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THE 



(j^trinBurgif 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 

W 

CONDUCTED BY 

DAVID BREWSTER, LL.D. 

F.R.S. LOND. AND EDIN. F.S.S.A. M.R.I. A. 

COBBESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE ; CORBBSPONDINQ MEMBEB OF THE ROVAL 

PRUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ; MEMBEB OF THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY 

OF SCIENCES; OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF SCIENCES OF DENMARK ; 

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OP GOTTINGEN, &C. &C. 



VOL. 11. 

NEW SERIES. 

OCTOBER— APRIL. 



THOMAS CLARK, EDINBURGH: 

T. CADELL, LONDON: 
AND MILLIKIN & SON/ DUBLIN. 



M.DCCC.XXX. 



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PRINTED BY JOHN STARK, EDINBURGH. 



CONTENTS 

OF THE 

EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 
No. III. 

NEW SERIES. 

7Z 



Art. I. Historical Eloge of Louis Francois Elisabeth Baron Ra- 
MOND, Honorary Counsellor of State, Commander of the Legion of 
Honour, Chevalier of St Michel, Member of the Academy of Sciences, 
of the Academy of Medicine, and of several other learned Societies. 
By M. Le Baron Cuvieh, Perpetual Secretary to the Academy of 
Sciences, . . ' . 1 

n. Description of a New Steam-Engine without a Boiler. By Alex- 
ander Scott, Esq. Communicated by the Inventor, . 21 

in. Account of the Natural Productions of Staten Island and Cape Horn. 
By Captain W. H. B. Webster, R. N. In a letter to John Bar- 
row, Esq. F. R. S., &c. . . 26 

IV. Description of a new Anemometer. By James D. Forbes, Esq. 

Communicated by the Author, . . 31 

V. List of the Number of Patents granted for Inventions in England, 
from the year 1675 to 1829, inclusive; also a List of Patents in force 
1815-1829, ... 43 

VI. On a new series of periodical colours produced by the grooved surfaces 
of metallic and transparent bodies. By David Brewster, LL.D. 
F. R. S. L. and E. . . . 46 

VII. On the Mullets of Europe. By Baron Cuvier, . 61 

VIII. Account of the new genus Melanorrhcea, or the Burmese Varnish 
Tree, with remarks on each of the Genera to which it approaches. By 
N. Walltch, M. D. F. R. S. Ed. F. L. S., &c. Superintendant of 
the Botanic Garden Calcutta. Communicated by the Author, 66 

IX. Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. No. VI. On the District 
of the Bay of Baja. By James D. Forbes, Esq. Communicated 
by the Author, , . .7.5 

X. Notice of the performance of Steam- Engines in Cornwall for July, 
August, and September 1829. By W. J. Kenwood, F. G. S., Mem- 
ber of the Royal Geological Seciety of Cornwall. Communicated by 
the author, . . . 102 



n CONTENTS. 

Page 
XL Researches on the structure of Metals, as indicated by their Acoustic 

properties. By M. Felix Savakt, . 104 • 

XII. On the Effects of the action of Cold on Animals, as exhibited in their 
Hybernation and Lethargy. By M. Flourens, Member of the 
Academy of Sciences, , . .Ill 

XIII. Account of the Siamese Twins, united by a cartilaginous band, 122 

XIV. Contributions to Physical Geography, . 129 

1. Description of the Falls of Gersuppah in North Canara, . ib. 

2. On the Climate of the Himmalaya, . 133 

3. Account of an Ascent of Mont Elbroutz, the highest peak of the 
Caucasus, by a Russian party, . .134 

XV, Account of a series of Experiments on the construction of large Re- 
flecting Telescopes. By the Right Honourable Loud Oxmantowk, 
M. P. Communicated by the Author, , 136 

XVL Notice of some of the Birds of Madeira. By C. Heineken, M. D. 

Communicated by the Author. . . 145 

XVII. An experimental examination of the electric and chemical theories of 
Galvanism. By William Ritchie, A. M. F. R. S., Rector of the 
Royal Academy at Tain, . . 150 

XVII I. On the Discovery of the Hydrate of Magnesia in Anglesey. By Wil- 
LIA3I Henry, M. D. F. R. S., &c. Contained in a Letter to Dr 
HiBBERT, dated 6th December, . , 155 

XIX. HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AND OF PRO- 
CESSES AND MATERIALS USED IN THE FINE AND 
USEFUL ARTS, . . .157 

On the Application of Steam to the purposes of destroying all Kinds 
of Vermin on Board Ships, . . ib. 

XX. ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND MEMOIRS, 163 

1. The Article Ship*Building. Published in Vol. xviii. Fart I. 

of the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. Edited by Dr Brewster, ib. 

2. The Hisrory of Insects, Vol. I Family Library, No. 7* 171 

3. Elements of Practical Chemistry, comprising a series of experi- 
ments in every department of Chemistry, with directions for per- 
forming them, and for the preparation and application of the most 
important tests and reagents. By David Boswell Reid, Ex- 
perimental Assistant to Professor Hope, Conductor of the Classes 

of Practical Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh, &c. &c &c. 176 

XXL PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, . 177 

1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, . ib, 

2. Proceedings of the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful 
Arts in Scotland, . . , ib. 

3. Proceedings of the Cambiidge Philosophical Society, . 180 

XXU, SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, , 181 

1. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

Optics. — 1. Mr Faraday's Experiments on Flint-Glass for Achromatic Experi. 
mcnts. 2, Two Large French Achromatic Object-Glasses purchased by 
Mr South. 3. Dispute respecting the glass of the Dorpat Telescope, 181— i] 82 



CONTENTS. Ill 

Page 
II. CHEMISTRY. 

4. Oxygen in Lithia. 5. Iodine and Bromine in Salt Springs and Mineral 
Waters in England. 6. New principle in Albumen. 7« Decomposition 
of the Carburet of Sulphur by small electric forces, . 182 — 1 83 

III. NATURAL HISTORY. 

Zoology — 8. Notice of the appearance of Fish and Lizards in extraordinary 
circumstances. By Joseph E. Muse, . . 183 

XXIII. Celestial Phenomena, from January 1st, to April 1st, 1830, . 185 

XXIV. Summary of Meteorological Observations made at Kendal in Septem- 
ber, October, and November 1829. By Mr Samuel Marshall. 
Communicated by the Author, . . 186 

XXV. Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain-Gage, kept at 

Canaan Cottage. By Alex. Adie, Esq. F. R. S. Edinburgh, 188 



■'^'^ CONTENTS 

OF THE 

EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
No. IV. 

NEW SERIES. 



Page 
Art I. A Visit to Berzelius. By James F. W. Johnston, A' M. Com- 
municated by the Author, . •. 189 
II. Account of the apparatus and Incombustible Dresses invented by M. - 
Aldini for Preserving the Body from the Action of Fire, . 207 

III. Chemical Examination of Wad. By Edw,ard Tub^ner, M. D., 
F. R. S. E., Professor of Chemistry in the University of London. 
Communicated by the Author, * ^. , 213 

IV. Account of a remarkable case of Spectral Illusion,' in which both the 
Eye and the Ear were influenced. In a Letter to the Editor, 218 

V. Distinctive properties of Thorina and its Salts. Communicated by the 

Translator, . . . .223 

VI. On the Magnetic Influence of the Solar Rays. By MM. P. Riess 

and L. Moser, . . . 225 

VII. On the Influence of Electricity on Animal Putrefaction. By Charlies 

Matteucci, . . , . 230 

VIII. Memoir on an Analogy which exists between the propagation of Light 
and that of Electricity, or on the constancy of the effects of electric 
currents forced to traverse spaces already traversed by other electric 
currents. By Dr Et. Marianini, Professor of Natural Philosophy 
at Venice, . . . 232 

IX. Account of an Excursion to the Diamond district in the governments 

of Bahia atid Minas Gheraes in Brazil. By MM. Martius and Spix, 241 
X. Notice of the performance of Steam-Engines in Cornwall for October, 
November, and December 1829. By W. J. Kenwood, F. G. S., 
Member of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. Communi- 
cated by the Author, . . . 247 
XI. Abstract of Meteorological Observations made in the Isle of Man, 
from 1826 to 1829, inclusive. By Robert Steuart, Esq. Re- 
ceiver-General of the Isle of Man. Communicated by Dr Hibbert, 249 
XII. On IsD-geothermal Lines, or the distribution of the Mean Tempera- 
ture of the Ground. By M. KuPFFER of Casan, . 251 
XIII. Contributions to Physical Geography, . 261 
1. Account of the Discovery of Diamonds in Russia. In a Letter 
from St Petersburgh, .,^ .^......^j, . • ib. 

.6 



11 CONTENTS. ' 

Pajpe 

2. Account of Caverns in the Empire of Tungkin, . 263 

3. Account of the Mirage of Central India, . 265 

4. A farther Account of the Cave of Booban, . 268 

5. Account of the Burning Mountain in Australasia, called Mount 
Wingen, near Hunter's River. By the Reverend Mr Wilton of 
Paramatta, , . . 270 

XIV. Description of a Method of Cutting Screws, with drawings of the ap- 
paratus employed. By Jajies Clabk, Steeple Clock and Machine 
Maker, Old Assembly Close, Edinburgh. Communicated by the Au- 
thor, . . . .273 
XV. Memoir on the Fossil Bones of ^nt Privat-d'-Allier, (in the pro- 
vince of Velay, France,) and upon the basaltic district in which they 
have been discovered. By M. J. M. Behtrand de Doue, Mem- 
ber of the Society of Agriculture, Science, Arts, and Commerce of Le 
Puy, of the Geological Society of London, &c., . 276 

XVI. General view of the Scientific researches recently carried on in the 
Russian Empire. In a discourse pronounced at the Extraordinary 
sitting of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St Petersburg, held 
on the 28th November 1829. By Baron Alexander de Hu3I- 
BOLDT, . . . 286 

XVII. Additional Contributions towards the History of the Cervus Euryce- 
ros, or Fossil Elk of Ireland. By S. Hibbert, M. D., F. R. S.E. 
&c. Communicated by the Author, . ' • 301 

XVIII. Investigation of the Spherical Aberration of a Diamond Lens. By 
Mr Andrew Pritchard, Hon. Mem. Soc. Arts, Scot. &c. Com- 
nounicated by C. R. Goring, M. D. . .317 

XIX. Account of another remarkable Case of Spectral Illusion. Continued 

from Art. IV. p. 222 of this Number, . 319 

XX. Notice respecting Mr Cuthbert's Elliptic Metals for Reflecting Micro- 
scopes. Communicated by a Correspondent, . 321 

XXL An outline of Dr Knox's theory of Hermaphrodism, and the appli- 
cation of its principles to the generative and respiratory organs, 322 

XXI L Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. No. VII — On the Islandis 
ef Procida and Ischia. By James D. Forbes, Esq. Communi- 
cated by tlie Author, . • 326 

XXIIL HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AND OF PRO- 
CESSES AND MATERIALS USED IN THE FINE AND 
USEFUL ARTS, . . .350 

1. Notice of the Rock Crystal Watch of M. Rebillier. From a Re- 
port to tlie Institute by MM. Prony and Navier, . ib. 

2. Account of Dr Ranken's Thermantidote for cooling apartments in 

hot climates, . . • 351 

3. Chinese mode of making Vermilion, . 352 

4. Chinese Mode of making Indigo, . • 353 

5. Account of the preparation of Olcocere or a wafac Ibr candles ftom 
Castor oil. By Mr S. Tytler, . • ib. 

XXIV. ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND MEMOIRS, 355 

1. The Article Ship-Building. Published in Vol. xviii. Part I. 
of the Edinburgh Encyclopfedia. Edited by Dr Brewster. Con- 
tinued from page 171j • • - ^^ 



CONTENTS. Ill 

Page 
2. Algae Britannicae, or Description of the Marine and other Inarti- 
culated Plants of the British Islands belonging to tlie Order Algae ; 
with Plates illustrative of the Genera. By Robert Kaye Gre- 
viLLE, LL. D. &c. &c. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1830, . 360 

^'•.^.:^^ '■ iHoaac? 

XXV. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, . . 365 

1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, . ib. 

2. Proceedings of the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful 

c iuoAih! Arts in Scotland, . . . 366 

3. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, . 368 

XXVI. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, . ib. 

/I JSaO r>qfiq I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.* 

Optics— I. On the Manufacture of Glass for optical purposes. 2. Effect of 

Light on liquids. By M. Dutrochet, . . 368 — 370 

Meteorology. — 3. Meteor at Plymouth, i83u;'ii V— . 371 

II. chemistry. 

4. Reduction of Nitrate of Silver. 5. Notice on the Atacama Meteoric Iron. 
By Dr Turner. 6. Mineral water of Ronnely. 7. Atomic weight of 
Iodine and Bromine. 8. Analysis of a Meteoric Stone, . 371 — 373 

III. NATURAL HISTORY. 

Mineralogy — 9. Analysis of AUophane from Firmi in the Aveyron. By 
M. J. GuTLLEMiN. 10. Mineral Pitch near St Agnes, Cornwall, discover- 
ed by Mr Kenwood. 11. Fresh discovery of the Chromate of Iron in 
Shetland, .... 373—374 

Zoology — 12. Observations on Serpents. By M. Desvoidy. 13. A». 
count of another case of United Twins in the East, . • 374 

XXVII. List of Patents granted in Scotland since July 15, 1829, . 375 

XXVIII. Celestial Phenomena, from April 1st, to July 1st, 1830, . 376 

XXIX. Summary of Meteorological Observations made at Kendal in Decem- 
ber 1829, and January and February 1830. By Mr Samuel Mar- 
shall. Communicated by the Author, , 378 

XXX. Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain-Gage, kept at 

Canaan Cottage. By Alex. Adie, Esq. F. R. S. Edinburgh, 380 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATES IN VOL. II. 

NEW SEEIES. 

PLATE I. Fig. I, Is a representation of Mr A. Scott's Steam Engine, without a 

Boiler. Sec p. 21. 
PLATE II. Fig. 1—6, Represent a new Anemomter invented by J. D. For- 
bes, Esq. See p. 31. 
Fig. 9 — 12, are Diagrams illustrative of Dr Brewster's paper on a New 

Series of Periodical Colours. See p. 46. 
Fig. 13, is a representation of the Siamese Twins. 
PLATE III. Fig. 1— -7 represent Mr James Clark's new method of Cutting Screws. 
See p. 273. 
Fig. 8, is a diagram illustrative of Mr Pritchard's paper on the Sphe- 
rical Aberration of a Diamond Lens. See p. 317. 
Fig 9, represents the Cervus Euryceros, as described in Dr Hibbert's 
paper. See p. 301. 



THE 

EDINBURGH 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



Art. I. — Historical Eloge of Louis FRAX901S Elisabeth 
Baron Ramond, * Honorary Counsellor of State, Com- 
mander of the Legion of Honour, Chevalier of St Michel, 
Member of the Academy of Sciences, of the Academy of 
Medicine, and of several other learned Societies. By M. 
Le Baron Cuvier, Perpetual Secretary to the Academy 
of Sciences. -|- 

In this biographical account of one of our most ingenious col- 
leagues, I would have wished to confine myself to such of his 
works as are connected with the objects of the Academy, and 
to have spoken to you only of the natural philosopher, the bo- 
tanist, and the geologist ; but this separation, become so diffi- 
cult in our day for the greater number of the academicians, is 
entirely impossible in the case of him of whom I am about to 
speak. In him the philosopher, the man of fortune, the legis- 
lator, were united in indissoluble ties ; it was often his duties 
which led him to his observations ; and if he has given a bet- 
ter description of the Pyrenees than any other, it was because 
political hatreds obliged him to take refuge there. His situa- 
tion at the head'of a department interesting to geology, enabled 
him to bring to perfection the mensuration of heights ; in a 

* Translated from the French. 

t M. Ramond in his youth was known by the name of Carboniere. 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. A 



2 Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 

word, it is in the details of an agitated life that ^e shall find 
the necessary commentary on the most learned of his works. 
You will not be astonished then to hear me recal the events 
of general history in which M. Bamond took a part, and of 
which he had been the victim, because they are almost always 
the events which were the cause of his discoveries. 

From his very infancy, from his origin itself, we perceive in 
some degree the germ of what he has been. His father, Pierre 
Ramond, treasurer extraordinary of the wars in Alsace, was 
originally from the south of France. His mother, Maria 
Eisentraut, belonged to a German family on the left bank of 
the Rhine; and it was partly the persecutions exercised 
against the protestants, and partly the melancholy devasta- 
tions which the French armies committed at the two seizures 
of the Palatinate in 1674 and in 1689, which had fixed 
these two families in Alsace; so that uniting in himself the 
lively and ardent nature of the inhabitants of the South, 
with that disposition to meditation, that perseverance, so com- 
mon among the German people, that M. Ramond derived from 
the recollections of his ancestors the horror of an arbitrary 
government, and the consequences which it brings along with 
it, even when, as it rarely happens, it is in the hands of a 
monarch so penetrating, so well informed, in his affairs, and 
of such greatness of mind as Louis XIV. undoubtedly was. 

Strasburg was perhaps the place most favourable to the 
developement of these dispositions. On taking possession of 
that city, France had guaranteed to them the preservation of 
their internal government, and there were found there all the 
complicated forms of the republics of the middle age. Its 
University, organized like those of Germany, and consequent- 
ly aflbrding the most varied and extended instruction, enjoyed 
great celebrity from the talents of Schoepflin for those studies 
which relate to diplomacy and public law. Here were assem- 
bled tlie sons ot the greatest houses of Germany and the 
north ; and M. Ramond had for the companions of his studies 
the men who have performed in our day the most conspicu- 
ous parts in Europe. 

The various branches of law were little less than an amuse- 
ment to a mind so active, and he found time to study Natural 



Baron Cuvier'^s Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 3 

Philosophy, and all the branches of Natural History. It 
would have been almost as easy for him to have been a pliy- 
sician as a lawyer ; and if he gave the preference to the last 
of these titles, it was solely from the idea that it would leave 
him more at liberty to cultivate his talents. 

From this time indeed he felt no more inclination, either to 
shut himself up in a study or an hospital. His body required 
space and motion as well as his mind. He had hardly left the 
university when he climbed on foot the summits of the Vosges, 
visited their ruins and their ancient chateaus, and composed 
elegies and even dramas. These imposing remains of the mid- 
dle ages inspired him with the idea of painting the manners of 
those times in a series of dialogues like the historical tragedies 
of Shakespeare. This work was printed at Bale, without the 
author's name, in 1780, under the title of the War of Alsace 
during the great schisyn of the West. But at a time when clas- 
sical regulations ruled our literature so absolutely that they 
have not even invented a name for writings which were not 
submitted to them, this work has not crossed the chain of 
tlie Vosges. More fortunate on the other side of the Rhine, 
it has been translated into German, and represented at dif- 
ferent theatres. The introduction, however, entitled avanf 
scene, would have been well received everywhere. It is a 
piece of history written with warmth, and which gives, in a 
few pages, a sufficiently exact idea of an important epoch. 

Traveller, naturalist, poet, historian, and all this with the 
ardour of early youth, M. Ilamond now found that he had 
exhausted Alsace ; but a neighbouring theatre invited him. 
Switzerland offered him plants, mountains, ancient manners, 
government of all sorts ; these were so many fields for his ex- 
traordinary activity. He travelled through it in 1777. Quite 
young, and altogether unknown, his polished air, and the wit 
of his conversation, caused him to be received as if he had 
been already celebrated. The aged Voltaire, loaded as he told 
him he was with 83 years and 85 diseases, found pleasure in 
showing him all he had done for his little colony. Lavater at 
Zurich endeavoured to seize hold of an imagination that ap- 
peared to him disposed towards mysticism ; and at Berne, 
Haller, almost dying, still found strength enough to show him 
some Alpine plants. 



4 Baron Cuvier's Historical Eldge of Baron llamond. 

An idea may be formed of the liveliness of the impressions 
which he experienced, from the notes to his translation of the 
Letters of Coxe upon Switzerland. With what truth he there 
paints both those beautiful valleys, where the surface of the 
globe had already attained an equilibrium, and its rugged 
rocks whose ruins still threatened the abode of man, and those 
eternal glaciers, the insurmountable limits to every species of 
organization ! with what delight he speaks of the charms of a 
country life ! with what penetration he sees through the intrigues 
and the passions which agitate those petty democracies \ and 
nevertheless, how he makes these simple shepherds respectable, 
and how he shows them to be full of sense and of justice in the 
exercise of the highest powers.* This manner of describing 
what he had seen, in notes on the works of another, arose en- 
tirely from his modesty. He thought himself too young to 
write a book of his own, but his readers thought otherwise. 
The lively pace of the commentator pleased them more than 
the grave step of the author. We really think that we are 
travelling in Switzerland with M . Ramond, and what perhaps 
never happened before, his French translation was re-translated 
into English, with his additions, and in that form it met with 
greater success in England than the original itself. Coxe, how- 
ever, as we may believe, was not so well pleased as the public ; 
and in a more enlarged edition which he published some time 
afterwards, he did not even mention the name of the author 
who had so powerfully contributed to the success of the first. 

The letters on Switzerland had made M. Ramond known 
at Paris. They were there surprised that a young Alsacian 
could write French with such elegance and power, and could 
display on so many different subjects such boldness and judg- 
ment. They were still more so, when, in the most brilliant 
circles, he showed himself the equal of men who were most 
celebrated for their conversational talents. The genius for 
society has always been in France the first of passports, and it 
was then more than ever that the spirit of party had not begun 
to make war upon it. Hence M. Ramond had only to choose 

♦ Lettres de M. Coxe a M. W. Melraoth, sur I'etat politique, civile, et 
iiaturel de la Suisse, traduites de I'Anglais, et augmentees des observations 
faites sur le meme pays, par le traducteur. 2 vols- 8vo. Paris, Belin, 1781. 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 5 

the houses where he wished to be received. The Hotel of 
Rochefoucault passed at that time for a sort of sanctuary of 
letters and philosophy; illustrious and virtuous men assembled 
there; they projected reforms of which they had soon an oppor- 
tunity of making trial, but which they were not able to direct, 
and the consequences of which most severely assailed them. 
This was a society made to please M. Ramond, and in which 
he greatly pleased himself. The Duchess D'Anville treated 
him as- her son. He formed a valuable friendship with M. de 
Malesherbes, whose taste for the scenes of nature naturally at- 
tached to him a young man who had painted the most inte- 
resting of them with so much energy. 

About this time he obtained a more powerful patron, but 
one whose kindness cost him more than its value. The too 
celebrated Cardinal de Rohan, Bishop of Strasburg, asso- 
ciated, from vanity, with the distinguished individuals whose 
esteem M. Ramond had obtained, at the same time that he 
frequented, from inclination, a very different kind of society, 
considered it his duty to do something for a young man of 
his diocese, who had displayed such fine talents. 

Since the conquest of Alsace, and especially since the union 
of Strasburg with France, the bishop of that city enjoyed a very 
different existence on the right and on the left bank of the 
Rhine. Courtisan, subject to Versailles, was a simple ecclesi- 
astical chief in the French part of his diocese, while in Ger- 
many he was the absolute chief of a small principality ; and 
he governed it by ministers, who in their narrow circle exercised 
an authority as great, and required a knowledge as extensive, 
as the councils or tribunals of the greatest monarchies. It was 
at first in his council of government, and with the title of privy- 
counsellor, that the Cardinal employed M. Ramond ; but he 
soon took too much pleasure in his conversation to keep him 
in this official relation. His privy-counsellor became one of 
his most intimate friends. He spent his happiest days at the 
small court, half French and half German, which the prince 
held at Saverne, — a court more spiritual than might be supposed 
in a small town at the foot of the Vosges, and more worldly than 
was perhaps convenient for an ecclesiastical sovereign. But 
n these tranquil times, when the interior had enjoyed profound 



6 Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 

peace for more than a century, the great spent their time from 
their infancy in effeminacy; and, never supposing that anything 
would threaten their security, tliey had no other occupation 
than that of varying their pleasures. Too often when they 
had tasted of everything, the extraordinary and the marvellous 
could alone rouse their exhausted spirits, and the first impostor 
who held out to them hopes or new sensations was received 
with enthusiasm. 

We know but too well to what extent the Cardinal de 
B,<?>]ian allowed himself to be involved in such a snare. 
.;,ff In 1781 the juggler Cagliostro arrives at Strasburg, pre- 
ceded, accompanied, and followed by the poor whom he re- 
lieved, the sick whom he attended gratuitously, and the be- 
lievers whom he illuminated with supernatural lights.'' It is 
in these terms that M. Ramond himself paints his arrival in 
a memoir which we have now before us. " This noisy 
cortege, adds he, celebrate him without ceasing; nobody 
knows whence he came, who he is, from what source he de- 
rives the wealth which he lavishes, and by what secret power 
he wields so unlimited an empire over their minds. Every 
one has his conjectures, advances assertions, and every thing is 
more strange than another." The Cardinal wished to see him, 
to entertain him, and, what is still more unaccountable, a 
prince of the Church, a powerful lord, who had exercised the 
highest functions of diplomacy, an academician, connected 
with our most distinguished men, becomes, in some confer- 
ences, the friend, the disciple, and the slave of the son of a 
tavern-keeper of Palermo. He cannot even part with him, 
and when his duties require a separation, he wishes to have 
near him a faithful agent to keep up their communications, 
and it is M. Ramond whom he desires to fill this situation. 
Several times he sent him to him at Strasburg, Lyons, and 
Basle. He wished even that he would assist the Sicilian in his 
operations, and become a sort of assistant in his laboratory. 

Was it a natural deference to a master whom he loved that 
induced M. Ramond to second the desires of the Cardinal ? 
Was it the hope of penetrating into some of the secrets which 
this singular man appeared to possess.'^ Was it even the idea 
alone, excusable perhaps in so young man, that he would be 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge ()f Baron Ramond. 7 

amused with his mysterious operations ? Or in short, did 
Cagliostro really influence his imagination, and deceive him with 
the same illusions as he did so many others ? To these questions 
we cannot make a reply; but this much is certain, that M. 
Ramond confessed that he became one of the most intimate 
friends of the great magician ; — that he became the deposi- 
tary of his receipts, and the witness of several of his miracles. 
He did not even conceal from his friends that he had seen, or 
that he believed he had seen, very extraordinary things ; but 
when he was pressed on the subject, he broke off the conversa- 
tion and refused any further explanation. Now that the 
charlatannerie of Cagliostro is no longer a problem, we can 
only conjecture, that, penetrating as M. Ramond was, the 
juggler had contrived to conceal even from him a part of the 
springs with which he worked. We should at least believe 
that these proofs cured him of his disposition to mysticism, for 
nobody was farther removed from it than he was in the last 
years of his life ; and the contemptuous warmth with which he 
expressed himself respecting the attempts of this kind which 
have been renewed in our times, proves him to be a man who 
knew well where to place his confidence. 

The irregular life of the Cardinal, his imprudent connections, 
conducted him, as every body knows, to a catastrophe more 
frightful than could have been imagined. Shamefully duped 
by persons the most contemptible, he had the inconceivable 
folly to believe that the queen had charged him with the clan- 
destine acquisition of diamonds of great value ; and the still 
more inconceivable folly of dehvering these diamonds to his 
pretended coadjutors. A minister who had been long his 
enemy did not scruple to give to these follies the most crimi- 
nal aspect ; and this great lord, this man of wit, who had al- 
ready made himself ridiculous by becoming the dupe of a 
charlatan, finished his career by being associated with the 
vilest persons in Paris, in the common accusation of an infa- 
mous act of swindHng. 

In this frightful disaster his true friends, who had not been 
able to tear him in time from these dreadful connections, re- 
sumed all their zeal in order to save him. Among the mass 
of papers which a man in the situation of a cardinal necessari- 
ly preserved, there must necessarily have been many foreign 



8 Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 

to his trial, which would have furnished to his persecutor 
other pretexts for completing his ruin. In two hours after . 
his arrest, M. Ramond succeeded in communicating with him 
in spite of his keeper, in obtaining possession of his papers, and 
in destroying every thing which could have complicated his case. 

With regard to the trial itself, the great object was to prove 
that the diamonds had been stolen by those whom the cardi- 
nal believed to be charged with returning them to the queen. 
For this purpose it was necessary to trace them, and it was 
soon found that they had passed into England. M. Ramond 
resolved to go there instantly. In vain did the Minister, the 
Cardinal's enemy, who had got notice of his design, try to ar- 
rest him on the road by a Lettre de Cachet. He had ob- 
tained secret information of it from M. de Malesherbes, and 
having taken a circuitous route, he arrived safely in England. 

The nature of his enterprize, as he himself said, put him in 
communication with the most degraded beings on both sides of 
the channel ; but he also found in the society of men of ho- 
nour frequent opportunities of escaping from this pestiferous 
atmosphere, and of seeing England in the most favourable 
point of view. An account of his journey was written, and 
doubtless it would have possessed all the interest of that which 
he performed in Switzerland and the Pyrenees; but unfortu- 
nately it was carried off from him in 1814, as we shall pre- 
sently see. 

By means of his sagacity and exertions, M. Ramond suc- 
ceeded in establishing, by the clearest testimony, how and by 
whom the diamonds were carried oif and sold in London. 
This was the most complete justification of the Cardinal in the 
principal point of the affair ; but in order to rouse his courage 
and arrange his defence, it became indispensable that he should 
be made acquainted with these discoveries. Detained in the 
Bastile with the most rigorous secrecy, nobody was permitted 
to approach him ; not even one of his relations durst hazard 
an imprudent step. M. Ramond risked himself on this occa- 
sion ; he entered the Bastile without the knowledge of the go- 
vernor, and as it were in spite of him. At last the case came 
to be tried, and he had the pleasure of seeing the Cardinal and 
Cagliostro freed from every charge, and of bringing down 
merited punishment on those who had involved this unfortu- 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 9 

nate prince in so abominable a labyrinth. But while this de- 
cision absolved him in the eyes of the public, it gave only a 
new virulence to the hatred with which he was persecuted. 
At first confined in his Abbey of Chaise-Dieu, in the most 
rugged mountains of Auvergne, he is received there by the 
monks only with a mock respect ; the dreaded minister is still 
there, and the prior is his lieutenant. Spies beset the exile ; 
— insolence is on every face, and he has reason to dread the 
poniard and the poison. M. Ramond alone continues near 
him, watches over his safety, and gives him every consolation. 
These rigours did not begin to subside till the disturbances in 
178T made the government reflect on its position ; and so 
difficult is it to renounce a bad course, that it is always with a 
slow step that we return to justice. The Cardinal was not re- 
called, but he was permitted to retire into another of his 
Abbeys at Marmoutier-les-Tours, a rich country, where he 
experienced a kindness which, since his misfortunes, had been 
unknown to him. 

M. Ramond, who had now become less necessary to him, 
availed himself of this opportunity of travelling among the 
Pyrenees, which he had long desired to compare with the 
Alps, and it was during that journey that he composed his 
first account of it which appeared at the beginning of 1789. * 
It is neither less animated nor less intellectual than his 06- 
servations on Switzerland. It contains ingenious remarks on 
the glaciers and on the equilibrium of heat and cold which 
preserve their limits. The people who inhabit the valleys 
were also the objects of his study. He inspires us with sym- 
pathy for those persecuted races known under the name of 
Cagots, and he inquires into their origin. But what is par- 
ticularly interesting for the sciences, we find here the first 
germs of his General Theory of Mountains as well as his 
ideas on the Laws by which their vegetation is regulated, — 
germs, however, which did not assume their scientific form till 
some years afterwards, during his compulsory residence in the 

• Observations faites dans les Pyrenees, pour servir de suite a des ob- 
servations sur les Alpes inserees dans une traduction des Lettres de Coxe 
sur la Suisse, 2 vol. in 8vo. Paris, Belin, 1789. 



10 Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 

same country, which on this occasion he had visited only from 
curiosity. 

M. Ramond had experienced in his relation with the Car- 
dinal de Rohan all that was disagreeable in the favour of the 
great — he had still to experience that of the favour of the 
people. The Cardinal, delivered from exile in consequence of 
the revolution of the 14th July, and sent as a deputy from the 
clergy of his diocese to the National Assembly, was henceforth 
free from all his persecutions, and it was no longer a point of 
honour that his former servants should remain attached to his 
person. M. Ramond now established himself at Paris. Con- 
nected as he was with most of those men who had concurred 
in the new state of things, it was difficult for him to remain 
a simple spectator, and scarcely had he appeared in a section, 
when his eloquence and extent of information made him a 
person of importance. He was placed, as he himself playfully 
remarks in his memoirs, among thenumber of those small powei's 
who thought that they could carry through the revolution, but 
who were soon dragged along by the revolution itself. Con- 
tinually at the conferences and cabinet meetings, from that of 
Condorcet to that of Mirabeau, of the Hotel de La Roche- 
foucault to the Hotel de Ville, or engaged in the clubs, 
sometimes with the friends of good, and sometimes with the 
spirits of mischief, he saw the latter continually advancing in 
spite of the efforts of the former. He was at last chosen a de- 
puty to the first legislature, and here there were new and more 
constant combats, — combats in which he had constantly against 
him the imprudent friends of the throne as well as its blind 
adversaries. 

From its first sittings he was found to conjure the assembly, 
though in vain, not to introduce religious discussions into de- 
bates already sufficiently animated : He called for toleration ; 
he proposed that the ecclesiastics, whether sworn or not, should 
be chosen freely by the communes, and that they should all re- 
ceive salaries. On a later occasion he attempted to adjourn 
the consideration of the laws against eroigt-ants; he at least 
resisted the proposal that they should all suffer the same pu- 
nishment without regard to their conduct to the mother country. 
On another occasion he endeavoured to prevent the disbanding 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 11 

en masse of the king's guard, that violent step in which it was 
easy to see the prelude to the overthrow of the throne. Some- 
times his language is that of the day, the only one which was 
intelligible, but his conclusions were in favour of justice and 
reason. Vain efforts. To men in the heat of passion no^ 
thing can appear reasonable and just bul the objects of their 
desire, and often the most eloquent discourses only exasperated 
them more in an opposite direction. It happened even that 
in those circuitous means, in those difficult manoeuvres to 
which they were obliged to resort who strove to put ofT a ca- 
tastrophe, M. Ramond had the misfortune to involve himself 
in a proceeding which, contrary to his intention, accelerated 
the progress of it. M. Delessart, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
had by an imprudent communication drawn upon himself the 
hatred of the ruling party. The minister of war, M. de Nar- , 
bonne, an honest but frivolous man, committed an imprudence 
of another kind by declaiming publicly against his colleague, 
and thus exposing the division which reigned in the ministry. 
The king irritated, dismissed him. His friends, who consi- 
dered him a necessary support to the throne, believed that the 
time had come when it was necessary to serve the cause of 
royalty in spite of itself, by urging the assembly to testify its 
regret at this removal, and M. Ramond, their organ, proposed 
even to declare that the other ministers had lost the confidence 
of the nation. But it was one thing to make a proposition 
and another to calculate the result of it. The stormy debate 
which followed took a turn quite contrary to the views of 
those who had provoked it : In place of a resolution, the 
effect of which was confined to bring back the king to coun- 
sellors who could save him, the party who wished to destroy 
him demanded the impeachment of M. Delessart. An insi- 
dious report, prepared before hand by the famous Brissot, and 
the existence of which was not even known to the authors of 
the first proposition, supported this demand. No answer 
was ready: The fatal decree was passed, and from that time 
the unfortunate monarch could find only faithless or pusilla- 
nimous ministers, and no serious obstacles any longer stopped 
the audacity of his enemies. 

On the disgraceful day of the 20th June, the voice of M. Ra- 



12 Baron Cuvier's Historical Ullage of Baron Ramond. 

mond was still heard in favour of order and the laws, but, as 
on other occasions, it was raised in vain. Exhausted by anxiety, 
and thrown into despair by the fruitlessness of his efforts, he 
was taken ill, underwent a painful operation, and was reduced 
to so alarming a state that his physicians made him set out for 
Bareges some days before the 18th of August. He thus escaped 
from the first danger ; but the vengeance of the triumphant 
faction was not slow in pursuing him. He saw this himself, and 
took refuge in the remotest recesses of the mountains, sustain- 
ing himself on the milk and black bread of the shepherds. Ar- 
rested at last on the 15th January 1794, and thrown into the 
prison at Tarbes, it was owing to the ingenious humanity of 
a soldier who knew his reputation, that he was not immediate- 
ly dragged before the revolutionary tribunal. 

M. Lomet, a distinguished officer of engineers, who was 
charged with the establishment of the hospitals of the army of 
the Pyrenees, pretended that he required for this purpose to 
consult a person well acquainted with the country. He M^as 
thus permitted to confer with M. Ramond in his prison, and 
to carry to him some relief. Lomet even solicited his libera- 
tion from Carnot, but he judiciously replied to him, he is too 
fortunate in being forgotten. There was also a stratagem 
used in his favour by M. Monestier, an envoy from the conven- 
tion, who had been charged with bringing to Paris those whom 
the triumvirs had proscribed. He found some pretexts for de- 
laying his departure, and this gained for him the 9th Ther- 
midor. His life was then safe, but still he was not liberated. 
He was not discharged from prison till the 9th November, and 
he came out of it deprived of everything. In his prison he 
had already been in a great measure supported by the labours 
of a sister, who, with admirable courage, hastened to his relief, 
and devoted herself to his fate. When once free, he resumed, 
either from necessity or taste, that kind of life which previous 
to his arrest he had led for his safety, and this precarious con- 
dition did not terminate till 1796, when he obtained the situa- 
tion of professor of natural history in the central school for 
the upper Pyrenees, which was established at Tarbes. 

M. Ramond filled this situation for four years, — the hap- 
piest perhaps of his life. The youth whom misfortune had 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 13 

thrown into this small town, formed an interesting audience. 
The same eloquence which distinguished him in the world, and 
in the tribune animated him in the chair. It particularly in- 
spired him when he traversed with his pupils those fine moun- 
tains whose wonders he expounded to them ; and when by 
their assistance he explored them with new care, not even a 
stone escaped him, and not even a plant was neglected. He 
ascended thirty-five times the Pic du Midi of Bareges ; and 
having failed in two trials in 1797, to ascend the peak called 
Mont Perdu, the highest of the chain, he resumed, and suc- 
ceeded in the attempt in 1 802. It was from this kind of hfe 
that a contemporary poet, in a laudatory poem, denominated 
him un savant chamois. 

To these repeated journeys we owe the third work of M. 
Ramond, which, under the too limited title of Voyage au 
Mont-Perdu, * presents in reality a general theory of the 
chain of the Pyrenees, equally new and important for geology. 

By an arrangement opposite to that which is observed in all 
other great chains, the flanks of these mountains present very 
few shells : it is only the summits which abound with the 
debris of organized bodies, and hence numerous objections 
had been drawn against the laws which Pallas and Saus- 
sure had recognized in the structure of mountains. M, 
Ramond found indeed calcareous beds of shells on the summit 
of the chain ; but a lucky observation showed him that the 
strata of these calcareous beds of shells dipped to the south, 
and in an ulterior survey he discovered the schists and the gra- 
nites which run beneath the calcareous strata. Returning 
farther to the north he saw these schists and granites arranged 
in parallel lines, but inferior to the great crest. Farther north 
still he again found the calcareous strata resting in parallel 
lines on the granites and schists ; but these last lines were the 
least elevated of all. Henceforth order was, in his opinion, 
again established. The granite forms, as every where else, the 
axis of the chain ; but there is a singular inequality of level 

* Voyage au Mont-Perdu, et dans la partie adjacente de Hautes Py- 
renees, par M. Ramond. Paris, Belin, 1801, 1 vol. 8vo; et Voyage au 
Sommet du Monte-Perdu, extrait diU Journal des Mines. Bossange, 1803, 
broch. in 8vo. 



J 4 Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 

between the collateral crests of the north and those of the 
south ; and upon the latter we meet in ascending the same 
series of beds which on the other we follow in descending. 
M(mt-Perdu is the first of calcareous mountains, as Mont- 
Blanc is the first of granite mountains, and, though less ele- 
vated, it does not yield to Mont-Blanc either in the aspect of 
the ruinp. which surround it, or in all the imposing spectacles 
which characterize the most terrible revolutions. " We seek 
even in vain," says M. Ramond, " in the granite mountains, for 
those simple and impressive forms, those large beds which stretch 
out into walls, which bend into amphitheatres, which form them- 
selves into terraces, and which shoot up into turrets where the 
hands of giants seem to have applied the line and the plummet." 

Imagination, as we see, always animated his style, but in place 
of misleading him, as it does so many others, it is a character 
quite peculiar to his writings ; it seems but to give the truth 
with more reality, and to transport the reader more completely 
to the spot, and to place before him whatever the author is 
desirous of representing. 

It is also to his travels among the Pyrenees that we owe not 
only some new plants * which M. Ramond discovered, but also 
general views on the vegetation of mountains, and on the com- 
parison of the zones with the climates of our hemisphere, 
which, already begun by Linnaeus, has become in our day, 
under the pen of Humboldt, Decandolle, and Mirbel, the sub- 
ject of such interesting works. 

,, M. Ramond himself attached great value to these questions. 
nThey formed his earliest and his latest studies ; and a short 
time before his death he republished them in an extended 
form in a Memoir on the Vegetation of the Pic du Midi, which 
was the last of his works. •)* More animated, and still more 
picturesque on this subject than on the other objects of his 
research, his style often rises to the highest eloquence. 
Ey^ry person admired in one of our public meetings the dis- 

^'Ptantes ineditesdes Pyrenees. Bnlietin des Sciences, No. 41 and tS, 
An viii. No. 43 and 44t, An ix. 

t Me'raoire sur la Vegetation du Pic du Midi de Bagnercs de Bigorre, 
*lu ^ I'Academie des Sciences, le 16 Jan. ct le 13 Mars 1826. It is printed 
' in the Memoirs of the Academy. 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 15 

course * in which he gave an account of the history of those 
living plants, vi^hich " on the fields of perpetual ice, under the 
douhle shelter of the snow of the earth, do not perhaps see 
the light above ten times in a century, and then perform their 
circle of vegetation in the short space of a few weeks, only to 
resume their sleep in a winter of several years ; and of those 
common plants, separated in a manner from the rest, but whose 
presence is explained by the debris of a rock or of a hut. Man 
in bringing there his flocks, brings with him without knowing 
it, the birds and insects of the valleys. He returns to it per- 
haps no more, but these wild regions have received in an 
instant the indelible impress of his power." 

That same ardour which he had infused into his style, ani- 
mated also his mode of speaking, and it was not less interesting 
to hear him read his productions, than to be present at those 
animated conversations in which he made his ideas original by 
expressions more original still. Many a time did he produce 
this effect among ourselves, when about 1800 he returned from 
the foot of the Pyrenees. The man who was soon to arrive 
at the supreme power, and who vvas then often present at our 
meetings, had no sooner heard him than he felt how important 
it would be to attach to his government a person of such 
powers. At the establishment of the prefectures he offered 
him one of them ; but in these times it was still permitted to 
refuse a favour, and M. Ramond, appointed to the legislative 
body by the department where he had enjoyed so many plea- 
sures, preferred a situation which separated him only for 
six weeks from his beloved mountains. He was not, how* 
e\er, forgotten, and the less so as it was readily perceived 
that he was not a man who would allow his thoughts to be 
dictated to him, and that whatever were his sentiments, he 
knew how to impress them most effectually on the minds of 
others. Too skilful not to penetrate the flimsy veil which 
yet covered the projects of his master, too frank to conceal any 
thing which he did perceive, he was not inferior in the ener- 
getic vivacity of his wit to a celebrated lady, (Madame de 

* Printed in vol. iv. of the Amtalea du Museum, et Histoire Natu- 
relle, p. 395. 



1 6 Baron Cuvier's Historical Ehge of Baron Ramond. 

Stael) who was soon compelled to quit Paris. It was wished 
also to remove him, but a vice-president of the legislative 
body could not be treated like a foreign lady. The plan was 
delayed till his time was finished, and in 1806, he was ap- 
pointed to the prefecture of the Puy de Dome, in terms which 
left him no choice, and hence he was in the habit of saying 
that he was a prefect by Lettre de Cachet. 

It was perhaps to this circumstance as much as to his good 
sense that he owed the merit, then very rare, and which his fel- 
low magistrates largely appreciated, — that of not administer- 
ing his office to excess. We know that in his department they 
still retain an honourable recollection of the tranquillity which 
individuals enjoyed at a time when so many pretexts were found 
for vexatious scrutinies. Besides, he was far from neglecting 
that which really interested the public, and he has left a fine 
monument of his administration in the hydraulic works of 
Mont-d'Or, one of the most useful and best frequented of our 
bathing-places. 

But in point of duration, what are the acts of the wisest ad- 
ministration compared with the least service rendered to the 
sciences ? What M. Ramond did for them in the Puy de 
Dome, will certainly be that of which the world will preserve 
the longest recollection. Whether by a fortunate accident, 
or by an express intention, such as frequently entered into the 
views of him by whom he was appointed, he found himself at 
the head of a country the most classical in geology, of that 
Auvergne where craters of all ages, — currents of lava in all di- 
rections, — basalts of all forms, unfold to the naturalist in the 
clearest language, the history of volcanos, and its epochs 
during hundreds of centuries anterior to all human history. 
He found himself especially in those very places where Pascal 
had made the admirable discovery of the mensuration of heights 
by the barometer. * The ideas which he had entertained from 
his first excursions in the Pyrenees, and the necessity of this 
instrument for geology, and on the improvements of which its 
use was susceptible, awakened in him with new strength. 

• It is well known that Pascal, after his first experiment made on the 
steeple of St Jaques-du-haut-Pas, at Paris, engaged his brother-in-law, 
Perrier, who lived at Clermont, to repeat the experiment on the mountain 
of the Puy de Dome. 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Baron Ramond. 17 

The mercury is supported in the barometer by the weight 
of the atmosphere: in proportion as we ascend, the column 
of air which presses upon it diminishes, it falls in the tube, 
and if the air were everywhere of the same density and the 
same temperature, nothing would be easier than to know by 
its fall how high we had ascended : But it is not so. The 
air being elastic, the superior compresses the inferior strata, and, 
in proportion as we ascend, the density and weight of the air 
decrease in a geometrical progression. The mercury then falls 
less for an equal height, in proportion as this height is taken at 
a higher elevation, — a second variation, which, if it were the 
only one, would occasion only very simple operations. It would 
have been sufficient to multiply the difference of the logarithms 
of the observed heights of the mercury by a number which ex- 
pressed in metres the elevation, which, at a given position, 
at the level of the sea for example, corresponded to a determi- 
nate fall of the mercury. But we should still obtain from this 
rude results : the differences of heat both of the air and of the 
mercury ; the differences in the humidity of the atmosphere ; 
the decrease of the force of gravity arising from the distance 
to which we are removed from the centre of the earth, and 
even from the increase of the convexity of the globe towards 
the equator, are so many circumstances which it is necessary 
to take into account if we wish to arrive at any precision. 
The late M. de Laplace had introduced all the operations which 
these circumstances require into a general formula, which was 
a rigorous expression of them, but the application of which 
presupposed the positive determination of the coefficients 
belonging to each, and particularly the principal coefficient; 
but in his first trials he had fixed this coefficient too low, 
so that all heights calculated from the formula were be- 
neath the real height, as given by trigonometrical measure- 
ments or by levelling. M. Ramond,* availing himself of some 
heights measured accurately by geometers, and having made 

• Memoires sur la formule barometrique de le Mecanique Celeste, et les 
distribution de Tatmosphere qui en modifient les proprietes, augmentes 
d'une instruction elementaire et pratique destinee a servir de guide dans 
rapplication du barometre a la mesure des hauteurs* Clermont-Ferrand, 
1811, in 4to. 

UEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. B 



18 Baron Cuvier's Historical Illoge of Baron Ramond. 

barometrical observations at the same points with the minutest 
attention, showed how much the coefficient should be increased. 
He determined with the same care the other numbers, and he 
also paid attention to a number of momentary circumstances 
which disturbed the accuracy of the observations, and the in- 
fluence of which he learned to avoid. Among this number, 
are the prevailing winds, the daily variations of the barometer, 
the facility with which the thermometer, especially in moun- 
tains, experiences from the earth, — an impression different from 
that which the heat of the air would produce if acting alone. 
The appreciation of all these effects required journeys, expe- 
riments, and calculations without end ; and M. Ramond put 
Jiimself to so much trouble about it, that a wit one day asked, 
if the prefect intended to measure his conscripts by the baro- 
meter. The truth is, that the barometer has become by his 
means a geodetic instrument, which gives to geographers and 
engineers, with great economy of time and labour, the heights 
of high grounds and summits, too much neglected in ancient 
chartSj and which even permits them to employ these heights 
as bases for measuring horizontal distances. It is particularly 
an instrument of the first importance to the geologist, whom 
it enables to take the level of a formation wherever it appears, 
and thus to assign its absolute position in spite of all the de- 
positions by which it may be masked. 

M. Ramond has himself derived great help from the baro- 
meter, in completing the history of the two most interesting 
chains of Auvergne, the Monts-Dome and the Monts-Dores. * 
The simple operation of levelhng had led him to discover be- 
tween the lavas of different ages remarkable differences of struc- 
ture. The most ancient appear to have preserved their fluidity 
well for a long time, and to have been carried to much greater 
distances from the mouths which discharged them. They com- 
prehend not only the basalts properly so called, but porphy- 
ries, petrosilex, clinkstones, which are not less than basalts the 
products of an igneous fusion, and which often divide them- 
selves, like the basalts, into columnar prisms. The more recent 

• "Nivellcraent baronietrique des Monts-Dores, et des Monts-Domes, dis- 
pose par ordre des terrains," presented totlie Institute on the 24th and 31st 
July 1813. 



Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge qf Baron Ramond. 19 

lavas are not so much elevated, and are of a less varied nature. 
They all rest on a vast plateau of granite, or are deposited in 
its interstices. They have been discharged from its entrails, 
or from the parts of the globe situated below it, and these dif- 
ferent soils, and their different stages, have each plants, animals, 
and culture peculiar to themselves. M. Ramond traces the his- 
tory of them, and supports it by a determination of more than 
400 heights obtained by his method *. 

It was thus that M. Ramond employed in Auvergne those 
moments which the duties of his office left at his own disposal ; 
and he felt that the duties which so many others could have 
performed as well as himself, fettered too much the use of those 
talents which belonged to him. In January 1813 he was al- 
lowed to retire, and he came to reside near Paris, with the view 
of devoting the rest of his life to the education of his son, and to 
the final redaction of his researches in Physics, Geology and 
Botany. The memoirs of his life were also to form one of the 
occupations of his old age, and this would doubtless not have 
been the least interesting. But, during the invasion of 1814, 
his journals, his correspondence, all the materials which he had 
collected, were destroyed in one day by the Cossacks : — of the 
labours of forty years there remained to him only the recollec- 
tions. A powerful distraction of his thoughts, or a work of 
severe labour, was the only possible resource under such a 
misfortune, andlM. Ramond again engaged himself in his affairs. 
Appointed Master of Requests on the 24th August 1815, he 
was charged in January 1816, along with M. Lechat, one of 
his colleagues, with the liquidation of English claims, — a deli- 
cate operation, in which it was necessary to defend the interests 
of the treasury against foreigners, whose position enabled 
them to strain the exactions of treaties. A perfect knowledge 
of English, the charm of his conversation, the natural ascen- 
dancy which his high reputation gave him, were of such use, 
that, out of 3,500,000 francs of rentes, which had been voted 
for the liquidation of this part of our engagements, the com- 

* Application des nivellements executes dans la departement du Puy-de- 
Dome a la Geograpliie Physique de cette partie de la France. This Me- 
moir was read to the Institute on the 7th August 1813. 



JW Baron Cuvier's Historical Ehge of Baron Ramcmd, 

mission of which he was a member, had only to pay 2,950,000 
francs, and yet, in spite of the reductions and numerous rejec- 
tions which he had to pronounce, no complaint was addressed 
to the respective governments. The late M. Le Due de Riche- 
lieu declared, that it was the most successful of all the com- 
missions of liquidation, and this enlightened judge of what be- 
longed to delicacy and national honour, hastened to request the 
King to appoint M. Ramond counsellor of state on the ordi- 
nary service. He was raised to this situation on the 14th June 
1818. The public, astonished to see him obtain so late a re- 
compence, to which his talents and his services seemed to call 
him, was still more surprised to see iiim lose it before three 
years had expired. Since 1822 his name no longer appeared 
in the list of acting counsellors, and soon after, it was struck out 
of the number of honorary counsellors. What was the cause 
of this ? Nobody, I believe, knows any thing of the matter. 
This much, however, is certain, that his removal is one of those 
which have made us the more desire and bless the ordonnance 
which shall prevent the repetition of it in future. 

M. Ramond supported this last disgrace as he did the other 
events to which his lot had exposed him. Neither the gaiety 
of his conversation, nor the forcible energy of his expressions 
were affected by it. One would have said that age increased 
the ardour of his discourse and of his affections ; and even in 
his last moments, his slight proportions, his keen temperament, 
the vivacity of his movements, recalled the painter of the moun- 
tains, at the same time that the manner in which he characterized 
the personages who appeared in the horizon of politics, or upon 
that of science and literature, announced the man, who, in 
learning to judge of his equals, had availed himself of all the 
phases of an adventurous life. 

A chronic inflammation of the intestines made him pass his 
last days in acute pain. He died on the 14th May 1827, 
leaving behind him only one son by his marriage with Madame 
Cherin, the widowed daughter of our respectable colleague M. 
Dacier. His place in the Academy has been filled by M. 
Berthier, engineer of mines, so celebrated by his numerous 
analyses of minerals. 



Mr Scott's Description of a New Steotm- Engine, t§'C. 21 



Art. II. — Description of a New Steam-Engine without a 
Boiler. By Alexander Scott, Esq. Communicated by 
the Inventor. 

In the first volume of the Ediiihurgh Journal of Science^ 
first series, page 267, the following notice was given : That 
in 1823 a model of a steam-engine was made and wrought 
without a boiler, and experiments were made with it in pre- 
sence of several in the immediate neighbourhood, and after- 
wards in presence of two ingenious mechanics, (brothers of the 
name of Halliday, who carry on a small foundry near Hadding- 
ton) who were invited to witness the rapid production of steam 
without the aid of a boiler. The plan appeared to them very 
simple and secure from danger, and the experiments so sa- 
tisfactory, that they soon afterwards commenced mounting a 
high pressure engine upon this plan, and of a power sufficient 
for their own works. It was added, that when finished, if it 
wrought to expectation, a description of the engine would be 
sent for insertion in the Edinburgh Journal of Science. Be- 
fore describing the manner of working the engine without a 
boiler, it may be proper to state the cause which occasioned 
so much loss of time in the formation of it. All the parts of the 
engine were executed by one of the brothers at his spare 
hours ; and while he was carrying on the different parts, he 
was twice attacked with a rheumatic fever, which made him 
long unfit for work of any kind. 

