L . R. 1

■f

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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eOri^liU ijlLW-MliOl,

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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

tzr 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

0

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 0 66 0 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 0 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 0 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 0

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 - - 0 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

0

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. 0

'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

0 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

0 Eclipsed Invis.

•5

14

69

34 ^ c5 « « D 35' N.

22

16

36

0 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 0

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

0 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

0 enters 'Y*

3

12

45

hc?0

24

2

24

0 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

0

^ d B. Oph.

27

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10

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31 D d /2 ^ D 13' s.

27

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20 ]) d » TIJ ]) 40' N.

*28
28

3

4

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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

0

20

3

15

20

36

23

9

14

31

1

43

7

0

37

3

9

20

26

22

48

14

3

1

20

13

0

53

3

2

20

17

22

28

13

36

0

59

19

1

6

2

52

20

8

22

8

13

8

0

29

25

1

13

2

41

19

59

21

49

12

41

hnrw it

0

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

0 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

0 6

19 26

20

13

10

29

22 5

MARCH.

1

22 20

0 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 /

0 '

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.

0 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

0

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

0 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 first.

It is well known, from the fine experiments of Sir Humphry
Davy, that wire gauze, with the meshes sufficiently narrow,
completely intercepts flame, even when it is impelled by a
great pressure, as in the case of an explosive mixture. This
effect is produced by the cooling of the flame caused by the
metal, and consequently cannot take place unless this last ex-
perience a rise of temperature proportional to the time that
the flame continues in contact with the wire gauze.

This metallic garment, the mass of which is very inconsi-
derable, would not of itself be efficacious in defending the
body from the action of heat ; but the amianthus, or the im-
pregnated woollen dress, opposes itself by its thickness and its
feeble conducting power to the arrival of the heat at the sur-
face of the body, and along with the metallic gauze it forms
an impenetrable shelter during a time which ought to be suf-
ficient for the operations of the firemen. The woollen dress
is indispensable, and even more important than the metallic

^ This article is the substance of M. Gay-Lussac's Report to the Aca-
demy of Sciences of Paris, printed in the Ann. de Ckimie, torn. xlii. p. 214.

SOS M. Aldini's Incombustible Dresses

one, for there can be no doubt that on most occasions it
would alone defend the fireman from the effects of heat.

It is with these two garments that M. Aldini first, and
after his example a great number of firemen have confronted
the most raging flames. The two following experiments were
witnessed by the committee of the Academy.

A fireman, doubly enveloped in the incombustible and the
metallic garments, presented his face to the flame of a straw
fire, and he endured its action for a minute and twenty seconds.
Another fireman, protected like the first, but having an addi-
tional piece of amianthus cloth on his front, resisted the flame
during two minutes and thirty-seven seconds without suffering
any pain. The pulse of the first rose from 80 in a minute to
120, and that of the second from 72 to 100.

This experiment, however, was only the prelude to another
more imposing, viz. the passage of the firemen through flames
for a distance of thirty-one feet.

Two parallel ranges of straw and small wood, supported by
iron rods, were placed at the distance of about three feet three
inches. When the materials were set on fire, the heat could
not be endured at a less distance than eight or ten feet. The
united flame of the tvvo burning ranges rose to the height of
nearly ten feet, and seemed to fill the whole space between
the rows. At this time, six firemen, shielded by the appara-
tus of M. Aldini, and following one another at a short dis-
tance, run several times in succession through the burning
space, the flame of which was kept alive by fresh additions of
fuel. One of them carried a child, eight years old, in an osier
basket, covered externally with wire gauze. The child had
only a mask of the incombustible cloth. This experiment,
which the assistants did not perform without a feeling of terror,
had the most satisfactory result, and would have been re-
garded as completely decisive if it had been made in the mid-
dle of smoke. None of the firemen received any burns. The
one who carried the child brought it back at the end of a
minute in consequence of the cries of the child, who had been
seized witli terror in consequence of the fireman having too
briskly swung him upon his shoulders. The child, however,
had suffered nothing. The skin, when it came out of the

for 'presermng the Body from Fire. 209

basket, was fresh, and the pulse had risen only from 84 to
98. The other firemen endured the effects of this experiment
two minutes and twenty seconds.

The pulse of the fireman who carried the child

rose from 92 to 1 1 6

That of the second, 88 — 152

third, 84 — 1^8

fourth, 78 — 1 24

The pulse of the other two was not counted ; but it is impos-
sible to draw any conclusions from these differences in the
number of pulsations before and after the experiment; they
are doubtless partly owing to the effect of heat, but also partly
to the agitation occasioned by so new and alarming a situation.
The circumstance which seemed to strike the observers
most, and to alarm the firemen, was the fear that their breath-
ing would be affected. How, said one of them, can one
breathe in the midst of flames ?

If, when we say that the firemen have crossed flames, it is
understood that they have been constantly enveloped in them
for two or three minutes, their situation should appear very
dangerous. MM. Gay Lussac and D"*Arcet satisfied them-
selves, by a number of experiments, that every time that a fur-
nace, sufficiently heated, smokes or discharges flame, the air
taken into the interior of this furnace is entirely deprived of
oxygen. It is certain then, that in flame, even after it has
been extinguished by the wire gauze, respiration cannot take
place, and suffocation would be the consequence. If the fire-
men have not experienced a difficulty of breathing, it is ne-
cessary that air of sufficient purity must have reached them ;
and we may conceive different ways in which this may have
taken place.

1. It is certain that the heads of the firemen were not con-
stantly in the flames, which are known to be easily moved, and
driven about by the lightest currents of air, and consequently
that they must have found moments favourable for respiration.

2. Admitting that the firemen remained too long a time in
the flames to be able to breathe easily, we may then conceive
that the fresh air rises between the two garments which do
not touch, and supplies it for respiration. .

210 . M. Aldini's Iiicombustible Dresses

Besides, it is not difficult to retain the breath thirty or sixty
seconds or even more ; and though we do not think that the
firemen employed this method when they ran through the
burning ranges of flame, yet the short space of time necessary
to run over thirty-three feet rendered it possible for them to
do it.

But if it is demonstrated by the experiments which we have
witnessed, that in the greatest number of cases, and in free air,
respiration can be effected without danger, it is greatly to be
feared that it will become very difficult in a narrow space
filled with smoke, a case which happens very often in fires.
In order that the fireman may breathe fresh air, will it not be
necessary to furnish him with a portable reservoir, or what is
more simple, with a spiral tube winding from his feet to his
mouth ? We know, indeed, that in an open and heated apart-
ment, fresh air enters always below, while warm air escapes
above, and consequently the firemen will thus have more
chances of breathing freely. We insist upon this point, be-
cause we know that nothing disturbs respiration so much as
thick smoke. We are of opinion also that it would be useful
to accustom firemen to retain their breath, — an act which is
acquired by divers.

We have said that M. Aldini employs in his apparatus
amianthus cloth, and woollen cloth rendered incombustible by
means of a saline solution. We shall now examine the ad-
vantages of each of these substances.

Amianthus, or asbestus, is, by its nature, perfectly incom-
bustible. It is found in great abundance, particularly in
Corsica; and Madame Lena Perpenti of Como has manufactur-
ed different fabrics of it, and even lace, (See Bull. Soc. En~
couragemerit, 1813, p. 166.) so that there can be no doubt
that this mineral is fitted for the different operations of spin-
ning and weaving. M. Aldini has also been occupied in fa-
cihtating these operations, and he has presented to the com-
mission a piece of amianthus cloth nearly six feet eight inches
long, by five feet four inches wide, which is nearly as large as
that which is preserved in the Library of the Vatican. This
cloth, however, must always be of too great value to receive

3

for preserving the Body from Fire. 211

numerous applications, and it is on this account that M. Aldini
has sought to substitute for it a woollen cloth.

This cloth, even without sahne impregnation, is but slight-
ly inflammable, and on this account it ought to be used for
the winter dresses of children in place of cotton cloth, the in-
flammability of which has occasioned so many distressing ac-
cidents ; but when wool has been impregnated with sal am-
moniac and borax it no longer burns. It merely calcines
without propagating the combustion, and it is only penetrated
slowly by heat. In this last respect it has even the advantage
over amianthus, for when the finger is covered with amianthus
cloth and presented to the flame of a candle, it receives sooner
the impression of heat than when it is covered with the incom-
bustible woollen cloth of the same thickness as that of the
amianthus. Hence, in point of economy, in point of easy
preparation; of commodious application ; of greater lightness,
and of less conductibility of heat, wool has the advantage of
amianthus ; and its resistance to fire, though incomparably
less than that of this mineral, is still sufficiently great to sup-
port a high temperature, and to replace it in almost all the
circumstances which are presented in fires.

The amianthus and woollen fabrics deserve particular atten-
tion, because they really form the most essential part of M.
Aldini's apparatus. When employed alone they can defend
the body in most cases from the action of flame and heat,
whilst the metallic gauze, in extinguishing flame, does not suf-
ficiently intercept the heat. This last material, by its great
stiffness, has the great inconvenience of fettering the motions
of the firemen, while it is of the greatest importance to them
to preserve all their agility, and to be able to direct it with
certainty. From these considerations we are of opinion that
the woollen cloth, when sufficiently thick and close, and pro-
perly impregnated with saline solutions, or what is perhaps
better still, when formed of several thinner fabrics superposed,
but always so close as not to allow the passage of air, will
alone have sufficient efficacy ; and we are also of opinion, that
it will be necessary in some circumstances to add moveable
pieces of metallic gauze to defend those parts of the body
which are the most exposed to sufffer from heat, taking care to

212 M. Aldini's Incombustible Dresses.

leave between the two fabrics a certain distance ; because a close
contact renders the metallic gauze more injurious than useful.
Besides the garments of incombustible cloth and wire gauze,
M. Aldini employs with great success large shields of metallic
cloth. When these shields are presented by the firemen to a
rush of flame, they stop it in a wonderful manner, and per-
mit them to see their way and to climb up to places enveloped
in flames, and to perform their operations. They form an
useful supplement to the incombustible garments, and a defence
to firemen who are not provided with the other parts of the
apparatus. They occasion no embarrassment, but may be
thrown aside or taken up at pleasure. Frames of metallic
gauze, intended to intercept flame discharged at a door or any
other opening, will likewise be of great service ; but this is not
the place to enter into a detail of all the applications which M.
Aldini has made of the incombustible cloth and metallic gauze.
This ingenious philanthropist is at present engaged in the
preparation of a work, in which he will give an account of
their various applications, with the necessary instructions for
using them.

Remarks by the Editor.

In reference to the above essay, some objection may arise
from the supposed scarcity of amianthus, and its insufficiency
to answer the demand for such general use as is recommended.
It may therefore be interesting to know, that amianthus oc-
curs in a most remarkable quantity in the Island of Unst, one
of the Shetland groupe. In the possession of Dr Hibbert,
who first published an account of its great abundance in this
locality, are specimens of this substance of a beautiful white
colour, remarkable for the regularity and extent of its fibres,
which exceed a foot, while some far longer may be collected.
We are informed by him that it occurs in a very talcose ser-
pentine rock in the vicinity of Haroldswick and Balta Sound,
and in the diallage rock of Balta Island and other contiguous
places.

Dr Turner's Chemical Examination of Wad. 21^

AiiT. III. — Chemical Examination of Wad. By Edward
Turner, M. D., F. R. S. E., Professor of Chemistry in the
University of London. * Communicated by the Author.

As the subject of this notice has never been found crystal-
hzed, and, from its aspect, appears to want that definite con-
stitution which imparts so much interest to the analysis of
most other minerals, it has hitherto been almost entirely ne-
glected by chemists. I have myself been induced to examine
it solely from its being enumerated among the ores of manga-
nese, to which my attention has been much directed within
the last two years ; and my apology for introducing it to the
notice of the Royal Society, is its connection with the essay
on the oxides of manganese, which was honoured with a place
in the last volume of their Transactions.

Under the name of Wad, or Black Wad, are comprehended
several minerals, which are distinguished by the following
characters : — They are soft, light, and porous, more or less
earthy in appearance, of a brown colour, soil by contact, and
contain manganese. Though they agree in these general
points of resemblance, several of them are distinguishable from
each other by physical properties, and differ essentially in che-
mical constitution.

. First species. Wad from Upton Pyne in Devonshire.

For this Wad I am indebted to the kindness of Mr Konig
of the British Museum. It occurs in a curved tabular mass
about half an inch thick, and may be easily separated into
thinner laminae. It is easily broken, is considerably softer than
; gypsum, and soils when handled. Its colour is brown with a
shade of yellow, somewhat like that of bismuth. The lustre of
a fresh surface is considerable, and rather metallic. The streak
is brown and shining. It consists of small scaly particles, ar-
ranged together so as to give to a broken surface a fibrous ap-
pearance. It is very porous, and emits numerous air-bells
with a hissing noise when put into water. Its specific gravity,
after being boiled in water, is 2.314.

* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1st February 1830.

214 Dr Turner's Chemical Examination of Wad.

As the method of analysis is precisely similar to that so fully
described in my former communication, it would be superflu-
ous to enter minutely into particulars. The mineral dissolves
readily in muriatic acid with evolution of chlorine, leaving
only traces of insoluble earthy matter. The solution was com-
pletely free from iron, and, in addition to manganese, con-
tained only a small quantity of baryta. Exposed to a red
heat, after being well dried at a temperature of 212° F., it
yielded 10.66 per cent, of water, together with some oxygen.
At a white heat it lost 19.48 per cent. ; namely, 10.66 of
water, and 8.82 per cent, of oxygen. The baryta, precipita-
ted in the usual manner by sulphuric acid, amounted to J .4
per cent. — According to this analysis, 100 parts of the mineral
were resolved into

Red oxide of manganese,

79.12

Oxygen,

8.82

Water,

10.66

Baryta,

1.40

100.00

The essential ingredient of the mineral, inferred from these
numbers, appears to be a hydrated peroxide of manganese,
consisting of 88 parts or two equivalents of peroxide, and 9
parts or one equivalent of water, — a compound which, to my
knowledge, has not been observed in the mineral kingdom.
Were such a compound quite pure, the analysis should have
given the following proportions : — Red oxide 79.12, oxygen
10.57) and water 9 ; — that is, rather less water and rather
more oxygen than was actually obtained. A slight excess of
water must of course be looked for ; because the heat of 21 2°
cannot be expected to disengage all the humidity adhering to a
light earthy powder. A deficiency in oxygen is also to be ex-
pected. For the baryta which the mineral contains, and
which I shall show to be an accidental admixture, is not in its
ordinary state of combination, but is united with some oxide
of manganese. What that oxide is, has not yet been deter-
mined with certainty ; but in three minerals in which I have
detected a composition of this nature, — namely, in a Wad to

Dr Turner's Chemical Examlnatwn of Wad. 215

be presently described, and two minerals noticed in my former
communication, — the baryta is unquestionably united with an
oxide of manganese less highly oxidized than the peroxide.
The presence of such a compound in the Derbyshire Wad will
readily account for the oxygen being somewhat less than
theory requires.

The hydrated peroxide of manganese may thus be regarded
as the essential ingredient of the Derbyshire Wad, and, accord-
ing to my observation, is the most frequent variety of this
mineral. I have not met with it in a state of perfect purity.
It usually contains small quantities of some other oxide of
manganese, together with barytaj oxide of iron, lime, and silica.

Mr Konig has kindly supplied me with two other varie-
ties of this Wad, one from Huttenberg in Carinthia, and the
other from the district of Nassau. They agree with the Der-
byshire wad in all their physical properties, except in the
small micaceous particles being less compacted together, and
the fibrous arrangement being more distinct. They yield also
by analysis similar quantities of red oxide of manganese, oxy-
gen, and water. They both contain traces of silica and
baryta ; and a little lime was detected in the latter. A varie-
ty of Wad from the neighbourhood of Elbingerode in the
Harz, sent me by Professor Hausmann of Gottingen, under
the name of schaumiges or frothy Wad, belongs to the same
species. The greater part of it was in powder ; but the co-
hering particles had the same physical characters as the pre-
ceding. It is identical also in chemical constitution, and con-
tains traces of siliceous matter, baryta, and oxide of iron. I
have received another variety of the same mineral, under the
name of earthy ochreoiis Wad, from Professor Stromeyer. It
occurs in the district of Nassau ; and though essentially iden-
tical with the preceding varieties, is much less pure. It is
visibly intermixed with the hydrated red oxide of iron, and
when dissolved in muriatic acid leaves a considerable quantity
of earthy insoluble matter.

Second species. Wad from Derbyshire.

This Wad, for which I am indebted to Mr Konig, is earthy
without the slightest crystalline appearance. It acquires a
shght lustre by friction, but is otherwise dull. It is very soft

216 Dr Turner's Chemical Examination of Wad.

and friable, and soils when handled. Its streak and powder
are of a reddish-brown colour. It absorbs moisture greedily
on being wetted, and when put into water emits numerous
globules of air with a hissing noise. Its specific gravity, after
its contained air is expelled, is 3.024. It separates readily
into parallel layers, the natural joinings being formed by thin
strata of hydrated peroxide of iron, which is largely and
intimately mixed with the wad, so as not to be separable
from it.

The Derbyshire Wad, when digested in muriatic acid, leaves
a white residue, chiefly consisting of sulphate of lime, which
is interspersed in minute crystals through the mineral. Its
quantity is variable ; but in the portion submitted to analysis
it amounted to 2.74 per cent.

The clear solution in muriatic acid was strongly coloured
with iron, and on the addition of sulphuric acid yielded a
quantity of sulphate of baryta, corresponding to 5.40 of pure
baryta. The liquid was then exactly neutralized, and the iron
precipitated by benzoate of ammonia. The filter containing
the benzoate of iron was put into a platinum crucible, a few
drops of nitric acid and solution of nitrate of ammonia were
added, the paper after being dried by a sand heat was burned,
and the residue ignited. By this means the benzoic acid and
filter may be decomposed without deoxidizing any of the per-
oxide of iron. The resulting peroxide, which was not in the
slightest degree attracted by the magnet, amounted to 52.34
per cent.

From the solution, thus freed from baryta and iron, the
manganese was thrown down by potash, and a quantity of
red oxide obtained equivalent to 38.59 per cent, of deutoxide.
— The solution also contained a trace of lime.

Carefully dried at 21 2**, and exposed to a red heat, it lost
1 0.29 per cent, of water. No oxygen was expelled by that
temperature, showing that the manganese is not in a higher
state of oxidation than the deutoxide. It appears, accord-
ingly, that this variety of Wad, besides oxide of iron and
water, contains a compound of baryta and deutoxide of manga-
nese, apparently similar to that constituting the essential in-
gredient in the uncleavable ore of manganese, and which is
present in small quantity in the Devonshire Wad.

Dr Turner's Chemical Examination of Wad. 21 T

The iron eontainedin the Derbyshire Wad is wholly in the
state of peroxide. The grounds from which I infer the en-
tire absence of the protoxide it may not be superfluous to
state, as the method appears to me fully more delicate than
any in use. It is founded on a fact, which I have elsewhere
adverted to for another purpose,* that the formation of Prus-
sian blue from prussic acid by admixture with a salt of iron
and potash, does not occur when the iron is strictly in its
maximum of oxidation. A very minute quantity of the pro-
toxide, however, gives rise to the production of Prussian blue,
which is rendered obvious by dissolving the precipitated oxide
by a slight excess of sulphuric acid. — The Derbyshire Wad di-
gested in dilute sulphuric acid in a close vessel yielded a yel-
low-coloured solution, which, when mixed with prussic acid,
precipitated by pure potash, and acidulated with sulphuric
acid, did not give the least tint of blue.

When this Wad is exposed to a white heat it loses 18.84< per
cent. ; namely, 10.29 of water, and 8.05 of oxygen. The re-
sidue was much contracted, of a black colour, and was power-
fully attracted on the approach of a magnet. It is hence
manifest that the oxygen was derived as well from the peroxide
of iron as from the manganese. A similar change ensues when
a mixture of pure peroxide of iron and oxide of manganese is
exposed to a red heat.

According to the foregoing analysis, 100 parts of the Der-
byshire wad were resolved into

Peroxide of iron, - - 52.34

Deutoxide of manganese, - S8.59

Water, - - 10.29

Baryta, - - 5.40

Insoluble earthy matter - 2.74

99.86
The Wad from the Harz, of which Klaproth has given an
analysis in the 3d volume of his Contributions^ appears to have
been of the same nature as the preceding ; but it contained a
greater proportional quantity of manganese and baryta.

Third species of Wad.

* Edin. Med. and Surgical Journal, xxx. 344.

218 Account of a remarkable case of Spectral Illusion.

Another species of Wad, of the exact locality of which I am
ignorant, was lately sent me from Germany, under the name
of ochreous Wad, by Professor Hausmann. It is a friable
earthy substance, like the foregoing species ; but the colour of
its streak and powder is dark or blackish brown. It is very
porous, and emits a copious stream of air-bells when put
into water. Its specific gravity is 4.506.

On exposure to a red heat, after being dried at. a tempera-
ture of 212*^ F., it loses 3.08 per cent, of water, together with
oxygen gas. Its loss at a white heat amounted to 12.755 per
cent. ; namely, 3.08 of water, and 9.675 of oxygen. In mu-
riatic acid it is readily dissolved with free disengagement of
chlorine, leaving merely traces of insoluble matter. The solu-
tion was free from lirne and iron, but contained a trace of
baryta. Considering its high specific gravity, the small quan-
tity of combined water, and the large quantity of oxygen,
which it loses at a white heat, there cannot be a doubt that
this species of wad consists essentially of the anhydrous per-
oxide of manganese, with which a small quantity of some hy-
drated oxide, probably manganite, is casually intermixed.

Art. 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.

Those who have read Dr Hibbert''s admirable work on the
Philosophy of Apparitions, and have appreciated the ingenious
views which he has taken of this remarkable class of mental
phenomena, will peruse with double interest the very singular
case of spectral illusion which forms the subject of this paper.
It was communicated to me by the gentleman whose lady
was under its influence, and who was himself present during
the whole progress of the illusion which affected the eye.
Were I permitted to mention his name ; — his station in society,
and as a man of science, would authenticate the minutest par-
ticulars in the following narrative, and satisfy the most scru-
pulous reader that the case has been philosophically as well as
faithfully described. The gentlejman and lady, indeed, were

• Since this sheet was put in types we have received another interest-
ing case, which will form a subsequent article in this Number. — Ed.

Account of a remm-hable case of Spectral Illusion. 219

previously well aware of the existence and nature of this class
of facts, and, so far from regarding the present case as at all
supernatural, or even out of the ordinary course of things,
they watched it from its commencement as a case of spectral
illusion, and have therefore impressed upon the narrative a
character which does not belong to any previous case where
the patient and the narrator were the same person.

" On the 26th of December 1829, about half-past four in

the afternoon, Mrs was standing near the fire in the hall,

and on the point of going upstairs to dress, when she heard, as she

supposed, my voice calling her by name, * Come

here, come to me.' She imagined that I was calling at the door to
have itopened, wentto it, and was surprised on opening it to find
no one. She returned towards the fire, and again heard the same

voice calling very distinctly and loud ' ~ — Come, come here.'

She then opened two other doors of the same room, but seeing no
one, she returned to th&fire place. After a few moments, she

heard the same voice still calling, ' Come to me,

come, come away ;' this time in a loud, plaintive, and some-
what impatient tone. She answered as loudly, ' Where are
you ? I don't know where you are,' — still imagining that I was
somewhere in search of her ; but receiving no answer, she
shortly went up stairs. On my return to the house about half
an hour afterwards, she inquired why I had called to her so
often, and where I was ; and was of course surprised to hear
I had not been near the house at the time.

" On the SOth of the same month, at about 4 o'clock p. m.

Mrs came down stairs into the drawing-room, which

she had quitted a few minutes before, and on entering the
room, saw me, as she supposed, standing with my back to the
fire. She addressed me, asking how it was I had returned so
soon. (I had left the house for a walk half an hour before.) She
said I looked fixedly at her with a serious and thoughtful ex-
pression of countenance, but did not speak. She supposed I was
busied in thought, and sat down in an arm-chair near the fire,
and close within a couple of feet at most of the figure she still
saw standing before her. As, however, the eyes still continu-
ed to be fixed upon her, after a few minutes she said « Why
don't you speak ?' The figiire upon this moved off to-
wards the window at the further end of the room, the eyes still

220 Account of a remarkable case of Spectral Illusion.

gazing on her, and passed so very close to her in doing so,
that she was struck by the circumstance of hearing no step
nor sound, nor feehng her clothes brushed against, nor even
any agitation in the air. The idea then arose for the first
time into her mind, that it was no reality, but a spectral illu-
sion, (being a person of sense and habituated to account ra-
tionally for most things, the notion of any thing supernatural
was out of the question.) She recollected, however, your hav-
ing mentioned that there was a sort of experimentum crucis
applicable to these cases, by which a genuine ghost may be dis-
tinguished from one conjured up by merely natural causes ;
namely, the pressing the eye in order to produce the effect of
seeing double, when, according to your assertion, a true Tarta-
rean ghost would be duplicated as well as every thing else ;
while the morbid idea being, I suppose, an impression on the
retina would, or ought to remain single. I am sorry, how-
ever, to say that the opportunity for verifying your theory was
unfavourable. Before Mrs ■> was able distinctly to

double her vision, my figure had retreated to the window, and
disappeared there. The lady followed, shook the curtains,
and tried the window, being still loth to believe it was not a
reality, so distinct and forcible was the impression. Finding,
however, that there was no natural means of egress, she be-
came convinced of having seen a spectral apparition, such as
are recorded in Dr Hibbert's work, and consequently felt no
alarm or agitation. The appearance lasted four or five minutes.

It was bright day-light, and Mrs is confident that the

apparition was fully as vivid as the reality ; and when stand-
ing close to her it concealed, of course, the real objects behind
it. Upon being told of this my visible appearance in the spirit,
having been only audible a few days before, I was, as you may
imagine, more alarmed for the health of the lady than for my
own approaching death, or any other fatality the vision might
be supposed to forebode. Still both the stories were so very
much enregleas ghost stories, the threecallsof the plaintive voice,
each one louder than the preceding, the fixed eyes and mournful
expression of the phantom, its noiseless step and spirit-like
vanishing, were all so characteristic of the Wraith.^ that I might
have been unable to shake off some disagreeable fancies, such
as a mind once deeply saturated with the poison of nursery-tales

Account of a remarkable case of Spectral Illusion. S21

cannot altogether banish, had it not been for a third appari-
tion, at whose visit I myself assisted a few days afterwards,
and which I think is the key-stone of the case, rendering it as
complete as could be wished.

"On the 4-th of this month (January 1830) five days after the
last apparition, at about ten o'clock at night, I was sitting in the

drawing room with Mrs , and in the act of stirring the fire,

when she exclaimed ' Why, there*'s the cat in the room.' I
asked * Where ? ' She replied 'There close to you.' ' Where ?'
I repeated. ' Why, on the rug to be sure, between your-
self and the coal-scuttle.' I had the poker in my hand and I
pushed it in the direction mentioned. ' Take care,' she cried
out, " take care, you are hitting her with the poker." I again
asked her to point out exactly where she saw the cat. She
repHed, ' Why, sitting up there close to your feet on the rug : —
she is looking at me. It is Kitty. Come here, Kitty.' There
are two cats in the house, one of which went by this name.
They were rarely, if ever, in the drawing room. At this time

Mrs had certainly no idea that the sight of the cat

was an illusion. I asked her to touch it. She got up for the
purpose, and seemed as if she was pursuing some thing which
moved away. She followed a few steps, and then said, ' It
has gone under that chair.' I told her it was an illusion. She
would not believe it. I lifted up the chair, there was nothing
there, nor did Mrs ■ see any thing more of it. I search-
ed the room all over, and found nothing. There was a dog
lying on the hearth who would have betrayed great uneasiness
had a cat been in the room. He was perfectly quiet. In
order to be quite certain, however, I rung the bell, and sent
for the two cats. They were both found in the housekeeper's
room. The most superstitious person could now doubt no
longer as to the real character of all these illusory appearances,
and the case is so complete that I hope there will be no re-
newal of them, symptomatic as they of course are of a disor-
dered state of body. I am sorry to say Mrs as well

as myself, forgot to try in time the experimentum crucis on
the cat.

" Mrs has naturally a morbidly sensitive imagina-
tion, so strongly affecting her corporeal impressions, that the

XEW SETllES, VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. P

222 Account of a remarkable case of Spectral Illusmn.

story of any person having suffered severe pain by accident
or otherwise, will occasionally produce acute twinges of pain
in the corresponding parts of her person. An account, for in-
stance, of the amputation of an arm, will produce an instan-
taneous and severe sense of pain in her own arm, and so of
other relations. She is subject to talk in her sleep with greal
fluency, to repeat poetry very much at length, particularly
when unwell, and even to cay verses for half an hour togou'ev,
never failing to quote lines beginning with the final Icite: of
the preceding, till her memory is exhausted.

" She has, during the last six weeks, been considerably ledu-
ced and weakened by a tiresome cough, which has also added
to her weakness, by preventing the taking of a diiily tonic, to
which she had been for some time accustomed. She had also
confined herself from this cause to the house for some vveeks,
which is not usual with her, being accustomed to take a great
deal of air and exercise. Her general health has not been
strong for some time past, and a long experience has proved,
beyond a doubt, that her ill health is attributable to a disorder-
ed state of the digestive organs. These details are necessary
for a complete understanding of this case, which strikes me
as being one of remarkable interest, from combining the char-
acters of an ordinary ghost story with those of an indubitable
illusion ; as well as from the circumstance occurring to a per-
son of strong mind, devoid of any superstitious fancies, and to
be implicitly relied on for the truth of all the minutest details
of the appearances. Indeed, I do not recollect any well au-
thenticated and recent instance of auricular delusion like the
first of those I have related ; though, of course, the warning
voices and sounds which have frightened so many weak per-
sons into their graves, must have been of this nature. Mrs
tells me, that about ten years ago a similar circum-
stance happened to her when residing at Florence, and in per-
fect health. While undressing after a ball, she heard a voice
call her repeatedly by name, and was at that time unable to
account for the fact. *

January 10, 1830.

• Since sending this remarkable account to press, the F.clitor transmitted
a printed copy of it to Dr Hibbert, who unites with him in his opinion

Prof. Berzelius on Thorina and its Salts. 223

Art. V. "-^Distinctive properties of Thorina and its Salts,
Communicated by the Translator.

In a former Number (No. ii. New Series, p. 207,) we gave the
general properties of this new earth as stated by Berzelius. The
following are its distinctive properties, and those of its salts
from his paper in the Transactions of the Swedish Academy,

Thorina is distinguished generally from the other earths by
its forming with sulphuric acid a compound, which, by boil-
ing, lets fall a white salt, dissolving again, though slowly, on
becoming cold. In applying this test, however, it must be re-
marked, that this precipitation is prevented by the presence of
those bases with which thorina forms double salts, from which,
by boiling, no appreciable quantity falls.

From alumina and glucina it is distinguished by its being
insoluble in caustic potash, by which these earths are taken up.

From yttria, by its forming with sulphate of potash a dou-
ble salt insoluble in a saturated solution of sulphate of potash,
by which means it may sometimes be separated quantatively
from yttria.

From zirconia by these two circumstances, that zirconia
precipitated hot by sulphate of potash, becomes afterwards, in
a great degree, insoluble both in water and acids ; and that
thorina is precipitated by the cyanide of iron and potassium,
by which the salts of zirconia are not troubled.

From protoxide of cerium by these, — that in drying and
heating to redness, it does not assume the colour of the per-
oxide of cerium, — and that, before the blowpipe with borax
and phosphor-salt, it does not give a coloured glass, either

of its importance, as one of the most interesting pathological instances of
the kind which has yet been published ; and which, from the truly philo-
sophical spirit in which it is narrated, he considers as deserving to be
ranked with the celebrated case of Nicolai. He conceives that the associa-
tion of spectral illusions with that intense state of sympathetic feeling by
which an account, for example, of the amputation of an arm will produce
an instantaneous and severe sense of pain in the lady's own arm, as a
striking feature in the case, and as calculated to throw additional light
upon the theory of spectral illusions ; no observations to the same effect
having, to his knowledge, been before published. We are promised a few
remarks on the subject in a future Number.

224i Prof. Berzelius on Tfiorina and its Salts.

when hot or cold, provided the earth has been previously per-
fectly free from oxide of iron.

From titanic acid as well by its precipitating with sulphate
of potash, as by the characteristic properties of titanic acid be-
fore the blowpipe.

From the common metallic oxides^ among which, from its
high specific gi*avity, it might be ranked by its not being pre-
cipitated by sulphuretted-hydrogen.

; The properties which it possesses in common with the sub-
phosphate of yttria are the following : — \st^ Its salts have a
pure astringent taste. 2(i, The crystallized sulphate treated
.with warm water becomes opaque, and leaves a white skeleton
of the crystalline form. 3rf, Most of its salts are precipitated
by boiling, and attach themselves strongly to the sides of the
glass, like a white enamel. 4^A, Its hydrate strongly attracts
carbonic acid from the air while drying. 5th, And dissolves
in carbonated, but not in caustic alkalies. Qth, And the solu-
tions of both are precipitated by prussiate of potash, &c.
But it is easily distinguished from yttria both by the above-
mentioned test, and by this, — that the chloride of thorium is
not thrown down by boiling, like a solution of sub-phosphate
of yttria in muriatic acid.

Salts of thorium. The salts which thorium gives, as well
with salt formers,* as in the state of oxide with the oxy-acids,
are distinguished by a strong and pure astringent taste, which
is not accompanied by any thing of sour, sweet, or bitter, and
which most resembles that of pure tannin. In taste they also
resemble nearest the salts of zirconium. Their solutions are
precipitated by oxalic acid, and by the cyanide of iron and
potassium, of a white colour ; and are rendered muddy by
sulphate of potash, which is dissolved by them.

These three reagents distinguish them from all other un-
mixed salts except those of the protoxide of cerium, from
which salts they are distinguished by this, — that the colour-
less precipitate by caustic alkali does not become yellow in the
open air as is the case with the cerium salts. The salts of

• The followinj^ are what Berzelius calls Salt bildare, salt-builders j chlo-
rine, iodine, bromine, cyanogen, fluorine, and sulpho- cyanogen, the base
of the hydio-sulpho-cyanic acid. — Translator.

MM. Reiss and Moser 07i the Magnetic Influence^ ^c. S25

thorina are decomposed by a red heat, and leave the earth in
an isolated state, and they lose their acids more easily than
zirconia.

Art. VI. — On the Magnetic Influence of the Solar Rays. By
MM. P. RiEss and L. Moser.

The observations of Mrs Somerville, (published in this Jour-
nal, No. viii. p. 328,) tended to confirm the magnetic influence
of the violet rays. This action, discovered by M. Morichini
at Rome, and described by him a long time ago, had been
called in question by the natural philosophers of France, Ger-
many, and Italy. Yet the favourable result to which Mrs
Somerville had arrived, seemed to have so completely dissipated
these uncertainties, that, upon that discovery, various theories
have been started respecting the magnetism of the earth and
its annual and diurnal variation. It cannot be concealed, that
the magnetic action of the sun does not afford an easy expla-
nation of them. The labours of Baumgartner on the same
subject, — the observations of Mr Christie on the diminution of
the amplitudes of a needle osclllaling in the solar rays, which
seem to connect the magnetic action of the sun with a recent
discovery, — and, finally, an experiment of M. Zantedeschi at
Pavia, about to be published, have induced us to communi-
cate the results and researches which we have undertaken, to
illustrate so important a point.

In limiting ourselves to a minute repetition of the methods
described by M. Morichini and his successors as the most fa-
vourable, we have, however, abandoned the methods which
they employed for appreciating the magnetic state of the
needles, and for measuring its intensity ; for anterior trials
had assured us that they were subject to errors almost una-
voidable. The most certain method of judging of the mag-
netism of a needle consists in making it oscillate ; and this is
the method which we have employed. The needles were of
soft steel. Their mass was very small, but they presented a
considerable surface to the action of the light. We were sa-
tisfied of the primitive state of these needles, as far as their

^:'

226 MM. Reiss and Moscr on the Magnetic Influence

magnetic intensity was concerned, by examining them some
time before using them ; and it was by this means that we ob-
tained decided results. The feeble magnetism of needles of
soft iron perhaps never reaches a fixed state. On this account
we have not given in the following tables the numerical results
obtained with this sort of needles. It may be sufficient here
to remark, that none of them, in the different circumstances in
which we exposed them, acquired, by the action of light, a de-
cided magnetism ; and that this might as well be attributed
to the variations which that property undergoes in iron by all
sorts of influences even mechanical ones.

With regard to the following tables, we may add, that the
spectrum was almost always in its minimum of deviation,
(that is, the rays entered and emerged at equal angles from
the two surfaces of the prism,) which corresponds to its great-
est intensity ; — that the needles were placed upon a graduated
circle, three or four feet from the prism ; that the room was
in most cases darkened as little as possible ; and that the lens
had an aperture of 1.2 inches, and a focal length of 2.3 inches.

Dates.

Names of
the needles.

Duration of Oscillations.
Before expt. After expt.

Time of Observation.

April 3,

a

22".0

22'^0

lOI"-

12"

27,

b

27.5

27.5

9J

n

c

14.5

14.5

%

11

May 6,

d

3.0

3.0

8J

10

June 14,

e

15.2

15.7

9

12

16,

f

22.0

22.0

91

111

17,

f

22.7

22.5

»l

Hi

23,

g

18.2

18.2

9

10|

July 1,

f

23.0

23.7

9i

12J

1,

h

19.5

19.5

91

12J

11,

f

22.4

22.2

8J

10|

11,

i

27.7

22.5

«J

10|

25,

f

19.5

19.2

9J

11

Aug. 10,

f

22.0

22.2

9

12

10,

k

20.2

20.0

9

12

12,

f

22.2

22.2

9

111

12,

I

17

16.7

9

1

2

of the Solar Rays. '227

In all these experiments the focus of the violet ray was made
to traverse one-half of the needle 200 times, excepting on the
11th July and 12th August, when it was done only 100
times, and on the 25th July, when it was done 525 times.

In the experiments with the needles a, 6, c, the spectrum
was fixed by means of a heliostate. By this means it was
protected against the agitations which the motion of the sun
and the displacement of the needles rendered inevitable. We
did not, however, always use this instrument, because, in the
experiments which we wished to verify, no mention was made
of the action of reflected light. It is proper to observe, that
the needle had been exposed 17J hours to the action of the
sun without becoming magnetic, though M. Morichini re-
quired only from fifteen to thirty minutes for completely mag-
netising it.

In order to ascertain that the magnetism had not undergone
any change while the needles remained in the violet light, we
suspended, in a small earthen vessel, a needle strongly mag-
netised and two inches long, and whose south pole (that is the
pole directed to the south of the earth) oscillated before the
needle under experiment, fixed vertically and submitted to the
action of a violet ray, which the heliostate rendered immove-
able. The following were the results :

Hour of day

Alone.

Before the needle.

10| duration of oscil.

50/'.2

48".T

11^3

48 .7

12

50 .2

48.7

In order to repeat the experiments of M. Baumgartner, {Zeit-
schrif'ty tom. i. p. 263,) which the magnetic action of the sun
presents under another form, we took steel wires from 3 to
3.4 inches long, and 0.04 in diameter, polished in different
parts, and we fixed them vertically before and after each ex-
periment, before the north pole of the small trial needle,
situated in the cylindrical tube, and oscillating. We could
thus bring the latter to different heights of the steel wires.
The numbers in the third column refer to the length of these
wires reckoned vertically. i

li '^, ^ m

22iB MM. Keiss and Moser on the Magnetic Influence

Date's.

JTpnelS,

State of the
part of the needle.

a polished,
oxidated.

Height
in inches.

0. 1
1.24

Duration of oscillations.
Before expt. After expt.

54''.0 53''.8
49 .6 49 .6

polished.

2.43

48 .8

48.8

13,

b

pohshed,
oxidated.

0.23
1.33

54 .0
49 .6

54 .4
49 .6

oxidated,

2.49

47 .6

47 .6

c

polished,
oxidated.

0.25
1.35

53 .6
49.6

53 .6
50 .0

25,

d

polished,
oxidated,

2.62
0.35

46.4
52 .0

46 .4

52 .0

pohshed,
oxidated,

1.79
2.97

48 .0
50 .0

48 .8

49 .4

26,

e

polished,
oxidated.

0.35
1.72

53 .6

48 .8

53 .6

49 .2

oxidated,

3.03

46 .4

'46 .4

In the experiment of June 12th,
the direct solar light from 9$'^ tc

the needle was exposed to
) If; in that of the 13th,

from 8| to 12^ ; and in that with c, from 9 to 12|

; in that

of the 23d,

from 9

to IJ ; and in

that of the 26th,

from 8J

tol|.

We have since employed half polished wires, whose change
of magnetic condition is easily known by the duration of a
sufficient number of oscillations.

T-» J.: _£* :ii_.^^ ^

Dates.

July

Aug.

BS.

iiuration ot
Before expt.

oscuianons.
After expt.

Time of exposure.

2,

a

35^2

35^0

9J " 12"

h

20.7

21 .0

11,

c

28.4

29.0

81 1

d

20.4

20.6

9i 12J

24,

e

26.2

26.0

9 1

26,

f

36.0

37.0

8i 1|

d

20.0

20.0

g

32.6

32.6

5,

h

22.8

22.6

8i li

10,

i

38.2

38.4

8| 12J

26,

k

32.1

32.0

8 llf

27,

I

30.

31 .4

9 111

n

31 .7

32.0

91 n

of the Solar Bays, rt^-lf .? 229

In all these experiments the magnetism of the polished extre-
mity of the wire was North, excepting with the needles c and
g, in which it was South ; the focus of a lens was directed up-
on the needles during ten minutes, excepting in the experi-
ments on the 1 1th July with wire d, when it was 25', and that
with wire Z, when it was only 5'.

In order to show the state of the wires during the solar
action, we fixed vertically the south pole below and the po-
lished half above the trial needle. The following experiment
was made in this manner on the 12th August :

Alone.

Before the
wire.

Hour of day 9| '' Duration of oscill.

39''.5

42'\0

10 W

42.0

10 50

42.0

12 25

39.5

42.0

M. Poggendorf recommended to us to extend our experi-
ments to polarised light. For this purpose we sometimes em-
ployed a blackened mirror inclined S5° 2o" to the incident
solar ray, and sometimes a prism of calcareous spar. The
observations on this kind of light will be found in our me-
moir. It may be sufficient to state here, that it did not prove
more efficacious than direct light on the production of mag-
netism.

From this analysis of our researches we think we are justly
entitled to reject totally a discovery y which, for seventeeji years,
has at different times disturbed science. The small variations
which are found in some of our experiments, and which we
have not concealed, cannot constitute a real action of the na-
ture of that which was observed by MM. Morichini, Baum-
gartner, &c. in so clear and decided a manner. These varia-
tions, besides, are not always favourable to the supposed dis-
covery.— Ann, de Chimie.

M. M atteucci on the influence of Electricity

Art. VII. — On the Influence of' Electricity on Animal Putre-
faction. By Charles Matteucci.

Animal substances, withdrawn from the influence of Hfe,
quickly undergo a change, and exhale fetid gas previous to
their destruction. Air, water, and heat, are the external
causes which give rise to this new order of compositions.
Water contributes to it by softening the fibres and by uniting
itself to the products of putrefaction : heat, when it is mode-
rate, separates them, and by destroying their cohesion, disposes
them for new combinations : air exercises the most marked in-
fluence by yielding a part of its oxygen to the carbon, the
hydrogen and the azote of the animal substances ; hence comes
the carbonic acid, water, carbonate of ammonia, and the ace-
tic acid, which are the principal products of animal fermenta-
tion. The animal fibre then suffers this change, principally
on account of the oxygen of the atmosphere which combines
with it ; and consequently, by taking away the action of the
. /xygen, we may, in this respect, prevent putrefaction. No-
thing, however, is more easy than to change the affinities of
bodies, and, for this purpose, it is sufficient to change their
electric state. Setting out, from these principles, Sir H. Davy
made his fine and useful discovery for preventing the oxida-
tion of copper which sheaths the hulls of vessels. By thus
considering oxygen as a body eminently electro-negative, we
may prevent its combination with the animal fibre by esta-
blishing in them an analogous electric state, that is, a state of
negative electricity.

