paratively easy to maintain a good character,→→→ to regain it when lost, or to re-establish it when impaired, is extremely difficult. But neral conformation of his mind. Had he sustained at this time in private the weight of the general's reprimand and displeasure, he had softened his severity against succeeding in-chiefly, we learn the necessity of that steady terviews. The poet has contrived with admirable address, that Cassio should be assaulted, and wounded, while returning from the house of Bianca; and at no great distance from it; it serves at once as a pretence to Iago to transfer his guilt to Bianca, and to increase his hypocrisy, by artful reflections, "this is the fruit of whoring!" beside which, the very narrow escape of Cassio with his life, and his actual sufferings, are calculated to invigorate his most vigilant resolution in future. Cassio's explanation of circumstances before Othello, is well conducted; and his concluding sentiment, as respectful to his friend, is conformable to his general manners. Far from reflecting on Othello as deserving of death, he regrets his suicide: "This did I fear-but thought he had no weapon, For he was great of heart." - ;་ We are not therefore disposed to arraign the choice of the senate in their deputing Cassio to succeed Othello, as governor; nor do we with reluctance hear that "Cassio rules in Cyprus;" for after such severe chastisement, in punishment of inebriety, we may well presume that as the future governor he will be more wary, and as the future man more circumspect. He will be extremely cautious of transgressing by inebriety, who when last in that condition was tempted to sudden wrath, to wrath equally vented on friend and foe whose misconduct was punished by the loss of his place and office, by the necessity of hum ble solicitation to be restored, and by conscious guilt, which forbad him from looking his superior in the face ;-whose indiscretion contributed to promote the purposes of villainy; of villainy, which fathered upon him designs he never imagined, and rendered him the fatal occasion of depriving those he loved of peace, of happiness, and of life. The man thus punished, must be inexcusable, if he Buffet his weakness to vanquish him again, even had he not had that narrow escape for his life, which Cassio had experienced so lately. In another of his plays Shakespeare has the exclamation, Is it possible he should know what he is, yet be what he is?" The charac. ter of Cassio is a proof that much self-knowledge (the effect of mental strength) may consist with much wavering of resolution (the effect of mental weakness). We learn also, that to act in contradiction to the free feelings of the mind is not likely to be advantageous or fortunate: that enjoyments, which in moderation are innocent, are rendered injurious by excess; and that, however it may be com fortitude of mind, that close adherence to principles, that determined attachment to what is right and becoming (may we not also say of that inflexibility toward what is hazardous ?), which, like an anchor to the mind, preserves it against the turbulence of tempest, against the dangers of quicksands and rocks. Good-nature is a quality amiable in the highest degree; but when indulged at the expence of rectitude, good-nature becomes an occasion of misery. Sociality is congenial to a liberal mind; convivial intercourse and mirth too have their time and place; yet these must submit to the dictates of propriety, and be regulated by the duties of character and sta tion: TRADE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND PERSIA. Whatever may be the fate of the Expedition projected by France and Russia through Persia, against British India, (vide Panorama, Vol. IV. p. 5) the question, as to the natural connection of Russia with its neighbour king. dom, is not void of interest. Whatever agreements and treaties may stipulate, the alliances formed by their means are often little more than nominal, and the intercourse they establish has no solidity. But, if the inhabitants of two adjacent states have extensive dealings together, their mutual advantages maintain and encourage a much stronger and more effectual intimacy, than can be effected by politicians or diplomatists. The interest which commercial dealings creates is. natural, and it is capable of being directed to answer the purposes of sway and dominion over the minds of the parties concerned. If the revenues drawn by the Shah of Persia from the trade with Russia be of importance to his coffers, and contribute essentially to replenish them, the mind of this sovereign is of course ready to receive, with a prejudice in their favour, all overtures made by the court of St. Petersburgh. If the Persian merchant's have found the Russian trade a source of wealth, if the Shah's officers have found it beneficial, to the same degree may the Rus- Baku presents the safest port on the wes sian influence in Persia be considered as effi- tern coast. It exports saffron, coton, rice, cient. It is therefore well to obtain some silk, wine, naphtha, opium, and fruits. It knowledge on this subject; and we think our-imports annually from Astrachan to the amount of between 3 and 400,000 roubles. Although Tusili has only a road-stead, yet, on