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PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE:

COMPREHENDING
THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF SCIENCE,
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MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.

rer E,

BY ALEXANDER TILLOCA,
M.R.LA. F.S.A. EpiIn. anp Perts, &c.

ora as ae ee es eee ae eae anor See

t Nec aranearum sane textus ideo melior -quia ex se fila gignunt, nec noster
vitior quia ex alienis libamus ut apes,” Just. Lips. Monit, Polit, lib. i. cap. t.

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VOL. XXXIX.

For JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, MAY,
and JUNE, 1812.

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CON TERS

GF THE

THIRTY-NINTH VOLUME.

A SYNOPSIS of the principal Elements of Astronomy ;
deduced from M. LapLace’s SRE du Systéme du
‘Monde .. .. Balt ene 3

An Account of the Great pacer nen Denudation .. 26

Description of a new Levelling-Staff .. +. «+ 35

On the Cause of audible Sound in vibrating Strings, Tuning-
Forks, €c.; on the Use of Hawxtns’s Mouth Tuning -
Forks; on Earl STANHoPE’s roe Steel Piano-
Forte Strings, &c. entice 3 4 DS «se Mae: 8

On the Nomenclature of the New ads Mtsncdectts

39

General Method for determining the Orbits of Comets 40

A Case of Morlbus Pedicularis .. .. » 49

Reply to Dr. Kexry’s Letter on his eos Baia of
an Error in the Nautical Almanac .. .«- «+. 51

A Reply to some Observations and Conclusions in a Paper
just published, in the Second Volume of the Medico-
Chirurgical Transactions, on the Nature of the Alkaline
Matter contained in various dropsical Fluids, and in the
Serum of the Blood .. «+: «+ «sa oe «- 64

On the Localities of certain Reliquia, or extraneous Fossils,
found in Dérbyshire 4. «+ se oe e+ oe 81

Account of some remarkable Cases of Venereal Infection 90
Val, 39. No. 170, June 1812. *

CONTENTS.

Geological Observations, in Correction of and Addition te
the Puper on the Great Derbyshire Denudation, and the
Resort pn Dertystare, Seta | ee) aM |

Desultory Olservations concerning certain vegetalle Mus-
cicape Re et Tew) etse e's. Cpe ALOR

Case of Injury ofchosees oa ngaheh ous 8 ay

Communications from Mr, Autan and Mr. STANCLIFFE
on Allan’s Dividing Instrument .. .. .. «. 119

An Answer to the Observations of Dr. PEARSON (see page

| 64) on certain Statements respecting the alkaline Matter
contained in dropsical Fluids, end in the Serum of the
OME ie 9 a ees mi A Re sh 4a me) ee

Description of the Diacatopiron .. «2 «2 «+ 127

Description of a Cavern near Chudleigh in Devonshire 161

On the different Qualities of Wines, and the Methods of
preserving and ameliorating them 6. ww 165

An Apparatus for preventing the Accumulation of Air in
Conduit Pipes, &c. Se. Ese cai sot coda mtae

Memoir upon the Mordants emplo fied in the Art of
Piper big as ain ie wh Sipe lamin ts eee

An Account of the Stevens Oa is.) le

Extracts from Mr. Joun Farey’s jirst Volume of Report
to the Board of Agriculture, on Derbyshire 191, 253

On the Radiation of Cold .. ws ++. +e oe 208

A Sketch of the Natural History of the Cheshire Rocke
SE ISITE a a Cpe ee nas RU eRe

On the Nautical "Ephemeris *.. ew ee we 2S

Substitute fora Repeating Watch .. .. .. «. 216

Description of an Improvement on La Borpa’s Reflecting
De cos, Mad thn se aig © ae on wn eae ieee

Description of an inclosed Grindstone, intended to prevent
prejudicial Effects to the Persons eae in pointing
DOME ea ce ee ee eas ee eee aes Oe

Description of a Contrivance for conveying Steam from

Boilers oe ce ee ee ee ee ee ee ee 264

\»

eer ee

CONTENTS.

Geological Observations on the County of Antrim, and others
in the North-east Part of Ireland, Sc. .. 266, 353
Experiments on the Strength of Men and Horses in moving
Machines... See ee, es yet se aes
A Rejoinder to a Paper published in the Philosophical Ma-
gazine, by Dr. Marcst, on the Animal Fluids .. 289
Case of Hernia Umbilicalis, operated on with Success during
Utero-gestation .. «. gray aR le UD
Notice respecting the Geblogica? Stra ucture of the Vicinity
of Dublin: with an Account of some tare Minerals found
MAT Os, en hie spe ee CE ee RTD
Biographical Sketch of the late Maxwe_t GARTHSHORE,
DID FR. 9. 69 S.A, MN Ley be ee na aes Bee
An Account of the Coal Measures or Strata, lately explored,
on the Water of Brora, in the Valley S of Clyne, near
the SE Coast of Sutherland in Scotland, extracted from
Capt. Joun Henperson’s Agricultural Survey of the
Cnr OF SATIRE ns: ic apis eek mela Cook. eon
On Gypsum near Doncaster, and Nodules of Limestone,
and of Pyrites containing Sea Shells, in the Coal-district
near Bradford.in Yorkshire . +, 6+ +. .0», $52
Description of an improved Pump for raising the Water
while Shafts or Pits are sinking .. Sta Web ro 4
Further Remarks on a Case of Injury of the Brain .. 367
A Metnod of abs the Variation of the Mariner’s
PONE ra Sui capers Kea rik oie Aen a eee TEE TO
On the Rev. Mr. aie ron’s EUHARMONIC ORGAN, and his
“<< Essay on perfect Intonation,” for explaining fully the
Principlés of Tuning, and of performing upon the same
with perfect Harmonies, in almost every possible Variety
meer sani Prastaes a k's) Nee ee Shee OTS
A new Solution of two Fluxions proposed ly Simpson 383

Some Account of the Methods of laying the Foundations of —
TOILE GO co, 00. tel 69?) an. ee ial) ea

CONTENTS.

Further Remarks on the Rev. Mr. Liston’s “‘ Essay on
perfect Intonation,” &c. A tk 8 an ee
Qn Vegetable Fae 165 we inn Dm ager oa oes
Correction of an erroneous Statament in the Account of
Mr. BAKEWELL’s Lectures, &c. A. ob Aa eo
On the Effects produced by the Use of the Oxymuriates of
Lime and Magnesia in Bleaching .. .. «2 429
Method of preparing a cheap and durable Stucco, or Plaster,
for outside or inside Wallis’ .. 20: oe. 00 2» 430
Cases of Hernia. 6 ee. 420, a os 435
On the Culture and Ereivaton of ‘Hemp in Dersetifire,
and on the Growth of Sea Cale .. .. «2 «2 437
On a gaseous Compound of carbonic Oxide and Chlorine 443
New Tables for finding the Deviation of a Star in North
Polar Distance and Right Ascension .. .. «- 448
A Narrative of the Eruption of a Volcano in the Sea off the
dstand of Si. NUChigl sie: oe we op ae) oo eee
On the primitive Crystals of Carbonate of Lime, Bitter-
marae IFON=Spar 8 ee ee be Mee ee Soe

, Notices respecting New Books .. «+ «+ «+ 217, 458
Proceedjngs of Learned Societies 72,130, 219,311, 385, 459
Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles 77, 152, 244, 321,
402, 474

Sst of Patents .0 eee A 7G, (156,38
Meteorological Table 80, 160, 248, 327, 328, 408, 481

THE

THE

PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE.

1. A Synopsis of the principal Elements of Astronomy ; de«
duced from M. Lartace’s Exposition du Systeme du
Monde. Communicated by Francis Batty, Esq.

Tue following paper possesses po further merit thar
as being a faithful abstract of the principles and facts given
by M. Laplace in his Faposition du Systeme du Monde.
It is taken from the third edition of that work (1808),
wherein the author has given the elements of the planets in
a more correct manner than in either of the preceding edi-
tions; and wherein he has revised and amended all his for-
mer calculations by more recent and exact observations.

The arrangement of the present memoir is somewhat
new: but many persons have frequently found the want of
a manual of this kind, where all the different facts, relative
to astronomy, might be brought under their respective
heads, without the necessity of turning to a variety of
works for information. Much time is often lost in a re-
search of that kind, which it is.the object of the present
abstract to prevent.

Tn the original work, the author has universally adopted
the decimal division of the day, and of the quadrant. This
method is here preserved in the Tables of the Elements of
the Planets (page 6): but, in the subsequent parts, the
common sexagesimal notation is adopted, as being more
easily understood in this country.

Some other facts, not mentioned by M. Laplace, are in-
serted in this tract, in order to enlarge the view of the sub-
ject: but these passages are always kept separate, by being
inclosed within brackets.

Vol. 39. No. 165. Jan. 1812. AQ The

4 A Synopsis of the principal

The Sun.

The Sun, which is the source of light and heat to our
system, is the most considerable of all the heavenly bodies ;
and governs all the planetary motions. eine «i

Its diameter is 111°454 times the mean diameter of the
Earth: whence its volwme is 1384472 times greater than
that of the Earth: but its mass is only 337086 times greater,
Whence we conclude that its density is z5'yx5, or about 4
that of our globe.

Jt is surrounded by an aimosphere: and it 1s oftentimes
covered with spots. Some of these spots have been ob-
served so large as to exceed the Earth 4 or 5 times in mag-
niiude.

The observation of these spots shows that the Sun moves
on its axis, which is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic:
and the duration of an entire sidereal rotation of the Sun
is about 253 days.

Whence we conclude that the Sun is flattened at the
poles.

The solar equator is inclined 7° 30’ to the plane of the
ecliptic. .

A body, which weighs one pound at the surface of
the Earth, would, if removed to the surface of the Sun,
weigh 27°933 pounds. And bodies would fall there with
a velocity of 334°65 feet in the first second of time.

The Sun, together with the planets, moves round the
common centre of gravity of the system: whick centre is
nearly in the centre of the Sun.

This motion changes into epicycloids the ellipses of the
planets and comets, which revolve round the Sun,

The Sun appears to have a particular motion, which car-
ries our system towards the constellation of Hercules.

The apparent diameter of the Sun, as seen from the Earth,
undergoes a periodical variation. 't is greatest when the
Earth is in its perihelion; at which time it is 32’ 35”,6:
and it is least when the Earth is in its aphelion; at which
time itis 31’ 31’,0. Its mean apparent diameter is therefore
32’ 3”,3.

His horizontal parallax is 83”.

The greatest equation of his centre is 1° 55’ 27”,73 which
diminishes at the rate of 16,9 in a century.

The diurnal motion of the Sun from east to west, and
his annual motion in the ecliptic, are optical deceptions;
arisiny from the real motion of the Earth on its axis, and
in its orbit,

The

| Elements of Astronomy: 5
‘ The Planets.

The number of planets belonging to our system is eleven.
Six of thesé have been known and recognised from time
immemorral': namely, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn. But the remaining five, which are
not visible to the naked eye, have lately been discovered by
the help of the telescope; aid are therefore called telescopic
planets: namely, a2

Uranus, discovered by Dr. Herschel, March 13, 1781.

Ceresy re. OM) Piazai, .. Januaryib 180

Pallas, « ...6:..\e00% -', Ms Olbers, .:. March 98, 18092.

MGs syiehhs #3 as . M. Harding, Septem. 1, 1803.

Vesta. ..22....0. M.'Olbers, ... March .29;:1807;

All these planets revolve round the Sun, as the centre of
motion: and in performing their revolutions .they follow
the fundamental laws of the planetary motion. so happily
discovered by Kepler and which have been fully confirmed
by subsequent observations. | These laws are,

J. The orbit of each planet is an ellipse; of which the
Sun occupies one of the foci.

The extremity.of. the major axis of this ellipse, nearest
the Sun, is called the perthelion: the opposite extremity of
the same axis is called the aphelion. The line, which joins
these two points, is called the line of the apsides. The ra-
dius vector is an imaginary line drawn from the centre of
the Sun to the centre of the planet, in any part of its orbit.

The velocity of a planet in its orbit is always greatest at
its perihelion. This velocity diminishes as the radius vector
increases; till the planet arrives at its aphelion, when its
notion is the slowest. It then increases, in an inverse
manner, till the planet arrives again at its perihelion.

II. The areas, described about the Sun by the radius vector
of the planet, are proportional to the times employed in
describing them.

These laws are sufficient for determining the motion of
the planets round the Sun: but it is necessary to know, for
each of these planets, seven quantities; which are called
the elements of their ellipticul motion. The first, five of
these elements relate to the motion in_an ellipse :. the last
two relate to the. position of the orbit 5 since the planets do
not all move in the same plane.

1, The duration of a sidereal revolution of the planet.

2. Half the major axis of the orbit ; or the mean distance
of the planet from the Sun

3. The eccentricity of the orbit; whence we deduce the

greatest equation of the centre.
* A3 4. The

6 A Synopsis of the principal

4, The mean longitude of the planet at a given epoch.

5. The longitude of the perihelion at a given epoch.

6. The longitude of the nodes at a given epoch,

7. The inclination of the orbit 10 the ecliptic.

The following tables present all these elements for the
first moment of the present century: namely, for that point
of time at midnight which separates the 33st of December
1800, and the Ist of January 1801; mean time at Paris.
{The observatory at Paris is in north Jatitude 48° 50’ 14”,
and in longitude 9 21” east from Greenwich observatory.]

1. Duration of a Sidereal Revolution.
days. days.

Mereury.. 87°96925904 Ceres.... 1681°53Q00000
Wenus.... 224°70082399 Pallas... 1681°70QgO00000
Earth .... 365°25038350 Jupiter .. 4332°59030760 -
Mars..... 686°97961860 Saturn .. 10758:96984000
Festa .... 1335°20500000 | Uranus ..30688°71268720
Juno..... 1590°99800000

2. Mean Distance from the Sun.

Mercury.... °38709S81 Ceres....+. 2°7674060
Venus...... °7233323 Pallus .. .. °2'7675920
Farth ...... 10000000 Jupiter.... 5°2027911
Mars .....- 15236y35 Saturn .... 9°5387705
Vesta...... 2°3730000 | Uranus .... 19°1833050
Pip Tere eee 2607 1630

3. Ratio of the Eccentricity to half the Major Azis.

Wenus...... °00685208 Pallas .. .. *24538400
Earth...... 01685318 Jupiter.. .. ‘04817840
Mars...... ‘0893!3400 Saturn.... °05616830
Vesta... «+++ ‘089322000 Uranus.. .. °*04667030
Juno.....«. °25494400

Mercury.... ‘20551494 | yi ER "07834860

4. Mean Longitude January 1, 1801.

Mercury.... 182° 15647 Ceres...... 204° 16826
WEnUS. .. «o> 11° 93672 Pallas .. .. 280° 68580
Farth....-. 121928179 | Jupiter... .. 124°67781
Mats...... 71924145 | Saturn.. .. 150°38010

Festa..-... 207° 12990 Uranus .... 197° 54244
Juno...... 322° 79380

5. Mean Longitude of the Perihelion.

Sercury osteo @@.,,82° 6256 Ceres. «0-200 162° 9565.
We cate nes 142° 9077 Pallas .. ..+. 134° 7040
Avs Yeicie «6. >» 110° 5571 Jupiter...... ‘12°3813

FSR cc cesses 247 4030 Uranus.. ».2- 185° 9574

Mars ......«. 369° 3407 Saturn ...... 99° 0549
JUNO so. guvsce OO 2049 |

6. Inclie

Elements of Astronomy. 7

6. Longitude of the ascending Node.
Mercury ...... 51° 0651 Ceres ....2. 89° 9083
Mens ie, .' ssa *iog7? Pallas...... 191°7148
Earth ...:.... 0° 0000 Jupiter .. .. 109°3624
Maras. ...s. 053° S608 Saturn .. .. 124°3662
Vesta... .. 4.22. 114° 4630 Uranus .... 80°9488
Juno... '.. 0+». 190° 1228
7. Inclination of the Orbit to the Ecliptic.
Mercury...... 7° 78058 | Ceres ...... 11° 80680
Venus........ 3° 76936 Pallas .. .. 38° 46540
Earth........ 0° 00000 | Jupiter.... 1° 46034
Moarainls 2. j.1. 7. . 2° 05663 Saturn... '.. 2° 77102
Vesta ........ 7° Q4010 | Uranus... .. 0° 85990
Juno ........ 14° 50860 ,
The examination of the first two tables here given will
show us that the duration of the revolutions of the planets
increases with their mean distance from the Sun. Whence
Kepler discovered his third fundamental law: namely,

III. The squares of the times of the revolutions of the -
planets are to each other as the cubes of their mean distances.

The ellipses, which the planets describe, however, are
not unalterable. Their major axes appear to be always the
‘same: but their eccentricities, the positions of their peri-
helion and nodes, together with the inclination of their
orbits to the ecliptic, seem to vary in a course of years.
These variations, being sensible only in’a series of ages, are
called secular inequalities. There is no doubt of their ex-
istence: but the modern observations not being sufficiently
extensive, and the ancient not sufficiently exact, there still
rests some degree of uncertainty as to their magnitude.
The following table will show the inequalities that happen
in a period of one hundred years, and are the values that
appear to accord best with the present observations.

SECULAR INEQUALITIES OF THE PLANETS.

The sign — signifies a Diminution.

\
In the In the In the In the
Eccentricity. Perihelion. | Inclination, |Place of Nodes.

Planets.

a ee

Mercury ‘000003 867 0° 180110) 0° GO5612|—0* 241441

fenus ..|—‘000062711 |—0* 082663] —0* 001405|—0* 577
Earth . ..|—'000041632| 0°364140) ........) wr ccenes
Mars....

‘000090176| 0° 488405|—0* 000447|— 0° 718665
000159350} 0° 204895}—0* 006978)— 0° 486904}.
—'000312402| 0° 597860|—0* 004788/—0* 699525
— 000025072] 0°073809| 0° 000967|—1° 110481

upiter ..
Saturn ..
Uranus ..

A4 There

8 A Synopsis of the principal

There are also some inequalities which affect the elliptical
motion of the planets.. That of the Earth is a little altered.
But they are most sensible in Jupiter and Saturn: for it
appears that the duration of their revolution round the Sun
is subject to a periodical variation.

Mercury.

Mercury is the nearest planet to the Sun: its mean dis-
tance being +387, that of the Earth being considered as unity.
This makes his mean distance above 36 millions of miles.

He performs his sidereal revolution in 874 235 15' 43",9
and his mean synodical revolution in about 116 days.

The eccentricity of his orbit is +2055; half the major axis
being taken equal to unity.

His mean longitude, at the commencement of the pre-
sent century, was in 5° 23° 56’ 27,0.

The longitude of his perihelion was, at the same time, in
2 14° 21’ 46",9. The line of the apsides has a sidereal mo-
tion, according to the order of the signs, equal to 9’ 43",6
in acentury. But, if referred to the ecliptic, this motion
will (owing to the precession of the equinoctial points) be
equal to 55',8 in a year; or to 1° 33’ 13",6 in a century.

His orbit is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic in an
angle of 7°0' 9",1: which angle Is subject to a small in-
crease of about 18”,2 1m a century.

His orbit, at the commencement of the present century,
crossed the ecliptic in 1* 15° 57’ 30’,9: having a sidereal
motion, to the westward every century, of 13'2",2. But,
if referred to the ecliptic, the place of the modes will (on
account of the precession of the equinoxes) fall more.to
the eastward by 42”,3 in a year, or 1° 10’ 27”,8 ina century.

The rotation on his axis is accomplished in 14 O° 5’ 28",3.
But the inclination of its axis is not known.

[The diameter of Mercury is about 3123 miles: which,
compared with the Earth’s diameter considered as unity, is
about °3944.]

His mass, compared with that of the Sun considered as
mnity, 18° ...1-7-,-

(The proportion of dight and heat received from the Sun
is about 6°68 timés greater than on our planet. ]

As seen from the Earth, Mercury never appears at any
great distance from the Sun; either in the morning or the
evening. His elongation, or angular distance, varies from

16° 19’ to 28° 48’.

His course sometimes appears retrograde. The mean
arc, which it describes in this case, is about 13° 30’; and

its

Elements of Astronomy. 9

its mean duration is about 23 days: but there is great dif-
ference in this respect. This retrogradation commences of
finishes when he is about 18° distant from the Sun.

Mercury changes his phases, like the Moon, according to
his various positions with regard to the Earth and Sun: but
this cannot be discovered without the aid of a telescope.
His mean apparent diameter is 6”,9.

{Mercury is sometimes seen to pass over the Sun’s disk:
which can only happen when he is in his nodes, and when
the Earth is in the same longitude. Consequently this
phenomenon can take place only in the months of May or
November. The first observation of this kind was made
by Gassendi in November 1631: since which period they
have heen frequent. The next appearance of this kind will
be m November 1815.)

Venus.

Venus performs her sidereal revolution in 2244 16% 49%
11”,2: and her mean synodical revolution in about 584
days.

Her mean distance from the Sun is -723; that of the
Earth being considered as unity. This makes her mean di-
stance nearly 68 millions of miles.

The eccentricity of her orbit is ‘0069; half the major
axis being considered as unity. She is the least eccentric
of all the planets.

Her mean longitude, at the commencement of the pre-
sent century, was in O° 10° 44’ 35”,0.

The longitude of her perihelion.was, at the same time,
in 4° 8° 37'0",9. The line of her apsides has a sidereal
mation, contrary to the order of the signs, of 4! 27,”8 ina
century. But, if referred to the ecliptic, this motion will
appear (on account of the precession of the equinoxes) to
proceed according to the order of the signs at the rate of
47",4 in a year, or 1° 19! 2”,2 in a century,

Her orbit is inclined to. the plane of the ecliptic in an
angle of 3° 23’ 32",7: which angle decreases about 4’36 in
a century.

Her orbit, at the commencement of the present century,
crossed the ecliptic in 2* 14° 52’ 38’,9. But the nodes have
an apparent motion in longitnde of 31”,4 ina year, or 52
20",2 in a century.

The rotation on her axis is performed in 235 21/ 7”,2:
but the inclination of her axis is not known.

' [The diameter of Venus is 7702 miles: consequently she
is nearly as large as the Earth.]
Her

10 A Synopsis of the principal

Her mass, compared with that of the Sun considered a$
unity, IS 45 .

[The tp of light and heat, received by her from
the Sun, is 1°91 times greater than on our planet. ]

It. is surrounded by an atmosphere, the refractive powers
of which differ very little from those of our atmosphere.

As viewed from the Earth, Venus is the most brilliant of
all:the planets; and may sometimes be seen with the naked
eye, at noon day. She is known as the morning and even-
ing star; and never recedes far from the Sun. Her elon-
gation, or angular distance, varies from 45° to 48°,

Her motion sometimes appears retrograde. The mean are,
which she describes in such case, is about 16° 12’; and her
mean duration is about 42 days. ‘This retrogradation com-
mences, or finishes, when she is about 28° 49’ distant from
the Sun.

Venus changes her phases, like the Moon, according to
her position with respect to the Sun and the Earth: which
causes a very considerable difference in her brijlancy.

Her mean apparent diameter is 17,0; her greatest ap-
parent diameter 13 about 57”,3.

[Venus is sometimes seen to pass over the Sun’s disk:
which can happen only when she is in her nodes, and
when the Earth is in the same longitude. Consequently
it can take place only in the months of June or Decem-
ber. Three of these transits have been already observed ;
one in 1639, one in June 1761, arid one in June 1769.
There will not be another till the 8th of December 1874.)

The Earth.

The Earth which we inhabit is also one of the planets
that revolve about the Sun. It performs its sédereal revolu-
tion in 365% 6% g’ 11”,5: but the time employed in going
from one tropic to the other is only 3654 5> 48’ 52”,6,
The tropical year is abovt 11”,2 shorter than it was at the
time of Hipparchus.

Its mean distance from the Sun is 23578 times its own
semi-diameter: whence it is above 93 millions of miles di-
stant from that luminary. If this mean distance be taken
equal to unity, we shall have its distance at the perihelion
equal to *98323; and its distance at the aphelion equal to
1°0168." ,

The-eccentrictty of its orbit is ‘0168: half the major axis
being considered as unity. The major axis, therefore, will
be to the minor axis of the orbit, in the proportion of } to
"99439.

Its

Elements of Astronomy. n

Its. mean longitude, at the commencement of the present
century, was 3° 10° g’ 13”,0.

Its velocity varies in different parts of its orbit. Like all
the other planets, it is most rapid in its perihelion, and
slowest in its aphelion. In the former point it describes
an arc of 1° 1’ 9",9 in the course of a day; and in the latter
point it describes an are of only 57’ 11”,5 in the same
period. The mean velocity is 59’ .0’,7 each day.

The mean longitude of its perihelion at the commences
ment of the present century was 3° 9° 30’ 5”,0. But the
line of the apsides has a direct sidereal motion of 19’ 40,8
in a century: which, being referred to the ecliptic, will
give it a motion (according to the order of the signs) of
1’ 1',9 in a year, or 1° 43’ 10’,8 in acentury. A complete
revolution round the line of the apsides is called the ano-
malistic year; and is performed in 365° 65 14' 9”. The
perihelion coincided with the vernal equinox about the year
4089 before-the Christian era. It coincided with the sum-
mer solstice about the year 1250 after Christ: and will
coincide with the autumnal equinox about the year 6483.
A complete tropical revolution of the apsides is performed
in 20931 years.

The axis of the Earth is inclined to the plane of the
ecliptic in an angle of 23° 27’ 57”,0: which angle is
observed to decrease at the rate of 52”,1 in acentury. But
this variation of the angle is confined within certain limits ;
and cannot exceed 2° 42’,

The annual intersection of the equator with the ecliptic
is not always in the same point: but is retrograde, or con-
trary to the order of the signs. Consequently the equinoxial
points appear to move forward on the ecliptic: and whence
this phenomenon is called the precession of the equinoxes.
The quantity of this annual change is 50,1 ; or 1° 23’ 30”
in a century. A complete revolution is performed in 25863
years,

The sidereal day, or the time employed by the Earth in
revolving on its axis, is always the same. Its diurnal rota-
tion bas not varied, the hundredth part of a second, since
the time of Hipparchus. If the mean astronomical, or
eivil, day be taken equal to 24 hours, the duration of the
sidereal day will be 23" 56’ 4”,1.

The astronomical, or civil, day is constantly changing.
This variation arises from two causes; 1. The unequal mo-
tion of the Earth in its orbit; 2. The obliquity of that
orbit to the plane of the equator. {The mean and apparent
solar days are never equal, except when the Sun’s daily mo-

tion

iz A Synopsis of the principal
tion in right ascension is 59’ 8”. » This is the case about
April 16th, June 16th, September Ist, and December 25ths
on these days the difference vanishes, or nearly so; It is at
its greatest about November Ist, when it is 16’ 16]
The astronomical year is divided into four parts, deter-
“mined by the two equinoxes and the two solstices.... The
interval between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes is (on
account of the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit, and its un
equal velocity therein) near eight days longer than the in+
terval between the autumual and:vernal equinoxes. These
intervals are, at present, nearly as follow :
From the spring equinox to the el Hityr-
. a «922145 diiee ie
summer solstice..........
From the summer solstice to At 10%
. ° 93 13 35
the autumnal equinox....«
F; autumnal equinox to
ues pais \ ..89 16 47
the winter solstice........
om the winter solstice to the
tia) ate) ..89 149
Spring EQUINOX ..eseeeee

mM.

= 185,35 20

=178 1829

4h 6, Sl

The nutation of the Earth’s axis is 19”,3.

Light takes 6’ 13,3 to come from the Sun to the Earth.
But in this interval the Earth has moved 20”,2 in its orbit.
This motion of the Earth produces an optical illusion in
the light which comes from the stars: and which Bradley
calls the aberration of light.

The figure of the Earth is that of an oblate spheroid: the
axis of the poles being to the diameter of the equator as
331 to 332. The mean diameter of the Earth is about 7916
miles: its equatorial diameter is 7924 miles.

As a necessary consequence from this circumstance, the
degrees of latitude increase in length as we recede from the
equator to the poles. But different meridians, under the
same latitude, present different results. The general fact,
however, is well ascertained.

The density of the Earth is 3°9326 times greater than
that of the Sun, and is to that of water as 11 to 2.

Its mass, compared with that of the Sun considered as
UNity, 13 sxgeee

The centrifugal force is greater at the equator than at
the poles: in consequence of which, bodies lose part of
their weight by being taken towards the equator. If the
gravity of a body at the equator be represented by unity,
its gravity at the poles will be increased by -00569. A
pendulum, therefore, which vibrates seconds in the higher

latitudes,

~ Blements of Astronomy, 13

latitudes, must be shortened at the equator in order to rens
der the oscillations isochronous. [A pendulum 39°197
inches long will swing seconds at the poles: but, in order
that it may swing seconds at the equator, it must be re-
duced to 39°097 inches. ]}

The centrifugal force at the equator is nearly ~}th of
gravity. Ifthe rotation of the Earth were 17 times more
rapid, the centrifugal force would be equal to that of gra-
vity: and bodies at the equator would not have any weight.

A rare and elastic fluid surrounds the Earth, which is
called the aimosphere. Neither the temperature nor density
of this fluid is uniform; but diminishes in proportion to
its djstance from the surface of the Earth, and 1s also. af-
fected by other circumstances.

If the density of the atmosphere were every where the
same and its temperature at zero, and the height of the ba-
rometer at 29°92196 inches, the height of the atmosphere
would be 26067 feet; or 3°7 miles.

The atmosphere is a heterogeneons substance. Out of
100 parts, 79 are azotic gas, and the remaining 21 are oxy-
gen gas. This is found to be universally the case, in what-
ever season or whatever climate the experiment be tried.
This proportion is also found to exist in the highest points
of the atmosphere that have been reached by means of
balloons,

A body projected horizontally to the distance of about
4°35 miles, if theré were no resistance in the atmosphere,
would not fall again to the surface of the Earth, but would
revolve round it as a satellite; the centrifugal force being
then equal to its gravity.

The rays of light do not move in a straight line through
the atmosphere ; but are inflected continually towards the
Earth: so that the stars appear more elevated on the hori-
zon than they really are.

We find, trom the most.accurate observations, that the
refraction, which the atmosphere produces, is independent
of its temperature, and proportional to its density. But,
as the density varies according to the temperature; it is
necessary to attend not only to thé state of the barometer,
but also of the thermometer,

The humidity of the air produces very little effect on its
rcfractive powers, and may therefore be safely omitted.

The temperature of the whole atmosphere being sup-
posed at zero, its density will diminish in a geometrical
progression, according to its distance from the surface of
the Earth: and we find by experience that, the height of

the

14 A Synopsis of the principal

the barometer being 29°92 inches, the refraction at the ho-~
rizon is 39/ 54’,7. [t would be only 30’ 24”,1 if its den-
sity diminished in arithmetical progression; and would be
nothing at the surface. The horizontal refraction, which
we observe about 35’ 6”,0, is a mean_ between these
limits.

When the apparent height of a star upon the horizon
does not exceed eleven degrees, its sensible refraction de-

ends only on the state of the barometer and thermometer
in the place of observation ; and it is nearly proportional to
the tangent of the apparent distance of the star from the
zenith, diminished by 3: times the corresponding refraction
at this distance, the thermometer being considered as at the
freezing point and the barometer at 29°92 inches. It is
from these principles that have been formed the Tables of
Refraction, corresponding to the several variations in the
scale of the thermometer and barometer.

The action of the Sun and Moon has a considerable ef-
fect on the water of the ocean, and produces the phzno-
mena of the fides.

The sea rises and falls twice in each interval of time
comprised between the consecutive returns of the Moon to
the same meridian. The mean imterval of these returns is
1% gb 50’ 28”,3 : consequently the mean interval between
two following periods of high water is 12% 25’ 14,3. So
that the retardation in the time of high water, from one
day to another, is 50’ 28” in its mean state: and it is af-
fected by all those causes which influence the Moon’s mo-
tion.

This retardation varies with the phases of the Moon. It
is at its minimum towards the syzigies when the tides are
at their maximum, and it is then only 38’ 57”,1. But,
when the tides are at their minimum, or towards the qua-
dratures, it is then the greatest possible; and amounts to
y> 14’ 58”,8.

The variation in the distances of the Sun and Moon from
the Earth (and particularly the Moon) has an influence
also on this retardation. Each minute in the increase or
diminution of the apparent diameter of the Moon augments
or diminishes this retardation 3’ 42,9 towards the syzigies ;
but towards the quadratures the effect is three times less.

The daily retardation of the tides varies likewise with
the declination of the Sun and Moon. In the syzigies, at
the time of the solstices, it is about 2’ 13”,9 greater than
in its mean state: and it is diminished in the same propor-
tion, at the time of the equinoxes. On the contrary, in

the

Elements of Astronomy. 15

the guadratures, at the time of the equinoxes, it exceeds its
mean state by 7’ 49,2; and is in a similar manner dimi-
nished by this quantity, at the time of the solstices,

The height of the tides is also considerably influenced
by all those causes which have been just mentioned ; and
depends on the phases and position of the Moon in her or-
bit. It is greatest when the Moon is in the syzigies ; and
is diminished in the quadratures. The distance likewise of
the Sun and Moon from the Earth, as well as their declina-
tion, has a material effect upon the height of the tides.

But the state of the tides is so modified by the nature
and position of the coasts, the depth of the channel, the
operation of the winds, and by other causes, that the above
Jaws will not always be found to correspond with the actual
state of the tides, particularly near the coast, or in rivers.
It will however be found, from the mean of a number of
observations, that the inequalities in the heights and in the
intervals of the tides have various periods. Some are of
half a day and a day; others are of half a month and a
month; whilst others again are of half a year and a year:
and some are the same as the times of the revolutions of
the Junar nodes and apsides.

The action of the Moon upon the waters of the ocean is
triple that of the Sun.

Mars.

Mars is easily known in the heavens by his red and fiery
appearance. He performs his sidereal revolution in 6864
23" 30’ 39”,0 or in 1°881 Julian years: and his mean syno-
dical revolution in about 780 days, or in about 2°135 years.

His mean distance from the Sun is 1°524; that of the
Earth being considered as unity, This makes his mean
distance above 142 millions of miles.

The eccentricity of his orbit is 093: half the major axis
being considered as unity.

His mean longitude, at the commencement of the pre-
sent century, was in 2° 4° 7' 2,3.

The longitude of his perihelion was, at the same time, in
115 2° 94’ 93”,9: but the line of the apsides has an appa-
rent motion, according to the order of the signs, of 1’ 5,9
in a year, or 1° 49' 52”,4 in a century.

His orbit is zuclined to the plane of the ecliptic in an
angle of 1° 51’ 3",5; which angle decreases about 1,4 in
a century. ,

His orbit at the commencement of the present century
crossed the ecliptic in 1° 18° 1! 28",05 but the place of the

nodes

16 A Synopsis of the principal

nodes has an apparent motion in longitude, according to
the order of the signs, of 26”,8 ina year, or 44’ 41",5 ina
century.

The rotation on his axis is performed in 14 08 39! 21”,3:
and his avis is inclined to the ecliptic in an angle of 59°
41’ 49",2.

[His mean diameter is equal to 4398 miles: consequently
he is rather more than half the size of our Earth.]

His mass, compared with that of the Sun considered as
unity, 18S sss4+as

{The proportion of light and heat, received by him from
the.Sun, is ‘43: that received by the Earth being considered
as unity.]

He has a very dense but moderate atmosphere: and he is
not accompanicd by any satellite.

As viewed from the Earth, the motion of Mars appears
sometimes re¢érograde. The mean are which he describes -
in this case is 16° 192’: and its mean duration is about 73
days. This retrogradation commences, or finishes, when
the planet is not more than 136° 48’ from the Sun.

Mars changes his phases somewhat in the same manner
as the Moon does from her first to her third quarter, ac-
cording to his various positions with respect to the Earth
and the Sun: but, he never becomes cornicular, as the
Moon does when near her conjunctions. ' His mean appa
rent diameter is 9”,7: which augments in proportion as the
planet approaches its opposition, when it’ is equal ta
29",2.

His parallax is nearly double that of the Sun. A

Jupiter.

Jupiter is, next to Venus, the most brilliant of all the .
planets: whom he sometimes however surpasses in bright~
ness. He performs his sidereal revolution in 43324 14%
18’ 41",03 or in 11°862 Julian years. But this period is
subject to some inequalities. He performs his mean syno-
dical revolution in about 399 days.

His mean distance from the Sun is 5*203; that of the
Earth being considered as unity. This makes his mean di-
stance above 485 millions of miles.

The eccentricity of his orbit is 04823 half the major
axis being considered as unity.

His mean longitude at the commencement of the present
century was in 3° 22° 0’ 36”,1. 290

The longitude of his perihelion was, at the same time,

in OF 11° 8’ 35"j1: but the line of the apsides has an ap-
, parent

Elements of Astronomy. 17

parent motion, according to the order of the signs, of 56",7
in a year, or 1° 34’ 33,8 in acentury. spent’

His orbit is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic in an
angle of 1° 18’ 51”,5: which is observed to decrease nearly
22”,6 in a century. ©

His orbit, at the commencement of the present century,
crossed the ecliptic in 3° 8° 25’ 34”,2. But the place of
the nodes has an-apparent motion in longitude, according
_ to the order of the signs, of 34”,3 in a year, or 57 12",4 in
a century.

The rotation on his axis is performed in 9" 55! 49",7:
and his axis forms an angle of 86° 54’ 30’,0 with the plane
of the ecliptic.

[His mean diameter is equal to 91522 miles: consequently
he is about 112 times as large as our Earth.] The axis of
his poles is to his equatorial diameter as *9287 to 1, or as
13 to 14,

His mass, compared with that of the Sun considered as
unity, is 5;!;-g5: but his density is -909501.

[The proportion of light and heat, received from the Sun,
is ‘037: that received by the Earth being considered as
unity. ] :

He is surrounded by faint substances called zones or belts;
which are supposed to be parts of his atmosphere. And he
is accompanied by four satellites.

A body, which weighs one pound at the equatorial sur-
face of the Earth, would, if removed to the surface of Jupi-
ter, weigh 2-281 pounds,

As seen from the Earth, the motion of Jupiter appears
sometimes to be retrograde. The mean are which he de-
scribes in this case is about 9° 54’: and its mean duration
is about 121 days. This retrogradation commences, or
finishes, when the planet is not more distant than 115° 19’
from the Sun.

His mean apparent equatorial diameter is 38"2: it is
greatest when in opposition, at which time it is equal to
47,6.

Saturn.

Saturn performs his sidereal revolution in 107584 935
16’ 34”,25 or in 29°456 Julian years. But this period is
subject to some inequalities. His mean‘synodical revolu-
tion is performed in about 378 days.

fis mean distance from the Sun is 9°539; that of the
Earth being considered as unity. This makes his mean
distance aboye 890 millions of miles,

Vol. 39. No, 165. Jan, 1812, B The

18 A Synopsis of the principal

The eccentricity of his orbit is 05625 half the major axis
being taken as unity.

His mean longitude at the commencement of the present
oentury, was in 4* 15° 20’ 31,5.

The longitude of his periielion was, at the same time, in
95 29° 8' 57”,9: but the line of the apsides has an apparent
motion in longitude, according to the order of the signs, of
1’ 9’,5 in a year, or 1° 55'47”,1 in a century.

His orbit is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic in an
angle of 2° 29’ 38”,1: which is observed to decrease about
15”,5 in a century.

His orbit, at the commencement of the present century,
crossed the ecliptic in 3° 21° 55’ 46’,5: but the place of
the odes has an apparent motion in longitude, according
to the order of the signs, of 27,4 in a year, or 45° 43”,5 in
a century.

The rotation on his axis is performed in 10° 16’ 19”,2:
{ard the axis is inclined in an angle of 58° 41’ to the plane
of the ecliptic. }

{His mean diameter is 76068 miles: consequently he ts
nearly 10 times as large as our Earth.] ‘The axis of his
poles is to his equatorial diameter as 11 to 12.

His mass, compared with that of the Sun considered as
unity, 18 ssg¢-s¢: [but his density is 08.)

{The proportion of ight and heat received from the Sun
is “00113 that received by the Earth being considered as
unity.]

Saturn is sometimes marked by zones or belts ; which
are probably obscurations in his atmosphere. And he is
accompanied by seven satellites.

The most singular phenomenon, however, attending this
planet, is the double img with which he is surrounded.

This ring, which is very thin and broad, is inclined to
the plane of the ecliptic in an angle of 31° 19’ 12",0; and
revolves from west to east, in a period of 105 29'16",8, about
an axis perpendicular to its plane and passing through the
centre of the planet.

The breadth of the ring is nearly equal to its distance from
the surface of Saturn: that is, about + of the diameter of
the planet.

The surface of the ring 18 separated in the middle by a
black concentric band, which divides it into éwo distinct
rings.

The edges of this ring, being very thin, sometimes disap-
pear: and, as this edge will present itself to the Sun twice
in each revolution of the planet, it is obvious that the dis-

appearance

Elements of Astronomy. 19

eppearance of the ring will occur about once in 15 years ;
bot under circumstances oftentimes very different.

[The zntersection of the ring and the ecliptic is in 5° 20°
and 11° 20°: consequently, when Saturn is in either of
those signs, his ring will be invisible to us. On the con-
trary, when he is in 2° 20° or 8° 20°, we may see it to most
advantage. ‘This was the case towards the end of, the year
1811. Regard, however, must be had to the position of
the Earth.]

As viewed from the Earth, the motion of Saturn some-
times appears retrograde. The mean arc which he describes
in this case is about 6° 18’: and its duration is nearly 139
days. This retrogradation commences, or finishes, when
ihe planet is distant about 108° 54’ from the Sun.

His mean apparent diameter is 17",6. ,

Telescopic Planets.

Uranus was discovered by Dr. Herschel, March 13,
1781, who gave it the name of the Georgium.Sidus. It
performs its sidereal revolution in 30688¢ 17" 6’ 16”,2; or in
about 84 Julian years: and it is probably situated at the
confines of the planetary system.

Its distance trom the Sun is upwards of 1800 millions of
miles: and its apparent diameter is scarcely 3”,9.

Its mass compared with that of the Sun considered as
unity, Is ~>toy-

Six satellites accompany this planet; which move in
orbits nearly perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic.

The elements of the four remaining telescopic planets are
not yet ascertained with sufficient precision.

Satellites.

The number of satellites in our system, at present known,
is eighteen: namely, the Moon which revolves round the
Earth; four that belong to Jupiter, seven to Saturn, and
six to Uranus. The Moon is the only one visible to the
naked eye.

They all move round their primary planets, as their cen-
tre, by the same law sas those primary ones move round the
Sun: namely,

I. The orbit of each satellite is an ellipse, of which the
primary planet occupies one of the foci.

Il. The areas, described about the primary planet, by the
radius vector of the satellite, are proportional to the times
employed in describing them.
Be III, The

20 A Synopsis of the principal

IT!. The squares of the times of the revolutions of the sa-
iellites, round their respective primary planets, are to each
other as ihe cubes of their mean distances from the, primary.

Afoon.

The motions of the Moon are exceedingly eccentric and
irregular, She performs her mean sidereal revolution in
27275 43' 11",5.. But this period is variable: and a com-
parison of the modern observations with the ancient proves
incontestably an acceleration in her mean motion. Her
mean tropical revolution is 2747" 43’ 4",7: and her mean
synodical revolution is 29° 125 44’ 2'.8,

Her mean distance from the Earth is 29°982175 times
the diameter of the terrestrial equator ; or above 237 thou-
sand miles.

The eccentricity of her orbit is 0548553; the mean dis-
tance from the Earth being taken equal to unity. But this
eccentricity is variable iu each revolution.

Her mean longitude, at the commencement of the pre-
sent century, was in 35 21° 36’ 42”,1.

Her velocity varies in different parts of her orbit. She
is swiftest in her perigee (or point nearest the Earth) ; and
slowest when in her apogee (or point furthest from the
Earth). Her meandiurnal velocity is equal to 13° 10'34”,9,
or about 13 times greater than that of the Sun.

The greatest equation of her centre is 6° 17’ 54",5.

The mean longitude of her perthelion was, at the com-
mencement of the present century, in 8° 26° 6’ 5”,1: but
the line of the apsides bas a motion, according to the order
of the signs. The period of a sidereal revolution of the
apsides is 32324 13> 56’ 16”,8, or nearly 9 years. The pe-
riod of a tropical revolution of the apsides is but 32314 115
24' §”,6. But these periods are not uniform: for they have
a secular irregularity, and are retarded whilst the motion of
the Moon itself is accelerated. The period of an anzomalistic
revolution of the Moon is 274 138 18’ 37",4.

Her orbit is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic in an
angle of 5° g’: but this inclination is variable. The greatest
inequality, which sometimes extends to 8’ 47”,1, is pro-
portional to the co-sine of the angle on which the inequality
ip the motion of the nodes depends. .

Her orbit, at the commencement of the present century,
crossed the ecliptic in O° 15° 55’ 26’,3: but the place of
her modes is variable. They havea retrograde motion, and

make

Elements of Astronomy. 21

make a sidereal revolution in 67934 10> 6’ 30”,0; or in
about 18°6 Julian years. This variation, however, is subject
to many inequalitues: of which, the greatest is proportional
to the sine of double the distance of the Moon from the
Sun; and extends to 1° 37’ 45",0 at its maximum. <A sy-
nodical revolution of the nodes is performed in 346* 14%
52’ 43",6. The motion of the ncdes is subject also to a
secular inequality, dependent on the acceleration of the
Moon’s mean motion. .

The rotation of the Moon on her axis is equal and uni-
form: and it is performed in the same time as the tropical
revolution in her orbit; whence she always presents nearly
the same face to the Earth. But, as the motion of the
Moon, in her orbit, is periodically variable, we sometimes
see more of her eastern edge, and sometimes more of her
western edge. This appearance is called the dilration of
the Moon in longitude.

The axis of the Moon is inclined to the plane of the
ecliptic in an angle of 88° 29' 49”. In consequence of this
position of the Moon, her poles alternately become visible:
to, and obscured from us: and this phenomenon is called
her libration in latitude.

There is also-another optical deception arising from the
Moon being seen from the surface of the Earth, instead of
the centre. This appearance is called her diurnal libration.

There are other inequalities in the Moon’s motion, aris-
ing from the action and influence of the Sun. The prin-
cipal of these are,

1. The Evection ; whose constant effect is to diminish the
equation of the centre in the syzigies, and to augment it in
the quadratures. If this diminution and increase were al-
ways the same, the evection would depend only on the an-
gular distance of the Moon from the Sun: but its absolute
value varies also with the distance of the Moon from the
perigee of its orbit. After along series of observations,
we are enabled to represent this inequality by supposing it
equal to the sine of double the distance of the Moon from
ihe Sun, minus the distance of the Moon from its perigee,
At its maximum, it amounts to 1° 18’ 2",4.

2. The Variation; which disappears in the syzigies and
quadratures, and is greatest in the octants. It is then equal
to 31' 44”,1: whence itis proportional to the sine of double
the distance of the Moon from the Sun. Its duration is
half a synodical revolution of the Moon.

3. The Annual Equation ; which follows exactly the same
Jaw as the equation of the centre of the Sun, witha contrary

B3 sign,

22 A Synopsis of the principal

sign. For, when the Earth is in its perihelion, the orbit of
the Moon is enlarged by the action of the Sun; and the
Moon therefore requires more time to perform her revolu-
tion. But, as the Earth proceeds towards its aphelion, the
Moon’s orbit contracts. Hence the period of this inequa-
lity is an anomalistic year: and, at its maximum, it
amounts to 11'15",9. It is subject to a secular inequality.

The figure of the Moon is that of an oblate spheroid, like
the Earth. Her mean diumeter is in the proportion to that
of the Earth, as 5823 to 21332; or as | to 3°665. Whence
her mean diameter will be about 2160 miles.

Her volume, compared with that of the Earth, is 35: but
her mass is only =~.

The apparent diameter of the Moon varies according to
her distance from the Earth. When nearest to us it is
33’ 31",1; but at her greatest distance itis 29’ 21",9. Her
mean apparent diameter is 31’ 26”,5.

Her mean horizontol parallax is equal to 57’ 34,2.

The phases of the Moon are caused by the reflection of
the Sun’s light; and depend on the relative positions of
the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon.

An eclipse of the Moon can take place only at the time
of her opposition to the Sun; and is caused by her passing
through the shadow of the Earth. That shadow is 34 times
longer than the distance between the Moon and the Earth:
and its breadth, where it ts traversed by the Moon, is about
22 times greater than the diameter of the Moon. The
breadth of the Earth’s shadow, where it is traversed. by the
Moon, is equal to the difference between the semidiameter
of the Sun, and the sum of the horizontal parallaxes of the
Sun and Moon.

[The Moon cannot be eclipsed, however, if her distance
from the place of her node, at the time of her opposition,
exceeds 13° 21’: but, if it is within 7° 47’, there will cer-
tainly be an eclipse. The duration of the eclipse will de-
pend on the apparent diameter of the Moon, and on the
breadth of the shadow at the point where she traverses it.]

The Sun cannot be eclipsed unless the Moon be in con-
junction: and then only when the centres of the Sun and
Moon are in the same straight line with the eye of the spec-
tator on the Earth. {n such case, if the apparent diameter
of the Moon be greater than that of the Sun,’ the eclipse
will be ¢otal: but, if it be less, it will be annular. Par-
tial eclipses, however, may arise; as in the case of lunar:
eclipse.

(The Sun cannot be totally obscured for a longer period.

of

Elements of Astronomy. 23

‘of time than four minutes: but the Moon may be hid from
our view for a much longer period.

(The number of eclipses in a year cannot be less than
tavo, nor more than seven. ]

Eclipses generally return in the same order and mag-
nitude at the end of 223 lunations. For, in 223 mean sy-
nodica] revolutions, theré are 65854 7% 42’ 31",7: and, in
6585" 18° 41! 45",6 there are 19 mean synodical revolutions
of the Moon’s nodes. Therefore, at the end of 6585% 7°
49! 31",7, the Moon’s mean longitude will be only 28’ 32”
behind the mean place of her nodes. In 6585 days there
are 18 Julian years and 11 days, if there are four leap years
in that period: but if there are Jive leap years, they form
no more than 18 Julian years and 10 days.

~The atmosphere. of the Moon, if it has any, must be ex-
tremely attenuated ; and must be more rare than that which
we can produce with our best air-pumps.
The dight of the Moon is 300000 times more weak than
that of the Sun. Its rays, collected by the aid of powerful
glasses, do not produce any sensible effect on the thermo-
meter.
The refraction of the rays of light, at the surface of our
Earth, must be at least 1000 times greater than at the sur-
face of the Moon.
Volcanoes and mountains are discovered on her surface,
by the aid of the telescope.

A body projected from the surface of the Moon, with
a momentum that would cause it to proceed at the rate of
about 8290 feet in the first second of time, and whose direc-
tion should be ina line which at that moment passed through
the centre of the Earth and Moon, would not fall again to
the surface of the Moon; but would become a satellite to
the Earth. Its primitive impulse might, indeed, be such
as to cause it even to precipitate to the Earth, The stones,
which have fallen from the air, may be accounted for in
this manner.

Satellites of Jupiter.

By the aid of the telescope we may discover four satel-
_ Jites revolving round Jupiter. The sidereal revolutions of
these bodies are given in the following table: together with
their mean distances from Jupiter, the semi-diameter of
that planet’s equator being considered as unity ; and like-
wise their masses, compared with Jupiter considered also
as unity.

s B4 Satellite.

24 A Synopsis of the principal

Mean
Distance.

datel-
lite.

Sidereal Revolution. Mass.

sd

I. | 1418" 27'33”,5| 14 769137788148] 5°812964}00001 73261
II. | 3 13 13 42 ,0} 3 551181017840] 9°248670)-0000232355
Ill. | 7 3 42 33 ,A| 7 154552783970)14°752401!-0000884972.
IV. {16 16 31 49 ,7|16 688769707084\25'946860)0000426591

First Satellite. ‘The inclination of the orbit of this sa-
tellite does not differ much from the plane of Jupiter’s orbit.
Its eccentricity is insensible.

Second Satellite. The eccentricity of the orbit of this
satellite is also insensible. The inclination of its orbit, to
that of its primary, is variable; as well as the position of
its nodes.

Third Satellite. This satellite has a little eccentricity ;
and the line of its apsides has a direct but variable motion:
the eccentricity itself is also subject to very sensible varia-
tions. The inclination of its orbit to that of Jupiter, and
the position of its nodes, are far from being uniform.

Fourth Satellite. The eccentricity of this satellite is
greater than that of any of the other three; and the line of
the apsides has an annual and direct motion of 42’ 58”,7.
The inclination of its orbit, with the plane of Jupiter’s or-
bit, forms an angle of about 2° 25’ 48”: but this angle, al-
though stationary about the middle of the last century, has
lately begun to increase very sensibly. At the same time
the motion of its nodes has begun to diminish.

The motions of the first three satellites are related to each
other by a most singular analogy, For, the mean sidereal
or synodical motion of the first, added to twice that of the
third, is constantly equal to three times the mean motion
of the second. And, the mean sidereal or synodical longi-
tude of the first, minus three times that of the second, plus
twice that of the third, is always equal to two right angles.

The satellites of Jupiter are liable to be eclipsed by pass-
ing through his shadow; and, on the other hand, they are
frequently seen to pass over his disk, and eclipse a portion
of his surface. This happens, to the first and second sa-
tellite, at every revolution: the third very rarely escapes in
each revolution: but, the fourth (on account of its great
distance and inclination) is seldom obscured,

These eclipses are of great utility in enabling us to deter-
mine the longitude of places, by their observation: and
ee Saas exhibit some curious phenomena with respect
to light.

‘

From

Elements of Astronomy. 25

From the singular analogy, above alluded to, it follows
that (for a great number of years at least) the first three
satellites cannot be eclipsed at the same time: for, in the
simultaneous eclipses of the second and third, the first will
always be in conjunction with Jupiter; and vice versé.

Satellites of Saturn.

Seven satellites may be seen, by means of the telescope,
to revolve about Saturn; the elements of which are but
little known, on account of their great distance. The fol-
lowing table will show the duration of their sidereal re-
volutions, and their mean distances in semi-diameters of
Saturn,

. Mean
Satellite. Sidereal Reyolution. Distance.
lip 0% 22h 37' 30",1 0! 94271 3:080
Ole alte Sip as Gia e 1 37024 3°952
TIT. 1 21, 18° 25°59 1 88780 4:893
IV. 17 Ato yt 2 73948 6:268
V. ALD 2osiie 4A 51749 8'754
VI. 15 22 41 13-,9 15 94530 20°295
VIl. | 79. 7 54 37,4 | 79 32960 | 59154

The orbits of the first six satellites appear to be in the
plane of Saturn’s ring: whilst the seventh varies from it
very sensibly.
Satellites of Uranus.

_ Six satellites revolve round Uranus: which, together
with their primary, can be discovered only by the telescope.
The following table will show their sidereal revolutions,
and mean distances in semi-diameters of the primary.

| ; Mean

| Satellite. | Sidereal Revalution. Distance.

1 — SSS

F Bede 5421295’ 20",6 528926 | 13°120
Il 8 16 57 47,5 8 7068 | 17:022

| III 10 23. 3 59 ,0 10 9611 | 19°845
IV. 13 10 56 29 ,8 13 4559 | 22°752

| Vv. 38 148 0,0 | 38 0750 | 45°507
VI. 107 16 39 56 ,2 107 6944 | 91°008

ble Sou bit ens ui mon lee) oe

All these satellites move in a plane which is nearly per-
pendicular to the plane of the planet’s orbit, and contrary
to the order of the signs!

II. An

bi2Gead

Il. An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation. By
Mr. J. Farry Senior. In a Letter to the Right Hon.
Sir Joseru Banks, Bart. K.B. P.R.S.*

Sir, I HAD but recently entered on the survey of Derby-
shire and its environs, which under your kind patronage I
was induced to commence in the autumn of 1807, and had
only cursorily examined the strata, in my way from Charn-
wood Forest and Breedon in Leicestershire, in order to meet
you at Overton Hall, before I perceived clearly, that those
principles which contemplate the terrestrial strata as ter-
minating or ending in one direction (simple and important
as they are), which | had learned under Mr. William Smith
in 1801, and which he has so successfully applied in the
filling up of his maps of the strata in the south-east and
east, and some of the middle parts of England, would fail
me, in their application to the strata of Derbyshire, without
taking into consideration along with them; not only the
denudation, or local stripping off, of patches of strata, some
of immense extent and thickness, and even more consider-
able than those which I had discovered to be missing ¢
from off the Wealds of Kent, Sussex, and Surry, and had ex-
plained to you, by a rough section across this great southern
denudation in 1806, and such as the valley of Ashover then
appeared to present, a more perfect instance of, around us:
but that previously to such denudations of the Derbyshire
strata, immense dislocations or vertical derangements of
very large piles of strata, separated by the fissures, called
faults by the miners, needed also to be taken into account,
for explaining the appearances of the strata and surface of
the district, which | was then ahout to explore : faults, ex-
cceding immensely in their extent and quantity of lift on
one side {or sink on the other) any which had occurred to
Mr. Smith, in the tracing of the south-eastern strata of
England, where no faults had been discovered, so consider-
able as to cut off entirely the connection of the strata, or in
other words, to bring strata in contact on the surface, whose
places in the series were too distant to be known, and readily
traced in their order, in the neighbourhood. And in con-
sequence, I judged it necessary, on my return to town, when
the winter arrived, to set about the consideration of strati-

* From the Philosophical Transactions for 1811, part ii.

+ And such as Dr. William Richardson had found to have been removed
in several places, from off the basaltic area in the: counties of Derry and
Antrim in Ireland, and has named abruptions, in his very admirable paper
on this district, ia the Philosophical Transactions for 1808.

fied

An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation. 27

fied masses, broken and dislocated, and then cut or denu-
dated in all the variety of cases and degrees of each, the re-
sults of which investigation, will appear in my Report to
the Board of Agriculture on Derbyshire, the first volume of
which is now in the press *.

With ideas thus extended, I found, on resuming my
Survey in the spring of 1808, that some conclusions that
I had formed, and had unfortunately committed to paper,
in a sketch of a section across the county, were erroneous,
and that immense fawlis occurred, in places where their
existence had not been proved by miners, or generally un-
derstood, which combined with the denudations, that were
so apparent in my first journey across the county in the
preceding autumn, offered, as I proceeded afterwards in
filling up my map, a considerably different explanation of
the structure of the country, or section of its strata, from
that which I had previously made, and permitted some per-
sons to copyt. The first volume of my Report to the Board
of Agriculture abovementioned, has compressed into it, all
the most essential particulars of my Survey, which manu-
script you did me the honour to examine, and to recom-
mend its adoption to the Board; but as the plan of that Re-
port did not admit of taking an extended or connected view
of the great faults or dislocations of the district, [ have
troubled you with this letter, in order to describe them :
previous to which it may be right just to recall to your re-
collection, a few particulars respecting the British stratifi-
cation. It is now well known to great numbers of obser-
vers, that the thick clay and other strata, on which the
metropolis is situated, extend eastward through Essex,
Suffolk, and Norfolk to the eastern coast, and in all their
extent cover the chalk strata: that these again (the chalk)
extend from the Isle of Wight to Flamborough Head, and
cover other known strata, which have their regular basset-
edges, or appearances at the surface, in continuity, to the
westward of the limits of the chalk, and of each other; and
thus it has been imagined by many, that the whole surface
of England could be referred to, or explained by an unin-
terrupted series of basset-edges of strata, dipping to the S.E.

* This important volume, to all those interested in the property, the
getting or using of the principal British Mineral Products, as well as to the
Geologist, may now be had of any bookseller.—Eprror.

4+ And which copy, after being altered so as to deviate immensely further
from the facts of the case, and in despite of the opinions of the most expe~
rienced individuals on the line of section, or that can perhaps be found in
any other situation, (see Derbyshire Report, i. p. 163, Note) has since, as I
am informed, been published.—Epitor.

and

28 An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation.

and ranging in continuity from S.W. to N.E. in certain
undulating lines, conformable to the surface, from one sea
to the other, just as a certain number at the upper part of -
the series have been shown to do, by Mr. Smith’s manu-
script maps. But, after passing the edges of the dias lime-
stones and clay strata, in our progress to the westward,
from any of the south-eastern and eastern parts of England,
we find on the surface marks of an immense stratum of red
earth or marl, which basseting from under the lias clay and
sand, seems once to have extended over all the remainder. of
the British islands, without being now any where covered
by patches of upper strata*, much beyond the continuous
edge of the lias strata abovementioned. Instead, however,
of seeing the middle and all the western and northern parts
of Britain covered by the same red strata, we find now, in
this space, numerous local and many very large tracts of
strata, surrounded by vertical and connected faults, and
greatly lifted and tilted; from the surface of which lifted
tracts, the upper red earth, and vast and very unequal thick-
nesses of strata, that Jay in regular succession below this
red earth, have been denudated, ‘* abrupted,” or carried off,
leaving thus, a great variety of what have been called coal-
fields, or mineral-basinst, in which limited tracts, great
and most important series of strata, are to be seen basseting
(owing to the local denudations), of which the basset-edges,
or continued endings, can no where be traced in these
islands, as far as | can learn. Large tracts of the interven-
ing spaces, between these denudated mineral basins, are
still occupied by the red marl, containing local strata of
gypsum, rock-salt, sand, micaceous grit-stone, &c. &c. in
its substance, or exposed by denudation; and in others,
local strata, or nodules of great extent, or rather, perhaps,
rudely crystallized masses of slate, green-stone, sienite, ba-
salt, &c. &c. forming hills or mountains (often intersected
by mineral veins) from the tops of which masses, the red
marl has in most instances been denudated. It remains a
task of great difficulty, yet to be accomplished, to ascertain
the lower part of the British series of strata, thus only ex-
posed to view, in loca] and unconnected tracts, or basins,
which are in part.often concealed by gravel (frequently so,
near their borders), and towards which investigation, Jittle

* Gravels, peat, &c. not being included in this term.

+ Of which a fine instance is described by Mr. Edward Martin, in the
Philosophical Transactions for 18084, and of which the Forest of Dean pre-
sents a smaller, but similar instance.

{ Called the South Wales Mineral Basin; and another around Nailsea ir

Somersetshire. See p. 323 of our last volume.—Eniror.
‘ has

An Account of the Great Deriyshire Denudation. 29

has yet been done. It seems to me, that there are three
distinct series of coal-measures, if not more, separated by
thick strata of red earths, or marls, not easily distinguished
from the upper one above the coal series, or that which un-
derlays the lias strata, as above mentioned, and by thick
‘strata of limestones; each of which red earths, probably,
produce anomalous and Jocal strata, or crystallized moun-
tain masses, in different places, where’they form the sur-
face; and the fact of such containing no organic remains,
may not have arisen from their having been formed before
organized beings existed, as those contend who call them
primitive rocks, but because the circumstances proper to
crystallization, were unfitted to the propagation and life of
either animals, or vegetables; and may it not be doubted,
whether crystallized masses, great or small, are ever the seats
of reliquia ?

The northern parts of Derbyshire, and the adjoining parts
of the surrounding counties, present a denudated tract, and
partake of this uncertainty, as to what place in the lower
part of the British series of strata, its strata should be re-
ferred : from many circumstances, J am inclined to con-
sider the coal-field of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and
Yorkshire, underlaying the yellow-lime rock, as lower in
the series than any others of the coal-measures alluded to
above, and that the fourth limestone rock, which extends
from Castleton in Derbyshire, southward to Weaver Hill,
near Wooton and Ramsor in Staffordshire, is the very lowest
whicn is known in Britain, and which may aécount for the
circumstance, that the mineral veins and the strata in which
they occur in Derbyshire, present some phenomena, which
are said to occur no where else.

I shall proceed now to describe the circumstances, under
which this great elevation and denudation of part of the
Derbyshire strata seems to have happened, which is, by a
series of three or four separately lifted tracts, one within the
other, as represented in the small sketch map annexed (PI. I.)
The outer or least lifted of these tracts is bounded on the
south by a fault, that I have distinguished by a full line,
where ascertained, and by slight dots where only inferred,
and denominated it the great Derbyshire fault, which is
perfectly defined from near Nottingham across Derbyshire,
to the north side of Stone in Staffordshire (except in a few
places where gravel covers it), by having red marl, lying
nearly horizontal, on all its south side, and different strata
on its north side, as will be mentioned further on: the

eastern

30 An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation.

eastern fault or side of this first raised tract is not visible
within the limits of my Survey, hke the southern, on ac-
count of the vast accumulation of quartz gravel in Sher- |
wood Forest, and the peaty alluvia north of it; but it
seems probable to me, that its range is from about the
town of Nottingham, cast of Mansfield, east of Worksop
near Bawtry, west of Thorne in Y orkshire, and how much
further north this fault proceeds, before it turns to the west,
I am unable to state from my own observations; but from
the correspondence of my friend William Smithson, esq.
of Heath Hall near Wakefield, a very able observer, 1 con-
clude, that the boundary fauit on the north of the outer
lifted tract, ranging not far from the lower part of the
course of the Wharf river, suddenly cuts off, or terminates
the great Derbyshire and Yorkshire coal-field:to the north,
and continues S. of Orley and Keighley* near Colne in
Lancashire and Clitheroe, bounding still the coal-field of
Lancashire to the north. 1 am not sufficiently acquainted
with the Lancashire strata to hazard a conjecture, as to
where this fault turns (or branches perhaps) towards the
southward again; but on the west it probably passes not
far from Manchester, Stockport in Cheshire, Macclesfield,
Congleton, Church-Lawton Salt-works, and joins the great
Derbyshire fault, or southern boundary of this very large
raised tract, somewhere to the N.W. of Stone in Stafford-
shire, as I “judge, from the information which I have re-
ceived, of the red marl occupying the surface withoutside
this aca tract to the westward, in Cheshire and Stafford-
shire, as well as south of it in Staffordshire, Derbyshire,
and Nottinghamshire, as above mentioned, and on the east .
of it from Nottingham to Thorne in Yorkshire, and per-
haps further northward.

This border, or plain of red marl, has the tract within it
so raised, that the yellow, or magnesian lime rock, proba-
bly abuts against the marl at the surface of the strata on

** It seems probable, from the accounts which I have received from Mr.
Smithson, of the many small coal-basins, or swilleys, as they are called,
which occur in the space between Keighley, Hawes, and Richmond, viz. on
the N. side of Keighley; on Founton™ Fell in Craven; Thorpe Fell near
Burnsall, Threshfield near Linton, and Anter-Heights near Kettlewell, on
the Wharf river; Netherdale Forest near Middiesmoor, on the Nidd river;
Slapestones near Hawes, West-Scrafton S.W. Leyburn N.W. and Braithwait-
Bank near to Middleham on the Yore river; Hudswell Moor S.W. of Rich-
mond on the Swale river, &c.that all these belong to the lower or calcareous
part of the Newcastle coal series, as exhibited in Mr. Westgarth Forster’s
“< Treatise on a Section of Strata,” lately published, wherein near 4100 feet

thick of strata are described in order.
the

An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation. 31

the east side, under the gravel, &c. from near Nottingham
to near Wetherby in Yorkshire.» From Lenton E. of Not-
tingham, to Allestry N. of Derby, the upper. parts of the
coal-measures in the first raised tract, abut on,the red marl:
here another great fault, called the zig-zag fault, intersects
the boundary fault: from Allestry.to the S.E. corner of the
Weaver Hills near Wooton in ‘Staffordshire, the second
inner tract, with a vastly greater rise than the first, abuts on
this southern fault, so as to bring the great limetone-shale
(which underlays all the coal- -measures) against the red
marl on the’ surface; at this S.E. corner of the Weaver
Hills, another great fault (called the great limestone fault)
intersects the southern boundary (or great Derbyshire) fault
of the raised tract; and from this place to the S.W. corner
of the Weaver Hills near. Ramsor, a third inner tract, with
four hundred yards or more of perpendicular rise, in addi-
tion to the last, occasions the fourth, or lowest limestone '
rock, to abut against, and even make a high hill above the
red marl at the foot of it, on the other side of the great
Derbyshire fault ; which here occasions a sudden derange-
ment of the strata (and a corresponding denudation of the
large tract of country to the northward has’ taken place),
far exceeding any thing which has hitherto been mentioned
by authors, or conceived probably by any one.

At the S.W. corner of the Weaver Hills above men-
tioned, the great limestone fault again leaves the south
boundary, or great Derbyshire fault, and proceeds north-
ward, after which a corner of the second interior raised tract
again presents itself, and the limestone-shale again abuts
on the marl, as we pursue the great Derbyshire fault to the
westward, owing to the rise being tess here by four or five
hundred yards, than it was in the third interior tract ; hut
as we proceed southwestward, owing to the dip of the
measures on the N. side of the great Derbyshire fault to-
wards the west, the first grit, the first coal-suiale, and the
second grit rock successiv ely abut against the marl, before
the gravel covering commences, east and south of Cheadle,
which prevented my tracing this fault any further, within
the limits of my Survey.

It seems probable, however, that somewhere S.W. of
Cheadle in Staffordshire, a branch sets off from the great
Derbyshire fault, or southern boundary of the lifted tracts,
and proceeds northward, near to Endon and Bosley in
Cheshire; the triangular tract beyond which, to the west-
ward, shown in the map, forming the pottery coal-field, is

much

32 An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation.

much less raised, perhaps, than any of the other tracts
which have been here mentioned *.

If we return to Allestry N. of Derby above mentioned,
and trace the zig-zag fault, through Little Eaton, West
Hallam, and Ilkeston in Derbyshire, Awsworth, Greasley,
Annesley, Kirkby, and Dirty-HMucknal in Nottinghamshire,
Alt-Hucknal, Bolsover, Clown, and Barlborough in Der-
byshire, Harthill, South-Anston, North-Anston, Dinning-
ton, &c. in Yorkshire, we shall find coal-measures on both
sides of it, through its whole length, except in two or three
instances, where the yellow lime strata at the top of these
coal-measures abut against it for short distances, and be-
tween Allestry and Little Eaton, where the limestone-shale
below these coal-measures abuts on its W.3; but the rise is
very considerable and unequal on the N. and W. sides,
through its whole length, compared with the other sides, as
I have particularly shown in my Report to the Board, and
pointed out the great difficulties which this zig-zag fault
has presented, to the right understanding the entire of the
great Derbyshire and: Yorkshire coal-field, by the many
very intelligent and able colliers who are found in it.

The first, or outer raised tract, thus bounded by faults
(except, perhaps on the N. where my Survey bas not ex-
tended), shows no very rapid dips or inclinations of the
strata, except in very limited spots, and presents on the
surface either the yellow lime rock, or the parts of the coal-
measures not very far beneath that rock, compared with the
whole thickness of these coal-measures.

The great limestone fault (which has been mentioned
above) commences in the town of Cromford in Derbyshire,
in the first or upper limestone rock, and proceeds through
Middleton, Wirksworth, Hopton, Carsington, Ballidon,
Parwich, Newton-Grange, and Thorpe in Derbyshire, Ilam,
Blore, and Thornwood in Staffordshire, and joins the great
Derbyshire fault near Wooton (as above mentioned), with
which it coincides along the S. end of the Weaver Hills to
near Ramsor, where it again leaves this fault and proceeds
near Caldon, Water-Hoases, Water-fall, Grindon, Wetton
Mill, S. end of Ecton Hill, near Gateham and Narrowdale
in Staffordshire, Wolfscote, Beresford, Hartington, Lud-
well, Pilsbury, Crowdycote, Dowall, Booth, Thirkelow, °
Edge-end, Buxton Baths, Black-edge, Dove-hole, crosses:

* And which perhaps answers to the South-Wales Coal Basin Report, i.
160.—EpiTor. :

to

An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation. 33

to the W. side, and again to the E. side of the Grand
Ridge*-of the island, passes near Sparrow-Pit, Perry-foot,
Odin- Mine, Lane-head, Castleton Town, Pindale, Eding-
tree, Bradwell, Hazlebadge, Quarters-house, and Windmill-
houses, and terminates in the first lime rock between Ward-
low-Mires and Litton in Derbyshire. If now a line be
traced on the samie first lime rock, through Wardlow, W.
of Little Longsdon, W. of Ashford, through Sheldon,
Callenge Low, Middleton by Yolgrave, S. of Gratton,
Elton, Winster, Wensley, and Snitterton, W. of Matlock
Church, Starkholmes, and Willersley Castle to Cromford
Town, shown by very fine dots in the map, this line on the
first limestone, may be considered as a kind of hinge, or
joint, on which the second inner raised tract, and the third
inner raised tract have turned a little, and altered their in-
clinations with respect to each other and the surrounding
tracts (without any vertical derangement at this hinge), so
that the creat limestone fault above described, from Mid-
dleton by Wirksworth, round to the westward through
Staffordshire, as above, to Quarters-house near Great Huck-
low (with the exception of the short distance between Woo-
ton and Ramsor, and some other trifling ones) has the
limestone-shale (or the shale-limestone, &c. belonging to
it) on its outside on the surface of the second inner raised
tract, for more than fifty miles; but on its other side, owing
to the great tilt or rise of the western side of the third inner
raised tract, if we begin in Cromford, and pursue the course
of the great limestone fault, up Bonsal-Dale, we have at
first the first lime on its right or N. side (as well as on its
S. side), then the first toadstone, next the second limestone,
then the second toadstone, and after its turning to pass
‘through Middleton by Wirksworth, the third limestone
also abuts against it, and continues so to do, till the third
toadstone appears against it at Hopton, and then the fourth
limestone, or Jowest known rock of the district; abuts against
it all the way round, through Staffordshire to Castleton (with
the exception of the hummocks of third limestone at Bux-
ton and at Barmoor in Peak Forest, and a few sunk gulfs of
shale) through a length of more than forty-five miles. At
the S.E. end-of Castleton Town, the third toadstone abuts
again on the right or S. side of this great limestone fault,
and from thence to the S.W. side of the Windmill-Houses,
the third limestone abuts against it, then the second toad-
Stone, the second limestone, the first toadstone, and at

* See that article in Dr. Rees’s Cyclopzdia lately published.
Vol, 39. No. 165, Jan, 1812, C length

*

34 An Account of the Great Derbyshire Denudation.

length the first limestone, before the fault terminates or be-
comes too inconsiderable to be readily traced, owing to its
no longer deranging the order of the strata on the surface,
but has the first limestone on both its sides; and thus it
happens, that the third inner raised tract, or mineral-field,

consisting of the four limestone rocks and three interposed
toadstones, and containing: about 105,000 acres, has about
51,500 acres of these on its eastern side, occupied by the
three upper limestones and the toadstones, and the remain-
ing 53,500 acres in Derbyshire and Staffordshire is occupied
by the fourth, or lowest limestone rock, in which only a
few mineral veins occur among its numerous open fissures
aud caverns.

In the sketch map which accompanies this, I have shown
a smaller, or fouth inner raised tract, on which Bakewell is
situated, in great part surrounded by a fault, which I have
thence denominated the great Bakewell fault. I Bave se-
lected this tract, among other small local raised ones, on
account of its approaching in shape and position to the
others which surround it, and because it explains several
curious appearances of the strata in these parts, which have
been, and are still likely to be greatly misrepresented.

The fault to which I allude, may be said to commence in
the limestone shale on the E. side of Beeley, to pass on the
» S. side of the village, across the Derwent and on the S. of
Haddon-Hall, continuing across the pastures to the Lathkil
river about a quarter of a i mile above Alport, then turns S.
past the W. end of Alport to the upper mill, thence W.S.W.
for about one mile, where this fault again turns to the N.
and crosses the Bradford river, and proceeding across the
Meadow- place Liberty, crosses Robinstye Mine and the
Lathkil river above Over-Haddon mill; bears then a little
to the east of the north, and crosses the new Bakewell and
Buxton road at the rise of the hill, passes the N. end of
Bird’s-head Mine, crosses the Wye river about a quarter of
a mile above Bakewell Cotton Mill, proceeds near to Row-
dale, turns E. towards Nether Burchill, then N.E, follow-
ing nearly the course of the brook, it continues the same
direction until about half a mile E. of Hassop, where it
turns to the E. crosses the Derwent again half a mile above
Baslow, and terminates in the limestone- shale in Barbrook
Dale, as it began. The western side of this fourth inner
tract being most raised (similar to the third tract) occasions
the great “elevation of the shale, and its freestone in the
hills E. of Bakewell and N.E. of Haddon-Hall; the sudden
appearance of the limestone, on which Haddon- Hall stands,

and

Description of a new Levelling- Staff. 35

and in the quarry S.S.W. of it, on the W. of the road,
and thence across the pastures to the Lathkil river; the
sudden elevation of the limestone knowls S.W. of Yolgrave,
near the shale; and by this same lift, it happens, that the
vale of the Bradford suddenly cuts through the first lime
rock, as soon as it has crossed this fault, and shows the
first toadstone to a considerable height up each side of the
valley, but which declines with the dip of the measures in this
tract, until the Bradford again gets upon the first toadstone,
and then on the first limestone. In like manner, the greater
rise of the measures at this fault, on the S.W. of Over-Had-
don village occasions the valley of the Lathkil river, which
till then had been excavated in the first lime rock, to enter
abruptly so deep into the first toadstone, as to lay bare a
patch of the second limestone under it in the river, both of
which however descend again below the bed of the river,
‘before we get down to the crossing of the Ashburne turn-
pike road.

This fault also occasions the sudden appearance of shale-
limestone on the surface N.W. of it, opposite to first lime-
stone on the other side in Bakewell Fields, and of the first
toadstone on the N.W. of Bakeweil Cotton-Mill, almost
excavated through by the vale of the Wye river, where it
abuts against shale or shale-limestone at the northern end
of this noted patch of toadstone, the situation and circum-
stances of which, when compared with those of the other
two patches, at the edge of this same raised tract, as above,
will be divested of much of that singularity which has been
ascribed to it; for we see, that each of the three rivers,
which pass on to this fourth inner raised tract, have their
excavations cut through the first limestone, so as to expose
the first toadstone for some distance, until the more rapid.
descents of the measures than of the vales, occasion them
again to dip and disappear in the bottoms of each of these
vales, Iam, sir, ;

Your obliged and very humble servant,

Upper Crown Street, Westminster, HB Farey, Sen.
January 31, 1811. Mineral Surveyor.

III. Description of a new Levelling - Staff.
To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Havine frequently experienced much inconveniency
in the use of the levelling-staff on the common construc-
tion, on account of the narrow opening in the vane pre-

C2 yenting

36 Description of a new Levelling-Staff.

venting a distinct view of the whole numbers on the staff,
and rendering it necessary in many instances to remove the
vane for the purpose of reading off, which subjects the
operation to much uncertainty, besides which, there is a
difficulty in accurately bisecting the central stripe on the
vane, the wire in many cases subtending a larger angle
than the stripe itself. Many persons, with a view of ob-
viating these difficulties, are in the habit of observing the
top or bottom of the vane instead of the centre, and reading
off from the top or bottom accordingly: this, however, is
more objectionable and uncertain than that of bisecting the
central stripe; the wire in most levels subtending an angle
of several minutes, and therefore if brought in contact with
the top or bottom of the vane, the error will be equal to
the semi-diameter of the wire, which I have found in short
Jevels to be equal to an inch inachain. Others have al-
ternately applied the top and bottom of the vane to the
under and upper part of the wire, and taken half the dif-
ference between the two readings as the true level point.
This, although an accurate, is a tedious method.

The vane represented by the inclosed drawing (PI. TT.) will
obviate the necessity of having recourse to such modes of
practice in future. I have tried several forms, and find
this under all circumstances the best.

The correct bisection of the cross is extremely easy, and
three inches of the scale being exposed, no error can arise
in reading off. ;

The vane consists of a circular piece of brass 5 inches
diameter, and 5th of an inch thick, having an opening of
3 inches in length, and ith of an inch less in width than
the staff: before the opening is made, the cross is carefully ©
described, and the metal constituting it left entire. That
portion of the cross that falls on the plate itself, as well as
that which crosses the staff, is to be blacked like the hours
of a clock, and the remainder of the plate silvered, by which
means it will be visible at a quarter of a mile distance, and
the circle itself will easily be bisected at half a mile.

There are two thin brass cheeks riveted to the back of
the circle for the purpose of clipping the staff, and for
moving the vane agreeably to the direction of the observer.

The clamp usually fixed to the front staff should be flush
with the sides, in order that the vane may have its full
range without obstruction; which is not the case with many
of those now in use.

I am, sir, your most obedient servant,

No. 2, Tower Royal, Nov, 7, 1811, JosEPH STEEVENS.

IV. On

[ 37 J
IV. On the Cause of audible Sound in vibrating Strings,
Tuning-Forks, &c.; on the Use of Hawxins’s Mouth
Tuning - Forks ; on Earl SvaNHOPE’s proposed Steel
Piano- Forte Strings, 8c. By a CORRESPONDENT.

To Mr. Tilloch.

SIR, Tuat surprising individual, Mr. John Gough of
Middleshaw, who though unfortunately deprived of sight,
from his infancy I believe, bas in a remote corner of the
kingdom, acquired a deep knowledge of mathematics and
natural philosophy, which he often displays in Mr. Nichol-
son’s respectable Journal, and who in the Ist and 2d octavo
volumes of that work, successfully combated the subtilties
of a most learned LL.D. and F.R.S. who had shortly be-
fore availed himself (rather unfairly) of his facilities of ac-
cess to the Philosophical Transactions, to run down that ex-
cellent and unparalleled work on Sounds, the Harmonics”
of the late Dr. Robert Sinith of Cambridge; has in the last
number of Mr. Nicholson’s Journal, given a paper, wherein
he shows by an experiment on a musical string, one end of
which. was fastened to the top of a table, and the other to a
small cylinder of wood held in the band, and by which the
string was tight pulled, at the same time that it was set in
vibrating motion, that the pulses excited in the ear by the
sound, do not proceed direct from: the string, as most if not
every writer on acoustics have represented to be the case,
but from the fibres of wood ‘in the table, agitated by the vi-
brations of the string, analogously to the strokes of a drum-
stick on its parchment cover, or the fingers on that of a
tamborine, but repeated with extreme quickness and regu-
larity. In further confirmation of this ingenious conclusion
of Mr. Gough, I beg to mention to your musical readers,
a fact, which without doubt many of them must have often
noticed, viz. that a tuning-fork gives out no audible sound,
after that excited by the mere stroke given to it, while held
in the hand; and that it is essential, to rest the end of its
handle on a table or firm piece of wood to hear its tone ;
and in order that this tone may be clear and perfect, it is
best to have the end of the handle of a tuning-fork wrought
to a blunt point, that it may have ouly one, and that a firm
bearing on the wood, forif knobbed or flat at the end, as
they are too often made for sale, they are apt to chatter or
give a jarring and interrupted sound.

Mr. J. J. Hawkins of Great Titchfield-street, is mentioned
in the article Concert Pitch in Dr. Rees’s: New Cyclopzedia,
to have applied this principle, of the tuning-fork exciting
other bodies to sound, to avoid the disagreeable sight, sounc
and effects of a tuning-fork when struck on a table or other

38 On vibrating Strings, Tuning- Forks, &c,

piece of furniture (often to bruise and damage it) and then
set upright thereon to sound, by the adoption of a very small
and slender steel tuning-fork (that might be carried in a
toothpick case) the handle of which being held fast between
the fore teeth, the two legs of the fork are pinched towards
each other with some force between the thumb and finger
(during which the lips may be used to assist in holding it)
and suddenly let go, by which it seems, that vibrations are
excited in the teeth and bones of the jaws’of the operator,
which effectually give him the sound, without its being
audible to any other person, and who has also his two hands
at full liberty for the necessary tuning operations. Mr.
Hawkins did, and perhaps now does, manufacture these
useful and elegant mouth tuning-forks for sale.

The above facts tend strongly to show, that improvements
in the strength and quality of tone in our stringed instru-
ments are to be sought for in the sonorous or elastic quali-
ties of the materials of which the frames and supports of
the strings, and their cases too perhaps are made, and in
their soundness and perfection of framing and workman-
ship, a thing indeed pretty well understood in the trade of
instrument-making, and not in the temper or quality of the
metallic strings that are used to excite the wood to sound,
as Earl Stanhope has fora long time fondly imagined, and
has I am told, gone so far as to the manufacturing of steel
wire on purpose, at his country seat, for the making of in-
struments with single strings that are to eut-do those with
two or three that are in common use, and to whom perhaps
these hints may not be unimportant.

Mr. William Burdy’s Patent Scheme, (see the Monthly
Magazine for last month, p, 573,) of covering both metal
and cat-gut strings with platina wire to increase their weight
and specific gravity, with the view ‘* to increase the power
of vibration,” though he says * 2/ is found, that the purity
and power of tone zs increased with the quantity (of lapped
platina wire) used,” I am inclined to consider as very liable
to fail of its professed object, on the principle above stated ;
having, T confess, but slight faith in what patent specifica-
tions state, to have been found or proved by experiments,
after the many similar declarations that I have read for
years past, respecting the “ gaining of power,” perpetual
motions and other equally absurd and impossible things,
for which as well as o/d inventions, any persons may frecly
take out patents, if they can but pay the fees of office.

This passive kind of elasticity in the fibres of wood,
bone, &c. which thus fits them to receive and transmit to
the ear vibrations of any given velocity, while stretched
strings and columns of air in pipes, &c. can only yield

4

On the Nomenclature of the New London Pharmacopeia. 39

sounds determined by their lengths (their lateral dimensions,
weights and tensions and the state of the air remaining the
same) and even to receive the most surd and incommen-
surate vibrations at the same instant (whether in the same
or in different parts of the wood?) and which scarcely ever
coincide, as readily as those which are commensurate and
often coincide, as is exemplified in the striking of a single
note, a discordant or a tempered interval, or a perfect
concord, on a stringed instrument, as a piano-forte, harp,
&c. seems well worthy the consideration of those more
learned among your readers than myself; who ain,
Yours, &c. Bi

V. On the Nomenclature of the New London Pharmacopeia.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, T enrirety coincide with the observations of your
sensible correspondent, respecting the pedantic affectation of
the Nomenciature of the New Pharmacopeeia, as wel] as the
danger that must result from the use of appellations so
nearly resembling each other, both in writing and sound,
applied to substances so very different in their properties.
Within my own circumscribed range of observation, | am
acquainted with two instances where five grains of corrosive
sublimate were actually taken instead of the same quantity
of calomel, in consequence of the omission of, or inatten-
tion to,a sub. The persons, being adults, recovered; but
to a child the consequences would probably have been fatal.
It is much to be wished that those to whom the care of the
public health is intrusted by charter, would be more careful
how they permit the frivolous pretension to neology to in-
terfere witha conscientious discharge of their important duty,

The absurdity of a proposition may sometimes be il-
Justrated by transferring it to a science different from that in
which custom has in some measure established it. It will
not be denied that the theories of medicine, or the manner
of talking concerning the causes of disease, are as frequently
changed as those of chemistry. Now, sir, suppose the
College of Physicians, by the authority vested in them,
were every ten years to change the names of the various
diseases to which our frail bodies are liable; that gout,
for example, should be termed fenesmus, because it prevents
its victim from moving, or any other equally absurd alter-
ation, every person must be sensible what confusion would
be the result,

I do not deny that the adoption of new appellations has
tended to the improvement of chemistry, because many per-

‘

.

:

40 General Method for determining

sons have been induced to inquire whether these names were
imposed with propriety. But why should these changes
be perpetually introduced into a science the business of
which is with life; to which chemistry is subservient only
in a remote degree? Diseases were cured before chemical
remedies were invented. And where is this alteration of
names to end? If the discoveries of Mr. Davy are esta-
blished, the names of the alkalies are already absurd. Why
might not these three substances be termed ammonia, kalz,
and larilla? They are very distinct, and convey to our minds
no adventitious ideas. And the substances they designate
may remain either in the vegetable or mineral kingdom, as
future experience may determine, without any occasion ta
alter their denominations.

In looking into Duncan’s late edition of the Pharmaco-
poeia, we find five and even six names applied to one sub-
stance; some of which are current in London, others in
Dublin, and another kind only is understood in Edinburgh,
Snppose an individual were to pass by a different name in
each of, these capitals, the law would find it some difficulty
in recognising him.

The subs and supers bear some resemblance to the aps
and the macs and the o’s, by which certain nations at-
tempt to indicate family affinities, but every one knows the
confounding of individual personality thence resulting ;
and that if you are in search of a Mr. O’Flannagan, you
must not only designate him by his patronymic, but also
his christian name, to which it is very requisite to add that
of the county, the village, and the bamlet where he was
born, and perhaps his numerical order in the series of births
of his prolific progenitors. Onomos.

VI. General Method for determining the Orbits of Comets.
By M.Laprace*.

Tue present method will be divided into two parts: in the
first part we shall give the means of obtaining nearly the
perihelion distance, and the instant of the passage of the
comet by this point : in the second part we shall determine

reciscly all the elements of the orbit, supposing the latter
o be nearly known.

Accurate Determination of the Perihelion Distance, and of
the Instant of the Passage of the Comet ly this Point.
1. We shall take three, four, five or more observations

* Translated from M. Laplace's Théorie du Mouvement et de la Figure des
Plantes, a, work now become very scarce.——Epir,

of

the Orlits of Comets. 41

of the comet equally as far as possible removed from each
other: we should embrace within four observations an in-
terval of 30 degrees, and within five observations an inters
val of 36 or 40 degrees, and so forth: but the interval
comprehended between the observations must always be the
larger the greater the number, in order to diminish the in+
fluence of their errors.

This being done, let 6, 6’, 8”, 6’, &c. be the successive
geocentric longitudes of the comet; y, y’, 7”, Y”, &c. the
corresponding northern latitudes, the southern latitudes
being supposed to be negative. Divide the difference 6’—8
by the number of days which separate the second from the
first observation: divide in the same way the difference
Bp’ —p’ by the number of days which separate the third
from the second observation: divide also the differenge
Bp” —B” by the number of days which separate the fourth
from the third observation, and so forth. Let 86, 86’, 06”,
86”, &c. be the consequence of these quotients,

Divide the difference ¢6’—98 by the number of days
which separate the third from the first observation: divide
in the same way the difference 96” —06’ by the number of
days which separate the fourth from the second observation :
divide also the difference 98” —268” by the number of days
which separate the fifth from the third observation, &c.
Let 378, 578’, °B” be the consequence of these quotients.

Divide the difference 6°6’—2?8 by the number of days
which separate the fourth from the first observation: di-
vide in the same way the difference 3°6” — 076’ by the num-
ber of days which separate the fifth from the second obser-
tion, &e. Let 336, 036’, &c. be the consequence of these
quotients, We may go on in this way until we succeed in

forming 8”—".8, being the number of the observations
employed. This being accomplished,

2. Take a mean or nearly mean epoch between the in-
stants of the two extreme observations, and by naming
1,7, 7’, 7”, &c. the number of days by which it precedes
every observation ; 2, 7’, &c. being supposed to be negative
for all the observations anterior to this epoch; the longi-
tude of the comet after a small number x of days counted
from the epoch, will be expressed by the formula
B~i.BB + i.i.8%.B —i.?.' 8.8 4 i.i.i".9",04.B — &e.

0.B—(¢+7).0%8 + (i. +i.’ 47.i).0.8

ri 3 (Ti ait pia” 42.) BS. (p)

np LLIB 4 (GP LE LEP
vs —(2- i + 2").0°%. t.¢424.1 tks
+2. f $i I 4 I7"). 8 Be. }

The coefficients of —0.6, +- 078, &c. in the part se inca

ent

.

42 General Method for delermining

dent of x, are: Ist, the number 7; 2d, the product of the
two numbers, i and #; 3d, the products of the three num-
bers i, 7, 7”, &e.

The coefficients of —é*.8, + 03.6, — 61.8, &c. in the part
multiplied by %, are: Ist, the sum of the two numbers
iand 7; 2d, the sum of the products two by two, of the
three numbers i, 7, 7” 3 3d, the sum of the products three
by three of the four numbers #, 7, 7”, 7”, &c.

The coefficients of — 6.6, + 64.6, —05.8, &e. in the
part multiplied by 27, are: Ist, the sum of the three num-
bers 2, 7, 7”; 2d, the sum of the products two by two of
the four numbers 2, 7’, 7”, 7”; 3d, the sum of the products
three by three of the five numbers 2, 2’, 2”, #”, 7”, &e.

By working in the same way on the latitudes of the co-
met, its latitude, according to the number z of days since
the epoch, will be expressed by the following formula,

y—i.dy + ii. Py — itt Biy +i.” ty —&e.

by— (i+ i). By + (id fii HHL) BY:
ws ; (iii ba Pi $i iI) ot S ..(Q)
+ &e.
wins earns Pb i) 89 yp (idl 4 ii! + fae:
: Bia” 4 ia” ail"). Oy —&e.

This being done, we'shall have @ equal to the part inde-
pendent of x in the formula (/).

By reducing into seconds the coefficieut of x, and sul-
tracting from the logarithm of this number of seconds, the
logarithm 375500072, we shall have the logarithm of a num-
ber which we shall designate by a.

By reducing into seconds the coefficient of z*, by after-
wards taking the logarithm of the double of this number of
seconds, and subtracting from this logarithm the following,
1°7855894, we shall have the logarithm of a number which
we shall designate by 0.

We shall afterwards have @ equal to the part independent
of x in the formula (q).

By reducing into seconds the coefficient of x, in this
formula, and by subtracting from it 3°5500072, we shall have
the logarithm of a number which we shall designate by h.

By reducing into seconds the coefficient of 2? in this
same formula, and by subtracting 1°7855894 from the loga-
rithm of the double of this number of seconds, we shall have
the logarithm of a number which we shall designate by /.

It is upon the precision of the values of a, l, A, and JZ,
that the exactness of the following method depends; and
as their formation is very simple, we must choose and mul-
tiply the observations so as to obtain them with all possible

: De ; : d d
rigour. These quantities are the differentials (=): (=) :
dt dl? 7 3

the Orbits of Comets. 43
(=) and oy. which we have expressed, for the sake of

greater simplicity, by the foregoing letters.

If the number of observations is an odd one, we should
fix the epoch at the instant of the mean observation, which
will dispense with our caiculating the parts independent of
%, in the two preceding formule ; for it is visible that these
‘parts are respectively equal to the longitude and to the la-
titude of the mean observation.

In order to elucidate what has been said, by an. example,
we shall select the second comet discovered by M1. Mechain
in 1781, and the orbit of which he calculated according to
this method: the observations which this learned astrono-
mer chose for this purpose, are referred to the same hour of
the day, viz. 8° 29 44 mean time at Paris: the following

are the observations :
‘ Geocentric-Longitude

af the Comét. Northern Latitude.

1781. Nov. 14} 307° i445” = B 55°17! Ov my
7] 806°.57' 32” = | 44° 17’ 12" = 7¥

19} 306° 51" 26” = B" 359 1 480" = oy"

22)>,, 3069 Al 58" y= BM. | 832 490 1 oy"?

95 206° 4i/ € meee = pt 29 58! 43" — i= yt

By woke for the epoch, thes instant of the mean obser-
vation, 7. 2. the 19th of November, at 8* 29’ 44”, we have

t= — 5, = 29,1! = 0, 1 a By 6;
which gives
3B = —5'44",33 | dy = — 5° 39/ 59”,0
dp’ = — 3’ 3", 0 iy’ = — 2 31’ 12,0
eT A Ae Ee dy” = — |° 48! 35”,667
op’= — 1! 5,53 oy" = — 1° 16’ 46,0
A = 15/ 457,4
623’ = 10",4 8%’ = . 8! 31,267

88" = 107,945 | Oy'= 5’ 18",278
BB = — 2,733 | Oy = — 397,260
3’ = 0”,0681 | ‘
OB =a 0 254G 1) gti 1”,3766
The formula (p) will therefore give for the geocentric
longitude of the comet, according to the small number x
of days reckoned from the epoch,
306° 51’ 26” — 153”,46.% + 107,54.27,
and the formula (7) will give for the expression ofits latitude,
39° 14° 487 — 7855”,16.z + 53544 .2%,
from which we extract
a =. 300 4196",
% = — 0,0432501, b = 0,345366, ;
§ = 39° 14’ 48”, d
h = — 2,913844, 1 = 17,54354.

ad. We

at General Method for determining

ad: We shall determine by the astronomical tables the
longitude of the earth seen from the sun at the instant
which we have chosen for our epoch: let A be the longi-
tude, R the corresponding distance from the earth to the
sun, and & the distance which answers to the longi-
tude 90° + A, of the earth: we shall form the four equa-
tions ,

7 = —— + 2Rr.cos (4—a) + R*,..(1)

cos*0

R.sin(4—a) fl 1 bx
y= 2 gosh ee ®

a

ree F 7 a?.sin §.cos 6
= eo —— nd
y= x.{ .tang @ + Dh + Dh t

R.sin 6 cos 6 i 1 «» (3)
+ eS aca «COs (4d —z). {r= a

his \ iy

o=y +a. + { yotang 6 a cane

i
+ 2y. { (R’=1)-005 (4—a) — sates 1 4+(4)
eee |

+ 2ax. { (R’—1).sin(4—a) + R
1 2
Tesh SE ea ee J

Tn order to draw from these equations the values of the
three unknown quantities x, y, and r, we shall begin by
considering if, abstraction being made of the sign, 0 is
greater or Jess than 7; in the former case we shall make
use of the equations (1), (2) and (4); we-shall form a
first hypothesis for 2, by supposing it, for instance, equal
to unity; and we shall extract from it by means of the
equations (1) and (2), the values of r and y; we shall af-
terwards substitute these values in the equation (4), and if
the remains are null, it will be a proof that the value of x
has been well chosen; but if the remains are negative, we
shall increase the value of x, and diminish it if the remains
are positive. We shall also have by means of a small num-
ber of trials, the true values of x, y, and r; but as these
unknown quantities may be susceptible of several values,
we must choose that which satisfies precisely or nearly ta
the equation (3). :

In the second case, 7. e. if we have 1 7 b, we shall make
use of the equations (1), (3) and (4), and then it will be
the equation (2) which will serve as the verification.

Having

the Orbits of Comets. 43

Having thus the values of x, y, and r, we shall form the
quantity

= a {y + hx.tang ot+ Ry.cos (A—a)

+2 { (R’—1).cos (d—a)<= A

+ Rax.sin(A~a) + R.(R’—1).
The perihelion distance D of the comet will be
Ce ae ah a4
the cosine of the anomaly v of the comet will be given by
the equation D ;
cos? Fu = 2

from which we shall conclude, by the table of the move-
ment of the comets, the time consumed in traversing the
angle v*. In order to have the instant of the passage by
the perihelion, we must add this time to the epoch, if P is
negative, and subtract it if P is positive, because in the for-
mer case the comet approaches the perihelion, and in the
second case it remoyes from it.

With respect to the second comet of 1781, the epoch
being fixed as above, on the 19th November, at g 29/ 44”,
we have at this epoch

SA San 7287 ahh
R = 0,987248, R’ = 0,988820,
the equations (1), (2), (3) and (4) become thus
r? = 1,667387.x7 — 0,7106137.x” + 0,974653 ...(1)
48
y = — 11,0665 + — + 3,9927.x...(2)
0,03931687

y = 5,771014.2 + ———,— — 0,04086053... .(3)

0 = y* + 0,00187057. x.

+[0,8169372.y—3,691334'"]*—1,8320446.y...(4).

+ 0,0324357." + 1,026006 — —.

* Call, as above, D the perihelion distance of the comet, U its anomaly,
t.e.the angle formed by its vector radius with the axis of the parabola
which it describes, lastly t, the time passed since the perihelion passage.
This bemg done, according to the laws of parabolic motion, the time ¢ and
the anomaly U are united together by the following ties:

ner
(1) et = 2 { 08 + } tang3 § ut 5

in which = is the demi-circumference, or 3,14159265, and T’ the duration of
the sidereal revolution of the earth, or 365 days 256383. U being given, it
is easy to calculate ¢ by this formula. But if ¢ is given, the search for the
tang 7 U requires the resolution of these equations of the 3d degree. In or-
der to avoid this difficulty, astronomers have formed a table of valuesof ¢ in
a a in which D will be equal to unity, and from this table when once
calculated, we may extract the values of U; ¢being known. This is what
we call a table of the motion of comets. We may supply the place of this
table by resolving the equation (1) by some trials, As

46 General Method for determining

As we have in this particular case 77 J, we must employ
the equations (i), (3), and (4). These three equations give
x = 0,39107,

y = 2,258355,

r = 0,9755798.

These values satisfy the equation (2) as much as we can
expect of an equation which cannot be very exact on ac-
count of the littke movement of the comet in longitude.
By substituting them in the expression of P, we find

P = — 0,185628.

The negative sign of P makes known that the comet has
not yet attained its perihelion. We aftewards find the
perihelion distance D = 059583509, and the anomaly » of
the comet, equal to 15° 16’ 24”, which answers to 10 days
40334: from which it follows that the perihelion passage
took place on the 29th of November at 18" 10’ 34”,
mean time at Paris. Having thus obtained nearly the pe-
rihelion distance and the instant of the passage of the comet
by this point, we may correct them by the following me-
thod, which has the advantage of being independent of an
intimate knowledge of the other elements of the orbit.

Exact Determination of the Elements of the Orbit, when
we know pretty nearly the Perihelion Distance and the
Instant of the Passage of the Comet by this Point.

3. We shall select three observations removed from the
comet: by afterwardssetting out from the perihelion distance,
and from the instant of the passage by this point, deter-
mined by what precedes, we shall easily calculate the three
anomalies of the comet, and the three vector radii corre-
sponding to the instants of the three observations ; let v, v”
and v” be these anomalies, those which precede the passage
of the comet by the perihelion being necessarily supposed
to be negative: further let 7, 7’, 7” be the correspondin
vector radii of the comet, v —v and v” —v will be the angles
comprehended between 7 and 7’ and between 7 and 1’; let
U be the first of these angles and U’ the second.

Let us also call a, a’, a’, the three geocentric longitudes
observed of the comet; 4, 4’, 6”,its three geocentric latitudes,
the southern latitudes being supposed to be negative:
C, C’, C’, the three corresponding longitudes of the sun ;
R, R’, R’, its three distances from the earth; 6, 6’, 6", the
three heliocentric longitudes of the comet; 7, a’, a”, its
three heliocentric latitudes. This being done,

We will imagine the letter S at the centre of the sun, the
letter T at the centre of the earth, the letter C at the more

‘ 0

©

the Orbits of Comets. 47

of the comet, and the letter C’ at its projection in the plane
of the ecliptic; we shall have the angle STC’, on taking
the difference of the geocentric longitudes of the sun and
the comet; by afterwards adding the logarithm of the co-
sine of this angle with that of the cosine of the geocen-
tric latitude § of the comet, we shall have the logarithm of
the cosine of the, angle STC; we shall therefore know in
the triangle STC, the side ST or R, the side SC or r, and
the angle STC; we shall thus have by rectilinear trigono-
metry the angle CST; we shall afterwards have the helio-
centric latitude @ of the comet by means of the equation
sin @ sin CST

sin CTS

The angle TSC’ is the side of a spherical rectangular
triangle, the hypothenuse of which is the angle 7'SC, and
one of the sides of which is the angle a; from thence we
shall easily extract the angle T'SC’, and consequently the
heliocentric longitude 6 of the comet.

We shall have in the same manner a’, 6’, a” and 6”, and
the values of 6, 6’, 6” will show whether the motion of
the comet be direct or retrograde.

If we conceive the two arcs of latitude a and a’ united
at the pole of the ecliptic, they will there form an angle
equal to 6’—8; and in the spherical triangle formed by
this angle, and by the sides 90°—a@ and 90°—a’, the side
opposite to the angle 6’—f will be the angle at the sun
comprehended between the two vector radii r and 7’. We
shall easily determine it by the known analogies of spheri-
eal trigonometry, or by the following formula:

cos V = cos (6’—f).cos w.cos a + sin a@.sin a’,
in which V represents this angle.
By calling Y’ in a similar manner the angle formed by
the two vector radii r and r”, we shall have

cos V' = cos (6"—f).cos w. cos w”—sin @.sin a”,
Now if the perihelion distance and the instant of the
passage of the comet by this point were exactly determined,
we shall have

sine =

ERY YN 1 aie Oia
but as that will almost never happen, we shall suppose
m=U—V;n=U'— VP’,

We shal] here observe that the calculation of the tri-
angle STC, gives for the angle CST, two different values,
viz. CST and 180°; 2dly, STC—CST. We shali thus
have two different values for each of the quantities 6, a,
B', az’, 8", a’. Most frequently the nature of the motion,

of

48 General Method for determining

of the comet will make known the value of CST, of which
we ought to make use, particularly if these two angles
are very different; for then one of them will place the
comet further than the other from the earth, and it will be
easy to ascertain by the apparent motion of the comet, at
the instant of the observation, which of the two ought to
be preferred. In a great number of cases, one of them
will be negative, and must consequently be rejected; but
if any uncertainty remains on this head, we might always
determine the true values of 6, 6’, 6”, by observing to take
for B and 6’, the two angles which render V very little dif-
ferent from U, and to take for 6 and 6” the two angles
which render /’ very little different from U’.

We shall afterwards form a second hypothesis, in which,
by preserving the same |instant of perihelion passage with
the above, we shail vary the perihelion distance ky a small
quantity, for example, by the fiftieth part of its value, and
we shall find out in this hypothesis the values of U—V,
and of U’—V'; thus,

m= U—V,n—U'— v';
finally, we shall form’a third hypothesis, in which, by pre-
serving the same perihelion distance as in the first, we shall
vary by half a day, or a whole day (more or less) the instant
of the perihelion passage. We shall find out in this new
hypothesis, the values of U—V and of U’—/’; thus,

m= U— Vi, n'= U'— Vv’;

this being done, if we call « the number by which we ought
to multiply the supposed variation in the perihelion distance
in order to have the true one, and ¢ the number by which
we ought to multiply the supposed variation in the instant
of the perihelion passage in order to have the true instant,
we shall have the two equations,

u(m—m') + t (m—m") =m,

u(n—n') +#t(n—n") =n,
from which we shall extract wu and 7; and consequently the
perihelion distance corrected and the true instant of the
passage of the comet by this point.

The foregoing correction supposes that these elements
determined by the first approximation, are sufficiently exact
to treat as infinitely small their differences from the true:
but if the second approximation did not still appear suffi-
cient, we might have recourse to a third by operating on
the elements already corrected, as has been done upon the
first: we must only take care to make them undergo

smaller variations. But in most eases this third approxi-
mation

A Case of Morbus Pedicularis. 49

mation will be useless, particularly if, in the first, we use
four or five well selected observations.

We may also, in the correction of the first elements,
make use of the second differences in the following manner.

Instead of calculating the values ef U, U’, Vand V’ in
the three hypotheses, we shall calculate them in five hypo-
theses, viz. 1. With the elements found by the first ap-
proximation. 2. By varying the perihelion distance by
a very small quantity. 3. By varying it by dcuble this
small quantity. 4. By preserving the same perihelion
distance as in the first hypothesis, and varying by a small
interval the instant of the perihelion passage. 5. By vary-
ing the same instant double this interval. Let m, m’, m’,
mm", m'” be the values of U—V 3; 1, n', n", n'”, n'” the values
of U'—V’: then in order to determine the values of w and
z, we shall form the two equations,
(42' —3m —m").u-+ (m" —9m' +m) .u? + (4m! —3m—m'").t

+ (m!"" —2m'" +m) .t7+ 2m=0,
(4n'—3n—n").u + (n"”— 2n' + 1).u* + (4n!”"—3n—n"").£
+ (n'” —2n'"+n).2+2n=0.

The values of uw and of ¢ which satisfy these equations will
be more precise than the foregoing. Although in most
cases this overmuch precision is useless, it is nevertheless
indispensable in forming these equations, at all times when
the terms depending on the second differences may be of
the same order with those which depend on the first dif-
ferences ; which will happen, for instance, when in one of
the observations the vector radius of the comet will be al-
most perpendicular to the visual ray from the earth to the

comet.
[To be continued. ]

VII. A Case of Morbus Pedicularis. Communicated by
Joun ANDREE, Esq. Surgeon.

A. R. esq. 35 years of age, of a very healthy and strong
constitution, had for some years past, particularly when
heated by good living and in warm rooms, been often trou-
bled with a prickly itching on the surface of the body,
armpits and thighs. In the summer of last year, on coming
out of a warm bath at Brighton, he discovered an insect on
his thigh.

This circumstance induced him to suspect that the itch-
ing he had so long been troubled with, might have been
caused by insects. From that time until he applied to me

Vol. 39. No, 165. Jan. 1812. D on

50 A Case of Morlus Pedicularis.

on December 7, 1811, he had daily combed. out from the
armpits, body and thighs, from twelve to between twenty
and thirty living insects; and some he picked out of the
‘skin, as they had firmly attached themselves thereto ;
seeming to have partly burrowed into the skin. -He was
induced to use a small-toothed comb, from being remark-
‘ably hairy on the body, thighs, and armpits. J prescribed
flores sulpburis intérnally, for him to take as much as his
bowels would bear without operating more than once or
twice daily ; and to use externally a lotion composed of a
strong solution of hydrargyrus muriatus. On the 10th,
“when I visited him, | had the satisfaction to find the re-
medies had produced a good effect, the itching having
abated, and the number of insects daily combed out dimi-
nished to about balf the former number.
__ By persevering in the use of these remedies to the end of
the month, he was free from the disorder.

On a minute examination of the insect, it appeared to
be nearest in resemblance to the pediculus inguinalis; being
a smaller and more delicately formed insect than that which
infects the head. ‘s ;

It is to be remarked, that this gentleman, who is very
cleanly in his person, putting on clean linen every day,
does not remember ever having lice in his head, nor on the
groins.

In the course of a practice of 30. years, I have not met
with a similar case: and on looking into several authors
find it mentioned in such terms as to induce me to believe
it to be very uncommon, as few cases of the disease are re-
Jated. ;

“¢ Ulyssis Aldrovandi de animalibus insectis liber quintus.
Aristotel. duo tantum pediculorum genera nata_ fuere;
primum grandius hominibus valde familiare a capite orti,
et toto corpore errans. Alterum ferum vocavit, durius eo,
quod magna ex parte provenit, et corpori detrahi difficilius :
hoc communi omnium prolatissimorum medicorum judi-
cio, i]ud est quod plactulas nonnulli et plattas, Ttali plat-
tolas et piattones a Jatitudine corporis dicunt. Galli mor-
piones, Arabes gardan,”” &c. /

The same author mentions one instance of the disorder
ending fatally: ‘* Pherecydem Syrum pediculari morbo in-
teriisse ;”? and adds, ** Oui morbum patitur primum ve-
luti scabiei cujusdam pruritu allectus, corpus scalpit, vo-
luptate simul et dolore perceptis *: deinde exorientibus pe-

* These symptoms were exactly similar to those of this case.
diculis

Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letter.. 51

diculis simul effluente sanie, morbi acerbitate, ac dolore
percitus, unguibus corpus lacerat,” &c.

The same author, among many instances of this disease
being fatal, mentions that the English king Edmond died
of the pedicular disease.

Sauvage, (Nosologia methodica. Ordo septimus,
CJassis X. Phthiriasis pedicularis. La maladie pédiculaire.)
_ after describing the disease, adds, ‘‘ Phthiriasis olim inter
morbos poenales habebatur, quo extinctos ferunt plurimos.
Vide Schenkium, Camerarium, Plempium,”’ &c. and makes
a second species, “ Phthiriasis interna: Vermine interne:
Phthiriasis funesta.’’ In this species the insects issued from
the eyes, ears, anus, urethra, and from the orifice made in
venesection. This case terminated fatally.

In conclusion, I would remark that, on touching one of
these insects with oil, it was nearly dead in a few minutes :
which circumstance would induce me to fecommend the
trial ‘of such an application for this disease.

Hatton Garden, Jan. 16, 1812. Joun ANDREE.

VIII. Reply to Dr: Ketty’s Letter (see our last Number)
on his supposed Discovery of an Error in the Nautical
Almanac. By Mr. Firmincer, late Assistant Astro-
nomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, I SHOULD imagine it is generally understood by the
readers of your valuable Journal, that whatever papers ap-
pear in that work without signature, or reference to other
authors, are either the composition, of the editor, from in-
formation received by him, or drawn up by. persons imme-
diately under his inspection. With this natural impression
on my mind I viewed the article in your Magazine for
October, entitled, « On the Error discovered in the Nautical
Almanac of 1812 ly Dr. Ketty,” and conceived you had
received the information it contains either from the Doctor
himself, or from some other of your correspondents to whom >
he might have communicated it, and that, when it appeared
before the public, the article with respect to its general tenor
must be considered as your own. ' Knowing that this sup-
posed discovery was no discovery at all, but that the Nau-
tical Almanac of 1812 actually appeared in ‘the shape in
which its learned author intended it, I was induced to send
you an account of such facts as I believed would clearly
show the truth of what I have advanced; and I considered
I was at liberty so to do, under the form in which your

D2 article

52 Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letter on his supposed '

article appeared, without being thought to have reflected
on the character or writings of the supposed discoverer, or
indeed on any one else except the editor, whom T wished
to correct not only in what regards the notice respecting
the Nautical Almanac, but in that which it takes of the
French astronomers in their conduct from copying the
ephemeris of the Nautical Almanac into their Connoissance
des Tems. Arecent communication has informed me, and
must also many others of your readers, that what we take
to be written by the editor, may in fact be the production
of some other person, who chooses to consider himself of-
fended at any animadversions on his subject, however in-
accurate his statements may appear, without declaring such
subject to be his own, till after the animadversions had been
published. This circumstance we have now witnessed in
the conduct of Dr. Kelly, who has thought proper to de-
clare in your last number, that the article above alluded to
was his own production; and the reason he gives for the
omission of his signature is, that it has been considered as
a plain, honest, and unassuming statement, that required
neither voucher or signature,” a criterion by which your
readers will be enabled in future to distinguish whether the
articles they read are the production of the editor, or of a
correspondent, to whom they may in some parts allude. —
Whatever may be the opinion of the readers of the Phi-
losophical Magazine, respecting the tenor of the article in
question, I much doubt whetber they will entertain two
opinions respecting Dr. Kelly’s last communication; they
will, Iam induced to conclude, consider it as. a happy display
of egotism, and an unwarrantable abuse of persons who
neither knew, nor could be supposed to know, when they
were animadverting on articles which appeared in the Phi-
losophical Magazine without signature, that they were ac-
tually animadverting on Dr. Kelly’s productions; at least
I can so speak for myself. But with whatever impressions
I wrote my former article, those under which I write this
will certainly not be easily mistaken; and since I have been
considered by Dr. Kelly as imprudent,’ I shall take the li-
berty of freely discussing the merits of his statements.
Dr. Kelly says, that ‘* neither was the statement dictated
in terms likely to give offence, and yet it hus called forth
two letters in animadversion, which are not of the most gen-
éle tone or texture, and I shall therefore consider them as a
kind of partnership production.”’ I do not know bow fara
man may venture to publish his opinions when founded on
the wild delusions of his imagination, so as to keep pa
the

<

Discavery of an Error in the Nautical Almanac. 53

the proper boundary of prudence: but certainly in the pre-
sent case Dr. Kelly is most completely mistaken ; for I can
confidently affirm, that Mr. Groombridge knew no more of
what I had written on the subject before it appeared in
print, than did Dr. Kelly himself. But as the Doctor bas
allowed mea right, I shall take an opportunity of occa-
sionally referring to Mr. Groombridge’s letter, not only be-
cause it has been considered a partnership production; but
also because, from our long and intimate acquaintance, we
have had frequent opportunities of communicating our
thoughts on astronomical subjects. Jt was in one of these
communications that Mr. Groombridge noticed to me the
discrepancy in the quantity of the obliquity of the ecliptic as
contained in the Nautical Almanac of 1812, from those of
other years ; and my remarks upon it were, that the uncer-
tainty arising from the observations of the Greenwich qua-
drauit were such, as to render the quantity of that datum
doubtful to many seconds. In confirmation of this state-
ment, J shall once more call the attention of your readers to
the paper which I published im the Philosophical Magazine
of December 1810; and although J noticed this paper in
my remarks upon the subject in question, I have good rea-
son to believe Dr. Kelly has not given himself the trouble
to read it; or, if he has read it, he has not thought proper
to notice it, probably in consequence of its militating against
his own supposed discovery. I shall therefore copy so
much as relates to the present occasion, which runs thus:
‘<If we look to the account given inthe Lunar Tables, pub-
lished by the Board of Longitude in France, we shall find
those tables were compiled principally from the astrono-
mical observations made in the Royal Observatory at Green-
wich; and not only the epocha, but the present state of
diminution in the obliquity of the ecliptic has been in a
great measure determined trom them. We shall not therefore
be surprised to find hereafter a nearer coincidence in the
actual state of the ancient observations, and the deductions
drawn from theory, when we possess, as we hope soon to
do, the means of settling this epocha, and actual state of
diminution at the present period. The grand mural circle
now making for the Royal Observatory by Mr. Troughton,
will, it is expected, be in readiness for observation early in
the ensuing year; and we cannot doubt but the first object
to be determined with it, will be the settling the above-
mentioned data, so essential in the theory and practice of
astronomy.” If 1 had net been at the time* above menioned

* Fight months before the paper was published which gave rise to the
present communication, Ds acquainted

54 — Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letter on his supposed

acquainted with Dr.Kelly’s pretended discovery, is it likely ¥
should have there so particularly noticed the uncertainty in
our knowledge of the actual quantity of the obliquity of the
ecliptic, as weil as of its secular variation ? To every impartial
reader I think the inference will be evident, without any
further declaration on my part, or without my having in
that paper pointed out that Dr. Maskelyne had given the
obliquity of the ecliptic for the year 1812, from the winter
instead of the summer solstice.

What a fortunate circumstance would it have been for
Dr. Kelly, had the nature of that communication rendered it
necessary for me to have particularly specified the disére- .
pancy inthe Almanac of 1812, with either the subsequent or
preceding Almanac, in proof of what I had asserted! What
a labour would he not have saved! what calculations avoid-
ed! and what anxiety for the consequences which the ho-
nour of such an important discovery was likely to heap
upon him would he not have been relieved from! For not-
withstanding all Dr. Kelly has said of his not being in-
fluenced by any motives of vanity ; it is however a pretty
strong argument in proof of the contrary, when we find
him taking all possible pains to make not only his supposed
discovery as much known as he can, but to accompany it
with remarks ofits vast importance; for can we consider the
following sentence in any other point of view: “ It was
not therefore surprising that in the course of such practice
an inaccuracy should be discovered which had escaped the
notice of the principal astronomers of Europe!” and also
in what other sense can we understand the pains which he
has taken to make the subject so generally known? He
‘called on Dr. Burney, and told him of his message to the
Astronomer Royal. He wrote to Sir Joseph Banks and Mr.
Vince, communicated it to the Earl of Rosse, and in fact
it appears he told it to every one he knew; and ‘yet all this
was done, we are told, without vanity /

In speaking of our letters, the Doctor says, ** But not-
withstanding their manifest disposition, such is-the force
of truth, that all the leading facts in the [his] statement
remain uncontroverted; and, indeed, wholly untouched.
They allow that an error has been committed in the Nau-
tical Almanac, that the French and American astronomers
have copied it, and that I have discovered it.”

In what part of the letter here referred to, let me ask,
have I allowed that an error has been committed in the
Nautical Almanac of 1812? ‘I have shown that Dr. Mas-

kelyne took his obliquity of the ecliptic for that year from
Pts the

Discovery of an Error in the Nautical Almanac. 55

the observations made with the Greenwich quadrant at the
winter solstice ; and [ have further added, that it is probable
that the obliquity of the ecliptic for that year might not
differ much from what Dr. Maskelyne had assigned it to
be in the subsequent Almanacs ; but no where have I said .
itis so. This must be left for Dr. Kelly to decide from
observations made with instruments iz his own observatory,
if they exceed in accuracy those at the Royal Observatory at
Greenwich ; for till we possess more accurate instruments
than the Greenwich quadrant, from which this obliquity of
the ecliptic was inferred, we must remain in doubt as to
its actual quantity. If therefore I am correct in stating,
we can prove vo error, I must be allowed to deny my hav-
ing admitted Dr. Kelly to have discovered one. ** They
allow the French and American astronomers have copied it.”
With as much truth, founded on the same argument, may
Dr. Kelly say, that I have allowed not only the French and
American astronomers have copied it, but that the Spanish
astronomers, the German astronomers, nay, all the world
have copied it. In no part of my letter have I mentioned
the name or even alluded to the American astronomers. My
allowance therefore of their having copied it, or any part of
the Nautical Almanac, must rest upon an allowance of my
not having contradicted Dr. Kelly’s declaration of their
having copied it; and the same may be said of all the world,
considering that no denial is an allowance of the fact,
which I cannot on the present occasion grant; for I must
confess that I know not what the American Almanac con-
tains, not having seen one for that year. Dr. Kelly should
therefore have been a little more cautious when criticizing
on the word first, as used by Mr. Groombridge, which |

conceive, and intend to show, will bear a better interpreta-

tion than he has given it,—that he did not run into error
himself by a misapplication of words, which a negligence
of reading such letters, or misconception of the subject, had

led him to adopt. But how shall we reconcile what the
Doctor has just said with what follows,—-* but these writers
must contradict something, or what was the use or pretence

‘of their letters?” Dr.Kelly says, just before, we have

contradicted nothing, and immediately afterwards says, we
must contradict something: what interpretation will this
bear? That we wished to contradict something, and have
failed, or that we have contradicted something? ‘The Doctor
must decide this duplicity of meaning. Again, the Doctor
says, “€ They therefore volunteer the French cause, and deny
at considerable length, that their astronomers pretend to

D4 original

56 Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letter on his supposed

original computation in the Connoissance des Tems, although
the contrary is thus stated in the preface io that work.
<< Les calculs ont été faits, comme a l’ordinaire, sous |’in-
spection du Bureau des Longitudes, par MM. Marion,
Lalande,” &c. which in English is this: ** The calculations
have been made, as usual, under the inspection of the Board
of Longitude, by MM. Marion, Lalande,” &c.

Suppose a person should say, he has calculated the time
when an event will happen at a given place, and it is
known that he has derived this calculation from a previous
calculation of its happening at another place, by the al-
lowance of some quantity to reduce it from the time at the
first place to that of the latter, could this person be said to
have calculated such event for the place assigned? If it be
allowed that he could under such circumstances be said to
have calculated such event for the assigned place, | con-
ceive that what the French have said in the sentence which
Dr. Kelly brings as a proof of his assertion, is as applica-
ble to their having, in the compilation of the ephemeris to
their Connoissance des Tems, taken it from our Nautical
Almanac by an allowance of the difference of longitude, as
to any other mode of calculation whatever; for surely a
man would not say from such quotation, that the French
had made their calculations from any one set of tables in
preference to another: he would indeed admit their having
allowed the calculation to have been made by themselves,
but from what tables, or by what means, he could draw no
inference; with much.less propriety therefore could he un-
dertake to say, that such calculations were declared to be
original. Yet this is the Janguage of Dr. Kelly, and in de-
fence of it he has copied the above quotation. It is well
known that the French are remarkable for their copious de-
tail, Why have they been so sparing in this instance?
The instrument, therefore, which Dr. Kelly has brought in
his defence seems rather a stumbling-block in his own way.
Dr. Maskelyne has been very particular in the preface to
the Nautical Almanac, in describing by what tables, and
by what formule, bis ephemerises are derived. If such de-
scription can be found in the French Connotssance des Tems,
then are we able to say with confidence, that the French
have committed themselves or not, according as the case
shall appear: but no assurance of this can be derived from
the above quotation. IT have been here adducing arguments
in proof, that, had [ said what Dr. Kelly states of me, viz.
endeavoured to show at considerable length that the French
do mot pretena to original matter, he has in my opinion

brought

Discovery of an Error in the Nautical Almanac. 57

brought nothing to contradict it: but the fact is, I have
made no such attempts, but quite the contrary, by an al-
lowance that, had the French declared the ephenieris to be
originally theirs, I have shown they are declaring nething
more than fatts, since it has been from tables of their own
computation, that the Nautical Almanac has been in a great
measure compiled. I have likewise said, that ‘* with respect
to that part of the statement contained in the Philosophical
Magazine, which accuses the French of copying from the
calculations of the Nautical Almanac in making up the ephe-
meris for ihe Connoissance des Tems; it must de confessed,
that if they have declared that those parts were actually cal-
culated by themselves, and not taken from the Nautical Al-
manac, they are deserving of censure 2? and doubtless, in such
case they would be deserving of severe censure, as by that
means they would impose on the world circumstances as
facts, which are not so. I have further added, that I never
saw, or heard any one say they ever did see, such declaration ;
and I must still affirm the same, notwithstanding Dr. Kelly’s
quotation, which I cannot conceive in any point of view to
contradict it, though, as he says, the names of the computers
are specified.”
In commenting on Mr. Groombridge’s letter, Dr. Kelly
seeins to catch at alittle oversight which that gentleman
made in wording his communication, though its true inter=
pretation is easily made out. No person except those who
wish to quibble on words, can object to his method of expres-
sion in the sense in which he wishes himself to be under-
“stocd. He plainly objects to Dr. Kelly’s statement in being
the discoverer, as related to the time of communication, and
not to the time in which the discrepancy was first observed,
as is evident from his saying he had, long before Dr. Kelly’s
visit to the Observatory, made the subject known both to
Dr. Maskelyne and Mr. Pond. -But ‘Mr. Groombridge
did not communicate this observation of his with such cir-
cumstances as should induce these gentlemen to suppose
that he considered the safety of the British navy as likely
to be endangered by it; nor did it, | dare say, ever enter his
head, to be at the trouble of calculating new tables of the
sun’s longitude, right ascension and declination, either
for the use of his own observatory, or for the use of the
public. Mr. Groombridge is a man too well informed on
these subjects to consider the discrepancy in question in any
other point of view than that of its true point of view, viz.
that it is of but little importance to either the astronomer or
sailor, whether the Nautical Almanac is computed with an

obliquity

58 Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letter on his supposed

obliquity of the ecliptic of 23° 27’ 40”, or 23° 27’ 50”. In
saying thus, I do not wish it to be understood that I mean
it is but of little importance to the astronomer, whether he
knows the actual state of the obliquity of the ecliptic within
these limits; I mean only as relates to the use of the Nauti-
cal Almanac. Nor do I wish it to be understood that I am
giving praise to the merits of Mr. Groombridge, though
considered a partner in this concern: his labours are before
the public, and from them the public will judge for them-
selves.
But Dr. Kelly tells us, he should not have noticed either
of our letters, bad it not been from Mr. Groumbridge having
stated he pointed out the discrepancy in question to Mr.
Pond when he first came into office, adding ¢hat he (Dr.
Kelly) can affirm with perfect truth and confidence, that in

the month of September last Mr. Pond professed himself

wholly unacquainted with any such circumstance; and yet
this gentleman modestly tells us directly after, that Mr.
Pond told him that he thought he had beard something about
an error in the Nautical Almanac of 1815 or 1816 (he be-
lieved). If Mr. Pond had not been told something about
this circumstance, is it likely he would have said he had
been previously informed of some error? Dr. Kelly can
therefore say, that Mr. Pond was unacquainted with it, in
no other point of view than that the observations with
which this information was at first accompanied, were not
sufficient to imipress a ready recollection of the circumstance.
But had Mr. Groombridge told Mr. Pond he shouid write
to Sir Joseph Banks, and other members of the Board of
Longitude, about his discovery, I will engage to say Mr.
Pond would not have so easily forgot the subject of the
communication. It does not appear, however, that the
subject was so completely obliterated from Mr. Pond’s
memory, that he could not recall it; for it appears that Dr.
Kelly’s visit was on the 11th of September, and Mr. Pond’s
communication to the Admiralty, on the 25th; on the
sight of which Dr. Kelly might have recalled what Mr. Pond
had told him, that something had been previously pointed
out respecting some error, and he would have directly in-
ferred trom that communication to the Admiralty, the cir-
cumstance which Mr. Pond had told him was the one
in guestion, but which he at the time alluded to did not
recollect. | cannot conceive it at all surprising that Mr,
Pond should lave forgotten what Mr. Groombridge had
said to him when Dr. Kelly made his visit, as Mr. Groom-
bridge says his communication on the subject in question

was

Discovery ofan Error in the Nautical Almanac. 59

was when Mr. Pond first came into office, five or six months
before the time Dr. Kelly saw him. Therefere, unless Mr,
Groombridge’s remarks had been accompanied with any ob-
servations of their importance, it is not difficult to conceive
a person, situated as Mr. Pond was in coming into that hig
office, forgetting such communications made to him in ge-
neral conversation; and thus I believe the mysterious and
delicate question, as Dr. Kelly calls it, may be settled with-
out any very great efforts of conception.

The paragraph in Dr. Kelly’s letter which immediately
follows the insinuation, that either Mr. Pond or Mr. Groom-
bridge had committed themselves by a representation of a
case upon which the plain statement of facts would not
bear them out, informs us of a circumstance the most ex-
traordinary in his whole letter, and cannot fail to do him
great credit in as much as regards bis industry-as a calculator
and his ability at discovery. [will state the paragraph in
his. own words: “ When I first discovered this error, I
made numerous calculations to ascertain its extent.”

Now, notwithstanding Dr. Maskelyne’s having stated in
the preface to the Nautical Almanac in question, the quan-
tity of the obliqnity of the ecliptic used in the computation
of that epbemeris, and also given the quantity, of apparent
obliquity deduced from it, which is put down for every
third month throughout the year, opposite the first page in
the Almanac; and also given the sun’s declination at the
two solstices exactly conformable to that obliquity; yet
Dr. Kelly makes numerous calculations to see if it be so
or not, as if he could not believe what he saw, and it was
necessary for him to make calculations, to know whether the
figures he there found did actually represent what they stood
for. I take it for granted, that most people any way con-
versant with astronomical calculations, know that the sun’s
apparent declination at the two solstices is equal to the ap-
parent obliquity of the ecliptic at that time; and if in look-
ing over the Nautical Almanac, any doubt had existed in
their minds respecting the quantity of the obliquity of the
ecliptic, used in the computation of that Almanac, it is na-
tural to suppose the first inquiry they would make, would
be to know if the sun’s declination at the summer and
winter solstice corresponded with the obliquity of the
ecliptic; and they would therefore compare the apparent
obliquity as given opposite the first page of the Almanac,
‘ with the sun’s declination at those solstices; by which they

would immediately see whether the obliquity used in the
computation of the Almanac corresponded to what had

been

60 Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letter on his supposed

been stated to have been used, or whether it did not. If the
declination did not agree with the obliquity, it would be a
clear proof that some mistake existed in either the assumed
obliquity, or the declination computed from it. But in the
case in question the declination at the two solstices agrees
with the obliquity as it ought to do.

It seems therefore extraordinary, that Dr. Kelly, who
«has been for many years in the constant practice of
teaching mathematical students to compute the columns
of the Nautical Almanac,” should not have been aware of
this circumstance, and thereby evaded the trouble of mak-
ing such numerous calculations. It is hard to say indeed,
whether the Doctor’s joy arising upon the merit that he
conceived would be attached to his discovery induced him
to actually make these calculations, or the desire of com-
pleting the sentence in order to recommend his book upon
Spherics, was ‘the motive for such a declaration ; but, per-
haps, this inference may appear a little deficient in candour
towards the Doctor. Should it be so thought, I can only
reply, it is inthe Doctor’s own way of considering things,
as I believe [ shall by and by make appear.

Whatever might be the reason which induced the Doctor
to make these calculations in preference to the simple com-
parison of the stated obliquity of the ecliptic with the sun’s
declination at the two solstices, is perhaps immaterial : it
may be of more consequence, in the present view of the
subject, to notice the merits of his book upon Spherics, to
which our attention has been directed in the latter part of
this sentence. We are told, that he believes his “ work on
Spherics and Nautical Astronomy is the only publication
where such calculations are particularly exemplified.”

The reader, therefore, would be induced to conclude, from
such statement, that this book must be a valuable acquisition
to the computers of the Nautical Almanac, that it contains
numerous examples and illustrations of the method of ealcu-
lating the various particulars contained in the columns of the
Nautical Almanac. Nay, he would fancy he should meet in
its perusal, with the methods of computing, not only what
relates to the sun, but certainly to the moon, from its being
a work of nautical practice, and perhaps of the planets also.
But now much would such a reader be diasppointed, if, when
he caine to read this valuable composition, he should find
that not a single example existed in the whole book of such
computations! and yet, after all the boasted panegyric on
it, not a single example strictly speaking does exist of such
computations.

I shall

Discovery of an Error in the Nautical Almanac. 61

I shall take the liberty of copying all that I can find in
this book, that bears the least relation to them. It is con-
tained in an example at page 125, and 1s as follows:

‘<* Example. On the first of May 1795, the sun’s longi-
tude was 1 sign 11° 1’ 42”, and the obliquity of the ecliptic
23° 27' 51”. Required the rest.”

The solution stands as follows:

To find the Declination.

As rad. 90° co. arcs... Foard SL ayete ta inp othr biniteye SO hen wetahene
To sine sun’s long. ...4.-+0-+s Al\° 1'44” 9°8171947
So is sine sun’s greatest declination 23 27 51 9°6000745

To sine present declination...... 15 9 7 9°4172692

To find the Right Ascension.

As cot sun’s long........ 41° I’ 44” 9°9396053 co atc
DG: Taidhs whim wb¥esinidtei~ ou od 10°
So is cos obliq. ec iptic... 23 27 51 9°9625158

To tang right ascension .. 38 35 51 9'9021211

Here 38° 35’ 51” turned into time, is 2° 34’ 23” 94’”, the
right'ascension in time. :

The above calculation is accompanied with the following
note;

«¢See the Nautical Almanac for May 1, 1795. The
learner should as an exercise take out the sun’s longitude
and declination for any other day to find the rest, so as to
make his calculations agree with those of the Nautical Al-
manac.”’