Persuaded from some experiments of M. Bellingeri of
Turin, and others not yet published which I have myself
made, that animal substances, when they are put in contact
with metals, establish themselves in an electric state, I deter-
mined to place some pieces of muscle upon plates of zinc,
others on plates of copper, and I left others by themselves.
In the course of a day I perceived that putrefaction had already
begun in the pieces of muscle which were left to themselves,
while no alteration showed itself in those which were in con-
tact with metals. I afterwards perceived that the products of

on Animal putrefaction. 231

the change which had afterwards taken place on these last
were different, but were always related to the electric state
which they had assumed, that is, with their affinity. I ob-
served, for example, ammoniacal products, and those of car-
bonated hj'drogen in the muscles which were in contact with
the zinc ; and much acid and acetate of copper in those which
were in contact with the copper. These results prove suffi-
ciently that muscle, put in contact with zinc, having become
electro-negative, and being no longer able to unite with the
oxygen, have been slow in decomposing; but have at last
yielded to the affinity, though weak, of the hydrogen and the
azote, while, on the contrary, the muscular fibre, placed on
copper, were combined entirely into acid products. We may
then, in this manner, retard putrefaction, that is, by eluding
the action of one of the two elements of the atmosphere. I
have thus obtained similar and perhaps more marked results
by determining an electric state in the animal fibre, not by
electro-motive action, but by placing them as conductors at
the poles of a pile.

By setting out with these considerations, it appears to us
that we may, with more certainty, explain the antiseptic pro-
perty of some bodies, an explanation, however, which is not
the same for all. There are some, for example, which act by
taking away water ; others by forming true imputrescible com-
binations ; others, in my opinion, by determining a particular
electric state. Of this kind is the property of vegetable char-
coal. It is a settled fact in practical surgery, (as has been
shown by Dr Palman in a pamphlet lately published in Paris)
that if we put vegetable charcoal on purulent sores and on
putrid sores, it is not long in depriving them of their bad
smell, and preventing the ulterior developement of fetid mat-
ter.

Effects like these cannot depend solely on the action of poro-
sity, for they would cease by continued contact ; and we may
explain them better by regarding the action of charcoal as elec-
trical, in consequence of which, by establishing in purulent
sores, and in putrid flesh, electrical states, they lose those affi-
nities in virtue of which they separate the purulent matters,
or destroy them by a rapid putrefaction. — Ann, de Chimie.

23^ M. Miarianini on an analogy

Art. VIII. — Memoir on an Analogy which exists between the
propagation of Light and that of Electricity, or on the con-
stancy of the effects of electric currents forced to traverse
spaces already traversed by other electric currents. By Dr
Et. Maria:nini, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Venice.

Among the admirable properties with which light is endowed,
one of the first is certainly the extraordinary rapidity with
which it is propagated ; a property which, combining with the
subtilty of its particles, produces very probably that other
faculty, not less astonishing, in virtue of which the rays cross
each other in their route without undergoing the slightest al-
teration.

We know, that on placing the eye at a small hole, before
which is extended a vast space on which is disseminated a
number and variety of objects, how distinctly they are seen.
This experiment clearly shows in what manner a prodigious
number of luminous rays may meet in a very small space
without experiencing a sensible collision. A phenomenon of
the same kind, and even still more surprising, may be pro-
duced by means of concave mirrors. Place two together in
such a manner that their optical axes intersect each other
reciprocally, and put before one of them any object, a red
ball for instance, in such a situation that the mirror reflects
the image to the place where its axis meets with the axis of
the other mirror. Place before the second mirror a different
object, a green ball for instance, in such a manner that its
image exactly strikes the place where the axes cross each other.
If the observer then directs his attention towards the first
mirror, and looks along the axis of it, he will perceive the
image of the red ball ; directing his eye then towards the axis
of the second mirror, he will see the image of the green ball
precisely in the same place where he had before seen the red
ball. This experiment plainly shows the manner in which
the luminous rays, proceeding from two different objects, can
cross each other reciprocally without experiencing the slightest
alteration.

Since then electricity is not inferior to light in the facility

between Light and Electricity. 233

of its propagation, will it also present a phenomenon analo-
gous to that which we have described ?

As I am not aware that any one has drawn a similar con-
clusion, and made it an object of particular study, and as I
conceive also that nothing can now be considered useless that
concerns the science of electricity, I have not looked upon it
as a trivial occupation to make several experiments, in order to
try if the effects of electric currents can be altered when they
are obliged to traverse spaces which are already crossed by
other electrical currents.

1. Beginning with the most simple cases, those in which
two electric currents cross each other at right angles, 1 took
a cube of wood three centimetres in the side, the four faces of
which, in parallel pairs, were furnished in their centre with
a screw, fixing a rectangular plate of metal eight centime-
tres in length, and rather less than two centimetres in
breadth. Wishing, in my first experiment, to put in oppo-
sition, two electric currents produced by two equal elemen-
tary batteries, I applied against one of the faces of the
cube a plate of zinc, and against the opposite face a similar
plate of copper, and I made them communicate by pressing
under the screws which fixed them, the ends of the exciting
wire of a galvanometer. The two plates presented on the
same side of the cube a projection of about six centimetres.
This pair being plunged to the depth of five centimetres in
water slightly salted, the needle of the galvanometer deviated
twelve degrees. To the two other faces of the cube furnished
with screws, I fixed in the same manner two similar plates, the
one of zinc and the other of copper, and I put them in com-
munication by pressing under the screws which supported
them the ends of an exciting wire. The four plates stretched
beyond the same base of the cube by an equal quantity. Things
being thus prepared, I plunged the two pairs in the fluid above-
mentioned, and the deviation of the needle was again twelve
degrees. We see by this experiment, that the effect of a pair
of plates upon the magnetic needle is not altered, when the
electric fluid which it causes to circulate is forced to traverse a
fluid which is crossed in a direction perpendicular to its own by
an electric current created by a pair of plates equal to the first.

2S% M. Marianini on an analogy

In place of a pair of plates communicating with the wire
of the galvanometer, I substituted another much more weak,
formed like the preceding of two plates, equal in dimen-
sions to the first, one of tvn,, and the other of brass. I with-
drew the exciting wire which put the two other plates in com-
munication. As in the preceding experiment, I tried the elec-
tro-magnetic effect. I obtained a deviation of about three
degrees. 1 restored the exciting wire to the zinc and copper
plates, and renewed the experiment. The effect was the same.

The rtsults obtained from other similar experiments, in which
oppposite electric currents act, produced by two elementary
Voltaic apparatuses, either of equal or different power, by
employing fluids endowed with a greater or less conduct-
ing faculty, present the same fact. With the intention of
crossing two currents, one produced by an elementary appara-
tus, and the other by a compound apparatus, I removed from
the cube the two plates of copper and zinc, put in communica-
tion by means of the exciting wire. I substituted two similar
plates of brass. I made one communicate with the positive
pole, and the other with the negative pole of an apparatus a
couronne de tasses, of twenty pairs, in each of which the active
surface was about six centimetres square. The elementary
battery in communication with the galvanometer, was formed
of two plates, the one of zinc, the other of lead, adapted to
two opposite faces of the cube, in the manner already indicated.
Having put the electric currents in motion, by plunging the pro-
jecting extremity of the four plates into salt water, the needle
of the galvanometer deviated ten degrees. I suppressed the
communication between the brass and the poles of the appa-
ratus a couronne de tasses. I restored, as usual, the commu-
nication with the pair of lead and zinc with the fluid ; the de-
viation was still the same.

Instead of the compound battery of the experiment which I
have described, I substituted another, also twenty pairs, whose
plates had a surface nearly quadruple. I repeated the experi-
ment without changing the elementary battery, and I again
obtained the same result.

I raised the compound battery to 100 pairs, and in ano-
ther experiment to 200 ; and nevertheless, in causing the weak

between Light and Electricity. 235

current created by the zinc and lead, to be crossed by the
powerful torrents of electricity, I could not change the effects
of the last current upon the magnetic needle.

3. In order to put in opposition the electric currents of
two compound batteries, I replaced the pair of lead and zinc
by two other plates of brass, equal to those with which I
had already armed the two other faces of the cube, and I put
them in communication with the poles of a battery of ten pairs,
while the first touched also one of the ends of the wire of the
galvanometer, and the second was united to the other end of
the same wire. I produced the circulation by the ordinary
method. The needle deviated 14 degrees. I did not obtain a
different effect, when having waited for a sufficient time till
the apparatus had recovered its lost energy, I recommenced
the experiment, after having caused to communicate the two
plates of brass applied against the two other faces of the cube,
with the poles of another apparatus a couronne de tasses, of
ten, twenty, and even two hundred pairs.

4. Hitherto, I had always made the two currents which in-
tersected each other circulate at the same time, from which
perhaps arose the impossibility of proving the influence, either
of an increased or of a diminished action upon the magnetic
needle, exercised by one of the currents upon the other. For
this reason I repeated the latter experiment, and the current
of the apparatus of two hundred couples was not developed
till after the needle of the galvanometer, put in motion by the
apparatus of ten pairs, had become altogether immoveable ; it
then indicated a deviation of five degrees. But I thought it
right to observe, with the greatest possible attention, the mag-
netic needle at the moment when the action due to the second
apparatus manifested itself, and I did not perceive the slight-
est motion.

I repeated this experiment several times, by opposing in
the manner above specified two currents produced by two
batteries, which differed either by the surface of the plates, or
by the number of the pairs, but always with the same result.

5. Convinced by the preceding experiments that the effect
of an electric current was not at all altered when it passed
through a liquid, which was traversed in a direction perpen-

1tS6 M. Marianini on an analog?^

tlicular to its own by another electric current different from
itself, I wished to ascertain if the same thing also happened
when three electric currents intersected each other at right an-
gles. With this view, I took a cube of hollow glass of 3 cent,
on a side. I made a hole in the middle of each of its faces.
I adapted to one of these holes a brass stopper left moveable,
in order to be able to fill the cube with a liquid, and I shut
each of the other holes with a small strip of brass fixed with
Spanish wax. All these strips of brass, except the little stop-
per, were put in contact with as many small plates of lead, by
means of several small pieces of brass. Having filled the cube
with water, T put one of the strips of lead in communication
with the positive pole of a battery d couronne de tasses of five
pair, and the strip which went from the opposite face was put in
communication with one of the ends of the wire of the galvano-
meter, while the other end communicated with the negative pole
of the same battery, and the needle deviated fifteen degrees.
Having suppressed this circulation, I put in communication
with the extreme cups of a Voltaic apparatus of fifty couples,
two other strips of lead, which were connected with the oppo-
site faces of the cube, care being taken to leave the circuit
broken for this purpose ; and the strips connected with the
two faces opposite to the cube were plunged into the extreme
cups of another apparatus of fifty couples, in which the electric
fluid had not been made to circulate. Every thing being pre-
pared, I re-established the communication with the wire of the
galvanometer in the apparatus of five couples ; at the same time
I produced the electric currents in the two other apparatus,
and the needle deviated fifteen degrees as before.

In another experiment, instead of producing the three cur-
rents at once, I caused to circulate only that of the apparatus
in communication with the wire of the galvanometer. I expect-
ed that the magnetic needle would cease to oscillate without
breaking the circuit for that purpose; and when it became
quiet, (the deviation was five degrees,) I established the electric
circuit in the two other batteries ; but the needle, without
making the slightest motion, preserved its first position.

I did not find any difference in the results of other experi-
ments, in which I had caused a current of an apparatus of

between Light and Electricity. 237

from five to twenty-five couples to traverse a liquid where two
other currents, put in motion by the apparatus of 100 couples,
intersected each other at right angles.

6. In order to force the electric currents to intersect one
another under angles more or less acute in traversing a fluid,
I procured a tube of glass 1 1 centimetres in length ; the interi-
or diameter was 1 cent. ; one of its ends was closed by a plate
of brass, and the other was supplied with a stopper of the same
metal.

In the side of this tube, and in a direction parallel to its
axis, three holes were made ; the first was separated 2.7 cent,
from the second, and the second from the third by the same
distance. Exactly opposite to these, but on the other side,
three other holes were made. We shall call the one set An-
terior, to distinguish them from the others, which we shall de-
nominate Posterior. All these holes were closed with small
plates or rods of brass, to which, as well as to the stopper and
the base of the tube were attached small pieces of lead, to es-
tablish, if required, the necessary communications with the
poles of the batteries. The apparatus being thus arranged, I
filled the tube with salt water ; I made the anterior band
which was nearest to the stopper communicate with the posi-
tive pole of a battery of twenty couples, and the posterior
band nearest to the base with the end of a wire of the galvano-
meter. I put the other end in communication with the nega-
tive pole of the same battery : the needle deviated fifteen de-
grees. When the circuit was broken, and the needle ceased
to oscillate, I restored the circulation at the same time that I
caused the posterior band nearest to the stopper to communi-
cate with the positive pole of another apparatus of twenty pairs,
and the anterior band nearest to the base of the tube with the
negative pole ; the electro-magnetic effect was still the same.

7. I forced the current which run through the wire of
the galvanometer to traverse in its full length the fluid con-
tained in the tube, at the same time that the two other elec-
tric currents intersected each other in the same fluid under
very acute angles, as had been done in the preceding experi-
ment. The result was a deviation of twelve degrees ; and
such it was still, when I repeated this experiment, after hav-
ing suspended the two currents which I have mentioned.

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL. 1830. Q

SS8 M. Marianini on an analogy

From these two experiments, which I have varied in several
ways, we may conclude that the electric currents which inter-
sect one another in a fluid at a very acute angle, do not weak-
en one another, and do not alter the effect of a third current
which crosses it like themselves.

8. Causing the electricity which traversed the fluid from
one extremity of the tube to the other, to pass through the
wire of the galvanometer, I directed at the same time across
the fluid three electric currents, in such a manner that they
were all perpendicular to the direction which the current took
which was to act on the magnetic needle ; in this case the de-
viation was twelve degrees.

9- With this tube I wished also to try if the action of an
electric current upon the magnetic needle was weakened when
it passed through a liquid in which one or two other electric
currents moved in a parallel direction to the first ; but on
account of the small space of fluid to be run over, and the
distance of but 2.7 cent, which separated them, I did not con-
sider these trials as sufficiently decisive. I then procured a
hollow tube of glass of 5 cent, in the side ; one of the faces had
three holes furnished with common metallic bands, the dis-
tance between them being 1 cent. ; three other holes disposed in
the same manner were on the opposite face. Having filled
the tube with water, I made the liquid be traversed with three
electric currents in a parallel direction, and one of which acted
upon the galvanometer. But whether the two other currents
were equal to this last or different, — whether they were made
to pass in the same direction as it, or in a contrary one, — the de-
viation of the needle was always equal to that which is ob-
tained when the liquid is crossed only by the electricity which
affects the magnetic needle.

In similar experiments we must take care that the electric
currents of the Voltaic apparatus, not intended to act upon the
galvanometer, do not find in the wet conductor which they ought
to traverse, a passage more difficult than that presented to them
by the battery intended to act upon the galvanometer ; other-
wise, a part of this electricity takes its course across the
battery and consequently changes its effects.

10. After all, it may still be uncertain if the electric cur-
rents which cross the same conductor affect one another, or

between Light and Electricity. 239

rather if they act upon each other so as to modify their effects,
only in the part where they run parallel across a given con-
ductor, and not in the other parts of the same conductor.
For this purpose I wished to try to make two or more elec-
tric currents pass through the same wire of a galvanometer.
In order to do this, I fixed to one of the ends of the wire an
oblong plate of lead dipping in a cup of water, and in another
cup, I put a secdnd similar plate, connected with the other
end of the wire. A strip of lead which on one side communi-
cated with the positive pole of a Voltaic apparatus of 28 pair,
dipped in one of the cups, and in the other was placed the
extremity of a second strip of the same metal, communicating
with the negative pole of the same battery. The result was a
deviation of 20 degrees. The circuit being broken without de-
ranging, for this purpose, the plates of lead, I tried in a similar
manner the effect of a second battery of 25 couplet. I obtained
a deviation of 25 degrees. T did not then suspend the circula-
tion, and, when the needle had ceased to oscillate, the deviation
was 6 degrees. In order to be certain that the battery of
25 pairs still produced the same effect, although the electricity
of the apparatus of 50 pairs had already crossed the wire of
the galvanometer, I turned the box of the galvanometer in
such a manner that the needle still corresponded with the zero
of the scale ; I then restored the circuit in the apparatus of
25 pair, and the needle deviated exactly 20 degrees as before.

In this experiment, the two currents followed the wire of the
galvanometer in the same direction. I had made them also
pass through in a contrary direction ; and the results present-
ed no difference except in the species of deviation ; it was now
west instead of east.

Having caused the wire of the galvanometer to be passed
through by electric currents of four batteries of five pairs each,
that of twenty-five pairs again produced the same effect.

11. In all these experiments I have used the galvanometer
as the instrument which would most easily show minute dif-
ferences of electric efifects. I have not, however, neglected the
other effects produced by the battery, the tastes, the shocks,
the electric tensions, &c. &c. but I could never perceive any
difference between the effects obtained by an electric current

240 M. Marianini on an analogy^ &c.

traversing a liquid, or where other currents circulated, and
those created by the same current, while another electricity
did not pass through the same conductor.

12. It is demonstrated by the preceding experiments, that
the conductibility of liquids for electricity is not changed by
the invasion of one, or many currents of electric fluid. We
may perhaps find these facts more favourable to the theory of
Franklin, than to that which considers electricity as composed
of two fluids. (See note at the end.)

My wishes will be accomplished, if I have shown that when
two or several electric currents traverse simultaneously a con-
ductor crossing one another in any way, vvhether they are all
in the same direction, or some in the opposite direction to
others, and whether they are produced by equal or unequal
batteries, one of these currents does not experience from the
action of the rest any sensible alteration. In this fact we have,
if I mistake not, a new and remarkable analogy between
the propagation of electricity, and that of light.

Note by the Author.

In the examination which I have made of the causes which
render galvanic apparatuses, constructed after the method of
Novellani and Wollaston, more powerful than others, and
which I have published in my essay on electrometric experi-
ments, I have discovered a fact which is much better explain-
ed by the theory of Franklin than by that of two fluids.
It is this. If, in a battery of 2 pair of plates, the electro-ne-
gative plate is more immersed in the fluid, the effect is greater
than when it is the electro-positive plate which presents the
largest wetted surface.

I may be permitted here to mention another fact which
equally supports the theory of a single fluid.

Take a sheet of pewter, or any other metal, eighteen or
twenty centimetres square, terminated on one side by a narrow
band or tail ; plunge this sheet in one glass of water, and let
the tail be immersed in another. In the glass which holds the
band, place another electro-positive plate, of zinc for instance,
and in the other glass a similar plate, but electro-negative, for
example of copj^er. (Neither of the plates should touch the

M. Martins and Spix's excursion to the Diamond^ <§*c. 241

sheet.) Then join together by means of a galvanometer wire
the plate of zinc with that of copper, and you will obtain a
deviation of a few degrees. Plunge then the plate of copper in
the glass which contains the tail or band, and the plate of zinc
in the other glass, and the effect will be much more striking.

It would be in vain to en4eavour to explain this fact by
the help of the theory of two fluids, since if, on the one hand,
when the plate of zinc is put into the glass which holds
the band, the passage is difficult to the vitreous fluid ; on the
other hand, when the copper replaces the zinc, and the latter
the copper, the passage is made difficult to the resinous elec-
tricity, and easy to the vitreous electricity. There is then no
reason why the effects are different. But in admitting the
theory of a single fluid, we know how, in the first case, the
electric fluid which expands itself by radiation in the liquid finds
the passage much more difficult than in the second instance ;
from which it appears, that the electro-magnetic effect, which,
as is well known, principally depends upon the rapidity of the
electric current, ought to be less in the first case, and greater
in the second. — (Ann. de Chimie.)

Art IX. — Accotmt of an Excursion to the Diamond district in
the go'oernments of Bahia and Minas Gheraes in Brazil. *
By MM. Martius and Spix.

1 HE district of diamonds is a kind of sanctuary into which it
is very difficult to penetrate. It is surrounded with a cordon of
dragoons placed in picquets at from five to six miles from each
other, who prohibit any person either from entering or leaving
the district, without the special authority of the intendant-gene-
ral of the province who resides at Tejuco. In quitting the dis-
trict, every person, whether a native or a foreigner, is searched
in the most rigorous manner. Not only are his baggage and his
clothes rigorously examined, but his person, as well as his horse
or his mules. The dragoons are also authorized to detain tra-

* From M. Spix and Martius's Travels in Brazil, undertaken in 1817
— 1820, by order of the king of Bavaria, Maximilian Joseph I. torn. ii.
Munich, 1828.

^4^ MM. Martius and Spix's Excursion to the

vellers for twenty-four hours if they have reason to think tliat
they have swallowed diamonds.

Having arrived at the Villa do Principe, about five miles
from the frontiers of the diamond district, MM. Spix and
Martius sent to Tejuco a government messenger, to request
from the intendant-general the necessary passports, strength,
ening their request by the royal permission, with which they
were favoured before quitting Rio Janeiro. As soon as they
received them they set out, and in a few hours reached the
object of their destination.

The town of San Antonio do Tejuco is situated in one of
the most fertile and delightful districts of Brazil. It is the
chief place of the district of diamonds, as well as the residence
of the intendant-general of the Junta diamantina, composed
of a procurator-fiscal of the crown, two treasurers, an inspec-
tor-general, and a book-keeper. A detachment of the regi-
ment of dragoons of Minas who kept the garrison there, fur-
nished the men necessary for guarding the frontiers and for
executing the orders of the Junta. The population of the
town is about 6000 souls.

Tejuco owes its prosperity to the working of the diamond
mines. It was at the beginning of the eighteenth century that
there were found in this district brilliant stones, to which at
first no value was attached. An agent of the government,
who had seen at Goa rough diamonds, first recognized the
identity of these stones with the diamonds of India. Availing
himself secretly of his discovery, he collected a great quantity
of them, and returned with his treasure to Portugal, after
having communicated his secret to one of his friends. The
latter imparted it to the governor of Minas Gheraes ; the go-
vernment was made acquainted with the discovery ; and in
1730 the government subjected the working of the diamond
mines to a duty similar to that of the mines of gold. It was
soon found that the collection of this tax was liable to insur-
mountable difficulties ; and there was substituted in its place a
capitation tax of from 20 to 30,000 reis (L. 5, to L. 7, lOs.
Sterling,) for each slave employed in searching for diamonds.
Ten years afterwards the limits of the diamond district were
determined in a more positive manner, and the right of work-

Diamond district in Brazil. 243

ing them in all their extent, by employing 600 negroes, was
farmed for four years by two Portuguese noblemen, Fernandez
de Oliveira and Francisco da Silva, for the sum of 230,000
reis (about L. 63 Sterling) for each slave. This contract was
renewed at different times, and the value of the farm rose by
degrees to 450,000 crusados (about L. 56,250 Sterling.)
The farmers took advantage of this augmentation, to work
with a greater number of negroes than their contract allowed
them, and the enormous profits which they made enabled them
to establish a system of corruption, by means of which they
assured themselves of impunity.

In 1772 the king resolved to regulate the working of the
diamond mines. It was at this time that the district of Teju-
co was transformed, so to speak, into a state within a state^
and a royal administration was charged with the exclusive
management of the working of the diamonds, from which in-
dividuals were prohibited. The Marquis de Pombal took up-
on himself the management of this establishment, and appoint-
ed three directors resident at Lisbon, three administrators resi-
dent in Brazil, and an intendant-general of the district of dia-
monds, invested with the most extensive powers. The direc-
tion of all the works necessary for the extraction of the dia-
monds, the administration of justice and that of police, were
confided to the latter. He was authorized to banish from the
district every inhabitant that was even under suspicion, and
to confiscate all his property if a single diamond was found in
his possession. Assisted by the diamond Junta, which was
subordinate to it, this body determined without appeal all civil
and criminal cases.

After the establishment of this new order of things, a census
was taken of the inhabitants of the district. Every person
who could not prove his origin was sent away, and if he tried
to introduce himself clandestinely, he incurred for the first of-
fence a fine and six months imprisonment ; and in the event
of repeating it, he was transported to the coast of Angola for
the term of six years. Even the slaves were registered, and
subjected to a severe surveillance. If a slave was discovered
whose name was not enrolled in the register, the master to
whom he belonged was condemned to transportation for three

244 MM. Martius and Spix's Excursion to the "^"^

years, and for a second offence for ten years. The same pun-
ishment was inflicted on the master whose slaves attempted to
search for diamonds. All these laws, the object of which was
to secure to the king the exclusive working of diamonds, sub-
sisted at the time that MM. Spix and Martius visited the
district of Tejuco.

It is in the gravel of the rivers that the diamonds are found ;
and the labour necessary for finding them is performed by
slaves belonging to individuals, to whom the government pays
weekly from two to four francs for each slave. As the places
where they work are often far remote from any habitation,
and in uncultivated districts, the slaves erect for themselves
cabins of bulrushes, and the diamond Jwwto provides them
weekly with the necessary provisions. The number of slaves
employed in this operation varies greatly. In 1775 it amount-
ed to 5000. From that time it has constantly diminished ;
and in 1818 it was little more than 1000. In order to en-
courage the negroes to work, small entertainments were given
them whenever they found a stone of any considerable size.
Whoever found a diamond weighing above 17| quilots or
carats, was purchased by the administration and set at liberty.
If the value of the diamond vvas inferior to the price of the
slave purchased, he was kept to work for the administration
till he was completely liberated ; and, on the contrary, if the
\alue of the diamond exceeded his value, he received, with
his liberty, a sum of money in addition.

The slaves are watched by Feitores or inspectors, who are,
for the most part, whites, and whose duty it is to make the ne-
groes work, to see that they deliver up the diamonds which
they find, and to keep them from excess during their holidays.
Other superior inspectors have a control over the Feitores, and
receive the diamonds which are obtained, and which they put
into a girdle fixed round their body, till they are carried to
Tejuco. They direct also the necessary works for drawing
from the rivers the cascalhao, or gravel which contains the
diamonds.

In spite of all these precautions, there is a considerable con-
traband trade in diamonds. The diamond-searchers, called
Grirapeiros, search in secret the gravel of the rivers and

Diamond District of Brazil. 245

brooks, at a distance from the royal establishments ; and some-
times they carry their audacity so far, as to take them from
the gravel accumulated near the servicos, or washing-places of
the crown. These persons are commonly Maroon negroes,
who have established themselves in the midst of rocks and in-
accessible ravines. The slaves employed by the administra-
tion practise a thousand tricks to purloin the diamonds, and
frequently succeed. In the very face of the inspectors, they
know how to hide them between their toes, in their ears, in
their mouth, among their hair, and sometimes they even swal-
low them. There are some negroes who make it their business
to send out of the district the stolen diamonds, and in spite of
the vigilance of the soldiers who guard the frontiers, these art-
ful men, who know all the centinels, find means to make their
way through them. At one time purchasers were readily
found out of the district, who concealed the diamonds in bales
of cotton or other merchandise, and forwarded them to their
correspondents at Rio Janeiro or Bahia.

The following is the method of working for the diamonds.
When a certain quantity of the gravel or cascalhao in which
they occur has been taken out of the river and put up in heaps,
a ditch about two feet is made, and water is brought into it.
The negroes, whose business it is to examine the cascalhao,
place themselves upon a bench placed in this ditch. Each slave
has a wooden dish about fifteen inches in diameter, which he
fills with cascalhao. He at first takes out of it the largest
stones ; he then plunges the dish into water, stirs it briskly,
and removes from it all the gravel, till there remains only sand
in the bottom. If he perceives in this sand a brilliant stone,
he takes it between his thumb and inside finger, rises from his
bench, and goes to deposit it in a small vessel filled with pure
water, and placed on a stool before the inspectors. When he has
finished his examination, he inverts his wooden dish, stretches
out his arms and separates his fingers, to show that he has not
kept any thing. He then goes again to fill his dish with cas-
calhao, and repeats the same operation. During all this time
the inspectors, sitting opposite to the negroes at the distance
of about twelve feet, keep their eyes on all their motions to
prevent any fraud.

The inspectors remit every night the diamonds that have

fU6 MM. Martius's and Spix's Excursion, S^c.

been found to the administrators, who commonly Hve in the
neiglibourhood of the servicos or washing places. Once a week
the latter carry the product of the washings to Tejuco, when
the Junta da Extrac^ao examines, weighs, and registers them.
They are divided into twelve classes or htes, according to their
weight and size. Those only are counted singly which belong
to the three first classes, and which weigh at least three carats.
With regard to the diamonds of the three other classes, they
are satisfied with weighing them. Once a year the Junta as-
semble to inquire into the produce of each year ; and after a
proces-verbal has been drawn up, the diamonds are enclosed
in a box with two locks, of which the intendant-general and
the procurator-fiscal of the Crown have the keys. The box
and the proces-verbal are then confided to a detachment of dra-
goons, to carry them to the governor of Villa Hica, who for-
wards them to Rio Janeiro.

The rivers which have always furnished the greatest number
of diamonds, are the Rio Jequetinhonha^ and the Rio Pardo.
The first takes its rise in the Serra do Gaviao, to the south
east of Tejuco, passes near this town, and afterwards takes a
north west direction in crossing the great forests which extend
along the coast, and falls into the sea near Porto-Seguro, after
having taken the name of Rio-Belmonte. It is in the bed of
this river that the greatest diamonds have been found. The Rio
Pardo has its source near the west frontier of the district, runs
in a north westerly direction, and discharges itself into the Rio
das Velhas, Besides these two rivers, there is in the district
of Tejuco a number of brooks which bring down diamonds ;
and, in order to extract them, their waters are often turned
aside, in order to throw their diamonds dry.

It appears from official documents communicated to MM.
Spix and Martins, that the weight of diamonds furnished by
the district of Tejuco, from the year 177^5 the time when the
search for diamonds was put under proper regulations, till the
year 1818, amounted to 1,298,073 carats. However great
this produce may appear, it seems not to have been propor-
tional to the expences of management ; for a short time after
the visit of our travellers to Tejuco, the government renounced
the charge of it, and again made over to individuals the privi-
lege of searching for diamonds.

Mr Kenwood's Account of Steam- Engines in Cornwall. 247

Art. X. — Notice of the performance of Steam-Efigines in
Cornwall for October^ November^ and December ^ 829- By
W. J. Henwood, F. G. S., Member of the Royal Geological
Society of Cornwall. Communicated by the Author.

Reciprocating Engines drawing Water.

Mines.

O.S

hof
in cy-
in feet.

hof
in the
in feet.

n lbs. per
of area
;on.

M a

nsoflbs,
t lifted I
gh by the
nption of
i.ofcoaL

Q;2

7,75

5,25

7,8

5,

MiUio
weight
foot hi
consul
i I busl:

Stray Park,

64

24,5

Huel Vor, -

63*

7,25

5,75

17,5

5,5

26,7

53

9,

7,5

19,5

5,7

42,6

48

7,

5,

8,

5,7

31,4

80

10,

7,5

13,5

6,4

59,1

45

6,75

5,5

13,7

7,

50,7

Poladras Downs,

70

10,

7,5

9,4

7,4

53,7

Huel Reeth,

36

7,5

7,5

15,3

4,

24,3

Balnoon,

30

8,

7,

9,

3,3

23,2

Huel Towan, -

80

10,

8,

10,6

6,2

76,1

80

10,

8,

6,7

4,3

64,9

United Hills, -

58

8,25

Q,5

7,8

4,2

37,8

Crinis,

m

6,75

6,75

9,

5,3

36,1

Huel Unity,

52

QSQQ 5,75

9,1

7,1

30,

60

7,25

5,75

13,8

5,8

33,3

Poldice,

90

10,

7,

10,5

6,1

48,6

60

9,5

6,25

12,8

5fi

38,3

Huel Damsel, -

42t

7,5

5,75

21,

4,9

34,7

50

9,

7,

8,8

3,2

33,

Ting Tang, -

63

8,

6,

14,4

4,9

43,8

m

9,

7,5

11,1

3,5

46,9

Cardrew Downs,

m

8,75

7,

10,4

6,3

53,

Huel Montague,

50

9,

7,

11,

3,9

29,

Dolcoath,

76

9,

7,5

11,8

5,1

43,3

Great Work, -

60

9,

7,

10,2

7,7

44,2

Huel Penrose,

36

8,5

6,5

13,1

7,1

31,8

Huel Caroline,

30

7,

6,

23,4

9,1

30,

53,5 8,333

7,

7,6

6,1

22,8

248 Mr Kenwood's Account of Steam-Engmes in Cornwall.

Mines.

<j Length of
^ stroke in cy-
linder in feet

J-J length of
stroke in the
pump in feet.

s s

1 . °*

15,7

in 3

O g

6 -

6,5

Millions of lbs.
weight lifted I
foot high by the
consumption of
1 1 bush, of coal.

St. Ives Consols,

36

29,6

Lelant Consols,

15

7,5

4,5

17,2

2,6

12,1

Binner Downs,

70

10,

7,5

10,9

8,2

62,7

64

9,333 7,75

7,7

9,5

43,8

42

9,

7,5

13,5

8,3

41,2

ConsolidatedMines, 90

10,

7,5

8,8

5,2

59,3

70

10,

7,5

9,7

5,9

61,4

65

9,

7,5

15,4

3,9

mfi

90

10,

7,5

8,4

7,1

61,

90

10,

7,5

10,3

2,7

41,6

6

9,

7,5

12,4

4,8

64,5

United Mines,

90

9,

8,

7,9

4,5

43,9

30

9,

7,5

12,9

8,1

43,1

Huel Beauchamp,

36

7,75

6,

13,5

3,1

26,7

Huel Rose,

60

9,

7,

14,

6,3

59,6

Pembroke,

80

9,75

7,25

11,9

3,9

51,2

50

9,

7,

11,2

7,2

45,3

East Crinnis, -

60

5,5

5,5

8,5

4,3

22,6

70

10,

7,

9,4

4,9

36,7

East Huel Unity,

45

8,75

6,75

13,2

5,5

40,7

Huel Hope,

60

9,

8,

12,

5,8

57,5

Huel Tolgus,

70

10,

7,5

8,2

5,3

54,3

Tresavean,

60

9,

7,

6,7

4,2

21,3

Huel Falmouth,

58

8,75

6,5

4,3

5,5

26,5

Huel Sperris, -

70

10,338

i 7,75

6,7

6,6

44,3

Huel Prosper, -

53

7,

7,

3,9

5,6

23,8

Huel Leisure, -

36

9,35

6,75

14,3

7,8

35,4

70

9,833 7,75

4,8

3,1

38,2

Average duty 41,4 millions of lbs., 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.

Meteorological Observations made in the Isle of Man, 249

fluel Vor,

Average duty of rotatory engines, 17-97 millions.

* Watt's double engines.

•[• The steam, after passing through a high pressure, escapes
into a Watt's single engine. All the other reciprocating engines
are Watt's single.

Length of

crank.

24.

6.

3. 12.

15. 18.9

27.

5.

2.5 12.

17.3 21.1

16.5

5.

2.5 8.5

27.4 13.9

Art. XI. — Abstract of Meteorological Observations made in
the Isle of Man, from 1826 to 1829, inclusive. By Robert
Steuart, Esq. Receiver-General of the Isle of Man. Com-
municated by Dr Hibbert. *

A general state of the weather from January 1826 to Decem-
ber 1829. Thermometer (Fahrenheit) always out, on a
northern exposure. Taken at 9 o'clock a. m., and at 11
o'clock p. M.

1826.

182C.

Medium

of

Thermom.

Wind,

Weather,

Rain

Number of Da

ys.

Number of Days.

Fallen.

Months.

A. M. p. M.

N.

S.

E.

W.

Rain. Snow Fair.

Inch.

lOOpt

.January,

39 354

7

11

8

5

7 1 23

}>

79

February, -

441 43

4'

13

1

10

17 2 9

4

75

March, - -

43 Ul

6

5

14

6

6 3 22

1

79

April, - -

48 43

u

4

2

13

10 1 19

2

59

May, - -

53 50

6

2

19

4

3 „ 28

}'

52

June, - -

60 65

11

9

7

3

3 „ 27

,,

4

.Tuly, - -

QQk 63

6

11

4

10

10 „ 21

1

30

August,

67^ 62i

1

11

1

18

14 „ 17

2

35

September, -

58i 53

4

8

12

6

11 „ 19

2

4

October,

554 \9\

8

5

4

14

17 i, 14

3

55

November, -

43| 42
443 44

10

}»

11

9

11 4 15

3

52

December, -

8

7

4

12

17 1 13

6

28

General Medium

. 53i 49

82

86

87

110

126 12 227

29

52

A. M.

p. M.

75

70

30

24

Highest state of Thermometer,
Lowest, - - - -

Note. — With reference to the " Wind," the prevailing point for the
day is taken. If ani/ rain, snow, or sleet, falls during the day, it is not con-
sidered as a fair day.

* A former series of Mr Steuart's observations, from 1822 to 1825, will
be found in Vol. v. p. 231 of this Journal.

250 Mr Steuart's jfeteorological Observations, c^-c.

1827.

1827.

Medium

of
Thermom.

Wind,

Weather,

Kain

Number of Days.

N'umber of

Days.

Fallen.

Months.

A. M. P. M

N.

S. E.

W.

8

Rain.
13

Snow Fair.
5 13

(nch.
4

lOOpt

January,

39 38

12

4 7

58

February, -

39 37

9

4 14

1

5

1

22

2

12

March, - -

42 41

9

2 2

18

15

5

11

5

65

April, - -

47 45

5

5 13

7

9

2

19

2

41

May, - .

52 49

4

17 7

3

14

)i

17

1

76

June, - -

57 53

8

12 6

4

11

19

2

79

July, - -

60 55

11

8 8

4

10

»j

21

2

65

August,

58 55

11

6 12

2

11

i)

20

4

58

September, -

59 55

5

12 10

3

12

>t

18

2

12

October,

54 52

8

11 12

>>

15

16

3

50

November, -

48 48

16

6 5

3

16

1

13

4

33

December, -

46 45

7
105

6 6

12

21

1

9

6

92

General Medium,

50 48

93 102

65

152

15

198

43

41

Highest state of Thermometer,
Lowest, - - .-

A. M. P. M.

70 64

29 25

1828.

1828.

Medium

of
Thermom.

Wind,

Weather,

Rain

Number of D.

iys.

Number of Days.

Fallen.

Months.

A. M. p. M.

N.

S. E.

W.

Rain. Snow Fair.

Inch. lOOpt

January,

43 42

6

8 12

5

11 2 18

3 47

February,

41 42

7

12 6

4

13 2 14

2 56

March, * -

41 43

14

5 6

6

7 3 21

1 80

April,

47 44

6

11 8

5

15 1 14

4 38

May, - -

54 51

3

3 17

8

10 „ 21

2 5

June,

58 55

2

10 8

10

10 „ 20

1 63

July, - -

58 59

i>

18 3

10

12 „ 9

3 33

August,

61 58

4

8 11

8

9 „ 2

2 9

September, -

59 56

2

12 14

2

10 „ 0

2 50

October,

53 51

6

10 7

8

U „ 7

2 31

November, -

50 48

8

4 11

7

17 1 2

4 72

December, -

49 48

8

10 4

9

19 „ 12

5 6

General Medium,

51 49

64

113 107

82

147 9 210

35 90

A. M. p. M.

Highest state of 1

rhermometer.

67 64

Lowest

>

-

-

-

33 33

M. Kupffer on Iso-geothermal Lines.
1829.

251

1820.

Me(

liuni
mom

Wind,

Weather,

Rain

Thei

Number of Days.

Number of

Days.

Fallen.

Months.

A. M.

p. M.

N.

S.

E.

w.

Rain.

Snow

Fair

Inch.

lOOpt

January,

36

41

12

2

17

}i

4

7

20

i>

87

February,

43

43

6

2

12

8

9

1

18

1

58

March, - -

41

40

3

6

22

4

j>

27

1

April,

46

42

6

8

11

5

15

2

13

3

10

May, - -

53

50

4

15

7

5

5

3J

26

1

53

June,

60

54

8

8

6

8

U

>3

19

I

77

July, - -

60

65

9

15

4

3

18

>3

13

2

8©

August, -

57

54

18

3

3

7

17

J>

14

5

80

September, -

52

49

13

8

2

7

1?

})

13

3

65

October,

49

47

12

6

7

6

15

i>

16

6

10

November, -

44

45

6

4

8

12

14

1

15

3

81

December, -

40

39

5

14

11

1

6

2

23

1

82

General Medium,

48

46

102

91

110

62

135

13

217

33

89

A. M.

p. M.

Highest state of Thermometer,

65

62

Lowest, - - - -

28

27

Art. XII. — On Iso-geothermal Lines, or the distribution of
the Mean Temperature of the Ground, By M. Kupffer
of Casan.

In the year 1819, when Dr Brewster was occupied with the
inquiries respecting the mean temperature of the earth, of
which he has published an account in the Edinburgh Trans-
actions, vol. ix. p. 201, he was led to a very extensive compa-
rison of the temperature of springs with that of the tempera-
ture of the air, and he concluded, from this comparison, " that
there is a particular isothermal line, which in Europe is near-
ly that which passes through Berlin, at which the tempera-
ture of springs and that of the atmosphere coincide ; that, as
we approach the arctic circle, the temperature of springs is
always higher than that of the air, while in approaching the
equator it is always lower."*' Notwithstanding this curious dif-
ference, he found that the lines which represent the one are
always parallel to the lines which represent the other, that is,
to use the technical terms of Humboldt and Kupffer, the I so-

252 M. KupfFer on Isogeothermal Lines.

thermal lines are always parallel to the Iso-geothermal ones.
Hence the general formulae which Dr Brewster has given for
the points of the isothermal lines in all latitudes and meridians,
are applicable to the points of the iso-geothermal lines by ad-
ding or subtracting a quantity depending on the distance of
the place from the neutral isothermal line, — a quantity which
can be determined only from a numerous series of observa-
tions.

In a valuable paper, of which we propose to give a short ac-
count, entitled, On the Mean Temperature of the air and of
the ground in some parts of Eastern Russia, which was read
to the Academy of St Petersburg on the 18th February 1829,
M. KupfFer has projected the iso-geothermal lines as formed
by the temperatures of springs in different places, and he con-
cludes that the iso-geothermal lines are far from coinciding
with the isothermal lines. This result stands in direct oppo-
sition to that obtained by Dr Brewster, and therefore requires
some examination.

From the sketch of the iso-geothermal lines and the isother-
mal ones, as given by M. Kupffer, it is obvious that, as they ap-
proach to the Arctic regions, all approximation to parallelism
disappears. But this arises from the imperfection of the iso-
thermal projection as given by Humboldt, who was not posses-
sed of sufficiently numerous observations to give them more cor-
rectly. In the formulae of Dr Brewster, verified by the accu-
rate observations of Sir Charles Giesecke in Greenland, and of
Mr Scoresby in the Arctic Seas, and still more strikingly con-
firmed by the subsequent observations made in the voyages of
Sir Edward Parry and Sir John Franklin, the isothermal lines
in Europe and America quit one another entirely and surround
two cold poles, one in America and another in the North of
Asia. Now it is a most remarkable fact, that the American
and European portions of M. Kupffer's iso-geothermal line of
0° Reaumur, actually separate, and are clearly going round
the two poles of maximum cold. This valuable result not
only removes every difficulty respecting the apparent want of
parallelism of the two classes of lines in the Arctic region,
but it affords an independent proof of the general correctness

M. KupfFer on Iso-geothermal Lines.

253

of the formulae of Dr Brewster, which necessarily carry the
isothermal lines round two separate poles.

The following is the general table given by M. KupfFer.
We have not converted the degrees of Reaumur into those of
Fahrenheit, because it is the comparison of the two columns
with which we are principally concerned.

Heieht in T^'^P^^'^t^ures observed
Places. Latitude. ™ ^ „ on Reaumur's scale. Observers,

metres. Qf the ground. Of the air.

Congo,

9°. S.

450

+ 18°.2

+ 20°. 5

Smith

Cumana,

10 .15 N.

20 .5

22.4

Humboldt

St Jago C. Verd,

15

19 .6

20 .0

Hamilton

RockfordJamaica,

18

20.9

21 .6

Hunter

Havaiinah,

23

18 .8

20.5

Ferrer

Nepaul,

28

18 .6

20.0

Hamilton

TenerifFe, *

28 .30

14.4

17.3

Bucb

Cairo,

30

18.0

18 .0

Nouet

Cincinnati,

39

160

9 .9

9 .7

Mansfield

Philadelphia,

40

10.2

9.9

Warden

Carmeaux,

43

300

10.4

11 .5

Cordier

Geneva,

46

350

9.9

7 .7

Saussure

Paris,

49

75

9.2

8 .7

Bouvard

Berlin,

52.30

40

8,1

6.4

Dublin,

53

7.7

7.6

Kirwan

Kendal,

54

7.0

6 .3

Dalton

Keswick,

54.30

7.4

7 .1

,

Konigsberg,

54 .30

Q,&

5.0

Erman

Kisnekejewa,

54 .30

300

3 .5

-— 1 .2

KupfFer

Kasan,

5Q

30

5

2.4

Id.

