ime,
notwithstanding his poverty and solitude, he probably enjoyed the only
real happiness he had ever known. He reached the age of eighty-four,
and, in the year 1490, gave up his last breath with a smile. If a
bystander had inquired at the moment he was passing away, what it was
which gave this illumination to his countenance, and this tranquillity
to his heart, he would doubtless have answered, _the philosopher's
stone_.

After his death, he obtained the reputation he had missed when living.
His works were widely circulated, and some of them printed so late as
1672. They were reckoned an important help to the student of hermetic
science; and the name of the luckless Bernard Trevisan was always
included in the list of great adepts.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] The French author of the catalogue we allude to (1742) while
declaring that it is good for people to know what the books are,
counsels them to read very little of them, and to do nothing at all
that they recommend.

LACON'S BOAT-LOWERING APPARATUS.

The want of a ready means of lowering boats from vessels in distressed
circumstances, has been exemplified with the most tragical results in
such cases as those of the _Orion_, _Birkenhead_, and _Amazon_. Mr W.
S. Lacon, late of the H.E.I.C.'s service, has invented a plan for
making them quickly available, which seems likely to be successful. It
was tried on the 5th August by the Regatta Committee at Folkestone,
with the approval of a great number of persons professionally
qualified to pronounce on the subject. The wind was blowing strongly
from the southwest, with a heavy surge running. This proved fortunate,
for the better testing of the efficacy of the system. In the first
trial, a boat was lowered from the steamer by one man, with several
persons on board, and alighted on the water, abaft of the larboard
paddle-box, with the utmost safety and apparent comfort, the tackle
being released momentarily by the weight of the boat's descent, the
vessel at the time steaming at the rate of 12-1/2 knots per hour. It
was afterwards hoisted up again by two men. At the second trial, the
boat was lowered and cleared from the ship by one man, with Mr Lacon
and three men on board, the vessel at the time maintaining full speed.
The same experiments were performed several times during the day, in a
similarly successful manner. The apparatus employed by Mr Lacon is
very compact and simple, being fixed under the deck-seats, so as