There are besides the above, two more examples, but
these are to find the sun’s longitude either from his right
ascension or declination; which [ have omitted, because the
sun’s longitude is always calculated as put down in the
Nautical Almanac, from astronomical tables which embrace
no less than fifteen or sixteen different equations. The
apparent obliquity of the ecliptic is also computed from
astronomical tables; and from the sun’s longitude and obli-
quity of the ecliptic so found, bis declination and right as-
cension is computed by a simple case of a right-angled
spherical triangle.

In the example above given, we are not informed what
obliquity of the ecliptic is to be used, mean or apparent, nor

are

62 — Reply to Dr. Kelly’s Letier on his supposed -

are we told by what means it is to be come at. By a res
ference to the Nautical Almanac of 1795, I find the obli-
quity here given is the apparent obliquity for the Ist of
April, and is found opposite the first page of that Almanac.

Although the obliquity of the ecliptic is used in both
parts of the example, yet in computing the sun’s declina-
tion in the first part of that example it is called the sun’s
ereatest declination. The inference from which would be,
that the sun’s greatest declination was always equal to the
obliquity of the ecliptic, notwithstanding that in the same
vear the difference in the apparent obliquity of the ecliptic
is not less than 2”,4. The plain state of the fact is, that
Dr. Kelly, in this boasted work on Spherics, has given a
bungled example in a simple case of right-angled sphe-
rical trigonometry, the data for which he has taken from
the Nautical Almanac; and which he now : declares
to be ‘* the only publication he knows of, where the
calculations of the columns of the Nautical Almanac are
particularly exemplified.” On the modesty of this de-
claration I leave the reader to form his own opinion, re-
marking only that, if it be correct, Dr. Kelly’s acquaintance
with publications of this nature is not very extensive.

I now come to the conclusion of the Ductor’s letter ; and
upon it I cannot help remarking, that it appears to me the
highest piece of illiberality of sentiment towards Mr. Pond,
that I have ever seen written perhaps against any man; for,
if it does not directly, it does indirectly, challenge him with
having employed Mr. Groombridge and myself, whom he is
pleased to consider as partners, to write in defence of his
proceedings, in our reply to the statements contained in the
Philosophical Magazine. The Doctor says, ‘* And thus, sir,
the question might have remained at rest bad not his (Mr.
Pond’s) mistaken friends imprudently interfered.” And
again he says, ‘ I want ueither auxiliaries nor substitutes,
nor shall I hereafter reply to any.”

Here is an insinuation founded on mere chimerical sup-
position, without the most distant facts or circumstance
that could possibly lead to such a conclusion. ‘* Facts,
indeed, speak for themselves.”

With respect to myself, I had neither seen Mr. Pond nor
received any letter from him for six months before the ap-
pearance of the statements I gave in the Philosophical Ma-

azine; and as a proof that Mr. Pond was totally ignorant of
what I had done, I shall now publish, by his permission,
a letter he sent me some time after my letter in the Philoso-
phical

Discovery of an Error in the Nautical Almanac. 63

phical Magazine appeared in public; which was as fol-
lows:

« Dear Str,—I think every person whose curiosity has
been excited by the supposed error in the Nautical Almanac,
must feel much indebted to you for your communication on
the subject, which I accidentally met-with yesterday in Til-
loch’s Journal. Your statement is, I have no doubt, per-
fectly correct, and has, indeed, anticipated the very little I
had intended to say, in a note, whenever a new edition of
‘the Almanac shall be called for. J never, willingly, could

adopt the supposition that the supposed error ever proceeded
from any thing like inaccuracy or inattention, and your
explanation has removed the very little doubt I ever had
upon the subject.
<¢ [ remain, dear sir,
‘© Very faithfully yours,
«Royal Observatory, Dec. 6, 1811. s¢ J, Ponp.’’

I shall conclude, that Dr. Kelly’s letter, amongst a vast
variety of false conjecture and mistatement, is calculated
to do considerable injury to the credit of the Nautical Al-
manac; but I hope a new edition of that work will not be
published till the whole of the former edition is sold off;
nay, [ thinkit would bea reflection on the ability and indefa-
tigable care of Dr. Maskelyne to do it, perhaps scarcely al-
lowable to make any alteration in a new edition, unless the
facts were established upon which such an alteration could
fairly be adopted *.

I therefore trast Mr. Pond will, before he adopts such a
measure, fully weigh the circumstances under which our
present knowledge of the quantity of the obliquity of the
ecliptic has been derived; that be will not set aside the work
of so great an astronomer as Dr. Maskelyne, without the
best grounds founded on observation to justify his mea-
sure; and that he will not suffer the discrepancy between

* | have met with persons who have deferred the purchase of the Nautical
Almanac for 1812, under the expectation of the publication of a new edition,
which, they were led to believe from the account in the Philosophical Ma-
gazine, would soon make its appearance, and no doubt but many more have
been influenced by the same expectation. But the circulation of this sup-
posed error in the public Newspapers must necessarily tend to render that
class of people to whom the use of the Nautical Almanac is the most im-
portant, dissatisfied, producing a doubt on their minds of the accuracy of the
calculations composing that work; for the sailor knows not, nor cares not,
about the obliquity of the ecliptic; he works by precise rules, which, if they
give him his situation, is all he wants. The principles by which it is obtained
are immaterial, he wants only faith in the instrument by which itis obtained |

the

64 On the Nature of the alkaline Matter contained in

the Almanac of 1812, and the two immediately preceding
and foliowing that period, to lead him to an adoption of
one quantity in preference to the other, because it has been
considered inconsistent with itself, and with the deductions
of the astronomers upon the conunent.

I also trust he will always bear in his recollection, that his
learned and profound predecessor never did a thing hastily
and carelessly; that whatever was done, was done with
judgement and deliberation, and founded on the establish-
ment of the best facts which the existing circumstances
could procure; that if errors arose in his work, they were
such as were unavoidable, or such as could not be removed
by the means which he possessed ; and that he always ad-
hered to his own deductions notwithstanding they might
vary from established authority, unless the means which
gave rise to such authority were in his own opinion superior
to those from which his had been derived. A close inves-
tigation accompanied with sound judgement, and a posi-
tive adherence to his own deductions, were the leading traits
in the character of Dr. Maskelyne: they will speak for him
more than a thousand flimsy panegyrics: they are the cha-
racteristics of a sound and well intormed mind.

Yours, &c.
T. FIRMINGER.

IX. 4 Reply to some Observations and Conclusions in a
Paper just published, in the Second Volume of the Medico-
Chirurgicul Transactions, on the Nature of the Alkaline
Matter contained in various dropsical Fluids, and in the
Serum of the Blood. By Grorce Pearson, M.D.
F.R.S. Physician in Ordinary to their Royal Highnesses
the Duke and Duchess of York, and their Household,
&Sc. Se.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, J was favoured a few weeks ago, by Dr. Marcet,
the author, with the above named paper.. In it I have the
satisfaction to find many of the facts confirmed, and none
contradicted, which I have published in the Philosophical
Transactions 1809 and 1810, on Expectorated Matter and
Purulent Fluids; except with regard to the alkaline impreg-
nations. My experiments informed me that expectorated
matters and pus contain potash neutralized by an animal
substance, or by an acid destructible by fire. I likewise
found, as { prosecuted my inquiries, that there is the same

kind

various dropsical Fluids, and the Serum of the Blood. 65

kind of alkaline impregnation in the blood, in the dropsy
fluids, in the fiuid effused by vesicating with cantharides,
in the fluid secreted from the nose owing to a catarrh, and
even inthe urine. And as I did not find the soda alkali in
a similar state, I concluded that hitherto this alkali had,
probably, been mistaken for the potash. (See our preceding
numbers.) In the ingenious paper, however, which has oc-
casioned this reply, it is asserted that the alkali in combi-
nation with the animal matter is the soda ; but it is inferred
that potash is also present, not in the state I discovered,
but united to muriatic acid.

It would not be treating the public justly, if I did not say
that the paper before me contains an inquiry conducted
eonjointly by Dr. Marcet the writer, and Dr. Wollaston ; as
Dr. Marcet represents, I allow very fairly, to enhance the
credit of his statement. Considering the power of these
allied opponents, the odds are fearful; but confiding in the
assurance of lord Bacon, that induction by experiment
equalizes* the mental faculties among different men, I shall
with this palladium obey the summons to the arena—at the
worst issue, with such adversaries it would be glorious even
to fall in the strnggle:

——_—————. agimus proh Jupiter!
Causam ; et mecum confertur Ulysses.

To enable the chemical public to judge rightly of the dif-
ferent conclusions, above declared, concerning the kinds -
and states of the alkalies existing in the animal fluids, the
evidence of the opposing parties must be heard. The ad-
verse party, however, have not attempted to invalidate my
evidence, by showing that the conclusions are unjustifiable,
but have merely exhibited their own experiments and con-
clusions. This mode of procedure, J apprehend, is not ac-
cording to the laws of controversy ; and it compels me to
make a statement of at least some of the most decisive ex-
periments for my conclusions, previously to the examina-
tion of the contravening evidence.

I. 961 grains of exsiccated sputum, on incineration and
fusion, afforded 45 grains of saline substances consisting of
35 grains of cubical crystals of muriate of soda, and the
test were spicular and uncrystallized salt amounting to ten
grains. These ten grains were separated for distinct exa-
mination. They manifested the properties of alkaline mat-

* Nostra vero inveniendi scientias ea est ratio, ut non multum ingeniorum
acumini et robori relinquatur ; sed qu ingenia et intellectus fere exxquet.—
Bacon's Novum Organur, § \xi.

Vol. 39. No, 165, Jan. 1812. E ter.

66 Qn the Nuture of the alkaline Matter contained in

ter. On adding liquid tartaric acid to this alkaline matte?
also liquefied, an effervescence ensued, with a precipitate of
super- tartrate of potash only; ‘* certainly yielding no soda-
tartrate of potash.” With nitro-muriate of platina a grain
or two of this saline matter produced a reddish precipitate.
Now if muriate of potash, and carbonate or sub-carbonate
of soda had existed, the result must have been soda-tartrate
of potash and muriate of soda; or tartrate of potash and
muriate of soda. This latter result is not so probable as
the former, on account of the very large proportion of al-
kali to auy other possible salt. ‘The quantities, too, were
obviously sufficient for producing compound salts deter-
minable by the eye unassisted with glasses,

II. By digesting 2500 grains of desiccated sputum in four
pints of alcohol of spirit of wine, the clear tincture deeanted
from off the undissolved matter afforded on distillatron 140
grains of resin-like substance ; which manifested no alkaline
properties, but it indicated slightly acidity.

A portion of this resin-like substance being mixed with
liquid tartaric acid was subjected to distillation ; but neither
muriatic nor any other acid was disengaged. This [ con-
ceive shows that no muriate of potash existed.

Twenty-five grains of this matter were acted upon by suc-
cessive affusions of nitric acid; and on boiling to dryness
and ignition, the deflagration which took place produced
a charcoal-like mass containing potash. Hence the alkali
had been united to something destructible by fire.

According to computation, the 140 grains of resin-hke
matter contained 28 grains of potash united to matter de-
structible by fire, and 18 grains of muriate of soda, with an’
inappreciable quantity of ammonia and phosphoric acid be-
sides the animal matter. The matter undissolved by alco-
hol, in this process, afforded by incineration and fusion a
mass consisting of 23 grains of muriate of soda with a very
small proportion of potash mixed with 23 grains of phos-
phatt of lime, traces of magnesia, iron, anda sulphate ; also
a minute portion of utterly indissoluble vitrified matter. If
potash had existed in union with muriatic acid, it must have
appeared in the fused mass left undissolved after digestion
in alcohol: but potash did appear in a naked state after
ignition and fusion of the matter dissolved in alcohol.

IlI. By digesting 4000 grains of sputum in two pints of
rectified spirit of wine, the same results were obtained, ex-
cepting that the resin-like matter contained a much larger
proportion of muriate of soda and animal matter.

[V. Twenty ounces of ropy sputum by digestion in ten

pints

various dropsical Fluids, and the Serum of the Blood. 67

pints of distilled acetic acid afforded, by evaporation of the
clear liquid separated from the coagulated matter, a soft ex-
tract. This extract deliquesced, partially, on exposure for
a few days to the air; but it manifested no properties of
alkali. By exsiccation, ignition, and fusion of a little of
this deliquesced matter, it afforded an aqueous solution
which precipitated abundantly super-tartrate of potash on
adding tartaric acid; and a reddish precipitate fell on the
addition of platina solution. Almost the whole of this extract
being exsiccated was digested in rectified spirit of wine, af-
fording ablackish tincture after evaporation to dryness,
which became liquid by 24 hours exposure to th@air. It
was almost entirely acetate of potash. I believe acetate of
soda neither dissolves in alcchol nor deliqaesces; but,
independently of these properties, the alkali united was
proved to be potash.

I shall call no other evidence from a great mass which
remains in my published papers. If I were to follow the
example of my adversaries, I should also not trouble my-
self to examine their evidence ; but as the question cannot
be decided without such an examination, I beg permission
to perform this duty.

I, Of the Fluid of the Spina bifida.

In the ten printed pages of experiments on this fluid by
Dr. Marcet,I can only perceive that there is evidence for
the existence of an alkaline subcarbonate; yet it is said,
** Soda may be inferred from theeffervescence with acids.”
The alkaline matter was treated with alcohol; and thus it
was separated from the muriate. The alcoholic solution be-
ing decanted and evaporated to dryness, a residue supposed
to consist of acetate of soda was obtained, which weighed
between 17 and 18 per cent. of the mass.’ Oxymuriate
of platina produced no precipitate.

I remark, that the first result only shows the presence
of charcoal acid. 2. The acetate of soda is not, I believe,
dissoluble in alcohol, but it is well known that acetate of
potash is so. However, if there be che authority of experi-
ment for the dissolubility of acetate of soda in this men-
struum, still the experiment is equivocal. It was easy for
the adverse party to have decided this question by the test
of tartaric acid, provided there was an adequate quantity of
matter for the trial. )

3. [ remark, that there being no precipitation with the
platina solution seems to me to prove nothing; as the
whole quantity of matter treated could not reasonably be

E2 supposed

68 On the Nature of the alkaline Matter contained in

supposed to amount to more than a small fraction of a
grain; too small for the detection of potash by means of
the platina solution, or even probably by the more sensi-
ble test tartaric acid, which was not used. Yet the inge-
nious writer has not only inserted soda among the impreg-
nating ingredients of the fluid under examination, but also
boldly denoted the proportion to the centesimal part of a
grain. I shall in another part of this communication, I
believe, demonstrate that this analysis does not warrant the
statement of the composition of this dropsical flmd given
in such precise terms: tor, ou the ground of cogent analogy,
] cann@ doubt that one or more ingredients are present, but
not inguired for by experiment, nor enumerated. Hence,
not only is the analysis objectionable with respect to the
ingredients but the proportions. It 1s true, in a subsequent
part of the investigation the deficiency seems to have been
perceived and acknowledged; but if so, it will not be an
easy task to justify the pubiication of perhaps an inaccurate
analytical statement, in opposition to ny experiments which
have not been refuted.

If. Of the Fluid of the Hydrocephalus internus.

A few grains of the saline matter of this fluid consisted
of cubic crystals mixed with spicular and opake globules.
The assertion is several times made, that the spicular cry-
stals and opake globules were carbonate of soda—that most
of the cubes were muriate of soda; but some of the smaller
ones were found to be muriate of potash. The proofs jor
the assertion are from the two reagents I employed in the
same inquiry; namely, tartaric acid and platina solution
for the potash ; and ‘* the carbonate of soda was identified,
not only by tests indicative of the absence of potash, but
also by its forming rhomboidal instead of prismatic ery-
stals, when treated with nitric acid.

Now, I apprehend our judges will deem this evidence
unsatistactory ; and that much more decisive proofs will
be reasonably expected. J beg permission to ask, whether
or not the laborious experiments upon a large scale, which
I instituted, to exhibit evidence of the exclusive existence
of the potash alkali, are to be disproved by the rhomboidal
figure of the crystals, i place of prismatic, seen perhaps
only by a magnifying glass in the quantity of a grain or
two. dispersed over a comparatively extensive surface; and
whether or not the absence of potash, indicated by tests
operating upon minute quantities, is unequivocal evidence,
and ought to counterpoise experiments, with quantities af-

fording

various dropsical Fluids, and the Serum of the Blood. 69

fording products, of which no doubt can be entertained.
I do not question the accuracy ; but 1 bope it is proper to
take a further objection against the competency of the ex-
periment asserted, for the presence of soda and absence of
potash. On the most important point which occurred in
the inquiry, the kind of alkali ex'sting in the fluids, I do
conceive that more experiments, and particularly detailed, are
necessary to effect the dis-proof of what | have pnblished,
and to command assent, that soda and not potash is pre-
sent. Is it satisfactory to affirm, that soda was identified,
_ because the tests did not indicate potash? It is quite su-
perfluous for me to say to such learned adversaries as 1 have
the honour of addressing, that an experiment might bave
been instituted to have afforded unquestionable proof of
the existence of soda. Such a proof would be the compo-
sition of a binate salt, possessing the known properties of
a compound of soda and the acid employed.

With respect to muriate of potash, that this ts present,
is supported only by the observation .of smaller cubic cry-
stals among larger ones; otherwise it is a mere assertion.

My last argument is of a different kind from those above
stated. If carbonate of soda in a large, and muriate of
potash in a small proportion be present, on the addition of
tartaric acid, it is obvious that it is scarcely possible to
avoid compounding soda-tartrate of potash, and certainly
muriate of soda, Tf the learned opponeuts had produced
these compositions, [ must have conceded, at least, that
carbonate of soda existed ; but still it would require other
experiments to determine the state of the potash.

3. Of the Fluids of Ascites, Hydrothorax, and Hydrops
Pericardi.

A saline mass amounting to 4°8 grains, obtained by the
processes above mentioned, exhibited clusters of crystals,
partly’cubic, partly octohedral, interspersed with others of
a feathery or radiating appearance, The feathery saline
matter effervesced briskly with acids, and yielded no per-
manent precipitate, either with tartaric acid or with oxy-
muriate of platina. The cubic crystals and octohedral
yielded precipitates with either of the two tests just men-
tioned.

I do not conceive that these observations authorize the
adverse party to contravene my experiments and conclu-
sions. I know from experience, that it is probable the
feathery crystals even of potash would clude detection, on
account of the minute quantity ; there was however a pre-

E eipitate,

70 Ox the Nature of the alkaline Matter contained in

cipitate, but not permanent. The question naturally arises,
What was that non-permanent precipitate? I have no
doubt the quantity was too small to enable the question to
be answered even by the hands that performed the expe-
riment.

But the cubie and octohedral crystals yielded precipitates
with eitber of the two tests; and hence potash is inferred
to exist united to murtatic acid. I again must appeal to
chemical judges, to determine whether or not the conclu-
sion is warrantable ; for, 1. Here is no proof of muriate
of potash. 92. Jt is not even certain that the precipitate
was supertartrate of potash. 3. Granting that supertar-
trate of potash was produced, it remains to be proved in
what state this alkali subsisted,

4, Of the Serum of the Blood,

The saline matter procured from this fluid did not, with
the platina solution, ‘* produce a precipitate sufficiently di-
stinct to be conclusive as to the presence of potash ; but,
by means of tartaric acid, a distinct though not abundant
precipitate was produced.’? Further, with nitric acid this
saline matter yielded crystals of a ‘* rhomboidal form.”
Again: this matter dissolved in acetic acid, being evapo-
rated to dryness, was treated with alcohol and again evapo-
rated: ** the residue, contrary to my expectation, exhibited
traces of potash; but the same residue, with nitric acid,
yielded rhomboidal, and no prismatic crystals were seen 5”
whilst ** potash was easily discoverable in the residue, which
had now lost its deliquescent quality.’? I wish to avoid re-
petition of objections already offered, although they are
applicable in this place, and will only remark : 1. That I
cannot admit the figure of such minute crystals, as a deci-
sive property ; but the kind of nitrate compounded might
have been ascertained by the test of tartaric acid. 2. The
dissolution of the acetate in alcohol is the most conclusive
experiment given in the paper before me; and it has pra-
duced apparent embarrassment. Even as performed 1% is
pretty determinate, and might have become an experimen-
tum erucis by prosecuting it a little further, We know
that acetate of potash is dissolnbie in aleohol, and there is
no proof that soda united to acetic acid is present; even
if such a coinpound be dissoluble in alcohol. It has been
thought right, however, to assume an hypothesis, or more
truly two Bypotheses, to account for the potash in the men-
struum of alcohol ; viz. To imagine that muriate of
potash 15 present. 2, That it is dissoluble in alcohol. If

potash

various dropsical Fluids, and the Serum of the Blood. 71

potash was present in the indissoluble residue, it was most
unportant to have exhibited the state in which it existed.
It was not difficult to determine, if doubted, the state of
the potash in the alcohol, by burning the residue Icft on
evaporation, which would have denuded it if united to the
acetic acid, but not if united to the muriatic acid. Sup-
posing it be judged right to receive these experiments as
evidence of the facts asserted by the adverse party, 1 bey
to claim the right also of opposing the contravening evi-
dence above delivered, in stating the results of a similar
experiment.

From this representation, I submit to our judges, whe-
ther or not I am entitled to object to the enumeration of
subcarbonate of soda as one of the impregnating ingredients
of scrum, and especially to the proportion denoted in cen-
tesimal parts of a grain, in a mass amounting to seven or
eight grains, consisting of seven different substances.
Having communicated merely the information of the
senses * through the intermedium of experiments, the che-
mical world will determine whether or not the opposing
party have demonstrated errors in observation, or illegiti-
mate conclusions. I am of opinion, that the best founded
conclusions are but provisional, and ef course, that che-
mistry has not yet attained the rank of a science, or at
Jeast not of a demonstrative science. This opinion seenis
just, from a retrospective view of the varying states of che-
mistry during the last hundred years. Many of the theo-
ries of the illustrious Stab] were for half a century admitted
as demonstrations of the agency of phlogiston. That these
doctrines were erroneous, was evinced by the succeeding
discovery of the agency of oxygen, especially manifested
‘by the ever-to-be-lamented Lavoisier. And the pneumatic
doctrine in some parts has Jately been rendered doubtful,
if not exploded, by the wondrous achievements of protes-
sor Davy. | Contemplating the prospect of the progres-
sion of this branch of natural knowledge, | offer the
conclusion, that potash, and not soda, is the alkali united
to animal matter in the fluids I examined, merely as pro-
visioual. That potash docs also exist in these fluids, united
to muriatic acid, is not inconsistent with my experiments ;
but the experiments of my learned friends do not appear to

* Sensus enim per se res infirma est et abersans; neque organa ad ampli-
ficandos sensus aut acuendos multum valent ; sed omnis vGricr interpretatio
naturx conficitur per instantias et experimenta idoneg ct apposita; Ubi sen
sus de experimento tantum, experimentum d¢ natura et re ipsa judicat.—Ba-
con’s Nevum Organi,

4 authorize

72 On the Nature of alkaline Matter, &c.

authorize such an inference. The discovery, however, will
be partly due to them if bereafter the fact be substantiated.

| cannot close this communication until I shall have said
a few words concerning the high encomiums on microsco-
pic chemistry, accompanied by the bitter philippic against
“¢ the dismal, large, subterraneous laboratory.” Chemistry
must now, we are tuld, be transferred to “the comfortable
fire-side of the drawing-room ;” 3”? from Vulean’s foul stithy
to my lady’s chamber. This elegant change is to give
** new impulse to the advancement of the science, and new
schools are to arise under new auspices.’’ Most happy
shall I be to find these Eutopian prospects realised. It
seems, however, more than probable, that the successful
impulses already given by the schools of ‘* my very learned
and approved good masters,’’ Cullen, Black, and Fordyce,
will retain the cultivators in the paths now ‘opeped.- And
with regard to the scene for operations, the privilege of
taste wil] be asserted ; for that indeed 1s not disputable either
in chemistry or elsewhere. Becher’s taste was opposite to
that of the ingenious new advocates: ** Nec quicquam pre
carbonibus, venenis, fuligine, follibus, et furnis valere po-
test.” —Phys. Subter. Pref. The lord high chancellor of
England not long ago declared in court, that he would
not pay sixpence for the rapturous notes of Mara or Cata-
Jani. This also was a matter of taste, and no one dis-
puted: it was only observed by a large majority, that his
lordship had ** no music in his soul, and was not charmed
by concord of sweet sounds.’”’—No more.

The value of a tree is best known by its fruits; and ac-
cordingly to inform the judgement of the public by practical
examples; and as some return for the notice with which
my papers have been honoured, I shall, with your permis-
sion, offer for your next nomber a few remarks on the
publication in general which has produced this communi-
eation ; in which, whatever differing opinions may subsist,
I assurediy must admire the ingenuity, and respect the
knowledge, of the honourable antagonists.

George-street, Hanover-square, GP.
Jan. 14, 1812.

X. Proceedings of Learned Societies.
ROYAL SOCIETY.

Jan. gand 16. Dee conclusion of Dr. Herschel’s paper
on the Jate comet was read. The Doctor entered into a
very minute investigation of the nature and extent of the

luminous

Royal Society. 73

luminous matter which surrounded it at some distance from
the planetary body in its centre ; this matter he supposed to
be of a phosphoric nature ; the length of the tail he esti-
mated at an average, about the -beginning of October,
to be above 100 millions of miles; he described it as
very variable both in length and breadth, and as being a
hollow cone, emitting light on all its sides ; the inner side
he supposed might illumine the planetary body in a manner
somewhat similar to that in which the ring does Saturn. The
planet which he discovered in the place of its nucleus, he
concludes, shines with its own light, and not with one bor-
rowed from the sun. His chief reason for this conclusion,
was the extensive dark space which intervened between the
cometary envelope and the planetary body. From the great
alterations which took place in the nature and dimensions
of the tail, he was inclined to conjecture that comets may
be formed of nebulez, that those nebule undergo conden-
sation in their approach to our sun, orto some of what are
called the fixed stars, and that in process of time they may
become regular planets. On contrasting the appearance of
the late comet with that of 1807, he was inclined to sup-
pose that of 1811 a much younger comet than the former.

Jan. 23. A paper by Mr. Campion (communicated by
Mr. Davy) was read, on the structure of the eyes both of
man and birds, particularly in relation to that faculty of
the eye which enables it to adjust its focus to the distance
of the object. The author examined the different conjec-
tures and theories which have been proposed to account
for the circumstance, and explain how the eye can have .
perfect images of objects at very different distances. It has
been generally agreed, that the eye must have some con-
tractile power; but the existence of any organ capable of
sucn a function has never been ascertained. Mr. C. in ex-
amining the eyes of an eagle, was led to discover the ex-
istence of a sinall muscle attached to the sclerotica and
capable of contracting the eye, in a manner equal to effect
the necessary change in the fucal distance. The same organ
he discovered in some other birds, and hence he inferred
that something analogous exists in the human eye. He
observed, that images pass before the eyes of maniacs as
vividly and distinctly without any sensible objects, as they
do over those of some persons from objects within the
focal distance of thetr eyes.

A paper hy Count Rumford was also read, on the na-
ture of light. The Count, firmly persuaded that it is of
great commercial importance to’ increase the sac of

ight

74 Royal Soviety.

light for men’s use, and that this luminous nothing has no
more distinct existence than sound, proceeded to make a
number of little experiments on wax tapers and a photome-
ter. He began by weighing the combustible matter con-
sumed or transfurmed during a given time, and conipared
the quantity of light enntted in proportion to the wax
burnt. In ninesuch experiments he satisfied himself that
the hight emitted bore notnvariable proportion to the quantity
of combustible matter consumed, but that with small
tapers, which yielded very little light, there was a very con-
siderable increase of heat. Here he was induced to make
some observations on the nature of heat, or heated bodies,
so far as their Juminous qualities were concerned ; all of
which, he thought, tended to confirm his opinion, that there:
is no such matter in existence as light, and that philoso-
phers may for ever torture their imaginations about its na-
ture and qualities, without ever being a tittle the wiser,
He observed, that no person ever Jooked for the nature and
properties of sound in fulminating powder, and it is equally.
idle to look for those of light in combustible bodies. He
has however a very philanthropic and important discovery
to make, namely, a new invention of his own, a polyflame
lamp, consisting of a number of burners, with wicks flat
like a ribbon, and so placed one at the side of another that
the air can pass between them, at the same time that they
are duly supplied with oil. The flat wicks arranged in this
manner, side by side, supplied with oil, and covered with
a large glass which rose several mches above the flame,
yielded as much light as 40 candles! ‘The Count concludes
with expressing his own liberality in thus publishing his
discovery, and declares himself ready to give every pos-
sible information in his power to any person who may
wish to construct such lamps; but modestly adds, that his
own is not made guite so well as he could wish, and that
his apparatu 1s still capable of further improvement.

The Society then adjourned over a week, to meet again
on Thursday the 6th of February.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.

Mr. Davy’s Lectures on the Elements of Chemical
Philosopliy,

Mr. Davy delivered the introductory lecture on this new
course on Saturday, Jan. 25. He stated, that in former courses
of lectures he had been in the habit of dwelling more upon
the imperfections than the perfections of the science, con-

sidering

Royal Institution. 7a

sidering its state as that of infancy, rather than of matu-
rity; but that he was now happy to be able to say, that the
time was arrived when some principles of chemical philo-
sophy at least might be considered as fixed, and some im-
portant resuits anticipated; that it had gained relations to
the doctrines of quantity, and its experiments were capable
of being submitted to those laws of calculation which can-
not deceive, and which had already produced such grand
results in their application to astronomy.

That if the substances belonging to our globe are con-
stantly undergoing changes in their forms and their sensible
qualities, and one variety of matter is, as it were, trans-
muted into another, such changes, whether natural or ar-
tificial, slowly or rapidly performed, are called chemical.
The object of chemical philosophy is to ascertain their
causes, and to discover the laws by which they are govern-
ed. The ends of this branch of knowledge, said the Pro-
fessor, are the applications of natural substances to new
uses, for increasing the comforts and enjoyments of man,
and the demonstration of the order, design, and intelligent
arrangements, of the system of the earth.

In taking an extended view of the plan of the lectures,
Mr. Davy said, he should first consider the active powers
producing the phenomenon of chemical change, and afte
wards the substances on which they operate. ‘The expan-
sive power or heat, chemical and electrical attraction, are
the great causes of decomposition and combination. In
discussing the doctrines of heat, he said he should compare
the mechanical hypothesis of its consisting in motion of
the particles of bodies with the idea of its being a specific
kind.—The first opinion was sanctioned by the authority
of the greatest philosophers of this country, is equally ap-
plicable to the explanation of the phgnomenon, aud in-
volves the supposition of fewer unknown causes, —Chemi-
cal attraction, he said, he should consider as a definite
power, combining bodies in definite proportions, capable
of being expressed by numbers. Electrical attraction pro-
duced many of the same effects as chemical attraction; and
electricity, as exhibited by the Voltaic apparatus, is capa-
ble of being made a general instrument of decomposition.
Mr. Davy referred to the extraordinary effects produced by
this wonderfulinvention, which, he said, had doneas much
for the higher departments of chemistry as tbe air pump
for pneumatics, the microscope for natural history, and
the telescope for astronomy 3; and which bad not only pro-
guced new views in the science to which it particularly

belonged,

76 Royal Institution.

belonged, but which likewise promised to enlightén the
whole philosophy of terrestrial nature.

In treating of the substances which undergo chemical
changes, he said, he should first consider radiant or ethe-
real matter, those which are’ known only in motion, or by
their effects. He said, he shou!d discuss particularly the
polarity of light advanced by Newton, and confirmed by
the late experiments of Malus. The solar rays produce
that light and chemical effects, and there is an analogy be-
tween the powers of the two solar beams and electricity ;
and crystalline bodies have certain relations to hght, like
those of different electrified surfaces; and from new inves-
tigations on this subject, the Professor said, he anticipated
a more intimate connexion between chemical and mecha-
nical philosophy.

He divided ponderable undecomposed substances into
two classes, empyreal and inflammable supporters of com-
bustion and combustible bodies; and from ten different
combinations deduced all the phenomena of composition,
They unite, he said, according to uniform’ Jaws; form
definite compounds, generally crystallized, and which
may be represented bv numbers resulting from the addition
of the numbers representing their elements. As in the
system of the Heavens, gravitation and the projectile force
acting according to constant laws produce the regular and
harmonious motion of the planets, so in the terrestrial cy-
cle of events, the repulsive and attractive powers of matter
are in uniform operation, occasion a series of events flow~
ing in a happy order, and constantly subservient to the
purposes of life.

Mr. Davy concluded his lecture by some observations
on the uses of the science, and the advantages resulting
from the study. From the earliest era of society, he said,
when metals were produced from rude ores to the know-
ledge of the bleaching liquor, chemistry had been con-
stantly subservient to cultivation and improvement in the
manulacture of porcelain and glass, in the arts of dyeing
and tanning, and has added to the clegancies, refinements,
and comforts of life. In its application to medicine, it
has removed the most formidable of diseases ; and as lead-
ing to the discovery of gunpowder, it has changed the in-
stitutions of society, and rendered men more independent
of brutal strength, less personal and less barbarous. There
is, said Mr. Davy, a double source of interest in chemistry,
that whilst it is connected with the grand operations of na
ture, it is likewise subservient to the most common pro-

cesses

Intelligence. 77

cesses as wellas the most refined arts of life. New laws
cannot be discovered in it without increasing our admira-
tion of the beauty and order of the system of the universe—
no new substances brought to light without being, sooner
or later, applicable to some purposes of utility. The per-
tection of chemical philosophy is connected, said the Pro-
fessor, not only with our national riches but with our
national glory. All new knowledge leads to new power,
and physical and moral science are ultimately connected.
An accurate acquaintance with the laws of nature leads to
a deeper feeling of the power and wisdom of the Author of
nature, and philosophy thus becomes the exalted instru-
ment for connecting faith and reason.

XI. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles.

M. ConsTANT, an eminent French chemist, has arrived
from Paris, to exhibit a much abbreviated process for mak-
ing and baking loaf sugar. In one day, he is able to make
as much of this article as can be done in eight by the pro-
cess now in use; end his process has this advantage, that
as no animal matter whatever 1s used, no noxious fumes
arise, and the operation may be effected in a common sit-
ting-room.—M. Constant has repeatedly exhibited his pro-
cess before numerous parties of scientific gentlemen and
sugar refiners, all of whom have declared themselves per-
fectly satisfied as to its practicability and utility; and by
their advice he is about to secure his inierest in the disco-
very by a patent.

Mr. Bonnycastle, Professor of Mathematics in the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, has in the press a
new work, which will speedily be published, under the
title of * A Treatise on Algebra, in Practice and Theory,
methodically arranged in two Parts, and adapted to the pre-
sent State of the Science ; together with Notes and Illustra-
tions, containing a great Variety of Particulars relating to
the Discoveries and Improvements that have been made in
this Branch of Analysis.”

The work will be printed in two moderate sized octavo
volumes, and is designed to form the second and third
parts of the author’s inteuded general course of mathema-
tics, of which several of the succeeding branches are nearly
ready for publication, and will be sent to press as soon as
they are finished. '

LIST

78 Patenis.— Meteorological Observations.

LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS.

To Frederick Albert Winsor, of Shooter’s Hill in the
county of Kent, esq. for a method of employing both raw
and refined sugars in the composition of sundry articles
of merchandize, in great demands, where it has not here-~
tofore been used. Dec.4, 1811.

To John Hudson, of Cheapside, London, paper-hanger,
for a new composition for printing or painting on paper,
linen, stuccoed walls, and boarding for the purpose of
ornamenting the walls and ceilings of rooms. Dec. 9.

To John Elvey, of the city of Canterbury, millwright,
for improvements upon a winnowing machine. Dec. 16.

To John Sorby the younger, of Sheffield in the county
of York, shearsmith, for a method of making sheep or
wool shears, glovers shears, and horse shears. Dec. 19.

To Robert Webster,-of Mount Fields, in the parish of
Saint Chadds, Shrewsbury, in the county of Salop, for his
improved portable mangle.—i3th Jan. 18192.

To William Nicholson, of Bloomsbury-Square, in the
county of Middlesex, esq. for certain improvements in
the method or manner of supporting or suspending the
bodies or principal parts of wheel carriages. —13th Jan.

Metereological Olservations made at Clapton in Hackney,
from Dec. 20, 1811, to Jan. 20, 1812.

Dec. 20.—Small rain continued through the day ; windy
by night from S.W.

' Dec. 21.—Cloudy, windy, and hazy, followed by some
rains W.

Dec. 22.—Early the sky was quite clear; afterwards
various features of cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus,
in different heights: towards evening the quantity of cloud
much increased, but the night became clear: a coloured
corona frequently appeared about the moon. Wind N.E,

Dec. 23.—Cloudy morning ; afterwards fair with various
clouds; by sunset it was clear; there was a crimson blush
atl around, while the western hemisphere appeared of a
bright golden colour. W.N.W.

Dec. 24.—Cloudy, calm and hazy day.

Dec. 25.—Clear day, save a few light clouds; in the
evening features of cirrus linearis, &c. Wind N.

Dec. 26.—Clouded sky, and.strong white frost on the
ground ; clear night, with dinear cirri. N.

Dec. 27.—Cloudy, cold, frosty and foggy morning; after-
wards some snow and rain; various flimsy clouds by night.

Dec.

Meteorological Olservations made at Clapion. 49

Dec. 28.—Cold, raw, unpleasant day: some snow fell in
the afternoon.

Dec. 29.—Clouded over nearly all day; the moon ap-
peared through thin clouds by night; a thick coat of snow
lying on the ground. N.

Dec. 30.—Clear morning; afterwards much cloud.
Wind N.

Dec. 31.—Very cold cloudy day; warmer in the evening.
Wind N. and S.W.

Jan. 1, 1812.—A complete thaw; a fogsy morning fol-
lowed by a cloudy wet day and clear night. Wind S.W.

Jan. 2.—Various lofty cirri followed by showers. S.W.

Jan, 3.—Showers, and various clouds in the intervals;
windy by night from the S.

Jan. 4.—Foggy and calm morning, with S.W. wind; in
the evening raw unpleasant wind from E.

Jan. 5.—Snowing all the morning; raw afternoon. N.

Jan. 6.—Cirrus and cirrocumulus : cloudy afternoon.
N. W.

Jan. 7.—Snow fell before light; day cloudy at intervals.
Wind N.W.

Jun. 8.—Some cumulative masses of cloud in small
clusters ; then showers of snow. Wind N.

Jan. 9.—Cirrus and cirrocumulus : dark snowy night,
N.E.

Jan. 10.—Clouded and foggy, a very unpleasant thaw.

Jan. 11.—Clouded day and northwest wind.

Jan. 12.—Fair, with various clouds. N.N.W.

Jan. 13.—Clouds followed by long and gentle showers.
Wind N.N.W.

Jan. 14.—Cloudy and hazy. Wind N.N.W.

Jan. 15.—Fair day: features of linear cirrus coloured at
sunset. !

Jan..16.—Calm hazy cloudy day. N.W.

Jan. 17.—Hazy, cloudy and calm. N.W.

Jan. 18.—Much cloud, wind west: the night exhibited
some stars.

Jan. 19.—Cloudy and hazy morning, with some small
rain: the various features of clouds appeared mixed in
different altitudes: followed by much wind with showers,
and clear intervals. W.

Jan. 20.——Fair day: numerous cirri and cirrocumuli at
different heights, while camudi sailed under: much cwmu-
dostratus in the evening. Wind N,

Clapton, Jan. 21, 1811. Tuomas Forster.

METECRO-

80 Meteorology.

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,
By Mr. Cary, OF THE STRAND,
Yor January 1812.

Thermometer. aig %
Ror cry oar es ; si . | Height of S38
pres Ze 8 Sh the Barom. Ze Weather.
Sig Zz oF, Inches. me ob
a ~ | Aa ba
Dec. 27} 25 33°| 32°) 29°03 0 |Snow
28} 30 | 33 | 30 "24 0 ‘Snow
29} 30 | 32 | 25 56 0 |Cloudy
30! 25 | 32 | 26 *06 0. |Fair
31| 26 | 32 | 33 "98 0 Cloudy
Jan. 1| 35 | 42 | 33 76 6 |Fair
g| 40 | 46 | 36 50 10. | Fair
3| 36 | 43 | 35 “20 6) likafet
4| 32 | 39 | 33 39 5 Cloudy
5| 33 | 33 | 36 15 G |Snow and rain
6| 30 | 37 | 33 “70 _ 4 |Fair
7| 33 | 36 | 35 *62 o |Snow
s| 33 | 37 | 32 | 30°04 7 (Fair
g| 29 | 33 | 33 "12 oO (Snow:
10| 33 | 34 | 34 10 oO {Rain
11} 34 | 37 | 37 | 29°87 0 (Cloudy
12 35 | 38 | 35 ‘87 6 Fair
13] 34 | 39 | 37 "90 4 |Cloudy
# 37 | 42 | 36 99 | 6 |Cloudy
15| 36 | 43 | 32 | 30°10 10. {Fair
16} 32 | 42 | 40 “18 0 ‘Foggy
17| 39 | 41 | 36 “18 0 |Foggy
18| 37 | 46 | 40 H1 5 |Cloudy
19| 43 | 47 | 43 ‘05 5 {Cloudy
90| 38 | 44 | 34 | 29°90 11 {Fair
g1| 32 | 37 | 32 gl 12 \Fair
22| 32 | 35 | 33 *80 4 \Cloudy
93| 31 | 33 | 32 “Ol 6 (Fair
2a 32 | 34 | 29 | 30°01 10. | Fair
25| 30 | 43 | 43 | 29°99 9 |Clondy
oa 43 | 46 | 40 | 30°01 6 |Cloudy

N.B. The Barometer’s height is taken atone o’clock,
oe it
ERRATUM.

In page 441, line 1, of our last volume, instead cf for the last two years,
read previcus to the last two years.

eae)

XII. On the Localities of certain Reliquia, or extraneous
Fossils, found in Derbyshire. By the late Mr. Witt1aM
Martin, F.L.S, &c.

. To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Tx the work, which | have recently published on the
Petrifactions of Derbyshire*, the localities of the species
described are given with as much exactness as appeared to
me, at the time of writing, necessary for the general infor-
mation of the student. and collector of these bodies. Thus,
in the first part of the volume, { have constantly noted the
mineral tract and usual geographic situationt of each fossil,
as, ** common in limestone near Buxton ;’’—* found near
Chesterfield, in beds of argillaceous ironstone,” &c. And
in the second part, which contains the systematical ar-
rangement of the species, I have been more particular in
pointing out the nature of the sea¢ in which the petrifaction

~ has been found, as ‘* Sedes: strata vetusta, calcaria.”—

** Sedes: strata vetula, argillacea, ferrifera,’’ &c. &c. It
has occurred to me, however, since the yolume was printed,
that something more might have been added, with advantage
to this part of the undertaking; and that, in a geological
point of view, notices of the particular situations, (loca spe-
cialia,) as well as of the immediate stratum, in which the
fossil has been discovered, will be found useful appendages
to the specific diagnosis, or general description of the species.
All, who have attended to extraneous fossils in the field, as
well as in the cabinet, must have observed, that the different
species, as I have elsewhere remarked ¢, abound in particular
Rocks, especially of those which are properly denominated pe-
trifactions, and though not wholly confined to, are more com-
mon in, particular strata than in others, though of the same
substance and constituting a part of the same soil, or series of
mineral beds: thus in Derbyshire the shells, corals, &c.,
which abound in the first limestone stratum, or that which
immediately follows the shale tract, are by no means frequent .
in the second limestone, or that which lies under the first
toadstone. Norare the petrifactions of the second limestone
common to the first or third, &c.; though all these strata
are evidently constituent parts of the same formation.
Again, in the coal soils of this’ county the constituent strata
of gritstone, ironstone, shale, &c. may all, I think, be
characterized by their respective vegetal fossils. That
much practical utility in geology and mining might be the
result of this circumstance, when the different species of

* Petrificata Derbiensia, or Figures and Descriptions collected in Derbyshire,
t Vor the particular sense, in which these terms\are here employed, L
must refer to the “ Outlines,” &c. pp, 155, 181, $ Outlines, p. 9.

Vol. 39, No, 166, Fel. 1819, F extra-

82 On the Localities of certain Reliquia, or

extraneous fossils are properly, that is, scientifically * dis-
criminated, has long been my own opinion; and this opi-
nion has been abundantly confirmed) by a conversation [
nave Jately had with your most ingenious correspondent
Mr. J. Farey, whose knowledge of the stratification of this
island is unquestionably great. This gentleman has well
pointed out to me the uulity as well as the practicability
of distinguishing the various strata in a soil, or series of
strata, by their organic contents. And I regret, that in the
first volume cf the publication above mentioned I have not
paid more particular attention to this point; that is, not
only by noting the dnmediate siralum (whenever I have
ascertained it). in which the species has occurred, but also
the particular Jituations (loca speciatia) where it is to be
found; as these in many instances would give others an
opportunity of determining the immediate, where I have
only been able to speak as to the general soi/. In the se-
cond voiume of the work in question, which I am now
preparing for the press, it will be my aim to give the geo-
logical as well as the geographical situation with more _pre-
cision. The following additional remarks to the localities,
enumerated in my first volume, may not only be useful to
the purchasers of the work, but also induce geologists to
pay some attention to a subject, that has been hitherto so
much neglected. Lam, sir, your obedient servant,

Wirtptiam Marrvin.t
* I hope that geologists will not in future be content merely to say,
that such a rock “ abounds in Belemnites, Terebratula, Echinites, &c.”
or that such a formation of stiata “ contains Ammonites, &c.” Such in-
formation can be of little use, unless the species are well characterized.
This, in many instamces at least, may be done with accuracy; and it is
evident, that almost every practical inference that is to be deduced from
a knowledge of reliques, will depend in a great measure on their being
specifically distinguished. $ ;
+[On an application to Mr. Farey, and a reference to his Correspondence
with the able and !amented Author of this Letter, it appears, that the draft
of it was prepared between the 17th of July and the 7th of Augusc 1809,
although only part of the first page seems to have been transcribed by Mr.
M.in the copy lately sent to me by his Friends: which suspension and delay,
seem to have originated in the wish that Mr. M. had, first to avail himself
of the information to be derived from the manuscript Minera! Map and
Section of Mr. Farey’s. since mentioned in the Noie p. xxi. of the Pre-
faceto Mr. F.’s Derby: hire Report, vol. i. and on which account also, he
countermanded a Section that had been engraven (before he knew Mr. F.)
and suspended his other proceedings with respect to the promised Supple~
ment to the Ist vol. of ¢ Petrificata Derbiensia,” (as appears by his Letters
to Mr. #.), but unfortunately, he did not continue in health or live to re-
ceive the Map and Section alluded to. I have thought these particulars
might be worth stating respecting this worthy man, in addition to the Me-
moirs of him in the “* Monthly Magazine” for January last, vol. xxxii. p. 556.
T have availed myself of Mr. Farey’s {ssistance in three or four corrections
or suggestions (in parenthesis) as to the identity of particular strata; and 1
gladly embrace this opportunity further to mention, that Messrs. White and
Coehrane, in Fleet-Street, who continue to seli Mr. Wm. Martin’s two works.
on extraneous Fossils for the benefit of his Widow (in a poor state of health)

extraneous Fossils, found in Derbyshire. , 83

Localities, €8c. with Remarks.

Oak-like Woodstone. Petr. Derl. Tab. 1. Gravel-pits,
water-courses, fissures in the limestone strata. 1 ob-
served some years back small masses of this substance
in a gravel-pit half amile S.E. of Ashburne. As these
masses did not appear to be rounded, or water-worn,
the gravel was probably their origimal bed. About
four years ago my friend, the late Mr, S. Buxton,
surgeon, showed me some specimens of wvodstone,
which a miner had brought him from a level near Cas-
tleton, but I could not find the man, to learn the par-
ticular place. The other localities in the Petr. Derb. are
given on the authority of Mr. W. Watson of Bakewell.

Even-jointed Entrochite. Petr. Derb. Tab. 9. fig.1. &c. Con-
vex-jointed Entrochite. T.4. f.9. Warted Entrochite.
T. 4. f.10. Ring-jointed Entrochite. T. 4. f. 11,12,
13. Under beds im the first limestone stratum. Near
Monyash, &c. In Derbyshire Petrifactions I have
stated, that the Entrochitas occur more or less through-
out our limestone tracts. This remark, though per-
haps literally true, ought to have been given with cer-
tain limitations. The great mass of Entrochal remains,
found in Derbyshire, belongs to our first limestone, and,
J believe, chiefly characterizes the lower beds of that
stratum; yet none of the other lower strata, consti-
tuting what may be cailed the great ancient limestone
tract*, are wholly destitute of Entrechites, as far as
my own observations have exteuded. | have found
Entrochites in the second limestone in beds of dun-
stone, east of the Clump of Firs on Masson Low near
Matlock, in the rock atthe back of the old Hall, at

. Matlock Bath: and in the third limestone stratum, in a
small quarry near Buxton, between the Lover’s Leap and
the Ashburne road (3d or 4th stratum?); in the quarries
near Hasling-House, on the right hand of the road from
Buxton to that place (3dstratum?). J have memoran-
dums, which note my haying found Entrochites in the
4th limestone, between Bakewell and Buxton, and on

six orphan Children and an aged Mother, also receive the contributions of
the humane Friends of departed worth and scientific abiliues, towards alle-
viating the sufferings of those who were most dear to the deceased ; and that
Wilson Lowry, Esy. the Artist and Mineralogist, of No. 57, Great ‘Titch-
field-Street, Oxford-Street, continues his philanthropic endeavours in the
same cause, and will gladly receive and transmit Subscriptions to the Family
of the late Mr, Martin at Macclesfield in Cheshire.—£viror.]

* Lhave not yet sufficiently examined the (ess ancient limestone, (yellow
lime,) which appears at the NE corner of the county, to tpeak, positively
as to its organic consents,

Fe the

{

84. On the Localities of certain Fossils in Derbyshire.

the right of the road from Buxton to Ashburne ; but, ag .
these were made many years back, I cannot speak with
certainty as to the particular quarries, where these re- +
mains were observed. In all these instances, however,
it was only the even-jointed and ring- jointed Entro-
chites that were noticed. .
Since the first volume of Derbyshire Petrifactions was. :
published, T have had a considerable quantity of loose En- ~
trochites sent me from Matlock, Bot, as I understand; .
on the surface of the first fimestotie? » near a vein of ce
Jamine. ‘his is probably the case, as many. of the speci-
mens are filled with that substance. Among these re-
liguia vaya are several, which have not before been known
as Derbyshire Fossils, viz.an oval-jointed Entrochite, figured
by Mr. Parkinson, Ore. Rem. vol. ii. T. 13. f. 32. 40, 41.3
the pyriform Entrochite, Org. Rem. vol. ii. T. 16. f,1, 2, &c.
A doliform-jointed Fence one of the joints of which
is figured Org. Rem. vol. 1.7.13. f.63: and one or two
others, which have not ENA been noticed by authors.
Conchyliolithus Pinnites nudus. Petr. Derl. T. 6. f. 1.
In the first limestone at Buxton, in a stone wall near
the remains of the old Roman Bridge, on the left of
the road, leading to Fairfield. I have not yet observed
it in any other strata than the first (3d Limestone ?).
Conchyliolithus Helicites Catillus. T.7. f.1,2. In shale,
and first and second limestone. Limestone shale,
Buxton, in the foundation of the Shakespeare Inn.
First stratum of limestone, Buxton, in the limestone,
behind the Shakespeare Inn (3d stratum ?); 2d stratum?
near the rocks south 3 mile (3d of 4th stratum?).
Spherical Nautilite. T. 7. f. 3, 4,5. First stratum, Bux-
ton. Rock above the toadstone, left of mill-dale road to
the Lover’s Leap. Second stratum (3d?), as I judge
from the appearance of the limestone, forming the
matrix of a specimen, brought to me from Castleton.
Sulcated Phytolite, striaticulmis. T. 8. 9.25. First or Mill-
stone Grit* stratum. Bakewell, Gritstone quarry, east
of the town (shale-grit?). Buxton first grit quarry above
the Duke’s stables (shale-grit?). I have found im-
pressions of it also on the coarse millstone grit, at the
back of the plantation, above the quarry just mentioned.

* Teall the first stratum of grit, which immediately reposes on the lime-
stone shale, the limestone grit stratum, not because such substance is invari~
ably found where this stratum appears; but because I believe it always
passes into the coarse millstone grit, before the coal-soils commence. In
many instances, as at Bakewell, Buxton, &c. &c., close and fine grained
building or freestone grit forms the mide dle beds of this stratum, which still
Jocsens, as it appr oaches the limestone shale, gradually, into a rough argil-
jaceous gritstone,

Method for determining the Orbits of Comets. 85

Coal-soil. I cannot particularize, at present, the im-
mediate stratum, in which the specimens principally
occur, through ‘the coal-measures ; but I have had spe-
cimens of it in argillaccous gritstone from Alfreton ;
in ironstone from Wingerworth, and in the coal shale
and the coal itself, from near Buxton. I have not yet
observed it in that peculiar siliceous gritstone, found in
the coal-measures, calicd by the miners crowstone, al-
though this stone abounds with other vegetive religuia.

Phytolithus corticiradix & Phytol. compressiradix T.9. Mill="
stone grit stratum? Chapel-en-le- Frith. | The speci-
mens were found: in a wall about 1a mile trom the
town, on the Manchester road. I have not ascertained
the quarry, from which the stone was brought. Coal-
measures, in argillaceous grit ; in a small quarry about
}; mile trom Leek, a few yards left of the first Toll-
bar on the road to Buxton, in considerable quantity
(shale-grit?).

XIII. General Method for determining the Orbits ef Comets.
By M.(arvace.

[Concluded from p. 49.]

Tee thus the true perihelion distance, and the true in-
stant of the passage of the comet by this point, we shall
conclude from them the other elements in this way.

Let 7 be the position of the node which would be ascend-
ing if the motion. of the comet were direct, and o the in-
clination of the orbit: we shall have the six following
equations, : ‘
tang @w sin €'— tang w’ sin C

Mee tang @ cos 6) — tang @’ cos
: » tang asin 0’— tang w” sin &
i tang @ cos 6" tang w” cos @°** (¢)
. tang a’ sin 6” — tang w” sin &
AP Gih FS tang a’ cos 6” — tang a" cos oo
tang @
oa sin (€—j)
sipeet 2%: tang a
Be sn (@—y)

ra __ tang a” )

CAM ante apy os
We may choose ad libitum among these formule: but it
will be most correct to employ those whose numerators
and denominators are greatest.

F 3 Suppose,

86 General Method for determining

Suppose, for example, that we employ the two formule
(e) and (e’): it is visible that the tangent of 7 may equally
belong to the two angles 7, and 180° + 7, 7, being the’
smallest of the positive angles to which it can belong. In
order to determine which of the two to choose, we shall
' observe that ¢ and tang ¢ ought to be positive, and thus,
sin (&’—7) ought to be of the same sign with tang 2;
this condition will determine the angle 7, and this angle
will be the position of the ascending node if the motion of
the comet be direct; but if this motion be retrograde we
must add 180° to it, in order to bave the position of this node.

The hypothenuse of the rectangular spherical triangle of
which &”—j and a” are the sides, is the distance from the
comet to its ascending node in the third observation; and
the difference between that hypothetiuse and »” is the in-
terval between the node and the perihelion, reckoned on
the orbit.

Let us apply these results to the second comet of 1781,
whose perihelion distance and instant of passage by this point
we have already determined by a first approximation. For
this purpose, we shall use some abservations of the gth of
October 1781, and 17th of November and 20th of Decem-
ber of the same year: these observations give

Mean time at Paris.

1781, 9th Oct. at 168.50’ 0”, a@ = 194° '27'49",

oO 1) 40",

17th Nov. at: 85 99’ 44”, a = 306° 57’ 32”,

ata Soda iy ills oa

29th Dec, at 6% 6'30", «’= 306° 17’ 59”,

; p= 17°34! 95", ,
We have moreover

= 197° 13' 44", log R = 9,998864,
C’ = 235° 55’ 43", log R’ ='9,994602,
C''="269" 90 35"," loo R"= "0, 992748.

This being done; we shall form a first hypothesis, in
which the perihelion distance will be, as we have found
above, equal to 0,958359, and the instant of the perihelion
passage took piace on the 29th of November, at 18" 10’ 34”;
we shall find in this hypothesis

v= —'61° 18’ 3”, v= —'18° 7 19", » ='29° 8’ 15”,
which gives

U = 43°.10' 41", U' = 90° 26’ 18”;
we shall afterwards find
CSL 850") are a7 ee 46449 40%
w = O10) 34", == 18°: 6 39"2,' ge” = 27° 198.574
from which we extract
V="49° 63" 2", P='90°19'-89";
dividing m t= 17' 40%; “== 16’ 56”.

the Orbits of Comets. 87

The scries of the values of 6, &', &’, visibly indicates a
retrograde motion. ie

We shall afterwards form a second hypothesis, in which,
by preserving the foregoing instant of the perihelion pas-
sage, we shall increase the perihelion distance by 0,003.
We shall find in this hypothesis

m = — 33! 53", nm = — 12 54”.

Lastly, we shall form a third hypothesis, in which, by
preserving the same perihelion distance as in the former, we
shall vary by 9425 the instant of the perihelion passage,
which will thus be fixed on the 29th of November at 12>
10’ 31”; this hypothesis will give

on! =F AS VSI) 2! SOW! VB" s
we shall extract from these values the two following equas
tions, “3102.u— 1899.¢= 1069,

1760.%— 617.t= 1016,
which gives
w = 0,881406, f = 0,910400:
hence we conclude
the true perihelion distance = 0,9609951,
and the true instant of perihelion passage, the 29th of No-
vember at 12" 49’ 46" mean time at Paris.

In order to ascertain if these elements are very accurate,
ave may calculate the corresponding values of m and n, and
see if they are null or very small: now we shall find that
in tlre present case these values amount only to a small
number of seconds ; for the corrected elemepts give, for in-
stance, for the first and last observation,

v= — 60°56 37", ) /*y"=" 29° TO" 22",
a = 10' 334, a@’= 279 11’ 56",
c= Wg MO e” = 346° 38’ 53's
from which we extract
U7) ==' 907159507, 77 = 19091163",
and consequently m= — 41. These elements: bieling very
accurate, we shall extract from them by means of the for-
mule (e) and (e’) the position 7 of the ascending node,
and the inclination ef the orbit, and we shall find
Place of the ascending node = FT 129 bate
Inclination of the orbit = = 27° 19" 4”,

In order to determine the place of the perihelion, we shall
observe that &’—7= 269° 15’ 58", from which we extract
269° 20’ 50", for the distance from the comet to its node,
reckoned on the orbit, at the instant of the third observa-
tion: on adding to this distance the anomaly v" which the
comet has traversed by a retrograde motion since its peri-
helion passage, we shall have 298° 40! 19”, for the distance
from the perihelion, reckoned on the orbit, to its ascending

F4 node :

88 General Method for delermining

node: by adding afterwards to this distance the longitude
of this node, we shall have for the position of the perihe-
lion’ on the orbit, 376° 3’.7", or more simply still 16° 3’ 7”.
By collecting all these elements, therefore, we shall have
for the true elements of the orbit of the second comet of
178), ;
Perihelion distance.... 0,9609951.
20th Nov. 1781. Mean time at Paris of Ped 12h aot a6”
perihelion ....eseees 5
Place of the perihelion of the orbit.. 16° 3” 7”.
Place of the ascending node....... 77° 22’ 55”.
Inclination of the orbit.........+. 27° 12! 4".
The motion of the comet is retrograde.

The supposition of the parabolic motion of the comets is
not rigorous; it is even infinitely little probable, consider-
ing the infinite number of cases which give an elliptic or
hyperbolic motion, relative to those which determine the
parabolic motion: A comet moved either in a parabolic or
hyperbolic orbit will only Ke visible once ; we may sup-
pose, therefore, with probability, that comets which de-
scribe these curves, if some of them exist, have long ago
disappeared, so that nowadays we only observe those
which, being moved in re-entering orbits, are incessantly
brought back to intervals more or less large, in the regions
adjoining the sun. If they have been observed with pre-
cision, and the visible are of their orbits be considerable,
we may determine with tolerable accuracy, by the following
method, the time of their revolution.

For this purpose let us suppose that we have four excel-
lent observations which embrace nearly the whole visible
part of the orbit; and that we have already determined by
the foregoing article, the parabola which nearly satisfies
these observations. Let v, v’, v’, v'”, be the anomalies cor-
responding to these observations; 7,757", 7°", the corre-
sponding vector radii; take also

v—v=U, vr —v=U', v"—v=U".
This being done, we shall calculate by the foregoing ar-
ticle, with the parabola which nearly represents these obser-
vations, the values of U, U’, U", and those of V, V’, V'";
take therefore .
U—V=m, U' —-Vt=m,U" —/" =m".
We shall afterwards vary by a very small quantity the
perihelion distance in this parabola; take then
U.—V = ni — F'n" —V" = 0".
We shall afterwards form a third hypothesis, in which,
by preserving the same perihelion distance as in the first,
we

the Orbits of Comets. 89

we shall vary by a very small quantity the instant of the
perihelion passage; take in this hypothesis,
O-— V=), UV ='p5°U" =" =".
This being done, with the perihelion distance and the
instant of the passage of the comet by this point, found in
the first hypothesis, we shall calculate the angle v and the
vector radius r, in the supposition of a very eccentric el-
lipsis ; so that by calling e the relation of the eccentricity
of this ellipsis to its half great axis, the difference 1—e
is equal to a very small quantity, for instance to 34. In
order to have the angle v, in this supposition, it will be
sufficient to add to the anomaly v, calculated in the para-
bola, a small angle, the sine of which is .
vs (1 —e).tang £ v. (4 —3.cos* Lu—6.cos* Zn) ;

The new anomaly v being thus known, we shall substi-

tute it in the equation
fjs (i= ~ tang? $v)
which is the expression of the vector radius in a very ec-
centric ellipsis: by this means we shall have the corre-
sponding veetor radius r. We shall calculate in the same
way v’, rs v", Ps 0”, 7”; from which we shall extract
U, U', U", V, V', V"; i this case take
U—V=4, U!—Pi—q, Uts b=.

Finally, let us call 2 the number by which we ought to
multiply the supposed variation in the perihelion distance,
in order to have the true one; ¢ the number by which we
ought to multiply the supposed variation in the instant of
the perihelion passage; and § the number by which we
ought to. multiply the value supposed for 1—e; we shail
form the three equations

u.(n—m) +-t.(p—m)+2.(q—m)+m=0,
u.(n'—m!') + t.(p'—m') + o.(g'—m’) + m= 0,
u.(n"—m") + t.(p"—m") + o.(q'—m") + m’=0.

We shall have, by means of these equations, the values
of uw, ¢ and 0, from which we shall extract the true perihe-
lion distance, the true instant of the passage by this point, -

and the true value of 1—e. Let D be the perihelion di-

stance, and a the semi great axis; we shall have a = smack

from which it is easy to conclude, that the time of the re-
volution of the comet will be equal to the number of sidereal.

years expressed by ah ~. We shall have ‘as in page

(1—-e)#
85;

go Remarkable Cases of Venereal Infection.

85, the inclination of the orbit and the positions of the
ascending node. and of the perihelion.
_ When the arc observed of the orbit of a comet is con-
siderable, and particularly when it extends beyond 90° of
anomaly, where the ellipticity begins to become perceptible;
it will be desirable that we should have four observations
made with all the precision which we ought to expect from
modern astronomy, taking care to verity the position of the
stars to which we refer the motion ofthe comet.
Whatever may be the precision with which we strive to
make these observations, they will always leave some un-
certainty as to the time of the revolution of comets: the
most accurate method for determining it, is to compare the
observations of a comet in two consecutive appearances :
the resemblance of the elements of the two parabolic orbits
determined by these observations, will make known the
identity of the comet, and we shall have, by the difference
of the instants of the perihelion passage, the time of its re-
volution and its grand axis. It was thus that the period of
the comet observed in 1531, 1667, 1682, and 1759, was
determined; a period which 1s a Jittle unequal, on account
of the attraction of the planets, as M. Clairaut has shown,
by subjecting to analysis the perturbations experienced by
this comet from Jupiter and Saturn,

= = = = —=—S—S>

KIV. Account of some remarkable Cases of Venereal
Infection.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Padi me to communicate some medical facts
which lately occurred in my practice; and as there is not
any sufferer upon whom the circumstances can reflect dis-
honour, or whose delicacy can suffer by the relation, an
insertica of the entire matter in your imstructive Magagine
may convey original information to professional men, and
will oblige Your obedient servant,

Rozert Heaty, M.B.

On the 23d of July 1830, I was requested by a respectable
friend to see his wife, who complained of great and general
debility, loss of appetite, with violent pain of the head. She
was nursing. The child seemed very healthy. She said she
was attacked with hemorrhoids about three weeks after her
lying-in, whith ason the itth of May 1810. She had
had small glandular swellings in her groins, which had sub-

sided ;

Remarkable Cases of Venereal Infection. 91

sided; had taken no medicine. About ‘the esth, reddish
spots appeared on her arms, ‘and? small tumours scattered
ever her thighs, which disabled her from walking. She
complained of profuse perspiration on her breast, particu-
larly at night, 1 directed the warm bath with alteratives.

August 7th. Notwithstanding the treatment, the sym-
ptoms became much aggravated ; the reddish spots had
spread upon her face. I requested my friend to confess
whether he had not contracted the venereal disease; to which
he answered in the most solemn manner in the negative.

On the 14th I required a consultation, and met one of
the most eminent physicians in Dublin. | After examining
the patient, he mentioned our suspicion to the mother of
the lady, that the disease was venereal. It was deemed
advisable to bave a surgeon in consultation, and that we
should meet the following day. In the evening I visited a
patient convalescent from fever, from whom 1 heard that a
Mrs. M. was dangerously ill, not only from a disease which
she had contracted at the time of her lyimg-in, but also
from avery sore mouth. On inquiry, it appeared that she
was attended in her accouchement by the same gentleman
who attended my patient.

On the 15th we mets; and that consultation removed
every doubt of the nature of the disease; and as she did not
receive it from her husband, 1 suggested to the medical
gentlemen that the accoucheur might have conveyed the
infection by his hand, Tiat mode was deemed possible,
though not very probable; and our opinion to that effect
was communicated to the accoucheur,

18th. All that train of misery incident to supposed con-
nubial infidelity, aggravated by the sufferings of a loathsome
disease, must have been the fate of my patient, if she and
her husband had not had proper mutual confidence and a
friendly reliance on my farther investigation. I met Mrs.
M.’s brother, with whom. | was acqnainted; and anxious to
vindicate the character of my patient, | told him my su-
spicion of his sister’s disease; and asked him, whether I
could with propriety mention my suspicion of the disease
to Mr. ivi. He answered in the afirmative, and introduced
me to Mr. M. I related to that gentleman the situation of
my patient, and requesied to know the disease his wife was
labouring under, and the time of ber delivery. He said
she lay-in. on the 92d of May 1810, that the accoucheur
was treating ber at present for cancer in the womb, or a
liver complaint, Isubmitied my opinion that it was the
yenereal discase, and also that she might have been infected

at

92 Remarkable Cases of Venereal Infection.

at the time of her delivery, the accoucheur conveying the
infection by his hand. He added, he suspected her dis~
ease to be venereal, and had mentioned. that suspicion to
his wife frequently.. I was introduced to the lady; and after
examining her, I became more confident in my opinion (as
there were buboes in her groins). l-advised Mr. M. to have
a conversation with the accoucheur, as to the nature of the
disease. In consequence of this, he (Mr.M.). called.a
consultation of the same medical gentlemen, with the ac-
coucheur, who met onthe igth. The surgeon before the
consultation called me out of the room, and communicated
what the accoucheur bad informed him of that morning;
namely, that he had contracted the venereal disease in his
finger in the course of his practice, and had conveyed this
disease in that manner. | I]t was deemed advisable, and even
indispensable, for the accoucheur to confess that he was the
cause of this severe ailment to those ladies; which he com-
plied with by letter, not only to these ladies, but to others
who had been diseased in like manner. Meaning to view
the subject merely as.an instructive medical report, suf-
fice it to say, that upon a full and legal investigation, it was
deposed on oath by a medical gentleman, in behalf of the
accoucheur, that he had contracted the disease in the course
of his practice, about two years previous to the preceding
unfortunate event; that he had undergone a complete course
of mercury, and used even a larger quantity than is usual,
and that he conceived himself incapable of communicating
the disease ; that previous.to that gentleman’s attending
my patient, a window sash had fallen on his finger, which
produced a sore; that this sore became a venereal one, and
infected. the ladies before he was aware of its real nature,
The child of the first lady was weaned on the 15th; after-
wards spoon fed, and continued healthy. The other child
was transferred about the 19th to a sound. healthy nurse.
In a month a rash, appeared on the bead of the child, which
in a little time spread over the body, and remained ano-
malous for a month, but afterwards became-distinctly sy-
philitic, and) which yielded to the influence of mercury.)
Sinee the occurrence of the above, I was called to attend a
lady, who after exposure to,cold complained of acute pain
of the right side, shooting to the scapula, causing difficult
and impeded: respiration 5 cough and thirst urgent, want of
appetite, tongue foul and blackish, pulse quick. She never
was confined by sickness,.or stood in need of medicine.
Married four months. These febrile pulmonary symptoms
yielded ina week. After three weeks, I was again requested,

to

Geological Observations in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Sc. 93

to see this lady. She now complained of sore throat’ with
difficult deglutition. On inspection, there appeared slight
inflammation of the tonsils extending to the palate, which °
continued stationary about a fortnight, without’ any other
symptom of disease; when, during the use of the warm
bath and gentle diaphoretics, venereal blotches on the fore-
head and nodes on the shin bones arose. It appeared on
investigation, that the lady had contracted the disease from
her husband, who had had the disorder previous to his
marriage, and who'had been apparently though not radi-
cally cured. Relating this case to an eminent surgeon,
he mentioned that a patient of his, a lady, who had con-
tracted the venereal disease in her accouchernent from the
above mentioned accoucheur, bad no other symptom but
what first showed itself in the throat.

"No. 1, Clarendon Steet, Dublin, Feb. 1, 1812.

XV. Geological Observations, in Correction of and Addition
to the Puper on the Great Derbyshire Denudation, in our
last, and the Report on Derbyshire, &c. ; relating prin-
cipally to Coal:méasures near to the Chalk Strata; the
Course of the 3d and 4th Grit Rocks and Crowstone
through Yorkshire, and the Termination of its Coal-field
Northward: the Limits of the Yellow Lime Rock, and
the Existence of Red Marl, Gypsum Beds, Strontian, &c.
between its Rocks, ec. Se. By Mr. Joun Farry Sen.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, W wen the paper which you have done me the ho-
nour to copy from the Philosophical Transactions, into
yotr last Number, p. 26, was sent to Sir Joseph Banks:
but two or three sheets of my Derbyshire Report had been
printed : since which period, by the many comparisons of
my travelling and other notes and mineral maps, during
the prinung of that volume, from the letters ad com-
nlunications of my friends, and two journeys which J made
into Yorkshire since the Report was published, some new
Jights have been thrown on the north-eastern part of the
great Derbyshire Denudation, the particulars of which I
~ aim anxious to submit without delay to your geological
readers, im the hope, that some of them will be able and
disposed freely to communicate new facts, and verifications
or corrections of those which I have already, or am now
about to mention, in order, that the remaining difficulties,

with

94 Mr. Farey’s Geological Observations

with regard tothe stratification of this important part of
England, may be cleared up.

When I said (p. 27 and 28 of your last Number) that ani
uninterrupted series. of basset-edges of strata, dipping to
the SE, and ranging in continuity from SW to NE in
certain undulating lines conformable to the surface, “ from
one sea to the other,” had been traced by Mr. Smith, and
shown on his manuscript maps, | spoke from an imperfect
recollection of some parts of his maps; and had forgot
some difficulties which he once mentioned having expe-
rienced, in tracing the strata across the flat country around
York : at which time also, he was in the habits of meti-
tioning the oalite or ova-formed limestone of the Bath series
and of Portland island in Dorsetshire, as belonging to the
same stratum; and as the Jate Rey. Mr. Michel also con-
sidered them, as I have mentioned, p. 103, of your 36th
volume, and vol. 1. p. 113, of my Derbyshire Report, but
which now appears to be incorrect; and that the oalite of
St. Alban’s-Head and Portland-Is!e on the south coast, is
the same with that of Calne in Wilts, Aylesbury im Bucks ;
and New-Malton, Helmsley, Kirby-Moorside, Pickering,
and Filey head SE of Scarborough, in Yorkshire, and is
situate within 100 yards (perhaps, and composed _princi-
pally of chalk-marl) of the bottom of the chalk, greatly
above the Bath-freestone *; and it seems, that beaded the
disappearance of the upper of these important Oalites (the
Aylesbury Limestone) under Alluvial Clay, from Stewkley
in Bucks, through all Bedfordshire, (see that article in the
Edinburgh Encyclopzedia,) and Cambridgeshire also, per-
haps, till its first exit from the Island near Hunstanton-
cliff in Norfolk, it makes no appearance, or where the lower
Chalk again enters the Island nearW ainfleet in Lincolnshire,
or for some distance after the bottom edge of the Chalk
emerges {rom the Fens near Walton, as we proceed north-
westward ; yet, in the hills near Dalby, Langton, &c. I saw’
thickness enough of strata basseting, to account for this
Limestone Rock, that I had not time to search for minutely,
or to inquire what had been proved underground, in sink-

ing wells or otherwise, when I was in that county in 1807,

* Do more than these éwo parts of the British series of strata produce ova-
formed limestones ? a question Lask of your correspondents, from having seen
a very flat Echinus filled with oalite (like those of the Bath strata) said to
be brought from Linton-Swinden in Threshfield, ten miles N. of Skipton in
Yorkshire? The large botryoidal Pisolithus at Boiling-hil! one mile S. of
the mouth of the Wear in Durham, and in other situations, do not appear te
compose regular strata, } believe, as the small pisolites do.

Mr. Michel’s “very fine white sand,” vol. xxxvi. p. 104, seems to be that
dug at the foot of the red marl range, on Markham-Moor, by the great
North Road. i

in. Yorkshire; Derbyshire, Gc. . 92

nor can I hear any thing more of the appearance of ‘this
Oalite, near to Market-Raisin E, Caiston, W, Brigg E,
crossing, the Humber NW _ of Barton, near Market-
Weighton W, and near Pocklington, where J suppose to
be its range, and on which points I solicit the assistance of
your readers and correspondents,

The first or outer-raised tract shown in the map and
mentioned p. 30, of your last Number, I now suppose to
have a north-eastern corner extended to near Leavening,
between Acklam and Burythorpe, near to the edge of the
Chalk! ; the eastern boundary fault, afier passing W_ of
Bawtry and Thorne, as there mentioned, probably proceed-
ing near Snaith, W of Howden, E of Aughton, W of
Pocklington, W_ of Garraby-street Inn on the York and
Bridlington Road (being here very near to the Chalk), near
Acklam ; and after turning, nearly at right angles near
Leavening, the same probably proceeds near Crambe S,
Sheriff-Hutton S, Stillington S, Easingwold, Thirsk SW,
to near the Swale River about Ainderby-Steeple, where 1
Suppose it to turn again at rather more than a right angle,
pass NW of Northallerton, NW of Stokesley, near
Ormsby, Wilton, and Kirkleatham, and enter the German
Ocean near or on the SE of Redcar, near the mouth of the
Tees: instead of this fault turning westward up the course
of the Wharf River, as I conjectured a year ago (p. 80),
before having seer the Country, as will be further noticed
presently.

By this prodigious eastern fault, it has lexpect happened,
that the magnesian or Yellow Lime Rock (with perhaps
Coal-measures above it in some places, Report i. 182) oc-
cupies the surface under the Gravel, Peat, Sc. on its west
side (p. 31) from vear Nottingham, to. somewhere near
Pocklington* ; but on its eastern or/outer side, are Red: Marl

strata,

* And westward thence to near Wetherby, and even to Boroughbridge,
probably, since in all the large part of this outer-raised tract, to the west
of the line where Gravel is seea covering the Yéllow Lime, viz. from the E of
Radford, near Nottingham, by Bobber’s Mill, Cinder hill S$, Basford NW,
Bulweil E, Hucknal-Torkard E, Papplewick W, Anrfesley Park SE, S, and
5W, the Town W, Annesley-Woodhouse W, Kirkby 1 mile E, Sutton
J mile E, Mansfield Town E, Mansfield: Woodhouse E, Market-Warsop
W, Nether Langwith E, Cresswell E, (in Derbyshire), Belph E, Shireoaks
E, (in Notts.) Gateford W, Carlton, Oldcoats W, Harworth W, Tickhill E,
fin Yorkshire), Wadworth E, Uovetsall 'W, Doncaster W, Arksey E, Ows-
ton, Sutton, Mawkhouse, Norton, Walden-Stubbs, Womersley, Gridling.
Stabs EF, Knottingley E, Birkin, Hillam, Monk-Fryston, Soath-Milford E,
Sherburn I’, Barlston E, Towton E, Tadcaster; and thence perhaps, W of
Healaugh, b of Bilton, E of Kirk-Hammerton and Green-Haminerton, § af

1 the

96 Mr. Farey’s Geological Observations

strata, containing accidental beds of Gypsum, at Newark
and Hawton near it; at Tuxford, and Laxton, Askham and
East-Markham near it ; at South and North Wheatley ; near
Thorne, Crowle, &c. ; beds of ‘blue Marl-storie also occur
in it, at Hookerton, Kirklington, Maplebeck, Sutton or
Trent, &c. White Sand in West Markhani, as already men=
tioned, &c.; and these Red Marl strata, abut against the fault
on its E side, to somewhere NW of Howden* 3 when’
the Blue Lias strata of Long-Bennington, Coddington, and
thence E of the Trent to Burton.on Stratherf succeed, and
which strata soon after are lost under Peat’and'Gravel, and.
I suppose, abut on the fault, NNW of Howden: ‘after
these, other strata higher in the series, range ‘and’ abit in
like manner, under Gravel probably, and’ then ‘the Bath

Freestone ranges, along which the Roman* Road proceeds

from Stamford E of Grantham, Ancaster, Lincoln, Spittal;

the Yore River and of Boroughbridge, and E of Ripon, whichis as far N as
my information of the eastern edge of the Yellow Lime (covered by Gravel)
extends; crossing over therefore E to Sessay, and following the great fault
above described, near Easingwold, S of Stillington, S of Sheriff Hutton,
S of Crambe; turning then § along the vale of the Derwent to Butter-
Crambe, and then SE te join the fault gain somewhere W of Pocklington,
and thenée following the fault already described to Nottingham, all the
large intervening space, including almost all the vale of York and Sher-
wood Forest, has as Lam told, an entire surface of Gravel, Peat or other ex-
traneous matters (according to my definition of each, Derbyshire Report i.
p. 181), that prevent the regular or undisturbed stratification from being
seen ; a circumstance which 1 particularly request assi:tance upou from your
readers, who know or may happen to travel anywhere within this tract,
and particularly that they would state, what the two remarkable Hills W
of Selby, called Hambleton Hough and Brayton Barfe are composed of?
since they can hardly be formed of alluvia?

* In the north-east angle of the great fault, a piece of these same mea-
sures secnis to remain on the surface, and produces a hail-pluster or Gypsum
Quarry near to the Derwent, SW of Westow: and whrich Gypsum and Red
Mart are probably in their proper relative situation to the Lias } strata, that
might be found in Leppington aud Bugthorpe (alsu within the angle of the
fault), as I judge, from the Pentacrinus or five-rayed Encrinus there found),
(as mentioned Philosophical Transactions, No.112) especially if it be true, that
this curious animal remain, is found in the British series; on/y i Lias sirata 2;
on which question I particularly wish the assistance of your readers; for if
they have also a place much higher in the series, it.may otherwise explain
this part, and the appearance also of these fossils in the banks of the Swale at
‘Topcliffe (and perhaps at Allerton Maulleverer?) which bas induced Mr.
Smith to conclude, that the Lias strata are there to be found? and us upper-
measures to the Red Marland Gypsum, said to be found near Thirsk ?: and
as all the suppositions that can be made on so new a subject of investigation,
ought to havea candid examination, are there any local beds of Red Marl
and Gypsum, much higher in the British series than the Bath Freestone?
that might account for the Gypsum near Westow, aud perhaps at Bilton,
Green Hammercon and 8 miles E of inaresborcugh, in the tanks of the Nidd
near those places; W of Thirsk, and in Lazenby near the mouth of the Tees,
&c, instead of the explanation that [intend to offer herein, regarding all
but the first and last of the above-mentioned occurrences of Gypsum ?

Wintringham,

os to

in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, @c. 97

Wintringham, and there it disappears under the waters of
the Humber, and afterwards under the Peat and Gravel
(as 1 understand) but proceeds beneath these until they
‘abut against the great eastern fault, somewhere SW of Pock-
lington, and are no where afterwards seen northward in
Great Britain, | believe*? The Sand, Limestone and gray
Slate of Colly.Weston, the Barnack Rag-stone and Clay,
the Bedford Limestone and Clay, and the great Clunch Clay,
(Derby Report’i. 113), the Woburn Sands and Clays, &c.
above it, and the Aylesbury or upper Oalite Limestone, all
in like manner range successively to the Eastward, and are
I believe, cut off obliquely and abut on this fault (perhaps
under Gravel and Peat) W and NW of Pocklington: the
Chaik-marl being perhaps the only stratum beneath the
Chalk, that preserves its connection past the corner of the
ouler or easternmost raised tract of strata (p: 2Q,of your
last number), and after basseting at Birdsal (under Tottern-
hoe Stone), occupies the space between the Chalk, east and
south of it, near Settrington, Thorpe-Basset, Wiutringham,
West Heselton,:Sierburn, Potter’s Brompton, Ganton,
Folkton, Hunmanby, and the S end of Filey Bay: and
the Oalite which ‘it overlies on the west and north &c.
sides, near Langton, North-Grimstone, Settrington, Nor-
ton, Old Malton, Amotherby, Barton, Stonegrave-Ness,
Nunnington, Haram, Nawton, Webburn, Sinnington,
Wrelton, Aislaby, Pickering, Thornton, Wilton, Ebbers-
ton, Snainton, Brompton S, West-Ayton S, Scamer,
Cayton, Lebberton, and Filey S. *

Two circumstances seem to conspire, to prevent the
tracing of the Malton or upper Oalite Limestone tar south
of that town, viz. the low and flat alluvial surface of the
country and the corner of the large lifted and denudated
tract that-] have mentioned above, and | am not acquainted
with any place where this Rock is conspicuously displayed $
of this, in Yorkshire, or im Lincolnshire, as mentioned above:
north ‘of ‘the corner of this lifted tract, this Rock forms
quite’a feature of the country, forming the surface in a large
tract of very high and at present barren and heathy moors,
principally, that stretch out to within seven miles of North-
allerton s which extraordinary stretch of strata near the top
of the British series, so far to the west, seems occasioned
by a trough, or natural depression of the strata rather, per«
haps, than to tilts by faults, which may be traced fromthe

* Does Scotland produce any strata of ova-formed Limestone?

Vol. 39. No. 166, Feb. 1812. G yale

98 Mr. Farey’s Geological Observations

vale of the Hall River near Great Driffield, NW, near to
West-Lutton, Wintringham, Kirby-Misperion, Helmsley,
Old-Byland, and Over-Stilton, to the great fault perhaps,
somewhere N of Northallerton; and which occasions the
London Clay series to advance beyond Kendall, the Chalk
beyond Wintringham on each side, the Chalk-marl almost
to Helmsley, the Aylesbury Limestone to Keebeck, and the
under strata of Coal-measures and Alum-shale near to
Osmotherley at least; the dip being obliquely towards this
line, itself declining eastward, but unequally in different
parts; alow part of this trough, seeming to occasion the
running of the Derwent W from near Filey to meet other
streams coming eastward, on the N of Malton.

The upper edge of this Limestone stratum has been men-
‘tioned, in speaking of the Chalk Marl; its lower edge and
cline of its extent on the surface may be traced, near Wes-
tow Crambe, Bulmer, Terrington, Dalby, Bransby N,
Owston, Coxwold E, (with -detached hummocks at the
Towns of Crake and Coxwold); then turning NE and E,
owing to the deep and large excavation of the Rye River
and some of its south branches (which has exposed the
Coal-measures on Grimstone-moor E of Yearesley) N of
Newboro’ Park, NE of Yearesley, SE of Shackleton,
by Hovingham, crossing the Rye NE of this, by Stone-
grave, S of Oswaldkirk (having inclosed a Limestone cap
or hummock at Colton, and NW of it), Ampleforth,
Oldstead, Kilburn S, Sutton under Whitsuncliff E, Thirlby,
Boltby, Kirby-Knowle NE, (the town standing on a de-
tached hummock), Cowsby, (Keebeck standing on a de-
tached hummock), Arden-Hall N, Hawnby SW, S, and SE,
Carleton 14 mile N, Skiplam N, Gillamoor N, Hutton in
the hole S, Lestingham S, Cropton SW, S, and SE, New-
ton N, Saltersgate or Half-way house S and SE, Lilla-cross
S, Braxey W, Everly SW and S, (with » detached hum-
mock E), Falsgrave S, Oliver’s Mount ?, Wheatcroft W,
Osgodby, and Gristhorpe N, where it shows its under strata
on the shore of the German Ocean: such are the results
of my observations and inquiries, respecting the Locality
of this interesting Oalite Rock, on which I shall be thank-
ful to receive any corrections or additional particulars, from
the kindness of your Readers, particularly such as can enu-
- merate the extraneous fossils found in particular spots.

From near Gristhorpe and Filey above mentioned, the
measures that succeed these, below in the series, (with se-
veral local peculiarities of dip, that I must reserve for --

other

‘in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, &c. ; 99

“other opportunity) occupy the coast in succession to near
Marsk, and where the great eastern fault that has been men-
‘tioned abve, seems at once to cut off and conceal from the
‘sight, all the strata (that have been mentioned p. 96 and 97
above), between these and the Red Marl with Gypsum beds,
of which there are said to be large quantities near to the
Tees, N of Lazenby in Kirkleatham: whether these Red
Marl strata occupy all the north-west side of the great
“fault that I have supposed and mentioned, turn its W
corner and proceed on the W side of Thirsk, where I have
‘been told that Gypsum is dug, as before hinted, T am un-
able to say, any more than whether, the magnesian Lime-
stone, that is described in Mr. John Bailey’s excellent Report
oi Durham County, as overlying the great Newcastle
Coal-series from near Sunderland to near Piersbridge on
the Tees) is an immediate under-measure to the Red Marl,
that I have been speaking of ? and whether it be the same
with the Nottingham, Derby and Yorkshire magnesian or
Yellow-lime Rock? and whether these actually connect, by
way of Knaresborough, Ripon, Bedale, E of Richmond, Bee.
as [ have been told “by some is the case? are questions on
which IT am exceedingly desirous of accurate information 3
and would take the present opportunity of mentioning, that
the lower or calcareous part of the Newcastle series, as de-
scribed by Mr. Bailey, and by Mr. Westgarth Forster (see
his * Section of the Strata’’) seem, in the blending of Grit-
stone, Shale, Coal-seams, &c. with the Limestones pro-
ducing Mineral Veins, to differ so essentially from the
lower, or indeed any part, of the Derbyshire series, us to be
with the utmost difficulty referred to the same part of the
general-serics, as hinted in the note, p. 80, of your last

number.

Wiiether, in case of the identity of the magnesian Lime
Rocks and their under Coal-measures in Derby and Dur-
ham being established, the great fault that enters the island
near Hartley i in Northumberland (see the Map afhxed to the
** Picture of Newcastle,””) by turning more southward, after

* re-entering that County N. of Ebchester, may range across
Durham. and the North Riding of Yorkshire, to connect
perhaps with the great zigzag ‘fault of my Derbyshire Re-
port and p. 32 of your last number, (on which | have more
to say herein), and thereby entirely cut off and disconnect
the upper and lower parts of what Mr. Forster has joined
together as one series, perhaps about the 244th fathom o.
his Section, being the place where Mr. W. Miller’s engraved

G2 Section

100 Mr. Farey’s Geological Observations

Section begins (and proceeds downwards further even than
Mr. Forster’s), and by this means, make the Coa/ and the
Lead districts of Northumberland, Durham, and York-
shire to have no immediate or kuown relation to each other
in the series, I am unable to say at present: but certainly
this is one of several suppositions that ought to be fully
tried, by an actual survey, before admitting the identity of
such very different series of strata as compose the Lead
districts of Derbyshire, and the Counties above mentioned.

But [ return to the measures in Yorkshire, E of the great
eastern Fault, that basset from under the Oalite Limestone,
and occupy a space more or less wide on the SW and N
sides of that limestone tract, from near Westow on the
SSW of Malton, by Spittal-bridge, Sheriff-Hutton, Cox-
wold, Thirsk, Northallerton, Stokesley, Gisborough, Marsk,
Danby, Lyth, Whitby, Goadland, Cloughton, Scarborough,
&c. &c. and have to mention that I find these, after a care-
ful examination of the Country about Lyth (on which T in-
tend to say more at a future opportunity) to be Coal-mea-
sures, and consider them not less remarkable as occurring
ina much higher part of the British series, than had hi-
therto been supposed to contain any vegetal impressions
or other true indications of Coal*, than as containing nu-

* Candour and truth require, that I should here recall some too confident
and hasty expressions, on what I had been led to think a true position, viz.
that no distinct small vegetal impressions like those of the Coal-measures,
were to be found in the British Series above the Lias and Red Marl, as I have
said in the article}Coal, and some others in Dr. Rees’s Cyclopxdia, and in Dr.
Dickson’s Agricultural Magazine, vol. i. p. 116, and vol. ii. p. 30, the latrer
in answer to a defender of the disastrous scheme of sinking for Goals at
Bexhill in Sussex; and it is somewhat singular, that the call or challenge
which I therein gave (p.31) to produce a single specimen of such im-
pressions found at Bexhill, or in any upper part of the series of strata, has
not had the effect of obtaining cither public or private information of such
an instance, until I saw the strata in the north of Yorkshire, above alluded
to in July last. I now however think it highly probable, that the strata
around Battel, and eastward of it in Sussex, belong to these Coal-measures
(though I saw no vegetal impressions there) and that the appearances of
thin seam of Coal seen N of Court-lodge in Mountfield, E of Mountfield,
at Darvel-furnace near Robertsbridge, Silver-hill near Salehurst, &c. which
Lheard of in 1806, but referred to imperfect accounts of //uvd-Coal or bitu-
minated Wood in the Pipe Clay stratum (below the Chalk, and not above it,
as I now understand the Clay of Purbeck to be): but without much altering
my opinion oi the improbability of discovering even one useful seam of Coal
at Bexhill, or in any other part of Sussex. I further think, that the appear-
ances of Coals that have been mentioned at Brill N of ‘Thame, Southcote
near Leizhton Buzzard, in Stone-lane, between Leighton aiid Woburn in
Bedfordshire, near Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire, and in numerous other places,
ju the range of the Clunch Clay, are to be referred to these Coal-measures,
instead of bituminated Wood or Clay, as Mr. Smith and myself used to
“think; a conjecture of which coincidence of the Clunch-Clay and the Alum
Shale, 1 offered at p. 259, of your 35th vclume. aii
merous

in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, &c. 101

merous species and vast numbers of animal remains mixed
with its vegetal remains, and as containing but one seam
of Coals, and that a thin one, rarely amounting to 9 inches
thick, and never exceeding 18 inches, as I believe, after a
pretty extensive inquiry; though there is often a partial
Jayer of wood-coal a good deal below it.

The account of Mr. Edward Martin’s South- Wales Mi-
neral-basin has, Tobserve, been by a mistake in the note in
the Philosophical Transactions, and p. 28 of your last num-
ber, referred to the volume for 1808 instead of 1806.

From all that I had read or heard, respecting the northern
termination of the valuable Coal- field of the West Riding
of Yorkshire, some distance N of Bradford, Leeds, &c. and
hearing bow much wider this fieid was Ww and NE (irom
Halifax to Fryston-Hall near Ferrybridge) at no great di-
stance before its termination, than it is anywhere S of this
in Derbyshire: I rather too hastily (as it now appears) con-
cluded, that the zigzag fault (Derby Report 1. p. 168, and
p. 32 of your last number) was diminishing northward in
Yorkshire, or the rise becoming less on iis W side, and
that it would soon terminate, so as to admit a complete and
more extensive series of Coal: -measures basseting, in regular
succession, about the parallels of Leeds and Wakefield than
I had seen, as hinted p. 176 of my Report: and that in
consequence there must have been a fault, unconnected
with this zigzag fault, that ranged E and W about the
course of the Wharf River, &c. (p, 30 of your last num-
ber), against which the several Grit-stene Roeks and Coal-
shales abutted, nearly at night angles: on examining the
country about Wakefield and Leeds and NE of itlast August,
I find‘ however these facts to be very materially different,
and that the zigzag fault continues northward of Dinning-
ton (where it is shown in the Map in your last number) to
increase and acta stil] more important part in the structure
of the country, than it has done south of this; its route
probably being, near to Hooton-Roberts, Clayton, Feather-
sfone, Castleford, Church-Garforth, Barwick in Fimets
Thbtner, Bardsea Ww, East- Keswick W, Sicklinghall, &ce. 5
and perhaps, if the V eltow Lime continues much farther
northward? it may continue to follow its western edge un-
til almost arrived at the Tees, and then diverge from it west-
ward to let out the Newe astle Coal- field, as has been already
hinted, page 99.

Those three remarkable and characteristic strata, taken
in connection, the coarse 3d Grit Rock of Freestone, the

G 3 thick

102 Mr, Farcy's Geological Observations

thick 3d Coal-shale upon it, containing Crowstone, Ganister
or Galhiard, and the 4th Rock on this, of excellent gray
Slate and paving-stone,.were left off in nty Survey for the
Derbyshire Report, at Penistone (Yorks.), and.a little NW of
it, ranging then almost NW, and proceeding, as I rightly
conjecture d, for Huddersfield and Ealand on the Calder
(Report i. 164), and from the recollection that I had of the
range of the strata at Halifax, since I was at school there
with the late Mr. Robert Pallman in 1783, I was nota little
surprised, on visiting Woodhouse and Headingly NW of
Leeds, in company with my very valuable F riend (acquired
entirely through a ‘correspondence on these subjects in your
Magazine) Mr. Smithson, in August last, to observe there
these three strata with all their usual characteristics and
some others, ranging about ENE and dipping southward,
making direct for the edge of the Yellow Lime, and against
which and the zigzag fault, I satisfied myself by numerous
inquiries, that they actually abut near Thorner, the 4th Ruck
being there clevated, on the SW of the Town, to the levei of
the Yellow Lime on its E side! ; and that all the numerous
upper strata to these, had made a ‘like but Jess extensive turn
eastward, and had disappeared or basseted northward, instead
of abutting in that direction against a fault, as supposed.
he ranve of the 4th Rock, as an fades. to all the rest,
may he, from Penistone by May -Thorn, Brake-hole, Al
montbury, Huddersfield E, yell Ealand, Southowram,
Bank-top, Thornton, ‘Afiertaug Heaton, Eccleshill i in Idle,
Stanningley, Bramley village (the famovs quarries at the
Fall by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, bemg in the 3d
Rock), Deadingly 5, Woodhouse N, Chapel- - Allerton,
Rounday S of Shiadw ale and Thorner. The 3d Rock, I
believe, abuts on the Yeliow Lime and zigzag Fault between
Thorner and Bardsea, at a still higher level ! and it seems
probable, that this southern dip continues, until the 2d and
ist Grit Rocks and 1st Coal-shale and the Limestone-shalé
are brought round to abut on the zigzag fault, near to the
edge of the Yellow Lime: but still it seems, that a branch
from the zigzag fault must range westward, not far beyond
the Wharf River perhaps, anx T near Otley, Keighley, &c.
(as mentioned p, 30 of your last number), as otherwise, if
the dip continued, the Mineral Limestones and alternating
Toadstones of the Derbyshire series must basset, N of Otley
or W of Ripley, of w hich I never heard the probability ; ; but
the Limestones aad other strata there seem, as far as | have
heard, to answer nearly to the lower part of Mr. Westgarth
Forster’s

in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Se. 103

Forster’s series, as already hinted p. 100: unless indeed, they
can be referred to anomalous beds in the Limestone Shale?
like other remarkable ones that are mentioned in the Der-
by Report i. p. 228, &c,

In the preface to my Derbyshire Report p. xiv. T have
mentioned the Red Marl strata containing Gypsum beds,
that had been said to cover or lie on the top of the Yel-
low Lime Rock at Fairburn N of Pontefract in Yorkshire,
and the importance oftascertaining (as I have no where yet
been able to de) What is the regular or proper covering
stratum to this Lime Rock? made it among the most in-
teresting objects of my visit to Mr. Smithson, to go with
him and view these Gypsum quarries; but before I men-
tion my observations at Fairburn, it will be proper here to
give a more exact account of the Western edge of the lower
part of the Yellow Lime Rock (where it is seen covering
the Coal-measures) to the north of the Anstons in York-
shire, than is to be found at page 156 of my Report, and
which, from what I have seen and been informed, 1s as fol-
lows, viz. North-Anston, Dinnington SW, Laughton-en-
le-Morthen W, Slade-Hooton, High-Hooton, Maltby 5,
E, and N, Clifton W, Conisborough SE and E, Cadehy
S and W, Melton SW, Barnborough NE, Hickleton,
Hutton- Pagnell, Moorhouse E, Stubs-Hall, North-Elmsall
W, Upton NW, Went-Bridge, (very probably with some
detached hummocks to the W) East-Hardwick, Darring-
ton W, Pontefract E, Glass-Houghton E, Fryston-Hall S,
Ferrybridge W, Brotherton SW, Fairburn SW, Newton-
Abberth S, Kippax SW, (with two curious detached hum-
mocks SW) West-Garforth, Moor-Garforth, Barwick in
Elmet E and NE, Potterton SW, Kid-hall, Thorner
Church, East-Rigton W and N, (witha small and a large
hummock north of this between East- Keswick and Colling-
ham), Compton NW, (where my maternal Grandfather
lived), Wattlesike, Linton S, Weod-hall N, Sicklinghall
E, Spofforth E and NE, Plumpton Hall SW, High-Har-
rowgate NE, Knaresborough W, &c.*

After ascending with Mr. S. the edge of the Limestone at
Newton-Abberth, in our way to Fairburn, I was soon after

* In the Rev. William Atkinson’s collection at Boston, near Thc rp-Arch, I
saw some turbinated and scallop shells in dark-gray Limestone from Allerton-
Mauleverer, that may perhaps belong to the blue beds in the lower part of
the lower Yellow Lime Rock (unless they belong to the Liasas before hinted)
Report i. 157 ; and the Coals which G. B. Greenough, Esq. observed working
at Arkendile NW of this, last summer, may be those called the Bilborough
Coal, Reporti. 166, and those of Parlington near Abberford, and several
other intermediate places,

G4 conducted

104 Mr. Farey’s Geological Observations

conducted to the north of the Road, and of Fairburn old
Limestone Quarries, and in the midst of a common-field,
the general surface of which is Limestone with many shal-
Jow quarries in it made by the Farmers ; we ascended a de-
tached hummock of perhaps four or five acres extent and
40 or 50 feet high, in the SE side. of which the Gypsum
is dug, in a great number of thin regular beds in red marl,
nowise materially different from all the Gypsum quarries
that I had previously seen in this mal, except perhaps that
the beds of Gypsum are more numerous and thinner than
usual: standing on the top of this interesting hammock
(which has been dug over for Gypsum) with Mr. 5S. I re-
marked to him, that here were certainly undisturbed strata
upon the Limestone Rock that we had ascended from the
Coal-measures, and that the green hills in the inclosures to
the north, showed marks of the ancient diggings of Gyp-
sum or Marl in their sides, and doubtless were similarly
constructed to that on which we stood: but observing, that
the Limestone hill about five or six furlongs to the east of
us, on which the village of Fairburn stands and the great
North Road passes north of it, was much higher than the
Limestone field that surrounded us, or than this hummock,
T remarked, that either a fault must range between us and
that hill, and had raised that so materially (previous to the
denudation that had left these singular hummocks), or, that
there were two Limestone Rocks, on the upper of which
Fairburn stood, and Newton on the lower, and that these
Marl hummocks were the remains of a stratum between
these Rocks. We lost no time in reaching Fairburn to
verify, if possible, one or other of these suppositions, and
soon found on inquiry, that several of the Wells in the village
had been sunk through Limestone into similar Marl with
Gypsum beds: a more decisive proof however immediately
offered itself, in a Tunnel that Mr. George Althas had about
two years beforedriven under the Village and Turnpike Road,
at 54 feet deep, for conducting a rail-way branch from the
Air Navigation, into the deep Limestone quarries N of the
Road, which Tunnel passed along this Marl and Gypsum
stratum: in examining of which in its place:at bottom of
the quarry, | was then and since able to detect several errors
that [ had fallen into when on my Derbyshire Survey, and
examined patches of loamy Sand and marly substances on.
the planes of Yellow Lime, in different places, and which,
from having seen or heard no instance of such basseting, or
having a regular place between the Limestone Rocks, and
owing chietly to the vicinity or admixture of the Sherwood-

Forest

in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Gc. 105

Forest Gravel near or in the top of such patches, T con-
cluded all such to be, and have described them as a/luvia, and
have in consequence, omitted to observe or notice, a most
important feature of the Yellow Limestone Rock, or Rocks
rather, that of their having strata of Red Mar] (sometimes
holding Gypsum and other substances), ochry ciay, loamy
or founders’ sand, &c. interposed between them, of very
variable appearance and thickness, but sometimes capable
of forming a feature in the Country, as we have seen to
the NW of Fairburn in Yorkshire. I will therefore here
mention the places in order, beginning S, near which I
suppose that the upper Yellow Lime Rock ends, and these
anomalous beds basset, with remarks, as I go aloug, of the
probable errors in my Derbyshire Report, in considering
them as alluvia, &c.

I am doubtful whether the Forest Gravel admits of
seeing the upper Yellow Lime Rock, anywhere south of
Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, (and probably the Red Clay
on the Limestone at the south end of that town, of which
bricks are made, may belong to these anomalous Beds? and
so may the lower and regular part of the large patch of
Founders’ or casting Sand, Report i. 464, Brick-earth, &c.
extending to the Brick-kilns SE of Skegby, Report i. 452,
that I have considered as alluvia in my Report, owing to
the quartz pebbles scattered on its surface), but it probably
_ appears at Mansfield-woodhouse, Warksop Park in Derby-
shire, Shirebrook, Over-Langwith, Langwith Lane, Walley-
Wood, (west of this, about 14 mile E of Bolsover, a hummock
of Founders’ Sand and red Brick-earth occurs, W of the
Tampike Road, Derb. Rep. 1. 135, 463 and 452), Walley
village, Bonbuck E (Notts.), Crag-Mill, (west of these;
Founders’ Sand at Frithwood-Farm, and on Elmton Com-
mon, Report 1. 464 and 137), Whitwell E, (Redhill, of loamy
saud with quartz on it, Report i. 142), Steetley, Shireoaks
Park in Notts. Wood-mill, Yorkshire, (Sand and Brick-
earth in Thorpe-Salvin, by the Chesterfield Canal, Report i,
141 and 452), Gilding Wells, Letwell, Roch-Abbey FE,
Braithwell (the Fullers’ Earth at Raddle-Pits, Report i. 465,
probably belongs to the anomalous beds of the Mar!), Ed-
lington, Brodworth E, (Sand and Loam near Redhouse on
the York Road, and Founders’ Sand near Hutton Pagnell),
Wentbridge W, (reddish Clay in the north Hill, in the York
Road), Greave-Park SW, (Clay on a remarkable small Com-
mon by the York Road, SE of Pontefract, called the Devil’s

sowling-Green), Knottingly E, (bere J am informed, that in
cutting a canal near the Air River, Red Marl and Gypsum
were

106 Mr. Farey’s Geological Olseruations in Yorkshire, Se,

were found ; to the W, also, Founders’ Sand is got at Glassy
Houghton and Wereldon or Weldale), Brotherton, Fairburn
(Red Marl and Gypsum SW and W, as above mentioned),
Ledston E, Micklefield, Abberford, Potterton E, (here and
at Whinclose one mile N, near Bramley Park, a white Clay
is found, with Galliard or Crowstone-like beds init, and a
white tender Grit-stone or Sand at Bramley-moor Quarry,
and at the SE corner of Bramley-Park; a patch of Clay
on the Limestone SE of East-Rigton, belong also I expect
to the anomalous beds between these Rocks), Bramham 13
mile E, (a very heavy and curious sparry bed about two feet
thick, on the Limestone under Mr. Joseph Bovill’s Farm, at
the NE end of Bramham Town, belongs perhaps to the
anomalies of these Marl beds), Toulson (on thebanks of the
Wharf River about a mile below Thorpe-Arch, beds of Red
Marl and some Gypsum layers appear, and this Marl seems
to make a red clay surface on the Lime, N of Thorp-Arch),
Bilton (here Gypsum is found, see Mr. James Sowerby’s
British Mineralogy, Tab. 234), Tockwith, Kirk-Hammer-
ton, Green-Hammerton (at the latter place Gypsum is dug,
as I am informed, and between them the Gypsum anil Sul.
phate of Strontian is found, I believe, and in this stratum,
that Mr. James Sowerby has figured and described in the
last number of his “ British Mineralogy,” Tab. 444, though
said by its diseoverer to be had from the banks of the Nidd
ear Knaresborough, which is § miles off,

A more particular survey of the western side of the Yel-
low Lime district, would I] doubt not, discover many other
curious and anomalous substances, that might be referred
to the beds between the upper and lower Rocks of that
series. The establishing of local Geological Societies, such
as [ have recommended p. 217, and others of my Derby-~
shive Report, would prove of the most essential service in
promoting and methodising the several inquiries which I
have herein suggested, and many others net less important,
that will occur to all those who apply seriously to the in-
vestigation of the facts of the Terrestrial Stratification, a
pursuit in which utility will be found eminently united with
the highest species of gratification.

I am, sir,
Your obliged and very humble servant,

Upper Crown-Street, Westininster, JOHN Farry Sen.
February 9, 1812, Mineral Surveyor.

AVI. De-

[ 107. J

XVI. Desultory Observations concerning certain vegetalle
Muscicape. By Professor Barton, of Philadelphia.
Communicated by the Author.

A FEW years ago, I accidentally discovered that the flowers.
of the Asclepias syriaca of Linnzus*, like the flowers of
the Apocynum androsemifolium, are endowed with the
faculty of catching and retaining flies and various other
kinds of insects. I have given some account of this dis-
covery in the Transactions of the American Philosophical
Society tT.

In the course of the present year (1811) I have ascer-
tained that the beautiful Asclepias curassavica is also a Mu-
scipula, or rather a Muscicapa. My observations were made
on a small and by no means vigorous plant of this species,
which I had raised from seed. These observations con-
vince me that this Asclepias, in its native climate, or any
where else when adult and vigorous, must be a powerful
and even wseful fly-catcher. It often so completely retains
insects, even pretty large house-flies, that they are wholly
incapable of disengaging themselves, but perish upon the
flowers. Others, hardly more fortunate, escape with the
loss of their proboscis, or some of their limbs, Few, per-
haps, escape entirely uninjured.—The mechanism by which
Asclepias curassavica catches flies, is nearly the same as that
by which they are caught in Asclepias syriaca B.

As the genus Aseclepias consists of a considerable number
of species, and as all the species are so similarly constructed
that there is no good reason to doubt that they are all en-
dued with the power of catching insects, it is easy to per-
ceive what an immense havoc these plants must make of
animal life, especially in many parts of the United States,
where some of the species.of Asclepias are so numerous
that they cover hundreds of acres of ground, in close con-
nexion, especially along the banks of our rivers, in ihe
sandy fields, &c.

In the short paper entitled “ Memorandum concerning
a new Vegetable Muscipula,” which is inserted in the Trans-
actions of the American Philosophical Society, and to which

* Asclepias syriaca fp. of Michaux.

4 Vol. vi. part i. No. xvi. p. 79—82, Mr. Sonnini has given the credit of
this little discovery to an English naturalist of my name. ‘The respectable
French naturalist, speaking of the Asclepias syriaca, says, “‘ Une propriété
curieuse de ces mémes fleurs, dont la découverte récente est due au Docteur
Barton, de Londres, c’est qu’elles attrapent les mouches qnis’y posent at-
tirées par le suc mielleux qu’elles contiennent.”-—“ Plus de soixante mouches
furent prises ..... sous les yeux del’ observateur Anglais, &c.”"—Juurnal de
Physique, &e. tom, lxvi, p. 219.

I have

108 Observations concerning

I have already referred, I have, I fear, fallen into an error
concerning the Nerium Oleander, or common Rosebay.
My words are these: ‘ It has long been known that this
is a poisonous plant. But I do not know that any per-
son than myself has observed that this fine vegetable proves
very destructive to the common house-flics. These insects
visit the Oleander, 11 order to drink the fluid secreted in
the tube of its flowers. The liquor soon intoxicates them,
and very few of those which have gained admittance into
the blossom ever return from it. So great is the number
of flies destroyed in the course of one season by a single
Oleander, that I have often thought it would be worth our
while to pay more atiention, than we yet do, to the cul-
tivation of this vegetable ; as, independently of its beauty,
it is so weil calculated to lessen the numbers of a most
common and troublesome insect.”

Subsegnent and more cautious inquiries have convinced
me, that although the nectareous fluid of the Oleander may
prove deleterious to flies, yet that the greater number of
the insects which are observed dead or dying, in the flowers
of this plant, have been entrapped by the irritability of the
genitalia; by a mechanism, at least, as truly irvitable as
that by which insccts are detained in the flowers of the dif-
ferent species of Asclepias, of Apocynum, and other similar
plants.

In the course of my inquiries and labours concerning
the indigenous plants of the United States, I have had the
additional satisfaction of remarking, that one of our Grasses
is also a Muscicapa, or at least a catcher of small insects
of various kinds. And, so far as L know, it is the only
erass, hitherto discovered, that is entitled to the name of a
Muscicapa.

The grass to which J allude is the Leersta lenticularis
of the late Mr. A. Michaux*®. This plant is a native of
the marshy grounds of the Illinois country, of Virginia,
North Carolina. &ce. I do not know that it has been
found in Pennsylvania. The glume or corolla consists of
two valves, a character which belongs to all the spectes of
the genus Leersia. In the Leersia which is the subject of
my observations, the glume ts of an orbicular form, inclin-
ing to Jenticular, and is much larger than in any of the
other American species that are known to me, or than it

* Leersia (Jenticularis) panicula ramulis subsolitariis, ramillis secundariis
imbricatim spicifloris: glumis lenticulari-orbiculatis, conspicue ciliatis, ma~
susculis—Flura Bercuts- dnicricana, &c. tom.1, p. 39.

1s

certain vegetable. Muscicape. 109

is in the Leersia oryzvides of Europe and America. The
edges of the valyes are very distinctly ciliated, or furnished
with a number of fine teeth or delicate spinules.

It is this ciliate structure that enables the plant to per-
form the business of a Muscicapa. When a small insect,
such as a spider or a minute fly, insinuates itself between
the valves (probably in pursuit of a honeyed fluid), the valves
close upon it, the spinules enfolding each other; thus re-
taining the insect, which, I presume, as seldom escapes as
the insect that has been caught by the valvalar structure at
the ends of the leaves of Dionea Muscipula.

In the Leersia oryxoides of Swartz and Michaux (Leersia
virginica of Willdenow), which is called in the United
States * Cut-grass” and ‘* Sickle-grass,” the structure of
the glume is very similar to that which L have just described.
In particular we observe the ciliated structure, though it
is less conspicuous than it is in the Leersia lenticularis,
No doubt, the former as well as the latter of these grasses
is entitled to the appellation of a Muscicapa. But {have
not yet observed insects between the valves of the Leersia
virginica. I may hereafter inquire more. particularly into
the subject.

In Georgia and in Florida there grows a beautiful, shrub
to which the inhabitants have given the name of ‘ Fly-
catcher.” This shrub is the Befaria paniculata of Mi-
chaux*, The inhabitants collect branches of it, when it is
in flower, and hang them up in their rooms, and find the
flowers of very great use to them in ridding them of flies:
hence its name, which I have mentioned, and the only one,
so far as I-can learn, by which it is recognised in its native
country.

Tam not sufficiently acquainted with this piant to say,
with certainty, by what power it is that it catches, entan-
gles, or destroys the flies; whether by a contractile or irri-
table property, residing in some of the parts or organs of
the flowers; whether by the glutinous quality which be-
longs to the flowers; or whether by a deleterious quality
belonging to the nectar of the flower... I may, however,
observe in this place, that the Befaria is one of the vegeta-
bles from which. the bees in the countries of Florida, &e,
arc thought to procure a narcotic or deleterious honey,
Sull L suspeer that the muscipulating faculty of this plant
wil be found to be owing to a peculiar mechanism; that

* Befaria (yonieulata) ramis hispidissimis; foliis ovali-lanceolatis, glabris.
pauiculs subaphylla, mukifiora, glutivoss,— Fiera, &c, tam. i. p. 280. tab, 26.

is,

110 Observations eoncerning

is, to an irritable power residing in the flowers. But this
point remains to be determined by better observations. I
have never yet had an opportunity of examining the Befaria
in a living state.

I might here give a long list of vegetables, such as dif-
ferent species of Rhododendron, Kalmia, Robinia, Silene,
Lythrum, which by virtue of the viscosity upon different
parts of their flowers, &c. entangle and destroy small in-
sects. But my business in this imperfect essay is not with
Muscicape of this kind. Yet a more critical inquiry into
the use of this viscous matter, in the vegetable ceconomy,
by which millions of insects are destroyed in our gardens,
green-houses, woods, &c. might deserve the attention of
physiologists.

In regard to the Sarracenia, 'as J design to make their bis-
tory, botanical, physiological and medical, the subject of a
distinct memoir, I shall content myself at present by offer-
ing a few detached facts and observations concerning these
plants.

It is well known that all the species of this singular
genus (and I think at least seven species have heen dis~
covered in North America) are inhabitants of the water, or
of wet situations. All the species are furnished with tu-
bular or hollow leaves (ascidia), which in the more aduli
plants are seldom found without a considerable number of
insects dead or living in them. Ido not mean, however,
to insinuate that these insects owe their presence in the
Sarracenieé to any thing like an zrritable property residing
in any part of the plants. Indeed, I have not discovered
any vestige of peculiar irritability in the constitution of the
Sarracenia. But I think it sufficiently evident that nature
has taken some pains (if it be ever allowable to use such
language in speaking of the works and operations of Na-
ture) to solicit insects into the ascidia of the species of this
genus.

Thus, the flowers of the Sarracenia flava "(the yellow
Trumpet-leaf or Side-saddle-flower of the people of the
United States) have a most offensive, cadaverous or carrion-
like odour. This odour, to speak more properly, seems to
reside principally, if not entirely, in the broad peltated stigma
of the plant. I think it probable that it is, 2 part at least,
this odour, which is so potent and diffusible that it is
sometimes perceived at a considerable distance from the
plant, in a warm and rather confined atmosphere; that it is
partly this odour, which serves to solicit various kinds of
insects about the plant, many of which before they can

reach

certain vegetable Muscicape. 11a

reach the stigma are necessarily entrapped in the ascidia.
But I know not what may be the final intention of Nature
in giving the peculiar odour which I have mentioned to
the stigma of Sarracenia flava and some other species of
the genus. Those philosophers* who imagine that there
are some plants which cannot be impregnated without the
aid of insects, may perhaps fancy that they have discovered
Nature’s ulterior object in the present instance. Indeed,
T confess myself at a loss to conceive how, in some of
the species of Sarracenia, the pollen or fecundating in-
fluence of the stamens can reach the wpper surface of the
stigma. See in my Elements of Botany, and in other
works, the figure of Sarracenia purpurea.—And I presume,
that it is certainly upon the upper surface of the stigma of
these plants’ that the pollen, or at least its fovilia, must be
applied, in order to enlarge and render fertile the embrya
seeds. In the Sarraceni@, the aid of insects in giving fer-
tility to the germen or ovarium may possibly be necessary.
I think it cannot be much less necessary (if at all less ne-
cessary) in Sarracenia purpurea, than it is said by Mr. Will-
denow, Dr. J. E. Smith, and other respectable botanists, to
bein Aristolochia Clematitis.—See Willdenow’s Principles
of Botany and of Vegetable Physiology, English translation,
pages 316—318. Edinburgh, 1805f. But although I believe
in the doctrine of the sexes of plants as a general doctrine,
Iam compelled by many facts and considerationg to doubt
whether the impregnation of any vegetable is necessarily
dependent upon insectile aidf. On this curious subject
I shall offer something more specific in my “ Memoirs on
the Origin and Progress of our Knowledge concerning the
Sexes of Vegetables.’’ .

But there is still a much more considerable and obvious

* Linnzus, Sprengel, Willdenow, Smith.

+ See also Dr. Smith’s Introduction to Botany, &c. page 337, &c. London
1807. This botanist not only reposes confidence in Willdenow’s theory of
the insectile impregnation of Aristolochia Clematitis, but he thinks it pro-
bable that “for waut of some insect adupted to the same purpose in its own
country, the American Aristolochia Sipho, though it flowers plentifully, never
forms fruit ” in the British gardens. However it may bein Aristolechia Cle-
matiis, 1 am persuaded that insects are not necessary agents in the impreg-
nation of the germ of Aristolochia Sipho, or “ Dutchman’s-Pipe,” as it is called
in Pennsylvania. Iam well acquainted with this plant, and cannot perceive
from the structure and disposition of its genitalia any obstacle to the appli-
cation of the pollen to the femaleorgan. Certainly, there is much less difi-
culty in conceiving how impregnation is effected in this Aristolochia, than in
hundreds of other plants, concerning the impregnation of which no ditii-
culties have ever occurred in the minds of botanists.

‘The dichogamic plants can be in no other way fecundated than by in-
sects.” —Wlldenow.

cause

312 Observations concerning

cause of the collections of insects which are so frequently
observed in the ascidia of the Sarracenie@., These ascidia,
in some if not in all the species of the genus, appear to
possess a kind of glandular function, like the true nectaries
of a yreat many plants. A honeyed fluid is secreted or de-
posited on the inner surface of the hollow leaves near their
faux or opening; and it is this fluid which allures great
numbers of the msects, which they are found’to contain,
into the ascidia. . ,

I was entirely unacqnainted with this curious ceconomy
in the ascidia of the Sarracenie when | published the first
edition of my Elements of Botany; and even when I printed
ihe Appendix (in vol. 1.) to the second edition of this work.
The fact will not be deemed uninteresting by the cultivators
of vegetable physiology, since it somewhat enlarges our
views of the uses of the ascidia, and may assist us in making
a better disposition of these parts among the glands, or
glandular-like organs, of vegetables. I have little doubt,
moreover, that a more accurate examination of the genera
of Nepenthes, Aquarium, and similar plants, of which the
number is not inconsiderable, will render it certaim that a
honeyed fluid deposited about the opening of the ascidia of
these remarkable plants, is in them, as in the Sarracenia,
the principal eause of the deposits of insects which the tu-
bular leaves are so generally found to contain. Let me
add, that in the American plants, of which I have been
speaking, the honeyed fluid may often be very distinctly
seen; though sometimes, especially in the warmer weather,
it is only to be discovered by the éaste.

Many uisects, as well as some other anima!s, are found
in the ascidia of the Sarracenia, Nepenthes, &c. which do
not appear, to have been solicited thither either by the ca-
daverous odour of the flowers, or by the honeyed fluid about
the opening of the tubular structure. In the Sarracenia
we find species and sometimes large species of gryllus, or
grasshoppers, of gyrinus, &c. And Rumphius, speaking
of Nepenthes distillatoria, informs us that ‘* various little ©
worms and Insects crawl into the orifice and die in the tube,
except a certain small squilla or shrimp, with a protuberan&
back, sometimes met with, which lives there.” Smith’s
Introduction, &c. pages 197, 198. | Dr. Sunith has * no
doubt, thai this shrimp feeds on the other insects and
worms, and that the same purposes are answered in this
instance as in the Sarracenie.’’

It is certain, that a remarkable instinct directs some
species of insects to visit the ascidia of diferent species of

Surracenia,

certain vegetable Muscicape. 113

Sarracenia, principally, if not entirely, for the purpose of
depositing their eggs or larve in them. We often see some
of the Jarger species of Musca and Talanus sitting upon
the edges of the openings of the ascidia of Sarracenia flava
and Sarracenia purpurea. We soon find that they do not
come here, as do the majority of insects, for the purpose
of sipping the honeyed fluid from the ascidial glands.» The
mother-insect, carefully poising herself upon the brim of
the ascidium, emits from her uterus into the tube one or
more larve, which immediately betake themselves to the
lower part, where meeting with abundance of good food,
they rapidly increase in size and in strength.

I must give to Dr. Smith the credit of having preceded
me in making, or at least in recording, an observation nearly
allied tothe one which I have just detailed.“ An insect of
the Sphex or Ichneumon kind,” as far as be could learn from
the description communicated to him, ‘* in the Botanic Gar-
den at Liverpool,” ‘* was seen by one of the yvardeners to
drag several large flies to the Sarracenia adunca, and, with
some difficulty forcing them under the Jid or cover of its leaf,
to deposit them in the tubular part; which was half filled
with water. All the leaves, on being examined, were found:
crammed with dead or drowning flies.” ** The Sarracenia
purpurea,” adds Dr. Smith, ‘*is usually observed to be
stored with putrefying insects, whose scent is perceptible
as we pass the plant in a garden.’ This I have not ob-
served: and perhaps the odour spoken of may be that
exhaled from the flowers, or genitalia, of the plant. ‘* Pro-
bably (the learned English botanist goes on to observe) the
air evolved by these dead flies may be beneficial to vegeta-
tion, and, as far as the plant is concerned, its curious con-
struction may be designed to entrap them, while the wa-
ter* is provided to tempt as well as to retain them. The
Sphex or Ichneumon, an insect of prey, stores them up un-
questionably for the food of itself or its progeny, probably
depositing its eggs in their carcases, as others of the same
tribe lay their eggs in various caterpillars, which they some-
times bury afterwards in the ground. Thus a double
purpose is answered; nor is it the least curious circum-
stance of the whole, that an European insect should find
out an American plant in a hot-house, in order to fulfil
that purpose.”

* It is evident, from what has already been said, that it is not the water
in, but the honey about and upon, the ascidia,which tempts the greater
number of insects to visit these tubes, in the different species of Surracenias
Neither is it the water that retains them.

Vol. 39. No. 166. Fel. 1812. H T feel

114 Observations concerning

I feel much obliged to Dr. Smith for leading me, by the
preceding observations, to pay a more critical attention than
I might otherwise have done to the ceconomy of the Sar-
vacenice and other ascidial piants. Hitherto, however, 1
have not observed any species of Sphex, or of Ichnewmon,
engaged in the singular business which he has mentioned.
And although I do not doubt that the gardener’s statement
is in the main correct, yet I incline to think that the sup-
posed Sphex, or Ichnewmon, was an insect of some other ta-
mily. Future observations will, | hope, enable me to de-
termine this point entirely to my satisfaction,

Although [ have no doubt that | ants may derive much
of their nutriment and strength fics. the elements of de-
composed animal bodies, just as i suppose that innume-
rable species of animals are nourished by inorganic matter ;
and although it is possible that the air evolved by the dead
insects in the ascidia of the Sarracenie and other similar
plants may contribute somewhat to the vegetation of these
plants, yet I cannot suppose that the final intention of
Nature in furnishing plants with ascidial leaves is to lay up
a store of nutritious aliment for the plant.

So far as the species of Sarracenia are concerned in this
view of the subject, I hardly know avy plants to. which
such storehouses as we are speaking of would be less ne-
cessary. For they live in the midst or upon the margin of
marshes, where animal matters of various kinds are con-
tinually putrefying, and where of course the plants are al-
most constantly surrounded by an atmosphere of azotic and
hydrogen gases. '

Again, the wonderful Dion@a Muscipula, the extremities
of whose leaves entrap, and frequently retain for a consi-
derable time, various small species of insects, resides only in
marshy grounds, not much unlike those just mentioned,
In this plant, it appears to me to be still more difficult to
give a plausible guess about the intention of Nature in
constructing these vegetable Muscicape, than in regard to
the Sarracenia. :

If, however, we were acquainted with only the last-men-
tioned vegetables, with Nependies aud with Diove@a, as the
only plants, I say, endued with the power, however different
the means, of catching or entrapping insects, we might,
perhaps, with some degree of reason imagine that this fa-
culty is, somehow or other, subservient to the business of
~ vegetable nutrition. But never can this idea be extended,
with even the faintest shado of a good theory, to those
truly irritable Aluscicapee, Apocynum androsemifolium,

Asclepias

certain vegetable Muscicupe. 115

Asclepias syriaca, Asclepias curassavica, Nerium Oleander,
and many others, whose flowers entrap insects or the parts
of insects. For, in these plants, the whole quantity of ani-
mal matter applied to and retained by the plants, in their
most vigorous state, is a mere atom in comparison of the
volume ot living vegetable matter to be nourished. More-
ever, the animal matter is applied only to the flowers, which
no one imagines to be essentially concerned in nourishing
the plant; to the femporary organs, and not to those
which may be called permanent, the leaves or ascidia.

In making these observations, I have not an eye to the
theories or speculations of any particular author. I must
confess, however, that 1 once imagined that Dionzea Mus-
cipula itself does receive a part of its nourishment from the
insects which it entraps. And Mr. Roth, if J do not mis-
take, has endeavoured to show that the species of Drosera,
so common in the bogs of Europe, &c. are, in some mea-
sure, indebted for their growth and nourishment to the in-
sects which they entangle and retain. IT have not seen the
arguments by which the respectable botanist just men-
tioned supports his hypothesis.

I must not take my leave of the Sarracenie without ob-
serving, that the ascidia of some (perhaps all) of the species
of the genus furnish us with still another beautiful example
of what the ingenious author of ** The Studies of Nature”
would call the “ harmonies” of the vegetable and animal
kingdoms. For, omitting, at present, all further speculations
about the intention of Nature in giving to the species of
this genus ascidial leaves, and a capacity of entrapping
great numbers of insects, it is a fact, that these leaves be-
come repositories of the food of various species of birds.
It is not uncommon, in the native soils of someof the species
of Sarracenia, to see great numbers of birds, especially some
Muscicape, or Flycatchers, and other Passeres, assembling
about these plants, and, by means of their bills, slitting the
ascidia in order to get at their favourite food*. This weil

ee ascertained

* Linnzus tells us that the hollow leaf of Sarracenia purpurea is a reservoir
of water for thirsty little birds, ‘ Folium S. purpurez in Spec, Pl. deserip-
tum, aquam prebet sitientibus aviculis.” Prlectiones in Ordines Naturales
Plantarum, Edit. Giseke, p.316. Hamburgi 1792. ‘This is doubtless a mis«
take. ‘The birds supposed to be sipping water from the ascidium of Sarra-
cenia were, I suppose, engaged in the very different business of eating the
insects which the reservoir contained. None but a bird with a very long
bill would be able to take the water from the tube. Is it likely, moreover,
that any bird should be driven to the necessity of satisfying its thirst from
the reservoir of a plant which always grows in wet places, and frequently
in waters of a foot or more in depth? for Sarracenia purpurea is sometimes

secn growing in our cypress swamps, its roots, like those of a Lemyg or an
i Utvicu-

116 Observations concerning certain vegetable Muscicape.

ascertained fact will not be deemed incurious in a history
of the genus Sarracenia; nor unimportant in a history of
the instincts and intelligence of the great class of birds.
We know much less of the structure and ceconomy of the
different species of the genus Nepenthes, and of the only
species of the genus Aquarium that has yet been discovered,
than we do of the structure and ceconomy of the species of
Sarracenia. But it is highly probable, that the ascidia of
both Nepenthes and Aquarium* will be found. by future
‘botanists and naturalists to serve the same purpose, with
respect to birds, as do the Sarracenia variolaris and other
species of the genus in America.

The large ventricose ascidia of Sarracenia purpurea are
employed as cups, for holding and conveying water, by the
reapers and mowers in some parts of the United States,
particularly, 1 think, in New Jersey, where the plant is
called ‘* Water Brash.”

tie ali

After proceeding thus far, it was originally my intention
to have offered some speculations of my own concerning
the final object of Nature in constructing VeGETABLEMUs-
CICAP#, and especially those which I have ventured to call
irritable Muscicape. But the present essay has already
been extended to too great a length. My intended specu-
Jations may possibly form the subject of a future commu-
nication. In the meanwhile, these ‘* Desultory Observa-
tions” may perhaps contribute to the amusement of some
of my brother naturalists, both in Europe and in America.
Tf they shall produce this effect, my principal object in lay-
ing them before the public, in their present crude and irre-
gular state, will have been accomplished.

BenJAMIN SmitTH Barton, M.D.
Philadelphia, Septen.ber 3, 1811.

Utricularia, being suspended in the water and totally detached from the
earth. Ifit be true, as is asserted, that the Trochi/us Colulvis. or common
Humming-Bird, is sometimes seen about the ascidia of the Sarrucenice, we
seem safe in conjectrring, that this beautiful bird visirs these tubes for the
double purpose of sipping the honeyed fluid and of eating the insects.@l have
elsewhere shown that insects constitute a part, and pérhaps a considerable
part, of the food of this Trachtlus.—See the Philadelphia Medical and Physical
Journal, vol. i. part 1. art. xxiv. :

* Ido not know whether this singular plant (Aquarium sitiens of Lesche-
nault), belonging to the natural order of Succulentee, has yet been publicly
figured or described by any botanist. I have seen a drawing of the plant,
which is a native of Australasia, in the possession of Mr. Leschenauit, when
{had the pleasure of knowing this intelligent botanist, and of inspecting a
part of his rich collection of plants, &c. in Philadelphia, in 1807. The
Aquarium grows in a moist but firm soil. Its radicel leaves are hollowed,
and are in shape somewhat like a water-pot. Each pot is about an inch
long, and is capable of containing a good deal of water.

XVII. Case

Cuz]
XVII. Case of Injury of the Head,
To Mr, Tilloch.

Srr, Drererent Numbers of your Magazine having at
times fallen in my way, and seeing that several medical
cases were recorded; I thought | would send you the fol-
lowing notes of a case which has lately come under my
own observation, that, if you deemed fit, they may be in-
serted in your widely circulating Magazine.
From your humble servant,
Joun Burne.
—={s——

J.T. aged 36, for the last ten months has been a con-
stable. About five months ago he was struck on the fore-
head by a man he was endeavouring to secure. He felt very
little inconvenience from the blow, and went about his em-
ployment as usual.

Jan. 3, 1812. He said he was very unwell, with a dull
heavy pain ‘in the head, bnt he complained of nothing else ;
his appetite was very good; his bowels pretty regular ; his
eyesight very good, and he could walk about quite well.

B Pulvens Rhet.
Terebinthinee Chie aa 5]. M. Ft. pilule xxx, qua-
rum duas his die sumat.
KR Emplastrum Picis compositum Neucha.

Jan. 7th, -he found limself much better; the pain was
nearly gone, and he thought he should have no need to
apply again. The above treatment continued.

Jan. 17th. I have heard nothing of him since the 7th
till this morning, when he sent to request that I would visjt
him, for he was confined to his bed, and very dangerously
ill. When I visited him (which was about noon), I was
informed from his wife that he had continued to get much
better till the 16th, when he was suddenly seized with pain
in the head, giddiness, trembling ; lost his speech, and the
use of his right arm. In this state I found him ;’ the light
did not affect his eyes; he seemed very dull and stupid;
his bowels were contined :

RK Submuriatis Aydrargyri gr. vj. :
Pulveris Rhei gr. x. M. Ft. pulvis statim sumendus
ex Theriacd,
K Emplastrum Lytte Neucha.

Jan. 18th. Bowels have been purged ; has passed a very
restless night: cannot speak; in other respects the samme:
bis skin hot and dry.

H 3 A Misturee

118 Case of Injury of the Head.

KR Misture Camphore 3yvj.
Liquoris Ammoniz Acetatis 31.
Liquoris Antimonii tartarizati 3ij. M. Fiat mistura,
cujus sumat cocblearia dno ampla quartis horis.

Jan. 19th. No better; has passed a very restless night :
cannot speak: right arm still insensible, and he has no
power to move it.

R Submuriatis Hydrargyri gr. }.
Pulveris Antimonialis gr. 1).
Nitratis Potasse gr. xv. M. Fiat pulvis quartis,
horis sumendus ex Melle.
R Emplastrum Lyttz largum toto capite.

Jan. 20th. Somewhat better; can speak a few words,
but very indistinctly: has had no sleep; the light during
the whole time has produced no pain or inconvenience to
his eyes: there is much stupor and dulness about him ;
he complains of nothing, but shakes his head when he is
asked how he does. The powders continued.

Jan. 21st. Has had a little sleep ; can speak rather more
distinct ; his right arm is sensible to the touch, and he
can move it a very Jittle. The same treatment continued.

Jan. 22d. His bowels are regularly open; has passed a
better night ; moves his right arm rather more freely, and can
take a little food. The powders continued, but not so often.

Jan. 24th. Much better; can sit up in the bed and eat
some meat; sleeps tolerably well, but has a troublesome
tickling cough. The powders are discontinued.

B Oxymellis Scillz.
Syrupi Papaveris albi 4a 3]. M.Cochleare minimune
urgenti tusse capiat.

Jan. 30th. Cough relieved: has taken no other medicine 5
he is able to get up and walk about the room: appetite
pretty good ; his right arm is more sensible, and he can
move it much better; speaks more distinctly. I put a se-
ton in the back part of the neck, and ordered him to take
no medicine whatever.

Feb. 12. The seton has discharged copiously, and he has
found very great benefit from it; he sits up all day; can
walk very wel]; has quite recovered the use of his arm:
appetite very good ; sleeps very well, and can speak nearly
as well as ever, and now wants nothing but strength ta en-
able him to resume his former employment.