Edinburgh,

56

7

7 .0

Playfair

Carlscrona,

56.15

6.8

6.8

Wahlenberg

Nishney-Tagilsk,

58

200

2.3

0 .2

Kupffer

Werchoturia,

59

200

1.9

0.7

Id.

Bogoslovpsk,

60

200

1 .5

1 .2

Id.

Upsal,

60

5.2

+ 4.5

Wahlenberg

Umeo,

64

2.3

0.6

Id.

Giwarten-Fiall,

GQ

500

1 .0

— 3.0

Id.

It is evident, from this table, says our author, that under the
same parallel the temperature of the ground varies according
to the meridians, and that in order to have a just idea of the
progress of this temperature, we must compare places situated
under the same meridians. The above observations may

• This is also the temperature of springs at the height of 1500 feet, so
that the low springs must have their origin at a great height.

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. R

254 M. KupfFer on Iso-geothermal Lines.

therefore be arranged under four meridional zones, depending
on the meridians of Paris, Umeo, Ural, and Cumana.

Besides, among the stations on the table, there are seve-
ral at a very considerable height above the sea, so that we
must reduce their geothermal temperature to the level of the
sea. Unfortunately we possess so few observations of this
kind, that it is impossible to determine with accuracy the di-
minution in the temperature of the ground which corresponds
with a given elevation. Our author, however, concludes, that
the decrease in the temperatures of springs follows the same
law as that of the atmosphere, or, if there is a difference, that
it is less rapid in the former than in the latter case. He there-
fore uses 1° of Reaumur for every 250 metres. By applying
this correction, and distributing the places into zones, he ob-
tains the following tables.

First Meridian of 0°

Latitude.

Temperature of ground.

St Jago,

15° 0' N.

4- 19°.6

Teneriffe,

28 30

14.4

Carmeaux,

43

11.6

Geneva,

46

10.3

Paris,

49

9.5

Dublin,

53

7.7

Keswick,

54 30

7.4

Edinburgh,

5Q

7.0

Second Meridian of 20°

East

Cairo,

30° N.

+ 18°.0

Carlscrona,

56 15

6.8

Upsal,

60

5.2

Umeo,

64

2.3

Giwarten-Fiall,

m

3.0

Congo,

9 S.

20.0

Third Meridian of 60° East.

Kisnekejewa, 54° 30^ 4°.7

Nishney-Tagilsk, 58 3 1

Werchoturia, 59 2 7

Bogoslowsk, 60 2 .3

M. KupfFer on Iso-geothermal Lines. '^155

Fourth Meridian

o/80°

West.

Latitude.

Temperature of grounil.

Cumana,

10°

20.5

Rockford,

18

20.9

Havaijiiah,

23

las

Cincinnati,

39

10.5

Philadelphia,

40

10.2

From these tables M. KupfFer draws the following conclu-
sions : —

1. The temperature of the air, and the mean temperature
of the ground, are not the same under the same parallel. If
we make the lines pass through those points where the tem-
perature of the ground is the same, those lines which may be
called Iso-geothermal^ have been hitherto synonymous with the
isothermal lines.

2. The temperature of the ground, as well as that of the
air, decreases as the latitude increases. This decrease is more
rapid as we approach the parallel of 45% and at greater lati-
tudes it decreases more slowly. This circumstance explains
why in low latitudes the temperature of the ground is inferior
to that of the air. For the same reason in mean latitudes the
temperature of the ground reaches that of the air, and rises
above it in higher latitudes.

3. M. Kupffer states, that we may represent the relation be-
tween the latitude and the temperature of the ground, by the
formula, a — 6, Sin. Z = ^, in which I is the latitude, t the cor-
responding temperature, and a and b constant quantities to be
determined for each meridian. Having determined these co-
efficients, he finds, that the observed and calculated tempera-
tures agree pretty well, except for Cumana, Teneriffe, Ko-
liigsberg, and Umeo, places upon which local circumstances
appear to impress an anomalous character.

It must not be forgotten that this formula gives only ap-
proximations, and that it may give false results for points too
remote from those where the observations have been made.
Among these points are the poles, for which the four equa-
tions ought to give the same value, which is not the case. It

^6 M. Kupffer on Iso-gcothermal Lines.

may be presumed, that the minima of the temperature of the
ground meet in the neighbourhood of the pole, but this is what
the formula cannot indicate, since it gives the greatest value of
t when Z = o, and the smallest when I ::= 90°.

The iso-geothermal line of 0°, approaching greatly to the
north pole under the first meridian, and even reaching it, — if
we admit the result of the formula in this case, it follows, that
the space terminated by this line is marked in this place with
a great break, and appears to separate into two portions, of
which the central points may he considered as two poles of cold
for the gro7ind. One of these poles will probably be in North
Arnerictty and the other in the North of Siberia. Unfortu-
nately observations are wanting for these regions. The tem-
perature of these poles cannot be much below 0°.

With regard to the temperature of the ground under the
equator, it is obviously lower at points situated on the coast,
or in the islands, than at those which are in the interior of a
great continent. The warmest part is in the interior of Africa.
To the north of this point, at least in latitudes which do not
exceed 50°, the iso-geothermal lines take a great bend to the
north. The point of the equator situated at 60° of longitude,
has a lower temperature by 1°|. We find nearly the same
depression for the nearest points of Teneriffe and Cumana. It
may hence be presumed, that the coldest point of the equator
is between 60 and 80° of west longitude in the Atlantic Ocean.
Setting out from this point, the temperature of the ground in-
creases rapidly from east to west. It may be said of the
equator, as of the poles, that the formula is not applicable to it.

With regard to the more elevated temperatures of the
ground which are observed in the latitudes of the second me-
ridian, we have only conjectures to propose. The phenome-
non may be explained in the vicinity of the equator, by the
heat of the sandy deserts ; but this cause could have no influ-
ence under higher latitudes. We may perhaps seek for it in the
volcanic condition of the earth under this meridian. We there
find, indeed, two active volcanoes, Vesuvius and Mtna. Ger-
many is covered with basaltic and other volcanic formations. A
multitude of springs, more or less warm, attest the high tern-

M. Kupffer on Iso-geothe'rmal Lines. 25?

perature of the interior of the earth. The Tyrolese Alps pre-
sent every where porphyry and pyroxene, of which their mas-
ses are composed. To the south of the equator we have, un-
der the second meridian, only one observation, that of Congo ;
and, if we may be permitted to draw a conclusion, it indicates
that the warmest iso-geothermal line does not coincide with the
terrestrial equator. To find a point in the former, we may
take the middle of the distance which separates the line at 20°,
and the station of Congo, where 22° is the temperature of the
ground. If, as may be presumed, this equator runs parallel to
the line of 20°, its temperature under the first meridian is
greater than that which has been calculated for the ground of
the terrestrial equator. It is smaller under the 2d, 3d, and
4th. The temperature of the iso-geothermal equator will be
more equal than if this line connected with the terrestrial equa-
tor, and will nowhere deviate greatly from 22°, the mean tem-
perature of these regions."

M. Kupffer next proceeds to show that his system of Iso-
thermal lines ac{;ords with some of the leading facts of physi-
cal geography, such as the progress of vegetation in different
places, that of the polar ices, and the distribution of terrestrial
magnetism.

" The temperature of the ground," says he, " is connected
by different relations with the other great phenomena of our
globe. Wahlenberg has already remarked, that the existence
in high latitudes of durable vegetables with deep roots, such
-as trees and shrubs, can arise only from the temperature of the
ground exceeding that of the air. In these latitudes the periods
of vegetation appear to follow that of the temperature of the
ground almost as much as that of the air. This is an observa-
tion which I have often made in my excursion to the north of
the Uralian Chain. In middle Russia vegetation commences
later than in Germany, but the harvest takes place nearly at
the same time, viz. in July. Farther to the north, till the mean
temperature is 0° (32° Fahr.) the harvest is later, viz. in Au-
gust, or even in the beginning of September. This epoch, which
coincides with the maximum of temperature in the air, is con-
nected also in liigh latitudes with that of the temperature of
the ground.

268 M. Kupffer on Iso-geothermal Lines-

The relation wliich appears to exist between the more north-
ern iso-geothermal lines and the limit of the polar ices deserves
also to fix our attention. The line of 0° (32° Fahr.) is a lit-
tle to the south of the limits of the ice, excepting towards Green-
land ; but we know that this country was not formerly sur-
rounded with ice as it is at present. Besides, the temperature
of the ground can only act upon masses of ice which descend
to a certain depth ; but those which are found in the terra
Jirma cannot be in this predicament, and it becomes easy to
explain in this way the influence of a continent such as Green-
land, on the limits of the polar ices. The removal of the ice
to the south west, which Mr Scoresby has so well observed
on the east coast of Greenland, demonstrates the existence of
poles of cold in the North of America, and particularly in
Greenland; at least I do not know how we can otherwise ex-
plain a phenomenon so contrary to our ordinary ideas of the
distribution of temperature on the surface of the globe. It is
evident that if the coldest point of the polar sea coincided
with the pole, the coldest waters would form in the depths of
the sea a current from north to south, while the warmest
would transport themselves to the surface from south to north.
Modified by the rotation of the earth, the first of these cur-
rents would take a south-west direction, and the second a
north-east direction, and as it is the superficial waters which
transport the icebergs, this transport ought to take place in a
north-west direction in place of the very opposite direction
which it actually takes. But if the coldest point of this re-
gion is at some distance from the pole, the surface current
ought to direct itself to the south, or rather to the south-west,
on account of the earth's rotation. We shall yet find, I think,
a close relation between the phenomenon of currents in the
sea, and the distribution of the temperature of the ground.

But this distribution of temperature appears also to have a
great influence on the distribution of the intensiti/ of terrestrial
magnetism. This would no doubt be the case, if it is true,
as I have tried to show in another memoir, that terrestrial
magnetism resides at the surface of the globe. We have here
the choice between two hypotheses ; either the earth should be
considered as a magnet existing by itself, and then the inten-

M. KupfFer on Iso-geothermal Lines. 259

Tsity of its magnetism will be the inverse of its temperature ;.
or it receives its influence from without, and is only like a
piece of soft iron to which the presence of a distant body com-
municates magnetism, and then the intensity of its magnetism
will increase with its temperature. Though the first of these
hypotheses has been hitherto generally adopted, yet the second
acquires some probability by the discovery of the magnetic in-
fluence of the solar rays, (See this No. page 225,) and of the
known relation between the diurnal variations of the dechna-
tion of the needle, and the course of the sun.

If we consider the globe as a warm mass highly susceptible
of magnetism, whose surface has an almost uniform tempera-
ture, and which is rendered magnetic by the action of a dis-
tant celestial body, it is evident that its magnetism will be dis-
tributed in a manner perfectly regular, and that the lines of
equal inclination will coincide with those of equal intensity.
But if the surface becomes by degrees unequally heated, the
lines of equal intensity will be modified, and will in some
points separate from the lines of equal inclination. If one of
these last lines passes through several points in which the tem-
perature of the ground is the same, the intensity of magnetism
in these different points will also be the same ; but in all
points where the temperature of the ground is higher or lower,,
the intensity, according to our hypothesis, will be stronger or
weaker. This indeed appears to be the case, and if future
observations agree with those already made, we may regard
this circumstance as a powerful demonstration of the hypo-
thesis in question.

In the magnetic chart of Hansteen, drawn in 1825, we see
f*^ that the lines of equal inclination and equal intensity are sen-
' sibly parallel in Scotland, but that farther east, in Norway
and in Sweden, they both bend towards the north and cut
the first. Besides, on the same line of equal inclination, the
intensity is weaker to the east than to the west, and it is the
same with the temperature of the ground. Thus, for ex-
ample, the inclination is nearly the same at Edinburgh and at
Stockholm. But in the first of these towns the intensity is as
1.400, and the temperature of the ground T, whilst in the
second the intensity is as 1.886, and the tcmperatufe of the

26# M. Kupffer on Iso-geothermal Lines.

ground is as 5°.2. It is the same at Paris and Kasan, where
the inclination differs little. At Paris the intensity is 1.348,
and the temperature of the ground 9°. 2, and at Kasan the one
is 1,320 and the other 5°. At TenerifFe the intensity is 1 .298,
and the temperature 14§°, whilst at Naples the one is 1.275
and the other 13°.

We may hence easily understand why the pole of intensity
is to the south of the pole of inclination. As the temperature
of the ground goes on diminishing to the north, the lines of
equal inclination nearest the pole of inclination pass through
colder points to the north of this pole than to the south ; but
in these colder points, the intensity, according to the princi-
ples above laid down, ought to be weaker than in the others.
We ought, therefore, to seek for the pole of intensity, that is,
the point where the magnetic intensity is a maximum to the
south of the pole of inclination ; and it is actually there where
it is found by the calculation of the last observations of Mr
Hansteen. The pole of inclination is in 71° iat. and 102°
long. ; that of intensity is in 5G)° of Iat. and 80° of long, west
of Paris.

Such is a very imperfect account of M. KupfFer's memoir,
as we find it in an abstract in the Bihl. Universelley where
the formula, with the numerical values of a and h, are unac-
countably omitted.

It is obvious that M. Kupffer has not seen Dr Brewster's
paper on the mean temperature of the earth, where the same
results nearly, respecting the isothermal equator, are deduced,
which M. Kupffer deduces for the iso-geothermal equator. The
whole of M. Kupffer's valuable results present the most
striking confirmation of the isothermal law of Dr Bnewster,
communicated nearly ten years ago to the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, that the distribution of temperature on the earth's
surface is related to four poles of maximum cold, two to the
north, and two to the south of the equator, and nearly related
in position to the magnetic poles of the earth.

We expect to be able in an early Number to give an ab-
stract of Dr Brewster's paper, accompanied with a map of the
isothermal lines surrounding the two poles of maximum cold
in the northern hemisphere.

Discovery of Diamond Mines in Russia. 261

Art. Kill. — Contributions to Physical Geography,

1. Account of the Discovery of Diamoiids i?i Russia. In a
Letter from St Petersburgh.

It is not many years since the produce of the Russian gold
mines amounted to only forty pud * at the utmost. This quan-
tity was raised, with great expence and severe toil, from deep
pits. Who would not have smiled then at the assertion, that
after a short time, on an immense tract of soil, the richest gold
beds, — that masses of solid gold and platina would be found,
in quantities so great, as have hitherto not been found in the
new world. And yet this has happened. Russia is, in this
respect, not behind the countries of the other hemisphere,
which, from the discovery of America, were in some degree
the monopolizers of the precious metal. Russia has been the
first to coin money from platina ; yet these countries had an
advantage over her in the possession of the invaluable dia^
mond. This she also now has ; the first Russian diamond was^
found on the 22d June 1829, on the western side of the Ural,
at the Biszer gold-wash of Countess Polier, by a boy thirteen
years of age, of the name of Pawel Popow.

The first well-grounded hint of the probable existence of
diamonds in Russia, is due to the Professor of the University
of Dorpat, Maurice Engelhardt, who, on a scientific journey
which he made in the Ural in the year 1826, wrote from thence
about this remarkable object to the rector of the university,
State Councillor Ewers. In an extract of this letter, which
was printed at the time (1826) in the Journal de St Peters-
bourg^ No. 118, it is said, among other things — " La sable de
platine de Nijny-Toura appartenant a la fabrique de la cou-
ronne Koushra, ofFre une resemblance frappante avec celui du
Brezil, ou Ton trouve ordinairement les diamans. D'apres la
description de M. d'Esckwege (Geognostisches Gemalde Von
Brasilien, Weymar, 1822,) celui ci est compose principalement
de galets d'un hydrate de fer (le Brauneisenstein des Alle-
mands,) et de jaspe, et offre en outre une multitude de petites
pierres microscopiques de diverses couleurs et plus de platine

• About 15001b. avoirdujpois.

iM Contributions to Physical Geography.

que d'or. Le sable des mines de Nijny-Toura ofFre le meme
melange, et la presence de Thydrate de fer est rautantphis re-
marquable, que c''est dans cette breche qu'au Brezil on trouve le
diamant incrust^ ; ce qui fait voir que ces deux mineraux ne
se trouvcnt pas par hazard ensemble, mais comme debris d''une
meme formation de roches.*"

As the above-mentioned sand strata (sables) extend for more
than 250 square wersts, and are for the most part covered with
wood, M. Von Engelliardt could not enter into any particular
researches for diamonds, which, probably mingled with a quan-
tity of other little crystals, could not otherwise be separated
from the clayey sand, than by the operation of washing, and
where, besides, all depended upon a happy accident of the
finder. But he communicated his remarks, and the opinion,
that doubtless diamonds were to be found here, to the direc-
tors of the Turinsky works, who were ready to make the neces-
sary preparations for the discovery of the treasure, hidden in
the lap of the earth. At the same time he advised them, as
the external quality of rough diamonds would probably be
little or not at all known to the officers there, to send some
from St Petersburgh, to serve as specimens at their search-
ings.

The St Petersburgh Scientific Committee for the mines or-
dered the letter of Professor Engelhardt to be printed in a
Russian translation, in the 11th number of the Journal for
Mining Science. In the following year, by order of the Finance
Minister, an order was sent to all mine-directors at the Ural
mountains, and also to the Perm mine administration, to make
a search for diamonds. Also, in the year 18^9, the director of
the Bogaszlowsky mines sent out a peculiar expedition to make
such researches, which indeed did not discover diamonds, but
one of the richest beds of gold sand.

In September of this year, finally, the finance minister got
a report by Count Polier, then residing at the estates of his
lady, situated at the Ural, stating, that Baron Humboldt, on
his journey through those parts, had several times found the
most striking resemblance between the Ural and Brazilian
mountains, and after manifold observations and inquiries was
persuaded that the Ural must contain diamonds. This opi-

Caverns in Tungkin. 263

nion of so celebrated and experienced a natural historian ex-
cited double attention to this object in all gold washers visited
by him. The washed sand was examined with microscopes,
in the hope that these precious crystals might be discovered
therein. However, during the presence of Baron Humboldt,
not a trace of them was found on the whole eastern side of the
mountain.

When Baron Humboldt proceeded on his journey, Count
Polier separated from him, and repaired to the possessions of
his lady, situated at the western side of the Ural, where he
visited, on the 23d of June, a gold-wash situated at twenty-
five wersts from the Biszer manufactory. Here, in conse-
quence of an order before given, several specimens of gold
and platina sand, and of several quartz crystals found there-
in, were laid before him, among which he discovered the first
Ural diamond. The crystal, a day before the arrival of the
Count, had attracted the attention of a peasant boy, of thir-
teen years, of the name of Pawel Popow, at the wash of the
gold-sand ; and, as a reward is offered for the discovery of un-
common or remarkable minerals, he had delivered it to the in-
spector, who, however, did not see in it any thing extraordi-
nary, and cast it therefore among the other crystal specimens.
Three days after another boy found one, and finally a third
one, the whole weight of which was superior to that of the
two former taken together. Afterwards, according to the no-
tices of Count Polier, in the same gold-wash there have
been found several diamonds, which, according to the judg-
ment of connoisseurs, are in no respect behind the Brazilian
ones.

It cannot be doubted that by this success all the rest of the
gold-washers will be excited to make a search for diamonds
their particular business, and that thereby a new source of
riches will be opened to Russia, in which many unknown trea-
sures lie yet concealed. — From, the London Packet.

2. Account of Caverns in the Empire of Tungkin.

In several parts of Tungkin, but particularly in the pro-
vince of Xu-than, there are within the mountains many ca-
verns, some of which are known only to the neighbouring vil-

S64j Contributions to Physical Geography.

lagers, who conceal their effects in them during the time of war.
Some of them are used as temples for their sacrifices. The
existence of others, their beauties and singularities, are secrets
which are never revealed, lest the Emperor or some great
mandarin should have the curiosity to visit them, for such
visits are always very expensive to the people among whom
they are made. A naturaHst would find in these caverns a
vast field for observation. They are all filled with petrifac-
tions and crystallizations which have various colours, and with
other remarkable singularities.

One of the most remarkable of these caverns is a quarter of
a league long. It traverses a mountain from one end to the
other, and opens at both ends into fertile and well cultivated
plains. The whole of the bottom of the cavern is filled with
pure water from six to eight feet deep. It is easily navigated,
but for this purpose the traveller must be furnished with
torches. The roof appears to be formed of stones of the na-
ture of chalk. In some parts the roof is only from eight to
-ten feet above the water, while in others it rises to a very
great height.

Near this cavern there is another, whose entrance is more
.surprising, and its interior elevation much higher. It con-
tains no water. Sometimes the roof is narrow, and sometimes
it widens, and forms immense chambers, containing natural
tables, altars, thrones, and moveables of every kind. These
wonders are all celebrated by the Tungkinese poets.

In the same chain of mountains, and in the canton called
the Great Desert, about twenty leagues from the above cavern,
there is a cavern of immense size, and the largest in the coun-
try. It contains a fetid air, and its exhalations are insalubrious.
It can only be reached by sailing along a canal, the waters of
which cannot be drunk without danger. The canal itself
makes a number of turns, and at every turn it is necessary to
place a torch in order to find one's way out of it. Nobody has
yet ventured far into the cave. Its extremity has never been
reached, and it is unknown whether or not there is any other
entrance to it. — Expose Statistiqiie du Tunkin, sur la rela-
tion de M. De la Bissachese, p. 40-43.

Mirage of Central India. 9.QS

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

It is only in the cold season that the mirage is visible ; the
sojourners of Maroo call it the see-kote, " or castles in the air.'*
In the deep desert to the westward, the herdsman and travel-
lers through these regions style it chittrdm^ " the picture ;'*
while about the plains of the Chumbul and Jumna they term
it dessasie?', " the omen of the quarter." This optical decep-
tion has been noticed from the remotest times. The prophet
Isaiah alludes to it, when he says, " and the parched ground
shall become a pool," which the critic has justly rendered^
' and the seh'ob shall become real water." Quintus Curtius,
describing the mirage in the Sogdian desert, says, that " for
the space of four hundred furlongs not a drop of water is to
be found, and the sun's heat, being very vehement in summer,
kindles such a fire in the sands, that every thing is burnt up.
There also arises such an exhalation, that the plains wear the
appearance of a vast and deep sea ;" which is ah exact descrip-
tion of the chittrdm of the Indian desert. But the sehrab and
chittrdm., the true mirage of Isaiah, differ from that illusion
called the see-kote ; and though the traveller will hasten to it,
in order to obtain a night's lodging, I do not think he would
expect to slake his thirst there.

When we witnessed this phenomenon at first, the eye was
attracted by a lofty opaque wall of lurid smoke, which seemed
to be bounded by, or to rise from, the very verge of the hori-
zon. By slow degrees, the dense mass became more transpa-
rent, and assumed a reflecting or refracting power: shrubs
were magnified into trees ; the dwarf khyre appeared ten times
larger than the gigantic amli of the forest. A ray of light
suddenly broke the line of continuity of this yet smoky bar-
rier ; and, as if touched by the enchanter's wand, castles,
towers, and trees, were seen in an aggregated cluster, partly
obscured by magnificent foliage. Every accession of light
produced a change in the chittrdm, which from the dense wall
that it first exhibited, had now faded into a thin transparent
film, broken into a thousand masses, each mass being a huge
lens ; until at length the too vivid power of the sun dissolved
the vision : castles, towers, and foliage, melted, like the en-
chantment of Prospero, into " thin air."

26S Contributkyns to Physical Geography.

I had long imagined that the nature of the soil had some
effect in producing this illusory phenomenon ; especially as
the chittrdm of the desert is seen chiefly on those extensive
plains productive of the saji^ or alkaline plant, whence by in-
cineration the natives produce soda, and whose base is now
known to be metallic. But I have since observed it on every
kind of soil. That these lands, covered with saline incrusta-
tions, tend to increase the effect of the illusion, may be con-
cluded. But the difference between the sehrab or chittrdm,
and the see-Jcote or dessasiir, is, that the latter is never visible
but in the cold season, when the gross vapours cannot rise ;
and that the rarcfication, which gives existence to the other,
destroys this, whenever the sun has attained 20° of elevation.
A high wind is alike adverse to the phenomenon, and it will
mostly be observed that it covets shelter, and its general ap-
pearance is a long line, which is sure to be sustained by some
height, such as a grove or village, as if it required support.
The first time I observed it was in the Jeipoor country ; none
of the party had ever witnessed it in the British provinces.
It appeared like an immense walled town with bastions, nor
could we give credit to our guides when they talked of the
see-kote, and assured us that the objects were merely " castles
in the air."' I have since seen, though but once, this panora-
mic scene in motion, and nothing can be imagined more beau-
tiful.

It was at Kotah, just as the sun rose, whilst walking on
the terraced roof of the garden-house, my residence. As I
looked towards the low range which bounds the sight to the
south-east, the hills appeared in motion, sweeping with an un-
dulating or rotatory movement along the horizon. Trees and
buildings were magnified, and all seemed a kind of enchant-
ment. Some minutes elapsed before I could account for this
wonder ; until I determined that it must be the masses of a
floating mirage, which had attained its most attenuated form,
and being carried by a gentle current of air past the tops and
sides of the hills, while it was itself imperceptible, made them
appear in motion.

But although this was novel and pleasing, it wanted the
splendour of the scene of the morning, which I never saw

Mirage of Central India, 26T

equalled but once. This occurred at Hissar, on the terrace of
James Lumsdaine's house, built amidst the ruins of the castle
of Feroz, in the centre of one extended waste^ where the lion
was the sole inhabitant, that I saw the most perfect specimen
of this phenomenon : it was really sublime. Let the reader
fancy himself in the midst of a desert plain^ with nothing to
impede the wide scope of vision, his horizon bounded by a
lofty black wall encompassing him on all sides. Let him
watch the first sunbeam break upon this barrier, and at once,
as by a touch of magic, shiver it into a thousand fantastic
forms, leaving a splintered pinnacle in one place, a tower in
another, an arch in a third ; these in turn undergoing more
than kaleidoscopic changes, until the " fairy fabric'' vanishes.
Here it was emphatically called Hurchund Raja ca poori, or,
" the city of Raja Hurchund,"" a celebrated prince of the bra-
zen age of India. The power of reflection shown by this
phenomenon cannot be better described than by stating, that
it brought the very ancient Jggaroa, which is thirteen miles
distant, with its fort and bastions, close to my view.

The difference then between the mirage and the see-Jcote
is, that the former exhibits a horizontal, the latter a columnar
or vertical stratification ; and in the latter case, likewise, a con-,
trast to the other, its maximum of translucency is the last
stage of its existence. In this stage, it is only an eye accus-
tomed to the phenomenon that can perceive it at all. I have
passed over the plains of Meerut with a friend who had been
thirty years in India, and he did not observe a see-kote then
before our eyes : in fact, so complete was the illusion, that we
only saw the town and fort considerably nearer. Monge gives
a philosophical account of this phenomenon in Napoleon's
campaign in Egypt ; and Dr Clark perfectly describes it in
his journey to Rosetta, when " domes, turrets, and groves,
were seen reflected on the glowing surface of the plain, which
appeared like a vast lake extending itself between the city and
travellers." It is on reviewing this account, that a critic has
corrected the erroneous translation of the Septuagint ; and
further dilated upon it in a review of Lichtenstein's travels in
Southern Africa, who exactly describes our see-kote, of the
magnifying and reflecting powers of which he gives a singular

Contributions to Physical Geography.

instance. Indeed, whoever notices, while at sea, the atmo-
spheric phenomena of these southern latitudes, will be struck
by the deformity of objects as they pass through this medium :
what the sailors term a fog-bank, is the first stage of our see-
Tcote. I observed it on my voyage home ; but more especially
in my passage out. About six o'clock on a dark evening,
while we were dancing on the waste, I perceived a ship bearing
down with full sail upon us so distinctly, that I gave the alarm
in expectation of a collision ; so far as I recollect, the helm
was instantly up, and in a second no ship was to be seen. The
laugh was against me — I had seen the " flying Dutchman,'*
according to the opinion of the experienced officer on deck ;
and I believed it was really a vision of the mind ; but I now feel
convinced it was either the reflection of our own ship in a pas-
sing cloud of this vapour, or a more distant object therein re-
fracted. But enough of this subject: I will only add, who-
ever has a desire to see one of the grandest phenomena in na-
ture, let him repair to the plains of Mairta or Hissar, and
watch before the sun rises the fairy palace of Hurchunda, in-
finitely grander and more imposing than a sunrise upon the
alpine Helvetia, which alone may compete with the chittrdm
of the desert. — Col Tod's Rajastlian.

4. A farther Account of the Cave of Booban.^

Having already laid before our readers an account of this
remarkable cave, we shall now give an account of a recent visit
to it made by Mr Walters in December 1828.

Leaving Sylhet on the 8th, he reached the mouth of the
cave about noon next day. I'he mouth of this cavern is
in the side of the great limestone mountains, and faces the
south-west. The entrance hardly attracts notice, and few
would suppose that such a small hole is the portal to such
magnificent chambers. One person only can enter at a time.
" On entering the cave we descended about thirty yards over
large broken pieces of rock, some of them difficult to climb
over, and reached a level. After preparing our torches, and
getting every thing in order, we followed our Cosseah guide,
and leaving a large cavern unexplored on the left, took a pas-

■ See this Journal, No. xv. p. 54, and No. xvii. p. 51-54.

; i ' " Cave of Boohan.

sage on the right. The roof formed a perfect natural arch,
one side more perpendicular than the other, and the whole
was encrusted with stalactites. We proceeded on in a west
and north-west direction : sometimes the passage was narrow
and the roof low, then swelled into superb chambers, the roof
forty feet high. In some places we walked along perfectly
smooth rock, in others over soft mud, and in others again,
climbed over broken but huge fragments of rock. Here and
there we came upon water in rocky basins, and in many parts
the rock was honey-combed by the action of the dropping wa-
ter. The variety and beauty of the shapes into which the sta-
lactite has formed itself exceed description. In one place was
a remarkable specimen like a pine tree, about twelve feet high,
by one foot and a-half thick, except here and there ; however,
it did not sparkle to the light, as I had expected, being cover-
ed with brown dirty coating, though in particular spots it was
very beautiful. After wandering through numerous narrow
passages and various splendid halls, sometimes descending fifty
feet, and sometimes ascending to a greater height, we were at
last stopped by a deep basin of water. Here, as it was get-
ting late, we turned, and following another passage, found
ourselves in our former track again. We had tied a string to
the rock at the cave's mouth, and let it run off a reel as we
advanced, and three balls had already been expended. Tb?re
we joined the two strings, and some of us remained, while
others, retracing their steps to meet some of the people with
oil-pots, who could not descend a precipice, rejoined us again
at the same spot. Numerous passages were left to the right
and left, and several singular fissures were apparent in the
rock at different elevations. The mountain appears to be per-
forated in all directions, like a honey-comb. In one place
daylight is visible through the roof at a great height. We
now retraced our steps to the mouth of the cave, which we
reached at three o'clock. The thermometer outside the cave
stood at 68°, in the shade of the trees with which the entrance
is surrounded ; inside it rose to 74°. The air, however, was
not close or disagreeable ; indeed a free circulation evidently
takes place. I was, on the whole, much pleased and gratified
by the excursion. The cave is certainly a wonderful natural

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. S

^70 Contributions to Physical Geography.

curiosity, aiid much resembles the drawings of the famous cave
of Antiparos in the Levant. Its full extent has not yet been
ascertained : tradition says it joins the subterranean passages
of the seraglio of Pekin ! We paced the distance, and took
bearings, and found we had gone nearly a mile before we
turned. An abrupt and deep precipice obstructs the road a
little beyond where we turned, and farther than this has not
yet been explored. It would be curious to follow it up, and
trace out all its ramifications. An opening might very pro-
bably be found on the opposite face of the mountain ; also to
ascertain the existence or otherwise of organic remains in the
muddy soil." — Calcutta Gov. Gaz.

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

• The accounts which have already been given of this moun-
tain represent it as a regular volcano with a distinct crater,
but Mr Wilton finds this to be a mistake, and has furnished
us with the following very interesting description of the phe-
nomena which it exhibits, which he has published in the
Sydney Gazette.

" There is," says he, " no mouth or crater at all, nor does
such an opening lie between the peaks of two mountains which
the blacks have called Wingen. That part of the Mount
Wingen, where the fire is now burning, and which is a compact
sandstone rock, comprehends parts of two declivities of one
and the same mountain.

" The progress of the fire has of late been down the north-
ern and highest elevation, and it is now ascending with great
fury the opposite and southern eminence. From the situa-
tion of the fire having been in a hollow between two ridges of
the same mountain, Mr Mackie was probably induced to give
to the clefts in the mountain the appellation of a crater. The
fact is, the rock, as the subterraneous fire increases, is rent in-
to several concave chasms of various widths. I particularly
examined the widest of these. The rock, a solid mass of
sandstone, was torn asunder about two feet in width, leaving
its upper and southerly side exposed to view ; the part so torn

Burning Mountain in Australasia. 271

asunder having split, as it were, down, and sunk into a hol-
low, thus forming the convex surface of the heated rock. I
looked down this chasm to the depth of about fifteen feet.
The sides of the rock were of a white heat, like that of a lime
kiln, while sulphurous and steamy vapours arose from a depth
below, like blasts from the forge of Vulcan himself. I stood
on that portion of the rock which had been cleft from the part
above, and on hurling stones down into the chasm, the noise
they made in their fall seemed to die away in a vast abyss be^
neath my feet. The area of the mountain over which the fire
is at present raging, may be about half an acre in extent.
There are throughout it several chasms varying in width, from
which are constantly emitted sulphureous columns of smoke,
the margins of these being beautiful efflorescent crystals of
sulphur, varying in colour from the deepest red orange, occa-»,
sioned by ferruginous mixture, to the palest straw colour,
where alum predominated. The surface of the ground near
these clefts was too hot to permit me to stand any length of
time upon it ; neither were the vapours arising from them by
any means the most grateful to the lungs. A black tarry and
lustreous substance I observed on the edges of several of the
clefts. No lava or trachyte of any description was to be met
with ; neither did I see any appearance of coal. There is a
spring of excellent water on the ascent of the mountain by the
southern side, for which I would advise every future pilgrim
to these regions to keep a good look-out, for he will find a
draught of its cooling water not at all disagreeable after the
suffocating vapours from this subterranean fire. The height
of the burning part of Mount Wingen above the level of the
sea, calculating from Mr Cunningham's elevation of the ex-
treme summit of the neighbouring Liverpool range, may be
about 1500 feet. In my opinion, the action of combustion
in this mountain has been going on for a length of time, far
preceding the memory of man — far before the present genera-
tion of blacks — .and that it will continue to advance. Mate-
rials from beneath have from time to time been ignited, whe-
ther by electricity or by any other unknown cause, which,
struggling for vent, have burst forth by the expansive power
of heat and steam, and have shivered and split into huge mas-

272 Contributions to Physical Geography.

ses the solid rock of sandstone, and thus formed continued
chasms. On a portion of the mountain, which exhibits an ap-
pearance of disruption similar to that where the fire is at pre-
sent in action, there are trees growing of considerable age, and
which must have sprung up since the period when the fire
raged over the ground on which they are situated, for every
tree that grew on the spot now burning, as well as on that
which has lately suffered from combustion, has been destroyed,
and the trunks of many are lyin^ on the surface half con-
sumed. I ascended the highest summit of the mountain,
which is above the present and more recent scene of desolation,
and found that its upper ridge and sides, to the extent per-
haps of 100 acres, had been, as it were steamed, many of the
stones upon it bearing the appearance of vitrification, and this
part of the mountain was covered with trees, many of which
are evidently of a great age. It is stated in Mr Mackie's ac-
count, that for about a mile and a-half downwards, there was
no appearance whatever, save a few sindered stumps, of ve-
getation going forward — not a patch, not a blade of grass ap-
peared to cheat the eye to the mouth of the crater for a mile
and a-half below ; all is wide, barren, and waste. At the pe-
riod of my visit there were both trees and grass within a few
feet of the portion of the mountain now on fire. Within a
few yards of this spot I could observe that the cast of a shell
in sandstone was picked up, and in a gully at the base of the
mountain I remarked the presence of black limestone, while
here and there were scattered over the side of the mountain
blocks of red sandstone and fragments of ironstone. I also
found, on my ascent, some small specimens of calcedony and
agate.

" I have compared the phenomena presented by this mountain
with written descriptions of volcanic action and subterraneous
fire in other portions of the globe, but can discover no exact
similarity between them. The burning mountain of Austra-
lia may, I think, be pronounced as unique — one other example
of nature's sports — of her total disregard, in this country, of
those laws which the philosophers of the old world have since
assigned her.

" Tq those who may be of opinion that coals form one of the

Mr Clark on Cutting Screws. 275

principal substances which afford a supply of fuel to the vo-
racious appetite of Wingen, I beg to observe that I found
fragments of that mineral in the bed on the Kingdom Poas^
about seven miles from the mountain. The neighbouring
country is evidently a coal formation. This mineral has been
found on Colonel Dumaresk's estate, at St Hiliars; at Mr
Ogilvie"'s, at Merton ; at Bengala, Captain Wrighfs ; at Dr
Bowman's, on the Tay brook ; at Mr Glenn ie's, on the Fal-
brook ; at Mr Scott's on the Westbrook ; besides, in great
abundance, at Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, on the shore,
of which latter locality a very fine layer of excellent cannel
outcrops from beneath that of the common description.

*' Earthquakes are, we know, of frequent recurrence in vol-
catiic countries ; and if we refer to the almanack of the late
lamented editor of the Sydney Gazette, we shall find that
shocks have been felt in Australia several times since the first
settlement of the colony. In the years 1788, 1800, 1804,
and 1806, such are recorded. And on the 30th of October
of last year, the sky being lurid, and the atmosphere sultry, a
loud report, like the discharge of heavy ordnance, was heard
at Paramatta, East Creek, Prospect, and Sydney, in a di-
rection from north to south. A similar report was also heard
at Paramatta about two years ago ; and I was credibly in-
formed that a tremendous noise, resembling the sudden spring-
ing of a mine, was noticed in the neighbourhood, and from
the direction of the burning mountain, previous to its dis-
covery in 1828."

Art. XIV. — Description of a Method of Cutting Screws,
with drawings of the apparatus employed.^ By James
Clark, Steeple Clock and Machine Maker, Old Assembly
Close, Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author.

The method of making screws which I am now about to de-
scribe, is the best which has suggested itself in the course of
thirty years experience, and combines simplicity with great
accuracy.

• The Gold Medal of the Society of Arts for Scotland was given to Mr
Clark for this communication and relative drawings, 17th June 1829.

274 Mr Clark's Description of' a

The first thing to be executed is the tap, Fig. 4, Plate III.
L is a steel rod, on which is cast a brass cylinder H, and which
must afterwards be turned quite cylindrically, and screwed
with a comb-screwing tool of the pitch required. Into the
cylinder is to be cut five or seven dovetail grooves running
parallel to its sides, and the dovetails pointing to the centre,
as exhibited in the section Fig. 5, and into these grooves are
to be fitted pieces of steel, K K, Fig. 4, precisely the length
of the cylinder, and which are kept in their places by a screw-
ed nut (G I, Fig. 4.) at each end. The steel rods must now
be cut conformably to the screw in the brass ; then taken out,
and hardened with as low a heat as merely to bring them to
a spring temper. The screw is next to be worked entirely off
the body of the brass cylinder, and the steel cutters restored,
each to its proper groove, and prevented from shifting by the
nuts G and I.

This tap is intended merely to mark the brass bushes in the
frame represented by Fig. 1, the construction of which will
easily be understood by a little attention to the drawing, of
which Fig. 2 is a top view, or transverse section. Spaces must
be cut into the brass bushes A A, following the obliquity of
the marks made by the tap ; and into these spaces are to be
inserted cutters made of plate steel. Fig. 6.

The piece intended to be screwed must be turned as nearly
as possible into a perfect cylinder ; and to reduce any inequa-
lities that may be left by the turning tool, there must be cast
on the cylinder a piece of lead eight or ten inches long, which
is to be sawn longitudinally through the middle. The metal
is then to be laid on an even surface or table, and ground in
the direction of its length by one of the lead sections, until it
become smooth, and all its inequalities disappear.

The cutting now commences. The first tier of cutters must
be brought nearly to a sharp edge, so as to make rather a deep
impression, observing that they must be made to cut and not,
toj^orce, as in this case they will throw up what is termed a
false thread ; and, if the diameter of the intended screw be
small, may lengthen the rod, and thus not only enlarge the
thread, but probably produce a screw of unequal pitch.

The second set of cutters will likely finish the screwing

PLATK III

h'Jift'Jour. t»f ScN'tit<' ySeti**:^ To

Zr'tar^ Scalp^

'>» ^

Method of Cutting' Screws. , f 275

part, which will, however, depend on the length and diameter
of the screw.

After the screw is brought to a sufficient depih, the steel
cutters are to be taken out and copper grinders to be put in-
to their places, and the screw to be worked through till it be
perfectly adjusted. Two or three sets of the copper grinders
may be necessary.

By these methods I have cut screws from twelve to forty-
eight inches in length, the accuracy of which has been proved
by tests of the severest description.

Make a nut to fit the screw to be proved ; fix the nut to
the under side of a board or bench, and introduce the screw,
which must now be furnished with a micrometer head or in-
dex. The screw is now to be made fast at both ends upon a
table, but free to revolve, and upon this table is fastened a
stage rising above the bench, and at right angles to the axis
of the screw, the stage having a sliding point. Place now on
the upper board two straight slips of brass, laid edge to edge ;
set the index, and draw a line across the brass slips ; turn the
index, say 90° or J of a revolution, draw another line and re-
peat the operation till you have a sufficient number of lines.
Let now the slips be shifted, and bring any two lines to coin-
cide; if the whole lines always coincide after the slips are re-
peatedly shifted, the screw is perfect. Parallel straight lines
may thus be produced at any distance.

The leading screw E of the circular dividing machine. Fig. 7,
is made by the process already described of making a screw for
producing equidistant parallel lines, but it must afterwards
receive a certain curvature. Cast a lead wheel one diameter
of the leading screw larger than that in which the screw is
destined to work, and considerably thicker. Turn a semicir-
cular groove into the periphery of the lead wheel to embrace
one-half of the screw, which is now to be worked into the
groove till a full impression is made in the lead, then ground
with emery till it have acquired the same curvature, and it is
then to be connected with the other parts of the machine re-
presented in the drawing, the purpose of which is to produce
the screw G, the centres of the threads of which are not pa-
rallel ; but if produced, would converge and meet at a point.

276 M. Bertrand de Doue's Memoir on the

If this screw be applied to wheel-work, its accuracy may be
tried in a way analogous to that resorted to for proving the
correctness of the screw for drawing parallel lines.

Make two round brass plates, one smaller than the other ;
sink the smaller into the larger plate till the surfaces of both
are in the same plane. Fix these plates on the machine moved
by the screw G ; set the index and draw a line on both the
plates ; move the screw a given number of degrees ; draw an-
other line, and continue this operation till you are satisfied that
a sufficient number of lines has been drawn. Otte of the plates
is now made to revolve, and any two of the lines on the ex-
terior and interior plates brought together; if the screw be
correct, all the other lines will coincide.

It is needless to describe the construction of the parts ne-
cessary to the accomplishment of this proof.

Art. XV. — Memoir on the Fossil Bones of SainUPrivat-
d'^AUier, (m iJie province of Velay, France,) and upon the
basaltic district in which they have been discovered. By
M. J.-M. Bertrand de Doue, Member of the Society of
Agriculture, Science, Arts and Commerce of Le Puy, of
the Geological Society of London, &c. *

It may not be amiss to premise, that the discovery of the fos-
sil bones of St Privat had its origin in the following circum-
stance:— Dr Hibbert, in an excursion from the Cantal to Le
Puy en Velay, crossed the granitic mountains of La Margeride,
and took the unfrequented route, little known to geologists, of
Monistrol d'AUier and St Privat. At the latter place, Mrs
Hibbert, who accompanied him, drew his attention to some
small specks of a whitish substance interspersed in a bed of
volcanic tufa and cinders, conceiving it at first to be fossil
wood, similar to what she had often assisted him in discovering
in the volcanic district of the Lower Rhine. But upon an
examination of this substance, he found it, to his surprise, to
be osseous instead of ligneous matter. His hammer, as well
as the pickaxe of a labourer from an adjoining house, were

• From the Annals of the Society of Agriculture j Sciences, S^c. of Le Puy.

