1810.] True Site, &c. of Places in Richard's Itinerary. to this, that the sea-coast of Kent was called Rutupiæ, and the neighbouring inhabitants Rutupi, which Ruthen, they 66 a rotten shore." say, ineans Regulbium, he derives from Rhag before, and Gwylpha watching; or from The first compound Rhag and Goleu. he renders, the former watch-tower;" the second, "the former light, or lighthouse." Richborough has been said little of in explanation; but Sumner derives it from Hricge Dorsum, which I shall prove inapplicable. For the ancient situation of this haven, I must refer to the historians of Kent. Rut, rot, or rod, as in Rutland and other places, implies a road; which word may be understood for ships to lie in, or for travelling upon. I have explained ub and up. Ruthen, means the road land. Rutupia was an haven, with two entrances or roads, and on each of these entrances a hill: the haven having two roads, and a hill on each of these entrances; and rut being road, and up or ub hill, the plural word Rutupia or Rutubia, became the name of these hill roads: and not originally the name of two cities, as imagined by our authors. In after times, it appears that these hills were built upon, and castles and other habitations were erected, which took names from their situations. Rutupiæ being a common name for the two ports of this haven, it will follow that their particular names (as fortresses and Lowns took denominations from situations) were nearly the same; and that they were only varied by synonymes to distinguish them from each other; and what, might be added, would be to point out their differing features. Accordingly, Rich in Richborough, from Reic or Reik, implies a reach or road; and Borough the same as Up, to wit, Hill. But herein, Borough is a name which Richborough will implies great hili; therefore mean the Great Hill Road. In like manner, Reg or Rec in Regulbium, or Reculver, from the same word Reic, will imply a reach or road: Ul is a synonyme of Up, and may mean Hill, by my last letter. The root of the sylTable Bium is Um or Am, and these are frequently rendered in old names Ham, which is also border or point. Ver in Reculver, is also border or point; and Reculver, will bence Regulbium or imply the Hill-royd Point; and from the MONTHLY MAG. No. 200. purport of these words, it should seem, But Rutubis was also called by Tacitus Rutubis has been supposed to have been on an island, from the appearances of the lands around it; but I do not recognise this from any name which I have mentioned. Further, in the name Copstreet, nothing can be inferred more than a village on the head or hill road; and Cooper-street, nearly in a line with this last towards Rutupis, meant a village no intimation of an is: ind on the border of the heud road: and in these, there The word rut being road or way; and on which this head stood. well as hill, in the names of luces, a ub or up, having been used for high, as Rutupian robber, mentioned by Ausonius, implies, I conceive, a highway rob ber; and not, as usually understood, a robber who had gained his appeilation Again, the Romans from this town. buried their dead by the sides of highways; and the same author, mentioning his uncle Contentus, intimates, that he was buried on the high way border, and not, as generally conceived, in the vicinity of this city. On the p opriety of these opinions, I must leave you, Mr. Editor, to judge. See Map of Kent. A. B. For For the Monthly Magazine. BARAN is the word used in Russia Judges note, as distinctive marks, their colour, and the perfectness and neatness of the curl of the wool. These sheep generally constitute a considerable part of the inland trade of Russia, particularly in the government in Catherinoslav, and in the Crimm or government of Taurida, It is not at all extraordinary in these countries, to see them both in summer and winter, feeding in flocks of more than a thousand; and only when the winter is very severe, which seldom happens, or when the weather is particularly tempestuous, they are driven into inclosures called koshari. They are shorn once during the spring, but the wool of the sheep in the government of Catherinoslav, is neither so fine nor so soft as of those in Taurida, the causes of which perhaps are, that the climate of the last-mentioned government is the mildest, and that the sheep lamb during the winter, when the coldness of the season is of great consequence to the young and tender wool. The Calmucks and Tartars are peculiarly skilful in rendering the wool bushy and curled; their mode of proceeding being nearly as follows: As soon as the lamb is yeaned, it is sowed up in a piece of coarse linen, wetted once every day with warm water, and after that gently rubbed in various directions with the palm of the hand; this being continued for about four weeks, at the