SAS rye a fi ay asi! Mais poe ate i a Engraved by E. Mackenzie, trom a Basso Relieve Modelled trom the Life . PG pity by, Ll _D. FPR. c Published July 314°1805, by A. Tilloch, Garey Street. THE PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE: THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF SCIENCE, THE LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS, AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, AND COMMERCE. BY ALEXANDER TILLOCH, HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, &c. &c. &c, « Nec aranearum sane textus ideo melior quia ex se fila gignunt, mec noster vilior quia ex alienis libamus ut apes,” Just. Lips. Monit, Ba VOL. XXIII. For OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, and DECEMBER, 4805; and JANUARY 1806. a ——————— LONDON: Printed ly R. Taylor and Co., 38, Shoe Lane, Fleet Street: And sold by Messrs. Ricuarpson; CapeLy and Davies; Loneman, Hurst, Rees, and Oxrme; SymMonps; Murray; Hicurey; Vernor and Hoop; Harpinc; London: Bex and Braprure, Edinburgh; Bras and Rep, and D. Nevin, Glasgow; and Gitperr and Honces, Dublin. 1806, ‘oom. ' Ve ’ ‘ i, : . \ ead) comet” : Rie) ee A re i, : : "ip 4h Aga i J 4 4 Fe thet ate Se? Ce ae ne Pe | ‘ : Par) > he, F A a ‘noe ees, ie eee -MIMTSADAN JA om : a ~ . ri. ‘ aes ; p bac en ia om, -wa9 ete " Sait sae aoa 10 ean HAS eu Bats ie oe de gas Ss Bi aaune . sage eene ae as o 35e Aut 2 isp srathiio oe icetap PORE akin: od efoto Witla eats 4 eae ec vd aT eal Pt} Wie r } a. he eae cis eee ; peu ah aha ees “em, 6 s sont | Rane), mute Sep anit , ait eating ‘i ve ‘Cag E aa iD a. oe f ee oy a Wwod’ A : Herat tr cee umes Pg ort aN cA AY ay oe ergata Cait ban BO ee ed: TP cay 5 Gta, ae ae eee he ty aby ht ves ' A eet noi (eae gh hee OMG ERD ‘Bee * ak on aks bag 2a yobapd Rirrneath amt ten abeiney 3 bint Sieh has: Boone ; Sys eile BE OA tad “a> % Py, aii eee 3 Pa eet. hd as aly : ‘aden’ : § ma ‘. { brs } iD “ ty = s one al po tthpoe A Sak ati a ‘ oe Tek as > 4) " he “es ig / ie (oy - f ee ot ‘ ; see . A a Feit eA Net he) ; é te a a. {» es rf ¥ ye i UP CONTENTS of VOL. XXII. I. SOME original Remarks on a Variety of the Genirs Acarus, belonging to the Order Aptera, found on the Wings, Bc. of a feathered Fly of the Order Diptera. By Mr. Jown Snant, Optician «1 ++ os Page 3 II. On a Colour for marking the Ends of Cotton or Linen Cloths capable of resisting the Operations of bleaching, and likewise the most complicated Manufacture of printed Cloths, without extending beyond the Limits of the ori- inal Impression. By M. HAUFFMAN it ee HI. 4 Varnish which preserves Vessels made of Copper or other Metals from the Action of Acids of a certain _ Strength. By M. HAurrMAN .. «s+. 4. 13 IV. New Method of extracting raw Sugar from the Beet- root. By M.AcCHARD .. » i. 14 V. An experimental Essay on Salt as a Manure, and as a Condiment mixed with the Food of Animals. By the Rev. Epmunp Cartwricut, of Woburn .. .. 16 VI. On the Analysis of Soils, as connected with their Im- provement. By Humpsry Davy, Esq. F.R.S. Pro- fessor of Chemistry to the Board of Agriculture and to the Royal Institution «2 «+. te ee oe ee 26 VII. Extract from a Memoir on the Steeping of Tool, and on the Influence of its different States on Dyeing. By M.J.L. Roarp, Director of the Dyeing Establishment in the Imperial Manufactories. Read in the French Na- ducal Dprstitiite’., ie ax Gaemenails Akh aie eet = FL 28 VIII. New Galvanic Discoveries, by M. Ritrer. Ex- tracted from a Letter from M. Curist, BERNOULLI 51 IX. Galvanic Experiments. By M.Rirver .. .. 54 X. Chemical Experiments on Mercury. By Messrs. Braamcamp and S1auetra-Otiva, of Portugal, 56 XI. New Method of preparing Alum from Pyrites and- Clay. By M. Lampapius, Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy at the School of Freyberg .. .. «.. 65 XII. Twenty-fourth Communication from Dr. THorNTon, relative to Pneumatic Medicine .. .. «» -» 68 XIII. A specific Remedy for the Tinea Capitis. By Mr. PGMS BARLOW) 700517" te) ee Gil ey Ses, 89 XIV. On the Decomposition of Alkaline Sulphurets by the Oxides of Lead and of Manganese. By M.DizE 70 XV. Process for preparing pure Gallic Acid. By M. Ricu- PERL iri) Rhe eee al® 4k CORE Ct ee one XVI. Biographical Sketch of Mr. Grorce Marcets, Chronometer-maker to the East India Company, and Author of the Longitude and Horary Tables _.._.. 76 XVII. Acidulation of Sulphate of Potash. By M. Orr- STED .. «- oe SPR Win! LisSall,. “apmilenyidy dyn SO Vol. 23. No. 92. Jan. 1806. a CONTENTS. XVIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies .. .. .. 8G XIX. Inielligence rand Miscellaneous Ar Peete. EBT XX. Account of the Goats of Angora: ina Letter from M. Cuancey to M. Picrer of Geneva... 97 XXI. Description of a Machine by which all the Thread-work in Shoe-muking may le done in a standing Posture. By Mr. Taomas Ho.pen, of Fettleworth, near Petworth, in Sussex. Sacre (ied ahs An Essay on’ Commercial Policy. ‘By J.B. GALT, London .. oo Ot xxii Muriatic Solution of Tin in “part ‘decomposed into metallic crystallized Tin. By M.Bucno.z .. 112 XXIV. On muscular Motion. By Anraony Car.tsce, Esq. P.R.S.: being the Croontan Lecture. Read le- fore the Royal Society, Novemler 8, 1604... ..° 113 XXV. Account of Mr. Anruur Woo r’s’ new Improve- ~ ments on Steam-Engines .. ieee AXVI. Extract of a ” Letter ‘from M. Rinex, of Treysa, on anew Acid found i in Alkaline Prussiates Meal 2 3 XXVIL. Chemico- Galvanic Observations. By M. Orr- step °.: 2 AD, Ota XXVIEL. On the Art of ‘Aquatinta Engraving ; with a, ~ Description of an Apparatus to prevent ihe Ineonvenience which Artists experience from the Fumes which are pro- duced by the Action of the Acid employed in the Process 136 XXIX.- On pure Nickel, discovered to be a noble Metal; on its Preparation and Properties. By J.B. Ricwrer 137 XXX. Account of a new Vegetable Substance discovered by M. Rosz °.. Pde (7 XXXII. Facts relative in Nie Torpid State of the No rth Ame- rican Altigator. By BENJ AMIN Smity Barton, M.D. 143 NNXIT. Process for obtaining pure Cobalt. By M. Troms- DORFF . “.i.+ z Pian ME XXNNITIT. On a Method. of analysing Stones containing fix ed Alkali, by Means of the Boravid Acid. By WumMPary Davy, Esq. F.R.S., Professor of si in the Royal Institution aap Parag 8) XXXIV. Observations on the singular Fi oure of the Planet Saturn. ~ By Wititam Herscnen, LL.D: PRS. 147 XNXV. Experiments and Observations upon the Contrac- tion of Water by Heat at low Temperatures. By THo- MAS Cuanvrs Hopr, M.D. F.R.S. Edin., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinlurgh .. .. 153 “XXXVI. Onan artificial Substance w hich p possesses the pri in- cipal characteristic Properties of Tannin. By Cranes PFATCH EEE. Pegs Fe. gs rec ga wie eg CONTENTS: XXXVII. Proceedings of Learned Societies .. .. 188 XXXVI. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles .. 187 XXXIX. Examination of different Processes for obtaining the Separation of Nickel from Colalt. By CurisTIan Prepenic BicHoLao Se es ee ES XL. An experimental Inguiry into ihe Nature of Gravelly and Calcutous Concretions n the Human Subject ; and the Effects of Alkaline and Acid Substances on them, in and out of the Body. By Tomas Ecan, M.D.M.R.I_A. 199 XLI. Twenty fifth Communication from Dr. THORNTON, relative to Pneumatic Medicine .. «.._ ++ «+ 212 XLII. Ona new Metal recently discovered by M. Troms- RE eee Oe gaasen hs ane XLII. On muscular Motion. By ANTHONY Cartiste, Esq. F.R.S.: being the Croonian Lecture. Read before the Royal Society November 8, \804 .. .. -- 217 XLIV. Information on the Mines and Manufactures of the East Indies, and other Subjects. By J. MACHLACHLAN, Esq: of Calcutta oe ee eee ee a 227 XLV. On the Direction and Velocity of the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. By Wittram HeEnscueEt, PON Pe Dae reas ve ig) Pacers es ee XLVI. Life of Joun Brevis, M.D. F.R.S. &e. Com- municated by Mr. 'T. S. Evans, of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich .. s+ ee we ee ee BAT XLVIT. On the magnetic Attraction of Oxides of Iron. By Timorny Lang, Esq. PRS. 6. s+. 953 XLVI. Lxtract from a Memoir of Messrs. Fourcroy and VAvauELIN upon the Discovery of a new inflam- mable and detonating Substance formed by the Action of Nitric Acid on Indigo and Animal Matters. By A. Lav- Bee a Oh ne ee eee hy. ae XLIX. Third Communication from Mr. W. Pret, of Cambridge. On the Production of _Muriates by the Galvanic and Electric Decomposition of Water .. 257 L. Experiments on Gum Arabic and Gum Adraganth. By WE, Vavaurnme tg oO ee it} eine © ole iD LI. A Proposal for destroying the Fire- and Choak-Damps of Coal Mines; and their Production explained on the Principles of modern Chemistry : addressed to the Owners and Agents of Coul Works, Jc. «+ +1 ++ +s 261 LII. Letter of M. Gay-Lussac to M. BerTHOLLET, on the Presence of Fluoric Acid in Animal Substances 264 LIL. Proceedings of Learned Societies .. .. «+ 268 LIV. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles... .. 282 LV. Alstract of Observations on a diurnal Variation of the Barometer between the Tropics. By J. Horssurcn, Esq. In a Letter to Henry CavenpisH, Esg. F.R.S. 289 CONTENTS. | LVI. An experimental Inquiry into the Nature of Gravelly: and CalculousConcretions in the Human Subject ; and the Effects of Alkaline and Acid Substances on them, in and out of the Body. By Tuomas Ecan, M.D. M.R.LA. 295 LVH. Letter from Joun Potrockx, Esq: of Mountains- town, Navan, to the Reverend Dr. LysvER, respecting a Surgical Operation performed on a Heifer .. .. 308 LVIII. Description of Mr. Davip Cuarxes’s Machine for laying Land level. By Lieutendnt-Colonel Harpy 309 LIX. On the Utility of Public Dispensaries in general; accompanied with a Report of the Cases in the Finsbury and City Dispensaries for the, last three Mouths of the Year 1805. Communicated ly Jonn Taunton, Esq. Surgeon to the City and Finsbury Dispensaries, and Lecturer on Anatomy, Surgery, Fc... «- «- 312 LX. Description of M. Barugw’s new Apparatus for making Gaseous Oxide of Carbon. By M.Dryxevux 3i7 LXI. Additional Experiments and Remarks on an artificial Substance which possesses the principal characteristic Pro- perties of Tannm. By Cuaries Harcuertr, Esq. Riedtatahd = aes eerade: Wat’) - «eatin, “enlais = bueno mee EXII. Extract from a Memoir by Messrs. Fourcroy and VAvauELin upon the Phenomena and the Products which Animal Matters afford when treated with Nitric Acid. Read at the National Institute .. .. «.. «. 396 LXILI. 4 Memoir on the Means of rendering Smutiy Wheat fit for Market. - Translated from the Biblio- theque Physico-Economique by the Rev. Joan Duzour- BT oak: enh deme. ak patie et ahd ae wae LXIV. Specification of the Patent granted to AnTHUR Wootr, of Spa Fields, in the County of Middlesex, for certain Improvements in the Construction of Steam- Engines. Dated June 7, 1804... 04 0. «. 835 LXV. On the Chemical Nature of Blighted Corn. Ex- tracted from aMemoir read at the Institute 30th Ven- demiaire, Year 12. By Messrs. Fourcroy and Vau- BUELIN | os. oe ee ise, oes. yor, £ sae LXVI. Experimental Inquiry into the Proportion of the several Gases or Elastic Fluids constituting the Atmo- Sphere. By Joun DALTON. .. ... 4. \ «+. 349 LXVII. Experiments on the Torpedo, ly Messrs. Hum- BoLpT and Gay-Lussac. Extracted from a Letter from M. Humeoxpr to M. Berruourer, dated Rome, Ba PCa FCO UWA ol) Ades ithe hnaals Goad. OG LXVIII. Notices respecting New Books .. .. .. 360 LXIX. Proceedings of Learned Societies... Aa, 368 LXX, Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles seo sath THE PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE. I. Some original Remarks on a Variety of the Genus Acarus, lelonging to the Order Aptera, found on the Wings, Bc. of a feathered Fly of the Order Diptera. By Mr. Jouy Snart, Optician. To the Editor of the Philosophical Magazine. SIR, I SHOULD not have thought myself very well employed in writing the following particulars of so trivial a creature as Tam about to treat of, were it not with the view of drawing some new inferences, and even an unequivocal line of de- marcation between animalcula that are of a perfect gene- ration and those which are not so, although they are often indiscriminately blended: and though I will not per- emptorily dare to dogmatically assert that the one in ques- tion is the ne plus ultra of nature’s perfect beings, in a small way; yet it is the utmost boundary I have seen, or even read of in those entomological writers who have given simple statements of facts only. I do not mean to include the animalcula infusoria in this idea; for it is plain that nature’s manner of perpetuating a species by mere vegetative impregnation is essentially different and distinct from sex- ual intercourse, or copulation ; although it may be urged by some (what I think is very doubtful), that the germ or ova of the former is always shed or ejected in the water, &c. beforehand: but as the common pediculus, or louse, it is evident, is originally formed from the exudation of the skin, which vegetates, becomes vascular, ‘organizes, and lastly animates, and assumes loco-motion (without a fa- ther, and is therefore sui generis), this also may be the case with the creature of which I am writing, which may originally be produced in this way, as well as many others ; but after they have attained the capacity of propagating their Species per se, provident nature, whose characteristics are simplicity and ceconomy, and who never makes use of two sorts of means where one will answer the intended end, may leave them to shift for themselves when capable. As we take away the leading-strings when the child can walk Vol. 23. No. 89. Oct. 1805. Ag? alone; 4 On a Variety of the Genus Acarus. alone; so she may choose to diversify her manner of per- petuating these species, by leaving them to the impulses she has planted in them. It is this manner of propagation in this species, to which I have been an eye-witness, that emboldens me to think that this creature, though otherwise insignificant, is entitled to some distinction in that part of natural history called ento- mology ; and that from this source, it, being so small, though perfect, derives all its consequence. I think it is pretty obvious that this secret diversity of our grand parent, from whose inexhaustible source we are continually extracting fresh information, is the cause of different opinions in various writers upon the several branches of natural philosophy ; because, if one man should see a creature produced by vegetative impregnation only, which another knows to be produced by sexual commerce, and each shonld be ignorant of the other means, they will reci- proeally contradict each other; while a knowledge of both armonizes the whole, without hypothesis or concession ; and in several species of insects one male impregnation will pass through, or serve for, several generations. The crea- ture before us is one of the multitude of examples which proves that our common parent is no less wonderful, but much more profuse, in her smaller than in her greater pro- ductions ; which affords a presumption, that were our optics commensurate to the task of viewing her exquisite works to perfection, there may exist a part of her diversified chain of animated beings as much more minute than the animalcula we are familiar with by means of our natura] organs, as they are inferior in size to the elephant, the sup- posed extinct species of the mammoth, or the more doubt~ ful kraken itself. And thongh their vital spark is pent in narrow bounds, They feel each speculator’s philosophic wounds, ; When calmly they’re impal’d alive to feast his eyes, (Regardless of their agonizing throes aud sighs,) And pain as much, at death, as when a giant dies! In the instance now before us we have indubitable proof of identical existence, distinct and separate volition, with a capability of performing all the voluntary as well as in- voluntary functions of life, together with the economy of perpetuity by propagation, &c. &c.; which, in my ideas, constitute the creature in question, at least in this stage of life, as distinct from the merely impregnated existence as the animated from the vegetative creation, and therefore justly entitled to a place in the sentient list of nature’s ani- mated On a Variety of the Genus Acarus. 8 mated works. And in this particular [ think a natural line of demarcation between the monads of matter, organic par- ticles, or first rudiments of future being, and distinct be- ings, 1s quite apparent. Por it is not the oscillatory motion of the semen mascu- linum, the attractive and repulsive motion of some of the animalcula infusoria, or the rapid vegetative growth of the mutilated parts of these semi-animated creatures called polypi, that so properly constitutes life, consciousness, and pertect being; but predilections, volition, propagation of species, &c. are primary characteristics of being: and from these criteria we ought, @ posterior?, to draw our inferences of different degrees or modes of existence, because they are so much more satisfactory than the indefinite one of loco- motion, or any other of the non-naturals. From these particulars I infer that this creature is neither larva nor infusoria, but a perfect insect ; because the one cannot propagate, and the other is not begotten by an iden- tical parent. And it is plain that it differs very essentially from the animated molecule or organic monads, or parti- cles of the semen masculinum, which are rather the primitive rudiments of future beings than beings themselves. Itis as far back as May 1803 since I first made the discovery of these insects; but, as I would not imperti- nently obtrude every trifling discovery upon the world, lest it should have been published before (and I despise plagia- rism), I have let it lie by ever since, that I might inform myself of this circumstance did it exist; and by this for- bearance I have discovered that there are as many as five- and-thirty varieties of this genus, known in the Linnean catalogue, chiefly distinguished by the numbers and length of thorns, or hairs, which issue from their posterior parts. But of this variety no particular mention is made by that great man, that I can learn; and this, together with some original remarks, which my aitention to the subject has enabled me to make, scems to justify the present obserya- tions. _In the year and month above mentioned J happened to catch a feathered fly of the order diptera, which curiosity prompted me to reserve for the microscope, with a view of examining its beautiful plumave, or feathetsy with which the legs are plated or covered, and the wings striated and bor- dered: each wing has six of these striz of delicate fimbriated feathers, and fimbriated with a border of the same, issuing outat an angle of about thirty decrees from their source: the other part of the wings is reticulated by yeins, so as to ap- pea 6 On a Variety of the Genus Acarus. pear like fine gauze. The whole fly about the size of the common gnat. Upon a minute examination of the plumage, &c. I ca- sually discovered the subject of this paper: whereupon I took a deeper magnifier, which enabled me to see that every part abounded with them, and that the one I first saw was not an accidental visitor, but that they were the common vermin with which this fly is infested; which indeed 1s no great wonder, when it is considered that far bess creatures have some peculiar tormentor; for even that notably dis- gusting pestilence the louse is not exempt, but is over-run at times with his pediculi, in return for the compliments he pays to some of us *. The object of my pursuit was now diverted from the fly and his plumage to his incumbent tormentors, which I soon discovered to be of the oviparous kind, and that some hun- dreds of the ova were scattered over one wing, several of which I saw drop off the parents while they perambulated their prey, which were afterwards nidified, or hatched. I should have observed: before, that the eggs of. this insect are never incubated at all, but instead thereof the parent literally clothes herself with them; for by means of some kind of mucilage, which cither exudes from the parent, or with which the ova are covered, they firmly adhere to her: but it is most natural to suppose this supply is from the parent, by which means the ova are brought to perfection ; and as this mucus is absorbed they harden and fall off ; after which, in a few days, a development takes place. And here the agency of the sun is of essential service, as it not only very much accelerates their maturity, but also stimulates the full grown to fulfil the great purpose of nature, which they, like the canine breed, perform posteriorwise. But I never saw the least propensity to this act until they were placed in that situation, or any of the eggs hatched anterior to this: but all their motions were slow and languid heretofore ; whereas now they became reanimated, with the greatest prompttude imaginable, running about with amazing cele= rity, &c. The rotundiiy and semi-transparency of their bodies gave them the appearance of moving prolate sphe- roids of moistened ichthyocolla, and quite as clear through= out; for, like all insects, their blood is as limpid as distilled ‘water, so that there is no impediment to the sight. And ‘as the microscope I applied them to magnified several thou- *. Thus a distinct species of pulex, gorged with a serrated collar, is found. on the mouse :—abd all creatures have some kind of vermin. , sand On a Variety of the Genus Acarus. 7 sand times, they appeared as large as walnuts, and I could distinguish every part with ease. The ova, or eggs, were also seen as large as kidney beans, and looked like polished mother-of-pearl ; and, owing to the solar rays, as finely va- riegated, with all that soft delicacy of prismatic tint so pe- cular to that shell. The legs of these insects, which are eight in number, are so small in proportion to the bulk of their bodies, that if the creatures happen to fall from any eminent part of the fly, upon which they feed, and get upon their backs, they are as unable to recover their feet as a tortoise; partly on account of their want of the vertebral jeints or spines, and partly from the imconsiderable weight of their legs to form a counterpoise. But what they are deficient in in these re- spects is by provident nature compensated for by their in- genuity and address, as is plain by their taking advantage of any adventitious opportunity for their relief that may present itself, and, which they have the sagacity to improve and make subservient to their present convenience: for, each leg being composed of four articulations terminating in a double talon, they catch hold of as many of their young as are adequate to form a sufficient weight of lever, when properly applied, to restore them; to which purpose they place them all on one side; and so completely counter- act the weight of thcir bodies, and recover their lost po- sition. The facility and address with which they wield six or eight small ones (quite as easily as a man can a walking- cane) not only argues great strength of body but great in- genuity also; while the infant tribe appear to sympathize with the incumbent parent while in that supine posture ; who no sooner falls than she is surrounded by these little auxiliaries, €ach of which places itself on some part of the parent, as if emulous to assist (and it cannot be to suck, because they are not of the mammalia class). Thus we ‘may see in an insect, which in its first development is not more than a sixteenth part the size of a small grain of sand, and in its mature state not bigger than the grain itself, all those powers of instinctive motion that can be found in one ever so large or noble. Of how small worth, then, are the attainments of nine- tenths of the human species, who perform a dull, unmean- ing, sensual round of unconscious mechanic actions, as they feel themselves impelled by instinct, not one of which is Superior to those of these beings, whom they destroy A4 without 8 On a Colour for marking the Ends of Cotton without knowing such creatures had an existence! (I omit the black catalogue of their faults.) Then what is life! what all its functions too! When largely giv’n to mere ephemera !— The animating pow’r is wondrous cheap! Or much our parent’s largess is unknown !— Your boast (preheminence), vain man, forgo, Or blush, and turn this gift to more account. For if the thinking man is censur’d thus, And e’en outrivall’d by a very mite, What shame awaits the drowsy sensu’list, . Who eats, drinks, sleeps, and toys; then dies a fool! Tf these particulars should be thought of sufficient mo- ment to entitle them to a place in your yehicle of philoso- phical information, by laying them before the public you will confer another favour on, sir, your already obliged 215, Tooley-street, Servant at command, August 10, 1805. Joun SNART. Explanation of the Plate. Fig. 1, (Plate I.) Back view of the acarus, with the ova attached: also two young ones, showing the comparative size of them-with a full grown insect. Fig. 2. Abdominal view, showing the manner in which the legs, &c. spring from the sternum and belly: also ‘the comparative length and usual number of hairs which issue from the posterior parts,—in general about thirteen or four- teen. II. Ona Colour for marking the Ends of Cotton or Linen Cloths capable of resisting the Operations of bleaching, and likewise the most complicated Manufacture of printed Cloths, without extending beyond the Limits of the ori- ginal Impression. By M. Haurrman*. To obtain a colour proper for marking cloths of every Kind, it is necessary that no substance or drug soluble in alkaline leys should enter into its composition. It is equally requisite that the substances intended for any compo- sition whatever should not turn white when combined with oxygen; and that they should remain indissoluble in acids - of the strength required for bleaching, as well as for the preliminary operations in the fabrication of printed cloths. Colours composed with drying oils cannot, therefore, in my opinion, be employed for this kind of marks, be- cause they are not only liable to be attacked by alkaline and ~ * From the Annales de Chimie, No, 158. saponaceous or Linen Cloths capable of resisting Bleaching, 8c. ¢ saponaceous leys, but because in drying slowly they run, and very often occasion spots. If those composed with spirit-varnish were even not attended with the inconveniences of speedy evaporation and desiccation, still it would be as improper to employ them as the preceding, because, turpentines and resins are very easily transformed into soap. Nor can guin-copal be used for colours for marking, because it is detached from the stuff by mere ebullition in water. By employing oil of turpentine, which evaporates and dries less speedily than~alcohol, I have sueceeded in obtain- ing a black composition, which to me appeared capable of being used with advantage for marking cloths. It is made by dissolving slowly in oil of turpentine, in a sand-bath, continually stirring it, a quarter of its weight of asphal- tum, or bitumen of Judea, broken into small pieces, and afterwards mixing with it as much-as possible of lamp- black, or black produced by any mineral substance what- ever, highly coloured, and in very fine powder; either car- buret of iron, sulphuret of lead, or any other. The colour will be obtained more or less thick according to the pro- portions of the oil of turpentine and bitumen ; it will mark exceedingly well without running, observing the just pro- portions, and diluting it with a new portion ‘of oil of tur- pentine, if while it is in use it acquires too much consist- ency. This bituminous colour bears equally well the action of alkaline leys and of oxygen, and resists all acids of a certain strength. . Finding it unnecessary to continue the trials of oily co- lours, I undertook the aqueous experiments in the follow- ing order : Exp. 1. I dissolved in four ounces of water onc ounce of sulphate of manganese, deprived of its water of crystalliza- tion, such as is obtained by procuring the oxygen gas of the black oxide of manganese, by means of sulphuric acid, and by increasing the violence of the fire towards the conclusion of the operation, so as to ignite the retort. This solution was-thickened with a dram of fine gum-dragon in powder, and coloured with lamp-black, to render the accuracy of the impression more visible, which is executed very easily with this black, saline, metallic mass, of which, how- ever, no use can be made, excepting the ends of the marked cloths be plunged into alkaline ley, without pre- viously passing it through water, to take away the saline matters. The ley may be made with potash or soda, in the proportion of one part of alkali to from nine to twelve parts of water; it may be used in the state of carbonate, or 8 rendered 10 Ona Colour for marking the Ends of Cotton rendered caustic with half a part of quicklune. The pre cipitation of the oxide of manganese from marks, by one or the other of these alkaline leys, will take place (allowing for its coloration by the lamp black) under the colour of a yellowish white, which wil! gradually turn brown by the attraction of the oxygen of the atmospheric air. The al- teration of these marks to brown will take place very spees dily, and even with a stronger intensity, approaching to black, if you bleach by means of an alkaline oxygenated muriatic ley, the cloths, the ends of which have been plunged for a few minutes into any kind of alkaline ley whatever. These inarks of brown oxide of manganese re- sist, not only all the processes of bleaching, and all acids of the strength required by them, but likewise the more complicated processes employed in printing cloths. Exp.1f. Had not acetic acid more afinity for manga- nese than for iron, and were it not disengaged as easily from acetate of manganese as from the acetic solution of iron, by evaporation and desiccation, malterable marks might be procured in the most simple manner, by causing the oxide of manganese to adhere to stuffs by means of acetic acid, and afterwards exposing that oxide to the at- traction and saturation of the oxygen of the atmospheric air. The acetic Assolutien of manganese may very speedily be obtained by mixing, in suitable proportions, acetate of Iead with a solution of sulphate of manga- nese; but as this acetic solution possesses no advantage over the sulphate of manganese for marking stuffs, as it 1s necessary, before it can be used, to subject it in every re- spect to the treatment described in Exp. I., and as it is much dearer, it is not adviseable to employ it. Exp. If. Two ounces of sulphate of manganese dis- solved in eight ounces of acetic solution of iron, concen- trated to twenty degrees, furnish, when thickened with one-fortieth part of gum-dragon, a deep yellow colour, which gradually turns to a brown if treated exactly in the manner described in Exp. I. The acetic solution of iron affords for the rest no other advantage than that of causing the colour of the marks to dry rather more speedily ; for the oxide of iron dissolves more or less rapidly in acids, in pro= portion to its state of oxygenation or oxidation. I prefer gum-dragon for thickening marking colours to the other gums and to starch, because those substances weaken the colours too much by their interposition: if, however, in the marking of coarse cloths, gum-dragon should be at- tended with any difficulties, it would then be necessary to have recourse to starch. bt: Exp. vr Linen Cloths capable of resisting Bleaching, 8c. 11 * Exp. IV. If, in the disengagement of oxygen gas from a mixture of black oxide of manganese and sulpharic acid, eare be taken not to push the fire to incandescence, the saline residue is blackish; but with a violent heat it turns to a yellowish white. On dissolving this residue you se- parate from it, by washing, an oxide of a dark gray, which acquires the consistence of paste on the filter when deprived ef the aqueous vehicle. On mixing this gray paste-like oxide with ever so small a quantity of water, thickened with gum-dragon, and printing with it, you obtain marks of an extremely dark gray, which dry very speedily. This gray colour cannot be removed by water, though it may not have been steeped in an alkaline ley: it is So tenacious and unal- ’ terable, that it withstands not only the action of all the acids of a certain strength, but likewise all the processes of bleaching, as well as the most complicated fabrication of printed stuffs, without attracting the colouring parts of any dye whatever. Exp. V. Were it not for the apprehension of weaken- ing a little the place where the stuffs are marked, equal parts of a mixture of the above-mentioned gray paste and a nitro- _ Mhufiatic solution of tin, charged with one-fourth part of the metal, and thickened with gum-dragon, might be em- ployed with advantage. This colour “is equally unalterable with that of the preceding experiment, and it possesses the additional advantage of attracting, by its oxide of tin satu- rated with oxygen, the colouring parts of any dye whatever, and turning to dark brown in dyeing with madder. I shall observe on this occasion, that, by this madder-dye, the colours of marks produced hy oxide of nianganese, satu- rated with oben turn to a dark brown approaching to black, whereas in a state less oxygenated they assume shades more or less different, However, in all these circumstances it is necessary that there should be as much metallic oxide as possible, without which you obtain only light tints of various other colours. Exp. V1. Seeing that many insoluble metallic oxides ne- vertheless acquire the property of adhering to stuffs by means of acids, I resolved to try if the same was the case with the precipitate of manganese saturated with oxygen. For this purpose I dissolved one part of sulphate of manganese in six parts of water; and afterwards proceeding with the precipi- tation to the point of saturation with a caustic alkaline ley composed of half a part of quicklime, four parts of water, and one part of calcined potash of commerce, I obtained a precipitate of a yellowish white. 1 then added to the whole aqueous mass a sufficient quantity of oxygenated poe 3 alkaline 12 Ona Colour for marking the Ends of Cotton Cloths. alkaline ley till the precipitate was completely saturated with oxygen, and its brown colour ceased to increase in inten sity. Then collecting on a filter the precipitate, or brown oxide of manganese, I let it stand till, by the loss of water, it assumed the consistence of paste. This brown paste mixed with half its weight of acetic acid, as highly concen- - trated as possible, yielded only a weak brownish tint; and it continued the same after the addition of any of the threeacids, sulphuric, nuriatic, and nitric, weakened with water. I ob- tained a result not more favourable on mixing a part of the above-mentioned brown paste with an equal portion of acetic solution of iron, marking twenty degrees on the areometer tor saltpetre, and thickened with gum-dragon. This acetic solution of iron, containing only the quantity of oxygen necessary for the solution of the metal, seized, by a much stronger affinity, the excess of the oxygen of the brown oxide of manganese, which was afterwards completely dis- solved in its turn; and from the whole resulted a mixture of solutions of two different metals of a reddish yellow co- lour, very deep, and transparent: which confirms the ob- servation, that a saturated metal requires less acid for its solution than if it were in a contrary state; and that, being then provided with an excess of acid, this solution, saturated with oxygen, is capable of admitting a portion of another metal without being disturbed. This mixed solu- tion of two metals yielded me only a rust yellow, which diluted sulphuric acid carried away entirely at the expiration of atime rather longer than that required to remove a less oxygenated rust yellow. To obtain from these two metallic solutions a marking colour impossible to be effaced, it was necessary to steep the marks for some minutes in an oxy~ genated muriatic alkaline Iey, in order to precipitate, and to saturate with oxygen the oxide of manganese. By the mixture of another hali part of the brown paste of manga- nese with two parts of the solution of the two metals, thisnew portion remained unaffected, and disturbed the whole. This turbid mixture being thickened, yielded only a faint brownish tint on the stuff, atter remaining a considerable time in di- Juted sulphuric acid. By means of the muriatic solution of tin, which pos- sesses the property. of seizing the oxygen of various sub= stances, vegetable, animal, and mineral, and which, for this reason, may be advantageously employed in dyeing, as well as in the manufacture of printed stuffs, the darkest oxides of manganese and of iron are deprived of colour,and instantly dissolved ; which demonstrates the more powerful affinity of tin for oxygen than of manganese or iron. Note. Varnish for preserving Metals from Acids. 13 Note. No apprehension need be entertained respecting the effect of steeping marked cloths in anaalkaline ley; it is an operation which is speedily performed without any perceptible loss of potash or of soda, if you first proceed to wash with ley, for which purpose that which is left may be again employed. If, conformably to the practice 1 have followed for a number of years, the aikalies for leys were made caustic with quicklime, a great quantity of soda and potash would be saved, and at the same time a superior effect would be produced. II]. 4 Varnish which preserves Vissels made of Copper or other Metals from the Action of Acids of a certain Strength. By M. Haureman *, To obtain from copal a varnish fit for this purpose, of a whiteness and transparency resembling water, it is necessary to employ copal reduced to a very fine powder, and to expose it, with twelve parts of fine oil of turpentine, for some hours, or till it is completely dissolved, to the moderate heat of 2 sand-bath, in a capsule of glass, etone, or porcelain; ob~ serving to stir the whole very often with 2 glass rod. It is at the moment when it begins to acquire the consistencé of syrup that the total dissolution of the copal takes place by means of the stirring, which is facilitated by the occa- sional addition of a small quantity of oil of turpentine to replace that which evaporates. Three-fourths of the oil of turpentine which are lost by the evaporation in open vessels may be saved by making the solution in a long-necked matrass, exposed to a sand-bath a sufficient time to com- plete the dissolution of the copal, shaking it at the same time very frequently. The varnish obtained by one or the other of these methods turns of a yellowish colour if the heat be too violent; and as its application would be difficult when its consistence too much resembles that of honey, it is adviseable, instead of diluting it with oil of turpentine, to mix it with one-fourth or one-fifth of its weight of al- cohol; taking care not to put more than is necessary, for an excess would turn it toa milky white by the precipita tion of part of the copal, which admits into solution with it only a certain quantity of alcohol without being precipi- tated. Vessels of copper, or of any other metal, may re- ceive one, two, or three coats of this varnish, and ought each time to be thoroughly dried in an oven; after which * From the denales de Chimie, No. 158. they if New Method of extracting they bear extremely well to be washed with boiling water, and are capable of resisting a heat of a still more elevated temperature without losing the varnish; but at all events care should be taken not to rub the vessels with sand, or any other hard bodies. IV. New Method of extracting raw Sugar from the Beet-root. By M. AcHArp*. Tue beet-roots, properly cleansed, must be subjected to the press, bv which a thick juice of a dark colour will be obtained ; which, besides sugar, contains also albumen, ex- tractive matter, and other substances, which must be sepa~ rated before sugar can be obtained. In this separation con- sists the principal part of the process. in a tin or tinued copper boiler mix 100 pounds of the juice ef the beet-root with three ounces six drams of sul- phuric acid diluted in one pound of water, and immediately pour the matter into vessels, in which it must be left stand- ing twelye, eighteen, or twenty-four hours. Twelve hours are sufficient, but it cannot sustain any injury in twenty- four, as the acid prevents any alteration of the juice. To separate the sulphuric acid, incorpvurate with the juice seven ounces and a half of wood ashes, and afterwards two ounces six drams and a half of lime slaked with water. The sul- phuric acid coagulates the albumen, and the ashes, with the lime afterwards added, separate the acid in the form of a salt not very soluble. Indeed, it is a well known fact, that in the manufactories of raw sugar in the West Indies, as well as in our sugar-houses in Eurepe, lime is employed to promote the separation and crystallization of sugar. Whis this operation has been performed, it is necessary to clarify the juice of the beet-root ; for which purpose it 1s removed into a boiler, set in such a manner that the fire can act only on its bottom. The fire is increased to a de- gree approaching to ebullition without stirring the liquid. The fire is then extinguished, and the scum is taken off as fast as it rises, in the form of large black flakes. The li- quor is afterwards passed through a wooden strainer, taking the precaution not to shake it too much, lest the sediment should be mixed with it, and stop the pores of the strainer, The scum and the dirt left upon the filter serve as food for pigs. The juice, thus clarified and filtered, is poured into a boiler, with a flat bottom, to the height of only six inches, * From Neues Journal der Chemie, and Raw Sugar’ from the Beet-root. 15 and is then evaporated with a brisk fire. By this method the juice is prevented from being converted into a mucoso- saccharine liquid, which resists crystallization. When, by evaporation, the liquid is reduced to halfvits quantity, remove it into vessels, six feet high and six inches wide, having a cock at the distance of six inches from the bottom ; and there let it remain two or three days, In this interval the juice deposits the rest of its impurities, and especially the gypsum which it retaincd. At the end of this time draw off the liquid, and pour it again, but only to the height of three inches, into the evaporating copper, and proceed to thicken it by a fire, gradually augmented to ebullition. In proportion as the sugar becomes concen- trated, care must be taken to diminish the fire, to prevent it from burning, which would render it quite unfit to be con- verted into loaf sugar. When the juice has acquired the necessary consistence, the fire must immediately be taken from under the boiler. In half an hour pour the juice, thus boiled to a due consistence, into cones or moulds, the points of which are covered with a piece of linen cloth, and into which has been put a small quantity of sugar-candy broken into coarse pieces; after which remove the moulds into a place whose temperature is between ten and twenty degrees of Reaumur’s thermometer. When the different operations have been well executed, the greatest part of the sugar is crystallized in the space of twenty-four hours. If it is boiled too much, the whole is converted into a granulated mass, the interstices of which are filled with melasses. When all the sugar is well crystallized, uncover the point of the mould, and place it over an earthen vessel, that the melasses may drain off: this, according as the juice is more or less boiled, requires ihree or four weeks. The ‘sugar remains in the moulds, of a yellow colour, more or less white, and in crystalline grains, of a larger or smaller size, according to the success of the process. M. Achard, with a view to save time, and to dispense with the necessity of employing vessels for settling, made an alteration in this method, which he at first followed. To the juice, when half evaporated, and gently boiling, he added, for 1,200 pounds of the roots, five quarts of skimmed milk, and a little afterwards one quart of vinegar, and in this manner effected the second clarification immediately in the boiler. By the process of refining, all the products furnished by West India sugar may be obtained from this sugar of beet- root, and by claying it may be rendered equally white. V. An n ~ { 16 J V.. An experimental Essay on Salt as a Manure, and as “a Condiment mixed with the Food of Animals. By the Rey, Epmunp Cartwricat, of Voburn*, Were the beneficial effects of salt as a manure to be once fairly ascertained, there can be no doubt but the wis- dom of the legislature would devise some means by which, without prejudice to the revenue, the farmer might apply it to the purposes of agriculture. At present the use of salt as a manure is a subject on which the public opinion is much divided: its advocates, reasoning from the striking effects of salt water on the marshes which are occasionally irrigated by the sea at spring tides, conclude that the fertilizing virtue of such irrigation is owing to its saline quality, without taking into consideration the quantity of animal and vegetable matter which sea water (particularly near the coast, and where rivers disembogue themselves) must necessarily hold in so- lution. Those who maintain a contrary opinion, considering salt merely as an antiseptic, satisfy themselves that it 1s impos- sible that any thing can be friendly to vegetation which re- tards putrefaction; a process indispensable in substances that are to be the food of plants. To get over this diffi- culty, it has been conjectured, nay, there have not been wanting those (and of great name too) who have even at- tempted to prove, that salt in small quantities accelerates, as in large quantities it is known to resist, putrefaction; a doctrine to which, however, [ shall not willingly yield my assent, till I can be persuaded that effects are not, in all cases, proportionate to their causes. The operation of every cause is, and must be, uniform’; and when, to ap- pearance, it is not so, some other cause obtrudes itself, too subtile for our observation, which, operating at the same time with the primary cause, joins In giving a result, which not being able to account for, we consider as ano- malous. That theorists should be at variance with each other is not to be wondered at; for, having the wide field of ima-. gination and conjecture before them to expatiate in, it is reasonable to conclude, indeed it is unavoidable, that some of them must lose their way. But what shall we say to the disagreement and inconsistency which prevail on this sub- * From the Communications to the Board of Agriculture, which adjudged to the author the gold medal for this essay. f ject On Salt as a Manure, &c. 17 ject amongst practical farmers? Nothing, indeed, can be more contradictory than the different reports that have been made on the effects of salt, as a manure, by those who have even brought it to the test of actual experiment. As there is no reason to question the veracity of the reporters, we must look for the grounds of their disagreement in some predominating circumstance or other, which at the time escaped their observation. Indeed, the success or failure of an agricultural experiment depends so frequently on causes which can neither be controlled nor foreseen, and so foreign from those which were expected to operate, that it is not to be wondered at if the repetition of the very same experiment gives oftentimes a different result. As it is not the business of this paper to support a theory, but to detail what has been practised; not to contend for an opinion, but to state facts; the few oliservations which may be hazarded will be such only as are required merely in explanation of occurrences as they arise. I shall endea- vour to give, therefore, as simple a relation as possible of the experiments I have tried, to ascertam the advantages or disadvantages which may attend the use of salt as a manure, and also when mixed with the food of animals, It may be necessary, first of all, to premise, that the soil on which my experiments were tried is a ferruginous sand, brought to a due texture and consistence by a liberal cover- ing of pond mud. Of this soil, in its improved state I mean, by the accession of pond mud (for, having been used merely as a nursery for raising forest trees previous to these experiments, the nursery-man had not thought it necessary to make use of any other manure), the following is the analysis ; , . Grains. 400 grains gave of siliceous sand of different degrees of fineness about - - - 280 Of finely divided matter, which appeared in the form of clay - - - - 104 Loss in water = - - - 16 400 The 104 grains of finely divided matter contained of carbonate of lime - - - 18. Of oxide of iron - - - - Loss by incineration (most probably from vegetable decomposing matter) - - - 17 The remainder principally silex and alumine. Vol. 23. No. 89. Oct. 1805. B There 18 On Salt as a Manure, and as a Condiment ‘There were no indications of either gypsum or phosphate of lime, It will appear from the above analysis that these experi- ments could not perhaps have been tried on a soil better adapted to give impartial results ; for of its component parts there is no ingredient (the oxide of iron possibly excepted) of sufficient activity to augment or restrain the peculiar energies of the substances employed. On the 14th of April 1804; a certain portion of this soil was laid out in beds one yard wide and forty long. Of these, twenty-five were manured (the first excepted) as fol- lows : No. 1. No manure. 2. Salt, + peck. 3. Lime, one bushel. 4. Soot, one peck. 5. Wood-ashes, two pecks. 6. Saw-dust, three bushels. 7. Malt-dust, two pecks. 8. Peat, three bushels. 9. Decayed leaves, three bushels. 10. Fresh dung, three bushels. 11. Chandler’s graves, nine pounds. 12. Salt, lime. 13, Salt, lime, sulphuric acid. 14. Salt, lime, peat. 15. Salt, lime, dung. 16. Salt, lime, gypsum, peat. 17. Salt, soot. N. B. The quanti- 18. Salt, wood-ashes. ties of each ingre- 19. Salt, saw-dust. dient the same as 20. Salt, malt-dust. when used singly. 21. Salt, peat. 22. Salt, peat, bone-dust. 23. Salt, decayed leaves. 24. Salt, peat-ashes. 25. Salt, chandler’s graves. On the same day the whole was planted with potatoes, a single row in each bed; and, that the general experiment might be conducted with all possible accuracy, each bed received the same number of sets. . On the 14th of May, a few days after the plants ap4 peared above ground, the whole was carefully examined, and the comparative excellence of each.row (as far at least as could be judged of by appearances) was as carefully re- ‘ gistered. mixed with the Food of Animals. 19 »gistered. The best row was decidedly No. 7, malt-dust, after which they followed as under: No. 11. 1 Chandler’s graves. . Salt, lime, gypsum, peat. . Salt, graves. , Salt, mait-dust. Decayed leaves. . Soot. «Salt. . No manure. . Wood-ashes. eo Peat. . Salt, lime, sulphuric acid. . Salt, lime, peat. . Salt, soot. . Salt, wood-ashes. . Salt, peat. . Salt, peat, bone-dust. . Salt, decayed leaves, .. Lime. . Saw-dust. . Fresh dung. . Salt, lime. . Salt, lime, dung. . Salt, peat-ashes. 9. Salt, saw-dust. On the 28th of May, fourteen days afterwards, the ap- parent vigour of the plants was in the following order ; No. 7, 11: A. 8. 16. i7: 20. 91 23% 25. Malt-dust. Chandler’s graves. Soot. Peat. Salt, lime, gypsum, peat. Salt, soot. Salt, malt-dust. . Salt, peat. Salt, decayed leaves. Salt, graves. . No manure. . Salt. . Wood-ashes. - Decayed leaves. . Salt, lime, sulphuric acid. ¢ Salt, lime, peat. . Salt, wood-ashes. ; Salt, peat-ashes. 10. Fresh 20 On Salt as a Manure, and as a Condiment Jo. Fresh dung. 3. Lime. 22. Salt, peat, bone-dust. 19. Salt, saw-dust, 15. Salt, lime, dung. 12. Salt, lime. 6. Saw-dust. On the 21st of September the potatoes were taken up, when the produce of each row was in succession as fol- lows: No. 17. Salt and soot produced - 240 11. Chandler’s graves . - 220 18. Salt, wood-ashes - - 217 16.,.Salt, eypsum, peat, lime - 201 15. Salt, lime, dung = - 199 2. Salt - - - - 198 25. Salt, graves - - - 195 4. Soot - = = - 192 10. Fresh dung = = - 192 20. Salt, malt-dust - - 189 5. Wood-ashes - - - 187, 23. Salt, decayed leaves - - 187 24, Salt, peat-ashes | - - 185 7. Malt-dust - - - 184 14. Salt, lime, peat - - 183 19. Salt, saw-dust - “ 180 22. Salt, peat, bone-dust = - - 178 9. Decayed leaves - - 175 13. Salt, lime, sulphuric acid - 175 21. Salt, peat - - - 171 12. Salt, lime - = - 167 8. Peat - ce - - 159 1. No manure - - - LST 6. Saw-dust - - - 155 3. Lime - - - - 150 The foregoing table furnishes many particulars worthy of observation. In the first place it is remarkable, that of ten different manures, most of which are of known and acknowledged efficacy, salt, a manure hitherto of an am- biguous character, is superior to them all, one only ex- cepted! And again, when used in combination with other substances, it is only unsuccessfully applied in union with that one, namely, chandler’s graves, no other manure seemingly being injured by it. Possibly its deteriorating effects on chandler’s graves may be owing to its antiseptic property, which retards the putrefactive process by which animal mixed with the Food of Animals. 21 animal substances undergo the changes necessary to qualify them to become the food of plants. This, however, I can- not, from any appearance in the soil when the plants were taken up, assert to have been the case. The extraordinary effects of salt, when combined with soot, are strikingly singular. There is no reason to sup- pose these effects were produced by any known chemical agency of soot or salt on each other. Were I to guess. at the producing cause, I should conjecture it to be that pro- perty of saline substances by which they attract moisture from the atmosphere ; for I observed those beds where salt had been used were visibly and palpably moister than the rest, even for weeks after the salt had been applied ; and this appearance continued till rain fell, when of course the distinction ceased. This property of attracting moisture had greater influence possibly on the soot than on any of the other manures, as soot, from its acrid and dry nature, may be supposed to require a greater proportion of water to dilute it than those substances which contain water already. It may be proper to observe, that on those beds where salt had been used the plants were obviously of a paler green than on the rest, though not less luxuriant ; a cireumstance which I thought worth noticing, and’ which I considered, though erroneously (as appeared by the event), to indicate a want of vigour, which would be felt in the crop. It was observable also, that where salt was applied, whether by itself, or in combination, the roots were free from that scabbiness which oftentimes infects potatoes, and from which none of the other beds (and there were in the field nearly forty more than what made part of these experi- ments) were altogether exempt. Two sets of experiments, and with the same proportions of manures, were tried with turnips and buck-wheat, on a soil the poorest I could meet with, which produced only a dwarf heath and lichen, and which I had had pared off. “a poverty of this soil will appear by the following ana- ysis : Grains. 400 grains gave of siliceous sand - = 320 Of finely divided matter, which appeared as brown mould - - - - 68 Loss in water - - - - 12 400 The finely divided matter lost by incineration nearly half B3 its 22 On Salt as a Manure, and as a Condiment its weight ; which shows it contained a great deal of vege- table matter. The residuum principally a mixture of alu- minous and siliceous earths, coloured red by oxide of iron, and containing very little calcareous matter. There were no indications of either gypsum or phosphate of lime. July 6, 1804, the pieces set apart for each set of experi-’ ments were respectively sown with turnips and buck-wheat. On the 26th, Nos.1, 2, 4, 5, 6,,.7, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, showed little or no marks of vegetation. The re- mainder were merely in the seed-leaf. On the 16th of August four only were ‘alive, and in rough leaf, namely, ~_ No. 32. Salt and lime. . 13. Salt, lime, and sulphuric acid. 14. Salt, lime, peat. 16. Salt, lime, gypsum, peat. These four maintamed a sickly existence till the middle of September; shortly after which they all disappeared.— N. B. The appearances of the turnips and buck-wheat were so nearly uniform, I have not thought it necessary to notice the trifling variations between them, which could not have been done without entering into a minute detail, equally tedious and uninteresting, Though nothing decisive can probably be drawn from these two sets of experiments respecting the advantages or disadvantages of salt as a manure,, on such a soil as I have described, because other manures of acknowledged efficacy shared the same fate with the salt ; yet this inference, how- ever, may be drawn from them (and that not an unimpor- tant one), namely, that a due texture and consistence in’ the soil is as necessary to the existence and health of vege- . tables, as the pabulum they are sustained by ; and this ap- pears evidently by the superiority, such as it was, of those plants where the manure contributed in any degree to im- prove that texture and consistence. Adjoining to the place where these experiments were tried is a field, which fully confirms this observation. Within these few years, a great part of it was in a state © of uncultivated nature, equally barren as the spot [ have been speaking of it is, however, now brought into culti- vation, and into a decent state of fertility, chiefly from its texture having been improved by a thick coating of marly clay. ; In trying the effects of salt, when mixed with the food of animals, I have made no experiments on sheep, as I did not apprehend that a few limited experiments would either throw mixed with the Food of Animals. 23 throw new light upon a subject which has already been sufficiently discussed, as applied to those animals, or fur- nish the public with facts of which it is not already in pos- session. My experiments have therefore been confined to hogs and cows. On July 23d, 1804, three hogs of the same litter, about ’ eight months old, were put up to fatten. Their respective weights were as follow : No. 1. 44 lbs. 2. 47 lbs. 3. 40 Ibs. From the 23d of July till the 7th of August they were fed with barley-meal mixed up with water; during which time they consumed three bushels and a half of barley, and xained in weight as follows: ee ANU. ae, Ve AOR. 2. 10 lbs. 3. 5lbs. From the 3d of August to the 21st, they had salt mixed with their food, of which they consumed one quarter of a pound per day. The food consumed was four bushels : they had gained upon the last weighing as under: No. 1. 18 lbs. 2. 22\bs. 3. 14]bs. From the 21st of August to the 3d of September the salt was discontinued, in‘which time they ate four bushels and a half of barley-meal, and their increase of weight was, No. 1. 24 Ibs. @."21 Ibs, 3. 21 lbs. From the 3d of September to the 17th they had salt as before, and their consumption of food was the same as during the Jast fortnight, namely, four bushels and a half of barley-meal, Their gain of weight was, a No. 1. 31 lbs. 2. 19 lbs. 3. 19|bs. They were then slaughtered, It, did not appear that the salt had any operation either in promoting thirst or stimulating their appetites, the con- sumption of food being nearly the same whether salted or not; neither does it appear that the salt had any influence on their fattening ; perhaps the quantity allowed them was too little; and Yet I should think not, as there was cnough B4 ta / 24 On Salt as a Manure, and as a Condiment to make their whole mass of food sufficiently savoury to the human taste. In trying this experiment it will be observed, that I did not confine ove parcel of hogs to salt, and another to un- salted food. This mode of trying experiments is always uncertain, as there will be frequently particular habits and tendencies in the individual animals which will vary the esults, and prevent their being uniform. The fairest way, and that which is the least liable to error, 1s to compare each animal with himself, by feeding him at one period with one kind of food, and then, for an equal period, with another. If this principle which I have proceeded upon be right, there is nothing in these experiments to encourage the practice of administering salt to hogs with a view at least to increase their tendency to fatten ; how far it may contribute to keep them in health is a different question, and on which years of experience may probably be neces- sary to decide. Now I am upon this subject I shall men- tion (though totally foreign from the object of this essay), that for most internal disorders which hogs are liable to, all of which may be supposed to be more or less ‘.ccompanied with fever, I find no remedy so efficacious as antimony. This mineral is said to have obtained its name from the head of a religious house, who had administered it with success to his hogs, giving it in such quantities to the monks of his order as to poison them: a circumstance which probably brought it at the time into disrepute as a medicine, as well for the real as the metaphorical hogs. The anecdote, however, whether true or false, induced me some years ago to try it upon hogs; and [I can sately aver that, when taken in time, there are few internal diseases which hogs are subject to that will not yield to antimony in some form or other. ‘That form which I prefer is emetic tartar, as lying in smail compass. I give it in doses from five to forty or fifty grains, according to the age and strength of my patient ; and I believe still larger doses might be given with equal safety, as I do not recollect a single instance in which the animal seemed to suffer from being over-dosed. To persons who have not tried the effects of antimony on the brute creation, the quantity I give may seem to be strangely disproportionate to the bulk of the hog compared with that of aman; but the experience of many years has convinced me that ‘there is no analogy (I mean as far as quantity 1s concerned) in the effects of anti imony on the human constitution, and on the constitution of inferior animals. On mixed with the Food of Animals. 25 On the 9th of October 1804, my experiments on cows commenced. On that day two Welch heiters,’ one of which had calved about five months,. the other three, were confined to the house, and fed with hay for the space of one fortnight. The hay they consumed during that time was four hundred weight nineteen pounds, and the miik they produced was thirty-six gallons three quarts. ‘They had then, for the next fortnight, salt mixed with their hay, the hay being first slightly moistened with water, and the salt sprinkled over it; in which time they consumed four hundred weight forty-two pounds of hay, and seven pounds of salt. The milk produced was thirty-seven gallons. For the next fortnight, namely, from the sixth to the twentieth of November, the salt was omitted, and their food was four hundred weight and one quarter of hay, and two hundred weight and a half of cabbages. The produce of milk in that space of time was fifty-four gallons three quarts. From the twentieth of November their food was the same as be- fore, with the addition of half a pound.of salt per day. The produce of milk was fifty-seven gallons one quart. It will be recollected, that salt scemed to have no ten- dency to promote thirst or to increase appetite in the hogs; yet on the cows its eflects in one respect were very percepti- ble, for duying the period they had salt they drank three gallons a day each more than at other times. Salt may possibly promote digestion, notwithstanding its antiseptic quality, by stimulating the salival glands and the lands yielding the gastric juice, and hy inducing an in- creased discharge of their respective fluids, so necessary to the solubility of the different substances reecived into the stomach before they can be admitted into the lacteals. Though there may be nothing in the foregoing experi- ments to lead us to suppose that salt has any otherwise a tendency to promote a disposition in animals to fatten than as it may contribute to their health by aiding their digestion, yet it is probable that, when administered to animals yield- ing milk, it may contribute in some small degree to increase that secretion; and this it may do by promoting thirst, which induces the animal to drink copiously ; in conse- quence of which the secretion of milk, as well as all other secretions of the fluids, may be augmented. Perhaps also ii inay have a stimulating influence on the lacteals them- stlves. And yet, after all, admitting these experiments to prove that salt increases in some small degree the production of milk, 26 On the Analysis of Soils. milk,—when that increased quantity is balanced against the price of the salt, the dairy-man will find himself no gainer. Though there docs. not seem any thing in these experi- ments, cither with hogs,or cows, to encourage the practice of giving salt to animals with a view to increase their dis- position to fatten, yet it would be temerity to afirm that it is entirely useless. From the avidity with which most if not all Kinds of graminivorous animals, whether in a state of domesti¢ation: or otherwise, are known to eat salt whenever it comes in their way, it is reasonable to conelude that the propensity has not been implanted in them in vain. But from whatever cause its salutary effects may be sup- posed to proceed, whether (as was hinted at before) from its promoting digestion and an increased secretion of fluids, or from any other action it may have on the animal ceco- nomy, it must be left to an experimenter more successful than I have been, to-ascertain. VI. On the Analysis of Soils, as connected with their Im- provement. By Humpurey Davy, Esq. F.R.S. Pro~ Jessor of Chemistry to the Board of Agriculture and ta the Royal Institution*. sake tility of Investigation relating to the Analysis of Soils. Tus methods of improving lands are immediately con- nected with the knowledge of the chemical nature of soils, and experiments on their composition appear capable of many useful applications, The importance of this subject has been already felt 6 some very able cultivators of science; many useful facts and observations with regard to it have been furnished by “Mr. Young ; it has been “examined by Lord Dundonald, in his treatise on the connexion of chemistry with agriculture, and by Mr. Kirwan in his excellent essay on manures: but the inquiry is still far from being exhausted, and new me- thods of elucidating it are almost continually offered, in consequence of the rapid progress of chemical discovery. In the following pages [ shall have the honour of laying before the Board an account of those methods of analysing soils which appear most precise and simple, and most likely to be useful to the practical farmer; they are founded part- ly upon the labours of the gentlemen whose names have> * From Communications to the Board of Agricylture. been On the Analysis of Soils. 27 been just mentioned, and partly upon some late? improve- ments. Die Il. Of the Substances found in Soils. The substances which are found in soils, are certain mixtures or combinations of some of the primsitive earths, animal and vegetable matter in a decomposing state, certain saline compounds, and the oxide of iron. These bodies always retain water, and exist in very different proportions in different lands; and the end of analytical experiments is the detection of their quantities and mode of union. The earths found in common soils are principally silex, or the earth of flints, alumine, or the pure matter of clay, lime, or calcareous earth, and magnesia. y Silex, or the earth of flints, when perfectly pure, appears in the form of a white powder, which is incombustible, infusible, insoluble in water, and not acted upon by com- mon acids; it is the substance which constitutes the prin- cipal part of rock crystal ; it composes a considerable part of hard gravelly soils, of hard sandy soils, and of hard stony lands. < Alumine; or pure clay, in its perfect state 1s white like silex; it adheres strongly to the tongue, 1s incombustible, insoluble in water, but soluble in acids, and in fixed alka- line menstrua. It abounds most in clayey soils and clayey loams; but even in the smallest particles of these soils it 1s usually united to silex and oxide of iron. _ Lime is the substance well known in its pure state under the name of quicklime. It always exists in soils in com- bination, and that principally with fixed air or carbonic acid; when it is called carbonate of lime; a substance which in the most compact form constitutes marble, and in its Jooser form chalk. Lime, when combined with sul- phuric acid (oil of vitriol), produces sulphate of lime (eypsum), and with phosphoric acid, phosphate of lime. The carbonate of lime, mixed with other substances, com- poses chalky soils and marles, and it is found in soft sandy soils. : Magnesia, when pure, appears as white, and in a lighter powder, than any of the other earths; it is soluble in acid, but not in alkaline menstrua; it is rarely found in soils’; when it does exist, it is either in combination with carbonic acid, or with silex and alumine. Animal “decomposing matter exists in very different states, according as the substances from which it is pro- duced are different; it contains much ¢arbonaceous sub- stance, 28 On the Analysis of Soils. stance, and may be principally resolved by heat into this substance, volatile alkali, inflammable aériform products, and carbonic acid ; it is principally found in lands that have been lately manured. Vegetable decomposing matter is likewise very various in kind; it contains usually more carbonaceous substance than animal matter, and differs from it in the results of its de- composition principally in not producing volatile alkali ; it forms a great proportion of all peats; it abounds in rich mould, andis found in larger or smaller quantities in all Jands. The saline compounds found in soils are very few, and in quantities so small, that they are rarely to be discovered. They are principally muriate of soda (common salt), sul- phate of magnesia (Epsom salt), and muriate and sulphate of potash, nitrate of lime, .and the mild alkalies. The oxide of jron is the same with the rust produced by exposing iron to the air and water; it is found in all soils, but is most abundant in yellow and red clays, and in yel- low and red siliceous sands. A more minute account of these different substances would be incompatible with the object of this paper. A full description of their properties and agencies may be found in the elementary books on chemistry, and particu- larly in the System of Chemistry by Dr. Thomson (2d ed.) ; and in Henry’s Epitome of Chemistry. IIL. Instruments required for the Analysis of Soils. The really important instruments required for the analysis of soils are few, and but little expensive. They are a ba- lance capable of containing a quarter of a pound of com- mon soil, aud capable of turning when lvaded with a grain ; a series of weights from a quarter of a pound troy to a grain ; a wire sieve, sufficiently coarse to admit a pepper-corn through its apertures; an Argand lamp and stand ; some glass bottles; Hessian crucibles; porcelain or queen’s ware evaporating basons; a Wedgewood pestle and mortar ; some filters made of half a sheet of blotting-paper, folded so as to contain a pint of liquid, and greased at the edges ; a bone knife, and an apparatus for collecting and measuring aériform fluids. The chemical substances or reagents required for sepa- rating the constituent parts of the soil, are muriatic acid (spirit of salt), sulphuric acid, pure volatile alkali dissolved in water, solution of prussiate of potash, soap lye, solution of carbonate of ammonia, of muriate of ammonia, solu-. tion On the Analysis of Soils. 29 tion of neutral carbonate of potash, and nitrate of ammo- nia. An account of the nature of these bodies, and their effects, may be found in the chemical works already no- ticed; and the reagents are sold, together with the instru- ments mentioned above, by Mr. Knight, Foster Lane, Cheapside, arranged in an appropriate chest. IV. Mode of collecting Soils for Analysis. In cases when the general nature of the soil of a field is to be ascertained, specimens of it should be taken from different places, two or three inches below the surface, and examined as to the similarity of their properties. It some- times happens, that upon plains the whole of the upper stra- tum of the landis of the same kind, and in this case one ana- lysis will be sufficient; but in valleys, and neat the beds of rivers, there are very great differences, and it now and then occurs that one part of a field is calcareous, and another part siliceous ; and in this case, and in analogous cases, the portions different from each other should be separately sub- mitted to experiment. Soils, when collected, if they cannot be immediately ex- amined, should be preserved in phials quite filled with them, and closed with ground glass stoppers. The quantity of soil most convenient fora perfect analy- sis is from two to four hundred grains. It should be col- lected in dry weather, and exposed to the atmosphere till it © becomes dry to the touch. The specific gravity of a soil, or the relation of its weight to that cf water, may be ascertained by introducing into a phial, which will contain a known quantity of water, equal volumes of water and of soil; and this may be easily done by pouring in water till it is half full, and then adding the soil ull the finid rises to the mouth ; the difference between the weight of the soil and that of the water will give the result. Thus, if the bottle contains: four hundred grains of water, and gains two hundred grains when half filled with water and half with soil, the specific gravity of the soil will be two, that is, it will be twice as heavy as water ; and if it gained one hundred and sixty-five grains, its spe- cific gravity would be 1825, water being 1000. st is of importance that the specific gravity of a soil should be known, as it affords an indication of the quantity of animal and vegetable matter it contains; these sub- stances being always most abundant in the lighter soils. The other physical properties of soils should likewise be examined before the analysis is made, as they denote, toa 2 certain 30 On the Analysis of Soils. certain extent, their composition, and serve as guides in directing the experiments. Thus, siliceous soils are gene~ rally rough to the touch, and scratch glass when rubbed upon it; aluminous soils adhere strongly to the tongue, and emit a strong earthy smell when breathed on; and cal- careous soils are soft, and much less adhesive than alumi- nous soils. V. Mode of ascertaining the Quantity of Water of Absorption in Soils. Soils, though as dry as they can be made by continued exposure to air, in all cases still conta a considerable quantity of water, which adheres with great obstinacy to the earths and animal and vegetable matter, and can only be driven off from them by a considerable degree of heat. The first process of analysis is, to free the given weight of soil from as much of this water as possible, without, in other respects, affecting its composition ; and this may be done by heating it for ten or twelve minutes over an Ar- gand’s lamp, in a bason of porcelain, to a temperature equal to 300* Fahrenheit; and in case a thermometer is not used, the proper degree may be easily ascertained, by keep- ing a piece of wood in contact with the bottom of the dish: as long as the colour of the wood remains unaltered, the heat is not too high; but when the wood begins to be charred, the process must be stopped. A small quantity of water will perhaps remain in the soil even after this operation, but it always affords useful comparative results ; and if a higher temperature were employed, the vegetable or animal matte?. would undergo decomposition, and in consequence the experiment be wholly unsatisfactory. The loss of weight in the process should he carefully noted ; and when in four hundred grains of soil it reaches as high as 50, the soil may be considered as in the greatest degree absorbent, and retentive of water, and will generally be found to contain a large proportion of aluminous earth. When the loss is only from 20 to 10, the land may be con- sidered as only slightly absorbent and retentive, and the sili- ceous earth as most abundant. VI. Of the Separation. of Stones, Gravel, and vegetable ‘ Fibres from Soils, None of the loose stones, gravel, or large vegetable fibres * In several experiments, in which this process has been carried on b distillation, I have found the water that came over pure, and no sensible quantity of other volatile matter was produced. should On ine Analysis of Soils. 