territories of Aquilea, and Trieste, the Duchies of Salzburgh, and the principality of Berytolzgaden, the kingdom of Bohemia, the Margravate of Moravia, and Austrian Silesia, the two Gallicias with the Buckowine, Hungary, Croatia, Sclavonia, the principality of the Seven Mountains, the military frontiers of Croatia, of Sclavonia, the Baunats of the Seven Mountains, and of Hungary. The whole of these countries compose a dominion the extent of which is 10,906 square miles: the population is 24,900,000 persons, of which are 6,400,000 Germans, 13,000,000 Sclavonians, 3,400,000 Hungarians, and the remainder is composed of various nations. ing crushed by the wheels, and no boat can board a-stern, as the difference between the wake of Neptune's chariot, and that of a common water carriage, is very materially open to observation; as when you approach the first you will be told by anticipation to pay respect to a lady in the chariot, as will be readily notified by the expansion of a wet fan which forms the dimensions of her wake, but moving with great impetuosity from the warm repulsion. It is a curious fan; it only spreads by an aquatic latchet being sprung by the kicking of the horses. I may now venture to multiply and give you the sum total. The boat is 146 feet in length and 12 in width (merely an experimental thing), draws to the depth of her wheels two feet of water, 100 feet deck for exercise, free of rigging or any incumbrance. She is unquestionably the most pleasant boat I ever went in. In her the mind is free of suspence. Perpetual motion authorises you to calculate on a certain time to land-Her works move with all the facility of a clock : and the noise, when on board, is not greater than that of a vessel sailing with a good breeze. The motion felt by the passengers, not more than what a pleasing degree of lively animation would create, and the operation of the machine will afford a good relish to a scientific mind during the passage; in fact her works move much like those of the human system; a number of joints and fibres put in motion from the action or impulse of a liquid which flows and ebbs alternately through various vessels, depending on stimulating substance for support About one eighth part of the Austrian ter-1 do assure you, it made me wish I under-ritory is occupied by houses, roads, rivers, and stood the method of acquiring the art of think-lands incapable of cultivation; one fifth, at ing. Thus my friend, have I endeavoured to paint the outlines of an aiduous and expensive undertaking, of a work planned and executed by two American gentlemen, whose merit requires more reward than my feeble pen can bestow. AUSTRIA. Official Statistical account of the Austrian Empire for 1807.-The Baron de Lichtenstein has very lately published a statistic account of the states of Austria, inserted on a map of that Empire, which has appeared at the Cosmographic Institution at Vienna. This account may be considered as official, and may, therefore, be depended on for giving an idea of the state, strength, riches and resources of the Austrian monarchy for 1807, and of the means which that state may exert to augment its population, and to improve its arts, and cultivation. The states which compose the Austrian monarchy are: Austria properly so called, the Duchies of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the counties of Goerz, and Gradiska, the The greater part of this population is catholics, about 2,000,000 of Greeks not catholics, about the same number of reformed Greeks, more than 1,000,000 of Protestants, and 530,000 Jews. The nobles of the Austrian monarchy amount to 540,000, the ecclesiastics 39,700, the military and its followers 600,000, without including 940,000 inhabitants of the frontiers, who serve as militia. The number of attendants with their fa milies amounts to 112,000 persons. Labour, not including the inhabitants of the frontiers, employs, reckoning all the individuals of the families who live by their industry, 4,672,000. persons. The country contains 16,427,000. The subjects of the Austrian monarchy occu py 796 cities, 1012 towns, and 65,572 villages. least, of the land is uncultivated. Cultivation occupies two ninth parts of the territory in pasturage: of fifty four parts, seven are occupied by sheep walks, eleven by forests, one by fruit gardens and kitchen gardens, two by grain, grasses, plantations of woods, and botanic gardens: seven parts in eighteen are vineyards. The fishery produces more than 760,000,000 florins, although according to the tables of duties, it is estimated at producing only 234,800,000 florins. The mines belonging to individuals yield 13, to 14,000,000 florins; the crown derives from those belonging to it, a net revenue nearly equal: the manufacture