the nature and. mode of life of the hedgehog, and is given in the hope of rescuing a harmless and useful creature from the general abhorrence in which it is held, and the unmerciful treatment it meets with.

OF PAINTING JAPAN WORK.

Japan work ought properly to be painted with colours in varnish. But in order for the greater dispatch, and, in some very nice works in small, for the freer use of the pencil, the colours are now most frequently tempered in oil, which should previously have a fourth part of its weight of gum animi dissolved in it; or, in default of that, of the gums sandarac or mastich. When the oil is thus used, it should be well diluted with spirit of turpentine, that the colours may be laid more even and thin, by which means fewer of the polishing or upper coats of tarnish become necessary.

In some instances, water-colours are laid on grounds of gold, in the manner of other paintings, and are best, when so used, in their proper appearance, without any varnish over them; and they are also sometimes so managed as to have the effect of embossed work. The colours employed in this way, for painting, are best prepared by means of isinglass size, corrected with honey or sugarcandy. The body of which the embossed work is raised, need not, however, be tinged with the exterior colour, but may be best formed of very strong gum-water, thickened to a proper consistence by bole armoniac and whiting in equal parts, which being laid on m the proper figure, and repaired when dry, may be then painted with the proper colours tempered in the isinglass size, or in the general manner with shelllac varnish.

FIRE AND WATER COMPANIES.

To the Editor of The Economist. SIR;-The many recent calamitous occurrences of fire in and about London, and the general absence of water, induces me to request information as to whether the Water Companies are remunerated by the Fire

offices for the supply; if not, they should be in some way. As the Water Companies are monopolies, per haps it may be considered that they are bound to yield a supply on such occasions; if so, this right should be defined and strictly enforced. Some regulation should immediately be made, so that property and lives should be rendered less insecure from such perils than they are at present, especially as the means are at hand. A few days since, a fire broke out in the saw-mills of Messrs. Esdailes and Turner, and consumed upwards of a hundred thousand pounds worth of property, amongst which, some belonged to poor foreign Jews, who, being birds of passage, had made no insurance, and are thus deprived of perhaps the whole of their worldly possessions. This is a public question, and no time should be lost in settling it.

Your very obedient servant, Q. Bishopsgate-street, Aug. 30, 1824.

HOW TO CATCH AND HOW TO CURE A COLD.

At this time of the year colds are easily caught, and difficult of cure. The following will be found effectual:After a quick walk in the evening, sit in the draft to cool; the consequence will be a severe cold, attended with cough; the next day hoarseness, short breath, and much expectoration: in the evening, at seven, go to a wellfrequented tavern, and drink three or four glasses of strong punch, or stiff rum and water; stay till eleven, walk home cosey, and go to bed: you need not get up the next day, but send for the apothecary, the following day for the physician, and the third day your friends will send for the undertaker.' You will never feel the effects of an autumnal cold afterwards!

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A MAD BULL.

If the bull pursues, throw yourself down on all fours; chuck the flaps of your coat over your head, and utter a loud shout; the bull will turn on his heels, and the fright will be mutual: as to tame cows, the trick may be played with impunity; they

will dance off in ludicrous curvets, whisking their tails in the air, as if a bunch of nettles were close thereby abiding.

IMPORTANT TO SOME.

In the zeal manifested by those who have the management of the improvement in London for all classes of his majesty's subjects, we observe they have not overlooked one particular-we have noticed that they are widening the way to Newgate!

A PROPHECY.

On or before next Christmas-day, the four-pound loaf will be sold in London at sixpence.

ANNALS OF GULLING. No XVI.

TAXES AND PRODUCE.

