No More Learning

Aerostation--Page 23. What makes the balloon so struggle to get free?
simply, it is filled with a gas lighter than atmospheric air, i. e. with hydrogen,
and pants to have its string loosed, that it may ascend to regions where its
weight is in harmony with the rarified atmosphere ; and so it sails through the
firmament, not indeed in a given direction, but just as the fickle currents
of air direct it; and when its adventurous guide has satisfied his curiosity, he
lets some of the light hydrogen escape, and rapidly descends---if too rapidly,
he throws out sand, and thus balances himself. But the experiment is a
dangerous one; and since 1783, when Mr. Montgolfier first discovered the
principle of Aerostation, or air sailing, there has been no progress whatever
made in guiding the balloon, and men of science say there never will;--but
deaths and narrow escapes have frequently marked its brief history. Whether
the Aerial Steam Vessels, if they are ever launched, will lead to further
discoveries on this subject, time only will show.
The Nile--Page 24. The sources of this famous river appear to lie in the
Mountains of the Moon, about 7? north latitude.
Evaporation--Page 24. The following beautiful passage, in Ecclesiastes,
is very descriptive of the sources of rivers--their ebb into the ocean, and their
return to their original source,--" All the rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea
is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return
again," Eccles. i. 7. The principle of evaporation draws up the waters to the
clouds; and the clouds in their turn empty their contents, and so the supply
never fails. See also the prophet Amos ix. 6.
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APPENDIX.
The Wind--Page 28. It has been ascertained from observation that the
wind travels at the following rates per hour:--light air, 4^ miles ; fresh
breezes, 14 miles ; half gale of wind, 36 miles ; a gale, 62 miles ; a hurri-
cane, 88 miles; a hurricane, carrying all before it, 120 miles. Winds may
be divided into three classes:--first, trade winds,--these always blow one
way, and blow within the tropics, and a few degrees beyond it; second,
monsoons,--these blow half the year N. E. , and half N. W. ; third, variable
winds,--liable to daily change. The phenomena of the wind, or the atmo-
sphere in a state of movement or agitation, come to man fraught with
blessing ; for the storm and tempest have beneficial results.
The Voyage op the Duff -- Page 31. How graciously was prayer
answered as it regards that most interesting of all interesting voyages,
when the good ship Duff, with devout Capt. Wilson, and a crew, many
of whom loved the Lord, and thirty missionaries, left our native land for the
islands of the Pacific, thousands praying for her. We traced her voyage on
our map a few days since with the utmost interest. How beautiful were the
remarks of the good old Dr. Haweis, when, in his thanksgiving sermon, he
mentioned to the congregation the safe return of the ship Duff:--" To
traverse more than twice the circumference of the globe, especially amidst
the lurking shoals, hidden rocks, and low islands of the Southern Ocean,
must, it is well known, be full of danger. They felt it, and sometimes were
at their wit's end, going up to heaven, and sinking down into the depth,
shook by the pealing thunder, embayed without a passage, and once sus-
pended on a dreadful reef. I read and trembled; but ' he that dwelleth
under the defence of the Most High shall be safe under the shadow of the
Almighty. ' I was ashamed, humbled, comforted ; and I exulted, when, in the
midst of the most awful scenes, I heard one of the brethren say, ' We took the
wings of faith, and fled in prayer to the God of our mercies ; and when we
had sang an hymn, presently the storm abated, and we lay down comfortably
and fell asleep. ' Ah, 'so he giveth his beloved sleep. ' In the whole of this
long voyage, not a life was lost, not a limb was broke, not a mast sprung, not
a sail split, not an anchor lost, but goodness and mercy followed her the
whole voyage. " And how beautiful on the great sea was the course of this
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ship that published peace, and proclaimed salvation to the islands of the
South. I just add the course of the Duff, that those young friends who
have not the valuable book from which I gathered it (Rev. Mr. Griffin's Life
of Capt. Wilson) may have the same pleasure as we had :--" Sept. 23rd,
1796, left Portsmouth ; Oct. 6th, passed Madeira; Oct. 14th, anchored at
the Cape de Verds ; Nov. 12th, reached Rio Janeiro ; sailed down the Coast
of Spanish America to lat. 30 S. , long. 50 W. , then bore away across the
Atlantic towards the Cape of Good Hope ; Jan. 30th, 1797, passed New
Zealand; March 6th, anchored at Otaheite; May 26th, sailed to the Friendly
Islands; Jan. 5th, to the Marquesas; Aug. 4th, Huahine; Aug. 18th,
Tongataboo ; Sept. 9th, Feejees ; Nov. 7th, passed the Pelew Islands; and
reached Macao Nov. 21st; left China Dec. 23rd ; anchored at the Cape of
Good Hope March 17th, 1798; touched at St. Helena April 15th; put
into Cork June 24th; and arrived at London July 11th; so that in less
than two years, by three months, she had traversed more than twice the
circumference of the globe, having sailed near 50,000 miles ; and going out
and coming in, the Lord remarkably blessed her voyage ; and since then,
thousands have left those islands blessing God for the light of the gospel. --
See the lamented Rev. Mr. Williams's invaluable Missionary Work, ? fec. --
Snoiv, Paternoster Row.
