Sound affects particles of dust in a sunbeam; cobwebs and water in musical glasses; it shakes small pieces of paper off a string in concord. Deaf persons may converse through deal rods held between the teeth, or held to their throat or breast. The odorous matter of flowers is inflammable, and arises from an essential oil. When growing in the dark their odor is diminished, but restored in the light; and it is strongest in sunny climates. The fraxtnella takes fire in hot evenings, by bringing a candle near its root. A monument to Copernicus has been erected at Thorn, in Prussia, his native place. It bears the inscription drawn up by Baron Humboldt, "Nicolaus Copernicus, Torunensis, terræ motor, solis cœlique stator," on one side, and on the other, "Natus anno 1473, obiit anno 1543." A Bavarian naturalist, Dr. Autenrieth, traveling in New Grenada, has, it is said, while excavating in the neighborhood of Panama, disinterred a terra cotta vase containing three hundred and sixty-four Roman Coins in bronze. They belong to the third and fourth centuries, and bear the effigies of the Emperors Maximian, Diocletian, and Constantine the First. The contents of the Egyptian Galleries of the Louvre at Paris have been re-arranged, and a portion of the discoveries made by M. Mariette, in the Temple at Memphis, has been added to them. The principal additions consist of a number of statuettes of the time of the fourth and fifth dynasties; a statue of Apis, a sphinx, and three lions, a bass-relief bearing the name of King Menkehor, and a number of inscriptions. A monument to Justus Lipsius, the great scholar and critic of Brabant, has been erected at Overyssche, near Brussels, his native place. It consists of his bust placed on a pedestal, with a Latin inscription. An effort is being made to erect a monument on Plymouth Rock, in honor of the landing of the Pilgrims. The residents of Plymouth have subscribed $6,000. One of the largest and finest collections of engraved English portraits that has been made since the great days of Walpole and Sykes, was recently sold at auction in London. The highest price given for any one print was $132-for "Oliver Cromwell, standing in armor between two pillars." The Corriere Mercantile of Genoa, quotes a letter of the 15th, mentioning the discovery at Pompeii of three human skeletons, evidently belonging to one family, together with that of a dog. The postures in which they were found lead to the presumption that they were engaged in flight at the time of the eruption, but were overtaken by the lava, the dog refusing to leave his master. They had bags of gold and silver coin with them; one of the skeletons, still displaying rings and ornaments, was that of a young girl, probably the daughter of the fugitives. Mr. Hays, a painter in India, is preparing a series of fifty pictures, or scenes, representing the entire story of "Uncle Tom," from the first to the last chapter. A gentleman named Finch, in Pittsburgh, has discovered, it is alleged, a mode of puddling iron, by which the common gray Alleghany iron is made equal to the best Juniata. The strength of the iron when pulled in the direction of its length, is sixty thousand nine hundred pounds per square inch; and Mr. Finch is confident he can make an advance on this of four thousand pounds to the square inch. Curiosities of the Locomotive.-Our first-class narrow-gauge engines weigh, empty, forty-four thousand pounds, and are worth sixteen cents per pound. They will consume one cord of wood and one thousand two hundred gallons of water per hour, and will generate two hundred and seventy-five thousand cubic feet of steam per hour, of a pressure equal to that of atmosphere. Their heating surface is of the extent of the bottom of a boiler thirty-four feet in diameter. The strain upon the iron of the shell or boiler, to burst it open lengthwise of the boiler, is from six thousand five hundred to eleven thousand five hundred pounds per square inch, under ordinary pressures. There is also an additional strain of about four thousand pounds per square inch exerted lengthwise of the boiler to pull it apart crosswise. The whole pressures exerted against all the internal surfaces of the boiler amount to twenty millions of pounds, or ten thousand tons! The usual distance traveled by the locomotive being in motion but about one-eighth of the time, is equal to once around the globe every year. Colonel J. F. Gaines mentions the discovery of an iron mountain in Scott County, Ark. He sent several specimens of the different minerals and iron. from that section of the country, lead, silver, A Mr. Whitworth has invented a very modestlooking little apparatus which can determine easily the one-millionth of an inch. The use of such an instrument is chiefly for copying or regulating the standards of weights and measures, and in the construction of delicate philosophical