quarter of the church; for there may be a tube (which we will call the main-pipe) laid along the centre aisle, and lateral tubes may spring from this to any required spot. Some clergymen have what they call a _deaf pew_; that is, a pew in which those are congregated who may be collectively benefitted by this admirable apparatus. This contrivance has been used at some of the great meetings (four thousand strong) at Exeter Hall, by those to whom the speeches would otherwise have been little else than dumb show. Gutta-percha has been discovered in the British province of Mergui, and though not precisely identical with the gutta-percha of commerce, it possesses all the valuable properties of that substance, including plasticity in hot water, and the power of insulating electric currents. The tree from which the true gutta taban is produced (erroneously misnamed gutta-percha, a gum yielded by a different tree,) is one of the most common in the jungles of Johore and the Malay Peninsula. It is not found in the alluvial districts, but in undulating or hilly ground. There is a great uniformity in the size of the full grown tabans, which rise with perfectly straight trunks from sixty to eighty feet in height, and from two to three feet in diameter, the branches being few and small. The natives, after felling the tree, make an incision round it, from which the milk flows. This is repeated at distances of six to eighteen inches along the whole trunk. It appears that the taban, or milky juice, will not flow freely like India rubber, but rapidly concretes. Its appearance in this state, before being boiled, is very different from that of the article as imported and shipped. It has a dry, ragged look, resembling shreds of bark, and instead of being dense and tough, is light, and possesses so little cohesion that it is easily torn to pieces. Various statements are made as to the produce of each tree, which is somewhat surprising, considering the uniform size of the trees. It takes twenty trees to produce one picul of 133 lbs., and as the exports of gutta-percha, from the commencement of the trade up to the close of 1853, amounted to 3,107 tons, it follows that upwards of one million trees must have been destroyed to obtain that quantity in nine years. The natives, however, do not appear to be under any apprehension that the trees will be extirpated, and smile at the probability when suggested; for it is only trees arrived at their full growth, or at least at a very considerable age, that repay the labor of felling them and extracting the gutta; and those of all inferior ages which are therefore left untouched, will, it is supposed, keep up the race. The collection of the gutta has widely extended, embracing now the Johore Archipelago, Sumatra, Borneo and Java. Unfortunately, the quality has deteriorated by the admixture of other inferior gums, the products of different trees, which are often used to adulterate the taban.