band. He repeated the experiment, varied it in different ways, and perceived that the convulsions only took place when a spark was drawn from the prime conductor, while the nerve was at the same time touched with a substance which was a conductor of electricity. GAS. The mode of adapting it to lighting our streets and houses, was discovered by a Frenchman, an engineer, named Lebon, about twenty-five years ago, who gives the following particulars of the circumstances which first led to its application. It was about 1663, that Becher, a skilful chemist, discovered that coal, when calcined in close vessels, yielded a kind of oil, resembling tar, and capable of serving for the same uses. Experiments made in 1758, in Alsace, for the extraction of this oil, proved that the calcined coal left in the retort, was of excellent quality for melting iron, and for all domestic purposes. In 1768, M. de Limbourg, having employed the same processes at the forges of Theusc, in the principality of Liege, substituted for earthen retorts, which till then had been made use of, retorts of cast iron, which are more durable, and in which an opening may be made, provided with a door for putting in and taking out the coal. These experiments were repeated with success in England and France. In the prosecution of them, it was found that, besides the solid and liquid products, there was disengaged an inflammable gas, composed of carbon and hydrogen, and which was therefore denominated carburated hydrogen. In 1799, Lebon conceived an idea of adapting this carburated hydrogen gas to an useful purpose, and realized it the same year at Paris, by exhibiting the interior of his house and garden illuminated with it, issuing from a large reservoir, where it underwent a slight compressure, was conducted to the lamps by small tubes furnished with cocks, that could be opened at pleasure to light the gas, or closed to extinguish it. Lebon set up one of these apparatus, which he called Thermo Lamps, at the Theatre de Loervois, where every body had an opportunity of seeing it for several months. It was the very same apparatus now employed in England, but on a much larger scale. The only difference is, that Lebon obtained his gas by the calcination of wood, and the English from coal. LIGHT-HOUSES. The use of mirrors for reflecting light-houses in England, is of very recent date; and, although the idea was not suggested by the falling of an apple, nor the dissection of a frog, it owes its origin to a circumstance almost as trivial, which is as follows. At a meeting of a society of mathematicians, at Liverpool, one of the members proposed to lay a wager, that he would read a paragraph of a newspaper at ten yards distance, with the light of a farthing candle. The wager was laid, and the proposer covered the inside of a wooden dish with pieces of looking-glass, fastened in with glazier's putty, placed his reflector behind the candle, and won the wager. One of the company marked this experiment with a philosophic eye. This was Captain Hutchinson, the dock-master. With him originated those Reflecting Light Houses at Liverpool, which were erected in 1763. ELECTRICITY. The first idea given of electricity was by two globes of brimstone, in 1467; electric stroke discovered at Leyden, 1746; first known it would fire spirits, 1756; that of the Aurora Borealis and of lightning, in 1769. ORIGIN OF COAL. "The bowels of the earth yield up their coal.” Geologists have given great scope to their inventive faculties, in endeavouring to determine the sources and origin of coal; but every thing tends to show its vegetable origin, and specimens of a regular succession of wood, little changed, and ending with coal, in which all organic traces are lost, have occurred. And even in the most perfect coal some relic is often found, some trace of vegetable texture, some fibrous remain, that clearly announced its ligneous origin. In the leaves that appear in bovey-coal, for instance, resin and extractive matter have been found, and also a substance uniting the properties of resin and bitumen; and the same substance has been found in the principal coal-field of Staffordshire. Perhaps, therefore, antediluvian timber and peat-bog may have been the parents of our coal-strata; but then, it will be asked, how has this mighty change been effected? Is it merely by aqueous agency, a kind of decay and rotting-down of the wood, or has fire been called into action, terrifying the vegetable matter, and the pressure under which it has operated, preventing the escape of volatile matter, caused the formation of bitumen? And are those reservoirs of compressed carburetted hydrogen, from which blowers result, to be ascribed to such a mode of formation?