The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-06 00:00:00

hawk and wood-pigeon c

quently enter into a mutual compact against the crows and
jackdaws, who are constantly on the look-out for the eggs
of all other birds. The hawk appears to d?pend on the

of thewood-pigeon to warn him of the approach

lies out, and is not satisfied till he has driven the crow to a
safe distance from the nests of himself and his more peace-
al,le ally. At least in no other way can I account for

lune range of rock, but within two or three yards of each
'borts and Nat. Hist. of the Highlands•.

other.—J

DEFENSIVE POSITION OF CANADA.—When

in 1812

walk over it, they soon found that they were to take very
little by their motion. The whole number of British
troops then in the colony was under two thousand four
hundred men. Upper Canada was comparatively a wil-
derness, occupied by a few scattered labourers, difficult to

officers could be made. Yet, even with this slender oppo- \
sition, how did the invaders fare? Where were the glo-
rious results so confidently anticipated ? Let the defeat
at Christler's farm, the rout and heavy loss at Queens-
town, the surrender of General Hall with his whole army
and the territory o Michigan, reply to the question. And
to-day how do matters stand? " Within the last twenty
years, several entire Scottish clans, under their chiefs—
M`Nabs, Giengarys, and others, worthy of their warlike

-have rr

'of Ulster, and fiery but kind-hea

peasants.. fr

h of Ireland, with sturdy 1
and Cumberland, have fizet

out losing their love and reverence for the crown and laws
of their native country, have become attached to their
adopted land, where their stake is now aed,and are ready
_ _

to defend their properties

sion or domestic treas
posed in a great part of the excel

r The militia, com-

Tent materials jr

rnerated, is the nominal strength of 140,000 men. Of these
a fourth might take the field, without their absence se-
riously impeding the commerce and industry of the coun-

eight thousand regular troops occupy the various garri-
sons. Quebec, with its strong fortifications and imposing
citadel, may bid defiance to any force that could be brought
against it from the States; important works have been
erected upon the island of Montreal; Kingston and its
adjacent forts would requiire'a large army and correspond-
ing naval force to subdue it ; Toronto would Rive the in-
vaders some trouble. Defensive works exist along the
frontier of Lower Canada. In no way has the security of

. A PROOY THAT A MAN CAN BS HIS OWN GRAND-
FATHER.—There was a widow and her daughter-in-law,
and a man and his son. The widow married the son, and
the daughter the old gentleman. The widow was iere-
fore mother to her husband's father, and, consequently.
errindmother to her own husband. They bad a son, to
whom she was great grandmother ; now, as the son of a
great grandmother must be either a grandfather or great
uncle, this boy was one or the other. He was his own
grandfather! This was the case with a boy at school at
Norwich.—Hood's Magazine.
TEA.—The chemical constituents of tea are—volatile
oil, tannic acid, and theine; the other constituents are
those commonly found in the leaves of vegetables. '1 he.
tea owes its smell, and part of its effects to its volatile oii.
The tannic acid blackens the salts of iron, as the tannic
acid of oak. The theine is the most remarkanle constituent.
Peligot has lately discovered in tea a larger quantity of
theme, besides some caseine, both of which are azotised
substances. The use of carbonate of soda is advantageous
in the preparation of tea, as it is in that of coffee; it in-
creases the power of drawing the extract out of the leaves,
makes the infusion stronger, and gives it a better taste.
In the ashes of tea the author found oxide of iron and ar-
gilla, and draws from this circumstance the conclusion,
that the shrub grows and thrives on ferruginous and ar-
gillaceous soils, which are also in other respects favourable
to the formation of ammonia, and of the azotised caseine
and theine. In using tea, most persons only consume
those parts which are to be extracted by water, particu-
larly the etherial oil, the tanuate of tbeine, gum, and
most of the soluble salts. But the tea is not exhausted by
a single infusion in boiling water; at least one-third of
the soluble constituents remain in the leaves, with the
greatest part of the caseine. Carbonate of soda dissolves
the caseine, and therefore materially increases the strength
of the beverage. The theine is composed of eight atoms
of carbon, four atoms of nitrogen, ten atoms of hydrogen,
and two atoms of oxygen. In those countries where tea
is generally taken (as England and Holland), diseases of
relaxation and eannoliition prevail, particularly among the
female sex. Tea considerably increases the sensibility of
the whole nervous system, and relaxes the digestive canal;
but it certainly possesses some nutritive power, in conse-
quence of containing two azotised substances—theine and
caseine. The increased secretion of urea and bile, subse-
quent to its use, shows its medicinal effect. The Chinese
use the tea leaves as an emetic. Fresh tea acts, according
to Percival, like opium and henbane on the nerves, and
like foxglove on the tunction of the heart and arteries.
Those wen who are engaged in unpacking tea are very
liable to become paralytic; the exhalations of tea produce
headache, giddiness. tfcc. Vessels of porcelain are the
best for extracting the constituents of tea; and tin boxes
should always be used for preserving it.—Chambers's
Journal.

