cious stones and gems have a history known but | found in these valuable specimens of mineralogy subjects for their pens, even if they had no desire to possess them. About the fourth century, Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, wrote a small treatise on The Twelve Stones of the High Priest's Breastplate, a work praised by St. Jerome. In the seventh century, Isidorus, Bishop of Seville, speaks of stones and minerals in his Origines, a work, says Mr. King, "which has a certain value as containing quotations from many authors now lost." Some four centuries after Isidorus, Marbodus, or Marbœuf, Bishop of Rennes, published a Lapidarium, purporting to be an abridgment of the bulky volume composed by Evax, King of Arabia, and presented to Tiberius Cæsar: while about a century later, i.e., towards the close of the twelfth century, appeared Mohammed Ben Mansur, "who may justly claim the honor of being the first to compose a really scientific and systematic treatise on the subject, in his Book on Precious Stones, dedicated to the Abbaside Sultan of Persia, Abu Naser Beharderchan. In this work he treats of each stone under three heads, viz., " Properties, Varieties, and Places producing it." The knowledge of the characters of minerals displayed throughout this treatise is absolutely miraculous, considering the age that produced it. He actually anticipates by many centuries the founders of the modern science in Europe-Haüy, Möhl, and others-in several points, such as in defining the different species of the Corundum, and in basing his distinctions upon the specific gravity and the hardness of the several kinds." We mention these writers, all more or less very far distant from us in time, only to show how much attention has been given to the subject. There are many more who might find a place among them, and of whom Mr. King speaks. Of later writers, the principal is, undoubtedly, De Boot, or Boethius, as he is frequently called, a native of Antwerp, and physician to Rudolph II., Emperor of Germany. He published in 1609, his book, De Gemmis et Lapidibus, which was reprinted about forty years after, with good notes by Tollins. It is a natural consequence of the estimation in which these valuable objects are held, that they should at various epochs in the world's history engage the attention of writers, both directly and incidentally. Pliny quotes by name numerous mineralogists, chiefly Greeks, from whom, in a great measure, he drew the materials for his own remarks in his work on natural history. It has already been remarked that gems have Among those to whom reference is made are the been presumed to possess a value beyond their Archelaus, of whom we read in Josephus as rarity and beauty; and it is to this point that reigning in Cappadocia," and the Numidian most of the ancient writers address themselves. king, Juba II., contemporary with the Emperor The Lapidarium of Marbodus is the last work Augustus. But nothing of these earlier times professing to treat, however imperfectly, of the has come down to us, except a short treatise by natural history of stones. Orpheus, Parthenius Theophrastus, written about 300 B.C., which (a Roman of the time of Nero), Isidorus, MarboPliny has incorporated with his book, and a dus, and others, refer principally to their magical poem ascribed to Orpheus, whom Mr. King ap- or medicinal qualities; while the numerous Lapears to think in this case is identical with the pidaria extant in MS., some as old as the thirMayian Zoroastres. Of this poem, which is en-teenth century, "bid farewell not only to science titled On Stones, he has given in his volume an elegant translation, though he regards it, from a scientific point of view, as almost valueless; still, beyond its own merits as a poetical composition, it is the sole, and perhaps the most ancient representative left of the mystic lore of Chaldæa, "that magorum infanda vanitas which, ridiculed by the philosophers of the age, but fondly and fully believed in by their contemporaries of every rank, and augmented as time went on with yet more monstrous fables, remained the established faith down to the days of our own great-grandfathers." The hierarchy of the early Christian church but to common sense. They treat not so much upon the natural qualities of gems, whether in medicine potable, or, set as jewels, upon the health of the wearer, as upon their supernatural powers in baffling the influence of demons and the various evils due to the malice of such beings plagues, murrains, and tempests." This phase of the subject, as it appears in engraved gems and talismans, has received due attention from our author in his previous work on the Gnostics. And it is both curious and amusing to note what marvellous virtues have been ascribed to precious stones of almost every kind. Pliny, for example, speaking of the to mean 66 amethyst, says: "The lying Magi promise that these gems are an antidote to drunkenness, and take their name "--which the Greeks interpreted wineless"-"from this property. Moreover, that if the name of the moon or sun be engraved upon them, and they be thus hung about the neck from the hair of the baboon, or the feathers of a swallow, they are a charm against witchcraft. They are also serviceable to persons having petitions to make to princes: they keep off hailstorms and flights of locusts with the assistance of a spell which they teach." But these absurdities are small in comparison with the beliefs of later times, and especially as to the medicinal virtues of costly minerals. portrait of the remarkable man, who has for so many years explored those hidden mysteries, and sojourned among those strange tribes of humanity, will add interest to the volume, as well as the graphic illustrations which adorn and embellish the book. We hope in our next to make some extracts from this volume, which will so well repay perusal. Poetry: Lyrical, Narrative, and Satirical, of the Civil War. Selected and edited by RICHARD GRANT WHITE. New York: The American News Company. 1866. This is by far the fullest and best collection of the kind that has fallen under our notice, as we might naturally expect from the The plan of Mr. King's excellent treatise is sim-high character of the editor. One is surprised, ple and perspicuous. Under the head of each stone or mineral--and all are arranged alphabetically —we have its natural history, its chemical composition, origin, place or places producing it, its varieties, distinctive characters, counterfeits of it, and its ancient and present value. To these is added, as we have just intimated, the consideration of gems as magical and medicinal agents, perhaps the most important of their characteristics in later antiquity, as it certainly was throughout the whole course of the medieval ages, when the beauty or rarity of a stone counted for infinitely less in the estimation of its value-the Batrachites, or toadstone, for example-than for its reputed virtue in the Pharmacopoeia. Among many other virtues possessed by this stone was that of its being an antidote to poison; and it was usual to swallow it as a kind of "dinnerpill," to counteract the fact of any noxious ingredients put into the dish or wine-cup. in examining this beautiful volume, at the amount of respectable poetry which the late war occasioned. The pieces are selected from a wide range, and although they have mostly or all appeared before in print, still it is well to give them this permanent form. The volume will possess very great interest fifty years hence-more, perhaps, than at the present time. In an appendix we have a considerable number of specimens of rebel poetry, some good, and all aglow with Southern fire and bravery. Leighton Court: A Country-House Story. By HENRY KINGSLEY. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1866. This is a country tale of very considerable power and interest, marred, however, by the frequent use of outlandish words. Honor May. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1866. The heroine of this capital story was a waif of the ocean, cast upon our coast during a storm, Gold and silver lead the author to make some and received into the home of a singularly noble, valuable remarks on these metals as matters of unselfish, and happy family. Honor, who poscurrency, and on the question of recent legislation sesses wonderful musical talent and a character in this country concerning them. Then there is of almost unearthly purity, devotes her life, with a long and interesting chapter on medieval deca fixed and indomitable purpose, to her high art. orated plate, another on antique glass, or pastes, Successful in an eminent degree, she is flattered and one on the jewelry of the ancients; so that and courted; but she rejects all love pronothing which bears on the subject in hand, how-posals, and works on nobly and heroicly with ever seemingly remote, is left undiscussed. King appears to have exhausted it. He has certainly produced a volume that will well serve the purpose either of reference or of study. It in structs while it entertains.-Art Journal. Mr. Livingstone's Zambesi: Narrative of an expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries; and of the discovery of the lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864. By DAVID and CHARLES LIVINGSTONE, with map and illustrations. New-York: Harper Brothers, Publishers, Franklin - Square. 