The Colonization herald and general register

              AND GENERAL REGISTER.
CONDUCTED BY  THE   PENNSYLVANIA  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY.
WHATSOEVER  YE   WOULD  THAT  MEN  SHOUt,   DO  TO  YOU,   DO  YE   ETEN  SO  TO  THEM.
Vol. I.—NEW SERIES.
PHILADELPHIA,  WEDNESDAY,  SEPTEMBER  SO,   1838
J\0. 39.
THE LIFE OF  EDWARD JENNER, M. D. &c. J some time, not quitting me till my confidence was re-
By John Baron, M. D. P. R. S. &c. 2 vols. 8vo.  Lon-'&tored bv lhis warm-hearted and kind expression of his
don, 1838. Col burn. consideration.'   This circumstance gave Dr. Jenner
if „ „,„„   , .   ,     , . c     .,      ; much satisfaction."
It a man slay, or cause to be shun, even a lew thou-!     A i;,,i   r   .. ,
sands of his fellow creatures, his deeds are written in '     "   ""   '"rt,u!r "" wc Terul~
books, and his name descends to pisterity among the
f
personal influence that Di Jenner had with foreign
states, he had next to none t home. He never suc¬
ceeded in procuring an appontment for any of his rela¬
tives or friends. He mentvced that all his attempts
to get a living fur his nohew George had failed,
though addressed to quartet where they might, wiih-
" Though the potentates did not, either in their in-
uwixb, nun   me  iiuuie ueoueuus  iu i> isierny union"' me   j-   • i     i »-■ »    ..       •    t-<     ,      , ■ ... I W~ — — "• " <  —»~~» 	
glorious warriors and conquerors who have adorned dlVK,ual caPac'ty when in England, or when assembled out presumption, have been xpected to have met with
humanity.    On the other hand, it has been declared        Congress at Vienna, confer any mark of distinction attention and success.   Thitueglect hurt hi.r. deeply,
though apparently without making much impression!  0" th(;.au,lhor °f vaccination someof their subjects did, He once said to me,  ' Thiaodght to be known.    Vou
that the individual who caused two blades of Erase to "f «lh.eleB?. *** h,m nob|y in their memory, and tee- must give them a hard one;and I will find an eagle's
grow where only one grew before, deserved infinitely    ^.'heir admiration in a manner recorded in the fol- quill and whet the nib for jou."*    1 never saw him
more of his species.    But, what shall we say of a per*   ?!!"* characteristic documenL    I give * exactly as
half German idiom.*, though it may raise a smile on the
cheek of some fastidious critic, has added, m my mind,
a deeper interest to the communication."
" To the Right Honourable Physician, Edward Jan-
ner, Discoverer of the Cowpock, the greatest Bene¬
factor of Mankind, at London.
" Most Honourable Doctor,—At the most distant fron-
ay ot a per
son who has saved more lives than ever hero sacrificed;
and caused thousands of families to be reared in entire
happiness where before only disease and death swept
away their ranks, and consigned the fondest hopes of
parents to the untimely grave 1
One cannot contemplate the discovery of Dr. Jenner
and its incalculable effects upon the condition of man¬
kind, without being lost in admiration. It is as if some
mighty and supernatural power had limited the domin¬
ion of the tyrant before whom all must finally bow, and
prescribed bounds to preserve the young and helpless
from perishing. Yet this extraordinary benefactor of
his race was encountered by every species of opposi¬
tion. Gibes and ridicule were bis daily portion ; and, i
when the voice of nations most inadequately acknow-
lodged his sirviees, the  paltry grants of distinction!
