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ANCIENT GRAVE STONE.-From the Rev. Josiah Brewer, now a resident of Smyrna, the editor, some time since, was presented with a marble tomb-stone, about two feet and a half high, fifteen inches wide, and four in thickness, which was dug out of the ground in the classic Island of Poros, in the Grecian Archipelago, and which, without the least shadow of doubt, was made long before the commencement of the Christian era. This we infer from two considerations, viz: in the first place, the execution of the bass-relief on the pediment, shows that the art of sculpture was then in the meridian of its splendor; and secondly, the wretched descendants of those refined people who raised such beautifully wrought mementos of affection to their departed friends, have never exhibited any taste for, or knowledge of, the fine arts.

The figures are these: a woman, in a stooping posture, is reaching a bowl to the other, which represents the dead body of a man; probably her husband.

Perhaps an engraving of it may be made-in which case those who love antiquarian researches, will have a rare opportunity of gratifying their curiosity.

INFANT SCHOOLS.-Having reflected carefully upon the subject of infant schools,—and, withal, believing that children, at the tender age when they are considered proper subjects for primary instruction, should be listening to lullaby in their mother's arms, has determined us to probe this ulcer on the body of education,—an unphilosophical system,—so fashionable, that it already threatens the extermination of the rising generation of little children with a dropsy of the brain. Any communications upon this subject, however at variance with the received opinions of the day, will certainly lead, in the sequel, to that kind of investigation into the abuses of infant schooling, which is obviously demanded by the public.

EXOTIC SERPENTS.-We do not recollect of reading in any of the works on natural history that serpents of tropical regions, when brought to northern latitudes, shed their skins four times a year. Perhaps the same desquamating process goes on in their own native lands; and if so, it is certainly still more curious that a change of climate should produce no modification of the law. We saw a tole

rably stout anaconda, about twelve feet long, in the very act of turning his skin off. The serpent, after the skin became loose round the lips, thrust his head through the cable-like coils of his own body, and thus threw it off, inside out, like a stocking turned from the foot. The keeper informed us that this serpent, as well as all the boas, regularly cast its skin once in three months. Our native species only shed theirs annually. How is this to be explained? We should like an answer from some correspondent.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ALLIGATOR AND A CROCODILE.-The true crocodile is found in the river Nile, but by no means in such plenty as in the times of the Pharaohs. The species which was domesticated by the priests, and magnificently provided for in a temple in Memphis, was of a green color. It was an object of profound worship, called a god, and embalmed when it died.--On the other hand, the alligator is exclusively found in America; and instead of having an uninterrupted series of teeth round both jaws, as in the crocodile, the fourth tooth of the under jaw shuts into a corresponding socket in the upper one. This law is so universal, that any person, by remembering this fact, may with certainty designate the one from the other.

A NEW HYDROMETER.-Take a tube, about an inch and a half in diameter, one foot long, and fill it half full of water. Next, into the tube put a common frog, hind feet first. In dry weather, the reptile will try to cover itself by settling down into the water, but at best, can be only partially submersed. If rainy weather is indicated, then the frog rises in the tube, by straightening the hind legs against the bottom, in order to expose the surface of its body to the moist atmosphere. As frogs never drink, but absorb water through their skins, it explains the rationale of the process. By a little observation, a very accurate prognostication of the weather may be formed, during six months of the year.

VOCAL ORGANS OF BIRDS.-In man, and most of the warmblooded animals, the larynx, or vocal box, forms a protuberance in the front of the throat; but in birds, the same organ is placed at the bottom of the neck, instead of the top.

OPTICAL APPARATUS.—Much difficulty has been experienced by teachers in conveying to the minds of pupils, an idea of the course of light in passing through the various lenses and media of different degrees of density. A new species of apparatus, illustrative of the science of optics, will soon be exhibited to the public, by which the beautiful, yet intricate science of optics will be more readily understood by children, than it has formerly been by thousands who supposed themselves initiated, at least, into the first principles of the laws of light.

PUBLIC LECTURES.-Since our last number was issued, many highly valuable lectures have been given at the Athenæum, Temple, Boylston and Chauncy Halls, &c.; but it has been found impossible to concentrate the essence of them all in the little space allotted to such notices in this journal. In point of practical importance, however, those on Civil Engineering, by Lieut. Roswell Park, have the first rank, for the past week.

