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creased, they repel each other and form a gas. It is supposed that all simple and many compound bodies can assume the solid, fluid, and gaseous states. Out of twenty-eight gases now known to chemists, twenty-five have been made to take the fluid form, and several that of a solid. The change is effected by pressure and cold. 30. Since steam obtained from boiling water is a vapour, capable of being compressed, it follows, that there must exist a repulsive force between the particles of which a bubble is composed exactly equal to the pressure of the atmosphere, otherwise the bubble would be crushed as soon as formed. This does actually take place during the gradual elevation of the temperature of water. When kettles are filled with the fluid and placed upon the fire, we invariably hear "a singing" before the water begins to boil. The sound is produced by the crushing of bubbles of steam, formed against the hot sides of the vessel, and unable to resist the pressure of the atmosphere. A series of small explosions are produced, which occur with great rapidity, throwing the vessel into a state of vibration, and producing a musical note. When the temperature of the vessel and water rise to the boiling point, steam is formed of sufficient power to resist the weight of the superincumbent air.

31. The temperature of boiling water is dependent upon the pressure of the atmosphere. The act of boiling consists in the rapid formation of steam capable of resisting atmospheric pressure. When the pressure is equal to 0°, water will boil at a temperature of 70°. Since the higher we ascend from the earth, the less will be the superincumbent pressure, the height of mountains can be discovered by the boiling point of water upon their summits. It is found that for every five hundred and sixty feet above the level of the sea, the boiling point of water is reduced by one degree. At an altitude of 5600 feet, water will boil at 202, at 11,200 feet of altitude, its temperature will be 192°. The pressure of the atmosphere upon the surface of the fluid diminishing as the altitudo increases.

32. Take a common Florence flask and introduce a small quantity of water. Apply the heat of a spirit lamp until it boils violently, then cork the flask and remove the lamp. The upper part of the flask is now filled with steam, which slowly condenses as the vessel radiates its heat, and the pressure being partially removed from the surface of the fluid, it will begin to boil again for some minutes; when quiescent, pour cold water on the flask, the steam will then be altogether condensed, and the pressure being completely removed, the water will boil with increased energy.

33. When water is confined in close vessels and subjected to the heat of a fire, steam accumulates, and presses upon the surface of the fluid. The temperature of the water necessarily rises, in order to form steam capable of overcoming that pressure; but the quantity of steam continually increasing, and with it the pressure, the temperature of the boiling fluid will rise in the same ratio. The longer the operation continues, the greater will be the expansive force of the newly formed steam, otherwise each bubble would be crushed as produced. Thus, steam at a temperature of 212 exerts a pressure of 14 lbs. upon the square inch, exactly equal to the weight of the atmosphere; at 250 the force exerted will be 28 lbs. upon the same extent of surface; at 275°, 42 lbs.; at 320°, 84 lbs.; and at 439, 350 lbs. By confining steam in properly constructed vessels, and increasing its expansive force, it may be converted into the motive power of the most useful machine, which the ingenuity of man has contrived, namely, the steam engine.

Fig. 6.

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34. When steam is generated in a boiler, it is always necessary to provide a passage for its escape as soon as it acquires a certain expansive power due to its increased temperature, otherwise disastrous consequences might ensue. Fig. 6 represents a section of a boiler provided with a loaded valve. Let us suppose, that the temperature of the steam in the boiler is 275°, it will then exert a pressure equal to 42 lbs. upon the square inch (see Art. 33). The pressure of the atmosphere on the outside is 14 lbs. to

the square inch, therefore the actual force tending to burst the boiler is 28 lbs. on the same unit of surface. If the orifice of the valve is one square inch in area, a weight of 28 lbs. will have to be placed upon it, in order to confine the steam. Now, if the temperature increases one degree, the expansive force of the steam will be greater than 28 lbs. on the square inch, the weight will therefore be lifted and the steam escape, until its expansive force is reduced below the pressure of the weight.

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Fig. 7.