(which could confer no distinction on him, though cred- tier of East Germany, in a country where the Romain's
itable te the grateful sense of the givers,) and of pecu- army two thousand years before triumphing, and 444
niary remuneration by parliament to the amount of the savages Huns under the commande of Attila, and
what a well feed London physician, in full practice, : 791 the Emperor Charles, the Huns withsuceess corn-
will receive in two years, were assailed as most unde-, batting, passed, and where the Swedes under Gustav
served and wasteful extravagance. And so it too in- \ the Great 1615 have made tremble the ground of the
variably is with every plan brought forward for the j country by the thousands of cannons, and there where
benefit of society, or of any of its suffering classes, even 1740 the Prussiansand 1805 the French warriors
The timid question its practicability, the easy-natured victorious appeared, in that remarkable country had the
its efficacy, the envious its originality, the malignant vaccined youth from Brunn, with the most cordial sen-
its motive, and the interested its impulse, spirit, object, timents of gratitude to thee, a constant monument with
and value. To listen to this mass of opposition, be- thinebreast-piece in the 65th year of thine age erect-
gotten as surely as any proposal is offered for the im- I ed, even in the same time as the great English nation,
provement and advantage of men, it might be imagined I by her constancy and intrepidity, tendered the liberty
that generous, or patriotic, or humane principles, had !of the whole Europa, and as the great regents Alex-
no existence on earth; but that every thing, every ac- j andre and William passed through that country. Ac¬
tion, every exertion, mu.-t proceed from cold selfishness cept generously, great man, that feeble sign of vene-
or base scheming. It is wonderful that any great pro-! ration and gratitude; and Heaven may conserve your
joct should ripen under such circumstances; and, as-1 life to the most remote time; and every year, in the
suredly, strong enthusiasm is necessary to carry the \ presence of many thousand habitants, a great feast near
projector through the persecutions to which the best of < that temple is celebrated for the discovery of vaccine.
purposes are exposed. To desire the welfare of your j We will us estimate happy, if we can receive a few
fellow-men, and to adopt measures to attain it, is to set I lignes to prove us the sure reception of that letter,
yourself up as a mark for every hand to pelt and every   Most honourable doctor, yours most obedient servants,
more happy than in spendin; t* me days with Dr. Bail-
it was sent, convinced that all will respect the feelings lie at Duntisbourne, near Crmeester, in the summer
which incited the warm-hearted inhabitants of Brunn of 1820. He had much recirired from the impression
to bring the historical recollections of their country, left by the death of Mrs. Jewer; and all the rccollec-
the renowned deeds of their ancestors, into close alii- tions of his youth, his ifiterourse with Mr. Hunter,
ance with the honor they were anxious to bestow on together with manvof the rtnarkable incidents which
the inhabitant of another land, whose only claim to were connected w'ith is own life, formed animating
their veneration and esteem formed a striking contrast themes for conversation, lhe scenes around them,
to the great events to which their letter alludes. The also, in the vicinity of the face (Cirencester) where
imperfect English, interspersed with half Latin and | he had first gone to school, ad where he used to grope
lives. Prom inquiries I have made of different Levan
tine and Frank ladies in the habit of visiting the ha¬
rems of the east, I understand that the fair occupants
of them by ho means covet the degree of liberty claim
ed and enjoyed by our European ladies, and think that
a married woman should enjoy no other male society
but that of her husband ; that her whole time should
be given up in studying to amuse him, and in the
nursing and education of his children, which pleasing
task they never delegate to another. They seem, it is
said, to look upon the very restraint in which they are
kept, and the watchfulness with which they are guard¬
ed, with a feeling of pride and satisfaction, thinking it
a proof of the estimation in which they are held, and
the value attached to them by their husbands. Thus,
the most flattering epithet that can be applied to an
eastern lady, is said to be that of the " concealed trea¬
sure," " the guarded jewel," " the well watched an¬
gel."
The degree of restraint imposed upon them, how¬
ever, is much less than is generally imagined.   Wrap
for fossils in the oolitic fornotion, supplied him with   ped up in their loose walking cloaks, and shrouded in
many associations of long-pa=t years.    I spent one of their veils, they are to be met with in all public places,
tongoe to revile. Thus life is spent amid turmoil and
assaults, and, should success crown your labours, the
thankful world rewards them with a statue or a stone.
It is fortunate when some kindred minds appreciate
and cheer you on ; and when some, possessed of station
and influence, who entertain a true sense of the duties
"Medicinsj Doctor Rincolini, physician.
" Claviger \ ^rst s,,r?eon anf* vacciner of
' ( Vaccine Institution at Brunn.
" Brunn in Moravia, the 20th October."
