NATURE AND USES OF SEA-WEED.

THE sea-weeds with which the shores of the ocean are strewn, were considered by the ancients to be so utterly worthless, that the name Alge, by which they were known, was applied proverbially to any useless object. But modern science has shown, that instead of being regarded with an indifferent eye, they ought to be esteemed as a bountiful provision of the Creator,

for the service of mankind.

Among the uses to which sea-weeds have been applied, we may notice the following. To the agriculturist they afford a useful manure: to the glass-maker they yield the alkali, which when mixed with powdered flint, can be melted into glass. The same substance is employed by the soap-boiler in the manufacture of soap; and the manufacture of kelp for this purpose has become a valuable source of revenue to the inhabitants of the rocky coasts of Europe, particularly Great Britain, and more especially the northern shores and the islands of Scotland. Of such importance has this manufacture appeared, that in some places attempts have even been made to cultivate the larger species of sea-weed. So rich are some kinds in sugar and mucilage, that they are gathered in the winter as provender for cattle. While, at times, a few afford food for man, and the coarser

sorts fuel.

In Scotland, the manufacture of Kelp is carried on chiefly in the months of July and August. The kelp kiln is nothing but a hole dug in the sand or earth, and surrounded with a few loose stones. In the morning a fire is kindled in this pit, generally by means of peat or turf. This fire is gradually fed with sea-weed, in such a state of dryness that it will merely burn; and in the course of eight or ten hours the furnace is found to be nearly full of melted matter. Iron rakes are then drawn rapidly backward and forward, in order to bring it into an equal state of fusion. It is then allowed to cool, and being broken in pieces, and carried to the store-houses, it becomes the kelp of commerce. The making of kelp from sea-weed was practised in France for half a century before it was undertaken in Great Britain. It was first made in Orkney, in about 1722, and now occupies, for part of the year, a great portion of the population of the Scotch Islands.

The sea-weeds belong to that description of plants which are called Cryptogamic, and the method by which they were propagated, was unknown until of late years, when their minute seeds were discovered. The Cryptogamic plants contain the sea-weeds (Alga,) the mosses (Musci,) the mushrooms (Fungi,) and the ferns (Filices.)

In all the rest of the vegetable kingdom, the vessels which supply the plant with nourishment are continued from the roots to the extremities of the leaves, so that a faded plant will revive if the root or lower end is placed in water; but this is not the case with the Cryptogamia, in which that portion only of a faded specimen will recover which is completely immersed in the water: the two following figures

magnified. The only use of the root seems to be to fix the plant to the rock on which it grows.

The growth of sea-weeds is extremely rapid. This in the course of erection near the entrance to the Frith fact was ascertained at the time a stone beacon was of Forth. In November, 1813, when the workmen who were preparing the foundations were obliged to relinquish their labours, owing to the state of the weather, the part of the rock on which they had been the surface in part chiselled; but on recommencing at work had been completely cleared of sea-weed, and their operations in May, 1814, they were surprised to find that the sea-weeds were as abundant as ever, and this rapid growth had taken place during an inclement winter.

The Fucus giganteus of the Pacific Ocean is several Some of the sea-weeds attain a very great size. hundred feet in length; some specimens have been like fucus (Fucus filum,) has been found thirty or forty feet in length.

seen as much as 800. In our own seas the thread

beautiful objects for the microscope, which displays to great advantage their singular structure. species of minute sea-weeds very highly magnified. The annexed engravings represent six different The small figure by the side of each of the larger, represents the natural appearance of the plant as it to the naked eye.

Some of the small kinds of sea-weeds afford most

appears

show the structure of the leaves of sea-weeds, highly

133

Since the discovery of Captain Ross, this singular production has been found in Scotland and on the Alps. Its real nature and origin has been the cause of many strange suggestions; its sudden appearance after snow or rain, caused many to believe that it fell from the clouds, but these storms of red snow, which are said to have deposited it, have always taken place during the night, so that no one ever has seen it fall; and the most probable conjecture is that the germs of the plants already existed in the places where they were afterwards found, and that the moisture of the snow was the cause of their sudden growth. "It seems," says Mr. Greville, from whose beautiful work our engravings are copied, "that snow is not the natural situation of Protococcus nivalis, but that being tenacious of life, it preserves its vitality when cast upon so chilling a surface, and under favourable circumstances, even propagates its species. If this be granted, it will be easy to see how wide a surface may soon be covered with a vegetation of this kind, by the flowing of the melted snow as it gradually dissolves, especially when we also consider with what inconceivable rapidity minute bodies of this kind increase. Having become once established in the snow, it is possible that, by the intense cold of winter, the vegetating power may be suspended beneath the frozen surface, when, in other situations it would have perished; and thus, on the annual dissolution of the superincumbent snow, our Protococcus, numerous as the grains of sand on the sea shore, may start at once into renewed life, and seem, indeed, to have descended unseen from the clouds."

