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regarded as proper employments for the wives and daughters of even the most powerful monarchs. The Tabernacle was built from the free-will offer

torians dwell upon the great variety of colours and shades in Egyptian dresses. Still the monuments show us that the colours mentioned by the sacred historian were those most generally used; "blue, pur-ings of the people, and it is interesting to find that so

ple, and scarlet," are the favourite hangings in the royal palaces and noble halls which the artists have portrayed.

Spinning was regarded as an honourable occupation for the mistress of a household to the latest periods of the Jewish history. Even in the reign of Solomon, when the wealth and luxury of the Jewish nation had attained its greatest height, we find it mentioned as almost an act of duty; it forms a prominent part in the exquisite description given of a virtuous woman in the Book of Proverbs.

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant's ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and ner hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy She is not afraid of the snow for her household for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothug is silk and purple. Her nusband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the mer chant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom: and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness (Proverbs xxxi. 13-27.)

But as luxury advanced these customs of primitive simplicity gradually fell into disuse, and in the later ages of the Pharaohs we find ladies of rank in Egypt yielding to that indolence which has always formed a part of oriental enjoyment. The labours of the distaff and the loom were neglected; the princess and the lady of rank had no higher enjoyment than to sit in her pleasure-house, enjoying the perfume of the lotus, while a slave attended to fan her and bring a constant supply of fresh flowers. This decline in the simplicity of Egyptian customs was,

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far were the Hebrews from exhibiting any reluctance, that the workmen, who were themselves volunteers, had only to complain of too copious a supply.

Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and under standing to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred hint up to come unto the work to do it: and they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. (Exodus xxxvi. 1-7.)

The shape of the Tabernacle cannot be illustrated by the Egyptian monuments; it was a portable temple designed for a wandering race, and the Egyptian religion prohibited everything which was likely to encourage nomadic habits. Indeed, it would seem as if the Tabernacle had been designedly fashioned so as to withdraw the people from all association with the idolatrous worship of Egypt; for Moses was not in this instance permitted to use his own discretion, but received specific directions from Jehovah, not only respecting the general plan of the structure, but even the minutest particulars of its details.

The wood of which it was composed united the two great requisites, lightness and durability; it was probably the same as that of which the mummycases are composed, a species of timber which has continued undecayed for nearly thirty centuries, and which every body who has visited a museum of Egyptian antiquities, must know to be about the lightest with which we are acquainted. It was thus easily transported from place to place, especially as the whole tribe of Levi was charged with its custody.

But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. (Numbers i. 50, 51.)

We learn from a subsequent passage, that the various parts of the structure and its edifice were assigned to the charge of different families, and from the monuments it would seem that the custody of the sacred things in the Egyptian temples was similarly distributed, for there is no example of priests of one rank using the same utensils as those of another.

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COTTAGE GARDENING.

II.

IN addressing a few words of advice to our Cottage readers on the economy of Cottage Gardening, we have no intention of speaking on the best modes in which their gardens may be cultivated, or their small plots of land farmed, or the crops most easily raised

or which will prove most profitable: for this most valuable information we would rather refer them to the many excellent and cheap books written for these purposes. The object of the present remarks is to point out the value of that, without which, neither cottage, nor garden, nor field, will prove to its occupier a source either of comfort or advantage.

Let a traveller pass through an agricultural district, he may know little or nothing of the art of farming, and yet if he is at all observant or reflecting, he can hardly fail of giving a pretty correct guess at the comparative excellences of neighbouring farmers. If he is asked why he prefers farm A to farm B, he may not be able to enter into a calculation of the superior excellences of farmer A's stock, or the greater bulk of his ricks, but he will say at once, "I can tell where farmer A's property extends by the superior neatness of his fields, his hedges, and his yards, I cannot therefore doubt that he is the better farmer." There can be no question that the traveller's eye will rest with greater pleasure upon farmer A's fields, but he is not bribed by this satisfaction alone to decide in favour of his superior skill as a farmer. If he reasons at all on what he sees, he will say to himself, "In the farm before me I see instances of care, of industry, of judgment; is it possible for me to observe these without concluding that all these qualifications for the good management of business, are directed and restrained by know. ledge?" For after all, how is knowledge of any kind to be attained? Is it not the result of patient labour guided by judgment? Where do we find skill or knowledge sought in this manner, withheld? Every man is liable to make some errors, or fall into some mistakes, and he must smart for them; but if he is wise or judicious, he will speedily escape from the effects of these miscalculations, and will find that he has purchased for himself, perhaps at a heavy expense, that which he may make well worth the cost. It is, however, our wish to diminish as much as possible this cost, and to prevent our poorer friends from indulging in faults, which will entail on them a heavy expense not only in their gardens and their fields, but in their homes and their families; not only in their means of living, but in their comfort, and ultimately, also, in their respectability.