"A drawing of the ' monument,' as it is called, ac¬
companied this letter.    In the centre of the temple the
which station and influence should impose, adopt your j bust of Jenner stands upon a pedestal, on which is the
views and aid your efforts. A few of the wise, andtfood LfidlowJBff in*crintion ■
lous and evil-disposed ; and, with tlie assistance of such,
the toiling mind is strengthened for its work of love,
and a tithing of the inventions and designs brought
forward to increase the happiness of mankind, are en¬
abled  to emerge from opposition and obscurity, and
brighten into day.
Dr. Baron gives us a faithful description of all the
discoverer of the salutary cowpock had to undergo in
this way. Caricatured, laughed at, abused, the theme
of detraction, held to be undeserving of a seat in col¬
led daiao Jerrner,
LXV.
iEtatis ejus Anno
Vaccinata Brunensis
Juventus
MDCCCXIV."
A few anecdotes will fit our purpose, and, we trust,
amuse our readers.
"During his residence at Berkeley he acted fre¬
quently as a magistrate.    I found him one day sitting
lege among learned doctors; and excluded, for the j with a brother justice in a narrow, dark, tobacco-fla-
sake of jobbing patronage, even from that public board jvored room, listening to parish business of various
which was established lor the propagation of vaccina-! sorts. The door was surrounded by a scolding, brawl-
tion throughout the British empire, he held on the i ing mob. A fat overseer of the poor was endeavoring
much impugned, but even tenor of his way ; and ; to moderate their noise; but they neither heeded his
though he had little more than the prophet's usual ; authority nor that of their worships. There were wo-
honours at home, he had the satisfaction to see that his j men swearing illegitimate children, others swearing
immortal  discovery was appreciated  and adopted in   the peace against drunken husbands, and able-bodied
every quarter of the globe, from Indus to the pole.
It is not our province to enter upon the question,
still, to a certain degree, undetermined, how far the
vaccine may be a less sure preservation against small-
men demanding parish relief to make up the deficiency
in their wages. The scene altogether was really cu¬
rious; and when I considered who was one of the
chief actors, and saw the effect which the mal-admin-
pox than the variolous infection.    Cases undoubtedly j istration of a well-intended statute produced, I expe-
there are, in which small-pox occur after the cowpock ; j rienccd sensations which would have been altogether
and the same after small-pox.    But they are compara- j sorrowful, had there not been something irresistibly
lively rare, the disease is generally much modified, and   ludicrous in many of the minor details of the picture.
it may be urged that the original disorder has been im- j He said to me, ' Is not this too bad 1    I am the only
perfect. But let us glance around us, and with every acting magistrate in this place, and I am really harass-
objection which ingenuity may suggest, can there re- , ed to death.    I want the lord-lieutenant to give mean
main a single sceptical opinion as to the prodigious ef- I assistant; Bnd I have applied for my nephew, but with-
fects of vaccination in the saving of infant life !    If out success.'   On this visit he showed me the hide of
we read history or biography, and observe how the  the cow that afforded the matter which infected Sarah
heirs of crowns and coronets were destroyed by the   Nelmes; and from which source he derived the virus
ravages of smill-pox, till, of numerous offsprings, one   that produced the disease in his first patient, Phipps.
branch in a whole generation was not left to perpetu-  The hide hung in the coach-house: he said, 'What
ate the genealogical tree; and if we only look at the \ shall I do with it?'    I replied, * Send it to the British
state of targe families in the present day, with often   Museum.'    The cow had been turned out to end her
hardly a gap to distress a parent's heart, we will then  days peaceably at Bradstone, a farm near Berkeley.
feel whatTwe owe to the memory of Edward Jenner,' He talked of the first effects of his discovery on some
whose provincial tomb at Berkeley, with Baily's breath-:0f his sapient townsfolk.    One lady, of no mean influ-
in<* statue, is a shrine worthy of pilgrimage and prayer, ! ence among them, met him soon after the publication j some parts of the cemetery, the demonstrations of grief
far beyond all that saint or sinner earned from the ere-  0f his ' Inquiry.'    She accosted him in this form, and  from the women on every side, hanging over the little
dulity and  superstition of the innumerable hosts of in the true Gloucestershire dialect: ' So your book is; marble urns, were im>t afflicting and heartrending.
