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you, is not to be removed by brooding over it. Psha, man, never frown; you know I love you; the cloud will pass away, depend upon it. You must spend the evening with me, there will only be Kramer, with his face full of glee, and his heart full of good fellowship, and Werther with his quiet, kind philanthropy, to share our flaggon, besides, we have been promised a-most-interesting- SUBJECT,'" (balancing his words, as he saw he began to arrest his hearer's attention). "Ah! now you prick up your ears with some of your former enthusiasm. Tomorrow, by break of day, you must be in my private dissection room, under your dormitory, you know; the subject is the body of a young lady, a sudden death, strange case, and all that. After all, Jan Speers, one eye and one leg, is the only man living, who can nab the dead with any spirit. Come along!"

Ulric accompanied the lecturer to his apartment; the party consisted only of those he had named; they were Werner's favorite associates, and he was welcomed amongst them, with a cordiality, that made his heart to glow, and a delicacy that avoided to touch upon his sorrows, the most soothing of kindnesses to a mind like his. There were choice viands, cool and exquisite liquors, kind words, and intellectual conversation. The influence of such over the most wretched has been owned, and Werner was not proof against the attentions of his friends. His frame, weakened by illness, and his mind, disenergized by distress, gradually yielded to the stimulating excitement produced by wine, kindness, and cheerful converse. The night waned, but it still found them over the flask of wine: Ulric's despondency gave place to tranquillity,tranquillity became cheerfulness, and cheerfulness waxed anon into mirth; and when the party broke up, with the determination of meeting in the Dissection Room at day-break, Ulric's head throbbed feverishly, his steps were unsteady, and, for the first time in his life, his senses were under the influence of the rosy God.

Ulric fell asleep the instant he got into bed; but an incubus sat upon his breast, and wild and terrific dreams distracted his slumbers, suddenly he thought that he found himself in the private Dissection Room of the Lecturer, beside the "interesting subject," which had been the last topic of their discourse on the preceding night: He thought that he was quite alone, and inspired by the desire of commencing the anatomy of the body before the arrival of his friends, he collected the necessary apparatus, and advanced to the board on which it lay prepared for inspection. Withdrawing the sheet that covered it, he was astonished to perceive, the emaciated form of an old man instead of that which he had expected to find ;-there was no

other subject in the room, and advancing closely to the body, he startled to behold that it was the Baron de Rosenthal that lay before him! As he gazed upon it, he imagined that he perceived a demoniac and contemptuous sneer distort the countenance of the deceased. The recollection of the bitter taunts which had been levelled at him by the Baron, inspired him with a momentary feeling of hatred and he plunged his amputating knife into the side of the body. Suddenly, he thought, a shriek rung thro' the chamber-the livid corse moved convulsively, and stretching forth its withered hand, it seized Ulric by the hair as he bent his head over it! With the wrench of strong terror, the dreamer imagined that he released himself from the grasp of the dead, and seizing the hand which had held him, with one blow of his scalpel he severed it from the wrist of the corpse, and rushed from the room. Stumbling over stones, and coffins, each of which held a grinning resemblance of the Baron, he thought that he at length reached his own apartment, and panting with his exertions, and his body bedewed with the sweat of terror, the dreamer awoke !

His lamp was still flickering beside his couch, and the grey dawn that began to break thro' his casement shed a ghastly light over the room. He started up, and blushing deeply with shame to find that he had retired to his couch without having divested himself of any other part of his dress than his watch, he put his hand under his pillow in search of it. A cold and clammy substance met his grasp, his blood, he knew not why, thrilled as he drew back his hand, and found that it was covered with blood! With a strange sensation of horror and apprehension, he flung aside the pillow, and beheld a human hand! the small, delicate, exquisitely beautiful hand of a female severed at the wrist, and dripping with blood!

He shrieked aloud! such a shriek as man seldom utters save when a maniac, but he was no maniac ! There was but one hand on earth like that he knew it instantly! He sprung from the couch, he flew to the dissection room, the pass-key, which he had put into his pocket the preceding night, was in the lockhad he been there? He entered, the apartment was tenantless, but there was an uncovered body on the table. It was the corpse of Alethea de Rosenthal !

Pure, white, beautiful, cold as marble she lay, like a sleeping saint, whom sin had never tainted, sorrow never more could pain. Beside her was an amputating knife and one of her small, delicate exquisitely beautiful hands was missing!!

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Ulric Werner was found lying senseless on the floor, with the bleeding hand beside him: on his recovery from an illness of

many months, he left Leipsic and was never again heard of. There is no doubt of his having proceeded in his sleep to the dissection room, where he must have severed from the body of her whom he loved, that hand which had so recently been clasped in his own living, warm, and caressing! Of Alethea's death little need be said; an illness occasioned by the severe treatment of her father and neglected until too late, released her pure spirit from the endurance of earthly sorrows, and the sorrows of earthly love!

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ASIATIC SOCIETY.-PHYSICAL CLASS.

At a Meeting of the Class on Wednesday evening, the 20th April, the Hon'ble Sir Edward Ryan, President, in the Chair:

1. Specimens of the Coal from Gendah on the Neengtee, or Kuenduen River, were presented in the name of Mr. Assistant Surgeon D. Richardson, Madras Esta. blishment, with his Observations thereon; the Coal was met with in the soft sandstone district, on the boundary of the Manipur territory-the river and vallies abound with detached masses; the Coal frequently retains the form of the trees whence it was derived. The Burmans report it to be useless as a fuel without the aid of wood to keep it ignited

2. Specimens of the Fossil Boues discovered in the neighbourhood of Prome, in Ava, were presented by Mr. Calder:-accompanied with a notice on the subject of them, by Dr. Falconer.

