stances it has been deemed best to construct a road along the left bank, from Moldava to Orsova; this has been done, and although it is tedious and irksome for a traveller to transfer all his luggage, first, from a steam-boat to a carriage, and then from carriage to steam-boat, yet this is less inconvenient in the end than any attempts to brave the dangers of the rapids in the river. The road was constructed principally through the patriotic exertions of Count Szechenyi, who has done so much to advance Hungary in the scale of nations; and it will bear comparison in many parts with the celebrated roads over the Alps at Simplon and Stelvio. The precipitous nature of the rocks in many places rising perpendicularly from the river, has hitherto prevented the formation even of a continuous foot-path along this part of the bank; but the carriage-road has been successfully formed by excavating, with gunpowder, a ridge in the face of the precipice, and where the banks slope down gradually, by supporting it upon a terrace of masonry, carried over the water-courses on bridges.

CALOTYPE PICTURES.

FROM the time when Mr. Talbot divulged the processes of his new and beautiful art of Photogenic drawing*, a very large number of experiments have been made on the subject; new processes more or less valuable have been discovered, and notwithstanding the partial eclipse which the art suffered in consequence of the disclosures of Mr. Daguerre it has lost none of its interest with scientific men. The recent improvements in the art by Mr. Talbot himself are so remarkable, and his results so easily attained, that a brief statement of them will doubtless be acceptable to our readers.

The pictures prepared by the new processes are called Calotype, that is, beautiful patterns or types. They are produced upon writing paper of a smooth surface and a close and even texture, and free from any water mark.

The paper is prepared as follows:--Dissolve 100 grains of crystallized nitrate of silver in six ounces of distilled water. With this solution wash one side of the paper by means of a soft brush, and put a mark in one corner of the side thus prepared in order that it may be known again. Dry the paper at a considerable distance from the fire, or else leave it for a few hours in a dark room. When dry, or nearly so, dip it into a solution of iodide of potassium, containing 500 grains of the salt dissolved in one pint of water, and let it remain two or three minutes in this solution. Then dip it into a vessel of water, dry it lightly with blotting paper, and finish drying it at a fire, which will not injure it even though held tolerably near, or it may be left to dry spontaneously.

These processes are best conducted by candlelight. The paper thus far prepared is called iodized paper, because it has a uniform pale yellow coating of iodide of silver. It is scarcely sensitive to light, but ought nevertheless to be kept in the dark; it may be preserved in a portfolio for any length of time without injury.

The next process, which is to render the paper sensitive, had better be deferred until the paper is wanted for The iodized paper is then to be washed with a liquid prepared in the following manner :

use.

Dissolve 100 grains of crystallized nitrate of silver in two ounces of distilled water: add to this solution one sixth of its volume of strong acetic acid. Let this mixture be called A.

Make a saturated solution of crystallized gallic acid+ in cold distilled water. The quantity dissolved is very small. Call this solution B.

When a sheet of paper is wanted for use, mix two * See Saturday Magazine, Vol. XIV., p. 138. + See Saturday Magazine, Vol. XVI., pp. 71, 79,

|

Let these

equal portions of the liquids A and B. portions be small, because the mixture cannot be kept long without spoiling. This mixture may be called the gallo-nitrate of silver.

Then take a sheet of iodized paper and wash it over on the marked side with this gallo-nitrate by means of a soft brush. This should be done by candlelight. Let the paper remain wet for half a minute, then dip it into water; dry it lightly with blotting paper, and lastly at the fire, holding it at a considerable distance. When dry it is fit for use. Mr. Talbot names this calotype paper, on account of the ease with which it receives the beautiful pictures of the camera obscura. If this paper be kept in a press, it will often retain its qualities in perfection for three months or more, and be ready for use at any moment; but as this is not uniformly the case, Mr. Talbot recommends that it should be used within a few hours after it has been prepared. If it be used immediately, the last drying may be dispensed with, and the paper be used in a moist state.