1866. pp. 638. In connection with a fine and accurate portrait of Dr. Livingstone, the eminent missionary and traveller in the interior of Africa, at the head of this number of THE ECLECTIC, and in connection with an interesting review of his travels, also in this number of THE ECLECTIC, as well as a biographical sketch of this remarkable man, will be only needful to announce the issue of this narrative volume, by the Harpers, in order to secure a large demand for so valuable a work. It is quite unnecessary to say that this book is full of remarkable narrative and instruction concerning the vast interior of that great continent, which has been for so many ages hidden from human view. It is the romance of travel. The singleness of aim. The manly and noble Philip, who is coolly rejected by her, goes abroad and dies, leaving her a fortune. In the meanwhile, however, before made acquainted with his death, she discovers that she truly loves him, and resolves to confess it to him on his return. But she rises superior to the terrible disappointment and drawback to the interest of the work is the posi anguish, and pursues still her work. The only tion in which Honor May and Uncle Robert, who took her to his home after rescuing her from the water, and was the real inspiration of her life, are left. By all rules of life, in fiction or reality, they ought to have been united in the end. This is but a bald outline of this story, which, for elevation of sentiment and good impression, is not often excelled. Broken to Harness: A Story of English Domestic Life. By EDMUND YATES. Boston: Loring, Publisher. 1866. This story originally appeared in one of the English magazines, and attracted considerable attention. It is one of the best productions of this popular author. Cherry and Violet: A Story of the Great Plague. By the Author of "Mary Powell." New York: M. W. Dodd. 1866. This is truly a charming book, which cannot fail to delight all, young and old, who will read it. We are glad to learn that it is to be followed speedily by other works from the same gifted pen. The Cecilias: Or, the Force of Circumstances. By ANNE ARGYLE. New-York: The American News Company. We are amazed that a woman could write such a book, so full of crime in every revolting feature, and replete with sentiments false and pernicious. Sin is simply the "Force of Circumstances." The murderer needs only rise above the circumstances of his surroundings to be a new creature; and as to eternal punishment for his sin and crime, it has no foundation, except in "crude traditions and childish fears." Pity that brains and time were not better spent than in producing such a story of almost unparalleled crime, and false and unscriptural teaching on one of the most solemn and awful themes of revealed truth. We are a little prised that so highly respectable an Association should put its imprimatur upon the book. SCIENCE. water, by ammonia, by formic acid, by essential oils, by the acid products of combustion, by dusts-in a word, by all sorts of things which are held in suspension in the air.-Vide Chemical News, December. Machinery for Puddling Iron.-The increasing difficulties caused by the disputes between masters and men in Staffordshire are causing attention to be redirected to the possibility of puddling iron by machinery, and more than one system of machine puddling is undergoing thorough trial and investigation. At the Dowlais works, Mr. Walker's plans are being tried with encouraging results, the molten metal being brought into contact with the flame by the rotation and oscillation of the vessel containing it, the process being completed by the ordinary hand labor. Mr. Bennett, of the Wombridge Works, Salop, has introduced another system, in which the ordinary rabble, or rake, is worked at the rate of fifty sur-strokes per minute, mechanism outside the furnace. With single furnaces and charges of 5 cwt., the consumption of coal is 28 cwt. per ton of puddle bar made. With double furnaces and 10 cwt. charges, the consumption of coal is only 17 cwt., being a reduction of 39 per cent. M. Gaudray has described to the Institute of Civil Engineers of France, a similar system in use at St. Dizier. The rabble receives from machinery attached to the brickwork of the furnace a rectilinear motion transverse to the furnace, and at the same time a slower travelling motion lengthways of the furnace, by which it is brought successively over every part of the furnace floor. The saving in fuel is shown by the following figures: Does Ozone Exist in the Atmosphere?-Admiral Berigny put this question seriously to the Academy of Sciences at its meeting on November 27th. This gentleman has been led, after ten years of ozonometric observations, to doubt the existence of ozone, properly so called, in our atmosphere. He therefore asks the Academy to appoint a commission in order to decide definitely, (1) whether ozone exists in the atmosphere; (2) whether Schönbein's or anybody else's papers prove the presence of electrized oxygen; and, lastly, whether an easy and reliable method of detecting it could not be devised. The Academy appointed a commission, composed of Chevreuil, Dumas, Pelouze, Pouillet, Boussingault, Le Verrier, Valliant Frémy, and E. Becquerel, whose report will, no doubt, scatter popular notions on atmospheric ozone to the winds. To say the truth, the evidence in favor of the presence of ozone in the atmosphere is, as M. Frémy showed to the Academy, of the most doubtful character. M. Frémy