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the head and body of the chicken which is to be born. The heart appears to beat at the end of the day; At the end of 48 hours two vesicles of blood can be distinguished, the pulsation of which is very visible; At the fiftieth hour one auricle of the heart appears, and resembles ́ a lace, or nooze folded down upon itself; At the end of seventy hours, we distinguish wings, and on the head two bubbles for the brain; one for the bill, and two others for the fore part and hind part of the head; The liver appears towards the fifth day;' At the end of 131 hours, the first voluntary motion is observed; At the end of 138 hours, the lungs and stomach become visible; and at the end of 142, the intestines, the loins, and the upper jaw; The seventh day, the brain which was slimy begins to have some consistence; At the 190th hour of incubation, the bill, opens, and the flesh appears in the breast; At the 194th, the sternum is seen, that is to say, the breastbone; At the 210th, the ribs come out of the back, the bill is very visible, as well as the gall bladder; The bill becomes green at the end of 236 hours; and if the chick is taken out of its coverings, it evidently moves itself; the feathers begin to shoot out towards the 240th hour, and the scull becomes grisly; At the 264th, the eyes appear; At the 288th, the ribs are perfect; At the 331st, the spleen draws near to the stomach, and the lungs to the chest; At the end of 355 hours, the bill frequently opens and shuts; and at the end of 451 hours, or the 18th day, the first cry of the chick is already heard: It afterwards gets more strength, and grows continually, till at last it sets itself at liberty, by opening the prison in which it was shut up. Adorable wisdom of God! it is by so many different degrees, that these creatures are brought into life.

S 3

All

these

these progressions are made by rule; and there is not one of them without sufficient reason. No part of its body could appear sooner or later, without the whole embryo suffering, and each of its limbs becomes visible at the most proper moment. This ordination, so wise, and so invariable in the production of this animal, is manifestly the work of a Supreme Being.

O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom kast thou made them all-Such knowledge is too wonderful for it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

me,

Origin of May-Day.

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ON the first day of May, commonly called May-Day, the juvenile part of both sexes were wont to rise a little after midnight, and walk to some neighbouring wood, accompanied with music and the blowing of horns; where they break down branches from the trees, and adorn them with nose-gays and crowns of flowers. When this is done, they return with their booty homewards, about the rising of the sun, and make their doors and windows to triumph in the flowery spoil. The after part of the day is chiefly spent in dancing round a tall pole, which is called a Maypole; which being placed in a convenient part of the village, stands there, as it were consecrated to the Goddess of Flowers, without the least violation offered it, in the whole circle of the year.

This is the relic of an ancient custom among the heathen, who observed the four last days of April, and the first of May, in honour of the goddess Flora, who was imagined the deity presiding over the fruits and flowers; and from this custom of the heathens hath ours undoubtedJy come.

STOW

Srow tells us in his survey of London, "that in the month of May, namely on May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, would walk into the sweet meadows and green woods, there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, and with the harmony of birds praising God in their kind." "And these Mayings," Mr STRUTT observes, "are in some sort yet kept up by the milkmaids at London, who go about the streets, with their garlands and music, danc ing*.

Extracts from Dr. Buchanan's Journal

CONTINUED.

THE HORRORS OF IDOL WORSHIP.

"Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
"Of human sacrifice and parents' tears."

MILTON.

'AFTER the tower had proceeded some way, a pilgrim announced that he was ready to offer himself a sacrifice to the idol. He laid himself down in the road before the tower as it was moving along, lying on his face with his arms stretched forwards. The multitude passed round him leaving the space clear, and he was crushed to death by the wheels of the tower. A shout of joy was raised to the God. He is said to smile when the libation of the blood is made. The people threw cowries, or small money, on the body of the victim, in approbation of the deed. He was left to view a considerable

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Mr PENNANT tells us, that on the first of May, in the Highlands of Scotland, the herdsmen of every village hold their beltein, a rural sacrifice.

derable time, and was then carried by the Hurreis to the Golgotha, where I have just been viewing his remains. How much I wished that the Proprietors of India Stock could have attended the wheels of Juggernaut, and seen this peculiar source of their revenue.'

Juggernaut, 20th June, 1806.

The horrid solemnities still continue. Yesterday a woman devoted herself to the idol. She laid herself down in the road in an oblique direction, so that the wheel did not kill her instantaneously, as is generally the but she died in a few hours. This morning as I passed the place of sculls, nothing remained of her but her bones.

case;

-And this, thought I, is the worship of the Brahmins of Hindoostan, and their worship in its sublimest degree! What then shall we think of their private manners, and their moral principles ! For it is equally true of India as of Europe;-If you would know the state of the people, look at the state of the Temple.'

'I was surprised to see the Brahmins with their heads uncovered in the open plain falling down in the midst of the Sooders before the horrid shape,' and mingling so complacently with that polluted cast.' But this proved what I had before heard that so great a god is this that the dignity of high cast disappears before him. This great king recognizes no distinction of rank among his subjects, all men are equal in his presence.'

Juggernaut, 21st June, 1806. The idolatrous processions continue for some days

longer, but my spirits are so exhausted by the constant

near.

view of these enormities, that I mean to basten away from this place sooner than I at first intended.I beheld another distressing scene this morning at the Place of Sculls; a poor woman lying dead, or nearly dead, and her two children by her, looking at the dogs and vultures which were The people passed by without noticing the children. I asked them where was their home. They said, they had no home but where their mother was.'-O, there is no pity at Juggernaut! no mercy, no tenderness of heart in Moloch's kingdom! Those who support his kingdom, err, I trust, from ignorance. They know not what they do.?

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'As to the number of worshippers assembled here at this time, no accurate calculation can be made. The natives themselves, when speaking of the numbers at particular festivals, usually say that a lack of people (100,000) would not be missed. I asked a Brahmin how many he supposed were present at the most numerous festival he had ever witnessed. 'How can I tell,' said he, how many grains there are in a handful of sand?"

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'The languages spoken here are various, as there are Hindoos from every country in India: but the two chief languages in use by those who are resident, are the Orissa and the Telinga. The border of the Telinga Country is only a few miles distant from the Tower of Jugger, naut.'

• Chilka Lake, 24th June, 1806.

-I felt my mind relieved and happy when I had passed beyond the confines of Juggernaut. I certainly was not prepared for the scene.

know what it is who has not seen it.

But no one can

From an emi

nence

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