ly worthy of attention.

The catalogue of utilities is, however, not yet exhausted; there is
one more with which we bring our notice to a close. After the washing
of the fibre, a great quantity of refuse membraneous substance is
obtained by filtration. This being moulded into the form of bricks,
and dried, becomes excellent fuel, and gives off so much gas from the
resin which it contains, that it may be used for lighting as well as
heating. The making of a thousand hundredweights of the wool leaves a
mass of fuel equal in value to sixty cubic yards of pine-wood.

CHAMBERS'S LIFE AND WORKS OF BURNS.[2]

Beheld in his life-time as a singular example of the genius rising
from the humbler shades of life, Burns is now ranked as a classic
among the poets of his country. The interest originally felt in his
personal character and unhappy fate, has been deepened as the high
absolute rank of the poet became appreciated. These changes might be
said to call for a more searching inquiry into his life than was at
first deemed necessary; and the task was undertaken by one, of whom we
may at least be permitted to say, that he possessed the requisite zeal
and love of the subject. For obvious reasons, we are not to be
expected to say more, in commendation or discommendation, of the work
now under our attention; but we may be allowed to advert to its
peculiar plan, and some of the new details which it brings before the
world.

The leading feature of the work is the assumption on which it
proceeds--that the writings of Burns are in a great measure expressive
of his personal feelings, and descriptive of the scenery and
circumstances of his own existence, and therefore ought to be involved
in his biography. Each poem, song, and letter, known as his, has
therefore been assigned its chronological place in his memoirs, thus
at once lending its own biographical light to the general narrative,
and deriving thence some illustration in return. The consequence is,
that, with the help of much fresh biographical matter drawn from
authentic sources, the life of the bard, as he loved to call himself,
is now given comparatively in detail. We can trace him from day to
day, and see the ups and downs of his prospects and his feelings, his
strangely mingled scenes of happiness and misery. We obtain a much
closer and more distinct view of his domestic existence than we ever
had before. The real extent of his aberrations, such as they were, is
mor