fools and fanatics since the creation of the world. | out at last.    Well! I can tell you that there be'ant a j Nothing was to be heard but sobbing and  crying
the days with them on this occasion. They passed
their time in the free and mreserved interchange of
their thoughts and their experience. It was cheering
to sec the great London physician, mounted on his lit¬
tle white horse, riding up and down the precipitous
banks in the vicinity of his huise, or trotting through
the green lanes, and opening the gates, just after the
manner of any Cotswold squre. Nothing could excel
the relish of Baillie for the eise, and liberty, and lei¬
sure of a country life, when he first escaped from the
toil, and effort, and excitement of his professional du¬
ties in London. Duntisbourre stands in rather a pic¬
turesque situation; the hoosOoverhangsa deep wooded
dell, and is fronted on the opposite bank by the church
and hamlet of Edgeworth. The ramifications of this
dell are intricate and beautifil; but there was little
else in the doctor's vicinity to gratify the eye. Every
thing wore an aspect of cheerfulness to him ; and whe¬
ther he was traversing the bleak summit of the Cots-
wolds, or taking his pastime in the more cultivated
domains of Pimbery or Oake! y, he was equally happy
and equally buoyant."
To conclude, in the words of the biographer—
44 If we look at the origin of this discovery, from its
first dawning in his youthful mind at Sodbury, and trace
it through its subsequent stages—his meditations at
Berkeley—his suggestions to his great mister, John
Hunter—his conferences with his professional brethren
in the country—his hopes and fears, as his enquiries
and experiments encouraged or depressed his anticipa¬
tions—and, at length, the triumphant conclusion of more
than thirty years' reflection and 6tudy, by the success¬
ful vaccination of his first patient, Phipps, we shall
find a train of preparation never exceeded in any sci¬
entific enterprise; and, in some degree, commensurate
with the great results by which it has been followed.
In the space of a very few ymrs, the fruit of this pa¬
tient and persevering invc;":,Tation was enjoyed in
semination attests alike the universality or me pesti¬
lence, and the virtue of the agent by which it was in
places subdued, mitigated, extirpated. On the other
side, let us remember his trials, his mortifications, the
attempts to depreciate his discovery and to check its
progress, together with the personal injuries which he
endured from those who affected to do him honor, and
we shall find many things to counterbalance the hom¬
age and gratitude which he derived from other sources.
Under all these changes, he sustained the equanimity
and consistency of his character; humble when lauded
and eulogised, patient and forbearing when suffering
wrong; and, if it be an assuted sign of a worthy and
generous spirit to be amended by distinction and re¬
nown, no man ever gave stronger proofs of possessing
such a spirit. Again, we have to view him in the
character of a physician, exercising all the resources
of a painful and anxious profession with extraordinary
humanity, ability, and perseverance; cultivating his
beautiful taste for natural history and all the poetry of
life, in connection with labors so arduous and impor¬
tant While interpreting nature, he enjoyed a plea¬
sure surpassed by none of his predecessors; but he dia
not rest there, and might have exclaimed with the
great Linnaeus, ' O quam contemta res est homo nisi
supra humana se erexerit!' "—Literary Gazette.
From Addison's Damascus and Palmyra.
SUNDAY OF THE TURKS.
Friday, Oct. 16th.—Being the Sunday of the Turks,
I strolled through the large cemetery, which present¬
ed one of the most extraordinary and interesting sights
imaginable. I should think about seven or eight hun¬
dred women were collected round the tombs, some
bearing sprigs of myrtle or young green plants, to place
on them; some watering a few drooping flowers, some
saying their prayers, some smoking and chatting, and
here and there a solitary woman crying as if her heart
would break over the tomb of a deceased relative.    In
We regret to 6ee it stated that notwithstanding the  copy sold in our town ; nor sha'nt neither, if I can help
experience of vaccination, the small-pox is more pre
valent in London at this hour than it has been for years,
The cause we cannot ascertain, but the journals say
Many of them were sitting with their veils thrown
aside and their eyes filled with tears. I remarked a
very young woman, quite a girl, sitting on a carpet by
the side of a tomb, with her hands crossed over her
that in one hospital alone the reception of patients has
this year amounted to four hundred and thirty six.