FROGS. Before the common frog becomes perfectly developed, it is four years old.-Three years are required for the common white grub-worm, found in the deep soil of a garden, to pass through the requisite changes to become a perfect insect.

HOW TO BEGIN THE STUDY OF PHRENOLOGY.-Every time you discover the dry skull of an animal bleaching in the field or by the way-side, save it; and before two years have gone their rounds, a collection of heads would be thus brought together, that would have interested Dr. Spurzhiem himself. Dr. Gall, the celebrated discoverer of this science, in his boyhood, had congregated such an astonishing number of craniums, from the insect to the elephant, that he would have been greatly distinguished in the catalogue of industrious savans, had he never done anything else.

It is not from a man's head alone, that this curious study can be prosecuted. The heads of reptiles, birds, and the whole range of the wild and domestic animals are necessary to constitute a cabinet, illustrative of the organization of the brain in our own species.

We will venture to predict, that any of our young friends in the country, whose opportunities are vastly superior to those of the city, will sell to the lovers and believers, and perhaps to the unbelievers, too, all the heads they can collect-long before they have a thousand on hand-for a sum that would be considered a very ample compensation for the labor.

Were a few specimens, neatly bleached in the sun, having been macerated occasionally in cold water, till they were completely white, sent to our office, it is possible a market might be found among the curious of this metropolis, worth the experiment.

To CORRESPONDENTS.-A. B. C. mistakes the object: we go upon the presumption that all our readers have learned the alphabet. Common sense is an invaluable treasure, and is to a writer what ballast is to a ship-it keeps them both

from capsizing.

S. J. is strangely operated upon by a centrifugal force, that shoots him beyond

the mark.

CHARON-We know by his style, still tends a ferry-boat.

X. L. is worth having. We prefer having one new coat to two old ones. Original matter is our constant desire; we are like the SPEACHLESS Irishman, whose cry was WATER, WATER, WATER.

SOPHOCLES writes well: he would confer a favor by giving double doses, because his communications are really palatable.

S. S. R. understands the subject well. As soon as possible, he shall have a page.

A QUERIST is unnecessarily in doubt. His knowledge is profound, and every line that follows his pen is so well constructed, that no one but the author himself would dare find fault.

A PATRON IN OHIO is indeed obliging: we not only sincerely thank him for his valuable papers, but beg that he will accept a standing invitation to dine, the first day he arrives in town.

A finely and scientifically written essay on India Rubber, and its introduction into the arts, which promises such beneficial results to mankind, must be welcome everywhere, and will therefore appear in our next number.

SCIENTIFIC TRACTS

AND

FAMILY LYCEUM.

FEBRUARY 15, 1834.

[Furnished for the Scientific Tracts and Family Lyceum.]

CAOUTCHOUC.

It is with peculiar satisfaction that we present our readers with the following valuable essay on the useful purposes to which India Rubber may be applied, in domestic economy. In fact, it must be regarded as a new era in manufacturing, when an article, so common as Gum Elastic, after having been considered only in the light of a simple curiosity, of no sort of value in the arts, for upwards of one hundred years, all at once becomes one of the most important articles in the vegetable kingdom. We will not pretend to enumerate the thousand forms it may readily be made to assume, to be actually worth more than its weight in gold,-but simply direct the reader to our correspondent's own observations.

Every steamboat, packet, ship and vessel, throughout the United States, should be supplied with beds, life buoys, and other life-preserving apparatus of India Rubber. The benefits accruing to this country, alone, by the happy discovery of the practicability of moulding this remarkably elastic substance into so many indispensable forms—all of which have a direct and positive influence on the every-day comfort, safety and convenience, of every person who travels by water-are indeed incalculable. But, separately from the great advantages accruing to the community, from this species of manufacture, we are proud that the genius of New England has the honor of first discovering, not only a solvent for the rubber, but the process of drying it again, which has been a desideratum with the chemists of Europe since its first introduction from South America. Well knowing we can give no new interest or value to the following pages, by any comments of our own, we barely

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