When water of a low temperature is forced by a pump in- 
to a small generator placed over a fire, every stroke of the 
pump tends to lower the temperature of the whole body of the 
water. This led to devise a generator by which water of a 
low temperature can be forced into it without lowering the 
temperature of the hottest part of the water. In constructing 
a generator with that property, two truly flat circular patterns 
of wood were made, having each corresponding projecting 
parts. In the one pattern a continued spiral groove was cut 
from the centre to nearly its circumference, the other pattern 
was left plain. Fig. 1, Plate I. represents the one, and Fig. 2 
the other. Both these patterns were made twenty-one inches 



22 Mr Scott's Description of 

in diameter, exclusive of the projecting parts. The spiral groov- 
ed pattern was one inch and three quarters in thickness, and 
the plain pattern one inch and a quarter thick, as also were 
the projecting parts of both patterns. The spiral groove was 
cut half an inch in depth, half an inch wide at bottom, and 
seven-eighths of an inch at top. The ridge between the grooves 
was left half an inch in breadth at top, and seven-eighths of an 
inch at bottom. From these two patterns iron casts were taken. 
The faces of both these cast-iron plates were made truly flat, 
and a very small chiseled groove was cut along the middle of 
the ridge between the grooves, and a corresponding chiseled 
groove was cut in the inch and quarter thick plate. These 
two plates were then cemented together by means of well-pre- 
pared iron cement, part of it filling the chiseled grooves in 
both plates ; the projecting parts a, 6, c, d, e, /, g, h, Figs. 
1 and 2, were bolted together by screw bolts, five-eighths of 
an inch square, made of the best iron ; in all fifteen bolts, as 
marked by the small square bolt holes in Figs. 1 and 2; 
the projecting parts of Fig. 1 being all, except that marked 
h, one and a quarter of an inch in thickness, which leaves a 
space of half an inch between the projecting parts of the two 
plates, for the more effectually screwing the plates close to- 
gether. These two plates when thus joined form only the 
one-half of the generator, as there is another half almost in 
every respect similar to be placed perpendicularly over the 
one described ; having a strong cast-iron pillar with flanges, 
as represented by Fig. 3, placed in the centre between the 
halves : These flanges are strongly secured by four screw bolts 
to each of the halves of the generator. The centre pillar is 
twelve inches in height and four and a half inches in diameter, 
with a bore up its centre of one inch and a quarter in diameter. 

Fig. 4 represents a section of the generator answering to 
the description already given, placed in a furnace, of which a 
section is also given. 

The generator is supported in the furnace by cast-iron 
brackets represented by Fig. 5 and 6, built into the sides 
of the furnace for the projecting parts of the generator to rest 
on, where F, Fig. 4, is the Are place, A the ash pit, and C 
part of the chimney. R represents part of the pipe that leads 



PLATE I. 



Edin^ Jourruil ol' Sruviii- I'^.v/c. \i'l 



Fuf.I. 




K&.f Titf . 4. 






Fiff. 3 




a New Steam-Engine without a Boiler. 23 

from the force pump to the generator, whence the water cir- 
culates round and round the spirals from the circumference 
to the centre of the under half of the generator, ascends the 
centre pillar P, then circulates outwards from the centre of 
the upper half of the generator to its circumference, and 
escapes by the pipe S, that leads to the cylinder of the engine. 
The pipe T is the one that conveys part of the escape steam 
from the cylinder into the chimney. This generator works a 
small high pressure engine, of which the following is a short 
description : — 

The frame of it is of cast-iron, of the forjn of the upper part 
of Mr Maudslay's portable engine with its parallel motion. 
The piston of the cylinder is six inches in diameter, and the 
length of the cylinder permits the piston rod to make a stroke 
of seventeen inches. The steam is permitted to enter the cylin- 
der alternately above and below the piston by means of a 
spring slide valve wrought by the engine, and has a stroke of one 
and two-eighths of an inch. The axis of the fly wheel cranks, 
&c. is two inches and a quarter square ; the rounded parts two 
and one-eighth inches in diameter. The fly is seven hundred 
weight, and six feet in diameter. In the steam-pipe that leads 
from the generator to the cylinder, there is a three-way cock 
introduced, with a branch proceeding from it to the hot well 
of the engine, by which the steam may be permitted either to 
pass to the cylinder, or by one-third turn of the cock into the 
hot well of the engine. This three-way cock answers for 
stopping or starting the engine. As there is no space in this 
kind of generator, as in common engine boilers, for the steam 
to condense or expand, the common throttle valve is not ap- 
plicable to this kind of generator ; but in place of it, a spring 
slide valve is introduced in the steam-pipe between the three- 
way cock and generator, with a branch from it communicating 
with the branch pipe that leads between the three-way cock 
and hot well. This slide valve is raised and lowered against a 
very acute angled aperture by means of centrifugal balls, so 
as to permit a necessary regulating quantity of steam to escape 
into the hot well. In the pipe by which the steam escapes 
from the cylinder into the chimney, there is a branch to the 
hot well ; in this branch there is a cock by which the tempe- 



ji4 Mr Scott's Description of 

rature of the water in the hot well is regulated. The forcing 
pump is wrought by the engine, and supplies the generator 
with water from the hot welL In a side vessel that commu- 
nicates with the hot well, there is a forcing pump wrought by 
hand for starting the engine. Into this vessel additional water 
enters to supply the engine, and where the height of the water 
in the hot well is regulated. As the engine is intended to 
work different kinds of machinery, either together or separate- 
ly, different powers are required. 

To produce these several powers, there is a short branch from 
the steam-pipe near the generator, that reaches to a convenient 
place, where a steel guard safety valve is placed. On the lever 
of this safety valve, the safety valve weight is to be hung at di- 
Tidions marked on it answering to the power required, and a 
corresponding length of stroke is also to be given to the for- 
cing pump of the engine. 

The engine was first pubhcly tried in January 1828 before 
it was connected with machinery of any kind ; but that it 
might meet with some resistance, a friction bar of iron with a 
considerable pressure was applied to the periphery of the fly 
wheel, when the engine made eighty-eight double strokes per 
minute. 

The engine was lately tried connected with grinding and 
turning-lathe machinery, and at the same timeit wrought cast- 
iron rollers bruising bleas for fire. Although the bleas were very 
irregularly fed into the rollers, yet the engine continued to 
make sixty-four double strokes per minute. A greater number 
might have been obtained ; but from the irregular manner the 
bleas was fed in, there was reason to fear that the main axis 
of the engine might give way. 

On the bottom and sides of vessels that have been long used 
for boiling fresh water, a calcareous crust is generally formed 
more or less in thickness. 

It is proposed, if it shall be found that the spiral grooved 
generators are liable to be incrusted in this manner, that a 
water-tight cistern be placed somewhat higher than the genera- 
tor. This cistern is to be connected with the upper part of the 
generator by a pipe and stop-cock. There is also to be a branch 
pipe from the steam-pipe close to the under part of the gene- 



a Neii) Steam-Efigine mtkoui a Boiler* S5 

yator> with a particular stop^cock, that when open, it shall cut 
off the communication between the generator and the side 
valves. Let this cistern be filled brimful with water, and the 
cock at the bottom of the generator left open. If the cock of 
the cistern be opened the whole water of the cistern will escape 
through the generator ; and if the time it takes to escape be 
observed by a pendulum or stop-second watch, the repetition 
of this experiment at any time will show if the passage through 
the generator be contracted since last experiment. Should it 
be found to be so, it is then proposed to fill the generator with 
diluted muriatic acid, taking care to cut off the communication 
between it and the shde valves. After letting it remain in the 
generator a sufficient time, it is then to be washed out with 
warm water poured into the above-mentioned cistern. If the 
cistern be filled brimful it will serve to ascertain if the pas- 
sage be clear, by observing the time it takes to pass through 
the generator. Repetitions of these experiments will undoubt- 
edly free the generator of all calcareous matter. But as 
none of the strong acids act on the crust formed by sea water, 
it is therefore proposed to proceed in the same manner with 
diluted sulphuric acid, taking care never to give time for much 
crust to form by sea water, so that by the diluted sulphuric 
acid partly acting on the iron, it shall effect the removing of 
an imperfect crust produced from salt water ; the generator to 
be always thoroughly washed out with warm water. 

The length of time that this engine has been in construct- 
ing, gave ample time to devise improvements. Several were 
proposed, but few of them were thought of in time to be intro- 
duced without making material alterations on the parts made ; 
such as improvements in the manner of constructing generators 
of greater strength, but of which it is unnecessary to lengthen 
this paper with a description. However, one thing may be 
mentioned, as it would add to the improvement of the engine. 
In place of working the escape steam slide valve by the im- 
mediate action of the centrifugal balls, it was proposed that 
the axis of a bevelled wheel should be turned by the ma- 
chinery of the engine, and which is to turn other two bevelled 
wheels on one axis. These two last mentioned wheels are neither 
of them to be fixed to the axis, but both to slip round freely 



26 Captain Webster on the Natural Productions of 

upon it, turning in contrary directions as they receive motion 
from the opposite sides of the first mentioned wheel. A lock- 
ing stub box is fitted upon the axis between the two wheels, and 
can, by moving it one way or the other, be made to lock either 
of the wheels to the axis at the same time that it leaves the other 
disengaged. It is proposed that the centrifugal balls shall shift 
this stub box back or forward as their centrifugal motion 
shall be affected by the velocity that they receive from the en- 
gine. The axis of these two wheels is proposed to be so con- 
nected with the escape steam slide valve, that on its turning 
one way round it shall raise the valve to let the steam escape, 
and by turning the contrary way it shall depress the valve 
that less may escape ; and it is further proposed, that there 
shall be spring sockets on the axis of the first wheel, to prevent 
any part giving way when the valve is fully wrought up or 
down. In like manner it is proposed to work the furnace 
damper for regulating the heat of the fire. 

The engine, as now completed, is a handsome piece of well- 
finished accurate workmanship, and performs its part admir- 
ably. The young man who made all the principal parts of the 
engine is a self-taught mechanic, and merits the highest praise 
for the ingenuity, elegance, and perfect workmanship which 
he has displayed upon it. 

Ormistoun, September 1829. 



Art. III. — Account of the Natural Productiwis of Staten 
Island and Cape Horn. By Captain W. H. B. Webster, 
R. N. In a Letter to John Barrow, Esq. F. R. S., &c. 

SIR, 

As you have been pleased to take so great an interest in our 
voyage, I beg to lay before you some observations and remarks 
more immediately connected with the southern portion of it. 
Commencing with Staten Island and connecting Cape Horn 
with it, as far as respects plants and vegetables, there being a 
perfect identity, I will endeavour to specify the principal pro- 
ducts thereof, having regard, in the statement I have now the 



Staten Island and Cape Horn. 27 

honour of making, to practical results and utility. A paper 
to this effect has been delivered to Captain Foster, with a col- 
lection of seeds, plants, and specimens, to exemplify and cor- 
roborate the statements I have made. It is almost unneces- 
sary to state, that the plants of these regions will easily and 
readily adapt themselves to the climate of England, requiring, 
however, rather a moist soil. The vegetation of Staten 
Island and Cape Horn, singularly enough, is composed almost 
entirely of evergreens, among which, both from frequency and 
size, the beech ranks first. T presume it to be the Fagus Antarc- 
tica ; but having no systematic work with the character of the 
species, I am precluded from speaking in this respect with ab- 
solute certainty ; but this is of less consequence, as the speci- 
mens themselves will afford the means of its being identified. 
The evergreen beech clothes the country with forests of per- 
petual verdure. When young it is a very pretty and orna- 
mental shrub. It attains to a size of consid«rable magnitude. 
The wood is not worthy of much praise. The bark contains 
some tannin, and afforded us the means of converting the seal 
skins into leather with very good effect. The leather has an 
aromatic and agreeable smell. This beech is beset with a very 
singular parasitic shrub, which engrafts itself on the branches 
in a peculiar manner. I know not the name ; but there are 
numerous specimens of it in fructification and seeds. Around 
the summit of the trunk, and on some of the larger branches, 
are frequently a congeries of orange-coloured globular smooth 
fungi of the size of a small apple. When mature it opens on 
the surface, and displays a honey-combed cellular structure. 
The fungi are slimy, mucilaginous, and insipid. Where these 
fungi are attached to the tree it becomes extremely knotted 
and tuberculated, forming a very large hard knob. The wood 
of this evergreen beech in decay undergoes a most singular 
change, becoming throughout of a fine bright verdigrise green, 
retaining its colour against the action of every agent, alkaline 
or acid. It is not affected in any way by light or moisture. I 
pulverized some and tried it as a paint, for which it seems ad- 
mirably adapted, affording a good colour for any work, being 
both durable and elegant. This decayed wood is not luminous 
in the dark. It does not universally undergo this conversion, 



28 Captain Websfter on the Natural Productions of 

for none of it was found by the Adventure's officers on Terra 
del Fuego ; and they were surprised when I showed it to them* 
Large masses of this green wood are transmitted home as spe- 
cimens, and blocks of it have been given by me to Captain 
Foster. There is another species of beech in these regions 
which is deciduous. It is more common at Cape Horn than 
at Staten Land, where it is very rare. The change of colour 
of its leaf gives the usual charm of autumnal scenery. The 
Juncus grandiflorus, or Fuegian rush, appears worthy of being 
introduced to your notice from its valuable qualities, which 
are such as to induce me to hope that the introduction of it 
to our own country will prove both advantageous and benefi- 
cial. It makes most beautiful and excellent baskets, exceed- 
ingly strong, durable, and elegant. The specimen of the 
Fuegian basket procured at Cape Horn from the Indian tribe, 
which I have deposited with Captain Foster, will confirm all 
that I have said in its favour. It almost equals India cane 
mats ; and may, in the hands of our ingenious countrymen, 
be turned to many purposes, as the manufacture of baskets, 
mats, brooms, and probably hats. The flower of this rush is 
by no means inelegant. It grows in precisely similar situations 
to our own rush, which it may very justly supplant by its su- 
perior merits. I have gathered abundance of seeds, in order 
that it may be tried either by the Society of Arts or Board 
of Agriculture, if you should think fit to permit it. It may 
not be irrelevant to mention, that the stem of this rush is very 
sweet, and when dry it resembles coarse hay. How far it can 
in any way be rendered available as fodder in cases of emer- 
gency, must be left to proper and competent judges. The 
ashes of the rush are very alkaline. 

I am much indebted to the Horticultural Society for two 
reams of brown paper, for the preservation of seeds and plants. 
I have not been negligent of their interest in this respect, and 
have gathered and preserved every seed and plant that came 
within my reach. They are in an excellent state of preserva- 
tion, and have been given to Captain Foster for forwarding to 
the Admiralty. Among the more immediately useful ones I 
beg to enumerate the Berheris microphylla, a free and copious 
bearer. The berries are intermediate between a gooseberry 



Siaten Island aiid Cape Horn, 20 

and a grape, of a pleasant and agreeable flavour, fit for tarts, 
puddings, or table use. It may be cultivated with advantage 
in our gardens as an agreeable variety and pretty little bush. 

The Chelcme riielloides, and Androsace spathulata or Fue- 
gian Auricula, are flowers of considerable beauty and interest, 
worthy of the gayest parterre. The seeds of these were very 
scarce. 

The elegant myrtle-like shrub Arbutus aculeata cannot be 
sufficiently admired. It is a most pleasing evergreen, and 
cannot fail of being a general favourite. It is very hardy, 
and bears its berries through the winter. I have sent some 
seeds of the celery of these regions, as it appeared to be a far 
more vigorous and luxuriant plant than our own ; and, should 
it improve on cultivation equally with ours, it will be an ac- 
quisition. It is very large and fine, equal to our cultivated 
celery in many cases. 

The Balsam plant of Staten Island forms elegant cushion- 
Hke knolls, from the leaves of which a fragrant resinous juice 
exudes, having very much the properties of copaiva. It con- 
cretes naturally into a solid resin ; and, should it assimilate in 
character to copaiva, it will prove an admirable addition to the 
Materia Medica, as being capable of administration in the 
form of pills, whereby it would supersede the late attempts to 
obtain the resin of copaiva. 

The coral-like berries of Hamadryas contain a good colour- 
ing principle analogous to Annotta. It is not altered either 
by acids or alkalies. If the dye should be of the least value 
the plant will thrive on waste bogs and moors. I could enu- 
merate the particulars of other plants. The sea- weeds of 
Staten Island are really gigantic. I found one with very acid 
properties, which I thought rather an anomaly ; and others 
certainly contain iodine. 

While on the subject of plants I may introduce Shetland, 
naked, bare, and destitute as it is even of a vestige. A shred 
or two of a most diminutive moss, requiring almost a micro- 
scopic eye to discover it, is very scarce and rare, being found 
only in very few spots. A lichen identical with the one on 
the hills of Cape Horn, as the specimens attached to their re- 
spective rocks will show, comprise the botany of Shetland, ex* 



30 Captain Webster on the Natural Productions, S^c. 

cepting the sea-weeds, of which there is a paucity. A small 
parenchymatous one yielded a very agreeable mucilage like 
gum-arabic, and with sugar would form no bad jelly for a des- 
sert in these regions of desolation. Of the red snow and the 
Aurora Australis, I will leave others to speak, having seen nei- 
ther the one nor the other, though much interested respecting 
them. I have sent the bottle with the red snow water, such 
as it is ; but I think ours is a fallacy. The geological speci- 
mens are numerous and ample. They are done up in separate 
bags for their respective places. I have a singular and unique 
one from Shetland, which I reserve for the honour of present- 
ing to yourself. No other trace of a similar kind could be 
found. It is most beautiful, though rare. I have delivered 
papers on the geological structure and formation of the different 
places to Captain Foster. It is quite unnecessary to say any- 
thing more. At Staten Island I observed extensive beds of 
graphite or black lead. 

The collection of shells is good as far as our opportunities, 
permitted, though we found but few. The Teredo gigas 
or gigantea, is very abundant at Staten Land, and makes aw- 
ful destruction upon the timber. 

It is with considerable pain I have to speak of birds, hav- 
ing failed completely in that department from want of room 
and convenience for drying, with a fatality at Shetland of the 
loss of our collection by a snow storm. In a ten gun brig 
crammed with ten months' provision and an unusual quantity 
of stores and instruments, no one can rationally expect much 
in the way of natural history. There is a total want of ac- 
commodation ; not a particle of room, especially where the 
great and sole objects of the voyage are mathematical and 
philosophical. I have endeavoured to do every thing that was 
in my power, and have investigated the anatomical structure 
of seals and penguins, with whom we have been associated for 
many months. The great peculiarity of structure in this am- 
phibious bird is its great and excessively distended jugular 
veins being near two inches in diameter. I merely mention 
this one point respecting the anatomy of the penguin, to as- 
sociate it with the prodigious and enormous abdominal ve- 
nous sinus of the sea leopard or leopardine seal of Jameson, 

1 



Mr Forbes's description of a netv Anemometef. 31 

which you will scarcely credit to be seventeen inches in dia- 
meter. That an animal of five or six cwt. and of seven or eight 
feet in length, should have a venous sinus of seventeen inches 
diameter, stretching from hypochondrium to hypochondrium, 
seems incredible ; — unparalleled as it is, such is the fact. The 
skins and heads of five are sent home. There are some minor 
articles put up in bottles, and the soft parts of the seal which 
Professor Jameson has erroneously characterized. In respect 
to the preservation of fish, did room permit me, I intended to 
have communicated a mode which I have found to answer ex- 
tremely well in the preserving of them whole without the use 
of bottles, and so that they are perfect, complete, and en- 
tire specimens. I am extremely happy to say we have lost 
no man since the Chanticleer has been commissioned. I could 
have communicated much more ; but I am afraid I have already 
tired you with the subject, and have only to solicit the forgive- 
ness of my intrusion. With the most grateful estimation of 
your kindness, and the best and most sincere wishes of the 
heart for your happiness, permit me to subscribe myself your 
most respectful and obliged servant, 

W. H. B. Webster. 
H. M. S. Chanticleer, 
Cape of Good Hope, Table Bay, Tlth July 1829. 



Art. IV. — Description of a new Anemometer. By James D. 
Forbes, Esq. Communicated by the Author. 

Among the various contrivances proposed for the measure of 
the force or velocity of a current of air, it is surprising how 
few seem to have had for their object the separation of the 
exclusive influence of the wind, submissible to rigorous calcu- 
lation, unincumbered with the effects of friction and the loss 
of power sustained through accumulated mechanical construc- 
tions, before any result which could be subjected to strict cal- 
culation was obtained. Of the dynamical methods hitherto 
employed, that of the equilibration of the aerial current by a 
column of fluid seems the most unexceptionable, and of those 
derived from accessory properties, the time of cooling, measur- 



S2 Mr Forbes's description of a new Anemometer. 

ed by a thermometer placed in the stream, is the most philo- 
sophical. 

But the determination, however precise, of the velocity of 
the wind at any moment, is of little importance to meteorology ; 
and it is not till we can obtain some general register of the 
state of the wind in the absence of the observer, by a machine 
of sufficient simplicity to be generally adopted, that we can 
hope to raise the philosophy of the wind to that importance 
which I am disposed to think it deserves to hold in atmosphe- 
ric science 5 and no period was ever farther from such an ac- 
quisition than the present, when the anemometer is the most 
neglected of all meteorological instruments. A register of the 
force or velocity of the wind in the absence of the observer 
must of course include the register of its direction. An in- 
strument for the last purpose was contrived by one Michael 
Lomonosow, as I found long after the contrivance I have now 
to describe was formed ; but for the former and more important 
object, no plan, as far as I know, has been proposed. 

The principle of my anemometer occurred to me several 
years ago, and I sketched the idea of an instrument much in 
its present form ; but having lately added some improvements, 
and finding, after much occasional consideration, no funda- 
mental defect, nor any notice of a similar contrivance, I have 
been induced to draw up the following account, and submit 
the principles to the test of theory. 

It is surprising that among the numerous modes of expos- 
ing surfaces to the wind and computing its resistance, which 
have been proposed during this and the last century, * no one 
seems to have thought the deflection of bodies, exposing a given 
surface to the current during the time of their fall by the ac- 
tion of gravity through a given height, a suitable means of de- 
ducing the deflecting force. I admit that the elevation of an 
exposed surface constrained to move in the arc of a circle has 
been employed for such a purpose, and the effect computed 
by the sine of the elevation ; but the principal merit I claim 
for the new anemometer is the absence of any constraint what- 
ever, and the facilities it gives for direct computation, the 
weight of the moving body being taken into consideration. 

• See the excellent Article Anemometer, in the Edinburgh Encyclo" 
pcedia. 



Mr Forbes's description of a new Anemometer. 33 

Besides, it has the advantage of self-registration. We shall 
first consider the theory of the deflection, then the method 
employed to put it in practice. Briefly then, the principle of 
the instrument is to ascertain the measure of the velocity of the 
passing current^ by the deflection from the perpendicular of 
small bodies mechanically let Jail at certain intervals, through 
a certain space. 

The investigation is similar to that of the simplest case of 
resistance introductory to the theory of projectiles, for it is the 
same whether we consider the sphere (for we shall suppose the 
falling bodies to be spherules) moved through the air by a 
projectile force equal to the velocity of the wind, or the wind 
itself rushing upon the sphere in a state of rest with that ve- 
locity. In the former case the resistance would be considered 
as producing an extinction of motion exactly equal to the pro- 
duction of motion in the latter. That is, if A B, Fig. 8 
Plate II. represent the velocity of the wind in any moment of 
lime, the body being first exposed to it at A, and the resist- 
ance of the current to its state of rest makes it move in the 
same time through A C, it is the same as if we suppose the 
air in a state of rest, and the body at A projected with a velo- 
city A 6, when, the resistance being obviously the same as before, 
the space moved through will only be A c, since 6 c = A C 

It is obvious that the sphere, when exposed to the resistance 
of the air and the action of gravity united, will describe 
some curve, as A a b c. But we have not, as in the case 
of projectiles, to compute the resistance on the periphery of 
the curve, which when at right angles to the wind is wholly 
inconsiderable, but merely the effort of a constant resistance 
along the ordinates a a, (3 b, &c. The question is therefore 
resolved into the simple case of resistance in a rectilineal course 
co-ordinate with that of gravity, identical, in fact, with Lib. ii. 
Prop. V. of the Principia, and of which also a very extended 
solution has been given by Professor Robison, in the elaborate 
article Projectiles in the Encyclopcedia Britannica. A very 
brief exposition of the same problem, borrowed partly from 
both sources, and applied to the present case, may perhaps 
be not unacceptable to some readers. 

The terminal velocity of a falling body in air is that final 
limit in which the acceleration of gravity is balanced by the 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II, NO. I. JAN. 1830. C 



34 Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 

resistance of the air, of which, therefore, it becomes a measure. 
Now, for the sake of conciseness, let R be the resistance op- 
posed to a velocity expressed by 1, while r is the resistance to 
the terminal velocity u. Since the resistance varies with the 
square of the velocity, r = R x ^^ which is also — W, the 
weight of the body, since it is able to counteract the accele- 

W /W 

rating force of gravity ; hence u"^ — -^ and u=z^ -rr-- Now 

the common theorems of motion give the space through which 

a body must fall to acquire the velocity u in vacuo = a =r — , 

where g expresses the usual unit of the force of gravity. But 
the time corresponding to a is of course by the same theorems 

= -, which call e ; whence - = - and eu = 2a, which is ob- 
g e 2 ' 

viously the space described uniformly with the velocity u in 
the time e, which is equivalent to the time of the extinction of 
the acceleration of gravity opposed by the uniform action of 
the resistance r ; for r is assumed = g^ and e is the time during 
which a body would ascend, uniformly resisted by gravity. 
Since r extinguishes the velocity in the time e, R, which is w^ 
times smaller, will do it in vr e, and will extinguish the velo- 
city 1 (being u times less than u) in the time we, that is, in 
the time 2a, and the space described being uniformly resisted, 
will of course be half of that through which it would have 
moved with a constant velocity, and will be = a ; and this 
result is quite general for any velocity v or V. 

To find r, u, or o, is the next object, since any one of these 
being discovered, the others may be .deduced. Newton, by an 
extended process of investigation in the second book of the 
Principia, has arrived at this theoretical conclusion of the 
value of r, (which, however mathematicians have doubted 
the accuracy of the method in this ** res difficillima,"" as 
Newton himself has called it, the result has been generally ac- 
quiesced in ;) that the resistance of air to a sphere moving 
with any velocity is equal to half the weight of a column of 
air of equal section, and whose altitude is the weight produ- 
cing the velocity. 

Hence let a he the height producing the velocity (in feet), 
d — diameter of the ball (in inches) -^r^: 3.1416, &c. ; 62.5 
lbs. being the weight of a cubic foot of water, and jj^ the 



Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 35 

relative density of air ; we have r in pounds = — -^ X -^--7- 
•^ ^ 840 144 X4j 

ad^ ad^ v^ v^ d^ 

^^ = 4928| ^^'- ^"^ s^ibstituting --- for «, we have -^j^^-^. 

Whence to obtain a unit of resistance, putting v and d equal 

to 1 respectively, we have R = ^r^xriy ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^J 

/ W . 
the equation already found u = ^ ^r";^' ^^^^^ ^ varies with 

the square of the diameter of the ball. Hence also 9> a =:i — y- 

Let us now endeavour to apply the principles thus obtained 
to the measurement of velocities and spaces in a medium resisting 
as the square of the former, since we have already shown, that, 
by finding the effect of resistance in retarding independent mo- 
tions, we shall have no difficulty in applying it to the simple 
effect of resistance upon a body at rest. Since the velocity thus 
resisted must be in a state of perpetual flux, we must find 
its relation to the retarding force by some theorem of variable 
motion. It is this ; ± d v —fd t. Now, since the resist- 
ing force / is measured by the differential of the velocity r;, 
that differential must be proportional to v"-^. Now this is the 
characteristic of lines drawn from the assymptotes of a rectangu- 
lar hyperbola to the curve, such as E F, G H, A B, Fig. 1. 
Plate II. For let the abscissae D B, D H, &c. be denoted by 
X, and the corresponding ordinates by «/, then, from the pro- 
perty of equality in the rectangular spaces, we have the equa- 
tion X y -zz c^ \ a being a constant quantity. Hence the diffe- 
rential Ys, X dy -^ y d X — ^ and d y •=. — - — . But since 

— — — idyz=i — — —— in which dx beinej a constant differ- 

ential, (for, as we shall presently see, the abscissas increase uni- 
formly,) and a^ a constant quantity, d^ must vary as ?/^, which 
is property of the velocities resisted as their squares.* 

Hence, therefore, if we draw a line A B, which shall repre- 
sent the initial velocity V, and one at right angles, B D cor- 
responding to the time e, or the time of extinction of the velo- 
city V, when uniformly resisted, the parallelogram thus formed 

* See note to Princip. ii. 5. ; de Motu corporum quibus resistitur in 
duplicata ratione velocitatum. — Jesuit's Edit. 



S6 Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 

will represent the quantity 2 a, and having thus obtained a 
scale for the measurement both of velocity and time, we may 
describe the rectangular hyperbola AGE, having C D, D B, 
forming portions of its assymptotes. The abscissae D B, D H, 
&c. will then express the times, (increasing uniformly) and 
the ordinates B A, G H, &c. the corresponding retarded velo- 
cities. Having thus obtained a measure of the times and ve- 
locities, the union of them or the areas A G H B, A E F B, 
&c. represent the spaces described. 

But since the hyperbolic areas may be expressed by the na- 
tural or Napierian logarithms, from the equality of the rec- 
tangles ABCD = IGHD, which is the modulus of the 
hyperbolic logarithms, or 1, and is here equivalent to 2 a, 
the difference of the hyperbolic logarithms of any two ordi- 
nates will express the area intercepted between them, and its 
measure will be obtained in terms of 2 a. 

But in the case where the velocity is not that of a projec- 
tile, but of the impulsive medium, the velocities will not be 
measured by the ordinates, but by the diiference between them 
and the initial velocity ; and the spaces not by the hyperbolic 
areas, but by the difference betwixt them and a rectangle de- 
scribed by a uniform velocity in the same time. That is, put- 
ting S = space moved over, and t = the time of exposure to 
resistance — B F, A B being as formerly = V, and B D = ^, 
we have 

S = V ^ — ■! hyp. log. (e f #) — hyp. log. e >2a 

e ■4' t 
= \ t — 9>a-\- hyp. log. Or for common logarithms sub- 

2 a 
stitute -jT- for 2 a, M being the modulus of the common sys- 
tem. 

Having thus given a solution of the problem of the extent 
of deflection occasioned by a current of air under any circum- 
stances, I proceed to describe the instrument which is intended to 
show its effect. It is represented in Plate II. Fig. 2. From the 
flat board C D, of which the figure represents a section, rise two 
iron supports G E and H F, which should be as thin as is consist- 
ent with strength in the direction as right angles to the view 
in the figure. Rising from above these in the way there shown, 
is the horizontal wind sail A, which must have a cap and vane 



Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 37 

not represented in the figure, to shelter one side from the wind 
and expose the other to its force. On the axis of the sail is 
the pinion «, working into the wheel 6, which turns the endless 
screw c. By these two transfers of power any required di- 
minution of velocity may be produced. The box B contains 
a number of spherules to be dropt at short intervals by means 
of a mechanical contrivance, and in the course of their fall are 
exposed to the deflecting force of the wind, which deflection is 
measured by means of the circular rings, d, e^ff, e\ d, in 
the board C D, of which a horizontal plan is given in Fig. 8, 
showing by the distribution of the cavities that both the 
direction and velocity of the wind will be measured at once, 
being divided into eight, or as many points of the compass as 
may be desired, and into three or more measures of deflection. 
It is thus apparent, that, in the estimation of force, the results 
are wholly independent of any mechanical friction, since all 
4he wheel- work connected with it is merely employed for drop- 
ping the balls ; which is thus contrived : The bottom of the 
box B is composed of several parts, a section of which is 
given in Fig. 4 : the centre part Q is the real bottom, and is at- 
tached to the sides. It has the thickness of one of the balls, 
and has a cylindrical perforation q, of the same diameter, as 
represented also in Fig. 5, which is a horizontal section of the 
same. United by a common axis g (Fig. 4,) which passes freely 
through the centre of the bottom Q, are the two plates P and R, 
the horizontal surfaces of which are represented at Figs. 6 
and 7, and into the edge of the former works the endless screw 
c (Fig. ^,) by which the plates P and R are slowly turned 
round, being on a common axis, so fixed that while the aper- 
ture r covers the cylindrical hole in the plate Q, it is closed be- 
low by the stop p in the plate P, and the reverse, so that it is 
obvious, that, as soon as the cavity q is insulated above, the 
ball which was received through the opening r will drop, 
which will be repeated once every turn, the recurrence of 
which may be varied at pleasure by the number of teeth in the 
wheel-work. 

We must, however, observe that the number of pellets drop- 
ped into the circular rings in Fig. S, even should these rings be 
calculated for spaces corresponding to equal increments of 
velocity, will not be proportional to the times during which 



38 Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 

the wind has blown with each velocity since the last observa- 
tion ; for, unless the dropping of the spherules were performed 
by clock-work (^and I have thought it more fitted for general 
adoption to employ the force of the wind merely,) the numbers 
would be proportioned to the revolutions of the sail A, which, 
without any danger of vitiating the accuracy of the instrument, 
which throughout it has been my object to construct on prin- 
ciples submissible to rigorous calculation, may be considered 
j)7'oportional to tlie force of the wind, or the square of its velo- 
city ; for we have nothing to do with the absolute number of 
rotations occasioned by any given impulsion, — a problem, how- 
ever, which would meet with constant solutions in the use of 
the instrument, by comparing the force of the wind computed 
from the average deflection with the total number of balls 
fallen during a definite period. The spaces might, however, be 
so regulated as to indicate the velocities by the number of balls 
accumulated in them ; but this we shall notice presently, giv- 
ing, in the first place, the application of the theory of deflection 
to the instrument. 

Let us assume the spherules to be one-fifth of an inch in 
diameter, and that they have the density of water, and that the 
height they fall through is four feet. Since 0.2 inches = ^^ 
foot, and since a cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 lbs. we have 

62.5 X ^ 
the weight of a spherule = W = — ^„ — - = .0001515 lb. 

We have seen that by the Newtonian theory R = ^jj\ij of a 

ir72 ^"^ 

^a =z ~. Hence then, 
S 

Logarithm R, . . 4.50111 

rf2 __ .04 inches, log. . . 8.60206 

Resistance to vel. 1. . . 3.10317 

Log. W. . . 6.18041 

Diff. = log. m2 . . 3.07724 

g= 32 log. . . 1.50515 

2a = 37. 33 feet. log. . . 1.57209 

Then, V being the initial velocity, or the velocity of the wind 

in feet per second, e = the extinguishing time = -y : And if 



Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 39 

we suppose V = 40, which corresponds, according to the expe- 
riments of Hiitton, to a " very brisk wind,'' e = 0."933S. 
Since the space fallen through is four feet, t =z time of expo- 

y2 s /8 

o 

rithimic modulus being = 0.43429, &c. we have all the data 
for solving the equation. 

2a ^ e^t _ ^^ 37.33 ,1.4333 

Log. 2 a . 1.57209 
M . "9-63778 



Log. e = 9.97004 1.93431 

].e-\- t=0A5635 

1. 1±J 0.18631 « - 2d log. 9.27023 

16.016 log. 1.20454 

Finally ; V / =: 40 x 0.5 = 20.000 feet 
2« , e + t 
— M ^ ^''^' e =i^:^ 
Amount of deflection, 3.984 feet. 
The case we have just supposed is perhaps one of the most 
convenient in practice ; * it is besides curious, as showing the 
theoretical effect of wind on falling drops of rain, which are 
sometimes of the size we have assumed, and the density is 
equal. As the deflection, however, is greater than would 
ever be required for accuracy of measurement, the height of 
the fall, and consequently the time of exposure, might be re- 
duced, which would put the instrument within smaller com- 
pass. Suppose the time halved, or = 0."25, we have s = 1 
foot, and the last solution is easily altered to the present case. 

Log. e = 9-97004 
€ + ^ = 1.1833 log. 0.07309 

log. -i-' = 0.10305 M log. 9-01305 

log.^ 1.93431 

8.858 log. O.9473Q 
V/ = 40 X 0.25 = 10.000 feet. 

Deflection — 1 . 1 42 feet. 

* The spherules might be turned out of wood. Perhaps eyen dry peas 
might answer the purpose. 



40 Mr Forbes's description of a New Anemometer. 

A greater space of exposure than in this last case might, how- 
ever, be desirable, that the wind might have an unrestrained 
action through the machine. 

Suppose, in the first case we have calculated, that the den- 
sity of the spherules was doubled, it might be easily shown 
that 2 a would become 2 am, the density being altered as 1 :m; 
and it is also demonstrable that the same change would be 
produced by altering the diameter in the same ratio. The 
following computation will serve for the case of density double 
that of water, and that of a diameter double the last, or 0.4 
inches, the velocity being the same. 



2 a log. 
m = 2 log. 


1.57209 
0.30103 


2 am log. 
Mlog. 

2d log. 

17.732 log. 
: 20.000 




2 am 
Vlog. 


1.87312 
1.60206 




e = 1.867 1. 
t = 0.5 
€ ^ i = 2.367 1. 


0.27106 
0.37420 


1.87312 
9.63778 
2.23534 


e + t . 


0.10314. 

Vt =: 
Deflection 


9-01343 

1.24877 




2.268 feet. 





Supposing, therefore, that spherules of the diameter of 0.2 
inches, having a specific gravity of 2, (which might easily be 
made of some permanent composition approaching this den- 
sity) be selected as the standard, (or, what is the same, having 
half the diameter, or 0.1 inch, and a specific gravity of 4,) we 
may compute for it the spaces corresponding to equal incre- 
ments of velocity, and if we divide the ordinary velocities of 
wind into three classes, under 20, under 40, and under 60 
feet per second, corresponding to about 14, 27 and 41 miles 
an hour, we shall have a sufficient illustration for our present 
purpose. Such a computation once made for any instrument 
will regulate the breadth of the spaces for the reception of 
the balls, which, as we have remarked above, would not be in 
the ratio of the velocities, were they equally divided. 



Mr Forbes's description of a new Anemometer. 41 

I 4^ut. V=:20 

* 2 a mlog. 1.87312 

Vlog. 1,30103 



1. 2.23534! 



e = 3.733 log, 0.57209 

t zr 0«5 2am 

e + i= 4.233 log. 0.62665 ~W 

-^i-^ log. 0.05456' - . - - 2d log. 8.73687 

9.380 log. 0.97221 
V^ =z 20 X 0.5= 10.000 

Deflection 0.620 feet. 
We have already got the deflection when V — 40, 2.268 feet. 
Put. V = 60 

2am log. 1.87312 
Vlog. 1.77815 



e= 1.244 log. 0.09497 

/ = 05 2 am 



1. 2.23534 



e 4- t 1.744 log. 0.24155 M 

l±ilog. 0.14658 - - - 2d log. 9.16607 

25.200 log. 1.40141 
V^ = 60 X 0.5 = 30.000 

Deflection 4.800 feet. 
We have thus obtained Ft. DifT. 

V = 20 corresponding Defl. 0.620 

V = 40 . 2.268 1.648 

V = 60 4.800 2.532 

Of which the second differences are nearly constant. 

I have taken occasion to remark, that, although the spaces 
be thus proportioned to the actual velocities, the number of 
balls contained in each circular ring will not correspond to the 
periods during which the wind has blown with the indicated 
velocity; for the distri' uion of the spherules depending on 
the revolutions of a sail, which will be proportional very near- 
ly to the forces, or the squares of the velocities, the numbers in 
each compartment will of course bear that relation, and, taking 
the first degree of velocity as a standard, those in the second 
must be divided by 4, in the third by 9, &c. 

It would, however, be quite practicable so to proportion the 
distances of the rings, as to make the number of balls contain- 



42 Mr Forbes's description of a nexv Anemometer. 

ed in each proportional to the times. And for practical pur- 
poses, it will be quite sufficient to consider merely the veloci- 
ties corresponding to the extreme deflection included by each 
space. Let S be the extreme deflection corresponding to the 
first cavity/, (Fig. 2,) and N = the number of balls deposit- 
ed in any given time. Then obviously N a V^S, or it is 
proportional to the square of the velocity and the space con- 
junctly. For the other circular rings, for S we must substi- 
tute S'— S and S''— S', &c. ; S, S' and S" corresponding to 
the successive extreme deflections. Expanding N oc V^S, it be- 
comes NocV^ X (W-| X log.i±i) and since e = ^^ we 

haveNocV^/ ^^ x log. ^ — -f ] \ which may be thus ex- 

pressed ; 

/Nt \ 2«Z: 

N oc V-'/ — log. I 1- 1 ) M 

a complex expression, but from which might easily enough be 
extracted the value of V in an approximate manner, and from 
the object of the inquiry, N, in all values of S is intended to 
be a constant quantity. In the figures these spaces have been 
made equal, nor has the proportion of the parts been there 
particularly attended to. The receptacles for the balls ought 
also to be made deeper than there represented, to prevent them 
from starting from their proper places. 

I hope I have been sufficiently clear in my descriptions, to 
show that the instrument in its nature and applications is per- 
fectly elementary, and requires no computation in practice ex- 
cept counting the balls, which by their situation indicate the 
portion of time since the last observation during which the 
wind has blown with any force in any direction. And the only 
adjustment it requires is to collect the pellets from the vari- 
ous spaces, and return them to the box from which they are 
again to fall. 

When an instrument has once been constructed on the prin- 
ciples above laid down, nothing more is required for any period 
during which it may be used, so long as balls of the same size 
and density are employed,* and the simple wheel-work kept 

• It has been one object of my inquiry, whether small shot might not 
be advantageously employed, notwithstanding the great specific gravity of 



•English Patents granted from 1675 to 1829. 43 

in order, which may easily be done, by having a water-tight 
case for that small part of the instrument. Experience will 
show how far the theoretical principles above laid down are 
rigorously accurate in practice. The Newtonian result for R 
has required some modification to coincide with the experimen- 
tal results derived from projectiles; but it is probable, that 
where the velocities and spaces are so small as in all cases of 
the anemometer, it will be found almost mathematically accu- 
rate. But, whatever may be the amount of these errors, it is 
of little consequence in the general principle, as any small em- 
pirical coefficient may be employed, which, from accurate ex- 
periments in a few particular velocities, may appear requisite. 

CoLiNTON House, October 26, 1829. 

Art. V. — List of the Number of Patents granted for In- 
ventions in England, from the year 1675 to 18295 inclusive ; 
also a List of Patents in force 1815-1829. ^ 

A Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed 

lead ; and, considering their great regularity of surface and perfect equali- 
ty of size, 1 am disposed to think that the small quantity of the deflection 
might be overlooked ; for when the velocities are considerable, the deflec- 
tions found for former cases are in fact too large for convenience, and it 
probably would not be advisable to reduce the space of exposure below three 
or four feet. Let us see, therefore, what would be the amount of deflec- 
tion in the first example given above, the density of the shot being as 
11.37 to 1, and the diameter as i to 1, or being 1-lOth inch. V =^ 40. 
2 a log. 1.57209 
5.68 0.75435 



2a dm 2.32644 
Vlog. 1.60206 




2a 


i d m 2.32644 


e = 5.301 log. 0.72438 


0** .' 




M log. 9.63778 


€ + t = 5.S01\og. 0.76350 






2.68866 


^ "^ ^ log. 0.03912 


- 




2d log. 8.59240 




19.101 
Vt 20.000 




log. 1.28106 



Deflection, 0.899 ft. or about 11 inches. 



44 English Patents granted from 1675 to 1829. 

last session, to examine evidence on the important subject 
of " Patents for Inventions,''' and much valuable information 
was obtained from the able witnesses examined. The advanced 
period of the session prevented the Committee from reporting 
only the minutes of the evidence, but at the same time recom- 
mending earnestly to the House to resume the inquiry early 
next session. We may therefore hope, that the really inven- 
tive talent of our country will yet be protected from those 
mercenary and unprincipled invaders, who, without hesitation 
or mercy, so frequently rob unprotected genius of the honest 
fruits of its industry and labour. 

A comparison of the average grants of patents in the differ- 
ent reigns is not unworthy of investigation. The busy activity 
of our own times much more than doubles what was regarded 
as an era of great commercial activity and mechanical invention 
in the reign of George III. and assumes a very high and lofty 
character when compared with the reigns of two preceding 
monarchs of that name. The reign of Anne affords the least 
numerical average, and the annual increase of patents soon 
after the accession of William and Mary is not unworthy of 
attention. The number granted in 1825, — a year so replete 
with interest in history of speculation and adventurous enter- 
prizes of all kinds, will not be looked at by the philosophic 
observer of men and things, without the deepest feelings of 
astonishment and regret. 



Charles II. 


1686, 


3 


1698, 


8 


1710. 




1675, 4 


1687, 


6 


1699, 


4 


1711, 


3 


1676, 2 


1688, 


4 


1700, 


2 


1712, 


3 


1677, 3 


Wra.& 


Mary. 


1701, 


1 


1713, 


2 


1678, 5 


1689, 


1 


Anne. 




George 


I. 


1679, 2 


1690, 


3 


1702, 




1714, 


4 


1680, 


1691, 


20 


1703, 


1 


1715, 


3 


1681, 5 


1692, 


24 


1704, 


4 


1716, 


8 


1682, 7 


1693, 


19 


1705, 


1 


1717, 


6 


1683, 7 


1694, 


9 


1706, 


4 


1718, 


6 


1684, 12 


1695, 


8 


1707, 


3 


1719, 


2 


James II. 


1696, 


3 


1708, 


2 


1720, 


7 


1685, 5 


1697, 


3 


1709, 


3 


1721, 


7 



English Patents granted from 1675 to 1829. 45 

1722, IS 1750, 7 1778, 30 1807, 96 

1723, 7 1751, 8 1779, 38 1808, 95 

1724, 14 1752, 6 1780, 32 1809, 102 

1725, 9 1753, 11 1781, 34 1810, 95 

1726, 5 1754, 9 1782, 39 1811, 115 
George II. 1755, 12 1783, 64 1812, 119 

1727, 7 1756, 3 1784, 46 1813, 143 

1728, 12 1757, 9 1785, 60 1814, 94 

1729, 8 1758, 14 1786, 59 J815, 99 

1730, 11 1759, 10 1787, 54 1816, 118 

1731, 9 George III. 1788, 43 1817, 98 

1732, 3 1760, 8 1789, 44 1818, 130 

1733, 6 1761, 14 1790, 68 1819, 101 

1734, 8 1762, 9 1791, 57 George IV. 

1735, 6 1763, 20 1792, 84 1820, 98 

1736, 1764, 14 1793, 43 1821, 108 

1737, 3 1765, 14 1794, 55 1822, 113 

1738, 6 1766, 30 1795, 50 1823, 138 

1739, 3 1767, 23 1796, 73 1824, 181 

1740, 4 1768, 23 1797, 54 1825, 249 

1741, 8 1769, 36 1798, 77 1826, 131 

1742, 6 1770, 30 1799, 82 1827, 148 

1743, 7 1771, 22 1800, 96 1828, 152 

1744, 17 1772, 30 1801, 104 1829, 37 . 

1745, 4 1773, 29 1802, 105 

1746, 4 1774, 36 1803, 74 Tot. 5539. 

1747, 8 1775, 20 1804, 60 

1748, 11 1776, 29 1805, 95 

1749, 13 1777, 33 1806, 99 

List of Patents in force. 

June to Dec. 1815, 53 1824, 181 

1816, 118 1825, 249 

1817, 98 1826, 131 

1818, 130 1827, 148 

1819, 101 1828, 152 

1820, 98 Jan. to May 1829, 37 

1821, 108 

1822, 113 Tot. 1855 

1823, 138 



46 Dr Brewster on a new series of 

These tables were presented to the Committee by Mr W. 
H. Wyatt, the editor of the Repertory of Arts. 

Average annual grant of Patents in the different reigns, 
adopting the nearest whole number 

Charles II. 5 George I. 7 

James II. 4 George II. 8 

William and Mary. 8 George III. 61 

Anne. 9> George IV. 136 

We conclude this statement by an account of the number 
of Patents obtained in England, France, and Austria, as pub- 
lished in the " Polytechnische Jahrhiicher'''^ at Vienna, and 
communicated to the Committee by Mr Hawkins. 

England. France. Austria. 

1821, 106 179 107 

1822, 115 

1823, 136 

1824, 180 

1825, 247 

1826, 130 

In six years, 914 

Yearly average. 152 

Average in England from 1818 to 1826, 188 

Plymouth, October 21, 1829. 



Art. VI. — On a new series of periodical colours produced 
hy the grooved surfaces of metallic and transparent bodies. 
By David Brewstee, LL. D. F. R. S. L. and E. * 

In the year 1822, when I received from Mr Barton some very 
fine specimens of his Iris ornaments, I availed myself of the 
opportunity of performing a series of experiments on the action 

• Read before the Royal Society of London, May 21, 1829, and slightly 
abridged from the Phil. Trans. 1829, p. 301—316. 



135 


167 


153 


197 


164 


236 


246 


194 


214 


198 


091 


1099 


182 


183 



periodical colours produced by grooved surfaces, 47 

of grooved surfaces upon light. As the subject was to a cer- 
tain extent new, many of the results which I obtained seemed 
to possess considerable interest, and I accordingl}r communi- 
cated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh a general account of 
them, which was read on the Sd of February 1 823. The in- 
terruptions, however, of professional pursuits prevented me, 
but at distant intervals, from pursuing the inquiry ; and hav- 
ing found that M. Fraunhofer was actively engaged in the 
very same research, with all the advantages of the finest appa- 
ratus and materials, I abandoned the subject, though with 
some reluctance, to his superior powers and means of investi- 
gation. During a visit paid to Edinburgh by the Chevaher 
Yelin, a friend of Fraunhofer's, and a distinguished member 
of the Academy of Sciences of Munich, I showed him the 
general results which I had obtained ; and as he assured me 
that the phenomena which had principally occupied my atten- 
tion had entirely escaped the notice of his friend *, I was thus 
induced to resume my labours, the results of which, in relation 
to one branch of the subject, I shall now submit to the consi- 
deration of the Society. 

When a flat and polished metallic surface is covered with 
equal and equi-distant grooves, we may characterize it by the 
relation of two quantities, one of which w, represents the breadth 
of each groove, or of the surface that is removed, while the other 
71, represents the breadth of the intermediate space, or of the 
original surface that is left. If the image of a candle is seen 
by reflexion from such a surface, the trace of the plane of re- 
flexion being parallel to the grooves, we observe the colourless 
image of a candle in the middle of a row of prismatic images 
arranged in a line perpendicular to the grooves. The colour- 
less image of the candle is formed by the original portions 7i 
of the metallic surface, w hile the prismatic images are formed 
by the sides of the grooves m. This may be demonstrated 
ocularly by increasing m, and consequently diminishing Ji till 
the latter nearly disappears. In this case, the intensity of the 
prismatic images rises to a maximum, while the ordinary co- 

* The memoir of M. Fraunhofer was read to the Bavarian Academy of 
Sciences on the 14th of June 1823 ; and has no relation to the subject of 
this paper. 



48 Dr Brewster on a new series of 

lourless image becomes extremely faint, and vice versd. The 
general phenomena of the prismatic images, such as their dis- 
tance from the common image, and the dispersion of their co- 
lours, depend entirely on the magnitude of w + w, or the 
number of grooves and intervals that occupy any given space; 
and the laws of these phenomena have been accurately deter- 
mined by M. Fraunhofer. 

In the course of my examination of the prismatic images, I 
observed in some specimens an unaccountable defalcation of 
particular colours, varying with the angle of incidence, and 
sometimes affecting one of the images and not the others. It 
sometimes appeared in close and sometimes in wide systems of 
grooves, and from the symmetry of its effects, it became obvi- 
ous that it was not owing to any accidental cause. In the spe- 
cimen in which it was most distinctly seen, I was surprised to 
observe that the white image reflected from the original surface 
of the steel was itself slightly coloured ; that its tint varied 
with the angle of incidence, and had some relation to the de- 
falcation of colour in the prismatic images. 

Hitherto I had used a small disc of light, but in order to 
observe through a great range of incidence I employed a long 
narrow rectangular aperture, which gave a convergent beam 
of S0° or 40°. I thus saw a series of very interesting pheno- 
mena. The ordinary image of the aperture, as formed by th6 
spaces n, was crossed in a direction perpendicular to its length, 
with broad coloured fringes varying in their tints from 90'' to 
0° of incidence. This remarkable effect I observed in various 
specimens, having from 500 to 10,000 grooves in an inch. 
In a specimen with 1000 grooves in an inch, or in which 
m -\- n =z lOOOdth of an inch, no less than four complete 
orders of colours were developed, as shown in the following 
Table-— 



White 


90 00 


Brilliant blue. 74 SO 


Yellow 


80J 


Whitish - 71 


Reddish orange 


77J 


Yellow - 64 45 


Pink 


76 20 


Pink - - 59 45 


Junction of pink and 




Junction of pink and 


blue 


75 40 


blue - - 58 10 



periodical colours produced hy grooved surfaces. 49 



Blue 


. 56 


Pinkish yellow. 


41 


Bluish green 


54 80 


Pink red 


36 


Yellowish green 


53 15 


Whitish pink 


31 


Whitish green 


51 


Green 


M 


Whitish yellow 


49 


Yellow 


10 


Yellow 


47 15 


Reddish 






These colours are obviously those of the reflected rings in 
thin plates. By turning the steel plate round in azimuth, the 
very same colours are seen at the same angles of incidence, and 
they suffer no change either by varying the distance of the lu- 
minous aperture, or the distance of the eye of the observer. 

I now examined various other specimens which possessed 
the same property. In some there were three orders of co- 
lours, in others two, and others one, while in some only one or 
two tints of the first order were developed. These different 
effects are more minutely detailed in the following Table. 

No. of grooves Orders and portions of orders of colours developed 

in an inch, from 90° up to 0° of incidence. 

500 Citron yellow of the first order. 

6^5 One complete order, and up to reddish yellow of the 

second order. Colours very dilute. 
1000 Four complete orders of colours. 

1000 One complete order, together with blue green and yel- 
lowish green of the second order. 
1250 One complete order, together with blue and bluish 
green of the second order. Colours exceedingly 
faint and diluted. 
SOOO One complete order, together with blue green and 

greenish yellow of the second order. 
2000 on wax. One complete order, together with greenish 
yellow of the second order. 

2000 — One complete order, together with gamboge 

yellow of the second order 

S500 One complete order, together with the full blue 

of the second order. 
3333 Gamboge yellow of the first order. 

NEW SERIES, VOL. II. NO I. JAN. 1830. D 



60 Dr Brewster on a new series of' 

No. of grooves Orders and portions of orders of colours developed 

in an inch. from 90° up to 0* of incidence. 

5000 on wax One complete order, together with bluish white 
of the second order. Colours more dilute 
than in No. 5. 

10000 One complete order, together with blue and 

fainter blue of the second order. 

It is obvious from the preceding table that the diversity of 
effect produced by different specimens does not depend upon 
the quantity w -|- w, but upon ?i. The more that the original 
surface is ploughed away by the cutting diamond, the more 
briUiant were the tints, and the more numerous the orders of 
colours. 

T was now desirous of seeing what effect would be produced 
when the original surface was almost wholly removed; and 
Mr Barton was so obliging as to execute for me a specimen 
containing 2000 grooves in an inch, in which this was nearly 
effected. His diamond point, however, having unfortunately 
broken before he had executed any considerable space, I was 
unable to make all the experiments with it which 1 could have 
wished. 

This specimen produced four complete orders of colours, all 
of which were developed at much greater angles of incidence 
than those in the preceding Tables. 

White - - 90 00 Green. 

Straw yellow. Yellowish green. 

Faint red. Yellow. 

Fink. Orange. 

First limit of pink and Scarlet, 

blue - 80 00 Purple. 

Blue. Third limit of pink and 

Green. blue 48 00 

Yellow. Blue. 

Red. Brilliant green. 

Pink. Yellowish green. 

Second limit of pink and Yellow. 

blue - 69 40 Jleddish - - 10 00 
Blue. 



periodical colours produced by grooved surfaces. 51 

Such being the phenomena exJiibited by the ordinary image 
formed by reflexion from the original spaces w, I now pro- 
ceeded to examine the prismatic images in the first specimen 
with 1000 grooves, and I observed the following appearances. 