-Panoramic Miscellany. On the authority of chronology, this useful and necessary mineral, was first discovered near Newcastle, in the year 1234. Another writer says: those invaluable black diamonds, called Coals, seem to have been known to the ancient Greeks. Theophrastus, the scholar of Aristotle, about two thousand years ago, in describing lithanthrax, or the stone coal, says: those fossil substances that are called coals, and are broken for use, are earthy; they kindle, however, and burn like wood coals. The primeval Britons were indisputably acquainted with this fuel, which, according to Pennant, they called Glo. The Anglo-Saxons called it Col; the Dutch, Kole; the Danes, Kul; the Irish, Ougal; and the Cornish, Kolan. COALS IN LONDON, Stowe says, coals were first used in London in the reign of Edward I., and the smoke was supposed to corrupt the air so much, that he forbade the use of them by proclamation. TAX ON COALS IN LONDON. Charles II., son of Charles the Martyr, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, a most gracious prince, commiserating the deplorable state of things, whilst the ruins were yet smoking, provided for the comfort of his citizens, and the ornament of his city; remitted their taxes, and referred the petitions of the magistrates and inhabitants to the parliament; who immediately passed an act, that public works should be restored to greater beauty, with public money, to be raised by an imposition on coals; that churches, and the cathedral of St. Pauls, should be rebuilt from their foundations, with all magnificence; that the bridges, gates, and prisons should be new made, the sewers cleansed, the streets made straight and regular, such as were steep levelled, and those two narrow made wider, markets and shambles removed to separate places. They also enacted, that every house should be built with party walls, and all in front raised of an equal height, and those walls all of square stone, or brick; and that no man should delay building beyond the space of seven years.-Vide South side of the Monument. CALLIGRAPHY, OR THE ART OF WRITING. Writing, or the art of Calligraphy, is of uncertain data. Hierogliphics were the first characters used, and there is little doubt, but that we are indebted to the ancient Greeks for those less doubtful characters which we now employ. The English, French, and Italians, are considered to have cultivated this art with more success than other nations. It has, however, been stupidly considered as incompatible with the character of a gentleman to write a good hand. Dr. Parr used to observe, that he unfortunately accustomed himself to write rapidly, but not well, and lamented the consequences, as his MSS were often returned as unintelligible. He concludes his lamentation over his own bad writing, by reminding those who deemed Calligraphy an accomplishment unworthy of a scholar and a gentleman, that in the art of writing Mr. Fox was eminently distinguished by the clearness and firmness, Mr. Porson by the correctness and elegance, and Sir Wm. Jones by the ease, beauty, and variety of the characters they respectively employed." SECTION IV. RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE STAGE, ORIGIN TRAGEDY. Tragedy, like other arts, was rude and imperfect in its commencement. Among the Greeks, from whom our dramatic entertainments are derived, the origin of this art was no other than the song which was commonly sung at the festival of Bacchus. A goat was the sacrifice offered to that god. After the sacrifice, the priests, and all the company attending, sung hymns in honour of Bacchus ; and, from the name of the victim, payos, a goat, joined with won, a song, undoubtedly arose the word tragedy. "At first, the tragedy was void of art; A song where each man danc'd and sung his part, Thespis, was first, who, all besmear'd with lee, And show'd his hero with a buskin dress'd. Increas'd the pomp and beauty of the stage; Engag'd the chorus song in ev'ry part, And polish'd rugged verse by rules of art."-Dryden. ORATORIOS. The oratorio commenced with the fathers of the Oratory. In order to draw youth to church, they had hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs, or cantatas, sung either in chorus, or by a single voice. These pieces were divided into two parts, the one performed before the sermon, and the other after it. Sacred stories, or events from Scripture, written in verse, and by way of dialogue, were set to music, and the first part being performed, the sermon succeeded, which the people were induced to stay and hear, that they might be present at the performance of the second part. The subjects in early times were the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, Tobit with the Angel, his Father, and his Wife, and similar histories, which by the excellence of the composition, the band of instruments, and the performance, brought the Oratory into great repute, hence this species of musical drama obtained the general appellation of Oratorio. RELIGIOUS PLAYS. Apollinarius, who lived in the time of the emperor Julian, wrote religious odes, and turned