spite. By pursuing this vocation some time the ruffian acquired a good deal of money, and retiring from public life, established himself as an honest soapboiler, in the neighborhood of Guadalaxara. An unlucky creditor called one day, whilst my friend was making soap, and requesting the settlement of his small account, was incontinently pitched into the boiler, and went the way of the ticles. On arriving at the Meson, or inn, which only professes to furnish food for the animals, you ask for a room, and are shown into a place with four brick or adobe walls, and containing a few boards placed on a frame; this is the bed. Possibly there may be a table, but never any more superfluous furniture. You ask what can be had for dinner, and, if possible, a fowl is caught and killed, if not, you must put up with eggs, al-'poor workhouse boy. For one, if not both ways procurable, tortillas, (maize-cakes,) tomatoes, chiles, and frijoles, (beans.) Therefore let any of my friends who read this, and may be disposed to travel in Mexico, carry with them necessary supplies of every thing; chocolate alone excepted, which is always to be had. "It is but justice, however, to say, that the servants you take with you, or mozos, are the most attentive fellows in the world, and will get you any thing that is to be had in the village, even at the sword's point, if necessary. They perform for their master of the time being, all the offices of valet, chambermaid, boots, waiter, and groom, and not unfrequently cook. As a whole, they are most honest and agreeable people, and if one is lucky, as I was, to meet with good mozos, they are invaluable." These, however, are not the most serious unpleasantnesses to be looked for in Mexico. Jack Sheppards and highwaymen of every grade are reputed to be common. Our " Barrister" was so fortunate as not to meet with any brigand inclined "to take the law of him," though he had an occasional halfcrown to pay for an escort; it was his fate, however, to see one villain unhanged, and another less lucky, shot. As his professional sympathies were roused in the former case, the scoundrel being a lawyer-cide, we think it not at all improbable that the precautions he adopted for eventually bringing about the regular course of justice, in however irregular and transatlantic a form, have before this taken effect. "Before I left Tepic my attention was one day drawn to a ruffianly-looking fellow, holding his horse at the door of a house, and who, I was credibly informed, was known to have committed, it was said, twenty-five murders-at all events more than one. He had for some time been the leader of a band of robbers on the Guadalaxara road, and, whilst exercising his vocation in that quarter, had most wantonly cut the throats of a lawyer of that town, of his wife, and two or three children. The poor man was only going to spend his Sunday in the country, and had purposely left his purse at home; owing to which oversight he and his family were all killed by this villain out of mere of these murders, this villain was tried, and the crime clearly proved, but he showed the trying judges cogent reasons why he was not in a fit state to be shot, and he escaped accordingly. When I saw him with some others, nearly as bad as himself, he was about to proceed to California, where I hope he has been lynched long ago. If he has not, it is not my fault, as I gave his name and described his appearance and character to some worthy Yankees I subsequently met in an American steamer, and they promised to bear him in mind on their return to California. "Justice, however, once in a way, does overtake some of them. I myself saw one man shot who had committed seven murders, and had been tried before; but then he was rich. Alas, in an evil hour when poor, he chopped up with his axe a passenger who wished to cross the Rio Santiago where he was ferryman. His comrade assisted at the murder, and afterwards turned Queen's, or I presume they would call it in Mexico, President's evidence; and the ferryman having culprit having passed the two previous days no ready cash by him, was convicted. The and nights in what is called capilla ardiente, having a priest always with him, was brought down to the common by the river, and a square being formed of mounted naposition to a cross placed against an adobe tional guards, he was fastened in a sitting wall, and shot by a party of national guards. They fired within ten paces, and the man died at the first discharge, though they kept on firing as long as the least motion was perceptible. Comparatively very few people were present at this spectacle, and I saw one carriage containing ladies, which I thought would have been better away. Probably the lady reader may think, I should have staid away