Let A B, Fig. 9, Plate II. be the reflected image of the regr 
tangular aperture from the spaces n, and a 6, a' 6', a" b'\ a" 
h"\ the prismatic images of it, v v^ v' v'., &c. being the violet 
sides, and r r, r' ?-', &c. the red sides of these spectra. Then 
in the 

1st spectrum ah, the violet rays are obliterated at m at an 
incidence of 74°, and the red rays at n at an incidence of ^6°, 
the intermediate colours, blue green, being obhterated at in- 
termediate points between m and n, and at angles of incideijce 
intermediate between 74° and Q{i°. In the 

2d spectrum a' b', the violet rays are obliterated at m! at 
an incidence of QQ^ 20'', and the red at n at 55)° 45'. In the 

3d spectrum a" h'\ the violet rays are obliterated at m" at 
57% and the red at n" at 41° 35'. And in the 

4th spectrum a'" 6'", the violet rays are obliterated at m'^' 
at 48°, and the red rays at n'" at 23° m. 

Another similar succession of obliterated tints takes place 
on all the prismatic images at a lesser incidence, as shown at 
^v (jJ v' the violet being obliterated at /a, and the red at v, and 
the intermediate colours at intermediate points. In this second 
succession the line [m v begins and ends at the same angle of in- 
cidence, as the line m" n" in the third prismatic image a" b' ; 
and the line // / on the second prismatic image corresponds with 
m'" ril" on the fourth prismatic image. 

This sin ovular obliteration of the colours is shown more clear- 
ly in Fig. 10, where r mvn'is a part of one of the prismatic 
images, r v the red space, g g the green space, b b the blue, 
and V V the violet space. The line of obliteration m n in be- 
ginning at m obliterates the extreme violet at m ; so that the 
curve of illumination abm. Fig. 11, is just affected at one ex- 
tremity m. The line advances into the spectrum, and at the 
point corresponding to d, Fig. 10, a portion of the blue and 
violet is obliterated, as shown by the nptch in the curve ; at e 
a portion of the green and blue ; at ^ a portion of the red and 
green, an4 at n the extreme red. 



52 Dr Brewster on a new series of 

A similar obliteration of tints takes place on the ordinary 
image A B. 

The 1st obliteration, vizi that of the violet, takes place at o. 
Fig. 9, and that of the red at p ; while the intermediate co- 
lours disappear at intermediate points. This first space of ob- 
literation has no corresponding one at the same incidence in 
any of the prismatic images. 

The 2d obliteration of the violet in A B takes place at q, 
and that of the red at r, and this corresponds in incidence with 
the obliterations m' n'^ m' n' on the second prismatic image. 

The 3d obliteration of the violet takes place at .?, and that 
of the red at ^, and this corresponds in incidence with the four 
obliterations on the second and fourth prismatic images, viz. 
/a 1/ At.' / m!" n"\ m'" n"'. 

In all these phenomena the points tw, w, /a, v, &c. are only 
the points of minimum intensity, or of maximum obliteration ; 
for the tints never entirely disappear, and those obliterated at 
each line m n form an oblique spectrum containing all the 
prismatic colours. 

The analysis of these curious and apparently complicated 
phenomena becomes very simple when they are examined under 
homogeneous illumination. The effect produced in red light 
is represented in Fig. 1 2, where A B is the image of the rec- 
tangular aperture reflected from the faces n of the steel, and 
the four images on each side of it correspond with the pris- 
matic images. All these nine images, however, consist of ho- 
mogeneous red light, which is obliterated at the fifteen shaded 
rectangles, which are the minima of the new series of periodi- 
cal colours which cross both the ordinary and the prismatic 
images. The centres /?, r, ^, w, v, &c. of these rectangles cor- 
respond with the points marked with the same letters in Fig. 
9, and if we had drawn the same figure for violet hght, the 
centres of the rectangles would have corresponded with o, §', 5, 
?w, ^, &c. in Fig. 9. The rectangles should have been shaded 
off to represent the phenomena accurately, but the only object 
of the figure is to show to the eye the position and relations of 
the minima of the periods. 

I^ it should be practicable to remove a still greater portion 
of the faces w, the first minimum ^, Fig. 12, would commence 



periodical colours produced by grooved surfaces. 53 

at a greater angle of incidence ; and other two rows of minima, 
namely, rows of five and six, would be found extending to the 
fifth and sixth prismatic images. The arrangement and suc- 
cession of these is easily deducible from Fig. 11, where the law 
of the phenomenon is obvious to the eye. 

The following table contains the angles of incidence reckon- 
ed from the perpendicular at which these minima occur in the 
extreme rays. 

Position of the minima in red light. 

Ord. Im. 1. Pris. Im. 2. Pris. Im. 3. Pris. Im. 4. Pris. Im. 

First minima, /?, 76 66 55 45 41 35 23 30 

Secoml minima r, 55 45 41 35 23 30 

Third minima, 23 30 

Position of the minima in violet light. 

First minima, 81 30 74 66 20 57 48 

Second minima, 66 20 57 48 

Third minima, 48 

When the steel with 1000 grooves is exposed to common 
light, and the incident ray is very near the perpendicular, the 
5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th prismatic images are combined into a 
mass of whitish light terminated externally by a black space. 
As the angle of incidence increases, the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th 
images are combined into this mass, then the 7th, 8th, 9th, 
and 10th images, and so on, the black space which terminates 
this mass receding from the axis or image A B, Fig. 10, as the 
obliquity of the incident ray increases. 

Having covered the steel plate with water and oil of cassia 
in succession, I found the angular distances of the black space 
to be as follows at the same incidence. 

o / , 

Air, - - - 12 23 

Water, - - - 17 15 
Oil of cassia, - - 21 22 
The sines of which are inversely as the indices of refraction 
of the fluids. 

Phenomena analogous to those above described take place 
on the grooved surfaces of gold, silver, and calcareous spar, &c. 



^1k 



Dr Brewster on a new series of 



In order to study this subject under a more general aspect, 
I was desirous of examining the phenomena exhibited by 
grooved surfaces of different refractive powers. It was obvi- 
ously impossible to procure systems of lines upon transparent 
bodies in which the grooves should have exactly the same dis- 
tance and magnitude ; but I conceived it practicable to impress 
upon different substances the very grooves which produced 
the preceding phenomena, and I succeeded in impressing the 
system of 1000 grooves upon tin, realgar, and isinglass. 

The following results were obtained with Tin, the colours 
being those upon A B, Fig. 10. 



White 


90 2d junction of pink and 


Yellow. 


blue - - 57 40 


Pink. 


Bluish green. 


1 St junction of pink and Yellow. 


blue 


76 20 Orange. 


Greenish blue. 


Pink. 


Yellow. 


3d junction of pink and blue. 


Pink. 




First minimum of red 76 


Second 


61 


The following results were obtained with Realgar. 


White 


90 Yellow - - 63 


bellow 


80 Bright pink - 54 


ink 


75 30 2d junction of pink 


1st junction of pink 


and blue - 47 


and blue 


73 10 Bluish green - 41 


Blue 


72 Yellow - - 36 


Bluish green 


70 15 Pink - - 32 


More and more pink. 


o / 


First minimum of red 72 


Second 


61 15 



The following results were obtained with Isinglass, 
colours were generally the same as in the steel. 

The first limit of pink and blue was at 75 45 

The blue of second order - - - 73 45 
The second limit of pink and blue was at 54 30 



The 



periodical colours produced by grooved surfaces. 55 

In these experiments the tin gave nearly the same results 
as the steel ; but in the realgar and the isinglass, similar tints 
were produced at a less angle of incidence than in the steel. 
The minima of the periods were exhibited very finely on the 
isinglass, and were produced at similar angles of incidence. 

In a specimen with 1000 grooves upon isinglass, the third 
pink, or that seen upon steel at 36°, was the highest ; but after 
drying, the pink descended to yellow, and subsequently to 
green. 

If the isinglass is removed from the steel when it is still soft, 
the edges of the grooves get rounded and lose their sharpness, 
and only one prismatic image is seen on each side of the ordi- 
nary image, as in mother-of-pearl. 

The mass of white light is finely seen in\the impressions taken 
upon tin, but never appears upon isinglass. 

The preceding experiments do not afford any precise data 
for determining the influences of refractive power. The real- 
gar and the isinglass give fewer periods of colour so as to in- 
dicate that, ccBteris paribus, a diminution of refractive power 
produces a diminution in the number and orders of colours, or 
causes the minima to be developed at a less incidence. This 
indication, however, is opposed by the fact, that, as the isinglass 
dries, and consequently increases in refractive power, the periods 
diminish in number, and the minima are produced at less in- 
cidences. The modification of the tints by a change of refrac- . 
tive power is here masked by the influence of other causes, 
namely, an inferiority in the sharpness of the impression to that 
of the original surface, and a rounding of the narrow spaces n 
subsequently produced by induration. In the specimen of 
isinglass, therefore, already mentioned, which gave the first 
limit of pink and blue at nearly the same angle as the steel, 
it is probable that it would have developed the same limit at a 
greater inclination had the impression been as sharp as the 
original. 

In this uncertainty I conceived that the influence of a vari- 
able refractive power would be best obtained by placing dif- 
ferent fluids on the surface of the grooved steel; and upon 
using alcohol and oil of cassia my expectations were fulfilled. 

The following were the results: — 



56 Dr Brewster on a new series of 

^"•°^ Maximum tint 

grooves Without a fluid Maximum tint, with water, alcohol, and oil of cassia. 

Jl. Water. Tinge of Yellow. 
2. Alcohol. Tinge of Yellow. 
>r 1 3- Oil of cassia. Faint reddish yellow. 

500 Citron yellow f^' Y,^^f'\ ^}\'ff/'^\ 
of first order, if ^If^^/^* Diluted pmk. 

i3. Oil or cassia. A bluer pink. 

625 Reddish vellow, C^' ^^^^^^ Faint pink of second order, 
of second'order J Alcohol. Ditto more pink. 

' ^3. Oil of cassia. Bluish pink, of second order. 

1000 Yellowish green H' Y^^X'\ Pinkish red, second order. 

^n^ , ^, < 2. Alcohol. Brilhant pink, ditto. 

of second order, ^3 gji ^^^.^^ g^^J;^,, i,,^^_ ,j 



third order. 

loftA Tii^joi. «,«^« fl- Water. Yellow of second order. 

feim 1^- ^^^«^^«^- Yellower. 

' ( 3. Oil of cassia. Yellowish pink, 

onn.k r>^^^^: -u 1^ C i- Water. Brownish red, second order. 
^fTnn^^^'^^ 2. Alcohol. Pinkish red, ditto, 
of second order. 1 3^ oil of cassia. Greenish blue. 



2500 Blue, second il' Y,^X'\ ^^^^^^^ P^^^^"; ., , , 

order i Alcohol. Greenish white, second order. 

' (3. Oil of cassia. Bright gamboge yellow. 

'^ * (3. Oil of cassia. Bright blue, second order. 

5000 Bluish white of V' ^:'''^\ Pale yellow 

second order 1 ^' ^^^^^^^- Yellow with tinge of orange. 

' C 3. Oil of cassia. Yellowish pink, second order. 

irtrkArt j?-^ ui V fl' Water. Greenish white of second order. 

fprJlrdpr •< 2. Alcohol. Yellowish white, 

second order, ^^ ^ ^.^ ^^ ^^^^.^^ Brilliant gamboge yellow. 

I obtained similar results with grooves impressed upon wax ; 
so that we may now safely draw the conclusion that more or- 
ders of colours, and consequently higher tints at a given in- 
cidence, are developed by diminishing the refractive power of 
the grooved surface. 

The influence of refractive power on the tints of the ordi- 
nary image being thus determined, it became interesting to as- 
certain its efi^ects on the obliterated tints of the prismatic ima- 
ges. As these tints never appeared unless when that of the 
ordinary image exceeded the blue of the second order, I took 
the specimen with 10,000 grooves, which had for its maxi- 
mum tint a blue of the second order, but which exhibited no 
obliterated tints in the prismatic images. Having placed upon 



periodical coloiirs produced by grooved surfaces. 57 

it a film of oil of cassia, I raised the blue to a gamboge yellow, 
and I found that the fluid developed the phenomena of ob- 
literated tints on the first prismatic image. Owing to the 
great breadth of the spectrum, the distinct separation of the 
colours which composed it, and the great leLgth of the line of 
obliteration, this phenomenon was one of the most beautiful 
and remarkable that I have ever witnessed. 

Hitherto I had examined the minima in the prismatic ima- 
ges as symmetrically related in position to the minima in the 
ordinary image, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11 ; but in studying 
some specimens in which the spaces n were very broad, and 
the grooves or spaces m comparatively narrow, I was surprised 
to observe obliterated tints on the prismatic images, while the 
ordinary image was entirely free of colour. This took place 
in two specimens, one of which had 612, and the other 6^5 
grooves in an inch. The spaces n were here far too wide to 
produce the new tints, and so were the spaces m ; but upon 
applying the microscope to the grooves m, I saw that they 
were formed by two or more grooves ploughed out by the cut- 
ting point ; so that each space m actually consisted of smaller 
reflecting spaces, which were sufficiently minute to produce 
the periodical colours. 

Although in these specimens, therefore, when m is nearly 
equal to n, we observe a beautiful coincidence between the po- 
sitions of the minima on the ordinary and on the prismatic 
images, yet the fact above described seems to show that they 
are separate phenomena, and depend, when the grooves are 
single, on the relation between m and n. 

The preceding observations relate solely to rays reflected 
from grooved surfaces ; but in consequence of the almost per- 
fect transparency of isinglass in thin plates, I have been ena- 
bled to examine the transmitted tints. The colours which 
are thus seen on the ordinary image are extremely brilliant, 
but they seem to have no relation whatever, either in number 
or in quality, to the reflected tints. In the specimen which 
gave by reflection three orders of colours, those seen by trans- 
mission were only the following, 



^ l>i' !Brewster on a new series of 

Fine blue - - ^5° of incidence. 

Purple. 

Bed. 

Orange. 

Yellow - - vet'tical incidence. 

Another specimen frbm the same steel pkte gave, when 
soft and newly taken off, a bright purple at a perpendicular 
incidence, which passed through pink and blue at greater in- 
cidences. But in the process of induration, the vertical purple 
became red, orange, and yellow. In a third impression the 
perpendicular tint was a bright pink when soft, which descend- 
ed to yellow when drier. 

In order to observe the relation between the reflected and 
transmitted tints, I took a fresh impression on very transpa- 
rent isinglass, and obtained the following results : 



90 



Reflected tiuts. 








Transmitted tim 


Yellow ' 


- 




■• 


Deep blue 


Orange 


- 




- 


Paler blue. 


Pink 


- 




- 


Blue. 


First limit of pink and bl 


ue 


Blue. 


Blue 


- 




- 


Pink. 


Green 


— m 




- 


Orange pink 


Yellow 


- 




- 


Orange. 


Orange 


» 




- 


Yellow. 


Pink 


- 




- 


Yellow. 


Second limit of pink 


and blue 


Yellow. 


Blue 


- 




- 


Yellow 







The comparison of these tints affords the most satisfactory 
evidence that they are not complementary to each other. The 
transmitted tints of the ordinary prismatic images always in- 
crease in brightness as the angle of incidence diminishes, while 
the reflected tints become fainter. 

As I had preserved the different specimens of isinglass with 
which these experiments were made, it became interesting to 
observe the changes which their colours had undergone after 
a lapse of six years. The following was the result : — 



periodical colours produced by grooved surfaces. 59 

1. A specimen with 1000 grooves exhibited no colours on 
the ordinary image either by reflection or transmission. The 
prismatic images of a c^aildle Were very faint, arid the fourth 
could scarcely be seen. 

% Another specimen of 1000 grooves gave by reflection 
one period of colours from white at great incidences through 
yellow up to purple at a vertical incidence. By transmission 
a little yellow only was seen at a great incidence. 

3. A third specimen of 1000 grooves, which had been a fine 
sharp impression, gave by reflection two orders of colours, the 
first limit of pink and blue being at 57° 45', and the second 
limit nearly at a vertical incidence, a deep pink appearing at 
10°. By transmission the isinglass gave a bluish-green at the 
greatest incidence which passed at lesser incidences through 
purple to yellow, which was the maximum tint. 

In all these specimens the colours remain the same in all 
azimuths, provided the angle of incidence is invariable. 

As the steel plate from which all these impressions had been 
taken was much injured, I resolved to grind down its surface 
by a polishing powder, and to observe the changes which took 
place. As the effect of this was to increase the spaces w, the 
colours on the ordinary image soon disappeared. The pheilo- 
itienon of the obliterated tints was no longer seen, the mass of 
white light disappeared, and from the rounding of the edges of 
the grooves the prismatic images were few^r in number, though 
their distance was unchanged. 

Such are the leading phenomena of this n^w and remarkable 
class of periodical colours ; but though their general law and 
the circumstances upon which they depend seem to be pretty 
clearly shown in the preceding experiments, yet I feel great 
difficulty in assigning a satisfactory cause for their production. 
That they are not owing to the diff'raction and interference of 
the rays reflected from two or more of the surfaces n, consider- 
ed as narrow slits or apertures, is obvious; for in that case 
they would be affected by the distance of the luminous object 
and the distance of the eye, and the colours would form bands 
parallel to the direction of the grooves. 

In my experiments on the production of the complementary 
colours by the metallic reflectibn of polarized light, I have 



60 Dr Brewster an a 7iew series of 'periodical colours ^ Sec, 

shown that one reflection from a plate of silver, &c. is equi- 
valent in its action to a given thickness of a crystallized film, 
and that the tints descend in the scale by increasing the angle 
of incidence as if the equivalent film had diminished in thick- 
ness. That these colours are produced by the interference 
of two pencils, one of which suffers reflection later than the 
other, cannot be doubted ; but whether these two portions are 
reflected within the sphere of reflecting activity, at such dis- 
tances as to produce colours by their interference, or whether 
the one is reflected in the usual manner, while the other is not 
reflected till it has penetrated a certain thickness of the polish- 
ed metal, it is not easy to ascertain. 

If either of these effects takes place with polarized light, an 
analogous effect should be produced with common light, though 
the intensity of the interfering pencils might in this case be 
very inconsiderable. 

If we suppose that the spaces n are smaller than the distance 
to which the reflecting force extends, the removal of the metal 
from the adjacent grooves must diminish the reflecting force 
of these spaces. That this is the case may, we think, be in- 
ferred from direct experiment. At the separating surface of 
the steel and a fluid, we observe a certain change in the action 
of the steel surface, which can be ascribed to no other cause 
than the diminution of the refractive and reflective power of 
the surface. Now it is manifest from experiment that the di- 
minution of the spaces w has exactly the same effect, the colours 
not only being rendered brighter by each of these causes, but 
the minima being produced at greater angles of incidence. 

Since in a system of grooves with only 312 in an inch, oil 
of cassia developes colours which did not previously exist, it 
is evident, that, if we had fluidsof much higher refractive power, 
colours would be produced when the spaces n were much lar- 
ger, and when the fluid approached in refractive density to 
that of the metal, we should witness the periodical colours 
without any grooves at all on the reflecting surface ; so that 
the phenomena would then become identical with those which 
are developed at the separating surface of transparent bodies. 

We can scarcely, therefore, avoid the conclusion, that the 
removal of the substance from the grooves, whether they are 



Baron Cuvier on the Mullets of Europe. 61 

made on metal or on transparent bodies, diminishes the refrac- 
tive power of the intermediate spaces. On the hypothesis of 
emission, this abstraction of the reflecting matter may be re- 
garded as equivalent to a diminution of the density of the sur- 
face ; while on the undulatory hypothesis, the effect may be 
ascribed to the condition of the ether arising from a variation 
in its density or elasticity towards the extremities of a number 
of salient points. 



Art. VII. — On the Mullets of Europe. By Baron Cuvier.* 

The fishes named r^iyXri by the Greeks and Mullus by the 
Romans, are without contradiction those which have been 
most celebrated in the writings of the ancients for their excel- 
lence as food and for the beauty of their colours ; and it was 
with regard to these fishes that Roman luxury occupied itself 
with the greatest solicitude. 

The name Triglia, which is applied to the mullet in many 
parts of Italy, is not the only reason for supposing that the 
mullet was the r^i^Xri of the Greeks. Pliny translates this 
term by Mullus^ quoting a passage from Aristotle, where it is 
said that the Trigla spawns thrice in the year. The mullus 
of the Romans may be safely regarded as the rouget-harhet 
of the French {Mullus harbatus^ Lin.) ; for Pliny characte- 
rizes it distinctly by the double beard or cirri of the under jaw, 
and by its red colour. This beard is also mentioned in two 
places by Athenaeus. 

The name r^iyM has been derived from the triple spawning 
attributed to these fishes, and this name in its turn occasioned 
the species to be dedicated to the triple Hecate or to Diana, 
surnamed r^iyXrimg^ (triple-eyed) ; from whence, by another of 
the inductions too habitual with the Greeks, the Trigla have 
acquired the reputation of being anti-aphrodisiac. 

The name Mullus has, however, been referred to another ori« 
gin. It is derived, say some, from the colour of the fish re- 
sembling that of the sandals worn by the Alban kings, called 

^ From VHistoire Naiurelk des Poissons, par Baron Cuvier et M. Valen- 
ciennes, vol. iii. Paris, 1829. 



6a Bsiron Cifviei: m the Mullets of ^uroj)e. 

mulleuSy ajid which having coijitinued, under the republic to be^ 
worn by the consuls, were transmitljed downwards as part, of 
the imperial dress. 

Though the Greeks boasted of the excellence of their Trl- 
gla, yet in the Roman writers the mullet is oftener mentioned, 
and in more expi;e5sive terms. Among the Romans extra- 
vagant prices were paid for this fish ; it was brought to mar- 
ket from a great distance, and no expence was spared to 
procure it. The value of Mullets was estimated by their 
weight, and 2lbs. being, according to Pliny, the greatest weight 
generally attained by this fish, it was considered when of this 
size as a magnificent dish, although the Roman pound was a 
third less than that of France. Martial mentions the purchase 
of a mullet of this weight among the sacrifices which his mis- 
tress exacted from him ; and, in speaking of a sumptuous en- 
tertainment which he declined, he says 

Nolo niihi pona^ rhombum, niullu,mve bilibrenj. 

A mullet of 3 lbs. weight was regarded as an object of ad- 
miration ; and the same author represents one of 4 lbs. as an 
absolutely ruinous dish. 

Addixti servum immmis here mille trecentis, 
Ut bene coenares, Calliotlore, semel : 
Nee bene coenasti. Mullus tibi quatuor eajp^tus 
Librarum, coenai pompa caputque fuit. 
Exclaraare libet, non est hie iniprobe, non est 
Piscis : homo est : hominem, Calliodore, voraife.* 

" Seneca relates the history of a mullet presented to Tiberius 
which weighed four pounds and a half, and that this prince, 
ridiculously economical, sent it to the public market. Juve- 
nal mentions one which was sold for 6000 sesterces (about 

• Mart. 1. X. ep. 31. On this passage Cuvier has the following curious 
note : " Bloch, who did not understand I^atin, fancied that Calliodorus had 
bought four mullets ; and a writer who knew this language well, (La- 
cepede) in place of consulting the original, not only chose to copy this 
fine explanation, but also, from an equivocal phrase of Bloch, he has attri- 
buted these verses to Juvenal ; and, after I know not whom, has supposed 
that Calliodorus had paid for his four mullets 400 sesterces, while one only 
cost him 1300 sesterces.'' — We have looked into some of the reprints of 
Lacepede, and writers who have borrowed his statements, and find these 
errors continued with faithful adherence to the original mistake. 



Baron Cuvier on the Mullets of Europe. ^, 

L. 48 SteirUng), and which weighed nearly ^Ibs. Asinius 
Celer, as Pliny relates, bought one for 8000 sesterces (about 
L. 64 Sterling) in the time of Caligula. But the dearest of 
all are those of which Suetonius speaks, which, three in num- 
ber, brought 30,000 sesterces (about L. 243 Sterling) : which 
circumstance induced Tiberius to enact sumptuary laws, and 
to tax provisions brought to public market. Cuvier conjec- 
tures that three individuals of large size being oifered for 
sale at once had thus enhanced the pric^. 

These large mullets came from the sea, and perhaps from]dis- 
tantfishing-grounds. Though the Romans kept mullets in their 
fish-ponds, and even tamed them so as to come at their master's 
call, Pliny says they did not thrive. Their domestication was 
attended with extraordinary expence, for this fish supports 
confinement with difficulty, and scarcely one, says Columella, 
survives of many thousands. 

It would be difficult to explain why Hortensius, as related 
by Varro, took so much trouble to preserve in his ponds fishes 
which the neighbouring seas afforded in such abundance, were 
it not known that one of the refinements of Roman luxury 
was, to have them in artificial rivulets under their tables, and 
to see them die in vases of glass, that they might observe the 
changes which the brilliant colours of the mullet underwent 
in its dying agonies. Cicero, in one of his letters to Atticus, 
sadly deplores this puerile taste of the wealthy Romans ; and 
Seneca makes long declamations against it, at a period when 
this amusement might have seemed innocent, as compared with 
the other aberrations of a people surfeited with enjoyment. 

It may be interesting to the general reader to quote one of 
the passages which Cuvier gives from Seneca, as illustrative 
of the feelings with which the rich Romans surveyed the chang- 
ing colours of the dying mullet. " Nothing is finer, it is said, 
than an expiring mullet. The efforts which it makes against 
death spread over all its body the most brilliant red, which 
afterwards terminates in a general paleness ; but in this pas- 
sage from life to death, how many shades of these two colours 
are intermingled ! — It has been said formerly, that nothing is 
better than a mullet taken among rocks. To-day they say 
nothing is finer than an expiring mullet. — Hand me this vase 



64 Baron Cuvier on the Mullets of Europe. 

of glass that I may see it bound, that I may see it leap ! After 
having for a long time praised it with extasy, it is taken from 
the transparent vessel. Then the most expert instruct others. 
See this fiery red, brighter than the finest vermilion ! look at 
these inflated veins ! its belly may be compared to blood ! 
Have you remarked the azure lustre which its gills reflect !'' &c. 

But it was not solely for the pleasure of seeing the varying 
colours of the expiring mullet that the Roman epicures thus 
treated it. The pleasure of eating it in the freshest possible 
state was another inducement. " The fish is already rancid," 
Seneca represents one of these rich gourmands saying, " were 
it caught even this very day." — " But it it has been fished this 
instant,'** was the answer. The reply follows, " I will not trust 
you in an affair of so much importance ; I will believe nothing 
but my own eyes. — Let them bring me the fish, that it may 
die before me."" This precaution, according to Cuvier, was 
necessary, since Apicius had taught that the mullet should 
die in the garum of its associates, and a sauce be made of 
its own liver. Galen says, indeed, that the liver of the 
mullet was accounted the most delicious morsel, and that it 
was pounded in wine for a seasoning to the fish, but that this 
sauce was not much to his taste. 

In after periods this passion for mullets had much diminish- 
ed, for Macrobius assures us that in his time they were often 
seen above 2 lbs. weight, but that the excessive prices of for- 
mer ages were unknown. At present mullets, without being the 
object of cares so extraordinary, or prices so exorbitant, are 
yet with reason accounted among the best fishes of the sea. 
Those of Provence, and chiefly those of Toulon, are particu- 
larly celebrated, llieir flesh is white, firm, friable, agreeable 
to the taste, and is digested easily, because it is not fat. 

Our seas, says Cuvier, produce two species of these fishes, 
which Salviani first distinguished and figured. The smallest 
of these, with the snout more vertical, and of a deeper purple 
red than the other {Mullus harbatus, Lin.) is most abundant 
in the Mediterranean, and the only one which Belon and Ron- 
deletius has represented. The other (Mullus surmuletus, 
Lin.) is larger, with the snout more oblique, and the red in- 
terrupted by longitudinal yellow lines. It is much more com- 



Baron Cuvier on the Mullets of Europe. 65 

mon than the other on particular coasts, but it also inhabits 
the Mediterranean ; and it is probable that to this species may 
be referred the mullets of 2lbs. weight of which the Romans 
made so much account. Pliny says expressly that these large 
mullets were found chiefly in the northern and western ocean. 
The smaller species is the most esteemed, as it is also the most 
beautiful from the lustre of its colours. This was without 
doubt the species which was kept in the fish-ponds of the Ro- 
mans, and which was brought living under their tables, — in 
short, the Mullus harhatus to which Cicero alludes. 

The Surmullet, or Mullus surmuletus of Linnaeus, is brought 
to market at Paris in the months of April and May. On the 
coast of La Mancha it is not rare. Pennant says that it ap- 
pears also in the month of May upon the Devonshire coast, 
and that it is found till November. Ray mentions that an 
individual of this species had been taken at Penzance in Corn- 
wall. In proportion as we retire to the North the species be- 
comes more rare. It is as such that it is cited among the fishes 
of the Baltic and Northern Sea in Schonevelde's Ichthyology 
of Hohtein^ and in the Fauna Suecica. Approaching the 
South of Europe, on the contrary, the surmullet becomes more 
plentiful. It is much used at Bordeaux and Bayonne, where 
it is named harbeau and barberin. Cornide mentions it among 
the fishes of Galicia under the names of ba^'bo and salmonete. 
In many places of the Mediterranean it is more common than 
the other species, particularly upon the coasts of Sardinia. It 
abounds in the lagunes of Venice, where it is called tria ; it 
it is denominated streglia at Nice ; Brunnich has described it 
at Marseilles under the name of rouget ; and it is probable 
that Forskal, when he assures us that the Mullus barbatus is 
common and despised at Constantinople, speaks only of the 
M. surmuletus. Its flesh is, according to Cetti, held in less 
esteem than that of the M. barbatus^ so celebrated on the 
coasts of Provence ; but the Parisians notwithstanding know 
well how to appreciate it. The general length of the surmul- 
let is about a foot, but they are found from 14 to 15 inches 
long. 

The true Mullet, or Mullus barbatus^ Lin. is at once dis- 
tinguished from the former by the form of its head, which 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. E 



66 Dr Wallich's Account of the new genus M elanorrhcea 

slopes more vertically ; by its more uniform and deeper red 
colour, with the most beautiful iridescent reflections ; and from 
its being destitute of the yellow stripes. The under part of 
the body is silvery, and the fins yellow. It is found in the 
Mediterranean on all its shores, but principally where there 
is a muddy bottom, and abounds on' the coasts of Pro- 
vence. Several varieties of this fish, as well as the surmullet, 
have been mentioned by authors ; but whether these are to be 
considered as different species, or as varieties in appearance pro- 
duced by age, sex, or season, is not yet ascertained. 



Aet. VIII. Account of the new genus Melanorrhoea^ or the Bur- 
mese Va7'nish Tree, with remarks on each of the Genera to 
which it approaches *. By N. Wallich, M. D., F. R. S. 
Ed. F. L. S. &c. Superintendant of the Botanic Garden 
Calcutta. Communicated by the Author. 

MELANORRHCEA. 

Sepale 5 in calycem calyptraceum, 5-nervium, caducum, val- 
vatim cohaerentia. Petala 5, raro 6, asstivationeimbricantia, 
persistentia, infra fructum aucta. Stamina plura, distincta, 
toro convexo inserta. Pistillum 1. Ovarium oblique len- 
ticulare, stipitatum, 1-loculare, 1-sporum : ovulo suspenso 
corda funiculari libera, e fundo loculi adscendente. Stylus 
lateralis verticis ovarii. Stigma parvum, convexum. Fjiuc- 
Tus indehiscens, coriaceus, depresso-reniformis, obliquus, pedi- 
cellatus, involucro corollino stellatim patente, maximo sufFultus. 
Semen exalbuminosum, decumbens. Cotyledones carnosae, 
crassae. Radicula lateralis, adscendens et in commissuram 
cotyledoneam replicata. 

Classis Linnseana, Polyandria Monogynia, 

Ordo naturalis, Terebinthacearum tribus Anacardece, Brown. 

Habitus : Arbores magna? facie Semecarpi, omnibus partibus 
scatentes succo viscldo, ferrugineo, a contactu atmospha^rico 
cit6 in atrum converso ; coma late protensa ; folia ampla, cori- 
acea, simplicia, integerrima, decidua, penninervia. Paniculae 

• The Editor has heen indebted for this interesting article to Dr Wal- 
lich, to whom the Science of Botany is under such deep obligationi. It 
forms part of his splendid work on the rare plants of India. 



or the Burmese Varnish Tree. 67 

florum axillares, oblongae; fructuum amplae, laxae, involucris 
maximis, rufis, demum ferrugineis ornatae. 

Obs. Characteres generici quoad florem praecipue a M. gla- 
bra, quoad fructum a M. itsitata desumpli ; habitus fere tot us 
posteriorem speciem respicit. 

MELANORRHCEA usitata. Tab. 11 and 12. 

FoLiTs obovatis, obtusissimis, villosis. 

Provenit in convalle magna, Kubbu dicta, regni Munipu- 
riani Hindustaniae, Sillet et Tipperae con termini ; in imperio 
Burmanico, et ad oram Tenasserim usque ad Tavoy, inter 
gradum xxv. et xiv. latitudinis meridionalis. Ipse observavi 
juxta ripam sinistram Irawaddi fluminis ad Prome ; in pro- 
vincia Martabanias ad urbem Martaban, ad Kogun fluminis 
Saluen et ad Neynti fluminis Attran. Floret initio anni; fruc- 
tus maturi a fine Martii ad medium Maii. 

Nomen vernaculum : Munipurensibus Kheu ; Burmanis 
Theet-tsee vel Z it-si. 

Arbor vasta, ramosa et umbrosa, trunco robusto, cortice 
sordide fusco, rimoso, ligno ponderoso, compacto, e fusco 
rufescente, viliori varietati ligni Swietenice Mahagoni baud 
absimili. Ramuli crassi, cylindrici, grisei, villosi, a lapsu 
foliorum cicatricibus majusculis, frequentibus notati ; novelli 
ferrugineo-villosi. Gemm^ axillares et terminales parvae, ovatae, 
acutoe, squamis paucis, coriaceis, villosis, cito dilabescentibus. 
Folia versus ramorum extremitates approximata, sparsa, pa- 
tentia, decidua, obovata, obtusa, raro subretusa, nunc oblongo- 
cuneata, deorsum, valde attenuata, basi acuta, integerrima, sub- 
sinuata, lateribus quandoque disparibus ; coriacea et firma, 
spithamaea ad pedalia, utrinque ferrugineo-villosa, moUia, aetata 
glabriora ; supra atroviridia, subtiis nervo principali crasso, 
elevato, secundariis numerosis, suboppositis, parallelis, oblique 
ad peripheriam excurrentibus, parvaque ab ilia distantia ar- 
cuatim anastomosantibus ; venis numerosis, prominulis, reticular 
tis. Petiolus brevis, nudus, villosus, crassus, basi intumescens, 
supra planus, a folio subdecurrente parum marginatus. Sti- 
puLyEnullae. Inflorescentiam haudvidi; flores aliquot delap- 
sos, emarcidosetcariosos tan tum, observavi. Erant parvietincon- 
spicui, pedicellisinsidentes brevibus, teretibus, villosis. Nullum 
vestigium calycis nisi forsan lineola obsoleta infra corollana. 



68 Dr AVallich's Account of the new genus Melanorrheea 

Petala 5 lanceolata, acuminata, bilinearia, purpurascentky 
uninervia, pubescentia, ciliata, intus minutim glanduloso-punc- 
tata, persistentia, tria exteriora parum majora. Stamina 
20 — 30 libera, erecto-patula, pctalis paulo breviora, toro coiii- 
co, elevato undique inserta ; filamenta glabra, capillacea ; an- 
therae ovatae, oscillatoriae, biloculares, utrinque dehiscentes, al- 
bicantes. Ovarium oblique lenticulare, margine altero rec- 
tiore, altero gibboso, parvulum, pubescens, pedicello sufful- 
tum proprio, inter stamina e centro tori surgente, 1-loculare, 
1-sporum ; ovulum reniforme, sustentum funiculo libero, e 
fundo loculi orto, secus angulum hujus rectiorem adscendente, 
apice incurvato. Stylus lateralis e vertice ovarii, subulatus, 
pubescens, deciduus. Stigma parvulum, convexum. Discus 
hypogynus nullus. Panicula fructuum terminalis, ampla, 
patens, laxa, villosa, constans cymis pluribus, pedunculatis, 
oblongis, nutantibus, 6 — 7-pollicaribus, ramosis, axillaribus 
foliorum delapsorum. Pedunculi teretes, villosi, infra divi- 
suras cicatricibus bractearum caducarum. Fructus coriaceus, 
indehiscens, transverse ovatus, depressus, subreniformis, ver- 
tice plana nudus, hinc gibbosior et porrectior (ideoque excen- 
tricus), magnitudine cerasi, glaber, reticulato-venosus, venis 
viridibus demum nigricantibus, ruber, glaucescens, plena ma- 
turitate fuscescens, stipitatus thecaphoro clavato, tereti, un- 
guiculari; 1-locularis, 1-spermus, involucratus. Involucrum 
5- raro 6-phyllura, patentissimum demum subreflexum; foliola 
oblonga, obtusa vel paulo retusa, integerrima, 2 — 3-pollicaria, 
pubescentia, ruberrima, furfuracea, demum fusca, coriacea, 
arida, supra convexiuscula, subtus eleganter reticulato-venosa, 
venis mediis in fasciculum coUectis latiusculum, prominulum, 
ultra basin in unguem brevissimum subproductum. Semen 
transverse decumbens, magnum. Spermodermium charta- 
ceum, laeve, embryonem arete cingens, vertice crassius et ad 
latus ejus radiculare exsculptum sulco pro recipienda chorda 
funiculari lata, plana, e basi fundi oriunda, adscendente, par- 
tem spermodermii apici radiculie oppositam perforante mox- 
que evanida. Embryo magnus, semini conformis, exalbumi- 
nosus. Cotyledones crassae, carnosae, scmiovatae, obtusae, 
gibbosae, rugosulae, ad paginam internam planse arclcque sibi 
invicem accumbentes, hypogeae. Radicula brevis, planius- 
cula, ad extremitatem elevatiorem embryonis locata, adsccn- 



or the Burmese Varnish Tree. 69 

dens, commissuras cotyledonum adpressa, basi subbifida, apice 
inclinata et obtusa. Plumula minuta, occulta, lanceolata. 

The first time I met with this very interesting tree was at a 
small village below Prome, on the river Irawaddi, where a few 
had been planted ; and on my return from Ava, I found it 
again in abundance on the hills surrounding the first-mentioned 
town ; but in both instances the trees were without any fructi- 
fication. In the Martaban province I had the satisfaction of 
seeing the tree in great numbers in March 1827, on a small 
acclivity rising behind the town of Martaban. They were 
loaded with bunches of red, nearly ripe fruit, but were not 
very large ; few only exceeding thirty feet in height, with a 
short trunk measuring not more than four or five feet in cir- 
cumference. The leaves had entirely fallen off*, and strewed 
the ground in every direction. At Neynti, a village on the 
Attran river, behind the military station at Moalmeyn, I also 
observed a few trees : and lastly, on the Saluen river towards 
Kogun. Here they were of greater dimensions than those just 
mentioned ; one of them being forty feet in height, with a stem 
twelve feet long and eleven in girth at four feet above the 
ground. One of my assistants brought me fruit-bearing spe- 
cimens from Tavoy on the Tenasserim coast. 

I took with me to Bengal a large quantity of ripe fruits of 
the Varnish-tree, which germinated freely and produced up- 
wards of 500 strong and healthy plants. Out of several indi- 
viduals, which I had with me on board the ship in which I 
came to Europe, I succeeded in preserving only one living 
plant, which was presented to His Majesty's garden at Kew 
by the East India Company. Subsequently several other plants 
have been forwarded from the Calcutta garden to England. 

Before leaving Bengal I had an opportunity of identifiying 
our tree with the majestic Kheu, or Varnish-tree of Munipur, 
a principality in Hindustan, bordering on the N. E. frontier 
districts of Sillet and Tippera. Mr George Swinton, chief 
Secretary to the Bengal Government, (to whose kindness I 
am indebted for much valuable information concerning the 
produce of this and other useful trees of India,) obtained for 
me a supply of ripe fruits from thence, which differed in no 
respect from those I had seen at Martaban. They vegetated 



70 i)i' Wallich'^s Accuunt of' the new genus Melanorrhosa 

speedily, and produced plants similar to those we already pos- 
sessed. Captain F. Grant, who has a military command at 
Munipur, had the goodness to furnish the following particu- 
lars. — The tree grows in great abundance at Kubbu, an exten- 
sive valley in the above-mentioned principality, forming large 
forests in conjunction with the two staple timber-trees of con- 
tinental India, the Saul and Teak (Shorea robusta and Tec- 
tana grandis)^ especially the former. Numbers of the gigantic 
wood-oil tree ( Dipterocarpus ) are also found in company with 
it. The size of it varies ; but in general it attains very large 
dimensions. Captain Grant speaks of trees having clear stems 
of forty-two feet to the first branch, with a circumference near 
the ground of thirteen feet ; and he mentions that they are 
known to attain a much greater size. All the individuals 
grow in the same manner ; that is, they reach a great height 
before throwing out any branches. 

As long since as the year 1812, the late Mr M. R. Smith, 
for nearly forty years an inhabitant of Sillet, and during the 
latter part of that long period a zealous contributor to the 
Honourable Company's botanic garden at Calcutta, furnished 
some very curious information concerning our tree to Mr H. 
Colebrooke, then in charge of that institution. He must 
therefore be considered as the first person who brought this 
valuable tree into notice, although he failed in his endeavours 
to procure either dried specimens or fresh seeds of it. — I shall 
here subjoin some of his remarks. 

*' I have discovered a sort of varnish, which I consider as 
the identical one made use of by the Chinese in their eastern 
and north-eastern provinces. It is procurable in great quan- 
tities from Munipur, where it is used for paying river crafts, 
and for varnishing vessels destined to contain liquids, such as 
oil, ghee (clarified butter,) milk, honey, or water. The drug 
is conveyed to Sillet for sale by the merchants, who come 
down annually with horses and other objects of trade. The 
tree which yields it grows to an amazing size. I am informed 
that it attains one hundred cubits in height, and twenty cubits 
in circumference, and even more. It forms extensive forests, 
which commence at a distance of three days' journey from the 



or the Burmese Varnish Tree. 71 

capital, and stretch in a northerly and easterly direction to. 
wards China for many miles." ^' 

That the Kheu which Mr Smith describes is the same aft 
that found by Captain Grant, there cannot be any doubt ; 
nor that it is identical with the Theet4see^ or varnish-tree of 
the Burmese. It follows, hence, that the tree has a very wide 
geographical range, extending from Munipur (in latitude 25° 
N. and longitude 94° E.) to Tavoy (in latitude 14°, longi- 
tude 97°.) The valley of Kubbu, which has been ascertained 
by actual survey, made by Lieutenant Pemberton, to be only 
five hundred feet above the plains of India, is distant two 
hundred miles from the nearest sea shore. The tree there 
attains its greatest size, and I believe it becomes smaller as it 
approaches the sea on the coast of Tenasserim, where it grows 
in comparatively low situations. 

Our tree belongs to the Deciduous class, shedding its leaves 
in November, and continuing naked until the month of May, 
during which period it produces its flowers and fruit. Dur- 
ing the rainy season, which lasts for five months, from the 
middle of May until the end of October, it is in full foliage. 
Every part of it abounds in a thick and viscid greyish-brown 
fluid, which turns black soon after coming in contact with the 
external air. In the Edinburgh Journal of Science, vol. 
viii. page 96 and 100, there are two interesting articles, con- 
taining valuable information concerning the varnish produced 
by our tree, and its deleterious effects on the human frame. 
It is a curious fact, that, to my certain knowledge, the natives 
of the countries where the tree is indigenous never experience 
any injurious consequences from handling its juices : it is 
strangers only that are sometimes affected by it, especially 
Europeans. Both Mr Swinton and myself have frequently 
exposed our hands -to it without any serious injury. I have 
even ventured to taste it, both in its recent state and as it is 
exposed for sale at Rangoon, and have never been affected by 
it. It possesses very little pungency, and is entirely without 
smell. I know, however, of instances where it has produced 
extensive erysipelatous swellings, attended with pain and fever, 
but not of long duration. Of this description was the effect 
it had on the late Mr Carey, a son of the Reverend Dr W. 



72 Dr Wallich's Account of the new genus Melanorrhcea 

Carey, who resided several years in the Burma empire* 
Among the people who accompanied me to Ava, both Hindus 
and Mahomedans, no accident happened, although they fre- 
quently touched the varnish, except in a slight degree to one 
of my assistants, whose hand swelled and continued painful 
■during two days. Dr Brewster informs me that, after resist- 
ing its effects for a long time, it at length attacked him in the 
wrist with such violence that the pain was almost intolerable. 
It was more acute than that of a severe burn, and the Doctor 
was obliged to sleep several nights with his hand immersed in 
the coldest water. He considers it as a very dangerous drug 
to handle. One of his servants was twice nearly killed by it. 

In the neighbourhood of Prome a considerable quantity of 
varnish is extracted from the tree ; but very little is obtained 
at Martaban, owing, as I was told, to the poverty of the soil, 
and partly also to the circumstance of there being none of the 
people in that part whose business it is to perform the process. 
This latter is very simple : short joints of a thin sort of bam- 
boo, sharpened at one end like a writing-pen, and shut up at 
the other, are inserted in a slanting direction into wounds, 
made through the bark of the trunk and principal boughs, 
and left there for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, after which 
they are removed, and their contents, which rarely exceed a 
quarter of an ounce, emptied into a basket made of bamboo 
or rattan previously varnished over. As many as a hundred 
bamboos are sometimes seen sticking into a single trunk dur- 
ing the collecting season, which lasts as long as the tree is 
destitute of leaves, namely, from January until April ; and 
they are renewed as long as the juice will flow. A good tree 
is reckoned to produce from \\ to 2, 3, and even 4 Viss an- 
nually, a Viss being equal to about 3Jlbs. avoirdupois. In 
its pure state it is sold at Prome at the rate of one Tical, or 
2«. Qd. the Viss. At Martaban, where every thing was dear 
when I was there, the drug was retailed at ^ Madras rupees 
per Viss ; it was of an inferior quality, and mixed with sesa- 
mum oil ; an adulteration which is often practised. 

The extensive use to which this varnish is applied, indicates 
that it must be a very cheap commodity. Almost every ar- 
ticle of household furniture destined to contain either solid or 



or the Burmese Varnish-tree. 73 

liquid food is lacquered by means of it. At a village close to 
Pagam on the Irawaddi, called Gnaunee, where this sort of 
manufacture is carried on very extensively and to great per- 
fection, I endeavoured to obtain some information relating to 
the precise mode of lacquering; but I could learn nothing 
further than this, — that the article to be varnished must first 
be prepared with a coating of pounded calcined bones ; after 
which the varnish is laid on thinly, cither in its pure state, or 
variously coloured by means of red or other pigments. I was 
told that the most essential, as well as difficult part of the ope- 
ration consists in the process of drying, which must be effected 
in a very slow and gradual manner ; for which purpose the 
articles are placed in damp and cool subterraneous vaults, 
where they are kept for several months until the varnish has 
become perfectly dry. Another object for which the drug is 
extensively employed, is as a size or glue in the process of 
gilding ; nothing more being required than to besmear the 
surface thinly with the varnish, and then immediately to ap- 
ply the gold leaf. If it is considered how very extensively 
that art is practised by the Burma nation, it being among 
their most frequent acts of devotion and piety to contribute to 
the gilding of their numerous religious edifices and idols, it 
will be evident that a great quantity of the drug must be con- 
sumed for that purpose alone. Finally, the beautiful Pali 
writing of the religious order of the Burmas on ivory, palm- 
leaves, or metal, is entirely done with this varnish, in its na- 
tive and pure state. 

I was not so fortunate as to see the tree while in flower, or 
to procure specimens of it in that state. But the examination 
of its fruit and of some decayed old flowers, which I found 
under the trees, has enabled me to establish it into a perfectly 
distinct new genus. A few days before I left India I obtained 
specimens in flower, but without any fruit, of a second species 
from Tavoy, which have aided me in completing the generic 
character. The genus is allied to most of those which form 
the tribe of Anacardeoe ; but it differs from them all in having 
a calyptriform, one-leaved, caducous calyx, a persistent corolla 
'which enlarges into a spreading involucrum, indefinite stamens, 



74 Dr Wallich's Account of the netv genus Melanorrhoea. 

a free ovarium, and a dry fruit, supported by an unaltered 
proper pedicel. 

I shall conclude by a few remarks on each of the genera to 
which Melanorrhwa approaches. 

Anacardium and Semecarpus have their fruit resting on an 
enlarged and fleshy peduncle or torus, and the latter genus 
has three styles and a distinct hypogynous disc. 

Holigarna, a genus to which Mr Brown has referred many 
years ago in his Appendix to Tuckey's Expedition to Congo, 
is very distinct, by its inferior, adherent fruit. Both H. hngi- 
folia and H, racemosa Roxb. produce an acrid juice, which is 
used as a varnish. My friend and predecessor Dr Hamilton, 
by whose death the world has recently lost a very learned and 
excellent naturalist, informed me that he knew nothing of the 
Burmese Varnish-tree, if different from a species o( HoUgarna. 
In the collection of specimens, which he brought away from 
Ava, and among the descriptions and drawings belonging to 
them, all of which are deposited in the Banksian Herba- 
rium, I can find no trace of this last-mentioned tree, nor did I 
meet with it during my visit to that country. 

Buchanania has a crenate or lobed disc round the sessile 
ovarium, 5 styles, and a baccate, naked drupe. 

Astronium resembles our genus in having an involucred 
fruit ; but it is the persistent calyx and not the corolla which 
enlarges ; it has besides a sessile ovarium and 3 styles. Its 
leaves are compound. 

Augia of Loureiro (not to be confounded with Augea 
Thunb. a Cape plant belonging to a widely different family,) 
has polyandrous flowers ; but the fruit is naked and sessile. 
Its leaves are pinnate. According to Loureiro the varnish 
produced by this tree is that which is commonly used in China 
and Siam. Neither this nor the following genus has been 
noticed by subsequent botanical writers. 

Stagmaria verniciflua Jack, (in Malaycm Miscellanies, 
vol. ii. Append. 3, p. 12,) has a tubular calyx, 5 stamens, a 
stipitate, 3-celled ovarium, and a naked berry, containing a 
pseudo-monocotyledonous embryo. It is a native of the Ma- 
layan islands, and is the same as Arbor Vernicis of Rum* 
phius, according to whom, Mr Jack observes, it is the tree. 



Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 75 

which yields the so much celebrated Japan lacquer or var- 
nish, as well as that of Siam and Tonquin ; although Loure- 
iro represents the varnish of the two last countries as being 
the produce of a different tree. Mr Jack adds, that under 
the article Sanga in the Encyclopedie Botanique, part of 
Rumphius's account is given, but by a singular mistake the 
tree is conjectured to be a Hernandia ; and that, in the first 
volume of the same work, the Arbor Vernicis is made TermU 
nalia vernix ; an error which has not been corrected by later 
authors. 

Rhus and Mauria differ in having a sessile, naked fruit, 
and foliaceous cotyledons. — I take this opportunity of re- 
marking that my Rhus juglandifoUa, which I cannot distin- 
guish from Kaempfer's Sitz or Sitzdsju, owes its specific name 
to a hint thrown out by that author. As there exists a tree 
so called by Willdenow, Professor Decandolle has changed the 
name to R. vernicifera. The coincidence of the Burmese 
name of Melanori'hoea usitata with that of the Japan Varnish 
tree is remarkable. 



Art. IX. — Physical Noticed of the Bay of Naples. By 
James D. Forbes, Esq. Communicated by the Author. 

No. VI. — Oil the District of the Bay of Baja. 

NuUus in orbe sinus Baiis prjelucet amcenis. 

HoR. EphU i.\. 
Mons novus ; ille supercilium, frontemque favilla 
Incanura ostentans, ambustis cautibus, sequor 
Subjectum, slrageinque suam, nioesta arva, minaci 
Despicit imperio, soloque in littoie regnat. 

Gray. • 

>y E were interrupted in our regular topographical description 
of the localities in the Bay of Naples, by the discussion into 
which we entered in the last number of these Notices, upon 
the curious subject of the Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli. 

• These lines are taken from a beautiful Latin fragment on the Monte 
Nuovo by our English bard, written with his usual happiness of expression, 
and containing some passages not unworthy of the days of the classics. It 
may be found in his life by Mason, Letter 27. 



76 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples* 

The preceding paper was upon the Solfatara. Resuming, 
therefore, the natural order, we have first to describe the Cone 
of Capomazza, which nearly adjoins to that semi-extinct vol- 
cano. 

Capomazza exhibits a well-defined geometrical form, and 
has one of the best-marked craters in this neighbourhood, 
though rather shallow, the sides having yielded somewhat to 
the influence of the weather. The principal material of which 
it is composed is a light pumiceous conglomerate, often re- 
markably silky in its texture, and there are found fragments 
of real pumice to the size of even a cubic foot.-[- Adjoining 
it, is the Monte Barbaro, the '' Gaurus inanis" of Juvenal, an 
appellation which he appears to have given it from the immense 
vacuity left by its very distinct crater. It was in ancient times 
fertile, and remarkable for its wines ; a great part of it is still 
covered with luxuriant vegetation, and the interior of what 
was once the crater forms a valley of singular beauty and ro- 
mantic retirement, in which there is a solitary cottage. Its 
structure perfectly resembles that of Capomazza and other 
neighbouring hills ; the disruption on the eastern wall of the 
crater seems to have been produced at the time of the explo- 
sion of the Monte Nuovo in 1538. The indurated tufa of 
which it is composed is stratified conformably to the conical 
surface, and the whole hill, according to Mr Scrope -f-, seems 
to have been produced by a single eruption. The occurrence 
of craters in the hills of Capomazza and Barbaro are nowise 
inconsistent with the principles of submarine action, which we 
endeavoured to explain in the third number of these Notices ; 
but it seems probable that they belong to a later condition of 
volcanic energy, and hold an intermediate place between the 
craters of Astroni and the Solfatara, and that of modern cine- 
reous cones. 

But a more important object demands our immediate atten- 
tion, which, in some respects, may be considered as the most 
remarkable and interesting in the Bay of Naples ; I need hardly 
say that I allude to the Monte Nuovo or Monte delle Cenere, 
which appeared suddenly only three centuries ago, the con- 
fessed offspring of violent and partial volcanic agency, and the 

• Breislak, ii. 139. t Geological Transactions, N. S. vol. ii. 



No Yl.^^District of the Bay ofBaja. "77 

more interesting as being one of those rare occurrences which 
connect the past with the present, and convince us of the real 
energies of nature, excited in a manner which the ocular testi- 
mony of geological facts show must have been much more fre- 
quent on the surface of our globe ; and by elevating our ideas 
of the real vastness of the scale of nature's operations, when 
she occasionally astonishes the inhabitants of this now peace- 
ful earth, exhibiting so many testimonies of a less qui- 
escent state, teaches us to enlarge our conceptions of her em- 
bowelled agencies, and gives us some data for the assumption 
of hypotheses, which would otherwise be groundless and fan- 
tastic. 

This new mountain appeared on the 29th of September 
1538, and the following details of this remarkable phenome- 
non are drawn from contemporary or immediately succeeding 
writers *. The neighbourhood of Pozzuoli had for two years 
previously been perpetually disturbed by earthquakes, but 
they only became alarming on the 27th and 28th of Septem- 
ber 1538, when not less than twenty shocks were experienced 
in twenty-four hours. At length, between one and two hours 
of the night (counted from half an hour after sunset) of the 
29th, symptoms of a more unprecedented phenomenon mani- 
fested themselves ; a gulf opened between the little town of 
Tripergola which once existed on the site of the Monte Nuovo, 
and the Baths, for which it was much frequented. This vil- 
lage was of considerable size ; it contained a hospital for 
those who resorted thither for the benefit of the thermal springs, 
and we find it recorded by an eye-witness of the catastrophe, 
that it had no fewer than three inns in the principal street. 
The crack in the earth approached the town with a tremen- 
dous noise and began to discharge pumice stones, blocks of 
unmelted lava and ashes, mixed with water, and occasionally 
flames burst forth. The ashes fell in immense quantities at 
Naples, and Pozzuoli was deserted by its inhabitants ; indeed 
the shower extended to a distance of thirty miles, and it has 
even been alleged that there were traces of it in Calabria, 150 

* Falconi, DeW Incendio di Pozzuoli, SiC. 1538. — Toledo, liaa-tona- 
mento del TerTumoto del Nunvo Monte. Napoli Genn. 1639. — And the 
authorities quoted in the old works of Capaccio and Sarnclli. 