said that he knew of only one certain test for ozone in the air, and that was the oxidation of silver, by passing a current of moist air over the metal; and this test he had applied many times without obtaining any indication of ozone. We are very far from being acquainted, he said, with all the bodies held in suspension in the air, and, consequently, ignorant of the action they may exert on iodide of potassium. May : not, he asked, this salt become alkaline, or set free iodine under other influences besides that of ozone? He did not deny the fact of its presence, but he asked a positive proof of it. Such a proof is required for seeing that ozone is instantly destroyed by organic matters, and absorbed by nitrogen, it is difficult to understand how such a body can continue to exist in the air, which contains precisely the elements which would at once change the ozone. As regarded the test-papers, he asked, what use there could be in a re-agent which was affected not only by ozone, but by the oxygen compounds of nitrogen, by oxygenated Before the machine was applied, 15.21 cwt. coal per ton pig iron; with the machine, 11.79 cwt. coal per ton pig iron; machine thrown out of action, 13.43 cwt. coal per ton pig iron. The balling up of the iron is effected by hand labor in the ordinary way.—Popular Science Review. Mr. Blume, a German, has published an easy method to distinguish natural red wines from wines colored artificially. He has for years practiced the art of a maker of artificial wines, and therefore speaks from experience. His method is based on the great difference which exists between the solubility in water of red substances derived from berries and fruits, for example, and which can only be dissolved in weak alcohol. that of the coloring matter of natural wines, The method is soak in the wine which is to be tested a small slice of bread, or a dry and perfectly clean sponge, and let it become completely saturated. Then place it in a china-plate filled with water. If the wine is colored artificially, tint, while, if it is natural, this same effect is the water immediately acquires a reddish - violet produced at the end of a quarter hour or half hour only, and the water, moreover, first assumes Mr. Blume, this simple method can always be a sensible opaline appearance. According to tried with confidence, and its results are much more certain than those commonly in use.Chambers's Journal. The Journal of the Linnean Society contains a report by Dr. Kirk on a heretofore unknown dyewood which he brought from the banks of the Rovuma, in Eastern Africa. It is of the genus described by botanists as Cudranea, and grows as a large shrub with thick central stem. On chemical examination, it is found to yield a coloring matter somewhat between quercitron bark and fustic, and its value is estimated at £6 10s. per ton. Specimens of the wood and leaves are placed in the Herbarium at Kew, and also at Edinburgh, where they can be seen by persons interested in the subject. Perhaps, as Dr. Kirk is about to revisit Eastern Africa, he will be able to make arrangements for sending over the wood in large quantities. The Ooze from the Bottom of the Atlantic has been described by Mr. Sidebotham in a paper read before the Manchester Philosophical Association. In the unsuccessful attempts made to raise the Atlantic cable, the grapnels and ropes brought up with them a quantity of ooze or mud, some of which was scraped off and preserved. He obtained specimens of the deposit from Mr. Fairbairn, and submitted them to microscopic examination. In appearance the deposit resembles dirty clay, and reminds one of the chalk of Dover; indeed, it presents such appearances as would lead to the inference that a bed of chalk is now being formed at the bottom of the Atlantic. It was composed entirely of minute organisms, which exhibited a very fragmentary condition.Popular Science Review. A Sixth Memoir on Radiation and Absorption, by Dr. Tyndall, read before the Royal Society, gives particulars of some experiments on the subject, which were attended by unexpected results. Ever since Dr. Franklin laid small pieces of cloth on snow, and noticed that the darkest-colored sank the deepest, it has been supposed that dark colors absorb and radiate more heat than light ones. But Dr. Tyndall shows conclusively that this is not the case; but that radiation and absorption depend on other conditions than mere color, and that in a number of instances the lightest colors absorb and radiate the most heat. Those who wish to study the question with full details, will do well to look out for the next part of the Philosophical Transactions, in which the paper will be published. In concluding his lecture on the Sources of the Nile, at the Royal Institute, Mr. Baker gave some particulars which will be interesting to those who interest themselves in the natural phenomena of Egypt. A rainfall of ten months draining into the Albert Lake, enables that great reservoir