XLII. OUR SPHINX. THE initial letters of each verse transposed will give the following: Verse I. The Scottish commander. 1. Y on 30,000 Englishmen, Not thinking they may see, Or be surprised by Scottish foe Concerning whom they nothing know, M arch in divisions three. 2. Onward the English army goes, Such strength would dare to meet ; Yet 'twas her strength and numbers grand, Relaxed at once her caution and Led England to defeat. 3. 1. Over the water and over the lea. 3. Of course this we deny. 4. What animal takes the longest strides ? 5. He is not worthy, the other has more right. 6. On the taking of the citadel his eyes filled with tears. 7. The son, a tall man, was there. 8. Did not Samson marry Delilah ? 9. Change here for Doncaster. 10. Am I languishing in vain. 11. An Irish car differs from an English one. 12. I wonder by what train they'll come. XLVI. 1. A celebrated Italian poet, born 1544. 2. A eelebrated German musician, born 1732. 3. A natural philosopher, born 1620. 4. A distinguished novelist, born 1745. 5. A dramatist and actor, born 1759. 6. An eminent English poet, born 1553. 7. An English painter, born 1676. 8. A French mathematician, born 1610. 9. A celebrated astronomer, born 1625. 10. A famous grammarian, born 1466. 11. A Venetian historian, born 1473. 12. An English statesman, born 1694. The initials of the above will give the name of a celebrated Athenian general. J. S. BARBER. ANSWERS RECEIVED. What was the Origin of the Star Chamber?Hume says (v. p. 358): "The origin of this court is derived from the most remote antiquity. It was originally composed of all the members of the King's consilium ordinarium, or ordinary council, and its jurisdiction embraced both civil and criminal causes. Its title was derived from the camera stellata, or Star Chamber, an apart ment in the palace at Westminster in which it held its sittings; and we find the lords sitting in Star Chamber,' used as a well-known phrase in the records of Edward III. The court had power to pronounce any sentence short of death. Fines and imprisonment were the usual punishments, and the fines were frequently so enor mous as to become ruinous.' EDWARD NODES. Who were the Ancient Britons? Name the stock they came from, the places they came from, the different tribes, with the positions, &c.-"The earliest inhabitants of Britain, so far as we know, were probably of that great family the main branches of which, distinguished by the designation of Celts, spread themselves so widely over middle and western Europe. The Welsh and Danish traditions indicate a migration from Jutland; and the name of Cymry, given to the immigrant people, has been supposed to indicate their probable identity with the Cimmerians, who being expelled by the Scythians from their more ancient seats N. of the Euxine, traversed Europe in a N.W. direction, and found new settlements near the Baltic and the mouth of the Elbe. These barbarians then reached How does a Bill pass in Parliament, and become take a great while, but still it is a sure method, practice giving almost a second talent for anything. When learning anything, fix your attention wholly on it, and do your best. Even to fix the attention will be found a difficult thing at first, but with practice also, that can be done, and to learn anything well it must be done. Often the fault of not remembering anything well cannot be laid to the memory, but to the degree of attention paid to the learning of it. Who was Guy Fawkes ?-Guy Fawkes was the ruffian hired by Catesby (Percy), and the other conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot, to set fire to the powder concealed under the Parliament houses. The conspiracy was discovered by Lord Monteagle receiving an anonymous letter warning him not to attend the coming Parliament, as God and man had concurred to punish them for their wickedness. Lord Monteagle laid this letter before the king, whose sagacity suspected the truth, and he ordered the vaults under the Parliament house, which had been hired by the conspirators under the pretence of keeping fuel there, to be searched, but purposely What causes Snow?-Snow is caused by the delayed the search till the day before the Parlia cloud becoming frozen before its particles have collapsed into water. What causes Rain?-Rain is caused by a cloud moving into a stratum of cold air, by which its particles are condensed and run into drops, too heavy to float in the atmosphere. What causes Hail?-Hail is caused by the freezing of the drops after they have begun to fall S. G. WILLS. as rain. At what date was Lord Byron born? how old was he when he died, and when did he die ?