To the Editor of The Economist. SIR;-The title of your useful publication leads me to suppose that its sheets are open to all matters relative to impositions in prices of any article of necessity, in which I seem confirmed by the exposure of the "impositions of Inns" in your 13th Number. Perhaps the magnitude of the imposition which I am about to expose, will at first sight stagger belief; but let it be remembered, that the purchaser of the horse, who agreed to give what the last nail in the shoe should come to, beginning with the first at a farthing, and doubling it, was unable to complete his bargain. The first foot, or the eighth nail, was only 2s. 8d.: he a chuckled. The 2nd foot, or 16th nail, was 341. 2s. 8d.: he looked steady. The 3rd foot, or 24th nail, was 8,7381. 2s. Sd.: he stared. And when

the last, or 32nd nail was pronounced to amount to 2,236,2621. 2s. 8d., heran mad. I trust, therefore, your readers will not be startled, but set to work, and prove or disprove the correctness of my statement. The population of the United Kingdom is given us as being, in round numbers, 18 millions; and if we average every man's household, rich and poor, masters, mistresses, children, and in-door servants, at 12 persons, that will give 1,500,000 families. It is also given in round numbers, that the farms in the United Kingdom contain 70 millions of acres of land; it has been proved that an artificial or legislative rise in the price of wheat of Is. 6d. per bushel, will raise the average value of the produce of land as many shillings, if the average crops of wheat are taken at 20 bushels to the acre, that is, 30s.; barley, oats, and turnips rise equally, that is, 30s. per acre, deducting for fallows, &c. two-fifths, and the result is 18 shillings per acre on the agricultural produce of 70 millions of acres. Now prepare yourselves for the enormity of this imposition: if the calculation had been taken at 20d. instead of 18d. per bushel, the cal culation would have been very easy, for that would have been 20 shillings, or an even pound per acre, and that must have been, on 70 millions of acres, 70 millions of pounds sterling!!! Deduct, however, one-tenth, that is, 7 from 70, and you have the exact amount, 63 millions as the result. The next questions are, who are benefitted? who are injured? and who are not affected by such a rise? The prices affecting the rent, gives all the benefit to the landlords. The competition amongst the farmers causes the profits to be the lowest on which they can live, let the prices be ever so high; and live they must, be they ever so low; but as, by consuming their own growth, they do not feel the high prices so sensibly as the actual purchasers, I consider the proprietors the only persons be nefitted; and allowing each to have, on the average, 5,000 acres, this will give 14,000 proprietors. The farms averaged at 500 acres, give 140,000 farmers not benefitted, nor so ma

terially injured as the actual purchasers: considering the above as the heads of families, 154,000 families deducted from the population of 1,500,000 families, leaves 1,346,000 families of actual purchasers, or about nine-tenths of the population, to pay nine-tenths of 63, i. e. upwards of 56 millions advance upon the natural price yearly for food!!! Enormous as this may appear, the figures prove it, and it agrees with my own accounts About two years and a half ago my housekeeping per head was 31. 10s. less than it is now, and that on 12 persons would be 421, yearly on the family, which, on 1,346,000 families, amount to 56,532,000l. It is not contended that all this is paid; it cannot be: that man whose income two or three years ago was just enough,

POWNAL TERRACE.

"To ladies of taste and genius, to "whom an addition of three or four "pounds a week may be an object. "An elegant and novel art taught in a "few lessons," &c. &c.

A gulling advertisement, beginning in such words as the above, is frequently obtruded in the public news papers from a SHE cheat, who teaches a dirty sort of stencilling on cloth and silk, by which no person could obtain half a crown a week: there was a he cheat who used to insert similar advertisements, and succeeded in swindling several credulous persons out of their money; he is now reap

less, and that is a greater punishment. The landlords are not entitled to this; they ought to pay taxes as well as other people. They pay no more than, or scarcely their share; but suppose these lords of the soil to be privileged from taxation, let that be DIRECT, and not suffer them to take more than the whole of the taxes to indemnify themselves against a very small portion. If the trade in corn were free, the expence of importation is equal to a duty of 6d. per bushel, or 21 millions, and that is more than all the taxes paid by landlords twice, told. I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,
CALCULATOR.

Chichester, August, 1824.

EATING-HOUSES.