Ts it not most probable that the above symptoms were
occasioned by effusion causing compression in consequence
of the blow, or by inflammation? The symptoms seemed
to indicate the former more than the latter,

Hatton Garden, Feb. 17, 1812. XVIII, Com-

[ 119 J

XVIII. Communications from Mr. Attan and Mr. Stan-
CLIFFE on Allan’s Dividing Instrument.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, I BEG leave to inform vou, that Mr. Stancliffe wrote
his first opinion of my improvement on the mathematical
Dividing Engine, after he went home from seeing the
wooden model at the Society’s house, and before he saw
the engine itself. As \ was surprised to see such an opinion
inserted in the Society’s Transactions, after giving his ap-
probation in so strong terms when before the Gentlemen of
the Committee of Mechanics appointed by the Society of
Arts to view the engine at my house on the 15th of De-
cember 1810, I mentioned the circumstance to him, and
told him of some observations in a certain obscure publica-
tion ; in consequence of which he has thought proper to fa-
your me with the enclosed paper.

Mr. Stancliffe has for many years been justly celebrated
for his extraordinary nicety in dividing, as well as for
his extensive knowledge of the most useful imstruments
in the mathematical line; and any ideas that he commits
to paper on the subject of mechanism I consider to he
worthy of notice ; and I hope you are of the same opinion.
If so, I should be very bappy to see it published in the next
Number of the Philosophical Magazine.

I am, sir, with true respect,
Your obedient servant,
February 19, 1812. JaAmMES ALLAN.

fCOPY.]
To Mr. Allan.

Srr,—I HAVE lately seen in the Retrospect (No. 30)
of philosophical, mechanical, &c. discoveries, some very
strange remarks in the observations on the improvement on
the Dividing Engine made by you, which I am clearly of
opinion must have had their foundation in prejudice or ex-
treme ignorance, or perbaps'both. Here | shall not enter
into any detail or vindication of what T said respecting my
opinion before the Gentlemen of the Society of Arts, of
the great perfection, | believed, and do still believe, that
may be produced from your plan of racking or cutting the
teeth of a circle for the purpose of dividing mathematical
instruments. However, by way of explanation, I wilt!

Ha slightly

120 On Allan’s Dividing Instrument.

slightly touch on a few points as a.corroboration of my
former opinion,

When the wooden model of the wheel and ring was first
.put into my hands at the Society’s house, I immediately saw
the, great utility of the ring. [am still in the same opinion,
that the principle, which is not attended with any great de-
gree of difficulty in, formation, will be found to produce that
accuracy which I think is not likely soon -to -be excelled.
The great improvement which bas teen made in Jathes for
turning large work would render that part of the operation
- quite easy, even if it was carried to six feet or inore in dia-
meter. A partial expansion at the time of racking, seems
to ah one of the greatest objections that can be made
to a large size, and the bad effects of that I believe might
be overcome.

To that extraordinary remark, in the Retrospect, saying,
‘* We can conceive cases in which the effect of the shifting
would be to diminish the size of one or-more of the teeth
each time below that of the rest, instead of equalizing
them, and. finally, to cut some ad them away entirely,”
I shall. make no reply. only, that it cannot take place
without an error of at least one whole tooth, before the
shifting of the ring. Any man that knows the principle of

e
'd

a wheelbarrow will see the absurdity of this remark in a

moment.

T hope it is mentioned in the Transactions of the Society
of Arts, that when under the operation of racking or form-
ing the teeth, the ring must, after being reversed. or moved
180° once or twice, which will produce correctly all the way
round opposite teeth, although unequal in themselves, be
shifted one quarter or 90° ; and then proceed with the racking
and reversing as before, Which will in the end, I have no
doubt, provided all the work and apparatus concerned
is good, produce the number of equal. teeth required
round a circle, for the purpose of dividing mathematical
instruments probably not yet equalled. I have bad some
experience in these things, which | hope will allow me ‘to
speak with that confidence T do on this point. | The in-
sirument alluded to in the Retrospect: is the first essay on
the art of dividing by the rack and screw, brought forth by
Dr. Hook in the year 1674, was merely a quadrant for
the purpose of astronomy, with teeth cut with a screw all

the way on the outer edge ; which was not into degrees.

and minutes, but their true value was to be found afier-

wards: therefore it was pat intended as a machine to divide.

others

*

On Allan's Dividing Instrument. 1291

others with.) The plan was soon abandoned by the Doctor
on account of its inaccuracy, As far as I was ever able to
learn, I believe my old master, Hendly of York, was the
first that ever made an engine to work all the way round by
a screw, to divide with. It was about 13 inches diameter,
and cut into 260 teeth or degrees. 1 have worked with it
many a day, both in the dividing and cutting down way.

Mr. Smeaton saw it in the year 1741, and he has told me
since that he believed it was made ‘about two years before
that time. Now 72 or 73 years, ¢

Now J] will on your plan, just in a few words, ron over
the whole of the operation of making the teeth. All the
apparatus being prepared and quite ready for the cutting
part, J would first start on Ramsden’s plan by the dots,
one half or nearly of the whole depth of the teeth. This
done, the screw has now got a firm hold of the teeth, and
plenty of room for correcting by the ring, before the finish,
apy inequality that can exist in the complete circle. Having
arrived at this point, I consider the work in a forward state,
and the difficulty all over. So much accomplished, I would
proceed no further on Ramsden’s plan, but wou!d have re-
course to the correcting ring, proceed with the racking and
shifting in the manner described above. Towards the last I
would shift the ring every time it was once worked round
by the screw cutter. By this moving the ring to half and
to quarters alternately, all those errors will be perfectly
corrected without much attention of the workman.

The Retrospect says you have given no proof, but bold
enconiums on the perfection of your instrument, and denies
its self-evidence. I really do not know any Greater test’
that it can be put to than may be done by the ring, which
is certainly a part of the machine.

I am confident in my own mind, that with making some
little change, the whole of this piece of business, I mean
cutting or racking the teeth truly, might be accomplished
to the greatest degree of exactness, without steady pins or
ever lines (only a few pencil marks) by contact itself, which
Mr. Smearon says, und seems to have proved, in the Philo-
sephical ‘Transactions of the year 1785, is fifteen times
nearer the truth than coincidence. Respecting your im-
provement in the dividing engine, by what I have said
above, yous will perceive thai [still Support my first
opinion, that it is a great and important discovery ;

and remain, sir, yours truly,

Little Mary-le-Bone Street, Joun Sra NCLIEPR.
Feb. 10; 1814,

P.S.—I

122 On the alkaline Matier contained in dropsical Fluids

P,S.—I must say this, that I think the Gentlemen of the
Society of Aris, &c. are very unhandsomely treated by the
critic to whom I have alluded, as if they exercised no judge-
ment on whom, or for what, they bestow their honourable
and bountiful rewards,

XIX. An Answer io the Observatious of Dr. PEARSON (seé
our last Number) on certain Statements respecting the
alkaline Matter contained in dropsical Fluids, and in
the Serum of the Blood. By Avex. Marcet, M.D.
F.R.S. one of the Physicians to Guy’s Hospital.

To Mr. Tiiloch.

SIk, Aurnover I feel disinclined to engage in any public
philosophical controversy, especially when the object is to
vindicate statements, the truth of which any common. ob-
server may easily ascertain by experiment ; yet, as there are
some points in the above communication which do not
place the question in its proper light, and might mislead
those who have no opportunity of referring to the original
documents, I have thought it necessary to offer in return
a few observations. The state of the question is simply
this: all chemists have for a long time agreed that the
blood, and probably all the animal fluids, contain, together
with various neutral salts, a certain portion of alkali not
combined with any acid. This alkali bas generally been
considered as being soda, although a few chemists had also
noticed traces of potash in some of these fluids. Dr. Pear-
son, on the contrary, in examining various kinds of animal
substances, and especially of expectorated matter, was led
to conclude that the whole of the uncombined alkali con-
tained in the animal fluids, was potash ; and that they did
not contain uncombined*® soda in any proportion what-
ever.

In analysing the fluids of dropsy, I was naturally led to
Inquire into this question, and the results wbtained induced
me to conclude, that the only uncombined alkali present in
the bleod, or other animal fluids, was soda; and that the
indications of potash, which by applying the test used by
Dr. Pearson [ was able to detect in these fluids, were owing
to the presence of that alkali in a state of Combination
with the muriatic acid,

The experiments I adduced in evidence were of two

* By the expression uncomlined, 1 mean not combined with acid.
kinds ;

and in the Serum of the Blood. 193

kinds; some. jof. them showing, that the uncombined alkali
was soda, .and..others, that, it. was not-potash. 2.4). )0 05

Portions of saline matter. being procured from, various
animal fluids by evaporation, and, incineration, and brought
by subsequent redissulution and evaporation to a crystalline
state, crystals of determinate forms were obtained, some
of which appeared to consist exclusively of subcarbonat of
soda, some of muriat of soda, and others of muriat of
potash; but none could be detected which appeared to
contain any carbonat of potash.

Other similar portions of the saline matter being treated
with acetic acid, in order to bring any uncombined alkali
present to the state of acetat; and alcohol being added
with a view to separate these acetats, the residue of this
alcoholic solution appeared to consist almost solely * of
acetat of soda; whilst, on the other hand, potash was
found in the residue left undissolved by the alcohol.

In these various trials the presence of potash, in a state
of combination, was proved by the tests of oxymuriat of
platina and tartaric acid, both of which form precipitates
with potash, and not with soda.

The uncombined alkali, on the contrary, was shown nof
to be potash by the last-mentioned tests failing to indicate
the presence of that alkali; whilst, on the other hand, it
was proved to be soda by the action of nitric acid, which,
in combining with it, formed crystals of a rhomboidal
instead of a prismatic figure.

I shall not enter into the particulars of these operations,
because they are minutely related in the communication
which has given rise to this discussion ; but I shall now
rapidly examine the principal objections which Dr. Pearson
has made to the above conclusions.

Dr. Pearson’s first ground of complaint is, that instead
of showing his conclusions to have been erroneous, that is,
I conceive, instead of following him step by step in his.
inquiry, I have contented myself with exhibiting my
own experiments and conclusions. But I beg to observe,
that the object of my inquiry was not to repeat Dr, Pear-
son’s experiments, but to examine dropsical fluids; and
that, if in the course of my analysis I met with results
which militated against his conclusions, it could not be
reasonably expected, that in stating these results I should
think it incumbent upon me to wade through his laborious

* A trace of potash was detected in the alcoholic solution; but it must be
remembered that alcohol, however rectified, will take up minute portions of
muriat of potash, or indeed of almost any other soluble salt,

researches

124 On the alkaline Afatter contained in dropsical Fluids

researches' on the various forms of sputum or expectorated
matter. I might indeed have abstained altogether from re+
ferring to, bis labours 3, but I thought it due to him, as a
philosophical 3 inquirer ‘Tong known in the chemical world,

to point out such similarities or discordances of results as
occurred, in. our respective experiments; thus referring the
matter,to the decision of physiologists, and showing that
there was no wish, on my side, to overlaok the authority of
former inquirers.

In endeavouring to analyse the various objections brought
forward by Dr. Pearson, [ am’so often ata loss to under-
stand his meaning, and, I must add, so much embarrassed
by the obscure and inaccurate manner in which he has stated
some of my own proceedings, that it would be a task equally
fruitless and Jaborious to follow his steps closely. I must,
therefore, as much as possible, select those objections

which are of a specific nature, and may be answered by an-

appeal to experimental evidence. Suchr i is, for instance,
tbe argument which he employs, no less than three times,
(once in support of his own experiments, and twice with a
view to invalidate my inferences,) on the effects of alcohol
and acetic acid,—which argument is founded upon his belief
that acetat of soda is mot soluble in alcohol, and that it is
~ wet a deliquescent salt; two palpable errors, which half a
grain of this salt and a few drops of alcohol, with no other
apparatus than a watch-glass, would have enabled him to
rectify.

But the objection which recurs most frequently, and
that upon which the greatest stress is laid, is the minute-
ness of the quantities of saline matter subjected to experi-
ment. It would appear that Dr. Pearson questions whether
a few grains of saline matter may be expected to yield re-
sults similar to those which would be obtained from larger
quantities ;. whether, for instance, the same inferences
might be drawn from rhomboidal crystals of a minute size,
as from similar crystals of larger dimensions ;—or, whether
experiments tried upon an ounce or two of my dropsical
fluids, may be brought into competition with those which
he performed upon two or three pints of his ropy sputum ?

Sueb a scepticism, I must own, I have myself never en-
tertained. I have always thought, on the contrary, that the
chemical properties which belonged to a particle of matter
were exactly similar to those which would be found to be-
long to a whole mountain of the same substance; that a
rhomb of only one hundredth part of an inch might be
characterized by its form as distinctly as one a hundred

times

.

and in the Serum of the Blood. . 125

times larger *, But TI carry the point still further; for I
go the length of believing, that many experiments of re-
search may be wonderfully facilitated by analysing upon a
smal] scale—that a great deal of convenience, of economy,
and sometimes even of accuracy, may thus be gained; and
that, in some instances, we even acquire new powers of in-
guiry by operating upon small quantities f.

hus, were it not for the assistance of minute microscepic
observation, a great number of important facts which
have enriched chemistry within the last twenty years, would
in all probability have remained undiscovered ;. and this
country might not have obtained that first rank in philoso-
phical chemistry, to. which it has but lately been raised, and
which it had long held in other departments of science.

Is it necessary that I should specify particular instances ?
Can any philosopher, attentive to the progress of analytical
chemistry, overlook so many discoveries in which neither
furnace, nor forge, nor subterraneous. laboratories, have
been concerned—in whicb a watch glass, a blow-pipe,’and
a few drops of chemical. re-agents, have been all the in-
struments required? Were not, for iustance, the analyses of
the Iceland springs by Dr. Black (the same eminent phi-
losopher to whom Dr. Pearson appeals as an authority
against microscopic observations) performed upon quanti-
ties of saline matter of astonishing minuteness '—Surely Dr.
Pearson cannot have forgotten that it was by the. accurate
examination of only a few grains of matter, that the na-
ture of no less than five kinds of urinary calculi has been
ascertained, and their discrimination rendered easy and cer-
tain—that the nature of diamond bas been established—that
no less than four new metals have heen discovered in the
crude ore of platina—that the similarity between ail the

* Thus. I have no hesitation in maintaining that, unless it be proved that
nitrat of potash may crystallize in rhombs, my conclusions respecting the
particular point in question, would stand upon that evideuce alone; or that
unless it be shown that carbonat of potash may erystallize in cubes, my
inforence respecting the presence of muriat of potash stands uncontro-
verted.

With regard to my attempt at expressing centesimal parts of grains,
which is, with some apparent reason, noticed s an instance of singular pre-
tension to accuracy, 1 beg to observe, that I have never actually attempted
to weigh smaller quantities than decimal parts of grains; and whenever
smaller fractions have been expressed, they have arisen from a conversion
of those numbers to some general standard.

+ 1 would also observe, whilst upon this subject, that there is a degree of
neatness gained by reducing the scale of operations, which is ofteg incom-
patible with processes conducted in the large way: thus, [ have never found
it necessary, in analysing, to introduce amongst the enumeration of contents
“a litle dirt,” as some old-school chemists have been in the habit of doing.

f meteoric

326 On the alkaline. Matter contained in dropsical Fluids,

_meteoricistones has been proved+that the identity’of the
‘chemical: agencies of’ electritity, whether ‘excited by’ the
common niachine, or by the Voltate’ battery, has been
demonstrated-that in’ a'neighbouring’ country the forma-
tion of crystals has been explained upon systematic prin-
cipies—that amongst us a new and wonderfully accurate in-
strument of crystallography has been invented—and above
all, that the metallic bases of alkalies, those extraordinary
bodies which nature had hitherto concealed under an im-
penetrable disguise, have at last been brought to light ! Let
it be remembered as one of the most glorious circumstances
of that discovery, that it was by examining mere atoms of
these substances that their properties were first ascertained ;
and that when, in consequence of subsequent improvements
in the mode of obtaining these bodies, they were procured
in larger quantities, and their general properties were re-
examined, no error was discovered, and no important in-
formation was added to that which had originally been gained
from microscopic quantities.

It is far from my intention, however, to contend, that,
on some occasions, new and important facts may notbe
brought to light by means of processes conducted upon an
extensive scale, which would not admit of being reduced
to a sinall compass. I only mean to assert, that such in-
stances are comparatively but rare; and that no philippic
against the examination of small objects—no appeal to old
masters—no slight upon modern improvements, ought to
deter chemical inquirers trom adopting methods which
some of our contemporaries have employed with so much
utility and success. ;

Amongst other inaccuracies in the critique which has
given rise to these remarks, my paper on dropsical fluids
has been represented as being the joint work of Dr. Wol-
Jaston and myself; for which supposition there was no other
authority than a note in the paper in question, in which I
acknowledged my obligations to Dr. Wollaston for the
information and assistance which I bave on this and other
occasions, derived from his kindness. I need not say how
highly { should’ have been flattered by such an association ;
but I think it due to him to state, not only that he had no
share in the general inquiry, bat that be did not even see
the paper in question previous to its publication.

1 cannot refrain from noticing, amongst Dr. Pearson’s
remarks, another kind of licence which appears to me
still less warrantable. I allude to the practice of quoting
in italics, or placing between inverted commas, words or

phrases

The Diacatoptron. 127

phrases which have not been used, and to seize upon them
as a subject of ridicule. | This is the case with some pro-
posed elegant changes, and with my supposed recommen-
dation to transfer chemistry to the “ fire-side of the draw-
ing-room :” expressions which I have not used, and yet
upon which Dr, Pearson has thought proper to be extremely
jocular.

I have only further to add, that should Dr. Pearson again
write upon the subject, I shall not easily be induced to re-
sume the controversy. Iam sorryy therefore, to see it inti-
mated at the conclusion of his paper that he proposes to
continue his observations in your next Number; and as it
appears that those intended remarks are meant as a return
for the notice which I have taken of his papers, T regret the
more that he should take so much trouble. For praise,
when used as the vehicle of irony, is the worst kind of cen-
sure. The discovery of truth ought to be the only object
of philosophical discussion. There are, doubtless, many
errors in my bumble attempts at chemical analysis; but
unless Dr. Pearson points out those errors, or brings for-
ward new facts connected with my inquiries, I confess that
Thad much rather he would not again honour them with
his notice.

“ Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.”
T remain, sir, &c. &c.
Russel Square, Feb. 21, 1812. ALEX. MArRceErT.

KX. Description of the Diacatoptron. Communicated vy
Dr, Grpzes, of Bath.

V anrous optical instruments have been applied to the
purposes of drawing and copying, and have been carried to
a great degree of perfection. The Camera obscura, the
Delineator, and Camera lucida, have severally been justly:
celel rated for the facility of tracing outlines, and the rules
of perspective have been correctly illustrated by these re-
presentations of natural objects on a plain surface,

The great simplicity of the instrument now about to be
described, may entitle it to rank among the most usettil of
the kind, as, to the advantage of its simple structure and
applicability without straining the eyes, it adds a deurce of
truth not to be exceeded. Without the aid of additional
reflecting surfaces, this instrument represents its objects as
an ordinary mirror, at the same time that it allows suti-
cient transmitted light to pass for the guidance of the hand
behind it, Thus, by a very little management, both the

hand

‘
oa 2

128 The Diacatoptron.

hand directing the pencil, and the obje ect to be traced, may —

be equally well defined and. clear. Aleta, advantage pos-

sessed by this apparatus is, that very little light is lost, as is

the case where many glasses intervene between the object

and its representation, The application is.also immediately
obvious to the most éareless observer.

-Take a perfectly clear piece of glass, a foot, square, well po-
lished and quite even, and parallel throughout ; ; place this in
a trame (PI. UI. fig. 1.) about one inch and a balf wide, and
one inch thick, and instead of wood at the bottom of the
frame place a brass wire or narrow and thin plate which
will bold the three sides together, and prevent the glass
from falling out, as it must rest on the wire or plate, ‘hich
should be fastened tight to the feet of the frame.

The feet must be exactly at right angles with the frame,
so that when the plate is placed upon aw eyen table, it will
stand perpendicular. In the upper part of the frame at 4,
make a long groove, in which insert the brass sight aa indh
broad (fig. 7.) having the sinall eye-hole cz this is to be
fastened at top by the screw d, which may be screwed up
or loosened at pleasure.

Divide the frame (fg. 5.) into two equal parts, beginning
at the upper part from the groove J, to the bottom of the
feet a, or of the brass wire. Divide again the lower part
from eé into eight equal parts, and on each side of the’
frame bore holes, taking great care to place them exactly at
the eight measured points,

A board (fig. 6.) 1s called the table, of the Lrcpriiki of the
frame, in which two. brass pins are fastened of such size
that they may exactly pass into the holes to raise the table
to different heights corresponding with. the holes in’ the
frame ; otherwise you cannot magnify or diminish objects
correctly according to the size you may wish to obtain.
On the opposite side of the table are supports at each cor-
ner, so placed that they may be conveniently pushed up or
down. The supports pass through two holes in the table,
and in each are eight sinall holes of the same size as those
in the frame, so that by means of a brass wire under the
table it may be kept fast in a horizontal position.

The blind (fig. 2.) is made of a piece of woad, bevelled, one
foot long, one inch and a half wide, and one aii in iiielee
ness. A brass or iron rod is bent in such a manner as
to form a square, and the wood serves as a support to it.
This frame is then covered with writing paper, which should
be of moderate thickness. When you make use of the
apparatus, place the object 4 upon a flat table on a level

with

The Diacatoptron. 129

with the window ; on the right: hand) Jay some: blank; pa~
per, upon which a person may draw; and between the two
place the Diacatoptron or transparentyreflecting plate of
glass in its frame; place the blind & at right angles with
the glass on the right hand, so that the drawing paper may
Jie in the broken shade, and a person looking through the
glass trom the left side will observe the object exactly de-
signed upon the paper. If the figure isnot sufficiently
distinct, you may darken the blind by hanging a paper
upon it; if it should darken too much, you place ita little
further from the glass.

It is of much consequence that the proper degree of
shade should be thrown upon the paper; for, if it is too
dark, you will neither see distinctly the lines of the draw-
ing which you copy, nor the point of your pencil: if, on
the contrary, it is not sufhciently dark, you will work at
random, and the representation will be faint. In copying
after this manner you do not make use of any eye hole,
becanse the eye is easily kept in the proper direction, as the
drawing remains in its appropriate situation ; but in the
following experiments, where the objects are diminished
or magnified, whether a picture or prospects in perspec-
tive, the eye hole must be always used, since it is necessary
to look exactly and constantly at the same point of view.

The diminishing of an object is effected by raising the
height of the table. Since the object placed on the left side
of the glass is always represented on the right side, although
the surface of the table should not be of an uniform height,
it will be found that, if you take a fixed point of view, the
object will be diminished the nearer the reflected image
approaches to ibis point, and will be magnified as the re-
flected and transmitted image is made to recede from the
eye. Or rather, the image will appear larger than the ob-
ject when it is removed further from the fixed eye than the
object itself, and vice versa.

This may be seen clearer by fig. 5. The parallel lines
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, represent the different heights of the
table. If now the line # were to be diminished, it would
be reduced + upon the table at 1, }at 2, 2 at 3, and at 4
t, 48 is shown by the lines of sight where the parallel lines
intersect. ‘

Fig. 3. represents the Diacatoptron when the letter B
is diminished +; the table with the paper is placed in the
fourth hole, .

Fig. 4. represents the magnifying of an object when the
table is on the left side.

_In both cases you must look at the object through the
Vol. 39. No. 166. Fel, 1812. I eye

130 Royal Sociely.

eye hole which is on the left. By this method of diminish-
ing with the Diacatoptron, it is easy to take in prospects
and objects in perspective.

Make a board (fig. 8.) 24 feet long, and bore two
holes six inches from one end of the board at the width of
the Diacatoptron, so that the supports of the table may
pass through and may be placed upright. | Fasten behind
two perpendicular pieces of wood a; and also at the upper
part two props which may pass into the holes of the table,
into which the feet were before fixed, so that the table may
be -ecured both at the top and bottom, and all shaking
prevented.

Bore holes in the board from c¢ to a, that you may place
there the sight-piece e, which is either made of brass or
wood, about six inches high, and bas at the top a round
brass plate one inch in diameter, in which is the eye hole.

When you make a trial of it, fix the paper fast on the
table according to fig. 9. Place the Diacatoptron about
six or eight inches from it, upon the board, and parallel
with the table; the blind, (fig. 10.) which is made of
wood, pasteboard, or paper, then covers the space between
the Diacatoptron and the table, so that the opening g may
be on the right hand: the sight-piece e is then so placed
in one of the holes that you may have the desired power of
diminishing, taking care that your head may not intervene
between the object and the glass, and you may easily draw
upon the perpendicular paper the objects diminished. In
this way you may witb ease draw plants, and in short all
objects, even academy figures, &c., and under circum-
stances in which the Camera obscura could not be con-
veniently employed.

XXI. Proceedings of Learned Societies.
ROYAL SOCIETY.

Thursday Feb. 6. Tue Society again met, when a short
paper by Dr. Wollaston was read on the primitive form of
calcareous, bitter, and iron spar. The composition of these
three kinds of spar being essentially different, although their
primitive form bas hitherto been admitted to be the same,

seemed to militate against the truth of the crystallogical :

system. Haiiy himself having rather hastily allowed that
the angle of the rhomboid of calcareous spar, magnesian
spar, and iron spar, being 101° 27', formed an exception to
the general principle that a difference of constituent ‘parts
produced a difference of form, Dr. W. with his goniometer
was induced to examine these spars with greater attention.

The

Royal Institution. 131

The angle in all of them he found some degrees more than
M. Haily ; and also that each had a distinct measure, which
in whole numbers may be stated at 105°, 106°, and 107°.
Hence he was led to the very important conclusion, that a
difference in constituent principles does in every case produce
a difference of primitive form; that the exceptions to this
general position are entirely owing to errors in our crystal-
lographical operations, and that the crystallogical theory 1s
move true to nature than even its author had supposed.

Feb. 13. A paper by Mr. John Davy, communicated by
his brother Mr. Dayy, was read. MM. Gay-Lussac* and
Thenard and Mr. Murray have asserted that there is no ac+
tion between gaseous oxide of carbon and oxymuriatic gas
or chlorine, when they are exposed to sunshine. Mr. John
Davy states in this paper avery different result—that the two
gases combine and become condensed to half their yolume,
and form a peculiar new elastic fluid possessed of acid pro-
perties. He gives an account of the nature ¢nd combina-
tions of this substance, which neutralizes four times its vo-
lume of-ammonia, and forms with it a peculiar salt; it
is not disengaged from ammonia by acetous acid, nor by
sulphureous acid, and.it is decomposed by the metals into
gaseous oxide of carbon and chlorine, so that its constitu-
tion is established both by analytical and synthetical ex-
periments.

Feb. 20. Another paper by Mr. John Davy was com-
municated to the Suciety by Mr. Davy. It related to the
combinations of certain metals with chlorine and oxygen,
and contained some general views on the theory of definite
proportions. The pure combinations of metals with chlorine
resemble in many respecis oxides ; they are non-conductors
of electricity, many of them are very yolatile, and they form
muriates by decomposing water. Mr. John Davy describes
two combinations of copper and chlorine, one containing
twice as much chlorine as the other. Two of iron and
chlorine, one containing balf as much as the other, And
two of tin and chlorine, of which the second contains double
as much chlorine as the first. Bismuth, antimony, arsenic,
zinc, lead, he has been able to combine with chlorine in
one proportion only. Between the oxygen in oxides and
the chlorine in these combinations, the rate is as 7°5 to
33°6. Many of these combinations with chlorine combine
with oils; and Libavius’s liquor, the compound of ghlorine
and tin, inflames in acting upon oil of turpentine. As the
oxides are soluble in acids, so likewise are these compounds
im an acid that they cannot decompose. Corrosive subr
jimate forms a particular salt, by combining with muriati¢

12 acid,

132 . Royal Institution.

acid, and there are other analogous substances. Mr. John
Davy considered the whole tenour of these experiments as
offering confirmations of the fact that oxymuriatic gas, or
chlorine, has not yet been decompounded, and that it is 2
solvent and acidifying principle analogous to oxygen.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.

Mr. Davy’s Lectures on the Elements of Chemical
Phitosophy.

Mr. Davy delivered his second lecture on Saturday, Feb.
the first. He offered somé general views concerning the
different modifications of matter, and the active powers en-
gaged in the production of the phenomena of nature and
of art; he then directed the attention of his audience to
heat, or calorific expansion. He considered its important
and diversified agencies in the economy of things; and after

bi : : ) 5
an elaborate discussion concerning the mechanical and che-

mical hypotheses relative to the nature of heat, he concluded
by defining the limits of our knowledge on the subject.

The expansive energy, or power of repulsion producing
heat; and attraction, which is cither gravitative, chemical,
or electrical, being one of the active powers belonging to
matter, which cannot be separated from it—matter itself
may be considered as inert, and all the harmonious arrange-
ments in the heavens and the earth may be regarded as
flowing from one primary cause, which, as it is intelligent,
says Mr. Davy, must be divine.

The Professor entered into particular details relative to
the effects of heat, its importance, and the laws of its ope-
rations. The law of expansion is connected with the equali-
zation of the temperature of the globe, the production of
winds, and the preservation of animal and vegetable life.
He particularly pointed out its application to the ventilation
of mines, and the heating and ventilating of rooms. He
exhibited a model, illustrating the: manner by which the
House of Lords is ventilated and warmed, after a new plan
proposed by himself. All the air deteriorated by respiration
or combustion in the house, finds a ready exit by means
of three copper pipes carried to the roof, and ultimately
meeting in a single pipe; the circulation of the air is assisted
by a furnace, and by means of ventilators below there is a
constant supply of fresh air. Such a plan Mr. Davy con-
ceives might be adopted in large drawing-rooms, or in
crowded assemblies, with exeellent effect and at a trifling
expense,

The

ee

Royal Institution. 133

he formation of elastic fluids arising from the decompo-
sition of yegetable and animal matters, proceeds very slowly
under pressure: in illustrating this principle Mr. Davy re-
ferred to the method lately adopted by M. Appert for pre-
Serving meat or vegetables, which consists of enclosing
them in close tin plate wast excluded from the contact
of ar. Putrefaction cannot proceed unless aériform fluids
escape. Mr. Davy conceives that this method may be im-
proved by using stronger vessels, and compressing into
them ‘a quantity of fixed air, which by its pressure and
gm properties would prevent decomposition.

in illustrating the effects of combustion, Mr. Davy no-
ticed some recent experiments made by Count Rumford,
who conceives that the light emitted is proportional to the
heat of the flame, and that it may be greatly increased by
bringing several parallel wicks near each other. A model
of what the Count calls a polyflame light was exhibited.
It had four wicks, and the Count states that a lamp of this
kind, when properly constructed, will afford as much light
as 50 wax candles.

Mr. Davy concluded his lecture by explaining the phz-
nomena of heat on the mechanical hypothesis of its heing
a vibratory motion of the particles of bodies ; and accounted
for latent heat, when solids are converted into fluids, by
supposing that ‘the motion is employed to make the par-
ticles revolve round their axis. He offered this view, merely
for the parpose of coniparison with the idea of a specific
fluid, the existence of which had often been too confidently
advanced by some philosophers. On such a subject it was
proper to doubt. The facts of science should be kept per-
fectiy distinct from the hypothetical if shoe advanced to
explain them.

* The truly philosophical inquirer into nature,” says Mr.
Davy, ** will not consider it as a disgrace that he is unable
to explain every thing. He will feel that truth is more
promoted by the minute and accurate examination of a few
objects, than by any premature attempts to form grand and
universal theories.”

Mr. Davy delivered his 3d Lecture on Saturday, Feb. 8,
(it was upon chemiéal attraction). After stating that the
Most important phenomena of chemical change depend
upon the operation of chemical atiraction, and on the
agencies of heat, the Professor said it would be necessary
to enter into a discussion of the Jaws of attraction, and to
illustrate them by experiments. This discussion, he said,
might appear minute and tedious; but it was essential, as
the subject was the scaffolding by which the edifice of che-

T3 niical

134 Royal Institution.

mical philosophy was to be erected ; and it should therefor
be constructed with care. Mr. Davy mentiotied that che-
mical attraction was the power by which different bodies
wnite with each other and form new and different substances;
that some bodies possess no chemical attraction, and others
exert it with different degrees of force; which he illustrated by
experiments. He said, the law of combinatton, or the union
by chemical attraction, applied to all the different ponde-
rable forms of matter; fluids not only produce solid matter,
but sometimes likewise gaseous matter; and gases aie
condensed into fluids or solids: he instanced the comhi-
nation of aquafortis, or nitric acid, with alcohol; also ole-
fiant gas and chlorine; likewise sulphureous acid gas with
-ammonia; and proved, that as their forms and properties
were visibly changed, so likewise were their other sensible
qualities. He next referred to his introductory lecture, in
which he mentioned that bodies which attract each other
unitein definite proportions. This law, said the Professor,
is perhaps the most important of our science, and admits
of elucidation by a number of experiments, He showed
the ‘combinations of barytes and sulphuric acid, chlorine
and hydrogen, hydrogen and oxygen; they always unite
in definite proportions. Mr. Davy showed also some ex-
periments on the combination of muriatic acid gas with
ammonia. -This experiment, he said, was mentioned lately
in a monthly publication, by Mr. Murray, to prove the
presence of water in muriatic acid gas; but the Professor
clearly proved, that the presence of water was owing to the
hygrometric qualities of the salt, which, when exposed. to
the atmosphere for an instant, absorbs Taner directly ;
and he showed an experiment, in which, when muriatic gas
and ammonia were combined. out of the atmosphere and
heated, not an atom of water could be procured frem them.
Nature acts by this fixed and immutable Jaw ; and her ar-
rangements, said he, however diversified, follow a certain
order ; the circumstances of crystallization and definite
proportion form the alphabet by which ber chemical Jan-
guage is to be deciphered; and it is not composed of nu-
merous hieroglyphics, but of a few simple characters. Mr.
Davy said, that when two bodies combine in more than
one proportion, still their proportions are definite, that the
second proportion is always a multiple or a divisor of the
first; he instanced mercury, which combines with two
proportions of oxygen, the second oxide contains double
the quantity of oxygen of the first; also fluoric acid,
which combines with ammonia in two proportions, viz.
one in yolume, and two in volume; so that the first con-
tains

Royal Institution. 135

tains half as much alkali as the second: also Dr. Wollas-
ton’s experiment of equal weights of carbonate of potash,
one fused, the other in its common state; the one contain-
ing exactly half as much gas as the other. He said it was
in consequence of these abe N NE that whenever com-
pounds decompose each other by double affinity or double
attraction, there is always merely a new arrangement of their
elements, and none of the substances are found either in
excess or deficiency: he instanced the salr called nitrate of
barytes, which, when mixed with an equal weight of that
called sulphate of potash, the potash unites to the nitric
acid, and the barytes to the sulphuric acid, and the results
are neutral as before. Lt i is, said Mr. Davy, in consequence
of this simple law, that whenever one body precipitates
another from its solution, the same quantity of one always
precipitates the same quantity of the other; and hence the
different chemical elements may be expressed by numbers,
and all their combinations be represented by the simple ad-
dition. of those numbers. Some of those principles, said
he, may appear abstruse; but if the proportions be consi-'
dered as uniform parts, there can be no difficulty in under-
standing the doctrine, On this part of the science, said the
Professor, it is necessary to gain distinct ideas ; the doc-
trines of chemical afhuity become the instruments for com-
paring the results of our experiments, and their deviation
from or coincidence with the law of proportion are the
tests of their accuracy or imperfection. These doctrines,
said he, are capable of being made the guides both to the
practical and philosophical chemist; they teach the artist
or manufacturer what proportions of substances are neces-
sary for his combinations, and enable him to pursue new
principles with precision and certainty.

Mr. Davy delivered his fourth Lecture on Saturday Feb.
15th. He considered and illustrated the principles. of elec-
trical science, as developed by the various combinations of
haman ingenuity, and exhibited in the phenomena taking
place in the external world.

When resin, glass, &c. are rubbed by woollen, they first
attract, and after contact repel, light substances. Bodies in
such a state aie said to be electrical. This property was first
observed in amber, called electron by the Greeks, from
which the term electricity is derived.

In the 16th century, the researches of Gilbert awakened
the attention of philosophers. He considered electricity
as exhibiting the attractive and repellent powers of matter,
The sagacity of Newton pointed out these powers as pecu-
liar forces.

14 Otto

136 Royal Institution.

Otto de Guericke, Boyle, Hawkesbee, &c. observed that
lainitosne appearances were exhibited by electrified bodies,
and for a series of years these novel exhibitions served rather
to amuse scientific men than to direct them io the funda-
mental principles of electricity.

The discevery of Franklin, that lightning depends on
the electrical state of the atmosphere, gave a new impulse
to this department of knowledge ; anJ the novel facts ob-
served by Galvani led to the noble inventions of Volta:
‘* The discoveries to which they led,” says Mr. Davy, “have
produced a new order and arrangement of facts, he have
to a certain extent connected together mechanical and che-
mical science, and exhibited new and unexpected proper-
ties of material bodies.”’

The Professor said, that in treating of the subject he
should offer views different from any that have been de-
veloped by elementary writers on electricity ; but no apology
was necessary, the progressive nature of science is one ‘of
its noblest characters. As the facts of electricity have mul-
tiplied, the theory is more capable of being simplified ; a
number of effects formerly supposed to be insulated may
be attributed to the same cause.

Mr. Davy described the different modes in which elec-
tricity is excited, by the contact of bodies, by friction, by
heat and changes of their form; and this property seems
to belong to all material substances.

In the mineral kingdom there are several stones which
exhibit electrical effects by being heated, as the tourmaline,
boracite, &c. Dry vegetable SUbsteidoes and most crys-
tallized bodies produce ‘these phenomena by friction, and
the metals by contact." Thus zine made to touch mercury
becomes positive, the mercury is negative. The case is the
same with other metals, as gold and mercury, copper and
mercury, &c. Even fluids and metals produce similar ef-
fects, as in the case of liver of sulphur and copper.

The electrical effects produced by the contact of different
metals are Jess obvious than those connected with luminous
appearances; but thev may be perceived by the sensations,
or by the cffects produced on the limbs of cold-blooded
animals recently deprived of life, as in the celebrated ex-
periment of Galvani, who conceived that the effect was
produced by a specific subtile Huid; bui the genius of Volta,
said Mr. Davy, proved that it was electrical, and gave the
demonstration af its principles in one of the noblest igven-
tions ever produced by human sagacity.

** Very slight circumstances,” said the Professor, ‘ are
sufficient to develop these important powers of matter, and

they

Se ee ee a

Royal Institution. 137

they must he continually in operation in external nature;
their grandeur and sublimity are exhibited in the thunder
storm; and iu their more tranquil agencies they minister
to the order of the terrestrial systeni, and perform slowly
and silently important functions in the economy of things.”

Electricity, by influence or induction, is different for
different substances; and the phenomena of electricity, by
influence, exhibit the difference between conductors, \im-
perfect conductors, and non-conductors. It is also on the
printiple of induction, combined in some cases with that
of primary excitation, that the powers of the instruments
for accumulating electricity depend, as in the Leyden jar
and Voitaic apparatus.

Mr. Davy exhibited the powers of the Voltaic instru-
ment by some brilliant experiments; medals were fused
upon the surface of water and oil of turpentine, and burnt
in contact with them. He stated that the maximum of
heat was at the positive electrical surface ; and he exhibited
an experiment in which, though the most brilliant light
was at the negative surface, yet the ignition was infinitely
greater at the positive. ?

The Professor pointed out the analogy between the Vol-
taic battery and the organs of the torpedo and gymnotus.
‘© These mean animals,’”’ said he, * in the bosom of the
waters, are found armed with the power that ‘produces
lightning and thunder. The more the resources of art are
extended, the more analogies to them are found in nature,
which offers, as it were, the archetypes of even our happiest
and most extraordinary invention.”

In speaking of lightning, the Professor said, that rods
intended to preserve buildings from its effects should be at
Jeast half an inch thick, and coated at top and bottom with
platina, to prevent the effects of the weather. They should
also terminate, if possible, in a moist stratum of earth.

In considering the applications of electrical science to
explain natural phenomena, Mr. Davy said, that the brilli-
ant and astonishing discoveries made known in this science
in the middle of last century, attracted the attention of
speculative as well as of experimental philosophers 3 and at-
tempts were made to explain all the great and extraordinary
phenomena of nature by electrical agencies. ** New prin-
ciples,” said he, when first discovered, are always extend-
ed too far; the imagination, like the eye, is dazzled by no-
vel and brilliant lights, and time is required before objects
are seen in their true relations or proper colours.”

The natural appearances which may with probability be
attributed to, or supposed to be connected with, electrical

‘ effects,

138 Royal Institution.

effects, Mr. Davy considers, are water-spouts, some earth-
quakes, the Juminous phenomena in storms, and the au-
rora borealis or northern lights. Lightning and the thun-
der-bolt, said he, were regarded by the ancients as the
terrible instruments of the divine vengeance of heaven.
The moderns, in developing their causes, have not only
disarmed them of their powers, but have removed much of
the superstitious fears which they occasioned, and have
shown their uses in the ceconomy of things. In the system
of nature the obvious effect is often the least important,
and that which seems evil, when distinctly considered, is
found only to exalt the good and render it more impressive.
Poets have given malevolent spirits to direct the storm, and
have made it an instrument of vengeance and destruction 3
the philusopher, on the contrary, finds it guided by the
ministrations of wisdom, goodness, and intelligence.

Mr. Davy’s fifth lecture was delivered on Saturday, Fe-
bruary 22d. He illustrated the laws of electricity by the
great Voltaic battery, consisting of two thousand double
plates of copper and zinc, of four inches square. He show-
ed the identity of Voltaic and common electricity, and ex-
hibited the decomposing agencies of the battery in a series
of beautiful and impressive experiments, many of which
were ofa novel kind. ©

The identity of Voltaic and common electricity is de-
monstrated by the spark, the eflects produced on the in-
struments employed for exhibiting electrical phenomena,
as electrometers, the electrical battery, and on the organs of
sensation. When bodies are similarly electrified by Vol-
taic as by common electricity, they repel each other; but
when dissimilarly, they attract each other. The electrical
battery-was charged, and produced a spark by a single con-
tact from the Voltaic instrument. The more the powers of
the Voltaic battery are investigated, the more correct the
original views of Volta appear concerning the identity of
Voltaic and common electricity. Mr. Davy could not
avoid reprobating the use of the terms Galvanic batteries
and Gulvanie electricity. Galvani was only the accidental
discoverer of an important fact. Volta ascertained the
true cause of the phenomena, and the merit of correct views
and of sagacity peculiarly belongs to him, ‘* Where the
names of men are to be connected with science,’”’ says Mr.
Davy, ‘* truth should be rigorously attended to. Almost
the only reward offered in these times to scienufic excel-
lence, is fame; and philosophical men should award it
with the same justice to the living as to the dead.”

Mr. Davy distinguished the chemical agencies of the

battery

Royal Institution, 139

battery into two kinds—into decompositions by ignition,
and polar decompositions. The former are exhibited when
compound gases, fluids, or solids are submitted to the
aency of the fire excited by electricity. The latter, when
alkaline, earthy, or metallic combinations in a fluid staie,
or moistened with water, are acted on by the battery. Mr.
Davy illustrated these different decompositions by appro-
priate experiments. Sulphurated hydrogen and olefiant gas
were decomposed in glass globes by the contact of char-
coal. These experiments were novel and impressive,—es-
pecially that on sulphurated hydrogen gas, the sulphur was
precipitated in the form of a dense white cloud.

Mr. Davy decomposed soluble and insoluble compounds,
as nitre, sulphate of barytes, &c. and in all decompositions
he found that alkalies, metals, metallic oxides, and hy-
drogen, were uniformly attracted by the negative surface,
and repelled by the positive surface ; and that acids, oxy-
gen, and chlorine were uniformly attracted by the positive
and repelled by the negative surface. It was in conse-
quence of the discovery of this law of decomposition, that
Mr. Davy decompounded the fixed alkalies, the earths, &c.

Mr. Davy explained the transfer or passage of an acid
through intervening alkali, or vice versa. Jn such cases the
usual operation of chemical affinity appears to be suspended
or destroyed by the agencies of Voltaic electricity. Mr.
Davy pointed out the application of the chemical polar
agencies of electricity, to obtain alkali from the decompo-
sition of neutral salts. “

In illustrating the fusing powers of the battery, the Pro-
fessor stated, that the German philosophers were said to have
converted charcoal into a substance analogous to diamond,
by a powerful combination. The only effect which he had
been able to witness in trials of this kind, was, that the
charcoal became harder at the points of contact. He ex-
hibited an experiment in which very fine points of charcoal
were electrized in chlorine gas, but there appeared to be no
indications of fusion.

Electrical decompositions and combinations, there is
an reason to believe, are constantly taking place in the

osom of the earth and on its surface ; and many of those
phenomena, says Mr. Davy, which are attributed by con-
tending theorists, cither to the effects of water or fire, may
possibly be owing to more refined agencies operating in the
course of ages, and producing effects scarcely perceptible in
the short period allotted to human observation.

The surface of the globe must be influenced by the elec
trical changes which occur in the atmosphere, and they

may

140 Geological Society.

may act an important part in the formation and renovation
of soils.

To some, says Mr. Davy, these circumstances may ap-
pear too minute to be dwelt upon—but nothing which
marks intelligence in the ceconomy of Nature, he said,
should be passed over without notice. We recognise, with
feelings ot pleasure, the combinations of ingenuity in hu-
man inventions ; and surely the grand arrangements of Na-
ture are worthy of our contemplation ; and if we can feel
sentiments of respect and obligation to the contrivers of ar-
tificial machinery, limited in purpose, feeble in effect, we
cannot refuse the higher tribute of gratitude and devotion
to the Author of the mechanism of the universe, where
the scheme is designed by infinite wisdom and goodness,
and executed by infinite power.

Mr. Davy stated, that the chemical attractions of bodies
are nearly related to their electrical polarities ; the chemical
agents which act most powerfully on each other, produce the
most striking electrical phenomena. The powers of all Vol-
taic combinations appear to be, in some measure, propor-
tional to the chemical attractions of the acting bodies.

Mr. Davy stated, that he had been misunderstood rela-
tive to the ideas he formerly advanced concerning electrical
- and chemical attractions. He did not say that chemical at-
tractions were produced by electrical attractions, or vice
versa. He conceived that they may be different exhibitions
of the same powers of matter, in one case acting upon par-
ticles, and in the other upon masses. He wished, however,
not to attach much importance to this or any other hypo-
thetical notion. Hypothesis, he said, should always be in-
duction from experiments, and should be regarded as dan-
gerous and unprofitable when it does not lead to new ex-
periments.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

The annual general meeting of this Society was held on
the 7th of February, when the following gentlemen were
elected as Officers and Council for the ensuing year.

OFFICERS.

President.
George Bellas Greenough, Esq. M.P. F.R.S.

Vice Presidents.
William Babington, M.D. F.R.S.
Sir Abraham Hume, Bart. M.P. F.R. and L.S.
Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart. M.P. F.R.A, and LS.
Robert Ferguson, Esq. F.R.S.

Treasurers.

ee EOeerleercerorrr—

Geological Society. 14}

Treasurers.

William Uaseldine Pepys, Esq. F.R.S.
Samuel Solly, Esq.

Secretaries.
Leonard Horner, Esq.
Arthur Aikin, Esq.

Foreign Secretary.

James Lewis, Count de Bournon, F.R. and L.S.

COUNCIL.

The Council consists of the Officers of the Society, and of
twelve other Ordinary Members.

The Ordinary Members for the present year are

Alexander Apsley, Esq. James Franck, M.D.
The Hon. Henry Grey Ben- | James Laird, M.D.
net, M.P. Alexander Marcet, M.D.
The Rev. E. J. Burrow. iS kteeys
John George Children, Esq. | William Phillips, Esq.
F.R. and L.S. Henry Warburton, Esq.

Samuel Davis, Esq. F.R.S. [tebe
Sir Henry Englefield, Bart. | Samuel Woods, Esq.

F.R. and L.S. |

Feb. 2ist, 1812. An extract of a letter from Mr. J. R.
Jones of Holywell to the President was read, giving an
account of a specimen, presented by him to the Society, of
supposed native lead, found in a bed of gravel in the
neighbourhood of Holywell.

An extract of a letter communicated’ by the Hon. Henry
Grey Bennet, member of the Geol. Society, was read, de-
scribing a submarine voleano which made its appearance
on Feb. ist, 1811, off the Island of St. Michael’s in the
Azores.

The reading of a paper by W. Phillips, Esq. member of
the Geol. Society, entitled “ A description of the oxide of
tun the production of Cornwall; of the primitive crystal
and its modifications, including an attempt to ascertain
with precision the admeasurements of its angles mechani-
cally, by means of the reflecting goniometer of Dr. Woi-
Jaston: to which is added, a series of its crystalline forms
and varicties,” was commenced.

The native oxide of tin appears to have been found in
almost every district of Cornwall, and in the opinion of
Mr. Phillips is by no means peculiar to the primitive rocks
of that country. Particular crystalline modifications of
this substance characterize particular veins.

Alluvial depositions of tin of considerable extent and
depth have been found in several parts of Cornwall, which

appears

142 London Philosophical Society. ;
appears to be the only part of Europe in which this metal
occurs under these circumstances. The peculiar variety
called wood tin has hitherto only been met with in these
beds, or stream-works as they are termed in the country ;
and these have also furnished the only specimens of gold
hitherto found in Cornwall.

Among the specimens of tin in the collection of Mr,
Philips, it amay be observed occurring in granite, in mica

slate, and in ‘other varieties of schist, accompanied by
chlorite, tourmaline, calcareous spar, schicfer spar, topaz,
calcedony, quartz, fluor spar, and clorophane; yellow cop-
per ore, blende, arsenical pyrites, and wolfram.

The following Donations were received :

Statistical Accounts of the Counties of Cork and Antrim.
From the right honourable the Dublin Society.

Exotic Mineralogy, Nos. ¥ to 6. From James ‘Sowerby,
Esq. the Svat Member of the Geological Society. °

Histoire Naturelle de la France Méridionale, par M.1’ Abbé
Giraud Soulavie, 6 vols. Svo. From Dr. Laird, Mem-

* berof G.S.

Specimens from Northumberland. From the Hon. Henry
Grey Bennet, Member of G.S.

Specimens from Ireland. From G. B. Greenough, Esq.
President of G. S.

LONDON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

The objects of this Society are, according to its Prospec-’
tus, ** those of every man who loves improvement :—to foster
genius, to eradicate unphilosophic prejudice, to increase
the knowledge of nature, and most, of man ; to destroy, as
miuch as possible, that false demuigen of words which has
been justly reprobated by Locke and Bacon as the origin of
sophistry and misconception ; but, above all, to remove that
barrier erected by pedantry against universal knowledge,
which has introduced an esprit de corps into philosophy,
and rendered it «the territory of a sect rather than the pro-
vince of the world.”

The means which they adopt to effect these desirable pur-
poses are, principally by the production of lectures in every
department of philosophy, excepting theology and poli-’
tics; and by a rigorous ea ata examination, in which
Truth is the solitary object of devotion, and the inductive
system of Bacon the portal to her shrine. This principle.
of responsibility imposed on the lecturer we believe to be

perfectly original ; and the good resulting from it must-be
£on-

London Philosophical Society. 143

considerable ; because, while it fosters the vigorous growth
of original talent, it lops away the puny excrescences of
plagiarism, and the decayed branches of false and unwar-
rantable hypothesis.

The attention of the Society has, for this month, been
chiefly directed to a-brief course of lectures on the Pyra-
mids, by Mr. Clarkson, as a prelude to a regular attempt at
illustrating the hieroglyphical language.

The first object of Mr. C. is to establish the point, that
the Pyramids in question were not sepulchres, but temples
dedicated to the mysteries of! Solar Fire; and we think he.
has succeeded. Indeed, be has brought together such a
mass of evidence from every possible source, from Arabian
manuscript, Coptic tradition, Hindoo analogy, Greek re-
cord, various etymology, and logical deduction; he has
condensed such an intense corradiation of proof, as we feel
assured will searcely fail, on perusal, to produce a simul-
taneous conviction. It is impossible for us to follow him
through all the various channels of his research ; it is suf-
ficient to say, that part of his lectures was occupied with
proving that the Pyramids were not sepulchres, and the re-
mainder in arguing that the passages of those singular
buildings were devoted to the mysteries of Fire. In pur-.
suing the first of these divisions, he rests his conclusions on
the following facts:—That the form of the Pyramids was
sacred and mysterious; and this he proved by the pyra-
midal stones sacrea to the Sun, to Hermes, to the Paphian
Venus, and, in modern times, to Bramha.

He proceeds from this to trace the connection of this
form with the geometrical philosophy of the Egyptians,
which descended from them to the Platonists and Pythago-
reans; and he imagines it scarcely probable, that a nation
imbued with such a veneration for this form as the Egyp-
tians were, would have consecrated it to the purpose of shel-
tering the body of a single monarch at an enormous ex-
pense. If this building were intended to neutralize the che-
mnical properties of Nature in this body, as Napoleon was
informed, he inquires, how it came that the builders left a
hole of a foot in diameter, which perforates the wall of the
second pyramid to the central room? If this body was that
of Cheops, as it has been affirmed, how was it that Cheops,
who despised the theology of the Egyptians, should’spend
a whole life in building a mausoleum which belied his own
atheistical notions, and confessed his fears to be under the
influence of the priests whom he despised? As to the Sar-
cophagus, he remarks, that six circumstances mark that it
was never intended for atomb. If it could neither be intro-

duced

144 London Philosophical Society.

duced by the common entrance passage, nor, by the well,
how was the body to be deposited within it? Would the
attendants convey it in their arms? This was impossible, for
a single man can scarcely penetrate one department of the

passages—or would they drag it by cords? This was ab-.

surd to suppose, when the Egyptian veneration for the dead
was called to mind :—and supposing this true, what was the
use of so many passages so curiously contrived? Was it to
increase the magnificence of the burial ? This could not be;
for the passages are in general only three feet and a half
high, and only one of them leads to the upper room. Was
it for the attendants, who, according to Maillet’s theory,
were buried alive with the dead monarch? This was ridicu-
lous, for they were confined to a single room :—and for
what parpose the two rooms, the five galleries, the platforms,
and the well?. And if the niche in the lower room were de-
dicated to the mummy of the queen, how came it that the
unalterable laws of the Egyptian priests were violated at the
same time, and in the same building? How came it that
the body in the sarcophagus was placed horizontally, but
the body in the queen’s chamber perpendicularly ? The six
circumstances, from whence he infers his conclusion, are
therefore, 1st, that it was impracticable to bury the body
with any the least degree of decency in the sarcophagus ;
ed, that the form was not likely to be given to the human
body, being half the width of the length; 3d, that it was
customary for the Egyptians to hollow the internal cavity
of their real sarcophagi in the human shape, and this is not
so formed ; 4th, that it was a custom of the Egyptians to
decorate them with hieroglyphics, and this is not so adorned 5
stb, that it was likewise a custom of the Egyptians, de-
pending upon invariable laws, to place them upright against
awall, and this is not so placed :—it may be said, that it has
been moved; but itis fixed, and the attempt to dig for trea-
sure beneath it, of which the testimonials still remain,
proves that it retains its original position ; and 6th, that the
sarcophagus consists of two exact cubes ; and this circum-
stance, combined with its mystic situation, which is pre-
cisely that of one of the foci of an ellipse, supposing an
ellipse inscribed on the rectangle ef the floor, substantiates
clearly the fact, that its purposes were mysterious. ‘To what
purposes then, asked Mr. C. was it applied? to those of
lustration, similar to the same vases in Hindostan? We
have Tanks of this description, adds Mr. C., in the British
Museum, and no one ever imagined that they were in-
tended for sepulchres. He then proceeds with a just and

sensible argument, drawn from the pyramidal Temples of
India.

—

J Sa eS ee ee

London Philosophical Society. 145

India. These temples, as he observes, bear the same exter-
nal character, have similar intersal passages, and yet no one
ever imagined that these temples were mausoleums. Why
then do we induce a different conclusion where the premises
are the same? He pursues this argument by producing an
extract from a Brahmin tradition, (the Maka Calpa,) which
asserts that a Hindoo conqueror was the founder of the
Pyramids, that the Sarcophagus was devoted to the myste-
ries of the Egyptian Isis, and that the well communicates
with immense subterraneous regions,—a circumstance sup-
ported by another extract from an Arabian manuséript.
We agree, however, with Mr. C. that although it is ex-
tremely probable that there was a legitimate entrance to the
pyramid of Cheops; yet that, if it rested on the mere Cop-
tic tradition recorded in the manuscript described, it would
by no means be worthy of implicit credence. We give him
credit for sacrificing speculation on this and on other occa-
sions to prudence; and we think he has acted wisely in
abstaining from the question, when the Pyramid was built?
though it is settled by the manuscript at 300 years before
the Deluge.

With regard to his etymological definition, though we
entertain no greater respect for it than Mr. C. considered as
affording illustration, we think that the Hebrew word Py-
vamido, the revelation of Perfection, or the Bull, is 4
much less strained analogy than Booremiih, the cave of
Death. It is curious, however, that the Coptic word Meed,
which corresponds with the Greek Mathos, the Jewish M/i-
do, signifies in Shanscrit a college of priests, and, when
combined with the foregoing part of the word, implies that
Fire was the object of their devotion.

To proceed: If it be proved that the Pyramids were not
sepulchres, there appéars to be no alternative but admitting
that they were Sabean temples. But Mr. Clarkson is not
satisfied with this position, singly considered, and has
therefore entered into a variety of evidence to prove that
the passages afforded the original model of initiatory ca-
verns. After detailing at some Jength the exoteric and
esoteric rites of the ancient nations with a degree of erudi-
tion which does him credit, he proceeds to adapt the de-
scription of these rites to the peculiar form of the pyramidal
recesses. We copy this adaptation, because we consider it
extremely ingenious; and though we are ready to admit
that it bears a character of abstract speculation, we think,
as he has established his main point, that the details de-

Vol. 39. No. 166. Feb, 1812. K pending

146 London Philosophical Society.

pending on that point may be allowed a little clothing from
a clasical imagination.

“© It is sufficient for me to observe, on the admission of
the foregoing premises, that the room situated in the exact
centre of the Pyramid of Cheops, as the Sun is situated in
the centre of that starry system ofi which the Pyramid is a
symbol, must have been devoted to Osiris. Next, that the

situation of the Sarcophagus, exactly placed on one of the

foci of an ellipse, and formed of two exact cubes, both of

which circumstances were symbols of the same meaning,
was dedicatedto the birth of Horus, or Light, one of the
gemini who sprung from the egg of Chagas. Now the
Gemini were like the Cherubim, the two visible apparitions
of the Triune Principle; for, according to Pausanias, the
number of the Dioscuri originally corresponded with the
Cabiri. And here f cannot but remark, that, according to
the Pythagoreans, in two minds, that is, [sis and Osiris,
was contained the» great generating Fountain of souls,
and that Light and Life sprung from their mystical marriage.
Now the Demiurgic principles of nature were represented
by cubic stones. “Hence the cubic temple of Mecea, hence
the cubic stone of Bubaste. The temple of Solomon was
indeed built upon a similar model; it consisted of three

exact cubes, two of which were visible, but one invisible,
* For myself | have no doubt, although L may not be
able to express my ideas so strongly as I feel them, that the
Sarcophagus in question was devoted to the higher myste-
ries, We know that the Mosaic Tabernacle v was formed
upon a similar model ; and that it contained, according to the
Rabbins, the Sephy roth, that is, the Spheres or the Sidereal
Gates, and the great Decad of the Law written on two stones.
Now we are informed by Plutarch and Apuleius, that a Chest
containing a golden Ark was used in the my series of Osiris.
We learn from Svnesius, that these Arks, according to the
priests, contal: ned the Spheres ; those Spheres w hich were
sometimes represented by semicircles, and sometimes by
cubes ; those Spheres, of which the Dioscuri, the Sephy-
roth, the Cherul; im, (and even Proserpine, the object of
Eleusinian initiation,) were alike the symbols. We are
told, moreover, by Suidas and Eusebins, that Arks were
devoted to the mysteries cf Fire, and that they were consi-
dered sacred, as well as the triangular form, to the great
triple Deity of Eleusinian as well as Eevptian initiation,
Bacchus, Proserpine, and Ceres. But tliat nothing may be
wanting to ideniuly these Arks withthe triangular ee
the

London Philosophical Society. 147
the chamber of Osiris-Bacchus, and the Sarcophagus it-
self, Pausanias informs us that the Image of Bacchus was
found in a Chest which was said to be the gift of Vulcan—
that Vulcan of whom the Pyramid was a symbol—that
Chest of which the Sarcophagus was a model—that Bacchus
to whom the central room was certainly devoted. Finally,
to complete the evidence, for it is impossible to turn with-
out finding so many proofs as can scarcely be condensed
into two Lectures, we hear from Plutarch, that on the
third day after Osiris had been deposited in his Ark, during
which time he was supposed to have descended into Hades,
(the lower hemisphere of the astronomers,) they opened it,
and brought forth a Heifer to the people as the Deity restored
to life. Now the famous manuscript of Denon represents
the exact point of time. The Sarcophagus on which the
Heifer rises, is evidently the mystical tomb of Osiris, from
the prostrate figure on the side and the triune symbol above ;
and it certainly agrees with the figure of the pyramidal Ark.
i shall add, by way of corollary to this evidence, that the
Hebrew word Pyramido signifies a revelation of the Heifer,
‘as well as of Perfection, or of Fire.

«¢ To proceed : The under room, still"bearing the name of
the Queen’s chamber, was devoted to the mysteries of Isis 5
for that goddess bore the name of the Queen among the
Egyptians. (Diodorus Siculus.) With regard to the niche in
this room, it was probably devoted to a statue of Isis Multi-
mammiaj or the same triformed goddess exhibited at Eleu-
sis. Maillet pretends that the mummy of'a dead queen was
deposited here. But I put it to the candour of antiquarians,
whether, if I had stated that in the very same monument,
and almost at the same time, the Egyptians, so tenacious as
they were of invariable customs, so tenacious indeed that,
even while they knew as much of the principles of statuary
as the Greeks, they sacrificed the truth of proportion and of
nature to the standard of monastic prescription,—that these
priests should in one instance deposit the body horizontally,
and in another perpendicularly, they would not have con-
ceived it an insult on their understandings ? .

‘*To return from this digression, however, it must have
been in the two first passages that the Aspirant was ter-
rified and bewildered by the flickering lights, the groans,
ihe cries, and the howlings of dogs. It was there, possibly,
that a hundred terrible shadows, disgorged from the mouth
of the well or from the grotto beneath, surrounded him with
indescribable terrors. Aud here, were I desired to account
for the holes in the central room, one of which extends .

K 2 the

148 * London Philosophical Society.

the outward wall, and the other to the foundations of the
Pyramids, I should answer, with very little hesitation, that
they were devoted to secret communication, and most
likely to inform the assembled priests of the exact moment
when the initiate entered the north angle, or thé well. I
consider this as a much more satisfactory and plain state-
ment than that of Savary, who contends that one of them
was intended to convey food to the visionary personages
he here confined; for, according to his own. hypothesis,
it was scarcely possible to ascend the external wall ; and
it is not very probable that a set of priests, tenacious
to a refinement of their secrets, should have suffered
a basket of provisions to be dangling trom a height of
two hundred feet—a mere realization of Mother Bunch’s
Tales. But it is the constant feature of a forced hypo-
thesis, that some little difficulty is perpetually starting
which requires a correcting or a pruning hand. For myself,
though I. feel conscious that my powers of research are
infinitely inferior to those who have preceded me, yet satis-
fied that I have yielded every thing to fact, and nothing to
imagination, I am persuaded, that every candid and unpre-
judiced mind will submit to the weight of evidence I have
‘adduced, and particularly to that harmony of feature which
pervades and characterizes the system which I have endea-
youred to erect with comparatively feeble powers, but with
unremitting patience of investigation. Even the narrow
communication between the first and second gallery, which
has confounded and perplexed the opposite theorists, and
certainly put them to their last shifts of explanation, is to
me a matter of triumph and of aid. For [ have only to
read the ordinary descriptions of travellers, and the cause
of it is apparent. We are compelled, they all concur, to
strip ourselves at this point, and to crawl upon our bellies
like serpents ;—and behold two accredited steps of ancient
initiation : for it is notorious that these actions, rendered
necessary by the skill of the architect, are symbolical rites,
representing at once the fall of man, and his willingness to
return to his original simplicity and purity. Indeed, if the
analogy were not so sirong as it is, we are not deficient in
evidence, drawn from the cave of Trophonius, St. Patrick,
&e. which were built upon a similar model, that the narrow-

ness of the passage was intended to impress a feeling of :
‘terror on the mystic votary. Proceeding, therefore, by the ‘
same analogical clue, the concession seems as It were ex- ‘

acted from us, that the five platforms-and five galleries
were the inferior gates of the great Sidereal Ladder which
led

London Philosophical Society. , 14g

led the initiate to the central Sanctorum of Osiris. The
Coptic manuscript says, that there were images of the Stars
and the Sun and Moon within—but the arrangement of the
‘passage speaks for itself. I baye before proved that the
Sephyroth, with its own gates, was an Egyptian mystery.
It remains to observe, that all the ancient temples of which
we have record, were built upon an astronomical principle.
Of this, the temples of Mecca, of Solomon, of Elephanta,
are proofs. Navy, there were pyramidal temples in Chaldea
aud Mexico, which were erected on the very principle of the
Sidereal Ladder and the Sephyroth. There is nothing, there-
fore, overstrained in seeking for it in the Py ‘raids of
Eeypt, expressly dedicated io the Universal System. It ~
must be recollecied, however, that the Sidereal Ladder was
not always uniformly represented. It was not in the two
instances before us; one consisted of concentric circles, the
other of steps. We know that the Jewish Sephy roth was
sometimes represented by a tree. We know too that the
Tree of Knowledge was represented on the same astrono-
eal principle by the Oriental nations, and by the Platonists
themselves; and this is proved by Evyptian and Mithraie
monuments. For instance, they painted it by a Tree with
one trunk, with three branches, and seven different kinds
of fruit, typifying the Planets, and represented the Fruit of
Life by the Sun, and of Death by the Moon. The Rab-
bins, indeed, express themselves in the same manner in
mysticizing on the branches of the Sephyroth. If then we.re-
fer this m0) slicizing theory to the branches of the Pyramidal
cavers, we shall find an exact and striking coincidence.

«<< As to the magnificent passave which leads to the Solar
chamber, I shouldi imagine, from the benches which accoms
pany the course of the walls, aud their distinct division
into something like the stalls ‘of monastic temples, that it
was occupied by the assen:bled College of Priests, who pos-
sibly witnessed the efforts and triumphed in the success of
the blindfold initiate. The descent of Ulysses and of Or-
pheus seem both to allude to ihe jaiter circumstance ; but
the curiosity of Orpheus removed the veil.

«© Bat however this may have been, there can be lite
doubt, that most of the poetical dresaelicg into Heil ongi-
nated in the third passage. The deseription of it,singularly
coincides with that of Virzi!. ‘There are atethe end of the
second gallery, three wavs, the one Icading to Elysium,
{the abode of the Sun, according to Bry ant,) the other to
the abode of Prose Tpine’ (the Queen’ ’s chamber), and the
Jast to Taitarus, that is to the Catacombs, the only Infera of

K 3 the

150 Wernerian Natural History Society.

the Egyptians. It was here then that three priests were
stationed to prevent the intrusion of improper persons, who
in the Coptic language were called Caen, a word which the
Greeks translated Dogs, and thence the triple-headed Dog
Cerberus of the poets. And here, if I may be allowed to
speculate on the description of Virgil, that beneath an over-
shadowing rock, to the left, the city of Tartarus was placed
at the entrance of these ways, |] should place the dungeon
of the Temple in the grotto beneath ; for there is little doubt
that the Tartarus of the poets originated in the penances
of the Priests, exemplified either in the persons of their re-
fractory satellites, or on those of initiates who had violated
their oaths. Hence arose the stories of Sisyphus, Ixion, of
the Danaides, victims, as it would appear, cond+mned to
draw water, to raise stones, or to move the wheels of ma-
chinery.”

Mr. Clarkson then proceeds with an interesting descrip-
tion of Elysium, which he contends was the garden of the
Monastic College ; detailing rather at large the mystic dra-
mas that were there represented, and ending with a learned
and curious argument on the Origin and Effects of Drama~
tic Representation.

_ Upon the whole, we take our leave of Mr. C. with con-
siderable feelings of respect. We have derived at once
pleasure and information from his lectures, and we sympa-
thize cordially with his future objects.

WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

At the first winter meeting of this Society, an interesting
communication from Dr. Artbur Edmondstone was read,
concerning the Larus parasiticus, or Arctic Gull. Owing
to the remote situation of the haunts of this gull, its history
and manners have hitherto been little known. Dr. Ed-
mondstone has now illustrated them. He has observed two
kinds of arctic gulls in.the Shetland islands; the common
sort, with the breast and belly of a mouse colour; and an-
other sort with the breast and belly pure white. Each kind
keeps together; aud the white is a larger and heavier bird,
but less bold than the other. The Doctor is therefore in-
clined to consider these not merely as varieties, but as di-
stinct species. ;

At the same meeting, Professor Jameson read to the So-
ciety a short description of several varietics of the precious
stone named Zircon, which he had lately discovered im-
bedded in sienite, in Galloway. [He also informed the So-

en : ‘ciety,

Wernerian Natural History Society. 151

ciety, that he had observed in the same rock in Galloway,
both the brown and the yellow subspecies of that very rare
ore, known to mineralogists by the name of Rutilite or
Sphene.

At the meeting on the 30th of November last, Professor
Jameson read a paper on Granite. He cescribed three
principal formations of granite, and two of sienite. Two
of the granite formations belong to the primitive class; the
third to the transition: and of the sienites, one is primi-
tive, and the other transition. He mentioned particularly
the appearances that present themselves at the junctions and
alternations of the granite and sienite with gneiss and A7/das
(which last is probably a newer gneiss), and the relations
of these rocks to mica-slate, clay-slate, gray wacke, and
gray-wacke slate. The descriptions were illustrated by
numerous sections and specimens from Galloway, island
of Arran, and other parts of Scotland. The Professor af-
terwards gave the natural history of a mew genus of con-
camerated fossil shell. In describing this shell, he em-
ployed the usual zoological language; but in detailing the
other particulars, the method followed was that used in
giving the natural history of minerals.

At the same meeting the Secretary read a communication
from the Rev. Mr. Fleming of Flisk, containing an account
of a bed of fossil shells which occurs on the banks of the
Frith of Forth near Berrowstounness. The bed is three
feet thick, nearly three miles in extent, and is situated about
thirty-three feet above the present level of Spring tides.
The kinds of shells which compose this extensive bed are
still fourd in a recent state in the Frith.

At the same meeting, also, Mr. Leach gave a description
of a new British species of Bchinus, which he had observed
in plenty at Bantry Bay in Ircland, aud which he proposed
to call E. lithophagus, from the circumstance of its forming
a smail hollow for itsdf in che substance of the submarine
rocks.

At the meeting on the 14th of December, Professor Jame-
son read a short general account of the geognosy of the
stewartry of Kirkcudbright. 1t would appear from the Pro-
fessor’s description, that the greater portion of this part of
Scotland is composed of gray-wacke, gray-wacke slate, and
transition slate, with suberdinate beds of transftion por-
phyry, twousition greenstone, and fiinty-slate. But three
tracts, the first of which contains the mountain of Criffle 5
the second, Cairnsmuir of Dee, &c.; and the third, Loch
Doune, are composed of BBA Se signite, sienilic porphyry,

. 4 and

152 Vaccination. —

and kiilas. The sienite and granite in some places are coe
vered by the killas; in other places the granite and sienite
rest upon the killas 5 ; and Professor Jameson also observed
the killas alternating with beds of granite and sienite, and
veins shooting from the granite into the adjacent killas.
The granitous rocks, besides felspar, quartz, mica, and
hornblende, also contain imbedded rotilite, titanitic iron-
ore, and molybdena; and, in rolled masses of a reddish-
coloured sienite, crystals and grains of zircon were observed.
Professor Jameson also stated several of the characters of the
killas, described the magnetic pyrites it contains, noticed
its affinity with certain rocks of the transition class, and
exhibited specimens to illustrate this affinity.

At the same meeting there was read a series of ther-
mometrical observations on the temperature of the Gulf
stream, by Dr. Manson, of New Galloway: and a descrip-
tion of a new craniometer, proposed by Mr. W. E. Leach,

iustrated by a sketch.

ate oO _

XXII. Intelligence and MRRtaools Articles.
VACCINATION.

Ox this subject we have lately seen an address by Edward
Rigby, £sq. senior surgeon of the Norfolk and Norwich
hospital, to the Corp: yration of Guardiaus of the Poor of
the city, which presents some facts that cannot be too
generally known. This gentleman, while variolous ino-
culation was the only method known for lessening the
ravages of the stall-pox, was ever ready, not only to
inoculate the poor gratuitously, but omitted no opportu-
nity, either by writing or by conversation, to promote lis
cencral adoption ; but Providence having placed in our
hands means of security against that Joathsume disease
equally efficacious and much fess exceptionable, namely
vaceination, Mr. Rigby has been one of its most strenu-
ous advocates, and has exerted himself to root out the
small-pox entirely, fron: Norwich and its neighbourhood,
After stating some of the measures that he ‘had recom-
mended, bat which it would appear had not been suffi-
iently Mtended to,—he states, that * the small-pox did
disappear in the antumn of 1806: it had seized on all the
ns within its reach, and, like a fire, ceased to burn
only for want of additional fucl ; hor did it again visit the
city till August 1807, when it was introduced in the fol-

Jowing w ay t—
$6 On the Monday of the Assize- week in that year, Mr.
Robinson,

Vaccination, 153

Robinson, one of your surgeons, called upon me in the
morning, to say he had been to visit a poor woman at the
Waggon and Horses, in St. Giles’s-street, who had just
been brought thither from the London waggon, and that
she was in the eruptive stage of the small-pox, and he was
very anxious that I should advise him how she could be dis-
posed of. I told him, i feared I had now no power either
as a magistrate or as a guardian to direct in such a case, as
a late resolution of the court had rescinded the orders,
under which, heretofore, patients under such circumstances
had been sent to the Infirmary ; but I wished him to apply
to Mr. Simpson, the clerk of the court of guardians, to
Mr. Lubbock, the mayor’s justice clerk, and to the chief
magistrate himself; al! which Mr. Robinson took the trouble
of doing, but to no purpose—there was no place to which
she could be sent, and she was under the necessity of going
through this infectious disease at a public-house, in a pub-
lic street, and at a public time when there was a more than
usual number of strangers in the city. The consequences
were obvious—a person in the public:house caught the
disease, from whom it was communicated to another in
the neighbourhood, and thence it gradually spread to the
several parts of the city, and continued its ravages among
the poor to the end of the year 1809; during which time,
no Jess a number of deaths from this dreadful disease than
TWO HUNDRED AND THREE were recorded in the weekly
bills of mortality. The greatest fatality was in 1S08, in
soine weeks ten, thirteen, and even fifteen died; and from
June 1808 to June 1809 the number of deaths was 171.

I ain satisfied that these accounts are correct; and I feel
no small gratification in reflecting, that a record so impor-
tant to humanity would not have existed, had I not, when
mayor, directed the keeper of the bills of mortality to no-
tice every death from the small-pox. In a statistical as
well as moral view, these facts are highly interesting. I
think it likely, as there are few adults in populous places
who have not had the small-pox, that this long list of
deaths consisted almost entirely of children; and if the
common average of deaths trom small-pox, as derived from
tables kept for a series of years in London, Paris, Vienna,
and other large cities in Europe, be correct, and which is
One in six, itis evident, that within this period more than
twelve hundred individuals must have had the disease; and
the probability of these being children is increased, by this
number so strikingly corresponding with the number of
births in three years in that class of society liable to the

disease,

154 Vaccination.

disease, reckoning from the time when the smali-pox dis-
appeared at the end of 1806, to the end of 1809, when it
again ceased, The annual births im Norwich for the last
four years are about nine hundred ; somewhat less than
half of this number, or four hundred, probably belong to
the lowest or unvaccinating class; which in three years will
produce by births about the number of individuals who had
the disease at this period, and which, as I before observed,
must havé been somewhat more than twelve hundred *.

‘* The moral reflections which necessarily arise from this
melancholy detail need not now be insisted upon. _ I will
however just observe, that had this patient been fortunately
sent to the Infirmary at the time Mr. Robinson called upon
me, and which was, { believe, before the disease had reached
that stage which renders it infectious, she would not have
been i a situation to have communicated it; and the city,
in that instance at least, would have been spared the dread-
ful visitation to which so many human lives were sacrt-
ficed; and had the former wise regulations of this court
remained in force, itis sufficiently clear that she would
haye been sent thither,”

eee

©To Mr. Tilloch.

S1r,—In plate xvii. of the 3d vol. of Mr. Parkinson’s
valuable ** Organic Remains,’’ is figured at fig, 2. the im-
pression of an insect, whose species the author professes
himself unable to determine. He will probably therefore
not be sorry to be informed through your medium, that it
is clearly the impression of the larva of a species of Li-
bellula or Dragon Fly ; I conjecture, of 1. quadrimaculata,
a figure of which may be seen in the 6th vol. of Remains,
tab. xxxvi. fig. 1. and 2.. What Mr. Parkinson terms ‘the
sting,” is the intermediate one of the three pointed pro-
cesses found at the anus of many of the tribe, but not at
allanalogous toasting. The Jegs have not been, as Mr. P.
supposes, eight, but six, the usual number in insects.

Jan. 27, 1812. I am, sir,/ &c.. &c.

C. E.

* Admitting this conjecture to be well founded, as more than two years
have elapsed since the small-pox was in Norwich, it follows, that at this time
there are more than eight hundred children liable to catch the disease,
should it again find its way into the city. If also it be true, that this disease
is fatal toa sixth of the individuals infected, it is equally clear, that unless
some efficient means are adopted to secure the lower classes from the infec-
tion, an average annual loss to ou? population of more than sixty persons
will be sustained, 7

0

New Process for refining Sugar. 155

To Mr. Tilloch.

Siz,—I beg to ask for information of some of your cor-
respondents, respecting the cause of an optical phenome-
non, for an explanation of which I have in vain looked in
books.

Surveying lately through a compound microscope at a
friend’s, one of the sliders, IT was struck by the figures
which I knew to be impressed upon it appearing to my
sight to be in relief; and was sti!] more surprised to find,
that to my friend, who at my request looked through the
microscope, they retained their actual impressed appearance.
I then put one of the old penny pieces under the glass, and
the letters indented round the margin appeared in relief,
while the head seemed as obviously excavated ; yet to my
friend’s eye, as well as to that of a lady present, the na-
tural appearances only presented themselves, I am not
aware of any peculiarity in my visual organs, except that
of being in a slight degree short-sighted, which does not
seem sufficient to account for the difference.

Iam, sir, your most obedient servant,

SP.

eee

>

NEW PROCESS FOR REFINING SUGAR.

A valuable and simple process has lately been discovered
by Edward Howard, Esq. F. R.S. for refining sugar, which
promises to be of great advantage. The following is an
. outline of the process, but a more detailed account of it
may be expected to be published by that gentleman him-
self :—** Take brown sugar, sift it through a coarse sieve,
then put it lightly into any conical vessel having holes at
the bottom (like a coffee machine). Then mix some brown
sugar with white syrup, that is, syrup of refined sugar, to
the consistency of batter or thick cream, and pour it ently
on the top of the sugar in the vessel till the surface 1s CO-
vered. The syrup will soon begin to percolate, and leave
the surface in a state which will allow more syrup to be
poured upon it, which is to be done carefully. The treacle
will be found to come out at the bottom, having left the
whole mass perfectly white. The first droppings are to be
kept apart, as the last will serve to begin another operation.
The sugar is now ina pure state, except as to its contain -
ing insoluble matter, which may of course be separated by
solution in water.—The clarification is to be performed by
the best pipe-clay and fuller’s-earth, and the addition of

neutral

.

156 List of Patents for new Inventions.

neutral alum, if lime be previously contained therein ; the
whole to be agitated together; and, if expedition be re-
quired, it should be heated to the boilmg pot: the fecu-
Jencies will then subside. The brown syrup may also be
much improved by means of tannin and the above earths.
To make the sugar, into snow-white powder, it is only ne-
cessary to evaporate the clarified. solution to dryness on a
water-bath. To make loaves, the common methods may be
resorted to, or the syrup drawn off by exhaustion, or small
grains may be made. according to M. Du Trone’s process,
with much water, and these grains may be cemented by hot
eoncentrated syrup.”

Mr. Saumarez will shortly publish a work on the Philo-
sophy of Physiology and of Physics; comprehending an
examination of the modern systems of philosophy.

LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS.

To Jasper Augustus Kelly, of Kentish Town in the
county of Middlesex, engineer and architect, for certain
improvements in the construction or formation of arches,
and other erections and buildings, which, in respect to the
patron of the said invention, they denominate ‘* Moore’s
modern Architecture.”’—15th Jan. 1812.

To John Taylor the younger, of Chesterfield in the

county of Derby, gentleman, for a machine and rods for.

cutting, spreading, and preparing wicks for dip candles. —
20th Jan.

To John Rafheld, of Edward-street, Cavendish Square,
in the county of Middlesex, architect, for an apparatus to
be attached to fire stoves, of all descriptions, for rooms, for
the removal of cinders and ashes, and the better preventing
of dust arising therefrom.—20th Jan.

To Jacob Zink, of Glove Road, Mile End, in the county
of Middlesex, chemist, for a new method of manufac-
turing verdigris, which he denominates British verdigris.—
20th Jan.

To George White, of Worthing in the county of Sus-
sex, snuith and ironmonger, for a new or improved method
of preventing accidents from carriages.— 20th Jan.

To Andrew Patten, of Hulme, in the parish of Manches-
ter, in the county of Lancaster, iron lignar manufacturer ;
~ and Charles Hankinson, of Hale, in the parish of Bowden,
in the county of Chester, tanner, for their improyement in
the

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton. 157

the tanning of leather by the use of pyrolignus or wood acid.
—20th Jan.

To George Dodd, of Vauxhall Place, in the county of
Surry, engineer, for certain machinery and the application
of steam to communicate heat and motion to wines, porter,
and other liquids.or fluids, in cellars, storehouses, warehouses,
or other places. —23d Jan.

To John Beale, of Chad’s Row, in the parish of St. Pan-
cras and county of Middlesex, mathematica! instrument
and umbrella maker, a for machine or engine for cutting of
trunnels and spiles, and various other articles —23¢ Jan.

To William Onions, of Paulton, in the county of Somer-
set, engineer, for a mew engine or machine which may be
wrought by steam or other power.—23d Jan.

To Richard Rowland, of the city of Bristol, mathema-
tical instrument maker, for certain improvements, in ships’
steering wheels, compasses, and binnacles, and in\ the mode
of hghting the same with lamp or candle, by which same
light the cabin or other part of the vessel may be lighted ;
likewise a method of preserving the candles in hot cli-
mates,—23d Jan.

To George Babb, of Bordesley, near Birmingham, in the
county of Warwick. enginecr, for a new method or prin-
ciple of producing files, plane-irons, fire-irons, and other
articles. —923d Jan.

To Jobn Brown, of Mile End New Town, in the county
of Middlesex, stationer, for a pocket on an improved con-
struction to be used about the person or otherwise.—25th
January.

Meteorological Olservations made at Clapton in Hackney,
from Jan. 21, to Feb. 20, 1812.

Jan. 21.—Fair day, cirri and others. N.

Jun. 22.—Clouded and hazy day. N.N.W.

Jan, 23.—Lofty and ill-defined cumulative masses of
cloud. N.E.

Jan. 24.—Lofty cumulative clouds like yesterday: a co-
loured phenomenon was described as having been seen at
Walthamstow, this evening, about the moon, which from
description appears to have been what have called the halo
discoides.

Jan, 25,—Calm fogey day, with westerly wind.

Jan. 26.-Hazy morning; evening fair, though a strong
mist prevailed.

Jan, 27.—Cloudy and hazy morning; windy eS a

unar

pT ad

158- Meteorological ‘Observations

Junar corona,‘ somewhat coloured, appeared about severi
o’clock ; about ten a Aalo of the usual size*. -S.W.

Jan. 28.—Clouds and wind from the S.S.W,

Jan. 29.—Before sunrise lofty cirri appeared highly co-
Joured, which kind of lofty and confused cirrus prevailed
all the morning, with latge spreading sheets of cirrostratus,
followed in the evening by wind and rain. S.W.

Jan. 30.—Hazy morning, followed by clear day and
evening showers. S.W.

Jan. 31.—Cloudy, calm, hazy day. S.S.W.

Feb. 1.—Much cloud all day with haziness. S.

Feb. 2.—Fair morning 3 various cirrocumuli and cumuli,
followed by high wind, with some rain by night. S.W.

Feb. 3.—Fair morning, with lofty cumulative clouds : dark
rainy evening. S.W.

Feb, 4.—Hazy, with some small rain. S.W.

Feb. 5.—Misty, followed by a warm rainy day. S.

Feb. 6.—Dall, clouded, unpleasant day.

‘eb. 7.—Fine clear morning and W. wind, with flimsy
cirri and cirrocumuli followed by much cloud, increased
temperature, and rain at night, with a gale from S.W.

Feh, 8.—Fair morning with various clouds followed by
@rainy evening. N.E.

feb. 9.—Much cloud, in the evening a general obscurity
prevailed. W.and N.W. :

Feb. 10.—Fine day; much cirrus spread about aloft, in
a lower region massy and spreading cumulus; clear night.
S. and S.E.

Feb. 11,—Clear morning and frosty, afterwards the clouds
assumed the cirrocumulative aggregation, and were fol-
lowed by increased temperature, and a clouded night.

% The ancient writers seem to have been well acquainted with these phe-
nomena, but they did not well distinguish the kalo from the corona.

“ Existunt exdem corone circa Lunam, et circa nobilia astra ceelo quoque
inhzrentia. Circa Sulem arcus apparuit L. Opimio Q. Fabio Coss.. Orbis
L. Portio M. Acilio.”—Plin, Hist. Nat. lib. ii. cap. 29.

“ Circulus rubri coloris L, Julio P. Rutilio Coss."— Cap. 30.

The parhelion and paraselene were also noticed by Pliny.

“Et rursus plures soles simul cernuntur, nec supra ipsum nec infra, sed
ex obliqué, numquam juxta semel et meridie conspecti in Bosphoro produ-
cuntur, qui a matutino tempore duraverunt in occasum.”—Cap. 31.

“Lung quoque trinz Cn. Domitio C. Fannio Consulibus apparuére, quas
plerique appellaverunt soles nocturnos.” —Cap, 32.

Aristotle's descriptions appear more accurate than Pliny’s.

“© Thegs Os haw rots igidas, Th F txarsgov xo die sw carina yyverat Reyaouty, x2?
wig rugnrsoy nous polowy, &c.—Arist, Meteor. lib, iti. cap. 2.

By #2630 I understand radii; and I suppose the author to have meant
some such phxnomenon as is described by Virgil as a prognostit of bad’
weather :

** Aut ubi sub lucem densa inter nubila’sese
Diversi erumpunt radii,” &c.—Georg. lib, i, 445,

Fi che

omatle at Clapton. 159

Feb. 12.—Overcast and hazy day; towards night the
wind rose and became high with some small rain.

Fel. 13.—Qine clear morning, with cirrocumulus and
cirrus, while cumuli sailed along lower down: afterwards
cumulostratus coatinued to form through the day; bnt the
night became clear, and the stars shone bright I observed
a very small meteor about eleven o'clock. W.

Feb. 14.—Rain set in early, and its streams continued to
increase in size and strength all the morning, with rising
wind; in the afternoon it cleared, but the wind continued
high, and got from S.W. to N.W. The phenomenon of
the old moon in the new moon’s horns, as it is called, was
very clearly conspicuous this evening. Some common kind
of small meteors by night.

Fel. 15.—Fine morning; very high up much spreading
cirrus passed on gently from N.N.W. breaking out into
various forms, in some places giving the idea of fine gra-
nulations; in others arranged im beautiful rows of spots,
approaching to cirrocumulus, or stretched along in tufts, its
fibres verging in different. directions: lower down loose
flimsy ctrrocumulus ; and still lower, masses of cumulus and
what sailors call scud floated rapidly along in the west wind:
by and by cumulostratus formed by inosculation, as it «
seemed, and obscured the sky.

Feb. 16.—Features of confused cirrus appeared aloft ;
cumulus lower; afterwards cumulostratus, and general ob-
scurity: rain at night. W.

Feb. 17.—Cirrus, &c. followed by wind and rain in the
morning; afterwards showers and clear intervals 5 at night
very cloudy with rain and very boisterous wind. W.

Fel, 18.—Misty overcast morning, and fair day. N.W.

Fel. 19,—Misty, overcast and windy; clear night with a
few light clouds. S.W. and S.

Feb. 20.—Clear morning with much linear cirrus ex-
tending north and south; afterwards various cirrus and
cirrocumulus in different altitudes. At night a corona*
round the moon was sometimes double and coloured, at
others single and of various sizes, according to varieties in
the intervening cloud. |

Five Houses, Clapton, Feb. 21, 1812, Tuomas FORSTER.

* At times the corona appeared almost triple. I have said in my paper on

Halanes, that a triple corona was seldom seen. I have, however, since writing
that, seen several,

METEORO-

160 Meteorology.

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,
By Mr. Cary, oF THE STRAND,
For February 1812.

Thermometer. Sars a
eel. 1S eight of |S 38
ote a § as the Barom. eae Weathier.
33 Z, bie Inches. sg
o ~ Nae
——eee = | |
Jan. 27} 43 | 47°} 46°} 29°92 12 {Cloudy
28} 45 | 48 | 40 ‘60 17 |Cloudy
29} 36 | 47 | 41 °192 oO Stormy
30} 42 | 48 | 37 °22 1Q {Fair
31] 36 | 46 | 47 ‘78 13. |Fair ‘
Feb. 1} 46 | 47 | 46] ‘59 oO (Small rain
Q| 45 | 47 | 492 "52 o |Rain
31 42}48 | 46) °492 4 |Cloudy
41 47 | 47 | 47 hy i 7 |Cloudy
5| 47 | 47 | 46 *45 o {Rain
6| 46 | 46 | 49 °62 0 {Cloudy
7\ 34 | 47 | 40 °52 6 {Fair
8} 38 | 48 | 40 ay fe) , 0 Rain
g| 42 | 43 | 40 “92 0 |Foggy
10} 40 | 46 | 33 82 10. |Fair
11] 32 | 46 | 40 °72 95 |Fair
12} 40 | 50 | 42 *36 oO. |Showery
13| 40 | 46 |} 33 “56 a1 {Fair
14) 40 | 48 | 4) *30 O |Stormy
15| 40 | 47 | 43 *60 10 ‘Showery
16] 42 | 50 | 48 “63 30. '!Cloudy.
17| 50 | 52 | 43 *33 O |Stormy
18} 43 | 53 | 40 90 98 {Fair
19] 45 | 54 | 43 | 30°03 27. |Cloudy
20| 38 |} 56 | 47 | 29°90 30. =|Fair
21} 47 | 56 | 46 ‘67 28 {Cloudy
22} 46 | 55 | 43 “46 0 (Storms with
23} 44 | 52 | 40 °45 40 {Fair [thunder
24| 33 | 43 | 33 "62 18 |Fair
25| 40 | 44 | 35 *38 oO |Rain
26| 32 | 42 | 33 °56 25 {Fair

N.B. The Barometer’s height is taken at one o'clock,
a
ERRATA in our last Number.
Page 8, line 15, for 23°read 12°. Page 16, line 48, for O’ read 12,
Page 18, line 26, for ‘0011 read ‘011,

[ 161 j

&<IF Description of a Cavern near Chudleigh in Devon-
shire. By Mr.J. Jones, of Pembroke College, Cam-
_, bridge. Communicated by the Author.

r F s9 ‘ :
Tar Devonshire marbles have been Jately much in request
for ornamental purposes; and since it has been found im-
possible to obtain the more costly marbles of Italy, the at-
tention of our artists has been directed toward the produce
of our own soil. The strata of limestone or marble traverse
the country in various directions, adding considerably to
the beauty of the scenery ; for at some places they sink be-
neath the surface of the earth, and at others rise with ma-
jestic grandeur to a nearly perpendicular height of two or
three hundred feet, presenting from their summits views
hot to be exceeded for extent or picturesque effect by any
in the kingdom; and what adds considerably to their ap-
pearance is, that their tops are not barren, but ornamented
with mountain plants and a lively verdure, and their sides
are rendered shaggy by the shrubs and trees which grow
in abundance from their crevices. These hills are particu-
Jarly interesting to the traveller, and may not prove unin-
structive to the geologist; for caverns of considerable mag-
nitude have been discovered within their bowels, in which
4 profusion of stalactitical and stalagmitical depositions
abounds. The most celebrated of these caverns are Kent’s
Hole in the vicitiity of Torquay, and the Piscies’-hole in
Chudleigh rock néar the town of Chudleigh: the first Chave
hever seen, but have frequently visited the Jatter.

The Pixies’ or Piskies’ Hole, as it is commonly called, be-
ing the supposed habitation of a diminutive race of fairies,
is situated in part of the rock which faces the woods of
Ugbrook Park, the seat of Lord Clifford: the ascent is rath.
er difficult, being narrow and winding; but after having
ascended for a short time, the entrauce presents itself al-
most concealed by trees and shrubs: the entrance is 104
feet in breadth, and g feet in height, and the same dimen-
sions are early preserved for 672 feet after you enter the
cavern: it then suddenly diminishes into a narrow hole not
exceeding 3 feet in height and 7 feet in breadth: before
you enter this narrow -passage you are necessitated to de-
scend on vour hands and knees, andlight your candles, for
without light it is impossible to explore the interior of the
cavern: this narrow passage is the greatest difficulty to be
encountered; but it is not of any considerable length, not
exceeding 57 feet: at-its extremity you suddenly emerge

Vol. 39, No, 167. ALarch 1812. I. into

162 Description of a Cavern near

into a large and magnificent cavity, formed within the
bowels af the rock, of considerable magnitude, and not
cheered by a single ray of light from above: huge pieces
of rock which must have fallen from the top impede your
progress, and considerable caution must be observed in
passing over these fragments. The length of this cavity is
39 feet; ils greatest height about 50 feet, and breadth 12
feet; it terminates in a narrow cleft, too small to admit a
middle-sized man: the silence of this cave is never dis-
turbed, except by the bats which are observed to be sus-
pended from the top; and the sound produced by the
labourers from withuut, blasting the rock, reverberates®
through the hollows like thunder. A great number of
stalactites depend from the top, assuming various forms ;
but they are not remarkable either for whiteness, or beauty
of appearance. (The rock consisting entirely of limestone,
of course all the depositions are calcareous : one deposit de-
mands particular attention, as it is considered the guardian
idol of the cavern: it is situated on the left hand as you en-
ter, a few feet from the bottom, and presents the appearance
of a human head; it is commonly called the Pope’s head.
The reason of this appellation it would be perhaps now
difficult to discover: owing to the continual droppings from
above, its surface is soft, and all visitors are desired by
the guide to stick a pin into the head; to serve as a defence
against the machinations of the fairies. From this prin-
cipal cavity another branches off of greater regularity and
of a more vaulted appearance ; this second passage is 9 feet
in breadth, 11 feet in height, and 72 feet in length; it is
called the Pixies’ parlour, and the bottom is sufficiently level
to admit of dancing. Here fires are lighted, and parties re-
gale themselves: the effect is awful and striking, the flames
playing about the cavern, the sound of the music, and the
resounding echos of the voices. Banditti might have
chosen this as a proper place to have held their revels. At
the extremity of this cavity the light is seen streaming
through the rock from above, and on looking up you per-
ceive a narrow epening of considerable height; at the top
of which huge masses of rock seem suspended over your
head, and strike the mind of the spectators with terror
Jest they should suddenly be crushed to pieces. This was
certainly the first opening by which the cavern was entered,
and the narrow passage was afterwards effected by the hand
of man: its regularity forbids the idea of its natural origin.
Besides the abovementioned chambers, several narrow
entrances are discovered, which may perhaps lead to the
discovery

Chudleigh in Devonshire. 163

discovery of other cavities equal to those already explored.
But the foot of man has never yet passed into those con-
cealed caves; and the traditions of the vulgar respecting
them are of the most fearful kind: unfathomable depths of
water, with all accompanying horrors, are predominant *,
That water may sometimes be collected in those cavities,
may not be improbable; yet I have thrown down several
stones, and water was never heard, and the stones soon
reached their termination, One tradition 1s worthy of
being remembered: a dog was once thrown intd one of
those pits, and some weeks after it emerged at Botter rock
near Heniock, a village about four miles from Chudleigh ;
and the most remarkable part of the tale is, that all its hair
was rubbed off: this is a degree of consistency not often to
be observed-in popular tradition.

Having finished the description of the cavern, I shall
now hazard a few remarks respecting the use to which it
was applied by the Aborigines of Damnonium. Caves
were certainly the first habitations of the wandering tribes,
and perhaps first suggested the idea of constructing more
convenient places of abode. Some savages are now found ig-
norant of the means of constructing any settled habitation,
and who retire to the crevices of the rocks as a defence against
the inclemency of the weatherf. The Eastern nations
seem: to have been more particularly attached to subter-
ranean abodes. The deeds of Jesus Christ are said by the
inhabitants of Palestine to have been performed in caves ft.
Xenophon particularly describes the caves of the Arme-
nians§; and the temples of the Hindoos are frequently
placed in excavations at first formed by nature, and after-
wards improved by art: such is the singular cave in the
Isle of Elephante, aud the caves of Carli and Kenneri||. By
the Orientals, caves were used as places of abode, as retreats
in case of defeat from the enemy, and as temples for the
celebration of religious rites. The first colonists of Dam-
nonium proceeded from the East. This hypothesis was
first stated by Sir George Yonge, and supported by Pol-
whele in his excellent historical Views of Devonshire. Ma-
jor Welford has more recently conjectured, that the sacred
{sles of the Hindoos were srtuated in the Western Ocean.

* Risdon in his Chorographical Survey of Devon, in page 332, last edit:
when speaking of Chudleigh, says: ‘There is a cave hereabouts that creepeth
far under the ground, of + hich many marvellous matters are spoken.”

+ See Collins’s Account of New South Waics.

+ See Harmer’s Observations, and Maundrell’s ‘Travels.

§ De Expeditime Cyri, lib. 4.

|| Asiatic Researches, vol.ii, and Valentia’s Travels, vol, ii.

L 2 We

16 Description of a Cavern in Devonshire.

We cannot for a moment suppose that people capable of
undertaking long and tedious voyages were ignorant of the
means of constructing houses; yet the caves might attract
their attention either in a military or religious point of view.
The Pixies’ Hole was undoubtedly known to the earlier in-
habitants of Damnonium. Art hag been used in forming the
narrow passage; but it presents ho appearance of having
been diminished in size. The first entrance to the cavern
was effected throuvh the cavity I have before described, as
descending from the side of the rock. When the interior was
gained, a more commodious outlet. was desirable; the nar-
row passage was then formed, of small extent, by which
means all hostile attacks were prevented. It is impossible
to account for the sudden diminution of the first entrance,
and the regularity of the second passage, by any other con-
jecture.

However convenient the Pixies’ Hole might have been
as a place of retreat during the time of hostile invasion, it
never seems to have been used for a religious purpose. Yet
its awtul shades and lengthened caverns, the venerable
rocks and wood by which it is surrounded, would have ad-
mirably accorded with the superstition of the Druids: but
after the most laborious search I have not yet been able to
discover any Druidical antiquities in the immediate vicinity
of Chudleigh, notwithstanding’ the numerous tumult still
to be observed on the hills of Halldown, distant but a few
miles, afford convincing proof of a once numerous popu-
lation ; although the absence of Druisical remains tends to
remove all conjectures respecting the religious use of the
cavern. I am unwilling to suppose that it passed un-
noticed by the Druids. The singular stalactitical deposit
called the Pope’s Head may, without any inconsistency, be
named the Deity of the cavern; and the superstitious usages
of former ages have not yet entirely vanished, as respect is
paid to its singular and striking form. I have but one
more remark to offer, and that respecting the origin of
Gothic architecture. Jt has been contidently asserted, that
roves of trees first suggested the Gothic arch, nave, and
transept of our ancient cathedrals*, But it seems more
probable that the vaulted roof and stalactitie pillars ob-
served in caverns first gave the idea. Religious rites were at
first performed in caves; and when removed to groves and
buildings, the priests and people endeavoured to retain the
form of these ancient natural temples, ftom whence arose

the solemn and massive grandeur of Gothic architecture.
February 29, 1612.
* See Warburton’s Notes on Pope.

XXIV. On

pega 7

XXIV; On the different Qualities of Wines, and the Me-
thods of preserving und ameliorating them. By M.Du-
PorRTAL, M.D. *,

1s my preceding Dissertation ¢ on Fermentation, I took
particular care to describe that species of it which furnishes,
as its product, an intoxicating liquor, and is especially em-
ployed in procuring this liquor trom the grape. This con-
stitutes wine, so agrecable a beverage to mankind in ge-
neral, and in which the constituent princip es are the most
intimately combined. In all times, therefore, this usefal
and pleasing liquor bas occupied the attention as wel! of
the chemists as of the makers of wine. Among the for-
mer, M. Chaptal appears to me to have thrown “the most
light upon the subject of wine. Whoever attentively reads
what this learned chemist has written upon the causes
which influence the quality of wine, the means made use
of to preserve and ameliorate it, the vessels proper to keep
it in, and upon the changes ne degeneration of which it
is susceptible, cannot fail of assenting to the theory, by
which he accounts for a multitude of facts and numerous
circumstances which have hitherto been considered inex-
plicable. A detail of all he has written upon this subject,
. although in itself very important, is adapted rather to a
treatise of agriculture than for a chemical journal ; I shall
therefore confine myself to those parts of bis writings which
relate directly to the general chemical theory of the prepa-
ration of wine.

. Of the Causes which influence the Quality of Wines.

The vine at the present day grows almost every where,
but particularly between the 35th and 59d decrees of lati-
tude. The wine furnished by it, is hot however the same
in all countries. This liquor, in general, is only good in
countries between the 40th and 50th degrees. Considera-
ble difference also exists within these lavitudes: whence are
produced aa infinye variety of wines, which cannot be
confounded with each other, notwithstanding the chemical
composition of all of them is pretty nearly the same.

Among the causes which have an influence upon the
analy of wines, M. Chaptal enumerates
. The iSevert species of the duitigstid vines.
: The variety of climates where they grow.

® Annales de Chimie, 1811.
+ See Phil, Mag. vol. xxxviit. pages 221 and 2

L3 3. The

166 On the different Qualities of Wines.

3. The different nature of the soils.

4. Their more or less favourable exposure to the sun.

5. The seasons being more or less propitious,

6. The culture being more or less attended to.

There can be no doubt, but that all these causes produce
considerable influence upon the nature of the grape, which
in its turn influences the product of the vinous fermenta-
tion. But the manner in which this operation is conducted,
contributes also to impart to the wine certain qualities which

‘ render it more or less esteemed. Of this I treated in the
former memoir, and proceed now to the method of preserv-
ing the wine, after it has been poured into the cask.

2. Of the Methods employed for preserving and ameliorating
Wines.

The juice of the grape being converted into a vinous li-
quor by fermentation in the vat is put into casks, where it
undergoes a new elaboratiou, which renders the liquor tur-
bid, and reproduces in it a slight tumultuous motion, which
is called the imscusible or secondary fermentation. This
intestine motion is to be encouraged or moderated, accord-
ing as the wine drawn from the vat contains an excess of
sugar or of ferment, In the first case, if we do not wish
to have a sweet wine, it will be requisite to permit the in-
sensible fermentation to go on, in order to convert the sugar
into alcohol, whereby the wine will become stronger; in
the second case, an the contrary, the insensible ferment.
tion should be speedily stopped, Jest the wine should be
converted into vinegar. This is to be effected either by
removing the sediment and scum, and clarifying the liquor,
so as to extract all the ferment it contains, or by adding to
the liquor some sugar, for the fermentation to act upon,
which will give a degree of strength to the wine which it
would not have possessed without this management. While
the secondary fermentation is going on in the cask, there 1s
disengaged a great quantity of carbonic acid gas, and there
runs over from the bunghole a considerable quantity of
scum, which renders it “necessary to add more wine; and
this operation must be repeated until the fermentation has
entirely ceased. The cask is then generally bunged up
with care, and no further thought taken of the wine until
it is fit for use. The liquor, when left at rest, very soon
throws down all that is not completely dissolved in it, and
even a portion of the tartar, whence results a sediment,
known under the name of lees or freces, which is usually
separated trom the wine; for this sediment acts upon it a

the

On the different Qualities of Wines. 167

the nature of a ferment, especially when assisted by agita-
tation, change of temperature, and other causes. In this
case, as also when it is necessary to take away the fermen-
tescible substances, the wine undergoes certain manipu-
lations, reduced by M. Chaptal to three,—racking, brim-
stoning, and fining.

Racking of Wines.—The racking of wine is performed
by drawing it into another cask, defecating it, and leaving
behind the lees, a matter consisting in general of ferment,
altered by the fermentation of the must, some ferment an-
altered by the operation, mucilage, tartar, and colouring
matter. The lees, however, are not always the same from
every kind of wine; the quantity of tartar varies, as also
that of the colouring matter, according as the wine is more
or less spirituous ; in different wines there is more or less
of the ferment, and this has undergone more alferation in
some wines than in others. Thus a sweet Spanish wine
does not contain any unchanged ferment, because the sugar
in it is more than sufficient to decompose the whole of this
substance; hy adding more ferment to this wine, you will
diminish its sweetness, and increase the alcohol. On the
contrary, a meagre wine of Burgundy will afford a great
quantity of unaltered ferment, because the deficiency ef
sugar did not permit the while of it to be decomposed.
By the addition of sugar to this wine, the fermentation
would be renewed, and more alcohol produced. The rack-
ing of wines is a necessary operation for the proper keeping
of them. In general, this operation should be renewed
whenever there is a éousidetible sediment at the bettom of
the cask. Some wines, however, may be kept upon their
Jees, such as those of St. Thierry in Champagne; these
will continue to improve, if kept upon their lees for four
years, provided they are contained in casks of a very large
size. If we consider the different nature of different wines,
and of their lees, we shall easily perceive that racking is
not equally necessary for all of them. If, for instance, it
is a very weak wine, it cannot be racked off too soon, for
the small quantity of alcohol contained in it will not be
able to prevent the acetic fermentation taking place, from
the action of the ferment in the lees. But if it is a very
generous wine, early racking is not necessary, because the
great proportion of alcohol renders the ferment of no
effect. Moreover, a sweet and svrupy wine will become
improved by keeping on the lees, because the sugar contained
in it will be acted upon by the fermentescible principle of the
lees. Even a very tart wine, when kept upon its sediment,

La will

168 On the different Qualities of Wines.

will grow better, when its tartness is owing to a too slow
and incomplete fermentation, in which the sugar: bas; not
heen entirely converted; imto aleohol.. M. Chaptal, in the
following passage, clearly establishes: the truth. of this as-
sertion. ‘* We must only, says he, draw off those wines
which have been well made: if a wine is very tart, or very
sweet, we must let it undergo a second fermentation upon
its lees, and not draw it off until the middle of May; it
may even stand until the end of June, if it continues: tart.
It sometimes becomes necessary to return wine upon its
lees, and to mix them well together, that a new fermenta~
tion may he excited, which will ameliorate the wie.”
There are certain rules to be observed in the racking of
wines; it should never be done in frosty seasons, nor when
a moist wind blows; a dry cool wind is preferable; it is
most advantageously done, just previous to the periods of
the shooting of the vine, its coming into blossom, and the
turn of the grape; for itis at these periods the wine fer-
ments most. In every wine country, experience has de-
monstrated the proper time for this operation.

Brimstoning of Wines.—Whatever care is taken in the
racking of wines, they will again ferment, unless they un-
dergo the operation of brimstoning; that is to say, if they
are not impregnated with sulphurous gas, by means of
burning sulphur matches in the casks, either when com-
pletely empty, or containing a few pails full of wine only,
to which more wine is added every time the burning is
‘renewed. At Marseilles in Languedoc, they use for the
brimstoning wines, must, which has been so strongly
charged with sulphurous gas, as never to have fermented ;
two or three bottles of which, mixed. with each cask of
wine will also preserve that from fermentation, The brim-
stoning by burning matches has one disadvantage, that of
depriving the must.of the flavour of the fruit, and commu-
nicating to it an unpleasant taste. On this account, other
anti-fermentescible substances are sometimes employed.
Thus, M. Perpere recommends sulphuric acid; M. Astier
employs the red oxide of mercury; and M. Parmentier has
proposed the oxide of manganese, which is less hazardous.

What is the chemical action produced upon the must
and upon the wine, by the operation of brimstoning? This
action tends evidently to preserve these fluids from fermen-
tation, and as this cannot take place without the presence
of a ferment, we have reason to conclude, that this agent
is changed in.ils nature, and rendered insoluble, perhaps
because it abstracts from the oxides and acids employed, a

portion

On the different Qualities of Wines. 169

portion of their oxygen. We must however acknowledge,
that the supposed abstraction of this principle is not essen-
tially necessary, since this fermentation may be prevented
by adding some boiling hot wine to the liquor, as is prae-
ticed at Paris, which shows that the ferment undergoes an
alteration by the action of caloric. Nevertheless, 1 it is cer-
tain, that this substance undergoes a change in its nature
by the brimstoning, and is rendered in part insoluble, for
the wine becomes turbid by this operation: it also sensibly
loses its colour, but this is temporary, for it regains its
former colour in a few days, M. Chaptal thinks it advan-
tageous to the keeping wines, to preserve them from the
atmospheric air, whose contact is necessary to induce the
acid degeneration.

Fining of Wines.—The two former operations are not
always sufficient to impart to the wine that fine limpidity
which is so agreeable to the organs of taste and smell, and
which so much enhances its value. There still remain in
these liquors certain heterogeneous substances which dis-
turb the transparency of them, and which do not fall down
by simple rest. In this case, we must have recourse to a
third operation called fining, which is generally performed
by fish glue, previously softened into a viscid fuid by mas
ceration in a little of the wine. By this the substances
which rendered the wine turbid are carried to the bottom,
for we find the wine becomes more limpid, and a sediment
is formed, which renders a fresh racking necessary, some
time after this substance has-been poured inio the wiue,
and well mixed with it. The same effect is produced in
the iurbid wine by means of ox-blood and the white of
eggs. These latter, therefore, may be used to clarify wines,
especially the last; which does not so easily undergo a
septic change, and is therefore preferable in hot climates,
and in the summer season. M. Chaptal affirms that gum
arabic may be substituted for these gelatinous and albu-
minous substances. He even adds, that wine rendered
turbid by the lees, may by cleared by a multitude of sub-
stances, such as coarse salt, flints calcined and bruised,
starch, rice, milk, &c.; likewise by beech chips, first barked,
then boiled i im water, and dried in the sun, or in an oven.
He attributes the effect of the beech chips upon turbid wines
to a slight fermentation which they induce in the liquor;
we may also refer the action of starch, rice, aud milk, to
the same circumstance; whilst the action of the greatest
part of other substances is purely mechanical. But how

is

170 On the different Qualities of Wines.

is the action of the fish glue, the ox blood, and the white
of egg to be explained? So little attention: has. hitherto
been paid to what takes place in this case, that I know of
no theory formed upon the subject. !t appears to me very
easy to invent a very plausible one, by attending to the facts
I am about to state. -

1, Fish glue is a gelatinous matter; the white. of egg
and the ox-blood are of an albuminous nature.

2. Both of these animal compounds are very soluble in
water, and not at all soluble im alcohol.

3. Alcohol exists already formed in wine, since it is easy
to. separate it by cangelation. |

These being inconstestible facts, what must happen when
these gelatinous fluids are poured into the wine? The al-
cohol of the wine, by its great affinity to water, will attract
this fluid, holding the animal matter in soduitiainty conse-
quently this matter, thus deprived of its solvent, must give
way to the molecular attraction, which tends to bring its
particles together, whence results a kind of net-work swim-
ming in the liquor; this net-work, contracting more closely,
entangles i in itself the foreign substances i in the wine, and
carries them down to the bottom of the cask, leaving the
mass of liquor clear, pure, and transparent.

The last method of preserving and ameliorating wines
consists in the art of mixing them together, so as to render
them less alterable, and to impart to them the most agree-
able flavour. This art, although perfectly well known to
the manager of a cellar, is not yet known by the chemist,
and will never be known by him, unless the wine merchant
will inform him what mixtures succeed the best. The ex-
perience of this latter would, however, be rendered more
advantageous if assisted by the reasouings of the former.
A wine mixed with some other wine, can acquire more
strength, more colour, more aroma, or more flavour, only
by its principles undergoing some reaction, more or less
sensible ; and who, except the chemist, can best dispose
the circumstances most favourable to this re-action? If,
for example, it 1s required to correct a very acid wine; the
chemist finding in this wine a great deal of tartar, witht pro-
pose the addition of sugar, because this substance, by in-
creasing the proportion ‘of alcohol, will precipitate the tar-
tar, and by this means he will avoid having recourse to the
sweet and syrupy for that purpose, which are not to be
found in all countries, and whose price is always every
where so very high.

OF

On ihe different Qualities of Wines. 171
3. Of the Vessels proper to keep Wines.

After wines have undergone the operations I have above
described, it becomes an important consideration in what
vessels and in what places they are kept. According to
M. Chaptal, acellar should be dug several feet below the sur-
face of the earth ; the openings into which should be towards
the north; it should be at a considerable distance from
any street, highway, work-shop, sewer, privy, &c. and it
should be covered with an arched roof. The ancients pre-
served their wine in earthen vessels, varnished, such as the
amphora and the cadus. The porosity of these vessels has
occasioned their being laid aside, and for them have been
substituted those made of the wood of oak or mulberry-
tree, or, sometimes, glass vessels, The last bave the advan-
tage of not containing any principle soluble in the wine,
and of preserving the liquor completely from the contact
of air and moisture, when carefully stopped; but their brit-
tleness and diminutive size limits the use of them to a very
small] extent, and it becomes necessary to have recourse to
vessels made of dry and well seasoned ,wood ; for if. the
wood is green, it imparts an extractive matter to the wine,
which injures its flavour, and acts upon it in a similar
manner to the lees. 7

M. Chaptal justly observes, that verv large and well
closed vessels are the best for keeping wine, since it is
found that wine is always better the larger the cask; the
reason of which, no doubt, is that the constituent princi-
ples are more intimately mixed, and do not so easily escape
into the atmosphere. ‘This last circumstance is well known
to wine merchants, who find, that twenty muids of wine,
contained in one large vessel, do not lose more by volatiliz-
ation in a given time, than two muids do when distributed
into four casks.

4, Of the Deterioration or Degeneration of Wines.

The greatest care bestowed upon wines will not alwavs
prevent their suffering some alteration ; they will generally
undergo some change if the principles which compose them
are pot in suitable proportions. M. Chaptal has shown this
in his investigation of the deterioration to whicl wines are
subject ; a deterioration which, for the most part, he ascribes
to an excess of ferment in them. 1 shall say a word or two

of this kind alteration.
Of the Ropiness of Wines.—This degeneration only takes
place in very weak wines, and those which have been badly
fermented ;

172 On the different Qualities of Wines.

fermented; it is known by aropy, milky, whitish sediment,
and the wine then presents a kind of oily appearance,
No particular management is requisite to cure this; it is
generally sufficient to leave the wine to itself during a sea+
son or two, when for the most part, the wine recovers.
Exposure in a warm place, or the addition of some sugary
substance, will hastea the cure; the same thing will.hap-
pen if the ropy wine is mixed with some good wine newly
made,

The fermentescible principle appears to be the source of
this degeneration; ‘from its not having been completely
decomposed during the fermentation, a great deal of it is
dissolved in the vinous liquor, after the entire decomposi-
tion of the sugar. And as this principle may be afterwards
separated from the liquor by a variety of causes, M. Chaptal
imagines, that it is this separation which gives that oily
appearance to the wine | have been describing.

Of the spontaneous Acescency of J¥ ines.—This takes
place most frequently im very weak wines, especially at three
particular periods of the year, when these liquors are in the
greatest state of fermentation, viz. when the vine is bud=
ding, at the time of its blossoming, and at the time of
vintage. I[t is, therefore, to the presence of the ferment
this deterioration is owing, especially when its action is
assisted by air and heat. I have already said, that this ac-
tion sometimes proceeds so far as to induce the acetous fer-
mentation. The prevention of this fermentation demands
the most particular attention, and therefore, all the causes
which give rise to it are to be carefully avoided. Unfor-
tunately our efforts are not always successful, and we can
only arrest the fermentation, or neutralize the acid. For
the former purpose, M. Chaptal recommends evaporated
must, honey, or liquorice, to be dissolved in the tart wine.
‘These not only correct the sour taste by replacing it with
sweetness, but also reproduce the spirituous fermentation
by supplying the saccharine principle for the remaining fer-
ment to act upon. The wine merchants possess a multi-
tude of receipts for neutralizing the acid in wines; they are
chiefly composed of salifiable bases, such as potass, lime,
and even litharge. These methods, however, but imper-
fectly answer the purpose, and some of them are attended
with no little danger.

3. Of a fusty Taste in Wines.

This arises from two causes; the first is, when the wine
is kept in a cask made of decayed or worm-eaten wood ;
the

An Apparatus to prevent the Accumulation of Air. 173

the other, when the lees of wine have remained in the cask,
although they are emptied out at the time of tunning.
Willermoz proposes to correct or destroy this taste by
means of lime, carbonic acid gas, and oxy-muriatic gas.
Others advise the wine to be fined aud racked off with care,
and then to be infused two or three days upon toasted grains
of wheat. In Burgundy, they pour the fusty wine upon
the lees of well-tasted wine, and afterwards fine it.

4. Of Bitterness in Wines.

Some wines, especially those of Burgundy, acquire by
age a taste of bitterness. This is owing to the total preci-
pitation of the ferment, and the complete decomposition of
the sugar, which set at liberty the acerb or astringent prin-
ciple eoniiied’s in these liquors. M. Chaptal recommends
these wines to be re-poured upon the lees, and that there
should be added to them a solution of sugar, or what is still
better, a pint of musted wine to every cask.

In addition to these alterations already pointed out, wines
are susceptible of several others, such as a mouldy taste,
loss of colour, rancidity, &c. [ cannot now enter upon
these, I will only mention that the rancid taste in wines is
owing to the precipitation of the tartar and the formation
of a small quantity of acetic ether, at the expense of the
alcchol and acetic acid contained in the wine, as has been
shown by M. Vaugqiielin.

XXV. An Apparatus for preventing the Accumulation of Air
in Conduit Pipes, @c. Sc. By Joseew STEEvEns, Esq.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, : ies having been objected by many, that the mode
proposed for supplying the Sea-water Baths and Infirmary
(intended to he established in the vicinity of London), by,
means of iron pipes from Southend, would be ineffectual,
on account of the quantity of air that would aceumulate at
certain elevated points, over which the pipes will pass. I
beg to lay before those persons and the public, through the
medinm of your publication, the following simple appa-
ratuis, which I intend to attach to the pipes for this purpose.
el am, sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,

No. 2, Tower Royal, Feb. 29, 1812. JOSEPH STEEVENS.

AB (PI. 1V.) is a portion of an iron pipe for conducting
water; c is a tube of about two inches diameter, and six
inches

174 On the Prevention of Air in Conduit Pipes, &ec.

inches long, projecting from the upper part of it; imto this
tube is screwed the globular vessel gg about ten inches dia-
meter, and into this globe is screwed the tube ¢, about one
inch external diameter, having a conical vpening through it
a quarter of an inch on the inside, and half an inch on the
outside end of it. In the globe gg 1s the globular float F,
about seven, eight or nine inches diameter, as circumstances
may require. This globe carries two spindles or rods, the
one projecting downwards about half an inch diameter car-
rying the valve o, and the other projecting upwards about
‘2inch carrying the valve 72; this passes through a guide
nm, as does the lower rod through the guide mm; the part
of the lewer rod that passes through the guide 1s flat, to
prevent it from turning round in the operation of screwing
the fleat F toit. ‘Thetube ¢ is provided with a valve v,
and weight w, nearly equal to the weight of the valve.

Things being thus disposed, let us suppose water to flow
into the pipe AB until it rises to pp, then one half of the
diameter Og, will be oceupied by air gr, and therefore
only one half of the water which the pipe is capable of
conveying would be allowed to pass: but as there is“ no
water in the globe gg, the float F will rest on the guide
mm and the valve 2 be opened through which the air will
escape until F is floated by the rising of the water in gg,
when the valve 7 will be shut, and none of the water suf-
fered to escape; this operation will be repeated as often as
a quantity of air sufficient to fill gg, is collected.

The valve v is attached in order to prevent any air from
entering the pipe, by the tendency of the water to retire in
case a partial interruption in the supply should take place ;
or in the event of a pipe bursting at a point below that to
which this apparatus is affixed,

In the tube ¢ are two flanches, h and e; the flanch A is
intended to prevent the valve o, and its rod from: falling”
into the pipe, and would in many instances (though not in
the present) supersede the necessity of the valve v; the
upper flanch e is to receive the valve 0, and prevent the
escape of water, should it be necessary to remove the globe
gg, or the tube ¢, for the purpose of repair, &e.

Tt is easy to see, that by unscrewing the tube ¢, the float
F would rise and close the valve 0, the same effect would
be produced by unscrewing the globe, or by detaching its
upper part, and the pressure of the water would effectually
plevent its opening; as, on several points of the pipes to
be used for the above purpose, the pressure will be equal to
six or eight atmospheres,

XXVI. Me-

{ 175 Jj

XXVI. Memoir upon the Mordants employed in the Art of
Dyeing. By MM. Tuenarp and Roarp. Read at
the Physical and Mathematical Class of the French In-
stitute.

Tus name of Mordant is given, in the art of dyeing, to
those substances which serve to produce a more intimate
combination of colouring matters with the different stuffs,
and to augment the brightness and beauty of them. This .
property belongs to a great number of saline and metallic
‘substances : but those which possess it in the highest de-
gree, and which, for this reason, are exclusively made use
of by dyers, are alum, acetate of alumina, tartar, and the
solutions of tin.

An examination and analysis of the effects produced by
these mordants upon vegetaole and animal substances, will
form the subject of the memoir we have honour to submit
to the Class. We shall divide it into four chapters, where-
in we shall successively treat of the action of alum, of ace-
tate of alumina, of alum and tartar, and of the solutions of
tin, upon silk, wool, cotton, and thread, according to the
methods most generally made use of in the art of dyeing.

CHAP. I.—Of Alum.

The manner of applying the alum varies according to
the natnre of the stuffs, and according to the colours we
wish to obtain. Silks are permitted to. macerate for several
days ina solution of alum, sufficiently diluted for the salt
not to crystallize. Wool is boiled for two hours in wa-
ter, containing a fourth part of its weight of alum. Cotton
and thread. are soaked for at least twenty-four hours in
warm concentrated solutions or alum, to which frequently
some potass is added. Jt has hitherto been thought that
in this operation the alum is decomposed, aud that the alu-
mina combines with the stuff, causing it thereby the more
easily to. take the colour when plunged into the dyeing
bath; but the experiments we have made induce us to adopt
a different opinion.

Arr. 1.—Analysis of the aluming of Silk.

Ninety-five grammes of silk, well cleaned and perfectly
purified, were infused in a glass vessel during six days, at
the common temperature of the atmosphere, with four
quarts of distilled water, containing 100 grammes of pure
alum, which had been previously dissolved in it. After

standing

176 Memoir upon the Mordants

standing this time, the silk was taken ott of the liquid,
drained completely over the bath, and washed several times
with distilled water, to separate that part of the mordant
which had not combined with it. The alum bath and the
washings were then evaported with the greatest care, and
they afforded very transparent crystals of alum. These
first products indicated pretty clearly the nature of the
combination which had been formed with the silk during
the steeping, and that the alum had not been decomposed.
The alumed silk was then boiled in a mattras with six
quarts of distilled water, the boiling liquor was poured off ’
from it, and in this manner it was treated twelve times.
The 72 quarts proceeding from these operations being
evaporated, we obtained well formed crystals of alum, the
quantity of which, added to that obtained from the bath,
ainounted to within two dcecigrammes of the 95 grammes
originally employed, foriming a loss of z45 part only. If
after each of the twelve washings we attempt to dye the
silk, the colour is less deep, in proportion to the number
of washings, so that after the twelfth the silk is not at all
colotired. Ifthe silk, after having thus been washed, is
again impregnated with alum, it re-dcquires the same pro-
perty of retaining the colour which it had before the washing
commenced. Hence results a very natural explanation of
the reason why alumed silks take a deeper colour when the
dyeing is commenced at a low temperature, than when
they are plunged into boiling baths; it is because, in the
one case, the action of the boiling water upon the mordant
is so speedy, that there is not time for the colouring matter
to fix upon it, and render the combination insoluble, whilst,
in the other case, no such effect takes place.

Art, 2.— Analysis of the Impregnation of iVool with Alum.

After having thus ascertained the‘ phenomena which
take place in the aluming silk, it was necessary to continue
the trials upon wool, and: to employ for these experiments
only perfectly pure materials, completely deprived of the
carbonate ‘of lime, which is generally contained in consi-
derable quantity. To separate the whole of this, we boiled
ihe wool several successive times in a mattras with weak.
muriatic acid, but in order to take up the last portions of
this acid; we were obliged to make use of such large quan-
tities of distilled water, that we were on the point of aban-
doning such tediots experiments, requiring so much time
and patience, as well as the greatest care. The separation
of all the muriatic acid from the first two hectogrémmes of

wool

employed in the Art of Dyeing. 177

wool which we purified, required 200 quarts of distilled
water, at 100 degrees of heat (212 F.) divided into 20 suc-
cessive operations, each occupying from seven to eight
hours. When calcined and properly tried, it afforded nei-
ther lime nor muriatic acid.

One hundred grammes of this wool were alumed with
the same care which had been taken with the silk. It was
afterwards washed twenty times, employing six quarts of
distilled water, heated to an hundred degrees, for each
washing. [mmediately after the aluming, this wool took .
a-very deep colour, whilst, after the last washing, it would
not take any more colour in the dyeing bath, than some
of the same wool which had never been alumed. These
experiments convinced us that the substance which had
been fixed in the wool by aluming, and had caused it to
receive so deep a colour in the first dyeing, had now been
carried off by the water. The alum bath, when evapo-
rated, afforded us, in the state of crystals, two-thirds of
the quantity of alum we had originally employed; very
nearly the whole of the remaining third part was obtained
from the residue of the bath, in an uncrystallized state, and
from the washings of the wool. This experiment was re-
peated several time, and always with the same result ; but
as this did not appear to us so decisive as the experiment
upon silk, on account of the difficuity of separating the
animal matter from the last portions of the alum bath, we
alumed some wool in the cold, as we had done with the
silk, being persuaded that in this case the bath would not
sensibly dissolve this substance.

We alumed in the cold, some clean wool with all the
precaution observed with the silk, and we obtained from
the bath and the washings the alum employed in the ope-
ration, with a loss only of ;4 part; we were therefore
assured, that in the aluining of all animal substances, the
alum combines entirely with them, without undergoing any
‘decomposition, and that it forms with them combinations
more or less soluble, which have a great affinity for the co-
Jouring matters.

Art. 3.— Analysis of the Impregnation of Cotton and
Thread with Alum.

Fiaving freed some cotton, by the methods already men-
tioned, trom all foreign matters, we macerated it for two
days in a Jukewarm solution. of a given quantity of alum.
After this operation the stuff took the dye remarkably
well; but being treated with boiling distilled water, it lost

Vol. 39. No. 167. March 1812. M the

178 Memoir upon the Mordants

the property of taking the colour in the dye-bath. The
alum-bath and washings, when evaporated, afforded us all
the alum we had employed. We separated this alum from
ithe vegetable matter which it had dissolved in its different
erystallizations. To do this did not require such a num-
ber of washings as were employed for the wool or the silk,
because the combination of alum with vegetable substances
is so weak, that soaking the alumed cotton in boiling wa-
ter for a few minutes is sufficient to carry off the greatest
part of the mordant. Cotton, therefore, ought to he dyed
at a low temperature, since it is only after the colouring
matter has rendered the combination insoluble, that it can
support a great heat without being attacked. Thread
treated in the same manner as cotton, afforded us the same
results.

Art. 4.— Analysis of the Impregnation of common Wool.

The analyses we have already related, most decidedly
demonstrate that in the aluming of all animal and vegetable
substances, the alum combines with them without under-
going any decomposition; but we thought it was neces-
sary to repeat the same experiments upon these substances
in the state in which they are commonly met with in com-
merce, as we had done in their purified state. Wool, when
impregnated with alum alone, always renders the bath tur-
bid, which, upon cooling, throws down an abundant white
precipitate, as has been observed by several chemists.
Several analyses of this sediment, after being well washed,
have constantly afforded us sonie sulphate of lime, satu-
rated sulphate of alumina, and sometimes a little alumina.
The bath contained a remarkable quantity of alum, of aci-
dulated sulphate of potass, combined with a small propor-
tion of animal matter. Upon the wool we found alum,
and a very minute proportion of the precipitate. These
experiments upon the sediment, formed in the alum bath,
do not differ from those made by M. Berthollet; but this
learned chemist not having examined the mother-waters,
nor the alumed wool, has not given, as he himself says, a
clear and precise explanation of the effects produced by
alum and tartar in the operation of dyeing. These pre-
cipitates, obtained by treating common wool with alum,
never take place with purified wool ; and as these only dif-
fer from each other by the former containing some ecar-
bonate of Jime, it. was natural in this case to attribute to this
substance the decomposition of a part of the alum.

We satisfied ourselves of this, by mixing in glass vessels

‘solutions

eniployed in the Art of Dyeing. 179

Solutions of alum in boiling water with different propor-
tions of pure carbonate of lime. We always found the
alum was decomposed by the carbonate of lime, ahd that,
if a sufficient quantity was added, there remained no part
of the aluminotis salt in solution. The mother-waters
contained very acid sulphate of potass, and the sediment
was formed of sulphate of lime and acidulate sulphate of
alumina and potass; whence it follows, that the property
possessed by common wool of forming a precipitate in the
alum bath, and rendering the fluid very acid, is in reality
owing to the carbonate of lime it contains. The same re-
sult was obtained by aluming common wool five or six
successive times in the same bath. But in order to arrive
at a general solution of this question, it was necessary to
.ascertain the nature of the precipitates formed in the so-
Jution of alum, by different alkaline and earthy substances.
We took, therefore, alums with base of potass, and with
base of ammonia, which we treated with ammonia and
carbonate of potass, so as to leave in the solution but a
slight excess of alum. The mother-waters evaporated,
contained very acid sulphates of ammonia, of potass and
ammonia, and of potass, according to the nature of the
alum and of the precipitate employed. The sediment,
which was acid sulphate of alumina and potass, or am-
monia, treated with sulphuric acid, afforded alum and aci-
dulated sulphate of alumina; boiled afterwards 4 great num-
ber of times with distilled water, it was converted into
alum, sulphate of potass, and pure alumina. There was
always a greater quantity of acidulated sulphate of potass
than of alum, even in the last washings.

Solutions of alum, treated at a boiling heat with pure
alumina, were converted into a very acid sulphate of potass,
and into acidulated sulphate of alumina and potass. These
results do not at all correspond with those obtained by
M. Vauquelin in his experiments upon the alums of com-
merce, for we have never been able to obtain the saturated
sulphate of alumina and. potass, spoken of by that cele-
brated cheinist.

Thus all the alkaline and earthy substances mixed in
suitable proportions with solutions of alum, converted that
salt into acidulated sulphate of potass, or ammonia, and
into insoluble acid sulphate of alumina and potass or am-
monia, for which reason we have named it the acidulated
sulphate instead of the saturated sulphate, the name it has
borne until now. Tt is evident, that if too great a quantity

Me of

180 Memoir upon the Mordanis

of carbonate of lime be employed, and the same holds
good with the carbonates of barytes and strontian, we shall
only obtain alumina and the sulphates of potass, lime,
barytes, or strontian. There remains no doubt, therefore,
of the nature of the changes produced in the alum baths
by the common wools, and of the prejudicial effects of al-
kalies in the baths intended for cottons; for the addition
of these substances diminishes the quantity of alum, and
even increases the acidity of the bath.

CHAP. IT.

On the Impregnation of Vegetable and Animal Matters with
Acetate of Alumina.

Wool, silk, cotton, and thread, in the different states in
which these substances are employed for dyeing, were treated
with acetate of alumina, which combined entirely with
them. But as in exposing them to the air, or to a tem-
perature a little elevated, the mordant always loses a-
small quantity of acid, it follows that the combination
formed upon the stuff is an acetate with excess of base;
thus, by treating it with boiling water, it is converted inte
acidulated acetate of alumina, which is dissolved, and into
alumina which canuot be carried off by the water.

CHAP. III.
Art. 1.—Of the Action of acidulated Tartrite of Potass on

Wool.