Fossil Banes of Saint- Privat-d ''JUkr. 27T

therefore called into requisition, and several fragments of bones
were exposed to view in a section which was replete with in*
struction. It was evident that the animals whose remains were
thus found, had lived during a period when the deposition took
place of the tufa and scoriae in which they were imbedded ;
and that whatever might have been the cause which had in-
duced the inhumation, the bones had been afterwards covered
over by renewed torrents of basaltic lava. Hence, a sort of
geological date was given to the existence of these animals, ad
well as to the volcanoes with which they were contemporane-
ous. The extraction, however, of the fossil bones Dr Hib-
bert found to be a laborious undertaking, as they lay imme-
diately under the superimposed mass of columnar basalt,
cdready mentioned, which it was not easy to undermine with-
out such extensive and even hazardous excavations, as it was
not prudent for him to attempt without permission of the pro-
prietor of the land. Contenting himself, therefore, with bring-
ing away a few interesting specimens, among which was a
part of the os femur of an animal of some magnitude, and a
portion of bone attached to a piece of slaggy basalt, to which
it had adhered while in a fluid state, he was only intent (par-
ticularly as he was obliged to immediately cross the Alps of
Italy,) that the further search after the animals thus entombed
should be entrusted to some individual residing in this coun-
try, who, from the local advantages which he would possess,
was the best enabled to prosecute with effect an investigation,
which was calculated to throw no inconsiderable light upon
certain obscure questions that continue to interest geologists.
Accordingly, the name of a scientific gentleman, well known
for his zeal in this department of science, instantly suggested
itself to his mind. To M. Bertrand-Roux, therefore, (now
M. Bertrand de Doue,) the very able illustrator of the geology
of the Velay, he addressed himself, and not in vain ; as the
following memoir sufficiently attests.

'' In the month of September 1828, Dr Hibbert of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, in examining a flow of lava which lined
the road from Puy to Sauges, near the village of Saint-Privat,
perceived bones of a very great dimension in the volcanic

^78 M. Bertrand de Doue's Memoir on the

scoriae upon which this flow reposed. Gratified with a dis-
covery so unexpected, he set himself to work, and by the help
of the inhabitants of a neighbouring house succeeded in dis-
engaging a certain quantity of them ; but nearly all fractured
and more or less friable.

" Upon his arrival at Le Puy, Dr Hibbert did me the friend-
ly favour of coming to see me ; he showed me these bones to
which, with reason, he attached much value, on account of
the rarity of fragments of organized bodies being contained in
volcanic rocks. Most of them were still adherent to their
gangue, but in such a state of deterioration, that it would have
been difiicult to determine them if we had been reduced to
the sole testimonies of comparative anatomy. It was only by
inductions drawn from the age of the ground in which they
were buried, that we considered them as belonging to those
mammalia, which had formed a part of that third succession
of terrestial animals, the remains of which are dispersed in the
ancient alluvial soils. To conclude, Dr Hibbert, with that
disinterestedness which characterizes the true friend of science,
described to me the place where he had found them, and en-
gaged me to visit them, by assuring me that there was still a
rich harvest to be hoped for.

" M. Deribier, to whom I hastened to communicate this dis-
covery, thought, like me, that it was too interesting to be ne-
glected. Some days afterwards we both went to Saint-Privat.
It was not difficult to recognize the site which had been indi-
cated to me by Dr Hibbert : but having been more fortunate
than him, in an excavation which was carried as far as it was
possible to accomplish under the superimposed basalts, we col-
lected not only bones in a very great quantity, but also some
portions of skeletons, of teeth, and of fragments of maxillary
bones very well preserved.

" But before examining to what genera of animals these cu-
rious remains have belonged, it would be proper that some
notion be conveyed of the general character of the site, as well
as of the nature and extent of the district in which they have
been found."

[The author, in this part of his dissertation, has entered into

■Fossil Bones of Saint-Privat d'AlUer. 279

a long explanation of the geological features of this portion of
the district of Velay, which, we fear, would scarcely be intel-
ligible to the reader without a reference to the large map an-
nexed to his '^Description geognostique des Environs du Puy^
and, indeed, without the assistance of the volume itself, to
which the present memoir serves as a very useful appendix.
We shall therefore endeavour in our own words to abstract so
much of the substance of the author's researches, as is neces-
sary to be understood, in connection with the circumstances
under which the deposit of fossil bones has taken place.

In the province of Velay in France, the river AUier, which
takes its rise from more distant mountains, runs for a distance
of nine leagues a course not very far from parallel with the
Loire ; a chain of volcanic mountains extending from S. S. E.
to N. N. W., and from three to four leagues or more across,
separating the two rivers. These dividing mountains have pri-
mary rocks for their base, which here exhibit a junction of
granite with gneiss, the latter being found near the Allier, as
we approach St Privat. Along this line numerous flows of
lava issuing from volcanic mouths may be traced, which, from
their relations of superposition, and from the nature of the
products ejected, have evidently belonged to ages the most
recent of the long period during which subterranean fires
have ravaged the soil of the Velay. Some of the flows of lava
in issuing from the ridges of the chain, have fallen into the
Loire ; while others, of an enormous magnitude, have emptied
themselves into the bed of the Allier. During the occasional
intervals of these eruptions, we are assured by the result of
the discovery which is the subject of the present memoir, that
this chain of mountains was inhabited by different races of
animals, which harboured in the lateral vallies connected with
the Allier. One of these small vallies, that of Saint-Privat,
takes its rise from the heights of Vernet, from which several
streams of lava have issued, most of which, in following the
slope of the defile, have served to fill up an intermediate ex-
panse of hollow near Mercceur. Some of these flows, however,
have greatly extended their course ; one of them terminating in
a narrow ravine to the east of Saint-Privat ; another losing
itself in a small valley, ordinarily without water, which descends

XSft M. iBertrand de Doue's Merioir on tite

from the same village ; while a third, a very considerable stream
of basaltic lava, has descended nearer to the Allier, where, in
covering rocks of gneiss, it has formed a sort of plateau,
which passes under the village of Saint-Privat-d' Allier, and
advances towards the south as far as the parsonage. With the
description, therefore, of this plateau, as connected with the
deposit of the fbssil bones, we shall resume M. Bertrand's
nan-ative.]

" This plateau is formed of modern lavas in large prismatic
masses; it reposes immediately upon the gneiss, and in this
place is not covered over. It is evidently the remains of a
flow of lava, the lateral and anterior parts of which have been
almost entirely carried away by the waters. Traces of it have
been quite effaced upon the left bank, and in order to find
them again on this side, we must ascend as far as the bridge
newly erected on the road to Le Puy, where we may detect
them in the bed of the stream. But here, this first flow, which
I regard as the most ancient, since the plateau of Saint-Privat,
to which it is attached, has gneiss for a base ; — here, I say this
first flow is covered over by a very extensive bed of the scoriae
of craters in a state of agglutination, (Peperine rougedtre^
Brong. Breche scoriacee, Nob. J which separates it from a second
flow, distinguished by large inflected prisms, sometimes coupled
together, above which we still see one or two others, issuing*,
like the preceding ones, from adjacent craters.

*' Again, in setting out from the bridge, we find that this se-
cond flow forms, along with the bed of scoriae which it covers, a
vertical escarpment that follows the windings of the road as
far as Saint-Privat, and the continuation of which we observe
on the other side of the village, until we arrive above the house
Besqueut, which is distant from it about 250 metres.

" Some bones have been extracted in this space of the bed of
the scoriae, but in a very small number ; their principal site
being near this house in a part of the escarpment which is op-
posite the plateau of Saint-Privat, from which it is separated
by a small valley, commonly dry.

" At this point, the bed of scoriae is elevated a metre only
above the road ; but its thickness is more considerable, for it

FosmI Bone^ of SamUPrivaUd'Allier- 281

is only at some paces from thence, that we see issuing from
below the soil the first mentioned flow, which is that upon
which it reposes. These scoriae, which contain a certain quan-
tity of crystals of black or greenish pyroxene, have moreover
all the characters of those to which we have given the name
of " scoriae of craters," from the immense quantity of them
which volcanic mouths hurl into the air. Their black colour is
concealed by an earthy cement, commonly of a brick-red colour,
rarely yellow, which is in a great measure the product of their
decomposition ; and this is sometimes so abundant, that the
breccia assumes an earthy or tufaceous aspect. And when, on
the contrary, the scoriae are only feebly agglutinated, we learn,
from the perfect preservation of the most delicate of their vesi-
cles, that they have suffered no transport, and that they are
still upon the same place in which they fell.

" This bed is here covered over by a layer from two to four
decimetres thick, of grayish volcanic cinders, with fine grains,
feebly agglutinated, above which reposes the second flow, which
is about four metres thick. It presents here the same charac-
ters of structure and composition that it has exhibited above
the bridge, where we first perceived it. Lastly, a third flow,
the lava of which is well distinguished from the lower ones
by a larger quantity of grains of pyroxene and of peridote, is
immediately superimposed upon it.

"It is from thence, that, in a space of two square metres,
being from the higher portion of the bed of scoriae, there has
been extracted, by the care of M. Deribier and myself, well
characterized remains of many animals belonging to the orders
of carnassiers, of pachydermata, and of ruminantia."

[From the above account it appears, that the order of su-
perposition, in tracing the rocks from above downwards, is as
follows :

Third and last flow of Basaltic Lava.

Second flow, four metres thick.

Greyish Volcanic Cinders two to four decimetres thick.

Agglutinated Scoriae and Tufa one or more metres thick, in
the upper layer of which the fossil bones were discovered.

Oldest plateau of Basaltic lava.

Gneiss.

k

M. Bertrand de Doue's Memoir on the
This tabular view is given for the sake of greater perspicuity.]

** These remains consist of bones almost all fractured, and of
teeth, the greatest part of which were discovered still adhering
to their maxillary bones. They were found dispersed without
any order, lying cross-wise the one upon the other, but dis-
posed to a horizontal position. The bones are whitish, light,
tender, and often extremely friable ; their cavities arc common-
ly filled by a reddish cement, which is the same substance as
their gangiLe to which they adhere. In other respects, they
do not appear to have been in any way altered by the heat of
the lavas which covered them. The teeth present similar cha-
racters, with the exception of some parts of the enamel, which
do not so readily suffer an encroachment from the adhering
cement."

[The account of these animals is accompanied with three
very well executed lithographic representations by M. Vibert,
Member of the Academy of Le Puy. Of the characteristic
specimens thus found, which were submitted by Dr Reynaud
of the same town to the judgment of Baron Cuvier and of M.
Rousseau, assistant-naturalist of the cabinet of comparative
anatomy in Paris, the result of the examination was as fol-
lows : — Two molar teeth of the lower jaw were referred to the
Rhinoceros leptorhimis, or Rhinoceros of Italy. Other bones
were considered as belonging to the Hyoena speloea ; the Hy-
ena of the caverns, or of Germany, — a species analogous to
the living spotted hyena of the Cape : while a great propor-
tion of other bones were referable to at least four indetermi-
nate species of Cervi, one of which was of a very considerable
magnitude.]

" We see by this enumeration, that such a portion of the site
of Saint-Privat as we have been able to explore, has furnished
the debris of a considerable number of Cervi of different kinds
and ages, of at least two hyenas, and of a Rhinoceros. And
there is no doubt that if the superimposed basalt could be de-
tached, and if the excavations which M. Deribier and myself

Fossil Bones of Saint- Privat'd'AUier. 283

undertook, could without danger be continued, a still greater
number of bones would be discovered.

" From the works published during late years on certain an-,
alogous associations, we are enabled to concisely explain how
the remains of animals, differing from each other as much in
their organization as in their habits, should be found crowded
together in so small a space. It will be therefore sufficient for
me to avail myself of some of the facts which Dr Buckland
has related, in his Reliquice Diluviancc, upon the habits of mo^
dern hyenas ; taking, however, into consideration, that a dimi-
nished stature, and other anatomical considerations, would in-
duce us to regard them as less ferocious than fossil hyenas.

" They do not dig for themselves dens, says Dr Buckland,
but retire into holes or into the lurking-places of wolves. They
live principally on the flesh of animals naturally dead. It is
in the night that they seek their prey, and that they carry off
even skeletons, the flesh of which the vultures have picked
clean. Wherever a dead camel or any other animal is thrown,
they collect in troops of six, eight, or sometimes more, and,
acting in concert, sometimes drag him to a considerable dis-
tance. The strength of the hyena''s jaw is such, that in attack-
ing a dog, he begins by biting off his leg at a single snap.
Hyenas have the custom of devouring in a great measure the
bones of the animals of which they make their prey ; they
afterwards collect the remains of them round their haunt,
whence it happens, that in a mass of this kind, we cannot col-
lect a skeleton or even a single bone that is entire, with the
exception of teeth, and the small joint bones, or the inferior
extremities, which are either too hard for them, or are deprived
of marrow. Lastly, it appears, that the carcases of hyenas are
in their turn devoured by such of their own kind as survive, &c.

" In reconciling these facts with the different circumstances
which the site of Saint-Privat presents, it becomes easy to de-
cide upon the causes of the accumulation of these bones in the
volcanic scoriae. We may conceive, in fact, that in a country
where the structure of the rocks is little favourable to the na^
tural formation of caverns, carnivorous animals have sought
in this aggregate deposit of a feeble consistence the kind of shel-
ter which they required. Hence it is extremely probable that

^4 M. Bcrtrand de Deuel's Memoir on the

this place has been a haunt of hyenas, and that the bones which
are thus accumulated are the remains of such as they had
gnawed.

*' The nature of the superimposed materials again instructs us,
Jn a manner no less satisfactorily, how these animals have been
buried ; for it is evident, that it was by an eruption posterior to
that from which the lavas and scoriae underneath have proceed-
ed. But this event is local and accidental, being in connection
with causes the action of which is only manifested at intervals,
and upon spaces more or less circumscribed. We ought, above
all, to consider it as quite independent of the great revolution
by which is explained the destruction of this numerous popula-
tion belonging to ancient alluvial lands, of which the species
found at Saint-Privat are incontestibly a part.

" It is very likely, on the other hand, that at the time of the
eruptions which covered these remains with cinders and with
lavas, the carnivorous animals, to whom the accumulation of
the bones was due, were not destroyed ; but that, flying at the
approach of the fiery currents, they went in quest of some new
retreats in places more or less contiguous.

" Thus, the age of the most modern of our volcanoes is ne-
cessarily confounded with that in which these races of animals
lived ; and since among their spoils, scattered on the surface
qf the globe, there has not hitherto been found those of our
own species, we may consider ourselves authorized in conclud-
ing, that consecutive generations of them were the only wit-
nesses of the last conflagrations of the Velay.

" Nevertheless, the absence of all ancient alluvium above the
last flows and the scorified matters which accompany them, does
not authorize us to infer, that the general disappearance of
these animals has even an approximative coincidence with the
epoch in which our volcanoes ceased to be in action. Yellow-
ish ferruginous sands, muddy or micaceous clays, or beds of
rolled stones, separate, it is true, in the basin of Le Puy, su-
perior tertiary or sedimentary deposits from the basalts. These
substances even exhibit several renewed alternations with flows
of lava, and with more or less thick beds of volcanic brec-
cias (breccioles volcaniques, Brong.) ; but they are always
covered over by one or more flows, or at least are to be detect-

Fossil Bones of Saint-Privat-d' AUier' 285

cd on the surface of the soil in only a small number of points,
in which it is easy to recognize, that the superimposed basaltic
masses have been forcibly carried thither by the waters. All
these observations induce us likewise to regard these transport-
ed materials as having been exclusively derived from surround-
ing rocks, and as having been transported and deposited un-
der the waters themselves of this basin. We cannot then
award to them the name of diluvium in the sense which we
commonly attach to this word, except to distinguish them
from alluvium^ the result of actual waters.

* ' I have on another occasion (Description geog nostique des
Environs du Puy^ p. 188, et suivantes) explained the pheno-
mena which in the circle of Le Puy have appeared in succession
during the volcanic period, and to which we must recur, in or-
der to include in our calculation the formation of these trans-
ported materials. But if we nevertheless persist in wishing to
consider them as having been caused by the invasion of the
sea, which has dispersed the true diluvium over the surface
of the plains, and caused so great a number of races of ani-
mals then existing to perish, we must be constrained to admit,
that a very considerable portion of the basaltic land is of a date
posterior to this great catastrophe. But is this conclusion ad-
missible after the discovery of antediluvian remains of animals
between the more recent volcanic flows ? or is it not at least ob-
ligatory upon us to suppose, that some individuals among them
had escaped destruction .?"

[These are some of the conclusions to which the author of
this excellent memoir arrives. Another deduction, remaining
to be stated, has a reference to the arguments which appear in
the course of the dissertation, and which we have only withheld
on account of the interruption which they give to the main nar-
rative,— that the distribution of the lateral vallies connected
with the Allier, among which is that of Saint-Privat, is still to
day what it was before the volcanic period ; and that since
this time, even the direction of the course of the Allier has not
experienced any remarkable change. Arguing then, as indeed
he has frequently before done, upon the very remote antiquity

NEW SERIES, VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. T

^86 Baron Humboldt's View of the scientific Researches

of the valleys of the Velay, he concludes after the following
manner : — ]

'* There remains, then, some degree of incertitude in establish-
ing the chronologic relations between the epoch in which the
volcanoes of the Velay became extinct, and that in which these
animals disappeared from our climates. Notwithstanding, —
the existence of their remains is in such correspondence with
the facts exposed in the commencement of this memoir, rela-
tive to the disintegration of the large basaltic masses of the
banks of the AUier, as to induce us to throw far behind histo-
ric times the epoch in which our volcanoes ceased to be in ac-
tion."

[In a note appended to the foregoing memoir, a reference
is made to another important discovery of fossil bones in the
district of the Velay. This is due to M. Felix Robert, an
active naturalist of Le Puy. He pointed out the place of
their deposit to Dr Hibbert, and it will be described by him
in a future Number of our Journal.]

AiiT. XVI. — General view of the Scientific researches recently
carried on in the Russian Empire. In a discourse pronoun-
ced at the Extraordinary sitting of the Imperial Academy of
Sciences of St Petersburg, held on the 28th November 1829.
J3y Baron Alexander de Humboldt *.

If, in this solemn assembly, which evinces so noble a desire to
honour the labours of human intelligence, I venture to solicit
your indulgence, it is only to fulfil a duty which you have im-
posed upon me. When I had returned to my native country,
after having travelled over the frozen crest of the Cordilleras
and the forests of the lower equinoxial regions, — when I was re-
stored to agitated Europe, after having for a long time enjoyed
the calm of nature, and the imposing aspect of savage fertility,.

• We are glad to be able to lay before our readers the very eloquent
discourse of this distinguished traveller and philosopher, who has been so
kind as to favour us thus early with a copy of it. It was printed by or-
der of the Academy of Sciences.

.'^^hi^i. recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 287

I l'6'(f6ived from this illustrious Academy, as a public mark of
its favour, the honour of being made one of its members.
Even now it is agreeable to look back to that epoch of my life
when that same eloquent voice which you have heard at the
opening of this meeting, called me among you, and almost per-
suaded me, by ingenious fictions, that I had deserved the palift
which you had given me. How little could I then conjecture
that I should again sit under your presidency, after having re-
turned from the banks of the Irtish, from the confines of
China, Songaria, and the borders of the Caspian Sea ! By a
fortunate combination of events, in the course of a troubled and
sometimes laborious life, I have been able to compare the auri-
ferous soil of the Oural and of New Granada ; the elevated
formations of porphyry and trachyte of Mexico, with those of
the Altai, and the Savannahs (Llanos) of the Orinoco, with the
Steppes of Southern Siberia, which present a vast field for the
peaceable conquest of agriculture and to the arts of industry,
which, while they enrich nations, soften their manners, and gra-
dually ameliorate the condition of society.

I have been able partly to carry the same instruments, or
those of a similar but improved construction, to the banks of the
Obi and the Amazon, during the long interval which has se-
parated my two journeys, the aspect of the physical sciences,
particularly of geognosy, chemistry, and the electro-magnetic
theory, has been considerably changed. New apparatus, I had
almost ventured to say, new organs have been created, to bring
man into the most intimate contact with the mysterious forces
which animate the work of creation, and of which the unequal
struggle, and the apparent perturbations are subject to eternal
laws. If modern travellers are able to observe in a short time
a great part of the surface of the globe, it is to the progress of
the mathematical and physical sciences, to the precision of in-
struments, to the improvement of methods, and to the art of
grouping facts and raising them to general laws, that they owe
the advantages which they enjoy. The traveller who is fitted
for observation, is he, who, by the valuable influence of Aca-
demies, and by the pursuits of a sedentary life, has been pre-
pared in the silence of his study. In order to form an accu-
rate judgment of the merit of travellers of different periods, we

28 J^ Baron Humboldt's Vietv of the Scientific Researches.

must be acquainted with the simultaneous progress of practi-
cal astronomy, geognosy, meteorology and natural history.
It is thus that the more or less flourishing cultivation of the
great domain of science ought to reflect itself in the traveller
who wishes to rise to the level of his age ; and that voyages
undertaken to extend the physical knowledge of the globe,
ought, at different periods, to present an individual character, —
the physiognomy of a given epoch, — and that they ought to be
the expression of the state of cultivation at which the sciences
have progressively arrived.

In thus tracing the duties of those who have pursued the
same career with myself, and whose example has often roused
my ardour under difficulties, I have noticed the source of that
small success which your generous indulgence has deigned to
honour by public suffrage.

Having happily terminated a distant voyage, undertaken at
the command of a great monarch, and having been assisted by
the talents of two philosophers whose labours Europe appre-
ciates, MM. Ehrenberg and Rose, I might confine myself at
present to lay before you the homage of my warmest gratitude,
— I might solicit from him, who, though yet young, has dared
to penetrate into ancient mysteries, (the memorable sources of
the religious and political civilization of Greece,) to lend me
his eloquence, that I might express more worthily the sentiments
with which I am impressed. But I know, Gentlemen, that
eloquence which is not in accordance with the sincerity of the
heart will not be sufficient in this assembly. You have been
entrusted in this vast empire with the great and noble mission
of giving a general impulse to the cultivation of the sciences
and literature, to encourage labours connected with the actual
state of human knowledge, and to stimulate and enlarge the
powers of the mind, in the field of the higher mathematics and
of terrestial physics, and in that of the history of nations illus-
trated by the monuments of different ages. Your views have
been directed to the career which is yet to be pursued ; and the
tribute of thanks which I now offer you, — the only one indeed
worthy of your institution, is the solemn obligation which I
take to continue faithful to the cultivation of science, even to
the last hour of a life already advanced, — to explore nature un-

recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 289

ceasingly, and to follow in the route which you and your illus-
trious predecessors have traced.

This community of action in the higher studies, — the recipro-
cal aid which the different branches of human knowledge derive
from each other, — the efforts made simultaneously in the two
continents, and in the vast extent of the ocean, have given a
rapid impulse to the physical sciences, in the same manner, as af-
ter the barbarous ages, simultaneous effbrts gave an impulse to the
progress of reason. Happy is the country whose government
yields a noble protection to letters and the fine arts, which not
only delight the imagination of man, hut augment also his in-
tellectual power, and give energy to his noblest thoughts ; —
to the physical and mathematical sciences which have such a
happy irifluence on tht progress of industry and public prospe-
rity ; — to the zeal of travellers, who, forced to penetrate into
imknown regions, or to examine the riches of the soil, or to ob-
tain a correct^ knowledge of its surface. To recount at first a
small part of what has been done in the year which is about to
close, is to render to the Sovereign a tribute which, by its very
simplicity, must be agreeable to him.

While in the Oural, the Altai, and the Caspian Sea, the
effbrts of MM. Rose, Ehrenberg, and myself, were directed to
the geognostic constitution of the soil, the relations between its
elevations and depressions indicated by the barometer ; the va-
riations of terrestrial magnetism in different latitudes (particu-
larly the increase of the inclination, and of the intensity of the
magnetic forces ;) the interior temperature of the globe ; the
state of humidity of the atmosphere by means of a psychrome-
trical instrument which had never before been employed in a
distant voyage ; the astronomical position of places ; the geo-
graphical distribution of vegetables, and of several groupes of
the animal kingdom hitherto little studied — of the philosophers
and intrepid travellers who smiled at the dangers of the snowy
summits of Elborouz and Ararat.

I congratulate myself in seeing safely returned into the bosom
of the Academy, him from whom we have derived the most
valuable notions on the horary variations of the magnetic
needle, and to whom the sciences owe (independent of his inge-
nious and delicate researches on crystallography,) the discovery

I.

290 Baron Humboldt's View of the scientific Researches

of the influence of temperature on the intensity of the electro-
magnetic forces. M. Kupffer has lately returned from the Alps
of Caucasus, where, after the long migrations of the human spe-
cies in the great shipwreck of nations and of languages, so many
different races have taken refuge. With the name of this travel-
ler is associated the labours of a philosopher who has struggled
with a noble perseverance on the flanks of Ararat, (considered
as the classical soil of the earliest and most venerable recollec-
tions of history,) — against obstacles which were opposed to him,
both by the depth and the softness of eternal snow. I am al-
most ashamed to wound the modesty of a father in adding, that
M. Parrot, the traveller of Ararat, sustains in the sciences the
lustre of hereditary celebrity.

In the more eastern regions of an empire, for ever illustri-
ous by the labours of my countryman Pallas (pardon me, Gen-
tlemen, for claiming for Prussia a part of that glory which is
sufficient to distinguish two nations at once,) in the mountains
of the Oural and of Koly van, we have followed the more recent
routes of MM. Ledebour, Meyer and Bunge, and MM. Hoff-
mann and Helmersson. The fine and numerous Flora of Altai
has already enriched the botanical establishment of this capi-
tal, which has risen almost as by enchantment, through the
zeal of its directors, to the rank of the first botanical gardens of
Europe. The learned world expects with impatience the pub-
lication of the Flora of Altai, of which Dr Bunge himself was
able, in the vicinity of Zmeinogorsk, to show to my friend, M.
Ehrenberg, some interesting productions. This was, without
doubt, the first time that a traveller in Abyssinia, in Dongola,
Sinai, and Palestine, had climbed the mountains of Riddersky,
covered with perpetual snows.

The geognostic description of the southern part of the Oural
was entrusted to two young philosophers, MM. Hoffmann and
Helmersson, one of whom had first made known the volcanoes
of the South Sea. This selection was due to an enlightened
minister, — a friend of science and of its cultivation, — M. Le
Comte de Cancrin, whose affectionate care and provident acti-
vity will never be forgotten by my colleagues and myself. MM.
Helmersson and Hoffmann, pupils of the celebrated school of
Dorpat, have successfully studied, during two years, the diffe-

recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 291

rent branches of the Oural mountains, — from the great Taganai
and the granites of Iremel, to beyond the plateau of Gouber-
linsk, which is connected farther south with the mountains of
Mougodjares ; and to Oust-Ourt, between Lake Aral and the
Caspian Sea. Even there the rigour of winter did not prevent
M. Lemm from making the first astronomical observations in
this arid and uninhabited country. We enjoyed the great
pleasure of being accompanied for nearly a month by MM.
HoiFmann and Helmersson, and it was they who first showed us
near Grasnuschinskaia a formation of volcanic amygdaloid, the
only one which has been yet found in the long Ouralian chain
which separates Europe from Asia, — which presents on its east-
ern declivity the most abundant eruptions of metals, — and
which contains, either in veins or in the detritus, gold, platiiia,
the osmiuret of Iridium, the diamond, (see this Number, p. '^QX)
discovered by Count Polier in the alluvium to the west of the
high mountains of Catschcanar, zircon, sapphire, amethyst,
ruby, topaz, beryl, garnet, anatase, discovered by M. Rose,
ceylanite, and other valuable substances found in India and the
Brazils.

I might extend the list of the important labours of the pre-
sent year of his Majesty's reign, by mentioning the trigonome-
trical operations of the west, which, by the united labours of
MM. General Schubert and Tenner, and of the great astro-
nomer of Dorpat, M. Struve, have made known on a great
scale the figure of the earth ; — the geological constitution of
Lake Baikal illustrated by M. Hess ; — the magnetic expedi-
tion of MM. Hansteen, Erman and Dowe, justly celebrated
over all Europe, and the most extensive and the boldest that
was ever undertaken by land, (from Berlin and Christiania to
Kamtchatka, where it joined the great labours of Captains
Wrangell and Anjou) ; — and, finally, the circumnavigation of
the globe, which Captain Luetke has executed by order of
the Sovereign, — a voyage abounding in fine astronomical, bota-
nical, physical, and anatomical results, with the co-operation of
three excellent naturalists, Dr Mertens, Baron KittHz, and M.
Postels.

I have ventured to notice this community of efforts by which
several parts of the empire have been explored, by carrying

29^ Baron Humboldfs View of the scientific Researches

into them the aid of modern knowledge, new instruments, new
methods, and views founded on the analogy of facts already
known. It is also by a community of interests, that, launched
once more into the career of travels, I have thought it right to
adorn my discourse with names which are dear to science. After
having admired the riches of the mineral kingdom and the won-
ders of physical nature, we love to celebrate (and it is an agree-
able duty in a foreign land, and in the midst of a listening as-
sembly,) the intellectual riches of a nation, the labours of men
useful and disinterested in their devotion to the sciences, who
either travel through their country, or in solitude prepare, by
calculation and experiments, the discoveries of future generations.

If, as we have proved by recent examples, the vast extent of
the Russian empire, which exceeds that of the visible part of
the moon, requires the concurrence of a great number of observ-
ers, this same extent presents also advantages of another kind
which have been long known to you. Gentlemen, but which, in
relation to the actual desiderata of terrestrial physics, do not
appear to have been generally enough appreciated. I will not
speak of that immense scale on which, from Livonia and Fin-
land to the South Sea which washes Eastern Asia and Russian
America, we may study, without going out of the empire, the
stratification and formation of rocks of all ages, — the spoils of
marine animals which the ancient revolutions of our planet have
engulphed in the bosom of the earth, — the gigantic bones of
terrestrial quadrupeds whose congeners are lost, or live only in
the tropical regions. I will not fix the attention of this assem-
bly on the aid which the geography of plants and animals (a
science scarcely yet blocked out,) will some day derive from a
more profound and specific knowledge of the climateric distri-
bution of organized beings, from the happy regions of the Cher-
sonesus and of Mingrelia, — ^from the frontiers of Persia and
Asia Minor to the sad shores of the Frozen Sea. I shall con-
fine myself at present to those variable phenomena whose regu-
lar periodicity, confirmed by the rigorous accuracy of astrono-
mical observations, will conduct directly to the discovery of the
great laws of nature.

If they had possessed in the school of Alexandria, and at the
brilliant epoch of the Arabs, (the first masters of the art of ob-

recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 293

serving and interrogating nature by experiment,) the instru-
ments which belonged to the great age of Gahleo, of Huy-
ghens, and of Fermat, we should have now known, by compa-
rative observations, if the height of the atmosphere, the quan-
tity of water which it contains and precipitates, and the mean
temperature of places have diminished since those times. We
should have known the secular changes of the electro-magnetic
charge of our planet, and the modifications which may have
taken place, either from an increase of radiation, or from inter-
nal volcanic changes, in the temperature of the different strata
of the globe, which increases with the depth. We might have
known, in short, the variations in the level of the ocean, the
partial perturbations which the barometrical pressure produces
in the equilibrium of its waters, and the relative frequency of
certain winds, depending on the form and condition of tlie sur-
face of continents. M. Ostrogradsky would have submitted
to profound calculations these data, accumulated for centu-
ries, as he has recently resolved with success one of the most
difficult problems in the propagation of waves.

Unfortunately, in the physical sciences the civiHzation of
Europe is not of remote date. We are, as the priests of Sais
said of the Hellenes, a new people. The almost simultaneous
invention of those organs which bring us nearer to the material
world, as the telescope, — the thermometer, — the barometer, —
the pendulum, and that other instrument, the most general and
powerful of all, — the infinitesimal calculus, are scarcely older
than thirty lustra. In this conflict of the forces of nature, a
conflict which does not destroy stability, the periodical varia-
tions do not seem to go beyond certain limits : They cause the
whole system to oscillate (at least in the present state of things,
since the great convulsions which have buried so many genera-
tions of plants and animals,) round a mean state of equilibrium.
But the value of the periodic change is determined with a de-
gree of precision proportional to the interval which has elapsed
between the extreme observations.

It is to scientific bodies which are renewed without interrup-
tion ; it is to academies, — to universities, — to different learned
societies in Europe, in the two Americas, at the southern ex-
tremity of Africa, in India, and in that Australasia lately so

294 Baron Humboldt's View of the scientific Researches

uncivilized, and where there has already risen a temple of Ura-
nia, that we must look for regular observations, to measure, and
to watch, as it were, whatever is variable in the economy of na-
ture.* The illustrious author of the Mecanique Celeste has of-,
ten expressed verbally the same thought in the bosom of the
Institute, where I had the happiness of sitting with him during
eighteen years.

The western nations have carried into different parts of the
world these forms of civilization, — this developement of human
knowledge, whose origin remounts to the epoch of the intellec-
tual greatness of the Greeks, and to the gentle influence of
Christianity. Divided by language and manners, by political
and religious institutions, enlightened nations form in our day
(and it is one of the happiest results of modem civilization) but
a single family, when they are occupied with the great inte-
rests of science, of letters, and of the arts, — of whatever, hav-
ing its origin within, raises man above the vulgar wants of so-
ciety.

In this noble community of interest and action, most of the
important problems relating to terrestrial physics which I have
above noticed, may doubtless become the object of simultaneous
researches ; but the immense extent of the Russian empire in
Europe, Asia, and America, presents peculiar and local advan-
tages well worthy of one day occupying the attention of this
illustrious society. The impulse given from such a height
would produce a powerful activity among the philosophers and
observers with whom your country is honoured. I venture to
point out at present, and to recommend to your special care,
three objects which are not (as was formerly said in a miscon-
ception of the connection of human knowledge,) purely specula-
tive, but which closely affect the most material wants of life.

The art of navigation, the study of which, encouraged by the
highest suffrage, has assumed (under the direction of a great
navigator,) such a fortunate developement in this country, — the
art of navigation has required for centuries a precise knowledge

• This Observatory was the work of our eminent countryman Sir Tho-
mas Brisbane, whose fate it seems to be to have his labours every where
praised, and even the observations which he established, published, with-
out the mention of his name ! — Ed.

recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 295

of the variations of terrestrial magnetism in the declination and
dip of the needle, and in the intensity of its force ; for the de-
clination of the needle in different countries, which is more ex-
clusively required by sailors, is intimately connected in theory
with the other two elements, the inclination and the intensity as
measured by oscillations. At no preceding epoch has the know-
ledge of the variations of terrestrial magnetism made such rapid
progress as within the last thirty years. The angle which the
needle forms with the vertical and with the meridian of a place,
— the intensity of the forces which I have had the good for-
tune to observe from the equator to the magnetic pole, — the
horary variations of the declination, — the inclination and the mag-
netic intensity often modified by the aurora borealis, earthquakes,
and mysterious motions in the interior of the globe, — the starts
or non-periodical perturbations of the needle, which, after a long
course of observations, I have distinguished by the name of
magnetic storms, have become in their turn the object of the
most elaborate research. The great discoveries of Oersted,
Arago, Ampere, Seebeck, Morichini, and Mrs Somerville, have
disclosed to us the mutual relations of magnetism with electri-
city, heat, and solar light. There are only three metals — iron,
nickel, and cobalt, which become loadstones. The astonishing
phenomenon of the magnetism of rotation, which my illustrious
friend, M. Arago first made known, shows us that almost all the
bodies of nature are transiently susceptible of magnetic action.
The Russian empire is the only country which is traversed with
two lines of no declination, — that is, in which the needle is di-
rected to the poles of the globe. One of these two lines, whose
position and periodical motion of translation from east to west
are the principal elements of a future theory of terrestrial mag-
netism, passes, according to the latest researches of MM. Han-
steen and Erman, between Mourom and Nijni-Novgorod ; the
second some degrees to the east of Irkoutsk, between Parchin-
skaia and larbinsk. We do not yet know their prolongation to
the north, or the rapidity of their motion to the west. Terres-
trial physics requires the complete trace of the two lines of no
declination at equidistant epochs, every ten years for example,
— the precise absolute variations of inclination and intensity in
all the points where MM. Hansteen, Erman, and-J, iiave ob-

296 Baron Humboldfs View of the scientific Researches

served — in Europe, between St Petersburg, Kasan, and Astra-
kan, — in Northern Asia between lekaterinebourg, Miask, Oust-
Kamenogorsk, Obdorsk, and Jakoutsk. These results cannot be
obtained by strangers who traverse the country in one direc-
tion, and at one time. It is necessary to establish a system of
observations well arranged, continued during a long space of
time, and confided to philosophers established in the country.
St Petersburg ^ Moscow, and Kasan, are fortunately placed
very near the first line of no declination which traverses Euro-
pean Russia. Kiachta and Verkhne-Oudinsk offer advantages
for the second, viz. that of Siberia. When we reflect on the
comparative precision of observations made by sea and land with
the aid of the instruments of Borda, of Bessel, and of Gambey,
we may be readily convinced, that Russia, by its position, may
in the space of twenty years cause the most gigantic progress
to be made in the theory of magnetism. In entering upon
thege considerations, I am, so to speak, only the interpreter of
your wishes. Gentlemen. The eagerness with which you have
received the request which I addressed to you seven months
ago, relative to the corresponding observations of the horary va-
riations made at Paris, at Berlin, in a mine at Freyberg, and
at Kasan by the learned and laborious astronomer M. SimonofF,
has proved that the Imperial Academy will ably second the
other academies of Europe in the thorny but useful research of
the periodicity of the magnetic phenomena.

If the solution of the problem which I have mentioned is
equally important for the physical history of our planet and the
progress of the art of navigation, the second object to which I
wish to draw your attention. Gentlemen, and for which the ex-
tent of the empire presents immense advantages, is more closely
connected with general wants, — with the choice of cultivation,
— the study of the configuration of the soil, — and the exact
knowledge of the humidity of the air, which obviously decreases
with the destruction of forests and the diminution of the waters
of lakes and rivers. The first and the noblest object of the
sciences lies no doubt in themselves, in the enlargement of the
sphere of our ideas, and of the intellectual energy of man. It
is not in an academy like yours, and under the monarch who
rules the destiny of the empire, that the investigation of great

recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 297

physical truths requires the support of a material and external
interest — of an immediate application to the wants of social life ;
but when the sciences, without deviating from their noble and
primitive object, can boast of their indirect influence upon agri-
culture and the* arts of industry, (too exclusively called the use-
ful arts,) it is the duty of the natural philosopher to bring for-
ward the relations which exist between the study and the increase
of territorial wealth.

A country which extends over more than 135 degrees of lon-
gitude, from the happy zone of the olive tree to the climates
where the soil is covered only with lichens, may advance more
than any other the study of the atmosphere, the knowledge of
mean annual temperatures, and what is more important for the
cycle of vegetation, that of the distribution of the annual heat
over the different seasons. Add to these data, in order to ob-
tain a group of facts intimately connected with one another, the
variable pressure of the air, and the relation of this pressure
with the prevailing winds and the temperature, — the extent of the
horary variations of the barometer, (variations which, under the
tropics, transform a tube filled with mercury into a kind of
clock with the most undisturbed movements) — the hygrometric
state of the air, and the annual quantity of rain, so important
to be known for the purposes of agriculture. When the varied
inflexion of the isothermal lines shall be traced by accurate va-
riations, and continued at least during five years in European
Russia and Siberia; — when they shall be prolonged to the
Western Coasts of America, where that excellent navigator,
Captain Wrangell, will soon reside, the science of the distribu-
tion of heat at the surface of the globe, and in the strata ac-
cessible to our researches, will rest on solid foundations.

The government of the United States of North America,
deeply interested in the progress of population, and of the va-
ried culture of useful plants, has felt, for a long time, the ad-
vantages presented by the extent of its territory, from the At-
lantic to the Rocky mountains, from Louisiana and Florida,
where sugar is cultivated, to the lakes of Canada. Meteorolo-
gical instruments, compared with one another, have been dis-
tributed over a great number of points, the selection of which
has been the subject of discussion, and the annual results, re-

298 Baron Humboldt's View of the Scientific Researches

duced to a small number of figures are published by a central
committee who watch over the uniformity of the observations and
the calculations. — (See this Journal^ No. xvi. and No. ii. New
Series, p. 249.) I have already mentioned, in a memoir where
I have discussed the general causes on which the difference of
climates in the same latitude depends, upon what a great scale
this fine example of the United States may be followed in the
Russian empire.

We are fortunately far from the epoch when philosophers
believed that they knew the climate of a place when they knew
the highest and the lowest temperature during the year. An
uniform method, founded on the choice of hours, and on a level
with the knowledge recently acquired respecting the true means
of the day, the month, and the year, will replace ancient and
defective methods. By this labour several prejudices on the
choice of culture, on the possibility of planting the vine, the
mulberry tree, fruit trees, the chesnut or the oak, will disappear
in certain provinces of the empire. To extend it to the most
distant parts we may reckon upon the enlightened co-operation
of many of the young and well educated officers of the Corps
of Mines, — upon that of medical men, animated with a zeal for
the physical sciences, — and the pupils of that excellent institu-
tion the School of Roads and Canals, in which the higher ma-
thematical studies create an instinctive tact for order and pre^
cision.

Besides these two objects of research which we have examin-
ed in reference to the extent of the empire, (terrestrial magne-
tism and the study of the atmosphere which leads at the same
time by the aid of barometrical measurement to a perfect
knowledge of the configuration of the ground,) I will place
a third kind of investigation of a more local interest, though
connected with the great question of physical geography.
A considerable part of the surface of the globe round the Cas-
pian Sea is found inferior in level to that of the Black Sea and
the Baltic. This depression, which has been suspected to exist
for more than a century, and measured by the laborious opera-
tions of MM. Parrot and Engelhardt, may be ranked among
the most interesting phenomena of geognosy. The exact de-
termination of the mean annual barometric height of the town

recently carried on in the Russian Empire. 299

of Orenburg due to MM. Hoffmann and Helmersson, a level-
ling by station made by the same observers with the aid of a
barometer, from Orenburg to Gourief, the east part of the^
Caspian Sea; corresponding measures taken during several
months in these two places ; and lastly, observations which we
have recently made at Astrakhan and at the embouchure of the
Volga, corresponding at the same time to Sarepta, Orenburg/
Kasan, and Moscow, will serve (when all the data are united
and rigorously calculated) to verify the absolute height of this
interior basin.

On the north side of the Caspian every thing at present ap>
pears to indicate a progressive depression of the level of its
waters ; but without placing too much trust in the relation of
Hanway (an old English traveller, otherwise very estimable)
respecting its periodical increase and decrease, we cannot deny
the encroachments of the Caspian on the side of the ancient
town of Terek, and to the south of the embouchure of the Cyrus,
where scattered trunks of trees (the remains of a forest) are
found constantly inundated. The small island of Pogorelaia
Plita, on the contrary, seems to increase and rise progressively
above the waves which covered it a few years ago, before the
jet of flames which navigators perceived at a distance.

In order to solve completely the great problems relative to'
the depression, perhaps variable, of the level of the sea and
that of the continental basin of the Caspian, it would be de-
sirable to trace in the interior of the land round this basin, in
the plains of Sarepta, Ouralsk, and Orenburg a ligne de
sonde^ by uniting the points which are exactly on the level of
the Baltic and the Black Sea, which will be compared with'
marks placed on the coast in the whole circuit of the Caspian,
(like the marks placed almost a century ago on the Swedish
shores by the Academy of Stockholm) if there is a general or
partial, a continued or a periodical depression of its waters, or
if rather (as has been conjectured for the whole of Scandina-
via, by that great geognost, M. Lepold de Buch,) a part of the
neighbouring continent is raised or depressed by volcanic causes^
acting at immense depths in the interior of the globe. The
mountainous isthmus of the Caucasus, composed partly of
trachyte and other rocks, which owe their origin to volcanic fire.

300 Baron Humboldt on Scientific Researches in Russia.

bounds the Caspian Sea to the west, whilst it is surrounded to
the east with tertiary and secondary formations, which stretch
towards those countries of ancient celebrity, of which Europe
owes the knowledge to the important work of Baron de Mey-
endorf.

In these general views, which I submit to your conside-
ration, Gentlemen, I have endeavoured to point out some of
the advantages which the physical history of the globe may
derive from the position and extent of this empire. I have ex-
plained the ideas which were deeply impressed upon me by a
sight of the regions which I have visited. It appeared to me
more suitable to render public honours to those, who, under
the auspices of government, have pursued the same career as
myself, and to draw attention to what remains to be done for
the progress of science . and the glory of your country, than to
speak of my own efforts, and to condense into a narrow space the
results of observations which require still to be compared with the
great mass of partial data which we have collected. I have
mentioned in this discourse the extent of the countries which
separate the line of no variation to the east of Lake Baikal,
from the basin of the Caspian ; — of the valleys of Cyrus and
the frozen summits of Ararat. At these names we involuntari-
ly revert to that recent struggle, in which the moderation of the
conqueror has increased the glory of his arms, which has open-
ed new roads to commerce, and completed the deliverance of
that Greece, which has long been the abandoned cradle of the
civilization of our ancestors. But it is not within these peace-
ful walls that I should celebrate the glory of arms. The august
monarch who has deigned to invite me into this country and to
smile upon my labours, appears to me as the genius of peace.
Encouraging, by his example, all that is true, great, and ge-
nerous ; he has been pleased, from the dawn of his reign, to
protect the study of the sciences which strengthen reason, and
of letters and the arts, which adorn the character of nations.