to send down to Egypt throughout the year a stream of sufficient volume to overcome the evaporation and absorption of the Nubian deserts. Without the White Nile not one drop of water from the Blue Nile would ever reach Egypt in the dry season; it would all be absorbed and evaporated; but in the month of June, the Abyssinian rainy season floods the blue Nile and the Atbara; and these streams, added to the outpour from the Albert Lake, occasion the inundations in Lower Egypt. Thus is unravelled the whole secret of the Nile," remarks Mr. Baker; "the mystery that had baffled both ancient and modern times has yielded to the influence of England, and the honor belongs to her of having printed the first footsteps where all was untrodden, and of having brought to light all that since the world was created has remained in darkness." Mr. Baker appears to assume that the ancient world was as ignorant of the upper valley of the Nile as the modern world was at the beginning of the pres ent century. We have ourselves published evidence to the contrary.-Chambers's Journal. ᎪᎡᎢ . The Albert Chapel in Windsor Castle.-Deeply implanted in the mind of the seventh Henry of England was the desire to secure for himself a lasting memorial amid the descendants of his subjects, while, at the same time, with the tenacity of superstition, he clung to a reliance upon the efficacy of special intercessory services to be celebrated perpetually on his behalf after his decease. So he resolved to prepare a magnificent monumental chapel for these services, in which a sepulchral monument of becoming dignity and splendor should be erected, in accordance with his own express instructions on that behalf; unhappily he had forgotten that other class of royal commemorative memorial, indeed are perennius, the record of a beneficent and glorious reign. In the first instance Henry VII. chose a site for his chapel within the circuit of the walls of Windsor Castle, immediately to the eastward of the new, and then unfinished, Chapel of st. George, the work of Edward IV., the father of Queen Elizabeth of York. But when he had erected his chapel at Windsor, the Tudor king conceived the fresh idea that he had been building on the wrong ground. Westminster was the true place, and not Windsor, for "Henry VII.'s Chapel;" and, accordingly, at Westminster the splendid edifice bearing that title was erected, and there it still remains, almost in its original perfection. It is remarkable that the real “Henry VII.'s Chapel" should stand in exactly the same relative position with reference to the grand abbey church of Westminster that its rejected predecessor holds at Windsor-both are placed to the eastward of the main structure, and in close connection with it; and both thus represent that portion of the great medieval churches which in England was generally distinguished as the "Lady Chapel." Henry VIII. completed the Chapel of St. George at Windsor, but the chapel his father had built almost under the same roof with it he gave to his favorite, the wealthy and powerful cardinal. This first chapel of Henry VII. was a present which Wolsey could thoroughly appreci ate. There, at royal Windsor, within the walls of the castle itself, it was second in importance only to the Chapel of St. George. It was connected with that chapel also, and yet it was distinct and complete "Wolsey's Chapel." The cardinal entered with characteristic energy upon the work of adorning his chapel, in which he designed to erect his own sepulchral monument. All these plans fell to the ground with the fall of Wolsey; his chapel was neglected, and left without any definite purpose or use until, under James II., for a short period it was fitted up for the public worship of the Church of Rome. Then another long period of neglect succeeded, and it is more than probable that ruin would have follow-that had lately risen from the deep. The sea for ed neglect, had not George III., at the com- several miles looked very strange, the sulphur mencement of the present century, ordered the giving it a yellowish appearance, and round the building to be put into a condition of thorough new volcanic island, the sea was boiling at some substantial repair, with a view to its ultimately one hundred yards distance from the shore. The becoming the burial place of his own family. steam rose with great grandeur, the whole island Once more a project for the appropriation of emitting smoke and sulphurous vapors, colored this edifice failed to be carried into effect, and by the flames inside the volcano, in some places again "Wolsey's Chapel," retaining the name being cracked, and through the fissures an imwhich pointed to its brief connection with the mense mass of red-hot lava was visible. The cardinal, stood empty, silent, and desolate; a volcano was in a constant state of life, and an strange anomaly both in its antecedents and in its eruption took place on the morning of the arrival actual condition, and most