-Lord George Gordon Byron, a poet of elevated and versatile genius, was born on the 22nd of January, 1788, in Holles-street, Cavendish-square, London. In October, 1814, he married Miss Milbanke, a great heiress in prospect, but at that time possessed of but a little money. He died at Missolonghi, at six o'clock in the afternoon of the 19th of April, 1824, being only 36 years and three months of age. The bitter grief of his followers and attendants of all nations was a proof of his frequent kindness of heart, and his goodness as a master. S. G. WILLS. ment met. Then they found in the vaults Guy Fawkes ready to set fire to several barrels of gunpowder, and thus blow up the king and Parliament. He was seized, and being threatened with torture, he confessed the whole conspiracy. Guy Fawkes was afterwards executed with several others of the conspirators. How to make a lime Light.-The light of hydrogen gas is very pale, the highest luminosity, however, may be conferred on it by introducing into it any infusible solid substance which it can raise to a high temperature. The solid generally used for this purpose is quicklime, and the hydrogen is maintained in full combustion by mixing it with oxygen before by conducting hydrogen through one tube, and This is most easily and safely done kindling it. oxygen through another, from separate gasholders containing them, or from bags of these gases. These tubes terminate in a single canal, where they are allowed to mix, and from which they are conducted by a curved jet or nozzle, which permits the mixed gases to flow out against a piece of lime. The lime being supported on a spindle. In using this arrangement, the hydrogen is first kindled and allowed to heat the lime, which communicates to its flame a brick-red colour, owing to the combustion of the metal calcium, of which lime is the oxide. The oxygen is then turned on, when the flame becomes much smaller, and changes to a bright white light of the greatest intensity. It is the lime in reality which evolves the light; the office of the burning When were the terms "Whig" and "Tory" first introduced?-These terms were first introduced in the reign of Charles II. The Whigs represented the Roundheads, and the Tories the Cavaliers. Tory or Toree, meaning "Give me," was a name applied to the robbers who infested the woods and bogs of Ireland. The name Whig was first given in contempt by the dissolute Cavaliers to the sober, grave-faced presby-hydrogen being to maintain the solid at the high terians of Scotland, it meaning sour milk. ROBERT E. HAMILTON. Who was John Pym?-The great commoner in the reign of Charles I; a great friend of Cromwell's. ROBERT E. HAMILTON. "whey," or When was the first Newspaper printed? - In July, 1558; it was called the "British Mercurie," and is still preserved in the British Museum. ROBERT E. HAMILTON. Who was Galileo?-He was the famous Italian astronomer; he it was who first propounded the fact that the earth was round. ROBERT E. HAMILTON. How to strengthen the Memory.-The memory can be strengthened by practice. Learn a little of anything at a time, gradually increasing the quantity as you become more expert in learning. With perseverance this practice will be found to raise the memory to a high pitch of retention. You must not, however, suppose you can strengthen the memory in a little time. It will temperature essential to its exhibition of luminosity, and the office of the oxygen being to maintain the hydrogen in full combustion. This lime-ball light, as it is called, rivals sunlight in brilliancy and purity, and is visible on a clear night at a distance of nearly one hundred miles. What is Light.-Light is that ethereal, imponderable essence, of the presence of which we are informed by our visual organs. It is a highly attenuated fluid, or undulating ether, universally diffused throughout all space, a material but extremely subtle fluid, emanating in particles from a luminous body. A ray of light contains all the primary and secondary colours, into which it can be resolved, as for example in the rainbow, where the colours of the rays of light are reflected by drops of rain, or by a long three-side piece of solid glass, which, if held in the sunlight so as to throw the ray on to a shaded place, will then resolve the ray into its component colours on the shaded place; the colours and their proportions can also be obtained by spectrum analysis. If the colours of a ray of light are wholly absorbed by a substance, the colour of that substance is black; if wholly reflected, it is white; if some are absorbed and one or more reflected, the colour of that subtance is that colour which it reflects; or if it reflects several colours, the colour these colours form by mixing. A ray of light is not reflected or absorbed by a transparent substance, it passes through it. The reason a ray of light looks white, is that it turns round so quickly and travels with such rapidity, namely, 192,000 miles in