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35. In the construction of boilers, various artifice are employed to afford means for ascertaining the temperature of the steam, and the quantity of water in the boiler. Fig. 7 is a sectional diagram of some of these important parts of its structure. The space in the boiler occupied by water is indicated by the dotted line and marked a ; the upper portion, b, is filled with steam; d is the pipe which conveys the steam to the cylinder; c, the feed pipe, through which water is forced into the boiler; e, a strong glass tube to enable the engineer to see the height of the water; m, a thermometer, placed in an iron tube descending into the boiler, and half filled with quicksilver; the object of the introduction of this instrument is to indicate the temperature, and by that means the expansive force of the steam. ƒ and g are two pipes provided with etop-cocks, one terminating just above the proper height of the water in the boiler, the other just below that height. When g is turned, steam should rush out, and water when ƒ is turned. If steam come out of both there is too little water in the boiler, if water come out of both, there is too much of that fluid present.

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EVAPORATION.

36. The conversion of any liquid into vapour by heat is termed evaporation. It will appear from what has been said in Art. 27, that the change depends altogether upon the transformation of sensible heat into latent heat. Whenever evaporation takes place from the surface of a fluid at ordinary temperatures, without the intervention of direct solar or artificial heat, a supply of that agent must be afforded by surrounding bodies. Evaporation takes place at all temperatures: when the air is not loaded with moisture, even ice and snow evaporate. If a known quantity of either of those bodies be weighed in the evening and exposed to a temperature below the freezing point, they will be found to have sensibly diminished in weight before the morning. Evaporation takes place to a very great extent from the leaves of vegetables and the skin of most animals. The universal tendency of evaporation must necessarily be to diminish the temperature not only of the fluid from which it directly proceeds, but also of all surrounding bodies. The warmth of the soil after a hot summer's day decreases rapidly, owing to radiation, and the evaporation of the moisture it contains. It is evident that soils containing much moisture will be of a colder character than those which are comparatively dry. A vast amount of the earth's heat, is hourly rendered latent by the evaporation of

scas, rivers, and soils. The vapour rises into the atmospere, and when it comes into cold upper regions, it condenses and forms clouds, giving off at the same time much of its latent heat in the sensible state. It is thus that we become aware of another beautiful adaptation for modifying the heat of the earth and the cold of elevated regions. The property of the spontaneous evaporation of water at all temperatures, is of great importance. A constant supply of vapour to form clouds is being continually given off into the air, otherwise seasons of drought would inevitably follow the winter months, and tend to convert the temperate zones into arid deserts, enlivened only by a brief and scanty vegetation during a few summer months.

37. The process of evaporation is much employed in the Arts. Fig. 8, represents a glass or iron vessel called a retort, into which

the fluid to be evaporated is introduced, the long neck terminates in a receiver surrounded with cold water, in which the vapour is condensed. When delicate preparations of certain vegetaFig 8. bles are required, the retort is heated by steam. In the Apothecaries' Halls of London and Dublin, large ranges of retorts are submitted to the uniform and subdued temperature of steam, where the heat of a lamp, fire, or sand bath would prove of too irregular and intense a character. In the various processes of distillation and refining, the limited temperature of ordinary steam is often found too high. In such cases the pressure of the atmosphere is partially removed from the surface of the fluid, which is then capable of boiling at reduced temperatures, at the same time, that tendency towards decomposition which is induced in many bodies by heat is completely overcome. Thus, in the preparation of loaf sugar, it is found that the temperature of 212 converts a large portion of the pure crystals of sugar into treacle; this change does not take place when the syrup is boiled at a low temperature. It is therefore found highly convenient and economical to boil the syrup in close vessels from which the air has been partially pumped out the pressure being removed from the surface of the liquid, the necessary boiling process goes on at a very low temperature, without the formation of treacle. Fig. 9.

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38. When distillation is required on a large scale, the instrument illustrated in Fig. 9 is employed.

a is called the still, to which the heat of a fire or of steam is applied; the pipe b leads into a vessel termed the refrigeratory, which is filled with cold water. The dotted line represents the continuation of the pipe b coiled round in the refrigeratory, it is here called the worm. The cold water condenses the vapour in the worm; the fluid formed

flows out into a receiver as shown in the diagram.

HEAT OF COMPOSITION.-SPECIFIC HEAT.

