* * * * *

_Lake Erie._


The height of Lake Erie above the Atlantic Ocean, has been ascertained to
be 565 feet. The barrier which contains it is so low, that, were it only
to rise six feet, it would inundate, on its northern and western borders,
seven millions of acres, now partly occupied by towns, villages, and
farms; and it is estimated that a further rise of six or eight feet would
precipitate a vast flood of waters over the state of Illinois, from the
south end of Michigan; the great Canadian Lakes then discharging also
into the Mexican Gulf.--_Brande's Journal._

* * * * *


_The Cuckoo_

Has done more for our music than musicians may be willing to allow; but
it is no more than justice to a despised bird to say, that from it we
have derived the minor scale, whose origin has puzzled so many; the
cuckoo's couplet being the minor third sung downwards.--_Mag. Nat. Hist._

* * * * *


_Immense Fir-tree._