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WE may refer with pride, as well as pleasure, to the almost innumerable contrivances and plans, which have from time to time been proposed by ingenious and scientific persons of our own country, for the purpose of preserving life in cases of danger, whether from shipwreck, fire, or other sudden calamity; in the present paper we shall notice a few of the principal means employed to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners. On account of the exhausted state of the poor creatures on board a wreck, it is natural to look for the greatest amount of assistance from persons on shore, and accordingly we find that, although many lives have been saved by the exertions of the crew themselves, much larger numbers owe their preservation to the perilous exertions of adventurous men on the coast.

The Life-boat of Mr. Greathead, of South Shields, has been the most successful of these inventions. A model of this boat was sent to the Society of Arts, and in 1802 this Society presented the inventor with their gold medal and fifty guineas. So highly was it appreciated by government, that a reward of 12001. was subsequently voted by Parliament, besides other rewards by the Trinity House and Committee of Lloyd's; this latter institution devoted also 2000l. to the purpose of building boats on Mr. Greathead's plan. Since this time most of the dangerous parts of our coasts have been furnished with life-boats on the same construction.

The length of the life-boat is thirty feet, the breadth ten feet, the depth, from the top of the gunwale to the bottom of the keel in midships, three feet three; but from the gunwale to the platform, or boarding within, it is but two feet four inches. The form of this boat is very different to that of those in common use, and from its construction it is impossible it can upset. It is said that its peculiar figure was suggested by the properties possessed by the sections of an oblate spheroid, a globular figure, flattened on two of its opposite sides, a form exactly resembling that of an orange. Indeed the figure and power of this boat may be popularly illustrated by means of a simple operation upon this fruit. Take an orange, and divide the skin by two circular incisions, as in the annexed figure; this will divide the rind into

four portions, each a miniature life-boat, when separated carefully from the fruit. If either of these pieces are thrown into a vessel of water, it will be seen that, although by overloading it may be sunk, it never can be overturned by any weight placed within it. Its shape then giving the boat this property, to guard against its sinking, the sides, from the under part of the gunwale along the whole length of the regular shear, extending twenty-one feet six inches, are cased with layers of cork, to the depth of sixteen inches downwards, the thickness of this casing being four inches.

The boat being of the same form at both ends, can be rowed in either direction; the rowing oars are short; but those employed for steering, for there is no rudder, are one-third longer.

The cork weighs nearly seven hundred weight, and from this it may be well understood, what an immense accession of buoyancy is gained; so light is she, and so well formed, that even when full of water she is rowed with ease, and obeys the helm with the greatest quickness.

Second in importance to the Life-boat alone, in the humane cause of saving life from shipwrecks, are the ingenious inventions of the veteran philanthropist, Captain Manby. This worthy gentleman has devoted a considerable portion of his long and active life to devising and perfecting the means of forming a communication between the crew of a vessel in danger and the persons on shore, by conveying a rope from the shore to the ship, or from the ship to the shore. This Captain Manby accomplishes by affixing a shot to a rope, discharging it

from a gun, a mortar, or some other piece of

ordnance, so that the rope should become entangled with the rigging of the ship, and thus lay the foundation for a more secure communication. His first object was to coil the rope in such a manner, that, in uncoiling, there shall be no danger of entanglement, as a very slight hitch would alter the direction of the shot, or, perhaps, break the rope.

The following method, fig. 1, is recommended as one of the best, particularly on account of its allowing the eye to run rapidly over the coils, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it has been disturbed by the storm. The rope is arranged in what

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what are called French fakes, or tiers. Other methods are also resorted to, as a whale-laid coil, or a chainfake, fig. 2. But as all these methods require time and care, they are likely to fail in the hurry of the moment, and a rope kept ready coiled in a basket, so that it could be carried on the back of a man like a knapsack, is considered the most certain. The difficulty of fixing the shot so that the flame of the gunpowder might not burn its attachment to the rope, was next to be overcome, and it was found that a thong of stout platted hide, woven extremely close, was capable of most resistance, being, at the same time, not easily inflamed and very elastic, for chains of every description were snapped in two by the sudden jerk.

