under the papal government, its political development is peculiar to itself, and because it is the city in which arose the first school of law subsequent to the downfall of Rome -the school which gave its form to almost all the rest. Having laid this foundation, the author enters at considerable detail into the early history of the Italian and French universities-glancing more rapidly at what were then the less important kindred institutions of Spain and England. He tells the story of their gradual origin, their constitution, and modes of study; and, in doing so, he does not confine himself to the mere school of law, but gives us a picture of the whole literary exertion of the period. The fourth and fifth volumes contain such notices as could be collected of the lives and writings of those jurists commonly known by the name of the Glossators. These were the most distinguished practical and scientific lawyers of Italy, from the origin of the legal school in Bologna, down to an advanced period of the thirteenth century. The information which Savigny gives in the course of his work relative to the political relations and literary activity of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, is novel and interesting. In particular, what respects the history of Italy throws light on much that has hitherto been dark in the origin of the independence, power, and wealth of the modern Italian republics. Muratori and the other antiquaries of that nation had collected immense stores of materials for the elucidation of that intricate question, and more lie still unpublished in the archives and numerous libraries of Italy. But no one had made a proper use of them till. Savigny. The previous writers on the history of the Italian states-Sismond, Daru, and others were men whose literary habits had cultivated their taste more than their powers of patient research,―men, moreover, whose judgment was warped by theoretical opinions, and who saw, in the history of the middle ages, nothing but a mirror reflecting an exact counterpart of the political contests of their own times. The history of the early universities and teachers of Italy is still more interesting, as showing the previous intellectual exercise which had prepared Italy to raise itself, in the course of one short century, to an eminence in art and literature which has since been surpassed in no branch, and equalled in few. It is, perhaps, still a prevailing mistake to look upon Italy's triumphant exertions in art and the belles lettres as proceeding from the midst of a dark and barbarous age. This would be contradicting the general analogy of nature. We often hear the voice of poetry in a rude æra, but such poetry is like the spontaneous and inartificial notes of the wood-bird, gushing forth in snatches and fragments. Complete and highly-finished poems, and, above all, the works of the sister arts, painting, and music, proceed only from an age elevated by previous intellectual and moral discipline. We may not, perhaps, be going too far when we say, that in the greater number of instances poetry has been cultivated with most success, when a degree of relaxation had already crept insidiously into the intellectual and moral vigour of a nation. Poetry may be viewed in this respect as similar to the saplings which shade, with their living verdure, the decay of a stately cathedral, or to the flushing cheek and flashing eye, which tell, by their unearthly beauty, that disease is gnawing at the heart of the young and beautiful. Virgil and Horace lived in the time of Rome's transition from freedom to despotism; Cervantes, De Vega, Calderon, came, after the free spirit of Spain had been tamed; and the fairest flowers of Italian poesy were wreathed round the brow of those who struck down their country's independence. As the school in which the wits of Dante and Petrarch were sharpened, and their intellects braced, these old glossators would be worthy of our attention, even were it not in them that we are to look for the germs of those legal and political doctrines which have given its form and impulse to European society. Economy of the Hands and Feet, Fingers and Toes; which includes the Prevention, Treatment, and Cure of Corns, Bunnions, and Deformed Nails; the Removal of Excrescences, superfluous Hairs, Freckles, Pimples, Blotches, and other Extraneous Eruptions; with safe and certain Methods of rendering the Skin White, Soft, and Delicate, without Detriment to Health. By an Old Army Surgeon. London. Effingham Wilson. 