The editor identifies some new 'improvements' in this volume of the
Mirror of
LiteratureMirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction
(1822–47)
Mirror Monthly Magazine
(1847–49)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >>, namely 'the Encyclopædist or the Circle of
the Sciences, and the Waverley Novels', noting that 'in the former it is not
the object of the Editor to give formal treatises, but a history of each
peculiar science, showing its origin and progress to its present state'.
(iii)
An engraving of Newton's birthplace is considered particularly appropriate
at the present time, 'when the diffusion of science is becoming so
general'.
The narrator recounts his own experiences of married life as a warning to
others. He found that his wife's aches and pains were all occasioned by the
want of expensive items, such as diamond ear-rings, which she considered the
'infallible specific' for her ear-ache. He warns his readers: 'never let your
purses pay for the aches and pains of your cara sposa [...] open them
but for the payment of Æsculapius' (18).
The article considers the Janus-faced character which 'almost every thing'
in the world presents. The writer compares various aspects of life to two-sided
medals, noting of one: 'Of this medal one side bears for its motto—"The
god-like Healing Art," while the other shows
Dr. EadyEady, Dr
(fl. 1825)
ML1/7/178a/4 CloseView the register entry >> and a death-head'
(27).
The old year warns the new to 'mind' humankind, and offers to demonstrate
how to distinguish humans from 'other brutes'. After misidentifying various
species as human, the new year sees what appears to be a moon, but which proves
to be an 'air balloon'. The balloon rips, 'It falls down and the man's dashed
to pieces'. The old year observes that these events are distinguishing
'symptoms' of the human species. He relates: 'man has got most kindly given by
fate, / A little nob he calls his pate, / And in that nob such whimseys and
such schemes, / Such wild ideas and visionary dreams' as will make the new year
laugh. (38)
The writer presents miscellaneous 'opinions' on a range of subjects. He or
she writes: 'As for Mechanics' Institutions, I am afraid you have not quite
made up your mind, my readers, whether they are, or are not, a conspiracy
against social order; but I don't think you will chip off a man's nose for
advocating them, provided it be moderately and with good
discretion'. Another passage reflects the opinion that
Walter ScottScott, Sir Walter, 1st Baronet
(1771–1832)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> is,
and then that he is not, the 'great unknown', concluding: 'it is beginning to
pass current that the great unknown is—a steam engine'. (44) Reflecting
on comments made in the Court of Common Pleas by
William D BestBest, William Draper, 1st Baron Wynford
(1767–1845)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
respecting the fashionable and licentious
Harriette
WilsonWilson, Harriette
(1786–1845?)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, the opinion is given that 'a seat on the bench is an
indisputable title to an intuitive knowledge of political economy and the
nature of things' (45).
The author observes: 'We stumble at the threshold in the Ode to the Birth
of BirkbeckBirkbeck, George
(1776–1841)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, when we find "gripe" made to
rhyme with "might" in the first two lines'.
Anon 1822Anon. 1822. Hindoostan: Containing
a Description of the Religion, Manners, Customs, Trades, Arts, Sciences,
Literature, Diversions, &c. of the Hindoos. Illustrated with Upwards of One
Hundred Coloured Engravings, London: R. Ackermann
CloseView the register entry >>
P T W, pseud.
