Leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already distended for its reception. Le Vaillant confirms this fascinating terror, by a scene he witnessed. He saw on the branch of a tree a species of shrike trembling as if in convulsions, and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another branch, a large species of snake, that was lying with outstretched neck and fiery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal. The agony of the bird was so great that it was deprived of the power of moving away, and when one of the party killed the snake, it was found dead upon the spot-and that entirely from fear-for, on examination, it appeared not to have received the slightest wound. The same traveller adds, that a short time afterwards he observed a small mouse in similar agonizing convulsions, about two yards from a snake, whose eyes were intently fixed upon it; and on frightening away the reptile, and taking up the mouse, it expired in his hand.

SECOND SIGHT.

About the year 1725, the marvellous history c a Portuguese woman set the whole world of science into confusion, as will be found by referring to the "Mercure de France." This female was said to possess the gift of discovering treasures. Without any other aid than the keen penetration of her eyes, she was able to distinguish the different strata of carth, and pronounce unerringly upon the utmost distances at a single glance. Her eye penetrated through every substance, even the human body; and she could discern the mechanism, and circulation of all animal fluids, and detect latent diseases; although less skilful than the animal magnetisers, she did not affect to point out infallible remedies. Ladies could learn from her the sex of their forthcoming progeny.

The King of Portugal, greatly at a loss for water in his newly built palace, consulted her; and after a glance at the spot, she pointed out an abundant spring, upon which his Majesty rewarded her with a pension, the order of Christ, and a patent of nobility.

In the exercise of her miraculous powers, certain preliminaries were indispensable. She was obliged to observe a rigid fast; indigestion, or the most trifling derangement of the stomach, suspending the marvellous powers of her visual organs.

The men of science of the day were of course confounded by such prodigies. But instead of questioning the woman, they consulted the works of their predecessors; not forgetting the inevitable Aristotle. By dint of much research, they found a letter from Huygens asserting that there was a prisoner of war at Antwerp, who could see through stuff's of the thickest texture provided they were not red. The wonderful man was cited in confirmation of the wonderful woman, and vice versâ,

CHARACTER INDICATED BY THE EARS.

According to Aristotle, large ears are indicative of imbecility; while small ones announce madness. Ears which are flat, point out the rustic and brutal man. Those of the fairest promise, are firm and of middling size. Happy the man who boasts of square ears; a sure indication of sublimity of soul and purity of life. Such, according to Suetonius, were the ears of the Emperor Augustus.

GROANING BOARDS

Groaning boards were the wonder in London in 1682. An clm plank was exhibited to the king, which, being touched by a hot iron, invariably produced a sound resembling deep groans. At the Bowman Tavern, in Drury Lane, the mantel-piece did the same so well that it was supposed to be part of the same elm-tree; and the dresser at the Queen's Arm Tavern, St. Martin le Grand, was found to possess the same quality. Strange times when such things were deemed wonderful; even to meriting exhibition before the monarch.

ANCIENT PLOUGHING AND THRESHING.

The ancient plough was light, the draught comparatively easy; but then the very lightness required that the ploughman should lean upon it with

his whole weight, or else it would glide over the soil without making à single furrow. "Unless," said Pliny, "the ploughman stoop forward, to press down the plough, as well as to conduct it, truly it will turn aside."

Oxen were anciently employed in threshing corn, and the same custom is still retained in Egypt and the east. This operation is effected by trampling upon the sheaves, and by dragging a clumsy machine, furnished with three rollers that turn on their axles. A wooden chair is attached to the machine, and on this a driver seats himself, urging his oxen backwards and forwards among the sheaves, which have previously been thrown into a heap of about eight feet wide and two in height. The grain thus beaten out, is collected in an open place, and shaken against the wind by an attendant, with a small shovel, or, as it is termed, a winnowing fan, which aisperses the chaff and leaves the grain uninjured :

"Thus, with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er,
And thick bestrewn, lies Ceres' sacred floor;
While round and round, with never-wearied pain,

The trampling steers beat out th' unnumber'd grain." HOMER. Horace further tells us, that the threshing floor was mostly a smooth space, surrounded with mud walls, having a barn or garner on one side; occasionally an open field, outside the walls, was selected for this purpose, yet uniformly before the town or city gates. Such was the void place wherein the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, sat each of them on his throne, clothed in his robes, at the entering in of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. In the marginal reading we are informed, that this void space was no other than a thresh ing floor; and truly the area was well adapted for such an assemblage,

being equally suited to accommodate the two kings and their attendants, and to separate them from the populace.

Eastern ploughshares were of a lighter make than ours, and those who notice the shortness and substance of ancient weapons, among such as aro preserved in museums, will understand how readily they might be applied to agricultural uses.

FROST FAIRS.

