be a careless, cheerful race. We often saw them dancing to the guitar, as we passed their cottages in the afternoon or evening; and they are also remarkable for the kindness of their dispositions, and the courtesy of their manners. But the "Valley of the Furnas" is more known to invalids for its hot springs and baths, than for the beauty of its scenery. These are situated at one extremity of the valley, and the approach to them is indicated by the increased temperature of the ground, and by large columns of steam which are seen at some distance. These pools of water are from ten to thirty feet in diameter, and are constantly boiling with great violence. The peasants place their vegetables in baskets, and suspend them in the boiling water, and they are speedily cooked. The great luxury of the valley is the natural warm bath. The water is conveyed to bathing houses from the Caldeiras (boiling springs), and becomes sufficiently cooled in the passage for a most grateful bath. The water is extremely soft, and, if taken after much fatigue, it restores strength and elasticity to the frame. If the " Valley of the Furnas were in our own country, it would be visited by all descriptions of persons. The wealthy and happy would go there to enjoy the luxury of the climate, and the beauty of the scenery; the sick would go with the hope of finding health from its medicinal waters; and those, whom a hopeless disease had smitten, would wish to die in this tranquil spot. LITHOGRAPHY. LITHOGRAPHY is the art of taking impressions from drawings or writings on stone. As the art has been carried to great perfection in Europe, and is now introduced into our own country, and a press established in this city, we have thought that a short account of it would be interesting to our readers. It was invented about the year 1800, by Aloys Sennefelder, a singer in the theatre of Munich. In a few years it was practised throughout the greater part of Germany. In 1803, Sennefelder went to Vienna, and after a short residence there, returned to Munich, and established several stone printing presses, where the art was brought to a high degree of perfection. None of them, however, contributed so essentially to the progress of the art, as the one founded in the same place by Baron Aretin and Mr Manlich, whence issued the beautiful collection of copies from the great masters, whose works adorn the cabinet of his Bavarian majesty. By the year 1807, it was introduced into France and Italy. It had been previously established in Great Britain, in the year 1801, under the name of polyautography, so called from its capacity of multiplying drawings from the hands of the artist. It did not, however, make very great progress there till within the last few years, during which Mr Ackermann has carried it on very successfully, with the aid of a German artist. In Paris, the presses of Count Lasteyrie, the son-in-law of Lafayette, and those of M. Engelmann, have produced many beautiful specimens of the art. The art of lithography, says Rancourt, may be divided into two parts; 1st, The execution of the drawing; 2d, The printing. The first part is not attended with much peculiar difficulty. Any artist who understands drawing, may succeed in it. The main difficulty lies in the printing, which, in the case of delicate and highly finished drawings, is always attended with some uncertainty of success. The drawing is made on a polished stone, with an ink or chalk composed of greasy materials, in the same way as drawings are executed on paper with common ink or chalk. The stone is then given to the lithographic printer, that he may obtain impressions from it. In order to do this, he wets its whole surface, but as the greasy materials, which constitute the drawing, will not receive water, only the uncovered part imbibes it. A thick greasy ink is then passed over the stone, and received by the lines of the drawing, while the remainder of the surface being wet refuses to take it. A sheet of paper is then pressed strongly on the stone, and a reversed impression of the drawing obtained. The stone is again wetted, again charged with ink, and thus a series of impressions are procured. The result is the same as in copperplate printing, but the means are different. The process of engraving is mechanical, that of lithography chemical. Simple as the theory of lithographic printing may seem, its execution on a large scale is attended with many difficulties, and cannot be successfully attempted without the practice of many years. We have a proof of this in the early polyautographic works, published in London, the drawings for which were by the first artists of the metropolis, but the impressions are mere essays in the art. All stones susceptible of taking in a greasy substance, and of imbibing water with facility, are suitable for lithographic printing, provided they are compact, capable of receiving a fine polish, and of a clear and uniform colour. The more compact and uniform in colour, the better. Those commonly used, are a nearly pure carbonate of lime. Suitable stones are by no means scarce. From the coarse calcareous stones which serve for building, to the compact ones, which receive the polish of marble, a great variety are more or less proper for lithography. The quarry, from which the first lithographic stones were extracted nineteen years ago, is still that which furnishes them in the greatest abundance, and of the largest dimensions. It is situated at Solenhofen, near Pappenheim, in Bavaria. No quarries hitherto known in France afford stones 29 VOL. IV. equal to the German. When proper stones cannot be obtained without difficulty or great expense, it is more advantageous to fabricate artificial slabs, to which a proper density and hardness may be given. An intelligent potter can easily imitate the density of natural stones. Slabs, used