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"All the gods had nymphs attending them. Jupiter speaks of his in Ovid:"

Half gods and rustic Fauns attend my will,

the paper a solidity and firmness it would not other- [ or Orestiades, because they presided over the mounwise have. 8. The pile of paper is removed from the tains; and Napax, because they had dominion over the vat-press, the felts taken out from between the sheets, groves and valleys. Others, Limoniades, because they and they are pressed again by themselves, for a cer- looked after the meadows and fields. And others, tain time, in a screw-press. 9. The sheets are taken Melia, from the ash, a tree sacred to them; and these from the press, and hung up, five or six together, on were supposed to be the mothers of those children who lines in the drying loft, till dry. The paper is now were accidentally born under a tree, or exposed there. made, and only requires to be finished; but it should "Of the marine nymphs, those which presided over be observed, that the greater number of the processes the seas were called Nereides or Nerinæ, from the sea of finishing are only performed upon fine writing pa- god Nereus, and the sea nymph Doris, their parents; per, common printing paper being ready for packing up which Nereus and Doris were born of Tethys and when dried. 10. The paper, in five or six sheets to- Oceanus, from whom they were called Oceanitides and gether, is dipped into a tub of fine size, and afterwards Oceaniæ. Others of those nymphs preside over founpressed to force out the superfluity; it is then dried tains, and were called Naides or Naiades: others inagain in the drying loft: but in printing papers this habit the rivers, and were called Fluviales or Potamiprocess is rendered unnecessary, by sizing the stuff des: and others preside over the lakes and ponds, and whilst in the engine, and adding certain ingredients. were called Limnades. 11. An examination of each individual sheet of paper is made, all knots and burs are removed, and the bad sheets are taken out. 12. A very large pile of paper is made, and pressed with immense force, to render the sheets flat and smooth. 13. The pile is taken down sheet by sheet, and another made without turning the sheets over; by this means new surfaces of the sheets are brought in contact with each other, and the pile being again subjected to the press, the surface of the paper is improved. This operation is called parting, and is repeated two or three times for the best papers. The paper is now counted into quires, folded, and packed up into reams for market. Thus the most filthy article is made the most beautiful and delicate, and many a lady would faint at the sight of that which by artis made to bear her fair hand, either to trace the beauties of nature, or convey her tender sentiments. A sheet of paper may now be made to any length. But the modern process of bleaching is very detrimental to the arts; for some of the finest books now published will, in the course of thirty or forty years, perish, on account of the saccharine particles or substance of the paper being destroyed by this system.-Lond. Mirror.

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The nymphs are divided into three classes: the celestial, the terrestrial, and the marine. In addition to this, each individual nymph has her own name.

"The celestial nymphs were those genii, those souls and intellects, who guided the spheres of the heavens, and dispensed the influences of the stars to the things of the earth.

"Of the terrestrial nymphs, some presided over the woods, and were called Dryades, from a Greek word which principally signifies an oak, but generally any tree whatever. These Dryades had their habitations in the oaks. Other nymphs were called Hamadryades, for they were born when the oak was first planted, and when it perishes they die also. The ancients held strange opinions concerning oaks: they imagined that even the smallest oak was sent from heaven. The Druidæ, priests of the Gauls, esteemed nothing more divine and sacred than the excrescence which sticks to oaks. Others of those nymphs were called Oreades

Nymyhs, Satyrs, Sylvans, that on mountains dwell.
"Neptune had many nymphs, insomuch that Hesiod
and Pindar call him Nymphagetes, that is, the captain
of the nymphs: the poets generally gave him fifty.
Phoebus likewise had nymphs called Agannippidae and
Musæ. Innumerable were the nymphs of Bacchus, who
were called by different names, Baccha, Bassarides,
Eloides, and Thyades. Hunting nymphs attended
upon Diana, sea nymphs, called Nereides, waited up-
on Tethys; and fourteen very beautiful nymphs be-
longed to Juno:

