Gleanings.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 124, 28 December 1858, Page 4

Gleanings.

A World for Christmas. —Mr Betts, the map publisher, ofthe Strand, has lately patented what he terms a "portable globe,'' which, however, scarcely conveys an idea of the extreme convenience, as well as beauty, of this mode of rendering young folks familiar with geiography. The globe consists of a framework of steel wire, four feet in circumference, covered with cloth, on which is printed a map of the world. By a very simple contrivance the globe can be expanded or collapsed in a few seconds, when it fills itself with air, so to speak, by the same means as putting up a parasol, and when expanded the globe may be said to resemble two expanded parasols, or hemispheres, combined. The filled globe can be suspended by a cord, the top end of the axis, being furnished with a ring. The cloth globe is printed with varnish colors, and is durable. When not in use it may be let down, parasol-like, and deposited in a box or case. This new globe is inexpensive, and is one of the, mostnovel and rational gifts we have seen for this holiday season. The New Comet.— M. Babiriet of the French Institute has communiated the following to the Journal dcs Debais:— This year we have seen five comets, two of which are periodical; but none of them is the comet of 1556, called •comet of Charles V.,' on the return of which the contrary opinions of Mr Hind and M. Hoeff divide the scientific world. As for the comet No. sof this year, which was discovered by M. Donate at Florence on the 2nd of June, it has no ' resemblance to the comet of 1556, 1264, and 975, which are supposed to be the same. The present comet advances very slowly, and will be in the midst of its apparition on the sth or 6th of September next. It goes towards the west; whereas the comet of Charles the V. went towards the east, so that they can no more be confounded than the mail from Brest can be confounded with that from Strasburg. Moreover, there are 100 deg. difference m the position of the perihelium and the inclination is 72£ deg. instead of 3odeg." The Native Pace in Victona.—The Argus states:—ln the space of twenty years the number of natives in Victoria has dwindled down from six thousand to as many hundreds; and the majority of these

' are in such a condition as forbodes their early extinction. A " Martyr" Dishonoured. —Various letters have been addressed to ; the Times, pointing out that a Drawing Room is fixed for the 30th January, being the day of the martyrdom of the blessed King Charles Sunday Labor. —ln the Hanley County Court, John Riley, a man employed at Earl Granville's blast furnaces, at Shelton, brought an action against John Alcock, one of the managers, to recover 11. 12s. Bd. damages, for being dismissed without a fortnight's notice. One Saturday night Riley was directed to be at the works on the following morning, but he got drunk on Saturday night, and did not present himself until Monday, when he was told to go back whence he came. This he took to be a dismissal, and brought his action. The judge held that by the law of the land no one could be compelled to work on Sundays, or be punished for refusing or neglecting to do so. He gave judgment for the plaintiff for the amount claimed. Payment forthwith, and costs allowed. Will of Sir John Franklin. —Under the heading "Administration of Effects" in a late Tasmanian Gazette, there is a notice by Mr. Pitcairn, Proctor for Mr. Ronald C. Gunn, requiring all parties to appear in the Supreme Court, on Bth December, to show cause why administration of the estate of Sir John Franklin in this colony should riot be granted to Ronald Campbell Gunn, Esq., attorney for Henry Sell wood, of Grasby, Lincoln, England, surviving executor of the will of Sir John Franklin. The Eastern Seas.— -The treaty entered into between Lord Elgin, on the part of Great Britain and the Emperor of Japan, yields very important concessions to the former country. It is based upon the treaty previously entered into with America. Amongst other interesting advantages, the British are to be allowed to establish an embassy at Yedo, the capital of the Japanese empire. At Liverpool, a boy, aged 15, the son of a Jewish rabbi, was playing with some companions, and with the object of imitating an execution, fastened one end of a cord upon a nail, and the other end round his neck. His companions thought be was only in play, but to their horror the jest had been turned into a fatal reality. The Patent Beady Index.— (Raven and Co.)— This is a most valuable improvement in the making of an index, which for saving time, trouble, wear and tear ofthe book, must prove very useful. In referring to an ordinary index several moments are necessary. The left-hand lid of the book must be lifted up and the leaves jerked over the right hand to express the index. The right hand must then be used to select the index letter, and again the leaves are thrown back into the left hand in order to open the book and find the page. In these several movements both hands are unavoidably engaged, and much time is lost. The " Patent Ready Index'" obviates these objections. Being constantly visible, the thumb may be placed upon the index-letter before the book is opened.- When once laid open for use, there is no further need to lift the cover. The left hand runs up and down the index, selecting the letters, and opening the proper pages, whilst the right hand retains the pen. This new index has already received the expressed approval of the heads of several public departments, and amongst the mercantile and trading community. The improvement can, of course, be applied to all alphabets. France and the Bible. —" A singular edict," says the Morning Star, "has appeared in the Moniteur relative to the circulation of books and pamphlets by the colporteurs, the individuals so much employed by our English Bible Society. This edict sets out with the assertion that 8,000,000 immoral books were dispersed over the rural districts of France by 10,000 hawkers * about the, year 1847,' that is to say, before the happy period when a revolution prepared that country for its present ruler. * This was the consequence, we are told, of the imprudent neglect that is adorned with the name of liberty. For six years, the Imperial Government has sought to abate the plague, and, not being so successful as could have been wished, severe measures are to be adopted. 'It is the duty of the administration,' we read, *to prevent foreign societies, possessed of considerable resources, from dispatching agents to France with the view of producing agitation.' We hope this does not mean that the Bible is the next danger to be apprehended in the land of Fenelon. At all events, it pretty clearly shows that the Emperor has a compact with the French clergy which may involve his retention of .power" - * . Origin of British Temperance Societies. — (From " Buckingham's Parliamentary Review," April 26, 1834). The increasing interest evinced by the public in the establishment of temperance societies, in- ! duces us to give their origin in these' countries, so far as we have been able to obtain information. Before the accounts of the establishment of temperance societies in America had crossed the Atlantic, or at least before these more striking statements had reached our shores, a medical gentleman in Dublin (Doctor Joshua Harvey,) who had much opportunity for observation amongst the poor, as one of the physicians to a dispensary in the deteriorated part of that city, termed the " Liberty," felt deeply concerned in observing the unspeakable havoc made by that many-headed monster —"intemperance;" and occasionally called public attention to the subject, through the newspapers, by anonymous paragraphs, and by letters under various signatures. At length a letter under the signature of Pro Patria, containing a very striking American document, styled "Natural Cost of Intemperance," was inserted in the Dublin Morning Post, on the 20th May, 1829, as being particularly well calculated to arouse those who might not be so ready to consider the subject, on strictly religious,