HONG KONG AS A PLACE OF TRADE.—We have
taken some pains to make ourselves acquainted with the
capabilities of Hong Kong, and with the circumstances
connected with its being chosen as a British settlement.
It is situated in the neighbourhood of an immense trade,
and has a magnificent harbour. These two facts are in-
disputable, and every body can appreciate their impor-
tance. Mr. Davison, in a work of much interest, lately
published, entitled " Trade and Travel in the Far East,"
and who was for twelve months at Hong-Kong. says
that " as a depot for goods intended for the Chinese mar-
ket, I conceive the situation of Hong Kong to be unri-
valled." As a decisive proof of the eligibility of Hong
Kong is a place of trade in the eyes of the Chinese them-
selves, he mentions that some of them have paid immense
sums fur ground on which to build stores there. In re-
gal(' to climate there can be no doubt that it has proved
unfavourable, but.this disadtantage is shared by Chusan,
the only other place nam d as suitable for our settlement,
and probably by any locality along the coast which could
be thought of fur such a puria;se. Much of the unhealthi-
ness of at' these pl,ces seems referable to temporary and
superficial causes—to paludal miasma, exhalations from
deserted rice grounds, as well as from naturally swampy
spots in the ravin s, and from the brushwoods growing
and rotti -th T •

,og there, _nis we gather from the itoportan't
work of Li-. Wilson, inspector of our naval hospitals and
fleets in China, lately puolisited, and entitled " Medical
Notes on C..ina." The writer holds (p. 164) that acci.
centsl circumstances have helped to fix on the climate of
Hong Kong, at the commencement of its colonial history,
a much worse character than it will be found to deserve.
One main ground arises from his remark, that there ap
pear to be in China great periodic physical movements—
times of exaceibatiun of disease, with long intervals of
remission ; and that the accumulation of the causes of
endemic tu

Being now discharged, a period of comparative
immunity will follow. It may thus be that our first an•
pearance in China syncbron•zed with a cycle of disease,
and that attention being directed to the removal of excit-
ing causes, the climate will not be found permanently nn•
favourible to Europeans. There appears to he no reason
to blame the government for selecting Horz Kong as the
site of our English colony

_ , and none,certainiy,for reflect.
ing on our envoy in regard to that transaction. The
choice rested between this place and (..husan. It will be
remembered what an outcry there then was against the
latter place, on the ground of its unhealthiness. It ought
also to be known that Hong Kong was selected by Mr
Elk

the predecessor of Sir Hertiy Pottinger, and that
the latter found many costly public works erected and in
progress there, and laree sums of money expended both
puulicly and privately on the island. In 'his state of af-
fairs, Sir Henry Pottinger referred the choice of the place
fur our settlement to the ministers at home, stating the

comparative advantages'of the two places under conside-
ration, Chusan and Hung Kong, and on what was, we
believe, a just estimate of their merits, the government
decided fur Hong Kong.—Dublin Univereily Magazine.