Purified wool was treated as in the former experiments
with very pure cream of tartar, free from tartrite of lime,
and formed directly by the tartaric acid and potass. This
- wool was washed a great number of times, until the last
washing did not contain any of the principles which had
been combined with it. The bath afforded by evaporation
3 of the cream of tartar employed, or rather neutral tartrite
of potass. The washings were very acid, and we obtained
from them a small quantity of cream of tartar, and a very
acid composition formed of tartarous acid and wool. These
facts may be thought suffieiently to explain the phauomena
which take place in impregnating wool with alum and
tartar, since we already know from the experiments of
M. Berthollet, that these two salts are not decomposed ;
and as we have shown that the wool combines. completely
with the alum, and that it acts upon the cream of tartar by
separating the tartarous acid with which it unites in the
most intimate manner. But‘in order to have ihese facts

rigorously

*

employed in the Art of Dyeing. 181

rigorously demonstrated, we repeated this experiment, al-
thouch a very tedious one, in the method already pointed
out in the preceding chapters.

Arr. 2.—Of the Action of Alum and Tartar upon Wool.

Before treating the wool with'alum and cream of tartar,
we made some trials of the reciprocal action of these two
salts. We ascertained that water, at the temperature of
12° or 14°, (55 F.) holds in solution only +}, part of its
weight of cream of tartar, that boiling water dissolves 45
of its Weight, and that a mixture of equal parts of alum
and cream of tartar, dissolves in 2 the quantity of water
required to dissolve the salts separately at the same tem-
perature. These results do not differ from those already
obtained by M. Berthollet, who has shown that alum has
the property of increasing the solubility of cream of tartar,

_ If wool is alumed in the ordinary proportions, which
are } of the weight of the stuff of alum, and 5 of cream
of tartar, all the substances being perfectly pure, we ob-
tain from the bath when evaporated, alum, cream of tartar,
and a residue difficultly crystallizable, composed of tar-
trite of potass and an animal matter; the washings of the
wool will give alum, a small quantity, scarcely appretiable,
of cream of tartar, and a very acid combination, formed of
a large quantity of tartarous acid, alum, and animal matter.

These experiments remove ail uncertainty concerning
many practical facts, which at present are only noticed by
the dyer in a vague way, and point out to him the precise
method ef applying the mordants according to the nature
of the colour he wishes to obtain. Indeed, since by mak-
ing use of alum and tartar, the wool is impregnated with
alum and a large quantity of tartarous acid, these two salts
should never be employed together, except when the co-
lour is susceptible of being heightened and rendered
brighter by acids, as is the case with cochineal, madder,
and kermes. On the contrary, alum should never be em-
ployed for wools intended to be dyed with woad or Brasil
wood, the colour of which is easily altered or destroyed by
acids. Among all the vegetable and animal substances, we
have made chojce of wool only for trial with alum and alum
and tartar, because it is only with this substance these mor-
dants are made use of in dyeing.

Arr. 3.—On the Action of Acids, and of some Salts em-
ployed as Mordants upon Wool.

Although all researches hitherto made have been inef+
M 3 fectual,

182 Memoir upon the Mordants

fectual to find a substitute for alum, we have, nevertheless,
made trial of a great number of, substances with wool,
less, however, for the purpose of discovering the best mors
dants, than for determining the action of several substances,
very soluble, and. at the same: time endowed with great
powers. We boiled wool for two hours in water, in which
were put small quantities of sulphuric, nitric, muriatic,
and tartaric acids, In each instance, the wool, especially
when @ombined with sulphuric acid, struck with cochineal
and madler deeper colours. than when impregnated with
alum and tartar. No doubt, therefore, can be entertained
of their superiority in similay cases; but of all the mor-
danis we tried, there is not one which gives such bright
colours as what are obtained by means of the acid tartrite
of alumina (notwithstanding the opinion of M. Hausmann
to the contrary). This salt would, in a great number of
cases, be preferable to tartar and alum, if its price was not
so much higher than theirs. Whilst we were occupied in
Inquiring with the greatest care into every thing relative to
the nature and mode of combination of mordants with
various stuffs, we did not forget to examine the several
methods which have been adopted in all the workshops for
a long time past, in order to ascertain if the proportions of
alum mand tartar, the most generally employed, were those
the most suitable for the purpose, if the time employed for
the alum bath was sufficient to impregnate the wool sufhi-
ciently, and if the exposure to the cool air afterwards, for
severa! days, which js so generally thought necessary, is at-
tended with the e¢ xpected advantages.

Equal paris of the mordants, that is, half the weight of
the stuff, produced no better effect than one-fourth; but
between «this quantity and one-twenticth part, the colours
of cochineal, kermes, and madder, were weaker in pro-
portion to the diminution of the quantity of the salts;
whilst, on the contrary, the effects were reversed with
woad aud Brazil wood, so that i in these last substances, the
colour was deeper the more the salts were diminished. No.
difference could be observed in the colour whether the wools
had been tn the alum bath for two, four, or 3ix hours 5 it
is, therefore, useless to continue stuffs in the bath longer
ipa two hours. Our experiments did not discover that
there was any difference in the colour, whether the dyeing
took place immeiliately after the aluming, or was protracted
for some time, except only that wool impregnated with
alum alone, produced a deeper colour with woad, after
haying been exposed some ume to a cool air, whieh we

~ attributed

employed in the Art of Dyeing. 183

attributed to the separation of the acidulated sulphate of
potass,’this being carried off with the uncombined mordant
in drying.
CHAP. 1V.
Art. 1.—Of the Scarlet Colour.

Scarlet is that bright and shining colour which is pro-
duced in wool by treating it with tartar, cochineal, and a
highly oxidized solution ‘of tin. Before the discovery of
this method, for which we are entirely indebted to Dreb-
bel, those colours were called scarlet which are produced
in wogllen stuffs by kermes or cochineal, when alum and
tartar are employed as mordants. These processes for ob-
taining this colour have Jong been known in the dyeing
houses, yet no theoretic investigations have been made into
the phenomena which take place when a solution of tin is
used with cream of tartar and cochineal. Dr. Bancroft at-
tempted to explain what passes in the formation of this co-
lour; but as his opinion does not appear to be founded on
any experiments, we considered the question as not at all
determined by his labours. We propose, therefore, in this
fourth chapter, to determine the chemical nature of the
combination formed upon wool by cochineal, tartar, and a
solution of tin, and to make known the result of our in-
quiries upon the colour of scarlet.

ART. 2.—Examination of the Precipitate formed by the
Solution of Tin, and the acidulated Tartrite of Potass.«

All the substances employed by us in our experiments
were perfectly pnre, and we constantly made use of glass
vessels and distilled water. Eighty grammes of acidulated
tartrite of potass dissolved in three “kilogrammes, and five
hectogrammes * of distilled water, were ‘macerated for two
hours, at 100 degrees (212 F.) of heat, with one hundred
and twenty-five grains of a solution of tn. The precipitate
which we obtained was washed several times, and distilled
in a small curved retort, the beak of which being plunged
into lime. water, there was disengaged a sensible quantity
_ of carbonic acid. Proper re-agents indicated in other pote
tions of it the presence of a great deal of tin and muriatic
acid. ‘Thus the cream of tartar and solution of tin are de-
composed, and produce a precipitate, consisting of tar-
taroys acid, and a great quantity of muriatic ‘acid and
tn, The tmother-water contains tartrite of potass, aci-
dulated tartrite, very acid muriate of tin, and.a considerable

* About seven piats,

M 4 portion

184 Memoir upon the Mordants

portion of precipitate, held in solution by excess of muniatic
acid. .

Very pure white wool, treated with the ordinary propor-
tions of solution of tin and cream of tartar employed in
dyeing scarlet. was washed a great number of times in boil-
ing waier, which carried off all the substances combined
with it. These washings, collected and evaporated, afforded
us the same principles we had before obtained from the
precipitate formed by the solution of tin and cream of tar-
tar; we also examined, in the same way, the action of co-
chineal, and found no difference in the results. From
these facts we are to a certainty ‘convinced, that the fine
scarlet colour is produced by the wool being combined with
colouring matter, tartarous acid, muriatic acid, and peroxide
of tm. But we are mistaken, if we think the bath has no
influence on the colour; for wool combined with the mor-
dants we shall presently mention, and dyed with cochineal,
never take the scarlet hue unless some acid be added, which
causes the colour to pass from yellowish to red, and at
Jength to a bright colour. This last experiment, and some
others we shall relate towards the close of this memoir,
proved to us that the wool is not coloured yellow by the
combination it forms with the nitric acid in excess in the
solution of tin, for this wool comes out perfectly white
from all the boilings it undergoes with the tin, when na
colouring matter is employed.

Art. 3.—Of Tartrites of Tin, and some other Metallic
Solutions.

The proofs we have already given of the formation of
scarlet, appear to us so decisive, that we should not have
thought of increasing the number, had not the importance
of the question induced us to extend further our labours on
this subject.

We tried upon wool, in the usual proportions for dyeing
scarlet, all the sulphates and muriates of antimony, bis-
muth, zinc, and arscnic. Some of these solutions afforded
very agreeable colours, but very different from that we were
seeking to obtain. We were more fortunate 1. our at-
tempts with the tartrite of tin obtained from tartrate of
potass and soda, and a highly oxidized muriate of tin.
This salt dissolved in muriatic acid, and used in the opera-
tion of dyeing, afforded us a scarlet colour as beautiful and
bright as those obtained by cream of tartar and a solution
of tin. The tartrite of tin, also, dissulved in an excess of
its own acid, produced very good effects; however, as this
method

employed in the Art of Dyeing. 185

method would be more costly than the ordinary processes,
it is best to employ the solution of this salt in muriatic
acid. But before recommending this mordant to be used
in the dye houses, we intend to male trial of it in tne large
way, so as to determine precisely the expense of it, and
what advantages wi!l be obtained by its employment.

Art. 4.—Experiments upon the Calour of Scarlet and
Oxides of Tin.

Scarlet, as we have already seen, 1s obtained by treating
woo! with determined proportions of cochineal, acidulated
tartrite of potass, and a highly oxidized s olution’ of tin.
The operation of dyeing is divided into two parts: the first
taking up an hour and a half, the latter half an hour; this
division is necessary to produce a good colour, which
would be weaker and more yellow if all the substances were
mixed in the first operation, and applied to the wool for
two hours. his circumstance is owing to the very acid

state of the bath, which holds in solution a great part of the
mordant, and of tbe colouring matter. We obtain the
contrary effect when the mordants only are employed in the
first operation, and the cochineal reserved for the second.

Pieces of very beautiful scarlet cloth, macerated in di-
stilled water, at a boiling heat, gave out to the water a por-
tion of their colour, and when the operation was finished,
appeared only of a light flesh colour, The washings eol-
lected and evaporated were very acid, and contained, be-
sides the colouring substance and et matter, tartarous
acid, muriatic acid, and oxide of tin. Scarlet, therefore,
as we have already shown, is a combination in some mea-
sure soluble, Which in parting with a small quantity of acid
changes its shade, and may, by repeated washings at ele-
vated temperatures, and with a large bulk of fluid, be ren-
dered completely colourless.

It results fram the experiments related in this memoir:
Ist. That in aluming all vegetable and animal substances,
it is not the alumina which combines with them, but the
entire alum; and that when these matters are not purified,
the lime which they contain, occasions a decomposition of

a part of this mordant.

2. That all the alkaline and earthy bases, mixed with a
solution of alum, decompose it, and convert it into acid
sulphate of potass, and into an insoluble salt, less acid than
alum, which may, by repeated washings, be converted into

ure alumina, sulphate of potass, and alum,

3. That the acetate of alumina combines also in its en-

tire

186 On Smelting of Lead.

tire state with silk, wool, cotton, and thread; that this
compound reiains its acid but feebly, and loses a portion of
it by simple exposure to the air; and that it is then changed
into acid acetate of alumina, which is carried off by water,
and into alumina which remains upon the stuffs.

4. That alum and tartar are not decomposed, but that
the solubility of the latter is increased by the mixture ; and
that in impregnating wools either with tartar, or alum and
tartar, the tartar alone is decomposed, that the tartarous
acid and alum combine with the stuff, and tartrite of
potass remains in the bath.

5. That the most powerful acids have the property, when
combined with wool, of fixing the colquring matters, a
property possessed ina high degree by the acid tartrite of
alumina.

6. That alum and tartar cannot be employed indifferently _
for all colours, and that their proportions must depend
upon the nature of the colouring matter; that the time of
aluming should not be more than two hours, and that the
exposure of the stuffs in a moist place, after the mordants
are applied, is of no utility in angmenting the intensity of
their colour.

7. That highly oxidized tartrite of tin, dissolved in mu-
riatic acid, may supply the place of creain of tartar and the
solution of tin in dyeing scarlet.

8. Lastly, that these experiments furnish some useful
hints for combining mordants with the stuffs to be dyed,
and for improving several of the processes of dyeing.

To complete these researches relative to the action of
mordants, it would without doubt be necessary to deter-
mine, in the most accurate manner, the changes produced
in these combinations by the colouring matters, when ap-
plied to the different stuffs; but these expcriments, which
we have already commenced, will form the subject of a se-
cond Memoir, to be hereafter presented to the Class.

XAVIT. An Account of the Smelting of Lead. By Mr,
JOHN SADLER.

[Continued from vol, xxxviii. p. 376.]

oT Cupola Smelting*.
HE process of smelting here described, appears to be
defective in some points, which I will take the liberty to
mention, aud at the same time suggest the means of im-
* See an account-of the present state of this art, in Mr. Farey’s Derbyshire

Report, vol, 1. p. 386.—Epiror,
improvement ;

On Smeiting of Lead. 187

provement ; without, however, presuming to say, how far
it may be expedient to adopt the proposed alterations 5’ be-
ing sensible that what may appear very feasible in theory,
or may even answer in small assays, may not be practicable
in large works.

«The first alteration which I would propose to the con-
sideration of the lead-smelters, is to substitute an horizon-
tal chimney of two or three hundred yards in length, in
the place of the perpendicular one now in use. In the pre-
ceding Essay, which was first published in 1778, mention
is made of the probability of saving a large quantity of sub-
limed lead, by making the smoke which rises from the ore
pass throngh an horizontal chimney, with various windings
to condense the vapour. I have since conyersed with some
of the principal lead-smelters in Derbyshire, and find that
I had overrated the quantity of this sublimed lead; the
weight of the scoria, from a ton of ore, amounting to more

than I had supposed. They were all of them, however, of
opinion, that the plan I had proposed for saving the -sub-
Jimate was a very rational one. But so difficult is it to
wean artists from their ancient ways of operating, that T
question very much whether any of them would ever have
adopted the plan they approved, if an horizontal chimney,

which was built a little time ago in Middleton Dale, for a
quite different purpose, had not given them a full proof of
the practicability of saving the sublimate of lead, which is
lost in the ordinary method of smelting. This chimney
was built on the side of a hill, to prevent some adjoining
pastures from being injured by the smoke of the furnace.
It not only answers ; that end, but it is found also to collect
considerable quantities of lead, which is sublimed during
the smeiting of the ore. This sublimed lead is of a whitish
cast, and is sold to the painters at ten or twelve pounds a
ion; it might perhaps be converted into red lead with still
mare profit.

«¢ A second circumstance to be attended to in the smelt-
ing of lead ore, is the saving the sulphur contained in it.
The pure lead ore of Derbyshire contains about an eighth
and a ninth part of its weight of sulphur; but as the ore
which is smelied is never pure, being mixed with particles
of spar, cawk, limestone, brasil, and. other substances,
which the:miners:call deads, we sivall be high enough in
our supposition, if we say that the ordinary ore contains a
tenth of its weight of sulphur; it may not, probably, con-
tain so much, but even a twelfth part, could it be collected
at a small expense, w vould be an object of great importance

ta

168 On Smelting of Lead.

to the smelter. In the common method of smelting lead
ore there is no appearance of the sulphur it contains ; it Is
consumed by the flame of the furnace, as soon as it is se-
parated from the ore. An attentive observer may, indeed,
by looking into the furnace, distinguish a diversity in the
colour of the flame at different periods of the process,
During the first three or four hours after the ore is put into
the furnace, the flame has a blueish tint; proceeding, no
doubt, from the sulpbar, which, in being sublimed from
the ore, is inflamed ; after all the sulphur is separated from
the ore, the flame has a whitish cast; and then, and not
before, the fire may be raised for finishing the operation ;
for if the fire be made strong before the sulphur be dis-
persed, the quantity of lead is less, probably for two
reasons; the sulphur unites itself in part to the lead which
is formed, and by this union becomes inseparable from it ;
for the sulphur cannot without much difficulty be separated
from an artificial mixture of lead and sulphur, when the
two ingredients have been fused together. 2. The sulphur
whilst it continues united to the lead in the natural ore,
renders the ore volatile, so that in a strong heat a great
portion of it is driven off. Hence, very sulphureous ores
should be roasted for a long time with a gentle heat ; and in
this proper management of the fire principally consists the
superiority of one smelter above another.

«* An old lead smelter informed me that he had often re-
duced a ton of ore to 16 hundred weight, by roasting it;
but that he did not obtain more metal from it by a subse-
quent fusion, than if he had fluxed it without any previous
roasting. This may be true of some sorts of ore, but it is
not true of very sulpbureous ores. Indeed the fire may be
so regulated in a cupola furnace, as to make it answer the
purpose of a roasting and a smelting-furnace at the same
time. J have seen much lead lost by smelting a ton of sul-
phureous ore in eight hours; which might have been saved,
if the fire had at first been kept so gentle, as to have allowed
twelve hours for finishing the operation.

<‘ Sulphur cannot be separated from lead ore in close
vessels; and the lead ore melts with so small a degree of
heat, that there may be more difficulty in procuring the
sulphur from the ores of lead, than from those of copper or
iron: however, } am far from thinking the matter im-
practicable, though I have not yet hit upon the method of
doing it; and the following reflections may, perhaps, tend
to supersede the necessity of collecting the sulphur in sub-

siance.
6* When

On Smelting of Lead. 189

‘* When it is said that the sulphur is consumed by the
flame of the furnace as soon as it is separated from the ore,
the reader will please to recollect that sulphur consists of
two parts,—of an inflammable part, by which it is rendered
combustible,—of an acid part, which is set at liberty, in
the form of vapour, during the burning of the sulphur.
Now this acid, though it may be driven out of the furnace
in the form of vapour, yet is. incapable of being thereby
decomposed ; it still continnes to be an acid: and, could
the vapour be condensed, might answer all the same pur-
poses as the acid of vitriol; since all the acid of vitriol,
now used in commerce, is ‘actually procured from the
burning of sulphur. That the fact, with respect to the acid
not being decomposed, is a8 I have stated it, may be readily
proved. The smoke which issues out of the chimney for
some hours after each fresh charge of ore, has a suffocating
smell, perfectly resembling the smell of burning brimstone;
and if a wet cloth, or a wet band, be held in it for a very
short space of time, and afterwards applied to the tongue,
a strong acid will be sensibly perceived. Various methods
may be invented for condensing this acid vapour, and, pro-
bably, more commodious than the following one, which,
however, I will just take the liberty of mentioning, as, if it
should not succeed, the trial will be attended with very lit-
tle expense,

‘* Supposing then an horizontal chimney to be built, let
the end furthest from the fire be turned up by a tube of
earthenware, or otherwise, so that the sulphureous acid
may issue out in a direction parallel to the flue of the chim-
ney, and at the distance of about a foot and a half above it;
Let a number of large globular vessels be. made of either
glass or lead; each of. these globes must have two necks,
so as to be capable of being inserted into one another; let
these vessels be placed on the flue of the chimney, the neck
of the first being inserted into the tube through which we
have supposed the sulphureous acid to issue, and the neck
of the last being left open, for fear of injuring the draught
of the furnace. Let each of these globular vessels contain-
a small quantity of water; then it is conceived that the
heat of the flue will raise the water into a vapour, and that
this watery vapour will be the means of condensing sul-
phureous acid vapour, if not wholly, at least in such a de-
gree as may render the undertaking profitable. When the
sulphur is all consumed, the draught of the furnace may be
suffered to have its ordinary exit at the end of the horizon-
tal chimney, by a very slight coutrivauce of a moveable

damper,

190 On Smelting of Lead.

damper. Since the first publication of the preceding Essay,
I have seen an horizontal chimney at the copper works near
Liverpool, where every thing I had said concerning thé pro-
bability of saving sulphur by roasting lead ore, is verified
with respect to copper ore; and | believe a patent has heen
granted to some individual for this mode of collecting sal-
pbur. Sulphur might be obtained with equal facility from
the pyrites which 1s found amongst coal, and this applica-
tion of the pyrites might, probably, be more lucrative than
the present one—making green vitriol.

« A third circumstance, which requires the utmost care
of the Jead-smelter, is the leaving as little lead as possible
in the slag. Near every smelting-house there are thousands
of tons of slag, which, when properly assayed, are found to
vield from one-eighth to one-tenth of their sveight of lead,
though no person has yet discovered a method of extracting
so much from them when smelted in large quantities ; and
indeed the smelters are so little able to obtain all the lead
contained in them, that in many places they never attempt
to extract any part of it: in some places where they do at-
tempt it, I have known the proprietor of the slag allow the
smelters 20s. for every pig of lead they procured of the
value of 38s. besides furnishing them with fuel: and yet
the men employed in such an unwholesome business, sel-
dom made above 7s, a week of their labour. This fusion
of the slag’ of a cupola furnace is made, as has been men-
tioned, at a hearth furnace; the coal cinder, which they
use as fuel, and the slag are soon melted by the strong blast
of the bellows into a black mass, which, when the fire is
very strong, becomes a perfect ylass; this black-mass, even
in its most liquid state, is very tenacious, and hinders many
of the particles of lead from subsiding; and it being from
time to time removed from the furnace, a considerable
quantity of lead is left in it, and thereby lost. A principal
part of the Jead contained in the slag of the cupola furnace,
is not, I apprehend, iu the form of a metal, but in the form
of a litharge or calcined lead: a portion of the lead, in be-
ing smelted from its ore, is calcined by the violence of the
fire ; this calcined lead is not only very vitrifiable of itself,
but it helps to vitrify the spar which is mixed with the ore,
and thus constitutes the liquid scoria: might it not be use-
ful to throw a quantity of charcoal dust upon the liquid
$coria in the cupola furnace, in order that the calcined lead
might be converted into lead by uniting itself to the in-
flammable principle of the charcoal? fron will not unite
with lead, but it readily unites with sulphur; and when

added

Mr, Farey’s Accouni of the Rivers, Sc. in Dérbyshire.191

added to a mixture of lead and sulphur, it will absorb the
sulphur, leaving the lead in its metallic form: might it not
be useful to flux sulphureous lead ores in conjunction with
the scales or other refuse pieces of iron, or even with some
sorts of iron ore? The smelter’s great care should be to
extract as much lead as possible at the first operation of
smelting the ore, and to leave the slag as poor as possible ;
but if he should still find either the slag of the cupola fur-
nace, or that of the hearth furnace, containing much lead,
(as that even of the hearth furnace certainly does,) he may,
perhaps, find it worth his while to reduce the slag into a
powder by a stamping mill, or by laying itin highways to be
ground by the carts, and then he may separate the stony part
of the slag from the metallic, by washing the whole in water,
inasmuch as the metallic part is far heavier than the other.

*« T estimated the weights of several pieces of slag, and
found them to differ very much from each other; this dif-
ference is principally to be attributed to the different quan-
tities of lead left in them.

Weight of a cubic foot of

Avoir.oz.
Slag from a cupola furnace, where no lime was used 3742

Blacx slag from a hearth furnace...........0.5, 3632
ORT ToS LOS ER ee SN EE eS ma Re SERIE: SE
Black slag from another hearth furnace; struck fire
WAIUStCO | ace bias cums nce abe misls pase puelbye yore stein) Sintaahess BBLS
BAC NRE S S18 ha sans shite na caaan Mier omic att Seeal”

XXVITI. Extracts from Mr. Joun Farty’s first Volume
of Report to«he Board of Agriculture, on Derbyshire® ;
giving an Account of the several Rivers in that County,
and of the particular Strata intersected and’ exposed by
the excavated Vatunys through which they flow ; of their
Floods and of ihe Water-falls in their course, and else-
where ; with an Account of the Acres of surface from
which each River collects its Waters: on the absence of
Lakes in that County, &c.

{The Readers of the Philosophical Magazine will recollect,

~ that during the preparing and printing of the Velume

* This Volume of important matter relating to the Surface, Stratification,
and Minerals of Derbyshire and the borders of its seven adjacent Counties,
purports to be intended as, and I sincerely hope if time will prove to be,
the first of a Series of copious Reports, undertaken with the view of investi-
gating and explaining the physical Geography, Stratification, and Minerals,
of the British {slands; with information, which cannot fail of being impor-
tant in a national point of view, of the uses to which the mineral products
of our soil, are or may be applied.—Epiror,

above

192 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

above mentioned, I was favoured by its indefatigable Au
thor, with communications, respecting the numerous
Collieries in or near Derbyshire; which are printed tn my
35th volume, page 431; the various Mines of Lead,
Zinc, Copper, &e. which are given in vol, xxxvii. page
106, and respecting the numerous Hid/s and the upper
stratum of each, which will be found at page 161 of the
same volume. On comparing the papers and lists above
referred to, with the corresponding parts of the volume
now before me, I find them so tar from mere copies,
that they seem essential auxiliaries of each other, as every
new and different arrangement of a large series of facts
and phenomena must prove, to the anxious inquirers
after Geological or other truths. It is my intention, ift
an early number, to give a copy of the Map of Ridges
and Hills, which has been mentioned and referred to

vol. xxxvil. p. 161; and wherein the total lengths and
widths or extents and shapes, of the excavations between
the several Ridges that separate the River-Districts of
Derbyshire, will appear, and I lave selected the account
of the beds of these Rivers, &c. for insertion herein (as
the first of some extracts which I mean to give occa-
sionally from Mr. Farey’s volume), as following up what
is already begcun in my Magazine, by the account of
these Ridges and the Hills on them, and throwing some
additional light on that very fundamental point of Geo-
logical Theory, the manner and circumstances of the
excavation or formation of Valleys on the surface of the
Earth, which it will be recollected, engaved the-pens of
two of my Correspondents in the 33d an’, 34th volumes ¢
and J will take the present opportunity of saying, that
observations of facts and discussions (temperately con-
ducted) on Geological subjects, shall always receive atten-
tion, and as early insertion as possible in the Philoso-
phical Magazine; and not Jess so, than if regard to uni-
formity in the sets of my volumes would have allowed
me, to make a more express alteration in its Title than I
have done, by calling it in future the Philosophical and
Geological Magazine, as several of my ingenious Cor-
respondents have wished.—EniTor.]

1. Streams and River's.

Ix speaking of the Surface of Derbyshire, in the Ist Sec-
tion of this Chapter, and describing the 41 Ridges of high

Land, page 4, which are shown in the Map facing page is
the

4

and the Strata, Bc. in Derbyshire. 193

the names and situations of most of the Rivers in the Die
strict are pointed out, they have also been separately shown
in the Map annexed to the original 4to. Report, and can
readily be traced on any Map. | I shall therefore proceed to
point out some particulars of the course, and the nature of
the bed, of each River ; and give the space, or number of
Acres nearly, on which each collects its water.

The Trené clainis our first notice, as being the largest
River in or near to Derbysnire, and as effecting the drainage
of nearly ten-thirteenths of the surface of the County, viz.
477,500 Acres of it, out of 622,080 Acres, exclusive of the
Idie, which also falls into the lower part of this River. The
course of the Trent, from where it first touches the border
of this County, 3 m. N of Croxail, at the mouth of the
Mease, until it leaves its border again, 14m. E of Long-
Eaton, at the mouth of the Erewash, is through a very wide
excavated Vale in the Red Mar] S:rata, having a steep bank
ot ihese Strata close to the River, at Burrow-Hill SSW of
Walton, on the south of the River, at Scropley Hill E of
Burton Church, at Bladon-Hill SW of Newton Solney,
and at Holywell-Hill W ot Reptom: of Gravel Rock NW
of Ingleby: and, of Red Mar) and Freestone at Weston Cliff
‘and Church, N of the River, which is the only place that
the high ground approaches its stream on this side. In
Donniagton-park, aud W and NE of it, the Cliffs of Red
Marl and its Freestone, form the southern bank of the River:
and at Red Hill, and thence to Thrumpton in Notung-
hamshire, those of Red Marl and Gypsum do the same.
The botiom of this nvble Valley is less deep than the ori-
ginal Excavatioy im the Red Marl, being filled-to a certain
height, and levelled, with sandy small Quartz Gravel, mixed
with a few Fhots, and other distant Alluvia of this Island,
and some few small thin Stones of the adjacent. districts:
the Map of Strata and Soils facing page 97, by the Brown
colour thereon, will show how this Gravel is distributed.

The Vale of the Trent in Derbyshire, with the short Vales
which drain by their Brooks into it, and by Rivulets with-
out Names, occupy together about 70,000 Acres of the sur-
face of Derbyshire; this being exclusive of the Vales or
Drainages of the Erewash, Derwent, and Dove on the
north, and the Mease on the south of Trent, and of their
Collateral Sireaims.

The lowest five miles of the Trent, where it bounds upon
Derbyshire, from the mouth of the,Erewash River to the
entrance of the Trent and Mersey Canal, at Wilden- Ferry
in Shardlow, is now the only Navigable River remaining

Vol. 39. No. 167. March 1812. N in

ig4 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

in or near to Derbyshire, the Navigation frony Wilden+
Ferry up to Burton Bridge, which was made by the Earl of
Uxbridge, in pursuance of the Acts of the 10th and 11th
of William IIT., having been discontinued in the year 1805,
in consequence of an agreement with Hugh Heushali and
Co. the Proprietors of the Trent and Mersey Canal, which
runs by its side (see Sect. 3, of Chap. XVI.*) ; and the Na-
vigation on the Derwent River, from Wohilden-Ferry up to
Derby, having been discontinued since 1794, when the
Derby Canals were finished. From this five miles of Na-
vigation cn the Trent River, the Loughborough Naviga-
tion, by the side of the Soar, branches to the south, and
the Evewash Canal on the north, nearly opposite to each
other.

The Derwent is the principal River of Derbyshire, col-
lecting the whole of its waters from the surface of this
County, except from about 5000 Acres in Yorkshire, near
its source on the east side, and from 12,000 Acres in Not-
tinghamshire, at one of the heads of the Amber branch to
this River.

The smaller Rivers or branches to the Derwent on its
east side, are the Boofle and the Amber, and on its west
side the Morledge, Ecclesburn, Bradford and Lathkil,
Wye, Noe, and Ashop, besides smaller Brooks and Rivulets,
which are reckoned with the Derwent itself, and the whole
space which these occupy, including the 17,000 Acres
above mentioned, is 288,500 Acres of surface, draining to
and venting its waters into the Trent at Wilden-Ferry,
above mentioned.

The course of the Derwent from Wilden-Ferry up to the
great Derbyshire Faultt E of Allestry (see p. 146), is very
widely excavated in the Red Marl Strata, and partially filled
again with sandy Quartz Gravel, mixed with thin and light
Bolders of Limestone, particularly in the upper part of this
distance: the present channel of the River closely ap-
proaches the steep bank of Red Marl, at Burrowash Mills,
and again for some distance from the north end of Derby
Town to Darley-Abbey. For about a mile, between the
Fault above mentioned and the great zigzag Faultt SE of

* [This refers to the Second Volume (if it can be brought into that space)
of the Report, on which I understand the Author to have been so long and
assiduously engaged, and which is now in great forwardness: and which t
doubt not, will prove when published, as deeply interesting to the Agricul-
turist and political Gconomist, as the present one, containing only the jirst
Chapter, promises to be to the Mineralogist and Geologist —Eprvor. }

+ [See page 29, and plate I. of my present voluine.—Eprror. }

+ [See pages $1 and 32, and plate l,—Ibid.] =

; ufs

and the Strata, &c. in Derbyshire. 195

Bur- Hill (see page 162), the Excavation is immensely deep
and wide into the upper part of the Coal Series, as | judge ;
from thence for about 24 m. the Excavation is in the
Lime-stone Shale, the River approaching a Hill of Lime-
stone Shale at Bur-Hill, W of Little Eaton, and others,
in a range called Duffield Bank, having the Ist Grit
Rock upon them; the Quartz Gravel floor to the Val-
ley, extends up as far as this Excavation in Shale near
Makeney, but no further. Between Milford and Make-
ney, the River is deeply and suddenly excavated in the Ist
Grit Rock, which is there crossing to the west side of it, and
the River thers for about 2 m. has its course in the ist Godt
shale, and the Argillaceous Grit beds in it, crossing the
line of Section in Mr. Whitehurst’s Plate I! a 2nd Edit. of
his *¢ Inquiry,” near the SW corner of Belper Town; the
2nd Grit Rock upon it, being cut entirely through at the
N end of the Town, and a large Hummiock of it left to the
W, which the Wirksworth Road crosses. For about the
next mile and quarter, the Excavation is again made very
deep in the ist Grit Rock, up to Toad-moor Bridge at
Blundon-Ford, near the mouth of the Amber, and thence
the same is cut in the Limestone Siale, to Cromford Bridge,
having entered the western edge of the great Denudation
around Crich (see page 171), the ist Grit forms prodigious
Cliffs in the Heights on each side the River, up to Cod-
dington, near the mouth of Wakebridge Sough (now driving
to the Crich Cliff Mines), on the west side, these Cliffs of
ist Grit turn off, on the north side of Cromford Moor, to
Barehill Edge Hill, and on the east side they terminate,
abruptly at a Fault.

At Cromford Bridge the Excavation enters on the Ist
Lime Rock, and having cut through this, at the Paper Mill
in Matlock-Bath Dale (see page 68), it crosses the ist
Toadstone (which is here crossing the River to the east
bank, see page 281); from hence for about 2 ofa mile, the
bed of the River is on the 2nd Lime Rock: the 1st ‘Toad-
stone then again crosses to the west side, and immediately
the ist Lime Rock does the same: and then the River runs
for a short distance upon an Excavation in a sunk piece or
Trough of Shale, and quickly after, by a rapid rise of the
measures towards the north, the ist Lime, and then the Ist
Toadstone, again cross the River, and immediately the 2nd
Lime Rock does the same; and the River then for about
the { part of a mile, at the foot of the High Tor, runs upon

© [See plate Il, in my 31st volume.—Epiror.]

No 2nd

196 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

2nd Toadstone*, as shown in the Section in Plate V. facing
page 129, see also page 243; the main trunk of the Der-
went being here deeper excavated in the series of Strata,
than in any other part of its course. Near the north end
of the High Tor, the 2nd Lime Rock again crosses the Ri-
ver to the west, and the Ist Toadstone also, and the River
runs in or upon the Ist Lime Rock, until about half a mile
above Matlock Bridge, when the same gets again upon the
great Limestone Shale (as below Cromford Bridge and be-
low Milford Bridge), and continues fer many afiles to run
in deep excavations in this Shale, and the Shale Grit-stone
which it sometimes contains (except touching a denudated
patch of ist Lime in Wensley, opposite Darley Church,
see p. 243), and having massive Clifls, often, of the 1st Grit
in the heights above the River, until near its source upon
this ist Grit Rock, at the place called the Trough on the
Grand Ridge, at the Bounds of Yorkshire, as mentioned
page 4.

I shall now proceed to mention briefly, the principal
Strata traversed by each of the smaller Rivers, branching
from the main trunk of the Derwent above described, in
order as above, viz.

_ The Bootle Rivulet or Brook, joins the Derwent S of
Little-Eaton, its course thence up to Coxbench being near
to the great zigzag Fault, upon the upper part of the Coal
Series; at Coxbench it crosses the 3rd Grit Rock, then the
3rd Coal-shale, the 4th Grit, and so on ascending the Series,
to its source, near Ripley Town; and ils branch from
Smalley also, ascends the Series towards its course.

The Amler River empties itself into the Derwent at Toad-
moor Bridge, upon the Limestone Shale, and continues
therein and in Shale Grit-stone, until E of Bull-bridge
Aqueduct; it then crosses the Ist Grit (witha rapid E dip),
and then the 1st Coal shale, 2nd Grit, 2nd Coal-shale, &c.
to Pentrich-lane, where it has got upon the Sth Grit or
higher, when turning northward, its course follows nearly
the edges of the same Strata to Ford, NW of Higham,
where it turns NW and crosses the 4th Grit, the 3rd Coal-
shale, 3rd Grit, &c. until near Mill-town its Excavation

* The late ingenious Mr. John Whitehurst, erred in asserting, in both
editions of his “ Inquiry concerning the Earth,” that the Derwent here runs
‘cn loose and broken stuff, between the 2nd and the Ist Toadstone (see also,
the Translation of Werner’s “* New Theory of Veins,” Supplement, p. 234) ;
since the publication of Mr. Whitehurst’ 's Work, the Miners eae driven
a Gate across under the Rever,in solid and unbroken Measures,—See the-Phi-
losophical Magazine, vol. xxxi. p. 36.

/ crosses

and the Strata, Be. in Derbyshire. 197

crosses the Ist Grit, and enters the highly curious denudated
Dale of Ashover, descending the Series on to the Limestone
Shale, 1st Lime, and 1st Toadstone, which is excavated for
near a mile (see p. 171 and 242), and then its course ascends
to the ist Lime, the Limestone Shale, the ist Grit, near
Bowers Mill, and takes its rise on the Ist Coal-shale, near
to Moor- Hall in Ashover. The other main branch of this
River, from Toad-hole Furnace eastward, continues to
ascend the series of Coal-measures, till crossing the zigzag
Fault W of Sutton in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, it has
its source from the edge of the yellow Lime.

The Morledge Rivulet or Brook, falls into the Derwent
in Derby Town, on Red Marl and Gravel, its various rami-
fications being excavated in Red Marl, except its several
extreme northern branches, which cross the gréat Derby-
shire Fault, between Allestry Town and Mansel-park,- and
are excavated in the great Limestone Shale, or in the Quartz
Gravel with which it is there locally covered.

The Ecclesburn River falls into the Derwent at Duffield
on the great Limestone Shale, and in which it is excavated,
through all its ramifications, except that, at its sources near
Wirksworth, these Excavations extend into the Ist, and the
3rd, and 4th Limestones; and that on the south of Turn-
ditch, a local patch of the Shale Limestone is cut and laid
bare by a branch of these Excavations, see p. 230.

The Bradford and Lathkil pour their united streams into
the Wye, west of Great Rowsley, near its junction with the
Derwent, on Limestone Shale: through which they are
soon excavated, so as to lay bare the 1st Lime Rock below
Alport (see page 68), where the Lathkil and the Bradford
meet, on a bed of Tufa, as observed page 458; from hence
the course of the Bradford proceeds westward in the 1st
Lime Rock, which it cuts through on the SW of Yolgrave,
and lays bare the Ist Toadstone for a short space (see page
243), when it crosses the great Bakewell Fault* (see p. 291,
Note), and again ascends the Lime and skirts the Shale,
which it ascends near Gratton, taking its rise upon this
stratum near Elton. The Lathki/ Excavation pursues the
ist Lime to the south side of Over-Haddon, where it de-
scends the Series on the 1st Toadstone, cuts through it, and
Javs bare a patch of 2nd Lime, as mentioned, page 243;
but which not being excavated so deep as the Toadstone
below, occasions a sudden fall in the River, whose course,
after crossing the yreat Bakewell Fault (see p. 291, Note),

* {See page 94, and plate I. of my present volume.Epiror.]
3 again

198 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

again ascends on to the 1st Lime, in which it is deeply cut
(page 68) up to Monyash, where it approaches the basset
of the Ist Toadstone ; but turning to the NW, it keeps in
the 1st Lime till near the branching of the Taddington and
Flage Roads, where it crosses the Ist Toadstone basset, and
proceeds in the 2nd Lime, till opposite the Wells in Flagg
Village, where it crosses the basset of the 2nd Tuadstone,
and then branches in different excavations in the 3rd Lime
Rock, wherein the Vales terminate, but the water seldom
runs on the surface above Monyash.

The Wye. This most interesting River empties itself
into the Derwent at Great Rowsley, upon the Limestone
Shale, as mentioned above, and on the south side of Had-
don-Hall crosses the great Bakewell Fault (see p. 290,
Note), which brings up the Ist Lime, in which the Vale is
excavated for a short distance, and then again in the Shale up
to Bakewell Town, where the Lime, rising rapidly NW, is
cut again, and at the Cotton-Mill the excavation enters the
Ist Toadstone (page 242), and continues in it, until cross-
ing again the great Bakewell Fault, the Shale and Shale
Limestone are then excavated, up to Ashford and beyond,
when the Ist Lime is again cut through, the Ist Toadstone,
end Lime, and an Excavation made in the 2nd Toadstone,
at the west front of Fin Copt Hill (see page 33), which in
this respect, and its number of Strata, resembles Matlock
High-Tor, represented in Plate V.* facing page 129. From
hence through Monsal Dale (page 69), the 2nd Toadstone
is in the bottom and west side of the Dale, and below the
mouth of Cressbrook Dale the Excavation enters on the 3rd
Limestone, and continues the same through Miller’s Dale
(pages 69 and 243), where the 3rd Lime is cut through for
ai ofa mile, and shows the 3rd Toadstone in the bottom
of the Dale. In Wye Wood in Wormhill, near Chee Tor,
the River crosses the basset of the 3rd Toadstone, and from
thence all the way to Mill Dale, near Buxton (page 69),
the Excavation is in the 4th Lime Rock: in Mill Dale the
3rd Toadstone is again crossed with a N dip, and the Exca-
vation for about } of a mile is again in the 3rd Lime, to
the great Limestone Fault ¢, near Mill-Dale Bridge at Buxton
Town’s end (page 287) ; fron: whence turning W, the Ex-
cavation proceeds in Shale on the north side of the Baths,
and so continues to its sources near the Grand Ridge by the
Manchester, Macclesfield, and Leek Roads.

The Noe River falls into the Derwent at Malham- (or My-

% [Sce plate II. in my Sist volume.<Epiror.) -
-{ [See pages 31 and 32, and plate I. in my present volume.—Ibid.}

thatb-)

and the Strata, €8c, in Derbyshire. 199

tham-) bridge in Hathersage, on the Limestone Shale, and
is excavated therein through its whole length to Edale-Head,
and to Castleton..

The Ashop River falis into the Derwent at Cock-Bridge,
south of Darwent-Chapel, on the Limestone Shale, and all
its different branches are excavated therein, except some ot
their extreme ends, which penetrate the Ist Grit, on the
heights.

Thus it appears, that the Derwent River, which collects
its water from very deep Excavations in the lowest known
Stratum in all this District,-the 4th Lime Rock, both by its
Wye branch and its Noe branch from Castleton Peaks Hole
(see page 289), conveys the same on to the Aigiest known
Stratum of the County, the Red Marl; and a similar re-
mark will apply to the Dove River, of which I shall next
treat.

The Dave River empties itself into the Trent at Newton-
Solney Ford, on Red Marl covered by sandy Quartz Gravel,
about a mile above which it passes under the Trent and
Mersey Canal, through twelve low Aqueduct Arches, from .
whence for many miles its course is very widely excavated
in the Red Marl Strata, and sandy Quartz Gravel mixed
with thin rounded Limestones, is lodged as a floor in the
bottom of this Valley, in so regular a manner, as to form
flat Meadows (occasionally flooded) trom 4 to 2 miles wide,
the adjacent heights bemmg composed of Red Marl in hori-
zontal strata; which at Row-Bank contain lavers of Gyp-
sum, near Coton in Hanbury, Staffordshire, and in other
places near, seep. 151. Above Hanging-Bridge, on the
toad from Ashburne to Leek, the great Derbyshire Fault
{see p. 146) crosses this River, and suddenly terminates the
Red Marl, bringing the Limestone Shale opposite to it on
the north side, and in which, and the Shale Limestone be-
longing to it, the Dove Valley is excavated, to the crossing
of the great Limestone Fault (see page 283) at the entrance
of Dove Dale, near Thorpe. For a considerable distance
above and below Hanging-Bridge, a vast mass otf sandy
ae Gravel Rock ? is lodged, and in which the Valley of

ove seems excavated; about 3 m. above Mappleton, the
Quartz Gravel in the Vaile ends, and above this, the smail
quantity of Alluvia which is lodged in the bottoms of the
Vales, consist of thin Limestones, and other native alluvial
matters. From the great Fault last mentioned, the highly
curious Dove Dale commences (see page 66), having the
two surprising Hills of 4th Limestone, Bunster on the W
and Thorpe-Cloud onthe E, at the entrance of the Dale,

N4 and

200 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

and between which the Excavation is yery narrow, and the
Rocks precipitous; and so it continues, with a few local
exceptions, for near 5 m., the Dove running, in great part
of this distance, upon lower Strata in this immense 4th
Lime Rock, and in the general Series, than are pachaps any
where else ‘visible i in the British Islands. For about 1 m.,
after crossing the great Limestone Fault again, near Wolf-
scote Hall (see p. 286), the Excavation is partly in Shale
on the W, and partly in 4th Lime on the E, when again
crossing the Fault, the Excavation passes again through | the
4th Limestone ioe, about + m. forming Beresford Dale (see
page 64), and finally crossing the Fault at the north end of
this Dale, its further course for several miles is in the Lime-
stone Shale: often skirting close to the great Fault and 4th
Lime Rock, till crossing the Buxton and Leek Road (about
5m. N of what is usually called Dove-head, at the bounds
of Derbyshire), it soon after enters the 1st Grit Rock, which
it cuts through between the great and middle Axe-edge
Hills (see p. 17); the Dove taking its rise in the Bog upon
the 1st Grit and ist Coal-shale, near Thatch- marsh Col-
liery.

The Schoo River falls into the Dove about + m. below
Hanging-Bridge in Ashburne Parish, probably on Coal-
measures covered by Gravel (see page 159), and is exca-
vated therein till near the Church at Ashburne, when the
great Derbyshire Fault above referred to, is crossed obliquely,
and the Excavation continues in Limestone Shale, and through
Shale Limestone therein at Agnes-meadow and thence ‘to
Atlow, and proceeds again through Limestone Shale, to its
source at Stainborough near Hopton ; near to the great
Limestone Fault, which a dry branch of this River’s Exca-
vations crosses (page 283), and proceeds some distance in
the 3rd Toadstone and 4th Lime, NW of Hopton.

The Dane is a River in the Western Drainage of the
Tsland, which having its source in the County of Derby,
passe¢ Congleton, unites with the Weaver, and falls imto

the Mersey. At Congleton in Cheshire, the Excavation
for this River is in Red Marl, which continues to some di-
stance above Northrode, where the continuation of the
great Derbyshire Fault* crosses the Dane (see page 146):
the Excavation then probably crosses a corner of the upper
Coal Series, but soon crosses another great Fault, and en-
ters the Limestone Shale, which and the Shale Grit-stone
in it, it pursues tll about ; m. above Dane Bridge in Win-

* [ See page 30, and plate I. in my present volume.—Eniror.]
cle-

and the Strata, Gc. in Derbyshire. 201

ele-Chapel; the Excavation then pursues the line of a Fault,
in Shale on the N and ist Grit on the S; it leaves this Fault
and cuts through the Ist Grit to Gradbatch, where it enters
the Ist Coal-shale, the 2nd Grit and the 2nd Coal-shale ;
when a Fault near Birchen Clough, again brings up the
Limestone Shale, in which the Excavation proceeds a short
distance, and then cuts through the ist Grit Rock to Paniers<
pool Bridge, at the corners of Cheshire, Staffordshire, and
Derbyshire; whence it proceeds N a little way in the Ist
Grit, and crosses a Fault at Gallywood- House, into the
2nd Coal-shale, which it pursues past Dane-head Colliery,
and then for a considerable distance through the 2nd Grit
_ Rock to Thatch-marsh Colliery, and on to the ist Coal-
shale, where the Dane River originates, from the same Bog
which gives rise to the Dove, page 479.

The Goyte also is a western River, which uniting with
the Ethrow at Water-meeiings in Ludworth, torms there
the celebrated Mersey, which runs to Stockport and Liver-
pool: the Water-meetings being in an Excavation in the
2nd Coal-shale, which the course of the Goyte pursues up
to Marple-bridge, and there enters the 2nd Grit Rock,
which it cuts through, and exposes'the 1st Coal-shale in
the bottom of the Dale, for some distance above and below
Mellor- Mills: the Excavation then again enters and pursues
the 2nd Grit, to the crossing of the New-Mills and Marple
new Road, when the Rock. is again quite cut through, and
exposes the Ist Coal-skale for a short distance; then the
2nd Grit is again crossed, and the 2nd Coal-shale, and the
Goyte Excavation passes through the romantic New-Mills
Dale (see page 70) in) the: 3rd Grit Rock; which Rock it
pursues almost to Bottom-Hall, and then is in the 2nd
Coal-shale, till above Whaley-bridge: the 2nd Rock is then
pursued to near Taxhall, where the Excavation is in or ad-
joins a Hummock of the 2nd Coal-shale, for about a mile
near Shalleross-Colliery : near Ferneylee the River again
runs on the 2nd Grit, which continues to Goyte-moss,
where the Goyte originates on the 2nd Coal-shale near
Goyte-moss E Colliery.

The Ethrow River, which discharges into the Mersey at
Water-meetings in Ludworth, as before observed, is there
excavated in the 2nd Coal-shale, which it pursues to Woods
seats in Charlesworth, and then its course is cut through
Cliffs of the 3rd Rock for near a mile, yet it enters again
on the 2nd Coal-shale, and pursues it to Wolley-Bridge on
the Glossop and Mottram Road; then the 2nd Grit Rock
is crossed, and the ist Coal-shale, at Water-side Mills, the

Excavation

202 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

Excavation entering the Ist Grit Rock, which is soon cut
through, and it pursues a large patch of the Limestone Shale
Jaid bare in the Valley, on which the River runs till within
about 3 of a mile of the bounds of Yorkshire, when the Ex-
cavation again encounters the Ist Grit Rock, and cuts
through it, soon after passing the corners of Derby, York,
and Chester Counties, when it enters the Ist Coal-shale,
on which the Ethrow rises SW of Lady-cross Hill in the
Penistone Road.

The She/f Rivulet or Brook falls into the Ethrow on the
N side of the Roman Station called Melandra Castle, in an
Excavation in the 2nd Coal-shaile, partly filled with foreign
Alluvia. On the S of Dinting, the 2nd Grit Rock is crossed,
and the Ist Coal-shale; at Bridge-end the Excavation of
the 1st Grit Rock commences, and itis cut through at the
FE end of Glossop Town and Mills, the remaining deep
Excavation being in the Limestone Shale, and the source
of the Shelf is in the Bogs on the same, N of Doctor-Gate
Bridle Road.

The Sheaf River falls into the Don in the Town of Shef-
field in Yorkshire, upon the gth Grit Rock, the Ponds Col-
liery being excavated underneath it: between this and
Heely-mill, where the Sheaf touches upon Derbyshire, the
Excavation has passed through the 8th Coal-shale, the 8th
Grit Rock, the 7th Coal-shale, &c. and arrived on the 4th
Coal-shale; in about $m. more south, it has cut through
the 4th Grit Rock, and from thence having entered Derby-
shire near Oak-Mills, to near the north end of Totley
Town, it runs upon the 3rd Coal-shale or great Crowstone-
shale; at Totlev it cuts through the 3rd Grit Rock, crosses
the 2nd Coal-shale, and originates in the 2nd Grit Rock,
in Strawberry-Leys Farm on the high or East Moors.

The Rother River falls into the Don about 3m. above
Rotherham-Bridge in Yorkshire, ov the salmon-coloured
Grit Rock, in which it is excavated, to Catcliff, and then
through other parts of the Coal Series, which IT have not
yet thoroughly determined, to the SW corner of Folken
Wood, where it crosses the 13th Grit Rock, and pursues
the 19th Coal-shale, having touched the County of Derby
above Woodhouse Mill, and entered it at the mouth of the
Gannow Rivulet, till within 2 m. of Killamarsh Bridge, and
there crosses the 12th Grit Rock, then the 11th Coal-shale
and 11th Rock, and the 10th Coal-shale and Rock, just
above the Bridge abovementioned; the Excavation then
continues in the 9th Coal-shale to Renishaw Bridge, where
the 10th Rock again crosses the River, and soon after yo

1Ot

and the Strata, &c. in Derlyshire. 203

1@th Coal-shale and 111h Rock do the same; and the Ex-
cavation proceeds in the 11th Coal-shale till near Staveley
Bridge, when the 12th Rock is crossed, the 12th Coal-shale.
is then pursued tor a short distance and the 12th Rock is
again crossed; the Series is then descended, through the
‘11th Coal-shale and Rock, the 10t and oth tothe 8th Rock
on the NW of Brimmingten, laid bare by the Calow and
Bull-Close Denudation, see page 163; after which the
Series is ascended again in like manner by the channel of the
River to the 10th Rock, above Wildens-mill, and in this
Rock the Excavation proceeds up the Trough between Ches-
terfield and Hady, to the ridge on the London Road above.
Chesterfield, baving, opposite the Iron-Furnace, cut
through the Rock and exposed the 9th Coal-shale for a short
distance: from the Bridge last mentioned as far as Park-
House Mill above North Winfield, the loth Coal-shale is
followed, the Rother taking its rise on this same Stratum
at Littleworth near Stretton.

The Hipper River falls into the Rother at the SE end of
Chesterfield, on the 10th Grit Rock, in which it continues
to be excavated for 3 m., then the 9th Coal-shale for about
the same space, then the 9th Rock, the 8th Coal-shale, and
so on, descending the Series to near Holy-moor-side, where
the 4th Grit Rock is crossed, the Excavation then pursues
the 3rd Coal shale for 2 m., and then cuts through the 3rd
Grit, and takes its rise on the 2nd Coal-shale on the W side
of Harwood-Grange in Beeley. ?

The Dolee River falls into the Rother near Hague, below
Staveley, on the 11th Coal-shale; its Excavation cuts
through the 12th Rock below the Aqueduct Bridge of the
Chesterfield Canal over this River, which stands on the 19th
Coal-shale; at Netherthorp it cuts through the 13th Rock,
and pursues Coal-measures which T am not thoroughly ac-
quainted with, to Sutton Water-Mill, from whence it fol-
lows nearly the course of the great zigzag Fault for some
distance (see page 162), and then leaves it on its E side;
on the SW of Heath Church the 12th Rock is again cross~
ed, and the 13th Coal-shale, and the 129th Rock 1s pursued,
until it terminates abruptly at Stainsby Warer- Mill, where
the great zigzag Fault is again crossed ; and the Measures
which basset from under the yellow Lime are pursued by
the Excavation, the rise of this River being near Over- Moor
on the Tibshelf and Mansfield Road: about 1000 acres in
Nottinghamshire to the castward of this main branch,
draining into it, as shown in the Map of Ridges facing
page 1.

e The

264 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

The Idle is a River of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire,,
which falls mto the Trent at Stockwith, having several)
heads or principal branches, four of which rise in Derby-
shire upon the yellow Lime, and continue upon the same,
until they quit the County, soon after which they each en-
ter the Sherwood Gravel: one of these streams, which rises
on the E of Bolsover, passes through a curiously excavated
Vailey in the Lime, called Markland-Gripes, on the NE of
Elmton, see page 68, and through another in a lifted part
of the yellow Lime, called Cresswell-Crags,* adjoining Not-
tinghamshire. At Waliey old Furnace near Over-Lang-
with, a branch of the Palter is deeply excavated in the Lime;
and so is the Medon, about the Cotton-Mills at Plesley old
Forge: the Excavations for this last stream from Plesley up
to Hardwick Park and Teversall, and at Stoney-Houghton,
lay bare the blue beds of Lime in blue Clay, belonging to
the yellow Lime Strata, see page 157, and so does the stream
first mentioned at Walls near Knitaker, &c.: and the
branches of the Leen near Cinder- Hill in Nottinghamshire,
seem to do the same thing, see p. 452.

The Erewash River falls into the Trent at Barton-Ferry,

“in a wide Excavation in Red Marl, partly filled with sandy
Quartz Gravel: about a mile below Sandiacre, hills of Red
Marl commence on each side, and continue, with the Gra-
vel flat in the bottom of the Valley, to Stapleford-Mill,
where the great Derbyshire Fault (see page 146) crosses
this River, and its Excavation, which is then very wide,
proceeds in the upper part of the Coal Series greatly raised,
until somewhere about the Road from Ilkeston to Cossall,
where the zigzag Fault also crosses (see pages 162), and
the Excavation then continues in lower parts of the Coal
Series, not yet completely explored, until opposite the
mouth of Golden-Valley at the NE corner of Codnor-park,
where it enters the skirt of a curious local Denudation (see
page 164), which in about a Mile it leaves again, and con-
tinues to ascend the series of strata until near Langton Hall
in Kirkby, Nottinghamshire; where it again crosses the
zigzag Fault, and the Excavation ascends the Coal Strata
basseting from under the yellow Lime, which also it at
length intersects, south of Kirkby, crosses its blue beds
and Clay, and originates on the NE of Kirkby, near to the
edge of the Sherwood Forest Gravel.

The Nutlirook Rivulet falls into the Erewash S of Trowel,
and has a wide Excavation in the upper part of the Coal
Series for 3 m., when it intersects and follows the line of

* (This is now supposed, an upper Rock; see my present vol. p. 105.—Ep A
t

- and the Strata, Sc. in Derbyshire. 205

the zigzag Fault to near Kirk-Hallam, and then enters on
a lower part of the Series: it originates on Coal-measures
W of Heanor.

The Mease River falls into the Trent north of Croxall,
in a wide Excavation in Red Mar! partially filled with sandy
fovarz Gravel, which extends up the Vale of the Mease a

ittle above Croxall, from whence the Vale is excavated in
Red Marl, with occasional patches of Quartz Gravel on it,
sometimes in Derbyshire and sometimes in Leicestershire,
to near the Aqueduct-Bridge at llot-Wharft, WSW of
Measham, near which a great Fault is crossed, and the Ex-
cavation enters the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Coal-Field, and in
which it is cut, principally in a Red Clay, on which this
River originates, on Smithsby Common N of the Town.

The Sence is a River of Leicestershire, which falls into the
Anchor N of Atherstone, and whose waters are conveyed
thence by means of the Tame, into the Trent, which is
here mentioned, on account of its draining the detached
parish of Ravenstone belonging to Derbyshire, in which
the Valleys are mostly excavated in Red Clay belonging to
the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Coal-Field. ‘

The above description of the Beds or lowest Excavations
of the principal Valleys in and near Derbyshire, will I trust
be found useful, and important to observers of the Stratifi-
cation and Minerals, of this curious District: it would have
been desirable, to have mentioned the series of strata in the
sides of the Valleys in more instances, but for the unavoid-
able attention to brevity in this place; yet as the tops of the
Hills are ascertained in so many places, by the List at
page 16, and the sides of the more remarkable Valleys, by
the List, page 64, it is hoped that no serious difficulties
will occur, to prevent the understanding and examining of
the explanation which | have offered berein, of the Sub-
terranean Geography of the District, novel aud difficult as
the attempt may appear.

The Rivers of Derbyshire are tolerably supplied with Fish,
as will be further noticed in the beginning of Chap. XVI.:
they are not much infested by Weeds, owing to the rapidity
in the currents of most of them, yet none cf them are per-
manently thick or discoloured.

It has been often remarked, that-some of the Rivers of
this District are warmer than usual, and rarely freeze, the
Derwent in particular, owing as it is said, to, the many
warm Springs which vent into them: when however the
very inconsiderable quantity of such warm Spring Water
and its smal] elevation of temperature is considered, as also,

that

.

206 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Rivers

that there is nothing like a genera] warmth perceivable in
the Strata any where, as those fond of deriving Toadstone
aud every thing else from subterranean Fire have pretended
(see p. 275), it seems more natural to refer the circum-
stance, as far-as it Is true, to the great depth and narrow-
ness of the Valley S, preserving the temperature longer than
in More‘open situations.

After long dry weather the Rivers and Brooks here, as
might be expected with such rapid falls, suffer considerable
Dr oughis, and are quite dried up often, in places where at
other times the torrents are tremendous: a remarkable
drought is recorded in the year 1661, in which it was said,
but not truly I think, that the Derwent was dried up at
Derby. See an account of the fluctuation of the Rain at
Chatsworth in the last 50 years, at page 99.

It has been remarked, that considerable Floods usually
follow Rain with the wind blowing down the course of the
Rivers. The Dove seems particularly subject to sudden
Floods, which inundate its fine expanse of Meadows. Un-
der this head it may be proper to mention. that in 1587 the
Derwent was greatly swelled by a Flood, which carred away
St. Mary’s Bridge : in 1610, and suit in 1673, the Mor-
ledge was so swelled by sudden Rains, as to do much
damage in Derby: Nov. 5, 1698, the De weiit Was greaily
fluoded': also on the Yist of November, 1791*, when it
carried away Toad-moor Bridge above Belper; on the 11th
of February, 1795, the same bridge, and those at Wat-
stanwell above it and Belper below it, were washed down;
in the night of the 17th of August, 1799f, the Derwent at
Matlock Town rose rapidly, to a most surprising height ;
in February 1805 §, the Trent was unusually flooded.

The lower parts of the Derwent and the Trent are in
some places Embanked, as will be further noticed in Sect. 2,
of Chap. XTJI.: and the Banks of the Rivers and Brooks
have in some instances been sloped and improved, as will
be mentioned in Sect. 1, of Chap. XII.

* The Register kept of the Rain at Chatsworth, on this River. of which
1 have given an account at page 99, in the Week preceding this Flood, was
as tollows, viz. on the 14th=-173 inches, 15th=-141, 16th=-494, 17th=
058, 18th=*378, 19th='612, 2Oth=2062, and 21st=-074, total of the
week $992 inches.

+ In the Week preceding this Flood, the Rain at Chatsworth was as fol-
lows, viz. on the 9th=-z74 inches, 10th = 1+ 184, and 1 1th ="133, total 1-591
inches.

} The Rain of the previous Week was, on the 9th=-541 inches, 10th=

248, 11th="037, 13th=-036, 15th=-052, 16th='118, and 17th=1-403,
total 2:435 inches.
The Rain at Chatsworth in the first Week of this Month was, on the
4th =-357 inches, 5th =-500, and 8th= 901, total 1°758 inches.

In

and the Water-falls, &é. in Derbyshire. < 207

In some of the Rocky Districts of Derbyshire, there are
Water- falls or natural Cascades in the Brooks and Rivuleis,
in wet times, or falling into chasms or Water-swallows, as
mentioned page 299; these J noticed, at

Alport Town, in the Lathkil, on Tufa and ist Lime. See
page 458.

Edale Chapel N, near Castleton (the Font), on Ist Grit.

Grindlow near Eyam, into Dowse-Hole, in 1st Lime.

Kinder NE, near Hayfield (Down-fall, or old-woman
brewing), on Ist Grit, very high and romantic.

Lumsdale, NE of Matlock, on Ist Grit, high and romantic.

Monyash E, Ricklow Dale, on Ist Lime.

Over- Haddon S, in Lathkil, on 2nd Lime, see p. 475.

Peak-Forest S (Dain-dale), on 2rd Toadstone.

Phoside S, in Glossop, on 1st Grit.

Stoney- Middleton (Mill), on ist Lime.

There is an artificial Cascade, constructed formerly at
very considerable expense, on the SE side of Chatsworth
House; one on the SW side of Lyme-Hall, near Disley,
Cheshire; and another is shown to the visitors of Castle-
ton, in Speedwell Mine.

I shall close this account of the Rivers in Derbyshire, by
an alphabetical List, of those above enumerated, with the
portion of Derbyshire, nearly, which each drains, viz.

: Acres. *

Amber (except a part in Notts.) ......... 31,900

PSHOP AGA laWKre GLA ROU Oost SOD

Boutlew wri ta calls open ass te hes AGGRO

Bradford and Lathkil ............2ee0.2 20,000

Dane (upper part): sis): :.0 cas BUN eotentsee 580

Derweit (except a part in Yorkshire) ...... 111,500

Dolee (except a part in Notts.) =.......... 15,000

Dove (only the E side) .........0....0+66 81,000

Hocheshuten #90) void SaistPamasl. Os od D4 51008

Erewash (only the W side) ......eeeee00s 17,000

Ethrow (only the S side)........e05-2+- 10,000

Goyte (only the E side) ............0006+ 31,000

Hipper.... Hele ER TU FE lee WTS HL 8S OY Oe

Idle (upper parts) 2.5... cee cee tewevesen 21,000

Mease (intermixed with Leicestershire) .... 16,000

Mirledde stats hacia IVE EUR DEY eae BYOOD

Dare los Markdale retell ette tits OO

Dutra phe 6/695 si0i6 Si bid dk INTE cei sb OOOO

Carried forward........ 435,080
Rother

208 On the Radiation of Cold.

Acres.

Brought forward........ 435,080
Rother (upper parts) ...eseeeeeeereeeeeee 45,000
SCHOO ¢., 10.0 sin dieleuree sent ¢omeesl b:+onbte dee OU
Sence (im Ravenstone), «seo wan «lng ome nie a Gis O0O
Sheaf'(upper, part). era ee ee, 0,000
Gielh bcs us hla ace cos 6 ue Sue nh ogy
Trent (middle parts) 22.5.2... 0..s-edee-- 70,000
WE vce e cp te cece secre reersccrseess, £5,000

Total of Derbyshire........ 622,080

{In my next I intend to follow up this subject, by extracting Mr. Farey’s
account of the more rocky and precipitous Valleys, &¢.—Epiror. }

XXIX. On the Radiation of Cold. By a CORRESPONDENT.
To Mr. Tilloch,

Sir, Havine lately seen repeated at the Royal Institution,
the experiment of the supposed radiation of cold; and be-
ing dissatisfied with the explanations commonly offered of
this phenomenon, J am induced to trouble you with this
communication, in order to learn whether an explanation
which I have to offer, may appear to others more satisfactory
than any of those usually given.

The experiment is too familiar to men of science to meed
description ; I will just mention the explanation usually
given, as J draw my conclusion from precisely the same
premises, without attempting any new experiments.

Mr. Davy stated that beat constantly radiated. from all
bodies ; and as the temperature of the thermometer placed
in the focus of the one mirror is maintained by such radia-
tion, if a piece of ice be placed in the focus of the other
mirror, it displaces a portion of air which before assisted
by its radiation (for he said that.air did radiate heat) in main-
taining that temperature: the thermometer, theretore falls,
but the ice being removed. it again rises. Were this ex-
planation the true one, it would follow, that when the ther-
mometer is placed in the focus of the one mirror, although
there be nothing but air in the opposite one, it ought to
rise; otherwise it could not be depressed by the abstraction
of that air, any more than by that of an equal quantity in
any. other spot at an equal distance,

But if it be true, that al! bodies do constantly radiate

heat,

On the Radiation of Cold. 209

heat, they do so as well at one degree of temperature as at
another; and presuming that the heat so radiated must have
the same temperature (if I may be allowed such a mode of
expression) as the body trom which it proceeds, it will fol-
low, that the piece of ice will radiate heat which cannot
have a higher tempcrature than 32° at the utmost ; and this
will of course instantly affect the thermometer, and even
the hand of a person placed in the focus of the opposite
mirror, as Mr. Davy stated that it did his: an effect incon-
ceivable upon the idea that merely a small portion of warm
air had been removed.

If a frigorific mixture was put into two vessels, one of
which when filled with a heated subsiance radiated much
heat, and the other the contrary ; and if the thermometer
was more depressed by the first being placed in the focus
than the second, it might be considered as a decisive proof
vof the truth of this explanation, and the radiation of cold
as it is called would be fully established: and indeed as no
one now doubts that the only difference between heat and
cold is a difference of temperature, and as it is known that
one temperature is as readily communicated as the other,
there seems no reason to be surprised that a body at 32°
should radiate as well as one at 212°,

The important consequences that must follow from the
establishment of this idea, in explaining many of the phe-
nomena of nature, must appear so obvious to every oné
who has at all considered the subject, that I hope these
suggestions may be thought worthy of consideration, as
they may be readily either confirmed or refuted by those
who have the necessary apparatus and assistance at their
command, both of which are wanting to one who can con-
sider himself in these matters merely as a looker-on.

March 1812. Fe oth

*,* Having the present opportunity, I shall, as others
have ventured to do, offer what I conceive to be the true
explanation of the phenomenon above alluded to. The
facility with which radiation of temperature is effected, de-
pends, in some degree, on the temperature of the body on
which the radiation falls. If two bodies of equal tempera-
ture be placed in the focus of the two reflecting surfaces, it
is evident that their radiant powers must be perfectly ba-
Janced. But let one of them be of a higher temperature
than the other, then the body of lower temperature being
in a capacity to receive an increase, it seems obvious that,

Vol. 39. No. 167. March 1812. O being

210 A Skeich of the Natural History of

being in the focus to which the other radiates, it must fas
cilitate the escape of caloric from the other, by quickly abs
sorbing all that is sent to it by radiation from that other
body. In the common experiment the thermometer is the
radiating body, and the ice the absorbent. A. T.

XXX. A Sketch of the Natural History of the Cheshire
Rock-Salt District. By Henry Hoiianp, Esq. Ho-
norary Member of the Geological Society *.

Tax vast beds of fossil or rock-salt, which are found in
different parts of the county of Chester, form undoubtedly
the most important and peculiar featuré in the mineralogy
of this district. In offering to the notice of the Geological
Society some remarks upon these mines, it may be proper
to premise, that in a Survey of Cheshire, which I had the
honour of drawing up for the Board of Agriculture, I en-
tered at considerable length upon the subject of their na-
tural history, and upon the manufacture of white salt from
the brine springs to which they give rise. It will be my
present object to consider more especially the mineralogical
situation and characters of the Cheshire rock-salt; and
though the repetition of some statements must necessarily
occur; this, in the case of a work only partially known,
can, I conceive, be attended with little disadvantage.

Character of the Country surrounding the Salt Mines.

In speaking of the general situation of the Cheshire salt
mines, it will be proper to state some facts with respect to
the nature of the surrounding country, that their mineralo-
gical relations may more clearly be understood, and an op-
portunity given to speculate upon the probable origin of
these important strata. The southern parts of Lancashire,
the northern extremity of Shropshire, and the whole of the
intervening county of Cheshire, form in conjunction one
vast tract of plain country, ,interrupted by few elevations,
and these inconsiderable in size and extent. The area of
this plain may be regarded as extending nearly fifty miles
from north to south, and as having an average breadth of
twenty-five or thirty miles. Its eastern boundary, as more
immediately regards the county of Chester, is a high range
of sandstone hills, stretching from north to south along
the borders of Derbyshire and Staffordshire ; connected on

* From the Transactions of the Geological Society, vol. i.

the

the Cheshire Rock-Salt District: 211

the north with the hills in the West Riding of York, and
on their eastern side passing into the limestone hills of
Derbyshire. The sandstone, in a considerable part of this
range, is slaty in its structure, and would seem to belong
to the Independent Coal-formation of Werner, some pretty
extensive beds of coal being found and worked under it.
The southern boundary of the plain, which is the one ap-

roaching most nearly to the rock-salt, is irregularly formed
a ridges of limestone and calcareous sandstone, leaving
open some communications with the level country in the
middle of Shropshire. ‘To the west its limits are marked
by the sandstone and limestone hills in the adjoining part
of Wales, and by the sandy zstuaries of the Mersey and
Dee.

The only ridge of hills, propetly speaking, within the
Cheshire plain, 1s one on the western side of the country,
extending with a few interruptions from Frodsham to Mal-
pas, and including in its progress from north to south, the
high grounds of Delamere Forest, the Hill of Beeston, and
the Peckforton Hills. This range, which no where attains
av elevation of more than four or five hundred feet, is com-
posed entirely of sandstone. A small quantity of copper
ore has been found in the Peckforton Hills, which form its
southern extremity; Another ridge of land, possessing a
small and irregular elevation above the adjoining plain, may
be traced from the hills on the eastern border of Cheshire,
in a westerly or north-westerly direction to Halton and
Runcorn. At this point, where it attains its greatest
height, it is separated from the northern extremity of the
former ridge, only by the imtervention of the valley of the
Weaver, which valley is bere about two miles in width.
Towards the eastern extremity of this range, we meet with
a singular sandstone hill, called Alderley Edge, in which
have been found ores of lead, copper and cobalt, and masses
of sulphate of barytes.

This distribution of the high grounds in the Cheshire
plain is traced out in the annexed map, and it will be seen,
by a reference to this, that they form three distinct divisions
of its area: one to the west of the higher sandstone range ;
another to the east of this, and south of the lower range $
and a third jying north of the latter, and including the
southern parts of Lancashire. With the exception of a
very few instances only, the existence of the rock-salt ap-
er to be exclusively confined to the southern or central
plain, ‘

O32 The

212 AA Sketch of the Natural History of

The marl beds form the most peculiar feature in the al-
Juvial strata of the Cheshire plain. These occur in great
abundance in every part of the district; being found not
only under the common soil, but occasionally, as on the
borders of Delamere Forest, interposed between layers of
sandstone rock. The Cheshire marls are also very fre-
quently met with in iarge detached masses, twenty or thirty
feet in thickness, in the working out of which, it is not
unusual to find large assemblages of fragments of the older
rocks. Portions of granite, often of large size, and show-
ing on their surface evident marks of attrition, are among
the most common appearances in these collections: no
granitic rocks are found within fifty or sixty miles of this
district.

The divisions which I have pointed out in the Cheshire
plain are still further marked by the course of the streams
in this tract of country. The Dee is the great river of the
western plain; the Weaver and its subordinate streams re-
ceive all the waters of the southern division; while the
Mersey and its tributaries do the same in the northern por-
tion. From their local relation to the great beds of rock-
salt, the streams of the southern or central plain possess a
peculiar importance.

The Weaver rises in the Peckforton Hills, near the
Shropshire border, runs for some miles towards the south-
east, then making a sudden flexion to the north, continues
in this direction, by Nantwich and Winsford, to North-
wich, about thirty miles further. Here it takes a north-
westerly course to Frodsham, where it expands into a sandy
sestuary, connected with the channel of the Mersey. It
receives its principal accessions at Northwich, where it is
joined by the united streams of the Dane and Weelock
from the south-east, and by a stream called Witton-Brook
from the east. At Anderton, a little below Northwich, the
valley, which has hitherto been comparatively wide and flat,
is suddenly contracted by the approach of two ranges of
high ground; that on the western side of the river con-
necting itself by a gradual rise with the heights of Delamere
Forest; the opposite one passing by a series of irregular
elevations into the range of high land, which separates the
southern from the northern plain. At Frodsham the river
flows, as | before mentioned, between the termination of
this high ground and that of the ridge which crosses the:
county from north to south, the hills thus opposed cor-

responding perfectly in appearance and structure. We
haye

the Cheshire Rock-Salt District. 213

have thus two distinct contractions in the valley of the
Weaver below Northwich; a circumstance in some degree
worthy of notice.

Situation of the Brine Springs, Rock-Salt Mines, &c.

T have dwelt thus minutely upon local facts from their
connection with the situation of the rock-salt, which, with
few exceptions, has yet been ascertained to exist only in
the valleys of the Weaver and its tributary streams ; in some
places manifesting its presence by springs impregnated:
with salt; in other places being known by mines actually
carried down into the substance of the strata. A reference
to the map will show the several situations where brine
springs occur, or where mines have been sunk, in the course
of these valleys. Between the source of the Weaver and
Nantwich, it will be seen that many brine springs make
their appearance ; and in the latter part of this course, it
would seem that brine might be obtained by sinking to
some depth in any place near the banks of the Weaver.
Proceeding down the stream, salt-springs occur again at
Winsford, and in several situations between Winsford and
Northwich. At Moulton, between these two places, a
mine has been sunk into the body of rock-salt, and another
also between Winsford and Middlewich. At Northwich
the brine springs are very abundant, and here also many
mines ‘have been sunk for the purpose of working out the
fossil salt. The springs occur again in several places further
down the river, but none have been met with below Sal-
tersford, about two miles from Northwich. At Whitley,
however, two miles north of the Weaver, and six miles
from Northwich, a body of rock-salt is stated to have been
met with in boring for coal,

On the course of the river Wheelock, brine springs have
been found at Lawton, Roughwood, Wheelock, and again
at Middlewich, where this stream unites itself with the
Dane. At Lawton a mine has been sunk into the rock-
salt. In the valley of the Dane, no salt springs actually
appear, but several circumstances indicate that brine has
at some former period been discovered there, and this as
high up the stream as the neighbourhood of Congleton,
No springs have been found in the valley of Witton Brook,
except at the part of it immediately adjoining the Weaver
at Northwich,

The evidences of the presence of rock-salt occur, as I be-
fore stated, in very few places out of these valleys, and even

O32 some

214 Natural History of the Cheshire Rock-Salt District.

some of the excepted instances appear tu have a local rela+
tion to the southern or central plain. This is the case with
the salt springs of Dirtwich, in the south-western angle of
Cheshire; with a spring of very weak brine lately found at
Adderley, in the northern extremity of Shropshire; and
probably also with other saline springs which occur in the
contiguous parts of Flint and Denbighshire. At Dunham,
however, in the north of Cheshire, we find a weak spring,
which cannot strictly be considered as connected with the
formations of the southern plain. At Barton and Adling-
ton, in the southern parts of Lancashire, brine springs
likewise appear; and it is not improbable that other in-
stances of the same kind may occur in the northern portion
of the great plain. It appears possible, however, that these
weak springs may derive their saline contents, not from
distinct subjacent beds of the fossil salt, but merely from
beds of clay or argillaceous stone, strongly impregnated
with particles of the muriate of soda. .

Manufacture of White Salt.

It would be foreign to the object of this paper to enter
with minuteness into the natural history of the salt springs,
or into the processes employed in the manufacture of white
salt. Those members of the Society, who may wish for
further information on these subjects, I beg leave to refer
to the Survey of Cheshire before noticed. It may be suf-
ficient here to state a few of the most general and impors
tant facts. ; kak

The brines met with in this district are very generally
formed by the penetration of spring or rain waters to the
upper surface of the rock-salt, in passing over which they
acquire a degree of strength, modified by several cireum-
stances, which it would be needless to detail. Their aver-
age strength, however, appears to be much greater than
that of the springs met with in Hungary, Germany, or
France. At Winsford, Northwich, Anderton, Lawton,
Roughwood, Wheelock, and Middlewich, where all the
principal salt works are situated, the brine springs contain
berween 25 and 26 per cent. of the pure muriate of soda;
and in some of the springs at Anderton, the proportion
stands as high as 26 566 per cent. a very near approach to
the perfect saturation of the brine. The earthy salts held
in solution together with the muriate of soda are principally
muriate of magnesia and sulphate ot lime; the quantity of
these varying from ., per cent. to 2 or tu 21 percent. 3 dif-

: ferent

On the Nautical Ephemeris. 215

ferent springs. The brine being pumped out of the pits,
is first conveyed into large reservoirs, and afterwards drawn
off as it is wanted, into evaporating pans, made of wrought
iron. Here heat is applied in a degree determined by the
nature of the salt intended to be manufactured, and various
“additions are made to the brine, with a view either to assist
the crystallization of the muriate of soda, or to promote
the separation of the earthy salts. The latter exist in a very
small proportion in the manufactured salt, and cannot be
supposed in any degree to affect the uses to whicl it is ap-_
plied*. The importance of the Cheshire salt manufacture
will ba sufficiently obvious from the statement, that besides
the salt made for home consumption, which annually
amounts to more than 16,000 tons, the average of the
quantity sent to Liverpool for exportation has not been less

than 140,000 tons. .
{To be continued.]

XXXI. On the Nautical Ephemeris.
To Mr. Tilloch.

Bir, A crear deal having lately been written and_ said
about the error in the Nautical Ephemeris for 1812, but
very little towards assisting the public in correcting this
trifling mistake, I flatter myself some of your readers will
“Rot be displeased at having an easy and expeditious mode
of correcting the Sun’s Declination as given in the Ephe-
meris; this being the part most affected by having as-,
sumed an erroneous apparent obliquity of the ecliptic in
the calculation of that work.

The following small table of corrections I do not claim
as my own; I found it in the Connoissance des Tems for
1812, where they also give the formula of its construction.

The correction is for every third degree of declination,
and for one second of difference in the real and assumed
obliquity of the ecliptic. All that is requisite to the appli-
eation of the following table is to multiply the tabular
number by the difference between the real and assumed
obliquity.

The difference between the real obliquity and that as~-
sumed in the computation of the Ephemeris for 1812, is
supposed to he about 8” tao little,

* In reference to the chemical character of the different varieties of salt,
an excellent paper by my friend Dr. Henry will be found in the Philosophi~
cal Transactions for the year 1810, part i,

O4 TABLE

216 Substitute for a Repeating Watch.

TABLE OF CORRECTION.
Declination} 0° | 3° | 6° | 9° | 129°] 15°] 18°] 21° | 338

0”-24|0".36|0".49'0".62|0".75,0"-88]1".00

—_|———

——

Correction. |0".00|0".1 2

One example will make the whole intelligible to the
meanest capacity.
Suppose it was required to correct the sun’s declination
as given m the Ephemeris when at 15°.
Under 15° you have 0”62, being the correction
uy . -
for 1” of difference.
As the error or difference

is 8” too li i Fal
ittle. Multiply

ea: 4”:96 to be added to the de-
clination as found in the Ephemeris, and this will be the
true declination nearly. -

Yours, &c,
March 3, 1812. He Paks

XXXII. Substitute for a Repeating Waich. .
To Mr. Tilloch.

SIR, Taz common watch, which is so extremely useful
in the day, is of very little use in the dark. To remove this
imperfection, a watch was invented which repeats the hour
and quarters at any time of the day or night. Watches of
this construction are exceedingly convenient, but they are
too expensive for general use; and all other instruments.
contrived to answer the same purpose, that have come
under my inspection, though less expensive are less con-
venient.

After many unsuccessful attempts to construct an in-
strument to supply the place of a repeating watch, ata
small expense, and that might be equally useful, | found that
a common watch with a very little alteration would answer
the purpose perfectly well.

To make a common watch into a nocturnal one, I made
notches with a file in the rim of its inner case, against every
hour upon the dial, except 3, 6, 9, and 12. These tangible
marks are made no deeper than just to receive the nail of
the finger or thumb, as it is drawn over them. The hour
of 12 is known by the pendant, and little pins are fixed inte
the case at the hours of 3, 6, and 9, projecting aga he

about

Notices respecting New Books. 217

about .', of an inch, to distinguish those hours from the
rest.

To ascertain the time in the dark by this watch, nothing
more is to be done, than to open the glass and feel with
the finger the situation of the hour hand, and count the
tangible marks, beginning at 3, 6, 9, or 12, to find the
hour ; and by the same means the minutes are found.

By a watch of this construction, the time may be ascer=
tained in the dark to a much greater degree of precision
than by a repeater, and without disturbing the repose of
any person that may be near it. |

I am, sir,
your obedient servant,
Lynn, March 21, 1812. E. W ALKER.

XXXII, Notices respecting New Books.

An Essay on the Probability of Sensation in Vegetables.
By J.P. Turrer, F.L.S. and Memler of the Royat
College of Surgeons. London: White and Co. Fleets
Street. pp. 142. ;

W: have read this Essay with a degree of pleasure which
induces us to make the Philosophical Magazine one of the
organs of its publication. The work embraces a variety of
subjects, on which the author has offered such observations,
as evidently show that he is capable of thinking for him-
self. The language is simple, yet elegant and perspicuous,
free from technical obscurity on the one hand, and affected
embellishment on the other.

Mr. Tupper begins his Essay with the following intro-
ductory observations, to which he has prefixed a very ap-
propriate quotation from Armstrong, as a motto—

“ — in a doubtful theme
Engaged, I wander through mysterious ways.

Tt is as difficult to ascertain the nature of vegetable
existence, as to determine what constitutes the living prine
ciple of animals. It is evident, however, that life is inti-
mately connected with a particular organic structure of
parts; for through the medium of that organization exe
istence itself is preserved.

“* The physiologist who investigates the laws which re-
gulate and direct all the different movements of the animal
machine, cannot observe without admiration its wonderful
fabric, which, from a mere *¢ rudis indigestaque moles,’’ the
secret working hand of Nature has elaborated into so come

plicate

218 Notices respecting New Books.

plicate a form, every part of which is most exquisitely
finished, and the whole so well and skilfully arranged, as to
constitute a being capable of giving existence to others
similar to itself.

«* Although the vegetable physiologist may not have
more to engage his attention, yet, he has not less to admire.
How widely and wonderfully different is the mature vegeta-
ble from the seed which gave it being! How great the con-
trast between the diminutive acorn and the stately forest
oak! The seed is seemingly nothing more than a mere
homogencous substance; but, when placed within the in-
fluence and operation of particular causes, its latent vital
principle is called forth into action, a variety of organs are
unfolded, and by successive evolutions the plant arrives at
that state which constitutes the perfection of its nature,
when, like animals, it is also endued with the power of
propagating its species.” ally

The Author then proceeds to consider “ of the Distine-
tions between Animals and Vegetables,’’ and next takes
** a general view of their analogies,” on which subject he
points out many interesting particulars. After this, follow
some observations on ** Vegetable Motion” and on * In-
stinct and Volition,” in the course of which Mr. T. has
thrown out some very interesting and original ideas. The
other subjects treated of are arranged in the following order:
<< OF vegetable Instinct.—Of the Sleep of Plants.—Of Sleep
in general.—Of Sleep as related to the voluntary Power.—
Of the locomotive Power.—Of Sensation in general.— Of
vegetable Irritavility.—Of the nervous System of Vegeta-
bles.—OF vegetable Sensation.—Objections considered.—
Animals are exposed to Injuries. —Of the Limits prescribed
by Nature to the Destruction of Life.—Of vegetable Self-
preservation.—Organs of Defence in Vegetables.—-Effluvia
of Plants a Protection from external Injuries.— Of the Pre-
servation of animal and vegetable Life.—Of the Enjoyment
of Life.—Of the Limits between the animal and the vege-
table Creation.—Conclnsion.”

The Author has also enlarged on some of the abovemen-
tioned subjects under the head of Additional Observations,
which are chiefly of a metaphysical nature, and display
much ingenuity of argument, although some of the opinions
advanced may be open to dispute. On the subject of In-
stinct he concludes by observing,—‘* From this view of
the subject we may form some idea how far instincts may
supply any deficiency of intellectual power, and even com-
pensate for the total want of reason in the brute ore

ut

Royal Society. 219

But where shall we find any power, or quality, as a sulsti-
tute for sensation? The idea of instinct 1s naturally asso-
ciated with that of life, and the idea of both, either jointly,
or separately, with that of sensation ; and as Sensation does
exist in animals independently of those eminent attributes
with which it is combined in our natures as rational agents,
may we not reasonably infer that vegetables have likewise
their share of sensitive power, and consequently the means
of enjoying their own existence ?”

Here the Author refers to some Additional Observations
on Sensation ; but as our limits will not allow us to make
any further extracts from this interesting publication, we
must beg leave to refer our readers to the work itself, and
perhaps they will give to the Author a vote of thanks for
the rational amusement which they may have enjoyed by
the perusual.

XXXIV. Proceedings of Learned Societies.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

Feb. 27. Sir JosepH Banks, observing the motion of a
snake (which had recently been sent to him) along the
floor of his library, discovered that it was assisted in ad-
vancing by its ribs, which served the purpose of feet, the
points of them touching the ground, and by those means
facilitating its motion. The fact was made known to Mr.
Home, who availed himself of the occasion to observe more
minutely the peculiar construction of the ribs of snakes,
and the manner they are adapted for this hitherto unob-
served purpose of moving their bodies. The result of his
examination was read in a short paper to the Society,
stating the curious discovery of the President, and the ac-
curacy of his observations.

March 5. A very long paper by Mr. Brodie was read,
contaiing a minute detail of the author’s additional expe-
riments of the effects of various poisons on different ani-
mals. In one or two cases Mr. B. succeeded in recovering
the animals by artificial respiration; but in the great ma-
jority of his experiments he failed. It appears that the
slight inflammation which occurs-in the stomach after tak-
ing poison into it is not sufficient to occasion death, but
that it is the palsying power of the drugs on the nervous sy-
stem and on the blood, which destroys life. Some poisons
ia this respect are much more destructive than others ; but

the

220 Royal Institution.

the author did not in any of his numerous experiments
try the antidotal powers of oxygen’on the system.

March 12. A paper by Dr. Herschel on the second co-
met wasread. This astronomer has been equally occupied
with what he calls the second comet, as with that of 1811:
he considers the latter, which, although much nearer the
earth, is almost invisible by the naked eye, as much older
than the former ; that it has experienced as little alteration
in its perihelion passage as our earth; that it is opaque,
destitute of any phosphoric lumination, and shines with a
borrowed light, contrary to that of last year. This cir-
cumstance he inferred, as it is visible only through glasses of
low magnifying powers, being seen distinct with a mag-
nifier of 150 or 160, but quite confused with one of 170
times, whereas the former was seen perfectly with a glass
magnifying 700 times. The diameter of its nucleus he es-
timates at 2637 miles; its chevelure extends over upwards of
six millions of miles. According to the author’s theory of
comets, by the condensation of nebulz, he imagines the
present to be much more condensed and perfect than the
preceding one, and looks forward to its attaining all the
other characters of a habitable planet.

March 19. .A paper by Dr. Henry of Manchester, il-
Justrative of a former paper by this chemist on oxymuriatic
gas, was wad. He decomposed by electricity muriatic acid
gas into hydrogen and oxymuriatic gas, and produced wa-
ter by electrizing muriatic acid gas mixed with oxygen. He
considered his experiments on the whole as favourable to
professor Davy’s theory, but did not attempt to decide po-
sitively on the subject. He observed, however, that the
greater number of facts seemed to favour Mr. Davy’s
views.

Two mathematical papers by Mr. Knight were communi-
cated to the Society through the medium of Mr. Davy. They
were of anature not to be read, but of considerable length,
accompanied with tables and diagrams illustrating the at-
traction of planes. The Society then adjourned over two
Thursdays, on account of the holidays, till the gth of April.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.

Mr. Davy’s Lectures on the Elements of Chemical
Philosophy. .
Mr. Davy’s sixth lecture was delivered on Saturday, the

29th of February. It related to radiant or ethereal sub-
stances,

Royal Institution. 221

stances, those forms of matter which are known only in
motion, and by their effects, and which cannot be weighed
or measured. The well known agencies of radiant matter
are of three kinds—ist, those agencies which produce vi-
sion—2d, those which occasion heat—and 3d, those which
occasion chemical changes. If a beam from the sun, said
he, be passed through a prism, it is separated into rays
which produce different colours, such as red, orange, yel-
low, green, blue, and violet ; and into rays which produce
heat, and rays which occasion particular chemical effects :
‘the invisible rays which produce heat, are more refrangible,
and those which occasion chemical changes, dess refrangi-
ble, than the coloured rays. Rays that produce heat and
light, and probably chemical effects, are disengaged in the
combustion of bodies; and rays that produce heat, seem to
be constantly emitted by bodies at the surface of the earth,
but in quantities smaller as their temperatures are low. Mr.
Davy exhibited an experiment in which gunpowder was
fired in the focus of a mirror placed at ten or twelve feet
from a small pan of charcoal ;—and another experiment in
which there was an apparent radiation of cold from ice, but
which he explained by stating, that ice radiated less heat
than the air which it displaced. Metallic vessels, he said,
as Mr. Leslie bad shown, radiate less heat than: porcelain
or glass vessels, and hence they are more fitted for preserv-
ing liquids or meats hot ; pipes for heating rooms, he.said,
should be polished, where they are intended to retain heat,
and covered with black paint or varnish where they are in-
tended to give it off. He referred to the analogy between
the powers of radiant matter and electrified bodies: the most
refrangible rays in the coloured spectrum are analogous in
their powers to those of positive electricity ; the least refran-
gible rays to those of negative electricity. Mr. Davy
seemed inclined to adopt, in preference to all other views
respecting radiant matier, those of Newton. This great
man supposed them to he particles emitted from bodies
having certain figures possessed of attractions and repul-
sions. But, said Mr. Davy, we are still in the infancy of
this branch of science, which promises in its extension to
connect together mechanical and chemical philosophy, and
to afford simple and sublime principles to this part of
science, The agencies exerted by radiant matter, said Mr.
Davy, produce a number of important effects in Nature,
and, by their relations to vision, give as it were a language
to the external world :—without this effect, said he, we
should be limited to our own globe; but by its means we

are

922 Royal Institution:

are incited to raise our thoughts to the gteat scheme of
the universe, to pass from our transient and temporary ex-
istence, to laws which appear eternal in their operation—
to recognise one order in the immensity of space—and to
indulge hopes, that in the future progression of our being,
we shall behold fully that magnificent system, which we
now see darkly and at a distance.

Mr. Davy delivered his seventh lecture on Saturday the
7th instant. The ideas of the ancients concerning the ele-
ments of matter were founded upon superficial observation
of the great forms of Nature, and were rather poetical than
philosophical. Water, air, earth and fire were supposed to be
unalterable: principle, or matter, was considered as consti-
tuted by solid, indestructible atoms, as in the school of
Epicurus ; or by regular solids, as'among the Pythagorean
philosophers. The alchemists considered the rude results
of their operations by fire, as the principles of things ;
salts, oils, phlegm, and sulphurs were the elements which
they imagined. All these ideas are discarded by modern
chemists, who do not pretend to define what bodies are
really unchangeable, or the true elements in nature, and
speak of compound and simple bodies merely in relation to
their own knowledge. The methods by which chemical
truths are gained, are analytical or synthetical ; by analysis’
bodies are resolved into simpler forms of matter; by syns
thesis they are composed from their constituents; and the
test of the accuracy of the process is the correspondence in
weight between the compound and its constituents. By
the application of weight and measure to chemistry, says
Mr. Davy, its results are rendered certain and unchange-
able, and independent of any alterations of theory—and it
is placed, like astronomy, within the province of the science
of numbers and quantity. Mr. Davy divided the sub-
stances not yet decompounded, into two great classes—«
sttpporters of combustion and inflammable bodies. In the
first class, he said, there were only two substances as yet
known—oxygen and chlorine. He devoted the remainder
of the lecture to the demonstration of the properties of the
former. The gas forms one-fifth of the air of the atmo-
sphere, and is the principal necessary for combustion and
respiration. In its pure form it produces a number of bril«
liant resulis, by acting upon inflammable bodies ; the me~
tals burn in it brilliantly and absorb it, and it is a consti-

4 ~ . .
tuent part of most acids and alkalies. Mr. Davy showed
a beautiful experiment, in which the same oxygen, by being
combined with sulphur, formed an acid, and by being ah

tracte

Royal Institution. 293

tracted from the sulphur by potassium, which took. place
with vivid combustion, formed an alkali.. Mr. Davy en-
tered into some general views respecting the manner in
which the oxygen of the atmosphere, and that dissolved in
water, were renovated. Oxygen is absorbed, and carbonic
acid is produced, in the respirations of animals, in combus-
tion, and in fermentation; vegetables in the sunshine ab-
sorb carbonic acid and evolve oxygen. Mr. Davy com-
bated the idea that this function of vegetable life was not
sufficient to supply oxygen equivalent to that consumed.
There is no other mode known in which carbonic acid is
decomposed in the processes of nature ; and did not vege-
tables absorh it, it must be constantly accumulating; which
is known not to be the case. A great part of the solid sur-
face of the globe is covered with plants, and light is essen-
tial to their healthy growth ; and therefore great quantities
of oxygen are produced in countries where there is little
animal life. Fishes, he stated, will live in confined por-
tions of water containing aquatic plants, and the oxygen
they absorb is compensated for by the plants, which de-
compose the carbonic acid afforded in their respiration.
This view of the connection of plants and animals in their
action upon air, is not only supported by many proofs, but
is likewise, says Mr. Davy, conformable to the analogy of
nature ;—it proves to u§ that the meanest weed, the most
poisonous plant, is not without its uses in the economy of
things—the different parts of the atmosphere are mingled
by winds—the carbonic acid not consumed by sound plants
is carried into the waters, dissolved by rain, mists, and
dews—the sea is kept in agitation by waves and tides, and
its influence upon the air constantly exerted—the storm
and the whirlwind assist in this beneficent ministration ;
and the harmony displayed in such diversified combinations
offers a siriking instance of the wisdom and perfection. of
the arrangements connected with the preservation of life in
the system of the globe.

The eighth lecture of Mr. Davy was delivered on Satur-
day, March 14; it was devoted to the consideration of the
nature, properties, combinations, and uses of chlorine, or
oxymuriatic gas. Some experiments were also made on
enchlorine, a yas recently discovered by the Professor. ,

The illustrious Scheele discovered chlorine in 1774, and
he considered it as an undecompounded body. Soon after
Lavoisier and Berthollet regarded it as a compound of mu-
riatic acid gas and oxygen, and their views were embraced
by all the chemists in Europe; and during a period of 30

y cars

224 Royal Institution.

years no doctrines in chemistry were considered as more
happily elucidated, or more clearly established.

Mr. Davy, after a rigid examination of the evidences on
which the opinions of the French chemists were founded,
was compelled to reject them as false ; and the new theory
he has advanced, relative to the nature of chlorine and mu-
riatic acid gas, has been generally embraced, though some
chemists in France and Scotland still adhere to the old ex-

loded doctrines.

The Professor illustrated his views by simple statements
of facts and experiments. Water is formed from the union
of oxygen and hydrogen. When hydrogen and chlorine
are detonated together, according to M. Berthollet, a com-
pound of muriatic acid and water should be the result; but
when proper precautions are taken, muriatic acid gas only
is formed. Again, when any of the metals, as potassium,
zinc, tin, &c. are heated in muriatic acid gas, hydrogen
gas is evolved, and compounds are formed precisely similar
to those obtained by heating these metals in chiorine. By
these simple experiments, and others of a similar kind, the
great problem concerning the nature of muriatic acid gas is
happily solved. .

Mr. Davy regards chlorine as an undecompounded princi-
ple analogous to oxygen ; like oxygen, it is highly negative,
and becomes an acid by combining with inflammable mat-
ter. By no known methods can it be resolved into simpler
principles.

Mr. Davy exhibited an experiment in which charcoal
was ignited in chlorine by Voltaic electricity, but it re-
mained unchanged. Oxygen can in no instance be ob-
tained from any of the combinations of chlorine, but
through the medium of water, or compounds containing
oxygen ; and most of the erroneous views and reasonings
on the subject appear to depend on the presence and de-
composition of water. Thus, when the compounds of
phosphorus and chlorine, and sulphur and chlorine, are
mixed with water, the acids of phosphorus and sulphur,
and the marine acid, are presently formed. i

Chlorine has a stronger attraction for certain substances
than oxygen. This is exhibited in the case of copper, tin,
&c. which in combining with chlorine produce vivid com-
bustion. It is also shown in the facility with which chlo-
rine disengages oxygen from the metals of the fixed alka-
lies and earths.

The fixed alkalies, and earthy salts, known by the name of
muriates, arein fact compounds of chlorine and metallic bases.

Mr. Davy

London Philosophical Society. 225

Mr. Davy developed some new views relative to the theory
of bleaching. Berthollet, who first applied chlorine to this
process, supposed that chlorine destroyed colours by losing
its oxygen. Mr. Davy ascertained that the oxygens which
appears to be the true bleaching principle, is furnished by
the decomposition of the water present. Chlorine dissolved
in water cannot be employed in bleaching without injuring
the texture of the cloth, in consequence of the formation
of muriatic acid in the process. A compound of chlorine
and lime is commonly employed in bleaching, but even this
injures the fabric of the linen. Mr. Davy has found that
a compound of chlorine and magnesia bleaches without
affecting the vegetable fibres, and on his suggestion it has
been used with success by some manufacturers in Ireland.

Chlorine combines with oxygen, and forms enchlorine.
Some beautiful experiments were exhibited, illustrating the
properties of this gas. When gently heated it was de-
composed with explosion, and its fine yellow colour entirely
destroyed. The metals, which readily burn in chlorine, are
not affected in this gas; but at the moment of its decom-
position by heat, they burn vividly.

The combinations of chlorine and hydrogen, and chlorine
and oxygen, harmonize with the doctrine of definite pro-
portions.

These new views respecting chlorine prove the necessity
of attending to minute experiments, and the danger of
forming basty generalizations. The ideas adopted on this
subject by the French School of Chemistry are entirely
gratuitous : every thing was taken for granted, nothing
proved. By using statical methods, the new truths are
firmly established, and improvements in theory imme-
diately lead to improvements in the ceconomical applica-
tions of Science to the purposes of the Arts. ,

/

LONDON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

This Society has been favoured with four excellent lec-
tures upon the Anatomy of Oratorical Expression, by Mr.
Wright, and which have engaped their meetings for the last
month. We shall endeavour to give a concise though cor-
‘rect outline of them.

The learned author commenced his papers by observing,
that sensitive and intellectual endowments form the basis of
oratorical excellence; and that good understanding and
Solid thought, happily blended, combine all that is useful
in the character of cither senator, pleader, or divine.

To prove the solidity of judgement and the rectitude of
Vol. 39. Nos 167. March 1812. P sentiment

226 | —- London Philosophical Society.

‘sentiment by which the minds of Englishmen are so emi-
nently characterized, Mr. W. alluded to the celebrated
controversies of Lord Chatham and Sir William Pulteney,
the disputations of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, the metaphysi-
cal disquisitions of Mr. Windham, the splendid talents of
the ‘ silver-tongued Murray,”’ the transcendent abilities of
the author of the ‘* Sublime and Beautiful,’ the charac-
teristic circumflexes of the inhabitants of Scotland and
Treland, all of which fully exemplify their quickness of
thought and readiness of discernment.

Having considered the rise of the liberal arts as de-

pendent upon the science of oratory, and demonstrating its
excellence in Great Britain, he proceeded to treat of those
particular circumstances calculated to call forth the genius
of an orator. ‘It has been urged,” says he, “ that the
genius of an orator cannot appear in all the fullness of its
vigour, unless it be assisted by the concurrence of congenial
and appropriate causes, by the fitness and plenitude of time,
circumstance, and place. Regard the tumults of Greece,
say they, and contemplate the discords of Rome! It was
this which stimulated the exertions of a Cicero: this which
fired the breast of a Demosthenes—** Let us march against
Philip!” It was this which “ call’d aloud on Tully’s
name and shook the crimson’d steel !”” that vociferated the
cause of Freedom, Liberty, and Rome! Contingences like
these might have exhibited a Demosthenes or a Cicero ;
but ‘let me ask,” says Mr. W. ‘ these bold declaimers,
whether similar chances operated on a Saul of Tarsus ?”” To
pass over the advantage of an opportunity which the an-
cients did not possess, to leave for the present our sublimer
notions of astronomy as dictated by Sir Isaac Newton, the
discoveries in chemistry by Priestley, Lavoisier, Davy, and
others, to disregard other modern discoveries, (all of which
_are well calculated to improve the moral feeling, and to ex~
tend our general view of objects and things,) let us con-
test the science and ability of our constitutional assemblies,
our houses of parliament, and courts of judicature.

After copiously treating of the rise and fall of eloquence,
in a manner which we should feel pleasure in following,
did not the narrow limits of a journal prevent, the lecturer
proceeded to investigate genius and qualification. ‘* A
habit of close thinking,” says he, ‘* has ever been ac-
knowledged to be peculiar to the inhabitants of the British
isles ; and their standard language appears to be appro-
priate to their energy of mind.” ‘ Quelle langue rai-
sonnée!”? Now, if we compare this evident disposition a

‘the

London Philosophical Society. O79

the mind of Britons with the strength and judgement of
the Greeks and Latins, as philosophers, they cannot be
conceived inferior; aud if we proceed further to consider
the premeditated examples of the oratory of the latter,
and the off-hand extemporaneous specimens of the former
in their senate and courts of law, as disputants and meta-
physicians, let us see whether the modern Britons appear
far behind the Grecians or Romans ?

To proceed: In those remote ages, to be enabled to dise
course for six, eight, or ten hours, or for a whole day, was
regarded as something worthy of the highest admiration !
An orator, then, (to use the language of one of Quincti-
lian’s orators in his celebrated dialogue,) comprised a tedious
introduction, circumstantial narrative, division upon divi-
sion, and subdivision upon subdivision, All this was
certainly wonderful, for it argues that they must have been
physically powerful as well as mentally strong; and also,
that the people must have been very fond of hearing long
specimens of premeditated oratory. But this extreme en-
thusiasm, as well as their excessive fondness for the drama,
when kings and princes descended from their sacred offices
to personify on the stage, evidently prove depravity of taste,
rather than accuracy of discernment. On the other hand,
when we are given to understand that the tedious harangue
of Demosthenes against his guardians served only to proye
his insufficiency, and likewise that the egotized specimens
of Cicero in the former part of his practice did not assist
to establish his character, we give the ancients credit for
their judgement.—With us it is very different ; and what
Quinctilian insinuates concerning the orators of his day,
seqms to apply in a most pointed manner in favour of our
senatorial and legislative orators. ‘* The auditory prescribes
the limits of the orator’s speech; it will not wait calmly
until he pleases to return to the point; but it openly calls
upon him, and testifies its impatience, wheneyer he seems
disposed to wander from the question.”

After endeavouring to prove the progress towards perfec-
tion of this valuable attainment among the Britons, with 3
minuteness which does him great credit, he proceeded to
recommend the application of logic and the whole circle of
science, with the study of rhetoric in our schools of elo-
quence; without which, our orators will ever be as dry,
sour, and morose, as the declining. Romans, unassisted by law
and philosophy, were whining, mawkish, and insipid,
Mr, W, then decided in favour of the modern Britons as

P92 disputants

228 London Philosophical Society.

disputants and metaphysicians, and of the Greeks and
Romans as excelling in the art of rhetoric.

Having considered the efficacy of graceful and energetic
delivery, by which the ancients were enabled to carry the
art of oratory to unrivalled perfection, of which Cicero and
Demosthenes are striking examples, the learned lecturer
proceeded to state, that being enabled by the exercise of
the understanding, the will and the memory, to appreciate
the whole circle of science, such a one would readily in-
vent suitable arguments, and dispose them in their proper
order; and while he remembered every bearing of the ques-
tion, he could arrange, modify and round, variously every
period, and so deliver the whole with Order contrast and
nature. The accomplished orator will avoid every extreme;
and while he alternately moves the passions and convinces
the understanding, through the medium of the moral
sense, be will finally succeed in arresting the attention, in-
spiriug the mind, exciting the whole man, and impelling
him irresistibly to action.

Farther: To command attention, the orator must par-
ticipate in the feelings of all around him; in a word he
must flatter the senses of his auditory : that once accom-
plished, contending or opposite opinions will be rendered
more susceptible to receive impressions of improvement 5
and kowever modified by affection or passion, or from
other causes, however the appearance of right and wron
may be altered to the intellectual faculty, the love of truth
is firmly implanted in the breast of every individual; and
consequently the mind of man, if judiciously assailed,
must be open to the entire conviction of reason. The au-
thor then spoke of elocution, and its utility in arresting
attention. In consequence of the perverted plan of con-
veying instruction in this branch of education, he con-
ceived, many of the finest specimens of argumentative
writing, many of the sublimest arrangements of composi-
tion, finely interwoven with sentiments of penetration and
feeling, to pass by unheeded from negligent enunciation
and delivery : after which he submitted an analysis of yocal
sounds, proving the human voice susceptible of five modifi-
cations; the two inflexions, the two circumflexes, and the
monotone ; endeavouring also to prove, that when the mind
is tranquil, the compass of inflected and circumflected
accentuation accords ‘exactly with musical phenomena,
forming the substructure of ‘ The Philosophy of Elocu-
tion.”

With

London Philosophical Society. 229

With this he concluded the first lecture, which had par-
ticularly for its object, to prove that in Britain there is free
scope to exercise oratoric genius,and thatBritons are endowed
with every qualification requisite to form complete orators.

Mr. Wright commenced his second lecture, by an in-
quiry into the instinct voices of animals, which he con-
sidered as not analogous to language; proceeding from
thence to treat of sensation. ‘ All our sensations,” says
he, ‘* are either pleasing or painful ; and doubtless all the
passions, emotions, and sentiments, which can possibly
agitate the mind of man, are comprised in the two follow-
ing, love and hatred.”

Now if we observe the correspondent tones, which uni-
formly accompany the expression of any particular modifi-
cation or feeling of the human mind, we shall perceive
them to be commensurate to our general idea of concord or
discord. When the felicity of mind is diminished by the
presence or recollection of painful sensation, man is em-
powered to communicate his feelings by characteristic signs
of dissonance; and the diversified tones and pauses which
usually accompany the expression of an agitated mind,
naturally suggest the varied state of muscular exertion:
but when emotions are excited by the impression of objects
which calm and delight the imagination, 1 communicating
such feeling, the expression of sound, being regulated by |
consonance of vibration, dwells upon the ear with pleasure
and satisfaction, ,

Continuing these arguments in an elaborate manner, and
advancing well chosen examples to illustrate them, Mr.
W. made the following deduction : * that orators, speakers,
and readers, who do not display apnosite cxpression of
earnestness and fecling in their several themes, discourses,
and specimens, must either not be impressed with the
truth of what they are advancing, or be ill favoured by na-
ture with the usual powers of organic association ; and that
they are liable not only to have their arguments. confuted,
but also to have their characters branded with insincerity,
vice, and falsehood.”

Having ably delineated the character of an orator, and
having endeavoured to show, that when the organs of: the
external senses were naturally insusceptible to the various
impressions of objects, or when the elastic fibres of the
body were relaxed by partial or general debility in the con-
stitution, the mind could not easily be taught sympathy
and social affection,—he advanced to another bearing of the
question, seeming to imply, that an individual may be ori-

P 3 ginally

330 London Philosophicat Society.

ginally endowed with mental feeling, yet from various
eauses which bring on lassitude in the muscular fibres, he
may be incapacitated to summon up suitable powers of ex-
pression at will.

There are few individuals who have not experienced dis-
appointment iu some shape or other. If therefore we re-
flect on the inaptitude of will or mind, which, by some
sudden stroke of chance, has been apparently placed far
beyond our reach, and if also we take into consideration
the powerful stimulus which is necessary in such instances
to give us just notions of the hope which remains of still
accomplishing our desires, we shall then have some idea of
the consequent laxity im the muscular fibres.

The next point which engaged attention was that most

essential part of the character of an orator,—modesty.
aS Without modgsty,” says Tully, ‘ there never was a good
orator.”” After citing Cicero’s observations respecting
himself, and adverting particularly to the Greek orators
upon this subject, Mr. W. asserted, that an orator should be
esteemed as perfectly true in his intentions towards his
audience, and that he should be known to have a warm
sense of general feeling and affection for his fellow-crea-
tures ; proving an unimpeachable character to be a qualifi-
cation of all others the most essential for the preferment of
a public speaker ; and that truth, integrity, and earnestness,
are inseparably united with the art of persuasion. ‘This
lecture was concluded by a view of the inconsistency of
man, and his consequent proneness to judge of the appear-
ance of persons and things that he may suit his own tem-
per and disposition.
_ The third lecture commenced with some observations on
the philosophy of feelings comprising affection, passion,
emotion, and sentiment; previous to considering the out-
ward attributes of expression. On this head we select the
following passage: ** In contemplating the philosophy of
feeling, T cannot but be astonished,” says Mr. W., ‘* that
writers cn oratorical expression have not presented ‘us with
more accurate definitions of the passions. Excepting one
or two, all the volumes which have been handed down to
us on the science, do not in this ) particular exemplify either
regularity, principle, or theory.””

“‘ In the middle of the last century, the lecturer of ora-
tory on the foundation of Erasmus Smith, esq. in Dublin;
seemed to enter fully into these ideas, w hen he endeavoured
to unravel perplexities which modern metaphysicians had
thea thrown upon the performances of the ancients ; ant

’ 1

London Philosophical Society. 231

if I am not,” continues Mr. W., insnficiently read in
the present subject, Dr. Lawson was the first of the modern
professors of rhetoric, who endeavoured to systematize the
passions for the use of students in oratory. But while this
tribute of attention is offered to the memory of the lecturer
of Trinity College, and to the exception of every other
lecturer of the science, we are not to enter into the ideas
implied in the apology of the doctor at the conclusion of
the ninth lecture, expressly intimating, not only that rheto-
ricians had defined the passions imperfectly, but that mo-,
ralists had fallen into similar negligences; that his
ideas on the subject were completely new; and, as such,
the theory would be considered an innovation, and so be
liable to censure. Now this was evidently to the.exclusion
of the disquisitions contained in the voluminous treatises of
Dr. Hutcheson on the Passions; the best perhaps extant :
books which had been published only a few vears before,
and which caused controversy sufficient to produce ilustra-
tions of the moral sense, and which Dr. Lawson might
possibly have perused ; books which prove to us, that there
can be no exciting reason previous to affection, instinct, or
the moral faculty ; and that the conscience is distinct from
the sense of moral good and evil; and so that we may dis-
cover, that what taste is to natural discernment, conscience
is to the moral sense, improved by knowledge and care.”

In pursuance of the inquiry, it may be curjous perhaps
to observe, that although Walker and Sheridan have
descanted° with considerable feeling and energy on this
branch of the science, yet neither the one nor the other
has satisfied the various inquiries of — philosophical
and interrogating students. In his essay on the Pas-
sions, Mr. Walker has adopted the method of Mr. She-
ridan,—calling the true signs of the passions, Ist tones,
2d looks and gestures. And although the master of inflec-
tion had most certainly the ability to analyse the former,
and to dwell with considerable advantage on the latter, he
consigns without definition, and leaves the student, who
feels himself deficient, to turn his studies to some other
department of learning, where nature may have been more
favourable to bis wishes, The other lecturer exerted every
energy within his power ; but unfortunately his judgement
was deficient, and his will in consequence was inadequately
directed. Perhaps it is the circumstance of having sub-
mitted imperfect ideas or definitions of the speaking voice,
which has rendered the works of Mr. T. Sheridan so totally
useless to students in elocution. We must not feel sur-
prised then, that the author of British Elocution proceeded

P4 na

232 London Philosophical Society.

no further in analysation than his lectures manifest, wher
he admitted not the existence of inflexion, or that termina-
tion to which all speaking sounds may be resolved. But in-
dependently of inflexion, the ideasof Mr. Sheridan on tone
are insufficient. When speaking of the Chinese language
«© being chiefly made up of tones,’’ and when proceeding
further in exemplification, observing that the same indivi-
dual word has ** sixty different meanings,”’ according tothe
different tones in which it is pronounced; he appears to
jumble together qualities totally heterogeneal,—such as
tune and tone, tune and accent, sound and articulation,
Now tune refers to variety, harmony, and cadence; tone
to quality of sound, whether high or low, the natural or
feigned voice. The iady sings chastely (7. e. scientifically
and in tune), but she wants voice (7. e. tone and compass.)
Accent implies stress variously delivered, 2. ¢. either in an
upward or downward slide of voice; or, after the term
accent of the Greeks, we may distinguish it by the names
of acute, grave, or circumflex. That gentleman has either
the Scotch or Irish accent in his pronunciation, 7. e. cir-
cumflex. Articulation is-sound modified by the various or-
gans of speech. The whole alphabet may be pronounced
or articulated in one note of music, or, in other words, one
musical sound ; and vice versd, the whole compass of the
voice may be exemplified in one articulation ; so that we
€an perceive, when Mr. Sheridan speaks of tone and the
tone of passion, he leaves the word just as he found it, and
very gravely informs the student, that tone is—tone. In
the analysation of speaking sounds Mr. Walker proceeded
further than the other gentleman, and we feel the more re-
gret that he did not adapt his inflexions to the expression
of passion and the progress and completion of sense.

Mr. W. then advanced a great number of arguments,
tending to prove, in the most direct manner, that Nature
has endowed man with an intuitive power of conveying
feelings of love or hatred, by signs of consonance or dis+
sonance ; which concluded the Jecture.

The fourth and last lecture consisted chiefly of illustra-
tions of the different passions, mostly selected from our im-
mortal bard, and which were admirably delivered by the
ingenious lecturer, producing their proper effect : and also
of a vindication of Aaron Hill’s Treatise on Expression,
as founded upon one general principle of reason and philo-
sophy. We agree with Mr. W. in imagining, that great
advantage might possibly arise from a well regulated theory
of the passions, should every admirer of the science apply
himself to that branch of eloquence with unremitted ob-

servation

Russell Institution. 233

servation and active industry: for, withoat an expressive
display of feeling, the orator is, at best, but lifeless mar-
ble. From the writings of the ancients, we must suppose
them to have been complete masters of expression. ‘They
appear to have felt themselves impressed with just notions of
the assistance afforded to their specimens, by duly appreciat-
ing and considering the passions as the secret springs of all
the actions of man.

In conclusion, we think great praise is due to Mr. Wright
for his ingenious lectures, and from whose indefatigability
in this department of science many more highly instructive
lessons may be justly anticipated.

RUSSELL INSTITUTION.

Geology.

On February 24th Mr. Robert Bakewell commenced a
course of lectures on the natural history of the earth, and
its mineral productions, designed to illustrate the Geology
and Mineralogy of England. In the first lecture, after ad-
verting to the present state of geological science, Mr. Bake-
well observed, that it might be considered in its infancy,
compared with the progress which other sciences had made
daring the last 300 years; nor had it attracted much atten-
tion from landed proprietors who were most interested in
its advancement, their knowledge of the rocks, strata, or
minerals on their own estates being in few instances greater
than that of their ancestors in the ruder periods of our hi-
story. All the substances now considered as simple, found
in the mineral kingdom, do not exceed fifty : with nearly
one half of these, Mr. Bakewell stated, we had only been
mace acquainted during the last twenty or thirty years ; a
fact which was itself alone sufficient to mark the infancy of
the science.

The form, magnitude, and density of the earth, and its
revolution on its axis, are the first objects of inquiry in the
natural history of our planet, connected with its internal
structure. The experiments and observations of Dr. Maske-
lyne and Mr. Cavendish, relative to the density of the earth,
Mr. Bakewell observed, differed considerably in their re-
sults. From the recent corrections of professor Playfair,
who had ascertained the specific gravity of the stones form-
ing the mountain Shehallion on which Dr. Maskelyne’s
observations had been made, it appeared that the density of
the earth, or the quantity of matter it contained, is nearly
five times that of an equal bulk of water. From hence

Mr,

234 Russell Institution.

Mr. Bakewell said it might be inferred that the earth is
nearly a solid ball, or, if it have extensive cavities, the solid
parts are heavier than most metallic substances, and proba-
bly contain a very large portion of iron. The opinion
which has been lately advanced, that the different earths
and alkalies exist in a metallic state in the interior of our
planet, and inflame when water finds access to them, was,
he conceived, ingenious, but unsupported hy much proba-
bility.

The division of rocks into primary, intermediate or
transition rocks, and secondary, though liable to some ob-
jections, Mr. B. said he should follow in the present course,
as such an arrangement enabled us to fix more distinctly
the different parts of the subject in the memory.

Each of these divisions he said would be described in the
future lectures, and he traced on a geological map of En-
gland, drawn for the purpose, the different parts of our
island which they occupy. On the eastern side this divi-
sion is more distinctly marked ; but on the western side the
strata are much fractured and intermixed by some unknown
cause, which had elevated them in some situations and de-
pressed them in others, and made it difficult to trace their
continuity or connexion. According to this division, there
is a considerable part of the eastern side of our island in
which no coal is found, anda still larger division which he
traced where no metallic ores exist. Mr. Bakewell said
that, so far as he knew, this was the first dttempt to repre-
sent ina map the geological outlines of England,

After explaining the different theories of the earth, by
diagrams and descriptions, Mr. Bakewell observed, that
they were only entitled to consideration so far as they ap-
pealed. to facts for their support, and every impartial ob-
server of nature must have seen appearances which cannot
be explained satisfactorily by any of the systems hitherto
advanced. The great changes which the surface of our
planet has undergone in remote ages, are confirmed by
proofs equally intelligible and impressive, though we are
unacquainted with the means by which such changes have
been effected. Rocks composed of shells and remains of
marine animals form the summits of some of the highest
mountains of Craven in Yorkshire, in Derbyshire, and in
different parts of the world. The height at which these are
found in Yorkshire is 2400 feet above the present level of
the sea, but on the Pyrenees they are found at the height of
10,000 feet. The impressions of marine animals in slate
rocks present appearances still more curious and difficult to

explain.

Russell Institution. 935

explain. Marine remains are also found imbedded in rocks
at the greatest depths which have been explored. No re-
mains of man have been found in solid rock, except in
mines, or what lad been covered by recent depositions of
calcareous earth ; of which specimens were shown. The
skeletons of quadrupeds found in mines and cavities of cal-
careous rock, he considered as recent, compared with the
marine remains of which such rocks were composed. The
entire skeleton of an elephant was found in a mine near
Wirksworth. Mr. Bakewell supposed that, in this instance,
a cave, once open to the day, had been closed by stalacti-
tical formations ; which is frequently the case. From these
fossil remains in the mineral kingdom, Mr. Bakewell said
it might be inferred, that the creation of man was posterior
to that of other animals, and took place long after those
mighty convulsions which elevated part of our present
lands and continents from the bottom of the ocean.

Second Lecture —Mr. Bakewell described the qualities of
the four earths, silex, clay, lime and magnesia, which,
with the oxide or rust of iron, compose all the great masses
of matter found on the surface of our globe. In-some in-
stances they are combined with the sulphuric or carbonic
acids, These few elements entering into combinations with
each other, constitute the great variety of stones found in
the mineral kingdom ; and it was not difficult for a perscn
entering on the study of mineralogy to ascertain the earths
whose qualities were most predominantin each kind of rock.
‘The rocks called primary contain no organic remains, they
are chiefly composed ‘of siliceous earth (except primitive
limestone), they are generally hard and crystalline. Of
these the most important is granite, being considered by
many geologists as the foundation rock on which all the
others are laid. Next to granite are usually found the differ-
entslate rocks, known by the names of gneiss, and micaceous
and argillaceous schist: of these specimens were exhibited,
and their nature and localities described. Mr. Bakewell, in
stating the different parts of England and Wales where
the primary rocks appear, said, it had been erroneously as-
serted that there are no granite rocks in Cumberland and
Westmoreland ; on the contrary, there are in both these
counties, rocks of highly crystalline large-grained granite,
of which he produced specimens. Most of the other rocks
called primary, generally exist in beds of different depths
amongst the slate rocks, or cover them in vast masses, and
which appear to have been of more recent formation.

‘Yhe arrangement of rocks in the primary mountains of

a Great

236 Russell Institution.

Great Britain, and different parts of Europe-and America,
were explained by drawings and sections. The highest
point at which granite is found in Europe is 15,000 fvet ; in
South America granite has hot been observed higher than
11,000 feet ; but in that country the granite and slate rocks
are covered with immense beds of porphyry and basalt,
which Mr. Bakewell said he was inclined to believe were
the products of subterranean fires. The rocks that lie next
to the primary have been called transition ,rocks, from a
fanciful supposition that they were formed when the earth
was passing from an uninhabitable to a habitable state.
These principally consist of particular lime rocks, and a
rock called by the Germans grauwacke, which is a kind of
coarse slate intermixed with fragments of other rocks.
These lime rocks form entire mountains in Yorkshire, Der-
byshire, and part of North Wales. . Mr. Farey, in his late
survey of Derbyshire, has described the undermost lime-
stone of that county as the lowest rock in England; but
Mr. Bakewell observed, that the same limestone which
dips under the surface in the northern part of Derbyshire
rises up again in the north-west of Yorkshire, and is there
found to rest upon slate. In Shropshire and Wales similar
limestone with similar metallic veins also rests upon slate,
and this slate in all probability rests upon granitic rocks,
though the granite is not sufficiently elevated to be seen,
except on the western verge of England and Wales. The
primary and first order of secondary rocks are the reposi-
tories of metallic ores. In the lime rocks of. this class the
most extensive caverns are found, some of which were de
scribed with sections, explaining their formation by subter-
ranean currents. Mr. Bakewell stated the influence of
elevated mountains on the temperature of the adjacent
countries, which, he observed, might in some degree be
measured by the period at which snow disappears from their
summits. In some few instances, he said, snow had cone
tinued the whole year on the summit of Crossfell in Cum-
berland. The influence of mountain scenery even over the
untutored mind was in many nations almost indelible, and
created a strength of local attachment which was not known
to exist in the inhabitants of flatand more fertile districts,
The lecturer particularly recommended to the opulent in-
habitants of large cities, an occasional residence among the
mountains ; where he observed they might contemplate the
grand features of creation, and revive their taste for the
sublime beauties of nature; and from whence they could

scarcely fail to return with invigorated health, and with a
certain

Geological Society. 237
certain freshness of mind which would enable them to
discharge with greater alacrity the duties of active and so-
cial life.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

March 6.—Sir George Clerk, Bart. M.P. was elected an
ordinary member of the Society: and several presents of
books were announced.

An additional notice by Arthur Aikin, Esq. Sec. Geo.
Soc. respecting a green waxy substance found in the alluvial
soil near Stockport, was read.

The purport of this notice was to mention the discovery
of a similar substance at the foot of the hill of Menil
Montant near Paris, by M. Patrin. It there occurs in al-
Juyial sand accompanied by fresh-water shells.

A communication addressed to the Secretary by the
Hon. Henry Grey Bennet, M.P. respecting a whin dyke in
Northamberland, was read.

The dyke here described is best seen at Beadnel-Bay,
where it forms a kind of pier about 27 feet wide and 300
yards long. It rises in a perpendicular position through
several beds of stratified rocks, without occasioning any
change in their dip or direction. But the qualities of the
different strata where they are in contact with the dyke,
differ very notably from those exhibited by the same strata
at a little distance from the dyke. The limestone in par-
ticular of both the beds that are cut through, is harder,
more granular and sparry in the vicinity of the dyke, andis,
further, incapable of being burnt into good lime.

The reading of Mr. Phillips’s, paper on the native oxide
of tin of Cornwall, was continued.

Before entering into the crystallographical history of this
substance, Mr, P. makes some remarks on the kind of cry-
stals best adapted for goniometrical researches, and states
bis reasons for preferring the more minute crystals to the
Jarger ones, and the reflecting goniometer of Dr. Wollas-
ton to that in common use. He then proceeds to state the
means by which he succeeded in obtaining fractures exhi-
biting the structure of the crystal ; from which it appears
that its primitive form is that of an octahedron composed
of two pyramids united by their bases which are square,
and that this is further divisible through both its diagonals
into irregular tetrahedrons.

March 20.—William Blake, Esq. F.R.S. and the Right
Hon. Lord Compton were elected ordinary members of

the

238 Geological Society,

the Society; and several presents of books and minerals
were announced,

The reading of Mr. Phillips’s paper on the native oxide
of tin of Cornwall, was concluded.

After describing the primitive figure of this substance,
Mr. P. proceeds to an enumeration and description of those
modifications with their varieties which have been observed
by him, and specimens of which are at present in his ca-
binet.

After describing twelve modifications, the paper con-
cludes with details of those compound crystals usually called
macles; of the still more compound ones which are formed
by the junction of two macles, and of the most complicated
of all, which are macles of macles.

A description of Castle Hill near Newhaven in Sussex,
by Hen. Warburton, Esq. Ord. Mem. Geo. Soc. was read.

Castle Hiil is a small circular elevation composed of
neaily horizontal beds, lying above the chalk in the fol-
lowing order, beginning from the most recent;

1. Sand ‘and rounded flint pebbles.

2. A congeries of oyster shells.

3. A bed of broken bivalve shells, chiefly of the genus
Venus. '

4. A bed of blue clay inclosing a seam of martial py-
rites three or four inches thick, composed entirely of casts
of bivalve and turbinated shells.

5. A bed of indurated marl, the lower part of which is
obscurely slaty, and contains between its Jaminz, leaves
apparently of some tree of the willow tribe converted into
coal.

6, A seam of coal three or four inches thick.

7. Marl of a sulphur yellow colour, including large erye
stals of gypsum.

8. Sand.

9. Chalk.

A notice respecting an accidental sublimation of silex,
by Dr. M‘Culloch, Ord. Mem. Geo. Soc. was read.

A mixture of the oxides of tin and lead was put into an
earthen crucible, and covered by another inverted over it:
the mass was exposed to a high heat, and on opening the
crucibles the empty part of each of them was found lined
with capillary shining crystals; which by the usual me-
thods of analysis proved to be pure silex.

WERNERBIAN

&
Wernerian Natural History Society. 239

WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

At the meeting of this Society on the 18th of Jaunary,
Professor Jameson read a paper on porphyry, in which he
described several species of transition-porphyry, as occur-
ring along with grey-wacke, &c. in different parts of Scot-
land. He also gave a particular account of floetz porphyry,
which likewise occurs in Scouand, and appears to belong
to the old red sandstone formation. The Professor conjec-
tured that this floetz porphyry may be the mother-stone of
the porphyritic felspar lavas which are found in some coun-
tries, and consequently that lavas may occur in rocks of an .
older date than those of the newest floetz-trap series. —At
the same meeting, Mr. E.W. Leach read a description of two
species of shark found in the Scottish seas, illustrative of
a proposed subdivision of the genus Squalus of Linneus.

At the meeting on the Ist of February, a communication
from Lieutenant-colonel Imrie was read, containing an ac-
count of the district of country in Stirlingshire called the
Campsie Hills, illustrated by some curious geological facts
observed by the Colonel on the coast of the Mediterranean.
The Campsie Hills consist of trap-rocks of great thickness,
under which sandstone occurs; and below this lie beds of
limestone, with slate-clay, clay-ironstone, and some seams of
coal. The trap is in some places distinctly columnar, and
in many other places it shows a tendency to this form. He
observed, that these circumstances might give occasion to
some geologists to class the trap of the Campsie district
with volcanic -products; of which, however, he saw no
symptom. He then pointed out, that nature produces
these forms both im the moist and in the dry way, and
gave examples of both. In the moist way, he said that
these forms are seen in greatest perfection in warm climates,
and drew his example in this mode from the coast of Africa,
near the site of ancient Carthage; where a small lake, with
a deep clay bottom, had been drained by the accidental
breaking down of a part of its barrier, and where the clay
deposit had split into yertical columns eighteen feet high,
and from a foot and a half to three feet in diameter. The
example in the dry way he took from the island of Fela-
cuda, one of the most western of the Lipari islands. In
the lavas of that island which have taken the columnar
form, he mentioned having seen obsidian and pumice,
which had been in flow with the lava, and are seen com-
bined in what he termed one of its congealed streams.

IMPERIAL

240 Imperial Institute of Fravice.

REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE IMPERIAL INSTIe
TUTE OF FRANCE* DURING THE YEAR 1811.

Mathematical Department.
(Drawn up by M. DeLampre, Perpetual Secretary.)

Methods for definite integrals, and their application to pro-
Labilities, and particularl ly to the investigation of the mean
which must be fixed upon, among the results of observa-
tions. By Count LAPLACE.

The theory of Probabilities is one of those to which M.
Laplace has directed his attention since his entrance upon
his career as an analytical philosopher, and to which at
different periods he has made many valuable additions. Be-
sides several important memoirs, which he has published
in the volumes of the Academy of Sciences, or of the In-
stitute, he has elucidated the subject also in his lectures at
the Nornsal school, in his Systéme du Monde, &c.

Thus by extending his information, and by the clear ac-
count which he has given, he has enabled every person to
form an idea of the most profound part of the mathemati-
cal sciences.

The publication to which we now refer is particularly
adapted to geometricians who are sufficiently advanced in
that science to understand count Laplace’s Analyse Sa-
vante. It is a sufficient eulogium on that work to mention
that the Academy of Sciences announced its title, but left
its merits to be determined by those whu peruse it ; and we
are under the necessity of following their example. Of
the two branches which distinguish this new work of count
Laplace, the first is merely a “short historical introduction,
from which no abbreviation can be made without rendering
it obscure and incomplete: in this part we find some novel
observations respecting the existence of different branches
of the modern analysis, especially the passages relating to
finite and infinite, and also to real and imaginary quan-
tities.

The second division of the work shows that all analytical
researches are easier unravelled than extracted.

The author confesses that he has reserved various demon-
strations on the subject for a work which it is his inten-
tion to publish very soon, on Probabilities. We cannot

* This is the title mow assumed by the French National Institute.
Trans.
do

Imperial Institute of France. 241

do better than conclude by giving this information, which
assuredly will excite the curiosity of all geometricians. If
amongst the applications which Count Laplace makes of
his formule, we perceive a point which concerns two ce-
lebrated analytical philosophers, it certainly should find a
place in the present sketch.

It is that passage in which Count Laplace mentions
small squares (petits carrées). He says that the method
proposed by Messrs. Legendre and Gauss corrects the ele-
ments in the most precise manner. The learned who have
not met with these works, it is probable may wish to
know this method of those eminent geometricians who
have already gained so much honour by their labours.

M. Legendre, when he directed his attention to the pro-
blem of the comet in March 1805, first furnished astrono-
mers with a certain rule to guide them in their number of
approximative equations, much superior to those unknown
quantities the value of which it was left them to ascertain.

The inevitable error of the observation on which the
equations are established, renders it impossible to explain
them all at once, and in taking the result of the system of
the observations it does not give more explicit satisfaction ;
all that can be gained is, that the errors are as trifling as
possible—that they are equally distributed—and that none
of them exceed the probable errors of the observations. To
approach nearest to the real value, M. Legendre proposes a
principle by which the sum of the squares of the errors
must be a minimum.

This method, which he only mentions without giving the
analyses of it, he has made the subject of an Appendix at
the end of his Memoir, and in which he gives some further
developments. It is his opinion, that of all the principles
proposed on this subject, there are none more general, more
exact, or more easily to be applied. By this means, he con-
tinues, there is established amomgst the errors a kind of
equilibrium which prevents the extremes from being pre-
valent.

If by any singular event it were possible to obliterate all
the errors, he shows that it could only be done infallibly by
his method ; and this is an important remark.

If after having determined the unknown quantities we
carry the value of them inte each of the equations, instead
of seeing them reduced to zero; in general we shall find a
value which will be for each of the observations, the errors
of the elements corrected, and it is impossible to diminish
their errors without augmenting the sum of their squares.

Vol. 39. No. 167. March 1812. Q M. Le-

242 Imperial Institute of France.

M. Legendre next proves that the rule by which a mean
may be obtained from the result of different observations,
arises from a very simple principle of the smaller squares.

