horse-coaches off the road. Each of the horse-coaches employed twelve horses—there being three stages, and a change of four horses each stage. The total horses employed by these coaches was therefore 168. Now each horse consumes, on an average, in pasture, hay, and corn, annually, the produce of one and a half acre. The whole would thus consume the produce of 252 acres. Suppose, therefore, "every man had his acre" upon which to rear his family, which some politicians have deemed sufficient, the maintenance of 252 families is gained to the country by these steam-coaches. The average number in families is six, that is, four children, besides the father and mother.—The subsistence of 1,512 individuals is thus attained.

DIALLING.

(For the Mirror.)

The following method of constructing a dial, may be novel and interesting to many of those readers of the Mirror who are fond of that ancient art; whilst its simplicity and the great ease with which it may be constructed, will render it acceptable to all.

To make a Cross Dial.—A cross dial is one which shows the time of the day without a gnomon, by a shadow of one part of the dial itself, appearing upon another part thereof. Observe.—In making this dial you need have no regard to the latitude of the situation, for that is to be considered in the placing, and not in the making of it. 1st. Prepare a piece of wood or stone of what size you please, and fashion it in the form of a cross (see fig. 1) so that ab, bc, cd, de, eh, hi, ik, kl, lm, and ma, may be all equal: the length of ef is immaterial, it may be more than double to a e. 2ndly. Set one foot of your compasses in e and describe the arc h n, which divide into six equal parts for six hours, because it is a quarter of a circle; lay a ruler from e to the three first divisions, and draw the lines e o, e p, e q. 3rdly. Now the position of this dial being such that its end a m must face the south, and the upper part of it or the line a f lying parallel to the equinoctial, it is evident that the sun at noon will shine just along the line a b, and m l; therefore you must place 12 at b and l, then from 12 to 3 P.M. the shadow of the corner a will pass along the line b c, therefore take from the quadrant h n, the distance h o, and set it from 12 to 1. Take also h p and set it from 12 to 2, h q being equal to b c; at c you may place 3 where the shadow of the corner a goes quite off the dial at c, or 3 o'clock in the afternoon; at this time the shadow of the corner i will appear on the side h g at q or 3 o'clock, where place the figure 3; the shadow will then ascend to p at 4, to o at 5; at 6 there will be no shadow, the sun shining right along the line i h; place a VI also at the corner l, because it also shines along the line l k, and from 6 till 9, (if it be in a latitude where the sun continues up so late) the shadow of the corner at k is passing along the line l m: therefore take the distances h o, &c., and set off from 6 to 7 and from 6 to 8, as before at 12, 1, and 2. Then for the morning hours, the shadow of the corner c will enter upon the line a b at the point a, just at 3 o'clock in the morning, and if you draw lines from 7 and 8 parallel to a m, their terminations will point out 4 and 5. Six o'clock is in the very corner opposite to 6 in the evening. Parallel lines below the transverse piece drawn from 5, 4, 3, will indicate the proper places for 7, 8, 9. It then remains to set off the same distances as before on line l k on which the shadow of m will point out 11, 10, and 9 o'clock; the dial will then be finished.

Observe. These dials require considerable thickness (let it be equal to a m,) because being placed parallel to the equator, the sun shines upon the upper face till the summer, and on the longest day is elevated 23° 29' above the plane of the dial, and consequently the shadow of a will fall at noon in the line a b, not in the point b, but at an angle of 23° 29' therewith, and on the shortest day the like angle will be formed, but in an opposite direction. It must further be observed that after the proper points are determined on the plane, they had better be transferred to the sides of the cross, as is shown in fig. 2, for there it is the shadow will be seen to pass. A dial thus formed is universal; when made according to the foregoing directions there is nothing more to do but to fix it by the help of your quadrant to the elevation of the equinoctial or complement of the latitude of your habitation, and so that the side a m may exactly face the south. A dial of this sort has been standing in my garden, more than 12 months, and is found to answer the purpose well, being both useful and ornamental.

When the figures are painted on the thickness as in fig. 2, the upper surface being unoccupied, an equinoctial dial may be described thereon, which will be useful the summer half year, while on the lower surface a similar one may be placed for the winter half; or it may be made the bearer of some useful lesson, in the form of a motto, e.g. "Disce dies numerare tuos." But this is only a hint to the curious.

COLBOURNE.

Sturminster Newton, Dorset.

The Selector

AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS.

ATHERTON,

By the author of Rank and Talent.

This tale bids fair to enjoy more lasting popularity than either of the author's previous works. It has more story and incident, though not enough for the novel. The characters, if not new, are more strongly drawn—their colouring is finer—their humour is richer and broader, and as they are from the last century, so their drawing reminds us forcibly of the writers of the same period. There is none of the mawkish affectation of the writing of the present day, as coinage of words and fantasies of phrases which will scarcely be understood, much less relished, twenty years hence. But the style throughout is plain, sensible, and natural, free from caricature, and more that of the world than of the book.

The plot is of the tale or adventure description; certainly not new, but its interest turns upon points which will never cease to attract a reader. We do not enter into it, but prefer taking a few of the characters to show the rank of life as well as the style of the materials. The first is a portrait of a London citizen sixty years since:—

At the Pewter Platter there were two arm chairs, one near the door and the other near the window, and both close by the fire, which were invariably occupied by the same gentlemen. One of these was Mr. Bryant, citizen and stationer, but not bookseller, save that he sold bibles, prayer-books and almanacks; for he seriously considered that the armorial bearings of the Stationers' Company displaying three books between a chevron, or something of that kind, for he was not a dab at heraldry, mystically and gravely set forth that no good citizen had occasion for more than three books, viz. bible, prayer-book and almanack. Mr. Bryant was a bachelor of some sixty years old or thereabouts. He had a snug little business though but a small establishment; for it was his maxim not to