and this air contained internally, has a direct communication, through the passage of the wind-pipe, with the external air; so that, in fact, the air contained internally, and the external air, form different portions of one continuous fluid. Thus the pressure of the air externally upon the ribs, is borne by an opposite pressure of the air within; and neither pressure is felt to have a tendency to alter the form of the cavity of the chest.

If, however, we exhale any portion of air from the chest, we become immediately conscious of a diminution of the internal pressure outwards, and an excess of the external pressure; the chest becomes oppressed, and, by a peculiar mechanism supplied by nature for that purpose, its dimensions contract, until the included air is again sufficient in quantity to supply the requisite pressure from within. It is for reasons of this kind that divers, when at a great depth, experience a severe pressure upon the ribs; the external pressure upon the chest being increased by the great weight of the water, and thus made to exceed the opposite internal pressure of the air.

Those portions of the body which do not communicate with the external air, and thus become filled with it, are all, whatever be their nature, completely saturated by fluids. Thus the bones are porous, and their pores are occupied by fluid secretions; the muscular portion of the body, or the flesh, is saturated by the blood; the nerves and sinews are tubes, each apparently serving as the conduit of a fluid.

It appears, then, that the mass of the human body may be considered as an accumulation of solid atoms, each separately immersed in a fluid, and it follows that the pressure upon any portion of the external surface of the body is propagated equally throughout its substance by means of the fluids, and that each solid particle thus sustains pressures equal in every possible direction; so that, by reason of these pressures, it can have no tendency to move either in one direction or another. As the pressures upon each particle thus separately neutralize one another, it follows that the particles do not press upon one another*. Thus then we see a reason why the external pressure of the atmosphere, which is exreedingly great, being altogether little short of 30,000 pounds on each individual, does not tend to press the parts of the body upon, or against, one another, and producing, therefore, no excitement of the nerves, is not felt.

Were the enormous pressure of the atmosphere any otherwise applied to our bodies than by the intervention of the fluid in which we breathe, it would be utterly impossible that the motions of the parts of the body, constituting life, should proceed; the slender and fragile mechanism, indeed, of its organs could not fail to be destroyed. By that admirable property, however, of the equal distribution of fluid pressure, not only are we enabled to sustain the 30,000 pounds' weight of atmospheric pressure without feeling it, but that pressure may be doubled by immersing the body thirty-six feet under water in a diving-bell, and yet no single nerve, not even the most delicate of the millions which overspread the body will, by reason of that pressure, experience the least perceptible excitement.

Such are the effects which result from the body's being immersed in a fluid, and from its parts being (according to an expression of Paley,) packed in fluids. We now see plainly how the air may be (as it really is) a fluid possessing weight, and, therefore, pressing heavily upon us, and yet we be altogether uncon* Of course it is here supposed that the external pressures spoken of do not alter the external form of the body.

scious of the pressure. We may, however, very readily put the matter to the test of experiment. Let us destroy the equality of atmospheric pressure, by removing the air from any one portion of the body; we shall then at once be conscious of the existence of pressures upon the other portions, and of the great advantages we derive from an absolute and entire immersion in it. This removal of the air may be effected by various means; there is, however, a machine called the air-pump, which is commonly used and expressly intended for that purpose. By means of this machine, the air may be removed from any given portion of the body; its pressure upon the rest of it will then at once be perceived. If, for instance, the hand be applied so as to cover the open top of a vessel, of which the lower portion communicates with the air-pump, and if the pump be then put in action, so as to remove the air from the vessel, and, therefore, from the under-surface of the hand, the pressure of the air upon the upper surface will at once become apparent; the hand will be firmly pressed down upon the edges of the vessel, and, at length, it will be found impossible to move it; the blood-vessels will become distended, the back of the hand will be bent inwards, and the operation may be carried on until a pressure is produced equal to the weight of a column of thirty inches of mercury, a weight probably sufficient to rupture the mechanism of the hand.

The process of cupping is an example of this partial removal of pressure from the surface of the body. A small portion of spirits of wine is put into the cupping-glasses and lighted; by the heat thus produced, the air, which before occupied the glass, is in a great measure expelled, and its place supplied by vapour. In this state the glass is applied to the surface of the skin; the flame is extinguished, the vapour becomes condensed again into a liquid, the air loses its heat, and with its heat, its tendency to expand; thus its pressure upon the surface of the、 body (underneath the glass) becomes less than before, and less than the pressure upon other portions of the body; and the result of this unequal pressure is an immediate disorganization of the surface beneath the glass; the flesh and muscular parts swell out in a surprising manner, the vessels become distended, and blood is at length seen to gush from the pores of the skin.