1830. Pp. 108. toe. To all For our own THE frontispiece to this book represents a gentleman in a fashionable morning dress, paring the nail of his big He rests his right foot upon his left thigh, and performs the operation with a very evident degree of complacency and self-satisfaction. The title-page, which we piece, conveys an accurate idea of the work. have copied above, taken in connexion with this frontisOne of the sections begins thus:-"Corns have received various names, as hard, soft, black, and bloody corns." those who are interested in either hard, soft, black, or part, not a corn ever invaded joint or toe of ours, and we bloody corns, we recommend the volume. vent corns," for "tried medicines to take away corns," or do not care one farthing, therefore, for "plasters to prefor "recipes to kill corns." Editorially speaking, however, we are bound to feel for all; and we can safely state, that this book contains some curious information, with here and there a passage not unworthy of our friend the author of the "Simplicity of Health;" such, for example, as the following erudite sentence concerning the bathing of the feet :-"The feet may be bathed in warm or cold water, at various temperatures." The chapter which appears to us the most amusing, is that which contains a history of the rise and progress of gloves, by which it appears that gloves are at least as old as the time of Homer, and that they were generally worn by the Greek and Roman exquisites. A Grammatical Collection of Phrases and Idioms, systematically arranged, so as to impart a progressive knowledge of the Practical and Critical Parts of the French Language. For the use of the Edinburgh Academy. By C. P. Buquet, Master in the Edinburgh Academy, and Author of the " Nouveau Cours de Litterature. Edinburgh. Oliver & Boyd. 1830. 8vo. Pp. 208. THIS is an excellent practical introduction to the French language. The prefatorial essay contains a brief exposition of the alphabet, and the various marks and accents which puzzle the young beginner of French; a succinct and satisfactory exposé of that apocalyptical chapter, the French verb; and a large vocabulary of the indeclinable words. The phrases and idioms are so arranged as to lead the student imperceptibly from the use and understanding of the simplest construction, to the appreciation of the most recondite niceties of French expression. It is a work calculated to give the young such a practical command of the language, as will enable the teacher to explain its principles, with some hope of being understood. It is, at the same time, a work over which few can glance without being struck for the thousandth time with the delicate and subtle refinements of the French tongue. Although in a comparatively humble department of philology, the volume does no discredit to the high testimonials to Mr Buquet's literary character which obtained for him the situation he now fills. Synopsis on Methodical Nosology. By the late Professor W. Cullen, M. D. Two vols. in one; 1. Latin, 2. English. Translated, corrected, improved, and enlarged with a new Class of Cutaneous Diseases. By Edward Milligan, M.D. Edinburgh. Maclachlan and Stewart. 1830. DR MILLIGAN is already known to the public as the author of an improved and valuable edition of Celsus, and Scotland from the Union downwards; and from her early female acquaintance, she had picked up as much legendary scandal of the latter end of the seventeenth century, as is perhaps at this moment afloat respecting the whole world of our own day. All these traditionary stores were faithfully committed to my memory, which thus became encumbered with many unintelligible, but yet distinctly impressed pictures, of which the real meaning has only since dawned upon me gradually, as I grew up, and as I happened to find them illustrated in the course of historesearches. also as the translator of Majendie's Compendium of Physiology, which we lately recommended to our medical readers, as an excellent translation of that deservedly popular work. We have now to call their attention to his present edition of Cullen's Nosology, which is accompanied with an English translation, and published as a pocket companion. Dr Milligan has carefully preserved the spirit, as well as the letter, of Cullen's text, and has simplified and adjusted the definitions, so as to render the recollection of them easier. He has added a synoptical table of the genera and species, with their corresponding appel-rical lations in the Nosology of Mason Good, which cannot fail to be acceptable to all who may adopt the nomenclature of that author. The learned translator has also added a fifth class of cutaneous diseases, and some additional genera that have lately been described. To those practi-ing,) had given my mind a decided turn for retrospective tioners who may have occasion to consult the Nosology of Cullen, we recommend the present edition, as by far the most correct and most convenient in point of size that has yet been published; and as the text has been adapted to the most recent and enlightened views of disease, we apprehend it will become an indispensable auxiliary to the student of medicine. The Scholar's Introduction to Merchants' Accounts, practically adapted to the Use of Schools, &c. The whole exemplified upon a newly-arranged principle, to facilitate the Improvement of the Learner. By George Reynolds, Writing Master, Christ's Hospital. London. Hurst, Chance, & Co. 1829. 