or on moral grounds. Other letters followed. And amongst the individuals, whom the medical gentleman endeavored to interest on the occasion, was Dr. Cheyne, physician general to the army in Ireland, whose countenance, exertion, and influence were promptly and.efficiently given. On the 14th September, 1829, an association was formed. But it appears that much about the same period, and possibly previously, other well-disposed men, in distant parts of the kingdom, were exerting themselves to the same effect, as a temperance society was established in the town of New Ross, in the county of Wexford, on the 21st of August, 1829, by two benevolent arid useful men, George William Carr and Samuel Elly; the first temperance society, probably (we mean on the principle of "total abstinence from ardent spirits"), which has been established in the old world; and certainly, as far as we are aware, the first which was established in these kingdoms. A spark of the sacred fire from America had early found its way to the north of Ireland, which soon kindled a wide-spread and lofty flame. It was also in the month of August, th?rt Professor Edgar, of Belfast, commenced his powerful appeals through the public press, and otherwise ; soon .after which he visited England and Scotland, and, with some excellent men in each kingdom, [the names of Dunlop and of Collins, and of other worthies, both in Scotland and in England, need scarcely be alluded to—they already stand conspicuous on the record of our honest fame,] greatly excited the public attention; au which " eventuated" (as our American brothers have it), in those great national and district societies in Britain, now too well known to require further-observation. Suggested Origin of the Steam-engine. — In his (Verbiest) learned work, entitled Astronomia Europcea, there is a curious account of some experiments that he made at Pekin with what we may call steamengines. He placed an teolipile upon a car, and directed the steam generated within it upon a wheel to which four wings were attached; the motion thus produced was communicated by gearing to tne wheel of the car. The machine continued to move with great velocity as long as the steam lasted, and by means of a kind of helm it could be turned in various directions. An experiment was made with the same instrument applied to a small ship, and with no less success; and Father Verbiest, after giving an account of these experiments, adds these very remarkable words:—■" Date hoc principio motus multa alia exeogitari facile est." [The motive power of steam being given, it is easy to make many other applications of it.] Who knows whether the first locomotive and the first steam-boat may not have performed ! their functions in the gardens of the Imperial Palace at Pekin, under the direction of a Catholic missionary ? The nation that invented the compass, gunpowder, and the art of printing, was worthy to witness first the marvels effected by the power of steam. — -Hue's Christianity in China. Canadian Geology. —Professor Ramsay has made the geological characteristics of Canada the subject of a paper for the Geological Society, and a lecture at the Royal Institution. We mention it because it seems to define the time at which one of the great geological periods-—the drift period—had closed. The great escarpment seen at Queenston and.Lewiston was once' a coast-line washed by the sea. This sea deposited a clay, known locally as Leda clay; and while this deposit was going on, the falls of Niagara began to plunge over the escarpment. The falls have worn a deep gorge back through the rock for seven miles to their present site, at the rate of a mile, as geologists calculate, in 5000 years. Hence 35,000 years have elapsed since the close ofthe drift period. It this calculation can be verified, "an important step will be taken," as Professor Ramsay Observes, " towards the actual estimate of a portion of geological time." Slugs.—Mr. E. M. Wilson, in a letter to the Editor of the Observer; recommends the following recipe, taken from a work on English gardening, for the destruction of slugs: —"There are many ways to trap and destroy these, vermin; but the most successful and most sweeping mode to operate upon them is to have some fresh brewers' grains in a bucket, and from these to drop upon the bed pinches here and there, as fast as you like to walk. Do this in the dusk of the evening, and about three hours afterwards go round with a bucket of freshlyslacked lime, and sprinkle some over the numerous guests which will have collected to partake of the grains. If slugs abound, and the evening is quiet and moist, they will collect in a short time about the grains in multitudes not to be imagined by those who have not put this simple method into practice. New bran, also, is a most excellent bait, if dropped about in the same way; but we find it does best scalded first, as it appears the slugs are attracted toitby the smell." The Two Dissenters. —When John Brown, D.D., first settled in Haddington, Scotland, the people of his parish gave him a warm and enthusiastic reception; only one of the members of that large church and congregation stood out in opposition to him. The rev. doctor tried all the means in his power to convert the solitary dissenter to the unity of feeling which pervaded the whole body; but all his efforts to obtain an interview proved abortive. As Providence directed, however, they happened one day to meet in the street, when the doctor held out his hand, saying, "My brother, I understand you are opposed to my settling at Haddington." "Yes, sir," replied the parishioner. "Well, and, if it be a fair question, on what grounds do you object to me ?" " Because, sir," quoth he, " I don't think you are qualified to fill so eminent a post." "That is just my opinion," replied the doctor; "but what, sir, is the use of I and you setting up our opinions in opposition to a whole parish ?" The brother smiled, and their friendship was sealed for even