According to Leviticus v., 15, this coin was one of the counts of reckoning and offering, where the person had committed a trespass through ignorance.

"Of the Censer, with the Incense thereof, full account is found in Leviticus x., 1, when Nadab and Abihu. with others of the rebellious priests, having presumptuously put strange incense in their censers, and went into the Tabernacle to offer, (in direct contravention of the orders of the Deity, through Aaron, the High Priest,) for which offence the ground opened and swallowed them-being the first account we have, either in sacred or profane history, of an earthquake. "Two important events are thus commemorated in the history of the Israelites by the devices engraved on the piece-the destruction of the rebeling priests, and the blooming of Aaron's rod."

CURIOUS HABITS OF MACKEREL.

A friend relates, when a boy of some thirteen summers, I took advantage of an opportunity to "go a mackerel ketching." I had a chance to observe many of the habits of the fish, which a writer thus describes :

"The mackerel has peculiar habits, and although they have been taken in immense numbers for three quarters of a century, their habits are not well understood. They often move in immense bodies, filling the ocean for miles in extent. They are found near the surface. Sometimes they will take the hook with the greatest eagerness; at other times not a mackerel will bite for days, although millions of them are visible in the water. When they are in the mood for taking the bait, ten, twenty, and even thirty barrels are taken in a few hours.

They usually bite most freely soon after sunrise in the morning and towards sunset at evening. They all cease to bite about the same time, as if they were actuated by a common impulse. They are easily frightened, and will then descend into deep water. It has often happened that a fleet of vessels has been lying on the Cape, say a mile or two from the shore, in the midst of a school of mackerel, taking them rapidly upon their decks, when the firing of a gun or the blast of a rock would send every mackerel fathoms deep into the water, as suddenly as if they had been converted into so many pigs of lead, and perhaps it would be some hours before they would reappear. They are caught most abundantly near the shore, and very rarely out of sight of land.

ICE AND GOLD.

The export of the former from Boston is larger this year than at any former period. It is an article of small value at home, but realizes a large profit abroad. The export of gold is less from that port than any year since 1853. We anner the returns for both from January 1 to the close of March, from Boston :

Of the ice exports, about one-third goes to New Orleans; one-seventh to Cuba; one-tenth to Calcutta. The other ports of shipment are Galveston, Savannah, Charleston, Mobile, Aspinwall, Vera Cruz, Pensacola, &c.

INDIVIDUAL DEBTS.

The Hon.' EDWARD EVERETT, in a recent publication, thus notices the disposition to contract debts on the part of families, which runs into such an enormous mass of the goods of others consumed on credit, and the means of paying which are yet to be earned :

I will first speak of what may be called the personal debt of the country, which runs up, in the aggregate, to an almost fabulous amount. The free population of the United States, amounts, at the present time, to about 26,000,000 of individuals, which will give, in the ordinary calculation, 5,200,000 heads of families. I assume that each one of these persons is three hundred dollars in debt. This is of course a purely conjectural sum. Many persons may think it too small; such is my own impression. I believe it will be perfectly safe to assume that, in consequence of the natural proclivity to anticipate income, to buy on credit to live a little beyond our means, the community carries with it through life a debt of at least three hundred dollars for each family. I am aware that there are many persons who "owe no man anything, but love one another;"-some, I fear, there are, who obey the apostolic injunction, without that benign qualification. But, on the contrary, how many there are of the 5,200,000 heads of families who owe a great deal more than 300 dollars; how many individuals, not included in the 5,200,000, who have larger or smaller debts! How large a proportion of the real property of the country.-the houses, the farms, the plantations,-is under mortgage: and of those who have no real property to give in security, how many pledge their credit and honor to an extent at least equal to that assumed? When all these things are considered, I think it will be felt, that three hundred dollars is a moderate sum to assume, as an average amount of debt for every head of a family. This basis of calculation gives us 1,560 millions, say fifteen hundred millions of dollars as the private personal debt of the American people; or about one-half of that national debt of England, which sits like an incubus on the taxable resources of that country. The interest of this sum is ninety millions of dollars, which the people of this country have to pay annually on their personal debts. Stated in this naked form it is a frightful sum; and no small part of the straits, discomforts, and troubles of domestic life arise from this perpetual strain upon the family resources. Still, in a time of prosperity, the burden is divided among so many, that it is carried with greater or less ease, according to the amount which weighs on each individual; for though we assume for calculation an equal average amount, in point of fact the burden is unequally divided. Some are prudent enough to be almost or quite free; others, as the popular expression is, are "over head and ears."

THE SEAL FISHERY.