Twice seven the charming daughters of the main,
Around my person wait, and bear my train.
Out of all which I will only give you the history of two

"Arethusa was one of Diana's nymphs: her virtue was as great as her beauty. The pleasantness of the place invited her to cool herself in the waters of a fine clear river: Alpheus, the god of the river, assumed the shape of a man, and arose out of the water: he first saluted her with kind words, and then approached near to her: but away she flies, and he follows her; and when he had almost overtaken her, she was dissolved with fear into a fountain, with the assistance of Diana, whom she implored. Alpheus then resumed his former shape of water, and endeavored to mix his stream with hers, but in vain; for to this day Arethusa continues her flight, and by her passage through a cavity of the earth, she goes under ground into Sicily. Alpheus also follows by the like subterraneous passage, till at last he unites and marries his own streams to those of Arethusa in that island.

"Echo was formerly a nymph, though nothing of her but her voice remains now, and even when she was alive, she was so far deprived of her speech, that she could only repeat the last words of those sentences which she heard.

She was a nymph, though only now a sound;
Yet of her tongue no other use was found,
Than now she has; which never could be more
Than to repeat what she had heard before.
"Juno inflicted this punishment on her for her talka-
tiveness: for when, prompted by her jealousy, she
came down to discover Jupiter among the nymphs,
Echo detained her very long with her discourses, that
the nymphs might have an opportunity to escape, and
hide themselves.

This change impatient Juno's anger wrought,
Who, when her Jove she o'er the mountains sought,
Was oft by Echo's tedious tales misled,

Till the shy nymphs to caves and grotto's fled.
"This Echo by chance met Narcissus rambling in
the woods; and she so admired his beauty that she
fell in love with him: she discovered her love to him,
courted him, followed and embraced him, but he broke
from her embraces, and hastily fled from her sight:
upon which the despised nymph hid herself in the
woods, and pined away with grief, so that every part

of her but her voice was consumed, and her bones were the hills. Vallonia, who holds her empire in the valturned into stones.

Her flesh consumes and moulders with despair, And all her body's juice is turn'd to air; So wondrous are the effects of restless pain, That nothing but her voice and bones remain ; Nay, ev'n the very bones at last are gone, And metamorphosed to a thoughtless stone, Yet still the voice does in the woods survive; The form's departed, but the sound's alive. "Narcissus met with as bad a fate; for though he would neither love others, nor admit of their love, yet he fell so deeply in love with his own beauty, that the love of himself proved his ruin. His thirst led him to a fountain, whose waters were clear and bright as sil

ver.

There was by chance a living fountain near,
Whose unpolluted channel ran so clear,
That it seemed liquid silver.

"When he stooped to drink, he saw his own image; he staid gazing at it, insomuch that he fell passionately in love with it. A little water only separated him from his beloved object.

A little drop of water does remove

And keep him from the object of his love. "He continued a long time admiring this beloved picture, before he discovered what it was he so passionately adored; but at length the happy creature perceived, that the torture he suffered was from the love

of his own self.

"In a word, his passion conquered him, and the power of love was greater than he could resist, so that by degrees he wasted away and consumed, and at last, by the favour of the gods, was turned into a daffodil, a flower called by his own name.”

THE INFERIOR RURAL DEITIES.

Rusina, the goddess to whose care all parts of the country are committed. Collina, she who reigns over

lies.