Is it known that eating-houses in general receive an additional profit upon their meat to that which they get from the person who eats it? It is a fact that the meat-particularly beef-is placed in a press immediately after coming from the boiler, and the juice well pressed out; warm water is then poured over it to substitute the natural fluid, and it is then dealt out to sweet all-satisfied John as genuine wholesome English beef! Thus he eats a hard, indigestible mass, and becomes bilious and contented! The juice so pressed out is bottled,

New South Wales, or on board the Hulks. Pownal Terrace may chance to lose a tenant by-and-bye, and Brixton Mill receive one.

ALDGATE PUMP AND COMPANY.

The journeymen cabinet-makers' society have found it necessary to caution the public, that they have nothing to do with the above gulling concern; observing, that they only work for respectable masters.

We refer our readers to No. I of The Economist, for a shew up of this Company.

PENNY-YARD CALICO GULLING...

In White-chapel lives a Mr. Manning, who, in order to attract the eyes and the purses of the passengers, hangs out at his door a long strip of calico, marked ONE PENNY PER YARD For curiosity, a friend of ours went in to request him to sell twenty yards of this calico; but the answer was, "No, Sir, we can only sell one yard!" "Well, then,” replied our friend, "let me have one yard;" but this was not granted; for, although the shopkeeper did not deny having it, yet he delayed 'serve," so long before he would " that our friend saw plainly he had no intention of any thing but tiring his patience. Our friend remonstrated at the imposition, and was joined in his observations by a crowd of bye

standers, who were nearly excited to rebellion against the laws by our friend's remarks: one and all declared it to be scandalous. The fact is, this calico is put out as a bait to draw custom; people seeing this very low price marked, think that every other article must be proportionably reasonable; but they too soon find out that they have been gulled. We mean to watch this shop.

A BAKER'S WAY OF GROWING A SHOULDER OF MUTTON.

Mr. Crust first buys the smallest shoulder of mutton which he can find; perhaps it may weigh about four pounds. When his Sunday's dishes come in (which, if he be in any thing of a trade, will be pretty numerous), he changes this four-pound shoulder for a five pounder; then he removes the five-pound shoulder to the place of a six, then substitutes a seven, and so on to eight, nine, and ten! Thus he makes a clear gain of six pounds of mutton, and changes his four pounds of carrion for prime meat! Puddings are done differently.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. NO. IV.

What is a Craniologist ?-One who plays tricks with the skull, and maddens you.

What is an Oculist?-One who plays tricks with the eyes, and blinds you

What is an Aurist?-One who plays tricks with the ears, and deafens you.

What is a Dentist?-One who plays tricks with the teeth, and "gums"

you.

What is a Chiropodist ?-One who plays tricks with the feet, and lames

you.

REFLECTIONS, MAXIMS, &c.

(Continued from p. 238.)

31. Many men fail in life, from the want, as they are too ready to suppose, of those great occasions wherein they might have shown their trustworthiness and their integrity. But all such persons should remember, that in order to try whether a vessel be leaky, we first prove it with water before we trust it with wine. The more minute, trivial, and we might

say vernacular opportunities of being just and upright, are constantly occurring to every one; and it is an unimpeachable character in these lesser things, that almost invariably prepares and produces those very opportunities of greater advancement, and of higher confidence, which turn out so rich a harvest, but which those alone are permitted to reap who have previously sown.

32 Pleasure is to women what the sun is to the flower; if moderately enjoyed, it beautifies, it refreshes, and it improves; if immoderately, it withers, etiolates, and destroys. But the duties of domestic life, exercised as they must be in retirement, and calling forth all the sensibilities of the female, are perhaps as necessary to the full development of her charms, as the shade and the shower are to the rose, confirming its beauty, and increasing its fragrance.