78 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples, ^ 

miles off. The sea retired suddenly, and it appears from the 
expressions of contemporary writers that it remained apparent- 
ly sunk for a considerable time at least, which is confirmatory 
of the idea endeavoured to be demonstrated when we were 
considering the level of the sea in relation to the Temple of 
Serapis, * that a large portion of alluvial land at the foot of 
Monte Barbaro was then elevated from the bed of the Medi- 
terranean ; the fish which were laid dry were caught by coun- 
try people, as well as the birds which were stunned by the 
violence of the eruption. It is rather remarkable that several 
streams of cold water should have issued from the base of the 
mountain. The great mass of the hill was thrown up in a 
day and night, though, as the eruption continued at intervals 
for several succeeding days, very various accounts have been 
given of the time in which this phenomenon was completed ; 
while twenty-four hours -f- and thirty-six hours \ have been 
most commonly assigned, some have assigned to it forty-eight 
hours, § and Breislak, including the whole eruption, has ex- 
tended it to five days. || The period of one day and night 
is assigned in the following concise account in a very old work 
upon Italy : " La Montagna Nuova, o le Cenere ; Mons 
Novus qui Anno 1538, 29 die Septemb. cum ingens terrae- 
motus esset, et incredibili vehementia fuerat spatio unius diei 
et noctis succrevit, et adhuc magna cum admiratione cerni- 
tur/** ^ After the principal eruption of the first and second 
days, a temporary pause took place on the third, when the 
clouds dispersing, showed, to the no small amazement of ob- 
servers, the mountain, of a very considerable size, where for- 
merly there had been a plain with a town upon it. On this 
day some persons ventured to ascend to the top, where they 
found a crater a quarter of a mile in circumference, ** in the 
bottom of which stones were tossed about with great vehe- 
mence. On the following, or fourth day, the eruption again 

• See last Number, p. 281. 

+ Sarnelli, Guida dei Forestieri, 1688. 

X Romanelli. 

§ Galaiid. 

II Campanie, II. 156. 

^ Ilinerarium toiius Italia:, Colon. Agripp. 1602. 

•• Giacomo di Toledo's Account, who himself ascended. 



No. Yl.^Disirict of the Ba^ of Baja. 79 

broke out at twenty-two hours Italian time, or an hour and a 
half before sunset : the noise was tremendous, and the quanti- 
ty of stones considerable ; this paroxysm, however, was of 
short duration, and on the two following days the hill was 
quiet, excepting the dismissal of a little smoke. On the next 
day, Sunday the 6th October, several persons again ascended 
about half the mountain, but being overtaken by another 
eruption at the same hour as that of the fourth day, some of 
them were stifled by the ashes, and others injured seriously 
by the stones which fell. This eruption was accompanied 
with water, with flames, and, as usual, electrical agencies seem 
not to have been wanting, as observers have described light- 
ning as one of its features. This concluded the paroxysms of 
this remarkable explosion. Smoke continued to rise for 
some time, and at length relapsing into the phase of quies- 
cence, to use a modern term, sulphur began to be generated. 
Such being a history of its formation, let us take a view of the 
general features and present condition of this remarkable hill, 
which appears to be fortunately preserved much in its original 
state, unlike most of those volcanic productions resembhng it, 
which having Ix^en raised from beneath the ocean, soon fell a 
prey to the degrading influence of its waves. 

The Monte Nuovo is situated at If English miles W. N. W. 
of the town of Pozzuoli, and its base extends to the very edge 
of the shore of the Bay of Baja, where the sand is still ex- 
tremely warm. Its height and dimensions have been extremely 
variously stated, and, had we not now just data for founding 
our decision, we might be rather at a loss from the mass of 
conflicting opinions which must ever prevail in the judgment 
of heights by the eye. Sir William Hamilton* has stated the 
height at a quarter of a mile, and the circumference at three 
miles, and in this extravagant estimate he has actually been 
followed by one of our most popular lecturers in a late small 
wort on Geology. -|- In older times, when precision was unat- 
tainable, exaggeration was to be expected ; and accordingly, 
we find it by one author called 1000 paces, J and by another 

* Campi Phlegraiy i. 49. Fol. Edit. 
-|- Brande's Geology. 1829. 
X Giacomo di '1 oledo. 



80 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

a mile high. * Of all writers of the last century Lalande f 
formed the most moderate estimate, by putting it at two or 
three hundred French feet ; but an eminent Italian mineralo- 
gist, Piiii, has lately set the question at rest by determining its 
height very accurately by the barometer, as well as that of 
many other remarkable elevations in the south of Italy. \ He 
found the height of the summit of the Monte Nuovo to be 
41f3.0 Paris feet above the level of the bay, = 440.2 English. 

The form of the hill is that of a truncated cone. Its base 
may be considered as about 8000 feet in circumference, or 
nearly a mile and a half ; § and the truncation, which is esti- 
mated at a quarter of a mile in circumference, is, in fact, the 
edge of a crater of very great size proportioned to the magni- 
tude of the hill ; a circumstance confirmatory of a general 
fact we once took occasion to observe in the description of 
Vesuvius, that the magnitude of craters is almost universally 
in the inverse ratio of the size of the volcano. Hamilton ob- 
served that the crater of the Monte Nuovo is as deep as the 
hill is high, and this singular fact is substantially confirmed by 
the measurements of Pini. He found its depth from the sum- 
mit to be 395.2 French feet, = 421.2 English. The bottom 
is therefore only 19 feet above the level of the sea. 

The geological structure of the hill requires but little ex- 
planation. We have already remarked that it consists entirely 
of ejected fragments loosely aggregated, and without any ap- 
pearance of the ejection of lava. From the quantity of water 
produced by the eruption, it is highly probable that the basis 
of the hill consists of Tufa, || and, in fact, from its extreme 
proximity to the sea, its appearance may be considered nearly 
in the light of a submarine eruption ; and perhaps it was under 
very similar circumstances that Monte Barbaro and some of 
the neighbouring cones were formed, which have little appear- 
ance of that actual attrition of superincumbent water which 

• Capaccio. 

t Voyage en If die, vii. S-'jS. 

X Memorie delta Societa Italiana, vol. ix. 

§ Daubcny on Fokano.s, p. 165. 

II Sir William Hamilton actually mentions such a tufa of a yellowish 
colour, and less aggregated than that of Pausilipo. Owi. PIdeg. Exp. PI. 
xxrii. 



No. YL^Disirict of the Bay ofBaJa. 81 

must have disfigured most of the craters of the Campi Phle- 
graei with the exception of a very few, if any others really 
existed. Its component parts are scoriform and disjointed, the 
greater part being pumiceous, like the neighbouring eminences, 
but containing less intermixture of felspar. The pumice is 
also blacker and heavier. The ejected masses are of an ash- 
gray colour, sometimes trachytic, and often schistose, resem- 
bling clinkstone. Mr Scrope mentions some specimens of this 
rock veined with pitchstone, into which it passes, and also into 
pumice, the three varieties alternating in a remarkable man- 
ner.* Sir William Hamilton describes and figures a vein or 
bed of lava of which a section is seen in the interior of the 
crater ; but its real nature requires more particular examina- 
tion. It is said to have been ejected on the seventh day of the 
eruption, and to have caused the death of about twenty people 
on the hill, to ♦which we have already alluded. In the bottom 
of the crater are several caverns which contain alkaline efflo- 
rescences, particularly carbonate of soda, and from one, pure 
and tasteless water in the form of steam arises. 

The Monte Nuovo is not a solitary example of such volcanic 
explosions, which in a few days or hours may elevate an en- 
tire mountain ; and it is very remarkable that all such explo- 
sions on record have been completely submarine. The effect 
of them has been the production not merely of a hill, but of 
an island. It may be instructive to notice briefly the accounts 
we have received of such phenomena. 

The most remarkable in every way occurs likewise in the 
Mediterranean. It is the Island of Santorini in the Grecian 
Archipelago, and its numerous small dependents. The larger 
mass, which was anciently called Thera, and now Santorini, 
according to the account of Pliny, was itself raised from the 
bed of the sea ; and from its structure and appearance it 
seems extremely probable that it was so at an early period, 
though the Roman naturalist has mixed his narrative with 
some inconsistent details. In form it much resembles the 
Island of Nisida near Naples, already described, having a har- 
bour of great depth at one side perfectly resembUng a crater, 
communicating at one side with the sea. The whole structure 

* Geological Transactions, N. S. vol. ii. 
NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. F 



^2 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

of tlie island is volcanic, and has very often been subjected to 
remarkable shocks. Pliny relates, that, posterior to the ap- 
pearance of Thera, and Therasia, the modern Aspronesi, to 
which he gives a similar date, a small island named Hiera was 
elevated, which now forms, according to Dr Daubeny, the 
Burnt Island, or Great Cammeni. In A. D. 46, in the reign 
of Claudius, a new small island was raised named Thia, which, 
as it does not now exist, has been very plausibly conjectured 
to have been united to it in a succeeding convulsion of 726, 
when, according to the testimony of Theophanes, a Greek 
author, a new island rose and was joined to Hiera, though 
more probably the island was not new, but the ancient Thia 
brought into contact with it. In 1457 an immense quantity of 
rocks were raised to five or six feet above the level of the water, 
forming a basin of a circular form, into which the sea entered. 
In 1573 the lesser Cammeni, situated as well 'as the larger 
island of the same name in the crater of Santorini, was thrown 
up. In 1638 there was an eruption of pumice. In 1650 a 
bank was formed ten fathoms under water. At length, on 
the 18th of May 1707, an earthquake was felt at Santorini, 
and on the 22d it was repeated. On the 23d of May, New 
Stile, at break of day, an island was discovered rising between 
the great and lesser Cammeni. After a few days it had ac- 
quired a height of fifteen or twenty feet. It is remarkable that 
smoke first appeared only on the 16th of July, — a fact affording 
some remarkable illustrations of the evolution of elastic fluids 
as connected with volcanic inflammation. The discharge of 
sulphuretted-hydrogen-gas became so abundant, as to be ex- 
tremely distressing to the inhabitants of the Island of Santo- 
rini. About this time also a reef of black rocks rose, form- 
ing a separate island, but which, from subsequent accumula- 
tion, became the centre of this new-ejected mass. From this 
period the water of the sea was much affected ; its colours were 
various ; the fish died ; and so great a temperature it assumed, 
that no boat could approach the new island. The gradual 
accumulation of matter is one of the most extraordinary fea- 
tures of the phenomenon. On the 21st of June it was only 
half a mile in circumference, * which, by the 20th of Novem- 
* Sherrard, Fhil. Trans' xxvi. 67. 



•■^ No. VI. — District of the Bay of Baja. 83 

ber, had increased to three miles, * and it was then thirty-five 
or forty feet high. Things continued much the same with 
various paroxysmal eruptions, till February 10, 1708, when 
they became more violent and tremendous, with alarming sub- 
terranean noises. These symptoms continued long without 
any particular result. In May of that year the mountain had 
increased to 200 feet in height, and five miles in circumfer- 
ence, f The state of things remained much the same for a con- 
siderable time, and in July 1711, the island was six miles in cir- 
cumference. In 1712 tranquillity seems to have been restored. 
This account contrasts remarkably with the rapid elevation of 
the Monte Nuovo. We must, however, remember that the 
whole mass to be elevated at Santorini was enormous from the 
great depth of the water above which this island, merely the 
summit of a vast cone, had to be raised. In 1708 Father 
Goree found no bottom near its shore with a line of ninety-five 
fathoms. In its way the island of Santorini is not less in- 
structive and remarkable than the case before us in the Bay of 
Naples. It forms an obviously valuable lesson for the study 
of geologists ; and its future paroxysms may yet have in store 
uncommon treasures for the diligent observer of the effects, 
and speculator upon the final causes of volcanos, in this com- 
paratively advanced period of geological science. We observe, 
that in the reports of the progress of the French commission 
at this moment employed in the investigation of the natural 
history and antiquities of Greece, that the distinguished Bory 
St Vincent has examined the Island of Santorini, and thinks 
that some speedy convulsion is at present menaced. 

An effect of volcanic explosion similar to that of the Monte 
Nuovo, is related to have taken place ofl" the coast of Iceland in 
1563, by the formation of a new island a mile in circumference, 
at the period of the eruption of Shaptaa Jokul in 1783; but 
we have no details to give of particular importance. It dis- 
appeared the following year. It is likewise sufficient to men- 
tion one of the Aleutian islands, which Kotzebue relates, on 
the authority of the Russian hunters, was elevated from the 
bed of the ocean in 1814. 

A very curious and interesting phenomenon occurred in 

* Bourgignon, Phil. Trans, xxvi. p. 200. t Father Goree, lb. xxvii. 354. 



84 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples, 

1811, off the Island of St Michael, one of the Azores. During 
the preceding year, and that spring, earthquakes had been 
frequent and severe, and in February, a shoal was formed by 
a submarine eruption at two miles from shore. But on the 13th 
of June, another explosion took place at two miles and a half 
beyond the first, by which an island 300 feet high was formed, 
having a crater 500 feet in diameter. It was discovered by the 
crew of the frigate Sabrina, and thence took that appropriate 
name. The action of the waves, however, soon undermined its 
loosely aggregated structure, and in a few weeks it sunk into 
the ocean. Some time since, there were eighty fathoms of 
water above where it stood. Its site had previously been oc- 
cupied by islands formed in 1691 and 1720, which had suc- 
cessively disappeared. In 1638, an island had also been formed 
off St MichaePs, and this year was rather remarkable for the 
occurrence of volcanic explosions. Not only this island was 
elevated, but we have already noticed that an eruption of 
pumice took place at the Island of Santorini, and the Peak, 
a very lofty volcanic mountain in the Island of Timor, one of 
the Moluccas, had its top blown off by an explosion the same 
year, and replaced by a lake. 

These illustrations will not, I think, be considered out of place 
in the discussion of the history and features of the Monte Nuovo. 
The phenomena are of the most real, as well as of the deepest 
and most enchaining interest ; they must be generalized, and 
not studied individually; they must be treasured as the oracles 
of nature's modes of action, sparingly distributed, and worthy 
of all our care in the skilful combination and refined analysis 
of them. The late date of geological science has prevented 
the acquisition of much information from occurrences so rare, 
that their epochs are not so much dated by years as by cen- 
turies ; and from the length of time which has elapsed since 
any very striking event of the kind occurred in Europe, we are 
authorized by the doctrine of chances to suppose, that the 
period of some irregular exercise of volcanic agency is not very 
distant. Breislak has remarked, that for a long period every 
second century has produced some convulsion in the Bay of 
Naples; the eruption of the Solfatara in the 12th; of Monte 
Epomeo in Ischia, in the 14th; of the Monte Nuovo in the 



No. VI. — District of the Bay of Baja^ 85 

16tb. The 18th has already passed over, distinguished only 
by the unprecedented number of eruptions of Vesuvius in the 
latter part of it, which, by giving vent to the eruptive force, 
may perhaps have checked the disposition to any irregular ef- 
forts. 

It has been a subject of some dispute, whether or not the Lu- 
crine Lake was filled up by the eruption of the Monte Nuovo, 
or whether its destruction was owing solely to the decay of the 
stupendous Julian Port, by which it was united to the Medi- 
terranean, forming a large portion of the harbour. Both causes 
have probably contributed to the effect. The bulwark of Au- 
gustus has obviously sunk under the prophetic " Debe- 
mur morti, " of Horace, * and one fragment alone, named 
" Lanterna di Porto Giulio, " remains to mark the labours 
of regal greatness; but besides, since the junction of the 
Lucrine Lake was artificial, when the protecting mole was re- 
moved, the entrance was probably again closed, or at least the 
changes of relative level of the sea and land would probably 
detach it ; and since the Monte Nuovo now appears, by all 
accounts, to stand so directly on its site, as to give rise to the 
conjecture, that the Lucrine owed its existence to the crater of a 
pre-existent volcano, it seems also probable, that it was almost 
entirely filled up by that explosion, the miserable marsh 
which now alone can be identified with it, more than deserving 
the appellation of '' diu sterilis palus" which the Roman poet 
applied to it in its primaeval state. Though contemporary 
authors do not expressly mention the destruction of the Lu- 
crine Lake in 1588, we think there is some room for confirm- 
ing the idea. Giacomo di Toledo, as quoted by Sir William 
Hamilton, distinctly says, that the communication of Lake 
Averno with the sea was hindered by the eruption, which 
could only be through the Lucrine Lake; and therefore leads 
us to the idea, that the latter was not entirely separated at 
that period from the Mediterranean, till the elevation of the 
plain in which it lay, which we have already considered to be 
demonstrated. Besides, Capaccio, who, from the old date of 
his writings, had the best means of information, speaks of the 

• Ars Poeitca, v. 63. 



86 Mr Forbes''s Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. ' 

annihilation of the Lucrine Lake, as a thing understood ; 
*' Monte di Cenere, quaP e quello c"* ha coperto Tripergolo, e'l 
lago Lucrino in Pozzuolo." * 

Lake Avernus, or Lago Averno, was anciently united arti- 
ficially to the Lucrine. This communication has, however, 
disappeared. The lake is nearly circular, and about half a 
mile in diameter, -f* It appears certainly to occupy the crater 
of a volcano, whose geological date is perhaps coincident with 
that of Astroni, already described. The surrounding soil is 
chiefly composed of ordinary yellow tufa, of which we have a 
section in the Sybil's Cave, as it is vulgarly called, on its bank ; 
the history or purposes of which, it is not our present object 
to discuss. It contains, however, a singular apartment, in which 
occurs a slightly tepid spring. The fancy of the poets, and 
the superstition of all ages, has assigned to Avernus an un- 
fathomable depth ; this illusion has, however, been ruthlessly 
dissipated by the nautical energy of Captain Smith, J who 
found the extreme depth to be from 100 to 102 feet, beginning 
to shoal from about forty feet from the bank. Regarding the 
ancient ideas of the pestilential influence of the neighbourhood 
of Lake Avernus, I confess that I never saw any reason to 
disbelieve the facts, suposing them only a little over-coloured, 
and shrouded with the grand superstitions of mythological 
poetry. Avernus is indeed now open and smiling ; no natural 
symptoms now conspire to remind the classic traveller of the 
*' atri Janua Ditis ;'' the birds now fly untroubled over its once 
fatal surface ; and all nature shines in her most cheerful co- 
lours, where we ought to find Stygian shades, mournful sounds, 
and flitting ghosts. Very much is to be imputed to the change 
of men''s minds, yet art and nature have done much to change 
the spot. According to all our ideas, mephitic vapours, such 
as might naturally be exhaled from an extinct crater, such as 

• Anikhita di Pozzuolo, 1652. p. 164. 

+ 300 canne ; Ferrari, Guida. 

X Geological Trans. N. S. ii. 347. Tlie uLual uncertainty prevails on 
the size and depth of Avernus. Ferrari makes the former 95 canne, or 
about 210 yards ; Romanelli has it 1000 palms, or 2dO yards, and makes 
the circumference three miles, instead of one and a half, as we have above 
given from Ferrari. Could Captain Smith hate found it in fathoms instead 
of feet.? 



No. YL-^District of the Bay of Baja. 87 

Avernus undoubtedly is, would produce the pestilential effects 
described, and under the confinement of the bushy and damp 
forests, which at one time shrouded the now peaceful banks 
of the lake, might easily be accumulated in noxious strata. ^ 
M. Bory St Vincent informs us, on the testimony of an older 
writer, that in an eruption in the Island of Lancerote, about a 
century ago, vast streams of deleterious vapour were emitted, 
destructive of animal life, and he observed seven or eight birds 
approaching one of the streams, fall as if " asphixies,'"* — a case 
remarkably in point ; and Sir William Hamilton tells us, that 
during eruptions of Vesuvius, he has picked up dead birds 
frequently on the mountain. It is impossible to suppose that, 
without some foundation in truth, the ancients could have 
given the appellation which signifies " without birds," (from 
the Greek word 'Aosvog.). Such etymologies, however they may 
be interlarded with fables, ought not to lose their due weight in 
the interpretation of natural facts ; and the Roman poets, while 
they appeal to the original derivation of the name, obviously 
give us to understand that the cause still existed. Thus Lu- 
cretius : 

Principio, quod Averna vocantur, nomen id ab re 
Impositum est, quia sunt avibus coutraria cunctis 
E regione ea quod loca cum adveuere volantes, 
Reniigii oblitae pennarum vela remittunt 
Praecipitesque caduntmolli cervice profusse 
In terram, si forte ita fert natura locorum 

Aut in aquain. — ■ 

De Rerum Nat. vi. 740. 

Respecting the change which we now observe, the classic 
writers have not left us in the dark. When the Julian port was 
made, the dark overhanging woods of Avernus were cut down, 
and the purifying waves of the sea admitted by a canal into 
its once impure and Stygian waters. Thus transformed, Aver- 
nus bore no longer its original character, and the change which 
was wrought upon the character of the lake was expressed by 
the prodigies which are recorded to have happened. The 
Gods, we are informed, did not look with indifference upon 
these sacrilegious alterations ; and the statues placed among 
the once sacred groves, gave symptoms of terror and super- 



88 Mr Forbes^s Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

natural dismay. These objects of popular belief, or poetic fan- 
cy, absurd as they may be, indicate not the less the existence 
of such a real change ; and we have the express testimony of 
Silius Italicus, a writer of the first century, when probably 
the lake much resembled its present condition : 

" Ille olim populis dictum Styga, nomine verso, 
Stagna inter celebrem nunc mitia monstrat Avernum ; 
Turn tristi nemore atque iimbris nigrantibus horrens, 
Et forraidatus volucri, lethale vomebat 

SufFuso virus ccelo " 

SiL. Ital. lib. xii. 

Lake Avernus, through the medium of the Lucrine, com- 
municated with the Bay of Baja, near the foot of the Monte 
Nuovo. In pursuing a westward course along the margin of 
the Bay, we find about two-thirds of a mile to the south of 
Lake Avernus, an object of very considerable interest. This 
is the Stufe di Tritoli, or Baths of Nero, the most remarkable 
thermal spring in the Bay of Naples, and of which I gave a 
brief and imperfect description some years ago in this Journal, 
The derivation of the name is somewhat doubtful ; it may, 
however, be not improbably referred to the Greek word T^trctu 
og, from the efficacy of the vapour-baths in tertian fevers. 
That they are actually the Baths of Nero, we have very good 
reason to believe, since the villa of that tyrant was certainly 
in that neighbourhood, and these Stufe, as they are called, so 
pre-eminent as to deserve MartiaPs facetious contrast of their 
virtues, with those of their royal owner : " Quid Nerone pejus ? 
Quid thermis melius Neronianis ?" The only accurate account 
and plan of the singular passages connected with these thermal 
springs, and which are cut out of the rock, is to be found, as 
far as I know, in a small and neglected book of a century and 
a-half ago, the " Guida de"" Forestieri per Pozzuoli,'' by Sar- 
nelli, in which is a ground plan of these singular passages, 
from the designs of Bulifon. By the distinct and accurate de- 
tails of that little work, and the results of personal and atten- 
tive observation, I shall be enabled to correct the mistatements 
and exaggerations of even modern travellers and guide-books. 

At about thirty feet above the sea, we enter a passage cut out 
of the tufaceous rock, which conducts us to several apartments, 



No. W.—Distrkt of the Bay of Baja. 89 

which are occasionally appropriated to the service of the in- 
valids who make use of the vapour-baths, and the necessity of 
partly undressing, which is abundantly enforced by the ex- 
ample of the Custode himself, together with his tales of wonder, 
seems to have allayed the curiosity of many visitors, who, in 
their books, have given us idle tales of danger. It cannot be 
denied that a first visit is a little startling in these subter- 
ranean dwellings of Pluto, and the supersaturation of the air 
with aqueous vapour gives it a peculiar and stifling feeling, 
and perhaps there are few who have not felt some disposition 
to return after advancing thirty or forty yards. The passage 
is narrow, perhaps not three feet wide, and on either hand are 
niches cut out in the tufa where patients may he exposed to the 
force of the steam. At a distance of sixty paces from the en- 
trance, during which the path is pretty level, and five or six feet 
high, the inconvenience derived from heat and difficulty in 
breathing is greatest, for we afterwards turn pretty sharply to 
the right, and, descending gently, breathe a more tolerable at- 
mosphere, tiiough nearer the source of heat. After going about 
sixty paces farther,* I reached the hot spring, and, by keeping 
my head near the ground, I found that I could have remained 
a considerable time without much inconvenience. The pool 
of water there formed seemed to have accumulated in a pas- 
sage originally cut to a greater length, since the water rose to 
the roof from its slanting direction. From the confusion of 
the moment, and the apparent unnaturalness of a spring hot- 
ter than the hand can bear, I put my finger into it, but ra- 
pidly withdrew it, with a sensation nothing short of the heat 
of boihng water. I held in my hand a mercurial thermometer 
of Gary's, which I dipped into the spring, and reading off 
the indication by the light of a torch carried by our guide, 
with as much deUberation as possible, I found it to be 183°.5. 
I had reason to believe, however, from previous observation, 

* These distances are from the measurements of Bulifon. In my paper 
written at Rome in the close of 1826, a few weeks after visiting these 
baths, and inserted in this Joumaly I estimated the distance to the com- 
mencement of the descent at forty yards, and the descent itself at as much 
more ; these perhaps do not differ much from the sixty paces given in the 
text, at least it is not more than might have been expected from the vague- 
ness of my observation under such circumstances. 



90 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

that at this part of the scale it would require a reduction of 
1°; I therefore placed the temperature at 182^.5. It was on 
the 11th of December 1826. This observation is the more 
valuable, that, as far as I know, it is the only one affecting 
accuracy yet given to the world. Most authors have asserted 
that the water boils ; * and Romanelli distinctly asserts that 
its temperature exceeds 80° Reaumur, though it is obvious 
enough he could never have tried it. Breislak,-f- with great 
moderation, says, " La chaleur qui y regne a une grande in- 
tensite ; Tobscurite du lieu, et la vapeur qui s'attache a la sur- 
face de tous les corps, empechent de la mesurer avec precision, 
mais elle passe les 60 degres de Reaumur." But 60° R = 167° 
Fahr. so that Breislak comes below the mark. 

It is not surprising that the idea of so great a heat as this 
should have been alarming to those unacquainted with the 
powers of animal life to withstand intense heat, when we re- 
flect that the time is not very long past when the experiments 
of Blagden and Fordyce put this question in its true light. 
The most intense heat, however, sustained by these gentle- 
men \ seems to have been in dry air, which has far less effect 
on the body than an atmosphere loaded with steam, which, 
by condensing on the body, parts with a large share of its ca- 
loric. These experimenters, however, found far less incon- 
venience than they expected from the great temperature. 
Their bodies when exposed to steam of a moderate tempera- 
ture became inflamed, the pulse much quickened, but the heat 
of the body little affected. In passing to the cold air they 
felt little inconvenience, probably from the excess of moisture 
and perspiration which defended the pores of the skin from the 
rapid effects of cold. The degree of perspiration in the heat- 
ed baths varied very much in different persons, and was 
greater in the dry than vapour stoves. Dr Fordyce having 
remained fifteen minutes in a vapour stove at a temperature of 
130° (greatly lower than that of Nero's Baths,) his pulse rose 
to 139, and he was much more affected than by dry air of a 
greatly higher temperature, which he justly imputed to the 

* Hamilton, Ferber, OrlofF, Lalande, &c. 

-f- Cnvipanie, ii. 173. 

t Phil. Trans, vol. Ixv. iii. 484. 



^o.Nl.-^Distrktofthe Bay of Baja. 9I 

heat given out by the steam, and to the want of evaporation 
from the body, the air being in a state of saturation with mois- 
ture. All the general phenomena experienced at the Stufe di 
Tritoli are similar to those observed in the cases of artificial 
experiment. The inflammation of the skin where exposed to 
the steam is remarkable, and gives those who merely see the 
guide return from the bottom a great idea of extreme tem- 
perature. The streaming of condensed moisture from the body 
has likewise the appearance of natural and excessive perspira- 
tion, in which respect, however, as I have remarked, people 
are very different. In my own case, the perspiration was con- 
siderable, independent of condensed vapour. The extreme 
narrowness of the passage, and the nearness of the approach 
to the subterranean source of heat, preserve in these singular 
and obscure grottos the most regular and intense tempera- 
ture, so that it is more insupportably hot at the turn of the 
last branch, sixty paces from the spring, than over the very 
steam as it rises from the water itself. The water is brackish, 
but seems wonderfully little mixed with adventitious matter. 
Fish boiled in it has no disagreeable taste. I regret that I 
have no analysis to give of its contents. According to the 
custom of the place, the guide takes some water in a pail from 
the spring and puts fresh eggs into it, and, carrying them to the 
open air, notwithstanding this effectual cooling, they are in 
four minutes very pleasantly boiled. On leaving the baths, I 
felt not the slightest disagreeable effect from almost imme- 
diate exposure to the open air between 50° and 60°, but, on 
the contrary, on re-embarking at the foot of the hill, experi* 
enced a delightful sense of warmth over my whole body. 
After this simple statement, which may give some idea of 
these baths, it will perhaps afford the reader some amusement 
to quote the prevailing opinions expressed in tours and guide 
books, about twenty of which, pretending to describe the spot, 
I have consulted, of whose authors, it is evident that not above 
two or three ever reached the thermal spring,* some proceed- 

* Of the following authors, Breisiak, Swinburne, Ferber, Eustace, La« 
lande, Starke, Orloffj Jorio, Capaccio, Sarnelli, Ferrari, Hamilton, Roma- 
nelli, Galanti, Soulavie, Reichard, Matthews, Tenore, Vasi, Giustiniani, 
anil the authors of the " Voyage Fittoresque" only Breisiak, Sarnelli, (or 



92 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

ing ten, twenty, or thirty paces, as their courage lasted. Yet 
to such inaccurate observers is Italy still indebted for her illus- 
tration ; and the absurd tales of Custode and Valets-de-Place, 
are pawned off upon the credulous world as the results of 
laborious research and acute observation ! 

" At the bottom of the bay " says the sagacious Swinburne, 
who probably never attempted to enter the stove, " and at 
the foot of the steep rocks which serve as a foundation to the 
ruins called Nero''s House, are some dark caves of great depth, 
leading to the hottest of all vapour-baths ; nobody can re- 
main long in them, or indeed penetrate to the end without an 
extraordinary degree of strength and resolution. The springs 
at the bottom of the grotto are so hot as to boil an egg hard, 
almost instantaneously.''^ 

" In one of these grottos,'^ says the would-be philosophic 
Ferber, '^ which is obliquely running into the rock, the heat 
is so intolerable, that naked people, in two minutes, distil with 
sweat. The heat stopped my breath, and I could not go in 
them above thirty paces. Distant 130 paces from the en- 
trance is a hot aluminous water about one palm deep, which 
hardens eggs in a moment.'''' 

The more observant and accurate Lalande, while he ex- 
presses himself not ignorant of the great heats which have 
been supported in artificial experiments, gives this rather over- 
strained account. " La chaleur de les souterrains est si grande, 
qu'au bout de dix pas on est, pour ainsi dire, suffoque, et il 
faut de rhabitude et de la force pour aller plus loins ; les pay- 
sans y vont avec facilite, mais ils sont presque nuds, et ils re- 
viennent au bout de deux minutes, tous couverts de sueur, le 
visage aussi inflamme que s'ils avoient ete dans un four." — 
" Ce n'est pas sans peine et sans danger," says Orloff, * 

rather Bulifon,) Roraanelli, and perhaps the authors of the " Voyage," 
can be inferred to have reached the hot spring. It is not even al- 
luded to by Spallanzani, and many other writers I have consulted upon 
this part of Italy. There is a curious work I have not elsewhere mention- 
ed, in the Advocates* Library, giving some account of the Stufe di Tritoli, 
entitled " Synopsis eorum quae de Balneis aliisque Miraculis Puieolanis 
scripta sunt. Auct. Jo. Fran. Lombardo, Neapolitano." Venetiis, mdlvi. '■ 
small 4to. 

• Memoires sur Naples, v. 343. 



k 



No. VI. — District of the Bay of Baja. 93 

«* qu^on y penetre, tant le chemin, qui a une pente tres ra- 
pide, est etroit et glissant, et tant la chaleur devient insup- 
portable plus au descend vers la source ou bain dont Peau est 
toujours houillant?^ An eminent topographical writer, Rei- 
chard, in his larger work upon Italy, has added a newly in- 
vented feature to increase the horrors of the place, and, as he 
did not go to the bottom himself, was probably put upon him 
by the egg-boiler to enhance the merit and risk of his servi- 
ces. This writer records that there are sometimes united 
" traits defeu avec ses bouillans T 

One of the guide books published in Naples says, " Gli uo- 
mini practici vanno con facilta sino al fondo, e prendono Pac- 
qua sorgente ch'e quasi bollente : vi entrano essi quasi nudi, 
ed in due minuti escono tutti grondanti di sudore, e colJa faccia 
infiammata, come se fossero usciti da un forno. Chi poi non e 
assuefatto, dopo died passi di cammino, si senti suffocare, e 
mancar le forze per andar piu avanti."* But a still more in- 
excusable perversion is by an author of learning and some cre- 
dit, who, though living within a few miles of the spot, seems 
never to have formed experimentally just ideas on the subject. 
" Badi bene il forestiere,"" says he, " non farsi trasportare 
dalla sconsigliata curiosita, di calare per quelle tortuose grotte 
fino al basso, ov'e Tacqua bollente, perche potrebbe rischiarvi 
la vita''' f 

These authorities, selected from many others of the same 
character, show sufficiently the mistaken notions which have 
been so long circulated from hand to hand. The very simple 
description of Breislak is the only one I have seen deprived of 
this mysticism ; but though he is obviously one of the few au- 
thors who have gone to the bottom themselves, he has not 
given us any lively description of the appearances or phe- 
nomena. In fact, the quackery of guides and guide-books 
seems to have deterred our natural observers from inspecting 
this curious spot, so near approached to that surprising 
focus which has maintained its intense temperature so many- 
centuries, with unabated vigour, without any indication, 
direct or indirect, of that mysterious fuel by which it has 



Ferrari. t De Jorio, Guida di Pozzuoli, 138. 



94 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

been fed, and which affords so remarkable a subject of specu- 
lation in this age of geological inquiry. * It has been supposed 
by some, that the temperature has increased greatly since the 
day of the Romans ; -j- this, however I think, is improbable from 
the strong expressions of Pliny ; " Tanta eis est vis ut balineas 
calefaciant, ac frigidam etiam in soliis fervere cogant. Ob- 
sonia quoque percoquunt." J Yet, notwithstanding the con- 
tinuance and intensity of the heat, the water, ^s we have al- 
ready remarked, is almost pure; it evolves no sulphuretted hy- 
drogen, like the other springs of this neighbourhood, and ap- 
pears to have no action on the tufaceous rock § through which 
its vapours have circulated for hundreds or thousands of years. 
I must not close this description without adding, that the spring 
is not the only termination of this excavation ; various bran- 
ches strike off from the first one, and constitute no less than 
seven terminations. The only tolerable description I have met 
with of these intricate passages is in a curious work, a century 
and a half old, already alluded to, and which contains an ori- 
ginal ground plan ||. Some of these are extremely low, not 
above two and a half feet in height, of which the floor com- 
posed of sand has a burning heat. One of the most inacces- 
sible terminates in a cross, in the centre of which is a dry well, 
from which issue vapours of high temperature. The confine- 
ment and remoteness of this grotto occasions an extremely in- 
supportable atmosphere, and it is said to be dangerous to visit 
these remote recesses, though they contain no hot spring. 

Besides the Stufe de Tritoli, which, with great probability, 
may be considered the true Baths of Nero, others of less im- 
portance are distributed over the same neighbourhood. Baja 
was famous for the variety and multiplicity as well as the ex- 
cellence of its thermal springs ; 

*' Baianos sinus, et foeta tepentibus undis 

Littora. '* 

Ital. Lib. iii. 4. 

* Neither Professor Daubeny nor Mr Scrope, our two principal volcanic 
writers, seem lo have visited these stoves. 

I Orloff, V. 332. 
i Lib. xxxi. 2. 
§ Breislak. 

II Sarnelli, Guida ; Napoli, 1688. 



No. VI. — District of the Bay of Baja. 95 

If we descend to the sliore below these baths, we find the 
Bay of Baja crowded with the ruins of villas, which once be- 
longed to wealthy Romans, disputing with the waves the pos- 
session of the bank *. Many of the Roman Emperors select- 
ed this spot as their chosen retreat ; and, guided by the hand of 
fancy and the records of classic antiquity, we may trace the 
villas of Julius Caesar, Nero, and Adrian, of Pompey, Marius 
and Hortensius. But here it is not our object to dwell on 
these delightful and interesting associations. We would point 
rather to a remarkable fact which these ruins present. Many 
of them are built in the style of the opus reticulatum, in which 
the lozenge-shaped pieces which invest the exterior of the wall 
are formed, as usual, of the common stone of the country, 
which is here the ordinary friable tufa f. They were im- 
bedded in mortar formed of Pozzuolana of the finest descrip- 
tion, — a cement which takes its name from this vicinity, and the 
remarkable fact is, that where exposed to the water, the reti- 
culated masses have, by long attrition, been washed out, while 
the thin dividing portions of cement stand to this hour a 
monument of its durability, and the masses of building present 
the most curious honey-combed appearance. The Pozzuolana 
is dug in the immediate neighbourhood, namely, just behind 
the three temples at Baja, bearing the names of Venus, Diana, 
and Mercury. It has there a pale grayish colour, considerably 
differing from the brownish black dug near Naples, and the 
deep red of the Campagna di Roma. To nothing have the 
architectural remains of the ancient Romans been so much in- 
debted for their durability as to this invaluable production of 
volcanic countries ; and a want of attention to this circumstance 
has superinduced the most unfounded supposition regarding 
the means employed by the Romans to harden their mortar, 
at least when applied to buildings in Italy. 

By examining merely theoretical descriptions of the Pozzuo- 
lana, vve should not perhaps find it easy to separate it from the 
ordinary tufaceous formations round Naples, with which indeed 
it has been too much confused, which might lead readers to 
imagine that the hill of Pausilipo was composed of it, and that 



* See Hor. Carm. ii. 18. f See this Journal, No. xvii. p 30. 



/ 



96 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

the grotto was cut out of the same material. However diffi- 
cult the mineralogical characters may be to separate, the real 
difference exists. The common tufas of the Bay of Naples 
are consistent, homogeneous, capable of being cut and chisel- 
led, and, though porous, appear to have no particular action 
upon water capable of making them applicable as cements. 
The Pozzuolana, again, is extremely friable, gritty and harsh 
to the feel to the last degree, quarried rather like sand than 
stone, and exercising a very remarkable power of adhesion, 
when applied to the purposes of a cement. The limits to which 
I must confine myself oblige me to do little more than touch 
upon the remarkable properties of Pozzuolana, which seems to 
deserve more attention from practical chemists than it has yet 
received. 

The ancients were well acquainted with its value, and it is 
the " Arena Fossicia" of Vitruvius, but also called by him 
" pulvis Puteolana *." When it could be procured, as in the 
neighbourhood of Rome and Naples, no less than three parts 
of it were used to one of lime. Its intrinsic value has been 
duly appreciated in various parts of Europe ; and in the great 
undertaking of building theEddystone Lighthouse, Mr Smea- 
ton employed no less than an equal quantity of Pozzuolana 
mixed with lime, for the mortar to be used under water. 

It is remarkable that different rocks of volcanic origin have 
been used for the same purposes. A kind of vesicular basalt 
is quarried in great quantities at Andernach on the Rhine, 
and transported to Holland for building under water : A si- 
milar kind of rock, which is called trass or tarrass, (and is 
nearly assimilated to the pumiceous conglomerates of Hun- 
gary, ■(-) is found at Coblentz, \ and might probably be ap- 
propriated to the same purposes. It seems to have the most 
important characters of the grey Pozzuolana of the Bay of 
Naples. § 

• Vitruv. Lib. ii. 4, and ii. 6. 

+ Daubeny on Volcanos, p. 171. 

X Annates des Mines, xxv. 366. 

§ It seems that some of the extinct volcanic matter in the south of 
France is, or might be, applied to similar purposes. See Soulavie's edi- 
tion of Hamilton's Works, p. 476. 



No. VI. — District of the Bay of Baja. 97 

What may be the principle of the astonishing hardness of 
the mortar made with this material is a curious subject of in- 
quiry. According to the analysis of Bergman it consists of 65 
to 60 parts of silex, 19 to 20 of argillaceous matter ; 5 to 6 
of lime, and 15 to 20 of iron. It is, as we have just remark- 
ed, harsh to the feel and brittle. It has a specific gravity of 
2.570 to 2.788, but rarely 2.8 ; it has an earthy smell, and is 
not diffusible in water unless when heated. It does not ef- 
fervesce with acids. When hot it is magnetic. The iron may 
justly be considered as its intrinsically important ingredient, 
and Mr Kirwan ingeniously supposes its peculiarity to exist 
in its pure and magnetic form, by which it is rendered capable 
of decomposing the water with which it is mixed, and which, 
therefore, accounts for its rapid absorption of that fluid. The 
clay contributes greatly to give it a plastic tenacity, and, ac- 
cording to this theory, the principal effect of the lime is to 
favour chemical action and solution by its evolution of heat. 
This supposition is rendered the more probable by the cir- 
cumstance, that the best imitation of Pozzuolana mortar was 
found by Mr Smeaton to consist in mixing granulated parti- 
cles of the sparks of iron from forges with the other ingre- 
dients of cement. * This may also lead to some conclusions 
on the original cause of the differences observed between the 
tufas and the Pozzuolana, with which they are occasional- 
ly interstratified near their surface. The ingredients are un- 
doubtedly almost the same ; but in the one case, the iron, hav- 
ing already exerted its adhesive influence, has combined the 
loose sandy particles into the form of a rock, and is itself 
transformed into an oxide incapable of repeating the operation ; 
while, in the other, the volcanic sand, fresh from the igneous 
focus, was probably deposited by the eruption of some neigh- 
bouring volcano, just as the hills, produced by submarine ac- 
tion, were emerging from the waves. -|- This might, I think, 
explain most of the peculiarities of this singular substance, 

* The distance from which real Pozzuolana must be brought has given 
rise to several other imitations of it. One by M. Delahaye-Dumeny was 
secured some years ago by patent in France. — Ann. des Mines, xxviii. 384. 

+ See Number III. of these Notices. 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. G 



98 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

especially from its occurrence near the surface of such hills, as 
in the remarkable section formerly described, made by the 
Strada Nuova in passing over the hill of Pausilipo. We 
may, perhaps, have occasion to return to this subject. 

The Baths of Nero, the Pozzuolana quarries, the castle and 
village of Baja, and its three temples, are situated on the 
western boundary of the Bay of Baja or Pozzuoli, forming a 
neck of land projecting towards the islands of Procida and 
Ischia, terminated by the Capo di Miseno. The east side of 
the promontory, therefore, bounds the bay, and commands an 
extensive prospect of Naples, Vesuvius, the Sorrentine Hills, 
and the more distant Apennines, while, from the opposite side, 
the wide expanse of the Mediterranean, and the trendings of 
the coast of Italy, may be seen as far north as Mola di Gaieta. 
On this shore, at no great distance from Baja, stands the ve- 
nerable rock of Cumae, the first landing-place of ^Eneas in 
Italy Of this spot, so interesting in the earlier classical his- 
tory of Italy, I have little to say. The rock on which its for- 
tress once stood, though it has lost the figure, retains the cha- 
racter of a volcanic cone : * and near it may be seen one of 
the densest masses of lava in the form of a current in the 
Phlegrasan fields. Near the ancient gate of Cumae, now cal- 
led the Arco Felice, I picked up perfect specimens of pumice, 
— a substance which we have elsewhere remarked to be rare in 
the active emissary of Vesuvius. A little to the south of 
Cumae, approaching the Capo di Miseno, is the only remain- 
ing representative of the once sombre and poetical Acheron ; 
it is the Modern Fusaro. This lake, which has an open and 
cheerful appearance, lies in the flat alluvial land which here 
forms the shore of the Mediterranean ; it is so low as to ad- 
mit of a communication with the sea, and is at present chiefly 
remarkable for its excellent oyster beds, the products of which 
are much and justly esteemed at Naples. Perhaps it is worth 
mentioning that these shell-fish have a slightly black appear- 
ance, and that within the shell there is invariably a cavity, 
which, on breaking the pearly crust which covers it, is found 
to contain a portion of fluid with a strong sulphureous smell ; 
as if to bear witness to the Plutonic origin of the very inhabit 
* Scrope, Geological Trans, ut sup. 



No. Vl.-^District of the Bay of Baja. 99 

tants of these mythological scenes, where each superstitious 
horror assumed a local habitation and a name. But the " Ache- 
rusia pal us" is now deprived of its mystical accessaries, and 
the tranquil Fusaro is adorned with a pleasure seat of the 
king of Naples ; while under the beauty of Italian sunshine 
it is hardly possible to imagine the gloomy regions of Tarta- 
rus, the boat of Charon, or the desponding shades. 

A little to the south of Fusaro rises the Monte di Procida, 
which extends nearly to the termination of the promontory, 
and takes its name from the island adjoining the coast, which 
it overlooks. According to Mr Scrope it is composed of a 
trachytic conglomerate in irregular strata containing blackish 
glassy felspar, and alternating sometimes with porphyritic 
pitchstone. The conglomerate includes fragments of granite 
and syenite. The hill terminates in the sea at a remarkable 
spot named Scoglio delle Pietre Arse (Rock of the Burnt- 
stones) consisting of a pitchstone covered with earthy lava 
containing half melted fragments. The pitchstone is in some 
places quite perfect, and contains felspar crystallized in six- 
sided prisms, which have been observed half an inch in length.* 
Some beautiful gradations of the pitchstone into pumice have 
been here observed. The former is remarkably brittle. Rocks 
corresponding to the " Scoglio delle Pietre Arse" are found on 
the opposite coast of Procida, as we shall more particularly 
notice in the next number of these papers. 

We thus reach the Capo di Miseno, the ancient Misenum, 
where the Romans had a harbour for their fleet stationed 
here. It affords on the east side a fine section of a volcanic 
eminence, being on that side much degraded, as may indeed 
be pretty generally observed in the volcanic cones of this 
neighbourhood, -f Near the foot of the hill there rises from 
the sea a spring of fresh water similar to the remarkable one 
observed in the Gulf of Spezia near Genoa. J As this was a 
marine station, it seems that the Romans were peculiarly anx- 
ious to obtain for it a good supply of water, as for this pur- 
pose only can the remarkable edifice in the vicinity called the 
Piscina Mirabile have been designed. It is an immense qua- 

* Spallanzani's Travels, i. 139. 
f Breislak. 
X Lalande, Voyage en Italic, vii. 378. 



100 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 

drangular apartment under ground, to which we descend by 
40 steps ; it is 230 English feet long and 97 broad, and is 
supported by 48 square pillars in four rows, which are united 
by small arches at top, presenting when combined with their 
great height, a striking appearance. The walls are invested 
with a crust which is of great hardness, and has been consi- 
dered by Winkelman and others as a peculiar kind of plaster; 
but this seems overthrown by the observation of other authors, 
that the thickness of it diminishes regularly to the top of the 
chamber, and that it has actually a true stucco under it, * in- 
dicating that this crust was deposited by the water once ar- 
tificially collected in this reservoir. It resembles, besides, the 
incrustation found in the chambers called the " Sette Sale" in 
the Baths of Titus at Rome, which is so hard that I found a 
difficulty in breaking it with a small hammer, and which is 
the undoubted deposition of water. The following are the 
constituent parts of the coating of the Piscina Mirabile : 

Muriate of lime, . _ _ 5 

Muriate of soda, - - - 11 

Carbonate of lime, - _ - 75 

Alumina, . _ . _ 5 

Iron and silica, _ - » 3 

Loss, _ _ - 1 



100 



From the Piscina Mirabile f we command a view of the Mare 
Morto, which appears anciently to have constituted the fa- 
mous Port of Misenum. From its shores rise the swelling 
plains which form the mythological representation of the 
Elysian fields ; and, however they may fall short of what a 
poetic imagination might desire, they must still be dear to the 
classical traveller, from their intimate associations with the ex- 
quisite description of Virgil : 

* Orloff, Memoires sur Naples^ v. 350. 

+ I ought not to omit entirely the mention of some singular excavated 
apartments in this neighhourhood, called the Cento Camerelle, dug out of 
tufa and plastered. They have created much antiquarian discussion, and, 
as they do not present any peculiar physical fact, my limits do not allow 
me to give any account of them. They were probably prisons. 



No. Yl,-^District of the Bay of Baja. 101 

*' Deveuere locos laetos, et amoena vireta 

Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatas. 
"^__ Largior hie campos aether, et lumine vestit 

* " ' Purpureo; solemque suum, sua sidera norunt." 

En. vi. 638. 

The citation of this passage not only illustrates a classical lo- 
cality, but enables me to make a remark, which I believe is 
new, upon a physical fact. The " lumen purpureus"" of 
Virgil has generally been considered as a poetical fiction, and 
the variorum commentators have considered it merely as an 
emblem of beauty and purity. I have, however, had occasion 
to observe in the evening sky at Naples the most exquisitely 
purpurean tinge, not like the red glow of our sunsets, but 
pale and intimately invested in the colour of a sky of perfect 
purity, such as can never be seen in northern climates. The 
cause too is capable of the most perfectly philosophic explana- 
tion. The azure of the sky is imputable to the resistance of 
the atmosphere to the rays of light, by which the red rays, 
moving with most momentum, pass entirely through, while the 
blue are absorbed and reflected by the dense medium. The 
red tints of sunset and sunrise are owing to the accumulation 
of the atmospheric strata through which the rays must pass, 
by which not even those having the greatest momentum can 
escape ; hence also the red light observed by divers under 
water. But the purple tinge which I observed at Naples even 
near the zenith, had no affinity with this cause. The atmo- 
sphere possessing there a surpassing purity, a portion of the 
blue rays having a free passage, escaped, and a part of the 
violet, which have least momentum of any, even found their 
way to the eye, thus producing a tinge which Virgil, himself 
an admirable observer of nature, transferred to his Elysian 
skies as a testimony of such habitual purity as was rarely to 
be observed even under the genial climate of Italy. We may 
therefore justify the poet even to the letter, and refute the ob- 
servation of one, who, though no philosopher, was disposed to 
view things under the colouring of a warm and classical ima- 
gination, that, " in the splendour of a Neapolitan firmament, 
we may seek in vain for that purple light so delightf v .c o ir 
boyish fancy."* 

* Eustace. 



102 Mr Kenwood's Account of Steam-Engines in Cornwall 



Art. X. — Notice of the performance of Steam-Engines in 
Cornwall for July, August, and September 1829. By W. 
J. Henwood, F. G. S., Member of the Royal Geological So- 
ciety of Cornwall. Communicated by the Author. 

Reciprocating Engines drawing Water, 





b4 
^ .s 


.^1 




H. 


1 

2 i 


of lbs. 
fted I 
by the 
tion of 
fcoal. 


Mines. 


S.s 


° a a 
^ •« — 


^.s.s 


^o a 








a 


7,75 


5,25 


7,8 


=> S 

4, 


Millie 
weigh 
foot hi 
consul 
Ibusl 


Stray Park, 


64 


24,7 


Huel Vor, - 


63* 


7,25 


5,75 


17,5 


5,4 


26, 




53 


9, 


7,5 


19,5 


5,3 


42, 




48 


7, 


5, 


8, 


4,9 


30,8 




80 


10, 


7,5 


13,5 


5,9 


56,9 




45 


6,75 


5,5 


13,7 


6, 


50,7 


Poladras Downs, 


70 


10, 


7,5- 


9,4 


6,3 


56,6 


Huel Reeth, 


36 


7,5 


7,5 


15,3 


4,2 


26,2 


Balnoon, 


30 


8, 


7, 


9, 


3,4 


24,7 


Huel Towan, - 


80 


10, 


8, 


10,5 


6,3 


73,6 




80 


10, 


8, 


6,3 


4, 


58,9 


United Hills, - 


58 


8,25 


6,5 


6,9 


4,3 


37,6 


Huel Sperris, - 


70 


10,33 


7,75 


6,7 


5,1 


43, 


Huel Deer-park, 


16 


4,25 


4,25 


29,9 


7,1 


16,6 


Huel Prosper, - 


53 


7, 


7, 


3,1 


4, 


19,2 


Crinis, 


56 


6,75 


6,75 


9,5 


5,3 


39,5 


Huel Unity, - 


52 


6,66 


5,75 


9,1 


7, 


26,9 




60 


7,25 


5,75 


11,7 


5,7 


36,2 


Poldice, 


90 


10, 


7, 


10,3 


5,4 


47,4 




60 


9,5 


6,25 


12,8 


5,9 


37,4 


Huel Damsel, - 


42t 


7,5 


5,75 


20, 


4,7 


32,6 




50 


9, 


7, 


8,2 


3, 


136,6 


Ting Tang, - 


63 


8, 


6, 


14, 


4,7 


46,3 




66 


9, 


7,5 


10,9 


2,9 


42,9 


Cardrew Downs, 


66 


8,76 


7, 


10,4 


6,1 


53,6 


Huel Montague, 


50 


9, 


7, 


10,8 


4,2 


32,9 



Mr Kenwood's Account of Sieam-Engines in Cornwall. 103 





ll 


^6-^ 


.11 


II. 


h 


oflbs. 

tion of 
fcoal. 


Mines. 


r-< M 


J.S.S 




I='l 




Ulions 
ight li 

isump 
msh. 




'aM 


9, 


7,5 


11,8 


Is. 

5,2 


^lall^ 


Dolcoath, 


76 


42,5 


Great Work, - 


60 


9, 


7, 


10,2 


6,9 


43,8 


Huel Penrose, 


36 


8,5 


6,5 


11,9 


6,8 


32, 


Huel Caroline, 


SO 


7, 


6, 


21,6 


9,1 


28,8 




53,5 8,33 


7, 


T,6 


6,2 


23,3 


St. Ives Consols, 


36 


7, 


7, 


16,4 


6,3 


29,4 


Lelant Consols, 


15 


7,5 


4,5 


17,2 


2,9 


13,6 


Binner Downs, 


70 


1 , 


7,5 


11,1 


7,7 


61,9 




63 


9, 


7,5 


8, 


10, 


37, 




42 


9, 


7,5 


13,5 


7,1 


43,7 


ConsolidatedMines, 90 


10, 


7,5 


8,8 


5,3 


60,7 




70 


10, 


7,5 


9,7 


6,2 


60,5 




65 


9, 


7,5 


15, 


3,7 


52, 




90 


10, 


7,5 


8,3 


7, 


59,5 




90 


10, 


7,5 


10,3 


2,4 


35,7 




65 


9, 


7,5 


12,4 


4,5 


58,8 


United Mines, 


90 


9, 


8, 


7,9 


4,1 


44,1 




30 


9, 


7,5 


12,9 


7,7 


43,9 


Huel Beauchamp, 


36 


7,75 


6, 


11,6 


4,4 


33, 


Huel Rose, 


60 


9, 


7, 


13,6 


5,6 


59,5 


Pembroke, 


80 


9,75 


7,25 


11,7 


3,6 


49,9 




50 


9, 


7, 


11,2 


6,4 


43,8 


East Crinnis, - 


60 


5,5 


5,5 


8,5 


3,9 


25,4 




70 


10, 


7, 


9,1 


4,7 


36,7 


Huel Hope, 


60 


9, 


8, 


12, 


6,1 


59,1 


Tolgus, 


70 


10, 


7,5 


8,2 


4,3 


55,7 


Tresavean, 


60 


9, 


7, 


6,3 


4,2 


22,7 


Huel Falmouth, 


68 


8,75 


6,5 


S,7 


5,2 


25,3 



Average duty of reciprocating engines 40,8 millions of lbs. 
weight lifted one foot high by the consumption of one bushel of 
coal. 

