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it shall become like to yours in the affection towards us, and that we also may compassionate the little lauds nigh us here.

Power, but by Jehovah, that the dark and filthy heart can be made good again. Faith is not general amongst us. Here and there one; one part is regarding every vice, and will not cast away their sin. But we are praying to Jesus that he turn them also their face and heart too. We feel a love to ward you. Let not our faith fail-let not yours. Let not our land be overgrown again with evil-let not yours. May the church in Borabora be as the tree by the river side, and may yours be flourishing.

"Though we meet not in this world, may we meet before Jesus with great joy, with the white robe made white in the blood of the Son of God. May you who dwell in Britain, be saved by the true God in your vigilance concerning the word of Jesus our Lord, and our eternal Saviour. Write to us again, that we may know your words. "Pray for us, that Jehovah the Spirit may have mercy on us.

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May we all be saved by Jesus Christ. (Signed) KING MAI."

Letter of the Church at Raiatea, under the care of the Rev. Messrs. Threlkeld and Williams, Missionaries.

Raiatea, Monday, July 6, 1822. Dear Friends,-PEACE be to you through Jesus Christ our true Lord, through whom we have life, and dwell happily in this world with length of breath. Dear brethren, peace be to you in your affection towards us, and in your exciting us, and in your seeking the means by which the compassion of Jesus Christ the Lord reached us here, and your praying towards the Lord that his word may grow in all the lands, and your not withholding your money-it is let go for the causing to grow the word of the Lord, and therefore the missionaries reached to us, therefore we know the true life. And now, dear brethren, our hearts are comforted through your compassion and your love to us, who long lay in the darkness and in the shadow of death. You made known to us the way, and you did send the teachers, therefore they came among us here, therefore we know the great love of Jesus Christ our Lord, that the word may grow in Tahiti, in Moorea, (i. e. in Eimeo,) in Huahine, in Raiatea; therefore we have known the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Be earnest in your prayers to God, that the kingdom of Satan may flee away in these lands-that these lands may belong to Jesus only, to the true Lord, and that we may become true brethren for And the thought in our heart that VOL. XXIII. NO. XI.

you.

It is our true wish, therefore we pray to our Lord that we may be saved, and that we may know the place prepared for his people, and that we all may meet also there, and it will be good-and that we may obtain the wages in the works that we do. It is the true resemblance of the people whose hearts love their Lord; they desire that all the people in this world may become brethren, like to you in affection towards us. should become brethren for you, therefore It is your true desire that we you have compassion towards us. friends, you know the state of your hearts Dear in love towards Jesus Christ our Lord. You also know his great compassion to us all, and his cross [for crucifixion] upon mount Calvary for us all. He suffered thus; on account of his great compassion, he died. But let us not know his word only, like the land, like Capernaum, which was exalted up to the heaven, and cast away down in the very depth of hell. may we know his word with the believing heart and good, and may it be great, our love towards Jesus Christ our Lord and our God.

But

May you have peace through Jesus Christ, the true Lord.

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Dear Sir,-The above is an almost perfectly literal translation of the letter enclosed, written in answer to the letter, addressed by the congregation under your pastoral care.

resting, because it comes from those who We trust it will be intehave but just emerged from Pagan darkness through the mighty power of the gospel of God our Saviour.

happy to receive further communications They, as well as us, will be exceedingly tending to encourage us in our delightful in all your engagements, and your congrework. Wishing you, dear Sir, every blessing gation many, very many spiritual blessings through your instrumentality.

We are, dear Sir, Yours

very sincerely. L. E. THRELKELD.

Ratatea, Nov. 11. 1822. To the church of Christ under the pastoral care of the Rev. J. Bennet, Rotherham.

Letter of the Church at Eimeo, under the pastoral Care of Rev. Messrs. Henry and Platt, Missionarics.

THE church of Jesus Christ, Eimeo, to the church of Jesus Christ, Masbro', near Rotherham, Yorkshire

Our elder brethren, beloved through Jesus Christ, and through the Gospel of His grace, with all the believers in Britain beloved through him, on this account we do love you in Jesus Christ.

Our elder brethren that dwell in Bri. tain with all the faithful, grace, mercy, peace, through the true God, and in Jesus Christ, who was sent into this world. We are comforted with the letter you wrote to us. Our hearts were warmed with that word, and we love you as children love their parents. We are collected together under two teachers here in Eimeo, who teach us the gospel of Christ. We were dwelling as orphans formerly, without knowledge, and without regard to any thing, when, behold, God caused thought to grow within you, and in the different churches in Britain, who have sent us teachers to our ignorant land, to teach us the glorious gespel of Jesus Christ, and to feed us with the milk of the word. And, lo! Satan's kingdom is fallen; there is no war; there is no murder; there are none of those abominable things which destroy the soul (at least these things are not known.)