31 should bedivided from the pure soil till after the water is drawn off; for these bodies are themselves often highly absorbent and retentive, and in ¢onsequence influence the fertility of theland. The next process, however, after that of heating, should be their separation, which may be easily accomplish- ed by the sieve, after the soil has been gently bruised in a mortar. The weights of the vegetable fibres or wood, and ‘of the gravel and stones, should be separately noted down, and the nature of the last ascertained: if calcareous, they will effervesce with acids; if siliceous, they will be sufficiently hard to scratch glass; and if of the common aluminous class of stones, they will be soft, easily scratched witha knife, and incapable of effervescing with acids. VIL. Separation of the Sand and Clay, or Loam, from each other. The greater number of soils, besides gravel and stones, contain larger or smaller proportions of sand of different degrees of fineness; and it is a necessary operation, the next in the process of analysis, to detach them from the parts in a state of more minute division, such as clay, Joam, marle, and vegetable and animal matter. This may be effected in a way sufficiently accurate, by agitation of the soil in water. In this case, the coarse sand will eene- rally separate in a minute, and. the -finer in two or three minutes ; whilst the minntely divided earthy, animal, or vegetable matter will remain in a state of mechanical sus- pension fora much longer time; so that, by pouring the water from the bottom of the vessel, after one, two, or three minutes, the sand will be principally separated from the other substances, which, with the water containing them, must be poured into a filter, and, after the water has passed through, collected, dried and weighed. The sand must likewise be weighed, and their respective quantities noted down. The water of lixiviation must be preserved, as it will be found to contain the saline matter, and the soluble animal or vegetable matters, if any exist in the soil. : , VIII.- Examination of the Sand. By the process of washing and filtration, the soil is se- parated into two portions, the most important of which is generally the finely divided matter. A minute analysis of the sand is seldom or never necessary, and its nature may be detected in the same manner as that of the stones or gravel, It is always either siliceous sand, or calcareous sand, ‘ 32 On the Analysis of Soits. sand, or a mixture of both. If it consist wholly of cars bonate of lime, it will be rapidly soluble in muniatic acid, with effervescence; but if it consist partly of this sub- stance, and partly of siliceous matter, the respective quan- tities may be ascertained by weighing the residuum after the ection of the acid, which must be applied till the mix- ture has acquired a sour taste, and has ceased to effervesce. This residuum is the siliceous part: it must be washed, dried, and heated strongly in a crucible: the difference be- tween the weight of it and the weight of the whole, indi- cates the proportion of calcareous sand. IX. Examination of the finely divided Matter of Soils, and Mode of detecting mild Lime and Magnesia. The finely divided matter of the soil is usually very com- pound im its nature; it sometimes contains all the four primitive earths of soils, as well as animal and vegetable matter; and to ascertain the proportions of these with to- lerable accuracy, is the most difficult part of the subject. The first process to be performed, in this part of the ana- lysis, is the exposure of the fine matter of the soil to the action of the muriatic acid. This substance should be poured upon the earthy matter in an evaporating bason, in a quantity equal to twice the weight of the earthy matter ; but diluted with double its volume of water. The mixture should be often stirred, and suffered to remain for an hour or an hour and a half before it is examined. If any carbonate of Jime or of magnesia exist in the soil, they will have been dissolycdin this time by the acid, which sometimes takes up likewise a little oxide of iron; but very seldom any alumine. The fluid should be passed through a filter; the solid matter collected, washed with rain water, dried at a mode- rate heat, and weighed. Its loss will denote the quantity of solid matter taken up. The washings must be added to , the solution ; which, if not sour to the taste, must be made so by the addition of fresh acid, when a little solution of common prussiate of potash must be mixed with the whole. If a blne precipitate occurs, it denotes the presence of oxide of iron, and the solution of the prussiate must be dropped in till no further effect is produced. To ascertain its quantity, it must be collected in the same manner as other solid precipitates, and heated red: the result is oxide of iron. Into the fluid freed from oxide of iron, a solution of neutralized carbonate of potash must be poured till all ef- fervescence ! On the Analysis of Soils. 38 fervescence ceases in it, and till its taste and smell indicate a considerable excess of alkaline salt. The precipitate that falls down is carbonate of lime; it must be collected on the filter, and dried at a heat below that of redness. The remaining fluid must be boiled for a quarter of an hour, when the magnesia, if any exist, will be precipitated from it, combined with carbonic acid, and its quantity is to be ascertained inthe same manner as that of the carbonate of lime. If any minute proportion of alumine should, from pecu liar circumstances, be dissolved by the acid, it will be foun in the precipitate with the carbonate of lime, and it may be separated from it by boiling for a few minutes with soap lye, sufficient to cover the solid matter. This substance dissolves alumine, without acting upon carbonate of lime. Should the finely divided soil be sufficiently calcareous to effervesce very strongly with acids, a very simple method may be adopted for ascertaining the quantity of carbonate of lime, and one sufficiently accurate 1n all common cases. Carbonate of lime, in all its states, contains a determi- nate proportion of carhonic acid, 7. e. about 45 per cent.; so that when the quantity of this elastic fluid, given out by any soil during the solution of its calcareous matter in an acid, is known, cither in weight or measure, the quantity of carbonate of lime may be easily discovered. : When the preeess by diminution of weight is employed, two parts of the acid and one part of the matter of the soil must be weighed in two separate bottles, and very slowly mixed together till the effervescence ceases; the difference between their weight before and after the experiment de- notes the quantity of carbonic acid lost; for every four grains and a half of which, ten grains of carbonate of lime must be estimated. . The best method of collecting the carbonic acid, so as to discover its volume, is by the pneumatic apparatus, the construction and application ef which are described at the end of this paper. The estimation is, for every ounce mea- sure of carbonic acid, two grains of carbonate of lime. X. Mode of ascertaining the Quantity of insoluble finely divided Animal and Vegetable Matter. After the fine matter of the soil has been acted upon by muriatic acid, the next process is to ascertain the quantity of finely divided casehante animal and vegetable matter that it contains, Yol, 23. No. 89. Oct. 1805. C This 34 On the Analysis of Soils. This may be done with sufficient precision, by heating it - to strong ignition in a crucible over a common fire till no blackness remains in the mass. It should be often stirred with a metallic wire, so as to expose new surfaces continu- ally to the air; the loss of weight that it undergoes denotes the quantity of the substance that it contains destructible by fire and air. It is not possible to ascertain whether this substance is wholly animal or vegetable matter, or a mixture of both. When the smeli emitted during the incineration is: similar ae of burnt feathers, it is a certain indication of some aimal matter; and a copious blue flame at the time of ig- rition almost always denotes a considerable proportion of vegetable matter. In cases when the experiment is needed to be very quickly performed, the destruction of the de- composable substances may be assisted by the agency of ni- trate of ammonia, which, at the time of ignition, may be thrown gradually upon the heated mass, in the quantity of twenty grains for every hundred of residual soil. It af- fords the principlé necessary tothe combustion of the anima! and vegetable matter, which it causes to be converted into elastic fluids; and it is itself at the same time decomposed and lost. XI. Mode of separating Aluminous and Siliceous Matter and Oxide of Iron, , . The substances remaining after the decomposition of the vegetable and animal matter, are generally minute particles of earthy matter containing usually alumine and silex with combined oxide of iron. To separate these from each other, the solid matter should be boiled for two or three hours with sulphuric acid, diluted with four times its weight of water; the quantity of the acid should be regulated by the quantity of solid res siduum to be acted on, allowing for every hundred grains two drachms or one hundred and twenty grains of acid. The substance remaining after the action of the acid may be considered as siliceous; and it must be separated and its weight ascertained, after washing and drying in the usual manner. The alumine and the oxide of iron, if they exist, are both dissolved by the sulphuric acid; they may be separa- ted by carbonate of ammonia, added to excess; it throws down the alumine, and leaves the oxide of iron in soli tion ; and this substance may be separated from the liquid by boiling. / Should On the Analysis of Soils. 35 - Should any magnesia and lime have escapedsolution in ‘the muriatic acid, they will be found in the sulphuric acid: this, however, is scarcely ever the case; but the process for detecting them, and ascertaining their quantities, 1s the same in both instances. The method of analysis by sulphuric acid is sufficiently precise for all usual experiments ; but if very great accuracy be an object, dry carbonate of potash must be employed as theagent,andtheresiduum of the incineration must be heat- ed red for half an hour, with four times its weight of this substance, ina crucible of silver, or of well baked porce- lain. The mass obtained must -be dissolved in muriatic acid, and the solution evaporated till it is nearly solid; distilled water must then be added, by which the oxide of iron and all the earths, except silex, will be dissolved in combination as muriates. The gilex, after the usual pro- cess of lixiviation, must be heated red ; the other substances may be separated in the same manner as from the muriatic and sulphuric solutions. This process is the one usually employed by chemical philosophers for the analysis of stones. j XII. Mode of discovering soluble Animal and Vegetable Matter, and Saline Matter. — If any saline matter, or soluble vegetable or animal mat- ter, is suspected in the soil, it will be found in the water af ixiviation used for separating the sand. This water must be evaporated to dryness in an appro- priate dish, at a heat below its boiling point. If the solid matter obtained is of a brown colour and in- flammable, it may be considered as partly vegetable extract. If its smell, when exposed to heat, be strong and fetid, it contains animal mucilaginous or gelatinous substance; if it be white and transparent, it may be considered as prin- cipally saline matter. Nitrate of potash (nitre), or nitrate of lime, is indicated in this saline matter, by its scintillating with a burning coal. Sulphate of magnesia may be de- tected by its bitter taste 3 and-sulphate of potash produces no alteration in solution of carbonate of ammonia, but precipitates solution of muriate of barytes. XIII. Mode of detecting Sulphate of Lime (Gypsum) and Phosphate of Lime in Soils. Should sulphate or phosphate of lime be suspected in the entire soil, the detection of them requires a particular C2 process 36 On the Analysis of Soils. process upon it. A given weight of it, for instance four hundred grains, must be heated red for half an hour in a crucible, mixed with one third of powdered charcoal. The mixture must be boiled for a quarter of an hour, ina half- pint of water, and the fluid collected through the filter, and exposed for some days to the atmosphere tn an open vessel. If any soluble quantity of sulphate of lime (gypsum) ex- isted in the soil, a white precipitate will gradually form in the fluid, and the weight of it will indicate the proportion. Phosphate of lime, if any exist, may be separated from the soil after the process for gypsum. Muriatic acid must be digested upon the soil, in quantity more than sufficient to saturate the soluble earths; the solution must be evapo- rated, and water poured upon the solid matter. This fluid will dissolve the compounds of earths with the muriatic acid, and leave the phosphate of lime untouched. It wodild not fall within the limits assigned to this paper, to detail any processes for the detection of substances which may be accidentally mixed with the matters of soils. Man- ganese is now and then found in them, and compounds of the barytic earth; but these bodies appear to bear little re- Jation to fertility or barrenness, and the search for them would make the analysis much more complicated, without. rendering it more useful. XIV. Statement of Results and Products. When the examination of a soil is completed, the pro- ducts should be classed, and their quantities added together; and if they nearly equal the original quantity of soil, the analysis may be considered as accurate. It must however be noticed, that when phosphate or sulphate of lime are dis- covered by the independent process XIIT., a correction must be made for the general process, by subtracting a sum equal to their weight from the quantity of carbynate of lime obtained by precipitation from the muriatic acid. In arranging the products, the form should be in the order of the experiments by which they were obtained. Thus, 400 grains of a gaod siliceous sandy soil may be supposed to contain ; 4 Grains, Of water of absorption - - | - 18 Of loose stones and gravel, principally siliceous, 42 Of undecompounded vegetable fibres . 10 Of fine siliceous sand - - + 200 270 Brought On the Analysis of Soils. 37 ; Grains. " Brought over - 270 QF minutely divided matter separated by filtrationy and consisting of Carbonate of lime os - 25 Carbonate of magnesia 2 - 4 Matter destructivle by heat, principally ve- getable, - ~ “ 10 Silex - - - - 40 Alumine - = - - "99 Oxide of iron - = - 4 Soluble matter, principally sulphate of pot- ash and vegetable extract, - 5 Gypsum - . - ~ 3 Phosphate of lime - - 2 : ~_—— 125 Amount of all the products 395 Loss . ‘ 5 Tn this instance the loss is supposed small; but in general; in actual experiments, it will be found much greater, in consequence of the difficulty of collecting the whole quan- tities of the different precipitates; and when it is within thirty for four hundred grains, there is no reason to suspect any want of due precision inthe processes. XV. This general Method of Analysis may in many Cases be much simplified. When the experimenter is become acquainted with the use of the different instruments, the properties of the re- agents, and the relations between the external and chemical Ae of soils, he will seldom find it necessary to per- orm, in any one case, all the processes that have been de- scribed. When his soil, for instance, contains no notable proportion of calcareous matter, the action of the muriatic acid IX. may be omitted. In examining peat soils, he will principally have to atten? to the operation by fire and air X.; and in the analysis of chalks and loams, he will often beable to omit the experiment by sulphuric acid XI. In the first trials that are made by petsons unacquainted with chemistry, they must not expect much precision of fesult. Many difficulties will be met with; but, in over- ¢oming them, the most useful kind of practical knowledge will be obtained; and nothing 18 so instructive in expen- mental science as the detection of mistakes, The qnrett analyst 38 On the Analysis of Soils cay oucht to be well grounded in chemical information ¥ but perhaps there is no better mode of gaining it, than that of attempting original investigations. “In pursuing his ex- periments, he will be continuall y obliged to learn from books the history of the substances he 1s : employi ing or act- ing upon ; and his theoretical ideas will be more valuable in being connected with practical operation, and acquired for the purpose of discovery. 5 XVI. On the Improvement of Soils, as connected with the Principle of their Composition. In cases when a barrem soil is examincd with a view to its improvement, it ought in all cases, if possible, to be compared with an extremely fertile soil in the same neigh- bourhood, and ina similar situation: the difference given by their anal’; -ses would indicate the methods of cultivation ; ; and thus the ‘plan of improvement would be founded upon accurate scientific principles. If the fertile soil contained a large quantity of sand, ir proportion to the barren soil, the | process of amelhoration would depend simply upon a supply of this substance; and the method would be equally simple with regard to soils de- ficient in clay or calcareous matter, inthe application of ciay, sand, loam, marle, or chalk, to lands, there are no particular cher uical principles to be obs served; but when quicklime is used, great care must be taken that it is not obtained from the magnesian limestone ; for in this case, as has been shown by Mr. Tennant, it is exceedingly injurious to land*: The magnesian limestone may be distinguished from the common limestone by. its greater hardness, and by the length of time that it requires. for its solution in acids, and it may be analysed by the pro- cess for carbonate of lime and magnesia IX. When the analytical comparison indicates an excess of vegetable matter, as the cause of sterility, it may be de- stroy ed by much pulverization and exposure to air, by paring and burning, or the agency of lately made quick- lime. And the detect of anirgal and vegetable matter must be supplied by animal or vegetable manure. XVII. Sterile Soils in different Climates and Situations must differ in Composition. The general indications of fertility and cteend are as found by chemical experiments, must necessarily differ im * Phil. Transactions for 1799, p. 305. This limestone is found sae! in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Somersetshire. different On the Analysis of Soils. 35 different climates, and under different circumstances. The power of soils to absorb moisture; a principle essential to their productiveness, ought to be much greater in warm and dry countries than in cold and moist ones; and the quantity of fine aluminous earth they contain larger.. Soils likewise that are situated on declivities ought to be more absorbent than those in the same climate on plains or in valleys*. The productiveness of soils must likewise be in= fluenced by the nature of the subsoil, or the earthy or stony strata on which they rest; and this circumstance ought to be particularly attended to, in considering their chemical nature, and the system of improvement. Thus, a sandy soil may sometimes owe its fertility to the power of the subsoil to reiain water; and an absorbent clayeysoil may occasionally be prevented from being barren, in a moist cli- mate, by the influence of a substratum of sand or gravel. XVUI. Of the chemical Composition of fertile Corn Soils in the Climate. Those soils that are most productive of corn contain always certain proportions of aluminous and calcareous earth in a finely divided state, and a certain quantity of vegetable or animal matter. Lhe quantity of calcareous earth is however very various, and in some cases exceedingly small. A very fertile corn soil from Ormiston in East Lothian afforded me in a hun- dred parts, only eleven parts of mild calcareous earth ; it contained. twenty-five parts of siliceous sand; the finely divided clay amounted to forty-five parts. It lost nine in decomposed animal and vegetable matter, and four in water, and afforded indications of a small quantity of phosphate ot lime. ; This soil was of a very fine texture, and contained very ‘few stones or vegetable fibres. It is not unlikely that its fertility was in some measure connected with the phosphate 5 for this substance is found in wheat, oats, and barley, and may be a part of their food. A soil from the low Jands of Somersetshire, celebrated for producing excellent cropS of wheat and beans without manure, I found to consist of one-ninth of sand, chiefly Siliceous, and eight-ninths of calcareous marle tinged with iron, and containing about five parts in the hundred of ve- getable matter. JT could not detect in it any phosphate or ‘sulphate of lime; so that its fertility must have depended * Kirwan. Trans. Irish Academy, vol.v. p. 175. 1 C4 principally 46 On the Analysis of Soils. principally upon its power of attracting principles of vege- table nourishment from water and the atmosphere*. Mr. Tillet, in some experiments made on the composi tion of soils at Paris, found that a soil composed of three- eighths-of clay, two-eighths of river sand, and three-eighths of the parings of limestone, was very proper for wheat. XIX. Of the Composition of Svils proper for bulbous Roots and for Trees. Tn general, bulbous routs require a soil much more sandy and less absorbent than the grasses. A very good potatoe soil, from Varsel in Cornwall, afforded me veven-eighths of siliceous sand ; and its absorbent power was so small, that one hundred parts lost only two by drying at 400 Fahren- heit. Plants and trees, the roots of which are fibrous and hard, and capable of penetrating deep into the earth, will vegetate to advantage in almost all common soils which are mode- rately dry, and which do not contain a very great excess of egetable matter. ; I found the soil taken from a field at Sheffield-place in Sussex, remarkable for producing flourishing oaks, to con- sist of six parts of sand, and one part of clay and finely di- vided matter. And one hundred parts of the entire soil, submitted to analysis, produced r Parts. Water - - - - - 3 Silex - - - - - 54 Alumine = - ~ ~ - - 28 Carbonate of Ime - - - 3 Oxide of iron - - - - 5 Decomposing vegetable matter - 4 Loss - - - = eee XX. Advantages of Improvements made by changing the Composition of the earthy Parts if Soils. From the great difference of the causes that influence the productiveness of lands, itis obvious that, in the present state of science, no certain system can be devised from their improvement, mdependent of experiment: but there are few cases in which the labour of analytical trials will not be amply repaid by the certainty with which they denote the best methods of amelioration; and this will particularly * This soil was sent to me by T. Poole, Fsq.of Nether Stowey. It isnear the opening of the river Parret into the British Channel; but, I am told, is never overflowed. happen On the Analisis of Soils. 4i happen when the defect of composition is found in the pro- portions of the primitive earths. In supplying animal or vegetable manure, a temporary food only is provided for plants, which is in all cases ex- hausted by means of a certain number of crops; but when a soil is rendered of the best possible constitution and tex- ture, with regard to its earthy parts, its fertility may be con- sidered as permanently established. It becomes capable of attracting a very large portion of vegetable nourishment from the atmosphere, and of producing its crops with com- paratively little labour and expense. Description of the Apparatus for the Analysis of Soils. See Plates II. and ILL. A. Retort. B. B. Funnels for the purpose of filtrating. D. Balance. , E. Argand’s lamp. F, G, H, K. The different parts of the apparatus re- quired for measuring the quantity of elastic fluid given, out during the action of an acid on calcareous soils. F represents the bottle for containmg the soil. K. The bottle containing the acid furnished with a stopcock. G. The tube connected with a flaccid bladder. I. The raduated measure. H. The bottle for coataining the ladder. When this instrument is used, a given quantity of soil is introduced into F; K is filled with muriatic acid diluted with an equal quantity of water; and the stopcock being closed is connected with the upper orifice of F, which is ground to receive it. The tube G 1s introduced into the Jower orifice of F, aud the bladder connected with it placed in its flaccid state into H, which is filled with water. The graduated measure is placed under the tube of H. When the stopcock of K is turned, the acid fowsinto F, and acts upon the soil; the elastic fluid generated passes through G into the bladder, and displaces a quantity of water in H equal to it in bulk, and this water flows through the tube into the graduated measure; the water in which gives by its volume the indication of the proportion of carbonic acid disengaged ‘from the soil; for every ounce measure of which two grains of carbonate of lime may be estimated. L. Represents the stand for the lamp. M,N, O, P, Q, RK, S. Represent the bottles containing the different reagents. oye VII. Ee- [ 42] VII. Extract from a Memoir on the Steeping of Wool, and '. on the Influence of its different States on Dyeing. By M.J,L. Roarp, Director of the Dyeing Establishment in the Imperial SS Read in the French Ne- tional Institute * ING ITHSTANDiNG the labours of Dufay, of Hellot, of Macquer, and the important investigations of Messrs. Chaptal and Berthollet, dyeing still presents a great num-= ber of problems, which are difficult to be resolved, owing to the number and variety of its agents. Besides ihe effects produced by the nature of the primary substances, by the action of water, of air, of caloric, and by the degree of at- traction of the colouring principles for vegetable and ani- mal substances, differences which exist in the state of the substances to be dyed occasion very remarkable alterations. M. Roard, who is charged with the superintendance of the dye-bouses belonging to the imperial manufactories, has constantly observed that wools of various qualities, sub jected to the same experiments, were coloured in a manner more or less intense, whenever he was desirous of forming a comparison between them. These differences in the de- gree of affinity for the colouring particles are owing to a modification of the wool, of w which he intends to treat in another memoir. The effects which particularly excited bis astonishment were those presented by wools perfectly alike in their ex- ternal qualities, which assumed in the same vat very dif- ferent colours. It was of the greater importance to in< quire into the cause of this difference, as dyeing, whose fluence over many of the arts is so powerful, is the basis of the manufactories-of tapestry ; and as the slightest error in the production of a colour renders it totally useless and unserviceable. This strictness in the choice of colours is in an especial manner observed in the manufactory of the Gobelins. The zeal and the exertions of M. Guillaumot, and his indefatigable perseverance in destroying deep-rooted prejudices, have brought. that ‘establishment ‘to such a de- gree of splendour and perfection, that the pictures of the most celebrated painters are transferred to its productions in a manner equally accurate and astonishing. The execu- tion of the tints destined for that manufacture i is at present attended with the greater difficulties, because, instead of * From the Annales de Chimie, No. 158. operating, ° On ihe Steeping of IWool. 43 operating, as formerly, with a scries of colours taken as it were at random, it is necessary to find precisely the shade required, to,follow the insensible gradation from light to dark through an harmonious successisn of thirty or forty colours. But how can a dyer, however he may be accus- tomed to all the operations of this kind, be sure of obtain ing invariable results, when, besides a multitude of well known causes, minute differences in the degrec of twisting alter the affinity of the light, and when the least mixture in the substances to be dyed causes a considerable variation in the affinity for the colouring principle? — Previous expe- rimeuts made on the wool of animals in different states, caused M. Roard to imagine that a more extehsive investi- gation of the subject would make him acquainted with the cause of the changes he had before observed. M. Tessier, to whom agriculture owes such important improvements, facilitated his researches by procuring him fleeces of Merinos in the grease from animals invhealth, dis- eased, and such as had died of the rot. The wools of the healthy, dead, and diseased animals, ecrresponding to the numbers 1, 2, 3, were employed sepa- rately, together, and mixed with scrapings (pelure), wool of very inferior quality, and which has besides been altered by lime. Scouring and bleaching are so intimately connected with the operations of dyeing, that the author thought fit to begin his comparative observations with these prelimi- nary processes, and even to extend them to the grease, the constituent principles of which were precisely explained in M. Vauquelin’s memoir on the nature of that substance. _ The agents which he employed for scouring wool, either in the fleece or spun, are: 1..Grease; 2. Soap; 3. Caustic potash; 4. Hot water; 5. Boiling water; 6. Flanders soap. 1. These wools being treated separately, according to the universal custom, were not completely freed from grease. No. 1. was very white, perfectly free from all impurity, without the smell of sheep ; but, on rubbing it between the fingers, a matter somewhat greasy might be perceived. The wool of the beast No. 2, which had died of the rot, was éxtremely dirty, charged with earth and animal maiters : after being scoured it had still a yellowish gray colour, some smell, and was more greasy than the preceding. In the fleece of No. 3, attacked with a languid disease, were a great quantity of ticks. That insect bad not a little con- tributed to aggravate the disease of the animal, whose soft, weak At On the Stecping of Wool, and the Influerite, weak wool was of a greenish yellow colour, which di# stinctly announced its decay. 2. A portion of the wool of each of the preceding num~ bers, being treated hot with 1-20th of soap, became very white, and perfectly free from the greases it had a very little smell, which exposure to the air speedily removed. 3. One-fortieth part of caustic potash scours and whitens wool extremely well; but this method, though very effica~ cious, is attended with too many inconveniences to advise its employment. 4, Wool steeped for some time in hot water lost, by the action of the potash, too little of its greasy matter to he employed in that state. 5. It is dangerous in all the opérations of scouring ‘to raise the temperature of the fluid above 60°, or to leave the wool in it Jonger than a quarter of an hour, for it 1s ltable to be very soon injured in boiling water. . G. Flanders soap is the substance which appeared to act in the most advantageous manner; it scours very speedily; and gives wool a degree of whiteness which it is extremely dificult to produce by any other means. On comparing wool spun in the grease and afterwards’ scoured, with that scoured before 1t was spun, it ap- peared that the former had become exceedingly white, re sembling the colour of unwrought cotton, while the seeond retained a dull yellow cast, from which it can never be freed. This last experiment frequently repeated, and in several different ways, constantly afforded the same results. It perfectly agrees with the ideas current in the work-shops, that wool badly scoured can never be thoroughly cleansed from grease, and that a great part of the preparations it may receive in dyeing are never fixed in a sold manner. Thus, besides the advantage of sparing proprietors an ope ration which they never execute perfectly, a twofold cause ought to induce them to preserve wool in the grease: in the first place, to protect it from insects and grabs, which seldom attack it in that state; and in the second, to allow the various arts which employ white wool the means of giving it that purity and lustre which it can never acquire when it has been previously scoured. The effects of gas and sulphuric acid were likewise tried 3 but neither of those means was capable of giving to wool, twice scoured, the same degree of whiteness as to that which had been completely freed from grease at onte. ‘;hese experiments served to ascertain a fact which hé_ had of its different States on Dyeing. 45 had long before observed; namely, that whiteness, so far from being the same in substances belonging to different classes, varies even in the produce of the same class: thus, the white of cotton will never be the same as that of thread, and a difference wil] always be perceived between the white- ness of wool and that of silk, m the same manner as we distinguish, though with greater difficulty, the numerous products of individuals of the same family. For it cannot be doubted that, if even the same disposition of the surfaces could establish between all these bodies a certain identity for reflecting the light; yet, as the smallest difference of their nature must affect their affinity, this alone would be suffi- cient to produce alterations in them. The intention of these researches was to ascertain the influence which the state of the animal must exercise over the grease, and the nature of the wool. The grease is a fatty, unctuous substance, with a very strong smel}, which is supplied in the sheep by sweat, and the transpirable matter ernitted by all animals. When dis- solved in water, and filtered to disengage it trom the carthy and animal matters which adhere to it, it is of a beantiful yellow fawn colour, more or less inclined to red, and com- posed, according to M. Vauquelin, of a soap with a basis of potash, anima] matter, lime, and potash, combined with carbonic, acetic, and muriatic acids. Filtration likewise separates a white matter floating on the surface of the grease, and which in scouring does not combine with the alkalies: it appears to be of the same nature as suet; it melts, and becomes liquid, at a low temperature, and takes fire very easily. ' The animal matter dissolved by alkalies is precipitated of a reddish yellow by all the acids. Oxygenated muriatic acid and oxygenated muriatic acid gas form in it a white flaky precipitate, which becomes coloured by exposure to the air: it is a kind of paste, soit, somewhat viscous, of a dirty yellow colour; it speedily becomes liquid, and burns with a bright white flame. This matter, when kept for some hours at eighty degrees, in several pounds of water, is totally insoluble; but by evaporating the liquid you obtain a small quantity of a soft matter, of a dark brown colour, which has an agreeable smell, resembling that of the ex- tract of liquorice. He was the less surprised to find this smell in the grease, as in his experiments made in the year 1800, by which he first demonstrated the presenve of potash in it, he remarked that ammonia, kept in digestion with this substance, gave it a strong smell of orange flowers, and 46 On the Steeping of Wool, and the Influence and that all the antient writers who treat of the medical properties of the cesype, and its foetid smell, agree that after a very long period it changes to an agreeable odour, resem- bling that of ambergris. i Aleohol treated with the animal matter takes up a re- sinous substance of a pale yellow colour, which is precipi- tated in white flakes, of a light yellow, by water and by acids. : . , i Being desirous of attacking the yellow extremities of the parts of the wool from under the belly and the thighs of the animal, he treated them with alcohol, quicklime, and caustic alkalies ; -but none of these agents was capable of changing their colour, It appears that the grease aeccumu- lated in those parts, together with the action of the air, »produces a very intimate combination, which cannot be de- stroyed without injuring their texture. Equal portions of the grease, Nos. 1, 2,5, at the same degree of concentration, were filtered and evaporated nearly . to dryness in capsules of porcelain. No. 1, furnished twice as much matter as the two others; it strongly attracted the humidity of the air, and became almost entirely liquefied by it. Acids acted on all three in the same manner, pro- ducing a very decisive effervescence. After burning them in a crucible of platina, he separated from all three, by di- stilled water or by nitric acid, potash slightly carbonated, or nitrate of potash, the weight of which was more consi- derable in No. 1. than in 2 and 3, which exhibited no very perceptible difference. These experiments, by demonstrating that the grease and the potash, one of its component principles, increase or de- crease.in the Merinos, according to their state of health or of disease, enable us likewise to form: a judgement of the immediate relation of this substance to these different states, as also of its influence on the beauty of their products. For ' it would be a great mistake to look upon it as prejudicial to them, when we know that the augmentation of this secre-. tion is incapable of altering the health of the animals, as remarked by Messrs. Gillert, Tessier, and Huzard, im their observations on the growth of long wools; and when the most celebrated natvralists agree in rejecting every method tending to deprive them of it, such as exposing them to Jong rains, and“washing their backs. Besides, does not the Merino, which is the most distinguished of all the spe- cies of this genus for the fineness and the beauty of its nch fleece, yield the greatest quantity of grease? and do we not see this substance diminishing with the quality of the wool, and of its different States on Dyeing. 47 and dwindling to nothing in those of the same species that are covered with hair, as the sheep of Guinea and Senegal ? __ As M. Roard cannot at present give his observations all the latitude of which they are susceptible, he hastens to make public the experiments relative to the effects produced in dyeing by the different qualities of the wools he em- ployed. The colour assumed by wools while steeping appeared to him a fact so interesting, that he thought it necessary to investigate the cause. He alternately changed the vessels and the agents destined for this operation, and ascertained that this coloration ought to be ascribed entirely to the ac- tion of copper; for ammonia forms a blue precipitate in steeping vessels of that metal, while the same precipitate is extremely white, if vessels of earth, porcelain, or even tin, be employed. Wool left for some hours in boiling water, in a copper vessel, acquires a greenish gray tint; but this effect is greatly augmented by the ordinary mixture of alum and tartar. If into’ this bath, saturated and boiling, you plunge different kinds of combed wool, those produced by the native breed of France and Holland assume a lively green colour, and those of Merinos a greenish yellow, ora very dark ochre yellow. Though this effect is much Jess perceptible in steeps on a large scale, yet, by comparing white wool with that which has been steeped, the difference appears sufficiently striking. The colour fixed by this me- thod is very little altered by alkalies, and not at all by acids, which in a slight degree heighten its intensity: ammonia turns it to a yellowish gray. In these experiments the author employed alum manu- factured by M. Curaudau, which appeared to him to possess all the qualities and defects of Roman alum, in a compara+ tive investigation which he undertook relative to the effects in dyeing of all the kinds sold in the shops. The wools, after remaining cight days in the alum liquor, were then dyed with cochineal, madder, saunders wood, &c. The same qualities, whether natural or acquirec’, having appeared to act in the same manner in all the expe- riments to which they were subjected, M. Roard describes only the first, which was that made with cochineal. Experiment I. No, 1. Healthy Merinos. A beautiful carnation red, inclining a little to yellow. This No. 1. surpassed in depth and intensity all the shades which he tried of more than two or three colours. Experiment 48 On the Steeping of Wool, and the Influence Experiment IT. Nos. 2 and 3. Animals dead and diseased. The colours almost. always the same 3 sometimes, how- ever, No. 3 is Jess highly coloured. The difference between these wools of dead and discascd animals and those of healthy sheep, though both of the same flock, is very re- markable. Experiment ITT. No. 4. 4 Mixture of equal Parts of 1, 2, and 3. The quantity of the altered. wool being much greater in this experiment, the colours I obtained with it nearly re- semble those of 2 and 3, but never equal in beauty that of No. 1. Experiment TV. No. 5. The seme Wool as No.1, but spun without Oil, and cleared of the Grease at a single Operation. The colour produced by this wool was more brilliant than that of No. 1, but its tone was less high; which de- monstrates that in some operations the natural colouring matter must be of some utility. Thus, in fine crimsons, and some other colours, the silks ought to retain somewhat of their rawness, for those thet are white cau never acquire the same appearance. This observation perfectly coincides with the experiments of Coulomb on the good effects in dyeing of silk still charged with a portion of its colouring principle. Experiment V. No. 6, Clippings of Wool of Picardy. The deteriorated matter, which forms a part of this wool, takes the colour so ill, that it is always clouded: in all the experiments it invariably produced a dull dirty colour, far inferior to that of No. 1. By the mixture of this damaged wool, the dealers adulterate the quality of all the eieed wools of France, which, as much preparation agrees very ill with them, can be employed only in the manufacture of the most ordinary stuffs. Experiment VI. No. 7. Clippings and IVool of the Merinos No. 1, in equal Parts. Notwithstanding the bad quality of the wool No. 6, this mixture took the colour.so well, that, in all my experiments, it was ‘not much inferior to that of No. 1, though, owing to the clippings, its appearance was always dull. Experiment of its different States on Dyeing. 49 Experiment VII. Nos. 8 and 9. Mixtures made with equal Parts of Clip- pings, the Wool of dead Animals No. 2, and of diseased Sheep No. 3: : The difference between Nos. 8 and g was scarcely per- ceptible; the colours were dull and dirty, and darker than Nos. 2 and 3, of which they were in part formed. Experiment VIII. The same numbers of wool employed in the preceding experiments were dyed blue, and their results perfectly agreed with those already stated. This colour is perhaps the only one that wools of an inferior quality take well, though the blue is not equal, and always iriclines to black. Experiment IX, The wools Nos. 1 and 2, which had been scoured, and the scrapings, No. 8, were treated with the dye, compara- tively with that of No. 1, spun in the grease. The three first took the colour slowly, and assumed a dull blue tint, inclining to black. No. 1, on the contrary, took it very speedily, and acquired a beautiful and very deep blue colour. These four numbers were scoured together, hot, with Flanders soap: the wools of the healthy and dead animals, and the clippings, entirely lost their colour; while that of No. 1, in the grease, retained a very brilliant barbel blue. Experiment X. Wools of the three qualities employed in the three manu- factories of tapestry were dyed at the same time with the Merino wool No. 1. In all the experiments the latter took a deeper colour than any of the others, which are carded wools of Flanders, Holland, and Picardy. The principal facts contained in this memoir lead to the following consequences : 1. In scouring, the heat of the fluid ought never to exceed 60°; for, even before it rises to the temperature of boiling water, wools in the grease are very liable to be in- jured by the potash. 2. Wools scoured at two operations can never be ren- dered completely white. This effect seems to proceed from a change of state in the greasy colouring mattery which, by becoming more highly oxygenated, loses its solubility. 3. Oxygenated muriatic acid, and oxygenated muriatic acid gas, precipitate, in white flakes, the animal matter contained in the grease: it is speedily coloured by the air, Vol. 23. No. 89. Oct. 1805. D and 50 On the Steeping of Wool. and contains a substance with an agreeable smell, which appears to be perfectly analogous to that developed by am- monia, and with that discovered i in it by the antients. 4, Tt ought to excite little surprise to see the quantity of potash and of grease diminish or increase in sheep ac- cording to their state of disease or of health ; for a secretion: so complicated, requiring the utmost exertions of nature, must invariably be intimately connected with the augmenta- tion or diminution of the vital powers. But how is it pos- sible to doubt that the grease has an immediate action on’ the quality of the w ool, when we see those two substances proceed, 1f we may so express it, in harmony, from the wild sheep of Greece to the most beautiful and the most vigorous Merinos? It was probably to assist them to re- cover this precious transpiration, that the Romans, after shearing, covered them with a mixture of tonic and oily substances, which, according to Columella, preserved them from many diseases; and contributed to render their wools finer and longer. 5. These wools constantly assume, in copper vessels, solid colours, more or less deep, which, even at the lowest degree of coloration, prevent them from taking the first shades of a tint. This effect is obviated by the use of tin- vessels, the oxide of which cannot alter the whiteness of the wool during steeping. 6. All the experiments prove that the affinity for the colouring matter varies in wools according to the healthy or diseased state of the animal ; and that the wool of healthy Merinos is always more highly “coloured than not only Nos.. 2 and 3, thouzh the produce of the same flock, but even than all the carded wools: of France and Holland. They show to what causes we ought to ascribe the effects pro- duced on wools the exterior characters of which are per- fectly alike, and which, after receiving the same prepara- tions, assume, in the same vat, different colours: if: "The beautiful and: very solid blue colours obtained’ from wools in the grease, demonstrate, in a very positive manner, the influence of that animal matter, which, if: transferred to other substances, might furnish the arts witht: many highly useful applications. Observations of the Author. Since the reading of my memoir to’ the National Insti- tute, [ have received a complete proof of the facts to which I ascribe the variations exhibited im dveing by carded wools. Having ascertained that the different causes which exercised an: New Galvanic Discoveries. $1 én influence over our operations could not arise from’ the mauipulations of the dyer, we complained to our wool- merchant of the bad quality of his goods. He was then obliged to acknowledge that hé mixed the wools of Flan- _ ders with those of Holland according to the general prac- tice of the trade; and that, though all the dyers had con« Stantly complained of the same detects, yet, as they had neglected to acquaint him with the cause, he had not been able to take such measures as to prevent them in futures These wools are likéwise attended with a disadvantage of another kind; which it is of considerable importance to in- dicate; I mean the augmentation that is given them by passing them through butter-milk, and which almost al- Ways amounts to one-eighth of their weight. They are Surcharged with a white dusty matter; which, even after careful and repeated washing, still furnishes a sufficient quantity of acetous acid to change a great numiber of results ¢ in dyeing. VIL. New Galvanic Discoveries. By M. Ritrrr. Ex- tracted from a Letier from M. Curisr. BERNouLLA*. 1. Charging a Louis d’ Or by the Pile. (8 pile with which M. Ritter commonly performs his experiments consists of 100 pairs of plates of metal, two iuches in diameter; the pieces of zinc have a rim to pre- vent the liquid pressed out from flowing away; and the apparatus is insulated by several plates of glass. As M. Ritter resides at present near Jene, 1 have not had an opportunity of seeing experiments with his great battery of two thousand picces, or with his baitery of fifty plecess each thirty-six inches square, the action of which conti- mues very perceptible for a fortnight. Neither have I seen lis experiments with the new battery of his invention, con-~ sisting of a single metal, and which he calls the charging pile. I have, however, seen him galvanize a louis d’or. He places it hetween two pieces of pasteboard, thoroughly wetted, and keeps it six or eight minutes in the chain of circulation connected with the pile; and thus the louis be- comes charged, though not immediately in contact with the conducting wires. If the louis thus charged be applied to the crural nerves of a frog recently pr¢pared, the usual con- * Abridged from Van Mons’s Journal, vol. vi. D ¢ tractions _ 52 New Galvanic Discoveries. tractions are excited. _T had put a louis thus galvanised into my pocket, and M. Ritter said to me a few minutes after, that I might findout this louis fromamong the rest, by try- ing them in succession upon the frog. Accordingly I made the trial, and actually distinguished, among several others, a single one, in w hich the exciting quality was very evident. This ‘charac i is retained in proportion to the time that the piece has remained in the circuit of the pile. Of three dif- ferent louis which M. Ritter charged in.my presence, nei- ther lost its charge in less than five minutes. These expe- riments succeeded completely, and nothing seemed so easy as to repeat them. A metal thus retaining the galvanic charge, though in contact with the hand and with other metals, shows that this communication of the galvanic virtue has more affinity with magnetism than with electricity, and assigns 10 the galvanic fluid an intermediate rank between these twa. M. Ritter can, im the way I have just described, charge at once any number of pieces. It it only necessary that the two extreme pieces of the number communicate with the pile through the intervention of wet pasteboards. It is with metallic discs charged in this manner, and_ placed upon one another with pieces of wet pasteboard alternately interposed, that M. Ritter constructs his charging pile, which ought in remembrance of its inventor to be called the Ritterian pile. The construction of this pile shows, that each metal galvanised in this way acquires polarity, as the needle does when touched with a magnet. Though I have had no opportunity of secing thts new pile, [ have convin- ced nyself of the reality of ‘the phenomenon by an expert- ment of the highest importance to science, and for the in-’ vention of which we are equally indebted to the saine inge- nious philosopher. M. Ritter, in his numerous experiments on ‘the excitation produced in the frog by the contact of two different metals, (for he has not entirely abandoned the original mode of galvanising, like most other experimentalists, who employ Volta’s pile exclusively,) had perceived not only a very striking difference in the excitability of the different parts of animals, but also a difference of excitement between the extensor and flexor muscles, according as the positive or negative pole was applicd to them, or as they were acted upon the instant after the metals were brought into contact or separated from each other. When the excitability is at its highest point of energy, as in very young frogs the moment after they are prepared, or iD cee ean New Galvanic Discoveries. 53 in adult frogs during the coupling season, the flexors alone contract, and in particular the flexor muscles of that thigh to which the silver or negative metal is applied, contract “at the instant when the metals come into contact, while those of the thigh to which the zinc or positive metal is applied, contract at the instant of their separation, — Opposite cflects are observable in frogs the excitability of which 1s on the point of being extinguished (Ritter’s fifth degree). In this case the extensors only. contract, and the flexors remain absolutely motionless. At the moment of contact of the metals the muscles on the zinc side alone are thrown into action, and at the moment of separation those on the silver side. M. Ritter distinguishes three degrees of mean excitability. At the second degree (the first of the three mean degrees) , when the metals are brought into contact, a strong excite- ment of the flexors takes place on the silver side, and a weak excitement of the extensors on the zine side; and when the metals are separated a strong excitement of the flexors is seen on the zinc side, and a weak excitement of the extensors on the silver side. At the fourth degree of excitability the contrary takes place. At the third or middle degree the excitability ap- pears to be equally distributed, the contractions on each side appearing equal, and at the moment of contact the flexors contract on the silver side, the extensors on the zinc side; while at the moment of separation the extensors con- tract on the silver side, and the flexors on the zinc side. All these phenomena were exhibited to me by M. Ritter, and the different contractions were very easy to be distin- guished. [ have not had time to repeat these experiments, and I fear, easy as they appeared to be, they will require an experienced hand to produce such distinct effects as I wit- nessed. Even with him, none of the experiments which [ saw succeeded the first time. M. Ritter, after showing me his experiments on the dif- ferent contractibility of various muscles, made me observe, that the picce of vold galvanised by communication exerts at once the action of two metals, or of one constituent part of the pile; and that the half which im the circle was next the negative pole became positive, and the half towards the positive pole became negative. Having discovered a way to galvanise metals, as iron is rendered magnetic, and having found that the galy anised metals alway's exhibit two poles, as the magnetic needle does, M. Ritter suspended a galvanised gold necdle on a pivot. He perceived, to his” surprise, that these needles D3 had 54 Galvanic Experinients. had a certain dip and variation, and that the angle of varia~ tion, the quantity of which I am sorry I cannot recollect, was uniformly the same in all his experiments. It differs however from that of the magnetic needle, and the positive. pole always dips. IX. Galvanic Experiments. By M, Rrrrer*. "Tuoucn I have for some time past employed myself more in the physical than in the chemical part of gal- vanism, I have, however, had occasion to make some ob- servations in the latter department. I have, for example, formed of the oxide of iran an indigo blue extremely beau- tiful. To obtain this oxide you must take a glass tube six inches long, with a diameter of half or three quarters of an inch. You fill the tube a third or foyrth part with mer- cury, and the rest with water. Introduce into each end of the tube a thick iron wire ; place the tube in a somewhat inclined position, and make the superior wire communicate with the positive pole, and the inferior wire with the nega- tive pole. After some hours the surface of the mercury will be found covered with a blue oxide of iron. This oxide is produced by the iron of the positive wire, which is par- tially reduced by the negative wire. It deoxidates itself at first into a green oxide, and afterwards into a blue oxide. Another intesesting product which I obtained is the oxide of silver hyperoxidated. This oxide is formed in any solution of silver, on the side of the positive gold wire of the pile. It has a perfect metallic sound, conducts electri- eity and galvanism exccedingly well, is very friable, and has an appearance of galena of iron. It often forms lances or columns, slender and straight, of the length of from 3 to 4 inches, and from half a line to three-quarters of a line in thickness. These columns represent in their wholelength a succession of uninterrupted crystals, in the form of andreo- lite, so that each section across the columns gives mm some sort the shape of a Greek cross. J] should have much to add to describe completely this product ; but an experiment, and, if needful, the assistance of the microscope, will afford a much better idea of it than I could give by description, The hyperoxide of silver, reduced to powder, andthrown into simple muriatic acid, produces, even in cold, a very strong effervescence, accompanicd with an abundant disengage- * From iin Mons’s Journal, No, 17. ment Galvanic Experiments. 55 ment of oxygenated muriatic acid gas, and converts itself almost instantly into luna cornea. In employing for this experiment crystals instead of powder, there is heard even at a distance a strong crackling, Bhs You can obtain in the same manner very quickly the’ brown oxide of lead. This oxide takes the shape of a little scooped out channel. It has a very brilliant metallic ap- pearance, and conducts electricity very well. The brown oxide of lead with muriatic acid, even in cold, also throws up vapours of oxygenated muriatic acid, but not nearly in the same abundance as hyperoxide of silver. Other metals afforded me similar produgts, but I have not yet had time to examine them. In like manner as silver allows itself to hyperoxidate, it allows itself to hydrogenate by the pile. You obtain the hydrogenated silver in decomposing by the gold wire, or by the negative silver of the pile, a solution diluted so sufh ciently that the disengaged hydrogen shall be in greater quan- tity than is necessary to deoxidate the silver. The superabun- dant hydrogen combines with the metal, and forms a com- posite of the same colour, which deposits itself under the appearance of a black magma, of a spunge-like body, ar of beautiful dendritic forms, and which is the true hydrogenated silver. Priestley knew this substance, and gave it the name of dephlogisticated silver. Bucholz had also obtained it, and regarded it as silyer incompletely reduced. But by heat one may disengage hydrogen under the form of gas; after which there remains reduced silver. I expect to obtain violent detonations from the mutual reaction of hyperoxidated silver and hydrogen. Copper is hydrogenated un:ler the same circumstances, and takes a blue colour, with the most beautiful and various shades. The same hydrogenation succeeded equally well in my experiments with tin. I have not yet examined the black precipitate of gold which is obtained at the wire of the negative, pole of the pile. Silver, copper, and tin take the bighest degrees of hydrogenation by exposure in a very diluted state to strong piles baving gold wires from three-quarters of a line to one line in thickness; and the highest degree of hydrogenation, chiefly for silver, appeared to constitute the gaseous state. We know already the gaseous state of the highest degree of hydrogenation of nist other metals, D4 X. Chee ; [ 56 X. Chemical Experiments on Mercury. By Messrs, Braamcamp and Siaueira-Oxiva, of Portugal*. Tuzsz experiments have for their objects: 1. To ascertain the action of phosphorous acid, of phosphites, and of phos- phorus, on the oxides and salts of mercury: 2. The analy- sis of some mercurial salts, by means of phosphorous acid : 3. To ascertain the action of hyperoxygenated muriatic acid on red oxide of mercury, 1. Of the Action of Phosphorous Acid upon the Oxides of . _ Mercury. Having placed 10 grammes of red oxide in contact with phosphorous acid a little concentrated, the colour of the oxide was changed into a gray. On boiling this mixture, we saw, in a few instants, running globules appear, which Jed us to suppose that the phosphorous acid had passed into the state of phosphoric acid, by combining with the oxy- gen of the oxide of mercury; and also that perhaps the phosphoric acid, as it formed, had dissolved some portion of the oxide of mercury. To ascertain this point, «we fil- tered and treated the liquor by sulphurized hydrogen: to our great astonishment, this reagent afforded but extremely slight indications of the presence of mercury. The resi- duum that remained on the filter, after having been well washed and dried, gave us nine grammes of mercury. Hence we concluded that the red oxide of mercury contains nearly ten per cent. of its weight of oxygen. The result of this experiment points out new means for analysing the oxides of mercury, which appear to us pre- ferable to sublimation, which is less expeditious, and is at- tended, besides, with the inconvenience of not giving ac- curately the quantity of mercury reduced to the metallic state, either because. by accident it nay be volatilized, or adhere so closely to the vessels employed in the operation that the whole cannot be detached. We hoped also to be able, by means of this acid, to ana- lyse the salts of mercury, by adding to them potash to de- compose them at the same time that the-phosphoric acid should reduce the oxide into running mercury ; but the re- sults were not satisfactory. Having tried,this process on 10 grammes of oxi-muriate of mercury, we obtained only 66 of running mercury, instead of 73, which we ought to * From Annales de Chimie, vol. liv. h ave * Chemical Experiments on Mercury. 37 have obtained, as we shall show hereafter. This loss of 0:7 is to be attributed 3 in part to what was dissolved by the phosphoric acid which was formed, but stil! more, in our opinion, to the potash. Mercurial salts decomposed by means of this alkali always retain some of it. M. Berthol jet has shown, that during the decomposition of these salts by potash, neither the redundance of the latter, nor ebulli- tion, can entirely clear the solution of mercury. . Of the Gray Oxide of Mercury. With Bhehaniente acid we treated ten grammes of gray oxide, obtained by decomposing by ammonia a solution of a sulphate of mercury at the minimum, strongly boiling the precipitate to dissolve and separate all the triple salt that might have united with it. From these 10 grammes we obtained 9-25 of reduced mercury, and we concluded that this oxide contains 74 per cent. of oxygen. The mean which we employed for obiaining the gray oxide of mer- cury seems to us preferable to that of precipitation by caustic fixed alkalies, which combine in part with the oxide precipitated, from which it is impossible entirely te separate them. When, in the method with ammonia, some portion of this adheres still to the oxide, we may easily ex- pel it by a moderate heat. 3. Of the Action of the Phosphorous Acid, upon the Salts of Mercury. Having, without success, attempted to analyse the mercu- rial salts by means of caustic potash, we determined to treat them in a direct manner with phosphorous acid, and we gia the following results: Phosphorous acid in excess decomposes all the mer- oeial salts, without exception, reducing their oxides into running mercury, and entirely separating their radicals. 2. When these salts are at the maximum of oxygenation, it causes them to pass into the minimum betore it decom- poses them, 3. Mercury is completely reduced to the ‘metallic state by this means ; for, the oxide of mercury being united to a radical, which does not quit it entirely until it arrives at the metallic state, the phosphoric acid formed in the ope- ration cannot dissolve the mercurial oxide, not beine in contact with the mercury until it arrives at the metallic state. The acids, before united to the oxides of mercury, cannot redissolve it while the id de acid which de- stroys the action is present. Should a phosphate acci- dentally 58 Chemicai Experimenis on Mercury. dentally be formed, it would immediately be decomposed by the phosphorous acid. 4. Of the Analysis of the different Mercurial Salts. Convinced from the preceding experiments, that the phosphorous acid afforded the best means of analysing the mercurial salts, we attempted the following analyses. Of Turbith Mineral. Having boiled ten grammes of this salt, very dry and well prepared, till we saw the mercury reduced, we filtered the whole through gray paper. All the reduced mercury, collected in a single globule, weighed 7:7, which, accord- ing to the analysis of the red oxide of mercury, is equiva- lent to 8°47 of the same oxide. The filteted liquor, treated by the muriate of barytes, gave 5 grammes of sulphate of barytes, which, at 30 per cent. of sulphuric acid, represent- ing 1°5 of this acid. ‘There remains a loss of 3 centi- grammes, which may be attributed to the moisture.—T his result differs a little from that given by M. Fourcroy. Recapitulation. Oxide of mercury at the maximum —- 84°7 Sulphuric acid - - - - 15° Loss, probably to moisture, - - 3 100 Of Neutral Phosphate of Mercury at the Maximum. Ten grammes of this salt well dried, treated in the same manner with sulphurous acid, gave the following result : Red oxide - = - 6§3°8 Sulphuric acid 2 - 31°8 Loss by moisture - 44 Of Oxygenated Muriate of Mercury of Commerce. Ten grammes, treated with phosphorous acid, gave of running mercury 7°3, which represents 8°03 of oxide at the maximum. ‘The filtered liquor, treated with nitrate of silver, gave 7°4 of muriate of silver, which represent 1°86 of muriatic acid. This salt being formed by sublimation, contains no water, and we attributed the 1} centigrammes toss to the iron, which is always found more or less mixed with this salt as it ts met with m commerce. 2 Result. Chemical Experiments on Mercury. 59 Result. Muriatic acid “ - - 18'6 Oxide of mercury at the maximpm 83°3 Loss attributed to the iron - 4 | 100 © On Nitrous Turbith, Nitrate of Mercury at the Maximum of Oxygen, and at the Minimum of Acid. Ten grammes of this salt, as dry as possible, treated with, the phosphorous acid, gave 8 grammes of reduced mercury, which represent 6°8 of red oxide of mercury: what is wanting to the complement of 10 grammes is to be attri- buted to the nitric acid, which we cannot collect in this operation, because phosphoric acid, by seizing a part of its oxygen, causes it to evaporate im nitrous vapours. The perfect dryness of the salt leads us to believe that the re- mainder of the weight may, without fear of error, be attri- buted to the nitric acid. Result. Oxide of mercury at the maximum 88 Nitric acid ~ - - - 12 -_———_, 1G0 Of Phosphate of Mercury at the Maximum. Ten grammes of this salt, also as dry a: possible, treated in the same manner with phosphorous acid, gave 6°5 of runing mercury, which correspond to 7:15 of oxide of mercury at the maximum; the 2°85 wanting to complete the 10 grammes, we attribute to the phosphoric acid. This experiment proves that pbosphorous acid not only decomposes all the salts formed by mercury with other acids, but also those which are formed by the phosphoric acid; so great is the afhnity cf this acid for oxygen, that it surmouuts that of the mercury for the same principle, and at the same time the attraction of the phosphoric acid for the oxide of mercury. This pleenoinenon also clearly points out the reason why the phosphoric acid, formed at the cost of the oxygen of the mercuria! oxidcs, does not dissolve the mercury as lone as any phosphoric acid is present; this decomposes im its turn the phosphate which might be formed. of re 60 Chemical Experiments on Mercury. Of Phosphites. The phosphites likewise deoxygenate the oxides of mer- cury, but their action is incomparably less than that of the hosphorous acid. It appears to be subordinate to the force of affinity of the phosphorous acid with its base, and to the action which this may equally exercise upon the oxides of mercury: the phosphites therefore do not seem to us to be capable, in any case, of affording an accurate means for the analysis of these oxides. They also deoxygenate the mercurial salts; but this action is weakened by the same e.uses. Of the Action of Phosphorus upon the Mercurial Oxides and Salts. Pelletier, who has attempted to combine phosphorus with allthe metals, says, that on treating the red oxide of mer- cury with this substance by means of water, in a gentle heat, he obtained a phosphuret of mercury in which the phosphorus seems to exist in a state of feeble combina- tion, and that he obtained by the same operation some phosphoric acid. On repeating his experiment we obtained ‘the same results ; but it appears to us that the formation of the phosphoric acid which 1s produced in it may be differ- ently explained. We are of opinion that the phosphorus _ (which gives origin to this acid) attracts a portion of oxy- gen from the atmospheric air, and passes into the state of phosphorous acid. What has led us to form this conclu- sion 1s this: The phosphorus which is carried off by the va- pours of the. water burns at the surface of the latter; and consequently forms there phosphorous acid, which must be changed into phosphoric, in proportion as it seizes the oxygen from the red oxide of mercury. This expianation appears to us the more natural, as phosphorus, placed in contact with the red oxide, does not become acidified, though it deoxygenates the latter, as we shall show hereafter, and as phosphorus boiled in water is changed, by this simple operation, into phosphorous acid. When phosphorus is placed in contact with red oxide and water in the cold, it first attracts oxygen from the red oxide, and reduces it first of all into gray oxide, and at length to the metallic state; but in this case no phospho- rous acid nor phosphoric acid is formed; the phosphorus merely becomes oxidated, and assumes a dark colour. It zs not difficult to conceive the theory of this phenomenon : the phosphorus, having great avidity for oxygen, separates it from the oxide with which it is in contact; but this combustion Chemical Experiments on Mercury. ot combustion is so slow, as is proved by the uniformity of the temperature of the liquor during the operation, that the phosphorus is never in a condition to seize upon the por- tion of oxygen required for its conversion into the acid state. The reduced mercury cannot combine with the phosphorus ; for, as it does not combine with it when ia the state of fusion (according to the experiments of Pelle- tier), it is still less capable of combining with it when in a solid state, and without any change of temperature. Our experiment may perhaps furnish the means of obtaining the true oxide of phosphorus, which hitherto has been little or not at all known. The mercurial salts are equally decomposed and deprived of their‘oxygen by phosphorus, with the application of heat, or as in the cold; but, in the first case, a phosphuret of mercury is formed, which consequently prevents its ana- lysis by this means. It might perhaps be accomplished in the cold; but the action is so slow, that any other more ex- peditious means would be preferable. Of the Action of Oxygenated Muriatic Acid upon the Red Oxide. This subject has already been investigated by Messrs. Fourcroy and Thenard, and it may easily be supposed that such able chemists have left littie to be done in a field which they have already cultivated. We have obtained nearly the same r¢sults which they have indicated, and we return to this subject merely in order to notice some slight peculi- arities which have escaped them. Experiment I. Fifty grammes of red oxide of mercury were put into a proportionate quantity of distilled water. Oxi-muriatic acid gas was then passed through it, taking care to agitate the liquor well, in order that the gas might come perfectly into contact with the red oxide. After the space of an hour the colour of the oxide began to change, becoming darker every moment; we continued to cause yas to enter till the brown powder had deposited itself; we then decanted the liquor, and washed and filtrated this powder, which had become of a deep violet colour: aiter being dried it weighed 29 grammes. ‘The evaporated liquor presented to us a salt crystallized in the form of needles, which we ascertained by re-agents to be hyperoxygenated muriate of mereury; the last liquor, after the crystallization, presented to us slight traces of another salt move highly oxygenated than the pre- ceding ; + 62 Chemical Experiments on Mercury: ceding ; but its quantity was too small to be subjected to auy experiment. The violet powder, which has hitherto been considered as an oxide of mercury, more or less oxygenated, being subjected to different experiments, gave the following re- sults: ‘ 1. Boiled in water, it was found insoluble in it, and did not in the least change 1ts colour. 2. Treated with caustic potash, it was converted into red oxide, aud the liquor contained muriatie acid. There ex- isted therefore in this powder a muriate of mercury, 3. In order to determine the nature of the latter, and te ascertain the proportion in which it was contained in it, wé sublimed 10 gramines of this powder, and obtained ¥ grammes of sublimed muriate, and 8 of red oxide not sublimed. The sublimed muriate dissolved alniost entirely in the muriatic acid, and the extrerhely srivall portion which did not dissolye was mild muriate. Hence it follows, that the violet-coloured powder which its formed by the action of the oxi-muriatic acid upon the red oxide of mercury, 1s not a simple oxide of mercury, but an oxi-muriate of mercury, with a great excess of red oxide of mercury, in the proportion of 2 to 8; that this great excess of oxide is conihined with the salt; at Jeast this seems to be proved by the first experiment, since boil- ing water was not able to separate the muriate of mercury from the red oxide: Experiment I, From all the citcumstances of which we have just givett an account, we concluded the possibility of forming a hy- peroxygeénated muriate of mercury, of a degree superior to that of corrosive sublimate. Ass the action of the oxygen ated muriatic aéid had riot given in the cold so satisfactory a result as we wished, we boiled 30 grammes of red oxide of mercury with oxygenated mutriatic acid, taking care to add fresh quantities m proportion as it was absorbed by the substance. When this refused to absorb any more, the }iquor was decanted, and the powder washed and dried ; the quantity of the latter was nearly the same as in the former experiments treated by the same re-agents it gave us simi+ Jar results, and by sublnmation it yielded the same propor- tions. The liquor being properly evaporated, it yielded oxy- genated muriate of mercury perfectly crystallized: The last portions of the liquor not presenting any appearance ) Chemical Experiments on Mercury. 63 of crystallization, were evaporated to dryness, and present- ed to us what we sought for, a byperoxygenated niuriate of mercury, possessing ‘the following properties : 1. It is highly soluble and deliquescent. 2. Much more soluble in alcohol thar the ordinary oxy- genated muriate. 3. It decrepitates with concentrated sulphuric acid, assumes a yellow colour, and disengages oxygenated muri- atic acid gas. 4. The essential property, which no other salt besides this is known to possess, 13, that being mixed with the sul- phuret of antimony, it inflames spontaneously at the ordi- hary temperature, some instants after the mixture is made. The residuum of this combustion, besides the sulphuric or sulphurous acids which are disengaged, consists of oxygen- ated muriate of mercury (corrosive “sublimate) and mnriate of antimony. It appears, therefore, that, im this case, the superabundant oxygen of the hyperoxygenated: muriate burns a portion of the sulphur, and produces sulphuric acid, anda portion also of theantimony, which then combines with some of the muriatic acid fromthe mercury. This salt, how- ever, possibly on account of Its extreme deliquescence, does not decrepitate upon ignited coals, nor does it make any explosion when struck ‘by a hammer. The oxide of mercury combined in this salt is of the same nature with: that which is combined with oxygenated: muriate. The alkalies lkewise precipitate it in a ycllow oxide. Conclusion from the tast Experiments. Oxygenated muriatic acid produces, therefore, with reé éxide of mercury, priucipally by the aid of heat, different iy of salts. . Muriate of mercury at the maximum, with a great excess of oxide, resembling turbith mineral as to its insolu- bility m water, but reducible by sublimation into oxygen- ated muriate of mercury, and into red oxide. 