account of its vicinity to Rescht, it carries on a great trade. Persian articles, par ticularly, the Gilan silk, are in abundance; as well as fine European cloths. A Russian consul resides there. selves much obliged by a Correspondent who has favoured us with the following communication. THE most important of all the Russian acquisitions in Persia was, doubtless, the province of Gilan. Its capital, Rescht, maintained its priority among the commercial cities on the Caspian. The numerous and rich caravans from Turkey, all parts of Persia, Bucharia, and even from India, rendered that city the grand emporium of Euarticle, but it could be purchased only by rope and Asia. Raw silk was the principal silver specie. As the object of Peter the Great, however, in taking possession of the Persian provinces on the Caspian, was confiped to commercial speculations, other advantages appeared indifferent to him. But he found that the revenue was not equal to the expences of the military and civil depart ments. In 1729 the emperor concluded a treaty with the Sultan of Persia, by which the conquered provinces of Masanderan and As trabat were to be restored, and the Russian acquisitions on the western and southern coasts of the Caspian were to be guaranteed to Russia, together with a free trade in and throughout Persia. In 1732 another treaty was signed at Rescht, by which Russia was to hold only the provinces of Daghestan and Shirvan lying on the north side of the Kur. Thus Russia became possessed of a tract of coast of about two hundred and sixty miles. But in 1736 they were given up again. In 1740 the Shah Nadir, to prove his attachment to the court of Russia, sent an embassy to Petersburgh consisting of 3000 persons and twenty pieces of artillery. In 1749 the entry at Petersburgh of transit goods from Persia, amounted to about 88,000 roubles, and of silk to 130,000 roubles. Russia at present has only two ports on the Caspian, namely Astrachan and Gurjew. The Armenians carry on the major part of the trade in Astrachan, and Russian vessels only are employed. In 1794 their number amounted to fifty-five, together with one hundred and thirty-eight flat-bottomed boats employed in the fisheries. We shall briefly state the amount of the trade carried on between Astrachan and the different points, and the various articles which compose it. The commerce with Derbend is inconsiderable, as the neighbouring Caucasian nations are mostly poor; and except a small quantity of saffron, wine, silk, cotton, and rice, Derbend has nothing to export. The whole does not amount to 150,000 roubles. Medshetisar, at the southernmost end of the Caspian, serves as the depôt for the produce of the province of Masanderan, particu larly cotton and rice. The Bay of Astrabat is covered with vilbourhood abounds with all kinds of southern lages; but those only which lie nearest to Astrachan partake of the trade. The neigh fruits: and its position is well adapted to a transit trade with Balk, Candahar, and even India. The eastern coast of the Caspian, however, offers the most secure bays and anchorage; Truchmeners and Kirgises, there is no regubut as it is inhabited solely by the Nomadic proceed annually from Astrachan to the Bay lar trade. Within these few years two ships of Mangishlak. If they do not meet there with any caravans from China and Bukara, they hire some of the Kirgises to announce neighbouring nations soon bring down their their arrival throughout the country; and the hides, lambskins, cotton, rhubarb, &c. to exchange for ironmongery, cloth, drugs, dyes, &c. sian manufactures, 8000 ponds of silk; and Astrachan imports annually, for the Rusas it sells somewhat cheaper for ready money, great quantities of specie are sent out of the do. 4718 pouds. From 10 to 15,000 pouds kingdom. Raw cotton, 1180 pouds; spán of dyer's red which come by sea, besides 10,000 do. from Kisljaer; Gall-nuts about 3000 pouds. The other import articies from Persia may amount to about 100,000 roubles annually. trade are cochineal to the amount of 300,000; The most important articles of the export cloths, 150,000; velvet, 20,000 roubles: Russia leather, 15,000; plush linen, &c. 40,000; sugar, 20,000 roubles. house the imports from 1793-97 amounted to According to the books of the Custom362,315 roubles; exports, 381,795 roubles. Sketch of the Asiatic Trade. Exports to the Caucasian frontiers consist of cloths, dyes, linen, furniture, porcelain, &c. Kisljaer receives transit goods and provisions from Astrachan. From 1795-97 the imports and exports amounted to 144,525 roubles. Those of Mosdok on the Terek to 3,932 roubles. Orenburg is the emporium of the Kirgisian and Bukarian commerce, and lies on the right bank of the Ural. It contains 2001 merchants. The export trade consists of scarlet cloths, velvet, linen, copper and iron utensils, needles and thimbles, glass, coral, indigo, wood, cochineal, allum, peltry, sugar, castor oil, &c. Orenburg receives from Bukaria, Persian coins and golddust, precious stones, raw and spun cotton, tiger and lanib skins, and Indian stuffs. The Kirgises also bring to market the golden eagle, which sells very dear; but the main branch of their trade consists of cattle: they sell annually from 40 to 60,000 sheep, and 