rth, but the moon having nearly 2 deg. southern
latitude at the time of true conjunction, in middle of the eclipse, it
will be invisible not only to us but to the whole boreal hemisphere of
the globe. He enters Scorpio on the 24th at 4 h. 36 min. morning.

From the observations made upon the annual eclipses, it appears that the
period of the moon is now shorter, and consequently that her distance
from the earth is now less than in former ages, and this has been
considered as an argument against those who assert that the world may
have existed from eternity; for it was hence inferred that the moon
moves in a resisting medium, and therefore that her motion must by
degrees be all destroyed, in which case she must at last come to the
earth. But M. de la Place has shewn that this acceleration of the moon's
period is a necessary consequence of universal gravitation, and that it
arises from the action of the planets upon the moon. He has also shewn
that this acceleration will go on till it arrives at a certain limit,
when it will be changed into a retardation, or in other words, there are
two limits between which the lunar period fluctuates, but neither of
which it can pass.

PASCHE.

* * * * *

Fine Arts.

* * * * *

HANS HOLBEIN.

Holbein is the man who has been hitherto considered as the most
brilliant genius Switzerland has produced in the art of painting. He
is here universally believed to have been a native of Switzerland. His
earliest biographers, Mander and Patin, asserted that he was born at
Basel, and they have been copied by all our biographical dictionaries.
Another biographer, however, appears, himself a Swiss, and known as the
author of some other clever works, and proves, on the most satisfactory
evidence, that Holbein was born 1498, at Augsburg, in Germany; but that
his father, a painter too, came to Basel between 1504-8, probably at the
invitation of the magistrates of Basel, as they required a painter to
decorate their newly-built council-hall.

Holbein gave early proofs of his aspiring talent. When fifteen years
old, he exhibited an oil-painting, which, though defective in colouring,
raised high expectations by its clearness and softness of execution.
This painting is still to be seen in the public library at Basel, and
bears the date of 1513. Of the same year, a sketch, with the monogram
HH, is extant, representing three watchme