Our selections will occasionally be illustrated with
engravings; for by no means are philosophical subjects better elucidated
than by the aid of the graphic art.]
_Longevity_.
The relative advantages of town and country, in point of salubrity, are
shown by the following table of deaths:--
1. In _great towns_, from 1-19 or 1-20, to 1-23 or 1-24.
2. In _moderate towns_, from 1-25 to 1-28.
3. In _small villages_ and the _open country_, from 1-35 or
1-40, to 1-50 or 1-60.
Thus, in London one person in 20 of the whole population dies annually;
while in the healthiest villages and open country, the rate of annual
mortality is not more than 1 in 55 or 60.
_Atmosphere of Theatres_.
Lavoisier, the French chemist, found, in a theatre, that, from the
commencement to the end of the play, the oxygen, or vital air, was
diminished in the proportion of from 27 to 21, or nearly one-fourth, and
was in the same proportion less fit for respiration than before.
_Butterflies_.
In June, 1826, a column of butterflies, from 10 to 15 feet broad, was
seen to pass over Neuchatel, in Switzerland. The passage lasted upwards
of two hours, without any interruption, from the moment when the
butterflies were first observed.--_Brewster's Journal_.
_Water Plant_.
A shrub has been discovered in our new Indian countries, from whose
stem, when divided, there issues a copious vegetable spring of limpid
and wholesome water.
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