Let this be your first rule, that whatever you do, you do it well, you do it thoroughly; many a man is tempted to undertake too much, to engage in too many things, and consequently to do nothing well: he incurs too often the expense, but does not reap the fruits of his outlay, whether in labour or in money. He is apt to say, for instance, when order and neatness is recommended to him, all this looks well, and is very suitable for a gentleman, but what does it signify to a poor man like myself? The real answer to such doubts, the offspring of indolence, is that neatness and order are economy; and is it nothing to a poor man to avoid waste; in other words, to practise economy? Is it nothing to a labouring man to be able to make his tools last longer by a little care than they would without that care? make his clothes serve him and his family better for being put out of harm's way when they are no longer wanted. Is it nothing to a poor man that the furniture of his house should supply his wants for as long a time as possible? and thus that he should be saved from the expense of having to replace it? Yet the only means of ensuring these objects are order and neatness, or, as it may be expressed in short, by letting there be a place and a time for everything, and by letting everything be kept to its place and time.

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I have often seen, from a want of attention to this rule, children, and men too, laboriously collecting a scanty supply of manure from what they can pick up on the roads, when they allow the offscourings of their own houses to run not only to waste, but to become a nuisance to themselves and others. Whereas, had they but taken the trouble to collect these in a hole through a drain, which any man might make to his own house at the expense of a little labour, he would possess at hand more manure than the utmost labour of himself and his family would enable him to draw together from other sources, more, probably, than his garden would require, and he would have the additional comfort of a more clean, pleasant, and healthy dwelling. These are advantages springing directly from care, industry, and forethought; but there are many incidental benefits to be derived from these sources, which will never be guessed at till the time comes when they may be enjoyed. There are, also, many incidental losses and inconveniences not perhaps to be forseen, that may be avoided in this way; to explain my meaning, I will conclude by an extract from a very valuable French writer.

I was, (says the author in question,) once in the country a witness of the numberless minute losses, that negligence in household regulation entails. For want of a trumpery latch, the gate of the poultry-yard was for ever open; there being no means of closing it externally, it was on the swing every time a person went out, and many of the poultry were lost in consequence. One day, a fine young porker made his escape into the wood, and the whole family, gardener, cook, milk-maid, &c., presently turned out in quest of the fugitive. The gardener was the first to discover the object of pursuit, and, in leaping a ditch to cut off his further escape, got a sprain that confined him to his bed for the next fortnight; the cook found the linen burnt that she having forgotten in her haste to tie up the cattle properly in had left hung up before the fire to dry; and the milk-maid, the cow-house, one of the loose cows had broken the leg of a colt that happened to be kept in the same shed. The linen burnt, and the gardener's work lost, were worth full twenty crowns, and the colt about as much more; so that here was a loss in a few minutes of forty crowns, purely for pence,) at the utmost; and this in a household were the want of a latch, that might have cost a few sous, (or halfstrictest economy was necessary, to say nothing of the peor man, or the anxiety and other troublesome incidents. The misfortune was, to be sure, not very serious, nor the loss very heavy; yet, when it is considered, that similar neglect and ultimately the ruin of a worthy family, it was deserving was the occasion of repeated disasters of the same kind,

of some little attention.-J. B. SAY.

But who could have expected or foreseen such a train of accidents from the trifling carelessness of not fastening a door? we may fancy some careless person, determined not to profit by experience, at least of others, to exclaim. The simple answer to such a one is, No one could have foreseen them, and no one ever does foresee an accident, otherwise an accident would never happen. So, on the other hand, no one can foresee the advantages which may befall him, if he is prepared to avail himself of opportunities of good which fall in his way. selves in fault, and hence we hear of lucky and unlucky Men do not like to own themof those to whom every accident brings good fortune, and those who never can lay hold of good fortune. Chance, luck, fortune, anything, everything is to blame, rather than themselves; and in the same way, everything is to be praised for their neighbour's prosperity, rather than the care, the industry, the sobriety, and the patience of their neighbour, which, in the long round at least, are the most probable means of securing good luck as it is called.

persons,

* French money; equal to nearly 81. 10s. English.

