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our noblest energies, if ever called upon to act in such trying circumstances. With a wet napkin round his mouth and nostrils, and a cord tied round his waist, a man of self-possession and energy might fearlessly enter a smoking apartment, and probably rescue a fellow creature from destruction. Even in the event of being overcome by the smoke, the cord would enable the attendants to draw him out from the surrounding danger. There is something spirit-stirring, something glorious, in the very attempt to rescue a fellow being from inevitable death; but without knowledge and self-possession, the most resolute philanthropy may become as impotent as childhood. It is said, that about ten years ago, a poor miner, of the name of Roberts, invented a headcovering, with glass eyes, and a tubular mouthpiece, which enabled him to resist even the most suffocating vapours of sulphur for half an hour, shut up in a chamber, where, without this covering, he could not have survived a minute. It is to be hoped that this invention will no longer be allowed to slumber in forgetfulness, or, that it will be superseded by one still more serviceable.

The model of a diving-bell is worthy of much attention. By this useful machine the foundations of bridges and lighthouses have been constructed with increased security, and property to a great extent has been recovered from vessels sunk in deep waters. What power has the Giver of all

good bestowed upon man! Assisted by science, he is propelled rapidly along the land, and the winds of heaven waft him across the mighty deep : he mounts into the air higher than the soaring eagle, and descends to the bottom of the sea.

Here are a cluster of useful inventions :-the water-filterer, rendering drinkable that which, without it, would be comparatively useless-the safety-rein, to curb the unruly steed, when he breaks away with his rider-the stomach-pump, to remove poison or any other injurious liquid from the stomach; this machine has saved many lives, and its inventor must be classed among those who have greatly benefited mankind :—the apparatus for giving notice when a ship drags her anchor, an invention which may be useful to mariners-the safety-lamp, to protect the miner in his dangerous employment from the sudden explosion of foul air. At these, and a hundred other useful inventions, we must snatch a hurried glance, for time wears away. You must come again and again, and, even then, you will have much to see.

Do you hear! Notice is given that the grand oxyhydrogen microscope is about to be exhibited. Let us hasten forward, for crowds are pressing on before.

I am afraid-but in this I may be wrong-that there are but few among the many who visit this place, who put up even an ejaculatory prayer, that the varied stores of knowledge here exhibited

may be blessed to them with a holy influence, rendering them more useful in their generation on earth, and more devoted to their Almighty Father who is in heaven!

We gaze on the wonders of creation till they become common-place in our regard. The allglorious sun, a million times the size of the world we inhabit, may rise in splendour, inscribing the power of his Almighty Maker in characters of flame upon the earth and skies, and set in insufferable brightness and glory, while we scarcely make a pause to wonder and admire. No marvel, then, that the wonder with which we at first regard the exhibition of the grand microscope should gradually subside. Thoroughly to enjoy this spectacle, we must either experience ourselves, or witness in others, the fresh feelings and emotions of those who have never before attended an exhibition of the kind. An involuntary burst of astonishment usually escapes the lips of children or strangers, on witnessing even the lowest power of the microscope. The spectator there sees, demonstrated before him, that it is not in the "cedar of Lebanon" only, but in the "hyssop that springeth out of the wall"-not in the majestic oak alone, but in the lowly lichen, that the power and wisdom of God are manifested. We have all been accustomed to acknowledge the wonder-working hand of the Creator of all things, in the huge leviathan, the half-reasoning elephant,

and the monarch of the beasts; but we are here compelled to acknowledge that the same Almighty attributes are necessary to form the wing of the moth, the larva of the gnat, and the scarcely visible animalcule that escapes the vision of the common observer.

The amazing powers of the microscope open up a page in the economy of nature, absolutely astounding to those whose minds have not before been drawn to the wonders of the animal and vegetable world exhibited before them. A sprig of moss becomes a tree; and the structure, habits, appetites, passions, and sports of the insect world are openly revealed. When a thread becomes a cord, when the finest cambric is represented as coarser than the coarsest canvass, it exposes the imperfection of human ingenuity, and reproves the pride of the wearer of fine clothes. When the minutest worm of the waters is extended to the size of the boa constrictor, and the common flea more than rivals the mammoth in magnitude, we see that they are formed with as much care, and furnished with organs as well adapted to their state, as larger animals. The sting of the bee, and the mandibles of the spider and water-tiger, appear formidable as the tusks of the wild boar, the jaw of the lion, and the horn of the rhino

ceros.

The lecturer is at the magnet, we must go there. Wonderful! The soft iron, so long as the two

wires remain in the liquid employed, becomes a powerful magnet by the galvanic fluid which passes through it, and sustains a weight of between four and five hundred pounds. When the wires are lifted out of the liquid, the iron loses its magnetic power, and the weight falls.

These things are, indeed, calculated to amaze us; and a little progress in practical science may do us good, especially if, at the same time that we attain it, we are anxious rightly to direct it. The glory of God, and the good of those around us are exalted objects.

Will you be electrified? The shock given from the two basins of water is very slight, but that from the pieces of metal is tolerably sharp. It tries, not only the strength of the nerves, but the degree of our moral courage and endurance; for some of athletic proportion writhe under its influence, while feebler frames, in many instances, stand firm. I saw one of the Society of Friends, the other day, enduring its power without altering a muscle in his face.

Though we may not understand magnetism, galvanism, and electricity, yet if we are here taught how little we know, our visit to the Gallery will not be in vain. While the assembled visitors admire in mute astonishment, or express their surprise in short ejaculations, the Christian spectator is ready to lay his hand upon his mouth, under a feeling persuasion of his utter nothing

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