Watt''s rotatory double engines employed to move machinery 
for bruising tin ores. 



104 M. Savarfs Researches on the structure of Metals 



Huel Vor, 



Average duty of rotatory engines, 17.8 millions. 







Length of 










crank. 






24. 


6. 


3. 12. 


15.5 


19.1 


27. 


5. 


2.5 12. 


17.3 


21.4 


\(o,^ 


5. 


2.5 8.5 


25.9 


12.8 



* 



Watt's double engines. 
'\ Trevithick's high pressure combined with Watt's single. 

Art. XI. — Researches on the structure of Metals, as indi- 
cated by their Acoustic properties.* By M. Felix Savart. 

Hitherto melted metals have been regarded as the solid 
substances which approached most to the condition of homo- 
geneity. They have been regarded as assemblages of an infi- 
nite number of small crystals united together without order, 
and as it were by chance, and it was never even conjectured 
that in any mass of metal there could be differences of elasti- 
city and cohesion as great, and perhaps greater, than those 
which are observed in a fibrous body like wood. 

Experience nevertheless shows, that circular plates of metal, 
of equal thickness, melted in moulds, or cut in great masses, 
or taken in thin plates, always comport themselves as if they 
had belonged to a fibrous body, or to one regularly crystal- 
lized. Thus, if we seek to make them produce the mode of 
division which consists of two lines, crossing each other at 
right angles, we shall soon discover that their intimate struc- 
ture is not the same in all directions ; for this mode of divi- 
sion cannot establish itself in two determinate positions, and 
almost always under the form of hyperbolic curves, which are 
accompanied with sounds more or less remote from each other, 
sometimes by a quantity almost imperceptible, and sometimes 
by a third, a fourth, and even a fifth. Plates of gold, silver, 
copper, zinc, cast-iron, forged or laminated iron, tin, lead, bis- 
muth, steel, antimony, and a great number of alloys of these 
different substances, such as brass, bell-metal, &c. appeared to 

• Translated and slightly abridged from the Annales de Chimie, May 1829. 



as indicated hij their Acoustic properties. 105 

present phenomena quite analogous to those of plates of wood, 
or of rock-crystal differently inclined to their axes of elasticity 
or their directions of cleavage. 

As these experiments have been repeated frequently, and 
under different circumstances, we may consider it as certain 
that a plate of metal always comports itself as if it belonged 
to a crystallized system ; — but does it follow from this property 
that metals are regularly crystallized ? This difficulty may 
be solved by the same means by which it has been discovered. 
As the distinctive character indeed of crystallized bodies con- 
sists in this, that their structure is found exactly the same in 
every part of the same plane, and for parallel planes taken in 
any direction whatever in relation to the faces of the crystals, 
it is clear that in order to recognize if a body is regularly crys- 
tallized, it is sufficient — 

1. To cut different circular plates of the same diameter and 
the same thickness, taken in the same plane, and to see if their 
modes of division are parallel to one another, and emit the 
$ame sounds. 

2. To take several parallel plates, and to see if their modes 
of division correspond, and are accompanied with the same 
sounds. I therefore cut out of a cylinder of lead which 
■weighed 15 kilogrammes, several plates of the same size. The 
1st, 3d, 5th, 7th, and 9th, were perpendicular to the axis of 
the cylinders ; and the 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th, taken between 
the preceding ones, passed through the axis, and were contained 
in the same plane. These being examined, I found, 1. that 
the modes of division of the last set of plates were far from 
being the same, and from being accompanied with the same 

i ^ sounds. 2. That the modes of division of the first set of 
plates were also very different, and were not accompanied with 
the same sounds. As this experiment was often repeated, and 
with tin as well as lead, with the same results, we may con- 
clude, that a mass of metal, considered as a whole, does not 
possess the properties of a crystallized body, though each of 
the plates cut from it vibrate as if they belonged to a body of 
this kind. 

If we examine the modes of division of a circular plate of 
metal, one or two decimetres in diameter, and afterwards 



106 M. Savart's Researches on the structure of Metals, 

divide it into several smaller plates also circular, we shall find 
that these last differ more or less from one another in their 
sounds and mode of division, and that the nodal lines of the 
one are rarely parallel to those of the other. 

These and many other facts show distinctly that the metals 
do not possess a homogeneous structure, but only that they 
are not regularly crystallized. We have, therefore, only 
one supposition left, viz. that they possess a semi-regular 
structure, as if, at the moment of solidification, there were 
formed in their interior several distinct crystals of a consider- 
able size, but whose homologous faces were not turned towards 
the same points of space. In this view the metals would re- 
semble certain grouped crystals, each of which, considered in- 
dividually, presents a regular structure, whilst the entire mass 
is quite confused. 

This view of the matter is supported by several circum- 
stances which accompany the solidification of metals. If we ex- 
amine, for example, the surface of amass of lead about to become 
solid, we shall perceive in some parts small rectilineal grooves, 
which are sometimes several centimetres long, which have 
no fixed direction, but which are crossed by a great number of 
other grooves of the same kind but much shorter, so that the 
whole surface of the metal seems to be entirely covered with 
this singular net- work, which evidently indicates a sort of re- 
gularity in the arrangement of the subjacent parts. If we ope- 
rate, indeed, with a mass of lead of from twelve to fifteen 
kilogrammes, and if at the instant when the solid crust is about 
five or six millimetres (l-4th or l-5th of an inch) thick, we 
pierce it with a red hot iron, and invert the vessel suddenly, so 
as to discharge the part of the lead that is still fluid, the inner 
face of the solid crust will exhibit a number of small octaedral 
crystals arranged in parallel lines, and crossing one another at 
right angles, which form a great number of distinct systems, 
corresponding in position to the small grooves on the opposite 
surface of the crust. 

Examined with the microscope the small crystals which 
compose each of these systems, appear to be grouped round 
three lines at right angles to each other, and they are arranged 
so that their axes are parallel to each other ; and hence, they 



as indicated hy their Acoustic properties. 107 

touch only by their sohd angles. If we suppose that the 
three right lines of each system have a direction that has 
no relation to the similar lines of adjacent systems, we shall 
have a sufficiently correct idea of the semi-regular crystalliza- 
tion of a mass of lead. Analogous results were obtained with 
copper, tin, and zinc ; but the crystalline systems are more 
extended when the metals have been kept in fusion for a long 
time, and when they have been melted at different times. 

It is a natural consequence of this structure, that the dif- 
ferences of elasticity of the same substance, appear in general 
to be greater in proportion to the smallness of the diameter of 
the circular plates employed to show them ; for the number 
of crystalline systems which these plates contain, will be less 
numerous as their diameters are less considerable. This is 
actually the case. The interval between the two sounds of a 
plate of lead, tin, or zinc, from twelve to fifteen centimetres 
in diameter, is seldom more than a semi-tone ; while this in- 
terval is frequently a fourth in plates of the same substances, 
when their diameters do not exceed three or four centimetres. 
For the same reason, a mass of metal examined by the same 
process, will appear in general to possess a regular structure 
in proportion to the smallness of its dimensions. 

Although it appears to be sufficiently established, that fused 
metals are an assemblage of crystals arranged regularly, and 
disposed in systems distant and differently inclined to each 
other, yet it remains to be determined, how this arrangement 
can give to these substances, properties analogous to those 
which are observed in crystallized bodies ; but, though this 
inquiry is a difficult one, I shall endeavour to give an idea of 
the progress I have made in it. 

Let us take two circular plates of wood of equal thickness, 
containing in their plane the axes of greatest and least elas- 
ticity, and let us glue them together, so that the axes of the 
same kind may form an angle more or less considerable ; then it 
is obvious, that this system of crossed plates will give an idea of 
what takes place in metals. The progress of the phenomenon 
is then very simple, for the modes of division are very nearly 
the same as in each of the plates taken separately, that is, that 
one of the two is composed of two lines at right angles, and 



108 M. Savarfs Researches on the structure of Metals^ 

the other of two branches of a hyperbola ; but with this pe- 
cuUarity, that one of the nodal lines of the rectangular system 
is always placed on the line which bisects the angle which the 
fibres of wood form with each other, and that one of the 
asymptotes of the hyperbolic curve appears to be sensibly 
parallel to the direction of the fibres of one of the plates, while 
the second is parallel to the fibres of the other plate. We 
shall obtain perfectly analogous results, by crossing any two 
plates which contain at least one of the axes of elasticity, that 
is, in which one of the nodal systems are formed by two lines 
at right angles to each other. If one of the two plates does 
contain any of the axes in its plane, then the nodal systems are 
composed only of branches of a hyperbola, and the position 
which they take is intermediate to that which they affect in 
each of the plates considered separately. We may therefore 
conclude, that, in whatever manner bodies which possess these 
rectangular and unequal axes of elasticity are united together, 
their effect when combined, is to exhibit all their axes of elas- 
ticity. 

In general there does not appear to be a great difference 
between the structure of plates of metal which have been cut 
out of great masses, and that of plates of the same substance 
which have been melted in moulds to give them the circular 
form. Among both these are found some in which the inter- 
val between the two sounds is only very small, while in others 
it embraces several tones. In the plates formed in moulds it 
is remarkable, that the substance of the mould, the position 
of the jet at the circumference or at the centre, the direction 
of the mould, whether vertical, horizontal, or inclined, do not 
appear to have any influence over their state of elasticity ; 
that is, we find always a direction of the greatest resistance to 
flexion, as well as the two modes of division affecting determi- 
nate positions and accompanied by different sounds. 

It does not appear that a sudden cooling, nor an electric cur- 
rent which traverses the plate in one of its diametral lines 
while the metal is in fusion, exercise any appreciable influence 
over the general character of the phenomenon ; but it is other- 
wise with a series of small blows given to the mould whilst the 
metal is becoming solid, as this last action almost never fails 



as indicated by their Acoustic properties. 1 09 

to disturb the formation of the crystalline systems, and to de- 
termine an uniformity of elasticity sufficiently great to cause 
the plates which have undergone this change to emit only one 
sound, and to have its nodal system composed of two hnes 
occupying no longer a determinate position. It would be 
both curious and important to examine if the metals whose 
crystaUization has been thus disturbed are as tenacious as in 
the opposite case, and to see if they do not acquire some new 
properties which will facilitate their application to certain ope- 
rations in the arts. 

Several causes, such as hammering, rolling, and annealing, 
may alter in different degrees the distribution of elasticity in 
metals, but none of these causes appear to be of a kind to 
bring these substances into a state of homogeneity. The cir- 
cular discs of lead, copper, tin, brass, diminished to three 
quarters of their thickness by means of hammering, appear to 
preserve very nearly the same properties which they had when 
they were newly melted : Their different nodal systems had 
only a slight change of aspect and of place, but the sounds 
which accompanied them were still sensibly at the same dis- 
tance from one another. 

The process of rolling appears to produce analogous effects, 
but with this difference, that the crystalhne systems being con- 
siderably elongated by this action in two directions perpen- 
dicular to each other, it may happen that plates of great ex- 
tent present a structure approaching much nearer to regulari- 
ty. I may mention, for example, a plate of zinc seven or eight 
decimetres long, and three or four broad, out of which I cut 
ten or twelve circular discs of the same diameter, which affected 
the same modes of division similarly directed in relation to 
the sides of the plate, and accompanied with the same sounds, 
so that we may suppose that the vvhole of this plate of metal 
was crystallized regularly throughout its whole extent. 

The interval between the two sounds of each of its circular 
plates was a semitone minor. One of the modes of division 
was composed of two lines at right angles, and the other of 
two branches of a hyperbola to which the preceding lines were 
axes : In short, they comported themselves as if they had be- 
longed to a body having three rectangular and unequal axes 



110 M. Savart's Researches on the structure of Metals, S^c. 

of elasticity, of which one of the axes was in the plane of the 
plates. 

From these researches it follows, that the differences of re- 
sistance to flexion in different directions of the same mass of 
metal may be much greater than in certain woods, such as oak, 
beech, &c. since we meet with circular plates of metal whose 
two Kounds differ a fifth, and that in the woods which we have 
mentioned the interval between the two sounds does not exceed 
a third minor for directions where the differences of elasticity 
are the greatest ; and yet, as we have formerly established, 
the extreme elasticities are as 1 to 16. 

The influence of annealing appears to be very feeble or per- 
haps nothing when the metals have not been hammered ; for se- 
veral discs of copper which had been exposed during several 
hours to near their melting heat still emitted the same sounds 
which they had produced before this operation. But it is not 
so when the plates have been previously hammered, and then 
re-heated, for it often happens that the interval between the 
two sounds varies a little, and that there is some change in the 
disposition of the nodal lines. 

The phenomena which we have observed in metals are far 
from being peculiar to them. Analogous ones occur in glass, 
sulphur, common resin, copal, amber, plaster, slates, &c. The 
interval between the two sounds of different plates of these 
substances is always very small. It rarely exceeds a semitone 
major, and the two modes of division, though they constantly 
affect a fixed position, differ so little from one another that they 
always appear in the form of nodal rectangular lines. Among 
the bodies which I have examined, Spanish wax is the only 
case in which the system of two nodal rectangular lines may 
be found indifferently in all directions ; but this substance 
being a simple mixture of lac, turpentine, and cinnabar, we 
may conceive that the last ingredient, which is in a pulveru- 
lent state, prevents the particles of the resin from taking a re- 
gular arrangement 

I shall conclude this memoir with an observation applicable 
to all bodies which do not crystallize regularly : Immediately 
after they become solid they in general sound with much less 
facility than they do in some hours, some days, or even some 



M. Flourens on the action of Cold on Animals. 1 1 1 

months after. It often happens that a body which at first 
produces only sounds dull and difficult to obtain, ends by vi- 
brating with such facility and energy that it bursts in pieces 
with the slightest agitation. Hence it seems to follow, that, in 
the act of solidification, many of the particles were caught and 
fixed in positions which they afterwards tend to abandon, and 
that they do not attain a state of equilibrium till after a long 
time. If, for example, we form in a mould a circular disc of 
sulphur, and try to make it sound immediately after it is cold, 
we shall not succeed ; but at the end of some days we may 
elicit from it some dull sounds; if we then determine the 
number of vibrations obtained by any mode of division, and 
then lay the disc by for one or two months, we shall find that 
it will sound with extreme facility, and that the number of 
vibrations is much greater, the sound being raised more than 
a tone. It is well known that sulphur which has been melted 
does not recover when it is solid the properties which it pre- 
viously possessed, but it was never conjectured that entire 
months, and perhaps even a longer period, was necessary for 
this purpose. 



Art. XII. — On the Effects of' the action of Cold on Animals, 
as exhibited in their Hybernation and Lethargy. By M. 
, Flourens, Member of the Academy of Sciences.* 

Every person is aware of the important function which is 
performed in the economy of the universe by the unequal dis- 
tribution of heat. It is this which determines climates ; it is 
upon this that the seasons depend ; and it is from this that cli- 
mates and seasons derive that infinite variety of animal and 
vegetable productions by which they are characterized. 

In order that an animal or a vegetable may live, — in order 
that either of them may grow and reproduce, — a certain degree 
of tempejrature is necessary ; and this temperature varies for 
each species of plant or animal, so that, in passing from one 
place to another, we have a new temperature, consequently a 

" Read at the public sitting of the Academy on the 15th June 1829, 
and translated from the Revue Enc^clopediqne, September 1*829, p. 637-551: 



112 M. Flourens on the Effects of 

new climate, and also new animal and vegetable productions* 
Even in the same climate the changes of temperature which 
return with the seasons, bring along with them similar changes 
in plants and animals ; and in the same climate, in the same 
season, the different regions of the atmosphere have each a 
peculiar temperature, and each has also its own animals and 
vegetables. 

It is on these great relations between the productions of 
climates and the seasons, and between climates and seasons 
and their temperature, that a celebrated traveller, M. de 
Humboldt, has founded the Laws of the Geographic distribu- 
tion of Plants and Animals ; and similar relations evince be- 
yond a doubt the extensive influence which temperature exer- 
cises over life and organization. 

But, as will be proved by the following experiments, it is 
not only on organization and life, taken collectively, that cold 
exerts an influence. It acts upon each organ and upon each 
function. It produces in each of these organs or of these 
functions a specific effect ; and it is for the purpose of deter- 
mining some of these effects upon animals that the following 
experiments were undertaken. 

One of the most remarkable eff*ects of cold, and that of which 
I shall first treat, is Hybernation, 

The name Hybernation is given to that species of torpidity 
or lethargy in which some of the mammalia of our climates, 
like the marmot for example, pass the season of cold. 

If we conceive to ourselves animals that have become cold, 
senseless, immoveable, rolled up into a ball, spending from 
three to four months in succession without eating, drinking, 
breathing, and with their circulation almost extinct, — if we 
then consider that the animals subject to hybernation differ in 
no respect, at least in nothing sufficient to account for the 
singularity of the eff*ects produced, from other animals very near 
to them and not subject to hybernation ; — that, beside the dor- 
mouse {Myojous glis, Desm.) the garden dormouse {M. nifela,) 
and the common dormouse (M. avellanarius,) &c. which hy- 
bernate, are found the rat, the mouse, the squirrel, and twenty 
animals of the same kind which do not hybernate ; — that, on the 
other hand, hybernating animals occur indiscriminately in the 
most diff*erent families in the insectivorous tribe, as the hedge- 



the action of Cold on Animals. 113 

hog and the bat ; in the Rodentia, as the dormouse, hamster, 
marmot ; if we, in short, consider that while in our climates it 
is during winter that animals become lethargic, — in the torrid 
zone, which has also its sleeping animal, the tenrec, it is only 
during the greatest heat that it sleeps ; if we consider all these 
points, we shall have but a faint idea of the curious details, 
the singular effects, and the difficulties almost insolvable, of 
this extraordinary phenomenon. 

A phenomenon like this, of so high an interest, might natural- 
ly have been expected to arrest the attention of physiologists, 
and the mechanism of it being so obscure, it ought particu- 
larly to havebeenthe subjectof their speculations. The ancients, 
who explained much and observed little, have left us on this 
subject, as on so many others, merely words ; and, as Fonte- 
nelle remarks, these words '* have no other merit but that of 
having been long mistaken for things." 

The two first naturalists that studied this subject were 
Haller and Spallanzani; but it was particularly about the be- 
ginning of the present century that the Academy of Sciences, 
having made this great phenomenon the subject of a double 
prize, the emulation of philosophers speedily collected from all 
quarters an infinite number of valuable facts and observa- 
tions, and that there appeared in Germany the works of 
MM. Herold and Kafn, in Italy that of M. Mangili,* and in 
France those of MM. Saissy, Prunelle, &c. The following 
experiments, which may be regarded as a continuation of them, 
were made in the south of France on the lerot or garden Dor- 
mouse, (J/, nitela, Desm.) an animal of the size of a rat, with a 
grey fur on the back, white under the belly, having its eyes en- 
circled with a black band, and its tail tufted at the extremity. 

The lerot lives on fruits. It is particularly fond of fishes, 
pears, apricots, &c. which allure it into our gardens, and even 
into our houses. In winter it retires into holes, where it hy- 
bernates, and where we often find several lying beside and 

• An abstract of Mangili's observations, and of tbe labours of English as 
well as of foreign naturalists, will ])e found in the copious and valuable ar- 
ticle on Hybernation, by the Rev. Dr Fleming, in the Edinburg'h Ency" 
clopcedia, vol. xi. p. 385-105. — Ed. 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. H 



114 M. Flourens on the effects of 

above one another, as if for the purpose of keeping up and 
prolonging their heat. 

Tn this brief account of my observations on lethargy, I 
shall only allude generally to the state and the external con- 
dition of the hybernating animal, two points in which preced- 
ing authors have left little to be done, and I shall hasten to the 
consideration of their internal or organic conditions, — a point 
which will probably long constitute the true difficulty of the 
subject. I shall begin therefore with the examination of the 
state of the animal, and of its manner of awakening. 

During lethargy the animal has an orbicular and regularly 
bent position, the mouth being applied under the belly, the 
hind feet being brought forward, and the fore-paws bent 
against the breast, the ears lying on the sides of the head, the 
eyes firmly closed, and the whole body collected into a ball, 
with the tail rolled quite round the body. 

In this state the animal is cold. We may touch it gently 
without its moving, but it moves if we pinch it strongly. If 
the irritation continues, it awakes ; and what will give us an 
idea of the singularity of the state from which it emerges, is 
the difficulty with which it experiences in awakening. It be- 
gins by opening its mouth violently, and keeps it a long time 
open. Its sides then heave, the thorax at first remaining im- 
moveable ; the thorax then partakes in the motion of the sides, 
and the respiration commences. The animal cries, and has the 
appearance of being choked. Its whole body trembles; it 
opens its eyes ; but it does not at first see. At last the wak- 
ing takes place ; it sees, hears, and recovers by degrees its heat 
and its motions. 

There are two distinct degrees of lethargy ; in one, viz. im- 
perfect lethargy we see the respiration suspended, and gradual- 
ly resumed, every three, four, or five minutes, for example. 
In the other, or perfect lethargy, the respiration is on the con- 
trary completely extinguished, and I have often seen this ex- 
tinction continue for whole hours during the continuance of 
my observation. 

In imitation of Spallanzani, I submitted several torpid ani- 
mals to the action of different mephitic gases, and though I 
did not obtain exactly the same results as he did, it follows 

3 



ihe' dctian of Cold on Animals. 1 1 5 

from my experiments and his, that the total suspension of res- 
piration is a phenomenon as incontestible as it is curious. 

The circulation is nearly in the same state as the respirat'"' 
lion. At first there is no pulse in the arteries of the limbs. 
If we open a vein or an artery, there is either discharged no 
blood at all, or only a few drops of a blackish blood. If we 
touch the heart we feel only occasional and uncertain move- 
ments, ji' 

It is known that animals have the power of producing a cer- 
tain degree of heat which constitutes their proper temperaturey 
and that this temperature is nearly 38° Centigrade (100°,4 
Fahr.) among the Mammalia, and varies very little in them, 
at least within the limits of the temperature which corresponds 
to different regions of the globe. 

Among the hybernating Mammalia, the animal heat is also 
t58° in the waking state, but in the lethargic state falls quite 
suddenly to 5°, (41° Fahr.) 4°, (39° Fahr.) or even 3°, (37° 
Fahr.) ; and next to the almost complete extinction of circu- 
lation and respiration, nothing is more astonishing than th6 
variations of this animal heat, whose uniformity and regularity 
appears to be one of the most general laws of the entire class 
to which these animals belong. 

I come now to the external conditions of lethargy. 

Cold is, at least in our climates, the first of these conditions. 
While the warm season, indeed, lasts, these animals do not be- 
come lethargic ; when the cold season begins, then lethargy 
commences. 

During their lethargy, too, we see them alternately torpid 
or awake, according as the temperature sinks or rises ; and it 
is not the rise of temperature only which awakes them. A 
sudden diminution of temperature, which, if it had found them 
awake, would have made them torpid, awakes them when it 
finds them torpid. 

It requires, therefore, a certain and constant degree of co^ld, 
in order that lethargy be produced and maintained. Next to 
cold, the most favourable condition is rest, or a freedom from 
excitation, and, if we consider the faculty of the animal to 
produce heat, and also, that it is chiefly by motion that it is 
produced, we shall then see that these two conditions, riz. the 



116 M. Flourens on the effects of 

want of excitation, act in nearly the same manner, the first by 
diminishing the external heat, and the second, by preventing 
the internal heat from developing itself. 

It has been said that light and the presence of food are hos- 
tile to lethargy, but, according to my experiments on the lerot, 
these causes have little or no influence. 

I now come to the internal or organic conditions ; and it is 
important to determine^r^^, on what organ, or particular or- 
ganic modification, lethargy depends ; and secondly, what is the 
mechanism of this phenomenon. 

On both these points, however, we possess only conjectures, 
and, with respect to the first, there is scarcely an organ to 
which these conjectures have not been successively applied. 

The two organs which have been particularly selected, are 
the encephalon and the thymus-^ — the encephalon^ to which 
physiologists have long been in the habit of referring what 
they could not otherwise explain ; and the thymus, a glan- 
dular body, situated in the front of the neck, and penetrating 
to the heart, and to which the mode of its developement gives 
a particular claim to perform the principal part in lethargy. 

This organ, indeed, is in the highest degree of enlargement 
at the moment when the animal falls asleep. It collapses at 
the time when it awakes, and amongst the mammalia it dis- 
appears almost entirely at the adult age, and is only developed 
in the foetus, the state of which, in the womb of the mother, 
approximates it by so many points to the state of the torpid 
animal. 

These two conjectures will deserve to be submitted to ex- 
periment, particularly in the present day, when the experimen- 
tal method has localized so many other phenomena, and when, 
to speak only of my own experiments on the encephalon, it 
has succeeded in determining a distinct organ for the sensations, 
an organ for the movements of locomotion, an organ for the 
motions of reproduction, and has even found a point to which 
it is sufficient for any part to be attached to live, and from 
which it is sufficient that it be detached to die, and which thus 
constitutes the central and vital part of the animal economy. 
I therefore suppressed, in succession, the different parts of 
the encephalon in different lerots. The suppression of some 



the action of Cold on Animals. 117 

of them prevented the animal from falling under lethargy, 
and the suppression of others appeared even to hasten it. 

The result was similar for the thymus, and its suppression 
rather accelerated than retarded the action of lethargy. I 
have, besides, constantly observed, that whatever debilitates 
the animal has the same effects upon it as these suppressions. 
Among my lerots the youngest and weakest always require a 
less degree of cold than adults in order to become torpid. 

These experiments show that it is neither in the encephalon 
nor in the thymus, that the principle which determines lethar- 
gy resides. Those which follow seem to show what is the me- 
chanism of this phenomenon. 

The carotids having been laid bare in a lethargic lerot^ 
by an operation which might be supposed to be painful, but 
which the animal scarcely feels, I found that they did not beat 
even after the operation more than nine or ten pulsations in a 
minute. Some time afterwards, striving more and more to 
awake, and the respiration renewing itself, they beat 20, then 
30, then 45, then 100, and lastly 110 pulsations in a minute, 
when the respiration was perfectly re-established. 

The lei^ot being then exposed to the action of cold, I ob- 
served its respiration grow weaker and weaker by degrees, and 
its carotids at first beat 100, then ^5^ then 50, then 30, then 
20, and finally 8 or 9 pulsations per minute, when the pulsa- 
tions were again quite extinguished, and the animal quite le- 
thargic. 

It was now interesting to determine if the artificial suspen- 
sion of respiration would not bring about the same results as 
that which had brought about lethargy. 

The respiration was now artificially suspended in a lerot 
awake ; the blood of the carotids soon became black, and the 
number of pulsations more and more reduced. At the fourth 
minute there were only thirty-two ; half an hour later there 
were no more. The heart alone beat 8 or 9 pulsations, which 
was precisely the number which I had found it to beat in the 
preceding lerot in perfect lethargy. By suspending the re- 
spiration in this experiment, I had reproduced the state of cir- 
culation in lethargy, or more exactly, I had reproduced the le- 



iltljB M. Flqurens on the effects of 

thargy itself, for the state of rest in the animal economy always 
corresponds to the state of the circulation. 

Respiration was then successively suspended in different 
lerots more and more profoundly lethargic, and the following 
were the results. In all of them the circulation survives the 
respiration ; — in all, the time was as much longer as the le- 
thargy was profound, and the external temperature nearer the 
temperature proper to the lethargic state. I at last succeeded 
by a suspension of respiration, successively interrupted and re- 
sumed, to render the animal lethargic under degrees of cold less 
than those which it would have required to become so with a 
free respiration. 

Every thing then proves that it is by respiration and by 
means of the modifications which it impresses on this function, 
that cold acts in lethargy. 

I now pass to another class of experiments, and to the cu- 
rious results which were obtained, and hasten to add some con- 
clusions of more immediate utility. 

In May 1826, when I was in the country, there was brought 
to me a young duck of a brood newly hatched, which was on 
thie point of being suffocated. It opened its mouth wide, 
breathed with extreme difficulty, and died at the, er/d of an 
hojur or two. 

•jvThe examination qf its organs exhibited the lungs of a de,ep 
red and gorged with blood. The animal had died of a violent 
inflammation of the lungs. 

. I riepaired to the spot where the ducks were, and I was soon 
shown a second, which was about to sink under suffocation like 
the first, and while I was examining it, a third was suddenly 
seized before my eyes, with an oppression of the breath so vio- 
lent, that at the moment it was attacked the animal became 
piotionless, openpd itp mouth wide, breathed with extreme dif- 
ficpUyy neither at? por drank, and died aj; tl^e end of two or 
thx^e hours. 

3: The one which I had found suffocating on my arrival also 
died spme hours after the attack- Both of them exhibited the 
same inflammatory fullness of the lungs which I had observed 
ii>, the first. It was under the same kind of acute pneumony 
that both of them had died, and it was besides evident, upon 



the action of Cold on Animals. 119 

considering the low temperature, and the northern exposure of 
the place where they were, that it was the cold alone which 
had produced these pulmonary inflammations. 

This violent effect of cold upon young birds recalled to me 
what I had observed some years before in several animals sub- 
jected to different experiments. v'ifu>r?n'^!f'vb55oif 

These animals operated upon duting the fine season, but 
completely cured of their wounds, though weakened, almost 
all died of chronic pulmonary inflammations during the first 
cold weather that followed. 

The approximation of these effects of cold upon different 
animals, its action so determinate and so constant upon the re- 
spiratory organ, the different degrees of chronic or acute in- 
flammation which were produced under my own eyes, made 
me feel that I had at last in my hands a direct method of in-^ 
vestigating pulmonary consumption, one of the most cruel ma- 
ladies which afflict humanity- avi-vH*^ '^nn-t o'-^ofif 5 

I was at first desirous of determining if, in certain given 
cases, cold alone was sufficient to determine pulmonary phthisis 
I was then anxious to know, if in those same cases it was suf- 
ficient to avoid cold in order to avoid this disease ; and finally, 
I was anxious to see if this malady, begun under the influence 
of a cold temperature, could not be cured by the sole effect of 
a mild temperature. 

It cannot be expected that I should here give an account of 
all the experiments which I made on these three points ; but 
in order to give an idea of the manner in which they were pur- 
sued, and of the results to which they led, I shall briefly re- 
late the circumstances of one of them. 

In the beginning of October 1826, I procured a brood of 
twenty-three chickens about a month old. When the first 
cold weather came on, I put six of them in a place in which 
I kept up a mild and regular temperature. None of these 
six were affected with pulmonary consumption. 

Of the eleven chickens which I left exposed in the stable- 
yard to the variations of the atmospherical temperature, all 
except two died of pulmonary phthisis, after having passed 
through all the stages of debility and consumption, and the 
two surviving ones always remained small and weak. 



120 M. Floureiis on the effects of 

There remained six chickens out of the twenty-three, which 
gave me the most important results. 

I left them at first in the common yard till they gave evi- 
dent indications of phthisis more or less advanced. I then took 
tnem to the mild and constant temperature where I had 
placed the six already mentioned. Two of them, which certainly 
would have died in the first or second day afterwards if I had 
left them in the cold, after having made a slight recovery, 
perished, one at the end of five, and the other at the end of 
nine days. I found their lungs in a state of complete suppu- 
ration and inflammation. 

The other four resumed by degrees their vivacity and strength ; 
they recovered completely; and in April 1827, when I gave 
them all their liberty, they were as well as those which had 
never quitted the warm temperature. 

It remained only to be seen what was the actual state of the 
lungs of these four chickens, and what was the state through 
which they had passed during the evident signs of phthisis which 
they had exhibited. 

I found in the lungs of them all traces of former changes, 
more or less deep, but still cured. 

One of these healed lungs preserved in spirits I have shown 
to the Academy, and one of the lobes presents only sunk de- 
pressed vesicles, cicatrized inflammations, and extinct suppura- 
tions, — a testimony no less authentic than consoling of the com- 
plete cure of a disease which, from the number of victims which 
it carries off", renews every day the sorrows of domestic life. 

This last experiment shows clearly what is the kind of in- 
fluence which warm climate exercises over pulmonary con- 
sumption ; and it is in promoting the cicatrization of the lungs 
aff'ected by the cold of our climate, that the genial tempera- 
tures of the South produce the good effect which physicians 
have long observed. 

From these observations it will be seen how far the influence 
of temperature, or more particularly that of cold, extends both 
over the animal economy in general, and over the respiratory 
organs in particular. 

We see also how much advantage may be derived in the 



the action of Cold on Animals. 121 

illustration of human pathology from the study of the diseases 
of animals ; and how wrong it is to neglect or despise them. 

The experiments which we have described show that we 
may form, as it were, morbid phenomena of all kinds, and at 
pleasure, and that we may stop them when we please after 
they are formed. 

We may therefore excite and develope in animals the dif- 
ferent maladies which are observed in man, and, what we can- 
not do upon him, we can study them upon them in all their 
actions, in all their phases, and in all their degrees, under the 
comparative action of medicines the most violent and the most 
diversified. 

BufFon has said that if ariimals did not exist the nature of 
man would have been still more incomprehensible. This is par- 
ticularly true of the nature of his diseases, and it would no 
doubt be worthy of a nation which has set the first example 
of so many other useful institutions, to set also that of a simi- 
lar and truly experimental study of the evils which afflict 
humanity. It would be worthy of her thus to realize the 
wish of a great physician, — of Baglivi, who, in the 17th 
century, proposed establishments in which the diseases of ani- 
mals might be studied with the view of illustrating and bring- 
ing to perfection the study of the diseases of man. In or- 
der to form an idea of what may yet be done in medicine by 
experiments on animals, we have only to look at what has al- 
ready been done in physiology. 

Is it not from the experiments of Harvey, Hunter, Haller, 
Reaumur, Spallanzani, and Bichat, that there has arisen all 
those discoveries, not less admirable than unexpected, of the 
circulation of the blood, the course of the lymph, the proper- 
ty of the nerves to transmit sensibility, the property of the 
muscles to contract, the action of the gastric fluids in digestion, 
and the opposite qualities of the red and the black blood, &c. 
I do not speak of twenty discoveries made in our own dajs; 
for it is well known that a discovery in order to be admired 
must be old, and to have, as Father Malebranche expressed 
it, a venerable beard. 

Every thing should make us hope that the ideas which we 
have stated respecting the progress which human medicine 



122 Account of the Siamese Twins, 

may expect from experiments made on animals will not be 
disdained in our days ; for nobody is now ignorant that every 
thing depends upon another in the living economy, diseases 
^—functions, and organs ; — that we cannot act upon diseases 
but- by functions,-r-upon functions but by organs ; and that 
thus therapeutics is founded upon pathology — pathology on 
physiology, and physiology upon anatomy. 



Aht. XIII. — Account of the Siamese Twins, united hy a car- 
tilaginous band. With a Figure. See Plate II. 

-Among the aberrations from the general laws which regulate 
the structure of man, there has perhaps nev^er occurred an ex- 
ample so singularly interesting as that of the Siamese youths 
who are now exhibiting in London. 

The repetition of particular organs which constitute the ge- 
neral character of monstrous productions never fails to make a 
disagreeable impression on ordinary spectators ; and in the 
cases which have hitherto occurred of the duplication of the 
whole frame, the circumstances have been such as to excite a 
similar feeling. In the present case, however, the union of two 
living beings is presented to us under the most interesting cir- 
cumstances ; and we are persuaded that the general reader, as 
well as the physiologist, will peruse with pleasure the accounts 
which have already appeared of this extraordinary pheno- 
menon. 

The Siamese twins are two distinct and perfectly formed 
youths, about 18 years of age, possessing all the faculties and 
powers of that period of life, united together by a short band 
at the pit of the stomach. On first seeing them, their sides are 
so close together, that one would suppose there is no interval 
between them. On examining them, however, they are found 
not to touch each other, — the band which connects them being, 
at its shortest part, which is the upper and back part, about two 
inches long. At the lower front part this band, which is there 
soft and fleshy, or rather like thick soft skin, is above five inches 
long, and might be susceptible of extension, were it not for a 
thick, rope-like, cartilaginous substance, which forms the upper 



PLATE II . 



'Journal <rt' Si i-'iue N.Serli'S Ti'lJl 



%• ^ 



Fuf.l3 




united together by a cartilaginous band. 123 

part of the band, and which is not above three inches long. 
The band is probably two inches thick at the upper part, and 
above an inch at the lower part. The back part of the band, 
which is rounded from a sort of thickening at the places where 
it grows from each body, is not so long as the front part, where 
it is comparatively flat. The breadth or depth of the band is 
about four inches. It grows from the lower and centre part of 
the breast of each boy, being a continuation of the cartilaginous 
termination of the sternum, or breast-bone, accompanied by 
muscles and blood-vessels, and enveloped, like every other por- 
tion of the body, with skin, &c. At present this band is not 
very flexible ; and, according to Mr Hunter, who has known 
the youths for six years, the cartilaginous substance of the up- 
per part is becoming gradually harder, the change having been 
considerable within the last four years. The twins have only 
one navel, which is placed about the centre of the band, equi- 
distant from both bodies. From the nature of the band, and 
the manner in which it grows from each boy, it is impossible 
that they should be in any other position in relation to each 
other, but side by side like soldiers, or coming up a little to 
front each other, though their natural position is that of face to 
face. Their arms and legs are perfectly free to move. There 
is no connection between them but this band, and their proxi- 
mity seems in no way to incommode either. Each of them, whe- 
ther standing, sitting, or moving, generally has his arm round 
the neck or waist of the other ; and when this is the case, you 
observe that they are perfectly well-formed and straight. When 
they take the arm from this position, so close are they kept to- 
gether, that their shoulders cannot be held straight ; and the 
near shoulder of each being obliged to be held down or up to 
allow them room to stand, gives them the appearance of being 
deformed ; but two straighter or more flexible bodies can 
scarcely be seen. 

In their ordinary motions they resemble two persons waltzing, 
more than any thing else we know of In a room they seem to 
roll about as it were, but when they walk to any distance, they 
proceed straight forward with a gait like other people. As they 
rose up or sat down, or stooped, their movements reminded us 
occasionally of two playful kittens with their legs round each 



124 Account of the Siamese Twins, 

other. They were, though strange, not ungraceful, and with- 
out the appearance of constraint and irksomeness. The average 
height of their countrymen is less than that of Europeans, and 
they seem rather short for their age, even judging them by 
their own standard. They are much shorter than the ordinary 
run of youths in this country at 18 years of age, and are both 
of the same height. In personal appearance there is, indeed, 
such a striking resemblance between them, that, except from 
position, it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. In 
the colour of their skin, — in the form of the nose, lips, and eyes, 
they resemble the Chinese ; but they have not that broad and 
flat face which is characteristic of the Mongol race. Their 
foreheads are higher and narrower than those of the majority of 
their countrymen. The expression of their countenance is cheer- 
ful and pleasing raiher than otherwise, and they seem much de- 
lighted with any attention paid to them. I'heir appearance beto- 
kens perfect health. To their friends and attendants, and to each 
other, they are said to be much attached. They read the counte- 
nance of the visitor readily, and are easily affronted with any ex- 
pressions of pride or contempt. They have not learnt, we believe, 
any manual art beyond rowing a boat, but they can run and jump, 
and climb rigging with great facility. They are dressed in a short 
loose green jacket and trowsers, the costume of their country, 
which is very convenient, and allows the utmost freedom of mo- 
tion, but does not show the form of the boys to advantage. 
Almost all such deviations as this from the usual forms of na- 
ture are offensive, but there is nothing in the appearance of 
these boys to excite a single unpleasant emotion. With their 
arms twined round each other, as they bend down or move 
about, they look like a group of statuary. 

It has been stated that they never speak to each other, but 
this is a mistake ; though, as they appear to have a means 
of communication more rapid than by words, we cannot 
be surprised that they do not use their tongues readily. 
They constitute, we believe, the most remarkable specimen 
ever yet known, of two human bodies, perfect in all their 
parts, having all their animal functions separate and dis- 
tinct ; all the powers of locomotion, and all the faculties of 
each belonging to himself; in short, of two separate persons 



united together hy a cartilaginous band. 125 

united and bound together by an inseparable link. They have 
thus grown up almost to manhood, and there is no reason why 
they may not live as long as the average duration of human life. 
We see nothing, even in their formation, why they should not be 
able to practise several of the arts of life. In their own country 
they are said to have caught fish, and probably thus to have 
supplied themselves with sufficient food. They are very strong, 
and were able to lift a gentleman of considerable weight with 
great ease. Strange as is their conformation, and helpless as 
they might appear, they are thus found to possess all the means 
of providing for themselves. 

A great many curious questions arise on contemplating these 
youths. Those connected with the science of anatomy, — relat- 
ing to the structure of the connecting band, and how it is kept 
alive, whether blood flows into and circulates through it from 
each, and passes into the system of the other, whether it be 
composed of bone or cartilage, whether it could be safely divid- 
ed or not — though the boys, it seems, do not hear with satis- 
faction of a separation — with many similar curious questions, 
time only can solve. 

Those questions connected with the minds of the two youths 
are perhaps of equal importance, and they can only be settled 
by continued observations. From the reports of Captain Coffin 
and his companions, the boys seem affected by the same pas- 
sions, resent the same insults, and are grateful when either 
receives a benefit. They are affected to a certain extent, by the 
same pains. A short time ago one of them had a toothach, 
and the other was observed to be at the same time restless and 
uneasy ; but though thus similarly affected, it is obvious that 
one will does not sway them both ; both have a separate power 
of voluntary motion ; but they are so accustomed to move in 
unison, that the slightest indication of a wish seems to operate 
on them both, and they move as if they had but one will. We 
presume this is the result altogether of habit. When they 
were children, according to the manners of their country and 
the poverty of their parents, they would be suffered to roll about 
on the ground, just like two young animals, and their move- 
ments being under no control, would always be as much influ- 
enced by the will of one as of the other ; and the inconve- 



lite- Account of the Siamese Tzoins, 

nience of pulling contrary ways would be so continually in opera- 
tion, admonishing them by the pain they suffered not to do so, 
that they would necessarily come to move together.' • Vii!:i vo; 

From being continually united, of course they have formeiil 
the same habits, and the same objects strike their senses at the 
same time. They are not, therefore, subject to many different 
motives. Thus they always, on the principle of habit, eat and 
drink at the same time, and they always go to sleep at the same 
time. Indeed it is said that they are so sensible on this point 
that one cannot be awakened without rousing the other. 

When they were conveyed through the streets in a coach, 
their unity of action was such that they could not be prevailed 
upon to look Out of its opposite windows. Notwithstanding 
these facts, the independence of their volition is <^ertain, and 
was well illustrated by a recent occurrence. After rambling 
about the room the youths turned into the passage which leads 
from the entrance door of the apartment ; as they approached 
the door, which is partly of glass. Captain Coffin called Change 
the name to which one of them answers. The youth instantly 
turned in obedience to the call, whilst his brother eagerly bent 
forward to gratify his curiosity by peeping through the door. 
Hence it was obvious that they were not governed by one will, 
as the inclination of one boy was to return in obedience to the 
summons, but he was drawn away in the opposite direction by 
the other in the eagerness of his curiosity. 

Attempts have been made to create jealousies between them, 
but without the slightest effect. Any gift which they receive ca- 
pable of division is shared between them ; and any other de- 
scription of present passes from one to the other as a common 
property. It would perhaps be more correct to say, that they 
appear to recognize no differences between themselves. A very 
attentive observer, however, will not fail to discover between 
these two boys, who certainly bear the strongest possible resem- 
blance to each other, a marked distinction. One seems to be 
a little more robust than the other, and even to possess an intel- 
lectual superiority over his brother. Perhaps this notion acquires 
plausibility, from the circumstance that the former generally acts 
as the organ of communication with the interpreters. It was 
observed that the superior brother yielded on all occasions to 



united together hij a cartilaginmis hand. 127 

the impulses of the weaker, giving up his own choice, and pre- 
ferring the course intimated by the other. The inferior brother 
then playfully leans against the other for his support, or the 
one pats the cheek, or presses the forehead, or adjusts the shirt- 
collar of the other, in such a way as betrays the kindliest feelings 
in each, and the tenderest aifection for one another. 

The following interesting report was drawn up by Dr Samuel 
L. Mitchill, and Dr Anderson of New York, and is dated Sep- 
tember 24, 1829 :— 

" In accordance with your request, we have the pleasure to 
communicate the observations made at our visit this day to the 
Siamese youths. /lii; 

" We find them connected to each other by a band extend^- 
ing from the pit of the stomach of each, made in the following 
m anner : — .-j v ^x> ;; nu^ui a 

" The xiphoid cartilage, proceeding from the lower pairt of 
their two breast-bones, is continuous, and forms a hard elastic 
upper edge to the band that joins these boys. This cartilagi- 
nous structure is concave at its upper part, becoming the upper 
boundary of a canal in the band that communicates with the 
abdominal cavities of both children ; from which the canal is 
necessarily lined by the continued membrane, and the whole 
is covered by common integuments or skin. The band thus 
constituted is from four to six inches in length, and about two 
in thickness, is rounded at its upper part, and sharp at its under 
edge, having midway at this part a cicatrix or scar, showing 
where was connected the single navel-string, or umbiHcus, which 
alone nourished these two children before birth. 

*' Into the canal of this almost cylindrical band, there is a 
protrusion of viscera from the abdomen of each boy, upon every 
effort of coughing or other exercise ; and this protrusion may 
be of intestine, liver, stomach, or spleen, as either of these parts 
should respectively present to the openings, jiififi gainii ^fiJ '^ 

" The sense of feeling on the skin of this bahd is conhected 
with each boy, as far as the middle of its length from his body. 
And their pulse at the wrists happened this day to beat in alterna- 
tion ; one of them was under a slight catarrhal fever, with cough, 
but it had no influence on the other. 

" There can be no doubt but that if these boys were separated 



128 Account of the Siamese Twins. 

by the knife, and this band cut across at any part, a large 
opening would be made into the belly of each, that would expose 
them to enormous hernial protrusions and inflammations, that 
would certainly prove fatal. 

" We have understood the mother to have noted a very cu- 
rious fact, worthy the attention of accoucheurs, that, when they 
were born, the head of one was covered or encased by the 
lower extremities of the other, and thus they ma^e the easiest 
possible entrance into the world. 

" They are so perfectly satisfied with their condition, that 
nothing renders them so unhappy as the fear of a separation by 
any surgical operation ; the very mention of it causes immediate 
weeping. 

" Inded, there is good reason for this uneasiness; for, as 
stated above, according to our judgment, there would be the 
most extreme hazard in any such attempt, and even after cut 
asunder, they would experience much diminution of enjoyment. 
But it has been urged by many that they ought to be discon- 
nected. We think such an opinion is incorrect. It cannot, 
consistent with our principles and usages, be done without their 
consent. To this they are totally opposed ; and, as they are 
under the protection of a kind and benevolent gentleman, we 
know he will take good care of them, and if they live, return 
them to their homes again. 

" As they are so alert and vigorous, we readily coincide, 
that, ' in ten seconds, they can lay a stout ordinary man on his 
back.'" 

The following letter on the same subject has been published 
in the Times by Sir Anthony Carlisle, and dated November 
24, 1829. 

" The boys were dressed in the garments of their own coun- 
try, and no parts of their persons exposed save the front aspect 
of the lining band which connects them together, it being placed 
immediately below their respective breast-bones. This joining 
part presents a surface of natural and healthy skin, and to the 
feel it seems to include an extension from each of the cartilages 
which terminate the breast-bones. The enti.e band admits four 
fingers to pass freely behind it, when the boys stand shoulder 
to shoulder, and its width and thickness allows the thumb to 



Jjescription of the Falls ofGersuppah. 129 

meet the fingers on the front aspect. The vestiges of one com- 
mon navel are visible at the lower and middle part of the band. 
When either of the boys was desired to cough, it became evident 
to the person grasping the band that a ruptural protrusion was 
forced into the band next the individual who coughed, and a 
middle shut space of more than an inch remained of these rup- 
ture sacs. These facts are of importance, because in the event 
of death to one of the twins the life of the remaining brother 
might be preserved by a prompt and skilful separation of the dead 
individual. The pulse of the boy on the right side was 87 beats 
in a minute, that of the one on the left 82 ; but as they had not 
before seen a stop watch, and were much agitated by observing 
its movements, it is probable that moral excitement had some 
influence on the frequency of their pulses. Their general aspect 
was alike, and their teeth of similar diameter. They were cheer- 
ful, apparently in equal good health, and evidently unaccus- 
tomed to petty restraints. 

" There is nothing disgusting or even indecorous in the exhi- 
bition of these curious persons ; and they do not deserve to be 
regarded as monsters, since their slender union is but one of 
many instances which happen to the whole animal creation. If 
indeed nature had not carefully provided against its frequency 
to the human race, the occasional appearance of united twins 
would give rise to many legal perplexities." 



Art. XIV. — Contributions to Physical Geography. 
1. Description of the Falls of Gersuppah in North Canara. 

The following description of the falls of Gersuppah, in North 
Canara, appears in a letter, published in a Madras paper ; they 
are represented to be the grandest in the world. 

" The falls are situated at the distance of a mile to the west 
of a small village called Kodakainy, which forms the boundary 
of the Bilghy Talook, in North Canara, and lies contiguous to 
the Sagara district of Mysore, receiving a continual supply of 
water from twelve streams, which conjoin, as the name implies, 
at Baringee, in Mysore ; five of these pursue their course from 
Ramachendapoorah ; four from Futty Pettah, or the town of 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. I 



150 Contributions to Physical Geography. 

Victory, so named by Hyder; and the remaining three at 
Koodolee ; and after being precipitated down the cataract, and 
then gently winding the current through a rugged way, which 
it has forced through the base of the mountains at the verge of 
their declivity, widens at Gersuppah, and forms a beautiful 
river, called Sarawati, navigable for sixteen miles for boats to 
the town of Honore, where it falls into the sea. 

" Like most other places to which the natives have given 
names from something remarkable in their soil or site, this was 
called Gersuppah, because the ground, before the buildings had 
been erected, was covered with cashew-nut trees ; Ger, signify- 
ing in Canarese, the tree of this description, and Sooppoo, a 
leaf 

" It was asserted by the bramin who accompanied ine, in 
their usual exaggerated style, that the old city here contained, 
in its flourishing state, a lakh of houses, and I have no doubt, 
from the extent of the ruins, that its population may have been 
above half that number. Out of seventy-four temples called 
Busty, there remains but one, well constructed of granite, 
covered with a stone roof, where the Chatour Mookee, or four- 
fronted idol of the Jain caste (the then inhabitants) sits, sur- 
viving the homage of its long silent worshippers, a prey to the 
moles and to the bats. 

" On leaving Gersuppah, we commenced the arduous un- 
dertaking of ascending the Ghauts. The pass here is neither 
so steep, rugged, narrow, or so much intersected with conical 
loose rock as those in other directions through the same range ; 
but is much longer, being fully twelve miles in continued un- 
dulations, so that the line of road (and it is surprising how it 
could have been first traced out) is disheartening, as well as 
unsatisfactory ; for imagining that considerable progress has 
been made, descent and rise alternately succeed ere the long 
wished-for summit be gained, which occupies at the least six. 
hours to accomplish. 

" The morning having proved fair, seemed, independently 
of the solemnity of the day (Sunday,) to fill our hearts with 
cheerfulness at the thoughts of making towards the scene from 
which we expected our curiosity to be so scon amply repaid for 
the distance we had come. The solemn silence that pervaded 



Description of the Falls of Gersuppah. 131 

the thicket in our approach to it threw a lambent gloom on the 
mind ; the noise, however, of the waterfall, bursting suddenly 
on the ear, soon enlivened our anticipations ; but here again a 
momentary disappointment supersedes these eager expectations, 
for, standing on the bed of the rocks, not thirty feet distant, 
the eye can discover nothing to awaken amazement : a few steps, 
however, nearer, the stranger is so overwhelmed with the im- 
mensity of the dread abyss, that he requires some seconds to 
collect himself before he gets sufficient courage to make the 
attempt to examine the awfully grand view that presents itself 
beneath him — he feels as if he were looking into the brink of 
eternity ! nor is the situation in which he is compelled to be 
seated to enjoy the sight less strikingly perilous ; he has also to 
lie down horizontally and look perpendicularly over a project- 
ing rock at the very edge of the immense basin, into a descent 
that the eye can scarcely fathom from its profundity, and be- 
holds a dreadful chasm hollowed out by the weight of the dash- 
ing torrents, which cause to ascend from the white spray that 
they form below, volumes of vapour which, rising into the at- 
mosphere, mingle with the clouds above the highest mountains 
in the neighbourhood, and bouyant upwards borne, would ra- 
ther seem to be the smoke of ^Etna's fiery bowl, than the subtle 
extricated particles from the whirlpool of an equally dangerous 
element. The spectator sees the heavenly bow with all its 
prismatic colouring and splendour, reflected downwards through 
the salient aqueous globules athwart the surface of the un- 
fathomed gulf, in the perfectness of the mundane semi-arch. 

" 1 should imagine the circumference of the crater, which 
is shaped like a horse-shoe, to be about a quarter of a mile. In 
front of its open end, a descending forest majestically slopes down 
from the mountains, making the effect of the whole truly sub- 
lime ; and some fields at the top, to the left, give a singular 
and pleasing combination to the aspect. Five separate bodies 
of water are hurled down this stupendous pool, the largest, at 
the N. E. angle, tumbles perpendicularly with its foaming cur- 
rent from the edge of the river, already described, clear to the 
bottom, in two distinct columns. At the next curve, and fa- 
cing the position where we had a birdVeye view of the whole, 
another large mass is seen to be propelled headlong; then 



l&i Contributions to Physical Geography. 

aslant the hollow channel it has formed, and gradually enlarg- 
ing its surface in its descent, is buried in the boiling depth in 
union with the other. A more gentle rill, passing immediately 
over the second fall, makes a striking variety to the rush of its 
noisy neighbours. The fourth cascade is more distinctly ob- 
served, without the same exertion, in its southern direction, 
skirting the rocky steep of this enormous basin, and being ex- 
panded by the obstruction it meets from some projecting irre- 
gularities of stone. Hundreds of pigeons, about the size of 
butterflies, were sporting over the spray. We had to move 
round to a rising mound at the south-west corner, where the 
precipitated floods flow off^, to be enabled to have a full view of 
the fifth fall, whose rolling foam, like soap-suds, edging from 
the summit to the termination of a solid mass of laterite, of se- 
veral hundred feet in altitude, flashes through scattered frag- 
ments that lie rounded at its agitated base, and seek their re- 
pose in the general outlet. On the right rise the stupendous 
bulwarks of the western Ghauts, towering in the pride of their 
primeval magnificence. Several attempts were made to ascer- 
tain the depth of this wonderful reservoir : one by letting out 
strong twine, to which a weight was suspended, but this plan 
did not succeed after 300 or 400 feet ; so another experiment 
was resorted to, and frequently repeated, of throwing down a 
coco-nut, and timing it as long as it continued visible, which 
always give the same result of eight seconds ; and by my cal- 
culation, computing the centripetal force of the falling body to 
be at the rate of 15^^^ Paris feet in a second of time, and in- 
creasing in proportion as the square of the distance, I make to 
be, from my product, 965 J, or about 1030 English feet, as far 
as I think it possible to ascertain it with any degree of accu- 
racy. 

