Genre:

Short Fiction, Serial

Subjects:

Theology of Nature, Astronomy, Belief, Feeling

    In speaking of the power of memory, the narrator observes: 'I once knew an orphan child who traced all her religious feelings through after life to a walk taken in India, on a star-light [sic] night, with her adopted mother, at which period that tender parent had taken occasion to lead her mind to the goodness and power of God by explaining to her the nature of the glorious heavenly bodies, scattered over the azure vault, extended above her head' (3).

Genre:

Short Fiction

Subjects:

Amusement, Machinery, Commerce, Natural History, Education

    The narrator, 'Aunt Sophie', has some young relations staying with her from the country for Twelfth-night. She takes them through the streets 'to show them the variety of ingenious devices which the shop windows of the metropolis exhibited on that day' (18). At a party in the evening they have 'simple entertainment', which includes playing with a model of Noah's ark. The 'multitudinous family' are then returned to the ark, 'the beetle and the lady-bird, the elephant and the camel; And "this is a dove aunt Sophie?" and "this is a raven?" [are] answered with as much patience as it [is] possible to command at the hundredth repetition of similar questions' (19–20).

Genre:

Miscellaneous, Rejoinder

Subjects:

Mathematics, Error

    Corrects an earlier correspondent concerning the number of permutations of which the letters of the alphabet are capable.

See also:

Lector, 'Letters of the Alphabet', Youth's Magazine, 3rd ser. 2 (1829), 430

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Mr Hill Hill, Mr (fl. 1830) YM3/3/1/4
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Subjects:

Natural History, Christianity

    The tree is described, and its property of appearing to be many trees united as one is used to illustrate the 'union of believers with Christ' and each other.

Genre:

Homily

Subjects:

Associationism, Education, Piety, Creation, Biblical Authority

    Having lost a bunch of keys, the narrator, 'A Country Correspondent', reflects allegorically on them, observing: 'I conceived it might not be unprofitable to my young readers to see an exhibition of that phenomenon of mind, arising out of what philosophers designate by the learned title of the laws of association' (45). The writer reflects that the key of knowledge is good, but that prayer is the 'master key', and that 'every young person' should 'begin his studies with prayer; it will sanctify his knowledge, for unsanctified learning is a dangerous thing' (46–47). Observes: 'When a youth first begins to look abroad on the face of nature, and to enquire after knowledge, he will ask who made this beautiful world, the sun, the moon, and the stars? [...] The key that will unlock to him these wondrous mysteries, is the knowledge of the word of God' (47). Reminds the reader: 'Knowledge is generally applicable to subjects of human science, wisdom to those of heavenly morality' (49).

Genre:

Short Fiction

Subjects:

Amusement, Experiment, Instruments, Physics, Design, Anthropocentrism

    Mr. Wordsworth has been showing his son Edwin, nephew Charles, and other members of the family some 'amusing experiments with his air-pump, one evening during the Christmas vacation (50). He shows them that a shrivelled apple loses its wrinkled appearance when placed in the air-pump, and Charles explains why. Mr. Wordsworth tells the children that the 'health and vigour' of living beings depends to a large extent on the 'due adjustment of the external and internal air', and relates this to vigorous or languid feelings in humans in different climatic conditions. He observes: 'Is it not very good of our all-wise Creator, to suit as he has done, our circumstances to us, and us to them?'. (51) The contrasting appearance of the apple under different conditions is made the basis of moral reflections. Mrs. Wordsworth draws an analogy between the apple in the receiver of the air-pump and the children in the home from which their parents 'extract almost every breath that can try [them]'. She asks them: 'If you were more exposed to the atmosphere of the world, how would you conduct yourselves?'. (52)

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Jameson 1827 Jameson, Robert, ed. 1827. Essay on the Theory of the Earth by Baron G. Cuvier, with Geological Illustrations by Professor Jameson, 5th edn, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T. Cadell
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Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Natural History, Palaeontology, Chemistry, Agriculture

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Jameson 1827 Jameson, Robert, ed. 1827. Essay on the Theory of the Earth by Baron G. Cuvier, with Geological Illustrations by Professor Jameson, 5th edn, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T. Cadell
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Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Geology, Palaeontology

People mentioned:

William Buckland, Buckland, William (1784–1856) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Georges Cuvier Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832) DSB
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Publications cited:

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1665–1900+) Waterloo Directory
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Genre:

Miscellaneous

Subjects:

Biblical Authority, Infidelity, Natural History

People mentioned:

Samuel Bochart Bochart, Samuel (1599–1667) CBD
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    Seeks to answer the objections of the 'virulent opponents' of the Bible to the account given of Jonah being swallowed by a large fish, drawing on philological and natural historical evidence (103).