too. If it is any consolation to her, I arrived late and did not see the unfortunate man until unbound from the cross quite dead." In these unromantic days every body is aware that dragons have ceased (except in pantomimes) to eat up common people and crunch the armor of knights. What they do live upon, now they are no longer cannibals, we were not sure of until we read the following authentic notice of the source of their nourishment in Mexico: "Whilst stopping here, Her Majesty's Consul started off with his rifle to have a shot at a venerable alligator which was basking in the sun on the sand by the side of an estero. The unfortunate brute had eaten his last dog, and died in two shots, both of which struck him full in the back and in the middle of the scales, though I had always understood these to be impenetrable. For my especial edification the beast was lazoed and dragged out of the water, to which he had retreated on receiving his death-wound. He was ten feet long, and furnished with a prodigious row of teeth, with which, in his death agonies, he nearly took off the leg of one of the mozos. My friend was waited upon by a deputation of ladies from the nearest village, who felicitated him upon destroying the venerable monster who for many months had lived upon their pet dogs." How happy such an alligator would be in Regent Street! If our "Barrister" travels again and writes another book, he would do well to keep notes, and also before he starts to acquire such a knowledge of natural history as would render his sporting propensities serviceable to science and more amusing to himself. Nor should he ramble through a land like Mexico without telling us more of the traces of its ancient inhabitants, and the localities rendered classical as the scenes of the wondrous exploits of the old conquerors and their leader, Cortes, the most chivalrous of adventurers. From "Tait's Magazine." SAINT PETER'S EVE. "THE sun is high, my Gianni, why So late a-bed dost 'bide? Thy line or net the meal should get We share at eventide." "Nay, mother, peace! Thy chiding cease! I never idly played; Nor pride nor sloth could make me loath To ply my father's trade. "But strangers roam from distant home To scour the winding bay; They ply amain their mighty seine, "Nor net of mine, nor hook and line, "Luck comes at last-go, make a cast, In good St. Peter's name! For in the sea good fish there be As ever from it came." Young Gianni strove-young Gianni hove His luck had changed. No boatmen ranged Again he strove, his net he hove, Again the deep to spoil; And, lo! a maid her steps hath stayed, To watch the fisher's toil. Her garments were both rich and rare, Her face was fair, but cark and care "Madonna, why that tearful eye, That lovely cheek so pale? Those tresses rare of golden hair, Why float they in the gale?" "My peace is fled-my love is dead, The lady smiled; of woe beguiled, Her loss she better brook'd; And Gianni sued, and Gianni wooed, That lily hand, her love, and land, At noon, the fish came to his wish- And well he thrives who hopes and strives For in the sea good fish there be From "Chambers' Edinburgh Journal." GAS-LIGHT-ITS INVENTORS AND IMPROVERS. We believe that the daily applications of science to economic purposes would excite a greater degree of interest, and attract the attention of a larger portion of the commu nity, if the nature and history of such dis In this coveries were more familiarly known. In | Boyle, who died in the year 1691. letter, published in the "Philosophical It is a common saying that great discoveries are often made gradually, the progress of knowledge leading slowly but surely towards them; and the remark is peculiarly applicable to many of the useful arts. A happy arrangement is often attained at last, not so much by the labors of one individual, as by a succession of inventors, to whom it is difficult to apportion the credit which each may justly claim. To illustrate these views, and with the hope of exciting the interest of our readers in a subject of considerable social importance, we propose to lay before them a short account of the history of gas-making, to which our own attention has recently been directed, by a process which promises to be a valuable contribution towards the cheap production and an extended use of this useful article. The first notice of the artificial production of an inflammable air from coal is to be found in a letter from the Rev. Dr. John . Clayton of Kildare to the Hon. Robert The idea of applying this air for purposes of illumination seems to have first occurred to Mr. Murdoch-an engineer residing at Redruth in Cornwall.