In the St. John's papers of a recent date we find statistics which illustrate the great value of the fisheries of Newfoundland and Labrador. The seal fishing commences at this season of the year. The statistics of other two ports are also given. The following are the gross amounts :-

These figures, which do not comprise the whole of the vessels sent out from the colony, represent quite a large amount of capital and labor engaged in this fishery alone, irrespective of the cod fishing, which employs a still larger number of ships and hands at a later season of the year.

PRODUCTION OF SUGAR IN AUSTRALIA.

The Australian and New Zealand Gazette gives the following in relation to the sugar culture there :

Some agricultural experiments which have recently been made in Southern Australia will afford additional evidence of the almost lavish manner in which the gifts of nature have been bestowed on the Australian colonies. The climate and soil of Australia are suited in one or other of the colonies to the production of nearly every description of vegetable and cereal produce. The reputation of the grain of Tasmania and South Australia was fully established at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and every year that has elapsed since that period has tended to confirm the good opinion then formed of Australian wheat. Moreton Bay, it has been demonstrated, will produce cotton of excellent quality, and many other of the tropical and semi-tropical fruits. We now learn that in South Australia one of the species of sugar-producing plants has been cultivated with considerable success. The agriculturist who has turned his attention to this plant may hereafter be regarded as one of the best friends of the colony. It is said that a negro slave of Cortes was the first who cultivated wheat in the Spanish colonies of South America; he sowed three seeds, which he found in some rice brought from Spain for the use of the troops. At Quito the earthen vessel in which the first wheat was sown by a Franciscan monk, a native of Ghent, is preserved as one of the most highly prized of the relics. The introduction of wheat into Spanish America was not more beneficial to that continent than the sugar plant may prove to be in Australia. We do not expect that in its present state, or for some years to come, Australia will ever be regarded as an extensive sugar-producing colony, able to compete with the West India Islands, or a part of the Southern States of America. The scarcity and high price of labor constitute a diffiulty which will not be readily overcome; but the fact having been clearly demonstrated of the suitableness of the soil and climate of the country for the growth of sugar is, nevertheless, one of considerable importance to the future of these colonies. We learn from one of our contemporaries at Adelaide, that Mr. Duncan, who has had the advantage of s West India experience as a sugar planter, is of opinion that the plant will not at present pay for the purpose of sugar manufacturing, in consequence of the high price of labor. The" holcus" is not, however, merely useful as a plant from which to extract sugar, but it is of great value as food for cattle and horses. Cattle are extremely fond of it, and they will eat plant, stalk, leaves and flower, without any preparation, and the plant is very nutritive and fattening to stock of all kinds. The result of the experiments which have been made show that the plant is about twice as productive as a hay crop, that it grows without much trouble on a soil of moderately good quality, and very little seed is re quired; the grain from four heads is said to be sufficient to sow an acre of land. The climate of Australia, which is at certain seasons of the year hot and dry, is not well suited to the production of heavy grass crops, or of those rich pastarages which are to be met with in many parts of this country. This peculiarity of the climate does not, however, appear to exercise any injurious effect upon the holcus or sugar plant.

TO GILD SILK.

Take a piece of silk and dip it into a solution of nitrate of silver and ammonia, in which it must be suffered to remain for about two hours. It is then taken out, exposed to a current of hydrogen gas, which reduces the nitrate and leaves the silver in a metallic state adhering to the fabric. This silvered surface can be easily covered with gold by the electro-plating process. Gilt and silvered lace are thus produced in France.

MANUFACTURE OF SHAWLS.

The high value attached to Cashmere shawls is the cause of many contrivances to appropriate their reputation to articles which are not exactly entitled to it, and a cotemporary writer remarks, that the persons who, in this country, and at the present day, purchase worsted or woolen goods under the denomination of Cashmere are, or ought to be, aware that such goods are Cashmereau only in name. A real Cashmere shawl, made by the inhabitants of that valley from the wool of a peculiar variety of goat reared on the plains of Thibet, is a most costly article, eagerly sought after by the rajahs and sultans of the East, but finding its way to Europe very rarely indeed. To make a pair of large and handsome Cashmere shawls requires the labor of twelve or fourteen men for half a year. The late Bunjeet Singh, the chief of Lahore, gave five thousand rupees for a pair of those woolen shawls, the pattern of which represented his victories. The animals from which the material is obtained are covered by nature with two kinds of coat or clothing; the one fine, curly, generally gray, and imparting to the skin a down more or less thick, as if to guard it against cold and damp; the other coarse, lank, and giving a general color to the animal; and, as it is only the inner and finer coating which is used for fine shawls, the quantity produced is limited, and therefore high priced.