8vo. Pp. 119. We have looked over this treatise upon Merchants' Accounts with much satisfaction. It is arranged upon a new and simple plan, by which the scholar, instead of being made to copy mechanically the journal and ledger, is placed under the necessity of actually studying the subject before him. We recommend the work to the attention both of teachers and men of business. MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S REMINISCENCES. By Robert Chambers, Author of the “ Traditions of My great-grandmother was not of a cynical or austere disposition, but rather cheerful, talkative, and benevolent. In this, I must confess, she differed from many other old Scottish ladies of her time, whose character, in general, displayed a very bitter rind. But it could be accounted for, on the supposition that all the natural affections of her heart had been developed and brought into action by her numerous domestic relations, and had not again been chilled or soured by accidental circumstances. Fortunately for me, in all our intercourse she was uniformly | kind and communicative. Imagine the delicious dreams of romance in which I thus indulged. I was raw from my country castle, where a venerable copy of Buchanan's Scotland, with portraits of the Roberts and the Jameses, (almost my only read contemplation, and where my other great-grandmother's ballads had tinged my whole soul with the brilliant hues of romance. My temperament was naturally lively and fanciful, and here, placed in very contact with one who had herself seen an age of something like chivalry, and been in the presence of others who had almost seen it in its vigour, I felt as if I lived a century before my time, and moved amidst the awful ghosts of those whom I had ever been accustomed to think of as the heroes of an in conceivably glorious age, long past from mortal ken. This passion for in me it amounted to such-was fed in no small degree by my great-grandmother taking me to visit many of the real scenes of her stories, which were neither more nor less than the streets, closes, and houses of the Old Town of Edinburgh. This very curious and wonderful place, of which she preserved innumerable local anecdotes, always filled me with a sort of awe. The first close I ever entered was that memorable one in which the old episcopal chapel was situated, where the narrowness of the passage, its tortuosity, the stupendous height of the buildings on both sides, their black and antique appearance, the religious rubrics here and there interspersed, and the projections above, which scarcely left an inch of sky in view of a spectator from the bottom, overwhelmed me with an indefinable feeling of more than admiration. My great-grandmother, in time, and as her increasing infirmities would permit, walked with me through many such, and pointed out what had in her early days been the residences of the noble and the wealthy, and were now reduced, by the change of manners and fashions, to accommodate only the mechanic and the poor. There was scarcely a close of which she could not tell some strange traditionary anecdote. She once pointed out a recess in a court somewhere behind the Lawnmarket, where, when a girl, she had one night seen two gentlemen fight each other with swords, for a good while, till one of them fell, and the other fled. "We were all horror-struck," she said; "for there happened to be no man person in the house to go out and part them, except the livery laddie, that wadna steer frae the kitchen-neuk; but, hearing the groans of the wounded gentleman, we ladies went down stairs in a body, with candles, and found him dead, for the sword had gone quite through his back, and the gutter ran with blood down (as we afterwards heard) to the very North Loch. He was a lord's son, and there was a feud about him between his family and somebody that was blamed for his death, many a long day after. Never shall I forget that night-there's the very step, outside of that stair-fit, that his head was lying on, wi' its lang The three months which I spent with her ladyship, previous to engaging in the unsentimental horrors of the High School, were assuredly the most pleasant of my life. They were almost altogether devoted by us both to my initiation in all the mysterious family secrets of my ancestry, to her relations of which my juvenile curiosity ever inclined a willing and ready ear. My great-grand-curled hair and thrawn white face, when we came down mother's memory reached back quite distinctly to the era of the Union, when she was a girl of eight years of age, and she preserved all the more remote reminiscences of her father, who had been in public life a short while after the Restoration. She had anecdotes at third hand of the Civil Wars, and even a few shadowy outlines of the time of James the Sixth. From her husband, who held a high judicial office in the reign of George the First, she had derived many interesting anecdotes of the government of and saw him!" As I shuddered at this fearful sketch of past times, and gazed on