never sanction such an expenditure of animal life, were it not to answer some important end in the well

Vegetable Fly-Trap.

being of those plants she has furnished with these organs of destruction.

The little Sundew, which grows commonly in our bogs and marshes near London, on Hampstead-heath, &c., would itself furnish sufficient proof; I have often seen several flies and worms in the possession of one of these small plants, which was flourishing by its prowess, and fattening on the delicacies it had caught.

The and

But in the Sarracenia the number is still greater; aften, in the larger plants, so great as, from their putrefaction, to cast an offensive smell around. putrefying, however, is a necessary process; it is, probably, both modified and checked by the sugary juices of the plants, which, like the gastric fluids of the animal stomach, may be fitted not only to digest, but also to retard or regulate the changes that take place in the food. The water in these receptacles, impregnated by the half-putrefying animal matter, doubtless affords a highly nourishing and strengthening drink to the plant; for it is well known that the drainings of dunghills give a very powerful stimulus to vegetable growth. These speculations would seem, in some measure, to admit of experimental proof; for the Sarraceniæ, if kept from the access of flies, are said to be less flourishing in their growth, than when each pouch is truly a sarcophagus; and further, I remember to have heard, or read, of a physiological experiment made on two plants of Dionea Muscipula, selected for this purpose, of nearly equal size and health; both were kept under similar circumstances, save that the one was restrained from flies, worms, and all kinds of animal food, while the other was daily fed with small strips of rump-steaks, the result of which experiment was, that the Epicurean plant languished on its lenten diet, while the vegetable beef-eater flourished on its more substantial fare.

[Extract from BURNETT'S Essay on the adumbrations of a Stomach in vegetables.]

RULES FOR EMPLOYING TIME. IN the morning, when you awake, accustom yourself to think first upon God, or something in order to His service; and at night, also, let Him close thine eyes. Let your sleep be necessary and healthful, not idle and expensive of time beyond the needs and conveniences of nature; and sometimes be curious to see the preparation which the sun makes, when coming forth from his chambers of the east.

Let every man that hath a calling be diligent in pursuance of its employment, so as not lightly or without reasonable occasion to neglect it in those times which are usually and by the custom of prudent persons employed in it.

Let all the intervals or void spaces of time be employed in prayer, reading, meditating, works of nature, recreation, charity, friendliness, neighbourhood, and means of spiritual and bodily health; ever remembering so to work in our calling as not to neglect the work of our high calling, but to begin and end the day with God, with such forms of de votion as shall be proper to our necessities.—JEREMY TAYLOR.

A CHILD'S MORNING THOUGHTS

SEE the sun, how broad and red!

He seems to touch that elm-tree's head;
See, about him cling in crowds,
Crimson, blue, and golden clouds,
And the sky above him glows,

With a colour like the rose.

See, what little shining beads
Hang upon the flowers and weeds,
All the lawn is cover'd quite
With a veil of watery white;
And the distant meadows seem

Almost hid in misty steam.

Happy birds are on the wing;

Hark! how loud and sweet they sing!
See that speck upon the sky,-
"Tis a lark; I saw her fly.
Happy birds! I'm happy too;
I will skip and sing with you.
But before I run to play,

Let me not forget to pray

To Him who kept me through the night,
Woke me with the morning light,
Made for sleep the darkness dim,
And the day to worship Him.
Lord! may every rising sun
See a better life begun!
May I love and serve Thee more
Than I ever loved before!

In my work and in my play,

Be Thou, Lord, with me to-day!-E. S. R. A.

"THE fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Here, then, we may learn, whether or not we have found the strait gate. But let us take care that we be not contented to remain, like menials, at the entrance; the children and heirs are advanced still further; and their affection is ever leading them forward to reach that perfect love which casteth out fear.-B. A.

SPRINGS.

The origin of springs, from which rivers have their source, though involved in much obscurity, may be said, generally, to proceed from the condensation of atmospherical vapours, the ascent of subterraneous exhalations, the filtering of water from the sea, and the melting of ice and snow. Atmospherical vapours are raised from the sea and from the earth by the heat of the sun; and, being condensed, by changes in the temperature of the air, descend again upon the earth in dew and rain. The coldness of elevated regions is well known, and whenever a current of wind carries the air of the sea, or of the plains, loaded with moisture, against mountains and mountain-chains, the invisible vapour in it becomes precipitated by the cold, either in the shape of snow or rain; owing to which beautiful arrangement of Providence, the sources of Rivers are always found in high grounds, from whence they flow, by a gradual descent, towards the sea; and the continents of the world are formed much higher in the interior than towards the coast otherwise the falling rain would have produced unwholesome, uninhabitable marshes, in those countries which are now the delightful abodes of man, and supply the means of his subsistence. The source of the Rhine, for instance, is about 6000 feet above the level of the German Ocean, into which it falls after a course of 840 miles. The sources of the Danube are in the same mountains, and may be traced up to about the same level; and this river flows 1833 miles eastward to the Black Sea. The Rhone flows southward from the same chain 510 miles; and the various branches of the Po descend from the other declivity of this mountainous region, and, after a course of 430 miles, reach the Adriatic Sea, or Gulf of Venice, at no great distance from that celebrated city.