of articles whether derived immediately from the country or from abroad produces 380,000,000 of florins. The commerce of raw materials produces nearly one fourth part of that sum. The exportation of articles finished and unfinished, amounts to about 24,000,000 florins; the importation is millions for goods passing through for other 27,000,000 in which we may reckou 2 or 3 parts, which shews that the balance is nearly equal between the empire of Austria and foreign countries, The amount of the settled revenues of the state is 110,000,000 florins. The expenses of the court, and the civil establishment, are 11,000,000 florins: the army costs 40,000,000 florins. The debts of the state are calculated by late writers at more than 900,000,000 florins. The army mounts to 340,000 men, formed into 63 regiments of the line, one of chasseurs, and 17 regiments of frontier troops (together 271,000 men): 8 of cuirassiers, 6 of dragoons, 6 of light-horse, 11 of hussars, 3 of hulans, and one of Szeckler (together 50,800 men, cavalry). The artillery is 4 regiments complete, one corps of bombardiers making 14,500 men, without reckoning the artillery of fortified places, the corps of engineers and of miners. There are also in Austria 4 regiments of guards, with numerous corps of invalids. In time of war, the military power is greatly encreased, by levies of militia which continue embodied till the peace. The monarchy also possesses 27 fortified places of peculiar strength; three also are about to be constructed. One near Emis; another near Bruck-sur-laillurh, a third near Raab. The government also supports, for the defence of the coast, an armed flotilla of 23 vessels, and 20 others of smaller dimen sions. Sole of State Lands.-Vienna. Oct. 8. The sale of the lands belonging to the state continues without interruption: the considerable manors and demesnes, are put up to the best bidder. In 1803, before the cession of Tyrol and Austrian Suabia, the crown possessed in property 111 cities, 51 mansion houses, 5,471 towns and villages; forming a population of 1,855,065 persons. The revenues of these domains were not so considerable as they might have been, had they been well administered. Almost all of them therefore, are sold at prices above their estimated value. territory, they will be closely imprisoned. During the first four days, the prisoners were not allowed to see any friend or acquaint ance. Livy in Manuscript.-The valuable MS. of Livy, which was preserved in one of the Colleges of the University of Copenhagen, has not suffered by the late calamities of that city. off by the English is valued at 4,757,000 rixValue of Danish Fleet.-The fleet carried dollars. The ship of the line the Christian vii. of 96 guns, cost 240,000 rix-dollars; the Neptune of 84 guns, 212,000: the 74 gun ships cost 186,000; the 64 gun ships, cost 169,000; the 44 gun frigates cost 97,000; the smaller, 60,000; the brigs, 40,000, &c. &c. The Sound. In the last quarter of the year, there passed the Sound 2195 vessels. English 560. Swedish 309. Danish 213. Americans 85. Oldenburghers 35. Prussians 30. Papenburghers 25. Russians 25. Portuguese 17. Bremeners 10. Hamburghers 4. Rostockers 3. particularly that of the Jews." The class had proposed another question; which was, to' examine: "What has been during the three "first centuries of the Hegira, the influence "of Mahommedanism, on the minds, the manners and the governments of nations, among which it was established." None of the memoirs sent to the Institute having been deemed worthy of the prize, the class proposes the same question for the year 1809. It proposes also as a new prize question "the "critical examination of the historians of "Alexis Comnenius, and of the three Princes "of his family who succceded him; the testimonies of these writers must be com pared with those of the historians of the "crusades, without neglecting whatever ad"ditional information Arabian writers may "afford on the reign of these Emperors, and 66 especially on their policy towards the cru"saders." The price for each of these questions is a gold medal value 1500 francs; it will be adjudged in the public sitting of the first Friday of July 1809. No memoirs to be re site of the intended St. Madelaine church on the Boulevards, and the work is also begun ; on this occasion a difference of opinion took place between His Imperial and Royal Majesty the Emperor and King! and the class of the Fine Arts of the Institute, to which the examination of the plans had been referred, with orders not to exceed in the estimate a sum of 3,000,000 of livres (about £120,500.) Eighty two plans were presented. These, after several assortings, were finally reduced to eight, which the class acknowledged to possess sufficient merit to entitle their authors to a remuneration. Among them they fixed upon that of M. Beaumont as fulfilling all the necessary conditions, and the first prize was adjudged to him. A plan presented by M. Vignon, appeared to them infinitely more magnificent, but was placed only in the second rank, as being deficient in solidity. For Bonaparte, however, this was no reason, and he adopted the rejected plan, saying that "he would make the necessary sacrifices to "give it the desired solidity.' ceived after the 1st of the same month.