This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
at|http: //books .google .com/I
I
GALLERY
o?
NATURE AND ART;
OR,
A TOUR THROUGH CREATION AND SCIENCE.
BY THE REV. EDWARD POLEHAMPTON,
FELLOW OF king's COLLEGE, CA.MBRIDaE ;
AND
J. M. GOOD, F. R. S.
ZI>ITO& OP THE PAXTOLOCilAy &?«
IN SIX VOLUMES, ILLITfiTKATED WITH ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINtiS,
DtiCRIPTirE OF THE WoSDr.RS OF NaTVRE JSD jRTm
SECOND EDITION.
VOL, VI,
3C=£
LONDON:
PEIKTED BT a. WILKS, CHAKCERV-LANE:
60LD BT BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AXD JOY, PATKRVOSTEII-ROW ; RODWELL AXli CO. KBW liONU-STUEET ; l'M)t-UWOon, FI.EET-STREET ; WOOD, STRAXD ; liL'AIPl'S, lIOLIIOnK-B.\R!> ; CLARKE, ROVAL- fXCHANGE; AND ALL OTHER ilOOKSELirEUil.
1818.
• I
jTIIE NEW TORk/ PUBLIC UBRARY.I
iTIIf :■■■■■■.■ VORKJ
|Pi,':;..!r ms:;ary.J
"lUMOATtONB.
I
I'"-;- i.:n.';Asr./
I^^^i^'
■f]se ?ijBChn.Airi tu
THE NEW YORK
PUBUC LIBRARY.
I -'■■'■iYj
^T'^=?i?% :4fi^te*'
THE HK'.V YORK
PUBLIC UBRARY.
THE M:£'.V YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
r
TMF ;.!:a' VORKJ PCS:' MBR.'.RV,)
i
THE NE'.V YORK
PU3UC LIBRARY.
TILAJAXS PII.I.AR.
|
Pi |
|
|
^S^' |
|
|
^SN |
|
|
'"'^-icr |
«1 |
^ CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME VI.
PART II.
GALLERY OF ART.
BOOR I. CHEMISTRY.
Chap. Pfefe
I. On the Rise and Progress of Chemistry . 1
II. On Electricity . . . 17
SsGT, h Introdaction • • • ib.
ii. Electricity in Eqailibriam ; . ib.
ill. Electricity in Motion . . 25
ir. GtWanic, or Voltaic Electricity • 45
III. Magnetism • . .53
IV. Aerostation •. ■ including the Principles, History,
and Management of Balloons • 63
Sect. i. Principles of Aerostation . • ib.
ii. History of Aeroslation 04
ill. Construction of Balloonf . . 80
V. Gass Lights • • • 88
Skct. i. Introductory Remarks . . ib. ii. Application of the Gass from Coal to Ecooomical
Purposes ... 89
VI. Phosphorus of Kunckel . ?
Phosphoric Bottles and Matches 5 * ^^
VII. Pneumatic, or Touchwood Tinder-box 99
Vm. Phosphorescence: or Spontaneous Illumination,
Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral . 107
Sect. i. Solar Phosphori . . . ib.
ii. Calorized Phospbori . • 110
iii. Animal and Vegetable Phospbori . ib.
IX. Spontaneous Comblustion • • 128
X. Chemical Affinity • • • 132
XI. On Crystallography . • • 142
XII. Manufacture of Glass . .153
Sect. i. History of the DiscoTery • • ib.
ii. Properties of Glass • • 1^7
iii. Manufactwro of Glass : • 16X
TOIt. TZ. b
iV CONTENTS OF TOL. VI.
Chap. * IV'
Sect. it. RupRrfa Dropi : BaUTfati Tears : Balognian Pbial ISO
Xlir. On Gmipowiler . . 166
Sect. i. Of the Time when Gunpowder was first discorered ib.
)i. Composition and Analysis of Guopowder 174
XIV. FiilmiDating Powders . 184
Sect. i. Commoir Fulminaling Powder . ib.
ii. Fulminating Gold . 185
iii. Fulminating SiWer . . ib.
iv. Fulminating MeFcory ' . IRB
T. Azotane, or the Detdoating Substance of M. Dolvng 207
PYROTECnyy, or ART of conilructing, FIRS-WORKS.
I. Construction of the Cartridges of Rockets 212
II. Composition of the Powder for Rockets and the
Manner of filling them . . 218
III. On the Ascent of Rockets into the Air 221
IV. Brilliant Fire and Chinese Fire . 222
V. Of the Furniture of Rockets . . C24 Sect. i. Serpents . . . S35
ii. MarrooDs . . . 330
iil. Ssactssons . • . ib.
i*. Stars .
V. Showers of Fire
t1. Sparks
Tit. Golden Rain . . ,-
CONTENTS OF VOL. VI. V
BOOK III.,
df METALLURGY and the JRTS conneclfJ with it.
L Calamine; Blende, or Black Jack; Zinc; and Brass 246 tl. On Anrichalcum, Onchdcum, or the Brass of the
Ancients . . S72
III. Oa Gun-Meial ; Bronze, or Statuary- Mclat ; Bell-
Met nl ; Pot-Metiil; and Speculiim-Meial, or Meliillic Mirrors -. . 285
IV. Oh Tinning Copper; Tin; Pewter . 39-1
V. On Gilding in Or iMoiiln; Use of Quicksilver in ex-
traciing Gold ami Silver from Earths ; Silver- ing L(jolciDg-G!(Lsses . . 31,5
VI. Metallic I'laols or Trees . . 32')
i
► BOOK IV.
POLtTE ARTS, or those connected wilh LITERATURE. 1. Pa[)er-inakinf; . . . 328
]I. Origin and Progress of Writing . 342
ScCT. i. Od IIii?roglfphic and Piclurc Writing . ib.
ii. On the Origin of Letters and Invention of Alphabet* 350
iii. Antiquity uf Writing, and the Claims of different Nations to the Honour o[ its Invention 3S3
ir, liistrumeats fur Writing with , 383
V. Inks . . . 38S
vi. Origin and Progress of Printing . 308
HI. Imitative Arts; compii-ing Designing, Painting, Enamelling, Sculpture, Pottery, and Poroe- lain-ModeTlirg Sect. 1. Knowledge of lije Ancients in respect to the Imita. tJTe Arts
ii. Painting in Glass
fii, ll^naniellin^
ir. Encaustic Painting
*• Painting of Paper- Hang ingi .
»1. Calico-printing
vii. Engraving
viii. Sculpture
ix. Pottery and Porcelain IV. Burning Mirtors
408
413 419
435 433 437 440 445 4i^ 4S8
ri COnTBltTS OP VOL. TI.
Ckap. Ttge
V. General Architecture and Mechanical Sciences 465
Sect. I. Architectore and Mechanical Sciences of the Ancient! ib.
ii. Comparative riew of the Architecture of different Ages 47t
iii. Labyrinlhs . . 477
iv. Great Wall of China . 480
f. Temple of Elephanta . 481
Ti. Temple of Jnggernaut . 485
SacT. Tii. Moral : or Cemeterj and Temple of the Australa*
■tan Islands . . 404
viii. Architectnral Remains at Mylatsa . 400
iz. Temple of Heliopalis, or Balbec . 4&&
a. Msgoificent Rains of Palmyra • 501
li. Splendid Rnini of Fersepolis . SIO
xii. Rains and present Appearance of Jerusalem £19
xiii. loteresting Ruins of the Plain of Troj &37
air, Scalptnre and Architecture of Athens 548
XT. Magnificent Renuili)) or Ruins in £gypt • 560
XTt. Porcelain Tower at NanUn . ib*
svii. Colossus of Rhodes . ■ 501
zriii. Italian Monatnents and Architeeln're ib.
six. Tenplc of Sancta Sophia at Coaalantinople Uf
xa. Moaastery of Moatserrat 503
axi. Slone-henge , . . 664 zxii. Tumuli: including Bsrrows, Cainu, Cromlechs, Kitt.raens, Logan or Rocking- ttones, and rimilar
MoDDmental Remains • 508
1. Barrows 507
2. Cairns . . 572
3. Cromlechs , 573
4. Rocking. stones. Logan. stones 574 VL Nnval Arciiiiecture . . 573
1^
THE
GALLERY
NATURE AND ART-
PART 11.
ART,
BOOK I. CHEMISTRY.
CHAPTER I.
OS THE KISS AND PROGRHSS OF CHEMISTRY'.
X HE beginniogs of everj art, which tended either to supply tht necefiitie*, or to allefiale the more pressing inconrenienciei of human life, were probably coeval with the first estabtishnieDt of civil societies, and preceded, by mnny ag^ s, the inventions of leU ters, of hieroglyphics, and of every other mode of transmittiog to posterity the memory of past transaction;. In tain shall we in. quire who invented (he first plough, baked the first bread, shaped the first pot, wove the first garment, or hollowed out the first canoCi Whether men were originally left, as they are at present, to pidt ap caiDil bfonaation concerning the properties of bodies, and to investigate by the strength of naturnl genius the various relalioai of the objects suTrounding them ; or were, in the very infancy of the world, supematnrally assisted in the discovery of matters essen* ttal, u it ibonld Sttm, to their exiiteoce and well baiog, mutt «v«r nmaiil anknown to u*.
▼OkTI. •
£ Bias AND fSOORBSS
There un be little doubt, ttitt in the tptce of, >t Uaat, 105G years, from (he crestion of the world to the deluge, a grekt nrietj of ecvnoroical art* must have been carried to a tstj cooiiderable degree of perfection. The knowledge of many of these perished, in all likelihood, with the fhea iitfaabilatiU of the earth: it being scarcely posiibte for that lingle family, which escaped the general rnin, to bare either pnctised, or been even snperficialty Kqnainted with them all. When men have been long united in civil societies, and human nature has been exalted by a reciprocal communication of knowledge, it does not often happen, that any usefal inventioa b entirely lost: bat were all the present inhabitants of the earth, except eight persons, to be destroyed by one sodden calamity, who sees not that most of those servkeable and elegant arts, which at present constitute the employment, and contribute to the happiness •f the greatest part of the bumon race, would probably ba buried hi brag oblivion i Many centuries might slip away, before the new inbabiUBts of the globe wonid again become acquainted with the nature of the compass ; with the arts of painting, printing, or dying; of making porcelsin, gun. powder, steel, or brass.
The interval of time which elapsed from the beginnlag of the World to the first deluge, is reckoned, by profane htttOfiana, to be wholly nncert^n as to the events which happened in it : it was an- tecedent, fay many centuries, net only to the era wbea they sup. posed history to commence, but to the most distant ages of heroism and fable. The only account relative to it, which we can relj
ttt%ic chemistry wlks well understood at that time ; for copper and froQ are of all the metals most difficultly extracted from their ores, and cannot, even in our days, be rendered malleable without much skill and trouble ; and it proves also, that the arts in general, were in an improved state amongst the autedUuvians. It is said, indeed, lliat some tribes of Hottentots (who can have no pretensions to be ranked amongst the cultivators of the arts) know how to melt both iron and copper * ; but this knowledge of theirs, if they have not derived it from an intercourse with the Europeans, is a very extraor. diiiary circumstance, since the melting and manufacturing of metals are justly considered, in general, as indications of a more advanced state of civilization than the Hottentots have yet arrived at. But not to dwell upon this; Cain we know built a city, and some would thence infer, that metals were in use before the time of Tubal. caio, and that he is celebrated principally for his ingenuity in fabricating them for domestic purposes. History seems to support our pre. tensions thus far. As to the opinion of those who, too zealously contending for the dignity of chemistry, make the discovery of its mysteries to have been the pretium amor is which angels paid to the fair daughters of men, we, in this age, are more disposed to apologize for it, than to adopt it. We may say of arts, what the Roman historian has said of states — datur heuc venia aniiquifaii^ uty miscendo humana divinis^ primordia artium augustiora fact at +.
For many ages after the flood, we have no certain accounts of the state of chemistry. The art of making wine, indeed, was known, if not before, soon after the deluge ; this may be collected from the intoxication of Noah !{:, there being no inebriating qua. Kty in the unfermented juice of the grape. The Egyptians were skilled in the manufacturing of metals, in medicinal chemistry, and in the art of embalming dead bodies, long before the time of Moses ; as appears from the mention made of Joseph's cup §, and from the pbjrslcians being ordered to embalm the body of Jacob {{. They practised also the arts of dying, and of making coloured glass, at a very eartj period ; as has been gathered, not only from the testi- mony of Strabo, but from the relics found with their mummies, and from the glass beads with which their mummies are sometimes
• Forster'i Voy. vol. 1. p. 81. S ^<'"' '»• 21 .
t Liv>*s Praef. 1| Gen. 1. 2.
t Geo, xliv. «.
4 BISB AND VSOaiBSS
•tadded*. Butwectnnot, from tbese iDilanees, cOBclnde that chemittrjr wu (hen cuUiniled u ftiep«nite branch "tof icieiuie, or disdnf Hltbed ia Its ipplication, from a vuiety of other uti ■hich must haTe been ezerciied for the support and conteDience of human lift. All of tbete had probably some depvadeim on chemical principlei, bat thaj were then, as thejr are at pment, practited by the leverd artLta withont their htLfing any theoretical kDOv> ledge of tbrir respective employment!. Nor can we pay mncb attention In this inqoiry to the obtcnre accounts which are giTen of the two great Egyptian philoiophere, Uermes the elder, lappoted to be the Mne with Misraim, grandson of Noah ; and Rermee, samamed Trismegiitos, the younger, from whom cbeBUstrf hat tiy •orae been affectedly called the Hermetic art.
The chemical skill of Moies, displayed in his bnming, redaciog to an Impalpable powder, and rendering potable Hie golden calf in the wilderncM, has been generally extolled by writers on tiUl sub> jeet ; and constantly adduced as a proof of the (hea loubhing state of chemistry amongst the Egyptians, in whote leaiaiag he is •aid to haTe been well Tersed. If Moses had really rodocad the gM of which the calf consisted, into uibet^ by calcining U In the ir« ; or made it any other way sotuble in water, tUi ioitaoce wonM have been greatly in point; but neither In Exodns nor in Deateronomy, where the fact is mentioned, is there any thing said of its being dissolved in water. The enemies of revelation, on the other hand, conceiving it to be impossible to calcine gold, or , have pfoductti thii
OF eREMISTBV. $
hare it, filed into a fine dust, and thrown into the riter, of which the children of Israel usH to drink : pirt of ilie gold would re- msin, notwithstanding its greater jpecilic gravitj-, su'ppuJed for a dme (as hmppens in the washing of copper and lead ores), and Diight be awallowed in drinking the water : the rest would sink to the bot* toni, or be carried awajr |)j> the flux of the sircan.
Nevertheless, (hough nothing saltefaclorj can be conclgded coi. cerning the Egjrplito chemistr)', from what is uid of Moses in tbii instance; jet the slrnctnre of (he ark, and the fashion of Aanm'i garments, clearly indicate to us that the arts of manufactnring me> tsls, of djing leather red, and Irnen blue, purple, and scarlet; of dbtingoisbiog precious stones, and engraTing upon them, were at that time practised in a Tery eminent degree*. Tbe Israelites had nnqaestionabl/ learned these arts in Egypt, and there is great rea. son (o sappoie, not only that learning of every kind ftrit flonrished IB Egypt, bu(that chemistry in particular, wu moch cnlti*atsd io that cwnMry, when other sciences had passed into other parti of the wor\d. Pliny, in speaking of the foar periods of learning which had preceded the times in which he iUed, reckons the Egyp. lian the first : and Soidas, who is thought to hate lived in the tenth century, informs us, (hat the Emperor Diocletian ordered all the books of chemistry to be burned, lest the Egyptians learning fron tbem the art of preparing gold and silver, should thence derive r*. iourcei to oppose the Romans. It is worthy of notice, tliat Snidas uses the word chemistry in a very restricted sense, when ha Interprets it by — the prpparation of gold and silver ; — but all the chemists in the time of Snidaa, and for many ages before and after him, were alchemists. The edict of Diocletian in the third century, bad little effect in repressing the ardour for that study in any part of the world, since we are (old, that not less than five thousand books, to say nothing of manuscripts, have been published upon ttie subject of alchemy, since his timet.
At what particular period tUs branch ot chembtry, respecting the trannDiitatian of the baser metals into gold, began to be dis. tinguishad by tbe name of alchemy, cannot be determined. Aa author of the fourth century, in aa astrological work, »petki of the science ot alchemy as well understood at that time; and
• Bxsd. uvi. and xxrUi) t CkeB.Walleri,p.M.
6 BISE AHp PK009BS9
thu u Mid to be the first pltce in whicb the word tlcheny U used*. But Voisius userti that we ought, in the place here re, ferred tO) instead of alchemia, to read chemia + : be thii u it may, we can hata do doubt of ali-hamia bein^ compoooded of the Arabic al (the) and chemia, (o denote excellence and supttriorilj, as in al. Dianack, aUkoran, and other wordi. Whether the Greeks ioTent* ed, or received from the Egyptians, the doctrine concsrntag the transmutation of metals, or whether the Arabians were Uie first who professed it^ is uncertain. To change iron, lead, tin, copper, or quicluil*er into gold, seems to be a problem more likeljr to aoi. mate mankind to attempt its solution, than cither that of squaring the circle, or of finding out perpetual motioo ; and as it has neTer yet been proved, perhaps never can be prored, to be an impossibl* problem, it ought not to be esteemed a matter of wonder, that the first chemical books we meet with, are almost entirely employed in alchemical inquiries.
Chemistry, with the rest of the sciences, being banished from the other parts of the world, took refuge among the Arabiaoi, Geber, in (he seventh, or as some will have it in the eighth, and others in the ninth century, wrote several chemical, or rather flcbemicat books, in Arabic. In these works of Geber are contained sued useful directions concerning the manner of conducting distillation, calcination, sublimation, and other chemical operations ; and such pertinent observations respecting various minerals, as justly seem to entitle him to the character, which some have giveii him, of be- ing tlip fjtljcr or r|j-iiiiMry; ihuiiLjIi, iimn.- of lln- mo^t cvltibraled
'<»?
tiioi«mhly establish the opinioo, that medical chemistry, as well as alckemj, was in those dark ages well understood by the Arabians.
Towards the beginning of the thirteenth century, Albert the Great, in Germany, and Roger Bacon, in England, began to cuL tiyate chemistry with success, excited thereto, probably by the perusal of some Arabic books, which about that time were trans- lated into Latin. These two monks, especially the latter, seem to haTe as far exceeded the common standard of learning in the age in which they lired, as any philosophers who haye appeared in any country, either before their time or since. They were succeeded io the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, by a great many eminent men, both of our own country and foreigners, who, in applying themselves to a)chemy> made, incidentally, many useful discoveries in various parts of chemistry : such were Arnoldus de Villa Nova, in France; our countryman George Ripley; Raymund Lully, of Majorca, who first introduced, or at least more largely explained, the notion of an universal medicine ; and Basile Valentine, whose excellent book, intitled Currus Antimonii Triumphalis , has con* tribute^ more than any thing else, to the introduction of that most useful mineral into the regular practice of most physicians in Europe ; it has given occasion also to a variety of beneficial, as lyell ^s (a circuinstance which might be expected, when so ticklish a mineral fell into the hands of interested empirics), to many per- picious nostrums. To this, rather than to the arrogant severity with which Basile Valentine treats the physicians, his cotempora. fies, may we attribute the censure of Boerhaave ; who, in speak- ing of him, says, ^^ he erred chiefly in this, that he commended every antimonial preparation, than which nothing can be more foolish, fallacious, and dangerous ; but this fatal error has infected every medical school from that time to this*."
The attempting to make gold or silver by alchemical processes, had been prohibited by a constitution of Pope John the 22d, who was elevated io the pontificate in the year 1316 + ; and within about one hundred and twenty years from the death of Friar Bacpp, the nobility and gentry of England had become so infatu- ated with the notions of alchemy, and wasted so much of their sub- stance In search of the philosophers stone, as to render the inter, position of government necessary io restrain their folly. The fol-
• Boerb, Ch« vol. 1. p, 18. f Kirch. Moo. Sob. 1. zi. sect. iv. c. 1.