The calotype paper is sensitive to light in a degree which transcends a hundred times or more any kind of photographic paper hitherto described. If a piece of this paper be taken, and having covered half of it, the other half be exposed to daylight for the space of one second in the dark cloudy weather of winter, this brief moment is sufficient to produce a strong impression upon the paper; but the impression is hidden from the eye, and its existence would not be suspected by any one who was not forewarned of it by previous experiments.

In order to revive the impression the paper must be again washed with the gallo-nitrate of silver, and then be gently warmed before the fire. In a few seconds the part of the paper upon which the light has acted begins to darken, and finally becomes entirely black, while the other part of the paper remains white. Even a weaker impression than this may be brought out by repeating the wash of gallo-nitrate of silver, and again warming the paper.

On the other hand, a stronger impression does not require the warming of the paper, for a wash of the gallo-nitrate suffices to make it visible, without heat, in the course of a minute or two.

A remarkable proof of the sensitiveness of the Calotype paper is afforded by the fact that it will take an impression from moonlight. If a leaf be placed upon a sheet of the paper an image of it may be obtained in this way

in about 20 minutes.

A paper so highly sensitive to light is admirably adapted to receive images in the camera obscura. If the aperture of the object lens is one inch, and the focal length fifteen inches, one minute is amply sufficient in summer to impress a strong image upon the of paper any building upon which the sun is shining. When the aperture amounts to one third of the focal length, and the object is very white, such as a plaster bust, &c., one second appears to be sufficient to obtain a tolerably good impression of it.

The images thus received upon the Calotype paper are, for the most part, invisible. When washed with the gallo-nitrate of silver, and the paper warmed, it is highly curious and beautiful to watch the spontaneous commencement of the picture on the blank paper; to see the first tracing of the stronger outlines, and then the gradual filling up of all the numerous and complicated details. The artist should watch the picture, as it developes itself, and when it appears to have attained sufficient strength and clearness, further progress should be stopped by fixing the picture.

In order to do this, the picture must first be washed with water,, then lightly dried with blotting-paper, and then washed with a solution of bromide of potassium*, containing 100 grains of the salt dissolved in eight or

* Instead of this salt, which is very expensive, the tincture of gals diluted with water may be used, but Mr Talbot does not think the results are altogether so satisfactory.

the

ten ounces of water. After a minute or two it should be again dipped in water, and then finally dried. The picture is thus very strongly fixed, and as it remains transparent there is no difficulty in obtaining a copy from it. The Calotype picture is a negative one, in which the lights of nature are represented by shades; but the copies are positive, the lights and shades being the same as in nature. They also represent the objects in their natural position, with respect to right and left. The copies may be made upon Calotype paper, but Mr. Talbot to make them upon the photographic paper invented by him and described in a former article. (Saturday Magazine, Vol. XIV., p. 138.) Although it occupies as much as from three to thirty minutes of sunshine to obtain a copy upon this paper, yet, when obtained, the tints appear more harmonious and pleasing to the eye. The copies are made by placing the picture upon the photographic paper, with a board below, and a plate of glass above; and pressing the papers into close contact by means of screws, and thus exposing the whole to a strong light.

When a Calotype picture has furnished several copies, it sometimes becomes so faint that no more good copies can be procured from it. But these pictures possess the beautiful and remarkable property of being susceptible of revival. In order to restore them to their original appearance, it is only necessary to wash them again by candle-light with gallo-nitrate of silver, and warm them: this causes all the shades of the picture to darken, while the white parts remain unaffected. The shaded parts of the paper thus acquire an opacity which imparts renewed spirit to the copies, of which a second series may now be taken, extending often to a very considerable number. In reviving the picture, it sometimes happens that various details appear which had not before been seen, having been latent all the time, yet not destroyed by their long exposure to sunshine.

RURAL ECONOMY FOR THE MONTHS.

XI. NOVEMBER.

Enveloped in a murky cloud,

With tearful eyes and wailings loud,
November takes his sullen road,

Thick with the forest's honours strow'd;

A wither'd woodbine decks his brow,

His hand a sapless oaken bough.

The darkend day's impetuous flight,
The o'erhanging storms, the approach of night,
Warn us with heedful eye to watch
The hours' precarious course, and catch,
As best we may, the favouring time
For action in our watery clime.