-We | French armies is also to be erected on the should not perhaps have recorded these prize questions, but that they manifest the incessant efforts of the French ruler to turn the minds of his subjects towards the East. The opinions of men of letters in France, form, it is well known, a tolerable criterion by which the secret thoughts of its government may be ascertained. The savans and writers are a kind of politico-literary advanced guard, whose duty it is to prepare public opinion: the task is carefully distributed among the various classes, and each has it's particular department. Whoever has closely traced the progress of the French revolution, inust have remarked that the various parties have successively followed that system of tactics which extends its ramifications over all Europe. We might adduce numerous examples in support of this observation; let it sulice to recollect, that previous to the last changes in Germany, Charlemagne and his extensive empire over the West, were for nearly two years, the constant theme of all French writers. The plan, then, in view, is now realized; and the subject is at rest; but a new career is to open in the East to French ambition; accordingly, we find accounts of these countries introduced, in some shape or other, into all the departments of French literature. New Public Buildings.-When a nation is held by force in au uneasy and unnatural state, it must be dazzled by gigantic enterprises, or corrupted by frivolous, and immoral amusements; no time, no room, must be allowed for reflection, or the despotic usurper is lost. That Bonaparte is well acquainted with this secret of governing a vain and frivolous people, we have had occasion to remark more than once; and in his extensive system of politicotheatrical deception, the costly assistance of the fine arts is not to be neglected, notwithstanding the exhausted state of the country We find accordingly, that the plan, which startled Louis XIV. himself, of uniting the Louvre to the Thuilleries, by a gallery on the north side of the Carousel, parallel to that on the south, is to be carried immediately into execution; the foundations have been laid, and an immense quantity of materials is gathered on the spot. We have seen an estimate made several years ago, in which the expense of the undertaking was calculated at near £2,000,000 sterling. We recollect, that the unfortunate Louis XVI. being repeatedly teized by his Queen, to remove the unsightly buildings which disgraced the front of the Thuilleries towards the Carousel, and to in close the whole with a magnificent railing (which has been since done) constantly answered, "It certainly would be very hand 66 some, but I had rather have a man of war "for the price." He was then at war with Britain. A monument in honour of the Monument of Fénélor.-A less costly nonument has been consecrated to departed genius and virtue: it is formed of ruins, sad but appropriate materials! An isolated spire, was the only part of the cathedral of Cambray, which had escaped the revolutionary hands. M. Pommereuil, Prefect of the department du Nord, has consecrated it to the memory of Fénélon. A chapel is to be constructed in the tower part, to contain his mortal remains; his statue is to be placed on the top which commands the prospect of a public walk, formed on the site where stood the palace he inhabited, and the church where he so often preached Christian charity, and gave the example of repentance, and of submission to legitimate power! Will this mute, but forcible appeal to the feelings, be lost on our volatile neighbours? Have its effects on the mind been calculated by the promoter of this undertaking? Hypothesis on the subject of Insanity.