increase the contagion, instead of staying it, in order that they might prolong their gainful occupation. They were under very little control, and it was difficult either to detect or to punish them. In fact the magistrates were paralyzed, the governor, Spinola, abandoned his duty, and none of the authorities met the danger as they ought, except the Clergy. More than sixty of the Parish Priests died of the plague, besides the Monks. The Archbishop himself escaped, though he was exposed quite as much as any of the Clergy. He regulated their visits, and went with them, both into the lazaretto and about the city, whenever his presence was needed: and showed himself a worthy successor of the great and good Carlo Borromeo, whose name and family he then represented. Be ready," said he to his Clergy, "to abandon this mortal life, rather than this our family and offspring. Guided by charity, venture forth amid the plague, as to life and recompense, if by so doing you may gain a soul to Christ." And he himself set them the example. : INSTRUCTION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB. THE causes of Dumbness are various in some few cases it is owing to the loss or palsied state of the tongue, or to other imperfections or injuries of the organs of speech, and is then irremediable; but more frequently it is caused by some defect in the external or internal passages of the ear. Although, therefore, in general, persons who are unable to speak are said to be Deaf and Dumb, it by no means follows that the same individual is visited by the twofold affliction. Many, indeed, are dumb, only because they are deaf; that is, they are incapable of using language, the sounds of which they have never heard. The possibility of instructing the Deaf and Dumb seems to have first occurred to a Benedictine monk, of the name of Ponce, a native of Spain, near the end of the 16th century, and the attempts he made to attain his object are said to have been successful. In 1620, Bonnet, another Spaniard, published a treatise on the same subject. In 1657, Helmont, a German, printed an account of the eduIn short, the only redeeming point in this history,cation of a single pupil, who became master of his is the influence which was exerted by Religion. native tongue very expeditiously, and acquired the Though it was, in this case, sadly alloyed by super- Hebrew of himself. A few years later than this, Dr. stition, yet was it found to be the most powerful Wallis and Dr. Holder, in England, devoted their incitement to deeds of heroic charity, and the great- attention with great zeal and advantage to the same est consolation of the dying and the destitute.object; and from this time to the middle of the 18th Abridged from the Italian of MANZONI. century, many learned men applied themselves earnestly to the same task. THE DAYS OF OUR YOUTH. M. H. ON remembering our Creator in the days of our EPITAPH IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF CHELMSFORD. BOLD Infidel, lie down and die! Say, Is he lost or saved? If death's by sin, he died-because he's here: Reason, ah! how depraved! Revere the Bible's sacred page, the knot's untied- At the close of the same century, the art of instructing the dumb, was practised on a much larger scale, by several distinguished teachers, both in England and on the Continent: the most celebrated among these, were Mr. Braidwood in Edinburgh, Dr. Watson, a nephew of Mr. Braidwood in London, and the Abbé de l'Epée, who was succeeded by the Abbé Sicard in Paris. The mode of tuition employed in Great Britain, is founded on the well. known fondness for imitation with which mankind is endued. The production of articulate sounds*, (although the most difficult part of the education of a dumb person,) is, on account of its immense utility to the child, as well as from its rendering easy his future progress, the first lesson taught. The first sounds he is induced to attempt are those of the vowels; but as it is impossible for him to hear such as are uttered by the master, or those his own exertions produce, this end can only be obtained by the use of his faculties of sight and feeling. He perceives the position of the tongue, and the movements of the lips of the teacher, and endeavours to imitate them; this he easily effects, but still no sound is produced; his attention is then directed to the tremulous motion produced on the windpipe by the breath, as it is forced through to produce the sound; he soon discovers the cause of this, and after several trials succeeds in producing the same effect in his own throat; and when he is successful in uttering the required sound, his master's approbation assures him that the object in view is gained. In this manner he proceeds throughout the alphabet, and, knowing now how to direct his exertions, the task becomes easier at every step. The compound sounds of syllables are next attempted. To these follow words, selecting at first such as express objects that are easily pointed out, as chair, table, cup, &c. By this time the subject becomes more interesting to the pupil; he begins to see the use of the efforts he has been making, since, by employing any of the words *The attempt to teach the deaf to utter articulate sounds was first employed by Dr. Wallis, and his mode of proceeding was nearly the same as that now in practice. he has learnt, the object whose name it expresses is at once pointed out. But the principal advantage of the use of speech, although unconnected with that of hearing, is its causing the knowledge of words gained by the learner to be retained with greater certainty than if he had been taught by signs only, to point out the name of any thing, to write it down on paper, or to select the object itself; for he is less likely to forget that which has given him so much pains to learn, the more especially as he can refresh his memory by the constant and easy exertion of his newly-acquired faculty. A well-taught and intelligent child, educated in this manner, has more methods of expressing his meaning than