39. If two bodies, such as water and quicksilver, be exposed to the same degree of heat for the same length of time, the quicksilver will be found to have acquired a much higher temperature than the water. It appears that different bodies require unequal quantities of heat to increase their temperature uniformly. A certain quantity of heat enters, as it were, into the composition of the bodies and becomes latent. Water renders latent more heat of composition than quicksilver, before its temperature is increased to the same degree. It is found by experiment tha: gases require more than fluids, and fluids more than solids, The relative quantity of heat rendered latent by different bodies, in order to raise their temperature through a certain number of degrees, is termed their Specific Heat. (The heat required by the species or kind of body.) The more dense a body becomes, the less will be its specific heat. Hence, air when compressed has its temperature increased, that heat being given out which it required for the preservation of its form before compression. Again, air suddenly rarefied has its specific heat greatly increased, and a portion of its sensible heat is rendered latent. Hence, the sudden expansion of air produces cold. When, therefore, currents of warm air containing dissolved vapour of water rise into the upper regions of the atmosphere, the diminished pressure enables them to expand; a portion of their sensible heat becomes latent, and produces a reduction of temperature, which condenses the aqueous vapour and originates clouds. The average diminution of temperature due to the expansion of air in its upward course, is one degree for every 300 feet of elevation above the earth. If, therefore, a body of heated air, containing vapour of water, rise to the height of 3000 feet, its temperature will be reduced by rarefaction alone, 10°, and consequently a portion of its dissolved vapour will be condensed, and assume the form of a mist.

SOURCES OF HEAT.

40. The chief source of Heat is the sun. Rays proceed in all directions from that luminary through the planetary spaces. When an assemblage of rays penetrate the atmosphere of the earth, they

are immediately affected by the ponderable medium through which they pass. The quantity arriving at the earth is about four-fifths of that which first entered the atmosphere at its outermost limits. During their passage one portion is either reflected back into the planetary spaces, or from particle to particle of the substance of air. Another portion is absorbed and elevates the temperature of the absorbing medium.

41. Of terrestrial sources of heat, Combustion is the most important. All artificial processes of obtaining fire and light are illustrations of the remarkable evolution of latent heat resulting from a chemical change in the burning bodies. Friction affords us another method of developing this wonderful agent. The last source necessary to be mentioned exists in ourselves. The process of respiration produces an abundant supply of natural warmth. PRODUCTION OF HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES.

42. An intense heat is produced when the solar rays are condensed by means of a burning glass. Many bodies resist the highest temperature of a wind furnace, but melt like snow before the flame of the oxy-hydrogen blow-pipe. A powerful current of galvanic electricity passing through a small space of atmospheric air develops a very intense degree of heat. The following tables contain a number of freezing mixtures, which are capable of reducing the temperature of bodies plunged into them many degrees below the freezing point. In using the materials care must be taken to mix them in very thin glass vessels, otherwise the low temperature indicated will not be attained:

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Items.-The Boards of Public Instruction in the various counties of Upper Canada have set to work vigorously in the performance of their duties. The examination of Teachers, from the published Reports of the several Boards, seems to have been thorough and satisfactory. The third class Teachers are, however, the most numerous, and the first class least so. It is to be hoped that each successive year will witness a decrease in the number of third class Teachers; and that they will not cease their efforts of improvement until they elevate themselves to the dignity of first class Teachers.-Part of the 1,000,000 acres of land set apart by the Government in 1849 for the purpose of creating an annual fund of £100,000 for the support of Common Schools in Canada have been put into the market for sale. The land for sale is situated in the vicinity of Owen's Sound.The examination of the Common Schools in Port Hope on the 24th Dec. before the Revd. Messrs. I. Shortt and G. Goodson, is reported as very satisfactory. An intelligent spectator writes as follows on the subject in the Port Hope Watchman :--'But, sir, I think we have seen the worst days of Teachers in Canada, as elsewhere, and I think the Schoolmaster is really abroad! that his exertions are taking effect-that his self denial is appreciated, and his position is improved-improving. With all the faults of the Chief Superintendent, I believe no other man has done or could do so much for education here as the Rev. Egerton Ryerson! I may be mistaken, sir, when I attribute all this improvement to him. Yet I think I do him no more than justice when I say, he has stirred the thinking portion of Canada to its very centre on the all important subject of education. Untiring, energetic, vigilant, and sagacious, he has upheaved a mass of lethargy in this Canada, incapable of being moved by any less powerful means. I bear an unwilling testimony.The Free School Question seems to have influenced in a good degree the elections of School Trustees for 1851 in the several cities and towns of Upper Canada. Prescott. Niagara, Hamilton

