YORKSHIRE.

Scarborough Museum. Amongst the numerous interesting objects with which Scarborough abounds, the new museum now stands most prominent and attractive. It is situate to the south of the bridge, on an ascending piece of ground, and is seen from the sands rising majestically above that beautiful erection.

The museum is a rotunda of the Roman Doric order, 37 ft. 6 in. in external diameter, and 50 ft. high. The basement contains, pro tempore, the library, keeper's room, and laboratory. When sufficient funds are obtained, it is proposed to place these accessories in wings radiating from the central building, which will then be entirely used as a museum. The principal room is 35 ft. high, and is lighted by a central eye or opening. The beautiful Hackness stone, the munificent gift of Sir John B. Johnstone, Bart., has been employed in this building. The fossils, which are very numerous, are arranged on sloping shelves, in the order of their strata, showing at one view, the whole series of the kingdom. A horizontal shelf below sustains the generic arrangement of fossil shells. Amongst the collection of fossils, which is one of the most perfect in England, are two admirable assemblages of local fossils, one purchased of Mr. Williamson, and the other presented to the Society by Mr. Duesbury, being the valuable collection of the late Mr. Hinderwell. The birds and animals are placed above the geological arrangement; so that every part of the museum can be seen at once. The whole expense of the building, fitting up, &c., will be about 1400/., of which 11007. has been raised. The remainder, if not contributed by the liberality of the friends of science, must be raised by loan, on interest. A donation of 251. constitutes a proprietor's share, which is transferable at all times by will or sale, and confers a perpetual right of 'admission on the family of the owner. A donation of 57. confers the same perpetual right on the families of strangers. The terms of admission to casual visitors are reasonable; and the receipts from this source go to pay the keeper, Mr. Williams, who is always there to explain the geology of the district.

The building has been erected from designs by Mr. R. H. Sharp, architect, of this city, on whom it reflects much credit.

At a public dinner on the opening of this museum, on the 31st of August, an interesting history of its rise and progress was given. It appears that Mr. Dunn, the secretary, convened a meeting at his own house in 1820, which consisted, he states, " of Mr. Hinderwell, the possessor, at that time, of the best collection in the town, and which has since been liberally presented to the museum by Mr. Duesbury; Mr. Travis, whose botanical researches are acknowledged by some of the best writers of the day; Mr. Bean, who was then aspiring to the meridian of glory which he has since attained; and Mr. Smith, the father of English geology, whose connection with any institution would form one of the brightest gems in its diadem. After maturely considering whether a society could be formed at Scarborough or not, Mr. Hinderwell informed us he had promised his own collection to his nephew, and from his age and declining health could not take an active part in its formation. We consequently postponed the accomplishment of our wishes till a more favourable period; hoping, that when Sir John Johnstone resided in our neighbourhood he would patronise our undertaking. In this we have not been deceived, and before Sir John made his tour to Italy, he offered to call a meeting together; but the intellectual atmosphere of Scarborough had not yet acquired that temperature which would be congenial to the growth of so tender a plant. I cannot but lament the circumstance, because if we had been ripe enough we might have formed the first link of that splendid chain of philosophical institutions which has since adorned this country. But if we had not the courage to dare to lead, we deserve to follow. As to the objects of the institution, allow me to say, that to give

