A Roman architect discovered the means of so far altering the nature of glass as to render it malleable; but the Emperor Tiberius caused the architect to be beheaded. A similar discovery was made in France during the reign of Louis XIII. The inventor presented a bust, formed of malleable glass, to Cardinal Richelieu, and was rewarded for his ingenuity by perpetual imprisonment, lest the French glass manufacturers should be injured by the discovery of it. _Deutsche Luft._ A German newspaper tells an amusing story of the famous scientist, Alexander von Humboldt, who took advantage of the exemption from duty of the covering of articles free from duty, formerly the rule in France. In the year 1805 he and Gay-Lussac were in Paris, engaged in their experiments on the compression of air. The two scientists found themselves in need of a large number of glass tubes, and since this article was exceedingly dear in France at that time, and the duty on imported glass tubes was something alarming, Humboldt sent an order to Germany for the needed articles, giving directions that the manufacturer should seal the tubes at both ends, and put a label upon each with the words "_Deutsche Luft_" (German air). The air of Germany was an article upon which there was no duty, and the tubes were passed by the custom officers without any demand, arriving free of duty in the hands of the two experimenters. _The Great Hero of the Bretons._ Merlin, the enchanter, is the great hero of the Bretons as he is of the Welsh, the same legends being common to both people. Among other lays respecting him is the following, which is of high antiquity:— "Merlin! Merlin! whither bound With your black dog by your side?" [1] "I seek until the prize be found, Where the red egg loves to hide. "The red egg of the sea-snake's nest, [2] Where the ocean caves are seen, And the cress that grows the best, In the valley fresh and green. "I must find the golden herb, [3] And the oak's high bough must have, [4] Where no sound the trees disturb Near the fountain as they wave." "Merlin! Merlin! turn again— Leave the oak-branch where it grew; Seek no more the cress to gain, Nor the herb of gold pursue. "Nor the red egg of the snake, Where amid the foam it lies, In the cave where billows break: Leave these fearful mysteries. "Merlin, turn! to God alone Are such fatal secrets known!"