B 4
8 BISB AMD VBOORBSt
lowing act of ptrliiment, which Lord Coko calli tht ihorteit he ever met with, wts puted S H. 4. " None from hencefarth shall oM to multiplj' gold or silver, or uie the cnft of multipllcatiMi ; and if any (he same do, he ihall Incor the pain of felony." It hat beea ivggftUi, that the reason of passing this act, wai not an ap- prrheniioQ lest roen thonld niln their fortnnee by eBdeavonring to make gold, bat a jealoiuy lest goTernmeot ihonld bo aboT* asking aid of the subject. '* After Rajmnnd Loll/, and Sir Uaorge Ripley, bad so largely multiplied gold, the lord* and ■■■wm^iif^ cooceiring some dinger that the regency, having stch hnmenae treasure at command, ironld be above asking aid of the nb- ject, and might become too arbitrary and ^nmnical, made an act againit multiplying gold and silver*." This act, whatercr n^t be the occasion of passing it, though It gave some o the public exercise of alchemy^ yet it did not cure the d for it [n ioditidnals, nor remoTe the general credulity ; Sir in the 3JS H. 6, Letters patent were granted to several people, by vUch Aey were permitted to inrestigate an universal medldoa, and to perform the transmutation of metals into real gold and allrer, with a noD>obstante of the forementioned statnte, whkb remained in full force tilt the year 1689, ^^^^ 1>'>°S conceived to opente to the discouragement of the melting and refining of metals, It Wtt far> mally repealed^.
The beginning of the sixteenth century was remarkable for a
great revolution produced in the European practice of pbyalCj by
5 of chr-mistry. Then it w.i^ dial PiractOsus, following
tlir liiiirtlliiJ HDCMs of life, obserret rack ft terfct irnHbrmitf of cdtfdiet, as not to cfford prejudice and partiality suificieot materials for drawing his character in different colonrs ; bnt sucli a great and inegnlar genins as Paracelsus, could not fail of becoming alike, the solgect of the extremes of panegyric and satire* He has accord* ingly been esteemed by some, a second Esculapius ; others hare thonght that he was possessed of more impudence than merit, and that his reputation was more owing to the brutal singularity of his condnct, than to the cures he performed. He treated the physi- cians of his time with the most sottish vanity and illiberal insolence, telling them, that the rery down of his bald pate, had more know. ledge than all their writers ; the buckles of his shoes more learning than Galen or Aticenna, and his beard more experience than all their nnlTersities*. He rerired the extra?agant doctrine of Ray. mimd Lnlly, concerning an uni? ersal medicine, and untimely sank into his graTe at the age of forty-seven, whilst he boasted himself to be in possession of secrets able to prolong the present period of human life, to that of the antediluTians.
But in whatever estimation the merit of Paracelsus as a chemist may be held, certain it is, that his fame excited the envy of some, the emulation of others, and the industry of all. Those who at- tacked, and those who defended his principles, equally promoted the knowledge of chemistry ; which from his time, by attracting the notice of physicians, began every where to be systematically treated, and more generally understood.
Soon after the death of Paracelsus, which happened in the year 1641, the arts of mining and fluxing metals, which had been prac. tised in most countries from the earliest times, but had never been explained by any writers in a scientific manner, received great il- lustration from the works of Georgius Agricola, a German phy- sician. The Greeks and Romans had left no treatises worth men- tioning upon the subject; and though a l>ook or two had appeared in the German language, and one in the Italian, relative to metal- lurgy, before Agricola published his twelve books De Re MetaiiicOy yet he is justly esteemed the first author of reputation in that branch of chemistry.
Lazarus Erckern (assay.master general of the empire of Ger- many) followed Agricola in the same pursuit. His works were
* Pwkct to hit beofc tatltkd Paiagranaoi, where there it more in the lame •tyle.
]0 RISK AND FAOORBSS
first pabliahed >t Pngne, in 1S74, and an Engliih traiuUtion of them by Sir Joho PeUui, ceme out at Landoo, in 10S3. Tbe woTks of Agricola and Eri:kern am still highly esteemed, thongfa lereral otben hare be«n published, chiefly in Germany, upan th« same subject, tince their time. Amongst these we may reckon Schindler'9 Art of Assaying Ores and Metals ; the metallui^ic works of Onchall ; the trorks pf Heackell; of Scbutter ; ofCra. ner ; of Lehman ; and of Gellert. Germany, indeed, bat for a loDg time been thegreat school of metallurgy for the rest of Europe} and we, in this country, o^e the present flourishing conditian of our mines, espfcislly of our copper mines, is well as of our brass manufactory, to the wise policy of Queen Elizabeth, in grantii^ great priTileges to Daniel Houghsetter, Christopher Schoti, and other Germans ; whom she had inrited into England, in older to instruct her subjects in the art of metallurgy.
It was not, however, till towards the middle of the last centqry, that general chemistry began to be cultiTated in a liberal and phi- losophical manner. So early as the year 164£, several ingenions persons in London, in order to dirert their thoughts from the hor- rors of the ciTil war, which had then broken out, liad formed tbemseWcs into a society, and held weekly meetings, in which thsy treated of, what was then called, the new, or experimental pbilo. sophy. These meetings were continued in London, till the esta- blishment of the Royal Society, in 1663 j and before that time, by llie remoral of some of the original members to Oxford, similar meetings were held there, and those studies brought into repute in
jMrtiibodlced iiUo Cornwall, the method of fluxing tin by means pf the flame of pit.coal, instead of wood or charcoal *.
Lemery's jtry accurate course of practical chemistry, appeared fn 1675. Glauber's works had been published at different tiroe3, frpm 1651 to }661, wheu his tract, entitled Philosophical Furnaces, quneoutat Amsterdam. Kunckel died in Sweden, in 1702; he ha4 p^c^ised phemistry for abore 60 years, under the auspices of ^he elector of Saxony, and of Charles XL of Sweden, He wrote his c|iemjcal observations in the German Language, but had them translated into Latin, in the year 1 677 : the translation is dedicated py its author, to our Royal Society. They were afterwards trans- lated into English, in 1704. Having had ^^^ superintendcncy of sereral glass-houses, he had a fine opportunity of making a great yariety of experiments in that way ; and i have been informed by pur enamellers, and makers of artificial gems, that they can depend more upon the processes and observations of Kunckel, than of any other author upon the same subject. The chemical labours of these and many other eminent men, too numerous to mention, were greatly forwarded by the establishment of several societies, for the encouragcmeni of natural philosophy, which took place in Tarious parts of Europe about that period.
The Philosophical Transactions, at London; the Histoire de )!Academie Royale des Sciences, at Paris; the Saggi d'Esperienze di Academia del Cimeuto, at Florence ; the Journal des S^avans, in Holland , the Ephemerides Academiae Naturae Curiosorum, in Germany,; the Acts of the Academy of Copenhagen; and the Acta Kruditorum, at Leipsic; all these works began to be published within the space of twenty years from 1665, when our Royal So- ciety first set the example, by publishing the Philosophical Trans, actions. To these may be added, the works of the Academies
♦ Bcccher wrote his Alphabethiim Minerale,at Truro, in Cornwall, In 168?, net long before his death. In his dedication of this tract to Mr. Boyle, he has the followinje; words :— ** i^nis usu9, ope flammarani lithantracum stnnnum eC minetaliafuDdendi, Cornubias hactenns incognitas, sedame introductus." — This accoant which Beccher gives of himself, is not quite agreeable to what is advanced by as author every way qualified to come at the truth of this mat- ter. — " Neceaity at last suggested the introduction of pit-coal for the smelting of fin ore; and, among others, to Sir Bevil Granville, of Stow, in this county, temp. Car. I. who madto several experiments, though without success; neither did the effectual smelting of tin ore with pit-coal, take place till the second yfU of Queen Anne.** Pryce'i Miner. Conah. p. 88i»
12 mm AMB PBoomBtt
of BerUs, PttenbiiTgliy Stockholoii Upiil, Bonoiihi BooWbux, Montpelieri Gotdogen, and of ie?ertl othen whidi ka?o bton established within the coarse of the present centnry. Near a thonsand Tolumes hare been (nibHshed by tiiese learned sodeCies, within less than 190 years. The number of facts which are therein related respecting chemistry, and erery other braaeh of nateral philosophy, is exceedingly great ; bnt die sntject b still gmter, and must for erer mock the efforts of the hnman race to eihanst it« Wdl did Lord Bacon compare natural philoiophy to a pyra. mid I Its basis Is indeed the history of nature, of which wo know a little and conjecture much ; but its top is, without doubt, Md V^ in the elonds ; it is <* the work which God worketh firom the lie. ginning to the end," infinite and inscrutable.
By the light which has been incidentally thrown upon varions parts of chemistry, from those Vast nndertakingp of public aodeties, as well as from the more express labours of Stahl, Newman, Hod man, Jnncker, Geoffry, BoerhaaTe, and of many otiwn equally worthy of commendation ; by the theoretic conclosiom and syste- matic dirisions which have been introdnoed into it; from the didac tic manner in which the students of this art hare i>een instructed In erery medical school; chemistry has quite changed its appear* ance. It is no longer considered merely in a medical ^w, nor restricted to some fruitless efforts upon metals; it no Ibnger at* tempts to impose upon the credulity of the ignorant, nor aftcts to astonbh the simplicity of the vulgar, by its wonders ; bnt is eontent with explaining them upon the principles of sound philosophy. It has shaken off the opprobrium which had been thrown npoo it| from the unintelligible jargon of the alchemists, by re?ealing all its secrets, In a language as clear and as common as the nature of Its subjects and operations will admit
Considered as a branch of physics, chemistiy is but yet fai its infancy: howerer, the mutual emulation and unwearied endea* ▼ours of so many eminent ipen as are In every part of Europe engaged in Its cultivation, will, in a little time, render it equal to any part of natural philosophy, in the cleamesi and solidity of Its principles. In the utility resulting to the public from lis eondu. sions, with respect to the practice of medicine, of agriculture^ arts, and manufactures of every kind, it is ^ven in its present state inCs- rior to none.
The uses of chemistry, not only in the medical^ bnt in eveiy
art, art loo eztensm to be eoameimted, and too noto. to want illustration J it may just be obserred, that a ?ariety of mannfactnres, by a proper application of chemical principles, ■nigbt, probably, be wrought at a less expense, and executed in a better manner, than they are at present. But to this improYement there are impediments on erery hand, which cannot easily be oyer, come. Those who by their situations in life are removed from any design or desire of augmenting their fortunes, by making disco?e. ries in the chemical arts, will hardly be induced to diminish them by engaging in expensive experimental inquiries, which not only re. qaire an uninterrupted attention of mind, but are attended with the wearifomeness of bodily labour. It is not enough to employ ope. rmtors in this business ; a man must blacken bis own hands with cbarcoal, he must sweat over the furnace, and inhale many a noxi- ous vapour, before be can become a chemist. On the other hand, the artists themselves are generally illiterate, timid, and bigoted to particular modes of carrying on their respective operations. 'Being anacqnainted with the learned, or modern, languages, they seldom know any tiring of new discoveries, or of the methods of working practfaed in other countries. Deterred by the too frequent, but nucluto-be lamented examples of those, who, in benefiting the public by projects and experiments, have ruined themselves, they ■re unwilling to incur the least expense in making trials, which are uncertain with respect to profit. From this apprehension, as well asfirom the mysterious manner in which most arts, before the inven« tion of printing, and many still continue to be taught, they acquire a certain opiniAtrete^ which effectually hinders them from making improvements by departing from the ancient traditionary precepts of their art. It cannot be questioned, that the arts of dyeing, painting, brewing, distilling, tanning, of making glass, enamels, porcelain, artificial stone, common salt, sal ammoniac, salt.petre, potash, sugar, and a great variety of others, have received much improTement from chemical inquiry, and are capable of receiving much more*
Metallurf^ in particular, though one of the most ancient branches of chemistry, affords matter enough for new discoveries. There are a great many combinations of metals which have never been made ; many of which, however, might be made, and in such a variety of proportions, as, Tery probably, would furnish us with metallic mixtures more senriccablo than any in use. The method of ex-
U ftlSB AMD PitOGR&Si
trwting the gTMMt poiiible qoantitj of raetsl from a giren qaidJ ti^ of Ihe >«&« kind of ore, )»t» perhaps, In no one initufCc been ascertained with sufficient precision. There are mauy sorts of iron and copper oret, which cannot be conrerted into malleable metals, without mach labour, and a great eipenip of fuel ; It is very pro. bable, that bj a wriUcondncted aeriei of esperimentrf, nor^ com- pendious ways of working these minerals might be funud out. In our own times three new metallic sabitaaces hare been disco- vered *, and tbdr properties abundantly ascertained by experi- ment; aaditmay reasonably be conjectured, that fatnre experience will yet augment their nnmber. Till Marggraaf shewed the manner of doing it, no metallic substance could be extracted from calamine, and all Europe was supplied with linc + either from India or from Germany. A manufactory of this metallic substance has not many years ago been established in our own country, and the copper works near Bristol hare supplied Birmingham with sine extracted from calamine. Black-jack wu not long since employnd in Wales for mending tbe roads ; its ralue is not yet generally known in Derbyshire ; but it is now well understood by some indirldnals to answer tbe purpose of calamine for the making of brassf. Mods. Von Swab^ in 1738, was, 1 believe, the first person who distilled zinc from black-jack^; and a work which he erected, probably gate tbe hint to the establishers of our English manufactory : in- deed, 1 htTe been well informed, that they purchased tbe secret from him when he whs In England. The various I If a J. fru
(» 4 t
4 '^Mt MeMMii1Pllt.<^> '^ fy
dflSliMft of all metallic matter*; yet it may not be improper to remark) that the external appearance of the yellowish cawk is wholly similar to that of calcined black-jack. That it is much of the same weight as black-jack may appear from the annexed table :*
Weight of a cubic foot of
Avoirdup. oz« White cawk .... 4047
Yellow cawk . . . 4112 .
Kebble . . . . 4319
Black-jack . . . 4093
Water . . . .1000
In a word, the improvement of metallurgy, and the other me- chanic arts, dependent on chemistry, might best be made by the public establishment of an academy, the labours of which should he destined to that particular purpose. The utility of such esta. I>li8hments has been experienced in SaXony, and other places ; and as mines and manufactures are to the full as important to us, as to any other European state, one may hope, that the con- stituting a Chemical Academy may, in times of peace and tran* quillity, become an object not unworthy the attention of the Ring, or the Legislature of the British nation f.
[Bishop Watson.
This last patriotic recommendation addressed to the public by Dr. WatsoD, in 1781, though not carried into effect in the precise manner he suggested, has by no means been altogether neglected. If the legislature haye not adopted the scheme, it has not been lost flight of by scientific and public.spirited indiyiduals. The Royal Institution led the way, and by the splendid chemical discoveries which hare issued from its laboratory and apparatus, under the di.
♦ See Mr. WoMlfe*s ingenious Experiments, in Philos. Trans. 1779, p. 15.
^ The reader who wishes to become more fully acquainted with the history of cheodstry, may consult what Borrichius has said in his Dissertation de Ortu et Progretia Cbemiae, published at Copenhagen, in 1G68 ; and in his book en- tilled HermcUs, ^gyptiorum, et Chemicorum, Sapientia ab Hermaoni Cou- rlogii Animadvenionibus viDdicata, published at the same place, in I6T4. He will also find somethiog worth bis notice on this subject, in Boerhaave's Che- mistry; and in a work of Wallerius, called, Chcmiae Physics Pars Prima, pub- lished at Stockholm, in 1760; where there is an useful caUlogue of the most approTcd writers on the farlous parts of chemistry.
Id
miSB AND PBOOalHOr CHBMItTRT.
rection at Sir Hnmplirjr Dary , and bera dMcribed In lii« Uctnna, u chemical profetsor to the eitabrnbinent, hai acquired a Terj db* lingaiibed reputatioo. To thii bare ancceeded tevftral other aci. cDtific loititutions In tbii metropolii, which have, in diffwent da. greei, eontdbatod toward* the ume object ; the Geological Soci. oljr, and the Wernerian Societj' of Edlnbui^ h ; both which, more especially, hare been laboariog for lome years, in the Immediile department to which the obserrations before lu are pecnliarlj di> rected. From thne, and limilar Htabliibmeats, and norc parti- enlarlf from Q» inccesifnl labonrt of Sir Humphrj Davjr, we have Attained a more comprebeatiTe iniight Into the principle! of bodiet ; hare aararcd onnelTei, that many of the earthi are onlj natalUc oxjrdi, which may be reduced to a rt^ oline or pure metalUc ttate, by detaching the oxygen, which alone girei them thrir o^ form ; •nd baTe hence been led to believe, that all the otbereaf^i, which have not yet been analyzed with the same sncceta, ara Itoned of similar priociplea. We hare been able to decompose the fiisd alkk Ilea ; have made no small progress in decompoiing ^■^^^^1H^^^l. and the dmple combustibles ; and have aicertaiaad the rerj ringnUr bet, that the first of these, whether potash or soda, ara themselT«a metallic oxyds, capable of bong reduced, by an abitractloa of thdr oxygen, to metals of an extraordinary character, thrir lerity ena- bling them to fioat not only upon water or alkohol, but Id one in* stance upon naphtha, the lightest fluid we know of, Weharealao, from the same sources, discovered that oxygen is by bo aa«ni combustion ; thai (here are at least
'TW"
.f: TT>ifii-i>»t> Wl '^rfvmtT ^j t >»
CHAP. II.
ON BLBCTRICfTY.
SECTION I.
«
Introduction,
X HB study of (bis interesting and amusing science belongs equall/ to the chemist, the mechanical philosopher^ and the physiologist; for the effects of the electrical fluid are in some instances chemical, in some mechanical, and in some, and peculiarly those which belong io voltaic electricity, physiological. We shall here give it a place in the first of these divisions of science : and shall endeavour to trace the nature of the fluid as it appears when quiescent, or In a state of rest or equilibrium ; and when in activity, or in a state of motion. We shall also notice the more curious of the different modes by which it may be accumulated and discharged, and parti. eviarly that of the galvanic or voltaic circle.
^Editor.
SECTION II.
Electricity in Equilibrium,
Ths phaenomena of electricity are as amusing and popular in their external form, as they are intricate and abstruse in their inti- mate nature. In examining these phsenomena, a philosophical observer will not be content with such exhibitions as dazzle the eye for a moment, without leaving any impression that can be in- structive to the mind, but he will be anxious to trace the connec* tioQ of the facts with their general causes, and to compare them with the theories which have been proposed concerning them : and although the doctrine of electricity is in many respects yet in its infancy, we shall find that some hypotheses may be assumed, which are capable of explaining the principal circumstances in a simple and satisfactory manner, and which are extremely useful in connecting a multitude of detached facts into an intelligible system. These hypotheses^ founded on the discoveries of Franklin, have
VOL. vu c
18 BLBCTBICITY IN BgUlLIBBllTM.
been gndullf formed into a theorjr, bj th« iQTUtl|ftlioiu of Aeftoni and Mr. Cttrendiih, conabioed with the experiments and infereocei of Lord Stanhope, Coulomb, and Robinson.
We shall first conildcr the fundamental hypotheses on wMcb tlus system depends ; and secondly^ the conditions of eqniUbrinm of the substances concerned in it; determining the moda of dis- tribution of the electric fluid, and the forces or pressures derircd from its action when at rest ; all which will be found to be dedac> ed from the theory, precisely as thej are experimentally obier*- able. The motions of the electric flnid will next be noticed, as &r as we on form any general cODclusloni respecting them ; and tba manner In which the equilibrium of electricity is distarbedi or tiie excitation of electricity, will also be considered ; attdf In the bit place, it will be necessary to take a view of the B or tlie practical part of etectrici^, and to examine the n artificial apparatus concerned in electrical phsnomena, ai well aa is thoM efiects which hare been denominated galranici
It is supposed that a peculiar ethereal Aold perradai the poreSj if not the sctotl substance, of the earth} and all otbar material (odiee; passing through them with more or less bdli^, according to their different powers of conducting it : tiiat the particlea of thli ivii repel each other, and are attracted by the particles of common matter : that the particles of common matter also repel each other : and that these attractions and repulsions are equal among themseWes, and rary inversely as the squares of the dis. ■.a of the particles.
Tkete nfpnlsions and attracfioos are supposed to act, not onljr between two particles which are either perfectly or very nparly in contact with each other, but also between all other particles, at all distances, whi e^er obstacles may be interposed between them* Thus, if two electrified balls repel each other, the effect is not impeded by the interposition of a plate of glass : and if any other substance interposed appears to interfere with their mutual action, it is in consequence of its own electrical aifpctions. In these respects, as well as in the law of their vanat'on, the electrical forces differ from the common repulsion which operates between the particles of elastic fluids, and resemble more nearly that of graritation. Their intensity, when separately considered, Is much greater than that of gravitation, and they might be supposed to be materially concerned in the great phenomena of the universe ; but iu the common neutral state of all bodies, the electrical fluid, which i^ every where present, is so distributed, that the yarious forces hold each other exactly in equilibrium, and the separate results are destroyed ; unless we choose to consider gravitation itself as arising from a comparatively slight inequality between the electrical attractions and repulsions.