* In the year 1792 he commenced a series of experiments on the gases obtained by the action of heat upon coal, wood, peat, and other inflammable substances, and actually prepared coal-gas on a scale sufficiently large to light up his own house and office. Five years after, while living at Cumnock in Ayrshire, he again erected a coal-gas apparatus. In 1798 he was engaged to put up his apparatus at the manufactory of Messrs. Boulton and Watt, Soho, near Birmingham, where he continued to experiment, with occasional interruptions, until the year 1802. It does not appear, however, that much attention was excited by these first efforts at gaslighting, except among a very few scientific individuals, until the general illumination at the Peace of Amiens afforded opportunity for a more public display. On this occasion the front of the manufactory was brilliantly lighted up by the new method, and it at once attracted the wonder and admiration of every one who saw it. "All Birmingham poured forth to view the spectacle; and strangers carried to every part of the country an account of what they had seen. It was spread about everywhere by the newspapers; easy modes of making gas were described; and coal was distilled in tobaccopipes at the fireside all over the kingdom." By the exertions of a Mr. Winsor, a company was formed for supplying London with gas; but it struggled for many years with the difficulties at once of inexperience and public prejudice, and was a cause of loss to There * Mr Murdoch was a native of Scotland. is a good full-sized portrait of him in the halls of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.—ED. many individuals. This is the less to be wondered at, as the coal-gas first produced was not in a state of great purity: it was injurious to many articles of furniture, and to wares exposed in shops, and it had a very disagreeable smell. In course of time, how ever, methods have been devised, by the joint labors of the chemist and practical engineer, to remove nearly all its noxious and disagreeable qualities; and now the whole apparatus for making gas and the mode of its purification seem to be so perfect in well-constructed gas-works, that it is doubtful whether much remains to be done either in simplifying the processes or improving the quality of the product from coal. The following is a brief and general statement of the process by which the best coalgas is made:-Cannel or parrot-coal is quickly shovelled into a red-hot cylinder of iron or clay, and the mouth of the cylinder being closed by an appropriate lid, the vapors which instantly arise from the coal are carried away by a wide tube which passes from the cylinder into a series of vessels, where the mixed product is cooled, and loses much condensible matter: thus partially purified, the gas still contains sulphureous, and other vapors, which, if allowed to remain, would give it a very nauseous smell, and tarnish paint and metallic surfaces wherever it was burnt. To remove these impurities, it is subjected, in some gas-works, to dilute sulphuric acid, which separates ammonia; but it is mainly purified by quicklime, contained in a series of vessels, through which it is made to pass; and being thus cleared from all sulphureous gases, it flows on to the gasometer, where it is stored for use. The change from all the older modes of illumination to the employment of coal-gas was certainly a very remarkable one, whether we look to the novelty of the method or to the brilliancy and economy of the light; yet it has only stimulated to the search for better methods and greater economy, and few arts have produced so many inventions in so short a time, or led to so great an expenditure in patents. It was a very natural step from the production of gas from coal to attempt to make it from oil, and it was not long before oil-gas appeared to compete with the other. The advantages claimed for the new gas were the simplicity of its preparation, for no purifiers were required; it could have no noxious qualities not equally pertaining to oil-lamps or candles; it gave a more brilliant light, and took longer time to burn, than an equal bulk of coal-gas. All these merits, however, though justly belonging to it, have not enabled it to compete with the superior economy of its progenitor, and oilgas may be now considered to be in disuse. The gases which have been spoken of, whether from coal or oil, are not simple or uncompounded airs; they both consist of an air called hydrogen in combination with charcoal. When pure hydrogen is burned, it gives a very feeble light; but if a small portion of an incombustible substance be held in its flame, such as a piece of thin platinum wire, the wire becomes heated to whiteness, and is strongly luminous: it is said to be incandescent. In a common gas flame the charcoal is separated from the hydrogen before it is consumed; and thus losing its gaseous