[Peter T Westcott]
Westcott, Peter Thomas
(1782/3–1845)
Gentleman's Magazine, n.s. 23 (1845), 328
CloseView the register entry >>Timbs, John
1871.'My Autobiography: Incidental Notes and Personal Recollections',
Leisure Hour (1871), 20–23, 85–88, 181–84,
212–15, 266–69, 293–95, 347–51, 394–98,
420–24, 469–72, 500–03, 596–600, 612–15,
644–48, 685–88, 692–96, 730–33, and 794–99
CloseView the register entry >>
Genre:
Miscellaneous
Subjects:
Population, Political Economy, Physiognomy
Reporting the Spartan punishment of celibacy, and encouragement of
procreation by tax incentives, the author notes: 'This last law would [...] in
modern days be a death blow to the
MalthusMalthus, Thomas Robert
(1766–1834)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
system.' Referring to the Spartan prohibition of travel so as to avoid the
infection of 'the licentious customs of other countries', the author drolly
regrets that there is not a system for discriminating between the good and bad
arriving at the port of Dover, using
'Lavater's
Physiognomy'Lavater, Johann
Kaspar 1775–78. Physiognomische Fragmente, zur
Beförderung der Menschenkenntinis und Menschenliebe, 4 vols, Leipzig;
Weidmanns Erben und Reich; Winterthur: Heinrich Steiner und Compagnie
CloseView the register entry >>. (53)
Statistics, Agriculture, Steam-power, Machinery, Manufactories,
Industrial Chemistry, Transport, Industry
The writer narrates the journey of a pound of cotton to Manchester for
spinning, and to Paisley for weaving. In conclusion, he reflects that for the
process to occur 'it was necessary that industry, availing itself of the
prodigies of philosophy, should satisfy its wants by the agency of fire, and
render docile the most intractable and most destructive element; that
navigation should bring closer to each other the banks of the Ganges and the
Thames; that the Mogul empire should become the inheritance of a
company of
merchantsEast India Company
CloseView the register entry >>; and that its provinces should be restored to fertility,
and its people to civilization, by conquerors, who were but barbarians twenty
centuries after the countries of Asia, which they now teach, possessed all the
advantages of science, arts, and industry!'
The writer considers that the present age is more committed to human
progress than previous ones, and that education and a free press are critical
to this. The importance of reading is stressed, as is the role of Sunday
schools in spreading literacy. In addition, the potential dangers of this new
found literacy are considered, and the author observes that reading 'without
the habitual exercise of thought, judgement, and recollection, is a puerile and
evidently a profitless employment'. The 'speculative sciences' are 'very
attractive', but when these form the 'principal study', such reading is of no
utility. The author pleads against the separation of science from art, arguing:
'Practice is the legitimate end of all knowledge, which, however vaunted for
its "power", is, I conceive, but perfect weakness without practical
application'.
Encyclopaedias, History of Science, Theory, Practice, Education,
Amusement
A parenthetical introduction to the new feature explains the editor's
objects. He intends to 'give in almost every number an account of some branch
of science or art', but not to teach it in detail, as this would be beyond the
limits of the publication and its 'great diversity of readers'. The object is
to 'trace the history of a science, and explain or develope the theory of it',
rather than to 'teach its practice'. This approach, it is hoped, will excite
interest 'not only in the artisan, who may be more immediately concerned with
the particular branch of science or art treated of, but in the general reader'.
The editor notes that the order of subjects is not going to be systematic,
since it is hoped that correspondents will contribute to 'this department'.
Mirror of
Literature, 7 (1826), 85–86.
Manners
and Customs of All Nations. No. II. The Abyssinians
'A certain wealthy apothecary being engaged in some of the building
speculations in Mary-le-bone, it was well observed of him, that he had run away
from the pestle and was got into the mortar'.
Section: The Selector; or, Choice Extracts from New Works
The song relates to ice-skating on the Serpentine, in Hyde Park, London. One
stanza includes the lines: 'Phrenologists shine forth in their wittiest array;
/ Sims, for instance, cracks his joke on Tims, who cracks his cranium; / It
gets a bump at every fall, like buds on a jeranium; / Which proves, by
phrenologic laws, that Tims, (but sure you know it, sir,) / Though he tumbles
down a proser, may jump up again a poet, sir'.
Presents a 'Synoptical View of the New Weights and Measures according to Act
of Parliament, 1824, showing how to reduce the Old into the New, et vice
versa, as calculated by
Professor
WallaceWallace, William
(1768–1843)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>' (110).
The article includes a paragraph describing the contents of the
Royal
Observatory, KewRoyal Observatory, Kew CloseView the register entry >>, including its natural history collections and
'apparatus for philosophical experiments'.
A brief biography of an eighteenth-century Cornish stone-cutter of great
mathematical learning, who became a recluse, studying mathematics and astronomy
in a hermitage he constructed for himself.