2. Simple muriate of mercury. This salt accompanies’ m small quantity the preceding salt. 3. Oxygenated muriate of mercury, which crystallizes by the evaporation of the liquor. 4. Hyperoxygenated muriate of mercury. This salt is extremely soluble , and not crystallizable. Such are the remarks which we*had to offer respecting the action of phosphorous: acid, and oxvgenated muriatic acid, upon the mercurial salts and oxides. Justice requires that AAG 64 - Chemical Experiments on Mercury. that we should acknowledge the advantage which we have derived in our researehes from the practical skill and che- mical sagacity of M. Paumier, who has assisted us in our labours, and shared in our solicitude to give them all the Fequisite accuracy. ; Conjecture. Before concluding, we beg leave to offer a conjecture to which this inquiry has given rise. We feel the less reluc- tance in presenting it, as it refers to a point which, in the present state of our knowledge, cannot yet be a subject of . Feasoning in the proper sense of the term. It is well known that mercury, in the s¥ate of oxide or of salt, is employed in medicine for the cure of venereal disorders. ‘The effects ef this remedy are well known, but its mode of action is far from being so. Does it act by forming a combination with the principle of the disease, or by yielding to it its oxygen, and being reduced itself to the metallic state? The latter opinion, which has some facts to support it, seems the most probable. The experi- ments of which we have just given an account, persuade us, that of all the substances which the mercurial oxides and salts may meet with in the animal ceconomy, none can take from them their oxygen so easily as the phosphorous acid or the phosphites. Some perhaps may tell us, that there may exist in the animal liquids, alkalies, or alkaline earths, capable of de- composing the mercurial salts, and separating their oxides. We shall only answer, that the alkalies do not exist in the caustic state in these Jiquids, and that consequently their radicals cannot by double affinities comhbine with the oxides of mercury; and that, even though the oxide of mercury should be in this state, a substance would still be required that could carry away its oxygen. It is possible that such substances may be discovered in the human body ; but we do not know of any which possesses the property of seizing the oxygen from the oxides of mercury in a degree at alt comparable with phosphorous acid and the phosphites. It is known that a larye quantity of phosphoric acid 1s con~ tained in the human body: of this the phosphate of lime which constitutes the bones is a proof, It 1s easy to conceive the formation of phosphorous acid and phosphites in the buman body, since phosphorous acid in reality is nothing else than phosphoric acid with an excess of phosphorus. We conjecture, however, that the formation of phospho- rous acid and of phosphites might perhaps be supported by the Alum prepared from Pyrites and Clay. 63 the following observations: 1. ‘That the malady in question has its origin in the contact of the fecundating parts: 2. That phosphorus performs a principal part in the functions of reproduction. Pelletier has remarked, that phosphorus is the most powerful aphrodisiac known; analysis has shown that the crystals of the human semen are phosphate of lime. Phosphorous acid and phosphites would therefore vitiate the spermatic liquids, which would not be restored to their natural state until the phosphorous acid and the phosphites, seizing oxvgen from the mercurial oxides, should return to the state of phosphoric acid and of phos- phates, such as they are found in the state of health. Note of M. VavauELin. There is no necessity that we should have recourse to the presence of phosphorous acid or of phosphites in the animal liquids, which is by no means proved, in order to explain the reduction of the salts and oxides of mercury, since almost all the animal humours produce this effect. eee XK New Method of preparing Alum from Pyrites and Clay. By M. Lampapius, Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy at the School of Freyberg*. I HAD long been of opinion that the sulphuric acid vapours disengaged from pyrites while burning might be applied to some profitable use. In this process, as is well known, when the-combustion is once begun, by applying burning wood or other fuel to the pyrites, they can maintain it by their own sulphur; and a certain quantity of sulphuric acid is formed, which is generally allowed to dissipate itself without producing any benefit. In a journey which I took in 1799 to the vitriol manu- factory of Breitenbrunn, in the district of Johann-Georgen- stadt, [ had the satisfaction to observe that these vapours were turned to some account. The pyrites were burned in a furnace of a conical form, open at the top, and in the sides of which were apertures, with pipes conducting to a large square chest, filled with pyrites that had been burned and lixiviated, and had thus furnished vitriol. When the py- rites in the furnace are kindled, the aperture at the top is closed. The pyrites still continue to burn; the vapours * From the Journal des Mines, p Vol. 23. No. 89. Oct. 1905. E pass 66 - New Method of preparing Alum pass through the pipes and collect in the chest called the condenser, “where they blend themselves with the lixiviated: pyrites. The latter still contain a quantity of highly ox- idated iron, which combines with the sulphuric acidy and forms vitriol. When these pyrites have remained a suffi- cient time in the chest, they are again lixiviated, and more vitriol is obtained from them*. Perfect sulphuric acid would not, in this case, be of the same service as vapours, which are not entirely saturated with oxygen. This fact revived my ideas relative to the employment of the vapours which are disengaged during the burning of pyrites; but, before I proceed to state the experiment I made on the fabrication of alum, I shall introduce an ob- servation concerning the process employed by M. Chaptal. That chemist burns the sulphur with the saltpetre, as is the practice in the English manufactories of sulphuric acid; he receives the vapours of sulphuric acid, which are disengaged, upon baked clay, and thus forms an artificial ore of alum. Would it not be less expensive to oxidate immediately the sulphur of the pyrites by the atmospheric air? By the latter method two expensive operations would be spared—that of purifying the sulphur, and that of burning it with saltpetre 5 a substance which i is at aconsiderable price. I admit that, in the process which I am going to describe, all the vapours are not turned to advantage; but if the apparatus be pro- perly disposed, very little wil be lost. I shall first make a remark concerning the state of the pyrites, and of the clay employed. Pyrites merely broken are preferable to those which are triturated and washed, when they are to be piled one upon the other: if pyrites.in powder be used in the furnaces, they should be mixed with a fourth part of clay, and hardened and dried in, the form of bricks. The arsenic contamed in the pyrites 1s not detrimental to the formation of the alum, because the arsenic, being less volatile than the vapours of the sulphuric acid, is arrested at the commencement cf the pipes, where care must be taken not to put any clay. As to the clay, that used by potters may be employ ed, provided it does not contain too great a quantity of iron. T directed a reverberatory furnace, four feet long, two and a half wide, and two and three quarters high, 6 be constructed : the anterior part had an aperture a faot squarey, by which the pyrites were introduced. On the sides of the * What M. Lampadius here says is not perfectly correct. Water is made to fall continually, drop by drop, into the chest: this water passes through the Tae 3 of pyrites, and keeps it constantly lixiviated. arch from Pyrites and Clay. 67 arch were apertures two inches in diameter, which could be opened and shut at pleasure. At the top of the vault was another, of an oblong form, conducting to a wooden channel a foot and a half wide, but which, on account of want of room, was only twelve feet long, and terminated in a chest three feet in diameter. Such was the imperfect apparatus with which I made my first experiment. A quintal of pyrites, triturated and washed, were mixed with half their weight of clay, and formed into balls, which were gently dried. Another quintal of clay was likewise formed into balls, which were dried and baked, but only till the clay had lost its unctuosity, and was therefore more proper to receive the vapours of the sulphuric acid. The balls of the pyrites were placed in the furnace, on about a cubic foot of wood, intended for kindling the fire. The: aperture in front was closed, and only those on the sides were left open: the balls of clay were exposed in the canal and in the chest to the vapours of the sulphuric acid. The combustion of the pyrites continued fourteen hours, and not a vestige of sulphur was deposited ; that substance be- came entirely volatilized under the form of sulphuric acid *. The wooden channel was too short, as I had: expected; the greater part of the vapours escaped; the trees and plants in the garden contiguous to the laboratory withered, and their Jeaves fell off. I was therefore convinced that the pyrites were completely oxidated in my apparatus. As soon as the operation was ended, the balls of clay were covered with . an effervescence of alum, which, mixed with 4 per cent. of alkali, yielded alum, But as the greatest part of the acid was mixed with the alumine, without being saturated with it, I left the balls in a shed, exposed to the action of the air, from August 2, 1799, till the 3d of April the following year. At the ex- piration of that time ] obtained an earthy mass, entirely covered with an efflorescence, and mixed with sulphate of alumine; being treated in the usual manner, it yielded three pounds and a half of alum. This experiment convinced me of the possibility of ob- taining alum by this process, and that in a very ceconomical manner: but, to insure success, the tube should be made much longer than mine. ‘The remaining pyrites may after- wards be employed in the manufacture of vitriol. * We cannot help here suspecting the accuracy of M. Lampadius. It seems likely that by far the greater part of the vapours would be in the state of sulphurous acid, Enrr. \ be XII. Twenty- { 68 ] XIE. Twenty-fourth Communication from Dr. THORNTONs relative to Pneumatic Medicine. To Mr. Tilloch. Hinde-street, Manchester-squaré, SIR, October 21, 1805. Ts Dr. Rowley’s late extraordinary publication against the discovery of the virtuous and illustrious Dr. Jenner, he puts down as one of the madnesses of mankind, their belief of any good as having arisen from pneumatic agency. “ Cow- pox mad,” and ‘* air mad,’’ is an easy mode of aspersing, among the vulgar part of the community, those who wish to become, and are zealous to be, benefactors of mankind : and I appeal for the vindication of my name to the philo- sophic world, before whose tribunal I am feelingly alive ; not caring, indeed, as many do, after pecuniary gains, which such attacks are intended to deprive me of. If f and my believers are indeed mad, I trust it is the madness of St. Paul, a learned conviction of the truth: I shall there- fore proceed on with more cases confirming the practice. Letter from Mr. Witson, Sadler, to Dr. THORNTON. Case of Herpes cured by Curlonic Acid Air. Oxford-street, SIR, _ October 20, 1805. Having expetienced the most striking good effects, I might say wonderful, from the pneumatic practice, I am delighted to make the same «as publicly known as possible. For twenty-five years I was miserably afflicted with herpes from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot, and had employed Dr. Carmichael Smith, and other gentlemen of the faculty ; but my terrible affliction bafHled all their skill. T therefore applied to Mr. Varley, and he recommended the trial of the carbonic acid air, confined by means of oil-skin, over the parts affected, an hour each day ; and such were the astonishing salutary effects of the air, that in the course of two months this universal disease was removed. It is now above seven years ago, and I[ nave never felt any return since, but enjoy a most comfortable state of health. I have the honour to be, sir, Your faithful obedient servant, Marraew WItson. Observations Specific Remedy for the Tinea Capitis. 69 Observations on this Case by Dr. Thornton. 1. The herpes is a species of hitherto incurable leprosy, and was confirmed in the habit of this gentleman, having existed, as he writes to me, twenty-five years. 2. The common means failing, the trial of carbonic acid air to the parts affected was a judicious application. 3. If meat is put into fixed air it does not become putrid, and even tainted meat becomes sweet by immersion in fixed air. 4. Fixed air also takes off inflammation ; for if a blister be cut, and fixed air be applied, the pain: instantly ceases. 5. In this case it evidently promoted action, for after each application a moisture always prevailed; the incrusta- tions were before hard and dry. 6. As the cure has existed seven years, a relapse is not to be dreaded; and this case is, I think, a very striking ex- ample of the propriety, not of the “ madness,” of the ap- plication of the pneumatic agents. _ LT have the honour to remain, dear sir, Your obliged devoted friend, Rogert JOHN THORNTON. XIII. A specific Remedy for the Tinea Capitis. By . Mr. James Bartow. é E, To Mr. Tiiloch. Henewrrn you will receive an account of a specific re- medy for the tinea capitis; the insertion of which in your valuable Magazine will much oblige Your obedient servant, Blackburn, Lancashire, James BARLOW. October 20, 1805. Most practitioners in medicine must have frequently ex- perienced the difficulty of curing this obstinate malady. The intractableness of most children when attempted to be con- trolled or governed by the accustomed mode of treatment, renders the disease in most instances very difficult to subdue; and the quickness with which the hair of the scalp grows in children, has hitherto almost always rendered every effort to conquer the disease of no avail. It was from a constant failure under the numeroys and diversified remedies which have been recommended by au- thors in this malignant disease, that I was led to adopt the E 3 subjoined 70 On the Decomposition of Alkaline Sulphurets sabjoined lotion ; and I am happy to announce to the pub- lic, that by bathing the affected head therewith a few times, morning and evening, and suffering the parts to dry with- out interruption, the scabs will decorticate and peel off from the scalp, and leave the parts underneath perfectly healed; and this without torturing the patient by either shaving the head or cutting off the hair, IT bave been in the habit of treating this disease in this manner, and with this application, for the last ten years, and have mvaria- bly found it to answer (when duly applied) both in chil- dren and adults; and in many inveterate cases even where every other means had been previously used without effect, some of which were of several years standing. R. Kali sulphurat. (recens preparat.) 5 ij. Sapo. alb. aes 5 Js. Aq. calcis 3 vijss. Spir. vinos. Wine 5 ij. Ft. Lotio pro tinea capitis. Might not the above remedy for tinea capitis be efficae cious in relieving that dreadful endemic disease called éri- choma, or plica ‘polonica ? —— XIV. O7 the Decomposition of Alkaline Sulphurets ly the Oxides of Lead and of Manganese. By M. Dize*. I, charcoal be mixed with an alkaline sulphate, and then exposed to a high temperature, the oxygen, oue of the constituent, parts “of the acid, burns the charcoal, quitting the sulphur which served as its radical; with which the alkali then combines, forming what is “ealled an alkaline sulphuret. This combination, which is a result of the de- composition of the alkaline sulphates by the charcbal, is not so easily destroyed as might be supposed, especially when large masses are operated upon. The exposure, frequently repeated, of the alkaline sulpburets to a managed heat, is not sufficient to cause the sulphur to volatilize; for the alkali still retains enough of it to render it improper for cer- tain operations in the arts; and the sulphur during its vo- Jatilization is partly deflagrated, and forms si|phurous acid, which combines with the alkali. Thus the operation is rendered more complex instead of being simplified, since we obtain only an alkali mixed with sulphuret and alkaline sulphite. * From Van Mozs’s Journal, No. 15. The ly the Oxides of Lead and of Manganese. 71 The addition of carbonate of lime to a mixture of char- — coal and alkaline sulphate, as was the practice in the first manufactory of soda, established at St. Denys, near Paris, was not an expensive way of decomposit ng pretty speedily the sulphuret of soda resulting from the decomposition of the sulphate of soda by char coal ; ; nevertheless the soda was still contaminated with sulphuret and with sulphite of soda, which might be detected by the smell and by the crystal- lization. The substitution of iron for carbonate of lime, or these two substances employed together, gave no better result. The whole of the alkali could not be obtained 7 pure till after repeated washings, calcinations, and crystalliza- tions. Such is the state of our knowledge of the means of puri- fying in the large way, and without incurring too great an expense, the alkalies which may be prepared by the decom- position of the alkaline sulphates. These difficulties, which appear of little consequence in the operations of the labora- tory, become very embarrassing in large mi anufactories, where the results ought to be equally speedy und easy to be obtained. Of all these processes the best is that employed in the manufactory of St. Denys, near Paris, and which was pub- lished at the time by order of government. This process is still the most simple, and most easy to be executed in the large way ; at least it has been judged so according to experience. IT believe that the result of my researches upon the decomposition of the sulpburets must add to its pertec- tion, and afford some indication of which use may be made in poe oy operations. I shall not detail all the experiments which have led me to this improvement, but shal] now state the means which J employ for decomposing the alkaline sulphurets, or freeing the soda from the last portions of sulphuret and alkaline sulphite which it contains. After having proceeded to the decomposition of the sul- phate of soda, by the mixture of charcoal and carbonate of lime, we lixiviate the crude soda, in order to extract the alkali from it. This lixivium is commonly of a yellowish colour, and exhales the odour of sulphur: if we mix with it some drops of diluted sulphuric acid, sulphur is precipi- tated, and hydro-sulphurated gas and ‘sullphurous acid are rapidly disengaged. Were we to cvaporate afterwards and crystallize this lix- ivium, we should obtain crystals of soda, from which di- Juted sulphuric acid would ‘disengage hydrosulphuret and Kh4 sulphurous 72 On the Decomposition of Alkaline Sulphurets | sulphurous acid. The rest of the liquor would give soda less pure than the first crystallization. To purify this lixivium, and free the alkali from the sul- | phur which it contains in solution, and cause the sulphite y to disappear, I add to the ley, while it 1s in ebullition, a sufficient quantity of well pulverized semi-vitreous oxide of lead. This oxide separates the sulphur from the alkali, and forms by its combination an insoluble sulphuret of lead: | the sulphite disappears, and is converted into sulphate. The semi-vitreous oxide of Jead loses its red colour, and assumes a deep chestnut or blackish hue, by reason of the quantity of sulphur which the alkali contains. ‘The liquor or lixi- vium becomes as clear as pure water; dilute sulphuric acid disengages from it only carbonic acid eas, and forms no pre- cipitate: in a word, this lixivium precipitates the nitrate of lead in a white state, and the sulphate of copper is a beau- tiful creen; whilst, previous to the addition of the semi- vitreous oxide of lead, the same lixivium precipitated these two metals of a very dark chestnut colour, that is to say, in the state of sulphuret. Thus the semi-vitreous oxide of lead, in the humid way, carries off the sulphur from the alkali of the soda, and may serve for purifying in the large way, and in a very easy manner, the soda proceeding from the decomposition of the sulphate of soda. After these experiments, and a calculation of the expense of the semi-vitreous oxide of lead, I substituted for it, with equal success, oxide of manganese well pulverized. This oxide, which is cheaper than the former, presents another advantage; it may be employed several times for the same operation, freeing it first from the sulphur by simple cal- cination. The facility with which sulphur is thus separated from soda in the humid way, without engaging it in a new com- bination, that is to say, leaving it isolated and dissolved in the liquid, mduced me to try the same means for de- composing sulphuret of barytes; and miy attempt was at- tended with success. : Decomposition of Sulphuret of Barytes. In order to obtain barytes in a caustic state, sulphate of barytes is commonly decomposed with charcoal, from which first operation results a sulphuret of barytes solubie in water: this sulphuret is decomposed with nitric acid: distillation separates the nitric acid from the barytes, and this alkali remains pure, and fixed at the bottom of the retort. This process 1s extremely expensive, on account of the large quantity ty the Oxides of Lead and of Manganese. 73 quantity of nitric acid which it requires. Barytes will cer- tainly become a very valuable substance for the arts, when we shall be able to procure it at a reasonable price. The following is the most simple and the most cecono- mical means which J have discovered, and which I hada long time practised for my own use. When sulphuret of barytes 1s made by the decomposition of sulphate of barytes a and charcoal, I dissolve it in water ; after having let it settle and clear itself, I decant it into a vessel, in which | boil it, adding to it pulverized oxide of manganese, till the liquor has lost its yellow colour, and is become clear and limpid. In proportion as the oxide of manganese separates the sulphur from the barytes, the odour of sulphur diminishes, and instead of it an alkaline odour is perceyved ; the taste of the liquor, when all the sulphur is combined with the manganese, has a considerable devree of causticity ; as soon as it ‘cools, if too much water has not been employ red for the solution of the sulphurct the barytes crystallizes round the vessel. Nitrate of lead and sulphate of copper are precipitated from their solvents by caustic barytes, the first in a white, and the second in a blue form: thus oxide of manganese has a stronger affinity with sulphur than either soda or caustic harytes has, since this oxide, at the mere degree of ebullition, decomposes these alkaline sulphuirets completely. This process appeared to me simple enough to be applied to the preparation of these two alkalies upon a large scale, so as to afford them at a reasonable expense to thie arts in which they may be used. Since I first perceived that oxide of manganese attracted, in the humid way, sulphur from fixed alkalies and foie barytes, this means has been a great assistance to me in getting rid of the alkaline sulphurets in many analytical operations, in which the presence of the alkaline sulphuret embarrassed me, without my requiring an acid to decom- pose it. ; Soda and barytes prepared by this process are very pure, and are obtained at a very moderate expense, especially barytes. . XV. Pro- XV. Process for preparing pure Gallic Acid. By M. RicwtTer*. Isruse in cold water one pound and a half of gall nuts, previously reduced to fine powder, taking care frequently to agitate the mixture. Pass the liquid through a cloth ; add water to the pulp which refuses to go through, and again put it through the cloth, using a press to separate the wa- ter. Join the liquors, and with a gentle heat ‘evaporate them, and a matter of a dark brown colour, and very brittle, will be obtained. Pure alcohol poured on this matter, reduced to a fine powder, acquires a pale straw colour. The deposit infused again in alcohol communicates but little colour to it. The brown residuum now left is composed almost wholly of pure tannin. Mix the two alcoholic extracts, which distil in a small retort to one eighth. What remains will be almost a solid mass. Pour water to it, and expose it to a gentle heat, and you will obtain a clear and almost colourless solution. _Evaporate this solution, and you will obtain from it very small, white, prismatic crystals. The liquor furnishes more, but they are commonly a little coloured. It is suf- ficient to levigate them with water to obtain them very white. By this process half an ounce of crystals is procured from one pound of galls; these crystals are extremely light, and consequently occupy a considerable space. They pos- sess the following properties : 1. They are Jess soluble in water than in alcohol. Dis- solved in water they redden tincture of turnsole. “They combine with alkaline carbonates, separating from them the carbonic acid. 2. These alkaline gallates form black precipitates in so- lutions of iron, and lkewise decompose all other metallic solutions. But if a solution of pure gallic acid be added to a neutral and perfectly clear solution of 1 iron, no change of colour takes place till the solution of iron is decomposed by the external air, which by oxidating the iron still more, and forming a sulphate of iron of a different nature, more fa- vourable to the combination of the gallic acid with the oxide of iron in excess, produces a black colour. If to a solution of iron you add oxide of iron recently precipitated, hie immediately obtain a black precipitate. The same re- * From the Annales de Chimie, vol. lii, , sult Process for preparing pure Gallic Acid. 75 sult is obtained by bringing oxide of iron in contact with a solution of pure gallic acid. [ron treated with a solution of gallic acid soon commu- nicates to ita black colour, which, however, can hardly be precipitated from it. Tannin is soluble in gallic acid, and yields with it a liquor resembling the infusion of ealls, and which has the property of instantly precipitating acid solutions of iron black, by a double affinity ;. the tannin combining with the acid, and disengaging oxide of iron, which unites with the gallic acid. It results from these experiments : 1. That gallic acid does not separate iron from sulphuric and some other acids, excepting some change of combina- tion takes place inthe solutions: im this case the iron, becoming more oxidated, requires a much greater quan- tity of acid, and the redundant oxide of iron unites with the gallic acid. 2. That when a saliiien of gallic acid immediately forms a black precipitate in neutral solutions of iron, if 1s not pure, and commonly contains tannin, which combines swith the sulphuric acid, and separates from it the oxide of iron which is dissolved by the gallic acid. 3. That during the preparation of gallic acid, all contact with iron must be avoided, even in the filtering paper, which is rarely free from it, “otherwise the acid is discolour- ed by the iron. It may easily be discovered that the acid contains iron, when, in evaporation, small violet spots are formed in the places where the acid is about to crysiallize. 4, That as gallic acid dissolves very readily in alcohol, and tanuin scarcely at all, this reagent may be employed to separate them. The alcohol, ho owever, should be very strong; for, if it contain ever so little water, some tannin will be dissolved. 5. Of all the processes recommended for the preparation of gallic acid, this furnishes it in the greatest abundance aud of the best quality. For, if we consider in particular that recommended some years ago, which consisted in em- ploying the solution of muriate of tin, afterwards sulphu- rized hydrogen gas, and lastly alcohol, we may readily con- ceive, particularly if we have practised it, how defective, expensive, and disadvantageous it must be; and at last it amounts to nothing more -than rendering tannin insoluble in alcohol ; and nothing is effected excepting that this re- agent dissolves gallic acid alone. As to the process which recommends the us¢ of glue; that is quite as bad: yOu, in- Bit: eed 76 Biographical Sketch of Mr. George Margets. éeed succeed in separating the greatest part of the tannin ; but aconsiderable portion, nevertheless, remains in solution; and it even appears that the liquor which is obtained after the separation of the precipitate formed by the glue is nothing but a combination of glue, tannin, and gallie acid, from which not an atom of gallic acid im pure crystals can be procured. XVI. Biographical Sketch of Mr. Grorcr Marerrs, Chronometer -maker to the East India Company, and Author of the Longitude and Horary Tables. Wis. Grorce Mancers was the fourteenth and youngest child of John Margets and Martha Ellis his wife. He was horn on the 17th of June 1748, in the parish of Old Wood- stock, in Oxfordshire. His father was a wheelwright, to which profession his two eldest brothers were brought up. George, however, being early distinguished by the vivacity of his apprehension, was intended for a commercial em- ployment, and was sent to school for the rudiments of a suitable education: but the death of the old man inter- rupted this design ; and the elder brothers unwilling to be at the expense of accomplishing the purpose of their father, George was obliged to follow the profession of his family. He was placed by his father at the school of the reverend Mr. Ridding, where his genius was early distinguished above all his fellow-scholars for an assiduity very unusual to boyish years, and especially for an eager interest in the subtleties of arithmetic. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to his brother; in which situation he became so devoted to his favourite studies, that he used to rise by three o’clock in the summer mornings to follow his own pursuits, previous to the hour of going to his trade. About the age of eighteen he constructed a machine which exhibited the different motions of the earth. Of the con- trivance and movements of that performance, no means of judging remain ; 11 is only by his own estimation of it, after he had acquired celebrity as a time-piece maker, that it 1s supposed to have merited preservation. When he had finished it he began to make a clock; but not having enough of brass, and little pocket-money, he was obliged to break up the machine to complete the clock, which is still in existence ; and, though a rough piece compared with those accurate chronometers with which he has benefited navigation, Biographical Sketch of Mr. George Murgets. i? navigation, is exceedingly curious, as it exhibits the diurnal motion of the earth, the progress of the zodiac, the spring and neap tides, with the revolution of the seasons. There is an anecdote connected with the history of this clock that deserves to be recorded. A gentleman one day had occa- sion to speak with Margets, and not being pleased with his answer to a question, exclaimed peevishly, You are a fool. ‘ No, sir,’ was the retort; ‘ that Tam not a fool [ can easily convince you.’ The peculiarity of the reply sur- prised the gentleman, who immediately asked an explana- tion; and was conducted to the apartment where the clock hung, and several other little finished and incomplete picces of mechanism Jay seattered. On this ineident hinged the success of his future life. The gentleman, surprised by the unexpected display of mechanical genius, spoke of it among his acquaintance, by whom a knowledge of Margets reached the duke of Marlborough, who afterwards, as shall be re- lated, became his patron. About this time, to supply the want of money, that he might obtain materials for prose- cuting his favourite pursuits, he painted, during his leisure hours, the names of the proprietors on the waggons and carts of the neighbourhood,—the act which imposed that regulation being then executing. It deserves to be noticed, that although so earnestly attached to the higher mechanical works, such was his general ability, that he excelled all the common wheelwrights at their sole employment, and could, in any given time, perform more work than the best of his brother’s journeymen. After finishing his apprenticeship he remained two years with his brother; his proficiency by this time in the know- ledge of clocks and watches had become so well known, that all the intervals of his regular business were employed in repairing the clocks and watches in the vicinity of Wocd- stock. At the age of twenty-three he went to London, for the purpose of obtaining a revular knowledge of watch- making ; ard the duke of Marlborough paid the fee that was demanded betore he could be admitted into the shop of an artist. It can easily be conceived, and the sequel will show how justly, that a man so assiduous, and so de- voted to that profession, which Margets was now allowed to cultivate, would soon excel all common competitors, and improve and extend the boundaries of his art. In 1776 he married the eldest daughter of Mr. Bellamy, of Charles-street, Long Acre, by whom he had only one “child, that died in infancy. Mrs. Margets is still living. After 78 = Biographical Sketch of Mr. George -Margets: After his marriage Mr. Margets continued to apply te his adopted profession with that perseverance and assiduity which ciaoteriats the attachments of eager and enter- prising minds, and which with humbler talents is respected as the virtue of industry. His attention was chiefly directed to the improvement of his machines, which from the pe- culiarity and elegance of their construction became articles of exportation to India, and were sought after for that pur- pose with such an increasing demand, that bis pecuniary circumstances were in consequence gradually benefited. About the year 1780 or 1781, however, when the political affairs of Hindostan were so much distracted as to affect all interested in the Indian trade, his stock of goods began to swell in his possession, and his customers to diminish ; by which he found himself compelled to solicit the assistance of some friends, who very readily granted him a considera- ble accommodation on his own bond. But unfortunately their friendship was rendered, in the end, of very vexatious consequence to them as well as to him, by the chicanery of an unprincipled attorney, who persuaded them to put the bond in suit, and to sell off the stock of Mr. Mar gets’ shops the proceeds of which he kept to himself. Mr. and Mrs. Margets at this time retired to private lodgings, where he persevered in his business with unre- mitted zeal, occasionally occupying the intervals with the composition of those longitude and horary tables that have proved the speculation of his thoughts to have been superior to mere mechauical ingenuity. ‘His longitude tables were published about the year 1790, and were immediately re- cognized and acknowledged by the most distinguished na- vigators and mathematicians. M. de Lalande mentions them several times in very flattering terms of approbation; and several of the boards and public companies of this country patronized and extended their use both by subscription and recommendation. Soon after, he con:pleted his horary ta- bles, which, with the others, form the best ass istance to mariners for finding the longitude by astronomical observa- tions that has been offered to the public. Besides these tables, he invented many little mathematical machines, which, as they were rather subjects of amusement than study, are scarcely deserving of particular enumeration. From the epoch of his authorship ull the summer of 1804, he had no very important object in view, and continued to enjoy the emoluments of his business and publication with respect, and a growing reputation: indeed, the intenseness of Biographical Sketch of Mr. George Margets. 79 of his assiduity had so affected his sight, that he was at one time threatened with total blindness, and obliged to sustain an operation on his eyes in 1801. The circumstances that remain to be noticed are of a most distressing and melancholy nature. Mr. Margets had been all his life, like every other man whose thoughts are employed on abstract objects, or in the adjustment of equilibria in machinery, remarkable for an impatience of interruption in his pursuits, attended with a violence of choler that often rendered him irksome to himself as well as to his acquaintance. On the 27th of June 1804 he was seized by the most deplorable malady that can fall wpon the human race. The whole of that day he had been unusually passionate and dissatisfied: in the evening, while he was sitting with Mrs. Margets, and two young ladies who then resided with her, he beeame calmer, and began to express a kind of contrition for his extravagance: suddenly an ap- prehension of insanity flashed upon his mind, and he ex- claimed, “‘ Good God, is this to end in madness!” and, bursting into tears, continued to weep with his family, whose affliction may be easier imagined than described. His disorder continued to increase, and the lucid intervals to diminish: he was, however, for several days not altoge- ther incapable of business. In this state he forced the fa- mily to go with him to Portsmouth, where they continued about two weeks, in the unhappy situation of secing the ravages of the disease upon his person. At length he was. persuaded to return home to London, where proper attend- ance and advice were immediately procured; but his case was of such a class that Dr. Willis entertained no hope of his recovery. In the course of a month, so entirely had the disease enveloped his intellects, that he had lost the oc- easional sense of his own distressful condition ; and it was thought advisable to send him to St. Luke’s, where he would be prevented from committing any violent actions. After he had continued in that hospital about four months he began to refuse his food and medicine, and grew so ill and meagre that it was not expected he could live long. He was therefore taken home. As he approached the period of life his strength decreased; but his mind assumed a more coherent character, and his reason seemed to return. About three days before he died his faculties were restored; his strength, however, was reduced so low that he could not speak without pain. He died on the 27th of December 1804. Js BG. XVID, Aci- [ 80 j XVI. Acidulation of Sulphate of Potash. By M. OERSTED*. Disstac my stay at Berlin, I bad begun in the laboratory of M. Hermbstadt a series of experiments on the inert or - tnsipid sulphurous acid of Winterl. The sulphurous acid with which I conducted my operations was made after the manner prescribed by Fourcroy and Vauquelin; but in place of obtaining a neutral sulphate [ obtained an acidu- lous sulphate, of which the solution turned blue vegetable colours into red, and made an effervescence with acids. The neutral combination was scarcely crystallizable. The sulphate of potash could no longer change itself into asulphite, as Foureroy and Vauquclin suppose ; but a triple salt was formed, composed of sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid, and potash. This sult crystallizes itself in hexangular prisms: it is less soluble in water than the sulphate of pot- ash, but more so than the sulphate of the same alkali ; and if treated with an acid more powerful, such as sulphuric acid, it spreads an odour of sulphurous acid gas. XVIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies. ROYAL INSTITUTION. Tue lectures will commence on Monday, the 11th of November, and the several courses will succeed cach other in the following order : Mr. Davy, on chemistry. Mr. Allen, on natural philosophy. Rev. T. F. Dibdin, on English hterature. Mr. Landseer, on engraving. Kev. Sydney Smith, on moral philosophy. Dr. Reeve, on moral and physical history of man. Rey. William Crowe, on poetry. Mr. Opie, on painting. Dr. Shaw, on zoology. Rev. John Hewleit, on belies lettres. Dr, Crotch, on music. Rev. Edward Forster, on commerce. Mr. Craig, on drawing. Dr. Smith, on botany. * From /un Mons’s Journal, vol. v1. LITERARY ¢ Original Vaccine Pock Institution. Bi LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE. This society, in its twelfth year’s report, bas published a resolution which, if adopted by other institutions, might be productive of mutual advantage. The following 1s the resolution to which we allude : «* That the subscribers to the public library at North Shields (and to ether similar institutions which shall afford an. equal accommodation to the members of the Newcastle Society) shall be admitted to the rooms without introduc- tion, on producing to the librarian a certificate of their being members of such institutions.” ' QRIGINAL VACCINE POCK INSTITUTION. The following statement was entered by Dr. Pearson on Friday September 27th : . 1. That the human animal ceconomy and the animal economy of cows are capable of undergoing the vaccina once only. ( 2. That the human animal ceconomy is, according to the most accurate evidence, capable of undergoing small pox once only. 3. That the animal economy of cows is unsusceptible of the smail pox. 4. That the human animal is incapable of taking the small pox subsequently to the cow-pock. ek: The preceding propositions are only to serve as a founda- tion for reasoniig conjointly with the following proposi- tions. Y 5. Observations contained in our registered cases show, that the change effected in the human animal ceconomy by undergoing the cow-pock or small pox, which renders it unsusceptible of either of these disorders a second time, is not wrought in a moment, as if from an impulse, but it is gradually produced during several days. The duration of the agency of the vaccine or variolous matter in producing this unsusceptibility seems to be com- monly three or four days. It scarcely or perhaps never commences earlier than the 8th day after inoculation, nor later than the 12th, unless some counteracting agent or circumstance suspend or im- pede the action of either of the two morbid matters. Of course the duration of the agency of them is for about four days successively, from the 8th, 9th, oth, 1ith, and per- haps the 12th. For brevity and distinction, the time during which the state of unsusceptibility is effected may be called Vol. 23. No, 89. Oct. 1805. = F the $2 Original Vaccine Pock Institution. - the antivariolating process; and the state so produced may be named the antivariolous state. 6. It appears from instances which are registered, that variolous and vaccine matter may be cireumstanced so that their respective appropriate agencies upon a given human constitution shall be contemporary ; i. e. commence their action at the same time. In such instances, a very much smaller proportion of cases of severe constitutional disorder eccur than in the singly inoculated small pox; and al- though eruptions most frequently appear, they are most usually fewer in number, of shorter duration, and defective as variolous ones in the respects of size, in not suppurating, and often not containing infectious matter. Oftentimes there are only mere pimples, and sometimes no eruption at all. : 7. The vaccine matter has in many instances been known to exert its constitutional agency at various periods, whilst the antivariolating process is going on by variolous inoculation; in which circumstances there was a much smaller proportion of exemptions from eruptions; and al~ though there were some instances of small pox regular and perfect, in all their stages of pimple, vesicle, and _pustule, yet there was a very large proportion of slight and defective variola, as just stated in proposition 6; and if in certain cases the small pox did not seem to be mitigated and ren- dered defective, there was no indication that they were in any case rendered more severe. In general, the degree of the variolous disease was directly as the length of time be- tween the inoculation of variolous matter and the subse- quent inoculation of vaccine matter, within the, limits of space of time in which successive insertions of the two morbific matters can aet in conjunction during the anti- variolating process. / 8. The variolous matter also has been made to exert its _ constitutional agency at various periods of the antivariolat- ing process excited by vaccine inoculation, and then there was a less proportion of eruptive cases: the eruptions were im general small, fewer in number, of shorter duration, and often more detective, in not only having no purulent matter, but even no lymph, than in the set of cases last mentioned (proposition 7.) : of course the constitutional illness occur- red in a smaller proportion than in the preceding cases. The principal different circumstances in which the two morbific matters were placed to exert their energies were the following : P ist. The insertion of vaccine and variolous matter into the same punctured or abraded parts, od. The Griginal Vaccine Pock Institution: 83 6d. The insertion of vaccine and variolous matter into the vaccine pimple or vesicle already formed. 3d. The insertion of vaccine matter into the yariolous pimple or vesicle already formed. 4th. The inoculation of variolous and vaccine matter on distinct parts, but atthe same:time. 5th. The inoculation of variolous matter at certain deter- Jnitiate times, after vaccine inoculation, in distinct parts, but on the same person. ; 6th. The inoculation of vaccine matter at certain deter- minate titnes after variolons inoculation, in distinct parts, Sut in the same person. : 7th. The inoculation of the two morbific matters cons tiguously, yet so that either as the vaccine and variolous grew to a certain size, the matters intermingled, or they were mingled by perforating the vesicles to reader them confluent. Remarks. 1. The inoculation with the matter of the vaccine and variolous vesicles existing in the same persons, excited simple regular vaccina and variola in distinct persons. 2. The inoculation with the matter of the vesicle pro- duced by the insertion of both vaccine and variolous matter commonly produced the vaccina without eruptions: some- times, however, they did occur, but the matter of these eruptions did not in two or three trials excite either vaccina or variola. rom the irregularity of the pock of the imocu- lated part and the eruptions, it seemed reasonable to con- clude that perhaps such matter consisted of both vaccine and variolous, which was capable of propagating the two diseases. in some instances conjointly. The experiments on this point, however, are considered to be inadequate to answer the question. 3. The trials of the late Dr. Woodville and the reporter, by inoculating with mixed variolows and vaccine matter, proved formerly that no hybrid disease could be formed: but their former conclusion does not now seem just, that in some instances the variolous disease, and in others the vaccine alone, was excited by such matter; nor had they then the least notion of cotemporary agency.of the twe morbific matters: both locally and constitutionally. 4. There will now be no difficulty to explain the in- stances of breaking out of the natural small pox eruptions between the 8th and 14th. day in the vaccine inoculation, without seemingly disturbing the progress of the receitia pock, ~ 84 Original Vaccine Pock Institution, pock, through its stages of pimple, vesicle, scabbing, and scarring. 5. The evidence from the preceding sources of observa- tion is various, numerous, and uniform, in establishing uniformly the law, THAT VACCINE MATTER POSSESSES THE PROPERTY OP OPPOSING THE AGENCY OF VARIOLOUS MATTER; BUT VARIOLOUS MATTER HAS NOT THIS POWER AGAINST THE VACCINE;——the counteracting power is not mutual, it is on one side only, 6. Concerning the application to practice, it seems, from the establishment of the law just enunciated, to be a con-. clusion @. fortiori, that a constitution in which the appro- priate agency of vaccine matter has heen exerted, is render- ed meapable of having the appropriate variolous agency excited; but, 7. The numerous occurrences of the small pox during the present epidemic variola, in persons. who have been supposed to have been vaccinated, prove that the process of vaccination had not been duly excited. These failures af- ford no objection to the principle, but a great one to the mode of practice 3 and it is fortunate forthe public, though a misfortune to individuals, that the current year has mani- fested the insecurity of many persons who have been ino- culated for the cow-pock, as it may be the means of se- curity for the future. The above propositions, which are the result of a great variety of trials instituted with patient diligence, confirm the foundation already very strongly established by an infi- nite number of instances of inoculation in common pracy tice, that it isalaw, that the human animal ceconomy is rendered unsusceptible of the variolous disorder, by hav- ing gone through the cow-pock. A small proportion of persons have certainly taken the small pox after supposed vaccination ; and this it was pre- dicted would he the case long ago, in the ‘* Report of this Institution,’’ and in another work, ** The Statement of Evidence ;’’ and it is now asserted, that in a future epide- mical small-pox it may reasonably be expected that many more will take that disorder. But the late failures and in- security of many persons already inoculated for the cow- pock atford no evidence against the efficacy of vaccination ; they only manifest, 1. That some years after the new practice the history“ of vaccine affection was not sufficiently investigated to afford rules of secure practice, 2. That Imperial Acddemy of Sciences, Petersburgh. 85 2. That many inoculators do not appear to have been masters of what was investigated by others, or they had not had sufficient experience to attain requisite skill. 3. That a great proportion of asserted failures were mis- taken, either in the patient’s not having the cow-pock in the first instance, or the small pox in the second. . The re- porter’s confidence will not be at all shaken, until in his own practice he is a witness. to very different cases. from those he has hitherto seen; or until professional men, with equal opportunities and equal attention, have stated their adverse evidence to the public. ~He its persuaded that the subject of the vaccine disorder is now sufficiently investi- gated for secure practice, and feels himself justifiable in affirming, that in future the occurrence of the small pox after vaccine inoculation WILL BE IMPUTABLE TO THE INOCU- LATOR BEING UNQUALIFIED, PROVIDED THE PATIENT BE OBEDIENT TO HIS DIRECTIONS, it is ne¢essary to notice, that the property of vaccine matter im counteracting the agency of variolous matter cannot be determined but by a number of trials in different subjects, because either of the two morbific matters may act merely locally, and in some cases may fail even to‘pro- duce local effects. The reporter, as on former occasions, is willing, at convenient opportunities, to repeat any of the trials to prove the above results from evidence at the Insti- tution. . Note.—lIt is a reasonable inference, that if a person has already received the small pox matter into the constitution at the time of vaccine inoculation, there will be not only a chance of the agency of the vaccine matter, so as to antici- pate that of the variolous altogether, but also of a coinci- dent agency, by which the small pox will be mitigated. Hence, persons who had been exposed to variolous etHuvia ought, of all others, to be inoculated with vaccine matter, P.S. Having no doubt excited the most interesting cu- rigsity, and perhaps great doubts of the validity of the con- clusions in the above minutes,—if required by our readers, we shall ask permission to illustrate them by examples in practice, which are registered at the Institution for insertion in future numbers. IMPERIAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, PETERSBURGH, The minister of the Russian marine, vice-admiral Tehitchagoff, has sent to the academy a question on the F3 resistance 86 Imperial Academy of Sciences, Petersburgh. resistance of fluids, and: its eo to naval architecture, which the academy has published in the following terms: Of the two theories of the resistance of fluids proposed and applied to naval architecture by Don G. Juan, in his Exa- men Maritime; and by M. Romme, in his Art de la Ma- rime, it is proposed that one or the other of them, for ex- ample, that of Don Juan, shall be corrected and improved to such a degree, as to afford results that shall differ from the results of experiment by so small a quantity as may be practically neplected without sensible error:—Or, if these. theories eannot be corrected, that a new theory shall be established and applied to naval architecture, which shalk lead to conclusions of the same degree of accuracy ;—Or, lastly, if it should be impossible to establish such a theory, it is proposed, that from experiments at least there should be. deduced a formula resembling those which have’ been given by Messrs. Bossut and Prony ; ; and suck that it shall be not only more conformable to experiments than those formulas, but that it shall lead as nearly as possible to the éonthistons drawn from experiments, even when. the for- mula shall be applied to naval architecture. ; . For the satistactory solution of this problem the depart-~ ment of the marine has appointed a prize of 1000 Dutch ducats. Papers will be received till the 1st of July 1806, after which period no memoirs addressed to the academy will be received on this subject, the time appointed being sufficient for those new experiments which the solutions in question render indispensable. The memoirs forwarded to the aca- demy must be written in a distinct legible character, either in the French, English, or Russian language. The aeademy requires men of science who intend to make application for this prize, to address their memoirs to the perpetual secretary of that body, before the 1st of July, 1806, and that the writer should clear the post charges as far as the regulations of their respective countries will al- low. The customary mode of marking the memoirs with: a device or motto, and sending at the same time a sealed letter, having tlie same device, and containing the name aiid-residence of the author, is also to be adopted in the present instance. The memoirs will be examined by the department of the marine and by the academy ; the latter of whom will publish the judgment they shall adopt, and _the department of the marine will bestow the prize on that author who shall have satisfied the conditions of the pro- gram. j NIX, In- Drs] XIX. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. RESTORATION OF THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR IN -FRANCE. Ey a decree of the French conservative senate, the new calendar is to be abolished, and the old one substituted in its stead. The following is an extract respecting this change from the registers of the senate, of the gth of Sep- tember : The conservative senate, assembled to the number of members prescribed by the goth article of the act of the constitution, Frimaire 22, year 8 ; Having seen the projeet of the senatus-consultum drawn up according to the form prescribed by the 57th article of the constitution, of Thermidor 16, year 10; Having heard, on the motives of the said project, the orators of government, and the report of the special com- mission appointed on the 15th of Fructidor, year 13, de- crees as follows : Art. I. Counting from the 11th of Nivose next, Jan. 1, 1806, the Gregorian calendar shall be employed throughout the whole of the French empire. Art. II. The present senatus-consultum shall be trans- mitted by a message to his imperial majesty. » The president and secretaries, (Signed)’ Francis (DE NEuFCHATEAU) president. Cotaup and PorcHer, secretaries. Seen and sealed, The Chancellor of the Senate (Signed) Lapiacs. The report made to the senate, in the sitting of Septem-. ber 9, 1805, by the senator Laplace, in name of a special commission appointed to examine the project of the senatus- consultum in regard to the re-establishment of the Grego- rian calendar : 6€ SENATORS, “« The project of the senatus-consultum which was pre- sented to you in the last sitting, and on which you are going to deliberate, has for its object the restoration in France of the Gregorian calendar, reckoning from the 1st of January 1806, {tis not necessary at present to examine which of all the-calendars possible is the most natural and the mast simple ; we shall only say, that it is neither the one we are about to abandon, nor that which we propose to resume. The orator of government has explained to you with great F4 care 68 Restoration of the Gregorian Calendar in France. are their inconveniences and disadvautages. The princi- pal fault of the present calendar is in its mtercalation. By fixing the commencement of the year at the midnight which at the observatory of Paris precedes the true autumnal equinox, it fulfils, indeed, in the most rigoyous manner, the condition of constantly attaching to the same season the origin of the year; but then they cease to be periods of re- gular time, easy to be decomposed into days; which must occasion contusion in chronology, already too much em barrassed by the multitude of wras. Astronomers, to whom this defect is very sensible, have several times re- quested a reformation of it. Before the first bissextile year was introduced into the new calendar, they proposed to the committee of public instruction of the National Conven- tion to adopt a regular intercalation, and their demand was favourably received. At that period the convention re- turned to good principles ; and, employing itself with in-. struction and the progress of knowledge, showed to the Jearned a deference and consideration, the remembrance of which they retain. They will always recollect with lively gratitude, that several of its members, by a noble devotion m the midst of the storms of the revolution, preserved from total destruction the monuments of the seiences and the arts. Romme, the principal author of the new calendar, convoked several men of letters; he drew up, in concert with them, the project of a law by which a regular mode of intercalation was substituted for the mode before esta- blished ; but, involved a few days after in a horrid event, he perished, and his project of a law was abandoned. It would, however, be necessary io recur to it, if we preserved the present ealendar; which, being thereby changed in one of its most essential elements, would present the irregularity of a first bissextile placed m the third year. The suppres- sion of the decades made it experience a more considerable change. They gave the facility of finding every moment -the time of the month; but at the end of each year the complementary days disturbed the order of things attached to the different davs of the decade, which then rendered ad- ministrative measures necessary. The use of a small inde- pendent period of months and years, such as the week, ob- Viates this mconvesmience ; and already that period has been re-established in France; which, stnee the highest anti- quity, in which its origin is lost, circulates without inter- ruption through centurics, mingling with the successive calendars of different nations. But the greatest inconvenience of the new calendar’ is , the Restoration of the Gregorian Calendar in France. 89 the embarrassment which it produces in our foreign rela- tions, by insulating us in that respect in the midst of Eu- rope ; which would always exist, for we ought not to hope that this calendar can ever be universally admitted. Its epoch relates merely to our history: the moment when its year commences is placed in a disadvantageous manner, as it participates in and divides between two years the same operations and the same labours: it has inconveniences which would be introduced into civil life, as the day begins at noon, according to the usage of astronomers. Besides, this custom would relate only to the meridian of Paris. In seeing others reckon the so gar from their principal ob- servatories, can it be believed that they would all agree in referring to the commencement of our year? Two centuries were necessary, and the whole influence of religion, to cause the Gregorian calendar to be generally adopted. It is in this universality, so desirable and so difficult to be obtained, and which it is of importance to preserve when it is ac- quired, that its greatest advantage consists. This calendar is now that of almost all the nations of Europe and Ame- rica: it was a long time that of France: at present it regu- lates our religious festivals, and it is according to it that we reckon our centuries. It no doubt has several consi- derable defects. The length of its months is unequal and whimsical, the origin of the year does not correspond to that of any of the seasons; but it answers very well the principal object ot a calendar, by being easily decomposed into days, and retaining nearly the commencement of the mean year at the same distance from the equinox. Its mode 6f intercalation 1s convenient and simple. It is re- duced, as is well known, to the intercalation of a bissextile every four years; the suppression of it at the end of each century, for three consecutive centuries, in order to re-esta- blish it at the fourth; and if, by following this analogy, we still suppress a bissextile every four thousand years, it will be founded on the true length of the year. But in its pre- sent state, forty centuries would be necessary tu remove, only by one day, the origin of the mean year from its real origin. ‘he French mathematicians, therefore, have never ceased to subject to it their astronomical tables, become, by their extreme precision, the base of the ephemerides of all enlightened nations. One might be afraid that the return of the old calendar would soon be followed by the re-establishment of the old measures, But the orator of government has taken care to dispel that fear, Like him, I am persuaded, that instead ot 90 Earthquake at Naples .of re-establishing the prodigious number of different mea+ sures which prevailed in France and shackled its interior commerce,—government, fully convinced of the utility of an. uniform system of measures, will take the most effectual means for accelerating the use of them, and for overcoming the resistance sull opposed to it by old habits, which are already disappearing every day. From these considerations your commission unanimously proposes the adoption of the senatus-consultum presented by the government. EARTHQUAKE AT NAPLES. Naples, August 9.—The duke d’Ascoli, the minister of the police, has transmitted to government the following report: ; _ © The terrible earthquake which was felt in this capital, and the provinces of the kingdom of Naples, on the 26th of July, at ten in the evening, has occasioned, according to the reports which have hitherto been received here, the following devastation and damage :—In the capital, several houses, churches, and convents, have been thrown down: &@ woman was buried under the ruins of the palace of Cor- sigliano;: 470 buildings haye greatly suffered, and threatened to fall down. The palace of Caserta, and a number of pri- yate houses, have suffered nearly in. the same proportion : a woman in them was killed. At Nola, a part of the bar- racks belonging to the cavalry, and several houses, sus- tained great damage; but no lives were lost. At St. Mary of Capua (a fortress in the neighbourhood of Capua), a part of the barracks belonging to the cavalry was almost entirely thrown down: eleven soldiers were killed, and thirty-four severely wounded.. At Nevano, and the envi- rons, the inhabitants suffered very little. The town of Isernia is almost entirely fallen to rus, and more than a thousand people were found dead in it: apart of the inha- bitants were saved by betaking themselves to flight. During these dreadful shocks, which convulsed every thing, flames were observed to issue from the earth throughout an extent of several leagues. . A small part of the town sustained no damage. In the same province in which Isernia is situated, Campo-Basso, Cerreto, Baraniello, and about seven other places, sustained a fate almost similar; but the number of the dead’ is not yet known. In the town of Montefusco all the houses were damaged; the bell of the collegiate cburch fell down ; 2 woman was killed, and several other persons were wounded, The town of Aycllino shared the 3 ; same Earthquake at Maples. 9? same faté : some persons and several seminarists perished. fhe town of Chieti suffered very little : some houses only * were damaged. At Salerno the earthquake was strongly felt; but it oceasioned very little loss. At Finocella and Mola di Barri, in Apulia, nearly the same scenes took place. In the districts around Vesuvius the earthquake was less felt than elsewhere; the air having found a way to escape through the voleano.”’ “© Naples August 10.—Mount Vesuvius has lately made such an eruption, that one similar to it has not been wit- nessed for a long time: the lava ran down in such quantity, and so rapidly, from the summit of the mountain, that im less than two hours it reached the sea. In its course. it di- vided itself into three parts, which ran between the Torre del Greco and the Torre del Annonziata: on this account it occasioned less damage than if it had fallen in one cur- rent on these two towns. It is a lamentable spectacle to _ see the vines, the corn-fields, and the houses swallowed up in a sea of fire, and covered to the depth of three toises with iron ore; for the lava which ran down on this occasion had absolutely that character. The queen, who was at Castel- mare, was not able to return to Naples by land; for the road is covered with three causeways of Java, the least of which is three hundred paces; and it was also impossible for her to go to the theatre of St. Charles, to see the repre- sentation given on her birth-day. It is much to be feared that this country will experience the fate of Herculaneum and Pompéii.” . _ Extract of anether Letter —‘* After the terrible earth- quake of the 26th ult. we began to resume a little seeurity ; but subterranean noises being heard from Vesuvius, an eruption of. the volcano was apprehended, and the inhabi- tants of Torre del Greco and |’Annonziata removed from their houses, and thought of providing for the safety of their persons and valuables. About a quarter past two in the afternoon Vesuvius made an extraordinary eruption through the same mouth which gave a passage to that in 1794. The latter was cven more considerable, having thrown out a current of inflamed lava, which proceeded with great rapidity as far as the plain, over a space of about four miles, and then took its course towards the sea, which it reached in about nine hours. “Tt was observed that from its origin this current divided itself into two branches; one in the direction of Portici, which luckily then turned aside, and, uniting itself to the other, formed in the middle a kind of island of boiling lava, : which $2 Voyages and Travels, Aérostation, &c. which was swallowed up in the sea; where there was seen suddenly formed and raised up, a kind of promontory of volcanic matters. For about twenty minutes the whole extent of the ground occupied by the lava continued in flames, exhibiting, as we may say, a terrible but astonish- ing spectacle; especially as the inflamed trees presented the aspect of white flames im contrast with those of the volcanic matters, which were red. The Java, as has been said, pro- ceeded to the sea in this manner with great rapidity, carrying along with it enormous masses; and nothing was seen ina great extent of the coast but boiling foam, and eddies of water and of fire. Several persons who were at Portici be- took themselves to flight in bosts before the torrent of fire mixed itself with the waters. Happily the habitations ex- perienced no damage, and we have not learnt that any person perished during this fatal event.” Letters from Naples of August 2d estimate the loss sus- tained in that city by the earthquake of July the 26th at twenty millions of ducats. They add the following parti- culars, taken from the notice to the Neapolitan govern- ment by the commissioners sent to the spot:—** At Iser- nia, where the commotion was so terrible, the earth opened and vomited out flames; 339 families were swallowed up. At Caste] Petroso 13 families perished: at Massino 84; at Tresolone, 393: at Saint-Angelo-in-Colla, 43: at Bara- millo, 180: at Cantalupo, 142. Lorenzano and Saint- Angelo-di-Lombardo are entirely destroyed. A small river which flowed through that province, and which traversed an extent of fifty leagues, was lost at the distance of four Jeagues from its mouth.” VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, AEROSTATION, &e. A letter from Petersburgh, dated August 3, says, ** We have lately received some further account of the progress of the expedition commanded by captain Krusenstern. He ar- rived safe at Japan, where he met with a favourable recep- tion ; -and the ambassador, M. Resanof, entertains hopes that his mission will be attended with the best success. “¢ The academy of sciences has purchased the philoso- phical apparatus of M. Robertson, which is remarkable for the correctness of the instruments, and particularly those destined for electricity and galvanism. ‘The aérostatic experiment which M.Robertson intended to make at a great distance from Petersburgh,- has been changed on account of the bad weather into a common 5 ascent. Astronomy .—Zine. 93 ascent. The wind, which in the morning had a favourable direction, carried the aéronauts with great violence towards the Baltic. They set out from the academy cf arts at half after eight, and terminated their voyage at the mouth of the Neva, at about fifty paces from the sea. When M. Ro- bertson descended with his pupil, he resolved to ascend alone in order to cross the gulf; but the peasants having drawn the ropes of the balloon too strongly to one side, the netting slipped from it, and therefore it was impossible for him to carry his design into execution, His imperial ma- jesty was present at this ascent.” ASTRONOMY. Table of the right Ascension and Declination of Ceres and Pallas for Novemler 1805. CERES. PALLAS. AR. Decl. N. AR. Decl. S. 1805 h m s ° / h m s ° 4 Nov.1]7 23 0 23 4715 16 32/96 8 4/7 24 24/23 56/5 15 52/)97 1 7\7 2 36|24 5] 5 14 56197 51 10|7 26 32]24 1615 13. 444298 38 1317 27 12| 24 2715.12 20/29 30 16|7 27 36) 24 40] 5 10 36130 4 19|7 27 48124 53/5 8 441/130 43 2217 27 40|25 715 6 36/31 17 25|}7 27° 167195 2245 4.90131 47 : 28 |7 26 36125 3815 1 56/32 13 Dec. 1 | 7° 45° 401-25 5414 59 94139 34 ZINC. In our List of Patents, page 95 of our last volume, we mentioned one granted to Messrs. Hobson and Silvester, | of Sheffield, for a method of manufacturing zinc. The dis- covery of these gentlemen is curious. They have found that zinc, at a temperature between 210° and 300° of Fahren- heit, is not only very malleable, but may he passed through rollers or drawn into wire. Zinc does not return to tts former partial brittleness after being thus wrought, but con- tinues soft, flexible, and extensible, and may be applied to many uses for which this metal was before thought unfit. PUBE 04 Pure Ceruse.— Deaths. : PURE CERUSE, M. Van Mons states, that it Jead ashes be dissolved in a sufficient quantity of dilute nitric acid, assisted by a gentle heat, and the solution be filtered, and then precipitated by. chalk brought to an impalpable powder by levigation, the precipitate, when washed and dried, will be the purest and most beautiful ceruse possible. DEATHS. On Tuesday, the 24th instant, died at his house in Great Fitchfield-street, in the 63d year of his age, Mr. William Byrne, a distinguished landscape engraver. He was edu- cated under an uncle, who engraved heraldry on plate; but having succeeded in a landscape after Wilson, so as to ob- tain a premium from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, it was regarded as the precursor of talent of a superior order, and he was sent to Paris, at that time the chief se- minary in Europe for the study of engraving, for improve- ment. In Paris he studied successively under Aliamet and Wille; from the former of whom he imbibed the leading traits of that style of engraving which he afterwards adopted as his own: under the Jatter he engraved a large plate of a storm, after Vernet ; but the manual dexterity of Wille was alien to his mind, and probably contributed not much to his improvement, though he always spoke of Wille’s in- structions with respect. When he returned to England, the success of Woollett as a landscape engraver had set the fashion in that depart- ment of the art; but Byrne disdained to copy what he did not feel; perhaps scorning the influence of fashion in art, preserved the independance of his style, and continued to study, and to recommend to his pupils, Nature, Vivares, and the best examples of the French school. His larger performances are after Zuccarelli and Both : but his principal works (containing probably his best en- ravings) are the Antiquities of Great Britain, after Hearne ; a set of Views of the Lakes, after Farington ; and‘Smith’s Scenery of Italy. His chief excellence conststing im his aérial perspective, and the general effect of his chiaro-scuro, he was more agrecably and more beneficially employed in finishing than in etching; and hence he generally worked in conjunction with his pupils, who were latterly his own son and daughters. His manners were unassuming, his professional industry unremitting, and his moral character exemplary. He scldom went from home, but lived in the bosom of a numerous and worthy family, who are now de- olorine their loss. P 8 The List of Patents for New Inventions. 95 The death of the celebrated Klaproth, of Berlin, has been announced in some of the foreign journals. We are happy to state that this intelligence is not correct. He enjoys good health, and is now in his sixty-second year. M. Justus Klaproth, professor of jurisprudence in the university of Géttingen, wel] known by tlie learned works which he has published on that subject, died on the 10th of February last, in his seventy-seventh year. M. Alexander Saverien, engineer of the French marine, died on the 28th of May last, 1 in his eighty-fifth year. He has been long known to the scientific world by. his writings on navigation, and the theory of building, rigging, aud ma- noeeuvring of ships; accounts of instruments py making observations at sca; his marine dictionary ; a dictionary of the mathematics ; ‘a dictionary of architecture; history of modern philosophers, and history of the progress of the human understanding. [or many of his latter years he was poor and infirm, and. was much indehted to the cares of a servant who attended him from attachment. He has Jeft a widow likewise in want, and very aged. LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS. To John Nyren, of Bromley, in the county of Mid- dlesex, muslin een and tambour worker ; ; for printing fancy patterns on silk and cotton lacenet, instead of tam bouring or working them in colours. Dated September 27, 1805. To Stephen Clubb, of Colchester, in the county of Essex, millwright ; for an improved mangle. Dated Sep- tember 27, 1805. To James Macnaugbtan, of Great Queen-street, Lin- coln’s Inn Fields, in the county of Mic \dlesex, 1 lronmonger 3 for a stove or grate and range upon a new construction, by which rooms will be much more effectually warmed than they now are, and the chimneys prevented from smoking. Dated September 27, 1805. To John Syeds, of Fountain Stairs, Rotherhithe Wall, in the cqunty of Surrey, mathematical imstrument maker; for a steering amplitude or azimuth compass and scale for finding and working the course of ships at sea. Dated Oc- tober 7, 1805. To Daniel Desormeaux, of Barking, in the county of Essex, surgeon and apothecary, aud Samuel Hutchings, of Ilford, in the said parish of Barking, weaver; for their improvements in the making and manufacturing of wax, spermaccti, and tallow candles, Dated October 22, 1605. METEORO- 6 Meteorology. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE By Mr. Carey, OF THE STRAND, | For October 1805. Thermometer. Bay ere Days of the “Zp 3 ; | Height of a8: Month. 3% 8 cls the Barom. ra ee Weather. 38 z, CY Inches. xe Bg oye: 2 Qex Sept. 27} 46°} 64°} 55°) 30°22 35° |Fair 28] 54 | 63 | 54 -40 22 «(|Fair 29) 50 | 60 | 49 “60 31 |Fair 30| 46 | 59 | 53 *50 21 |Cloudy Oct. 1; 49 | 59 | 53 “40 95 Cloudy 2) 54 | 63 | 55 *30 32 |Fair 3| 51 | 60 | 52 "21 35 |Fatr 4) 49 60 | 49 °25 37 =|Fair 5 46 | 61 | 46 “32 46 |Fair 6) 41 | 56) 44 *32° 15 |Fatr 7; 39 | 58 | 47 “28 32 |Fair 8| 47 | 63 | 48 ‘05, 1) ho abr 9 50 | 59 | 50 | 29°86 | 17° [Cloudy - 10| 49 | 54 | 40 "55 6 |Rain 11} 39 | 51 | 39 | 30°04 97 =«|Fair ' 19] 34 | 51 | 44 | 29°96 9g Fair 13} 45 | 50 | 42 °65 o~ {Rain 14; 42 | 56 | 48 "52 10 |Showery 15) 46. |°54 | 46 42 2s |Fair 16) 44 | 52° | 4) "19 10 Cloudy 17| 39 | 46 42; <5) o {Rain 18} 38 | 49 | 39 92 94 «6|Fair 19} 34 | 51 | 41 | 30°14 28 (| Fair 20) 39 | 52 | 48 20 10. (|Fair 21) 45 | 53 | 47 14 14 |Foggy ‘ 99) 48 | 52 | 44 | 29°93 30 Fair 23! 44 | 52 | 46 “70 ~15 |Fair 24| 46 | 54 | 46 56 10 |Cloudy 25) 49 | 58 | 52 *46 7 |Cloudy + 50 | 54 | 50 ‘39 5 |Cloudy N. B. The barometer’s height is taken at noon. —_— LJ XX. Account of the Goats of Angora:.in a Léiter from MM. Cuancey, to M. Picrer, of Geneva*. Das kind of goat which is known in Europe by the name of the Goat of ‘Angora, is not, the only one which exists in Natolia and in the environs of this city. We find there also another kind, more common and more resembling that of Europe. Travellers j have imperfeetly described those two races, which are perfectly « distinct; and hence arises the un- certainty that prevails in Europe respecting the products of each. We cannot remove this uncertainty but by a posi- tive description of each of the two races. ‘This distinction will prevent us in future from confounding the short wool of the one kind, which is somewhat like cotton, with the long and silky hair of the other. The two races of goats in the neighbourhood of Angora are: known by the names of kara-gueschy and tistik-gueschy. i. The kara-gueschy or scys (or black goat) is the com- mon goat, resembling that ef Europe; and is found in Syria, Natolia, and all the East. Its fleece is black, or of a deep brown. The hair is long and straight, sufficiently fine at the end which is fixed in the skin, but more black and coarse at the other end. The kara-gueschy is shorn every year. His hair is of a grosser quality, and is not exported abroad, but employed in these places for making coarse stuffs ir tents, and for sacks like our hair sacks. This fleece of Angora is not more valued than the other goat fleeces of the East. Its value in these places is,thirty paras for the ocgve of 400 drachms. Under this hair, and upon the very skin of the animal, there is another fleece finer and shorter. It is composed of slender hairs, of which the length varies from_an inch to an inch anda half. These, by their mixture at the root of the longer hairs, form a short wool of a cotton-like substance and.of a yellowish gray colour. This part of the fleece, which is by far the most precious, is obtained by throwing water saturated with lime upon the side, of the animal while it is yet covered with hair. Ina few minutes the hair and the down detach themselves from the skin, and afterwards are easily sepa- rated from each other. The wool of the kara-gueschy is imported rough into Europe, where it is known by the name of Goat’s hair’. It is employed in different manufactures, particularly in * From Biltiotheque Britannique, No. 198, Vol. 23, No..g0. Nov. 1805, G hat- 98 On the Goats of Angora. hat-making. It is for this use that Marseilles still continues to draw a great quantity of this article; and it is to this city a considerable branch of commerce, and one of the prin- cipal articles of return for our manufactures which are consumed in the East. The wool of this Goat is less abundant in Syria, and its quality is not esteemed. A much greater quantity is drawn from Angora, from Erzerone, and from the north of Persia. The province of Kerman furnishes the most beautiful kind. In general, all these wools are forwarded to Smyrna by the caravans of camels which go from Erze~- rone. From Smyrna they are forwarded to Marseilles and in the ports of Italy by way of sea. The art of spmning the wool of the Goat is known only in Syria and Natolia: except in those two places, it is put to no manner of use. Its value in these places arises only from the demand for it from Europe. At Angora the average value is from four to six piastres the ocque of 400 drachms. The wool of this Goat is also exported rough into Europe from Persia and the province of Kerman ; but it has there an intrinsic value from the use to which it is put. The Persians know how to spin it. They make shawls of it similar to those of India, but far inferior in fineness and taste of workmanship. It seems certain that the primary material which is employed for the fabrication of the shawls of Cachemire is also the fleece of a goat similar to the kara- gueschy. But this fleece is much finer and more precious than any that is imported into Europe. I do not even believe that it is known in Europe: at least, it has never . been imported by way of Aleppo, or the other cities of the: » East. The Tistik-Gueschy. The tistik-gueschy, or woolly goat, forms the second kind of those animals which is found in Angora. But, instead of resembling the goat of Europe as the kara-gueschy does, this breed is different in many respects. It forms in the enus a decided variety, perhaps even a distinct species. The tistik-gueschy is the goat which Buffon has described under the name of the Goat of Angora. Its fleece is of a clear whiteness. Its hair is long, thin, silky, naturally curled: it is extremely fine, and unlike the hair of the kara- gueschy, which is as hard as its skin; it is as supple and delicate as the finest wool of the Spanish Merinos. These long and curled hairs compose the whole fleece of the 3 tistik- On the Goats of Angora. 99 tistik-gueschy, which is as fine at the top as at the roots, and which are not mixed near the skin with any other soft wool or down. This wool or down of which we speak bélongs exclusively to the kara-gueschy breed, and is en- tirely a stranger to the real goat of Angora. This difference alone furnishes an obvious mark of di- stinction between the two breeds. There are, besides, many others, of which one is, that the kara-gueschy multiplies its species throughout all the East, while the tistik-gueschy is confined to the soil of Angora. It is found only in this city, or its environs to the distance of 15 leagues. Ata greater distance the race is bastardized; the wool becomes coarser, and the value of the animal is much inferior to that which constitutes the riches of the city from which it takes its name. The territory of Angora is composed of mountains a little elevated, on which the snow generally lies for two months of the year, and which afford numerous springs of fresh and wholesome water. The rivulets which are thus formed fer- tilize the soil, which is covered with pasture grass. As soon as the cold has abated they conduct the tistik-gueschy to these mountains, where they pass the mild season, chan- ging their pasturage in rotation every day, and continuall exposed to the air. It is only on the winter nights that they are allowed houscing in sheepfolds. 5 The goats of Angora graze in herds of from two hundred to eight hundred in number: the females and bucks mixed indiscriminately. The latter are higher and stronger than the former; their hair is like theirs, white and curled, but not so fine. The flesh of the tistik-gueschy is better than that of the ordinary goat. It is killed tor consumption after five years of age; for at this age the hair becomes coarser, and the fleece is less esteemed. i The tistik-gueschy is shorn yearly, after being bathed in running water. Their hair is clipped with long iron scis- sars. ‘The fleece of the females, which is more esteemed than that of the males, weighs from 350 to 400 drachms.. Their fleeces are all spun on the spot; and it is a remark- able fact, that the place consumes their entire product, without allowing any exportation. The reason is, that it is to this manufacture the inhabitants of Angora owe their subsistence, and they are jealous of preserving it. Nothing is more simple than the process employed at yh to work the wool of the tistik-gueschy. As soon as the animal is stript, the flcece is combed with a long iron ' G 2 comb, 100 On the Goats of Angora. comb, of which the teeth are very thickly inserted. .The hairs; when thus combed,are clear, and disengaged from. all extraneous. particles which have adhered to the body of the anunal.).:. : All the inhabitants.of Angora whom I have consulted have assured me that this is the only operation which the hair undergoes ; after which it is clean, and fit forbeing spun,— an operation with which women are generally intrusted. They spin the fleece on a distaff like that which is used for cotton ; sometimes twisting a number of hairs imto one thread ; but sometimes only three and even two hairs to a thread, This last method of spinning produces ‘thread so very fine and clear, that it is*sold for twelve parats the drachm. The price of the other kinds of thread diminishes from this value to that of two or even one parat per drachm. » ‘The hair of the tistik-gueschy, though thus spun, is yet unbleached, and goes through no operation of dyeing. In this state it is sent tothe loom, and made into a stuff known in the East by the name of the schallet of Angora, These schallets, of which there is so great a consumption, are all of them the actual manufacture of this city. -It-is reckoned that in Angora there are more than two ‘thousand looms. in constant employment, and each loom employs from eight to fifteen workmen. This source of wealth, the only one that Angora enjoys, must necessarily he very fruittul, since it yields not even to the destructive Sniluence of that government which has turned to miserable millages so many cities once so flourishing. » ‘The schallet 1s made in pieces of 28 piks in length and _ .@-8ds.of a pik in breadth, which are sent to dyeing as they ‘come from the loom. They are dyed all manner of colours | ~ with every possible variety of shade ; hut lively reds and vio- lets are most esteemed. The schajlet is much superior to the camlet of Europe for the lightness and fineness of its grain; and is much higher priced. The most common sells at fifteen piastres the piece, the dearest at fifty. This Jatter kind is chiefly consumed in Constantinople ‘and in Egypt. ~. The beauty and fineness of the tistik-oueschy isa suffi- ‘cient motive for the experiments that have been proposed »for breeding this animal in France. Already some indivi- duals of .the breed have been sent to Rambouillet, where sthey still continue. But hitherto the owners’have not-beem able to make use of their fleeces. Perhaps the above details may be of use for this purpose, The On the Goats of Angora, oeth Lon. The price of the tistik-guesehy at Angora is-from. 10 te 12 piastres for the temales,) and from 12 to. 15 foy the males. Wemight easily obtainia little flock, The jotirney to Aleppo w ould take from 20 to 24 days im the fair season, From Aleppo it would be proper to send the herd to Lats takreh, and from thence to Cyprus, weal vessels for France are always to be found. =F SSS It would be necessary for the succes sot this experiment to make some peasants of the country accompany the flock. They are ‘to be hired at Angora. Their payment, which however it is difficult to calculate exactly, willbe altogéther more than a thousand piastres per annum. After haying showed the facility of an experiment which’ might eventually propagate in France a precious, breed of animals, and which is not to be found. in Europe, it re- mains to obviate an objection which will undoubtedly be advanced, but which it, is of consequence.not to leaye ac- credited, We have seen above, that itis to. the salubrity. of’ the wae ters and the nature of the soil of Angora that the people of this couniry attribute the fineness of .this animal’s ficece, In fact, at the distance of more than 15 leagues from An- gora this race is not to be found, either on ‘the side of Er- zerone or_in the other parts of Natolia, The very animals which are sent there degenerate. [t.might seen, the: refore, that it would be impossible to, preserye.t the breed in France, But it is, easy.to answer this by a recent. example, and one actually well known in France: +1 mean the Merinos of Spain. Who can doubt that suitable care and attenuon would produce on the goats of Angora the same sBRck shat they have produced on this precious race of animals? In fact, the same Brees which prevail at Angora ex- isted and ‘still continue in Spain. ‘The proprietors “and, the majoros di domos are all, persuaded that the pure race of the Merinos belongs exclusively to their soil... They are as- sured, besides, that the purity of the breed is owing to the continual journeys.which their flocks make from the moun- tains of Leon to those of Andalusia. From this conceit arises the facility with which. they allow, the breed to, be imported for propagation into Fronce...This opinion aps eays_ also to be verificd in the ,placcs themselves; for the Gentes which settle at Segovia, known by the name of piarras, degenerate from the “first year, and their wool loses there in value from 20-to 25 per cent. But the consequence drawn from this fact against the G3 p ossibility 102 Description of a Machine for Shoemakers. possibility of preserving the breed pure in France is abso- lutely false ; for who does not know that the flock of Ram- bouillet is equal in beauty of fleece, and superior in size and strength, to the finest specimens from the Spanish ca- cannos ? : r] XXI. Description of a Machine by which all the Thread-work in Shoe-making may be done in a standing Posture. By Mr. Tuomas Houpen, of Fettleworth, near Petworth, in Sussex *. ee F ROM the sitting posture used in my employment, as a shoemaker, I suffered so much in my health, and from the piles, that I thought I must either give up my business or lose my life. In this difficulty I invented this machine, got it made, and went to work with it. I found it answer to my satisfaction, and its use followed by a restoration of my health. J believe I have made eighteen hundred or two _ thousand pair of shoes with it, and still work on. I re- commend it as the quickest way of closing all the thread- work. ‘© My machine is fixed to the floor, a little to the left of the seat, but within reach of. the hand; the work is held on with a stirrup, and suits to the place.” Certificates from John Summersell, cordwainer, and overseer of the parish ; Richard Hawkins, John Tilly, and George Hawkins, Thomas Tilly, and Edward Hawkins, cordwainers, confirmed the above statement; as well as the following letter from Mr. Peter Martin, surgeon, at Tul- borough : «© T am sineerely of opinion, that Thomas Holden’s in- vention is a desirable acquisition to men of that profession, especially to those who may be diseased internally, or who may suffer from stomach weakness and indigestion. These diseases may be aggravated, if not occasioned, by their working in a bent posture. ~ © The inventor, about twenty years ago, often applied to me for relief from a train of bowel complaints, and fre- quently had occasion to take the medicines usually em- ployed for the relief of dyspepsia. * From the Transactions of the Society of Arts, &c. vol. xxii. who awarded. to Mr, Holden a bounty of fifteen guineas for this invention. it I re- _ Description of a Machine for Shoemakers. 103 *¢ ] repeatedly informed him, that his employment was the cause of his disorder, and desired hin to relinquish it, or invent some method to do his work standing. This hint, and his corporeal sufferings, prompted him to the invention. ‘That it answers the purpose, | have reason to believe, as he and others use it. He is now free from com- plaints, and so improved in his corpulence and countenance, — that he is not like the same man, and for years has had no occasion for medicine.” See Plaie IV. A, the bed for the closing-block, and to lay the shoe in, whilst sewing. B, the closing-block. C, a loose bed to lay the shoe in whilst stitching; the lower part of which is here exhibited reversed, to show how it is placed in the other bed A. D, the hollow or upper part of the loose bed C, in which the shoe is laid whilst stitching. E, a table on which the tools wanted are to be Iaid. F, an iron semi-circle, fixed to each end of the bed A, to allow the bed to be raised or depressed. This half circle moves in the block G. H, another iron semi-circle, with notches, which catch upon a tooth in the centre of the block, to hold the bed in any angle required. This semi-circle moves sidewise on two hooks in staples at each end of the bed. I, the tail or stem of the bed A, moving in a cylindrical hole in the pillar, enabling the bed to be turned in any re- guired direction, and which, with the movement F, enables the operator to place the shoe in any position necessary. K, the pillar, formed like the pillar of a claw table, ex- cepung the two side legs being in a direct line, and the other leg at a right angle with them. L, the semi-circle H, shown separately, to explain how it is connected with the staples, and how the notches are formed. M, the tail or stem of the bed A, and the lower part of the bed N, shown separately, to explain how the upper part of the bed is raised or depressed occasionally. G4 XXII. An f 104 J} XX, An Essay on Commercial Policy. By i J.B. Gatt, Esq. London*, °' . Fieve of execution is so essential to mercantile spe culations, that every legislative interference which would limit their objects, or control the modes of their accom- plishment, is of greater injury and wider consequence than is generally imagined. The famous reply, * Leave us to. ourselves,” which the French merchants made to the mi- nister who was desirous of promoting their prosperity, has been often quoted for its wisdom: but though sufficient data be presented in the history of all commercial countries, and particularly in the history of our own, to demonstrate the value of liberty to trade, no regular attempt has yet been made to place the subject ina clear and distinct hight. To exhibit such a demonstration, it would be neces- sary, in the first place, to consider the natural tendency of _ commerce; and, in the second, how far it should be re- strained by political circumstances. Were this done, and a series of facts, linked to certain special laws, produced, the pernicious effects of governments attempting to regu-" late the objects of trade would be evident, and a degree of certainty on that point of political economy, proportioned to. the evidence, would be obtained only inferior to mathe- matical truth. For all special acts of authority relative to trade are boons granted either to individuals, or corpora- tlons, or provinces. _ The nature of trade has a tendency to blend the interests of mankind together, and to disseminate throughout the . 5 » whole species a principle of mutual dependence. If one might imagine the world in such a Utopian condition as would allow commerce to diffuse itself without being af- fected by political events ; if, the world were raised to a State which would require no part of human industry to be appro- priated to the purposes of covernments, nor of its popula- tion to be employed in war ; mankind, at liberty to cultivate in safety the varieties of irade, would divide themselves into companies, by which an approximation would be induced towards a communion of goods, and society would assume a form of which a faint epitome may sometimes be traced in the communities of factories and colonies ;—with this difference, however, that neither the calamities of war nor the struggles of faction interfering to diyert the merchant * Communicated by the Author. from An Essay on Commercial Policy. 103 from his speculations, the artist from his profession, or the nianufacturer from his industry, a more certain and even result might be expected from the infinite sources of com- merce. It is evident that the heaviest oppression on tradeé is occasioned by state necessities : the armies, and the reve- nue requisite to support wars and the parap shernalia of nas tions, are obtained at the expense of its capital and the most efficient instruments of labour. But this expense, oreat as it is directly, is often increased indirectly by those regula+ tions which governments have p romulgated for rendering commercial enterprises subservient to political purposes. Experience has proved that commerce furnishes the most powerful engine of war, and statésmen respect trade only for the aids which it yields in war: it is always with a re- ference to wat that it receives the encouragement of states- men. The view, for mstance, with which the British go- vernment has so "assidnotisly encouraged the fisheries, had certainly for its object the rearing of ‘keamen for the navys as much as the local improvement of the districts conti- guous to the fishing stations. The navigation act, while it has tended to increase the number of ships and sailors, and thereby promoted the naval superiority of Great Britain, has been perhaps detrimental to the extension of her trade in general by occupying so much capital in the value of ships of war, and so many men in marine labour. But the navigation act being one of those regulations of trade which arise out of political interests, it leads us to consider the second thing proposed, namely, how far such regulations or restrictions ought to extend; in the consideration of which it may be as well to advert to wliat ought to be the coinmercial policy of Great Britain. The political respectability of Great Britain demands, as essential to her preponderancy, the preservation, perhaps the extension, of her naval superiority. Therefore the at- tention of government should be directed to foster those branches of trade that will employ or increase her shipping, and at the same time encourage her manufactures. To ac- complish this, British commerce must be confined to British ships, and all the articles of Britsh trade permitted to pass wherever the merchant conceives a likelihood of obtaining profit. We must even shake off that antiquated prejudice which still makes a distinction between agriculture and trade, and consider agriculture as only one “of the many divisions of trade; we must cease to believe that corn more than any other commodity requires a particular system of Jaws; and if we can import our corn cheaper than it can be 8 raised 106 An Essay on Commercial Policy. raised at home, we must cease to think that a free importa- tion of corn can be detrimental to our national prosperity. I admit, unquestionably, that a free importation of corn would probably affect the rent-rolls of the landholders ; but is there any one who will assert that a reduction of rents produced by such a cause would be a misfortune to ~ the kingdom? If the income of the landholders can only be supported at its present rate by restrictions on the corn trade, it is surely evident that the landholders are benefited at the expense of the nation. But granting that the land- holders were injured by removing the restraints of the corn laws, .it is highly probable that their misfortune would ul- timately become advantageous to themselves; for, to pre- serve their hereditary importance they might be induced to engage in trade, and with their visible capital would possess an obvious superiority over those who are dependent on in- , dustry and enterprise. The fertile tracts of America pre- sent the great resource from which the British empire should be supplied with grain. By limiting the supplies which the colonies and the united kingdom might draw from America to the importations of British vessels, the quantity of British shipping would necessarily augment; and the Americans, thus finding an advantage in attending more to agriculture, would resign navigation, and, gradually relin- quishing that power upon the seas which they are as gra- dually obtaining, leave us the mastery which we still pos- sess. It may perhaps be said, that such a restriction as is here proposed might force the Americans to countervail us, by refusing to ship their produce in British vessels. But this 1s an evil that ume would rectify; for we are yet sufh- ciently independent of American produce to wait patiently the operation of the measure. In the present state of Ame- rica, 1t cannot be doubted that agriculture more than com- ~meree ought to engage the inhabitants; so that the very restrictions which would come in to the aid of our adyan- tage, would also be beneficial to them. | There is another point that should be considered here. It ought to be part of the commercial policy of Great Britain to afford every accommodation to the British mer- chant for trading with foreign colomies, and to prevent foreign merchants from trading with the British colo- nies. By attending to the former we may obtain the latter: for, as part of our-policy is to increase our shipping, we should, by giving occupation to foreigners in their own countries, take away their desire to become navigators by removing the necessity. Thus the nature of British restric- tions An Essay on Commercial Policy. 107 tions on trade ought to extend no further than so to press against the commercial systems of other countries as to give them a bias opposite to our own. When more is attempted, the consequences will revert upon ourselves in losses which can neither be calculated nor by any after lenity remedied. But a few facts will more clearly illustrate this truth than any general reasoning, especially if a series can be produced that obviously originated in an act of government. Let-us, however, previously consider some of those instances of the ‘folly of partial restrictions on trade, of which the conse- quences have not been distinctly ascertained, and of which the records are more imperfect. During a long period the principal trade of Scotland was its fisheries ; and the acts of the Scottish legislature, com- mencing with the reign of the first James of that kingdom, exhibit the unremitted attention which the fisheries received from the government. It would be inconsistent with the limits of an essay to trace here the various effects produced by the different laws which were decmed essential to the improvement of the fisheries: but it is not foreign to the purpose to call the attention of the reader to some of those steps by which the Scottish nation advanced towards that great commercial enterprise the Darien expedition. From 1424, in which a tax was imprudently levied on the exportation of herrings, till 1493, the Scots appear to have regularly, and with different degrees of success, pro- secuted their fisheries. In the year 1493, the naval spirit of that adventurous prince James IV. prompted him to undertake a variety of plans to raise seamen for the navy which he was then building; and, among others, to obtain an act perhaps the most extraordinary in its provisions that ever passed the legislature of any state. Although the 49th cap. of James IV. did not, and indeed could not, produce such a sudden increase of mariners as his impatient genius demanded for its projects, it must be regarded as one of those bold interpositions of authority that generate a suc- cessive train of consequences, and become epochs in the history of the affairs to which they relate. By it the bo- roughs and towns were commanded to build busses and vessels for the fisheries, and to send all idle persons on board. How far this preposterous law was carried into exe- cution is not our present business to examine; it 1s how- ever well known, that in the reign of Jimes [V., animated by his example and influence, the Scots had reached a high degree of maritime power. We may thercfore, without adyerting to what may haye been done before, presume to say 1068 == An Essay on Commercial Policy. say that from this period a foundation was aid for a nursery’ of seamen in Scotland, and that, though no other record remained, the ‘laws of the subsequent reigns would prove thai-the fisheries continued to engage the attention of the trading community. “Undoubtedly they would be affected by the tumults of the reformation and of the civil wars, but perhaps not to the extent which is generally imagined. For people habitually disposed to industry do not readily enter into political contentions, particularly if their industry be maritime; and the fact is, that beth the reformation and the civil wars were managed by the chieftains and their ad- herents. The boroughs and towns would, no doubt, take an interest in the procession of events during those two tu- multuous periods, but not to such a degree as the factious . chieftains and their predatory clans were incited. There- fore, when we consider the various Jaws which were passed in the reign of Charles II. for the encouragement of the Scottish fisheries, we must regard them as’ directed to their revival, and not their establishment. And when we pass along the intervening events till the year 1694, in which the Darien expedition was projected, we can easily under- stand that there must have becn then in Scotland a number of seamen who would be the first to embark in an enter- prise that promised ‘so fairly an unprecedented reward of affluence. The judgment with which that expedition was planned, and the spirit with which it was executed, reflects ‘as much honour upon the Scottish nation as the policy by which it was undermined disgraces the disposition and reign of William IIT. The English and Dutch East India com= nies, foreseeing the effects of the advantageous situation which the Scots had selected, influenced William to coun- teract the expedition ; and private partialities, and an igno- rance of the true interests of trade, induced him to destroy a colony that by careful fostering would have extended the commerce of his kingdoms. The consequence of William’s policy did not terminate in-the ruins of the Darien colony ; the mariners who sailed with the expedition were for ever Jost to the country. The fisheries were for many years after of so importance, and the Dutch in the imterval- obtained an insurmountable preference for their herrings in-the mar- kets of Europe. A reduction in the amount of the fisheries was not the only evil; the proper knowledge of the trade became almost extinguished, and for nearly a century since has the British legislature been annually occupied with schemes and projects to restore that knowledge. It is as well known as any historical truth whatever, that prior to the An Essay on Commercial Policy. 169 the Darien expedition the Scottish fishers practised the deep-sea herring-fishery, which the Dutch have so long so successfully followed ; and it is equally well known ‘to every one who has at all attehided to the subject, that such Has been the total ignerance of that method of fishing among the Scots, that v up to the last year not one ‘vessel was fitted out from any port in Scotland for many years before. It is, however, with no small degree of satisfaction, that L have it in my power to be the first to record that several vessels are this year equipped for that purpose from the Clyde. But the diminution of the trade, and the loss of the requisite knowledge, did not close the effects of Wil- jiam’s interference with the Darien expedition ;. the revenue of the kingdom is burthened with heavy bounties, that can only be described as the means of prolonging the precarious loch fishery; and large sums are annually voted to force upon the intiabitants rye the Highlands of Scotland that in- dustry and civilization which would probably have gradu- ally arisen from the extensive commerce that would have flowed in upon the mother country from the Darien colony. Independent of the pecuniary consequences of impolitic restrictions on trade, they are often the cause of political evils also. The American war, and all thatchas resulted from the consolidation of the United States, wil! be found to have originated in those severe limitations with which the trade of the colonies was harnessed to forward the pro- sperity of the mother country, although the separation of the colonies has been ascribed to the financial schemes of the British ministry. The spirit, as well'as the letter, of the navigation law was enforced upou the colonies with a de- gree “of rigour altogether obnoxious to- the free genius of _-trade. The colonies were compelled to send their produce to Great Britain im vessels belonging to British subjects, and from Great Britain the rest of the world was supplied with Anglo-American produce. By this restriction the co- Jonies were obliged to furnish themselves from British mar- kets with the necessaries or ‘luxuries that they required, which being of greater value than their produce, in time accumulated a debt against them to so great an amount, that to be released from it formed the reason, and the tax- bills furnished the pretext, for throwing off the yoke of the mother country. Had the British government, instead of expecting to draw from the colonics a direct revenue, made such political arrangements as would have allowed them to trade immediately with the states of Europe, we should not now have béen consoling ourselyes with the absurd asser- tony #10 AnfEssay onj{Commerctal Policy. tion, that the Joss of thirteen provinces was a benefit to the empire. Had the colonies been permitted to trade imme- diately with the states of Europe, a flow of wealth would have reverted to them that ultimately would have assisted the mother country, who, instead of holding her sove- reignty over them by the slender tie of opinion, might have supported, by judicious internal taxation, such a formida- ble military force in America as would have prevented the division of the empire, and in periods of necessity would have abetted her cause with the greatest effect. But from these general speculations let us turn to the consideration of facts; and, to show that the mercantile machine of our own country is not the only one that has been deranged by the impolitic bands of statesmen, I am induced to quote an instance from the affairs of Russia that is most distinct and unquestionable. The proprietors of the iron mines of Russia, about the year 1798, took it into their heads that the immense forests of that vast country were diminishing so rapidly, that un- less the exportation of timber were prohibited a scarcity of wood must ensue; and they infected the government with the same notion ; in consequence of which the exportation of timber was partially prohibited. The British vessels could not, as formerly, obtain deals to make up their car- goes ; they were therefore obliged to take a larger quantity of iron, the price of which was raised so high that 1t could not be sold for an adequate profit in the British markets ; and, as the quantity of Russian iron consumed by Great Britain had been annually decreasing for several years be- fore, the prohibition hastened the diminution. In the year 1781 Great Britain alone imported from Petersburgh nearly 50,000 tons of iron ; in 1804 the quantity was under 6000. Upon an equality with this measure of the Russian govern- ment may be placed that law of ours, which was passed in 1747, to prevent the insurance of French vessels, or their cargoes, in this country during the war with France; in consequence of which regular offices of insurance were esta- blished at Paris and in the principal ports of France; and when peace was restored between the two countries, the French had found the way s» readily to their own insurance offices, that we never after regained that part of their com- mercial profit which we formerly received in premiums. But not to spend too much time in quoting detached in- stances of the folly of limiting the modes and objects of trade, I will endeavour to show that the country gentlemen. of England, by a narrow-minded jealousy of the progress which An Essay on Commercial Policy. 11k which the Irish had made in agriculture and farming, to- wards the close of the 17th century, have abridged, beyond the possibility of remedy, the staple of England, her woollea manufactures. In the reign of Charles If., conceiving the produce of their estates considerably reduced in value by the free importation of cattle and grain from Treland, they suc- ceeded in setting aside the general interest of the country by obtaining a law to prohibit the importation of such commodities. The Irish, being thus prevented from im- porting into England, were obliged to salt what they could not find consumption for at home, and export it to other countries for a market; by which that great branch of Irish trade, the exportation of salted provisions, was established’. It was long, however, before a sufficient foreign consump- tion could be obtained, so that their sheep were allowed to increase for the sake of wool alone; by which that com- modity was rendered much cheaper in Ireland than in Eng- land. The cheapness of wool in Ireland enabled the frish to set up woollen manufactures of their own, which soon rivalled those of England; so that the English merchants, finding themselves equalled by the Irish, brought down another misfortune upon the general interests of the coun- try. In 1699 an act was passed to prohibit the exportation of woollen manufactures from Ireland to any place except to England and Wales; even to England and Wales the exportation was so unmercifully restricted that this was an indulgence in words only: the consequence was, that many of the Irish manufacturers were obliged to seek employ- ment in foreign countries ; and the greater number went to France: by them the woollen manutactures of that king- dom were established, and by their connection a clandes- tine exportation of wool from Ireland was carried on; so that the French soon made sufficient cloth for themselves, and became our rivals in foreign markets. It is therefore evident, both trom the nature of the thing, and the variety and number of instances which might be iven, that freedom is not more essential to commerce than immediate legislative interference 1s pernicious. Mankind are always regulated in their undertakings by the character of existing circumstances; and the objects of trade vary with political occurrences, which, generally originating from causes the most obscure, are placed beyond the control of preconcerted schemes, and frequently exhibit the reverse of their prospective estimate. Hence it is that laws founded en particular incidents, and intended to promote temporary purposes Ere Decomposition of Muriate of Tin. ‘purposes or private emolument, must in their operatiort produce results different from what are previously supposed, and will become the seeds of events of incalculable extent and influence. XXII. Muriatic Solution of Tin in part decomposed into metallic crystallized Tins By M. Bucnoiz*. if is some time avo since, in the view of preparing the muriate of tin, I treated seven pounds of the finest English éin with fifteen pounds ¢ of muriatic acid weighing 1:120, At the approach of night there still remained from 2 to 2} pounds of tin undissolved. The next day the matter was yet luke-warm, and the liquid had the consistency of syrup. I poured gently above it a pound of water t, which swam upon the solution. At the end of an hour, while I exa- mined the mixture, I observed with astonishment that the undissolved tin, and particularly its running particles, were covered with a quantity of lances, needles, blades, &c. of metallic crystallized tin, in length from a quarter of an inch to half au inch. M. Bucholz, having some time after repeated the opera- tion, had the satisfaction to see the same appearance again produced. He assured himself, by all possible trials, that the tin he had employed was absolutely pure. The author proposes different explanations of this phenomenon, which he believes always will be fouind in opposition to the rules of the dynamic doctrine of Kant on the perfect equilibrium of all parts of a composition, or the perfect equilibrium of principles im the composition. This theory is, however, every moment in contradiction with experience, inasmuch as it does not take into consideration the determinative force of a decided composition, of which the authors have under- stood as little as of chemistry in general. We shall not report the different explanations of M., Bu cholz, none of which has appeared to us satisfactory. * From Var. Mons’s Journal, vol. vi. + In a former notice the author says sixteen. ¢ In the former annonce it is called twe pounds. XXIV. On [ Beeccay XXIV. On muscular Motion. By Antuony’CaRListe, Esq. F.R.S.: being the Croonian Lecture, Read before the Royal Society November 8, 1804. Pil physiology has derived several illustrations and additions froin the institution of this lecture on muscular motion, and the details of anatomical knowledge have been considerably augmented by descriptions of muscular parts before unknown. Sull, however, many of the phenomena of muscles re- main unexplained, nor is it to be expected that any sudden insulated discovery shall solve such a variety of complicated appearances. Muscular motion is the first sensible operation of animal life: the various combinations of it sustain and carry on the multiplied functions of the largest animals: the tem- porary cessation of this motive faculty is the suspension of the living powers, its total quiescence is death. By the continuance of patient, well-directed researches, it is reasonable to expect much important evidence on this subject ; and, from the improved state of collateral branches of knowledge, together with the addition of new sources and methods of investigation, it may not be unreasonable to hope for an ultimate solution of these phenomena, no less complete and consistent than that of any other deside- ratum in physical science. The present attempt to forward such designs is limited to circumstances which are connected with muscular mo- tion, considered as causes, or rather as a series of events, all of which contribute, more or Jess, as conyeniencies or essential requisites to the phenomena; the details of mus- cular applications being distinct from the objects of this lecture. No satisfactory explanation has yet been given of the state or changes which obtain in muscles during their con- tractions or relaxations; neither are their corresponding con- nections with the vascular, respiratory, and nervous systems sufficiently traced. These subjects ‘are therefore open for the present inquiry ; and although I may totally fail in this attempt to elucidate any one of the subjects proposed, ne- vertheless IT shall not esteem my labour useless, or the time of the Royal Society altogether unprofitably consumed, if I succeed in pointing out the way to the future-attainment of knowledge so deeply interesting to mankind. The muscular parts of animals are most frequently com- Vol. 23. No. 90, Nov. 1805. H posed 114 On muscular Motion. posed of many substances, 1 in addition to those which are purely muscular. In this gross state they constitute a flexi- ble, compressible solid, w vhose texture is generally fibrous, the fibres being compacted into fasciculi, or bundles, of va- rious thickness. These fibres are elastic during the con- tracted state of muscles after death, being capable of exten-’ sion to more than one-fifth of their length, and of return- ing again to their former state of contraction. This elasticity, however, appears to belong to the enve- loping reticular or cellular mvenibrane, and it may be safely assumed that the intrinsic matter of emugelen is not elastic. - The attraction of cohesion, in the parts of muscle, is strongest in the direction of the fibres, it being double that of the contrary, or transverse, direction. When muscles are capable of reiterated contractions and relaxations, they are said to be alive, or to possess irritabi- lity. This quality fits the organ for its functions. Irrita- bility will be considered, throughout the present lecture, as a quality only. When muscles have ceased to be irritable, their cohesive attraction in the direction of their fibres is diminished, but it remains unaltered in the transverse direction. The hinder limbs of a frog attached to the pelvis being ‘stripped of the skin, one of them was immersed in water, at 115° of Fahrenheit, during two minutes ; when it ceased to be irritable. The thigh bones were broken in the mid- dle, without injuring the muscles, and a scale affixed to the ancle of each limb: a tape passed between the thighs was employed to suspend the apparatus. Weights were gra- dually introduced into each scale, until, with five pounds avoirdupois, the dead thigh was ruptured across the fleshy bellies of its muscles. The irritable thigh sustained six pounds weight avoirdu- pois, and was ruptured in the same manner. This experi- ment was repeated on other frogs, where one limb had been killed by a watery solution of opram, and on another where essential oil of cherry laurel * was employed: in each expe- riment the iritable limb sustained a weight one-sixth hea- vier than the dead limb. It may be remarked, in confirmation of these experi- ments, that when muscles act more powerfully or’ more ra- pidly than is equal to the strength of the sustaining parts, they do not usually rupture their ficshy fibres, but break their tendons, or even an intervening bone, as in the in- * Distilled-oil from the leaves of the prunus lauro-cerasus. , stances On muscular Motion. 115 stances of ruptured tendo achillis, and fractured patella. Instances have, however, occurred, wherein the fleshy bel- lies of muscles have been lacerated by spasmodic actions ; as in tetanus the recti abdominis have been torn asunder, and the gastrocnemii in cramps; but in those examples it seems that either the antagonists produce the effect, or the over-excited parts tear the less excited in the same muscle. From whence it may be inferred, that the attraction of co- hesion in the matter of muscle is considerably greater during the act of contracting, than during the passive state of tone, or irritable quiescence; a fact which has been always as- sumed by anatomists from the determinate forces which muscles exert. The muscular parts of different classes of animals vary in colour and texture, and not unfrequently those variations occur in the same individual. The muscles of fishes and vermes are often colourless, those of the mammalia and birds being always red: the amphibia, the accipenser, and squalus genera, have fre- quently both red and colourless muscles in the same animal. ‘Some birds, as the black game*, have the external pec- toral muscles of a deep red colour, whilst the internal are pale. In texture, the fasciculi vary in thickness; and the reti- cular membrane is in some parts coarse, and in others de- licate: the heart is always compacted together by a delicate reticular membrane, and the external glutei by a ‘coarser Species. . An example of the origin of muscle is presented in the history of the incubated eg; but whether the rudiments of the punctum saliens be part of the cicatricula organized by the parent, or a structure resulting from the first process of incubation, may be doubtful: the little evidence to be obtained on this point seems in favour of the former opi- hion; a regular confirmation of which would improve the knowledge of animal generation by showing that it is gem- miferous. There are sufficient analogies of this kind in nature, if rcasoning from analogies were proper for the present occasion, The punctum saliens, during its first actions, is not en- eompassed by any fibres discoverable with microscopes, and the vascular ‘system is not then evolved, the blood flowing forwards and backwards, in the same vessels. The commencement of life in animals of complex structure is, * Totrao tetrix, Linn. He from 116 On muscular Motion. from the preceding fact, like the ultimate organization of the simpler classes. : It is obvious that the muscles of birds are formed out of the albumen ovi, the vitellus, aud the atmospheric air, acted upon by a certain temperature. The albumen of a bird’s egg is wholly consumed during incubation, and the vitellus litle diminished, proving that the albumen contains the principal elementary materials of the animal thus generated ; and it follows that the muscular parts, which constitute the greater proportion of such animals when hatched, are made out of the albumen, a small portion of the vitellus, and certain elements, or sinall quantities of the whole com- pound of the atmosphere. The muscles of birds are not different, in any respect, from those of quadrupeds of the class of mammalia. The anatomical structure of muscular fibres is generally complex, as. those fibres are connected with membrane, blood-vessels, nerves, and lymphaducts; which seem to be only appendages of convenience to the essential matter of muscle. A muscular fibre, duly prepared by washing away the adhering extraneous substances, and exposed to view in & powerful microscope, is undoubtedly a solid cylinder, the covering of which 1s reticular membrane, and the contained part a pulpy substance irregularly granulated, and of little cohesive power when dead. ‘ A difficulty has often subsisted among anatomists, con- cerning the ultimate fibres of muscles ; and, because ‘of their tenuity, some persons have considered them infinitely di- visible ; a position which may be. contradicted at any time by an hour’s Jabour at the microscope. . The arteries arboresce copiously upon the reticular coat of the muscular fibre, and in warm blooded animals these vessels are of sufficient capacity to admit the red particles of blood; but the intrinsic matter of muscle, contained within the ultimate cylider, has no red particles. The arteries of muscles anastomose with corresponding veins ; but this course of a continuous canal cannot be sup-, posed to act in a direct manner upon the matter of muscle. The capillary arteries terminating in the muscular fibre must alone effcet all the changes of increase in the bulk or number of fibres, in the replenishment of exhausted mate- rials, and in the repair of injuries: some of these necessities may be supposed to be continually operating. It is well known.that the circulation of the blood is not essential to muscular action; so that the mode of distribution of the blood- On muscular Motion. V7 blood-vessels, and the differences in their size, or number, as applied to muscles, can only be adaptations to some spe- cial convenience. Another prevalent opinion among anatomists is, the in- finite extension of vascularity, which is contradicted in a direct manner by comparative researches.. The several parts of a quadruped are sensibly more or less vascular, and of different contextures: and’ admitting that the varied dia- meter of the blood-vessels disposed in each species of sub- stance, were to be constituted by the gross sensible differ- ences of their larger vessels only; yet, if the ultimate ves- sels were in all cases equally numerous, then the sole re- maining cause of dissimilarity would be in the compacting of the vessels. The vasa vasorum of the larger trunks fur- nish no reason, excepting that of & loose analogy, for the supposition of vasa vasorum extended without limits. Moreover, as the circulating fluids of all animals are com- posed of water, which gives them fluidity, and of animal- ized particles of defined configuration and bulk ; it follows, that the vessels through which such fluids are to pass must be of sufficient capacity for the size of the particles, and that smaller vessels could only filtrate water devoid of such animal particles: a position repugnant to all the known facts of the circulation of blood, and the animal ceconomy. The capillary arteries, which terminate in the muscular fibre, must be secretory vessels for depositing the muscular matter, the lympheeducts serving to remove the superfluous extravasated watery fluids, and the decayed substances which are unfit for use. The lympheducts are not so numerous as the blood-ves- sels, and certainly do not extend to every muscular fibre : they appear to receive their contained fluids from the in- tersticial spaces formed by the reticular or cellular mem- brane,. and not from the projecting open ends of tubes, as 1s generally represented. This mode of receiving fluids out of a cellular structure, and conveying them into cylindrical vessels, is exemplified in the corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum penis, where arterial blood is poured into cel- lular or reticular cavities, and trom thence it passes into common veins by the gradual coarctation of the cellular canals, : In the common green turtle, the lacteal vessels univer- sally arise from the loose cellular membrane, situated be- tween the internal spongy coat of the intestines and the muscular coat. The cellular structure may be filled from the Jacteals, or the lacteals from the cellular cavities. When H 3 injecting 118 On muscular Motion. injecting the smaller branches of the lympheducts retro~ grade in an cedematous human leg, I saw, very distinctly, three orifices of these vessels terminating in the angles of the cells, into which the quicksilver trickled. The prepara- tion is preserved, and a drawing of the appearance made at the time. It was also proved, by many experiments, that neither the lympheducts nor the veins have any valves in their minute branches. .The nerves of voluntary muscles separate from the same bundles of fibrils with’ the nerves which are distributed in the skin, and other parts, for sensation; but a greater pro- portion of nerve is appropriated to the voluntary muscles than to any other substances, the organs of the senses ex- cepted. The nerves of volition all arise from the parts formed by the junction of the two great masses of the brain, called the cerebrum and cerebellum, and trom the extension of that substance throughout the canal of the vertebra. An- other class of muscles, which are not subject to the will, are supplied by peculiar nerves; they are much smaller, in proportion to the bulk of the parts on which they are distributed, than those of the voluntary muscles ; they contain less of the white opake medullary substance than the other nerves, and unite their fibrils, forming nu- merous anastomoses with all the other nerves of the body, excepting those appropriated to the organs of the senses. There are enlargements at several of these junctions, called ganglions, and which are composed of a less proportion of the medullary substance, and their texture is firmer than that of ordinary nerves. The terminal extremities of nerves have been usually con- sidered of unlimited extension: by accurate dissection, how- ever, and the aid of magnifying-glasses, the extreme fibrils of nerves are easily traced as far as their sensible: properties, and their continuity extend. The fibrils cease to be sub- divided, whilst perfectly visible to the naked eye, in the voluntary muscles of large animals; and the spaces they occupy upon superficies where they seem to end, leave a remarkabie excess of parts unoccupied by those fibrils. ‘The extreme fibrils of nerves lose their opacity, the medullary substance appears soft and transparent, the enveloping membrane becomes pellucid, and the whole fibril is desti- tute’ of the tenacity necessary to preserve its own distinct- ness; it seems to be diffused and mingled with the sub- stances in which it ends. Thus the ultimate terminations of nerves for yolition, and ordinary sensation, appear to be, In On muscular Motion. 119 in the reticular membrane, the common covering of all the different substances in an animal body, and the connecting medium of all dissimilar parts. By this simple disposition, the medullary substance of nerve is spread through all organized, sensible, or motive parts,- forming a continuity which is probably the occasion of sympathy. Peculiar nerves, such as the first and second pairs, and the portio mollis of the seventh, terminate in an expanse of medullary substance which combines with other parts and membranes, still keeping -the sensible excess of the peculiar medullary matter. The peculiar substance of nerves must in time become inefficient ; and, as it is liable to injuries, the powers of re- storation, and repair are extended to that material. The reunion of nerves after their division, and the reproduction after part of a nerve shas been cut away, have been esta- blished by decisive experiments. Whether there is any new medullary substance employed to fill up the break ; and, if so, whether the new substance be generated at the part, or protruded along.the nervous theca from the brain, are points undetermined: the history of the formation of a feetus, the structure of certain monsters, and the organi- zation of simple animals, all seem to favour the probability that the medullary matter of nerves is formed at the parts where it is required, and not in the principal seat of the cerebral medulla. This doctrine, clearly established, would lead to the be- lief of a very extended commixture of this peculiar matter in all the sensible and irritable parts of animais, leaving the nerves, in their limited distribution, the simple office of con- veying impressions from the two sentient masses with which their extremities areconnected. The most simple animals, in whom no visible appearances of brain or nerves are to be found, and no fibrous arrangement of muscles, may be con- sidered of this description: Mr. John Hunter appeared to have had some incomplete notions upon this subject, which may be gathered from his representation of a materia vite in his Treatise on the Blood, &c. Perhaps it would be more proper to distinguish the peculiar matter of muscle by some specific term, such, for example, as materia con- tractilis. A particular adaptation for the nerves which supply the electrical batteries of the torpedo and and gymnotus, is ob- servable on the exit ef each from the skull; over which there is a firm cartilage acting as a yoke, with a muscle affixed to it, for the obvious purpose of compression: so H4 that 120 On muscular Motion. that a voluntary muscle probably governs the operations of the battery. The matter of the nerves and brain is very similar in all] the different classes of animals. The external configuration of animals is not more varied than their internal structure. The bulk of an animal, the limitation of its existence, the medium in which it lives, and the habits it is des- tined to pursue, are each, and all of them, so many indica- tions of the complexity or simplicity of their internal struc- ture. It is notorious that the number of organs, and of members, is varied in all the different classes of animals : the vascular and nervous systems, the respiratory and di- gestive organs, the parts for procreation, and the instru- ments of motion, are severally varied, and adapted to the condition of the species. This modification of anatomical structure is extended in the lowest tribes of animals until the body appears to be one homogencous substance. The cavity for receiving the food is indifferently the internal or external surface ; for they may be inverted, and still con- tinue to digest food: the limbs, or rentatula, may be cut off, and they will be regenerated without apparent incon~ venience to the individual: the whole animal is equally sensible, equally irritable, equally alive: its procreation 1s gemmiferous. Every part 1s pervaded by the nutritious Juices, every part is acted upon by the respiratory influence, every part is equally capable of motion, and of altering its figure 1 in al] directions, whilst neither blood-vessels, nerves, nor muscular fibres are discoverable by any of the modes of investigation hitherto instituted. From this abstract animal (if such a term may be ad- mitted) up to the human frame, the variety of accessory parts, and of organs by which a complicated machinery 1s operated, exhibit infinite marks of desizn, and of accom- modations to the purposes which fix the order of nature. In the more complicated animals there are parts adapted for trivial conveniences, much of their materials not being alive, and the entire offices of some liable to be dispensed with.. The water transfused throughout the intersticial spaces of the animal fabric ; the combinations with lime in bones, shells, and teeth; the borns, hoofs, spines, hairs, feathers, and cuticular coverings, are all of them, or the principal parts of their substance, extra-vascular, insensi- ble, and unalterable by the animal functions after they are completed. I have formed an opinion, grounded on exten- sive observation, that many more parts of animal badies may On muscular Motion. 191 may be considered as inanimate substances; even the re- ticular membrane itself seems to be of this class, and ten- dons, which may be the condensed state of it: but these particulars are foreign to the present oecasion._ The deduction now to be made, and applied to the his- tory of muscular motion, 1s, that animated matter may be connected with inanimate: this is exemplified in the ad- hesions of the muscles of multivalve and bivalve shell- fish to the inorganic shell, the cancer Bernhardus to the dead shells of other animals, and in the transplantation of teeth. All of which, although somewhat contrary to re- ceived opinion, have certainly no degree of vascularity, or vital connection with the mhabitant; these shells being liable to transudations of cupreous salts and other poi- sonous substances, whilst the animal remains uninjured. A variety of proofs to the same effect might be adduced, but it would be disrespectful to this learned body to urge any further illustrations on a subject so obvious, The effects of subdivision, or comminution of parts among the complicated organized bodies, is unlike that of mineral bodies: in the latter instance, the entire properties of the substance are retained, however extensive the subdivision ; in the former substances, the comminution of parts destroys the essential texture and composition, by separating the gross arrangements of structure upon which their specific pro- perties depend. From similar causes it seems to arise, that animals of minute bulk are necessarily of simple structure : size alone is not, however, the sole cause of their simple organization, because examples are sufficiently numerous ‘wherein the animal attains considerable bulk, and is of simple structure, and vice versd; but, in the former, the medium in which they live, and the habits they assume, are such as do not require extensive appendages, whilst the smaller complex animals are destined to more difficult and more active exertions. It may be assumed, however, as an invariable position, that tle minutest animals are all of simple organization. Upon a small scale, life may be carried on with simple materjals ; but the management and provisions for bulky animals, with numerous limbs, and variety of organs, and appendages of convenience, are not eflected by simple ap- paratus: thus the skeleton which gives a determinate figure to the specics, supports its soft parts, and admits of a geo- metrical motion, is placed interiorly, where the bulk of the animal admits of the bones being sufficiently strong, and yet light enough for the moving powers; but the skeleton is 1292 On muscular Motion. is placed externally, where the body is reduced below a cet- tain magnitude, or where the movements of the_animal are not to be of the floating kind; in which last case the bulk is not an absolute cause. The examples of testaceous vermes, and coleopterous, as well as most other insects, are univer- sally known. The opinion of the muscularity of the crystalline lens of the eye, so ingeniously urged by a learned member of this society, is probably well founded; as the arrangement of radiating lines of the matter of ‘riiuele; from the centre to the circumference of the Jens, and these compacted into -angular masses, would preduice specific alterations in ifs ficure. This rapid sketch of the history of muscular structure has been obtruded before the Royal Society to introduce the principal experiments and reasonings w hich are to follow : they are not ordered with so much exactness as becomes a more deliberate essay ; but the intention already stated, and the limits of a lecture, are offered as the apology. Temperature has an essential influence over the actions of muscles: but it is not necessary that the same tempera~ ture should subsist in all muscles during their actions; nei- ther is it essential that all the muscular parts of the same animal should be of uniform temperatures for the due per- formance of the motive functions. It appears that all the classes of animals are endowed with some power of producing thermometrical heat, since it has been so established in the amphibia, pisces, vermes, and insecta, by Mr. Jolin Hunter; a fact which has been verified to my own experience: the term cold-blooded is therefore only relative. The ratio of this power 1s not, however, in these examples, sufficient to preserve dheir equable temperature in cold climates ; so that they yield to the changes of the atmosphere, or the medium in which they reside, and most of them become torpid, approaching to the degree of freezing water. Even the mammalia and aves possess only a power of resisting certain limited degrees of cold; and their surfaces, as well as their limbs, being distant from the heart and principal blood-vessels, the mus- cular parts so situated are subject to considerable variations in their temperature, the influence of which is known, In those classes of animals which have little power of generating heat, there are remarkable differences in the structure of their lungs, and in the composition of their blood, from the mammalia and aves. Respiration i is one of the known causes which influences the New Improvements on Steam-Engines. 123 the temperatures of animals: where these organs are ex- tensive, the respirations are performed at regular intervals, and are not governed by the will, the whole mass of blood being exposed to the atmosphere in each circulation. in all. such animals lifing without the tropics, their temperature ranges above the ordinary heat of the atmosphere, their blood contains more of the red particles than in the other classes, and their muscular irritability ceases more rapidly after violent death. The respirations of the animals denominated cold-blooded are effected differently from those of high temperature; in some of them, as the amphibia of Linnzus, the lungs re- ceive atmospheric air, which is arbitrarily retained in large cells, and not aliernatcly and frequently changed. The fishes, and the testaceous vermes, have lungs which expose their blood to water; but whether the water alone, or the atmospheric air mingled with it, furnish the changes in the pulmonary blood, is not known. In most of the genera of insects the lungs are arborescent tubes containing air, which, by these channels, is carried to every vascular part of the body.. Some of the vermes of the simpler construction have no appearance of distinct or- gans; but the respiratory influence is nevertheless essential to their existence, and it scems to be effected on the surface of the whole body. In all the colder animals the blood contams a smaller proportion of the red colouring particles than in the mam- wialia and aves: the red blood 1s limited to certain portions of the body, and many animals have none of the red par- ticles. \ [To be continued.] XXV. Account of Mr. Anruur Woo.?’s new Improve- ments on Steam- Engines. Ix our nineteenth volume, p. 133, we gave a short account of a former improvement made by Mr. Wooif on the steam- engine, founded on a discovery that steam, of any higher temperature than that of boiling water, if allowed to pass into another vessel kept at the same temperature as the steam itself, will expand to as many times its volume, and still be equal to the pressure of the common atmosphere, as the number of pounds which such steam, before being al~ lowed to expand, could inaintain on each square inch of a safety- 1o4 New In'provemenis on Steam- Engines. g safety-valve exposed to the atmosphere: for example, that masses Or quantities of steam of the expansive force of 20, 30, or 50 pounds the square inch of a common safety-valve, will expand to 20, 30, or 50 umes its volume, and still be respectively equal to the atmosphere, or capable of producing a sufficient action against the piston of a steam-engine to cause the same to rise in the old engine (with a counter- poise) of Newconten, or to be carried into the vacuous part of the cylinder in the improved engines first brought mto effect by Messrs. Boulton and Watt. In consequence of this discovery Mr. Woolf was enabled to use his steam twice (if be chose), and with complete effect ; nothing more being necessary than to admit high steain, suppose of 40 pounds the square inch, into one cy- linder, to work there by its expansive force, and then to allow the same steam to pass into, and expand itself in, an- other cylinder of forty times the size of the first, there to work by condensation in the common way. Or with only one cylinder, by admitting a proportionally small quantity of high steam into it from tbe boiler, Mr. Woolf found that he could effect a considerable saving in fuel. In this first improvement of Mr. Woolf, though the saving might be carried a considerable length, it was still necessarily limited by the strength of materials; for in the employment of high steam there must always be some danger of an explosion. -Mr. Woolf, however, by a happy thought, has completely obviated every danger of this kind, and can now take the full advantage of the expansive prin- ciple without the least danger whatever. This he effects by throwing into common steam the additional temperature necessary for its high expansion, after the steam 1s admitted into the working cylinder, which is heated by means ade- quate to the end intended to be obtained ; and the advantage which he thus gains he effectually secures by a most inge- nious improvement in the piston. It may be easily con- ceived that steam of such high rarity as Mr. Woolf employs, could not be made fully effective with the piston in common use; forin proportion to its rarity.so must be the facility with which a portion of it would escape, and pass. by the side of the piston to the vacuous part of the cylinder: but Mr. Woolf’s contrivance seems perfectly adapted to prevent the loss of even the smallest portion of the steam. Besides these improvements on the common steam-en- gine, he has also found means to apply the same principles to the old engine, known by the name of Savary’s, in such a way New Improvements on Steam- Engines. 195 a way as to render the same a powerful and economical engine for a great variety of purposes. Such is the outline of Mr. Woolf’s improvements on this most useful engine: but, for the general information of practical engineers, we shall here subjoin a more tech- nical description, in Mr. Woolf’s own words, extracted from his specification of his patent. ** T have found out and invented a contrivance, by which the temperature of the steam vessel or working cylinder of a steam-engine, or of the steam vessels or cylinders where more than one are used, may be raised to any required tem- perature, without admitting steam from the boiler into any surrounding receptacle, whether known by the name of a steam case, or by any other denomination. That is to say, instead of admitting steam of a high temperature into such receptacle or steam case, which is always attended with a risk of explosion proportioned to the elasticity of the steam employed, I put into the said surrounding receptacle, or case, oil or the fat of animals, or wax, or other substances capable of being melted by a lower temperature than the heat intended to be employed, and of bearing that heat ‘without being converted into vapour: or I put into the said case or cases mercury or mixtures of metals, as of tin, bis- muth, and lead, capable of being kept in a state of fusion in a lower temperature than that intended to be employed in working the steam-engine; and I so form the surround- ing case or cases as to make it or them admit the aforesaid oil, or other substance employed, to come into contact not only with the sides of the steam vessel or vessels, or work-~ ing cylinder of cylinders, but also with the bottom and top of the same, so that the whole may be as much as possible Maintained at one uniform temperature ; and this tempera- ture I keep up by a fire immediately under or round the case or cases that contains the aforesaid oil or other sub- stance, or by connecting the said case or cases with a se~ parate vessel or vessels, kept at a proper temperature, filled with the oil or other substance made use of as aforesaid. In some circumstances, or whenever the same may be con- venient or desirable, I employ the fluid metals, or mixtures of metals, and oil ot other of the substances before enu- merated, at one and the same time in the same engine: that is to say, in the part of the case or vessel exposed to the greatest action of the fire, I sometimes have the afggesaid metals or mixtures of metals, and in the parts less Moved: to the action of the fire, 1 put.oil, or other substances ca~ pable 196 New Improvements on Steam- Engines. pable of bearing the requisite heat without being converted into vapour. “© By this arrangement, and method of applying the sur- rounding heat, I not only obviate the necessity of employ- ing steam of a great expansive force round the steam vessel or vessels, or the working cylinder or cylinders, as already mentioned, to maintain them, at the temperature required, but Iam enabled to obtain from steam of a comparatively low temperature, or even from water itself adunitted into the steam vessel or vessels, all the effects that can be ob- tained from steam of a high temperature, without any of the risk with which the production of the latter is accom- panied, not only to the boiler and other parts of the ma- chinery, but even to the hves of the workmen; for such low steam, or even water, (but,/in every case steam is pre- ferable,) being admitted into a steam vessel or vessels, or working cylinder or cylinders, kept at the requisite higher temperature by the forementioned meaus, will there be ex- | panded in any ratio required, and produce an effect in the working of the engine which cannot otherwise be obtained but at a greater expense of fuel, or with the risk of an ex~ plosion. By this mcans I can make use of steam expanded in any required ratio, or of any given temperature, without - the necessity of ever having the steam of any greater elas- ticity than equal to the pressure of the common atmo- sphere. <¢ Another improverzent which I make use of in steam- engines consists in a method of preventing, as much as possible, the passage of any of tite steam from that side of the piston which is acted upon by the said steam to the other side which is open to the condenser; and this I ef- fect, in those steam-engines known by the name of double engines, by employing upon or above the piston mercury or fluid metal, or metals in an altitude equal to the pressure of the steam. The efficacy of this arrangement will appear gbvious, from attending to what must take place m working such a piston. When the piston is ascending, that is, when the steam is admitted below the piston, the space on its other side being open to the condenser, the steam en- deavouring to pass up by the side of the piston is met and effectually prevented by the column of metal equal or su- perior to it in pressure, and during the down stroke no stea n possibly pass without first foreing all the metal throw In working what is called-a single engine, a less cqnddualale diinude of metal is required, because the steany always New Improvements on Steam-Engines. 