MISCELLANEOUS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 52, 4 March 1843, Page 207

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Secret of Embalming.— Much learned discussion and antiquarian research have been expended upon the mummies of Egypt, and the question repeatedly asked, how did ttoe embalmers preserve these extraordinary relics of antiquity, so as to defy the ravages of time for thousands of years? Greenhill, and more tticently Pettigrew, have written elaborately on thi» curious department of antiquarian lore, but have thrown little light upon what was really the essential part of the mummifying process. Dr. J. R. Cdfmack has, however, I think, in his able and learned " Treatise on Creosote," supplied this desideratum. Creosote is a recently discovered substance, possessed of extraordinary antiseptic virtues, existing in greater or less abundance in tar, and always generated by the destructive distillation of vegetable matter. Herodotus makes no mention of the application of heat to mummies, but the researches of modern antiquarians show that a very great heat was used. I would refer those who wish for details on this subject to the ingenious work of Dr. Cormack. In his concluding observations he says—" It may be stated, then, as a summing up of what has been said on this subject, that the application of such heat as would first dry up the body, and then decompose the tarry matters which had been previously introduced, and thus generate creosote, formed the only essential part of the mummifying process ; that the spices and perfumes Used were superfluous ; and that the various other operations connected with the embalments, of which we are told, were matters of idle Ceremony,, and were had recourse to, in all probability, chiefly with a view of mystifying the notions which the vulgar might entertain of the embalmer's secret art/' — fcotes ' of a Wanderer, by W. F. dimming, At.D.

Natural History. — It is rather a subject of surprise, that, in our general associations' and commixtures in life, in times so highly enlightened as the present, we should meet with so few, comparatively speaking, who have any knowledge of, or take the least interest in, natural history ; or* if the subject obtain a moment's consideration,. it has no abiding place in the mind, being dismissed as the fitting employ of children and inferior capacities. But the natural historian is required to attend to something more than the vagaries of butterflies and the spinning of caterpillars; his study, considered abstractedly from the various branches of science which it embraces, is one of the most delightful occupations that can employ the attention of reasoning beings. A beautiful landscape, grateful objects, pleasures received by the eye or the senses, become the common property of all who enjoy them, being in some measure obvious to every one ; but the naturalist must reflect upon hidden things, investigate by com* parison, and testify by experience; and, living amidst the wonders of creation, it becomes his occupation to note and proclaim such manifestations of wisdom or goodness as may be perceived by him. And perhaps none of the amusements of human life are more satisfactory and dignified than the investigation and survey of the workings and the ways of Providence in this created world' of wonders, filled with his never-absent power; it occupies and elevate? the mind, is inexhaustible in supply, and, while it furnishes meditation for the closet of the studious, gives to the reflections of the moralizing rambler admiration and delight, and communicate an interest to every rural walk. Let not, then, the idle and the ignorant scoff at those who devote an unemployed hour to investigate a moss, a fungi, a beetle, or a shell. They are all the formation of Supreme Intelligence, for wise and beneficent ends, and lead by gentle gra-, dations to a faint conception of the powers of infinite wisdom. — Garderters' Gazette.

Animal Multiplication. — As an example of the rapidity with which a large tract may become peopled by the offspring of a single pair of quadrupeds, we may mention that in the year 17?3, thirteen rein-deer were exported from Norway, only three of which reached Iceland. These were turned loose into the mountains of Guldbringe Syssel, where they multiplied so greatly, in the course of forty years, that it was not uncommon to meet with herds consisting of from forty to an hundred, in various districts. In Lapland, observes a modern writer, the rein-deer is a loser by his connexions with man, but Iceland will be this creature's paradise. There is in the interior a tract which Sir 6. Mackenzie computes at not less than forty thousand square miles without a single human habitation, and almost entirely unknown to* the natives themselves. There 'aWn"O l wolves ; the Icelanders will keep out the bears ; and the rein- deer, being almost unmolested by man, will have no enemy whatever, unless it has brought with it its own tormenting gadfly. LyelVs Principles of Geology.

Wah.— l have been as enthusiastic and joyful as any one after a victory, but I confess that even the sight of a field of battle has not only struck me with horror, but turned me sick; and now that I am advanced in life, I cannot understand, any more than I could at fifteen years, how beings who call themselves reasonable, and who have so much foresight, can employ this short existence, not in loving and aiding each other, and passing through it as gently as possible, but, on the contrary, in endeavouring to destroy each other, as if Time did not do this himself with sufficient rapidity. What I thought at fifteen years I. still think; — war, which society dtaws upon itself, is but an organised barbarism, and an inheritance of the savage state, however disguised or ornamented. — Louis Buonaparte.

A Lesson in Honkstt.— lt is but little that I can recollect of my mother. I remember, however, that she was careful to teach me the Assembly's Catechism, and to give me the best instructions, the little time I was at home. Once, in particular, when I.«u playing with a pin, she asked me where I got it ; and on telling her that I found it at my uncle's who lived very near to my father, and where I had been playing with my cooaioa. she made me carry it back again; no doubt to impress my mind, as it could not fail to do, with a dear idea of the distinction of property, and of the importance of attending to it. Dr. Priestley » Memoir* of himself.

It was said by Montesquieu (hat Germany was fit to travel in, Italy to sojourn in, Eagltnd to think in, and France to live in.