B.

THE DAHLIA. THE Dahlia, which now forms so prominent a feature amongst our autumnal gaieties in the flower-garden, was named in honour of Andrew Dahl, a botanist of Sweden. Wildenow objected to the term, under an erroneous impression that it had previously been appropriated to another genus; and adopted the name Georgina; but he has not been followed by subsequent writers. Others objected to it from its similarity to Dalea, a genus already established, after our countryman, Dale. The name Dahlia is now, however, so well confirmed, that it may bid defiance to the caprice of modern botanical name-changers. It is, notwithstanding, very desirable that attention be paid to the proper pronunciation of the word. The a should have the open sound, as in father; it will then be clearly distinguishable from the older name Dalea. The genus is now principally divided into two species, superflua and frustranea, in allusion to the florets of the rays of the former abounding in seed, whilst those of the latter species are barren. Other specific distinctions were first adopted, but they all proved unstable; and from the proneness of the Dahlia to sport into such numerous varieties, it may be doubted whether the present distinction will prove permanent.

ELECTRICITY.
No. I.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

ELECTRICITY is the term employed to designate that important branch of experimental philosophy, which relates to the properties exhibited by certain substances when rubbed against, or by some other means made to communicate with, each other. It is derived from electron, the Greek word for amber; electric phenomena having been first observed in that body.

Of the true nature of electricity we are compelled to acknowledge our ignorance. There is no doubt that it pervades all material bodies, animate as well as inanimate; but in what it consists, or how it is constituted, are questions too difficult for us to solve. We do not even know whether electricity is material or not. If it be, it is so subtle and refined in its nature, that it passes with inconceivable velocity through the hardest substances, and if allowed to accumulate in them, it does so without making any difference either in their weight or their dimensions. On this account it is that electricity, as well as light and heat, is denominated an imponderable element; to distinguish it from those forms of matter which possess the qualities of length, breadth, and thickness, and, consequently, weight.

These splendid plants are natives of Spanish America, and though noticed by the Spaniards about Some suppose that light, heat, and electricity, are the middle of the seventeenth century, did not attract nothing more than certain attributes, or conditions much attention till they had flowered at Madrid, in of matter, inseparable from it in this terrestrial globe, 1790, when Cavanilles described them in the first and limited perhaps to the various elements of which volume of his Icones, published in the following it is composed. Or it may be that these influences year. In 1802, he sent plants to Paris, where they extend to the whole universe; and that they are were successfully cultivated by Monsieur Thouin, modified and controlled according to circumstances who, shortly afterwards, published coloured figures and the will of HIM, who upholdeth all things by and a description of them. The first introduction of the word of his power. We know nothing of matter, the Dahlia into England was, according to the Hortus nor can we form any intelligible idea of the mode of Kewensis, by the Marchioness of Bute, in 1789, but its existence, excepting in association with light, heat, the plants, it may be presumed, were soon lost. In and electricity; nor have we any experience of the 1802 and 1803, others were sent from Paris; and in latter elements but in combination with the grosser 1804, seeds from Madrid; yet, for several years, forms of matter. they were scarcely heard of amongst us. Their habits being unknown, their increase was slow; whilst, on the continent, innumerable and splendid varieties were produced; so that, after the peace, in 1814, they were poured upon us in all the variety of their present tints; exciting the astonishment of every beholder, and the joy of those who could number such beauties amongst their own collections. Since that time they have been rapidly increased and improved; and England can now boast of varieties as superb as any in the world.

Early sown seeds produce plants that will flower in the succeeding Autumn. The more certainly if forced on a hot-bed. Roots keep very well in sand, in a dry cellar. In dividing them, the old stems may be slit, and a portion must be retained to each plant. Plant old roots in the first week of April; or pot them, force in a hot-bed, and turn into the borders when three or four inches high. A few may be retained in large pots; they will be less luxuriant, and flower earlier. Train one stem only from each root, and pinch off the lower-side shoots. The superfluous shoots from old roots, when taken off, may be planted in the shade, under a hand-glass, and will readily grow, as will cuttings of the older stems. Or cuttings of fine varieties may be grafted on the tubers of common ones, merely by splicing them together, tying, and enclosing them in a little clay, before they are potted in mould: they should then be put in a hot-bed and shaded. A gravelly soil checks their luxuriance and produces most flowers. [MAUND'S Botanic Garden.]