We have already described the method of preserving specimens of the insect creation*, and of certain descriptions of subjects belonging to the vegetable kingdom t. From the beautiful appearance of some of the sea-weeds, it has become an object of curiosity to display to the best advantage the forms of many of the smaller species, and as these are in general very easily damaged, considerable care is necessary to attain this end. The best method is the following:After the objects have been freed as much as possible from the salt water, and other extraneous substances, the specimen is to be placed in a plate of the necessary size, nearly full of water, and carefully spread out and disentangled by means of some pointed instrument. A sheet of thick smooth writing-paper is then to be slipped under the specimen, and the water removed by a sponge, or by gently inclining the plate. The paper and sea-weed must then be dried, by placing them between blotting-paper; when nearly dry they should be subjected to pressure, and it will generally be found that the glutinous matter contained in the weed, will have caused it to adhere firmly to the paper. It is not necessary that this should be done immediately after the sea-weed is gathered, (although it is certainly the best method,) for if it is merely dried and packed loosely, the specimens will usually unfold themselves when placed in water, as well as if they had never been dried.

* See Saturday Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 172. + Vol. IV., p. 107.

TIME.

"TIME is the stuff that life is made of," says Young. "Begone about your business," says the dial in the Temple; a good admonition to a loiterer on the pavement below.

The great French Chancellor, D'Aguesseau, employed all his time. Observing that Madame D'Aguesseau always delayed ten or twelve minutes before she came down to dinner, he composed a work entirely in this time, in order not to lose an instant; the result was, at the end of fifteen years, a book in three large volumes quarto, which went through several editions.

FLIGHT OF BIRDS. WHEN We examine a piece of machinery, and see it accomplish some great and useful object, which we could not attain without it, we are naturally struck with admiration, at the art and skill which we may perceive displayed in its formation; and certainly the greater the difficulties may be, which we find have been overcome, in the attainment of this object, so much the more will our astonishment be excited. Now let us apply these observations to one of the works of our Divine Creator, which, because it is familiar to us, and we sce it every day, does not generally attract our attention, or awaken our admiration, as much as it ought. "If," says Dr. Roget, "the excellence of a mechanic art be measured by the difficulties to be surmounted in the attainment of its object, none surely would rank higher than that which has accomplished the flight of a living animal. No human skill has yet contrived the construction of an automaton capable, by the operation of an internal power, of sustaining itself in the air, in opposition to gravity, for even a few seconds; and far less of performing in that element the evolutions which we daily witness," not only in the larger winged animals, but "even in the lowest of the insect tribes."

Surely, then, this is a subject well worthy of our deep and serious attention. For it must have a tendency to encourage, in minds rightly disposed, a strong and gratifying feeling in favour of the wisdom and power of the Supreme Being. In the present paper, we shall introduce from the delightful pages of Mr. Sharon Turner, some remarks on the Flight of Birds, reserving the consideration of the subject, with reference to Insects, for another number.

"Birds are distinguished from all other animals, by their power of supporting such a weight as their bodies, in a medium so light as air; and from which, by the laws of gravity alone, they would fall downwards like a stone, the instant they left their twig. They prevent this prone descent, and sustain their heavy bodies in an aërial fluid, which is some hundred times lighter than these, and at the same time move through it more rapidly than any other class of animated beings can pass through it on the ground, by the amazing strength and moveability of their pectoral muscles, by the expansive form, and peculiar texture, of their feathered wings. These muscles, which in fact form the breast of the birds we eat, constitute half of the whole flesh of their body; and enable them to apply that quantity of the functional energy which actuates them, to their action of flying. Thus a moiety of all their nervous and muscular powers is exerted, and expended in this operation.

"Here the most special and scientific calculation, with a specific adaptation, becomes manifest to our consideration. No blind force or random power or motion could have been avoided. A deliberating and knowing mind must have been their Creator, combining what we term mathematical and mechanical science. The bodies of every species of birds differ in weight and bulk. But in order that they may fly, and remain suspended in the air while they do so, the motive energies of each must be precisely proportioned to the two things so very dissimilar, to the gravity of his individual substance, and to the tenacity of the air through which he must glide and float. No general fitness would do; each distinct kind must have had allotted to it a different degree peculiar to itself, and exactly adjusted to the spread of its own frame and to its gravitating tendency. These suited proportions must not only have been discerned and appointed to every one at its creation, but, as

f

earthly races are perpetuated from parents, the foreseeing Power had also to form and regulate the oval embryos of every species, so as that each should continually reproduce the same adapted fitness of motive force, weight, and bulk. Such a patient condescension of Almighty Power and Intelligence, deigning to apply so much thought and kind efficiency, for the purpose of giving a multifarious variety to its creation, is far beyond our conception or panegyric. Yet it is an impressive testimony of His provident wisdom, acting for the instruction of His intelligent creatures. For it is this vast diversity which produces, by continual sensations in the human soul, and in every mind that can discern relations, and reason to just inferences, such enlarged conceptions, and such an universal and continuing conviction of His active omnipotence. His power is by this means everywhere in visible picture before us.