and London, are examples.- -From the Picton Sun we learn that Dr. Whitley's lectures on Education, as local Superintendent, are creating some interest in his township. His re-appointment is hailed with much pleasure. The examination of the Carleton, Leeds and Grenville, and Wentworth and Halton County Grammar Schools are reported as highly satisfactory. The Rev. Alexander Luke, of the Prescott Grammar School, has been lately presented by his pupils "with a beautiful and costly pencil case with a gold pen, as a token of their high regard for him." How grateful to a Teacher must be such a tribute of esteem and affection on the part of his pupils! The examination of Mr. D. Watson's school, London, C. W., on the 24th Dec., exhibited the result of much solicitude on the part of the Teacher, and proficiency on the part of the pupils.--John Kirkland, Esq. local Superintendent at Guelph, is writing an excellent series of articles for the serious consideration of persons at the Annual School Meetings. -Various papers in the Province extract liberally from our Educational and Literary Summaries without the slightest acknowledgment !

New Professorships, Toronto University.-A Lectureship on

Hebrew and Oriental Literature has been established in the Toronto University, and Mr. J. M. Hirschfelder, so well known amongst us for some years past, has been appointed to the office. This appointment has given general satisfaction. An important bill is now be ore the Senate of the University, for the establishment of a Professorship of Agriculture, and an Experimental School, in connection with the Provincial Board of Agriculture. It is supposed that the fees in the several University Classes will be reduced, and means will be taken to increase the number and value of the Prizes.-[Patriot.

Education in Brockville.-Our Town Schools are becoming very efficient. The Principal of the Grammar School, James Windeat, Esq., A. B. of Cambridge University, well sustains, in this distant land the character of his Alma Mater. We believe there is not in the Province a better or more eminent seminary of learning than the Brockville Grammar School; nor is there one in all the Districts of Upper Canada, that has been more successful, in obtaining for its pupils prizes, and other rewards and promotions, in the University of Toronto. The Common Schools are also in an efficient state, and the Teachers, Messrs. M'Kerris, Cosgrove, Miller, and Shaw, appear to give general satisfaction to the Board of Trustees, in their respective wards. In addition to the Public Schools there are many Private Seminaries, both Male and Female, in which the rudiments of a sound literary education are being communicated to the youth of the town. There are Private Schools taught by Miss M'Kerris, Miss Kelly, Miss M'Clean, Miss Miller, and Miss Glass, and by Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. English, and Mrs. Drummond, in all of which young Ladies are sure to have their morals attended to, and their taste for literature, music, drawing, and polite accomplishments improved. In the school of Miss M'Kerris we observed some really elegant flowers and other specimens in wax, which are highly creditable to the young lady artists.-Statesman.

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[The Recorder, of the 20th Dec., reports the examination of several of the foregoing schools as very gratifying and satisfactory. Several essays by pupils of the Common School were read, and elicited much interest and applause. Ed. J. of Ed.]

BRITISH AND FOREIGN,

Convention at Queen's College, Cork.-The interesting ceremony took place in the spacious and beautiful Examination Hall of the College, which was completely filled by a most respectable auditory, who manifested the liveliest interest in the proceedings. Every seat was occupied, whilst many who were unable to obtain any better accommodation stood around the room.

Thurles College, Ireland.-The Pope has conferred the diploma of D. D. on the Rev. P. Leahey, President of Thurles College, whence emanated the recent memorable Protest of the Roman Catholic Bishops against the Queen's Colleges.

At York £1,400 have been raised by a bazaar, for ragged schools.

