Page images
PDF
EPUB

fcription of that flood (as accurately represented in Ovid's Metamorphofis) very nearly comports with Mofes his description of Noah's flood, yet this is no more than an addition of circumftances, taken notice of by Mofes of an universal flood, to that partial flood under King Deucalion.

Some indeed have thought Noah's flood to have been also a partial one. But fuch a groundless conceit is entirely overthrown by two paffages in Scripture. We read in Gen. vii. 19. That the waters prevail'd exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heavens were cover'd. At verse the 21ft. we are told, that all flesh died that was upon the earth. And the following relation is full of pregnant notes of univerfality.

If therefore fo plain, fo expreffive a defcription may be figuratively confin'd, there can be no fuch thing as wresting the fcriptures to our own deftruction.

Q. In our coal pits about New-Caftle, when they have intirely dug out a vein, they stop it up with all imagina ble diligence, that the leaft air may not poffibly enter, left it fire the remaining duft of the coals, and irritate it with the irrefiftible rage of gun-powder, to blow up all above it; as was lately unhappily experienc'd, by the loss of the lives of above 40 perfons.

4. There may be a very good reafon for that caution of not letting in the air into thofe pits; but we do not think the greater danger lieth in that the remaining duft of the coals might be fired by it. For fuppofe it should, no fuch dreadful blowing up as happen'd lately, would follow; 'tis rather to be feared left the nitrous particles, with which the air abounds, mixing with the loofe fulphurous matter of the coal mine, fhould make a compound not unlike to gunpowder, and apt to be fired accidentally feveral ways, as by lighting a candle, a pipe, or the ftriking of fome flint-ftone, but not by the air alone.

Q. I defire you would give the best account you can of cochinele whence it comes, and the origin of the fame.

A. The

4. The drugg, which we diftinguish by the name of cochinole, is commonly reported by the Spaniards, (who in their dominions in the Weft-Indies are the masters of fufficient opportunities to know it throughly by the quantities produc'd) we fay, it is by them reported to be nothing but the carcafes of little flies, not much unlike the infect call'd a lady-bird, which breed upon the leaves of the prickly Indian fig-tree, and when they have attained to full maturity, are fmothered by the fumes of herbs or ftraw burnt under them, and falling down on canvas sheets, are dry'd by virtue of a conftant fun-fhine; and the wings rub'd off in gathering, leave the body round and fhrivel'd, in the form and bulk we have our cochinele in.

The merchants tell us, there are four forts thereof, As ift. Tuskaliobe, which is of a black dull colour, but the longest grain. 2dly. Mufteko, which is a grey fort, and the meaneft of all the kinds. 3dly. Golbaca, in colour between both, of the fame fize but much excelling in goodness. 4thly. Ilaxcala or Rofeta, which is the reddest in fhew, and the richest of all in ufe; but all these forts make up one commodity, for the merchants mingle them together, and fell them promifcuously for the best kind.

It is called Cochinele by the Spaniards, as a diminutive from the Coccus of the antients, Cocchus Baphicus, or Infectorious, which we now call Kermes, from whence that precious juice Alkermes is taken.

But not to enter upon the merits of the caufe, relating to its being a fly or not, we fhall inform you, that though common credit fpeaks the drugg a product of no other part than thofe above-named, yet a Gentleman of our fociety difcover'd on an island, fouth of Tenedos, in the Egean fea, a certain kind of bush or fhrub, the tallest not exceeding two yards in height, and of breadth proportionable; they bear a leaf thick, long and narrow, and a certain cod like thofe of vetches, which contain'd 4, 6, or 8, more or lefs fmall peas, or fomething like 'em, cover'd over with a hoary kind of downynefs and juicy like the body of a red wall fpider. Looking

Looking on the ground he found it cover'd with the fallen product of a former year, the cods were open, and on taking up the little fruit they bore, he found them both in tafte, form, bignefs, colour and effect, no other than the Cochinele you fpeak of. Hence the querift may direct his judgment on the subject, as he thinks most reasonable.

Q. Dover court, all speakers, and no bearers. Whence the original of the proverb?

A. A learned man propofes a very probable opinion, namely, that the proverb took its rife from fome tumultuous court kept at Dover, where was a confluence of many noify and boisterous feamen, who are generally too ready to enchroach upon the womens prerogative, and are ufually fo full of talk as to leave no room for attention.

