and culture I have adopted, I shall probably more easily render myself intelligible, by describing accurately the management of a single tree of each.

An old St. Germain pear-tree, of the spurious kind, had been trained, in the fan form, against a north-west wall in my garden, and the central branches, as usually happens in old trees thus trained, had long reached the top of the wall, and had become wholly unproductive. The other branches afforded but very little fruit, and that never acquiring maturity, was consequently of no value; so that it was necessary to change the variety, as well as to render the tree productive.

To attain these purposes, every branch, which did not want at least twenty degrees of being perpendicular, was taken out at its base; and the spurs upon every other branch, which I intended to retain, were taken off closely with the saw and chisel. Into these branches, at their subdivisions, grafts were inserted at different distances from the root, and some so near the extremities of the branches, that the tree extended as widely in the autumn, after it was grafted, as it did in the preceding year. The grafts were also so disposed, that every part of the space the tree previously covered was equally well supplied with young wood.

As soon in the succeeding summer as the young shoots had attained sufficient length, they were trained almost perpendicularly downwards, between the larger branches and the wall to which they were nailed. The most perpendicular remaining branch upon cach side was grafted about four feet below the top of the wall, which is twelve feet high; and the young shoots, which the grafts upon these afforded, were trained inwards, and bent down to occupy the space from which the old central branches had been taken away, and therefore very little vacant space any where remained in the end of the first autumn. A few blossoms, but not any fruit, were produced by several of the grafts in the succeeding spring; but in the following year, and subsequently, I have had abundant crops, equally dispersed over every part of the tree; and I have scarcely ever seen such an exuberance of blossom as this tree presents in the present spring (1813). Grafts of eight different kinds of pears had been in

serted, and all afforded fruit, and almost in equal abundance. By this mode of training, the bearing-branches, being small and short, may be changed every three or four years, till the treeis a century old, without the loss of a single crop; and the central part, which is unproductive in every other mode of training, becomes the most fruitful. When a tree, thus trained, has perfectly covered the wall, it will have taken very nearly the form recommended by me in the Horticul tural Transactions of 1808, except that the small branches necessarily pass down behind the large. I proceed to the management of young

trees.

A young pear-stock, which had two lateral branches upon each side, and was about six feet high, was planted against a wall early in the spring of 1810; and it was grafted in each of its lateral branches, two of which sprang out of the stem about four feet from the ground, and the others at its summit, in the following year. The shoots these grafts produced, when about a foot long, were trained downwards, as in the preceding experiment, the undermost nearly perpendicularly, and the uppermost just below the horizontal line, placing them at such distances, that the leaves of one shoot did not at all shade those of another. In the next year, the same mode of training was continued; and in the following, that is the last year, I obtained an abundant crop of fruit, and the tree is again heavily loaded with blossoms.

This mode of training was first applied to the Aston-town pear, which rarely produces fruit till six or seven years after the trees have been grafted; and from this variety, and the Colmar, I have not obtained fruit till the grafts have been three years old.

THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY.

The following geological remarks on the rock of Gibraltar and the adjacent country, were lately read to this society by Mr. John Baird.

The rock of Gibraltar is a huge insulated mass of limestone, surrounded on three sides by the sea, and on the fourth by a low sandy tract of land called the Neutral Ground, by which it is connected with the continent of Spain. It is probable, I think, that this low neck of land, which in general

rises

rises but a few feet above the level of the bay, has at one time been covered by the sea; leaving the Rock of Gibraltar an abrupt rocky island mass a few miles from the main land of Spain.

The north and east sides of this rock present an almost perpendicular steepness from top to bottom. The west side slopes at about an average angle of 45°. The south end or side of the rock is at first quite perpendicular, and then falls gradually down towards Europa Point. The town is built near the foot of the west side of the rock. The length of the rock from north to south may be about 2 miles; its breadth from west to east from half a mile to above a mile; and its height about 1000 feet above the level of the sea. The top of the rock is a long narrow ridge, running north and south, the west side sloping down to the town and bay; the east side, from its rugged, perpendicular front, almost inducing the opinion, that Gibraltar Rock, as it now exists, is only the half of a large hill, the east side of which, in some great convulsion of nature, has been torn asunder from the other, and precipitated into the Mediterranean.