These Fossils were the more valuable, as the collection made by Dr. Crawford found its way to England, without leaving even one specimen to grace the Museum of the Asiatic Society. Dr. Falconer had succeeded in identifying the following remains of quadrupeds, by comparison with the plates of those examined in England: 1. Molar tooth of the Mastodon, with part of the jaw.

2. Portion of the Femur of ditto.

3. Lower jaw of an extinct species of Rhinoceros, with a perfect tooth.

4. Several vertebræ of Crocodilidæ.

5. Osseous fragments of two large genera of Turtle, the Emys and Trionyx :these remains occur in large proportion to the other bones.

A number of the specimens are still undetermined, for want of the means of comparison.

3. A large square brick was transmitted by G. Swinton, Esq. on the part of Captain Davidson. It was dug up at Gooalpara, in Assam, and is supposed to indicate the existence, at an early period, of some fortress on that spot, which tradition ascribes to Man Singh.

4. A small fragment of clay sandstone, brought up by the borer in the Fort, from the depth of one hundred and sixty feet, and presented by Messrs. Ross and Strong, excited considerable interest, as it seemed to indicate that the rock had been finally reached.

5. A paper was read, on the determination of the Azimuth in Trigonometrical Surveys, by Captain Everest.

This paper embraces two objects of practical importance in Surveys, where great accuracy in the bearing of a station relatively to the meridian is requisite. The bearing is usually found by observation of the Azimuth of a circumpolar Star at its greatest elongation from the pole to the east or west. The calculation of this Azimuth depends upon three elements the latitude of the place; the North polar distance of the star; and the time of observation. Supposing the first or second elements to be incorrectly known at the time of making the calculations, and to be subsequently corrected, Captain E. deduces differential formulæ for the introduction of the corresponding corrections requisite in the Azimuth found, so as to avoid the necessity of going through the whole operation again.

The differential formulæ for changes in N. P. D. further enables the Surveyor to compute a set of observations for many nights in succession, by merely finding the daily variations in the other parts consequent thereto.

It has always been a desideratum to extend the observation of Azimuths to some time before or after the exact period of the maximum elongation, without resorting to the laborious formulæ of spherical Trigonometry to work out the results. The second part of Captain E.'s paper provides a rigorous formulæ, also differential, for this object; and it points out how the process may be simplified in practice, without dimi

nishing in an appreciable degree from its practical accuracy. As an example of its application, he deduces that the polar star may be considered stationary in Azimuth for the space of four minutes and seven seconds; and that for half an hour prior and subsequent to the maximum elongation, the variation in Azimuth is only one minute of space in lat. 24°.

Tables for all these minute corrections may be computed with facility from the formulæ given.

6. Read also, some observations made in a journey from Calcutta to Ghazeepoor, by the Reverend R. Everest.

Mr. E.'s journey has furnished several valuable hints regarding the Geology of this hitherto unexplored region. The first change observed was in the nature of the soil, which gradually became more sandy and granitic: it was succeeded by a gravel of burnt clay, augite and cinders, resembling what is seen in other basaltic countries.

The isolated appearance of the hills on the new road, with the flat plains of sand or disintegrated granite between them, forcibly suggested that. at one time, the former were islets in an ocean, in which were precipitated beds of their debris, and subsequently of the vegetables which grew upon them. The coal beds on the Damoodur abound with impressions of a reed which is not found in Europe, and may be deemed characteristic of the Indian coal. Between Bancoora and the Soane, there are observable not less than four protrusions of trap, not cutting through like dykes, but pushed and spread from between the strata of sandstone aud gneiss, as if forced upward under enormous pressure. The evanescent gradations, between the primitive rocks, granite. gneiss, greenstone, basalt, and sandstone suggest the idea of their having been kept long in contact together, while in a state of ignious fusion :-the direction also of the trap protrusions which at first dip to the north, then are vertical, and towards Kutcumsandy, dip to the south, render it probable that they have all a common focus under the earth, and that the whole granitic plateau of Hazareebagh, and perhaps the whole range of the Vindachul mountains, has been upheaved by their instrumentality. The granite in the neighbourhood of the trap, evinces by its crumbling state, the extensive maladie,' as the French call it, to which it has been subjected.

Mr. Everest particulary notices having met with vegetable impressions on shale in a small water course, about quarter of a mile before reaching the Bungalow at Goomeah. This locality is pointed out to the attention of other travellers, as likely to furnish a rich field of vegetable remains. Coal doubtless occurs in the neighhourhood.

The same series of rocks occurs on both sides of the central plateau, extending in opposite directions-both to the vale of the Ganges and to the alluvium of Bengal-Coal if found on both sides, as is proved at Palamoo and Boglipore. The sandstones above the line are, however, more consolidated and useful. Mr. E. supposes the hot springs, so frequent in occurrence to be indicative of gradual combustion of the coal strata, of which there is further evidence in the load of cinders and burnt shale met within the mines at Ranigunj.

Mr. Everest finally alludes to the Kankar formation, which he traces, with Dr. Hardie, to the action of calcareous springs.

The thanks of the Society were then voted in return for the various communications.

MEDICAL AND PHYSICAL SOCIETY.

At the Meeting of the Society held on the 7th May, Dr. Brydon, of the Bombay Medical Service, and Messrs. Boswell, Ginders, and Blackwood, of the Bengal Establishment, were elected Members. The following communications received since last Meeting, were then presented to the Society-first, second, and third parts of Mr. Hutchinson's Essay on Fever; a Catalogue of one hundred and twenty Specimens of Burmese Materia Medica from the Vegetable Kingdom, and a sample of Amylaceous Fecula, prepared from the root of the Jatropa Manhiota, cultivated at Moulmien, by Mr. W. S. Anderson, Staff Surgeon.

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