** The falls of Niagara, of the Montmorency, the Missouri, 
and Tuccoa, are remarkable for the vast expanse of the falling 
sheets that are precipitated down them ; but their height, in 
proportion, is very insignificant, with the exception of the first : 
neither do the celebrated falls of Gocauk, in Beejapoor, or that 
of Courtallum, in the district of Madura, exceed 200 feet in 
their descent ; from which comparison it may be seen that those 



On the Climate of the Himmalaya. 133 

of Gersuppah are not unworthy of being recorded among the 
' wonders of the world.' " — Asiatic Journal, vol. xxviii. 

2. On the Climate of the Himmalaya. 

" I am only lately arri\edfrom a trip through the old tract, viz. 
Kunawar, which I had hoped would reward me with some con- 
soling recompence for the sacrifice I made for its accomplish- 
ment ; but 1 failed entirely in my object of estabhshing vac- 
cination, owing to the folly and timidity of the Besaher Rajah. 
However, I have obtained some particulars in my journey, 
which, if not equivalent to the pecuniary losses I suffered, are 
at least interesting. The fossils and shells which occurred in 
my route are very strange objects. They are chiefly valuable 
from having myself seen them in situ. They comprise 
cockles, muscles, and pearl-fish, univalves, and long cylindrical 
productions, which are most singular objects. T found them 
lying upon the high land at 15,500 feet, in a bed of granite 
and pulverized slate ; the adjacent rocks being at the same 
time of shell limestone. All the shells are turned into carbo- 
nate of lime, * and many are crystallized like marble. I came 
upon a village at a height of 1 4,700 feet ; — are you not sur- 
prized that human beings could exist at such an elevation ? It 
was yet the middle of October, and the thermometer on two 
mornings was 17° : what it is at this season of the year, I can- 
not guess ; yet the sun's rays felt oppresive, and all the streams 
and lakes which were sheeted with ice during the night, were 
free and running by 2 o'clock. The finest crops of barley are 
reared here, and to irrigation and solar heat are the people in- 
debted for a crop. The barometer gave for the highest field 
14,900 feet of elevation ; this verifies the observations, or rather 
inferences, on the limit of cultivation in the upper course of the 
Sutluj ; and I think it quite possible, and even probable, that 
crops may vegetate at 16 and 17,000 feet. The yaks and 
shawl goats at this village seemed finer than at any other spot 
within my observation. In fact, both men and animals appear 
to live on and thrive luxuriantly, in spite of those speculations 

* " All sliells are composed of carbonate of lime principally. In the case 
of the porcellanous division, it is combined with a little, and in that of the 
mother-of-pearl shells, with about one-fourth of animal matter. — Ed." 



184 Contributions to Physical Geography. 

which had calmly consigned those lofty regions, and those my- 
riads of living beings to perpetual ice and oblivion. 

" On the North Eastern frontier of Kunawar, close to the stone 
bridge, I attained a height of more than 20,000 feet, without 
crossing snow, the barometer showing 14,320, thermometer 21° 
at 1 p. M*. Notwithstanding this elevation, 1 felt oppressed 
by the sun's rays, ihough the air in the shade was freezing. 
The view from this spot was grand and terrific beyond the 
power of language to describe. I had anticipated a peep into 
China itself, but I only beheld its lofty frontier all arid, and 
bare, and desolate. It was a line of naked peaks, scarce a stripe 
of snow appearing ; yet every point had an angle of altitude of 
a few minutes, some half a degree, and at a very considerable 
distance; this argues at least 21,000 feet." — Gleanings in 
Science, No. 4. 

3. Account of art Ascent of Mont Elbroutz, the highest peak 
of the Caucasus^ by a Russian parti/. 

This ascent was performed in July last, by General Em- 
manouel, Professor Kupffer of Casan, M. Zenz, for physical 
observations, M. Menetrier, for zoology, and M. Meyer of Dor- 
pat, for botany. They were guarded by 600 infantry, 350 
Cossacks, and two cannons, and their baggage was carried by six 
camels and several carnages. The central chain of the Cau- 
casus is entirely formed of porphyry. The plateau upon 
which Mont Elbroutz stands is from 8 to 10,000 feet high, 
stretching out in the direction of east and west. This plateau 
is torn up in all directions by narrow and deep vallies, and 
crossed in its middle, from east to west, by a crest of rugged 
rocks of a picturesque character, and whose summits are 
covered with eternal snow. On this crest, and nearly in the 
middle of its length, there is a large and deep excavation, the 
middle of which is occupied by a cone which might be supposed 
to be entirely covered with snow, did we not see here and there 
the naked rocks appearing through it. This cone is Elbroutz, 
whose height exceeds, by 3 or 4000 feet, all the surrounding 
mountains.' 

The party passed the night at the foot of this cone in a 

• The date is not mentioned. Using the mean result for October ob- 
served in Calcutta, this gives 20,419 feet, as the elevation. — Ed. 



Account of an Ascent of Mofit Elbroutz. 135 

small hollow, sheltered by enormous blocks of black porphyry 
with white spots, in the middle of which was a small pool of 
snow water, but not a trace of verdure, and only a few lichens 
on the bare rocks. 

Next morning, the 22d July, the party rose at 3 o'clock 
The thermometer was at 30° Fahr. and the sky clear. They 
got upon the snow, and experienced the difficulties and debi- 
lities which have been so often described in accounts of similar 
ascents. Towards its summit Elbroutz presents a series of 
naked rocks forming a species of stair, which greatly facilitates 
the ascent. MM. Kupffer, Menetrier, and Meyer, were so 
exhausted, that they resolved to rest for some hours, but dur- 
ing this delay the snow had grown so soft by the heat of the 
sun, that it became necessary to return, lest the bridge of snow 
which crossed the chasm should be melted. M. Zenz, who 
had gone on without stopping, reached the last platform of 
rocks, and was removed from the summit only by an interval of 
snow. The causes which rendered the return of the party 
necessary prevented them from advancing, and out of fifteen 
or twenty persons, Cossacks and Circassians, who attempted to 
reach the summit, only one succeeded, viz. a Circassian of the 
name of Krillar, who, inspired by the reward which General 
Emmanouel had offered, set off very early, and availed him- 
self of the morning's frost. 

The descent was extremely difficult from the cause already 
mentioned, and at seven o'clock in the evening they reached 
their camp on the banks of the Malka. 
M. Zenz obtained the following results - 

French feet. 
Height of the mineral springs of Koustantirogorrk, 1300 

^— <- of the limit of snow, - _ 1 0,400 

of the first station of rocks, - 13,600 

of the station of M. Zenz, - 14,800 

of the summit * above M. Zenz's station, 600 

total height of Elbroutz, - 15,400 

The temperature of the air at the limit of snow was 9*^ 6 

* Taken with a micrometer. 



186 Lord Oxmantown on the construction of 

Reauni< (about 54° Fahr.) At the station of M. Zenz it was 
1° 5 Ream. (35^° Fahr.) while at the mineral springs it was 
28° (8.1° Fahr.) at the time of the first observation, and 24° 
(86°) at the time of the second observation. . The first of these 
observations gives 680 feet of difference of level for each oc- 
togesimal degree, and the second only 680 feet. 

One of the most interesting results was a magnetic one. They 
found that the magnetic intensity decreased 0",01 upon 9.^'' 
for every 1000 feet of elevation; a result which M. Kupffer 
considers as incompatible with the hypothesis of a magnetic 
nucleus which gives a much weaker decrease. — Ann. de Chim. 
Tom. xlii. p. 105. 



Aet. XV. — Account of a series of Experiments on the co7istru&- 
tion of large Reflecting Telescopes, By the Right Ho- 
nourable Lord Oxmantown, M. P. Communicated by the 
Author. 

Having, at different intervals during the last three years, 
tried a variety of experiments on the construction of specula 
for large reflecting telescopes, perhaps some of the results 
which I have arrived at may not be uninteresting to the scien- 
tific public. 

In making these experiments, I have had two objects in 
view, Jirst, to ascertain whether it was practicable to remove 
any of the defects known to exist in the large reflecting tele- 
scopes hitherto constructed ; and, secondly^ to simplify the 
process necessary for the manufacture of good reflecting tele- 
scopes of ordinary dimensions, so that the art might be no 
longer a mystery, known to but few individuals, and. not to be 
acquired, but after many years of laborious apprenticeship. 

A general statement of the results of my experiments will 
enable those who are at all conversant with the use of tele- 
scopes to decide how far I may have succeeded in effecting 
anything useful. 

I propose to avoid as much as possible entering into detail. 
Within the limits necessarily prescribed for a single article in a 
periodical work, it would be impossible to do so with any ad- 



large Reflecting Telescopes. V6^ 

vantage. In subsequent numbers of this Journal^ I shall have 
an opportunity of giving a particular account of the different 
processes and manipulations which I have employed, so that 
any person of ordinary mechanical skill who may think it 
worth while to erect the necessary machinery, will be enabled 
to obtain with certainty the same results. 

As a general inference from all the facts which have come 
within my observation, I can have no hesitation in stating, 
that the reflecting telescope is still susceptible of very great im- 
provement, — that it has by no means reached the utmost limits 
of perfection. If we except the defects arising from spherical 
aberration and the inflection of light, which I think are not 
irremediable, and are, in my opinion, much overrated in prac- 
tice, the remaining defects are entirely of a practical nature, 
and to be overcome by practical means, by numerous and ac- 
curate experiments, such as a patient consideration of the dif- 
ficulties to be surmounted must necessarily suggest. 

In order to render the following account intelligible, I will 
endeavour to put the reader in possession of the difficulties he 
would have to encounter were he to proceed to construct a 
large telescope in the common way, and the defects he would 
probably find in the instrument when finished. He w^ould of 
course first proceed to cast the metal. As earthen-vessels would 
not be sufficiently capacious, he would employ either iron ones 
or a reverberating furnace. If he tried iron vessels, before a large 
quantity of speculum metal, for instance three or four hundred 
weight, was raised to a proper heat for casting, he would find 
that the metal had imbibed some of the iron, andwas injured; or 
perhaps, if he was less fortunate, and the fire had been a little 
mismanaged, that the speculum metal had promoted the fusion 
of the iron, and so passed out through the crucible. The reverbe- 
ratory furnace would then be resorted to. Much difficulty would 
occur in combating the continual change of the quality of the 
metal from the exposure of so large a surface to the action of the 
flame. However, the metal once cast, the next process would be 
to anneal it. He would then find that the speculum would fly to 
pieces before it was cool, unless the alloy made use of was less 
bright, less white, and in every respect inferior to the best 
speculum metal. The next process is to grind the speculum. 



138 Lord Ox man town on the construction of 

which, though laborious, does not require much exactness, 
and lastly, to polish it, which every one knows is attended with 
very great difficulty. Making a probable estimate of the suc- 
cess likely to be obtained, after a great number of abortive at- 
tempts, a metal would be completed, having a tinge of yellow 
deeper in proportion to its size, with perhaps a defective po- 
lish, and certainly a figure by no means perfect ; such a metal 
would not bear any considerable power with tolerable distinct- 
ness. What I have just stated is the result of experience. 
That I have not overrated the difficulties and defects, will ap- 
pear evident to any one who is conversant with the late Sir 
W. HerschePs writings. Since Sir W. HerschePs time, no 
improvement that I am aware of has been made in any part 
of the process of making the specula of telescopes ; none of 
the difficulties which he stated as existing have since been sur- 
mounted ; and none of the defects which his skill had not re- 
moved, have since yielded to the dexterity and perseverance 
of others. 

From the accounts which we have of Sir W. HerschePs la- 
bours, it appears, that, in proportion as he increased the size 
of his specula, he was obliged to debase the quality of the 
metal made use of. Dr Pearson, in his Practical Asirwiomy, 
states, that the proportion of tin to copper used for the metal 
of the twenty foot telescope was 7.75 to 20, — an alloy certainly 
extremely low. He also states that the metal of the forty foot 
telescope was still lower, and was composed of blocks of an al- 
loy purchased at a warehouse in London. The weight of the 
large metal for the forty foot telescope was 1 050 pounds, the 
diameter four feet eight inches, the thickness at the edge two 
inches, and in the middle one inch and a quarter. It is diffi- 
cult to conceive how a metal of such weight, so great a dia- 
meter, and so little thickness, could retain even a tolerable fi- 
gure in the different positions of the telescope. 

It is also well known, that Sir William Herschel, at the 
commencement of his career, polished 400 specula of differ- 
ent dimensions ; content if he could procure one tolerably good 
one out of a great number. Such were the difficulties that 
he had to encounter ; and I am not aware that anything has 
been pubhshed since that time, tending materially to diminish 



large Reflecting Telescopes. 1S9 

the labours of the experimentalist, or of the practical optician. 
Sir William Herschel also found that he was unable to polish 
large specula so as to give them as accurate a figure as small 
ones. His twenty foot telescope, which I believe has been ad- 
mitted to be the best reflecting telescope ever constructed, was 
seldom used with a power above 200 ; and I believe the same 
observation will apply with equal correctness to the forty foot 
telescope. 

The defects, therefore, common to all very large specula 
hitherto constructed may be thus stated : a defective metal- 
lic composition ill suited either to receive or retain a poUsh, 
.or to show objects of their natural colour and brilliancy; a 
want of sufficient stiffness in proportion to their weight \o ena^ 
ble them to retain their figure with that great degree of exact- 
ness necessary ; and thirdly, a want of as perfect a polish and 
figure as has been given to small specula. 

My first experiments were undertaken with the view of ob^ 
viating the two first defects. Having had some experience in 
the process of painting on glass, in which the glass is made 
red hot, and subsequently annealed, it occurred to me that the 
precautions employed in that process might be transferred 
with advantage to the construction of specula, and that it 
might thus be practicable to prevent large specula, cast of the 
highest metal, from cracking before they were finished. It 
also occurred to me that large specula might possess sufficient 
stiffness without any additional weight, were they cast thin, 
but with a deep rim round them connected by ribs of equal 
depth. A speculum, fifteen inches diameter, was accordingly 
cast with a rim round the edge two and a half inches deep, 
and half an inch thick, and with two ribs of the same depth 
and thickness as the rim, intersecting each other at the cen- 
tre of the back of the speculum. The composition employed 
was the best speculum metal. As soon as the metal had 
become solid, while still red hot, the sand was entirely re- 
moved from the four cavities at the back between the ribs 
and the rim, and the metal, still red hot, was placed in a 
red hot iron vessel upon a bed of wood ashes, and the cover 
of the vessel, also red hot, was then put on, the whole was im- 
mediately placed in a red hot oven and shut up there. In 
about forty-eight hours the metal was perfectly cool. It was 



140 Lord Oxmaritown on the cofistruction of 

then examined, and was found to be broken in several places. 
A second metal was then cast precisely similar to the former 
one and similarly treated, but the composition was a little 
lowered. It also cracked, but not so much. A third was cast, 
the composition being a little lower than that of the second ; 
it also met with a similar fate. A fourth of a still lower compo- 
sition was defective in casting, but did not crack ; the fifth 
turned out well. The fourth and fifth were of the same compo- 
sition. The metal has a slight tinge of yellow clearly percepti- 
ble when compared with metal of the best composition. It 
does not take so high a polish, and is more subject to tarnish. 
The metal, however, was much higher than that of Sir Wil- 
liam HerschePs twenty-foot telescope. 

Upon the whole, the result of the above-mentioned experi- 
ments was by no means satisfactory. I found that I could not 
cast a speculum of the moderate dimensions of fifteen inches, 
without reducing the composition considerably below the high- 
est standard. It was also quite evident that the composition 
should be still lower for a metal three feet diameter ; such a 
metal might indeed have been made of one-third the weight 
which would otherwise have been necessary, by casting it like 
the fifteen inch metal with a rim and ribs at the back ; but 
still the defect in the quality of the metal would have re- 
mained, which appeared to me to be a decisive objection to 
the construction of such an instrument. 

After several fruitless attempts to combat this difficulty, 
experiments were tried to ascertain whether it would be prac- 
ticable to cast specula in different pieces, and to unite them 
together by tinning the surfaces. This was found to be prac- 
ticable, but it was abandoned for the following plan, which I 
think was perfectly successful. 

An alloy of zinc and copper can be formed, which will ex- 
pand and contract with changes of temperature more or less 
than speculum metal, according to the proportion of the in- 
gredients. Experiments were made, and it was found that cop- 
per 2-1-1, and zinc 1, would give an alloy possessing the re- 
quired property of giving expansions and contractions with a 
change of temperature, not sensibly different from speculum 
metal. This alloy is malleable, ductile, and easily worked. 



large Reflecting Telescopes. 141 

With this alloy a speculum was cast fifteen inches diameter, 
with a rim and ribs similar to the one before described, but 
in every respect thinner, — not half its weight. It was turned 
smooth and flat at one side and tinned. Six pieces of the 
highest speculum metal were then prepared one quarter of an 
inch thick, and fitted so as to make, when put together, a com- 
plete circular disc fifteen inches diameter; these were then 
arranged on the flat tinned surface of the brass speculum ; 
the temperature was then very gradually and equally raised 
till the tin was in fusion, and till every part of the under sides 
and edges of the speculum metal was perfectly tinned. A slight 
pressure was then uniformly applied, and the temperature gra- 
dually reduced till the tin became solid. We then had a spe- 
culum composed of zinc and copper plated with speculum 
metal one quarter of an inch thick, adhering to it as firmly in 
every part as if it had been one piece of metal. This metal 
was ground and polished by the machine described in a for- 
mer number of this Journal. It has a focal length of twelve 
feet, and as there is a set off of about a quarter of an inch at 
the edge, it has fourteen inches and a half clear aperture. It 
far surpasses the other metal in the brilliancy and whiteness of 
the image, as was of course to be expected. In other respects 
it is the same, as they both bear distinctly a power of 600 
at a printed paper, or at the cut stone pinnacles of a church 
distant about 300 yards. There can be no mistake as to the 
powers, as I make use of single lenses. Only one favourable 
night has occurred since the stand and its appendages have 
been brought to such a state as to render the instrument 
tolerably manageable. The new moon was on that occasion 
examined with powers from 80 to 600, and very perfectly 
defined. The pole star, s Bootis and some other stars not re- 
quiring high powers were well shown. From the defective state 
of the machinery for giving motion to the telescope high 
powers were not employed, and farther trials were deferred 
till another opportunity. The stand is precisely similar to 
Mr Ramage's, but the pulleys and some other appendages 
are not complete. From a comparison of the instrument in 
the day time with others which perform extremely well, I en- 
tertain very sanguine expectations of its powers upon the dif- 



142 Lord Oxmantown on the construction of 

ficult double stars. A six inch metal was constructed about 
a year ago upon the same principle, which performed well ; 
and, upon the whole, I have not been able to discover that 
these plated specula are subject to any defects to which those 
upon the common construction are not equally hable. 

It is evident that such specula can be constructed of the 
finest metal and of any size which may be desired, and that 
with the greatest facility. A metal upon this plan two feet 
diameter was commenced a few days ago, and is in so forward 
a state that it will probably be completed in three weeks. A 
second speculum of the same dimensions could be completed 
in a shorter time, as no fresh tools would be necessary. 

This metal is for a tube twenty-six feet long and three feet 
diameter. The tube is finished and the stand is nearly so. I 
propose to make another metal for it at a future time of the 
full aperture ; but whether single, or upon the plan described 
in Number 17 of this Journal, I have not yet determined. 
Further experiments are to be tried with the six inch metal, 
the subject of the article before quoted. A few months after 
that article was sent to the press, an eighteen inch metal of 
twelve feet focus upon the same plan was commenced ; the dif- 
ferent parts were cast. In the meantime some further expe- 
riments were tried with the six inch metal ; the power of ad- 
justment afforded much facility for comparing the spherical 
aberration with the defects proceeding from other causes. By 
retaining but a section of the aperture the spherical aberra- 
tion was preserved, while the defects arising from inaccuracy 
of surface were reduced with the diminished aperture. The 
distinctness of the images increased as the surface lessened, 
and the image resulting from the union of the two images was 
as distinct as each had been when separately examined. Up- 
on the whole, it appeared evident, that, although the speculum 
was improved by the adjustment for spherical aberration, still 
defects continued, arising from the imperfections of its surface, 
much greater than the spherical aberration. The speculum 
was repolished by hand with the utmost care more than fifteen 
times, but without any considerable improvement. It was com- 
pared when taken from the polisher with a common speculum 
of the same dimensions, and they were found to be both alike. 



large Reflecting Telescopes. 143 

The compound one when adjusted was somewhat superior. 
The polish of both was very good, but the surface of course 
was not so. The solid speculum was about as good as the 
average of similar metals which I have seen. When these 
metals have been ground and polished by machinery, further 
trials shall be made with them. 

After the experiments which I have just described, I deter- 
mined to defer for the present expending any further labour 
upon the eighteen inch compound speculum, and resolved to 
endeavour previously to discover some certain method of giv- 
ing specula a more accurate surface. I was confirmed in that 
determination from an apprehension that the castings were not 
as perfect as they should have been. All my workmen were 
trained in my own laboratory without the assistance of any 
professional person, and none of them had previously seen 
any process in the mechanic arts ; and I was not myself then 
acquainted with the precautions necessary to insure the pro- 
duction of an alloy of zinc and copper in the due proportions. 
There was^ therefore, a great probability that the castings 
were defective. 

The polishing apparatus described in No. xviii. of this 
Journal was completed about that time. It has since under- 
gone some alterations. The different motions are now ob- 
tained by cog wheels and leather bands. Several other minor 
alterations have also been made, both in the apparatus and in 
the manner of conducting the whole process, which have pro- 
duced the most material improvement. The results obtained 
by machinery are very nearly uniform. Where a uniform 
combination of motions produces a defect, that defect will uni- 
formly recur, and may, therefore, with great facility, be traced 
to its course and corrected. Such has repeatedly been the 
case. The same specula have been repolished a great number 
of times, and the performance of the machine has improved 
faster than I could have anticipated. 

The practical optician will rarely give you the slightest in- 
timation of the process of working specula which he finds the 
most successful, nor is it perhaps to be expected. It is there- 
fore impossible to describe with certainty his mode of proceed- 
ing ; but I believe the practice is to work the speculum till it 



144 Lord Oxmantown on Reflecting Telescopes. 

becomes warm, and the polisher is almost dry ; and I rather 
think that practical opticians suppose it is impossible to com- 
municate a fine polish without this mode of proceeding. From 
the experiments which I have tried, I have little doubt but 
that the figure of the speculum is injured by working it upon 
a polisher nearly dry, and that the injury is in some degree pro- 
portional to the time it is so worked : — at any rate large metals 
must be finished upon a moist polisher. Until very lately I 
had not found out a method of communicating a very fine 
polish to a cold metal worked upon a moist polisher. 

As fine a polish as can be desired can now be given to a 
metal of any temperature which we may fix upon above the 
freezing point. Both theory and practice lead to the same 
conclusion, that it is desirable to polish a speculum at a tem- 
perature as nearly as possible the same as that at which it is 
to be afterwards used, particularly if the speculum is of large 
dimensions. 

In the preceding account, I have endeavoured to give a ge- 
neral outline of the different objects which I have attempted 
to effect, and I have, as far as was in my power, conveyed an 
accurate idea of the degree in which I conceive I have been 
successful. Further experiments shall be tried, and the spe- 
cula already completed shall be subjected to the severest tests. 
Should I then feel satisfied that specula obtained by these pro- 
cesses are as perfect as I have ventured to anticipate, I shall 
then have the pleasure of placing some of them in the hands 
of the able and persevering observers of the present day, where 
they will be fairly tried, and, if they have merit, will certainly 
not remain idle. 

The examination of the heavens commenced by the late Sir 
William Herschel, and, prosecuted by him with such success, 
still continues. New facts are recorded ; and there can be 
little doubt but that discoveries will multiply in proportion as 
the telescope may be improved. 

It is perhaps not too much to expect, that the time is not 
far distant when data will be collected sufficient to afford us 
some insight into the construction of the material universe. 



Dr Heineken 071 the Birds of Madeira. 145 



Aet. XVI. — Notice of some of the Birds of Madeira. By 
C. Heineken, M. D. Communicated by the Author. (See 
last Number, p. 229.) 

Cathartes Percnopterus, (Tem.) The only individual of 
this genus ever known to have visited this island was shot 
while flying slowly over the skirts of the city on the 3d of No- 
vember 18^7, and is now in my possession. It answers in 
colour to the intermediate stage between the first year and 
adult plumage of Cuvier and Temminck. It was in good con- 
dition ; and the stomach full of putrid flesh and maggots. 
For about a fortnight before its arrival the wind had been 
blowing so strong as to drive the gulls close in shore; and it 
either came to us from the coast of Africa, or more probably 
from Tenerifffe, if, as I have been informed, it breeds and is 
stationary there. 

We have three stationary birds of prey, viz. Falco buteo, 
(Manta,) F.tinnunculus^ (Francelho,) and F. nisus, (Furo 
bardo). Bowdich mentions the F. ^salon ; but, as I have 
never either seen or heard of it, and as he omits the F. tin- 
7iunculus, which is so common that three or four at a time 
may constantly be seen over the skirts of the town, it is pro- 
bably a slip of the pen, and the kestrel, not the merlin, in- 
tended by him. He also calls our manta " a new species of 
eagle, &c ;" but I suspect that his observations of the bird 
were very superficial, and confined probably to a single and 
young individual, for I have had at different times at least 
eight specimens (two of which were living) of both sexes and 
various ages, — have shown it to two or three sportsmen and a 
couple of good practical ornithologists, and compared it with 
the descriptions of at least half a dozen authors, and still I 
cannot (and I fain would) exalt it above the " common buz- 
zard.'^'* It, however, seems doomed to misrepresentation. In 
an amusing little work {^Rambles in Madeira) it is called " a 
vulture.''' Now this for a desultory " rambler" too ima- 
ginative to condescend to genera, species, and such like 
trifles, is not too much amiss, but surely his " scientific 

NEW SERIES, VOL. II. NO I. JAN. 1830. K 



146 Dr Heineken an the Birds of Madeira. 

friend B/' (as he calls him,) might have given his elbow a 
friendly jog upon the occasion.* 

Oriolus galhula. Several orioles were shot here in May 
1828, after several days of sirocco (S. E.) wind, which blows 
directly from the coast of Africa. Some stragglers were met 
with a month or two later, but none since. 1 did not see 
one young. 

Sturnus vulgaris. Two were seen and one killed on the 
beach at Santa Cruz, about three leagues to the east of Fun- 
chal, during the summer 1829- I bad heard of, but not seen, 
the bird here before, and it is only an accidental visitor. At 
the Canaries and Azores, it is, I am told, common. 

* " Men of all sorts seem to take pride to gird at us /" The length of 
our island was only determined the other day ; the breadth is still sub 
Judice ; and whether we are Europeans or Africans, a matter in dispute. 
The pathetic tale of the first discovery of the place is like Adah, *' fair" as 
fancy, " could make its offspring." — *' Still it is delusion, " I fear, and 
Machim and his Anna as much the " sweet creation of some heart," as 
Numa and his Nymph. The poetical Bowles sets our woods " trembling 
to A kiss." The matter of fact Cordeyro set them " on fire for seven 
years!" Israeli, in " The Curiosities of Literature," says *' a modern tra- 
veller (he should have recorded the name) assures us that he has repeat' 
edly observed in the island of Madeira that the lizards are attracted by the 
notes of music, and that he has assembled a number of them by the powers 
of his instrument !" Gourlay made them into raw sandwiches (the canni- 
bal) for breakfast, and thus cured an incurable disorder. The same worthy 
makes Pico ruivo 8000 feet in height, — a trijlhig addition to its real eleva- 
tion of some 2000 feet or thereabouts ; and the flippant writer of " Six 
Months in the West Indies," amongst other unheard of wonders, makes a 
Well known ravine in the centre of the island (the Canal, and from which 
one of our largest mountain torrents rushes impetuously into the sea) about 
AOO feet below the level of the ocean, by an insignificant error of only 2000 
feet of depth ! Even Spix and Martius could not resist the endemic which 
seems to invade our shores, for in one short day they detected half our 
population in Funchal to consist of Negroes, although there are not a 
hundred distributed Over the whole island. Bowdich I add to the list, 
much more in sorrow than in anger. His means were not commensurate 
with his ends ; and, had time and opportunity been afforded him, he 
would, I have no doubt, have seen and corrected many of the errors into 
which haste, inauspicious circumstances, and the res angustoe domi, be- 
trayed him ; and the best compliment T can pay to his memory is, to point 
out whatever may appear to be erroneou?, under the conviction, that doing 
so would hate been congenial to hi« wishes if living. 



Dr Heineken on the Birds of Madeiror. 147 

Turdus iliactcs. The only specimen I have met with of 
this bird was in January 1829, during weather unusually 
severe for this climate, and after a continuance of north west 
winds. 

Ticrdus merula. Common and abundant. Bowdieh says 
something about its differing from the European species, by 
having " the beak dark brown, and merely edged with yel- 
low ;''' but he surely must have been deceived by a hen or 
young cock, for it is called by the Portuguese, par excellence, 
" o merlo com beco amarello,'" (with the yellow beak). 

Sylvia ruhecula. Common, and the robin of England in 
every respect. 

Anthus prateiisis, (Tem.) The " meadow titling" of Flem- 
ing, and " pipit lark" of Bewick, but not the titlarJc of 
Pennant, although Fleming gives the latter as synonymous 
with his meadow titling. 

* Alauda arvensis, (Tem.) Is seen only from autumn to 
spring, and neither sings nor soars. Answers to the essential 
character of the J. arvensis of authors, but has not the habit 
of that bird. Will be described at some future time. 

* Cuculus Pisanus ? (Turt. ?) Brown-black ; crested ; throat 
tawny ; neck and breast white ; wing-covers tipped with a 
white spot ; primaries and secondaries edged only at their tips 
■with same ; tail (of ten feathers) nine and a-half inches long ; 
two lateral feathers one-third shorter than rest, and obliquely 
white the lower third of their length ; middle all black ; rest 
tipped with white ; iris chestnut ; bill black ; legs brown-black ; 
length sixteen, breadth twenty-three inches. Shot on 25th 
February 1828, at Praya Bay, about a league west of Funchal, 
during a prevalence of north winds. Another was in company, 
but escaped. Oa the 15th August 1829, a second specimen^ * 
differing only in having rufous remiges, was killed at the Pra- 
zeres, about ten leagues further westward on the same line of 
coast. The sex was not in either case ascertained. 

Musopfiaga Jfricana, (Tem.) This bird was shot in De- 
cember 1828, in a garden in the city, and had more the appear- 
ance of one which had escaped from confinement (although 
that could not be ascertained) than crossed the seas. 

Upupa epops, (Tem.) Not unfrequently met with, but never 



l48 Dr Heineken o/i the Birds of Madeira. 

known to breed here. Bowdich speaks of the U. capensis, 
but does not mention the epops. The former I have not met 
with. 

Merops apiaster. Of this, one example, but no particulars. 

Hirundo rustica. An occasional (some say periodical) visi- 
tor. Certainly never know to build here. 

Perdrix rubra. Stationary, and our only partridge. 

Columba Turtur. Accidental. Not known to build here. 

C. livla — C (sna^ ? Stationary. Also C. palumhus in small 
numbers. 

(Edicnemus crepitans, (Tem.) The only individual remem- 
bered here was killed 4th November 1827, near the Praya 
formosa. The wind had been northerly for some time. 

Ciconia nigra. This bird was killed on the 9th of the same 
month at Santa Cruz. Seen occasionally before. 

Ardea cinerea. No note of this bird. Not unfrequently met 
with, but never breeds here or remains {escapes 9) long. 

Ardea minuta. Occasionally driven on the island. 

Numenms phoeopus — Strepsilas collaris, (Tem .) — Tringa 
variabilis, (Tem.)— jT. cinerea ? Frequent visitors, and in 
moderate numbers, but not known to build. 

Scolopax major. A winter visitor, but doubtful if periodi- 
cal or occasional ; probably the former. 

Gallinula chloropus. One example here, and another at 
Porto Santo. 

Gallinula crex, (Tem.) Do. — Killed, August J 829, near 
Funchal. 

Fulica atra. Occasionally. The one which I have was taken 
in a poultry yard in the city. This, from its appearance, is, 
I have no doubt, the bird which the natives call " Freira" 
(Nun,) although (good Catholics as they are !) their agreement 
is by no means conventual on the subject. 

Larus argentatus, (Tem.) Our only stationary gull. 

Laru^ tridactylus. During the winter of 1828-9, which 
was unusually severe for this climate, many were seen in 
the bay and caught with hooks, knocked down with stones, 
&c. Towards the east point of the island I am told that a 
few are often met with. 



Dr Heineken on the Birds of Madeii-a. 1 49 

Sterna nigra. One example this autumn — a^. Hirundo 
common, and I believe stationary. 

Procellaria Anglorum. A specimen was procured and stuf- 
fed during the summer of 1828, but as I was from home I 
know no particulars about it. At the same time with the kit- 
tiwakes a young '\ 

Siila alba was caught at sea with a hook. Lisbon has, I 
believe, been considered hitherto its southern limit. 

Procellaria puffiniLS, (Tem.) Arrives here in spring ; breeds, 
and quits in autumn. 

Procellaria pelagica. One example during present summer. 
Full one inch longer and nearly four more in breadth than com- 
monly stated. I have not, as far as I remember, mentioned 
here any of those birds already noticed either in this or the 
Zoological Journal, or such generally known and universally 
distributed ones, as the common owl, wrens, wagtails, chaf- 
finch, goldfinch, linnet, &c., wishing to confine myself to 
those either peculiar to us, or not known to belong to the 
island, or differing in their economy and habits from their 
congeners elsewhere. The majority are only occasional and 
accidental visitors, and nine in ten perhaps are driven over 
from the coast of Africa. Of those in this paper marked *, as 
well as of all described either in this Journal or the Zoological, 
as probably new, specimens have been sent to the Zoological 
Society. We have at least three species of the bat, f viz. Vesper- 
tilio mystacinus, (licisl.) Plecotus communis, (Geoff.,) and 
Dinops Cestonii, (Savi.) The latter is, I have little doubt, 
the Dinops of Savi, although I am doubtful about the species, 
and am unwilling to describe it from only one specimen. I 
find that Temminck considers that genus synonymous with 
the Dysopes, IHig. and Mulossus and Nyctinoinus, Geoff., and 
I am the more convinced of its generic identity from the dif- 
ficulty I found in determining to which of the four it best 
answered. Bowdich says " The bat (which ?) is more than 
specifically distinct, &c." — " has clusters of orange warts on 

t The Fespertilio murinus I have never met with, and, from the great 
number of genera and species, and the confusion still existing regarding 
them, I give the specific names of those which I have seen rather doubting- 
ly ; especially as I have had only single specimens. 



150 Mr Ritchie's examination of the electric 

the ears, Sjcc." and makes it a new subgenus. I have now a 
specimen of the V. mystacinus in spirits, with a cluster of oramge 
Caris vesper tilionis, Latr. on each car ; but I do not mean 
to assert, although I shrewdly suspect, that we only give dif- 
ferent names to the same thing. Still less would it become me 
to determine whose nomenclature is the better one, should it 
be the case. C. Heineken, M. D. 

FuNCHAL, Madeira, 20th October 1829. 

P' S. — Since the above was written, another young Sida alba 
(but, like the former one, with the bill and claw not serrated) 
and a young Ajias Crecca have been taken. Several of the 
latter I saw coming from the N. westward a few days back. 
I had heard of it as an occasional visitor before. The 
wind has since, and for a long time previously, been N. 
easterly. 



Art. XVII. — An experimental examination of the electric and 
chemical theories of galvanism. * By William Ritchie, 
A. M. F. R. S., Rector of the Royal Academy at Tain. 

1. The continental philosophers still continue to adopt the 
electric theory of galvanism proposed by Volta, whilst those in 
Britain as uniformly follow some modification of the chemical 
theory proposed by Dr Wollaston. From this diversity of 
opinion we may safely conclude, that the experimental proofs 
for the truth of either theory are not sufficiently powerful, to 
command the assent of all capable of appreciating the weight 
of such evidence. I have therefore ventured to lay before 
the Society the following experiments and observations; as 
they appear to me to establish the truth of some modification 
of the chemical theory, and to demonstrate the fallacy of the 
principles on which the electric theory rests. 

2. The fundamental principle assumed by Volta, and sup- 
ported by his followers, is, that if dissimilar metals be brought 
into contact they are instantly thrown into opposite electric 

• Phil. Trans, part ii. 1 829. 



and Chemical Theories of Galvanism' l^X 

states, This he conceives to be a new law of nature, a^i 
claims to himself the honour of the discovery. He conceives 
that its truth is proved by the following experiment : — 

Let a plate of zinc be soldered to a plate of copper at two 
edges. Hold the plate of zinc in the hand, and touch th^ 
under plate of a delicate electric condenser (le condensateur 4 
lames d'or) with the copper plate, whilst a moistened finger i§ 
applied to the upper plate of the instrument. Remove the 
compound plate and the moistened finger, and then lift the 
upper plate of the instrument by its insulating handle, ^nd the 
shps of gold leaf will be found to diverge. Taking for granted 
the truth of the experiment, the conclusion which Volta deduced 
from it by no means follows as a legitimate inference. Dr 
Wollaston has shown that a galvanic effect is produced by dis- 
similar metals with the moist air of the atmosphere acting 4s 
a chemical agent and an imperfect conductor. The same fact 
is proved by the electric column of De Luc. The plate of 
zinc becomes partially oxidized by the oxygen of the atmor 
sphere, electricity is generated or set at liberty, and the film 
of moist air in contact with the two metals, acts as the fluid 
conductor in an ordinary voltaic arrangement. If the com- 
pound plate be coated with electric cement to exclude the che- 
mical action of the air on the zinc, I will venture to predict 
that no decided electric effect will take place. Until the sup- 
porters of the electric theory show by direct experiment that an 
electric effect does take place with this modification of the ap- 
paratus, we must view the whole of their reasoning as founded 
on a gratuitous supposition. Having thus shown that Volta 
and his followers have overlooked what appears to me to be 
the very cause of the disturbance of electric equilibrium in the 
two metals, I shall now demonstrate that the other principle 
on which the theory js built is equally unfounded. This will 
appear obvious from the two following experiments : — 

Exp. I. — Having poured into a watch glass a quantity of 
diluted sulphuric acid, I placed 01? tlie surfaqe of the fluid a 
piece of gold leaf, which was connected with one of the cups 
of a delicate galvanometer I then placed a disc of platina foil 
in the fluid below the gold leaf, and connected it with the 
other fiwp of th^ instrument ; scarcely any electro-magnetic ef- 



\S§ Mr Ritchie's examinatvon of the electric 

feet was produced. Having removed the acid, I substituted 
water containing condensed chlorine : a very decided electro- 
magnetic effect was produced. A similar effect was produced 
by using nitro-muriatic acid, or aqua regia as it was formerly 
called, instead of the chlorine. The needle of the galvano- 
meter in both cases turned round in the same direction as it 
does when zinc was substituted for the gold leaf and copper 
for the platina. Having tried, by the common method, the 
conducting powers of the diluted sulphuric acid and the water 
containing chlorine, I found that the diluted acid was the most 
powerful conductor. When the preceding experiment was re- 
peated with discs of zinc and copper instead of discs of gold 
and platina, I found that the most powerful effect was pro- 
duced when the diluted sulphuric acid was used. This ex- 
periment clearly proves that the interposed fluid does not act 
merely as a conductor to the electricity excited by the imagi- 
nary electro-motive force, since in the first case the electricity 
generated is greatest when the conducting power of the fluid 
is least. 

Exp. II. — Having made a small rectangular box divided 
into two equal compartments by a diaphragm of bladder, I in- 
troduced into one of them a disc of hard copper, and into the 
other an equal disc of soft copper. These discs being con- 
nected with the cups of the galvanometer, and the chambers 
filled with water, a considerable galvanic effect was produced, 
and the needle turned round as it does when the place of the 
hard copper was supplied with a disc of zinc. I then poured 
a little nitrous acid into the chamber containing the hard cop- 
per, and observed that the effect was diminished. By adding 
a little more acid the needle turned round several degrees in 
the opposite direction. This experiment completely over- 
throws the assumed principle that the galvanic effect increases 
with the conducting power of the fluid interposed between the 
metallic plates, since by increasing the conducting power of 
the fluid the effect was diminished, and by a proper increase 
was completely destroyed. It is a curious fact, that if nitric, 
sulphuric, or muriatic acid be used instead of the nitrous, the 
results will be quite the reverse. 

Having thus, I trust, satisfactorily shown that the electric 



and Chemical Theories of' Galvanism:. 153 

theory is founded on false principles, T shall now very shortly 
examine the truth of the most generally received chemical 
theory of galvanism. 

3. Dr Wollaston assumes that positive electricity is set at 
liberty by the combination of oxygen with one of the metals. 
This principle is frequently true, but in many cases it is 
totally false. This will be rendered obvious by the following 
experiments : — 

Exp. III. — Immerse two equal discs of zinc, connected by 
wires with the galvanometer, into the chambers of the rectan- 
gular box formerly used, and fill both compartments with 
water ; no action will of course take place. Pour a little sul- 
phuric, nitric, or muriatic acids into one of the chambers, a 
considerable galvanic effect will be produced, and the needle 
will turn in the same direction as it does when copper is sub- 
stituted for the plate of zinc immersed in the chamber contain- 
ing the water alone. This agrees with the chemical theory. 
Again, instead of the above acids use nitrous acid, and the 
needle will turn round in the opposite direction. The same 
thing holds when discs of copper or iron are employed. This 
is completely at variance with the chemical theory, since that 
plate is negative, or corresponds with copper in the standard 
battery, on which the greatest chemical action of the fluid 
.takes place. The following experiment is also hostile to the 
generally received theory. 

Exp. IV. — Having taken two pieces of block tin, I cut the 
surface of one of them into ridges by means of a three-corner- 
ed file, so that the surface was doubled. With these two pieces 
I formed a binary combination, and immersed them in diluted 
nitro-muriatic acid ; a very considerable electro-magnetic ef- 
fect was produced, and the needle turned round in the same 
direction as it does when a plate of zinc is substituted for the 
plane disc in the standard battery. It is obvious that there 
must be a greater chemical action between the acid and the 
furrowed plate than the other, and yet the furrowed plate cor- 
responds with copper in the standard battery, on which the 
least chemical action takes place. The results obtained in the 
following experiment were also unexpected : — 

Exp. V. — Take equal pieces of soft zinc, copper, iron, or 



154 Mr Ritchie's examination of Galvanic Theories. 

brass, beat one of each pair on a smooth anvil till they are as 
hard as possible. Form a binary combination with pairs of 
the same metal, and use diluted sulphuric acid, and it will be 
found by the galvanometer that the hard metal in each case 
corresponds with zinc in the standard battery. If two pieces 
of steel be employed, one of them soft, and the other temper- 
ed, a galvanic effect will be produced, but of a contrary cha- 
racter. The soft steel will correspond with zinc, and the hard 
with copper, in the battery of comparison. The result of the 
following experiment seems also at variance with previous no- 
tions on the subject : — 

Exp. VI.— Having procured two small iron bars, with the 
ends made bright with a file, and copper wires connected with 
the other ends, I heated the end of one of them, connected 
the wires with the galvanometer, and then immersed the hot 
and cold ends in water ; a considerable action took place, and 
the cold iron was found to. correspond with zinc in the standard 
battery. Since oxygen combines more rapidly with hot than 
with cold iron, positive electricity ought, according to the re- 
ceived opinions, to have appeared at the hot iron, whereas the 
contrary was actually the case. The following experiment is 
not only at variance with the theory of Dr Wollaston, but 
seems also hostile to some of the generally received notions of 
chemists. 

Exp. VII. — Let a cylinder of copper, about an inch in 
diameter, and two inches long, have a small copper tube 
soldered in one end, whilst the other end is left open. Let a 
small cylinder of zinc having a copper wire soldered to the 
lower end, be placed within the copper cylinder. The wire, 
being covered with a thread and passed through the tube, is 
firmly cemented with electric cement, metallic contact being 
carefully avoided. Another end having a strong brass tube 
with an internal screw is now soldered in the top of the cop- 
per cylinder. The interior surface of the cylinder of zinc 
is covered with electric cement to prevent the acid acting on 
it. The whole is now nearly filled with water, and a little 
sulphuric acid is introduced into the zinc cylinder by means 
of a very slender glass funnel. The whole is now completely 
filled with water, and a solid screw dipped in electric cetnent, 
and screwed into the top of the brass tube, whilst it is heated, 



Dr Henry 07i the M eigne site of Anglesey. 155 

renders the whole completely air-tight. The acid is now to 
be mixed with the water by frequently inverting and shaking 
the cylinder. If the copper and zinc cylinders be connected 
with the galvanometer, the battery will continue to act for a 
day or two with the same energy as if the whole had been 
left exposed to the air. As there is no room for the dis- 
engagement of hydrogen, the oxygen of the water cannot 
combine with the zinc to convert it into an oxide ; neverthe- 
less chemical action goes on, and the zinc is dissolved in the 
acid. From this experiment it is obvious that the oxidation 
of the ?inc and the combination of nascent hydrogen with the 
electric fluid, as Dr Bostock supposes, has nothing to do with 
the production or transfer of the electricity which appears a.V 
the surface of the zinc. The metal is still, however, dissolved 
or reduced from a solid to a fluid state ; and as its capacity 
for caloric has undergone a change, may not its capacity for 
the electric fluid have also undergone a certain change ? 
Hence it is possible that the true theory of galvanism may be 
more intimately connected with that of latent heat than has 
yet been supposed. Since the zinc is dissolved without the 
assistance of oxygen from the water, it appears that the atoms 
of the acid have combined with the pure brilliant atoms of the 
metal, without the necessity of the metal being first converted 
to an oxide. 

From the short view that I have taken of this interesting 
subject, it appears that the electric theory is quite unfounded, 
and that the chemical theory will require some modification 
to embrace the facts contained in the last experiments. This 
I shall not, however, attempt at present ; as my object in this 
papei* is rather to demolish old fabrics and collect new mate- 
rials, from which a more substantial edifice may be raised. 

Art. XVIII. — On the Magnesite discovered in Anglesey, 
By William Henry, M. U. F. R. S., &c. Contained in 
a Letter to Dr Hibbert, dated 5th Dec. 

When I showed you, a few weeks ago, a specimen of magne- 
site which I had found in the autumn of 1828, in Anglesey, 



156 Dr Henry on the Magiiesite of Anglesey, 

you thought that this new locahty deserved to be the subject 
of a notice in one of the scientific journals ; and I send, there- 
fore, the following short account of it for insertion in that 
with which you are associated : — 

At a short distance from the Parys mountain (I believe 
S. W. and within a mile of it) there is a low hill composed of 
green serpentine, which is probably similar in its character to 
other hills of about the same elevation, which are seen to rise at 
no great distance. The serpentine is traversed by narrow veins 
filled with a mineral, which, on first view, struck me as resem- 
bling the hydrate of magnesia discovered by yourself in Shetland. 
It is of a greenish white colour ; a foliated structure ; translu- 
cent at the edges ; rather soapy to the touch ; and soft enough 
to yield, not easily however, to the nail. Its specific gravity 
(twice taken) is 2.820. On chemical examination it was found 
to differ essentially from the Shetland hydrate, which, accord- 
ing to Dr Fyfe's analysis, is the proto-hydrate of magnesia. 
The Anglesey mineral dissolves very slowly in pretty strong 
muriatic acid, with an escape of carbonic acid gas, the volume 
of which, from 100 grains, may be reckoned to be equivalent 
to about 19 grains. The solution, however, is not complete, 
even when assisted by heat ; from 54 to 60 parts remaining 
undissolved, and when a small fragment has been used, it pre- 
serves its general form. The dissolved part consisted almost 
entirely of carbonate of magnesia and carbonate of lime, in the 
proportion of about 28 of the former to 12 of the latter. Both 
these carbonates must, in the mineral, be anhydrous ; for no 
difference, that can be counted upon, is found between the loss 
sustained by a white heat, and that effected by solution in acids. 

The insoluble portion I have not had time to analyze ; but 
it appears to me very much to resemble common talc. This 
may have contained cavities, which may have been afterwards 
filled by an infiltration of magnesite. I throw this out, how- 
ever.^ as a mere conjecture. 

It is probable, that, if the rock were opened out by blasting, 
much finer specimens might be obtained than any I possess, 
which are small and somewhat weathered. It is not unlikely, 
also, that the chrome-oxide of iron would be found on the 
same spot. 



History of Mechanical Inventions], S^6J 157 

Art. XIX— history OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS 
AND OF PROCESSES AND MATERIALS USED IN 
THE FINE AND USEFUL ARTS. 

On the Application of Steam lo the purposes of destroying 
all Kinds of Vermin on Board Ships. 

The destructive ravages of white ants, when once they find 
their way on board the vessels in India, have long been the 
bane of that description of property, aggravated too by the 
secrecy with which their operations are frequently carried on, 
and by the absence of all means of prevention. Property of 
acknowledged value, to the extent at times of above a lac of 
rupees, has become, on the presence of this destructive animal 
being discovered, almost valueless ; since hitherto, when once 
known to have infested a vessel, no instance, we believe, has 
occurred of their ever having been wholly extirpated ; thus 
not only attaching a suspicious character to the vessel, but oc- 
casioning continued, and sometimes very heavy and expensive 
repairs. Indeed it is scarcely possible even to trace the ex- 
tent of the evil with any degree of certainty. A ship may un- 
dergo a very heavy repair of damages occasioned by the ants, 
and every possible means may be adopted with a view to as- 
certain the existence of further damage, without success ; yet 
a very few weeks may show another part of the vessel to be 
infested to a great extent, rendering necessary a yet further 
repair. 

It may reasonably be supposed, that such destruction of 
property would not be permitted to continue, without some 
attempts at a remedy ; of these, the most effectual have hither- 
to been the application of extreme cold, or sinking. 

The former of course could only be carried into execution 
by sending the vessel infested to a cold climate, there to be 
laid up for a winter. Independent of the loss occasioned by 
the non-employment of the vessel, the remedy has never been, 
we believe, complete. A stop has been put to their ravages 
for a time, but a return to a warm country has shown that the 
animals have not been effectually destroyed ; either they have 
merely been reduced to a state of torpidity, or if the living 
animal has been destroyed, the eggs have not been deprived 



XJI8 History of Mechanical Inventions and 

of their power of production. The same remark may be made 
in regard to sinking, independent of which, the expence and 
difficulty attending the operation render it little better than 
submitting to the evil itself. 

That so obvious a remedy as that of filling a ship with steam, 
should, in these times, when its employment may be said to be 
almost universal, have been so long unthought of, is not a little 
remarkable, particularly when the practice of smoking ships, 
for the purpose of destroying rats and other vermin, has long 
been adopted, and with partial success. The destruction caus- 
ed by rats on board ship is only second to that effected by the 
white ants. Instances have been known of their eating through 
a vessel's bottom and decks ; while their ravages on the stores, 
provisions, and cargo are almost incredible. Nor are these 
the only vermin with which ships in this country are infest- 
ed. The cockroach and black ant, centipede, &c. if not de- 
structive of the vessel itself, are so of the comfort of every 
person on board. The first find their way more or less on 
board every ship in India ; the second prevail at times to an 
extent almost surpassing belief, on vessels trading to the east- 
ward, which supply themselves with wood in the Straits. The 
fipplication of steam to the destruction of these latter animals 
is of itself an advantage almost incalculable. It is obvious, 
that nothing but the most searching, and, at the same time, 
powerful agent, could extirpate an animal like the common 
ant. The experiment was first tried in England, at the sug- 
gestion of Captain Ford, late in command of the ship Provi- 
dence in this port, on a ship belonging to him, and we under- 
stand with success. We believe that the steam was not 
applied to the utmost extent of its power on that occasion. It 
has, however, since, on the representation made by Captain 
Ford of the success of the experiment in England, been ap- 
plied to perhaps as great an extent as it could be with safety ; 
and certainly to sufiicient extent for all practical purposes, with 
the most complete success : since that experiment too it has 
been applied on several other occasions. 

The first trial in this country was on the Honourable Com- 
pany's ship Investigator. The experiment was conducted by 
Captain Forbes, of the Bengal Engineers, and Mr Kyd, the 
Honourable Company's Master Builder, and, as might be ex- 



of Processes in the Fine and Useful Arts. 159 

pccted in such hands, would appear to have been managed in 
the detail with the utmost care and attention, affording a 
secure guide for future operations. The following is an ex- 
tract from their able and interesting Report : — 

" 1. We had the Honourable Company's Steamer Irra- 
Waddy moored alongside the Investigator ; and having fitted 
two lead pipes furnished with stopcocks to the head of the Ir- 
rawaddy's boiler, by means of a new manhole cover, we led 
the pipes into the Investigator, and put them down the fore 
and after hatchways into the hold. 

2. We had, in the meantime, closed the scuttles of the In- 
vestigator's sides, as well as all the hatches ; moreover, the 
stern and gallery windows, and the entire front of the poop ; 
lx)ring at the same time a hole in each gallery cell, to allow 
the steam to come up from the hold into the cuddy. 

3. We also fitted a pipe, having a stopcock on it, to the 
main hatchway, which was opened occasionally to observe the 
state of the steam, in case of danger, from its over-pressure. 

4. These preparations being made, we had the fires of the 
Irrawaddy's boiler lighted at 11 a. m. on the 7th ultimo, so as 
to let on the steam at noon the same day ; by six o'clock the 
same evening, the steam began to show itself at the scuttles, 
and at the hatches ; and the poop and upper deck began to 
feel hot. We continued the steaming for forty-eight hours, 
by which time the whole of the decks and sides even to the 
outside copper, close to the water's edge was so heated, as to 
be scarcely touchable by the hand. 

5. On opening the hatches to ascertain the result of the 
operation, we were pleased to see the effectual manner in which 
the penetrating heat of the steam had destroyed the vermin. 
The white ants appeared reduced to a substance like soap, and 
the cockroaches and rats to a soft pulp, capable of being 
washed down into the limbers. 

6. The putrid smell of animal decomposition came on at 
the end of twenty-four hours, but did not continue above a 
day. 

7. The paint on the beams and sides was shrivelled, and 
peeled off, and the leather which covered the ring bolts in the 
cuddy, was converted into charcoal. 

8. We have purposely delayed sending in our Report, till 



160 History of Mechanical Inventions and 

we could ascertain the effect of the steaming on the caulking, 
a matter regarding which we were anxious, inasmuch as, if 
that had been disturbed, the operation would in future have 
had to be confined to a ship about to undergo repair in dock. 
We have, however, satisfaction in being able to report, that 
we can discover no injurious effect on the caulking ; further, 
that the steaming a ship for the destruction of vermin seems 
perfectly feasible, either afloat or in dock, whether about to 
undergo repair, or to proceed to sea. The only circumstance 
demanding attention in the latter case is, that the ship will re- 
quire new painting. 

9. Although the destruction of vermin by steaming may be 
resorted to under all circumstances, yet the steaming of vessels 
in dock, previous to their undergoing their usual quinquennial 
repair of caulking and coppering, will be the most desirable. 

10. In addition to advantages already noticed, the facility 
of introducing the steam from below, and the absence of con- 
densation by the water, in contact with the whole surface of 
the immersed bottom, when afloat, will enable the steam to ef- 
fect its object in one-third less time. 

11. The present experiment having enabled us to ascertain 
an efficient and simple method of steaming ships, to destroy 
vermin, we beg here to record our opinion, that in all moderate- 
ly large ships about to be steamed, the masts and bowsprit 
ought to be taken out, as also all projecting boomkins, davits, 
and cat heads. The whole of the hammock stantions and ex- 
ternal birthing should further be taken away, and the ship be 
cleared of all lumber, and articles likely to sustain injury from 
the steam. 