THE BADGER.—Notwithapainr nerseeutinns ahrl
iKaltralies that he is unjustly doomed to suffer, I maintain
that he is far more respectable in his habits than we gene-
rally consider him to be. " Dirty as a badger," " stink-
ing as a badger," are two sayings often repeated, but
quite inapplicable to him. As far as we can learn of the

domestic economy of this animal when in a sttite of na-
ture, he is remarkable for his cleanliness—his extensive
burrows are always kept perfectly clean, and flee from all
offensive smell; no filth is ever found about his abode;
every thing likely to offend his olfactory nerves is carefully
removed. I, once, in the north of Scotland, fell in with a
perfect col ny of badgers ; they had taken up their abode
in an unfrequented range of wooded rock., and appeared
to have been little interrupted in their possession of them.
The footpaths to and from their numerous boles were bea-

ten quite hard ; and what is remarkable and worthy of
note, they had different small pits dug at a certain distance
from their abodes, which were evidently used as recepta-
cles for all offensive filth ; every other part of their colony
was perfectly clean. A solitary badger's hole, which 1
once had dug out, during the winter season, presented a
curious picture of his domestic and military arrangements;
a hard and long job it was for two men to achieve, the pas-
sage here and there turned in a sharp angle round some
projecting corners of rock, which he evidently makes use
of when attacked, as points of defence, making a stand at
any of these angles, where a dog could not scratch to en-
large the aperture, and fighting from behini his stone but-
tress. After tracing out a long winding passage, the
workmen came to two branches in the hole, each leading
to good-sized chambers ; in one of these was stored a con-
siderable quantity of dried grass, rolled up into balls as
large as a man's fist, and evidently intended as food ; in
the other chamber there was a bed of soft grass and leaves
—the sole_ inhabitant was a peculiarly large old dog-bad-

ger. Besides coarse grasses, their food consists of clarions
roots ; amongst others, I have frequently found about
their hole the bulb of the common wild blue hyacinth.

Fruit of all kinds and esculent vegetables form his repast,
and I fear that he must plead guilty to devouring any

ye or c

though, not being adapted for the chase, or even for any
very skilful strategy of war, I do not suppose that he can
do much in catching an unwounded bird or beast. Eggs
are his delight, and a partridge's nest with seventeen or
eighteen eggs must afford him a fine meal, particularly if
he can surprise and kill the hen-bird also; snails and worms
3 I which he finds above ground during his nncturr

al rambles,
are likewise included in his bill of fare. I was one summer
evening walking home from fi-hing in Loch Ness, and
having occasion to fasten up some part of my tackle, and
also expecting to meet my keeper, I sat down on the shore
of the loch. I remained some time, enjoying the lovely
prospect : the perfectly clear and unruffled loch lay before
me, reflecting the northern shore in its quiet water. The
opposite banks consisted, in some parts, of bright green-
sward, sloping to the water's edge, and studded with some
of the most beautiful birch-trees in Scotland ; several of
the trees spreading out like the oak, and with their rag-
ged and ancient looking bark resembling the cork-tree of
Spain—others drooping and weeping over the edge of the
water in the most lady-like and elegant manner. Parts of

the loch were edged in by old lichen•covered rocks; while
farther on a magnificent scar of red stone rose perpendi-
cularly from the water's edge to a very great height. So
clearly was every object on the opposite shore reflected in
the lake below, that it was difficult, nay impossible, to
distinguish where the water ended and the land commenced.
—the shadow from the reality. The sun was already set,
but its rays still illuminated the sky. It is said that from
the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step;—and
I was just then startled from my reverie by a kind of grunt
c:ose to me, and the apparition of a small waddling grey
animal, who was busily employed in hunting about the
grass and stones at the edge of the loch ; presently ano-
ther, and another, appeared in a little grassy glade which
ran down to the water's edge, till at last I saw seven of
them busily at work within a few yards of me, all coming
from one direction. It at first struck me that they were
some farmer's pigs taking a distant ramble, but I shortly
saw that they were badgers, come from their fastnesses ra-
ther earlier than usual. tempted by the quiet evenine. and

SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS

(From a paper read before the Archceological Society, of
_ _Sussex, by E'dwinKeet, Esq.)