And now, our dear brethren, pray earnestly to God for us all, and that the growing of Satan's kingdom may fall. Not only his exterior reign on earth, but his reign also in the heart; that his kingdom in this world may be upset, foundation and all, and that the kingdom may become Jehovah's, the true God, and Jesus Christ's, whom he hath sent into this world.

our little property for the spreading of the word of God, till it reaches all lands in the world.

That all iniquity may be brought into subjection to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, continue you to be active, dear friends, in sending teachers to all the lands who are dwelling in darkness and the shadow of death.

O, our elder brethren, watch over your younger brethren, lest they should be dis eased, and eat flesh and dirt; ye stretch forth the hand to embrace us, but your hands cannot reach to embrace us, but the arms of your love are embracing us-while you pray to God for us, that he would pour out his Spirit upon us and upon the different islands around us, that we all may be taught the glorious Gospel of our and your Lord Jesus Christ. Praised and glorified be our God for ever and ever.

Our elder brethren, what you say to about cultivating our land, because Satan will cause to grow his evil words and customs in the heart of the idle, is perfectly agreeable to us. We are cultivating our land that we may have plenty of food. We are making our land neat, that our regard to the word of God may be manifest and not hindered.

We have sent two deacons and one member of our church here, in Eimeo, to teach one island near to us, Raivavai's it hame, (High Island), and that island ap pears to learn at present. Our elder bre thren beloved, that dwell in Britain, remain your younger brethren in the love of Christ our Lord.

Life, and every blessing to you through Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Signed for the Church,

March 22, 1823.

MARE,

NARK,

PATII,

Deacons

If you had not sent us teachers to our ignorant and dark land, we should have been nearly consumed, dying in ignorance with The above is a rough translation of the our sins and iniquities upon us. But, be- accompanying letter, as literal as the time hold! the word of life came among us, and would allow, the vessel being nearly ready for sea when I received it. There are grew in our land, and we are formed into a church. There are churches of Jesus Christ few expressions rather more forcible in the in these lands. We love you in your helping original than in the translation, such as of us we would also assist you. It is perfect-etomatou hui tuaana e," " our elder bre ly agreeable to us, what you say and exhort us to, to strengthen and assist our teachers that word is completely agreeable to us. We are assisting them, and we are subscribing

thren," which is much more pathetic and forcible than the English. Yours, to serve in the work of the Lord.

GEO. PLATT.

* Maco, alluding to a complaint incident to neglected, ill-nursed children, in which they have an inordinate desire to eat improper food, and filth, and dirt, &c. &c.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

THE valuable discoveries of Professor Barlow, respecting the local influence of iron on the magnetic needle, have opened a wide and very interesting field. That very accurate experimentalist, M. Gay Lussac, has recently determined, that the mutual action of two magnetic particles depends on the matter with which they are incorporated. Thus, he found that a magnetic needle eight inches long, placed in the direction of the magnetic meridian, made ten horizontal vibrations in 131 seconds. A bar of soft iron, the same length, three-quarters of an inch wide, and one-sixteenth of an inch thick, being placed below the middle about two inches, and parallel with the meridian, the rapidity of the oscillations were doubled, or about ten in sixty-five seconds. A similar bar of pure nickel was substituted for the iron bar; when the needle required seventy-eight seconds to make ten vibrations. On the bar of nickel being removed, the needle again returned to its original intensity, making ten vibrations in about 130 seconds. These experiments were made by M. Lussac at the suggestion of M. Poisson, who has recently drawn up a most elaborate memoir on the Theory of Magnetic Action. The present paper of M. Poisson is rather confined to the natural state of the magnetic property in bodies, than to the artificial or acquired state, as in the magnetic needle. In a second memoir he proposes to apply the principles here demon. strated in solution of the phenomena attendant on artificial magnetism. cording to the theory of M. Poisson, a small cylindrical needle of soft iron contains the boreal and austral fluids in equal quantity throughout its whole length; so that their action becomes neutralized, and the bar exhibits no indication what. ever of magnetism. But if a magnet be placed near the centre of the needle, and in the direction of the meridian, the two fluids of the iron needle will become decomposed, or separated from each other; and each particle of north or south polarity will be in a slight degree displaced from its previous station in the bar, or drawn towards the ends. From this doctrine of magnetic equilibrium, M. Poisson infers that, notwithstanding the boreal and austral fluids are disseminated throughout the whole mass of a magne