Genre:

Miscellaneous

Subjects:

Acclimatization, Horticulture

    Relates the countries of origin of various common vegetables and fruit trees.

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Jameson 1827 Jameson, Robert, ed. 1827. Essay on the Theory of the Earth by Baron G. Cuvier, with Geological Illustrations by Professor Jameson, 5th edn, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T. Cadell
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Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Ornithology

People mentioned:

John Latham Latham, John (1740–1837) ODNB
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    Describes a newly identified species, which 'will be found to correspond with all that the ancients, the monuments, and mummies, indicate as characteristic of the Ibis' (145).

Genre:

Homily

Subjects:

Piety, Education

    The narrator, 'A Country Correspondent', reflects on the vicissitudes of life, observing of the day of judgement: 'There are many who are now in their own inflated opinion, first, who, on that day, shall be found to be last. There are many enthusiasts of science now, who will then find that they know nothing as they ought to know' (156).

Genre:

Miscellaneous, Rejoinder

Subjects:

Mathematics, Error

Publications cited:

Wilkes 1810–29 Wilkes, John 1810–29. Encyclopaedia Londinensis; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, Comprehending, Under One General Alphabetical Arrangement, all the Words and Substance of Every Kind of Dictionary Extant in the English Language . In which the Improved Departments of the Mechanical Arts, the Liberal Sciences, the Higher Mathematics, and the Several Branches of Polite Literature, are Selected from the Acts, Memoirs, and Transactions, of the Most Eminent Literary Societies, in Europe, Asia, and America, 24 vols, London: For the Proprietor
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    Corrects an earlier correspondent concerning the number of permutations of which the letters of the alphabet are capable.

See also:

A a, 'Combinations of the Alphabet', Youth's Magazine, 3rd ser. 3 (1830), 29

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Jameson 1827 Jameson, Robert, ed. 1827. Essay on the Theory of the Earth by Baron G. Cuvier, with Geological Illustrations by Professor Jameson, 5th edn, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T. Cadell
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Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Ornithology, Comparative Anatomy

People mentioned:

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Étienne (1772–1844) DSB
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Genre:

Regular Feature—Discourse; Extract

Publications extracted:

Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
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Subjects:

Reading, Exploration, Animal Behaviour, Instinct, Design

    The writer has a habit of recording anecdotes or incidents of particular interest found in books on the back end-paper, and introduces some of these to the reader. One, taken from Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >>, concerns the death of a horse. The writer observes: 'it leads us to admire those wonderful instincts with which the great Creator has endowed his irrational creatures, in many instances, so that if they were capable of acting upon mortal principles, we would apply to them nearly the same language which we would use toward a faithful servant' (183).

Genre:

Miscellaneous

Subjects:

Observation, Discovery, Progress, Genius, Religion, Reading, Education, Error

    The writer reflects on how many 'useful or interesting discoveries' owe their origin and improvement to observation (187). 'By observation, astronomers have learned to foretell the movements of the heavenly bodies, agriculturalists to promote the fertility of the soil, naturalists to account for the phenomena of nature, and philosophers to search into the mind of man, and to trace out its devious labyrinth. Much is said in praise of genius; it is extolled, almost deified by us, and doubtless we owe much to it, but may not we trace many of the wonders we ascribe to genius, to that habit of observation [...] which will not rest satisfied with conjecture, and which suffers no point to remain unnoticed' (187–88). It is a religious duty to cultivate this talent, but many do not. The writer contrasts impractical scholars who learn from books with those who have 'made a diligent use of what they possess in common observation' and are dependent on themselves for what they learn. There is 'something more impressive in the knowledge we gain from what we ourselves observed [...]. We feel a pleasure in the injunction idea that it is the fruit of our own discovery'. (188) Learning by observation also develops individual judgement in place of blind reliance on authority.

