Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-06-05

snow, they were struck with the lighrnss( Of
ceivlng however no serious injury. A. NJ p Ie'
per felt painful sensation in hi, bsct tep'
gradually assembled towards his head s'th
casioned feeling as If his hair was n a.U O.
This sensation induced our traveller ,n U'"s~
hand TO his head, when he was .ur,r W." DIS
hear bnzzing noise proceeding from I b;' 10
gers. Upon raising and extending Ii; "'s IT.
the noise still continued, but upon mcy;, arm
hand and fingers with diff, rent drprss. 3 1h
Ioe'ty, he found that he could produce n.,',
variety OF sounds, differing in ,hei, ,oS S'a
well as In their intensity and 50 loud b ,0 , az
could be distinctly heard At the dis, lucy
forty feet. The guide Witnessed ,Lr,, , nS Z"
mena with utter dlsmay and imagining ' nv,
The gentleman produced the sounds BY VIZ
Tue OF some supernatural power, he ,Dn We
diatfly began to cross him,cli and irvoL Lung
protection Of his patron Saint. r., 'T "'
however, changed TO surprise. when nv r','9
ing his own arm, he found it as mus '1H
that OF Mr. Topper MIR. Larf.r, wLo
behind the rest Of the party, now cam. nm
discovered that his fingers possessed In 1"'
property. In the course Of few minu,ss " $50
this, however, their fingers, lost their sca.,,;.
property; the clouds having by hi, time NV
ed 10 d considerable distance. The ,rs,rn.,
received no lasting injury, while one Of rhen
Mr. Topper, WAS actually benefited BY the -.
currence. He had received an ioiury !, l.,
lelI shoulder joint, BY fall from hi, h r,,. b,.
after the copious eleclriza,ion on Noun, n,
he never experienced any return Of the main
These curious and wonderful fact, ar, ,,,;,
explained by the principles of Narural pbIo.
ophy. Snow is a conductor next in ord.r +,
water, and it is pretty plain that the b,d,e, q,
travellers could NOT have been oyrrcb,r,t
with the electric fluid, in consequence Of y,
difficulty which it experienced in passing irs
the earth. Their fingers therefore ar,ed N.
SO many points in drawing electricity from !,
atmosphere highly charged in The same man
ner as when the hand or head is presented u
an electrified prime conductor, The ,au
in the character as well as in the in enslry .
the sounds which were produced at The poig,
Of their fingers, arose from The different ,rLd.
ties Of their fingers, and may BE- readily init,
ed by other species Of sound.
Natural BGromefers. The following are
few Of those plants which indicate chaneen
the weather:-Cbi,kweed is all excellent bu.
ome'er. When the flower expands fully, we az
not 20 expect rain for several hours, should
continue in that state, no rain will disturb III.
summers day. When it half conceaIs its min
ia.ure flower, the day is generally showery bg'
if it entirely shuts up, or wells the white aosa
with its green mantle, then let the traveller put
on his great coat. The different species d
lrefoil always contract their leaves al lhe ap
proach Of storm; so certainly does his take
place, that these plants have acquired The nan,
Of the husbandman's barometer The tulip aa
several Of the compound yellow flowers sIa
close before rain There is, besides, spscia
Of woodsorrel which doubles its leaves beion
storms and tempests. The bauhinia, or mOur'
tain ebony, cassia, and sensitive plants, observe
the same habit.-Phiiosephy in Sport.
Observation-Disclosures following facts we Il:
ceived from Capt. George Kelley, Of the shF
Washington, lately from The Pacific Ocean A
account Of Capt. Coffiu's errac q
perhaps we should say, antarctic, cruise, WI
published in the Val 2araiso Mercury; and CAP
tain X gives the following from recO!Iecn@
Capt. Coffin was formerly Of this town.
The ship Heron, Capt. George B. Coh.
sailed from Payta, (coast Of Peru for Gib'aa,
about he Isl of Sept the sun being n3r'b
the equator the deolina:ion was subracr1
ascertain the latitude, The sun crossed he
quaror, vet he still substracied the declina'Ic
which occasioned very great error in iheIi
itude, so that on the 10Th. Of October, Capt
found his ship completely enclosed with
and unmanageable. In this situation he tDd'
the sails and lay or days, his ship froz'H
to the ice, on which his people went MAJ
miles. They saw numerous seals, and ct
phants,and another animals, which they So
nothing about. BY his reckoning, CAPT
was in LAT. so S. and could not account ior U
immense quantity Of ice that surrounded 0lI
After lying several days IN that situation ~
ice gave way, and he succeeded in forcing
passage through il into an open sea, and s'''''
nor,hward for Valparaiso to repair dan'S,
When by his reckoning he was in the a'l'"
Of that port (33 degrees SOUTH he sleere0 e.
ward, and as he thought, made lard, S".a
however, upon nearer approach he iooI1
be ice. This occasionrd him 10 make c'S
of his reckoning, and he 'o'.
he had applied the declination the wrong w
Which when rightly applied to his u'a
distance, made his latitude go 5. Hs eo'''.
I'd bis error, proceeded to the river pia''' .
repaired The damages sustained IN The Ve
Fran, es,;,, ationr made nj VALPARAISO, J. "