Hippona, who présides over the horses and stables. Bubona, who hath the care of the oxen. Seia, who takes care of the seed while it lies buried in the earth. She is likewise called Segetia, because she takes care of the blade as soon as it appears green above the ground. Runcina is the goddess of weeding. She is invoked when the fields are to be weeded. Occator. is the god of harrowing. He is worshipped when the fields are to be harrowed. Sator and Sarritor are the gods of sowing and raking. To the god Robigus were celebrated festivals called Robigalia, which were usually observed upon the seventh of the calends of May, to avert the blasting of the corn. Stercutius, Stercutus, or Sterculius, called likewise Sterquilinius and Picumnus, is the god who first invented the art of manuring the ground. Proserpine is the goddess who presides over the corn, when it is sprouted pretty high above the earth. We shall speak more of her when we discourse concerning the infernal deities. Nodosus, or Nodotus, is the god that takes care of the knots and the joints of the stalks. Volusia is the goddess who takes care to fold the blade round the corn, before the beard breaks out, which foldings of the blade contain the beard, as pods do the seed. Patelina, who takes care of the corn after it is broken out of the pod, and appears. The goddess Flora presides over the ear when it blossoms. Lactura, or Lactucina, who is next to Flora, presides over the ear when it begins to have milk. And Matura takes care that the ear comes to a just maturity. Hostilina was worshipped that the ears of corn might grow even, and produce a crop proportionably to the seed sown. Tutelina, or Tutulina, hath a tutelage of corn when it is reaped. Pilumnus invented the art of kneading and baking bread. Mellona is the goddess who invented the art of making honey. And Fornax is esteemed a goddess, because, before the invention of grinding the wheat, corn was parched in a furnace."

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Whether the Chinese are right in assigning to their portion of the world a much greater antiquity than we are willing to allow, may be fairly questioned; but certain it is, that in China many arts and sciences have been known at a period when the European nations were sunk in barbarity and ignorance. As one of the many proofs which might be adduced in support of this remark, we may mention that the Chinese were the first to construct chain or suspension bridges, which have only within the last few years been introduced into this country from the United States of America.

Of this bridge, which is certainly the oldest of the kind at present known to exist, we this week present our readers with an engraving, and a more romantic scene it is difficult to conceive. This famous bridge is on the road to Yun Nan, in the province of KoeiTcheou. It is thrown over a rapid torrent between two lofty mountains, and was constructed by a Chinese General, in the year 65 of the Christian era. At each end of the rocky mountain, a gate has been erected between two stone pillars, six or seven feet high, by seventeen or eighteen feet wide. Between these

pillars four chains are suspended by large rings, and | been so durable. To the very limited intercourse the united transversely by smaller chains. Over these Europeans are allowed in the interior of China, is to chains is a flooring of planks of timber which are re- be attributed the circumstance that an invention which newed as often as they become decayed. Other chain promises to be of such general utility as chain bridges, bridges have been constructed in China, in imitation was not introduced into this country until upwards of of this: but none of them are either so large or have eighteen centuries after it was known in China.

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"This animal is one of the tallest, most beautiful, | use of its strength; its motion is waddling and stiff; and most harmless animals in nature. The enormous disproportion of its legs (the fore legs being as long again as the hinder ones*) is a great obstacle to the This is erroneous, as will be seen from Le Vaillant's description, which we have added to this article.

it can neither fly from its enemies in its free state, nor serve its master in a domestic one. The species is not very numerous, and has always been confined to the deserts of Ethiopia, and some other provinces of Africa and India. As these countries were unknown to

ved in this country in 1827. It died recently. There is still one existing in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. M. le Vaillant, the first naturalist who had an opportunity of closely examining the Giraffe, gives a full and accurate description of it in his Travels. The Giraffe chews the cud, as all horned animals with cloven feet do. Like them, too, it crops the grass; though seldom, because pasture is scarce in the country which it inhabits. Its ordinary food is the leaf of a sort of mimosa, called by the natives kancap, and by the planters kamel doorn. The tree being peculiar to the canton, and growing only there, this may be the reason why it takes up its abode in it, and why it is not seen in those regions of the south of Africa where the tree does not grow. This, however, is but a vague conjecture, and which the reports of the ancients seem to contradict.'