The down called poshm is collected from flocks of goats on the plains of Thibet, and brought to the confines of Cashmere on the backs of sheep. It is then cleared, and one-fourth of it (being all that is fitted for shawls) is carried on men's backs the remainder of the distance to Cashmere. When arrived at Cashmere, it passes into the hands of the merchants, who sell it in small quantities to the weavers, at the rate of about two rupees per pound. The thread is dyed a great variety of colors, and then stiffened with rice water. Many articles are woven with these colored threads, the process being slow and tedious, on account of the rude construction of the looms. Shawls, coverlets, handkerchiefs, turban pieces, gloves, socks, and other garments, are woven of this poshm. The shawls are washed after being woven, to remove the rice stiffening, and a fine pale yel- . low color is imparted by means of sulphur flames.

HYMNS AND GROCERIES.

The chorister of a church not many miles from Springfield one Sunday handed a slip of paper, upon which was written the list of hymns which he intended to sing at the morning service, to a worthy member of the church, requesting him to hand it to the minister, as is customary, for his guidance in arranging the exercises. The minister ascended the pulpit stairs, memorandum in hand, and after seating himself, looked to see what hymns to select, and was somewhat astonished to read, instead of the usual directions, "Sixteen feet of four inch belting," "twelve pounds of sugar," "fishing tackle," etc. The worthy member who handed him the paper, came to Springfield the next morning to make some few purchases, and upon refreshing his memory from a memorandum of what he wanted, which he carried in his pocket, was not a little surprised to find that his memorandum sheet only called for a few hymns, which he didn't find very plenty at the stores. He is a very good-natured man, and made it all right the first time he saw the minister.

THE BOOK TRADE.

1.-Napoleonic Ideas. By PRINCE NAPOLEON LOUIS BONAPARTE. Brussels, 1839. Translated from the French by JAMES A. DORR. 12mo., pp. 154. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

As whatever tends to throw light on the character and policy of that remarkable man, now ruling France, who, backed up by six hundred thousand soldiery, seems destined to play a leading part in the great world drama about being enacted, cannot but be interesting just now to a great commercial people like our selves, so closely connected. as we are, by the varied sinuosities of trade and free communication, by enabling us to form some opinion as to the probable course of political events, so far as Napoleon III. has the power of shaping them, Mr. Dorr has seen fit to translate the ideas held by that prince when an exile from France, and looked upon by the world only as a harmless adventurer. If any one doubts that he is a fair representative of his illustrious uncle, partaking, in a large measure, of his high conceptions and vast plans of self-aggrandizement, they have but to sketch this little essay to get at his notions as to what constitutes an emperor and an empire, and the secret hope he has ever worn next his heart of some day becoming testamentary executor of that policy first conceived by his uncle. Napoleon I., says his nephew, fell because he completed his work too hastily, and because he attempted to accomplish in ten years a work which would have required several generations-because events pressing too rapidly, he conquered too promptly; thus, when at length unfortunate, nothing was perceived but his rashness. Only in Napoleon III., it would appear, have we the full-fledged eagle, who, in his upward flight, by his coolness and perspicuity, is to conquer every obstacle, and to erect on a secure and solid foundation the principles and boundaries of the old empire.

2.-The Life of James Watt, with Selections from his Correspondence. By JAMES PATRICK MUIRHEAD, M. A., author of the "Origin and Progress of of the Mechanical Inventions of Watt," &c. Illustrated with Wood-cuts. 12mo., pp. 424. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

There has ever been, in all ages and countries. respect paid to those persons classed as inventors, not only as a mere token of gratitude for the benefits they have been the means of conferring on mankind, but as well from the consciousness that by the grand and original conceptions of their minds they approach somewhat more nearly than their fellows to the qualities and pre-eminence of a higher order of beings; and of all the inventions which the ingenuity of man has devised, that of the modern steam-engine is, whether we regard its own mechanism and mode of performing its operations, or the operations themselves, perhaps the most wonderful. Although not the original inventor of the propell ing power by steam, yet to James Watt, the Scotchman, we believe, belongs the honor of devising the condensor and several other minor improvements, which have conferred on the steam-engine its great practical utility, and brought it completely within the control of man, rendering it available in manufactures, to processes in the useful arts, navigation, land transportation, or any of the various modes in which it is used, and by which it has become the "giant with one idea." James Watt was the person to whom Robert Fulton applied, when he took it into his head to prove the feasibility of navigating our long rivers by steam propulsion, and the engine which was used on the Clermont was built by him at Soho, although the subordinate parts, such as the connecting paddle machinery, were of Mr. Fulton's own invention, which has conferred upon him the honor, and rightfully, of bringing into successful operation steam navigation. To the mechanical philosopher, or even the general reader, this book possesses much interest, and with this view it has been put forth by the Messrs. Appleton.