Suction presents another striking example of the partial removal of pressure. There is a certain operation of the muscles, by which the air may be removed from the cavity of the mouth: if this exhaustion takes place when the lips are applied to any portion of the skin, the result will be a removal of the pressure from that portion of the surface of the body, and a consequent displacement of the skin beneath; moreover the exterior surface of the lips sustaining the atmospheric pressure, whilst the interior portion in contact with the skin is free from it, the two are brought closely in contact, and pressed together.

It is thus that snails attach themselves firmly to walls, or to the trunks or boughs of trees, and may be seen even to crawl with their bodies suspended beneath them. The under portion of their bodies is furnished with powerful muscles, which enable them to form a hollow space or cavity in any portion of its length. Their method of fixing themselves to any surface, is to raise their bodies into a hollow or cavity, producing a vacuum underneath this cavity, the edges of which are closely pressed upon the surface, and the whole body suspended to it by the external atmospheric pressure. Attaching in this manner,

different portions of their bodies successively to different parts of the surface on which they wish to move, they may be seen walking suspended not only as to their bodies, but the shell which serves them as a habitation, not only up perpendicular walls, but along the smooth surface of the ceiling of

a room.

There is a plaything of children called a sucker, which acts precisely upon the principle we have been explaining. It consists of a circular piece of leather, which is exceedingly soft and pliable, and suspended by its centre from a string. If this be wetted, and applied to the surface of a stone, or any smooth heavy mass, and then an attempt be made to remove it by pulling the string, it will be found to oppose a powerful resistance.

The reason of this is obvious. The string being pulled, the leather is slightly raised in its centre, and the cavity beneath it is a vacuum; no air having been allowed to enter by reason of the close contact of the edges of the wet leather with the stone. The pressure of the air is thus removed from that portion of the stone which is beneath the leather, and its pressure upon the opposite side of the stone is unsustained; the stone is, therefore, by that unsustained force, pressed towards the leather, and, by the pressure of the atmosphere on its external surface, the leather is pressed against the stone.

It is precisely upon this principle that flies are enabled to fix themselves upon a perpendicular pane of glass, or upon the ceiling of a room. They are enabled to raise the central portions of their feet as the centre of the sucker is raised by the string, and a vacuum being thus formed underneath the foot, it becomes fixed upon the surface on which it is planted. [Abridged from MOSELEY'S Mechanics applied to the Arts.]

THE RUINS OF COWDRAY HOUSE,
MIDHURST, SUSSEX.

ABOUT a quarter of a mile eastward of Midhurst *, are the remains of Cowdray House, once the splendid seat of the family of Montague, but now only a venerable ruin. Reduced to its present state by the accident of fire, and not by the hand of time, it still presents a fair front, which, situated as it is a little off the high road from London to Chichester, might, at first sight, be imagined by the traveller, unacquainted with the place, to betoken an ancient and lordly, but still habitable mansion. It stands in a valley, near the banks of the river Arun, which runs between two well-wooded hills through Cowdray Park, a noble estate consisting of 800 acres, abounding in fine old trees, particularly Spanish chestnuts, of which there is a long and handsome avenue, called the Chestnut Race, near the neighbouring village of Easebourne.

There was anciently a manor-house at Cowdray, belonging to the Bohuns, who took the title of Baron from the town of Midhurst; but Cowdray seems to have afterwards become the property of the crown, as

it was granted by Henry the Seventh to John Lord Montague; and, on the division of his property, passed to Lucy, his third daughter, whose second husband was Sir Anthony Brown, a person of ancient family, and Great Standard-Bearer of England. William Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton, the son of this lady by a former husband, may be considered as the founder of the structure, the remains

A small town between eleven and twelve miles north-east of Chichester, which probably received its name from being situated in the midst of woods, hurst being a Saxon word for a wood.

of which are represented in the engraving, he having received a royal patent early in the reign of Henry the Eighth, to add to the park, and build a castle of stone: and the visiter may now see the gothic letters, . . the initials of this nobleman, carved on the richly-wrought stone ceiling of the entrance-porch. On his dying without issue, the estate went to his half-brother, Sir Anthony Brown, whose son, the first Viscount Montague, greatly improved and enlarged the house.

This noble residence was twice honoured by a visit from royalty. King Edward the Sixth, in 1547, in a letter to his friend, Fitzpatrick, speaks of Cowdray as a goodly house of Sir A. Brown's, where we were marvellously, yea, rather excessively banketted." And there is an old printed description of "The honorable entertainment given to the Queen's Majesty (Elizabeth,) in her progress at Cowdray, in Sussex, by the Right Hon. the Lord Montagu, in 1591." This was the son of the said Sir Anthony. After a flourishing account of the reception of her Majesty, in which she was addressed as "The Miracle of Time," "Nature's Glory," "Fortune's Empress," "The World's Wonder!" it states, by way of stepping from the sublime, that, on the following day, she was "most royallie feasted; the proportion of breakfast was three oxen, and one hundred and fortie geese!" During the week of the Queen's stay at Cowdray, flattery and feasting were the order of the day; and she was pleased to hear the fulsome addresses of persons disguised as pilgrimes, with their russet coats and scallop-shells," and "wild men, clad in ivie," and "anglers at goodlie fish-ponds," who, in their peculiar costumes, successively uttered strange and forced conceits upon her high birth, wisdom, and beauty, even comparing her to a goddess, who had condescended for once to light upon

This dusky spot, which men call earth.