Surely this ought not to be.    We shall now make a
it.' On another occasion, the same notable dame hav¬
ing heard some rumors of failure in vaccination, came
up to the doctor  with great eagerness, and said,
' Sha'n't us have a general inoculation now V* Both j knees, and her long hair trailing on the ground behind
these anecdotes he used to relate in perfect good hu- ■ Some fresh flowers and young plants that she had
mor.    On another occasion, when travelling with him brought to place on the tomb were lying by her side.
few selections from Dr. Baron's second volume, the  towards Rockhampton, the residence of his nephew, A little farther on sat two women, one of whom was
first having appeared before. When the royal heads
of Europe were here in 1*14, Dr. Jenner was present¬
ed to the Emperor of Russia, and the following is a no¬
tice of the meeting:
"The account of his interview with the emperor I
insert very nearly in his own words.   ' I was very gra-
Dr. Davies, he observed, ' It was among these shady j leaning against a marble turban, under which, in gold
and tangled lanes that I first got my taste for natural l characters, was written the name of the deceased to
history.'° A short time afterwards we passed Phipps, i whose memory it was erected; she was crying and
his first vaccinated patient. « Oh ! there is poor [recklessly plucking up the weeds and bits of grass that
Phipps,' he exclaimed,' I wish you could see him; he ; grew round the simple monument. Can all this be a
has been vcry unwell lately, and 1 am afraid he has got! mockery of wo! Impossible. The number of discon-
ciously received/and Was probably the first man who tubercles in the lungs. He was recently inoculated ! solate weepers at first sight induces one to think so;
had ever dared' to contradict the autocrat. He said, for small pox, 1 believe for the twentieth time, and all and with many, such may be the case; but the greater
'Dr Jenner, your feelings must be delightful. The without effect.' At a subsequent visit (Oct. 1818) l\ part are influenced by deep and genuine emotion; and
consciousness of having so much benefited your race found lying on his table a plan of a cottage. ■ Oh,', certainly those must be who steal here day after day,
must be a never-failing source of pleasure, and I am said he, 'that is for poor Phipps; you remember him;, in solitude and silence, to give vent to their sorrows
happy to think that you have received the thanks, the he has a miserable place to live in ; I am about to give j over the tombs of those they have fondly loved; fancy-
applause,and the gratitude of the world.' I replied to him another. He has been very ill, but is now mate-1 ing as they do, (and is not the idea beautiful, though
his majesty that my feelings were such as he described, rially better.' This cottage was built, and its little , erroneous 1) that the spirits of the departed hover round
and that I had received The thanks and the applause, garden laid out and stocked with roses from his own the hallowed spot, and regard with fond satisfaction
but not the gratitude of the world. His face flushed ; shrubbery, under his personal superintendence. I may
he said no more, but my daring seemed to give displea- now mention some incidents of a different character,
sure. In a short time, however, he forgot it, and gave The celebrated Charles James Fox, during a residence
me a trait of character which showed both great good- at Cheltenham, had frequent intercourse with Jenner.
ness of heart and knowledge of human nature.    My  His mind had been a good deal poisoned as to the cha- .
inquiries respecting lymphatic diseases, and tubercles, racier of cowpox, by his family physician, Moseley. In women has not been exaggerated. They had mostly
and pulmonary consumption, had reached the ears of his usual playful and engaging manner, he said one day j fair complexions, with dark eyes and hair. We wan-
the grand duchess. She was present, and requested , to Jenner, ' Pray, Dr. Jenner, tell me of this cowpox i dered about unmolested, taking care not to appear too
me to detail to her brother, the emperor, what I had I that we have heard so much about: what is it like Vi narrowly scrutinizing what was going on.
formerly said to her imperial highness. In the course » Why, it is exactly like the section of a pearl on a rose j I have heard many instances of the strong affection
of my remarks I became embarrassed. She observed ]eaf.' This comparison, which is not less remarkable i of women in this part of the world for their husbands.
