with a cavity so as to admit of artificial eruptions of smoke and ignited matter. Rocks, soils, shells, &c. illustrative of the geological character of different regions are to be properly distributed; and it is further proposed that the chief cities of different states and empires, the wall of China, the pyramids of Egypt, and other remarkable monuments of human industry, shall have miniature representations. The plan will be completed by decorating the margin of the plot, with foreign and indigenous shrubs and trees. The design is a bold and novel one, but it appears to most of those who have examined it, well deserving of public attention. The details of geography, as commonly taught in our schools, form a dry study, oppressing the memory, without much improving the judgment. The names of places derived from foreign, and not unfrequently from barbarous languages, are not easily remembered, and the length and breadth of countries, with the distances of towns one from another, are generally learned only to be forgotten. Nor are our common maps calculated to give a lively and lasting impression of the relative situation of places. Each object, though it may be correctly delineated, is too minute to strike the mind with any degree of force, and by the immense number of objects crowded into a small place, confusion is necessarily produced. But to a map constructed on Mr. Goodrich's plan, it is evident that no such objections could apply. Every thing would here be represented on so extensive a scale, that it could not but be distinctly seen, and would in all probability be distinctly remembered. The learner could place himself in different positions to impress on his mind the relative situation of places, could travel over the plot to determine the relative size of countries, and would thence derive what may properly be called topical assistance, in remembering names derived from foreign and barbarous languages. The inventor of the plan, is, as we before intimated, a Mr. Goodrich. His brother-in-law, who is now in this city, has, we are happy to state, received such encouragement that he has good reason to hope that he will soon be able to effect what he has for some years had in contemplation. Several gentlemen, distinguished in the literary and scientific world, have publicly signified their approbation of the plan, and one has had the liberality to offer a plot of ground, in a pleasant and convenient situation. This being the case, we presume that the money necessary to complete the design will be obtained with but moderate exertion. To the Republic of Science.-Martins are a bird that migrate in a peculiar manner. It appears to be unknown whence they come, and whither they go; a knowledge of which is very desirable, and, if attained, might lead to a great enlargement of our knowledge in natural history. As these birds, while here, build about our houses, and seem to delight in the society of man, it is inferable that they do the same elsewhere: if so, we might, a little before the time of their departure, attach to their legs or neck, small labels, written on fine linen or silk, with indelible ink, or on parchment, stating the date, and the nan e of the place and nation. To this it would be well to add a rough drawing of a ship, with the national flag, and drawings of some of the animals of the climate, as a sort of universal language; also, a request to the reader to attach a similar label about the time of the return of the birds in the spring, and to publish the circumstance in a newspaper of the country. Learned institutions generally might contribute to the improvement of science by printing and distributing such labels both in Latin, and in the language of the country. If we do not by such means learn, soon or late, where the martins go, it will be inferable that they go to some unlettered people or unknown country. The more reasons we find for presuming there are unknown countries, the more will we be disposed to exert ourselves in research. Engraving. The side-graphic printing and engraving establishment of Messrs. Perkins, Fairman and Heath, has been commenced in the house in Fleet-street, late Parker's Glass Manufactory, with every prospect of splendid success. Already they have engaged to manufacture Bank Notes on their inimitable plan for several Yorkshire and other Banks; and they are also preparing various engravings for popular books, as maps and views for Goldsmith's Geography, frontispiece for Mavor's Spelling Book, and a solar system for Blair's Preceptor, all of which will have proof impressions of their engravings, though tens of thousands are sold annually. Over and above these applications, they are making preparations to print on cotton, dresses of greater beauty than have been ever fabricated before. The perfection of all their prints must so improve the public judgment, that coarse and inferior prints must soon be banished from use; and hence the arts themselves must be greatly improved. Corsicaurum.-A new mineral earth has been lately found in “ Corsica, thought to be impregnated with particles of gold. By chemical operation, vases have been made of it for table services, and it is found to vie in colour and lustre with the finest vermillion. The name of Corsicaurum has been given to it; it has the property of not discolouring white stuffs, which is not always the case with gold, the most purified and refined. Messrs. Warren & Wood, offer a silver cup of the value of fifty dollars, for an Address to be delivered at the opening of the New Theatre. Those who desire to be competitors for the prize, are requested to transmit their, productions on or before the 15th day of November, each Address to be accompanied with a sealed paper, containing the name of the author, which the managers pledge themselves shall not be opened, unless the premium shall be awarded to such Address. Upon the merits of the different productions offered, a committee of literary gentlemen of acknowledged talents will decide. ART. I.-Travels in South Africa, undertaken at the request of the London Missionary Society, by the REV. JOHN VOL. II. THE PORT FOLIO. CONDUCTED BY OLIVER OLDSCHOOL, ESQ. VARIOUS, that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change And pleased with novelty, may be indulged.-Cowper. ART. I.-Travels in South Africa, undertaken at the request of the London Missionary Society; being a Narrative of a Second Journey in the interior of that country. With a map and coloured prints. By the Rev. John Campbell. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1222. MR. Campbell is already well known for the courage and perseverance displayed in his first journey into South Africa, undertaken in 1813, in which he penetrated as far as Latakoo and Malapeetze, and laid open to the knowledge of the Europeans various nations and countries with which they were formerly unacquainted. This second journey is undertaken on the same views as the first, which are essentially different from those which have tempted other adventurers into the field of African discovery. Mr. Campbell was deputed by the Missionary Society in London to visit their different stations in South Africa, and he appears to have executed this commission with great fidelity, skill, and resolution; having proceeded from Cape Town into the interior in a north-easterly direction, as far as Kurreechane, a town of the Marootzee nation, between the 24th and 25th degrees of north latitude, and above 600 miles from the Cape. In the course of his journey, he visited the different Missionary stations established for the purpose of bringing the intractable natives within the pale of religion and social order; he also visited different African tribes, and collected such information, both as to the state of the country and the character of its inhabitants, as would be useful in the view of a farther extension of the establishment for the instruction of the Africans. |