This information is of much importance, as far as it au-
thorizes the astronomers to take the value of several hun-
dred observations to form a final equation from them,
which will present the means of thus uniting several groups
of particular equations, to form as many final equations as
may be judged proper, and applying the method of the
small squares without engaging in endless calculations.

This remark might of itself be considered as a sort of
demonstration; but afterwards, by a happy reconciliation,
M. Legendre refers his formulz to those by which we find
the centre of gravity of several equal masses placed around
several given points. He concludes that his principle in
some measure makes known the centre, around which are
ranged all the results furnished by eBenente in the neatest
manner possible.

To explain the method still further, eee having applied
it to perfect the elements of his comet, he applies it to the
last measurement of the meridian. He had to determine
the most probable flattening which resulted from the four
arcs measured, and the correction of the 45th degree pretty
nearly ascertained by the members of the commission.

These two unknown quantities must be found by keeping
as close as possible to the five observed latitudes.

He expresses the errors of five latitudes en fonction of
the two unknown quantities, and his method conducts
him to a flattening (applatissement) of ;1;, and to a 45th
degree weaker than had been supposed by twelve toises and
a half. This flattening appeared to him to be too strong,
and its degree too small; but the errors of the latitudes
scarcely exceed the errors which we may fairly payee to
exist: he afterwards supposes the flattening as at =4,; but
then the errors of latitude found by his method. go the
length of 3, 4, and frequently nearly 6"; which is scarcely
credible.

Such are the principles of M. Legendre: we take the
opportunity of mentioning him here, because his memoir
having been printed in another shape, they have not named
him in the volume of the Institute.

In his Precedents, written upon the arc of the meridian,
M. Legendre had not in any way mentioned the method
which he has denominated that of small squares, (moindres
carrées,) which appears to decide that in 1799 he was not
11 possession of them.

Bosco-

PD ep en

Imperial Institute of France. 243

Boscovich long since had it in contemplation to make
the sum of the positive errors equal with the negative ones ;
and all astronomers have had this object in view in the con-
struction of their tables. He also maintained that the sum
of errors without the distinction of signs was the least pos-
sible; which is likewise the opinion of all astronomers:
but to be more certain, he gave, according to his custom, a
graphical construction of the problem, to which a calcula-
tion may be applied when greater nicety is required. It
is to be observed, that he introduces the centre of gravity
of all the extreme points of the abscisse, which in his con-
struction represent the degrees measured: because it was
also on account of the figure of the earth that he under-
took his researches.

Count Laplace, in adopting the principal opinions of
Boscovich, treated the same problem in a more analytical
and more rigorous manner in the 2d vol. of his Mécanique
Céleste; and he was led to a flattening of ;+,, almost as
great as that of M. Legendre: his 45th degree differed a
little less from the are adopted, and the errors of their lati-
tudes were nearly the same. Thus two methods, absolutely
different, led to results almost identical.

M. Gauss, in his Theory of the Motions of Celestial
Bodies, published 1809, endeavours to determine the degree
of probability of a system of elements for a planet from a
considerable number of observations. He soon meets with
an insoluble equation, which forces him to take another
course. He inquires upon what function, taken tacitly as
the base, the principle vulgarly adopted is supported, and
what is the value of the mean result between several obser-
vations equally well made, which value is not rigorously
exact, but only probably so? By this inverted course his
demonstration is very analogous to that of M. Legendre.

Setting out from an elegant theorem of Count Laplace,
he arrives at a function which gives expressly the sum of
the squares, which ought to be a minimum. Hence he
concludes, that the principle of the small squares has the
same certainty with the common principle which allows the
greatest probability to the arithmetical method. But he
remarks that this consequence cannot be correct but on the
supposition that all the observations are entitled to the same
confidence; and in order to render the principle more
general, he multiplies each of the squares by a co-efficient,
which expresses the probability of the observation to which
he refers; and it is the suin thus modified which ought to
be a minimum. He afterwards examines whether the eli-

Q 2 mination

244, Professor Leslie’s Discovery.

mination of the unknown quantities be at all times possible,
and by what mode of calculation it may be rendered practi-
cable, in certain cases in which it does not appear to be so.
He adds, that this subject may give rise to several neat
analytical inquiries, to enter upon which would carry him
too far from his principal object: he postpones, therefore,
to another occasion the methods of reducing numerical
calculation to a more expeditious algarithm. After the ex-
ample of M. Legendre, he entreats calculators not to seek,
in the determination of the known co-efficients, a pre-
cision which can only serve to lengthen the operations in a
useless manner.

XXXV. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles.
PROFESSOR LESLIE’S DISCOVERY.

Tue experiments of Professor Leslie, to produce ice by
evaporation in the air pump, have been varied and extended
in France by Messrs. Clement and Desormes: they have
proposed to apply the evaporation, in vacuo, on a large
scale, to the drying of gunpowder; which, being done
without fire, will be attended with no danger.

The French chemists are engaged in endeavouring to ap-
ply the evaporation in vacuo (before stated) to the drying and
preserving fruit and vegetables. It may be easily conceived
of what advantage this process may be, particularly in the
army and navy, by preserving, unchanged, alimentary sub-
stances, and also by diminishing their weight and bulk,
when they are to be sent to distant parts of the world.

In consequence of this paragraph, we observe that Mr.
Leslie has addressed a letter to the Editor of the Caledonian
Mercury, and we can bear testimony to the truth of the
Professor’s claims to the discovery; for we personally wit-
nessed the demonstration of bis theory while in London
last year, when he freely explained the various important
uses to which the principle might be applied, particularly
by the introduction of the apparatus into hospitals in sultry
climates, and for its general utility in domestic purposes.
We understand that he has, since his return to Edinburgh,
improved his coolers, so as to produce ice in large quan-
tities, by much inferior powers to those he first used.

Dr. Ke.iy is now printing a New Edition (the fourth)
of his Spherics aad Nautical Astronomy with considerable
additions, especially in what relates to the Lunar Observa-
tions, and Practical Astronomy in general.

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton. 245

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sirn,—The following is an, extract from the Custom
House books for the years stated, upon the authenticity of
which you may depend. Can any of your philosophical
or medical correspondents account for the annual con-
sumption of such an immense quantity of narcotic poison ?

} Gonglns Nux vomica in
Years. Opium, lbs. adios ibe form = Se
1796 | 20,691 12,792 2,207
1797 7,183 13,592 2,391
1798 9,891 7,892 2,830
1799 24,914 7,830 19
1800 48,682 31,567 35,602
1801 54,255 30,334 60,132
1802 24,316 115,237 194,377
1803 26,549 81,265 88,873
1804 20,776 56,696 13,611 |
1805 16,111 72,143 1,092

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton in Hackney,
from Feb. 21, to March 20, 1812.

Feb. 21.—A breeze from: 8.W. blew along masses of cu-
mulus, while cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus, pre-
sented various appearances in a higher and calmer air. The
_inosculation of the two stratas occasionally caused slight
nimbi. The wind became high towards evening, with hard
showers at night.

Feb. 22.—Rough gales from the S. all day, with hard
showers of rain and hail, with some flashes of lightning
and claps of thunder; in the fair tervals the various mo-
difications appeared in different stations.

Feb. 23.—Clouds in two altitudes, the lower ones mov-
ing rapidly in the wind; in the evening the cirrostratus pre-
vailed, while low flocks of scud flew under; at night it formed
a fine veil all over the welkin, exhibited a halo, increased
in density, obscured the moon entirely, and ended in rain.
W. and 8.W.

Feb. 24.—Snow which had fallen during the night
melted ; in consequence of which, and of the late hard rain,
Hackney Brook overtlowed; there was also considerable
flood in the marshes of the Lea. Cloudy morning and clear
night. N. and N.W.

‘eb. 25.—A cold 8. wind with much cluud in different
strata; loose flocky cumuli below, followed by rain and
wind. The marshes of the river Lea flooded.

Feb.

246 Meteorological Observations

Feb. 26.—Haze in the morning, fair day with various
clouds, and very clear at night. W.

Feb. 27.—White frost, features of cirrostratus and others,
followed by a rainy afternoon, but a fair mght.

Feb. 28.—Frosty morning and hazy; fair day, cumult,
cumulostratus, and cirrocumulative masses above; a sort of
vapour intervened, increasing in density; at night showers
and increased temperature.

Feb. 29.—Foggy early, then loose ill-defined cirri; above,
cumulus and cumulostratus; much cloud in the after-
noon. S,

March 1.—Cumulus and cumulostratus, subcirrocumu-
lative masses above; in the evening petroid cumulostrati
rose in mountains all round, and ezrostrati increased in
density, swelled downwards, inosculating, and threatening
nimbification; a long vertical band of yellow hght ap-
peared above the sun, occasioned probably by refraction
through a thin diffused cirrostratus. Wind rose at night.

March 2.—A north wind prevailed all day, with cumulo-
stratus, and occasional formation of nimbi, which gave
light showers of snow and hail: clear night.

March 3.—Hoar-frost and overcast sky, followed by
small rain; very dark at night. °S.

March 4.—Misty, followed by small rain; fair intervals
during the night, witha brisk breeze S.W. and N.W.

March 5.—Clouds in different altitudes; sunshine at
times; a breeze from N.W.; during the day nimbification,
or at least that state of density near approaching to it, was
conspicuous in many places. Cirrestratus spread far and
wide, in the evening threatening rain.

March 6.—Rainy morning early, when it cleared ; masses
of cumulus floated along in the wind as usual, and in a re-
gion much higher appeared the cirrus, in some places
stretched along in bands, in others ramifying im many di-
rections; here wavy or like granulations, there disposed in
tufts; in short, it presented all those various and ever-
changing figures which I have often before had occasion to
speak of, as denoting a great irregularity in the distribution
of the electric fluid, to which this cloud appears to serve as
a conductor. The cirrocumulus also formed in many places.
Dark cloudy night.

March 7.—¥ine morning, and a breeze from W. Flocks
of loose cumulus float in the wind; cirrostratus stretched
along rather higher: still more lofty the cirrus exhibits itself
under a variety of changing forms, forming here and there
cirrocumulus of multiform appearance. During the day

the

made at Clapton. 24.7

the sky became quite obscured, and rain came on at
might-oa We. .

March 8.—Flimsy cirrus above mountanous cumuli, then
cumulostratus, and showers of hail and rain; but clear night.
N.N.W.

March 9.—Quite clear in the morning; afterwards cu-
mult increased, and the sky was nearly obscured; a shower
came on about three; after which it cleared, when I ob-
served cumulostrati with cirrostratus above: night fair. N.
and N.W.

March 10.—Overcast morning; fair day, with heavy cu-
muli, &e. N.N.W.

March 11.—Sunshine early: overcast day, but dry and
pleasant ; the kind of cloud seemed to be large folded cu-
mult, approaching to cumulostratus. N. and N.W.

March 12.—Loose cirrus and cirrocumulus above cumuli,
and much haze; afterwards quite overcast.

March 13.—Clear morning; afterwards diurnal cumuli
arose, and flimsy light clouds were deposited aloft, followed
by cumulostratus and hail showers, with a brisk north wind.

March 14.—Cirrus and others; showers in the afternoon.
N.W.

March 15.—Clear morning; afterwards abundance of
cumulostratus, with some showers of snow and hail. Very
clear at night. N.

March 16.—Cold cloudy day, and N.E. wind.

March 17.—Cold raw day: sky chiefly clouded; some
snow kept falling frequently. N.E.

March 18.—¥air morning; some cumuli and cirrostrati
appeared; afterwards it became a dark cloudy night. W.

March 19.—Much cumulostratus, &e. By night I ob-

- served a corona about the moon. S. and S.E.

March 20.—Snow, sleet and rain in the morning; small
rain continued falling the greatest part of the day.

In addition to the observations on Mons. De Luc’s
Aérial btlectroscope, which I communicated in your Maga-
zine for June and July last, I have to add, that subsequent
observations on this instrument have convinced me, that
a certain degree of moisture is necessary to its action; but
that peculiarities in the state of the atmosphere vary its
kind of action; as, for instance, the regularity or irregu-
larity, strength or weakness, of the pulsation of the bells,
&c. Sometimes it will not act at all. Neither will the ad-
dition of moisture ever cause its irregular pulsation to be-
come regular.

Clapton, March 20, 1812. Tuomas Forster.

METEORO-

248 Meteorology.

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE.
By Mr. Cary, or THE STRAN
For March 1812.

ee Tiemomnetess 2]

Eo
Davaof |a 2 .| Height of | A@ g
Month. 3 3 a a a the Barom. | 6A =
Ss 5 s OE Inches. 2 pe
ath & bg &
Ash

Feb. 27) 32 | 43°| 36°; 29°68 16

28) 32 | 47 | 38 60 27

29| 32 | 44 | 43 40 26

Mar. 1} 40 | 45 | 38 40 27

2
Jo)
is
j=)
ee)
ron)
I
S
(=)

D,

Weather.

Cloudy
Fair
Fair
Fair
Fair
Rain
Fair
Fair
Cloudy
Cloudy
Showery
Fair
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Stormy
Rain
Fair
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Rain
Fair
Fair
Rain
Rain
Fair
Fair

N.B. The Barometer’s height is taken at one o'clock.

EE
ERRATA in our last Number.

For Pyramido, page 145, line 24, and page 147, line 20, read Pirimido.

[249 J

XXXVI. Description of an Improvement on La Borva’s
Reflecting Circle. By Mr. J. AuLan*.

Sir, I BEG leave to inform you, that on Thursday last, I
left at the Society’s house, a mathematical instrument,
adapted for the use of mariners, which | wish to submit to
the Society’s attention. Tt is a Reflecting’ Circle, com-
monly called La Borda’s Circle, for the purpose of taking
altitudes and distances at sea; and which I have greatly
improved lately, by fixing the shade glasses different to
what had heretofore been done, with some other improve-
ments as a Reflecting Circle. |The late Dr. Mackay, in a
publication of his called Mackay’s Longitude, has a plate
of La Borda’s original instrument, but the shade glasses are
so fixed, as to render the instrument useless, and which he
was convinced of on my pointing out to him the fault ;
he said he would alter his plate to my method, and that he
would state it as my improvement; but his death soon af-
terwards prevented it. 1 am aware the Society do not con-
fer their rewards without advantageous qualities to merit
their sanction. I respectfully say, that 1 consider my in-
strument to have merit, both 1n economy, and in the great
improvement made on the plan of the Reflecting Circle
first invented. I shall be happy to point out this to the
Society, and have the honour to be,

Sir,
Your humble servant,
Blewitt’s Buildings, Fetter Lane, Dec. 24, 1810. James ALLAN.
To C. Taylor,.M.D. Sec.
sie

Str,—AGREEABLY to the intimations of the Committee
on Thursday evening last, I beg leave to explain to the So-
ciety, the properties of tay improved Reflecting Circle; and
which, with a Theodolite attached to it, would be useful
both to the mariner and surveyor.

The Committee inquired what sort of centre or axis the
instrument had. J beg leave to state, it is an improved one
ef mine. The former way of centering this instrument
was only by a sirfle pin, which both indexes acted upon ;
but the pin had so little bearing in the index, that it was
not sufficient to keep the index-glass upright to the plane

* From Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufac-
sures, and Commerce, for 1811.—~The silver medal of the Societ and
twenty guineas were voted to Mr. Allan, for this improvement. One of
these 1dstruments is preserved in tue Society’s Repository.

Vol. 39. No. 168, April 1812. R of

250 Description of an improved Reflecting Circle.

of the instrument in all its positions ; I have therefore con-
trived to put what is called in our business, a male and fe-
male centre or axis, upon a simple but accurate method.

Permit me to make a few observations on circular instru-
ments in general. 1 believe it will be universally allowed,
that it is easier to make a circle nearer to truth, with respect
to its horizontal plane, than it is to make a separate part of
a circle so.

A sextant is only the sixth part of a circle, and is got flat
by means of a plane, as near as the maker can get it, but is
not turned on its own axis as acircle is; therefore I have
no doubt, but that the best sextant usually made, 1s very
short of the horizontal truth of a sixth part of a circle ; and
if we were to suppose a circle made of six of the usual sex-
tants, it would be a very untrue circle with respect to its
horizontal plane.

It has, therefore, been a general desideratum, that a cir-
cular instrument of reflection should be introduced, of
simple construction, easy to adjust, and convenient for use.
I have been induced to make several circular instruments
of reflection in various ways, but none upon so simple a
construction, or so cheap, as the present, nor so well cal-
culated to prove any untruth, as my improvement upon
Borda’s; and I believe it will now be generally adopted for
use.

There have been great numbers of Borda’s circles made;
I myself assisted about twenty-five years ago to make many,
also since I have been in business for the last twelve years
on my own account, but I never found any of them to give
satisfaction till [ invented the present improvement.

Captain M‘Lennan, who traded to South America, had
one of Borda’s Circles made, similar to that described in
Dr. Mackay’s Longitude, but could not use it till altered
by me last April.

The glasses in my instrument are moveable to any quar-
ter that a person may wish to use itin; and by taking the
same angie with each quarter, it affords an opportunity of
proving the correctness of the instrument, which circum-
stance I hope justifies me in saying, that it is the only in-
strument of reflection that I know, so®vell calculated to
prove itself. I beg pardon for being so tedious; I assure
you that I can make the instrument better than I can write
or talk about tt. -

I have the honour to be, sir,
Your humble servant,
Blewitts Buildings, Jan, 16, 1811. James ALLAN. -
To G. Taylor, M.D. Sec. De-

Description of an improved Reflecting Circle. 25k

Description of the Drawing of Mr, James ALLAN’S Im-
provement on the Reflecting Circle of Borda, Pl. V-

The Reflecting Circle, first invented by Tobias Mayer of
Gottingen, and afterwards improved hy the Chevalier La
Borda, of Paris, is an instrument, which in its principle
admits of such a degree of accuracy, as to be of the most
important service to navigators; but it has hitherto been
constructed in such a manner, that the inconveniences at-
- tending the use of “it have prevented its general adoption
among seamen; any contrivances, therefore, tending to
diminish these inconveniences, were deserying of the So-
ciety’s notice. The construction of Borda’s circle as they
have hitherto been made, is minutely detailed in Dr. Rees’s
New Cyclopedia, article, Circle ; and the mode of using
it is there explained; it will be therefore unnecessary to
describe any thing more of the circle delineated in i BaP
than is esscutial to the elucidation of the improvements
made by Mr. Allan.

The first of these is in the mode of applying the dark
glasses, which are fixed on joints, so as to turn back out of
the way, in the same manner 4s in the sextant; in the old
instrument these glasses were fitted into sockets provided
with tenants on the indexes, and fastened by a milled head
screw, which took much time to change them ; the second
is the addition of double verniers to the index, carrying the
telescope and horizon glass ; these read upon opposite sides
of the circle, and if a difference is observed between these
readings by taking the mean of them, the error arising from
any ex-centricity the index may have, will be corrected; and
the third consists in fixing the index glass upon an axis, ac-
curately fitted into the centre of the circle ;-by this means it
is assured that the index glass in turning round, shall always
be exactly perpendicular to the plane of the circle; in the
old method, when the index-bar was merely fitted on a pin
fixed in the centre of the circle, it was impossible to make
the circle so perfectly flat, or keep the index so accurately
in contact with it, as by having an axis. To explain these
improvements more perfectly, the reader is referred to plate
V, which contains a perspective view of the instrament ;
A, is the circle with six arms; B, is the index carrying the
telescope C, and the horizon-glass D, with the two clusters
of dark glasses E and F; at the opposite ends of this index
are the two verniers a and 6, the former has the clamp screw
and slow movement attached to it, consisting of a screw cy
which fixed the index to the circle; and d@ is the tangent

Re screw,

952 Description of an improved Reflecting Circle.

screw, which will move. the index a small quantity when
turned, to adjust it ‘accurately; G is the index mirror
‘screwed upon the index H, which has also a vernier, and a
clamp and tangent screw ee,, similar to the other; I is the
handle by which the instrament is held when in use; it is
fitted to a socket K, which.is screwed to the centre of the
circle, and is unscrewed from the circle when packed away ;
the handle is fisted toa springing socket, so as to turn round
upon the socket K, that it may be turned to any side of the
cirele for the convenience of holding it; 1t may be fastened:
by: a small milled nut, seen-in the figure which binds the
ends of the spring socket together; Lis a magnifying
glass for the purpose of reading the divisions of the ver-
niers; it is fitted upon a pin screwed into the indexes, and
may be applied to either. The figure 2 in the coruer of the
plate is a section, showing the construction of the central
part of the circle, where M is a section of the thickness of
the circle with a hole through the centre, and a recess turned
out in the lower side to receive a centre-piece N, which is
fixed in with three small screws; a-hole is turned in the
centre of this piece, and an axis Q is fitted into it with the
utmost accuracy, this axis has a flanch on the upper end by
which it is screwed to the index H, and upon this, the un-
der glass G, fig. 1, is fastened, by other screws passing
through a piece projecting from the back of it; the axis is
held in its place by a collet 7, fitted on. a. squaré part of it,
and held fast by a screws; beneath this.a piece is fixed on
in the centre of the.cirele, the edge of its flanch being
shown by ¢ in fig. 1, it-is-part of the screw which holds on
the spring-socket K, for the handle I, the upper end of the
centre: piece N which comes up above the circle, 1s turned
extremely true, and upon this the index B is fitted, or
rather a brass ring w screwed to it, so us to turn round upon
it as a centre.

The telescope C, is fixed to the index by two cocks and
by two screws 22, in these it can be raised up or lowered,
to adjust the. different brightness of the two objects seen in
the horizon-glass D, the one reflected from the central
mirror G, and the other seen directly through it; the dark
glasses at E, are intended to moderate the light of the sun,
m passing from the index to the horizon-glasses ; the frames
containing these glasses have holes E through them, to see
through the telescope and horizon-glass, "the other dark

glasses F, are situated behind the horizon-glass D, and may

be turned up or down as occasion requires.
The instrument is used in the same manner as the com-
mon

a se

a eae

Mr. Farey’s Accouni of the Valleys, Sc. in Derbyshire. 253

mon Reflecting Circle ; the angle being first taken on one
side of the parallelism of the alasses, and then oir the other;
so that the angle is doubled, then itis repeated on a fresh
part of the circle, as many times as the observer thinks pro-
per, and the produet divided by the number of observations
taken ; the mode of taking these observations is explained
at full in Dr. Rees’s Cyclopedia, and in Dr. Mackay’s ae:
lication on the means of finding the longitude.

XXXVII. Further Extracts from the first Volume of the
Report to the Board of Agriculture on Derbyshire. By
Mr. Joan Farey Sen., giving an Account of the princi-
pal narrow Rocky Wapiatt s, of the Strata intersected
and exposed by their Excavations, and in the most noted
Ciirrs, CAVERNS, Ge, therein: of the Ciiffs in the wider
Valleys, and of the modern Sties-or Sliding of Tracts of
argiblaceous Strata in their Sides, Sc.

B
Due Rocky parts of Derbyshire and its environs furnish
numerous instances of narrow Valleys, or Dales (Combes),
with precipitous and rocky sides, often exhibiting very fi fine
Rock Scenery, which, as objects of curiosity and interest
to the T Eevellen, seem to require some notice in this place :
and being able to mention the most striking paieua’s,
relating’ to the stratification of each of such Valleys, the
following list will, 1 hope, interest the Miner and the Geo-
logist, as pointing “out. the best situations for examining and
comparing the edzes. of corresponding strata, on the two
sides of a valley, the ledges of Rock in its bottom, and of
studying the truly surprising and powerful causes which
have operated, in the excavation of such Valleys; a subject
which will be further elucidated, by the account of the beds
of the different Rivers *, in Geutian VI. of this Chapter.

An Alphabetical List of the Names of the principal narrow
and Rocky VauLeys, or Defiles, with prec ipitous Cliffs,
in and near to Derbyshire, ‘describing their Situations, the
Srrata exhibited in their Sides ont. Bottonis, ith the
Names of the most noted Rocks, ‘Caverns, &&c. in each.

Barbrook Dale, NE of Baslow, about 3 $m: long, E of Der-
went River, in a NE dikeutians Chi is and loose blocks
of ist Grit Rock, a lead Cupola, rial and Sulphur
work in it.

* (This account will be found in my last Number p. 192.—Eprror.]

R3 Beres-

254 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Valieys

Beresford Dale, SSW of Hartington, between Derbyshire
and Staffordshire, extending about } m.S, along the course
of Dove River, in 4th Lime; ruins of a Castle.

Bonsal Dale, S of the Town, extending nearly W 2 m.
from Cromford Town to Griffe and Via-Gellia Dales,
with branches on the north up to the Town; Ist, 2nd,
3rd, and 4th Lime Rocks, and ist, 2nd, and 3rd Toad-
stones, Tufa at Marygrot Spring, Hot Springs formerly :
very deep and striking, with a good Turnpike Road
through it, towards Buxton: it has two lead Cupolas and
slag-mills, a Sulphur work, Calamine works, a Stone
Saw-mill, &c. in 1t*.

Bradford Dale, S and SW of Yolgrave, extending about
SW 13 m. from Lathki] Dale; Shale, 1st Lime, and 1st
Toadstone (in the River SW of Yolgrave), Slither, or
indestructible and barren Lime-rubble on its sides; a
prodigious large Spring at Middleton.

Bradwell Dale, S of the Village, extending thence § about
Im. in 1st Lime, with black Chert nodules in very res
cular layers.

Brook - bottom Dale, NNW of Tideswell, extending
about 11m. from the Town, 2nd Lime, and 2nd Toad-
stone (in the Brook at its NW end); Black Marble of
the 2nd Lime Rock is dug here, an ebbing Well for-
merly; Road through it, towards Chapel-en le-Frith.

Burbadge Dale, NNE of Nether Padley, extending NNE
about 1m. in Ist Grit, with Mill-stone Quarries.

Callenge Dale, SE of Monyash, a branch from Lathkil Dale
S, ist Lime, Slither,

Cave Dale, SW of Castleton, extending 1 m. from the
Town, 3rd Lime, 3rd Toadstone, and 4th Lime at its E
end; a very narrow entrance from the Town, columnar
Toadstone.

Combs Dale, S of Stoney Middleton, extending from near
Calver WSW about 14 m., deep, in Ist Lime, and
Toadstone at High-field Sough-mouth.

Cressbrook Dale, SE of Litton, extending about 13m. N
from the Wye at Monsal Dale; !st Lime, and 1st Toad-
stone at N end; 2nd Lime, and 2nd Toadstone, and 3rd
Lime at S end; Slither, Hobsthrust Rocks.

Cresswell Crags, E of Elmton, between Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshire, extending EF about 4 m, in a lifted
part of the yellow Lime f, small Caverns,

7
* [Mention of the effects of a great Fault on the Strata in this dale, will
be found in page 33 of the present volume.—-Eprrox.]
+ [This is now supposed, an upper Rock; see my present vol. p. 105.—Ep.]
Cummins '

and the Strata, &c. in Derbyshire. 255

Cummins Dale, E of Buxton, extending from Dale-end
Mill on the Wye about 3m. NW, 4th Lime, with a
crystallized granular hed of Limestone on $ side; a dry
dale, ow ing to the Swallow-holes at Water- dwallonis
above.

Deep Dale, N of Briarley-foot Toll-Bar, near Chelmerton,
extending about $m. SSW from Marl Dale, 4th Lime.
Devil’s Bowling- alley, N of Alderwasley, extending from

the Derweni . im. SW, ist Grit, with large loose blocks.

Dimins Dale, NW of Sheldon, extending from near the
Wye River SW about 14 m., Ist Lime at SW end, Ist
Toadstone, and 2nd Lime.

Dove Dale, NNW of Thorpe, between Derbyshire and
Staffordshire, extending northward near 5 m. along the
course of the Dove, surprisingly deep in the 4th Lime,
much Slither, but no loose blocks: the high and iso-
Jated Rocks in this grand dale are called Dove-dale
Church, Lover’s-Leap, Pickerings, Sugar- Loaves, Tis-
sington-Spires, Thorpe-cloud (at the 5 end), &c. Rey-
nard’s Hall, and Cave, and Dove- al are curious
Caves ; there is here also, a fine ncibeiiels Arch at Rey-
nard’s Hall: many very wide and barren or dead Veins
cross this dale obliquely.

Dovehole Dale, NE of Fairfield, extending about 14m.
NNW from Great-Rocks dale, in 4th Lime, a dry dale,
owing to Swallow-holes at Dove-hcle Céttans mill.

Eyani Dale. See Middleton Daie.

Flag Dale, SW of Wormbhill, extendizg about 1m. NW
from the Wye River at Chee Tor, in 4th Lime, with 3rd
Toadstone alony its NE border; Jarge Springs at its SE
end.

Grange-mill Dale. See Griffe Dale.

Grass Dale, NE of Wormhill, extending about 1m. NNW
from Monks Dale to Hay Dale, 3rd Lime at S end, 3rd
Toadstone, and 4th Lime at N end; a dry dale, owing
to Swallow- holes in this and Hay Dale aboves!

Greai Rocks Dale, W of Wormbill, extending 23m. fram
the Wye NNW to Dovehole Dale, in 4th ee with
sunk pieces of 3rd Toadstone in it? near the Buxton
Road ; a dry dale, owing to the Swallow-holes at Dove-
hole Cotton-mill ‘above,

Griffe Dale (cr Grange-mill Dale), S iy; Grange Mill, ex-
tending thence southward about 13m. to Via- Gellia and
Bonsal Dales, in 4th Lime, 3rd Toadstone at its N end;
anew Turnpike Road through it.

Hamps Dale, in Staffordshire, NNE of Caldon, extending

Ra about

256 Mr. Farey’s Account of ihe Valleys

ahout 91.m. SSW from Ilam and Wetton Dales at
Beaston Tor, in 4th Lime., The channel of the Hamps.
River is here dry, when not swoln by great rains, and its
waters, which fall into Swallow-holes at Waterfall and
Waterhouses, pass more than 3m. under ground to
Hamps ape ! W of Ilam Hall.

Hay Dale, S of Peak Forest Town, extending about 1 m.
N from Grass Dale, in 4th Lime; a dry dale, below the
Swaliow-holes near its N end.

Hay Dale, S of Wardlow, extending N about 1 m. from
Monsal Dale, in and Lime, with 1st Toadstone at its N
end, and nearly along its eastern border; vast beds of
Siither, or indestructible and barren Lime-rubble, on its
E side.

Hipple Dale, W of Brassington, extending about § m.
NNE, with a branch E, in 4th Lime; a prodigious
Spring breaks out at its S'end, near the great Limestone
Fault, about once in 20 years.

Tlam Dalé, in Staffordshire, NW = of the Town, extending
thence near 3 m. to the Hamps and Wetton Dales, 4th
Lime. The channel of the Manifold River is here dry
in dry seasons, owing to the vast Swallow-holes at Darfa
Cliff, Waterfall and Waterhouses above, until the great
Hamps and Manifold Springs break ont, in and near to
Tiam Gardens ; Beaston Tor Rock at its NW end.

Lathkil Dale, N and E of Yolgrave, ene from near
Stanton to near Monyash about 5im.3 Shale near Al-
port, Ist Lime, Ist Toadstone and ond Livae S of Over
Haddon, Tufa at ei it Slither, Raventor Rock near
Alport.

Markland Grips, NE of Ekhite extending NE about 3m.
to Cresswell upper Mill, in yellow Lime.

Marl Dale, NW of Chelmerton, extending SSW about
11m. from the Wye River to Deep Dale, 4th Lime; a
large Cavern.

Matlock-Bath Dale, SW of Matlock, extending nearly N
along the course of the Derwent River more than 2 m.
from Cromford Cotton-mi!ls ; Shale S of High Tor, ist
Lime, ist Toadstone, 2nd Lime, and 2nd Toadstone at
foot of the High Tor; Tufa, Petrifving Springs, Hot
Springs, and Baths ; High Tor, Scarthen Cliff, and Wild-
cat Tor Rocks, &c. Curabedand Cavern: a good Turn-
pike Road through this beautiful dale, tow ards Bakewell.
(See the Section in Plate V.*)

¥ [See plate {I. in my 31st volume; and further particulars of its Strata
in the present volume, page 195. —Epiror. i
Meadow

and the Strata, &c. in Derlyshire. 257

Meadow Dale, S of Tideswell, extending W about 3m.
from Tideswell Dale; 3rd Lime, and 3rd Toadstone at
its E end.

Middleton (or Eyam) Dale, W of Stoney Middleton Town,
extending thence about 13 m. W, 1st Lime, deep and
romantic, with several deep collateral branches ; Castle,
High Tor, Steeple, and Lover’s Leap Rocks; Bamford,
Charleswark, and Merlin’s Caverns: a Lead Cupola and
slag- mill, and Sulphur work; a good Turnpike, Road
passes through this curious dale between Tideswell and
Sheffield.

Mill Dale, E of Buxton, extending about 2m. NW from
Sherbrook and Wye Dales, 3rd Lime at its NW end,
3rd Toadstone and 4th Lime, white Marble, (Tufa); a
good private Coach- road through this dale.

Mill Dale, in Staffordshire, S of Alstonfield, extending W
about 1 m. from Dove Dale; deep and rugaed, in 4th
Lime.

Millers Dale, SE of Wormhill, extending W about 134 m.
along the course of the Wye River, from Monsal Dale
to Wye Dale and Sandy Dale ; 3rd Line; with 2nd Toad-
stone and 2nd Lime skirting its $ border and parts of its
N border; the 3rd Toadstone appears in the River, about
its middle and at its. W end, Tufa. Ravens Tor, and
other bold and high Rocks skirt this dale.

Monks Dale, E of Wormhill, extending NNW about’ 12
m. from the Wye at Millers Dale to Grass Dale: in 3rd
Lime, the 3rd Toadstone seen at its N end, where the
Buxton and Tideswell Road crosses it, and the 2nd Toad-
stone skirts both sides of it at the S end: Tufa is found
in it at the S end; a dry dale, owing to Swallow-holes
in Hay and Grass Dales above.

Monsal Dale, NW of Ashford, extending about NNW by
a crooked course (along with the Wye River) of about
23 m. from the W face of Fin Copt Hill to Millers
Dale; in 2nd Lime, 2nd Toadstone, and 3rd Lime at its
northern end, having the Ist Toadstone and ist Lime on
its eastern skirt at the southern end, and the 2nd es
along all its western skirt or border: much Slither,
indestructible and barren Lime rubble is lodged on die
sides of this valley; black Marble of the 2nd ‘Lime is
dug here, near Little Longsdon.

New-Mills Dale, S of the Village (in Glossop), between
Derbyshire and Cheshire, extending about W 1m. from
the junction of New-Mills Brook with the Govte River,
in 3rd Grit and Coal Shale, called Tor Cliff. This is the

most

258 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Valleys

most singular and striking Grit-stone Valley, which I
have any “where witnessed.

Plesley Forge Dale, E of the Town, between Derbyshire
and Nottinghamshire, extending E about £m. in yellow
Lime. Hobsthrast and other boid Rocks are here much
admired ; a large Cotton-mill oecupies the site of the
ancient Tron Forge.

Ricklow Dale, E of Monvash, extending nearly N about
1m. in Ist Lime; Entrochi Marble is here dug.

Sandy Dale, SSE of Wormhill, extending SSW about £
m. from Wye Dale to near Blackwell ‘Village, in 2rd
Lime, and 3rd Toadstone at its southern end: the and
Toadstone skirts its eastern border at the northern end,
and produces numerous quartz Crystals, or Derbyshire
Diamonds.

Sherbrook Dale, SE of Buxton, extending nearly SW
about 13m. from Wye and Mill Dales, in “4th Lime, and
a patch ‘of 3rd Toadstone, at the crossing of the Buxton
and Ashburne Road, whence a private Coach-road pro
ceeds through this dale eastward.

Smal]l Dale, SW of Peak Forest Town, extending NE
~ about 3 m. from Dovehole Dale, in 4th Lime, which on
the sides of this dale assumes a columnar structure. |
Thatch Dale, W of Wheston, near Tideswell, extending

E. about 1 m. from Grass Dale, 3rd Lime and 3rd ‘Toad-

_ stone; 4th Lime on its N skirt.

Tideswell Dale, S of the Town, extending therefrom 1 m.
to Millers Dale, in 3rd Lime, and 3rd Toadstone which
is thrown up therein by a Fault: the 2nd Toadstone
skirts along near its E border; Tufa is found in it, at its
Send. ft is often a dry dale, owing to the Swallow-

holes at the S end of Tideswell Town.
Via-Gellia Dale, N of Hopton, extending about 2 s

from Bonsal and Griffe Dales, in 4th Lime. The ao
ton-wood Freestone Quarries are on the E side of this
Dale, just below the 3rd Toadstone basset. Mr. Gell’s
private Road passes through this Valley.

Whaley Furnace Dale, N of Over Langwith, extending
about § m. nearly N, in yellow Lime.

Wensley “Dale, S of the Village, extending 4 m. ESE, in
ist Lime.

Wetton Dale, in Staffordshire, W of the Town, extending
nearly N about 14m. from Hamps and Ilam Dales ; deep
jn the 4th Lime. Thor’s House Tor is a remarkable
Rock with a natural Arch and Cave, by this Dale, which
is dry in dry seasons, below Darfa Swallow-holes, which

suddenly

and the Strata, &c. in Derbyshire. 259

suddenly absorb this considerable River, after it has
crossed the great Limestone Fault*.

Winnets Dale, W of Castleton, extending about 3m. W,
in 4th Lime, deep and rugged; the Turnpike Road to
Chapel-en-le-Frith goes up this steep and curious valley.

Wirksworth Dale, in NW end of the Town, extending
NW about 4 m. in 3rd Lime.

Woo Dale, E of:Buxton, exceeding N about $m. from
Wve Dale, in 4th Lime.

Wye Dalet, E of Buxton, extends E about 4 m. from Mil
and Sherbrook Dales to Millers Dale, in 4th Lime, and
3rd Toadstone at its E end, the 3rd Lime there also
skirting it on each side. Chee Tor, Peterson Pike, and
Lover’s Leap, are noted Rocks in this Dale, which has
some Slither in it, particularly opposite to Chee Tor in
Wormbill, where are two very large Springs of Water.
The Duke of Devonshire has, I have beew informed, a
design of extending the private Road for the accommo-
dation of Travellers, from Lover’s Leap at the SE end of
Mill Dale, through Wye Dale, Millers Dale, and Monsal
Dale to Ashford, by which all the Hills between these
places, and indeed all those between Buxton and Matlock
nearly, would be avoided, besides laying open the fine
Rock scenery on the Banks of the Wye River, which
has hitherto been but little seen, owing to the great dif-
ficulty of access to it.

I have selected the above, as specimens of the narrow
and precipitous Valleys of Derbyshire and its environs: the
neighbourhoods of Ballidon, Brassington- pastures, Brush-
field, Dowall, Flagg, Hartington, Pike-Hall and others,
present similar Dales, some of considerable length, and
not less striking than many of the above, and which I have
visited, but don’t happen to have learnt their particular
Names; otherwise they would have been included, on ac-
count of the facility which such Lists give, of recording a
number of highly curious and interesting phenomena, of
which Travellers may in future avail themselves: it is to
such Valleys also, that Mineralogists and Geologists must
principally resort, to become acquainted with the different
Calcareous and Basaltic Rocks of this County, to draw
materials for the Natural History of each, and for settling

* [See page 32 of the present volume.-—Ep1Tor.]

+ Sometimes the term #’ye Dale is used, to designate the entire Limestone
Valley from Buxton to Bakewell, in which sense, it includes Mill Dale,
Millers Dale, Monsal Dale, &c.-—See further particulars of the strata in
these Dales in the present volume p. 198.

the

266 Mr. Farey’s Account of the Slips in Strata, Sc.

the important and contested questions, respeeting the origin,
and mode in which Valleys were excavated and formed.

Tt must not be inferred, that high and precipitous Rocks
and Cliffs are peculiar to or confined to the class of Vallevs
of which I have been speaking, since the sides of the wide
Vallevs, also, abound with Rocks and Cliffs, some of them
highly picturesque and beautiful, but such Rocks seldom
continue far, without the intervention of grassy or culti+
vated slopes, such as the sides of Valleys usually present,
in districts where no durable or permanent Rocks exist in
their strata: whereas, in the narrow Valleys above, such
slopes, or interruptions to the continuity of the Cliffs on
each of their sides, are rare, and in some instances do not
occur at all, within the distances which 1 have named.
The Grit-stone Rocks of this district, seem particularly dis-
posed to appear and disappear repeatedly on the surface at
their edges, or in tracing their Bassets through the country ;
and except of the Ist or lowest Grit Rock, it is a rare thing
to find a continued Grit-stone Cliff of any length: some
of them, indeed, are so disposed to moulder and fall, on
exposure to the air, rain, frost, &c. that Cliffs of* such
Rocks are never séen; but where Sips or slidings have
happened, in comparatively modern times, of which there
are numerous and striking examples in Derbyshire, parti-
cularly in the Shale and shale Grit districts; and as it seems
of the utmost importance in Geological researches, to di-
stinguish between Cliffs or Facades of equal antiquity with
the Valleys themsel*és, probably, or such as have originated
‘with, of been increased by, subsequent and sudden Slips*,
or by the graduaf and recent undermining of currents of
the Brooks and Rivers, I shall here give a

F List

* Since the above was written, I have read with some surprise, pages 61
and 62 of the recent Translation of M. Werner’s * New Theory,” on the
subject of Minerzl Veins, wherein the phenomenon of Slips, as above, is
described, and it is gravely maintained, that such, happening “in rainy sea-
sons,” have opened the fissures for Mineral Veins (to be afterwards filled, I
supposed); as though the conchoidal fracture of a Slip from an adjoining
Tiill, close pressed oy rround by the moving load of softencd Earth, had
any relation to arake“Vein! his is not however solely relied on for the
opening of Veins; but we are informed (p. 48), that while the beds of the
Mountains were “at first wet, and possessed little solidity,” the mass “ yielded
to its weight,” “ sunk and cracked,” “* falling to the free side;” now, notwith-
standing the parade of mathematical definitions and preparations, at pages
88 and 89, ! would venture to ask any one who knows Derbyshire, and the
large rake Veins which cross the comparatively flat districts, that lay between
Bradwell and Tide-well or Wardlow, between Sheldon and Monyash, be-
tween Winster and Boneal, &c. which is the free side in any of these cases ?
or what sort of an action of their own weight it must have been, which
caused such immense lumps of Limestone to start a few feet asunder, in so

many

in and near Derbyshire. 261

List of such Suies, or modern sliding and sinking of tracts
of ground on the sides of Hills, as 1 have noted in the
course of my Survey, viz.

Alpert, in Hope Woodlands (Castles).

Atlow. W, Win House SE, recent. ¥

Bakewell, S of the Town; and E (Edge).

Bramcote E, Staffordshire (Black-Meer of Moredge).

Bretton NE, in Eyam (clough). -

Calver.S, in Back Dale (North Cliff).

Castleton NW (Mam-Tor Hill S side, large).

Charlesworth, in Glossop, NE (Hargate Hill), and SE
(Combs Rocks), in 2nd Coal Shale.

Darley N (Stone Cliff): and S (Qaker Hill).

Darwent: Chapel SE (Shuts ding Bank, and Lady-bower):
N (Hag-hole): and NNW (Ronksley).

Edale, in Castleton (Mam-Tor Hi!l NW and NE sides),
very large: (Back Tor, of Lose Hill W end) ;, and Lee
Farm. ¢

Great Hucklow N (Bur-Tor).

Haddon Park W, in Bakewell.

Hathersage E, N of the Cupola.

Lea, near Matlock, SW (Woodseats): and (White Tor).

Ludworth, in Glossop, NE (Stirrup Benches), in 2nd Coal
Shale.

North Anston, Yorkshire, N (Clarkes Stones) in yellow
Lime, &c.

*

Rowlee, in Hupe Woodlands, N, very large.

Stannington, near Shefield, Yorkshire (Little - Matlock
Cliffs), in Ist Coal Shale.

Stanton_Leys, near Darley, N (South Moor). _,

Starkhbolmes, in Matlock.

Tor-side, in Glossop, near Woodhead.

many instances, quite down to the Toadstone (and again under it, as some
would remind them)? It is just hinted to us, itis true (p. 50), that ‘the
shrinking of the mass of a Mountain, produced éy desiccation, aud still more
by Earthquakes, and other similar cauves, may also have cont:ibuted to the
formation of rents,” fpr Veins. Asa comment upon all this, the learned
Translator tells us, truly, I believe, (p. 256) that © the widest Veins generally
occur in the most horizontal strata.”. Since the above, Dr. James Millar,
in his Appendix to Williams’s Mineral Kingdom, professing to give a view
of. the“ Theory of Werner,” omits all notice of the opening of Mineral
Veins by Slips, Pressure, Earthquakes, &c. as above, and merely says, that
they happened, according to tlris ‘Theory, “by the drying and shrinking of
the newly formed strata.”-—Perhaps the Doctor chose this course, oyt of tens
derness to the author of the Theory.

_* (Mr. F. informs me, that a large and curious slip at Overton } m.$
(Raven's Nest Yor) in Ashover, has been omitted above.-—Eptror.]

Upper

262 Description of an inclased Grindstone

Upper Ashop, in Hope Woodlands, NW (Combs-Tor),
very large; (Dine-Sitch Tor): and N (Collet Hay).

Wensley, near Winster, N.

Willersley, in Matlock, NE.

Wirksworth, NW (Bole- Hill).

Woodhead, Cheshire, SE.

W oodseats- Hall, in Barlow, £ m. SW, in 2nd Coal Shale.

All the above Slips, except five, which are mentioned,
and numerous other smaller ones, are occasioned by the
Limestone Shale; sometimes the sunk pieces contain part
of the 1st Grit Rock on the Shale, or large pieces of shale
Grit, or shale Limestone, perhaps, in their masses.

As in the judgement of some I shall be thought, pro-
babiv, to have said too much already on the form and sur-
face of the County, I shall now close this Section by men-
tioning, that Derbyshire contains about 972 square English
miles, or 622,080 statute acres*.

XXXVIII. Description of an inclosed Grindstone, intended
to prevent prejudicial Effects to the Persons employed in
pointing Needles. By Mr.Tuomas Woop f.

Sir, I werewrrs submit to the inspection of the Society
instituted for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. a model of
an inclosed grindstone, intended to prevent prejudicial ef-
fects to the persons employed in pointing needles.

This grindstone is inclosed in a case of wood or metal,
aud hath a hood wherein a square of glass is inserted, de-
signed to admit light on the articles under operation.

The particular advantages attending a grindstone suspend-

ed in this manner, with a hood and a damp cloth, are, that
the stream or current of air, formed by the motion of the
stone on its axis, is confined by the case under the hood of

* Which is the result of a careful scaleing of my large Map. In the Ori-
ginal Report, Mr. Thomas Brown stated the quantity at 720,640 acres; the
Parliamentary Returns of the Poor’s Rates, as stated by Mr. Tliomas Poole,
make Derbyshire contain 689,280 acres, which last, considering that many
of the Parish quantities must have beén stated by estimation, agrees suffi-
ciently near with mineabove. About the year ‘1756, when Benjamin Martin
published his Natural History of England, this County was stated to contain
only 540,800 acres; but a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, now publishing
in London, magnifies its dimensions to 1,600,000 acres! See other particu-
Jars of the acres in this County, in Sections [V. and VI. of this Chapter.

+ From Transactions of the Society Sor the Encouragement of Aris, Manufac-
tures, and Commerce, for 181 1.—The silver medal of the Society was voted
to Mr. Wood for this invention, and a model of the Apparatus 1s preserved
in the Socicty’s Repository.

which

for pointing Needles. 263

which it enters, and carries with it the fine particles of steel
and sand, which it deposits on the Jower part of the inside
of the wet cloth, which forms the connection between the
sides of the case, by these means rendering the operation of
pointing needles less pernicious to the health of the opera-
tor. The stone may be worked by hand, by water, or ma-
chinery.
I am, sir, most respectfully,
Great Berkhampstead, Herts, jaauary 25, 1811, Tuomas Woop.

To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec. ‘

Description of the Engraving of Mr. Tuomas Woop’s
Improvement in the Grindstones for Pointing Needles.
Plate VI. fig. 1.

The grindstone A is inclosed in a box or case, formed of
two circles of wood, one marked B, aad another on the
opposite side, which cannot be seen in this view; aa are
two thin iron plates placed so near to the stone, as to be as
close to it as possible without touching it ; two other plates
b, support a pane of glass at c, which at the same time that
it prevents the dust from being thrown over the stone into
the air, admits light to that part’ of the stone where the
needles are applied; the remaining space between the edges
of the two circular boards B, is filled up by a coarse cloth
D, which encompasses about 3 of the edge of the stone,
and is then hooked up to the iron plates a, by means of two
bent pieces of plate iron, to which the cloth 1s sewed, one
of which is seen at d; and these are hooked upon other bent
pieces, which form part of the plate aa; the cloth is wetted
when put on, and will then cateh the dust which is pro-
duced by the grinding, and when it bas accumulated much,
by unhooking the cloth it may be shook out, and thecloth
being w vetted | is hooked on again; as the stone wears down
the piece of plate iron e, situated in a groove formed by
the edges of the plate a, is slided forwards to follow up the
reduced edge of the stone, and other plates are put into the
groove after e, when they are required; the case B is sup-
ported by a cross-bar of the frame in which the stone re-
volves, and which may be made in this or in any other
form; the stone is turned in the usual manner of grinding-

mills for needles, by a strap passing round a rigger, fixed on
the end of its spindle ; but this cannot be seen in this view,
it being hidden behind the stone.

XXXIX. De-

{ 264 j /

XXXIX. Description of a Contrivance for conveying Steam
Jrom Boilers. By Mr. Georce Wesster, of Leeds*.

Sir, Dy. is with pleasure that T communicate to you the
contents of this paper, hoping that this invention will be
beneficial to the public; the leading feature of the contri-
vance is simplicity, and that may possibly be a fair recom-
mendation, at least such it seems to me.

T have just finished a new erection, for my better accom-'
modation im the whitening and stoving of woollen cloths,
and having been long annoyed in this business with the
sieam from the hot water in the pans, I determined if pos-
sible to get quit of it; besides I had ample proof in my old
building, how injurious the steam was to the timbers of
the floors, &c. Permit me to say, that I spent a decent
sum of money to no purpose, and was giving up the idea,
in despair of its accomplishment, when I hit upon this ex-
pedient, which answers my most sanguine desires.

I presume that this easy method of car rying away steam
has never yet been in practice, and if once known will be
of very considerable utility. In the numerous instances in
trades where steam is inconvenient, it offers a ready rid-
dance; to the timber in buildings, and to the furniture in
houses, private kitchens, &c. it affords a desired security ;
bat in many trades, as glue-makers, tallow-chandlers, &c.
where the effluvi la, united with or without water, is offensive
and obnoxious, it must be doubly and trebly valuable; and
these cases are more numerous than I can recite or am ac-
quainted with, The evaporating matier needs no longer to
be the plague of the workmen, or the nuisance of the
neighbourhood.

Heping that the plan, though simple, and that the ob-
ject, though not of the first magnitude, will be deemed
worthy of the approbation of the Society,

I remain, sir,
- Your most obedient servant,
Georce WEBSTER,
Leeds, April 16, 1810. ‘ Stover, L.ceds.
To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec.

S1r,—In the model I have sent to the Society, the steam
chimney is carried up as high as the smoke chimney, which

* From Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu-
factures, and Commerce, ior 18.1, ‘fhe silver medal of the Society was
voted to Mr. Webster for this communication, and a model of the Apparatus
is preserved in the Society’s Repository.

is

A Contrivance for conveying Steam from Boilers. 265

ig the case at my works, being my first essay; but this is
not immediately necessary, for in the bleach house belong-
ing to Messrs. Benyon, Benyon, and Baze, flax-spinners,
of this place, I advised the steam to enter the smoke flue,
about six feet above the top of the pan, and with the same
good effect.

Several of my friends here have adopted them in their
kitchens, and wash and brew-houses. The steam flues are
variously curved, as the situations required them to reach
the nearest or most convenient smoke chimney, and with
the same uniformly good success. I would, however, re-
commend, that at the lower part of the aperture, where the
steam enters a smoke flue, a stone may be made to project
a little way into the chimney, in order to break the current
of the ascending smoke, and thereby facilitate the entrance
of the steam.

T would remark further, that in some cases a curved or
angular form may possibly be found the most eligible for
the steam chimney, in order to prevent a gust of wind, or
any other casualty, from forcing soot down into the liquid
in the pan.—lI have not yet witnessed any immediate neces-
sity for it myself, and therefore merely suggest it as possi-
ble, but yet very easily remedied.

I am, sir,
Your obedient servant,
GrorGE WEBSTER.

Leeds, May 23, 1811.
To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec.

Reference to the Engraving of a Section of Mr. Wexster’s
Apparatus, for conveyiug Steam from Boilers, represented
in Plate V1, fig. 2.

AA, the bri¢kwork surrounding the pan.

B, the steam chimney, made of wood, about two feet
broad and six inches deep. A small opening at the back
part of the pan admits the steam into this chimney, it mav
from thence be carried up to the top of the building or
turned into any smoke ehimney near at hand. :

In order to keep the water in the pan as hot as possible
during the night, there are two dampers in the steam chim-
ney at D, and if both these dampers are shut, and the whole
top of the pan covered closely over at c, the boiling water
even when the fire is withdrawn, will keep hot for the
workinen till the next morning.

CC, are loose boards, fitting close to each other, and

covering completely the better half of the circle of the top
Vol. 39. No, 168, April 1812. S of

266 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

of the pan; and upon this circumstance depends the whole
secret of getting quit of the steam. If you remove these
boards or partial coverings, the steam chimney loses all its
use. The letter / shows the part of the top of the pan
which should be left open to admit to the workmen a ready
communication with the hot water, and through this open
part a current of cold at is constantly seen to press and
force the steam rapidly up the steam chimney.

It is proper to add, that there must always be an empty
‘space of two or three inches between the surface of the hot
water and the under part of the cover cc, so as to permit the
steam to pass to the bottom of the steam chimney. To
effect this purpose, and at the same time to allow the cop-
per to be full of hot water, a rim or curb of wood F, about
three inches thick, should be fixed upon the top of the
copper, and upon this the covering boards ce placed; this
allows sufficient room for the steam to press forward to the
steam chimney at all times.

The cover and wooden steam chimney are removeable,
and may serve for another copper if both are not wanted at
the same time.

XL. Geological Observations on the County of Antrim, and
others in the North-east Part of Ireland, in an Altempt
to arrange the numerous Facts, stated by Dr. WILLIAM
Ricwarpson fo the Royal Irish Academy, and to the
Royal Society*, and those recently published in the Rev.
Joun DosBournptev’s Statistical Survey of Antrim, by
Dr. Wituiam H. Draummonp, in the Preface and Notes
to his Poem *‘ The Giant’s Causeway,” &c. and to refer
each of them to one of four principal Strata; separating
such as belong to the Alluvia: with incidental Facts and
Observations respecting other Districts, Sc. Sc, By Mr.
Joun Farey Senior, Mineral Surveyor.

To Mr, Tilloch.

Sir, Tue announcement which Dr. William Richardson
made in your 37th volume,’ page 368, of the Rev. John
Dubourdieu being employed ona Statistical Survey of the
County of Antrim in Ireland, to which he meant to con-
tribute his assistance, as to the Geological Facts of that
most interesting County, has made me anxiously expect the
appearance of thisvolume: and in the perusal of which I

* See vols. xxxv,-and xxxiii of this Magazine,
: have

published respecting Antrim, Derry, «8c. 267

have lately been gratified, through the kindness of G. B.
Greenough, Esq. the able President of the Geological So-
ciety of London, who at the same time lent me some notes
made by himself, when in the country S of Lough Neagh,
in the last year, with the Rev. Dr. William Hamilton Drum-
mond’s poem * The Giant’s Causeway”’ (having a copious
Preface and Notes on the Mineralogy of Antrim) and the
Rev. Richard Barton’s Lectures on Natural Philosophy,
giving many particulars of the shores of Lough Neagh. I
lament that [ have not seen the Rev. G. Vaughan Samp-
son’s Statistical Survey of Londonderry or Derry County*,
or the Surveys of Tyrone, Armagh or Down, or read any
connected-account of their Strata; only the incidental cir-
cumstances, noted in the works and paper above mentioned,
except the slight account of the Drumglass Coal Strata
given by Mr. Whitehurst in his “* Inquiry concerning the
Earth,” 2nd Edit. p. 246, and which are quite insufficient
to prove she identity or otherwise, of the Coal-measures near
the SW corner of Lough Neagh and those at the NE corner
of Antrim,and of Ireland? which to me appears a question
of considerable importance, and | have hopes, that by
stating some facts from the above sources, and conjectures
of my own founded thereon, as to this point, I may obtain
from Dr. Richardson or others of your Geological Readers,
the further facts necessary for confirming or correcting
what I am about to offer on this head; as well as on an-
other scarcely Jess important, viz. Whether the Coal-mea-
sures at the NE corner of Antrim under-lie or over-lie the
great Basaltic Seriest which occupies the surface of great
part of that County? a point which I lament to find Mr.
W. rather obscure upon, who after speaking of the Basaltic
Sea Cliffs, ranging trom the west and finally terminating
upon a stratum of white Limestone at Ballycastle, says,
Inquiry, p. 259, “‘ and where a new arrangement of strata

* Who, I am told, intends to make a Seciion across Antrim and Derry,
and continue it across the other Counties to the Western Coast of the
Island.

+ Dr. W. H. Drummond dispatches this-part of his description of the
NE extremity of Antrim, in the manner of too many Wernerians, by saying,
p- xiv. ‘at Murloch the primitive strata are seen dipping to the NW in an
angle of about 45°, Freestone occurs here between the strata of Trap,”
and adds, “ The Basaltic formation which is here renewed, attains its highest
elevation at Fairhead, rising in proud magnificence over alternate strata of
freestone and Coal, and thence gradually sloping down to the strand of
Ballycastle.” Dr. R. speakime of this same spot says, at Murlogh “the
precipice is composed of alternate strata of Freestone and Coal, inserted be-
tween mighty strata of columnar Basalt.” Appendix 81: and says nothing
of the primitive strata of Dr. D.! ¥

S2 commences

268 Mr. Farey’s Statemeni of Geological Facts

commences, quite of a contrary nature;” referring to his
engraved Section, across the mouth of the Glenshesk or
Ballycastle Valley ; whence it might be inferred, that the
Coal- measures over-lie both the great Basalt and the white
Limestone, though doubtfully, on account of their dips
being shown as very different and the Sea preventing
their junction from being seen; but which difference of
the dips when viewed in this direction, viz. looking S,
seems inconsistent with what Dr. R, says in your Magazine,
vol. xxxiil. p. 200; viz. that this Basaltic stratum (of Fair-
Head, which he seems throughout to consider as the great
Basalt of the other Cliffs on white Limestone), lies * with the
same angle of inclination in which i¢ was disposed along our
whole (north) Coast, that is, a slight ascent to the north,”
which he elsewhere states to be 7° to 10° of inclination,
Appendix, p. 95, to Mr. D.’s Antrim Stat. Surv. agreeing
with Mr. D. p. 76, who represents all these Coal-measures,
as **tolerably regular in their disposition, forming @ small
angle with the horizon to the south,” and being of course
nearly level in the cross or E\and W direction, as Mr. W.’s
section shows the Coal series: his position however of the
Basalt and subjacent Limestone, don’t accord with what
Dr. R. says vol. xxxiil. p. 200 (see also vol. xxxv. p. 373),
viz. that on the west side of Ballycastle Pier, the bold ba-
saltic precipices suddenly disappear, and at @ lower level
disclose the substratum, which appears to be an alternation
of Sandstone and Coal, sometimes with bituminous schist,”
or Shale, as I should call it, to distinguish it from: the
Schistus or Slate south of this, spoken of by Dr. R. Ap-.
pendix. 95, as having @ dip of 60°, but in which observa-
tion [ cannot doubt that he mistook the sératuda for the
lamina of stratification (if it has any such), against which
mistake Mr, Arthur Aikin and other observers were cau-
tioned, by a Correspondent in your 38th volume, p. 357 ;
Dr. W. H. Drummond, in speaking of the Red Sandstone
in Cushendall Bay, falls, probably, into this same error,
Preface xiii,

After considering what I have read as above, I have

adopted the suppositions of the Drumglass and Ballycastle

or Tyrone and Antrim Coal-fields, containing detached
parts of the same Strata, which belong to the top of the
great Antrim Basalt, and that they once connected thereon
between these two Coal fields; and shall reply to Dr. R.’s
question, Appen. p. 31, by saying, that here Coal-measures
do intervene lLetween Basalt strata, according to the state-
ment of Mr. Whitehurst, p. 260, of Dr. Hamilton (as

quoted

published respecting Antrim, Derry, @c. 269

quoted by Mr. D. p. 86), and by himself, Appen. p. 81, as
before observed; or rather, they over-lie the great Basalt,
and under-lie the Whinstone, as both of the authors, first
above quoted, call this small or upper Basalt, although
Mr. D. rather obscures this interpretation, in page 86, by
saying, that the Whinstone is * the same (kind of ?) stone
as the Basalt of Fair-Head, and is imperfectly columnar :”
we are no where however told, what space to the south-
ward this Whinstone occupies, before the Slate com-
mences? and whether other Coal-measures do not come
on upon this Whinstone? (as I think very probable); or
how or in what form the Whinstone or its covering strata
adjoin to (whether by underlieing or overlieing) the Slate
S of them?; on all which points Dr. R. is rather sur-
prisingly silent, and does not.any where, [ believe, mention,
or allude to the Granite* found S of the Coal-field, on
Ballypatrick Mountain, mentioned by Mr. D. p. 84, and
on the Mountain above Cushenden (perhaps the same ?)
accompanied by Gneiss (p. 92 and 93), where “ the enor-
mous fractured mass of this substance, which hangs over
the Road on the left, and the disjointed fragments that lie
under it on the right, as the hill'is descended, cannot fail
of striking the beholder with awe;” at the bottom of page
93, Mr. D. is more particular in describing the places of
the Limestone, Granite, Gneiss, and red coarse Sandstone
(or Puddingstone), to the Traveller. Dr. R. in describing
the edge of the basalt on the Limestone, in this part, App.'
p- 21 and 43, mentions only the Slate, and by directing
the devious steps of his Tourist (App. p. 95), up the
southern Road from Ballycastle (instead of that SE) shows
him this Schistus only: and in so doing (like Dr. Townsend,
as I suspect) loads the Cosmogonists with unnecessary dif-
ficulties, respecting the unconformableness of the Slate and
Coal-measures, as already mentioned,

I shall now take the liberty of suggesting (in hopes of
early correction through your means, wherever J am wrong)
what appears to me to be the structure of the north-eastern
part of Ireland, from the facts disclosed in the very interest-
ing accounts which J have been reading, and the know-
ledge I have of similar or analogous phenomena in very
distant situations.

First then, I suppose that the lowest known Stratum or
assemblage of strata in this district is a very thick Red

* At Cushleak N of Newtownglens, Gneiss, mica Slate, and Granite are
found, and occupy the Coast, according to Dr. D. Preface xiii: and ‘dark-
blue primary or transition Limestone,” at Tor-point, p, xiv.

$3 Mari,

210 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

Marl, one of the three, probably, which are mentioned in
my reply to Dr. R.’s Letter, p. 442, of your 37th volume,
and closely allied in its properties, though not the same,
which I have somewhat explored and treated on in my
Derbyshire Report, vol. i. p. 146, and in your present vo-
lume, p. 28.

Dr R. when describing the great Basalt stratum in your
33rd volume, pages 105, 113, and 204, and in Mr. D.’s
Appen. p. 62, 80, &c. speaks of «¢ the little systems, by the
ageregate of ‘which our coast is formed; nature having
changed her materials, or their disposition, or both, every
two or three miles ;”’ ** Nature in the formation of her ar-
yangements has never acted upon an extensive scale in our
Basaltic area,’ &c. Whenever there is a change of ma-
terials, by the introduction of a new system, the lines of
demarkation (are) always distinct and well defined ; yet, the
different materials pass into each other without interrupting
the solidity and continuity of the whole mass.” ‘ We
(addressing Mr. Davy) studiously sought for the points
where nature had made any change in her materials, or
their arrangement, hoping that at the junctions of these
little systems we should find,” &c.: and which are the
kind of passages, to which I alluded, vol. xxxill. p. 257, as
not perfectly understanding them two years ago, but which
I think that I now do, as applied by Dr. R. to the ano-

malies or occasional changes in the substance, or the struc-
ture, or the form, &c. of what he still considers as the same
stratum of Basalt, notwithstanding such changes. In the
mention which Dr. R. has since made of the matters below
white Limestone (except speaking of schist in several
places), App. pages 21, 22, 47, &c. he says, they compose
"Sa district 1 in which the component fossils’ are much di-
versified,” having. ** more diversified materials and more
diminutive and irregular arrangements,” and again, he
speaks of the valley “between Cave-hill and Carmoney be-
ing excavated through the basaltic and calcareous strata,
and the more irregular materials upon which they rested,’
&e. From all which I conceive, that Dr. R. will find no
great difficulty in understanding, and perhaps in admitting
the statemeuts in my Derbyshire Report, vol. i. p. 147 to
156, 280, &c. as to the anomalous, accidental, or chance
Beds and nodular and buge anomalous Concretions or
rudely crystallized Masses in the Red Marl strata, in and
near to that County, and elsewhere; whatever he may think
of my present aitempt, to refer the very various and dis-
similar substances in the lower part of his series (to which

he

published respecting Antrim, Derry, @&c. 271

he so often alludes) to one very similar and immense
stratum of Red Marl, as mentioned above; within which
they are now actually imbedded, either isolated, or touching
or enveloping one another, or occupying its entire place in
local tracts: and I am extremely anxious, to engage so de-
liberate and careful an observer as Dr. Richardson, in
comparing these suggestions with the facts within bis
knowledge or reach, respecting all the north-eastern Coun-
ties in Ireland, as soon as may be, through the medium of
your Magazine, or any other he may prefer :—but to pro-
ceed:

This thick Red Mari stratum does not appear to have
formed a single plane, but to form a Trough on a large
scale, such as I have traced in several parts of England*,
the central or lowest line of which is to be sought for, by
the dips of the superficial strata towards itt (where such
strata are regular), from near the north-western corner of
Antrim along the vale of the lower Bann River between
Antrim and Derry, across Lough Neagh and thence per-
haps along the vale of the upper Bann, and line of the
Newry Canal between Down and Armagh Counties, or
some miles to the west of this perhaps, and into the Eastern
Sea, in Dundalk Bay, probably; and I think it likely for
Teasons to be stated hereafter, that this trough declines or
deepens towards the south as far as the south side of Lough

* As between the Isle of Wight and the main Land (extending E to the
French Coast and W into Dorsetshire and perhaps into Devonshire); up
the course of the Thames from its mouth into Wiltshire ; and of which an
instance is particularized in the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire, in
your present volume, page 97 and 98: they are indeed so common and im»
portant a phenomenon in the position of the British'Strata, that Mr. Wiliam
Smith used sume years ago to think, that thereby he could account for the
very crooked and fingered form of the endings of the strata,-withour ad-
mitting such to be the remains of strata of which the other parts are denu-
dated and gone, asI then and since have maintained, and as Dr. R. has since
written respecting the irregular outlines of strata which I never saw. Mr.
Smith, when explaining himself to me and others on this subject, has often
taken a sheet of writiug paper, and folded it up as the paper or mounting
of a lady’s Fan is done, except the folds being parallel instead of converging
as in the Fan, and pulling it nearly open, has, holding it inclining slightly
towards the South-East, said, ‘this is nearer to the position of the strata
on the south and east of England, than any one plane, and the greater part of
that country will be found to consist of nearly parallel Ridges and Troughs.”

Local bumps, humps, or elevations in the strata, and basins, swilleys, or
local depressions from all sides, { find to be also common, and not less im-
portant to be traced and investigated, than the long Troughs and Ridges
above mentioned, as I hope to show, by the results of a particular Survey
of a large district in Derbyshire, which J have in hand, for the truly liberal
President of the Royal Society.

+ Of which Mr. D. takes a general notice (quoting the Rev. G. V. Samp-
son) in p. 27 and 31 of his Stat. Surv. of Antrim.

S4 Neagh,

272 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

Neagh,.and perhaps much further. The northern edge or
end 73 this great Marl stratum seems submerged in the
ocean from Ballycastle to Lough Foyle, or near it, rising
towards (and producing as I expect) the mountains in the
north-eastern parts of Donewall; as its western side do
those of the western parts of Derry, Tyrone, and those of
Monaghan and Louth Counties too, perhaps, in so many
jittle svstems,”’ as the tracts of ‘different Rocks therein
may not improperly be styled (in the language of Dr. R.),
when compared with the entire mass of “the stratum I am
describing : whose eastern side seems to produce the moun- -
tain, on the eastern side of Down County; but with respect
to all which, I am left to much conjecture, owing to the
works I have read containing only the mention of Schistus
or Slate (belonging to this stratum) on the western side of
the trough *, by Dr. R. in your 33rd vol. pages 195, 199,
204, &e, and App. 34, &c.: except a few facts relaiing to

he County of Down, which will appear in their more pro-
ts places hereafter. With respect to the eastern side and
the top part of the edge of this great and lowest known
stratum of this district, as far as they appear within the
county of Antrim, though the space is vastly smaller, my
materials are more ample, and which J shall proceed briefly
to mention, requesting a careful comparison of them with
my Derbyshire Report, but nore so with the phenomena
of the Red Mar! stratum itself, that are there detailed. The
substances then of this district are :

Red Marl or Clay, with its usual characteristic streaks and
beds of greenish blue or blue marl-like Earth, which appears
(at Cave-hil’) at the top of this stratum, Mr. D. p. 69 and 72,
(a thin ditwmous schist, Dr. D. pref. viii.) ; Red Clay from
40 to 106 feet deep and more, beneath Belfast Town,
Pp do85. in places along the vale of the Lagan and coasts
of Belfast Say and the Ocean, to the Island Magee, as at
Maheramesk N of Hillsborough, Maheragall, Belfast,
and Carrickfergus, Mr. D. p. 74, the Forth vale near Bel-
fast, and Gasdeahiches ter in Magee Isle, p. 72; in the
Forth and Woodburn valleys (¢ extensive beds of Clay,
commonly red, sometimes of a deep blue and spotted,”’)
and on the shores of Carrickfergus, where it makes Bricks,
Dr. D. pref. vit.3; and Marley Clay at Killroot, Mr. D.
p- 139, &c.

Gypsum in the Marl or red Clay, white, yellow, retidiah:

* Unless the red and greenish Marl observed by Mr. Sampson were in
Derry, as might be inferred, from his being the surveyor of that County,
mentioned by Mr. D, p. 69,

and

published respecting Antrim, Derry, Ge. 273

and fibrous, in beds not exceeding two feet thick, in the
Forth and Woodburn yales and the shores of Carrickfergus,
Dr. D. pref. vii. in the Forth vale, and on the Coast of
Belfast (Dr. R. vol. xxxv. p. 375) and thence to Castle-
chichester in Magee Isle Mr. D. p. 72, and at Megabuy-
hill (in searching for Coals!) in Maheramesk, Mr. D.
p. 74; the gypsum haying been called Talc by Mr. Barton
p- 106.

A putty-like substance found in the Red Clay, often la-
minated, fine and most unctious to the feel (Mr. D. p. 69),
is perhaps a kind of Fudlers’ earth.

Salt-Springs (indicative, no doubt, of Rock Salt beds in
the Mar! below) ; the strongest in Ireland is on Noah Dal-
way.s Estate near Carrickfergus, Dr. D. says pref. vil. At
Ballyhill, and at Red Hall in Magee Isle, there are pure,
but not strong salt springs, Mr. D. p. 142.

Mineral Springs (purging nitrous) in marley Clay at
Killroot, and near Carrickfergus, Mr. D. p. 139.

Sandstone, variegated, and containing clay galls, is said
to be lowest stratum seen, (dipping W) on the beach at
Ringin point by Dr. D, pref. p. vi. ** Sandstones of dif-
ferent colours, different degrees of hardness, and differing
in the size of the grains which enter into their composition,’
form the grand basis of this County. They appear at the
southern extremity of it near Spencer’s Bridge, where it
joins the County of Down. From thence they may be
traced along the whole valley to Belfast and along the shore
to Carrickfergus, a tract of not less than twenty-two miles,”
Mr. D. p. 91; and at Whitehouse Point, Dr. R. vol. xxxv.
p. 375. ‘The depth, to which the Sandstones go, is very
great and quite uncertain; this has been tried in many
places near Lisburn, where afier boring near 200 feet, the
undertaking has been abandoned: and at the Freestone
Quarry at Scraba in the County of Down 450 feet have been
bored through without success,” Mr. D. p. 92. ‘The sur-
face of this stratum makes a sandy soil W of the Lagan,
from Maize Course to near Belfast, p. 23. ‘* A fine section
of this sandstone may be seen at Macedon Point, arranged
in many-coloured stripes, and cut by vertical veins of an
unctious argillaceous substance, resembling Fullers’ Earth,”
Dr. D. pref. vii. ‘ On the western shores of Cushendall
Bay, we meet with a red Sandstone, in beds five or six feet
thick, dipping to the E (stratula, probably?) at a high an-
gle:” * a curious breccia or puddingstone consisting of
rounded pebbles of quartz imbedded in a red sandstone
cement: the cayerwed Rock, on which Red Bay Castle

stands,

274 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

stands, and the grotesque caves of Cushendun, are found in
this material,” Dr. D. pref. xii. and p. 143: this pudding-
stone is aviced particularly by Mr. D. at page 92 and 94.
I am inclined however to think it a coarse and very wre-
gular gritstone, as to the size of the grains, of which I
have seen many examples in Red Marl districts.

Magnesian Limestone, this appears on the S shore of Bel-
fast Lough, at Hollywood in Downshire, and by Dr. D.
pref. vi. 1s supposed to underlie the Sandstone: many miles
N of this at Tor Point there is ‘a dark-blue primary or
transition Limestone with veins of chlorite and calcareous
spar,” Dr. D. pref. xiv.

Gneiss, Mica Slate, and Granite appear in Cushleak, the
shores here being bold but not perpendicular, Dr. D. pref.
xii. ; and Grey- -wache and Schist, and Granite are said,
pr obably, to underlie the magnesian Limestone of Holly-
wood, pref. vi.

- Porphry i in unconformable strata of a yellowish and
bluish external surface, containing veins of Jasper,”’ occur
in Cushendall Bay, Dr. D. pref. xiii. What Dr. R. and
Mr. D. have said of the Slate, Gneiss, and Granite, in-Jand,
at the NE corner of the County, have heen ribtived already
at page 269, and it remains I think only to mention, that
a vein of Lead appears in Magee Island, “Dr. D. pref. xii. ;
that Manganese is found near Bally castle, S (I suppose in
these strata?) Mr. D. p. 62, and Slieve Aura mountain
‘‘has been long supposed to contain Mines,” or veins
rather, Dr. D. App. p. 33.

Such are the varied substances which the south-eastern,
east, and north-eastern borders of Antrim furnish, from
what I consider as different parts of the same thick stra-
tum, without being furnished with the means of tracing
any invariable law as to their disposition, or thinking that
such can be there traced (if such exists) any more than in
another stratum of similar -properties which I have else-
where examined, and which nothing but the succession of
well marked and different strata (the Lias, &c.) above it,
could hinder us from concluding to be the very same
stratum.

Second—A creat Limestone stratum, or rather an assem-
blage of calcareous strata, whose parallel planes are applied on
the Marl (or its anomalous beds s), and except at the north-"
east and sonth-east corners of Antrim county, but little of
the Mari remains uncovered thereby, while the surface
which the Marl or its imbedded Biaetaiecs make, in the

mountains of Down, Louth, Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone,
and *

published respecting Antrim, Derry, &c. 275

and Derry are probably very variable and considerable, and
the same is a proper subject of further elucidation in your
Magazine, as a work pretty generally and increasingly read
by Geological inqnirers. Dr. W.H. Drummond, preface
Pp. viii. gives the following account of the strata above the
thin layer of bituminous schist, already mentioned pege
272; this is overlaid, says he, “ by a Ulwe Limestone con-
taining the Star-stone, or vertebrae Pentacrinites, Cornu
ammonis, and Anomia gryphus. To this succeeds a stra-
tum of arenaceous Limestone, often of a green hue, known
in this district by the very appropriate name of Mulatto,
from its mixed nature, and the difference of its colour from
the snow-white Limestone, by which it is covered. This
stratum abounds in quartz pebbles (or coarse grains of
silex, rather ?) and organic remains, particularly Belemmites*,
Pectenites Evhini, Osirecites, Cardia, Anomia gryphus,
and a substance resembling Gypsum, which some suppose
to be the Pinna marina, so closely conglomerated and
united by the arenaceous paste, that they seem in some
places to compose almost the whole mass.

«‘ Above the mulatto lies a very thick stratum of white
Limestone, one of the purest carbonates of Lime, also con-
taining Belemnites in abundance, Cardia more rarely, with
Flints, ranging in horizontal lines, and often, where it is
traversed by a dyke, exhibiting a granular structure like
Marble. The horizontal lines of its stratification being cut
by vertical fissures, it has frequently the appearance of
huge quadrangular blocks, artificially built on each other,”
page ix. And he continues, ** One of the most remark-
able appearances, which will next arrest the observer’s at-

* The Belemnile and Echinus are often found in flint. The former, when
found either in limestone or mulatto, is generally of a yellow, calcareous,
sparry texture on the outside, the centre being of the same substance as that
in which it is imbedded. From some specimens of the Echinus which I
broke, it appears, that they are a solid mass of the same material as that in
which they lie, and contain no central crystallization: but the place of the
shell in flint is marked by a very thin sparry incrustation. In the mulatto’
the shell is very distinctly preserved; it has become of a sparry texture; is
much thicker than that of the urchin, now found in our Seas; has no ap-
pearance of an opening having ever been at the top, but of two small orifices
near each longitudinal extremity of the base, by which the matter was in-
jected. St. Pierre in his !Vth Study of Nature observes, “that many of
the cornu ammonis and single-shelled fossils, which from their form have
resisted the pressure of the ground, have not ejected their animal matter,
but exhibit it within them under the form of crystals, whereas the two-
shelled are totally destitute of it.” The observation will apply sometimes
to the cornuammonis, not to the Echinus, as far as my observation extends.
To the above list, add the Myttlus crista galli, the Dentalium, Arco, Tellina,
and Serpula, found in Collin-Glen by Mr. Templeton,”

tention, -

rr a
i*

276 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facets

tention, is the unconsolidated stratum of mingled Flints,
Limestone, and decomposed Basalt, which immediately
succeeds. The Limestone is reddish, as if tinged by the
oxidaied iron of the basalt, the basalt friable as an earthy
mould, and the flints shivery, as if they had undergone the
action of "intense heat.. The flints which lie in greatest
number on the limestone vary in colour from a light pink
to a rosy red, and contain cavities with a yellow impalpable
powder, or minute crystals, They are often striped, as if
formed by successive depositions, and exhibit manifest
traces of Corals, Madrepores, and other marine exuviz,
which are supposed to have supplied the silicious matter,
or to have served as its focus of attraction.” ‘‘ On the
beach near Glynn the Anomia gryphus, and the vertebra
Pentacrines are found in abundance, in blue Limestone,”
p- xi.—* In the isle of Muck, near Larne, there is a course
of gray Limestone between the white, according to Mr. D.
Stewart, ” Mr. D. p. 68.—‘¢ On the Black mountain, that
species " denominated phosphoric Limestone is met with ;
likewise at Church Bay in the Isle of Rathlin. On the
mountain just mentioned, at the height of about 1100 feet,
is a kind of calcareous Sahalatone. containing a variety of
shells, among which some of our native ones may be re-
cognized, as Arcta glycinaris, Pectens, Cardium edulis, and
intermixed with the Mytilus imstatus (figured in White’s
Natural History of Selbourne), reatagen serpule, (Mr.
Templeman), &c. &c. Mr. D. p. 6

Blue and white or dove-coloured Marble} is found on the
lands of Ballymurphy, two miles from Belfast; also in
Collin Glen, some of its white part being “ as transparent
as statuary Marble.” A fine red Marble inclosing reddish
Flints in Bamer’s Glen near Trummery: a whin dyke
far advanced in decomposition to a yellowish or a reddish
ochreacous substance, cutting through this and other quar-
ries to the SW, imparts these colours to the limestone near
it, making it much harder, finer in the grain, and more
crystallized, and which when cut and polished, are nearly
equal to the best imported marbles, but they cannot be
raised in large blocks, Mr. D. p. 67.

From the circumstance of the upper or. white Limestone
ted * (200 feet thick) never rising wholly above the Sea

* Often mentioned as Chalk by writers; and some even who have visited
it of late, seem disposed to endeavour to identify it with the Chalk strata of
the south of England; a vain attempt surely ?—On these accounts I was
sorry to read “chi ilky cliffs” in Mr. D. p. 63; and that the Gypsum far be-
low it “has probably been Chalk,” p. 75. —Dr. R. says Limestone “as white
as chalk,” vol, xxxiii, p. 201.

at

published respecting Antrim, Derry, &c. 277

at the north-end of the trough, in the distance of 25 miles
from Ballycastle to Solomon’s Porch (Dr. R. vol. xxxiii.
p. 202), and sinking wholly below it, near the mouth of
the Bann, [| am not surprised, that the previous account
of Dr. R. which I had read, of the northern Basaltic Coast,
takes no notice of the incumbent coloured and shelly beds
of Limestone, above mentioned: the mention however
which Dr. R. makes of this stratum, rising as it passes S
and inland from Solomon’s Porch (vol. xxxiii. p. 202),
might have given occasion to observe and describe the
whole of this grand calcareous stratum. From Portrush,
where the Limestone first emerges from the Sea at the end
of the Trough in Antrim, Mr. D. has pretty fully described
its edge, to Ballycastle, and thence across the inland
mountains to near Newtownglens, and thence along the
Coast, within a few miles of it, and of Belfast Bay and
the Lagan River, to. near Soldier’s Town, (App. p. 29),
and to Maharlin in the County of Down, Mr. D. p. 63 to
69, 93, &c.3 I shall therefore dismiss this stratum for the
present: and proceed to

Third—The Great #asaltic stratum resting on the Lime-
stone last described, whose 16 curious strata or thick beds
{together 1200 feet thick, vol. xxxv. p. 376),,Dr. R. has
exhibited and described in your 33rd vol. p. 166, and of
which some further information from Dr. R. will be found
in Mr. D.’s App. p. 17, with a separate memoir on the
Zeolites imbedded in these Basalt strata and the Ochre or
red decomposing beds interposed between them, App. p. 2.
Mr. D.’s accouiit of these strata, pages 38 to 60, will also
be perused with interest by Geological readers: at page 60
he mentions Jron Ores of different kinds, and thin strata of
rich Hematites found among the beds of argijlaceous Ochre:
and og Ore on the sides of the mountains, and in the val-
Jeys between them; and from which sources, probably, the
Tron-works that were formerly used N of Randalstown,
were supplied with Ore, p.473; and the Iron (Furnace)
Foundery on the shore of Lough Neagh in Derry, by strata
of Iron Ore stretching from that place to Slieve Gallon
Mountain, a distance of ten miles, (in this Basalt?) accord-
ing to Mr. Barton, p. 140 and 144.

Pozzolano of good quality has been worked from these
ochreaceous beds in Rathlin Isle, Mr. D. p. 61, and Dr. R.
App. 12. Pullers’ Earth, at the Falls of Belfast, Bamer’s
Glen, p. 62 and 67; Soap-stone of a purple colour, in a
Jarge stratum SW of Larne, p. 61; Tripoli of a rough kind
on the SW of Agnew’s hill, p. 62; French-Chalk near the

Gobbins

278 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

Gobbins in Magee Isle, p. 62: and Wood Coal or com-
pressed bituminated Wood, usually in thin seams between
the basalt beds, at Mount-Druid near Ballintey, p. 87, at
Killymorris near the centre of the County, at Limmneagh,
also near the E shore of Lough Neagh (between Ballin-
derry and Crumlin), and near Portmore, p. 89, at which
Jast place two beds of 25 feet thick, a third 9 feet, anda
fourth still lower was penetrated 18 inches by the boreing
rods, at 80 yards deep, before the operation was discon-
tinued, p. 90: and at Bengore-head, in a considerable stra-
tum between, two rows ot basaltic pillars! p. 90. Note.
The shrinking and opening of fissures. and caverns in the
Limestone, beneath these Basalts (in common with all thick
calcareous strata which I ever saw}, which the water-swal-
Jows at Red Hall and near Kilwalter (p. 71) serve to illu-
strate, may well account for the sinking of the Basaltic
surface into Punnel-shaped hollows*, at Broom-mount in
Soldier’s Town and elsewhere, mentioned App. p. 1123
but where it was by no means necessary, to resort to the
improbable suppositions of ‘the softening and carrying
away of some understratum, probably Limestone, by the
action of subterraneous running waters,”’ to account for
these local, and in some districts very common depres-
sions of the surface: and which seem to have nothing
in common with the decomposing cores and semi-
spherically-shaped cavitiest left on the surface of Basalt,

* Among the numerous facts collected, and further attainable, towards
my proposed Mineral History of Derbyshire (should an adequate interest
and encouragement arise and offer, to render it prudent on my part ever
to resume it), which covld not find a place in the published Report to the
Board of Agriculture, the several conical depressions in the 3rd Toadstone
(or Basalt) near Water-Swallows in Fairfield, owing to the shrinking of the
thick 4th Limestone beneath, remain to be mentioned, as instances similar to
thosein Antrim. A depression or elliptical Sankum or Basin of small extent
and depth, on the Ist Grit Rock SW of Overton Hall, lately presented itself
to my notice, in surveying and levelling in the Fields in that part,for Sir
Joseph Bank’s Jaree Mimeral Maps and Sections which I have in hand, and
probably indicates a cavern or large shake hole in the Ist Lime Rock be-
neath, into which this thick grit-stone Rock has become locally depressed.
Hell-Kettles S of Darlington in Durham are, doubtless, two sunk places of
the upper clayey stratum, into the shrunk magnesian Lime Rock beneath.
Nor is it uncommon, owing to the unequal contraction of the lower cal-
careous beds (where there is no superincumbent stratum) to find depressions
in calcareous soils, as may be seen on a grand scale about Stanstead NE of
Brighton, in the upper Chalk; in Norfolk near to Mr. Colhourn’s former
residence: onasmaller scale on the Chalk Hills SW of Wendover, Bucks.:
and even in Gypseous tracks, according to the Ist Edit, of Jameson’s “ Geog-
nosy,” p. 34 and 172. : 5

+ Theseveral Rock Basins, and some of the Stone Chairs on the Ist Grit
Rock, where exposed in blocks, in Derbyshire, seem owing wholly or in
great part, to deeomposed or loosened Lums or Nests of Mica plates, such
as are noticed in my Report, vol.i. p. 466. :

mm

published respecting Antrim, Derry, &c. 279
in the bed. of Glenarm River, mentioned by Dr. D.

ref. xil.

Dr. W. H. Drummond’s description of these strata and
their imbedded contents, pref. p. x. is as follows: ‘ Over-
topping all (the Limestone strata) is the great stratification
of Trap, with its subordinate divisions of Greenstone, Por-
phry-slate, Trap-Tuffa, and Amygdaloid. The solid Trap
and the Amygdaloid alternate, as may be distinctly seen at
the Knockagh, the former showing traces of incipient co-
Jumnarity, the latter less rent into (by) fissures, often very
friable, and indented at its junction with the Trap; thickly
studded with Zeolite, and of a dark gray, brown, or reddish
colour, It would require frequent minute examinations to
ascertain the order in which the different numerous strata
of this formation succeed each other. There is also a
stratum of an ochreous vermillion ved substance which may
be seen at the base of the precipice of the Cave Hill, but
in much greater beauty and extent at Murlogh aad the
Giant’s Causeway. The Porphry-slate, which may be

_ easily distinguished by its slaty fracture, is ornamented with

small topaz-coloured crystals of Chrysolite or Olivin. Sinall
brilliant crystals like Sapphires, and opake crystals of Shorl,
are found in some yarieties of the Trap; that of Fair-head,
which 1s so coarse as to resemble Granite, contains Augite.
The vesicles of the amygdaloid are almond-shaped, tubu-
Jar, quadrangular, and a series of them is often connected
together. They are supposed to have been formed by air-
bubbles during the deposition of the strata, and to have
been afterwards filled or lined by percolation with the
matter by which they are now occupied. This is, Steatites,
calcareous Spar, Calcedony, Opal or Zeolite: the last is very
prevalent: it is sometimes cubical, often stellitorm, and
in the beauty, delicacy, and the arrangement of its crystals,
vies with the Thistles’ down. As the character of Basaltic
or Whinstone Mountains, the flatz-trap formation of Wer-
ner, are too obvious to be mistaken, the description of one
may serve for the whole. On one side they generally pre-
sent a steep precipice, and on the other fall-away with a
gradual slope*. They are flat at the summit, whence they
are denominated Tabular.”

A bed of prismatic Basalt at Portrush and the Skerrie
Islands, is full of Belemnites and of Pectenites, and. above
all, of Cornua Ammonis, dispersed through the whole mass,

* What stratified Mountains, in denudated districts in particular, do not
present these Characters? more or less perfectly, as their upper stratum is
permanent or otherwise? that is, will or will not endure the weather.

vol,

’

280 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

vol. xxxv. p. 370, Mr. D. p. 53, and App. p. 36: Dr. R.
seems, however, only to mention the Ammonites: and,
Dr. D. says, pref. p. xv. ** At Portrush, the Chert, Petro-
silex, or Stlicious Basalt, abounding with impressions of
the Cornua Ammonis (many of which are pyritous, and
emulate the splendour of gold) rises to puzzle the Geo-
logist.”’

“Of the Whynn Dykes or Veins of Basalt which intersect
and branch off in northern and eastern directions from this
great Basaluc Area, [ must at present say nothing, but refer
to Dr. R.’s valuable paper on this subject in your 35th
volume, p. 364.

It will be necessary here, to say something more parti-
cularly as to the Jimits of the Basaltic strata, and their po-
sition, preparatory to assigning the Coal-series a place wpor
them, both to show the grounds of my proceeding therein,
and to furnish what clues I am able to future observers,
who may, and [ hope ere long will undertake, the decision
of the important questions stated in page 267. From So-
Jomon’s Porch NW of Coleraine in Derry to Ballycastle ,
in Antrim, the N end of the Basaltic Trough occupies the
cliffs of the Ocean ; from Ballycastle* to the heights above »
Newtownglens, its NE irregular corner, crosses the moun-
tains: from the last mentioned place round the coast of
the Ocean, the Longh, and the banks of the River Lagan, at
a somewhat greater distance than that of the Limestone
edge, the eastern Basaltic edge is to be traced, till it crosses
the Lagan near Moira (Mr. D. p. 39), but turns then
again suddenly to the E (as the Limestone also did, I ex-
pect) and proceeds in Down County, ‘* considerably to the
Eastward of Lisburn,” Mr. D. p. 38, Note: this deep in-
dent into the edge of Limestone and Basalt strata being
occasioned by the excavation of the Lagan valley, just as
they are indented on the west side in Derry by the Mayola
excavation (which Dr. R. has so well described, vol. xxxiii.
p- 202), except that here Red Marl is exposed by the exca-
vation, and there Schistus which has occupied its place, in
“a little system.” From Dr. Hamilton’s Map, referred to by
Mr. D. in a note, p. 38, leaving the basaltic bounds against
Down County undefined, and from the obscurity of the
descriptions that I have read of the same, in Down and
Armagh and Tyrone: I am led to suppose, that consider-
able accumulations of Alluvia are there lodged and conceal

* The detached Basaltic Cliff of Fairhead NE of Ballycastle will be men-~

tioned further on, as a severed and sunk corner of the Basalt with Coal-
measures on it,

most

published respecting Antrim, Derry, ts*c. 281

most of the strata *; but for which, I should not despair if
on the spot, of tracing the eastern edge of the Basaltic
trough, from where Mr. D. leaves it E of Lisburn, in aS or
SW direction to the SE coast of Down, or that of Louth:
to fiud again its western edge on that Coast, and trace it
thence in a NW or NNW direction to Slieve-Gallon
Mountain W of Desmartin in Derry, where Dr. -R. satis-
factorily describes its edge, vol. xxxiil. p. 202, and App. 23,
and thence NNW to Solomon’s Porch at the NW corner,
where I began. It is true, Dr. R. (App. p. 22) mentions
a strip of Basalt about three miles broad, extending. near
to the middle of Armagh County at Markét-hill and Gos-
ford Casile, in such terms, as might havé led me to sup-
pose, that white limestone appeared from under the sides
of this projecting horn of Basalt; had not Mr. D. p.. 373,
imormed us, that an official document of the Irish Parlia=
ment states, that ¢* from Blackwater town (down the Black
water River) to Lough Neagh, and from thence again up
the River Bann, and along the Canal to Newry (an extent
of nearly 30 miles) there is no limestone whatever ;’” al-
though the line of navigation from Lough Neagh to Newry
must twice have crossed the great Limestone basset, had not
its unbroken plane, in all this length, laid deep buried un-
der Basalt, with Gravel locally distributed on it, as the
*¢whynstones on the surface,” Mr. D. p.39, and the
** field-stones,” Dr. R. App. p. 22, give room to suppose $
but when Dr. R. returns northward (not southward, p- 23)
in describing the western edge of his Basaltic area, and
says, it ** crosses Lough Neagh diagonally, catches the Derry
shore not far from Ballyronan; the Basalt is found in
cumbent on white limestone at Spring Hill.” A difficulty
arises, and [am unable to follow him, for want of any Map
which shows either, the two last places or Magheralin, men-
tioned in the preceding page (and p. 277 herein) ; or to gain
satisfaction, as to whether Limestone any where appears on the
shores of Lough Neagh ? and under what circumstances?
should suppose it does not, both from what Dr. D saysp. 159,
as well as the document above quoted, whose object was,
to show, the necessity of a Canal to the Blackwater Naviga-
tion at the Town of Moy, which, were it * opened from
Armagh, it must necessarily go through Lands in that vici-

* Since the above was written, Dr. Richardson informs us (Agricultural
Magazine, vol. x. p. 1385) that “ on the south side of Lough Neagh, the
country is for ten miles long and six broad a deep flow bog, with a number

of islands” thinly scattered over it, called Derrys; are these islands com.
posed of basalt? or of grit stone, shale, &c. belonging to the coal-measures ?

Vol. 39. No, 168. dpril 1819, T nity,

282 Experiments on the Strength of

nity, containing inexhaustible quantities of Limestone,
which could be conveyed by (Antrim, &c.) Boats, re-
turning from Armagh.”’ The shores of Lough Neagh ap-
pear also to be flat on all sides, I understand, so that lower-
Ing its water 15 inches, would probably regain 1700 acres
or more to the Land, from a Lake of 60,000 acres, now
45 feet deep in the middle, and pretty gradually shallowing
to all its extremities, Mr. D. p. 101: its deepest part being
one foot above the level of the Sea, as appears by the levels
of the Belfast and Lough Neagh Canal, Mr. D. p. 365,
although in p. 103, its bottom 1s said to be three feet lower.
in some places than the surface of the Sea at the outiet, by
the course of the Bann, obstructed by solid dams of Basaltic
Rocks. These circumstances will, I trust, show the pro-

riety, of my considering the bottom of the great Trough
in the NE of Ireland to dip southward, rather than north-
ward as Dr. R. at page 201 and 202 of your 33d vol. and
page 376 vol. xxxv. seems to represent; but which it is
plain he could not mean, as at pages 105 and 107 of vol.
xxxiii, and elsewhere, he represents the strata as rising to-
wards the north: the word * section,” line three from the
bottom of p. 201, vo!. xxxiil., being inaptly applied to the
edges * of the strata, which edges without doubt rise south-
wardly, for some miles from the north Coast, as stated
p- 376; owing, donbtless, to the E and W dip towards’
the bottom of the trough, increasing, through that distance,
and producing twisted or winding surfaces, rather than ma-
thematical planes in the Limestone and other strata; for
the water of Lough Neagh in its deepest part, probably, £
think, rests on strata of Basalt, that are several hundred
feet elevated above the sea on the north of Coleraine.

[To be continued.]

XLI. Experiments on the Strength of Men and Horses in
moving Machines. By M. Scuuuzef.

Tose who have had occasion to construct machines in-
tended to be moved by men or animals, are sufficiently
aware how important it is to be acquainted with the quan-
tity of motion that can be attributed to either of them, in
order to estimate with accuracy the effect which it is pro-
posed to obtain by the machine. It 1s well known that
ihe arrangement of the whole depends entirely on the ratio
* A phraseology toocommon with some Geologists.

$ Translated from the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of
Berlin for 1783, by T.S. Evans. P
“oO

Men and Horses in moving Machines. 283

of the velocity of the motive force to the resistance. This
was the reason that long ago induced them to take the
trouble of determining the strength as well as velocity ex-
erted by men and animals when they are made to move
machinery ; and the results they obtained, which have been
commonly made use of in computing the effect of machines,
are, that men exert from 27 to 30 Ibs. with a velocity of
from 14 to 2 feet per second; and that a horse has about
Seven times more strength than a man, with a velocity of
from 4 to 6 feet per second.

These are the data which we have been obliged to use
whenever it became necessary to compute the effect of a
machine moved by men or horses. It is evident that the
force must be diminished when the velocity is increased,
and vice versd: but we are not yet certain of the method of
finding the ratio of the diminution or augmentation of this
force to the velocity. Euler has given us two different for-
mulz to compute this ratio; but no one has hitherto at-
tempted to verify by experiment, which of them is to be
preferred, although they differ very considerably from each
other. If we put P for the absolute force which takes
place when we simply consider equilibrium, C the absolute
velocity which takes place when the man or animal moves
freely and without being overcome by the resistance; p the
relative force, and ¢ the corresponding velocity, we have
by the first of these formule,

Paria)

Whereas the second gives us

p= P(i- ar):

As I am obliged now more than ever to attend to a num-
ber of machines, and to compute their effect, it therefore
concerns me very much to know exactly in what manner
to estimate, compare, and fix the strength and velocity of
men and animals which are used for moving various ma~
chines proper for different purposes.

With this yiew I made with considerable care the ex-
periments I ain now about to detail ; which of course would
have been very expensive, had it not been for some facilities
which other persons may not possess.

To make the experiments on human strength, I took
promiscuously 20 men of different sizes and constitutions,
whom I measured and weighed; the result of which is
£iven in the following Table :

+2 TABLE

284 Experiments on the Strength of

TABLE.

T 777 Ag an?

Order Size. {Weigh Order Size. Weight|
Lad A eo Tne OF 7 age
215 93 | 1941 19-)5 1 4 |.157]
315 7 2 |165]/13|5 3 2 | 175|
4G Qa bak WTA Sa Crt eae
5/511 2 | 1771 15|5 10 8 | 192
616 O 4°75, T1581 16 1S (6°31 138
A 8k Sy ee ae a Be vey
815 2 1 |117 1 18/5 3 9 | Yaa
9/5 4.8 1140] 19|5 6 © | 163
10} 5 0 4 | 126 || 20 Bi hol db Pee

To find the strength that each of these men might exert
to raise a weight vertically, I made the following experi-
ments :

I took various weights increasing by 10 Ibs. from 150|bs.
up to 250lbs.; all these weights were of lead having cir-
eular and equal bases. To use them with success in the
proposed experiments I had at the same time a kind of
bench made, in the middle of which was a hole of the same
size as the base of my weights; this hole was shut by a cir-
cular cover when pressed against the bench; at other times
it was kept at about the distance of a foot and a half above
the bench, by means of a spring and some iron bars. To
prevent the weight with which this cover was loaded du-
ring the experiment from forcing down the cover, lower
than the level of the surface of the bench, I had several
grooves made in the four iron bars, which sustained the
cover, and which at the same time served to hold up the
cover at any height where it might arrive by the pressure
of the springs as soon as the pressure of the weight ceased.

After having laid the 150 lbs. weight on the cover, and
the other weights in succession increasing by 10 Ibs. up to
250 Ibs. I made the following experiments with the men
whose size and weight are given above, by making them
lift up the weights as vertically as possible all at once, and
by observing the height to which they were able to lift
them. The following Table gives the heights observed for
the different weights marked at the head of the Table.

_ TABLE.

Men and Horses in moving Machines. 285

TABLE.
| 150 | 160! 170 180 | 190 200 | 210 |220! 230 le4olas0
Ga sas a ee ra a
7 9 64141114 4/3 812 sl 2
271066 5' 7) 4 7/3 1112 5I0° Sym om
3}7 of 7 316 5| 5 g 411) 4 O3 O11 70 3)" ”
41.8 31767 25105 314 74 o8 83 111 4
512 41 1}9 718 5\7 1017 1/5 10/4 7/3 213
G14 514.013 412 811 510 1/8 6664 1101
7\12 11/11 3110 5,9 3/8 1/6 gs abs sll 11/0 2
811 gio 2|9 4) 8 11; 8 116 11/5 10/5 118. 211 o
99 583)7 115 64 112 gi 3
my 8s :31,0 B14 We ee 710 4

This Table proves to us that the size of the men em-
ployed to raise the weights vertically has considerable influ-
ence on the height to which they brought the same weight.
We find also by this that the height diminishes in a much
more considerable ratio than the weighi increases ; and we
may therefore conclude, that it is advantageous to employ
large men when it becomes necessary to draw vertically
from below upwards: and on the contrary, it is more ad-
vantageous to employ men of a considerable weight, when
it is required to lift up loads by means of a pulley about
which a cord passes, that the workmen draw in a vertical
direction, from above downwards. To find the absolute
strength of these men in a horizontal direction I took the
following method,

Having fixed over an open pit a brass pulley extremely
well made, of 15 inches diameter, whose axis, made of well
polished steel to diminish the friction, was 2 inch in dia-
meter; | passed over this pulley a silk cord worked with
care to give it both the necessary strength and flexibility.
One of the ends of this cord carried-a hook to hang a
weight to it which hung vertically in the pit, whilst the
other end was held by one of the 20 men, who in the first
order of the following experiments made it pass above his
shoulders ; instead of which, in the second, he simply held
it by his hands.

T had taken the precaution to construct this in such a
manner that the pulley might be raised or lowered at plea-
sure, in order to keep the end of the cord held by the man
always in a horizontal direction, according as the man was
tall or short, and exerted bis strength in any given direction.

T3

T had

286 Experiments on the Strength of

. Thad made the necessary arrangements so as to be able
* to load successively the basin of a balance which I had at-
tached to the hook at the end of the cord which descended
into the pit, whilst the man who held the other end of this
cord employed all his strength without advancing or re-
ceding a single inch.

The following Table gives the weights placed in the basin
when the workmen were obliged to give up, having no
longer sufficient strength to sustain the pressure occasioned
by the weight. To proceed with certainty, I increased the
weight each time by five pounds, beginning from 60, and
T took the precaution to make this augmentation in equal
intervals of time, having always precisely a space of 10 se-
conds between them. The result of these observations re-
peated several days in succession, is contained in the fol-
Jowing Table.

When the cord passed over the shoulders of the workmen:

Order] Ibs Order| Ibs Order Ibs. lord er| lbs
SS eS | eS ee SS
1 |. 05 6| 100 | 11 | 95 | 16] 95
2 | 105 71115 || 12{ 100 | 17 | 100
3; ITO a 108. is.) 110. ey oe
4 | 100 9| 95 | 14| 90 |} 19 | 100
5 | 105 || 10] 90 || 15 | 110 | 20 | 195

When the cord was simply held before the man:

Order lbs. Order Ibs. Joraer Ibs. Order Ibs.
] 90 6/100 | 11 90 16 90
2 | 105 7 | 110 | 12 | 96 17 90
3; 105 | 8} 100 13 | 100 18} 85
4} 90 {| 91 90 14 85 19 | 100
5 | 95 || 10 | 85 {15 | 105° || 20 | 100

( ' \

These two Tables show that men have less power in
drawing a cord before them than when they make it pass
over their shoulders: it shows us also that the largest men
have not always the greatest strength to hold, or to draw
in a horizontal direction, by means of acord. To obtain
the absolute velocity of these 20 men, I proceeded as fol-
lows : Pee, ge “a

Having measured very exactly a distance of 12000 Rhin-
Jand feet in a plain nearly level, I caused these 20 men to

a marcel,

Men and Horses in moving Machines. 287

march with a good pace but without running, and so as to
continue during the space of four or five hours; the fol-
lowing is the time employed in describing this space, with
the velocity resulting for each of them.

Order] Time. | Veloc. ||Order} Time. }| Veloc. ||Order} Time. } Veloc.
40:18 | 4:94 8 140° 9] 409 || 15 [36°17 | 5°51
41:12 | 485 || g |4020| 490 || 16 | 41 28 | 462
39° 8 | 5°55 10 |4051 | 490 17 |42°25 | 4°71
5°04 |] 11 [30:17 | 551 18 | 40°19 | 4°98
3419 | 5°83 || 12 |3811 | 5°24 || 19 |30%57 | 501
35°11 | 5°68 IS. J38° 5) (KS 2o 20 | 37°51 | 5°29
S877, 15:25 14 137° 1} 540

NO) Or sh O te
es)
Yen)
a»
oO

Tt is necessary to mention with regard to these experi-
ments, that I took care to place at certain distances pers
sous in whom I could place confidence, in order to observe
whether these men marched uniformly and sufficiently
quick, without running.

Having thus obtained, not only the absolute force, but
the absolute velocity also, of several men, I took the fol-
jowing method to determine their relative force.

I made use of a machine composed of two large cylin-
ders of very hard marble, which turned round a vertical
cylinder of wood, and moved by a horse, which described
in his march a circle of 10 Rhinland feet. This machine
appeared to me the most proper to make the following ex-
periments, which serve to determine the relative strength
that the men had employed to move this machine, and
which I use hereafter, to determine which of Euler’s two
formule ought to be preferred.

To obtain this relauve force, T took here the same pulley
which served me in the preceding experiments, by applying
a cord to the vertical cylinder of wood, and attaching to the
other end of. this cord which entered into an open pit a
sufficient weight to give successively to the machine dif-
ferent velocities.

Having applied in this manner a weight of 215 Ibs., the
machine acquired a motion, which after being reduced to
an uniform notion, taking into account the acceleration of
the weight, of the friction, and of the stiffness of the cord,
gave 2°41 feet velocity; and having ‘applied in the same
Mauner a weight of 220}bs. the resulting uniform motion
gave a velocity of 2°47 feet. I only mention these two
limits because. they serve as a comparison with what im-

mediately

288 On the Strength of Men and Horses in moving Machines,

mediately follows: I began these experiments with a weight
of 100lbs. and increased it by 5 every time from that
number up to 400 Ibs.

I made this machine move by the seven first of my
workmen, placing them in such a way that their direction
remained almost always perpendicular to the arm on which
was attached the cord which passed oyer their shoulders in
an almost horizontal direction.

Thus situated, they made 281 turns with this machine in
two hours, which gave for their relative velocity c= 2°45
feet per second, We have also the absolute force, or P,
from these 7 men, by the above Table = 730 |bs.: and
their absolute velocity or C = 5°30 feet.

Therefore, by substituting these values in the first for-
mula, we find the relative force p = 205 Ibs. which agrees
very well with what we have just found above. |

If instead of this first formula the second be taken, it
gives p = 153 ibs. which is far too little.

By this it is evident, that the first of Euler’s two for-
mulz is to be preferred in all respects. IT have also made
a great number of combinations, and [ almost always found
the same effect.

Dividing the 205 lbs. which we have just found by 7 the
number of workmen, we get 29 Ibs. for the relative force
with 2°45 feet relative velocity for each man, which is
rather more than the values commonly adopted in the com,
putation of machinery. A number of other observations
on different machines, which J] intend to relate another
time, have given me the same result; that is to say, we
must value the mean human strength at 29 or 30 lbs. with
a velocity of 22 fect per second. ©

To obtain the ratio of the strength of a horse to that of
aman, I had the same machine moved by a horse without
aliering any thing; and I found by ten different horses
which I used successively, that a horse makes 603 turns
in 2 hours instead of 281: therefore, by supposing the
static motion of a horse 7 times greater than that of a man,
we find that the former has 5:3 feet per second of velo-
city. ae Ea ras

By this it is evident, that the effect of a horse is 14 times
greater than that of a man, or, which amounts to the same
thing, 14 men must be used instead of 1 horse. Hence it
appears, that it is much more advantageous to_employ
horses than men in moving machines, if other reasons did
not require us to prefer men, “> Abaaal 9 ’

| y havg

On Animal Fluids. 289

Thave also made a number of other interesting observa-
tions on horses and oxen, which are likewise used in mov-
ing machines: but as | am now waiting for observations
of this kind, which other persons are making according to
my plan, I shall reserve what I have to say respecting them
for a second memoir.

———————

XLII. A Rejoinder to a Paper published in the Philosophi-
cal Magazine, by Dr Marcrt, on the Animal Fluids.
By Grorce Pearson, M.D. F.R.S., &e.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, By a severe accident I have been prevented from
writing the paper which I proposed in my Communication
honourably inserted in your Journal for January last.
Meanwhile an answer to that Communication has been
published by Dr. Marcet*.

Before I redeem my pledge of offering some remarks on
Dr. Marcet’s Memoir, I feel myself called upon by what
I consider to be the true interests of science to reply to his
intervening answer. This gentleman cannot be more
averse from polemical writing than J am, nor have more
cogent motives of private advantage by being otherwise
employed ; but unless I were to avail myself of the plea of
a celebrated philosopher, who asserted that his regard for
truth was so great that he would not part with it lest it
should be ill treated by mankind, I have no option con-
sistently with public duty. The feelings of either party
must however regulate their future conduct. For myself,
I can only promise that I shall not consider it as a point of
honour, to contend for the last word.

In the answer which has been addressed to me, Dr. Marcet
has set forth evidence from his memoir, still under ex-
amination, to maintain that soda in an uncombined state,
and not potash, exists in the animal fluids; as J trust I have
Jegitimately proved according to facts hitherto discovered.
As my honourable Opponent has still not contravened the
most decisive parts of the evidence in support of my alle-
gations, | am spared the pains of again displaying it; so
that | have only to comment on the evidence be brings
forward in justification. In my remarks, perhaps, I cannot
entirely avoid repetition of objections already produced.

The first kind of proof that soda and not potash is present,

* See the Philosophical Magazine for February last,
: again

290 — On Animal Fluids.

again asserted by my adversary, is from the figure of ery-
stals. I have to remark, in addition to my former obser-
vations, that their forms alone rarely or never, even when
perceivable with the unassisted organ of vision, do singly
denote unequivocal properties ; and when not perceivable
without the medium of glasses, we know from past expe-
rience the figures are to be considered as still more equiyo-
cal, I might say deceptive. If these crystalline forms are
now admitted as justly distinguishing properties of certain
substances, it is in consequence of repeated observation on
larger quantities by direct vision, —*‘‘ que sint oculis sub-
jecta fidelibus,”—but even then not without concomitant
other well ascertained properties.

Secondly—Great dependence seems to be placed on the
acetate produced by combining acetic acid with the sa-
line matier afforded by incineration. This was said to be
acetate of soda, which disselved in alcohol, while potash was
found in the residue left undissolved by the alcohol. I
have searched the pages of the memoir under examination
again and again, for the evidence in support of this allega-
tion ; but here, and ou many other occasions, is a mere assere
tion, except a partial support from the serum of the blood,
as will be seen hereafter. For, 1. With regard to the sa-~
line matter of the fluid of the spina bifida I find these words :
« the alcoholic solution being decanted off and evaporated
to dryness, a residue supposed to consist of acetate of soda
was obtained.”?’ Here no mention is made either of an ex-
periment to prove whether the acetate was that of soda or
of potash, but it was supposed to be acetate of soda. As
to the undissolved matter containing potash, there is not
that I can find even aword written. This too has been sup-

osed. 2. With regard to the second fluid examined, that
of hydrocephalus internus, we are told ‘* the analysis was
conducted in the same manner as In the former :’—of
course the, existence of soda in the alcohol and of potash
undissolved are not proved, but | presume here also sup-
posed. 3. In the other animal fluids, viz. of ascites, of hy-
dro:horax, and hydrops pericardii, as well as subsequently
of the hydrocele ; of the hydatids, of the thyroid gland, and
of a tumour of the chest, no such experiment as that of
compounding an acetate is mentioned, 4. In the experi-
ments, however, on the saline matter of the serum of the
blood, au acetate was compounded which dissolved in alco-
bol, the words of the author being, ‘* the alcoholic residue
contrary to my expectations exhibited traces of potash, both
by means of tartaric acid and oxymuriate of ae
Phis,

On Animal Fluids. 291

This, as far as T can find, is the sole experiment with acetic
acid and alcohol, related by the author to determine the
kind of alkali present, although the assertion is made of the
animal fluids generally. But although the assertion be not
proved, it may be worth while to consider what, or whe-
ther anv thing, is proved by these experiments? They prove
that potash was present, because there was a precipitate
with tartaric acid, but nothing more—there is no proof
that it was in the staie of muriate, as asserted. Jt perhaps
will be said that these experiments prove, that this ‘¢ alco-
holic residue” contains also acetate of soda; ‘¢ for the same
residue treated with nitric acid was almost entirely re-
solved into rhomboidal crystals, amongst which [ was un-
able to detect any distinct prisms.”’? Now, J have already
expressed my want of coufidence in the figure of minute
crystals singly as evidence; especially, seen through glasses :
and here, I presume, is a decisive instance of their fallacy ;
for potash being proved to be present, as already said by
Dr. Marcet, united to muriatic acid, it must have afforded
cubes, if reliance can be placed on forms ; but no such cubes
were seen. A further objection occurs to my mind in this
experiment. I apprehend it is quite as likely to be true
that alcohol will dissolve a smal] proportion of muriate of
soda, as according to Dr. Marcet it does of muriate of
potash. This being the case, the ‘‘alcoholic residue” ought
to have afforded cubes of muriate of soda as well as of muriate
of potash. The process under examination requires further
animadversion :—on the remaining part of it * potash was
easily discoverable in the residue insolyble in alcohol, which
residue had now lost its deliquescent quality.”” That potash
in acombined state was present I admit may be inferred,
but I say confidently, there is no proof that it was united
to muriatic acid. It is not incumbent on me, but on the
Affirmer, to show with what it is combined. I think it
right to notice another unsatisfactory part of the process
before me. It is said a concentrated solution of the saline
mass in question did not distinctly indicate potash by oxy-
muriate of platina, but did by tartaric acid. Subsequently,
however, we are told that the dissoluble as well as the in-
dissoluble residue of the acetous compound in alcohol
readily denoted the presence of potash to the oxymuriate of
platina as well as to tartaric acid. To my apprehension,
{ own this account only shows that the quantitics were too
minute for distinct observation of facts. How all am-
biguity might have been removed, I have taken the liberty-
of proposing in commenting on this process in my former

Com-

202 On Animal Fluids.

Communication to your Journal, p. 69, ]. 15. for January
last. On that occasion I expressed my doubt whether or
not the aceiate of soda be dissoluble in alcohol, but I de-
ferred to the authority of experiment. Here my jearned
fricod exultingly construes these phrases of doubt, two
pelpable errors, and seems to triumph—*¢ a hit, a hit, my
Lord, a very palpable hit.”—No: there is no error in this
case, Dr. Marcet; according to the English meaning of
the terms used. To make the utmost of these asserted
errors, I am also charged with no less than three times re-
peating them ; as if the propriety of writing was absolutely
hmited to the number of times an assertion should be de-
livered. At this time however, without the slightest un-
easy sensation, I say that acetate of soda is a deliquescent
salt, and dissoluble in alcohol ; for I have performed. the
necessary experiment; not indeed with “ half a grain and a
wateh-glass,” but with 50 grains. The truth is, I had not
Jeisure, little time as was required, when I wrote my Com-.«
munication, to make the experiment; but as, on inguiry of
a friend most likely to be informed, I found he was igno-
rant; as on just looking into two valuable books, Aikin’s
Dictionary, and Thomson’s Elementary Work, one said
the acetate of soda was a permanent; and the other a deli-
quescent salt; and as in my collection of spécimens there
was.a permanent crystallized salt labelled by my Assistant,
Acetate of Soda; L thought it best to leave the matter as
doubtful, although I own [inclined to the contrary opinion
of that which ts now I believe the truth. Dr. M. may call
this a palpable error, if he pleases—he will hurt nobody
but himself by the phrases. The main proof is hereby not
affected ; for the tact now ascertained against my doubtful
opinion is only a collateral evidence on either side.

Thirdly—Another source of evidence against me is that
potash combined ‘¢ was proved by the tests of oxymuriate of
platina and tartaric acid.” The just inference has been
already proposed ; but I will barely remark that the experi-
ment does not prove that soda was or was not present.

As to any other proofs, they have been already minutely
examined in my former Reply, or have been answered in
this: but i entreat the indulgence of being allowed to make
two or three further remarks, 1. On the fluid of the spina
bifida, of the thorax, and of the pericardium, the tartaric
acid was not employed at all. Of these fluids the analysis
im general was very partial. 2. Of the alkaline matter of
the hydrocephalus fluid, the experiment must be unsatis-
factory by the tests, on account of the impracticability of

. entirely

On Aninal Fluids. 293

entirely separating the two alkalies from one another in
such minute quantities as were obtained; and if the sepa-
ration were not effected, as the two fixed alkalies are af-
firmed to exist, the test by tartaric acid must have produced
soda-tartrate of potash,—consequently the inference of the
adverse party cannot be just.

_ Having as briefly as | deemed proper, commented on the
opposing evidence, and set forth in a differentilight my own,
I must pay due respect to the other parts of the ingenious
Answerer’s paper. If it shall appear that the only difference
in the results of the inquiries by the two parties worth par-
ticular notice is with respect to the alkaline matter, I sub-
mit to the chemical public, whether or not Dr. M. could
with common discretion have published his memoir: with-
out a reference to his predecessor, as he observes he could
have done with propriety; and especially as he owns he
was directed to the alkaline impreguation by my paper and
conversations. Dr. M. complains that he is ata loss to
understand my meaning, and is much embarrassed by my
obscure and inaccurate manner of writing. Iam grieved
that my learned friend should experience these difficulties ;
but as I have not heard similar complaints from others, I
may, perhaps, not indecorously venture to say that his
claim to judgement of propriety and perspicuity in English
is somewhat doubtful.

The ingenious Opponent cannot agree with me that sub-~
stances and properties of substances are discoverable by
operating upon large, which cannot be discovered with
smailer quantities. I really thought the proposition so ob-
viously true that illustration is needless. Heaps of illustra
tive examples in nature occur to my mind while T am
writing, both in the department of chemistry and physio-
logy. If arsenous acid, muriate of soda, or of sulphuric acid,
be dissolved in the proportion of one part to 100 equal
parts of water, they will be discoverable by well known re-
agents ; but if the proportion of water be increased more
and more, the indication of their existence will become less
and less distinct; and at last they will be no longer per-
ceivable, although it he known that they exist: or, if I take
certain fractional designated parts of any given weight of
these substances, they will elude manifestation by any
means hitherto known, On this principle of division and
diffusion, the most deleterious poisons become innoxious
by the minuteness of the quantity applied to the human
constitution. Hence atmospheric air containing fen mias-
mata, plague contagion, or variolous matter, &c, is ap-

plied

294 On Animal Fluids.

plied with impunity to the human constitution. A potind
of blood of a glandered horse transfused into a healthful
horse cannot excite disease, but as mueh bleod as can be
transfused from two glandered horses into one horse can
excite the disease of glanders. Sugar, alkali*, &c. may
exist in the blood, but not be discoverable by any known
re-avent on account of the small proportion of them ex-
isting in the blood at any given time, as 1 humbly reason,
and not on account of an hypothetical new channel—a sort
of north-west passage —from the stomach to the urinary
bladder. In the case of waters the proportion is so minute
of various impregnating substances, that unless very large
bulks be used they must escape detection. The great mas-
ters have accordingly employed such large bulks. Mar-
graaf (Opuscules Chymiques, t. 11. p. 8.) did not evaporate
100 drops of snow or rain water in a watch-glass capsule,
like some modern microscopic chemists, but he operated
upon 100 quart measures of snow-water, in which he was
able to find only 60 grains of carbonate of lime, a few grains
of muriate of soda, and traces of nitrous acid. I had the ad=
vantage of making my juvenile efforts to perform several
chemical exercises under that great master, Professor
Black. Among other precepts treasured in the tablet of
my memory for more than 30 years, was that of employing
large bulks of mineral waters; and of all other things in’
which there was a probability of minute proportions being
present. The reasons of Dr. Black for not practising ac-
cording to this rule in the instance of the analysis men-
tioned, I cannot pretend to assign; but it seems probable
that he was in possession of only a small quantitv of the
material. As to the magnitude of the masses of matter
required, it is impossible to specify them ; but it is obvious
that analysis must fail to develop certain substances, on
account of the minute proportion to other things with
which they are mixed not being susceptible of being made
evident to the senses ; and, in consequence, by a due larger.
proportion they may be rendered sensible. Hence, per-
haps, it is that we are ignorant of many of the properties
of light, calorific, eleciricity, of infectious and contagious
matters, &c.

it is argued against me, that “the chemical properties

* In Dr. Rollo’s work on’ Diabetes, I have related an experiment in which
potash ws taken in such quantity that the urine became so impregnated
as to afford a precipitate of supertartrate on dropping into it tartaric acid ;
at the same time the blood did not indicate a trace of alkali; owing, as 1 con-
cluded, ro the small proportion of alkali to the blood. }

which

On Animal Fluids. 295

which belong to a particle of matter belong to the whole
mountain of the same substance.”” True; but I know no-
thing of the properties of substances but by means of the
external senses (this indeed is an axiom); and unless the
particle be of a due magnitude, my organs of sense cannot
inform me in its properties. My honourable adversary
talks of the advantages of a small scale of operations in
the points of ccunomy and convenience. Granted—but
these are minor considerations indeed, to the acquaintance
wit properties or acquirement of knowledge. When Dr.
Marcet also speaks of the advantage in point of accuracy,
I protest against it for reasons above explained. ft is
further represented that there is a degree of ** neatness
gained by reducing the scale of operations. ” Town I have
difficulty to conceive a just sense in which this term may
be employ ed on this occasion. Does it mean the avoiding
extraneous things occurring in operations ? If so, I cannot
separate it from accuracy 5 ‘and as it is seldom practicable
to operate without meeting with some extraneous matter,
or ‘dirt,’ it appears to me that many of those old che-
mists who are reproached for mentioning ‘ a little dirt” in
their results are more accurate than those modern chemists
who make up a * meat” tabular exhibition of the consti-
tuents of substances in centesimal quantities which they:
have never weighed, and even of which substances there
is a palpable deficiency of proof. If by neatness be meant
the instruments employed, it would be as injudicious to
prefer neatness to knowledge, as euphony of style to per-
spicuity.

A proud jist is displayed of discoveries achieved by
microscopic experiments, or on small masses of matter ;
but that was needless. J never disallowed the utility “f
such experiinents. My plain answer is this—that for cer-
tain purposes all the knowledge that is wanted is attainable
and most easily by operations on the small scale—that such
is the nature of our present instruments, that it is only
practicable to work on small quantities of some kinds of
matter—that on almost all occasions it is advantageous to
commence an intended perfect investigation with experi-
ments on small masses, in order to enable the mind to in-
vent subsequent experiments and perform decisive opera-
tions on large quantities. As to the successful practices
referred to, they only manifest that much may be accom-
plished with inferior means ; but it is demonstrable that the
same persons could have attained infinitely more by su
perior instruments and in the more favourable cireum-

stances

396 On Animal Fluids.

stances of adequate quantities. In chemistry, T consider
illustration by examples to be superfluous. Physic fur-
nishes new illustrations analogous to the question under
discussion. Sydenham without chemistry, with seemingly
little of anatomy and physiology, as well as of natural
history, has meritedly the credit of one of the greatest
Improvers :—if he could acquire so much without these
auxiliaries, it appears according to all reason that by means
of them much more would have been achieved. I might,
however, exemplify the advantages for which I am con-
tending by the conduct of Dr. Marcet himself. It appears
that he performed the analysis of two aniial fluids, of the
component ingredients of which he has given an account,
to the one hundredth part of a grain, without finding potash
in any state. Subsequently, however, this alkali was de-
tected in other animal fluids, the author’s attention being
directed, as he is pleased to say, by my published paper, aud
by my conversations. Whether otherwise Dr.M. would
have found the potash, I must not determine. Notwith-
standing the sneering remark of his ounce or two of drop-
sical fluids being in competition with my ‘ two or three
pounds of “*r0py sputum,” T should be very unreasonable
if J were not, after this practical proof of the inadequacy of
Dr. M.’s method, to be well contented. If however, instead
of treading the primrose path of the new microscopie school,
he had condescended and submitted to the task of labour-
ing in “ the dismal, large, subterraneous laboratory 5” if, I
say, he had been there employed, instead of in dalliance at
“the fire-side of his comfortable study,’’ it did not require
his talents to have done much more than nearly confirm
the results of my experiments on animal substances. If
too I can see the future in the instant, it will be only by
experiments on very large quantities of the animal fluids
that discoveries can be effected of more of their impreg-
nating ingredients ; on account of the very minute propor-
tions in which they exist.

Dr. Marcet thinks it worth while to disclaim his me-
moir as the joint work of Dr. Wollaston and himself, I
cannot have the smallest objection: indeed, by this I gain
strength on my side; for the demand of justice alone com-

elled me to consider this writing as Ihave done. I must,
however, be allowed to cite a single passage in justification.
Besides the advantages from Dr. Wollaston’s writings and ©
sonversations, Dr. Marcet owns “ his kind personal assist-
ance in this and other similar inquiries.”

I am accused of the ‘unwarrantable license of ‘ quoting

if

On Animal Fluids. 207

in italics, and placing between inverted commas, words
which have not been used by my adverse friend—such base
proceedings I am charged withal! As for italics, I knew .
no better than that all writers, for the sake of emphasis, do
employ them either for their own words or those of other -
writers. The word elegant so complained of is not in-
tended as a quotation, it is my own word which Dr. Marcet
has mistaken. As for inverted commas, the very few pas-
sages they include, [ think no one would apprehend are
his writing, except two or three instances. Here | cannot
perceive any misquotation worth the slightest notice, being
of perhaps of a word or two only, except one passage.
There I confess the heinous offence, and express my con-
trition sincerely, viz. for fire-side of the drawing-room,”
in future read ‘* the large dismal subterraneous laboratory
is now changed for the fire-side of a comfortable study.”
» Again: my respectable adversary is offended with what
he is pleased to call irony. Ican dono more than declare,
whether I shall be again accused of irony or not, that I en-
tertained more of respect than sufficient for subduing any
such humour. ies

The last offence is jocularity not suitable for the ad-
vancement of science. If in such a vein T haveswritten
offendingly, “‘ T have shot mine arrow ‘o’er the hotse and
hurt a brother.” This mode of writing, however, has-the
high authority of a great poet and still greater philosopher:

« -ridentem dicere verum

Quid vetat?”

I wish I could be more frequently jocular, as so many
occurences in common life are experienced to make one
sad. Hence, I would rather live with Horace, than with
the melancholy moralist Jaquez. Some allowance, too,
should be made for the differing natures of individuals,
from the elements being so differently mixed :

“¢ Nature has made strange fellows in her time :
Some there be of such vinegar aspect,
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile,
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.”

———<

The foregoing pages of rejoinder will, I trust, save me
the trouble of many intended remarks on Dr, Marcet’s
paper, independently of its relation to the questions at
issue. A few comments only 1 now beg to be allowed to
deliver.

1. The animal matters in the fluids examined are stated
to be of two kinds, viz. coagulable or alluminous matter,

Vol. 39. No. 168, April 1812. U and

298 On Animal Fluids.

and what the author calls mzco-extractive. 1 do not at all
object to the experiments, but appeal to competent judges
whether it is not unjust to make this distinction. The
evidence of the coaguladle matter is from the visible coagu-
lation by calorific and some re-agents ; but if there be not
a due proportion of it to the water in which it is dissolved,
such evidence is not obtainable. This may be easily proved,
and, as I apprehend, I have shown in my published papers,
by a kind of synthetic experiment. For example: serum
of blood, or any other known coagulable fluid, may be so
diluted with water as to afford no distinct proof of its pre-
sence by coagulation on applying calorific, although such
an effect may be reasonably inferred, on probable grounds,
from the disturbance of transparency or cloudiness. And
as far as I have found by experiment, coagulable matter so
diffused, on being collected by evaporation to dryness, 1s
scarcely coagulable by calorific; so that the whole of any
given quantity of animal coagulable fluid by such treatment
was rendered uncoagulable. According to my trials, too,
there always remained, on coagulating serum and other
analogous fluids, a small proportion of animal matter dis-
solved in the watery part, which differed in no respect from
the matter left on evaporating water, containing a certain
small or uncoagulable proportion of serum added to the
water, as above stated. But these dilute solutions, which
appear uncoagulable, denote the presence of animal matter
to the test of tannin. It was probably this property, and
the animal matter afforded by evaporation, which induced
some chemists to conclude that a different kind of animal
substance from coagulable, such as gelatinable, existed in
the serum of -blood. Hence T conclude, that the two
grains of what Dr. Marcet calls muco-extractive matter,
afforded by 500 grains of serum after separating 44 grains of
albumen or coagulable matter, is this matter rendered un-
coagulable by dissolution. And hence too, I conclude, that
the animal matter in the other animal fluids which he ex-
amined, was of one kind only, viz. coagulable matter, but
not demonstrable by its distinguishing property on account

of dissolution in a large proportion of water.
2. Ammonia is not mentioned among the impregnating
ingredients. This is to me not surprising, for it is evidently
from my experiment in so smal] a quantity as to be undis-
coverable in the proportions employed. If I could not
find by estimation above half a grain weight of it in seven or
eight thousand grains of animal matter, it was not likely to
be rendered evident in seven or eight hundred grains. al
3. dul

On Animul Fluids. 209
3. Sulphate of potash. That a sulphate exists I per-

eeived in my experiments, and have accordingly inserted it
among the Saline matters in my published papers; but that
it is sulphate of potash I apprehend will not be allowed
to have been shown by Dr. Marcet.

4. Phosphate of lime, of iron, and of magnesia, are
enumerated in the memoir before me. Of phosphate of
lime there is good evidence; as I have set forth, and coincide
in my results with those of the author, as well as that there
is probably phosphate of magnesia; also that there is iron:
but [ was uot able to infer that it was in the state of phos-
phate, I only inserted it in my results as an oxide. Al-
though it is not essentially connected, it may be useful to
refer to a process which [ offer as evidence against the com-
mon opinion that the red and black colour of tne blood is
owing to iron. I have mentioned it in my lectures durin
some past years. The result is published in the Edinburgh
Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. vii. p. 124, for January
18it. I collected 110 grains of the red part of blood ina dried
state, by repeated ablutions from 10.000 grains or upwards
of twenty ounces of blood. By burning in a platina cru-
cible it afforded, in weight, two grains and a half of a half-
fused brown tasteless substance. By boiling in muriatic
acid a part was dissolved. This solution was not styptic
to the taste; it became blackish on adding tincture of gail
nut, and on adding prussiate of potash it afforded a deep
blue coloured precipitate, which did not yield on ignition
above half a grain of reddish brown powder. Is it then
probable that twenty ounces of blood should derive its co-
lour from half a grain of oxide of iron? I think proper to
speak of this result, at this time, because it was published
anonymously, and because subsequently to its publication
I find it has been mentioned by other persons without ac-
knowledgement; perhaps from not knowing this circum-
stance.

5. I found also indications of cardonate of lime and of
Silica not enumerated by Dr. Marcet. Future experiments
must however furnish unequivocal evidence.

6. Muriate of potash inserted by the author instead of
potash united to animal matter, or to some other destructi-
ble substance as [ have inferred, On this question perhaps
more than necessary has been already said in the present
and former papers.

7. Subcarbonate of soda asserted by the author has been
the subject of discussion at the same time as the last-men-
tioned ingredient.

U 2 8. Muriate

800 On Animal Fluids.

8. Muriate of soda. Both parties agree in this being
the chief saline impregnation.

Tt may be right to notice that T have employed the tern
self coagulable lymph instead of the usual one coagulable
lymph; because the serum, another fluid of the blood, is
also coagulable ; not indeed of itself, but at a certain tem-
perature, or on the admixture with certain substances. The
deposit spoken of by Dr. Marcet is not, | think, as he sup-
poses, what T mean by the term self. coagulable lvmph.

Although, ifthe cause of truth require it, another com-
munication may be offered, it will be most agreeable to
me, that it be not found necessary. Considering the erro-
neous inferences with which the writings of chemistry
abound by men of the greatest celebrity, I shall on that
account find a source of consolation if time show that [am
the erring party. IT bope too that this controversial discus-
sion may serve to promulgate knowledge, by inducing some
persons to attend to the subject who might not otherwise
have known the original papers. If with these reflections
my respectable adversary can be satisfied, the controversy
will now be terminated : J

4 “Claudite jam rivos, pueri: sat prata biberunt.”

G. P.
George-street, Hanover-square, April 17, 1812.

XLIII. Case of Hernia Umbilicalis, operated on with Suc-
cess during Utero-gestation. By Joun Taunton, Esq.
Surgeon to the City and Finsbury Dispensaries, and to
the City. Truss Society, Lecturer on Anatomy, Surgery,
Physiology, Se. :

June 29, 1811. Mas. E. P. aged 42, three months
gone with child, has bad an umbilical hernia for 20 years,
as large as a full-sized teacup, but never found any incon-
venience from it till yesterday, when, as she was walking in
the street, a boy ran against her, and struck her upon the
tumour, which occasioned much pain. A neighbouring
surgeon and apothecary, who attended the family, was. re-
quested to see her. She had sickness, vomiting, hiccough,
and constipation of the bowels; the pain, attended with a
sensation of heat, was principally referred to the region of
the stomach. Aperients, opiates, and enemas were given:
the former were rejected by the stomach, and the latter
pro!uced no effect on the bowels: fomentations were ap-

plied to the abdomen without relief. These means were
pursued

Case of Hernia Umbilicalis. 301

pursued without benefit, and the symptoms increased till
the morning of the 2d of July, when 1 was requested. to
see her,

The operation was immediately recommended, and ac-
ceded to on her part. Indeed, I considered that too much
deiay had already taken place.