127 always acts on the upper side of the piston. For single en= gines, oil, or wax, or fat of animals, or similar substances, in sufficient quantity, will answer the purpose, if another improvement, which constitutes part of my said invention, be applied to the engine, namely, to take care that in either the double or single engine so to be worked, the outlet that conveys the steam to the condenser shall be so posited, and of such a size, that the steam may pass withont forcing before it or carrying with it any of the metal or other sub-= stance employed, that may have passed by the piston; taking care at the same time to provide another exit for the metal or other substance collected at the bottom of the steam vessel or working cylinder to convey the same into a reservoir kept at a proper heat, whence it is to be conveyed to the upper side of the piston by a small pump worked by the engine or by any other contrivance. In order that the fluid metal or metals used with the piston may not be oxidated, { always keep some oil or other fluid substance on its sur- face, to prevent its coming in cuntact with the atmosphere; and to prevent the necessity of employing a large quantity of fluid metal, I generally make my piston of the depth of the columu required, but of a diameter a little less than the steam vessel or working cylinder, excepting where the pack- ing or other fitting is necessary to be applied; so that, in fact, the column of fluid metal forms only a thin body round the piston. In some cases { make a hollow metallic piston, and apply an altitude of fluid metal in the inside of the same, to press its outside into contact with the steam vessel er working cylinder. ** It may be necessary, however, to state, that in apply- ing my improved method of keeping the steam vessels of steam-engines at any required temperature to the engine known by the name of Savary’s, in any of its improved forms, in which a separate condenser has been introduced, 1 sometimes employ oil (or any other substance lighter than water, and capable of being kept fluid in the temperature employed, without being converted into vapour,) in the upper part of the tube or pipe attached to the steam vessel; by which means steam of any temperature may be used without being exposed to the risk of partial condensation by the admission of any colder body into the steam vessel ; for the oil, or other substance employed for this purpose, soon acquires the requisite temperature; and te prevent unnecessary escape of heat, I construct of, or line with, an. imperfect conductor of heat, that part of the tube or pipe attached to the steam vessel which may not be heated ex- 3 teriorly. 128 New Acid found in Alkaline Prussiates. teriorly. And further, (as is already the practice in some engines, and therefore . not exclusively claimed by me,} I cause the water raised by the engine to pass off through another ascending tube than the one attached to the steam vessel, but connecied with it at some part lower than the oil or ‘other substance employed in it 1s ever suffered to de- scend to in the working of the engine. The improvement which I have just met ntioned, of introducing oil into the pipe attached to the steam vessel of such engines, may also be introduced without apply ing heat externally to the steam vessel ; but in this case part of “the effect which would other- wise he gained is lost.’ XXVI. Extract of a Letter from M. Rincx, of Treysa, ona new Acid found in Alkaline Prussiates *. Yor are undoubtedly acquainted with the Prolusions of Winter!, and you will have verified the most part of his arguments. I should wish to know how you have judged ot this work. In Germany, this author and his book were at first exceedingly illused. They rejected indiscriminately, and without examination, all that M. Winterl had advanced. But of late his opinions have been discussed, and people begin to do him justice. His system has now many sup- porters, a and deserves, by all accounts, considerable atten- tion. Among the observations of Winterl, we find the follow- ing: that in the prussiate and carbonate of potash there exists a salt which dissolves in alcohol, does not precipitate the solution of iron in a blue but in a red colour, and is essentially distinguished from prussiate of potash by its other properties. Although the Prussian lixivium has been care- fully examined by many chemists, none of them has recog- nised this salt. “However, it is found in it; and | myself have obtained it. | am occupied at this moment im a train of experiments on this subject, as well as on the formation of prussic acid, which have already afforded some mterest- ing results, and which promise to furnish me with some new facts. : Some carbonaied iron which | examined offered me some particular phenomena. Weak acids exercise hardly any action, when cold, upon this iron. They require for this effect the aid of heat, or to be concentrated. The nitric * From Jan Mons’s Journal, vol. vi. acid ow Chemico-Galvanic Observations. 129 acid was decomposed, and nitrous gas was disengaged. From the sulphuric and muriatic acids hydrogen were evolved. This fossil blackens ata red heat. The carbonic acid was decomposed, and disengaged itself under the form of gaseous oxide of carbon; and the iron became still more oxidated. This metal is found in the carbonate at the mi- nimum of oxidation, and under the form of white oxide*. It would be difficult, considering the concomitant dis- engagement of the other gases, to determine justly what is contained in the carbonic gas of this carbomated iron. We know that Morecchini has found fluoric acid in fossil elephants’ bones. Does not this fact, which is confirmed by Klaproth, lead us to suspect that phosphoric acid trans- forms itself into fluoric acid? Many appearances come in aid of this suspicion, and, among others, the property of phosphoric acid to corrode glass: the common property of fluates and phosphates of lime to yield a pyrophoric light, &c. The observations made by Gehlen on the occasion of his trials upon ether with fluoric acid, deserve on this account an equal attention. And Klaproth, in analysing the topaz, in which he found 0:05 — 0:07 parts of Auorte acid, has observed another fact, which is particularly remarkable, viz. that the loss which this fossil undergoes by ignition . is always more considerable in crucibles of lead than of clay; although, after the observations of Guyton on the bad quality of carbons for conducting heat, one would have expected a contrary effect, which appears to indicate that in the former crucibles the topaz undergoes another action than that of fire. XXVIL. Chemico-Galvanic Observations. By M. OERsTED f. T nave lately discovered a Galvanic phenomenon hitherto unknown. I was led to it by an experiment of M. Ritter, published some years ago. This philosopher had found that * There is in this department, in theneighbourhocd of Jodogne, a mine of vitriol of iron in great crystalline masses perfectly transparent and colourles:, which, by its appearance, one would take for Glauber’s salts. The earth which surrounds this salt consists, in that part of it which is not in contact with the air, almost entirely of black oxide of iron. The salt itself, when it is dissolved, becomes green by its being gre ta. the air, after whith it is precipitated by th¢g same alkalis under the ordinary colour. My cols league De Roover, who-has made me acquainted with this salt, has receiv solid masses of it many pounds in weight.—V. M. ’ + From Van Mons’s J omet vol. vi. Vol, 23, No, 90, Nov. 1805. I the 130 On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. the conducting wires of a pile held in the flame of a taper were covered with figures of soot, which on the negative wire took the form of a vegetation, and on the positive wire a different form. It was to be supposed from this that all Galvanic oxidation. was accompanied with a similar phe- nomenon. ‘To assure myself of this, 1 put the two poles of the pile in communication with two solutions of the acetate of lead: On the positive side the oxide of lead was preeipitated in abrown colonr: on the negative side it was reduced. The oxide took a form similar to the figures of soot of the positive pole; and the reduced metal formed a beautiful vegetation. The form of the oxide was like the roots of plants. © Inthe course of his experiments on the commotion which the mercury experienced, Ritter had remarked that this metal became less liquid on the positive side, and more liquid on the negative side. I have repeated this experi- ment, and found it confirmed: however, to assure myself still more completely of the existence of the effect, I made the experiment with an amalgamation of lead, which I kept melted under hot water. I let the water cool in commu- nication with the poles of the pile, and I remarked that towards the positive pole the amalgamation was consoli- dated more quickly than towards the negative. This fact, moreover, agrees with two other. phenomena observed by Ritter, viz. that the spark of the positive side inflames the Jeaves of metals, whilst that of the negative side melts them; and that the hydrogen pole excites a sensation of heat, whilst the positive pole does not, but rather excites a sensation of cold. ve XXVIII. On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving ; with a Description of an Apparatus to prevent the Inconvenience which Artists experience from the Fumes which are pro- » duced by the Action of the Acid employed in the Process. i principal intention of the present article is to describe~ the apparatus mentioned in the title. Some of our readers may, however, be gratitied by finding along with it some -accgunt of the art in which the contrivance is\proposed to beused. We therefore iusert here the best description we pale yet met with respecting that branch of engraving, ex- ‘tracted from the new. edition of Dr. Rees’s Cyclopxdia. ‘The art of aquatinta was invented: by Le. Prince,.a French ree af oat artist, On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. 131 artist, who fora long time kept his process a secret. It has, however, been much improved since. It consists in corroding a copper-plate with aquatortis in such a manner that an impression from it has an appearance very much resémbling’ a drawing in Indian ink. ‘¢ This is effected by covering the copper with a powder or some substance which takes a granulated form, so as to prevent the aquafortis from acting where the particles adhere, and by this means cause it to corrode the copper partially and in the interstices only. When these particles are extremely minute, and near to each other, the impression from the plate appears to the naked eye exactly like a wash of Indian ink. But when they are larger, the granulation is more distinct; and as this may be varied at pleasure, it is capable of being adapted with great success to a variety of purposes and subjects. ** This powder or granulation is called the aquatinta grain, and there are two general modes of producing it. ‘© We shall first describe what is called the powder grain, because it was the first that was used. Having etched the outline on a copper-plate prepared in the usual way by the coppersmith, (for which see the article Etéching,) some sub- stance must be finely powdered and sifted which will melt with heat, and when cold adhere to the plate, and resist the action of aquafortis. The substances which have been used for this purpose, either-separately or mixed, are as- phaltum, Burgundy pitch, resin, gum-copal, and gum- mastic; and, in a vreater or less degree, all the resins and gum-resins will answer the purpose. Common resin has been most generally used, and answers tolerably well; though gum-copal makes a grain that resists the aquafortis better. The substance intended to be used for the grain must now be distributed over the plate as equally as possi- ble; and different methods of performing this essential part of the operation have been used by different engravers, and at different times. The most usual way is to tie up some of the powder in a piece of muslin, and to strike it against a piece of stick held at a considerable height above the plate. By this, the powder that issues falls gently, and settles equally over the plate. Every one must have observed how uniformly hair-powder settles upon the furniture after the operations of the hair-dresser: this may afford a hint to- wards the best mode of performing this part of the process. The powder must fall upon it from a considerable height, and there must be a sufficiently large cloud of dust formed. ~The plate, being covered equally over with the dust or pow- der, the operator is next to proceed to fix it upen the Biate, 12 y 133 On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. by heating it gently, so as to melt the particles. This may be effected by holding under the plate lighted pieces of brown paper rolled up, and moving them about till every part of the powder is melted. ‘his will be known by its change of colour, which will turn brownish. It must now be suffered to cool, when it may be examined with a mag- nifier; and if the grains or particles appear to be uniformly distributed it is ready for the next part of the process. «* The design or drawing to be engraved must now be examined, and such parts of it as are perfectly white are to- be remarked. Those corresponding parts of the plate must be covered, or stopped out, as it is called, with turpentine, or what is better, mastic varnish, diluted with turpentine-to a proper consistence to work freely with the pencil, and mixed with lamp-black to give it colour; for, if transpa- rent, the touches of the pencil would not be so distinctly seen. The margin of the plate must also be covered with: varnish. When the stopping out is sufficiently dry, a bor- der of wax must be raised round the plate in the same man- ner as in etching, and the aquafortis, properly diluted with avater, poured on. ‘This is called biting im 5 and it is that part of the process which. is most ungertain, and which requires the greatest degree of experience. When the aqua- fortis has lain on so long that the plate, when printed, would produce the lightest tint in the drawing, it is poured off, and the plate washed with water, and dried. When it is quite dry, the lightest tints are stopped out, and the aqua- fortis poured on as before; and this is repeated as often as there are tints to be produced in the plate. «© Ajthough many plates are etched entirely by this me- thod of stopping out and biting in alternately, yet it, may be easily conceived that in general it would be very difficult to stap round and leave out all the finishing touches, as also the leaves of trees, and many other objects, which it would be impossible to execute with the necessary degree of freedom in this manner. « Yo overcome this difficulty, another very ingenious “process has been invented, by which the touches are laid on the plate with the same ease and expedition as they are in adrawingin Indian ink. Fine washed whiting is mixed with a little treacle or sugar, and diluted with water in the pencil, so as to work freely, and this is Jaid on the plate covered with the aquatint ground, in the same manner and’ on the same parts as ink on the drawing. When this is dry, the whole plate is varnished over with a weak and thin varnish of turpentine, asphaltum, or mastic, and then suf- fered On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. 133 fered to. dry, when the aquafortis is poured on. © The varnish will immediately break up in the parts where the treacle mixture was laid, and expose all those places to the action of the acid, while the rest of the plate remains se- eure. The effect of this will be, that all the touches, or places where the treacle was used, will be bit in deeper than ae rest, and wil] have all the precision of touches in Indian ink. “« After the plate is completety bit in, the bordering wax is taken off by heating the plate a little with a lighted piece of paper ; and it is then cleared from the ground and varnish by oil of turpentine, and wiped clean with a rag and a little fine whiting, and then it is ready for the printer. “ The principal disadvantages of this method of aqua- tinting are, that it is extremely difficult to produce the re- quired degree of coarseness or fineness in the grain, and that plates so engraved do not print many impressions without wearing out, It is therefore now very seldom used, though it is occasionally of service. <¢ We next proceed to describe the second method of producing the aquatint ground, which is generally adopted. Some resinous substance is dissulved in spirits of wine, as for instance common resin, Burgundy pitch, or mastic, and this solution is poured all over the plate, which is then held in a slanting direction till all the superfluous fluid drains off, and it is then laid down to dry, which it does in a few mi- nutes. If the plate be then examined with the magnifier, it will be found that the spirit in evaporating has left the resin in a granulated state; or rather, that the latter has cracked in every possible direction, still adhering firmly to the copper. Agrain is thus produced with the greatest ease, which is extremely regular and beautiful, and much superior for most purposes to that produced by the other method. After the grain is formed, every part of the pro- cess is conducted in the same manner as above described. «<< Having thus given a general idea of the art, we shall mention some particulars necessary to be attended to, in order to eusure success in the operatioh. The spirits of wine must be rectified, and of the best quality: what is sold in the shops contains camphor, which would entirely spoil the grain. © Resin, Burgundy pitch, and gum-mastic, when dis- solved in spirits of wine, produce grains of a different ap- pearance and figure, and are sometimes used separately and somctiunes mixed in different proportions, according to the 13 taste 134, On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. taste of the artist, some using one substance and some ‘an- other. “ Tn order to rds a coarse or fine grain, it 1s neces- sary touse¥a greater or smaller quantity of resin; and to ascertain the proper proportions, several spare pieces of copper must be provided, on which the liquid may be poured, and the grain examined before it is applied to the - plate to be engraved. «¢ After the solution is m: ‘aah it must stand still and un- disturbed for a day or wo, till all the impurities of the resin have settled to the bottom, and the fluid is perfectly pel- lucid. No other method of freeing it from those impurities has been found to answer. Straining it through linen or muslin fills it with hairs, which are ruinous to the grain. «* The room in which the liquid is poured on the plate must be perfectly still, and free from dust, which, whenever it falls on the plate while wet, causes the grain to form a white spot, which it 1s impossible to. remove without laying the grain afresh. ” “ The plate must be previously cleaned, with the greatest possible care, with a rag and whiting, as ‘the smallest stain or particle of grease produces a seveale or blemish in the grain. ‘© All these attentions are absolutely necessary to produce a tolerable regular grain; and, after every thing that can be done by the most experienced artists, still there is much un- certainty in the process. They: are sometimes oblived to Jay on the grain several times before they procure one suf- ficiently regular. The same proportions of materials do not always produce the same effect, as it depends im some de- gree upon their qualities, and it 1s even maierially affected by the weather. These difficulties are not to be surmounted but by a great deal of experience; and those who are daily in the habit of practising the art are frequently lable to the most unaccountable accidents. Indeed it 1s much to be lamented, that so elegant and useful a process should be so delicate fail uncertain. ‘* It being necessary to hold the plate ina slanting di- rection in order to drain off the superfluous fluid, there will naturally be a greater body of the liquid at the bodied than at the top of the plate. On this account, a grain laid in this way is always coarser at that side ‘of the plate that was held Jowermost. The most usual way is, to keep the coarsest side for the foreground, being generally the part that has the deepest shadows. In large landscapes, some- tlmes On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. 135 times various parts are laid with different grains, according’ to the nature of the subject. % ** The finer the grain is, the more nearly does the impres~ sion resemle Indian ink, and the fitter it is for imitating drawings. But very fine grains have several disadvantages : for they are apt to come off hefore the aquafortis has lain on long enough to produce the desired depth; and as the plate 1s “not corroded: so deep, it sooner wears out m prift- ing: whereas coarser grains are firmer, the acid goes deeper, and the plate will throw off a great many more inipressions. The reason of all this is evident, when it-is considered, that in the fine grains the particles are small and near.to each other, and consequently the aquafortis, which acts laterally _ as well as downwards, soon undermines the particles and causes them to come off. If left too long on the plate, the acid would eat away the grain entirely. < On these accounts, therefore, the moderately coarse grains are more souvht after, and answer better the pur- pose of the publisher, than the fine grains ‘wap were for- merly in use. «Although there are considerable ical lieas in mel ing pro- perly the aquatint grain, yet the corroding the coppers or biting in, so as to produce exactly the tint required, is still more precarious and uncertain. All engravers allow that no positive rules can be laid down by w hich the success of the process can be secured ; nothing but a great deal of expe- rience and attentive observ ation can enable the artist to do it with any degree of certainty. ‘© There are some hints, however, which may be of con- siderable importance to the person who wishes to attain the practice of this art. “ It is evident, that the longer the acid remains on the copper, the deeper it bites, and consequently the darker will be the shade in the impression.. It may be of some use, therefore, to have several bits of copper Jaid with aquatint ground of the same kind that is to be used in the plate, and to let the aquafortis remain for different lengths of time on cach; and then to examine the tints produced i in one, two, three, four minutes, or longer. Observations of this kind frequently repeated, and with different degrees of strength of the acid, will at length assist the judgment i in guessing at the tint which is Pees in the plate. A magnifier is also useful to examine the grain, and to observe the depth to which-it is bit. It must be observed that no proof of the plate can be obtained till the whole process is finished. *€ If any part appears to have been bit too dark, it mune 14 c 136 On the Art of Aquatinta Engraving. | be burnished down with a steel burnisher; and this requires great delicacy and good management, not to make the shade streaky: and the beauty and durability of the grain is al- ways somewhat injured by it, so that it should be avoided as much as possible. *¢ Those parts which are not dark enough must have a fresh grain laid over them, and be stopped round with var- nish and subjected again to the aquafortis. This is called ve-biting, and requires peculiar care and attention. The plate must be very well cleaned out with turpentine before the grain is laid on, which should be pretty coarse, other- wise it will not lie upon the heights only, as is necessary in order to produce the same grain. If the new grain is dif- ferent from the former, it will not be so clear, nor so firm, but rotten. *‘ We have now given a general account of the process of engraving in aquatinta; and we believe that no material circumstance has been omitted that can be communicated without seeing the operation. But after all, it must be confessed that no printed directions whatever can enable a person to practise it. Its success depends upon so many niceties, and attention to circumstances apparently trifling, that the person who attempts it must not be surprised if he does not succeed at first. It is a species of engraving simple and expeditious, if every thing goes on well; but it 1s very precarious, and the errors which are made are rectified with great difficulty. ‘< Tt seems to be adapted chiefly for imitations of sketches, washed drawings, and slight subjects ; but does not appear to be at all calculated to produce prints from finished pic- tures, as it is not susceptible of that accuracy in the balance of tints necessary for this purpose: Nor does it appear to be suited for book plates, as it does not throw off a sufficient number of impressions. It is therefore not to be put into competition with the other modes of engraving. If con- fined to those subjects for which it is calculated, it must be allowed to be extremely useful, as it is expeditious, and may be attained with much less difficulty than any other mode of engraving. But even this circumstance Is a source of mischief, as it occasions the production of a multitude of prints that have no other effect than that of vitiating the public taste.” In the art before described, the artists experience much inconvenience from the quantity of fumes liberated by the action of the acid upon the copper, which, when the plate is Jar@e,is very great. To remedy this mconyenience, the ri following On pure Nickel. 137 following arrangement, which we think well calculated to answer the purposc, has been suggested to us by Mr. Cor- nelius Varley, a young artist who distinguishes himself no less by his mechanical abilities than by the exquisite pro- ductions of his pencil in water colours :—Get a frame made of common deal or any kind of wood, three or four inches deep, covered with a plate of glass, and open at one side; and let the side opposite to this have a round opening com= municating, by means of common iron pipe, with the ash- pit of any little stove or other fire-place, shut up from all other access of air but what must pass through the pipe. It is obvious that any fumes rising from a copper-plate laid under such a frame will be carried backward into the iron pipe by the current of air required to maintain combustion in the stove, and will by this means be carried up the chim- ney in place of being allowed to fly about in the apartment. The pipe may be very conveniently used by carrying it down through the table to the floor, and so along to the place where the chimney may chance to stand; and when the frame is not wanted, the pipe at one of the joinings (as at A, Plate V.) may be made to answer the purpose of a hinge by which to turn up the frame against the wall, as marked by the dotted lines, where it may be secured, while out of use, by a button or any other contrivance. XKIX. On pure Nickel, discovered to be a noble Metal; on its Preparation and Properties. By J. B. RicHTER*. Wruey sulphate of ammonia and nickel are repeatedly crystallized, the whole of the cobalt, excepting a very minute quantity, is separated ; but there still remains some copper mixed with the salt. I some time ago announced, that this metal may be separated from the uickel by subliming the fatter with sal ammoniac, but [ had not then ever obtained pure nickel. With the compound salt of nickel and am- monia there stillremains a littlearsenie. Ironalso may be in it, if we have been a little too sparing ip the addition of © nitric acid to the sulphuric solution of cobalt containing nickel. [ attempted to separate these extraneous metals in the humid way, but without complete success. By means of carbonate of potash, I decomposed the triple ammoniacal * From Van Mons’s Journal de Chimie, vol. vi. salt 138 On pure Nickel. + salt of nickel free from iron, and as much so as possible from csbalt; but the precipitate was still visibly of a greenish blue colour. Having edulcorated it and heated it to redness, it parted with its carbonic acid, and changed its colonr to a blackish gray, which, however, inclined evidently toa green. The water employed in washing it, which had agreenish appearance, was evaporated to. dryness, and the residuum, atter being heatedred hot, was washed again. A green powder remained, which did not lose its colour in the fire, and consisted chiefly of arseniate of nickel. Each of the two residuums were separately mixed with a fifth part of charcoal, and, in a cupel with a httle porcelain glaze, exposed to the heat of a potter’s furnace for eighteen hours. Each result endured a few blows of a hammer without cracking; but that of the latter residuum was much more white and fragile than that of the former, the colour of which approached that of steel, and was slightly reddish. They were both attacked with avidity by nitric acid, and they were attracted by the magnet, but the former only weakly. As it appeared to me probable from some of its effects on porcelain that pure nickel was a noble metal, I dissolved again, in nitric acid, the whole quantity reduced, which amounted to several ounces, and, evaporated the solution to dryness. I then poured water on the saline mass, and a beautiful green solution was formed; but a greenish white residuum remained, in which [ easily. detected the presence of iron, nickel, and arsenic acid. This solution, whieh contained a considerable portion of copper, besides arsenic, was precipitated by carbonate of potash, andthe residuum, the colour of which was still very lively, though not so green as that of carbonate of copper, was well washed and exposed to a white heat. This changed its apple-green colour to a deep green inclining togray and brown. With a stronger heat the mass assumed a grayer brown, and at the same time appeared to coagulate. There were likewise portions of reduced metal in it, that could not be mistaken.—I could not, however, accomplish its fusion in a wind-furnace surmounted with a cupellating furnace dome, and having a long chimney. In conse= quence, I divided it into several portions, which I exposed in crucibles to the strongest heat of a potter’s furnace, m which capsules of the most refractory clay are frequently softened. In such crucibles as were placed where the porcelain re- quires ‘ On pure Nickel. 139 quires the longest time to bake it, the matter underwent no change but that of being coagulated. In the other crucibles the matter had fused, but not so as to be completely liquid: the crucibles themselves had also partly experienced the same effect: here and there in the melted mass metallic globules were found, the largest of which were the size of a small nut, and the least that of a cherry-stone. Their brilhancy was a mean between that of silver and that of English tin. The scoriz were greenish brown, mixed with ‘an amethyst colour, and in some places a deep blue entirely like fused oxide of cobalt. The brown colour arose from the oxide of copper, which was completely vitrified, and the blue from that of cobalt. The green, on the contrary, proceeded from arseniate of nickel, which, as experience has taught me, strongly resists fusion unless some combustible sub- stance be added to it. _ To my great satisfaction on, trying the metallic globules with ahammer, I found that they possessed a considerable degree of malleability. As I found it impossible to separate with a hammer the scorie from the little globules to which they adhered, I collected them together by trituration and decantation, and exposed them to fusion afresh. It was again complete only in the places of the furnace most heated. These experiments having convinced me that nickel is reducible in the fire, without the addition of any combus- tible matter, I attempted to reduce some oxide of this metal, obtained by the decomposition of the triple ammoniacal salt of nickel, which during an uninterrupted labour of eighteen months [I had procured in a very large quantity. On this occasion the same phenomiena occured as in the preceding reductions. The melting I repeated till the metal had undergone a complete fusion, and was found collected together in a button at the bottom of the crucible. In one crucible which had been exposed to the strongest heat, I obtained a button that weighed an ounce and a half. T was less suc- cessful’ in my fusion when [ mixed the oxide of nickel with porcelain glaze, or when siraply covered it with this glaze ; so that I was convinced the best process was to reduce the oxide of nickel directly. After much time and patience, I succeeded in obtaining several ounces of nickel, which I must consider as absolutely pure: and f shall now pro- ceed to describe the principal characters that T have per- ceived in it in this state— To begin with the external cha- racters. The 140 On pure Nickel. The colour of pure nickel is amean between silver and fis. It is no way altered either by atmospheric air, or the water it contains. In other words, it is not susceptible of being oxided by the air. It is so perfectly malleable, that it may not only be forged into bars when red hot, but hammered on the anvil while cold into very thin plates. This character removes nickel from the class of semi-metals to that of perfect metals. Its density or specific gravity is pretty considerable: from repeated experiments with my hydrometer, cast nickel weighs 8°279, and forged nickel 8-666. Its tenacity is likewise considerable, if we may judge from its great ductility. A piece of cast nickel, weighing five drachms allowed itseif to be flattened, but not without crack- ing, into a plate of 13 square inches Rhynland measure, which gives less than ;4, of an inch for its thickness. It might probably be drawn into a wire of the same tenuity. The resistance of nickel to fusion is considerable, and equals, if it does not surpass, that of manganese, The reader, from my attempts to fuse it, may have observed how difficult it is to obtain on this head any thing decisive. When exposed to a sufficiently high temperature, the pure oxide of nickel is reducible without the addition of any combustible matter. Its great resistance to fusion is the only cause why this reduction presents so many difficulties. Very little oxidation, too, is perceptible on keeping this metal in a state of incandescence: it is merely tarnished a ttle more than platina, gold, or silver. Mickel, therefore, belongs not to the class of perfect metals merely, but to that of noble metals. The magnet exercises on nickel an action not only very considerable, but little inferior to that on iron. It be- comes magnetical, or acquires polarity, by the touch, and even in pari by striking it with a hammer, or filing it, with the precautious suitable for producing this effect. I discovered the latter property by presenting to the magnet a slip of forged nickel; when, notwithstanding it was polished by the file, it adhered more feebly to the magnet than other slips less polished; but on my presenting its other extremity to the magnet, it adhered to it with great force. It likewise attracted by either side not only iron needles, but plates of nickel half an inch square, which it caused to move about on a smooth table. Nickel does not lose its property of becoming magnetic, but has it weakened by being alloyed with copper, Arsenic, hawever, completely destroys it. I had frequent opportu- nities On pure Nickel. 14 nities of making this observation in the course of my ex- periments, Some nickel, trom which I had separated the iron* and the arsenic im the humid way, and which | had afterwards reduced with the addition of a combustible substance, was malleable, and attracted the magnet, though not so forcibly as pure nickel. The same metal, purified with less care, was less malleable, and proportionally Jess attractable by the magnet. Repeated exposure of the me- tal to the most powerful heat of a porcelain furnace did not in the least restore to it this property.—Some experiments, which I shall hereafter relate, have convinced me, that copper cannot be entirely separated from nickel in the humid way, and that the only means of separating them is to reduce the cupreous oxide of nickel by fire. The sulphuric and muriatic acids exercise but little action on nickel. Even its oxide by air does not dissolve in the tatter without the assistance of a strong ebullition. The most appropriate solvents of nickel are the nitric and nitro- muriatic acids. I have already mentioned, that impure nickel, particularly the cupreous, is attacked by the nitric acid with heat and vivacity. The action of the same acid on pure nickel is a little different, and particularly on the hammered metal. TI have poured nitric acid on nickel both, in buttons and Jaminated, expecting a very active solution = but it has proceeded slowly, and I have even been obliged to have recourse to the heat of a spirit lamp to accelerate it: The dissolution, however, having appeared to cease, I de canted the Jiquid and poured on the residuum a fresh quan- tity of acid of the same strength as the preceding, when on a sudden such a brisk action came on, aecompanied with the evolution of heat?, that I could. not remoye the capsule to the fire-place quickly enough. I shatl now proceed to consider some of the characters of pure nickel in the state of oxidation. The nitric solntion of pure nickel has a beautiful grass- green coluur. Carbonate of potash separates from it a pale apple-green precipitate. This precipitate well washed and dried 1s very light. A thousand parts of metallic nickel te= duced to this precipitate weigh 2°927 parts. * The separation of the iron succeeds best by a rapid evaporation of the nitric solution of the ferruginous nickel, by which the iron is precipitated inthe form of an insoluble oxide. At the samme time a little atsenic: is separated in union with the iron. It is preferable, however, to separate the arsenic first, which is effected by the help of anitric solution of lead, The lead is afterwards to be precipitated by a solution of sulphate of potash, + From thisit is difficult to believe that nickel, under favourable circum~ stances, would aot become oxided bythe combined influence of air and fire — Van. Mons. os 142 Account of a new Vegetable Substance. If this precipitate be exposed to a white heat it becomes of a blackish gray, scarcely inclining to green, and weighing only 1:285. On continuing the fire, the mass approaches the metallic state more and more, and becomes magnetic. This is effected much more speedily if the oxide be moist- ened with a litre oil. If caustic ammonia be added in excess to a nitric solution of nickel, a precipitate is formed, resembling in colour am- moniure of copper, but not so deep. This colour sometimes changes in a couple of hours to an amethyst-red, and to a violet, which colours are converted into an apple-green on the addition of an acid, and again to a bluc and. violet on the addition of ammonia. If, however, we add to the solution of nickel a solution of copper, so as to produce no perceptible change, the colour of the precipitate formed by ammonia, ceases to assume a red tinge, and the red colour of the ammioniure of nickel disappears on the addition of a little ammoniure of copper; whence it follows, that every pre- cipitate of nickel by ammonia which retais its blue colour, has copper combined with it. XXX. Account of a new Vegetable Substance discovered by M. Rosr*. Avrer standing some hours, a decoction of the root of elecampane (inula helenium) deposits a white powder, ap pearing very much like starch, but differing from it both in its principles and in its manner of action with other substances. 1. ‘This substance is insoluble, generally, in cold water:-- When triturated with it a white wilky liquor is formed, which soon deposits aheavy white powder, and leaves the supernatant water clear and colourless. Be 2. In boiling water it dissolves very well. On boiling one part of the white powder with four parts of water, a complete solution is obtained which passes through filter- ing paper while hot, but, on cooling, acquires a mucila- ginous consistence anda dull colour. In the course of some hours this solution depesits the greater part of the dissolved substance in the form of a compact white powder, One part of gum-arabic, dissolved in four parts of water, is much thicker, of a more tenacious consistence, and froths lightly, which the solution of the powder from the elecam- pane root does not. : 8. The solution of the white powder mixed with an equal quantity of alcohol is at first clear, but in a little time the owder separates in the form of a tumid white sediment, eaving the fluid above it transparent. A solution of gum - * From Gehlers Fournal, vol. ili. 3 arabic On the Turpid Siate of the North-American Alligator. 143 arabic on’ the addition ‘of alcohol’ becomes immediately milky, and long retains this appearance, no kind of powder separating even in several days. 4. The white powder, when thrown on burning’ coals, melts like sugar and evaporates, diffusing a white, thiek, pungent smoke, with a smell of burnt sugar. After this combustion a lightresiduum only remainxs, which runs into the coal. Starch emits a similar smoke, but does not melt, and leaves a coally residuum much greater in quantity. Gum-arabic under the same circumstances gives out scarce- ly any smoke. When heated over charcoal in an iron spoon, the powder first melts and emits the smoke above described ; but as soon as the spoon becomes red hot, it burns with a vivid light flame, and leaves avery trifling coally residuum. Starch under the same circumstances does not melt, is much longer before it burns, and leaves a considerable residaum of coally matter. Gum-arabic only sparkles, ~does not take fire, and leaves a great deal of ‘coal, which is readily convertible into grayish ashes. ; 5. From this powder, by dry distillation, we obtain a brownempyreumatic acid, haying the smell of pyroxalic acid, but none of empyreumatic oil. 6. Nitric acid transforms the powder into malic and oxalic acids, without producing a single atom of sac- cholactic acid, which gum-arabic furnishes very abundantly when treated in the same manner; nor doesit yield any of the fatty matter generated by the action of nitric acid on starch, It follows trom all these phenomena, that this fari- naceous powder extracted trom elecampane root is nei- ther starch nor gum, but a peculiar vegetable substance holding a middle rank between the two. It is probable that it exists in many other vegetables, and that several products hitherto considered as starch are of the same nature as this farina. XXXI. Facts relative to the Torpid State of the North-Ame- rican Alligator. By BENJAMIN SmITH Barron, M. D*.: Irhas not, [ think, been remarked by the generality of the writers on natural history, that the North American Alli- gator passes during the prevalence of cold wea “into the torpid state. This, however, is unquestionably the case in some parts of the continent. isi a tad * From The Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal, edi ited .byedDr. Barton. . eu dapat 144 On the Torpid State of the North-American Alligator. Mr. Bossu, a French writer, after telling us that these animals are numerous in the Red River, one of the western branches of the Mississippi, says ‘* they are torpid during the cold weather, and lie in the mud with their mouths open, into which the fish enter as into a funnel, and neither ad- vance norgoback. The Indians then get upon their backs, and kill them, by striking their heads with hatchets, and this is a kind of diversion for them*.” Dr. Foster, the translatcr of the work, observes in the preceding passage, ** that the circumstance of the alligator’s being torpid during winter is quite new, and very remark- able for natural history.”” It seems (he adds) almost all the elass of animals called amphibea, by Dr. Linneus, when found in cold climates grow torpid during winter. In addition to the authority of Mr. Bossu, I may here mention the followimg fact, which was conmmunicated to me about the year 1785, by a Mr. Graham, at that time a very intelligent student of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania. “ oo o {Rain 30| 35 | 48 | 34 | 30°00 20° |Fair 31] 32 | 41 | 37 ‘40 15 ‘|Foggy Noy. I| 36 | 43 | 36 tS 27 |Cloudy 2.85.) 49 1 35 [~ 08 25 \Fair 3} 32 | 48 | 38 35 15 |Pair 4| 36 | 48 | 38 "32 17 |Fair 5| 31 | 38 | 37 39 0 |Fogey 6|-38 | 43 | 42 39 0 |Cloudy “| 43 | 44 | 40 38 0 |Foggy 8] 40 | 40 | 39 "36. ° 2 |Foggy: Q| 41 | 41 | 39 “20 3 |Cloudy 10/ 40 | 42 | 40 16 5 {Cloudy tl} 40 | 42 | 39 "32 10 |Cloudy 12) 39 | 42 | 39 30 6 ‘|Cloudy 13! 42 | 43 | 39 "40. {| 18 |Cloudy ° 14| 39 | 44 | 41 "52 15 |Fair 15] 4b | 48 | 40 65 18 |Cloudy 16} 40 | 46 | 40 “65 1s |Cloudy I7| 34-4 41'| 39 A 15 {Fair 18} 30 | 42 | 34 "18 20 (|Fair 19} 31 | 39 | 38 "05 0 |Foggy 20| 38 | 44 | 35 "25 10 [Fair 21! 30 | 38 |} 35 *36 12 |Fair 2 | 35 | 42 | 35 -20 10 |Fair 23) 34 | 42 | 36 "28 18 |Fair 94/ 33.| 43 | 40 |, °25 4 |Showery 25) 40 | 44 | 42 20 6 j\Cloudy 26, 42 | 46 | 41) -°20 20 jCloudy | pe peed WN. b. The barometer’s height is taken at noon. error amen / {193 J AXXIX. Examination of different Processes for obtaining the Separation of Nickel from Cobalt. By Curist1aN Frepenic BucHoiz*. ue want of pure nickel and oxide of cobalt determined me, for the sake of obtaining it, not only to make experi= ments of my own invention, but also to repeat different pro- cesses proposed for the,same object. As it happens but too frequently that some accidental circumstances in expe- riments are omitted by their authors, or that we are unable, from ignorance of certain indicative characters, to employ the most scrupulous exactness in examining the products obtained,—a circumstance which makes the process we fol- low give evidence of its own insufficiency, it will be agree- able to chemists to find here an abridged explanation of my experiments on this matter: the results they have yielded me, added to those which the labours of other chemists have afforded them, will point out the most convenient way to the end proposed, while they save unfruitful trouble and expense. . A. The able chemist Hermstadt had proposed for making the separation of oxide of cobalt from the oxide of nickel, a method which consists in dissolving in ammonia the ni- trate or the sulphate of cobalt impregnated with nickel, and to expose the solution to a single evaporation. I proposed to try this process with the contrary design. 1. An ounce of ore of earthy cobalt was therefore dis- solved by heat in four ounces of ‘nitric acid of the specific gravity of 1-220, in which had been put an equal quantity of water, which gave in residue three gros of oxide of ar- senic under the form of little crystals. The solution, di- luted with a portion of water, was of a dingey green colour. “It was filtered, and diluted with a greater quantity of water, and a tittle oxide of bismuth was separated. Caustic am- monia was added in excess until it made no more sensible solution in the obtained precipitate. That which was not dissolved, being of a reddish white, was a composite of the arseniate of cobalt with a little oxide of bismuth and oxide of iron. The filtered solution, which was of a beautiful blue, was evaporated in a gentle heat, by which means about two gros of a beaniatil clear green matter was depo- sited, which on examination was found to be au oxide of * From the ae Universal Journal of Chemistry of Messrs. Bucholz, Crell, &e., vol. iii. Vol. 23. No. 91. Dec. 1805. N nickel i94 On the Separation of Nickel from Cobalt. nickel umted with oxide of cobalt. The filtered liquor, having been afterwards evaporated by the heat of a stove, still deposited some oxide of the same quality. The saline mass of nitrate of ammontated nickel, of a deep green co- lour, which had been obtained b evaporation, was redis-~ solved, filtered, and kept in ga with an excess of caustic potash till the ammonia was completely evaporated. By this means there wags still separated a gros and a half of thé oxide of nickel, which did not appear to contain any thing more than a little oxide of cobalt. 2. As the separation was not effected very perfectly or easily by the process I have mentioned, I made trial of sul- phuric acid. For this end, I poured an equal quantity of water on the oxide formerly obtained, and I added sulphuric acid. By the aid of heat the whole was dissolved. There was then disengaged, in a very evident manner, an odour similar to that of “oxygenated muriatic acid, although there had not been au atom of muriatic acid employ ed. I have before observed the same phenomenon on a similar occa- sion. Thesolution was afterwards treated with ammonia, as formerly, until it was almost all redissolved: the residue, which conststed,.of oxide of cobalt with a little oxide of nickel, had a colour of verdigris. When the solution had been evaporated i in a gentle heat, and was separated by filtration from the deposited powder, of which the greater part was oxide of cobalt, it was left to a spontaneous eva- poration. it crystallized, without any othcr separation, in groups of prismatic ery stals, partly of a pale green, and in crusts of an azure colour at the edges. A trial of the oxides separated by potash from the solution of these crystals, as well as from the mother liquors, made it obvious that they oth contained cobalt nearly in the same proportion. 3. Though in this case the result was unsuccessful, I re- solved, nevertheless, to recommence the same experiment on a greater quantity, hoping that the separation might better succeed by crystallization. In consequence, the oxide being separated by the carbonate of potash from a solution of eight ounces of ore of earthy cobalt in common nitric | acid (which had been before evaporated and filtered), this oxide, treated with a sufficient excess of potash to separate from it. as much as possible, the arsenic acid which might he combined with it, was dissolved in the sulphuric acid weakened by eight parts of water. Some. pure ammonia was added to the liquid, so as to dissolve what was soluble in the-precipitate. ‘The filtered solution was evaporated by a moderate ebullition, and afterwards left to spontaneous evaporation. On the Separation of Nickel from Cobalt. 295 evaporation. After having parted with a little cobalt mixed with nickel of a pale green, the saline part collected it- self, by little and little, into crystals of a blueish green, which could here and there be perceived to be prisms, to which, in different points, were attached some small crys- tals of calcareous sulphate. To free, as much as possible, these crystals from the adhering motber liquor, they were washed with distilled water, and dried between leaves of blotting-paper. Although the remainder of the lixivium showed no disposition to deposit other regular crystals, I was not able to recognise any difference between the metal which it contained and that in the crystals: it was in both an oxide of nickel mixed with cobalt. - The crystals, which weighed fiye half-ounces, were redissolved in 32 ounces of boiling water; the solution was evaporated to the formation of a thin pellicle, and, after having been filtered, it was put in the vicinity of a stove, to cool slowly and to crystallize. At the end of 48 hours the greater part of the salt was crys- tallized im beautiful tetraédral and rltomboidal pyramids, short, and of a yellow green, of which the lateral surfaces formed an angle of 115 and 65 degrees, often with a trun- cated extremity, and always with an angle of 132 degrees of inclination towards the terminal surtace. This result’ proves that the salt can more easily be formed in regular crystals by refrigeration than by slow evaporation. All these collected crystals having been washed with water were redissolved, and the separation of the oxide of nickel was cffected by boiling it with carbonate of potash tif] the am- monia was disengaged. 4. As wuch for the sake of having this oxide free from earbonic acid, as for judging if it was purged of cobalt, I dissolved it in nitric acid, and treated it afterwards with pure ammonia, in the manner which has been often mentioned. I evaporated to dryness the beautiful blue liquor which had been freed by filtration from a residue of five grains, which showed itself to be an impure oxide of cobalt. After asub- sequent solution there was deposited an oxide of a beautiful clear green, which, after being washed and dried, weighed ahalt-ounce. The liquor which passed through the filter was aualysed by carbonate of potash at a heat of boiling water, which sttil pave 170 grains of oxide of nickel con- taining carbonic acid of a pale green. 1 dissolved a little of it in uiuriatre acid, and apphed the solution to paper. On heating it afterwards, the stains became yellow, inclining only a little towards green, But when the oxide of nickel, which had been separated from the same during evapora~ N.2 tions 196 On the Separation of Nickel from Cobalt. tion, was dissolved, disengaging much of the oxygenated muriatic acid, on being spread upon paper, and warmed, it showed the bdldue of'a sy mpathetic ink well saturated with cobalt; from whence it follows that it was more rich in cobalt ‘than that collected by precipitation. The oxides, collected in a different manner, were dissolved in the nitric and sulphuric acids after becoming gray. fF believed that this happened because the oxide of the nickel had been perhaps the first dissolved, and because the oxide of cobalt was, at least for the most part, the last remain- ing; which, however, was not confirmed by the experi- ments made on this subject. When exposed to a low red heat, these oxides changed their colour into a blackish eray, and then (as was also the case by the addition of sulphuric acid) they threw down some residuum by ev aporation of the nitrous acid, which was also separated from it by the addi- tion of an alkaline lixivium. In other respects it acted with ammonia, &c. in the manner that has already been men- tioned. The following is the result of what bas been so far stated : a. The sulphates and the nitrates of ammoniacal nickel. drawn from the ore of cobalt contain always some cobalt in their composition: it is impossible by ‘the process of Hermstadt, modified in the preceding manner, to have the oxide of nickel without a mixture of cobalt. b. By partially decomposing the nitrate of ammoniacal cobalt by evaporation, there is obtained an oxide of nickel very rich in cobalt which contains nitrie acid, and the oxide of nickel which is found in this salt not yet decomposed: contains a very small quantity of cobalt. B. Dr. Schnaubert has shown (Journal de Pharmacie, par Tromsdorff, vol. ti. no. 2. p. 66.) a process: for ob- taining an oxide of pure nickel; that is, to dissolve the metal of nickel mixed with cobalt, or its oxide already dis- engaged from other substances, in nitric acid, to precipitate it by “carbonate of potash, ‘and to expose it to a white heat after washing and drying. In this manner he always ob- ‘tained’a yellow oxide, on which he afterwards boiled sul- phuric acid su ficiently strong, which gave him a solution of oxide of nickel of a grass green, while the oxide of cobalt showed itself, in the residuum under a yellow colour. He _proved the purity of the sulphate of nickel prepared in this: “way, by the property which ammonia had to precipitate it: of aclear green colour, and, when added in excess, to re- dissolve it ‘ofa beautiful dark blue colour. This eg - he "A Wi On the Separation of Nickel from Cobalt. 197 wall appear insufficient to those who know that the oxide of nickel, mixed even with many hundred times its weight of cobalt, does not experience any, sensible change. of co- Jour in its precipitations, nor In its solutions with amimoulas and besides, he has not pointed out the means by which he was convinced that the oxide obtained in the residuum, of the solution in the sulphuric acid was an oxide of cobalt. The vague precept, to heat the oxide obtained, without giving the least information on the degree of heat; the uncertainty in which he leaves us re specting the sulphuric acid of which he made use; all these circumstances throw upon the exactness of the indicated process a doubt which the following experiments alone will be able to clear up. mS ae .N portion of oxide of carbonic nickel A, was exposed, during an hour, to a violent fire nearly of a white heat. The oxide, when yet warm, was brownish yellow. After cool- ing it took a gray colour inclini: 1g to yellow, but not en- tirely so. The oxide of nickel obtained by the evaporation A 4, having been treated in the same manner, was yet.a fittle more gray than the preceding. The oxide of carbonic nickel was again exposed, for half an hour more, to a white heat: while hot it was yellow inclining to brownish, but when cold it was gray inclining to a brownish yellow. 2. Thirty grains of this torrified oxide were kept some hours in digestion with ninety grains of pure sulphuric acid of the specific gravity of 1 860. Havine been afterwards heated, the mass swelled up with, a noisy ebullition, and pre- sented a yellow substance inclining to green. By ebullition with a half-ounce of water it was dissolved, leaving nearly a grain of powder of a gray yellow, which proved to be oxide of nickel mixed with cobalt, and a little impurity. . I ob- tained exactly the same result, with the same appearances, in treating a second time in the saine manner, and with 90 grains of concentrated sulphuric acid, 35 grains of oxide of nickel, which I had. obtained by heating briskly, even to redness, 60 grains of nitrate of ammoniacal nickel pre- pared by evaporation. By heating the same oxide to white- ness, in a fire urged with bellows, for half an hour, I did net obtain a yellow mass, but one of yellowish gray, inclining a little to green, which acted with the sulphuric acid, as I have formerly stated. 3. I repeated afterwards the same experiment with sul- phuric acid weakened. 160 grains of oxide of carbonic nickel were exposed, during a half-hour, to,a very violent white heat; after which they still weighed 75 grains... This N3 substance 198 On the Separation of Nickel from Cobalt. substance was of a greenish yellow here and there, and of a blueish gray at the points of contact with the crucible. On being bruised it. gave a powder of a black gray. | It was mixed with a gros of sulphuric acid dilated with five gros of water. After a sufficient ebullition water was added, and the solution was decanted clear. The residue was treated with weak sulphuric acid. There was instantly a brisk disengagement of gas, and by afterwards heating this mixture it manifested evidently the odour of hydrogen gas. After a sufficient ebullition water was added, and the solution was decanted clear. The residue was treated anew with weak sulphuric acid. This gave then ten grains of a residue, which was not an oxide of cobait, but an oxide of nickel mixed with cobalt, as the solution proved in the acids and ammoria. The two preceding solutions were each apart analysed by pure potash, and the precipitate was besides heated with an excess of potash; afterwards washed and dried. On trial each of the precipitates discovered cobalt, which was always found purer in that of the first solution; for the so- - Jution in the muriatic acid, applied on paper and heated, in- clined sensibly to yellow, while the precipitate of the second solution gave a writing of a clear and pure green, It is astonishing that the precipitate of the former solution has furnished more oxygenated muriatic acid than that of the second, _ The reported experiments, and some others like them, of which I have not spoken, prove: A. That oxide of nickel, weakly or violently warmed, does not take the yellow colour; and that if this colour has been observed by Mr. Schnaubert, it must depend either on a certain connection of elements which entered the compo- sition of his oxide, or perhaps upon a mixture of a little arsenic. B. That we cannot, by the aid of the process of Mr. Schnaubert, obtain an oxide of nickel exempt from cobalt, since it does not even occasion a separation of the two oxides sufficiently far to be sensible to the eye, C. J pass over in silence several experiments which I have made for finding a sure and exact methad to produce this separation, because they have not conducted me to the desired end, or presented me with any other interesting phenomenon: they tended chiefly to point out an acid which with one of the oxides formed an insoluble salt, and with the other a salt easily dissolved, It only ne Qh On Gravelly and Catcutous Concretions. 199 for me, therefore, to return to the process already pointed out, A, which consists in a partial decomposition of nitrate ef ammoniacal nickel: for that which has been proposed by Lehman, to melt the nickel mixed with cobalt from fif- teen to twenty times, to a commencement of vitrification, for the purpose of scorifying all the cobalt; as well as that pointed out by Bergman, to repeat the melting three or four times with eight or twelve times as much of pure ni- tre, was. too troublesome and expensive. In consequence, I repeatedly treated the oxide of nickel, which by means of carbonate of potash had been separated trom the triple salt, not dissolved by the former evaporation, in such a manner that, after having dissolved it by nitric acid, I had recoutse to ammonia and to evaporation, as explained above. It is thus that I finally obtained, entirely exempt from co- balt, the oxide separated by potash from the triple salt which, had been redissolved after evaporation. The oxide which was separated by the evaporation of the nitrate of ammoniacal nickel was in the former opera- tion already entirely purged of cobalt; only it still contained, as has been observed, a little nitric acid. Oxide of nickel, which, after having been reduced to a state of nakedness by evaporation, contains still some cobalt, is naturally sus- ceptible of undergoing anew the same operation, By this method we may be served with the article in question, until our further discoveries have shown us one more expeditious. It does not occasion any considerable expense ; for by means of potash we may effect, in a retort, the evaporation of nitrate of ammoniacal nickel, the same as the subsequent decomposition of the triple salt, and thus save the ammonia for other uses. As is the case in work¢ on a great scale, we can also save a part of the nitrate from the former operation by the evaporation of the water used in washing it. oo XL. An experimental Inquiry into the Nature of Gravelly and Calculous Concretions in the Human Sulject ; and the Effects of Alkaline and Acid Substances on them, in and out of the Body. By tHomas Ecan, M.D. M.R.1LA* Tur constant occurrence of these afflicting complaints in Simpson’s Gouty Hospital, to which I have been physician for several years, first turned my serious attention to the * From Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. N¢4 most 200 On Graveily and Calculous Coneretions. most probable means of alleviating or removing them. But, to obtain this desirable end, an examination into the nature of the predisposing and proximate causes; of the chemical ‘and other properties of gravelly matter.itself; and that spe- cies of calculus most generally resulting from its aggrega- tion; as well as of the remedies, and their mode of opera- tion, bécame indispensably necessary. I must also ac- knowledge that I was not a little excited to this inquiry by the consideration, that, whilst the medicines now most con- fided in by modern practitioners are supposed to exert no energy on those substances out of the body, yet their be- neficial effects, taken internally, stand uncontroverted by the experience of almost every physician. Induced by these motives, I had, as far back as- the year 1799, instituted a series of experiments in hopes of throwing some more light on this subject ; and, perhaps, chemically explaining upon what ground alkaline substances in general alleviate, whilst acids as constantly aggravate, this afflicting disease. But, knowing that Messrs. Fourcroy and Vauquelin had been, for many years, particularly engaged in the analysis of urine and its morbid concretions; and expecting, from their superior abilities in researches of this kind, that the object which I had in view would be more satisfactorily fulfilled, I did not wish to intrude any observations of my own onthe public. “After, however, most anxiously attending to the result of their scientific labours on this subject, as they have been, since that period, successively detailed, by M. fourcroy, in the Annales de Chimie, Memoirs of the National Institute, ‘and latterly in his great and elaborate work the Conncis-: sances Chimiques ; and finding little, if indeed any things illustrative of the subject, to which I would wish to point the attention of the faculty as well as the public in general, I again latterly repeated, with much care, my experiment, of 1799, and added some more, which may probably prove interesting in a practical point of view. : These, with some observations, and deductions from them, I now, with diffidence, offer to the candour and ‘consideration of the academy. I must here premise, that the limits of an academic dis- -sertation necessarily confine me chiefly to the consideration of gravelly matter itself, and that species 6f calculus which most generally results from its aggregation. Though determined to intrude as little as possible on their time by an useless quotation from antient authors, , who, On Gravelly and Calculous Coneretions. 201 who could have no clear ideas of the subject ; vet the betier illustration of my object, as well as a sense of justice, oblige me to go as far back as Van Helmont, whose great thoug h eccentric genius first observed that the subject matter ‘ot calculus existed in the urine itself. But the flighty extra- vagance of his ideas, of which he has given us a specimen on this subject in his Treatise de Lithiasi, (a wonderful production for the time,) caused little attention to be»paid to his opimion ; and it was reserved for the capacious ‘and learned genius of Boerhaave first to ascertain, beyond future doubt, the presence of o gravelly matter as a bail constl- tuent part of urine, kept in'chemical solution in it, and eli- minated by it out of the system. OF this important fact no material use was made, until the all- -pry:ng genius of the immortal Linnzus induced him to request his friend Scheele to turn, fora moment, his great chemical abilities to the investigation of this subject : ; ~ with what success is but too well known. And from this again had arisen the further prosecution of this inquiry by the celebrated Bergman. The result of the analysis of the latter was h ughly ho- nourable to the former chemist, as they perfectly aoreed in almost every particular, with the exception of some smal] quantity ‘of insoluble matter, and»the preseuce of lime, observed by Bergman: a difference now very easily accounted for; the former having examined calenli of the pure lithic acid, or, as it is now termed, uric kind, (by far the most common species,) and entirely soluble in pure al- kaline lixivia and nitric acid; the latter, those of the mixed kind, consisting also chiefly ‘of lithie acid, but with inter- posed lamine ; or probably a nucleus of either calcareous phosphate or oxalate of lime, which frequently occurs in a very large proportion of these concretions. We may also observe, that Bergman had not, at this period, an adequate idea of the large proportion and insolability of animal matter contained ia them, From their joint analysis it was, for the first time, proved that the subject matter of g ravel, and of a very large pro- portion of calculi, was present ina state of real cliemical solution in all healthy urine; that it was possessed of the following distinguishing chemical properties : Insipid, inodorous, erystallizable, nearly insoluble in cold water, and only soluble in some thousand times its weight of boiling water; separable again from this, upon cooling, in a beautiful and peculiar crystalline form; of easy solu- bility in pure alkaline lixivia, which it renders sweetish, and neutralizes; precipitable from these again by the weakest 202 On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. weakest acids, and still possessing its original crystalline form and properties. ‘That, from these circumstanees, with that of turning the vegetable blues red, it was of an acid nature, soluble in nitrous acid with efferv escence: this so- lution tingeing the skin and other animal matters red, and, upon evaporaiton to dryness, assuming a red rose colour : : this last property being peculiarly characteristic of this sub- stance ; subliming in part by distillation, without any al- teration in its properties, and affording carbonate of am- monia, and other usual animal products, partly from the admixture of animal matter, and probably some adhering urea, To these distinguishing chemical properties of the Swedish chemist, Fourcroy has since added the following : When triturated with a hxivium of either of the fixed al- kalies, it forms a matter of a saponaceous consistence, very soluble with excess of alkali, but little so without it. The saturated urates of potash and soda are little sapid, soluble, or crystallizable. By precipitating their dilute solution by muriatic acid we obtain the lithic acid in brilliant needle- hke crystals, very voluminous, a little coloured, tendimg to the yellow, or fawve, as‘he calls it. Ammonia exerts little, if any, solvent power upon it: lime water takes up a little. The alkaline carbonates have no action upon it: and this last cireumstanee, I would beg leave to observe, has con- tinued to be the opinion to this day; but how far founded, will appear in the sequel. To this matter Scheele gave tHe name of diihie acid; by which it continued to be known, until our countryman, Dr. Pearson, has latterly proposed that of wre; a change greedily adopted by the French che- mists, as being more particularly indicative of its origin. In compliance | with the philosophers of both nations, f shall, in future, term it wric acid, and the concretions of that natere, calculi of the uric acid kind. The publication of Scheele’s Essay excited the experimental mquiries of both chemists and physicians. His experiments were, accord- ingly, repeated by several of our countrymen in particular ; but with various, and in many instances different, results.* lt was already enrsorily observed, that Bergman’ s analysis differed from Schecle’s m some circumstances, which he, even at that period, was disposed to attribute to a differenee m the nature of the calcu which they respectively exa- mined ; and this conjecture has been fully established by every subsequent i inquiry since that time. We accordingly find 2 paper of Dr. Dawson’s, in the London Medical Transactions for the year 1769, showing these concretions to be of very different and opposite kinds, and, of course, soluble On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. 203 soluble in very different and opposite kinds of nienstrua: as also a letter from Dr. Saunders to Dr. Percival, of Man- chester, published in the third volume of Percival’s Philo- sophical and Experimental Essays, in 1776, detailing several experiments; from which he fairly conclades that the doc- tor’s enthusiastic hope, of dissolving all calculi in a solution of carbonic acid, must prove groundless, from the very. dif- ferent nature of their component parts, as ascertained by his own experiments. This was placed beyond’ further doubt by our own learned and ingenious professor Mr. William Higgins, who, in an analysis of a calculus, of which he gives an account in his Comparative View of the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Theories, (a work of sin- gular merit for that period, to which we will afterwards refer,) and published so far back as 1789, enumerates the many -various substances contained in one specimen only. The researches of Austin, Lane, and Brugnatelli, led to similar results. But to the learned and accurate Dr. Wol- Jaston we stand indebted for the first clear and distinct dis- crimination of the component parts of these substances. In a paper read to the Royal Society in the year 1797, which would not discredit either a Bergman or a Klaproth, he has most accurately demonstrated, both analytically and synthetically, the component parts of three distinct species of calculi; namely, the fusible, as he terms it, or the ammo- niaco-magnesian phosphate of Fourcroy ; the mulberry, or oxalate of lime kind; and bone earth calculus, or phos= phate of lime, which, with the uric, well known to us since the time of Scheele, left us then acquainted with the four species of calculi of most frequent occurrence. Under these circumstances I cannot help expressing my surprise at finding M. Fourcroy still assuming the merit of the dis- covery of all the different component parts of calculi, the uric acid and phosphate of lime excepted. This cireum- stance must appear the more unaccountable, when we con- sider that the communication of Dr. Wollaston’s experi= ments was through the medium of the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1797. Finally, M. Fourcroy, to whom Europe stands not a little indebted for the present general diffusion of chemical knowledge, and to whom the medical profession owe the greatest obligations for his unremitted application to animal chemistry, has, in conjunction with Vauquelin, given us the result of bis researches upon five hundred calculi; from which it appears that they contain the seven following ingredients : i. Uric acid. 2. Urate of ammonia. , 3. Phosphate 204 On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions, Phosphate of lime. Oe 4, Ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate. 5. Oxalate of lime. - , G. Silica, a A 7. Animal. matter. From the prevalence of any of tliese ingredients, or their relative proportions, he divides them into four genera ; aud these again into twelve species: for an account of which T must refer to the tenth volume of the Connozssances Chi- migques, and the. Memoirs of the National Institute; not proposing to go into their chemical, properties further than may be necessary to my present inquiry; namely, of how far acids may be conducive to the formation, or alkalescent substances to the prevention, or even solution, of a large proportion of gravelly and calculous concretions. We have already remarked, that to the sagacity of Boerhaave we are indebted for the knowledge of gravelly matter being a con- stituent part of urine kept i in chemical solution in it; and, happily for mankind, only separable from it after "being some considerable time out of the bedy.. After minutely detailing the ingenious means made use of by Boerhaave to ascertain this important point, to which I beg leave to refer, his commentator, Van Swieten, goes on “to ob- serve : <¢ Hoe calculi rudimenta adsunt etiam in urina hominum sanissimorum ; que, si una cum urina secernuntur, ante- quam ab urina secesserint, et concrescere inceperint, nullo modo sanitatem ledent. Cum autem observatum fuerit, illam separationem rudimentorum calculi citius fieri in qui- busdam hominibus, tardius in aliis, patet, illos magis cal- culo obnoxios vivere, in quibus citius hac separatio arenu- Jarum obtinet. An quandoque illa separatio contingit jam in renibus, et in vesica, antequam urina.expellatur de cor- pore? Certe videtur. Vidi seepius, una cum urina excretum sabulum nephriticum expulsum fuisse, statimque, calente adhuc et fumante urina, in fundo matule subsedisse. Con- ‘tigit aliquoties, inventam fuisse, in linteis sanorum infantum urina madidis, copiam sabuli nephritici, satis duri, quod videtur una cum urina excretum fuisse.. Cum enim magna cura haberetur, ne hi infantes, (illustri genere nati,) diutius ‘urind,, vel ais sordibus, conspurcati manerent, et urina statim per lintea penetret, vix videtur possibile fuisse, utin “urina jam emissa hoc sabulum productum fuerit, 3 intra unam sige horum.”’ 4 ; And again he adds: ‘ Hoe sabulum, in urina _etlam,sa- nissima concrescens, vocari posset calculus nativus; a quo nemo liber est; at qui tunc tantum metuendus videtur, st / cita On Gravelly and: Calculous Concretions. 205 cito in urina concrescat. Felices illi, in quibus tardissime hoe fit. Propriam szepius examinavi uriuam, lztusque vidi, ru~ dimenta illa prima calculi separari quam tardissime, requir quandoque horas viginti quatuor et ultra, antequam In sa- bulum majoris molis concrescere potucrint. Sed et, licet decimum tertium etatis lastram emensus jam fuerim, ab omni lithiasi immunis vixi.”’ The mode and appearances attending the separation and crystallization of this substance from healthy urine, 1s one of the most beautiful that, probably, chemisiry affords. But, as the circumstances are so minutely and correctly detailed by Boerhaave, and his commentator, Van Swieten, in his treatise De Culculo, vol. vy. p. 201 and 202, and cor- respond so much with my own experiments, so often re- peated, I must referto him. On this passage, however, I must observe, that the space of twenty-four hours, men- tioned by him as the period of spontaneous separation, 1s by far, in the healthy state, too short, and that it extends to two, three, and sometimes more days, according to the existing temperature and other circumstances. Nothing, therefore, I will presume to say, is more erroneous than the assertion, repeated in almost every chemical book, that the uric acid separates from urine upon cooling. When this occurs, which frequently happens, partic ularly withy children, the urine is certainly surcharged with this very insoluble substance. An increased temperature hastens the incipient decom- position of urine, and its first ammoniacal degeneration is always attended by the deposition of its uric acid in its crys~’ talline form. This did not escape the observation of Hales, who tells us, that urine, tending to putrefaction, affords most of this acid substance ; and, indeed, were it to be deposited upon cooling, or within the space of twenty-four hours, or evers more, "as is 80 generally asserted, it should every day pre- sent itself to physicians, who so constantly attend to the state of urine in glasses; but this is by no means the case: and we find Fourcroy, in his last publication, mentioning from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, which certainly only applics fo summer heat, or the circumstance already men- tioned. Our next great obligation is, undeubtedly, to Scheele, who has made us acquainted with its nature, and the very distinct chemical propertics already enumerated, While in the state of @ravel it is ever the same, w hether * passed 3 206 Ox Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. passed immediately with the urine, or spontaneously de- posited, or precipitated from it; a circumstance that, for a lone time, continued to give me much surprise, consider- ; 2 prises ing the variety of calculi; but of the truth of which I was. convinced by the examination of many hundred speci- mens, for many years back. I was therefore pleased to find, that Fourcroy, for the first time, in his Connoissances Chimiques, asserts, ‘‘ les sables des reins sont presque toujours de l’acide urique.” And in another place he says, speaking of the uric acid, ‘ c’est lui qui forme les sables, qui se crystallize, et s’atrache aux par- trois de vaisseaux.” No wonder, then, that calculi of this kind should be of most frequent occurrence; and that, of five hundred ana- lysed by Fourcroy, one-fourth should entirely consist of it, besides its occasional admixture with the remainder; and of three hundred, examined by Pearson, the greater number were found to be of this nature. Having premised these necessary observations, we have now to consider to what circumstances we may attribute its separation, in a crystallized or aggregate state, from its na- tural solyent; the only condition in which it can be pro- ductive of inconvenience, or diseases of this kind. And first, I would observe that, being a natural secretion, of which the urie 1s only the vehicle destined to carry it out of the system, it must be subject to the same derange- ments with the other secretions of the human body, and may, of course, sometimes exceed in quantity, and at other times be more deficient; which last circumstance seems to take-place during the continuance of acute diseases. : That a morbidly increased secretion does frequently oc- cur, and that, too, independent of external causes, we have the most satisfactory proof of in the hereditary dispositions of many families to this complaint: and, indeed, when we consider the same to take place, relative to the functions and secretions of the liver, we must not be surprised at si- milar deviations in those of the kidneys. - Here, truly, they are of more mischievous tendency, as, from the very sparing solubility of the uric acid, (even in its own natural menstruum,) the smallest excess in quantity must subject It to precipitation. Having premised these necessary considerations, I shall proceed to inquire into those circumstances which the ex- pinience and observation of all times have pointed out to us as the most frequent occasional causes of these i Ae 5 . an s On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. 207 aud how far these opinions may be confirmed by experi- ments mstituted for that purpose. ~ And first, It is a matter of notoriety, that the period of life, from infancy to about fifteen inclusive, is most subject to disorders of this kind. Of this practical observation we have an interesting con- firmation inserted in the second volume of the Memoirs of the French National Institute, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, year 7. Under the former happy regime there was instituted, about forty years ago, at Luneville, in Lor- raine, an hospital for the exclusive relief of calculous and gravelly patients. In that interval, 1629, of both sexes, were admitted, and operated upon. Of these, 1564 were males, and only 65 females. C. Saucerotte, an associate of the Institute, to whom we are indebted for these interesting details, annexes tables indicative of the number of these patients, that occurred at the different periods of life, from the age of one up to se- venty-eight. ‘To these, as too extensive to be inserted here, T would beg leave to refer; and shall satisfy myself with some extracts only, expressive of the general result. Age of Patients. :. Number of Patients. Male Sex. i year to 2 - - 1 2 years - - 14 SP INee Ags td he ea 4 - - - 131} 3 - - ~ 145 6 - - - 147 From this age, which afforded the maximum of the num- her of paticnts, we find a gradual declension, as follows : Age of Patients. Number of Patients. 8 years - - - 121 10 - a eh Sigg 15 - - - 39 20 - - - 16 25 - ~ - 7 3 - ~ = & 35 - - - 4 50 - - - 5 60 - - g 70 7 ~ ~ 2 =3 = - - 1 208 On Gravelly and Calculous Coneretions's Of the sixty-five females, «Age of Patients. Number of Patients. 1 year to 3 = - 1 4 —E ee ~ - 8 Sete s + “eee 6 - - - - 4 BG Ae i ee ba & - - - - 5 ne) - - + ~ 3 mf - - - - 4 14 ~ - - - 1 From which period, down to seventy-eight, there o¢curs but one or two upon each year. From these, then, we learn how much more subject the male sex is to those com- plaints than the female; and the earlier periods of life, than the more advanced. For among the males in the sixth’ year we find 147 (the greatest number), and among the fe- males only five at cight. From these periods, in both sexes, the nunrbers rapidly. diminish. These facts would lead us to conclude that some physio- logical cause, peculiar to the functions of this early siage, may give rise to this difference; and I will not pretend to say but this may possibly exist: but when we consider that in every country the infant poor are the greatest sufferers, we are induced to inguire further, and suspect the existence of some general cause affecting and applicable to them all. That a similarity of diet (in the children of this class of so- clety, In particular) must every where nearly take place, is evident ; and that this is, but too often, of the kind most prone to the acescent tendency, such as pap, gruel, sour milk, &c.; all which it is not always in the power of the parents to renew, or administer, in a recent and sound state; an error not untrequently occurring from the negligence of murses eyen in the upper ranks, but irremediable in the lower; where this acescent tendency cannot be corrected by the seasonable admixture of broth, or other light animal food; their unhappy situation confining them exclusively, like their cattle, to the sole use of vegetables and the fari- nacea. To pass on from infaney to the advanced periods of life, and begin with our own island, we find that, considering: the extent of our population, the disease is of relative rare occurrence: so much so, that the late Mr. Dease, (whose premature death we have still to deplore, as a national cala- mity,) with all his well deserved celebrity as a lithotomust, “never eperated upon move than sixty. A small number, indeed, mr Ox Graveliy and Calculous Concretions. 209 indeed, when we consider that the operation is seldom, if ever, attempted in the country. And why this should happen here, we shall be presently, perhaps, better able to judge. The reverse of this occurs in the sister kingdom; and the Irish student feels astonished at the frequency of the operation in all the London hospitals, though also per- formed in those of the more considerable country towns 5 and, upon inquiry, he finds that a large proportion of these patients.come up from the cider counties of Hereford, Devon, &c.: and it must naturally occur to him, that the general use of fermented liquors of every kind, beer, cider, perry, and factitious wines, which prevail in England, ren- ders the disease of more frequent occurrence there than with us, the great mass of our people being deprived of these luxuries. If we pass over to the Continent, we find our neighbour- ing provinces, Picardy, Normandy, and Britany, in par- ticular, still more subject to affections of this kind; so much so, that the late Mr. Dease could not give credit to the extraordinary number of patients operated on, in one vear only, in the hospital of Rouen; though many must have, of course, repaired to Paris. The same, though in 2 lesser degree, takes place in Champagne; and it is almost unnecessary to observe, that the general beverage of the northern provinces consists of cider, or of poor wine, equally acescent in its nature, and prone to the acctous fermentation. The Champagne, though somewhat less so, is replete with carbonic acid gas and disengaged tartarous acid; and though, in the more southern provinces, this malady cannot be considered as endemial, yet it is of fre- quent occurrence in the hospitals of Montpellier. For, even in these favoured climes, where wine is of so little value, and withal so spirituous, the unfortunate pea- sant is obliged to content himself with an inferior quality, prepared by a second maceration of the marc of the grape, which he denominates picquet ; a patois appellation, most happily applied to its highly acid quality. In that once happy country, Switzerland, on the con- trary, as baron Haller assures us, the diseasc is by no means frequent, and chiefly confined to the children of the poorer sort ; their mountainous and elevated situations af- fording them little or no vinous liquors; whereas their neighbours, the inhabitants of the Rhine and Moselle, as well as some tracts on the banks of the Danube, are pecu- liarly afflicted. The truth of this observation we find confirmed by the Vol. 23. No. 91, Dec. 1805- O medical ‘ 210 -- On Gravelly and Calculous Coneretions. medical authors of all times. Silvius observes, “ Ving acida tenuia et Rhenana, magis nocere calculosis quam opima;” and the same is particularly insisted on in Do- Jeus’s “ Encyclopedia Ephcmerides Nature Curiosorum,’” and Rivinus’s ** Morbi Endemici,” &c. Now, the wines in these countries are well known to bé of an acid quality : and Hoffman asserts, and that too from experiments, that they abound in the tartarous acid, having found them to contain a double relative quantity of that in other wines ; and to this we may add no small proportion of carbonic acid. Linnzus, in his dissertation “ De Genesi Calculi,’’ inserted in the second volume of the * Ameenitates Acade- mice,” seems more particularly to point out acids, and acescent drinks, as the chief causes of calculous affections. He says: ® Acida fermentescentia omnia calculum promo- vent; hinc vina aeida genesi calculi magis favent, quam dulcia. Qui acida vina copiose ingurgitant, podagre ct ealculo plus exponuntur, quam illi, qui terras calidiorés inhabitant, et dulcia vina hauriunt. Nee mirum, cum vini Rhenani libree quatuor destillatione dant spiritus acidi drachmas quinque ; et vini Tocariensis prebet spiritus acidi tantum semidrachmam, teste Hoffmanno. Sanissimus quis- gue a potu acido spe stranguriam incurrit, eo quod ab acidis inyestis particule terrestres precipitantur.” And again: ‘* Quin podagra igitur et calculus ab acido gene- rentur, nullum est dubium, id etiam ab eorum communi cura, ad quam pergimus, luculentius patebit.”” Beverovie, De Calculo, 80, also observes: In nullo vino tantum tar- tari apud nos accrescit, quam Rhenano. De me ipso, quod etiam ex plurimis audivisse memini, possum testarl,. nun- quam Rhenanum assumsisse paulo Jargius, quin copiose arenulas excernerem.”’ The reverse of all this is observed to take place where. the use of wine is prohibited. Rivinus observes, that in the city of Batavia, where the pursuit of commerce brings together a vast assemblage of the neighbouring Asiatic na- tions, whenever the disease occurs, it is almost always in the instance of some Hollander, who, in his passage to India, drank freely of bottled beer, and used sour esout. In Persia, the same author, in his excellent treatise De Moriis Endemicis, observes, that whenever calculous af- fection occurs, either in Ispahan or the provinces, it is as- suredly in the instance of some Armenian; fellows, (to use his words,) who, in every latitude, drink more wine than water. Again, in Grand Cairo, where the proximity of the Gre- +e ue Gan islands and ready conveyance b the Nile render 3 2 ? E wihe ~ On Gravelly and Calculous Concretians. 211 ‘vine of easy acquisition, and drunkenness and public houses as common as in any city in Germany; we learn, from Prosper Alpinus, that the disease is of very frequent occurrence; for, besides a mixed population of Franks, Armenians, Arabs, &c., the Mamelukes, as well as many other Turks of the higher ranks, do not, in deference to the Mahometan law, refrain from wine. The Cyprian and Grecian wines; if not adulterated, or become acescent by dilution, and the warm temperature of that city, are, in themselves, among the least objectionable. But, when we. consider that Paris is chiefly supplied with Burgundy, and that yet in no part of the world does there occur more mischief from the attempts to keep down and correct its acescency, we shall easily form an opinion of the quality of the wine retailed in Cairo. To this abstinence, then, from wine and fermented li+ quors; as also, perhaps, to the admixture of a large pro- portion of the warmest spices in their vegetable food, tend- ing to correct its acescent tendency; we may ascribe the rare occurrence of this disease in the more southern cli- mates, Now, these more general remarks we find peculiarly to coincide with the observations of the patients themselves, as well as that of the physician; for such as have laboured under these complaints a sufficient length of time to be- come acquainted with the juvantia and ledentia, most scrupulously abstain from acids, and acescent drinks of all kinds, and, what they find most particularly pernicious, heer or ales turning over to the acetous fermentation, or hard, as they are generally termed. And, indeed, nothing is more common, than that an indulgence in cider, claret, or acidulated punch, nay, a draft of hard beer or porters should be followed by a fit of the gout and gravel. The connection between these diseases forms an interest- ing and curious subject of physiological as well as patholo- gical inquiry ; but, proposing to offer some observations on this subject on a future occasion, I shall at present decline entering upon it, and pass on to observe, that the bad ef- fects of all acidulous drinks are fully confirmed by the experience of our many sufferers in Simpson’s hospital. Hewson, who lately died there at the advanced age of 102, never tasted the beer of the house during the summer months, and substituted milk for it; being taught by ex- perience, that its acid tendency, during that period, always induced his gravelly paroxysms. And Clapham, who suf- fered much trom gout and iy » and was for many y hie 9 a sDip 212 On Pneumatic Medicine. a ship captain, informed me his voyages to America were always succeeded by fits of both; which he attributed to a tree indulgence in the use of cider, a beverage to which he was then peculiarly attached: and that, at any time, he could excite a paroxysm of one or the other, or both, by drinking acidelated punch, or claret. Khensk our greatest martyr (having all his articulations distorted by gouty’ concretions, and who once lived in easy circum- stances,) assured me that the severest and longest protracted fit of the gout and gravel he ever experienced was occa- sioned by a surfeit of a poor vapid claret. And I shall conclude this part of my subject by observing, that the clergy of the Roman catholic church are peculiarly liable to these complaints, and form no small proportion of the Rumber operated upon in this city; which I would attri- bute to the use of a small and sour wine during their resi- dence in their seminaries abroad. To be continued.] ALI. Tweniy-fifth Communication from Dr. THORNTON, relative to Pneumatic Medicine. To Mr. Tilloch. Hinde-street, Manchester-square, T DEAR SIR, November 1, oan t HE number of cures performed by the pneumatic prac- tice, after the usual routine of medical agency has failed, are now become so very numerous, that I am certain the record of the whole would fill a large volume, so eager have been the afflicted to seek resource from the aérial remedies in diseases probably otherwise incurable. In the family of Mr. Wilson, sadler, the subject of the Jast communication, two cases have occurred which yet further evince the eflicacy of the pneumatic practice. A Decline cured by Vital Air. Elizabeth Barlow had been ina declining state of health for four years, frequently sick, weak, and debilitated; anda medical gentleman, a relation, pronounced to the parents the improbability of her long surviving. The vital air, two quarts, diluted with atmospheric, was now tried with tonic medicines: it was observed from the very first day that her appetite and looks were improved. In six weeks she was restored to health, and has since continued well, It is now two years. : J Another New Metal discovered by M. Tromsdor ff. 218 Another cured by Vital Air. Miss Ann Russel, also, niece to Mr. Wilson, a beautiful young lady, «t,. 20, fell into a decline, or wasting, which continued for the space of nine months. She was reduced so low as hardly to be able to walk across the room; her bones nearly came through her skin; a total loss of appetite, with dejection of spirits, took place, but no cough. As medi- cines seemed to have no effect in arresting the progress of this decay, the vital air was had recourse to, which, to the astonishment of all, produced a very speedy cure. The vital air, a gallon per diem, each. time of inhaling it diluted with four parts of atmospheric, produced a glow over the whole frame; the appetite returned, the spirits of course were increased, and the young lady gained flesh. It is now a months, and she has all along continued in perfect health, ; Observations on these Cases by Dr. Thornton. The functions of life often lag, as it were, without dis: organization of parts, and this from an impoverished or disoxygenated state of the blood. Tonics only half do their office, unless the vital principle in the blood be increased ; and though only inhaled once a day, yet if we calculate that the momentum is always going on, and that only one impulse to a wheel in motion accelerates all the movements for a given time, therefore this one impulse in the animated machine has a great effect: thus the stimulus of one or more glasses of wine once a day has a diurnal effect, if I - May so use the expression, on the animated machine. I have the honqur to remain, dear sir, Your faithful obedient servant, Rogpert JOHN THORNTON. XLII. On a new Metal recently discovered by M. Troms- DORFF*, M. TROMSDORFF received the fossil containing the new metal of M. Counsellor Thon, of Eisenach, who found it ina mass of rock. The fogsil was of an iron gray co- lour, very weighty, and had a scaly fracture, exhibiting, when seen through a magnifying glass, holes and stripes of a deep yellow, * From Jeurnal de Chimie et de Physique, tom. v. 03 M. Thon 214 New Metal discovered by M. Tromsdorff. M. Thon took this fossil at the first view for anthracite: he held a small bit of it above the flame of a lamp for the sake of assuring himself of its incombustibility; but it in- flamed, took’ fire, and burnt with a pale blue flame. Some drops flowed, which were crystallized in stars,-and were surrounded with a yellow rim. The mineral, when melted further, kept the same colour, On dropping some nitric acid on some bits of the mineral, the acid did not appear for some time to attack it; but by the aid of heat it changed it to a reddish brown, and by ebullition dissolved it, taking to itself a yellow colour. To assure himself that the mi- neral did not contain any mercury, M. Thon rubbed it on a plate of silver, to which it communicated a yellow colour. M. Tromsdorff tried, with the small quantity of the mi- neral which he had been able to procure, the following ex- periments: 1. Five grains of the mineral were put into a small cylin- der of glass, open on one side and exposed to the action of fire. They melted like wax, and spread a very strong sul-~ phurous odour. : There was deposited on the sides, at the top a white sub-~ Jimate, lower down a sublimate of yellow sulphur, lower still an orange-coloured sublimate, and finally a crystalline black sublimate, having a metallic lustre. The whole was then volatilized—the cylinder was put sideways. 2. Five grains of the fossil were exposed to heat with some nitric acid: the mineral acquired a red-brick colour, and the acid attacked it strongly, disengaging nitrous acid, The solution was evaporated to dryness, and a powder was obtained of a red colour which emitted a strong smell of sulphur. The powder was boiled with water, in which it was dissolved excepting nearly a grain, which had the co- lour of sulphur, and which burnt with the usual flame and smell of that combustible. 3. The solution (2.) contained some free nitric acid, and perhaps also sulphuric acid. The redundant acid was sa- turated with ammonia, and the solution was decomposed by several reagents. _a. Prussiate of potash produced a beautiful green pre- eipitate. 5 4, Hydro-sulphuret of ammonia gave a shamoy-yellow precipitate. ce. Tincture of gall nuts gave a deep-brown precipitate inclining to blue, which after some time became blueish BPAY» ; d, Caustic New Metal discovered by M. Tromsdorff... 218 d. Caustic ammonia in excess produced neither preci- pitate nor change of colour. These experiments prove that there was no iron, no cop- per, nor nickel, in the mineral; but its manner of acting with the reagents, to which it was submitted, made M. Tromsdorff suspect the presence of a new metal, which the above experiment demonstrated, and that this metal was combined with sulphur, and was volatile. 4. The shining black sublimate was as well as possible separated from the yellow, and put to digest with nitric acid. It dissolved entirely, disengaging nitrous gas, and formed a clear and colourless solution. _M. Tromsdorff then saturated the excess of the acid by liquid ammonia, and successively decomposed it in portions with the above reagents. _He obtained the same results as before. 5. Some grains of the fossil were then heated with some nitro-muriatic acid. It dissolved entirely, except a light residue of a reddish yellow colour, which was apparently sulphur in combination with some metallic particles. The solution when filtered was at first clear, but grew turbid on cooling. It was saturated with ammonia, and decomposed by the same reagents as formerly. The results were the same.. 6. Some grains of the fossil were put to digest with muriatic acid. It disengaged from it sulphurized hydro- gen gas, and the fossil became brownish : however, the acid attacked it but slowly. The remainder of the fossil was put to boil even to dryness with colourless sulphuric acid concentrated, and the residue was. diluted with water. It dissolved itself entirely, except a powder almost yellow, which, when collected on the filter, washed and dried, burnt fike sulphur. The solution kad a reddish colowr, and contained much free acid. It was tried by several reagents. a. Prussiate of potash produced a green precipitate. b. Hydro-sulphuret of ammonia produced a shamoy precipitate. c. Tincture of galls, a blucish gray precipitate. d, Caustic alkali, a white precipitate. e. Carbonate of potash, the same precipitate. 7. The two last precipitates remained white when ex- posed to the air. They dissolved easily in acetic acid, with which they gave a colourless solution, which was divided, and submitted to the following experiments : a. In a part of the solution was put a small polished Pips O4 of ~ 216 New Metal discovered by M. Tromsdorff.. . of copper money. After twenty-four hours the piece was covered with a grayish yellow crust; which, when rubbed with a burnisher, took the colour of shining iron. _ b. He divided the remaining part into three portions, which he decomposed by prussiate of potash, hydro-sul- phuret of ammonia, and tincture of galls : exactly the same results were obtained as in the preceding trials with the same reagents. Having exhausted by these experiments his supply of mineral, M. Tromsdorff was obliged to state his researches. He concluded from the results, that the fossil forms a combination of sulphur with a new metal. But he says he cannot yet pronounce this with ngorous certainty. It is proved that the fossil contains a metal, as much by its mauner of acting with the reagents, as by its precipitation by copper, and by the metallic aspect of the substance which it forms by sublimation. And it is not doubtful that 16 contains sulphur, since we can really separate this sub- stance. The first experiment proved that this metal is volatile, for it leaves not a single residue on the fire. We know no other metals that are volatile but mercury, bismuth, arsenic, -zinc, and antimony. The metal in question cannot be mercury ; for, besides its fluid form, this metal produces vermilion in combination with sulphur, of which it has not been possible here to discover the slightest trace. ik cannot be bismuth, which is less volatile, and of which the acid solutions are precipitated by the prussiate of potash of a yellowish colour, by hydro-sulphuret of ammonia of a blackish-brown colour, and by ga'ls of a yellow greenish colour. It cannot be arsenic, cr that would have dis- covered itself by the smell, and which besides would not have yielded the pherfémena observed. - Still less can it be zinc, which requires a very strong heat to volatilize it, which is precipitated by the reagents employed by our au- thor under quite different colours, and which, instead of being precipitated by copper, does itself precipitate that metal. Finally, antimony 1s precipitated of a white colour by prussiate of potash, and erange by hydro-sulphuret of ammonia, and its solution in sulphuric acid is not at all reddish, as is that of our metal. M. Tromsdorff concludes from al] this, that the fossil he has examined is in all prot bability a combination of sulphur with a metal hitherto unknown. XLIU. On [ary XLII. On muscular Motion. By Antrony Car.isir, Esq. F.R.S.: being the Croonian Lecture. Read before the’ Royal Society November 8, 1804. [Concluded from p. 123.] bag following animals were put into separate glass ves- sels, each filled with a pound weight of distilled water, pre- viously boiled to expel the air, and the vessels inverted into quicksilver; viz. one gold fish, one frog, two leeches, and one fresh water muscle*. These animals were confined for several days, and exposed in the sun in the day-time, during the month of January, the temperature being from 43° to 48°; but no air bubbles were produced in the ves- sels, nor any sensible diminution of the water. The frog died on the third day, the fish on the fifth, the leeches on the eighth, and the fresh water muscle on the thirteenth. This unsuccessful experiment was made with the hope of ascertaining the changes produced in water by the respira- tion of aquatic animals, but the water had not undergone any. chemical alteration. Animals of the class mammalia, which hybernate, and become torpid in the winter, have at all times a power of subsisting under a confined respiration, which would de- stroy other animals not having this peculiar habit. In all the hybernating mammalia there is a peculiar structure af the heart, and its principal veins: the superior cava divides into two trunks; the left, passing over the left auricle of the heart, opens into the inferior part of the right auricle, near to the entrance of the vena cava inferior. ‘The veins usually called azygos accumulate into two trunks, which open each into the branch of the vena cava superior, on its own side of the thorax. The intercostal arteries and veins in these animals are unusually large. This tribe of qnadrupeds have the habit of rolling up their bodies into the form of a ball during ordinary sleep, and they invariably assume the same attitude when in the torpid state: the limbs are all folded into the hollow made by the bending of the body; the clavicles, or first ribs, and the sternum, are pressed against the fore part of the neck, so as to interrupt the flow of blood which supplies the head, and to compress the trachea: the abdominal viscera and the hinder limbs are pushed against the diaphragm, so as to interrupt its motions, and to impede the flow of blood through the large yessels which penetrate it, and the lone ® Mytilus anatinus, gitudinal 218 On muscular WMetion. ' gitudinal extension of. the cavity of the thorax is entirely obstructed. Thus a confined circulation of the blood is. carried on through the heart, probably adapted to the last weak actions of hfe, and to its gradual recommencement. This diminished respiration is the first step into the state of torpidity ; a deep sleep accompanies it; respiration then ceases altogether; the animal temperature is totally de- stroyed; coldness and insensibility take place; and finally, the heart concludes i#s motions, and the muscles cease to be writable. It-is worthy of remark, that a confined air, and a confined respiration, ever precede these pheenomena : the animal retires from the open atmosphere, his mouth and nostrils are brought inio contact with his chest, and enveloped in fur; the limbs become rigid, but the blood never coagulates during the dormant state. On being roused, the animal yawns, the respirations are fluttering, tbe heart acts slowly and irregularly, he begins to stretch out his limbs, and proceeds in quest of food. During this dormancy, the animal may be frozen without the destruc- tion of the muscular irritability ; and this always happens to the garden snail*, and to the chrysalides of many insects during the winter of this climate. The loss of motion and sensation from the influence of low temperature aceompany each other, and the capillaries of the vascular system appear to become contracted by the Joss of animal heat, asin the examples of numbness from cold. Whether the cessation of, muscular action be owing to the impeded influence of the nerves, or to the lowered temperature of the muscles themselves, 1s doubtful ; but the known influence of cold upon the sensorial system, rather favours the supposition that a certain temperature is neces- sary for the. transmission of nervous influence as well as sensation. The hybernating animals require a longer time in drown ing than others. A full grown hedge-hog was submersed in water at 48°, and firmly retained there: air bubbles be- gan instantly to ascend, and contmucd during four minutes: the animal was not yet anxious for its liberty. After seven minutes it began to look about, attempting to escape; at ten minutes tt rolled itself up, only protruding the snout, which was hastily retracted on being touched with the finger, and even the approach of the finger caused it to re- tract. After fifteen minutes complete submersion, the ani- mal still remained rolled up; and withdrew its nose on being # Heli nemoralis. touched. On muscular Motion. 219 touched. After remaining thirty minutes under water, the animal was laid upon flannel, in an atmosphere of 62°, with its head inclined downwards; it soon began to relax the sphincter muscle which contracts-the skin, slow respira- tions commenced, and it recovered entirely, without arti- ficial aid, after two hours. Another hedge-hog, submersed in water at 94°, remained guiet until after five minutes ; about the eighth minute it stretched itself out, and expired at the tenth. It remained relaxed and extended after the eessation of the vital functions ; and its muscles were re- laxed, contrary to those of the animal drowned in the colder water. ; The irritability of the heart is inseparably connected with ‘yespiration. Wheriever the inhaled gas differs in its pro- perties from the common atmosphere, the muscular and sensible parts of the system exhibit the change; the actions of the heart are altered or suspended, and the whole mus- -cular and sensorial systems partake of the disorder: the temperature of animals, as before intimated, seems altoge- ther dependent on the respiratory functions, although it still remains uncertain in what manner this is effected. The blood appears to be the medium of conveying heat to the different parts of the body; and the changes of ani- mal temperature in the same individual at various times, or in its several parts, are always connected with the degree of rapidity of the circulation. It is no very wide stretch of physiological deduction to infer, that this increased tempe~ rature is produced by the more frequent exposure of the mass of blood to the respiratory influence, and the short time allowed in each circuit for the loss of the acquired heat. | The blood of an animal is usually coagulated immediately after death, and the muscles are contracted; but in some peculiar modes of death, neither the one nor the other of these effects is produced: with such exceptions, the two phenomena are concomitant. A preternaturat increase of animal heat delays the coagu- Jation of the blood, and the last contractions of the mus- cles: these contractions gradually disappear before any changes from putrefaction are manifested; but the cup in the coagulum of blood does not relax in the same manner ;, hence it may be inferred that the final contraction of mus- cles is not the coagulation of the blood contained in them ; neither is it a change in the reticular membrane, nor in the blood-vessels, because such contractions are not general thrgughout those substances, The coagulation of the blood . 13 220 On muscular Motion. \ is acertain criterion of death. The reiterated visitations of blood are not essential to muscular irritabilrty, because the limbs of animals, separated from the body, continue for a long time afterwards capable of contractions and relaxa- tions, The constituent elementary materials of which the pecu- liar animal and vegetable substances consist, are not sepa- rable by any chemical processes hitherto instituted, in such manner as to allow of a recombination into their former state. The composition of these substances appears to be naturally of transient duration, and the attractions of the elementary materials which form the gross substances are so loose and unsettled, that they are all decomposed without the intervention of any agent, merely by the operation of) their own elementary parts on each other. An extensive discussion of the chemical properties at- taching to the matter of muscle would be a labour unsuited to this occasion: I should not, however, discharge my pre- sent duty, if I omitted to say that all such investigations can only be profitable when effected by simple processes, and when made upon the raw materials of the animal fabric, such, perhaps, as the albumen of eggs, and the blood. But until, by synthetical experiments, the pecuhar substances of animals are composed from what are considered to be elementary materials, or the changes of organi¢ secretion imitated by art, it cannot be hoped that any determinate knowledge should be established upan which the physiology of muscles may be explained. Such researches and inyes~ tigations promise, however, the most probable ultimate suc- cess; since the phenomena are nearest allied to those of chemistry, and since all other hypotheses have, im their turns, proved unsatisfactory. igs Facts and Experiments tending to support and illustrate the preceding Argument. An emaciated horse was killed by dividing the medulla spinalis, and the large blood-vessels under the first bone of the sternum. The temperature of the flowing blood was 103° Spleen - 103 Stomach - 101 Colon ~ 98 Bladder of urme = 97 Atmosphere - 30 Three pigs, killed by a blow on the head, and by thé wnmediate division of the large arteries and veins, entering the On muscular Motion. 29} ttie middle of the basis of the heart, had the blood flowing from these vessels of 106, 1062, and 107°; the atmospheric temperature being at 31°. An ox, killed im a similar manner, the blood 103°; at-. mosphere 50°. Three sheep, killed by dividing the carotid arteries, and internal jugular veins: their blood 105, 105, 105°; atmo- sphere 41°. Three frogs, kept for many days in an equable atmo- sphere at 54°; their stomachs 62°. The watery fluid issuing from a person tapped for dropsy of the belly 101°; the atmosphere being 43°, and the tem- perature of the superficies of the body at 96°. These temperatures are considerably higher than the com- mon estimation. A man’s arm being introduced within a glass cylinder, it was duly closed at the end which embraced the head of the humerus ; the vessel being inverted, water at 97° was poured in, so as to fill it. A ground brass plate closed the lower aperture, and a barometer tube communicated with the water at the bottom of the cylinder. This apparatus, in- cluding the arm, was again inyerted, so that the barometer tube became a gage, and no air was suffered to remain in the apparatus. On the slightest action with the muscles of the hand, or fore-arm, the water ascended rapidly in the gave, making librations of six and eight inches length in the barometer tube on each contraction and relaxation of the muscles. The remarkable effects of crimping fish by immersion in water, after the usual signs of life have disappeared, are worthy of attention ; and whenever the rigid contractions of death have not taken place, this process may be prac- tised with success. The sca fish destined for crimping are usually struck on the head when caught, which, it is said, protracis the term of this capability; and the muscles ‘ which retain this property longest are those about the head. Many transverse sections of the muscles being made, and the fish immersed in cold water, the contrac- tions called crimping take. place in about five minutes ; but, if the mass be large, it often requires thirty minutes to complete the process. ' Two flounders, each weighing 1926 grains, the one being in a state for crimping, the other dead and rigid, were put into water at 48°, each being equally scored with a knife. After half an hour the crimped fish had gained in weight 53 grains, 229 On muscular Motion: 53 grains, but the dead fish had lost 7 grains. The spécifid sravity of the crimped fish was greater than that of the dead fish ; but a quantity of air bubbles adhered to the surfaces of the crimped. muscles, which were rubbed off before ~ weighing: this gas was not inflammable. The specific gravity of the crimped fish - 15105 of the dead fish, after an equal immersion in water 1:090 So that the accession of water, specifically lighter thar: the muscle of fish, did not diminish the specific gravity of crimped muscle, but the contrary: a proof that condensa- tion had taken place. A piece of cod fish, weighing twelve pounds, gained int weight, by crimping, rwo ounces avoirdupois ; and another less vivacious piece, of fifteen pounds, gained one ounce and half *. _ The hinder limb of a frog, having the skin stripped off, and weighing 775!; grains, was immersed in water at 54°, and suffered to remain ninetcen hours, when it had become rigid, and weighed 100} grains. The specific gravity of the contracted limb had increased, as in the crimped fish. 630 grains weight of the subscapularis muscle of a calf, which had been killed two days from the 10th of January, was immersed in New River water at 45°. After ninety minutes the muscle was contracted, and weighed in air 770 grains: it had also increased in specific gravity, but the quantity of air bubbles formed in the interstitial spaces of the reticular membrane made it difficult to ascertain the degree. . Some of the smallest fasciculi of muscular fibres from the same veal, which had not been immersed in water, were placed on a glass plate, in the field of a powerful micro~ scope, and a drop of water thrown over them, at the tem- perature of 54°, the atmosphere in the room being 57° They instantly began to contract, and became tortuous. On confining the ends of another fibril with little weights of glass, it contracted two-thirds of its former length, by similar treatment. The same experiment was made on the muscular fibres of lamb and beef, twelve hours after the animals had been killed, with the like results. Neither vi- * Iam informed that the crimping of fresh water fishes requires hard water, or such as does not suit the purposes of washing with soap. This fact is substantiated by the practice of the London fishmongers, whose ex perience has taught them to employ pump water, or what ix commonly called hard water. negaty On muscular Motion. "993 negar, nor water saturated with muriate of soda, nor strong ’ ardent spirit, nor olive oil, had any such effect upon the muscular fibres. ; The amphibia, and coleopterous insects, become torpid at 34°: at 36° they move slowly, and with difficulty; and at-a lower temperature their muscles cease to be irritable. The muscles of warm-blooded animals are similarly affected by cold. ; The hinder limbs of a frog were skinned, and exposed to cold at 30°, and the muscles were kept frozen for eight bours; but on thawing them they were perfectly irritable. The same process was employed in the temperature of 20°, and the muscles kept frozen for twelve hours; but that did not destroy the irritability. in the heat of 100°, the muscles of cold-bleoded animals fall into the contractions of death; and at 110°, all those of warm blood, as far as these experiments have been extended, The muscles of warm-blooded animals, which always con- tain more red particles in their substance than those of cold bleod, are soon deprived of their irritability, even although their relative temperatures are preserved ; and respiration im the former tribe is more essential to hfe chan in the latter. Many substances accelerate the cessation of irritability in muscles when applied to their naked fibrils, such as all the narcotic vegetable poisons, muriate of soda, and the bile of animals ; but they do not produce any otter apparent change in mascles than that of the last contraction. Discharges of electricity passed through muscles, destroy their irrita- bility, but leave them apparently inflated with small bub- bles of gas; perhaps some combination obtains which de- composes the water. The four separated limbs of a recent frog were skinned, and immersed in different fluids ; viz. No. 1. ina phial con- taining six ounces, by measure, of a saturated aqueous so- lution of liver of sulphur made with potash; No. 2. ina diluted acetic acid, consisting of one drachm of concentrated acid to six of water; No. 3. in a diluted alkali, composed of caustic vegetable alkali, one drachm, of water six ounces ; No. 4. in pure distilled water. The phials were all corked, and the temperature of their contents was 46°. The limb contained in the phial No. 1, after remaining twenty minutes, had acquired a pale red colour, and the muscles were highly irritable. The limb in No. 2, after the same duration, had become rigid, white, and swollen; it was not at all irritable. By 2 removing 204 On muscular Motion. removing the limb into a diluted solution of vegetable al- : g grey ee kali, the muscles were relaxed, but no signs of irritability returned. No.3. under all the former circumstances, retained its previous appearances, and was irntable, but less so than No. 1. No. 4. had become rigid, and the final contraction had ‘taken place. Other causes of the loss of muscular irritability occur in pathological testimonies, some examples of which may not be ineligible for the present subject. _Workmen whose hands are unavoidably exposed to the contact of white lead, are liable to what is called a palsy in the hands and wrists, from a torpidity of the muscles of the fore arm. This affec- tion seems to be decidedly local, because, iu many instances, neither the brain nor the other members partake of the disorder ; and it oftenest affects the right hand. An inge- nious practical chemist in London has frequently expe- rienced spasms and rigidity in the muscles of his fore arms; from affusions of nitric acid over the ctticle of the hand and arm. ‘The use of mercury occasionally brings on a si-~ milar rigidity in the masseter muscles. A smaller quantity of blood flows through a muscle during the state of contraction than during the quiescent state, a3 is evinced by the pale colourof red muscles when contracted. The retardation of the flow of blood from the veins of the . fore arm, during venesection, when the muscles of the limb are kept rigid, and the increased flow after alternate relaxations, induces the probability, that a temporary retarda- tion of the blood in the muscular fibrils takes place during each contraction, and that its free course obtains again during the relaxation. This state of the vascular system in a con- tracted muscle, does not, however, explain the diminution of its bulk, although it may have some influence on the limb of a living animal. When muscles are vigorously contracted, their sensibility to pain is nearly destroyed: this means is employed by jugglers for the purpose of suffering pins to be thrust into the calf of the leg, and other muscular parts; with impu- nity: it is, indeed, reasonable to expect, @ priori, that the sensation, and the voluntary influence, cannot pass along ' the nerves at the same time. : In addition to the influences already enumerated, the hu- man muscles are susceptible of changes from extraordinary occurrences of sensible impressions. Long continued at- , tction to interesting visible objects, or to audible sensa- tions, ~ @- 4 tea On muscular Motion. 225 ‘ tions, are known to exhaust the muscular strength : intense thought and anxietyaweaken the muscular powers, and the passions of grief and fear produce the same effect suddenly ; whilst the contrary feelings, such as the prospect of imime- diate enjoyment, or moderate hilarity, give more than or- ~ dinary vigour. It is a very remarkable fact in the history, of animal na- ture, that the mental operation's may become almost auto- matic, and, under such habit, be kept in action, without any interval of rest, far beyond the time which the ordinary State of health permits, as in the examples of certain ma- niacs, who are enabled, without any inconvenience, to exert both mind and body for many days incessantly. The ha- bits of particular modes of Jabour and exercise are soon ac- quired, after which the actions become automatic, demand little attention, cease to. be irksome, and are affected with dittle fatigue: by this happy provision of nature, the habit of industry becomes a source of pleasure, and the same ap- pears to be extended to the docile animals which co-operate with man in his labours. ‘ Three classes of muscles are found in the more compli- cated animals. Those which are constantly governed by the will, or directing power of the mind, are called volun- tary muscles. Another class, which operate without the consciousness of the mind, are denominated involuntary : and a mixed kind occur in the example of respiratory mus- cles, which are governed by the, will to a limited extent: /meyertheless the exigencies of the animal feelings eventually urge the respiratory movements in despite of the will. These last muscles appear to have become automatic by the continuance of habit. The uses of voluntary muscles are attained by experience, imitation, and instruction; but some of them are never called into action among Europeans, as the muscles of the external ears, and generally the occipito-frontalis, |The purely involuntary muscles are each acted upon by different substances, which appear to be their peculiar stimuli; and these stimuli co-operate with the sensorial influence in pro- ducing their contractions: for example, the bile appears to be the appropriate stimulus of the muscular fibres of the alimentary canal below the, stomach, because the absence of it renders those passages torpid. The digested aliment, or perhaps the gastric juice in a certain state, excites the stomach. .The blood stimulates the heart, light the iris of the eye, and mechanical. pressure scems to excite the mus- cles, of the cesophagus, The last cause may perhaps be il- . Vol. 23, No. 91. Dec. 1805. Pp Justrated g25) On muscalar Motion. fustrated by the instances of compression upon tie volun tary muscles, when partially contracted, of which there are: many familiar examples. Probably the muscles of the ossi- cula audits: are awakened by the tremors of sound’; andi this may be the oceasion of the peculiar arrangement ob= servable in the chorda tympani which serves those muscles. These extraneous stimulr seem only to act in conjunetion with the sensorial power derived by those muscles from the gangliated nerves, because the passions of the mind alter the muscular actions of the heart, the alimentary canal, the respiratory muscles, and the iris; so that, probably, the re- spective stimuli already enumerated, only act subserviently, by awakening the attention of the sensorial power, (if that expression may be allowed,) and thereby calling forth the nervous influence, whieh, from the peculiar organization of the great chain of sympathetic nerves, is effected without consciousness ; for, when the attention of the mind, or the More interesting passions prevail, all the involuntary mus+ eles act irregularly and unsteadily, or wholly cease. The movements of the iris of the common parrot are a striking example of the mixed influence. The museles of the lower tribes of animals, which are often entirely supplied by nerves coming froin ganglions, appear of this class; and thus the animal motions are prin- cipally regulated by the external stimuli, of which the oc- currence seems to agree with the animal necessities: but the extensive’ illustrations which comparative anatomy af- fords on this point, are macl: too eopious for any detail im this place. There are two states of muscles s one active, which is that of contraction; the other, a state of ordinary tone, or re- faxation, which may be considered passive, as far as it re- lates to the mind; but the sensorial or nervous power seems never to be quiescent, as it respects either the voluntary or involuntary muscles during hfe. The yielding of the sphincters appears to depend on their being overpowered by antagonist muscles, rather than on voluntary relaxation, as is commonly sepposed. I have now finished this endeavour to exhibit thé more recent historical facts connected with muscular motion. Ft will be obvious to every one, that much remains to be done before any adequate theory can be proposed. J have borrowed from the labours of others without acknowledg- ment, because it would be tedious to trace every fact, and every opinion, to its proper authority; many of the views are perhaps peculiar to myself, and I haye adduced many 4 general On the Mines and Manufactures of the East Indies. 927 general assumptions and conclusions, without offering the particular evidence for their confirmation, from a desire to Keep in view the remembrance of retrospective accounts, and to combine them with intimations for future research. The due cultivation of this interesting pursuit cannot fail to elucidate many of the phenomena in question, to remove premature and ill-founded physiological opinions, and eventually to aid in rendering the medical art rnore bene- ficial, by establishing its doctrines on more extensive and accurate views of the animal ceconomy. XLIV. Information on the Mines and Manufactures of the tast Indies, and other Subjects. By J. MacuLacutan, Esq. of Calcutia*. SIR, Suourp you think the enclosed receipts for dyeing the beautiful reds of the Coromandel coast can be of any use to the dyers of the united British kingdom, be pleased to lay them before the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. that they may be published in the volume of their Trans- actions; if not, I trust you will excuse my troubling you with them. They were sent to me from Madras by a scien- tific friend, who bad the several operations, detailed in them, performed im his own presence. T forwarded a copy of them, and a small quantity of the ingredients metitioned. in them, to a friend at home, several years ago ; but he dy- ing about or soon after the time of their arrival, I never learned what became of them. It strikes me, however, that there is a considerable coincidence between the thread process and that which I have seen recommended by Mr. Henry, of Manchester, for dyeing the Adrianople or Turkey red. I am not certain whether it is known at home, that many of the hills in Bahar, and other parts of India, contain im- miense quantities of mica, tale, or Muscovy glass. The natives of this country and China make very splendid lan~ terns, shades, and ornaments of it, tinged of various fanci- ful colours; and it is also used by them in medicine. When burned or calcined, it is, I am told, considered as a specific in obstinate coughs and consumptions. When powdered it serves to silver the Indian paper, &c. used in * From Transactions of the Society of Arts, &c, 1804, which voted its silver medal to ihe author for the communication, P @ Jetter- ‘928 On the Mines and Manufactures of the East Indies. letter-writing ; and, in fact, it is applied to numberless pur- “poses. The bazar price of that of the best quality, split into sheets of about two lines thick, is six rupees the maund of eighty-four pounds avoirdupois. If it could be applied to any useful purpose at home, it might go in part ballast of ships, and at a tritling expense. I enclose a small speci- men of it, and am, sir, Your very obedient servant, Calcutta, Oct. 4, 1803. ~ J. MACHLACHLAN. ~ N.B. The chaya, or red dye root of the coast, is, I be- lieve, known at home: as also the cashan leaves, which are used as an astringent. Charles Taylor, Esq. : Directions for dyeing a bright Red, four Yards of three- quarters broad Cotton Cloth. Ist, ‘The-cloth is to be well washed and dried, for the -purpose of clearing it of lime and congee, or starch, ge- nerally used in India for bleaching and dressing cloths ; _ then put into an earthen vessel, containing twelve ounces of chaya or red dye root, with a gallon of water, and allow it to boil a short time over the fire. ad, The cloth being taken out, washed in clean water, and dried in the sun, is again put into a pot with one ounce of myrabolans, or galls coarsely powdered, and a gallon of | clear water, and:allowed to boil to one half; when cool, add to the mixture a quarter of a pint of buffalo’s milk. The cloth being fully soaked im this, take it out, and dry it in the sun. 3d, Wash the cloth again in clear cold water, and dry it in the sun; then immerse it into a gallon of water,, a quar- ter of a pint of buffalo’s milk, and a quarter of an ounce of the powdered galls. Soak well in this mixture, and dry an, vthe san: The cloth, at this stage of the process, feeling rough and hard, is tu be rolled up and beetled till it be- comes soft. we _ 4th, Infuse into six quarts of cold water six ounces of red wood shavings, and allow it to remain so two days. On the third day boil it down to two-thirds the quantity, when the liquor will appear of a good bright yed colour. To every quart of this, before it cools, add a quarter of an ounce of powdered alum ; soak in it your cloth twice over, drying it between each time in the shade. 5th, After three days wash in clean water, and half dry in the sun; then immerse the cloth into five gallons of - water, On the Mines and Manufactures of the East Indies. 229 water, at about the temperature of one hundred and twenty degrees of Fahrenheit, adding fifty ounces of powdered chaya, and allowing the whole to boil for three hours ; take the pot off the fire, but let the cloth remain in it until the liquor is perfectly cool; then wring it gently, and hang it up in the sun to dry. 6th, Mix intimately together, by hand, about a pint measure of fresh sheep’s dung, with a gallon of cold water,, in which soak the cloth thoroughly, ane immediately take “it out, and dry it in the sun. : 7th, Wash the cloth well in clean water, and spread it out in the sun on a sand-bank (which in India is univer-— sally preferred to a grass-plat) for six hours, sprinkling it from time to time, as it dries, with clean water, for the purpose of finishing and perfecting the colour, which will be of a very fine bright red. Calcutta, Oct. 4, 1803. J. MaAcHLACHLAN. Charles Taylor, Esq. Directions for dyeing of a beautiful Red, eight Ounces of Cotton Thread. Ist, Put one gallon and a half, by measure, of sap-wood ashes, into an earthen pot, with three gallons of water, and allow the mixture to remain twenty-four hours to perfect it for use. ed, Put the following articles into an earthen pot, viz. Three- -quarters of a pint of Gingelly oil; one pint, by measure, of sheep’s dung, intimately mixed by hand in wa- ter ; two pints of the above ley. After mixing these ingre- dients well, pour the mixture gr adually upon the thread to another vest wetting it only as the thread, by being squeezed and rolled about by the hand, imbibes it, continu- ing to do so until the whole is completely tess up, and allow the thread to remain in this state until next day. 3d, Take it up, and put it in the sun to dry ; then take a pint and a half of ash-ley, in which squeeze and roll the thread well, and allow it to remain till next'day. 4th, < Squeeze and roll it in alike quantity of ash-ley, and put it in the sun to dry; when dry, squeeze and roll it again in the ley, and alow. it to rémain till next day. , 5th, Let the same process be repeated three or four times, and intermit til! next day. 6th, Ley the thread once, as the day biefORe: and, when well dried in the sun, prepare the following liquor ! One gill of Gingelly oil; one pint and a half of ash- ley. 7 P'3 this 230 On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. this squeeze and roll the thread well, and leave it so till next day. 7th, Repeat the process of yesterday, and dry the thread in the sun. Sth, The same process to be repeated. gth, First repeat the ash-ley process three or four times,’ as under the operations 3, 4, and 5, and then prepare the following mixture: One pint of sheep-dung water; one gill of Gingelly oil; one pint and a half of ash-ley.—In this squeeze and roll the thread well, and dry it in the sun. , 10th, Repeat the same.process. lith, Do. do. 12th, Do. do. sth, Do. do. 14th, Do. do. 15th, ‘Wash the thread in clean water, and squeeze and roll it ina cloth until almost dry; then put it into a vessel containing a gill of powdered chaya root, one pint by mea- sure of cashan Jeaves, and ten pints of clear water 5 mm this liquor squeeze and roll it about well, and allow it to remain so till next day. 16th, Wring the thread, and dry it in the sun, and re- peat again the whole of the 15th process, leaving the thread to steep. 17th, Wring it well, dry it in the sun, and repeat the same process as the day before. isth, Do. do. Igth, Do. _ do. 20th, Wring and dry it in the sun, and with the like quantity of chaya root in ten pints of water boil the thread for three hours, and allow it to remain in the infusion un- til cold. 2st, Wash the thread well in clear water, dry it in the sun, and the whole process is complete. Calcutta, Oct. 4, 1803. J. MACHLACHLAN,. XLV: On the Direction and Velocity of the Motion of the Sun and Solar System, By WittiamM HERSCHEL, LL.D, Fi ReS* Ovor attention has lately been directed again to the con- struction of the heavens, on which I have already delivered ” From the Transactions of the Rowal Society for 1805. several On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. 231 several detached papers.. The changes which have taken place in the relative position of double stars, have ascer- tained motions in many of them, which are prebably of the same nature with those that have hitherto been called pro- per motions. It is well known that many of the principal stars have been found ‘to have changed their situation, and we have lately had a most valuable acquisition in Dr. Mas- kelyne’s table of proper motions of six-and-thirty ef them. If this table affords us a proof of the motion of the stars of the first brightness, such as are probably in our immediate neighbourhoed, the changes of the position of minute double stars that I have ascertained, many ef which can nly be seen by the best telescopes, likewise prove that mo- tions are equally carried on im the remotest parts of space which hitherto we have been able to penetrate. The proper motions of the stars have long engaged ‘the attention of astronomers, and in the year 1783 I deduced from them, with a high degree of probability, a motion of the sun and solar system towards A Herculis. The reasons which were then pointed out for introducing a solar mo- tion, will now be much strengthened by additional consi- alerations ; and the above-mentioned tabie of well-ascer- tained proper moticns will also enable us to enter rigo- rously into the necessary calculations for ascertaining its direction, and discovering its velecity. When these points are established, we shall be prepared to draw some conse- quences from them that will account for many phenomena which otherwise cannot be explained. The scope of this paper, wherein it is intended to assign not only the direction, but also the velocity of the solar motion, embraces an extensive field of observation and cal- culation; but as to give the whole of it would exceed the compass of the present sheets, [ shall reserve the velocity of the solar motion for an early future opportunity, and proceed now to a disquisition of the first part of my sub- geet, which is the direction of the motion of the sun and éolar system. Reasons for admitting a Solar Motion. {t may appear singular that, after having already long ago pointed out a solar motion, and even fixed upon a star to~ wards which I supposed it to be directed, I should again think it necessary to show that we have many substantial reasons for admitting such a motion at all. What has in- duced me to enter into this inquiry is, that some of the P 4 consequences 232 On the Motion of the Sun and Sele System. consequences hereafter to be drawn from a solar motion,’ when established, seem to contradict the very intention for which it is to be introduced. The chief object in view,: when a solar motion was proposed to be deduced from -ob- servations of the proper motions of stars, was to take away many of these motions by investing the sun with a contrary one. But the solar motion, when jts existence has been proved, will reveal so many. concealed real motions, that we shail have a greater sum of them than it would be ne- cessary to admit, if the sun were at rest; and, to remove this objection, the necessity for admitting its motion ought to be well established. Theoretical Considerations. c A view of the motion of the moons, or secondary planets, round their prenaty ones, and of these again round the.¢tin, may suggest the idea of an additional motion of the latter round some other unknown centre; and those who like to indulge im fanciful reviews of the heavens, might easily build a system upon hypotheses. not altogether without some plausibility in their favour. Accordingly we find that Mr. Lambert, in a work which is full of the most fantastic imaginations, has framed a system wherein the sun is sup+ posed to move about the nebula in Orion*. But, setting aside the extravagant idea of making this luminous spot a centre of motion, it must certainly be admitted that the solar motion itself is at least a very possible event. I have already mentioned, in a note to my former papert, that the possibility of a solar motion has also been shown from theoretical principles by the late Dr. Wilson, of Glas- gow ; and its probability afterwards, from reasons of the same nature, by Mr. de la Lande. The rotatory motion of the sun, from which he concludes a eplacing of the solar ‘centre, must certainly be allowed to indicate a motion of translation in space ; for though it may be possible, it’does not appear probable, that any mechanical i impression should have given the former, without occasioning: the latter. But, as we are entirely unacquainted with the cause of the rotatory motion, the solar translation in space from theore- tical reasons, can only be admitted as a very plausible hy- pothesis. It would be worth while for those who have fixed instru- ments, to strengthen this argument by observing the stars * See Systeme du Jtonde de-Mr. Lambert, p. 152 and 158. + See Phil. Trans. for the year 1783, p. 283. which On the Motion of the Sun'and Solar System. 233 which are known to change their magnitudes periodically. For, as we have great reason to ascribe these regular changes ‘oa rotatory motion of the stars*, a real motion im space nay be expected to attend it ; and. the number of these’ tars is so considerable, that their concurring testimony would he very desirable. Perhaps Algol, which according to these ideas must have a very quick rotatory motion, may be found to have also a considerable progressive one ; and if that should be ascer- tained, the position of the axis of the rotation of this star will be in a great measure thereby discovered. An argument from the real motion to a rotatory one is nearly of equal validity, and therefore all the stars that have a motion in space may be surmised to have also a rotation on their axes. : Symptoms of parallactic Motions. But, setting aside theorctical arguments, I shall now pro- ceed to such as may be drawn from observation ; and as all parallactic motions are evident indications that the observer of them is not at rest, it will be necessary to explain three sorts of motions, of which the parallactic is one; they will often engage our attention in the following discussion. Let the sun be supposed to move towards a certain part of the heavens; and since the whole sclar system will have the same motion, the stars must appear to an inhabitant of the earth to move in an opposite direction. In the triangle spa, (Plate VIII.) Fig. 1, let sp represent the parallactic motion of a star; then, if this star is onc that has no real motion, s p will also be its apparent motion ; but if the star in the same time, that by its parallactic motion it would have gone from s to p, should have a real motion which would have carried it from stor, then will it be seen to move along the diagonal s a, of the parallelogram s 7 p a; and p a, which is parajlel and equal to sr, will represent its real motion. Therefore, in the above-mentioned triangle s p a, which I suppose to be formed in the concave part of the heavens by three arches of great circles, the eye of the observer being in the centre, the three sides will represent, or stand for, the three motions I have named: s p the pa- rallactic, pa the real, and:s a the apparent motion of the star. The situation and length of these arches, in seconds of a degree, will express, or rather represent, not only the direction but also the quantity of each motion, such as it * See Phil. Trans. for the year 1795, p 68, must 234 On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. must appear to an eye in the above-mentioned central situa- tion. And calling the solar motion S, the distance of the star from the sun d, and the sine of the Star’s distance from the point towards which the sun is moving @, the parallae- tic motion, when these are given, will be had by the ex- ~ 5 iy . : . pression ae =sp. This theorem, and its. corollaries, of rea which frequent use will be made hereafter, it will not be necessary here to demonstrate. When I call the arch p a the real motion, it should be understood that I only mean its representative 5 for it must be evident that the absolute motion of a star in space, as well as its intrinsic velocity, will still remain unknown, be- cause the inclination of that motion on which alse its real velocity will depend, admits of the greatest variety of di- rections. We are only acquainted with the plane in which ihe motion must be performed, and with the length of the arch in seconds by which that motion may be measured, We may add that the chords of the arches representing the three motions are the smallest velocities of thede motions that can be admitted ; for in every other direction but at right angles to the Me. of sight, the actual space over which the star will move must be greater than the arch or chord by which its motion Is repre escnted. Now, since 2 motion of the sun will occasion parallactic Robs of the stars, it follows that these again must indi- cate a solar motion ; but in order to ascertain whether pa~- rallactic motions BASE G we ought to examine those stars which are most liable to be visibly affected by solar motion. This requisite points out the brightest stars as the most pro- per for our purpose; for any star may have a great real mo- tion, but in order to have a great parallactic one, it must be inthe neighbourhood of the sun. And as we can only judge of the distance of the stars by their splendour, we ought to choose the brightest, on account of a probability that, being nearer than faint ones, they may be more within the reach of parallax, and thus better qualified to show its effects. We are also to look out for a criterion whereby paral- Jactic may be distinguished from real motions ; and this we find in their directions. For, if a solar motion exists, all parallactic motions will tend to a point in opposition to the direction oi that motion ; whereas real motions will be dispersed indiscriminately to val parts of space. With these distinctions in yiew, we may examine the pro- per On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. 935 per motions of the principal stars ; for these, if the sun is not at rest, must either be entirely parallactic, or at least composed of real and parallactic motions ; in the latter case they will fall under the denomination of one of the three motions we have defined, namely s a, the apparent motion of the star. In consequence of this principle I have delineated the meeting of the arches arising from a calculation of the proper motions of the 36 stars in Dr. Maskelyne’s cata- logue, on a celestial globe; and, as all great circles of a sphere intersect each other in two opposite points, it will be necessary to distinguish them both : for, if the sun moves to one of them, it may be called the apex of its motion ; and as the stars will thea have a parallactic motion to the opposite one, the appellation of a parallactic centre may very properly be given to it. Ths latter falling into the southern hemisphere, among constellations not visible to us, I shall only mention their opposite intersections ; and of these I find no less than ten that are made by stars of the first magnitude, in a very limited part of the heavens, about the constellation of Hercules. Upon all the remaining sur- face of the same globe there is not the least appearance of tiny other than a promiscuous situation of intersections 3 and of these only a single one is made by arches of principal Stars. The ten intersecting points made by the brightest stars are as follows: The ist is by Sirius and Arcturus, in the mouth of the Dragon: The 2d by Sirius and Capella, near the following hand of Hercules. The 3d by Sirius and Lyra, between the hand and knee of Hercules. The 4th by Sirius and Aldebaran; in the following leg of Hercules. The 5th by Arcturus and Capella, north of the preceding wing of the Swan. The 6th by Arcturus and Aldebaran, in the neck of the Dragon. The 7th by Arcturus and Procyon, in the preceding foot of Hercules. The sth b Capella and Procyon, south of the following hand of Her- cules. The 9th by Lyra and Procyon, preceding the fol- Jowing shoulder of Hercules. And the 10th is made by Aldebaran and Procyon, in the breast of Hercules. The 236, On the Motion of the Sunand Solar Systems The following Table gives the calculated situation of, these ten intersections in right ascension and north polar distance. Table I. Nas Right Ascension. Polar Distance. 1 | 955° “39% 50% | 362 41% 347 2 | 275 9 32 64 21 48 Y 3°] 97993" 58 58 23 24 0 4 | 963'° 25 38 44.39 47 ~5 | 290 Oo 58 32 7 93 6 | 267 2 19 33 57 20 7 | 235 38) 1s 4621 34 §'|°972 51. 49 73 730 56 9 | 266 46 49 66. 48 11 10 | 260 1 29 60 59 34 We might rest satisfied with having shown that the pa- rallactic effect of which we are in search is plainly to be perceived in the motion of the brightest stars ; however by way of further confirmation, we may take in some large stars of the next order, in whose motions evident marks of the influence of parallax may likewise be perceived. When the intersections made by their proper motions and the_ arches in which the stars of the first magnitude are moving are examined, we find no less than fifteen which unite with the former ten, in pointing out the same part of the heavens -as.a parallactic centre. Jt will be sufficient only to men- tion the opposite points of the situation of these intersec- tions, and the stars by which they are made, without giving a calculated table of them. ; The Ist is the following leg of Hercules, and is made by Sirjus and 6 Tauri. ‘The 2d 1s also in the following leg of Hercules, by Sirius and « Andromedz. The 3d is in the following band of Hercules, by Sirius and « Arietis. The 4th in the neck of the Dragon, by Arcturus and @ Tauri. The 5th between the Lyre and the northern wing of the Swan, by Capella and « Andromedz. The 6th near the following hand of Hercules, by Capella and a Arietis. The 7th preceding the head of Hercules, by Lyra and 6 Tauri. The 8th between the Lyre and northern wing of the Swan, by Lyra and « Andromede. The 9th in the following arm — On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. 