people; whenever, therefore, their city was threatened with pestilence, a dictator was elected with great solemnity, for the sole purpose of driving a nail into the wall of the temple of Jupiter; and thus, while they imagined that they propitiated an offended deity, they diminished the susceptibility to disease, by appeasing their own fears. Much benefit might also be conferred on the operative classes of society, by some judicious enactments that should ensure the adoption of the various plans of safety and protection, which science has from time to time discovered for the advantage of those who are engaged in the more dangerous occupations and manufactories; but which, from the apathy of some, and the prejudice of others, have been either heedlessly neglected, or illiberally and insolently repulsed. The blind opposition, which such inventions meet with, is well illustrated in the history of the _safety lamp_ of _Sir Humphry Davy_, an instrument which has completely succeeded in use, and yet such is the obstinacy of the miners, that many of them continue to expose their own lives, and those of their companions, by carrying open lanterns about the galleries of the mines. The author of the present work has personally experienced the same mortifying insensibility and opposition, in his attempts to prevent the awful accidents that so frequently occur in the mines of Cornwall, from the premature explosion of gunpowder,[53] in the operation of blasting rocks. In the processes of _needle-pointing_ and _dry-grinding_, the artisans rarely live many years, in consequence of the organic mischief produced in the pulmonary organs, from the fine metallic particles that are inhaled during the operation; to obviate such a source of danger, the Society of Arts offered a premium for any invention that might afford security, and their gold medal was, in consequence, presented to _Mr. Abraham_, of Sheffield, for his “_magnetic guard_.” Notwithstanding the expediency of this apparatus, we understand that the greatest opposition has been manifested by the workmen to its introduction. From the extreme danger of the process their wages are very high, and they fear that the adaption of any system that may diminish the risk will be followed by a corresponding reduction in their pay. Surely such a subject well deserves the attention of the legislature. In France the _Prefet de Police_ would prohibit the carrying on of such arts, unless every means of safety were applied. Such a measure was adopted in the case of the _water-gilders_ in Paris, who hesitated to employ the means of ventilation suggested by _M. d’Arcet_ for their security. It is not our intention to recommend a jurisdiction so absolute and summary, but some enactments should be framed that might secure the safety of the artisan, without infringing upon the liberty of the subject.