Tt e attraction of the electric fluid (o common matter is shewn by its communication, from one body to another, which is less copiously supplied with it, as well as by many other phasnomena; and this attraction of the fluid of the first body, to the matter of the second, is precisely equal to its repulsion for the quantity of the fluid, which naturally belongs to the second, so as to saturate the matter. For the excess or deficiency of the fluid in the first body, does not immediately produce either attraction or repulsion, so long as the natural distribution of the fluid in the second body remains unaltered.
Since also two neutral bodies, the matter which they contain being saturated by the electric fluid, exhibit no attraction for each other, the matter in the first must be repelled by the matter in the secbnd ; for its attraction for the fluid of the second would other, wise remidn uncompensated. We are, however, scarcely justi- fied in classing this mutual repulsion among the fundamental pro. jperties of matter; for useful as these laws are in explaining electrical appearances, they seem to deviate too far from the UMgnificent simplicity of nature's works, to be admitted as primary ettncquences of tl|e eonitittttloii of matter i they may, however,
c2
^
<0 BLBCTRICITT IH BttlTtLIBtllTM.
Iw coniidered u modifiMlioai of ioim other mi>re general Itwi,
which are yet N^ollf unknown to ni.
When the equillbriuin of these forces U deitroyed, the electric fluid is put in motion ; those bodies, which atlnw the fluid k free passage, are called perfect conductors ; but those which impede its notioD, more or less, are noncondtictori, or imperfect conductors. For eiample, while the electric fluid ii received into the metallic cylinder of «n electrical machine, its accomHlalion axy be pr^ Tented by (he application of the hand to the cylinder which receitrs it, and it will pass off through the person of the operator to the ground ; hence the human body is called a conductor. Bat when the metallic cylinder, or coudnclor, of the machiM )l lur. rownded only by dry air> and supported by glass, the electric fluid is retained, and its density increued, until it becomes citable of procuring itself a pas sagp, 'soma incites in length, through Iht air, which is a rery imperfect conductor. If a person, etnnected with the conductor, be placed on a stool with glass legs, the elec- tricity will DO longer pass through him to the earth, bat may be so accumulated, as to malie its way to any neighbourii^ snbftaace, which is capable of receiving it, eihibiting a luminous appearaDCe, called a spark; and a person or a substance, so placed as to be in contact with nonconductors only, is said to be Insulated. When electricity Is subtracted from the substance thus insulated, it is said to be negatively electrified, but the sensible efl'ects are nearly the same, eicept thai in some cases the form of the sparks is a little different.
8«ffte#, indicating ml«o in some cases tlie species ai electricity, wbetlier positire or nega(i?e, that has been employed; positife eiectricity producing an appearance somewhat resembling feathers; and negati?e electricity an arrangement more like spots. The inequality in the distribution of the electric fluid in a nonconduc- tor, may remain for some hours, or even some days, continually diminishing till it becomes imperceptible.
These are the fundamental properties of the electric fluid, and of the different kinds of matter as connected with that fluid. We are next to examine its distribution, and the attractive and repnl. sife effects exhibited by it, under different forms. Supposing a quantity of redundant fluid to exist in a spherical conducting body, it will be almost wholly collected into a minute space contiguous to the surface, while the internal parts remain but little over- charged. For we may neglect the actions of the portion of fluid which is only occupied in saturating the matter, and also the effect of the matter thus neutralised, since the redundant fluid is repelled as much by the one, as it is attracted by the other ; and we need only to consider the mutual actions of the particles of this super. inous fluid on each other. It may then be shewn, in the same manner as it is demonstrated of the force of gravitation, that all the spherical strata which are remoter from the centre than any given particle, will have the whole of their action on it annihilated by the balance of their forces, and that the effective repulsion of the interior strata will be the same, as if they were all collected in the centre. This repulsion will, therefore, impel the particles of the fluid towards the surface, as long as it exists ; and nothing will impede the condensation of the redundant fluid there, until it is exhausted from the neighbourhood of the centre. In the same manner it may be shewn, that if there be a deficiency of fluid, it will be only in the external parts, the central parts remaining always in a state of neutrality : and since the quantity of electric fluid taken away from a body, in any common experiment, bears but a very small proportion to the whole that it contains, the defi. ciency will also be found in a very small proportion of the sphere, next to its surface. And if, instead of being spherical, the body be of any other form, the effects of electricity will still be princi- pally confined to its surface. This proposition was very satisfac torily investigated by Mr. Cavendish ; and it was afterwards more fully ibewn, by Dr. Gray's experiments, that the capacities of
c3
fit BLsenieiTT ik baotlmbivm.
diffHTtnt bedlei, for recriving electricity, depend mod man an tbf quantitj of their larfiuei, than on their lolid conlnitKi tfan*, tilt conductor of an electrical mactuoe will conttiB very nettrly or qaite as moch electricitj if hollow as if lolid.
If two Kpheret be united bj a cyliodriral uondnctiBg lubituiGCj of mall dimeoiioDR, there will be an pquilibriniDi whfB tke actioni of th«^ redundant fluid in the ipherei, on the wbole flaid in the cylinder, are equal ; that ii, when both the aphem have tlwir aurhcei electrifi<^d in an equal degree : but if the length of tin cylinder i> cooaiderabm, the fluid within it can only remain at rest when the quantitiei of redundant fluid are nearly eqnal i» both sphrrcB, aiid conteqnently when the dentity is greater in the iDtaller. And, for a similar reason, in bodies of iTiei^uUr forma, the fluid is always most accnnulated in the smallest parts ; and when a conducting rubstance is pointed, the flnid becomes so dense at its en reality, as easily to overcame the forcci which tend to retain it in its situation.
In thin disliibutlon we find a Tery charisteristic diflincnce be- tween the pTOft^ure of ihi* flectric fluid, and the common hydro. static pressure of liquids, or of sini|ile elasiir fluids; for tbeso eiert on every surface, MuiiUrly ^ilua<ed, a pressure proportionato to its magnitude ; hut (he electric fluid exerts a pressure on small and angular iurfac's, grtatet, in proportion to their magnitodes, than th« pre&surc on larger parts : so that if the electric flnid were in general confined to its situation, by the pres^nre of the atmo. spherr, that pressuie might easily be too wrak to oppose its escape
in0l$imkm b dtssinitor ttatet. TUs is » coiiM<iii«ii#e imntdi. iMjr dedadble from th« mutual attraction of redaadant matter^ aad redundant fluid, and from the repulsion supposed to exist between any two portions, either of matter or of fluid ; and it maj also easily be confirmed by experimental proof. A neutral body, if it were a perfect nonconductor, would not be affected either way by the neighbourhood of an electrified body : for while the whole matter contained in it remains barely saturated with the electric fluid, the attractions and repulsions balance each other. But, in general, a neutral body appears to be attracted by an electrified body, on account of a change of the disposition of the fluid which it contains, upon the approach of a body either posi. tirely or negatifely electrified. The electrical afiection produced in this manner, without any actual transfer of the fluid, is called induced electricity.
When a body positively electrified approaches to a neutral body, the redundancy of the fluid expels a portion of the natural quan* tity from the nearest parts of the neutral body, so that it is accn. mulated at the opposite extremity ; while the matter, which is left deficient, attracts the redundaut fluid of the first body, in such a manner as to cause it to be more condensed in the neighbourhood of the second than elsewhere ; and hence the fluid of this body is driven still further off, and all the efiects are redoubled. The attraction of the redundant fluid of the electrified body, for tho redundant matter of the neutral body, is stronger than its repul- sion for the fluid which has been expelled from it, in proportion as the square of the mean distance of the matter is smaller than that of the mean distance of the fluid : so that in all such cases of induced electricity, an attraction is produced between the bodies concerned. And a similar attraction will happen, under contrary circumstances, when a neutral body and a body negatiyely electric fled, approach each other.
The state of induced electricity may be illustrated by placing 9l long conductor at a little distance from an electrified substance, and directed towards it ; and by suspending pith balls, or other light bodies from it, in pairs, at diff'erent parts of its length : these will repel each other, from being similarly electrified, at the two ends, which are in contrary states of electricity, while at a certain point towards the middle they will remain at rest, the conductor being here peilec%iieiitr|il. It was fisjom .4he situation of thif
c4
'94 BLBCTaiaTT 1» t^VlUMUOM,
point that Lord Sdohope fint iofcrred Um tnw law of tbo «!« Btlnclions and repotsioni, altbovgh Mr. Cavendiab had b BUggeited th« same law ai th« rooit prababia loppcwitioii.
The attraction, tbni exerted by bd electrified body upon of substances, ii strong enoogh, if they are lafRclcDtly light, to ' come their graTitatloD, and to draw tfaein op from a labia at little distance : npon teaching the electrified body, if It fi a doctor, they receite a quantity of electricity from it, am again repelled, until tbey are deprired of thrir electricity by tact with some other inbatance ; which, If lofficiently near ti first, Is ninally in a contrary state, and therefore rendeia still more capable of returning, when they have toncbed it, t fint nbttance, in conseqneDce of an Increased attraction, asi also by a new repuliion. This alteration has been apjriied t coostraction of sereral electrical toys ; a little hammer, foi ample, has been made to play between two bells ; and thia in ment has been employed for giving notice of any change ol electrical Itate of the atmosphere. The repnlsion which t place between two bodies, in a similar state of etectridty* i canse of the cnrrents of air which always accompany tba diKi of electricity, whether negatlTe or positive, from p<rintad stances ; each particle of air, as soon aa It has received its ek city from the point, being immediately repelled by It; and current has alto been supposed to facilitate the escape of the tricity, by bringing a conlinaal saccession of particles not idr overcharged.
xLBCtRtciTr iir saniLimuM.
forproduciog it the more readily, each surface is imtMy cMted with a conducting substance, vrhich serres to conxej the fluid to and from its dllTerent parts with confenienoe. The thinner aity ■■bstance to, the greater quantity of (he fluid is required for ckaifing it in this mannefj so as to produce a given tension, or tradenc)' to escape ; but if it be made too thin, it wilt be liable to break the attractire force of the fluid; for the natter on the opposite side oTercomlng the cohesion of the substance, and per- haps forcing its way through the temporary vacuum which is nmeo*
When a conimunication Is made in any manner, by a conducting aubttance, between the two coatings of a charged plate or vessel, the equilibrium is restored, and the effect is called a shock. If the coatings be removed, the plate will still remain charged, and it may be gradually discharged by making a communication between iti several parts in succession, hut it cannot be discharged at once, for want of ■ common connection : so that the presence of the coating is not absolutely essential to (he charge and discharge of th» oppoiite surfaces. Such a coatvd substance Is most usually employed in the form of a jar. Jars were formerly filled widi water, or with iron filings ; the instrument having been principally made known from the experiments of Musschenbroek and othen, at Leyden, it was called the l<eyden phial ; but at present a coaL ing of tin foil is commonly applied on both sides of the jar, leavinif a sufficient space at its upper part, to avoid the spontaneous dis- charge, which would often take place between the coatings, if they approached too near to each other ; and a ball is fixed to the cover, L which has a communication with the internal coating, and by eans of which the jar is charged, while the external coating ia wed to communicate with the ground. A collection of such is called a battery ; and an apparatus of this kind may be « so powerful, by increasing the number of jars, as to exhibit r striking effects by the motion of the electric fluid, in its a one to the other of the surfaces. Uting powers of different substances are concerned, not only In Ihlfacility with which the motions of the electric fluid are directed hito a particular channel, but also in many cases of its equilibrium, and particularly in the properties of charged sub- stances, which depend on the resistance opposed by noncooductora to tke feady timowiJiiiua of the fluid. These powers may be
tS BtBOTSIClTY IN MOTlOJf.
compared, by ucerUining the gremteit length of eicb at tte rob*
atances to be esaminfld, through which * ip&rk or i ibock vHl take its course, io prefereoce to a given length ot air, or of any other itandard of comparison. The snbitaiicei which cosdnct electricity the most reattily, are metals, well bnmt chartoal, animal bodies, acids, saline liqnors, water, and verj nn air. The principal nonconductors are glass, ice, gems, dry aalts, snU phur, amber, resins, silk, dry wood, oils, dry air of the usual deiuity, and the barometrical vacuum. Heat commonly mcmM* the conducting powers of bodies; ajar of glass maybe d 1^ a moderate heat, mid liquid resins are capable of t shock), although they are by do means good condBC(or»i it Is remarkable also that a jar may be discharged by miauta agitation, when it is caused to ring by the frittion of the finger. It hai been observed thst, in a great variety of rases, those nbftancai which are the best conductors of heat, afford also the readiest pascago to electricity ; llius, copper conducts beat more rapidly, ud electri. dty more readily, than iron ; and plstina less than alOMlt any olber metal : glass also presents a considerable retistanco to tbe transmtaslon of both these influences. The analogy Is, howerar, In many respects imperfect, and it afford* us but Utile light, with regard either to (he nature of heat, or to that of the electric fluid. [FoKiv'' IftU. Fkit.
SUCTION 111.
SlBCTBtCtTV IH HOTtOM.
•ubttiBCM U so rapid, as to be performed in all cases wttbiMt a unsibfe iobrval of timp. 1' has indeed bero said, iliai when very weakJ/ cxciled, and ubligfd (o pass to i »< ry great distance, a perceptible portion of (ine is actually oci upi4>'l in ill passage ; bat tkii fact ia lompwhat doubtful, and altemp's have been made, in Tain, (o estimate the int'nal employed in tl^e transmission of a ■bock tliTOush several mil"* of wire. We are not to imagine that the same particles of the fluid which enter at one part, pasx through Uw wLole conductJDft tubstance, any mare than that the same por. tion of blood which is thrown ou' of th" heart, in each pnbatioa, arrivM at the wrist at the instant (tial the pulse is fell there. The velocity of the transmission of a »park, ur shocfc, far exceeds the actual velocity of each particle, in ilie same manner as ibe velocity of a ware exceeds that of the particles of nater conierned in its propagation ; and this Telocity must depend both on the elasticity of the fluid, and ou the forue witti which it is confined to tbe coiu, dueling substance. If itis force wre merely derived from tbe pressure of tbe aimosphere, wi might infer the density of the fluid from Ibe velocity of a s|tark ur shock, compared with that of sound ; or we might deduce its velocity from a determination of its density. It has been supposed, although perhaps somewhat hastily, that the attual velocity is nearly equal to thai of licht.
When a cuoduciing (^ubsiaace approai !>es another, which is electri&ed, the distribution of the electric fluid within it is neces- sarily altered by induction, before it receires a spark, so that its remoter extremity is brought into a state similar to that of the first body : h>-nce it happens that when the spark passes, it produces less eflect at the remoter end of 'he sub>tance, while the part pre- sented (o the electrified body is must affected, on account of its sudden change to an opposite state. But if both ends approach bodies in opposite slates of electricity, ihey will both be strongly aSscted when the shoik lakes place, while the middle of the cir- cuit anderi^oes but litlle change.
The manner in whii b the electric fluid makes its way through a more or less perfect conductor, is not complelely underttooil : it is doubtful whether tha substance is fuired a<-\ay on -ach side, so «i to leare a vacuum for the passage of the fluid, or whether the Bewly formed surface helps lo guide it in its way; and in some cases it has been supposed, that tbe gradual communication of clec- tdcity has rendered the substance more G>|(able of conduction it^
88 ELBCTBICtTY IK HOTIOK.
either imniedtately, or. In the caie of the tir, by 6nt nntflng it. Ilawerer thii m»j be, the perforation of a ju of glaw bj an overcharge, and that of a plate of air bj a apark, appear to be effecb of the Hme kiod, although (he charge of the jar b princU pally contained in the glau, while the plate of air ii perhapi little concerned in the distribulion of the elirctricity.
The actnal direction of the electric current hai not in any in> stance been fnllj aicortained, although there are some appearancn which seem to juaUTy the common denominationa of poiHive ancl negative. Thtia, the fracture of a charged jar of glau, by apon- taneous eiplosion, is well defined on the poiitWe, and apllntned on the negatiTe side, as might be expected from the paaaage of a foreign snbstance from the former side to (he latter ; and a candle, held between a positive and a negative hall, although it apparently vibrates between (hen, is found to heat the negative ball much more than the positive. We cannot, however, place mnch depcnd- ance on any clrcnmslance of thb kind, for it is donbtfnl whether any current of (he fluid, which we can produce, posaeaaea anlft- dent momentum to carry with it a body of senaible magnitude. It i) in fact of little consequence to the theory, whether the teimt poaitive and negative be correctly applied, provided that their •eose remain determined ; and that, like poaitive and negative quantities In mathematics, they be always anderttood of stetes -which neutralise each other. The original opinion of Dn&y, of the existence of two distinct fluids, a vitreous and a resinous elec- tricity, has at present few advocates, althongh some have thought
w\m^:Uf howeT^r, capable of ezcitiog a comiderable degree of beat; and if it be transmitted through the hands of the operator^ k wifl produce a slight numbness, although in general some inter. mption of the current is necessary, in order to furnish an accu- mulation sui&cient to produce sensible effects ; and such an inter, ruption may e^en increase the effect of a single spark or shock ; thus, gunpowder is more readily fired by the discharge of a battery pasting through an interrupted circuit, than through a series of perfect conductors.
The most common effect of the motion of the electric fluid is the production of light. Light is probably never occasioned by the passage of the, fluid through a perfect conductor ; for when the discharge of a large battery renders a small wire luminous, the fluid is not wholly confined to the wire, but overflows a little into the neighbouring space. There is always an appearance of light whenever the path of the fluid is interrupted by an imperfect con. ductOT ; nor is the apparent contact of conducting substances suflK. clent to prevent it, unless they are held together by a considerable force ; thus, a chain, conveying a spark or shock, appears lumi. nous at each link, and the rapidity of the motion is so great, that we can never observe any difference in the times of the appearance of the light in its different parts ; so that a series of luminous points, formed by the passage of the electric fluid, between a string of conducting bodies, represents at once a brilliant delinea. tion of the whole figure in which they are arranged. \ lump of sugar, a piece of wood, or an egg, may easily be made luminous in this manner ; and many substances, by means of their proper, ties as solar phosphor!, retain for some seconds the luminous appearance thus acquired. Even water is so imperfect a conductor, that a strong shock may be seen in its passage through it ; and when the air is sufficiently moistened or rarefied to become a conductor, the track of the fluid through it is indicated by streams of light, which are perhaps derived from a series of minute sparks passing between the particles of water, or of rarefied air. When the air if extremely rare, the light is greenish ; as it becomes more dense, the light becomes blue, and then violet, until it no longer con. ducts. The appearance of the electrical light of a point enables us to distinguish the nature of the electricity with which it is charged; a pencil of light, streaming from the point, indicating that its electricity is positive; while a Janinpiis , star, with few
90 ItBCTKtCITT III MOTtOfr.
diverfttne njw, thowt thtt K Is negaliw. The qMiln, «ihlbitfd by small bulla, differently electrified, hate alio ilmilar tarletiii in tb< It forms, according tu Ibe natar* of their char|ei.
The prodncHon of heat by e1<ctHcitf frequmtly aceonipaniei that of light, and appears to depend in lODie neuore on the lane circomitancet. A fine wire may be fused and dliiipated by the discharite of a batlery; and without being perfectly melted, it may tomelimes be sliortened or lengthened, accordingly u it It loose or stretched daring the experiment. The more readHf a ne'al condacti, the shorter is the )iorlian of It which the nme ■bock can destroy ; and it has sometimea been fonnd, that & donble charge of a battery has been capable of melting a quadrnple length of wire of the tame kind.