energy, concentration, and effect to native talents; to examine the great laboratory of the earth; to establish the locality of natural objects; to trace analogies with distant parts of the earth; to explore worlds of organised beings till lately unheard of, and to make acquaintance with others now in existence, of which we were before ignorant; to collect, and to arrange in a simple, harmonious, and intelligible form, the various objects of natural science; and, in fact, to trace the finger of the Almighty in his multiplied and magnificent operations, are some of the sublime objects of this Society; and if by some they may be considered futile, because they do not seem immediately to produce their return in pounds, shillings, and pence, it is because a certain preparation of mind is necessary beyond the limited calculations of commercial views, to appreciate these objects. But, Sir, when the handicraft of Naples discovered the application of the magnet, who could have foreseen it would have led to the navigation of the world? When Galileo found that, by the adjustment of a few convex glasses, distant objects could be approximated, who could have believed that it would have led to such an intimate acquaintance with the heavenly regions? And when the Marquess of Worcester published his History of Inventions, or still more lately, Dr. Black, his History of Latent Heat, could any man have foretold that it would be followed by so gigantic an application of the power of steam as we have lived to see? And if such results are the consequences of man's labours, what may we not expect from closely attending to those of Omnipotence? Mr. William Vernon has strikingly observed, in a small work well worthy your attention, That to a mind educated in the school of natural history, mankind are indebted for the most extensively beneficial of all the discoveries of the present age.' The same process of thought which led to the observations of the habits of the swallow or the cuckoo, when applied to the diseases of the cow, enabled the immortal Jenner to make the discovery of vaccination, which, with few exceptions, has preserved mankind from one of the greatest of human afflictions. But the mind as well as the body must be fed with milk before it can bear strong meats. The uses of such societies as ours are to adapt their aliment to all classes. The philosopher of many years' standing will have abundant opportunities of enlarging his knowledge and whether he takes the comprehensive views of the geologist, or descends to particulars with the naturalist; whether he examines the formations of a world, or the elegant arrangements of the petals of a rose; the mountains of the Himalaya, or the wings of a butterfly; the plains of a Pampas, or the convolution of a turbo; the variegated carpet of nature, or the no less varied coat of a caterpillar; - he will be insensibly led by his sublime contemplations from nature up to nature's God.' The child, whose time has been hitherto spent in the study of the dead languages, the practical application of which is confined to two or three professions, will have his eyes opened to new objects, from which his father's have long been closed, and his mind directed to a language more ancient than that of Homer, the language of nature, a book which he can never lay aside with an unholy thought. If the human mind, even in the humblest form, cannot be as agreeably entertained in such a sanctuary, as in the purlieus of a pothouse; if, when oppressed with disappointment and sorrow, it cannot here find diversion which will both chasten and enlarge, elevate and refine it from the foul dross of worldly anxieties, then deem this institution unworthy of your patronage, and denounce its secretary as an impostor. Gentlemen, I beg to conclude in the language of the best of our modern historians, Mr. Sharon Turner: To be intelligent is now even more necessary than to be affluent, because mind is become the invisible sovereign of the world; and they who cultivate its progress, being diffused every where in society, are the tutors of the human race; they dictate the opinions, they fashion the conduct of men. To be illiterate, or to be imbecile, in this illumed day, is to

be despised and trodden down in the tumultuous struggle for wealth, power, and reputation, in which every individual is too eagerly conflicting.'

Sir J. V. B. Johnstone, in explaining his connection with the museum, adverted to the circumstance of Hull, Whitby, Leeds, and other secondary towns of Yorkshire, having been long conspicuous for their museums, and to the richness of the district in which they lived in botany and conchology and other treasures suitable for a museum. He did not profess to be a philosopher himself, but, says he, "As a landed proprietor, I assure you, honestly, I intend to derive some advantage from this institution. An accurate knowledge of the strata upon my estate, which will enable me at once to lay my hand upon gravel, marl, lime, building and walling stone, surely is not to be despised; and as plants are peculiar to certain soils, a delineation of the strata, whilst it assists the studies of the botanist, will also afford to agriculture a surer basis for improvement. One certain result will certainly follow the knowledge of geology: for the future, the chalk on Sherburn Wold will not be vainly bored for coal, or the Hackness Moors for lead; both which operations have taken place, of course, with dead loss to the proprietors and the community."

Sir George Cayley, after several mirth-creating observations of a local character, said, "You have the advantage of possessing two_naturalists in Scarborough, whose names are, perhaps, as well or better known on the Continent than at home, for few men are esteemed prophets in their own provinces. Many there are amongst you who have, amidst other pursuits, given a fair share of attention to scientific objects, and especially to natural history; but Mr. Bean and Mr. Williamson are naturalists by profession, the have dedicated their lives to it, and have made discoveries which have extended the bounds of human knowledge. Such men shed a great lustre over your undertaking. Touching upon this subject, I cannot but express my regret, that Mr. Bean's fair title to the original discovery of certain new fossil vegetables has been superseded on the Continent by Mr. Williamson, who, without any unfair intentions, having given them publicity, as I find in M. Brongniart's late invaluable work on fossil vegetables, they are named after him. With regard to most of these discoveries, I conceive that Mr. Bean stands in the same relationship as Columbus with respect to America, and, on a minor scale, with nearly a parallel result. I do not wish to detract from Mr. Williamson's just merits; he has been indefatigable in his researches on localities discovered by Mr. Bean. I wish that some gentlemen, qualified by local information, would give to the public a proper line of demarcation between two most valuable men; all wish is, that each should have his due share of public applause; a man's fair fame ought to be as much his own as his estate. I have named the circumstance to my friend, the Baron de Ferussac, who has some years ago acknowledged Mr. Bean's communications in his splendid work on conchology, and I make no doubt some notice will be taken of it in the next number of his Bulletin Universel. I must not quit the subject of fossil plants without adverting to the lucid and satisfactory essay of M. Brongniart, who has proved, I believe, to the satisfaction of the most eminent naturalists, that we have five distinct epochs in the previous vegetation of our planet: this will furnish us with such marked and distinct guides, when examining the stratifications of the earth, that men will soon be talking of these matters, as of what occurred at the first, second, or fifth milestones on their journeys. By the classes of plants at these different epochs, we seem to be acquiring a knowledge of the past temperatures of our climate; and in the discovery of certain inflammable and highly expansive fluids, enclosed in crystals, by Dr. Brewster, which, probably, during a long series of aggregation at the same temperature, have been imprisoned in cells which then fitted their contents, but which fluids have, in our present temperature, shrunk so as to leave a partial vacuum, though readily made to fill them again, as may be seen under a microscope, by the application of a heat