"Birds surpass all other animals in the faculty of continuing their motion without resting, as well as in its rapidity. The fleetest courser can scarcely ever run more than a mile in a minute, nor support that speed beyond five or six of such exertions. But the swallow does this, for pleasure, for ten hours a day. 'It may be fairly questioned,' says Wilson*, ' whether any birds pass over an equal extent of surface with the swallow. Let a person take his stand, on a fine summer evening, by a new-mown field, meadow, or river shore, and amongst those of this tribe that flit before him, fix his eyes on a particular one, and follow for a while all its circuitous labyrinths, its extensive sweeps, its sudden and reiterated zig-zag excursions, little inferior to the lightning itself; and calculate the length of the various lines it describes. This little bird flies, in his usual way, at the rate of one mile in a minute, which, from the many experiments I have made, I believe to be within the truth; and he is so engaged for ten hours every day.' So can the Blue-Bird of America, for a space of six hundred miles, in the stages of his journey from Mexico, and the territory of the United States.

'Nothing is more common in Pennsylvania,' says Wilson, than to see large flocks of these birds, in spring and fall, passing at considerable heights in the air, from the south in the former, from the north in the latter season. The Bermudas are said to be six hundred miles from the nearest part of the continent. This may seem an extraordinary flight for so small a bird; but it is a fact that it is performed. If we may suppose the Blue-Birds to fly only at the rate of a mile a minute, which is less than I have actually ascertained them to do over land, ten or twelve hours would be sufficient to accomplish the journey.'— Page 178.

"Our Carrier Pigeons move with at least half that celerity from our island to the Continent, and from one country to another. In January, 1831, two pigeons, brought from Liskeard to London, were let fly back from London to Cornwall. One reached Liskeard, 220 miles' distance, in six hours; the other in a quarter of an hour more.

The Golden Eagle is supposed to dart through the fiercest storm at the rate of forty miles an hour; but one of our smallest birds, the Swift, can even quadruple the most excited quickness of the race-horse for a distance, and therefore with a continuity of exertion, hardly within the bounds of reasonable belief. Spallanzani thought that the little Swift travelled at the rate of 250 miles an hour."

Well may we say with Job, that God " doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number." (ch. ix. ver. 10.) D. I. E.

* American Ornithology, II. 39.

THE NECESSITY OF PROTECTION AGAINST
THE WEATHER,

THOSE pursuits which require a general exercise of most parts of the body, and which keep the individual for a large portion of his time in the open air, such as agriculture and gardening, have produced some of the most striking instances of longevity. Agriculturists and gardeners, however, are not necessarily led by their occupations into a healthful course which needs no correction. Both of these classes are exposed to the inclemency of the weather, to a degree which, notwithstanding the seasoning and hardening which they receive from their daily avocations, they are often unable to bear without suffering; more especially when they advance in life, when we have too often the pain of witnessing the agricultural labourer suffering from incurable rheumatism, subjecting him to frequent pain, and limiting or destroying his power of earning for himself the small sum on which his frugal habits would allow him to

subsist.

A little prudent attention to precautionary measures, might greatly diminish this evil, with very little expense or loss of time, and without inducing anything like effeminate and luxurious softness and tenderness. A loose cloak, or a yard or two of coarse cloth, thrown about the upper part of the body, and which would be neither expensive nor inconvenient, would prevent many attacks of rheumatism to which this class of persons are peculiarly subject. The uncivilized hunter, whose activity and prowess have overmatched the king of beasts, does not hesitate to protect his brawny shoulders with the lion's skin, which serves at once to attest his courage, to grace his person, and preserve his health. The Scotch Highlander, whose vigour and hardiness have often been put to proof, not only in his peaceful and laborious pursuits on his native mountains, but by the fatigues and hardships of the roughest campaigns, thinks it no degradation to wrap himself in his plaid, and even to seek protection from it against a moderate wind, if he should happen to be overheated. I have often observed the great use which he makes of this garment; and on one occasion, I was particularly struck with a Highlander's care in this respect. Some years ago, I happened to be in the neighbourhood of Fort William, when a labourer at work in a field, having understood when I had passed him that I was a medical man, ran after me, to con sult me about a relation of his and having overtaken me, he begged a plaid from my shoulders to cover his own, whilst we were conversing, although the day was perfectly fine: I immediately gave it, and received a hint from the circumstance, which I wish the field-labourers of England to profit by.-HODGKIN.