most of those who possess the whole of their faculties: he not only can write down a sentence, and employ words to express himself, but he can communicate his ideas by means of a manual alphabet; that is, by placing his fingers and hands in different positions, (each change of position indicating a letter of the alphabet,) as well as by natural and artificial signs. be expressed by the same description of signs; but others, of a less simple meaning, require more complex signs; as love, which is expressed by a satisfied and pleasant look, and the folding of the arms on the breast, combining the signs good and respect. Another description of signs are called arbitrary, and have no reference whatever to their assumed meanings, such as those which express the termination of words, as that implying the termination ing in jump-ing; but it would be an utterly hopeless attempt to endeavour to explain these by means of words. The idea of the first foundation of an institution in London, for the education of the deaf and dumb, was suggested to the late Rev. John Townsend, by a lady whose son was born without the power of hearing, and whose education, consequently, had been a cause of great trouble and expense. He subsequently mentioned his project to the Rev. Henry Cox Mason, who cordially entered into the charitable design, but had so little knowledge of the extent of the calamity it was sought to alleviate, as to suppose that not more than five or six cases of dumbness were likely to be discovered, and therefore at first discouraged the idea of a public institution. The next party to whom Mr. Townsend applied, was the late Henry Thornton, Esq., who readily promised his The teachers of the deaf and dumb on the Continent have, till very lately, neglected the instruction of their scholars in the use of speech, considering that, although it might be a desirable addition to their acquirements, still it was almost impracticable, except in the case of a single pupil; this, how-support and assistance. The united exertions and inever, has been clearly disproved, by the fact of all the pupils in the London establishment, and in most of the schools in Great Britain, being able to use articulate sounds; and although these sounds are not, in many instances, very distinct, still they are of the same use to the learner. After having learned the names of common objects, their qualities are next to be taught; and to effect this purpose the use of Signs is resorted to, which are either natural, as tall, which is expressed by raising the hand above the head; short, by bringing the hand below the height of the speaker; good, by looking at the object with an approving countenance, and gently patting the breast above the heart; bad, by turning away with disgust, and seeming to thrust back with the hand the subject referred to. These signs are of that intelligible nature, that a child or a savage would be able to comprehend the feeling expressed, and they may be used for almost all adjectives of quality, number, &c. The simpler kind of verbs, as eat, drink, sleep, may fluence of these philanthropic individuals in a short time produced the means of opening a house in Bermondsey, in 1792, for the reception of deaf and dumb children, who were placed under the care of Dr. Watson. The value of such an institution was in due time appreciated by the public, and in 1807 the governors were enabled to commence the erection of the present Asylum, in the Old Kent Road, which was opened for the reception of the establishment on the 9th of October, 1809. During the last twenty-four years, upwards of eleven hundred children have been received into the Asylum. The number at present under instruction is between two hundred and twenty and two hundred and thirty. This charity is the only one of the kind in London; but there are others, devoted to the same purposes, in Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, and other parts of the kingdom. The mode of instruction resorted to in all these is much the same as that we have been describing. THE numerous light-houses which have been erected on the dangerous parts of the coasts of Great Britain, and the skilful manner in which they are constructed, are at once a proof of the enterprise and wealth of the country, and of the high state of science and art which it has attained. The difficulties that surround the architect who undertakes to erect, on a solitary rock in the midst of a stormy sea, a building capable of withstanding the terrific force of the most violent tempests, appear, at first sight, to be insurmountable; but perseverance combined with skill are capable of completing the most arduous undertaking. Rock are of the latter description, and move once round in the space of six minutes; to cause them to be more easily distinguished, every other lamp has a piece of red glass placed in front of it, so that the spectator sees alternately a red and a white light: on a clear night, they are perfectly visible at the distance of twenty miles. In order to produce a brilliant flame, the finest oil is burnt, and a lamp, called the French lamp, consisting of four argand burners, one within the other, is employed; a highly-polished reflector is also used, to increase its intensity. A discovery has lately been made by Lieut. DrumThe lighthouse represented in the engraving is mond, of the Royal Navy, of a method of producing placed upon an isolated rock, called the Inchcape a light of so dazzling a brightness as to cause any Rock, on the eastern coast of Scotland, about twelve object to cast a shadow on a dark-coloured wall, at miles south-west from the town of Arbroath, in For- the distance of ten miles; it is called the Hydrofarshire. It was built under the superintendence of Mr. oxygen Lamp, and the light is produced by means of Stevenson, the engineer; and the lights were first inflammable gases, on a small ball of lime, forming as exhibited on the night of the 12th of February, 1811. it were the wick; and by employing a peculiarlyThe lights with which