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they bear an extraordinary value, a ruble or two a pound being readily paid for a piece of an ell fquare. As for the common fort, a pud of that of a quarter of an ell fquare is fold for nine or ten rubles; and the worst fort of all, for a ruble and a half, or two rubles a pud. To render the marienglas fit for ufe, it is fplit with a thin two-edged knife; but cate is taken that the laminæ be not too thin. It is used for windows and lanterns all over Siberia, and indeed in every part of the Ruffian empire, and looks very beautiful; its luftre and clearnefs furpaffing that of the finest glafs, to which it is particularly preferable for windows and lanterns of fhips, as it will ftand the explosion of cannon. It is found in the greatest plenty near the river Wittim.

Account of a curious petrifaction dug up out of the common pavement in White Friars.

T

HIS curiofity was perceived in paffing along, by the gentleman, in whofe cuftody it now is. It is of an oblong figure, between round and fquare, about a foot a foot and a half in length, and near nine inches thick; weight exactly ninety pounds. From its form it looks as if it had originally been a post to keep off the carts. Its upper furface which lay level with the fuperficies of the pave ment, is of a brown colour, refembling the other ftones in the ftreet, and therefore when covered with wet and dirt, it is no wonder

fhould fo long have efcaped the no. tice of every obferver, though hourly paffed over by all who went that way. The lower part, that is to fay that which lay loweft in the pavement, feems nearly of the fame colour, excepting that the ftria of the wood are more eafily diftinguishable in it. One fide is covered with a fparry incruftation, of a white glittering colour, break ing eafily into flakes, and as eafy to be reduced into powder; not unlike, in fhort, to the felenites, or fome kinds of alabafter. This does not feem, however, to have formed originally any part of the wood, but to be rather a ftony coat or excrefcence generated by the water which effected the petrifaction. The other fide confifts intirely of the petrified woody matter, and by the cavity formed in it, feems to have been rotted away in that part before its petrifaction. Two queftions naturally arife from this appearance of it. The firft, what kind of wood it may have been: the fecond, how it came to be petrified, or what water occafioned it. With regard to the first, that is to fay the wood, if we fuppofe it to have been petrified in the place it was taken up at, it is probable it was either oak or elm, and I should rather pronounce for the latter, from the redifh appearance it has in thofe parts where the fparry incruftation is fresh broke off. But if we fuppofe it not to have been petrified in the place where dug up, and indeed the fparry coat above mentioned will not allow us to fuppofe that to have been done by any other than falt water, in that cafe it may be either lignum vitæ, log

• About 36 English pounds.

wood,

wood, or any other ponderous
wood of a reddish brown colour.
As to the ends they are both fo en-
tirely ftone, that it is impoffible to
form any judgment from them;
and though the fawing it would be
a very likely means of deciding
that queftion, yet for particular,
reafons the owner does not chufe
to have recourfe to that method at
prefent. Should the heart of the
wood be entirely pervaded by
the ftony particles, fo as to be alfo
petrified, this would not be deci-
five. For the reft, it was found
clofe to a water-plug, where it has
probably remained many ages, with
the water continually exuding upon
it, but that the water there formed
the petrifaction is a point not to
be admitted on account of the fparry
coat fo often mentioned, which
will not admit of its having been
been petrified by fresh water. But
even should this be granted, it
would be ftill neceffary to enquire
what water did it; for though the
water of the plug, near which it
lay, was continually exuding upon
it,
yet as both rivers water run that
way, its petrifaction might have
been owing to the other. It is
well known, moreover, that the
friary is for the moft part an arti-
ficial ground, abounding in fprings,
fome of which have been formerly
reputed medicinal *; and if any

of the waters of thefe fprings came near it, I mean, fo as frequently to moisten it, in that cafe it is to be attributed to them, rather than to the river waters. What renders this point alfo ftill clearer, is, that in the great ufe that has been made of the two river waters, we have never heard of any petrifying quality being attributed to them. Upon the whole then, it is impoffible to fay when it was done, or whence it was brought, but that it is a great curiofity, and the more fo for having been found in the streets of London, must be evident to every one who confiders it.

Remarkable inftance of a decrepitude tranfmitted from parents to chil dren.

N the Warsaw Gazette, of the IN 13th May, 1763, we have the following extraordinary relation:

One Margaret Krafiowna died lately in the village of Koninia, aged 108, being born Feb., 12, 1655. At the age of 94 fhe married, for her third husband, Gafpard Raykot, of the village of Ciwoufzin, then aged 105. During the 14 years they lived toge ther, they had two boys and one

The memory of this medicinal quality of the waters is ftill preferved in the name of a court there, called Dog-well Court, which though improperly fet down Dodwell in the city books, as if it had formerly belonged to one Dodwell as proprietor, yet it is well known took its name from a dog's accidentally falling into a well, which is ftill to be feen in the cellar of the upper house in the court, and being thereby cured of a moft inveterate mange. From this accident the well grew into very great repute, infomuch, that in monkish times it was prodigiously reforted to by perfons afflicted with cutaneous diforders; but fince the diffolution of the monafteries under Harry VIII. has been noted for nothing more than the tradition of its former virtues.