Dr Hibbert on the History of the Cervus Euryceros. 301

Art. XVII. — Additional Contributions towards the History of
the Cervus Euryceros^ or Fossil Elk of Ireland: By S.
Hibbert, M. D., F. R. S. E., &c. Communicated by the
Author.

The animal, which is the subject of the present memoir, is
the Cervus Euryceros of Aldrovandus ; the Irish Fossil Elk
or moose deer of many writers ; the Cervus giganteus of Blu-
menbach ; and the Cervus Megaceros of Mr Hart of Dublin.
As the name which is first given to an animal ought to be re-
tained, unless a sufficient reason can be shown to the contrary,
a priority is due to the appellation made use of by Aldrovan-
dus, which for this, as well as for other reasons, I shall persist
in using. The name of Cervus giganteus proposed by Blu-
menbach is very objectionable, as it is only the horns of the
animal which are gigantic ; and for this reason, the term Me-
gaceros^ which has been used by Mr Hart, is more appropri-
ate, if it could be proved that the Fossil Elk of Ireland is the
only known Cervus possessing horns of large dimensions,
which I have some reason to doubt. The original name of
Euryceros has, however, this advantage, that it points to the
most characteristic feature of this animal, which is the remar-
kable width of its wood. ,^ |.^^ ^
In this paper, it is my intention to give a condensed view
of what is actually known relative to the history of the Cervus
Euryceros, including even what is less determined, in con-
nection with some additional investigations which I have made
respecting him, as a very late inhabitant of the wilds and
morasses of the temperate regions of Europe ; my remarks
being intended to serve as a sort of appendix to the geological
and historical proofs which I advanced in the third volume of
the last series of the Edinburgh Jo^irnal of Science, that the
Cervus Euryceros was of a race which had but very recently
become extinct. At the same time, I ought to observe, that
nearly synchronous with my own paper a dissertation made
its appearance, written by Mr Hart of Dubhn, who, from
a very different series of facts, advocated similar views. This
memoir, which I did not see until some months after my paper

NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. U

{iQ2 Dr Hibb^rt onihe History of the Cervus Euryceros,

was printed, contains one of the best anatomical accounts of
the animal which has yet been published.

What is known or unknown regarding this animal I shall
now sum up under distinct heads.

1. The Cervus Euryceros was the contemporary of such extinct
animals of Europe as the Elephant, the Rhinoceros, the Hy-
ena, the Hippopotamus, and divers others,

Guvier very promptly arrived at this conclusion, which was
repeated by Professor Buckland, in the first edition of his
ReliquicB Diluviance, on the authority of the gissement of
this animal at Walton in Essex. But since the Fossil Cervus
of Ireland and the Isle of Man was proved to have existed at
a very recent date, the geologists of the Diluvian School have
conceived that they were at fault. The animal has accord-
ingly been transferred from the ancient diluvial clay and gravel,
in which he was originally 'placed, to the very highest allu-
vial bed of Mr De la Beche's late order of superposition. But
that this removal is justifiable, may be very fairly doubted. I
am rather of opinion that he ought to again descend to his
old associates, the elephant and the hippopotamus, or that
they ought to move a step higher to him, and on this point
the fact adduced by Cuvier may be quoted. He has stated
that, in excavating the canal of Ourcq, near Sevran, in the
forest of Bondi, the remains of this Cervus were found pre-
cisely in the same place as the bones of elephants. " On a
trouve dans les fouilles du canal de POurcq, pres de Sevran,
dans la foret de Bondi, a six lieues de Paris, precisement au
meme endroit que les os d'elephans, une parte superieure de
crane du genre du cerf, avec deux moignons de bois, qui, dans
tout ce qui en reste, paroissent resembler au cerf a bois gigan-
tesques." This testimony is decisive, and we may safely as-
sert, that the Cervus euryceros or Irish elk, so far from being
a recent upstart possessor of the soil of Europe, is entitled to
dispute his genealogical distinction with all such supposed fa-
milies of greater antiquity, as are included in Mr De la Beche's
diluvium, under the name of the Mastodon, the Elephant, the
Rhinoceros, the Elasmotherium, the Trogontherium, the Me-
gatherium, the Megalonyx, the Tiger, the Hyena, or the Hip-

or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 303

popotamus, as well as other races which are equally supposed
to have been destroyed at the universal deluge. Into the
further questions which may arise from this conclusion, I shall
not at present stay to inquire ; as, for instance, whether the
Irish elk was the sole survivor of this catastrophe, or whether
his contemporaries, as well as himself, were not severally of
less antiquity than is usually supposed. I shall prefer con-
tinuing my narrative without reference to the popular geolo-
gical speculations of the day, which have hitherto been most
premature.

2. The Cervus Euryceros was the eontemporaryofthe earliest
inhabitants of the human race dwelling in Europe.

Remains of this animal, for instance, have been described
by Professor Goldfuss of Bonn, as having been found in the
Duchy of Cleves at a very inconsiderable depth from the sur-
face of the ground in the same drain with urns and stone axes.
And in Lancashire, the same Cervus has been discovered en-
tombed in a bed of turf similar to that from which rude canoes,
in the vicinity of the site, have beeen extracted.

3. The Cervus Euryceros or Fossil Elk of Ireland, so far
from being an animal, the existence of which is referable to a

remote antiquity, actually lived in the wilds of Prussia so late
as the year 1550, and perhaps later.

For this curious fact, at the knowledge of which I have but
lately arrived, I am indebted to a scarce folio work entitled,
" Cosmographiae Universalis Lib. VI. in quibus, juxta certioris
lidei scriptorum traditionem describuntur, omniu habitabilis
orbis partium ppriae'q. dotes. Regionum Topographical effi-
gies. Terrae ingenia, quibus fit ut tam difFeretes et uarias
specie res et animatas et inanimatas, ferat. Animalium peregri-
norum naturae et picturae, &c. &c. Autore Sebast. Munstero."
The date of the publication is given at the end of the work,
" Basileae apud Henrichum Petri, Mense Martio Arino Salutis
M.D.L." Sebastian Munster, the author of this work, which
he dedicated to the Emperor Charles the Fifth of Germany,
was one of the early reformers, celebrated for his knowledge
of the Hebrew and Oriental languages, and for his comments
on the Old Testament, whence he was named The German Es-

304 Dr Hibbert cw' M History of the Cervus EuryceroSf

dras; while his equally painful researches, as a cosmographer,
obtained for him the additional title of The German Strabo.

In the volume before us sketches of the chief towns of Eu-
rope are interspersed along with maps of its provinces, and gra-
phic illustrations of different national manners ; and as these
are accompanied by narratives remarkable for their perspicui-
ty, Munster has deservedly ranked high among antiquaries.
Nor is he less to be commended for the information which he
gives of the natural productions of the countries he describes.
Several of the animals which he has represented, are drawn
with a very laudable exactness, and it is only in such of the
remote regions as were imperfectly known to naturalists, that
his narratives partake of the popular fables of the times in which
he lived. Hence, while speaking of the interior of Africa, he
has described, though with little confidence, the men whom our
great bard has caused Othello to descant upon,

_ " whose heads

Do grow beneath their shoulders ;"•—

and in giving a picture of the remoter tracts of Scotland, he
has not omitted the Orcadian Claik-geese.

But if an objection lie against the evidence of Munster with
respect to regions which were little traversed, (and the same
objection lies against every other natural historian of that time),
no hesitation whatever of this sort applies to admitting him as
a good authority in regard to the productions of a country
then so well known as Prussia. Accordingly, in enumerating
the animals actually existing in this province in the year ] 550,
he has given the figure of a Cervus, corresponding so precisely
in the form of his immense and wide horns with those of the
fossil Elk of Ireland, that it is impossible to confound him with
any other Cervus ; — and that there may remain no doubt what-
ever that the same was an inhabitant of the wilds or marshes of
Prussia, he adds, " I ordered the misshapen figure of

THIS ANIMAL TO BE HERE DEPICTED TO THE LIFE, AS WELL
AS CAN BE EXPRESSED IN A DELINEATION."" A WOod-CUt ac-
cordingly appears in Munster's volume, which is the only good
historical record of this animal which I believe to be in exist-
ence. An accurate copy of it is given in the present number

- . ^ o>. Fossil Elk of Ireland. 305

T)f the journal, (See Plate III. Fig. 9,) upon precisely the same
scale as the original delineation.

The written account which Munster has annexed to his re-
presentation of this cervus is very brief. It may be given in
the author''s own words. " Nutrit prseterea Prussia animalia
quae putantur esse alces, Gerraanice autera vocantur Elend,
habentque magnitudinem asini aut mediocris equi. Ungulas
ejus dicuntur prodesse his qui caduco laborant morbo, et pellis
est tarn dura, ut nee confodi neque dissecari possit. Caro ejus
dicitur esse ex nobiliori venatione. Color autem subrufus est,
nonnihil nigricans, habetque albicantia crura. Figuram hujus
animalis ad vivum deformatam et qualiter lineis exprjmi po-
test, feci hie depingi."'"'

This animal Munster compares with other Cervi, but as he
afterwards translated his work into the German language, I
prefer quoting him from this subsequent version, which was
a posthumous publication, particularly as a few slight altera-
tions occur in the text of the latter, which it may be well to
notice.*

In the part of the volume wherein mention is made of this
Cervus, the author proposes to enumerate the various animals
which are to be found in Prussia. But when he comes to the
tribe of the Cervi, he is evidently much puzzled in reconciling
the different descriptions of them which were published under
as many different names. Commencing therefore with a tame
animal of this genus, he observes : " This land produces also
Bison tes, some Germans call them Damen or Damthier^ that
is, animals which are partly like stags and partly like cattle,
except that they have long ears, and that the males have
broader horns than the stag. One may see many of these
horns at Augsburg among the merchants, but they say they

* This edition contains in other parts of the work very numerous and
important additions, some of which were made by the author himself. My
own copy is unfortunately imperfect, so that I cannot speak precisely to its
^ate. I procured it while travelling through the Duchy of Wirteraberg
from the eating- room of a miserable inn, where it was destined to the use
of lighting the pipes of German smokers ; — numerous mutilated remains
of other revered and defunct authors lying strewed about, like the bones of
noble animals collected for the use of vile hyenas in one of Dr Bucklaud's
antediluvian dens. The German Strabo was reserved for the next sacrifiw,
from which I rescued him with the loss only of his title-page.

306 Dr Hibbert (m the History of the Cervus Euryceros,

are Elks'* horns." This same animal was probably nothing
more than the common fallow-deer, the horns of which, in the
prior Latin edition of the Cosmography, are said to have been
exported from England to Higher Germany.

After the fallow-deer has been thus described, Munster turns
his next attention to the cervus, whose horns precisely resem-
ble those of the fossil Elk of Ireland. The account has already
been given in the original Latin, from which the German ver-
sion (of which the following is a translation,) little differs,
" For this land, " he observes, •■' possesses animals called Elks,
(Elent,) and these are as large as an ass, or a middling-sized
horse. Their hoofs are good for the falling sickness, snd the
skin is so hard that one cannot cut or stab through it. This
animal is also good game for eating. Its colour is brown, in-
clining to black, and the lower parts of its legs are whitish.
Its form and shape I have got represented, and have drawn
it here.'*

In this quotation, the only difference in th6 two editions is,
that in the earlier, the animal is described of a reddish, and
in the latter of a brownish colour ; and that in the Latin copy,
the author states that he had the animal drawn to the Itfe ;
ad vivum.

While Munster was obtaining information about this Cervus,
he found, that less was known of him than of any other of
the genus. He therefore wrote for additional information to a
friend in Livonia, conceiving that in that country the animal
was more abundant. But his queries, so far from being re-
solved, were answered by a description of a perfectly different
animal, and in such ambiguous language, that our cosmogra-
pher found it difficult to say to what race the description
was relative. " John Hasentoder," he explains, " who lived
many years inLyffland,has written to me concerning this animal
in the following manner : — The elks are greater than stags ;
they are grey, have long rough hair, a misshapen form, arelower
behind than before by a good handsbreadth, have long weak
legs, divided hoofs, and spare bodies. They are naturally shy,
and a child may drive them where it pleases with a switch. They
have long ears like an ass, and will not carry any thing on
their backs, and when one lays any thing light upon them, they

or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 307

bend down with the hind legs till it slides over their back.
The male has horns three spans long, with strong broad troch-
ings, out of which people make hafts of knives, and turn han-
dles ; but the female has no horns."

Now, regarding this account, Munster is evidently so dis-
satisfied, that in the remarks which he makes upon it, he states,
that " some who speak of the northern animals, would under-
stand this of another animal which the Latins call a hison, of
which I shall write something by and by in my account of
Sweden. For the elk," he adds, " has very strong legs and
broad horns with scoops, which are hollowed out like a large
deep shell, and which terminate in short teeth or points, from
which no knife handles can be made." — In order, therefore,
that the Cervus, regarding which he is so anxious to procure
information, may not be mistaken, he not only orders a sketch
to be taken of this mysterious animal, but he likewise annexes
a faithful representation of the true Northern Elk, (Cervus
Aloes) with the view that a comparison between the two might
be instituted ; adding, that the representation of the true Elk
(the Cervus Alces) was expressly made for him in Prussia.

Little, therefore, now remains to be added upon the evidence
whichhas been adduced. It is decisive; and it shows, at the same
time, that the Cervus euryceros was in the sixteenth century be-
coming the rarest of the ancient tribe of European animals. Soon
afterwards, probably, the race became extinct ; — though even
upon this last question it would be premature to pass a judg-
ment, amidst our imperfect acquaintance with the inhabitants
of many of the wilds and marshes which still exist in Europe.

But although the most satisfactory proofs are afforded of
the existence of the Cervus euryceros so lately as the sixteenth
century, we must admit that Munster has recorded little re-
garding him except what is conveyed in the valuable delinea-
tion which he has given. Few, however, as his notices are,
they may be considered in connection with what may be col-
lected regarding the animal from other sources of infor-
mation.

It is rather curious that Munster, in drawing two animals
of this species of Cervus, which we shall presume to be male
and female, gives to each of them horns ; those of the animal

808 Dr Hibbert on the Hisimy of the Cervus Eur^ceros,

in the front of the drawing, which we shall suppose to be of
the male sex, being somewhat larger and more inflected than
those -of the female. The coincidence of this delineation with
the observations of Baron Cuvier and Mr Hart, but more
particularly of the latter, is very striking. The former ob-
serves, " Quant aux bois, ils varient, ainsi que Ton devoit s'y
attendre, neanmoins je n'ai jamais vu ni entendu parler de
tete qui en fut depourvue, en sorte qu'il est a croire que dans
cette especc, comme dans celle du renne, les deux sexes avoient
des bois." And to this opinion, that the female possessed
horns, after the manner of the reindeer, Mr Hart subscribes,
for the following reason. He has observed '' that these parts
present differences in size and strength which appear not to
be dependent on differences of age ; for instance the teeth of
the specimen in Trinity College are much more worn down,
and the sutures of the skull are more effaced than in the spe-
cimens described in this paper ; yet the horns of the latter are
much ihore concave and more expanded than in those of the
former ; and on comparing a single horn of each of these spe-
cimens together, that belonging to the society exceeds the
other by nearly a sixth in the length, and little less than a
third in the breadth ; it is not therefore unlikely that the ani-
mal whose horns were larger and more curved was a male."

M unster has estimated the animal to be about the size of an
ass or a middle-sized horse. Perhaps the latter standard is the
most correct ; and it meets with a familiar, yet striking, illus-
tration in the fact, that when the blacksmith of the Isle of Man,
who put together the noble skeleton which now adorns the Edin-
burgh Museum, discovered that he was short of some few of the
bones, he supplied the deficiency from those of the horse, which
he found from repeated trials to be the nearest to them in di-
mensions, and, as such, the least liable to be detected; which cir-
cumstance affords a better criterion of the comparative size of the
animal than can be conveyed by the appearance which he ac-
tually exhibits in the Edinburgh Museum, as he is set up
much too high, with the view of rendering his trunk as gigantic
as his horns. His true height has in this instance been calcu-
lated at about five feet to the withers. — Whether the specimen
of Dubhn is wholly free from this objection I will not pretend

or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 309

to say. The height of him to the upper extremity of the dor-
sal spine, has been given at six feet six inches. He certainly
appears in the portrait published of him to be at his utmost
stretch. Judging also from the size of the cranium of the
animal, we are scarcely warranted in conceiving of him as either
being so tall or so long as he is thus represented. Cuvier on
this subject says, " II faut remarquer que la tete fossile ne
suivoit pas pour la grandeur la monstreuse proportion de son
bois : au contraire, les plus grandes tetes fossiles sont plus
courtes que des tetes ordinaires d'elan." {Ossemens Fossiles,
vol. iv. p. 79.) - ^3ai?i!

Munster next speaks of the animal as possessing a figure
which is every thing but well proportioned, aspersing it under
the term figiira deformata. He is certainly represented in
the sketch as possessing a heavy, bulky trunk, little calcu-
lated for motions of celerity, with a small head, and such im-
mense horns as to make his body appear comparatively short ;
which description so well corresponds with the Cervi men-
tioned by Giraldus Cambrensis as existing in Ireland during
the 12th century, that it is impossible to resist the testimony,
that he is actually describing them in their living state. " Cer-
vos prae nimia pinguedine minus fugere praevalentes, quan-
toque minores sunt corporis quantitate, praecellentius efferun-
tU'i:^apitis et cornuum dignitate."

Another part of Munster's description, remaining to be no-
ticed, relates to the animal's skin and hair. The skin is said
to be so hard as to be cut through or stabbed with difficulty.
The hair is described as of a reddish or brown colour, inclin-
ing to black ; the lower parts of the legs being whitish. But
the most remarkable trait in Munster's delineation of the ani-
mals, is the circumstance of the neck and breast being de-
fended by such long shaggy hair as truly adds to their figura
deformata. This singular appendage of long hair, by which
they are distinguished from almost every other Cervus, gives
some weight to the conjecture of the Countess of Moira, who,
upon the occasion of a human body being discovered in a
gravel bed of Ireland under eleven feet of peat, which owed
its complete preservation to being soaked in bog water, con-
ceived that the antique garment of hair with which it was

310 Dr Hibbert 07i the History of ifie Cervus Euryceros,

clad were derived from the fossil Cervus of the country. — (See
the seventh volume of the Archoeologia Britannica.)

Such is the account given by Munster of the animal's gene-
ral form and figure, from which, in reference to what we know
of the anatomy of the fossil skeleton, there is little or nothing
to dissent. It might, perhaps, be objected, that the brow
antlers of Munster's Cervus do not project sufficiently down-
wards over the forehead. But I believe it will be found, that
there are not only mutual incongruities in this respect among
individuals of this one species, but that different notions of
this appearance are conveyed according to the position in
which the head is drawn. In the present instance, the brow
antlers somewhat resemble those which are engraved in the
fourth volume of Cuvier's Ossemens Fossiles, Plate 7. (p.
106) Fig. 3. It ought also to be recollected, that this antler
has been found to differ in different individuals in more im-
portant respects. Thus, it has been seen to divide itself into
two or three points, or to show no division of this kind at ail-
But it would be unfair to criticise, with too much minute-
ness and severity, a drawing, accompanied with a description,
made nearly three hundred years ago, during the very infancy
of our knowledge of natural history, and at a time when the
race described was evidently becoming extremely rare, if not
extinct ; and this forbearance is the more demanded as an act
of justice, in a case where the essential and permanent charac-
teristics of the form and figure of the animal appear to be
given with such a degree of accuracy and fidelity, as to render
it impossible that we should confound them with those of any
other race of Cervi then known to be in existence. If, how-
ever, some slight discrepancies should be insisted upon, I am
quite willing that Munster's Cervus be considered as a variety
only of the Cervus euryceros, or Fossil Elk of Ireland, analo-
gous to such varieties as we find in the breed of horses, of dogs,
of foxes, of wolves, or of hares.

But I now proceed to notice other circumstances connected
with the natural history of the Cervus euryceros, or fossil elk
of Ireland.

or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 311

4. The Cervus Euryceros was an animal attached to a
marshy state of the country.

This is evident by the more frequent occurrence of his re-
mains among the extensive bogs of Ireland than in any other
portion of the British dominions ; where, according to Mr
Hart, his bones are so abundant, that in the county of Antrim,
a pile of them was used for making a bonfire in celebration
of the Battle of Waterloo. Further proofs of the Cervus eury^
ceros being an animal that frequented marshes are supplied in
the fact, that his remains are generally found in, or near, re-
cent and extinct fresh water lakes and pools, associated with
such plants as the birch, the willow, the alder, ferns, reeds,
&c. It also appears that he gave a preference to such waters
as were favourable to the accumulation of shell-marl ; this pre-
dilection, as I have shown in a previous memoir, being com-
mon to many other Cervi of the present day. Hence the very
frequent inhumation of his remains in deposits of this nature,
the circumstances of which I have described at large in a for-
mer number of this Journal, and which I need not now repeat.

The food of the animal probably resembled that of the
moose ; consisting of the leaves of the willow, the alder, and
other aquatic plants, the small branches of which his horns
would assist in breaking. But while he frequented the low
woods of marshy grounds, there can be no doubt that he
avoided tall and dense forests, the progress through which
would be impeded by his vast horns.

5. The chief use of the immense horns of the Cervus Eury^
ceros was prohahly for his defence.

The natural enemies of this animal were, no doubt, the
European hyena and tiger, tbe bear, the woTf, and other
carnivorous animals, many of which are extinct, who were his
contemporaries. Mr Hart on this subject has properly ob-
served, that, if we consider the powerful muscles for moving
the head, whose attachment occupied the extensive surfaces of
the cervical vertebrae, with the length of the lever afforded
by the horns themselves, we can easily conceive how he
could wield them with a force and velocity which would deal
destruction to any enemy, having the hardihood to venture

S19. Dr Hibbert on the History of the Cervus Euryceros,

within their range. The same writer also correctly remarks,
that the lateral expansion of the horns is such, that should
occasion require the animal to use them in his defence, their
extreme tips would easily reach beyond the remotest parts of
his body.

6. The Cervus Euryceros was the ancient inhabitant of
the temperate regions of Europe.

It is doubtful if this animal dwelt farther north on the Con-
tinent of Europe than the country south of the Baltic, where
his place began to be supplied by the Cervus alces or Nor-
wegian Elk. In Prussia, according to the testimony of
Munster, both these animals occurred ; the habitat of the
more northern animal commencing where the other was ceas-
ing. Whether the British Islands were ever to be regarded
as a similar joint habitat is doubtful. A solitary relic of the
Cervus alces is said to have been found in the Isle of Man, *
but as I could not learn, after much inquiry, that remains of
the true Cervus alces had been either before or since found
in the Island, the relics in question, supposing that they have
been accurately described, appear to be rather referable to
accidental circumstances. It is well known, for instance, that
in a very early period the Isle of Man was possessed by the
Northern Vikingr, who, in introducing among the people
whom they invaded their customs and laws, might have occa-
sionally brought over the products of the mother country, and
among them the Northern Elk, which, from the testimony of
Olaus Magnus, was domesticated and highly valued by the
Northmen as a beast of burden. We have, in fact, histori-
cal as well as other proofs to show, that certain races of animals
at present existing in other early Norwegian provinces, as in

* This account I published on the authority of Mr Burman, a respect-
able surgeon and resident of Douglas, who himself saw a portion of the
horns, and conceived it to resemble the wood of the Norwegian Elk, with
which he was familiar, from a specimen of the same being in his posses-
sion. But on my visiting the island afterwards, the horns, whatever they
were, which Mr Burman failed in procuring, had certainly fled ; nor could
I obtain any satisfactory account of them, as such fossil relics were in ge-
neral surreptitiously disposed of, to obviate the paramount claims of poa-
session which were set up for them by the superior of the soil.

or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 313

Orkney and Shetland, were referable for their introduction to
Scandinavian settlers.

But if the habitat of the Cervus euryceros was bounded on
the north of Europe by the Baltic, I believe that it was no
less limited on the south ; for it is very doubtful to me whe-
ther any true remains of this animal have ever been discovered
south of the Alps. The horns referred to him, said to have
been fished out of the Po, of which I possess a sketch made
for me at Turin, are those of some other species of Cervus,
apparently undescribed. . Brocchi's list, therefore, of the or-
ganic remains found in the north of Italy, which are said to
resemble the ancient moose-deer of Ireland, demands a re-exa-
mination ; and until this is done, I must regard the Cervus
euryceros as having inhabited such temperate regions of Eu-
rope as lie between the Baltic and the Alps, while his chief
abode was in the British islands, and particularly in Ireland.

7. The causes which led to the Extinction in Europe of the
race of the Cervus Euryceros were various, while their action
was gradual.

Some of these causes, though they must be necessarily ob-
scure, I shall endeavour to investigate.

The first of these causes of extinction was owing to th^
Cervus euryceros being an object of the chace. ^^{

This cause of gradual extinction may be traced for a long;'
period of time. Mr Hart has related, that in a rib of the ani-
mal presented by Archdeacon Maunsell to the Royal Dublin
Society, he discovered an oval opening near its lowest edge, the
long diameter of which was parallel to the length of the rib, its
margin being depressed on the outer and raised on the inner
surface, round which there was an irregular effusion of callus.
" This opening," adds Mr Hart, " was evidently produced by
a sharp pointed instrument which did not penetrate so deep as
to cause the animaPs death, but which remained fixed in the
opening for some length of time afterward ; in fact, such an
effect as would be produced by the head of an arrow remain-
ing in a wound after the shaft was broken off." :»

Mr Whittaker has conceived that the fossil Cervus of Ire-'
land and other places, acquired among ancient British hunters

314 Dr Hibbert on the History of the Cervus Euryceros,

the title of Segh, which he has found in an Irish glossary to
signify not only an ox, but a deer of the moose sort. Profes-
sor Goldfuss again supposes, that this Cervus was known to
German hunters of the olden time under the name of the
Schelk ; and he quotes the lines of an ancient poem, in which
a hero, Sifrid, is made to slay a bison, an elk, four uri, and a
schelch :

Dar nach schluch er schiere einen wisent und einen elch
Starcher Ure viere, und einen grimnaen Schelch.*

In Munster's time, we are informed by him in the German
edition of his work, that the animal was esteemed good game for
eating ; but in the Latin copy he has lauded the venation more
strongly. " Caro ejus dicitur esse ex nobiliori venatione :"
adding, that the hoofs were in estimation for medicinal pur-
poses, being good for the falling sickness.

Regarding the mode in which the animal was hunted and
dispatched, we have little or no information. We should be
led to suspect, by the term grimmen Schelch, that he was con-
sidered as a formidable object of the chase. Munster says
that his skin was with difficulty cut through or stabbed. Mr
Hart has supposed that the Irish wolf dog was his natural
enemy : but Mr Whittaker is rather inclined to confine the
fierce and fleet talents of this individual to the pursuit of the
red deer ; fixing at the same time upon a huge Lancashire
dog, formerly known under the name of the Kibble hound, as
the ancient antagonist of the British moose deer.-J* His argu-
ments are founded upon the supposed slowness of the motions
of the Cervus, and the corresponding slowness of his pursuer ;
upon the great bulk of the game, and the corresponding size
of the chacing foe ; upon the fierceness of the English moose
deer, and the proportionable strength of jaws manifested by
the Kibble hound. " The formidable armoury," says this
author, " which the segh carried about him in his branching
antlers, required the segh-dog to be at once animated with a

• I have not had an opportunity while writing this paper of consulting
the work of Professor Goldfuss alluded to ; being indebted for this quota-
tion to Mr James Wilson, in his excellent Illustrations of the History of
Domesticated British Animals. See the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.

i* The breed is, I believe, lost. It is celebrated by the poet Drayton.

or Fossil Elk of Ireland. 31 g

considerable resolution for the attack, and furnished with
strong fangs for the hold." But with regard to the peculiar
" tuneable cry," — the " sweet thunder" emitted from the
throats of this race of dogs during the pursuit, Mr Whittaker
is not so perspicuous. We may suppose, if we choose to adopt
the same hypothetical trace of reasoning, that it would be avail-
ed of to drive the animal by alarm into soft boggy places or
dense thickets, where, being entangled either by his feet or his
horns, he would be the more easily destroyed. In the case of
the Canadian elk, which is also the tenant of marshes, the
Indians, by the assistance of dogs, chace him into the water,
where he is dispatched by spears aimed at him from canoes ;
(See Carver's Travels, p. 272 ;) and as canoes resembling the
American ones have been extracted froni the nearly extinct
lake of Martonmere in Lancashire, near to which gigantic
horns have also been found, it is no extravagant supposition,
upon the principle that the manners of a savage people are in
all ages and countries the same, that a similar mode would be
occasionally resorted to for the destruction of the large horned
Cervus of our own country, while dwelling among his ancient
swamps and morasses.

A second cause contributing to the extinction of the Cervus
euryceros, was the estimation in which all the remarkable ani-
mals inhabiting Gaul as well as other regions were held by
the Romans for the use of the public games. The number
in requisition for this purpose is well known to have been
astonishingly great. Hadrian in one day slaughtered a thou-
sand beasts ; Titus, five thousand. The Emperor Gordian,
in inventing a new kind of spectacle, had a wood planted in
the Circus, into which there was turned out wild horses, wild
asses, wild sheep, wild boars, elks, bulls, ostriches, and ibices,
and among these two hundred deer and two hundred Cervi
palmati ; and in a subsequent spectacle of the same kind
given by Probus, among a similar variety of animals no less
than one thousand stags and one thousand deer were at the
same time exhibited ; the people being allowed, as an addi-
tion to the sport, to enter the wood and take from thence any
which they had the courage to face. That many of these

S16 Dr Hibbert on the History of the Cervus Ev/ryceros,

Cervi came from Britain, is evident by the remark of Julius
Capitolinus regarding a picture of the memorable wood of
Gordian, which existed in the house of Cneus Pompeius :
" Gordiani sylva memorabilis picta in domo rostrata Cn.
Pompeii picturas animalium diversas continet, inter quas sunt
cervi palmati ducenti mixtis Britannis."

In reference to this quotation, I was lately rather anxious
to identify, among the numerous animals which were depicted
in the interior of the houses of Pompeii, a representation of
the ancient race of the Cervus euryceros. Some few delinea-
tions I certainly found of Cervi with gigantic horns, but they
were in general ill expressed ; the same inaccuracy, indeed,
prevailing in many other representations of individuals of this
genus. I think I was more successful in an ancient sculp-
tured monument, of which a drawing was taken for me while
I remained at Rome.

From the exhibition of the Cervus euryceros at the Roman
games, it is most probable that the ancients, and more parti-
cularly Oppian, who lived in the reign of Caracalla, derived
their notion of the animal, which they have described as re-
sembling the stag in the length and thickness of its horns, and
the fallow-deer in the width of them ; as exceeding the B^CaX©-
in size, and in other respects forming the most eminent of the
tribe of EXa^o/. This was in fact the opinion of the indus-
trious and the learned Aldrovandus, who was nearly the con-
temporary of Sebastian Munster ; and as at this time skele-
ton heads of Cervi, possessing gigantic horns, were beginning
to attract the attention of naturalists, Aldrovandus, in study-
ing the character of some which had previously been submit-
ted to the observation of Bellonius, added " Suspicorque
cornua ilia ingentis magnitudinis, quae in gradibus et ascensu
Ambrosianae arcis conspiciuntur, non vulgaris damae, ut Bel-
lonius existimat, fuisse, sed vel alcis vel alterius."" Applying,
therefore, to the animal possessing these vast horns, the cha-
racter under which Oppian has described the most distinguish-
ed of known Cervi, he was the first to conceive of the same
under the appropriate title of the Cervus euryceros.

But the third and last cause which may be mentioned as

Mr Pritchard on the Aberration of a Diamcynd Lens. 317

having contributed to the extinction of this race of Gervi, is
one that is strictly geological. It is the gradual oblitera-
tion of the ancient pools and lakes, to the swampy banks of
which they originally resorted. Most of these, by dint of the
constant operation of atmospheric agents affecting the disinte-
gration of rocks, combined with other, yet subordinate, causes,
have, by the transported materials of rivers, been gradually
filled up, so as to at length present a surface well adapted to the
use and abode of man ; and when our Cervus was eventually
deprived of the covert of morasses and thickets, he became the
more easy prey of his natural enemies, whether of the human
race or of the lower animals. According to this view, then,
which I have amply illustrated in a former essay, the diminu-
tion or extinction of this very interesting race of Cervi has
kept pace with the obliteration of ancient lakes, and the
drainage of ancient marshes.

I have at length concluded my history of the Certms eury-
ceros. But, as the validity of a favourite geological theory has
been involved in it, I would merely hint, that the object of the
present memoir was not to determine a question of this nature,
but one of zoological history. For the valuable services which
Dr Buckland has rendered to geological science, I continue to
entertain the same respect which I have always done ; and I
even agree with him, that illustrations of the Mosaic testimony
are to be expected from the study of the actual appearances
of nature. But with this general admission I would pause : —
the present essay will perhaps convey the information, that such
illustrations must be sought for amidst phenomena totally dif-
ferent from those, which geological commentators on the holy
writ have entangled in the articles of their creed.

Art. XVIII. — Investigation of the Spherical Aberration of a
Diamond Lens. By Mr Andrew Pritchari), Hon. Mem.
Soc. Arts, Scot. &c. Communicated by C. R. Goring, M. D.

As the superior distinctness and efficacy of a diamond lens
does not yet seem to be sufficiently appreciated by the public

NEW SERIES, VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. X

1

318 Mr Pritchard on the Aberration of a Diamond Lens.

at large, owing no doubt to the want of a simple comparison of
its spherical aberration with that of glass and other substances
of lower refractive power, I have in the present paper endea-
voured to demonstrate in a familiar and tangible manner its
real longitudinal aberration.

Plate III. Fig. 8, represents a section of two semi-lenses.
They are both convexo-plane. The upper one D is the form
of a diamond lens of the same magnifying power and semi-
aperture with the lower one G, which represents one formed of
glass. * F is the principal focus of the two lenses for inside
rays : d and g are the focal points of their outside rays. Hence
the space F d,.will be the longitudinal aberration of the dia-
mond lens, and g F that of the glass lens. This geometrical
illustration will, I hope, address itself with sufficient force to
the eyes of those least initiated in such matters ; but I have
availed myself of the work of Mr Coddington to compute the
spherical aberration according to an expression given by him
in page 93 of his work, which is as follows : —

t J i . (/^+l)(^~-l) 1 /

^ t/^U/^-i)' "^^ i^\ 3 7*

If we assume the refractive index of diamond to be 2,5 (/a)
as a mean, (it ascends as high as 2,755) then the above for-
mula, executed in numerical computation, will stand as follows :

-{

1 , (2,5 + 1) (2,5- 1)1 f_ 3 y

+

2,5)2(2,5 — 1)2^ ^ 2,5)^^ J/ ""7/

nearly, or about f of its own thickness, while it is well known
that the aberration of a glass lens of the same form, and in the
same position, is I of its own thickness. But as the thickness
of a diamond lens will be considerably less than that of a glass
one of the same power and aperture, it will be necessary to
compute them respectively ; and it will be found, by taking the
proportions given in the geometrical illustration, to be for the
diamond 9.55, while the thickness of the glass one will be 758.

• In the construction of the figure I have assumed the radii as 8 to 3, it
having been found by careful experiment, that the powers of a diamond
and plate glass lens of the same radii are to each other as 8 to 3. These
proportions will of course vary a little according to the refractive indices of
the stones employed. The lenses in the figure are slipped a little for cor-
rection of thickness, to make the focus F fall in the same point.

I

Account of another Case of Spectral Illusion. 319

Hence f of 9>B5 will be the longitudinal aberration of the dia-
mond lens, viz. 108 ; and I of 758 that of the glass, viz. 884 ;
or in other words, the diamond will only possess about one-
ninth of the actual aberration of a glass lens of the same power
and aperture. * It will therefore be obvious, that the diamond
gains its advantage in two ways, first, its spherical aberration,
enunciated in terms of its own thicJcness, is far less than that of
glass ; and, secondly, this said thickness is also far less than
that of a glass lens of the same power and aperture, and these
two quantities compounded express its actual aberration.
Again, it must not be forgotten, that the violent refraction of
the diamond (which is the cause of its faint spherical aberra-
tion,) happens to be associated with a dispersive power also
lower than that of glass ; for, had its dispersion been in pro-
portion to its refraction, so much colour would have been ge-
nerated by it, as to counterbalance the advantage of its low
spherical aberration. I regret that J have not as yet intro-
duced a perfect plano-convex of diamond to the notice of the
public, but I am now on the point of supplying that defect,
and trust, from the fair promise of perfection given by the
stone in its flat state, when it showed no traces of flaws or poi
larization, that it will turn out satisfactorily.

312, Strand, Andrew Pritchard.

4}th February 1830.

Art. XIX. — Account of another remarkable Case of Spectral
Illusion. Continued from Art. IV. p. ^22 of this Number,

It was nearly a month after the last occurrence, that Mrs
was preparing for bed at about eleven at night, after a some-
what fatiguing drive during the day, and sitting before the
dressing-glass occupied in arranging her hair. She describes
her state of mind at the time as listless and drowsy, but fully

* It should be remarked, that, to give the greatest eflfect to the diamond,
it must be formed into a meniscus lens, having the radii of its surfaces as
2 to 5 nearly, when the aberration would be reduced greatly below that
of a plano-convex. — vide Mr Coddington, page iii.

380 Account of another Case of Spectral Illusion.

nwake ; indeed her fingers were in active motion amongst the
papillotes, when she was suddenly startled by seeing in the
mirror the figure of « near relative, (at the time in Scotland,)
Qver her left shoulder j his eyes meeting her's in the glass.
The figure was enveloped in grave-clothes closely pinned, as
13 usual with corpses, round the head and under the chin.
Though the eyes were open, the features were solemn and ri-
gid. The dress was decidedly a shroud, as Mrs re-
marked even the punctured pattern usually worked in a pecu-.
liar manner round the edges of that garment.

Mrs " describes herself as sensible of a feeling like

what we conceive of fascination, compelling her for a time to
gaze on this melancholy apparition, which was as distinct and
vivid as any reflected reality could be ; the light of the candles
on the dressing-table appearing to shine fully upon it. After
a few minutes she turned round to look for the reality of the
form over her shoulder. It was not however visible; and
had also disappeared from the glass when she looked again in
that direction.

Coupled with the previous illusions I related to you, this
last apparition becomes more interesting than it would be alone.
In the first place, its melancholy, and indeed horrible charac-
ter, distinguishes it from the others, but brings it still nearer to
the ordinary stories of supernatural visitation. At the same
time, the possible continuance of such spectral appearances is
highly disagreeable, however firm the lady''s nerves, and how-
ever sound her philosophy.

2. The mind in this case seems not to have had the remotest
influence in raising or dissipating the illusion.

Mrs is convinced there was no train of thought pre-
viously passing through her mind, likely to have the slightest
association with the idea of the relative whose form she sud-
denly saw with all the distinctness of reality.

3. The former illusions might be supposed ideas of sensation,
sounds or pictures, reproduced with extraordinary vividness in
the same shape and character in which they had been perceived
by and stored up in the mind. But in this last case, there is
9 new combination of ideas, which never entered the mind in
connection.

Notice respecting Mr Cutliberfs Elliptic Metals^ 6^c. 3^1

The union of the well known features with the shroud must
have been a pure effort of or creation of the mind. There
seems, therefore, rlo reason why, dttder the same disposition of
the nervous system, any monstrous creations of the faculty We
call imagination, might not be produced to the eyes and other
senses, indeed, with all the qualities that constitute reality, ex-
cept their endurance, though this should hardly be excepted,
since there can be no reason why the appearances may not en-
dure, by a continuance of the conditions, for days or months;
I need hardly say that the relative whose ghost was seen after
so dismal a fashion, was at the time in perfect health. Had it
been otherwise, and that the apparition coincided with illness
or death, as has no doubt frequently happened in other in*
stances, our philosophy would have had to stand a severe triaL

Art. XX. — Notice respecting Mr Cttthberfs Elliptic Metals
for Reflecting Microscopes. Communicated by a Correspond-
ent.

Mr J. CuTHBERT has succeeded in obtaining perfect elliptic
figures for metals having an aperture equal to their sidereal
focus or 54°. The process by which he effects this is very si-
milar to that by which he obtains truly hyperbolic figures for
the mirrors of small Gregorian telescopes, of only five inches
focus and three inches of aperture. Many artists have at-
tempted to figure small metals having an aperture equal to
their focus, but the true curve is so perfectly artificial, that
they have hitherto been totally unable to attain it. It remain-
ed for the unique and peculiar talent of Mr Cuthbert, to a&.
complish this in metals of half an inch focus, and half an inch
of aperture, and three-tenths of an inch focus, and three-tenths
of an inch of aperture : — combined with an excelleM polish.

When the scale of operation is so very contracted, we leave
it to those acquainted with such matters to determine how
small an error must inevitably destroy the figure of such mi-
nute mirrors.

These metals are adajlted to the Amiciart catadioptric en-
giscope, (the perfection of which they consummate,) by means
of plane mirrors of very small diameter, when transparent ob-

S22 Dr Knox's Theory of Hermapkrodism.

jects are viewed, but opaque ones are observed by the direct
operation of the unassisted elliptic mirror.

The effect of this instrument, so constituted as to bring out
proof objects, which, so far as we know, are invisible by any
other engiscope or microscope whatever, viz. a set of lons^i-
tudinal lines on the scales of the Podura, in addition to the two
sets of diagonal ones already discovered, and two sets of dia-
gonal lines on the scales of the cabbage butterfly, in addition to
the longitudinal ones with the cross stricB hitherto observed.
The colours of a variety of objects are shown with uncommon
brilliancy, and a great number of delicate touches on a variety
of objects are brought out, which have escaped the penetra-
tion of other instruments. We shall, in a future number,
give the particulars of this grand and capital improvement,
which seems to surpass every thing yet executed, although no
less than six thin triple object glasses have been preposterous-
ly combined together in a rouleau for the purpose of accumu-
lating power and giving an unlimited angle of aperture. Such
clumsy and complicated constructions can never rival the
beautiful simplicity and true vision of perfect reflectors.

Art. XXI. — An outline ofDr Knox's theory of Hermaphro-
dism, and the application of its principles to the generative
and respiratory organs

Part I. — Theory of the generative organs^ and of the type
according to which they have originally been formed in all
animals.

When the genital organs of both sexes came to be particu-
larly examined, anatomists, seeing that some of the female or-
gans resembled the male, and vice versa, supposed that they
were repetitions of each other, and that they were fundamentally
the same organs, only differently developed in the one sex from
what they were in the other.

In man it was said that the organs are external, and in
woman internal ; for in man the uterus is turned inside out to
contain the ovaries, now become testicles. In pursuing this ana-
logy, the vasa deferentia were compared, to the Fallopian tubes,
the vesiculce seminales to the uterus, and the penis to the vagina.

Dr Knox's theory of Hermaphrodism. 323

This was the opinion of the ancients, and with the follow-
ing modification is nearly that of all anatomists of the present
day ; viz. the testicles are still regarded as analogous to the
ovaries, but the Fallopian tubes are held to be the epididymi,
whilst the angles or horns of the uterus are the parts analogous
to the tasa deferentia ; the analogy between the vesiculce semi-
7iales and the body of the uterus, and between the penis and
vagina, is still supported.

Many plants and some animals, the lowest in the scale of or-
ganization, carry the organs of both sexes ; but such is not the
case with man and the higher orders of animals, although in
them cases do occur in which individuals present the characters
of both sexes. These beings are what are called hermaphrodites.

Now, according to the ideas of the formation of the genital
organs which I have mentioned, viz. that the male and the fe-
male organs are repetitions of each other, and that they are
fundamentally the same organs, only differently developed in
the one sex from what they are in the other ; in accordance
with this idea, I say, physiologists accounted for hermaphro-
ditical appearances, by supposing an irregular developement of
the genital organs, whereby some of them inclined to the fe-
male structure and others to the male. In this way, when
such beings were examined and both a uterus and testicles
found, it was said, that by a malformation the part out of
which the ovaries in the female, and the testicles in the male,
are formed, had in this case been converted into testicles.

Entertaining this opinion, it will be difficult to explain on
philosophical principles the cases in which both testicles and
ovaries, vasa deferentia and Fallopian tubes, vesiculce semina-
les and uterus, occur ; for if these organs are identical, they
cannot exist together in the same animal.