the localities with a strange and thrilling interest, she pulled me away with her stout, bony arm, calling me, in her old homely phrase, a "daft callant," though I know she was in secret immensely pleased at the attention which I paid to her stories. I was greatly struck one day, in the course of a tour through some very antique and ruinous places, when her ladyship happened to stumble upon the house in which, the room, and I stood silent at a little distance, in expectation of her remarks upon the scene. at a ball, she had fallen in love with her husband. It was a good way up stairs, and so mean-looking an abode, that I could not imagine the possibility of it's ever having "Yes, yes, Alexander," said she, "this is the very winbeen the scene of fashionable revels. On ascending to dow I spoke of; for, in this thick old pane, I see what I the proper height, we entered a lobby, of which the walls remember having then seen-the name of my school-acwere coloured with a blotched and dirty white, and be-quaintance, the Hon. George —— who was the second grimed all around. From this several doors and pas- son of the noble proprietor of this house. A gallant young sages branched off; and it was evident that each of these man he was, and was killed in a duel at Leyden, when doors gave entrance to the habitation of a separate family. studying there for the Scots bar. Here sat I, seventy-four Her ladyship was at first puzzled how to proceed, for years ago, a light lassie o' sixteen, wi' the bloom on my cheek though in her youth she had been quite familiar with the and pride in my heart; and there sat my future husband, house, it now appeared that the internal arrangements your great-grandfather, Lord Kittleghame, that has been had been altered, and many subdivisions had taken place, in his grave sin' the year twenty-nine. Little did I then so that the original apartments could scarcely be recog- think of sitting here again at this time of day, an auld nised. One thing she was quite clear upon, and that wife, with a great-grandchild by my side, and sic a was, that the dancing-room had windows which over- changed warld a' round me. Gin Thomas the Rhymer looked the North Loch, "for I mind," said she," after himsell had told me what was to come to pass, I wad I had danced the first dance with my dear lord, he hand- have ca'd him a haverin fool. But naebody can imaed me to a seat in the neuk o' the window, and there sat gine strange enough things for futurity no to bring about. gently down beside me. I looked ower to Bareford's There's that New Town, that naebody thought would Parks, (for it was a simmer evening, and not dark,) pre-ever be a town at all-ye see, it's half-a-mile lang altendin', wi' my tale, no to heed him, but to be quite ta'en up wi' the bits o' innocent lambs that were a' daunderin' about the place, where there's naething noo but a big starin' New Toon, as they ca't, fu' o' wylie-tod writers. And my lord observed me lookin' at the lambs-oh, he was a pleasant man, and then very young, and new put on the bench; yet he was grave and learned beyond his years; and it ill set a man o' his character and profession to speak silly things to a silly lassie, that had naething but vanity and nonsense in her head. However, he was sae anxious to please me, that he began and spak some havers about innocence, and pastoral life, and the sweetness o' thae bonny creatures that I saw ower the Loch. Now, I wasna thinkin' at a' about either ae thing or anither a' the time but himsell, and was just in a kind o' reverie about him indeed; but at last, hearin' him speak about the sweetness o' the lambs, and seein' him point out a particular ane, that looked very plump and happy, I was obliged to muster up some answer to Lis lordship, and, in my confusion, what d'ye think, I said, Sandy? Man, I drew a lang breath, and said, 'Yes, my lord, I daresay that ane wad mak' a very sweet lamb pie My Arcadian swain was quite dumfounded, and I heard him ejaculate, ‘Oh, Lord !' in a kind o' horror. But I soon brought him about again, and matters a' proceeded gaily eneugh for a few months, when we were happily married." We proceeded to explore one of the dark passages before us, and knocking at a door, which was opened by a little girl, entered a small apartment with one window, which in reality did command a view of the New Town. Upon our entrance, an aged spectacled dame, in coarse, but clean clothes, rose from a table at which she appeared to be reading a large Family Bible, and coming forward, respectfully enquired our business. My greatgrandmother, apologizing for our intrusion, briefly stated that curiosity respecting this very remarkable old house, which had been the habitation of some of her best and earliest friends, was the sole occasion of our visit, and expressed a hope that the few moments of our stay would not put her to much inconvenience. The woman, who seemed to be the retired servant of some person of rank, replied in very polite terms, that we were exceedingly