Q. Apollo, fay from whence arife
Thofe fallacies which blind our eyes,
Which give us hope, each day far more
We shall enjoy, than e'er before ;
Yet tho' we find it still untrue,
Our hopes we foolishly purfue,
Ev'n to old age, and then believe
In joys, which youth cou'd never give.

A. We hope, nor are our hopes in vain,
Altho' our wish we don't obtain ;
Since thefe a relaxation grant

To life's vexations, cares and want;
And in the midst of pains give ease,
And in the midit of troubles please.

Nor is it vain, to hope for more
Succeeding joys, than paft before,
Since knowledge with experience joyn'd,
Yield brighter tranfports to the mind,
Than giddy youth, fenfe there's the fource,
Alloy'd by fcandal and remorfe.

Hopes by balfamick pow'r controul
The griefs and anguish of the foul,
Promote its energy divine,

And make it e'en in darkness fhine;

Suftain

Suftain our pilgrimage below,

Support against the fatal blow,

Withdraw the curtains of our night,

And give us here a glimpse of future fields of light.

Q. I caught a fish (others among )
Whofe head was full five foot long,
And his tail was (truly)

As long as his head and half his body,
And his body (without fail)

Was just as long as his head and tail.
This is my question,
Refolve if you can,
How long was the body
And fif's tail then?

A. Wife Sir, a fifteen-footed difh
Exactly nicks the tail o'th' fish.
Of twenty feet another

Contains the body without any pother.
Q. Ye fons of Apollo, I often have beard,
That your father's you call him, had never a beard.
If he had, pray inform me how this foolish ftory
Was invented at first, fince it fullies his glory?
For who amongst men, but is counted as no man,
If beardlefs he is, and is hiss'd by the women:
If not, how cou'd be, who was counted fo wife, be
of fuch a crime guilty, and be fuch a nizey?

A. 'Tis a wonder more ftrange, how the querift can dare,

The phyz of bright Phoebus with man's to compare :
Or fuch praise to that troublesome part can impute,
Which makes its ftern bearer resemble a brute.
Were a beard by the God of all fciences worn,
It might then the philofopher juftly adorn ;
But as fol is without it, nor Mercury has it,
So it argues philofophum barba non facit.

[ocr errors]

Q. Why does a mift often precede an hot day?

A. Heat and cold owe their original, not only to the vicinity or diftance of the fun, but also to the various difpofitions of the atmosphere. And this is evident from common experience, fince in the begin

ning of fummer we have fometimes hotter weather, than when the fun approaches the northern tropick of Cancer.

In a morning therefore preceding an hot day, the atmosphere is fo difpos'd as to receive from the fun fuch a proportionable degree of heat, as is fufficient to exhale fuch a quantity of moisture, as enough to compofe a mift.

But this obfervation is more generally taken, when a fultry day fucceeds to preceding cooler ones. For in cooler weather there is a greater portion of moifture, near the furface of the earth, for the fun to exhale and elevate.

Q. The Brazil-fleet brings 10000 arabs of gold (each arab weighs thirty two pound) and a great quantity of diamonds, befides their other ufual merchandizes: The fleet is valued at fifty millions of crufades; each crufade is worth three fhillings and four pence: I defire to know what the whole fleet comes to?

A. Tho' the queftion be of vulgar operation, and may be folv'd by a very fmall proficient in arithmetick; yet fince the Brazil-fleet is the greatest that ever arriv'd at Portugal (by reason that the Portuguese have lately fprang a new mine in those parts) and therefore many, who understand not fo much as multiplication and divifion, may be curious to know the value of fo remarkable a fleet, we think fit to acquaint the querift, that the value amounts to eight millions, three hundred and thirty three thoufands, three hundred and thirty three pounds, fix fhillings and eight pence.

Q. Why where the rosemary grows, it is faid there the woman reigns?

4. Rosemary is held an extraordinary thing to fortify the brain, ftrengthen the nerves, and recover loft fpeech, which laft virtue renders it highly valuable among the female fex: and fince the woman governs thro' the power of her tongue, it is no wonder fhe takes care to cherish that herb, that may afford her fuch a fovereign affistance, in cafe of a failure.

Q. What

« PreviousContinue »