this, and so did the emperor. ' Dr. Jenner,' said she, for its accuaracy than for its poetic beauty, struck Mr. j The most erroneous notions are prevalent among us as
« you do not tell my brother what you have to say so ac- f0x very forcibly. He laughed heartily, and praised i to the grievous bondage in which, as it is called, they
curately as you told me.'   I excused myself by saying  the simile.    It has been seen that, notwithstanding the j are held, and as to the way in which they pass their
that I was not accustomed to speak in such a presence. I  | —-—-
His majesty grasped me by the hand, and held me for j    • «j. e. small-pox inoculation." * " His favorite eagle had just died."
these melancholy tokens of attachment
The road was thronged with women, many of them
having their veils hanging loosely down, and the num¬
ber of pretty faces and beautiful eyes that I saw, in¬
clines me to think that the beauty of the Damascene
shopping at the bazaars, or paying visits to their
friends, uudistinguishable even by their own husbands.
They congregate together and piss their afternoons in
the baths, and unrestrained by the presence of the men.
enjoy dancing and music. If a husband possessing only
one wife, which is often the case, be kind and atten¬
tive to her, the strength of affection centered in him is
naturally very great. The retirement and solitude of
the harem afford little of change, and few worldly
amusements, to divert the mind from the one absorb¬
ing passion; and when death has separated them from
those in whom they found the greatest enjoyment of
existence, the anguish of the mind must be indeed
acute, and the sorrowing mourner attempts to solace
her wounded spirit by those touching attentions to the
memory of the dead, so universal in the solemn, soli¬
tary burying grounds of the east Of these marks of
affection, how pleasing is the fond occupation of water¬
ing each day a few flowers planted over the grave of a
husband or a child, or replacing every evening with
fresh blooming blossoms the withered plants of the pre¬
ceding day, fit emblems of mortal man, " who cometh
up and is cut down like a flower;" but the most beau¬
tiful and touching of all these tokens of affection is the
one of hanging over the tomb a cage with a few sing
ing birds, who are fed with religious care, morning and
evening, and are supposed to cheer the spirit of the de¬
parted by their sweet songs.
" Oh ! snatch'd away in beauty's bloom,
On thee shall press no ponderous lomb ;
But on thy turf shall roses rear
Their leaves, the earliest of the year ;
And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom :
■ And oft by yon blue gushing stream
Shall sorrow lean her drooping head,
And feed deep thought with many a dream,
And lingerin- ^WflLVylJ^Ux..1****1 •
" Away, we KrtoW that tears are vain,
That death nor hears nor heeds distress :
Will this unteach us to complain !
Or make one mourner weep the less 1
And thou—who telfst me to forget,
Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet."
HtBiiEW Melodies.
Oct 17th.—Our change of residence is indeed most
delightful and beneficial;. instead of the hot, confined
air and the musquittoes of the town, we are refreshed
by the cool breezes which play among the foliage, and
the constant murmuring sound of running water. We
have no furniture besides our travelling stock, but
manage with temporary contrivances. We have put
into requisition old presses and cupboards, inlaid with
different colored woods and mother-of-pearl, broken,
disfigured, and apparently disused for at least half a
century. The whole house is now sadly ruinous, but
it appears to have been a very handsome and commo¬
dious mansion. We are in a very retired situation,
and can branch off through lanes shaded by the over¬
hanging boughs of the trees to lhe banks of the Barra-
da, and for miles onward, amid the gardens of Da¬
mascus.
Our next door neighbors are some Damascene wo¬
men, who have been occasionally seen wrapped up in
napkins and shawls, appearing for a moment and then
disappearing again. Their lord and master, rather a
fine looking fellow, made his appearance this morning
in our court-yard. A little boy and girl, belonging to
the establishment, are constantly in attendance; the
latter is a pretty delicate child, with black eyes and
hair, about nine years old, but very wicked, mischiev¬
ous, and amazingly pert and impertinent; she is an
excellent mimic, and whenever we interrupt her in
any of her saucy pranks, she mocks the tone of our
voices, and mimics our peculiarities in a laughable, but
rather provoking manner. Through her instrumen¬
tality we have made arrangements to have our linen
washed by the females of the adjoining harem; and as
we have succeeded in purchasing an iron in Damascus,
we now intend to exhibit ourselves great dandies.