But if we say that the type of the genital organs is herma-
phroditical, that is, that there are fundamentally male and fe-
male organs in the same being, or originally in all embryos,
elementary yet distinct parts, out of which both sets of organs
may be formed by developement, then, I apprehend, we may
explain the above-mentionied anomalies.

This, in short, is the key of Dr Knox's explanation of her*
maphrodism.

3y^4 Dr Knox's theory of Hermaphrodism.

Part II. — •Containijig the d&termmatk)n of tJie . snoeual or-
gans in the male andfemaUy and what is essentially male
and which fer tale.

To make this explanation intelligible, we must first deter-
mine what are male and what female organs ; for in the normal
state certain male organs are always developed to a certain
extent in the female, and certain female organs in the male.
Thus, in woman the clitoris is an organ essentially male, and in
man the mammae are organs essentially female.

The essentially male organs are the testicles, the vasa de^
ferentia^ the vesicnlcB seminales, the prostate, Cowper's glands,
and the penis.

The essentially female organs are the ovaries, the Fallopian
tubes, the uterus, the round ligaments of the uterus, the va-
gina, and the mammae.

If a greater or less number of the above kinds of organs be
co-existent in the same individual, however analogous they
may be, they cannot be said to be fundamentally identical ;
yet there must be some germ out of which the superfluous or-
gans have been formed.

The most rational opinion is, that the type of the genital
organs is, as has been mentioned, hermaphroditical, that is, they
at first comprehend the elements of both sexes.

The cause of hermaphrodism is thus explained in a clear
and easy way.

The elements of both sexes being present, either the one
or the other, according to the regular course of developement,
will come to perfection, thus constituting the male sex if the
male organs are perfected, and the female sex if the female
organs are perfected.

Cases may happen and do happen in which both sets of or-
gans are developed to a certain extent.* What has been said

* In such cases, the two sets of organs have not as yet been observed to be
so fully developed as to be fit for the performance of both male and female
functions. This, like the sterility of hybrids, is probably dependent on some
deep law of the organization. Yet in the case described by Mr Thomas,
and that examined by Dr Knox, there was nothing in the anatomical
structure which could have prevented one set of organs, the male, from
performing their functions ; nay, the propensities shown by the animal

Dv Knox's theory of HermaphrodAsm.

abave shows, that this is owing, not, as was originally sup-
posed, to the malformation of the single set of elements of or-
gans, which, assuming the female character, determined the
female sex, and vice versa, but to the simultaneous develope*
ment of two sets of elements of organs, male and female, which
co-exist, but which in the normal condition of the organs are
only singly developed.

Part III' — Application of the new law for discovering" the
nature oj rudimentary orgafis, hy determining the original
ty^pe of construction, to the respiratory organs ; — theory
of the respiratory organs, showing them to be at once pul-
monary and branchial.

As in some animals both the male and female organs are
found together, so also do we find in some animals two struc-
tures for the oxygenation of the blood co-existent, or developed
one after the other, as in the tadpole.

It is hard to conceive how, if these two organs were identi-
cal, as is supposed, they could exist at the same time in one in-
dividual, which they assuredly do in the Proteus and Syren.
Here the principles, on which hermaphrodism has been ex-
plained, may be applied, and we may therefore say, that the
type of the respiratory organs is double ; it is both pulmonary
and branchial ; the elements of both sets of organs are Jbund
infi all vertebral animals.

From this it follows, that lungs and gills, although analo-
gous, are not identical organs, and that they can no more be
changed into each other, than male into female organs.

Admitting this, we can now explain certain bones in fishes
which have never been exactly determined ; these are the bones
which support the gills, called by some ribs, and by others
hyoid bones. Lungs and gills are analogous, but not identical
organs, the elements out of which the gills are formed, are not
the same as those out of which the lungs are ; therefore, when
we analyze the structure of the gills, and find the branchial
arches, we say that they are organs belonging essentially i6

which was the subject of the latttr case, when alive, are strongly in favoui!
of the probability of this.

326 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices (yf'the Bay of Naples.

the gills. But as the type of the respiratory organs is both
lungs and gills, we must expect to meet, in some of those in
which the lungs only are developed, with elements more or less
remarkable, of the gills. Now such are the hyoid bones, which
are in truth the branchial arches.

Part IV. — Theory of those organs whose functions have never
been explained, viz. the spleen, thymus, thyroid, and su^
pra-renal capsules; they are supposed to be rudiments of
organs whose developement, so as to perform obvious and
perhaps important J'unctiojis, took place only in those ani-
mals whose fossil remains proclaim the vestiges of an an-
tediluvian world : they are supposed to be the rudimentary
organs of a former world.

Speculating on the principles which have been laid down,
may we not explain the existence of certain mysterious organs
found in animals, such as the supra-renal capsules, thymus
gland, &c. which, as far as we know, have no function either
in the embryo or adult state, by supposing that they are the
undeveloped elements of the type of a peculiar structure which
existed in the animals of the antediluvian world ; for we may
infer from the peculiarities of the skeleton of those animals,
and more particularly of the Sauria, that there had been pecu-
liarities in the soft parts to fit them to live on the earth's sur-
face, which, in all probability, was different at that time from
what it is now. T. W. J.

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

No. VII. — On the Islands of Procida and Ischia.

«' Turn Prochyta alta tremit durumque cubile

Inarime, Jovis impcriis imposta Typhoeo "

^n. ix.

My last paper brought the reader to the Capo di Miseno,
which terminates the continuous stretch to the westward of
the shore of the Bay of Naples. It is, however, virtually pro-
longed by the two islands of which I propose now to give some

No. VII. — Islands of Procida, and I schia. 327

account, — the Prochyta and Inarime, or Pithecusa of the an-
cients,— the Procida and Ischia of modern times. The nature
of the soil on the corresponding coasts, as the scoglie delle pietre
arse already described, with the conterminous point of Proci-
da, and the little island of Vivara interposed between it and
Ischia, bespeak at least a connection in the submarine land,
whether or not we may be disposed to admit with Strabo,
that the disseveration was accomplished by a natural convul-
sion within the memory of man. We may therefore consider
Ischia, which is farthest from the shore, as the true western
extremity of the Bay, the entire opening of which, between
this island and the promontory of Minerva, has a stretch of
about thirty miles. The islands of Procida and Ischia had a
pre-eminence as to volcanic energy in ancient times, which they
now want, the latter having been subject to violent earth-
quakes, and even volcanic explosions, long before the first re-
corded eruption of Vesuvius, so as to have gained the charac-
ter of imprisoning the Typhon of the Greeks, that mysterious
being represented as " surpassing in size and force all the
children of earth, — as taller than the mountains, with the his-
sing of snakes from his head. Fire gleamed from his eyes,
and he hurled stones to heaven with a loud and hollow noise,
while surges of fire boiled up from his mouth.'"'* The island
of Prochyta was conceived by some to be the offspring of one
of the eruptions of the greater island, — an opinion which its
name seems to support, "f But in later times the energies
which were spent in this direction found a more permanent
vent in the long dormant crater of Vesuvius, and the western
side of the bay has only been subjected to rare though violent
paroxysms.

We shall make first a few remarks upon the island of Pro-
cida, which, however, presents little to detain us. Notwith-
standing the appellation of " Mta''^ which Virgil gives it, this
island has in general a flat character. It is the castle alone,
which being situated on one considerable eminence at its east-
ern extremity, gives it rather a commanding appearance in

* See Dr Daubeny on the Typhosus of the Greeks in his Lectures on
Volcanos.

t Pliny, Hist. Nat- iii. 6.

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

some points of view. It is entirely composed of tufa, with in-
terposed beds of slaggy Java conformably stratified, and some
of the water sections of which present an interesting appear-
ance, as I observed in coasting along its shore, particularly on
the western side. The character of the island is very uniform,
and is rendered still more monotonous by the complete sacri-
fice of it to the culture of vines. It is only about six miles in
circumference, and in the highest state of cultivation. About
the present time the number of its inhabitants may be reckon-
ed at 14,000, and formerly amounted to 18,000 ; so that in
all probability, in proportion to its size, it is the most highly
inhabited land in the world, Malta not excepted.

On the island pheasants at one time were preserved with so
much strictness for the royal sport, that no cats were allowed
to be domiciled, by a decree issued in the year 1750. Lalande
mentions a curious anecdote of the result : Rats became so
overwhelmingly numerous, that the inhabitants were threaten^
ed with absolute destitution, and in a body were compelled to
petition against the royal decree. The castle still contains a
garrison, and has some pretensions to be considered as a de-
fence to the bay. From the point on which a telegraph is
placed, there is a magnificent view of the whole stretch of the
Bay of Naples and that of Gaeta,— a view in many respects
more satisfactory and picturesque than those obtained from
higher points, such as the Camaldoli di Napoli, or the summit
of the Island of Ischia.

The north side of Procida is only about two miles distant
from the point of Misenum, and the similarity of the corre*-
sponding rocks has been remarked by Spallanzani and others.
On the south side Breislak thought he discovered symptoms of
the original crater of projection in the small island of Vivara,
which is at a short distance from the larger mass ; but this
authofr''s fanciful discrimination of craters has been formerly
pointed at. Vivara, however, seems to form a connecting link
with Ischia, which is extended by the picturesque detached
rock upon which the castle of Ischia stands, united to the land
merely by a low bridge of some length. All these features
point undeniably to some species of junction between the

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Ischia. M^

aoast of Italy and the island of Ischia, as 'a glance at any tole-
rable map will at once prove.

' I can conceive nothing more perfectly beautiful than the
view of this majestic island as approached from the north,
especially if under the enchantment of an Italian sunset.
There is just that degree of symmetry in its structure which
is requisite without formality, and sufficient ruggedness to
relieve the surpassing verdure with which nature has clothed
the greater part of the island. The peculiar structure of
the volcanic mass has given a peaked character to almost
every more important part of its outward form. But the de-
grading nature of the soil, the lapse of centuries, and the ac-
tion of the waves and of earthquakes, have prevented any
thing monotonous in the general configuration, and the whole
is grandly surmounted by the majestic summit of Monte Epo-
meo, which constituting, in fact, almost the whole of IsChia,
at once unites, and is supported by its tributary eminences.

The entire surface of the island is so completely intersected
with rugged dells, and bestrewed with shivered crags of rock,
the work no doubt of those great hands, which, according to
tradition, have here so often desolated the face of nature, that
travelling is difficult and the roads precarious. Neither hor-
ses nor vehicles of any kind exist ; and asses (or ciuci, as in
the debased dialect of this island they are called,) form the
only mode of conveyancie. Yet, generally speaking, over so
rough a foundation, nature has lavished the charms of verdure
to a degree seldom met with even in Italy, and there might be
found many a sequestered picture of retirement and natural
luxuriance, upon which the eye of the traveller, returned to
the sterner features of more northern zones, might wish long
enough to find, except within the precincts of this favoured
island. Various detached masses, such as that we have men-
tioned as the seat of the castle of Ischia, and many abrupt
cliffs, break the sea landscape ; and farther inland, though
vast quantities of Spanish chestnut and other woods, mostly
cut for copse, clothe almost every rising ground, some bare
crags arise in the interior of the island, and some lava currents
of unbending sterility, brea^k the green slopes of the hills ;
while the rich mass of brushwood which wraps the enormous

3 so Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples,

flanks of Epomeo to a great height above the sea, leaves its
scarped summit magnificently insulated to every wind of hea-
ven, and its crumbling materials have been picturesquely
blanched into a grayish white hue, by the weathering of cen-
turies. Pretty extensive vineyards are in some places culti-
vated, but such is the profusion of rocky masses, especially on
the north side of the island, that the labour of clearing the
ground, which is but imperfectly done, is enormous ; and in
order to dispose of the stones, walls are built round them in
great numbers and of immense height, leaving only narrow
rugged lanes between, which give the country a most peculiar
appearance. The general view from a distance is, however,
fortunately not much spoilt by these interminable-looking
walls. This arises from the extreme ruggedness of the ground,
the abundant interspersed verdure, and the still more fortu-
nate circumstance of the green colour, which tinges all the
rocks of this district, and renders them less glaring. So enor-
mous are some of the masses hurled from higher situations,
that any attempt to remove them appearing fruitless, they
have, from the soft nature of the rock, been hewn entirely out
into wine cellars.

The circumference of the Island of Ischia along the water's
edge is eighteen miles, its length from west to east only five,
and its breadth from north to south three. It contains a con-
siderable number of villages, of which that adjoining the castle
of Ischia, and properly called Celso, is the capital, and con-
tains 4000 souls, and the entire population amounts to about
24,000, who live almost entirely on the productions of their
vineyards. * Foria is the next largest town to Ischia, and
there are besides eight or nine smaller villages, some of which
are very straggling. Most of these are close to the sea, and
a good deal of fishing is carried on : but the food of the poorer
classes consists of dried figs, which are grown on the island.
The quantity of grain is so small as to be insufficient for the
internal consumption ; olives might probably be cultivated
with advantage, but owing to their expence, and the time they
require before fruiting, they have not yet been introduced.

• Siano, Notizie dell' Isola d' Ischia.

.3

No. VII. — Islands qfProcida and Ischia. 331

Before giving an account of the constitution of the island
and its mineral springs, I shall notice one or two facts connect-
ted with its physical history. Its revolutions both from his-
tory and from observed structure, appear to have been nume-
rous and varied, and, as Dr Daubeny well observes, we here
find pumiceous conglomerates corresponding to the Pozzuolana
of the Phlegra^an fields, trachytes to the rock of the Solfatara,
and lavas to those of Vesuvius. Repeated colonies have set-
tled in Ischia : according to Strabo the Erythraeans, and after-
wards the Chalcidians were among the first, and they were
driven away at a very remote period, by the number and vio-
lence of the earthquakes. A colony was established by Hiero,
king of Syracuse, about 380 years before the Christian aera, *
but being engaged in building some fortifications, they were
so alarmed by earthquakes and eruptions, that they also left
the island. Not very long after this, as we know, Vesuvius
began to give symptoms of activity, and a pretty regular course
of eruptions followed, during the dominion of the Romans and
the middle ages. The volcanic energy which so long had cha-
racterized the western extremity of the bay, took a more eastern
direction, and materially changed the character of the Ischian
volcano, which had a long interval of repose. The eruptions
which, on the testimony of Timseus, took place formerly
from the summit of the island, then called Mons Epopeus,
now took a lower level of emission, and the returning en-
ergy in this quarter, which the eruption of the Solfatara in
1198 indicated, not very long after reached Ischia, with a
violence which seemed aggravated by the quiescence of cen-
turies. At the close of the 13th century this unfortunate
island was distracted by political commotions, and alterna-
tely fell into the hands of the houses of Arragon and An-
jou, but these evils were destined to be effaced, and the
contested spot absolutely divested of inhabitants, and threat-
ened with annhilation by the natural convulsions witli which
the 14th century commenced. During part of 1301, arth-

* Some corfusion has prevailed from the occurrence of two kings of Sy-
racuse of this name, the second of whom lived a century and a half later;
it appears, however, to have been Hioro I. who colonised Ischia. See An-
uria, Trattato delle acque Mineral, ii. 38.

^82 Mr Forbes*s Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples.

quakes succeeded one another with fearful rapidity, and hav-
ing for two months kept the inhabitants in a state of constant
alarm, terminated at last in the great eruption of 1302. The
crater, as we have observed, was not in Monte Epomeo, but
the lava found its exit near the eastern side of the island, at
no great height above the sea, from a point named still the
" Campo del Arso." It is not very far from the town of Ts-
chia or Celso, and runs quite down to the sea at no great dis-
tance from Casamicciola. Its hardness and sterility is quite
remarkable, and is a striking example of the danger of theoriz-
ing upon the dates of eruptions by the forwardness of the decom-
position of their products : during 500 years it has made less
progress than some of those of Vesuvius probably within the
last twenty. The length of the stream is a mile and a half,
when it joins the sea, and its breadth half a mile ; its colour
varies from iron-grey to reddish-black, and is remarkable for
the glassy felspars which it contains. Spallanzani remarks,
that it appears to have been produced under extremely violent
heat from the fusion of some of the crystals of felspar; in a
specimen which I broke, the augite was collected in crystalline
patches. Bolomieu relates that the eruption continued for two
years, and is surprised at the want of pumices here observed ;
but pumice was discovered by Spallanzani, who imputes it to
the action of heat on the hornstone, of which, according to him,
the base of the lava is formed. The time during which the erup-
tion and its accompaniments lasted, is one of its most remark-
able features : the surviving inhabitants (many having been kil-
led by the catastrophe,) deserted the island for a long period,
and actually did not return till the year 1305. The accounts
we have received of this eruption are by no means very satis-
factory, and seem to be chiefly derived from an old author
Villani, who wrote a history of Florence.

Since the fourteenth century, Ischia appears not to have
been the scene of any very striking indications of volcanic
agency, and we are not even informed whether the formation
of the Monte Nuovo in 1538 occasioned any corresponding
paroxysm. Earthquakes in that country, unless very violent,
do not produce much attention, nor are even put on record ;
one, however, we may mention, from its recent occurrence, as

No. Y II. -^Islands of Procida and Ischia. 33^

well as on account of the damage which it produced. On the
2d of February 1828, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, a violent
shock of an earthquake was felt in the north-eastern part of the
island of Ischia, which lasted four seconds, accompanied with
an undulatory and vibratory motion, which produced great de-
vastation in the village of Casamicciola, where it was principally
felt. Many houses were destroyed at the instant, and others
so much shattered as to be in danger of falling : twenty-nine
persons were buried in the ruins, and many others wounded :
—much fear was entertained of greater convulsions, but these
were happily averted. The shock was felt over almost the
whole island, and appears to have commenced at the base of
Monto Epomeo, and stretched through Casamicciola to Lacco,
a village to the westward. The^air was still, and the sky
cloudy ; for four days the barometer had maintained its level
with little variation, but after the earthquake it fell, though
apparently not to a great extent. * Tiiese particulars are ex-

* The connection of earthquakes with variations of the barometer, if
such connection exists, is a curious subject of inquiry, for upon few mat-
ters of fact has there been such direct evidence both for and against the
connection. Humboldt, whose means of infannation in South America
were extensive, mentions {Pers. Narr. ii. 224.) that no such connection is
observed in places affected by earthquakes, yet contrary facts might easily
be adduced. During the great earthquake of Lisbon, the fall, if 1 remem-
ber right, was very general. During the earthquakes in Calabria in 1783,
it fell to 27.88 at Lyndon. {Phil. Trans. 1781.) The surprising depres-
sion in December 1821 accompanied the eruption in Iceland and an earth-
quake at Mayence. A similar phenomenon was observed as far north as
Norway during the first great eruption of Vesuvius in 1822 ; and the ex-
traordinary depression in February 1823 was perhaps connected with an
earthquake felt at sea at the same period. {Ed. P/ul. Journ. x. 378.)
Though I cannot say that we have symptoms of the slight Ischian earth-
quake affecting the barometer in this country any more than on the spot,
there can be no doubt of the influence of the succeeding eruption of Ve-
suvius, March 21, on the barometer at Edinburgh, which attained a very
considerable depression that day, as the following observations prove : —
March 20, 1828, 84 m. 28.80G temp. 53., 10 m. 28.770-55., 5 a. 28.674-55.,
10 a. 28.650-55. March 21, 9 m. 28.512-50., 10 m. 28.500-52., 5 a. 28.498-
53., 8 a. 28.592-55., 10 a. 28.614-55. A tremendous earthquake occur-
red on the 21st March 1829 in Murcia in Spain. I observed a consider-
able depression of the barometer near Edinburgh on the 20th, after which
it rose almost an nich in twenty-four hours. The shock felt at Copen-
hagen, 21 St August 1829, is said to have occasioned a most extraordinary
rise of the barometer there. The most careful comparison of the state

NEW SERIES. VOL. II, NO. II. APRIL 1830. Y

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

tracted from a letter received from Italy shortly after the
event, and in no long time the account of a phenomenon ar-
rived with which it had doubtless a connection, the eruption
of Vesuvius on the 21st of March the same year. The loca-
lity of the principal shock, it is interesting to observe, coin-
cides nearly with the ancient point of emission of the Ischian
volcano, and from the direction in which it reached Casamic-
ciola, it may very possibly have originated in the actual Campo
del Arso. It is interesting to observe, that this earthquake
was the precursor of this eruption, and that instead of being,
as Mr Scrope in his paper in the Geological Transactions
suspected, the intimation of the direction of volcanic ener-
gy to this its ancient seat, it thus proved to be merely the
concomitant of its paroxysm in its established point of emis-
sion. Thus having briefly noticed the more conspicuous traits
of the physical history of Ischia, we proceed directly to give
some account of its constitution and products.

The great mass of the island is composed of a rather friable

of the barometer widi the occurrence of earthquakes is by La Cotte in
the Journal de Physique, vol. G5. Many of the shocks were extreme-
ly slight and at a great distance from the place of observation. But I
shall select at random the more conspicuous which occurred during the
space of only four years ; I shall classify the state of the barometer under
the heads of

Great Elevation. Great Depression. Great Variation. Stationary.

24th Jan. 1775, 6th and 22d Oct. 1775, 4th Feb. 1775, 20th June 1775,

5th Aug. 1776, 7th Feb. 1776, 14th Feb. 1775, 8th Sept. 1775,

5th May 1778, 1st Oct. 1777, 27th Feb. 1776, 30th Dec. 1775,

18th Jan. 1778, 4th July 1777, 30th Jan. 1776,

18th Feb. 1778, 23d Sept. 1777, 22d Apr. 1776,

2d Apr. 1778, 9th June 1776,

20th Apr. 1778, 1st July 1776,

1st Oct. 1778, 4th Aug. 1776,

31st Dec. 1778, 6th Sept. 1776,

6th June 1777,

15th Oct. 1777,

31st July 1778,

19-26th Dec 1778-

Here the ratio of the times when the barometer was aifected to when it
was not are as 1 7 : 13, and there was only one instance of great elevation to
three of great depression. But had the observations included a longer
period, and only the more notable earthquakes, both these ratios would
probably have been much higher.

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Isckia. 335

species of tufa, on the true nature of which geologists are un-
decided. Were I to offer an opinion, I should be disposed
to coincide with those who consider it a mechanical aggrega-
tion of pre-existent materials, such as comminuted pumice,
forming of a compound such as may be found in some parts of
the Phlegraean fields, though generally more intimate and of
a more decided character. It seems admitted, however, that
its nature is essentially the same with the conglomerates of
Hungary and some of the volcanic rocks of the Rhine, where
these formations approach nearest to the trachytic character.
But I must repeat, what I have formerly had occasion to re-
mark, that the uncertainty of the characters of volcanic rocks
is still so great, that a controversy about the name or class of
a rock like that of Ischia is little better than a quarrel respect-
ing words : the modes of formation and ejection are still ob-
scure, and we are wholly in the dark as to the relative ages of
most volcanic rocks, of which the most difficult seem to be
thos^ connected by infinitely fine shades of difference between
Trachyte or Greystone, and the apparently sedimentary depo-
sitions of Pozzuolana, Trap, and Tufa. The essential cha-
racters of the tufa of Epomeo appear to be a homogeneous
texture, rather fine in the grain, a powerful tendency to dis-
integration generally taking place in crusts, but the fracture
of the massive rock is frequently conchoidal ; alumina is an
abundant component part, and the rock is soft and friable,
with rather a smooth feel. It has occasionally an apparent
stratified structure, and differs conspicuously from the tufas
in the Bay of Naples in not generally containing fragments of
lava or pumice. This seems to favour the views of Brocchi,
Spallanzani, Breislak, and others who consider it to be a de-
composed lava or trachyte. In this rock large felspar masses
or crystals are sometimes found, and these are occasionally of
a rose colour. Hornblende, is, I believe, also a production of
the higher parts of the island. It is not unimportant, in judg-
ing of the nature of the aggregate rock, (as Dr Daubeny sup-
poses it to be) to know that it is used along with lime as an
excellent mortar : * this could not be the case were it a decom-
posed trachyte, and bespeaks the character of pozzuolana. The
colour of this substance, we have already seen, is, at least on
* Siano, Notizie deU'Isola d' Ischia, § 48.

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

the north side of the island, characteristically green. This
arises, Mr Scrope supposes, * from an admixture of chlorite,
and this is extremely probable, since, as we shall soon see,
aluminous and magnesian minerals particularly distinguish this
island. Near the summit of the hill it assumes a more purely
white colour.

Monte Epomeo rises to a considerable height above the sea ;
the common report is 1800 feet, — but unlike such reports ge-
nerally, this is probably underrated ; others have stated it at
2000 and upwards, and Tenore, in his lately published
*' Essai SU7' la Geographie Physique et Botajiique du Roy-
aume de Naples,'''' assigns to it an elevation of near 3000 feet :
this probably is too much, but I am disposed to think that it
must exceed 2000. In the rocky mass which forms the ex-
treme summit is excavated the dreary abode of two hermits,
who reside here all the year. This cavern of Eolus, which is
exposed to all the blasts of heaven, consists of numerous pas-
sages and chambers with several outlets, and contains a chapel.
A path hewn in the rock conducts to the top, from whence
one of the most splendid panoramic views of the Bay of
Naples is enjoyed ; but the morning on which I saw it was
not very favourable. On the western side may be seen the
distant islands of Santo Stefano, Ventotiene, and Ponza ; the
Monte Circello on the confines of the Pontine marshes, which
is exactly sixty English miles distant ; the point of Terracina,
and the nearer one of Gaeta. Stretching round northwards,
we may leisurely trace the marshes of Liternum, the place of
exile of Scipio ; the site of Cumae, the lakes, the hills, the
craters of the Phlegraean fields, and the indentures of their
varied coast. The view is superior to that from the Camal-
doli di Napoli, on account of the more beautiful intermixture of
sea and land, and the more complete comprehension it conveys
of the features of the Bay, the topography of the Cape of
Miseno, the irregular form of Procida, and the commanding
and very peculiar figure of the island of Capri, which rises to
the eastward, beyond which the adjacent promontory of Mi-
nerva directs the eye to the rugged range of the Sorrentine

• Geolofrical Trans. N. 8. vol. ii. He also states that it may perhaps
be owing to augite, (which he assigns as the cause in his work on Vol-
anos, p. 247,) but in my opinion this is much less probable.

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Ischia. 337

hills, and carries it quite round to the noble cone of Vesuvius,
relieved by the fine blue chain of the distant Apennines. Add
to this the charming foreground which the spectator from
Epomeo enjoys. Undoubtedly one of the most striking parts
of the scene is the perfectly map-like configuration in which
the beautiful island of Ischia lies stretched below him, as seen
from this insulated point. The irregular Irendings of its
shores, the profusion of villages with which it is studded, and
the rich mass of foliage which encompasses most of them, pre-
sents a picture both novel and delightful, and though situated
at the extremity of the Bay, Epomeo undoubtedly affords one
of its most admirable points of view.

Returning to the varieties of mineralogical structure which
this great mass of tufa envelopes, the most important is the
true or stony lava. Of this streams occur in various parts of
the island, and several volcanic cones are formed of modifica-
tions of it. We have already described the stream which
flowed from the Campo del Arso, and the others are almost
equally sterile; they contain generally more felspars, which
are grouped in masses containing crystals, sometimes two or
three inches in length. Of the origin of these, mineralogists
have much puzzled themselves, but we are obviously as yet
quite ignorant of the causes of changes observed to be induced
in many minerals under the action of heat. Much might be
learned from what goes on frequently in our furnaces, and concre-
tionary separations of component parts may be observed both in
volcanic and trap rocks. The lavas of Ischia show no disposi-
tion to prismatic forms, and are entirely amorphous. Their
mineralogical characters have been examined with minuteness
by Spallanzani, * but are so much alike, that they need not
long detain us. They are frequently porous, and abound in
felspar, which appears to be in one form or other the most im-
portant component of the island ; in some rarer cases the fel-
spar is tinged red by oxide of iron, but more commonly the
oxide is yellow, and confers its tint on a great part of the
lavas. There can be no doubt that this substance is derived
from magnetic iron ore imbedded in the solid mass, and which,

• Travels, i. 146, &c.

338 Mr Forbcs's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples.

by disintegration, and the action of the waves, forms the mag-
netic sand whicli on some parts of the shore abounds, and
which Spallanzani noticed to consist of octohedra or their frag-
ments. A similar sand we have mentioned as t)ccurring in the
Bay of Pozzuoh, at the base of the Monte Olibano, whicli has,
beyond doubt, a similar origin, and the lava of which nearlv
approximates to those of Ischia. So high does the felspathose
character of the Ischian Javas sometimes reach, as to form
beds of undoubted trachyte, which occur near Foria in huge
masses, extending through the tufa. But the most remarka-
ble locality is the Monte Taborre, between Casamicciola and
Celso, which is composed of trachyte allied to clinkstone por-
phyry. * So much subterranean heat still exists here, that
from the fissures of the rock watery vapours at a temperature of
4-9° R. = 142° F. still rise, f Of the age of the trachyte we
have no historical data for judging, but, geologically consider-
ed, it overlies a bed of clay undoubtedly not older than the
tertiary series, from the shells which it contains. \

Not a few other craters, n^ore or less distinct, appear upon
the island, and in detecting them Breislak has shown his usual
ingenuity ; but it would be to little purpose to discuss them
more minutely : — suffice it to say that we have some examples
of cinereous cones resembling the Monte Nuovo.

Among the next most important volcanic products, though
rather simple minerals than rocks, we must reckon the inter-
esting substances of obsidian and pumice, which, though so
different in appearance and structure, are intimately allied in
their origin and composition. Both of these substances we
have seen to be rare productions of Vesuvius, nor have we
had occasion to mention the former in any part of the Phle-
graean fields, except in the crater of Astroni ; § in Ischia it
has been overlooked by many, or most authors, yet it occurs
in considerable abundance in one part of the island, and its
appearance is sufficiently remarkable to attract even the super-
ficial observer. Dr Daubeny says, " At Castiglione the

• Daubeny on FoIcanoSf^. 181.

f Breislak, Campanie, ii. ^4.

4: Brocchi Conchiologia Subapennina, Pp. G5 and 354.

§ See No. iii. of these Notices in vol. x. of this Journal, p. 264.

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and IscMa. 339

ground is covered with loose fragments of pumice and obsi-
dian, which I did not succeed in tracing to their source."
Castiglione is situated between the town of Ischia (or Celso,)
and Casamicciola, as the context implies, and it was indeed
there that I myself met with large specimens of this substance,
and was informed by my guide, (a native of the island,) that
it was found in considerable quantity farther inland. With
regard to its origin, the account of Spallanzani may give us
full satisfaction, for in the English translation of the work of
that able observer, enamels mean nothing else than obsidian,
which he describes as being found in this spot in strata from an
inch to a foot and a half or even two feet thick, accompanied by
abundance of pumice, the whole being the distinct production
of a crater in the neighbourhood named Rotaro, (which seems
to be Le Cremate of some authors.) The pumice he describes
as fibrous, occurring in large masses, and extending more than
a mile. It is fitted for all the purposes of the pumice of com-
merce. Spallanzani justly says, that the eruption by which
these were formed must have been of a slimy nature; the mass
of obsidian which I examined, and which was of considerable
size, had the most perfectly vitreous character, but was inter-
sected by veins and striae of clay, which had obviously once
been of a plastic consistence, and the small specimen of it
which I still possess displays the same structure. The explo-
sion of the Rotaro must therefore have been accompanied with
water in such quantity, as to have partly dissolved and car-
ried along with it the strata of aluminous clay of this neigh-
bourhood, which, as nearly as I remember, perfectly resem-
bles the substance united with the volcanic products. It is
not a little surprising that the obsidian of Ischia, a mineral so
rare in the Bay of Naples, but here so abundant, should have
been omitted by so many wrfters ; even the minute Rreislak
seems to have passed it over, though so attentive to its rare
occurrence elsewhere, as also a small work by Siano, expressly
on this island, which professes to give an account of its mineral
productions.

The substance we have next to notice is one which has been
entirely overlooked by almost every writer, as far as regards
its occurrence here, which is, I confess, attended with some

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

doubt, as to its position in situ, but only on that account offers
the more curious field for inquiry. There are few strangers,
perhaps, who have visited Naples without seeing the elegant
snuff-boxes cut out of a substance termed there " lava d'lschia,"'
though probably a small number of them have thought of
examining its nature, or inquiring into its connection with
true lavas, and still fewer may have pursued their inquiry
upon the island itself. This substance, strange as it may ap-
pear, is nothing else than precious serpentine. Whether this
beautiful mineral, the undoubted concomitant of primitive
strata, be really indigenous to the volcanic mass of the island
of Ischia, is certainly a question worthy of inquiry. Yet though
it is so familiar a substance at Naples, I have been able to find
only one single allusion to its existence among the many stand-
ard and local works which I have consulted ; and I fear that
my own inquiries, though of some value, will not throw much
light upon the subject, as, at the period of my visit, I was un-
aware of the full interest of the inquiry. It is in Brocchi's
great work alone, upon the fossil conchology of the Subapennine
range that I find this substance noticed. " On the shores of
Ischia," says he, " are found fragments of this noble serpen-
tine, which are cut at Naples into snuff-boxes, but we are not
assured of its existence in the interior of the island ; I am not
sure but that these rolled masses may have been transported
by the sea, or left by vessels which had used them for bal-
last."* Various reasons induce me to differ from this able
Italian geologist, as far as ray means of information of the oc-
currence of serpentine in Ischia extend. These I shall
briefly state, without entering much into those hypotheses
which would assume importance, could the existence of ser-
pentine in Ischia as a locality be fully proved.

In the first place, then, I myself met with this serpentine in
the interior of the island, in the bed of one of the small brooks
which run down the north side of Epomeo. I own, however,

• I quote this important passage in the original : " Sulle spiaggie d'ls-
chia si trovano ciottoli di questa serpentina nobile che si lavorano in Nape-
li per fame tabacchiere ; ma essa non esiste per certo nel intorno dell iso-
la: ne so poi se quei massi rotolati sieno stati trasportati dal mare, o pure
depositati dai vasGclli che scrvissero di zavorra." — ConchioJogia Subapen-
nina. 4to. vol. i. p. 39.

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Ischia. 341

that it was only a small rolled piece : — still its origin could not
naturally be supposed to be from the coast. Perhaps, how-
ever, I shall neutralize this fact by stating another whicb t^an-
dour requires me to. mention. I picked up a fragment which
I have no doubt was the same substance, (though I have
now lost it,) on the shore of Sorrento, on the opposite side of
the Bay of Naples. It would be easy to frame hypotheses for
its occurrence there, such as that it was derived from the or-
namental work of the temples and the villas of wealthy Ra-
mans, which formerly stood nearly on that spot, but I own
that the circumstance is a presumptive argument for its ac-
cidental occurrence. But farther, I made particular . in-
quiry of an intelligent guide in Ischia as to the mode of
obtaining this substance, with which he was well acquainted,
and his communications certainly never led me to believe that
its occurrence was limited to the coast, or most abundant there.
I rather carried away the impression that it was found in
small quantity on the eastern side of the island, above the town
of Ischia, but that the principal sources having been exhaust-
ed, it was daily becoming scarcer, and now rarely met with.
Nor did he appear at all surprised at the locality in which the
rolled piece, already alluded to, was found at a great distance
from the sea. The hypothesis of being transported by the sea,
and by vessels as ballast, seem equally improbable. Why, in
the former case, should it have been thrown in comparatively
greatabundance on the Ischian coast, and on the neighbouring
ones rarely, or generally speaking, not at all. And in the latter
we should be much disposed to question how so large a quan-
tity of this beautiful substance (and none know better than the
Italians the value of serpentine and its allied minerals,) should,
beyond the memory of tradition, come to be diffused over the
shores of Ischia, not to ask where this beautiful substance was
obtained ; for most of the esteemed green ornamental stones of
Italy are not noble serpentine, but Diallage and Saussurite.
But it might be asked, if these suppositions are to be abandoned,
do the known facts connected with the constitution and pro-
ductions of the island warrant the opinion that it could be there
.found in situ 9 I answer, that in many respects they do : and
{first, as to its connection with volcanic rocks ; next as to the

342 Mr Forbcs's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples,

particular substances admitted to exist on the island, and with
which it must be in connection.

Serpentine at present is one of the most undetermined
members of our geological arrangement. Dr Macculloch,
in his work on the classification of rocks, has admitted the
difficulties attendant on its phenomena, and has indeed al-
tered in the last sheet, the views which he had given on the
subject in the middle of the book ; but its connection with
trap rocks, in some situations at least, is undoubted. He
mentions two instances in which a vein of greenstone, rising
through secondary limestone, (qu. of the magnesian varie-
ty .'^) on coming into contact with that rock, assumed the
characters of perfect serpentine, containing the characteris-
tic minerals of asbestus and steatite, with talc on its margin
next the limestone, and the vein exhibited the most perfect
gradation from the trap into the serpentine.* He has also
observed the intimate connection of serpentine with hornblende
rock in the primitive strata. I have myself studied one of the
most important phenomena connected with this question, in
Inch Colm, an island in the Forth, where secondary greenstone,
secondary syenite, and secondary serpentine, containing well
defined asbestus and talcose matter, are most instructively com-
bined. A dyke of serpentine in Forfarshire, led Mr Lyell to
the conclusion of the igneous origin of this rock, -|- and Dr
Boue has observed similar facts on the continent ; J he has
distinctly arranged serpentine in his classification, under ". un-
stratified crystalline or igneous rocks." || At the present day,
little is required to enforce the similiarity of substances con-
nected with trap rocks and those of volcanos. But lest it
should be thought that the union of serpentine with true vol-
canic rocks is not a necessary consequence from the analogy of
trap, we may add, that Sir George Mackenzie, in his work on
Iceland, gives an account of a volcanic amygdaloid, in the
mountain of Akkrefell, traversed by veins of serpentine of
more than a yard in thickness. Ferber considered, and it
would appear not without great reason, so far as external cha-

• Classification of Rocks, p. 245.
•f Geological Transactions,
t Daubeny on Volcanos, p. 430.
II Edin. Phil, Journ. xiii. 132.

i

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Ischia. 343

racter goes, the serpentine rocks at Monte Traverso, not far
from the famous gaseous exhalation at Pietra Mala in the cen--
tral Apennines, as decidedly volcanic ; and Guettard disco-
vered serpentine in what he considered volcanic formations
between Rome and Loretto.* Faujas de St Fond f mentions
a lava in the volcanic district of Auvergne, which, from his
description, must undoubtedly be considered as nearly allied
to serpentine, and which he characterizes as " compacte argil-
leuse, d'*un verd tendre, savoneuse, et repandant une forte odeur
terreuse lorsque on souffle dessus." We may add, that Count
Borch, when examining the serpentines of Sicily, was, notwith-
standing the backwardness of mineralogy at that period, led:
to suspect their igneous origin. J

But besides, we have several reasons for inferring that ser-
pentine might be in situ in Ischia, from the minerals with
which we should have found it associated. We find that in,
one of its most famed localities in the neighbourhood of Flor-
ence, it accompanies a marly clay of the same characters as
that we are about to describe near Casamicciola in Ischia. It,
is according to Ferber bluish grey or yellowish, which fur-
nishes the best materials to the potters of Impruneta for their
manufacture, becoming of a reddish colour in the fire. It is ac-
companied with sulphate of lime, and from the structure appa-
rently approaching sometimes to that of steatite, Ferber conjec-
tures that it may have had some part in its formation. § Now,
in Ischia, the clay in which I conjecture the serpentine to have
been imbedded, has all the characters just mentioned. It is
besides, accompanied with steatite, || and the springs which
issue from it contain sulphate of lime, ^ so that if we can con-
ceive the natural formation of noble serpentine in such a spot,
we have a very fit matrix prepared for it. But even if we
should not be disposed to admit its presence as an indigenous
rock, it may at least have been elevated by volcanic explosion

• Ferber 's Travels, 282, S;c.

f Mineralogie des Volcans, p. 394.

X Mineralogie Sicilienne, 8vo. Turin 1780. p. 140.

§ Travels, 275.

il Siano, Notizie d'Ischia, § 49.

IT Andria, Traiato delle acq^e Minerali, ii« 175.

344 Mr Forbcs's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples.

from the deep-seated bases of Apennines, which in different
parts, as Lom hardy, Tuscany, Calabria, and Sicily, display
this rock in remarkable perfection. * But it is undoubtedly a
mistake which seems to have sometimes prevailed, that magne-
sian minerals are in any way inconsistent with a volcanic origin.
Steatite, which is most intimately allied to serpentine, is not un-
frequently found in such formations, and olivine, the very vol-
canic crysolite itself, is a magnesian mineral. I fear I have
extended too far these observations on the Ischian serpentine,
but I consider the subject to be one of great interest at the
present moment. I will only add, that these masses of noble
serpentine, whatever be their origin, have an uncommonly fine
mineralogical character : when cut thin (as they always are
for ornamental purposes) they are very transparent, and show
a beautifully variegated structure, with nearly black clouds on
a fine deep grass green ground ; it yields to the nail as usual.
The substance we have next to notice, and which is one of
the most characteristic productions of Ischia, is the peculiar
clay just alluded to. Great beds of this substance exist at the
north-eastern part of the island, and it was as much used by the
ancients as now for the manufacture of pottery, from whence
indeed, according to Pliny, the island took its name.-|- I re-
gret that I have no analysis to ofier of this earth. Breislak,J
however, tells us that it consists of alumina, silica, a little mag-
nesia and less lime. It abounds near Casamicciola, and was
dug out by means of subterranean pits, being not merely used
on the island, but exported for the purposes of manufacture.
Its close analogy to the materials used in constructing the Et-
ruscan vases, may be argued from the following analysis of
these by Vauquelin : silica 53, alumina 15, lime 8, oxide of
iron 24.§ The Ischian bed of clay underlies the trachyte of
Monte Taborre, and from the shells which it contains, must,

• Brongniart has given a very full account of the Serpentines and Dial-
lage of Italy, in the Annahs des Mines for 1821. It is translated in Mr
De La Beehe's excellent volume of Foreign Geological Memoirs.

+ Pithecusa, Plin iii. .5.

X Campanie, ii. 208.

§ Hausmann on the Etruscan vases, Ed. Phil. Jonm. xiii. 46. Perhaps
the iron was derived from a mixtnre of Pozzuolana.

3

No. Wl,^^ Islands of Procida and Ischiu. 345

as We have already remarked, be at least as recent as the ter»
tiary series. It is called Creta on the island.

This clay must be carefully distinguished from the " pietra
aluminosa'"* or alum rock. The latter seems at one period to
have been very abundant, and actually to have given rise to the
first alum-work in Italy, though now so entirely superseded by
thatof Tolfa in the Roman states, to the rock of which it bears
much resemblance. It was first wrought by oneBartolemeoPer-
nix, in 1459, and was continued for a considerable time, and it is
not even known why it was given up, but probably from
the increasing scarcity of the rock which is now found only in
insulated masses on the north side of Monte Epomeo. Breis-
lak characterizes the aluminous rock as a lava in a state of de-
composition, but I am more disposed to consider it as real alum
slate elevated from below ; probably the great abundance and
plasticity of the clay is connected with the occurrence of this
" pietra aluminosa.'' Remains of the ancient alum-works ex-
ist at the spot called the " Piazza della Pera," but there the
material seems to be exhausted.

We must not confound either of these substances with that
named " Terra dMschia," which is merely an extremely fine
pozzuolana, which is much esteemed as a cement in nice oper-
ations, such as ornamental pavements.

The occurrence of gold in Ischia has been repeatedly assert-,
ed, but the report has been apparently derived solely from the
authority of Strabo, who seems to have stated it merely from the
report that the Erythraeans wrought that precious metal when
they were in possession of the island. But though no gold be
now found, and although the whole may probably have arisen
in a mistake, there is no need for ridiculing the idea, as some
have done, as utterly absurd. Gold is not so unknown in vol-
canic districts, as Andria asserts,* and is even there found
in abundance, in one instance at least on record, -f W^
have likewise had occasion to mention the belief which was
long entertained of its occurrence in this very neighbourhood,
namely in Vesuvius itself.J With respect to Ischia, however,

• Acgite Minerali, ii. 67.

t Breislak, ii. 188.

+ See this Journal, vol ix. p. 206. and x. 136.

34)6 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples.

it can hardly be doubted that, now at least, it does not there
exist.