MANT's British Months.

THE more important agricultural occupations of the year are now completed, and leisure is afforded for those minor improvements which the lover of neatness and order will ever be ready to make, and which are found to be not less advantageous in an economical point of view, than pleasing to the eye of the observer. New fences are raised for the protection of the land, and the necessary repairs are made in those which are falling to decay. In open weather plantations are formed and securely fenced in; and thus even waste and unproductive soils are turned to good account.

But in order to gain the most favourable results, it is necessary to form a plantation with reference to the ature of the soil, its elevation, or inclination, and the tres best adapted to thrive in it. The planter must in srespect be guided by what he observes in nature, as he marks how the beech, the birch, and the ash ow naturally on chalky soils, the oak on clay formaons, and the fir tribe on sandy wastes, so will he be reful to select from among them such descriptions of ees as are best suited to the site of the intended plan

ar

tation. If the spot be dry and elevated, and the soil poor with an easterly aspect, he will probably do well to plant it with larch and with Scotch fir; the former being one of the most valuable of those trees which, from time to time, have been introduced into this country. It grows rapidly, is easily transplanted, and yields timber that is deservedly esteemed for various uses, and which is now frequently employed as a substitute for oak. The Scotch fir is of little value; but it is used as a shelter to other trees in young plantations, where it gives a pleasing variety of colour. On account of the inferior quality of the timber, however, some economists say, "Do not plant Scotch firs, they are only fit for fuel, and your land may be more profitably employed." Yet it is, when young, an excellent nurse to the more delicate trees, and, on that account, is not to be despised. The wood of this tree is much more valuable in Scotland than in England.

A mixture of oak, ash, and Scotch fir is the usual selection of trees for ordinary clay soils; but if these soils are improved by the addition of chalk, marl, &c., almost any kind of trees will flourish on them, so that the beech, the larch, and the elegant and valuable Spanish chesnut, may be introduced. On peaty soils, when thoroughly drained, and covered with a dressing of lime, a variety of trees may be likewise raised; the best mixture, perhaps, where the situation is tolerably elevated, is that of the larch, Scotch fir, birch, and ash. In clay soils the hazel and the hornbeam may be employed as underwood, and in moist situations, even where the soil is peaty, the birch and alder are excellent for the same purpose.

The prosperity of a plantation can only be secured by uniting with a consideration of the nature of the soil a careful selection of hardy seedlings. These should be raised on land of a similar quality to that into which they are about to be placed; for if a seedling be taken from a warm, rich, nursery-ground, and transplanted to a poor soil, in an exposed situation, it will be something re markable if it survives the change, and reaches even a stunted growth. The experience of all careful planters fully proves that if the seedlings be procured from land at least not better than that for which they are intended, and if the soil be also prepared by either deep digging or manuring, then the mortality among the plants is very small indeed. A modern writer notices the ill effects he has observed to arise from the usual careless way of depositing the roots of the young trees in the ground, and also from the unnecessary length of time which is suffered to elapse between the period when the plant is taken from the nursery and replanted. He

says,

I have always found the good effect of causing the roots of the young plant to be carefully arranged, and spread out before the earth is thrown in upon it; the usually heedless way in which the roots are thrust into the hole, and perhaps broken, or materially bruised in the act of treading in the earth upon them, is of necessity very prejudicial to the young plant; and then, again, a still more negligent practice, that of ploughing in the young trees is often adopted on a large scale, by which the plants are still more hastily doposited in the soil, and are neither fixed with sufficient firmness in the ground, nor placed in an upright position. From these causes I have witnessed some very decided failures; and there is certainly no economy in this hasty mode of planting; the trees perish in great numbers, have to be replaced at considerable expense, and, in the mean time, the owners lose all the advantages which might have been insured, from a more skilfully obtained rapidity of growth.

The mode of planting which involves the least outlay at the commencement, and which consists in merely digging a small hole, and inserting the tree, seldom proves the most economical in the end. A little more expense bestowed in deep ploughing and manuring, will make a wonderful difference in the growth, and the con

sequent profit of the plantation, and will amply repay

itself.