In 1788-9, the Thames was completely frozen over below Londonbridge. Booths were erected on the ice; and puppet-shows, wild beasts, bear-baiting, turnabouts, pigs and sheep roasted, exhibited the various amusements of Bartholomew Fair multiplied and improved. From Putney-bridge down to Redriff was one continued scene of jallity during this seven weeks' saturnalia. The last frost fair was celebrated in the

year 1814. The frost commenced on 27th December, 1813, and continued to the 5th February, 1814. There was a grand walk, or mall, from Blackfriars-bridge to London-bridge, that was appropriately named The City Road, and lined on each side with booths of all descriptions. Several printing-presses were erected, and at one of these an orangecoloured standard was hoisted, with "Orange Boven" printed in large characters. There were E O and Rouge et Noir tables, tee-totums, and skittles; concerts of rough music, viz. salt-boxes and rolling-pins, gridirons and tongs, horns, and marrow-bones and cleavers. The carousing booths were filled with merry parties, some dancing to the sound of the fiddle, others sitting round blazing fires smoking and drinking. A printer's devil bawled out to the spectators, "Now is your time, ladies and gentlemen,—now is your time to support the freedom of the press! Can the press enjoy greater liberty? Here you find it working in the middle of the Thames!

MAGIC RAIN STONE.

The Indian magi, who are to invoke Yo He Wah, and mediate with the supreme holy fire that he may give seasonable rains, have a transparent stone of supposed great power in assisting to bring down the rain, when it is put in a basin of water, by a reputed divine virtue, impressed on one of the like sort, in time of old, which communicates it circularly. This stone would suffer a great decay, they assert, were it even seen by their own laity; but if by foreigners, it would be utterly despoiled of its divine communicative power.

THE BOMBARDIER BEETLE.

The bombardier beetle (Carabus crepitans) when touched produces a noise resembling the discharge of a musket in miniature, during which a blue smoke may be seen to proceed from its extremity. Rolander says that it can give twenty discharges successively. A bladder placed near its posterior extremity, is the arsenal that contains its store. This is its chief defence against its enemies; and the vapour or liquid that proceeds from it is of so pungent a nature, that if it happens to be discharged into the eyes, it makes them smart as though brandy had been thrown into them. The principal enemy of the bombardier is another inscct of the same tribe, but three or four times its size. When pursued and fatigued it has recourse to this stratagem; it lies down in the path of its enemy, who advances with open mouth to seize it; but on the discharge of the artillery, this suddenly draws back, and remains for a while confused, during which the bombardier conceals itself in some reighbouring crevice, but if not lucky enough to find one, the other returns to the attack, takes the insect by the head, and bears it off.

THE PILLORY FOR EATING FLESH IN LENT.

Even in this kingdom, so late as the Reformation, eating flesh in Lent was rewarded with the pillory. An instance of this occurs in the "Patriot King," the particulars of which, quoted in "Clavis Calendaria," are somewhat amusing. Thomas Freburn's wife, of Paternoster-row, London, having expressed a particular inclination for pig,

one was procured, ready for the spit; but the butter-woman who provided it, squeamish as to the propriety of what she had done, carried a foot of it to the Dean of Canterbury. The Dean was at dinner, and one of his guests was Freburn's landlord, and Garter King at Arms, who sent to know if any of his family were ill, that he ate flesh in Lent. All well,' quoth Freburn, (perhaps too much of a Dissenter for the times,) only my wife longs for pig. His landlord sends for the Bishop of London's apparitor, and orders him to take Freburn and his pig before Stocksly, the Bishop, who sent them both to Judge Cholmley; but he not being at home, they were again brought back to the Bishop, who committed them to the Compter. Next day, being Saturday, Freburn was carried before the Lord Mayor, who sentenced him to stand in the pillory on the Monday following, with one half of the pig on one shoulder, and the other half on the other. Through Cromwell's intercession, the poor man at last gained his liberty by a bond of twenty pounds for his appearance. The mischief-making pig was, by the order of the Bishop, buried in Finsbury-field, by the hand of his Lordship's apparitor; but Freburn was turned out of his house, and could not get another in four years. Hence we may infer his ruin.

HUGE CANNON AT THE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

In 1432, several kinds of artillery are mentioned, cannons, bombards, vulgaires, coulverins. The vulgaires were ordinary artillery. In the year 1460, James II. of Scotland was killed by the accidental bursting of a cannon. The artillery of the Turks, in the year 1453, surpassed whatever had yet appeared in the world. A stupendous piece of ordnance was made by them; its bore was twelve palms, and the stone bullet weighed about 600 lbs. ; it was brought with great difficulty before Constantinople, and was flanked by two almost of equal magnitude: fourteen batteries were brought to bear against the place, mounting 130 guns; the great cannon could not be loaded and fired more than seven times in one day. Mines were adopted by the Turks, and countermines by the Christians. At this siege, which was in 1453, ancient and modern artillery were both used. Cannons, intermingled with machines for casting stones and darts, and the battering-ram was directed against the walls. The fate of Constantinople could no longer be averted: the diminutive garrison was exhausted by a double attack; the fortifications were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman cannon; a spirit of discord impaired the Christian strength. After a siege of fifty-three days, Constantinople, which had defied the power of Chosroes, the Chagan, and the Caliphs, was subdued by the arms of Mahomet II.

A MAN IN A VAULT ELEVEN DAYS.

St. Benedict Fink.-"173, April 23, was buried Mr Thomas Sharrow, Cloth-worker, late Churchwarden of this parish, killed by an accidental fall into a vault, in London Wall, men Corner, by Paternoster Row, and was supposed had lain there eleven days and nights before any one could tell where he was, Let all that read this take heed of drink.— Truly, a quaint warning!