end of that period the fleece is inspected, and if not completely curled, the operation is repeated. In Ukraine, the lambs are cut out of the sheep, and treated in the very same manner. The grey skins are more valuable than any other, so that at Rechetilofska, a little city where the best are to be found, each grey baranger, though only a few inches in length, is worth three or four rubles. The barangers of the Crimm are so finely curled, that it is hardly possible "to lay hold of the curls with the fingers. Lambs cut out of the sheep at a certain period, have skins covered with very short wool, but particularly smooth, and as glossy as satin, of which the black are preferred. The Polish colonies in the county of Selmigsnaky, under the government Irkutzk, keep a great number of a Mongol breed, not bigger than our common sheep, but with very bushy tails, among which there are plenty of lambs, whose wool is fine and curled, and their skins are generally sold to the Chinese at a much higher rate than those of the lambs of the Calmucks and Buchares, The Poles likewise sow up new-yeaned lambs in a piece of strong linen, wetting them with warm water, and leaving them in this condition from two to four weeks with their mothers, until the wool is sufficiently curled; and when this degree of perfection is attained, the lambs are immediately killed. There are two kinds of sheep in the Crimm and government of Catherinoslav; the one was brought from Russia, and does not succeed well, and is only kept for the flesh, yet the same breed produces in the Ukraine very good wool, and grows to a greater size: the other comes from Moldavia and Wallachia; their tails are long and broad, and often so heavy that small wheeled carriages must be fastened under them, in order to give the fatter sheep some ease in moving about. Here these sheep are called Woloskiza Owzi, and in the Crimm, Tschontagh: their native country is Caramania, and therefore they were formerly named Probatonis Caramania. For the Monthly Magazine. OBSERVATIONS on DR. RENNIE'S ESSAYS on the NATURAL HISTORY and ORIGIN of PEAT MOSS. in which the author points out the FTER a very spirited introduction, various and contradictory accounts of this subject, and the vast importance of it to the united empire, he gives his own hypothesis. His object is, I. To ascer tain the materials of which all peat-moss is formed. This is the subject of the two first essays. Apd with much in genuity genuity and success, he shews, that the ruined forests of Europe have laid the foundation of the greatest part of the mosses in that quarter of the globe. On this foundation nature builds her work. An endless succession of aquatic plants rushing up with rapidity over the surface of these ruined forests, has furnished the materials of which all peat-moss is composed. So that the substatice is entirely com. posed either of ligneous or aquatic plants, or of both. Of this there can be no doubt, after perusing these essays. In order to establish this point, a learned and curious account is given of the an cient forests of the north of Europe, in order to shew that they were abundant, and the reasons of this; and to point out the means by which they were destroyed, and by whom. From this account it is clearly established, that these ruined forests furnished materials for the formation of peat-moss. The leaves and seeds, and twigs and bark and roots of trees, being all blended together in a morass, became a soil fit for the growth of a variety of aquatic plants. By this means, this morass being filled up entirely with this accumulation of vegetable matter, has been consolidated into peat inoss. But as that substance differs in its chemical qualities from these recent vegetables, of which it is composed, the next object of the Rev. doctor is to shew: II. The changes which these materials must have undergone in the lapse of ages. With this view he gives an inter esting chemical discussion on the different changes which both animal and vegetable matter undergo in different medicines. From this view of the subject it appears, that the same materials which furnish vegetable mould when exposed to the atmosphere, are converted into moss when immersed in water, especially if that water be stag. nant, and possessed of an antiseptic quality, and placed in a low and nearly equable temperature. On account of these peculiar circumstances, these vegetables do not undergo the putrid fermentation of course, they coutain the original elementary principles of which they were composed. The carbon and hydrogen, the phosphorus and tannin, the gallic and other vegetable acids, the metallic, and other particles of this vegetable matter, being all deposited in these circumstances, furnish the materials of all peat-moss. As a proof of this, these materials or elementary