a number of the Monitor to read, estimate its excellency in some measure by the variety of communications it contains. Should two or three long pieces occupy nearly the whole of its pages, it would not be called so good, as a number which had a much greater variety of mat ter. 5. Pieces which are lengthy, are not so profitable as short ones. They are more wearisome-less likely to be perused-not so well remembered-and do not af ford so great a variety of matter to the reader. They are not, therefore, so well calculated to answer the object, for which they are designed. Most of the hints and sentiments obtained from books, which we see exerting a practical influence among mankind, are found embodied in brief sketches and concise paragraphs. When a subject must be treated lengthily, let the writer divide his communication into numbers. If you think, Sir, these remarks applicable in any degree to your publication, please to make use of them. T. P. J. EXTRACTS. EFFECTS OF EXTREME COLD. In the adventures of some Russian explorers of high northern regions of modern times, we find the following curious statements;-"It was now (says the narrator) almost impossible to fell timber, which was as hard as the hatchet itself, except it was perfectly dry; and in the greatest severity, the hatchets, on striking the wood, broke like glass. Indeed it was impossible to work in the open air, which compelled us to make many holidays much against our inclination. The effects of the cold are wonderful. Upon coming out of a warm room, it is absolutely necessary to breathe through a handkerchief; and you find yourself immediately surrounded by an atmosphere, arising from the breath and the heat of the body, which incloses you in a mist, and consists of small nodules of hoar ice.-Breathing causes a noise like the tearing of coarse paper, or the breaking of thin twigs, and the expired breath is immediately condensed in the fine substance mentioned above. The Northern Lights are constant, and very brilliant; they seem close to you, and you may sometimes hear them shoot along; they assume an amasing diversity of shapes; and the Tungoose consider them to be spirits at variance, fighting in the air. DESCRIPTION OF A DIVING BELL, AND A DESCENT IN IT BY DR. COLLADON OF GENEVA. THE bell in which we were to descend may be thus described. It was a kind of oblong iron chest, cast in one single piece, open below, 6 feet long, 4 broad, and 5 high: it weighed four tons; it was three inches thick at bottom, and half that thickness at top. It was cast in London, and, including the necessary apparatus and the air pump, cost about £200. The bell being a great deal heavier than the water which it displaces, descends by its own weight. The upper part is pierced with eight or ten holes, in which are fixed the same number of convex glasses, very thick, which transmit the light. The glasses or lenses are fixed in the top of the bell, by means of a copper ring, screwed up against the glass, between which and the bell a coat of putty is laid, and then screwed hard up, so as to render it air tight. The top is pierced with another hole, about an inch in diameter, which receives a long flexible leather pipe, intended to introduce into the bell the air compressed from above by a forcing pump. In the inside of the bel! is a valve which serves to close the aperture, and prevent the air from escaping. In the interior, were two small benches on opposite sides of the bell, with a foot-board between them. There was room enough for four persons. From the middle of the roof descended several strong chains, intended to sustain a kind of iron basket, in which they place the stones or other matters which they wish to carry up. The bell in which we went down was suspended by the the centre with strong ropes, and managed by means of a moveable crane erected on the deck of a small vessel. We got into the bell, which was sufficiently elevated above the surface for that purpose, by means of a boat placed underneath it. We had with us two workmen. We descended so slowly, that we did not notice the motion of the bell; but as soon as the bell was immersed in water, we felt about the ears and the forehead a sense of pressure, which continued increasing during some minutes. I did not, however, experience any pain in the ears; but my companion suffered so much, that we were obliged to stop our descent for a short time. To remedy that inconvenience, the workmen instructed us, after having closed our nostrils and mouth, to endeavour to swallow, and to restrain our respiration, for some moments, in order that, by this exertion, the internal air might act on the Eustachian tube. My companion, however, having tried it, found himself very little relieved by this remedy. After some minutes, we resumed our descent. My friend suffered considerably: he was pale, his lips were totally discoloured; his appearance was that of a man on the point of fainting; he was in involuntary low spirits, owing, perhaps, to the violence of the pain, added to that kind of apprehension which our situation unavoidably inspired. This appeared to me the more remarkable, as my case was totally the reverse. I was in a state of excitement resembling the effect of some spirituous liquor. I suffered no pain; I experienced only a strong pressure round my head, as if an iron circle had been bound about it. I spoke with the workmen, and had some difficulty in hearing them. This difficulty of hearing rose to such a height, that during three or four minutes I could not hear them speak. After some moments, we arrived at the bottom of the water, where every unpleasant sensation almost entirely left us. We were then twenty-seven feet below the surface. I confess that the recollection of the great depth, joined to the idea that if the smallest stone, or other matter, should obstruct the action of the valve, the bell would be instantly filled with water, did not fail to create for a short time a kind of uneasiness. One of the workmen, however, to whom I imparted my thoughts on that subject, desired me, with a smile, to look at one of the glasses placed above us, which I observed to be so much cracked in the middle, that bubbles of air were continually escaping. We breathed during the whole of our stay under water with much ease. We experienced now and then a great heat. Our perspiration was sometimes copious, and sometimes there suddenly came over us so thick a vapour as to prevent my seeing the workmen placed opposite me; but as by means of the signals, they constantly sent us from above pure air, in so large quantities, that a great part of what was contained in the bell made its escape with great violence, this inconvenience very soon disappeared. Our pulse was not affected. Having remained more than an hour at the bottom, and having seen the men work as easily as in the open air, they made some signals, and we ascended, fully satisfied with what we had seen, and convinced of the facility and safety of these submarine operations. Before we went down, they had lost their basket at the bottom of the water, and in order to find it again, they were obliged, in using their signals, to have the bell moved in every direction, which gave us the advantage of becoming well acquainted with the method they employed to make themselves understood. In going up, the sensations which we experienced in the head were very different from those which we felt in descending. seemed to us that our heads were growing larger, and that all the bones were about to separate. This disagreeable sensation, however, did not last long; we were in a short time above the surface, not only much pleased with what we had seen, but also with the idea of emerging safe from our narrow prison. It SEVENTH REPORT OF THE AMERICAN ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. IT is peculiarly grateful to a benevolent mind to contemplate the successful efforts now making for the mental and religious improvement of that unfortunate but very interesting portion of our race who are born deaf, or early deprived of their hearing, and are consequently dumb. We have not room to give an abstract of the Report, politely sent us. We notice it for the purpose of selecting from it. The youthful readers of the Monitor, we hope, will do more than sympathize with these youths of the asylum. They must pray for them; imitate their profound attention to their studies and their rapid improvement. The following interesting compositions by pupils in the Asylum are extracted from the Report before us.]* THE WEDDING. A gentleman was engaged to be married to a lady, and they said they fixed on a day in a month. The bridegroom chose a gentleman to be his groomsman and the bride also asked a lady to attend her at marriage. The bridegroom sent a billet to a clergyman, who read it about an invitation of giving an unity of marriage to the bridegroom and bride. In the evening the company assembled in a room to attend the wedding, and the clergyman was there. The bridegroom and bride were prepared to dress cleanly. The groomsman and bridemaid put four chairs for them and the bridegroom and bride. They separately went to the two rooms to bring the bridegroom and bride. The groomsman led the bridegroom and the bridemaid led the bride and opened the door and sat down on the four chairs, which were set. On the left side, the groomsman sat near the bridegroom, who sat near the bride, who sat near the bridemaid on the right side. Pretty soon they rose and stood and the clergyman also rose and stood and spoke to them and I was not informed what he said. At last the com |