The view from the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, the Mount Calpe of old, in a clear day, is most magnificent. To the east, the Mediterranean stretches out before us as far as the eye can reach; and on either side its lofty shores, the mountainous coast of Africa on the one hand, and, on the other, the more beautiful, perhaps, but scarcely less hilly coast of Europe, both gradually receding from each other, to form, as it were, a broader basin for the Mediterranean; the village of St. Roch, to the north, beautifully situated on the top of a gently sloping hill; the Bay of Gibraltar, and town of Algeziras to the west, and to the south the sister pillar, the lofty Mount Abyla, and her neighbouring mountains.

The Rock of Gibraltar is composed of limestone, of which there are two principal varieties, one forming the great mass of the hill, hard, finegrained, with a splintery or conchoidal fracture, possessing considerable lustre, and generally of a light-grey colour, sometimes also dark, sometimes nearly white, and in one part of the hill, where it is quarried as a marble, occurring beautifully variegated. This limestone is stratified, and near the top of the hill, as is well seen, the strata run from nearly north-east to south-west,

and inclining to the south-west at an angle of 60° or 70°. The other principal variety is a conglomerate or brecciated limestone, formed of the debris of the former, connected by a red calcareous basis, and wrapping round the other central mass. This conglomerate variety appears to be still forming on the hill. Besides these, there occur two beds of a flinty slate rock, both very much decayed, and one of them containing numerous round and angular pieces of limestone. These beds appeared to be contained in the older solid limestone, and to run in strata conformable to it.

At the foot of the hill, the sole rock visible is the conglomerate limestone, which occurs in great abundance, and forming small hills. The imbedded masses are often of a very large size. The basis is a red, coarse, calcareous cement, or a calcareous tuff, more or less hard, and often intermixed with round concretions of calcareous sinter. At the foot of the hill the rock is often almost entirely composed of this calcareous tuff. As we ascend the hill, this conglomerate rock decreases in quantity, the imbedded masses become smaller, and the connecting basis less abundant, more compact, finer, and of a lighter colour. The imbedded masses, which are of every shape, are undoubtedly broken portions of the solid limestone nucleus. When we have ascended above twothirds of the hill, this conglomerate encrusts the interior mass to the depth only of a few inches, and a little higher up almost entirely disappears, when the solid limestone forms the whole upper part of the hill.

That such is the structure of Gibraltar Rock, a central mass of old and solid limestone, covered to various depths by a newly formed conglomerate, such as has been described, appears, from the examination of those parts of the hill through which roads have been cut in the rock, of those long arches cut through both the conglomerate and solid limestone, and in particular of those amazing excavations, as they are called, planted with cannon, often running to a great extent, and parallel to the exterior surface of the hill, from which they extend into the rock from twenty to fifty feet, cutting in various places through the conglomerate into the solid mass. Partly owing to the darkness in these long arches, and from other circumstances,

I seldom

I seldom could discover any welldefined line of separation between the solid and conglomerate limestones, though such a separation certainly exists. The imbedded masses of the conglomerate, however, the nearer they approached the solid rock, lay closer together, the interstices only between them being filled with the tufaceous basis.

That this conglomerate limestone is a much later formation than the interior mass, appears from the well-known and interesting fact of bones and teeth of large quadrupeds having been discovered imbedded in it.

The solid limestone, from the occurrence of beds of flinty slate in it, would appear to be a transition, or a very old secondary limestone, and it is extremely improbable, that organic remains of animals, so high in the scale of being, should be found in it, or in any rock contemporaneous with it. I have seen some of these petrified bones of large animals, and they were always imbedded in the conglomerate rock. Shells also occur in it, but always land-shells, and similar to the common species on the hill. These shells often are not at all altered. Some parts of this conglomerate are certainly of later formation than other parts, and I have no doubt that though slowly, its formation is daily going on.

There is a considerable depth of soil on some parts of the hill, in particular near its foot. It is a red, calcareous kind of soil, formed in a great measure from the mouldering of the calc-tuff; and appears to be very productive.

It is highly improbable, I think, that this calc-tuff basis has been deposited over the debris of the solid rock, from water which at any former period stood over the hill. Though I do not recolleet that springs are very numerous on the bill, yet I think that it is far more probable that this calc-tuff has been deposited from such springs, as is usual with this substance in other situations, or from water percolating through the sides of the bill, and supplied, if necessary, from some great central reservoir, which I believe is not at all an uncommon circumstance in limestone rocks. The calc-tuff thus formed, and enclosing the debris of the solid limestone with animal remains of various kinds, explain the structure and nature of this rock and its petrifactions. It is probable, therefore, that

petrifactions of animals of the latest formation, or even of man himself, may be discovered in this and similar rocks.