UNITED STATES,

Items.At the anniversary New England Dinner lately held in New York. the following toast was proposed and eloquently responded to. The Common School-the tree of Knowledge originally planted in New England-its seeds are wafted over the continent "Two gentlemen have recently made a donation of $4,000 to the Wesleyan Wyoming Seminary. At the recent convention for revising the Constitution of New Hampshire, the recommendation of the Committee on Education was adopted, providing permanent provision for Free Schools throughout the State. Jenny Lind gave a free concert to the children of the Public Schools at Baltimore, on the evening of the 13th mht.

Literary and Scientific Entelligence.

Items. The distribution of Prizes of the American Art Union took place on the 20th of December. The Receipts for 1849 have been $36,492. 1,000 works of art were distributed, many of them rare and beautiful pictures. But one prize reached Toronto, and that to the Honorary Secretary, Mr. Rowsell. Mr. Simmonds of Hamilton obtained another. -The Christian Socialist, the organ of the new liberal and reforming class of things spiritual and temporal, has appeared. In this journal will be found" clergymen and the friends of clergymen, openly avowing they will fight for the cause they hold as true, yea, even in the ranks of chartists and infidels; recognizing truth even when propounded by their antagonists, and resolved to merge differences in the broad union of agreement "—a beroic age we live in, trul, !-Henry Mayhew's "Pictures of London Life," as Commissioner of the Morning Chronicle, are to be enlarged, and published in weekly numbers, with the title, "London Labour and London Poor: a Cyclopædia of the Social Condition aud Economy of those who Will Work, those who Cannot Work, and those who Will Not Work."———— Mr. D'Israeli is writing the life of Lord George Bentinck, late Leader of the Protectionists of England, at the request of the Duke of Portland, his father. The original MS. of Waverley has been presented to the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, by Mr. I. Hall, brother of Capt. Basil Hall, who had paid forty guineas for it in 1831.-Sir Jn. Herschell will succeed Mr. Shiel as Master of the Mint.- -Her Majesty has granted a pension of £100 a-year to Mr. John Payne Collier, editor of Shakspeare, and author of the History of the English Stage. According to the will of the poet, the collection famous in Germany, as the Goethe Inheritance, is to be sold. It is proposed to buy the house in which the collection is, but the heirs-his two grandsons-refuse to turn the old homestead into a show-room.-The Goldsmiths' Company of London offer a prize of £1,600 for the best samples of design and workmanship in gold and silver by British artists. Smaller prizes in other departments are given by other parties. The proprietors of the London Art-Journal offer a prize of 100 guineas for the best essay "On the best mode of rendering the Exhibition of 1851 practically useful to the British manufacturer." The Essay will be published in the Art Journal, in July.The crystal palace is to be enlarged to the extent of 45,000 superficial feet, to make room for extra exhibitions.The Pearl, from Canada, has arrived in England, with ninety packages of the productions of Canada for the Exhibition.—Mr. A A. Applegarth, the eminent machinist, has received a commission to erect a great printing machine, on his latest principle, for the Exhibition of 1851. It is intended to be used to throw off copies of the Illustrated London News, in three languages, before the visitors. Mr. Funnell, of Brighton, is constructing a watch smaller in circumference than a threepenny piece, for the Exhibition of 1851; Mr. John Burton, of Bradford, is also constructing a beautiful little tea-kettle, made from a fourpenny piece. This curiosity is complete in every particular, possessing spout, hanger, and lid with a hinge on, the whole fitting compactly into a common Brazilian nut, mounted with a single hinge.Germany has lost one of her most popular poets, Gustavus Schwab, at the age of only 58. Schwab was the friend of Uhland.- -La Nacion says that the tomb of the "Cid" has just been found at Burgos, in an antechamber of the ayuntamiento. The remains of Don Rodrigue Campeador and Chimene his wife, immortalised by ancient legend and the poem Guilhon de Castre and Corneille, were deposited in an old trunk. On this trunk, placed as rubbish, was the chair on which the ancient counts of Castile, Diego, Panello, Nuno, Rasura, and Lain Calvo rendered justice. The history of the two lovers has been greatly embellished by romancers. Chimene was the daughter of Don Diego Alvoras, and not of a count of Gormas who was killed in a duel by the Cid.A good translation of the late Rev. Henry Coleman's book on Agriculture in France, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, has just been published in Brussels. It is from the pen of the Baron Hector le Bailly de Tilleghem Mortier, who has added a great variety of interesting and useful notes. An exposition of the products of national industry is now going on at Madrid.-The London Athenæum says, that all information from travellers in Africa affords reasonable grounds for believing that the interior of that continent consists of an immense table-land, extending from the mountains of Meridefy, south of Lake Tchad, as far as the Cape of Good Hope, and inhabited by nations less barbarous than the other Africans. It is more of a European than of a tropical country.