The integuments over the hernia were very thin, and in
close contact with the peritoneal sac, which was also very
thin, and every where in contact with and adhering firmly
to the omentum. The omentum was partly torn through,
and partly dissected from the peritoneal sac, and a consider-
able portion of it was removed before the convolution of
intestine was brought into view. The omentum was much
inflamed, and in places approaching to a dark green colour:
The convoluiton of intestine was very dark, nearly in a
state of gangrene. The stricture was very deep and firm; bat
when dilated there was not any impediment to the return
of the bowel: nearly the whole of the omentum contained
in the sac was removed. ‘The extent of the inflammation
on the omentum and intestine, the latter appearing almost
in a state of gangrene, induced me to observe to the gens
tlemen who had been attending the case, that I was fearful
that too much time had been lost, and that it was of the
utmost importance to the safety of the patient, that the
operation for hernia should be always performed early.

July 3d. She had a natural stool, was free from fever,
and continued to recover without any unfavourable sym-
ptoms. The wound was completely healed in a month, and
she was as well as usual, and continued so till her labour
came on at the usual time. Thehernia then protruded and
became strangulated: she had sickness, hiccough, vo-
miting, and constipation. She continued in this state for
two days, when she was safely delivered. The hernia was
still irreducible, and the vomiting and. constipation con-
tinued ‘ill the next day, when the tumour lessened and the
symptoms were relieved. At times she has had violent pains
in the part, and the tumour has become tense and irreduci-
ble for a short period ; but these symptoms have generally
subsided without any surgical assistance. She could never
be prevailed upon to wear a proper truss, though strongly
recommended so to do.

April 20, 18:2, 4 P. M. TI was requested by her husband
to visit her on account of her old complaint, of which she
was now very ill. From his representation of the case I
took my instruments, and Mr, Burn to assist at the opera-
tion should it be found necessary, in order that no time

should

309 Case of Hernia Umbilicalis.

should be lost. We called upon the medical gentleman wha
had the care of the patient in this as well as in her former
illness, to learn the history of the case now, and to have
his assistance; but he was from home, having left a mes-
sage that I was to do what | pleased with her. On_ his
assistant referring to his day- book, it appeared that she was
taken ill with symptoms of strangulation on the 16th, and
visited by this gentleman on the 17th, when the symptoms
were very urgent, and the hernia irreducible.
B Magn. sulphas 3 6.
Mist. amygdal. 3 vi. M. Fiat mist. Cochl. iij. 4tis
horis.

On the 18th the symptoms had not been at all relieved,
and she was worse in every respect. The following mixture,
which she has been in the habit of taking subsequent ty
the former operation, was sent. '

RK Magn. sulphas 3i.
Manne 31.
Aq. menthe 3vij. M. Cochl. 1ij. 4tis horts.

A common glyster with one ounce of salts was now ad-
ministered without any good effect.

On the 19th all the bad symptoms were aggravated : an-
other glyster of the same kind was administered, and some
castor oi] which she had in the house was taken... She ap-
peared at this time much worse; the castor oil was taken
in coffee in the evening, and remained on the stomach du-
ring the night.

On this morning (4.A.M. 20th) the skin on the lips,
hands and feet, and on the hips and loins, was discoloured,
rather purple: another glyster was administered, and three
pills composed of jalapi DSi. Hydr. submurias gts. x.
were taken, and immediately rejected by the stomach.
Stercus matter was now vomited, and all the symptoms
indicated the greatest danger. Yet it does not appear that
any means were taken to endeavour to obtain relief til
4 P, M. when | was first applied to, and visited her imme-
diately*.

The pulse was low, weak, and irregular, at times the
beat scarcely perceptible ; cold clammy perspirations par-
tially diffused over the body ; the extremities cold and of a
very dark colour: the skin on the face was nearly purple, and
on the lips almost black ; her strength was so much reduced

* The above particulars were obtained from her husband, children, and
herself, and also corroborated by the testimony of the assistant to the gentle-
man who had attended the case. ae

that

Case of Hernia Umbilicalis. 303

that she was not able to turn herself or to raise herself in
bed without assistance.

The tumour was rather of a livid colour, not very tense,
but had that peculiar feel as if it was filled with feces from
a rupture of the intestine. There was but little painin the
hernial tumour, or on the lower part of the abdomen; but
above, and rather inclined to the left side, there was a small
part more tense and painful on pressure.

After stating the extreme danger in which she was, both
to herself and to her husband, I named the operation as
the only thing to be done, which could give any chance
for her life, and left it for them to decide; which they did
in the affirmative.

The incision was made in the direction of the linea alba,
through the integuments, which were very thin and adhered
in every part to the peritoneal sac. There were about 3 02.
of a straw-coloured fluid contained in the sac. The intes-
tine was now exposed, being of a dark colour, almost
black. The peritoneal coat was abraded or ulcerated on one
part, to the extent of the size of a shilling: the stricture
was between three and four inches deep, requiring the
whole length of the bistoury: it was dilated a little both
above and below, in the direction of the linea alba: there
was no adhesion or impediment to the return of the intes-
tine, nor was any force required. When the stricture was
dilated, it appeared almost to withdraw itself imto the ab-’
domen. '

The edges of the wound were laid together, and supported
by strips of adhesive plaster and a compress of lint; the
whole confined by a common roller.

The following medicine was ordered, and two table
spoonfuls directed to be taken every second hour.

BR Conf. arom. 5i1.
Spt. lavd. comp. Jifs.
Tinct. opii 31.
Aq. menth. pip. 3vifs. M.

On visiting her at nine p. m. four hours after the opera-
tion, the sickness and vomiting had entirely subsided. She
had taken three cups of tea, which she seemed to like. She
was still very cold, the clammy perspirations were not
abated, and the skin was almost as much discoloured as it
was before the operation: but on the whole she felt her-
self relieved. The medicine was directed to be continued,
She died at four o'clock in the morning, eleven hours after
the operation. .

It has often fallen to my lot to record similar cases to

U4 the

304 On the Geological Structure

the above, in the pages of your valuable Journal ; and it is
with no small regret that Ido relate such cases, and that £
see no prospect of the number of these cases being dimi-
nished, not even in London. Although here the physi-
cian can without delay have the advice of his colleagues,
the surgeon the immediate assistance of his professional
brethren, and the apothecary may have the advice and as-
sistance of both physician and surgeon almosé instantly 3
yet that wilful perverse desire of pursuing a routine of un-
successful practice, of keeping the patient from proper as~
sistance, for the purpose of making merchandise of his
maladies, by the sale of a few medicines, still prevails and
is equally disgraceful to the profession, as it is almost cer-
tainly fatal to the patient. In the instance before us, a va-
luable parent was snatched from a numerous offspring,
surely hurried to an untimely grave by a want of that as-
sistance which had been successful in a former case, and
which would in all human probability have been again com-
pletely successful, had it been applied in proper time.

The operation for hernia is simple, and, when performed
with care, 10 proper time, is almost certainly successful.
‘* Few, if any, would be the fatal cases of this operation,
if it was performed sufficiently early*.”” The result, of many
years practice, in which the number of operations on per-
sons afflicted with this malady has been very considerable,
enables me to speak with well grounded confidence on the
success of this operation.

21, Greville-street, Hatton Garden, JoHN TAUNTON.
April £3, 1812.

XLIV. Notice respecting the Geological Structure of the Vi-
cinity of Dublin ; with an Account of some rare Minerals
found in Ireland, By Wit.ram Firton, M.D. Com-
municated by L. Horner, Esq. Secretary to the Geologi-
cal Society ft. .

Tue following observations are to be ascribed principally
to the late Rev. Walter Stephens, J communicate them to
the Geo'ogical Society in their present imperfect form,
with the bope that they may attract the attention of mineras
Jogists to the country in the vicinity of Dublin; for they
are sufficient to show that very interesting information may
be expected from a correct examination of that district, the
* Hey’s Surgical Observations.
} From the Transactions of the Geological Society, vol, i. with some ad-
ditions by the Author. : ‘
situation

of the Vicinity of Dublin. 305

situation of which renders it easy of access, and affords
many advantages to the observer.” I shall subjoin to a
brief statement ‘respecting the geological structure of that
country, an account of some minerals of not very common
occurence recently found in Ireland.

The city of Dublin is placed in a flat country, at the di-
stance of about three miles from the sea, and about five miles
to the north of a range of mountains forming the verge of an
elevated district which extends from thence for more than
thirty miles to the south. This district 1s bounded on the
inland or western side by a continuation of the plain of the
neighbourhood of Dublin; and its breadth from the sea,
which forms its boundary to the east, is generally about
four-and-twenty English miles.

The basis of all the plain to the north and west of the
mountains above mentioned, appears to be secondary (flceetz)
limestone.

The mountainous district itself is principally composed
of primitive rocks : it 1s traversed through its whole extent
by a broad tract of granite, which, taking its rise on the
shore at the south side of Dublin bay, crosses the county of
Wicklow in a south-western direction ; being bounded by
incumbent rocks of great variety, the structure and relations
of which, as well as of the granitic mass, are in several
places very distinctly exhibited. ;

The relative extent of the space occupied by the granite,
and by the rocks that occur between it and the calcareous
country, and the general position of their boundaries, may
be understood from the annexed sketch* ; in which it is to
be remarked, that the places where the boundary is denoted
by a dotted line remain still to be explored, the line having
been there inserted only for the purpose of illustration,

The granite has been observed in contact with other rocks
at the following places in the counties of Dublin and
Wicklow: viz. on its eastern boundary,—at Killiney ; at
the southern extremity of the Sca/p; in the bed of the se-
cond streamlet which joins that of the Powerscourt Waterfall,
above the fall ; from the neighbourhood of Luggelaw to the
head of Loch Dan, and from thence to the upper part of
Glenmacanass ; at Tonelagee ; at Aghavanagh in the course
of the military road about a mile to the east of the barrack ;
and at the western branch of the Coolbawn stream on the
north-west flank of the mountain Croghan Kinshelat. The

* The sketches referred to in this paper will be given with our next
Number—Plate VIJ,—Ep1ror.

+ Report on the Gold-:nine by Messrs, Mills and Weaver. Transactions
of the Dublin Society, vol. iii.

boundary

306 On the Geological Structure

boundary of the granite on its northern and western confines
is much less regular than on the east; it probably com-
mences on the shore of Dublin bay between Booterstown and
Blackrock, a mass of limestone having been observed there
within a short distance of granite, but the rocks are con
cealed in the intervening space. The granite comes nearly
into contact with limestone again, near the junction of the
stream from Dundrum with the river Dodder a little above
the village of Milltown ; and is visible near schistose beds
in the course of the streamlet between /Vhitechurch and
Rathfarnham. It has been observed in contact with schist
to the west of the Glen near the head of the Dodder,
nearly opposite toa little village called the Brakes of Glass-
namucky, but from that place to the west and south, the
line of boundary has been very little explored: it passes
however very near the granite quarries at Golden-hill, and
must run to the east of Powla Phuca and the Glen of Holy-
wood. A junction occurs at Ballyroan on the south-west-
ern side of Kilranelagh-hill ; and granite has been observed
in that neighbourhood, to the east of Kilranelagh at Knocka-
derry, and to the south of it at Killalish, Kiltegan, Kilma-
cart, and near the town of Carlow where the limestone
appears, at Brownshill.

The slaty rocks incumbent on the granite in this country
are very much diversified in their nature, and they have
hitherto been very little examined. On itseastern confines,
in the places above-mentioned, the prevailing rock is mi-
ca slate, the beds of which in general lean towards the
granite, their direction being nearly parallel to the line of
junction: rocks of the trap kind occur to the west in the
neighbourhood of Ballinascorney, and at Kilranelagh ; and
columnar rocks of the same description have been observed
at Arklow-rock on the south-eastern extremity of the county
of Wicklow.

The country around the village of Bray, which, like that
of Wicklow in general, is remarkable for the picturesque
beauty of its scenery, presents within a small space several
very interesting geological appearances ; and those observa-
ble at Killiney, first noticed I believe by Dr. Blake of Dub-
lin, will be found particularly deserving of examination :
the line of junction, which, as already mentioned, hasbeen
traced for several miles across the country, commencing on
the shore at the base of Killiney-hill, where schistose beds
are to be seen to aconsiderable extent, reposing upon gra-
nite.

On the shore from thence to Dalkey, the granite is tra-

versed

of the Vicinity of Dublin. 307

versed by numerous veins, many of which are themselves
composed of granite; and in several instances two such
veins, differing from each other and from the mass through
which they run, in fineness of grain, and in the proportion of
their ingredients, are seen to intersect, one not unfre-
quently deranging the continuity of the other’s direction*.
The substance of whith these veins consist is perfectly con-
tinuous with that of the rock in which they occur, and the
surface of fracture passes through both without interrup-
tion.

The regularity of the line by which the granite is bounded
at Rochestown-hill is highly deserving of aitention. ‘*From
the top of the hill a very remarkable ledge of granite runs in
a stra.cht line, for upwards of a quarter of a mile, extend-
ing from a little below the summit on its south-eastern
side in a direction from N.N.E. to S$.S.W. This ledge,
which is elevated a few feet above the ground to the south-
east of it, appears to form the boundary of the granite. The
schist in this place seems ta run up in a wedge-like form
between this ledge and another a little to the eastward,
which is much less extensive than the former but corre-
sponds pretty nearly with it in direction, its course being
from S.W. by S. to N.E by N.; and beyond this again
still further to the east, another wedge-like branch of the
schist runs up between this second ledge and the obelisk
hill.”

“¢ In the annexed sketch A denotes the summit of Roches-
town hill; B, the first ledge of granite; C, the’ second
ledge; D, the third ledge; E, part of the obelisk
hillt.”’

The whole of the Greater Sugar- Loaf mountain is com-
posed of quartz; and the adjoining hiil of Séile-Lawn and
the rocks at the upper part of the Darg/e consist of the
same substance ; which also constitutes the mass of the
Lesser Sugar- Loaf mountain, and the summits of Shank-
hill and of Bray-head, resembling it in figure and in general
aspectt. It appears therefore that all the summits of this
vicinity which agree in form, are composed of the same
material; and it is remarkable that the conical shape cha-
racterizes mountains consisting of quartz in various parts

*The mode of intersection of these veins is illustrated by the annexed
Sketch, figs. 1,2,3,4, and 5, representing detached portions of veins ob-
servable in different places along the shore at Killiney ; figs. 7 and 8 are from
large loose blocks on the strand there: these, however, were not the most
remarkable that might have been selected.

+ Extracted from anote by Mr. Stephens,

} See the annexed Sketch,

of

308 On the Geological Structure

of the globe*. Tam informed by Mr. Jameson that he has
seen in Lusatia detached conical summits composed of that
substance; and that the summits of the same fignre in the
mountains separatmg Caithness from Sutherland are like«
wise formed of it 5 as are also the Paps of Jurain the Western
Islesf ; and according to Dr. Berger. the mountain Durnhill
near the town of Portsoy 1: Scotland.’

The principal mines which have hitherto been opened
within the mountainous district near Dublin, are those of
copper ore at Cronelane and Ballymurtagh, the metallife-
rous waters of which were described in the Philosophical
Transactions so Jong ago as in the year 1757 5 and of
lead at Glenmalur §, at Giendalogh, at Dalkey, and at
Ballycorus near the Scalp. The stream works commonly
called ‘* the Gold-mine”’ were situate on the north-east
side of the mountain Croghan. Kinshela on the southern
verge of the county of Wickiow ; and gold has been found
within that county at another mountain named Croghan-
Moira, about eight English miles to the north of that
place|f.

The occurrence of Tinstone at the ‘* Gold-mine, where
it has been obtained in fragments, is a fact which de-
serves particular atiention ; for the probability of the dis-
covery of veins of that valuable ore within a tract of pri-
mitive country so extensive as that of Dublin and Wick-
low, appears from this circumstance to be considerable.

Porcelain earth resulting from the decomposition of
felspar, has been found at Kilranelagh in the county of
Wicklow, in purity nearly equal to the Cornish ‘* China
clay:’’ and granite is tound in a decomposed state so
commonly in other parts of that county, that this valuable
production may with much probability be expected to oc~
cur there in other places, and in considerable quantity.

* Siliceous earth in the form of this mineral, and consequently nearly
pure, seems to constitute a much greater portion of the earth’s surface than
some mineralogists have supposed. Humboldt states that near Caxamarca
in Peru, a mass of more than nine thousand feet in thickness is exclusively
composed of guartz:—he has not mentioned the form of the summits.
Talleau Physique, p- 128.

See Walker’s Giconomical History of the Hebrides, vol. ii. p. 392.

$ Vols. xlvii. and xlviii.

§ The sales of lead. from ore raised and smelted at the Glenmalur mine,
amounted during the year ending December 3ist, 1811, to no less than
9819/. 16s. 2d. Irish currency: the weight of metal sold was 6680 cwts.
2.qrs.

4 Gold is said to have been found-also at the King’s river, near the village
of Holywood, in the county of Wicklow.

q Report on the Gold-mine by Messrs. Mills and Weaver, Trans, of Dub-

lin Society, vol. iii.
The

of the Vicinity of Dublin. 309

The flat calcareous country of the neighbourhood of
Dublin is very widely extended in various directions + it
passes round the mountainous tract above mentioned at its
north-western angle, and reaches with little interruption,
in asouthern direction, through the counties of Kildare and
Carlow, to the foot of the hills of the Kilkenny-coal-district ;
and to the south-west, through the King’s and Queen’s
counties, to the foot of the Shebh-bloom mountains. It
has also considerable extent towards the north and west.

In the parts of this plain more immediately in the neigh
bourhood of the city, the prevailing rock is that variety of
limestone to which Mr. Kirwan has given the name of
Calp, of which an excellent description and analysis have
been published by the Hon. Mr. Knox*: But in several
parts of the fat country, limestone of the ordinary kind
abounding in petrifactions is also to be met with.

In the course of the river Dodder, between the village of
Milltown and Classon’s Bridge, the calp appears to aiter-
nate with beds of granular magnesian-limestone in its cha-
racters perfectly resembling some of the substances that oc-
cur in various parts of England, which are described as
affording a lime injurious to vegetation, in Mr. Tennant’s
very important paper ‘* on different sorts of lime used in
agricultureft.”’ The magnesian stone at Milltown agrees
with the calp and ordinary limestone of the adjoining
country in containing petrifactions, although less com-
monly; and like them also it has frequently imbedded in it
masses of siliceous matter, (the ‘* Lydian stone,” or a va-
riety of hornstone of Werner.)

The beds of calp and limestone near Dublin, are in ge-
neral but little inclined to the horizon; but they often ex-
hibit masks of dislocation » and in some places are singu-
larly inflected, as is remarkably the case with those observ-
able in the bank of the river Liffey, near the bridge at
Lucan.

The petrifactions which abound in several parts of this
calcareous country {; the beds of calp, and of magnesian
limestone, and the siliceous masses above mentioned, af-
ford some of the features that may assist in deciding to
which of the © formations”? of Werner it’is to be referred,
or whether it properly belong to any of them: a point of

* Trans. of Royal Irish Academy, vol. viii. p. 207.
+ Philosophical ‘Transactions 1799, or Philosophical Magazine, vol. v.
page 209.
¢The quarries at St. Doolagh’s, and in the neighbourhood of Feltrim,
afford very perfect specimens of petrifactions, and in great variety.
some

310 Geological Structure of the Vicinity of Dublin:

some interest in a geological view, from the great extent of
the space occupied by limestone in several of the counties
near Dublin.

At the peninsula of Howth, which forms the southern
side of Dublin Bay, grey ore of manganese, and brown
iron stone (Museum of Dublin College, Nos. 1067-8. 887.)
have been obtained in considerable quantity : and a variety
of the earthy-black-cobalt-ore of Werner has been found
by Mr. Stephens and Dr. Stokes at the south west side of
the hill, in the form of a coating of a rich blue colour; which
inerusts the fissures of a rock of slate clay, nearly ap-
proaching to whetslate (Museum of Dublin College,
No. 267): Mr. Tennant has in this substance ascertained the
presence of the oxides of cobalt and of manganese; and the
discovery of it is important, as it indicates the probability
of the existence of other more valuable ores of cobalt in
that neighbourhood. }

The heights of very few of the mountains near Dublin
have hitherto been measured: the only published ob-
servation with which I am acquainted; being that given
in a section annexed to the report on the Gold-mine by
Messrs. Mills and Weaver already referred to; where the
summit of the mountain Croghan Kinshela is stated to be
2012 feet above the river at Kilcarragh bridge, which is
about four miles from the sea. [ have myself ascertained
by the barometer the heights of the following places in the
county of Wicklow, above the house of Mr. Greene, at
Kilranelagh, viz.— ;

Feet.
Lugnaquilla, supposed to be the highest mountain

OF the COUMY ein nas JUS hays celed wes aah 4h. ad SE R0ER
Cadeen, a mountain detached from the rest, and a

conspicuous object from the adjacent flat coun- |

Yn Nici HES Aes WSN sae LG atten ee cw’ ssie a oie
Baltinglassahill «ojos dbisisidi cla ae alee ove's ¥¥.4t56) LOCUS
Hhadlestorogy HALL) |.-5 «40's ¢ «ib, s'a's,eyh ayele «8's si/eia ails! gm
PREUSSELBLOL TI DELL,-o55hs.:0 0h syvians nieietin elid wb oa tia eR
Ralranelaghe-liill co'aor0 sina sites osisypie gt daha das GOO

* The first three heights above mentioned, are each the mean of three
observations, the rest are from single observations with two excellent ba-
rometers. Mr. Greene’s house is (by a single observation) 95,08 feet above
the level of the cross roads at the bridge of Tuwckmill, a little village on the
river Slamey, the elevation of which above the sea will be very well sup-
plied, when a branch of the Grand-canal shall be extended in this direction,
ae is now intended. The distance of ‘Fuckmill from the sea in a direct line
is about eighteen English miles, ‘ OF

Royal Society. 312

Of the mountains nearest to Dublin :
Feet.
Garrycasile, one of the highest, is ......eeee++ 1531'°7
Three- Rock-mountain, adjoining the last ........ 1247°9
above the level of the road at Ballinteer, near the house
of Dr. Stokes, the height of which above the sea is con-
siderable.
The highest point of Howth is ......e0.++0++ 567 feet
above high water mark.

The elevation of the plain country of Kildare, may be
judged of from that of the summit level of the Grand-canal,
by which it is crossed to the north of the hill of Allen:
that level being 264 feet above high water in Dublin Bay,
taken from a mark made at the Pigeon-house by order of
the Ballast-Office.

{To becontinued.]

XLV. Proceedings of Learned Societies.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

April 9th and 16th. A. paper was read on arsenic, by
Dr. Lambe of King’s Road, Bedford Row, communicated
by the late Dr. Garthshore.

The principal object of Dr. L.’s labours on arsenic seems
to have been to defend an hypothesis proposed by him, a
considerable time ago, in two successive publications,
namely: ‘* An Inquiry into the Origin of Constitutional
Diseases,”’ and ‘* Reports on Cancer,”’ in which the Dector
attempted to show the analogy between the action of putrid
matter and arsenical poison. The facts of most conse-
quence in the paper read as above to the Royal Society, are
the following:

1. One part of charcoal was mixed with ten of white
arsenic and twenty of nitre: after deflagration, no signs of
carbonic acid could be detected, as would have happened had
no arsenic been present.

2. Small quantities of charcoal mixed with white oxide
of arsenic had the same effect as upon many other me-
tallic oxides, producing carbonic acid and carbonic oxide.

3. In the reduction of arsenic by mixing white arsenic,
half its weight of subcarbonate of soda, and 4th part of char-
coal, there appeared a peculiar gas in the early stage of the
process. It could not be inflamed by a candle, (mixed

either

312 Society of Antiquaries.

either with oxygen or common air,) but was inflammable
by electricity, and was thus convertible into carbonic acid,
and a considerable portion of azote remained after the
inflammation. The properties of this gas changed by being
kept in a phial uncorked: the inflammable portion dimi-
nished, and the residuum of azote increased.

After this gas had come over, large portions of hydrogen
and carburetted hydrogen were obtained. They were
mixed with small portions of azote and oxygen to the end
of the process.

Besides these gases there was also carbonic acid in great
abundance.

4. These experiments were performed in earthen retorts,
which might be suspected to permit some atmospheric air
to pass throngh their pores: and such appears on trial to
be the case. For, on using glass retorts, the results were
considerably different. The first products were carboni¢é
acid, and small quantities both of azote and oxygen, which
were left afier the carbonic acid had been removed by lime-
water. But towards the end of the process, instead of a
residuary portion of azote and oxygen, a peculiar gas was
observed similar in many respects: to that described. It
could not be inflamed by a candle, when mixed with at-
mespheric air, or with oxygen gas; but it inflamed by a
smart electric shock, and carbonic acid was produced. A
more minute research detected also the production of nitric
acid from the detonation of this gas. On this account
Dr. Lambe has given it the name df nifro-carbonic oxide.

5. When this process was conducted in glass retorts,
not the smallest vestige of hydrogen or carbureited hy-
drogen could be observed, which were so abundant when
the earthen retorts were used. But still small quantities
both of azote and oxygen came oyer to the very end.
Water also appeared to be produced im’ every stage of the
process.

April 23. Part of a Marine Meteorological Journal, by
ae Heywood, communicated by Capt. Horsburgh, was
read.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON.

Thursday April 25, being St. George’s day, the Socie-
ty of Antiquaries met at their apartments in Somerset Place,

in pursuance of their-statutes and charter of incorporation,

to

Russell Institution. 313

to elect a President; Council, and Officers of the Society for
the year ensuing—whereupon
George Earl of Aberdeen, Thomas Lord Dundas,

K.T. Sir H. C. Englefield, Bart.
Edward Astle, Esq. Anthony Hamilton, D.D.
F.A. barnard, Esq. Charles Monro, Esq.
William Bray, Esq. Craven Ord, Esq.
Nicholas Carlisle, Esq. Matthew Raper, Esq.

Eleven of the Council, were re-chosen of the New Council ;
and
The Right Hon. Charles Taylor Combe, Esq.
Abbot, Henry Ellis, Esq.
Heneage Earl of Aylesford, George Lord Kenyon,
The Right Hon.Sir J.Banks, R. P. Knight, Esq.
Bart. K. B. Samuel Lysons, Esq.
John Lord Brownlow, John Lord Redesdale,

Ten of the other members of the Society, were chosen of
the New Council, and they were severally declared to be the
Council for the year ensuing ; and, on a report made ofthe
Officers of the Society, it appeared that
George Earl of Aberdeen was elected President.
William Bray, Esq. Treasurer.
Matthew Raper, Esq. Director.
Nicholas Carlisle, Esq.
Rey. T. W. Wrighte, M.A.

RUSSELL INSTITUTION.

In Mr. Bakewell’s third lecture, he noticed the fractures
and fissures in the earth’s surface, which are filled with mi-
neral substances differing in quality from the rocks or strata
they intersect. In travelling over an extensive range in a .
mountainous country, he observed that the form and incli-
nation of the hills may present the same general resemblance
for a considerable distance ; but we may sometimes perceive
that in certain situations the same kind of rock is thrown
into a different position, and the strata are inclined in an
opposite direction. When such a change of position cccurs,
then we may be almost certain that a rent or fissure of the
earth’s surface has taken place, and that the continuity of the
strata has been broken by some cause which has elevated
one side and depressed the other. These rents are called by
miners dykes or faults. In the northern part of our island,
they are frequently filled with basalt or whinstone. In the
coal districts of Yorkshire, and in the midland counties,
they are more frequently filled with clay. In some situa-
tions, where these dykes occur in contact with coal, the coal

Vol. 39. No. 168, April 1812. x appears

} Secretaries.

314 ‘Russell Institution.

appears charred on each side. He stated instances of this
in the county of Durham, and in Shropshire. Such phz-
nomena appear to indicate that the basalt had been ejected
into the fissure in a state of igneous fusion.

The length to which dykes extend has in few instances
heen traced, owing to the upper part being hid by a cover-
ing of loose earth or soil. They vary in width, from 6 inches
to “70 feet or more. Their depth remains “anascertained.
Veins of granitic and other rocks occur also amongst pri-
mary mountains.

Metallic veins resemble dykes in their structure, but not in
their contents, being filled with different metallic substances
in a state of ore, and intermixed with various crystals
and earths.. Mr. Bakewell described the contents of many
remarkable veins in England and other parts of the world,
and the extent and depth to which they have been traced.
He explained their inclination, position, and structure, by
various drawings and specimens. It appeared from his de-
scription, that “the Eton copper mine has been worked to a
greater depth than any other mine in England, ore having
been lately got at the depth of 236 fathoms, or 472 yards.
Mr. Bakewell! described the various states in which the same
metal is sometimes found in one mine, as native metal, or
as alloyed with other metals, or mineralized by oxygen, sul-
phur, or acids.

The lecturer proceeded to observe, that the question “ In
6¢ what manner have metallic veins been filled with their
** contents?” has greatly divided the opinions of Geolo-
gists. Dr, Hutton supposed that mineral and metallic veins
have been formed by the breaking of the solid rocks from
the expansive force of subterranean fires, and their contents
ejected into them in a state of fusion from below. Mr.
Werner supposes they are fissures produced by the shrink-
ing or drying of the materials of which rocks are composed,
and afterwards filled from above by the metallic matter
in a state of solution. Both these theories, Mr. Bakewell
observed, were at variance with the appearances which mi-
neral veils present.

The favourable reception which Mr. Werner’s system of
the formation of metallic veins has met with, was, he said,
a striking instance of the extent to which an attachment to
theory can be carried, and close the eyes of its votaries to the
plainest and most ouvinds facts. Had metallic veins been
filled from above, by the metallic ores infused in a state of
solution, this eutibon must at one time have covered the
whole earth, and the ores deposited by it would have as

a

Russell Institution. 315

all the valleys and cavities on the earth’s surface, and would
not have been confined to the narrow fissures or veins in
which they are found. There-are, however, he observed,
existing facts equally decisive against the theories of Dr.
Hutton and Mr. Werner respecting the formation of veins.
It is almost universally found, that where a metallic vein
passes through a mountain composed of beds or strata of
different kinds of rock, the nature or quality of the ore
varies in each kind of rock. ‘This is the case in Cornwall:
where the same vein traverses grau-wacke or killas and
granite, it is found to be more rich in the latter rock. In
Derbyshire, the veins of galena which pass through the
limestone rocks disappear in the basaltic amygdaloid by
which the lime rocks are separated; or, if the vein passes
through the amygdaloid, it very rarely contains any quantity
of metallic ore. It is also found that different strata or
layers in the same bed of lime rock are more productive
in ore than others. ff metallic veins were filled by in-
fusion from above, or ejected from below, it is impossible
that the nature of the rocks they traverse could alter the
quality or quantity of their products. This fact, though
undeniable, has never, Mr. B. observed, been properly at-
tended to, and is alone decisive against the received opinions
respecting the formation of metallic veins, and seems to
prove that the rock itself has been in some manner opera-
tive in the production of their contents.

Mr. B. observed, that the present state of chemical
science did notadmit us to form any decisive or satisfactory
opinion on this subject, and he considered it much wiser
to acknowledge our ignorance, than frame theories which
only serve to perpetuate error. It is not at present fully
ascertained, whether metals be simple substances, or com=

pounds: but this discovery, he said, must precede the’

formation of such a theory as will explain in a satisfactory
manner many of the mysteries in the mineral kingdom.

Some experiments which he showed, offered, he said,
hints to future discoveries on this subject. All the metals
are capable of existing in peculiar solutions, and some of
them (perhaps all) are also capable of becoming elastic in-
visible gases when united with hydrogen, and can be made
to deposit the metallic contents in a solid form. In this man-
ner they may have entered veins, and may have been sepa-
rated from the substance of rocks, and decomposed by a
process analogous to that of the Voltaic electricity, the
different sides of the vein acting like the opposite ends of
the pile,

X 2 Mr.

®&

316 Geological Society.

Mr. Bakewell observed, that much yet remained to be
done to improve the processes of metallurgy, and, what
was of more importance, to provide for the health and
safety of the persons who Jabour in mines and the reduc-
tion of ores. The immense annual sacrifice of lives in the
mines of Pera is a melancholy instance of the baneful ef-
fects resulting from ignorance, tyranny, and avarice. In
Mexico, ‘according to late observation, the condition of the
miners is much improved. Science, Mr. B. observed, had
ever been found the friend of man; and when she shall
dawn on those regions, her beneficent effects will soon be
felt: she will teach him to supply subterranean works with
salutary currents of air, and extend his researches with safety
to far greater depths than have yet been explored. Scien-
tific pursuits are not, as some may imagine, unprofitable
speculations: they have always a tendency to enlarge the
sphere of human power, to add to our comforts, and lessen
the evils of suffering humanity.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

April 3.—Two new members were admitted. Two com-
munications were announced, and the receipt of various
presents of books and specimens was reported by the Se-
cretary.

A notice relative to the geology of the coast of Labra-
dor, by the Rev. Mr. Steinhauer, was read.

The only, accounts that have been hitherto published
concerning this part of the British dominions are the Me-
moir of Mr. (afterwards Sir Roger) Curtis, inserted in the
Philosophical Transactions, and Mr. Cartwright’s Journal.

The Moravian Missionaries in 1772 established in this
‘country their first settlement, called Nain, in lat. 56°38’;
and subsequently Okkak in lat. 58° 43’; and Hopedale
in lat. 55° 36’.. In the course of the last year they doubled
Cape Chudleigh in lat. 60° 20’, and descended on the west-
ern side of the same promontory as far as lat. 58° 36’.

The leisure of the Missionaries, when opportunities oc-
cur, 1s employed in coliecting materials for a natural his-
tory of the country; they have kept tables of the thermo-
metrical and barometrical variations, have procured speci-
mens of most of the native vegetable productions, and have
from time to time sent over specimens of such minerals as
attracted their notice.

The general aspect of this dreary region is that of bare
‘and barren rock towering in craggy eminences, and of sandy

marshes,.

\

Geological Society. 317

marshes, on which are found a few pines and ‘brush-
wood and aquatic mosses. In several parts of the country
the rocks are intersected by chasms, running generally in
aright line to a considerable distance, which when covered
with snow form dangerous pitfalls. The highest moun-
tains extend along the eastern coast: the elevation of one
of them, called Mount Thoresby, has been ascertained by
actual measurement to equal 2733 feet, anda few others
probably attain the height of 3000 feet. hls e639

From the islands near Cape Chudieigh the Misstonartes
have sent specimens of large-grained pale granite with gar-
nets. The island of Ammitok in lat. 59° 20’ consists
entirely of a crumbling garnet rock, in which hornblende
sometimes occurs. The mountains about Nachwak Bay
furnish lapis ollaris.. :

On the south of the high land of Kiglapyed in lat. 57°
the district commences where the Labrador felspar 1s
found: this mineral occurs not only in rolled stones on the |
shore, but in spots in the rocks in the neighbourhood of
Nain, and particularly in the rocks bordering a lagoon
about 60 miles inland, in which Nain North river term-
nates. The same district also produces the hyperstene or
Labrador hornblende.

At Hopedale a limestone occurs from which have been
procured specimens of reddish limestone, of calcareous spar,
and of a variety of schiefer spar. $

The country to the west of Cape Chudleigh, as far as it
has been explored, is called the Ungava; and abounds with
red jasper, with hematites, and with iron pyrites.

April i7.—Two communications were announced, and
the receipt of various books and specimens was reported
by the Secretary.

An account of the brine springs at Droitwich, by Leo-
nard Horner, Esq. Sec. Geol. Soc. was read.

The town of Droitwich has been noted for the manu-
facture of salt during at least a thousand years; but no de-
tailed account has hitherto been published of the natural
and chemical history of the brine springs from which it is
procured, The brine springs are in the centre of the town, ”
being situated in a narrow valley through which the small
river Salwarp flows. The prevailing rock about Droitwich
is a fine-grained caleareo-argillaceous sandstone of a
brownish red colour, with occasional spots aud patches of
a greenish blue. At Doder Hill in the immediate vicinity
of the salt pits the rock appears to be a stratified sandstone
ofa greenish gray colour, and more indurated than the red

3 rock,

318 Geological Society.

rock. Tt also differs from this last in containing slender
veins of gypsum.

No new brine pits have been sunk for the last thirty
years: the only particulars therefore concerning the strata
covering the salt, which Mr. Horner has been able to ob-
tain, are derived from Dr. Nash’s History of Worcestershire,
and from an inhabitant of Droitwich who was on the
spot when the last pit was sunk. From these authorities it
appears that the depth of from 35 to 45 feet below the sur-
face is occupied by beds of gravel, af red marly clav, and
of blue and white stone. To these succeeds a bed of gyp-
sum about 105 feet in thickness, immediately below
which is what is called the River of Salt; which 1s a stra-
tum of nearly saturated brine 22 inches in depth, lying on
a bed of rock salt, the thickness of which is unknown, no
borings have been sunk in it to a greater depth than five or
six fect. In constructing the pits, the method ts to sink a
shaft about eight feet square into the gypsum, and then to
“pierce this ted by a borer four inches in diameter: the
borer is known to have passed through the gypsum by its
suddenly dropping 22 inches, the depth of the River of
Salt. As soon as the borer is withdrawn, the brine sud-
denly-rushes up and overflows at the mouth of the pit.

There are only four pits at present in use, and the an-
nual quantity of salt which they afford is about 16,000
tons. /

The brine from all the pits is perfectly limpid, and when
in a large body has a pale greenish hue similar to that of
sea-water. Tothe taste it is intensely saline, but without
any degree of bitterness. The specific gravity differs in the
different pits, probably on account of the greater or less
accuracy with which the land springs are stopped out:
that of perfectly saturated brine is equal to 1210°39 (wa-
ter being 1000); that of the five pits examined by Mr,
Homer was found to vary from 1206-11 to 1174°71;
and an evaporation afforded from 2289°75 grs. to 1922'97
grs. of entire salt, dried at 180° Fahr., in a pint.

This salt, from a careful analysis, appears to be coms
posed of:

96°48 muriate of soda.
1°63 sulphate of lime.
1:82 sulphate of soda.
0°07 muriate of magnesia.
100-00 |

On:.camparing the brine of Droitwich with that of Che-
shire, as described by Mr. Holland in his Agricultural Sur-

vey

Wernerian Natural History Society. 319

vey of that county, and by Dr. Henry, in his paper on the
subject in the Philosophical Transactions, it appears that
the strength of the different brines is nearly the same ; that
the Cheshire brine contains rather a larger proportion of
muriate of soda; that the Droitwich brine is free from car-
bonate of lime, oxide of iron, and muriate of lime, all of
which are found in the Cheshire brine; and finally, that
the latter is free from the sulphate of soda which is con-
tained in the former.
WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

At the meeting of this Society on the 7th of March, the
Secretary read an ‘* Essay on Sponges, with descriptions of
all the species that have been discovered on the coast of
Great Britain,” by George Montagu, Esq. of Devonshire.
From Mr. Montagu’s researches as to the constitution of
sponges, it appears that no polypi or vermes of any kind
are to be discerned in their cells or pores: they are, how-
ever, decidedly of an animal nature ; but they possess vi-
tality without perceptible action or motion, Mr. Monta-
gu has divided the genus Spongia into five families, viz.
branched, digitated, tubular, compact, and orbicular,
Only fourteen species were previously known to be British.
Mr. Montagu in this communication described no fewer
than thirty-nine. A considerable number of the species
are quite new, or have now® for the first time been distin-
guished and formed by that indefatigable naturalist.

At the same meeting Dr. Yule read a memoir on the
natural method in botany, in which he defended the ex-
istence of the series of natural affinity in plants against ob-
jections of Professor Willdenow and Dr. Smith, founded
on the want of regularity in the series, &c. He contended,
that the illustrious author of the artificial system never in-
tended that it should supersede, but, on the contrary, that
it should lay the foundation of, the natural classes, ‘* quas
plana genera nondum detecta revelabunt :” and that with
this view he uniformly inculcated the-study of natural ge-
nera, in conformity with his great maxim, ‘‘ Omne genus
naturale.”

THE KIRWANIAN SOCIETY OF DUBLIN.

A new Philosophical Society has been established in
Dublin, on a plan somewhat different from those already
existing in that city. Its object is, to promote the cultiva-
tion of schemistry, mineralogy, and other branches of
natural history ; and it means to concentrate its attention
to these pursuits exclusively.

X4 The

320 The Kirwanian Society of Dullin.

The members, desirous of paying the greatest and only
tribute of respect in their power to the venerable and illus-
trious Mr. Kirwan, long distinguished in the first rank of
philosophers, for a long continued course of labours
equally useful to the world and creditable to himself, have
resolved upon establishing themselves under the name of
the KrrwaniAn Society.

The Society, except during the summer vacation, holds
its stated meetings once.every fortnight.

Communications on subjects connected with the above
sciences will be received and read to a mecting of the So-
ciety : for this purpose, a meeting will be even summoned
at any time during the summer ,vacation. The more ef-
fectually to ensure “the right of anteriority to any original
communication, the day of its receipt will be registered 1 in
a book kept for that purpose.

In order that immediate publicity may be given to such
communications, with the author’s permission, an abstract
is to be sent to the Editor of the Philosophical Magazine
for publication in his succeeding number, Further, the
communication itself, if deemed of sufficient merit, is to
be published at full length in the Transactions which the
Society intends to conduct.

The Society will gratuitously circulate concise printed
directions, for the selection of such Important or rare ml-
nerals as may promote the protress of mineralogical knows
ledge. These directions shall be particularly calculated for
drawing the attention of the less experienced, to such spe-
cimens as indicate the vicinity of metallic veins or other
mineral treasures.

Any person having in his possession minerals, with the
nature of which he is unacquainted, may have them ex-
amined, or, if of sufficient importance, even analysed, by
transm)tting them to the Secretary of the Society.

A set of instruments for mineralogical observation or
research will be always kept in readiness by the Society,
for the use of those who have not such already 1 in their pos-
session, and who may be deemed likely to pursue such in-
quiries with advantage.

Such are the present objects of the Society, and they
will no doubi in time be cxiended so as to become more

enerally useful. A fuller siatement will, we understand,
Ee shortly published in a Prospectus.

An abstract of the papers already received by the Society
shali be given im our next. ‘

XLVI. Ine

Peek |G

XLVI. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles,
CURIOUS AND INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.

Ar Edinburgh, Professor Leslie has jugt succeeded in
freezing quicksilver by his frigorific process.” This remark-
able experiment was performed in the shop of Mr. Adie,
optician, with an air-pump of a new and improved construc-
tion, made by that skilful artist. A wide thermometer tube,
with a large bulb, was filled with mercury, and attached toa
rod passing through a collar of leathers, from the top of a
cylindrical receiver. This receiver, which was 7 inches wide,
covered a deep fiat bason of nearly the same width, and con-
taining sulphuric acid, in the midst of which was placed
an egg-cup half full of water. The inclosed air being re-
duced by the working of the pump to the 50th part, the
bulb was repeatedly dipt in the water, and again exposed to
evaporation, till ithecame incrusted with a coat of ice about
the 20th of an inch thick. ‘The cup, with its water still un-
frozen, was then emoved, and the apparatus replaced, the
coated bulb being pushed down to less than an inch from
the surface of the sulphuric acid. On exhausting the re-
ceiver again, and continuing the operation, the icy crust at
length started into divided fissures, owing probably to its
being more contracted by the intense cold than the glass
which it invested; and the mercury having gradually de-
scended in the thermometer tube till it reached the point of
congelation, suddenly sunk almost into the bulb, the gage
standing at the 20th of an inch, and the included air being
thus rarefied about 600 times. Aftera few minutes, the ap-
paratus being removed, aud the bulb broken, the quicksilver
appeared a solid mass which bore the stroke of a hammer.
The temperature of the apartment was then 54° of Fahren-
heit.

In another experiment, with a small spirit of wine ther-
mometer, under the same circumstances and the same degree
of rarefaction, the cold produced was found to be 702° below
nothing, or more than 30° below the point usually assigned
for the congelation of mercury.

We understand that Mr. Leslie, from the commencement
of these inquiries, confidently expected to be able to freeze
quicksilver by such a process. {In January last year, he
maintained a cold within a degree of mercurial congelation
during the space of eight hours ; but his air pump not being
then tn pertect order, and some other parts of the apparatus
being likewise defective, he was induced to defer the experi-
ment for some time,

It

322 Lectures. —Patents, &¥c.

Tt is evident that such prodigious powers of refrigeration,
and which will no doubt be further improved, open a wide
field for philosophical investigation. Liquids which have
hitherto resisted congelation may yet be rendered solid,
and gases converted into liquids.

Theatre of Anatomy.—Lectures on Anatomy, Physi-
ology, Pathology, and Surgery, by Mr. John Taunton,
F.A.S. Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of
London, Surgeon to the City and Finsbury Dispensaries,
City of London Truss Society, &c.

In this Course of Lectures, it is proposed to take a com-
prehensive view of the structure and ceconomy of the
living body, and to consider the causes, symptoms, nature,
and treatment of surgical diseases, with the mede of per-
forming the different surgical operations ; forming a com-
plete course of anatomical and physiological instruction for
the medical or surgical student, the artist, the professional
or private gentleman.

An ample field for professional edification will be af-
forded by the opportunity which pupils may have of at-
tending the clinical and other practice of both the City and
Finsbury Dispensaries.

The Summer Course will commence on Saturday, May
the 23d, 1812, at eight o’clock in the evening precisely,
and be continued every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday,
at the same hour.

Particulars may be had, on applying to Mr. Taunton,
Greville-street, Hatton-garden.

LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS,

To Joseph Cartwright, of Arundel-street, for a material
applicable to the manufacture of table and other spoons.—
January 28, 1812.

To Marc Jsambard Brunel, of Chelsea, for certain im-
provements on saw-mills.—gsth Jan.

To Philip Chell, of Birmingham, engineer, for certain
improvements in the methods or means of giving motion
to machinery ; and also of raising water or other fluids from
a lower to a higher level.— 28th Jan.

To Charles Grole, of Leicester Place, Leicester Square,
for certain improvements in the constructing or making of
musical instruments which afford their tones by friction
applicable to metallic substances. —28th Jan, *

)

List of Patents for new Inventions. 323

To Allen Taylor, of Barking, Essex, for an engine for
the purpose of manufacturing all sorts of grain into flour,
meal, or any thing else required, which emyine may be ap-
plied to many other useful purposes.—928th Jan.

To John Leberecht Steinhceuser, of Piccadilly, mathe-
matical instrument-maker, for an improvement applicable
to fire-screens, music-stands, or reading-desks, and cande-
labres.—4th February.

To Samuel Roberts, of Sheffield, silver plater, for his
method of making lavers or wash basons of metal much
more elegant and useful than hath hitherto been used.—
4th Feb.

To Robert Goswell Giles, of the city of London, mer-
chant, for a cap or conv] of a new construction to be placed
on the tops of chimneys to prevent the smoke from being
driven down by the wind.—6th Feb.

To William Palmer, of Temple Place, Blackfriars Road,
in the county of Surry, clerk, for certain piece or pieces of
machinery called by him Revolving Rollers and Revolving
Roller-wheels, one or other of which may be applied to
every sort or description of wheel carriage in addition to,
and conjunction with, part or instead of any of the wheels
and axle-trees at present commonly used and attached to
wheel carriages (as the case may be), and which being so
applied will greatly help, facilitate, and render more easy
the draught of all carriages.—6th Feb.

To Jeremiah Steele, of Liverpool, distiller, for his new
apparatus and method of working the same for distilling
and rectifying spirits. —8th Feb.

To Robert Dickinson, of Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s
Inn Fields; and Henry Maudslay, of the parish of Saint
Mary, Lambeth, for their invented process of sweetening
water and other liquids, and applicable to other purposes.—
sth Feb.

To Thomas Figgins, of Portsmouth, upholsterer, for a
couch (which he denominates a palanquin couch) upon an
improved construction.—19th Feb.

To George Dollond, of St. Paul’s Churchyard, optician,
for his improved method of lighting the compass commonly
called the binnacle compass used for steering ships at sea,
a other improvements relating to ships’ binnacles.—19th

eb.

To Louis Honore Henry Germain Constant, of Bland-
ford Street, Portman Square, for his new method of refining
sugars.—-27th Feb,

324 Meteorological Observations

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton in Hackney,
from March 21, to April 20, 1812. ;

March 21.—S.E. Fair day, with cirrus scattered aloft,
and cumuli lower; also cumulustratus formed. Much cloud
by night, with faint Innar corona.”

March 22.—S.E. Clouds in different stations; fine pe-
troid cumulostratus in the aiternoon, followed by slight
showers: much cloud at night with rising wind, ry

March 23.—E.S.E. Overcast day; rain, with wind in
the evening, which continued through the night.

March 24.—N.E, Snow and rain fell early ; the rain kept
falling nearly all day.

March 25.—N.E. Snow which fell during night soon
melted after sunrise; fair, with light cérrows and cirro-
cumulous clouds above flying cumuli; some showers of
snow fell during the day; the night very clear and cold.
The thermometer fell to 28° of Fahrenheit.

March 26.—Very clear morning, the wind N.E.; above
it blew another current from the N., and still higher one

from the E.; this was ascertained by a small balloon which ©

my brother launched at nine o’clock. The day continued
cold with clouds, and the wind became stronger.

March 27.—Cold easterly wind, and chiefly cloudedsky,
nimbification in some places.

March 28. — Warmer, clouded nearly all day, with
westerly wind and gentle showers at times.

March 29 —Temperature increasing, various modifica-
tions in different heights; sky chiefly clouded; some light
showers.

March 30.—Very warm gale from S.W.; various clouds
in different heights, with frequent nimdi, one in particular
about six o’clock in the evening poured such hard rain

that many ditches overflowed and flooded the gardens and
fields.

March 31.—Clouded sky, arid cool easterly wind again :

rain came on in the night, and the wind got to the south.
April 1.—S.W. Overcast and hazy morning ; afterwards

the haze cleared and the sun came out at times; there

were bowever massy clouds in different heights, and a little
rain at night.

April 2.—S.W. Misty and overcast, followed by some
small rain.

April 3.—S.W. Hazy, clouded, and windy, followed hy
some rain ;, clear evening, with various civuds.

April

i NI

made at Clapton. 325

_ April 4.—N.E. Cloudy morning, afterwards fair and
calm, with various clouds.

April 5.—Wind very calm and variable; cwmulostratus
prevailed through the day; in the afternoon gentle mimli ;
a sort of confluent cirrocumulus disposed in rows appeared,
in the fair intervals, above the cumulostrati, which pro-

duced rain by inesculation. Birds sing, and guats and flies
appear.

April 6.—Chiefly Alowdy and hazy.

April 7.—S.—S.E.—E. Cloudy, followed by rain, but it
held up again at night.

April 8.—E. Some rain early; when it cleared, several ill-
defined modifications as usual. Clear and very ‘cold night.

Aprilg.—E. Clear morning; it afterwards became
clouded with cumulostratus, and other defined clouds;
none of the modifications have lately been well marked.

April 10.—Clouds with fair intervals; wind various,

April. 11,—Cloudy day ; towards evening thick nimbi-
form haze threatened rain, which however, did not ‘come
down; wind gentle and various.

April 12.—E.—W. Cloudy morning, and fair afternoon,
with hight fleecy masses of cumulus apparently diminishing
by evaporation, and nearly stationary ; lower down fibrous
errri. passed along in a geutle gale from the west. This is
an inversion in the general order of clouds worth notice ;
in the evening features of cirrostratus.

April 13.—Cloudy morning, fair afternoon; clear and
eold easterly wind; cumulus and cumulostratus.

April i4. —Cold easterly wind, rather lofty masses of
cumulus through the day; in the evening cirri passed over
from the west, some of them opposite to the setting sun
showed a fine ‘red colour : cirrostratus also obse rved ; very
clear cold night.

April 15.—S.E. This morning a veil of cirrus taking
on here and there the cirrocumulative form, while czmulz
of various degrees of density and various figures rolled un-
der. The fall of the barometer and irregular strength of the
wind indicated. a change of weather ; but the day continued
fair, and the night particularly clear. The blueness of the
sky, however, “was not so great this afternoon as in ‘the
morning.

April 16 —S.E. Early, a confused veil of cirrus appeared
spread aloft, while cwmuli sailed under, and produced cu-
mulostratus, which obscured the sky. In the course of the
day nimbi formed in different places, and a few drops of

raim

326 Metereology.

rain feil at four o’clock. The night became dark and
windy.

April 17.—M. Cold wind and much cumulostratus.

April 18.—N.E. Cold day; sun out at times: cumu-
lostralus, and some nimli which poured a little snow.
Flimsy confluent cirrocumulus by night.

April 19.—N. Somewhat warmer ; loose cirri and cu-
muli. By night cirrocumulus flimsy and confluent, fol-—
Jowed by general cloudiness.

April 20.—N.N.W. Curious radi at sunrise, various
clouds through the day.

Clapton, April 20, 1812. THOMAS FORSTER.

METEOROLOGY.

Communicated by the Right Hon. Lorp Gray.
To Mr. Tilloch.

S1r,—TI have sent inclosed for insertion in your Philoso-
phical Magazine, two Meteorological Tables for last year 5
the one kept at Gordon Castle, the residence of the Duke
of Gordon, the other at Kinfauns Castle near Perth.

[ think, a more general publication of such results than
what has heretofore taken place, would be of infinite use to
meteorological science, by inducing gentlemen more par-
ticularly to exert themselves to keep regular journals of the
pressure and temperature of the atmosphere ; thereby ‘ob-
taining, in the course of a series of years, a more perfect
average knowledge, by which to judge of the changes that
are to take place in the weather.

I beg to say, that I have His Grace the Duke of Gordon’s
sanction for sending his Table.

I remain, sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,

Twickenham, April 17, 1812. Gray.

METEORO-

[ 327 J

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,

Extracted from the Register kept at Gordon Castle, County
of Banff, N. Britain, Latitude 57° 38’. Above the sea
100 feet. x

Number of Days.

a

Morning, 8 ] Depth
o’clock. |Aftn-So’clock.|| of

Mean height of |\ Mean height of || Rain- | Rain oh

*1811- - - - or |Fair||3 2/2.8
Barom | Ther. Therm. ||In: 100! Snow. sels

January. | 29-79 | 32-64 35-06 1.34 | “14 17 |} 22) 8
February. | 29-34 | 34-57 38-18 2:65 14 14 || 14] 14
March. 29-96 | 40-93 48-90 0:62 6 25 || 24 7
April. 29-71 | 42-90 48-30 3:93, 21 9 || 14415
May- 29-80 | 50-90 56°68 3-64 16 15 8 | 23
June- 29°87 | 54-93 59°33 0-73 11 19 |} 18 | 12
July. 29-98 | 57-90 61-55 2-09 17 14 }} 22 8
August- 29-75 | 55°10 60°51 4-03 21 10 || 26 5
September. | 29-97 } 51-50 59:23 253). 11 19'\| 28 |. 2
October. | 29-55 | 49-13 53-84 442 | 16 | 15 || 20} 11
November. | 29-71 | 42-36 44-83 2:30 | 20 | 10 |] 27} 38
December. | 29-48 | 34-64 36-87 3:06 |} 21 10} 30} 1
Average Of | 99.74 | 45-62 || 50:27 ‘|| 31-34 | 188 | 177| 253] 109

the year. j i : Paiey

N.B. The S. wind and all to the W. of the meridian are called West.

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,

Extracted from the Register kept at Kinfauns Castle,County
of Perth, N. Britain, for the Year 1811.

Morning, Evening, | Total | N° of Days.
8 o'clock. 10 o’clock, || Rain
Mean height of \|Mean height vf-|| fallen: | Rain
1811. - | ae or |Fair.

Barom.! Ther Barom,| Ther. |{In: 100) Snow.

January. | 29°87 | 35-19 || 29°55 | $3-32 || 1:45 | 14 | 17
February. | 29-40 | 94-83 || 29-46 | $4-70 || 263 | 16 | 12

March. 30-04 | 39-80 || 30:25 | 39-70 | 0:90 Se ihe
April. 29-77 | 42-90 || 29.78 | 40°30 || 1-91 14 | 16
May. 29:84 | 50-03 || 29.83 | 47-70 || S12 [ 20 | 11
June. 20-89 | 54-60.|| 29-91 | 51°80 |] 220 | 18 | 12
July. 29:99 | 58-01 || 30.00 | 55-50 || 2.86 | 14 | 17
August. 29-89 | 54:83 |} 29:96 | 52°75 || 2°71 1g | 13
September, | 30-17 | 50°45 || 30°18 | 50°96 || 1-78 8 | 22
October. 29:77 | 49.54 |} 29°78 | 49°59 || 4°41 25 6
November. | 29:96 | 42-50 || 29-98 | 42-45 || 2:97 14 | 16
December. | 29-78 | 35°03 || 2980 | 34-85 || 1:80 |~ 15 16

Average of 29°86 | as-ar 29-87 | 44.47 || 28 74] 185 | 180
the year.

N. B. Kinfauns Castle is the residence of Lord Gray, 90 feet above the level
of the river Tay, and three miles almost due East from Perth.

328 Meteorology.
METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,
By Mr. Cary, ofr THE STRAND,
- For April 1812.
Thermometer. pare er
PN a ery La
Ag 35 S as, the Raum, ae Weather. s
OS) 2 l'om| Inches. | 5-2 bo
2S = oO
co = Ost
—_—ooo (ea ean parcel ed
Mar. 27) 35 | 47°} 40°| 29°80 32 |Cloudy
g8| 42 | 50 | 52 *20 oO .|Rain
29 50 | 57 | 50 "49 27 ‘|Cloudy
30| 52 | 56 | 50 ‘50 - oO (Rain
31| 42 | 43 | 42 *52 10 |Cloudy
April 1] 46 | 50 | 49 | °50 0 |Showery
2| 50 | 55 | 50 49 37 |Cloudy
3| 54 | 52 | 46 “47 16 |Showery
4| 49 | 50 | 44 “90 33 |Cloudy
5| 46 | 56 | 45 | 30°04 45 |Fair
6| 45 | 54 | 46 ‘08 40 |Cloudy
7| 46 | 55 | 41 | 29°82 25 |Showery
8| 40 | 47 | 30 | 30°00 32 |Cloudy
9} 28 | 40 | 33 ‘00 27 ©|Cloudy
10| 34 | 44 | 38 | 29°90 26 |Cloudy
11) 40 | 46 | 40 "88 35 |Cloudy
12} 42 | 49 | 38 *80 45 |Cloudy
13| 40 |. 47 | 35 06 46 |Fair
14| 40 | 47 | 37 *88 35 (Fair
15} 39 | 52 | 40 ‘69 42 |Fair
16| 42 | 46 | 33 “72 40 |Fair
17| 35 | 42 | 34 ‘78 43 |Fair
18| 35 | 45 | 38 06 46 |Fair
19) 40 | 46 | 40 ‘99 46 |Cloudy
20| 42 | 54 | 40 *98 47 |Fair

N.B. The Barometer’s height is taken at one o’clocke

$n

{ 329. ]

XLVII. Biographical Sketch of the late Maxwe.t Gartu-
sHore, M.D. F.R.S. &> S.A. M.R.L, &e.

Ineanriac records of the principles and manners of di-
stinguished characters have long been considered as the
writings most beneficial to society. They often unfold
those original traits, and even eccentricities, which contri-
bute to modulate or give a bias to the characters of suc-
ceeding sons of genius. It has also been laid down as a
general proposition, that the literary portraits of such per-
sons should rather be drawn by their friends than their
enemies, because good men are much better than even their
friends believe them to be, and bad men much worse than
even their enemies suppose them. The position will appear
more defensible, if we msist on the portrait being sketched
from nature, as indispensable to the fidelity of the likeness,
and admit that all human judgement is biassed and partial.
Hence, in one case the credible portion of good will be re-
lated, in another the incredible quantity of evil concealed,
and society be equally benefited by the details. The cha-
racter of the preeminently good, however, still suffers in
public estimation ; ‘the mass of mankind reluctantly admit
the existence of any thing better than themselves, and the
general disposition to reduce every thing to our own stand-
ard acts as a counterpoise to the ascendency of mere moral
goodness. Without, therefore, either attempting or ex-
pecting to raise the popular criterion of human character,
we shall only endeavour to relate facts, or state opinions,
with that simplicity and respect for truth which become
the subject.

Dr. Garthshore was born near Kirkcudbright on Novem-
ber 9, 1731 (new style), and died in St. Martin’s Lane,
London, March 1, 1812. His father was a clergyman of
the church of Scotland; he published some detached ser-
mons, which, although perhaps inferior in literary merit to
those preached in Scotland at the end of the 18th, are cer-
tainly much superior to any contemporary one delivered at
the close of the 17th century. That he was a man of
learning, talents, and profound piety, cannot be doubted ;
and the excellent moral principles which he early inculcated
in his son were remembered by him with filial gratitude to
his last moments. The salutary effects indeed of an en-
lightened piety, in both father and mother, were happily
displayed in the whole life of theirson. But these are
topics foreign to the nature of this work, which aims at
recording only what has reference to human science or art.

Vol. 39. No, 169. May 1812. Y The

330 Biographical Sketch of

The same cause renders it necessary to omit all minute ac-
counts of genealogical or family alliances, and not that they
are unimportant in themselves, as most men owe much of
the best part of their characters to their ancestors. “If any,
indeed, despise such things, it must be that their names
have never been known, and’that they are still unworthy of
being known. Against: Scots family pride the shafts of
licentious satire have often been directed ; but till reason
finds a better auxiliary to human virtue, cool judgement
must acknowledge its expediency, and sanction its tempered
existence. While man continues to be influenced by ex-
ample, ** the virtuous son of a virtuous sire” shall always be
the glory and the benefactor of his species. Of this truth
the deceased was perfectly sensible, but not vain-glorious :
its mention, therefore, in this place is rather to illustrate the
nature and principle of human action than to indulge inany
laudatory reflections on family dignity. The name of Garth-
shore, it is believed, is now extinct, although it was once
known and distinguished in the North. A few years ago
the Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries (Mr. Brand)
read a curious grant of an estate by an Earl of Buchan toa
Mr. Garthshore of Garthshore, a parertt of the subject of
this memoir. Some of the particulars are recorded among:
the transactions of learned societies in the Philosophical
Magazine.

The education of Dr. G. was marked by that.practical
solidity which characterizes the Scottish schools... His
knowledge of the classic and modern languages was ge-
neral and comprehensive; and be could read, write, or even
speak them with considerable ease and perspicuity. His
medical studies were directed by the once celebrated
Cullen ; but unlike the modern fry of M.D.’s, he did not
graduate before Jearning to reduce his theory to practice
with safety, before he had acquired more real knowledge from:
his own observation than falls to the lot of the majority of
London physicians. His reputation for skill, assiduity and
humanity had extended over several of the northern coun-
ties of England prior to 1764, whem his inaugural disserta-
non * « De Papaveris Usu, tam noxia quam salutari, in
Parturientibus ac Puerperis,’? procured him the Edinburgh
academic honours of a doctor of physic. This dissertation

* Several German writers on opium have .quoted this thesis with appro-
bation, and it may be observed that it appeared long before the Brunonian’
theory had any existence. ‘The salutary effects of laudanum iii certain stages
ot child-bed are now universally admitted. Professor J.C. Starke, of Jena,
in, 1781 noticed Dr. G.’s opinions of the use of opium, as a respectable au-.
thority, in his medical dissertation on this subject. :

, ' . 1s

the late Maxwell Garthshore, M.D. 331

is dedicated with much gentlemanly good humour and un-
feigned respect to his early and unchangeable friend the
late Sir George Baker, and does no discredit to the author’s
head or heart. All his friendships, indeed, being disin-
terested, were permanent, and he had the happiness of dis~
covering near the same period: the talents, and patronizing
the merit, of the late Dr. Pulteney, who at his instance
obtained an Edinburgh degree without having regularly
attended any college lectures.. It would, we fear, be a
vain effort to look for such exalted principles of friendship
among any three living physicians, as what distinguished
during their respective lives Sir George Baker, Dr. Pulteney,
and Dr.Garthshore. A!l of them were fortunate practitioners:
but Dr. Pulteney realized a large fortune in a country town ;
Dr. Garthshore distributed one to the poor of the metropolis:
the former devoted his leisure hours to botanical researches ;
the latter to patronize science, and support scientific or
humane institutions.

After Dr. G. was established as a practising physician in
London (about 1764) and a licentiate of the Royal -College of
Physicians, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and
of the Society of Antiquaries, the meetings of which he
regularly attended, and was not perhaps absent one night;
except the two meetings previous to his death, during the
last 40 years. His insatiable desire of knowledge and, his
intellectual energies continued to the last ; he read every:
new publication of merit either on medicine,: chemistry,’
general science or divinity ; and he was familiar with all
the new discoveries in natural philosophy, anatomy, or the’
practice of medicine. Many of the modern novelties, in=
deed, be could trace to. their original authors ; the curious
and obscure work of Wallace on the numbers of mankind,
which perhaps gave birth to the famous Essay on the prin-
ciple of Population, he had examined when writing on:
‘¢ Numerous Births ;”’ and the internal use of cantharides,
which has been brought forward as an original discovery in
the 19th century, he well knew was ably discussed by Dre:
Greenfield, a physician of the 17th, and strongly recommend-.
ed by him in gleet, leucorrhoea, &c. The revived doctrines
respecting the functions of the liver, use of digitalis, sea--
bathing, &c. were equally known to him from their original:
sources. Hence, he was atall times able and willing to avail!
himself of every thing plausible that was offered as likely to.
mitigate the sum of human suffering, or improve the healing:
art. Yet, notwithstanding his indefatigable and extensive’

Y2 reading,

332 Biographical Sketch of

reading, his vast field of observation, his natural prompt-
ness and extraordinary accuracy, joined with habits of
acute correct reasoning and judicious reflection, he pub-
lished but comparatively few works on professional sub-
jects. His experience and practice were very considerable,
as the relief of the poor deeply engaged his feelings, and
drew from him those interesting accounts of ‘* Two cases of
retroverted uterus,” addressed to Dr. Hunter, and pub-
lished in the 5th volume of * Medical Observations and
Jnquiries,’’ 1776; a © Case of difficult deglutition occa-
sioned by an ulcer in the esophagus ;” and of a ‘* Species
of erysipelas followed by gangrene which appeared in in-
fants at the British Lying-in Hospital.” The last twe
eases were described in the first and second volumes of
** Medical Communications,”’ published by Johnson in
1784 and 1796. Bis “‘ Observations on extra- uterine cases,
and on ruptures of the tubes and uterus,” which appeared
in the Medical Journal, vol. viii. for 1787; and also a pa-
per read to the Royal Society, and published in its Trans-
actions for that year, on ‘* Numerous Births,’’ demonstrate
his intimate acquaintance with both nature and art, his
applicable knowledge of all that had occurred in bis own
practice, or that of his friends or correspondents in Paris,
Montpellier, Italy, Vienna, Germany, and St. Petersburgh.
But, unlike the modern case-coining physicians of literary
notoriety, his time was too much occupied in professional
practice, in conscientiously discharging the duties of a
médecin expectant, to waste it in transcribing and polishing
his journals for the press: he was actuated by a different
spirit; the recovery of his patient engrossed his whole care
and attention, without any regard to literary fame; the
production of a flowery narrative, the rounding of a period
for some new publication, or multiplied editions of a trea-
tise on a fashionable disease (for among the doctors fashion
is as paramount as with the milliners and mantua-makers)
in order to afford opportunities of repeatedly advertising his
mame, were considerations very far beneath him. © In this
age of speculation and adventure such things, however, are
toa common; but the interests of society require that they
should be stigmatized, and that the memory of those who
virtuously spurned them should be endeared. The sons of ©
Britain sigh under the dire effects of modern charlatanism ;
and should the manufacture of physic doctors continue to
flourish as it has done of Jate, all the apprehensions of Mr.
Malthus and his votaries, respecting overgrown population,

must

the late Maxwell Garthshore, M.D. 333

must vanish, and sink under the manslaying operations of
medical artifice. The sword has cut off its thousands, the
doctors their tens of thousands.
But the natural history of medical practice during the
Jast 50 years is too intimately allied with the venerable life
of our octogenarian, and too-honourable to his talents as
a philosopher and his probity as a man, to be wholly overs
looked in this brief sketch. Dr. Garthshore lived to see
the rise and fall of the spasmodic theory and of antispas-
modics, that of the antiphlogistic regimen, phlebotomy,
diffusible stimuli, drastic purges, gases, digitalis, and even
stramunaium! The curative powers of all those sovereign
remedies, and many more, which owed their existence to
the sanguine imaginations of speculative enthusiasts, have
Sprung up, flourished for an hour, and sunk to lasting obli-
vion. While popular attention, however, was occupied
with these phantoms, the true indications of nature were
entirely neglected, and all our knowledge of her economy
remained as stationary as if the chemist’s laboratory or the
apothecary’s shop had been the real seat of every disease.
Hence the great merit of Dr. G.’s practice, which was
peculiar, original, and efficacious far beyond vulgar belief.
Well knowing the impotency of drugs, and the imperfection
of human knowledge, (which in medicine has not one fea-
ture that can aspire to the character of scientific,) be
studied nature, identified himself with his patient in family
digressions or friendly inquiries, discovered his latent sym-
pathies and idiosyncrasies, ensured his perfect confidence
by his suavity and tender attention, engaged his feelings,
relieved his mind, and restored him rapidly to health,
strength, and improved moral character! In doing this,
however, he was far from neglecting aby other means
which could possibly contribute to the relief of his patient;
but he never considered them as alone sufficient, without
his own personal care and gratifying attention. The na-
‘tive benevolence of his heart, indeed, inipelled tim to use
every possible resource for the relief of the suffering, and
his long experience added to his means, and even to his
zeal in applying those means. That he was eminently
successful will, we believe, be readily admitted by all disin-
terested persons capable of judging. Considered as an ob-
stetrician, his talents and success peer above all competi-
tion ; and he formed a distinguished exception to the truth
of the general observation, that all accoucheurs are super-
stitious. Were we called upon to write an epitaph on
his tomb, we should say, ‘* Here lie the mortal remains of
3 a most

834 “Biographical Sketch of

a most charitable and benevolent man, who combined: the
scientific talents of the philosopher with the exalted purity
of the Christian, and cured more patients and killed fewer
than any other physician of his age and country.” Being

a most conscientious man, he was a diffident practitioner,
nie he always administered powerful drugs or known pois
sons to his patients with a caution and personal care which,
for the sake of humanity, we wish were more oe
adopted or universally imitated.

With an active, vigorous, and independent mind, it was
not to be expected that he could entertain respect for those
corporate bodies which have no internal stimulus but self-
ishness, no principle of science but puerile imnovation,
and which are otherwise remarkable only for their rapid
transitions from a state of morbid somnolency to that of
the wildest enthusiasm or the most scandalous quackery,
During his ]ife also he was decidedly hostile to those in-
terested combinations of men ycleped ** Medical Societies;
all of which were anxious to insert his respectable name in
the lists of their members ; but they were often obliged to
make very humble apologies for the liberty, and never re-
ceived from him any sanction in their sordid projects of
extending individual practice, To bis immortal honour it
must be recorded that he never founded nor patronized any
such bodies ; and all those modern conspivacies against so+
ciety which are organized by the more ambitious and arro-
gant to enable them to prey on the more simple practi-
tioners, by assisting them in paying the expense of .adver-
tising their names under the mask of Medical Transactions,
he conscientiously and openly condemned. Yet, whatever
could by any honourable means contribute to the advance-
ment of science, or the improvement of the healing art, in-
variably and promptly received his active support. It
was not in his nature, indeed, to refuse assistance to any
measure honestly designed for public utility ; but his per-
ception was too quick, and his judgement too correct, to
be deluded by any false pretences of visionary good,

As a liberal patron of science his memory will long be
cherished by its votaries: his attention to the Royal So-
ciety, and his extensive support of the Royal Institution,
evinced his zeal in the general cause of knowledge; while
his Monday evening conversations, conducted on the most-
laudable principles, contributed to diffuse useful truths;
scrutinize medical or scientific facts, bring philosophers
and men of taste into habits of mutual communication,
and aeahipy all those petty jealousies, narrow-minded pre-
judices,

- .

-’ the late Maxwell Garthshore, M.D. 335

jedices, and envious broodings, which too often disgrace
the professional character, For these and many other good
services to genuine philosophy every friend of science will
heave a grateful sigh to his memory, and at the same time
breathe a prayer for the protracted life of his right honour-
able and steady friend, the worthy President of the Royal
Society. Both kept open houses for the learned of all na-
tions, both devoted their lives and fortunes to the meliora-
tion of their species, and both have obtained the esteem
of great and good men. The patronage of Sir Joseph,
indeed, has been much more extensive and more elorious,
but could not be more zealous, than that of Dr. G.; and
the latter often regretted the inadequacy of his means,
which prevented him from being more directly useful to
the general progress of philosophy. Even his age did not
abate this propensity; but his zeal for science never led
him to forget the sufferings of the indigent or unfortunate,
and during the latter part of his life he distributed in pri-
vate charities, and subscribed to humane institutions, above
a thousand a year, besides bis gratuitous prescriptions and
advice to the poor. Nor was this the consequence of in-
stantaneous feeling, the mere impulse of the moment, but
a fixed principle of action, the discharge of a Christian
duty ; and it is now known that at an early period of his life,
and when his fortune was very limited, he gave in one
charitable donation to the full amount of a year’s income!
To practise rather than to speak of beneficence was his
uniform principle, and his generous heart and hand always
gave to the utmost extent that his cooler judgement could
approve. His habits of life were the most exemplary and
regular. At four o’clock every morning he commenced his
studies in his library till.a few days before his death: this
was the time allotted to write his Diary, which he kept near
60 years. His temperance was scientific, his economy the
result of rational reflection * and extensive charities to the
distressed; and perhaps no physician in London ever
contributed so liberally, and with so much extreme delicacy,
to the necessities of the widows, orphans, or indigent rela-
tions of his professional brethren. So numerous indeed
was this class of pensioners, and so liberal was his assist-

* It is possible that there may be some persons ignorant enough to cen-
sure him in this respect; but if there be, it can only prove their incapabi-
lity of discriminating what should be the conduct of a philosopher and a
Christian from that of acommon parvenu. Such, indeed, is the progress
“ eerravagate luxury, that some vulgar minds begin to think it a necessary

uty! t

Y4 ance

‘

336. Biographical Sketch of the late Dr. Garthshore.

ance to them, that even if the disappointment of dishonest
expectations should absorb the noble emotions of gratitude,
the painful feelings of their loss must draw forth involun-
tary tributes to his memory during the remainder of their
lives. Viewed as a philanthropist, as a man of talents,
whose genuine simplicity and graceful ease made him
equally the friend of the poor and of the great, his charac-
ter rises the more it is investigated ; and if we examine his
domestic piety, his clear and rational conviction of the
great truths of Christianity, we shall perhaps long look
for a greater and a better man in any age or country. To
youth he was a most able and propitious friend: his meek-
ness rendered him lenient to their foibles, his sagacity an-
ticipated their wants, while his purity checked the recur-
rence of evil propensities. Had he possessed less virtue, he
would have appeared a greater man; had he been more
ambitious, vain, or reserved, his reputation might have been
higher, but his merits and talents less. Like all conscien-
tious men, he was extremely difhdent ; in many cases, even
with all his knowledge and experience, he hesitated where
a forward and thoughtless youth, or an impudent and ig-
norant quack, decided with all the dogmatism of unprin-
cipled impostors. The horrid sentiment of ¢ Kill or cure’
never once found a place in his mind, as he could find in
those cases no such satisfactory evidence of cures as of
deaths. He was, indeed, fully sensible of the degraded
state of medical practice in the metropolis, as well as the
imperfect knowledge of medicine, and he zealously assisted
Dr. Harrison in all his attempts in the sacred cause of me-
dical reform. Even the case of a man dying in an English
hospital by the bite of a snake, he justly considered as a
stigma which every honourable practitioner should labour
to remove, by qualifying himself to prevent the recyrrence
of a similar catastrophe. In this he was consistent, as well
as in the whole tenor of his life. His last moments also
were worthy of himself; and in the judicious distribution
of the very moderate fortune which he left, he did not rob
his relations and friends to gratify any posthumous vanity
by popular bequests.

A respectable Magazine, in a memoir of Dr. G. other-
wise authentic and correct, states, either in consequence of
a typographical error or wilful misrepresentation, that the
Doctor died worth 55,0002. Every person who wishes to
know the truth may learn, by applying at the proper office,
that the whole amount of his property was only ‘about
35,0001, Mr

XLVIII. An

[ 337 J

XLVIII. An Account of the Coal Measures or Strata, lately
explored, on the Water of Brora, in the Valley S of
Clyne, near the SE Coast of Sutherland in Scotland, ex-
tracted from Capt. Joan HENDERSON’S Agricuitural

Survey of the County of Sutherland, just published.

Cie has been bored for, and found on the banks of the
river Brora, on the Sutherland estate, and a shaft is now
sinking, to the depth of 250 feet, (a particular account of
the strata is annexed,) under the superintendance of Mr.
~ William Hughes, an eminent engineer from North Wales.
Salt will be made, as has formeriy been done in that vicinity ;
ironstone may be found, (appearances of it being observed
in boring for coal,) and the shores abound with hmestone.

Mr. Telford has seen, and given his opinion as to the
best mode of searching for, and working the coal at Brora.
The work is carried on, (as above stated,) under the di-
rection of Mr. William Hughes, who has had much ex-
perience in such undertakings, and has been employed on
the Caledonian Canal since its commencement.

Copy of the Journul kept while boreing for Coal at the Water
of Brora, County of Sutherland ; giving a Section of the
several Strata,

Depth of

Date. Description of the Strata. each
Stratum,
No.} 1810. Fil In.

1 jOct. 23 aS nae m3 thin ayers, Seana paar | el

2 31|Soft dark grey sandstone in thin layers, and stones g
as above - - - - - - - 18) 6
3 \Nov. 1|Dark, very soft coal metal, in thin layers, with
partings of yellow pyrites, and water, wes 21 —
rises ta the surface’-)''\ =. {he 4f- ‘2% =
4 15'Dark grey stone in thin layers, with soft partings 6{ 10
5 19\Dark hard stone with a strong sulphureous smell,
perhaps alum shale - - - : t Mh?
6 22\Soft sandy stone, rather lighter coloured than the
above - - - - - - - - \ od
vi 29\Lightish-coloured sandstone, containing marine
petrifactions - - - - - a 14) 105
c} Very hard ironstone - - - - = - —| 5%
9 80\Hard grey clunch, a common coal-measure- = 2) 98
10 |Dec.13|Light-coloured metal stone, rather soft in boreing- 2) 6
hi 18\Lightish-coloured clayish strata, soft in boreing,
and containing a considerable portion of sparry 2.9
matter and marine petrifactions - - =

338 A Sketch of the Natural History of

eel. § +n h
Date. Description of the Strata. gts
. , Stratum.
No.| 1810, | Ft.) In.
12 gc|Ditto still darker, containing more of the white
spar, sulphureous, effervesces briskly, but does 4) —
not contain any slackafterburning - = - -
1s 25|Ditto, light coloured - - - - 11] 10
1811,
14 |Jan. 17|Ditto, still lighter coloured than the above - = 11} 2
15 23|Ditto, much darker, containing white ait aes
matter - - - - - -
16 28|Dark clunch, a clayish stratum - - - Ape (4
17 |Feb, 6|Ditto ditto, - - ditto - - - 4 4| 10
18 13|Very dark coal shale, rather soft in boreing - a §
19 Q9\Ditto ditto oy - rs * - = 7 5] 11
20 26|Ash-coloured metal stone- - - me - 121 6
21 28|Very hard brown stone, perhaps ironstone - - —| 5
29° |Mar. 2|Ash-coloured clunch and bind - - ~ < 5] 4
23 g|Dark bituminous shale, with soft partings - = - zi Pe ly
24 Very hard close textured sandstone -' = - =e
25 |April1|Sandstone with blue streaks, soft in boreing - - 12| 9,
26 17|Very hard limestone mixed with freestone = — - CD te |
27 18|Grey shivery sandstone, rathersoft - - = walkable
28 20/Sandstone, mixed with limestone, very hard ir 7
boreing a a - - - - - ¢ lV
29 93|Ash-coloured metal stone, rather soft - - 2 oy ==
30 |May14}Hard caking COAL - - - - 3}, 3
31 16|Black clunch, pavement of the coal - - 2} —
32 18|Hard splent COAL - - - - 1] 4
33 Black-burning shale, like Cannel coal == - Gm, 7
34 Very hard stone, perhaps ironstone - - 1] 2
85 29|Black shale Sree, - - 9] —
86 Very hard stone - - ~- - ” —| 25
37 \June 1|Soft black shale, speckled with white powdery
matter - - - - - - be | te
38 5|Hard black-burning shale came up in the augur,
in large pieces, very promising, and not yet cut 4| 2
through - - - - - -
Totaldepth bored 4- = - =| 250| 135

XLIX. A Sketch of the Natural History of the Cheshire
Rock-Salt District. By Henry Hoiuanp, Esq. Ho-
norary Member of the Geological Society.

{Concluded from p. 158-]
General Situation, Thickness, &c. of the Beds of Rock-Salt.

"Tuovex springs impregnated with salt occur in several
parts of the Cheshire plain, it may be remarked that the
rock-salt itself has only been worked into, near the banks
of the Weaver and its tributary streams. It was first dis-’

covered at Marbury near Northwich, about one hundred
and

the Cheshire Rock-Salt District. 339

and forty years ago, in searching for coal.. This bed of
rock was the only one worked for more than a century,
when, in the same neighbourhood, a second and inferior
stratum was met with, separated by a bed of indurated clay
from the one previously known. This lower stratum was
ascertained to possess at a certain depth, a great degree of
purity and freedom from earthy admixture; on which ac-
count, and from the local advantages of Northwich for ex-
portation, the fossi] salt is now worked only iu the vicinity
of this place.

This local limitation of the mines precludes the possibi-
lity of many comparative remarks which might be interest-
ing to the geologist; and in giving a particular description
of the rock-salt formation, J must confine myself in great
‘measure to the facts which present themselves in the neigh-
bourhood of Northwich, explaining first the circumstances
of general position, &c. and then entering into the more
minute particulars of the mines which have been sunk into
these important strata.

The rock-salt of Northwich occurs, asd have just men-
tioned, in two great strata or beds, lying nearly horizontally,
but on different levels, and separated, the superincumbent
from the subjacent stratum, by several layers of indurated
clay or argillaceous stone. These intervening beds possess
in conjunction, a very uniform thickness of ten or eleven
yards, and are irregularly penetrated by veins of the fossil
salt, Though the evidence on the subject is not entirely
of a positive nature, there seem strong grounds for believing
that the beds of rock-salt at Northwich are perfectly distinct
from any others in the salt district, forming what the Ger-
mans would call liegende stécke, lying bodies or masses of
the mineral. It will -readily be conceived that there is
much difficulty in acquiring precise information with re-
spect to the extent and limitation of these great masses,
and that there are many sources of error to which such an
inquiry is liable. There are, however, a few leading facts
upon which dependence may be placed, and which will be
admitted to furnish fair grounds for deduction. -

Jt would appear that the great beds of rock-salt at North-
wich assume a general jongitudinal direction from north-
east to south-west, the line which has been traced upon
them in this direction being a mile and a half in length,
and no direct evidence existing that they may not extend
further in these points; while their transverse extent, as
measured by a line at right angles to the former, is much
more limited, probably not exceeding in any place one thou-

sand

340 A Sketch of the Natural History of

sand three hundred or one thousand four hundred yards,
Several circumstances concur in giving probability to this
statement. Let two parallel tines, drawn trom NE to SW,
with an intervening distance equal to about half their
length, be employed to designate the supposed extent of
the subjacent rock-salt. In a mine which approaches very
nearly to the eastern limit of the area thus formed, the
upper bed of rock-salt was actually worked through in an
horizontal direction on this side, and discovered to be going
off with a very rapid declivity. A similar fact has been
stated with respect to another pit further to the south on
the same line of boundary ; but as the mine was destroyed
many years ago by the ingress of fresh water, this statement
is considerably more doubtful than the former. It may be
remarked too, that in sinking for brine a little beyond, or
out of the area, on this side, the brine met with is of a very
weak and inferior kind, and at a short distance altogether
disappears. Appearances leading to the same conclusion
of the sudden terniination of the body of rock-salt oceur
on the opposite side of the area marking its extent. In a
mine at the northern extremity of the western line of
boundary, a shaft situated nearer to this line is fifteen yards
deeper than another shaft immediately contiguous, ap~-
parently in consequence of the rapid sinking of the rock-
salt at this point. In most of the pits on this side, the
upper bed of rock is met with at a depth of from thirty to
forty yards; yet at Barnton, a mile further to the west, and
on the same or a lower level, none was met with in a sink-
ing of one hundred and fifteen yards.

Corresponding appearances have been observed in the
body of rock-salt which occurs at Moulton, between Wins-
ford and Northwich, where in two sinkings on the same
level, and at the distance of one hundred yards from each
other, the difference in the depth at which the rock was
found, was nearly twenty yards, a circumstance from which
the limitation or going off of the bed at this particular
point may reasonably be inferred. As nothing further,
however, is ascertained with respect to the extent and di-
rection of this particular body of rock-salt, [ merely men-
tion the fact to corroborate the statement given of the limi-
tation of the great beds at Northwich. ~

Another important observation with respect to the North-
wich rock-salt is, that there seems to be a progressive
thinning of the upper bed of salt from NW to SE, or in a
direction nearly at right angles to the longitudinal extent of
the stratum. Though much uncertainty exists with re-

spect

the Cheshire Rock-Salt District. 341

spect to the rate and progression of this decrease, the ge-
neral fact seems to be sufficiently confirmed by observations
taken from different mines. In those which have been
sunk near to the western or north-western side of the area
before described, the thickness of the upper bed has been
very generally twenty-eight, twenty-nine, or thirty yards.
Proceeding towards the east or south-east, we find this
thickness decreasing to twenty-five yards, and in the mines
near the eastern boundary the bed of rock-salt comes down
to twenty, eighteen, and even seventeen yards in thickness.
It will be observed that this thinning takes place in a ge-
neral direction from the nearest sea coast 5 the thickest
part of the body of rock being situated furthest down the
Weaver, and just above the contraction which takes place
in the valley of the river at Anderton.

Besides this general variation of surface in the superior
stratum of rock-salt, it has been found that there is a con-
siderable irregularity of level on its upper surface. In one
of the mines, in which a tunnel was carried one hundred
yards along this surface, many small risings and depressions
were met with; and similar appearances have been observed
in the other mines near Northwich.

The depth at which the upper bed of rock-salt is found,
though varied by several of these circumstances, depends
principally, of course, upon the surface of the ground above,
which at Northwich, from the confluence of streams there,
is somewhat irregular. In the greater number of the mines,
it is met with at a depth varying from thirty-five to forty
yards. The smallest depth at which it has been found is
in a mine situated close to Witton Brook, about half a mile
above the entrance of this stream into the Weaver. Here
it appears at twenty-nine yards from the surface ; and a
general estimate of level from this mine shows that the
upper surface of the salt is at least twelve or thirteen yards
below the low-water mark of the sea at Liverpool ; a fact
perhaps not wholly unimportant as regards our ideas of the
formation of this mineral.

The thickness of the upper bed of salt at Northwich has
been already stated to vary from twenty to thirty yards :
that of the lower bed has never yet been ascertained in any
one of the mines in this district., The workings in this
lower stratum are usually begun at the depth of from
twenty to twenty-five yards, and are carried down for five
or six yards, through what forms, as will afterwards be
mentioned, the purest portion of the bed. In one of the
mines a shaft has been sunk to a level of fourteen pt

sti

849 A Sketch of tie Natural History:of

still lower, without passing through the body of rock-salt.
We have thus an ascertained thickness of this bed, of about
forty yards, and no direct evidence that it may not extend
toa considerably greater depth.

Though only two distinct beds of the fossil salt have been
met with at Northwich, it has been ascertained that the
same limitations do not exist throughout the whole of the
salt district. At Lawton, near the source of the river
Wheelock, three distinct beds were found, separated by
strata of indurated clay; one, at the depth of forty-two
yards, four feet in thickness; a second, ten yards lower,
and twelve feet thick 5 and a third, fifteen yards still further
down, which was vital into twenty-four yards, without
passing through its substance. Coal is found and worked
within two or three miles of this place*, aud the only lime-
stone known in the county of Chester is got from the hills
which bere form the southern boundary of the. plain. In
no other parts of the salt district, than at Northwich and
Lawton, has the upper bed of rock been-worked through.

The strata passed through in going down to the upper
bed of rock are nearly horizontal in position, and very
uniform 1n their structure, consisting in every instance of
beds of clay and marl; and these, with the exception of a
few of the-most superficial, appearing in similar progression’
in each mine. - The clays, or argillaceous stone, of which
these beds are composed, are indurated indifferent degrees,
tinged with various shades of red, blue, brown, &c. and
usually contain a portion of sulphate of lime. They are
known to the miners by the general name of metals ; a
distinctive appellation being given to each from the shade of
colour which it assumes. iy Bs the section of strata, given in
my Cheshire Report, these appearances are noted with some
degree of minuteness ; and that they may more accurately
be known, I have sent a few specimens, illustrative parti-
cularly ab the induration of the clay strata, and. of their
admixture with the sulphate of lime. It will: be observed.
that, though these clays in general possess a considerable
degree of induration, there are some of them sufficiently
porous to admit the passage of water through their sub-
stance. Where this structure of the clay occurs it goes by
the name of the shaggy metal, and the fresh water which

makes its way through the pores has the expressive appella-:
tion of Roaring Meg. This term will not appear too strong,
when it is mentioned that i in the mine from which the sec=
tion of strata was taken, and where the shaggy metal was:

“/ ng ond 4 great Fau/t, see Mr, Farey’s Derb. Rep. p. 147 and 160. —Ep.
found

the Cheshire Rock-Salt District. 343°

found at the depth of twenty-six yards, the quantity of
water, ascertained to issue from its pores in one minute,
was not less than three hundred and sixty gallons; a cir-
cumstance greatly enhancing the difficulties of passing a
shaft down to the body of rock-salt.

A portion of salt, sufficient strongly to affect the taste, is
found to exist in many of these beds of argillaceous stone :
and this saltness increases, as might be expected, as we ap-'
proach the body of the rock-salt. In the strata or layers
immediately above the rock, which in all the mines are
perfectly uniform in their appearance and structure, it is par-
ticularly rernarkable. It may be observed, however, that
there are not in these strata any veins of rock-salt con-
nected with the great mass below: on the contrary, the
line of division between the clay and rock-salt is drawn
with great distinctness in every instance, and presents none
of those inequalities which would arise from a mutual pe-
netration of the strata.

It may, I believe, be considered as a decided fact, that
nO marine exuvi or organic remains are found in the strata
situated over the rock-salt. I have indeed heard it asserted
that there are a few instances in opposition to this state-
ment; but, upon minute inquiry, I do not find that the
aecuracy of these alleged exceptions is in any degree to be
depended upon. .

The general, I believe universal, occurrence of gypsum,
in connexion with beds of fossil salt, is a fact worthy of
observation. This connexion appears in the salt mines of
Hungary, Transylvania, and Poland, as well as in those of
Cheshire, and it has Jed Werner to assign to the rock-salt
and fletz gypsum a conjunct situation in his Geognostic
System. The gypsum, contained in the clays over the
Cheshire rock-salt, occurs in varying proportions, and
under different appearances in the several beds passed
through. It is found both in large masses and in_small
granular concretions. The compact, foliated, and fibrous
varieties are all met with; the last of these occurring in
very considerable proportion. According to Werner, the
first or oldest fleetz gypsum is that which has the most
immediate relation to rock-salt. I am not enabled to say
whether the gypsum appearing above the Cheshire salt
would be considered as belonging to this particular forma~
tion. The presence of the fibrous variety of the mineral
would rather seem to place it with’ the second fleetz gyp-
sum where this species is particularly abundant; but no
positive distinction can be derived from this acini yee

Kody may

344 A Sketch of the Natural History of

T may remark that gypsum has been met with in several
ether parts of the Cheshire plain, in situations and with
appearances very similar to those in which it occurs aboye
the rack-salt.

Interior Character of the Beds of Rock-Salt.

Having stated the several facts which regard the extent,
thickness, and other general characters of the beds of rock-
salt at Northwich ; I shall now mention more particularly
the appearances exhibited in their internal structure, in re-
lation to which some interesting observations occur.

The fineness or purity of the rock is a circumstance very
important to the interests of the mining proprietor, and in
this point considerable varieties appear in different parts of
the strata. The great body of the rock-salt, both in the
upper and lower stratum, is composed of crystals of mu-
nate of soda, intimately mixed with certain proportions of
clay and oxide of iron, giving to the mass a red or reddish-
brown tinge; and, in addition to these constituent parts,
contains likewise certain earthy salts, the sulphate of lime,
and the muriates of Jime and magnesia, but these in small
proportion. In every part, however, of this compound
rock, we find separate crystalline concretions of muriate of
soda, variously disposed, sometimes occurring distinctly in
the cubical form; in other places in masses of larger size,
and irregularly shaped. The colour of these concretions,
which are of the foliated species of fossil salt, is usually a
grayish- or milk-white; they are always translucent, and
often attain a considerable degree of transparency. It
would appear that they contain the muriate of soda in its
purest form; the sulphate of lime in specimens of this
kind being scarcely distinguishable by the delicate tests
applied to its discovery.

This finer rock-salt occurs not only in separate concre-
tions, but also in veins intersecting the coarser mass, and
in the rims or borders of the polyhedral figures which will
afterwards be mentioned. Its proportion varies both in
the two great beds of rock, and likewise in different parts
of the same bed; and it is a regard to this circumstance
which determines the situation and extent of the workings
in the several mines. In the upper bed this variety 1s less
considerable thaa in the lower: but here the substance of
the rock-salt is evidently purer three or four yards above
the lower surface than in other parts of the same stratum,
and continues so for about four feet. In the lower bed,
the first twenty or twenty-five yards passed through contain

a pro-

the Cheshire Rock Salt District. 345

a proportion of earth as large as in the upper stratum: at
this depth, however, a greatly increased degree of purity
appears, which is continued for five or six yards further
down, when the proportion of earthy admixture again be-
comes as !arge as before.

It is invariably this purer portion of the lower bed which
is at present worked in the Northwich mines, and the rock-
salt obtained from it, being principally exported to the
Baltic, obtains the name of Prussian Rock. The extent of
the cavity formed by the workings varies in different mines ;
the average depth may probably be taken at about sixteen
feet. In some of the pits, where pillars six or eight yards
square form the supports of the mine, the appearance of
the cavity is singularly striking, and the brilliancy of the
effect is greatly increased if the mine be illuminated by
candles fixed to the side of the rock. The scene so formed
would almost appear to realize the magic palaces of the
eastern poets. Some of the pits are worked in aisles or
streets, but the choice here is wholly arbitrary. The me-
thods employed in working out the rock-salt offer nothing
worthy of notice. The operation of blasting is applied to
the separation of large masses from the body of the rock,
and these are afterwards broken down by the mechanical
implements in common use. The present number of
mines is eleven or twelve, from which there are raised, on
an annual average, fifty or sixty thousand tons of rock-salt.
The greater part of this quantity is exported to Ireland and
the Baltic: the remainder is employed in the Cheshire
district in the manufacture of white salt by solution and
subsequent evaporation.

It is very doubtful whether in any instance the body of
rock-salt can be considered as stratified, or disposed in
distinct layers. A perpendicular section does sometimes
indeed present irregular appearances of this kind, and more
especially in the purer part of the lower bed; but the great
body of the rock offers to the eye merely a confused red
mass, varied here and there by the occurrence of the cry-
stalline portions of salt.

One of the most striking facts connected with the in-
ternal structure of the Northwich rock-salt, is the ap-
pearance observable on the surface of an horizontal sec-
tion of the rock, as viewed in any of the mines. On this
surface may be traced various figures, more or less distinctly
marked, and differing considerably in the forms which they
assume ; some appearing nearly circular, others perfectly
pentagonal, and others again having au irregular polyhe-

Vol. 39. No. 169, Alay 1812. Z dral

346 A Sketch of the Natural History of

dral form. The lines which form the boundary of these
' figures are composed of extremely pure white salt, forming
a division between the coarse red rock exterior to the figure,
and the equally coarse rock included within its area. These
bordering lines or rims vary from two to six inches in
width. The figures themselves differ greatly in size; some
of them being Jess than a yard in diameter, others as much
as three or tour yards; and they very frequently are ob-
served, one within another, gradually diminishing im size
to acentre. Professor Playfair, in bis Hlustrations. of the
Huttonian Theory, has stated, that the compression of these
figures is always mutual; the flat side of one being turned
to the flat side of another, and never an angle to an angle,
nor an angle to a side. This remark, as far as my observa-
tions have gone, is perfectly founded in fact. From the
mode of working the mines, it is difficult to ascertain the
progressive appearance of these figures in a perpendicular
plane. It has been stated to me that their form is a pyra-
midal one, the area enlarging by a determinate -ratio of
increase as they are traced, downwards ; but several circum-
stances induce me to consider this statement as a very
doubtful one, and certainly founded upon insufficient evi-
dence.

One very important negative fact remains to be men-
tioned with respeet to the internal structure of the Cheshire
rock-salt, viz. that no organic impressions or remains have
ever been met with in any of the beds of the mineral which
have been worked in this district. This fact rests on evi-
dence of a satisfactory kind, and [ am not aware of more
than a single instance adduced in opposition to it, and that
of a very dubious nature. The same remark may be applied
to the strata of argillaceous stone between the two beds of
rock-salt. The veins of rock-salt intersecting these inter-
meciate sirata contain principally the fibrous variety of the
fossil, It may be remarked too of these strata, that at their
junction with the upper and lower beds of rock-salt, the
Imes of division are nearly as distinct as that between the
upper bed of rock and the superincumbent layers of argil- -
Jaceous stone. }

Comparative View of the Cheshire and Continental Salt
Mines.

The want of sufficient materials with respect to the his-
tory of the continental salt-mines prevents me from entering
into circumstances of comparison so minutely as I could
have wished ; considering such comparison to afford a

est

the Cheshire Rock-Salt District. 347

best foundation for inquiries into the origin of the fossil-
salt. The best, or rather the only memoir on this subject
which I have had the opportunity of seeing, is one by
M. Hassenfraiz, contained in the eleyenth volume of the
Annales de Chimie. From this memoir it would appear
that the general situation of the rock-salt in Transylvania
and Poland is very similar to that which it oecupies in
Cheshire ; the beds of tnis mineral being disposed in small
plains, bounded by hills of inconsiderable height, forming
a kind of basin or hollow, from which there ts usually only
a narrow egress for the waters. The situation of the
Austrian salt-mines near Salzburgh is however very dif-
ferent. The mineral here appears to be disposed in beds
of great thickness, which occur near the summit of lime-
stone hills, at a great elevation above the adjoining country*.
This fact is a singular one; and, if we admit the idea that
rock-salt is formed from the waters of the sea, makes it
necessary to suppose the occurrence on this spot of the
most vast and wonderful changes. M. Hassenfratz states
it as a general fact, that in countries where salt-mines
occur, fragments of primitive rocks appear in great abun-
dance over these beds. It does not seem, however, that
any deduction of importance can be connected with this
fact. ;

The disposition of the beds of salt in the continental
mines seems to be very generally a horizontal one, and as
in the English mines, they are separated by strata of clay of
a varying thickness. It would appear, however, with re-
spect to extent of dimensions, that they are in general
greatly inferior to the bodies of rock-salt met with in our
own island. In Hungary and Poland these beds do not
present a thickness of more than one or two feet, and are
separated by layers of clay a few inches in thickness.
Much, however, it is evident, must depend upon the num-
ber of the beds thus disposed, but this I do not find any
where noticed. The earthy saline contents of the foreign
rock-salt. very exactly resemble those of the Cheshire ; the
gypsum existing in much larger proportion than the other
earthy salts, and appearing in considerable masses, both
distinctly, and in mixture with the beds of clay. It is an
important fact, however, that sea-shells and other marine

* 1 am informed by Mr. Greenough that the lapelsgraben, which is the
highest gallery of the salt-mine at Halstadt, is stated in Von Buch’s Travels
through Germany and Italy to be two thousand nine hundred and seventy-
five feet above the sea, and that the salt mines at Hall in the Tyrol are at a
much more considerable elevation.

Z2 exuyle

348 A Sketch of the Natural History of

exuviz are found in these beds of clay and gypsum; a
_circumstance which, as I before stated, never occurs in the
Cheshire mines. It would seem that the portion of oxide
of iron combined with the clay in the substance of the
English rock-salt does not exist in the mineral as found
abroad, or at Jeast in a proporticn not so considerable.

The comparative commercial value of the English and
Polish mines is best ascertained by the fact that many thou-
sand tons of rock-salt are annually sent from Cheshire to
the parts of the Prussian coast most nearly adjacent to the
salt-mines; independently of the large supplies of the
English manufactured white salt which are exported to the
same country.

Considerations on the Origin of the Cheshire Rock-Salt.

With respect to the theory of the formation of rock-
salt, as applicable particularly to that of Cheshire, I shall
not venture to say much, and that little will be of a general
nature. Though it must be acknowledged that there are
some difficulties connected with the supposition, little
doubt can exist of the general fact, that the beds of this
mineral have been formed by deposition from the waters of
the sea. Such an opinion acquires much probability from
the situation in which these beds usually occur; occupying
the valleys and lower parts of plains which are so sur-
rounded by hills of secondary formation, as to leave only a
narrow egress for the waters collected on their surface.
This structure of the plain constituting the salt district of
Cheshire, I have particularly described; and, regarded in
its general character, it leads strongly to the conclusion
that the waters of the sea must, at some former period,
have occupied the lower parts at least of the basin thus
formed, which at that time had a level eighty or one hun-
dred yards lower than the one now appeariny*. To ac-
count for the great depositions of salt in the lower parts of
this basin, it is necessary to suppose that some barrier must
have been afterwards interposed to prevent the free com-
munication of the waters of the sea with those thus col-
lected; and the general course of the streams, the position
of the beds of rock-salt, and the contractions in the valley
of the Weaver, which appear below Northwich at Anderton
and Frodsham, point out with some distinctness the place
where these obstructions may probably haye occurred.

* This general character of the Cheshire salt district was remarked to me
by my friend Sir John Stanley, in reference to the formation of the rock-
salt; on which subject he obliged me by some very interesting observations,
which are inserted in the Cheshire Report. T

9

the Cheshire Rock- Salt District. 349

To explain the appearance of the strata of indurated clay,
intermediate between the beds of salt, we must suppose that
the obstruction still continued, when the deposition of salt
from the waters first confined had nearly ceased; and that
at this period the deposition of clay, which had hitherto
been going on in conjunction with that of the salt, pro-
ceeded in a great measure alone; the salt which remained
in the water being merely sufficient to form small veins in
its substance. When these strata had been deposited to a
thickness of ten or eleven yards, it would appear that the
barrier preventing the access of the sea to the basin or plain
was again so far removed as to allow the entrance of a fresh
body of sea water; from the gradual evaporation of which,
the formation of the upper bed of rock-salt took place ;
and there being then no further admission of sea water to
the plain, the superincumbent strata of clay and marl were
successively deposited in the order in which they at present
appear.

This is a general sketch of the probable mode of forma-
tion of the Cheshire rock-salt; but as it would seem very
doubtful whether any single accnmulation of sea water
could contain the materials of depositions possessing so
great a thickness, the theory might perhaps be successtully
modified, by supposing the barrier before noticed to have
had such an elevation in the progressive stages of the de-
position of the salt, as to allow the. very frequent ingress
of sea water into the basin. Admitting this idea, we must
suppose that the formation of the strata of indurated clay
between the beds of rock-salt took place, either during some
intermission of these overflowings, or when there was a
great predominance of this earth in the water from which
the depositions were made. It seems probable too that the
veins of salt intersecting these strata were formed rather by
the penetration of water holding salt in solution, from the
upper bed of rock-salt, than by a direct deposition from
the waters of the sea. With respect to the sources of the
clay, combined with the substance of the rock-salt, or
found in intermediate and superincumbent beds, little doubt
can exist'that it has been derived from the decomposition
of more ancient rocks, of the situation and precise charac-
ters of which no vestiges now remain.

This general idea of the formation of the Cheshire rock-
salt derives confirmation from the fact that, with the ex-
ception of the sulphate of magnesia, the saine earthy salts
occur together with the muriate of soda in these strata, as
are met with in the waters of the sea. The circumstance
of the beds decreasing in thickness as they recede trom the

Z 3 Seay

350 “A Sketch of the Natural History of

sea, may perhaps be admitted as another argument in be-
half of the opinion.

The principal objection to the theory undoubtedly is, the
non-existence of marine exuviz either in the rock-salt or
in the adjacent strata of clay; a fact very difficult to con-
nect with the idea of a deposition from the waters of the
sea. Other objections, though perhaps of less moment,
arise from the appearance of the earthy salts in smaller
proportion in the rock-salt than in sea water; from the
apparently partial deposition of the beds, and from the
dificulty of explaining the formation of the figured ap-
pearances which occur in the substance of the rock. These
circumstances, however, will by no means authorize us to
reject the general idea which has been given of the origin
of this mineral, strengthened as it is by the situation and
appearances observed in the foreign salt mines, where the
proofs of marine deposition are still stronger than those
presented in the Cheshire district.

I confess I see no sufficient reason for supposing the
action of subterraneous or internal heat in the formation of
the beds of fossil salt. It appears probable tbat a deposition
of muriate of soda from the confined waters of the sea
might have taken place without the intervention of this
agency, and there are no appearances either in the beds of
salt, or in the clays accompanying them, which render it
necessary to have recourse to the supposition in question.
it must be acknowledged, however, that it is difficult to
give a satisfactory account of the consolidation of thé beds
of salt; nor do I know any opinion on this subject, which
can be considered altogether free from objection. A more
enlarged discussion of these theoretical points may ‘be
found in the Appendix to the Report of Cheshire, before
alluded to.

In dwelling thus minutely upon the natural history of
the Cheshire rock-salt district, I am not aware that I have
gone further than was requisite to a complete view of the
subject. The prosecution of such inquiries is much assisted
by the comparison of facts observed in different situations ;
and as the neighbourhood of Droitwich, in Worcestershire,
is, with the exception of the Cheshire salt district, the most
considerable source of brine springs in this kingdom, some
information with respect to the sitnation and natural history
of these springs, as connected with a subjacent body of
rock-salt, may be considered a desirable and important ob-
ject. Such information | have not the means of giving ;
but it is more than probable that the Geological Society
will be enabled to procure it, by the assistance of some of
its corresponding members, Section

; the Cheshire Rock-Salt District.
Section of the Strata sunk through to the second Bed of

Rock- Salt at Witton, neur Northwich.

351

No.

———

NX Oop od

ie9]

22

Nature of the Strata.

Calcareous Marl ....-...---2-eee- la
Indurated red Clay ......--seeeeeee
Indurated blue Clay with Sand ......
Argillaceous Marl .......-+..-+-6-
Indurated blue Clay......... TH a
Red Clay, with Sulphate of Lime irre-

gularly intersecting it ........

Indurated blue and brown Clay, with
grains of Sulphate of Lime inter-
SPCHSEU “safe ya cp sialele wisne\sieitimialete

Indurated brown Clay, with Sulphate
of Lime crystallized in irregular
masses, and in large proportion. .

Indurated blue Clay, laminated with
Sulphate of Lime ...........-

Argillaceous Marl .....-..+--.-+--

Indurated brown Clay, laminated with
Sulphate of Lime ............

Indurated blue Clay, with laminz of
Sulphate of Lime......... vier

Indurated red and blue Clay ........

Indurated brown Clay, with Sand and
Sulphate of Lime irregularly in-
terspersed through it. The fresh
water (360 gailons per minute)
finds its way through holes in this
stratum, and has its level at sixteen
yards from the surface ........

Argillaceous Marl .. .....-.-e00> «.

Indurated blue Clay with Sand, and
grains of Sulphate of Lime .. ..

Indurated brown Clay, with a little Sul-

* phate of Lime .....+...66--
Indurated blue Clay, with grains of Sul-
phate of Lime .........++.0
Indurated brown Clay, with Sulphate
of Lime......-e2.++--s 'n vee
The first Bed of Rock Salt..........

Layers of indurated Clay, with veins of
Rock Salt running through them

The second Bed of Rock Salt, which has
been sank into 35 or 36 yards.

———

yards| feet.

_ Ke oe a

—_

~ Re re

-

_

76

Sete

i

2

inch,

6

See the engraved Section in the Agricultural Report of Cheshire.

On

[85a

L, On Gypsum near Doncaster, and Nodules of Limestone,
and of Pyrites containing Sea Shells, in the Coal: district
near Bradford in Yorkshire. By a CORRESPONDENT.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Wo eecnan of contributing my mites towards the in-
teresting and important Geological investigations in which
your Correspondent Mr. John Farey is engaged, I beg the
favour of you to state for his information, and that of your
other Geological readers, that to the places where Gypsum
is found between the Yellow Lime Rocks, mentioned in
your present volume, page 105, that in line 7 from the
bottom may be added, after Edlington, ‘* Marr 13 m.S
(Gypsum quarries) ;” these Hall plaster Pits are situate
about 2 m. W of Cusworth, nearly W of Doncaster, in this
county,

I beg also to mention, with reference to the 3d Coal-
shale of Mr, Farey’s Report on Derbyshire, whose course or
basset edge, between the 3d coarse Grit Rock, and the 4th
fine lamellar Grit or Paving Rock, is briefly traced through
this county in your 102d page, that. Mr. James Sowerby
in the last monthly number of his ** British Mineralogy,”
plate 455, has figured and described the nodules of pyrites
or brasses found immediately above the Coal, in Sir Joseph
Banks’s Colliery at Alton in Derbyshire, and again at
Whitley Wood in Sheffield Parish, that so remarkably
abound with the Ammonites Listeri and Anomites resupinatus
of William Martin, and other shells; and mentions, that
nodules of black Limestone containing similar shells so
abound just above the Coal, near Cathrine Slack, 2 m. N
of Halifax, that a kiln is erected to burn them into Lime;
yet that specks of pyrites are seen in such Limestone Balls,
and some shelly balls, are all pyrites,-found at that place,
but particularly so at other Colheries to the NE and E, as
the stratum ranges, E of Idle, near to Calveriey, and Fars-
ley, across the Air to the S of Horsforth, &c. ‘I very
much wish that your Readers and Correspondents in these
parts, would send you particulars of every like occurrence
of fossil shells in the Coal-measures, as being a very cu-
rious and important phenomenon*. Jam yours, &c.

Yorkshire, 15th April 1812. B..Oy Es
* With regard to the question, p. 99, line 16, whether Red Marl is the
jminediate upper stratum to the Durham magnesian Lime Rock, I would
mention, that I have heard, that at Hartlepool there is a Grit-stone Rock, in

very thin lamina, in some parts of it, and others take a good polish, perhaps
owing to a calcareous cement.
LI. Geo-

fe 85800]

LI. Geological Observations on the County of Antrim, and
others in the North-east Part of Ireland, in an Aitempt
to arrange the numerous Facts, stated by Dr, W1LLIAM
Ricwarpson fo the Royal Irish Academy, and to the
Royal Society, and those recently published in the Rev.
Joun DusourpieEu’s Statistical Survey of Antrim, by
Dr. Witiram H. DraumMonp, in the Preface and Notes
to his Poem ** The Giant’s Causeway,” &c. and to refer
each of them to one of four principal Strata; separating
such as belong to the Alluvia: with incidental Facts and
Observations respecting other Districis, ce. Fc. By Mr.
Joun Farzy Senior, Mineral Surveyor.

{Continued from p. 282.]

ea | MAY now I think proceed to mention, that I
consider Drumglass, Dungannon or Tyrone Collieries, at
no great distance from the SW corner of Lough Neagh,
and near 300 feet I believe above its level, with a rapid NE
dip, to be iu measures above the great Basaltic Rock, that
under-lies Lough Neagh: whether these Coal-measures
form a limited patch, or hummock on the western slope of
my grand Trough ? or, whether they are the exposed part of
more extensive carboniferous strata, covered in general by
alluvia or Bog? I submit to the decision of the able ob-
servers, which 1 am so glad to find, that our sister [sland
can boast: I would however further remark, that 48 feet
of ** Clay and rubble stones,”’ being found on the Drum-
glass Coal-measures, according to Mr. W. p. 246, these
alluvial stones, according to Mr. G.’s notes, consisting of
rounded Limestone, Granite, and other stones, seem to
favour the latter supposition, especially, as Coal-measures
are intersected and shown by the Blackwater Valley, for half
a mile above Benbervin Mill, near Clonfecle; that Coals
have been dug at Maydown 3 m. E of this, that near Newry
on the Keady Road, a substance has been found ‘* much
resembling Coal in appearance,” though “in a primitive
Country,” Granite being found at Newry, and there are
appearances within half a mile of Banbridge in Down, that
induced English and Scotch Colliers to try there for Coals,
(Mr. G.’s Notes ;) all this I think tends to show, that the
Coal-measures S of Lough Neagh are not of such small
extent as some have supposed, though much concealed by
Gravel and Bog, and by their upper strata of Whinstone,
Limestone, &c. probably.

. . The

354. Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

The Ballycastle Coal-measures may have appeared to
Mr. D. to be elevated, from his saying p. 75, that * the
Sandstone, which may be traced from the southern to the
northern extremities of the country, and which seems to
be the body, on which all the other strata rest, is here out
of its usual level, being as it were forced up from its na-
tural place and hemmed in by Basalt, which it equals in
height :” which is founded it will be seen, on the supposed
identity of sand-stone (but which of them?) in the Coal-
measures, with that in the Red Marl, page 273 herein, at
the SE extremity of the County. I think, on the contrary,
that a great fault or Gaw might be traced, from somewhere
near the mouth of the Ballycastle Valley *, eastward to the
coast, and that the corner of the trough and of the Island
beyond this, has sunk (or the other been raised, who shall
say which?) very many hundred feet.

Dr. Hamilton’s account of these Coal-measures, taken
from the basset edges in the sea cliffs, for they have no deep
shafts, but use Galleries or Drifts only, as given by Mr. D.
p. 86, is as follows; viz.

‘¢ Ballycastle strata, above and under the present working
Coal, at Goli Mine, by John Evans, miner.

Yds, ft.

Whinstone ........ 20 O This is the same stone (see
page 269, herein) as the
Basalt of Fair-Head, and

is imperfectly columnar.
Floating Slate ...... 8 O
Yellow Freestone ... 14 O
Slate and ‘Coal.......°7.0-'
Hard gray Freestone. 30 O
Present workingCoaL 1 2
Slate, or Coal Seat... O 2
Gomty. 5. PE ORR ke
Boarding and Slate.. 6 O
White Freestone.... 12 O
Coal and Slate ..... kb O
Gray Freestone..... 12 0
Shivery Freestone... 7, O Thus far the disposition and
——— thickness of the strata ap-
Carried forward 120. 0 pear to be marked with

* Perhaps this fault, inone or more straight lines, or near it, may range
yet further south, since Dr. R. mentions, that “the Jreestone strata on the
north-west face of the mountain Bohul Bregagh, above Ardmoy, afford some
indications of Coal.”

, tolerable

published respecting Antrim, Derry, Se. 355

Yds. ft.

Brought forward120 0 tolerable exactness, so far
as may be judged by look-
ing at the face of the pre-
cipice. It is difficult to
observe, with accuracy, the
lower strata, because of the
rubbish, covered with an
imperfect vegetation, to-

BM, pata stavudine O ward the base of the cliff.
Yellow Freestone ... 10
White Limestone... 1

to © 9

Grayish Limestone, abound-
ing in marine Shells, occurs
hereabouts.

PE Pre nc bic was im

White Freestone....

TE PAG, oes. es

Sandstone Bind ....

Main Coal, covered :
by the Sea....... 6 O This is not known to the pre-

sent workmen.”

m= em 2 CS

Yards.. 145 0}

In the above account by Evans, it will be observed, that
Slate means Shale, Freestone means Grif-stone, in the lan-
guage of the Derbyshire Colliers, and that the Notes in the
last column seem by some one else, whether Dr. H. or
Mr. D. does not appear.

Mr. Whitehurst gives no measures to the 14 strata which
he enumerates (page 260); and the order and denomina-
tions so materially differ from the above, that further and
more precise observations seem much wanting, in the lower
part of the series particularly. Mr. W. if his scale has
any proportionality in it, shows the Limestone to be about
eight feet thick, and calls it “brown, containing no marine
shells :”? his lowest stratum (under a considerable space of
unascertained strata) wholly below high water, he calls
*¢ Millstone Grit, containing quartz pebbles, perfectly si-
milar to stratum, No. 1, in the Derbyshire Section ;”’ my
1st Grit Rock, and if so, is a very coarse Grit or Sandstone.

Several whynn-dykes intersect this Coal-field, five of
which Dr. R. has described in your 35th vol«p, 372,
&c. These dykes, all here have the nature of fazdés, in
depressing the strata, on the west side (Dr. R. vol. xxxy.
p- 374); at Whaley’s Folly one of them separates bitu-
minous or blazing Coal, trom blind or wd aoa

. Coal,

356 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

Coal, or stone Coal, which has lately begun to be worked :
Ironstone is found above the Coal here, Mr. D. p. 75: the
dip is easy, to the south, p. 76: some of the levels are 900
vards long ; a bed of Coal has been worked, by pumping,
below the level of the sea, p. 77: 100 men are daily em-
ploved in these works, p. 78, and as might I think from
their number, be expected, are rather ‘* lazy and indolent,”
p. 80. Fine Potters’ Clay is found near Fair-Head, Brick-
clay, excellent Firestone, Scythe-stones of the best quality,
and Glass Sand; and Quarries of excellent Freestone are
wrought in these measures, pages 84 and 85. Near Bally-
castle there is a Chalybeate spring, and another S of it
near Knocklaid Mountain: and an aluminous vitriolic
spring near Ballycastle, p. 138.

At Brachaville near Coal-Island northward of Dungan-
non in Tyrone, the measures, according to Mr. G.’s Notes,
are as follows; viz.

Yds. ft. in.
SS RED GD fa, vaedpwiia tas lg ve'ds w/-shets es'e'9 6k as satin GASES TRAE ip 5 gO
Craw Coal, with metal covering it, 18inches 2 0 O
lay. anid awyhiteiStoney Secs wes sew ao Ss GRO ao:
COOP danas ne ee ID atl we oheets oO Be
Fire Clay, hard Clay, Black Bind, and white
TRI BASIIES, says alode’ xi tiapecs s eustze leah Ste eka tle Li a Ee
Mian oaks isa. 2s VOR eee ose, TERNS
ey en eee:

Thirty yards deeper, they come to another Coal three feet
thick (the yard Coal), but it is salphureous and full of wa-
ter, and therefore now little worked, though it runs regu-
larly through the Country: it dips one yard in five and has
a good roof.

Under the west facade of Fair-Head NE of Ballycastle,
Mr. Davy, when visiting Dr. R. found clue Limestone,
App. p. 50, which further shows the variety, in the lower
and unexplored part of these Coal-measures; to which I
think may probably be referred, the “small eruption of
white Limestone near Templepatrick,” in the interior
ef the Basaltic district, Apps p. 25,,and the §* similar
eruption near Broughshane,” p. 26; of the first of
these Mr. D. says, p. 69, that from the qnantity of silex
which this stone contais, it will not answer for making
jie ; and I think it vastly more probable, that these are
remains of the lower part of the Coal-measures, resting on
the Basalt, than parts of its understratum, elevated 1200 feet
or more; to say nothing of the dissimilarity of the sub-

stances.

published respecting Antrim, Derry, &c. 357

stances. The “* micacevus Limestone found at Toberbelly
near Ballycastle, which makes good Lime for mortar or for
manure, and is of the same quality with that used at Dal-
mully in Scotland,” Mr. D. p. 68, probably belongs to these
measures. The gray Limestone commencing at Lough-
gallin Armagh, Mr. D. p. 39, is probably that extending
to the neighbourhood of Armagh Town, already mentioned
page 281 herein, and belongs to the lower part of the Coal-
measures, on the great Basalt and not below it. The notes
of Mr. G. represent the Coal-field in Tyrone, as bounded
on the NW, by Limestone at Ruchan; that Benbervin
Castle stands on Limestone near the Blackwater River not
far from Clonfecle, and that three or four aliernations of
Limestone, Freestone and Coal-shale appear, near that place ;
that at Desamartin in Derry, there are very large hme-
works in a bluish-gray Rock (not white), and smaller
quarries of the same sort of stone at Cookstown in Tyrone.

The Sandstone which occurs ‘* between Broughshane
and Clough, near the centre of the County,”’ Mr. D. p. 91,
probably is the remains of the lower part of the Coal-
measures below the Coal-seams ; and so may the same in
Rathlin or Raghery Island, Mr. D. p. 91, since I have not
heard of the actual existence of Coal seams there ?, a point
on which J wish information, and of their position with
respect to the Basalt, if such appear.

Fifth—Alluvia or Water-moved and worn superficial mat-
ters, in your 33d volume, page.199, Dr. R. speaking of a
tract immediately to the southward of Kells and Connor
says, * we here find a district near four miles in diameter,
called the Sandy Braes: over this whole space the basaltic
stratification has leen carried off, and the operation has
reached deep into a very singular substratum, a reddish
Breccia, by some mineralogists called a Porphyry, the mass
friable, but the component angular particles of extreme
hardness. The Hills, of which this little district is full,
are every one perfect segments of spheres, while the loftier
basaltic hills that surround it, preserve their characteristic
form, to wit, a gradual acclivity on one side, with a steep
abrupticn on the other.”’ In Mr. D.’s App. p. 33, Dr. R.
says that this Breccia is an excellent material for Roads, and
frequently contains Opal; at p.49, nearly the same is re-
peated; to me notwithstanding, the evidence seems defec-
tive, of these knowls belonging to any regular stratum, Dut
the probability much stronger, of what Mr. D. states, page
34; viz. that they are Gravel, (or rather] should say, rub-
ble know!s, the stones being angular, of extrancous alluvia),

and

358 Mr. Farey’s Statement of Geolegical Facts

and he considers them as allied to the gravelly ridges, com-
mon in the south of the County, p. 34, particularly that
extending from Dunmurry to near Magheragall church,
p. 24.—I should inquire, does this singular breccia appear
in a ring, at the foot of the hills surrounding the denuda-
tiort? as it ought to do, and pass under them on all sides ?,
and what is the stratum wzder these knowls?; in short I
fear, that the Doctor’s zeal has here led him a little too far,
in applying a favourite theory: while in enforcing the fact,
of a denudating agent having very generally acted from
above*, in his district (vol. xxxili. p. 204), he seems not
to have been aware of one of the most conclusive evidences
of its truth, that of faults or depressions of the strata not
occasioning « corresponding step or inequality in the surface !
and though much struck with the derangement of 39 or
40 feet in the face of the facade near Port Spagna, vol.
Xxxiil. p. 106 and 197, vol. xxxv, p. 371, and others in the
Coal district, pages 372 to 374, 11 does not seem to have
occurred to the Doctor, to have traced any of the lines of
these faults from the edge of the cliff and along the surface
of the land, as in the Coal district would easily be done by
the information of the Colliers, as to where they have

* Dr. Drummond, on the very incontestable evidence which Dr. R. has
advanced to prove, not from a solitary spot but from a Coast of 60 miles in
length, and the greater part of the surface of the country whichit bounds, that
a force acting from alove has torn or carried off the greater part of the upper
strata (and into which evidence Dr. D. carefully declines entering), treats
the Reader of his Poem with the following remark: “ What,” says he “ this
cause was, the Doctor leaves his readers to conjecture, and he is decided that
it was neither fire nor water. Was the tail of Whiston’s comet the besom
of destruction, with which our valleys were swept!”—All this, and much
more that precedes and follows, may serve to amuse, and to prove, how
much easier it is to give mineralogical names to substances, without hesitation
assign their order of superposition, unsight, unseen, according to “The
Geognosy,” and to write verses, than it is to make Geological observations,
and to reason thereon, in the able manner that Dr. Richardson has done.

Though compelled thus again to flatter Dr. R., as he is pleased to term it,
"in Mr. D’s App. p.51, | cannot acknowledge much fresh obligation, on ac-
count of his inventing a denudating cause for me, of which J never spoke
or thought in my life! and there publishing it, viz. “that one of the diminu-
tive and newly discovered Planets has, in some of its revolutions, come so
near to our Globe, as to have changed the direction of gravitation, and, in
its rapid progress close to our surface, to have carried off the materials we now
miss;” an opinion, so demonstrably contrary to the possible reciprocal actions
of Planets on each other, or of Comets on Planets, that I should be truly
ashamed of it, and introduce it here, only to disavow it; wishing now, as [
have done in my Derbyshire Report, to employ myself with facts and visible
effécts, and adjourn the discussioa of causes, perhaps, until Dr. R. shall have
more extensively succeeded, in silencing the supporters of false theories,
against which he has so nobly commenced hostilities: -now and then I may
perhaps find opportunity, to furnish him with a little ammunition, frem my
stores,

easily

published respecting Antrim, Derry, Ge. 359

proved these beneath, (confirmation of which might be
easily obtained, from the principles laid down in my Der-
byshire Report, i. 129, and your 33d vol. p. 263), and to
have shown, that none of these derangements materially
affect the form of the surface, but that what remains to
complete the pile on the sunk side of a fault, is, as in the
case of the numerous hummocks, the proper and undis-
turbed upper strata, that on the other side the line of fault,
are carried off and gone!; all this I cannot doubt but he
might have shown, from my undeviating experience, and
that of all the many practical Colliers with whom I have
conversed: but I caution Dr. R. against suffering modern
slips of piles of strata, either into the Sea or the valleys,
from being unfairly urged as objections to this most asto-
nishing and important Geological fact, with which I be-
lieve no theory-maker before my time was acquainted, or
if so, they seem culpably to have suppressed it.

On a subject connected herewith, [ cannot help again
noticing the seeming ipconsistency of Dr. R. with respect
to the slight Tablets of hard Strata, if not “ Stony ridges,”
to be seen and most assiduously attended to, in surveying
denudated districts, as | have mentioned, vol. xxxiil. p. 262;
and which he seems fully to admit, in the mention of these
stony ridges, vol. xxxili. p. 107 and 109: and their effects
on the outlines of the summits, or dorsa, of long ridges,
Mr. D.’s App. p. 43: and again, ¢¢ the form of our surface,
and the shapes of our hills, depend more than we are aware
of, on the materials composing them ‘ App. p. 49: and
yet, the improper manner of expressing the 3d of Dr. R.’s
Geological facts (vol. xxxiii, p. 112) *€and our surface it-
self are unconnected with, and unaffected by the arrange-
ment of the strata below them,” remains yet uncorrected,
and in Mr. D.’s App. p. 40, Dr. R. even says, that an ob-
server “ finds the arrangements of the component strata
have not the slightest influence on the form of our surface :
that its figure is governed by their removals, not their po-
sitions; that the materials which once formed it, have been
carried off irregularly and, for aught we can see, caprici-
ously.’ What ! could not the writer discover indelible marks
of infinite wisdom rather than caprice, in the almighty sculp-
tor of the Antrim stratified block ? (to use his own excellent
metaphor, App. p. 41, 46, &c.), which has so fashioned
its diversified or ** collivallian ” surface, that scarcely any
part thereof can be found, without 4 connected descent for
all the waters from its surface!

The stony Ridges, or edges and parts of the tops, of harder

strata

360 Mr, Farey’s Statement of Geological Facts

strata than the general mass, which I have mentioned above,
would well employ the attention of Dr. R. and other ob-
servers in Antrim, where I think, while inspecting Mr. D.’s
Map, that I can perceive clearly their influence, in sepa-
rating the long and wide stripes of Bog, with which the
western side of that County, from Longh Neagh north-
ward, is unfortunately encumbered: and that such stony
ridges, might be traced northward to the top of the cliff,
and into its face, to the facade which Dr. R. has so well
described vol. xxxiii. p. 104.

The readers of your 36th volume, p. 361 and 437, will
have noticed, besides some important facts, as to the natural
history of the extensive Bogs or Peat Mosses of Ireland,
that our legislature had seriously entered on a scheme for
effectually draining, in orderto aid the cultivation of the main
of such Bogs: and [embrace the opportunity here of men-
tioning, that Dr. William Richardson, having long turned
his attention to these Bogs, and to the making of accurate
observations and discriminations, as. to the causes and na-
ture of Bogs and Fens, and the different steps to be taken
for the improvement of each, some time ago prepared a
long and excellent Memoir on the subject, which is now
printing (forthe first time) in the numbers of the Agricultural
Magazxine* (published by V. Griffiths, No. 1, Paternoster
Row), in which nearly the whole of the most expensive
steps now pursuing under the Act of Parliament for the
above purpose, are decidedly and as IJ think, justly con-
demned, as useless and indeed hurtful some of them, if per-
sisted in: it is a subject that has fallensomewhat under my
cognizance, ever since the quackeries of the late Mr. Elking-
ton’ first engrossed the public attention, and on which [ have
enlarged rather, in the chapter on Draining in the remaining
part of my Derbyshire Report, now in the press.

I should

* Dr. R. will excuse my correcting an inaccuracy in vol; x. p. 67, of this
work, in mentioning the Fens of Bedfordshire, since there are none such.
The name“ Bedford Level of the Fens,” situate in Cambridgeshire, a great
many miles from Bedfordshire, and so called in compliment to an Earl of
Bedford who patronized their embank.nent and drainage, has probably
misled the Doctor, as it has before done others.

Among the important facts with respect to the Irish Bogs which Dr. R.
gives us, is that of their not immediately resting upon Clay or Marl, as re-
presented vol. xxxvi. p. 367, $71, and 443; but that in every one of the nu-
merous places which he had examined, “a tough, viscid, ponderous, and
whitish Earth, which when analysed (says he) by my scientific College
friends (in Dublin) gave eighty-/hree parts of siler, sixteen of alumine, and
one of oxide of iron.” Agr, Mag. vol. x. p. 81 and 144, was found immediately
under the peat: and which confirms the observations of Mr. Wm. Smith
and myself during near 20 years past, that though Fens and Marshes, and

some

published respecting Antrim, Derry, &c. 361

T should not quit the 4l/aia of Antrim without men-
tioning; that Mr. D. p. 21; represents a clayey Whynstone
Gravel as prevalent on the plains and valleys. That a con-
siderable tract of alluvial Sad is found at Shane’s Castle
and other parts of the shores of Lough Neavh, p. 24 and
111: and whence probably, the variegated Calcedony pebbles,
p: 110, are derived : a clayey Gravel near the Crumlin River,
two miles from its mouth, contained a mass of partly petri-
Jied wood weighing 700 Ibs., the outside being stone and
parts of the interior still wood, Mr. Barton, p. 51 and 100;
at Tradubach Bay on Lough Neagh, a piece weighing
200 Ibs., wood outside and stone within, Mr. B. p. 99; at
Ahaness 1 m. S of the river Glenavy; a piece 150]bs.
weight, now probably in the Museum of Trinity College,
Dublin, Mr. B. p. 96, and Mr. D. p.109, Note. On the
Six-mile River two miles from Lough Neagh, specimens
are found, as much as a man can carry, the outsides of which
are wood, Mr. D. p. 55, and in other places wood which
has undergone no change, Mr. B. p. 593 specimens of
petrified wood being found in Gravel, eight or ten miles di-
stant from Lough Neagh, Mr. B. p. 103: see also Mr. D.’s
account of the above, pages 105 to 111. Lapis syringoides
are found in Derry on the shore of the Lough, Mr. B. pages
74 and 75, perhaps the petrified Coralites of Mr. D. p. 109.
Hazel Nuts petrified, are thrown up occasionally, by the
waves of the Lake or Lough, Mr. D. p. 109 and 110, but
whose waters are denied the wonderful properties which
ignorance and credulity had assigned them: Mr. B. shows,
p. 130, that the petrified wood is not so generally Holly,
as had been asserted. At Ahaness a stratum of Lituminated
Wood under blue and red Clay is found, Mr. B. p. 97 and
130, and in other places bordering on the Lough, Mr. D.

p- 90.

some Valley Bogs, rest on Clay or any other substances, within the Level
of the obstructions to the retreat of the Waters which occasioned them, yet
real Bogs and Mosses such as those in Derbyshire (which I first examined.
near Buxton, in 1797) perhaps invariably, rest on Sand, Grit-stone, or sandy
joam, a3 mentioned in my Derbyshire Report i: 307, 308. and 312; and in
which respect, the present aquatic vegetables of our Bogs, seem to differ ma-
terially from the immense subaqueous crops of eatinct races of plants, which
occasioned our Coal-seams ; which, according to my extensive observations
and inquiries among the practically informed on this subject, invariably rest,
immediately (however thin it may be), on infusible or Fire-Clay in some of
its various states of induration and perfection, as mentioned in my Report i.
p- 179; and into which fact I hope that Dr. R. will minutely inquire, in the
Collieries of Antrim and Tyrone, &c.: as also, what is the exact direction of
all the slixes or length-way vertical joints in the Coal-seams, in those various
Collieries? Do they range ESE and WNW, as in and near Derbyshire (Re-
port i. 181), or in any other invariable direction?