Numerous caves occur in the limestone, the sides, roofs, and floors of which are lined with a thick coating of calc-sinter, with numerous stalactites from the roof, and thick, massive pillars, as usual in caves of this kind. Many caves formerly existed, which are now entirely filled with calc-sinter and calc-tuff. Few of these caves are large. St. Michael's Cave, about 800 feet above the level of the sea, which is the largest and best known, is about 100 feet in length, 40 in breadth, and 40 or 50 in height. The stalactites are short and thick, and generally of a brown calc-sinter, which is heavier and harder than the other varieties. At the farther extremity of this cave are many deep hollows; in some of these I found parts of the skeletons of goats, which had no doubt fallen into these pits, and, being unable to escape, had there perished. Bones and skeletons may in this way be often found in these caves, encrusted and petrified by the calc-sinter. Below this upper cave occurs another smaller cave, but more beautiful, into which you descend by rope-ladders by one of these deep hollows. Many amusing fables relate to this cave. Hundreds of small caves occur in the rock, generally, I think, situate in the conglomerate, and filled in part with calc-sinter and calctuff. St. Michael's Cave, however, occurs in the solid limestone. Some of these caves present most picturesque and magnificent appearances. The calc-sinter of these caves, and the calc-tuff of the conglomerate limestone, appear to have a similar formation; the tuff is associated with the sinter in the caves, the sinter is associated with the tuff in the rock: if the one, therefore, is gradually forming, so is the other; if the one is formed by percolation of water through the rock, which holds the calcareous matter in solution, so is the other; and thus the formation of the one is connected with, and illustrates the formation of, the other.

To the north-east of the Rock of Gibraltar, about fifteen miles on the shores of the Mediterranean, rises a very lofty range, called the Alpuxara Mountains, steep, massive, and bare. I did not examine these hills, but they

are probably a continuation of the limestone of Gibraltar. The neutral ground which connects Gibraltar with Spain is two or three miles in length, beyond which the country rises into round, sloping hills. The rocks, to the distance of ten or twelve miles to the north-west of Gibraltar, are various kinds of limestone, coarser than the limestone of the rock, and resting upon it. They are stratified, the strata

running north-east and south-west nearly. At the foot of a range of pretty high hills, behind, or rather north-north-west of Algeziras, and ten miles north-west from Gibraltar, I found some masses of a large granular red and white sandstone, very like the old red sandstone. These masses increased in number as 1 ascended the hills; but, as I did not proceed to the top, I did not discover the rock in situ.

NAP. VI. For continuing to his Majesty certain Duties on Sugar, Tobacco, and Snuff, Foreign Spirits, and Sweets, in Great Britain; and on Pensions, Offices, and Personal Estates in England; and for receiving the contributions of Persons receiving Pensions and holding Offices; for the Service of

the Year 1822.-March 11, 1822.

Cap. VII. For applying certain Monies therein-mentioned for the Service of the Year 1822.-March 11.

Cap. VIII. For raising the Sum of Twenty Millions by Exchequer Bills, for the Service of the Year 1822.— March 11.

Treasury may raise 20,000,0001. by Exchequer Bills, in like manner as is prescribed by 48 G. iii. c. l.

Exchequer Bills to bear an interest not exceeding 3 d. per cent. per diem.

Cap. IX. For transferring several Annuities of Five Pounds per Centum per Annum into Annuities of Four Pounds per Centum per Annum.

-March 15.

Every person entitled to 100%. Navy five per cents. to receive 105l. new 41. per centum annuities.

Persons not dissenting to receive the new 41. per cent. annuities to be deemed assenting.

Persons dissenting to signify the same to the Governor and Company of the Bank of England; and every snch dissentient proprietor or proprietors, or his, her, or their assigns, or the executors or administrators of such assigns, under any such transfer, shall be paid off in the numerical order in which his, her, or their name or names shall be entered in such book as aforesaid, such payment to commence on the 5th day of July, 1822, and to be continued at such periods and in such manner as Parliament may direct.

Cap. X. To enable, in certain Cases, the Opening and Reading of Commissions under which the Judges sit upon

the Circuits, after the Day appointed for holding Assizes.—March 15.

When commissions shall not be opened and read at any place specified on the day named therein, the same may be opened and read the following day, not being Sunday, &c.-But commissions shall be opened and read on the days appointed, if

not prevented.-Where commissions shall be opened under this Act, the cause of delay shall be certified to the Lord Chancellor, &c.