The mechanical effects of electricity are probably in many caies (he coDseqnences of the rarefaction produced by the beat which Is excited ; thus, the explouon attending the tnniDiltsion of a shock or spark through the air, may easily be (apposed to ba derived ^«m the expansion canaed by heal ; and tlie deatmcllon oT ■ ^asi tnbe, which contains a fluid in a capillary bore, when a spark Is csDsed to pass through it, is the natural conseqneace of tlte con> version of some particles of the fluid into *apoor. Bnt when a glass jar is perfonled, this rarefaction' cannot be svppoied to be adequate to the effect. It Is remarkable that such a perforattM may be made by a Tery moderate discharge, when the glau I* in contact with oil or with sealing wax ; and no tuilicient e: of thi? circuniatance hns ytt been "iv
tummmmm^ ft
gimpofviter* TIm p«c«UAr wnsation which the electric flaid occe- •ions in the hamen frame, appears in general to be deri?ed from the spasmodic contractions of the muscles through which it passes ; although in some cases it produces pain of a different kind ; thus, the spark of a conductor occasions a disagreeable sensation in the skin, and when an excoriated surface is placed in the gaWanic cur. rent, a sense of smarting, mixed with burning, is experienced. Sometimes the effect of a shock is felt most powerfully at the joints, on account of the difficulty which the fluid finds in passing the articulating surfaces which form the cayity of the joints. The sadden death of an animal, in consequence of a violent shock, is probably owing to the immediate exhaustion of the whole energy of the nerrous system. It is remarkable that a yery minute tre. mor, communicated to the most elastic parts of the body, in par. ticular to the chestf produces an agitation of the ner?es, which is not wholly unlike the effect of a weak electricity.
The principal modes in which the electric equilibrium is prima* rily destroyed are, simple contact, friction, a change of the form of aggregation, and chemical combinations and decompositions. The electricity produced by the simple contact of any two sub- stances is extremely weak, and can only be detected by Tery de.. licate experiments : in general it appears that the substance, which conducts the more readily, acquires a slight degree of negative electricity, while the other substance is positively electrified in an equal degree. The same disposition of the fluid is also usually produced by friction, the one substance always losing as much a;*' the other gains ; and commonly, although not always^ the worst conductor becomes positive. At the instant in which the friction is applied, the capacities or attractions of the bodies for electricity appear to be altered, and a greater or less quantity is required for saturating them ; and upon the cessation of the temporary change, this redundancy or deficiency is rendered sensible. When two substances of the same kind are rubbed together, the smaller or the rougher becomes negatively electrified; perhaps becauM the smidler surface is more heated, in consequence of its under- going more friction than an equal portion of the larger, and hence becomes a better conductor ; and because the rougher in itself is a better conductor than the smoother, and may possibly hare its conducting powers Increased by the greater agitation of its parts which the friction produces. The back of a lire cat becomes
S8 BLtCTBICITT IN HOTIOIT.
po«iti*ely electrified, witb whatever lubituce it if mbbed ; g1i« u positire in moit cases, but not when rubbed with mercnrf in a Tacuun, allhoigh sealing wax, which is genendlf lu^tiTe, is rendered positiTe by immeruon in a trough of mmary. When & white and a blaclc silk stocking are nibbed together, the wUte stocking acquires positire electricity, and the black B^»ti*«; periiaps because the black dye readers the silk both ron^Ar, and a better conductor.
Those subBtancei, which hare Tery tiUle coadnctin| power, arc sometimes called electrics, since they are citable of ezhibiUng readily the electricity which friction excites on their snrtacos, where it remains accumulated, so that it may be collected Into a Gondnclor; while the aurfaces of such substances as ban greater conducting powers, do not so readily imbibe the fluid froa otlwrs with which they are rubbed, lince they may be supplied from the internal parts of the substances themtelres, when their altefod capacity requires it; thus, glaM, when heated to 110° of Fahmi- heil, can with difficulty be excited, becomiog an imparlect eon. doctor ; bnt a thin plate of a cooductiog substance, when in- snlated, may be excited almost as easily as an electric^ conBonlj so called.
Vapours are generally in a negative state, but If they rise front metallic subatances, or even from some kinds of heated glass, the effect is uncertain, probably on account of some chemical actions which interfere with it. Sulphur becomes electrical In cooling, and wax candles are said lo be sometimes found in a state so elee-
BLSCTRICITr IH UOTtOV.
oo the continent, to the mere roeclianical acllung of bodiw pa% UMeil of different projierties^ with regarJ to oleclricily. Ttmg, thej bare supposed thut when a circulation of [he electric fluid it produced through a loDg leries of substances in a certain direOr tion, the JifTerencF'S of their atlraclions and of their conducting powers, which must remain the same throui^hout the process, keep yp thig perpetual motioo, in defiance of tba general laws of mOr cbaaickl forces. In this country it has been generally maint^oed, tlwt no eiplBDttion fonoded on snch principles could be admiir ■ible, even if 'it were in ail other respects lutHcieot and satiifac* torjf which the mechanical theory of gaUanism certainly is not,
The phenomena of galvanism appear to be principally derived from an inequality in the distribution of the electric fluid, origi, aatii^ from chemical changes, and maintained by meapi gf the reiiittnce opposed to its motion, by a coatiQued alteration of •ubslaiices of di^rent kinds, which furnishes a much itroDger otutacle to iU transmission than any of those substances alone would have done. The substances employed must neither consist wholly of soltda nor of fluids, and they roust be of three different kiadf, potSMsed of different powers of conducting electricity ; but whether the difference of Iheir conducting powers is of ftoy other consequence than as it accompanies different chemical prsp (wrties, is hitherto undetermined. Of these three suhstaqcei, fwo must possess a power of acting mutually on each other, while thp other appears to serve principally for making a separate coqnef 109 between them : and this action may be of two kinds, or perhaps more ; the one is oiidatioo, or the combination of a metal or 34 iaflammable substance with a portion of oiygen derived from vat^p ar from acid ; the other lulphuration, or a combination with the ml[^Hr contained in a solution of an allwline stilphuret,
We may represent the effects of all galvanic comJiiniftioDs, by caaaideriog the oxidation as producing positive electricity ip U)^ acting liquid, and the sulphuration as producing negattre eleetri* pity, and by imagining that this electricity is ilvays jcpromuqlcvtej to the bwt Fonductor of the other substances poQcerped, S4 qs t^ produce a ciTcolation in the directign tr.us determined., for ef, imple, when twa wires of tine and silver, tpuchiog each (Kher, an Mparately rmMened in an acid, (he acid, becoming positively •lectrical, imparts Us elaotricity to the silver, and hence it flowi iutii. intft the zioc: wh^ 4e ends of ft piece of charco^ arf
ro£. Ti. D
M ^suKiTmioxiT XK Jionos.
iipp«i into #fttor uid iito aa tdd, coa—ctad togttktr bjr a maH tube, the add, becoming poddft, aends jU aaparlooos floid through tba charcoal iula the water; and If a wira of copper be dipped iato water aad a lolotioQ of alkaliao talpharot, connected with each other, the lolphvrel, bocoodag aegativa, will draw the fold from the copper oa which It acta: aad la all theio caiet the direction of the current it truljr datormlaad, ai It may bo shewn hy composing a battery of a numiMr of alterations of this kind, aad either examining the stale of its different parts by electrical tests, or couaactlag wires with Its extremities, which, when Inu nersed Into a portion of water^ will exhibit Htut production of oxygen gis where they emit the electric fluid, and of hydrogen where they receive it. These processes of oxidation and of suL phuration may be opposed to each other, or they may be .com. Mned In Tarioos ways, the sum or difference of the separate actions being obtain^ hy their union ; thus it usually happens, that both the metals employed are oxidable in some degree, and the oxida. tion, which takes place at the surface of the better conductor, tends to impede the whole effect, perbapa by impedlBg the passage of the fluid through the surface. The most oxidable of the metals, and probably the worst conductor, is aioc ; the next is Iron ; tiien (Some tin, lead copper, silrer, gold, and platlna*
In the same manner as a wire charged with posltWe electricity causes an extrication of oxygen gas, so the supply of electricity through the more conducting metal promotes the oxidation of the xinc of a galranlc battery ; and the effect of this circulatloa may be Ireadlly eidiiblted, by fixing a wire of line and another of slifer or platina, in an acid, while one end tt each li loose, and amy be brought together or separated at pleasure s fbr at the aioment that the contact takes place, a stream of bubbles rising from the plathia, and a white cloud of oxM falling from the ftioe, ioAcate both tlM circulation of the fluid and the Increase of the ebemical actlOD. But when, on the other hand, a plate of alae is made fiegailte by tim action of an acid on the greater part of Its sarllu^ 4 detaAed drop ef water has test eflbct on it, than in the natural Mate : while a pbrte of Iron, Midi touches tbe due, aad Ibiuss a pert of the cirde with It, is very readfly oddafted at 'a dietant point: such a plate must therefStre be eonddered, wHh ¥tffaed to thii effect, as bdng mad* pbsUlTe by the dectridCy which it re. bdfM from the add or Uie water; unhas soBMOdog Bha a cobi»
pelMttd4 MvitppoM to ttkeptace, from the eflects of iDdoced electricity. Instead of the extrication of hydrogen, the same causes will sometimes occasion a deposition of metal which has been dissolred, will pre?ent the solution of a metal which would otherwise have been corroded, or produce some effects which ap- pear to indicate the presence of an alkali, either volatile or fixed. Ail these operations may, however, be very much impeded by the Interposition of any considerable length of water, or of any other imperfect conductor.
It is obTioas, that since the current of electricity, produced by a galvanic circle, facilitates those actions from which its powers are derived, the effect of a double series must be more than twice as great as that of a single one : and hence arises the activity of tile pile of Volta, the discovery of which forms the most important era in the history of this department of natural knowledge. The intensity of the electrical charge, and the chemical and physiolo. gical effects of a pile or battery, seem to depend principally on the namber of alterations of substances; the light and heat more on the joint magnitude of the surfaces employed. In common electricity, the greatest heat appears to be occasioned by a long ooDtinuation of a slow motion of the iBuid ; and this is perhaps best famished in galvanism by a surface of large extent, while some other effects may very naturally be expected to depend on thetotensity of the charge, independently of the quantity of chargec) snrlace. It may easily be imagined, that the tension of the fluid must be nearly proportionate to the number of surfaces, imper. fectly conducting^ which are interposed betvreen the ends of a pile or battery, Ae density of the fluid becoming greater and greater by a limited quantity at each step : and it is easily understood, tlurt any point of the pile may be rendered neutral, by a connec- tion widi the earth, while those parts, which are above or below i<)Wlti tftiU preserve their relations unaltered with respect to each oHitri the opposite extremities being, like the opposite surface of a chorgid jar, in contrary states, and a partial discharge being proiacoi,^ at often as they are connected by a conducting sub- stanee. Tlie varioas forms in which the piles or troughs are con. ttracted) are of tittle consequence to the theory of their operation : tbo laott convefttent are the varnished troughs, in which plates of tlHrcved ainc are airtaiiged side by side, with intervening spaces for tibtMoaptfatt of wat^j at of an addJ
9%
36 tLKCTKlCITY IN MOTION.
It 11 nnqneitiaDable that (be torpedo, the gjmDotui electricni, and lome other fiihei, hare organi appropriated to the excitation of electticitjr, »ncl that the; have a power of communicating thia electrir.ity at pleasure to cuadncting substtnces in their neighbour* hood. These organs somewliat resemble in their appearance the plates of the galvanic pile, although ire know nothing ml the im- mediate arrangement from which their electrical properties are derived ; but the effect of the shock which they produce^ res«abl«l in all respects that of the weak charge of a rerj large baU tery. It has been shewn by the experiments of Galrani, Volta, and Aldiai, that the nerves and muscles of the human body pouasa some electrical powers, although they ere so much less concerned in the phsenomena which were at first attributed to tbem by Gal- vani, than he originally supposed, that many philosophers bave been inclined to consider the excitation of electricity as always occasioned by the iiianiuiate substances employed, and the spas- modic contractions of the mu&cles as merely very delicate testa of the iufluesce of foreign electricity on the nerves.
Such Is the general outline of the principal experiinenti and con- clusions which the subject of galvanism aflbrded before Mr. Davy's late iagenious and interesting researches, which have thrown nucli tight, not only on the foundation of the whole of this class of phKHomena, but also on the nature of chemical actions and affinities in general. Mr. Davy is inclined to infer from his experiments, tbal all the attractions, which are the causes of chemical combiDa. tions, depend on the opposite natural electricities of the bodies
tioii» an so strong, as to carrj the particles of ifie respectire bodies throagh an interreniag meditim, which is in » fluid state, or eren throogh a moist solid ; nor are they intercepted in their passage by substances, which in other cases, have the strongest elective attractions for them. Alkali, sulphur, and alkaline sul. phvrets, are positive with respect to the metals, and much more with respect to the acids : hence they have a very strong natural tendency to combine with the acids and with oxygen ; and hydro. gen must also be considered as belonging to the same class with the alkalies.
Sopposing now a plate of zinc to decompose a portion of water : the oxygen, which has a negative property, unites with the zrnc, and probably tends to neutralise it, and to weaken its attractive force; the hydrogen is repelled by the zinc, and carries io the opposite plate of silver its natural positive electricity ; and if tl^ two plates be made io touch, the energy of the plate of zinc is restored, by the electricity which it receives from the silver : and* it receives it the more readily, as the two metals, in any case of their contact, have a tendency to become electrical, the zinc post, tively, and the silTer negathrely. Mr. Davy therefore considers this chemical action as destroying, or at least counteracting, the natural tendency of the electrical fluid to pass from the water to the zinc, and from modifications of this counteraction he explains the effects of galvanic combinations in all cases. Thus, in a circle composed of copper, sulpharet, and iron, the fluid tends to pass from the iron towards the sulphuret, and from the copper to the iron, in one direction ; and in the opposite direction from the cop- per to the sulphuret, with a force which must be equal to both the others, since there would otherwise be a continual motion without any mechanical cause, and without any chemical change ^ but the action of the sulphuret on the copper tends to destroy its electro, motive, or rather electrophone power, of directing the current towards the sulphuret, and its combination with the sulphur makes^ it either iwsitirely electrical, or negatively electrical in a less con.* siderable degree ; consequently the fluid passes, according to its natural tendency, from the copper to the iron, and from the iron to the sulphuret. In a third case, when copper, an acid, and water, form a circle, the natural tendency is from the acid to the co{^r on one side^ aii4 from the acid to the water, and from the wa^i to the copper on tho other; Mre wit moil snfpMt the first.
n3
.*.
88 VLBCTltlCITr IN MOTIOV.
force to b6 oalj a liltlo weakoaed bj the cbeiateal action, wfcilo the third ii dettrojedi so that the first Ofefoomet the second, and the circulation is determined, althongh Teij feeUj, in snch a direc. tion that the fluid passes from the acid to the copper. When, in the fourth place, the combination oonsbts of copper, aalphnret, and water^ the tendencies are, first, from the copper to the sol* phuret^ and from the water to the copper ; and secondly from the water to the sulphuret : in this instance a chemical action must be supposed between the oxygen of the water and the snlphnret, which lessens the electromotii e tendency more than the action that takes place between the sulphuret and the copper, io that the fluid passes from the copper to the sulphuret ; and the current has even force euough to prevent any chemical action between the water and the copper, which would tend to counteract that force, if it took place.
Mr. DaTy has obserred that the decomposition of the substances, employed in the battery of Volte, is of much more consequence to their aeil? ity than either their conducting power, or their simple action on the other €4ement of the series : thus, the aulphnric add, which conducts electricity better, and dissolves the metals more readily than a neutral solution, is, notwithstanding leu active in tlie battery, because it is not easily decomposed. Mn Davy has also extendf d his reMarches, and the application of his discoveries, to a variety of natural as well as artificial phseaomena, and there can be no doubt but that he will still make such additions to bh experiments, as will be of the greatest Importance to this branch of science.
The operation of the most nseful electrical mai^ines depends fira on the excitation of electricity by the frlctlcn of glass on a cushion of leather, covered with a oMtallic amalgam, wsually made of mercury, ainc, and tin, which probably, besides being of nse in supplying electricity readily to different parts of tbe glass, wa» dergoes in general a chemical change, by means of which soma electricity is excited. The fluid, thms excited, is received Info an Insulated oonductor by means of points, placed at a small distance from tlie surface which has lately nndergone the efiects of Motion, and from this condactor It Is conveyed by wires or chaina to any other parts at pleasure. Somethnes also the cnshioa, instead of being conn<*ctod with the earth, is itself fixed to a second Con^ duotor, which btconci negatMy dectrified j and elthar conductor
mmf flioteia vkMi k a jar, wMch wMf be changed at once by tba operadoii of the machine, when its internal surface is coDnecte4 either with the earth, or with that of the jar contained in the op* posite conductor* The glass may be either in the form of a cir. eular plate or of a cylinder, and it is uncertain which of the ar* rangements affords the greatest quantity of electricity from the same surface ; but the cylinder is chea(>er than the plate, and less liable to accidents, and appears to be at least equally powerful*
The plate machine in the Teyli^rian museum, employed by Van Marum, when worked by two men, excited an electricity, of which the attraction was sensible at the distance of thirty.eight Uset, and which made a point luminous at twenty.sefen feet, and aibrded sparks nearly twenty.four inches long. Mr. Wilson had also a few ye%n ago, in the Pantheon in London, an apparatus of singular extent; the principal conductor was 160 feet long, and sixteen inches in diameter, and he employed a circuit of 4S09 feet of wire.
The electrophorns deri?es its operation from the properties if induced electricity. A cake of a nonconducting substance, com* monly of resin or of sulphur, is first excited by friction, and be« comes negatifely electric : an insulated plate of a conducting snb. stance, being placed on it, does not come sufficiently into contact with it to receive its electricity, but acquires by induction an op* posite state at its lower surface, and a similar state at its upper ; so that when this upper and negative surface is touched by a snb« stance communicating with the earth, it receives enough of the electric fluid to restore the equilibrium. The plate then being raised, the action of the cake no longer continues, and the elec. tricity, which the plate has received from the earth, is imparted to a conductor or to a jar j and the operation may be contiuualljr repeated, until the jar has received a charge, of an intensity equal to that of the plate when raised. Although the quantity of elec« tricitjjr received by the plate, is exactly equal to that which is emitted from it at each alternation, yet the spark is far less sensible) since the effect of the neighbourhood of the cake is tp increase the capacity of the plate, while the tension or force im* polling the fliiid is but weak ; and at the same time the quantity received is sofioient, when the capacity of the plate is again dimi» aished, to prodnoe a mncli greater tensiooi at a distance from ttscnkt*
94
40 filBCTBlClTT lit MOTIOiT.
The cdndens^r sets in soin« in«Mttre on (he ume prtoeiplei with the elect rophorns, both instrumenti deriving their propertlei fran the effects gf indurtion. The use of the condetUer ti to collect a treat electricity from a targe suhstance into a laraller one, lo n Id iliike Its dtnsilj or tension sufficient to be examined. A snail plat(>, connected iriih the substance, Is brought nearlj into con- tact With another plate communicating with the earth } in general a thin siraiuni or air only Is interposed ; but sometimea a noncon. ductinj rarnish is emplojrpcl ; this method is, howeTer, liable lo some unceriaint)', from the permanent electricity which the nt' ti'uh somt'tioiei contracte by friction. 'Ihe electricity is accniDik Uted by tlie attraction of the plate communicating with the eartk, into the plate of the condenser ; and wh^n (his plate is Gr*t aepa- tated from the substance to be examined, and then remorad from the opposite plate, its electricity is always of the lame kind with that which origititlly existed in the substance, but ita teitiioo ia ao much increased as to render it more easily discoTcrabls. This t)Tini!iple has been tariously applied by different electricians, and the (n.ployment of tho instrument has been facilitated by several subordinate STrangements.
Mr. Cavallo's multiplier is a conbicwtion of two caodeMen } the second or auxil'ary plate of the first, like the plat* of the elect rophorus, Is moTcabte, and carries a charge of electricity, contrary lo that of the substance to be examined, lo the first or insulated plate of the second condenser, which receives it repeat-
u
V
VfrfWflj Wkk> tlM flune state with the first ; and when the first and third plates are connected and insulated, they produce a charge nearly twice as great in the second plate, while the first pUte becomes at the same time doubly charged ; so that by each repetition of this process, the intensity of the electricity is nearly doubled : it is therefore scarcely possible that any quantity should be so small as to escape detection by its operation.
