Star.
London, England, 1831-06-18 00:00:00

and of the three powers. Frederick himself ststas, 1
in his description of this transaction, that the depu-
ties were informed if they continued refractory that
the whole kingdom would be dismembered, but on
the contrary, that if they were submissive the fo-
reign troops would evacuate by degrees the terri- '
tory the intended to leave to the republic. The
diet was to be confederated, that the Poles might
be deprived of their last resource, the libcrum veto.
The indifference with which other states re-
garded this partition was indeed surprising.
France, in particular, might have been expected to
protest against it; but the imbecility and dotage of
Louis the XVth, and the weakness of his minis-
ter, paid too little attention to the interestsof their
own nation to be likely to think of others. They
made the most Eivolotis excuses, and even had the
meanness to attempt to shift ;he blame on the
shoulders of their ambassador at Vienna, pretending
that he amused himself with hunting, instead of po-
litics, and had no knowledge of the design of par-
tition until it was consummated. Louis contented
himself with saying, with an affectation of rage,
" It would not have happened if Choiseul had been
here !" Some few patriots in England declaimed
on the injustice of the proceeding, but the spirit of
the ministry, which was occupied in wrangliag with
the American colonies about the imposition of taxes,
was not likely to be very attentive to the cries of
oppressed liberty.

At a sitting of the Helvetic Society of Naturar
Sciences, a letter was read from Dr. Flachin, o
Yverdun, relative to an experiment before men
tioned to the society, in which the ball was pre-
vented from leaving the bottom of a musket when
the gunpowder was fired, simply by putting the'
ramrod upon the ball, and the end of the finger
upon the ramrod. He supposes the effect may be
explained by the circumstance, that near the
charge the ball has a very small velocity compared
to that impressed upon it by the expansive force of
the gases from the fired gunpowder, when exerted
during the whole of the time in which it is passing
along the barrel. It is well known that the effect
thus accumulated is the reason why long pieces
carry further than short ones, and why the breath
of a man, which cannot exert a pressure of more
than a quarter of an atmosphere, may, by means of
a tube, throw a ball to the distance of 60 steps.—
The experiment above requires great care, espe-
cially as to the strength of the piece, which is very
liable to burst ie the performance of the experi-
ment.—Harnturgh Reporter.
DISTANCE OF THE FIXED STARS...--The per-
fection of astronomical instruments has afforded the
prospect of being able to determine the Annual
Parallax, and, consequently, the distance of the
fixed stars ' • but the quantity of deviatiou is so
small as to have hitherto eluded the closest obser-
vation. It cannot amount to a second in the most
conspicuous, and (probably, the nearest of the
stars. These luminous bodies must, therefore, be
more distant, at least two hundred thousand
times than the measure of the diameter of the
earth. The light emitted from such neigh-
bouring suns, though it flies with enormous ra-
pidity, must yet travel more than six thou-
sand years, before it reaches the confines of our
system. But, scattered over the immensity of
space, there may exist bodies which, by their mag-
nitude and predominant attraction, retain or recall
the rays of light, and are lost in solitude and dark-
nese. Had the celerity of the luminous particles
not exceeded four hundred miles in a recond, we
should never have enjoyed the cheering beams of
the sun. They would have been arrested in their
journey, and drawn back to their source, before
they reached the orbit of Mercury. But a star
similar to our sun, and having a diameter sixty-
three times greater, would entirely overpower the
impetus of light.—Professor Leslie's Dissertation
is the Encyclopedia Britaaaica, new edition.
ASTRONOMY.—Sir J. South has completed his
revolving observatory. It is composed of cedar
wood, moved by a variety of wheels, and weighing
altogether six tons, yet a power of sixteen pounds
will move it. The mechanism of this part is the
invention of Brummell, junior. The celebrated
twelve-inch objective glasses of Guineaud are in the
hands of Tully, the optician, to fit them to a tube
twenty feet in length, constructed by Troughton;
it is moved by clock-work, and thus follows the
I course of a planet, allowing the same facility of,
observation that could be afforded were the star a
stationary object. Planets have been subjected to
observation by this glass with a magnifying power
of 1,300. The observatory, altogether, is said to
be most perfect, and science will, no doubt, owe
I obligations to Sir J. South, which we hope public
encouragement will repay.
MEDICO-BOTANICAL SOCIETY.—On Tuesday
evening a full meeting of the Fellows of this Insti-
-1 tution took place ; H. Gibbs Esq. the Treasurer,
in the Chair. A number of distinguished scientific
foreigners were present. A very interesting dis-
sertation on the medicinal plants which occur in
the plays of Shakspeare, from the pen of Dr.
Rootsay, of Bristol, was read, and excited consi-
derable attention. The bebenon henbane alluded to
in Hamlet, the mandragora, the various plants so
beautifully alluded to in Rococo and Juliet, and in
other drours, uero the subject of inquiry, and much
classical information was displayed by the ingenious
author in the illustration of the subject. Mr. Bennett,
who has lately returned from a voyage in search of
scientific information, presented some plants em-
ployed in the Manillas medicinally, and made some
observations on their use. Dr. Whiting delivered
a lecture on the colchicum, and gave much valua-
ble information upon its employment. A singularly
interesting narrative was read by Dr. Sigmond, of
a case of hydrophobia, in which the guaco, which
has excited such extraordinary expectation as a re-
medy, had been tried with great care and etteiss
tion, but had completely failed, both as a cure and
as a palliative.
The favourite theory of geologists, that sea is
becoming land, and land being converted into sea,
is equally verified by Port Spain, in the island of
Trinidad, as it is at Maranham. At Port Spain,
the long spit of sand at the entrance of the river
Caroni, has increased considerably within these
few years, and the oldest inhabitants of the place
also assert that the anchorage off the town is fast
filling up. Tho safety of the place is such, from
the nature of the climate, that merchant vessels
are frequently known to run aground as near to the
town as possible, for the purpose of unloading.
Like the harbour of Marenham, ships cannot lie
where they formerly did, and no moderate-sized
vessel an anchor nearer to the town of Port Spain
.than four wiles. I