plants to be experimented upon, a selection of geraniums and a rose tree were placed in two deep boxes, of, to all appearance, common garden mould, and, having been covered with glass shades or bells, each having a small hole in the top, which was at first plugged, M. Herbert proceeded to water them, if we may use the word, with some chemical amalgam, which acting upon the chemicals already in the earth, for it was evidently, and, indeed, was admitted to be prepared for the purpose, caused a high degree of heat, as was evinced by the rising of a steam or vapor within the ball, which was allowed in some measure to escape through the hole alluded to, and, indeed, by the feel of this vapour, M. Herbert appeared to regulate the heat necessary to effect his object. In about five or six minutes from the commencement of operations, the buds on the geraniums began to open, and within ten or twelve minutes they were in full bloom, and the blossoms distributed among the ladies present. The experiment with the rose-tree was unsuccessful, M. Herbert alleging that it had only been in his possession about half-an-hour, and he had, therefore, not had sufficient time to prepare it. From this it will be seen that the whole of the operation is not so instantaneous as would appear to the mere looker-on at the moment of blossoming; but, nevertheless, the invention may prove useful to those who wish to deck their boudoirs or drawing-rooms with flowers before nature brings

them forth in due course.-Observer.

ANCIENT BABYLON.

It may be known to many of our readers that the French Government has employed a party of gentlemen to explore the site of ancient Babylon. From reports just received from them it appears that they have ascertained, beyond reasonable doubt, that the ruins beneath a tumulus called the Kasr are those of the marvellous palace-citadel of Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar. They are in such a state of confusion and decay that it is impossible to form from them any idea of the extent or character of the edifice. They appear however, to extend beneath the bed of the Euphrates-a circumstance accounted for by the change in the course of the River. In them have been found sarchophagi, of clumsy execution and strange form, and so small that the bodies of the dead must have been packed up in them-the chin touching the knees, and the arms being pressed on the breast by the legs. These sarcophagi have every appearance of having been used for the lowest class of society; but notwithstanding the place in which they were found, the discoverers are inclined to think that they are of Parthian not Chaldean origin. There have also been found numerous fragments of enamelled bricks, containing portions of the figures of men and animals, together with cuneiform inscriptions the latter white in colour on a blue ground. According to M. Fresnel, the chief of the expedition, these bricks afford a strong proof that the ruins are those of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, inasmuch as the ornaments on them appear to be sporting subjects, such as are described by Ctesias and Diodorus. The foundations having been dug down to in certain parts, it has been ascertained that they are formed of bricks about a foot square, united by strong cement, and they are in blocks, as if they had been sapped in all directions. In a tumulus called Amran, to the south of Kasr, interesting discoveries have also been made. They appear to be the ruins of the dependencies of the palace situated on the left bank of the Euphrates; and they contain numerous sarcophagi, in which were found skeletons clothed in a sort of armour, and crowns of gold on their heads. When touched, the skeletons, with the exception of some parts of the skulls, fell into dust; but the iron, though rusty, and the gold of the crowns, are in a fair state of preservation. M. Fresuel thinks that the dead in the sarcophagi were some of the soldiers of Alexander or Seleucus. The crowns are simple bands, with three leaves in the shape of laurel on one side, and three on the other. The leaves are very neatly executed. Beneath the bands are leaves of gold, which it is supposed covered the eyes. From the quantity of iron found in some of the coffins it appears that the bodies were entirely enveloped in it; and in one there is no iron but some ear-rings, a proof that it was occupied by a female. The sarcophagi are about two and three-quarter yards in length by between half and three-quarters of a yard wide, and are entirely formed of bricks united by mortar. In addition to all this, a tomb containing statuettes in marble or alabaster, of Juno, Venus, and a reclining figure wearing a Phrygian cap, together with some rings, ear-rings, and other articles of jewellery, has been found, as have also numerous statuettes, vases phials, articles of pottery, black stones, &c., &c., of Greek Persian, or Chaldean workmanship.-Literary Gazette.

A MAGNIFICENT EYE OF SCIENCE.

