Star.
London, England, 1811-05-30 00:00:00

Rl7-41, INSTITUTION.

MR. ttAVY'S P F GEOLOGICAL LICTURE.-
In cilia lecture Mr. Davy cossiJeted thetauses that
produce the decomposition and decay of the surfaces
of rocks, and the effsets resulting iu consequence in
the economy of nature.
The changes of temperature, of the surface, of the
actico,ttf electricity, of air, and of water, constantly
tending to the dibintegrition of the superficial parts
'of rocks and mount-aim, kod their operation is differ-
eat in different cases.
The expansion of water in the pares br fissures of
rocks by heat or'congelation, is a physical cause of
the separation of their parts. The solvent power of
moisture, exerted upon alkaline, or culcareous, matter
in rocks, is another cause of their decomposition.—
The action of carbonic acid upon the lime, or mag-
nesia, anti of oxygen upon the iron they contain, pro-
duces an analogous result. Electricity, which is
:hewn, by experiments, with the voltaic apparatus, torl
be a most powerful agent of decomposition, seems to
assist in all riese changes, and electrical,powers aze
almost constantly exhibited in the atmosphere, some-
times occasioning the magnificent and awful effects
of thunder-storms, at other times, by slow operation,
tending to produce new arrangements of the elements
at matter.
,The primary rocks, as was noticed in a former lees
toe, ate less deeomposoble than the secondary ;-and,
amongst the primary rocks, the serpentines, micace-
ous, schism, marbles, and porphyries, are more decom-
posable than the granites ; amongst the secondary
rocks, shale, basalt, and soft sand-stone, are usually
very subject to decay.
The granites and porphyries, by their de.composi-
On., afford sand and porcelain clay ; the serpentines
And 6Chists usually a brown or y4l4w earth ; the sand-
-1111
stones, sand ; limestones, marlea;.**s, a black loam;
ai)d basalts, usually a red ochteeiyisoil.
The end of the decomposition cif rocks seems to be
the production of a bed for vegetation. As soon as
the rock begins t I,e softened, the seeds of lichens,
which are constantly ti..:a!ing in the air, make it their
restingsplace. Their generations occupy it till a
finely-divided earth is fcrmed, which becomes capable
of supporting mosses and heath ; acted upon by light
and heat, these plants drink in the dew, and convert
constituent parts of the air into nourishment. Their
death and decay afford food fur a more perfect spa-
des of vegetable ; and at length a mold is formed in
which even the trees of the torest can fix their roots,
and whirl) is capable of rewarding the labours of the
cultivator
The decomposition of rocks tends to the renova-
tion of soils as well as to their formation. Finely-di-
vided matter is carried by rivers from the higher dis-
tricts to the low countries, and alluvial lands are usu.
-ally extremely fertile. The quantity of habitable
surface is constantly increased by these operations
precipitous cliffs are gradually made gentle slopes ;,!,
lakes are filled up, and islands are formed acute
moots of great rivers.
Intiese seri...s of changes connected with the beauty
and fertility of the surface of the globe, small quanti-
ties of solid matter are carried into the sea ; but this
,seems fully conspensated for bathe effects of.yegeta.
tion in absorbing matter from the' atmosphere, by the
production of coral rocks and islands in the ocean,
land by the operation of volcanic furs.
• By wise and beautiful laws, the. equilibrium of
things is constant: Lifeis preserved by operations
which appear destructive; order and harmony arise
from what at first view seems derangement and confu-
sion. Tie 'on of the -wotk is perceived the more
it is stud' and it declares(' in distinct language, the
power and wisdom of the 10.1141014