Electricity is developed in a variety of ways; but whatever be the nature of the materials, or of the process, employed, we may justly conclude that the principle is in all cases identical, however different it may appear to be either in its effects or its mode of operation.

When a piece of glass is rubbed with silk, or a stick of red sealing-wax with woollen cloth, each substance acquires a property not possessed by it whilst in a quiescent state; and which consists in alternately attracting and repelling feathers, straws, dry leaves, fibres of cotton, and many other light substances. The electricity thus excited is called ordinary, and sometimes common electricity.

If two or more plates of dissimilar metals, as copper and zinc, for instance, are immersed in a mixture of sulphuric acid and water, and so arranged that they may not be actually in contact, but communicate with each other by means of wires, electric action ensues, and one of the metals (zinc,) is, under these circumstances, more rapidly corroded or dissolved, than it would be if the other metal (copper,) were not present. This is denominated galvanic, or voltaic, electricity.

If the electricity excited by the process just described, and which is transmitted through the wires by which the plates communicate, is made to circulate around a bar of iron, the latter has thereby imparted to it magnetic properties, which continue in operation only so long as the electrical energy is sustained. This is termed electro-magnetism.

When motion is produced at the poles of a steel

magnet either by its own rotation, or that of a piece of soft iron, by which its poles communicate, electricity is excited, and by suitable arrangements it can be made to exhibit properties precisely similar to the electricity obtained by the means already enumerated. This is called magneto-electricity.

If some of the metals, as bismuth and antimony, or iron and platinum, for example, are placed in contact and heated, electricity is developed. This has received the name of thermo-electricity.

Under these several heads, and in the order in which we have enumerated them, we propose to lay before our readers a description of the most interesting phenomena connected with this department of We begin with Ordinary Electricity, or that which is produced by friction.

The following simple articles of apparatus will illustrate electrical excitation.

Let a clean and very light downy feather be attached to a piece of white sewing-silk about three feet long, and suspended from the ceiling, or other part, of a room, in such a manner that it shall be eighteen inches or two feet distant from all surrounding bodies. Then provide a piece of glass tube, say, three-fourths of an inch in diameter and thirty inches long. The tube being perfectly clean and dry, if it be rubbed briskly with a warm and dry silk handkerchief, it will be electrically excited, and on advancing it slowly towards the feather the latter will be attracted by, and adhere to it; but on separating them and again bringing the tube near the feather, that body will be as promptly repelled as it was before attracted. After a little time the feather will again approach the tube and again be repelled by it, and this alternate action will continue until the whole of the electricity excited on the surface of the tube has been dissipated; but a fresh supply may be obtained as often as required by rubbing the tube with the handkerchief, as already described. The appearance of the feather, as it is alternately attracted and repelled by the glass, is here represented.

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One of the most important principles connected with the science of electricity, is indicated by the preceding experiment; which is, that there are two kinds, or if not two kinds, two opposite states, of electricity. Thus, when the feather has received a portion of the electricity which is excited by friction on the glass, it is no longer attracted by the latter, but, on the contrary, repelled; whence it is inferred that the electricity of the feather, whilst in a quiescent state, and that of the glass after being rubbed with silk, are dissimilar; and therefore it is concluded that bodies imbued with opposite kinds, or which are

in opposite states, of electricity, attract, and those in similar states, repel, each other.

The distinction to which we have just referred will be more satisfactorily shown, if we take a large stick | of red sealing-wax and excite it by rubbing it with a piece of dry and warm woollen cloth. On presenting the excited wax to the feather it will be first attracted and then repelled, as noticed with the glass; but when the feather is repelled by the wax, if we approach it with the excited glass, it will be instantly attracted, and when repelled by the glass it will be attracted by the wax. It is hence sufficiently plain that the electricity developed by glass differs from that produced by wax; and whether the difference is described as being dependant on opposite kinds, or opposite states, of electricity, the effect is the same.