welcome to gratify our curiosity, and even proceeded to chaperone us round the apartment, of which the roof and cornices, as she showed us, were ornamented with carions stucco-work. But my great-grandmother expressed little curiosity respecting these, which she dedared to be modern-antiques, and begged to be allowed sit a few moments in the recess of the window, which the recognised to be that through which she had seen the mbs of Bareford's Parks. A chair being placed, her ladyship sat down, with feelings evidently not a little excited, while the old woman retired to the other end of ready, and may be a hale ane or they be done wi't. Nay, they're maybe born that shall see it ta'en down to the sea, and even ower to Fife, nae sayin'; and then the Frith of Forth will be a kind o' new North Loch for them to mak' briggs ower. Speakin' o' the Nor' Loch, there was a story told i' my day, that a poor old woman once attempted to drown herself in it, but was prevented in a very singular way. She waded in a gay bit, till her large wide stiff hoop, being buoyed up by the water, carried her off her feet, and then the wind blew her away across the Loch, quite safe and erect, but cryin' a' the time for help; and when she landed on the other side, she was completely reconceeled to life, and it is said she lived with her family for many years after, though she never got another name till her deean' day, but Nor' Loch Tibbie. "But that's no to the point," continued my greatgrandmother,' looking round the room, and surveying its humble furniture,-" To think o' this house, that was ance the entailed property and residence of Lord and was said to have been built for a townhouse to his ancestor the Regent -, being now such a wretched abode! It beats a' prent. Ah, the many gay and grand sights that I have seen here! This was a large room then, and the panels were a' covered with beautiful paintings and mirrors. I have seen country dances here, with six-and-thirty couples in them. A' the nobility o' the town used to come, and ladies with such hoops, that they could not stand closer to each other than at arm's length, while their heads were dressed up like the very Tower o' Babel itsell. My troth, dress was dress in thae days! There was a band o' musicians at that end-violin players, amateur and professional, without number, with the ingenious MacGibbon on the hautboy, and the lively-fingered Crumbden on the harpsichord. Some gentlemen of birth and fortune, between the dances, entertained the company with gratuitous performances on their own favourite instruments, accompanied by ladies who could sing. There was Mr Falconer of Phesdo on the flute, Mr Seton of Pitmeddin on the violin, and Mr Chrystie of Newhall on the viol de gambo; and as for ladies, there were some of Crumbden's pupils, whose very grand-daughters have, to this day, a finer hand upon the harpsichord than others. No such agreeable gentlemen or ladies now-a-days, nor such music neither! There were naething then in vogue but gude auld Scots airs, such as Gilderoy, I'll never leave thee, She rose and let me in, and The bridegroom grat, which were a' played in as simple a style as when they were first uttered by their shepherd-authors on the mountain side. Miss Baillie of Jarviswood, afterwards Lady Murray of Stanhope→→→ though her father was a Whig, I maun do her justice in this she sung the plaintive sang of Tweedside-not the new-fangled lad Crawford's version, but my Lord Yester's -in so sweet and touching a manner, that aye when she came to the last line o' the verse, I'll lay my banes far -frae the Tweed,' the hale company shed tears; and indeed naebody could bear to hear her sing it, for they were sae sure of making fools of themselves before it was done. She was certainly a sweet creature, Lady Murray, and could write fine sangs hersell; we were always on good terms, and used to criticise each other's verses with great good-humour. She was ill-set wi' Sir Alexander, who was quite mad. She once told me, that the first of their unhappy quarrels took place three or four days after they were married-it was i' the year ten, and that maks me an auld woman. They came to live in the Parliament Square, which was not then altogether rebuilt after the great fire o' the year naething; and upon Lady Murray expressing some uneasiness at the disturbance occasioned by the sound o' the mason's hammers i' the morning before rising, Sir Alexander told her that it was a very pleasant sound, and that she must just endeavour to think it so, else there would be nae peace between them. Was na that fine treatment for a young wife i' the hinneymoon? But I'm wanderin', as usual, frae the point. Ay, ay, I was describing the entertainments gien at balls in thae days. However, I see we're just disturbing this good woman, and it is time we were hame at Teviot Row, to prepare for the ladies I expect to-night to tea and cards." She rose and moved into the centre of the apartment, when, as she stood a few moments in