Cap. XI. For the regulating of his Majesty's Royal Marine Forces while

on

Shore.-March 21.

Cap. XII. To indemnify such Persons in the United Kingdom as have omitted to qualify themselves for Offices and Employments, and for extending the Time limited for those Purposes respectively, until the 25th day of March, 1823; and to permit such Persons in Great Britain as have omitted to make and file Affidavits of the Execution of Indentures of Clerks to Attornies and Solicitors, to make and file the same on or before the last Day of Trinity Term, 1822, and to allow Persons to make and whom they served shall have neglected to file such Affidavits, although the Persons take out their Annual Certificates.

March 21.

Cap. XIII. For punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters.— March 21.

Cap. XIV. For rectifying Mistakes in the Names of the Land-Tux Commissioners, and for appointing additional Commissioners, and indemnifying such Persons as have acted without due Authority in Execution of the Acts therein recited.-March 21.

until the 25th day of March, 1823, an Cap. XV. For further continuing, Act of the 58th Year of his late Ma

jesty,

jesty, for preventing Aliens from becoming Naturalized, or being made or becoming Denizens, except in certain Cases.-March 21.

Cap. XVI. To amend an Act, made in the last Session of Parliament, for amending the several Acts for the Regu

lation of Attornies and Solicitors.April 3.

The Act not to extend to persons taking the degree of Bachelor of Law, unless such persons shall have taken such degree within eight years after matri

culation.

IT

[T must be in the recollection of the public, that, about five years ago, the Editor of this Miscellany visited the indigent and neglected members of the SHAKESPEARE FAMILY, and reported their condition and claims in some articles in the Monthly Magazine (Nos. 305 and 307), and which he believes excited much attention. He proposed a subscription for them; and, to give it eelat, suggested, as a collateral plan, that a national monument should be raised to Shakspeare. Several of his correspondents afterwards enlarged upon these views, and some preliminary meetings were actually held; but the state of the country, the death of the Princess Charlotte, the Queen's affair, and other circumstances successively absorbed public attention, insomuch, that the time did not appear to have arrived when the nation could be solicited with effect. Certain jobbers in such things have, however, seized on the idea, and a subscription is announced, under royal sanction, it is true, but not under that sanction of men of paramount character in the republic of letters which was desirable; and, we are grieved to say, with

AN UTTER DISREGARD TO THE WANTS AND HOPES of those members of the Bard's family, to serve whom was the chief object of the original plan. Some of the literary butterflies of the day have thrust themselves into the committees, and Impudence may in some degree succeed; but, until the just claims of the Shakespeare family are admitted to participate in the subscription, we denounce it as a disgraceful display of ostentation, at the expense of the national character for benevolence and justice. It must be felt, by every one capable of feeling with Shakespeare, that to display any pompous monument of brass and marble, while his worthy heirs and the descendants of his blood are in penury, would reflect no honour on the subscribers; but would, while such claimants are neglected, be a monument of MONTHLY MAG. No. 371.

disgrace to the age and people by whom it might be raised. We need not urge more on the subject, for we are persuaded that no man of consistent or honourable feelings will subscribe a shilling till the self-constituted committee have explained themselves on this essential point.

The Odyssey of Homer, translated into English prose, as literally as the idioms of the Greek and the English languages allow, with explanatory notes, by a Member of the University of Oxford, will soon appear, in two volumes octavo.

Capt. MANBY, author of "the Means of saving Persons from Shipwreck,' has nearly ready for publication, a Journal of a Voyage to Greenland in the Year 1821, with graphic illustrations, in one volume, quarto.

Military Memoirs of the Civil War between the People of England and the Stuarts, are in the press; being the personal memoirs of John Gwynne, and an account of the Earl of Glencairn's expedition, as general of his Majesty's forces, in the Highlands of Scotland, in the years 1653 and 1654; by a person who was eye and carwitness to every transaction; with an appendix of documents.

A work is in preparation of Gems principally from the Antique, drawn and etched by R. Dagley, author of "Select Gems, Compendium of Art, &c." with verse illustrations, by the Rev. G. CROLY, A.M. author of "Catiline," a tragedy, &c.

A volume of English Melodies will speedily be published, selected from the original scores and early printed copies in the library of WILLIAM KITCHENER, M.D.

We some time since called the attention of our readers to an association of very questionable utility in a free country, called the Royal Society of Literature. It seems this Society, having money than wit," offered some premiums for essays on certain subjects already worn thread

"more

bare: