They are supposed to be poisonous: this is quite a vulgar error. They are useful reptiles; and are even capable of the knowledge of our attention and humanity. It is wanton cruelty to destroy them. In my country abode, I even attempted to make them a place of retirement, and called it a toadery. Every creature that God has sent we should protect; and, in a subordinate degree, they demand our attention. ** It is no disgrace to the Christian character to plead the persecuted cause of the harmless toad."-Disgrace! no, verily !-The Voice of Humanity. THE APPEARANCES OF THE PLANETS. THE times of the planets' rising, southing, and setting, together with their conjunctions with the Moon, &c., I insert in the monthly Astronomical Notices; but that the juvenile lover of astronomy may distinguish the planets from the fixed stars, and from one another, I make the following remarks. The fixed stars all seem to twinkle, but the planets give a steady light. MERCURY emits a bright white light; but keeps so near the sun, that he is very seldom visible; and when he does make his appearance, his motion towards the sun is so swift, that he can only be discerned for a short period. He appears near the horizon, either a little before sun-rise, or after sun-set. VENUS is the most beautiful star in the heavens, known by the names of the morning and evening star. Like Mercury, she keeps near the Sun, though she recedes from him much further; but never like him appears in the eastern part when the sun is in the western. Venus always follows the sun in the evening, or, rising before him, gives notice of his approach in the morning. MARS is of a fiery red colour, giving a much duller light than Venus, though he sometimes appears almost equal to her in size. He is not subject to the same limitations in very near the sun; at other times at such a distance as to rise when the sun sets, and to set when the sun rises. JUPITER and SATURN likewise often appear at great distances from the Sun: the former shines with a bright light, the latter with a pale faint one. The motion of Saturn among the fixed stars is so slow, that unless carefully observed, and that for some time, he will not appear to move at all. The GEORGIUM SIDUS (the planet discovered by Dr. Herschel) cannot be readily perceived without the assistance of a telescope. From the preceding observations, any person may easily learn to distinguish all the planets: for if after sun-set he sees a planet nearer the east than the west, he may conclude that it is neither Mercury nor Venus; and may determine whether it be Saturn, Jupiter, or Mars, by the colour and light; by which also he may distinguish between Venus and Mercury. Besides the motions which we observe in all the planets, their apparent magnitudes are very different at different times. Every one must have observed that Venus, though she constantly appears with great splendour, is not always of the same size; but this difference of magnitude is most conspicuous in Mars: it is remarkable in Jupiter, but less so in Saturn and Mercury. W. ROGERSON. NOTICES OF ANIMATED AND VEGETABLE NATURE. FOR JANUARY, 1833. "I can see A beauty in that fruitful change, when comes' O'er the dead face of the' undistinguished earth." 1ST WEEK. Shell-less snails and earth worms appear. Laurustinus remains in blossom; and now and then, in mild seasons, a daisy or a snow-drop breaks forth: but there are fewer wild flowers in this month than in any other period of the year. 2d Week. The wagtails, white, grey, and yellow, are seen by the sides of ponds and brooks, hopping before the passenger, with occasional turns and jerks, as though holding familiar discourse with him. The red-breast and the missle-thrush sing, and the nut-hatch chatters. The Christmas-rose exhibits its pretty flowers about this time. The winter aconite is now in bloom, and the catkins of the hazel begin to appear. 3d Week. The hedge-sparrow warbles; the brisk little wren hops about, and sings his lively notes; the house-sparrow chirps; the bat is seen in mild evenings; and spiders occasionally shoot out their webs. The primrose now and then opens a few flowers in sheltered situations, if the weather is moderate; and the daisy and chickweed begin to sprinkle the way-side with their starry blossoms. 4th Week. Flies sometimes appear in the windows; the titmouse, or ox-eye is heard; and the sky-larks congregate. Mezereon opens its delicate pink flowers; the pansy, the sweet violet, the red dead-nettle, and the coltsfoots of different species are in blow. W. ROGERSON. BRIEF ASTRONOMICAL NOTICES, FOR JANUARY, 1833. "Around the Sun harmonious planets race, By his attraction move through boundless space; MERCURY revolves at the distance of about thirty-seven millions of miles from the Sun; Venus at sixty-eight, and the earth at ninetyfive millions: Mars revolves at about one hundred and forty-four millions of miles, Jupiter at four hundred and ninety millions, Saturn at nine hundred, and Uranus revolves at the distance of eighteen hundred millions of miles from the Sun. Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta, are four small planets that revolve between Mars and Jupiter, and were discovered in the nineteenth century. The earth has one moon or satellite, Jupiter four, Saturn seven, and Uranus six. Comets, of which there are at least four hundred and fifty belonging to the solar system, are governed by the same laws as the planets; but while the latter revolve round the Sun in orbits nearly circular, the former move in very eccentric ellipses: but notwithstanding the number of Comets that have appeared, the periodical returns of only a few of them are known. Comets are distinguished from the rest of the heavenly bodies by being surrounded with luminous matter, and having tails which are always in an opposite direction from the Sun. The fixed stars are most probably suns, enlightening worlds that revolve around them, in the same manner as our Sun gives light to the earth, and the rest of the planets