937 vi arm of Hercules, by Lyra and a Arfetis. The 10th in'the following leg of Hercules, by Aldebaran and 6 Tauri. The ‘Tith in the following leg of Hercules, by Aldebaran and & Andromedz. The 12th’ in the head of Hercules, by Alde- baran and « Arietis. The 13th in the following arm of Hercules, by Procyon and 6 Tauri. The 14th in the back of Hercules, by Procyon and Andromede. And the 15th near the’ following arm of Hercules, is made by Procyon and @ Arietis. ‘ An arcument like this, founded upon the most authentic observations, and supported by the strictest calculations, ‘can hardly fail of being convincing. And though only the ten principal apices of the twenty-five that are given have been calculated, the other fifteen may nevertheless be de- pended upon as true to less than one degree of the sphere. Changes in the Position of double Stars. We have lately seen that the alterations in the relative situation of a great number of double stars may be,ac- counted for by a parallactic motion. Among the 56 stars ‘which I have given, the changes of more than half of them appear to be of this nature; and it will certainly be more eligible to ascribe them to the effect of parallax than toyad- milt so many separate motions in the different stars; espe- cially when it is considered, that if the alterations of the angle of position, were owing to a motion of the largest star of each set, the direction ef such motions. must,,.in contradiction to all probability, tend nearly to one particu- lar part of the heavens. This argument, drawn from the change of the position of double stars, may be considered.as deriving its validity from the same source with the former, namely, the. paral- ‘Jactic motions of at least 28 more stars, pointing out the same apex of a solar motion by their direction to its oppo- site parallactic centre. Incongruity of proper Motions. It may be remarked that the proper motions of the stars, if they were in reality such as they appear to be, would con- tain a certain incongruous mixture of great velocity and extreme slowness. ‘Arcturus alone describes annually an arch of more than two seconds : Aldebaran hardly one-tenth | and a quarter of asecond: Rigel little more than one-tenth “and a half; even Lyra moves barely three and a, quarter “tenths of a -second, while Procyon has almost, four times “that velocity. Out of 36 stars, whose proper ee we a. ave £38 On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System, have examined, there are 15 that do not reach two-tenths of _ a second: 6 Virginis moves seventy-seven hundredths, and @ Cygni only six. But it will be shown, when the direction and velocity of the solar motion come to be ex= plained, that these kind of ihcongruitics are mere paraliac- tic appearances ; and that there is so general a consistency among the real motions of the stars, that Arcturus is in no respect singled out as a star whose motion is far beyond the rest. By giving this remark a place among the reasons for ad mitting a solar motion, it is not intended to lay any parti- cular stress upon it; for it may be objected that our idea of the congruence or harmony of the celestial motions can be no criterion of their real fitness and symmetry. But when such discordant proper motions as those I have men- tioned in stars of no very different lustre are under consi- ° deration, and may be easily shown to be only parallactic phzenomena, the method by which this can be done must certainly appear eligible, and, when added to many other inducements, will throw some share of weight into the scale. - Sidereal Occultation of a small Star. Of nearly the same importance with the former argu- ment is the account of the occultation of a small star by a large one, which I have given in my last paper. When the solar motion has been established, we shall prove that the vanishing of the small star near ¢ Cygni, as far as we can judge at present, is only a parallactic disappearance. It must be granted that a real motion of the large star would also explain the same phenomenon ; but then again, this star must be supposed to move towards the very same pa- rallactic centre which the changes in the position of other double stars point out ; and this cannot be probable. Direction of the Solar System. From what has been said, I believe the expedience of admitting a solar motion will not be called in question ; our. next endeavour therefore must be to investigate its direction. To return to the before-mentioned intersections of the arches, in which the proper motions of the stars are per- formed, I shall begin by proving that when the proper mo- tions of two stars are given, an apex may be found, to which, if the sun be supposed to move with a certain velocity, the two given motions may then be resolyed into apparent changes, On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. 239 changes, arising from sidereal parallax, the stars remaining perfectly at rest. Let the stars be Arcturus and Sirius, and their annual pro- per motions as given in the Astronomer Royal’s Tables. eh hen the annual proper motion of Arcturus, which is ‘,26 in right ascension, and+ 1,72 in north polar di- stan, is reduced by a composition of motions to a single one, it will be in a direetion which makes an angle “of 55° 29° 42” south-preceding with the parallel of Arcturus, and of a velocity so as to describe annually 2”,08718 of a great circle. The annual proper motion of Sirius,—0”,42 in nalit ascension, and-+ 17,04 in north polar distance, by the same method of composition, becomes a motion of 1”, 11528, in a direction which makes an angle of 68° 49’ 41” south: preceding with the parallel of Sinus. By calculation, the arches in which these two stars move, when siuiame teas will meet in what I have called their parallactic centre, whose right ascension is 75° 39’ 50”, and south polar distance is 36°43’ 34”. The opposite of this, or right ascension 255° 39’ 50%,.and north polar di- stance 36° 41’ 34”, is what we are to assume for the re- quired apex of the solar motion. When a star is situated at a certain distance from the sun, which we shall call 1; and 90° from the apex of the solar motion, its parallactic motion will be a maximum. Let us now suppose the velocity of the sun to be such that its motion, to a person situated on this star, would appear to describe annually an arch of 2”,84825, or, which is the same thing, that the star would appear to us, from the effect of parallax, to move over the above-mentioned arch in the same time. To apply this to Arcturus, we find by calculation that its distance from the apex of the solar motion is 47° 7’ 6”; its parallactic motion therefore, which is as the sine of that distance, will be 2”,087183 and this, as has been shown, is the apparent motion which observation has established as the proper motion of Arcturus. In the next place, if we admit Sirius to be a very large star situated at the distance 1,6809 from us, and compute its clongation from the apex of ‘the solar motion, we shall find it 138° 50’ 14”,5. With these two data we calculate , . .S : that its parallactic motion will be ne = Sp = 1,11528 ; and this also agrees with the onal motion which has been 640 On the Motionof the Sun and Solar System. been ascertained by observation as the proper motion of Sirius. Now ’since, according to the rules of philosophizing, we sught not to admit more motions than will account for the observed changes in the situation of the stars, it would be wrong to have recourse to the motions of Arcturus and Si- tius, when that of the sun alone will account for them both ; and this consideration would be a sufficient inducement for us to fix at once on the calculated apex, as well as on the erelative distances that have been assigned to these stars, if other proper motions could with equal facility be resolved into similar parallactic appearances. But from the nature of proper motions, it follows, that when a third star does not jead us to the same apex as the other two, its apparent motion cannot be resolved by the effect of parallax alone. And to enhance our difficulties, the number of apices, that would be required to solve all proper motions into parallactic ones, increases not as the number of stars admitted to have proper motions, but, when their situation happens to be favourable, as the sum of an arithmetical series of natural numbers, beginning at 0, continued to as many terms as there are stars admitted : so that if two stars give only one apex, one star added to it will give three apices; and ten, for instarice, will give no less than 45, and so on. The method of reasoning which, on this subject, I have adopted, is so closely connected with astronomical observa- tions that I shall keep them constantly in view ; and there- fore shall illustrate what has, been advanced, by taking in Capella as“a third star. The three apices which then are pointed out will be that in the mouth of the Dragon, by Arcturus and Sirius ; a second under the northern wing of Cygnus, by Arcturus and Capella; anda third in the fol- ‘lowing hand of Hercules, by Sirius and Capella. The cal- culation of ‘them is in Table I. The annual proper motions of our third star in Dr. Mas- kelyne’s Tables are +0”,21 in right ascension, and 40,44 in north polar distance; and by calculation these quantities give an annual motion of 0”,46374 to Capella, in a direc- tion which makes an angle of 71° 35’ 22,4 south-follow- “img with the parallel of this star. The distance of Capella from the same calculated apex of the solar motion, by: which we have already explained the apparent motions of the other two stars, is 80° 54’ 46”; and, admitting again the velocity of the sun towards the same point-as vtated before, it will occasion a parallactic motion ¢ On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. - 241 -Motion of Capella, in a direction 89° 54’ 48” south-follow- ing its parallel, amounting to 258125”. In this calcula- tion Capella has been taken fora star of the first magnitude, Supposing its distance from us to be equal-to that of returus. By constructing then a triangle, the three sides of which will represent the three motions which every star must have that is not at rest in space ; we have one of the sides, re- presenting the apparent motion of the star, equal to 0,4637”; the other side, being the parallactic motion of the star, 2,8125” ; and the included angle 18° 1927”. From these data we obtain the third side, representing the real motion of the star, wiich will be 2,3757”.. By the given situation of this triangle with respect to the parallel of declination of Capella, the angle of the real motion will also be had, which is 86° 34’ 11” north-following the parallel of thi8 star. A composition of the parailactic and the real motion in the directions we have assigned, will produce the annual apparent motion whith has been established by obser- vation. But to apply what bas been said to our present purpose, it may be ‘observed, that although we have accounted for the proper motion of our third star by retaining the same apex of the solar motion, which has given us an explana- tion of the apparent motions of the other two, yet in doing this we have been obliged to assign a great degree of real motion to. Capella ; and to this it may be objected, that we can have no authority to deprive Arcturus and Sirius of real motions, in order to give one of the same nature to our third star: and indeed to every star that has a proper mo- tion which does not tend to the same parallactic centre as the motions of Arcturus and Sirius. This objection is perfectly well founded, and I have civert the above calculation on purpose to show that, when we are in search ofan apex for the solar motion, it ought to be so fixed upon as to be equally favourable to every star which is proper for directing our choice. Hence a pro- blem will arise, in our present case, how to find a point whose situation among three given apices shall be so that, if the sun’s motion be directed towards it, there may be taken away the greatest quantity of proper motion possible from the given three stars. The intricacy of the problem is greater than at first it may appear, because by a change of the distance of the apex from any one of the stars, its pa- rallactic motion, which is as the sine of that distance, will be affected; so that it is not the mere alteration of the angle Vol. 23. No. 91, Dec. 1805. @) of 212 On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. of direction, which is concerned. However, it will not be necessary to enter into a solution of the problem; for it must be very evident that a much more complex oue would immediately succeed it, since three stars would cer- tainly not be sufficient to direct us in our present endea- vour to find the best situation of an apex for the solar mo- tion ; I shall therefore now leave these stars, and the apices pointed out by them, in order to proceed to a more general view of the subject. We have already seen that the brightest stars are most proper for showimg the effect of parallax, and that in our search after the direction of the solar mouon, our aim must be to reduce the proper motions of the stars to their lowest quantities. The six principal stars, whose intersecting arches have been given, when their proper motions in right ascension and polar distance are brought inte one direction, will have the apparent motions contained in the following Table. Table IT. Quantities of the apparent Names of thet Direction of the apparent Motions. Stars. Motions. (Sirius = = | 68°49! 40,7" S. preceding 1,11528” per year Arcturus = | 55 29 42,0 S, preceding 2,08718 Capella - 7L 35 22,4 S. following | 0,46374 Liyray, ue 56 20 57,3. N. following 0,32435 Aldebaran 76 £9 37,3 S. following 0,12341 Procyout =!" "S0" "2 2455 0S; preceding 1,23941 Sum of the apparent motions 5,35337” We must now recur to what has been said, when the con- struction of the triangle expressing the three motions of a star, that is not at Test, was explained ; and, as we are to find 6ut a solar motion ‘which will require the least reat motion in our six pane an attention to this triangle will be of considerable use ; for when the line pa, Fig. 1, which répresents the real motion, is brought into the situation m a, where it is perpendicular to s p, the real motion which is required will then be a minimum. _ Italso follows, from the construction of the same triangle, that if by the choice of an apex for the solar motion we can lessen the angle made at s by the lines s p and sa, we shall lessea the quantity of real motion. required to bring the star from the parallactic line s p m to the observed position a. It has already been shown, in the case of Sirius and Are- turus, that when two stars only are given, the line s p may Bf be On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. 243 be made to coincide with the lines. s a, of both the stars, whereby their real motions will be reduced to nothing. it has also been proved, by adding Capella to the former two, that when three stars are concerned, some real motion must be admitted in one of them. Now, since all paraliactic motions are directed to the same centre, a single line may represent the direction of the effect of the parallax, not only of these three stars but of every star in the heavens. According to this theory, let the line s P or s S, in Fig. 2, stand for the direction of the parallactic motion of the stars; and as in the foregoing Table we have the angles of the ap- parent motion of six stars with the parallel of each star, we must now also compute the direction of the line s P or 5S with the parallels of the same stars. This may be done as soon as an apex for the solar motion is fixed upon. The difference. between these angles and the former will give the several parallactic angles P s a or Ss a, required for an investigation of the least quantity m a, belonging to every Star. For instance, let the peint towards which we may sup- pose the sun to move, be a Herculis; and calculating the required angles of the direction in which the effect of paral - lax will be exerted, with the six stars we have selected for the purpose of our investigation, we find them as in the following Table. Table II. Angles of the parallactic Motion with the Parallel. Sirlus - += - > 39°54’ 8,5” south-preceding. Arcturus - 17 23 45,7 south-preceding. Capella - 85 10 359 south-following. Lyra - = 35 59 49,5 north-following. Aldebaran - 71 21 35,4 south-following. Procyon - 47 43 44,6 south preceding. The difference between these parallactic and the former apparent angles, with the parallel of each star, will give the required angles for our second figure. They will be as follows : Table 1V. Angles of the apparent with the parallactic Motion. Sirius. - - 35° 55’ 32,0” south-following. Arcturus - 38 5 56,3 south-following. Capella - 13 34 41,5 south-following. Lyra - = 20 21 7,8 north-preceding. Aldebaran - 5 8 1,9 south-preceding. Procyon - 2 18 39,9 south-following. Q2 By ‘ 244 On the Motion of the Sun‘and Solar System. ‘ By these angles, with the assistance of the lines say whose lengths represent the annual quantity of the appa- rent motions as given in-our former table, the figure No. 2 has been constructed. When the situation of these angles is regulated as in that figure, we may draw the several lines- ma perpendicular to SP, and, by computation, their value and sum will be obtained as: follows: Table V. ~ Quantities and Sum of the least real’ Motions. Sirius = = 0,6543% Arcturus - - 1,28784 Capella - - 0,10887 Lyra - - 0,11281 Aldebaran - 9,01104 Procyon = - 0,04998: —————s Sum 2,22491” The result of this investigation is, that by admitting a motion of the. sunj towards A Herculis, the annual proper motions of our six stars, of which the sum is 5,3537”, may be reduced to real motions of no more than 2,2249”. When first I proposed 4 Hereulis as an apex for the solar motion, it may be remembered that a reference to future observations was made for obtaining greater accuracy *. Such observations we have now: before us, in the valuable. tables from which I have taken the proper motions of the six stars; and I shalt prove that, with their‘assistance, we may fix on a solar. motion that will be considerably more favourable. We have already. shown, that to. ascertain the precise: place of the best apex is attended with some difficulty; but fromthe inspection of the figure which represents the quan- tities of real motion required when A Hereulis i1s-fixed upon, it will be seen that, by a regular method of approximation,. we may turn the line SP into a situation where all the angles of the apparent motion of the six stars will be much reduced. ‘The quantities which are required for constructing another’ figure to represent the threefold motions of our six stars, when a different apex is fixed upon, are to be found by the same method we have pursued in the instance of 4 Herculis ; and the figure that has been given with respect to that star,. shows evidently that the parallactic line SP should be turned: * See Phil. Trans. for 1783, p. 273, line 8; and p. 274, line 4. 3 more On the Motion of the»Sun and Solar System. 245 more towards the line sa, representing the apparent motion of Sinus. We shall accordingly try a point near the fol- lowing knee of Hercules, whose right ascension is 270° 15, and north polar distance 54° 45’, The result of a calculation of the angles, and the least quantities of real motion of our six stars, according to this peks is collected in the following table, and represented in fig. 3. Table VI. Stars, |“ngles of the parallactic Angles of the apparent |Least Quan- Motion with the Parallel.| with the parallactic} tities ofthe Motion. real Motion. ° Tere ‘ Ores Fae wt Sirus - | 68 51 5 S.preceding | 0 1 25 S. preceding} 0,0004561 Arcturus | 29 30 32 S, preceding |25 59 10 S. following | 0,9145072 Capella -] 77 54 OS. following | 6 18 3 Lyra - | 27 38 47 N.following |28 42 Aldebaran | 66 20 17 S. following |10 -9 2 Procyon 64 48 27 S. following |14 46 N. preceding} 0,1557761 S. preceding | 0,0217607 5 19) 8 S. following } 0,0509727 9 1 1 S. preceding | 0,3159051 Sum 17,4593779 By this table it appears that the annual proper motion of our six stars may be.reduced to 1,4594”, which is 0,7655” Jess than the sum in the 5th table, where the apex was A Herculis. In the approximation to this point it appeared, that when the line of the parallactic motion of Sirius is made to coin- cide with its apparent motion, we may soon obtain a certain minimum of the other parallactic motions; but as Sirius is not the star which has the greatest proper motion, it oc- curred to me that another minimum, obtained from the line in which Arcturus appears to move, would be more accu- rate; for, on account of its great proper motion, we have reason to suppose it more affected than other stars by the parallax arising frora the motion of the sun; and, with a view to this, I soon was led to a point not only in the line of the apparent motion of Arcturus, but equally favourable to Sirius and Procyon, the remaining two stars that have the greatest motions. If the principle of determining the direction of the solar motion by the stars which have the greatest proper motion be admitted, the following apex must be extremely near the truth ; for, an alteration of a few minutes in right ascension or polar distance either way, will immediately increase the required real motion of our stars. Its place is: right ascen- sion 245° 52’ 30”, and north polar distance 40° 29’, O 3 The 246 On the Motion of the Sun and Solar System. The calculated motions of the same stars by this apex will be as in the following table, and are delineated in fig. 4. Table VII. Angles of the parallactic| Angles of the apparent I.east Quan- Motion withthe Parallel.) with the parallactic} titiesofth Motion. real Motion. Stars. _ SS ‘ ” 7 ° 0 24 44 following 0,20157 0 38 preceding 0,00003 0 Oar Sirius + | 58 94 56 S. preceding | 1 Arcturus 55 29 45 S. preceding | 0 Capella - | 83 44 17 S. preceding | 24 40 21 following 0,19358 Lyra - | 36 28 83 S. following | 92 49 30 following 0,32396 Aldebaran | 89 48 35 S. preceding | 13 18 58 following 0,02842 Procyon 59 43 10 S. preceding | 9 40 46 preceding 0,20839 Sum. 07,95595 The sum of the real motions required, with the apex of the solar motion above mentioned, is less in this table than that in the former by 0,50343”. In these calculations we have proceeded upon the prin- ciple of obtaining the least possible quantity of real motion, by way of coming at the most favourable situation of a solar apex ; and have proved that the sum of the observed proper niotions of the six principal stars, amounting to 5,3534”, may be the result of a composition of two other motions; and that the real motions of these stars, if they could be reduced to their smallest possible quantities, would not ex- cced 0,9559”, But as I do not intend to assert that these real motions _can be actually brought down to the low quantities that have been mentioned, it will be necessary to show that the validity of the arguments for establishing the method I have pursued will not be affected by that circumstance. In the first place, then, we should consider, that although the great proper motions of Arcturus, Procyon, and Sirius, are strong indications of their being affected by parallax, it does not follow, nor is it probable, that the apparent changes of the situation of these stars should be entirely owing to solar motion; on the contrary, we may reasonably expect that ‘their own real motions will have a great share in them. Next to this, it is evident that in the case of parallactic motions the distance of a star from the sun is of material consequence; and as this cannot be assumed at pleasure, we are consequently not at liberty to make the parallactic motion sp in fig. 1, equal to the line sm of the same figure : hence it tollows, that the real motion of the star cannot be from 4 Life of John Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. &e. 947 from m to a, as the foregoing calculations have supposed ; but will be from p toa. It is, however, very evident, that if ma be a minimum, the line pa, when sp is given, will also be a minimums and if all the ma’s in fig. 4. are mi- nima, it follows also that all the sp’s, whatever they may be, will give the pa’s as small as possible; and this is the point that was to be established. Whatever, therefore, may be the sum of real motions re- quired to account for the phenomena of proper motions, our foregoing arguments cannot be affceted by the result ; for, as by observation it is known that proper motions do exist, and since no solar motion can resolve them entirely into parallactic ones, we ought to give the preference to that direction of the motion of the sun which will take away more real motion than any other, and this, as we have shown, will be done when the right ascension of the apex sre i$ 245° 52’ 30”, and its north polar distance 40° 29’. XLVI. Life of Joun Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. &c. Com- municated by Mr. 'T.S. Evans, of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. 1 Bevis, M.D.,. fellow of the Royal Society of Lon- don, and corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris and Berlin, was born the last day of October 1695, (old style,) near old Sarum, in Wiltshire. His father distinguished himself very honourably, in the time of the Revolution, by raising and supporting, at his own expense, 4 company of infantry to assist king William, and ex- pended in it the sum of 20001., no part of which was ever omit him by government. The son, after receiving that kind of education which was necessary to qualify him for the university, was entered at Christ’s college, Oxford, where he applied with great av- dour, not only to the stady of physic, for which he was in- tended, but also to many other sciences: he had, in parti- cular, a strong partiality for optics, and was rarely without sir Isaac Newton’s treatise on that subject in his pocket. This will got surprise us mach, when we consider how ne- cessary 2 knowledge of this science is to the one for the advancement of which he had so remarkable a predilectionk Not contented with acquiring the theory of astronomy, he made himself also a proficient in the practical part, even while he was at college; and frequently amuscd himself wilh On 248 Life of John Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. Se. with polishing glass for-optical purposes, in which he was quite an adept. Having taken his degrces, as far as doctor of physic, he left the university, and made the tour of France and Jtaly, and on his return commenced the profession of medicine in London, where he had ereat practice. But the study of physic afforded him no pleasure to compare with that which he received from contemplating the divine works of the Omnipotent in the heavens. As early as the year 1738 he had procured an excellent collection of astronomical instruments*, for the purpose of furnishing a new observatory, which he had built under his own particular direction, at Stoke Newington, on the north side of London. In this place, when he had esta- blished himself, he became a most indefatigable observer, which is proved by three volumes in folio, filled with ob- servations, which he made between the 6th of March in that year and the 6th of March in the following year. From these he selected the most important, making one volume of 196 pages, on large paper, where it frequently occurs that the transits of one hundred and sixty stars, &c. have been observed in one night. Dr. Bevis continued to observe the heavens with the same assiduity till the year 1745, when, finding he had collected sufficient materials, he imposed on himself the laborious task of arranging, and publishing by subscription, a work entitled “* Uranographia Britannica; or An exact View of the Heavens, on fifty-two Plates ;’’ similar to that of Boyer, representing the constellations and all the fixed stars that had been observed by astronomers, together with a consi- derable number that had only been observed by himself, In this work, which he announced in 1748, are two hemi- spheres, which represent the constellations as they were laid down by the antient astronomers f. To cach plate he wrote « particular explanation, with remarks; and jomed acom- - plete catalogue of all the fixed stars, with their magnitudes and positions for that time. These plates, which would have done honour to his coun- try as well as to himself, notwithstanding they have been engraved for so many years, have never come before the public,on the following account :—He had engaged a person * Among others he ha@ in his possession a curious wire micrometer ca~ pable of an inclinatory motion, which once belonged to the celebrated astra~ nomer Hevelius. + Similar, perhaps, to plates 33 and 34 of Bode’s small atlas. to Life of John Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. &e. 249 to engrave them whose name was John Neale *, and who, after he had received several hundred pounds of the sub< scription, became a bankrupt: by this means the work fell into the hands of Neale’s creditors, and was at length put under the protection of the court of chancery, so that the author could never afterwards enjoy the fruit of great la- bourt. What was still worse, the subscribers to this ex- cellent work, having been thus disappointed, supposed that Dr. Bevis had some connection with Neale in his miscon- duct; which being told him, he felt himself so much cha- : : 5 fii . grined by it, that he never spoke of this unpleasant busi- ness during the remainder of his life, without feeling him- self in some degree affected. Mr. Horsefall, whom he left his executor, and who was very fond of astronomy, used every means in his power to forward the suit after the doc- tor’s decease : he even offered to give up his own interest in the affair, to bring it to a final.conclusion, that the work might be published; but to no purpose. Very great pains had been taken with it; and, besides the previous labour, many whole days were spent by the side of the engraver, to see that every star was laid down in its proper position. At the commencement of the suit there was very little to finish for the press, all the plates being ready. Dr. Bevis was the author of a great many works, which have been well received by the public; but his modesty would not permit him to take the merit of them to himselff. It is to him we are indebted for the publication of the cele- brated Dr. Halley’s astronomical’ tables, with whom he was intimately acquainted. They were left from the year 1725 till his death in the hands of the printer, where, per- haps, they might have shared the same fate as the atlas be- fore mentioned, bad not Dr. Bevis taken them'up, and by supplying the necessary auxiliary tables, aud precepts to use them, brought them to light in the year 1749§. In Mr. Thomas Simpson’s Essays, p, 10, are given prac- _ * This John Neale published a pamphlet containing some improvements in the barometer. + Lalande says that the dgctor showed him the proofs when he was in England in the year 1763, at which time they were still iu custedy, but that | M. Messier had a set of them. (Astr. vol.i..p. 242, 3d edit.) ¢ Heath says, p. 234 of his Royal Astronomer, that Gael Morris was the precept writer to Dr. Halley’s tables. Possibly G. Morris might assist Dr. Bevis, or actually write them under his inspection; but there is no doubt that Dr. Bevis was the responsible person concerned. § Dr. Halley expected to bring the theory of the moon to a greater state of perfection, and the publication of the tables was delayed for that purpose. M. de I'lsle, with whom Dr. Halley as well as Dr. Bevis corresponded, has Published two curious letters on the history and theory of these tables. , tica 250 Life of John Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. &c. tical rules for finding the aberration, which were drawn up and given him by Dr. Bevis, together with examples of the corrections applied to several stars, which he had himself carefully observed with proper instrumeuts 5 whereby, as Mr. Sunpson observes, he has proved, the first of any one, that the phznomena are universally as conformable in right ascension as Dr. Bradley, who made this great discovery, found them to be in declination. At a meeting of the Board of Longitude on the 18th Sep- tember 1764, he was. nominated, jointly with Mr. George Witchell and captain Campbell, to compute the observa- tions made at Greenwich, and compare them with those made at Portsmouth and elsewhere, for the purpose of as~ certaining the accuracy of Mr. Harrison’s timekeepers. To prove the estimation in which he was held by ma- thematical men, we need only observe, that the ingenious Mr. Crakelt has dedicated to him his translation of M. Mauduit’s highly valuable Astronomie Sphérique ; and the booksellers, on account of his well known literary erudition, requested he would write a letter of recommenda- tion to a very useful little dictionary, which has always, on that account, gone by the name of Dr. Bevis’s dictionary. He has enriched the Philosophical Transactions, from vol. xl. to vol. lx. inclusive, with twenty-seven valuable papers, mostly containing astronomical observations ; and he has inserted several things in the Mathematical Maga- zine, by Messrs. Moss and Witchell, particularly a curious paper on the satellite of Venus. He announced, in the Journal des Scavans for August 1771, an English translation of Lalande’s Astronomy, done principally by himself; but it has never been published, al- though left ready for the press at his death. The only things which have appeared separately with his name were two pamphlets; one entitled ‘* The Satellite Sliding Rule,” for determining the immersions and emer- sions of the four satellites of Jupiter; the other was ** An experimental Inquiry concerning the Contents, Qualities, and medicinal Virtues of the two mineral Waters lately discovered at Bagnigge Wells, near London; with Direc- tions for drinking them, and some Account of their Suc- cess in obstinate Cases :”? 8vo. London, 1760. A second edition, with additions, was given by him in 1767. : About this time the ingenions Mr. John Dollond, of St. Paul’s Churchyard, invented the method of correcting the aberration and colour of rays of light passing through a single object: glass, and thereby of shortening the length of Life of John Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. 8a 254 of telescopes, by using a compound object glass, composed of a convex lens of crown class and another concave one of white flint glass; or else, by means of two convex ones of crown glass, and one concave one between them of white flint glass. Dr. Bevis was the first who gave the name’ of achyr omatic to telescopes made in this manner, which name * has ever since been universally adopted both at home and abroad. This invention induced him to make some curious experiments on the refractive power of glass, in the com- position of which he had used a quantity of borax, and tound the refrangibility was about as great as that of Png- lish crystal. The French astronomers had always received the credit of being the first inventors of the wire micrometer, until Dr. Bevis, in looking over some letters, the onyinals of which were in lord Macclesfield’s library, found, “by acci- dent, that Gascoigne first invented it in the year 1641, whereas Aazout’s letter to Mr. Gldenburg, which only mentions his having wsed it to measure the sun’s dine. was not dated till the 28th of December 1666. M. Grischou, when be was at Leyden in 1749, engaged M. Schultens, professor of Arabic in that xity, to translate the manuscript, in the public library of that city, containing _ the observations of Ibn Lunis, made at Jaffa, about six or seven miles from Cairo, in Egypt, in the years 977, 978, and 979, where are recorded, among other things, two re- markable eclipses of the sun. Dr. Bevis proc ured a copy of this manuscript in order to compare modern observations with these antient ones, for the purpose of settling the Maximum of some equations in the solar tables; but m the ‘course of his tevenes he found them so obgeute and un- satisfactory that be was obliged to reject them. He atter- wards presented this manuscript to M. de l’Isle, and it has lately been translated into French by M. Caussin, and in- serted in the Mem. de l Instit. Nat. tom. 11.7 At the death of Mr. Bliss, in 1765, his friends made great exertions to procure for him the situation of astro- nomer royal; but Dr. Maskelyne obtained it through the interest of the earl of Macclesfield, who was at that time president of the Royal Society. His majesty, notwith- standing he could not comply with bis wishes in this in- stance, was very partial to him, and requested his assist- * An analysis of this curious and valuable manuscript may | He seen in the first volume of Dr. Garnett’s Annals of Philosophy, p. 105. La Place has derived great benefit trom the use of it. ance 252 Life of John Bevis, M.D. F.R.S. &e. ance and advice in directing the building of the observatory at Richmond in 1770. He corresponded with most of the principal astronomers in all parts of the continent; and many of them make very honourable mention in their works of the civilities and at- tention they received from him, either during their stay in England, or by communications to them abroad. His diploma of member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin is dated the 11th of June 1750, and was accom- panied by a very polite and flatter ing ‘letter from the cele- brated M. de Maupertuis, president of that academy, in which, speaking to him of the work above mentioned, he called it * your mimitable atlas.” The 19th of July 1768 he was chosen corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Pavis. A few years before his death he left the house in which his observatory was at Stoke Newington, and removed into the Temple; but the improper situation of his house for astronomical purposes, the approaches of old age, his oc- cupations as a physician, and at the Royal Society, now prevented him from continuing his observations so regu- larly as before. ‘Nevertheless he had his astronomical clocks, quadrants, and telescopes, about him, to amuse himself occasionally, or to gratify a friend with the sight of any particular observation when it occurred in the hea- vens. His death was occasioned by a fall which he received a short time before, in going rather too bastily from his in- strument to the clock, in observing the meridian altitude of the sun. He died the 6th of November 1771, aged 76, in the Middle Temple, perfectly free and resigned, and with that constancy and serenity of mind becoming a christian and a philosopher. Dr. Bevis’s disposition was lively, amiable, and liberal : he could never see any one in embarrassment, of whatever country or religion he was, without sympathizing in his distress, and affording him relief 1f possible. He rendered very essential service to astronomy by the great encouragement and assistance he gave to astronomers, as well of his own country as foreigners. He was always ready to see them, and never refused his advice when they either wanted to purchase instruments oramake observations ; and, in general, never spared any pains or trouble that con- tributed to forward the progress of astronomy. XLVI. On { 233° J XLVI. On the magnetic Attraction ca Oxides of Iron. By Timotuy Lane, Esq. F.R.S.* Pliginc: found, by experiment, that pa at iron is not so readily aimed by the magnet as soft 1 HOR, and that needles are inferior to iron wire as indexes to Six’s thermo- meter, I was proceeding to other comparative experiments when I received the Second Part of last year’s Philosophical Transactions, in which I saw an Analysis of Magnetical Pyrites, with Remarks on Sulphurets of Iron, by Mr. Hat- ehett. This paper led me to examine what magnetical properties iron possessed when free from inflammable matter. For this purpose I obtained a precipitate of iron prepared and sold at Apothecaries’ Hall by the name of ferrum preecipi- taitum. Mr. Moore, the chemical operator, informed me that he prepared it by dissolving twelve pounds of sulphate of iron in twenty-four gallons of distilled water, and then: adding eight ounces of sulphuric acid to render the solution more complete. Twelve pounds of purified kali were mixed with the solution: the precipitate was weli washed with hot, distilled water, and then carefully dried. This precipitate is similar to the scdiment of chalybeate waters, and affords no magnetic particles; nor, when exposed to a continued clear red heat, does it suffer any alteraticn beyond the ac- quirement of a darker colour. Bat if any smoke or flame has access to it, then magnetic particles are evident. Heat, by the converging rays of the sun f, equal to that at which glass melts, blackens the oxide, but “does not render it magnetic, if tree from any inflammable matter. It i is re- quisite, in this experiment, to protect the oxide, by glass, trom the dust floating in the air, which otherwise will render many of the particles magnetic. I attributed this effect to. the deoxidizing property of hight, till, by employing a pro- tecting glass, the result proved it to proceed from the dust in the atmosphere. By repeated experiments I found that heat alone produced no magnetic effect on the oxide, and that inflammable mat- Beaty heat always rendered some of the particles magnetic. As the inflammable matter in coal had this effect, I mixed some of the oxide with a portion of coal in a glass mortar, and continued rubbing them together for some time witheut * From the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1805. : @ + The lens employed in this experiment was twelve inches in diamerer aod the heat at its focus was sufficient to melt iron; from Mr-Dellopd. «mt any 254 | Magnetic Attraction of Oxides of Iron. any magnetic effect. The mixture was then put into 4 to bacco-pipe, and placed in the clear red heat of a commori fire: as soon as the pipe had acquired a red heat, it was taken out. The mixture was put ona glazed tile to cool, and proved highly magnetic. . I rubbed a portion of the original oxide in a glass mortar with a variety of substances, as sulphur, charcoal, camphor, ether, aleohol, &c., anid found that na effect was produced without the bssislange of heat. The heat of boiling water, moreover, was not sufficient; but by the heat of melting Jead I procured magnetism. Small quantities of any in- flammable matter in a red heat have an evident effect on the oxide. Hydrogen, aided by a red heat, renders the oxide magnetic. Alcohol has the same effect. But if the alcohol be diluted with water, though it may flame in the fire, it will be incfectual, as it is driven off before the oxide becomes sufficiently heated to receive its action. Such combustible substances as do not very readily part with their carbonic element,, require rather longer conti- nuance of heat than others; for example, charcoal and cin- ders, well burnt, must be longer in the fire to have their full effect on the oxide, than dry wood, coal, or sulphur. , But such substances as may be sublimed with facility, will gradually quit the oxide, “by a continued application even of a low heat, leaving it unmagnetic, as at first. How very smail a portion of inflammable matter is re- quisite to render a considerable quantity of oxide magnetic is evident, since one grain of camphor dissolved in an ade- quate portion of alcohol, and mixed with a hundred grains of the oxide in a glass mortar, will, by a red heat, render all the particles of the oxide magnetic. As oxides of iron, therefore, - are rendered magnetic by heat, when mixed with inflammable matter, it may be un- derstood why Prussian blue, su'phurets, and ores of iron containing inflammable matter, become magnetic by the agency of fire; while at the same time it is observable- that these same ores revert to their unmagnetic state, when the heat has. been continued sufficiently long to drive off the whole of the inflammable matter: thus we find among the cinders of a common fire calcined sulphurets of iron, di- stinguishable by their red colour, unmagnetic when all the sulphur is sublimed. My intention in this communication is to prove 2 senerally that afer oxides of iron are not magnetic; that any inflam- mable substances mixed with them do not render them , magnetic until they are by heat chemically combined with the New inflammable and detonating Substance. 955 the oxides, and that when the combustible substance is again separated by heat, the oxides return to their unmag- netic state. That macnetic oxides cannot be distinguished from calcined oxides by their colour. I entertain a hope, however, that this subject may be found worthy of the ac- curate investigation of some other member of this learned society. I ee ae XLVI. Extract from a Memoir of Messrs. Fourcroy and VAUQUELIN upon the Discovery of a new inflam- mable and detonating Substance JSormed by the Action of Nitric Acid on Indigo and Animal Matters. By A. Las- GIER *, ee application of the nitric acid to vegetable and animal matters has produced, it is well known, a multitude of im- portant discoveries. The disengagement of a part of the azot of animal compounds, and their conversion into oxalic acid, as observed by M. Berthollet, together with the dis- covery of the formation of ammonia and the prussic acid by M. Fourcroy, form a brilliant xra in the history of che- mical science. The changes which organic compounds - suffer by the action of nitric acid, which produces nine or ten different substances, themselves compounds, are so mul- tiplied and various, that they excite the astonishment of chemists, and induce them to regard this action of the ni- tric acid as a rich mine to labour in: that it is stil! far from exhausted will appear from the discovery of two substances, hitherto almost wholly unknown, which form the subject of this memoir. The most remarkable of these is produced by boiling nitric acid upon animal substances or vegetables containing azote. It is of a yellow colour, has an intensely bitter taste, and is distinguished by its property of inflaming and detonating with violence when exposed to a moderate heat. M. Haussmann, by a memoir which appeared in the Journal de Physique (March 1788), where he relates some experiments on indigo with the acids, seems to have seen this substance. Although he confounds it with the oxalic acid, yet its properties are pointed out by him with sufficient accuracy; its bitterness, its yellow colour, its solubility, and its precipitation by alkalies: but its principal property * From the Annales de Chimie, No. 195. of 656 New inflammable and detonating Substance: of inflammation and detonation, of course its intimate and peculiar nature, has altogether escaped him. The substance ternied by Welther the bitter principle, in which he discovered a power of detonating, seems to be the same matter: but he has attributed this peculiarity to the presence of.a portion of nitrate of potash, The most convenient mode of procuring the substance in question, is to boil four parts of nitric acid, of 18 or 20 degrees strength, upon one part of powdered indigo of Guatinala, until "ig colour ts destroyed, while the acid be- comes yellow. and till there remains on the surface only a thin layer of resinous matter, which becomes firm by cool- ing. This is to be removed, the solution evaporated to the consistence of honey, and the residuum dissolved in hot water, and filtered. A solution of the potash of commerce is now to be pepied into the liquor, when a number of smalf yellow crystals of a circular shape will appear, forming the inflammable substance. The resin which has been separated may, by the addition of a new portion of acid, be also converted into the same yellow detonating sabstance. If the process be stopped before the point mentioned, we obtain, instead of the Pegs ite substance, a matter of a yellow colour and crystallized, but more soluble in water, and subliming in the form of white needles. This substatice exhibits all the characters of benzoic acid, altered by a portion of the resin. In all probability the continuance of the process decomposes or yolatilizes this acid. The orange colour of the detonating matter; its bitter taste ; its solubility in boiling water, fh alcohol, and, above all, in nitric acid; the very deep blood-red colour which it acquires on the application of alkalis, and which it com- municates to the precipitate from the sulphate of iron; the tenacity with which it adheres to the benzoic acid which is formed along with it by the action of the nitric acid upon indigo; and Jastly, its property of detonating strongly with a clear purple lizht when wrapped up ina bit of paper and strat with a hammer, are characters which sufficiently distinguish this substance from every other with which we are acquainted. - The celebrated authors of this memoir have ascertained that the detonating property of the new substance depends neither on the presence of nitric acid nor on that of ammo-~ nia; for concentrated sulphuric acid disengaged from it er acl On the Production of Muriates. 257 acid vapours; and caustic potash no ammonia. They are, on the contrary, inclined to believe that potash has some share in the effect of detonation ; since’ acids in which this substance has been digested contain traces of salts having potash as their base. When deprived of alkali this sub- stance is more soluble in water, and'crystallizes in elongated plates of a yellow colour and bitter taste, having acid cha- racters: these crystals, if moistened with potash, resume their detonating property. The potash seems merely to render this substance more fixed; to favour the accumula- tion of caloric, and to determine, consequently, the combus- tion of the elements which compose it ; viz. of the carbon, the hydrogen, and perhaps of the azote, by means of the oxygen which it also contains. Indigo is not the only substance which furnishes this detonating ‘composition; the muscular fibre treated with nitric acid presents the same phenomena; and it is proba- ble that silk, wool, and other animal and vegetable matters containing azote will also furnish it. ‘i The labours of Messrs. Fourcroy and Vauquelin present two very interesting facts. It follows, 1. That the benzoic ac'd may be formed from a multitude of different substances, which we were formerly ignorant of: 2. That animal and vegetable substances containing azote, if treated with the nitric acid, which takes from them a portion of carbon, of hydrogen, and of azote,’ give birth to a matter supersatu- rated with oxygen, and possessing the property of detona- tion. This substance, which the authors, of the memoir have examined with care, appears to them to be a super~ oxygenated hydro-carburet of azote. XLIX. Third Communication from Mr. W. Peer, of Cambridge. On the Production of Muriates by the Galvanic and Electric Decomposition of Water. To Mr. Tilloch. SIR, I FEEL no little satisfaction at the interest my experiments have excited, and the favourable reception they have met with from you. I have now the pleasure to inform you, that since my last letter, dated the 4th of June, (Phil. Mag. vol. xxn. . 153.) having had some leisure time upon my hands, [ ave dedicated as much of it as my health would permit to Vol. 23. No. 91. Dec. 1805. R the 258 Cn the Production of Muriates. the further investigation of the subject on which I ther wrote you. In my first letter, (vol. xxi. p. 279.) dated the 93d of April last, I informed you, briefly, that by decomposing, by means of Galvanism, about one-half of a whole pint which I employed of distilled water, I had obtained in the remain- ing water a quantity of muriate of soda. In my letter of the 4th of June I informed you, that on repeating the same experiment with water formed by the combustion of hydrogen with oxygen gas, saturated with lime to free it from some free nitric acid with which it was found tinc- tured, and then distilled, I had, instead of muriate of soda, as in the former experiment, obtained muriate of potash. The experiments which I am now to state, were under- -takeny Est, Fo determine whether the difference in the result of the before-mentioned experiments was owing in any degree to my having employed lime to neutralize the water employed in my second experiment, before it was distilled. 2d, To ascertain whether the salts found in the residual water, or any component part of them, came from the Gal- vanic battery by means of the wires. To determine the first poiut, I varied my experiment by employing for decomposition water distilled under different circumstances, t Exp. 1. The water employed in this expertment was di- stilled from- water containing dime. A portion of it was decomposed in the manner that has before been stated. The remaining water yielded muriate of potash. Exp. 11. Water distilled from water containing magnesia was decomposed inthe same manner. The result was mu- riate of soda. Exp. Iti, In this experiment double distilled snow water was employed. The result was muriate of soda. Exp. 1V. Water distilled from larytes was now used. The result was still muriate of soda. The water which I used in the experiment detailed in my first letter was distilled from pump water (the pump is on the premises where I live), which I have not myself ana- Ivsed, but a friend has been so good as to take upon him that trouble. He has not been able to detect in it the minutest portion of magnesia. In one of the above expe- riments, having used water distilled from magnesia, I ob- tained muriate uf soda; but, having obtained the same re- sult from distilled snow water, and from water distilled from barytes, ; On Gum Aralic and Gum Adraganth. 259 barytes, I conclude that the production of the soda has no- thing to do with the presence of magnesia. But in the production of potash the presence of lime seems to be essential, and, as you hinted, a portion of lime must have been carried over with the distilled water; a fact which few would suspect, and which probably may often be the cause of differences in the results of chemical inves- tigations, conducted, to all appearance, in a similar manner. To determine the second point which I had in view; namely, whether the salts found in the residual water, or any component part of them, came from the Galvanic bat- tery by means of the conducting wires, I made similar ex- periments to those before stated, employing for the decom- position of the distilled water a powerful electrical machine instead of a Galvanic battery, but without obtaining results different from what have been already stated. I am now engaged in an experiment concerning the formation of potash; but, being desirous that my present letter, which [ write in haste, may reach you in time for this month’s Magazine, cannot wait for its result. Should the experiment succeed, you shall be informed-as soon as possible. In the mean time I remain, with the greatest regard, yours, Cambridge, W. Peet. Dec. 20, 1805. 4 ———— = ————— ee L. Experiments on Gum Arabic and Gum Adraganth. By M. Vavavuz.in*. red bee grains of red gum adraganth, furnished by com- bustion three decigrammes and a half of white ashes. These ashes dissolved -in muriatic acid with effervescence, and gave out an odour of sulphurated hydrogen. Their solution gives- by ammonia a precipitate which consists of phos- phate of lime and oxide of iron. The oxalate of ammonia precipitates a considerable quantity of lime. Thus the red gum adraganth contains in a hundred parts about three and a half of ashes, which are composed, for the greater part, of carbonate of lime, of @ small quantity of iron, of phosphate of lime, and perhaps also a minute portion of alkali, 2. Ten grains of white gum adraganth, submitted to the same proofs, yielded three decigrammes of ashes, which © From the Annales de Chimie, tom. liv. RQ were ©60 On Gum Arabic and Gum Adraganth. were composed of the same principles as those of the red gum. Further, in washing there was extracted a small quan tv of alkali, VIZ. potash. 3..Ten grains of gum arabic, burnt like the others, left three decigrammes of ashes, which were composed sk the same elements with the preceding; with this difference, however, that they gave no symptoms of the presence of an alkali, nor of sulphur, as the others. Thad formerly suspected that the opacity of gum adra- ganth, and the difficulty which it has to dissolve in water, were owing to the existence of a very great quantity of earthy matter; but after these experiments it appeared thsy were owing {o another cause. To a certainty the lime is not found in the state of a car- bonate, and still less in the state of quicklime; for the so- fone: of eum are not alkaline, they are, on the contrary, slightly i At least, if one rub on a morsel cf gum a’ piece of test paper well moistened, itis sensibly reddened. It is certain, also, that oxalate of ammonia and carbonate of potash occasion precipitations in the solution of gum arabic, and that the acetate of Jead is not there formed. at all. Tt follows from thence that there is lime in the gums, combined with an acid :—But what is this acid? . Here, for want of facts, I shall be obliged to give way to conjecture ; but conjecture very probable, which every thing seems to support, and nothing to contradict. It isnot doubtful, at least, that it is a vegetable acid; for, on being decomposed, they leave their bases eouainwd with carbonic acid. Supposing this, let us see among the great number of acids that w bich could best satisfy all those conditions. Tt is neither the oxalic, nor the tartareous acid, nor the citric, beeause their combinations with lime are insoluble in water, and likewise because they exist in only a small number of vegetables. ~Still less can it be the benzoic, ‘the gallic, the mosoxalic or the honistic acid; which, as we know, are very rare in nature, and of eine the three first form also salts which are very little soluble. It remains, therefore, only to choosé between the acetous and the malic acid.. T he first forms, as we know, soluble combinations with all kuown substances with which it is capable of uniting; some of them are tven: deliquescent. It 1s, besides, a result most frequent in the operations of nature in the vegetable and animal system ; since it forms secs't by vegetation, fermentation, the ition of powerful acids, and the influence of heat. The On the Fire and Choak-Damps of Coal Mines. 261 The'combinations of the second are the greater part in- soluble im water; that which it forms particularly with lime is: not sensibly soluble but by the aid of an excess of acid, and its existence in'nature is not so frequent as that, of the acetic acid ; and since the lime which is found in; transparent gums has been incontestibly dissolved in the juices of the vegetables which furnished these substances, 1t is much more probable that this earth is there combined with the acetic acid than with any other. It is very probable that the small quantity of potash which, I found in the ashes of the burnt gums is united to the same acid, which would explain why these substances are so sen- sible to humidity, and soften themselves so as not to be pulverizable. Iam, however, very much disposed to believe, that in eertain opake adraganth gums difficult to dissolve, and which give much: lime by incineration, this earth is there combined with the malic acid. JI have had occasion to examine lately a gum collected by M. Pallissot-Bauvois on the nopal of cochineal, which was opake, swelled itself in water, but did not dissolve in a homogeneous manner, and which gave eight’per cent of lime. As the sap of all the cactus which I have submjtted to analysis has afforded me quantities more or less considera- ble of the acidulous maiate of lime, one may presume, with sufficient reason, that the kind which nourishes the cochi- neal contains it also; and that it is the presence of this salt, proceeding from the vegetable when dissolved in the sap with the gum, which gives it its opacity, and hinders its ‘ solution in water. Tt results at least from these experiments, that the gums contain, 1. A calcareous salt, most frequently the acetate of lime: 2. Sometimes a malate of lime with excess of acid: 3. Phosphate of lime: 4. Iron, which is probably united to phosphoric acid. LI. A proposal for destroying the Fire- and Choak-Damps of Coat Mines; and their Production explained on the Principles of modern Chemistry: addressed to the Owners. and Agents of Coal Works, &c. Tue subjoined remarks are extracted from a little tract, which professes only to hold out a short explanation of well known facts, in the hope of secing them conducive to, save human beings whose Labia are useful to the com- R3 munity, 262 Proposal for destroying munity. It is written in a popular manneg, and, we think, deserves the attention of those to whom it is addressed. The decomposition of water when carbonaceous matter, or coal, comes in-contact with it, and the affinity which the oxygen of the water has for carbon, account satisfac- torily for the formation both of fire-damp (hydrogen gas) and of choak-damp (carbonic acid gas). The hydrogenous gas, from its specific gravity being so much less than that of atmospheric air, as 13 to 1, or 16 to 1, if perfectly pure, ascends to the roof of the mine: the carbonic acid gas, owing - to its specific gravity being more than twice that of common air, falls to the bottom. ‘When these two do not by their bulk fill the space between the floor and top of the mine, a stratum of atmospheric air lies between them, being nei- ther so heavy as the choak-damp nor so light as the fire- damp. Neither the hydrogen nor carbonic acid gas are respirable, if unmixed with atmospheric air; and wherever the former takes fire it must be in contact or mixture with atmospheric air, as it cannot be inflamed without 11 :—the result of the combustion is the formation of water which consists of hydrogen 0:15 and of oxygen 0°85; and thus pit-men who have been scorched with the explosion of fire- damp appear as if drenched with water.—Such, briefly, are the facts brought to view by the author, Dr. Trotter. Dr. Trotter, in prosecuting his object, points out, Ist, The means to prevent the formation of noxious. airs in the mines: 9d, For removing them when formed. For the first, the mines should be as well ventilated as possible by the usua] means: but one great object ought to be to prevent al] stagnation of water; for where there is no moisture there can beno generation of the foul airs. Where- ever water can stagnate, a stream of pure water should be admitted at intervals to dilute and sweeten it, that the whole may be pumped out; and no chips of wood, or horse dung, should be allowed to mix with the water that may become stagnate. To destroy fire-damp ‘* we have only to employ some of the stronger acids in a state of vapour, such as the acetic, nitrous, or oxygenated muriatic. ‘These acid vapours seize the hydrogen. In the expansible state of the acid gas its oxygen quiis the radical or base of the acid and attracts the hydrogen; water is recomposed, but the caloric disengaged during the combination of the oxygen and hydrogen con- verts it into steam, so that it is not seen in acondensed state. This is the whole secret of destroying hydrogenous gas, or fire-damp.” The oxvgenated muriatic acid gas, on ac- * count _ the Fire- and Chaak-Damps of Coal Mines. 265 count of the extra oxygen which it contains, is the best for this purpose. “ The utensils required for this business are small flat stone dishes, made thick, about two inches deep; and a glass funnel for pouring in the acid of vitriol, The ingre- dients are, common salt (it ought to be bay salt), oxide of -manganese, and concentrated acid of vitriol, which, in comimon language, is the strongest oil of vitriol. Proportion for one Fumigation. oz. dr. grs. ** Take of common bay salt Ss) eivBoo2 10 Fine powder of black manganese Oi est. 17 Water - AL = - 116233 Strong sulphuric acid - - waa 50 «« After pounding the salt and manganese together, they may be put into the stone ware dish, and the water poured upon them; and afterwards the sulphuric acid, slowly,’ through a glass funnel. This quantity is sufficient for a space of 16 feet by 12; but the frequent employment must depend on the manner how the jire-damp is evolved.” To remove the choak-damp from coal! mines the author recommends the use of water. « Water, about the temperature of 40° of Fahrenheit, is found to dissolve equal parts of its bulk; but as the water of adeep pit is commonly above 50°, it will take up two- thirds of its bulk only. In order to effect this mixture with water, IT would recommend (says the author) the common fjre-engine, such as is used in the case of fire. The work- men might for safety stand at a distance, and by directing the mouth of the tube to the spot where the choak damp is known to lic, the water may be so diffused as to take up the whole. The water will then taste acidulous, and lights will burn, and animals breathe, in the place whence the vapour was dislodged: That the diffusion of the water might be more speedy in dissolving the choak-damp, the tube might be fitted after the manner of a garden watering-pot, so as to sprinkle and break the fluid into a shower. ‘¢ This kind of air being speedily attracted by quicklime, by mixing that article in the water which is to be diffused would still more effectually dislodge the choak-dump ; and in places where it happens to be collected in great quantity, such a mixture would be highly serviceable. ** It ought to he remembered, whenever either fire-damp or choak-damp are detected in coal-pits, that there will be reason to fear a collection of the other near the spot, if net P Ra powerfully 264 On the Presence of Fluorie Acid powerfully ventilated ; for it is without doubt that they are invariably generated by the same process and at the same’ time.’’ Such are the means proposed by Dr. Trotter for destroy- ing, the ire- and choak-damps in coal.mines.. The ingre-* dients, he observes, are so cheap, that ‘‘ the largest mine could not consume one hundred pounds (value, we suppose, he means,) in the year, by keeping the fumigation in con- stant use day and night.” But the constant use of it would, we think, be impracticable ; for too free an inhalation of oxy-muriatic acid gas,is apt to produce pleurisy, and many people fellvictims to this malady in different works when this gas was first introduced for the purpose of bleaching, The intention of the author is, however, not the less’ praise- worthy; nor should. this oversight militate against a fair trial, judiciously conducted, of the means he has suggested. We believe few or none of the mines are worked in the night-time. Before quitting the mine the fumigating pans might be properly disposed, and the desired end probably be gained before the people return ‘to’ their’ work in the Morning, =~ LIT. Letter. of M. Gay-Lussac to M. BERTHOLLET, 07 the Presence of Fluoric Acid in Animal Subsiances*. My honoured friend, Wary I quitted Paris, about four months ago, you were at that time una¢quainted with the existence of fluoric acid. in animal substances; and I have since received from you no notice of that beautiful discovery. J conceive, there- fore, that you will be gratified by the communication of what I have learnt respecting it from M. Morichini, a Ro- man chemist, by whom this discovery was made, As it was announced by him so early as the year 1802, you will no doubt be astonished that it should have remained so long unknown in France, and excited so little the attention of chemists, In April 1802 the skeleton of an elephant was found in -the neighbourhood of Rome, an account of which has been published by count Morozzo in the Journal de Physique of Paris. The dentes molares of this fossil elephant are formed of two very distinct substances; the inner of these is os- * From the Annales de Chintie, No..165. seous, zn Animal Substances, 265 seous, translucent, of a pale yellow somewhat resembling horn ; the outer, or enamel, is very white, breaks easily, and has a ‘rough fracture, T is osseous portion is most observa- ble on the upper surface of the tooth, where it forms trian- gular figures having rounded angles, and passes in plates even to the root of the tooth, filling up the spaces left by the enamel. On examining bas two substances, count Morozzo conceived that they must be different, and begged M.-Morichini to analyse them. This chemist soon dis- eovered, by the application of the sulphuric acid, that the enamel of the molares of the fossil elephant was alimost.cue tirely composed of the fluate of lime, together with a small proportion of the phosphate and carbonate of the same sub- stance; the osseous substance, however, he found to be principally formed of phosphate of lime. .-Such are the first general results obtained by M. Morichini: they have been published) in the Memoirs of the Italian Society in this imperfect state, as he had not then leisure to extend his experiments further. Since that time, however, he has: ascertamed, with accuracy, the nature and proportions of the several substances composing the fossil tooth: he has also analysed the enanicl of human teeth. M.Josse, as you well know, analysed this last; but there was still a great deal to be done; for his experiments offered no satisfactory account of the difference existing between the enamel and the bony part of the tooth. As M. Morichini has assured me his late experiments will certainly appear in the Memoirs of the Italian Society, I shall not enter into any detail of them, but merely relate the principal results. » M. Morichiai, having separated a portion of the enamel of human’ teeth, and suspecting: that it resembled in its composition that of the molures of the elephant, treated it in the same manner, and discovered, to ‘his great satisfac- tion, that it contained:a large proportion of fiuate of lime. pers to render his experiment more conclusive, he submitted to. the same tests the two enamels and. the fluate of lime. Under the action of the concentrated sulphuric acid, the Jast of these three substances gave out readily copious va- pours of fluoric acid: the enamel ofthe fossil teeth emitted them rather more slowly, and that of human teeth with still less rapidity. M. Morichini, however, remarks, that this difference is wholly owing to the presence of 2n animal sub- stance in the two enamels, which is more,abundant in that of buman teeth than in the enamel of the fossil; and to prove it, he asserts that we may retard the disengagement of the acid fronr fltiate of Jime by adding to it, aficr calcina- 8 tion, 266 On the Presence of Fluoric Acid tion, a small quantity of gelatine, and then drying it. The vapours which these three substances yield by the sulphuric acid, exhibit equally the property of corroding glass, and depositing siliceous concretions m water, or on a moist sponge. They present also other characters which it would e useless here to mention, but which, taken in conjunc- tion with the above, will not permit us to doubt their identity. According to the exjeriments of M. Morichini, 100 parts of the enamel of human teeth contain thirty of animal sub- stance, a little magnesia, alumine, and carbonie acid; and twenty-two of the fluoric and phosphoric acids, in combina- tion with lime. He has been unable to separate accurately the fluoric from the phosphoric acid, but conceives that this jast exists only in very small quantity. The enamel of the teeth of the fossil elephant is hkewise composed of the same elements, but in different proportions: thus it contains less phosphoric acid than that of the human teeth, and much Jess animal substance. M. Morichini, however, believes that this difference in the quantity of phosphoric acid in the two enamels very probably arises trom a portion of the bony matter of human teeth, which it is very difficult to separate completely from the enamel. The most interesting result, and that which we least sus- pected, is the existence of fluoric acid in animal substances ; a discovery of very great value, and one from which we may justly expect the most important consequences. These conclusions respecting the presence of fluate: of lime in the enamel of the teeth, are no doubt contrary to our former ideas upon this subject; for M. Josse, who has analysed the enamel of human teeth *, and Mr. Hatchett f, who examined that of a fossil elephant’s tooth, have both. discovered no other substance besides the phosphate of hime. The opinion of these two chemists induced M. Morichint to submit his own to rigorous examination: but his expe- riments have been so multiplied that there can now be en- tertained hardly any doubt upon this subject. Pelletier has proved that the phosphate of lime of Estra- _madura contains a portion of fluate of lime, and that the earth of Mamarosch consists of a large proportion of this Jast, with a small quantity of phosphate. M. Morichini, reasoning from his own experiments, which prove that these two salts may be found united in animal substances, con- ceives it very possible that the phosphate of lime of Estra- * Annales de Chimie. t Phil. Trans. 1799, i madura, . ° . bal in Animal Substances. 267 ~wadura, and the earth of Mamarosch, may have arisen from the decomposition of the skeletons of large terrestrial animals. Upon learning that the’fluoric acid existed in the enamel of teeth, I immediately recollected that Rouelle had for- merly announced that-he was unable to procure phosphorus from ivory ; and [ suspected that it might be similar in its composition te enamel. I therefore calcined a quantity of ivory, and poured upon it concentrated sulphuric acid: va- pours were now disengaged, which I readily recognised to be those of the fluoric acid. The tusks of the boar afforded the saine results, When I say that these two substances contain fluate of lime, I would not be understood to assert that they are wholly composed of it, because I had no means of making an accurate analysis; the vapours of the fuoric acid, however, are so abundant, that we should be led to believe its combination with lime forms a very large part of their composition. A few days after these experiments I examined, along with M. Morichini, a portion of fossil iyory which had been found in the neighbourhood of Rome. _ Its concentric lay- ers, both external and internal, yielded the fluoric acid in great abundance. I attempted also to analyse the bones of fish; but I have made only a single experiment on those of the tench; and from this I confess I dare not say any thing decisive. ‘ You perceive then, my friend, that it is highly probable the enamel of the teeth of all animals is formed, in a creat measure, of the fluate of lime; and it may be remarked, that their canine teeth are either entirely composed of the enamel, or contain a much larger proportion of it than the ethers. As we have hitherto found in the urine all the dif- ferent substances composing the bones, have we not ground for believing that it also contains the fluoric acid? Tf at a certain period of life the fluate of lime can be deposited upon the teeth, it appears necessary that when these have acquired their full growth this substance should find some outlet from the body. What is the origin of this fluate of lime in animal sub- stances ? Although the presence of fluate of lime in the phosphate of lime of Estramadura has occasioned a sus- picion that one of the acids forming these salts may be a modification of the other, this opinion appears to me to have but little foundation ; for the co-existence of the two substances proves nothing as to their intimate nature: and we may readily convince ourselves, by simply mr fossi 268 Royal Society, London. fossil elephant’s tooth, that the osseous part is terminated by a distinct line, and even smooth on one side; which could not possibly be the case were the enamel changeable into osseous matter, or this last into enamel. Ifthe fluoric acid is not formed in the bodies of animals, which seems the most probable opinion, but is only carried thither by means of the substances which furnish their nourishment, we ought then to find the acid in these substances. Thus, my friend, you see what extensive and important inquiries still remain to be made upon the single point of the existence of fluoric acid in animal substances. M. Mo- richini, to whom this subject of right belongs, proposes to undertake the investigation: the field, however, 1s so wide, that it will furnish sufficient employment for the exertions of many chemists. LIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies. ROYAL SOCIETY, LONDON. Tus regular meeting of this society, which should have taken place on the ¢8th of November, was postponed to the 12th of December, the former having been appointed for a day of general thanksgiving. On Saturday the 30th of November, being St. Andrew’s day, the Royal Society held their anniversary meeting at their apartments in Somerset Place, when’ the gold medal (called sir Godfrey Cupley’s) was presented to Humphrey Davy, esq. for his various communications published in the Philosophical Transactions. : Afterwards the society proceeded to the choice of the council and officers for the ensuing year, when, on exa-~ mining the ballots, it appeared that the followimg gentle- men were elected of the council ; Of the old council,—The right honourable sir Joseph Banks, bart. K.B.; sir Charles Blagdon, knt.; Henry Ca~ vendish, esq.; Davies Giddy, esq.; Edward Whitaker Gray, M.D,; right honourable Charles Greville ;, William Mars- den, .esq-; Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, D. D.;, George earl of Morton; Samuel Horsley, lord bishop of St, Asaph ; Wil- liam Hyde Wollaston, M.D. Of the new council,—Mr. John Abernethy; George earl of Egreittont; George Trenchard Goodenough, esq. 5 ho- nourable Robert Fulk Greville ; Philip. Metcalf, esq.; Mat- thew Montayue, esq.; lieutenant-colonel William Mudge ; John Royal Society, London. 