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VOL. VI.

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Surprising account of a perfon's fud denly lofing his beard, the hair of his bead, &c. and partially recovering them again.

De Berney, a gentleman of

girl, and what is very remarkable, thefe three children bear evident marks of the old age of their father and mother. Their hair is already grey, and they have a vacuity in heir gums, like that which appears after the lofs of teeth, though they never had any teeth; they have not Strength enough to chew folid food, but live on bread and vegetables. They are of a proper fize for their age, but their backs are bent, their complexions are fallow, and they have all the other fymptoms of decrepitude. Their father is ftill alive. Though most of these par-after, he had a flight fever, during ticulars may appear fabulous, they are certified by the parish regifters. The village of Ciwoufzin is in the diftrict of Stenzick, in the palatinate of Sendomir."

M. Poitou in France, at the age of 60, had his beard come off, then the hair of his head, afterwards his eye-brows and eye-lafhes, at laft all the hair on his body, without any alteration in his health. Three or four months after this event, his beard began to grow again, but not quite fo thick as before. Six months

which his eye-brows and his eyelathes returned; the former pretty thick, but the latter much lefs fo. The hair of his head, and other parts of his body, is not returned. at all:

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PROJECT S.

It is with great pleasure that we can, at the head of our article of Projects for this year, fet one, which is an honour to our country, and, in deed, one of the greatest works of the age. It is that ftupendous undertak ing of an inland navigation begun and directed by his grace the duke of Bridgewater.

An account of the duke of Bridgwater's new inland navigation.

I

SIR,

To the Author, &c.

I durft hardly venture to walk, as I almoft trembled to behold the large river Irwell underneath me, acrofs which this navigation is car ried by a bridge, which contains upon it the canal of water, with the barges in it, drawn by horfes, which walk upon the battlements of this extraordinary bridge. This navigation begins at the foot of fome hills, in which the duke's coals are dug, from whence a canal is cut through rocks, which day-light never enters. By this means large boats are hauled to the innermoft parts of those hills, and being there filled with coals, are brought out by an eafy current, which fupplies the whole naviga

the de tion, for the space of about ten

Manchester, Sept. 30. Have lately been viewing the artificial wonders of London, and the natural wonders of the Peak; but none of them gave fo much pleasure as the duke of Bridgewater's navigation in this country. His projector, the ingenious Mr. Brindley, has indeed made fuch improvements way, as are truly aftonishing. At Barton-bridge he has erected a navigable canal in the air; for it is as high as the tops of trees. Whilst I was furveying it with a mixture of wonder and delight, four barges paffed me in the space of about three minutes, two of them being chained together, and dragged by two horses, who went on the terras of the canal, whercou, I muftown,

miles. At the mouth of the cavern is erected a water bellows, being the body of a tree, forming a hollow cylinder, ftanding upright: in this upon this a wooden bason is fixed, in the form of a funnel, which receives a current of water from the higher ground. This water falls into the cylinder, and iffues out at the bottom of it, but at the fame time carries a quantity of air with it, which is received into tin pipes, and forced to the innermott receffes of the coal-pits, where it iffues out, as if from a pair of bellows, and rarifies the Body of thick air,

which

which would otherwife prevent the workmen from fubfifting on the fpot where the coals are dug.

From Barton I steered my courfe towards this place, and in my way faw the navigation carried fometimes over public roads, and in fome places over bogs, but generally by the fide of hills; by which means it has a firm natural bank on one fide, while the other, compofed - of earth and gravel thrown up, is about eight yards broad. At proper diftances, foughs are formed near the top of the canal, which prevents it from overflowing during immoderate rains.

In fome places, where Mr. Brindley has been forced to carry his navigation across a public road, being obliged to keep the water on a level, he has funk the road gradually, fo as to pass under his canal, which forms a bridge over the road; the carriages, by an easy defcent, going down on one fide, and by the fame eafy afcent, coming up again on the other. Near this town, where Cornebrook comes

athwart the duke's navigation, the
current of the brook is flopped,
and let into a large bafon, from
whence it falls gradually into a
finaller one, which is within it, and
is open at the bottom; by which
means the water finks into a drain,
and is conveyed under-ground to
the other fide of the canal, where

it rifes into its old channel.
.. At this place, which is about a
mile from Manchester, the duke's
agents have made a wharf, and
are felling coals at three-pence half-
penny per basket, which is about
deven feore weight; and next fum-
mer they intend to land them in
this town..

Many gentlemen of this neigh

bourhood are reaping the benefit of Mr. Brindley's inventions; he hav ing taught them a method of draining coal-pits by a fire-engine, conftructed at the expence of 150% which no one before knew how to make at less than 500%. In thefe he ufes wooden chains, which are preferable to iron ones, and cylinders made of deal, which fupply the place of those which were ufually made of caft iron. Channels are now cutting also in many other coal-pits, and boats are used instead of wheel-barrows, to convey the coals to the mouths of the pits; nay, it is even faid, that fome Dutch engineers are coming over hither to perfect themselves in the art of inland navigation.

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I am, &c. C. S.

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