The shot employed was of two sorts, round shot

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as many fuzes. The shell itself being filled with the most brilliant combustible composition, its effect when passing through the air, is surprisingly bright.

THE ATMOSPHERE.

;

but which we feel investing us wherever we go; THE Atmosphere is an element which we cannot see, whose density we can measure to a certain height whose purity is essential to existence; whose elastic preserves man in that noble attitude which lifts his pressure on the lungs, and on and around the frame, head towards the skies, and bids him seek there for an eternal home. poration from earth nor sea, but a separate element The atmosphere is neither an evain its motions round the sun. bound to the globe, and perpetually accompanying it Can we for an instant imagine that we are indebted for the atmosphere only to some fortuitous accident? If there were no atmosphere, and if we could possibly exist without one, we should be unable to hear the sound of the most powerful artillery, even though it were discharged at the distance of a single pace. We should be deprived of the music of the sea, the minstrelsy of the woods, of all the artificial combinations of sweet sounds, and of the facinating tones of the human voice itself. We might make our wants and our feelings perceptible to each other, by signs and gesticulations, but the tongue would be condemned to irremediable silence. The deliberations of assemblies of men, from which laws and the order of society, have emanated, could never have taken place. The tribes of mankind would wander over the earth in savage groups, incapable of civilization, and the only arts which they could ever know, would be those alone that might enable them to destroy each other.- -Quarterly Review.

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THERE are habits, not only of drinking, swearing, and lying, and of some other things, which are commonly acknowledged to be habits, and called so, but of every modification of action, speech, and thought; man is a bundle of habits. There are habits of industry, attention, vigilance, advertency; of a prompt obedience to the judgement occurring, or of yielding to the first impulse of passion; of extending our views to the future, or of resting upon the present; of apprehending, methodizing, reasoning; of indolence, dilatoriness, of vanity, self-conceit, melancholy, partiality; of fretfulness, suspicion, captiousness, censoriintriguing, projecting; in a word, there is not a quality of ousness; of pride, ambition, covetousness; of overreaching, function, either of body or mind, which does not feel the influence of this great law of animated nature.-PALEY.

EASY LESSONS ON CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. | by Pagans and Mohammedans, but also (to our shame

No. XIII.

MODERN JEWS.

ONE of the difficulties with which the minds of some Christians are perplexed, is, that Jesus Christ should have been rejected by the greater part of his countrymen, the Jews; and that they who had been, according to our Scriptures, for so many ages, God's favoured and peculiar People, should be now, and for above seventeen centuries, without a country, and scattered as outcast strangers through the world.

Their present condition and past history are indeed something very extraordinary, and quite unlike what has befallen any other nation. But though we may not be able to explain all the circumstances relative to this wonderful people, it will be found on reflection that they furnish one of the strongest evidences for the truth of the very religion which they reject.

You know that when the Jews received the law through Moses, they were promised success and prosperity as long as they should obey the Lord; and that heavy judgments were denounced against them in case of disobedience. It was foretold that they should be defeated by their enemies, driven from their country, scattered abroad, and continually harassed and oppressed. These threats are set forth in various parts of the books of Moses, and most particularly in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. "Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations whither the Lord shall lead thee. The Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues of long continuance. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other."-v. 37, 59, 64.

And the same is to be found in various parts of the writings of several of the prophets, who lived some ages after. In particular, there is one in Ezekiel, which agrees most remarkably in one very curious particular, with the state of the Jews at this day; namely, where he declares that they should, in the midst of their sufferings, remain a distinct people, unmixed with, and unlike other nations; although it appears that in his time, they were very much disposed to unite themselves with the rest of mankind, so as to become one of the Gentile nations, and to lay aside all the distinctions of their own race. "That which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone." (Ezekiel xx. 32.)

