The penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, issue…
"The penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, issue…" is an illustrated popular-education periodical written in the early 19th century. It offers a miscellany of natural history, antiquities, social statistics, short biographies, science primers, poetry, moral reflections, and brief historical notes, all geared toward spreading practical and entertaining knowledge to a general readership. This issue ranges widely: it opens with vivid accounts of crocodile hunting in the Nile
region and ancient Egyptian reverence for the animal, then turns to statistical snapshots of England and Wales on poor relief, crime, savings banks, and London’s growth. A gripping narrative recounts a woman’s night-time survival after a bridge collapse on the Usk, followed by brief anecdotes on law in Queen Mary’s reign, Tasso’s encounter with banditti, Parini’s call for moderation, and other moral vignettes. A substantial article on obelisks explains their form, transport, Roman relocations, and “Cleopatra’s Needle,” while a cautionary essay urges vigilance in prosperity. “The Week” sketches the lives of Adam Smith, Corneille, and Cassini; a primer on weather demystifies the air and debunks almanac forecasts; and Cowper’s “The Nightingale and Glow‑worm” offers a gentle moral on harmony. Short notes touch on learning’s decline in the Dark Ages, detecting erased ink by heat, London’s inconsistent mile-stones with a proposal for an obelisk datum, and a youthful quip from Nelson. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