November generally brings with it a succession of g.oomy weather, and of heavy rains. The effect of the latter must be attentively watched by the farmer; and if, as is often the case some of the water-courses be come filled up, and portions of land become flooded, the cause of the evil must speedily be removed. Watermeadows may now be flooded and under-draining carried on, especially in heavy soils. Should the weather remain tolerably open, the sub-soil plough may be used, during this and the following winter months, with much advantage. The effect of breaking up the sub-soil is to give more room and freedom of growth to roots and minute fibres, and thus to render more available the decomposing matters the soil may contain. It also exposes the soil more freely to the action of the atmosphere, and increases its absorbent power, a point of great importance to the cultivator. The sub-turf plough may also be brought into action during this month. This instrument loosens the soil beneath old turf, and increases its produce. Sir Edward Stracey, the inventor of this plough, describes it as being used to loosen the turf about ten inches and a half deep below the surface, without turning over the flag. There are no marks left by which it can be known that the land has been so ploughed, except from the straight lines of the coulter, about fourteen inches from each other. In about three months, these lines totally disappear and the quantity and thickness of the turf give plain proof of the advantages derived from the process.

The live stock on a farm must, during the present month, be kept warm and well-fed. Regularity and attention in this respect cannot be too strongly insisted on. Sheep, in particular, find this a trying season, and their well-being depends on the care bestowed upon them. The usual additions to their green-food of hay, straw, and oil-cake, will now be found desirable; and they must be kept out of low wet situations. In upland and mountain regions, sheep undergo a process called salving, which is intended to destroy vermin, and to quicken and increase the growth of wool, and prevent it from becoming detached from the skin. The materials employed are melted butter, or some cheap substitute for that article, mixed with tar, with which the sheep are carefully anointed, previous to the setting in of cold weather, and then sent back to the mountains.

The wild productions of the woods and hedges, such as acorns, beech-nuts, sloes, haws, &c., comprehended under the general term, mast, were formerly considered of more importance to the farmer than they now seem to be. The old authors speak of these productions as being equally efficacious with beans, peas, and corn, for the fattening of hogs. But it has been proved that the bacon or pork from mast-fed animals is of a more oily nature than any other, and is also deficient in flavour to that of animals fattened on the productions of the farm. Yet mast may be advantageously used to improve the condition of lean store hogs, until they become about half fat, when the change to meal or corn will give the requisite firmness and flavour to the pork. Swine are not often, as in former days, sent into the woods to seek this kind of food; their manner of eating, and the serious injuries they commit on young trees and plants, prevent the continuance of the custom; but, in some districts the acorns, beech-nuts, &c., are collected for them, and form an economical supply of food. This practice, especially in seasons like the present, when these wild productions are remarkably abundant, is doubtless a prudent one, and repays the trouble incurred.

The care which we have stated to be necessary at this time of the year, to repair and improve the hedges and fences of the farm, must also be extended to the yards, sheds, and out-buildings. Upon the good condition of these, does the welfare of the farming-stock during the

winter greatly depend, and if, while more important affairs were pressing on the farmer's attention, he suffered them to fall into a state of comparative decay, the present is time when leisure and opportunity are afforded him of the putting them into thorough and substantial repair, and of making those improved arrangements which are now becoming so general in farm-yards. Convenience and utility in this department has been much studied of late years, and we consequently find more regularity in outward appearance, as well as more systematic plans within.

Cattle-sheds are now capacious, well-lighted, and ventilated buildings, in which cows or oxen can be kept dry, clean, and moderately warm. Cattle seldom suffer materially from dry cold. The wet yard, the damp walls, and the exposure to driving rain, prove injurious to them. In this respect the management of the Dutch farmers is worthy of notice. They have their cows regularly groomed, and the walks behind them sprinkled with sand. Among the necessary comforts of cattle may be mentioned a clean and dry bed, a portion of a trough for water, a portion for their oil-cake, or mangel, or turnips, and a rack for their dry food. These, with regular feeding, a lump of rock-salt in the manger, and occasional variations if possible in the food, are the chief points to be attended to in the stail-management of cattle.