instruments. Large lumps of sulphur are found in various parts of Iceland. They seem to be the result of the heat that steams up through the ground, as the sulphur collects upon everything. Hotsprings are numerous in this country, and jets of steam rush out of the mountains with a loud and terrible roaring. An iron tubular bridge is being prepared at London, intended to be thrown across the Nile at Bentra. The trains will pass along the top of the tube. A foot-path will be made on each side of the rails. The bridge will be twenty feet above the ordinary level of the water, and the center portion of it is constructed to swing on a pivot, so that the boat traffic may be secured during the rising of the Nile. The Paris correspondent of the Commercial Advertiser states that the vapor of chloroform, as a motive power, is to be applied upon an immense scale. A company has been formed, the money is subscribed, and the invention of M. du Trembly is bought. Twenty-four vessels are to be constructed, to sail between Havre and New-York, and several other ports. It has hitherto been to us an almost unknown region. Like a magnificent volume, covered on the outside with richest gilding and pictures, and promising to unfold many rare and excellent things, we have a few times glanced at its contents, but only glanced before it has been suddenly and ruthlessly closed, the pages we would fain examine being too "celestial" to be scanned by "barbarians." True, we have a tolerably correct idea of its geographical outlines and limits, and have dim fancies about its stupendous wall, its porcelain pagodas, its earthenware towns, and other remarkable edifices; but of the aspect of the country, or the manners of the inhabitants, -how it was first settled, how many are its races, or what have been its dynasties, our information is most limited. Even VOL. III, No. 6.-LL the revolution at present progressing, and gaze of the whole earth, is but little understood. Americans regard it with solicitude and hope as an effort of the people, the national party, to uproot a dynasty which assumed the throne by something akin to the right of conquest; and Christians everywhere are wondering what, if successful, will be its effect upon the interests of the kingdom of Christ. National pride and a love of the marvelous have so distorted the writings of native historians as to make them totally unreliable. They date the beginning of their empire before the world was founded; their early sovereigns are all spoken of as giants, taller than the loftiest pagodas, and as possessed of miraculous powers, and gifted with a longevity compared with which the life of Methuselah was but a span. It is doubtless one of the oldest empires in the world. According to the native historians, the first mortal emperor was Fohi, who is called "the son of Heaven;" but the empire really began with Yu-ta the Great. Fohi may have been Noah, a very natural supposition certainly, in view of the well-attested fact that China was settled by one of the first migratory tribes, formed by the dispersion of Babel, that passed beyond the deserts of Central Asia. Having taken possession of Shen-si, which borders on Tartary, they there laid the foundations of the present empire. From the reign of Fohi and his immediate descendants to the present time we usually count twenty-two dynasties, a brief account of which we here compile from various sources. The first dynasty is called Kia, and commenced, about 2207 B. C., with the reign of Yu-ta. It continued four hundred and forty-one years, under seventeen emperors, the last of which, Kia, detested by his subjects, was driven from his throne and died in ignominious exile. The second dynasty began with Ching-tang, a modest prince, shrinking from the government, but called to it by the voice of his country. He continued to hold the scepter only at the urgent and oft-repeated solicitation of his ministers. This dynasty was continued for upward of six hundred years by thirty emperors, and was terminated by the folly and vices of the last one. The third dynasty was called Tcheou, and continued some eight hundred and sixty years, during which thirty-five emperors reigned. The fourth dynasty lasted but forty-three years, terminating 203 B. C. During this brief period four emperors were on the throne, and it was one of the most remarkable periods of Chinese history. One of these emperors, Chi-hoang-ti, was a man of unusual talent and energy. He reduced the petty kings who had hitherto rebelled against the imperial power to a tributary condition, and thus secured internal peace. He also abolished their kingdoms, and gave in the stead of these honors to his relatives the privilege of wearing yellow, the imperial color. He next turned his arms against the Tartars-a portion of the warlike tribe called the Huns-who, according to the custom of the savage hordes