The Telescope recently procured for the Observatory at Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the third in size in the world. The object glass is thirteen inches in diameter. Few persons have a correct idea of the time, the toil

and the skill requisite to prepare one of these glasses. First, there are the manufactures of the rough disks. A mass of glass weighing about 800 lbs. is melted together. When in a state of perfect fusion, the furnace is walled up, and the whole is left to cool gradually. The cooling process occupies some two months. By this process the glass is annealed. Afterwards the ❘ furnace walls are removed. The entire mass is then fractured, the manner of doing this is a secret with the manufacturers; but it is accomplished in such a way that every piece is homogeneous in refractive power. The pieces are next softened by heat and pressed into moulds, giving disks of different size. The telescope-makers purchase these and grind them into the required thickness and lens-form. Two separate disks, one of crown, and the other of flint glass, are necessary to form an object glass. One of these is concave, the other convex. It is by the union of the two that the object glass is made achromatic. The grinding is a slow and most difficult process, as the utmost exactitude must be attained. First, the edge is ground to enable the maker to see whether the glass is clear and without air bubbles. It not unfrequently happens that many disks have to be rejected. When a very superior glass is finished, it is of great value. The twelve inch glass of the Cincinnati Observatory alone cost $6,000. And so it is, that these great lidless eyes of science are carved and polished, and turned towards the upper deep, unravelling the mighty lace-work woven in the loom of God.—Chicago Journal.

RUINS OF THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY.

It is stated in the London News, that Captain Newnham, an Admiralty agent on the Southampton station, who has just returned from Alexandria, visited, while there, the ruins of the Alexandrian Library. A large mound in Alexandria has been believed for ages to mark the spot where once stood the famous library which was burned by the Caliph Omar. This mound is now in process of removal, and splendid houses are to be built on its site.While Capt. Newnham was there, an immense stone of blue granite was dug out, which weighed several tons, and is covered with apparently Coptic letters. The Captain was unable to take a tracing of these letters. Beneath the mound the remains of a building, something like a star fort, have been discovered, and masses of double columns-also signs of wells of water, and of places for heating. The brick work is of immense strength and thickness -the brick being not so thick as English ones, but longer and broader. An immense number of Arab boys and girls were engaged in carrying away the rubbish in baskets.-Capt. Newnham picked up many curiosities there, such as pieces of conglomerated brick, mortar and metal work, bearing evident marks of having being fused together by intense heat. The Captain learned in Egypt that the French savant who discovered the buried city of Socarab, beyond Grand Cairo, was picking up an immense number of treasures for transportation to France.

LEGAL TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS, Mechanics, Farmers, Professional Men, Justices of the Peace, Coroners, DAPTED to the use of County and Town Officers, Merchants, Clerks, Sheriff's, Bailiffs, and to the use of all persons in every station of life. Address "WELLINGTON H. RICHMOND, Toronto, C. W." Office and dwel ling: Caroline Street, three doors from Queen Street.

N. B.-Legal Forms and Law Manual, price 15s. currency. Bill Books, 1s. 3d., 58. & 78s. 6d. Also, Time Books, 74d. & 1s. 3d. Mercantile Calcu lator (or Dumb Check Clerk), price 3s. 9d. The Montreal "Literary Gar land," bound, price 68. 3d.-In no case will either of the above-named Works be sent by Post, or otherwise, unless the amount in money is remit ted in advance. Address as above.-Toronto, January, 1854.

ANTED, a MALE TEACHER, holding a SECOND CLASS CERTIFICATE, for SCHOOL SECTION No. 3, in SEYMOUR. A Normal School Teacher will be preferred. Apply to the Trustees, JOHN JOHNSTONE and GRANVILLE ROLO.-Seymour West, Jan. 26th, 1855.

W

ANTED A SCHOOL by a MAN whose present engagement ter minates in December. He has had several years experience in School Teaching, and at present holds a First Class Certificate from the Board of Instruction for the United Counties of York, Ontario and Peel, and can produce a certificate from the Trustees of each School Section in which he has taught. Apply by letter (pre-paid) to W. M., at BUTTONVILLE P. O., Markham, stating salary.-November, 1854.

ADVERTISEMENTS inserted in the Journal of Education for one halfpenny per word, which may be remitted in postage stamps, or otherwise.

TERMS: For a single copy of the Journal of Education, 5s. per annum; back vols. neatly stitched, supplied on the same terms. All subscriptions to commence with the January number, and payment in advance must in all cases accompany the order. Single numbers, 74d. each.