the Greeks, Aristotle makes no mention of this ani- | sent to his Majesty by the Pacha of Egypt, and arri mal; but Pliny speaks of it, and Oppian describes it in a manner that is far from equivocal. The Camelopard,' says this author, 'has some resemblance to the camel: its head and ears are small, its feet broad, and its legs long; but the height of the last is very unequal, the fore legs being much longer than the hinder, which are very short; so that, when the animal appears standing and at rest, it has somewhat the appearance of a dog sitting. There are two prominences upon the head, just between the ears: they resemble two small and straight horns. Its mouth is like the stag's; its teeth small and white; its eyes full of fire; its tail short, and furnished with black hair at its end.' "There is,' says Strabo, 'a large beast in Ethiopia called Camelopardalis; although it bears no resemblance to the panther, for its skin is not spotted in the same manner the spots of the panther are orbicular, and those of this animal are long, and nearly resembling those of the fawn or young stag.' Gillius's description seems still better. 'I have seen,' says he, 'three Camelopards at Cairo. On their heads are two horns, six inches long; and, in the middle of their forehead, a tubercle rises to about the height of two inches, which appears like a third horn. This animal is sixteen feet high when he holds his head erect. Its neck alone is seven feet; and it is twenty feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail. Its fore and hind legs are nearly of an equal height; but the thighs before are so long in comparison to those behind, that its back seems to slope like the roof of a house. Its whole body is sprinkled with large brown spots, which are nearly of the same form. Its feet are cloven like those of the ox.'

"In inspecting accounts travellers have given of the Camelopard, I find a tolerable agreement between them. They all agree, that it can reach with its head to the height of sixteen or seventeen feet, when standing erect; and that the fore legs are as high again as the hinder ones; so that it seems as if it were seated upon its crupper. They all likewise agree, that it cannot run very swift on account of this disproportion; that it is very gentle, and that by this quality, and even by the shape of the body, it partakes more of the shape and nature of the camel than of any other animal; that it is among the number of ruminating animals, and, like them, is deficient of the incisive teeth in its upper jaw. By the testimonies of some, we find that the Camelopard is to be met with in the southern parts of Africa, as well as in those of

Asia.

"It is very clear, from what we have mentioned, that the Camelopard is a very different species from every other animal; but if we referred it to any, it would be the camel rather than the stag.

"We are ignorant of the substance of the horns of the Camelopard; and in that part it may resemble the stag more than the ox, though possibly they may be neither solid, like those of the first, nor hollow, like those of the ox, goat, &c. Who knows but they may be composed of united hairs, or of a substance and texture entirely peculiar to themselves? The horns of the Camelopard are surrounded with large coarse hair, and not covered with a down or velvet, like those of the stag. The tubercle in the middle of the head seems to form a third horn: the two others, which are not pointed, but have mossy nobs at their ends, are perhaps only tubercles somewhat resembling the former. Travellers inform us, that the female Camelopards have horns like the males, with this difference only, that they are smaller. If this animal, therefore, was really of the stag kind, the analogy would be violated here likewise; for, of all such animals, there is only the female rein-deer that has horns.

"Since the period when Buffon wrote, the Giraffe has become much better known. Several have been brought to Europe. One of them was sent as a pre

"Its head is unquestionably the most beautiful part of its body. Its mouth is small; its eyes large and animated. Between the eyes, and above the nose, it has a very distinct and prominent tubercle. This is not a fleshy excrescence, but an enlargement of the bony part, the same as the two little bosses, or protuberances, with which its occiput is armed, and which rise as large as a heu's egg, one on each side of the mane, at its commencement. Its tongue is rough, and terminates in a point. Each jaw has six grinders on each side, but the lower jaw only has eight cutting teeth in front, while the upper jaw has none.

"The hoof is cloven, has no heel, and much resembles that of the ox. It may be observed, however, at the first sight, that the hoof of the fore foot is larger than that of the hind foot. The leg is very slender; but the knee is swelled like that of the stumbling horse, because the animal kneels down to sleep. It has also a large callosity in the middle of the sternum, owing to its usually reposing on it.