Ischia is more celebrated for nothing than its hot baths,
which are much esteemed by native physicians, as are also
those steam-baths technically called '* Stufe" or stoves^ which
here abound. Italian authors dwell with peculiar satisfaction
on these topics, which are, I must say, peculiarly dull to most
readers ; I shall therefore pass over the mere descriptive part
with more than usual brevity. Most of the mineral waters
evolve carbonic acid, and some of them sulphuretted hydrogen.
The mineral contents have not, so far as I know, been accu-
rately stated, but the following are nearly the proportions in
one of the most remarkable springs, to which I shall chiefly
confine my remarks, the Gurgitello near Casamicciola. Its
solid contents are to the water as 1 : 221.5, or about a-half
per cent.* They are approximately composed of
Muriate of Soda - - 77

Muriate of Lime - - i5

Sulphate of Lime - 5

Sulphate of Alumina - 3

100

This spring flows from the bed of clay described above un-
der the name of Creta, and from it the water appears to derive
its solid ingredients. The temperature of this spring, as given
by Siano and Andria, is 50° R. = 144| Fahr. ; by Breislak
46° R. z= 135| F. I observed it on the 28th of March 1827,
to be 149° F. and a smaller stream running neglected from the
alluvial matter at a considerable distance and nearer the moun-
tain 144.5. This is by no means the warmest spring in Ischia.
Siano assures us, that in one, named Le Petrelle, the thermo-
meter rises to the boiling point. Another is mentioned by Ha-
milton, as having a temperature of 70° R. = 189 J F. Others
occur of a variety of lower temperatures, and they are distri-
buted along the base of Monte Epomeo at considerable dis-
tances, and in various parts of the island. All these are strik-
ing proofs of the preeminence which Ischia holds among par-
tially extinct volcanic districts, in its vicinity to sources of in-
■ * Andria.

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Ischia. 347

ternal heat. Down to the very shore its influence extends, and
the sands of Vico, at two feet below the surface, have a tem-
perature of 110° F. *

The " Fumarole" or emissaries of aqueous vapour, of a high
temperature and elastic condition, are also numerous and re-
markable. They rise through the fissures of lava beds, and,
what is most interesting, they produce siliceous incrustations
of a nature similar to those of the Geyser in Iceland. This
phenomenon was first observed by Dr Thompson of Naples,
in 1795 at Monticeto, where the vapour had a temperature of
75.5° K. = 20^° Fahr. To this substance he has given the
name of Fiorite, from Santa Fiora in Tuscany, -|- where it was
discovered by Professor Santi of Pisa. In 1794, Thompson
established its occurrence in the lavas of Vesuvius. The fti-
marole of Monticeto in Ischia, deposit sulphates of lime, alu-
mina, and magnesia, and as these appear to result from the
action of a small quantity of sulphuric acid evolved upon the
components of the lava, the silica which that rock contained
seems likewise to have become the subject of real chemical ac-
tion, and is not merely deposited it dull crusts upon the tufas
thus formed, but in vermicular and botryoidal forms, with vi-
treous fracture and considerable hardness and transparency.
This mineral, which differs slightly from the siliceous sinter of
Iceland in having frequently a pearly lustre, is chiefly found
in Italy, — the Bay of Naples, Tuscany, and the Vicentine, being
its principal localities. In its origin and important characters,
it is closely assimulated to the productions of the Geysers and
of the volcanic districts of Teneriffe and Lanzerote, as observed
by Humboldt and Von Buch ; and the singular phenomenon
of its solution in water must be explained in all by the same
cause. We know that silica is minutely soluble in water in its
ordinary condition, and the experiments of Berzelius lead us
to believe that in its newly formed state it is very consider-
ably so ; but the main agent is undoubtedly the presence of
an alkali, which here we have seen is not awanting, for the
clays of Ischia and likewise its mineral springs contain it in
considerable abundance. It is here soda as in Iceland, where

* Daubeny.

t Not in Ischia as Philips says : Mineralogy, Art. Fiorite.

348 Mr Porbes's Physical Notkes of the Bay of Naples.

the memorable experiments of Black demonstrated the exist-
ence of 16 per cent, of that alkali in the siliceous compound.
The remarkable effect of this substance in promoting the solu-
tion of silica in a state of fine division of parts, and especially
at high temperatures, sufficiently explains why these depositions
should be entirely confined to countries now or formerly under
the action of volcanos.

Other parts of Ischia present specimens of the same sub-
stance. In the extinct crater of Canali, Breislak found a mass
incrusted with a stalactitic siliceous crust to the thickness of
three lines. * Besides, at Vesuvius it occurs in the rock of the
Solfatara, and in the tufa at its base ; in the latter, Dr Thomp-
son was able to discover some of the triangular facettes of the
six-sided pyramid. It is also met with at Astroni. The on-
ly example, as far as I know, of the detection of silica as a
constituent in the water of a spring in the Bay of Naples, is
in the Gurgitello above described. Tenore-|- claims the
honour of this discovery, made by him in 1801, and since
disputed. It was not, however, pubhshed till 1816. Some
of the mineral contents of the spring are said to exist in the
state of hisilicates.

One other fact connected with the island of Ischia, and that
a very interesting one, we have alone to notice. Near Lacco,
on the north side of the island, is a grotto or cavern, formed
of loose blocks of lava, from which issues constantly a cold
wind, which seems first to have been observed by Saussure.
He found the temperature of the stream of air in March 177B
to be 45.°5 Fahr., the external air being 63. °5. X He adds^
that he was told that it was greatly colder in summer ; but it
is hardly necessary to observe, that this mistake is in similar
circumstances constantly repeated by those who judge only by
their feelings. And as we might suppose, it appears to be
much the reverse, for Breislak observed the temperature of
the cavern to be 13R. =:61J°. F. when that of the air was
21 II. = 795°. F. § The difference of temperature in both

• Vol. ii. p. 215.

+ Esitai sur la Geograpihie thysique du Royaume de Naples, p. 28,
X Saussure, Voyages dans les A/ pes, § 1414.
. § Campanie, ii. 214.

No. VII. — Islands of Procida and Ischia. S49

these eases is 'precisely eighteen degrees. Certainly the phe-
nomena of the ice caves of the Alps and the cool grottoes of
Italy require much elucidation, and in the still imperfect state
of hygrometric science it is'difficult to maintain or disprove de*
cisively any hypothesis. My own opinion is, that evaporation
in some form or other will be found to be almost the sole
cause, — an opinion which I have long entertained, and which
some years ago I endeavoured to support * even in the very
extreme case of Saussure's experiment at the Monte Testaccio
at Rome. Since writing that paper, I have indeed seen more
clearly the great discrepancies between authors on the subject
of hygrometry ; and it is not till I shall have found leisure to
investigate it more completely that I shall be able to offer any
decisive opinion. Meanwhile, however, no other theory but
that of evaporation seems feasible ; the hypothesis of Dr
Anderson, that cold air is conveyed by crevices from moun-
tains of such a height that the mean temperature does not ex-
ceed that of the cold stream observed, is not merely inappli-
cable to the Monte Testaccio but also to the present instance.
I have elsewhere shown that the mean temperature of the
summit of Epomeo cannot be below 56°, yet in the month of
March, when the atmosphere had rather more than its mean
temperature, Saussure observed the grotto to be so cold as
45°. Yet after all, the phenomena of the cavern at Lacco if
taken singly, might be sufficiently well explained by the known
facts of evaporation. It is somewhat remarkable that the
coolness observed by Breislak near the extreme summer heat
was almost precisely that of the mean temperature of the place.
On the theory of Saussure, therefore, that there are spacious
caverns in the earth which never exceed in temperature the
mean of the place, we need have no recourse to the theory of
evaporation, though, in my mind, a far more natural supposi-
tion would be the free passage of ventilation through the
loose materials of an extensive mass, and therefore exposed to
the influence of evaporation, which, on the supposition of con-
fined and of course damp caverns, could have no place. This
is also confirmed by the apparent constancy of the difference

* In a paper published in this Journal, vol. viii. p. 205-216.
NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. Z

360 Historic of Mechanical Inventions and

of temperature in spring and summer ; and the refrigeration
of 18° in both cases is no very extreme supposition. *

I forbear to enlarge farther upon a topic so confessedly ob-
scure, and which, I conceive, may at some future time be re-
duced to practical accuracy. For the present, I content my-
self with referring to the paper on the much more unaccount-
able phenomena of the Monte Testaccit), the details of which
will, I think, satisfy the reader that, by the hypothesis there
supported, all other cases on record will easily be solved, in-
cluding the " Grotta del Vento" in Ischia.

Art. XXIIL— history OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AND

o:f processes and materials used in the fine and
useful arts.

1. Notice of the Rock Crystal Watch of M. Rebillier. From
a Report to the Institute, by MM. Proky and Navier.

M. Rebillier does not propose to introduce any improve-
ment into the art of watch-making ; but his work is dis-
tinguished by the nature of the materials employed, and by
the difficulty, the delicacy, and the perfection of the work-
manship. This watch, whose dimensions are so small that it
may be worn round a lady's neck, is almost entirely executed
in rock crystal. The transparency, of the substance allows us
to see the interior mechanism of it. The two toothed wheels
which conduct the hands are in rock crystal; the other wheels
are in metal, to prevent the accidents which would arise from
the breaking of the main spring. All the screws are cut in
the crystal, and all the pivots turn in ruby holes. The bridge
and the piece which form the escapement are in sapphire, the
balance is in rock crystal, and the spiral spring in gold. The
author ascribes to the feeble* dilatation of these two sub-
stances the regularity of the motion of the watch ; f but this

• Humboldt, in describing the Peak of TenerifFe, has made some re-
marks on the theory of ice caves, but they are less applicable to merely
cool currents of air. — Personal Narrative, L 154.

t In November 1824, Dr Brewster proposed to construct the balances of

' of Processes in the Fine and Useful Arts. 351

remark is not justly applicable to gold, whose dilatation is
greater than that of steel. It is easy to conceive the difficul-
ties which must be encountered in executing out of the hard-
est stones the delicate pieces which enter into the composition
of a watch like this. The execution of this watch presupposes ,
a remarkable progress in the art of working precious stones,
and we must give M. Ilebillier credit for great talent, address,
and perseverance.

% Account of Dr Ranken''s Thermantidote for cooling apart-
ments in hot climates.

The thermantidote is a species of ventilator which has been
not inaptly compared to a winnowing machine, the revolving
of which sucks in air from without. The improvements in
the thermantidote consist in its being altogether rendered less
complex in its structure, and more easily manageable by na-
tive servants, so as at the time to increase the ventilating and
cooling power. We cannot without the aid of a figure make
the alterations and details of the machine comprehensible to
the general reader ; suffice it to say, however, that after the
improved mode of construction, the wings of the thermantidote
will revolve sixty times in the minute, under the same exer-
tion which, on the old plan, would produce only forty revolu-
tions in the same time. The alteration suggested may be
made by an ordinary carpenter at very little expence. Dr
Ranken has also studied to render the machine much more
portable than it was before ; which will render it particularly
convenient for cooling tents, which many have to live in dur-
ing the hot winds. His belief also remains unchanged, that a
barrack, or any large apartment, can be more effectually and
cheaply cooled by ventilators on the improved thermantidote
principle, than by tatties. It should at the same time be borne
in mind, that thermantidotes may not be found applicable to
every place built originally without the contemplation of their
use, unless certain alterations be made. They appear to act

chronometers of rock crystal, to avoid contraction and dilatation, and the
magnetic effects produced by metallic balances. Pendulum rods, with pen-
dulum springs of mica, have for several years been under trial in Edin-
burgh, and succeed beyond expectation. — Ed.

352 History of Mechanical Inventions and

to most advantage when placed high over a space not exceed-
ing sixty feet by twenty. " Air becoming specifically heavier
by being cooled, like every substance having weight, is pro-
jected farther from an elevation than along a level surface ;
and in the supposed (elevated) situation, it would keep sup-
planting what is constantly getting heated by contact with the
occupants, just as water when poured into the same vessel is
seen to displace spirit." One engine, requiring a single work-
man at a time, would suffice for an apartment of the dimen-
sions mentioned ; but Dr Ranken suggests that two should be
employed, facing in contrary directions, that either may be
resorted to when unmanageable draught stops the other. This
machine has been found so useful in allaying tlie heat up the
country, that it is, we understand, coming into more general
use than might have been supposed, considering the slowness
with which people adopt new inventions, however beneficial
they may promise to become. — From Asiatic Journal, vol.
xxviii. p. 32?5.

S. Chinese mode of making Vermilion.

Take quicksilver and sulphur, in the proportion of six-
teen taels of the former to four of the latter ; after powdering
the sulphur place them in an earthen jar, the outside of which
must be plastered with mud and salt to the thickness of three
inches and a half ; place an iron cover on the mouth of the
jar, and let it be kept constantly moist. Plaster the sides of
it so as to let there be no passage for air. Then place the jar
in an oven, with 120 catties of charcoal. Let this be done
early in the morning, and the next morning about the same
hour extinguish the fire, and at noon take it out of the oven,
and when cold break the jar in pieces, and take out the con-
tents. Pick out the dross, and then reduce the rest to a fine
powder. Let this be poured into a large jar full of water.
After a time a thin coating is found on the surface of the
water, which is carefully skimmed off, and a portion of the
water let off ; after a time this operation is repeated, the third
time all the water is drained off, and the sediment is then ex-
posed to dry, and afterwards taken out in cakes. This last
portion of the vermilion is called " the heart of vermilion." —
From Asiatic Journal, vol. xxviii. p. 326.

of Processes in Hie Fine &fut'ffse/ui Jrts. 35^

4. Chinese Mode of making Indigo.

Immerse fifty catties of indigo leaves in a vat of clear water,
let them be washed clean, and exposed to the air, after which
let them be steeped in water for twenty-four hc^irs. A small
jar of burnt shell ashes must then be added, and the whole
stirred up with a bamboo. Clear off the scum, and throw in
half a catty of the powder of burnt ox-hide ; mix these, and
let them settle, and when the surface of the water becomes
transparent let it off, and expose the sediment which remains
to the open air ; if rainy weather render this impracticable let
a charcoal fire be kindled round the vat. When dry the in-
digo may be taken out, when it is fit for immediate use.
The above quantity should yield upwards of two catties of
indigo.-^Erom Asiatic Journal, vol. xxviii. p. 326.

5. Account of the preparation qfOleocere or a wax for candles
from Castor oil. By Mr J. Tytler.

Nine years ago the following passage, from Brande'^s Ma~
nual of Chemistry, suggested to Mr Tytler a course of ex-
periment on the product forming the subject of his paper, viz.
" nitric acid, heated in small quantity with any of the fatty sub-
stances, renders them harder, and considerably increases their
solubility in alcohol. Among the vegetable oils, this change
is most remarkably produced upon coco-nut and castor oils,
the latter becoming converted into a solid matter, which, when
cleansed of adhering acid by washing, resembles soft wax.*"

On reading this, it occurred to Mr Tytler that oil so con-
solidated might have sufficient firmness to form a candle. After
a few necessary rude experiments, Mr Tytler adopted an im-
proved mode of preparing what he calls oleocere, the great ob-
ject being to keep up a uniform heat, and preventing too
high a degree of temperature. He thus describes the pro-
cess : *' I therefore made water boil in a large fish kettle, and
mixed a quantity of castor oil and nitric acid in one of those
China jars which are employed to hold preserves. Then care-
fully stopping the mouth to prevent the entrance of vapour, I
placed this in the boiling water, and kept the whole upon the
fire for about an hour, after which I took it off^, and set it by
to cool. The effect even exceeded my expectation. It har-

1

354 History of Mechanical Inventions, Sfc.

dened into an uniform mass of no disagreeable colour, and of
very tolerable consistency. After a certain number of trials,
experience taught me that the best proportion for mingling
the substances was eighty parts of oil to one of strong fuming
nitric acid, and having increased my apparatus, I continued
with this receipt to prepare a considerable number of candles,
which answered their purpose sufficiently well.

By degrees, however, he began to experience unaccountable
variations in the process ; for in spite of all his pains, the oleo-
cere sometimes would not harden, but continue unalterably of
the consistence of butter. For a long time he concluded these
defects to proceed either from the entrance of watery vapour
into the jars whilst boiling, or from the increasing heat of the
weather at the time. To remedy this he took every precau-
tion in shutting the jars, and when the process was over, placed
them behind a tattie to cool. Still this was to no advantage,
and many trials showed that the hardening of the oleocere was
a matter of the greatest uncertainty.

Some time afterwards, being placed in more favourable cir-
cumstances for conducting his experiments, he adopted another
plan, which we give in his own words : " I erected a furnace
about four feet from the ground ; on this was placed a large
iron boiler to serve as a reservoir ; immediately adjacent to
this first furnace, was built another furnace about half the
height of the former, on which was placed a round iron vessel
whose side was about ten inches high, and whose capacity was
such as to contain seven of the China jars already mentioned.
In the side, about two inches below the level of the top of the
jars, was fixed a pipe, so that the water might rise to this level
and no more, whatever should be superfluous being carried off
by the pipe. Having then a quantity of water to boil both in
the reservoir on the copper furnace, and in the vessel on the
lower, and having prepared a long copper syphon, I placed
its short leg in the reservoir, and directed its long leg to the
lower vessel, so that a perpetual stream of water should be
conveyed from the upper receptacle to the lower. By this
contrivance, the water was pei7)etually kept boiling, and the
quantity in the lower vessel was uniform, — its loss was perpe-
tually supplied by the syphon, and its excess carried off by

On Ship-hmlding 355

the pipe. There were placed seven of the Cliina jars, with
eighty parts of oil and one of acid. After boiling thus for an
hour, they were taken out, seven more placed in their room,
and so on for a third time."

We have been thus particular in describing the process,
in the hope that those who have plenty of time and opportunity
may repeat Mr Tytler's experiments, with the view, if pos-
sible, of bringing the product to perfection, and rendering it
generally useful in those parts where castor-oil abounds, but
where wax may not be equally procurable and cheap. After
all, however, perhaps the most eligible and economical plan
will be found to be using the oil simply for the lamp, instead of
converting it into oleocere.

Mr Tytler found that dropping the oleocere from a height
on the floor hardened it. He submitted a specimen of the sub-
stance to the meeting, which was harder and brighter than
what is commonly obtained, but still too soft to form candles
for burning in the hot weather ; and notwithstanding his laud-
able perseverance and great trouble, Mr Tytler does not ap-
pear sanguine as to the substance being very likely to prove
useful as a substitute for wax in making candles.

The oleocere of coco-nut oil, prepared in the same way as
that of castor-oil, he found never hardened beyond the consist-
ence of butter; its colour was paler, and it might perhaps
enter advantageously into the composition of ointments. — From
Asiatic Journal^ No. i. New Series, p. 66-67.

Art. XXIV.— analysis OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND ME-
MOIRS.

I. The Article Ship-Building. Published in Vol. xviii. Part I. of the
Edinburgh EncyclopcBdia. Edited by Dr Brewster. Continued from
page 171.

All the cultivators of ship-building previous to our own time, must have
been constantly subjected to the mortification of finding the figures assign-
ed to the vessels which they constructed, and on whose lines they had pro-
bably bestowed much meditation and care, undergo considerable changes
the moment the vessel entered the water, — its natural element, and where
it ought to retain the exact form originally assigned to it. The plane of
flotation, on which the genius of a Bouguer may have dwelt, and which

356 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memmrs.

has had high and transcendental curves applied to its diflferent parts, may
have had all its properties altered the moment the vessel was launched.
The beams imperfectly attached by their ends to the sides of the ship
would occasion transverse alterations of form ; and the unequal action of
the pressure and the weight producing, by tagging or hogging, those great
alterations of form longitudinally, which in many instances have obtained
for our men-of-war the epithet of broken-backed. Most of our readers are
aware, that, in the ordinary constructions of carpentry, the figure at first
devised by the workmen is not often ultimately attained. In the com-
monest roof, what diflSculties seem to be in the way to meet the action of
gravitation on the timbers, and the diversified strains produced by its
power ! It is one thing to join together a system of timbers, and another
to estimate the best form of their combination. It is not always the quau'
tity of material that may be employed in a mechanical construction which
imparts to it strength, but the disposition of its component parts. Ten
load of timber in the hands of Seppings would produce a resultant having
greater mechanical advantages, than twenty employed by some of his pre-
decessors. Some men imagine that strength is only to be gained by the
employment of heavy masses, not considering that the nature and quantity
of the strains acting on them may entirely disturb their arrangement. We
remember an English squire once endeavouring to persuade us that the
gates of A z* county were the best, because they were rectangular filled with
vertical bars, and incapable of being resolved into any form but that men-
tioned. The notion of a triangular combination of timbers, and of the
invariable form which such a combination preserves, was unknown to him.
The strength was obtained, so said this rich agriculturist, by the parallel
bars, and the efficacy of one in a diagonal direction was gravely doubted.
At that time, however, neither the Royal Institution, Mechanics Insti-
tutes, or^the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts, existed.
Men combined together timbers, but without inquiring after the legitimate
laws on which all such combinations should be founded. Sir Robert Sep-
pings found our dock- yards much in the same way. One generation of ship-
wrights had succeeded to another, and each was content with the labours of
its predecessor. Timber in abundance was supplied by the liberal grants
of Parliament, but science had little to do with its consumption. Forests
were levelled to satisfy the demands of a vigorous and long and protract-
ed war ; and the lofty bends of timber which constituted the frames of the
ships which conquered Copenhagen and the Nile, were, like the country
squire's gate, disposed in enormous parallel arrangements bearing imper-
fectly on each other, and deriving a large proportion of their support from
the planking alone. Here then was a field open for the ardent enterprize
of some one capable of surveying the mighty fabric of a ship in all its com-
phcated relations ; — some one whose mind was freed from the uncertain
rules that guided his forefathers, who could contemplate the whole with
the eye of a mechanical philosopher, apply to it all the beautiful relations
of strain, pressure, and force, and courage, to withstand all the opposition
which such a great innovation must necessarily raise. The rectangular
disposition of the timbers hence gave way to oblique braces and riders

On Ship-building, 357

placed nearly in the directions of the diagonals of the squares formed by
the frames and planking of the ship, — thus resolving the whole into forms
incapable of change, and imparting to the mighty and gigantic firame- a de-
gree of strength and firmness never before found. ,

The author of the paper has described with great minuteness the lead-
ing elements of this important system of mechanical construction, and we
regret that our limits will not permit us to detail them ; but we cannot
omit adverting, though but briefly, to the great inaproveipent of Seppings
in making the timbers originally employed for sloops of war appHcable for
frigates, and the timbers for frigates to ships of the line ; thus proving sa-
tisfactorily, that a well combined number of small timbers may be equal,
if not superior in strength, to the overgrown and frequently grain cut ma-
terials formerly employed in our large ships of war. No one more than
Seppings has more successfully employed the admirable maxim of the late
lamented Tredgold, " that a just economy of materials should be one of the
first objects of the builder's attention, and this desirable end is to be obtain-
ed only- by judicious combinations of the materials to be used."

On the question of the sterns of vessels, — a fertile subject of debate among
our noble and gallant seamen, some excellent observations are added by the
author of the paper. We wish, however, he had attended to the fighting
powers of the bow. Why the stern alone is to have its powers of offence
and defence increased, and the bow to remain tlie same, we confess we can
see no reason for. In truth, from our rivals on the ocean having adopted
our improvements in the stern, the strength of our bows is virtually dimi-
nished. An increment to the power of the stern absolutely becomes a dc
crement to that of the bow, because our ships, in by far the majority of
cases, are the pursuers. But what, we would ask, is the obstacle in the
way of strengthening the bow ? We do not mean its mechanical strength,
but its capabiUties of fighting. Why is so much eloquence and ingenuity
bestowed upon the stern alone } Why are we to be tormented everlast-
ingly with dissertations upon its increased strength, the absence of a point
of impunity, and the power it possesses of having a gun to bear every
where round the circuit of the stern ? The absence of all attempts on the
strengthening of the bow is a defect in the paper. An attempt, indeed,
has been lately made by a Mr Blake at Portsmouth, to improve the fight-
ing powers of the bow, and we hear that the experiment is to be tried on
the Vindictive ; but, from what we have seen of the plan, we are not very
sanguine as to the result. A wide area of improvement is therefore open,
and we shall rejoice to see it entered by some one. It is an improvement
also, which will be found much more m unison with the active feelings of
our seamen than the change — a beneficial one unquestionably, which the
stern has undergone. Let us not, however, be misunderstood. We are
highly pleased with the later alterations Sir Robert Seppings has made in
the stern, and we admire the eloquence with which Mr Harvey has de-
fended them ; but we wish to know v;hy the bow has been abandoned }
why its offensive powers have not been increased as well as the stern ? We
are persuaded that a very material improvement might be made, and we
earnestly hope our naval architects will not lose sight of it.

358 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs.

But we must hasten to the last branch of this interesting anj copious
paper on the Application of Steam to the purposes of Navigation, — an ap-
plication unquestionably destined to impart a new character to naval war-
fare. In a calm, a steam-ship, as the author properly remarks, must pos-
sess a decided superiority over an opponent navigated by sails ; and hence
battles that formerly remained undecided on account of the wind, would,
had the power of steam then been known, have been entirely accomplish-
ed. Coasts, rivers, and harbours also, that were considered as secure by
the old plan, will, by this new application of vapour, be assailed and de-
fended by it. The system of warfare will thus be entirely altered, and
perhaps the steam-gun will aid the work of human destruction. A modi-
fication of its energies, as our author beautifully observes, will, however,
assist the milder and more beneficent purposes of commerce, and direct
the steps of civilization into regions now debased by gloom and superstition.
Thus it is that art as well as nature tends to an equilibrium in all its
operations. If the application of steam to the purposes of war seems like-
ly to increase the sum of human calamity, so will the sum of human hap-
piness be augmented by the impulse it will communicate to the whole
social system.

We are exceedingly glad to see that the author of the paper unequivo-
cally admits Jonathan Hull as the first inventor of the steam-boat, and
that to Great Britain the invention is due both in theory and practice.
He does full justice, however, to the merits of Mr Fulton.

Some of our readers perhaps remember, that our neighbours, the French,
anxious to know every thing respecting the construction of steam- vessels,
sent Marestier to North America to report on the steam navigation of
that country. Much of the important matter of that report is brought
before us in the article under consideration. Copious tables of the length,
breadth, and draught of water of the American steam-boats are given ; the
positions also of their paddle-wheels ; the relation between the dimensions
of a vessel and the power of its engine ; the comparative proportions and
velocities of steam-boats ; the resistance of their hulls ; the equivalent ac-
tion of the paddles on the water, and the steam on the piston ; the effects
of friction, &c., for the able disquisitions on which we must refer to the
article. Marestier's rule, however, for finding the velocity of a steam-boat,
may not be unacceptable to our readers in this age of steam.

The velocity of a steam-boat may be found by extracting the cube root of
the product of the following- quantities : The altitude of the column of vier-
cury the steam will support, the square of the diameter of the piston^ the
length of its stroke, and the number of times it is raised in a minute^ and
dividing the result by the cube root of the product of the breadth of the ves-
sel into its draught of water, the final result being multiplied by the constant
coefficient 2.53. The application of this rule to nine of the American
steamers gave an error of less than ^Lth of the actual value.

Marestier objects to the method commonly employed of estimating the
power of a steam-engine by the number of horses. His rule is: Multiply
the height of the column of mercury the steam tvill support by the square of
the diameter of the cylinder, and. the mean velocity of the piston ; sixty-six

On Ship-building. 359

and two'fhirds of this 'product will be the number representing the horse-
power. Then will the velocity be equal to twice the cube root of the quotient
of the number of horses, divided by the rectangle of the draught of water
and the breadth of the vessel.

His general results are important, and are as follows : — To stem a cur^
rent with the least consumption of fuel, the absolute vehcity of the vessel
should be only half the velocity of the steam. That the velocity resulting
from the use of the rope and roller is greater than that which results from
the use of the paddle-wheel, in the proportion of the cube root of the velocity
communicated by the paddles to the vessel: That to enable a vessel to stem
a current with an absolute velocity equal to half the velocity of the current, it
requires three times the motive power, if that power acts on board the vessel,
that would be necessary if the power were applied to the rope : That when
the current is rapid, it is advantageous to use the rope for hauling, in order
to stem it; but that, if the current is not strong, it is preferable to use the
paddles ; and that the paddles should always be used in descending a stream,
when the absolute velocity of the vessel is greater than the velocity of the
paddles, or when the velocity of the stream is greater than the velocity with
which the paddles strike the water, which will generally be the case.

Much doubtless remains to be done to perfect the theory and practice of
steam-boats ; yet in an invention, comparatively so new, it is remarkable
how rapid have been the steps already made in their improvement. Ber-
nouilli was a man who looked at things largely — one of those chosen mi-
nisters of nature, destined in a thousand instances to enlarge her transcen-
dant domain ; — yet he thought, only fifty years before the great triumph
of steam, that this peculiar application of it was impracticable. How
would it delight his ardent and magnificent mind could he now behold
its lofty achievements- — its varied and increasing powers — the voyages it
has accomplished over the stormy bosom of the Atlantic, and how it has
connected the busy stream of the Thames w^ith the mighty waters of the
Ganges ?

Much interesting and important matter now remains to be noticed, not-
withstanding the copious length of our analysis, — so wide is the dominion
of naval architecture, and so fertile every part of its soil. Let us hope
that the spirit which is now awakened respecting it may carry it onwards
to the glory and perfection it merits; — that the wooden walls of Old
England may obtain whatever advantages the other sciences can impart to
it. In the meantime, let the humblest shipwright learn that his country
has a claim on the successful application of his powers to perfect the art to
which his whole life is to be devoted, and that the noble fabric which his
hands has assisted to rear, requires the exercise of his noblest intellectual
powers to make it perfect and complete.

Finally, we conclude with the author of the paper by saying, that it is
not in the terrible season of war, when the hopes and energies of man are
principally occupied with conquest, that naval architecture can be expect-
ed to make its greatest steps towards perfection. In war, as Dupin ob-
serves, the object is to do much in a little time, to sacrifice rigorous me-
thods to means ready and expeditious, and the way, the best in itself, to

f^60 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs.

the manner most commonly known. At the return of peace, and when a
nation begins to feel the benefit of repose, opportunity is offered fbr reflec-
tion, and extreme rapidity of operation gives place to inquiries into the
best methods of executing the details of duty, and of throwing into the
practical operations of the ship-builder some of the genuine principles of
science. Let us hope that this great country, which owes its proud and
commanding position among the nations of the earth so essentially to its
marine, will lose no opportunity of imparting to it every improvement that
the enlarged experience of modern times has disclosed ; and to prepare it,
if the unfortunate destiny of man should so require, for a more splendid
and triumphant maintenance of the national honour and glory than even
our former brilliant achievements displayed.

Il.^-Al^ce Britannicw, or Description of the Marine and other Jnarticu"
lated Plants of the British Islands belonging to the Order Algoe ; with
Plates illustrative of the Genera. By Robert Kaye (xaifyiLLE, LL« D.
&c. &c. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1830.

To the lovers of Botany the name of Dr Greville is well known. His
Scottish Cryptogamic Flora, unrivalled for accurate and beautiful figures
of plants hitherto but little studied in Scotland, and his Flora Edinensis,
not to speak of his other contributions to phytology, have placed him in
the first rank among British botanists. The present volume, with its ele-
gant plates, is calculated still further to extend his reputation, and spread
a wider taste for marine botany. Those numerous individuals who visit
our sea shores for health or relaxation, will find this work of Dr Greville
a valuable guide to the submerged vegetation which fringes the rocky
shores of Britain ; and, by pointing out wonders in beauty and structure
where the unpractised eye sees nothing uncommon, lead many to observe
and appreciate the thousand sources of enjoyment which nature has so li-
berally provided. Had he added the Confervce of Linnaeus (the Vaucheri-
deae, Ectocarpoideae, and Confer voideae of the Flora Edinensis,) to the
volume, it would hare been more generally useful, as numbers of these
very beautiful plants are found in the same localities as the Inarticulated
Algae. These, however, may perhaps form the subject of a future work.

In the introduction Dr Greville gives a slight historical sketch of the
writers who have gone before him in this branch of botany, — an outline of
the geographical distribution of the Inarticulated Algce, — and a few no-
tices on the economical uses to which they are applied.

The arrangement of the Alga followed in this volume is Dr GreviUe's
own ; having found reason, he says, from investigations of their structure
and fructification, to differ from the previous classification of Lamouroux
and Agardh* He divides the Algce into fourteen orders, viz, Fucoideae,
Lichineae, Laminarieae, Sporochnoideae, Chordarieae, Dictyoteae, Furcel-
larieae, Spongiocarpeae, Florideae, Thaumasieae, Gastrocarpeae, Caulerpeae,
Ulvaceae, and Siphoneae. These orders are composed of eighty-nine genera,
'• A synopsis of these genera in the Latin tongue, with a systematic enu-
meration of all the better known species, with authoritative references,"

Dr Greville's Algce Britaimicce. . 361

forms the first part of the volume. The more detailed portion of the work,
devoted to British species, is wholly in English, and is particularly intend-
ed for the use of our fair and intelligent countrywomen, as a '' guide to
some of the wonders of the Great Deep." To the ladies, indeed, marine
botany is indebted, as Dr Greville remarks, for much of what is known
upon the subject ; and Mrs Griffiths and Miss Hutchins have received the
highest honour which one botanist can bestow on another, by having their
names adopted as generic appellations.

Though " individuals do unquestionably exist," says Dr Greville, " who
in the pride of their philosophy pronounce botany to be a frivolous pur-
suit— or a profitless science, whose chief feature is a lexicon of barbarous
terms — or a pretty lady-like amusement;" yet it *' is now becoming
a favourite study and an elegant recreation, without meeting with more
than an occasional sneer from the class above-mentioned, or a faint eja-
culation from the matron of the old school, who remembers to have been
told in her early days, that young ladies, at least, were more profit-
ably employed in adding to the family receipt-book, and confining their
natural history to indescribable performances in cross-stitch." Dr Gre-
ville might have added, as a conclusive answer to all such observations
regarding the utility of the study of the minutest objects in nature,
made generally by persons supremely ignorant of physical science, that
what Infinite Wisdom and Beneficence has created and supports, cannot
be accounted unworthy the notice of such a being as Man. And it is the
opinion of a celebrated philosopher (Dugald Stewart,) that ** the external
objects with which we are surrounded, are so accommodated to our capa-
cities of enjoyment, and the relations which exist between our frame and
that of external nature are so numerous, in comparison of what we per-
ceive in the case of all other animals, as to authorize us to conclude, that
it was chiefly with a view to our happiness that the arrangements of this
lower world were made." We take leave further to remark, that, in addi*
tion to the intellectual pleasure connected with the study of nature, so elo-
quently set forth by Dr Greville in his introductory pages, and which studies,
besides, irresistibly lead to the contemplation of " the glory of that Al-
mighty Being from whom so many wonders emanate," it would be no
small attraction to our solitary sea-side walks, in search of Algw and Coral-
lines, to meet a fair countrywoman occasionally.

Like Proserpina gathering flowers,

Herself the fairest flower."

Independently, however, of the interest attached to the Afgw as objects
of natural history — or as contributing to the income of coast proprietors in
the shape of kelp or manure — many species are used as food, either from
necessity or choice. " Porphyra laciniata and vulgaris is stewed, and
brought to our tables as a luxury, under the name of Laver ;" — and " on
the southern and western coasts of Ireland our own Chondrus crispiis is
converted into size for the use of house-painters, &c. ; and if I be not er-
roneously informed, is also considered as a culinary article, and enters into

362 Anal;ysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs.

the composition of Blanc-mange, as well as other dishes." From the pro-
portion of iodine likewise contained in many species of Algce, their use as
articles of the Materia Medica is introduced, we believe, with eflfect, in cases
where the prescription of that mineral is indicated.

A work of the nature of Dr Greville's, is not susceptible of analysis ; we
shall therefore quote from his introduction some remarks regarding the
geographical distribution of the Marine Algos. ** To a considerable extent,"
he observes, " they seem to obey the same laws as the higher orders of ve-
getable forms. But it is doubtful if we are at present acquainted with all
the agents which influence the growth of plants in a medium so diiferent

from air as that of water. The distribution of the marine Algce engaged

the attention of the late Professor Lamouroux, whose essay upon the sub-
ject was published posthumously, in the 7th vol. of the Annales des Scien-
ces Naturelles. M. Bory de St- Vincent has also added some observations,
but mixed up with a good deal of extraneous matter, in the botanical part
of Duperry's voyage round the world.

"It is very clear, and well known to the practical botanist, that marine
plants are much influenced by the nature of the soil, not merely in regard
to species, but in luxuriance and rapidity of developement. A few yards
is in some instances sufficient to create a change, and the space of three or
four miles a very striking one. Thus calcareous rocks favour the produc-
tion of some species, sandstone and basalt that of others; and it would ap-
pear that the soil has an effect even upon those Algce which grow parasiti-
cally upon the stems of the larger species. But sometimes, to all appear-
ance independently of this cause, peculiar forms predominate in certain lo-
calities, both in regard to genera and species, which, as we approach their
boundaries, gradually disappear, and often give place to others equally
characteristic.

" Phaenogamous plants have furnished botanists with several grand vege-
table regions, and a marked difference (not to specify more examples) has
been recognized between the plants of America, Africa, Asia, Australia,
and Europe. Lamouroux endeavoured to trace these great divisions among
marine plants, and observed that the polar Atlantic basin, to the 40th de-
gree of N. latitude, presents a well-marked vegetation. The same may be
said of the West Indian sea, including the gulf of Mexico — of the Eastern
coast of South America — of the Indian ocean and its gulfs, — and of the
shores of New Holland and the neighbouring islands. The Mediterranean
possesses a vegetation peculiar to itself, extending as far as the Black Sea,
and notwithstanding the geographical proximity of the port of Alexandria
and the coasts of Syria to these of Suez and the Red Sea, the marine plants
of the former, in regard to species, differ almost entirely from those of the
latter. Bory de St- Vincent characterizes each of his Mediterranean seas
by a vegetation different from that of the Arctic, Atlantic, Antarctic, In-
dian and Pacific oceans, and, to a certain extent, he is probably correct, as
such seas are of less depth, often of a higher temperature, and more direc-
ly influenced by the countries which more or less inclose them. The seas
which he considers as Mediterranean, are the Mediterranean, properly so
called, the Baltic Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Chinese Sea, the

Dr Greville's Algos Brttannicce: > 363

Seas of Okhotsk and Bhering, and the West Indian Sea, along wijh the
Gulf of Mexico, denominated by him The Columbian Mediterranean.

" Every great zone presents a peculiar system of existence ; and it is said,
that after a space of twenty-four degrees of latitude a nearly total change
is observed in the species of organized beings, and that this change is;piainly
owing to the influence of temperature. Lamouroux remarks, that if this
holds good, as we know it to do, to a wonderful extent in phaenogamous
plants, it should also exert some corresponding force upon marine vegeta-
tion. It is unquestionable that the Algce are found on our own coast in the
greatest abundance during the summer months, and in unusual luxuriance
in hot seasons. It is probable also, observes the same author, that these
plants may be acted on by the temperature of the water at greater or less
depths ; and that the species which grow at the bottom of the ocean may
have some resemblance to those of the Polar circle. On the shores of the
British Islands it is easy to perceive that some species, Gelidium comeum,
Phyllophora ruhens, and Sphcerococcus coronopifolius, for example, become
more plentiful and more luxuriant as we travel from north to south ; and,
on the other hand, that Piilota plumosa, Rhodomela lycopoidiodes, Rhod-
menia sobolifera, and several others occur more frequently, and in a finer
state, as we approach the north. Odonthalia dentata and Rhodomenia cris-
tata are confined to the northern parts of Great Britain, while the Cysto-
seirce, Fucus tuberculaius, Haliseris polypodioides, Rhodomenia jubata, R.
Teediif Microcladia glandulosa, Rhodomela pinastroides, Laurencia tenuis^
sima, Iridea reniformis, and many others, are confined to the southern
parts. Others again, such as the Fuci in general, the Laminariew, many
Delesserice, some JViiophyUwj Laureniice, Gastridia and Chondri^ possess
too extended a range to be influenced by any change of temperature be-
tween the northern boundary of Scotland and the south-western point of
England. The researches and calculations'of Lamouroux have demonstrat-
ed satisfactorily, that the great groups of Algoe do affect particular tempe-
ratures or zones of latitude, though some genera may be termed cosmopo-
lite. Setting aside the great division of articulated Alga, of which we
know but little, the SiphonecB, or at least the genus Codium, and the Ul-
vaceee, are scattered over every part of the world. Codium tomeniosum is
found in the Atlantic, from the shores of England and Scotland to the
Cape of Good Hope ; in the Pacific from Nootka Sound to the southern
coast of New Holland. It abounds in the Mediterranean, on the shores of
France, Spain, and Africa, and is common in the Adriatic. More recently
it has been also brought from the coasts of Chili and Peru. This plant,
however, is not a social one — to make use of a term that Humboldt has ap-
plied to some pha?nogaraous plants. It grows even in the same locality, in
a solitary and scattered manner. The Ulvaceoe, on the contrary, are strictly
social, and preserve this character in every part of the world. They ap-
pear, however, to attain the greatest perfection in the polar and temperate
zones, although I have very fine Porphyra from the Cape of Good Hope.
That they are capable of sustaining very extreme cold, is proved by the
fact, that fine specimens of Enteromorpha compressa were picked up in
high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean, by some of the gentlemen who accom-

864? Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs.

panied Capt. Sir Edward Parry in his second voyage of discovery. The
Dictijotece, of which we have eight representatives in Scotland, and thirteen
in England, increase both in quantity and number of species as we ap-
proach the Equator. The Fucoideas, in a general sense, increase as we leave
the polar zone, especially in the variety of species. But the natural groups
into which they are separated, are strongly marked in their distribution.
The Fuci flourish between the latitudes 55° and 44", and, according to
Lamouroux, are rarely seen nearer to the equator than 36°. Fucus ser^
ratus is entirely confined to Europe. If the imperfectly known Macro-
icystis comosa and Menziesii should prove to be true Fuci, the latter will-
be an exception to the rule, as it is said to be found at Trinidad, as well
as on the western coast of North America. The large genus Cystoscira is
found between the 50th and 25th degrees of latitude, becoming more plen-
tiful as the Fuci diminish. In New Holland, remarkable alike for its ve-
getable and animal productions, a distinct group of Cystoseirce predomi-
nates, as singluar in the water as the aphyllous Acacia are on the land.
Their stems are compressed, often appearing to be jointed ; the branches
spring from the flat side, and not from the angles, and are deflexed at
their insertion ; besides which, their vesicles are solitary and pedicellate.
This most extraordinary and local group, including some new species kindly
communicated to me by Mr Eraser, the colonial botanist at Sydney, is al-
ready known to consist of twenty species. The genus Sargassum, the
most extensive of the Fucoideco, comprising- above seventy species, is nearly
confined to the two tropics, and examples rarely occur beyond the 42d de-
gree in either hemisphere. The Red Sea is full of Sargassa. It is prin-
cipally to one or two species of Sargassum that the popular name of gulf-
weed has been applied by mariners. The prodigious accumulation of these
plants were first encountered by the early Portugese navigators ; Columbus
and Lerius compare them to extensive inundated meadows, and state that
they absolutely retarded the progress of the vessels, and threw the sailors
into consternation. Such accumulations occur on each side of the Equator,
in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans." — " In the genus Sargassum
is observed a small group, as local and almost as peculiar as that we have
shown to exist in Cystoscira. This occurs in the seas of China and Japan,
and consists of Sargassum fulvellum, microceratium, macrocarpum, sisym-
brioides, Horneri, pallidum, and hemiphyllum, distinguished from the rest
by terminal fructification, a slender habit, small nerveless leaves, and often
elongated vesicles.

** The Laminariece, among which are the giants of the marine flora, ex-
hibit., in a broad view, a tolerably decided geographical distribution. The
Laminarice predominate from the 40th to the 65th degree of latitude; while
the Macrocystes seem, as far as we know, to exist from the equator to about
45° of south latitude.

" The only order of any extent remaining to be noticed is Flori-
decs. This order, generally speaking, belongs, according.to Lamouroux, to
the temperate zones ; and in this conclusion I think he is correct. But,
as might be anticipated, in an order which contains so large a number of
genera and species, there are many exceptions. The genus Amansia is

Proceedings of Societus!'^ " ^ 365

exclusively tropical. Hypncea and Acanthophora belong also rather to the
tropical tlian the neighbouring zones. It is worthy of notice, that com-
paratively speaking, the southern temperate zone contains much fewer
FlorideoB than the northern ; a fact that Lamouroux thinks may be ac-
counted for by the inferior extent of the temperate zone in that hemis-
phere.

" From the number of species known to Lamouroux, he calculated
that the Floridew predominate greatly over the Fucoideae ; the latter over
the UlvacecE, and these last again over the DictyotecE, He estimated the
number of species known to botanists (including the articulated Algw,^ to
be 1600, which is certainly considerably exaggerated. The total amount
of species supposed to exist was conjectured by the same author to be at
least five or six thousand. If this be an approximation to the truth, we
cannot be said to be well acquainted with a fifth part of the subaqueous
vegetation of the globe."