lighthouses are furnished formed reflector of silver: the experiments which have are (for the purpose of causing them to be distin- already been made with this lamp, render it very guished from each other) either fixed or revolving; probable, that it will, in time, entirely supersede the their revolutions causing them to appear and disap- use of oil in lighthouses, although, for common purpear to the eye of the mariner. Those of the Bell-poses, it is much too powerful, The foundation of the Bell-Rock Lighthouse, | which is forty-two feet in diameter, is formed of large masses of stone, firmly clamped and dovetailed into each other, as well as into the rock on which it stands; and the building itself is perfectly solid to the height of between thirty and forty feet: the upper part is divided into six distinct rooms, the whole of which, with the exception of the upper room of all, are paved with stone; the lowest contains the fuel and the water-tanks; the second, the oil-cisterns; the third is employed as a kitchen; the fourth, as a bed-room; the fifth is fitted up as a library; and the sixth, which is entirely formed of iron, contains the lights. Two men constantly reside on the building, and a third is stationed on a high tower erected at Arbroath, and holds communication with those at the light-house by means of signals. As the light, in foggy weather, is not visible at any considerable distance, two large bells are hung in the building, and kept constantly ringing at these times. A high screen, or parapet, leaning outwards, is placed round the upper part of the building, to protect the glass which is placed in front of the lights from the fury of the waves. PREDISPOSITION TO DISEASE FROM INTEMPERATE DRINKING. Ir is unquestionably true, that many of the surrounding objects in nature are constantly tending to man's destruction. The excess of heat and cold, dampness and dryness, the vicissitudes of the seasons, noxious exhalations from the earth, the poisonous vapours from decayed animal and vegetable matter, with many other invisible agents, are exerting their deadly influence; and were it not that every part of the human system is endowed by the Creator with a self-preserving power, a principle of excitability, or, in other words, a vital principle, the operations of the animal economy would cease, and a dissolution of the organic structure take place. But, this principle being implanted in the system, reaction takes place, and thereby a vigorous contest is maintained with the warring elements without, as well as with the principle of decay within. It is thus that man is enabled to endure, from year to year, the toils and fatigues of life, the variations of heat and cold, and the vicissitudes of the seasons; that he is enabled to traverse the regions of the globe, and to live, with almost equal ease, under the equator and in the frozen regions of the north. It is by this power that all his functions are performed, from the commencement to the close of life. The principle of excitability exists in the highest degree in the infant, and diminishes at every succeeding period of life; and if man is not cut down by disease or violence, he struggles on, and, finally, dies a natural death, a death occasioned by the exhaustion of the principle of excitability. In order to prevent the too-rapid exhaustion of this principle, Nature has especially provided for its restoration by establishing a period of sleep. After being awake for sixteen or eighteen hours, a sensation of fatigue ensues, and all the functions are performed with diminished energy and precision. Locomotion becomes feeble and tottering, the voice harsh, the intellect obtuse and powerless, and all the senses blunted. In this state, the individual anxiously retires from the light, and from the noise and bustle of business, seeks that position which requires the least effort to sustain it, and abandons himself to rest. The will ceases to act, and he loses, in succession, all the The muscles unbend themselves, and permit the limbs to fall into the most easy and natural senses. position. Digestion, respiration, circulation, secretion, and the other functions, go on with diminished power and activity; and, consequently, the wasted excitability is gradually restored. After a repose of six or eight hours, this principle becomes accumulated to its full measure, and the individual awakes, and finds himself invigorated and refreshed. His muscular power is augmented, his senses are acute and discriminating, his intellect active, and eager for labour, and all his functions move on with renewed energy. But if the stomach be oppressed with food, or the system excited with stimulating drinks, sleep, though it may be profound, is never tranquil and refreshing. The system being raised to a state of feverish excitement, and its healthy balance disturbed, its exhausted excitability is not restored; the individual awakes, but finds himself fatigued rather than invigorated; his muscles are relaxed, his senses obtuse, his intellect impaired, and all his functions disordered; and it is not until he is again under the influence of food and stimulus that he is fit for the occupations of life; and thus he loses the benefits of this wise provision of repose designed for his preservation. Nothing probably tends more powerfully to produce premature old age than midnight revels, or disturbed and unrefreshing sleep. It is also true, that artificial stimulus, in whatever way applied, tends constantly to exhaust the principle of excitability of the system, and this in proportion to its intensity, and the freedom with which it is applied. But there is another principle, on which the use of ardent spirit predisposes the drunkard to disease and death. It acts on the blood, impairs its vitality, deprives it of its red colour, and thereby renders it unfit to stimulate the heart and other organs through which it circulates; unfit, also, to supply materials for the different secretions, and to renovate the different tissues of the body, as well as