The immediate intensity of the electricity may be measured, and its character distinguished, by electrical balances, and by electro, meters of difierent constructions. The electrical balance measures the attraction or repulsion exerted by two balls at a given distance^ by the magnitude of the force required to countt-ract it ; and the most conYeiiient manner of applying this force is by the torsion of a wire, which has been employed for the purpose by Mr. Coulomb. The quadrant electrometer of Henley expresses the mutual repul- sion of a moveable ball and a fixed column, by the diTisions of the aroh to which the ball rises. These divisions do not exactly de- note the proportional itren&;th of the action, but they are still of utility in ascertaining the identity of any two charges, and in in* forming us how far we may venture to proceed in our experiments with safety ; and the same purpose is answered, in a manner some- what less accurate, by the ele tro meter, consisting of two pith balls, or of two straws, which are made to diverge by a smaller degree of electricity. Mr. Bonnet's electrometer is still more de- licate ; it consists of two small portions of gold leaf, suspended from a plate, to which the electucity of any substance is commu- nicated by contact : a very weak electricity is snfhcient to make them diverge, and it may easily be ascertained whether it is posi* tive or negative, by brining an excited stick of sealing wax near the plate, since its approach t^^nds to produce by induction a state of negative electricity in the remoter extremities of the leaves, so that their divergence h either increased or diminished, accordingly as it was derived from negative or from positive electricity : a strip of gold leaf or tin foil, fixed within the glass which covers the •lectrometer, opposite to thf extremities of the leaves, prevents the communication of any electricity to the glass, which might inter- fere with the action of the iostrument. When the balls of an electrometer stand at the distance of four degrees, the^ appear to indicate a charge nearly eight times as great as when they stand at •tto>df§i:ire : a charge eight times as great in each ball, producing a mntnal action siztj-fonr times as groat at nnj gUfn distascei ind
4C BIBCTBICITT IR MOTIOIT.
at m qnidniple dktinee a qnadnipis force; in tba nmtmannsrft •eparation of nine degrees ii probably derived froiB an inteniitr (ffeRty.seven times as great as at one. In Land's electroneter tli« magnitude of a sliocli is determined bj (he qnantitj of air through, which it is obliged to pass between two balls, of which the distance mty be Tailed at pleasure j and the power of the micbitw majr be estimated by the frequency of the sparks which pan at any giTOD distance. It appran from Mr, Lane's experimeoti, that (ha quantity of electricity required for a discharge is simply ai the distance of the surfaces of (he balls, the shocks being twice as frc quent when this distance is only ^'^ of an inch as when it It ^ Mr. Volta says, that the indications of Lane'i and Henley's alec trometcr agree immfdiately with each other ; bnt it seemt difficnlt to reconcile this result with the general theory. Sometimei (ha force of repuhion between two balls in coutaet is opposed by a counterpoise of given magnitodc, and as soon ai this li overciMia, they separate and form a circuit which dUchargaa a batter; ; whence the Instrument is called a discharger.
It most be confessed that the whole science of elactricity is yet in a Tery imperfect state : we know litde or nothing of tbo iotL mate nature of (he substances and actions concerned in It : and wo can never fi>r<-see, without pre* ions experiment, where or how it will be excited. We are wholly ignorant of thecoastltntion atbo. dies, by which they become possessed of different coodocling pow« ert ; anil wo hare only been able to dra
of the supposed
•Aiiir4ltte ntftiiMVtt # 4$
j«et lo obfcnre, ahhoogh Mr. Dary's eiperiments have already in neai are justified the boldeess of the suggestion.
SECTION IV.
GalvaniCj or Voltaic Electricily,
Wb have already hinted at some of the laws and principles of this peculiar mode of accumalatiug the electric fluid ; for in most parts of Europe, and in our own country more especially^ the fine etherial fluid thus produced^ or rendered sensible, is regarded as of an electric nature. From the singularity and magnificence, how. eTer, of the effects which under this modification it is well known to be capable of evincing, it is necessary to enter a little more at large into the origin and progress of the discovery.
For the earliest insulated facts which paved the way to this science^ we are indebted to Professor Galvani ; for their explanation and application to purposes of real utility, we are indebted to Professor Yolta: and for the grand and simple law of nature by which thej operate io the production of effects, we are indebted to Sir Hum* pbry Davy.
About the year 1 790, professor Galvani of Bologna discovered accidentally, that the crural nerve of a frog cut up for soup for his wife's dinner, contracted and became convulsed upon the application of a knife wetted with water ; as the story is told by other writers, he perceived whilst he was one day dissecting a frog^ in a room where some of his friends were amusing themselves witti electrical experiments, that the body of the animal was shaken with a violent convulsion, in consequence of a spark being drawn from the conductor of the machine at the time he was touching one of its nerves. Astonished at the plienomenon, and at first imagining that it might be owing to his having wounded the nerve, he pricked it with the point of his knife, to assure himself whether or not this was Uie case, but no motion of the frog^s body was produced. He now touched the nerve with the instniment as at first, and directed a speik to be taken at the same time from the machine, on which the contractions were renewed. Upon a third trial, the animal re- mained motionless; but observing that he held his knife by the han. die, which was made of ivory, he changed it for a metallic one, and immediately the movements took place^ which never was the case whco be used an dcctrie substance.
After having made a great nanj Mwar eiperiments with the iltctikal marhinr^ he vefohed to pniaeaile theaalyect with atmo*
44 GALVAHIC ZLECTRICIT7.
qilieric electricity. With this view br raised a conductor on the roof of Iiii liouse, from wliicEi lie brought an irou wire into iiii roon. To tills lie attBclied mrtil conductor!, cotioected nith the nenrea of the animals deslincd to be the lubject of hii experiments ; uid to their legs he fastened wires which reached the floor. Hick espe* rinienls were not confined to frogs alone. Different animils, both of cold and warm blood, nere subjected to them; and in ■!! of them considerable movements were excited whenever it ligblcoed. Ttiese preceded thunder, and corresponded with its iiiteniit; aad re. petition; and even when no lightning appeared, t be movements took place when any storm; cloud passed over the ajiparatoa. That alf these appearances were produced by the electric fluid wa* ob- vious.
Having soon after this suspended some frogs from the iron pali* sades which inrrouiided his garden, by means of metdlic books fixed in the ^iiies of their backs, he observed (hat their musclei contracted frequently and involantarily, as if from a shock of elec> tricity. Not doubling that the contractions depended on the elec- trie fluid, he at first suspected thai they were connecled wilti changes in the state of the almospliere. He soon found, however, that tbic was not the case ; and having variec), in many diflerent ways, the circumstances in which the frogs were placed, he at lengjth disco. vcred that he could produce Hie movcmenis at pleasure by toncliing the animals with two diflerent metals, which at the same time, touched one another cither immediutdy or by the intervention of
OALTAHIC SLBCTSierrV.
A Ibc( so new, illutlraled witli su iiianir experime:il» and much ■nKt^nious reasoiiiiig, which professor Gulvaiii sooo published, could nut fail lo aliract ilie altention of jilijsiologisia all oTer Europe; wad Ibc result ofs vast DumbcT of experiments, e()Uiilljr cniel and siupiuing, has been from lime to time laid before thi: public \tj Vdli, Fowlrr, Monro, Volla, Humbolt, and others.
Frogs, unhappily for themselves, have been rouiii) the most con. veuieiit subjects for these experiments, as they Tciain their muscular iniubilily and susceptibility of the galvanic iiit!uence very long. Many lionn after they bave been decapitated, or have bad their brain and spinal marrow destroyed, strong convulsions can he pro< diKcd hi tliem by the application of the inetaU. A leg separated from the body will otteu continue capable of excitement for several days. Nay, very distinct movements have been produced in froga pretty far advanced in the process of putrefaction. DifTcrenl kinds of fiibei, and many other animals, both of cold and warm blood, have been subjected to similar experiments, and have exhibited the same pbieuomcna ; but the warm blooded animals lose their sus. ceptibility of galvanism, as of every other stimulus, very soon afler' death.
Almost any two meluls will produce the movements; but, it is believed, the most powerful are the following, in the order whidi tbey are here placed : I. Zinc ; 2. Tin ; 3. Lead ; in coojuiictioD with 1. Gold: 3. Silver; 3. Molybdena; 4. Steel; 5. Copper. Upon Ibis point, however, authors are not perfectly agreed.
Tbe process by which these singular phxuomena are produced consists in e^cting, by the use of the exciting apparatus, a mutual coramnnicatioD between aay two points of contact, more or less dit. tant from one another, in a system of nervous and muscular organs. ' The sphere of this mutual communication may be regarded as a complete circle, divided into two parts. That part of it which con- (Hts of the organs of tlie animal under the experiment has been called the animal arc ; that which is formed by the galvanic inslru- meUs Iwi been called the exdtatory arc. The latter usually con- tisli of more pieces than one; of which some are named stay^ braces, ftc. others communicators, from their respective uses.
Besides the efecis thus produced on the muscles, the iniprt:ssions made on tbe organs of sense are equally remarkable, And as tbe eiperimoits iUastntug thero may be easily repeated, we shall spe- cil^ aoBie of Ibe nwrtinteietting. For imtance, if a tbin plate of
46 OALTAinC BLECTtlCITr.
zinc be pitced on the upprr iiirftcc of the toogae, and both nirtif) ■Aer a sliort >pace of time Im brought into contact, ■ peculiar MDHtioii, or tHst«, will be perceived at ll>e monietit «heu ibe mutual touch happrnt. If Ihe ulver be put bencBth, and the zinc upon ihe tongue, the nrae censalion will ante, bnl in a weaker de- gree, resembling diluted ammoniac, from which it io all probabilitj derive* its origin.
If a silver probe be introduced as far as convenient into one of the nostrils, nnd then be brought into contact with a piece of zinc placed on tlK tongue, a tensation not unlike a strong fiash of light will be produced in the correaponding eyt, at the instant of contact, A similar perception will result, both at the moment of contact and that of se|»ralion, if one of the metals be applied as high ai possible between the gums and u|^r lip, and the other in a similar situation with Ihe under lip, or even under the tongue. Lastly, wfaen a probe or rod of zinc, and nnolber of tiUer, are inlfodoced as ftr back as possible into the roof of the mouth, the irritations produced b; brioging the external ends inio contact, are verj' power- fal ; and IhM caused by tlie zinc is similar in taste to the letintion arising from its applicaiioti to the tongue.
No method has hitherto been discovered of applying the galvaaic influence in such a manner as to affect (he senses of smell, bearing, md touch ; though several eminent pbilosopltera have carefully in> vestigated the subject. Nor arc llie causes of these phKnooHna clearly ascertained ; Galvani and many of his followers supposing Ihem )o depend on ilie electric fluid, while others attribute them to
werpRmoved. Tbese piiKOOinetia continued titl 38 niioules aflcr llMUitipnUtioD, wliert die limb be&iine colil.
Tlie principle, however, upon nliicli [lie eleclric jiower acled was mntiidentood; nor were aoy means at yet deviled by wliicli (be Dew power could be accumulated to any definite extent, or made ap. plkable to any useful purpowi,
Oainni explained the pbeaonienon by conceiving the diukIm to rcMmble « cliarged Leyden pliiul, having electricity accumulated in the inside, while the outside was minus. Tlie nerves be conceived to be cminectcd with the inside; when it wn« united with Ibe out. ■idebycoaduclon, the tuiplui electricity was discliurged, and hence the iMotioiis of the limb.
M. Volta, prafeuor of natural philosophy at Como in the Mihu DeWf soon discovered, however, that llie cunvuUions were produced l^adi&reDt operation of the electric principle; in reality by merely toucbiag two different p»rls of the same nerve by two di&ereot me- talSf and thus inakini; a circuit of the three substances, of which the part of the nerve selected fur the (nirpose formed the middle ; and pumiing this simple but beautiful \av, he soon uflerwards perceived that the two distinct metals alone hml an action upon each other wbeii brought into contact, but that the action was consith:rably in. creased by the interposition of a tbird subslunce of a different na. ture. The hypothesis of Oalvani was hereby completely destroyed, tad a fbnadation laid for that wonderful electric column which has been called the galvanic, or more correctly the voltaic pile, which, by the umple means of multiplying plates of two different kind:* of inetal, with an interposition of a plate of some other siibitatice be- tween each, produces such an accumulation of electric power ; and, when the force of the opposite ends h brought into appro it imatiou by means of a flexible wire, or other conductor, attached to each cod, such an exertion of this power as to become one of the mostt if not altogether the most energic agents in chemistry. And we MMT advance to the second and most important stage of this new bnneh of natural science ; for which tlie world is entirely indebted to the peoelrsling genius of M. Volta, and the curious facts and lihnbnnMin of which have bence been universally denominated ToUaisra.
M. Vohfe mmmenced Ins experiments in 1793, and it was seveii ^nrs before he rendered hii pile sufficiently satisfactory and perfect M Mker its deiMtiptiwi and powers before the pnbfic. •■ lliisf h9«-
48 GALVANIC BLBCTBICITT.
ever, be accompliihed in 1800 1 tl wliich time be commDOKaled ■ pvticular account of it to rbe Ro*el Society, throuftb Ibe mcdiuin of Sir JoMph Bauks, who publUhed this valuabk paper in tbe latter part of (beir Traosactions for tliat year. Hit appsratoi, ai iheK detcrihedi codsuIs of a Dumber of copper or tilver plates (wliicb ksl are prefcratik), together with an equal number of plates composed of tinj or slill better of zinc, and a similar number of pieces of card, leather, or ivoolleu cloth, the last of which substances appears lu be tbe most suitable. These last should be well soaked in water saturated with common sail, muriat of ammonia, or more e&ctuallj' with oitre. The silver or copper may be pieces of money, and the plates of line may be cast of the same size. A pile is Ibeii to be fomed, by placing a piece of silver on a corresponding one of zinc, and oil lliem a piece of wet cloth or card : which is to be repeated alternately, till the number required be arranged in regular succes- sion. But, as the pieces are apt to tumble down, if their numbers be considernblei unless properly secured, it will be advisable to sup- port tbeui by means of three rods of glass, or baked wood, fixed intn a flat woudeu pedestal, and touching llie pieces of metal at three equi-distant points. Upou these rods may be made to slide a small circular piece of wood, perforated with three boIeS) which will serve to keep the top of the pile firm, and the diAerenl layen> in close contact. The moistened pieces should likewise i>e some- what smaller than those of m>'tal, and gently squeezed before they are applied, to prevent llie supcrfiiiuus moisture from insinuating itself between the pieces of nieial. Thus constructed, the apparatus ^■ill affuni a pi-rpetual
OAC-TAinV BLBCTKICirr.
iu lilt ■mi) ; if 100 t»r employed, it v«r) severe but IrcmulDUS anil coDliiiued tcusatiou will extend even to the tlioulilera ; nml, if lli< suiface of Ilie skiu be broken, llie uctioii oi ibe vo[l4ic iiilluence will be uncoraniuiil; painful.
Hie braMlioii oi ii fldih, or sliock wIlli litis n|>i):iraiiis <1oes <>ot Mttemllj diflcr from tbat produced by (wo simple plates, but it BIT be effected in varioui ways, especially if one or botb hands be ifplM in t wet itata lo Ibe lowest plate uf tbe pile ; or any part of tiw fMC be brought in contact willi a wire coiumunicating witb iha tap |Mce. Farlber, if a wire be held between tlie teeth, so ai l« K8t npon the tongue, that nrgau, as well as the lipi, will become coarabed, tbe Oaih will appear before tbe eye, and a very pungent tute will be perceived in llie mouth,
WImo a metallic wire, having a bit of wetl.burat charcnal at ill txtiemily, k made to connect the two extremities of the pile, a spark will be penxind, or the pobt of the charcoal will become ignited.
Varioiw other mode* of conslmcliug this apparatus have beea adopted, tome of which are much superior io point of convenience. One nwde it by io\dering the plates of zinc and copper togetbw, uid by cepneoltiig them into troughs of baked woodi covered with cement in the regular order, so as (o form cells to be filled with tbe fluid menslruum, each surbceof zinc being opposite to a surface of copper; aitd this combination is very simple and easy of application. Another form is that of iutrodnciog plates of copper and zinc, fav t«Md together by a slip of copper, into a trough of porcelain, con- taining a immber of cells corresponding to the number of the te- ries. The different series may be introduced separately into Ibe trougba awl taken out without the necessity of changing the fluid j ot they may be attached to a piece of baked wood (and when the wunber it not very large) introduced lata ibe cells, or taken out together.
Simibf polar electrical arrangemeots lo those formed by zinc and . cop^ may be made by various alterations of conducting and im- perfret cMiductiog substances : but for tbe accumulation of tb« powet, the Kiiet must consist of three sobstances or more, and one, nt least, mitst he a conductor. Silver or copper when brought in etmtact with » aoltttion of a eoinpound of sulphur and potash, at one extremity, and is contaa wiih water or a nolution of nitre acid ■Mt tbe other eztmwtj, tome aalioe solution being between the sul* .itMrtHted ud tbe Mid .Mdutions, forms u eJement of a powatfd VOL. ▼!. B
M •iLTkme ■i.nrratoftT.
cMBUmtioB, wfakk will pvt AaAa wbM Mj IM pat i/agUbai Hk other ii capper, doth of the mum hh MglilwtJ VUl Mlntiod ■miteiied in the lolutioD of the eoniioanl of n^ku capper, awl M ott: the ^wdfic gnnliei of the lolatkmi ib«MM W in the oid<r ID which Ihc^ mre tnagei, ta pment the MhHIi^ of the acid UHi nliAiiKttMl Miafioa; thatii, the hewM'tohrtiDA Aoold be placed lowest. ■''
Foi tbCN and nriooi other progrewiTe <BMoteifa'w> miUMy indcbtcdto Sir Hnrnphrr Davy ; ai wo are ril^etber IbHk |tMt diMoni; reipectmg the agency of nritaiin, whkh w» paMhAed In the Pliiloioplikal TntMoctHMw, m a paper which gaiB«l tta ptB* propoMd on voltaJMS b; the French Eiaperor. Thk dlMowiy any be expreMcit in tbe following Mnteace : *■ Tho vottBfe«aBi|y hu the property of decampoaing all eonipound nbalaneea fmppomg dw batteiy rafficieotl)> powerfalj when the conrtitocnta tMgo them. •cl«M round the wiiet, psauDg from the two cKtrcaiitiet of the bat. tery, accotdbg to tbe following bnr: ox^cb «nd additnuge thcnuelvei round tbe pontire wire ; hydrogen, alluUea, eaithk, and ■elcli. round tbe negelive wire." From Ihb Tcty inpaflnt dik corcry Sir Hnm|diry drew sereral Tery planaUe liifiiMiw Oxy- gtn and aeidi, snce they ire attneted towarrii the poaHhe wit^ arc raturally negative i while, oo the other hand, hydmgtn, dka. liet, and metal*, being alttacled to tbe n^atirc wire, nra nntunlly poiilivc. When two lubitancet Me ebenioilly combiaod* Ibey are b difirent Mirtei of <jectricily ; and tbe more completely oppoeile thete sMci, the more intimately they are anted. Ts npantt the
5ip
iWiiil 4titmr Imi^hmm foitoMite ^aoogb to ky4>peii to the worid a new knv of nature.
It has been doubted by many persons^ whether the voltaic and electrical energy were the saaie : but thousands of experiments might be offered to prove them to be such. M. de Luc's very sim* pk aerial electroscope, or electrical column, as he calls it, may be adverted to, as sufficient of itself to establbh this fact. Thb co» lumo coosbts of sincplates and Dutch gilt.paper, in regular sue. eessioo, like the metallic i^ates of the voltaic pile, the groups being firom one thousand to ten thousand. When two of these columns are placed horiaontally, the oue insulated, and the other communis eating with the ground, each being terminated with a small bell, and a SBiaU brass ball is suspended between the two bells by a silken thready the ball, by the mere iufluence of the electricity contained io the atmosphere, will chime, by striking alternately from column to column, and consequently from bell to bell, sometimes more or less rapidly^ and sometimes more or less loudly, and sometimes scarcely at all, according to the state and proportion of the electric aura; and the instrument, which is a genuine voltaic pile, not only, proves the identity of the electric and voltaic power« but may ha conveniently employed as a measurer of the electricity which the at* moq>liere contains. It should he observed, however, that as there are no fluids known, except such as contain water, that are capable of being made the medium of connexion between- the metals, or metal of the voltaic apparatus, the effect in this, and in all similar instances, is resolved by Sir Humphry Davy into some snmll quan. tity of moistore, or water still existing in the substances employed, which he asserts will not act if each of the substances be made per- ftctiy dry«
The first distinct experiment upon the igniting powers of large V(4taic plates was performed by MM. Fourcroy, Vauquelin, and Thenatd; but a much grander combbation for exhibiting the efr fects of extensive surface was constructed by Mr. Children, and coup sists of a. battery of twenty double plates four feet by two; of winch the whole. surftMes are exposed, in a wooden trough, in cells co» Tered witli cenwot, to the action of diluted acids.