that surround his radiant orb. The appearances, &c., which the celestial bodies exhibit to the inhabitants of Great Britain, during this month, as produced by the The SUN rises on the 1st, according to mean or clock time, at eight minutes past eight, and sets at one minute after four: on the 15th he rises at two minutes past eight, and sets at eighteen minutes after four. The Sun enters the sign Aquarius on the 20th, and on the same day is eclipsed; but invisibly, as the phenomenon happens about ten at night. The MOON passes the meridian on the 1st at four minutes before eight, and on the 4th at eighteen minutes before eleven at night. The Moon is full on the 6th, at fifty-one minutes past seven in the morning, at which time the Moon is partially eclipsed. The eclipse begins at forty-nine minutes after six: the Moon sets at five minutes past eight, and the eclipse ends at ten minutes after nine, in the morning: the middle happens about eight o'clock, when the Moon is about half eclipsed. The Mcon rises on the 7th at twelve minutes before six, and on the 10th at four minutes before ten at night she enters on her last quarter on the 12th, at half an hour after midnight. The Moon changes on the 20th, at four minutes past ten at night she presents her beautiful crescent in the west on the 22d, and sets at five minutes after six: she sets on the 24th at a quarter past eight, and on the 26th at half past ten. The Moon enters on her first quarter on the 29th, at twenty-two minutes before one in the morning: she souths on the 30th at half past seven, and on the 31st at twenty-two minutes past eight, at night. MERCURY is visible in the mornings at the beginning of the month, rising about an hour and a half before the sun. VENUS is a beautiful object every clear evening in the western skies she sets on the 14th at two minutes past eight, and on the 23d at twenty-six minutes past eight: on the 24th she is in conjunction with the Moon. MARS passes the meridian on the 4th at eighteen minutes past eight, and on the 19th at half past seven: on the 30th he is in the neighbourhood of the Moon. JUPITER appears very bright in the south-west about seven o'clock in the evening: he is in conjunction with the Moon on the 25th. To those who have telescopes, and wish to observe the eclipses of Jupiter's moons, I give the following:-Emersion of the first satellite on the 3d, at twenty minutes past five in the evening: immersion of the third satellite on the 6th, at twenty-seven minutes past seven at night: emersion of the first moon on the 10th, at sixteen minutes past seven; and on the 26th, at thirty-seven minutes after five: emersion of the second satellite on the 20th, at thirtythree minutes past six in the evening. SATURN is to be seen in the mornings: his ring, which was invisible in October and November, 1832, is now discernible by means of a good telescope. Saturn is due south on the 2d at nine minutes past five, and on the 20th at one minute before four, in the morning. The Pleiades, or seven stars, south on the 10th at twelve minutes past eight, and on the 25th at eighteen minutes after seven at night. Aldebaran souths on the 1st at forty-two minutes past nine, and on the 20th at half past eight. Capella (a bright star nearly overhead) passes the meridian on the 15th at twenty-four minutes past nine, and on the 30th at twenty-six minutes after eight, at night. Greenwich, Kent. WILLIAM ROGERSON. *The times of the above phenomena answer to the meridian and latitude of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich; but will serve tolerably well the whole kingdom. JUVENILE OBITUARY. 1. DIED, at Faversham, September 7th, 1831, Sarah Ann Scholes. She was born March 19th, 1813, and was a grandaughter of the venerable Mr. John Marsden. In childhood she was very lovely, and remarkably intelligent; so that when only four years old, the perusal of the Bible, and of Milton's Paradise Lost, was her favourite employment. She was even then a comforter of her parents, and an affectionate monitress to her young companions. Her health was first impaired by the measles, when in her fifth year; and in this, as in her other afflictions, she was extremely patient; but from that period she was never the blooming, healthful child she had previously been. Very early the Spirit of God powerfully operated upon her mind, deepening the impression made by parental instruction and ministerial exhortation. She joined the Methodist society at the early age of twelve years; and at that time seems to have enjoyed a considerable measure of divine peace; although, owing to her diffidence, her family (with the exception of her mother, to whom she told all that was in her heart) were scarcely acquainted with her religious experience. A residence of several weeks at the seaside, in the summer of 1825, was of great advantage to her. She returned from Margate in October, on the mournful occasion of her mother's death; and on her arrival at home, her friends were astonished to witness the fortitude and Christian resignation with which she bore her loss; stifling her own feelings of overwhelming grief, to administer consolation to those around her. She was much blessed in union with the society at Faversham, whither her family removed in 1829. There she obtained a stronger evidence of her acceptance in the Beloved, and was enabled to rejoice in Him with joy unspeakable and full of glory. On the 25th of April, 1831, she thus alludes to that happy event :-The anniversary of that blessed night on which God spoke peace to my soul Glory be to God for the heavenly enjoyments of that happy night; for redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins. Yes; I, even I, can set to my seal that God is true. I praise him that, notwithstanding my unfaithfulness, doubts, and unbelief, in the past year, he has not deprived me of the joys of his salvation, nor taken his Holy Spirit from me. This night I thirst for the joys of holiness, and the joys of heaven; which I humbly hope to |