Vapours. --Page 33. Rain is the vapour that ascends from the earth and
seas, condensed in the upper regions, and by electrical action formed into
drops which descend to the earth by their own weight.
Snow and Hail are the same drops frozen in their journey to the earth.
In the former case, the frost catches the revolving cloud ere its particles are
formed into drops ; in the latter, after they are so formed.
Hoar Frost is produced by the dew being frozen ; and thus in autumn
you will find the dew just on the transit, that is, just commencing to be the
hoar frost.
Deiv. --In a calm and serene night, part of the vapours, as they ascend from
the earth, are condensed by the coldness of the air into invisible particles,
somewhat heavier than the air, and which descend so gently as not to injure
the most fragile and delicate flowers. In some countries, (the Holy Land
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APPENDIX.
especially,) the dew is so heavy that the tent of the traveller requires to be
wrung out in the morning.
Reign of Terror--Page 36. The population of France, at that awful
period, was something under 20,000,000; now it is above 30,000,000.
The Great Britain Steam Vessel. --Page 50. The Great Britain is the
largest vessel in the world ; she is built solely of sheet iron rivetted together.
The enormous quantity of 7,000 tons of iron, that is, nearly 16,000,0001bs. ,
were used in building her. She was launched at Bristol, July 19th, 1843.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert named her. The dimensions of the
Great Britain are as follows :
FEET.
Length 320
Depth 31
Breadth 51
Draught of water 16
She has no paddles, but is worked by the Archimedean screw. The Great
Britain is a vessel of wonderful magnitude, but as the wise man must not
trust in his wisdom, nor the rich man in his riches, nor the mighty man in
his might, no more must the Great Britain in her strength ; let us never
forget this, but write it over even our most perfect works, "The horse is
prepared for the battle, but safety is of the Lord. " (Prov. xxi. 31. )
The Coffin of Cardinal Borromeo--Page 54. The superb coffin of the
Cardinal Borromeo, in the Cathedral of Milan, is composed of Crystal on
the top and sides, and quite transparent. The description has just been sent
to me by our valued friend, E. J. , who examined it:--" The coffin is very
large, and constructed of framework in squares, oblongs, triangles, <fec, and
very massive, of the most highly burnished silver, and the spaces are filled
in, not with glass, but with the most brilliant rock crystal, of wonderful
size. " By this means the body is visible. The crozier and mitre also are
studded with the most sparkling gems, the gift of the kings of Spain and
Portugal. I just mention this as the historic fact, but far better is it to lay
the dead with all solemnity in the hidden grave ; if they sleep in Jesus, they
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shall rise in the resurrection of the just, all glorious and resplendent in his
likeness. (1 Thess. iv. 14. )
Weights of Metals--Page 55. The relative weights of Metals are--
Gold, 19 times as heavy as its own bulk of water; Silver, 11 ; Copper, 8^ ;
Iron, 7? ; Lead, 11 ; Zinc, 7 ; Platinum, 22.
Primitive Rocks--Page 60. Porphyry and Serpentine, as well as Granite,
are considered primitive rocks. The former is found in many parts of
Europe, and also the latter, but abound in Silesia and Italy. They are both
very beautiful. Alabaster is found in Derbyshire and Cumberland, and
sometimes is so transparent as to be used for windows. Fluor Spar is
beautiful in Derbyshire, and is called by the name of that county. The
Peninsula of Portland supplies a valuable free-stone bearing that name.
Mill-stones, of which are made the circular stones for grinding flour, ? fec, are
found in Normandy in Prance. I have arranged these in a brief note, as
they are not in the same quantity or in the same demand as Granite,
Marble, &c.
Plymouth Breakwater--Page 61. The Breakwater at Plymouth is entirely
composed of Devonshire marble. Upwards of 3,000,000 tons have been depo-
sited there. The length of this vast and stupendous work is 4,800 feet; width
at the bottom, 400 feet; width above water (the walk), 45 feet; depth, 45 feet
from low-water mark. There is a beautiful Lighthouse on the west end.
Salt Springs--Page 66. Salt water is much heavier than fresh; this
makes bathing on the sea coast so much pleasanter than in inland rivers. I
have bathed eighty miles up the Tagus, also in the Thames off Greenwich,
and in the middle of the great Atlantic. In the last you could keep up with
the least possible exertion, it was so buoyant; but in the former you have to
work hard, and the swimmer does wisely not to venture far from the shore.