The most powerful combination, however, that exists, io wbich numbers of altetnatMUs is combined with the extent of surface, is that constructed by sabscriptions of a few aealons cultivators and patrons of science, iaihahiboratory of the^yal Institution. It GooriilplMtwdt hundred instruments connected together in r^ulat
54 okXTAtna HwirmioiTT.
af(l«r, etcb eonpowd nf riii iliiiihln |ililiii. iiiiniih m lliiifpiii cetain, and conlainiiig id etch pUle thirty-two a^ouc iocbe* } ao that (he whol« Dumber «f double |il«ta is 2000, nid tha wbok wr- Aw 128,000 aqfimrt iucho. Tbi* btttn; when tba aelk were filled wild nsty parti of water aiiaed with om part of aitiie acid. Mid one part of tbe tulphuric add, aSinied a aariai «f MHaDt and impressive eSecti. When pieees of diarcoal abovt aa aoh kng and ooe-sisth of an inch in diamaler were brought MaK^aakalbn- (withln tbe thirtieth part or fortieth part of an huhX «.bri|bt QMrk wai produced, aod more-tban half tbe viriaaa of ibadHUw coal became igiiitH) to wbitaflew ; aod by whbdrmriig tba poiaU ftom each other, a eooilant discharge took phwc Ibrei^ Iht Imled air, in a ipace equal at least to torn incfacs, prodwiag m Hoat bril- liant ascending arch of light, broad, aod cowod ka fan jn tbe tttddle. When any aubetance was btrodueed into this atch it ia. stantly became ignited ; platina melted u nadfl J in it H MM fai the flame of a common candle ; quarts, tba aapphirtt tm^mtk, Enc, all entered into f^ioa ; ftagmenta of di^Mudi aad potatt of dmr. coal and plombago, npidly diaapfwacMl, aad aiiaiail la naponle in it, even when the connexion waa made in a racaivar mknated by the au-.paaip ; but there waa no evidaaec of thai havhg piatfaaaly undergone flisioB. ■ ■ ■
When Ae commonication between tbe points podtiN^aad se* gatively etcctrified waa made in air, rarefied ■ tba raaaivar of tbe ai^pamp, the dfatance at which tbe diacharge took pUea aa riaa il a the exhanition wu made ; aad when the atmospbeia ia tha riassl
NAONETISH.
1 am tbcoty of magelitnt bean m ver}^ strong resemblance lo that of eledricilj, and it roast therefore be placed Dear it hi a syitem of mtBnl philosophy. We have seen the electric fluid uot only exert- ni{[ attnctioni and repulsions, and causing a peculiar dittributioD of neighbouring portions of a fluid similar to itself, but also excited is one body, and transferred lo another, in auch a manner as to be perteptible to the senses, or at least to cause sensible effects, in its punge. The attraction and repulsion, and the peculiar distribu- tioD of the neighbouring fluid, are found in (tie phKnomena of mag- oetiamj but we do not perceive that there is any actual excitation. or any percepUbk transfer of the magnetic fluid from one body to another disthict body; aud it has also this striking peculiarity, that, metallic iron is very nearly, if not absolutely, the only substaoct capable of exbibtting any indicatious of its presence or activity.
For explaining the phsenomena of magnetism, we suppose the par> tides of a peculiar fluid lo repel each other, and to attract the par- ticles of metallic iron with equal forces, diminishing as llie square of the distance increases ; and the particles of such iron must also be imagined to repel each other, in a similar manner. Iron and slee], when soft) are conductors of the magnetic fluid, aud became leai and less pervious to it as their hardness increases. The ground work of this theory is due lo Mr, Aepinus, but the forces have been more particularly iiivestigated by Couloiul), and others. There art ' the same objections to these hypotheses as to those which conslilut* the theory of electricity, if considered as original and fundamental properties of matter: and it is additionally difticult to imagine, why iron, and iron only, whether apparently magnetic or not, should repel similar particles of iron with a peculiar force, which happens lo be precisely a balance to the attraction of (lie magnetic fluid for iron. This is obviously improbable ; but the hypotheses are still of great utility in assisting us to generalise, and to retain in memory a number of pailicular facts which would ollierwise he insulated. The doctrine of the circulation ot streams of the magnetic fluid has been Justly aud universally abandoned j and some other tlieorics, much more ingenious, and more probable, fof instance that of Mr.
54 irioirsTilir.
Pr^ost, appear to be too complieated^ ami too little supported by ftcts, to require much of 6ar attention*
Tlie distinction between conductors and noneonducton is, with re- spect to the electric fluid, irregular and intricate ; but in magnetism* the softness or hardness of the iron or steel constitutes the only difierence. Heat, as softening iron, must consequently render it a conductor i even the heat of boiling water aficts it» in a certab degree, although it can stcarcely be supposed to alter its temper; but the eftct of a moderate heat is not so connderaMe in magnetism as io electricity. A strong degree of heat appears, from the expe- riments of Gilbert, and of Mr. Cavallot to destroy completely all magnetic action.
It b perfectly certain that magnetic effects are produced by quan- tities of iron incapable of being detected either by their weight or by any chemical tests. Mr. Cavallo foimd that a lew particles of steel, adheruig to a hone, on which the point of a needle was sl^tly rubbed| imparted to it magnetic properties ; and Bfr. Coulomb has observed, that there are scarcely any bodies in nature which do not exhibit some marks of being subjected to the influence of mag- netbm, although its force is always proportional to the quantity of iron which they contain, as far as that quantity can be ascertained; a single grain being sufficient to make 30 pounds of another metal sensibly magnetic A combination, with a large proportion of oxygen, de- prives iron of the whole or the greater part of its magnetic proper, ties ; finery cinder is still considerably magnetic, but the more per. feet oxids and the salts of iron only in a slight degree ; it is also said that antimony renders iron incapable of being attracted by the magnet. Nickel, when fireed from arsenic and from colmlt, b decidedly magnetic, and the more so as it contains less iron. Some of the older cbembts sui^posed nickel to be a compound metal con- taining hron ; and we may stfll venture to assume thb opinion as a magnetical hypothesis. There b indeed no way of demonstrating that it b impossible for two substances to be so united as to be mcapable of separation by the art of the ehembt; had nickd been as dense as platina, or as light as cork, we could not have supposed that It contained any consklerable quantity of iron, but in fiict the specific gravity of these metab b very nearly the same, and nickel is never found in nature but in the neigfabourliood of iron ; we may therefore suspect, with some reason, that the hypothesb of the existence of iron in nidcei may be even chemically tme. The
mriMtt taitrife iilBMturiy » tome metia^ uoa, and if iron were the only substance capable of exhibiting BiagneticBl tflectt, it would follow that some ferruginous partides mutt exist in the upper regions of the atmosphere. The light usually attending this magnet ical meteor may possibly be derived from electricity, which may be the immediate cause of a change of the distribution of the magnetic fluid, contained in the femiginoua vapours^ that are imagined tu float in the air.
We are still less capable of distinguishing with certainty m magnetism, than in electricity, a positive from a negative sUte, or a real redundancy of the fluid from a deficiency. Tlie north pole of a magnet may be considered as the part in which the mag* aetic fluid is either redundant or deficient, provided that the aonth pole be understood in a contrary sense : thus, if the north pole of a magnet be supposed to be positively charged, the south pole roost be imagined to be negative; and in hard iron or steel tfacae poica may be considered as unchangeable.
A north pole, therefore, alwavs repels a north pole, and attractt a south pole. And in a neutral piece of soft iron, near to the north pole of a magnet, the fluid becomt* s so di^tribut *d, by indoetiOD, as to form a temporary south pole next to the magnet, and the whole piece is of course attracted, from the great proximity of tha attracting pole. If the bar is sufliciently soft, and not too loag^ the remoter end becomes a north pole, and the whole bar a perfect temporary magnet. But when the bar is of hard steel, the state of induction is imperfect, from the resistance oppose<l to the motion of the fluid ; hence the attraction is less powerful, and an opposite pole it fomied, at a certain distance, within the bar ; and beyond this another pole, simiUir to the first ; the alternation being tome^ timet repeated more than once. The distribution of the fluid within the magnet is also affected by the neighbourhood of a piece of toft ihm, the north pole becoming more powerful by the vicinity of the new south pole, and the south pole being consequently ttrengthened in a certain degree ; so that the attractive power of the whole om^ net it increased by the proximity of the iron. A weak magnet it capable of receiving a temporary induction of a contrary magnetitm, from the action of a more powerful one, its north pole becoming a tooth pole on the approach of a stronger north pole; but the original sooth pole ttill retaint itt situation at the opposite end^ and restoret
e4
jd' MXOItmiM.'
the magnet marl; to ki original condbioo, tA«r tiw wwil of tbe
disliirbing cauM.
The polarity of niignrrs, or their diipoHtioa to iiMime • eerlun direction, is of still greater imporlmnce ibaa Ibeir altractifc power. Ifasmall magnet, or ainiply a soft wire, be poiaed on a centre, it will arrange ilvelf in such » direction, as will proiluce an MpuUbiium of the attractioua anil repulsions of llie poles of a larger mgBet ; being a tanfceat to a certain oval figure, paising through ihme poles, of which the properties have been calculated by varioiu matbena- liciaus. Tliis polarit) may easily be iuiilaled by etcctiicily ; a sus- pended wire being brought near to the ends of a positive and negative conductor, which are placed parallel to each other, as ui Nainw's electrical machine, its position is perfectly similar to that of a needle attracted by a magnet, of which those conductor* represent the poles.
The same effect is observable in iron filings placed neat a maguet, and they adliere to each other in curved lines, by virtue of their in. dnced magnelbni, llie north pole of each particle being attached to the south pole of the particle next it. This arrangement Inay be seen by placing the filings either on clean mercury, or on any Hr&cc tbai can be agitated ; and it may b« imitated by strewuig powder on a plate of gbss, supported by two balls, which are cooliarily elcclrilied.
Hie ))olarity of a needle may often be observed wheu it eshibils no sensible attraction or repulsion as a whole ; and this may easily be understood by considering that wheo one end of a needle is re-
WJMHSTtSli.
Ill tb« Biternal parli of the earlli, is probably of a far n
»lructiire, and we cnn only judge of its nature from Ihe nrioutpfaK.
iioineaa derived from iisinBuence.
The accumulation and the deficiency of the magnetic fluid, which dMonioe the place of the polei of this imgael, are prubably in ftct coDiidenbly diffused, but they may genenliy be imagined, witluMt mtKh error in tlie remit, to centre in two points, one of then netrer to the north pole of the earth, the other to the south poki Ir consequence of their attrsclions and repuUioni, a needle, wbeUwr prcrkiiidy magnetic or not, assumes always, if freely poised^ Ae diredioii necessary for its equilibiiuni ; which, in varioas parts «f the globe, is variously inclined to t»e meridian and to the horizon. Heaee ariaes the use of the compass in navigation, and in sarrcyng i a QMdle, which is poised with a liberty of horisuDlal motion, asaiuf ng Ibe direction of the magnetic meridian, which for a certain time mrmioa almost invariable for the same place ; and a similar pn- perty n also observable in the dipping needle, which is moveable only in m vertical plane ; for when ibis plane is placed in the mag> jietic laeiidian, the needle acquires an inclination to the boriaoo, which varies according to the situation of the place with ivt|Mct to the magnetic poles.
The natural polarity of Ihe needle may be in some measure illu» Iraled by inclosing an artificial magnet in a globe; the direction of a (mall needle, suspended over any part of its surface, being dcter> ■nteed by the position of the poles of the magnet, in the same nian> ner aa the direction of the compass is delenniued by the magnetical poles of the earth, although with much more regularity. Id either case the whole needle is scarcely more or less attracted towards the globe than if the influence uf magnetism were removed; eicept when the small needle is placed very near lo one of Ihe poles of the artificial magnet, or, on the other hand, when Ihe dipping needle is 'cmfrioyed in the neighbourhood of some strata of ferruginous suk ilaDcvt, which, in particular parts of the earth, iutertere materially with the more general effects, and alter the direction of the magnetic metttHka,
A bn of son iron, placed in the situation of the dipping needle, acquires ftMB the earth, by induction, a temporary state of magne- ttsUj which may- be reversed at pleasure by revenrag its direction; bnt ban of iron wUeh have remained long in or near this direction, iMnae a perniairtbtfolBrily ; for iron, even when it has been at
58 aOkSNSTISM.
fint quite mA. bceomM in tiw r Utli battbr. A wmwl V^Mt it no noPB tbui a bovjr iron oK,wkic^ m tbt couth pfage^bu ■cquired a strong polarity, from the pMt priahiTC ■■— fT*, It nut haw lain in fome dtgnt detrndbad, and aiHit poiBtia botlhtle coadactiag power, in order to hive nceivad and to niMn.ib W* Dclitm.
We cannot, from an j BMumed utoatioo of two ot moi* magaetic polo, calculate the true ponlioo of the needle for all pl—a ; uiA even ui tbc same place, iti direction ii (dncrred to cbtigi is Ac cowM of jean^ according to a law which ha* never jat hae^ P^^ rail; ^latenniiicd, altfaough the nriation which haa been abaarTai^ at any one place, aioce the ditcovery of the compai^ nuf poiiapa be comprehended in nroe very intrieate expreuioni ; b«t|btlai depradenoe can be placed on any calculation! of Uiii kindL H there k reason (o think that the change depends rather on cbemical than o> physeal caiuei. Dr. Ualley indeed coiqeGturcd that tba earth contained a nucleus, or sepaiaie apfaere, icvolring freely withiait, or rather floating is a 6uid contained in the intermediate ipwa, and causing the nriation of the magnetic mcridiao ; and others bave attributed the eikct to the motions of the celcstul bodki i but in cither case the changes produced woolci have &eaq.|nuch BOOceiagB- lar and nuivrrsal than Ihoae which have been actually obMnad. Teanporery cfaaiigca of the lerresttiil tnagnelism have certainly ben Boencliniea occasioned by otlier causes ; such causes are, tbcrefaf^ noal likely to be coooemcd in the more pennaaeut efiects. Tknw the eruption of Mount Heda was found to derange the pq^tioa of
MA0NBTI9M.
dian were conalant for the same place, or even if it viried aecordfag to any «lweoveral>le law: siuce it would affoH a ready mocle of delermiiiitts l)>e loitgilude of a place by a comparison of an isln^ DODiical obsemtion of its litilude willi another of (he magnitude of the declination. And in some cases it may even now be applied to tbb purpose, where we have a collection nf late and numeroui obser- valion«. Siicli observations have from lime to lime been arranged in cliarts, furnished with lines indicating the magnitude of the declination or variation at the placet tlirough which they paat, beginning from the line of no variation, and proceeding on the OI^Mute sides of this line to show the magnitude of the variatioa cast or west. It is obvious that the interseciion of a given parallel of latitude, with the line showing the magnitude of the variatiou, will indicate the precise situation of the place at which the obierva* tioni have been made.
The line of no variation passed in 1675 through London, and in 1666 through Paris ; its northern extremity appears to have moved contiriually eastwards, and its soulliern parts westwards ; and it now puses through the middle of Asia. The opposite portion seems to have moved more uniformly westwards ; it now runs from North America (o the middle of the South Atlantic. On 'the European side of these Imes, the declinalioa is westerly ; on the Sooth American side, it is easteriy. The variation in Lond<Hi hat been for several years a little more than 24°. In the West In- dies it changes but slowly ; for instance it was 5" near the island of Barbadoes, (rotn I70O to 1756.
l^e dip of the north pole of the needle in the neighbourhood of London is 72°. Hence the lower end of a bar standing upright, as ■ pober, or a lamp-iron, becomes always a north pole, and a tem- porary south pole of a piece of soft iron being uppermost, it is somewhat more strongly attracted by the north pole of a magnet placed over it, than by its south pole ; the distribution of the fluid in the magnet itself being also a little more favourable to the attrac lion, while its north pole is downwards. It is obvious that the magnetism of the northern magnetic pole of the earth must reaenthle that of the south pole of a magnet, since it attracts the north pole ; so that if we considered the nature of the disiribution of the fluid rather than its situation in the earth, we should call it a sontb pole. Altboogb it is hnpotsiUc to find any places for two, or even for a
so MAQIIBTJIM.
gmin Munber of lugMtic pdtM, wbid will comttlj eqilain (be dinetieii of tbc needle ia ever; put of the earth*! uirface, yet tbe dip may be detenniDed with tolerable acenncj, from tbe wppoii- lioa of a unBll magnet i^aced at tbe centra of the cartb, and dincted toward! a point in Baffin'! Bay, about 75° noitb latitude •■>d 70* longitude west of London ; and the variation of tbe dip u w bicon- HdenUe, Ibat a Tery ilow change of ibe position of thii iuppowd nagael would probably be luScient to produce it ; bnt tbopen* tioa of lucb a magnet, according to the general laws of tbt ftteaa coneerned, could not pouibly account for the very irregulai dapo* aition of tbe carres indicating the degree of nriation or decUaatiaii; a general idea of these might perhaps be obtained from tbe fupposi- tion of two magnetic polei situated in a tine considerably dtitKBt from tbe centre of tbe earth ; but thu bypolhetii is by no mean mSciently accurate to allow us to place any dependeuce on it.
The art of making magnets conusts in a proper q)plicatiaD of the ■tlndinni and repulsions of the magnetic fluid, by meani of the diSeivnt coDductiug powers of difiercnt kinds of iron and itcel( lo tbe production and preservation of lucb a diilribution of tbe fluid bi a magnet, a! is tbe best 6tied to the exbilntion of tisptculiar
We may begin with any bar of iron that bus long Hood in ■ Tn* tical pbsilioa ; but it is mere oommon to employ an artificial ma^Ht of greater strength. When one pole of such a magnet loncbea tt* end of a bar of bard iron or steel ; that end auomea ' tlie oppotite character, and Ibe opposite end the K
IIm ine^ is c^publ^ It i^ liowever, more usual to employ the process called the double touch : placing two magnets, with their opposite poles near to each other, or the opposite poles of a single magoet» bent into the form of a horse-shoe, in contact with the mid. die of the bar : the opposite actions of these two poles then conspire in their effort to displace the magnetic fluid, and the magnets having been drawn backwards and forward:} repeatedly, an equal number of times to and from each end of the bar, with a considerable pres. sure, they are at last withdrawn in the middle^ in order to keep the poles at equal distances.
Iron 6tings, or the scoriae from a smith's forge, when finely levi« gated, and formed into a paste with linseed oil, are also capable of being made collectively magnetic. A bar of steel, placed red.bot between two magnets, and suddenly quenched by cohi water, be. comes in some degree magnetic, but not so powerfully as it may be rendered by other means. For preserving magnets, it is usual to place their poles in contact with the opposite poles of other magnets^ or with pieces of soft iron, which, in consequence of their own in- duced magnetism, tend to favour the accumulation of the magnetic power in a greater quantity than the metal can retain after tliey are removed. Hence the ancients imagined that the magnet fed on iron;
A single magnet may be made of two bars of steel, with their ends pressed into close contact ; and it might be expected tliat when these bars are separated, or when a common magnet has been divided in the middle, the portions should possess the properties of the re- spective poles only. But in fact the ends which have been in contact are found to acquire the properties of the poles opposite to those of their respective pieces, and a Certain point in each piece is neutral, which is at first nearer to the newly formed pole than to the other end, but is removed by degrees to a more central situation. In this case we must suppose, contrarily to the general principles of tlie theory, that the magnetic fluid has actually escaped by degrees from one of the pieces, and has been received from the atmosphere by the other.
There is no reason to imagine any immediate connexion between magnetism and electricity, except that electricity affects the conduct- ing powers of iron or steel for magnetism, in the same manner as heat or agitation. In some cases a blow, an increase of tempera- ture, or a shock of electricity, may expedite a little the acqubition
6e H&ennflv.