The consideration of the various modes of sepulture.
and the forms and ceremonies of different nations used
in the interment of the dead, is a subject, if not the most
pleasing, yet replete with interest to the Antiquary and
lover of the history of past events. "After life's fitful
fever, we sleep well;" and Shakspere says "our little
life is rounded with a sleep." Volumes have been written
upon marriage ceremonies, funeral processions, and the
modes of interment of the dead by different nations. I
shall, in this brief paper, enumerate a few of the most
striking impressive modes of sepulture, beginning with
the Cromlech, Cairn, and the Barrow, as most peculiar to
the islands of Britain. The Cromlech, of Stonehenge, on
Salisbury Plain, Kit's Coty House, in Kent ; those in
Cornwall, Wales, in Ireland, Scotland, and many parts of
the Continent, are probably the most ancient modes of
sepulture of which we possess any relics. A variety of
opinions are, however, indulged in regarding their origin
and end. One affirms they are altars from Druidical sa-
crifices; another avows they are sepulchral monuments,
where the once mighty now repose in death. A third as-
serts that they are, more particularly that at Stonehenge,
immovable observatories for astronomical observations.
These conflicting opiniqns, like those entertained upon
the uses of the Round Towers, will probably never De
fixed satisfactorily to all parties ; and if we consider how
vague and uncertain many of our conjectures are upon the
ancient Etruscans, their monuments, sepulchral caves,
and Cyclopean walls, I know not why our gigantic Crom-
lech may not be part of their history, power, and majestic
skill, now passed away for so many ages. The Cairn is
more open to satisfactory elucidation than the Cromlech :
these abound more in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland than
in Engl ind. Same of these vast heaps, these monumen-
tal piles, upon which the passing traveller casts his solitary
stone in token of respect for the dead, had one flat slab
upon their apex, upon which sometimes fires were kindled
as beacons; at others, sacrifices offered to the manes of
the deceased. Warlike instruments, ornaments of the
dress, urns containing bones and ashes, have been fre-
quently discovered on Cairns, as well as in the vicinity of
Cromlechs. And when Messrs. Rolfe, Roach, Smith,
Fairholt, and myself, explored in the Isle of Thanet,
some Saxon graves, which had been cut into by the Can-
terbury and Ramsgate branch of the South-Eastern and
Dover Railway, we came across a small Cairn of great
antiquity. Around the head of the horse, the antlers of
the deer, and many other bones, fragments of many urns.
&c., were placed a vast number of huge boulder stones of
fl nr, in a circular foim, enclosing the urns, fragments of
which had the Rotnish potters' names upon them, mixed
up with the bones of the animals which had probably been
immolated upon this rude shrine Up to the present
time, the Scottish Highlander repeats the old proverb in
token of respect, " I will add a stone to your Cairn ;"
but the Welshman says, when he imprecates, "May the
stone of your cairn lay heavy on your head." Some au-
thors have supposed Cairns to have been rude temples or
mounds for religious worship and sacrifice, as well as for
monumental tombs. Barrows were used by the ancient
Greeks. Homer alludes to those erected as tributes of
affection to the memory of departed heroes !!
Herodotus describes the barrow of Cansus, King of Ly-
dia, as a vast mound of earth raised on a lacy basement
of many huge stones. This grand monumental harrow
was 200 legit_ high, and three-quarters of a mile in circum
ference