to sustain the energy of the brain,-offices which it can perform only while it retains its vermilion colour and arterial properties. The blood of the drunkard is several shades darker in its colour than that of temperate persons, and also coagulates less readily and firmly, and is loaded with serum, appearances which indicate that it has exchanged its arterial properties for those of the venous blood. This is the cause of the livid complexion of persons who are in the habit of drinking to excess, and which so strongly marks the drunkard in the advanced state of intemperance. Hence, too, all the functions of his body are sluggish and irregular, and the whole system loses its tone and energy. If ardent spirit, when taken into the system, exhausts the vital principle of the solids, it destroys the vital principle of the blood also; and, if taken in large quantities, produces sudden death; in which case the blood, as in death produced by lightning, by opium, or by violent and long-continued exertion, does not coagulate. The principles laid down are plain, and of easy application to the case before us. The drunkard having, by the habitual use of ardent spirit, exhausted, to a greater or less extent, the principle of excitability in the solids, the power of reaction, and the blood having become incapable of performing its office also, he is alike predisposed to every disease, and rendered liable to the inroads of every invading foe. So far, therefore, from protecting the system against disease, intemperance ever constitutes one of its strongest predisposing causes. In addition to this, whenever disease does lay its grasp upon the drunkard, the powers of life being already enfeebled by the stimulus of ardent spirit, he | the leaf itself, and sustenance to the plant. As unexpectedly sinks in the contest. Indeed, the soon as the pitchers are exhausted, the lids again habit of drinking so enfeebles the powers of life, so open, to admit whatever moisture may fall; and modifies the character of disease, and so changes the operation of medical agents, that unless the physician has studied thoroughly the constitution of the drunkard, he has but partially learned his profession, and is not fit for a practitioner of the present age. These are the true reasons why the drunkard dies so easily, and from such slight causes. A sudden cold, a pleurisy, a fever, a fractured limb, or a slight wound of the skin, is often more than his shattered powers can endure. Even a little excess of exertion, an exposure to heat or cold, a hearty repast, or a glass of cold water, not unfrequently extinguishes the small remains of the vital principle. T. S., M.D. FAREWELL. WHEN eyes are beaming What never tongue might tell, When tears are streaming From their crystal cell; When hands are link'd that dread to part; And heart is prest by throbbing heart, Oh! bitter, bitter is the smart Of them that bid farewell! When hope is chidden That fain of bliss would tell, And love forbidden In the breast to dwell; When fetter'd by a viewless chain, -HEBER. the numerous THE PITCHER-PLANT. (Nepenthes distillatoria.) Being the inhabitant of a tropical climate, and found on the most dry and stony situations, Nature has furnished it with the means of an ample supply of moisture, without which it would have withered and perished. To the footstalk of each leaf, near the base, is attached a kind of bag, shaped like a pitcher, of the same consistence and colour as the leaf in the early stage of its growth, but changing with age to a reddish purple. It is girt round with an oblique band or hoop, and covered with a lid neatly fitted, and moveable on a kind of hinge or strong fibre, which, passing over the handle, connects the vessel with the leaf. By the shrinking or contracting of this fibre the lid is drawn open whenever the weather is showery, or dews fall, which would appear to be just the contrary of what usually happens in nature, though the contraction probably is occasioned by the hot and dry atmosphere, and the expansion of the fibre does not take place till the moisture has fallen, and saturated the pitcher. When this is the case the cover falls down, and it closes so firmly as to prevent any evaporation from taking place. The water, being gradually absorbed through the handle into the footstalk of the leaf, gives vigour to THE PITCHER-PLANT. when the plant has produced its seed, and the dry season fairly sets in, it withers, with all the covers of the pitchers standing open.--BARROW's Cochin China. SELF-CONCEIT.-Those who, either from their own engagements and hurry of business, or from indolence, or from conceit and vanity, have neglected looking out of themselves, as far as my experience end observation reaches, have from that time, not only ceased to advance, and improve in their performances, but have gone backward. They may be compared to men who have lived upon their principal, till they are reduced to beggary, and left without resources.-SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. THE devil himself would be but a contemptible adversary, were he not sure of a correspondent, and a party that held intelligence with him, in our own breasts. All the blowing of a fire put under a caldron could never make it boil over, were there not a fulness of water within it.-SOUTH. WE read that, in certain climates of the world, the gales that spring from the land carry a refreshing smell out to sea, and assure the watchful pilot that he is approaching to a desirable and fruitful coast, when as yet he cannot discern it with his eyes. And in like manner it fares with those who have steadily and religiously pursued the course which heaven pointed out to them. We shall sometimes find, by their conversation towards the end of their days, that they are filled with hope, and peace, and joy; which, like those refreshing gales and reviving odours to the seaman, are breathed forth from Paradise upon their souls; and give them to understand with certainty that God is bringing them into their desired haven.-TOWNSON. |