The electricity excited on glass used formerly to be called vitreous; that on wax resinous-terms which have now given place to positive and negative. In the experiments we have described, therefore, the feather, when charged with electricity from the glass is said to be positively, and when charged from the wax, negatively, electrified.

By the terms positive and negative is implied, that in one case, the substance electrified contains more, and in the other less, than its ordinary proportions. But this explanation is probably more convenient than it is philosophical—a fact to which we shall have occasion to refer more at length by-and-bye.

Many substances used by us in the common affairs of life are susceptible of electrical excitation, and we often produce electrical phenomena without being conscious of it. We may cite an example or two.

In cleaning glass mirrors with an old silk handkerchief, or a very dry linen duster, it generally happens that small fibres and particles of dust accumulate on their surfaces, the more rapidly in proportion to the labour bestowed in removing them. The same thing occurs in wiping decanters and other articles of glass, and especially the glass chimneys used on gasburners. In all these cases electrical excitement is produced by friction, and the fibres, disengaged from the duster, as well as the dust floating in the surrounding atmosphere, are atttracted by the glass, and adhere to it, as already shown with the glass tube and feather.

Silks of all kinds are highly electric; as are also most of the precious stones, a great variety of resinous substances, the paste of which false gems are made, the hair and fur of animals, paper, sulphur, and some other minerals; india-rubber (caoutchouc,) and certain descriptions of wood, when thoroughly dried by baking.

Among domesticated animals the cat furnishes a remarkable instance of electrical excitability. When dry and warm, the back of almost any full-grown cat (the darker its colour the better) can be excited by rubbing it with the hand, in the direction of the hair, -a process which is accompanied by a slight snapping sound, and in the dark by flashes of pale blue light.

The substances which were just now mentioned as highly electric must be understood as being intended merely as specimens. All subjects, without exception, are undoubtedly capable of being electrically excited; but some require more complicated arrangements than others. The reason of this we shall next proceed to explain.

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DARTMOOR, DEVONSHIRE.

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THE GRAY WETHERS, DARTMOOR.

..... A holy peace Pervades this moorland solitude-the world, And all who love that world, are far away!--CARRINGTON.

DEVONSHIRE is one of the most picturesque and romantic portions of our island. Its natural scenery, both maritime and inland, is of the highest order; and combines every variety that can either charm the eye or interest the imagination. The tourist may trace the mountain torrent from its source, brawling over a wild and rugged channel through rocky glens or moorland wastes; or behold it gently meandering through some luxuriant valley, where its fresh and limpid waters diffuse life and loveliness over the softened landscape;-the antiquary may ponder over ruined castles, and mouldering fanes, with their shattered arches and crumbling cloisters, the relics of a former age, or recognise the remnants of a still more remote period, in the semblance of moss-grown cromlechs and fallen columns.

The central part of the western district, extending from the vale of Exeter to the banks of the Tamar, chiefly consists of the very remarkable region called DARTMOOR, a district distinguished in a striking degree from any other in England, and of which we purpose to lay before our readers as full and popular an account as is compatible with the space of the Saturday Magazine.

This great "Devonshire Wilderness," or "wild VOL. XIII.

morisch or forest ground," as it is called by Leland, is about twenty miles in length, and of an average breadth of about eleven; stretching in a line from east-north-east, to west-south-west. It contains, according to the latest authority, a superficies of 130,000 acres, affording only a scanty pasturage to sheep and cattle.

The external aspect of this interesting district is extremely wild and dreary, presenting an almost endless continuation of lofty hills, craggy rocks, and narrow valleys strewed with enormous masses of granite, which some convulsion of nature in by-gone days has probably severed from the surrounding eminences. Indeed, innumerable masses of stone of various dimensions lie scattered over the general surface of the Moor, and those which lie on the sides of the hills, are moulded into the wildest and most impressive forms imaginable. Some of these heights rise abruptly into peaks, crowned with huge piles of stone, and are called "Tors." To a person standing on one of these lofty points, the surrounding country wears the appearance of an irregular broken waste, which may be best compared to the long rolling waves of a tempestuous ocean, fixed into solidity by some instantaneous and powerful impulse. Gilpin, in his work on the western parts of Devon, in allusion to this, says that, Dartmoor spreads like the ocean after a storm, heaving in large swells." Even at a distance, this desolate wilderness has the same billowy

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