n traced to a delicate and very neat style of chirography. A lady
clerk on a Western steamer! It speaks strongly of our moral progress."

George Borrow, in his singular narrative, "The Romany Rye," states
that the sale of a wife, with a halter round her neck, is still a
legal transaction in England. It must be done in the cattle-market, as
if she were a mare, "all women being considered as mares by old
English law, _and indeed called mares in certain counties where
genuine old English is still preserved_."

TESTIMONIAL TO MISS MITCHELL.--The fame of our talented countrywoman,
Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, has spread far and wide among
astronomers, and is cherished with pride by all Americans. We are glad
to learn that it is proposed to present her a testimonial which will
be at once an appropriate tribute to her talents, and an aid to the
future prosecution of her astronomical researches. An observatory on
Nantucket Island is for sale on very favorable terms, and a plan is on
foot for its purchase, to be presented to her. The sum needed is
$3,000, of which more than a third has been raised by ladies in
Philadelphia and its neighborhood.

Miss Mitchell is now in Europe, visiting the principal observatories
and astronomers there, and it is hoped that she will soon be
gratefully surprised by learning that the very imperfect means
hitherto at her disposal in pursuing her favorite science are to be
replaced on her return by a collection of instruments which she will
be delighted to possess. Drs. Bond, of Harvard College Observatory,
and Hall, of Providence, have interested themselves in securing this
object, and express strongly their opinion that valuable results to
science can not fail to be realized by furnishing so skillful and
diligent an observer as Miss Mitchell the proposed aids to her
researches. Dr. Bond expresses the conviction that Nantucket enjoys
special advantages as an astronomical site, on account of its
comparative exemption from thermometrical disturbances of the
atmosphere.

We hope this worthy tribute to our countrywoman's scientific merit
will not fail to be paid. Miss Mitchell's friends have the refusal of
the observatory only till September 1st, and several other purchasers
are ready to take it at once. Dr. Geo. Choate, of Salem, has consented
to receive the pledges of such as desire to be enrolled among the
subscribers to the fund, among whose names are already the honored
ones of Edward Ev