Springs are merely the outbreaking of water that has fallen upon the earth and sunk through the surface, where it was absorbed; so that when the earth is fully charged with water, they are most abundant; and after a season of drought they become exhausted, and in elevated parts of the country they entirely cease to flow, and the wells become dry, as has been very generally the case in this country during the latter part of the present summer. The difference in the fall of rain in elevated and in low regions, is remarkably shown even in this country; for by experiments, continued for a period of years, it has been found that in Westmoreland, which is mountainous, the average of rain is sixty-three inches perpendicular depth per annum; while in Middlesex and Hertfordshire, which are nearly level, the fall does not much exceed twenty inches. The periodical overflow of the Nile, which covers the land of Egypt, is well known; but all this water comes from a range of mountains in the centre of Africa, 3000 miles distant from the Delta of Egypt.

Rivers are very much supplied by the melting of snows in summer, which have fallen on mountainous ranges during the preceding winter; and when the changes of temperature in the spring of the year are very considerable, the effects upon rivers flowing out of these regions, are sometimes quite surprising: for instance, in the present year, the River Ohio, a considerable branch of the Mississippi, rose seventy-eight feet in perpendicular height above its ordinary level, and in the flat country adjoining the Mississippi caused an overflow of the water 150 miles wide.

Besides these collections of water from external causes, springs and fountains have an extensive origin in an internal formation, caused by the combination of oxygen and hydrogen gases, which, whenever they meet, decompose each other, and produce water.

Springs are of several kinds, according to the preponderating cause of their origins; as perennial, temporary, intermitting, or reciprocating. The first, or perennial springs, seem to be supplied by the gases just mentioned; they flow continually, with little or no variation in the quantity of water they emit. Temporary springs flow only during certain seasons of the year, and are probably supplied by rain and melted snow. Intermitting springs flow and stop alternately, in consequence, it is presumed, of their connexion with the sea. Reciprocating springs flow constantly, but in a variable manner as to quantity; of which the cause has not been well explained.

In the formation of lakes, we see another instance of the consideration of Providence, for they operate, in most cases, like immense cisterns for receiving these sudden accumu lations of waters; so that the rivers forming their outlet are not increased, by sudden falls of rain or melting of snow, in any thing like the degree they otherwise would be, because the quantity of water which is sufficient to raise suddenly the surface of a lake one foot, would, perhaps, raise the river fifty feet, if it were not so spread out over a large space. The winding of rivers, which adds so much to their beauty and to their fertilizing effects, has also another most important effect, which is evidently the work of the Parent of Good, that is to say, it retards the flow, and preserves the water in them three or four times as long as it would otherwise remain in the channel; but for this, the formation of lakes, and the deposit of water in the earth itself, the upper part of the course of rivers would be entirely dry after a few weeks' cessation of rain, and the elevated regions of the earth would be infinitely less habitable then they are at present.

COURSES OF Rivers.

Rivers usually rise in elevated regions; and the origin of the largest may generally be traced to a small rill, oozing from a bed of sand, or clay, and descending from nearly the summit of some mountainous chain. This insignificant stream receives in its course the tributary waters of numerous brooks and rivulets; so that by the time it reaches the plain, it becomes a tolerably broad river. In its progress to the place where it discharges its waters, either into the ocean, or into some river more considerable than itself, it is increased by many smaller streams: thus, the Volga receives the waters of more than two hundred rivers and brooks, before it falls into the Caspian; and the Danube is enriched with an equal number, in its way to the Black Sea.

It sometimes happens that two or more rivers have their springs upon, or near, the summit of the same mountain or chain, but flow down in different directions; which has led to an erroneous notion that they have but one common

source.

The course, or run, of rivers, is of variable length; ex tending from a few to some hundreds, or even thousands, of miles. It is determined by the several circumstances of distance from the source to the sea, or other mouth; the nature and arrangement of the country which it traverses; the number and magnitude of its tributary streams; and the peculiarities of the climate, in respect of temperature, seasons, &c. Generally, the extent is in pro portion to the height of its source; and it always bears a relation to the surface of the valley, of which it receives the auxiliary waters.

The beds, or channels, of rivers, are partly owing to those revolutions, as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which, at different times, have altered the face of the earth, and partly to the natural action of the rivers themselves. To the former may be ascribed the remarkable examples of rocks and large beds of compact strata penetrated by rivers, of which the velocity and weight are far from being considerable. The latter may be naturally expected in loose and soft soil, which readily gives way to a gentle pressure of long continuance, assisted by the soaking of the parts acted upon. Great alterations are made in the sides and bottoms of the beds in the course of time; some parts being depressed, or worn down, by the force of the current, while others are raised by the gradual deposition of mud and other products of the soil brought down from a distance. Hence it happens, that the entire course of a river is sometimes changed, more especially towards its mouth. As rivers proceed from their sources to their terminations, their channels are usually increased in breadth, excep: when they flow through narrow passes between rocks or

mountains, which give the current an increase of velocity proportioned to the compression they occasion at its sides. When obstacles of this nature stretch across a valley, so as to leave no immediate outlet for the waters, a lake is formed, into which the stream continues to flow, till, rising above the interposing dam, it rushes down the opposite side in a cataract, and resumes its progress through the lower parts of the succeeding valley.