Mani smail,r ones were in its vicinity ; some
ornamented with the figures of anima's, and others with
pillars with inscriptions. Mr. Jefferson discovered some
very large ones in America. with multitudes of human
bones. Stackhouse, from his extensive observations,
thought barrows in England and Scotland were admirably
adapted, from their situation and eminence. for direct and
speedy communication, without impediment or interrup-
tion. This favours the opinion of their being also used
as beacons. with materials kept ready on their tops for
ignition. Sir Walter Scott vividly describes the firing of
these beacens from hill to hill. The Egyptians, Greeks,
and early Christians buried their dead in catacombs.
Those in Egypt, near Thebes, have a prodigious number
of entrances, and a countless number of catacombs.
When I was in Egypt I witnessed the blasting by gun-
powder of many Greek and early Christian catacombs;
this idle destruction was for the purpose of procuring
masses of stone to finish the fortifications of Alexandria.
These explosions laid bare a most beautiful Greek sarco-

phagua, which was got out with slight damage; an

son took a sketch of it—the figures were male and female
gracefully reposing under the palm tree, with heads of
Apollo and other deities. The catacombs without the
walls of Rome, by the kindness of Mr. Gibson, the sculp-

tor, I have also explored. I was under ground with a
party of ladies and gentlemen nearly two hours, the en-

at a time. We soon found, as we advanced; long streets
or passages full of catacombs, the bones completely turned
into earth, literally, when we touched them, to dust;
these streets of catacombs we supposed to have extended
more than a mile-and-a-half, indeed they appeared like a
small city of refuge for the early Christians, where the
living and
by

the tyrants of Rome. The subjects of tombs is full of
interest. The Persian tomb is a circular building, open
at the top, about sixty feet diameter, within this is a well
of eighteen or twenty feet diameter ; around this well the
earth is piled up 25 feet in height. There are three par-
titions in the Persian tomb—one each for men, women,

terwards the bones are collected and thrown into the well'
by the friends of the deceased. SAterranean passages
leading to the well allow of the occasional removal of the
bones to prevent its filling.
The ancient sepulchres of Russia and Siberia are per-
fect tumulimf_g_reat height—they are encompatsgd will a
high wall ot large igtonesiirrtren Tn ttit erect position. he
tombs of the Turks and Moors are generally of a simple
form, except the shiek or priest's tomb, which is a hum-

ombs, near Grand Cairo, are objects of great maj. sty and
I climbed a tower of one of these magnificent
tombs, and the prospect was quite enchanting, the whole
city of Cairo, Boulac, the Pyramids, the hills were all be-
fore me in vast perspective. No traveller should cross
the desert on the overland route to India without seeing
the Caliph's tombs, but they are generally so hurried off
from Alexandria on their overland mute to India, that
they get but a passing glimpse of the obelisk of Cleopa-
tra, and Pompey's majestic pillar, with its nearly defaced

interest

Greek inscription. At Anchiale was once seen this in-
scription upon the tomb of Sardanapalus, which king, with
his luxuriant magnificence, called forth the genius of our
Byron,—" Sardinapalus built Anchiale and Tarens in one
day ; go, traveller, eat, drink, and be merry, the rest is
nothing." 'lhe catacombs of Syracuse are full of recesses
and chambers, with a flat circular roof and opening to
admit 1 ght at the top. In Malta they are cut out of the
rock in galleries ; and in Syria and Palestine massive stone
doors, moving on pivots, close in the dead. Various also
are the opinions of the learned regarding the Pyramids of
Egypt. It is certain that they have contained sarcophagi.

1-fir-odotus thought the form emblematical of human life,
certain it is the pyramidal shape is best calculated for
length of duration ; some have thought them to be erected

for astronomical purposes, w

LI philoso7.

)ers have

ney thought the ancient Egyptians acquainted with elec-
tricity, and that as Egypt suffered from drought, and as
immense masses of vapours pass from the Mediterranean
to the mountains of Abyssinia, these gigar.tic artificial
mountains might interrupt their passage, and cause rain
to descend neon the parched plains. The coniect