s to
have the genealogy complete. This has become a passion; and I have
found every person I met who could trace his descent from the
mother-country proud of it. I fell in, the other day, with a highly
intelligent American, who told me with quite a feeling of pride, that
his grandfather and grandmother were English, and his wife's father a
Scot.

THINGS TALKED OF IN LONDON.

_January 1852._

Notwithstanding our busy and acquisitive propensities, we of the
metropolis have found time to wish one another a happy new-year, and
to send friendly greetings to our country cousins also. We don't like
to take the step from one year into another without a _coup d'amitie_.
Besides all which, we are in the habit of considering ourselves at the
present season more than ever entitled to partake of the recreations
offered us, whether theatrical, musical, pictorial, saltatorial,
philosophical, or scientific. And so, while simple-minded people are
looking into the new almanacs to test the accuracy of the predictions,
I must try to fill a page or two with such matters of talk as will
bear reproduction in print.

First of all, among the discussions and communications at the
Astronomical Society, it is stated that the term 'meteoric astronomy'
is one which we shall shortly be able to use with almost absolute
certainty, as M. Petit of Toulouse has succeeded in determining the
orbits of meteors relatively to the sun as well as to the earth. His
conclusions are considered valuable, especially with respect to the
meteor of August 19, 1847, which, it appears, came 'from the regions
of space beyond our system;' having, as is estimated, occupied more
than 373,000 years in passing from its point of departure to its fall
in the North Sea, near the shores of Belgium! This is another addition
to our knowledge of meteoric phenomena which affords promise of
further results. Certain members of the same society are still at work
on what has been a tedious task--the restoration of the standard yard,
rendered necessary, as you will remember, by the destruction of the
original in the Parliament-House conflagration, more than ten years
ago. The work proceeds slowly but surely, as the extremest pains are
taken to insure accuracy, the measurements, bisections, and
graduations being read off with a microscope. When finished, it will
be centuplicated or more, if necessary, and, as is said, a copy
deposited in every corporate town in the kingdom. Thi