Another proof of salt water being heavier than fresh, is at once ascertained
by weighing equal quantities: also the following experiment, which our friend
at W. showed us, is within the reach of all. Take a wine glass of water, and
put one, two, or three tea-spoonfuls of salt in it, and it will not increase in
bulk, though of course it will in weight; but the water, being composed of
infinitely fine spherical drops, the interstices are filled in with salt, and when
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APPEND IX.
all these are filled up, ithe salt sinks to the bottom, and the bulk directly
increases in the same proportion.
Medicinal Herbs--Page 79. It is a curious fact connected with the
present state of things, that the whole field of herbs so long used by man
medicinally, should, by some learned men, be cast entirely aside, and a " water
cure" substituted for every thing. Now, doubtless water, properly applied,
both internally and externally, is very valuable; but to make it a catholicon,
or universal cure, is too much. Some herbs have, in some diseases, a specific
effect, and may not be put aside. A prayerful use of the good creatures of
God, whether for food or medicine, is the best means to ensure the blessing of health.
The Cedar op Lebanon--Page 83. The combination of trees that formed
the commemorative dwellings of Israel at their third great annual festival,
i. e. "The feast of Tabernacles," was exceedingly significant and beautiful.
They were to take from the mount, branches of goodly trees (doubtless the
cedars), olive branches, pine branches, myrtle branches, and palm branches ;
and these were to be entwined with the willow of the brook : and this for the
week of the feast was to be their home, and they were to rejoice exceedingly
before the Lord. (Lev. xxiii. 34, Deut. xvi. 13, Nehem. viii. 15. ) And thus
they commemorated God's tabernacling in their midst, and their tents pitched
around the Lord's, by these beautiful dwellings of trees, composed of the im-
perishable cedar, the fruitful olive, the towering pine, the fragrant myrtle,
and the victorious palm, entwined with the lowly willow of the brook.
Diamonds--Page 93. When a negro finds a diamond in the mines of the
Brazils, he instantly stands upright, claps his hands, and holds the gem
between his finger and thumb : an overseer receives it from him, and it is
registered, and the slave's name who found it, attached to it. In the evening
of the day, the precious stones are weighed, and if any slave has been so
fortunate as to find one without flaw, of seventeen and a half carats ; that is,
seventy grains, his freedom is certain, and on an appointed day, he is crowned
with a wreath of flowers, and carried in procession to the administrator, who
having purchased of the owner of the slave his freedom, he is declared free ;
and from that moment he works on his own account; and in addition to this,
he is arrayed in new clothes, which are his own.
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The Breast-plate of Aaron--Page 96.
The first precious stone on the
breast-plate of the High Priest, was the Ruby, or Sardine stone; the last, the
Jasper. And when the glory of the Lord was revealed to John at Patmos,
this is the description,--" And he that sat upon the throne was to look upon
like a Jasper and a Sardine stone," (Rev. iv. 3. ) The whole family of God are
on the heart of the Great High Priest ; and God's glory--the fulness of that
glory--is there manifested. (Eph. iii. 19).
Prophecit of the Church--Page 96. Though this passage doubtless refers
to Israel in the latter days, yet it is equally true of the Church (God's family
on the earth) now. The way in which the Holy Ghost, by St. Paul, quotes
Jer. xxxi. 9, 33, in 2 Cor. vi. 16--18, is a manifest proof of this : for though
no one can question but that Jeremiah's prophecy refers to Israel's final
blessedness; yet the Spirit of God uses it in the passage quoted, in exhorta-
tion to a Church formed principally of Gentiles. Formerly many people,
forgetful of the Jew, applied all the Old Testament prophecies of blessing to
the Church ; and of later years, the extreme view on the other side has been
taken, and the Church has been overlooked, in applying every thing to Israel:
the truth partakes of both views;--the promises belong now to the Church
having the earnest,--the first-fruits of the Spirit; they belong then to the
Jew, who, when the Church shall have been translated, shall be again God's
family--a blessing to the nations. (Isa. xxvii. 6, Micah v. 7, Zech. viii. 13,
Rom. xi. 15. )
Telescopes--Page 114. The great telescope of Dr. Herschel was an iron
tube, thirty-nine feet four inches long. The concave reflecting mirror was
three inches and a half thick, and its polished surface was four feet in diameter.
It weighed upwards of two thousand pounds, and magnified 6,000 times;
and its power was such, that Dr. H. says, that when the star Sirius was
about to enter the field of the telescope, the light was equal to that on the
approach of sun rise, and upon entering the telescope, the star appeared in all
the splendour of the rising sun.