— M. Prost, a physician of eminence, and attached to an Hospital at Paris, has lately published a pamphlet, wherein he endeavours to prove, that the cause of insanity is seated not so much in the head, as in the stomach and bowels. He has observed that the contents of the bowels, in those who have died while under this disorder, are replete with mucous or bilious matters more or less discoloured, and dark: often, worms are found, the inner membrane of the bowels is constantly reddish, or even changed altogether from its proper colour in divers points of its surface. Almost always is the gall bladder and its ducts dilated, and frequently they contain coneretions: the liver too is enlarged, and swelled. These symptoms M. Prost conceives establish the theory, that the seat of the disease is in the intestines. The opponents of M. P. have treated his opinion with jocularity: but as this is not the way in which a medical question of importance, involving facts, should be treated, we so far become his advocates as to think his observations deserve attention, and to recommend them to fair investigation. From facts which have lately come under our own inspection, we do not think so lightly of this hypothesis as to turn it into a joke. All allow that melancholy is closely allied to the state of the organs of digestion: and what should prevent a peculiar indisposition of them from producing effects, by sympathy with other parts, which are not to be expected from them by immediate and direct action? Cheap Glazing for Pottery.From an Essay on the Improvement of Pottery in general," by C. R. Jousselin, manufacturer at Nevers, we learn, that the author has established a manufactory on his own principles, and announces a discovery of a new method of enamelling or glazing, composed of materials so cheap, that the enamel, which costs the manufacturer at present 320 livres for one batch, will not amount to more than 20 livres. Statues. Three huge Prussian mortars, cast in 1741, lately arrived at Paris, on a waggon drawn by 12 horses. They are to be melted down to form part of the Statue of Dessaix, which is to adorn the Place des Victoires. The cannons that are to compose the monument of General Hautpult are daily expected. Carnivorous Animals.-Letters from Nancy, of the 20th October, state, that in the present year there have been killed, in the first Forest District, 221 male wolves, 93 females, 48 young wolves, and 937 other mischievous beasts. Analization of Iron Ores.-Mr. Vauquelin has instituted an accurate analysis of the iron ores of France, their products, the fluxes employed, and the scoria, with a view to ascertain the causes of the defective qualities of the iron. These he attributes to remains of chrome, phosphorus, and manganese. He observes that this compound, sublimed in the furnaces, bears much resemblance to that of the stones that have fallen from the atmosphere, except that these contain nickel also; and he conceives it not impossible, that the particles carried up from our furnaces may contribute, in some degree to their forma tion. Etheogamia, or uncommon Fructification. -M. Beauvois observes concerning the fecundation of mosses and mushrooms, that amidst the dust of the capsules of mossess, which Hedwig considered as the seed, is a kind of nucleus, or little axis, more or less swelled, called by botanists the columella. In this nothing has been observed but a parenchyma more or less cellular. M. B. has discovered some very small grains, which he believes to be the true seeds; and the other dust that fills the capsule around it, he supposes to be the pollen. When the capsule is ciliated, the set by their motion compress the pollen against the seeds to fecundate them, at the moment when they are about to escape. His opinion is similar with respect to mushrooms. The multitude of little grains, or dust, spread over the gill, or other parts of soine, and included in others, as the lycorperdons, which have been supposed to be seeds, are, according to him, the pollen; which, in the same manner, fecundates the true seeds that are contained within this pollen, just as they burst from these. Second Ascension by Night of M. Garnerin. - [Compare Panorama, Vol. III. p. 393.]-My second aërial journey by night will not afford an opportunity for the brilliant narratives which I have had occasion to make in the course of my forty preceding ascensions. I shall not have to describe the majestic appearances which nature continually offers to the eyes of an aeronaut who ascends in favourable weather. I can only give a narrative of an aërial tempest which was nigh terminating in a shipwreck. The obstacles which the wind caused to the inflation of the balloon, sufficiently apprized me of the approach of the storm; and to the difficulties of the weather was added the turbulence of a party, by which I was prevented from placing the cord of the valve, so as to regulate the tube, which, in case of expansion, was to conduct the gas into a direction different from the lights which surrounded the bottom of the balloon. I was to have been accompanied by M. de Chassenton; but the aërial storm, which continually increased until the moment of my departure, gave me reason to apprehend such a disaster as Mr. Blanchard, and another aëronaut, met with in