of the North, to which they belonged, made frequent incursions into China for hunting and plunder. To keep off these invaders, the emperor resolved to build, along the northern frontier, a wall of immense height and thickness. To complete this mighty work every third laboring man in the realm was detailed, and with most servile toil and scanty supplies was compelled to labor. This work, after the lapse of two thousand years, still stands, one of the wonders of the world. It extended one thousand five hundred miles from the sea to the remote province of Shen-si, running over mountains and across valleys, and spanning the rivers by arches. It was broad enough for six horsemen to travel abreast, and of such height as to defy all attempts to scale it. The exterior was of solid masonry, which was filled in with dirt, and it was fortified by strong towers about three hundred feet apart, which were constantly garrisoned. It was certainly a most stupendous work, and merits well its title The Great Wall of China. the Arabs subsequently did linen for both. The Chinese ink is in cakes, known commonly in this country as India ink, and is applied with camel's hair pencils instead of pens. The dynasty of Han was on the throne of China when the Lord of Life and Glory appeared among men, and when the Buddhist religion, of which the Grand Lama is the pope, and the leading doctrine the transmigration of souls, was introduced into that country. The last fifty years of their reign is celebrated for the "revolt of the yellow caps," or the "war of the three kingdoms," as it is sometimes called. The empire was at this time ruled over by three princes of the line, but was involved in constant commotions, of which we know little, as Chinese romance and tragedy have swallowed up its history so completely that we cannot distinguish fiction from truth. Chi-hoang-ti, or, as the word signifies, the first emperor, not satisfied with so lasting a monument to his fame, was ambitious to be considered the founder of the empire. To secure this renown, he endeavored to wipe out every vestige of former history. He ordered that all books and writings of every description should be burned; and so rigidly was this edict enforced, that some literary men were put to death for attempting to secrete valuable records. Several copies of the works of Confucius, and those of some other eminent writers, were nevertheless preserved, having been hid under the floors and behind the walls of different dwellings. Chi-hoang-ti appointed his eldest son to succeed him; but, he being absent at the time of the emperor's death, a younger son seized the empire, and caused his brother to be strangled. This usurper soon became unpopular by his neglect and volup-riage, &c., the friendship of the Tartars, tuousness, an insurrection broke out, headed by Lien-pang, a freebooter, which, after many scenes of violence and bloodshed, ended in the death of the usurper, and Lien-pang ascended the throne under the title Kao-Tsou. Thus began the famous dynasty of Han, which derived its name from the native district of its first sovereign. Most of the emperors of this dynasty were munificent patrons of learning, and, during their reign, paper, ink, and hairpencils for writing, were invented. The Egyptians had for a long period made paper of papyrus, an article which had been used also at Rome; and it is not known whether the idea was derived thence, or was, in reality, a Chinese invention. The Chinese paper, at all events, was made of bamboo, a gigantic species of reed or cane which reaches the height of ordinary trees, and which is used for almost every conceivable purpose. The bamboo is pounded in mortars, mixed with silk and other materials, and, being made into a thin paste, it is spread out on a flat surface and dried into what we call paper. The Tartars borrowed this art from the Chinese, substituting cotton, which was more abundant in their country, for the bamboo, as This period of troubles is known as the Heou-han, or sixth dynasty, although in reality not to be distinguished from that of Han. During these dynasties an attempt was made to secure, by intermar But who, notwithstanding the Great Wall, con- Up to the period of which we now speak, the capital of the Chinese empire was at Hang-chow-fou, a large and wealthy city not far from Nankin, containing an immense population, chiefly engaged in the manufacture of silk and cotton. Like all Chinese cities it covered an immense ares as the houses were but one story high, and surrounded by gardens. The imperial palace, of which we present a cut at the head of our article, was in the midst of extensive grounds, adorned with oriental splendor, and surrounded by several magnificent temples. The first monarch of this new dynasty removed the seat of government to Kai-fong-fou, another large city in the province of Honan, one of the |