Genre:

Short Fiction

Subjects:

Class, Collecting, Natural History, Museums, Biblical Authority

    After some preliminary comments on the divine ordination of 'the ranks and gradations of society', the narrator recounts the details of his recent visit with some 'young friends' to the 'house of a nobleman, which is obligingly shewn to strangers' (230). The narrator reports: 'We were [...] led into the saloon, which, decorated with horns of the elk, and antlers of the stag, was also a museum; here my companions had an opportunity of viewing various valuable specimens of natural history, which they had never seen before' (231–32). The narrator and the party's guide both relate some of the specimens to biblical incidents.

Genre:

Biography

Subjects:

Ancient Authorities, Mathematics, Astronomy, Religion, Creation

    Relates that Thales 'introduced the knowledge of mathematics into Greece, foretold solar eclipses, and divided the year into 365 days.' Reports that he gave quasi-theistical answers to a 'sophist wishing to puzzle him with difficult questions'. (245)

Genre:

Introduction; Extract

Publications extracted:

Charles D E Konig Konig (or König), Charles Dietrich Eberhard (1774–1851) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> , Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1665–1900+) Waterloo Directory
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Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Human Species, Chemistry

People mentioned:

Alexander F I Cochrane, Cochrane, Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis (1758–1832) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Humphry Davy Davy, Sir Humphry, Baronet (1778–1829) DSB ODNB
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    Introduces a purely descriptive extract concerning the fossil skeleton with the observation that it is 'an instance of a fossil human petrefaction in an alluvial formation' (153).

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

[Phillips] 1807 [Phillips, Richard] 1807. An Easy Grammar of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, for the Use of Schools, London: Richard Phillips
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Subjects:

Matter Theory, Chemistry, Microscopy, Microbiology

People mentioned:

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van (1632–1723) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> James Keill Keill, James (1673–1719) DSB
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    An extract concerning the divisibility of matter.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Essay

Subjects:

Reading, Piety

    The writer considers there to be three books from which the soul might be taught by the Holy Spirit, namely, 'the word, works, and ways of God'. Of the second of these it is observed: 'there is another open volume to which the pious heart often turns in the spirit of holy contemplation [...]. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handywork [...] all speak the wisdom, the power, and the glory of their Creator'. (290)

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

John Barrow Barrow, Sir John, 1st Baronet (1764–1848) ODNB
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Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Natural History, Hunting

Genre:

Extract, Anecdote; Afterword

Publications extracted:

Benjamin Rush Rush, Benjamin (1746–1813) CBD
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Subjects:

Race, Mathematics, Education

    The anecdote of the 'amazing mental faculties in African negroes, who could neither read nor write' is used to argue against objections to their education (353).

Genre:

Miscellaneous, Drollery

Subjects:

Crime, Dissection, Display, Museums

    Suggests that the bodies of time-killers be 'denied the rites of sepulture, and that they be publicly exhibited in terrorem, as a warning to others'. Continues: 'In the last age, those who were guilty of murder were hung in chains; more recently, their bodies are dissected, and the skeletons are placed in Surgeon's Hall Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>. Now I propose that a separate apartment in that edifice be allotted to the Time-killers; that twice in every year the readers of the Youths' Magazine Youth's Magazine (1805–67) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> shall visit these remains, and be distinctly informed, that if they follow such examples they must expect the same end'. The writer reports that a youth of his acquaintance who was in danger of becoming a time-waster, was soon corrected by being 'threatened [...] with a niche in the Museum'. (384)

Genre:

Short Fiction, Serial

Subjects:

Politics, Mathematics, Navigation

    The female narrator describes having travelled inside the mail coach with three gentlemen, two of whom were discussing their plans for reform. The narrator observes that 'crude reformers [..] almost universally leave the depravity of human nature out of their calculations. As if in computing the progress of a vessel through any given space of ocean, the calculator should forget to take account of opposing tides, and baffling winds' (388).