a second. In illustration of this latter, paint on a round piece of cardboard, radiating from the centre all the colours of the rainbow, that being a reflection of the colours of a ray of light, in the following order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and as near the proportion as possible, they are in a ray of light. The proportion in which the colours are to be painted on the card and the correct shades may be ascertained by spectrum analysis or by the colours cast in the shady place by the three-side piece of glass. Such a piece of glass can be obtained from some chandeliers. Through the centre of this card pass a string and turn the card round quickly; and, if the proportions of the colours are pretty correct, the card will look almost white. It does not appear as white as a ray of light because a ray of light turns round a great deal faster, and in it the colours are in more exact proportion than is possible for us to paint them on a piece of card. Light is an active chemical agent, and is essential to the growth of plants, as when the sun is shining plants decompose the carbonic acid in the air, appropriating the carbon to themselves, and setting the oxygen at liberty. Every point of a medium through which a ray of light passes, is affected with a succession of periodical movements, recurring at equal intervals, no less than five hundred millions of millions of times in a single second. It is by such movements communicated to the nerves of our eyes that we see, and it is the difference in the frequency of their recurrence which affects us with the sense of the diversity of colour. For instance in acquiring the sensation of redness, our eyes are affected four hundred and eighty-two millions of millions of times; of yellowness, five hundred and fortytwo millions of millions of times; and of violet, seven hundred and seven millions of millions of times per second. ANSWERS REQUIRED. Who were the seven champions of Christendom, some account of them, with the days dedicated to them, and the time when they existed? Who were the Knights of the Round Table; some account of them ? Which is correctly spelt Gilbert or Gilberd? What is the meaning and derivation of Penzance and Helston, the names of two towns in the west of Cornwall? What was the name of the father of the Robert Bruce who won Bannockburn, with some account of that Robert Bruce? What are the national flags of the various nations of the world? Name the remarkable events that have happened in Cornwall, with the names of her remarkable men. Will any of your subscribers be so kind as to give me the words of the piece named "The Charge of the Light Brigade," by Tennyson? How are messages delivered by telegraph, and what is the principle of the electric telegraph? Some account of the late Prussian war, what caused it, and the conditions on which peace was made. The price and publisher of a good ancient and modern History of Scotland. Give a short history and account of St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall. What are the different kinds of dogs (name especially the English, and tell when English); and is there any kind of bull-dog peculiar to England, if so, what kind? Who were the German or Gothic tribes that invaded England? Give an account of the rise and progress of Buddhism. ADJUDICATION ON PRIZE ESSAY.-AUGUST. WE have received eighteen Essays on the subject of Dreams. The majority are well written, and show that the writers have not only read but considered the topics of the Essay. Our space will not admit of our dwelling on the respective merits of the compositions, but we may probably print one or more of them at some future time. J. Williams fairly earns the place of honour. This essay is very interesting and full of curious detail. It is written clearly and without affectation. Phillip Smith stands next; he has done very well indeed, and is entitled to much credit. We append the names and addresses of the competitors: 1. J. Williams, aged 16, Ballyclare, Belfast. 2. Phillip Smith, aged 17, Wind-street, Swansea. 3. John Leake Dexter, aged 15, Motcombestreet, S.W. 4. J. Mann Shields, aged 15, Southampton. 5. John Chas. Spanwick, aged 15, Bolsover. street, Fitzroy-square. 6. Fredk. J. Hamlyn, aged 17, Hull. 7. Denis Edmund Courtier, Kentish Town. 8. Walter Gawtrey, aged 17, Cambridge. 9. R. W. Higgins, Norland-square, Notting-hill. 10. Joseph W. Colling, aged 15, Brighton. 11. William J. Haram Wood, aged 16, Boston, Lincolnshire. 12. A. B. Roberts, aged 15, Drake-street, Rochdale. 13. J. M. Fulton, aged 17, Glasgow. 14. Edward Caleb King, aged 15, Red Hill, Surrey. 15. John Moore, aged 15, Binfield, Berks. 16. Henry J. Hassan, aged 13, Devizes. 17. T. H. Hadgraft, aged 17, Southsea. 18. R. H. Hadden, aged 13, Seaforth, near Liverpool. |