Sunday, Oct. 18lh.—After hearing prayers and a
sermon at the consular residence, Mr. Farren mounted
us all on Arab horses, and kindly offered to conduct us
to the spot where, according to tradition among the
Christians, Saul saw the light from heaven. Accom¬
panied by three dragomen on foot, with long white
wands in their hands, we formed a most respectable
procession. Mr. Farren was himself mounted on a
splendid Arab mare, possessing that peculiar proud
neck and fiery eye which distinguish the thorough bred
Arab horse.
We wound round the walls and pulled up on the
outskirts of the city, at an hospital of lepers, into which,
after procuring sundry Damascene youths to hold our
horses, we entered. Leprosy is a most horrible dis¬
ease, and is still prevalent in many parts of the east.
It first manifests itself in large white patches which
break out in different parts of the body and turn to
sores. The poor objects suffering under the malady
are generally shunned ; but it is considered very meri¬
torious by the Moslems to give them alms, and a duty
to treat them with kindness. The individuals I saw
in this hospital, which was a most wretched establish¬
ment, did not appear to suffer so acutely from the mala¬
dy as many I have seen sitting by the road side beg¬
ging. The disease appears perfectly incurable; none
are now "cleansed ofctheir leprosy." On the wall is
an Arabic inscription, " O God, for the sake of thy
leprous prophet, a friend of our prophet and for the
sake of all the other prophets, give unto us health and
peace." We gave alms to these poor unfortunates, and
turned with pity from their misery.
Remounting our horses, we rode along the walls un¬
til we came to a part where they w ere broken at the
top; this was pointed out as the spot where St. Paul
was let down in a basket to escape the indignation of
the Jews, when "the disciples took him by night and
' let him down by the wall in a basket"—Acts ix.
i From hence, passing onwards through some pretty
lanes, we came to an open green spot, surrounded by
trees, over the tops of which were seen the distant
summit of Mount Hermon. At this place wc were in¬
formed Saul had arrived when, "as he journeyed, he
came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round
about him a great light from heaven."—Acts, ix. 3.
These localities are pointed out with the greatest
confidence by the Damascene Christians of all sects,
Catholics, Schismatic Greeks, Maronites, &c, and are
held in great veneration ; nor is it difficult to suppose
that the true localities have been handed down by tra¬
dition from their early Christian brethren.
It was a lovely evening as we returned to Salahieh,
making the entire circuit of the town round the walls.
Christians and Jews, Syrians and Turks, were peram¬
bulating the delicious environs in their respective gay
costumes, and a party of horsemen were exercising
themselves at the djereed. This is a fine manly sport,
and when the riders are mounted on fine horses, and
are well dressed, it is a most interesting and beautiful
sight; they gallop round each other, dart their white
javelins, pull their horses up dead, or twist them round
with surprising dexterity, and the well trained animals
seem to enjoy the sport as much as their riders. When
the contest becomes very keen and animated, a knot of
spectators is often formed, who applaud the individual
showing the greatest skill in avoiding the thrusts of
his antagonist.
Riding on through the trees towards the banksof the
river Barrada, we saw picturesque groups perambula¬
ting along the meadow which extends on either side
of the river, and a regiment of Egyptian soldiers were
going through various military manoeuvres wilh great
steadiness and precision. The variety of costume ; the
various colored turbans and dresses; the crowds of
Christian women intermixed with a few Moslem la¬
dies; the slow and stately walk of many of the orien¬
tals, each bearing in his hand a long pipe; and the
dashing figures in gay dresses here and there trotting
along on horseback, altogether presented a striking and
most interesting scene.
As this patch of green grass, divided by the river
Barrada, is the only meadow land close to the walls of
the town, and is near the western gate of the city, it
must be the spot alluded to in the hundred and elev¬
enth night of the Arabian entertainments.