The story relates how the new wife of Mr Mactwigit, tallow chandler of St
Mary Axe, decided to have an evening party, to which various odd characters
were invited. While the tea was poured, 'the conversation turned upon the arts
and sciences; and the subject was warmly disputed between a Captain Fume, who
commanded one of the Gravesend steam-boats, and a junior clerk of the
Post-officeGeneral Post Office
CloseView the register entry >>, as to whether the
steam-boat, the Scud, would make the passage from Falmouth to Lisbon in
as short a time as the
"Francis
Freeling"Freeling, Sir Francis, 1st Baronet
(1764–1836)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> sailing-packet'. (125)
The article gives a detailed account of the history and the shooting of the
celebrated elephant at
Edward Cross'sCross, Edward
(1774?–1854)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
menagerie. A footnote observes: 'As a proof of the celerity with which works of
art are now executed, we may state, that
Mr. LimbirdLimbird, John
(1796–1883)
DNBS CloseView the register entry >>
published a coloured print of the destruction of the elephant, from an actual
drawing, in less than forty hours after the death of the animal' (147).
The writer reflects of this comic actor: 'To use a simile from modern
mechanics, we may term Mr. Mathews the Steam-engine of the Stage; he draws with
an eighty-horse power, and by himself does more than the force of all the rest
put together could accomplish'. The article includes a report of Mathews's
latest entertainment, called 'Invitations'. Mathews reportedly stated a hope to
his audience 'that if ever he had succeeded in
MacadamMcAdam, John Loudon
(1756–1836)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>izing the road to mirth, or in
throwing a bridge over the gulf of sorrow, he might still continue to
experience their patronage'. He also told his audience, that in thinking of a
subject for his new entertainment, he had been assisted by chance, 'which
afforded an answer to the inquiries of
Sir Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac
(1642–1727)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>,
by the fall of an apple'. (163)
The song, which was sung at the last anniversary of the Covent Garden
Theatrical Fund, concerns the dramatic craft. One stanza reads: 'Recollect,
though from merit I'd not be detracting, / That as yet we've discover'd no
railway for acting; / Recollect that no steam can aid our manufacture / And no
gas can swell a man into an actor.'
Smith [1807]Smith, Thomas
[1806–07]. The Naturalist's Cabinet: Containing Interesting Sketches
of Natural History; Illustrative of the Natures, Dispositions, Manners, and
Habits of all the Most Remarkable Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Amphibia,
Reptiles, &c. in the Known World, 6 vols, [London]: J. Cundee
CloseView the register entry >>
Contrasts and Comparisons; or, The Contrast Between Man and Man, and the
Similitude Between the Two Most Lordly Animals in the Creation—the Lion
and the Elephant
The article reports the raising of a monument to Cook in the Sandwich
Islands by George A Byron. It is also reported that, the 'natives of the
islands having embraced Christianity, the Regent gave permission to Lord Byron
to visit the sacred sepulchre, and take therefrom whatever relics of their
former religion he wished to posses'.
Among the refinements complained of is the fact that 'Everything has a new
name, which few can understand, and none pronounce without breaking their
teeth', including 'aurists, ophthalmists, and chiropedists' (190).
Howard 1780, Howard, John
1780. Appendix to The State of the Prisons in England and Wales, &c.:
Containing a Farther Account of Foreign Prisons and Hospitals, with Additional
Remarks on the Prisons of this Country, London: T. Cadell and N.
Conant
CloseView the register entry >>Howard 1789Howard, John
1789. An Account of the Principal Lazarettos in Europe: With Various Papers
Relative to the Plague, Together with Further Observations on Some Foreign
Prisons and Hospitals; and Additional Remarks on the Present State of Those in
Great Britain and Ireland, London: Cadell, Johnson, Dilly and Taylor
CloseView the register entry >>
The biographer reports of Howard: 'He was fond of philosophical experiments
and observations, and communicated to the
Royal SocietyRoyal Society of London
CloseView the register entry >>,
of which he was a member, some papers in this class' (194). The account
discusses Howard's philanthropic interest in hospitals, and his work on the
'progress of contagion' in hospitals and prisons.
The author reflects on the size of building used to accommodate King Henry
III's elephant, observing: 'we may be permitted to doubt the modern wisdom of
keeping a male elephant, of more than common size and strength, in a wooden
cage, scarcely admitting him to turn himself'. The reference is to Chuny, the
elephant recently shot at the
Royal MenagerieExeter Exchange—Royal Menagerie
CloseView the register entry >>
at Exeter Exchange.