The telescope of the Earl of Rosse, which is now preparing in Parsons-
town, near Birr, his lordship's estate in Ireland, is far beyond that of Dr.
Herschel, both in the diameter and polish of the reflector, and the diameter
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APPENDIX.
and length of the tube. The speculum, or reflector, is six feet in diameter,
and so bright, that it reflects clearly a little dial the size of a watch, fifty-
two feet above it. The diameter of the tube is seven feet; its length fifty-
two feet; it is made of wood, hooped together; and, though so large, is capa-
ble, by machinery, of being moved by one man. It is not saying too much of
this wonderful effort of man, that it is in the strictest sense unique--unpa-
ralleled. Workmen of every kind are employed by Lord Rosse in his work-
shop, immediately under his own inspection.
The Planets--Page 117. Those Planets whose names are printed in large
capitals were known to the ancients, those in small capitals are of recent dis-
covery :--Georgium Sidus was discovered in 1781, by Dr. Herschel; and the
four lesser ones,--Ceres, in 1801, by Mr. Piazzi, at Palermo; Pallas, in 1802,
and Vesta, in 1807, by Dr. Olbers, at Bremen ; and Juno, by Mr. Lilienthal,
at Bremen.
TABLE OF THE PLANETS.
Names of the
Miles distant from
Annual time in
Comparative siie
Planeta.
the Sun.
going round.
with the Earth.
MERCURY . .
34,000,000
87 days 23 hrs.
1--10
VENUS. . . .
68,000,000
224
16 ?
9--10
THE EARTH .
94,000,000
365
ii
6?
MARS . . . .
143,000,000
686
0?
1--5
Vesta . . . .
223,000,000
1,335
ii
4?
/ unknown,
V but
\ very small.
Juno
250,000,000
260,135,000
1,591
0?
Ceres . . . .
1,681
12 ?
Pallas . . . .
260,145,000
1,681
ii
17 ?
JUPITER . . .
489,000,000
4,332
14 ?
? ? 1,470
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tained hourly, by throwing a long line overboard with a triangular piece of
wood fastened to it, and measuring how much line is taken out in a minute,
and then of course it is easy to calculate what would go out in an hour at the
same rate; but this is a most uncertain method, as the wind by which the
ship is impelled so varies : to obviate this, the officer or mate is supposed to
be very observant, making all due allowances for increase or decrease of wind.
A patent instrument is also now used, which, by a moveable index on a fixed
plate, indicates the quantity of space that has been passed over in a given
time; this of course must be the most correct, and yet the old-fashioned log
line, to a sailor at least, seems the most natural.
Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites--Page 127. Roemer, a Danish astronomer,
found that the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites happened about sixteen minutes
and a quarter earlier when the earth was in one part of her orbit, than when
she was in the opposite part; and the difference of space being one hundred
and ninety millions of miles, the light must travel over this distance in
sixteen minutes and a quarter, at the prodigious velocity of a hundred and
ninety-three thousand miles in a second. --Exercises in Astronomy by the Rev.
G. T. Hall.
Prophecies of the Lord Jesus in the Psalms---Page 139. Promise of his
coming, Ps. xl. 7, 8 ; Exod. xxi. 6; Heb. x. 4, 10. Incarnation, Ps. viii. 5 ;
Heb. ii. 6, 9. Infancy, Ps. xxii. 9, 10 ; Hosea xi. 1 ; Matt. ii. 15. Life,
Ps. lxix. 4, 12, xxxi. xxxv. xxxviii. xli. xci. ; John ii. 17, xv. 25, vii. 5.
Betrayal, Ps. xli. 9, lxix. 26, cix. 8 : John xviii. 1, 18; Acts i. 20. Unjust
Trial, Ps. xxxv. 11, xxvii. 12 ; Matt. xxvi. 59, 61. Crucifixion, Ps. xviii.
1, 4, xxii. xlii. lxix. lxxxviii. ; Matt. xxvii. 46 ; Luke xxiii. 45 ; John xix.
21, xx. 25, 27. The Grave, Ps. xvi. 5, 11; Acts ii. 25, iii. 15. Resurrec-
tion, Ps. ii. 7, xvi. 10, 11, xviii. 16, 24, xlix. 15 ; Matt? xxviii. 2, 4; Eph.
i. 19, 23, ii. 1, 6 ; Rom. vi. 4 ; Acts ii. 31, xiii. 33 ; Phil. ii. 8, 9. Ascen-
sion, Ps. lxviii. 18 ; Eph. iv. 8; Acts i. 9. Exaltation to Glory, Ps. xxiv. 4,
10, xv. ; John xvii. 4. Welcome to the right hand of Power, Ps. cxl, ii.