its predecessors, and contains matter of a rarer value. We cannot sufficiently express our gratitude to Mr. Rose in affording us a translation of our favourite poem, free from the coarseness of Harrington, and the dullness of Hoole. We can here enjoy the light, half-veiled pleasantry of Ariosto, and admire his exquisite idiom of expression, without the fear of its being mingled with the buffoonery and slang of the worthy godson and courtier of the virgin queen. The volume before us presents, for the first time to an English reader, the first fifteen stanzas of the last canto ; and we have been much struck by the elegance and ease of a translation, which was attended with such difficulty as to render nugatory all previous attempts. Englishmen may at last read Ariosto's description of the wits and learned men, who shed such surpassing splendour on the age of the Medici; and the light of whose renown has shone on our happier, though homelier æra. There is yet a melancholy feeling engendered by perusing these celebrated stanzas ; for many, whose names are therein blazoned forth as the most deserving of fame and honour, live only in the page of Ariosto. Immortality, it is true, hath been there secured to them; but had it not been for that memorial, their fame had passed from the earth, unheeded and unknown.

STANDARD NOVELS, No. 3.-Of the numerous progeny sent into the world each successive month, we know none more spirited, more delightful, or more deserving of hearty support, than this. The present number contains the whole of Cooper's novel of THE SPY,*-so rich and varied in incident-so vivid and faithful in its pictures-so teeming with "perilous and hair-breadth 'scapes," that, even in perusal, have made the boldest "hold his breath" for a time. Nothing can be so worthy of study as a picture of true patriotism-of that love of country which soars above selfish motives, and party considerations; and that picture, designed in the novel of the Spy, contains some of the best and boldest touches of Cooper's vigorous pen. In the introduction, prefixed to this edition, there is some interesting matter, which will repay the perusal. In a former number we treated of American literature, and can only at present, on this subject, add, that

* Standard Novels, No. 3. The Spy; by Cooper; with Introduction, Notes, &c. Colburn and Bentley. 12mo. London. 1831.

Mr. Cooper seems justified in his proud anticipation, that a brighter prospect is now beginning to dawn on the Republic; and that she is about to assume that rank among the nations of the earth, which nature has designed her to fill, and to which her institutions inevitably tend.

"A publication ON THE NATURE AND DIGNITY OF CHRIST, by Joanna Baillie.* is chiefly remarkable as being from the pen of an author so eminently distinguished in a very different walk of literature. The theological opinions avowed by the writer, diverge from the established orthodox standard, in the same direction as those of our great epic poet in plain terms, Joanna Baillie, like Milton, is an Arian. The volume, a thin octavo, consists entirely of extracts from the authorized version of the New Testament, with the exception of thirty-six pages of introduction and remarks. There is a tone of sincerity and a spirit of Christian toleration displayed in this little work, which merit unqualified approbation, and which, independently of the celebrity of the writer, entitle it to be noticed with the utmost respect, however widely our own opinions on this momentous subject may differ from those she advocates. Into the discussion of the doctrine in question, it is not the province of a journal such as ours to enter.

Enlightened financiers, and the friends of public instruction, will do well to second the arguments laid down by the writer of a LETTER TO LORD ALTHORP ON THE PROPOSED REDUCTION IN THE NEWSPAPER STAMP AND ADVERTISEMENT DUTIES. † Steering a middle course between the Chancellor of the Exchequer's proposition, and Mr. Buller's amendment, Mr. Douglas clearly demonstrates the advantage that would accrue to the country and to the revenue, by the reduction of the stamp duty to one penny on each paper, and a corresponding diminution in the advertisement tax.

THE RECTORY OF VALEHEAD, which has already reached a third edition, is a work eminently entitled to the favour it has experienced. To the Christian, it presents a placid mirror of Christian sen

have lain dormant, either because other circumstances were wanting for their successful development, or because the artificial wants of society have not sooner led the way to their adoption.

A striking proof of the truth of this position is furnished by a circumstance which is now exciting much interest among numerous classes of persons engaged in manufacturing and chemical operations.

About the middle of the last century, Doctor Edward Hales, a man of considerable mental powers and of high scientific attainments, proposed to force currents of air through fluids, while subjected to the action of heat, as an advantageous means of assisting towards their evaporation. His proposal, which stands upon the Re cords of the Royal Society, drew considerable attention at the time of its publication, and a series of experiments was consequently made by another very ingenious gentleman, Mr. Keene Fitzgerald, with a hope of realising some of its expected advantages. These experiments proved unsuccessful, and no further attempt seems to have been made towards the accomplishment of Dr. Hales's views, until about eight years ago, and then even without obtaining such advantages as led the experimenter to persevere with his enquiries. Still more recently, however, another votary of science has proposed, and brought to a successful result, an arrangement of apparatus, whereby the benefits promised by the original proposer are fully realized, and that too, by means so exceedingly simple, that one is led to attribute former failures to the presence of some needless and counteracting compli

cations.

Similar disadvantages are seen to accompany many new inventions, which at first are rendered difficult by their intricacy, and which advance towards the perfection of which they are capable, in proportion as they are disencumbered of unessential appendages.

It is well known that all animal and vegetable substances are altered in their properties, and materially injured by excessive degrees of heat, or by long exposure to even a more moderate temperature. Hence it has long been a desideratum with manufacturers who operate upon such substances, to discover the means of regulating the degree of heat which they employ, and of limiting, as far as possible, the duration of their processes.