Shelley enjoyed the 'education of a poet', amidst 'mountains and lakes, the
magnificent ocean, the stillness of the forest'. However, he 'never read with a
humble and subdued mind, amid all his various reading, one book, the
most interesting and important, and splendid that was ever given to
man—THE BIBLE', and in consequence 'To him the glorious
and tremendous, and beautiful works of nature, brought no reminiscences' of
God. Shelley's experience is contrasted with that of noted Christians, who in
the 'magnificence of nature [...] heard the voice of God' and 'communed with
him with their own hearts'.
Section: The Selector; or, Choice Extracts from New Works
Denham
and Clapperton 1826Denham,
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
CloseView the register entry >>
Anderson 1826Anderson,
John 1826. Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra, in M.DCCC.XXIII,
Under the Direction of the Government of Prince of Wales Island: Including
Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Country, an Account of the Commerce,
Population, and the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, and a Visit to the
Batta Cannibal States in the Interior, Edinburgh: W. Blackwood
CloseView the register entry >>
Replies, in answer to several correspondents, that former subjects have not
been 'lost sight of', and promises to 'move gradually, but more rapidly than
hitherto, in the "Circle of the Sciences"'.
The writer defends the value of 'common easy chit-chat'. Noting that she has
'heard something of a Female Literary and Scientific Institution', she
declares: 'heaven forefend us from such things as these, we already know
enough, and more than some of you would wish us to know, and unless you would
have us sit round your fires with the gravity of owls, and silent as our
vis-a-vis companions, your chimney ornaments, do not attempt to philosophize
us' (227–28).
The writer discourses on true patriotism. It is observed that England has
blended 'literary greatness with private excellence' and has produced 'geniuses
in every department of art and science [...] whose lives and deaths have been
strictly in conformity to the principles they have inculcated', including
notably
Isaac NewtonNewton, Sir Isaac
(1642–1727)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
Robert BoyleBoyle, Hon Robert
(1627–91)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
(230).
The plan for a maze is based on Hayter's 'diagram explanatory of the natural
consequences of equilateral union of the three pristine colours'. He observes:
'As the figure is entirely new to geometry and perfectly adapted
to the purpose for which I designed it, I trust I shall not be considered too
vain in endeavouring to render my claim to the invention as public as
possible, real novelty and utility combined being very rare' (233).
Section: The Selector; or, Choice Extracts from New Works
Denham and Clapperton 1826Denham,
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
CloseView the register entry >>
The poem descants on the universal grief at the death of the elephant:
'Reporter's eyes / Were of an egg-like size, / Men that had never wept for
murder'd Mars! / Hard-hearted editors with iron faces / Their sluices all
unclosed,— / And discomposed / Compositors went fretting to their cases!'
(238).
The author discusses the religious sects to which various actors are
supposed to belong. It is suggested that
Joseph
GrimaldiGrimaldi, Joseph
(1778–1837)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, 'after being long a Jumper, has lately fallen into some
whimsical theories respecting the Fall of Man; which he understands, not of an
allegorical, but a real tumble, by which the whole body of humanity
became, as it were, lame to the performance of good works'. He uses various
medical tropes to describe the different aspects of religion; these, the author
notes, are 'a fanciful mode of illustration derived from the accidents and
habits of his past calling spiritualized, rather than from any accurate
acquaintance with the Hebrew text'. (255)
P T W, pseud.
[Peter T Westcott]
Westcott, Peter Thomas
(1782/3–1845)
Gentleman's Magazine, n.s. 23 (1845), 328
CloseView the register entry >>Timbs, John
1871.'My Autobiography: Incidental Notes and Personal Recollections',
Leisure Hour (1871), 20–23, 85–88, 181–84,
212–15, 266–69, 293–95, 347–51, 394–98,
420–24, 469–72, 500–03, 596–600, 612–15,
644–48, 685–88, 692–96, 730–33, and 794–99
CloseView the register entry >>
Genre:
Miscellaneous
Subjects:
Ornithology, Piety
The article quotes the dedication to God of
George
Edwards'sEdwards, George
(1694–1773)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>History of
BirdsEdwards,
George 1743–51. A Natural History of Birds: The Most of
Which Have not Been Figured or Described, and the Rest, by Reason of Obscure or
too Brief Descriptions, Without Figures, or from Figures Very Ill Design'd, are
Hitherto but Little Known, 4 vols, London: privately printed
CloseView the register entry >>.