On going through the arbour to take horse for Chichester, we are told her Majesty knighted six gentlemen, including my Lord's second son, Sir George Brown.

In Midhurst Church, on the south side near the rather pile of monuments, erected to the memory of chancel, is a large coloured and gilt monument, or certain members of this family. It is enclosed by iron rails, and consists of a marble altar-tomb, upon which are placed two full-sized recumbent figures of women in the rich cloaks and dress of the times, with ruffs round their necks, their heads resting on pillows; at the feet of one is an unicorn chained. But the chief is that of an old man with a beard, in rich armour figure of all, for there are many on the monument, and cloak, kneeling on a cushion before a square altar, round and below which are inscriptions, stating Montacute, chief standard-bearer of England, K. G., that here was buried Anthony Brown, Viscount with his two wives, Lady Jane Ratcliffe, daughter of Robert, Earl of Sussex, and Magdalen, daughter of William Lord Dacre. This Viscount died at Horsley, in Surrey, in 1592.

mined Papist, he should have received such marks of It may appear remarkable, that though a deter

esteem and confidence from Elizabeth, as are implied by his appointment as her ambassador to Spain, and by her gracious visit at his family mansion; but he was a loyal and trust-worthy man, and this was his recommendation to his royal mistress.

In wandering over the park at this day, we cannot, indeed, imagine that we look upon the very trees under which sat the lion-hearted queen: for about the year 1770, the then viscount employed

the famous Lancelot Brown, who, from a word he often used in advising improvements in lawns, gardens, &c., was called Capability Brown, and who removed some of the old oaks from Cowdray, placing formal clumps instead. Lately, however, a better style has prevailed, and among the "sunny spots of greenery" are to be found plenty of fine trees freely spread about the grounds.

Cowdray House was built in the form of a square, the chief front being towards the west, in the centre of which was the gate, flanked by two towers. The east side contained the chapel, hall, and diningparlour, superbly fitted up, and decorated with paintings and statues: at the upper end of the hall was a buck standing, carved in brown wood, having on the shoulder a shield with the arms of England, and under it the arms of Brown, with many quarterings carved in wood. There were ten other bucks as large as life, standing, sitting, and lying, some with small banners of arms supported by their feet. This hall and staircase were pictured with the story of Tancred and Clorinda from Tasso. The parlour was adorned by Holbein, or some of his scholars. On the south of the quadrangle was a long gallery, in which were, coloured in stucco, the twelve apostles as large as life; and on the north side was another gallery, containing many whole-length family pictures, also sacred and historical pieces, some of which were brought from Battle Abbey. The paintings on the walls were saved during the Civil War in the time of Charles the First, by a coat of plaster laid over the stucco: but one of the officers quartered here, exercising his weapon against the wall, broke out of one of the groups the head of Henry the Eighth, which was afterwards replaced. This beautiful and massive structure was destroyed

by fire on the night of the 24th of September, 1793, charcoal having been left about by the workmen.

The ruins of the west side of this magnificent mansion contain the most perfect traces of the general architecture, and exhibit proofs of its amazing strength. Within the quadrangle, and about the premises, lie several fragments of curious sculpture; and the broken column,

Like the baseless fabric of a vision,

presents to the reflecting mind, a fit emblem, not only of human glory departed, but of the fate which, even at the time of this lamentable loss, yet impended over the family. For by a sad coincidence, exemplifying the saying that misfortunes often come together, a few short weeks after this stately pile was destroyed, the noble owner, the young Viscount Montague, during the life of his mother, and before the intelligence of the fire could reach him, was drowned, together with his fellow-traveller, Sedley Burdett, Esq., brother of the present Sir Francis Burdett, Bart., in rashly venturing to navigate the 1793 *. His estates devolved by will to his only falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen, in October, sister, married to W. S. Poyntz, Esq., the present Member of Parliament for Midhurst, who resides at Cowdray Lodge, a small but elegant house in the park, about a mile from the ruins.

Brown, who was descended from the second son of The title went to the next heir male, Mark Anthony the first Viscount Montague, and who died in 1797. The claim to the peerage then became dormant, if

not extinct.

For a mention of the fire, and of the still more disastrons catastrophe which followed it, see the Annual Register for 1793.