All communications to be addressed to Mr. J. GEORGE HODGINS, Education Office, Toronto. TORONTO: Printed by LOVELL & GIBSON, Corner of Yonge and Melinda Streets.

But this Programme of Studies is not yet completed, as the Senate of the University have now under consideration Courses of Study in Agriculture and Civil Engineering, to each of which several scholarships are attached; also a Course of Study for Law Students-a Course of Study for Students in Medicine having already been prescribed.

The Programme of Studies for the Grammar Schools, and the Rules and Regulations of which it forms a part, appear no less appropriate to that class of intermediate institutions which form a connecting link between the Common Schools and University Colleges, and in which is imparted a higher English, and a preparatory classical education for the Colleges. The first communication made by the Government to the Chief Superintendent of Schools, under the administration of Sir Edmund Head, contains His Excellency's approval of these Regulations. Sir Edmund Head is known to be an accomplished scholar, as well as an able statesman—having obtained a Fellowship at Oxford, as an able statesman-having obtained a Fellowship at Oxford, and having held the office of College Tutor for some years, and having been chosen a Public Examiner of the University; holding that distinguished place, as we have been told, when the Earl of Elgin took his degree of B.A. at Oxford. It was therefore very gratifying to find that His Excellency, in assenting to

these Regulations, did not confine himself to the usual official

form of approval, but directed Mr. Assistant Secretary Meredith to add the following paragraph:

"In communicating this, I am directed to add for the information of the Council of Public Instruction, that the Rules and Regulations in question appear to His Excellency to have been prepared with care, and to be well adapted for the good government of the Schools for which they are intended."

The subjects and classification of studies provided to be taught in the Common Schools, as practically exhibited in the Programme of the Upper Canada Model School, require no remark, as the system has been successfully tested, and is making rapid progress in the country. On this point, and on the subject of educational progress generally in Upper Canada, we are happy to avail ourselves of the testimony of Chief Justice Robinson, whose high character and large experience in the country are only equalled by the cordiality and earnestness with which he has, on all possible occasions, given his support to the present Common School System in Upper Canada. In the course of his address to the Canadian Institute, delivered the 6th ult., after his re-election as President of that excellent Association, Chief Justice Robinson remarks as follows:

“No expense is grudged, and no labour spared, in cultivating

the minds of the youth of the Province of all ranks, and such are the efforts which are being made to this end, that it does not appear extravagant to say that we may expect, in a few years, to find ourselves living among a people, who, to speak of them in the mass, will be as able as any other that can be named, either ancient or modern, to comprehend the nature and value of discoveries that may be made in the arts and sciences, and to adopt and improve upon such suggestions as may be thrown out by men of superior genius and attainments.

"If the system of Common School education which pervades all parts of Upper Canada, shall continue to be maintained in full efficiency, which there is no reason to doubt, the number of those who can enter with pleasure and profit into discussions upon subjects of science will be immensely increased; and those

"There is good ground, too, for expectation that, with the. advantage of the Public Libraries, selected as they are with care and judgment, which are being formed within the several counties, and even within each school section, a spirit of inquiry will be fostered, and an ambition excited to be distinguished in scientific pursuits, which we may hope will in time add largely to the number and variety of interesting contributions to the Institute."

AMENDED COMMON SCHOOL REGULATIONS.

and of others concerned is directed to the amended Regulations The attention of Trustees and Teachers of Common Schools, on page 29 as to the Daily Religious Exercises of Schools, and the additional regulations as to the duties' of Teachers and Pupils. It should be borne in mind by all parties that Trustees of School Sections have no authority to levy a rate bill (that is a charge to parents for children attending the school, as dis

tinguished from a rate on the property of the section) except by a vote of a School Section meeting-that they cannot levy a rate bill exceeding one shilling and three each pupil-that they cannot levy a rate bill for a less period than one month-that every pupil entering a rate-bill school is

pence per

month for

liable to pay the rate bill for one month, or one quarter, whether he attends every school day, or only three days, of the month or quarter. The schoolhouse is provided and the teacher is employed to teach every day, and if pupils do not attend the school, the loss of such absence should fall upon the parties causing it, and not upon the Teacher or the Trustees, or the School Section. But the Regulations referred to, as to the duty of pupils, will remedy most of the evils of irregular attendance at school.

PROGRAMME OF STUDIES PRESCRIBED BY THE SENATE OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, FOR COLLEGES IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY.

