at; but the case
is far different with the _fair_ miners of Derbyshire, at least those whom
I saw, who were complete harridans. A man's coat, of coarse gray or dark
blue cloth, defends the arms, back, throat, and bosom of each _lady_ from
the cold; beneath it, but tucked up all round so as to form a kind of bag,
appears a gown of red stuff, which, set off by a bright green petticoat,
produces an effect singular and amusing; then come the shoes, at least
three inches thick, and long in proportion, bound on to the feet, in some
instances, with handkerchiefs, and thongs, and cords: it is a wonder that
the women can stir in such unwieldy slippers. Our party had stopped to
collect specimens of the lead ore, when the carriages were instantly
surrounded by these females, offering ore, zinc, slick-and-slide, and
various quartz crystals and fluor spars for sale; some of the women were
very old, and one in particular, who had worked in the mine from her
youth, was nearly a hundred years of age, yet she was upright and active,
and wrinkles alone betrayed the fact.

M.L.B.

* * * * *

SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY.

* * * * *

_The Colosseum_.

The curious mechanism by which it is proposed to elevate the visiters at
this emporium of wonders, is as follows: A large bucket or tank of water
will be connected with a movable platform that any number of persons may
be placed in equilibrium with its fluid contents, and directly a
sufficient quantity of water is introduced to produce a preponderance in
the tank, the persons stationed on the platform will ascend.--_The
Atlas_.

_Spots on the Sun_.

An ingenious individual in Providence has very recently succeeded, by
means of a seven-feet telescope, constructed by himself, on a new
principle, in bringing the entire image of the sun into a darkened room,
upon a white screen, to the size of eight feet in diameter. He writes us
that his astonishment was great when he perceived that every spot now upon
the face of the sun, nine in number, was distinctly transferred to the
screen, and was so plain that he could see every movement of them in their
various and sudden changes. He says he could plainly discover that those
spots were immense bodies of smoke, apparently issuing from volcanoes; and
as they seem occasionally forced upward from the craters, now forming
dense clouds, and now dispersing, considers those phenomena as