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tised body, yet the attraction and repul. sion which it exercises are the same as if its surface were only covered by a thin stratum of the two fluids. He also shows that a small magnetic needle, placed in the centre of a hollow sphere, will not be subject to any magnetic action from other magnets, nor even from that of the earth's magnetism. The application of a ring or plate of soft iron, of any thickness, but of some considerable extent, will, therefore, neutralize the local action of other bodies; as was shown previously by the profound researches of Mr. Barlow, of the Woolwich academy. Indeed, the inductions of M. Poisson, though somewhat different from those of Mr. Barlow, serve to establish more fully the theory suggested by that gentleman, and which he has already reduced to practice in a manner no less creditable to his ingenuity as an artist, than to his profound mathematical knowledge. The local influence exercised by the iron of a ship on her compasses has been known to be the immediate cause of many a valuable ship and crew being consigned to the deep: but it is not known, nor ever can be known, how many melancholy instances of the kind have arisen from this source. The deviation even of half a point in a ship's course is a serious matter, especially when in the vicinity of land. But independent of the guns and the iron in a ship having a cer tain influence on her compass-needles, the lading of many of our outward-bound merchant vessels contains a large portion of iron, either manufactured or in bars, which must greatly derange the magnetic needle, though it is usually disregarded.

Organic Remains. The American na turalists are daily tracing a conformity in geological deposition between the Old Continents and what has been improperly called the New, or Western Continent of America. We have noticed many instances in our preceding numbers of the fossil remains of the mammoth, elephant, and other large quadrupeds being found in many different parts of America, more particularly in the vicinity of the Mississipi and Ohio rivers. But the Philadel phia Journ. Scien. states, that two travellers, Messrs. Lewis and Clark, in a re.. cent expedition up the Missouri river, have discovered some remains of amphibia, belonging to the genera sauri, which seeni

to differ in character from all the other species previously known. These remains were found in a cavern a few miles south of the Missouri river, near a creek; and from the conformation of the dental bone, Dr. Harlau proposes to give it the name of Saurocephalus lanciformis. It is probable that future research will reward the labours of the American naturalists with a rich harvest in the very interesting field of organic remains, particularly in the genus lacerta; for as these animals are known to abound, at the present day, in the great rivers of both Americas, it is a fair presumption that fossil remains would be found to a much greater extent in America, than in any part of Europe, where this family of the animal creation must have been extinct for ages-their remains not being found in any of the British series of posterior formation to the blue lias.

A considerable number of the bones of various wild animals, (among which can be traced those of the hyena, the fox, the wolf, and wild boar,) have also been found in the limestone caves of Keat's Hole, near Plymouth: they were discovered by T. Northmore, Esq., during some geological researches. An early report on the subject from the Geological Society, as an investigation of their species, has been undertaken by Mr. Buckland, of Oxford, and other gentlemen.

Extract of Digitalis. - The essential matter of this powerful plant has been obtained in a very concentrated state by M. Royer, Bib. Univ., by digesting the dried plant in ether, then filtering and evaporating the solution, re-dissolving the residue in water, and treating the solution with oxyde of lead, again digested in ether, and evaporated. It presented a brown substance, intensely bitter, and very deliquescent, and difficult to crystallize. The sedative properties of this substance was so powerful, that a grain dissolved in 200 grains of water, and thrown into the abdomen of a rabbit, speedily diminished the circulation, and the animal died without evincing pain, or any spasmodic action, though the nerves of a rabbit are very easily excited. Half a grain dissolved in water, was also injected into the veins of a cat, producing death in the short space of fifteen minutes. A grain and a half inserted into the jugular vein of a dog produced death in five minutes. The arterial blood of all the animals exhibited the deleterious agency of the medicine, both in colour and consistence.

New operation on Urizary Calcul.-The Ann. de Chemie contains a report from M. Percy, of the following operation for

breaking down and expelling calculi :-A straight sound, made of silver, containing a smaller sound sliding within it. The smaller sound near its inner extremity is divided into three arms, which spring open when they pass through the end of the exterior sound, forming a kind of spring forceps. Through the inner tube, a steel rod, having a saw, a file, or a knife, at the extremity, is made to slide with ease. The instrument being inserted through the urethra into the bladder, the inner sound is moved about until the forceps grasps a portion of calculus; when the operator, by partially withdrawing the inner sound, closes the forceps firm. ly on the stone; in which situation, the saw, drill, or file is made to act on it until it becomes broken down in smaller pieces the fragments of which are subsequently ejected by the urine, aided by a copious injection of warm water to facilitate the discharge. Although there must be considerable delicacy required, and some degree of hazard attending this mode of operating, yet M. Percy relates three cases, in which it was attended with com. plete success. The first, a man thirtytwo years of age, underwent the operation three times before the stone was completely removed, and was so little incommoded, as to be capable of walking to the house of the operator. The second instance, a small stone was broken down and ejected, leaving for its nucleus “ white kidney-bean!" In the third case, a stone as large as a pigeon's egg, was completely broken down, and discharged.