FACULTY OF ARTS.

The degrees con'erred in this Faculty are B.A and M.A. There are two modes of proceeding to the degree of B.A. According to one, the requisites

are

(1) Having passed an examination in the subjects prescribed for Candidates for Matriculation. (2) Being of the standing of four years from in the subjects prescribed for each such year of the course appointed for Matriculation. (3) Having passed in each of these years an examination Undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts.

According to the other mode of proceeding to the degree of B.A., the requisites are—

of the standing of two years from Matriculation. (2) Being of the standing

(1) Having passed an examination in the subjects prescribed for Students

of two years from Matriculation. (3) Having passed in each of these years an examination in the subjects prescribed for each such year of the course appointed for Undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts.

Candidates for Matriculation, according to the first mode, are required to produce satisfactory certificates of good conduct, and of having completed the 14th year of their age.

Candidates for Matriculation, according to the second mode, are required to produce similar certificates of good conduct, and of having completed the 16th year of their age. N. B. Neither residence nor attendance on lectures is required as a qualification for the degree.

There are also two modes of proceeding to the degree of M.A.
According to one, the requisites are-

(1) Being of the standing of one year from admission to the degree of B.A. (2) Having passed the appointed examination in the subjects prescribed for Candidates for admission to the degree of M.A.

According to the other, the requisites are

(1) Being of the standing of three years from admission to the degree of B.A. (2) Having performed the Exercises prescribed for Candidates for admission to the degree of M.A.

Properties of matter, aggregation, crystallization, chemical affinity, definite equivalents.

Combustion, flame; nature of ordinary fuel; chief results of combustioni. e. the bodies produced.

Heat: natural and artificial sources; its effects. Expansion: solids, liquids, gases. Thermometer: conduction; radiation; capacity; change of form; liquefaction; steam.

The atmosphere: its general nature and condition; its component parts. Oxygen and nitrogen: their properties. Water and carbonic acid. Proportions of these substances in the air.

Chlorine and iodine, as compared with oxygen.

Water: its general relation to the atmosphere and earth; its natural states and degree of purity. Sea water, river water, spring water, rain water. Pure water: effects of heat and cold on it; its compound nature; its elements.

Hydrogen its proportion in water; its chemical and physical properties. Sulphur, phosphorus, and carbon generally.

Nitric acid, sulphuric acid, carbonic acid, hydrochloric acid; their properties

and uses.

Alkalies, earths, oxides generally.

Salts their nature generally. Suphates, nitrates, carbonates.

:

Metals generally: iron, copper, lead, tin, zinc, gold, silver, platinum, mercury. The chief proximate elements of vegetable and animal bodies; their ultimate composition.

The following are offered for competition amongst candidates for admission:4, of the value of £30, per annum each, in the Greek and Latin languages with History and Geography.

4, of the value of £30 per annum each, in Mathematics.

2, of the value of £30 per annum each, in the English and French languages, with History and Geography.

1, of the value of £30 per annum, in the Elements of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.

4, of the value of £30 per annum each, for general proficiency in the subjects for all students.

In the present year (1854) 8 additional scholarships, of the value of £30 per annum each, are offered for competition under the regulations of 1851. Each of these Scholarships is tenable for one year, but the Scholars of each year are eligible for the Scholarships of the succeeding year.

Homer, Iliad, B. IX. Odyssey, B. I. Xenophon, Anabasis, B. I.

Virgil, Eneid, B. VI.

Ovid, Fasti, B. I.

Sallust, Cataline.

British History, to Saxon invasion.

Additional for Honors and Scholarships. Biography of the ages of Pericles and Augustus. Ethnological elements of Ancient History.

METAPHYSICS AND ETHICS.

Logic. (Walker's edition of Murray's.)

Natural Theology. (Paley's.)

Additional for Honors and Scholarships.

Logic (Whatley's or Mill's.)

Cicero, de Natura Deorum, Bb. II. and II.

Cicero, Tusc. disput., B. I.

NATURAL SCIENCE.

Elements of Natural History. (Patterson's Zoology; Henfrey's Botany.) Elements of Mineralogy and Geology. (Dana's Manual of Mineralogy; Hitchcock's Geology.)

The subjects marked* will not be required until 1855, except from candidates for Scholarships.