hiMiday evening last, as Mr. Harroway, a-tanner'
was returning. .home itan Hindon Fair,..WiXtshire,
where, s. 1,4 beeneellieg some sheep- and iambs, he
was itOppedby dire* fellows, omitted with bludgeons,!
- 'who. dr.agged him from his horse, and robbed him of
agar £7O when one of the thieves mounted his horse,
and rode away The animal was found next Morning
grazing in a field, about two miles from the spot.
Tuesday night,,a house repairing in Bethnall-green- I
toad,. was blown down. Fortunately it was empty, the
tenants having quitted the premises on Monday last.
Yesterday afternoon, an old house in Vinegar-yard,
contignons to the ruins of Drury-lane Theatre, fill
down oncl&aly with a tremendous crash. Fortunately
-no person was hurt, the house being uninhabited ;
and the p tssengers, though not few, having the awful
satisfaction to contemplate their critical escape.
SWllatil>G FOR A WAGER.—Two young men,cicrks,
of the names of Gregory and Waller, undertook on
Monday evening to swim lor a wager of ten guineas,
from Brentfnrd tovzards London, with the tide, who
should go farthest,iin three hours. Gregory got away
from his
nadversary in a shalt time, and continued to
swim six miles down the river, when he was taken up
in a boat ; but Waller disappeared, after having gone
three miles, and the body has not yet been found.
A misunderstanding whch took place a few nights
ago in the Theatre, between two young Gentlemen
of Cork and some of the Officers of the Garrison,
has been productive of two duels. The first terms.
nated without any ill consequences, bait in the second.
both parties were wounded on the second fire, one very
slightly, the other severely.
A Country Gentleman, on seeing the streets.
crowded with Qatakers, 'asked a man, the other day,
what they had all come to Town for ?---." Why,'
6, Sir," says the fellow, putting a bill into the Gen-
tleanao's hand, 4, they are afraid our people will buy
" up all the Sixty Caititair, in the Lottery to be drawn
Alt sexiTuerrlay, and they are determined to hare a
44 part of them, and are come to try their luck or,
4,0,,,. g.ang's Birth-Pay."
Worms are the most frequent-saunas, of Childrenn
diseases. Their siMptornierrtpunnt and guardian
of children should be acquainted with. Mitt' occasion•
loss of appetite,'-e paleness of the eidour of the face,
' emaciation, and irrtgulai state .of the bowels, attended
after ~.aiflt violent pains.; they bring on convulsions,
they affect the growth of the body, and they prove
• fatal, by ending in a consumption or decay. Both as
a t even'ative and cure of these alarming complaints,
Ching's Pairai georpo iievalrger is universally allowed, 1
on the toitimony of the highest characters in this l 14 ~.. . DIED. '. •
country, both in tank and respectability, to have no'
y,,, 9„7-hisr,aat hitil,hboase*.in Great Pullet/et-street, In the sea
at ru;set, lA. Wm Commissary-General to
equal. The poldic approbation given to the Pro- The 17
- firCtli aMon:e.
prietnr, from -,*- personal knowledge of its wonder- On the 6th instant, a: klampstead, Dame Joanna Watson,
re, Lict of Sir James Watson, late one of the Judges of the Supreme
fon. success inc their own families, stamps its merit
~:
Orcatt inu7ddlicaintuto, BsogaL
beyond competition, and gives 2 +Sanction to it, of Rielkonfioun,di,liianntth;e7 ieh year of his sae,
whisk 220 other medicine of the kited call bisast.— Richard 'Penn, Esq. G9r"Govertior,
al f
the
Province
one of the Pro-
parents and. others whe have the care of children rietaries, and formerly of Palmy!.
sbonld have this remedy as a family medicine to ro. vania,
NiiAt EaUszb,otaft aarla
...J John Meek Corhet, inidsbiptnast, Kind 1
sort. to, whenever the .stonrach or botails of-children
are. any wiy., disordered, which it will always bra sYsTnithe ~tainit.:t Beaur.uei urrytheir: 31101:iciha.g!osirir-
p Y ung,superlutendant
found to relieve: 'Sold, wholesale and retail, at Mr. .of the Salmon-fishing oti.ta'rlver at that plate. He killed
I its the instant by an accidental fall front hiS horse.
Brakes. No: 4, Cheapside, corner of Paternoster-row,
WOnLii_thre 2,l42don.Dvacetnist_.x last, arsea, o(,n board the Mateste, Mr, 1
and. retitii by. Belam and Sharp, Portsmouth; Ball
alai Johnson, Gosport; Allatat, Weston, Mallory 1 Oa uoienuat ta ott.uadt'holir7truaneutagneoftar4ii‘''garinlitnaln;oiedtb"r"h. 1
and Jones, Portsea ; 'r rewman, Exeter ; Cookwor.l aged 52. Ha wag a man of ta very independent mind, and hadr: •
llarY, Gleir'ilie,
. 6tlbert and noxland, Plymouth ; 1 guakilY not eavly to be wet with at the yrotent iLay—he never i
4.ic_need,kinsself tube indebted to any ei.
irisonie *tie shill:1!
Wbery, Dublin ; Baxter and M'Donald, Glasgow, aft shoe P.'
' b, Manderston, Scott and Cargill, Edinburgh; , „1.,17, "Pada/ awning
Iceland, in the 7t:th year of a nlti: ageL'Etliticbtik:rged aLtoCnagtrd•'
C tt*Rii; Bath ; Ross and Peck, Hull ; Gregson I Visroent and Baron Longneville, Governor of that County, a i
Man- \ Trustte ot tke Linen Manufacture, and a
• and' Bilkage, Liverpool: Stains- and Lynch,Privy Counsellor tor
chesier; Bowen, Norwich ; Knott and Lloyd, Bir.
,rotation ollythhei.lirtsch Nobility,ali'stleathh aLvtaeand.htli =curs in the reprv-
tanonearern *hatted
roil &ham.; Gregory, Brighton 1 and most Medicine !tor life one ..f the twenty-rie replrestanatitPve Peet. at the Union :
Vaheas, in Boxes at 2s. 9d. and ss. 6d. each. idyit:g without issue h.s tide becomes ration.

Faex-MAsoNs.—The Ancient and Honourable So. I
ciety of Free and Accepted Masons are respectfully '
informed. that Brother ASPERNE has obtained an ap-
proved likeness of that living pattern of talents,
FRESTON, Esq. Past Master of the Duke of Anti:
quity, No. I. acting by immemorial constitution ;
whose masonic knowledge, moral excellence, and
readiness of communication, stands, perhaps, unrival-
led.—Painted by S. Drummond, A.R.A. engraved
by Ridley, and which accompanies the European Ma-
gazine for May, this dey pu'alished, with a View of
the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, Lin-
coln's-inn-fields, and a Plan of a Masonic Structure
extending from E. to W. bounded by the N. and the
S. its depth from the surface to the centre, and as high
as the Heavens. nice 25.—Such Brethren as wish to
possess fine impressions of the plates should give early
orders to then respective booksellers, or to Brother
• ASPERNE, at the Bible, Crown, and Constitution,
,Cornh ill.

-
PART Hi.
Monday, the Lady a tieut.4Colonel Colquhoun Grantof the
15th (King's) Hussars, of a -son.
' Tboraday last, the Lady of Captain Lautour, of the First Re-
g"ent of Foot Guards, of a danghter.
At Abertltea. on ;the 20th instant, Mrs. Davidson, wife of
Lieut. Mrs. Davidson, R. N. of a son.
Monday morning, in Lincoln's-Inn fields, the Lady of George
Wharton Marriott, Barrister at Law, or a um.

MARRIED.
Toesday, the Rev. Lewis Way, of Great Guldhans, Essex, to
Caroline Elizatbeth, only daughter 0, John Lteeh, Esq. of New
tridge-stri.et, 1312c,ktriars.