The observations at Geneva for these last thirty-two years have been in different places, and at different times of the day: calculated for the same situation, they give for the mean temperature, 785 of Reaumur; that of St. Bernard, from ten years' observation, is 0.79 of Reaumur. The quantity of water which has fallen at St. Bernard in the shape of rain, snow, or hail, is to the quantity which has fallen at Geneva in the same time :: 7:3; a very curious résult. The mean barometric pressure at Geneva is 26 inches 10 lines; at St. Bernard 20 inches 9.75 lines.-Bibliot. Univ. Mars.

26, Coincidence of Storms and Earthquakes with a Depression of the Barometer-February 21, 1828, at three P.M. the barometer at Geneva indicated 26 inches 41 of a line, The 19th, 20th, 21st, and 23d of the same month, furious tempests raged throughout the south of Europe, and on the 23d the shock of an earthquake

was felt in the north of France and in the Netherlands; a new example of the coincidence of these three phenomena.-Bibliot. Univ. Mars.

* 27. Account of some remarkable Mongrels between a Dog and a she Wolf, by M. Wirgmann, jun. Isis,' Nos. 8 and 9.-The following occurrence is very similar to what took place two years since at the menagerie of the Island of Peacocks, near Potsdam. A pointer dog impregnated a she-wolf, and three female whelps, very different from each other, were brought into the world; one of them died; one bore a stronger resemblance than the other two to a wolf in the quality of its hair, having on its leg the black line which characterizes this animal; the second also was sufficiently like the mother, with the exception of the eyes, which were the same as those of the dog; the third pup was very nearly a pointer, although in some respects incomplete; its character was gentle, while the other had a fierce air. The father was quite white, with brown spots; on the other hand, the young ones had, the first, the hide and colour of a wolf; the second was whitish on the mouth, on the cheeks, on the sides of the neck, and the back blackish; lastly, the third, a white band from the front of the neck, over the breast and the back, the same colour as that of the second.

וי

28. Urinary Calculi. Naturwissensch. Abhand. v. e. Gesellsch. in Wurt.-M. Rapp, having analysed eighty-one urinary calculi which he had obtained in different parts of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, has obtained the following results :

1 Calculi, with oxalate of lime (almost always with a nucleus of uric acid)

a) Calculi, formed by oxalate of lime alone

b) Oxalate of lime, with an exterior fusible coat (of ammoniaco-
magnesian phosphate)

c) Oxalate of lime, covered with a thick coat of uric acid
d) Oxalate of lime mixed with a considerable quantity of uric
acid, so that their external characters are no longer dis-
tinguishable

21876

2 Uric acid

3 Uric acid, covered with one or more fusible coats

4 Urate of ammonia

5 Fusible calculi without a distinct nucleus

6 Phosphate, with a considerable proportion (0.13) of carbonate of lime

One remarkable fact is the rarity in Wurtemberg of calculi formed of uric acid, if the number of them be compared with that which is generally found in England. M. Rapp has found 7 out of 81 in his collection; while in the collection of Guy's Hospital in London, 22 are met with among 87; at Norwich 66 out of 181 (Marcet); at Manchester 71 of 187 (Henry), without counting 89 others com

posed of uric acid and of phosphate; of 150 calculi in Hunter's mu seum, and in the collection of Sir E. Home, there are 61 formed of uric acid, including 45 containing a small proportion of phosphate (Brande). In the collection at Bristol, Smith found 73 calculi of uric acid out of 218, the total number.

Calculi of uric acid are not, therefore, common in Wurtemberg; this substance, however, is the most generally diffused throughout them. M. Rapp counted 57 of which only the nucleus was formed of it. This nucleus is frequently very small, sometimes only a line in diameter; in many of these concretions the oxalate of lime is mixed with uric acid; sometimes but rarely, coats of uric acid alter-, nate with coats of phosphate.