Holland. M. da Chassenton was actually in the boat. I must bear witness to his determination: for I am convinced that nothing could have made this young man, remarkable for his merit, quit the boat, if the well-grounded apprehension which I entertained, of seeing him exposed to certain destruction, had not suggested to me the idea of declaring to him, that the balloon was not capable of carrying up two persons. It was thus in the most adverse weather, and exposed to the greatest opposition and the tumult of a cabal, the head of which it is easy to guess at, that I ascended from Tivoli, at half past ten o'clock on the night of the 21st of cension, but extremely necessary to prevent September. An unexampled rapidity of asme from coming in contact with the adjoining houses, raised me above the clouds, and in a few minutes carried me to an immense height, the extent of which I cannot precisely ascertain, on account of the dangers, and embarrassments which suddenly affected my imaginaton, and prevented me from observing the declension of the mercury in the barometer. Elevated in an instant to the frozen regions, the balloon became subject to a degree of expansion which inspired me with the greatest apprehension. There was no alternative between certain death and giving an instant vent to the gas; and this at the risk of seeing the balloon take fire. I gradually opened with one hand an orifice of about two feet diameter, by which the gas escaped in large volumes, while, with the other, I extinguished as many of the lights as I could. During this effort, I several times was near overbalancing myself, and falling out of the boat. Deprived of the opportunity of regulating the valve, my balloon, like a ship without a rudder, floated in air, obeying the influence of the temperature, the winds, and the rain. Whenever the force of these made me descend, the storm, which kept still increasing, obliged me to throw out ballast, for the purpose of avoiding it, and escaping from imminent shipwreck. At length, at four o'clock in the morning, after having been almost continually enveloped in thick clouds, through which I could seldom see the moon, all my means of supporting myself in the air were exhausted. Whatever skill I possessed was no longer of use to me. My boat several times struck against the ground and rebounded from thence. The tempest often drove me against the sides and tops of mountains. Whenever my anchor caught in a tree, the balloon was so violently agitated by the wind, that I experienced all the inconvenience of a violent sea-sickness. Plunged at one time to the bottom of a precipice, in an instant after I ascended, and acquired a new elevation. The violence of the concussions exhausted my strength, and I lay for a half-hour in the boat in a state of insensibility. During this tempest I recovered; I perceived Mont Tonnerre, and it was in the midst of crashes of thunder, and at a moment which I supposed would be my last, that I planted upon this celebrated inountain the Eagle of Napoleon joined to that of Alexander. I was carried away for some time longer by gusts of / wind, but fortunately some peasants came to my assistance at the moment that the anchor hooked in a tree. They took hold of the cords which hung from the balloon, and landed me in a forest upon the side of a mountain, at half past five in the morning, seven hours and a half after my departure, and more than 100 leagues distant from Paris. They took me to Clausen, in the canton of Waldfishbach and department of Mont Tonnerre. M. Cesar, a man of information, and Mayor of the neighbouring town, came and offered me every assistance in his power, and at my request drew up a narrative, of which he gave me a copy. I was splendidly entertained the next day at Deux Ponts by a Society of Friends of the Arts, consisting of Public Functionaries, the Officers of the 12th Regiment of Cuirassiers, and of the Members of the Lodge of Freemasons.-GARNERIN. Craniology.-Doctor Gall is arrived at Paris, and has been presented to the Society of Medicine, where his opinions have undergone a very severe examination. The class of the Sciences in the Institute has named a commission of eight members to examine his system of Craniology. It is added that the scull of an assassin, who was condemned to suffer death, being presented to him, though entirely ignorant of the circumstance, the doctor declared that the scull bore the character of a murderer-However, he has not yet been presented to Buonaparte! Consumption of Viands at Paris.-According to very recent information, the annual consumption of viands at Paris is detailed as follows: 193,271 head of horned cattle. 134,500 dozen of pigeons. 1,000,000 doz. of oysters, worth £,12.500. Wine, to the value of £1,750,000. |