conversation with the old woman of the house, I could not help contrasting in idea her tall, antique, faded figure, half stooping over her black square-headed cane, and surrounded by the humble furniture of a poor dwelling, with the bewitching loveliness and stately graces which were ascribed to her person in youth, when she moved here, the centre of a whole system of animated beauties, now long forgotten in the dust, and giving additional charms to a scene of magnificent festivity. She seem'd like one who treads alone Whose lights are filed, whose garlands dead, The old woman soon getting into the full tide of gossip with my venerable relation, we were detained a few minutes, during which it turned out, that this aged person had been head-servant to the noble family who formerly possessed this mansion, and now lived retired in one of its garrets, upon a small pension allowed to her by one of its members, who had survived with life and fortune the wrecking period of the Forty-five. She seemed a complete specimen of the old Scottish domestic-attached, garrulous, and polite. She had a formality in her manner, which went far beyond the utmost limits of modern good-breeding, and, though miserably infirm, was not without a certain degree of stateliness in her personal appearance. She was dressed with remarkable neatness, and wore a necklace of lammer beads, to which a small crucifix of gold was attached. What rendered her at once interesting in my romantic eyes, she had been wounded, in the year 1745, by a shot from the Castle, directed at the coach of her rebellious master, in which she was, when it entered the city, in broad day, by the West Port, then in possession of a Highland guard; and she could tell many anecdotes of that year, so remarkable for having heard the last faint trumpet-note of aspiring chivalry. She had entered the service of thefamily when she was a girl; had lived many happy years with them in this then splendid house, previous to that unhappy occasion; after which, she accompanied them abroad, saw them all die out, one by one, with broken hearts and ruined fortunes, and then returned to end her own days amidst the ruins of their former abode. My great-grandmother asked many questions respecting the family, which the old woman could not answer, except at great length and with tears. There was only one anec dote of a ludicrous nature, and that respected the preservation of her present supporter, who was a nephew of the last lord, and now enjoyed part of his estates. Lady was very averse to her husband's design of joining the Rebels, and when his nephew came to Edinburgh to accompany him away, ordered her maid to put boiling water into his lordship's boots, so that, when he came to draw them on, he might incapacitate at least one foot for the expedition. By mistake, the maid bestowed the boiling water upon the nephew's boots, which stood in the kitchen beside her master's; and the consequence was, that, while his lordship went away laughing at his nephew's misfortune, the young gentleman remained at home, escaped the perils of the rebellion, and afterwards inherited some of the possessions which his brave uncle forfeited. Many other anecdotes we heard; but my greatgrandmother at last took her leave, promising that I should call some future day, with a token of her regard, and in order that I might hear out the rest of her interesting stories. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. WERNERIAN SOCIETY. Saturday, 9th January. PROFESSOR JAMESON in the Chair. Present,-Professors D. Ritchie and Graham; Drs Scot, Adam, and Greville; Henry Witham, James Wilson, Thomas Sevright, Esqrs., &c. THE first paper read at this meeting was a communication from Dr Greville, "On the various economical uses of Seasayist, though they hold a low place in the vegetable kingplants." The Marine Algae, it was remarked by the esdom, are entitled to the attention of the naturalist on account of their beauty, their adaptation to the place they occupy in creation, and their economical use. Viewed merely in a picturesque light, there is something charming in the contemplation of the submarine groves and meadows which they form, diversified and enlivened by countless hosts of animated creatures, to whom they afford nourishment and shelter. Some of the algae are not to be recognised by the naked eye, except from the appearance they give to larger species, on which they are parasitical; others attain an enormous size. The more gigantic algae are enabled to buoy themselves up in the waves by means of various peculiarities of structure; thus some of them are furnished with hollow stems, others have vesicles filled with air imbedded or attached to their leaves. The larger algæ, at least such as are destined to buffet with stormy seas, have roots which grapple are, by the nature of their abodes or of their figure, less exthe rocks by means of tough and thick fibres; others, which posed, are attached by a simple shield-like base. It was, however, chiefly