For the purpose of protecting sheep from severe and inclement weather, slight wooden buildings are sometimes constructed, each of sufficient size to contain a considerable number of sheep. These houses are low for the sake of warmth, and are usually a third part longer than their breadth. The sides are lined with boards, and the bottoms are evenly laid with stone, or some other material. The sides exposed to the sun are lined with moveable hurdles, that when it shines the whole may be laid open to give due refreshment, and allow the sheep an opportunity of feeding upon the pasture wherein they are placed. The houses are securely covered in at the top, and are sometimes fixed to particular spots; though it is considered better to have them constructed in a manner which will allow of their being removed as they may be wanted.

The occupations which we have briefly alluded to, with others of a similar nature, afford full employment for the short and gloomy days of November, though there are frequent periods of suspended toil in consequence of the state of the weather. The poet Clare thus speaks of November's changing aspect

Thus wears the month along, in checquered moods, Sunshine and shadows, tempests loud, and calms; One hour dies silent o'er the sleepy woods, The next wakes loud with unexpected storms; A dreary nakedness the field deformsYet many a rural sound and rural sight, Lives in the village still about the farms, Where toil's rude uproar hums from morn till nightNoises in which the ears of Industry delight.

At length the stir of rural Labour's still, And Industry awhile her care foregoes! When Winter comes in earnest to fulfil His yearly task, at bleak November's close, And stops the plough, and hides the field in snows; When frost locks up the streams in chill delay, And mellows on the hedge the jetty sloes For little birds-then Toil hath time for play, And nought but threshers' flails awake the dreary day.

gentlemen resident in the country, and a translation was published in London, in 1822, which was the first notice of the discovered city laid before the public of Europe. While the report of Del Rio was suffered to remain unpublished and unknown, Captain Dupaix was sent at the head of another expedition to explore the ancient monuments of the country, and in 1807 he visited Palenque. But his report, and the drawings which accompanied it, were also suffered to sleep in the museum at Mexico for a number of years; they were, however, eventually published in France. A splendid work on the antiquities of Mexico, in seven volumes folio, was published in London, by Lord Kingsborough, of which the discoveries of Captain Dupaix form a portion. Colonel Galindo and Mr. Waldeck have since visited Palenque; but the latest traveller who has published an account of the place is Mr. Stephens, and to his description we are principally indebted for the information which we now proceed to lay before our readers.

"The city was built," says Captain Dupaix, "on the brow of a chain of rugged mountains, and occupied a space of ground seven miles and a half in extent. A situation so elevated rendered it easily defensible against any hostile attack, while the woods which diversified the face of the wide and beautiful landscape lying around it, contributed to make it an equally desirable residence in time of peace."

THE PALACE Of Palenque.

as stone. It was painted, and in different places about it the remains of red, blue, yellow, black, and white may yet be discovered.

The piers which are still standing contained other figures of the same general character, but which, unfortunately, are more mutilated. Those piers which are fallen were no doubt enriched with the same ornaments. Each one had some specific meaning, and the whole probably presented some allegory or history; and when entire and painted, the effect in ascending the terrace must have been imposing and beautiful.

The builders were evidently ignorant of the principle of the arch, and the ceiling of the corridor was supported by stones lapping over as they rose, as in the Cyclopean remains in Greece and Italy. Along the top was a layer of flat stone, and the sides being plastered presented a flat surface. The long, unbroken corridors in front of the palace were probably intended for lords and gentlemen in waiting; or perhaps in that beautiful position, which, before the forest grew up, must have commanded an extended view of a cultivated and inhabited plain, the king himself sat to receive the reports of his officers and to administer justice.

From the centre door of the inner corridor a range of stone steps thirty feet long leads to a rectangular court-yard, eighty feet long by seventy broad. On each side of the steps are grim and gigantic figures, carved in stone in bassorelievo, nine or ten feet high. They are adorned with rich head-dresses and necklaces, but their attitude is that of pain and trouble. The design and anatomical proportions of the figures are faulty, but there is a force of expression about them which shows the skill and conceptive power of the

artist.

of these interesting remains is as follows.