The rapidity with which a river flows depends upon the quantity of its waters, the breadth of its channel, and the declivity of its bed: for, as the breadth of the channel is greatest in a plain country, the current will be there slower than in a sloping mountainous district.

The mouths of rivers are various in their appearances. In some cases, the water glides smoothly into the sea, mixing almost immediately with its waves; in others, the force of the river and the volume of its waters are so considerable, as to preserve a well-marked distinction between the fresh water and the salt, to a great distance from the place where they meet. Such is the case with the rivers Maranon and La Plata; the former of which sends an immense body of water into the ocean with such force, that it remains unmixed with the briny wave to the distance of eighty leagues. When the current of a river aimost stagnates in a level country, its course is disturbed by every trifling obstacle, and a variety of outlets is the consequence. This diminished velocity also allows the waters to deposit the earthy particles which the current had brought down from the higher and more rapid parts of its course; and alluvial tracts are formed at the outlet, as in the cases of the Rhine, the Volga, the Ganges, the Nile, the Niger, the Oronoco, and many other large rivers. Sometimes, these sluggish streams deposit banks of sand, of greater or less extent, through which the water seems scarcely to find a passage into the ocean. Lastly, there are some rivers, whose currents are, for a time, so retarded by the tides of the sea, that their waters are thrown back, so

that they overflow their banks, and inundate the surrounding plains to a great extent.

The greatest velocity of a river is usually about the middle of its breadth and depth, and the least towards the bottom and sides.

PECULIARITIES OF RIVERS.

Several of the rivers in the following list consist of two or more streams, bearing various names in the countries through which they respectively flow. But the measurement, commencing at the fountain-head and continuing to the entrance of the river into the sea, is to be understood as comprising the whole, under whatever denomination the preserve their name from beginning to end, are in themparts may be geographically known. Some rivers, which selves inconsiderable; but receiving in their progress the waters of larger rivers, they become magnificent streams, and, by retaining their own title, cast a shade over others to which they are indebted for their importance. In their union to form one large river, which thus appears to some cases, as of the Nile, two streams contribute by have two sources; and it seems difficult to decide which of the two is the main channel.

COMPARATIVE SIZE OF RIVERS.

In comparing the sizes of different rivers, and the masses of water they contain, we must take into account the length of their course, their breadth, and depth; together with their velocity at various parts. This is obviously a difficult, and, it may be added, almost an unattempted task. It is easy enough, on the whole, to compare many of them together, as to their length, or breadth, or depth, &c., separately; but all these require to be combined, in order to exhibit their true relative magnitudes and proportions. Major Rennell, in his Memoir on Hindoostan, has given a list of the relative lengths of rivers, the Thames being taken as unity, from which the following scale is constructed :

According to this scale, the Rhône is three-fourths longer than the Thames; the Seine twice and a half as long; the Tagus three times; and so of the rest. The length of the Thames is assumed to be about forty-five leagues, or nearly one hundred and fifty-six miles; the multiplication of which by the number standing against any given river, will show its length in English miles. But the Major's computations do not exactly accord with the existing amount of information on the subject. Hence the Plate at the head of this article will be found to differ materially from him. Till lately, the Maranon, or River of Amazons, was supposed to be the longest river in the world; but it is now ascertained that the Mississippi (an Indian name, signifying Father of Waters) and Enesei exceed it. Major Rennell also estimates the extent of the Thames too low; its length being, according to the latest admeasurements, two hundred and fifteen miles.

With this explanation, the reader will be able to appreciate the motives by which we have been guided in the construction of our CHART OF THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS IN THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD. It is formed from

the best recent authorities, and is at least an approach to the truth; subject, nevertheless, to correction from future observations and discoveries.

The Chart exhibits the rivers as drawn out in straight lines, or nearly so, for the purpose of comparison; and some remarkable places, as cities or towns, on their banks, and lakes through which they run, are inserted at their respective distances from the mouth of the river to which they belong. In the following Table, which may be considered as an Appendix to the Chart, the rivers are set down in their relative proportions, the Thames being taken as unity; that is, being reckoned as the number one. This will be found convenient for the memory, which more readily receives and retains a comparative measurement, than a series of abstract numbers. In addition to this general method, the measurements are given in English miles; together with the countries through which the rivers flow, the sites of their origins, principal towns, &c., by which they pass, and the ocean, &c., into which they discharge their waters. The names in italics have been omitted on the Chart, for the sake of clearness.

.... Reading, Henley, Windsor, Brentford, London, Gravesend.

Sea, Staines, North Sheppy Isle.

at

215

England,....................... Cotswold Hills