268 John Townley, esq.; William Charles Wells, M.D.; Tho- mas Young, M.D. And the officers were,—The right honourable sir Joseph Banks, K.B. president; William Marsden, esq. treasurer ; Edward Whitaker Gray, M.D., William Hyde Wollas- ton, M.D.., secretaries. Afterwards the members of the society dined together, as usual, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, in the Strand. On Thursday the 12th of December, the right honoura- ble Charles Greville in the chair, minutes of the transac- tions of the council were read, with the above lists of ofhi- cers, and a state of the funds of the society. Letters were read from Drs. Maskelyne and Herschel mentioning their having observed a comet on the evening of the 8th instant, about six o’clock. It appeared like a star of the third or fourth magnitude, with a large coma, but no tail. It was not visible the succeeding evening. A paper was also read on the dissection of a peculiarly formed heart, by Mr. Wyatt. It belonged to the body of a young woman who died of a mortification in her fect at the age of twenty. For forty days before her death, a chlo- rotic paleness pervaded her whole frame; her feet and legs were somewhat swelled, and painful ; and her appetite con- tinued good till the day she expired. When her body was ° opened by Mr. Wyatt, he found the heart nearly divided by a callous substance that obstructed its functions in re« ceiving and discharging the blood through the aortas. To -this cause, the obstructed or imperfect circulation, he ascribed the mortification of the extremities. The paper was illustrated by a drawing of the singular appearance of the heart. Thursday, December 19, the right honourable Charles Greville in the chair, commenced the reading of a paper on guiacum, by Mr. Brandé, communicated by Mr. Hat- chett, who has placed an accurate knowledge of this sub- ject among the chemical desiderata, where, we fear, it must yet remain. Mr. Brandé agrees with Mr. Hatchett that guiacum is a peculiar substance, which he chooses, for the present, to denominate an extracto-resin, differing, as she says, from the other resing in having an extraordinary quantity of what is usually denominated extractive matter. Its peculiarities seem to consist principally in its different solutions in the acids Seing of very different colours, all of which are ascribed by Mr. Brandé to the presence of oxygen. Some, however, may be inclined to believe that different sombinations of matter must present different surfaces or powers 279 Society of Antiquaries. powers of reflection ; and that, consequently, a great variety of colours may be produced without having recourse to the magical operations of oxygen on every occasion. We would also observe, that some order should be adopted in detailing an account of numerous experiments on particular sub- stances, such as balsams, gums, or resins. A multiplicity of isolated tacts, in a confused mass, without any regard to the influence of some general law, can do little to facilitate the progress of knowledge; the memory cannot retain them, and we are reduced to the necessity of operatmg, as we have known some of the French chemists, with our beok resting on the apparatus. It is true, these observations are no more applicable to the present author than to almost every other operator; but they must be evident to all. who either read, write, or make experiments: and, as it should be a rule never to operate by a system, so it should also be a maxim, in reporting the results, always to arrange the facts accord- ing to some general analogy, drawn from just conceptions of the products of our operations. The experimenis of Mr. Brandé, however, seem to have been well conceived, and are detailed with sufficient perspicuity and accuracy ; but they are not, perhaps, so numerous as may be necessary to satisfy our curiosity respecting the peculiar principles of this useful medicinal drug. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Nov. 28. An impression of a seal belonging to Mary queen of Scots, now in the museum at Paris, was exhi- bited.- It contained the arms of England, against which Elizabeth remonstrated with so much ardour, denying Mary’s right to retain the English arms, and alleging, from this circumstance, her ultimate views on the throne of England. ‘The plea of Mary was, That her family con- nection gave her the right to use the arms of her forefathers, in which she was supported by the king of France. Several illustrative observations were made by the learned secretary who exhibited it, from which it did not appear that Mary’s tight in this case was sufficiently established by the usage ot monarchs. This subject might again exercise the pen of the truly learned, highly ingenious, but too often fanci-- tul, Mr. Whitaker. Thursday, Dec. 12, the Rey. Dr. Hamilton in the chair, a polished stone was shown, supposed to be used by butchers before the use of knives, or the knowledge of iron. It was found in Suffolk, and consisted of shaded grayish green marble, well polished, very compact, except about an inch square Society of Antiquaries. 371 square near the broad end, that was very porous and rough: it is about 8 inches long, nearly 3} inches broad at one end, and 14 at the other, both of which are bevelled into a tolerably sharp and circular edge. A very interesting communication from the director, Mr. Lysons, was read, on the state of the English mint, and comage of England, during the reigns of the first six Edwards. From these curious items it appeared that this country was principally indebted, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, to the merchants,of Lucca for the current coin of the realm. Lucca was formerly a republican state of Italy, whose merchants then possessed the principal traffic of Europe. J. B. Repton, esq. exhibited to the society some of his drawings of Saxon architecture, consisting of a capital and base of a Saxon column. Dec. 19, the right honourable the earl of Leicester in the chair, a medal of Charles I., and a silver seal of the parish of Bow, Cheapside, were exhibited. This seal bears date 1598, as mentioned by Stowe, and consists of the spire of the church as it appeared before the fire of London: it is deemed the only parish seal now in existence that was in use in London before that dreadful catastrophe. In the spire there appear places for lanterns, or lights, to direct the good citizens of London their way through the streets at _ that period, when lamps, owing to the narrowness of the streets, were much more necessary than at present. The secretary read a most amusing paper on the history, progress, and final conclusion of the cure of the scrofula, or king’s evil, by the royal touch. This mode of cure com- menced with Edward the Confessor, and, it appears, termi- nated with Charles [., who is called the antitype of the Confessor. The monarchs of France, too, claimed and ac- tually practised this gift, which Clovis received from our Eng~ lish kings, one of whom touched or cured (for they were sy- nonimous terms) 92,000 persons. Some additional means were, however, used; and a gold medal was always hung round the neck of the patient, which, if Jost, the disease immediately returned; prayers too were made at the cere- mony. The learned secretary quoted some observations on the nature and credibility of testimony in this case by the bishop gf Salisbury, applicable to all historical evidence, and highly worthy of attention. It appears that many me- dical men attested the truth of these royal cures. We trust that the reverend author will present this interesting ac- if count 972 Royal Academy.— British Insiitution. count to the publica in a more convenient‘form than in the Archaiologia, that it may serve for an introduction to the ‘history of our modern impostures. ROYAL ACADEMY. A general assembly of the academicians was held on Tuesday, the 10th of December, ‘being the anniversary of -the institution, when the following were elected officers for the ensuing year: James Wyatt, esq. president ; Henry Thomson,‘ John Hoppner, Thomas Lawrence, Thomas Stothard, Richard Westall, John Francis Rigaud, Richard Cofway, and Ed- mund Garvey; esqrs., council. James Northcote, John Hoppner, Henry Thomson, John Opie, Henry Tresham, John Francis Rigaud, Phil. James de Loutherbourg, Jebn Sing. Copley, esqrs, and sir William Beechey, visitors. John Francis exile and John Soane, esqrs., ‘auditors. Afterwards the following premiums were given to stu+ dents, viz. Painting.—A gold medal to Mr. Douglas Guest, for ihe ‘best historical picture in oil colours ; the subject—bearing the dead body of Patroclus to the camp. Sculpture-—A gold medal to: Mr. William Tolmach, for the best; the suibject—chaining Prometheus to the Pools Architecture: —A gold medal’ to Mr. William Lockner, for the best design of an elegant villa, with suitable offices, &c. &e. A silver inkdlal to Mr. Lase. Hoppner, for a drawing of an academy figure. A silver medal to Mr. James Noch, for a drawing of an academy figure. A silver medal to Mr. Richard Tomlinson, for a model of an academy figure. A silver medal to Mr. TAG: Bubb, for a enol of an academy figure. +A silver medal to Mr. William Kinki: for a drawing in architecture ; Anda silver medal to Mr. James Eames, for a drawing in architecture. BRITISH INSTITUTION FOR PROMOTING THE FINE ARTS. We have already announced* the preliminary proceed- ings for the establishment of this laudable and most uscful * Vol. xxii. p. 88. - institution. British Institution for promoting the Fine Aris. 273 institution. Since that time the Shakspeare gallery, held for aterm of sixty-two vears from lady-day 1805, under a: rent of 1251. a year, has been purchased as an exhibition: room for the society forthe sum of 45001. Aaample fund has been provided hy liberal subscriptions from those of the’ nobility and gentry who 'areamateurs and encouragers of the fine arts ; and ‘the institution has been recularly organized under the patronage of'the king. The following are the bye- laws of the institution. qa Patron.—The king. Vice-patron.— The Prince of Wales. I. Of the Object of the Institution. 1. The primary object of the British lustitution, under his majesty’s patronage, is to encourage and reward the talents of the artists of the united kingdom ; so as to im- prove and extend our manufactures, by that degree of taste and elegance of design, which are to be exclusively derived . from the cultivation of the fine arts ; and thereby to increase the general prosperity and resources of the empire. It is con¢eived, that such an institution is of peculiar importance to the united kingdom at the present moment ; when efforts are making in different parts of Europe to promote the arts of painting, sculpture, and design, by great national esta- blishments, and thereby to wrest from us those advan- tages, which can only be retained by a pre-eminence in the fine arts. 2. With a view to this object it is intended to open a public exhibition, for the sale of the productions of British artists ;—to excite the emulation and exertions of the younger artists by premiums ;—and to endeavour to forma public gallery of the works of British artists, with a few select specimens of each of the great schools. 8. The exhibition is to be exclusively confined to the productions of artists of, or resident in, the united king- dom ; and the higher branches of painting, sculpture, and modelling, ate to be considered as the preferable subjects of premiums, and of purchases for the galléry. All other works, however, of the above-mentioned artists will be ad- missible, if deemed worthy. 4, The British Institution being intended to extend and increase the beneficial effects of the royal academy, which has been founded by his majesty, ‘and by no means to in~ terfere with it in any respect, a favourable attention will be paid to such pictures a3 have been exhibited at the royal Vol, 23, No. 93. Dec. 1805. S academy ; 274 British Institution for promoting the Fine Arts. academy ; and the British Institution will be shut up during their annual exhibition. 5. The views of this establishment are directed, not only to the promotion of the fine arts, but to the increase of the honour and emolument of our own professional artists ; the institution being formed, not asa society of artists, but for their benefit. No subscription will, therefore, be expected from professional artists; but their admission will be otherwise provided for. At the same time, if any artist prefers it, he may subscribe in any one of the classes of subscription; and have the same privileges of admission and introduction to the exhibition and gallery, as the other subscribers of the same class; but no one will be capable of being elected on any committee, or of voting as a go- vernor, while he continues to be a professional artist. II. Of the Governors. 1. The government of the institution shall be vested in the present subscribers and contributors of 50 guineas, or upwards, to the funds of the institution, together with such other persons as shall be elected governors as aftermen- tioned. Those who have subscribed 50 guineas, or up- wards, and less than 100 guineas, being governors for life ; and those who have subscribed 100 guineas, or upwards, being hereditary governors, their rights being transmis- sible to their representatives, under the restrictions after- mentioned, 2. Al] the property of the institution shall be vested in the hereditary governors, subject to the privileges of the life governors, dnd of the annual and life subscribers. 3. Every governor shall have the right of personal ad- mission to the institution, and of introducing two friends each day to the exhibition and gallery. 4. No governor shall be capable of any office, employ- ment, or engagement, in or under the institution, to which any salary, profit, or emolument, 1s or shall be annexed. 5. Hereditary shares may be transferable, with the con- sent of the board of directors. 6. In case of the death of an hereditary governor, his exe- cutors or administrators may propose to the board of direc- tors a successor to his share and interest in the institution ; and in case such person so proposed shall be a legitimate child of the deceased, such child shall be admitted immedi- ately ; but if any other person than a legitimate child shall be proposed, it shall be optional in the board of directors, to \ British Institution for promoting the Fine Arts. 275 to elect him or her, or not; and if they do not elect him or her, then they shall pay out of the funds of the institution to such person so proposed, such sum, not less than 100 guineas, as for the time being shall be the qualification of an hereditary governor of the institution. 7. Each governor shall have one vote for every 50 gui- neas subscribed. 8. Such of the royal family as shall honour the institution by being governors, may vote by proxy. 9. Ladies, who shall be governors, may also vote by proxy. -10. As soon as it shall be found expedient, : application shall be made to his majesty, for a charter of incorporation for the institution. Ill. Of the Committee of Directors. 1. All the affairs and concerns of the institution shall be managed by a committee of directors, to be elected by and from among the governors ; and to consist of the president, ° four vice-presidents, and twelve other members ; and three directors shall be competent to business. 2. The president shall be elected annually, and shall pre- side at the general courts, and at the meetings of the com-' mittee of directors. 3. One vice-president and three other members of the committee shall go out annually by rotation; but they may be re-elected, if the annual court thinks fit. 4. The directors shall have power to admit such pictures, statues, and other works of art, as they shall think proper, into the exhibition; and to fix the time of their conti- nuance there upon sale, and to make such orders respecting the admission and sale of pictures, and other works of art, as they shail think fit. 5. They shall have power, from time to time, to make such regulations respecting their own meetings, and the conduct uf business therein, as they shall think fit, so as such regulations be not contradictory to the by-laws of the institution. , 6. The directors shall have yower, with the consent of the visitors, and with the approbation of the governors, to make by-laws for the institution. 7. The directors shall, with the approbation of the go- vernors, fix the hours and times for the opening of the ex- hibition and gallery, for the governors, honorary members, and subscribers. Bib: 8. They shall have power to order tickets of admission, $2 under 276 British Institution for promoting the Fine Arts. under such limitations as they shall deem expedient, to ar= tists who are not royal academicians or subscribers. Of the Committee of Visitors. . The coimmittee of visitors shall consist of four yice- presidents, a treasurer, and twelve other members, to be elected by and from among the governors ; and three visi- pe shall be competent to Baginace: . One vice-president, and three other members of this conieee shall go out aimualty by rotation ; but they may be re-elected, if the annual court thinks fit. 3. The treasurer shall be elected annually. 4, The committee of visitors shali have the power of in- specting and examining the exhibition and gallery, and all other parts of the institution, and reporting their opinion thereon to the general court. 5. They shall audit and examine the annual accounts of the i institution, and report ther con, and on the state of the institution, to the annual mecting. 6. They shall have the power of consenting to by-laws. ie _They sha'l make such regulations respecting their own meetings and proceedings, as “they. shail think fit. 8. They shall annually elect their own chairman, and deouty chairman, from their four vice-presidents, and their own secretary from the,twelve other members of the committee, V. Of the Election of Governors, . The qualification of a life governor shall be not less fae 50 guineas ; and that of an hereditary governor, not less than 100 sruineas. 2. Every candidate for election as a governor, must bé proposed by a director at one meeting of directors, and at the next meeting of the directors the election may take place. 3.-The election of governors shall be by ballot, if re- quired ; and no person can be elected, unless two-thirds at least of the directors present vote in favour of his election. 4. Incase the j person so elected shall not pay in his qua- lification before his election, or within one kalendar month after, such election shail be absolutely void. _ 5. Incase auy person, who shall have paid in his quali- fication as a governor, shall not be elected, he shall have his qualification repaid him, if he shall require it at any time within two kalendar months after he shall have notice that he is not elected. Vi. OF ~ British Institution for promoting the Fine Arts. 277 VI. Of the annual and other Courts. i. The annual court for election of the president, vice- presidents, treasurer, difectors, and visitors, and for’ re- ceiving the annual report of the visitors, shall be held on the Tuesday preceding’ the 4th ‘of June, precisely at one o'clock, P. M.; andthe persons then elected; shall enter on their respective offices on such 4th of June. 9. The ballot for election shall commence at two o’clock 3 P.M., and continue open till three o’clock } two. scrutineers being previously appointed by the chairman, to examine the lists, and to declare the result of the ballot. 3. When, at any election, the votes shall.be equal, the - chairman shall have a double or casting vote. 4. Special courts may be eailed by the president, or in his absence by a vice-president, at the request of the com- mittee of directors, Gr upon the requisition in writing of thirteen governors. 5. No court shall be competent for the transaction of business, unless nine governors be present; and if there shall not be nme governors present, the court may be ad- journed for any time, not less then seven days, notice thereof being sent to the other governors. 6. The president, or in his absence one of the vice-pre- sidents, or if no vice-president, one of the governors pre- sent, shall preside.at the annual and other courts. 7. Wher, at any court, the votes for and against a ques- tion are equal, the consideration of the question shall be postponed tll the next meeting. g. If the business of any court be not completed on the day of the meeting, such court may adjourn from day to day, until the business is completed. : MEL DF honorary Members. 1. Honorary members may be elected by the directors, and shall have the privilege of personal admission to the exhibition and gallery. g. The president of the royal academy, for the time being, shall be an honorary member of the institution, and every other member of the royal academy shall be presented with a silver medal, which will entitle him, or her, to per- sonal admission to the exhibition and gallery. 3. No person shall be capable of being elected an hono- rary member, except foreign ministers and foreigners of high-rank or distinction. S4 | VII. OF 278 British Institution for promoting the. Fine Arts. VIIT. OF the annual and life Subscribers. . Subsenbers of five guineas a year or upwards, or of fifty guineas or upwards in one sum, shall have personal admission, and the right of introducing two friends each ok to the exhibition and gallery. . Subscribers of three™ ouineas a year, or of thirty gui- neas in one sum, shall have personal admission, and the right of intyoducing one friend each day to the exhibition and gallery. 3. Subscribers of one guinea a vear, or of ten guineas in, one sum, shall have personal admission to the exhibition and gallery. IX. Of the Treasurer. 1. The office of the treasurer is honorary, and without emolument. He is not to keep any money of the institu- tion in his own hands, but to leave it with the bankers. appointed by the directors. 2. He is to Bay sac ch sums of money, and no other, as shall be ordered by the committee of directors. 3. He is to give security to the directors, with two pro- per sureties, in the sum of 5000. for duly aecounting for, and paying into the bands of the bankers appointed by the institution, or otherwise as the directors shall appoint, all monies that shall come to his hands, on account of the Institution. 4. He shall keep a general cash-book of all his receipts and payments, which shall be laid on: the table of the com- mittee of directors, at all their meetings. 5. He shall make up his accounts to the 31st day of De- cember every year, and lay them before the managers, annually, at their first meeting in the month of February following, in order to their being audited and laid before the visitors, so as to be reported to the annual court. X. Of the Officers of the Institution. The secretary, keeper, collector, and necessary attendants, _shall from me to time be appointed, and their duties and. salaries fixed by the directors, and reported by them to the general court. . Of the Receipt and E: Sets aA One a of all subscriptions of fifty guineas, or sping together with all legacies, shall he permanently invested in the public funds. Ther oiber myiety, together with all other subscriptions 2nd monies received, shall be applicable to the payment of the annual expenses of the ; institution, British Institution for promoting the Fine Arts. 2°79 institution, and in premiums for young artists; and after retaining what is necessary for payments due, and for cur- rent expenses, the surplus. shall be annually applied in the purchase of pictures, statues, models, and casts, for the gallery, or in addition to the permanent stock of the in- stitution. 2. No sale, mortgage, incumbrance, or disposition of any freehold or leasehold property of the institution, or of any of its permanent stock shall be made, except with the ap- probation and concurrence of a general court, summoned with eight days previous notice. ss The following circular letter, with an inclosure of the by-laws, ‘and list of subscribers, has been sent round to such persons as were thought likely to promore the objects of the institution : “* The enclosed is submitted to your consideration by the undersigned, who have been appointed a select com- mittee to manage the concerns of, the institution, until a committee of directors is elected. Convinced that the pre- eminen¢e, which the imitative arts attained in certain distinguished periods of antient Greece and modern Italy, was produced, not by fortuitous circumstances, but by great and splendid patronage; and persuaded that our own countrymen are capable of the same excellence in the arts, as they have attained in every branch of science and litera- ture, we solicit that they may be encouraged to consider those excellent and immortal examples of the Grecian and Italian schools, as the objects, not merely of imitation, but of competition. Ina country where native energy is most abundant, we ask that professional taste and talent, and national patronage, be no longer coniined to inferior objects; but that our artists may be encouraged to direct their attention to higher and nobler attainments; to paint the mind and passions of man, to depicture his sympathies and affections, and to illustrate the great events which have been recorded in the history of the werld. ‘«< The fine arts are entitled’ to respect and reward, not simply on account of the innocent and intellectual eratifi- cation which they afford, nor merely beeause they ‘cultivate and civilize the human mind. In a country hke our own, they essentially and abundanily contribute to the national prosperity and resources. It must-be obvious that the pre- sent flourishing state of our manufactures and export trade, is greatly owing to the progress of the fine arts under his majesty’s judicious patronage; and that in hardware, cot- 94 ton, s 280 British L.s!itution for promoting the Fine Arts. ton, and porcelain, and in every other article to which the industry and attention of the British artisan has been ap- plied, superior beauty of form, and refined elegance of ornament, have contributed to make our manufactures coveted throughout the world, and to introduce them into every country, in despite of political warfare and penal prohibition, haens ‘« This preeminence, however, cannot be retained, but by the assiduous cultivation of the fine arts. From those original sourecs the taste of the country must be cherished and renewed; so as at the same time to produce inex- hausted variety, and to preserve classical beauty and chas- tity of design, And it is, in this respect, worthy of ob- servation, that if we do not advance, we must recede; and that when we cease to improve, we shall begin to degene- - tate. These considerations are of increased importance at the present moment, when it appears to be the object ot other powers, to form great establishments for painting and sculpture, and to extend, by the arts of peace, the influence which they have acquired in war. We feel, however, no apprehension, but that the spirit of the British artist will be awakened and invigorated, whenever a free and fair scope shall be given to his talents ;— whenever he shall be stimu- lated by the ’same patronage as-thfat which raised and re- warded the Italian and Grecian masters ;—a patronage, without which, if we refer to historical evidence, we shal! find that no high excellence in art has ever been obtained, in any age, or im any country. «« Under these impressions, we beg leave to address you, and the other protectors of the fine arts, on the establish- ment of the British Institution; the principal object whereof is to encourage and reward the talents of the artists of the nnited kingdom, and to open an exhibition for the szle of their productions. For the attainment of this object we earnestly sclicit your assistance and patronage ; request~ ing to be favoured with your directions, in which of -the classes of subseription you will permit your name to be enrolled. «* We have the honour to be, your obedient humble servants, DanrMOUTH. ABRAHAM HouME. ABRERCORN. Francis BARinG. Low THER. R..P. Knsourt. MUuLGRAVE. THoomas Hoer. isaac Corry. WILLIAM SMITH. Cartes Lone. THOMAS BERNARD.” Georce BEAUMONT The British Institution for promoting the Fine Aris. 281 The_committee of directors consists of the follewing governors : The Earl of Dartmouth, president. ; Por one year. The marquis of Abercorn, vice-presidents Lord Northwick. Sir George Beaumont, Bart. ‘Thomas Bernard, esq. For two Years. The marquis of Stafford, vice-president. Right hon. Isaac Corry, M. P. Sir Abraham Hume, bart. Thomas Hope, esq. For three Years. The earl of Egremont, vice-president. Lord Mulgrave. 5 Sir Francis Baring, bart. M. P. Richard P. Knight, esq. M. P. For four Years. Lord viscount Lowther, vice-president. Right hon. Charles Long, M. P. William Smith, esq. M. P. Philip Metcalf, esq. M. P. The committee of visitors consists of the following go- vernors : For one Year. The duke of Bedford, vice-president. The earl Camden. John J. Angerstein, esq. John Symmons, esq. For two Years. The earl of Bridgewater, vice-president. Samuel Whitbread, esq. M. P. Samuel Thornton, esq. M. P. John Egerton, esq. For three Years. The earl of Essex, vice-president. Lord De Dunstanville. Charles Duncombe, esq. M. P. Charles Wall, esq. ‘or four Years. The earl of Aylesford, vice-president. Lord Dundas. George Hibbert, esq. Caleb Whitefoord, esq. William Morland, esq. M. P. treasurer. LIV. Intel- T 282 LIV. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. LETTER ON MALLEABLE ZINC. SIR, 7 Am induced to request your insertion of the following notice, in consequence of having read in your magazine for October *, an account of Messrs. Hobson and Silvester’s discovery of a method of making zinc ductile or malleable. I do not mean at all to question ‘that the above-named gen- tlemen did really of themselves make the discovery of “this property of zinc; yet, as 1 am acquainted with one who has a prior claim to the discovery, I think the public should be informed of the fact, as the reputation of first inventor is often the only seluard an ingenious man has for his la- bour. About twenty years ago, Mr. W. E. Sheffield, of Somers Town (an eminent metallurgist), making an assay of some blende, and being rather impatient to examine the metal, struck an ingot with an intent ta break it, while it was yet hot; but was greatly surprised to find, that instead of being brittle and breaking with the usual fractote of zinc, it was Gece tough, and when broken (after many bendings back and forward) exhibited a steel-grained fibrous texture. Doubting whether his metal was only zinc, he repeated the experiment, and with some that he knew to be pure, and had the same result ;. from which he immedi- ately concluded that zinc, at a ‘certain temperature, was probably as malleable as the other metals. This he found to be the case both in drawing it into wire and laminating it between rollers: specimens of this last, not the cooth of an inch thick, possessing the str ength and tenacity of silver, | had from him for a ‘particular purpose, long before the anuunciation of Messrs. Hobson and Silvester’s "patent. Mr. Shefheld has long been in the habit of furnishing the cabinets. of his mineralogical friends, both at home and abroad, with a vari Lety of specimens of manufactured and Jaminated zinc. 57, Tichfield-street, Tam, sir, YOUNIS, Dec. 23, 1805. W. Lowry. CHEMISTRY. Mr. Parkes, manufacturing ‘chemist, has for some time past been engaged in preparing an elementary chemical work, in a catechetical form, for the use of schools, and for the instruction of those persons who are unacquainted * Page 93 of the present volume. ; ' with Chemical Catechism. —Galvanism. 233 with chemical science. And in order to remove in some measure the difficulties which such persons find in acquiring chemical knowledge, we understand that he has observed the utmost simplicity of language and arrange- ment, and has varied the mode of putting the questions, whenever the subjects seemed to require more than ordinary elucidation. A very copious collection of Notes will be subjoined for the use of the preceptor in explaining the doctrines taught in the body of the work, and for the pur- pose of pointing out the connection which subsists between chemistry and the arts, and showing the various ways in which the several substances in nature are applied in the manufactures of the country. We understand that he in- tends to annex a vocabulary of chemical terms, various useful tables, a chapter of amusing experiments, and nre- ferences to the most approved treatises in every department of the science. The work (now in the press) will be ready for publication the bezinning of February. It will be entitled a Chemical Catechism, and will be comprised in one volume, octavo. GALVANISM. Doctor Joseph Baronio has published at Milan the de- scription of a Galvanic pile, formed of vegetable materials only. The author cut disks of horse-radish and beet-root of about two inches in diameter; aftewards he pr:pared equal disks of walnut-tree wood. The latter disks are so raised at their edges as to contain a little solution of acidu- Jous tartrite of potash in vinegar, in which they have been previously boiled, to purge them from the resinous princi- ple which the walnut-tree contains. By forming the pile wiih sixty pairs of disks, one of horse-radish, the other of beet-root, with disks of wood between the pairs, and in each of these a little of the abovementioned solution, he obtained Galvanic effects, in a prepared frog, of which, by means of a leaf of Cochlearia, he made the spinal marrow communicate with the base of the pile, while by a double band of gray paper, well moistened with vinegar, he made its mouscles communicate with the top of the pile. The description of the apparatus is so clear and detailed, as to prove that the author, who is already known by se- vera] productions in physical science, wishes that philoso- phers and amateurs should repeat his experiment. For horse-radish and beet-root, the author has already substituted disks of other vegetables with equal success, and he flatters himself that these will serve to extend the application 284 Astronomy. application of the theory of Galvanism to universal ve+ getation. ; ; Experiments; which have been thade conformable to the theory of M. de Vassalli-Eand1, viz. that there isa deve- lopment of Galvanism as cften as |there is a change of capacity, or a chemical mutation in bodies, snd to those of Dr. Gardini, of the professors Vassalli-Eandi and, Balbis, who have obtained Galvanic effects from plants by applying conductors to the branches and the roots ; the experiments also which are conformable to those of professor Rossi, who has formed with success Galvanic piles with vegetables, particularly with sensitive plants and with animals, especi- ally the cold-blooded, without the intervention of any me- tal; those experiments, with several others made by the academicians of Turin, have induced some philosophers to suspect that the Galvanic fluid is one of the component parts of a natural fluid spread through all bodies in nature, which is put into motion by the chemical action of sub- \ stances ina state of decomposition, and that it concurs with the other components of the natural fluid to the formation and preservation of all bodies. ASTRONOMY. Table of the right Ascension and Declination of Ceres, - Pallas, and Juno, for January 1806. CERES. JUNO. ALR. Dec. N. AR Dec. S. 1806. h m s oO la h m s Oise Jan.3|}7 20 0! 9915 |. 11 41 52 | 2 37 617 16 52 | 69 31 | 11 49 52/ 2 37 9 | 7 13 44 | 29 46 || 11 43 44 | 23 12 | 7 10 86} 30.0 || 11 44 24") 2 33 1517. 7 40 | 30 13 }| 11 44 48 | -2 98 1G 17 4.44 1°30 95 | 11 -45°°0 | 2°91 a1 1-7 12 4 BO’ S5_, 12°45 ~ Ol Vee | 94 | 6 59 28 | 30°45 | 11 44 44) 2 9 27 | 657 12} 20 53 | 11 44 16] 1 49 30:| & 55 8 | .3T* 0 | 1143 321 1 35 Pallas is too low to be seen. New Comet.—-Composition of Muriatic Acid. 2 ax wr On Sunday the sth of Decetnber, about. six o’clock: in the evening, Mr. Firminver, the assistant at the royal ob- sefvatory, Greenwich, discovered a camet in the constel- lation Aquarius, a little: to the east of south. Its appear- ance to the naked eye. was similar to a-star of the first magnitude, when: covered by a cloud, through which it might be faintly seen ; or rather like what Jupiter. would appear under ‘similar circumstances: but when viewed through a night-ciass, it appeared to have a bright nucleus surrounded by a coma. - As it was approaching the meridian when first discovered, Mr. Firminger made preparations to take its transit, and. found that its light was sufficiently. Strong to enable him to iliummmate the wires in the fucus of the telescope, so as to observe its passage with great accuracy. The mean time of its transit was 6 24’ 7”, with right ascension 11° 23° 6’ 49”, and south declination 93° 41’ 8” On the following evening it was looked tor again ; Bae though the sky was very clear, it could not be seen. It is therefore very probable it may he moying towards its peri- helion, and should this be the case, astronomers may ex- pect to find it again in its return from the sun. The same comet was, we understand, observed by Dr. Herschel, at Slough, near Windsor, about the same time that it was discovered by Mr. Firminger.— COMER ktO HY OF MURIATIC ACID. In our present number (see page 257) is inserted a third communication from Mr. Peel of Cambridge, on the pro- duction of muriatic acid and alkalis, by the decomposition of water. Here we have to state the result of an experi- ment on the same subject by another gentleman. By continuing to pass the Galvanic fluid from a trough holding about forty pair of square inch plates through di- stilled water contained in a glass tube, furnished at one end with a wire of gold, and at the other with a wire of platina, at length a coating of oxide of gold was dees sited on the gold wire—ev dently proving that oxygenated mu- Tiatic acid had been formed by the process. If we are rightly informed, this experiment was per- formed by Mr. Githhertsan22es fit.a person as‘any in the world for experiments of this sort. URE 4 286 Cure for the Dropsy.—Craniognonry. CURE FOR THE DROPSY. The following letter has been received by the editor of the Reading Mercury, from Mr. T. H. Shrimpton, governor of the house of industry at Faringdon, dated August 30, E805 :—‘‘ In your paper a few weeks since I observed that bohea tea, and the leaves to be eaten, was recommended as a cure for the dropsy ; and as I had a pauper in the house at the time, I ventured the experiment, and, to my astonish- ment, found an almost instant relief. I repeated the dose but once; and the woman, in the course of a week, was able to go out to haymaking, and will begin reaping for me next week, if the weather continues fine. The woman’s name is Elizabeth Austin, and her age is 62 years,” —The pelea alluded to above is as follows :—Infuse two large tea- euptulls of the tea in about a quart of water: let the decoc- tion be drunk during the day, and the Jeaves eaten at short intervals, Since the above made its appearance in different news~ papers, another instance of the good effects of the preserip- tion has been published :—A woman in Anderston, in the nerghbourhood of Glasgow, who has been afflicted with a dropsical complaint since the month of June, has received great relief, and there is a fair pros spect of a cure, from eating the leaves of Bohea tea. CRANIOGNOMY. Doctor Gall, the craniographic lecturer, is now giving lectures in Denmark, and counts among his approvers in Copenhagen, the philosophers Kailisin, Scheele, Fenger, and others. TO THE EDITOR. SIR, Dining a few days ago with a friend, and being asked the reason why potatoes were sweet after being frosted, I found myself somewhat at a loss to give a satisfactory answer. If any of your correspondents, through the medium of your useful magazine, can give a rational description of the process by w hich the effect of cold disengages the saccha- yine principle of potatoes, more particularly. than of other vegetable roots, it will very much oblige a constant reader, and may perhaps be uscful to some more important pur- pose in domestic or rural economy. Bedford-row,,. December, £805. List of Patents for New Inventions. 287 LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS. To John De Lafons, of Threadneedle-street, in the city of London, watchmaker; for a marie alarum chronome- ter, for ascertaining the time of a ship’s log line running out, the time of the watches on ship board, and many other useful purposes. Dated November 19. To George Wyke, of Winsley, in the county of Wilts, esq.; fora method of working pumps of various descrip- tions by machinery, whereby much manual labour will be spared. Dated November 19. To Richard Brown, of the parish of St. Botolph, Bishops- gate, in the city of London, cabinet-maker ; for improye- ments in the construction of several parts of tables, and of various other articles of household-furniture, which stand upon or are supported by legs or feet. Dated Novem- ber 26. To James Ingram, of Castle-street, in the city of Bristol; for a new method of manufacturing powder sugar from raw sugar ‘alone, and from the mixtures of raw sugar and syrup of sugar. Dated November 26. - To Samuel Annoss, of Red-Lion-place, in the parish of St. Sepulchre, in the city of London, china enameler ; for improved methods of preparing various enamel colours, and of applying the same so prepared to the ornamenting of useful vessels of glass. Dated November 26. To Joseph Steel, of Stockport, in the county of Chester ; for cloths, fustians, calicos, cambrics, lawns, striped cot- ton, and other articles manufactured with cotton, wool, and flax, mixed and spun together. Dated December 17. METEQRO- 238 Meteorology. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE ; By Mr. Carey, oF THE STRAND, For Decemler 1805. Thermometer. wee che g ve AGS Days of the |S = ‘ 2 5} Height of [e.5 2 Mouth, {2 2} & |Os} me Barom.| 5 2.5 Weather. 36 % os Inches. =e ai + er) , el A puctll Noy. 27) 41°} 44°) 40°) 30°12 © 7° |Rogey 28 36 | 43 | 42 | 20°90 8 |Fair 99] 47 |, 54 | 4 "50 5 |Showery 30]}.51 | 54 } 50 2% oO {Rain - Dec. 1} 44, |, 45] 37 “19 Oo [Rain 2). 34 | 37 1 34 75 15 |Fair 3) 35 | 41 | 47 Teh 0 {Rain 4| 47 | 52 | 47 | 30°00 0 {Rain 5| 44 | 47 |. 46 “25 10. {Fair _6| 50 | 52 | 50 "15 6 |Cloudy Z| 50 | 53 | 48 | 29°90 |. O |Rain 8| 44 | 45 | 4) -80 12 [Fair 9| 44 | 41 } 33 “19 o {Rain 30] 34 | 39 | 32 “20 6 {Fair LE, 30). 37, | Bt "55 10 |Fair,withsnow | at night 12) 32 | 34 | 24 "30 5 |Cloudy 13| 23 | 28 } 29 *60 10. {Fair 14] 29 | 33 | 33 "59 0 |Snow 55) 33 | 37 | 39 "80 5 |Cloudy 16) 27 | 32 | 28 | 30°12 11 |Fair 725 1 31} 29 *38 7 |Cloudy 18] 34 | 37 | 33 "25 6 |Cloudy 19} 35 | 42 | 44 | 29°92 8 {Rain 20| 46 | 49 | 48 -50 0 {Rain 21| 49 | 52 | 44 03 o {Rain 29| 390 | 4G | 38 | 28°85 6 |Fair 93) 34. | 37) Si 1 29°50 6 |Fair 24) 36 | 37 | 32 "65 7 |Fair 25| 33 | 41 | 40 sig! oO jRain 26] 44 | 46 | 37 | 28°95 o {Rain \ N. B. The barometer’s height is taken at noon. Errata—In our last Nuinber, page 108, line 10, for Plate IV. read Plate VI.; page 137, line 21, for Plate V. read Plate IV. LV. Abstract of Observations on a diurnal Variation of the Barometer between the Tropics. By J. Horspuren, Esq. Ina Letter to Henxay Cavenpisn, Esq. FL.RS.* Ww SIR, ; Bombay, April 20, 1£04. HEN IT was in London at the conciusion of the year 1801, I had the pleasure of being introduced to you by my friend Mr. Dalrymple, at which time he presented you with some sheets of meteorological observations, with ba- rometer and thermometer, made by me in India, and during a passage from India to England. Being of opinion that few registers of the barometer are kept at sea, especially in low latitudes, I have been induced to continue my observations since I Jeft England, judging that, even if they were found to be of no utility, they might at least be entertaining to you or other gentlemen who have heen making observations of a similar nature. During my last voyage I have employed two marine ba- rometers, one made by Troughton, the other by Ramsden ; and a thermometer by Frazer. These were placed, exposed to a free current of air, in a cabin where the basons of the barometers were 13 feet above the level of the sea. The hours at which the heights of the barometers and thermometers were taken, viz. noon, four hours, ten hours, twelve hours, sixteen hours, and nineteen hours, were chosen, because at these times the mercury in the baro- meter had been perceived to be regularly stationary between the tropics by former observations made in India in 1800 and 1801. it was found that in settled weather in the In- dian seas, from eight A.M. to noon, the mercury in the barometer was generally stationary, and at the point of greatest elevation; after noon it began to fall, and conti- nued falling tll four in the afiernoon, at which time it ar- rived at,the lowest point of depression. From four or five P.M. the mercury rose again, and continued rising till about nine or ten P.M., at which time it had again ac- quired its greatest point of elevation, and continued sta- tionary nearly till midnight; after which it began to fall, til] at four A. M. it was again as low as it had been at four in the afternoon preceding; but from this time it rose till seven or eight o’clock, when it reached the highest point of elevation, and continued stationary till noon. : Thus was the mercury observed to be subject to a regular elevation and depression twice in every twenty-four hours * From the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1805. Vol. 23. No. 92. Jan.1806. T in 390 Observations on a diurnal Variation in settled weather; and the lowest station was observed té _ be at about four o’clock in the morning and evening. I remarked that the mercury never remained long fixed at this low station, but had a regular tendency to rise from thence till towards eight in the morning and about nine in the evening, and from those times continued stationary till noon and midnight. In unsettled blowing weather, especially at Bombay during the rains, these regulat ebbings and flowings of the mercury could not be perceived; but a tendency to them was at some times observable when the weather was more settled. In the sheets which ¥ formerly presented to you were evinced these elevations and depressions twice every twenty- four hours within the tropics, in steady weather, as had been observed by Messrs. Cassan and Peyrouse, by Dr. Bal- four of Calcutta, and others. But'since my last arrival in India I have observed that the atmosphere appears to pro- duce a different effect on the barometer at sea from what it does on shore. As T am ignorant whether this phenomenon has been noticed by any person before, I will here give you an ab- stract of my journal, showing how the barometer has been influenced during the whole time since I left England, which will enable you to form an idea whether I am right in concluding that the barometer is really differently affected at sea from what it is on shore, at those places in India where the observations have been made. The first sheet begins with the observations made on board ship, in my voyage from London towards Bombay, in the months of April and May 1802. From the time of Jeaving the Land’s End, April 19th, the motion of the mercury in barometers was fluctuating and irrecular until we were in latitude 26° north, longitude 20° west, on April 29th; the mercury in barometers then be- came uniform in performing two elevations and two de- pressions every twenty-four hours, (which for brevity in mentioning hereafter I will call equatropical motions.) From latitude 26° north to Jatitude 10° north, the differ- ence of the high and low stations of the mercury in the barometers was not so great as it was from latitude 10° north across the equator, and from thence to latitude 25° south, Within these last-mentioned limits the difference of high and low stations of the mercury in the barometers was very considerable, generally from five to nine hundred parts of an inch, both in the daily and mightly motions. When of the Barometer between the Tropics. 201 When we reached the latitude of 28° south, longitude 27° west, June 7th, the mercury in barometers no longer adhered to the equatropical motions ; but then, as in high north latitudes, its rising and falling became irregular and fluctuating during our run from latitude 28° south, longi- tude 27° west (mostly between the parallels of 35° and 36° south), until we were in latitude 27° south and longitude 51° east, on the 11th of July. The mercury then began to perform the equatropical motions, and continued them uni- tormly during our run from the last-mentioned position, up the Madagascar archipelago, across the equator, until our arrival at Bombay July 31, 1602. August 6th, 1802. When the barometers were placed on shore in Bombay, the mercury, for the first six days, ap- peared to have a small tendency towards performing the equatropical motions, but not equally perceptible as when at sea, the difference between the high and low stations of the mercury in the barometers being great to the day we entered the harbour of Bombay. Irom the 12th of Au- gust to the 22d, the mercury could not, in general, be ob- served to have any inclination to perform the equatropical motions, although, at times, a very small tendency towards performing them might be perceived. On the 23d of August the barometers were taken from the shore to the ship. Immediately on leaving Bombay harbour, August 26th, 1802, the mercury in the barometers performed the equatropical motions, and continued them, with great uniformity, during our passage down the Ma- labar coast, across the bay of Bengal, in the strait of Ma- lacca, and through the China sea, until our arrival in Canton river on the 4th of October. When in the river, the mercury became nearly stationary during the twenty- four hours, except a small inclination at times towards the equatropical motions, but they were not near so perceptible as at sea; this change taking place the day we got into the river. During our stay in China, the barometer on shore, at Canton, had very little tendency towards the equatropical motions throughout the months of October and November that we remained there. At times, while in China, a small inclination towards performing the equatropical motions appeared; but, as in Bombay, the difference of rise and fall was of so small.a qsantity as to be frequently imper- ceptible. c December 2d, 1602. On our departure from Canton river the equatropical motions were instantly performed by the T2 mercury, 292 Observations on a diurnal Variation mercury, and with great regularity continued during thre whole of the passage to Bombay, until our arrival in that harbour on the 11th of January 1803. On January 18ih the barometers were placed on shore, and. did not appear in the smallest degree subject to the equatropical motions; although, with gveat regularity, they had been performed while at sea, even to the day we en- tered the harbour. One of the barometers was left om board for a few days, and, hike that on shore, seemed to have no tendency towards the equatropical motions. During the mouths of february and March, in Bombay, the mercury was nearly stationary throughout the twenty-four hours. But about the latter part of March the mercury seemed to mcline towards the equatropical motions im a very small degree; and, during the month of April, and to the 20th of May, this small tendency of the mercury to perform the motions appeared at times,. but was hardly discernible, the tise and fall being of so small a quantity. From the 18th of January to. the 20th of May the mercury in the baro- meters was in general stationary, except a very small ten- dency towards the equatropical motions at times. At other times some change in the atmosphere disturbed the mercury from its stationary position: but this was seldom the case, as it was then the fair weather season, or north-east mon- soon. We sailed from Bombay on the 23d of May 1803. The instant we got out of the harbour the mercury in the baro- meters conformed to the equatropical motions with great regularity, and the difference between the high and low stations was very considerable during the whole of the pas- sage to China, excepting a few days in the eastern parts of Malacca strait, where the land lay contiguous on each side _of us: the difference between the high and low stations of the mercury was then not so great as in the open sea. On clearing the strait, and entering the China sea, the equa- tropical motions were performed in greater quantity, and éontinued regular during our passage up the Chiaa sea, until July 2d, 1803. We then entered Canton river, and the equatropieal motions of the mercury in barometers en- tirely ceased. ; * From July sth to September 7th, the barometers were placed on shore in Canton, during which time the mercury appeared to have no tendency towards performing the equa- tropical motions; but it inclined to a stationary position, except when influenced by changes of weather. After the barometers were taken.from Canton to the ship, we (blsos ‘our of the Barometer between the Tropics. 293 four days in getting clear of the river, in which time the mercury inclined to be stationary, excepting that a small in- clination towards the equatropical motions seemed to evince itself at times. But no sooner had we cleared Canton river; September 13th, 1803, than the mercury in the barometers began to conform to the equatropical motions, of two eles vations and two’ depressions every twenty-four hours, at equal intervals of time, (although we were near the land until the 15th of September.) And the mercury, with great regularity, continued to perform the equatropical motions from September 13th, 1803, theday we cleared the river of Canton, until October 13, when we entered Sin- capore strait, excepting a small degree of irregularity, which affected the mercury on the 22d of September, when - it blew a gale on the coast of Isiompa. October 13th, 1803. On entering the strait of Sincapore, which is about three leagues and a half wide, the mercury in the barometers was then a little obstructed, and did not perform the equatropical motions in the same quantity of rise and fall as when we were in the China sea. But on the fellowing day, October 14th, when we had passed the narrow part of the strait, the mercury conformed to those motions with regularity until October 21st, when we arrived in the harbour of Prince of Wales’s Island: then a great retardation took place in the equatropical motions; for, during the time the ship remained in the harbour, from October 20th to November 5th, 1803, the mercury in baro- meters seemed only in a small degree subject to them, the difference between the high and low stations of the mercury being in general not more than half the quantity that takes pane in the open sea, or at a considerable distance from and. Where the ship lay at this time in the harbour, the jand, on one side, was a full quarter of a mile distant, and on the other side about a mile and a half. On November 5th, being clear of the harbour of Prince of Wales’s Island, the equatropical motions were instahtly performed by the mercury in the usual quantity experienced at sea, which continued with uniformity until December 3d. On this and the following day the mercury fell considerably during our passage over the tails of the sandy at the entranée of Hoogly river in latitude 21° 96’ north; and on Decem- ber 5th, the day of the moon’s last quarter, a gale of wind commenced from north-north-east, with much lightning and rain in the night. During the latter a of thisiday the mercury began to rise, and there soon followed a change of settled weather, When we were in the lower part e T 3 the 294 Variation of the Barometer between the Tropscs. the river the mercury appeared to conform in a small de- gree to the equatropical motions; but when well up the river, at Diamond harbour, the mercury inclined to be nearly stationary during the twenty-four hours, as has for- merly been observed to happen in Canton river, Bombay harbour, &c. On January 13th, 1804, after we had cleared the river Hoogly, the mercury in the barometers began to perform its motions with uniformity, which continued during the passage to Bombay until our arrival there on February 12th. The barometers being then placed on shore, the mercury inclined to a stationary position, without evincing any pro- pensity towards the equatropical motions from the 12th to the 18th of February 1804, as has been noticed in the fore- going description to happen frequently on entering a har- bour from sea. On February 18th, 1804, the meteorological journal ceases, at which time it comprises the observations of twenty-two months, having commenced April 6th, 1802, in Margate Road. I have taken the liberty of sending you this abstract from the journal, to exhibit the apparent difference of the mer- cury in the barometer at sea, from what has been observed on shore, at those places mentioned in the preceding de- scription. As I have not seen any account indicating the phenomenon, [| thought it mighi be interesting to you, or other gentlemen of the Royal Society, to forward this im- perfect abstract, the journal itself being too cumbersome to send home at present. But as 1 am in expectation of return- ing to England by the ships from China next season, I hope ~ J shall be enabled to present you with the meteorological sheets alluded to above. Iam, &c. J. Horspurcu. P.S. Since I wrote the foregoing abstract I have re- ceived a letter from my friend Mr. Dalrymple, intimating that a copy of the meteorological journal itself would be acceptable; which bas jnduced me to transmit to him the ‘original sheets, with a request to deliver them to you. I regret that [ could not find leisure time to make out a fair copy to have sent to you, im place of the original sheets in their rough state, Bombay, June 1, 1804. LVI. An LVI. An experimental Inquiry into the Nature of Gravelly and Calculous Concretions in the Human Subject; and the Effects of Alkaline and Acid Substances on them, -in and out of the Body. By THomas Ecan, M.D. M:R.LA. {Continued from p. 212.] "Turse facts being pretty well established and acknow- ledged, it is time to inquire how far we may account for them ; and whether experiments, instituted out of the body, may not throw some light on this subject. Dr. Saunders, in a letter to Dr. Percival, (Percival’s Essays, Medical and Experimental, vol. iii.) on the subject of carbonic acid as a solvent of calculous concretions, observes, ‘* If a more powerful and active solvent than any hitherto known shall be discovered, it-is highly probable that such a discovery can only be made by a rational and chemical inquiry into the powers of different bodies of combining with the contents of the urine, and preserving them in a fluid state out of the body.” Now, on the other hand, we may presume, that whatever substances cause a separation or precipitation of uric acid, in an aggregate state, from healthy urine, will give rise to these disorders. For we are not to forget that the uric acid, which forms so large a proportion of calcu- Jous concretions, and the entire of the gravelly, is a natural secretion from the blood, performed by the functions of the kidneys, and excreted by the urine, and can only be pre- judicial by a previous morbid separation from it within the body. With this necessary view of the subject before us; (for which we are, as already observed, indebted to Boer- haave,) I resolved to try, ist, What might be the effects of acids of different kinds on healthy urine, as to their influence in causing this. same previous precipitation; and, @dly, that of alkaline substances in preventing it.. And here it must be observed, that to draw any satistactory conclusions from experiments made with these substances out of the body, we must suppose they reach the kidneys and blend with the urine, still possessing their relative distincuve proper- ties; and that this takes place, we have every yeason to presume. Doctors Percival and Saunders, Mr. Bewley, and others, have ascertained the presence of carbonic acid, in an uncombined state, in. the urine of those who drank | the mephitic water for some days: an acid certainly foreign to its recent healthy, state; for, after repeated trials, by heating it to nearly ebullition in one of Priestley’s, air bot~ T 4 tles, 2906 On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. tles, I never could procure the separation or transition of 4 single bubble of carbomic acid into a jar of lime water. And if this weak acid reaches the kidneys undecomposed or uncombined, we shall have less difficulty in believing the more powerful ones may doso. That the tartarous acid in - the combination of the acidulous tartarite of potash exerts powerful effects on the functions of the kidneys, is well known; and that the urine is at the same time rendered more acid, T have repeatedly ascertained by the usual tests. We may say the same of the other vegetable acids, which manifest also diuretic powers, and increase the natural acidity of the urine. Linngus, in his second volume of the Ameenitates Academive, De Genest Calculi, already quoted, mentions his having made the following experi- ment to this purpose. He says: “* Hisce diebus tpse ex- perimentum institui cum urina; hee communiter a solu- tone lacmus parem admodum rufescit; at si libram unam vel alteram vini Rhenani, vel alterius vini acidi hauserim, post horam unam vel plures, valde rubra et rutilans evadit urina, ab affysa solutione lacmus; certo indicio, acidum vini totum corpus permeéasse, et urinam infecisse.” Nor should we wonder that these energetic substances should pass unaltered to the kidneys, when we find so many mild vegetable matters do so. I will not mention the commu- nication of so volatile a principle as odour, but wil] more particularly dwell on that of colour. Rbubarb, turmeric, madder, and niany other substances, so completely impart their colour to urine, that they would appear to be very little altered. Nay, the juice of the beta vulgaris, a mild esculent of the pentandrous class, so deeply reddens it as to cause it to be mistaken for bloody urme, of which a Jate instance has occurred in my practice. As to alkaline substances, it has been at al} times known that they communicate their properties to this excremen- titious liquor. A perseverance in the use of the agua kali puri of the shops for a few days, even in small doses, con- verts its acescent into the alkaline state ; and we have every reason to suppose that ihe same takes place with the car- bonates, which are taken in so much larger quantities. This seems confirmed by experiments made im London and Paris; and the alkalescent impregnation of the urine was ascertained by the formation and precipitation of the acidu- Jous tartarite of potash upon the addition of the tartarous acid. Yet, from a good deal of experience in these matters, ] may aver, that as to the carbonates the dose must be con- siderable, (which was the case in London,) and continued for On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. 207 = for some time, having frequently given two scruples of de- siccated soda (containing, according to Mr. Kirwan, 23°94 grains,) in the twenty-four hours, for some days together, without any diminution of the usual acidity of this liquor. For the information of such of my readers as may not be of the medical profession, I must here observe, that phy- sicians distinguish two kinds of urine: the one rendered immediately after meals, and much dilution, before the process of digestion, or state of sleep, can take place; al- ways more or less limpid; being comparatively less charged with the natural component parts of urine, (the urée, or extractive colouriag matter, in particular,) and called urina potus, to distinguish it from the wrina sanguinis, ren- dered many hours after meals and sleep, the taking no more than a necessary quantity of Jiquids, and containing the usual proportion of saline and other ingredients ; more espe- cially the urée, to which it owes its natural citrine colour. This last, therefore, was that employed in the following experiments, if not otherwise specified ; with the chemical history of which I must suppose gentlemen of the profes- sion now tolerably well acquainted, being so fully and ac- curately detailed in the tenth volume of the Connoissances Chimigues. Having, in the preceding pages, insisted so much on the acids and acescent drinks as occasional causes of these com- plaints, the first object seemed to be, to ascertain whether the urine of those most subject to them, or actually Jabour- ing under them, was more relatively acid. We have al- ready seen, from a register of these patients, kept for forty years in the hospital of Luneville, that the early period of life, from two to six years of age inclusive, is most hable to calculous affections. Now, the urine of healthy chil- dren is always found more acid than that of adults, ge- merally in the proportion of two to one. Whilst several drops of the latter are requisite to redden a given quantity of infusion of litmus, a single drop of the former turns It to aclear red. Paper stained with an infusion of turmeric, and reddened by an alkali, was immediately restored to its colour by a single immersion in the urine of children ; an effect which required some time in that of adults. And that this should be the case we shall not be so much sur- prised at, when we consider the nature of their diet; and that, in addition to the phosphoric and uric, their urine contains the benzoic acid in considerable quantity, the pro- portion of which is found afterwards progressively to di- minish with their advancement in life. ir } e 298 On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. The constant opportunity I have of attending to those subjects, enables me to say, that the urine of gravelly pa- tients, when fresh rendered, nay, after standing many hours, in a temperature of sixty degrees, is relatively more acid than the healthy, sometimes as much so as the gouty ; and frequently continues so, even after depositing its gravelly matter. An exccption to this, however, sometimes occurs in gouty habits; their urine depositing copiously this acid substance, and yet manifesting no incieased, but sometimes rather decreased, acescency ; for with them a considerable diminution of the quantity of the usually excreted super- acidulated phosphoric salt often takes place, as shall be fully explained upon another occasion. Having premised these observations, it is now time to consider what effects acid substances are productive of, when mixed, out of the body, with this very complicated liquor. And here, to prevent repetition, I will observe, that that generally used was rendered fresh in the morning, in the quantity of from three to four ounces, (unless other- wise specified,) being that most easily retained at one time in the bladder. The quantity of agid extremely small, for obyious reasons, and seldom increasing its acescent pro~+ perties (as ascertained by the usual tests) beyond what fre- quently occurs in the urine of those who use acescent drinks, or are afflicted with gout or gravel, A standard quantity was always laid by for comparison; and the temperature from sixty to seventy-five degrees, being in autumn 1799. And to begin with the vegetable acids :— Experiment I. To four ounces. of the urine of an adult was added one drachm of common acetoas acid, which, hke every other acid, caused no immediate change in it; but in a very short time, and before it cooled down to the temperature of the atmosphere, some extremely minute shining spicule, ob- seryable only by a lens, were seen floating in it: these gra- dually increased in number and size, began to reflect the light, and, from being pertectly transparent, soon became coloured, to settle upon the usual cloud, or nubecula, which now began to form, adhere to the sides of the glass, and parily fail to the bottom in.the shape of small bright red crystals. In the standard, after twelve hours, nothing more observable than the usual nuleeula.; nor was there any sign of crystallization, or separation of uric acid, even after twenty-four. ; at a) tas wi 1S . Experiment On Gravelly and Calculous Concretions. 299 Experiment I. To the same quantity of adult urine were added one drachm and half of acetous acid, which caused a more copious separation and crystallization of this substance with the foregoing appearances. None observable in the standard after ‘twenty-four hours. Experiment Il, To four ounces of urine of a healthy child, who never was observed to pass gravel, and of the usual degree of acidity, was added one drachm of acetous acid, which soon caused an evident and copious separation ts crystallized uric acid. The crystals were, however, not quite so co- loured; the urine of children not being so much impreg- nated with the urée, or colouring matter. No such appear- 3 o ance in the standard after twelve hours or more. Experiment IV. To four ounces of adult urine, rendered very soon after . _a tea breakfast, and nearly ina state of wrina potus, was _added one drachm of acetous acid. After three hours, a crystallization of minute sandy particles took place. None in the standard, even after threé days. Experiment V. Thirty drops only, of acetous acid, were added to four ounces of the urine of a gouty patient wt. sixty, and who sometimes felt some slight gravelly tendency. A very co- pious precipitation of this matter quickly took place. Some observable in the standard, also, the next day. Experiment VI. To three ounces of healthy adult urine were added a few drops only of citric acid. A distinct crystallization, but extremely minute, took place. No appearance of any in the standard after many hours. The experiment was re- peated with one drachm of filtered citric acid, which only hastened the separation and increased the quantity of crys- talline matter. Finding, by these experiments, and numberless others, with a detail of which it would be unnecessary to take up the time of the academy, that the acetous and citric acids, blended with the urine, separated j its uric acid in acrystallized state, | thought it might be interesting to inyestigate what the effect of the tartarous acid might be, being that which, in an uncombined and partly combined state of acidule, as in 380 On Gravelly and Calculows Concretions. in the acidulous tartarite of potash, chiefly prevails in the wines and beverage of those countries most subject to these complaints. . Experiment VII, To four ounces of healthy adult ure were added some drops only of pure tartarous acid. To the same quantity ene drachm of acetous acid, which brought them nearly to the same standard of acidity ; a circumstance always at- tended to in the comparative trials with different acids. In that with the tartarous acid the crystals were not only larger -and darker coloured, but exceeded in quantity any thing before observed. In that with the acetous acid, a much smaller proportion of minute crystals took place. Experiment VIII. To four ounces of urine were added two drachms of a filtered solution of acidulous tartarite of potash of the tem- perature 55 degrees. “The usual separation and crystalliza- tion took place in large proportion: the crystals, however, fiuch smaller, and less coloured, than those with the un= combined tartarous acid. ‘The two last experiments, fre: quently repeated, presented the same results, Experiment 1X, The result of the above expcriments having led to some ‘doubt as'to the good effecis of the carbonic acid. gas,” so much, at one time, recommended by. doctors Percival and Saunders, previous to its more modern alkaline combina+ tion in our mephitic as well as super-aérated soda waters : Into the middle part of Nooth’s apparatus were intro~ duced four pounds of fresh rendered healthy urine, and ex | posed to a stream of carbonic acid gas. After a few hours a copious and beautiful precipitation of uric crystals took place; (notwithstanding the constant agitation from the transmission of the gaseous bubbles,) larger than any I before observed, that from the tartarous acid excepted. In 2 standard quantity, no distinct crystallization, even after two days. Arepetition of the same experiment afforded sunilar results. Experiment X. Finding the carbonic acid gas productive of similar ef- fects with the other acids hitherto examined, it was natural to inquire how far its combination with the portion of al- kaline matter contained in our mephitie atid soda waters, so highly surcharged with it, may prevent a separation of this uric acid, Half On Gravelly and Calcuious Concretions. SOL Half an ounce only of the common soda water of te shops, prepared by Mr. Kinsley, was added to four ounces of healthy urine. A similar quantity was impregnated witha ‘carbonic acid gas. In the former, after forty-eight hours, or more, no more than the asual nubecula; nor coulda single crystal be discovered even by a magnifier. In the Jatter, an early, copious, and beautiful erystalhzation., On the result of this experiment, frequently repeated, with various proportions of the mephitic alkaline water, I shall afterwards have occasion to make some remarks. -— Thoagh the mineral acids, in an uncombined state, enter not into the matter ef our diet, and are no longer consi- 95 Magnetism. “On, 253 Manganese. Colours from, 93 has less affinity than tin for oxygen, 13; to decompese alkaline sulphurets by, = 70 Mangle. Patent for, 95 Manufactures of India. On, 227 Marsgets, George. Life of, 76 Medicine, 68, 69, 212 Meller’s patent, 1gt Mercury. Experiments on, 56 Mtal. A new one, 223 Meteorological talles, 96,-192, 288, 375 Microscopical remarks, 3 Milton’s patent, 191 Mines. On the East India, 227 Muriate of tin. Decomposition ol, big (74 Muriates, Production of, 257, . 285 Mecular ~ INDE X. Muscular motion. On, 113, 217 Museum Alexandrinum, 368 Navigation. Patent respecting,- 287 » Nickel. To separate, from co- balt, 193; pure, a noble me- tal, 137 Nyren’s patent, 95 Oersted’s acidulation of sulphate of potash, 80; Galvanic ob- servations, 129 Patents. List of New, 95, 191; 287,374 Pallas. On the planet, 93, 284, ; 372 Pee] on composition of muriatic acid, potash, and soda, 257 Phosphorus, Action of, on mer- cury, 60 Polarity communicated by Gal- vanism, 51 Plants. Prize question respect- ing, 369, 379 Po'lock on a surgical operation on a cow, 308 Potash. Production of, 257 Potatoes, frozen, A query, 286 Prize questions, 184, 368 Publications, New, 282, 360 Pumps, Patent for working, 287 Pyrites applied to production of alum, 65 Red. To dye cotton, 228 Richter’s process for preparing gallic acid, 743 on pure nig- cl, 137 Rink on a new acid, 128 Ritter’s Galvanic discoveries, 51, 54 Roard on steeping and dyeing wool, 42 Rose on a*new vegetable sub- stance, . 142 Royal Academy, ] 2 Royal Institution, fe) . 379 182, 268, 360, 363 Royal Society, Sad‘lle bar. Patent for one on an improved construction, 374 Salt. its uses as a manure, and a condiment for animals, 16 Saturn. On the singular figure of, 147 Saverein, engineer. Death of, 95 Scrophula. On royal cure of, 275 Shoe-makers. Machine for, 102 Smut of wheat. On, 332 Smutty wheat. Qn chemical na- ture of, 346 Snart on a variety of the genus acarus, 3 Societies. Learned, 80, 182, 363 Soda. Production of, 257 Soils. On analysis of, 26 Siqueira-Oliva on mercury, 56 Steam-engine. Patents for, 123, 191; 335 Steel’s patent, 287 Stones. On analysing, 146 Stove grate. Patent for, 95 Sugar from beet-root, 14 Sugar. Patent for manufactur- ing, 287; on history of, 367 Sulphate of potash, Acidulation of, 80 Sulphurets. Qn decomposing, 70 Sun. On direction and velocity of, 230 Syed’s patent, 95 Tables and furniture. Patent, 287 Tannin. Experiments on, 153 on artificial, 173, 320, 365 Taunton on dispensaries, 312 Tea a cure for dropsy, 286 Templeton’s remarks on various kinds of timber, 373 Thornton on pneumatic medi- cine, 68, 212 Tin. Strong affinity of, for oxy- gen, 12 Tinea g8e INDEX. Tinea capiizs. Cure for, 69 Torpedo. Experiments on, 356 Torpidity. On, 143, 185 Tromsdorff on pure cobalt, 145 ; on a new metal, 213 Trotter’s patent, 19! Trotter on damps in mines, 261 Urine. Experiments on, 331 Vaccination, 81, 187, 371 Varnish for culinary vessels, 13 Fauguelin on action of nitric acid on animal matters, 255, 326; experiments on gums, 859 Fauquelin on blighted corn, 346 Fegetable substance. A new, 142 Water. On contraction of, by heat, 1633 curious experi- ments on, 257 Water. Patent for a machine for raising, 374 Wheat, smutty, To cleanse, 332 Wheat, blighted. Chemical na- ture of, 346 Wood. Templeton’s remarks on, 373 Wool. On steeping and dyeing, 42 Wool of Angora goats, On, 97 Woolf's steam-engine, 123, 335 Wyke’s patent, 207. Zink. On malleable, 93, 282 END OF THE TWENTY-FHIRD VOLUME. Printed by R. Taylor and Co., 48, Shoe Lane, Klect Streee, Sey THX 14. Td boyy ong “ADT Povey v Joy sory yp U0 punoy snavopr Philo. Mag. Pl. I1.Vol. XXIe yy Esq° Souls, by H. Dav of 2 Analysis s+ Lowry sculp. 89 Philo, Mag. Pl M1. Vol, XXULE SS]>= Analysis of Soils, by H. Davy Lisqg?! Plato. Mag. Pl. IV.Vol. XX. IAA ddl C Varley Philo. Mag. Pl. V. Vol. XXML Skeleton of ar Ibis, from a Mummy at Thebes . ge. Philo.Mag PL.VIVol XXL. MM" Holden’ Machine for Shoe makers. in, i i I i ‘ - “Se exo wee HE YON HLQOS “TNE 1°A WA td OO OTT ott —— Arcturus Aldchar Pr Motion of the Ireturus Volar Sytem Lyra m Cycle Philo. Mag. PI. VIL Vol. TXTIL Lig. 4 Lyra dtm Ldebaran Cipell ai , _ — —— S= SS... ‘peda puny bradvy 104 OUP, 6 SALI) TEA FE TRE Pea ET ad OM on a a ae "ie te a ¥ SO eee es eee ‘Philo. Mag. Pl_X. Vol. XXII. Apparatus tor preparing Gaseous Oxide of Carbon. ate roi AUPE i ehh eee 4