6( poltrity ; but won eoninanl; an; ooe of Amt num impain the iDtifnctic power. Trokmot RobiiHoa femd, that «Imii • good magnet wu stnick for tlirce quirien of an hour, and allowMl io the metn time to riag, iU ciEcacy wai dcatrajed ; allhoogh tbt ame oparatioa had little efieet mhta ibe rin|piig wa« impeded : lo that the cQutiDued eurtion of the coheeivc aod repiilim powcn appean tofhTow the tiaQsniinioD of the magnetic a« well m of the electric fluid, "Hie intcnial agitation, produced ia bending a magnetic win nond a cylinder, alio dcflmji it* polaritft tad the <q)en(ioii of a file bai the nine effect. Hr. Carallo hu foond that biaM becoma* in general much more capable of being ^tiacted when it hat been hammered, even bctwem iwo flinta ; aod that tfaii propeitj ii again diminiahed bjr fire ; in thu ca*e it maj be conjcetured that tmiMmer- ing iDGreaMt the couiluctiDg power of tlw ina cootainwl b the braMt and tfau rcnden it more Muceptibic of magnetic netiaii. Mr. Cavallo alio obicrved that a magnetic needle wu more powerfully attracted by iron filings during their wlutiaB in acidat ctpecially in the lutphnric acid, than eitber beinn or after the q>ention : otben ba*e not always nccrcdcd in Ibe opetk ment; bnl tltere b nolliiog improbable in tbe circumiliM^ and there may have been some actual diftrenee in the reealli, de. pendent on causes too mmule for obserTalioo. In subjects an Ittla understood as tbe tbeoiy of magnetism, we are obliged to admit tome paradoaical propositions, which are only lurpriMng on neeomt of tbe imperfect state of onr knowledge. Yet, little as we can ma- derstand the intinntc nature of niagneticBl actions, Ihey exhibit t*
• »•
i?oi t A f »iii|ii^1llM|jv jiy,< Hijy.i -•7
N'i
CHAP. IV.
ASBOSTATION, INCLUDING THE PRINCIPLES, HISTORY, AND MANAGEMENT OF BALLOONS.
SECTION I.
Principles of Aerostation,
1 HE fuDdameotal principles of this art have been long and gene, rally known, as well as the speculations on the theory of it j but tbc successful application of them to practice seems to be altoge- ther a modem discovery. These principles chiefly respect the weight or pressure, and elasticity of the air, with its specific gra* vity, and that of the other bodies to be raised or floated in it | the particular detail of which principles, however, we have not space to enlarge upon. Suffice it therefore, for the present, to observe, that any body which is specifically, or bulk for bulk, lighter than the atmosphere, or air encompassing the earth, will be buoyed up by It, aud ascend, like as wood, or a cork, or a blown bladder, ascends in water. And thus the body would continue to ascend to the top of the atmosphere, if the air were every where of the samd density as at the surface of the earth. But as the air is compressible and elastic, its density decreases continually in ascending, on ac« count of the diminished pressure of the superincumbent air, at the higher elevations above the earth ; and therefore the body will as. cend only to such a height where the air is of the same specific gravity with itself; where the body will float, and move along with the wind or current of air, which it may meet with at that height. Thb body then is an aerostatic machine^ of whatever form or mu ture it may be. And an air-balloon is a body of this kind, th^ whole mass of which, including its covering and contents, and th# weights amiexed to it, is of less weight than the same bulk of air in which it rises. We know of no solid bodies, however, that are light enough thus to ascend and float in the atmosphere ; and therefore recourse must be had to some fluid or aeriform substance. Among these, that which is called inflammable air, the hydrogen gas of the new nomeDclature, is the most proper of any that have hitherto been
G4 PRIIICIFLKI or ABIOSTATIOn.
dixonred. It is very eUtlic, and from ilx to ten or elemi timn lighter tliin common air; and conmiaratly thii componnd mau will riac in ihe atmosphrn, and continue to aKcnd till it attain a bcigbl a) whicli tha atmoaphera u of the lame (pedfic gnritj as itMlf ; where it will remain or float witb the cumot of air, av long u the icAatnmable air does not escape through the porea of its co- Teriag. And this li an inflammable air-balloon. Another iny u to make use of common air. rendered lighter by wanning it, iiuteadof the infiamraable air. Heat, it is well known, rarefies atid cvpaBdi common air, and consequently lessens its specific gravity: and the diminutton of >!■ weight is proportional to tlie beat qiplied. If therefore the air, iodoMd in auy kind of a bag or covering, be batted, and coa<eqtieiitly dilated, to such a degree, that the exccaa of Ihe weight of an equal bulk of common air, above the weight of the heated air, Tk greater than the weiglit of the cohering and its ap- pendages, the whole compound mats will ascend in the atDwa|di«c, tillt by Ihe diminished density of the surrounding air, tba wh<d« becomes of the same specific gravity with the air in which it float*; where it will remain, till, by tlie cooling and coadcnsatioo of the included air, it shall gradually contract and descend again, unless the heat is renewed or kept up. And such is a heated air-balloon, otherwise called a Montgolfier, from its inventor. Now it has been discovered, by various experiments, that one degree of heat, accord- ing to the scale of Fahrenheit's thermometer, expands the air about one fire.hundreth part ; and, therefore, that it will require about 500°, or nearer MV of heat, to expaad the air to just double its
niaToat or *BBO«TAnoir. m
Orthne, MDie atleinpu have been upon ntetlianica! princi|ilM, «r by virtue of llie powers of iiieclianisrH : and such are concfivcJ !• be llie in^tai>ces rrluleit of ilie flviiig pigeon made by Arclijtjs : (be flying eagle and fly by Regjomonlaiiuj, and various olhers, Arsuii, olber projects have beei rbrned tor attaching n'wg» to gome part «f tbe body, which were to be moved either by the handior firet, trf the help of meclianical powers; so that slrikiog tfie air with them, •ftei Ihe muioer of the wiag« of a bird, the person mi^l raise him- ■rif in Ihe air, and traniport himself through it, in imitation of (hit ■aianl. The romances of almost every nalion have recorded ia. «tancei of persons being carried through Ihe air, both by Ihe agency of iiMriUaiid mecbanical inventions; but (ill tbe time of the cele. brated Lord Bacon, no rational principle appears ever to have been thovght of by which this might be accomplished. Friar BacoO, io* (feed, bad written upon the subject ; and many had lupposedf that, by menu of artificial wingi, a man might fiy as well as a bird : but these oi^ions were refuted by Borelli ia his Itfatise De Hotu AnU tnalinm, where, from a comparison between the power of Ihe mas- cles which move the wings of a bird, and those which move the arnif of • man, he demonstrates that the latter are ntterty iusafficient to ■Irlke the air with such force as to raise bim from the ftroiuid. Ia the year 1672, Bishop Wilkins published his " Discovery of ibe New World," in which he certainly seems to have conceived tbe idea of raising bodies into the atmosphere by filling them witb rare- fied air. This, however, be did not by any means pursue; bat rated hi* hopes upon mechanical motions, to be accomplished by human strength, or by springs, &c. which have been proved inct> pable of answering any useful purpose. The Jesuit, Francis Lanat cotemporary with Bishop Wilkins, proposed to exhaust hollow balli of metaj of their air, and by that means occnsion them lo ascend. But though the theory was unexceptionable, Ihe means were certainly insufficient to tbe end : for a vessel of cupper, made sutticiently ihin to fioat in the atmosphere, would be utterly unable to resist Ihe es> temal pressure, which being demonstrated, no atletnpl was mad« Upon that principle. So ihat we may reckon nothing to have been particularly concerted towards aerostation, till Ihe experiment of one Gusman, a Portuguese friar, wlio is reported early in the last centurr to have launched a paper bag into the air; which, bowever. soon fell, after attaining the height of 100 teet. Soon after Mr. Caven. dUi'B discovery of Ate ipccfflc gravity of mflsiiuiiable air, it occurred
TOL.TI, V
66 BttTORT OP ABBO*tATIOM.
to ihe inicDioiu Dr. Blacit, of Edinburgh, that if « bladdcrt 111& cienlly lijchtand thin, were filled wilh litis air, it would forai a man ligliler than the same bulk of atmoapheric air. and rise in it. Thia thought v*a( miKgeited in hii lectum ia 1767 or 1768 ; aid ba pro. poied, by means of the allaittois of a calf, to try the experiment. Other employ nienlt, howrver, prevented the eiecution of hi* deaign. The possibility of coiittructing a vessel, which, when filled with in. flammable air, would ascend in the atmosphere, had occnned also to Mr. Cavallo about the same time ; and to bitii belongs tb« btHiotir of having first made cxperimenit on this subject, in (he beijitiiuog of the year 1763, of which an account wa* read to the Koyat Society, on the aOtb of June, in thai year. He tried btadden j but tbe lliin. nctt of these, however tcra|>ed and deanedi were too heavy. In using China^puper, he found that the iiiAammable air patted through its pore*, like water through a sieve ; and having failed of aucceu by blowbg this air into a tlikk solution of gum, thick varnishes, and oil paint, he was uttdcr a necessity of being satisfied with soap- balb ; which, being ttidalcd with inflammable air, by dipfmig the end of a suialt glass tube, coonected with a bladder containing the air, iolo a thick sulutiun of boap, and gently compressing tbe blad' der, ascended rapidly in the atmosphere ; and these were the first wrt of ioflainmable air-ballons that were ever niailc.
But while aerostation seemed thus on the point of being mtde kao»n in Britain, it was all at once aimounced in France, by two brotlien, Stephen and John Montgolfier, native) of Annonay, and masten of a coutklerable paper- menu factory thert, who lud turned
time «f f06t fttt tmm tbe place it had left. Soon after tbU, om nf Ihe bfotbert, invited b; tlie Acttdemif of Sciences In repeat lib ciperimenls at thnr expense, conilrucled a larRe balloon nf br elltptieal fonn. In a preliminary experiment, Ihis machine lil'leH from the eround eishi (Mrson; who held if, aitd would have carried them all off, if more had not quickly come to Ihfir nssisliince. Next day the machine wag lille'l by the combustion of liFly pounds of ■Iraw, and twelve pounds of wool. The mHchine soon swelled, and sustained itself in the air, log>?llier with the cljurge nf between 4 and 500 pounds weight. It wai designed to repeal llic ccperi. ■nent before the king, at Ver^ilUs ; but a viulcnt siurm of rain and wind happening to damage the machine, it became necessary to pre- pare a new one | ami such expedition was used that this vast balluoo, near 60 feet in height, and 43 in diameter, was made, painted within and without, and finely decorated, in do more than four ddys and four biglita. Along with it was sent a wicker cage, conlsiuing a ■beep, a cock, and a duck, which were llie first animals ever sent on such a voyage. The full success of the experiment was, however, prevented by a violent gust of wind, wliicli tore the machine in two places near the top before it asceniled. Still it rose 1440 feet ; and after renoaiiiitig in the air about eight minutes, fell to the groiiod at tbe distance of 10,300 feet from the place of its setting out, Tha animals were not in the least hurt.
As the great power of these aerontatic machines, and their very padual deicent, shewed they were capable nf transporting people Ibrougb the air with all imaginable safety, M. PiUtre de Rozier offered himself to be the first aerial adventurer in a new machine, coRftrucled in a garden ii) the fauxbourg of St. Antotne. It wai of an oval tbape, 48 feet in diameter, and 74 in height, elegaotly pabted with the signs of the zodiac, ciphers of the king's aamu, and otber ornaments. A proper gallery, grate, ice. enabled tba peraon who ascended to supply the lire with fuel, and (bus keep up tbe machine as long as he pleased. ^\ie weight of the wbole appa- ratus wu upwards of t^OO pounds. Oq the t ^tb of October, 1783, M. Pihitrc placing himself in the gallery, tbe machine was inflated, and permitted to ascend to the height of 84 feel, where he kept it afloat about four minutes and a half; after which it deKendpd viery goitly : and inch wai its tendency to ascend, that it rebognded to a considerable height after touching the ground. On repeating the npiyiment, be ascended to the height of SIO fret. Hii next aiccal
m ■itTMT ov ATtmanAmm.
tMiSfiSfttt; and mtlM dswcnt, & gut of wiod bivhig blotrn tbe ■MduM over toiM large tran ■ as idjoMag gaiden, U. Pilatra nddcnly cxirinted binwelf by tbnwfpg Mnw and wool on the fire, wbkb raked him at oooa to a luSeient keigbt. On dewesdiiv Bgini, ba once more railed himialf to a proper hcighl by tha ame ncaoi. Some time after, he atcaudcd, with H. OiroDd ^ Villctte, (•the height of 930 feet; borering aver Pariiat Icaat Me Btinutes ■I ugbt of all the inbabitaiiti, and the macbiiK keeping aU the whila a ateadj position. Tbeie esperimenti ihewed, tbat the airMtalic macfaisea miglit be tailed or lowered at the pleanrfr-sf the penona ■rfao aKflnded. On the Slit of November, 1783, tbetnlMe, H. PSIlti*, and tbe Marqnia d'Arlande^ undertook an aerial voyage, iriueh fauted about 25 mmntci, and during whieh time they padcd •rcr a ipace of above five aiilea. Prom tbe account gnen by tb* Harqnw, tbey net wilb Mvcral difieicnt conenb of air, the bSkI of wbieh wa> to gire a very lensble shock to the macbioc, lad thtdt fcdioni ofthe motion Mcmed to be from the upper part dtmowMik. It appeals abo that tliey were in some daogar oJT having the -balloon fttmt altogether: as tbe Marquk observed wt«ral naid boica Made by tbe Ak ui tbe lower part of it, whieh ataraed Ua coni- deiaUy, and. Indeed, not wkfaont reason. However, the pngrea of tiM fire was eaaly stopped by tbe qipbation of a wet tpaagct aad alt appearance of danger ceased.
This voyage of M. niatre, and the Marquis, may be Mbl to fmi> dude tbe history of aerostatic machines which are elevalnl by Bwans of fire ; these having been soon after superseded by b
^pojigt Biade by Messrs* Rosier and Arlandef, aaturally suggested tW idea of undertakiag ^tomethiog of the same kind with a ballooa filled with iBflamniable air. The machine u^ed on thb occasion was formed of gores of silk, covered with a varnish of caoutchouc, of a ttplierical ligwFe* and measuring 27 i feet in diameter. A net was •pread over the upper hemisphere, and fastened to a hoop, which passed round the middle of the balloon. To thi5 a sort of car was svspeoded a feiv feet below the. lower part of the balloon ; and ia order to prevent the bursting of the machine, a valve was placed io itf by opening of which some of the iuHainmable air might be oc. casionaltv let out. The car was of basket work, covered with linen, and beautifully ornamented | being eight feet long, four broad, and thi«e and a half deep ; its weight 130 pounds. Great ditiicultitf agflim oceurred in filling the machine, but these at last being ne* moved, the two adventurers took their seats at three quarters aAer <Mie io tiM aAemoon of the Ist of December, 1783. At the tima the baUocm rose, the thermometer stood at of Fahrenheit, and the bsTMneter at 30*18 inches; and, by means of the power of ascent with wkicb they left the ground, the balloon rose till the meremy Ml ta if inches, from which they calculated their height to \m about 60O yards. Throwing out ballast occasionally as they foand the machine descending by the escape of some of the inflammable air, they found it practicable to keep at pretty near the same diu taoce from the earth, during die rest of their voyage ; the qiiiciu sil?er fluctuating between 37 and ^7'65 inches, and the tfaermo. meter between 53' and 57^, the whole time. They continaed in the air an hour and three quarters, and alighted at the distance of twenty-seven miles from Paris ; having suflered no inconvenienee during their voyage, nor experienced any contrary currents of air, aa had been felt by Messrs. Pilatre and Ariandes. As the balloon ftill retained a great quantity of inflammable gas, M. Cliarles de* termmed to take another voyage by himself. M^ Robert accovd* higly got out of the machine ; which now being 130 pounds hghter, arose with such velocity, that in twenty minutes he was almost IKXIO fcet in tfie air, and entirely out of sight of terrestrial objects. The globe, wbicki had been rather flaccid, soon began to swell, and the inflanranUe aiv escaped in great quantity. He also dKw the valve^ to preveaa tiie balloon from burstmg; and the mflammid>le gas^ being eonsideiably wanner than the fptemai air, difliised itself ill pwdr and w» fclt lifce n wann alM|||jfliitij, Intenmimites^
1 3
f6 RlSTORY or ABROSTATIOH.
liDirem, the Ihcrmoniettr indicated m great nriuioa of tempers- tiire : liii lint:en were bednmbed with cold, and he fell i violeDt palli In bis right ear and jaw, which He iiatribed to Ibe eapamion of tlie air in tbese otgaas as well as tn llie external coldi The beaut; of the prospetl which he now enjoyed, howeter, made uacsdi for theie iiicon*enicncies. Al bii departure itie san wu Mt on the ^lle^; but the height to which M. Charles waa got into ibc aN (Dotplwre rendered him again Tisiblei though only for a ahott timet He saw, for a t'eW Kconds, vdpoiirs riiins from the valleja aad ri Vtm, The clouds seemed to ascend from the earth, and collect One upbn ihe otlier, still preserving liieir usual tbrm ; only ibev colour was grpy and monotonous, for ftant of sufficient light in the Btmo>pliere. By tlie light of the moon, he perceived that the ms^ chine was turning rouod wiih him in the air ; and he observed that there Ivere contrary currents which brought him hack agaifl. He observed also, with surprise, Ihe eflecis of the wiad, and that the itreamers of his banners pointed upwards t whichj he hj^ could not be the effect ciliier of his tsceiit or descent) as he wm moving boriEontaily at the lime. At last, recollecting hii promise of re. turoing to hi> frieoil* in half an hour, lie pulled Ihe valvar snd Mb celeraled his descent. When within 3O0 feet of tlie earth, he Ihicv out two or tliree pounds of ballast, wliirb rendered the hnlloon again slationarj ; but, in 3 little liute afterwards, he gently alighted in afield Hbont three miles distance from the plarc whenco he aet ont ; though, by D)Bking allowance for hII the turnings and windings
oflllL-
whicVW arose, as. measured by mathematical instraroents, was thoii(^t to be very litlle less than 10<000 feet; and be remained in the af mosphere an hour and a quarter. Notwithstanding the rapid progress of aerostation in France^ it is remarkable that we have no authentic accounts of any experiments of this kind being attempted iu other countries. Even in our own island, where all arts and sciences find an indulgent nursery, and many their birth, no aero- static machine was seen before the month of November, 1/83. Va- rious speculations have been made on the reasons of this strange neglect of so novel and brilliant an experiment ; but none seemed to carry any shew of probability, except that it was said to be dis- couraged by the leader of a philosophical society, expressly instituted for the improvement of natural knowledge, for the reason^ as was said, that it was a discovery of a neighbouring nation. Be this however as it may, it is a fact that the first aerostatic experiment was exhibited in England, by a foreigner unconnected and unsup- portei). This was a Count Zambeccari, an ingenious Italian, who happened to be in London about that time. He made a balloon of oiled silk, ten feet in diameter, weighing only eleven pounds ; it wat gilt, both for ornament, and to render it more impermeable to the inflammable air, with which it was to be filled. The balloon after being publicly shewn for several days in London, was carried to the Artillery-ground, and there being filled about three-quarters with inflammable air, and having a direction, inclosed in a tin box, for any person by whom it should afterwards be found, it was launched about one o'clock on the 25th of November, 1783. At half past three it was taken up, near Petworth, in Sussex, forty-eight miles distant from London ; so that it travelled at the rate of near twenty miles an hour. Its descent was occasioned by a rent in the silk, which must have been the effect of the rarefaction of the inflamma- ble air when the balloon ascended to a rarer part of the atmosphere. The attempts of M. Bianchard to direct his machine through tha atmosphere, were repeated in 1784, by Messrs. Morveau and Ber* trand, at Dijon, who raised themselves with an inflammable air. balloon to the height, as it was thought, of 1 3,000 feet : passing through a space of eighteen miles in an hour and twenty-five mi- nutes. M. Morveau had prepared oars for directing the machine through the air; but they were damaged by the wind, so that only two remained serviceable; by working these, however, they were d>lc to produce a seoaible effect on the motioD of the machine. h ft thiid aerial voyage perfonned by n ii» be seemed l#
v4
7C HICTOBT Oy ABK«STATIOlr.
produce tome cOcct bit the ■gilUkM' of fab wingf, botb in Mcnid- iug, dtriccnding, nioviof tidnnyi, and e««B io xMite metiun agtioit the wiiid : buwcver thu u tuppoMd, with Mme probabilitj, t» ha** been a mistake, ai, io all bia luccecding voyage*, ttie cffecb of hi* niacUiner^ could wA be perceived.