"If I had never killed a Giraffe, I should have thought, with many other naturalists, that its hind legs were much shorter than the fore ones. This is a mistake: they bear the same proportion to each other as is usual in quadrupeds. I say the same proportion as is usual, because in this respect there are variations, even in animals of the same species. Every one knows, for instance, that mares are lower before than stallions. What deceives us in the Giraffe, and occasions the apparent difference between the legs, is the height of the withers, which may exceed that of the crupper from sixteen to twenty inches, according to the age of the animal; and which, when it is seen at a distance in motion, gives the appearance of much greater length to the fore legs.

"If the Giraffe stand still, and you view it in the front, the effect is very different. As the fore part of its body is much larger than the hind part, it completely conceals the latter; so that the animal resembles the standing trunk of a deep tree.

"Its gait, when it walks, is neither awkward nor unpleasing; but it is ridiculous enough when it trots; for you would then take it for a limping beast, seeing its head, perched at the extremity of a long neck which never bends, swaying backwards and forwards, the neck and head playing in one piece between the shoulders as on an axis. However, as the length of the neck exceeds that of the legs at least four inches, it is evident that the length of the head, too, taken into the account, it can feed without difficulty, and of course is not obliged either to kneel down or to straddle with its feet, as some authors have asserted.*

"Its mode of defence, like that of the horse and other solidungulous animals, consists in kicking with the heels. But its hind parts are so light, and its jerks so rapid, that the eye cannot follow them. They are

*It is, besides, unnecessary for the animal to kneel, as it feeds principally on the boughs of a species of acacia, which it draws down to its mouth with its long and flexible tongue.

even sufficient to defend it against the lion, though they are unable to protect it from the impetuous attack of the tiger.

"Its horns are never employed in fight. I did not perceive it used them against my dogs; and these weak and useless weapons would seem but an error of Nature, if Nature could ever commit error, or fail in her designs.

"In their youth, the male and female Giraffes resemble each other in their exterior. A knot of long hair then terminates their obtuse horns; this peculiarity the female preserves for some time, but at the age of three years the male loses it. At first, the hide is of a light red, but it deepens in colour as the animal advances in age, and at length it is of a yellow brown in the female, and of a brown bordering on black in the male. The male may, even at a distance, be distinguished from the female by this difference of colour. As to the arrangement and form of the spots, the skin varies in both sexes. The female does not stand so high as the male, and the frontal prominence is less marked. She has four teats; and, according to the account given by the natives, she has one young one at a birth, with which she goes twelve months."

ON BLESSING PERSONS WHEN THEY SNEEZE.

This custom is derived from very ancient times, and its origin has been variously accounted for. Several writers affirm that it commenced in the year 750, under Pope Gregory the Great, when a pestilence occurred, in which those who sneezed died; whence this Pontiff appointed a form of prayer, and a wish to be said to persons sneezing, for averting this fatality from them.

But the custom is of much more ancient date. It was accounted very ancient in the time of Aristotle, who, in his Problems, has endeavoured to account for it. It is alluded to in the Greek Anthology in an epigram, in which the salutation of salve Jupiter is given as a familiar phrase addressed to sneezers. Alexander Ross says, "Prometheus was the first that wished well to the sneezer, when the man which he had made of clay, fell into a fit of sternutation, upon the approach of that celestial fire which he stole from the sun. This gave origin to that custom among the Gentiles in saluting the sneezer. They used also to worship the head in sternutation, as being a divine part, and seat of the senses and cogitation." Various testimonies show the antiquity of this custom, and Aristotle has a problem "why sneezing from noon to midnight was good, but from night to noon unlucky." If he lived in these times, I query whether he would not be pulled up to Union Hall to answer for his necromancy.

WORSHIPPING THE DEVIL.