The writer welcomes the introduction of a systematized form of gymnastics in
Britain, and briefly reviews the history of gymnastics. It is observed that
gymnastics 'is founded on principles of medical science, and thus, what in
itself may be found a source of recreation, is rendered advantageous to health'
(306).
The author notes that while
King Charles
IICharles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
(1630–85)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> granted the society its charter, and was a 'lover of the
sciences', he did not grant any monies for its use. It is reported that, by
contrast,
King George IVGeorge IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover
(1762–1830)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
had placed two annual medals at the disposal of the society. The author opines
that England 'never possessed a more munificent patron of the Arts and
Sciences' than the present king.
The article describes
King Henry I'sHenry I, King of England and Lord of Normandy
(1068/9–1135)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
'collection of wild beasts [...] procured from foreign princes', which was
housed in an enclosure at Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It also includes details of
some 'strange events'—the contrivances of a 'humorous
royalist'—which took place during the Parliamentarian survey of the royal
property there in 1649, taken from
Robert Plot'sPlot, Robert
(1640–96)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>Natural History of
Oxford-shireP[lot], R[obert]
1677. The Natural History of Oxford-shire: Being an Essay Toward the Natural
History of England, Oxford: at the Theatre; London: Mr. S. Millers
CloseView the register entry >>.
Among the desiderata are included: 'a new machine to abridge the necessities
of existence', 'an entire abolition of the effluvium and danger from
adopting gas', and 'less rage for capricious innovation—to wit [...] that
for
MacadamMcAdam, John Loudon
(1756–1836)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>izing our
streets'.
The article surveys the progress of agriculture in Britain, where in a
'state of nature our apples are crabs and our plumbs sloes'. It points
particularly to the Reformation, to agricultural legislation in the sixteenth
century, and to the more recent formation of agricultural societies, as causes
of the progress of British agriculture.
The poet discourses on the benefits of gin. It has 'scientific qualities; /
For if by algebraic laws, your two and two make four, sir, / Drink gin in
punch, and when you're drunk you'll make a couple more, sir [...] For tipplers
all see duplicates—Quod erat demonstrandum'. Another stanza reads:
'Sir Humphry
Davy CloseView the register entry >> tells us that boon nature knows no place, sir, / Of
vacuum (aye, that's the word), for matter fills all space, sir / Oh,
monstrous bounce! You'll surely find, though nature is so full, ma'am, / A
vacuum in an empty-headed water-drinker's skull, ma'am'. The poet
claims: ''Twas I who proved, an age ago, by genius rare and mighty, / Gin,
philosophic gin, to be the grand ELIXIR
VITæ; / 'Twas I who found out vaccination (sure you need
not grin, sir), / And first invented steam-boats, all which comes of drinking
gin, sir'. (351)
The article quotes a letter which reports on the ability of some in the
'Isle of France' to 'discover ships some days before they appear above the
horizon'. It is reported that this is made possible by the same process of
reflection that occurred when
William
ScoresbyScoresby, William, Jr.
(1789–1857)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> some years previously observed a ship 'in the air inverted'
in the 'Northern Ocean'. The phenomenon has been investigated by the
Institut de
FranceInstitut de France, Paris CloseView the register entry >>.
Vulcanology, Prognostication, Medical Practitioners
It is reported that
François de La Mothe Le
VayerLa Mothe Le Vayer, François de
(1588–1672)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>, observing that
AnaximanderAnaximander
(610–546/5 BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> and
others foretold earthquakes, asked the 'humorous question:—"If we
consider the earth as a huge animal, had not these the art of feeling its
pulse, and thereby of foreseeing the convulsions it would be troubled
with?"
Chabert having recently 'received public attention to certain curious
powers', the author thinks some account of those phenomena will be interesting
to readers, especially as 'there appears so much philosophy mixed up with
common show in the exhibition of this professor of the pyrotechnic art' (406).
The article reviews the history of the 'power of resisting the action of heat',
before describing Chabert's recent exhibitions. The writer observes: 'Much of
the power possessed to resist greater degrees of heat than other men may be a
natural gift, much the result of chemical applications, and much from having
the parts indurated by long practice; probably all three are combined in this
phenomenon with some portion of artifice'. Some of the 'recipes for rendering
the skin and flesh fire-proof' are detailed. Habit is considered most likely to
be the 'principal agent in the attainment of the very considerable
insensibility to heat'. (407)