to other great works in Rome, still it becomes, like the face of his Beatrice Cenci and his St. Sebastian in the museum of the Capitol, so indelibly impressed upon the mind, that one feels certain he will bear its impress to the world whither we are all hastening.

The basement of this edifice is occupied as the cemetery of the monks. Here are four low-vaulted chambers, of one of which I present an engraving. It will be perceived that nearly the whole is formed of human bones. The first impression on

epithet of Brachettone, (breeches-maker.) But the great artist had his revenge upon Biagio, whom he introduced in the right angle of the picture, as Midas with ass's ears, standing in hell, with his body surrounded by a serpent. The master of ceremonies complained to the pope, who requested Michael Angelo to alter it; but he declared that "it was quite impossible, for though his holiness was able to effect his release from purgatory, he had no power over hell."

But to return to the church of the Capuchins. The Lucifer, in the picture by Guido, is said to be a likeness of Cardinal Pamfili, afterward Innocent X., who had displeased the artist by his criticisms. This is one of those paintings which will never cease to haunt the imagination. Unequal though it may be

entering this unique repository of the dead, is startling and horrible. The remains of mortality are all about, skull-bones, thighbones, rib-bones, shoulder-blades, etc., strike the eye. The adaptation of all these to principles of taste is most remarkable. Here are gracefully formed chandeliers imitation of stucco ornaments, a figure of time with his scythe and scales, architectural ornaments of the cinque cento style, grinning cherubs with wings, and all these formed entirely from human bones, even

wore while living. The first impression is one of horror; but it gives place to a feeling of mere curiosity, the whole scene becoming almost ludicrous. The skel

eton monks seem to be staring at the visitor with every variety of expresson of countenance. The skin and hair are not entirely removed from the bones; the former has become dry, and is drawn over the features of the face, looking like tanned sheep - skin. This monk, on the right, has a waggish expression of countenance. The one

in the middle niche has a demure look, like those seen haranguing the people from the altars of the Coliseum. The one next to him, upon the left, has quite a different expression of countenance, impossible to explain. While, upon the extreme left, the reclining figure expresses all that can be imagined of horror and suffering. In the engraving will be observed several crosses; these mark the spot where the Capuchins are interred, the earth having been brought from Jerusalem. Whenever a monk dies, he is buried in the oldest grave, from which the bones of the last incumbent are removed to make room for the new comer. If the person, whose bones have been exhumed, has led a life remarkable for devotion and deeds of charity, his remains are preserved entire, and the skeleton placed in one of the niches, dressed in the costume he wore in life. Otherwise the bones are disjointed, and used to form the various ornaments.

Α young and cheerful-looking monk accompanied us to the cemetery; and for a few extra pauls, gave me permission to make the sketches which I present. I inquired of him if the prospect of having his bones eventually placed in this strange receptacle was not horrible. He replied, that the anticipation of the event, was in its effect upon his mind, quite contrary, and that the most ardent desire he had in life was, that he might be able to live so worthily, that when his spirit passed to the next world, his bones might be so treasured here, as to be placed in one of the niches. The monk, it seems, was not without a certain degree of modest and harmless ambition. He evidently hoped not to have his bones mingle with the common mass, to be transformed into chandeliers, or other ornaments, but to preserve his individuality, like the skeletons which hold the place of honor in the niches.

I STOOD tiptoe upon a little hill;
The air was cooling, and so very still,
That the sweet buds which with a modest pride
Fell droopingly in slanting curve aside,
Their scanty-leaved and finely tapering stems
Had not yet lost their starry diadems,
Caught from the early sobbings of the morn.
The clouds were pure and white as flocks new
shorn,

And fresh from the clear brook; sweetly they slept

On the blue fields of heaven, and then there crept
A little noiseless noise among the leaves,
Born of the very sigh that silence heaves;
For not the faintest motion could be seen
Of all the shades that slanted o'er the green.

There was wide wandering from the greediest eye,

To peer about upon variety;

Far round the horizon's crystal air to skim,
And trace the dwindled edgings of its brim;
To picture out the quaint and curious bending
Of a fresh woodland alley never-ending:
Or by the bowery clefts and leafy shelves,
Guess where the jaunty streams refresh them-
selves.

I gazed a while, and felt as light and free
As though the fanning wings of Mercury
Had play'd upon my heels: I was light-hearted
And many pleasures to my vision started;
So I straightway began to pluck a posy
Of luxuries bright, milky, soft, and rosy.

A bush of May-flowers with the bees about them; Ah, sure no tasteful nook could be without them;

language may be liable to objection from another quarter, as conveying the impression that the metal is already known in

keep them

Moist, cool, and green; and shade the violets, That they may bind the moss in leafy nets.

A filbert-edge with wild-brier overtwined, And clumps of woodbine taking the soft wind Upon their summer thrones; there too should be The frequent checker of a youngling tree, That with a score of bright-green brethren shoots

From the quaint mossiness of aged roots: Round which is heard a spring head of clear waters,

Prattling so wildly of its lovely daughters,
The spreading blue-bells; it may haply mourn
That such fair clusters should be rudely torn
From their fresh beds, and scatter'd thought-
lessly

By infant hands left on the path to die.
Open afresh your round of starry folds,
Ye ardent marigolds!

Dry up the moisture from your golden lids,
For great Apollo bids

That in these days your praises should be sung
On many harps, which he has lately strung;
And when again your dewiness he kisses,
Tell him, I have you in my world of blisses:
So haply when I rove in some far vale.
His mighty voice may come upon the gale.

Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight,
With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white,
And taper fingers catching at all things,
To bind them all about with tiny rings.
What next? A turf of evening primroses,
O'er which the mind may hover till it dozes;
O'er which it well might take a pleasant
sleep,

But that 'tis ever startled by the leap
Of buds into ripe flowers.