Vol. 39, No. 169. May 1812. Aa &

362 Description of an improved Pump for raising

A Quartz Crystal weighing 30]bs. was found in loose
earth, probably alluvial, on Knocklaid Mountain S of Bally-
castle, Mr. B. p. 178 and 209, and another weighing 2 lbs.
2oz., with numerous sntaller ones, on the alluvial shores of
Lough Neagh, with Mocoa stones, Cornelians, at the SE
corner of the Lough in particular, Mr. B. p. 78, 105, and
173; Topazes and Amethysts, p. 175, and some of the last
species of stone at 15 m. distant from the Lough, Mr. B.
). 172.
va Limestone Gravel exists in many parts, at Ballinderry
near the Corn Mill in the River Damart, also at Portmore
Park in the parish of Glenavy,”’ Mr. D. p. 68.

I cannot dismiss the valuable statistical Survey of An-
trim, without lamenting, that Mr. Dubourdieu has not ad-
ded a copious alphabetical Index to it, which would greatly
have increased its usefulness, as the depository of so many
facts interesting to the Naturalist and G&conomist.

Dr. Drummond announces, (preface p. xxvii) that his
friend Dr. Mac Donnel has in hand a work, giving a de-
tailed and satisfactory account of the mineralogy of the
County of Antrim: to this gentleman, I may hope, that
some things herein may not prove devoid of interest and
use,

Iam, sir,

Your obliged and very humble servant,

12, Upper Crown Street, Westminster, Joun Farry Sen.
March 25, 18:2. .

LIT. Description of an improved Pump for raising the
Water while Shafts or Pits are sinking. By Mr.
WILLIAM Brunton, of Butterley Iron Works, Derby-

shire*.

Sir, I BEG leave, through you, to lay before the Society
for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Com-
merce, drawings of a pump upon an improved construction,
for the purpose of raising water from pits, whilst they are
sinking. Before enter upon an explanation of my plan, it
_will be requisite to state those inconveniences arising from
the common mode, which are intended to be obviated.
First, as it is necessary for the pumps whilst: sinking, to
be always working upon air, that the water may be kept

* From Transacticns of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu-
factures, and Commerce, tor 18(1. The silver medal of the Society was
voted to Mr. Bruntoa for this communication.

very

the Water while Shafts or Pits are sinking. 363

very low in the pit, the engine of course frequently goes —
too fast, and carries up by the violence of the current small
pieces of stone, coal, or other substances, and lodges them
above the bucket, which must considerably retard the
working of the pump, and wear the leather.

Secondly.—When the engine is set to work, (after hav-
ing been stopped whilst working upon air, and consequently
a quantity of air remaining in the suction-pipe, with the
small stones, &c. deposited on the valves of the bucket,) it
often happens that the compressure of the air by the descent
of the bucket is not sufficient to overcome the weight of
the bucket valves so loaded with rubbish, and the column
of water in the stand pipes, the pump is hereby prevented
from catching its water; the usual remedy for which is, to’
draw the bucket out of the working barrel, until a quantity
of water has escaped by its sides, and displaced the air.
Observe here, that this often happens from the unnecessary °
magnitude of the space between the bucket and clack.

Thirdly.—The pumps are suspended in the pit by capstan
ropes, for the purpose of being readily lowered as the pit is
sunk ; the stretching of the ropes (especially when sinking
in soft strata) occasions much trouble, by suffering the
pumps to choke; but the most serious evil is, that the
sinkers, in shifting the pumps from one place to another,
throw them very far out of perpendicular, thereby causing
immense friction and wearing in all the parts ; besides en-
dangering the whole apparatus, by breaking the bolts and
stays, and straining the joints.

Fourthly.—As the pumps sink, the delivering pipe at the
top is raised, by putting on short pipes, generally about a
yard at a time, which occasions many stoppages and much
hinderance in the work.

Having an engine pit to sink at Codnor Park Colliery,
Derbyshire, belonging to the Butterley Iron Company, I en-
deavoured ‘to obviate the difficulties stated; and, first, for
the purpose of preventing the pumps working too much
upon air, I coustructed a working barrel, (which in this
case was nine inches diameter,) with a side pipe three inches
diameter, connected therewith by an opening at the top and
bottom ; also at yhe upper end of the side pipe I fixed a
valve, so as to slide over and shut the communication with
the working barrel, tbe stem of the valve by which it is Te=
gulated, passing through a stuffing box, and by letting a
quantity of water return through the side pipe, to the bot-
tom of the working barrel, (the men at the bottom regu-

Aa2 lating

364 Description of an improved Pump for raising

lating the valve, so that the pump takes the water as it
comes,) very little rubbish is then taken into the pump,
and much wear and tear of buckets prevented.

Secondly.—TI also by this valve and side pipe, preclude ©
the necessity of ever drawing the bucket to displace the air.
The clack piece was made as small as possible, and the
clack with its gearing verv Jow, in order to have as little
space as possible between the bucket and the clack. The
clack as represented in the drawing, possesses the advantages
of being easily caught by the clack hook, in case of being
under water. The ring prevents it from oversetting, and
thereby fastening itself in the pumps, and the valves are
very easily repaired by unscrewing the cross-bar, which
admits of their being taken off and replaced.

Thirdly.—J avoid the mconyenience of suspending the
pumps by ropes, by forming the suction-pipe in two
pieces, one inner and outer pipe; the outer pipe is bored for
about six inches in length, and the inner one turned cylin-
drically to fit it; they slide into each other, the whole
length of a regular pipe, viz. nine feet ; and they are made
tight by collars of leather, surrounded by a cup filled with
water and clay. The pumps are supported at proper di-
stances, so as to suit the length of the pipes, by beams, and
across those are other beams upon which the flanches of
the pipes rest ; these last are not fastened by any bolt, in or-
der that they may be readily removed; the pumps by these
means remain stationary, and the suction-pipe Jengthens as
the pit is sunk, until it is drawn out to its full extent.
The whole column is then lowered to the next flanches,
and another pipe is added to the top; the lower end of the
suction pipe is formed somewhat like a crank, in order
that the sinkers, by turning it round upon the other pipe,
may move it from one place to another, and so prevent the
necessity of sinking immediately under it.

Fourthly.—The pumps being stationary as above stated,
the pipe at the top will of course deliver the water at the
same level at all times, and instead of being obliged to
lengthen the column every yard sunk, it will only be ne-
cessary every nine feet.

_By smking the pit above mentioned ia the manner I
have stated, the whole of the difficulties so generally com-
plained of were obviated, the safety of the workmen em-
ployed greatly increased, and much time, labour, and ex-
pense saved. If the above should appear to the Society
deserving of their notice and patronage, or the publishing

of

the Water while Shafts or Pits are smking. 365

of it calculated for utility, they will thereby highly gratify

and oblige

Their most obedient humble servant,
W. Brunton,

Butterley Iron Works, Derbyshire, Engineer.
Oct. 20, 1810.

To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec.

Explanation of the Drawings of Mr. WiLL1AM BrunTon’s
improved Pump, for Mining, and Sinking Shafts. Plate
VIL. fig. 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6. ;

Fig. 1, is a section of a shaft or pit, with the pump fixed
in it; it is cast in lengths of nine feet each, screwed together
by flanches, and supported by beams extending across the
pit, (as shown in the plan, fig. 6,) short pieces are laid across
these, with half circular holes in them; these being put
round the pump, just beneath a flanch, sustain the pump
firmly, but may quickly be removed when it is required to
lower the pumps in the pit; and, as they are not fastened,
they do not prevent the pumps being drawn upwards 3 A,
fig. i, is the door which unscrews, to get at the lower valve
or clack of the pump; this is more clearly explained in the
enlarged section, fig. 2, where A has the same designation.
B, fig. 2, is the working barrel, with the bucket D, work-
ing init; E is the clack, also shown enlarged in figs. 3 and
4; F is the suction pipe, and GG, the moveable length-
ening piece; this slides over and includes the other, as in
fig. 2, when the pump is first fixed; but, as the pit is sunk,
it slides down over the pipe F, to reach the bottom, as in
fir. 1; the outside of the inner pipe F’, is turned true and
smooth, and the inside of the outer pipe G, at the upper.
end, is bored out to fit’ it; the junction is made perfect by
Jeathers placed in the bottom of the cup, aa, which holds
water and wet clay over them, to keep them wet and _plia-
ble, and consequently air-tight; the lower extremity of
the suction pipe G, terminates in a nose, pierced with a
number of small holes, that it. may not take up the dirt ;
this nose is not placed ina line with the pipe, but curved
to one side of it, so as to describe a circle when turned
round ; by this means the sinkers can always place the nose
in the deepest part of the pit, as shown in fig. 1 ; and when
they dig or blast a deeper part, they turn the nose about into
it, the sliding tube lengthening dewn to reach the bottom
of it; by this means there is never a necessity to set a shot
for blasting so near the pump foot, as to put it in any dan-

Aas : gee

366 eseription of an improved Pump.

ger of being injured by the explosion, as is the case in the
common pump ; in which this danger can only be avoided
by moving the pump foot to one side of the pit, which ne-
cessarily throws the whole column of pumps out of the
perpendicular.

The construction of the clack is explained by figs. 3 and
4, the former being a section, and the latter a plan; LL is
a cast-iron ring, fitting into a conical seat in the bottom of
the chamber of the pump, as shown in fig. 2; it has two
stems // rising from it, to support a second iron ring MM;
just beneath this, a bar m extends across from one stem to
another, and has two screws tapped through it 5 these press
down a second cross-bar 2, which presses the leather of the
valves down upou the cross-bar of the ring L, and this holds
it fast, forming the hinge on which the double valves open,
without the necessity of making any holes through the
leather as in common; but the chief advantage is, that by
this means the clack can be repaired, and a new leather put-
in in far less tie than at present, an object of the greatest
importance ; for, in many situations, the water gathers so
fast in the pit, that if the clack fails and cannot be quickly
repaired, the water rises above the clack-door, so as to pre-
vent any access to it, and there is no remedy in the common
pump but drawing up the whole pile of pumps, which is a
most tedious and expensive operation. In Mr. Brunton’s
pump, the clack can at any time be drawn out of the pump,
by first drawing out the bucket, and letting down an iron
prong, fig. 5, which bas hooks on the outsides of its two
points ; this when dropped down will fall into the ring M,
and its prongs springing out, will catch the underside and
hold it fast enough to draw it up. Another part of Mr.
Brunton’s improvement consists in the addition of a pipe
H, fig. 2, which is cast at the same time with the barrel,
and communicates with it both at the top and at the bot-
tom, just above the clack; at the upper end the pipe is co-
vered by a flat sliding plate, whicb can be moved by a small
rod 4, passing through a collar of leather; the rod has a
communiaatign by a lever, so that the valve can be opened
or shut, by the men in the bottom of the pit; the object
of this side pipe is, to Jet down such a proportion of the
water which the pump draws, as will prevent the pump
drawing air ; though of course the motion of the engine
will be so adapted, as not to require a great proportion of
the water to be thus returned through the side pipe; yet it
will not be possible to work the engine so correctly, as not
to draw some air withcut this contrivance; and if it does,

it

Further Remarks on a Case of Injury of the Brain. 367

it draws up much dirt and pieces of stone into the pump,
besides causing the engine to work very irregularly, in con-
sequence of partially loosing its load every time the air en-
ters the pump. Another use of the side pipe is, to let
down water into the chamber of the clack to fill it, when
the engine is first set to work, after the pumps have been
standing still, and the lower part of the barrel and chamber
empty.

LITI. Further Remarks ona Case of Injury of the Brain.
To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, qT. the 166th number and 117th page of your valu-
able Magazine, you did me the honour to insert some notes
of a case of an affection of the brain, the consequence of
local injury to the head, that came under my care, in which I
particularly mentioned the symptoms, the treatment, and the
favourable state in which the patient James Thomas was at
the time I wrote.and sent it you. A very short time after
that he had a relapse quite as severe as the former; and as
the former was published, I thought it right that the latter
should be published also as a supplement to it, and for
this reason I have laid it before you.

James Thomas continued to get better and to recover
very rapidly, until the 22d of February, when, without-any
apparent cause, he was.taken so ill as to oblige him to re-
tire tobed. He sent to desire 1 would see him. I did so;
and when I got to the house, I found him remarkably
weak, so tnat he could scarcely move himself in any di-
rection, but no part of his body was paralysed: he spoke
with difficulty, and articulated yery badly, so much so, that
I could not understand much of what he said; he lay moan-
ing in the bed, and took, or at least seemed to take, very
little notice of any thing or any body. If I asked him a
question, he would answer as well as he was able: the only
symptom he complained of was a dull pain all over the
head; he never pointed to any particular spot, but would
shake his head and move his hand over the whole: the pu-
pils of the eyes were dilated, but very readily-contracted on -
the application of a lighted candle. He ate little or no-
thing; could obtain no sleep; was very watchful. He
would remain a whole day without asking for any thing, or
speaking to any one. He is amazingly dull and stupid ;
and his wife tells me, his. bowels are confined and his stools

Aa4 very

368 Further Remarks on a Case of

very black; his skin feels hot and dry, and his tongue is
furred.

Now, as he got so much better in his former illness, I
was induced to resume the same plan of treatment, which
was to endeavour to regulate the functions of the skin and
of the alimentary canal, and with that view I ordered him
to take the following powder immediately ;

B Hydrargyri Submuriatis gr. vi.
Pulveris Antimonialis gr. ij. Misce.

Feb. 23. The powder has produced some evacuations
which are quite black, and smell very offensive. I asked
him how he did; he shook his head and answered, Very
bad. He still keeps perpetualiy moaning ; he js yery thirsty,
and his skin is still hot and dry.

R Ayvdrareyri Submuriatis gr. j.
Pulveris Antimonialis gr. 1].
Nitratis Potassee gr, x. Misce. Fiat pulvis quartis
horis sumendus ex Melle.

His drink to be toast and water.

Feb. 24. His bowels keep regularly open, but the feces
are black ; his urine is smal] in quantity, high-coloured, and,
as heiterms it, very hot; his pulse beats moderately firm,
but by no means strong or very full, but is quite regular ;
his face is pale, and there is no appearance like congestion
about his head. The symptoms do not appear to be in the
least mitigated.

_ The powders to be continued three times a day.

Feb. 28. His mouth feels sore from the use of the mer-
eury; the secretion of saliva is considerably increased, and
he voids more urine: the skin feels moist, and is bedewed
with a genile perspiration, His evacuations are not so
black, and bowels are regular; but his eyes are for the first
time inflamed, and the hght feels troublesome, and when
suddenly placed before his eyes produces pain. He can
take a little gruel, but as yet cannot sleep; he is very
drowsy and eager to sleep, but symething he knows not
what prevents him.

The powders to be discontinued, and the following mix-
ture to be taken; ,

~ B Liquoris Ammoniz Acetatis 3ij.
Misture Camphore 3vh.
Syrupi Croci 3%. Misce. Cochlearia duo ampla
quartis vel sextis horis sumat.

March 3. The inflammation of the eyes is quite sub-
sided, and the light can be admitted without producing
pain or inconyenience 5 he now begins to spexk saa oa 9p

oysry 4

Injury of the Brain. 369

ously; he slept several hours last night, and that sleep was
sound and undisturbed, and he appears to be much re~
freshed ; he is able to sit up in bed for an hour at a time,
and takes broth and small quantities of the whiter kinds of
meat, but he is very much reduced in bulk and in strength 5
his bowels keep regularly open, and the colour of the feces
greatly improves. I ordered him to go on with the mix-
ture as before.

March 7. He continues gradually to get better; for the
last three days he has sat up three hours at a time without
being much tired ; his appetite increases, and he is in every
other respect proportionally well. The pain in his head
has almost left him; his speech is still very indistinct, and
in speaking he very often forgets what he was going to say.
At times he seems to lose all recollection for a moment.
The mixture continued.

March 20. His feces are now perfectly of a natural
colour, and he goes to stool once or twice every day. His
skin keeps moist ; his appetite is very good; he is still in
a state of great debility ; be has left off taking his medicine ;
talks better; pains in the head quite gone ; is able to walk
out a short distance ; his memory is as good as usual, and
he is mending hourly.

May 12. I have just called and found him with his
wife at dinner, and apparently eating very heartily ; he is
got quite fat since last I saw him; he tells me he can pur-

‘sue the office of constable as he was accustomed, and feels
as well as ever he did in his life, except his articulation,
which is the only thing from which he suffers.

From the peculiar and well marked symptoms under
which the patient has laboured in both attacks, I think
little doubt can remain as to the cause which produced
them; namely, that it was pressure on some part of the.
brain ; but on what part that pressure was, or what caused
the pressure, scarcely admits of a conjecture, for the pain has
never heen confined to any particular part; but, on the con-
trary, was generally diffused over the whole head. The
mode of treatment has been very simple, and the three chief

oints it had in view, werg to regulate the evacuations of
the alimentary canal, to set right the morbid-secfetion of
bile, and to keep up a gentle action or perspiration on the
skin. Now this treatment, as the relation of the case shows,
“has been attended with success ; for as soon as the skin be-
came in a watural state, and the excretions from the bowels
regular and of a good colour, so soon did the symptoms be-
gin to be mitigated, and continued so to do till they disap-
peared,

370 A Method of correcting the Variation of :

peared. Some may say, that in the present instance the
deranged state of the skin and of the bowels was the
effect of the disease, and that the treatment adopted re-
moved the effect without first removing the cause: but
this case (as well as many others) clearly f proves tu me the
importance and great necessity of paying strict altention to
the state of the skin, and of the alimentary canal, in every
disease.
T am, with all due respect,
Your humble servant,
Hatton Garden, May 16, 1812. JouNn BoRNE.

LIV. .A Method of correeting the Variation of the Mariner’s
Compass. By Mr. Joun Honcson, Charles Street,
St. James’s Square*.

SIR, I TAKE the hiberty of requesting you to submit to
the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures
and Commerce, a small theodolite, to which an addition
has been made, calculated, it is hoped, to be of some utility.

The frequent recurrence to the variation of the compass,
which is necessary in the use of the theodolite, is always
attended with trouble, and not unfrequently productive of
error.

It appears to me, that by a very simple expedient these
inconveniences may in a great measure be removed. To
the magnetic needle of the instrument, let one of brass be
afixed moveable upon the centre of the former; the brass
needle may be termed the corrector. Nothing more is ne-
cessary than to place the magnetic needle and the corrector,
at the angle of the variation, in such a manner that, the
former being i in the magnetic meridian, the latter shall be
in the true meridian. The south end of the corrector will
point to the true bearing of an object seen through the
sights of the theodolite.

“fT also beg to lay before the committee a ship’s compass,
in which will be found a different application of the same
principle. In this instrament, the needle is made move-
able under the compass card, so as to be placed by the
officer of the watch, or any other proper person, under the
variation line, as often as an azmmuth or an amplitude shall
have been taken. The points of the compass will, by these

* From Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Maru-
fuctures, and Commerce, for 1811. The silver medal of the Society was
voted to Mr. Hodgson for this communication.

means,

the Mariner’s Compass. 371

means, be directed to their corresponding points in the
heavens, and the mariner will know that he is really sailing
upon the rhumb indicated by the cord.

I am inclined to think that a seaman may sometimes be

liable to error, in the continual reference which it is neces-
sary for him to make to the variation of the compass, from
a possibility of his allowing it on the wrong side, by sub-
tracting where he should add, or by adding where he should
subtract it: even under a supposition that such a mistake
is not likely to occur, the use of this instrument as an
additional check, in a matter of so much importance as ts
the ascertaining of a ship’s course, may not be entirely un-
worthy of attention.

It is very probable, that from my imperfect information
upon these subjects, I am now proposing what has before
been suggested, and heen found either to be wholly im-
practicable, or of little or no utility when reduced to prac-
tice. This is indeed the more probable from the extreme
simplicity of the expedient itself, which could scarcely have
escaped the attention of the many enlightened seamen, and
others, who have devoted their minds to subjects of this
nature, This consideration, however, is not sufficient to
induce me to lose a chance of suggesting any the most
trifling bint which may be useful to a class of men to
whom we are so much indebted.

It may be objected against the application of this princi-
ple to a ship’s compass, that as the variation in a long voy-
age is continually changing, the card in a short time after
it has been adjusted will not point truly. This must be
admitted; but it must also be recollected that it will agree
with the last variation ascertained, and which is that on
which the mariner must rely, until a fresh observation shall
have been taken. ’

It may also be objected, that through the negligence of
the persons employed to regulate this instrument, errors
may arise, equal to those which it is intended to obviate ;
but surely, whatever may tend to afford a correct knowledge
of a ship’s course, is of sofficient importance to render the
adjustment of the card an office by no means unworthy of
the captain himself; and it cannot be supposed that he,
or indeed any other officer, can be liable to error in an ope-
ration merely manual.

If we admit, however, that these objections are well
founded, an instrument of this description might not be
destitute of utility, placed in the captain’s cabin, or some
other convenient part of the ship, where it might continu-

ally

372 A Method to correct the Variation of the Compass.

ally indicate her course, without the necessity of a reference
to the last observation; and at the same time serve as a
check upon the several courses entered from the steering-
compass.

Whatever obstacles may exist to the application of this
contrivance to the ship’s compass, I apprehend that there
will be none to its utility, as applied to the instruments used
in land surveying ; confined as that business is to tracts of
country within whjch only a trifling annual variation takes
place, and to which variation the corrector may be set
whenever it becomes considerable.

To the common boat- and pocket-compass the same prin-
ciple may be applied with equal utility; to the latter espe-
cially, which may frequently, perhaps, be in the hands of
persons unacquainted with either the bearing or amount of
the variation of the magnetic needle.

As the instruments submitted to the Committee are
merely intended for illustration, T have not aimed at great
nicety in their mechanism. It is obvious that they are
capable of considerable improvement, and that both the
theodolite and the ship’s compass may be so constructed
as to be capable of all requisite accuracy in their adjust-
ment, without loading them in such a manner as to obstruct
the free motion of the needle.

If a modification of these instruments, in itself so sim-
ple, shall be found to be of the least utility, I shall feel
highly gratified, .

I am, sir,
Your very obedient servant,
Charles Street, St. James’s Square, Joun HopcGson.
April 23, 1811.

To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec. ra

Reference to the Drawing of Mr. Joan Honason’s Vari-
ation Compass. Plate IX. fig. 1 and 2.

The two figures in this plate are, a plan and perspective
view of a small theodolite or circumferentor, for taking
horizontal angles by the magnetic needle ; it is to the latter
alone that Mr. Hodgron’s improvement applies; being a
brass needle a, fig. 1, which is fitted upon the brass centre-
piece, or cap, of the real needle J, in such a manner that
it can be easily turned round to make any angle with the
needle, and having sufficient friction to remain where it is
placed ; both needies are poised on the same centre-point,

with an agate cap in the usual manner, the brass needle
being

An Account of Mr. Liston’s improved Organ. 373

being only an index to point out the divisions on the circle
within the compass: this index being set so as to make the
same angle with the needle, as the difference of the true
and magnetic meridians, will at all times give the true
bearings of any object observed through the two sights e
and f, which are diametrically opposite, and at the zero of
the divided circle ; at least whilst the variation of the needle
continues the same; but as this alters by the instrament
being used in a different tract of country, the brass index @
must be turned round a corresponding number of degrees,
which are shown by the divided circle in the box. The re-
maining parts, shown in fig. 2, are AA, the upper ends of

the tripod supporting the instrument; B the ball and socket
’ by which, the box is adjusted, so as to be horizontal; the
stem of the ball has a circle ¢ fixed to it, carrying two
sights gh, through which the observations are taken; the
circle ¢ is divided into degrees, and the compass-box, which
turns round upon it, has a vernier applying to them: this
renders the instrument a theodolite, as any two objects may
be observed through the sights ef, and gh, and the divi-
sions on the circle ¢ will denote the angle between them,
and at the same time the bearing of any object may be
taken by observing it through the sights ef, and noting
the degree pointed out by the brass needle a, which is the
true bearing required, without any allowance for the varia-
tion, as was the case in the common instrument.

— ee

LV. On the Rev. Mr. Liston’s Eunarmonic OncGan,
and his *‘ Essay on perfect Intonation,” just published,
Sor explaining fully the Principles of Tuning, and of per-
forming upon thisOrgan with perfect Harmonies, in almost
every possible Variety of Keys and Passages. By Mr.
Joun Farey Sen. |

To Mr. Tilloch.

SiR, Tue work which bas for near a year past, been an-
xiously expected by great numbers, for explaining the prin-
ciples and practice of @ Musical Scale, without any tem-
perament or imperfections in its harmony, has at length ap-
peared and is to be had of Messrs. Longman and Rees, or
any other Bookseller, or at the Music-sellers, and I take
the earliest opportunity, of mentioning a few particulars
therefrom, in addition to what I communicated in your

37th

374 An Account of Mr. Liston’s improved Organ,

37th volume, page 273*, after a perusal of the Rev. Mr.
Henry Liston’s Manuscript, with which he favoured me
last summer. Since the period alluded to, Mr. William
Shield, Mr. Thomas Greatorex, Mr. J. Davy, Mr. Samuel
IVestley, and a great number of other eminent musicians
have examined and fully tried the Organ, with 20 pipes in
cach octave, (through three stops) yielding 60 sounds in
each octave, which was exhibited Jast summer at Messrs.
Flight and Robson’s, im St. Martin’s Lane, and the fout
professors above mentioned, since voluntarily transmitted
to Mr. L. very ample testimonials of the practicability and
great value of his improvements on the scale of Keyed In-
struments, and which are inserted in his preface.

The interval between the several Minor &Major consonances
bD & D, F& «F, 6G & G, bB &B, and bC&c
io od & Il, ath &1V, sth & V, 7th & VII, & sth &VITL ff ”
Nar. L. denominates a Limma, (page 8) its value in each
of the above cases being T—H, or [ + 2@ + 2%, or 47>
+ f+ 4m, or the Semitone mediust of M. Overend,
whose nomenclature I have always followed and wished to
recommend others to adopt, for the sake of uniformity and
precision in treating on the Scale. The Interval between

bE&E, andbA& A t
a grd & HT, and 6th & VI i, Ms, Tessa cantons
Limma, (p. 8) being t—H, orl + @ + &, or 362 + f +
3m, and is the Semitone minor of Overend, &c.
The Interval between
jf »D&bE, E &bF, +G &bA, and «B &e
Lor II & ard, IIL & b4th, «V & 6th, & «VII & VILL Sf ?
Mr. L. calls a Diesis (p. 10), being 2H —t, or 29@ + =, or
gi= + 2m, and is the Enharmonic Diesis.
The Interval between
2C & BD, xE & F, xF & bG, xA &bB, and B&bC
| pel8eond wll 184th V8e 5th,» VILE 7th, SW ILLBe sth \ 2
Mr. L. calls a Grave Diesis (p. 10), being 2H —T, or @ or
102 + m, and is the Minor Comma,
The Interval between Ue eke, Se
or bath & «IIL, & 8th & *VIT fF ?
being T + t —3H, or 0 + 5, or 265 + f + 2m, is not
particularly named by Mr. L. that I observe ; it is the Chro-
matic Diesis of Dr. Callcott, and its ratio is $8394.00

7

* Thespecificatien and description, with a plate, of Mr. L.'s Patent Organ,
appeared imour xxxviith vol. p.328, and vol. xxxvili, p. 47.—EpiTor.
+ Not the semitone Minor, ot Limma, of my engraved Table of Intervals,
voli xxviii. Plave'V.
In

and his Essay for explaining its Principles and Use. 375

In like manner as the Minor and Major Intervals of the
Scale are at two unequal distances or intervals apart, as
mentioned above, the Sharpen’d Notes of Mr. L.’s Scale
are also at two different distances from their naturals*, in
different parts of the Scale, and so have flats two different
effects, on different notes, respectively : thus,

ist. The Interval between

aC & ex¥C,D & sD, «F & xx F, G & »G, andB& «B
coe &eI,IV&sIV V&V, RVI «VI f?
is t—H,ort +@+ 5, or362 + f + 3in,the Semitone
minor; and 2nd, between

C &«C, E & «KE, and A & «A 4 ,
ei & ad, HE & ell, & VI&RVIS?® T—H, or f +
2G + 2=, or 47= + f + 4m, the Semitone medius, both
of which kind of sharps, being on major Intervals, are
called Redundant intervals by Mr. L., and the word major
is omitted, as Redundant Second, Redundant Fourth, &c.
3rd. The Interval between
Td &bbDt, F& bF,bG & bbGF,bB & bbB,& Cb & bbCF }
or ond & b2. 4th & b4, 5th &b5, 7th & b7, & Sth & bs f ?
is t— H, the Semitone minor; and 4th, between
bE & bbEF, & bA & bbAT] . ;
i. ard & b3, & 6th & b6 , is T—H, the Semitone
medius, both of which kind of flats, being on minor Inter-
vals, are called Diminished Intervals, and the word minor
is omitted by Mr. L. in naming such, as Diminished
Second, Diminished Fourth, &c.

T must reserve a further account of this interesting volume
for another communication, only mentioning, that Messrs.
Fiights have very nearly finished a new Organ on Mr.
Liston’s construction, with bF and other additional Notes,
so as considerably to extend the Scale, and perfect more
Keys, than on the Organ made in Scotland, which Mr.
Liston exhibited last year, and which is still open daily for
ihe inspection and hearing of the lovers of Harmony, who
will not neglect, I hope, te treat themselves with examina-

* In all regularly Tempered Scales, there is but one value to Sharps, and
the same is also the value of the flats, throughout the scale, and it is called
Minor Limma (1); between these and the next adjoining notes are Majot
Limmas(L); and every regular Douzeave is composed of 7T + Slin each
octave, in an invariable order. —,

+ *&B, &c, or #Viland VII, *F aud ¥%F or lV and *IV, &c. do not
readily appear to be agreeable to Mr. L,’s principle of naming the Intervals,
on which account | have stated these intervals as above C, although bbb,
buG, bbC, bbE and bbA are not in his Scale. It is observable, that in double
Sharps and double Flats, one of such is t — H and the other i’ — H, so that
the value of each bb is the same, viz. the Redundant Limma of Nir. Liston,
=T+t—2H, = 2 + 36 + 32, or 832 + Qf + Tm.

tions

376 On the Geological Structure

tions of these very curious and Unique Instruments; and
hoping, that Mr. L. may receive ample remuneration for his
ingenuity and labours, in the Sale of his Work and his
Organs.
I remain sir,
Your obedient servant,

12, Upper Crown Street, Westminster, Joun Farey Sen.
16th May, 1812.

LVI. Notice respecting the Geological Structure of the Vi-
cinily of Dublin; with an Account of some rare Minerals
found in Ireland. By Wit.1aM Firton, Mf. D. Com-
municated by L. Horner, Esq. Secretary to the Geologi-
cal Society.

[Continued from p. 311.]

Tue following substances, with the exception of the last
two, have been found within the district to which the pre-
ceding observations relate.

1. Vesuvian—(Idocrase, Hatiy.) This mineral was observed
by Mr. Stephens, in specitmens found by me at Kilranelagh
in the county of Wicklow ; where it occurs in irregular cry-
stalline masses, in a rock composed cf common garnet of a
reddish brown colour, of quartz, for the most part greenish,
apparently from the admixture of a lameilar fossil of that
hue, and a small quantity of yellowish white felspar. The
dodecahedral figure of the garnet was very distinct in se-
veral of these specimens ; but the form of the Vesuvian was
not so well exhibited, some indistinct prisms only being
observatle; and in general, the crystalline shoots of the
latter mineral had assumed a diverging or stelliform arrange~
ment, an appearance which I have not observed in speci-
mens of this substance from other places; but their easy
fusibility, lustre, colour, and other characters, were suffi-
ciently decisive of their nature.

T could not discover the original situation of the com-
pound above mentioned at Kilranelagh; but the size, the
great weight, and angular form of the blocks consisting of
it, render it probable that they were not far removed from
their natural place: and the country in that neighbourhood
is composed of primitive substances, among which Garneé
rock is described hy mineralogists, as constituting beds.

It is remarkable, that a compound much resembling that
which T have now described, occurs also in the county of
Donegal; from whence specimens in the cabinet of the
Dublin Society, and that of Dublin College (No. 30), were

obtained.

of the Vicinity of Dublin. 377

obtained. The garnet and: vesuvian in these specimens are
scarcely to be distinguished from those of Kilranelagh ; and,
as at that place, are accompanied by quartz, often of a si-
milar greenish colour; with the addition however of blueish
grey granular limestone, and of a fibrous substance, not
improbably tremolite mixed with carbonate of lime. I
bars not seen any felspar in the specimens from Done-
gal *,

2. Grenatite—(Staurotide, Haiiy). This mineral was
detected by Mr. Stephens in a micaceous' compound of
which I found a specimen at the Glenmalur lead mines, in
the county of Wicklow: and I have reason to suppose,
that it is not very uncommon in the schistose rocks along
the south-eastern confines of the granite in that county.
The crystals from Glenmalur were small; but their colour,
form, and characteristic crossing, were very distinct, and
they were infusible before the blowpipe.

3. Beryl—(a variety of Emeraid, Hatiy).—This was
found by Mr. Stephens and myscif, imbedded in granite,
near Lough Bray, in the county of Wicklow. (Museum
of Dublin College, No. 39.) Mr. Weaver has discovered
it in blocks of granite, near Cronebane in the same coun‘y 5
and | have obtained specimens, probably belonging to the
same species, in the Dublin mountains, above Dundrum.

4. Andulusite—(Feldspath-apyre, Haiiy). This mineral
has been found by Mr. Stephens and myself, in very distinct
specimens, on the north-east side of Douce-mountain, in the
eounty of Wicklow ; apparently imbedded im the mica-slate
of which that mountain is composed, and accompanied by
quartz, mica, and a remarkable substance hereafter to be
mentioned. It differs from the Andalusite of Spain and of
Scotland, chiefly in possessing an inferior degree of hardness;
for although some specimens readily scratch glass, others
yield easily to the knife: but the Count de Bournon has
observed an equal variation in the hardness of specimeus of
this substance obtained by himself at Forezf ;-and I have
found that of the Scottish stone to vary very considerably.

This mineral seems to have been first taken notice of,
under the name of Wiirflicher- (cubic) Feldspath, by Kar-
stent; who took his description from specimens in the
Leskean cabinet, now in the possession of the Dublin So-
ciety (No. 907-b, &c.) : and by a comparison of these with

* This compound from Donegal has been described by Mr. Sowerby;
British Minesalogy, August 1810, p. 1393.

+ Journal de Physique, xxxiv. (1789), p. 45%

t Bergmannisches Journal, vol. ii. (1788), p, 809.

Vol. 39. No. 169. May 1812. * Bb some

378 On the Geological Structure

some of the specimens above mentioned from Douce, J have
ascertained the identity of Karsten’s mineral with Anda-
lusite. I have not found however, that his claim to the
first detection of this species has been mentioned by subse-
quent writers; although his opinion with respect to its
affinity with felspar, accords with that which Haiiy is dis-
posed from his latest observations to adopt: Tableau com-
paratif, &c. p. 217.

To the Andalusite is also to be referred, a mineral which
occurs in great abundance at Killiney in the county of
Dublin, first observed there by Dr. Blake, and for some
time considered as belonging to a species not described by
mineralogists: the schist at the southern extremity of the
Scalp, appears to contain the same substance, as well as
that next to be described; and it is found also near the
head of Glenmacanass. It is most remarkable on the shore
at Killiney, at the southern extremity of the cliff under the
obelisk hill, where it abounds on the surface of the mica-
slate, and also imbedded in the rock. Ina recent fracture,
it is imperfectly distinguishable from the mass of the stone;
but as it resists decomposition better than the other sub-
stances of which the aggregate is composed, it appears very
distinctly on the surfaces which have been long exposed to
the weather.

The Andalusite when thus brought to view, appears ge-
nerally in the form of embossed groups, consisting of slen~
der prismatic crystalline shoots, of a dull greyish black
colour, which are sometimes assembled in a stellated form,
but more frequently without any determinate arrangement :
these are commonly rounded at the edges from the effects
of decomposition, and in that case, several of their principal
characters are scarcely to be distinguished; but in the
pieces least affected by exposure, when attentively examined,
the crystalline form, colour, lustre, cleavage, and other
characters of this species, are sufficiently distinct.

5. The andalusite of Douce-mountain is accompanied,
as has been mentioned, by another mineral besides quartz
and mica; the characters of which have much affinity to
those of the zzdurated tale of Werner, and which is placed
under that denomination in the collection of Dublin Col-
lege (Nos. 495—6—7): a specimen of the same kind,
stated to be from Glendalogh, in the county of Wicklow,
was found also in that collection (No. 404); and a similar
substance was observed by Mr. Stephens at the southern
extremity of the Scalp.

The following are some of the characters exhibited by
the

of the Vicinity of Dublin. 379

the specimens from Douce, to which I have access at pre-
sent; these specimens however are uot very distinct, and
I give this imperfect description, only with a view to point
out this substance as deserving of further examination.—

Its colour is yellowish grey, approaching in various de-
grees to yellowish white : it is translucent in about
the same degree as wax.

The form under which it has principally occurred, is that
of four-sided prisms, nearly square, the length of which
is in some instances more than thrice their breadth,
without any visible acumination. The surfaces of these
prisms are uneven, and their angles ill defined. .

The fracture, transversely to the axis of the prisms is ir-
regularly curved-foliated, and splintery ; exhibiting nu-
merous scaly distinct concretions sometimes radiating
from the centre, the lustre of which is splendent and
pearly. In the direction of the axis, the fracture seems
to be uneven passing into splintery.

It is scratched by calcareous spar, and easily cut by the
knife; with a strong pressure it leaves a whitish trace
on glass, which it sometimes scratches, apparently by
the action of some harder particles dispersed through it.

The specific gravity of some of the purest pieces that I
could select was 2°888.

Before the blowpipe this substance appears to swell a
little, from the separation of its folia, on the first applica-
tion of the heat ; it becomes white, opake, and brittle, and
in small fragments gives, with some difficulty, a solid white
enamel,

In the specimens from Douce-mountain, the connection
of the mineral now described with andalusite, is very re=
markable; several of the prisms, which on the outer part
consist of the talc-like matter, containing within a nucleus
of andalusite, that in some instances fills nearly the whole
of the interior of the prism, but in others forms little more
than an axis, of an irregular figure and with rounded edges,
from which the folia of the investing matter appear to ra-
diate. The nature of the connection between these sub-
stances is still obscure; but the occurrence of tale in
genuine crystals of the figure above mentioned, has not -
hitherto been stated on any good authority; and it 1s not
altogether improbable, that the prismatic form assumed by
the substance now under consideration, may really be that
of andalusite ; the latter mineral having been wholly or
partially removed, and the talc-like matter moulded in its
place. ’

Bba2 6. Hol-

380 On the Geologtcal Structure

6. Hollowspar, Jameson—(Macle, Hauy). Very di-
stinct specimens of this mineral have been found by Mr.
Davy at Aghavanagh in the county of Wicklow; and I
have observed it at Baltinglass-hill, within afew miles of
that place.

From some passages among the papers of Mr. Stephens,
it appears that he had found reason to suppose that there
existed a connection between the species andalusite and
macle ; although the specimens which he had seen, were
not such as to enable him to decide on the precise nature.
of their relation to each other. The appearances of several
specimens of the latter mineral, which | have lately had an
opportunity of examining, tend to confirm this opinion ; and
even induce me to suspect that the crystalline part of that
curious substance, is in reality the same with andalusite.
In one of these especially, a very fine specimen of macle
from Britanny in the possession of Mr. L. Horner, that
part of the complex crystal, which is usually of a whitish or
yellowish hue, has in several places the reddish colour, as
well as the lamellar fracture, lustre, and other characters of
andalusite; and like that substance also, is infusible before
the blowpipe, becoming white and nearly opake: and it is
further remarkable, that in this specimen, as in those al-
ready mentioned from Douce-mountain, the crystalline
matter is in some places invested with a coating Of a talc-
like substance: which is the case likewise, although less
distinctly, with several of the specimens of andalusite that
I have seen, from other countries.

The following substances have been feund at places not
included within the district, to which the preceding part
of this paper relates: but they may perhaps be subjoined
without impropriety, as they have hitherto been rare, and
are in other respects deserving of notice.

7. Pitchstone. This mineral has been fourid in a vein
traversing granite, in the vicinity of Newry, in the county
of Down; where it presents the following characters, for
part of the description of which, I am indebted to Mr.
Jameson of Edinburgh :— >

Its colour is intermediate betwcen mountain and leck

green.

Tt is massive.

Fracture small and not very perfect conchoidal :

Internal lustre vitreous, and shining.

It exhibits lamellar distinct concretions : the plates being

from

of the Vicinity of Dublin. 381

from about one-fourth to one-tenth of an inch in
thickness, and further divisible into pieces of a rhom-
boidal form, of various angles.

The surface of the concretions is smooth, and strongly

glistening.

The mineral, in fragments, is slightly translucent on the

edges :

It scratches glass, but is easily scratched by quartz :

It is easily broken:

Specific gravity 2°29.

Before the blowpipe without addition it yields a greyish-
white frothy enamel.

It is in some places porphyritic ; containing imbedded
minute crystals of felspar and of quartz.

A letter from a very intelligent observer, who has ex-
amined this substance in its native place, states the fol-
lowing particulars respecting its position and geological
relations; viz. ‘The vein is first observable in the Town-
land of Newry, at the bottom of a bank of granite, about
half a mile from the northern end of the town, on the
right of the road leading to Downpatrick : it crosses the
road, and runs due westward, ending on the side of the
great road from Newry to Belfast. Its length, so far as
hitherto observed, is half a mile.”

“The rock, which is covered with mould to the depth |
of about a foot, consists of grey granite: the vein is about
two feet and a ‘half, or two and a quarter in width; at the
places of contact both the granite and pitchstone are dis-
integrated, the latter being almost as soft as clay, but be-
coming gradually harder as it approaches the centre of the
vein. ‘The structure of the vein is foliated, the folia being
perpendicular to the horizon, and also to the walls; and
besides these, there are seams that run longitudinally, pa-
rallel to the horizon, and nearly perpendicular to the folia.”

Although the substance above described presents some
peculiarity, in being divisible into rhomboidal fragments,
it approaches in this respect to the pitchstone of Arran
‘in lamellar coucretions ;’’ a variety considered by Mr.
Jameson as having hitherto occurred only in that island *,
and which holds, as it were, a middle place, between the
mineral from Newry and that possessing the more common
characters. The occurrence of pitchstone in geological
circumstances like those above mentioned, has hitherto
been very rare; but Mr. Jameson has described a vein of

* Jameson’s Mineralogy, vol, i. p. 261.

Bb3 it

$82 On the Geological Structure of the Vicinity of Dublin.

it which traverses granite, observed by himself in the island
of Arran *.

8. Waveilite. This remarkable mineral has recently
been found in the county of Cork, at Springhill, near
Tracton-abley, about ten miles south-eastward from the
city. The Rev. Mr. Hincks, of the Cork Institution, who
has been so kind as to send me some specimens of it from
that place, informs me that it was found very near the sur-
face, in digging the foundation of a cottage, in the neigh-
bourhood of a hill composed of /linty-slate ; and that he
has seen it adhering to a fragment of rock of that descrip~
tion: but it has occurred principally detached in the soil,
in the form of spherical nodules irregularly grouped toge-
ther, and of various sizes, the largest being about three-
fourths of an inch in diameter. These nodules are coated
externally with a yellowish-brown earthy crust, and within
are of a crystalline structure; resembling in their appear-
ance and properties the original Wavellite from Devonshire,
described by Mr. Davy, from which indeed, some of the
specimens from the county of Cork can scarcely be distin-
guished.

The most distinct and purest specimens of this mineral
from the Jast mentioned place, that I have seen, exhibit
the following characters, viz.—

The globules are formed of crystalline spicule radiating
froun a common centre; but the surfaces of these are
seldom perfectly plane, and their figure when separated
is not distinctly to be discerned. The extericr of the
nodules, is composed of the terminations of the cry-
stalline shoots, which are dihedral and obtuse-angled ;
the curvature of their surfaces, however, did not admit
of their being accurately measured.

The spicule are nearly transparent and without colour,
or of a very light shade of yellowish green. The lustre
of their surface is strongly splendent, and glassy, in-
clining to that of silk :

The cross fracture of the spicule seems to be flat con-
choidal, with a splendent Justre.

This substance scratches glass; but it is so easily broken
down as to render difficult the trial of its hardness.

The nodules are very easily divided in the direction of
the rays: the spicule are extremely brittle.

The specific gravity of a portion, which was very pure,
and about twenty grains in weight, was 2°34.

* Mineralogy of Scottish Isles, 4to, i. p. 81.
Before

A new Solution of two Fluxions proposed by Simpson. 383

Before the blow-pipe the spicula of this substance are
separated from each other, becommg white, opake, and fri-
able, without any mark of fusion. The flame by passing
over it acquires a slight tinge of green.

The nodules above mentioned are not unfrequently de-
composed throughout 5 having Jost their internal lustre and
hardness, and acquired a dull grey or brownish colour.
They sometimes, when in this state, contain numerous
small spongy cavities; and in some instances have been
found reduced altogether to the state of clay, apparently
from the effects of decomposition.

It would appear that the fluoric acid, of which Mr. Davy
has ascertained the presence in the Wavellite from Devon-
shire, exists also in that from Cork ; for glass 1s corroded,
by heating upon it, in a drop of sulphuric acid, a fragment
of the mineral from either of those places.

LVII. A new Solution of two Fluaions proposed by
Simpson. By James Anprew, LL.D.

To Mr. Tilloch.

SiR, Ix Simpson’s Fluxions, pages 100 and 101, of 2d
edition, there are two fluxions proposed, whose fluents are
I

' o2 2 wis
to be found, viz. Ist, pel Le and @dly, @—/% |? x
y

7
—5n

1 . . .
% , and these fluents are determined in the places
referred to by means of rules investigated in pages 95 and
98 of the same work. The fluent in the former example

2 a Sa te Tee ,
being g' + y'}? x 2y*—38* and in the latter case, —
15g* y?

Qn

3
a— fz"|* x (30a? + 24f%” + 16f%2 )
105na3 x" / |

As I never much relished the rules in question, as they
have a tendency to confound beginners, and are neither
useful nor necessary in the place where they have been
introduced, I trust the two following new solutions will
not prove unacceptable to some of the readers of your valu-
able Magazine, as being more practicabie in general, and
more easily understood than the methods and rules re-

ferred to. Iam, sir, your most obedient servant,
Addiscombe Place, 25d May 1812, James AnpREW, LL.D.

~ Bb4 1. Giyen

384 A new Solution of two Fluxiens proposed ty Simpson.

ee ee aes
1. Given the fluxion ee o ety) xy 9

to find its fluent.

Here g?+y?” x y y=eerty y yy =

gy t+ i) yo de

x%—1
StS Te 7 ae ee.
pe ey
and y Sa fee's
g ——$
—5 2x s—1 2x<2—2 ij
and — 4y a ~; = e 3
Pt % — 2%
andy y= ai
ey ee yy BO Bek
Therefore g7y—° 1)? yo j= 2? xX ere
u . 3 ‘ . 5 7 a.
a7Z—2°¢ qe a : gut — Sui 5° — 3a? 3
2g » and its fluent Is ike On Fe 158
Sy —2 ; ag r
a? x 5—32 | gid +1 x 5—3g%y —3 is
15g? na 15g 15g

Fe ee ae ae ae uel Koa = Se ae
y y 15g* y? Fide
was to be found.

I rs
; : \E —gn-1 . ‘ oe
2. Given the fluxion a — fx"l? x7 ? z, required its

_ fluent.

Here a — pel
a I

ae =F 2%

Put az" —f=y;

tole

Hee,
—in-—l. nig —Sn—1 —3n,
zt aea-fx xt 2 as

—3n—1,
%

then x” = yts,
a

3
also 272" = Mae

a

l

a

Royal Society. 385

ay ewe —sn-1 BY X YAS) _ SGA PAS
in fluxions, — 7% gr ee eT
Honk, AE IAS
and % s=— c7 aa 5
ae Es, ata eS vA
therefore, ax —/f Pi sa gr Wee a as Tae
Ee 5. iy as 3
is M 2y2 4 fy? 2 2 2
and its facnt ia) ESE we x
na na
aa 3 6 iS 3
30y°+84fy+70f? ax — fl" x 300 2?" 4. 240fe +16f
105 st 105na°
mn os
MOR an | a— fx 30a + 24afe"+ 16f 2"
~ 105na% 2 x Lapis = —

3
Te ioe 2 n 2 2n
eae) x 30a + 24afz 16f z ;
pI al es sa Ei which was to be
105na” 22” E
found. ; , F
Ji, axe

LVIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies.
ROYAL SOCIETY,

April 30. A LETTER to the President from Capt.Maun-
sell was read, describing the peculiar appearance of three
coronz or suns which he observed at Plymouth, some time
since. The author had often seen two coronz, but never
before three ; the rainbow colours which formed these solar
circles were in the inverse order in which they usually ap-
pear.

May 7. <A very long paper, communicated by Mr.
Brown of the Linnean Society, from Dr. Allman, on the
figures of the tubes and pores of plants, was read. Dr.
Allman having been led to investigate the cells and tubes
of plants during a course of botanical lectures, observed
that they might all be reduced to some regular geometrical
figure. He then proceeded to demonstrate mathematically
that the various tubes of plants necessarily assume octabe-
dral, dodecahedral, or other geometric figures, either sim-
ple or combined. In the conclusion of this paper, which
does not admit of analysis, Dr. A. acknowledged the merit
of the labours of Mirbel and Decandolle on this branch of

, vegetable

386 London Philosophical Society.

vegetable anatomy, although his own researches had com-
menced long prior to the appearance of their respective
works.

May 14. A letter from the indefatigable Mr. T. A.
Knight to the President was read, describing his experi-
ments on the tendrils of plants, and investigating the cause
of their apparently rational inclination to adjoining ob-
jects for support. Mr. Knight tried a number of creeping
plants in a green-house, and also the tendrils of vines; he
exposed them in various positions with respect to the sun
or light, and found that they all invariably receded from the
stronger light, and attached themselves to those objects in
the shade, or, if no other object presented itself, to the dark
side of their parent stems. Hence he was induced to con-
clude that the action of light on the tendrils contracted the
vessels on the sides exposed to it, and occasioned not only
the spiral convolutions, but also that tendency to fix on
obscured or shaded objects. On this principle he accounted
for all the curious instinct-like motions of young tendrils
in a manner purely mechanical, and positively denied them
aby sensitive or elective motion whatever.

The Society then adjourned over the holiday-week till
Thursday the 28th of May.

LONDON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

The meetings of this Society im April were chiefly oc-
cupied by an examination of Mr. Godwin’s assertion,
that Gratitude is no part of Virtue, and by a Lecture on
Vision.

The numerous speakers, andthe variety of ingenious
opinions delivered.and most ably supported on the former
interesting topic, exclude our attempting with any degree
of justice to present to our readers even a decision of the
question. However we may differ from the theories ad-
vanced by many firm supporters of this Society, we cannot
withhold our slight meed of praise for the zest of science
displayed by their ardour in canvassing their various hypo-
theses ; and at the same time feel fully impressed, that it
is by such candid and liberal investigations of the different
topics of Moral Philosophy, that we shall be able to dispel
the gloomy and oppressive mist of scepticism, and accelerate
our progress towards the meridian of perfection. ;

The Lecture on Vision was delivered by Mr. T. Petti-
grew, and of which we shall give a short account. He
began by observing, that prior to entering upon the physio:

; ogy

London Philosophical Society. 387

logy of an organ, it is necessary to consider its anatomy :
the lecture, therefore, commenced by a very accurate and
perspicuous description of the anatomy of the Eye, and
its adjacent parts. As he proceeded to demonstrate the
various parts of this most beautiful organ, he noticed the
appearance and peculiarities of them in different animals,
showing their adaptation to the elements in which they
exist.

Having explained the anatomy, Mr. P. proceeded to elu-
cidate the action of the eye by physical experiments, and,
after examining the nature of light and colours, applied it
to the subject of vision. Here he enlarged on the power
of the eye, by which it adjusts itself to the distinct per-
ception of objects; and having noticed the opinions of
Kepler, Le Cat, Des Cartes, Young, Pemberton, and some
others, from the lately discovered muscle, by Mr. Campion,
in an eagle, which is attached to the sclerotica, capable of
producing the change in the focal distance, inferred that
something analogous might exist in the human species,
which would perform the three changes suggested by Mr.
Ramsden and Mr. Home, viz. a motion of the crystalline
Jens—an elongation of the axis of vision—and an increase
of curvature in the cornea.

From this subject the learned author proceeded to con-
sider the theory of Hartley, on the manner in which the
rays of light in falling upon the bottom of the eye excite
vibrations in the tunica retina, which he seemed much dis-
posed to coincide with;—the myoptic and presbvoptic
states of the eye, with their remedies ;—and the manner in
which the optic image is reverted. After examining the
different suggestions on this latter important subject, he
determined the theory of Mr. A. Walker, of Edinburgh,
to be the most rational and deserving of attention. We
shall close this article by submitting a few extracts from
Mr, W.’s work, selected by the lecturer *.

Mr. W. supposes * the eye to be acted on by light pre-
cisely as some kinds of the reflecting telescope, which, after °
receiving the image inverted upon its interior lens, reflects
and reverses it upon its exterior Jens, and permits it to be
seen in its natural situation. In the same way, the interior
part of the retina, having received the image inverted, re-
flects, reverses, and presents it in its natural position upon
its anterior part.”

‘‘ The anatomical fact, that, at the posterior part of the

* See Archives of Universal Science, vol. ii. April 1809, p. 162. —
retina,

388 London Philosophical Society.

retina, its arachnoid, pulpy or most sensible lamina is co-
vered on the side which is toward the vitreous humour by
a more consistent, vascular, and less sensible portion, while
the anterior part is exquisitely delicate and fine, tends to
confirm this theory. It receives also additional confirma-
tion from the circumstance, that the transparent retina thus
laid over the black pigmentum, and more especially over
the tapitum, exclusively occupying this part in some of the
inferior animals, must form the most perfect reflector.”

** Thus doubtless it is that that portion receives no im-
pression from the image, and that the anterior extremity
of the nerve, which is in all cases the most sensible, is
alone impressed by a natural and correct picture of the ex-
ternal object, and transmits it to the sensorium.”

“* The physiological fact also, that the anterior part of
the retina cannot be impressed even by a single direct ray
from without,—and that, unless it receive the image re-
flected, reverted, and in its natural position from the
posterior part, as I have described, it must be apparently
useless,—is almost a decided confirmation of the theory
I have suggested.” i

*¢ A confirmation of this theory, however, still more de-
cisive than these, yet remains. It appears that posterior-
ly the retina is entirely insensible where the optic nerve
enters, as at that part we have no sense of vision.”

*« Consistently-with the theory just delivered,” Mr. W.
concludes, ‘* that we have from this circumstance a de-
cided proof that the posterior part of the retina is utterly
insensible, since, at the entrance of the nerve where it
exists In the greatest quantity, it can be demonstrated to
be so; and, that vision is wanting at this spot precisely
because, where the nerve enters, there is no choroides to
reflect the rays to the sensible interior portion.”

Thus he conceives the optic image is reverted. It af-
forded us much pleasure to bear it intimated, that com-
parative vision will form the subject of another paper, as
' probably an attentive examination of this organ in the more
simple (if we may be allowed the term) anima!s may throw
some light on so interesting and important a branch of

Physiology.

May. — Mr. Clarkson has this month delivered two
Lectures on Physiognomy. His object in giving them was
to define accurately the expressions of Physiognomical Cha-
racter, and to prove that they formed, if accurately studied,

a species of universal character; thus paving the way a
the

¥

London Philosophical Society. 389

the future progress he intends to pursue, in analysing the
Hieroglyphical and investigating the Philosophical Lan-
guage,

He began by remarking the rapid conquest which the
theory bad made over incredulity since the time of Lava-
ter; and stated it as a proof of its general soundness, that
it should not only be tacitly assented to by the learned, but
be received as an axiom (which had really been the case)
into ordinary journals and newspapers.

Mr. Clarkson conceived that Lavater had not reduced
physiognomy to a science by induction and logical analysis,
and this was the great desideratum for which he had under-
taken the subject. The basis on which he founded his su-
perstructure was, that we judge of every thing in the world,
of animals, vegetables, and minerals, by superficial appear-
ances. This superficial judgement is therefore as correct,
with regard to man, as any other part of matter of which
he forms a portion. -But it does not involve the conse-
quence, that human nature may read as in a volume, from
the index of the face, the past or future history of an in-
dividual subject. Undoubtedly, Mr. C. observed, an un-
erring physiognomical judgement must be an attainment of
long and laborious initiation ; for, if every individual of all
those numerous multitudes who have by turns possessed the
globe differed in external characteristics, the shades of dif-
ference must be minute in the extreme for infinite variety
to be written on so small a tablet as the human face :—still,
if the infinite variety of characters in the Chinese or Hie-
roglyphical languages could be faithfully distinguished,
those of the face are equally capable of distinction ;—they
are more so, because the roots of these characters, viz. the
Passions, are known to all men :—the modifications of
these roots, therefore, are all that remain to be understood.

Mr. C. then entered into a distinction between Pathogno-
my and Physiognomy. The first he defined to be passion
in action, the latter in quiescence. The former was ac-
knowledged by all, the latter denied by few ; but if it could
be proved that certain lineaments were the provinces of cer-
tain emotions and passions, an immoveable fulcrum was
obtained on which to rest the physiognomical lever,—be-
cause nothing remained but to prove that the admitted ac-
tion left traces proportionable to the power exerted. After
having demonstrated the former point from paintings and
from plates of the passions, he proceeded to prove the lat-
ter by syllogism as well as by experience. For if the nerves

‘and

390 London Philosophical Society.

and muscles, which are the media of internal action, be ma-
terial, they must be subject to all the effects of material ac-
tion, to tenuosity, to rigidity, to expansion, to contraction 3
and the traces left upon them will be more or less strong
in proportion as the action is more or less vehement, more
or less reiterated. He next exhibited instances from paint-
ing, in which the milder passions and qualities might remain
stamped upon a face in quiescence, such as benevolence,
love, courage, and sorrow; and obser ved, that if this
point was granted with regard to all the passions, more was
granted, generally speaking, than what physiognomy de-
mands ; because it was not to be supposed, that a man who
was struck with sudden panics repeatedly would by any re-
petition retain the haggard gaping look of Fear, or that a
being who expressed his pride or his contempt with the
most demoniacal extension of muscle, would retain that
expression in all its disfiguring dimensions in a state of qui-
escence. Physiognomy did not require such a concession :
she merely demanded assent to this simple proposition,
That if positive lineaments in a state of rest approach the
form which they assume in action, the more or less will
the individual who possessed them be characteristically
stamped with a propensity to such feelings and to such
sensations.

Mr. C, then proceeded to mark out the provinces of the
triple existence of man upon his face, agreeing with Lava-
ter in assigning the forehead to intellect ; the cheeks, the
nose, and the lips; to moral or sentimental; and the chin and
throat to animal existence ; but differing with him in consi-
dering the harmony of this triple existence, that is, its co-
equal diffusion over every portion of the frame as the corner-
stone of Physiognomy. For what is gained, he asked,
when the fact is admitted, that the finger of one man will
not harmonize with the ‘hatid of another, or the nose of
one individual will not congenialize with his neighbour’s
features? The old objection of the Antiphysiognomist
will immediately recur: ‘IT grant the individuality of all
human forms, but ! doubt the connexion of internal orga-
nization with that individuality.” The argument, there-
fore, merely goes to prove, that there is as great a diffe-
rence between the mental as between the personal charac-
ters of mankind, and not that the mental is influenced of
necessity by the personal, Indeed, if it were necessary to
prove this harmony, the argument of Lavater was superero-

gatory; because any one “who frequents a theatre, or a
. masquerade,

London Philosophical Society. 391

masquerade, is aware that the substitution of an eyebrow,
or a false nose, will baffle personal recognition as strongly
as if the face was disfigured by a mask.

To prove the proposition that the three existences of man
had their distinct provinces of the face, Mr. C. observed,
that with regard to intellect, the mere fact that the fore-
head was the superficial boundary of the brain, that is, the
visible boundary, (for with the invisible, as far as regarded
physiognomical practice, there was no necessity to inter-
fere,) substantiated the deduction if the preceding pre-
mises were true, which regards it as the tablet and mirror of
intellect. Experience was the best argument, that sensi-
tive or moral existence acted on that portion of the face
which occupies from the brows to the mouth ; and no one
could doubt the fact who had ever seen the eyes lighted up
by love or dimmed by sorrow ; that had ever beheld the
cheeks irradiated by joy, flushed by hope, dimpled by be-
nevolence, or excavated by envy, jealousy, or ambition.
Animal life, the lowest species of existence, next drew the
attention of the learned Lecturer, and this, by demonstra-
tion as well as by experience, would be found to reside in
the lower part of the human face occupying from the mouth
to the throat. That this was a fact, he said, independently
of other evidence; Anatomy, at once the nurse and sister
of Physiognomy, loudly and strongly attests ;—she attests,
that those portions of the frame in which animal strength
resides, are concatenated with the muscles that move the
arm and chin;—she demonstrates, and Pathognomy co-
gently pourtrays the demonstration, that in vast exertions
of animal power the under jaw is firmly knitted to the up-
per: that in all cases of bodily debility, or mental apathy,
the under jaw drops and depends ;—she points to the well-
known influence of old age, in still further augmenting the
visibility of this depending characteristic ; and she appeals
to Death itself, whether the total laxity of the under jaw
be not its most positive and most undeniable symptom.

After making some remarks on the impracticability of
the theory of Gall as applied to living beings, inasmuch as
the organs by that Professor are diffused over the whole
surface of the scull, the Lecturer proceeded to define the
gradated differences between intellect and inanity, observ-
ing that, if his foregoing premises were true, the diffe-
rence between the ratiocinative faculties of brutes and men
should be marked in the boldest delineation on the foreheads
of the different species. The difference, in short, con-

sisted in this, that man has a forehead slightly inclining
from

392 London Philosophical Society.

from the perpendicular, and the brute either possesses no
forehead at all, a most decisive mark of inanity, or presents
it to view in a line nearly horizontal or parallel with the
earth. Hence, then, a deficiency of forehead is analogous
to a deficiency of intellect; and from this proposition re-
sults another of still greater importance, that the nearer
the forehead of brutes approaches the line described by that
of man, the greater must be their characteristics of sagaci-
ty, of memory, of sensibility ; and this is instanced in the
elephant, the dog, and the monkey. The approximation
or deviation, therefore, affords a scale perfectly unembar-
rassed for the physiognomist.—The main result of the
whole argument was this : that a receding forehead, that is,
when compared with the usual perpendicularity of human
foreheads, implies a defective gradation of intellect ; and,
when the line so receding passes a certain point, involves
a necessary incapacity in the individual.

It must not be supposed, however, continued the Lec-
turer, that a rectilinear forehead affords the only real stand-
ard of perfection. Where there are internal organs origi-
nally active, there must be prominences and curves. The
greater the curve, the greater will be the power; and the
more distinct and clear the external delineation, the more
singleness of internal energy in the metaphysical faculties
of the brain. Hence, then, a concavity of forehead betrays
a greater want of intellect than a perpendicularity, and the
latter than a convexity, that is, under certain modifications
and restrictions. He was aware that the Greek statues of
the gods exhibited a forehead distinguished by a perpendi-
cularity of outline continued throughout the whole extent
of the nose: but even this fact, though apparently hostile,
was in reality coincident with this theory ; for the Greeks
aimed at conferring a calm intellectual self-absorption on
their deities, as well as a privation from debasing passions.
Instead, therefore, of prominences, which are the stamps of
effort, they selected right.lines, and they produced by that
selection the anticipated effect.

Mr. C. concluded his first Lecture by exhibiting a scale
of the gradation of intellect, from the horizontal line of
forehead peculiar to the Jowest brutes, to the perpendicular
line of the Greek ideal: by this it appeared, that the Eu-
ropean forehead retrogressed from the ideal ten degrees, the
Asiatic (a fact pregnant with moral conclusions) about fif-
teen, the Negro twenty, the Peruvian twenty-five, the Ou-
rang-outang thirty-five. He alluded to the argument of
Negro-nonprogression, drawn chiefly from the forehae

that

London Philosophical Society. 393

that race ; and after mentioning his desire of appropriating

_a single lecture to the defence of their progressive powers,

observed, that the exhibition of the physiognomical scale,
he then produced, decided against the epposite theorists in
a striking degree,—for the Peruvian was now below the Ne-
rro in the physiognomica! indication of mental powers; and
it was a notorious fact, that the Peruvians were rapidly ad-
vancing up the great ladder of civilization, from the lowest
degree of the scale in which savage existence mingles with
that of brutes at the period of Pizarro’s invasion*. The
line af the forehead, therefore, did not prevent improve-
ment, but accompany degradation.

In his second Lecture Mr. C. proceeded, from an analy-
sis of intellect in the abstract, to an analysis of intellect m
the detail ; observing, that if the intellect have various di-
stinct metaphysical powers, such as memory, perception,
imagination, and judgement, the organs of the brain, which
are the media of their action, must correspond with them,
not only in their distinct existence, but in their distinct
position: otherwise, the connexion between brain and
intellect would not be positive, but partial. He then pro-
ceeded to a learned metaphysical analysis of Perception,
stating it to bea faculty peculiar to childhood ; and con-
cluding, that it was necessary to express some proof of its
existence on the forehead of the child. After stating the
striking difference between the projecting curve of the -
child’s forehead and the retiring line of the adult, he ob-
served, that the convex of the former was repressed by a
horizontal sinus or indenture, as the faculties developed
themselves, and that the consequence of this indenture
was the formation of an arch above the brows, which in-
creases as the lower arch recedes. From hence he concluded,
that the upper or retiring portion of: the forehead was the
province of perception, and the lower or advancing portion
the territory of the reflecting energies maturing or con-
firmed. He next remarked, as collateral testimony, the
projecting rotundity of forebead evident in the faces of

‘idiots, which Lavater’ has already observed. ‘This proved

them the creatures of mere sensation ; and immaturity of
intellect always accompanied the external sign.—He then
adverted to a more pleasing collateral testimony. It had
been allowed, he said, by most philosophers, that women
were superior to men in the perceptive faculties, though

* We believe that the- practice of the Peruvians with their infants, of
placing the head between boards, firmly confined, to mould them agree-
ably to their ideas of b.auty, materially influences the line of direction.

Vol, 39. No. 169. May 1812. Cc inferior

394 London Philosophical Society.

inferior in the reflective ; that they acquired frequently by
a glance of thought, what men acquired by elaborate and
slow research. After detailing the benefit which might re-
sult from the refinement of this instinctive felicity of rea-
soning, he inquired, whether it could he traced in the ex-
ternal lineaments? Nothing could be more satisfactory
than the answer, for the female forehead uniformly differs
from that of man; and the difference consists in this, that
in the forehead of man there is a strong indenture indica-
tive of application: in woman there is none. The former
is rectilinear, the latter curvilinear,—but curvilinear with-
out being projecting. In the former there are protuberances
and broken Jines: im the latter the beautiful unbroken arch,
not only of the profile but of the eyebrows, demonstrates
the superiority of the perceptive faculty, chastened more or
Jess as it advances or recedes.

Imagination, the next division of the intellect, the learned
Lecturer stated, was a modification of perception and me-
mory. It must, therefore, be sought for in the upper arch
of the forehead.—Gall had placed wit in the two angles of
that upper part, and wit was the effect of imagination. It
had been before observed, that a retreating line was pecu-
liar to ardency of thought ;—a straight Jine to judgement ;—
a projecting line to immaturity of idea. When, therefore, the
curve peculiar to perception was felicitously mingled with the
slightly retiring line peculiar to production of ideas, there
was the character of Imagination, and such was the fore-
head of most females; and when the lower arch of the
forehead indicated a commutual expansion of the organs of
memory and judgement, there was the censtitutiona! ideal
of a poetical construction.

It follows, therefore, that the lower arch of the forehead
(the protuberance of which is as remarkable in the Greek
ideal as in the real busts of great men) must be the seat of
memory and judgement. Indeed, Gall and Lavater not
only both concur in this proposition, but afford a clue to
discover the distinct position of these two organs. Lavater
has remarked, that he never observed any one with project-
ing eyebrows who was not a calculating and enterprising
genius ; and that a perpendicular indenture of the fore-
head above the nose, was equally indicative of acuteness
and discrimination. Professor Gall, though he has con-
founded the organs of memory and judgement, concurs
singularly with Lavater; for he places the organ of calcu-
lation, which depends evidently on memory, at the ex-
tremity of the eyebrows; and the organ of nee

j relative

Wernerian Natural Histo#y Society. 395

relative to places and things, which is nearly allied to the
faculty of judgement, on either side of the perpendicular
indenture of the forehead. So much for anatomical coin-
cidence. Experience is equally convincing. For the fore-
head of all eminent men is strikingly marked with the
sinus described, among which none ate more remarkable
than Sterne, Johnson, and St. Evremond. Besides, it is
certain, in all application or study in-which the judgement
1S principally concerned, there is a contraction of the
brows, and the consequence of that contraction will .be to
deepen the indenture.

The Lecturer then proceeded to an ingenious expo-
sition of the different forms of the eyebrows, stating
them to be strong hieroglyphs of the mental charac-
ter, and exhibiting drawings of them under different
gradations, from the eleyated stare of astonishment to the
arched eurve of wit; the irregularly depressed line of
sorrow and debility, or the more regular depression of in-
tense application. A scale therefore of gradations might
be formed, and the knowledge of man as an intellectual
being reduced to science.

[To be continued.]

WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY*.

At a meeting of this society, on the 22d of February, a
communication from the Rev. Mr. Fleming of Flisk was
read, describing the mineralogical appearances which occur
on the north bank of the Frith of Tay, from Dundee up to
Kingoodie quarry. The rocks are claystone, claystone
porphyry, felspar .porphyry, greenstone, sandstone, and
amygdaloid. The sandstone occurs in bason-shaped ca-
vities in the porpbyry, and contains subordinate beds of
greenstone; but he deferred giving any decided opinion
concerning the geognostic relations of these rocks ull he
should examine the south shore of the Frith of Tay.

At the same meeting, the Secretary read a communica-
tion from Mr. Macgregor, Surgeon to the 25th regiment, giv-
ing an account of the mineralogy of the district around the
town of Lanark, particularly at the celebrated falls of Cora
Lin and Stonebyres. Near the former, porphyry-slate and
felspar-porphyry occur. At the latter, the waters are
poured over beds of fine-grained sandstone, which, in de-
scending, gradually becomes coarser in texture, till-it passes
into a conglomerate, consisting of masses of quartz, jas-

* This report was omitted in last number by mistake. -

Cc2 per,

396 Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh.

per, splintery hornstone, flinty-slate, and clay-slate. Near
‘etham Bridge, the traces of a coal deposition, and a por-
tion of a coal-field make their appearance ; many alternat-
ing beds of sandstone, bituminous shale and clay ironstone
occurring along with thin beds of slate-coal and cannel-
coal. Mr. Macgregor stated it to he bis opinion, that the
sandstone exposed on the banks of the Clyde and of the
Mouse river near Lanark, helongs to one and the same
formation ; and that the Mouse has gradually scooped out
the present channel, in the same way as the Clyde is sup-
‘posed to have done, and that there are here no marks of
any vio‘ent convulsion of nature, as some have imagined.

An extract of a letter from Lieutenant Huey of the 73d
regiment was also read, mentioning the circumstance of
a large marine animal, supposed to be about 30 feet long,
and shaped like a snake, having been observed from a ship
in lat. 38° 13’ S. and long. 5° E,

ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY, EDINBURGH.

All Members of this Society are invited to write an Ex-
perimental Essay on the following subject :

* To determine by experiment, what substances are ex-
haled by the skin; and the changes, if any, which they
produce on the surrounding air.”

The dissertations are to be written in English, Latin, or
French, and are to be delivered to the Secretary on or be-
fore the Ist of December 1813, (being the vear succeeding
that in which the subject is proposed.) The adjudication
will take place in the Jast weck of February following.

To each dissertation shall be prefixed a motto, and this
motto is to be written on the outside of a sealed packet,
containing the name and address of the authors. No dis-
sertation will be received with the author’s name affixed;
and all dissertations, except the successful one, will be re-
turned, if desired, with the sealed packet unopened.

KIRWANIAN SOCIETY OF DUBLIN.

April 1.—The reading of a long paper by M. Donovan,
Esq., member of the Kirwanian Society, entitled ** Ob-
servations on the Inadequacy of the Hypotheses, at present
received, to explain the Phanomena of Electricity,” was
commenced.

After a statement of Dr. Franklin’s doctrines, Mr. Do-
novan referred them to five general and ‘ultimate proposi-
tions. He conceived that the elasticity attributed to the
electric fluid was assumed on insufficient grounds, ‘and

‘brought

Kirwanian Society of Dublin. 397

brought forward an experiment in which bodies similarly
electrified attracted instead of repelling each other. He
then argued in opposition to Dr. Franklin’s opinions con-
cerning the existence, equal distribution, and relative pro-
portion of electricity in bodies ; he showed that the train
of phenomena depending on attraction and repulsion are
not explained by this hypothesis; and that the reasonings
on the subject are contradictory to facts, and against them~-
selves.

April 15 the reading was continued.—Mr. Donovan con-
ceived that the impermeability of glass, as assumed by Dr.
Franklin, was incompatible with some of the Doctor’s own
principles ; and, if impermeahility were proved, that the
fact would offer insurmountable obstacles to the admission of
the remaining principles of the hypothesis. He also produced
an experiment which seemed decisively to prove that glass
is permeable. He then proceeded, at some length, on the
doctrine of plus and minus, and made an experiment to
prove that Leyden phials when fully charged do not indi-
cate the states of electricity usually attributed to them: he
showed that when a phial is supposed to contain an excess,
it will manifest unequivocal indications of a diminution on
the same surface; aud noticed a variety of other pheno-
mena contradictory to the hypothesis. He concluded his
observations on Franklin’s hypothesis, by making some
remarks on its insufficiency to explain excitation. ~

May 13. The reading was continued.—The next hypo-
thesis which came under examination was that of Ecles,
which has been generally attributed to Symmer and Dr.
Priestley. After stating the hypothesis, he proceeded to ex-
amine its principles. Some observations were first made
on the improbability of the existence of two distinct fluids.
The author then proceeded to show, that even allowing the
properties assumed as belonging to these fluids, yet still the
phenomena of attraction and repulsion are not explained ;
and that some consequences fairly deduced from the hy-
pothesis are conttadicted hy well-known facts. He made
some remarks on Ecles’s objections to the permeability of
glass as maintained by Dr. Franklin, and showed that these
objections were invalid. He further observed, that strong
objections to some parts of the hypothesis arise out of allow-
ing permeability to glass. It was next shown that on these
principles, the Leyden phial, in the operation called charg-
ing, shonld have even its natural quantity diminished to
ove half, far trom having one of its powers doubled as is
supposed in the hypothesis. He concluded his objections

Cc3 to

3908 Kirwanian Society of Dublin.

to Ecles’s doctrines with observing, that the great princi-
ple upon which the whole is founded is demonstrably false.

At the same meeting a paper, by Dr. Ogilby, (one of the
vice-presidents,) ‘* On a Formation of Porphyry which oc-
curs in the counties of Antrim and Down,” was read. The
paper was accompanied by a collection of specimens, illus-
trative of the series from the older to the newer beds of this
formation. After some general remarks upon the porphy-
ries of the Wernerian Geognosy, which have been confined
to the class of primitive rocks, it was stated as probable,
in consequence of Professor Jameson having recently dis-
covered transition and fleetz porphyries in Scotland, that
still more extended observation might develop a series from
the oldest or primitive porphyries of Werner, through the
transition and floetz observed by Jameson, to others of still
later formation, or approaching nearer to the oldest alluvial
products. A considerable extent of country between the
small towns of Doagh and Kells, in the county of Antrim,
called Sandy Braes, and which had been first noticed (though
never described) by the late celebrated Dr. Mitchell, consists
of porphyritic rocks. Dr. Ogilby has since observed a con-
siderable detached portion, which he considers of the same
formation, near the town of Newton Glens, on the N@
coast, and has also found traces of it near the towns of
Broughshane and Templepatrick, and at Killymorris in the
same county; and, from the specimens deposited in the
Dublin Society’s Museum, it would also appear to occur
near Hillsbro’, in the county Down.

After some remarks upon the general appearances of the
hills composed of these rocks, which are low, irregular and
obtusely conical in their form, the series of minerals was
described in the following order, commencing with the
lowest or oldest member he could discover of the series.
1. Porphyritic clay-stone, the basis of which passes on the
one side into clay of little induration; and on the other
into compact felspar, and rarely, a mineral. approaching
in its characters to red jasper. 2. Felspar porphyry.
3. Porphyry with. a basis of compact felspar and finely
disseminated hornblende, which may be called Greenstone
Porphyry. Some specimens of this rock showed a strong
tendency ta the porphyry slate of Werner. 4. Pilchstone
and pearlstone porphyry, in some of the specimens of which
the passage of pearlstone into pitchstone was very distinct.

A transition of the pitchstone into hornstone porphyry
was also observable. ‘The semi and common opal of dif-
ferent shades of yellow, and apparently of cotemporaneous

; . formation

Kirwanian Society of Dublin. 399

formation with the containing rock, occur not unfrequently.
It bas not been fully ascertained whether the pitchstone
and pearlstone porphyries occur in beds or veins, but the
furmer appears the more probable. The top of Cairnairney-
hill at Sandy Braes, and of Courtmartin, Tiveraw, aud the
Knockins at Newton Glens, Dr. O. considers as the newer
beds or deposits which remain, of this formation. A re-
mark which appears to merit attention, was made respecting
the quartz and felspar crystals which occur in these por-
phyries. The felspar in particular has considerable lustre,
hardness, and regularity, aud may be considered as the
glassy subspecies of Werner, in the newer beds of this for-
mation as at the top of Cairnairney, while these characters
in general diminish the nearer we approach to what are
considered the mechanical deposits, or the older beds of the
series. The paper concluded with some theoretical remarks
relative to the geognostic situation and mode of formation
of porphyry. Jf the trap rocks of Antrim belong, as is
coramonly supposed, to the newest floetz formation of
Werner’s arrangement, it will then follow that this por-
phyry is newer than any hitherto observed by Professor
Jameson, and will probably hold a place in the system un-
der the name of the Newest Flceetz Porphyry. The answer
to Mr. Jameson’s query respecting the peaflstone of Sandy
Braes will be then obvious.

At the fourth meeting held on the goth, Dr. Ogilby
submitted to the Society some remarks upon Mr. Davy’s
late proposal of rejecting the oxymuriate of lime from the
process of bleaching, and substituting the oxymuriate of
magnesia, and he presented the results of several experi-
ments upon this subject.

After some observations upon Mr. Davy’s notion that
the residual muriate of lime, which remains in solution
after the usual process of steeping in the oxymuriate, pos-
sessed a caustic property and destroyed the fibres of the
cloth, it was argued that the singular mode of reasoning
on’ the assertion made use of by Mr. Davy, “ that if a
strong solution of muriate of lime rendered the cloth un-
sound, a weak one ought to be proportionally detrimental,”
could not be for a moment attended to by the bleacher,
without rejecting every article essential to his process, as
potash, sulphuric acid, &c. which in their concentrated
state will dissolve or burn the cloth. Notwithstanding,
however, that Mr. Davy had been guided in making his
new proposal by views of the subject altogether erroneous,
the action of muriate of lune on linen cloth was deemed

Cc4 worthy

400 Imperial Institute of France.

worthy of trial, and accordingly cuttings of full bleached
Jinen were steeped i in solutions of the neutral salt, of different
degrees of strength, some of them nearly saturated; and
after continuing the process with fresh solutions for four
times, each twenty- -four hours, in every experiment, and
at the end comparmg the linen with some of the same
which had not been steeped, it was found perfectly sound,
and not perceptibly reduced in the texture. Tt was there-
fore stated as probable, that if accidents ever occur in the
process it must be owing to disengaged wuriatic acid, or
to negligence in washing the cloth after the operation of
steeping.

The assertion of Mr, Davy that the oxymuriate of mag-
nesia has superseded the use of that of lime, in. Ireland,
was contradicted. Not a single bleacher in the country
uses it; for, if eligible even, it 1s not within his reach, mag-
nesia being Qs. or 3s. per pound. It appears from the arti-
cle Bleaching, i im the Edinburgh Cyclopedia, that the oxy-
muriate of magnesia las been employed. by the calico
printers of Scotland, in the process of clearing, for some
time back. Mr. Davy is not mentioned as the proposer of
it in that article.

IMPERIAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE.
[Continued from p. 244.]

The author adds the following reflections which are com-
pletely independent of the theory of probabilities, on which
he founded the preceding reasoning.

The system of elements which most reduces the errors
will certainly be the most probable, if all the observations
be equally accurate: but if there are two systems of ele-
ments, one of which represents, in the best manner, a cer-
tain number of observations, and the other of which best
agrees with other observations, then-we fall again into per-
plexity and uncertainty, and we may propose innumerable
systems for leaseming the errors: we may insteadrof the
small squares propose small equal powers of any given Or-
der, but the squares are always ibe most simple—the other
powers would Jead us into endless calculations. If the ex-
ponent pair of powers is infinite, we recur to the method
which demands that the extreme errors shall be minima.

He finds that the principle of Boscovich returns to the
method in which it might be proposed to satisfy rigorously
a number of equations equal to that of the unknown quan-
tities, and in which we should only consider all the rest as

so many proofs to enable us to judge of the precision
which

Imperial Institute of France. 401

which we may flatter ourselves we have obtained—adding,
as a second condition, that if the sum of the errors, taken
with their natural sign, be reduced to zero, we cannot obtain
more accurate results than by a number of equations of a
less unity than that of the unknown quantities.

To conclude, M. Gauss states that the principle of the
small squares which he has made use of since the year 1795,
was published by M. Legendre in 1805 in his Memoir upon
Comets.

From this declaration a new question arises. In speaking
of the above method, both authors use the expression of
mon principe des moindres carrés. ‘Yo whem belongs the
merit of this principle which M.Gauss made use of 16
years ago, and which M. Legendre seems to have become
acquainted with so recenily? The answer is very simple.
It is impossible that M. Legendre can be under any obliga-
tions on this point to M. Gauss, who had not published
any thing: we are convinced that M. Gauss had discovered
the theorem, but it is equally clear that M. Legendre not
only discovered it for himself, but was the first to make it
public.

Finally, we may remark that M. Laplace, although he

has in no shape laid claim to the honour of the discovery,
has at least directly demonstrated and clearly developed, by
an analysis peculiar to himself, a truth which was scarcely
suspected; namely, that the corrections furnished by the
methods of the small squares are the most precise which
can possibly be procured. We shall add, for the benefit of
those who are familiarised to astronomical calculation, and
who use the processes of transendent geometry, that it is
sufficient to follow attentively the course and mechanism of
the numerical calculation of M. Legendre, in order. to be
thoroughly convinced that his method has all the advan-
tages which M. La Place’s analysis ascribes to it. To con-
clude: as the results obtained are only the most probable,
the calculator ought not to dispense with ulterior proofs.
These cannot be obtained except by a rigorous calcula-
tion made upon the elements corrected and compared di-
rectly with all the observations. In fact, the equations
upon which he wrote, are only approximations, since thev
‘are linear ; and it is not impossible that this revision will
furnish him, for his elements, with slight modifications,
which, without carrying him far from the results of the
small squares, will give still more precision to his Tables.

[To be continued.]

LIX. Jn-

[ 402 ]
LIX. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles.

Ds. Bucuan has recently published a work with the fol-
lowing title: ‘* Bionomia ; or, Opinions on Life and Health.”
This small work is intended as the precursor of a Course
of Lectures on the Philosophy of sentient Beings. It
abounds with sensible observations on vitality, or the prin-
ciples of life,—a subject which the author regrets has been
neglected by the moderns. He adds, the study of inert
matter has supplanted that of animal life. Chemistry and
mineralogy are almost the sole objects of attention.

The Russian counsellor Bradsky has obtained a reward
from his sovereign for a method of vaccinating sheep. He
dissolves the virus in water, and steeps in it a piece of
thread, which is afterwards drawn through the extremity
of the ear, and left hanging like an ear-ring. At the ex-
piration of a few days, the inoculated sheep has the same
symptoms as a child who has been vaccinated, The most
favourable time for this operation is the month of September.

Theatre of Anatomy, Blenheim Street, Great Marlbo-
rough Street.—The Summer Course of Lectures on Ana-
tomy, Physiology, and Surgery, will be commenced on
Saturday, the 6th of June, at Seyen o’clock in the Morn-
ing, by Mr. Brookes.

Anatomical Converzationes will be held weekly, when
the different subjects treated of will be discussed familiarly,
and the Students’ views forwarded.—To these none but
Pupils can be admitted.

Spacious apartments thoroughly ventilated, and replete
with every convenience, are open from Five o’clock in the
Morning for the purpose of dissecting and injecting, where
Mr. Brookes attends to direct the Students, and demon-
strates the various parts as they appear on dissection.

The inconveniences usually attending anatomical investi-
gations, are counteracted by an antiseptic process.

St. George's Hospital and George Street, Hanover Square.
Medical and Chemical Lectures. —On Monday, June 1, as
usual, the Courses on Physic will recommence at Eight’
o‘clock in the Morning, and the Chemical at a Quarter
after Nine. By George Pearson, M.D. F.R.S. Senior
Physician to St. Gcorge’s Hospital, of the College of Phy-
sicians, &c. &e.

Clinical Lectures on the Patients in St. George’s Hos-
pital are given eyery Saturday Morning at Nine o’clock.

Dr.

List of Patents for new Inventions. 403

Dr. Squire's Lectures.—Dr. Squire will on Saturday,
June 6, begin a Course of Lectures on the Principles and
Practice of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women and
Children. Particulars may be known by inquiry at the
Doctor’s house, 30, Ely Place, Holborn.

LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS.
To Francis Purden, of the city of Litchfield, sadler, for

his improved horse boot, for the preservation of sound and
the restoration of contracted hoofs.—27th Feb. 1812.

To Joseph C. Dyer, of Boston, State of Massachusetts,
one of the United States, now residing in Gray’s Inn, Lon-
don, merchant, in consequence of a communication made
to him by a certain foreigner residing abroad, for an in-
vention of certain machinery for cutting and heading of
nails from strips or plates made of iron, copper, or any other
metal capable of being rolled into plates.—4th March.

To Samuel Bentham, of Hampstead, in the county of
Middlesex, civil architect, and engineer of the navy, for his
new mode of excluding the water of the sea, of rivers or
of lakes, temporarily during the execution of under-water-
works of masonry or other materials, or permanently for
the security of foundations, applicable for example to the
construction of sea walls, wharfs, piers, docks, and bridges.
—5th March.

To Charles Augustus Schamalcalder, of the Strand, ma-
thematical instrument-maker, for certain improvements in
mathematical instruments.—5th March.

To Felton Mathew, of Goswell Street, merchant, for
certain improvements in the manufacturing of yeast. —5th

“March.

To Archibald Earl of Dundonald, for his method of pre-
paring and manufacturing alkaline salts from vegetables the
growth of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
Jand.—14th March.

To John Loach, of Birmingham, brass founder, for his
improvement in the method of manufacturing claw, socket,
and other kinds of castors, and also knobs and furniture for
locks. —14th March. ’

To Sarah Guppy, wife of Samuel Guppy, of the city of
Bristol], merchant, for certain improvements in tea and cof-
fee urns.— 14th March,

To William Henry Hart, of New York, one of the
United States of America, now residing in London, gent.
in consequence of a communication from a foreigner re-

siding

404 List of Patents for new Inventions.

siding abroad, for a new method or machine for cutting,
cropping, or shearing woollen and other cloths, and the fur
from peltry. —24th March.

To William Francis Snowden, of Oxford Street, in the
county of Middlesex, engine- Saker, for his mangle on an
improved construction.—-28th March.

To James Lawrence Darke, of Baldwin Court, Cloak
Lane, in the city of London, merchant, for his method of
preparing the various sorts ae isinglass, such as book leaf,
long staple, and short staple, and “also cake isinglass from
river and marine fish.—sth April.

To William Whitfield, of Birmingham, in the county of
Warwick, steel-yard- maker, for his one-side compound
lever steel-yard.—1i5th April.

To John Ashley, of Homerton, in the county of Middle-
sex, plumber, for his horizontal and vertical moying
roaster.—15th April.

To John Leigh Bradbury, of the city of Gloucester,
gentleman, and * Charles Weaver, of the same city, pin-
manufacturer, for their machine for heading pins.—15th
Apni.

To Charles Fly Blunt, of Prujean Square, Old Bailey, in
the city of London, engineer-draftsman, for his certain im-
proved arrangements of machinery for the improvement of
ships’ tire- bearths, and an extension of the same to other
useful purposes.—2Ist April.

To Graham Chappell, of Arnold, in the county of Not-
tingham, gent., for a lamp on a pew construction, and a
new method of using oil and wick theremm.—2sth April.

To Josepb Manton, of Davies Street, Hanover Square,
in the county of Middlesex, gun- “maker, for improvements
in guns and pistols. —30th ‘April.

To Edward Massey, of Cross Heath near Newcastle-
under-Lime, in the county of Stafford, nautical instrument-
maker, for certain improvements in the construction of
chronometers.—30th April.

To John Thomas Thompson, of Long Acre, in the county
Middlesex, camp equipage-maker, for certain improvements
in the making of iron bedsteads and testers of every de-
scription. —30th April.

To Thomas Francis Dollman, of the parish of St. James’s,
in the city and liberty of WW eeteninstet. in the county of
Middlesex, hatter, for his elastic round hat, made out of
beaver, silk, or other materials.— 5th May,

To George Smart, of Ordnance Wharf, Westminster
Bridge, i the county of Surry, timber- merebane: for his

improved

Ser

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton. 405

improved method of preparing timber, whereby the same is
prevented from shrinking.—5th May.

To Bassett Burrows, of Birmingham, in the county of
Warwick, hatter, for his method of manufacturing water-
proof hats.—5th May.

To Henry Higginson, of Wilson Street, in the parish of
St. Luke, and county of Middlesex, esq., (in consequence
of a communication made to him by a certain foreigner
residing abroad), for anew method or meihods of pro-
pelling boats or vessels with the aid of steam or any other
power.—gih May.

Fo Col. Wm. Congreve, of Cecil Street, in the county
of Middlesex, for his iniproved system of gun and car-
ronade carriages.—11th May.

To Henry Errington, of the city of Bath, schoolmaster,

_ for an instrument called the ‘* Navigator’s Sector,”’ by which

any person is enabled to ascertain the difference of latitude,
departure from the, meridian, and distance sailed, with the
course; also to solve any problem, geometrically, that may
be required to show the angles, Bypothenuse, perpengi-
cular, and base.—14th May.

To Edward Shorter, of Baron’s Buildings, Blackfriars
Road, in the county of Surrey, engineer, for various
improvements in the ‘construction of tunnels and subter-
raneous passages. —19th May.

To Jeremiah Dimmock, of Moor Croft iron-works in the
parish of Bilston, in the county of Stafford, manufacturer of
iron, for his new method of manufacturing iron—26th May.

—

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton in Hackney,
from April 21, to May 20, 1812.

April 21.—Clear with cumuli and some cumulostratus.

April 22.—N. Cold wind, clear sky; then came cumuli
sailing along, while flimsy cirri appeared higher: some cu-
mulostratus afterwards obscured the sky at times.

April 23.—N. Clear; cumuli sailed over from the north ;
above them in a higher air appeared now and then a veil of
cirrus passing over slower in the same direction, and as-

suming more or less of the fibrous texture, and here and

there breaking out into cirrocumulus of little stelliform nw-
bicule ; afterwards cumulostratus and light nimli. Clear
night ; drops of rain fell when there was no apparent cloud

about seven o’clock. .
April 24.—N. Clear early ; cumulostratus and afterwards
nimbi pouring snow and sleet passed over with the vise
u

406 Meteorological Ol servations

In the afternoon large masses of cloud of cirroeumulative
kind indicated warmer air, and we had a warmer and gentle
shower at night.

April 25.—Clouds in two altitudes ; much cumulostratu
followed by rain, the wind shifting to the S.W.

April 26.—S.W. Rainy morning; in the evening cirro-
stratus stretched along in dense fibres, while rugged cumuli
appeared in a Jower air.

April 27.—S. Cloudy, with long and gentle showers of
rain; temperature increasing,

April 28.—S. Rainy morning ; in the evening it held up,
and the moon appeared,

April 29.—Cold east wind again, and overcast sky.

Pe 30.—S.E. Cloudy and rainy, it held up at inter-
vals.

May 1.—Fair day ; clouds in two strata.

May 2.—E. Cloudy sky, and a cold wind in the morn-
ing ; fine evening ; light cirros¢ratus stretched along, little
loose cumult float slowly under.

May 3.—Suan out at times; light nzmdz about noon ;
fine clear evening; a partial white stratus creeping on the
ground in the marshes and neighbouring fields ; scattered
features of cirrocumulus ; a golden sunset.

May 4.—S—N. Clear morning, afterwards a few clouds.

May 5.—S—S.E. Clear, and a few lofty plumose cir7z ;
and afterwards cwmulostratus obscured the sky; fair night.

May 6.—E. Dry wind ; sky pretty clear with cawmud2.

May 7.—E. Dry wind, and strong in the afternoon and
night: few clouds, loose, ill-defined cirrocumuli, and cirro-
stratus lower.

May 8.—S. Much warmer than hitherto: the maximum *
of the thermometer 75° in the shade. Early, the upper
masses of cloud showed a tendency to cirrocumulus ; those
lower increased into cumulostratus ; the afternoon became
clear with light features of cirrocumulus, &c.

May 9.—S.S.W. Very warm; cirrus scattered on high,
with cirrocumulus, and haze; afterwards cumuli sailed un-
der ; cumulostratus formed and obscured the sky ; the wind
rose, got more westward, and a shower fell about five
o'clock.

May 10.—Clouded sky, with a breeze from W.S.W.
and occasional showers.

May 11.—W.S.W. Clouded early, then fair, with cu-
muti in different heights ; the lower ones well-defined.

May 12.—W. Early light confused cirrose and cirro=
cumulative clouds aboye cumuli; afterwards curries eas :

the

made at Clapton. 407

the sky seemed veiled with irregular folds of this cloud :
rain in showers came on by five o’clock P.M.

May 13.—W. Fine early; clouds in two strata; rain
with hail and thunder shower in the day ; fine evening again.

May 14.—W.S.W. Fine clear morning; afterwards
clouds in two strata obscured the sky with a haziness be-
low. Petroid cumulostratus, &c. appeared, and showers came
on, but-the evening became fine.

May 15.—Fine veil of cirrus spread on high, while a
sheet of partly cérrostratus and cirrocumulus appeared lower ;
partial detached cirrostrati also were seen; rain came on,
and continued gently falling almosi the whole day. After
sunset a fine crimson blush appeared just above the occi-
dental horizon.

May 16.—N. Fair day; early appeared cirrus breaking
out into cirrocumulus, while cirrostratus also appeared
lower, and cumuli still nearer the earth. Towards evening
cumulostratus obscured the sky.

May 17.—N. Cold north wind and cloudy; small rain
in the evening.

May 18.—Rain early, afterwards fine and warmer; the
sky however was pale coloured, and cirr? were scattered
about above cirrostrati; a sort of loose flimsy beds of cirro-
cumulus, and lastly cumult.

May 19.—S. Cloudy morning ; cumulostratus followed
by storms with thunder and lightning in the evening. The
lightning continued all night; but the thunder, which began
here about eight o’clock, ended before ten *,

May 20.— The different modifications appeared with
occasional nimbification. Fine evening, with beautiful
petroid cumulostrati. Lightning by night.

Clapton, May 21, 1812. Tuomas Forster.

¥ The storms of thunder commenced much sooner at Walthamstow than
they were heard at Clapton. ‘This would induce a belief that the storms
were low in the atmosphere. At Epping, ten miles to the north-east, the
thunder began and ended about the same time as at Hackney. From the
accounts which I have often received of the time of the occurrence of storms
in different parts of the country, I have been induced to thmk that fre-
quently asimultaneous production of them took place in very distant masses
of atmosphere. This can only be ascertained by noting down accurately
the precise-pericd of their commencement and time of their duration in
different places. A circumstance to which I wish to call the attention of
meteorologists. :

METEORO-

408

Devs of

ny

3

Month. Ss)
2

ao

April 21} 42
22} 40
23| 37
24| 40
25) 40

Meteorology.

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,
By Mr. Cary, OF THE STRAND,
For May 1812.

} Thermometer.

s ou
8 | Oop
a °F,
54°} 35°
5Q | 35
48 | 40
49 | 39
47 | 42
48 | 4]
48 | 47
49 | 48
50 | 47
54 | 47
55 | 46
54 45
54 | 45
56 | 46
60 | 48
60 | 45
55 | 49
71 | 60
70 | 56
63 a5
62 | 54
58 | 53
58 | 51
a7, | 00
56 | 46
56 | 46
52 | 46
52 | 46
65 | 55
67 | 57
57 | 49,
59 44
52 | 49
56 | 50
62 | 57
73 | 62

Height of
the Barom,
Inches.

—_— !
oe —

“98
30°16
*25
sal el
29°88

ater tte
ge
2D E Weather,
ea} {
Ast
46 |Fair
40 (Cloudy
47 |Fair
56 Fair
24 |Showery
10 Showery
oO |Rain
O {Rain
29 iCloudy
32 |Cloudy
46 {Fair
44 |Fair
26 (Showery
61 \|Pair
53 |Fair
46 |Fair
42 |Cloudy
70 = (|Fair
66 (Fair
36 |Showery
30 Stormy
15 'Showery
27 =|Showery
20 |Thunder,showers
29 |Showery
48 (|PFair
(0) pes
OQ |Rain
42 {Thunder in the
40 Cloudy Evening
0 {Rain eatiiile
46 |Cloudy vivid
50 {Cloudy Lightning
36 |Cloudy
o {Rain
72 «\Fair

N.B. The Barometer’s height is taken at one o'clock.

[ 409 ]

LX. Some Account of the Methods of laying the Founda-
tions of Bridges, &c. By the Author of ** Some Account
of the different Theories of Arches,” &c. in the Philoso-
phical Magazine for December 1811.

Tue practice of laying the foundations of bridges in deep
water, generally adopted by the aneients and moderns, has
been to lay the piers dry, either by turning the water into
a new course temporarily, or by the erection of a coffer-
dam round the site of the pier; so continuous, as to pre-
vent the water interfering with the works after it had been
once pumped out*. They have also practised another
method somewhat more ingenious. The emperor Claudius
practised it in erecting the port of Ostia ; Draguet Reys,
in erecting the mosque in the sea at Constantinople; and
Sir Samuel Bentham is said lately to have introduced it in-
to this Country, in the construction of some works at Sheer-
ness. A strong grating of wood-work covered with plank-
ing at once forms a floating raft, and the floor upon which
the stone pier is to be erected: the pier is composed of
stones well secured together and rendered by cement water-
tight: the whole body is made to float upon the water
until it has advanced in height, so, that if it were sunk it
should be above low-water mark, or higher, as might be
found expedient: this levity is obtained either by the
assistance of vessels to which the raft is attached by ropes 5
or by the pier being worked up with sufficient vacuities to
render it specifically lighter than an equal bulk of water:
the pier is then sunk either by letting the water into the
vacuities, or by loosening the ropes (as the case may be),
the bed of the river being previously prepared by machines
of the description of ballast-heavers that it may ground
level: should the pier not ground level it is raised by
pumping out the water from the vacuities, or by means of
machinery in the vessels, and the operation is performed
until it grounds to the satisfaction of the architect.

Mr. Labelye in the erection of Westminster bridge, pro-
bably conceiving that he had improved upon this latter
method, erected the piers of that structure in caissons ot
water-tight boxes; the bulk of the box producing a mass,

* A cofferdam is a double inclosure of timber consisting of piles driven
vlose together, and strengthened at intervals by larger piles and horizontal
pieces: the space between the inclosures is filled with bricks and sand, or
other materials, to serve the double purpose of giving weight to the dam,
and excluding the water; and is an increased expense of about one-third
of that of erecting the piers.

Vol, 39. No. 170. June 1812. Dd though

410 On the Methods of laying

though loaded with the pier, specifically lighter than an
equal bulk of water. After each pier was erected, the sides
of the box served again for the boxes of the other piers:
the pier was sunk and raised after the same manner as be-
fore described ; there are not any piles under the piers of
Westminster bridge; and only one of the foundations was
found incapable of supporting its charge. Mr. Mylne, in
the erection of Blacktriars bridge, adopted the same method
as Mr. Labelye did at Westminster bridge in regard to the
caissons : but he piled’the foundations, and by a machine
cut the piles off level with the ‘bed of the river. In con-
templating the conspicuous irregularities in the latter bridge,
much advantage does not appear to have been gained by
this extra expense, admitting the natural foundations to
have been the same, which it is understood was the fact.

The practice adopted in the middle ages, probably from
the time of St. Benezet the shepherd of Avignon, in the
twelfth century, the first superior of the order of hospi-
tallers called Pontifices, as at the bridges of Avignon, St.
Esprit, Lyons, London, York, Newcastle, Kochester, &c,
until modern times, was to drive piles in the bottom of the
river in the site of the intended pier, and then to cut them
off a little below low water: the interstices were then
filled with stone and strong cement; upon the piles they
laid a grating of timber boarded with thick boarding, which
was the floor to receive the pier; the workmen taking ad-
vantage of the times of low water until the pier had risen
to the level of high-water mark: ihis method is of the
purest simplicity, nor does it require the aid of any ma-
chinery beyond a pile engine. The foundation of the
piers of London bridge, as appeared from the pier which
was taken down when the two small arches were converted
info one, was formed of a quadruple row of piles driven
close together on the exterior of the site of the pier, form-
ing a case to receive the stone and cement: it was not as-
certained whether there were piles in the heart of the pier;
for as soon as the exterior piles were taken out, the great
force of the water cleared away the remainder, which was
driven down the river.

With a view to protect the piers of London bridge, there
have been constructed round them what are called starlings:
a starling’is an inclosure of piles driven close together into
the bed of the river, and tied together and secured by hori-
zontal pieces of timber, and the space within them is filled
with chalk, gravel and stone, so as to form a defence to the
internal piles upon which the stone piers are erected, ;

t

the Foundations of Bridges, ec. 4ll

Tt has been very improperly stated, that starlings are ne-
cessary to defend the piers when constructed after the man-
ner last described: on the contrarv, the use of starlings is
not to defend piers of any particular construction ; they
have been used generally, when, by the plan of the bridges
too little waterway has been left; and are a very defective,
extravagant and absurd remedy; tending to increase the evil
the effects of which they are meant to oppose. The fol-
lowing table exhibits the proportion of the waterways at
the three bridges in London.

AreaoftheRiver. Solids. Waterway.

London Bridge ..» 19,586 11,581 8,005
Westminster ditto 19,010 | 4,242 14,768
Blackfriars .; ditto 19,083 4,001 15,082

Hence it appears that three-fifths of the water at London
bridge is dammed up: the consequence has been, that the
river at this part, by the increased velocity of the water, has
had increased action on the bed, and it has been deepened
14 feet below its general surface, and the piers have been
and are always subject to be undermined ; while at the
other bridges, where the waterway is: duly proportioned to
the quantity of the water, the bed of the river has remained
stationary, and starlings or any other expedient have not
been necessary to protect their piers. . . :

It is manifest, upon whatever principle of construction
the piers of London bridge might have been built, with
the same proportion of solids to waterway, starlings, of
some other means haying a similar effect, must have been
resorted to; and it may be inferred that, had the same pro-
portion of waterway to solids been preserved, as in the
other two bridges in London, there would have been in-
herent in it the same probability of duration; nor would
there-bave been any more occasion to haye recourse to
starlings. eda

The method practised by the builders in the middle ages
has got into great disrepute, from the prejudice in those
times in favour of arcs of circles for the forms of their
arches; and they were unable, or wanted courage, to erect
arches of a great span, with a small versed sine: where
the heights of the banks of rivers have permitted them to
use an are of acircle with an elevated versed sine for the
form of the arch, they have exceeded both the ancients and
moderns in the length of the chord.

The piers of their bridges were generally numerous, and
their arches small, rendering an easy ascent to the passen-
ger; an oyer anxiety for security induced them to make

Dde2 each

412 On the Methods of laying

each pier wider than necessary: this surplusage, when
multiplied, became as great an evil as that which it was
intended to prevent. There is sufficient evidence to show,
that timber always kept under water is imperishable, and
that piles, if they are not undermined by an improper
action on the bed of the river, have a stability superior to
that of masonry; inasmuch as the masonry cannot have
that connexion with the part buried in the soil, by which
the stability of a structure subject to lateral pressure is in
some measure obtained: it is true that the weight of ma-
sonry may be a substitute for the want of connexion: but
that weight is obtained to a piled foundation after the
manner of our ancestors by the stone-work with which
they stuffed the interstices between the piles. It will be
said that the piles are exposed to the corroding effects of
friction from the passage of the water and the traffic: this
is an old argument advanced periodically by the mason,
and is best answered by those instances where this effect
has been prevented by means not less simple than easy :
it is an evil to which stone is equally liable, and it requires
similar precautions.

There is an advantage in tidal rivers attached to the
methods of the emperor Claudius and St. Benezet, which
does not belong to the methods, by turning the water, by
cofferdams and by caissons ; namely, each pier and founda-
tion, previously to the imposition of the arch, may be tried
by loading it with a greater weight than the intended su-
perstructure: a vessel of such a burthen may be floated
over the site of the pier at high water, and left to rest on
it when the water has ebbed. é

In the first and second childhood of architecture, the
same means are resorted to, to effect the works of art:
tyranny in the one case, and wealth in the other, generally
produce the same ends: in both states, great and solid
‘works are produced, and the easy mode of obtaining them
through a lavish expense of materials and labour naturally
supersedes others which require’ less means and more talent
and judgement : to these qualities in the middle state, when
materials and labour are less at the command of the pro-
jector, there is a necessity of applying.

The method of laying piers of bridges dry by means of
cofferdams was the method of early times, and is the mé-
thod in practice at present. It is well adapted to a period
when the labour and fortune of the subject are the uncon-
ditional property of the ruler, when means may be wanted

to absorb the overflowing plunder of conquest, to pane
the

the Foundations of Bridges, &&c. 413

the exertions of individuals in the employment of capital
turned from its proper course, or to stem the torrent of
improvident speculations by conspicuous objects of abor-
tion. i

London is not yet sufficiently wealthy for any projector,
however venturous, seriously to propose the method of
turning the course of the river Thames, in order to Jay the
foundation of a bridge. However great may be the com-
merce of the country, it has not been as profitable as the
conquests of a Trajan: but the time may come, after
having had recourse to the cofferdam, when his example of
turning the Danube may be imitated in respect to the
Thames. The emperor Claudius, although he was an idiot,
seems to have been*a very able architect : he erected per-
haps the most magnificent temple, namely the Temple of
Peace, left by the Romans: certainly there are in that struc-
ture the most scientific examples of vaulting remaining of
ancient architecture. He also invented, or approved the
invention by which the foundation of the port of Ostia was
laid: whether he understood the art of making stone walls
swim, remains in doubt. The invention of caissons or
wooden boxes belongs to an age when botb iron and stone
had been made to float, and when that knowledge would
seem to point out that caissons are altogether uSeless: at
least the emperor Claudius would have discovered, after he
had made stone piers syim by means of ropes, that there
would not be any occasion for boxes of wood, when the
pier itself by having some vacuities in it could be made to
answer the sane purpose,

It is due to’ those whose public virtue leads them to
adorn the metropolis, and add to the advantages which
so eminently belong to it, that their labours, disinterested
as those labours must be where there has not been any ra-
tional hope of profit, should be attended with as little ex-
pense as possible: with that view the attention of your
readers has been called to the different modes by which the
foundations of the piers of bridges have been laid ; that they
may determine, according to the abilities which they may
employ, whether they should adopt the expensive methods
by turning the water into a new: course, or by cofferdams,—
methods of certain success under the management of or-
dinary abilities,—or whether they shall adopt the cheap
methods of the emperor Claudius or St. Benezet, which re-
‘quire somewhat more talent and judgement.

Ddz LXI. Furthez

f 44 j

LXI. Further Remarks on the Rev. Mr. Liston’s “Essay
on perfeit Intonation :’? and his Scale with 59 Notes in
the Octave; and on other Scales (perfect and tempered)
for 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, and 24 Notes in the
Octave respectively, (ce. By Mr. Jounn Farry Senior.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Srr, Ix my last communication, respecting Mr. Liston’s
_Euharmonic Organs at Flight’s in St. Martin’s Lane, twa
errors have escaped correction in p. 375, viz. line 9 from
the bottom of the note, for 7T read 7L, and line 2 from
bottom, after each, insert, xx and.

It is perhaps not generally understood, that the Douzeave
or Scale of 12 notes, wherein the intervals above C are all
diatonic, major and minor, has no sharpened notes, but all
of the five interposed or chromatic notes, are flats (as I
used to denote them, in my early papers in your Magazine),
thus: ,

a. er eee Se, Ae OW ENE POE. AAR
Ry Db Eb oe Ge GA A Bp ae

& S*S a* $ §- 5 S°s 8' S'S
eee a eee ae AS ea ee

Bay eck hea ao ka C4 IE ag

The first af the above lines, marks the Intervals major
and minor; the second, the letters or notes; the third,
‘placed intermediary, show thé interyals between the adja-
cent notes to be of three different values, viz. the major
Semitone S, the medius Semitone &, and the minor Semi-
tone 4°, the octave consisting af 7S 4+ 325 + 23; and
wherein it is easy, to count up any other intervals inS, S
and ¢ (which may be called the Chromatic Elements) ;
thus, 2S + & + 9 is the Major Third, and 4S + 25 +
S the Fifth, &c. The fourth line shows the ratios of the
above Iftervals in this chromatic scale; and the fifth
shows by the lett«rs L and 1], placed intermediary, the major
and minor Limmas, of a regularly tempered scale; in
which it will be perceived, that in three instances the | or
‘flat is substituted for “>, and in two instances for 9.
Though the five flats would seem to indicate D, as the

t

i
* For the convenience of printing, ! have taken the liberty of substituting

the old English capital () for the $ with curved points for the Semi-

tone medius = 47% + f + 4min our Sth plage in vol. xxviii and was so

written jn the copy; and the old English small (# ) for the scrip capital S

a the Semitone minor = 362 + f + 3m in the Table, and inthe copy.—~
DITOR.

Key

On Douzxeaves, or Musical Scales with twelve Notes. 415

Key major, in this case, yet it will appear, on counting up
from D, that many of the intervals are false above that note,
in this arrangement of the Douzeave.

Mr. Liston denominates that the original Scale (p. 28),
which the twelve finger-keys give on his Organ, without
the use of any pedal, viz.

I ee Wa ae pee amy I View? all Vee

CC: D f° FF “Fs “G.Ge ABB c
Be SR ar So eg Sa eS | coe! oS
i $ + + = + 4 3

l Bee 1 Rel: ee) kes ales ah dpy hg gl

Wherein, when compared with the last Scale, we have,
instead of the minor Second jn the first line, the redundant
Unjson ; instead of the 5th we have the IV, and instead of
the minor sixth the Redundant Fifth, or Diesis-defective
minor Sixth. The second line shows, that three sharps
and two flats occur in this original scale. The third shows
the intervals between the several half notes, as they are
yulgarly called, in. Chromatic Elements, where 7S + 39
+ 2\=VIII, as betore; the fourth shows the ratios; and
the fifth, the order of the two tempered douzeave Elements
Land! mentioned jn the note p. 375, and where 7L +
5] = VIII, as before.

The following Tables, will show the consonances that
can be taken érue, in the Douzeaves last mentioned,. either
Perfect or Tempered, and the Wolves or false notes which
eat for the want of additional notes, beyond the num-

er 12.

me: ges Be main nk
a Sp Ags rp aed

A TABLE OF TRUE CONSONANCES.

.

» & © Hi
a Ee
Re Reeularl Bas Regular)
Bs : Perfect. Terinerre | 2 5 Perfect. Pecuecdi
AS | As
oO | 5
aI] S 1] V4S+eSe4 31 4L+43]
2| 8 LE lfaV 48405425) 4L441
Il) S+ g — 6 5S+25+ 2|5L+3!
Il} S+ 5 L+ 1] VI [5S --2% +23] 5L+4!

3 \2S+ eL+ | 7 6S+ &+3°|——
IIT |\2S4+ S4+45)eL+4 al 7 \6S+25+2 | 6L+41
(4138+ S+\/sL + 2 V1li6S+35+2 |6L+4+5l
IV /3S425-+9|3L+ 31 8 179425 +25|7L+41
5 \4S+ S+s4L+ el | Vill 7$+-35+23| 7L+5)

Dd4 A TABLE

416 Scales of the Temple and Foundling- Hospital Organs.

A TABLE OF WOLVES, OR RESULTING TEMPERED

CONSONANCES.
Douzeave
Conso- Bass and Treble Notes. i
nances,
2 |CCx, EbE, FFs, GGx, and BbB . 1
II |Cx Eb. afta Se FD ads a «nizhs bain cide ere ate
$8 |Eb Fx, FGs, and Bb cx ......a0-ce: L+2l
IILiCx F, Fx bb, Gsc, and Beb ........| 3L 4+ 1
ee A eo Pee 2L +31
5 ICFx, DGx, EbA, FB, Gex, and Beb} 3L +31
Iv ICxG, EBb, Fxc, GH, Aeb, and BF | 4L+ 21
V Geb WE Meet fee renege io eS Lae ee
6 ICGx, EbB, Fex, and Bots oo emee ce 4b an
VIIC=Be, Faeb) Geb 2 Ok 28)... eee ot
7 IRbcK, and Buel 2, ee a ee
VII |Cxc, Eeb, Fxf, Gre, and : Bbb . | 7L + 4)

In the above Tables, where two consonances are linked
together, only one of these can be tuned or taken on a
douzeave Instrument, and they are only inserted here, for
explaining the effects of different modes of tuning these
notes, which so frequently require to be changed, in the
taking of chords and in modulating. The 2nds in the first
line in the last Table, are not in reality Wolves, because |
is the proper value of a sharp or a flat, in Tempered Sy-
stems, but are inserted to show, that they differ from L the
minor Second,

The Quatorzeave Scale of 14 Notes, on the Inner Tem-
ple Organ, effected by two divided finger- -keys, is as fol-

Jows; viz.

C Cx D DeEb E F Fe G GeAb A Bb Bc
S S§ st ¢« 8 'S*S°S 6 % gs S e558
ape as aR RE a ee a ie: ee
Here the Octave in perfect Intervals, consists of 55 +

35 + 45 + 2, as in the second line, and since g +2 =S,

this is equivalent to 7S + 32° 4+ 23, as in the doligeave

scale above. In the third line the elements of a regularly

Tempered Scale on this Instrument are shown, the octave

consisting of 5L + 71+ 2d; and since the minor Limma

+ Tam sorry to be obliged to substitute the small Greek epsilon (¢ (<) for
the scrip capital E, used for the Enharmonic Diesis 212 + 2m in the Table,
Plate V in vol. xxviii. and in the copy.—Ep1r,. F

an

y

~ On the Scales of Christchurch and Russel’s Organs. 417

and Diesis make the major Limma in all such scales, or
1+d=L; wehave 7L+5I=VIII, as in the douzeave above. -

The Siexave Scale of 16 Notes, on the Foundling Hos-
pital Organ, effected by moving a stop sideways by the
hand, is as follows; viz.

C CxDb D Dx Eb E FFxG Gx Ab A AxBb Be
SeSs3 -s8S$eS8et8D@e95S85
Pepi 1) ote NB ds a, Goad 0 SB, ed
Here the Octave in perfect Intervals, consists of 4S +

A> +4354 92+ 9G; andsincee 5 +@=Sands+:2=S,

this equation reduces to 78 +3 + 28, as before. The

regularly Tempered Octave in this case, consists of 3L +-
gl + 4d; and since |] + d=L, this becomes 7L + 5] =

VIII, as above.

The Diaseptave Scale of 17 Notest, on the Christchurch
Organ, in Surry Road, erected by Mr. Thomas Elliot, in
May, 1812, under Mr. Hawke’s Patent, effected by two
Pedals; or, on the Piano Fortes now exhibiting by Mr.
Bill, at No. 75, in Newman-street, is as follows, viz.

C Cx Db D Dx Eb E F FxGb G GxAb A AxBb Be
SeS8-« $SSeQD82-53 SESS

ed Ad Aedge Td OOTP ad oe TB

Here the Octave in perfect Intervals, consists of 2S +
65+ 45 + 2¢+ 3@; and which, since 35 = 35 + 3g,
and 2S = 23 + 2%, becomes 78 + 35 + 28, as before.
The regularly Tempered Intervals here are, 2L + 10] + 5d
in the Octave ; which, since 5L= 5] + 5d, becomes 7L. +
5] as before. :

The. Dixneufave Scale of 19 Notes, on an Organ which
Mr. Russell senior, made about the year 1780 (see Dr.
Kemp’s Musical Magazine, vol. i. p. 170 and !88,and Mr,
J. Marsh’s Theory vf Harmonics, p. 18), is as follows, viz.

C CxDb D DxEb E ExF FxGb G GxAb A AxBb Bob c
Se@e5>3 -§ -@S5eHU3 « $5@5E9
Oe ee de eee ed) Td Ak ad
Here 8 + 45 + 2% + 5G = VIII; and since 5S =
53 + 5@, and 29S = 2° + 2, we have 7S + 35) + 23,
as before. Also 12) + 74 = VIII, and since 7L = 7] +
7d, we have 7L + 51, as before.
+ Mr. Kirkman is said to have made Instruments with 17 notes, before

the year 1790, see Dr. Kemp's Musical Magazine, vol, i. p.134; and the late
Mr. Charles Clagget also did the same.
The

418 On the Scales of Clagget’s and Loeschman’s Organ, &e.

The Vingtunave Scale of 21 Notes, on Dr. Robert Smith’s
Harpsichords, made by Mr. Kirkman about the year 1758,
effected by moving 6 stops sideways by the hands, (see
Dr. Smith’s “ Harmonics,’ 2nd Eait. p. 186,) is as fol-
lows, viz.

~~ ee rr

C CxDb D DvEb EFb ExF FxGb G GxAb A

Sess - Ge 1 GSE HS ¢ SH
Tedge ho 2 iedeua 8 tod. ded ie
AxBb )Beb. Bee

Se es

GT Gotaeg

Here 65 + 49 + 234 4¢ +5e@ =VIII, and since 35 =
35 + 3g, 2S = 23 + 2%, and 2S = 20 + % + 2g, the
above equation reduces to 7S + 34) + 23 = VIII, as
before. Also, 101 + 9d + 21 = VIII, and since d+ 0
=1 we have 121 = 7d, as for the 19 Notes above; or,
since 1+4-d = L, we have 7L + 5] = VIII far-12 Notes,
as before.

‘The Vingtduxave Scale of #2 Notes, on the Teliochordan
Harpsichord in the Royal Library at Buckingham- House,
made by Mr. Charles Clagget in 1790, effected by two
Pedals, acting on movable Bridges, is as follows, viz.

C.GxDb D DxEb EFb EsF FaGb FexG
a tre Be Boe 8 ED, a Ce ee
Cue to Ned edie ae. de hot a

GxAb A AxBb Bceb Be

«& $$ @e Se ste

rs ae I (a ME eT

Here 53 + 49 + 304+ 5¢+5@= VIII, and since 26=
25 + 26, 2S = 23 + %, and 3S = 33 + 3e | 3@, we
have 7S + 35 + 23, as before. Also, 9] + 10d +. 33 =
VIII, and since 4L = 41 +. 4d; and 3L= Gd + 3), we

have 7L + 5! =VIII, as in the Douzeave.

The Vingtquatreave Scale of 24 Notes, on the Patent
Harmonic Piano Forte and Organ invented by Mr. David
Loeschman in 1809, now exhibiting at his house, No. 82,
Newman-street, effected by six Pedals, is as follows, viz.

C GsDb GxxD De Eb EFb Ex F Fax Gh Fax G
5 @ © #)8 & Sedo Se? i.e 8
Lod Bd eee de te oa

Gx Ab

Oa Loeschman’s and Liston’s Organs. 419

Gx Ab ABbb AxBb Beeb Bie
me verted “@ iS este:
eet sa CR ca aie abe od

Here 35 + 4% + 504 7e + 5@ =VIII, and since 25=
63 +2, and 5S=50 +5 +5@, we have 7S+4+35 + 23 =
VIII, as before. Also, 71 + ied + 53 = VIII, and since
2L = al + ed, and 5L= i0d + 53, we have 7L+ 51 =
VIII, as before.

The Cinguanteneufave Scale of 59 Notes, on the Patent
Euharmonic Organ invented by the Rev. Henry Liston, im
1810, and made by Messrs. Flight and Robson, in 1812,
now exhibiting at their house, No. 101, in St. Martin’s
Lane, effected by 11 Pedals, is as follows, viz.

C C’ C’* Cw Db C’e D’b Cae D* C’xe D D’
{ ew 20's ue er CARR Ae ee

O 11 36 47 #57 58 68 83 93 94 104115

Dx Eb D's Eb E’b E Fb E’ Fb Fb E'x
RE REI AT Ie HEE al BE

140 i150 151 161 172 197 207 208 218 229 233

Ex F Ee FP Fx Fe Gb Fx Gb Fee
1 Gstto got) 8 ue oe) ef
1744 254 255 265 290 301 311 312 322 337

G Fixx G G’ Gs Ab Ge Ab Ab A
{ ee aR Rte A iia eee he

347 348 358 369 304 404 405 415 4296 451

A’ Bob Bébb A's» Aw Bo A’ Bie B B
{ ge Cpe!) Ge ae 48h eo

462 472 483 487 498 508 509 5139 544 555
Oy Bb Ch Ber 2 By
Re SO
565 566 576 591 601 602 612

Here 71 +374 13c+2°@+2 +! 1E=VITI, and because
5{ + 6g + 11E = 39 + 13c + 27, the above equation be-
gomes 12° + 20@ + 223, as in the Table of Intervals at
page 276 of vol. xxxvii; and also, since 7S = 7! + 21g +
142.3 = 39 + Oc — 35, and 25 = 4c + 9G + SB, we
have 78 + 3 + 2 = VIII, as above. In the thir line
the number of schismas or Es, answering (in my Notation)
to each of Mr. Liston’s Notes, are given; these, by some

+ Iam obliged to substitute the old English small c (¢) for the f¢ with a
dash across pap ew for the semi-comma major 4% + f in vel. xxviii.
Plate V, and in the copy.—Epiroa. h

ave

420 On the Scale and luning of the Rev. Mr.Liston’s Organ.

have been called my Artificial Commas, in imitation of
Mercator’s artificial commas 53 in the Octave, (Holder’s
Treatise, Ist Edit. p. 79), the reason or derivation of whose.
curious approximate common-measure to Intervals, was
unknown, I believe, until | had expressed and arranged
Intervals in the notation by ¥,; f and m, when the number
of ms to any note in such new Notation, was found to
agrce exactly with Mercator’s numbers. With respect to
these and all other artificial commas, it is to be observed,
that they form a sort of musical (whole number) logarithms,
having the least Interval as their wnit, and will, by addition
and subtraction, eorrectly show the values and relations of
intervals larger than their unit, and between which no dif-
ferences occur smaller than their unit ; all smaller intervals,
and some of those very near to the value of the unit, are
however erroneously expressed by them: but in perfect
Harmony, as I have before observed (vol. xxxvii. p. 274),
no less Interyal than = occurs, and therefore they may be
safely used, in all its calculations.

In the Table which [ gave in vol. xxxvii. p. 276, of the
Notes on Mr. Liston’s former Instrument, nine of the above
notes aré omitted, viz.

f = £ p
B’bb 9 S, 18 Fob 4 & 8
Bob 9 23 17 Pe, 4 AIO 17
Exe 7 16. 13 Cx? 4.4
Pgs 7) 15 19 Cex 2... 2° 2
Fb. 4° (12

And the 10 following were: inserted unnecessarily in that
Table, on account of there being no shades to produce
these notes, as being foand unnecessary in the widest range
of modulation; viz. Bx, C’b, B‘b, A‘, G'x, Go; F’, E’,
D*‘» and D'b, by which the scale for the new Organ is re-
duced to 59 Notes, as above.

The shades by which the alteration of a comma is pro-
duced in the sounds of the Pipes, as explained in vol. xxxvil.
p- 328, and in Mr, Liston’s Essay, p. 45, not being able
to raise their sounds, only to depress their pitch, one, or
two commas, the Pipes in Mr. L.’s Organ, are necessarily
tuned to the acute notes ; a standard Pipe, a major comma
higher than Concert Pitch, heing used for. pitching C’f,
from whence the Tuning is conducted upwards, thus, viz.

t Or, having the pitch of C, we may tune upwarts CyGyDy
A’ y FB’, and then downwards F’ ),, C’ whichisthe proper pitch for com
mencing Tuning, as Mr. L, shows, p. 44. , Cc’

On the Scale and tuning of the Rev. Mr. Liston’s Organ: 421.
Cyeo Vv D’: then C’ Ill Er Vv B/ y Fx Vv C’x, and
Bath A’; then E’ il G's y Ds y Aey E’x; then
G’« J), Be y Pee y Cre.

Then downwards C’ y, ¥” vy Be ; then ey II A’b heh
E’b: then A’b y, D’b 1, Gib y Cbs and’ then A’b yy
F’b Vv B’bb; which completes the Tuning of the Pipes.

Three Fifths are then tuned downwards by help of the
one-comma shades to obtain C, viz. A’ yDyG y ©
Then C 57; Ey By Fas &c. just as above, except being

a comma lower, or without acute accents.
In like manner three other Fifths are tuned downwards,
by means of the two-comma shades, to obtain C’,

viz. Ay D’ ve V C’, Then upwards G’ wp Ps thera
ee Wy. * yy Ae: and then A yy) C* yy, E's. Then
downwards C* iy 4e3 then G iy E'es and then

Cb Vv Fb. Which completes the tuning of the 59 Notes

of this Grand harmonic Scale; at the multiplicity of whose
Notes, the intelligent student need not be at all alarmed,
since the excellent contrivance of Mr. Liston’s Organ, en-
ables the whole to come mto play when wanted, through
the means of the 12 ordinary finger-keys, and a pedal to be
pressed now and then, when the key changes, so as to re-
quire the use of notes beyond those twelve that are in the
scale at the time and at'others, when certain notes require,
altering a comma to perfect the harmony, all of which are
marked in numerous examples and pieces of music, in Mr.
Liston’s Book, and in other printed Music that he has ready

rovided, for those Professors or Amateurs who may honour
him by a trial of his Instruments, at Messrs. Flight and
Robson’s. /

The commendable disposition shown by the ‘people of
this: metropolis, for encouraging an extension and improve-
-ment of the Musical Scale of Keyed Instruments (tor with
Voices and Violins, &c. Mr. Liston’s scale always has and
always will be im tise), in the instanees that | have mens
tioned above, seems in a particular manner to have alarmed
the German Organist Mr. Kollmann, for the fate of his

modern. |

422 Kollmann’s Opposition to all the preceding Improvements.

modern “ scale of nature,” or 12 sounds only in the Octaves
placed at equal distances, on which his ** new Theory”
appears entirely built, that he so pompously and incessantly
compares with the best writings of British Musicians, to
their disadvantage, in his Quarterly Review; which * won-
derful compound of twelve Diatonic Chromatic Enhar-
monic Scales in one!’’, it is admitted by Mr. K. must be
abolished, as the first cotisequerice of the establishment of
the © artificial Temperamenis” of Hawkes, Loeschman, and
Liston !, and therefore, he takes especial pains to cry them
all down as useless and absurd. .

What alamentable case! that the progress of Science and
Improvement in one of the most delightful of arts, should
render the sale less certain, of the voluminous works of
this profound Theorist!, who, to the honour, or disgrace
rather of the age, broadly asserts, that violins, violoncellos,
and voices, ought not to make any difference between Ab
and Gx, Db and Cx, &c.!!, but should use, “as nearly
equal a temperament} as possible,” or in other words,
< follow the (his) true standard scale, on which all modern
music depends.” Wot doubting but the scientific and de-
monstrable principles advanced in the “‘ Essay on perfect
Intonation,” will make their way, confirmed a3 they are in
every case, by an appeal to experiment, unimpeded by such
antiquated and unphilosophical, not to say interested, op-
position, as that I have been alluding to;

I remain, sir,

Your obliged and very humble servant,

12, Upper Crown-Street, Westminster, Jorn Farey Sen:
June 4, 1812.

P.S. In conversation a few days ago with Mr. Loesch-

+ A Temperament as nearly equal as it is possible for the ear to judge of
it, results from taking each Fifth a s¢hisma flat, or making the same to cou-
sist of 2t + SH, as first mentioned in your 28th volume, p. 65 (see also
xxxvi. p. 48). Now, in Mr. Liston’s Scale above described, there are 15

pairs of notes exactly at this distance apart, viz. Cx & A’b, C’® & Ab,

C%q & A, D! & Bob, D’x & Bb, EF’ & Ch, Ex &c', Bx & FR & db,
Fixx & d', Gk & eb, A’ & f'b, A’e & f, B’ & gb, and B* g*, And 15
pairs of equal temperament Fourths, the complements of the above, as A'b
& Cx, Ab & C’x, &c. whose value is 3ST —H or 2552 + 5f + 22m.
Twenty-six major Thirds and as many minor Sixths are found in his scale
that differ only $¥ from the equal Temperament, and 24 minor Thirds and
as many major Sixths that differ only 2¥ from these favourite chords of
Mr. Kollmann, but no concords except I, VIII, V and 4, that exactly agree
with that Scale. Iam not aware, how far the construction of Mr. L’.s new
Organ, admits of trying the notes together, of the above equal temperament

Scale, many

lo a 4 et O'S

ome 2

On Vegetable Wax, &e. 493
man, he informed me, that he could introduce this extended.
scale of 59 Notes ona Grand Piano Forte; using movable
bridges, for producing the sharpening of one or of two
commas, of an improved consiruction, that for such small
alterations, would be free of the evils formerly produced by
Mr. Clagget’s movable bridges, for changing sharps to
flats, &c.; but he has no inclination to embark in such a
speculation, unless some Nobleman or Gentleman would
order such an Instrument. Mr. Liston informs me, that
this was one of the first applications of his principles, that
occurred to him; but that on application to Mr. Stoddard,
he dissuaded him from thinking of applying them, on any
Instrument but the Organ.

LXII. On Vegetable Wax, &%c. By R. Mac-Cuitocn,
M.D. Woolwich. Communicated by the Author.

Ir is now well known that wax is a vegetable product, as
well as the result of an animal process in bees and other
insects, and the wax of various plants has been successively
examined by different chemists. Some slight differences
have been observed in the several varietiegs but they are not
sufficient to lead us to consider them aMaifferent species ;
rather, like the generality of the resins, to be varieties of
one common substance. To those already described there
is still to be added one, which as far as I know has not yet
been noticed. This is a substance held in solution in the
essential oil of the rose (the attar of roses) and in that of
lavender. I have not searched among the other oils, but it
will probably be found in.some of them. All the varieties
of these two oils do not however contain it; it is frequently
absent in the oil of lavender, alth$ugh but rarely in that of
the rose.

I am not acquainted with the circumstances under which
this variation occurs. When these oils are cooled below a
certain point, a portion of this matter is deposited in the
form of minute crystals, giving them an appearance some-
what similar to that which the fixed oils assume on freezing.
On the addition also of alcohol it is separated in the form
of minute brilliant scales, and by this method J obtained
the portion which I examined. It is equally separated by
water, which, if enough be used, dissolves the whole of the
oil, and leaves it in a pure state. It is thus that itis col-
lected in the pipes of the stills in which rose-water is made,
as it is yolatilized in combination with the oil, and precipi-

tated

424 On Vegetable Wax, Sc.

tated by the action of the water which is condensed in the
worm. That with which I made the following experi-
ments was procured from lavender; but it seemed to differ
in no respect from that which I have procured from the
oriental attar of roses, or from the distillation of rose-water.

Although I have called it wax in consideration of its
vegetable origin, it bears in fact a much nearer resemblance
to spermaceti in its general properties. Like that, its feel
is greasy, and it is deposited in a crystallized mass at the
bottom of the vessel, just as that substance is deposited
from the oil of the Cachalot whale.

The few comparative experiments which follow, will
show its nature more completely. Having but a very small
quantity, [ could not conveniently determine its specific
gravity ; but it is much lighter than either wax or sperma-
ceti, since it swims in sulphuric ether. It crystallizes from
its solutions in resplendent scales, and in this property it
approaches rather to spermaceti than wax. Its colour 1s
white, and its texture flaky. It is fusible at 96°, while
wax is only fusible at 120°, and spermaceti at 102°. This
account of the fusibilities of wax and spermaceti differing
from that commonly received, which states them at 142°
and 133° respecigely, it is necessary to say that the mode
which I took to Wetermine this temperature, and to which
I was compelled by the scantiness of my materials, was by
causing them to melt on hot water in which a thermometer
was immersed, and noting the heat at the momentof con-
gelation. In boiling alcohol it dissolves readily and in as
large proportion as spermaceti, more readily and in larger
proportion than wax; and it is deposited again on cooling.
The three substances seemed, equally soluble in boiling
ether, which however dissolves less of them than alcohol
does. Its habits with the other compound inflammables,
and with the alkalies, resemble those of wax and-spermaceti,
and afford no distinction.

It is volatilized without apparent change in a tempera-
ture considerably lower than spermaceti, and I need not
add, that its vapour is equally inflammable. I had no adi-
pocire with which to compare it.

Considering these circumstances, we may perhaps regard
it as a vegetable concrete oil, resembling spermaceti rather
than wax, yet differing from it in the characteristic circum-
stances of superior volatility and inferior specific gravity,
and bearing a relation to essential oils similar to that which
spermaceti does to the fat ones.