Canadian Antiquities.-A Quebec paper mentions that in laying bare the foundation of the old French Episcopal Palace, preparatory to the completion of the Legislative Assembly Buildings, the remains of human bones were discovered, as well as a tomb carefully built in masonry. More recently the workmen have come uron the corner stone of the Chapel attached to the palace, in which was found a leaden plate, bearing the inscription which appears below:--

Anno Domini MDCXC{V INNOCENTII Papæ XII anno III. LUDOVICI XIII Francorum Regis LI, primum palatii Sni Episcopalis lapidem posuit JOANNES de Cruce de St. Valliere Ecclesiæ, Quebecensis Episcopus, Deipara Et Divo Ludovico Eius lem Ecclesiæ pationis, auspicibus.

OXYGEN MAGNETIC.-Mr. Faraday, at the last monthly meeting of the Royal Institution, announced to the members present his discovery (the subject of a paper sent in to the Royal Society) that oxygen is magnetic, that this property of the gas is affected by heat, and that he believed the diurnal variation of the magnetic needle to be due to the action of solar heat on this newly discovered characteristic of oxygen-the important constituent of the atmosphere. We do not mean to give the above as the terms of Faraday's announcement, or as the exact facts of the conclusion drawn from his last experimental researches, but only as a foreshadowing of the new result and views of one of our most eminent British philosophers. We must add, however, that Bequerel also has recently directed attention to a somewhat similar conclusion; he communicated to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, that oxygen is magnetic in relation to the other gases, as iron is to the rest of the metals, and inferred that it is probable or possible (we have not the paper by us to refer to) that the diurnal variation may be connected with this property of oxygen.— Literary Gazette.

Newspapers and Periodicals.-One hundred and fifty years ago there was not a single newspaper in England: and it is not two hundred years since the first idea of a regular newspaper was conceived in that island, to rouse the people to resist the Spanish Armada. Now in the United Kingdom there are 547 newspapers. In the year ending January 5th, 1849, 90,928,408 newspaper stamps were issued in the kingdom, of which 76,180,832 were in England alone. After full and careful examination, it is estimated that the aggregate yearly issue of newspapers, magazines, and reviews, from the City of New York alone, in the yeat 1849, was 72,810,257, of which between nine and ten millions were periodicals.

Editorial Notices, &c.

LOCAL SUPERINTENDENTS of Schools are required by the 10th clause of the 31st section of the School Act, to transmit their Annual Reports for 1850 to the Chief Superintendent, "on or before the 1st day of March." It is possible that the Legislature will meet in February. It is therefore important that those Reports should reach the Education Office with the least possible delay, as very little time will remain to prepare the Chief Superintendent's General Annual Report, to lay before the Legislature before it rises. The Session will probable be a short one. We earnestly request that the Superintendents will add up each column of their Report before transmitting it to the Educational Department.