10,000 horses. From 1793-97 the imports of Orenburg amounted to 1,257,262 roubles and the exports to 1,280,985 roubles.. But this, like all operations of nature, has degrees: man sleeps for a few hours, and then resumes his activity, and his functions: he rises to renewed life, and every day, though it reminds him of his mortality, is a proof, an instance, and an earnest, of his resurrection. The season of winter may be termed the annual night for sleep. Near the poles it is so, strictly speaking; but in our own climate it is so, as to abundance of natural productions. Vegetables manifest this, in various degrees. Our trees lose their leaves; but their stems remain unhurt. Many herbaceous plants, lose their leaves, and their stems; but their roots preserve the principle of life. Some, after their roots have been frozen in the ground, to the remotest extremities, almost, yet shew that in those retreats they maintained, a vigorous defence against the power of their invader, and they triumph, when the milder season permis their activity. Troizk on the river Ui. The trade here is mostly carried on by the Taschkenters and Kirgises, and the articles are nearly the same as those of Orenburg. From 1795-97 the imports were valued at 118,585 rs. and the exports at 150,654 rs.-At Jameeschewsk, on the Irtysch, during the same period, imports 9,744 rs. exports 8,259 rs. Semipalatnoi, on the same river, barters European tri-fly, fles for Kirgisian cattle. Imports 69,836 rs. exports 68,957 rs.-Presnogorkow, a small fort on the Ischimschian lines, lies between the two last places; total of import and export 3,707-Petropawlowsk, on the same lines; total of import and export 97,990 rs.-She lesensk, on the Irtysch; total import and export 3,642 rs.-Ustkamenogorsk, on the same river; total of import and export 56,893. Sum total of the collective trade on the Kirgisian frontiers from 1793-97, imports 1,547,069 rs. exports 1,579,445 rs.-D. on the Chinese frontiers, import 2,547,157 rs. export 3,544,177 rs.Total of the Russian Asiatic trade, during the same period; export 4,560,170 roubles, import 4,550,245 roubles. ON SLEEP, AND TORPIDITY, IN MAN AND Among insects, the ant, and the common seek shelter in repose, against a small degree of cold. The snail and the toad, suffer the same stupefaction. Among the serpent tribe, many are rendered so completely torpid, by high degrees of cold, that they become brittle, and in this state they may easily be broken, but they die, if the breach take place near a vital part. Among animals, the dormouse, the marmotte, and others, shew that the more perfect animals, as we affect to call them, are subject to the same torpidity, from the same cause. Among animals this occurs at different seasons: those which live on fruits, have eaten sufficient during the season of abundance, and when their food becomes scarce, they retire to sleep. Is the fat which they have collected a cause of sleep? Has it narcotic properties? It supports life, by suffering a slow resumption, whereby it supplies the vital organs; does it not also forbid a transpiration of particles, by which the substance of the body might be diminished ? It is certain, that those animals, of which the retreats are beneath the snow, sleep till that is fully melted; and rather exceed that Among the most ordinary, yet the most perplexing, operations of nature is sleep; a state which returns upon us perpetually, yet the principles and causes of which are far from being generally, or satisfactorily under-period. stood. Does nature make a preparation for our repose, when she draws around us the curtains of the evening?-Or, are the seclusions effected by the absence of light, by the silence, and the coolness of the close of day, predisposing causes to the state of sleep? Light, undoubtedly is a cause of vigilance; and warmth, as a main principle of life, appears to counteract sleep, which is certainly in some sense, an approach or resemblance of death. Virgil calls it mortis imago and we are fond of describing that change which all await, as a state of repose. The white bear, which lives by fishing on the shores during summer, and on the islands of ice during autumn, does not sink into sleep, till the union of the ice islands takes place, and they become so steep as to be inaccessible to his prey, the seal. The white bear is proof against the same degree of cold that stupefies the black bear, which lives on honey and vegetable food; against that, also, which affects the brown bear, a creature that lives by the chase of animals, all of which, obedient to the impulses of winter, retire to their conceal, ments. Sleep is a state of cessation from ordinary functions: it allays hunger; and, though the body does not receive food, yet it is capable of supporting a long interval without it. We cannot say, with strict correctness," he who sleeps, dines;" as the French express it: but certainly, he who sleeps has less occasion for food than he who wakes. That supreme INTELLIGENCE which has arranged all events with infinite wisdom, by appointing the coincidence of the cessation of hunger with the absence of supplies, has provided against the sufferings of his creatures. If those which now sleep during winter, were alert, and