Now we find in the Old Testament, that, in several instances, these judgments did fall on the Jews; and especially when they were carried away captive to Babylon. And some persons may suppose that these instances were all that Moses and the prophets had in view. But whatever any one's opinion may be, it is a fact, of which there can be no doubt, that the Jewish nation are actually suffering, at this day, such things as Moses and the prophets predicted. Whether Moses and Ezekiel had in view what is now taking place, or not, may be a matter of opinion; but it is a matter of fact, that what is now taking place, does agree with their predictions. Jerusalem and its Temple were taken and burnt by the Romans, about forty years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The Jews were driven from their country, and never allowed to settle in it again. Hundreds of thousands were sold as slaves; and the whole people were cast forth as wanderers among the Gentiles; and they have ever since remained a nation of exiles, unsettled, harassed and oppressed in many instances most cruelly, not only

be it spoken,) by Christian nations; and still remaining a distinct people, though without a home.

And

One of the most remarkable points relative to these predictions respecting the Jews, and their present condition, is this; that the judgments spoken of by Moses, were threatened in case of their departing from the law which he delivered, and especially, in case of their worshipping false gods; and yet, though in former times they were so apt to fall into idolatry, they have always, since the destruction of Jerusalem, steadily kept clear of that sin; and have professed to be most scrupulous observers of the law of Moses. what is more, all the indignities and persecutions that any of them are exposed to, appear to be the consequence of their keeping to their religion, and not of their forsaking it. For a Jew has only to give up his religion, and conform to that of the country he lives in, whether Christian, Mohammedan, or Pagan, and lay aside the observances of the law of Moses, and he immediately ceases to be reproached as a Jew, and an alien, and is mingled with the people around him. So that the Jews of the present day seem to be suffering for their observance of the law, just the penalties threatened for their departure from it.

At first sight this seems very hard to explain; but, on reflection, you will find the difficulty cleared up, in such a way as to afford a strong confirmation of your faith. First, you should observe, that the Jews themselves admit that a Christ or Messiah was promised them; and that to reject Him on his coming would be an act of rebellion against the Lord their God. Moses foretold that the Lord should raise up from among them a Prophet like Moses himself; and "whosoever should not hear that Prophet," God "would require it of him;" and "that he should be destroyed from among the people."-(Deut. xviii. 15-19; Acts iii. 22, 23.) This is generally understood (as it is applied in the Acts,) to relate to the Messiah, or Christ; whom the other prophetical writers of the Old Testament (as both Jews and Christians are agreed,) more particularly foretold and described. Now we hold that the Jews have been guilty of this very act of disobedience, in rejecting the Christ. And though they, of course, do not confess themselves thus guilty, because they deny that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Christ, yet they so far agree with us as to acknowledge that the rejecting of the true Christ on his coming would be such a sin as would expose them to the judgments which Moses threatened.

To us, therefore, who do believe in Jesus, this affords an explanation of their suffering these judgments.

But, secondly, besides this, you will perceive on looking more closely, that the Jews of these days do not really observe the law of Moses, though they profess and intend to do so. They have, indeed, kept to the faith of their forefathers; but not to their religious observances. For, the chief part of the Jewish worship consisted in offering sacrifices distinctly appointed by the Lord Himself, in the law delivered by Moses. There was a sacrifice appointed to be offered up every day, and two on the Sabbath; besides several other sacrifices on particular occasions. Now, the modern Jews, though they abstain from certain meats forbidden in their law, and observe strictly the Sabbath and several other ordinances, yet do not offer any sacrifices at all; though sacrifices were appointed as the chief part of their worship.

The reason of this is, that they were strictly forbidden to offer sacrifices except in the one place which should be appointed by the Lord for that pur

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And the place last fixed on for these offerings pose. having been the Temple at Jerusalem, which was destroyed about seventeen hundred years ago, and has never been restored, the Jews are now left without any place in which they can lawfully offer the sacrifices which their law enjoins.

The Jews, accordingly, of the present day, plead that it is not from wilful disobedience that they neglect these ordinances, but because they cannot help it. But to say that it is not their own fault that they do not observe the ordinances of their religion, is quite a different thing from saying that they do observe them. They may explain why they cannot keep the law of Moses; but they cannot say that they do keep it.

THE EEL.