SCENES IN INDIA.

up, all was void within; yet the ground around it was perfectly dry, so that how the water had disappeared, and where it had been conveyed, were problems which none of us were able to expound. The vessel employed by the juggler upon this occasion was the common earthenware of the country, very roughly made; and in order to convince us that it had not been especially constructed for the purpose of aiding his clever deceptions, he permitted it to be broken in our presence: the fragments were then handed round for the inspection of his Highness and the party present with him.

The next thing done was still more extraordinary. A large basket was produced, under which was put a lean, hungry, Pariah dog; after the lapse of about a minute, the basket was removed, and she appeared with a litter of seven puppies. These were again covered, and upon raising the magic basket a goat was presented to our view; this was succeeded by a pig in the full vigour of existence, but which, after being covered for the usual time, appeared with its throat cut; it was, however, shortly restored to life under the mystical shade of the wicker covering. What rendered these sudden changes so extraordinary was, that no one stood near the basket but the juggler, who raised and covered the animals with it. When he concluded, there was nothing to be seen under it; and what became of the different animals which had figured in this singular deception, was a question that puzzled us all.

A man now took a small bag full of brass balls, which he threw one by one into the air, to the number of thirtyfive. None of them appeared to return. When he had discharged the last there was a pause of full a minute; he then made a variety of motions with his hands, at the same time grunting forth a kind of barbarous chant; in a few seconds, the balls were seen to fall, one by one, until the whole of them were replaced in the bag: this was repeated at least half a dozen times. No one was allowed to come near him while this interesting juggle was performed. A gaunt-looking Hindoo next stepped forward, and declared he would swallow a snake. Opening a box, he produced a Cobra de Capello not less than five feet long, and as big as an infant's wrist. He stood however, apart, at some distance from us, and, like his predecessor, would not allow any person to approach him, so that the deception became no longer equivocal. He then, as it appeared to us, took the snake, and putting its tail into his mouth, gradually lowered it into his stomach, until nothing but the head appeared to project from between his lips, when, with a sudden gulp, he seemed to complete the disgusting process of deglutition, and to secure the odious reptile within his body. After the expiration of a few seconds, he opened his mouth, and gradually drew forth the snake, which he replaced in the box, making a salaam to the Rajah. This was by no means a pleasing sight, but his Highness laughed heartily, and threw the performer a handful of rupees; thus

the juggler's trick.

JUGGLERS.

A PARTY of Jugglers being introduced, the usual preliminaries took place, such as swallowing a sword, eating fire, and a few other tricks, common to every exhibitor at the provincial fairs in our own country. After which, one of the men, taking a large earthen vessel, with a capacious mouth, filled it with water and turned it upside down, when all the water flowed out; but the moment it was placed with the mouth upwards, it always became full. He then emptied it, allowing any one to inspect it who chose. This being done, he desired that one of the party would fill it: his request was obeyed; still, when he reversed the jar, not a drop of water flowed, and upon turning it, to our astonishment, it was empty. These and similar deceptions were several times repeated; and so skilfully were they managed, that, although any of us who chose were allowed to upset the vessel when full, which I did many times, upon reversing it there was no water to be seen, and yet no appearance of any having escaped. I examined the jar carefully when empty, but detected nothing which could lead to a discovery of the mystery. I was allowed to retain and fill it myself; still, upon taking it See Vol. III., p. 185; Vol. V., p. 144; &c.,

The next thing that engaged our attention was a feat of dexterity altogether astonishing. A middle-aged woman, of by no means prepossessing appearance, presented herself to our notice, and taking a bamboo, twenty feet high, placed it upright upon a flat stone, and then, without any support, climbed to the top of it with surprising activity. Round socket; springing from her upright position on the bamboo, her waist she had a girdle, to which was fastened an iron she threw herself forward with such exact precision, that the top of the pole entered the socket of her iron zone, and in this position she spun herself round with a velocity that made me giddy to look at, the bamboo appearing all the while as if it were supported by some supernatural agency. Having performed several other feats equally extraordinary, she slid down the elastic shaft, and raising it in the air, balanced it upon her chin, then upon her nose, and finally projected it to a distance from her, without the application of her hans.

The nex. performer spread upon the ground a cloth, about the size of a sheet: after a while, it seemed to be gradually raised; upon taking it up, there appeared three pine-apples growing under it, which were cut and presented to the spectators. This is considered a common juggle, and yet it is perfectly inexplicable. Many other extraordinary things were done which have entirely escaped my memory; but the concluding feat was too remarkable to be easily forgotten.

A tall, athletic fellow advanced, and making his salaam to the gallery, threw himself upon the ground, After per