A

THE NEW METAL, ALUMINUM. NEW metal! yes, a new metal; and yet as old as the world we inhabit! We mean, therefore, by this adjective, only that it is new to human discovery, as was the "New World" when its existence was first made known to our race by the great adventurer Christopher Columbus.

Indeed, the metal, aluminum, can scarcely be said to be new to science, as it was really discovered, and some of its properties determined, thirty years ago; and it is half a century since Davy, by his great discovery of the compound nature of the alkalies and alkaline earths, by analogy of reasoning almost demonstrated its existence in the earth, in combination with

oxygen.

But to the arts it may be said, in the strictest sense, to be new! Indeed, this

the fact. But there seems now good reason to expect, that, at no very distant day, it will come into general use, for all purposes to which it may be found adapted: and this magazine, being interested in everything, moral or physical, pertaining to the advancement and elevation of our race, it is proposed in this paper to give a brief sketch of its history, and the mode of reducing it from its ores, with some account of its characteristic properties and probable uses. In doing this, special pains will be taken to avoid the use, as much as possible, of technical terms; and if some of our more scientific readers should think that we might have presumed a little more upon their acquirements, we beg them to remember that we desire to be understood by those not of their class, and even by the children, many of whom, we happen to know, are accustomed to resort to these pages for instruction and amusement.

ORES OF ALUMINUM.

THE preparation of a metal begins with the finding of the ore; that of aluminum is abundant, and easily accessible. It is found in all the varieties of clay, potter's clay, fire clay, and common blue clay, and even in old bricks and broken crockery! In combination with oxygen, this metal forms the earth alumina, which has been known more than a century, as constituting an essential ingredient of all clays. other constituents of clay are silica, (powdered flint,) lime, and oxyd of iron, the latter giving to bricks their fine red color. Alumina is also found in alum, a substance

The

which has been long known and used for important purposes, and which has the honor of giving name to the metal and its compounds.

DISCOVERY OF METALLIC ALUMINUM.

THE discovery of this metal is so intimately connected with that of others, that it is quite impossible to describe them separately. At the beginning of the present century, the alkalies, potash and soda, and the earths, lime, baryta, magnesia, alumina, etc., were considered as simple substances, that is, as composed of one kind of matter

In the year 1807, Davy, then a young man, by means of the galvanic current effected the decomposition of potash, proving it to be, not a simple substance, but a compound of a metal until then unknown, and the gaseous substance, oxygen. To the new metal he gave the appropriate name, potassium, which it still retains. Thus was effected, in the science of chemistry, one of those advancing steps, so simple, and apparently trifling in itself, and yet, to the scientific mind, so wonderfully significant! From that moment, to the mind of Davy, sodium, barium, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, etc.—the radical metals, severally, of soda, baryta, lime, magnesia, and alumina-had as real an existence as potassium, on which alone, of all the class, human eye had ever rested!

Reasoning from analogy, logicians tell us, is not usually considered of the most convincing kind; and it may be so in ordinary cases; but here the argument, it must be admitted, was entirely from analogy, and yet it carried with it the force of absolute conviction.

The way being now prepared, the separation-the discovery, we call it-of sodium, barium, calcium, and the metals of several other earths, followed, as a matter of course, in a few days, or months, by methods, in some cases, a little varied from that adopted for potassium. But it was not for Davy, great as was his genius, to obtain metallic aluminum, in any appreciable quantity; applied to its compound, alumina, all his methods failed except merely to produce a gray mass, which might perhaps contain some of the metal, mixed with other substances. The wonderful fertility of his genius, and his almost unrivaled skill in unlocking the long concealed apartments of Nature's mighty storehouse, needed not this further proof of their power.

A period of twenty years now passed away, and Wöhler, a name scarcely less illustrious than that of Davy, by a process of his own, succeeded, in 1827, in procuring the veritable metal, aluminum; but only as a gray powder, or in small scales. He also decomposed several others of the earths,

lic bases. Others, repeating Wöhler's processes, obtained aluminum in small grains, but, like him, they all failed in their attempts to fuse the gray powder to a mass; consequently, while many of its properties were satisfactorily determined, others, from necessity, remained unknown.

The difficulty of fusing the powdered metal into a mass is a necessary consequence of its high melting point-nearly the same as that of copper or silver-and its strong tendency to oxydize, by contact of the atmosphere, at high temperatures. The difficulty is now overcome by fusing it with some substance, as the double chloride of aluminum and sodium, which envelops it, and thus excludes the air.

Another quarter of a century now elapses; our scanty stock of knowledge concerning this metal and its compounds becomes fully established by very many repetitions of previous experiments, but no additions are made. At length M. Saint Clair Deville, professor of chemistry in the Ecole Normale, in Paris, a few years ago, instituted a new series of experiments, which resulted in his obtaining the metal in compact masses, and demonstrating that it possesses properties likely to render it useful in the arts. Another point equally important was established by him, viz., that it could be prepared at a comparatively moderate cost; and if happily the present expectation in regard to it shall hereafter be realized, the arts will owe to him a debt of gratitude that cannot well be overestimated.

METHODS OF REDUCING ALUMINUM FROM ITS ORES.

As we have already seen, all the varieties of clay are ores of this metal; and some or all of these are found everywhere. Moreover, as clay-beds are always at or near the surface, the cost of mining it may be said to be nothing; and the price of the metal in the market will therefore depend entirely upon the cost of separating it from its ores. This point will now engage our attention.

No general directions can be given for reducing metals from their ores; each particular ore of each particular metal must be treated according to the circumstances of the case. Davy, as we have seen, first effected the separation of potassium from its oxyd (potash, a compound