PROGRESS OF FREE SCHOOLS.-We take the following resolution from the last number of the Examiner, illustrating, as it does, the progress of enlightened views upon the subject of Education in the rural School Sections. The resolution was passed at the annual school meeting of Union Section, No. 3, Mariposa and Cartwright:

"Resolved, That this meeting regards the present School Act as an important improvement on former legislation for the support of Common Schools; and we are of opinion that it only requires the addition [of other funds] to the Common School fund to make it a blessing to the youth of our land; and to enable our patriotic Superantendent to realize what he so ardently hopes to see, the light of a Free School emitting its splendour and imparting its blessings to every child of every school section in Upper Canada '"

Our acknowledgments are due to JAMES W. DAWSON, Esquire,

in the United States, we hope to be able to avail ourselves in a future number of the Journal. Monthly meteorological returns have been made to the Institution by various gentlemen in each of the American States, as well as from HER MAJESTY'S Magnetical Observatories in Canada, Nova-Scotia, and Newfoundland. From the explanatory synopsis given by the Secretary of the "memoirs" of the forthcoming second volume of "Smithsonian Contributions," we anticipate a deeply interesting and valuable work.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW-YORK CITY AND COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS:

To the Hon. CHRISTOPHER MORGAN, State Superintendent of Common Schools, for the year 1849. New-York, 1850. 8vo., pp. 24.

We beg to thank Mr. McKEEN for his Annual Report, from which we hope to select for our next number, some valuable and interesting facts and statistics relating to the progress of popular education and free schools in the City and County of New-York.

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METHODIST QUARTERLY REVIEW.

Rev. J. M'CLINTOCK, D.D., Editor. Published by Lane and SCOTT, New-York. January, 1851. 8vo., pp. 186. $2 per annum.

The literary papers in this number of the Quarterly are most interesting and valuable. They are: "Divine Agency in Material Phonomena;" "Present State of Astronomy;" "Campbell's Life and Letters," and "Neander." The papers on CAMPBELL and NEANDER are written with much genuine sympathy with the peculiarities and characters of these distinguished men. The "Literary 'Notices" and "Intelligence," &c., evince much industry and ability on the part of the Editor.

KUHNER'S LATIN GRAMMAR;

With Exercises, Latin Reader, and Vocabularies. Translated and Remodelled by Professor J. T. CHAMPLIN, of Waterville College. Boston, PHILLIPS & Co. 12mo., pp. 435. This work seems to have been remodelled with great care. The arrangement and division of subjects are very good. The Grammar may be regarded as a production of Professor CHAMPLIN rather than of KUHNER, as it embodies Prof. C.'s own views and modes of teaching the rudiments of the Latin language. It will prove an admirable assistant to a student of the grand and stately language of CICERO and VIRGIL.

Superintendent of Education for the Province of Nova-Scotia, for WANTED a qualified TEACHER for School Section No. 2, 4th

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a copy of his Preliminary Report" on Schools; and also for a

copy of his Tract on "SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE, abridged from Bar

Concession Scarboro'. A liberal Salary will b given. Apply to JOHN ELLIOTT, JOHN TEADZEL, or M. MACKLEN, Trustees.-20th Jan., 1851.

nard's School Architecture, with notes" and wood cuts. A copy of WANTED a FEMALE TEACHER thoroughly qualified in all the

this Tract has been furnished to each School District in NovaScotia,

THE SCHOOL REGISTERS are not quite ready. The orders already sent in to the Education Office will be executed on the completion of the stitching and binding,

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN Institution.

To the Senate and House of Representatives, showing the Operations, Expenditures, and condition of the Institution during the year 1849, Washington, 1850. 8vo., pp. 64. A most valuable official document, for which we beg to thank the Officers of the Smithsonian Institution. Of the Report of the Secretary (Professor HENRY) on the general operation of the Institution, and of the Assistant Secretary (Professor JEWETT) on Public Libraries

branches of a plain English education. Salary £50. Apply

to WM. HEPBURN; Secretary, School Trustees, Chippewa.-20th Jan., 1851

WANTED & TEACHER for School Section No. 1, Township of

Erin. He must be competent to teach Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Bookeeping, Grammar, and the outlines of Geography. Salary £50 per annum. Apply to JAS. TAYLOR, WM. McDONALD, and ALEXANDER LAIRD, Trustees, Erin.-18th January, 1851.

WANTED immediately for Section No. 8, Township of Stanley,

County of Huron, a good TEACHER. None with less than 2nd class certificates need apply. Address the Trustees, Bayfield, Post Office.16th January, 1851.