principles, may still be detected in that substance. If so, peatmoss is nearly homogeneous to coal, and other bituminous matter. The author's object is therefore to shew: III. That there is an obvious alliance between peat-moss and all the varieties of bitumen, whether liquid, solid, or aëriform. With this view, a vast variety of facts are stated to shew that similar, traces of vegetable matter, such as the trunks, branches, fruits, and leaves, of trees, and sometimes of aquatic plants, are detected in coal and jet, as in peat-moss. When all these facts are carefully collated together, little doubt can remain as to the vegetable origin of all these substances; more especially when it is added, that peat-moss, which is obviously and altogether composed of vegetable matter, may, by compression in combination with certain chemical agents, be converted into a substance that cannot be distinguished either by its colour, consistency, or qualities, from coal. There are besides many reasons to conclude that coal, at one period of its formation, has been in a soft and pulpy state, like peat moss. If so, compression alone would consolidate it; and all coal, wherever it has been discovered, has certainly been subjected to compression. Above all, as these substances all yield, on chemical analysis, nearly the same elementary principles, and in the same order, and sometimes in the same proportion, and as they are sometimes found in alternate layers, one above or below the other, there can be little doubt that they are nearly homogeneous, and all of vegetable origin. But naptha, petroleum, mineral pitch, and all the varieties of liquid bitumens, may be extracted from each of these substances, by distillation. If therefore the latter be of vegetable origin, there can be little doubt that the former may all be traced to the same source. And there is the strongest probability, that as all the solid bitumens are formed of the elementary principles of vegetable matter, so all the liquid bitumens are evolved from them by a process similar to distillation on a large scale, in the vast laboratory of nature. But if all these substances bear so near an alliance to each other, it may be expected that they will all be possessed of similar qualities. The Rev. doctor therefore proceeds: IV.To point out the quali ties ties of peat-moss which distinguish it from I rather think it better to state that, in conformity with the general hypothesis he adopts as to the origin of peat-moss, he clearly shews that all these distinguishing qualities belong to coal, jet, and all the varieties of bitu minous matter. All are inflammable, antiseptic, of a similar colour and consistency; all contain an acidity and all are equally sterile as peat-moss. So that the alliance between all these sub stances becomes more obvious, and their vegetable origin less doubtful, on this account. I cannot avoid a few remarks on the last essay of the ingenious doctor. It is like the rest, a most masterly production." His object is, V. To classify the different kinds of peat-moss. Of all subjects in natural history this has been least attended to, and therefore least understood. An other authors on this subject have classed peat-mosses according to their colour,consistency, or the plants of which they were composed. We were never satisfied with this mode, and the learned doctor has detected the defects of it to our complete satisfaction. His classification is new, and equally correct and important. Correct, for it is founded on chemical principles which cannot be controverted; important, for he has shewn in the most satisfactory manner, that each of these kinds requires different treatment to convert it into a soil, manure, fuel, or other economical purposes. I rejoice to see a suite of practical essays announced by the same author, If they are in as luminous a style, and display equal talents, they must be a vast acquisition to the interests of agriculture. With eagerness 1 look for the publis cation of them, and with much pleasure shall embrace the earliest opportunity of pointing out the subject and outlines of them. CANDIDUS. For the Monthly Magazine. STATE of the WEATHER each MONTE in 1809. January 1st ́ F REQUENTLY snow, with to 6th. high SE. wind and smart frost. On the 6th snow lay about four inches deep; but that day a thaw set in, which soon dissolved the snow. Though cold, the weather continued open till the 13th, but often gloomy, with at times rain and sleet, (particularly heavy on the 10th.) On the 13th, a most intense frost set in, which continued exactly a fortnight; wind variable, often calm, barometer moving gradually; little snow on the ground till the 21st, when it fell to the depth of three inches. On the 26th we had another fall of snow, with a high cast wind, by which it drifted to a considerable depth in some parts of the country; in this neighbourhood seven or eight inches at a medium. On the 27th, wind shitting to SW. a most rapid thaw took place, which dissolved the whole mass of snow in little more than twenty four four hours. 