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of Aix, upon the walls of villas, hamlets, and towns. M. Peiresc had found a chrysalis of a remarkable size and form, and had inclosed it in a box. He thought no more of it until, hearing a buzz within the box, he opened it, and perceived the chrysalis changed into a beautiful butterfly, which immediately flew away, leaving at the bottom of the box a red drop of the size of a shilling. As this occurred about the time the shower was supposed to have fallen, and when a great many butterflies were seen in every direction, he properly concluded that the drops in question were excrementitious matter voided by the insects. Looking more closely, he found the drops seldom upon the upper surfaces of objects, but generally in cavities where insects might nestle. He also noticed that they were to be seen upon the walls of those houses only which were near the fields, and not upon the more elevated parts of them, but merely as far up as the butterflies were accustomed to flutter. The common butterfly in England deposits a red fluid very much as described by Peirsec.

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INGENIOUS INVENTION. — A pair of skates, invented by Mr. William Wallace, of Newtown Ardes, watch-maker, are in the highest degree creditable to that gentleman's scientific skill an perseverance. The machinery of this little locomotive is so arranged that it is equally serviceable on ice or on a smooth foot-path, (a flagged footway, for instance.) It consists of two perpendicular plates of iron, with pieces inserted between them, to allow a free rotary motion for three wheels, revolving along the extent covered by the foot. These wheels revolve in the action of skating, and, with the addition of a horizontal plate of wood, elevate the sole of the foot above the surface. There is, also, a large wheel at the toe-end, with a ratched [[ratchet]] or click-wheel attached, on the outside of one of the perpendicular plates, for the purpose of keeping the one foot from retrograding, while the other is progressing forward.

[There is nothing that is very novel in Mr. Wallace's invention; in our boyhood we used a pair of skates made as above described. A certain M. Perrine undertook for a wager to skate across the gardens of the Tuilleries, at Paris, in the month of August, 1829 — he wore instruments made in a similar manner to Mr. Wallace's. The Ravel Family have, for the last twenty years, used exactly the same sort of skates in one of their ingenious dramas — The Skaters of Wilma.] — EDS. G. M.

A CHAPTER ON SCIENCE AND ART (PART III)

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PLATE GLASS. — At the manufactory of St. Gobain, near Paris, a plate of glass has been lately cast, in a single piece, sixteen feet three inches in length, and eleven feet six inches in breadth. The ridiculously large mirrors of which we Americans are so fond, are all imported, and principally from England. The house of Chance and Co. send over a great deal annually, and find their account in so doing, notwithstanding the heavy duties exacted from them by the British government. Messrs. C. and Co. Pay a weekly duty of no less than five thousand pounds sterling.

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RAILWAY GATES. — We observe that a Mr. T. Lambert, of Stockton upon Tees, England, has invented an ingenious gate to be employed at the crossings of rail roads. This gate turns upon a central support, and is readily managed by one person. When open it prevents any one from passing on the road. It is furnished with an elevated circular signal, containing a lamp, which announces danger, at night. Its general effect tends to the protection of life and property at crossings, allowing at the same time the greatest possible facility for passing on the road.

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THE BOMB CANNON. — Experiments with Mr. Cochran's bomb cannon have lately been made at the Arsenal in Washington, and the efficacy of the invention satisfactorily tested. The first thirty-two discharges were made within four minutes. In another trial seventeen discharges were made in two minutes and twenty seconds — in a third, eight were made in a minute — in a fourth, three in the third of a minute.