in full energy, they would perish from inanition. They now experience no such wants, they feel no such cravings, they run no such risque. It is probable, that the first approaches, and gradual accession of their winter sleep, is marked by the same gentle placidity and even enjoyment, as precedes our nightly repose. Their somnolency is no disease, implies no pain; but is the refuge of weariness, and the asylum of languor. Man himself, the most perfect of animals, is subject to the same effects, when the degree of cold is such as to enforce them. In Poland and Russia, nothing is more common than for a person to be told, that one of his members is frozen: observers discover it, but he himself is not aware of it. He feels nothing but an agreeable sensation. On other occasions, oppressed by benumbing cold, he is seduced by a delicious inclination to sleep; he complains of his friends, who rouse him, and torment him, by preventing his enjoyment of that repose of which the first symptoms are so exquiSite. "Let me close my eyes,-a moment!" says he: and if his companions let him close his eyes, he sleeps,-to wake no more. The parts which are frozen may be restored to soundness, by gradual thawings and proper assistance. If these be delayed, the parts which have retained their vitality throw of the dead member;-if they be too rapidly urged, the distension of the vessels on which they act becomes fatal: if gradually employed, all succeeds well. The frozen part should first be subjected to a degree of cold somewhat less than that which has surprised it, such as friction with snow, or immersion into melting ice: as the chill diminishes slowly, the warmth of another member of the same body, contributes essential service, and at length a cautions accession of water, gently increasing in warmth, completes the cure. of a man who appeared to have been surprised by a body of frozen snow, from which, on its thawing, he was taken, without any marks of absolute death on his person. It is indeed possible, that there may be cir cumstances under which, after a long sleep, a man may revive like a dormouse or a marmotte: he may, for a certain time, possibly, derive supplies of nourishment from the fat of his body, like the bear; and the functions of life, which, during every night, are almost suspended, yet revive in the morning, may, after a much longer supense, resume their activity.-But, what says Nature, to this? Professor Mangali, at Pavia, not long ago, made experiments on this subject, by means of monkies recently taken in the Alps. It is true, that the bulk of these animals is not equal to that of a bear or of a man ; and bulk is of consequence, where the powers of frigidity are in question. Nevertheless the observations made by the learned professor are curious, and they may form a proper continu ation of the speculations we have presented to our readers. Dec. 1, 1803, there were brought to me at Milan three male monkies, taken in the Alps which separate the territory of Chiavenna from that of the Grisons. One of the three was a little awake; I preserved it two years, in order to study its habits. The other two were in the lethargic state. The same day I weighed the latter, in order to ascertain how much of their weight they lost in a given time of constant lethargy: one weighed 25 Milanese ounces; the other 22 ounces 3 deniers. At first they seemed as if totally deprived of life; they were rolled up like a ball, with the nose applied to the anus, the eyes closed, the teeth locked, and they felt perfectly cold when handled.-When pinched, however, or shaken, they gave unequivocal signs of irritability; and sometimes, though rarely, I perceived a feeble dilatation and a successive sinking in the flanks, or other signs of a languishing respiration. The two monkies remained in the most profound lethargy until January 3d, 1804. Reaumur's thermometer, placed in the room where they were, having varied from five to nine degrees above zero, on the evening of this day the largest awoke, and removed from its companion, in order to find a place where it might be more secure from the cold-As scon as I saw that it was awake, I weighed both; and I found that the largest had lost 18 deniers of its weight; the other 174. At the end of 24 hours, the monkey which had awoke, again fell into a lethargy, and remained in this state until the 11th; the temperature of the room being from 5 to 8 degrees. There is no setting bounds to the capabilities of art: the bear, a large animal, wakes after having been set to sleep by the influence of cold if man be set to sleep by the same influence, for an equal length of time, might not art awake him, by stimulating his vital On the 11th in the evening, the external powers, of themselves unable to revive? Hal-temperature being about 4 degrees, I exposed ler regretted much, that no endeavours were the same animal to the open air on the frame, made to bring this to the test, on the body of my window. In a short time it began to 366] On Sleep and Torpidity, in Man and Animals. tremble and give signs of pain. I also remarked a small indication of breathing; and fearing lest a greater cold should wake it entirely, I replaced it in its bed in about an hour. In spite of my precaution its