form, it exists for an instant in the condition of minute solid particles suspended in the flame. This fact, first explained by Sir Humphry Davy, can be made apparent by the introduction of the edge of a white plate into the burning gas. If the plate be thrust into the lowest part of the jet where the flame is blue, it will not be stained, because the charcoal is still in the gaseous state; but if it be raised to the middle of the flame, where the light is brilliant, it is instantly coated with charcoal. In accordance with these facts, it is seen that heated particles of charcoal are the source of light emitted from coal-gas; and as the luminosity of incandescent bodies is greater as the heat is more intense, an increase of light should be obtained by increasing the temperature of a flame by more rapid combustion-an object which is in so far effected in the Argand and other improved burners. As early as about the beginning of the present century, Dr. Thomas Young in London, and Dr. Ure in Glasgow, (1806,) introduced a jet of oxygen (the great supporter of combustion) into the interior of the flame of a lamp, and thereby produced a more rapid combustion and an increase of light. In 1838 and 1839 patents were taken by Mr. G. Gurney for a similar method of burn not retained; it forms gaseous compounds with the charcoal, which come over along with the hydrogen. In both cases the resulting gases will burn-but they give a very feeble light. In fact the water gases, as we may call them, cannot give much light, from their deficiency in charcoal, which we have already shown to be the great source of light in ordinary flame. On the other hand, there are many substances of no great value which, when heated, abound in vapors rich in charcoal-such are but they deposit a great quantity of their charcoal when exposed to a decomposing temperature, and cannot be profitably converted into gas. Now if the water or other gases deficient in charcoal, and the tar or resin vapors holding it in excess, could be combined together, the probability is great that they would produce a gas of good illuminating power, and at a cheaper rate also than it can be manufactured from coal. ing an Argand oil-lamp, and also for coal- | decomposed; but in this case its oxygen is gas. This light, commonly attributed to him, takes its name from his residence in Cornwall, and is called the Bude Light. Mr. Gurney also improved the London coal-gas for his lamp, by passing it through a vessel of naphtha, a vaporizable substance abounding in charcoal; and he finally obtained a light of so great brilliancy, that for flames of equal size it was twelve times more luminous than ordinary gas. Unfortunately, the Bude light is troublesome to manage, and expensive; and though it has been tried by the Trinity Board with a view to its in-coal-tar, naphtha, resin, turpentine, &c.— troduction in light-houses, and was used for some time to light up the House of Commons, we believe that it has been abandoned in both cases, and its expense is likely to prevent it from being ever generally adopted. The principle of an incandescent solid body being the main source of the luminosity of flame, is beautifully apparent in another intense light, obtained by directing a stream of mixed oxygen and hydrogen gases upon lime or clay. It was first noticed by Dr. Hare of Philadelphia, who used clay as the incandescent substance; but lime was sub-ity of solving it; yet he is aware that othersequently employed at the suggestion of Mr. Gurney, and it is now usually called the Lime-ball Light. The flame of the mixed gases which contain no solid matter is scarcely visible; but the heat is intense, and the lime at so high a temperature is almost too brilliant for the eye to look upon. It has been proposed to use the lime-ball as a miniature sun, where one powerful lamp might supersede a great number of ordinary lights; but it is not easily managed, and, like the Bude light, it is expensive. Of late years experimenters in gas-making have mainly directed their attention towards new methods for procuring it at a cheaper rate than its present cost. And the easy preparation of hydrogen gas from water, long known to chemists, has especially pointed to it as a basis for their operations. Water, which is a compound of two gasesoxygen and hydrogen-is decomposed at a red heat both by iron and charcoal. If steam, for instance, be forced through a mass of red-hot iron filings, its oxygen is retained by the iron, and its hydrogen, which is an inflammable gas, passes off by itself. If, again, steam be passed through a quantity of red-hot charcoal or coke, it is equally Viewing this problem theoretically, the chemist has some reason to doubt the facil wise improbable unions do take place when |