The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 12, No. 321, July 5, 1828 by Various
page 36 of 49 (73%)
page 36 of 49 (73%)
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SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY
_Society of Civil Engineers_. A charter of incorporation has just received the royal signature, constituting an institution of Civil Engineers, and naming Mr. Telford its president. The objects of such institution, as recited in the charter, are, "The general advancement of mechanical science, and more particularly for promoting the acquisition of that species of knowledge which constitutes the profession of a civil engineer; being the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man, as the means of production and of traffic in states, both for external and internal trade, as applied in the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, river navigation, and docks, for internal intercourse and exchange; and in the construction of ports, harbours, moles, breakwaters, and light-houses, and in the art of navigation by artificial power, for the purposes of commerce; and in the construction and adaptation of machinery, and in the drainage of cities and towns." _Toads as Ant-eaters_. In the autumn of last year, a pit, wherein I grew melons, was so much infested with ants, as to threaten the destruction of the whole crop; which they did, first by perforating the skin, and afterwards eating their way into the fruit; and, after making several unsuccessful experiments to destroy them, it occurred to me that I had seen the toad feed on them. I accordingly put about half a dozen toads into the pit, and, in the course of a few days, scarcely an ant was to be |
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