The building faces the east, and measures two hundred and twenty-eight feet front, by one hundred and eighty feet deep. Its height is not more than twenty-five feet, and all around it had a broad projecting cornice of stone. The front contained fourteen doorways, about nine feet wide each, and the intervening piers are between six and seven feet wide. On the left, in approaching the palace, eight of the piers have fallen down, as has also the corner on the right, and the terrace underneath is cumbered with the ruins only six piers remain entire and the rest of the front is open.

SCULPTURED HISTORY.

The building was constructed of stone, with a mortar of lime and sand, and the whole front was covered with stucco and painted. The piers were ornamented with spirited figures in bas-relief. On the top are three hieroglyphies sunk in the stucco. It is enclosed by a rich ornamented border, about ten feet high and six wide, of which only a part now remains. The principal personage stands in an upright position, and in profile, exhibiting an extraordinary facial angle of about forty-five degrees. The upper part of the head seems to have been compresssed and lengthened, perhaps by the same process employed upon the heads of the Choctaw and Flathead Indians of another part of the same continent. The head represents a different species from any now existing in that region of the country; and supposing the bas-reliefs to be images of real personages, or the creations of artists according to their ideas of perfect figures, they indicate a race of people now lost and unknown. The head-dress is evidently a plume of feathers. Over the shoulders is a short covering decorated with studs and a breastplate; part of the ornament of the girdle is broken; the tunic is probably a leopard's skin; and the whole dress no doubt exhibits the costume of this unknown people. He holds in his hand a staff or sceptre, and opposite his hands are the marks of three hieroglyphics, which have decayed or been broken off. At his feet are two naked figures seated cross-legged, and apparently suppliants. A fertile imagination might find many explanations for these strange figures, but all such conjectural interpretations must be unsatisfactory. The hieroglyphics doubtless tell its history. The stucco is of admirable consistency, and hard

At the further side of the court-yard rises another flight of stone steps, corresponding with those in front, on each side of which are carved figures, and on the surface between yard is overgrown with trees, and encumbered with ruins are single cartouches of hieroglyphics. The whole courtseveral feet high, so that the exact architectural arrangements could not be seen.

The part of the building which forms the rear of the court-yard, communicating with it by the steps, consists of two corridors, the same as the front, paved, plastered, and ornamented with stucco.

In the farther corridor the wall is in some places broken, and exhibits several separate coats of plaster and paint. In one place six layers were counted, each of which had the remains of colours. In another place there seemed a line of written characters in black ink. An effort was made to get at them; but in the endeavour to remove a thin upper stratum, they came off with it, and the attempt was therefore abandoned.

This corridor opens upon a second court-yard, eighty feet long, and but thirty across. The floor of the corridor is ten feet above that of the court-yard; and on the wall underneath are square stones, with hieroglyphics sculptured upon them. On the piers are stuccoed figures, but in a ruined condition. On the other side of the court-yard are two ranges of corridors, which terminate the building in this direction. The first of them is divided into three apartments, with doors opening from the extremites upon the western corridor. All the piers are standing except that on the north-west corner. All are covered with stucco-ornaments, and one with hieroglyphics. The rest contain figures in bas-relief. The first was enclosed by a border, very wide at the bottom, part of which is destroyed. The subject consists of two figures with plumes of feathers and other decorations for head-dresses, necklaces, girdles, and sandals; each has hold of the same curious baton, part of which is destroyed; and opposite their hands are hieroglyphics, which probably give the history of these incomprehensible personager. The others are more ruined.

On the left are several distinct and independent buildings. The principal of these is the tower, on the south side of the second court, conspicuous by its height and proportions, but on examination in detail, found unsatisfactory and uninteresting. Within is another tower, distinct from the outer one, and a stone staircase, so narrow that a large man could not ascend it. The staircase terminates against a dead stone ceiling, closing all farther passage, the last step being only six or eight inches from it.

East of the tower is another building with two corridors, one richly decorated with pictures in stucco, and having in