12. For large ships, where the unmasting would be labori- 
ous, we conceive that long bags made of painted canvass, 
might be put over the mast heads, and nailed to deck, and the 
steam admitted into them. Painted canvas also might be 
tacked with wooden battens to the deck, and to the outside, 
enclosing the sides all round, and this might be extended to 
hawse chocks, quarter galleries, and to all parts which it would 
be inconvenient to remove. 

13. By lifting the ship's pumps about three feet, one of 
them may be fitted as a safety steam valve, and the other as a 
safety air valve, and thus a communication be made quickly 



of processes in the Fine and Useful Arts. 1 61 

with the lower part of the hold. The steam pipes should be 
long enough to introduce the steam into the bottom of the 
hold, as otherwise the steam and heat would be for a long time 
intercepted from the lower parts of the vessel, by a stratum 
of air. 

14. Such of the steamers as may be intended to be used for 
steaming ships, might conveniently, and at small expence, be 
provided with a spare boiler manhole cover. 

15. The whole apparatus for steaming could easily be trans- 
ferred to any one of the steamers, and would then be availa- 
ble for any ship. Independent of the manhole cover, the parts 
would merely consist of two pipes of copper (fitted with stop- 
cocks) of five inches diameter, together with a steam safety 
valve pipe, and an air safety valve pipe, for the ship about to 
undergo the process. * 

16. In steaming ships afloat, it will obviously occur to hang 
the steamer on to the vessel to be steamed, and then so to se- 
cure the two, as to prevent the cross motion their being sepa- 
rately moored would cause, to the injury of the steam pipes. 
For steaming ships in dock it will be requisite to have a boiler 

^et so near to the dock, as to admit of having pipes fitted for 
the conveyance of the steam to the ship. 

17. It will be requisite, when the steam has been admitted 
into a ship, whether it be afloat or in dock, to have a cauldron 
of boiling water ready to kill insects which may try to escape; 
and it will be requisite to have a few persons in attendance, 
to shut up places where steam shows itself, as well as to at- 
tend to the state of the pipes, and of the operation. 

18. We come now to the consideration of the vast import- 
ance to shipping in tropical climates, which this successful ex- 
priment of steaming of ships, to destroy white ants, has indi- 
cated. The speedy riddance of rats, cockroaches, centipedes, 
and scorpions, would alone be of importance. The waste of 
property by the two first is very considerable, and fumigation 
is frequently employed to get rid of them : smoking is dan- 
gerous, inasmuch as many ships have been burned in the pro- 
cess, but although smoking kills rats, it will not kill cock- 
roaches nor ants ; neither has it the slightest destructive effect 

* Partial condensation, such as in the case of the Investigator, led to the 
fracture of the upper deck pillars, would by these valves be effectually 
guarded against. 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1830. L 



162 History of Mechanical Inventions^ ^c. 

on their eggs, so that while the larger tribe of noxious animals 
may be got rid of by this means, the smaller and much more 
dangerous ones, the white ants, are left to destroy the ship. 

19. Sinking is no doubt an effectual measure for the extir- 
pation of those insects, but it is one which can be resorted to 
only in small ships, and in them even at a considerable risk of 
entire loss, and at considerable expence, a great waste of time 
in the employment of the vessel, and the disadvantage of lay- 
ing a foundation, by the introduction of mud, for a future, 
more successful attack. In fact, it has invariably been found, 
that vessels which had been sunk to kill white ants, were speedily 
infested afterwards, and rapidly destroyed. 

20. The being enabled to eradicate white ants from Indian 
ships, must have the effect of giving an enhanced value to this 
description of property. It is on record, as well as a truth 
familiar to the officers of the Marine Department, that several 
Government vessels have been entirely destroyed by white ants; 
and further, that by their ravages great public loss has been 
sustained : under such circumstances, too much cannot be said 
in favour of such an application of steam. 

21. The success of the present experiment may form an era 
in the history of Indian shipping. The steaming of vessels, 
to destroy vermin, must speedily come into general use. Then 
the only wonder will be that, seeing the common application 
of steam to almost every purpose, its excellence as a substitute 
for fumigation was not in this country sooner suggested." 

- It is scarcely necessary to add a word to the above clear de- 
tail. The expence of the operation, including the requisite 
pipes, &c. did not amount to Sicca Rupees 800, and the sub- 
sequent charge for cleaning the ship was about 100. A com- 
plete apparatus to be attached to the boiler, it appears, would 
not cost above Sa. Rs. 1500, after which the expence would 
be confined to the expenditure of the coals, and the necessary 
artificers and contingent charges One precaution, however, 
would appear to be necessary to be adopted in the steam ves- 
sel, which is, to take care that none of the vermin find their 
-way from the vessel steamed to the steamer. Such appears to 
have been the case with the Irrawaddy.— 6r/eamw^.9 in Science, 
No4, pp, 106—109.* 

• This is a new and excellent scientific journal published at Calcutta. 
—Ed. 



On Ship-building. 163 



Art. XX.— analysis OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND ME- 
MOIRS. 

I. The Article Ship-Building. Published in Vol. xviii. Part I. of the 
Edinburgh Encyclopcedia, Edited by Dr Brews tek. 

-*- HE publication of this able and comprehensive article is likely to awaken 
a great degree of attention to the much-neglected art of ship-buiidingj em- 
bracing as it does so wide and so general a view of a subject so intimately con- 
nected with the welfare of our beloved country. The author of the paper 
most properly observes, that in no period of the world has the subject of 
naval architecture had higher claims on public attention than the present, 
and to our own country in particular, it is an art of such transcendant im- 
portance, that no means should be left untried to give it every perfection of 
which it is susceptible. Nor is it only in a commercial point of view that 
ship-building is valuable to man, since by the enterprise that fortunately 
characterizes the modern navigator, the ocean is become one of the high 
roads of civilization, — perhaps the highest ; and, therefore, in the success- 
ful cultivation of the various arts connected with navigation and com- 
merce, every lover of human improvement must feel an interest propor- 
tionate to the influence which they are now universally allowed to exercise 
on the improving destiny of man. 

Naval architecture, continues the author of the paper, may be contem- 
plated under three capital points of view. First, as regards the means it 
affords for the purposes of war ; secondly, as it relates to commercial enter- 
prise and speculation ; and, thirdly, as it is connected with human im- 
provement, the enlargement of geographical knowledge, and the extension 
of the blessings of civilization. The cultivation of the first is unfortu- 
nately rendered necessary by the peculiar condition of the world, and per- 
haps the second and third are in some degree assisted by it ; but it is the 
successful advancement of the latter that renders the study of naval ar- 
chitecture most pleasing, and elevates it to a rank with those arts which 
minister so essentially to the happiness and well being of man. 

The author of the article under consideration has contemplated his sub- 
ject in the most general points of view. Omitting the early history of the 
art, the materials for which are abundantly supplied by Charnock and 
others, he advances at once to its leading and essential elements, and connects 
in a comprehensive form the labours of Bouguer and Euler, with those of 
Atwood, Chapman, and Seppings. Ship-building, tliough an imperfect 
art, has many great and celebrated names connected with its history. As- 
suming, for the first time, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, a 
scientific form, in consequence of the labours of Paul Hoste, in his 2'heorie 
de la Construction des Vaisseaux, we find it afterwards enriched by the la- 
bours of many mathematicians ; and the masterly improvements of Sep- 
pings in our own tiines, has added to it a perfection it never before posses- 
sed. The creation of the College of Naval Architecture in Portsmouth 
Dock- Yard has also communicated to it a great impulse. It cannot now 



164 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 

be said, to adopt the language of the author when speaking of its former 
condition, that the torch of geometry does not illuminate its path, or that 
the maxims of mechanical science are not applied to its daily practice. In- 
quiry has been awakened, and the antiquated rules which formerly guided 
our ship-builders are now gradually giving way to methods authorized by 
the legitimate deductions of science. It is a mighty and comprehensive 
problem to contemplate all the essential elements connected with the con- 
struction of so massy and stupendous a fabric as a ship destined for all the 
terrible purposes of war, — which, in the magnificent voyages it undertakes, 
has to cross wide and immeasurable seas, agitated at times by the un- 
bridled fury of the wind, subjecting it to strains of the most formidable 
kind ; — which shall possess mechanical strength to resist these, and at the 
same time be adapted for stowage and velocity, — which is expected in all 
cases to overtake the enemy, and yet must contain within it the materiel 
for a six months* cruize. These, and many other complicated inquiries 
which the naval architect has to contemplate, must all be involved in the 
general conditions of his problem, the elements of which he must estimate 
while he is rearing his mighty fabric in the dock, and be prepared to anti- 
cipate their effects when he launches his vessel on the turbulent bosom of 
the sea. And yet there are men, blind to the experience of the past, who 
deny that science has anything to do with the construction of a ship. 
Science, says the eloquent author of the article, is the basis of every well 
ordered machine. Science was the ground work of all that Watt, Smeaton, 
or Wren, ever achieved ; and can science, says he, be unnecessary in the 
formation of a ship ? We must say in reply, that science is absolutely ne- 
cessary in the construction of a ship ; and we cordially agree with the 
Writer, that the college of naval architecture is likely to prove a most be- 
neficial institution to the country. In the year 1795, we find that the 
commissioners appointed to revise the civil affairs of the navy, remarked, 
that the class of persons from whom the master ship- wri^hts and surveyors 
of the navy were chosen, " had no opportunity of acquiring even the com- 
mon education given to men in their rank of life, and that they rise to the 
complete direction of the construction of ships, on which the safety of the 
empire depends, without any care or provision being taken on the part of 
the public, that they should have any instruction in mathematics, me- 
chanics, or in the science or theory of ship-building." The death blow to 
this lamentably imperfect system was, however^ given by the establishment 
of the college. • 

Our author has given a forcible outline of the course of studies pursued 
at this admirable institution.* After a severe contest before admission, 
the successful candidates remain seven years at the college, pursuing 
geometry, algebra, and trigonometry, in all their important applications, 
examining the theoretical and practical details of mechanics and hydrosta- 
tics, and closing their purely mathematical inquiries by an enlarged 
course on the differential and integral calculus. After obtaining suflScient 
elementary knowledge, they are employed in constructing original designs 

* We have reason to know that the author of the article is totally unconnected 
with the college. ~Ed. 



On Ship-building, 165 

of ships of war, ascertaining their displacements, the centres of gravity of 
their displacements, and of the whole masses of the ships and their equip- 
ments, considered as heterogeneous bodies. To this is added the most 
exact and accurate inquiries connected with the stability, both according 
to the metacentric method of Bouguer, and to the more perfect and pre- 
cise investigation of Atwood. Comparisons are also instituted, — the quali- 
ties of English ships are compared with those of a foreign build — their se- 
veral properties are analyzed — the good qualities are combined so as to re- 
medy the bad, and to produce in their ultimate application the most per- 
fect design. 

But it is not to theory only, continues our author, that their attention is 
directed. The practical details of the art receive a large proportion of their 
attention. They are effectually taught how to lay off ships in their prac- 
tical construction, and in making the drawings which are necessary for the 
execution of the work in the progress of the building. The adze and the 
line are put into their hands, like the humble operative at the dock-side, 
and a vigilant practical ship-vvright examines into the minutest details of 
their duty. Engaged, therefore, in the morning, we will suppose, in stu- 
dying the theory of their profession — in calculating the displacement — in 
investigating the properties of the midship section — estimating the power 
and influence of the sails, or endeavouring to catch a glimpse of the deep 
and recondite laws that regulate the resistance of fluids, — they turn in the 
afternoon to the practical details of their art — in shaping and adjusting 
timbers — filling up the component parts of Seppings' diagonal framing — 
bolting together the timbers of his circular sterns, and observing in those 
numerous cases which the eye of theoretic intelligence is in general so 
ready to catch, the actual application of rules which occupied their morn- 
ing thoughts. What else, our author asks, is necessary to make a com- 
plete and perfect ship-wright } The members of the college have the am- 
plest and best theories continually before them, and the most enlarged 
practice to exemplify their application. 

Our author, however, closes this part of his paper with an admonition, 
which will not, we hope, be neglected in the proper quarter. The studies 
of the members of the college, says he, are but begun, when the term which 
marks their residence has expired. Naval architecture is a jealous mistress, 
and requires the undivided man. Not the devotion of a few years, but of 
a life consecrated to its pursuit ; year after year, with unwearied zeal, must 
be devoted to its interests ; and the cordial and uninterrupted pursuit of its 
varied details must meet with that reward which attends the industrious 
labourer in other departments of the arts. 

We are glad to find, however, that our author, notwithstanding his able 
and vigorous defence of the college, has not neglected to consider the condi- 
tion of the working men. Among the many operatives which a dock-yard 
presents, says he, there must be some few at least deserving of a better fate, 
than to spend the long term of their lives in a perpetual state of unceasing 
labour ; some, though working at first as humble ship-wrights, yet deserv- 
ing from their talents to rise to command. The great object, says the au- 
thor, in a well regulated community, is to encourage ability wherever it 



166 Analijsis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 

appears ; and we are persuaded that the welfare of tlie country will be es- 
sentially promoted by fostering native talent. 

We particularly admire the clear and methodical method adopted in the 
article, of applying the method of equidistant ordinates to the computation of 
the displacement and other kindred inquiries. The tabulating the different 
systems of ordinaies, and expressing the solidities of the sections in intelli- 
gible mathematical forms, makes the long train of calculation both easy 
and convenient. In investigating the general question of stability, the au- 
thor has properly adopted the rigorous method of Atwood, and, after inves- 
tigating its theoretical conditions, follows that profound mathematician in 
applying its principles to bodies of diflPerent forms, finding the centres of 
gravity of their entire volumes, and of the volumes immersed ; calculating 
the area of the section of the displaced volume, and the length of the line 
representing the measure of the body's stability; and finally, computing the 
equivalent effect of the wind acting on the sails at some given distance from 
the axis of the body. And, lest there should be any of the readers of the 
Encydopwdia not versed in the flowery and delicate calculus of the sines, 
or capable of applying the immortal discovery of Napier, he has added the 
excellent experimental illustrations of Beaufoy, all of which tend to confirm, 
as they ought, the former results. 

The method of Atwood for computing the stability is rigorous and ex- 
act, but excessively laborious ; and therefore the author properly remarks, 
that, in cases where a great accuracy is not required, the metacentric raetliod 
of Bouguer may with propriety be adopted. In applying the two methods 
to a seventy-four gun ship, the author found the following results. 
By the method of Atwood the stability at an angle of ten de- Tons. 

grees is represented by 2115.9, 

and by the method of Bouguer 2135.4, 

the metacentric stability diflPering from the true stability only 19.5 tons, 
or about l-108th of the whole quantity. 

There are some chances of error, however, in the application of the meta- 
centric mode, which the author has properly referred to, and we join with 
him in cordially recommending the method of Atwood, notwithstanding 
its long calculations. 

In investigating the position of the centre of gravity, he illustrates it by 
theoretical considerations, by actual computation, and how the same may 
be performed experimentally. He gives a neat practical rule, which we 
transcribe. ** Divide the difference of the momenta of the inclining forces 
by the difference of the same forces, and the result will be the distance of the 
centre of gravity of the ship, from the centre of gravity of the displacement." 

We regret that our limits will not permit us to follow him through his 
investigation of the effect of the total force acting at the centre of gravity, 
on the pitching and rolling of a ship, — two considerations of great import- 
ance in the structure of a vessel. Nothing, as Chapman observes, is more 
difficult than to construct a ship, so as to unite the qualities of sufficient 
stability and easiness of rolling, anJ thj difficulty is very much increased 
in the construction of merchantmen. 

On the mysterious and difficult subject of the resistance of fluids, the 



On Ship-building. 167 

author has followed the steps of Chapman, that ingenious man, though 
possessing much less theoretical skill than Euler, Bernouilli, Condorcet, or 
D'Alembert, yet, from being more conversant with the actual conditions of 
a vessel when sailing through the waves, being more likely to have attained 
results more consistent with truth, than those laborious, but too often spe- 
culative forms, produced by the before-mentioned illustrious men. And 
yet there is every thing about the resistance of fluids, to invite the enter- 
prise of the most ardent geometer to a still farther investigation of this 
deep and recondite question. Independently of the intellectual renown 
which would be obtained by the man who shall place this beautiful in- 
quiry in a clearer and more satisfactory point of view, who, not seduced 
by the images of his analytical creation, is content to blend the sober re- 
sults of experiment with those powerful operations of his calculus, which 
enable him so often to penetrate the obscure mysteries of nature, — there is 
an immense practical value attached to the inquiry, which few other bran- 
ches of philosophy possess. Harvey long ago remarked, in the Annals of 
Philosophy, " that, had the subject been one which individual industry and 
sagacity could have successfully prosecuted, there can be no doubt but its 
complete solution would have been long ago achieved, or at least some large 
and important steps made towards its completion. The problem" says he 
'* is one which involves too many difficulties for any individual to contend 
with, unless that individual possessed talents of the very highest order, un- 
interrupted leisure, and the necessary command of money, — three elements;" 
says he, " not often combined in the same person -, and as the past has not 
afforded a fortunate example of the kind, we may almost fear the future 
will not be more propitious." Inman, the learned professor at the College 
of Naval Architecture, remarks also in the notes to his translation of Chap- 
man, *' that it is difficult to draw from the theory of resistances, as it now 
stands, any particular conclusions applicable to ship-building. .The author 
of the paper, however, having adopted the investigations of Chapman, has 
applied them to the actual circumstances of a ship, and deduced the area 
of a plane whose resistance is equivalent to that of the vessel when moving 
with the same velocity. 

The portion of the paper devoted to the sails of ships might, with much 
propriety, have been extended. This is a subject quite in its infancy, and 
we fear that sail-making and ship-building have not hitherto enjoyed the 
intimate connection which they ought. The inquiry is confessedly a diffi- 
cult one, like most others relating to naval architecture, particularly in the 
case of merchant ships, which present the most remarkable anomalies. 
These anomalies owe their origin to the variable specific gravities of the 
cargoes ; so that the same ship in different voyages must present different 
values for the movements of stability, and therefore equally varied results 
in the efforts of the sails. 

The section on the dimensions and forms of ships is one replete with 
the most interesting inquiries. The gradual augmentation that our ships 
of war have received in their dimensions is connected with the most inte- 
resting and important principles. A first-rate constructed a century ago. 



168 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 

is a vessel of quite a iliffercnt clr.ss from a first-rate of the present dny. Of 
such magnificent ships as the Britannia, the Prince Regent, or the St 
George, our forefathers could have had no conception. They are not only 
magnificent, as exhibiting the mightiest combination of timbers ever con- 
structed by man, but in future wars will devtlope energies more terrific 
than any exhibited at St Vincent or Trafalgar. The Regent of 1000 tons 
constructed in the reign of Henry the Seventh, can bear no possible com- 
parison to the Regent of 2600 tons, constructed in the reign of George the 
Fourth. Spain was the first nation that increased considerably the dimen- 
sions of her different classes of ships, and France followed her example 
with better success. In later thnes the Americans have made some great 
steps in this important inquiry ; and we rejoice to find that our own ex- 
cellent naval administration have not lost sight of the subject. There are 
many advantages resulting from the enlargement of the dimensions of ships. 
It enables them to possess great stability, and thereby to carry a great 
press of sail, with a comparatively small body immersed in the water ; 
thus giving them a great moving power in proportion to the resistance 
they experience, and thereby increasing their rate of sailing. Large di- 
mensions also in proportion to the number of guns gives fine quarters to 
the men in action. It enables a finer form to be given to ships below the 
water, so that they may have a good entrance forward, and a clean run aft 
to the rudder, and to have the form best calculated to present great lateral 
resistance to the water, which prevents the ship from making much lee- 
way. 

The only objection to this increase of dimension is the expence ; and 
possibly there are some limits beyond which it cannot be carried. We are 
persuaded, however, that this limit has not yet been attained, and we ear- 
nestly press its consideration on our naval engineers. 

We were glad to perceive that the author of the paper had included in 
his inquiry the masterly tables of Chapman, particularly those derived 
from the celebrated work of that author on Ships of the Line. Chapman 
appears to have combined many rare and important qualities. Without 
possessing the profound mathematical knowledge that distinguishes some 
of the continental writers on ship-building, he was enabled to communi- 
cate to his scientific investigations a double value, from the practical aspect 
he gave to them. The method he pursued was clearly that taught by our 
immortal Bacon ; and the success that attended his labours is manifest in 
his writings. The writer of the article has many judicious and very im- 
portant observations on the analytical methods adopted by Chapman, — 
on the numerical coefficients he employs to connect the various elements 
of his inquiry together, — the length with the breadth and the displace- 
ment, — the ingenious formulae he employs for deducing the exponent of 
flotation, — the exponent of the main sectional area, — the moment of sta- 
bility, — connecting, in a word, the remotest element of a ship, with some 
primitive and fundamental element o.i which the whole inquiry depends. 
There is something exceedingly ingenious in Chapman's attempt to deduce 
all the elements of a ship fVom the weight of the guns, and the distance 



On Skip-building. 169 

of their conimon centre of gravity from the load water line. Thus de- 
noting the number of guns by A, he finds 

that the number of the crew may be represented by 3.763 A 4> 
tlie weight of the crew by - - 10. 16 A -f, 

and their mechanical effect by - - 15 A |-. 

In like manner he represents by the formula 18^ A f, the provisions for 
k months, and water for half the time. The displacement he likewise 
connects with the weight of the guns, and ascends from thence to the stabi- 
lity, — to the areas of the load water section, and of the main section of the 
vessel, — to the position of the centre of gravity of the vessel, and even to 
the movement of the sails ; — thus connecting every element of the ship 
with the primitive element assumed. 

There are some, we can readily imagine, who will deny the possibility of 
tracing all the elements of a ship to a primitive element, and to such we 
would recommend the strong and forcible observations of the author of 
the article on this most important point, and also the diligent study of 
Chapman's Tables. We readily grant that the coefficients and exponents 
by which the Swedish engineer has endeavoured to connect together the 
elements of his inquiry, may in some, or even in many cases, be erroneous. 
They may have been deduced from observations on too limited a scale to 
permit us to draw in every case those general conclusions which are so de- 
sirable ; but we quite agree with the author of the article, that a digest of 
the properties of some of the best ships of the British Navy, conducted ac- 
cording to Chapman's principles, would be productive of most important 
results. In no subject, says oiir author, is there greater room for the ap- 
plication of the most rigid principles of the inductive logic. Millions of 
ships have been constructed, but only here and there a successful example 
has been offered for our contemplation, as if to mock the implicit obedience 
we pay in the practice of naval architecture, to uncertain and ill-defined 
rules. 

One of the most important and valuable portions of this paper is that 
devoted to the arching of ships. In every point of view in which the ge- 
neral problem of arching can be contemplated, it will be found to involve 
considerations of the highest importance to naval architecture. Owing its 
origin to those peculiarities of form which the complicated conditions of 
stowage, stability, velocity, and general sailing qualities render necessary ; 
it has been a great object with the naval engineer to preserve to the float- 
ing vessel unimpaired those essential properties of form which he en- 
deavoured to impart to her in the process of building. Constructed as ships 
are of timber of the most varied dimensions and forms, — disposed in di- 
rections of so many different kinds, and subjected to strains so changeable 
in direction and quantity, it may be fairly said, that, next to the original 
determination of the best form, the skill and intelligence of the ship-builder 
may be measured by the degree in which the tendency to arching may be 
diminished. 

To discover the law, observes the writer of the paper, which influences 
a ship, whether laden or unladen, when floating quiescently in water, we 
may suppose the vessel to be divided into vertical sections of an indefinite- 



11 70 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 

ly small constant thickness, perpendicular to a vertical longitudinal plane. 
If we commence our consideration at the stern, and advance gradually for- 
ward, it is evident that the sections comprising the counter and its con- 
necting parts, being free from the water, will be subject to no reaction 
from it ; and when at last any reaction does take place, it must at first, 
from the peculiar form of the body, be infinitely less than the weight of 
the section whose displacement occasions it. As we approach, however, 
the midship section of the vessel, the upward section of the fluid will ap- 
proach more and more to an equality with the weight of its corresponding 
section, and ultimately become equal to it ; and if we pass beyond this 
section, and which may be denominated the section of hydrostatic equili- 
brium, we shall find the weight of the water displaced become greater 
than the weight of the section above it. In like manner, if we commence 
at the bow of the vessel, we shall find a similar section of hydrostatic equi- 
librium, and afterwards a like increase of the weight of the water displaced 
above the weight of the section reposing on it. 

Dupin, in his paper Sur la Structure des Vaisseaux Anglais, has given a 
fine analytical view of the subject ; and has furnished the differential equa- 
tions on which the whole problem of arching depends. Our limits will 
not permit us to follow the analytical steps of this beautiful inquiry, and 
we can only furnish the following theorems resulting from them. 

I. That when a vertical plane divides a vessel into two parts, so that the 
weight of each part is equal to the v>eight of water displaced by it, the mo- 
ments of those parts estimated in relation to the same plane, to produce what 
is denominated arching, will either he a maximum or a minimum. 

II. That this effect will be a maximum when the infinitely small section, 
contiguous to the plane of the moments has its own moment in a contrary direc- 
tion to that of the total moment. 

III. That the effect will be a minimum when this section has its own 
moment acting in the same direction as the total moment. 

These theorems are applied by Dupin to the distribution of the forces 
operating on the hull of a seventy-four gun ship when fitted for sea ; the 
numerical elements relating to the weights and displacements of the seve- 
ral sections being derived from Young's paper contained in the Philoso- 
phical Transactions for 1814. We regret exceedingly that we cannot lay 
before our readers the whole of this highly interesting inquiry, but must 
pass on to remark, that the causes of arching are not due entirely to the 
unequal distribution of the weight and pressure, but that the longitudinal 
and horizontal pressure of the water also contributes to this alteration of 
form. Dr Young has remarked that the partial pressure of the water in 
a longitudinal direction affects the lower part of the ship only, compres- 
sing and shortening the keel, while it has no immediate action on the up- 
per decks. The pressure thus applied must obviously occasion a curva- 
ture if the angles made with the decks by the timbers are supposed to re- 
main unaltered, while the keel is shortened in the same manner as any 
soft and thick substance, pressed at one edge between the fingers will be- 
come concave at the part compressed ; and this strain upon the most pro- 
bable upposition respecting the comparative strength of the upper and 



The History of Insects. 171 

lower parts of the ship, must amount to more than one-third as much as 
the mean value of the former, being equivalent to 1000 tons, acting on a 
lever of one foot in length , while the strain, arising from the unequal dis- 
tribution of the weight and the displacement, amounts, where it is great- 
est, that is, about 37 feet from the head to 5260, in a seventy-four gun 
ship of the usual dimensions ; and although the strain is considerably less 
than this exactly in the middle, and throughout the aftermost half of the 
length, it is no where converted into a tendency to " sag," or to become 
concave. 

To correct these serious alterations of form, has been the great object of 
the labours of Seppings, — labours which every day affords abundant 
proofs of their accuracy and truth. 
' (To he continued. J 

II. The History of In sects. Vol. I. — Family Library, No. 7. 

At no distant period a history of insects would have been regarded as 
only calculated for those investigators of science whose leisure and pecu- 
liar taste fitted them for pursuing or understanding what in the eyes of 
the multitude might seem to be totally valueless, or at best but an idle 
amusement. With the exception of the Bee and the Silk Moth, and a few 
others, little was popularly known of the manners and instincts of those 
countless myriads of living atoms which crowd every country, and still 
less of the powerful agency of the insect tribes in the general economy of 
nature. This agency, which is now becoming matter of daily observation, 
was seldom recognized, except when the excessive reproduction of particu- 
lar species in certain regions destroyed the labours of the husbandman, 
and produced famine and pestilence. Facts, however, have been gradually 
accumulating in the writings of entomologists, which tend to show that 
this, the most numerous class of animated beings, exercises functions in 
nature not less important than many others whose relative bulk precludes 
our regarding their existence with indifference. The whole tribe of mo- 
noecious and dioecious plants owe their fertility to the agency of the insect 
tribes ; and if attention had been earlier directed to these minute beings, 
many arts of but recent invention might have been perfected ages before. 
It has been remarked by a celebrated naturalist, that the hornets composed 
their dwelling of a species of paper, fabricated on principles exactly similar 
to those now practised, long before the manufacture of that itivaluable ar- 
ticle was stumbled upon by human ingenuity ; the Tenthredines, or saw- 
flies, cut the branches of trees with their serrated instruments before the 
saw was used in the arts ; and their small but powerful organ has 
still this advantage over the mechanics' tool, that it combines the proper- 
ties of a rasp and file with that of a saw. The Wood-boring Bee and the 
Ichneumons are possessed of an apparatus for boring, from which even 
human ingenuity may improve their implements destined for similar pur- 
poses ; and the Termes of Africa build in an incredibly short space of time 
dwellings of from twelve to fifteen feet high, upon which the pick-axe 
makes no impression — monuments far more wonderful, and five times 



172 Analysis of Scientific Books ayid Memoirs. 

larger, than the boasted pyramids of Egypt, when the size of the animal is 
taken into consideration. And when to all this is added the wonderful 
mechanism of their minute organs, — the evidences of design in their still 
more wonderful transformations and their instincts, — one is not surprised 
at the assertion of the first entomologist of Europe, (M. Latreille), that the 
wonders of insect structure — the concentration of organs so minute and 
susce]>tible of so many different sensations in such an atom of matter, 
heightened his admiration of the Supreme Intelligence far beyond what the 
contemplation of the structure or the most gigantic animals could inspire^ 

The History of Insects in the Family Library, from its popular 
form, is calculated to spread a taste for the study of entomology among 
readers to whom the details of the more scientific naturalists might at first 
possess no attraction. A similar work on Insect Architecture, in the Li' 
brary of Entertaining Knowledge, will aid the volume before us in spread- 
ing a taste for scientific information still wider ; and we hail with pleasure 
the exertions of those learned men who, by works such as the present, 
show how much may be done for science by simplifying its details so as to 
extend its range. The Institutions for the instruction of workmen and their 
success, has demonstrated that a vast portion of physical science, hitherto 
shut up in volumes destined for the learned, may be placed within the reach 
of ordinary readers, and much that is generally useful in connection with 
the arts of life, successfully taught even to the unlettered mechanic. The 
Library of Useful Knowledge led the way in this country in placing 
science within the reach of the poor ; and the numerous Manuels, Re- 
sumes, and Precis of all the sciences and arts which teem from the press 
m France in a compressed form and low price, show that an extensive, 
and, we hope, a happy change has taken place in regard to the desire of 
scientific instruction. The writers of most of these popular treatises too, 
in both countries, are men of known talent, versant in the subjects upon 
which they write ; and, while instruction is conveyed to the mass of the 
community in a simple and intelligible form, the more learned are satisfied 
that the materials are the result both of extensive reading and observa- 
tion. 

Among the sciences thus thrown open to all classes, Natural History has 
long appeared to us as that branch which, beyond every other, is calculat- 
ed not only to captivate the young of both sexes, and to improve their 
powers of observation and reasoning in a high degree, but to open the way 
for the successful pursuit of the other sciences. All the materials of com- 
merce and the arts are derived from objects with which it is the business 
of natural history to make us acquainted ; all the conveniences and neces- 
sities of man are supplied from the same source ; and the moral tendency 
of such studies is so palpably evident, as to make it matter of surprise that 
a general knowledge of external nature has not ere now formed part of the 
elementary instruction in schools for the young. 

But to return to the history of Insects in the volume now before us. No 
systematic plan seems to be adopted in the arrangement of the orders, which 
may have appeared superfluous in a book intended for general readers. The 
▼olume commences with the history of that useful insect the Hive Bee, in 



The History of Insects, 1 73 

which all the information to be derived from Reaumur, Huber, &c. is 
agreeably detailed. This is followed by an account of the Humble Bee, 
and some other species, which, from the mode in xvhich they form their 
dwellings, have been named the Carpenter, Mason, and Upholsterer Bees. 
Much that is curious concerning these little artisans has been culled from 
the stores of scientific writers, which must be read with interest by those 
to whom this branch of science is new. Then follow the Wasps, and the 
wonderful republics of the Ants, detailed with the same interest, and in 
the same tone of good feeling by which the whole is characterized ; and 
the volume concludes with the liistory of some caterpillars, and their mode 
of forming their retreats previous to their transformations. As the best 
recommendation of the work, to which we wish all possible success, we give 
an extract, containing some curious particulars of the Dragon-fly, so com- 
mon near all our marshes in the summer months. 

" Another and a most destructive enemy of the living insect is the tribe 
of libellulaf or dragon-fly, a name which they well merit from their voraci- 
ous habits. 

" The French have chosen to call them ' demoiselles,' from the slim 
elegance and graceful ease of their figure and movements. But, although 
their brilliant colouring, the beauty of their transparent and wide-spread 
wings, may give them some claim to this denomination, yet they scarcely 
would have received it had their murderous instincts been observed. So 
far from seeking an innocent nurture in the juice of fruits or of flowers, 
they are (says Reaumur) warriors more ferocious than the Amazons. They 
hover in the air only to pounce upon other insects, which they crush with 
their formidable fangs ; and if they quit the banks of the rivulet, where 
they may be seen in numbers during an evening walk, it is only to pursue 
and seize the butterfly or moth, which seeks the shelter of the hedge. 

*' The waters are their birth-place ; their eggs are protruded into this 
element at once, in a mass which resembles a cluster of grapes. The larva 
which comes out of these eggs is six-footed. The only difference between 
the larva and nymph is, that the latter has the rudiments of wings packed 
up in small cases on each side of the insect. 

*' In this latter state it is supposed that the creature lives at the bottom of 
the water for a year. It is equally voracious then as in its perfect state. 
Its body is covered by bits of leaf, wood, and other foreign matters, so a^ 
to afford it a complete disguise, while its visage is concealed by a prominent 
mask, which hides the tremendous apparatus of serrated teeth, and serves 
as a pincer to hold the prey while it is devoured. 

" Its mode of locomotion is equally curious ; for though it can move in 
any direction, it is not by means of feet or any direct apparatus that it 
moves, but by a curious mechanism, which has been well illustrated by 
Reaumur and Cuvier. If one of these nymphs be narrowly observed in 
water, little pieces of wood and other floating matters will be seen to be 
drawn towards the posterior extremity of the insect, and then repelled ; at 
the same time that portion of its body will be observed alternately to open 
and shut. If one of them be placed in water which has been rendered 
turbid by milk, or coloured with indigo, and then suddenly removed into 



1 74 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 

a more limpid fluid, a jet of the colourtcl water will be seen to issue from 
the anal extremity of the libellula, to the extent sometimes of several 
inches ; at the same time the force with which the column is ejected pro- 
pels the insect in the opposite direction, by virtue of the resistance with 
which it meets. Hence it appears that it is by means of its respiratory 
system that the creature walks — a strange and anomalous combination of 
functions in one organ. 

" If the insect be taken out of the water, held with its head downwards, 
and a few drops of that fluid poured on its tail, that which was a mere 
point will immediately open and display a cavity ; at the same time the 
body of the insect, which was before flat, will be observed to be enlarged 
and inflated, and if held up to the light, semitransparent : moreover, 
something solid will appear to be displaced by the water, and driven 
towards the head. This solid mass will shortly descend, obscure the 
transparency of the lower portion of the body of the insect, lessen its dia- 
meter, and, when it does so, a jet of water will issue from the vent. It is 
clear, then, that the abdomen of the libellula is a syringe, the piston of 
which being drawn up, of course the pressure of the fluid fills up the va- 
cuum, and, when pushed down, expels the water. To ascertain the fact, 
Reaumur held the insect in his hand, and when he saw its body inflated, 
cut it immediately with a pair of scissors, and found it unoccupied with 
solids. He watched when the jet of water was expelled in another, and as 
soon as the body was darkened and lessened in diameter, he clipped it, and 
found the cut portion occupied by solids. There is no doubt, then, that 
the abdomen contains a moveable piston, and this piston is composed of the 
air tubes. There are four of these longitudinal trunks. They terminate 
in innumerable smaller ones, and, according to Reaumur, perform the 
functions of respiration, as well as locomotion, in the ways detailed. 

" After the voracious creature has Iain in ambuscade devouring the 
larvae of the gnat and other aquatic insects, till its appointed hour of change, 
it leaves its natal element for the shore, to undergo its last metamorphosis : 
for this purpose it usually fastens itself to some friendly plant, and begins 
the important process which is. to convert an aquatic animal into an inha- 
bitant of the air, 

" Any person who should at this period choose to seize a number of 
them, and, taking them into his chamber, fix them to a bit of tapestry, 
would be rewarded for his trouble by witnessing the conversion of an 
aquatic into an aerial insect. 

" It may easily be seen by the eyes of the nymph whether it is about to 
change its form ; for, instead of remaining tarnished and opaque, they sud- 
denly become transparent and brilliant. This change is owing to the 
visual organ of the perfect insect, which is amazingly lustrous, shining 
through the mask of the nymph. If the eye of the nymph be removed, 
that of the perfect insect may be seen beneath. As soon as the nymph has 
fixed itself to any object by means of its claws, the first sign of the com- 
mencing metamorphosis is a rent in the upper skin, extending along the 
corslet to the head. When it approaches this latter part, another rent, 
perpendicular to the first, runs across the face from eye to eye. These 



Reid's Elements of Practical Chemistry, 175 

rents are brought about by a power which the insect possesses of inflating 
its body and head. This last organ, ultimately destined to become fixed 
and solid, is at this period capable of contraction and dilatation, like a 
membrane. 

" The head and corslet being exposed, the legs are drawn out from their 
nymphine cases. At this period every part of the insect is soft. After 
having protruded itself thus far, it hangs with its head downwards, and 
remains motionless, so as to lead the observer to believe that the eiforts 
which it had hitherto made had exhausted its strength, and that it had 
thus perished in the act of being born. However, it remains in this posi- 
tion just so long as to permit its body and limbs to be hardened and dried 
by the air, and then reverses it, forming an arch ; this enables the insect 
to draw out its tail from the mask. 

" When it has just cast off that tenement in which it had till now existed, 
the body of the libellula is soft, has not attained its full length, and the 
wings are still folded. It remains, therefore, tranquil and motionless till 
these important operations have taken place, which are finished, sooner or 
later, according to the heat or moisture of the atmosphere. The operation 
may be completed in a quarter of an hour, or take up several hours, ac- 
cording to circumstances. The wings unfold themselves in every direc- 
tion ; — it is supposed that this curious mechanical effect is brought about 
by means of the fluids, which rush into and distend them ; for they remain 
drooping as wet paper if the insect die in the act of metamorphosis ; so 
that something more than drying is necessary. During the time that the 
wings, from being shrivelled and flexible, are becoming firm and glistening 
as talc, the dragon-fly takes care not to allow even its own body to obstruct 
their expansion in the proper direction, and for this purpose bends it from 
them ; for if they took a wrong fold at this moment, they would for ever 
retain the deformity. Provision is even made to prevent the wings from 
coming in contact with each other ; for, instead of being all in the same 
horizontal plane, as they subsequently are, they are perpendicular to the 
insect, and thus ranged side by side." 

We have only to add, that the volume is got up, like all the other 
volumes of this popular Family Library, in a style of great neatness, highly 
creditable to the pi\blisher, and that the wooden cuts by which the subject 
is illustrated, possess all the sharpness of copper engravings. 

III. Elements of Practical Chemistry, comprising a series of experiments 
in every department of Chemist?^, with directions for performing them, 
and for the preparation and application of the most important tests and 
re-ugents. By David Boswell Retd, Experimental Assistant to Pro- 
fessor Hope, Conductor of the Classes of Practical Chemistry in the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh, &c. &c. &c. 1830, 1 vol. Svo. 662 pp. 

The author of the present work has been advantageously known to the 
public by an excellent popular Treatise on Chemistry, in 2 vols. 12mo, and 
by a pamphlet explanatory of his improved scale of chemical equivalents, 
in which hydrogen is taken as a standard of comparison. Since the pub- 



176 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 

lication of these works, he has been professionally occupied as a Lecturer 
on Chemistry, and a Superintendant of Chemical Manufactories, and more 
recently he has been called to the situation of Experimental Assistant to 
Dr Hope, and of Conductor of the Classes of Practical Chemistry, which 
are carried on in the University under the superintendence of that emi- 
nent; Professor. 

In this advantageous position, with the use of the finest materials, and 
perhaps the most magnificent chemical apparatus in Europe, Mr Reid has 
enjoyed the best opportunities of acquiring a thorough knowledge of all 
the processes and manipulations of practical chemistry. These means of in- 
formation, indeed, appear in various parts of the present treatise, in which 
a great mass of practical information is well arranged, condensed within 
moderate limits, and conveyed with much clearness of conception and per- 
spicuity of language. 

The immediate object of the present work is to describe a systematic 
series of experiments, with such minute directions to the student as can- 
not fail to enable him to perform them himself, and thus to acquire, along 
witli a knowledge of the subject, habits of nice manipulation in the various 
operations of chemistry. Mr Faraday had previously published an admir- 
able Treatise on Chemical Manipulation, marked with the talent and inge- 
nuity of that celebrated chemist, but a more elementary and detailed work 
was still wanting for the chemical student. 

This desideratum Mr Reid has well supplied. The work is divided in- 
to two parts, the first of which embraces a comprehensive and arranged 
series of experiments on the various chemical bodies which the material 
world contains. The second part comprehends several important subjects, 
with which the student should make himself acquainted as he proceeds 
with the experiments, with a description of miscellaneous apparatus, and 
other general topics and methods, which require to be studied before he 
commences the individual experiments. 

The following general view of the plan of the work will enable the 
reader to form some idea of its contents. 

Part I. Division I. — Simple Substances. 

Class I. Simple substances not metallic, and their combinations. 
Class II. Metals and their combinations with* non-metallic sub- 
stances, and with one another. 
Division II. Veiretahle and Mineral Substances, 

Part II. Class I. Description of an Improved sliding scale of Chemical 
Equivalents. II. Miscellaneous Apparatus. III. Scales and Ce- 
ments. IV. Blowpipe. V. Test Apparatus. VI. Electricity and 
Galvanism. VII. Galvanic Battery. VIII. Acidemetry and 
Alkalimetry. IX. Method of measuring Specific Gravities. 
X. Tables of Weights and Measures, — correspondence between 
thermometers, — freezing mixtures. 

There is one peculiarity in this work which, we arc persuaded, will be 
equally useful to the student, and to those who may use it as a work of con- 



Proceedings of the Royal Society, ^c, Wt 

sultation. The essential characters of all the different substances which 
are described are placed by themselves at the beginning of each chaptei*, 
and printed in Italics, so that the eye can at once command the particular 
point of information of which it is in search. The work is illustrated with 
numerous excellent wooden cuts, and with a series of diagrams, constructed 
on a new plan, for enabling the reader to perceive at one glance the quan- 
tities of different materials required for different experiments, the nature 
of the action which takes place, and the exact proportion of the products 
which are furnished. 
. . niti e-iM^L 11 

Art. XXL— proceedings OF SOCIETIES: 

1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
23^ November 1829. — At a general meeting of the Royal Society held oh 
Monday the 23d instant, the following Members were elected Office-Bear- 
ers. 

President. — Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 
Vice-Presidents. — Right Hon. Lord Chief Baron, Dr T. C. Hope, 
The Hon. Lord Glenlee, Professor Russell, 

The Hon. Lord Newton, H. Mackenzie, Esq# 

General Secretary. — John Robison, Esq. 
Secretaries to the Ordinary Meetings. — Rev. E. B. Ramsay, 

Dr .1. C. Gregory. 
Treasurer.— Thomas Allan, Esq. 
Curator. — James Skene, Esq. Assistant. — John Stark, Esq. 
Counsellors. — James Hunter, Esq. Sir Henry Jardine, 

Dr Alison, Professor Jameson, 

Sir William Hamilton, Bart. Sir David Milne, 
Rev. Dr Brunton, Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart. 

Dr Brewster, Dr Duncan, 

Captain B. Hall, R. N. Professor Wallace. 

Dee. 7. — The following communication was read: — 
The formation of sound explained on a new principle ; with some obser- 
vations respecting the manner in which sounds are impressd on the organ, 
of hearing. By Mr John Steward, M. R. Coll. Suf. London. 

2. Proceedings of the Society for the Encovragement of the Useful Arts in 

Scotland. 
June 17, 1829.— The Annual General Meeting of the Society of Arts 
was held in the buildings of the Royal Institution, Mound. — James L'Amy 
of Dunkenny, Esq. advocate, Vice-President, in the Chair. 

The Report of the Prize Committee having been read and approved of, 
the President proceeded to deliver the prizes to the successful candidates, 
in terms of that report and of the minutes of Council, in the following or- 
der, viz. : — 

1. To Mr James Clark, steeple clock and machine-maker, Edinburgh, 
the Society's gold medal, value L. 15, 15s. for his description and relative 
drawing of a method of cutting screws. 

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. I. JAN. 1829- M 



^76 .Proceedings of Societies. 

i!?8» To Mr Geokg^: Buchanan, civil engineer, Edinburgh, the Socie- 
ty's silver medal, value L. 5, 5s. for his protracting table. 

3. To Messrs James Dowie, boot-maker, Frederick Street, Edinburgh, 
and Alexander Black, surveyor, Edinburgh, the Society's silver medal, 
value L. 5, 5a. for their machine for the use of boot and shoe-makers, of 
whicli a description was read, and a model presented to the Society. 

4.. To Messrs George and James Nasmyth, Edinburgh, the Socie- 
ty's silver medal, value L. 6, 6s. for their method of easing the motion of 
complex pulleys. 

5. To Mr James Brodie, Aberdeen, the Society's silver medal, value 
L. 5, 5s. for his description and drawing of a double-jointed parallel mo- 
tion. 

6. To Mr Alexander Doig, watch-maker, Musselburgh, the Society's 
silver medal, value L.5, 5s. for his description of the model of a clock yien- 
dulum without the crutch. 

7. To Mr DavidWhitelaw, watch-maker, Prince's Street, Edinburgh, 
the Society's silver medal, value L. 5, 5s. for his description and drawings 
of a clock pendulum without the crutch, and in which the pendulum re- 
ceives the impulse directly from the swing wheel. 

8. To Mr John Henderson, Brechin Don^ the Society's silver medal, 
for his account of a life boat. 

9. To Andrew Waddell, Esq. Hermitage Hill, Leiih, the Society's 
silver medal, for his description of a boat or punt for the conveyance of 
stones and other materials used in the construction of break- waters, &c. 

10. To the Rev. George Tough, Aytoun Manse, the Society's silver 
medal, for his description and model of an apparatus for sweeping chini- 
neys, and preventing the use of climbing boys. 

The names of the successful candidates were called over, and the Pre- 
sident delivered to them their prizes, with an appropriate address. 

The descriptions, drawings, and models of inventions, for which the 
above prizes were given, were laid on the table and exhibited to the meet- 
ing. 

Printed lists of prizes offered by the Society for communications given 
or to be given in betwixt 1st January 1829 and 1st January 1830 were 
distributed, and ordered to be advertised. 

The Committee on Mr Henry's method of applying the band to the 
pulley to the foot-lathe, not being ready to report, was continued. 

The Committee on Mr Aytoun's lighthouse machinery, and on Mr Ste- 
venson's communications relative thereto, gave in their report, which was 
approved of by the Society. 

ProfessorWALLACE exhibited and described his eidograph,an instrument 
for copying, enlarging, or reducing plans, pictures, &c. for which he ob- 
tained the Society's gold medal on a former occasion ; and took occasion Ip 
point out the superiority, in the accuracy of its work, and the ease of its 
movements to the pentograph, the instrument hitherto generally used. 
The Professor, exhibited in great variety, specimens of the work done by 
his eidograph, with which several scientific gentlemen present expressed 
themselves highly pleased. 



Proceedings of' tJie Society of Useful Arts. 179 

Mr GouRLAY laid upon the table a copy of his " Plan for the Improve- 
ment of Edinburgh, No. I." which was referred to an open committee to 
consider and report. Mr Milne to be convener. 

Mr Crawfukd of Cartsburn then moved the thanks of the meeting to Mr 
L'Amy for his conduct in the chair, which motion was carried by accla- 
mation- 

The Vice-President then intimated, that the Society would now adjourn 
till Wednesday, 11th November next, when it would meet again for the 
next Season. 

Prizes for Session 1829-30. 

1. For the most useful invention, discovery, or improvement, a medal, 
value ™ - _ _ _ 25 sovereigns, 

2. For the next in merit, - _ _ 20 ■■ ■■■ ' 

3. For the third, - - _ _ 15. 

4. For the fourth, - - - - 10 

5. For the fifth, - - - - 7 

6. For the sixth, - - - - 5 

Nov. 11, 1829.-^1. %. description of an Anemometer, for measuring the 
velocity of the wind, invented by Mr Alexander M'Coll, Cupar Fife, 
was read, and a model of the instrument exhibited to the society. 

2. A wrought Iron- wire Bed-bottom, invented by Mr George Walker, 
wire- worker, Leitli Wynd, was exhibited, and a description read. 

3. A specimen suit and description of Safety Garments for preservation 
from drowning, invented by Mr Alexander Mollison, Eglinton Street, 
Glasgow, were read and exhibited, the garments consisting of a jacket 
and trowsers of cotton cloth, with pieces of cork sewed betwixt and the 
lining. 

4. A detailed description and drawings of an improved mode of forming 
Taps and Dies for cutting metal screws, of which a notice was formerly 
made to the society on 20th February 1828, by John Ro bison, Esq. 
Sec. R. S. E., were read and exhibited. 

5. Nov. 25.— John M'Cliesh Esq. of Maryfield, Edinburgh, and Wil- 
liam Keith Esq. accountant Edinburgh, were admitted Ordinary Members. 

On the recommendation of the Council, the following gentlemen were 
unanimously elected Honorary Members, viz. : — 

Capt. Henry Kater, V. P. R. S. ; Capt. Francis Beaufort, R. N. F. R. S- ; 
J.G. Children, Esq. F. R.S.British Museum; George Dollond, Esq.F. R.S.j 
Rev. H. P. Hamilton, F. R. S. Trin. Coll. Camb. ; John Pond, Esq., F. R. S. 
Astronomer Royal ; Rev. W. Pearson, LL.D. F. R. S. ; Rev. T. R. Ro- 
binson, D. D. F. R. S. Armagh ; Professor Hamilton, Astronomer Royal, 
Dublin j Dr Roget, Secretary R. S. London ; Edward Sabine, Esq., Secre- 
tary R. S. London ; John Barrow, Esq., Secretary Admiralty ; Mr Fara- 
day, Royal Institution, London; George Poulett Scrope, Esq., F. R.S. 
Castle Combe, Wilts ; Dr C. R. Goring, Lambeth ; Mr Pritchard, Strand, 
London; Dr Heineken, Funchal, Madeira; Mr Smith, Surgeon, Kingus- 
sie; Dr Hancock, America ; Robert Brown, Esq., Linnean Society, London ; 
James Mather, Esq., South-Shields. 



l80 Proceedings of Societies. 

On the recommendation of the Council, the Society also unanimously 
elected the following gentleman Associate Members, viz. :— 

Mr Forest, gunsmith, Jedburgh ; Mr Williamson, Melrose ; Mr Dun- 
lop, Makerston, Kelso. 

3. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 

November 20, 1829 — The Rev. Dr Turton, the President, in the Chair. 

A paper was read by Professor Airy, containing the calculation of a cor- 
rection which it is proper to apply to the length of a pendulum consisting 
of a sphere suspended by a fine wire. The motion of such a pendulum 
will be somewhat different from that of a sphere fixed to a stiff wire, and 
the correction would affect the last decimal places in Biot's estimation of 
the length. 

Professor Whewell also read a paper on the causes and characters of the 
early styles of church architecture ; and after the meeting gave an account, 
illustrated by a number of models, of the different modes of vaulting which 
succeeded each other in the early churches of Germany. The effect was 
pointed out which results in the construction of churches from this succes- 
sion of contrivances, combined with other circumstances which arise from 
the division of the building into three aisles ; and it was shown that the 
adoption of the pointed arch was one of the consequences which followed 
from the necessary progress of the art of vaulting. 

A new Part of the Society's Transactions is just published, containing 
353 pages and 6 plates. It is intended for the future to publish a Part at 
the end of each term, in order that communications laid before the Socie- 
ty may be given to the world as soon as possible. 

November 30. — The Rev. Dr Turton, the President, in the chair. 

Mr Rothman, of Trinity College, read a notice of an observation of the 
winter solstice at Alexandria, which is recorded in Strabo, and which has 
hitherto not been understood, from its being spoken of by the author as 
an observation of an equinox. 

. Professor Whewell continued the reading of his paper " on the causes 
and characters of pointed architecture;" and explained the influence of the 
pointed arch upon the other members of buildings, through which influ- 
ence the Romanesque style was at last superseded by the very opposite 
forms of the Gothic. It was stated also that the transition from one of 
these styles to the other, which took place in England by means of the 
Early English style, was made in Germany by means of a very different 
one, which may be termed Early German. Of this style the characters 
were given in some detail, and it was remarked that, among these, the in- 
vention of the flying buttress was of as much importance to the complete 
developement of the Gothic style, as that of the pointed arch. 

Observations were also communicated by Mr Millar, of St John's College, 
on the forms and angles of the crystals of boracic-acid, indigo, and borate 
and bicarbonate of ammonia. 

After the meeting. Professor Sedgwick gave an account of the geological 
structure of the Austrian Alps, illustrated by the representation of a sec- 
tion traversing their chain,, and passing from the plains of Bavaria to the 
Gulf of Venice. 



Optics, 181 



Art. XXIL—SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 
I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

OPTICS. 

1. Mr Faraday's Experiments on Flint-Glass for Achromatic Experi-^ 
inents. — A paper by Mr Faraday was read at the Royal Society on the 19th 
November, giving a short account of the experiments made at theexpence 
of government to obtain more perfect glass for optical instruments. The 
paper commenced by stating, that, although glass had been brought to 
ample perfection for domestic purposes, yet for optical instruments it 
was far from being perfect. This fact was too well-known ; and it was a 
singular circumstance, that the first telescope maker (Mr Dollond) had 
not been able to obtain a perfect disc of the circumference of four and a- 
half inches for an achromatic telescope in the last five years, nor one of 
five and a-half inches in the last ten years. The want of an improved 
glass for optical instruments was so much felt, that, in 1825, a committee 
was appointed to make experiments, in order to ascertain if an improvement 
could be made. Flis majesty's government afterwards ordered every 
facihty to be given, and stated, that the expence incurred in the experi- 
ments should be paid out of the treasury. A furnace had been erected in 
the Falcon Glass Works, and subsequently one at the Royal Institution, 
where the experiments had been carried on with the greatest assiduity. 
The paper now read was intended as a summary of these proceedings. 
The experiments gone into were briefly glanced at, and discoveries had 
been made which had brought the manufacture of glass for optical pur- 
poses to nearly a perfect state, the faults so long complained of, viz. of the 
glass being wavy, reely, &c. being remedied to a great extent. The most 
perfect homogeneous glass obtained by these experiments was found to act 
perfectly. The paper went into minor details. The experiments are still 
going on. 

2. Two Large French Achromatic Object-Glasses purchased by Mr 
South. — At a meeting of the Astronomical Society, held on the 13th No- 
vember, the President (Mr South) announced that he had succeeded in 
purchasing two of the largest object-glasses tliat had ever been made. 
One of them is nearly twelve inches in diameter, the other is above thir- 
teen inches. The first of these object-glasses was mounted as a telescope 
at the Royal Observatory at Paris, and the French government had ex- 
pended L. 500 Sterling in the purchase of a stand for it, so colossal are its 
dimensions ; but they were too parsimonious to purchase the object-glass 
itself, which belonged to the opticians who made it. A private individual, 
therefore, has in the meantime stepped in and run away with the prize, 
which the French government affirmed they could not afford to pay for; 
and it is now about to be set up in Mr South's Observatory at Kensington. 
Mr South paid a just tribute of respect to our government, (and particu- 
larly to the Duke of Wellington,) who afforded him every facility for 
bringing these object-glasses into the country, not only free from exaraina, 
tion at the Custom House, but also free from all duty. 