ALTHOUGH the Eel is a fish with which we are so familiar, and one which comes so frequently under the notice of most people, until of late years very little was known of its habits and general economy. Mr. Yarrell has thrown much additional light on the history of the Eel tribe; and in the following account we have borrowed largely from his splendid work on British Fishes. According to this naturalist, there are three well-ascertained species of fresh-water Eels, to which he has given the following names,-the Sharpnosed Eel, (Anguilla acutirostris); the Broad-nosed Eel, (Anguilla latirostris); and the Snig, (Anguilla medirostris); the Grig is also considered a separate species by Baron Cuvier. In addition to this there is the Conger Eel, which inhabits the coasts of the sea. The form of the Eel, resembling that of the serpent, has long excited a prejudice against it, which exists in some countries even to the present time; and its similarity to snakes has even been repeated by those, who, from the advantages of education, anu their acquirements in natural more accurate conclusions. There is but little similarity in history, might have been supposed capable of drawing the snake and the Eel, except in the external form of the body; the important internal organs of the two animals, and the character of the skeleton, are most decidedly different.

Now Christians hold that the ceremonies of that law were not originally designed to be observed by all nations, and for ever; that "the law had only a shadow of good things to come," (Heb. x. 1,) that is, of the Gospel; and that it was designed that the sacrificing of lambs and bullocks should cease at the coming of the Christ. A Jew, on the contrary, will not allow that these were designed ever to cease: but he cannot deny that they have ceased, and that, for Let a Jew explain if he can, how it is, that, for so long a time, Providence has put it out of the power of the Jews to observe the principal part of their religion which they main-tain was intended to be observed for ever.

above seventeen centuries.

Eels are, in reality, a valuable description of fish; their prolific, and are found in almost every part of the world. flesh is excellent as food; they are very numerous, very The various species are hardy, tenacious of life, and very easily preserved. In this country they inhabit almost all our rivers, lakes, and ponds; they are in great esteem for the table, and the consumption in our large cities is very from Holland, by Dutch fishermen. There are two comconsiderable. The London market is principally supplied are built with a capacious well, in which large quantities of panies in Holland, having five vessels each; their vessels Eels are preserved alive till wanted. One or more of these vessels may be constantly seen lying off Billingsgate; the others go to Holland for fresh supplies, each bringing a cargo of 15,000 to 20,000 pounds' weight of live Eels, for his permission to sell. Eels and salmon are the only fish which the Dutch merchant pays a duty of £13 a cargo for Eels are not only numerous, but in great request in sold by the pound weight in the London market. many other countries. Ellis, in his Polynesian Researches, says,—

And this is also very remarkable; that the religion of the Jews is almost the only one that could have been abolished against the will of the people themselves, and while they resolve firmly to maintain it; their religion, and theirs only, could be, and has been, thus abolished in spite of their firm attachment to it, on account of its being dependent on a particular place, the Temple at Jerusalem. The Christian religion, or again, any of the Pagan religions, could not be abolished by any force of enemies, if the persons professing the religion were sincere and resolute in keeping to it. To destroy a Christian place of worship, or to turn it into a Mohammedan mosque, (as was done in many instances by the Turks,) would not prevent the exercise of the Christian religion. And even if Christianity were forbidden by law, and Christians persecuted, (as has in times past been actually done,) still if they were sincere and resolute, they might assemble secretly in woods or caves; or they might fly to foreign countries to worship God according to their own faith; and Christianity, though it might be driven out of one country, would still exist in others.

And the same may be said of the Pagan religions. If it happened that any temple of Jupiter, or Diana, or Woden, were destroyed, this would not hinder the worshippers of those gods from continuing to worship them as before, and from offering sacrifices to them elsewhere.

In Otaheite, Eels are great favourites, and are tamed and fed until they attain an enormous size. The pets are with water. On the sides of these pits they generally rekept in large holes two or three feet deep, partially filled mained, excepting when called by the person who fed them. I have been several times with the young chief, when he has sat down by the side of the hole, and, by giving a shrill sort of whistle, has brought out an enormous Eel, which has moved about the surface of the water, and eaten with confidence out of his master's hand.