M. Rapp found no stone composed entirely of phosphate of lime, but frequently this salt was mixed with ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate. The phosphated earths form but rarely the first nucleus of a stone; most frequently they form the external coats when the nucleus is already formed. This is frequently observed in mulberry calculi; occasionally a certain quantity of carbonate of lime is mixed with the phosphates. These calculi may be formed without any particular diathesis, and in a man in good health, whenever any extraneous body gets into the bladder, they become the most voluminous calculi. Earle described one (Philos. Trans. 1807) that weighed four ounces. An animal regimen appears singularly favourable to the deposition of phosphated earths in the urine.

The presence of urate of ammonia in urinary calculi has been contested by MM. Brande, Henry, and Marcet; and the signs which Prout has indicated to recognize this salt are all doubtful. M. Rapp has, however, found it in three calculi, two of which had a crust of oxalate of lime, and the third a crust of ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate. It is best recognized by means of a solution of caustic potash, in which these calculi completely dissolve, disengaging ammoniacal gas; but it is necessary to be certain that they. do not contain ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate. Silica has not been found in any of the calculi examined by M. Rapp. Calculi of oxalate of lime are the most common in the kingdom of Wurtemberg; in England, on the contrary, they are rare; in the former there were 56 out of 81, while at Norwich only 59 out of 181; in the Hunterian Museum 6 out of 150; 28 out of 87 at Guy's Hospital; 11 out of 187 at Manchester, and 65 out of 208 in the collection at Bristol.

29. On the Animal of the Silicaria.-M. Audouin has announced to the Philomathic Society of Paris that he has observed the animal of the Silicaria, of which only the calcareous tube has as yet been known. Zoologists were uncertain of the class to which this animal belonged, some placing it among the annelides, and the others among the molluscæ. M. Audouin announces that by its organisation it belongs to the class of molluscæ, and approximates to the genus vermet of Adanson; it is provided with a very thick and cor

neous operculum. Its coriaceous skin, denominated by the French "manteau," is divided from one extremity to the other, and, contrary to the assertion of M. de Blainville, the branchia are found on one side only, the left. The body is terminated behind by a "tortillon," the head, which is distinct, is provided with two eyes situated at the base of two cylindrical tentacula, slightly swelling at the extremity. Annales des Sciences Nat.

30. Observations on the influence of Cold on New-born Children.· Dr. Trevisan has been making researches in Italy, principally at Castel-Franco, analogous to those of MM. Villermé and Milne Edwards in France. The conclusions at which he arrives, are:i. In Italy, of 100 infants born in December, January, and February, 66 died in the first month, 15 in the course of the year, and 19 survived;-ii. Of 100 born in spring, 48 survive the first year ;iii. Of 100 born in summer, 83 survive the first year;-iv. Of 100 born in autumn, 58 survive the first twelve months. He attributes this mortality of the infants solely to the practice of exposing them to cold air a few days after their birth for the purpose of having them baptised at the church. As well as MM. Milne Edwards and Villermé, Dr. Trevisan calls the attention of the ecclesiastical authority to measures suited to put a stop to such disasters without violating the precepts or practices of religion.

31. Elevation of the Principal Table-lands of the Globe.-Of the different table-lands of which the elevation has as yet been determined, the following is a correct estimate in English feet. The mean height of the department of La Haute Vienne, in France, is 1847 14. The most elevated table-land of the centre of France is that of Auvergne, which serves as base to the mountains of the Mont-d'Or, Puy-de-Dôme, and Cantal; its mean height is 2362. In Spain, the soil of the two Castiles is 1903; in Switzerland, the plains of the canton of Berne are only 1312, or 1369, although the mountains in their vicinity are 12,796 feet high, and one of them, Mont Blanc, 15,666. These plains have nearly the same elevation as the table-land of Suabia, Bavaria, and New Silesia. In Africa, all the table-land to the north of 31°, inhabited by the Betjuans and other people, rises 5807 above the sea. In the New World, the surface of the great Mexican plateau, which is inhabited, is from 5570 to 8858. (The pass of the great St. Bernard is only 8173.) These elevated regions, which are much colder than the lower lands in their neighbourhood, have the same temperature as France. To give a general idea of the effects produced on the temperature by difference of height, we may add, that from the observations of M. de Humboldt in America, and of Saussure in the Alps, an elevation of 623 feet corresponds to a diminution of one degree of the centigrade scale.