particular histories, and portions of the Old and New Testament into comedies and tragedies, after the manner of Menander, Euripides, and Pindar. These were called Mysteries, and were the first dramatic performances. The first dramatic representation in Italy, was a spiritual comedy, performed at Padua, in 1243; and there was a company instituted at Rome, in 1264, whose chief employment was to represent the sufferings of Christ in Passion Week. The Rev. Mr. Croft, and the Hon. Topham Beauclerc, collected a great number of these Italian Plays or Mysteries; and at the sale of their libraries, Dr. Burney purchased many of the most ancient, which he speaks of as being evidently much earlier than the discovery of printing, from the gross manner in which the subjects are treated, the coarseness of the dialogue, and the ridiculous situation into which most sacred persons and things are thrown. In 1313, Philip the Fair, gave the most sumptuous entertainment, at Paris, ever remembered in that city. Edward 11. and his queen Isabella, crossed over from England with a large retinue of nobility, and partook of the magnificent festivities. The pomp and profusion of the banquetings, the variety of the amusements, and the splendour of the costume were unsurpassed. On the occasion, Religious Plays were represented, of the Glory of the Blessed, and at other times with the Torments of the Damned, and various other spectacles. The Religious Guild, or fraternity of Corpus Christi, at York, was obliged annually to perform a Corpus Christi play. But the more eminent performers of mysteries were the Society of Parish Clerks of London. On the 18th, 19th, and 20th of July, 1390, they played Interludes at the Skinner's Well, as the usual place of their performance, before king Richard II, his queen, and their court; and at the same place, in 1490, they played the Creation of the World. The first trace of theatrical performance, however, in this country, is recorded by Matthew Paris, who wrote about 1240, and relates, that Geoffrey, a learned Norman, master of the school of the abbey of Dunstable, composed the play of St. Catherine, which was acted by his scholars. Geoffrey's performance took place in the year 1110, and he borrowed copes from the sacrist of St. Albans, to dress his characters. In the reign of Henry VII., 1487, that king, in his castle at Winchester, was entertained on a Sunday, while at dinner, with the performance of Christ's Descent into Hell; and, on the Feast of St. Margaret, in 1511, the miracle play of the Holy Martyr St. George, was acted, on a stage, in an open field at Bassingborne, in Cambridgeshire, at which were a minstrel and three waits, hired from Cambridge, with a property-man and a painter. Thus, it appears, that the earliest dramatic performances were of a religious nature, and that the present drama, as will be seen in another article, takes its data from the 16th century. PUBLIC THEATRES IN ROME. The first public theatre opened in Rome, was in 1671; and in 1677, the Opera was established in Venice. In 1680, at Padua, the opera of Berenice was performed, in a style which makes all the processions and stage paraphanalia of modern times shrink into insignificance. RISE OF THE DRAMA IN ENGLAND. "All the world's a stage!" William Fitzstephen, a monk of Canterbury, who wrote in the reign of Henry II., and died in 1191, in speaking of the performances of the stage, says, London, instead of common Interludes belonging to the theatre, hath plays of a more holy subject; representations of those miracles which the holy confessors wrought, or of the sufferings wherein the glorious constancy of the martyrs did appear. In the reign of Edward III., it was ordained by the act of parliament, that the strollers should be whipt and banished out of London, on account of the scandalous masquerades which they represented. By these masquerades we are to understand, a species of entertainment similar to the performances of the mummers; of which some remains were to be met with, so late as on Christmas Eve, 1817, in an obscure village in Cumberland, where there was a numerous party of them. Their drama related to some historical subject, and several of the speeches were in verse, and delivered with good emphasis. The whole concluded with a battle, in which one of the heroes was subdued; but the main character was a jester, who constantly interrupted the heroics with his buffoonry, like the clown in the tragedies of Calderon, the Spanish Shakspeare. The play of Hock Tuesday, performed before queen Elizabeth, at Kenilworth, was in dumb-show, the actors not having had time to get their parts. It represented, says Dr. Percy, in his Reliques of Ancient Poetry, after Laneham, the outrage and importable insolency of the Danes, the grievous complaint of Huna, king Ethelred's chieftain in wars; his counselling and contriving the plot to dispatch them; concluding with con |