"Shumsee ad Deen arrived at a pleasant mead, a
small distance from the gate of Damascus; they halted
and pitched their tents upon the banksof a river, which
fertilizes the vicinity and runs through the town, one
of the pleasantest in Syria, once the capital of the Ka-
liphs, and celebrated for its elegant buildings, the po¬
liteness of its inhabitants, and the abundance of its
convenience."
From the National Gazette.
BOILER IRON.
Whether regarded as a branch of our rapidly in¬
creasing manufactures, or as a means of securing the
safe action of the steam engine, boiler iron equally
merits a careful attention.
eeems destined greatly to augment the demand Tor its
production. Our anthracite, it rmy be hoped, will even¬
tually play a distinguished part in this business, as well
as in steam navigation. Experiments are in progress
both on the Lehigh and the Schuylkill, to test the prac¬
ticability of manufacturing iron with that fuel aided
by the hot blast.
The great diversity in the properties of boiler iron
produced in different manufactories, and by different
processes, should be sufficient to put the makers of
steam engines on their guard respecting the character
of that which they employ.
Previous to the investigations lately prosecuted in
this city on the strength of materials for steam boilers,
the amount of published information on the tenacity
and other properties of sheet iron was very small.
In the Parliamentary examinations of 1817 we find
Mr. John Steel testifying that "cast or wrought iron
is at its greatest strength when it is at 300 degrees of
heat," which he thought, however, had "never been
arrived at yet by steam." No experiments were cited
to prove the correctness of his statement, or the just¬
ness of his opinion. It is possible that steam at 300°
of temperature (4$ atmospheres,) had not been much
used in England in 1817, though long before applied at
a temperature of 360° in the United States. The only
trials to ascertain lhe effect of heat on the tenacity of
iron previous to those undertaken in Philadelphia, are
believed to be two or three made at Clichy in Franoe
by Messrs. Tremery and Poirier-Saint-Brice, aided by
M. Cagniard Latour. Their experiments had reference
not to steam boilers, but to oil-gas retorts, which at
Clichy were made of sheet iron.
They found the strength of good bar iron to be 61,-
600 pounds to the square inch when tried at ordinary
temperature, but only 11,075 pounds when raised to a
4 dull red heat,' losing nearly 5-6ths of its tenacity, by
the.tcmperature in question. They obtained for the
strength of the best quality of sheet iron, 55,800 pounds
and for roolled copper 36,900 lbs. per square inch. The
small number of experiments, the absence of all means
for measuring the temperature, and the fact that trials
to ascertain the weakening effect of heat were made
not on plate, but on hammered bar iron, sufficiently in¬
dicate that the investigation at Clichy affords no satis¬
factory solution of questions relating to the steam
boiler.
The result of the experiment just cited has been oc¬
casionally referred to in this country, without, how¬
ever, stating the authority on which it rests, or the cir¬
cumstances under which the trials were made.
Before the publication of the report of experiments
made at the Franklin Institute, some newspaper state¬
ments had been promulgated, by persons unconnected
with the research, from which, it is supposed, was de¬
rived the information communicated to the committee
which examined the case of the explosion on board the
Steamboat New England. One of the witnesses on
that occasion, testified that iron increases in strength
by additions of temperature of 450 degrees. He cited
no experiments to prove the position, nor did he allege
that he had himself made any investigations to that
effect.
With a view to a comparison between bar and boiler
iron and between the American and European experi¬
ments, several trials of forged iron were made, and an
account of the results may precede our statement of
the character of the material appropriate to steam boil¬
ers. The relative, as well as the absolute tenacities of
the several kinds of bar iron submitted to trial are seen
in the following synopsis, in which the origin of each
kind of iron, the weight in pounds required to break it
and the number of experiments made upon each at or¬
dinary temperature are exhibited, together with the
comparative value of each kind of iron referred to the
best Russian hammered bar, assumed as a standard.
Strength in Number of       Vaiii* i
Kind of Iron tried,   lbs. per Experi-
square inch. me ins.
Missouri bar (Ma-
ramec works,)    47,420 22
Slit rods, Pennsyl¬
vania iron,        50,000 2
com¬
pared to
Russian.
629
657