strangely out of keep- of the Surprise. A black mass of vapor was voming with every surrounding object and associa- ited forth from the volcano, pouring upwards; tion. In this condition it had to remain until but the fury of the eruption was soon expended, after the completion of the first half of this nine- and it suddenly ceased. On the following day teenth century. Then, at last, a sad and sudden her Majesty's ships Phoebe and Tyrian arrived to bereavement in the Royal Family of England led the succor of the island. A Greek man-of-war to a decided change in the destiny of this build- had come in, and the next day a Russian frigate ing. Though not appointed to receive and shelter was seen approaching, but she did not seem to the remains of her lamented Consort, it has been like appearances, and kept at a distance, watchdetermined by the Queen that this chapel should ing the phenomenon for some hours before going become his monument in Windsor Castle. It closer in. The second night after the arrival of now, accordingly, is PRINCE ALBERT'S CHAPEL, and the Surprise another eruption took place. The as such in future it is always to be known; and roar was very fierce, smoke poured forth from the the Queen, from her private resources, is adapt- volcano with terrific fury, and large blocks of ing this chapel to receive a monumental statue rock and stone were hurled into the air, the of the Prince, that thus the commemorative char- whole presenting a most imposing sight. During acter of the edifice may be duly realized. This that night it was said that a new island had been work of pious devotedness is one with which the thrown up; the one pointed out was about three whole nation must deeply sympathize; and, be- hundred yards long, and was a black smoking cause we both share and rejoice in that national mass. Close to the anchorage of the Surprise sympathy with our gracious Sovereign, we have there had been a place called "Mineral Creek," felt it to be an act of duty towards our readers to which was then no more; a large hill had risen place before them, at the commencement of an- out of it. It made its appearance before the arother year, a brief notice of the progress of the rival of that vessel, but it rose higher and higher works now in the act of being carried on within during her presence there, while the old island the walls of this "Albert Chapel." A more was sinking gradually, as if about to return to complete description we necessarily reserve until the depths of the sea from which it had risen. On we are in a condition to announce the completion this sinking island were several houses, many of of the chapel itself.-Art Journal. which were gone altogether, and others were being washed by the sea; of one house there was little more than the roof and chimney not above the water, while a building sank and rose again. It was remarkable that rocks were constantly appearing above the sea, then disappearing; and hence the position taken up by the Surprise was concussion was felt two or three times on board, not very pleasant. On the second night a slight and as islands had been springing up in the im mediate neighborhood, it appeared likely that one would come up under the ship's bottom. At the time the wind and sea were heavy, and the vessel drifted rapidly in the direction of the volcano, round which the sea was boiling, and a world of steam, vapor, and smoke arising. The Surprise immediately got up steam. A large number of houses were buried in the lava and by the new hill that rose from Mineral Creek; but fortunately no lives were lost, as timely warning had been given, and the inhabitants had escaped. The damage done to property was not so great as might have been expected.-London Times, March 8th. VARIETIES. The New Volcanic Island.-Her Majesty's ship Surprise, Commander Tryon, which had been dispatched to Santorini, to render assistance to the inhabitants, returned to Malta on Friday, the 23d of February. We have been kindly favored with the following interesting particulars of the recent volcanic eruption: As soon as Santorini was sighted by the Surprise, a dense white mass of vapor was observed arising from the sea, which appeared to be boiling from some unknown cause, and when the island was approached, a strange sight was seen the sea evidently was boiling, and clouds of the whitest steam rushed out, soaring heavenwards like an enormous avalanche, and looking like snow. Something black was then seen rising slowly from the sea, which afterwards turned out to be no less than an island springing from the deep. It appears that there were no earthquakes, but convulsions of nature caused by volcanic islands having been thrown up from the sea; and as violent eruptions had taken place, the inhabitants were greatly alarmed, but at the time the Surprise arrived no immediate danger was apprehended. The position of the vessel was a very good one to watch the eruptions from the volcano on the burning island |