TORONTO: Printed and published by THOMAS HUGH Bentley. TERMS: For a single copy, 5s. per annum; not less than 8 copies, 4s. 44d. each, or $7 for the 8; not less than 12 copies, 4s. 2d. each, or $10 for the 12; 20 copies and upwards, 3s, 9d. each. Back Vols. neatly stitched supplied on the same terms. All subscriptions to commence with the January number, and payment in advance must in all cases accompany the order. Single numbers, 74d. each.

All communications to be addressed to Mr. J. GEORGE Hodgins,
Education Office, Toronto.

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CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.

I. Division of Time among various Nations-Mystical Numbers.-Westminster Review,......

II. School Architecture, (Four Illustrations,)
III. MISCELLANEOUS. 1. The Better Land. 2. The Child's Laugh. 3. The
Image of the Dead. 4. Time's Changes. 5. Appeal to Teachers.
6. First Half of the Nineteenth Century. 7. History of Algebra. 8.
Poetry of the Steam Engine. 9. Genius-Education-A Gentleman in
Ancient Times-The German Character-Burke-Faith-Characteristic
of Grattan's Oratory-The Veil of Futurity-Character of Hamlet-
National Character-Democracy-Echo-Friendship-George III, ...
IV. EDITORIAL. 1. Progress of Free Schools in Upper Canada. 2. Ditto in
England. 3. Comparative Expense of Large and Small Schools in
Towns. 4. Opinion of the Judges upon Separate Schools. 5. Educa-
tion in New York and Upper Canada in 1850, compared. 6. Education
in New South Wales. 7. Municipal Orders for the Journal of E duca-
tion, 1851,

V. Hints on the best Modes of Conducting Recitations in Schools,
VI. EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. 1. Canada. 2. Eastern Provinces. 3.
British and Foreign. 4. United States,

.....

VII. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE,
VIII. EDITORIAL AND OFFICIAL NOTICES. 1. To Trustees and Teachers. 2.
To Local Superintendents. 3. School Registers. 4. Official Docu-
ments and Pamphlets received. 5. Advertisements,.....

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DIVISION OF TIME AND DAYS OF THE WEEK AMONG VARIOUS NATIONS.-MYSTICAL NUMBERS.

We have rarely met with so instructive and interesting a summary of the history of the various national divisions of time as the one in the October number (1850) of the Westminster Review, entitled Septenary Institutions. We select those parts of the paper which embody the historical view of these institutions, omitting the learned disquisition on the Observance of the Sabbath, and the many ingenious theories of the writer as regards the original design in instituting that day of rest.

The Romans had neither decades, nor the week of seven days, but divided their months into three irregular intervals, named after three fixed epochs in each month, called the calends, the nones, and the ides. The days of the calends were the first of every month, originally the first day of a new moon, when it had been customary to call or summon the people together to mark the event by sacrifice or other religious service, and to regulate by it days for other public business; hence the term calenda, call days, from calo (Greek kaleo), to call or summons. The nones (from nonus, the ninth) were the nine days before the ides; and the ides (derived it is said from an obsolete verb iduare, to divide) were the middle days of every month. When the Calendar was reformed by Julius Cæsar, the civil year so little corresponded with the seasons, that the summer months had advanced into the autumn, and the autumn months into the winter. Cæsar, following the advice of the Chaldean astronomer, Sosigenes, put back the 25th of March 30 days, to make it correspond with the vernal equinox, and fixed the lengths of the months as they now remain; but he did not alter the designation of the days of the months, or introduce in respect to them any new division. The additional day given to February every fourth year (our leap year) was added to the calends, which had then 16 days instead of 15, reckoning from the ides, or middle of February to the 1st of March. It was introduced, not at the end of the month, as with us, but between the 6th and 7th of the calends, and called the bis-sexto calendas, whence our term bissextile, as applied to leap-year-the year of 366 days.

Many years, however, elapsed before the Roman people became fully accustomed to the Julian calendar. The progress of conquest about this period made the Roman people acquainted with the calendars of other nations. The people of India, Syria, Arabia, and probably Egypt, observed weeks of seven days. When these countries, or portions of them, became provinces of the Roman empire,

* More probably from Io, whose worship was connected with the full moon.

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