664, A.D.  Glass first invented in England by O. Benalt, a monk.

1284, A.D.  The Alphonsine Astronomical Tables constructed, under the patronage of Alphonso X. of Laon and Castile.

1337, A.D.  The first comet described with astronomical precision.

The first diving bell we read of was a very large kettle suspended by ropes with the mouth downwards, and planks fixed in the middle of its concavity.  Two Greeks at Toledo in 1583, made an experiment with it before Charles V. They descended in it with a lighted candle to a great depth.

The Odyssey was written upon the skin of a serpent.

Formerly pennies were marked with a double cross and crease, so that it might easily be broken into two or four parts.

HALBERT H.

* * * * *

THE SKETCH-BOOK

* * * * *

SKETCH OF THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS.

By an officer engaged.

The Leander, fitted for the flag of Rear-Admiral Milne, was at Spithead, in June, 1816, when Lord Exmouth arrived with a squadron from the Mediterranean, where a dispute had arisen between the Dey of Algiers and his lordship, in consequence of a massacre that took place at Bona, on the persons of foreigners, then under the protection of the British flag.

When the particulars were made known to government, Lord Exmouth was ordered to return to Algiers, and to demand, in the name of the Prince Regent, instant reparation for the insult offered to England.  The squadron being still on the war establishment, the crews were discharged, and another expedition was ordered to be equipped with all possible dispatch.  The Leander instantly offered her services, and she soon had the satisfaction to hear, that they were graciously accepted, and never was greater joy expressed throughout her crew, than when her Captain (Chetham) announced the determination of the Admiralty, that she was to complete to the war complement; an extra lieutenant (Monk) was appointed, a rendezvous for volunteers opened on the Point at Portsmouth, and in ten days she was ready for sea, with 480 men on board.

The flag of Rear-Admiral Milne was hoisted, and the Leander sailed for Plymouth, where she anchored in two days, and joined part of the squadron intended for the same service:  the Queen Charlotte, bearing the flag of Lord Exmouth, soon appeared, and on the 29th of July, the expedition sailed from England with a fine easterly breeze.

The expedition arrived at Gibraltar in eleven days, when it was joined by a Dutch squadron of five frigates and a corvette, under the command of Vice-Admiral Von Capellan; five gun-boats were fitted out and manned by the ships of the line, and two transports were hired to attend with ammunition, &c.  All lumber and bulkheads, were landed at the dock-yard; the ships were completed with water, and in all points ready