1 82 Scientific Intelligence. 

3. Dispute concerning the Glass of the Great Dorpat Telescope. — M. 
Utzschneider has published a reclamation, denying that the glass of this 
celebrated instrument was made by M. Guinand. The Editor of the Bi- 
bliotheque Universelle, who is particularly charged with having made this 
mistake, refers to this Juvrnal as its authority, viz. No. iv. of our Old 
Series, p. 303, 1825 ; so that the force of M. Utzschneider's complaint is 
directed against us. 

' j;We knew' well that M* Guinand werit to M. Utzschneider's establishment 
at Benedictbaiern near Munich, to communicate his methods, and to put 
them in practice. All this he did ; — and we know, moreover, that he did 
possess the art of making very superior glass, as the report of the Astrono- 
mical Society of London proves. 

With this information we stated, that, by means of glass made by M. 
Guinand's method, M. Fraunhofer constructed achromatic telescopes far 
superior to any hitherto made ; or, if it shall be thought a better interpre- 
tation of our words, we have stated, that, by means of M. Guinand's glass, 
M. Fraunhofer has constructed such telescopes, &c. 

Here there is no statement either direct or implied that the glass of the 
Dorpat telescope was made either by M. Guinand or by his methods, and 
we think that the Editor of the Bibliotheque Universelle has committed an 
oversight in throwing the blame upon us. 

M. Utzschneider, we presume, will not deny our assertion, that M. Fraun- 
hofer did construct superior achromatic telescopes by means of M. Gui- 
nand's glass. 

The following are the passages referred to: '* The great discovery of a me- 
thod of making flint glass in large pieces and perfectly pure, and free froni 
striae, which was made by the late M. Guinand, and of which we have 
^iven a full account in this Number, may be considered as forming an era 
in the history of the Achromatic Telescope. 

*' By means of this glass M. Fraunhofer has constructed achromatic 
telescopes far superior to any that have been hitherto made." — Edin- 
burgh Journal of Science, vol. ii. or No. 4, April 1825, p. 305. 
" i ** Si dans ce meme article, il nous est arrive de citer parmi les produits 
Tdti talent de Mr Guinand, I'objectif du Telescope de Dorpat, ce nest que 
parce que cet olijectiflui a etc aitribue par plusieurs jour naux, en particu- 
lier, par le Journal of Science of Edinburgh. (T. ii. p. 305, 1825.) 
Bibl. Univers. vol. xlii. No. 1, September 1829, page 73. 

II. CHEMISTRY. 

4. Oxygen in Lithia.^^k Russian chemist in Moscow has lately found 
in lithia upwards of 10 per cent, more oxygen than was given by the high- 
est results of Vauquelin, Gmelin, or Arfwedson. By a repetition of his 
iexperimcnts, Berzelius has obtained nearly 55 per cent, for the oxygen in 
this earth. Berzelius supposes this high result to be owing to the great 
purity of the lithia transmitted to him from Moscow. The experiments, 
when published, will be of great interest. J. 

- '^hv thdine and Bromine in Salt Spi'ings and Mineral Waters in Eng- 



Zoology. lai 

land. — Dr Daubeny of Oxford has discovered Iodine in more than one of 
the Cheshire salt springs, and in several waters containing purgative salts^ 
such as those of Cheltenham, Leamington, Gloucester, and Tewkesbury. -. 

He has obtained bromine in a separate state from one of the Cheshire 
brine springs ; and he is of opinion that it is not absent from any of the 
English springs which contain much common salt, except that of Droit-* 
wich in Worcestershire. 

Our countryman MrMurray seems to have preceded Dr Daubeny in these 
discoveries. He long ago discovered iodine in the mineral waters of Chel- 
tenham and Gloucestershire. He also discovered iodine and bromine ia 
the brine springs at Ingestrie six months ago. See his Manual of Expe* 
riments illustrative of Chemical Science. — See Ann. of Phil. September 
and October 1829. 

6. New principle in Albumen. — M. Couerbe has discovered a new 
principle in albumen by exposing to a cold of 32° Fahr., and a few der 
grees below it, concentrated solution of white of egg. At the end of ^ 
month the mass became thicker, and yielded a membranous net-work, 
which is solid, white, translucent, insipid and inodorous, and easily redu- 
ced to powder. That muriatic acid is the best solvent of it, and wheu 
water is added, it becomes of an opaque white, and deposits a powder of a 
very high degree of tenacity. — See Ann. de Chim. vol. xl. p. 323-325. 

7. Jbecomposition of the Carburet of Sulphur by small electric forces. — 
M. Becquerel has succeeded in this experiment. He places in a tube som6 
carburet of sulphur, and above it a solution of nitrate of copper, which 
has a less specific gravity. A plate of copper is then plunged in both li-i 
quids. This assemblage forms a pile. The carburet of sulphur is decom- 
posed, and also a part of the nitrate. There is formed a great quantity oi' 
crystals of the protoxide of copper on the plate of copper, and a depositioii 
of carbon on the sides of the tube in very thin plates having a metallic as- 
pect.— Jw?i. de Chim. Tom. xlii. p. 76. 

III. NATURAL HISTOEY. 
ZOOLOGY. 

8. Notice of the appearance of Fish and Lizards in extraordinary cir- 
cumstances. By Joseph E. Muse. — In the course of the last summer, 1 
ordered a ditch to be cut of large dimensions, on a line of my farm near 
Cambridge : the line was a plane, ten feet above the level of the neigh- 
bouring river, and at least one mile from it, at the nearest point of the line ; 
a portion of the ditch being done, the work was interrupted by rain for 
ten or twelve days ; when the work was resumed, on examining the per- 
formance, I discovered that the rain water which had filled the ditch, 
thus recently cut, contained hundreds of fish, consisting of two kinds of 
perch which are common in our waters, the "sun perch," and the "jack 
perch /' the usual size of the former is from six to twelve inches, the lat- 
ter varies from ten to fifteen inches long ; those in the ditch were from four 
to seven inches. By what possible means could these fish have been tran- 
sported so far from their native waters } There is no water communicalibn 
on the surface lo conduct them there ; the elevation and extent of the plafie 



184 Scientific Intelligence. 

in regard to the rivera, utterly prohibit the idea ; the eggs, if placed there 
by a water-spout, could not have suflPered so rapid a transmigration; no 
such phenomena had been observed, and the adjacency of the line to the 
dwelling, would have rendered the occurrence impossible without notice. 

A similar occurrence a few years ago, I witnessed on the same farm ; in 
a very large ditch, cut on lower lands, on a line equally unconnected with 
any river, pond, or other surface-water, tlicre were, under very similar cir- 
cumstances, numerous perch, which afforded fine angling to my children. 
In a diary which I keep, I have entered, that several of them measured as 
much as twelve inches in length, and that the time since their arrival 
there, could not possibly have exceeded a fortnight. 

While on the subject of mysterious nature, I will introduce, as concisely 
as possible, a case, where she reconciled animals of the coldest and most 
meagre habits, to the enjoyment of the warmth and luxuries of the human 
stomach ; for these facts, though not personally conversant with them, I 
have the authority of a medical gentleman of unquestionable veracity, to 
vouch for their rigid truth. In reply to my request to be informed of the 
habits, food, drink, enjoyment, &c. of the patient, I received the following 
account. " On ray arrival I found that she (the patient) had puked up 
two ground puppies, and was labouring under a violent sick stomach, with 
pain, and syncope: the first was dead when ejected, the second was alive 
when I arrived, and ran about the room ; they were about three inches long. 
She informed me, that on the road that morning she had thrown up two 
others. The case occurred in the summer, and had made gradual progress, 
from the first of April, and as she described it, with a peculiar sickness, 
and frequent sensation of something moving in her stomach; with slight 
pain and loss of appetite, which increased till her illness. She was about 
twenty years of age, and had enjoyed good health. Her employment had 
confined her in the swamp, during the winter and spring, and she had from 
necessity, constantly drunk swamp water." The physician administered 
an emetic in quest of more puppies, but, being disappointed, he gave an 
opiate; she was relieved, finally, and has been since in health. 

These animals have since been shown to me : they are not the ground 
puppy, (gecko,) as they are vulgarly called. They resemble it very much, but 
are easily distinguished from it. They belong to the same genus, (lacerta 
or lizard,) but are of the species " salamander ; " their habitudes too, are 
essentially different. The gecko is found in houses and warm places ; the 
salamander in cold damp places, and shaded swamps, and by the streams of 
meadows ; these animals, though oviparous, hatch their eggs in the belly 
like the viper, and produce about fifty young at a birth. The inference is 
irresistible, that the patient had, in her frequent draughts of swamp water, 
swallowed, perhaps thousands of these animals in their nascent, or most 
diminutive state of existence, and a few only survived the shock ; but it is 
matter of astonishment, that from the icy element in which they had com- 
menced their being, and for which they were constituted by nature, they 
should bear this sudden transportation to a situation so opposite in its cha- 
racter, and grow into vigorous maturity, unannoyed by the active chemical 
and mechanical powers to whose operation they were subjected— >S?7/»wa»*« 
Journal, vol. xvi. No. 1. p. 41. 



Celestial Phenomena^ January — April 1830. 



185 



Art. XXIIL— celestial PHENOMENA, 

From January Ist^ to April 1st, 1830. Adapted to the Meridian of 
Greenwich, Apparent Time, excepting- the Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites, 
which are given in Mean Time. 

N. B. — The clay begins at noon, and the conjunctions of the Moon and 
Stars are given in Right Ascension. 







JANUARY* 


D. 


H. 


M. 


s. 


D. 


H. 


M. 


s. 


18 


14 


21 


enters K 


I 


14 


34 


)) First Quarter. 


19 


13 


33 


116^* t VI'N. 


4 


1 




(Jd"^ . , 


20 


10 


43 


40]) d2/S n ])43'S. 


5 


9 


30 


3 1) 3 1 '^ ^ ]) 51' S. 
31 J c5 2 <r « 5 43' S. 


21 


9 




}) d? 


5 


9 


59 


22 


16 


36 


Eclipsed Invis. 


•5 


14 


69 


34 ^ c5 « « D 35' N. 


22 


16 


36 


New Moon. 


8 


5 




O Full Moon. 


24 






^ Stationary. 


8 


15 


32 


28 


19 


24 


7 ]) d > « ]) 40' N. 


12 


12 




$612^3 TTL 










13 


6 




])d¥ 
42 D d A ]) 25' N. 
9 6 \i^ 








MARCH. 


13 


11 


41 


1 


8 


21 


}) First Quarter. 


14 


1 




4 


17 


43 


39 Im. I. Sat. V 


14 


22 




(^dvTTl 


6 


6 




5 Inf. J 


15 


17 


53 


21 ? 6 9 TIJ ]) 26' N. 


7 


3 


45 


16 


16 


3 


« Last Quarter. 


9 


1 


31 


O Full Moon. Morn. 


16 


17 




^6^n 








eclipsed invisible. 


18 


19 


54 


20 )) d > =^ D 8' N. 


10 






^ Greatest Elong. 


19 


23 


41 


enters cr/i 


»ll 


8 


21 


36 ]) d 9 ^ D 39' N. 


24 


4 


54 


A New Moon. 


12 


6 




6^^ t 


26 


7 




¥60 


•12 


17 


24 


26 D d * nj D 43: N. 
'U6^ t 


27 






9 Greatest Klong. 


14 






30 


22 


47 


]) First Quarter. 


*14 
16 


11 


20 


23 ]) d > =^ )) 21' N. 
6 6o t 






FEBRUARY. 


17 


5 


36 


(T Last Quarter. 
^6% 


* 1 


13 


43 


35 J d > « ]) 47' N. 


19 






2 






Q Stationary. 


20 


14 


32 


enters 'Y* 


3 


12 


45 


hc?0 


24 


2 


24 


New Moon. Sun 


7 


7 


42 


O Full Moon. 








eclipsed invisible. 


7 


8 


40 


26 ]) d 1 ^ D 33' N. 


25 


16 


55 


4 Em. IIL Sat. y 


10 







^ d B. Oph. 


27 






2 Stationary. 


10 


7 


16 


31 D d /2 ^ D 13' s. 


27 


2 




$d9«5 


11 


11 


30 


8 Inf. d 

20 ]) d » TIJ ]) 40' N. 


*28 
28 


3 

4 


14 

28 


51 D d > « ]) 4F N. 
48 5 d 1 *'' « D 67' S» 
24 J d 2 ci" d }) 59' S. 


13 


10 


28 


14 






d Stationary. 


28 


4 


57 


16 


12 


28 


^ Last Quarter. 


*28 


9 


49 


21 ft d « « ]) 19' N. 


16 


6 


47 


22 ]) d <> Oph. ]) 6' S. 


30 


18 


58 


) First Quarter. 


17 


18 




59 Ini. III. Sat. ^ 











Time;? of the Planets passing the Meridian. 
JANUARY. 



Mercury. 



Venus. 



Mars. 



Jupiter. Saturn. Georgian. 



D. 


h 


/ 


h. 


/ 


h 


/ 


h 


' 


h 


' 


h 


' 


1 





20 


3 


15 


20 


36 


23 


9 


14 


31 


1 


43 


7 





37 


3 


9 


20 


26 


22 


48 


14 


3 


1 


20 


13 





53 


3 


2 


20 


17 


22 


28 


13 


36 





59 


19 


1 


6 


2 


52 


20 


8 


22 


8 


13 


8 





29 


25 


1 


13 


2 


41 


19 


59 


21 


49 


12 


41 

hnrw it 





5 



186 Mr Marshall's Meteorological Observations 









FEBRUARY. 












D. 


h ' 


h ' 


h ' 


h 


' 


h 


' 




h ' 


1 


1 3 


2 24 


19 50 


21 


27 


12 


10 




23 39 


7 


31 


2 6 


19 43 


21 


8 


11 


44 




23 4 


13 


23 34 


1 44 


19 37 


20 


49 


U 


19 




22 49 


19 


22 53 


1 18 


19 31 


20 


31 


10 


54 




22 29 


25 


22 28 


6 


19 26 


20 


13 


10 


29 




22 5 








MARCH. 












1 


22 20 


23 


19 23 


20 


8 


10 


13 




21 53 


7 


2 17 


23 41 


19 18 


1 19 


43 


9 


49 




21 33 


13 


22 20 


23 7 


19 13 


19 


25 


9 


26 




21 11 


19 


22 28 


22 37 


19 9 


19 


6 


9 


3 




20 50 


25 


22 39 


22 13 


19 4 


18 


48 


8 


40 




20 29 






Declination oj 


fthe Planets 
















JANlj 


FARY. 












Mercury. 


Venus. 


Mars. 


Jupiter. 


Saturn. 




Georgian. 


D. 


o / 


o / 


o / 


o / 




' 




o 


/ 


I 


24 37 S. 


13 9S. 


18 5S. 


23 15 


S. 


16 38N 


'. 


19 


37 S. 


7 


23 U 


10 34 


19 6 


23 15 




16 46 




19 


31 


13 


20 54 


7 56 


20 1 


23 14 




16 54 




19 


27 


19 


17 43 


5 20 


20 51 


23 13 




17 3 




19 


22 


25 


14 3 


2 49 


21 35 


23 11 




17 12 




19 


16 


iH- 






FEBRl 


QARY. 












«]. 1 


10 2fiS. 


8S. 


22 18 S. 


23 8S. 


17 23K 


[. 


19 


10 S. 


7 


9 30 


1 49 N. 


22 48 


23 4 




17 32 




19 


4 


13 


10 58 


3 20 


23 11 


23 1 




17 41 




19 





19 


13 16 


4 15 


23 28 


22 56 




17 49 




18 


55 


25 


14 55 


4 24 


23 37 
MAI 


22 52 
ICH. 




17 57 




18 


49 


1 


15 25 S. 


4 6N. 


23 40 S. 


22 48 S. 


18 2N 


'. 


18 


47 S. 


7 


15 19 


2 52 


23 38 


22 44 




18 9 




18 


41 


13 


14 14 


1 UN. 


23 29 


22 39 




18 15 




18 


37 


19 


12 18 


38 S. 


23 13 


22 39 




18 19 




18 


34 


25 


9 32 


2 13 


22 51 


22 30 




18 23 




18 


28 



The preceding numbers will enable any person to find the positions of 
the planets, to lay them down upon a celestial globe, and to determine 
their times of rising and setting. 

Art. XXIV. — Summary of Meteorological Observations made at Kendal 
in September, October, and November 1829. By Mr Samuel Marshall. 
Communicated by the Author. 
State of the Barometer, Thermometer, S^c. in Kendal for September 1829. 

Barometer. Inches. 

Maximum on the 30th, . . _ 30.04 

Minimum on the 14th, - - - 29.06 

Mean height, .... 29.55 

Thermometer. 
Maximum on the 2d, - - . 67-5° 

Minimum on the 20th, - - - 35° 

Mean height, _ . - . 50.30° 

Quantity of rain, 5.243 inches. 
Nimiber of rainy days, 22. 
Prevalent wind, west. 



made at Kendal in Sept Oct. and Nov. 1829. 38^ 

The barometer has generally been much depressed during this months 
and the mean is seldom so much below the average. The weather has 
been uncertain and subject to sudden changes from the prevalence of 
showers which have often occurred very unexpectedly. Though the ther- 
mometer has not yet been so low as the freezing point in the valley, the 
higher grounds have frequently been covered with hoar frost in the niorn- 
ings. The quantity of rain for the year is still below the average. Tjiough 
the most prevalent wind has been the west, we have had freqi^ent winds 
from the north, which has made the air cool. 

October. 

Barometer. Inches. 

Maximum on the 27th, - . - 30 20 

Minimum on the 5th, - - . 29.28 

Mean height, .... 29.78 

Thermometer. 
Maximum on the 3d and 5th, - - 57* 

Minimum on the 23d, . - . . 30.6* 

Mean height, _ - . . . 45.0)5° 

Quantity of rain, 6.684 inches. 
Number of rainy days, 19. 
Prevalent wind, west. 
About the middle of the month, or from the 9th to the 23d, we had 
very heavy rains. On the I4th, 2.533 inches were measured, which fell 
within the preceding twenty-four hours, the greatest quantity taken at 
once within the last seven years. The highest flood known for the last 
quarter of a century succeeded the heavy rain on this day. The thermo- 
meter has been but three times below the freezing point during the month, 
and the barometer has been mostly high. On the 7th snow was observed 
on the neighbouring hills for the first time this season. At half past ten 
o'clock on the evening of the 25th, the Aurora Borealis was observed in 
five distinct streaks of light parallel to each other, the lowest about 30° 
above the horizon, and crossing the magnetic meridian at right angles. 

IVovember 

Barometer. Inches. 

Maximum on the 1 7th, - . - 30.23 

Minimum on the 4th, ... 29.44 

Mean height, .... 29.80 

Thermometer. 
Maximum on the 13th, ... 52° 

Minimum on the 19th, - - .26 

Mean height, ... - 39.20 

Quantity of rain, 3.855 inches. 
Number of rainy days, 15. 
Prevalent wind, west. 

From the beginning of the month to the 15th the weather was wet and 
unsettled. Since that time, though very little rain has fallen, it has been 
dull, cloudy, and more frosty. There has been more uniformity in the 
meteorological appearances of this month than is generally the case at this 
season of the year. 



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THE 
EDINBURGH 

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 



Art. I.— ^ Visit to Berzelim. By James F. W. Johnston, 
A. M. Communicated by the Author. 

Among the elder chemists of this age, who, taking up the 
science of chemistry in its youth, have presided over and 
guided its advance to manhood, Davy, WoUaston, and Thom- 
son in our own country, Gay-Lussac in France, and Berzehus 
in Sweden, have deservedly attained the first rank. Many 
others have trodden hard upon their steps, even in experi- 
mental research ; — while Dal ton, standing almost aloof from 
experiment, has at once, by the mere force of thought, con- 
ceived and digested a theory of chemical combination, which 
manipulation, by its patient investigations, is every day con- 
firming, — securing to liimself, thus, in the history of the 
science, a place, perhaps higher, certainly apart from that of 
his more laborious contemporaries ; — yet still in our time most 
chemists look up to one or other of those men as the most ar- 
dent and successful promoters of their favourite pursuit. 

Davy's career was a bright and dazzling one ; pity his sun 
should have set in comparative obscurity ! Wollaston died 
as he lived, bearing to his grave the honours and rewards of 
indefatigable devotion to science. Of those who yet remain to 
us, Gay-Lussac has run undoubtedly a brilliant course ; but 
his star has been periodical, and has burned occasionally with 
a flickering and unsteady light. He is a learned and skilful 

NEW SERIES, VOL, II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. N 



190 Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius. 

and accurate chemist ; but his whole life is not in his science. 
He is a man of the world as well as a philosopher. He can 
leave his laboratory to partake in the trifling pursuits of other 
men, and thus it is but at times that he labours. Yet is high 
and deserved respect due to him ; and what Byron said of 
Campbell, may with equal justice be said of him, — " he is one 
of those Jew men who have written too little.'''' 

There remain but two individuals of those I have mention- 
ed, — unlike in many things, yet deserving to be named toge- 
ther as persons to whom chemistry is as their '' meat and 
drink," and as the founders of two schools of pains-taking and 
laborious men. Of one of these, Thomson, I had seen and 
known much ; and the high respect with which he always 
spoke of Berzelius, was not the least of the many circumstan- 
ces which strengthened the desire I had long entertained of 
seeing the father of analytical chemistry. I am induced to 
publish this account of my visit to him, under the persuasion, 
that any thing, however imperfect, concerning so highly es- 
teemed a chemist, cannot fail to be interesting to scientific 
men. 

I reached Stockholm on the 6th September, and on the 
following morning walked down to the Academy buildings in 
the Stora ny Gatan^ to wait upon Berzelius. I found him in 
his study, busy writing for the new edition of his chemistry. 
On announcing my name, he did not wait for my letters of in- 
troduction, but at once gave me a kind and hearty welcome. 
I had not formed any very definite idea of his appearance, yet 
I was a little taken by surprise when I first saw him ; and I 
fe^r IVas almost guilty of rudeness, by the fixed and earnest 
manner with which I contemplated his features during the 
whole of my first visit. Berzelius has not perhaps a handsome 
face, but his features are delicate, and their expression en- 
tirely pleasing. That of his mouth is very pecuhar, and in- 
dicative, in a high degree, of good humour and good nature. 
There is a portrait of him engraved at Berlin, in which this 
expression is remarkably well preserved. Busts in porcelain, 
and medallions in cast iron, are also made at Berlin, in which 
the likeness is sufficiently striking. 

Berzelius is now about fifty years of age, of the middle 



Mt J ohmioi\''s Visit to Ber melius. }d\ 

height, and slightly inclined to corpulency. lii a man <>f 
great name, one, foolishly perhaps, yet naturally, looks for 
something correspondent in external appearance. Berzelius 
has none of this, — ;nothing either natural or assumed to dis- 
tinguish him from other every-day men. He has nothing of 
pretence, reserve, or singularity about him, so that his plain- 
ness drew from a fellow-traveller of mine whom he allowed me 
to introduce to him, the observation," I would never have 
thought him the great man he is said to be." He has nothing 
even of the hard student in his appearance ; and, on a first in^ 
troduction, one would scarcely suppose he was the same Ber- 
zelius of whose '' sayings and doings'" he had heard so much. 
He is of an exceedingly pleasing disposition, and gentlemanly 
manners ; and, on a longer acquaintance, one cheerfully falls 
in with the general opinion, that if he differ at all from other 
men, it is in being more amiable. His attention to strangers, 
and particularly to foreigners, is always great ; and, from his 
kindness to myself, I might perhaps have been suspected of 
expressing myself too strongly as to his amiable manners, had 
I not been confirmed in my opinion of him by that of many 
others, as well Swedes as foreigners, whom I met in the course 
of my tour. " You will find him,*" said they to me before I 
reached Stockholm, and after I left it, " Did you not find him, 
an exceedingly attentive and amiable man." 

The Academy of Sciences, of which Berzelius is perpetual 
secretary, and in the buildings belonging to which he has his 
residence and private laboratory, has lately purchased a larger 
and more commodious house, and all things were in the act of 
removal at the time of my visit. I came therefore at an in- 
convenient time both for seeing Berzelius, and for profiting by 
access to his laboratory. His former laboratory was dis- 
mantled, and his new one still in a state of imperfection, so 
that what he couid then find time to do was chiefly in the way 
of writing. Still he with great kindness set about getting his 
laboratory in order, proposed that we should make a set of ex- 
periments together, — a highly flattering way of giving me the 
opportunity for which I had come to Stockholm of seeing his 
mode of operating, and, if possible, of picking up something 
that might hereafter be useful to myself. In the course of 



19^ Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius, 

these experiments he was open with every thing, anxious io 
explain every minute circumstance necessary to the attainment 
of precise results, and in the most familiar way to make me 
acquainted with all the little contrivances experience had 
shown him to be useful in the prosecution of analytical inves- 
tigations. " Come,'' he would say, " while this process is 
going on, I will show you two or three little things that you 
may find it convenient to know." And it was the same every 
day ; so that, independent of the instruction I gained, the time 
also passed most pleasantly. And then, when we were not 
engaged in the laboratory, he would show me his minerals or 
his preparations, of both of which he possesses many rarities, — 
or point out to me the results of foreign chemists on some sub- 
ject we had been talking of,—- or assist me in translating the 
passage if I found it obscure, — or himself translate whole 
pages to me from an author I could not understand. 

Berzelius used formerly to have private working-pupils, a 
practice he has now discontinued. Their number, however, 
was always small ; so that in the whole of Sweden there are 
only eight or nine who have enjoyed that advantage, and in 
Germany there may be as many more. He is always willing, 
however, to receive visitors into his laboratory, and to teach 
them those resources which his long experience has made 
known to him. 

It is interesting to learn the first steps of an eminent man in 
his own favourite track. Berzelius had gone to Upsala to 
study medicine as a profession, and among other branches, of 
course applied himself to chemistry. Afzelius, who is still a 
professor in Upsala, and his adjunct, Ekeberg, had charge of 
the chemical prelections and experiments. It was then the 
custom, as I believe it still is at Upsala, Stockholm, Lund, 
and Copenhagen, that, besides the public lectures, the students 
were permitted to attend the laboratory and ojperate, under cer- 
tain restrictions. At that period each student could demand 
an operation once a week. Berzelius, like the rest, went to 
the laboratory soon after he had commenced his chemical 
course, and asked for an operation. The first that was given 
him was to form colcothar of vitriol, (crocus martis,) by heat- 
ing sulphate of iron in a crucible. ". Well," says he, " every 



Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius. 193 

^erv'ant can do this. If this be all I am to learn, I may as 
well stay away." — " Oh but," replied Afzelius, " your next 
operations will be more difficult." Accordingly, when he 
asked for a second operation, he was instructed to prepare 
caustic potash, by burning cream of tartar in a crucible. 
" This so disgusted me," says Berzelius, " that I vowed I 
would never ask for another operation. Still I frequented 
the laboratory, and at the end of three weeks found myself 
attending regularly every day, though I had no right to do 
so, and Afzelius could have turned me out. Yet I was allow- 
ed to return and operate, and break much glass, while Eke- 
berg, especially, was exceedingly annoyed that I never asked 
a single question ; for," he adds, " I liked better to seek for 
information from reading and thinking and experimenting, 
than from men, who, having little practical experience them- 
selves, gave me, if not evasive, at least unsatisfactory answers 
regarding phenomena they had never themselves observed." 
Chemistry at that time was at so low an ebb, that nobody 
thought of studying it for its own sake. Yet in this way, led 
on by an increasing interest in the pursuit, did Berzelius, while 
at Upsala, lay the foundation of that high name in the chemi- 
cal world to which he has since attained. This short account, 
which I had from himself, throws much light on the sources of 
his distinction. In that ardour and perseverance which led 
him on, fighting single handed with all his difficulties, we see 
a sure foundation of future eminence — in his continued ex- 
perimenting the origin of that extensive knowledge of facts and 
phenomena for which he is now so remarkable, — and in his 
being driven thus early to his own resources, the commence- 
ment of those habits of close-thinking which pervade all his 
chemical writings. 

After leaving the university, he was appointed assistant to 
Sparrman, the same who had sailed with Captain Cook, 
and who was at that time professor in the School of Medicine 
at Stockholm. On the death of Sparrman in 1806, he suc- 
ceeded to his chair. At this time there were only three por- 
fessors in the *School of Medicine, so that the load devolving 
upon each was very great The profession of Berzelius in- 



.J94 Mr Johnston'^ VUU to Befzdius. 

eluded medicine, botany, and chemical pharmacy. * At a 
later period, four more professorships were, instituted, and 
that of chemical pharmacy became the branch of Berzelius. 
As matters formerly stood, though entitled professor of bo- 
tany, he never gave lectures on that science, at least in Stock- 
holm. To the cadets of the Military College of Carlberg, 
near Stockholm, he formerly gave lessons on this subjecL On 
medicine alone he lectured for two years, after which time he 
commenced, also a chqmiqal course. His medical prelections 
.were always well attended — his chemical in former times very 
indifferently, and for a very sufficient reason. It was the cus- 
t9m in Stockholm, as it still is at Upsala, to give dry lectures 
on chemistry without experiments, than which scarcely any 
thing can be more tiresome and uninteresting. " I knew not 
how to set about them,'\says Berzelius: " and it was not till 
1812 when I was in London, that Dr Marcet took me several 
times to his lectures, and gave me besides a copy of the list of 
experiments for his course by which to regulate my own. This 
list I improved and augmented so much, that when I after- 
wards met Dr Marcet at Geneva, he took a copy of mine, and 
since that time it has been copied and re-copied by different 
persons, perhaps fifty or sixty times, and each varies or aug- 
ments it in something." The addition of experimental illus- 
trations soon gave the chemical the superiority over the medi- 
cal classes in public estimation, so that while in Stockholm 
the medical lectures are but thinly attended, those on chemis- 
try obtain a well filled auditory. My visit to Berzelius was 
during the summer vacation, so that I had not the pleasure of 
hearing him lecture ; but as he delivers them either extempore 
.,opr merely from notes, I should think they must be very inte- 

* How many branches are still taught by one person in some of the 
foreign universities may be seen by the following announcement in the 
*•' Catalogus Lectionum " of the university of Upsala, for the season com- 
mencing in October 1829. Adamus Afzclius, Med. Doctor. Phil. Magis- 
ter, Materiae Mcdicaj et Dietetica' Professor Reg. et Extraord. Atque Fa- 
cultatis Mcdicffi Adsessor, hoc Anno Praelectionibus publicis, in Auditorio 
Medico Hora IV habcndis, Diacteticam Semestri praeterito inchoatam 
praelcgerc perget ; privatim vero, in suis Aedibus, Semestri autumnali 
Medicamenta simi)licia monstrabit, et vernali Elementa tradet Materise 
Mcdica,', cum Zoologica, tum Botanica. 



Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius, 1D5 

resting. " You cannot expect to interest people in such things," 
he would say, '' unless you personally address them ; reading 
does not instruct them so effectually." ;j1i 

Berzelius has had a long and splendid chemical career, and 
his personal appearance seems to promise yet a long continu- 
ance of his valuable life. He is troubled at times by the gout, 
and by a disease resembling the tic douloureux, which af- 
fects him with violent pains in the head, but his ordinary state 
is that of good health. No man living has done so much for 
chemistry as he has done, and none can turn to better pur- 
pose whatever years may yet be spared to him. The loss 
which England sustained so lately of three of her most emi- 
nent scientific men in the short space of six months, makes us 
tremble for the lives of those who are still left to us abroad. 

Though in good health, and apparently strong, Berzelius 
complains of the approach of age. For two or three years he 
has been unable to read well without spectacles, and he speaks 
of a change in his memory. " Formerly, " says he, " one 
reading of a scientific paper made me master of its contents, 
now I must read it twice ; and while formerly I knew what 
was in every glass around me though they stood for months 
unlabelled, now I must label each, or I immediately forget 
what it contains.*" If any man has a right to retire from ac- 
tive life it is Berzelius, but this fortunately for science he can- 
not do. His nature commands him to seek employment, and 
it will only be with his life that he can cease to be active. 

Though, therefore, in consequence of what he considers as 
symptoms of the approach of old age, he retire this winter 
from the duties of professor in favour of his assistant, Dr Mo- 
sander, science, it is to be ho^ed, will only gain by the ar- 
rangement. His time will be more entirely at his own dis- 
posal, and his chemical investigations more undisturbed. He 
still retains the office of Secretary to the Academy of Sciences, 
and has apartments and a laboratory in the buildings which 
belong to it. For another year he remains titular professor, 
when he proposes to resign the title also to Mosander. "He 
is better quahfied for the office than myself," says Berzelius 
with his usual candour, " for, besides his scientific education, he 
has also spent his youth in an apothecary's shop, and beirig, as 



106 Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius, 

professor of pharmacy, the surveyor and controller of all the 
apothecaries in the kingdom, it is better he should know all 
their tricks."" 

Berzelius is a man of incessant application, being employed 
almost every day for twelve or fourteen hours. Yet for all 
he has done as an experimental chemist he does not work in 
his laboratory without intermission. Sometimes when engag- 
ed in writing he does not work in it for months. If in writing, 
as he has been much lately for the new edition of his chemis- 
try, he meet with any subject which seems darker than usual, 
he quits his pen, betakes himself to his laboratory, and there, 
from six or seven in the morning to perhaps ten at night, he 
continues his investigations day after day till he has removed 
the obscurity as far as possible to his own satisfaction, when 
he returns again to his writing. This was the case with his 
late experiments on Indigo, which were undertaken solely for 
the new edition now publishing at Paris. 

For this alternate writing and experimenting the arrange- 
ment of his apartments is admirably adapted. A suite of three 
rooms on one floor form his laboratory and study, while his 
dwelling-house is above. His study is his sitting-room, in it 
he receives his morning visitors, and, being unmarried, he has 
few calls to leave it ; while his apparatus being all arranged at 
the distance of a few yards, he can at any time commence a 
series of experiments without the loss of a single moment. 
Thus he is enabled to husband his time, and by turning every 
hour to the best advantage to make them doubly valuable. 
His library, his writing-table, his re-agents, and his furnaces, 
all are collected into one convenient space, uniting together 
the records of old investigation and the means of new disco- 
very. 

Perhaps I shall not be thought tiresome if I attempt a short 
description of this interesting locality. The stranger in Stock- 
holm bends his way along the Droit ning Gatan^themost fashion- 
able part of the city, till he comes to the KungsbacJca, and the 
cross street called Kyrho Gatan, at the head of which stands the 
church of Adolph Frederick. The corner house in this street 
is Westmanska huset, the large building lately purchased by 
the Academy. Entering from Drottning Gatan, he ascends 



Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius.. 19T 

two short flights of siairs, when he finds a door facing him*,* 
If he knock he may receive no answer, or at most a simple^ 
" Kom in ;" his safest way therefore will be to enter, and, lest 
he should be afraid of intruding, he will hear a little bell giv- 
ing notice of his entrance. The room in which he now finds 
himself, he will immediately discover, by various significant 
implements which stare him in the face on every side, to be 
part and parcel of a chemical laboratory. I suppose him to 
be something of a chemist, an amateur at least, from his taking 
the pains to follow all these directions ; but should he not, or 
should he be of delicate nerves, he need not run away at the 
sight of these chemical tools, in apprehension of the various 
sweet smells which often render laboratories so attractive to 
strangers. They are here all carefully got rid of by ventila- 
tion, and even though he see processes going on, he may yet 
proceed boldly forward. On his right hand, while still near 
the door, he will see, carefully adjusted by the window, a mer- 
curial trough of stone, with 100 pounds of mercury dazzling 
in the sun. On his left, a trap staircase leading to the floor 
above, and near it some of the viler apparatus, such as con- 
tain water and other slops. Going forward, let him deviate a 
little to the left to avoid coming in contact with a table which 
stands between the windows, and projects to a considerable 
distance into the room. If he stop a moment at the end of 
this table, and cast his eye to the right, he will see near the 
second window a small porcelain table with raised edges, and 
probably some glasses standing upon it, denoting that some 
experiment is, or has been lately going on, while against the 
wall on one side of the window,, he will observe a small oil 
lamp by Knight, of Foster Lane, burning probably with the 
Sprutjlaska suspended over it, and on a shelf on the other 
side various little contrivances for facilitating the disposition of 
apparatus for the purpose of experiment. Bringing back his 
eye over the blowpipe, its huge lamp and its fragments of 
glass, he may glance in passing at the sand-bath and heating 
arrangements. He will see here no built up or brick furna- 
ces ; these are well enough for essaying or for carrying on che- 
mical investigations by wholesale, as is;^ somewhat the fashion 
now a days, but they are too vulgar implements for the pur- 



198 Mr Johnston''s Visit to Benselius. 

poses of really refined analy^s. On a brick hearth raised 
three feet from the floor, and covered at the height of three 
or four more for the purpose of carrying off the fumes, stands 
a small sand bath heated by a charcoal fire, and a little iron 
fiimace with perforations for tubes, muffles, &c. These are 
all he will see in the shape of furnaces ; but if an experiment 
be in process, he will probably notice upon this hearth a neat 
arrangement of bottles and tubes, stimulated to action in their 
inward parts by the heat of a large spirit lamp, such as the 
coffee-drinkers of Paris use for boiling their morning be- 
verage. 

But before this time he has been looking to the left, where 
the view opens through a doorless doorway into the second 
chamber, and his eyes have rested on a glass-casfe standing 
upon the table right before him. He may walk forward and 
examine it. It is the balance. How much light has that little 
machine scattered over every department of nature ! how many 
phenomena has it explained ! how many hidden truths has it 
made known ! how many disputes too has it settled, — how 
many hypotheses overthrown, — how much ingenuity scattered 
to the winds. Who in former times could have imagined that 
the determination of abstract truth and the developement of 
the laws of nature woidd ever come to be referred to the os- 
cillations of those two unstable arms ? But regard that balance 
with earnest attention, for it has wrought mighty service in 
the cause of science. That mode of raising up and resting 
the arms and scales, is a contrivance of the late Assessor Gahn, 
whose ingenuity in these matters has been so justly praised. 
The merit of first making the scales loose, and resting them 
on knife edges, — an invention which Berzelius praises much, 
without knowing to whom to attribute it, is due to the cele- 
brated Mr Cavendish. His balance, which came into the pos- 
session of Sir Humphrey Davy, and by him was given to Mr 
Children, is fitted up in this way ; yet no one thought it of any 
consequence till Mr Robertson of Devonshire Street, Portland 
Place, saw the merit of it, and by adopting it, has brought his 
balances to that high degree of perfection for which they are so 
highly esteemed by those who are fortunate enough to possess 
them. Mark one other thing in that balance which lessens 



Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelitis. 199 

the labour of weighing much ; each arm is divided into ten 
equal parts. It is the principle of- the steelyard first applied 
to the common balance by Gahn, so that, when you come near 
the equipoise, you can balance completely, and estimate your 
weight to the most minute fraction, without changing your 
weight, simply by moving your last millegramme backwards 
or forwards on the arm. Those leaden weights in the drawer 
are likewise intended to abridge labour. 'They are ^xact coun- 
terpoises for all his crucibles and other small platinum vessels, 
so that any of them may be balanced almost immediatelyr 
Open also those little boxes, and in the more or le^s minute 
portions of gum lac attached to the weights, you will see evi- 
dence of that nice adjustment without which the indications of 
the most perfect balance were useless. Round this room are 
arranged sets of drawers and glass-cases, containing apparatus, 
tests and chemical preparations, all set aside and arranged with 
the firreatest order and neatness. That other table beside the 
window is fitted up for researches with the mouth blowpipe, on 
which Berzelius has written so able a work. 

Turn now to the left, and through another doorway behold 
him whom you have sought in vain in the two other apart- 
ments. That is Berzelius. He is busy writing ; his table cover- 
ed with journals, and his shelves groaning with books. You 
see that little cabinet on his left. In the drawers of that little 
cabinet are contained all his rarest chemical substances and 
compounds, his Rhodium, Osmium, Selenium and their pre- 
parations; his Fluorides, his Salts of Lithia, Yttria, Thorina, 
with many other choice combinations to be met with no where 
else, all of which he will not fail to show you — of some you 
may even hope to become possessor. Now you may walk 
forward and introduce yourself, secure of a welcome recep- 
tion. ^Q 

Every thing in Berzelius's laboratory speaks of neatneJsSy 
cleanliness and order. No bottles or dirty vessels scattered 
about ; every thing is put away in its place ready to be laid 
hold of when wanted. His arrangements for experiment are 
of the simplest and neatest kind, and lie has many little ma- 
chines for facilitating these arrangements, the merit of all 



1 



IM^t Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius, 

of which he gives at once to the late Assessor Gahn. The 
execution at least is his own, for his own turning-lathe, and 
his own tools, make all his contrivances in wood. Through 
his whole laboratory indeed, may be seen marks of that same 
scrupulous nicety which have made his analytical determina- 
tions so valuable. In Sweden they have the benefit of glass 
free from lead, and of a filtering paper made expressly for the 
purpose, and unequalled in the world. It is made in winter, 
and being hung up to dry in a frosty atmosphere, the water 
freezes and makes it porous, so that while it is sufficiently close 
to retain all undissolved matter, liquids pass through with 
great rapidity. Its excellence, and the recommendation of the 
Swedish chemists, have brought it into great request, and much 
of it is in consequence exported. It contains no soluble mat- 
ter, and leaves only 1-6000 of its weight of ashes. The usual 
mode employed by Berzelius is to weigh his filter, and after 
collecting his precipitate to burn it, allowing 1-6000 for the 
weight of the ashes. A slight error here in the weight of the 
filter it will be seen cannot afl]ect the result. He condemns 
the mode of double filters unqualifiedly. It was formerly his 
own way of operating, and he cannot bear that others should 
follow a method he has long given up for its inaccuracy. De- 
cantation he never employs, but collects always his precipitates 
on the filter. For washing them he uses commonly the Sprut 
Jlaska (squirt flask) with warm water. This is infinitely better 
than the flask with cold water, inasmuch as it keeps up a con- 
stant stream without the trouble of blowing into it, and at the 
same time, serves all the purposes of the syringe recommended 
by Faraday. If the aperture be small enough, there is not 
the slightest risk of loss from little drops or sparkles flying off\ 
While on the subject of manipulation, I may mention a method 
of pouring which I learned also from Berzelius, and which 
has many advantages over the rod. It is simply to touch 
the edge of the glass at the spot to be poured from with a 
little grease. The end of a candle does very well, or a bit of 
tallow made into that shape, and covered with a small case to 
prevent its soiling the fingers. By the use of this precaution 
liquids may be poured with ease even from a wide mouthed 
ye^5^1 withoiit. the loss of a drop. 



Mr Johnston's i^isit to Ber%eliuS. 201 

Of Berzelius as a chemical philosopher, there is but one 
opinion. He unites the three great requisites, patient in- 
dustry, clear thinking, and dextrous manipulation; and the 
scientific journals of the last twenty years, contain ample 
proofs of the able manner in which they have been exercised. 
In regard to some of his peculiar views, there is a difference 
of opinion among chemists, but almost all that makes them 
peculiar may be traced to his excessive caution, — a fault which, 
in a science depending upon experiment, though it sometimes 
retards the acknowledgment of a true theory, will rarely lead 
to error. When he began his labours at Upsala, the whole 
science was a mass of crude theories soldered together, when- 
ever a flaw appeared, by some new fancy more ingenious than 
the rest. These he found to be the greatest obstacles in his 
way, and hence probably it is that he has all his life long set 
himself against the spirit of theorizing, which, usurping the 
place of true philosophy, had built hypotheses upon hypotheses, 
and called the result a science. Even now he perhaps under- 
values something too much a merely theoretical paper ; but 
this propensity is attended by one advantage, that when Ber- 
zelius adopts such a notion, it is certain there are very good 
grounds for it indeed. 

In the North of Europe he is better known than in Britain, 
his name standing above that of every other chemist, and his 
authority on all subjects connected with chemistry having little 
less than the force of a law. How high he ranks in Germany, 
in particular, may be inferred from the fact that, in a late His^ 
tory of the Devil^ of which so njany are published in that 
country, one of the main inducements his Satanic majesty is 
represented as holding out to a convert still half- doubtful of sell- 
ing himself, is, that he will make him a Berzelius. The cause 
of this high respect is probably to be found in their wider ac- 
quaintance with his works, all his papers and works being pub- 
lished in German, either directly by himself or through the 
medium of others. It is a pity that the professedly chemical 
journals in this country should pay so little attention to those 
pubhshed in Germany. The editors of these journals are inde- 
fatigable ; they permit nothing to escape them. 

But besides his distinction abroad and among men of science 



Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius. 

in genei-al, he has the singular good fortune to be if possible 
still more highly esteemed at home. The honours which his 
labours have merited, his amiable manners have disposed every 
one to heap unanimously upon him, so that almost every edu- 
cated Swede will tell you he is proud of him. On this sub- 
ject men of all parties agree, unless a solitary exception to this 
otherwise universal opinion may be found in the members of 
the rival medical school at Upsala, who are said not to speak 
of him at all times in the very highest terms. Conversing one 
day of Berzehus with a distinguished opposition leader in the 
Swedish house of Peers, " I know him," he said, " and esteem 
him, and as a Swede am proud of him. He differs from me 
in politics, always voting for ministers when he comes to the 
house ; but he treats all parties with great respect, and then 
he holds no pension, — so that with all his claims upon my re- 
gard, I know of nothing that should diminish the very high 
respect I entertain for him."" On another occasion, speaking 
to a gentleman in Stockholm of the works and mines I thought 
of visiting in different parts of Sweden, he remarked of cer- 
tain proprietors, that they were shy in admitting strangers, 
but added, " a word from Berzelius will open to you every 
door in Sweden.'"* Though a member of the house of Peers 
and an elector, Berzelius takes little share in political affairs, 
and hence avoids all contact with party spirit, which prevails 
in Sweden as in other countries. 

The King of Sweden has not been slow in bestowing suit- 
able marks of distinction upon one whom the general voice 
had already pointed out as most worthy. He has conferred 
upon him the cross of the order of Vasa and the grand cross 
of the Polar star, besides the almost entire patronage of the 
chemical and medical chairs in Sweden, whenever he chooses to 
interfere or to recommend. This influence he exercises in the 
most liberal manner, for if there be any trait in his character 
for which he is more remarkable than another, it is his zeal in 
the cause of science. He will do much to secure to it a faith- 
ful and laborious cultivator. Of one individual to whom he 
had procured a chemical chair, but who for several years had 
done nothing, he said to me " He makes many excuses of his 
want of time, but I told him it was easy to see he did not need to 



Mr Johnston's Visit to JBerzelius, 203 

work ; those who need to work always find time." Another day 
speaking of a young English gentleman who had been intror 
duced to him, and to whom he had promised letters, but who 
had gone without receiving them, — " I am sorry he should 
not have called, for I had so little opportunity of conversing 
with or paying him any attention when I formerly saw him ; 
lie is young, rich, has plenty of time, and with his taste for 
science he might perhaps do something." 

Thus honoured and esteemed, it may easily be supposed 
that Berzelius has many visitors and correspondents. Besides 
formal visitors, his friends and colleagues often drop familiarly 
in upon him ; but it is only in the case of particular individuals 
that he intermits his occupations, so that he enjoys society and 
advances his labours at one and the same time. His corre- 
spondence, which, partly no doubt from his situation as secre- 
tary to the academy, but chiefly from his celebrity, is very 
great, takes up much of his time. Thirty or forty letters in a 
week are no unusual quantity, but every thing goes on quickly 
with him. He composes and converses at the same time, and 
is little interrupted in writing his papers, his books, or his 
letters, bv the presence and conversation of his many visitors. 
A gentleman who lately arranged his letters, told me he had 
upwards of 200 correspondents, and these not in his own de- 
partment merely, but having among them such persons as 
Madame de Stael, Goethe, Prince Metternich, the ministers of 
Prussia, &q. &c. His influence in Berlin indeed is little less 
in his own department than in Stockholm, and almost all the 
young professors connected with chemistry in the several in- 
stitutions in that capital, if they have not been directly recom- 
mended by him, have at least been pupils of Berzelius. 

What Berzelius is in private life he has generally been also 
in his published writings ; — impartially judging, giving praise 
where due, and treating with courtesy even those from whom 
he diiFered. In two unhappy instances only has he broken 
through those rules of established courtesy recognized in al- 
most all philosophical discussions. To Dobereiner and to 
Thomson he has forgotten all his wonted urbanity. His re- 
marks upon 13r Thomson's last work* might well have been 

* He might have thought at the tirae he wrote them of Dr Ure's cri- 



g04! Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius. 

spared, it being by no means usual in this country for chemists 
to declare each other unworthy of credit. There may be, and 
no doubt there are, several errors in a book professing to give 
the results of so great a number of analyses, but these ought 
rather to have been pointed out singly than sweepingly an- 
nounced ; and if common courtesy was not enough to secure 
this, the respect due to a chemist who has dedicated a whole 
life to the advancement of the science, ought to have been an 
ample title to due forbearance. Of Thomson's results, Ber- 
zelius says first, that the method employed for obtaining them 
may in some cases admit of very good approximations, but 
that it cannot at all be depended on for precise atomic 
weights ; for, second, suppose we knew beforehand the precise 
atomic weights of two bodies, yet unavoidable errors in the 
weighing are sufficient to prevent exact mutual saturation ; 
and lastly, that to have performed as they ought, all the analy- 
ses given, would have taken a lifetime. On these grounds, 
added to some errors he has found, he rejects the whole work, 
weights and all, — of course in favour of his own. 

Berzelius himself allows of Dr Thomson, that he is an accu- 
rate observer of phenomena, that he is moreover the most 
learned chemist in England, — the most fearless in expressing 
his opinion, regardless of high names, and the most willing to 
do every man justice ; and that, had he confined himself to the 
office of a redacteur, he would have earned a high and deserv- 
ed reputation. Now, after all these honourable admissions, 
surely his writings are not to be repudiated on account of er- 
rors in manipulation, into which the theory he has adopted 
may at times have led him ; much less ought they to be held 
up to scorn as so much quackery, and the veracity of their 
author called in question because his experimental results hap- 
pen in some cases to be incorrect. Chemists on the continent, 
among whom Berzelius is every thing, are shy of speaking of 
Thomson. They do say " II fait ses experiences un peu en 

tique upon his own Mineralogy, published in the first volume of the 
Quarterly Journal of Science, and which called forth so severe a note from 
Dulong in the Annates de Ckimie. " This critique," says Berzelius, 
'* was so severe as to make me laugh," Did he expect that saying still 
severer things was to make Dr Thomson sing ? 



Mr Johnstorrs Visit to Berzelius. 205 

cavalier ;" yet even they cannot tell why Berzelius should have 
treated him with such exceeding want of respect. At Copen- 
hagen I was led to believe there was some personal feeling 
mixed up with this hostihty ,• but on talking over the matter 
with Berzelius himself he assured me there was not the slight- 
est foundation for such an opinion ; and he moreover told me, 
— a thing which he did not authorize me to state, but which I 
am led to hope he may be glad to see thus pubicly expres- 
sed, that he would now willingly withdraw the offensive words 
he employed in regard to Thomson's book ; and I may add, 
that he did not appear half pleased at their being raked up and 
republished in the Philosophical Magazine after the lapse of 
two years, and when every body else was trying to forget them. 
Between JDavy and Berzelius there was a personal dislike, 
arising first from some errors in the chemistry of the former, 
which Dr Young induced Berzelius when in London to write 
out for him confidentially, and which, on the return of Berzehus 
to Sweden, he communicated to Davy. These remarks of- 
fended Davy exceedingly, and his irritation was carried still 
farther by a letter of Berzelius which appeared soon after in a 
German journal. Irritation on the part of Berzelius was ex- 
cited at a later period, when Davy was in Sweden. Hearing 
while at Gottenburg that Berzelius was in the south of Swe- 
den he wrote him desiring he would not leave Helsinborg 
till a certain day, when he would meet him. Accordingly, 
Berzelius, with Orsted, and I believe Brongniart, were there at 
the time, and waited two days beyond it, till the two latter 
lost patience and set off*, and Berzelius had his horses in his 
carriage when news was brought that the Englishman had ar- 
rived. And when they met, Davy's excuse was, " that he had 
found such capital fishing hy the way that he could not think 
of leavifig it.''^ The waiting and the excuse, conjoined with 
the hauteur which in later life made Davy forget most of his 
old friends, and his old friends dislike him, were sufficient to 
create an unfriendly feeling ; so, after spending four hours 
together, they parted. " Any degree or mark of respect I 
was disposed to give him, as a great philosopher," said Berze- 
lius ; — " it was a pity to see a mind like his stoop to the de- 
mand of deference as a man of the world." Still was Davy 

XEW SERIES. VOL. II, NO. II. APRIL 1830. O 



206 Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius. 

the greatest chemical philosopher that our days have seen, and 
M^hen his little faults are forgotten, his merits and his disco- 
veries will only be more highly appreciated. " He was the 
clearest-headed man,''' says Berzelius, " I ever met with, and he 
never wrote upon any subject without being interesting."" 

Of Wollaston in the North you hear nothing but praise. 
There is nothing to detract from his merit. The profound 
philosophy of his views, the nicety of his experimental inves- 
tigations, and his amiable manners, are all highly estimated. 

Having spoken of these three, I may add a word of the re- 
maining British chemists. Of Phillips they tell you '' he is a 
clever man, but fond of paradoxes ;"" and I have heard Berze- 
lius speak in deservedly high terms of many of his papers. 
Of these 1 may mention among his later ones that upon the wa- 
ter in nitric acid of greatest concentration, which he admired as 
neat, conclusive, and elegant. Of Faraday, all have so much 
good to say, that it would be vain to particularize, and Ber- 
zelius holds him in the highest respect. Turner he esteems a 
clever man, and a very promising chemist. His papers in the 
last Edinburgh Transactions he considers to be both very ex- 
cellent. Of his analysis of the Aerolite he says, " that it is 
the only meteoric iron that has ever been rightly analyzed," 
and that in consequence of the new and elegant method em- 
ployed for separating the metals by the formation of a bicar- 
bonate. Of the elaborate paper on the ores of Manganese, he 
thus speaks in his last Arsberattlese (yearly statement), " One 
of the finest works of which mineralogy has to boast during 
the past year is Haidinger's and Turner's joint examination of 
the different ores of Manganese, in which the mineralogical 
and chemical parts are alike masterly, and by which this for- 
merly obscure part of mineralogy is completely cleared up." 

It would lengthen too much this already long paper to en- 
ter into any detail of the services rendered to science by Ber- 
zelius, or of his many chemical writings ; but this is the less 
necessary, as every system of chemistry bears ample testimony 
to their extent and value, and every succeeding journal of 
science is adding to their number. In what I have above 
stated, are included many minutiae which in the case of com- 
mon men, would have been unworthy of being detailed ; but 



M. Aldini's Incombustible Dresses. 207 

I have judged from my own feelings, in supposing that even 
trifles connected with such a man would have an interest for 
the cultivators, especially of chemical science ; and should this 
paper ever meet the eye of Berzelius, I trust he will forgive 
me for teaching my countrymen to regard him as equally ami- 
able in private life as they have long considered him distin- 
guished in the chemical world. 

PoiiTOBELLo, ^th January 1830. 



Art. II. — Account of the apparatus and hicombustible Dresses 
invented by M. Aldini Jar Preserving the Body from the 
Action of Fire *. 

J. HE incombustible dresses of M. Aldini consist of two gar- 
ments, the one being composed of a thick fabric of amiantlius, 
or asbestos, or of wool rendered incombustible by impregnation 
with a saline substance ; and the other of a fabric of wire 
gauze, which is placed without the