Nothing has yet been discovered that fixes with any degree of certainty the date of this place, but some coins of Constantine the Great have been collected. Those parts which are exposed to the air, and particularly the pavements, have been covered over with earth during the winter, to preserve them from the effects of frost, which is extremely injurious by loosening the small pieces of which they are made 20. Antiquities in Egypt. In a letter from Egypt it is stated that the attempt to remove the colossal bust of Memnon from amidst the ruins of Thebes, made in the course of last year, had perfectly succeeded. It had been conveyed to Alexandria, where it was embarked for Malta, for the purpose of being brought to England. The bust is described as consisting of a single piece of granite, and the weight is computed at fourteen tons. Several excavations were made at the place, and a row of sphinxes of black marble with the bodies of lions and women's heads discovered; they were beautifully sculptured, and several of them quite perfect. Also a statue of Jupiter, of cream coloured marble. On commencing a second series of excavations after the bust had been conveyed to Alexandria, a beautiful colossal head of Osiris was discovered, one of the arms was also found, which measured eleven feet. After working for twenty days, a temple was opened containing fourteen large chambers, including a spacious hall, in which were found eight colossal statues thirty feet high, all standing, and quite perfect. Four others were found in the sanctuary. The walls were covered with hieroglyphics. A small statue of Jupiter found in the great hall, and two lions with ox heads were brought from thence to be conveyed to England. 21. Height of Adam's Peak. Taking into account the equatorial correction for the diminution of the weight of mercury in the barometer, Dr. Davy has ascertained the height of Adam's Peak to be nearly 6500. feet. 22. New Alcali. We understand that Professor Berzelius has sent an account to this country of a new alcali having been discovered in Sweden. The discover has also ascertained the existence of a new inflammable body. 23. A work containing coloured figures of the six known spe- Some omissions in the List of Wines given in the last Number will be found rectified in the following Table, exhibiting the average Quantity of Spirit (alcohol) in different Kinds of Wine. By W. T. BRANDE, Esq. Sec. R. S. &c. 1. Lissa. Proportion of Spirit per cent. by measure. Proportion of Spirit per cent by measure. 25,83 Ditto.... Average 2. Raisin wine Ditto Ditto Average 3. Marsala.... Ditto Average 24,29 .... 22,30 Average 14,57 18,40 33. Hock 14,37 20,35 ...... 18,25 22,94 Ditto (old in cask).... 6,88 Average 12,08 20,50 34. Nice 18,11 35. Barsac. 20,51 36. Tent.... .... Ditto... 13,00 19,20 18,11 37. Champagne (still)..... 13,80 Ditto (sparkling) 12,80 .... ART. XVII. Narrative of an Expedition to explore the 1818. OUR knowledge of the continent of Africa has in no wise of solving the great geographical problem respecting the Niger, which has for a considerable time excited the attention of the scientific world. We are indebted for the greater part of what is known respecting the interior regions of Africa to the Arabian writers of the middle ages, and the information of Arabian travellers of our own times; after these the Portuguese were the first Europeans who penetrated beyond the coast into the interior, and they probably collected much information; but it was the policy of that nation to conceal what they discovered till it has been lost even to themselves. The Portuguese followed the Arabian writers in describing the course of the Niger as flowing from east to west, which Herodotus had learned nearly 20 centuries before to flow in a contrary direction, but this question was at last completely set at rest by Mr. Park; but another question respecting this great river remains to be solved,-where is its termination? As ancient authorities had pointed out the true direction of the stream, it was but fair to allow them credit for a knowledge of its termination. In the examination of this part of the question, by Major Rennell, the authorities of the Arabian writers are weighed and compared with the geography of Ptolemy; and after a close and accurate investigation of the various statements of ancient and modern authorities, and a train of reasoning clear and argumentative, the result of the enquiry appears to be, that the Niger loses itself in the extensive lakes or swamps of Wangara; an hypothesis, which was supposed to have the merit of falling in pretty nearly with the termination of that river, as assigned to it by Ptolemy, in what he called the Libya Palus, which lake, however, Ptolemy only says, is formed by the Niger. In addition to this coincidence, there were also negative proofs of the disappearance of the Niger in the interior regions of Africa. It could not, for instance, be a branch of the Egyptian Nile, as the Arabs generally contend, for the two reasons adduced by Major Rennell ; first, because of the difference of level; the Nile, according to Bruce's measurement by the barometer, passing over a country whose surface is very considerably higher than the sink of |