upon the economical uses of the algae that the remarks of the essayist turned. Some of them are useful as articles of food or medicine, others are of importance in the arts. As food, several kinds are greedily sought after the fucus serratus and the chorda filum are stored up for by cattle, especially in the north of Europe. In Norway, winter fodder. Man, too, makes extensive use of the alga in this way. The lower classes inhabiting the coasts of our own country, the poor on the coast of South America, and the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, employ various species of sea-weeds as esculents; and the richer classes throughout the world seek after some of them to heighten the attractions of their luxurious tables. The gracilaria compressa of our own shores has been discovered, by a lady of the author's acquaintance, to form an excellent pickle; the chondrus crispus entered, on the southern and western coasts of Ireland, into the composition of blanc-mange; and an un-determined species of gelidium furnished the materials of the celebrated edible swallows' nests. In a medical point of view, the algae are important chiefly as the source whence iodine is derived. This gas is known to be a powerful renistered as a remedy for this disease; and in South Amemedy in cases of goitre. Burnt sponge used to be admirica the stems of a sea-weed are chewed by the inhabitants whenever goitre is prevalent. Probably both plants owed The paper, of which we present an abstract, is intended to form a part of the introduction to Dr Greville's forthcoming work on the Alga. of old English, and a few Grecian and Roman coins; a great number of books, among which were the Transactions of several Parisian Societies. A letter was likewise read from General Ainslie, giving an account of his exertions to extend the Society's correspondence among the French Antiquaries. The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to General Ainslie. There was also exhibited a beautiful intaglio of Hercules strangling the Nemean Lion, worn as a seal by John Duke of Lauderdale. their efficacy to the presence of iodine. It was worthy of remark, that French kelp yielded more iodine than British; and that manufactured at the Cape of Good Hope more than the French. It is, however, in the arts that the utility of the marine algae is most conspicuous. The gracilaria tenar furnishes the Chinese with an invaluable glue and varnish. It is also probable that this plant is the principal ingredient in the gummy matter called chin-chou or hai-tsai in China and Japan, the transparent gluten of which is used by the natives to fill the lozenge-shaped interstices of their Dr Brunton resumed the reading of Colonel Millar's bamboo window-frames. About 27,000 pounds of the gra- Essay "On the site of the battle of Mons Grampius," an cilaria tenax is imported annually from the province of Fo- abstract of the first part of which is contained in our 58th kien and Tchekian, at Canton, where it sells for 6d. or Number. From Dunearn Hill, which Colonel Millar as8d. per pound. The chondrus crispus (already mentioned) signed in the first part of his Essay as the winter quarters is converted in Ireland into size for the use of house-paint- of Agricola, he supposes him to have marched at the openers. An immense variety of algæ are employed in making ing of the seventh campaign to Markinch, then due north kelp, and it is in this manufacture that their utility is most towards Falkland, a little beyond which he took up his conspicuous. The number of people employed by it, di- station at the base of the Lomond hill, which the author rectly or indirectly, in the Orkney Islands, amounts, ac- assumes to have been the Mons Grampius of Tacitus. Subcording to Mr Peterkin, to 20,000. According to Dr Barry, sequently he thinks the Roman General intrenched himthe quantity made in these islands, from 1790 to 1800, self upon Pitfour hill, the eastern termination of the Ochill amounted, in more than one year, to 300 tons, and as the range, four miles to the north. The Eden flows midway price was then from £9 to £10 per ton, the manufacture between the hills of Pitfour and Lomond; and its valley, sometimes brought nearly £30,000 into the place in one sea- Colonel Millar undertakes to demonstrate, was the scene of son. Dr E. D Clarke observes, in 1797, that cattle and hostile operations between the Romans and Caledonians. kelp form the chief objects of commerce. At Canna, the He rests his opinion upon various grounds. Firstly, the Doctor was informed, that if kelp kept its price, one pro- tradition of the country that a great battle was fought prietor would clear £6000, and another £10,000, by that there; secondly, the accordance of the terrain with the dearticle of produce alone. Kelp has sunk in value since the scription of Tacitus; thirdly, the numerous places of seclose of the last war, owing to the superior quality of Spa- | pulture, partly Roman, partly Caledonian, and the arms nish barilla