Whatever may be men's subserviency to his sable Majesty, few are willing to confess it. But it seems by the following extract from the Liberian (Africa) correspondent of the Commercial Advertiser, that religious homage is statedly paid to him by a whole nation: The writer says "Doubtless you are aware, that the natives have stated times to assemble in what they call the "Devil's Bush," to carry their offerings and pay homage to the Devil; or as they assert, to appease his anger, and make him their friend. have a select man, whose office it is to find the Devil. He carries a bowl of Palaver Sauce, (a great dish among them, prepared with rice and palm oil, and a certain leaf, with which it is seasoned,) every evening. On the morning the bowl is found to be empty, and the people are made to believe the Devil has eaten the food."

FROM OSSIAN.

They

A Tale of the times of old! the deeds of days of other years!

The

The murmur of thy streams, O Lora! brings back the memory of the past. The sound of thy woods, Garmallar, is lovely in mine ear. Dost thou not behold, Malvina, a rock, with its head of heath? Three aged pines bend from its face; green is the narrow plain at its feet; there the flower of the mountain grows, and shakes its white head in the breeze. thistle is there alone, shedding its aged beard. Two stones, half sunk in the ground, shew their heads of The deer of the mountain avoids the place, for he beholds a dim ghost standing there.* The mighty lie, O Malvina! in the narrow plain of the rock. A tale of the times of old! the deeds of days of other years!

moss.

Who comes from the land of strangers, with his thousands around him? the sun-beam pours its bright stream before him; his hair meets the winds of his hills. His face is settled from war. He is calm as

the evening beam that looks from the cloud of the west, on Cona's silent vale. Who is it but Comhal's son,* the king of mighty deeds! he beholds his hills with joy, he bids a thousand voices rise. "Ye have fled over your fields, ye sons of the distant land! The king of the world sits in his hall, and hears of his takes his father's sword. Ye have fled over your people's flight. He lifts his red eye of pride; he fields, sons of the distant land!"

Such were the words of the bards when they came to Selma's halls. A thousand lights † from the stranger's land rose in the midst of the people. The feast is spread around: the night passed away in joy. Where is the noble Clessammor!‡ said the fair-haired Fingal. Where is the brother of Morna, in the hour of my joy? Sullen and dark he passes his days in the vale of echoing Lora; but behold, he comes from the hill, like a steed in his strength, who finds his companions in the breeze, and tosses his bright mane in the wind. Blest be the soul of Clessammor, why so long from Selma !

ORIENTAL LOVE-LETTER.

The Rev. John James Blunt (in his "Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, discoverable in Modern Italy and Sicily,") says, "Whatever may have been the cause, something mysterious seems always to have been attached to the act of sneezing. Any future evil, however, to which it might have been the prelude, was supposed to be averted by a word of good augury from a bystander. This, like many other unintelligible notions, has descended from the Romans (at least, more immediately from them, though the same fancy prevailed amongst the Jews and Greeks,) to several modern nations. In our own, the salutation of "God bless you" is sometimes given upon such occasions; in France, "Dieu vous soit en aide," is not uncommon; but in Italy, that of " Viva," or "When your glances dart like arrows from the bow ta," is paid with the utmost scrupulousness. Thus of your eyebrow, millions of hearts are wounded. too it is recorded of Tiberius, that whenever he sneezed You now direct your shafts against a languishing in his carriage, he exacted such a mark of attention soul; but though aimed at it for the first time, their from his companions with the most religious solicitude." And Brown, in his "Vulgar Errors," says, "We read in Godignus, that upon a sneeze of the Emperor Monomopata, there passed acclamations successively through the city." -London Mirror.

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Felici

bassador Abba Mirza, to an English lady, who had The following letter was sent by the Persian ammade a deep impression on his Excellency's heart.

Crona.

Fingal returns here, from an expedition against the Romans, which was celebrated by Ossian in a poem called the strife of + Probably wax-lights; which are often mentioned as carried, among other booty, from the Roman province. + Clessamh-mor, mighty deeds.

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