LXIIT. On

fants ..}

LXIII. Correction of an erroneous Statement in the Account
of Mr. Bakewr_y’s Lectures, as to his Originality in
exhibiting a Geological Map of England: with Remarks
on the Geological Questions, Whether the lower Derbyshire
Strata anywhere else appear in England ? ; Were Caverns

ormed by subterranean Currents of Water ?; and, How
were Mineral Veins opened and filled ?. By Mr. Joun
Farey Senior.

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Waen I first read in your account of Mr. Robert
Bakewell’s Lectures, at the Russell Institution, p. 234, of
your March Magazine, that Mr. B. exhibited to his auditors,
‘<a Geological Map of England, drawn for the purpose” of
his Lectures, and said, ‘that, so far as he knew, this was
the first attempt to represent in a Map the geological out-
lines of England,” | supposed this statement, of a claim
to originality in mineral Maps of England, to be made, by
an error or misconception of your Reporter, and which from
its manifest injustice to others, would receive a speedy cor-
rection from Mr. Bakewell, or some of those who attended
bis Lectures: after waiting, however, the conclusion of his
three courses, without seeing anything further on the sub-
ject, I am induced to request your permission to point out,
that it is incredible that Mr. B. should have been unin-
formed, that Mr. William Smith of Buckingham street,
had nearly completed such a Map years ago, as very often
has been mentioned in your Magazine*, in Dr. Rees’s Cy-
clopeedia, &c.; not to mention a work, to which Mr. B.
himself refers (at p. 236), my Derbyshire Report, vol. 1.
p. 108; nor is it more likely, that Mr. B. was uninformed,
that a primary object of the Geological Society of London,
as expressed in their printed ¢* Geological Inquiries,” was to
prepare ‘* Mineral Maps of districts,’”’ or that he was alto-
gether ignorant of the progress, that G. B. Greenough,
Esq. their very able and indefatigable president had made,
in a Map of England and Wales, and another of Scotland,
which have been very liberally shown (as his important
collection corresponding to them has) to great numbers,
besides An members of the Society assembled at their
meetings ; which last Maps, from combining, all that bad
been learnt from Mr. Smith, either directly or throagh me,
or others who have examined his Maps and collection, with

* Particularly in volume xxxv. p. 114.

Vol. 39. No. 170. June1si2, Ee the

426 Mr. Farey’s Remarks on the Account of

the extensive and systematic observations of Mr. G.: him-
self, and the more local observations of others on the Bri-
tish strata, and with most of what hag been from time to
time published on the British strata, and on the unstratified
districts of Cornwall, the central and northern parts of
Wales, the Malvern Hills, Charnwood Forest, parts of
Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Northumberland, &c.
and of great part of Scotland (with which last districts
Mr. Smmth had not much concerned himself), are, doubt-
less, much more exteusive and correct, than anything that
Mr. B. would be able to produce, or at least, to which he
could justly Jay claim, without acknowledgement of the
sources whence he derived part at least of his materials,
I was, therefore, and still am desirous, sir. of thinking,
that Mr. B. only intended to say, that this was the first
time that a Geological Map of England had been exe
hibited in a course of public Lectures expressly on the
subject ; which yet, if it be literally true, will scarcely
render this claim of Mr. B, a fair one, as it is stated,
when it 1s considered. that Mr. Greenough’s Maps have,
often [ believe, been exhibited to geological assemblies of
persons, and that Mr. Smith’s were more than ence, I be-
lieve, exhibited to numerous meetings of the Board of
Agriculiure, and have so often been shown publicly, at
meetings congenial with Mr. B.’s previous pursnits in life*,
at ath, Woburn, Holknam, Goswell-street, &c. as I have
mentioned in your xxxvth vol. p. 114, and elsewhere. Let
it not be suppysed, that | am herein laying any claim to a
Geological Map*of England of my own, since it is well
known to my friends, that the obligations which I have felt
myself under to Mr. Smith, as the original pracliser and
promoter of useful and general investigations of the Strata,
have, as much as the want of time for it, prevented my
attempting any general Map, such as those of Mr. Smith
and Mr. Greenough above mentioned: while at the same
time, J have never been backward, in the very frequent in-
terviews with which [ have been honoured by the latter
gentleman, to communicare or contribute any thing within
my knowledge, towards the periecting of his Map, always
relying, as { do, that no publication of it will,ever take
piace, without at the same time, rendering ample acknow-~
ledgements to Mr. Siniith, from whose useful labours the
ground’ work, and much of the materials in the superstruc~
ture have been obtained. .

While:T am upon the subject of Mr, Bakewell’s Lectures,

*] allude here, to his investigations and work on /Vool,
Bia or

Mr. Bakewell’s Lectures. 427

or rather the account of them that you have published,
permit me to mention, that I still with additional reason,
as I conceive, adhere to my former position, in the Derby
Report, &c. with respect to the metalo-basaltic Limestone
Rocks of Derbyshire, having lower places in the series than
any other Rocks that I have seen, or know by the Reports
of others, in the British Islands; and still conclude, as
I mentioned in your 102d page (vol. xxxix.), that the same
do not appear in the north-west of Yorkshire, in particular,
~as Mr. Bakewell is made to assert, p. 2363 since on inquiry,
Tam told, that his reasons for so saying are, that ‘ the
quality of the Limestone and the Mineral Veins are the
same ,”’ which I hold to be very inadequate marks of the
identity of strata: surely Mr. B. might have done, or’ can
now tell us, whether the succession upwards, from what
he calls the 4th Limestone, is the same, or at all allied,
to that I have described in Derbyshire? but above all,
whether he was able to detect, all or any considerable pro-
portion of the species of sheils and other Rediquia in the
Yorkshire Limestones, that the late Mr. William Martin
has figured and described in his ‘ Petrificata Derbiensia’’ ?
Shropshire or North Wales, I have not seen, except in the
distant horizon, but from what I have read of Mr. Arthur
Aikin’s on those districts, and learnt from my_ valuable
friend Mr. John Lloyd, of Wygfair, (who descended into
Elden Hole, many years ago,) and others, I conclude the
limestone Rocks there, to be the same with that which un-
derlies the great South Wales Coal-bason, of which I have
made mention in the preface to my Report, p. xii, and
which overlies a Red- Marl series, such as I have described
at p.270, in your 39th volume, but not the same pro-
bably.

That the Caverns in Limestone Rocks, were not generally
formed by the washing of subterranean currents, at least,
are not now enlarging or deepening by that means (as I
hear that Mr. B. maintains respecting certain Caves in or
near Cumberland), must be abundantly evident, to those
who will examine the botioms of such Derbyshire caverns
or opens, as are connected together, and which will be
found in great part filled up with mud, sand, shale-grit and
quartz gravel, &c., washed into them from the surface of
the shale, by means of some of the Water-swallows that
J have mentioned, Rep. i. p. 295: Merlin’s Cave, in the
Land occupied by the late William Langsdon, Esq. (but as
I am told, not belonging to him, as I have stated) and now

Ee2 by

428 Mr. Farey’s Remarks on Mr. Bakewell’s Lectures.

by Mr. Thomas Bird, I believe, in Eyam, is a very com-
plete instance of this filling up of caverns by subterranean
currents, instead of their being formed thereby.

Respecting the opening of the fissures occupied by mi-
neral veins, Mr. B. (p. 314) appears, like Dr. James Miller,
when speaking of the Wernerian Theory (as I have ob-
served in the note, p. 74 of my Report) to overlook the
causes assigned, and principally insisted on by M. Wer-
ner himself, in his ** new Theory” of Veins, lately:trans~
lated, viz. slips “in rainy seasons,” and the yielding and
cracking of the mass by its own weight, when the rock
was “at first wet and possessed little solidity,” and part
of it fell to the free side!. The suggestions which Mr.
Bakewell offers, at the bottom of page 315, as to the pro-
bable voltaic influence which the sides or cheeks of the
Vein have had on the metallic deposits within it, is in-
om and accords well with most of the facts which I

now, particularly that remarkable one, that the bearing
measures (Rep. i. 246), or particular beds of Rock between
which the ore is principally lodged in the vein, were in se-
veral of the most productive Mines in Derbyshire, consider -
atly inclined to the horizon, and are so in the Gang and some
others, that are yet working: indeed, where the Limestone
Japs round an irregular lump of Toadstone in the floor of
the Rock, as in Ashover Velley, Crich, Matlock High-Tor
and Masson Hills, &c., the bearing-measures therein, are
found to conform to this shape of the floor, with very va-
rious and sometimes sudden changes in their inclination to
the horizon: and furnish a good proof, in accordance with
every other ascertained fact, that these Limestone Rocks
could not have been lent into their present form by in-
jected Lava between them, as Mr. B. appears, I think,
disposed to concede to Mr. Whitehurst: since few persons
would grant, that the crystals of spar and ore in a vein
could have been soft and capable of bending, without the
least fracture or distortion being observable in them; what-
ever a superficial knowledge of stony depositions, might
dispose them to concede, with respect to the rocks that
contain the veins.’

I am, sir.
Your obedient servant,
Westminster, June 14, 1812, Joun Farey Senior.

: . LXIV. On

[ 429 J

LXIV. On the Effects produced by the Use of the Oxy-
muriates of Lime and Magnesia in Bleaching. By Mr.
Witiiam Moors,

To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Ts the proceedings of the Kirwanian Society of
Dublin, published in your Magazine for last month, Dr.
Ozilby having stated some assertions he said were made
by Professor Davy, as to the theory and effects of oxymu-
riate of lime in bleaching; as I have been present at the
lectures when those assertions are said to have been made,
T am confident Dr. O.’s statements are incorrect; I there-
fore trouble you with the following narration of facts :

Sir Humphry Davy, having stated that muriate of lime
had heen proved by experiments to have a deleterious effect
on linen cloths, recommended the use of oxymuriate of
magnesia for that of lime in bleaching. His reasoning as
to the muriate of lime was, ‘that bodies in their nascent
state acted with more energy than when they had been
formed; and not as Dr. Ogilby says, that ‘if a strong so-
lution of muriate of lime rendered cloth unsound, a weak
one ought to be proportionally detrimental.”” The Doctor’s
experiments to prove that muriate of lime had not an in-
jurious action on linen cloths, I have repeated, viz. having
steeped cuttings of full bleached linen in solutions of the
neutral salt of different degrees of strength, some nearly
saturated : they were steeped* only for twenty-four hours ;
and upon being well washed and dried, they were found to
be so rotten as not to require any longer trial. The res
petition of Dr. Ogilby’s experiments was *¢ deemed worthy,”
not from an idea * that Sir Humphry Davy’s views on this
subject were all together erroneous,’’ as the Doctor modestly

“asserts, but from a presumption that the Doctor might
possibly be mistaken.

Dr. Ogilby also contradicts an assertion which he says
Sir Humphry Davy made; namely, ‘“ that magnesia had
entirely superseded the use of Jime in Ireland for bleach-
ing ;”’ and the Doctor says, that not a single bleacher uses
it. To refute this, I need only state (as nearly as possible)
the words made use of by the Professor in the lectures.
He said that he was happy to state that some hints which
he had the pleasure to give in a preceding course of

* The Doctor repeated the immersions four times, for twenty-four hours
each time. —
Ee3 lectures

430 Method of preparing a cheap and durable

lectures had been acted upon by an enlightened individual,
Mr. J, Duppy junior *, of Dublin, who had tried magnesia
instead of lime; and that it succeeded to his'wishes. As
Dr. Ogilby was present at the lectures in Dublin, I am at
a loss to account for his mis-statements. Unwilling to at-
tribute them to any improper motive, I conclude that they
were made in ignorance of the facts.
I remain, with respect, sir, your obliged,
Lendon, June 12, 1812. WiItirAM Moore.

LXV. Method of preparing a cheap and durable Stucco, or
Plaster, for outside or inside Walls. By H. B. Way,
Esq. of Bridport Harbour +.

SIR, Is consequence of your expressing an opinion that
a general knowledge of my method for preparing a stucco,
or plaster, for outside walls of houses much exposed to sea
breezes or bad weather, would be of service to the putlic,
T have inclosed an account of the process, and I will with
pleasure furnish any further particulars of this business for
the Society of Arts, or permit any gentleman to examine
it who may wish for more information on the subject.
You know the situation of my house, which is greatly ex-
posed to the spray of the sea and bad weather 5 and [ can
truly add, that by means of this stucco it is perfectly free
from damp, and the plaster remains compact and durable,
I remain, sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
Bridport Harbour, Oct. 12, 1810. H. B. Way.

To C, Taylor, M.D. Sec.

To make a strong Stucco, or Mortar.

Three parts Bridport Harbour-sand to one of lime, both
finely sifted, and mixed with lime-water ; if used as stucco,
the first coat to be laid on half the thickness of a crown-
piece; Ict it remain two days, then with a painter's brush

* The Professor showed the letter to this effect from Mr. Duppy, which
he had received that morning, as also some pieces of calico goods which
had been bleached by the magnesian process; and Mr. Duppy also thought
the colours were superior in brilliancy to those prepared by lime, as the
former process directed. ;

+ From Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu-
factures, and Commerce, for 1811, The silver medal of the Society was
voted to Mr. Way for this communication, and specimens of the Stucco
and of the Sand are preserved in the Society’s Repository.

wash |

: Siucco, or Plaster, for inside or outside Walls. 431

wash it over with strong lime-water, and lay on the second
coat of the same thickness.

1805, March 25.—Measured a coal half-bushel of Bea-
mister lime, and put it into a hogshead of water, to make
the lime-water.—Measured two coal half-bushels more of
the lime, slacked and sifted it, it then measured three half-
bushels, to which were added nine coal half bushels of
Bridport Harbour-sand well sifted; I saw it well mixed up
with lime-water, and thoroughly worked together; the
next day saw it turned, and again mixed up, that it might
be well incorporated together.

27th.—This morning had a fine coat of it laid on the
west end of my large storehouse at Bridport Harbour,

29th.—Had it washed with lime-water, and a second
coat laid on.

Cost. $2 od,
One sack and a quarter of lime, at #5. 6d........ 3 12
Two men and one boy two days each, fetching and

mixing up materials, and laying on; men 95. 3d.

per day, boy 10d. per day, and one pint of ale

each per days 12d. oi eee sei tees cceesee 11 105

15° O

ee

N.B.—I suppose the expense rather over than under-
rated.

May 11.—This day Thomas Everett measured and exa-
minéd the work, found it hard and sound, 247 =quare yards,
a little done to the house, suppose the whole to be twenty-
five yards square. :

Twenty-five square yards at 7:d. per square yard, would
be 15s. 12d.

June 13, 1806.—Examined the work, which was per-
fectly sound and tree from cracks, nothing having ever
peeled off from it. The situation exposed to the weather
in the greatest degree.

N. B.—The coal half-bushel above mentioned holds ex-

actly thirteen gallons wine-measure.
H. B. Way.

S1r,—I was favoured with yours of the 18th instant, and
Inow inclose the mason’s certificate of the quantity of,
sticco done with the composition | gave him the particulars
of, in addition to which it may be necessary to mention
thit the coal half-bushel, with which the ingredients of the

Ee4 coms

432 Method of preparing a cheap and durable

ccmposition were measured, (according to the account for-
merly given,) contains exactly thirteen gallons of water,
wine measure, and would hold exactly ] cwt. 1 qr. 7 1b. net
of the sand used; the weight of the lime I do not know,
and my being able to ascertain exacily the weight of the
sand, arose from my waggon being employed to carry: what
was used at Yeovil! and East Coker, from bence, and for
what I sent to Yeovil I was paid 1s. 9d. per cwt. From
the sand here succeeding so well, Thomas Everett would
not be prevailed on to engage to do any of that sort of
work with hill or river sand, to be got on this shore. The
work he did for me was all by the day ; what he did at
Yeovil and East Coker he agreed for at eight-pence per
yard, of nine feet superficial measure for labour only for
the two coats, at four- pence per square yard for one coat,
ail the materials being brought to the spot at his employer’s
expense, and who also found scaflolding and scaffold
ropes: this, I think, is considerably higher than by my
calculation of the expense of what I had first done he
ought to have charged; but its being done at a distance of
twenty miles from where he lives, and in the most busy time
of the year for mason’s work, I suppose must account for it
in the first instance, and having once made that price, he
would not now work under; but-I believe, for a considerable
building, and with sufficient notice, and being allowed 6d.
per mile in lien of wages and travelling expenses for him-
self and an assistant, out and home, he would go to any part
of the kingdom, on being paid 8d. per yard for the work.
It has been the general received opinion here, that plaster
made with sea sand, unless well washed. in fresh water,
would be always damp; but, on the contrary, I find from
what has been done in my dining-parlour and passage, it
has been always quite dry, although the whole of the sand
with which it has been done has been thrown up by the sea,
and must have been always at spring tides covered with sea
water; indced, it sometimes happens that, for months to-
gether, there is none to be collected on our shores at this
place, that Everett thinks fine enough for the purpose ; and
as I am now and then applied to for getting it, I have lately,
when my horses were at leisure, got a smal] quantity col-
lected and hauled in for my own use, or, in case of its being
wanted, I charge 2d. per cwt. for it, where it is deposited
As | design at some future time to make some alteration in
the passage done with the stucco in April 1806, I had four
pieces taken off, which I tied up separately, each in a pie@e

of

Stucco, or Plaster, for outside or inside Walls. 33

of brown paper, and had them packed in a box, with a lier

of sand between each piece, and at the bottom and tojof

the box, and directed it for you, and sent it with some gals

I shipped on Saturday last to my friend Netlam Giles, ).

No. 2, New Inn, St. Clement’s. I have requested of In

that he will have the goodness on its arrival to forward ilo

you. The vessel it goes, by is the sloop Mary Anne, Jar

Anning, master, bound to Dounes Wharf, Hermita,,

Wapping. It is possible that the pieces of stucco sent ny

imbibe some of the saline particles from the sand it w

packed in, but this did not occur to me at the time, or tly

should have been packed in saw-dust, as they were perfecy

dry when packed, so much so as, when struck upon wi

the knuckle, to give a sound similar to what an earth,

vessel would do if dry and not cracked. Should there |

any further information requisite, on your letting me knov

it shall immediately be sent you. It had almost escape

me to say, tbat the small quantity of six yards, done la:

October with stone lime for trial, was done from your in

timating to me, when I had the pleasure of seeing you i

Dorsetshire, that stone lime was likely to answer; but 1
would I think look better if white-washed; the differenc
in point of expense is materially in favour of the stone lime
The cost of my waggon-load of it at the kiln, about a mile
from hence, would be only 10s., whereas about the same
quantity of chalk-lime at the kiln, full eight miles from
hence, would cost 1/, 4s., and I cannot get any chalk-lime
nearer. I have only now to add that | am, very respect-
fully,

Sir,

Your obedient humble servant,
Bridport Harbour, April 22, 1811. H. B. War.

To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec.

Certificate.

T hereby certify, that Mr. H. B. Way; merchant, of
Bridport Harbour, in the county of Dorset, in the month
of March 1805, gave me the necessary directions for making
a strong cheap stucco or plaster, which was composed of
one part chalk-lime, and three equal parts of fine sand, col-
lected on the sea shore, near Bridport Harbour, the whole
of which was mixed up to a proper consistence with a
strong lime water, and [ have since that time done the an-
nexed work with the said composition,

Date.

42 Method of preparing a Stucco, or Plaster, for Walls.

1. a ee ae CR ee eg
Date. For Mr. H. B. Way, at Bridport Harbour.|Yards.| Yards
1805. Flat

March. On the outside of a warehouse wall, part) easure.

rough stone and peft brick - - * 25
1806. On the inside walls of a passage in his
April. dwelling-house, on roggh stone - = 10

ctober 2nd {On the inside rovgh stone walls of two
ovember. Pere ee ee eee

'

One coat on the ceilings of the said cellars., 228
N.B. The first coat on the ceilings was
common hair mortar.

1807. The whole of the outside of his dwelling-

,pril and May| house, rough stone Dota, ven emia coe
August. On one side wall of the dining-room in
brick; this stucco was rubbed down
quite smooth, and has since been painted

wih Giledlouls 17 a, 13
1810, On a rough stone wall of a warehouse di-
October 10. rectly fronting the sea. and not two hun-
dred yards from it, with common stone-
lime, such as is used for manure in this

quarter by way oftrial = = =~ 6

—— $21

At Mr. H. B. Way’s request, I have this

1811.
day carefully examined the whole of the

April.

good, and by his directions, four pieces
of the stucco were taken off from the

assage wall, (which was laid on April
{806,) and packed jn the same sort 0
sand as is used in the composition, and
sent by him directed for the Secretary
of the Society of Arts, Manufactures
and Commerce, London.

eee SS et Se ey

For Peter Daniel, Esq. of Yeovil, Somer-
setshire.

On the outside brick-walls of his dwelling-

house there’ > = Pemmigge i 2 PF

1808.

May and June. 480

On the outside brick-walls of other dwell-
ing-houses there, for W. Hellyer, Esq.
of East Coke, nearyYeovil - 9 -, 7

1810.

May and June.
480

910

On the outside brick and rough stone-walls

1809.
of his dwelling-house, at that place

June.

1040

For the Rev. Joseph Fawcett, of Yeovil.

On the outside rough stone-walls of his
dwelling- house there = Liens
N.B. Mr. Faweett’s house being built the
year before, with a view to being stuc-
coed, the walls were left rough. Yards.|. 2983

1 hereby

1810.
June.

_ Cases of Hernia. ° 435

I hereby certify, that the whole of the foregoing two
thousand nine hundred and eighty-three square yards of
stucco were done with the before-mentioned composition,
by me and my men under my directions, and I verily be-
lieve it is the cheapest stueco known, and that it will prove
very durable, both without doors and within, and that it
has given entire satisfaction to the gentlemen who have
tried it; and I am now engaged, if I can the ensuing sum-
mer, to stucco the outside of one house at Bridport, and
another at Yeovil, also the inside of a cottage for labourers
that I have just built for Mr. H. B. Way, at Bridport Har-
bour. |

Tuomas EVERETT,
Shipton George, near Bridport, Stone Mason, Bricklayer, and Plasterer.
Dorset, April 22,1811.

Witness, JAamMEs BuDDEN.

LXVI. Cases of Hernia. By Joun Taunton, Esq.
To Mr. Tilloch.

Sir, Tue following statement of the situation and occur-
rence of hernia at different periods of life, has been ob-
tained principally from patients relieved by the City of
London Truss Society*, and entirely under my own ob-
servation within the short period of four years and a half,
It appeared to me to form an interesting article of reference,

* 'The following are the outlines of the plan of this most excellent Insti-
tution. Epiror.—* The objects of this Charity are to provide trusses for
every kind of rupture—to furnish bandages and other necessary instru-
ments for all cases of prolapsus—to perform every necessary operation—
to administer surgical aid promptly—and to supply medicines and atterd-
ance during the cure of the patient.

«Annual subscribers of one guinea or more to this Charity shall be go-
vernors as long as they continue such subscription; and be at liberty to re-
commend three patients within the year for single trusses, or one patient for
a double, and one for a single truss, for each guinea subscribed.

“ Subscribers of ten guineas or upwards shall be governors for life, with
the same privileges ; besides being members of all committees. The moneys
arising from all life subscriptions are regularly invested in the public funds.

“ Mr. Taunton attends at the City Dispensary on Wednesdays and Satur-
days, at one o'clock precisely, to ‘examine the cases recommended; or the
patients may apply at his house, No, 21, Greville-street, Hatton Garden, any
morning Lefore nine u’clock.

“ Governors recommending patients who cannot come to London, on ac-
count of the distance, are required to send to the surgeon the name, age, and
residence of the patient, the exact measure round the body at the part where
the hernia is seated, and the particular situation of the hernia, and also to
say if it can be returned when the patient lies down in bed,—AIl letters or
orders for trusses must be sent post paid.”

to

456 Cases of Hernia.

to the medical, philosophical, and general reader. As such,
J have taken the liberty of transmiting it for publication in
your valuable Journal, if it meets your approbation.

In 3,176 patients, 2,702 were males, and 474 were fe-
males. The situation of the hernia in each case will be seen
in the following table :

704 Left inguinal
1,206 Right inguinal
154 Left femoral
130 Right femoral
728 Double inguinal

64)\Double femoral [°° "°°" 8888 ee

172 Umbilical

1,910 inguinal :
2,194 Single.
\ 284 femoral

792 Double.

18 Veniral SDP eee compere reasen ee 1900

202 Patients were relieved with trusses, under 10 years
of age.
_ 160 Ditto between 10 and 20. ditto.
310 Ditto ...... 20 and 30 ditto.
596 Ditto ...... 30 and 40 ditto.
632 Ditto ...... 40 and 50 ditto.
664 Ditto ...... 50 and 60 ditto.
432 Ditto ...... 60 and 70 ditto.
168 Ditto ...... 70 and 80 ditto.
10 Ditto ...... 80 and 90 ditto.
2 Ditto ...... 90 and 100 ditto.
3,176
From the most accurate estimation which I have been
enabled to make, I have no doubt of this malady existing
in one person in eight through the whole male population
of this kingdom, and even ina much greater proportion
among the labouring classes of the community, in manu-
facturing districts, particularly in those persons who are
employed in weaving.
21, Greville Street, Hatton Garden, Joun Ta UNTON,
June, 1812. Surgeon to the City of London Truss
Society, the City and Finsbury Dis-
pensaries, and Lecturer on Anatomy
and Surgery,

LXVII. On.

[ 437 ]

LXVII. On the Culture and Preparation of Hemp in Dor-
setshire, and on the Growth of Sea Cale*.

Dear Sir, As you informed me when you was lately in
Dorsetshire, that the Society of Arts, &c, were anxious to
obtain information ‘concerning the culture and preparation
of hemp in this neighbourhocd, I am induced to send you
some accounts thereof.

I fear my memorandums on the subject will not be
wortliy the notice of the Society, and I should scarcely have
ventured to have put pen to paper upon it, if I had not
uniformly found, that the persons who are concerned in
the growth and management of that article are shy of giving
information. If what I have sent should induce persons
equal ta the task, to make the needful inquiries in this
county, Somerset, Suffolk and Norfolk, (which T believe
to be the parts of England where hemp is most cultivated,)
and make the culture more generally known than it now
seems to be, I shall be much gratified. I hope, if you again
visit this neighbourhood, to show you a very fine crop of
wheat on the field where you last year saw the persons
employed in collecting the male hemp; also another large
field of exceeding good wheat, that produced hemp last
year, neither of which have had any fresh manure upon
them since the hemp was taken from the fields. I have
added some observations on the growth of Sea Cale: this
useful vegetable, growing naturally on some of the Cliffs
near Bridport Harbour, and being one of the most valuable
esculent plants that I know, I have found the culture of it
in the kitchen garden more easy to manage than has been
generally supposed.

I have sent different specimens of the seed, and some of
the natural soil, for inspection ;

and remain, dear sir,

; Your friend and obedient servant,
Bridport Harbour, March 1, 1811, H. B. Way.

To C. Taylor, M.D. Sec.

Account of the Culture and Preparation of Hemp in
y Dorsetshire.

Hemp is usually sown about the 15th of May, on the
best arable Jand, on which about twenty cart loads of good

* From Transactions of the Soviety for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu-
factures, and Commerce, for 1811. The thanks of the Society were
voted to Mr. Way for this communication.

rotten

438 On the Culture and Preparation of Hemp

rotten dung has been spread, say about a ton to the load =
this is well ploughed in, and the ground well ploughed two
or three times, and well dragged and harrowed, to get the
soil as fine as possible, and about two or two and a half
bushels of seed sown to the acre; what produces no seed,
called by some male or summer hemp, and by others cinner
hemp, is drawn about five or six weeks after the plant comes
up, it is at that time in blossom; when drawn, it is tied up
in bundles, and carried to some meadow land, and there
spread to ripen: when ripe and dry, it is bundled and
stacked. What stands for seed has no flower that can be
discovered; it is the female hemp, and is generally ripe
early in September, when it is drawn, bundled up, and
stowed up in the field for the seed to dry and harden, when
it is thrashed out in the fields. Most commonly in Dorset
the seed is sold on the spot, at from 2s. 6d. to 7s. per
bushel ; an acre of hemp produces eighteen or twenty bu-
shels. In Somerset they have sometimes thirty bushels of
seed to the acre. In the sowing season I bave known 21s.
‘per bushel-paid for seed ; when thrashed the hemp is carried
to the meadows, and spread to ripen as the other, and
stacked in the same way, to prepare it for sale; it is sent to
the houses of the poor in the parishes round which it is
raised, to be what is called scaled, that is, each separate
stalk of hemp is broken in the hand, and the hemp, which is
the outside rind or bark, is stripped off, in which state it is
sent to market. The scaling is the employment of old men,
women and children, and of the whole of the labouring
family in the evening, as in winter they make but poor
wages of jt, and one principal inducement for them to do
itis, that the woody parts of the hemp make them a fire,
but it soon burns out. Complaints are made of a great deal
of the hemp being often wasted fram improper management,
and want of care in the scaling of it; at the Comptons and
Bradford, a good deal more hemp would be raised if they
could get it scaled, which they find much difficulty in do-
ing; and if it were possible to construct a mill that would
swingle it at a moderate expense, on some such plan as the
flax swingling mills, and to afford some encouragement to
the erecting them, as well as flax swingling mills, it would
encourage the growth of both articles materially; an acre
of hemp im a good season will produce'l4, 16 or 18 weights,
of 32Ibs. to the weight in Dorsetshire ; in Somersetshire
they reckon their weight two pounds less, and they some-
times get as much as 35 weights to the acre; the price of

the

in Dorsetshire, and the Growth of Sea-Cale. 439

the weight of hemp is from 16s. to 20s. per weight. The
rotation of crops as follow:
On ground well manured ..... Hemp.
Wheat.
Barley or Oats.
Clover with the abve.
W heat.
- Barley or Oats.
Ground well manured........ Hemp.
But sometimes they dress the ground well for hempever
third year. The quantity of bemp sown in Dorset 1 very
trifling in comparison to what is sown in Somerset. in the
former it is chiefly confined to eight or nine parshes ;
whereas very large quantities are raised in Somerset,in the
parishes of Misterton, Crewkerne, Hinton, St. Gorge,
Lopen, Seavingtons, Ilminster, Stocklinch, Donyatt King-
stone, Shipton, Beauchamp, Barington, South Petierton,
Martlock, Norton, Chiselborough, Stoke-under-ham,Mont-
a-cute, Odcombe, the Chinniocks, the Cokers, the Somp-
tons, Bradford, and a great many other parishes Mr.
Emanuel Pester, of Preston, near Yeovil, is in the middle of
the hemp and flax county, and he can doubtless obtain and
give every information that may be wished on the subject,
being so extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits himself,
and so competent to give that sort of information wanted ;
a bounty of 3d. per stone on hemp, and 4d. per stone on
flax, was for many years given by Government, but is now
discontinued ; it was paid by the Clerk of the Peace for the
counties; and as the late Mr. Wallace managed that for the
county of Dorset uncommonly well, it is most probable that
a very correct return for the county of Dorset could be ob-
tained from the office of the Clerk of the Peace for this
county, of the quantity raised each vear of both articles,
during the continuance of the bounty; also from Devon
and Somerset similar returns could be got. There are large
quantities of hemp raised in Suffolk, the writer thinks, near
St. Edmunds Bury and Stow market, in that county. He
has been told they make linen so fine of hemp, as to be
worth 5s. and 6s. per yard, and used for shirts in preference
to lvish, being considered much more durable and better, so
much so, as to induce the !rish to imitate the fabric, and
stainp the cloth, Suffolk Hemp. It is also raised in Nor-
foik, in the neighbourhood of Lynn and Wisbeach, but it
must be watered and prepared im some other way; indeed
he is convinced that all the hemp imported from the Baltic
#8 prepared differently from the mode used in Dorset and
Somerset,

440 On the Culture and Preparation of Hemp

Somrset, and must have been swingled before it was sent
to te different ports it was shipped at for this country.
Thesiving the former bounty on the growth, and increas-
ing ion hemp and flax, would encourage the growth ; but
if gien on the number of acres sown, the grower, as his
grou|d would be in high erder for a crop of turnips and
whea after, might be careless ahout his crop of hemp, as
the bunty, to be worth notice, must be worth more than
the vlue of the seed in common years and the labour of
sowie.

Hemp in this county and the next is never sown in new
ground fresh broke up, but flax always by choice, when
fresh ground can be got. Mr. John Pitfield is going to
breakup great part of the West Clift at Bridport Harbour,
and sw it with flax this season. The writer, while on the
subjec of hemp, is led to mention, that when travelling in
the yar 1792, in the province of Massachusets near Bos-
ton, in North America, was assured that considerable quan-
tities of hemp were raised in the township of Sunberry,
about ten miles from Boston, and that it was always raised
on thesame ground every year, no other crop being sown
in their hemp lands, and that it was manured every year, at
the rate of about ten tons of manure to the acre of hemp.
Respecting seed, he cannot learn that there is any for sale -
at Bridport, with the buyers who purchase it up for the
growers at the hemp harvest, and he expects that very little
can be got from the growers round here. Somersetshire is
a more likely place to get it, as he has known some of the
hemp farmers to have upwards of an hundred acres of hemp
in one season; round this they generally are only in a small
way. A change of hemp seed is much wanted in Somer-
set and Dorset. Trials have been made two or three times
to get it from Russia; but if is not possible to get new seed
from the interior early enough in the fall at the shipping
ports, and some old seed which has been shipped has not
answered the purpose ; if new could have been got, it would
as generally have been used for a change, as the new Riga
barrel flax seed is by the flax-growers. As the seed sown in
Russia was considered a good sample, and its appearance
much liked, possibly it might, at a future period, be ob-
tained in the fall from Odesea, or some other port on the
Black Sea, as it 1s understood that a good deal of hemp
shipped at Riga and St. Petersburgh grows much nearer to
the Black Sea than the Baltic; or possibly the seed of the
Italian hemp raised in the neighbourhood of Bologna, or
that of America, might be obtained in time to answer.

Perhaps

Dorsetshire, and on the Growth of Sea-Cale. 441

Perhaps tares, called by some vetches, might be cleared
from the ground early enough for manuring and sowing the
ensuing crop of hemp, and vetches might make it worth the
farmer’s attention: tu this an objection was stated, which
I do not just now remember. On talking with the gentle-
man before mentioned, and stating the American practice,
with what had passed on it with my neighbours, he said,
he had long been persuaded that it was a good practice, and
that he had the last season 2 very good crop of hemp on a
piece of ground that had hemp the year before, and that he
did not Jet the hemp stand for seed, but had it all down at
the usual time for drawing the summer or male hemp, and
the ground immediately sown with turnips, which were fed-
off with sheep, and the ground then slightly manured, and
hemp sown again at the proper season; and that he had
then, October 27, 1808, a piece of turnips after his hemp,
’ which were worth 6/. per acre. It is to be observed,
that the acre here meant is the British acre of one hundred
square poles, three hundred and four square yards each.
The manure mostly used for hemp is good rotten stable
dung, which is much preferred to any other, though lime
is frequently used; but manufacturers pretend to assert,
(with what foundation I cannot say,) that they can di-
stinguish a material difference in the quality of the hemp,
where lime has heen used instead of dung, as from lime.
they say hemp is more harsh and brittle, and not of such
a soft silky quality as where dung has been used. The
writer has endeavoured to throw together every thing that
occurs to hint on the subject of the culture of hemp, which,
from being born and residing great part of his life in a part
of the county where it has been extensively cultivated for
ages, he has been able to collect; but where it is not very
easy to obtain direct information, as both the growers and
manufacturers are very shy of giving any, under an idea
that it might injure their own interest by assisting to ex-
tend the culture to other countries. He believes that his
statement may be depended upon; but he is no farmer, and
therefore the loose hints thrown together here on the sub-
ject may not be so clearly and satisfactorily explained as he
could wish; but if they in the smallest degree assist In en-
couraging the growth of an article so essential to the wel-
ware and prosperity of the kingdom, it will afford him the
most heartfelt pleasure.

H. B, Way.

Vol. 39. No. 170, June 1812. Ff Account

442 On the Culture of Sea-Cale.

Account of the Culture of Sea-Cale, or Sea- Kale.

Tue mode which I consider the best for the culture of
sea-cale, is to draw lines in a very dry soil and dry situation,
on ground with a southern aspect, about two feet one way
by about eighteen inches the other, and where the lines
cross to put in three or four good perfect seeds in a square
or triangle, about three inches apart; this may be done any
time in November or December in open weather, and it will
require no other care afterwards but keeping the ground
clear from weeds till the autumn of the following year,
when all the plants but one of the finest in each square may
be taken up, which if wanted will serve to form other beds
set the same distance apart. The ground in the intervals of
the plants should be dug in the spring and fall of the year,
taking care not to injure the plants. The leaves should be
left on the plants till they fall off naturally, which will not
in general be sooner than the latter end of November. In
the autumn of the second year the same attention should
be paid to the plants, and to remove the dead leaves.

In the third year, about the middle or latter end of No-
vember, when the leaves have been cleared away, and the
ground dug, each plant should be covered over close with a
tub, pan, a heap of small stones, coarse cinders, or coarse
bark, raised about ten or twelve inches over the crown of
each plant, and from about the latter end of February to the
Jatter end of March the plants will be very fine and fit for
use. I prefer that which has been bleached with our round
sea-cravel, about the size of large peas or beans, to any
other mode whatever. The plants should be cut but once
in a year, as cutting it oftener weakens and lessens the size
of the plants. If itis not desired to have the plants large,
they may Be bleached and cut a year sooner.

I have sent a specimen of the sandy soil in which it
grows naturally here, as I think the generality of gardeners
are too careful, and manure the ground too highly for it.
In the month of April last, after cutting my plants, I co-
vered the ground all over, at least six inches above the
crown of the plants, with this earth: they soon shot up
through it, and never looked finer or produced: a larger
quantity of good seed than that year.

I am thus particular in order to show that this vegetable
will succeed as well, if not better in poor ground than in
rich, provided the soil be dry, and care taken in the ma-
nagement; I speak from long experience, having been well
acquainted with the management of this valuable plant from

my.

Compound of carbonic Oxide and Chlorine. 443

my youth. WhenI cut the sea-cale for use, I immediately
draw up the earth with a trowel, so as completely to cover
the whole of the plant; this I fancy makes them grow
more luxuriantly. This plant, if properly managed, is sue
perior to asparagus, and if more is cut than wanted for
immediate use, it will keep for some days in a pan of cold
water, but of course it cannot be better than when recently
cut. It precedes the use of asparagus, being ready for the
table in February and March.

H.B. Way.

LXVIII. On a gaseous Compound of carbonic Oxide and
Chlorine. By Joun Davy, Esq. Communicated by Sir
Houmenry Davy, Knit. LL.D. Sec. R.S.*

Since the influence of electricity and solar light, as che-
mical agents, are analogous i many respects, and as the
former produces no change in,a mixture of carbonic oxide
and chlorine, it was natural to infer the same respecting the
latter. MM. Gay Lussac and Thenard assert that this is
the case ; they say that they have exposed a mixture of car-
bonic oxide and chlorine, under all circumstances, to light,
without observing any alteration to take place f. Mr. Mur-
ray has made a similar statement f.

Having been led to repeat this experiment, from some
objections made by the last-mentioned gentleman to the
theory of my brother, Sir Humphry Davy, concerning
chlorine, I was surprised at witnessing a different result.

The mixture exposed, consisted of about equal volumes
of chlorine and carbonic oxide; the gasses had been pre-
viously dried over mercury by the action of fused muriate
of lime, and the exhausted glass globe into which they
were introduced from a receiver with suitable stopcocks,
was carefully dried. After exposure for about a quarter of
‘ an hour to bright sunshine, the colour of the chlorine had
entirely disappeared ; the stopcock belonging to the globe
being turned in mercury recently boiled, a considerable ab-
sorption took place, just equal to one ha'f the volume of
the mixture, and the residual gas possessed properties per-
fectly distinct from those belonging either to carbonic oxide
or chlorine.

Thrown into the atmosphere, it did not fume. Its odour

* From the Philosophical Transactions for 1812, part i.
+ Recherches Physico-Chimiques, tom. ii. p. 150.
¢ Nicholson’s Journal, vol. xxx. p. 227.
f2 was

444 On a gaseous Compound

was different from that of chlorine, something like that
which one might imagine would result from the smell of
ehlorine combined with that of ammonia, yet more into-
Jerable and suffocating than chlorine itself, and affecting
the eyes in a peculiar manner, producing a rapid flow of
tears and occasioning painful sensations.

[ts chemical properties were not less deeidedly marked
than its physical ones,

Thrown into a tube full of mercury containing a slip of
dry litmus paper, it immediately rendered the paper red.

Mixed with ammoniacal gas, a rapid condensation took
place, a white salt was formed, and much heat was pro-
duced.

The compound of this gas and ammonia was a perfect
neutral salt, neither changing the colour of turmeric or lit-
mus; it had no perceptible odour, but a pungent saline
taste ; it was deliquescent, and of course very soluble in
water; it was decomposed by the sulphuric, nitric, and
phosphoric acids, and also by liquid muriatic acid ; but it
sublimed unaltered in the muriatic, carbonic, and sulphu-
reous acid gasses, and dissolved without effervescing in
acetic acid. The products of its decomposition collected
over mercury were found to be the carbonic and muriatic
acid gasses; and in the experiment with concentrated sul-
pburic acid when accurate results could be obtained, these
two gasses were in such proportions, that the volume of the
Jatter was double that of the former.

I have ascertained by repeated trials, both synthetical and
analytical, that the gas condenses four times its volume of
the volatile alkali, and I have not been able to combine it
with asmaller proportion. © .

Tin fused in the gas ina bent glass tube over mercury,
by means of a spirit lamp, rapidly decomposed it; the li-
quor of Libavius was formed; and when the vessel had
cooled, there was not the least change of the volume of
the gas perceptible ; but the gas had entirely lost its offen-
sive odour, and was merely carbonic oxide; for like car-
bonic oxide it burnt with a blue flame, afforded carbonic
acid by its combustion, and was not absorbable by water. |

The effects of zinc, antimony, and arsenic heated in the
gas, were similar to those of tin ; compounds of these me-
tals and chlorine were formed, and carbonic oxide in each
experiment was liberated equal in volume to the gas deecom-
posed. In each instance the action of the metal was quick ;
the decomposition being completed in less than ten mi-
nutes ; but though the action was rapit, it was likewise

tranquil,

of carbonic Oxide and Chlorine. 445

tranqail, no explosion ever took place, and none of the me-
tals became ignited or inflamed.

The action even of potassium heated in the gas was not
violent. But from the great absorption of gas, and from
the precipitation of carben indicated by the blackness pro-
duced, not only the new gas, but likewise the carbonic
oxide, appeared to be decomposed.

The white oxide of zine heated in the gas quickly decom-
posed it, just as readily indeed as the metal itself there was
the same formation of the butter of zine; but instead of
carbonic oxide being produced, carbonic acid was formed ;
and, as usual, there was no change of volume.

The protoxide of antimony fused in the gas rapidly de-
composed it ; the butter of antimony and the infusible per-
oxide were formed; there was no change of the volume
of the gas, and the residual gas was carbonic oxide.

Sulphur and phosphorus sublimed in the gas, produced
no apparent change ; the volume of the gas was unaltered,
and its characteristic smell was undiminished.

Mixed with hydrogen or oxygen singly, the gas was not
inflamed by the electric spark, but mixed with both, in
proper proportions, viz. two parts in volume of the former
and one of the latter to two parts of the gas, a violent ex-
plosion was produced, and the muriatic and carbonic acid
gasses were formed.

The gas transferred to water was quickly decomposed,
the carbonic and muriatic acids were formed, as in the last
experiment, and the effect was the same even when light
was excluded.

From the mode of the formation of the gas and the con-
densation that takes place at the time, from the results of
the decomposition of its ammoniacal salt, and from the
analysis of the gas by metals and metallic oxides, it appears
to be a compound of carbonic Oxide aid chlorine condensed
into half the space which they occupied separately.

And from its combining with ammonia, and forming
with this alkali a neutral salt, and from its reddening lit-
mus, it seems to be an acid It is similar to acids in other
respects ; in decomposing the dry sub-carbonate of ammo-
nia, one part in yolume of it expelling two parts of car-
bonic acid gas ; and in being itself not expelled from am-
monia by any of the acid gasses, or by acetic acid. In-
dependent of these circumstances, were power of saturation
to be taken as the measure of affinity, the attraction of this
gas for ammonia must be allowed to be greater than that of
any other substance, for its saturating power !s greater; no

Fi3 acid

446 On a gaseous Compound

acid condenses so large a proportion of ammonia; carbonic
acid only condenses half as much, and yet does not forma
neutral salt. The great saturating and neutralizing powers
of this gas are singular circumstances, and particularly
singular when compared with those of muriatic acid gas.

Tn consequence of its being decomposed by water, I have
not been able to ascertain whether it is capable of com-
bining with the fixed alkalies. Added to solutions of these
substances it was absorbed, and carbonic acid gas was dis-
engaged by an acid.

I have made the experiment on the native carbonates of
lime and barytes, but the gas did not decompose these bo-
dies. This indeed might be expected, since quick-lime, I
find, does not absorb the gas: acubic inch of it, exposed
to the action of lime in a tube over mercury, was only di-
minished in two days to nine-tenths of a cubic inch, and
no further absorption was afterwards observed to take place.
But even this circumstance does not demonstrate that the
gas has no affinity for lime, and is not capable of combin-
ing with it; for on making a similar experiment with car-
bonic acid, substituting this gas for the new compound, the
result was the same; in two days only about one-tenth of
a cubic inch was absorbed.

Though the gas is decomposed by water, yet it appears to
be absorbed unaltered by common spirits of wine, which
contains so considerable a quantity of water; it imparted
its peculiar odour to the spirit, and its property of affecting
the eyes ; five measures of the spirit condensed sixty mea-
sures of the gas.

It is also absorbed by the fuming liquor of arsenie, and
by the oxymuriate of sulphur.

The former appeared to require for saturation ten times
its own volume; six measures of the liquor condensed
about sixty of the gas. The liquor thus impregnated was
thrown into water, and a pretty appearance was produced
by the sudden escape of bubbles of the gas: had not its in-
tolerable smel] convinced me that the gas was unaltered, I
should not have conceived that it could pass through water
undecomiposed,

I cannot account for the assertion of MM. Gay Lussac
and Thenard and of Mr. Murray, that oxymuriatic gas
does not, when under the influence of light, exert any ac-
tion on carbonic oxide: I was inclined at first to suppose
that the difference between -their results and mine, might
be owing to their not having exposed the gasses together to
bright sunshine; but T have been obliged to ee

idea,

of carbonic Oxide and Chlorine. 447

idea, since I have found that bright sunshine is not essen-
tial, and that the combination 1s produced in less than
twelve hours by the indirect solar rays, light alone being
necessary.

The formation of the new gas may be very readily wit-
nessed, by making a mixture of dry carbonic oxide and chlo-
rine in a glass tube over mercury: if light be excluded, the
chlorine will be absorbed by the mercury, the carbonic oxide
alone remaining ; but if bright sunshine be immediately ad-
mitted when the mixture first is made, a rapid ascension of
the mercury will take place, aud in less than a minute the
‘colour of the chlorine will be destroyed, and in about ten
minutes the condensation will have ceased, and the com-
bination of the two gasses will be complete.

It is requisite that the gasses should be dried for forming
this compound; if this precaution is neglected, the new
gas will be far from pure; it will contain a considerable
admixture of the carbonic and muriatic acid gasses, which
are produced in consequence of the decomposition of hy-
grometrical water. Indeed there is considerable difficulty in
procuring the new gas tolerably pure ; a good air pump is
‘required, and perfectly tight stopcocks, and dry gasses, and
dry vessels.

I have endeavoured to procure the gas, by passing a mix-
ture of carbonic oxide and chlorine through an earthenware
tube heated to redness ; but without success.

The specific gravity of the gas may be inferred from the
specific gravities of its constituent parts jointly with the
condensation that takes place at their union. According to
Cruickshank, 100 cubic inches of carbonic oxide weigh
29°6 grains, and according to Sir Humphry Davy, 100 of
chlorine are equal to 76°37 grains: dence, as equal volumes
of these gasses combine, and become so condensed as to
occupy only half the space they before filled, it follows that
100 cubic inches of the new compound gas are equal to
105°97 grains. Thus this gas exceeds most others as much
in its density as it does in its saturating power.

To ascertain whether chlorine bas a stronger affinity for
hydrogen than for carbonic oxide, I exposed a mixture of
the three gasses in equal volumes to light. Both the new
compound and muriatic acid gas were formed, and the affi-
nities were so nicely balanced, that the chlorine was nearly
equally divided between them. And tbat the attraction of
chlorine tor both these gasses is nearly the same, appears to
be confirmed by muriatic acid not being decomposed by car-

banic oxide, or the new gas by hydrogen.
: . Fi“: The

448 New Tables for finding the Deviation of a Siar

The chlorine and carbonic oxide are, it is evident from#
these last facts, united by strong attractions ; and as the pro-
perties of the substance as a peculiar compound are well
characterized, it will be necessary to designate it by some
simple name. I venture to propose that of phosgene, or
phosgene gas; from ws, light, and yivouat, to produce,
which signifies formed by light; and as yet no other mode
of producing it has been discovered.

I have exposed mixtures consisting of different propor-
tions of chlorine and carbonie acid to light; but have ob-
tained no new compound.

The proportions in which bodies con:bine appear to be
determined by fixed laws, which are exemplified in a variety
of instances, and particularly in the present compound.
Oxygen combines with twice its volume of hydrogen and
twice its volunie of carbonic oxide to form water and car-
bonic acid, and with half its volume of chlorine to forma
euchlorine ; and chlorine reciprocally requires its own vo-
lume of hydrogen and its own volume of carbonic oxide
to form muriatic acid and the new gas. |

This relation of proportions is one of the most beautiful
parts of chemical philosophy, and that which promises fair-
est, when prosecuted, to raise chemistry to the state and
eertainty of a mathematical science.

LXIX. New Tables for finding the Deviation of a Star in
North Polar Distance and Right Ascension. By Mr. T.
FirMIncER, late Assistant Astronomer at the Royat
Observatory, Greenwich *.

Ts the present improved state of astronomy, every means
which tends to simplify calculation is readily embraced by
the practical astronomer. With this view a variety of tables
at different times have been published, and some of them
so coneise and simple that they seem to afford but little if
any room for further tmprovement ; whilst others, however,
have not yet been so far improved, but that they still admit
of a considerable degree, of simplification ; and of these the
means of determining the nutation of a star in north polar
distance from tables as heitherto published, is an instance. -

Finding a considerable inconvenience in the computa-
tion of this equation of constant use in the reduction of
meridional zenith distances from Dr. Maskelyne’s Tables,

« * Master of an Academy for the Instruction of a limited Number of

Young Gentlemen in the Theory and Practice of the Mathematics and Ma-

thematical Sciences, tH
published

in North Polar Distance and Right Ascension. 449

published at the end of the Greeenwich Observations of the
year 1798, wherein the argument is applied to take out
the equation by double entry, induced me to compute new
tables for more readily finding it. The formula which
I deduced for this purpose, is expressed by — 17,22 X Sy.
(x R-+Long. p*Q)+8”,33° (¥ Ai—Long. D® Q ) taking
the semi-axis major and minor at 9”,55 and 7,11 re-
spectively. The table will therefore be easily computed at
any subsequent period, should the major and minor axis of
the ellipse of nutation be hereafter determined of different
values from that which has been used in the above for-
mule. ;

In taking out the equation of nutation, the algebraic
sum of the two parts of the table, give the whole equation,
entering the first part of the table with sum of the star’s
right ascension, and longitude of the moon’s ascend-
ing node; and the second part of the table with the right
ascension of the star minus the longitude of the moon’s
ascending node.

Examples.

Example 1. To find the nutation in north polar di-
stance for Arcturus, on July 1, 1812.

Right ascension Arcturus 7° 1° 47’ 39”

Longitude )* Q ..+e-- 5 1 31 09

x M+ Long. py’ B «0 3 18 39 PartI —17,13

*:MR—Long. °° B . 20 16 39 Part II —8”,11

Nutation required... —9”,24

To find the deviation of Sirius in north polar distance on
July 1, 1812.

Right ascension Sirius .. 3° 9? 13’ 28”

Long. 26 8 i..sssaae Dd, 1 31 00

x' M+ Long. )' Bs. 8 10 44 28 +1%,13

** AR— Long. D' QB. 10 7 42 28 +6",60

———

Deviation required... +7573

When the longitude of the moon’s ascending node ex-
ceeds the star’s right ascension, asin the last example;
twelve signs must be added to the star’s right ascension
before the subtraction can be made.

These tables may be also applied to finding the deviation
of a star in right ascension, but in this they require a little
more

450 New Tables for finding the Deviation of a Star, &c.

more labour than in the above application. The method
‘is by adding three signs to the star’s right ascension, if its
declination 1s north; and on the contrary, subtract three
signs if the declination be south ; then proceed as directed
above, and multiply the equation so found by the natural
tangent of the star’s declination, and the product converted
into time will give the deviation required.

| *°A.R. + Long. )* 8 * A.R. —Long. }* 8
fstype Ob pipe. Sitio = fey) egee.
S. |VE + |VIL4 JVIN4 S- | VI 4 | VII + |VIT+
“ 7] ‘ ° “ “a “ o
0 | 0,00 | 0,60 | 1,04 | 30 © | 0,00 | 4,17 | 7,22 | so
| 1 | 0,02 } 0,62 | 1,05 | 29 1] 0,15 | 4,80 | 7,29 | 29
| 2] 0,04 | 0,64 | 1,06 | 28 2] 0,29 | 4,42 | 7,36 | 28
{ 3 |°0,06 | 0,65 | 1,07 | 97 3 | 0,43 | 4,54] 7,43 | 27
4 | 0,08 | 0,67 | 1,08 | 26 4] 0,58 | 4,66] 7,50 | 26
5 | 0,10 | 0,69 | 1,09 | 25 5 | 0,73 | 4,78 | 7.56 | 25
6 | 0,13 | 0,71 1,10 | 24 6 | 0,87 | 4,90 | 7,62 | 24
7 | 6,15 | 0,72 | 1,10 | 23 7 | 1,02 | 5,02 | 7,68 | 23
8 | 0,17 | 0,74 | 1,11 | 22 8 | 1,16 | 5,14] 7,73 | 22
9 | 0,19 | 0,76 | 1,12 | 21 9} 1,30 | 5,25 | 7,79 | 21
10 | 0,21 | 0,77 | 1,13 | 20 10 | 1,45 | 5,36 | 7,84 | 20
11] 0,23 | 0,79 | 1,18 | 19 Li | 1,59 | 5,47 | 7,89 | 19
12 | 0,25 | 0.80 | 1,14 | 18 12 | 1,73 | 5,58 | 7,93 | 18
13 | 0,27 | 0,82 | 1,15 | 17 13 | 1,88 | 5,69} 7,98 | 17
14} 0,99 | 0,83 | 1,15 | 16 14 | 2.02 | 5,79 } 8,02 | 16
15 | 0,31 | 0,83 | 1,16 | 15 15 | 216 | 5,89 | 806 | 15
16 | 0,33 | 0,86 | 1,16 | 14 16 | 2,29 | 6,00 | 8,09 | 14
17 | 0,35 | 0,88 | 1,17 | 13 17 | 2,44 | 6,10 | 813 | 13
18 | 0,37 | 0,89 | 1,17 | 12 18 |°2,58 | 6,20 | 816 | 12
19 | 0,39 | 0,91 | 1,18 | 12 19 | 2,72 | 6,29 | 8,19 | 11
20 | 0,41 | 0,92 | 1,18 | 10 20 | 2,86 } 6,40 | 8,21 | 10
21 | 0,43 | 0,93 | 1,19 | 9 21 | 2,99 | 6,48 | 824] 9
22 | 0,45 | 0,95 | 1,19 | 8 22 | 3,12 | 6.57 | 826 | 8
23 | 0,47 | 0,95 | 1,19 | 7 23 | 3,26 |. 6,66 | 8.28 |] 7
24| 0,49 | 0,97 | 1,19} 6 24 | 3,39 | 6,75 | 829 | 6
25 | 0,51 | 0,98 | 1,20] 5 25 | 3,53 | 682] 831 | 5
26 | 053] 0,99 | 1,20] 4 26 | 3,66 | 691 | 832} 4
27! 0,54] 1,01 | 1,20] 3 27 | 3,79 | 699 | 833 | 8
28 | 0,56 | 1,02] 1,20] 2 28 | 3,92 | 7,07 | 854] 2
29 | 0,58 | 1,03] 1,21 | 1 29 | 404 | 7,15 | 8,94]. 1
| 30 | 0,60 | 1,04 | 1,21 | 0 go | 4,171 7,22 | 8,34 | 0
X1+/X + |IK + XI + |X + |X +
| Viv —} i= ey ant by | 1

LXX. 4 Nar-

[ 451 ]

LXX. A Narrative of the Eruption of a Volcano in the
Sea off the Island of St. Michael. By S. Titvarp,
Esq. Captain in the Royal Navy. Communicated by the
Right Hon. Sir JoseeH Banks, Bart. K.B.P.R.S.*

A pproacutne the island of St. Michael’s, on Sunday the
12th of June 1811, in His Majesty’s sloop Sabrina under
my command, we occasionally observed, rising in the ho--
rizon, two or three columns of smoke, such as would have
been occasioned by an action between two ships, to which
cause we universally attributed its origin. This opinion
was, however, in a very short time changed, from the
smoke increasing and ascending in much larger bodies than
could possibly have been produced by such an event ; and
having heard an account, prior to our sailing from Lisbon,
that in the preceding January or February a volcano had
burst out within the sea near St. Michael’s, we immediately
concluded that the smoke we saw proceeded from that
cause, and on our anchoring the next morning in the road
of Ponta del Gada, we found this conjecture correct as to
the cause, but not to the time; the eruption of January
having totally subsided, and the present one having only
burst forth two days prior to our approach, and about three
miles distant from the one before alluded to.

Desirous of examining as minutely as possible a conten-
tion so extraordinary between two such powerful elements,
I set off from the city of Ponta del Gada on the morning of
the 14th, in company with Mr. Read, the Consul General
of the Azores, and two other gentlemen. After riding
about twenty miles across the NW. end of the island of
St. Michael’s, we came to the edge of a cliff from whence
the volcano burst suddenly upon our view in the most ter-
rific and awful grandeur. It was only a short mile from
the base of the cliff, which was nearly perpendicular, and
formed the margin of the sea; this cliff being as nearly as
Tcould judge from three to four hundred feet high. To
give you an adequate idea of the scene by description is
far beyond my powers; but for your satisfaction I shall
attempt it. .

Imagine an immense body of smoke rising from the sea,
the surface which was marked by the silvery ripling of the
waves, occasioned by the light and steady breezes incidental
to th e climates in summer. In a quiescent state, it had
the appearance of a circular cloud revolving on the water

* From the Philosophical Transactions for 1812, part i.

like

452 A Narrative of the Eruption of a Volcano

like an horizontal wheel, in various and irregular involu-
‘tions, expanding itself gradually on the lee side, when sud=
denly a column of the blackest cinders, ashes, and stones
would shoot up in form of a spire at an angle of from ten
to twenty degrees from a perpendicular line, the angle of
inclination being universally to windward: this was rapidly
succeeded by a s¢cond, third, and fourth, each acquiring
greater velocity, and overtopping the other till they had
attained an altitude as much above the level of. our eye, as
the sea was below it.

As the impetus with which the columns were severally
propelled diminished, and their ascending motion had
nearly ceased, they broke into various branches resembling
a groupe of pines, these again forming themselves into
festoons of white feathery smoke in the most fanciful
manner imaginable, intermixed with the finest particles of
falling ashes, which at one time assumed the appearance of
innumerable plumes of black and white ostrich feathers
surmounting each other ; at another, that of the light wavy
branches of a weeping willow.

During these bursts, the most vivid flashes of lightning
continually issued trom the densest part of the volcano;
and the cloud of smoke now ascending to an altitude much
above the highest point to which the ashes were projected,
rolled off in large masses of fleecy clouds, gradually ex-
panding themselves before the wind in a direction nearly
horizontal, and drawing up to them a quantity of water
spouts, which formed a most beautiful and striking addi-
tion to the general appearance of the scene. 1

That part of the sea where the volcano was situated, was
upwards of thirty fathoms deep, and at the time of our
viewing it the volcano was only four days old. Soon after
our arrival on the cliff, a peasant. observed he could discern
a peak above the water: we looked, but could not see it:
however, in less than half an hour it was plainly visible,
and before we quitted the place, which was about three
hours from the time of our arrival, a complete crater was
formed above the water, not less than twenty feet high on
the side where the greatest quantity of ashes fell; the dia«
meter of the crater being apparently about four or five hun-
dred feet.

The great eruptions were generally attended with a noise
like the continued firing of cannon and musquetry inter-
mixed, as also with slight shocks of earthquakes, several of
which having been felt by my companions, but none by
myself, IT had become half sceptical, and thought their

opinion

in the Sea off the Island of St. Michael. 455

opinion arose merely from the force of imagination: but

while we were sitting within five or six yards of the edge
of the cliff, partaking of a slight repast which had been

brought with us, and were all busily engaged, one of the
most magnificent bursts took place which we had yet wit-
nessed, accompanied by a very severe shock of an earth-
quake. The instantaneous and involuntary movement of
each was to spring upon his feet, and I said ‘* This admits
of no doubt.”” The words had scarce passed mv lips, be-
fore we observed a large portion of the face of the cliff,

about fifty yards on our left, falling,-which it did with a
violent crash. So soon as our first consternation had a
little subsided, we removed about ten or a dozen yards
further from the edge of the cliff, and finished our dinner.

On the succeeding day, June 15th, having the Consul
and some other friends on board, 1 weighed, and proceeded
with the ship towards the volcano, with the intention of
witnessing a might view; but in this expectation we were
greatly disappoimted, from the wind freshening and the
weather becoming thick and hazy, and also from the vol-
eano itself being clearly more quiescent than it was the
preceding day. It seldom emitted any lightning, but oc-
casionally as much flame as may be seen to issue from the
top of a glass-house or foundery chininey.

On passing directly under the great cloud of smoke, about
three or four miles distant from the volcano, the decks of
the ship were covered with fine black ashes, which fell in-
termixt with small rain. We returned the next morning,
and late on the evening of the same day I took my leave of
St. Michael’s to complete my cruize.

On opening the volcano clear of the NW. part of the
island, after dark on the 16th, we witnessed one or two
eruptions that, had the ship been near enough, would have
been awfully grand. It appeared one continued blaze of
lightning ; but the distance which it was at from the ship,
upwards of twenty miles, prevented our seeing it with
effect.

Returning again towards St. Michael’s on the 4th of
July, I was obliged, by the state of the wind, to pass with
the ship very close to the island, which was now completely
formed by the volcano, being nearly the height of Mat-
Jock High Tor, about eighty yards above the sea. At this
time it was perfectly tranquil; which circumstance deter-
mined me to land, and explore it more narrowly.

[left the ship in one of the boats, accompanied by some
of the officers. As we approached, we perceived that it
was

454 A Narrative of the Eruption of a Volcano.

was still smoking in many parts, and upon our reaching
the island found the surf om the beach very high. Rowing
round to the lee side, with some little difficulty, by the aid
of an oar, as a pole, I jumped on shore, and was followed
by the other officers. We found a narrow beach of black
ashes, from which the side of the island rose in general
too steep to admit of our ascending; and where we could
have clambered up, the mass of matter was much too hot
to allow our proceeding more than a few yards in the as-
cent.

‘The declivity below the surface of the sea was equally
steep, having seven fathoms water scarce the boat’s
Jength from the shore, and at the distance of twenty or
thirty yards we sounded twenty-five fathoms.

From walking round it in about twelve minutes, I
should judge that it was something less than a mile in cir-
cumference ; but the most extraordinary part was the cra-
ter, the mouth of which, on the side facing St. Michael’s,
was nearly level with the sea. Jt was filled with water, at
that time boiling, and was emptying itself into the sea by
a small stream about six yards over, and by which I should
suppose it was continually filled again at high water. This
stream, close to the edge of the sea, was so hot, as only to
admit the finger to be dipped suddenly in, and taken out
again immediately.

It appeared evident, by the formation of this part of the
island, that the sea had, during the eruptions, broke into
the crater in two places, as the east side of the small stream
was hounded by a precipice, a cliff between twenty and
thirty feet high forming a peninsula of about the same di-
mensions in width, and from fifty to sixty feet long, con-
nected with the other part of the island by a narrow ridge
of cinders and lava, as an isthmus of from forty to fifty
feet in length, from which the crater rose in the form of an
amphitheatre.

This cliff, at two or three miles distance from the island,
had the appearance of a work of art resembling a small fort
or block house. The top of this we were determined, if
possible, to attain ; but the difficulty we had to encounter
in doing so was considerable; the only way to attempt it
was up the side of the isthmus, which was so steep, that
the only mode by which we could effect it, was by fixing
the end of an var at the base, with the assistance of which
we forced ourselves up in nearly a backward direction.

Having reached the summit of the isthmus, we found
another difficulty, for it was impossible to walk upon it, we

the

On the primitive Crystals of Carbonate of Lime. 455

the descent on the other side was immediate, and as steep
as the one we had ascended; but by throwing our legs
across it, as would be done on the ridge of a house, and
moving ourselves forward by our hands, we at length
reached that part of it where it gradually widened itself and
formed the summit of the cliff, which we found to have a
perfectly flat surface, of the dimensions before stated.

Judging this to be the most conspicuous situation, we
here planted the Union, and left a bottle sealed up contain-
ing a small account of the origin of the island, and of our
having landed upon it, and naming it Sabrina Island.

Within the crater I found the complete skeleton of a
guard-fish, the bones of which being perfectly burnt, fell
to pieces upon attempting to take them up; and by the
account of the inhabitants on the coast of St. Michael’s,
great numbers of fish had been destroyed during the early
part of the erupt on, as large quantities, probably suffocated
or poisoned, were occasionally found drifted into the small
inlets or bays.

The island, like other volcanic productions, is com-
posed principally of porous substances, and generally
burnt to complete cinders, with occasional masses of a
stone, which I should suppose to be a mixture of iron and
lime-stone; but have sent you specimens to enable you to
form a better judgement than you possibly can by any de-
scription of mine. ’

LXX. On the primitive Crystals of Carbonate of Lime,
Bitter-Spar, and Iron-Spar. By Witttam HypE Wot-
Laston, M.D. Sec. R.S.*

Warr I formerly described to the society a goniometer +
upon a new construction for measuring the angles of cry-
stals, I expressed an expectation that we should thereby be
enabled to correct former observations made by means of
less accurate instruments. I took occasion to mention one
instance of inaccurate measurement in the primitive angle
of the common carbonate of lime; and J have had the sa-
tisfaction to find the necessity of a correction, in that in-
stance, confirmed by Mons. Malus, and admitted by the
Abbé Haiiy, ina work f published nearly at the same time.

* From the Philosophical Transactions for 1812, part I.
+ Bhilosophical Transactions for 1809. ‘See Phil. Mag. vol. xxxv. p.94.
$ Tableau Comparatif des Résultats de la Crystallographie et de l’Analyse
Chimique. / I
t

456 On the primitive Crystals of Carbonate of Lime,

It is by no means my design to detract in any degree from
the merit of that justly celebrated crystallographer, to the
surprising accuracy‘of whose measurements [ could, in va-
rious instances, bear testimony. I hope, on the contrary,
that in bringing forward two more observations similar to
the preceding, and intimately connected with it, I shall
offer what will not only appear interesting: to crystallogra-
phers in general, but will be peculiarly. gratifying to the
Abbé Haiiy.

In his Traité de Minéralogie, and again more recently
in his Tableau Comparatif, the same primitive form is as-
signed to three substances very different in their compo-
sition, to carbonate of lime, to magnesian carbonate of
lime (or bitter-spar), and to carbonate of iron.

It has been objected to Mons. Haiiy, that according to
his method identity of form should be accompanied by
identity of composition, unless the form were one of the
common regular solids. For though in that case any geo-
metrician would readily admit it to be very probable, that
many different substances might concur in assuming the
same form of cube, of octohedron, or of dodecahedron,
&c. there does not appear a corresponding probability that
any two dissimilar substances would assume the same form
of a peasatar rhomboid of 105°.and a few minutes, to
which no such geometric regularity or peculiar simplicity

can be ascribed.

But though so accurate a correspondence, as has been hi-
therto supposed to exist in the measures of the three car-
bonates above mentioned, might be justly considered as
highly improbable, no degree of improbability whatever
attaches to the supposition, that their angles approach each
other by some difference, so small as bitherto to have es-
caped detection. And this in fact I find to be the case.

Since the angles observable in fractures of crystalline
substances are subject to vary a little at different surfaces,
and even in different parts of the same surface (as 1s evident
from the confused image seen by reflection from them), I
shal] not at present undertake to determine the angles of
these bodies to less than five minutes of a degree. This,
indeed, is the smallest division of the goniometer that I
usually employ, as I purposely decline giving so much time
to these inquiries as would be requisite for attempting to
arrive at greater precisiou.

The most accurate determination of the angle of car-
bonate of lime is probably that of Mons. Malus, who mea~_
sured it by means of arepeating circle, and found it to be

105°"'9’,

Bitter-Spar, and Iron- Spar. 457

05° 5°. And this, indeed, is the result to which T for-
merly came by a different method *. If it differ in any re-
spect from this quantity, [am inclined to think that it will
more likely be found to be deficient by a few minutes, than
to exceed the measure here assigned; and accordingly to
differ still more widely from those angles which I am about
to mention,

In the magnesian carbonate of lime, or bitter-spar, the
primitive form is well known to be a regular rhomboid, as
well as that of carbonate of lime, and so nearly resembling
it, as to have been hitherto supposed the same. I find,
however, a difference of 12 10’ in the measures of these!
crystals; for that of the magnesian carbonate is full 1064°,
as [ have observed with uniformity in at least five ditterent
specimens of this substance obtained from situations very
distant from each other,

The primitive angle of iron-spar is still more remote
from that of the carbonate of lime, which it execeds by
nearly two degrees. I have examined various specimens
of this substance, some pure white, others brown, some
transparent, others opake. That which gives the most
_ distinct image by reflection is of a brownish hne, with the
semi- transparency of horn. It wasobtained from a tin mine,
called Maudlin Mine, near Lostwithiel in Cornwall. By
repeated measurement of small fragments of this specimen,
the angle appears to be so nearly 107°, that I cannot form
any judgement whether in perfect ery stals it will prove to be

greater or less than that angle.
' Jn this instance the carbonate of iron is nearly pure, and
so perfectly free from carbonate of lime, as to render it
highly probable that in other specimens having,the same
angle, but containing also carbonate of lime er other i ingre-
dients intermixed, the form is really depeudent on the car-
borate of iron alone.

It appears however not unlikely, that when substances
which agree so nearly in their primitive angle are inter-
mixed m certain proportions, they may each exert their
powers; and may occasion that confused appearance of cry-
stallization with curved surfaces, known by the name of
peari-spar. [ cannot say that I have made any accurate
comparative analyses which may be adduced in support of
the hypothesis, that mixtures are more subject to curvature
than pure chemical compounds ; bat it is very evident from ,
the numerous analyses that have been made of iron-spar by

* Phil. Trans. 1802, p. 285.

Vol. 39. No. 170. June 1819. other

o
i]

458 Notices respecting New Books.

other chemists, how extremely variable they are in their
composition, and consequently how probable it is, that the
greater part of them are to be regarded as mixtures; al-
though it be aiso possible, that there may exist a triple car-
bonate of lime and iron as a strict chemical, compound.

It seems not unlikely, that there may hereafter be found
some carbonate allied to the preceding, which may owe its
form to the presence of manganese: but notwithstanding
the liberality which happily prevails in general amorfg those
who have it in their power to assist in such inquiries, I
have not had the good fortune to meet with any such com-
pound; and I am unwilling, merely in the hope of mak-
ing such an addition, any longer to defer communicating
an observation, which I bope will be of real utility in the
discrimination of bodies that difler so essentially in their
composition.

LXXII. Notices respecting New Books.

Paar I. of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society for 1812 has just made its appearance. The follow-
ing are its contents :

1. On the Grounds of the Method which Laplace has
given in the second Chapter of the third Book of his Mé-
canique Céleste for computing the Attractions of Spheroids
of every Description. By James Ivory, A.M. Commu.
nicated by Henry Brougham, Esq., F.R.S. M.P.—2. On
the Attractions of an extensive Class of Spheroids. By J.
Ivory, A.M. Communicated by Henry Brougham, Esq.
F.R.S. M.P.—-3. An Account of some Peculiarities in
the Structure of the Organ of Hearing in the Balena My-
sticetus of Linnzeus. By Everard Home, Esq., F.R.S.—
4, Chemical Researches on the Blood, and some other Ani-
mal Fluids. By William Thomas Brande, Esq., F.R.S.
Communicated to the Society tor the Improvement of Ani-
mal Chemistry, and by them to the Royal Society.—-5. Ob-
servations of a Comet, with Remarks on the Construction
of its different Parts By William Herschel, LL.D. F.R.S.
—6. On a gaseous Compound of carbonic Oxide and Chlo-
rine. By John Davy, Esq. Communicated by Sir Hum-
phry Davy, Knt., LL.D., Sec. R.S.—7. A Narrative of the
Eruption of a Volcano in the Sea off the Island of St. Mi-
chael. By S, Tillard, Esq., Captain in the Royal Navy.
Communicated by the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart.
K.B. P.R.S.—8. On the primitive Crystals of rigs |

te)

Royal Society. 459

of Lime, Bitter-Spar, and iron-Spar. By William Hyde
Wollaston, M.D. Sec. R.S.—9. Observations intended to
show that the progressive Motion of Snakes ts partly per-
formed by means of the Ribs. By Everard Home, Esq.
F.R.S.—10. An Account ef some Experiments on the
Combinations o: different Metals and Chlorine, &c. By
Join Davy, Esq. Communicated by Sir Humphry Davy,
Kut. LL.D. Sec. R.S.—11. Further Experiments and Ob-

servations on the Action of Poisons on the Animal System,

By B. C, Brodie, Esq. F-R.S. Commiunicaied to the So-

ciety for the Improvement of Animal Chemistry, and by
them to the Royal Society.

The Twelfth Number of Levbourn’s Mathematical
Repository contains, 1. Solutions to the Mathematical

Questions proposed in Number X —2. Ou the irreducivle

Case of Cubic Equations.——4. New Prope rues of the Conie
Sections. —4. Indeterminate Problems.—5. On the Ellipse
and Hyperbola.x—6. On the Roots of Equations of all Di-
mensions.—7. Properties of the Right-angled Trianyle.—
8. Continuation of Le Gendre’s Memoir ou Elliptic Tran-
scendentals.—g. A Series of new Quesiions to be answered
in a subsequent Number.

LO LOE DEEL aE See een ees
LXXIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies.

ROYAL SOCIETY.

Sixce our last Report, a paper by Mr. John Davy was read
on some of the combinaiions ot the fluoric prine:ple. fn
this paper Mr. John Davy gave the results of some experi-
ments on silicated fluoric gas and fluoboric gas, and de»
scribed a new and more simple method of procuring this
last gas; namely, by distilling together a mixture of diy
boracic acid, fluor spar, and oil of vitriol. He stated the
specific gravity of these gasses, and gave an account of their
combinations with ammonia. Fluoboric gas combines in
three proportions wiih ammonia, and with the largest pro-
portions of the alkalin€ gas forms saline combinations, fiuid
at the common temperatures of the atmosphere.

A paper by Sir H. Davy was read, on some combina-
cions of phosphorus and sulphur, and on other objects of
themical inquiry.

In this paper Sir H. Davy desembed pure phosphorous
acid as a solid crystalline body, vuiatile at a moderaie de~

Gp22 ; gree

460 Royal Society.

gree of heat. “He described a combination of this acid
with-water, likewise a crystalline solid, very combustible,
and when decomposed by heat affording a peculiar elastic
fluid absorbable by water, not spontaneously inflammable,
and consisting of phosphorus united to two volumes of hy-
drogen condensed into the space of one volume, and which
he proposes to call hydrophosphoric gas. .

He entered into the detail of some experiments on sul-
phuric acid, which, he stated, cannot exist independently of
the presence of water; and he described a solid compound
of nitrous acid gas, sulphurous acid gas, and water. He
considered all the facts advanced in this paper as affording
confirmations of the theory of definite proportions. And
he drew some general conclusions respecting the impor-
tance of water as a chemical agent. Most of the bodies
called oxides, when precipitated from aqueous solutions, are
in truth (said Sir H. Davy) hydrats; and their colours and
their properties depend upon the combined water.

June 11.—Dr. Wollaston “read to the Society a short
paper on improvements in the camera obscura and simple
microscope, founded on the same periscopic principles by
which he improved the construction of spectacles a few
years since *,

In his camera obscura the light is admitted through a

: en oie :
circular opening to the concave surface of a large meniscus

placed behind it, at such a distance that all pencils of rays
pass nearly at right angles through its posterior surface.
Hence those that come from objects obliquely situated,
form more distinct images, and afford a larger field of view
than is obtained by the common construction.

His microscope consists of two plano-convex lenses with
their flat surfaces towards each other, but prevented from
touching by a thin plate of metal. A small perforation in
the centre of the metal suffers no rays to pass but what are
at right angles to both the exterior surfaces, and hence give
-a distinct field of view of great extent.

He observes also that the camera lucida in its most sim-
ple form, with the upper surface of its prism concave, has
the same advantage as the periscopic construction.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

a

May 1, 1812. The president in the chair.—A_ paper by
Dr. M‘Culloch (member of the Society), ‘* On Bistre and

* Philosophical Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 165.
alt other

Geological Society. 461

other substancés produced in the distillation of wood; and
on their analogy with the native Bitumens,”’ was read.
When wood is submitted to destructive distillation, there
is obtained, among other products, a black substance re-
sembling common tar. This tar is very inflammable, and
so liquid that it may be burnt ina lamp. By washing it
with water either hot or cold, or submitting it to the action
of lime or of the mild alkalies, a large portion of acetic
acid is separated, and the residue becomes pitchy and tena-
cious. It is entirely soluble in caustic alkali, in alcohol,
in ether, in acetic acid, and in the mineral acids. The fat
oils and the recent essential oi!s dissolve but little of it; but
if the former are made drying, and if the latter have become
brown by keeping, they then act more readily and copi-
ously. Colvured oil of turpentine takes up a considerable
quantity, but naphtha only acquires a scarcely sensible
brown colour by digestion upon it. When carefully di-
stilled at a gentle heat it is decomposed into an oily mat-
ter, at first limpid and aftérwards brown, a quantity of
acetic acid combined with a little ammonia; and a spongy
coal remainsin the retort. In this process no inflammable
gas is given out; but at a high temperature the oi! is niore
or less decomposed, and an inflammable gas is produced,
which, however, does not burn with a flame by any means
so bright as the gas from pit-coal. If this destructive di-
stillation is not carried very far, the matter in the retort
will be found, when cold, to be solid, brilliant, shining,
and possessed of a conchoidal fracture: its taste is burn-
ing and pungent, and its odour is that of wood smoke ; it
is fusible and readily inflammable. When kept melted in
_ an open vessel till it ceases to be fusible, it becomes more
and more brilliant, its fracture passes to splimtery, and it
assumes the perfect appearance of asphaltum. In propor-
tidn as it approaches this stare it becomes Jess aud Jess so-
luble in alcohol, and at length scarcely gives a stain to this
menstruum. | Naphtha has no action on it, and in this cir-
cumstance alone it differs from asphaltum. Dr. M. then
proceeds to an examination of the Bitumens, and shows
that the difference between the products of recent vezetable
matter, and of the bitumens when subjected to distillation,
consists in the former yielding empyreumatic acetic acid
and a black pitchy matter insoluble in naphtha: while the
latter afford ammonia and naphtha, but little er no acid.
He then enters into a detailed investigation of the proper-
ties of the very important class of Lignites, or those sub-
Gg3 stances,

462 Geological Society.

stances, such as peat, surturbrand, Bovey coal, &e. in which
the traces of vegetable origin are not obliterated.

Submerged wood from. peat mosses gave a brown oil
smelling of wood- -tar, and refusing to dissolve in naphtha.

A compact pitchy-looking peat gave a fetid oil resem-
bling in odour neither wood-tar nor bitumen, and very
slightly soluble in naphtha.

Bovey brown coal gave an oil resembling in odour that
of wood-tar, but much more soluble in naplitha: that por-
tion of the oil which was insoluble in this menstruum had
a strong odour of wood smoke.

The oil of jet was almost perfectly soluble in naphtha,
and smelled strongly ot petroleum ; but it afforded also em-
pyreumatic acetic “acid.

Thus it appears that there exists a class of fossils of un-,
donbted vegetable origin, which exhibit the gradual pro-
gress from wood to bitumen, and in which this change
has been brought about by the action not of heat but of
water.

The experiments, however, of Sir James Hall seem to
show that heat with compression 1s also capable of con-
verting wood into coal._—A oe examination of this tact
was the next object of Dr. M.; and he found on heating
wood in close gun-barrels that a black coaly-lvoking sub-
stauce was indeed produced, but that it consisted wholly of
charcoal, empyreumatic acid, and wood-tar, and did not
contain the smallest portion of real bitumen. Hence the
experiments alluded to do by no. means prove the possibj-
lity of converting vegetable matter into real coal by mere
heat. It appears however to Dr. M, that the consolidas
tion of bituminized vegetables into coal is not unhkely ta
be the effect of subterranean heat.

The paper concludes by showing the identity of the pitch
procured from the distillation of wood and the pigment
called Batre; and points out methods of obtaining 1 in a
state beiter fitted than common bisire for the purposes of
the artist: and also enumerates several other uses fo which
this substance may be ceconomicdlly applied. :

Some notes on the mineralogy of the neighbourhood of
Si. David’s, in Pembrokeshire, by Dr Kidd, (Prot. chem,
Oxford, and member of the Geolozical Sacietyv,) were read.

The country about St. David’s when view el from an
eminence presents the appearance of an extensive uneverr
plain, interspersed with numerous deiached hills or rocky
summits of an irregular conical shape. The two highes' of

‘ these,

Geological Society. 463

these hills are Penbury and Carn-Llidy, the western por-
tion of the latter of which forms the promontory of St.
David’s-head.

These hills present no appearance of stratification, and
are composed of feldspar and hornblend in various propor-
tions and states of aggregation. They are each surrounded
by mantle-shaped strata of slate, elevated at a bigh angle,
and presenting the characters of grauwakke-slate. This
latter is traversed by veins of quartz, from which very fine
specimens of rock-crystal are procured. No carbonate of
lime appears to be contained either in the unstratified trap
or in the élaty grauwakke; nor did there occur in them,
with the exception of one equivocal instance, the smallest
trace of any organic remain.

May 15. The president in the chair.—An account of
the island of Teneriffe, by the hon. Henry Grey Bennet,
(member of the Geological Society) was read.

The greatest length of this island from north to south is
about seventy miles, its greatest breadth does not exceed
thirty miles. In the south-western part of the island is si-
tuated the mountain called by the Spaniards El Pico di
Tiede, but better known by the name of The Peak of Te-
neriffe, the height of which, from the mean of several ob-
servations, appears to be about 12,500 English feet.

The rocks and strata of this island appear to be, wholly
voleanic. A Jong chain of mountains passes through the ,
interior, sloping on the eastern, western, and northern
sides to the sea, but on the S. and SW. elevated into
nearly perpendicular mountains which are intersected by
deep and narrow ravines... i

The lowest bed of the island is porphyritic lava composed
of hornblend and feldspar, in its upper part porous, sco-
riform, and sometimes passing into the state of pumice.
Upon this rests a hed of the same substances as already
mentioned, but in structure nearly approaching to green-
stone. This is covered by a thick bed of pumice, which
itself is overspread with basaltic lava, on which in many
places rest beds of tufa and volcanic ash.

This basaltic lava decomposes sooner than any of the
other rocks, and contains the greatest variety of imbedded
substances: it is sometimes divided by a layer of olivine
in crystals some inches long, and is often intersected by
thick veins of porphyritic. slate. Zeolite and chalcedony
also occur in it.

_The number of small craters and extinct volcanos is pro-
digious ;—they are to be found in all parts of the island,
Gg4 but

464 Geological Society.

but none of them have heen in activity of late years. The
great streams of lava have flowed from the peak: those of
the years 1704 and 1797 (which was the last) are basaltic.
This latter flowed so slowly, notwithstanding the sharp de-
scent of the mountain, that it was several days i in advancing
three miles. On the south-western side of the peak is an
ancient lava not at all decomposed several miles in length,

and in a perfect state of vitrification resembling obsidian.

‘dune 5. The president in the cbair.—Lord viscountValentia
and W,. Franklin, M. D. were elected ordinary members.

«An account,” by Thomas Webster, esq. (member of
the Geological Society,) ‘ of some new varieties of Aley-
onia, found in the Isle of Wight,” was read.

In viewing the rocks about Ventnor Cove and in various
parts of the undercliff, Mr. Webster remarked, in at
sandstone stratum immediately under the chaik-marl,
great number of small prominences resembling in ee
the branches of trees. They were of various. sizes, from
half an inch to three or four inches in diameter : their sub-~
stance was sandstone of the same kind as the rocks they
were in; but the part resembling the bark was somewhat
harder, which enabled it to endure longer than the rest. of
the stone, and thus project above its surface. Some of
them were straight, others a little crooked, and in a few
instances he observed them forked. He faund fragments
of these bodies in every part of the island where the
sandstone stratum can be seen, and particularly among
the masses of rock lying under the cliffs of Western Lines.
To this last place he found that the stems above described
had frequently heads or bulbaus terminations attached ta
them, in form somewhat resembling a closed tulip, and in
some of these he found distinet traces of organic structure,
from which it appeared that these heads consisted of a
group of tududi now converted into and enveloped with
stony matter. Besides these extraordinary shapes which pro-
jected in relief, Mr. W. observed a variety of very regular
white figures ag if painted upon the rock, being even with its
surface. ‘Phev consisted of circles from two inciies tu half
an inch im diameter, ellipses of various eccentricities, and
pareitel lines both straight and. crooked.

By a caretul examination Mr. W. found that these white fi-
gures belonged to the other class of bodies already described;
that ‘the cylinders weré only the internal parts of the same
body, .whose various sections formed the white circular and
elliptical fieures. The vast masses ef rock which have
fallen down, having separated from the cliff at the divisions

between

*
7

Geological Society. 465

between the beds, showed their upper and under surfaces
covered with layers of these bodies heaped upon each other
and lying prostrate in every possible direction; and in the
joints between the beds where they were not separated,
they were distinctly seen.

The green sandstone and the Jimestone he found to be
the chief repositories of these bodies. In the ferruginous
sand below the green sandstone he found none, and only a
tew fragments of cylinders in the blue marl on which the
sandstone rests. He traced them upwards into the chert;
but they there became rare, and they totally disappeared in
the chalk-marl.

He tound them, however, frequently in the fragments of
flint lying on tie shore. Mr. Webster having brought
away an extensive series of specimens (which he has since
deposited in the cojlection of the Society), submitted them
to the examination of Mr. Parkinson, who is of opinion
that they belong to the genus Aleyonium, but that they are
of three or four different species, neither of which have
been hitherto described. From the resemblance which
these bodies bear to a closed tulip attached to its stalk, Mr.
W. suggests that the name of Tulip Alcyonium may be not
improperly applied. :

«© Some observations,’ by James Parkinson, esq. (mem-
ber of the Geological Society,) ‘ on the specimens of Hip-
purites from Sicily,” presented to the Society by the hon.
Henry Grev Bennet, (a member) were read.

These specimens Mr. Parkinson considers to be such as
demand particular atiention, as they possess those charac-
ters which will probably serve to correct some erroneous
opinions respecting the nature and habits’ of the animals
of which these shells were the dwellings.

One of the specimens contains a nearly perfect shell,
Jongitudinally divided so as .o display the two ridges with
the numerous septa and chambers.

From an examination of these specimens, and by com-
paring them with the observations lie has before had an op-
portunity of making, Mr. Parkinson is of opinion that the
structure of the shell of the Hippurites is such as would
enable the animal to raise itself to the surface of the water.

This opinion is in opposition to that of M. Denys de
Montfort and most of the French oryctologists, who con-
sider the Hippurites as belonging to what they term pela-
gian shells, or such as constantly inhabit the bottom of the
sea, never rising to the surface or appearing on the shores,
and therefore that there is uo reason to believe them as be-

longing

466 Geological Saciety.

- Jonging to animals which are now extinct, but only that
their recent analogues have not yet been brought to view.

June 1g. The president in the chair.—Charles Bell, esq.
F. R.S.E., Daniel Moore, esq. F. R.S. &c., and the Rev.
Edward Slater, were elected ordinary members.

A paper by Joseph Skey, M.D. entitled ‘* Some remarks
upon the structure of Barbadoes, as connected with speci-

“mens of its rocks,” communicated by Arthur Aikin, esq.
secretary, was read ; together with a Note by Mr. Parkin-
son on some of the specimens presented by Dr. Skey.

The island of Barbadoes is totally unlike those immedi-
ately near it, both in appearance and in structure. The
land rises in a gentle swell from the coast towards the imd-
dle of the island, except in one small district. Its highest
hills do not exceed 800 or 906 feet, and their general direc-
tion is nearly NW. and SE. Upon the north-eastern
coast the shores are bolder than in the other parts of ‘the
island, as is the case in many of the islands of these seas.

Barbadoes is composed of limestone, in great part of
fossil madrepores, and traces of organic structure are to be —
met with in almost every part of the island, more particu-
larly along the whole of the S. and SW, coast.

The land which when seen from the sea appears to rise
uniformly from the coast, is observed on a nearer view to
consist of successive terraces rising in two or three grada-
tions, one above the other, each forming a plain of a quar-
ter or half a mile in breadth, and terminated by a cliff of
coral rock varying in elevation from twelve to twenty feet,
and sometimes considerably bigher.

Deep fissures have in many places of the island rent
asunder the cliffs, and these gullies (as they are called) are
continued across the terraces in irregular lines. Numerous
caves are every where to be met with, and they are some-
times of very large dimensions.

On the S. and SW. side of the island there may be seen
at very low water a bed of calcareous sandstone dipping
SW. thirty degrees. To the eastward of the garrison of
St. Ann, there is found adull compact chalky-looking
limestone with ramose alcyonia, while considerably to the
westward the rock is more distinctly coralloidal.

Upon the northern and north-eastern side of the island
js a small mountainous district cojled Scotland. It consists
almost entirely of limestone, but of a kind less marked by
organic remains than in the other districts.

In Mr, Parkinsan’*s Note it is observed that some of Dr.
Skey’s specimens illustrate the nature of some fossil corals;

showing

Geological Society. 467

showing that the forms in which they at present exist, are
not those which belong to those substances in their original
state, and consequently ought not to affect their specific or
generic distinctions.

A letter from E. L. Irton, esq. describing some remark-
able tubes found in the drifted sand at Drigg in Lancashire,
was read; together with an account, by W. H. Pepys,
esq. (Treasurer G. S.), of a chemical examination made by
him of the substance of these tubes.

These tubes are nearly in a perpendicular position, 1m-
bedded in the midst of the hills of drifted sand, on the sea
shore, without any communication with the surface; and
there are ramifications’ extending from them which gene-
raliy point downwards and terminate in fine points. The
tube sent to the Society is above an inch in diameter, and
of an irregular form: the outside consists of black and
white sand agglutinated together ; the inside is smooth, and
has a vitrified appearance. When dug out of the sand it
was soft, and in some degree flexible ; and the inside coat-
ing at its first exposure to the air was soft to the touch and
rather unctuous; but in less than a quarter of an hour it
hardened into the staie in which it now exists.

The tnbe when found was filled with the sand of the hill,
and that sand is quite different from the sand of which the
outside of the tube consists.

Both the sand and the vitreous part of the tube scratch
glass; and on the latter, when viewed by a lens, there are
seen small air-blebs, such as are common to imperfect vi-
trification. Both are insoluble in sulphuric and nitric
acids ; infusibie before the blowpipe without addition, and
partially fusible on the addition of boracie acid; but with
soda a complete fusion took place, and the residue was
nearly soluble in water. ¢

A paper by Dr. M‘Culloch (member of the Society),
6 On the vitrified Fort of Dun MacSmochain, neai Oban
in Argyleshire,” was read.

fn the discussion which some time ago took place re-
specting the vitrified forts of Scotland, the question om
which the two contending parties were most at Issue, Was,
whether the vitrification was the effect of design or of acct
dent —It occurred to Dr. M. that hight might be thrown on —
the subject by examining with mineralogical accuracy the
substance of which these structures were composed, and
noting the changes which each had undergone in conses
quence of the fire, and also by observing “hence the stones
had been derived which were used in them; and that the

question

468 Geological Society.

question of accident or design might be illustrated, by exa~
mining in the laboratory the degree of heat required to pro-
duce the appearances in the stones which actually existed in
these structures,

The fort of Dun MacSniochain stands on a long narrow
hill, which is nearly precipitous along three parts of its cir-
cumference, and at the other end it rises from the plain
with a very accessible acchivity. The walls, which are all
at present buried under the soil, are about eight er ten feet
in thickness. They bear marks of vitrification through
their whole extent; but in no case does it appear to have
extended more than a foot or two upwards, and the most
perfect slags are found at the bottom of the foundation. » In
the higher parts of these are stones roasted by the action of
the heat, bat unvitrified, and at length the marks of fire
almost entirely disappear. The hill consists of alternate
beds of schistus and limestone, but the latter is the predo-
minant rock.

It is perfectly imsulated in a great alluvial plain. The
mountains of Benediraloch, which bound the plain to the
west, consist of granite gneiss, mica-slate, quartz and por-
phyry. On the edge of these rocks are found large de-
tached masses of puddingstone, consisting of rounded
pebbles of greenstone of different varieties, of ainygdaloid
and quartz cemented by a paste which appears to consist
chiefly of trap sand, united by the hard variety of calea-
reous spar. The paste contains also in small quantity zeo-
lite, prehnite, garnet, and diallage. This puddingstone
where nearest the fort 1s at Jeast half a mile distant from
it. The walls of the fort consist principally of granite
gneiss, mica-slate, clay-slate quartz, puddingstone and py-
ritical slate entangled together with a very small proportion
of the particular rock on which the fort itself is founded;
puddingstone forming the greater part of them. This pud-
dingstone Dr. M. shows to be the only vitrifiable ingre-
dient of the walls; and from the distance from which it
must bave been brought, and the great quantity of it em-
ployed in the work, he considers it probable that the build-
ers of the fort must have been acquainted with its vitrifiable
nature, and that 4 was on account of this quality that they
had employed so great labour in transporting it. For if
their object had not been. to produce vitrification, but mere-
ly to erect a-dry wa'l of stone, the limestone of the bill
would have answered their intentions, or perhaps the loose
stones of the adjoining plain.

That they did not obtain the puddingstone from the

latter

Russell Institution. A690

Jatter source, is evident; for although the plain and shore
are covered with fragments, these consist almost entirely of
the primary rocks: and besides the pieces of the wall
which have not felt the fire, there are angular fragments,
showing pretty clearly that they were not collected on an
alluvial plain, but broken from the rocks where they are
found.

Dr. M. next proceeds to describe the various states in
which the different stones are found.

The puddingstone exhibits the greatest variety of
changes. It is found in every state, from a black glass to
a spongy scoria capable of floating in water, sometimes ex-
hibiting the gradual succession of changes from incipient
calcination to complete fusion. To ascertain the degree of
heat necessary to produce the corresponding changes in this
rock, Dr. M. submitted various parts of it to the furnace,
and found that some of the fused substances must have been
brought to that state in a heat not less than 100° of
Wedgwood’s ‘scale; a heat at which many varieties of
earthen-ware are baked.

Dr. M. next gives a short account of the vitrified fort of
Craig Phadric in Invernessshire, and of another in Gallo-
way; in both of which, but more particularly in the
former, he observed circumstances quite analogous to what
he had already found at Dun MacSniochain ; and the con-
elusion he has been led to form is, that the vitrification of
these forts is the effect of design. ;

The Society adjourned till November.

RUSSELL INSTITUTION.

ees the fourth Lecture Mr. Bakewell proceeded to
describe the stratified rocks containing rock-salt and coal.
The coal districts in England and in other parts of the
world, he said, were generally separated from the compact
fimestone which contains metallic veins, by thick beds of
coarse grit-stone and sand-stone, in which some vegetable
remains first make their appearance. In the midland
counties of England, there are two kinds of rock interposed
between the coal and the lime, forming together a mass of
three hundred yards in thickness. The lower bed consists of
a dark reddish-brown shale, in which strata of micaceous
sand-stone and beds of dark limestone occasionally occur,
The upper rock was called by Mr. Whitehurst mill-stone
grit, from its containing beds of hard siliceous grit-stone,
used for mill-stones, This rock varies both in cclour and

quality

470 Russell Institution.

quality in different parts. It was first observed hy Mr.
Whitehurst that under this rock no coal is ever found. Thig
observation Mr. Bakewell said was correct, as applied to
workable coal, or such beds that were of sufficient thickness
to be got with profit, but very thin seanis of coal, as wel}
as vegetable impressions, are not unfrequent in these rocks,
They extend over a considerable part of the northern coun-
ties, and form the range of central hills from the north of
Derbyshire to Craven in Yorkshire. Mr. Bakewell said
he was inclined to believe that the lower bed, a dark-brown
shale, changed its quality as it passed into Cheshire, and
was there the red sand rock of that and the adjacent
counties. He observed that he did not consider some dife
ference in external character alone sufficient to disprove the
identity of strata which may spread over a large tract of
country. In this red sand rock the rack-salt of Cheshire
is found. He described the various repositories of salt in
Spain and different parts of the world, and observed, that
it had been tound at the height of 9000 teet above the level
of the sea; and from its position, as well as from the dif-
ference of its constituent parts from those of sea-salt, he
was inclined to believe that it had not been formed by the
evaporatoin of sea-water, as some geologists have asserted.
The rock-salt of Cheshire is remarkably free from im-
purities, containing, according to the correct analyses of
Dr. Henry,. not the least sulphat of magnesia, and not one
grain in 1000 of muriate of magnesia. In the same quan-
tity of sea-salt not less than 46 grains of these two saline
impurities occur.

In the strata over these rocks we meet with beds of coal
occupying distinct districts called coal-fields. Mr. B. then
described the various kinds of stone-shale, and iron:stone,
that alternate with coal, and the appearances which offer
indications of its presence. The position into which coal
Strata are thrown by faults and dykes in different parts of
England were explained by drawings and sections. A
most singular elevation of a bed of coal in the vicinity of
the red rock in Lancashire was particularly noticed. Where
this rock comes nearly in contact with the coal, the stratum
is raised up vertically, whilst seven other beds of coal in
the same field are all inclined at an angle of 25 degrees.
Mr. Bakewell stated, that he had communicated an account
of this coal-field to the Geological Society, as he conceived
that it might lead to some discoveries respecting the geo
logical relations of the red sand rock with the coal strata.
The obstacles which impede the working of abit

rom

London Philosophical Society. 47h

from the fire- and choak-damps were described. The nature
aud properties of these noxious vapours were illustrated by
experiments, and some account given of the different modea
of clearing the mines in different districts.

Mr. Bakewell observed, that Dr. Miller and other writers
on the coal districts of England had entirely overlooked
the coal of the West Riding of Yorkshire, although the
quantity procured there supplied a population nearly equal
to that of London, besides the extensive manufactories of
that county. He described the manner in which the quan-
tity of coal in the coal-fields of Northumberland and Dur-
ham had been estimated ; from whence it appeared that at
_ the present rate of consumption they would be entirely ex-
hausted in the space of three centuries. Were there no
other repositories but these, he observed that it would be-
come the duty of a wise statesman to prevent exportation
to foreign countries, and to plant all our waste Jands, and
provide against impending though remote calamity. Let
any person, said he, reflect on the condition of the metro-
polis were it deprived for three months of the supply of
coal. All the wood in the country would be destroyed,
our manufactories would be annihilated, and a scene of
national calamity would ensue, of which we can scarcely
form an idea.

But besides extensive coal-fields in Yorkshire and other
parts of England, at present scarcely touched, there exists
a great repository in South Wales of one thousand square
miles of coal, which, from the thickness of the different
strata, he calculated would supply the consumption of Bri-
tain for several thousand years to come, estimating that
consumption at twelve million tons annually. He con-
cluded by giving a short outline of the coal districts in
different parts of the world, and the periods at which coals
appear to have been introduced for fuel. It may excite a
smile, said he, at the ignorance of our ancestors, to find an
act of parliament in the reign of Elizabeth, prohibiting the
burning of coal in London during the sitting of parlia-
ment; but probably posterity at mo distant period may
look with equal surprise at the general indifference evinced
by landed proprietors of tie present day, respecting the
mineral substances on their own estates.

LONDON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
{Continued from p- 395.]
Mr. Clarkson next proceeded to investigate the charac-
ters of moral existence, observing, that pathognomy had
already

47% London Philosophical Society.

already proved its action, and anatomy the effects of its
action, in the second division of the face. All that was
necessary, therefore, was an ideal standard, by which. to
judge of the moral or immoral propensities of ‘the individual,
and this the Greeks had already erected. Their statuaries
had two objects im view ; one of which was to eradicate all
violent passions from the faces of their deities, (and this
they eflected by reducing and softening down the museles
of the cheeks and nose,) and the second was to leave upon
their faces the character of some quality for which, they
were distinguished, (and this they effected by strict phy-
siognomical rules.) He then detailed the different phy-
siognomical expressions of the ancient gods ;—the senti-
mental laxity of Venus, the purity of Diana, the fortitude
and taste of Minerva, the pride of Juno, the benevolence
of Apollo, and the conscious calm security of Hercules,—all
of which he proved by drawings and busts of the antique
physiognomically exprest; nor could his conclusions, he
said, be denied without .a eulicalous dilemma, that the head
of one deity would have answered as well for another. We
need look no further, then, fora standard for the nobler pro-
pensities of our nature. Nor were the characteristics of the
ignobler less apparent to investigation, Drunkenness and
every species of intemperance “distort and caricature the
face in proportion as they destroy the intellect and the
sentimental emotions—and here the Lecturer alluded to
the head of Nero at the Museum, asserting that it was im-
possible to contemplate that head without recognising in
it the i intemperance, the gluttony, the pride, and impiety
of that sanguinary monster. Originally handsome, every
thing proclaimed the lapse of the man into the brute: the
elevated chin, the swollen throat, and depending cheeks,
the breathing nostrils, and staring eyes, spoke a language
not to be mistaken.

Mr. C. next adverted to the contrast observable in the
faces of Cupid, or Venus and Minerva. It was as evident
as the contrast between ambition and love, the master-
passions of human nature. In the former, the cheeks are
rotund; in the latter, concaves—in the former, the nostrils
are dilated, i in the latter, rectilinear and compact 5—the in-
terval, therefore, affords a standard to judge of the mixture
of these passions in the individual. But the Greek head
of Pan, the lecturer observed, was a kind of silent phy-
siognomical lecture. No one will pretend to say that it
dovs not express passions in quiescence, and no one can
doubt the nature of the passions it conveys. —The diagonal

bearing

London Philosophical Society. 473

bearing of the eye, the brutal projection of the mouth, the
lapse of the eyebrows and nose, and the complete distor-
tion of the latter characteristic, express a total debasement
and abandonment of the mind. If, then, we assume the
face of Pan as the lowest state of sensual degadation to
which man can fall, as the boundary which separates him
from brutes, and assume the unpolluted face of the Greek
ideal as the shade which mingles him with gods, we obtain
another standard to judge of moral brutalization or refine-
ment,

We are sorry that our limits will not allow us to follow
the lecturer through a masterly analysis of the passions,
their physiognomical effects, and their modification by the
different temperaments of the body, whether phlegmatic,
sanguine, or melancholic. We have stated enough in de-
tailing his remarks on Greek statuary to render his object
jucid and practicable,—the erection of a standard for moral
propensities as well as intellectual energies.

Animal life and its territory was the Jast division of his |
subject. Its mdications, he said, were extremely simple,
aud easily explained. All relaxation is accompanied by a
separation of the jaws—total debility is accompanied by a
total laxity of the under-jaw, the extreme of which is death.
Firm strength is designated by a firm closure of the teeth,
the last extreme of which is the elastic unnatural animal
power, which imparts its convulsive violence to madness,
and which, as well as anger, classically called a short mad-
ness, is expressed by a vehement compression of the jaws
or gnashing of the teeth. A rectilinear chin, said Mr. C,
like a rectilinear forehead, is the ideal standard. All great
philosophers have possessed an angularity of chin. Glut-
tons, and men who sacrifice intellect to sense, the contrary.
The chins of the fair sex are always smaller and chaster in
their form than those of men. A chin that projects, un-
less beyond a certain point, displays animal strength; that
which recedes, animal! deficiency. The same rules, there-
fore, which apply to the forehead apply to the chin. Nor
is the mouth a less strong hiercglyphic than the eyebrow.
Every one is aware of the distortion to which contempt
and sensuality subject the mouth; but there is a more ge-
neral and universally applicable axiom depending on this
subject, for the forehead of brutes is not more dissimilar
from that of man than their mouths. The intermediate
degrees between them are pregnant with the same deduc-
tions. A scale, therefore, may be applied to all the gra-
dations of character in the human face; and if a scale, the

Vol. 39. No. 170. June 1812. Hh ground

414 Earthquakes and Volcanic Phenomena

ground plot for the elevation of physiognomy as a portion
of the great scientific fabric is marked out and arranged.

Mr. C. then descanted on the benefits which would re-
sult from thus reducing physiognomy to something like a
regular science; for man, as he is at present constructed,
will and must form-some physiognomical opinions ; and it
is surely much better that he should form them upon scien-
tific principles, than on the vague suggestions of fancy or
association. But Mr.C. protested against an individual
assuming the right of judging his neighbour’s character in
the present imperfect state of the study, or without long
initiation, When, however, certain pathognomical indi-
cations coincide, a very accurate judgement may certainly
be formed by a student who has refined his perception of
character by experience as well as rule. These indications
may be discovered in the regular or irregular walk, in the
erection or depression of the head, in the shortness or
length of the neck, in the steadfast or wavering look of the
eye, when the individual is engaged in conversation ; in the
attitude or gestures, whether violent or relaxed, of the
speaker; in the sound of the voice, whether base or treble,
in the address, whether open, imposing, or retiring; and
lastly, in the first words uttered on acquaintance. Mr. C.
concluded by an interesting argument on the physiogno-
mical effects of education, and the drama, which afforded
us a degree of pleasure invariably our attendant when list-
ening to his ingenidus inquiries.

LXXIV. Intelligence and Miscetlaneous Arositert

EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC PH NOMENA IN THE
WEST INDIES.

Is the short space of time between the 26th of March and
the 2d of May last, a succession of dreadful physical events
has demolished some of the finest cities in South America,
and shaken several of the islands to their foundations,
wasting them with fire, and covering them with ashes and
dust. The General commanding the troops of Coro de
Domingo Campo Verde writes to the Governor of the pro-
vince of Coro, that the city ef Barquisimeto was on the
26th of March buried in ruins by a most dreadful earth-
quake. And he communicates the followimg moral event,
which immediately succeeded. The inhabitants of the
district, conceiving the phenomenon to have been an im-
mediate manifestation of divine displeasure for having re-

belled

4

in the West Indies. 475

bhelled against their sovereign, returned to their allegiance.
‘* All the villages,” says the General, ‘ belonging to this
district and the city of Jouyo, with the greater part of the
villages belonging thereto, have come and offered sub-.
mission under the banners of Ferdinand VII.” and sub-
sequently adds, “* By the panic and terror with which
the inhabitants are struck- since the earthquake, | have no
doubt that the army of Coro will eventually conquer
the province of Venezuela.”

During this terrible commotion of the earth, which
appears to have -broken out at intervals between the
g6th and 28th, the following cities were destroyed in the
province of Coro: Barquisimeto, totally destroyed; Ari-
Jaqua, sunk ; Santa Rosa, also sunk ; Caudare and Phelipe,
destroyed ; and St. Charles and Caramavate greatly in-
jered. In the province of Caraccas, the same calamity has.
been equally tremendous. The cities of Caraccas, Victoria,
Valencia, Porto Cavello, Laguira, New Barcelona, Mai-
quetia and Cumana have been almost entirely ruined.

The same or similar subterranean causes, which have so
severely desolated the continent, about the end of April
manifested their influence among the West Indian islands :
and the following letters furmish several interesting and af-
fecting circumstances. ,

Extract of a Letter from Barladoes, May 2.

«© As faras I can relate, I will give you a true account of

a most awful event, as witnessed and experienced bv myself.
‘¢] was lying in bed about six o’clock in the morning,
when I observed my chamber more dark than usual. Some
time after I arose and opened one of my windows, when I
observed to the north a dark thick cloud, similar to the
usual indication of a great deal of rain (which would have
been very acceptable); but at the same time I perceived a
most remarkable bright cloud to the southward; so much
so, as to reflect light on the housés. We bad had what we
conceived to be several rolling claps of thunder during the
night, and the last was a quarter past seven, when an in-
stantaneous total darkness ensued, and from that time till
one o’clock I never saw so dreadful a phenomenon. I
never beheld so dark a night in the gloomy month of No-
vember ; in short, every thing appeared like chaos, and the
lamps, handed about the streets in hundreds, were scarcely
sufficient to give light to the persons who held them,
much less to any one else. To paint the horror of the
scene is utterly impossible. During the time of the dark-
ness we were assailed by immense falls of calcareous matter
(as I think) to such a degree that it was dangerous to go
Hhe out

476 Earthquakes and Volcanic Phenomena

out of the house: indeed it was impracticable to do so:
without a hood or umbrella; and these were only tempo-
rary screens, for by the time you had proceeded one yard
you were completely covered by this stuff.

«© At ten o’clock the rev. Mr. Garnett bad the church
bells rung, and gave prayers: but such a scene of horror,
dismay, terror, and consternation, cannot be imagined by
one who did not see it. Thousands of people of all descrip-
tions flocking to church, without rank or distinction, mis-
tress and servant kneeling and praying by the side of each
other, all fearing some dreadful catastrophe would hurry
them out of the world before they could make their peace,
and firmly believing they should never see the light again.
I must confess to you I gave myself up, for the lava was
gathering very fast on us, and no prospect but of starving
or perishing under it. At first what fell was a large black
substance, very coarse, but it gradually became as fine as
Scotch snuff, and in a few hours the streets and the tops
of the houses were many inches thick in this matter.

_ About half past one o’clock a small.glimmering of
light began to appear, and by half past two o’clock we could
make out people mthestreets. It then gradually got lighter,
so that we could see volumes of this matter floating in the
air, but so thick as still to obscure the sun, nor have we
yet seen the sun clearly. About half past six last night we
saw like rays of fire in the southern quarter again. From
all these circumstances | am led to think there must have
been an explosion of some volcano very near us. To-day
we have been busy in endeavouring to remove the lava, but
I much fear, without we have a heavy fall of water to assist
us, we shall be very long about it, and God only knows
how it will end. The whole island is in one complete sheet
of lava; the canes are all weighed down with it, and the |
pour cattle and horses must die for want if we are not im-
mediately relieved. We cannot see twenty yards before us
for the immense volumes of this stuff continuaily falling
from off the tops of the houses; for so soon as itis dry, it
is exactly like flour. I am inclined to think now, the thun-
der [thought Tf heard in the night was the explosion of some
volcano. I herewith have sent you some of this dust,
which [ hope you will receive safe.” Me

To this we subjoin the account that has reached us from
St. Vincent’s, where a volcano which had long been quies-
cent has broken out with extraordinary violence.

Extract of a Letter from St. Vincent, May 6.— Having
been informed that you had not sailed from Grenada by the
April fleet, I hasten to give you some account of a most
alarming circumstance which took place here last night

‘in the West Indies. 477

and this morning. About sun-set, on Thursday evening, we
observed an immense quantity of fire and smoke to proceed
from the volcano, and continued till one o’clock this morn-
ing, when a most tremendous explosion took place, and
continued till four, throwing up immense quantities of
stones and ashes all over the island. On the estates in the
vicinity of the mountains the ashes are said to be from two
to three feet deep ; that two of the principal rivers have
been dried up, and new ones formed ; and that many of the
estates in that quarter have been much injured. One white
person and six negroes have been killed. Although Kings-
ton is at the distance of about twelve miles from the
volcano, the inhabitants were so much alarmed, that many
of them went on board of the vessels in the bay for pro-
tection, and it was not until past 8 o’clock that one person
could distinguish another, in consequence of the atmo-
sphere being darkened by the quantity of ashes. Iam
much afraid that the extent of the damage sustained is not
yet known.” —

A second Communication from Mr. Wi1iu1amM Moors, on
the Use of Oxymuriate of Magnesia in Bleaching.
To Mr. Tilloch.

S1r,—Since my former communication to you, I have
received a letter from my brother (Mr. J. W. Moore, of
Dublin), inclosing a copy of a letter he received from Mr.
John Duppy jumor, relative to the use.of oxymuriate of
magnesia by that enlightened gentleman in his manufactory
near Dublin. ‘ ;

I will thank you to add it (if possible) as an appendix to
my former paper on this subject*: it is as follows: T
have used the oxymuriate of magnesia on the large scale,
ever since December 1810, and since then have been daily
extending the application of it. To the communication
T made Mr. Davy on this subject, 1 do not feel I could add
any thing further, unless in generally stating my since ex-
perience, as confirming its superiority over the oxymuriate
of lime for whitening the grounds of delicate dyes, such as
yellows, madder reds, &c.”

The inaccuracy of Dr. Ogilby’s statements are still
further confirmed by this second letter of Mr. Duppy’s;
and although I did not entertain a doubt as to their fate in
the scientific world yet they might deter the manufacturer,
from adopting these improvements, Under these impres-
sions I have been induced to trespass on your indulgence,

I rgmain with respect, Your much obliged, |

London, 25th June, 1812. Wm. Moore.

* This communication reached us too Jate for insertion in the form
wished by the author,

478 Meteorological Observations

Copper and Manganese.—In the hill about a mile north of
Stapleford, in Nottinghamshire, consisting of Gravel Rock,
very similar to that of which Alderley-Edge NW _ of Mac-
clesfield in Cheshire is composed, but not resting on and
surrounded by Red Marl as that Hill does, but on and by
Coal-measures, a vein of Ore of Manganese, Iron, and
Copper, with much Mica, was lately discovered, on the
Estate of Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, Bart., who has
caused some of the Ore to be smelted and the copper re-
fined, which proves to be of the very best quality. Sir
John had a Coal-seam seven feet thick Jatcly in work, about
$00 yards S of this mine, and has proved the same Coal-
Measures at about 4 or 500 yards N, while Lord Middle-
ton’s large Collieries in Trowel are not more than 800
yards distant, in the same direction.

———_———

Meteorological Observations made at Clapton in Hackney,
from May 21, to June 20, 1812.

May 21.—W.S.W. Cloudy morning; afterwards rain,
and long showers; fair, but damp evening: various clouds
in the lucid intervals. —

May 22.—N. Cloudy in the morning. Fine afternoon,
but very cold with scud, and irregular masses of cumulus
and cumulostratus.

May 23.—N. Features of various modifications in dif-
ferent heights. Fair day.

May 24.—Clouded day ; in some places a wavy, in others
; mottled appearance of the sky: a little rain fell during the

ay.

May 25.—W.S.W. Small rain kept falling almost the
whole of the day, but held up in the evening, which be-
came fair.

May 26.—Fine warm morning; eirrus, ciyrocumulus and
cirrostratus in different altitudes, approaching to cumulo-
stratus here and there; and a-sort of partial haze of a
brownish colour floated gentle along in the south-west.
Wind very calm. :

May 27.—S. Fine warm day; cirrus, cirrocumulus,
cirrostratus and cumuli irregularly disposed.

May 28.—S. Clouds in two strata, followed by a fine
warm rain in the evening. The sun appeared just ag it was
setting, over a cirrostratus in the horizon; it appeared
deep golden red, and threw a fine crimson blush op a cir-
rostratus thinly diffused in a higher cat grate

May 29.—S. All the modifications of cloud* appeared

in

made at Clapton. ATS

in different stations, and fine petroid cwmuli in particular
prevailed: slight showers in the course of the day: thunder
showers at night.

May 30.—Fine day; some lofty cirrus cloud and scud
below sometimes appeared, but in general the clouds were
of one character, particularly in the afternoon, being com-
pact, but rather rocky cumuli.

May 31.—Clouds in two strata, followed by nimbifica-
tion; generally cloudiness by night with rising wind.

June 1.—S.W. Rainy morning, but the rain was ge-
nerally small. Evening irregular features of different clouds,
and sun at intervals. Fine clear night.

June 2.—W.S.W. Clear very early, then the sky be-
came obscure; cumuli rose and general cloudiness pre-
vailed; the day, however, became fair with various clouds.

June 3.—S.W. Clouded morning, followed by some
rain; fair afternoon ; the higher masses of cloud in dif-
ferent strata put on the character of cirrocumulus ; indeed
among others that kind of arge and clear feature of this
cloud appeared which I have remarked to attend warm and
healihy weather: cirrostratus, cumulostratus, &c. appeared,
Night very clear.

June 4.—S.W. Fine warm day, with diurnal cumuli,
and some features of the other modifications; the clouds
increased in the evening, but the night was fair.

June 5.—W.S.W. Fine clear morning; in the day ap-
peared cumuli ; evening cirri appeared aloft scattered irre-
gularly.

June 6.—Fine day, with cumuli; in the evening fine
clear sky and beautifal yellow sunset, with lofty cirri scat-
tered about, which became tinged with crimson.

June 7.—S.E. Clouds early; fine clear dry day, with
only a few little irregular cymudi here and there.

June 8.—N. Cloudy in the morning; sun out by times
in the day. Cloudy might again, and cooler than hitherto,

June 9.—N.W. wind prevailed ; the morning was cloudy,
the day became warm and fair, with masses of cumulus and
some streaks of cirrus ; in the evening nimi, but no rain
fel] hereabouts. :

June 10.—N—E—SW. Sun and clouds in the morning ;
cloudy evening, and rather warmer again towards night.

June 1i.—Fair day ; some features of loose cirrocumulus
early; cirvi scattered above, floating cumu/z below prevailed
all day; the cirri in the evening became denser arid co-
loured by the setting sun, and were accompanied by some
cirrostrat},

June

480 Meteorological Observations made at Clapton.

June 12.—Clouded morning ; cumuli, &c. per day; fine
evening ; feature of cirrostratus.

June 13.—W.S.W. Fine morning very early; about
four o’clock I observed features of cirrocumulus, cirrus,
&c. by about eight a mist, which had been coming on
slowly, became thick, and the sky clouded; the afternoon
was fair with much cloud. The evening clear, except some
cirri and ctrrostrati.

June 14. —SW—W. Very early the cirrus appeared
breaking out into yarious and beautiful cirrocwmuli, and
lower some cirrostratus seemed scattered along; the wind
was quite calm, and the day became hot; cumudi sailed un-
der the above clouds; cumulostratus formed, but subsided ;
the evening was clear, except cirri fibrous and ramifying
about in many directions and coloured by the setting sun *.

June 15.—W.S.W. Fair day, with irregular features of
several modifications in different altitudes ; the quantum of
cloud increased in the afterncon, and wind rose.

June 16.—S.W. Before light a hard shower, cumulo-
stratus prevailed; fair afternoon with rows of plumose
cirri, &c.

June 17. —S.W—S. Very early cirrus confused and
plumose with diverse kinds of loose cumuli ; then cumulo-
stratus and hard showers, which prevailed all day; fair
evening.

June 18.—W—S.W. Fair morning, clouds in different
altitudes; rainy evening and night, with pretty strong wind.

June 19.—S.W. Wind and rain, which continued all
night; also remained this morning: the day however be-
came fair with cirrus and cirrocumulus aloft, and cumulé
under nimbificaion commenced again in the evening with
wind.

June 20.—S.W. Showery, and rather windy all day.
Fine evening; confused cirrus, cumulostratus, &c. as usual,

between two nimlt.

“Clapton, June 21, 1812. THOMAS FORSTER,

* While the obliquely descending and angular fibres of the cirrus ap-
peared to be equalizing the electricity of the surrounding air, they were
also carried gently forward by the wind: (this shows that wind may pass.
through a mass of atmosphere without destroying the inequality of its elec-
tricity, which is slowly effected by the agency of ifs proper conductor, the

cirrus.

METEORO-

Meteorology.

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE,
By Mr. Cary, OF THE STRAND,

For June 1812.

Thermometer. ‘aa at

x Aaya

ne oh cA Height of |‘% 8% 3

cothaed ae S 3 z the Bacon os A

2S cA ov. Inches. ag ©

| co ~ Qa
May 27| 62 | 73°| 62°} 29°56 55
28| 60 | 66 | 63 °57 (6)
29 60 | 72 | 61 55 56
30) 61 | 70 | 60 82 60
31] 60 | 70 | 59 °75 48
June 1| 56 | 62 | 55 ‘78 e)
2| 55 | 67 | 59- 98 60
3| 56 | 60 | 53 | 30°00 Oo
4| 60 | 70 | 56 04 57
5| 61 | 69 | 54 05 50
6| 52 | 64 | 50 10 46
7| 53 | 65 | 52 16 49
8| 53 | 61 | 50 "22 53
9} 51 | 60 | 55 21 50
10| 50 | 57 | 48 28 46
11]| 55 | 70 | 62 -20 59
12) 62 | 72 | 6o 03 65
13| 59 | 70 | 62 | 29°94 60
14) 60 | 74 | 61 °84 65
15} 63 | 69 | 59 82 45
16] 56 | 65 | 52 *56 46
17; 52 | 55 | 50 "45 (0)
18] 51 | 62 | 49 *79 27
19} 52 | 57 | 50 34 36
20| 54 | 60 | 49 °37 40
21| 52 | 58 | 50 *52 10
23) 55 | 60 | 50 "89 35
24| 51) 63 | 54 “90 37
25) 53 | 66 | 54 *80 32
26) 53 | 52 | 48 "50 8)

Ahn) Sy aa bal ee

481

Weather.

Fair
Rain
Fair

Fair
Fair
Rain
Fair
Rain
Fair
Fair
Fair
Fair
Fair
Fair
Cloudy
Fair

Fair

Fair

Fair
Cloudy
Fair
Rain
Cloudy
Stormy
Stormy
Stormy
Showery
Showery
Showery
Rain

N.B. The Barometer’s height is taken at one o'clock,

: f 482 j

INDEX ro VOL, XXXIX.

ACETATE of alumine, its use in
dyeing, 180
Air. To free conduit-pipes from, 173
Alkaline matter in dropsical fluids,
122, 289

Allan's Dividing Instrument, 119;

improved Reflecting Circle, 249
Alum, how used in dyeing, 175
Amber river. Description of, 196
Andree on Morbus Pedicularis, 49

Andrew s new solutionof two Fluxions
proposed by Simpson, 363
Animal strengih as applied to ma-

chines, 282
Antiquaries. Society of, 312
Antrim. Geological facts respecting,

266, 353
Aphelion of planets. What, 5
Architecture. Bridges, 409
Arsenic. Lambon, 311
Ascension, right. Tables for, 443
Astrop river described, 199

Astronomy. Syuopsis of elements of,
1; orbits of comets, 40, 85; tables
for polar distance, &c. 448

Ainiosphere. Height of, 13

Attar of roses contains vegetable wax,

i 423

Bailey’s synopsis of elements of as-
tronomy, 1

Bakewell's lectures, 233, 313,469

Banks (Sir J.) Discovery by, re-
specting snakes, 219

Barbadves. Remarks on, 465
Barton on Muscicapz, 107
Benexet’s way to found bridges, 410
Bennet’s account of Teneriff, 463

Bentham’s method of laying founda-

tions under water, 409
Bistre. On, 461
Bitter-spar. On crystals of, 455

Bleaching with oxymuriates, 429, 477
Boilers. Way to convey steam from,
264

Books. New, 77, 217, 402, 458

Bootle rivulet described, 196
Boscovich on equations, 243, 400
Bradford river deseribed, 197
Bridges. On founding, 409
Brodie on poisons, 219
Brunton’s umproved pump, 862
Burne’s medical case, 117, 367
Camera obscura. Improved, 459
Campion on vision, 73

Campsie Hiils, Structure of the, 239
Carbonate of time. On crystals of,
; 455

Cary's Metereological Tatles, 80, 160
248 328, 408, 481

Cuvern, singular, described, 161
Ceres. Facts respecting, 5
Cheslire Rock-salt District, 210, 338
Clarkson on the Pyramids, 142
Ciaudius, (Emperor) his way to build
in water, 409
Coal strata in Sutherland, 387

Coa!. Experiments on, 462
Cofferdam described, 409
Cold. On radiation of, 208
Comets. To determine orbits of, 40,

85
Conduit-pipes to free from air, 173
Consonances. <A table of, 415
Cotton. On dyeing, 177?
Crystallography Tollaston on, 455
Dane river described, 200

Davy (Sir H.) on phosphorus and
sulphur, 459; on sulphuric acid, 450
Dary, (J.) on gaseous oxide of car-
bon and chlorine, 131; on combi-
nations of metals with chlorine,
131; on carbonic oxide and chlo-
rine, 443 ; on scilicated fiuoric gas,

and fluoboric gas, 45¢
Davy's lectures, 74
Derlyshire. Geology of, 26, 81, 95,
191, 25S

Derry. Geological facts respecting,
266, 353

Derwent river described, 194
Devonshire. Geology of, 161
Diacatoptron described, 127

Dividing Instrument. On Allan’s, 119
Dolee river described, 203
Dove river. described, 199
Dublin, Geological structure of vie

cinity of, 304, 376
Duportal on wines, 165

Dyeing.. On mordants used in, 175
Earih. Facts respecting the, 10
Eurthquakes. Account of, 474
Eccleslurn river described, 197
Electricity. Donovan on, 396

Elliptical motion of planets. Elements
of, 5
Evewash river described, 204
Ethrow river described, 201
Farey, (J. Senior,) on Derbyshire
denudation, 26, 933 rivers, 191;
valleys, 253; geological observa-
tions by, 266, 353; on Listgn’s
organ, $73; on musical scales,
414; on Bakewell’s lectures, 425;
on caverns and mineral veins, abies

INDEX:

Firminger’s reply to Dr. Kelly, 51;
tables for polar distance and right
ascension, 448

Fitton on geological structure of vici-
nity of Dublin, 804, 376

Fluoloric gas. J. Davy on, 459

Fluoric gas. Combinations of, 459

Fluxions. New solution of two, 383

Forster's Meteorological Observa-
tions, 78, 157, 245, 324, 405, 478

Fossils found in Derbyshire, 81

Garthskore. (Dr.) Biographical sketch
of, $29

Gaseous compound of carbonic oxide
and chlorine, 443

Gauss on probabilities, 243, 400

Geological Society, 140, 237, 316, 460

Geology, 26, 81, 93, 161, 191, 233,
239, 266, 304, 337, $38, 352,

$55, 395, 398

Gilles on diacatoptron, 127

Goyte river described, 201

Gravity. Curious fact respecting, 4

Gray, (Lord) Meteorological com-
munication of, 326

Grindstone, Inclosed, for pointing
needles, 262

Haiiy’s system confirmed,

Hawkins s tuning forks,. 37

Healy’s singular cases of syphilis, 90

Hemp. On culture and preparation

of, 437
Henry on oxymuriatic gas, 220
Hernia. On treatment of, 485
Hipper river described, 203
Hodgson’s improved mariner’s com-

pass, * 370
Helland on salt mines of Cheshire,

210, $38
Hume on the ribs of snakes, 219
Horner on brine springs, 317

Howard’s new process for refining

sugar, 155
Imperial Institute, 240, 400
Imrie on the Campsie Hills, 239
Ireton’s mineralogical remarks, 466
Tron-spar. On crystals of, ed
Jones on Pixies’-hole, 161
Juno. Facts respecting, 5
Jupiter. Facts respecting, 16, 23

Kelly. (Dr.) Reply to his letter, 51
Kirwanian Society, 319, 396
Knight on the tendrils of plants, 386
Labradore. Geology of, S16
Lambe on arsenic, 311
Lamp, Rumford’s, with flat wicks, 74
Laplace's elements of astronomy, 1 ;

orbits of comets, 40, 85 ; theory

of probabilities, 240
Larus parasiticus. Onthe, 150
Lead. On smelting, 186

483

Learned Societies, 72, 180, 210, 311,

385,459
Lectures, Davy’s, 74, 182, 220
Legendre on approximative equations,

; 241
Leslie’s frigorific process, 244, $21
Levelling-staff. Steevens’s, 85

Light. Velocity of, 12; refraction
of, 18; Rumfordon, 13
Liston’s eaharmonic organ, $73; es-
say On intonation, 414
London Philosophical Society, 142,
225, 386, 471

London bridge, how founded, 410
MacCulloch on vegetable wax, 495;
on bistre, &c., 461; on a vitrified
fort, 467
Magnesia, its use in bleaching, 429
Marcet’s answer to Pearson on alka-
line matter contained in dropsical
fluids, 122, Pearson’s reply, 289

Mariner’s compass impreved, 370
Mars. Facts respecting, 15
Martin on Derbyshire fossils, 81
Mease river described, 205

Medical cases, 49,117, 367
Mercury. Facts respecting the pla~
net,

Meteorology, 78, 157, 245, $24, 405,

‘ 478
Microscope improved, 459
Montague on sponges, 319

Moon. Facts respecting the, 20
Moore on Davy’s new process for
bieaching, 429, 477

Mordants employed in dyeing. On,
175
Morledge rivulet, 197
Mortar. <A durable, 420
Muscicape. Barton on, 107
Music, 37
Musical scales.. On, 414
Nautical almanac. On supposed er- _
ror in, 51, 215
Noe river described, 198

Nomenclature of New Pharmacopeia.
Danger of, 39
Ogilby on use of oxymuriates of lime
and magnesia in bleaching, 399;
reply to, 429, 477
Oil of lavender contains vegetable

wax, 423
Optical instruments improved, 459
Oratory. Wrighton, 225

Orbits of planets defined, 5; of co-

mets to determine, 40
Organs. On the scales of, 416
Oxide of tin. Native, 141
Ovides are in truth hydrats, 459
Pallas. Facts respecting, 5
Patents, 78, 156, 322, 492°

484

Pearson on alkaline matter contained
in dropsical fluids, 64 ; answer to,
by Dr. Marcet, 122; reply of Dr.
Pe 289
Perihelion of planets. What, 55,0

Pharmacopeia. Nomenclature of,
dangerous, 39
Phosphorus. Sir H.Davyon, 459

Physiognomy. Clarkson on, 389, 471

Pixies’-hole. Description of, 161
Planets. Facts respecting, ees)
Pluster or stucco. A durable, 430
Polar distance. ‘Tables for, 448
Probabilities. Theory of, 240, 400
Pump. An improved. 362
Pyramids of Egypt.. On the, 143

Quicksilver frozen by Leslie’s pro-

cess, 321
Radiation of cold. On, 208
Radius vector. What, 5
Reflecting circle. Allan’s, 249

Repeating watch, Substitute for, 216
Rivers in Derbyshire. Account of, 19!
Road on mordants, 175
Royal Institution, 74, 182, 220
Royal Medical Society. Edinburgh ,396
Royal Sociely, 72, 130, 210, 31 ‘l, $85,
459
Rumford on light, zi
Russeli Institution, 233, $13, 469
Sadler on smelting of lead, 186
Salt-mines of Cheshire, 210; of Wor-

cestershire, 318
Satellites, Facts respecting, 19
Saturn. Facts respecting, 17, 25
Scarlet. On dyeing, 183
Schoo river. Description of, 200

Schulze on strength of men and horses,

282
Sea-kale. On growth of, 437
Secular inequalities of the planets, 7
Sence river described,

Sheaf river described, 202
Sheep vaccinated, 402 .
Shelf rivulet described, 202

Sidereal revolution of planets, 6

Silk, On dyeing, 176
Skey’s remarks on Barbadoes, 466
Smelling of lead. On, 186
Snakes. On motion of, 219
Solar corone seen at Plymouth, 385

ound. On, 37
Sponges. Essay on, 319

Stancliffe on Allan’s dividing i instru-
ment; 119

INDEX.

Starlings. What, 410
Stevens's apparatus for freeing con-

duit-pipes from air, 173
Steevens’s levelling staff, 35
Strength of men and horses in moving

machines, 282
Stucco or plaster. A durable, 430
Sugar. On refining, Ty 155

Sulphuric acid. Sir i. Davy on, el
Sun. Facts respecting the,

Surgical cases, 300, ios
Syphilis, Remarkable cases of, 91
Tartrite of potash, its use in dyeing,

180, 183

Taunton's surgical cases, 300, 485
Telescopic planets, 5, 19
Teneriff. Island of, 463
Thenard on mordants, 175
Thread, On dyeing, wT
Tides. On the, 14
Tillard on volcano near St. Michael,
451

Tin, its use in dyeing, 183
Trent river. Description of, 193
Tuning forks, 37

Tupper on vegetable sensation, 217

Uranus. Facts respecting, 5, 19,25
Vaccination, 152, 402
Vegetable sensation. On, 217
Vegetable wax. On, 423
Fenus. Facts respecting, 9
Vesta. Facts respecting, aS
Pilrating strings. On, 37
Vincent's, St. Earthquake at, 474
Vision. Pettigrew on, 386
Volcanos, 451, 474
Welster’s improved boilers, 264; on

Alcyona, 464

Waiker’s theory of vision, 387
Waiker’s (E.) substitute for repeat-

ing watch, 216
Wax, vegetable. On, 423
Way's durable stucco, 430; on hemp

and seaskale, 437
Wernerian Society, 150, 239, 319,395
Westminster bridge, how founded, 409
Wines. Duportal on, 165
Wollaston on crystallography, 131 5

optical improvements, 459

Wolves. A table of, 416
Wood. On distillation of, 462
Wood's improved grindstone, 262
Wool. On dyeing, 175, 178, 181
Wright on oratory, 251
Wye river described, 982°

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