considerably greater than that of the human body; thus sceming to furnish a sort of register thermometer of the early temperature of our globe. At least such facts lead us to hope that a much more clear developement of our previous planetary history will be attained to, than at one time the nature of the subject seemed to admit." (Yorkshire Gazette, Sept. 5).

It would thus appear that an Englishman, when he chooses, can, in a dinner speech, distinguish himself as well in matters of natural history and philosophy, as in politics. Nothing can be more gratifying than to see the power to do this joined with the inclination. It will be no small advantage to this institution to have such a man for their secretary as Mr. Dunn, whose mind is evidently thoroughly imbued with science and universal benevolence. . Cond.

Physeter catodon. You mention your regret at not being able to obtain a good drawing of the Physèter catòdon; I have, therefore, sent you two

plates of one cast on the Holderness coast, in 1825; the larger plate was from a copy drawn by a land-surveyor, and, though accurate as to admeasurement, is by no means so good a resemblance as the smaller one (fig. 114.), which is a very fair representation of the animal, as laid upon the shore. Mr. Davies, the bookseller here, is in possession of an original drawing, by Mr. Dikes, which is said to be the best likeness taken of it.

The whale was claimed by Mr. Constable, as the Lord of Holderness, and the skeleton is now at Burton Constable, the seat of Sir Clifford Constable. It was, however, about two years ago, in a very neglected condition, being laid in an irregular heap, in the middle of a field, as I have been told. Whether it has since been put together and taken care of, I have not heard. Yours, &c. .Thomas Thompson. Hull, May 28.

DORSETSHIRE.

Flowers varying in Colour. During the last month I have found Scabiosa arvénsis and Erythræ a Centaúrium with white flowers, and Prunella vulgaris with flowers of a rose colour. - A Constant Reader. Winburne, Sept.

DIAGRAM, showing the Motion of the Mercury in the Barometer and Thermometer, and the Temperature at which Dew is deposited, or the mean of each for every ten days in June and July; also the Depth of Rain in the Pluviometer, and the Quantity of Moisture evaporated from the Evaporating Gauge for the same period; as extracted from the Register kept at Annat Gardens, Perthshire, N. lat. 56° 23', above the level of the sea 172 ft., and 15 miles from the coast, by the mean of daily observations at Oo'clock morning and 10 o'clock evening. (The explanation of the Diagram will be seen at p. 284. supra.)

The mean temperature for June this year is 56.7°, which is half a degree lower than on an average of the past seven years for that month. The fall of rain 1.3 in. or within 2 of an inch of the ordinary average. The mean temperature for July is 57.1°; the ordinary mean for that month, on an average of seven years, is 60 7°. The average fall of rain in July is 2:43 in. This year the fall measures in the rain-gauge 435 in. The coldest day in June was on the 5th: mean temperature of that day 50°; extreme cold 40°; wind N.W. Warmest day on the 8th: mean temperature of that day 60°; extreme heat 70-50; wind S.E. The coldest day in July was on the 3d: mean temperature of that day 50.5°; wind N.W.; extreme cold 46°. Warmest day the 22d: extreme heat 72°; wind W. The mercury in the barometer rose to 29.9° on the 10th of June; wind S.E.: it fell to 28.9° on the 16th; wind N.W. The mercury was lowest on the 2d of July, when it stood at 28.5°; wind S.W.: and highest on the 31st, height 29.55°. There were loud gales of wind from the N.W. on the 3d, 15th, and 16th of June, and on the 22d of July.

At the beginning of June vegetation was about as forward as at the same period last season. The weather continued dry till the 13th of that month; and want of moisture at the root produced a disposition to run rather pre