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Comparative Anatomy.. Sir Everard Home, in the Croonian Lecture, read during the late sittings of the Royal Society, while describing the comparative volume of the brain in the human subject, and the lower orders of the animal kingdom, states," that among the insect tribe, the humble bee has the largest brain in proportion to its size. In the moth, caterpillar, lobster, and earthworm, the structure of the brain and medullary substance is similar to that of the bee. In the garden-snail the brain is larger in proportion to the size of the animal than in the bee; but the bee is also furnished with ganglions, which is not the case with the snail. Sir E. observes, that in all the variety of animals he examined, the brain forms a distinct organ, though in some insects, scarcely visible to the naked eye; that there is also at some distance from the brain a second substance of similar structure connected with the brain by two lateral chords from whence the nerves branch off to the different muscular struc tures of the body. The ganglions, which

form a chain so beautifully connected together by a double nerve, must be considered to have the same uses as the gang. lions, in the human body, being equally composed of a congeries of nerves." These facts, if allowed to be clearly developed, form an addition to our knowledge, and give confirmation to opinions not before satisfactorily established.

Minerals produced artificially.—It has been very often observed that the analyses of minerals are of comparatively little value, as long as we are not capable of reproducing by composition what had been Professor Mitschterlich has dissolved. accomplished this important object. We have been gratified by the sight of beautiful and well-defined crystals of greyish white pyroxine, which had been obtained by mixing the constituent parts indicated by analyses in the necessary proportion, and exposing this mixture to the high degree of heat of the porcelain furnaces at Sevres in France. By this means Professor Mitschterlich has succeeded in obtaining several species that occur in nature. He has likewise observed among the different kinds of slags, more than forty species in a crystallized state, particularly of such minerals as are found in primitive rocks, but also of a good many others which have not hitherto been observed. Dr. Brewster's Journal.

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Thermometers.-In Von Zach's Corr, Astr., No. 5, a set of interesting obervations appear on the comparative expansion of mercury and spirit of wine as applicable to the thermometer. The observations were made by a very accurate observer, M. Flanguergues of Viviers, with great care, and are therefore entitled to considerable confidence. The spirit thermometer was an excellent one, made under the inspection of Reaumur himself; and the mercurial thermometers, of which there were several, were constructed by the best artists. They were all similarly divided, according to the octogenial scale of Reaumur; and the experiments were each frequently repeated, in order to obtain an average or correct result.

Melting ice..........
A well, 34 feet deep
(mean of six years
observation)

A cellar......

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The human body......
Fusion of yellow wax
Boiling alcohol, density

851, Barom. at 28 in.
Boiling mixture of three

parts of alcohol and
one of water, the mix-
ture used for Reau-
mur's thermometer,
generally....

..............

........ 80.

66.8

From the above discordance it seems no longer doubtful that alcohol and mercury are not equally expanded and con tracted, by equal increments or decrements of caloric. And this divergence appears to proceed in an increasing ratio, as we recede from the point of zero. Independent, however, of this objection to spirit thermometers, where very accurate observations are required, the sources of error will of course be magnified, if thermometers be filled with spirit of wine of different spec. grav.; which is probably often the case in the ordinary manufac ture of these instruments.

New Optical Instrument, or Water-Telescope. In the last number of the Journal of Science, the following account of an ingenious invention is given :-An optical instrument for seeing through water, and exploring the bottom of rivers, has been constructed by Mr. Keslie, of Lansonburgh, United States. It consists of a conical tube of variable length, about an inch broad at the top, and ten inches at the bottom. It is glazed at both ends, and when the broad end is immersed to some depth in water, and the eye applied at the narrow extremity, there is no interruption to, or deflection of, the rays of light coming from objects in the water to the eye; and if the water be clear, objects may be distinctly seen to a considerable depth. The instrument is provided with lamps suspended near the lower or broad end, in an outer cylinder, which slides on over what may be termed the object glass of the instrument. The light of the lamps being reflected towards the bottom, any object may be easily distinguished by night, if the water be clear. Two tubes are attached to the cylinder, containing the lamps; one to supply fresh air for the -12.4 combustion, and the other to carry off the smoke and foul ar. The account does not state whether the glasses of this water-telescope are plain or magnifiers. We see no reason why convex glasses may not

The effect produced by the following freezing mixtures on each thermometer,

was:

Ther.

Two parts of pounded Spirit Mercury
ice, and one part by Ther.
weight of muriate of

soda, sunk the.......-17°.4 Two of ice and one of muriate of ammonia-12 .7 Two of ice and one of

crystallized sugar... Two of ice and one of nitre ..................................

- 5.

3.5

-16°.6

4.9

-3.42

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