33. In the present enlightened state of society, it is impossible for mankind to be thoroughly vicious; for wisdom and virtue are very often convertible terms, and they invariably assist and strengthen each other. A society composed of none but the wicked, could not exist; it contains within itself the seeds of its own de struction, and, without a flood, would be swept away from the earth by the deluge of its own iniquity. The moral cement of all society is virtue; it unites and preserves, while vice separates and destroys. The good may well be termed the salt of the earth; for where there is no in. tegrity, there can be no confidence: and where there is no confidence, there can be no unanimity. The story of the three German robbers is applicable to our present purpose, from the pregnant brevity of its moral. Having acquired, by various atroci ties, what amounted to a very valu able booty, they agreed to divide the spoil, and to retire from so dangerous a vocation. When the day which they had appointed for this purpose arrived, one of them was dispatched to a neighbouring town, to purchase provisions for their last carousal. The other two secretly agreed to murder him on his return, that they

might come in for one half of the plunder, instead of a third. They did so. But the murdered man was a closer calculator even than his assassins, for he had previously poisoned a part of the provisions, that he might appropriate unto himself the whole of the spoil. This precious triumvirate were found dead together -a signal instance that nothing is so blind and suicidal as the selfishness

of vice.

34. Persecutors on the score of religion have, in general, been the foulest of hypocrites, and their burning zeal has too often been lighted up at the altar of worldly ambition. But, suppose we admit that persecution may, in some solitary cases, have arisen from motives that are purethe glory of God, and the salvation of men. But here again the purity of the motive is most woefully eclipsed by the gross absurdity of the means. For the persecutor must begin by breaking many fundamental laws of his master, in order to commence his operations in his favour; thus asserting by deeds, if not by words, that the intrinsic excellence of the code of our Saviour is insufficient for its own preservation. But thus it is, that even the sincerest persecutor defends the cause of his master. He shows his love of him by breaking his cardinal laws; he then seeks to glorify a God of mercy, by worshipping him as a Moloch, who delights in human sacrifices; and, lastly, he shows his love of his neighbour by roasting his body for the good of his soul. But can a darkness, which is intellectual, be done away by a fire which is material? or is it absolutely necessary to make a faggot of a man's body, in order to enlighten his mind?

35. There are some who refuse a favour so graciously as to please us even by the refusal; and there are others who confer an obligation so clumsily, that they please us less by the measure than they disgust us by the manner of a kindness, as puzzling to our feelings, as the politeness of one, who, if we had dropped our handkerchief, should present it unto us with a pair of tongs!

GARDENING, HORTICULTURE, &c.

TO MANAGE THE WHEAT HARVEST.

It is advantageous to cut wheat be fore it is fully ripe; but in ascertaining the proper state, it is necessary to discriminate between the ripeness of the straw and the ripeness of the grain; for, in some seasons the straw dies upwards, under which circumstance, a field, to the eye, may ap pear to be completely fit for the sickle, when, in reality, the grain is imperfectly consolidated, and perhaps not much removed from a milky state. Though it is obvious, that under such circumstances, no further benefit can be conveyed from the root, and that nourishment is withheld the moment that the roots die: yet it does not follow that grain so circumstanced should be immediately cut; because, after that operation is performed, it is in a great measure necessarily deprived of every benefit from the sun and air, both of which have greater influence in bringing it to maturity, so long as it remains on foot, than when cut down, whether laid on the ground or bound up in sheaves. The state of the weather at the time also deserves notice; for, in moist, or even variable. weather every kind of grain, when cut prematurely, is more exposed to damage than when completely ripened. All these things will be studied by the skilful husbandman, who will also take into consideration the dangers which may follow, were he to permit his wheat crop to remain uncut till The danger completely ripened.

from wind will not be lost sight of, especially if the season of the equinox approaches; even the quantity dropped in the field, and in the stack-yard, when wheat is over ripe, is an object of consideration. Taking all these things into view, it seems prudent to have wheat cut before it is fully ripe, as less damage will be sustained from acting in this way than by adopting a contrary practice.

If the weather be dry, and the straw clean, wheat may be carted to the stack-yard in a few days; indeed, if quite ripe, it may be stacked immodiately from the sickle, especially when not meant for early thrashing.