Their religion But it was not so with the Jews. was so framed as to make the observance of its ordinances impossible, when their Temple was finally destroyed. It seems to have been designed and contrived by Divine Providence, that as their law was to be brought to an end by the Gospel, (for which it was a preparation,) so, all men were to perceive that it did come to an end, notwithstanding the obstinate rejection of the Gospel by the greater part of the Jews. It was not left to be a question and a matter of opinion, whether the sacrifices instituted by Moses

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The habits of Eels induce them to make two migrations in the course of the year, one in Autumn, to The Autumn migration is the sea, and the other in Spring, or the beginning of Summer, from the sea. performed by the adult Eels, and is supposed to be for the purpose of depositing their spawn; and it is said that these fish never return up the river: the Spring migration is supposed to consist entirely of young Eels. Mr. Yarrell is inclined to think there is an error in the belief that the old Eels do not return.

The passage of countless hundreds of young Eels has been seen and described as occurring in the Thames, the Severn, the Parrett, the Dee, and the Ban. I am, however, of opinion, that the passage of adult Eels to the sea, or rather to the brackish water of the estuary, is an exercise of choice, and not a matter of necessity; and that the parent Eels return up the river with the young fry.

All authors agree that Eels are extremely averse to cold. There are no Eels in the Arctic Regions, none in the rivers of Siberia, the Wolga, the Danube, or any of its tributary

streams. There is no doubt that fishes in general, and Eels in particular, are able to appreciate even minute alterations in the temperature of the water they inhabit. The mixed water they seek to remain in during the colder months of the year, is of a higher temperature than the pure fresh-water of the river, or that of the sea. It is a well known law in chemistry, that when two fluids of different densities come in contact, the temperature of the mixture is elevated for a time in proportion to the difference in the density of the two fluids. Such a mixture is constantly taking place at the mouths of rivers that run into the sea, and the mixed waters maintain a temperature two degrees warmer than that of the river or the sea. This elevation in the temperature of the water of estuaries and the mouths of rivers, is, I have no doubt, one reason why they in general abound with young fish.

During the Winter, the Eels remain imbedded in the mud twelve or sixteen inches deep, by the side of the channel of the stream they frequent.

Great doubt has existed as to whether the Eel produces its young alive, or deposits its spawn in the same manner as other fishes; but the observations of Mr. Yarrell and others, have gone far to prove that Nature does not step out of her regular course in the case of the Eel; that is, that the Eel produces its young in the same way as the rest of the class of fishes. Singula. notions were entertained on this subject by the ancients and by some of the moderns. Aristotle believed they sprung from the mud; Pliny, from fragments which were separated from their Helmont bodies by rubbing against the rocks. believed they came from May-dew, and might be obtained by the following process.

Cut up two turfs covered with May-dew, and lay one upon the other, the grassy sides inwards, and thus expose them to the heat of the sun; in a few hours there will spring from them an infinite quantity of Eels.

The reason why Eels have been considered viviparous, has arisen probably, from their being infested with numerous intestinal worms, which have been mistaken for young Eels. The sudden appearance of Eels in places where they were known not to have existed previously, has added a little to the mystery of their mode of production. But there are many well-authenticated accounts of the manner in which this is most likely effected. The Eel in warm and moist nights, has been known to quit the water and travel a considerable distance through the wet grass. One instance of this occurs in Dr. HASTING'S Natural History of Worcestershire.

I will here mention a curious confirmation of the opinion in favour of the overland migration of Eels. A relative of the late Mr. Perrot was out in his park with his keeper, near a large piece of water, on a very beautiful evening, when the keeper drew his attention to a fine Eel quietly ascending the bank of the pool, and with an undulating motion making its way through the long grass; on further observation, he perceived a considerable number of Eels quietly proceeding to a range of stews, nearly at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the large piece of water from whence they started. The stews were supplied by a rapid brook, and in all probability, the instinct of the fish led them in that direction, as a means of finding their way to some large river from whence their ultimate destination, the sea, might be obtained.

There is no doubt, however, that Eels will breed in fresh-water ponds which have no communication with

the sea or river.

The Sharp-nosed Eel is that most commonly met with in the markets; as its name implies, the snout is much more pointed than that of the other species; the head is flattened on the sides, and the eye is placed immediately over the angle of the mouth. In streams of pure water the belly of this Eel is clear and bright; it is then called a Silver Eel. This Eel is found of a larger size than either of the other

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