respiration became more frequent. In fact, two hours afterwards I found it almost entirely awake; but it had not removed from its place, and it soon fell asleep again. Other experiments awoke it again some days afterwards, and it returned for the fourth time to its lethargic state in about 24 hours. [566 If it excite surprise that I placed the mon kies in a temperature of six or nine degrees, I answer, that in general the mammiferæ subject to periodical lethargy hide themselves in holes where the temperature is mild: without this precaution they would be awakened by the pain which the cold would occasion; and if they were not able to avoid it they would be seized by the mortal lethargy, when gangrene and death would succeed. Indeed, having frequently, during the winter, visited a famous grotto in this department, in which were several hundred torpid bats, Í ascertained wi h a good Reaumur's thermometer, that the temperature of this grotto was constantly above nine degrees. We may be convinced that the temperature of the holes they dig is the same, when we reflect on their depth, on the care with which they close up the entrance, and on their strewing them their beds with hay. We must also observe, that their fat contributes much to protect from cold. It is true they inhabit places covered with snow for several months; but this snow is useful, as it hinders the frost from penetrating to them. I have said that more than once I saw unequivocal signs of a very slow respiration. I was anxious to ascertain, by experiments and repeated observations, if this respiration was regularly periodical. Consequently, on the 4th of February, at nine o'clock in the evening, I placed the smallest monkey under a bell-glass, the edges of which were in some very clear lime-water. In the midst of the -bell-glass was a pedestal, on which was a Concave piece of wood where the monkey lay as in a nest. I took care that the water was exactly of a level within and without the bellglass at the moment of immersion; and on the 5th of February, at nine o'clock in the morning, I found that it had risen about three lines in the inside of the bell-glass, and that a pellicle was formed at its surface It now remained to examine the state of the air contained under the bell-glass, and the na-place where they can be secure from it ;-of ture of the pellicle. I tried the air with Volta's celebrated eudiometer, and I found that it had lost a part of its oxygen; some drops of nitric acid, poured upon the pellicle, produced a very brisk effervescence, liberating carbonic acid. These two experiments convinced me, that, during the lethargic sleep, respiration is not 'suspended: whence it may be presumed that circulation also continues, but with a languor proportioned to that of respiration. I have since been convinced of this, by examining with a good microscope the wings of bats in the lethargic state. A moderate temperature is necessary for the continuation of the preservative lethargy; animals subject to it feel pain, and are awakened by an increased cold; they tremble, and show the most ardent desire to find a this I have been frequently convinced. At the end of December, 1799, some spiders in my apartment were awakened by the sharpness of the cold, and they turned to all corners where they might avoid it. On the morning of Feb. 4th, 1803, I found upon the sole of my window a common bat, dead. This poor animal had been torpid during some months in a hole of an adjoining wall, and had been, no doubt, awakened by the intense cold of the preceding night, which was 11 degrees. It had flown to my chamber window with the hope of getting in; but its wings having been too torpid to enable it to fly further, on being disappointed, it was attacked with the mortal lethargy, and died. The smallest of my two monkies continuing in the most profound lethargy, on examinTo return to my observations on the moning it with attention, I perceived a very feeble alternate depression and rising in its flanks.kies:-Feb. 5th, having again weighed them, I took my watch, and ascertained that these unequivocal signs of respiration were renewed at intervals of four minutes or four minutes and a half, and that there were 14 in an hour; whereas, when the animal was perfect ly awake, they were about 1500. I found the smallest weighed 21 ounces; the second 22 ounces and 21 deniers. The small one, from the first time I had weighed it until Feb 5th had only awoke once, on Jan. 4th, and continued awake 24 hours. The loss of its weight, therefore, since Jan. 1st, was redu ced to about 9 deniers, while the largest, which had awoke several times, had lost 33 deniers in the same interval. This difference Such is the law to which these animals are subject in one of the principal organic func tions in their natural lethargy, which I call their preservative lethargy, in order to distin-of guish it from that produced by an excessive cold this is generally followed by gangrene and death, and on that account I think it should be called a mortal lethargy. not weight proves evidently that the fat of these animals is very useful: only do they consume a part of it during their lethargic state, but they are also fed by it in the intervals of being awake from a lowered |