The comparative experiments herein stated, will shew that both these objects

are attained in a most important degree by the adoption of Dr. Hales's suggestions. These experiments having been undertaken with a view to the decision of a legal question, were conducted with the greatest carefulness, in the presence of several accomplished engineers and men of science.

The apparatus employed was a rectangular copper pan, six feet long, four feet wide, and fifteen inches deep, furnished at the sides and bottom with an external casing of the same material, in order that by the admission of high-pressure steam between the two surfaces, the liquid contained in the pan might be brought to boil. The apparatus employed for conveying air into the fluid consisted of three horizontal copper tubes, placed a few inches above the surface of the liquid to be evaporated, parallel to each other, and in a line with the length of the pan. From these main tubes proceeded, at regular intervals, small pipes, which dipped almost vertically into the fluid, and reached nearly to the bottom of the pan. small pipes, 360 in number, whose diameter was one-eighth of an inch, were open at their extreme ends, and afforded the only means of escape for the air.

These

The blowing apparatus consisted of three cylinders, each sixteen inches diameter, with a stroke of thirty inches. These were actuated by a steam-engine of the power of ten horses, and made forty strokes per minute.

A preparatory experiment was made to ascertain the quantity of water that would be evaporated in a given time by the usual method, i. e., without the employment of the blowing apparatus. For this purpose water was admitted into the pan to the depth of six inches, and the steamcock in connexion with the boiler was opened. In five minutes the thermometer rose to 212 degrees, and the water boiled rapidly. This boiling was continued for twenty minutes longer, when the supply of steam from the boiler was shut off, and the evaporation during the time of boiling was ascertained to have amounted to 3 cubic feet, or twenty-one imperial gallons.

The same quantity of water was introduced for the second as in the first experiment, and when made to boil, as before, by the heat of steam, the blowing apparatus was brought into use. The effect was instantly apparent. In one minute and

a half the thermometer fell from 212 to 191 degrees, between which latter point and 195 degrees, it remained during the

continuance of the experiment. At the expiration of twenty minutes, the steam used for heating was again shut off, the blowing of air was discontinued, and the evaporation was ascertained to be 64 cubic feet, or thirty-nine imperial gallons.

The quantity of water vaporized was thus very nearly double that of the first experiment, although accompanied by a diminution of seventeen to twenty-one degrees of thermometric heat.

The next point ascertained was the comparative efficacy of cold and heated air in acceleraitng evaporation.

For these further experiments, the same blowing apparatus was used, but as it was not practicable to heat the air in its passage to the rectangular pan, another copper vessel of an oval form was employed, and the heat was applied in the same manner as in the former trials, by admitting high-pressure steam between the vessel and an outer casing. Water was poured in to the depth of 8 inches, and when a thermometer standing in the liquid had reached 120 degrees, the blowing of cold air was commenced. In five minutes the temperature of the water had increased to 170, and in ten minutes to 180 degrees, at which point it steadily continued during the remainder of the blowing, which ceased at the end of thirty minutes. The supply of steam for heating was then shut off, and the evaporation ascertained to be two cubic feet, or 12 imperial gallons.

The blowing tube was then passed through a strong charcoal fire in order to heat the air to be injected. The temperature of this was ascertained by means of a thermometer, the bulb of which passed into the area of the tube between the fire and the copper pan, and was consequently exposed to the current of heated air in its passage.

The same quantity of water as before was placed in the copper, steam was admitted within the casing, and when the heat of the water had reached 120 degrees, the blowing of heated air was begun. The temperatures of the air and water during the course of this experiment were as under:

mencement of the blowing of heated air -it was discontinued-the supply of steam was shut of, and the evaporation ascertained to amount to three-fourths of a cubic foot, or 4 imperial gallons barely, -being exactly three-eighths of the quantity evaporated under circumstances corresponding in every respect, except that in one case the air was injected in a cold, and in the other case in a heated state.

During all the experiments that have been detailed, the means employed for heating the fluid were the same,-viz. steam, whose pressure above that of the atmosphere was equal to the support of a column of sixteen inches of mercury.

Other experiments were made upon solutions of sugar, the comparative results of which were found to agree completely with those already detailed as made with water. By this means it was ascertained that eighty-four gallons of a solution of sugar, whose specific gravity was 1.373, could be concentrated to the point of crystallization in thirty minutes, the temperature remaining during the operation at from 160 to 170 degrees, or between sixty and seventy degrees lower than would be necessary under ordinary cir

cumstances.

One part of the above experiments will doubtless appear extraordinary. That the effect of air in promoting evaporation should be less when heated than when cold, in the proportion of three to eight, appears contrary to reason and probability. It must be considered, however, that air is a very imperfect conductor of heat; that it expands itself to double its original bulk by the addition of 480 degrees of temperature; and although the means employed for its propulsion were the same, both in power and celerity, in either case, that for the reason stated, the quantity actually expelled was far less when heated than when cold.

The evaporation, at low temperatures, of saccharine solutions, and other delicate organic substances, has already been effected by the Hon. Edward Howard and by Mr. Barry, who, availing themselves of the well-known law, that fluids will vaporize at reduced temperatures when relieved from the pressure of the atmosphere, constructed evaporating vessels whence the air could be exhausted. This was effected in one case by air pumps, and in the latter by the condensation of steam in separate vessels, connected with the apparatus. These plans, as might be expected from the talents and attainments