nd two stout troughs.

_Siberia._

Professor Hansteen and his companions were at Tobolsk, on the 12th of
September, whence they travelled on sledges, the cold being at 40
degrees Reamur, so that frozen quicksilver could be cut with a knife.

_The Desart._

The opinion generally formed of Desarts is completely erroneous,
according to Mrs. Charles Lushington, who, in her recent Travels, says,
"Though much variety of country or occurrence cannot be expected in the
Desart, I may with truth assert, that the passage through it was, to me,
very interesting and agreeable. For the three first stages, the road was
diversified by some irregularities of ground, and remarkable passes
through the rocky mountains; but the course of our journey in general,
lay through an arid plain of sand and stones, about two miles in
breadth, bounded by rocks of sandstone of an almost uniform appearance.
On the second day's march, I saw one or two trees, and the road was so
varied, that I could then scarcely believe myself in a desart, which I
had always pictured to my imagination as a dreary and interminable
plain, with heavy loose sand, curled into clouds by every breath of
wind."

* * * * *

_Stilts._

In south-western France, the shepherds make stilts of long poles with
the thigh-bone of an ox fastened at a moderate height from the ground,
as a support for the foot, and to enable them to distinguish the
approach of wolves at a greater distance.

_Embalming._

There are three modes of embalming among the Egyptians: one of these
consists in the injection of some antiseptic drugs previous to drying
the body; but the most perfect and sumptuous is thus effected: The
viscera are removed, and the body sprinkled with aromatics and natron.
After drying, it is enveloped in folds of gummed linen, and placed in
coffins. The great principle of embalming is the exclusion of the
external air, but much is attributable to antiseptics. One of the
principal ingredients in the mummy balsam is colocynth, or bitter apple,
powdered. The same drug is employed in Upper Egypt for destroying vermin
in clothes' presses, and store-rooms; and ostrich feathers sent to Lower
Egypt are sprinkled with it. A recent traveller found in the head of a
mummy, of a superior kind, a balsam, in colour and transparency like a
pink topaz. It burned with a beautiful clear flame, and emitted a very
fragrant odour, in which cinnamon predominated. In