for this purpose, have been made of stucco composed of lime and sand, and fastened with the caseous part of milk. Artificial slabs, however, have not been made so as to equal the real ones; and the Royal Institute of France have thought the subject of sufficient importance to offer a large prize for the best.. One principal advantage of lithography is the expedition with which a drawing may be made, and copies taken off; while, at the same time, the stone is not rendered unserviceable for any other purpose, as is the case with copper and wood, since the surface needs only to be rubbed a little, to be rendered fit to be used again. The number and goodness of the impressions afforded, is another point in which it is far superior to engraving. It is said, that in the stone printing-presses of Vienna, thirty thousand impressions have been taken from one drawing, the last of which was nearly as good as the first. Count Lasteyrie is said to have taken off even seventy thousand impressions. The power of transferring the copies, is another singular advantage attending the art of lithography. Whenever it is of importance that the impression should be a perfect fac-simile, and not a reversed picture of the original, the drawing may be made on prepared paper, and then, by an easy process, be transferred from the paper to the stone. This process is not confined to drawings originally made on paper, but is applicable to impressions already taken from the stone. In this manner, an indefinite number of impressions may be obtained by transferring the copy to several stones, or, when the prints are small, several copies to one large stone, which will greatly diminish the expense of printing; or if a large number of impressions of any important paper were suddenly wanted, several might be thrown off in a few moments, on several stones, and given to be printed in different presses. The facility with which lithographic drawings are executed, the art not requiring a long previous study, like that of engraving, enables any person, who can handle a pencil, to furnish a design for the lithographic printer. This renders lithography of great advantage to several classes of manufacturers, such as coachmakers, upholsterers, clockmakers, goldsmiths, &c. It is also highly useful for copies of writing, music, models of machinery, &c. For coloured drawings, lithography is preferable to any other process, as the impresssons are perfectly smooth, and not imprinted in the paper, as is the case with those taken from wood, nor raised in relief, like those taken from the copperplate. The lithographic imitation of wood-engraving possesses a great advantage over the best performances on wood, in regard to purity, cheapness, and more expeditious production. It admits of drawings being executed with the pencil, the pen, or chalk. As the artist does not cut into the stone, the fac-simile posseses all the ease, softness, and freedom of a drawing, and it may with truth be asserted, that by this art alone, the bold, spirited strokes of the pen, and the softness of the chalk, can be preserved. The naturalist, the architect, the painter, or the penman, have only to draw their figures with resinous ink, upon varnished paper, and, by the process already explained, they may obtain as many copies as they desire, possessing all the spirit and correctness of the originals. Whatever ease or softening is communicated to the drawing on the paper, the same is preserved in the impression from the stone. Lithography admits also of engraving on stone; and, in this respect has another advantage over copperplate engraving, because its strokes are not so sharp, and have more resemblance to drawing. The stone admits all the different kinds of work, that copper does. The artist may work upon it, just as well with the etching needle, as with the dry point and the graver; but what is called the dotted manner does not succeed so well. It must be allowed, too, that no engraving on stone with the burin, has yet been made to equal the fineness of a copperplate engraving; though a skilful artist can approach very near, in fineness of touch and in freedom of execution, to the engraver on copper; as is evident from some of the landscapes published by Sennefelder, and from the productions of Count Lasteyrie, Mr Engelmann, and Mr Ackermann. Etchings. on stone, from the facility with which they are made, the fineness and purity of the lines, and the expedition in printing, are likely to prove much more useful than drawings in lithographic ink. The cheapness and facility of the lithographic process, the number and goodness of the impressions to be obtained from a single plate, the spirit of these impressions, they being fac-similes of the original drawing, show that it is a most valuable substitute for copperplate printing, in all but the highest branches of the art; and even in regard to these, the rapid progress which lithography has made of late years, shows that it will not long remain inferior. Its general diffusion throughout any country, we cannot but regard as essentially conducive to the progress of the useful and ornamental arts, and we look upon it as a fortunate circumstance, that a lithographic press has been established in this city by Mr Pendleton. He has studied the art in the best printing-houses of Paris, and has commenced its practice here, well furnished with knowledge and materials to pursue it to advantage. We hope his skill and enterprise will meet with the encouragement which they so eminently deserve. ORIGINAL POETRY. FROM THE FIRST PAGE OF A YOUNG LADY'S ALBUM. A LOVELY garden thou shalt be Of choice, well cultured poetry; I charm thee from those weeds of praise, I gift thee with ambrosial air, Fruits of the tree, and earth, and vine, Thy flowers must be divinely fair, Shall spread their brightness to the skies; |