In contrast to this specimen of a great town in a minute space, we have in front of the transept a wonderful clock, which is kept in motion by a set of powerful electro magnets, eight in number, on which is wound a length of twenty-five thousand feet of copper wire. This gigantic time-keeper sets in motion the immense hands on the principal dial, which is twenty-four feet in diameter, besides two smaller ones which are fixed in front of the galleries, at the east and west ends of the building. I am afraid that it would tire you, were I to attempt to tell you exactly what electricity is, and must therefore satisfy your curiosity, for the present, by letting you know that it is caused by the coming in contact of different substances possessing peculiar properties, which cause them to vibrate, when they touch.
There is another very curious clock in the Exhibition, which will go for a hundred years before requiring to be wound up again; and there is one wheel in it which is said would take ten thousand years to go round once.
Next there is a case of stuffed birds, which came from Scotland, and which we cannot help admiring. There are in this case specimens of all the various kinds of birds which are peculiar to Scotland, neatly and carefully stuffed; and really they almost look as if they were alive. Ah, ah! Mister Eagle, you are not so much to be feared now, I think, as you were when you lived in your lofty home in the Highland mountains.
And here is another case in which are all the different sorts of mother-of-pearl buttons that can be imagined; there is every variety of ornament on the buttons, which look exceedingly brilliant.
This immense block of granite, from Scotland, is not quite so pretty, though it is, perhaps, more useful; it is twenty feet long, and is a piece of the finest kind and colour that could be found. Another very useful thing, also from Scotland, is a large lighthouse bell, managed so as to ring very loud, to warn any ship that is going too near a dangerous rock or shoal, near the lighthouse where the bell may be.
Among the more beautiful specimens of industry, there are several elegant vases made of silver, and of a delicate material called Parian, which is an imitation of Parian marble; some of them are ornamented with blue and gold, and others are ornamented with silver. There is also a splendid tea-service, adorned with charming pictures of the dear old fables we all know so well,--the "Lion and the Mouse," the "Wolf and the Lamb," the "Dog and the Shadow," and others.