27th to 31st showery, wind shifting between SW. and E. and barometer very low; 31st was clear. The cold of this month exceeded that of any other since the beginning of the century. February. Continued heavy rain during the first three days, wind shifting from W. to E. next three days, snow more or less, but not lying above two or three inches deep. 7th and 8ib, dry frost. On the 9th we had a fall of snow, with high SE. wind, which lasted till mid-day, lying then about four inches deep; thaw commenced that afternoon, and wind easterly since the 3d, shifted 10th to 14th, at times, a good deal of rain, wind variable. 14th to 28th, mostly seasonable and agreeable enough weather, often windy, and at times slight showers, but not such as to prevent the ground from drying; wind westerly; barometer, till the 20th, in general very low; but after that getting up, and keeping steady. to west. March 1st to 7th. Hoar frost in the mornings, days often clear, sometimes cloudy and hazy, nearly calm. 7th to 11th, mild weather; rather cloudy, except the 9th, which was clear and warm; wind westerly. 11th to 15th, coldish; still clouds; little wind, rather east; 15th to 19th, mild weather, cloudy, at times clear; wind westerly. 19th to 21st, clear and coldish; little wind. 21st to 24th, flying clouds, threatening rain; wind SW. 24th to 31st, gloomy and cold, with frequent showers of rain, sleet, and hail; wind veering between east and north. Barometer till the 21st uniformly high and remarkably steady. 21st to 26th it fell considerably; but since the 26th gradually rose again. During the greater part of this month we had dry weather, favourable for agricultural labour; vegetation also made sensible progress. April. First four days clear and frosty, at times slight hail showers; wind NE. barometer rising. 5th to 8th, rather cloudy, but tolerably mild and agreeable; wind westerly: barometer falling. 11th to 16th, at times clear, but often showers of sleet and cold rain; wind variable; barometer low. A gale from the NE. on the 16th, accompanied with sleet and snow, was followed by four days of very cold frosty weather, in general clear, now and then showers of snow; wind northerly. 21st to 23d, cold rather abated, wind getting easterly; barometer rising. 24th was clear, serene, and agreeable. Next three days we had almost constant though not heavy rain; wind easterly; barometer falling. 28th and 29th were fair, but still cold; wind NE. On the 30th, wind shifting to west, air turned sensibly milder. This probably the coldest April since 1799; vegetation appeared quite at a stand, and the night-frosts proved injurious to the young wheat. May 1st to 6th, rather clear, windy and coldish, sometimes showers of hail and rain; wind NW. barometer rising. 6th to 10th, cloudy and windy, getting gradually warmer, wind W. and SW. barometer keeping up. 10th to 16th, clear warm sun shine; wind rather easterly, often calm; barometer drooping. 19th to 25th, cloudy, with slight showers, sometimes clear air, agreeably warm; wind variable; barometer rising. 25th to 28th, almost constant rain; barometer falling; wind E. In the evening of the 28th there was a very sudden change of temperature from heat to cold, the thermometer falling twenty degrees in four or five hours; last three days remarkably cold for the season; the cir cumstance of snow lying in the fields round Edinburgh to the depth of two inches so late as the 31st of May, is hardly remembered to have happened before by any person living. The greater part of this month was warm and agree. able, but the last three days were like the middle of winter. June. On the 1st we had a storm of wind and rain from ENE. weather exceedingly cold. 2d to 18th, windy and coldish, with frequent showers; wind variable, rather westerly; barometer keeping down. 18th to 24th, clear warm sunshine; wind westerly; barometer, rising and keeping up. 24th to S0th, at times clear, often cloudy, air getting cooler; wind easterly; barometer rather declining. July. First two days agreeable enough, rather cloudy. 3d to 7th very cold, gloomy and misty, with a good deal of rain; wind E. and NE. barometer rising. 8th to 10th, clear at times, misty air still sharp and casterly. 11th to 16th, sometimes clear, in general cloudy and windy, with some slight showers; wind westerly; barometer rising. 17th and 18th very sharp; wind northerly. 19th to 22d, cloudy, close, warn weather; wind rather westerly; barometer keeping up. 22d to 27th, at times clear, often cloudy and misty; rain on the 23d; thunder-storm with heavy rain on the 26th; wind eas terly; |