We conclude with strongly recommending Dr Greville's work to the at-
tention of British botanists. The accuracy of his descriptions, and the
beautiful plates by which the generic characters are exemplified, leave no-
thing to be wished for in these respects. Our only regret is, that the price of
the book, perhaps necessary to cover the unavoidable expence of the colour-
ed figures, had not been somewhat lower; for it i^ one of the evils of high
priced books, that they are thus placed within the reach of few, and these
not always the best qualified to appreciate their value ; while thousands, to
whom fortune has not been equally kind, are by this means deprived of
the opportunity of cultivating intellectual pursuits, and thus practically
interdicted from many of the noblest enjoyments of rational beings. To
this cause chiefly may be attributed the slow progress of the natural
sciences in this division of the kingdom.

Art. XXV.— proceedings OF SOCIETIES.

1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

December 7, 1829. — The following Gentlemen were duly elected ordi-
nary Members of the Society : —
James Walker, Esq. W. S.
William Bald, Esq. M. R. I. A.
Whitelaw Ainslie, M. D., &c.
December 21. The following communications were read :

1. Remarks on the Osteology and Dentition of the Dungong. By Dr
Knox.

2. A notice regarding some observed Anomalies in the Phenomena of
the Atmosphere. By Sir George S. Mackenzie, Bart. '^

Tb.e following objects of Natural History, formerly presented to the
society by Mr Swinton, and prepared by Dr Knox, were exhibited :
Cranium of the Dungong and cast of do.
Skeleton of the long-armed Gibbon, Boa, and Iguana.
Two lizurds and an alligator from the Irawaddy.
NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. II. APRIL 1830. A a

366 Proceedings of Societies.

Twenty-seven specimens of ophidian reptiles.

January 4, 1830. — The following communication was read : —

Observations on the Structure of the Stomach in the Peruvian Lama.
By Dr Knox.

January 18. — Sir George Mackenzie, Bart, read the first part of a
paper entitled, An Ehicidation of the Fundamental principles of Phreno-
logy.

February 1.— Colonel Pitman of the Hon. E. I. Company's Service
was duly elected an Ordinary Member.

Sir George S. Mackenzie, Bart, concluded his paper on the Funda-
mental Principles of Phrenology ; and the following communications were
read :—

1. Remarks explanatory, and Tabular Results of a Meteorological Jour-
nal kept at Carlisle by the late Mr W. Pitt, during twenty-four years.
Part I. By Thomas Barnes, M. D.

2. Chemical examination of Wad. By Dr Edward Turner. See
this Number, p. 213.

February 15. — Dr Knox read a paper entitled. Observations illustrat-
ing the Laws which regulate hermaphroditical appearances in the Mam-
malia, and the extent to which their presence affects the functions of the
more perfect animals. Part I. Observations to determine the male and
female and equivocal organs of generation. See this Number, p. 322.

The Secretary read a letter addressed to the Society by the Chevalier
Aldini, in reference to his fire-proof clothing.

March 1. — The following Gentlemen were elected ordinary Members :
J. T. Gibson-Craig, Esq.
Archibald Alison, Esq.
Dr Knox read the continuation of his paper begun at a former meeting
Part II. On the Law of Hermaphrodism, and on the type of the Gene-
rative Organs in Animals.

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

Scotland.

The following communications were read :

November 25, 1. An account of a French Authographic Printing Press,
invented by Pierron, Rue St Honore, Paris, was read, and a specimen
printed by it exhibited. Communicated by John Robison, Esq., Sec.
R.S.E.

2. Observations on the proper construction of Pendulum Time-keepers,
and proposed improvements in the construction of Pendulums, with relative
sketch, were read and exhibited. By William Law, Linlithgow.

3. An account of the cause of Dry Rot in timber, and of a mode of pre-
venting it, with specimens illustrative thereof, was read and exhibited.
By James Beattie, A. M. Rector of the Grammar School, Moffat.

December 9. — 1 . An account of the discovery of the Place, Revolutions,
and regular Variations of the Principal Powers of Attraction connected
with the Farth; and influencing the magnetic needle ; with a lithographic

Society for the Useful Arts in Scotland. 367

diagram, were read and exhibited. By Thomas Johnstone, Ferenze,
Barrhead, Renfrewshire.

2, A Description and drawing of a simple, cheap, and accurate Rain-
Gauge, calculated to show the depth of rain fallen to the ten- thousandth
part of an inch, were read and exhibited. By Mathew Adam, A. M.
Rector of the Royal Academy of Inverness, and Associate S. A.

3. An Account of a Phenomenon in Natural History, in the parish of
Melrose, illustrated by a variety of specimens, were read and exhibited.
By Alexander Sanderson, woollen cloth manufacturer, Galashiels.

December 23. — 1. Specimens of Shawl Cloth manufactured at Edinburgh
with Thibet wool, and dyed with an extract from the flower of potatoes
grown in Scotland, as suggested by the Right Honourable Sir John Sin-
clair, Bart, were exhibited. The process invented and executed by Messrs
G. Page and Co. dyers. Prince's Street. Edinburgh. — Communicated by
the Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair, Bart.

2. A Description and Model of a new mode of Propelling and Directing
the Motions of Steam Boats, were read and exhibited. By William
M*Cririck, gun-maker, Irvine.

3. A Description, Drawing, and Model of a Rheontometer or Rheumato-
meter, answering the purposes of an Anemometer and Ship's Log, were
read and exhibited. By the Reverend .Iames Brodie, Monimail.

4. Two Anemometers or Anemoscopes, invented some years ago by
Andrew Waddell, Esq. of Hermitage Hill, Leith, and now presented by
him to the Society of Arts, with a relative description, were read and ex-
hibited.

Mr Charles Atherton, civil engineer, Edinburgh, was admitted an Or-
dinary Member.

The following communications have been read and exhibited to the So-
ciety since 1st January 1830 : —

January 6, 1830. — 1. A description, drawings, and engravings of a new
Steam Engine without a Boiler. By Alex. Scott, Esq. Ormiston. See
last Number of this Journal, p. 21.

2. A description anil sketch of a new mode of applying the water or mov-
ing power to Barker's mill. By Charles Grey, Esq.

3. A description and model of a machine for roasting coffee, malt, &c.
&c. By William Law, coffee- merchant, Hanover Street, Edinburgh.

January 20. — 1. A description of an improved Pentagraph, for copying,
enlarging, or reducing plans, pictures, &c. By John Dunn, optician^
Edinburgh, M. S. A. ,

2. Observations on the doctrine of impulse. By the Rev. James Brodib,
Monimail, Fife, Associate S. A.

3. A model and description of a Locking Bar, for affording strength and
security, principally for shop-doors. By Messrs John and William Greig,
smiths. Rose Street, Edinburgh.

4. A description of a Geometrical Square for cutting coats, with a litho-
graphic drawing. By Adam Geddes, tailor, Frederick Street, Edinburgh.
The instrument was exhibited.

William Bonar, Esq, F. R. S. E. was admitted an Ordinary Member.

368 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

February 3. — 1 . A model and description of an improved Carriage Drag^,
By Robert Russell, mill-wriglit, Denny, Loanhead.
\ 2. A description and drawing of a new Cross-cutting Saw. By Dixon
Valla NCE, Libberton, Lanarkshire.

3. A description and drawing of an improved Indicator for steam en-
gines, and of an Oil Test. By John M'Naught, engineer, Robertson
Street, Broomielaw, Glasgow.

4. A model, drawings, and description of a Horizontal Air Pump. By
John MTlkish, Esq. Maryfield, Edinburgh, M. S. A.

Mr Robert Kirkwood, engraver, was admitted an Ordinary Member.
February 17 — 1. A model, drawing, and description of a new Iron
Bridge. By Adam Wilson, smith. Mint, Edinburgh.

2. A model and description of Safety Windows for upper stories of
houses. By Thomas Johnston, ink manufacturer, Glasgow.

3. A description and engraving, and directio)is for using an Extinguisher
for females' dress on fire. By Thomas Johnston, ink manufacturer,
Glasgow.

Henry Tod, Esq. W. S. was admitted an Ordinary Member.

3. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

February 92, 1830. — The Rev. Professor Parish, one of the Vice-Presi-
dents, being in the chair,

A paper was read by J. Challis, Esq. of Trinity College, on the inte-
gration which on certain suppositions can be effected of the general equa-
tions of the motion of fluids ; and on the application of the results to the
solution of various problems. Among other cases Mr Challis considered
that of a stream of air issuing through an orifice in a plane, and flowing
against a plate placed near to the orifice. It appears that the theory
gives in this instance a pressure urging the plate towards the plane, such
as is found to exist by experiment.

A paper was also read by the Rev. L. Jenyns, on the Natter-Jack (Bufo
rubeta) of Pennant, containing an account of its habits, collected from the
observations of several individuals of the species during a period of two
months; and to these notices was added an enumeration of the Reptiles
found in Cambridgeshire.

After the meeting. Professor Henslow gave an account of the discoveries
recently made with respect to endosmose and exosmose ; and of the appli-
cation of these principles to the explanation of the motion of the sap in
plants; with some considerations on the theory for the explanation of
these phenomena proposed by M. Poisson.

March 8. — A communication from the Rev. C. P. N. Wilton of St John's
College, was read, containing an account of a visit to Mount Wingen, a
burning mountain in Australia. See this No. p. 270.

Mr Coddington explained the principle of a microscope of a new and
simple construction, which had been made according to his directions by
Mr Cary, and which he exhibited to the Society.

After the meeting Professor Airy gave an account, illustrated by models,
of the instruments which have been used at different periods, and in diffe-
rent countries, for the purpose of measuring the altitudes of stars. He de-

Optics. 369

Tscribed particularly the zenith sector, the quadrant, the repeating circle,
the great declination circles of Troughton, and the circle of Reichenbach's
construction ; and instituted a comparison between the two last as the de-
cHnation instruments which at present are principally used in European
observatories.

Art. XXVI.— scientific INTELLIGENCE.

I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

OPTICS

1. On the Manufacture of Glass for optical purposes. By Mr Fara-
day, Esq. F. R. S. — The following is an abstract of Mr Faraday's paper
on this important subject. The author, being intrusted with the su-
perintendence of the experimental part of the manufacture of the glass,
conceives it to be his especial duty, at the present stage of the inquiry,
to give an account of what has been done in his department; for
although the investigation is yet far from being completed, he trusts
that a decided step has now been made in the manufacture of glass
for optical purposes, and that it is due to the Society, as well as to
the government, to render an account of the results hitherto obtained.
The author begins this account by a statement of the usual defects inci-
dent to glass, which destroy the regularity of its action on light. These
are, on the one hand, streaks, striai, veins, and tails ; and, on the other
hand, minute bubbles ; the> former arising from the want of homo-
geneity— the latter from the intermixture of air. Of these, the first class
of defects constitute the most serious evil, as they interfere with the recti-
lineal course of the rays of light while traversing the glass ; while the lat-
ter are injurious merely from the interception of the rays, and their dis-
persion in all directions. The greater the difference in specific gravity of
the ingredients of the glass, the greater is the tendency to form stria; when
they are fused together : hence flint glass, which contains a large propor-
tion of lead, is more liable to this defect than either crown or plate glass.
After numerous trials of materials different from those which enter into
the composition of the ordinary kinds of glass, borate of lead and silica
were fixed upon as the most eligible ; and as near an approximation as
possible to a definite chemical union of their elements was arrived at, by
taking single proportionals of each, and endeavouring to procure them,
previous to combination, in the greatest possible state of purity. The
oxide of lead was obtained from the nitrate of the metal previously crystal-
lized. The boracic acid was also selected from the purest crystals afford-
ed by the manufacturer, and carefully tested to ascertain its freedom from
foreign matters. The silica employed was that of flint-glass-makers' sand,
well washed and calcined, and freed from iron by nitric acid. It was af-
terwards combined with protoxide of lead. These materials were then
mixed, in the proportion of 154.14> parts ot nitrate of lead, 24- of siHcate of
lead, and 42 of crystallized boracic acid, and melted together in a separate
furnace, adapted expressly for this preliminary operation, and of which a
minute description is given. A tray was then prepared of thin laminae of
platina — all the apertures of which were carefully closed by soldering —

SW Scientiftc Intelligence.

for containing the pulverized glass, which was to be subjected to the final
melting in a furnace of peculiar construction, which the author terms the
finishing furnace. After numerous trials of substances for constructing
the chamber in which the fusion of the glass contained in the tray was to
be conducted, recourse was had to the materials from which the Cornish
crucibles are manufactured, and which were obtained through the kind-
ness of the president, and were expressly manufactured for the purpose by
Mr Mitchell of Cornwall. In order to prevent the reduction of any por-
tion of the lead entering into the composition of the glass, a current of
fresh air was introduced by a tube, and made to pass along the surface of
the fused glass. A very minute and circumstantial account is given of all
the manipulations necessary for conducting these processes in all their
stages ; in some of which, however, the best methods of proceeding yet
remained to be ascertained — variations having been made up to the very
last experiment ; and it is only by still more extensive experience that the
author expects the proper arrangements will ultimately be settled. Direc-
tions are given as to the occasional inspection of the glass during the pro-
cess, the mode of stirring by a rake of platina, and the plan devised by the
author of accelerating the disengagement and escape of bubbles, by throw-
ing into the melted materials a quantity of pulverized platina mixed with
fragments of the same kind of glass. The glass which has been obtained
by the mixture of the materials above-mentioned, constituting silicated
borate of lead, has a specific gravity of 5.44, and high refractive and dis-
persive powers, and, perhaps, also very considerable reflecting power.* It
is softer than ordinary glass, but less liable to be tarnished by sulphureous
vapours, as they usually exist in the atmosphere ; and also less acted upon
by moisture than glass into which potash enters as an ingredient ; it is
likewise a much more perfect electric than common glass. — Lit. Gazette.

2. Effect of light on Liquids. By M, Dutrochet. — On the 18th Ja-
nuary 1830, M. Dutrochet addressed a letter to the Institute, the object of
which was to establish that light is an occasional cause of motion in liquids,
and that water in the state of liquidity possesses two very different molecular
states, v/hich appear to be analogous^ the one to a regular aggregation, and
the other to a confused aggregation of solid molecules.

On the 25th January, the Institute received from M. Dutrochet a second
communication relative to the influence of light on the motion of liquids.
He had established that a difference of temperature was the efficient cause
of the circulating motion in liquids, ^g© of a degree of difference being
sufficient with the aid of light. New experiments have proved that in the
absence of this agent ttie circulating motion stops. When the windows
are shut, so as to leave only enough of light to distinguish the circulating
motion when it exists, this motion is immediately suspended. When the
windows are again opened the motion recommences. When it is again
completely suspended by the absence of light, if v/e tap upon the table on
which the tube rests, this slight movement instantly re-establii-hes the cir-

• The less reflecting power the better ; but this depends entirely on the refractive
power— Ed.

Meteorology — Chemistry. ^71

culating motion. A slight sound, such as that of a bell, was sufficient to
restore the circulating motion.

From these new experiments it follows, tliat the agitation of the mole-
cules of a li(}ui(l favours their circulating motion under the influence of a
slight inequality of temperature ; that this previous agitation is an indis-
pensable circumstance, and consequently that light produces this cir-
culating motion only by agitating the molecules of liquids. Hence M.
Dutrochet concludes, that in the phenomenon of the circulation of liquids
two causes intervene, one efficient, viz. the difference of temperature, the
other occasional, viz. light or whatever is susceptible of agitating the mo-
lecules of liquids.

METEOKOLOGY.

3. Meteor at Plymouth. — On the 30th August, between 10 and 1^
o'clock, p. M. a meteor appeared at Plymouth between the stars Alioth and
Megrez of Ursa Major, which instantaneously lighted up the whole he-
misphere with uncommon splendour for a second of time, and left a short
train of about two degrees in length between the two stars. The light
was exceedingly lucid and clear. — From a Correspondent.

II. CHEMISTRY.

4. Reduction of Nit?Yite of Silver. — In 1826, M. Charles de Filiere
had occasion to have prepared by one of his pupils a considerable quantity
of nitrate of silver. He placed the finest crystals in unsized paper, which
was carelessly thrown into a card box, and consequently prevented from
coming into contact with bodies suspended in the atmosphere.

Having found in the beginning of the month of November (1829, we
suppose,) this packet, the paper envelope of w^hich had received as usual
a deep violet tint, he was surprised to find that his fine crystals, without
having lost their form, had become plates of metallic and very malleable sil-
ver.-^ Ann. de Cliim.

5. Notice on the Atacama Meteoric Iron. By Dr Turner. — In the for-
mer series of this Journal, vol. ix. p. 262, an analysis of the meteoric iron
from Atacama is inserted from the Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh. I was not aware at the time, that the result of a careful
analysis, sent to the printer for insertion, had been omitted. The compo-
sition of the mass in 1 00 parts is as follows : —

Iron, - - 93.57

Nickel, - - 6.618

Cobalt, - - 0.535

100.723

6. Mineral water of R&nnely. — Ronnely lies in the province of Bleking,
in Sweden, 15 or 20 miles from Carlscrona, and is much frequented for its
mineral water. This water has a spec, gravity of 1002.55, and, according
to the analysis of Berzelius, contains in \OdO parts

372 iScientific Intelligence.

Protosulphute of iron, - l.QfiSe

. manganese, - 0.0260

Sulphate of zinc, - - 0.0133

— — lime, - - 0.3705

■ magnesia, - - 0.1716

Ammonia alum, - - 0.2126

Soda alum, - . - 0.4790

Potash alum, - - 0,0433

Chloride of aluminum, - - 0.0230

Silica, - - - 0.1151

2.5230
One of the very few known mineral waters of a similar kind is that at
Sandrock, in the Isle of Wight, which is, however, three times as strong
as the water of Ronnely, having a spec, gravity of 1007.5 and containing,
according to Marcet, in an English pint

Crystallized sulphate of iron, - . _ 41.4 grains.
Sulphate of alumina, which can be obtained in the state of

crystallized alum, - - - , 31,6

Crystallized gypsum, (sulphate of lime,) - - 10 1

Crystallized sulphate of magnesia, - - - 3.6

■ ' ' ' ■ soda, - - _ 16,0

Common salt, - - - - _ 4.0

Silica, ------ .7

107.4 grains.
It is obvious, that in the use of such mineral waters as these, great care
must be exercised ; for with such ingredients they may speedily produce
serious effects upon those who use them indiscreetly.

7. Atomic weight of Iodine and Bromine. — Berzelius has lately publish-
ed in the Transactions of the Swedish Academy ^ some very careful analyses
of the Iodide and Bromide of silver, from which he deduces the followir^
results : —

Atom of iodine = 789.749
Double atom = 1579.498
Spec. grav. of gaseous iodine = 8.7078 ^,,.

Iodic acid consists of Hi'^t^ ''''^'"'
( 24.058 oxygen

„ 1 • J. '1 e r 99.216 iodine

Hydnod.cac.dof | o.784 hydrogen

And its specific gravity by calculation == 4.8883, being only 0.0517 diffe-
rent from Guy-Lussac's experimental result : —

Atom of bromine = 489.15,

Double atom = 978.3,

Spec, grav, of gaseous bromine = 5.3934

xx^^r^- „„:j / 66.177 bromine,

Bromicacid=|33g2Soxygen,

'^'^AvyChemistry. 373

Hydrobromic acid = {^1:27^X0 "en
And the spec. grav. of gaseous hydrobromic acid == 2.7311.

It will be remembered that Dr Thomson's number for iodine is 15.5.
and that Balard's two experiments gave for that of bromine 932.6, and
942.9 ; while Liebeg's later experiments gave for that of bromine 942.9.

8. Analysts of a Meteoric Stone. — This stone fell in Macedonia, and was
analyzed by Berzelius at the request of Mr Schener of Vienna, for a work
on meteoric stones which he is preparing.

It was of a grey colour, intermixed with round transparent specks; and
with points of a dark or brown colour and metallic lustre, showing it to be
an aggregate of several different substances. Rubbed to powder, the mag-
net separated it into two portions ; and the non-magnetic portion treated
with acids left 52^ per cent, of insoluble matter.
The magnetic portion consisted of

Iron, - - . gggg

Nickel, with a trace of cobalt, - 4.80

Sulphur, - - - 6.83

100

and was a mixture of nickel, iron, and magnetic pyrites, both of which the

magnet had drawn out together.

The non-magnetic portion soluble in muriatic acid consisted of
Silica, ... 28.70

Protoxide of iron, - - 29.60

Magnesia, - - > 40. 0

Potash, - - - 8

Soda, - - - 9

having the composition of olivine, with this diflPerence, that the oxygen in

the bases is to that in the s,ilica, as 3 : 2,
The insoluble portion consisted of a mixture of the silicates of potash

and soda, iron, manganese, lime, alumina, magnesia, with one per cent, of

protoxide of chromium, and .2 per cent, of oxide of nickel. — Transactions

of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm.

III. NATURAL HISTORY.
MINERALOGY.

9. Analysis of Allophane from Firmi in the Aveyron. By M. J. GuiL-
LEMiN. — The specific gravity was 1.76 at 19° Reaum.

Firmi Schneiberg

Guillemin. Stromeyer.

Silex, - - - 22.00 21.92

Alumina, - - 35.00 32.20

Water, - - 42.00 41.30

Sulphuric acid, - - 0.75 0.52

Lime, - - _ traces, 0.73

Oxide of iron, - - 0.00 3.33
Carbonate of copper.

99.75 100.00

374 Scientific Intelligence.

As these numbers agreed ill with the theory of definite proportions, he
repeated the analysis with care^ and obtained the following results : —

Oxygen.
Silex, - - 23.76 containing 11.95 6

Alumina, - - 39.68 18.58 9

Water, - - 35.74 . 31.78 \Q}

Sulphuric acid, - 0 .65 0.38

Lime, - - traces.

It consists, therefore, of two atoms of bi-hydrate of alumina, one atom
of bi-silicate of alumina, and four atoms of water, neglecting the sulphuric
acid. It ranks next Halloi/sife. — Ann. de Chim.

10. Mineral Pitch near St Agnes, Cornwall, discovered by Mr Hen-
wood. — This substance has been discovered by Mr Henwood in the cop-
per veins of south Huel To wan Mine, near St Agnes, Cornwall. It ac-
companies iron and copper pyrites, and coating crystalline quartz. It oc-
curs abundantly in the small cavities which exist in the veins. Except-
ing in the Carharrack Mine, we believe it has never before been observed
in that county.

11. Fresh discovery of the Chr ornate of Iron in Shetland. — The abundance
in which this ore is found as a constituent of the serpentine rock, is now
adding considerably to the wealth of this remote province of Scotland. The
landed proprietors continue in an active search after it, as the following
extract of a letter, dated the 27th of January 1830, sufficiently shows. It
is addressed to Dr Hibbert from Thomas Giffijrd, Esq. of Busta, a prin-
cipal landed proprietor in these islands : '' I take the liberty,'' he writes,
*' of addressing a few lines to you on the subject of the chromate of iron.
As you predicted, it has been found in quantity on the Ness of Hills-
wick and elsewhere in Northmavine."

12. Observations on Serpejits. By M. Desvoidy. — On the 19th Octo-
ber 1829, M. Robineau Desvoidy communicated to the Institute the two
following observations. 1. In a clayey and sandy soil he found a great
quantity of the Anguis fragilis of Linnaeus, the common Blind Worm, and
in opening one of the largest, he found six young ones alive, and more or
less developed. 2. Having dissected a viper, one of these commonly cal-
led in France the Red Serpent, he found in the uterus more than 3000
young onec in different states.

13. Acceunt of another case of United Twins in the East. — The union
of twins by a corporeal band, as in the example of the two Siamese youths
now exhibiting in the metropolis, is a phenomenon not unparalleled, espe-
cially in the East, where lusus naturae are, perhaps, more frequent than in
other parts of the world.

Lid q/ Scottish Patents. 575

We are favoured with a well-authenticated instance of a similar, but
more remarkable, union of twins, in India, which is communicated to us
by a gentleman who, in 1807, when on deputation in the province of Coim-
batore, as a member of the Board of Revenue at Madras, personally exa-
mined the two children, and by whom the following description was drawn
up, from observation, at Bhavany. The particulars are not so exact and
technical as if they had been the result of medical inspection, which is
much to be regretted ; but no professional person was then at the station.
A sketch of the appearance presented by the children accompanies the de-
scription, but it is too imperfect to afford any additional elucidation.

The children were females, and born at a village in Coimbatore, in the
month of October 1804. At the period of examination, October 1807,
they were, of course, three years old. One of them was thirty-four inches
high, the other a quarter of an inch shorter. The heads of both were ra-
ther long, and the sides of each head much compressed ; the features of
each strongly resembled the other. The bodies were joined from the lower
part of the breast-bone to the navel, which was common to both. They
were thus face to face, and could sleep in no other position. In walking,
they moved sideways, and sometimes circularly. They generally slept at
the same time, but not always ; and one would cry whilst the other did
not. If the body of one was pinched, the other did not appear to feel ;
but if the connecting part was pinched, both were sensible of pain. Me-
dicine administered to one affected both. The evacuations of each were
regular, but at different periods. Both were healthy children, and not
otherwise deformed. One was loquacious ; the other talked very little ;
the liveliest was rather stouter than the other. Both had had the small-
pox, at the same time, and favourably. In moving or looking different
ways, or rather in directions contrary to their natural position, they cros-
sed their hands and arms. They could walk up stairs, and were active
when playing with other children.

The mother of these girls was a woman of the weaver caste ; she did
not, according to the statement of the father, who attended them, suffer
particularly in bringing them into the world. The same woman subse-
quently was delivered of separate twins, which were living at the time
when this examination took place.

What became of this curiously united pair we are not told : it is proba-
ble, and perhaps to be hoped, considering how severe a tax existence must
be in such circumstances, that their lives were not prolonged. — Astatic
Journal, No- 1, New Series, p. 17.

Art. XXVII.— LIST OF PATENTS GRANTED IN SCOTLAND
SINCE JULY 15, 1829.

15. July 8. For an Improved method of constructing Ships' Pintles for
hanging the Rudder. To John Lichou, county of Middlesex.

16. August 4. For a Machine or Engine for dressing of Stones used in
Masonry by the assistance of a Steam Engine, a Wind, a Horse, or a Water
Power. To James Milke, Edinburgh.

376 Celestial Phenomena Jrom April — July 1830.

17. August 14. For certain Improvements in the application of Elastic
dense Fluids to the Propelling or giving Motion to Machinery of various
Descriptions. To Richard Williams, county of Middlesex.

18. August 28. For an Improvement in the construction and setting of
ovens or retorts for carbonizing coals for the use of Gas Works. To Bar-
nard Henry Brook, county of York.

19. August 28. For certain Improved machinery for Preparing or Knead-
ing Dough. To MosEs Poole, Lincoln's Inn.

20. August 28. For a certain Improvement in the article commonly cal-
led Stick Sealing Wax. To Peter Rigby Masov, Middle Temple.

21. September 2. For certain Improvements in Power Looms for Weav-
ing Cloth. To William Ramsbottom, Manchester.

22. September 2. For certain Improvements on machines or machinery
for Scraping, Sweeping, Cleaning, and Watering Street Roads and other
Ways. To John Boase and Thomas Smith, London.

23. September 7. For certain Improvements on machinery for Making
Lace, commonly called Bobbin Net. To John Levers, Nottingham.

24. September 16. For certain Improvements in Machinery for Propel-
ling Vessels and giving Motion to Mills and other Machinery. To Wil-
liam Pool, city of Lincoln.

25. September 23. For certain Improvements in Steam-Engines and in
Machinery for Propelling Vessels, which Improvements are applicable to
other Purposes. To Elijah galloway. Burgh of Southwark.

Art. XXVIII.— CELESTIAL PHENOJMENA,
From April 1st, to July 1st, 1830. Adapted to the Meridian of Green-
wich, Apparent Time, excepting the Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites,
which are given in Mean Time.

N. B. — The day begins at noon, and the conjunctions of the Moon and
Stars are given in Right Ascension.

APRIL.

D. H. M. S.

•5 8 31 47 j) 6 T ^ }) 34' N.

6 7 45 ^ OO

6 12 8 19^ c5» TIJ P ll'S.
•7 14 44 44 5 c5 6 nj P 3/ N.

7 19 29 O ^'ull Moon.
9 15 51 52 Im. II. Sat. ^

12 16 7 21 Im. I. Sat. 7/

13 }ri Stationary.

14 17 $c5l^K

15 18 47 (L Last Quarter.
18 22 § (5 0 K

20 3 I Q enters ^

21 19 I ^Sup. c5 O

22 11 27 % New Moon.

24 13 18 1 J) d > « D 47' N.

24 14 29 46 p 3 1 '^ tt J) ^>l' S.

24 14 57 30 J (5 2 «f b P 53' S.

26 17 (? d ¥

28 13 6 6^ A

28 14 22 48 Im. 1. Sat. IJ.

D. H.

29 7

29 15

30 18

M.

54

45

2 2 30

2 14 36
5

6 4

7 12 2

7 13 42

8 2

11

16

13

11

18

14

11

15

0

15

4

18

16

0

16

16

37

21

0

21

14

32

s.

J) First Quarter.

□ 0
MAY.

If Stationary.
§d 1 A «
O ^'ull Moon.
53 Im. III. Sat. V

(?□©
15 )) d2/2 K^

MStationarynearfl J/^

d Last Quarter.

9 Greatest Elong.
32 I c^ 9 tt5 j) 76' N.

9 Greatest Elong.
32 Im. 1. Sat ^

Celestial Phenomena^ April — Juli/ 1830.

377

D.

H.

M.

s.

D.

H.

M.

8.

21

19

13

0 New Moon.

12

12

38

33 ]) c5 X OS }) 50^ N.

•22

6

17

23 )) d * b D '^1' N.
9 6 132 b

13

10

49

fl Last Quarter.

9 Inf. c5 0

24

8

15

6

30

•27

10

55

8 1 d e <a ]) 56' N.

17

11

46

58{Em.^V.Sat.y

28

22

48

) First Quarter.

17

14

15

30

9

11

59 ^ C^ /3 TIJ 1) r N.
53 J c5l3'Tiy])56'S.

18

10

38

2 1) 6 I «^ « D 51' S.

31

12

28

18

11

6

4$ c52<r tt })29'N

31

21

?d«K

19
19

13
15

35

66 Im. III. Sat. V

D6^

JUNE.

20

33

• New Moon.
0 enters Qs

* 2

12

34

23 ]) c5 « Tl]^ D 46' N.

21

11

60

3

9 Stationary.

22

11

6

15 Im. I. Sat. 11

5

12

22

46 Im. 11. Sat. ^

27

9 Stationary.

G

2

19

O Full Moon.
4 Im. I. Sat. y.

27
•28

15
10

16
40

]) First Quarter.
34 S d 9 TIJ D 65' N.

6

12

49

• 8

12

28

42 ]) 6 « ^ ]) 59' N.

29

13

0

47 Ira. I. Sat. 7/

Mercury.

Times of the Planets passing the Meridian.
APRIL.
Venus. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Georgian.

D.

h

/

h.

/

h

1

h

/

h

'

h

'

1

22

55

21

51

18

59

18

25

8

14

20

5

7

23

12

21

37

18

54

18

6

7

53

19

45

13

23
23

31
53

21
21

27

20

18
18

48
63

17
17

46
25

7
7

30
8

19

23

19

19

1

25

0

14

21

15

18

36
MAY.

17

4

6

40

18

40

1

0

41

21

11

18

30

16

42

6

24

18

16

7

1

6

21

8

18

22

16

19

6

2

17

53

13

I

24

21

5

18

14

15

55

5

40

17

30

19

1

34

21

4

18

6

15

30

5

17

17

7

25

^

34

21

2

17

56
JUNE.

15

5

4

55

16

44

1

1

18

21

o

17

44

14

34

4

29

16

14

7

0

51

21

1

17

23

14

8

4

6

15

49

13

0

15

21

1

17

22

13

40

3

44

15

24

19

23

31

21

2

17

10

13

12

3

21

14

58

25

22

59

21

4

16

57

12

44

2

69

14

34

Declination of the Planets
APRIL.

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

D.

o /

o /

/

o /

o '

o

1

5 23 S.

3 31 S.

22 18 S.

22 25 S.

18 26N.

18

26 S.

7

1 5S.

4 4

21 42

22 21

18 28

18

22

13

3 49N.

4 8

21 1

22 19

18 28

18

20

19

9 7

3 43

20 15

22 17

18 27

18

18

25

14 27

2 59

19 25

22 15
MAY.

18 25

18

17

1

19 UN.

1 44 S.

18 35 S.

22 15 S.

18 22N.

18

16 S.

7

22 41

0 17 s.

17 33

22 16

18 18

18

15

13

24 41

1 24N.

16 31

22 17

18 13

18

15

19

25 22

3 16

15 29

22 19

18 17

18

15

25

25 0

6 15

14 24

22 23

18 0

18

16

3T8 Mr MarshalPs Meteorological Observations

JUNE.

D.

h '

h '

h '

h

h '

h

1

23 38N.

7 40 N.

13 7S.

22 27 S.

17 51N.

18

17S,

7

22 0

9 46

12 2

22 32

17 42

18

20

13

20 17

11 51

10 58

22 37

17 33

18

22

19

18 58

13 51

9 55

22 42

17 23

18

24

25

18 31

15 45

8 55

22 48

17 12

18

26

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. XXIX. — Summary of Meteorological Observations made at Kendal
in December 1829, and January and February 1830. By Mr Samuel
Marshall. Communicated by the Author.

State of the Barometer, Thermometer , &^c. in Kendal for December 1829.

Barometer. Inches.

Maximum on the 31st, - . . 30.40

Minimum on the 4th, - - - 29.55

Mean height, - - - - 29.93

Thermometer.
Maximum on the 7 th, - - . 51'

Minimum on the 28th, - - 20*

Mean height, - - - 35.16''

Quantity of rain, 2.899 inches
Number of rainy days, 6.
Prevalent winds, north east.

This has been a very cold and dry month and, had it not been for the
rain which fell on the 11th, 12th, and 13th, on which three days 2.505
inches were measured, we should have had but .249 inch for the month.
There have been but six rainy days. Though there have been several
days on which snow has fallen, yet when melted the quantity has been
scarcely sufficient to be measured by the gauge, amounting altogether only
to .145 incli. The barometer has been high through the whole of the
month, and the mean is greater than has been the case in any month for
several years. The mean of the thermometer clearly indicates the seve-
rity with which the winter has commenced. The cold dry winds from
the N. E., N. and E. have prevailed during the greater part of seventeen
days. The temperature of the days and nights has frequently been near-
ly equal, sometimes not varying more than 3° or 4°.

Janvxiry, 1830.

Barometer. Inches.

Maximum on the 1st, - . - 30.47

Minimum on the 21st, - - • 28.99

Mean height, . . , . 29.80

made at Kendal in Dec. 1829, and Jan. and Feb. 1830. 379

Thermometer.
Maximum on the 7th, - - - 40°

Minimum on the 1 0th, - - - - 15*

Mean height, - - . - . 30.77°

Quantity of rain, .429 inch.
Number of rainy days, 3.
Prevalent wind, north.

In January 1826, the mean height of the thermometer was rather less
than the mean for this month ; but, excepting this instance, the weather
has not been so severe for many years. At that time the thermometer was
at 9°, as well as in the following January, but the weather was not so
severe through the month. It is now eight weeks since the frost may be
said to have begun, since which time (or about the 7th December) the
thermometer has rarely been above the freezing point in the nights.
Though we have had frequent snow showers during the month, yet they
have been trifling. In this respect the county of Westmoreland has fared
differently to what most of the midland and southern counties have done.
Neither have we had the thermometer so low as appears to have been the
case in the south, where it is stated to have been observed as low as 10".
The winds have been in the N. N. W., N. E. and E. all cold quarters for
twenty-five days out of the thirty-one. When we have had a strong
wind from the N. or E. which has sometimes been the case, it has been
most piercing. Of course with all this frost we have had but .429 inch of
rain, and but three days on which any has fallen. The Aurora Borealis
was splendid in its appearance on the 28th. It has not been observed ex-
cept on the evening of that day, though it is probable enough it may have
occurred frequently without being noticed. In very few months within
the last eight years has the mean of the barometer been so great as in this
month.

February.

Barometer. Inches.

Maximum on the 1 5th, - - 30.18

Minimum on the 8th, - - - 28.95

Mean height, - « . - 29.66

Thermometer.
Maximum on the 26th, - - - 51.5*

Mininmm on the 7th, - - .19°

Mean height, - - - 34.24"

Quantity of rain, 4.774 inches,
Number of rainy days, 11.
Prevalent wind, west.

The weather in the early part of the month was cold like that of the
preceding month, and we had several snow showers. On the 7th, snow
fell to the depth of five inches. Since that time it has been mostly mild
and genial, though on the i22d snow fell most of the day. We have had
more rain this month than for sometime previous. The barometer has
been mostly low. The Aurora Boreahs appeared on the evening of the
19th, but was accompanied by no streamers that were perceptible-

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INDEX TO VOL. II.

NEW SERIES.

Aberration of a diamond lens, 317
Achromatic object-glasses purchased by

Mr South, 181
Adie, Mr, his meteorological observa-
tions, 188, 380
Albumen, new principles in, 183,
Aldini, M., his incombustible dresses

described, 207
Algag Britannicae, analysis of Dr Gre-

ville's work on, 360
Allophane, analysis of, 173
Anemometer, account of a new one, 31
Avernus lake, account of, 86
Baja, account of the district of the Bay

of, 75
Becquerel, M., on the decomposition of

carburet of sulphur by small electric

forces, 183
Bertrand de Doue, M., on the fossil bones

of St Privat-d'Allier, 276
Berzelius, M., account of a visit to, 189

— on thorina and its salts, 223
Birds of Madeira, Dr Heineken on the,

145
Brewster, Dr, on a new series of periodical

colours produced by grooved surfaces,

46
Bromine in English salt springs, 182—

atomic weight of, 372
Cagliostro, the juggler, account of, 6
Carburet of sulphur, decomposition of,

by small electric forces, 183
Caverns in Tungkin described, 263— of

Booban, 268
Celestial phenomena, 188, 376
Chemistry, practical, Mr Reid's work on,

notice of, 175
Chromale of iron in Shetland, 374
Clark, Mr James, his new method of

cutting screws, 273
Cold, on its action on animals, HI
Colours, periodical, on a new series of,

produced by grooved surfaces, 46
Cervus Euryceros, on the history of the,

301
Cuthbert, Mr, his process for working

elliptic specula for reflecting micro-
scopes, 321
Cuvier, Baron, his life of Baron Ramond,

1 — on the mullets of Europe, 61
Diamond district of Brazil, excursion to

the, 241
Diamonds, account of their discovery in

Russia, 261
Diamond lens, on the aberration of one,

317

Bb

Dutrochet, M., on the eflfeets of light on
liquids, 370

Earthquakes in India, 333, their connec-
tion with variations of the barometer,
333, note

Elbroutz, account of the ascent of, 134

Electricity and light, on an analogy be-
tween them, 232

Faraday, Mr, on the manufacture of
Flint-Glass for Achromatic Teleicopes,
181, 369

Flint-Glass for achromatic telescopes,
experiments on, 181, 368

Flourens, M., on hybernation and lethar-
gy and the action of cold on animals. 111

Forbes, J. D., Esq., on a new anemome-
ter, 31 — on the district of the Bay of
Baja, 75 — on the islands of Frocida
and Ischia, 326

Fossil Elk of Ireland, history of the, 301

Fossil bones of St- Privat-d'Allier dis-
covered in Basalt, 276

Fumarole described, 347

Galvanism, on the electrical and chemical
theories of, 150

Gersuppa, the falls of, described, 129

Greville, Dr, on the Algse Britannicse,
360

Grooved surfaces, on the periodical co-
lours of, 46

Hansteen, M., notice of his magnetic
journey, 291, 295

Hermaphrodism, theory of Dr Knox's
322

Hibbert, Dr, discovers fossil bones in
Basalt in the province of Velay, 276
— ^n the history of the Cervus Eury-
ceros, 301

Henry, Dr W., on the discovery of mag-
nesite in Anglesey, 155

Kenwood, Mr W. J., on the performance
of steam engines in Cornwdl, 102, 247
— on the discovery of mineral pitch in
Cornwall, 374

Himalaya Mountams, on the climate of,
133

Horn Cape, productions of, 26

Humboldt, Baron Alexander, his dis-
course pronounced at the Academy of
St Petersburg, 286

Hybernation of animals, 111

Incombustible dresses of M. Aldini de-
scribed, 207

Insects, history of, in the Family Library,
No. 7) analysed,

INDEX.

Iodine in English salt springs, 182 — ato-
mic weight of, 372
Ischia, Mr Forbes's account of the Island

of, 326
Is(^eothermal lines, account of the^ 251
Johnston, Mr J. F. W., account of his

visit to Berzelius, 180
Knox, Dr, his theory of hennaphrodism,

322 — of the respiratory organs, 325
Kupffer, Mm his ascent to Mont El-

broutz, 134-- on isc^eothermal lines,

251
Lethargy of animals. 111
Light, its effects on liquids, 370
Lizards, notice of their appearance in

unusual circumstances, 183
Magnesite discovered in Anglesey, 155.
Magnetism of the solar rays, 228.
Marianini, M., on an analogy between

electricity and light, 232.
Marshall, Mr S. his meteorological ob-
servations at Kendal, 186.
Matteucci, Charles M., on the influence

of electricity on animal putrefaction,

230
Melanorrhcea usitata, on the new genus

of, 66
Metals, researches on the structure of, as

indicated by their acoustic properties,

104
Meteor seen at Plymouth, 371
Meteoric iron, notice respecting, 371
Meteoric stone, analysis of, 373
Meteorological observations at Kendal,

186 at Canaan Cottage, 188— in the

Isle of Man, 249
Microscopes, reflecting, on elliptic metals

for them, 321
Mineral pitch discovered in Cornwall,

374
Mmeral water of Ronnely, 371
Mirage in Central India, 268
Monte Nuovo, account of, 79
Mullets of Europe, BarOn Cuvier on

the, 61
Naples, physical notices of the Bay of,

75, 326
Nitrate of silver, reduction of, 371
Oxmantown, Lord, on large reflecting

telescopes, 136
Oxygen in lithia, 1 82
Patents, list of English ones granted

since 1675, 43— list of Scottish ones,

375
Physical geography, contributions to, 129
Pritchard, Mr, on the aberration of a

diamond lens, 317
Procida, Mr Forbes's account of the

island of, 326
Putrefaction in animals, as affected by

electricity, 230
Ramond, Baron, life of, i

Reid, Mr D. B., his work on practical
chemistry analyzed, 175

Respiratory organs, Dr Knox's theory
of, 325

Riess and Moser, MM., on the m^ne-
tism of the solar rays, 225

Ritchie, Mr W., ou the theories of gal-
vanism, 150

Rohan, Cardinal de, anecdotes of, 5

Ronnely, mineral water of, 371

Russia, account of the scientific resear-
ches lately carried on there, 286

Savart, M., his researches on the struc-
ture of metals, 1 04

Scott, Alex, Esq., account of his new
steam engine, 21

Screws, method of cutting, by Mr James
Clark, 273

Ship-building, analysis of the article in
the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, 163— •
355

Siamese twins, account of, 122

Society, Cambridge Philosophical, pro-
ceedings of, 180 — Society, Royal, of
Edinburgh, its proceedings, 177 — So-
ciety of Arts for Scotland, proceedings
of, 177

Spectral illusions, account of a remarka-
ble case of, 218, 319

Spix and Martius, MM., their excursion
to the diamond district of Brazil, 241

Staten Island, productions of, 26

Steam engines in Cornwall, account of
their performance, 102, 247

Steam engine, account of a new one
without a boiler, 2 1

Steam, on its use in destroying vermin in
ships, 157

Telescope of Dorpat, dispute respecting
it, 182

Telescopes, reflecting, account of Lord
Oxmantown's experiments on, 136

Temperature of the ground as ascertain-
ed by springs, 251

Thorina and its salts described, 223

Tod, Colonel, on the mirage in Central
India, 268

Tungkin, cavern in described, 263

Turner, Dr E. his chemical examination
of wad, 213 — on the Atacama iron,
371

Twins, Siamese, account of, 122— ano«
ther case of united twins described, 374

Varnish tree, on the Burmese one, 66

Vermin in ships, method of destroying
them by Steam, 157

Volcano in Australasia, 27O

Wad, chemical examation of by Dr E.
Turner, 213

Wallich, Dr, on the Burmese varnish
tree, Melanorrhea usitata, 66

Webster, Captain, on the productions of
Staten Island and Cape Horn, 26

EDINBURGH !
IRIXTED «Y JOHN STARK,