for the purposes of soap-boiling and glass-ma- found all over the field; fourthly, the strong intrenchments king. It is, however, still an important object of domestic upon the Pitfour and Lomond hills; lastly, the isolated commerce. The importance of sea-weed as a manure for character of the latter eminence more consonant than a land has long been recognised. The produce of the algae range of mountains with the singular word Mons. is far less exposed to the casualties arising from our preca- The conclusion of the Essay was deferred till the next rious climate than the crops of the agriculturist. In some meeting of the Society. parts, the sea-weed is cut only every third year-where there are strong currents, an annual harvest may be obtained without injury. Attempts have been made, not without success, to cultivate sea-weed where it did not grow naturally. By covering sandy bays with large stones, crops of fuci have been obtained in about three years, the sea appearing to abound everywhere with their seeds. The rapidity of developement in the larger algae is striking. Mr Stevenson, the engineer, while engaged in erecting a stone beacon on a low rock, called the Carr, situated near the entrance into the Frith of Forth, found a portion of its surface thickly covered with large sea-weeds in May 1814, which he had left completely bare in the preceding November, the sea-weeds having been cut away, and their bases trampled down by the workmen, and part of the rock even chiselled. The common tangle, fucus digitatus, was already two feet long-the fucus esculentus measured six feet, and the small appendages which, at maturity, contain the seeds of the plants, were already visible. METROPOLITAN THEATRICALS. London, January 11, 1830. In accordance with all those laws for this season "made and provided," the Genius of Pantomime now rules lord of the ascendant over the dramatic dynasty of London; for, with the exception of one house, whose treasury and whose stage are both much too limited in their resources for such an exhibition, we have a Harlequinade at every theatre in the Metropolis. Whilst Covent Garden rejoices in "Cock Robin," and Drury Lane is exultant with " Jack-in-the-Box;" the Cobourg attracts with the "Enchanted Harp," the Surrey is eloquent with "Harlequin's Alphabet," and the Adelphi exhibits the "Dwarf and the Magic Needle." Sadler's Wells boasts of the The Rev. Dr Scot, of Corstorphine, next read a learned" Hag of the Forest Raven;" the Olympic shines reand interesting paper "On the rams and badgers, with the skins of which the Israelites covered the outside of their tabernacles." Specimens (bred in Europe, from imported eggs, by M. Sommer, of Altona) of the Saturnia luna, a rare North American moth, as also of the cocon and eggs of the animal, were exhibited. Some notes on its natural history, by Mr James Wilson, were read by the Secretary. Mr Wilson intimated an intention of submitting some remarks on the geographical distribution of animals to the Society at an early opportunity. The Secretary reported to the Society the reception of a new volume of Transactions from the Royal Scientific Society of Berlin; and the business of the meeting being concluded, the Society adjourned. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. Monday, 11th January. Such donations received during the recess, as had not been exhibited at the previous meeting, were presented by the Curator of the Museum. The most interesting were -the original letter of the Edinburgh Volunteers offering their services against Prince Charles Edward; a collection splendent with the "Polar Star;" and the Pavilionwhich the Times, in its fervour for early intelligence, burned down in a mistake, about a fortnight ago, with three adjoining houses!-the ill-used Pavilion glories in "Mother Carey's Chickens." Not having met with any praiseworthy individual, who has deserved well of his country by seeing them all, I cannot, like some critics, describe that of which I know nothing, and must, therefore, limit my observations to those few to which my observation has been limited. Mr Farley's authorship at Covent Garden is this year a comparative failure; for, though Cock Robin's Funeral-procession, the Star of Venus, the gigantic Watch-house Spider, and one or two other points, are excellent, yet in whim, splendour, scenery, and general effect, it is decidedly inferior to Mr Barrymore's rival exhibition at Drury Lane; which, allowing for the general absence of the ancient wit and humour from all modern Pantomimes, is very good indeed; while Stanfield's moving Diorama of the Royal Domains of Windsor, and Virginia Waters, with a real cascade, can be exceeded by the reality only, and must draw crowds, independent of any auxiliary. The exhibitions of the minor houses are, doubtless, all admirable in their way, though not in mine; and if only half of their play-bill announcements of "overflowing audiences," " tumultuous applause," and " every evening till farther notice," may |