Having said thus mucb villi regard to the conducting aeioMatic inacliiiiej through the Blmotphere, we ahall new relate the allaa^tt made to lessen their expeoee, by fallinii upon aoine — nlrimrt to SKend MJlhoul throwing out tMllast, and to dewcnd witbowt loiiug auy of the iuBamnaable air. The fir*t atteiapt of thia kind waa macteby the Dukede Chartm; who, on the 13th of Julj, 1744, aaceuded wilb Ihe two brolhen, Charles and Robert, froaa tb« pMk of St. Cloud. The balloon was of an oblong form, made Io aKeod wilh its longest diameter horisontally, aud lueaaured fiAy.five feet in Icngiii, and twenty-four in brcadlh. It cnatained wilhio it a amaller balloon filled with common air ; bjp Mowing into which with a pair of bellows, and ihus throwiog in a considerable quantily of coinmoo air, it was supposed that the macliiiie would beoosaa *h^ ikieiilly heavy to descend ; especially as, by the iuflalion of the intar. mi bai;, the iuflamniable air in ilie eilernal one would be coadonied nio a smaller space, aui) thus become specifically heanw. Tba voyage, however, was attended with such circumstances aaitndarad it ini|H>*sible Io know what would have been the event of the saheMa. Tlie power of ascent, wtlh which they set out, seeoM to bovt been ver; great ; as in three minutes after parting from the grooMl, they were lost in the clouds, and involved In such a dcnaa t
•
thM fliiVBj v«poiir ia which they had been involved. Tiiey now mw the Mm without a cload; but the heat of his rays, with the di- joioished density of the atmosphere, had suc^aa effect on the in« flammable air> that the balloon seemed every moment ready to burst* To prevent tliis they introduced a stick through the tube, in order to push away tlie inner balloon from its aperture ; but tlie expansion of the inflammable air pushed it so close, that all at- tempts of thit kind proved inefiectual. It was now, however, become absolutely necessary to give vent to a very considerable quantity of the inflammable air ; for which purpose the Duke de Chart res him* self bored too holes in the balloon, which tore open for the length of seven or eight feet. On this they descended with gre;it rapidity; and would have fallen into a lake, had they not hastily thrown out siftty^KHiads of ballast, which enabled them just to reach the water's edge. This scheme for raising or lowering aerostatic ma. chines by bags filled with common air being thus rendered dubious, another aaethod was thought of. This was to put a small aerocitatic machioe, with rarefied air, under an ioflammahle air-balloon, but at such a distance that the inflammable air of the latter might be per* fectly out of the reach of the fire used for inflating the fomier ; and thtts^ by increasing or diminishing the fire in the small machine, the absolute weight of the whole would be considerably diminished '#r augmented. This scheme was unhappily put in execution by the eelebrated M. Pilatre de Rozier and M. Romaine. Their inflam« mable air-balloon was about thirty-seven feet in . diameter, and the power of the rarefied air one was equivalent to about sixty-pounds. They ascended without any accident ; but had not been long in the alNMsphere when the inflammable air-balloon was seen to swell very eonsideraUyi at the same time that the aeronauts were observed, by weans of telescopes, very anxious to get down, and busied in pulling the val^Fe and opening the appendages to the balloon, in order to A^ dlitale the escape of as much inflammable air as possible. Shortly aftti thi» tlie machine took fire, at the height of about three quar« teM ei a mile from the ground. No explosion was heard ; and the silk of te balloen seemed to resist the atmosphere for about a mi* Dttte, after which it collapsed, and descended along with the two un« fortunate tnweUtrs sb rapidly, that both of them were killed. Pi. latm seemed t» hwre been dead before he came to the gronnd ; but li. Romaine wa^aUwa when some persons came up to him, though be expired immedialely Kfter* The Sat aeiial voyage ia England wi rfbnned on the 15tb of
M HtBTOBT 0» AKROSTAtlOK.
Scptcmlwr, 1784, by Vincent Lunanli, a iialtre of Italy. Hit bal. Inon wat made of oiled silk, painted in alternate ttripea of blue and red. Its diamcier ims thiny-thne feel. Froni a net which went over about Iwo-lhirds of the balloon detcended foTty-five cordi to a hoop hanging below the balloon, and to which the gallery was at* tacbed. The balloon bad no valve ; and iti neck, which termi- ualed in the form of a pear, was the npertnre through which the in. flammable air was introduced, and Ihrongh which it might be let out, . The air for filling the balloon was produced from tine by means of diluted vitriolic acid. Mr. Lunnrdi departed from the Ar> til lery- ground at two.o'clock ; and with him were a dog, a cat, and ' a pigeon. After throwing out some sand to dear the bonses, be ascended (o a great height. The direction of his motion at first was NW by W, but as Itie balloon rose higher it f^ll into another cnrreiit of air, which carried it nearly N. About half after three he descend- ed very near the ground and landed the cat, which was alniMt dead with cold : then rising, lie prosecuted his voyage. He ascribca hit descent to the action of an nar ; hut as be was under a necenity of throwing, out ballast in order to re-ascend, his descent was more probably occasioned by the lois of inftammable air. At lea minute* past four he descended on a meadow, iiear Ware, in Hertfordahin, The only philosophical instrument which he carried with him wn a thermometer, wliich, in the course of his voyage, slnod ai low u 39*; and be observed that the drops of water collected round the balloon were frOEen> . The second aerial voyage, in England, was performed bj Mr.
bo flife^4th of Ottober, Mr. Sadler^ an ingehioas tradesman, at Oxford, ascended at that place with an infliininiable air balloon of his oyyn construction and filling. And again, on the twelfth of the same mouth, he ascended at Oxford, an.i floated to the distance of fourteen miles, in seventeen minutes, which is at the rate of near fifty miles an hour. On the 2 3d of March, count Zambeccari, and Admiral Sir Edward Vernon, ascended at London, and sailed to Horshaiii, in Sussex, at the distance of thirty-five miles in less than an hour. The voyage proved very dajigerous, iwinj^ tfi some of the machinery about the valve being damaged, which obliged them to cut open some part ot the balloon when they were about two miles perpendicular height above the earth, the barometer having fallen from 30*4 to 20*8 inches. Iti descending they passed through a dense cloud, which felt very cold, and covered them with snow. The observations they made were, that the b^tlluou kept perpetually turning round in a vertical axis, sometimes so rapidly as to make each revolution in four or five seconds; that a peculiar noise, like rustling, was heard among the clouds, and that the balloon was greatly agitated in the descent. Perhaps the most daring attempt was that of Mr. Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries across the straits of Dover. Thii took place on the 7 th of January, 1785, bein^ a clear frosty morn. ing, with a wind, barely perceptible, at NNW. The operation of filling the balloon began at ten o*clock, and at three quarters af^er twelve every thing was ready for their departure. At one o'clock Mr. Blanchard desired t!ie boat to be pushed off, which now stood only two feet distant from that precipice so finely described by Shaks))care, in his tragedy of King Lear. As the balloon was scarcely sufficient to carry two, they were obliged to throw out all their ballast except three bags of ten pounds each ; when they at last rose gently, though making very little way on account of there being so little wind. At a quarter after one o'clock, the barometer, which on the cliff stood at 29 7 inches, was now fallen to 27*3, and the weather proved fine and warm. They had now a most beautiful prospect of the south coast of England, and were able to count thirty-seven villages upon it. After passing over several vessels, they found that the balloon, at fifty minutes after one, was descend* ing, on which they threw out a sack and a half of ballast; but as they saw that it still descended, and that with much greater velocity than before, they now threw out all the ballast. This still proving iodTectual, they next thitw out a parcel of books (hey carried along
76 HIBTOBt or AKBOSTATlOir.
with them, which nade the balbxiD ueendi whn Uwjr *«« aboat ■lidwa; betwixt France and Enghud. At a quarter past two, find. iag theiDMlvei agnin descending, tbey threw away the remainder of their books, and, ten iniaules after, thej bad a moit enchanting prospect of the I'rencb caast. Still, however, the machiDe descend- ed ; and as tliej had now no more ballast, tbe; were fiun to throw ■way their pravisions for eating, the wingi of their boat, wd every BioTcable they could easily spare. " We threw awftj/' tays Dr. Jeffries, " our only botile, which in its descent cast out • ilcaiii like imoke, with a nulling noise; and when it struck the water, wc heard and felt the shock very perceptibly on our car and balloon." All ibis proviug iasufficient to slop the descent of ibe balloon« they next threw out tlieir ancliors and eords, anil at last stripped off their clothes, fostening themselves to cerlaiu sliugi, and intending to cut ■way the boat as llieir last resource. They had now the salisfae. tion, however, to find that they were rising; and as they passed over the high lands between Cape Blanc and Calais, the inacfaine rose very fast, and carried (hem to a greater height than they had been at any former part of their voyage. Tliey descended safely among •ome trees in the forest of Guienues, where there was just opening enough to admit them.
In September, 1785. Mr. Baldwin ascended from CSieiter, in Mr. Lunardi's balloon } and, after traversing in a variety of dircc tioM, he first alighted m tlie neighbourhood of Frodsham ; then re- ascending and pursuing his excursions, he finally landed at Riiton- moBS, tweaty.five miles from Chester. Mr. Baldwin, who pub.
niSTOBY or AEBOtTATlOir. tT
preicnily coalcKed, and formet^ a« lie expresses it, • Mt «f cotton, tufting here and there by tlie action of tlic air iti ibe uadisturbed pirt of ibe cloudi. The whole becanie id extetided white floor of cloud, the upper turfkee being amooth and even. Above this while floor he obierved, at great and unequal dislanceg, a vast as- •eiufolage of lliunder clouds, eiich parcel consisting of whole acrei in Ibe densest fonn : he compares their form and appearauce to the ■moke of pieces of ordnance, whicli hail consolidated, as it were, ioto nuMCS of mow, and penetrated tbrough tite upper lurbce, or while floor of coinnioii clouds, there reniaioing vbible and at rest. He endeavours to convey some idea of the scene by a sketch, which rcprcMnti a circular view he had from Ihe car of (be balloon, him- leir hcing over the centre of the view, looliing down on tlie white floor of clouds, and teeing the city of Chester through an opening, which discovered tl>e landscape below, liniited by surrounding va- pour to leiB than two miles in diamelcr. The breadth of tiie outer margin defines his apparent heiglit in the balloon (via. four miles) above the white Ooor of clouds. The regions in which he was did not feel colder, but rather warmer, than below ; and Ihe sun felt hottest, when (he balloon was stationary. The discharge of a cannon, when the balloon was at a considerable height, was distinctly heard ; and tnolher diKbarge, when be was at Ihe lieight of about thirty yards, ■o disturbed him as to oblige him for safely to lay hold 6nalyt( the cordi of the balloon.
Omiiiing the relation of Mr. Crosbie's attempt to cross the Irish Channel, and of Major Mony's narrow escape from drowning in the German Ocean*, we procted to remark ibal, about the latter end of August, 1785, the longest aerial voyage we have yet heard of was performed by Mr. Blanchard : he ascended at Lisle, accom- panied by the Chevalier de L'Epinard, and travelled 300 miles is the balloon before it descended. On (his occasion, as on some* fonner oBes^ Mr. Blanchard made trial of a parachute, an instru- ment like a large umbrella, invented to break (he fall, in case of an accident happening to the balloon i with this machine he dropped ■ dog from the car soon after bis ascension, which descended genllj ind unhurt. The most celebrated aeronaut of modem timet was M. Oanerin, a man of an ardent and ingenious muid, bat pro-
• We have ben InJMed to give a view of Ibe pFriJav liAwIioD of U^tr Man]', who Ml inUtOc lea with bii tuillooii on tbe SSdJnly, ITSS, off tlw CMilef Yarmoadi, aadiniiiiMtpTOfidcalia ertd and taken ap 1^
Oa Arps ilovp, after kavlaf renalned in the i ]af Ive boars.
78 HISTOKT or AXBOtTATIOR,
babl; not ^trj iiitimBtelji nrquamted with the (riencn coaiMclcd with urmtation. We <lo not renumber lieiring of thif gnilleaian iinlU Augiul, 1798. ou tlie 2Sth of which inooib lie m<fe ^ eleventh ascension froni Purii, acRompaniefl by a remtte rrirad. Hb eouTK fnr a conaiilerable lime wai near the ground, during which lie convrrsed with the people below. Time eonvena. lioni shewed hnw much the earlh reflected Munrt ; for all hii words were repealed five or sis limei. He thoueht at flnt that it uugbt be giiverued by some local circuniitance, wliirli indead ii vny probable with regard to the re|wlilioii. He rtcicended tevml linMi to tiMsanieleTe), ala dJitaoceof trnleagiiei aiiimlrr, where hecoa* ■tanllj obaerted (he name 'ffecl. Tliiigreai vibralioa oflbeairwat aot «eniible to d^lancei esceediug 140 or 200 toiscf. It decmued with the distance. Having made a numlter of aisrial voyage^ U. Oar> pefin'i niechanicnl arquaintance with the rrquisiiei for iiwiring lac cen wai coitfiniied by frequent experieace. Thi* gentleman, availing bimselfuf iheihott iulerval uf peare, viiileil ^gland io llw mmnier of 1603; aud Ihui excited the atlcnlion oftbe Briiiih public to llie almoct forgotten subject of aeroilstion. His voyagea made, in ifaii coootry are fresh in the memory of every -one : aud ai they *tn niimitely detailed in Mveral of the daily papers and nwntUj pnbli- catioD^ we ihall be t)ie more readily excuied giving a fiill tccomit of tbcm here. On June SSlh, this aeronaut. accom|)anied by • mi. Ktary gentleman (Captuin Snowjeu) rose from Ranelagb, tud alighted near Colchester, in Icm than three quarters of tobmr; faavihg, in that short period, travelled tiill siaty miles I Puring tkis
HISTORY OV AfKOBTATlOK. 70
Ho«(iiul, iu PHDcran. Tlie lial loon whs of lli« iifual Mit, vix. of oiled silk, Willi a uel, from wljicli ropes procecilid, wliicb termi. nnted in, or were jointcil to, a ^'ingk mpe ut a fi-w feet Wow the baflcKio. To iliii rope the panichule wa» fastened in tlie following manlier. Tlie reader nia;v easily form to liimseU'an idea of lliii pa- rachute, by Imagining a Urge umbielU of cativu&s of about thirty feel in diameter, bnt destitute of tlie ribs and handle. Several ropet of about lliirty feet in length, which proceeded from the edge of the parachute, terminated in a connnon joining, from whidi basket shorter ropes proceeded, to the extremities of which n circular was tastened, and in this basket M. Garnerin placed himself. Now the single rope, which has been said above to proceed from lite balloon, passed through a liule in the centre of the pardchute, also through certain tin tube^, wliicit were placed one after the other in the place of the handle or t>lick of an umbrella, and was lastly &l«itcdto the basket ; so that when llie balloon was in the air, by cutting the end of (bis rope next tu the basket, the parachute, with the basket, would be separated from the balloon, and, in fall- ing dowQwardii, would be naturally opened by the resistance of the air. The uie of (be tin tubes was to let the rope slip off with greater certainty, and to prevent its beiug entangled with atiy of the other ropes, as also to keep the parachute at a distance from llie basket. The balloon begun to be tilled at about two o'clock. There were thirty-six casks filled wilb iron filings and diluted sulpfiuric acid, for the production of the hydrogen gas. Tliese communicated with tkre« other casks or general receivers, to each of wliicb was fixed a tube that emptied itself into the main tube attached to the balloon. At six, the balloon being quite full of gas, and the parachute, &c. beiag attached to it, M. Garnerin placed himself in the basket, and ascended majesticaltv amidst tlie acclauiatious of innumerable spec- talors. The weather was the clearest and pleasantest imaginable ; the wind was gentle and about west by south ; in consequence of whidi M. Oarneriu went in the direction of about east by uortb. In about eight minutes time, the balloon and parachute had ascended to an immense height, and M. Garoeriu, in the basket, could Karcely be perceived. While every spectator was conlemplaliog the grand light before him, M. Oarneriu cut the rope, and in an inftant he was separated from the balloon, trusting his safety to the parachute. At first, viz, before the parachute opened, he fell with gixat velocity ; bnt ai soon as the parachute was expanded, which |99k place ft few mw^pti after, IbedescoAinu very gentle aoii p*-
80 CONSTBVCTIOIT Ot BAtLOOKIi''
dual. InlliiidMcentarenisTkBbleeiminHtBnccwHobifrTedjiniiwI^, that the parachute with Ibe appendage of cords and badtet, soon began to vibmie like the peiidulutn of a clock, and the Tibraliotu were so greal, that more tban once the paradiote, and the baiket with M. Gariierin, Kcmed to be oa tbe tame level, or tfuitc hori- annta), which appeared extremely dangerous : howevel', tbe extent of Ibe vibrations diininiihed as he came pretty near tbtt ground. On coming to the earth, M. Gamerin experienced Mine pretty strong sliocks, and wlien be came out of the baaket, lie was much diicompoied ; but he won recoreted hit spirits, and remained irltb- out any material hurt.
SECTION III. CoHilructioH ofBathofu, The shape of the balloon is one of tbe firal objects of consldm. lion in the construction of this machine. As a sphere admits tba greatest capacity under tbe least surface, the spherical figure or that which approaclies nearest lo it, has been generally preferred. How- ever, since bodies of this form oppose ■ great stirAice to the air, and consequently a greater obstruction to the action of the oar or whigs than those of some other form ; it has been proposed to construct balloons of a conical or oblong figure, and to make tliem proceed with their narrow end forward. Some have suggested the shape of a fish : others, that of a bird ; but either the globular, or tbe egg> like shape, is, alt things considered, certainly the best which can be
be demitbeA'nn sucti. Bu^ mote accuAitely, the breadtlis of the slip, at fhe sereral distances firom the point, to the middle, where it is broadest, tire directly as the sines of those distances, radius being the half length of the slip, AAer providing the necessary quantity of the stuff, and each piece having been properly prepared ivith the drying oii, let the corre.sponding edges be sewed together in such a manner as to leave 'about half or three quarters of an inch of one piece beyond the edge of the other, in order that this may, in a sub* sequent row of stitclies, be turned over the latter, and both again sewed down together, by so doing, a considerable degree of strength is given to the whole bag at the seams, and the hazard of the gass escaping doubly prevented. Having gone in this manner through all the seams, the followiug method of Mr. Blanchard is admirably calculated to render them yet more perfectly air tight. The seam being doubly stitched as above, lay beneath it a piece of brown paper, and also another piece over it on the outside ; upon this lat. ter pass several times a common tire-iron heated just sufficiently to soften the drying oil in the seam ; this done, every interstice will be now closed, and the seam rendered completely airtight. The neck of tbe balloon being lefl a foot iti diameter and three in length, and all the seams finished, the bag will be ready to receive the varnish, a single coating of which on the outside is found preferable to the former method of giving an internal as well as external coat. ' **' ^ The compositions for varnishing balloons have been variously modified ; but, upon the whole, the most approved appears to lie the bird.lime varnish of M. Faujas St. Fond, prepared afftr Mt« Cavallo's method, as follows : '< In order to reffder'lHigced oil dryl' ing, boil it^ with two ounces of sugar of fead and tHfte ounces ef litharge for every pint of oil, till they are di^lved, whith may be ijr half an hour. Then put a pound of bird-lim^'dnd half a^Mnt of the drying oil into an iron or copper vessel whose capacity should equal about a gallon, and let it boil very gently over ^ slow charcoal lire till tbe birdlime ceases to crackle, which wiH belA about half or three quarters of an hour : then pour upon it^two pfnts and a half more of the drying oil, and let it boil about an hour longer, stirring it frequently with an iron or wooden spatula. As the varnish whilst boiling, and especially when nearly done, swells very much, care should be taken toremove, in those cases, the pot from the fire, and leplaoe it when the varnish subsides ; otherwise it will boil over. Wbibt the stuff is boilmg the operator should occasionally enminc
TOL. VI. •
82 COHSTSUCTIOn or BALLOONi.
wbctber it fau boiled euough | which mij be kuown by obierving wlKtber, when rubbed between two knivei uid tUen feparated from one Knottier, the varnish forioi threadi between them, u it muit tlien be removed from rhe fire ; when nearly cool, add about an equal quaalily of spirit of turpentine! iu uiing llic varnitli, the ttuff must be stretched and the varnish lukewarm : in twenty.four boura it wilt be dry." As the elastic lejin, knownby tbenanieof lodian nibber, hai been much extolled for a vambii, ifie following method of malung it, as piaclited by Mr, Blanchard, may not |)ro«e uuaccept- akle : Dissolve elastic tetiii, cut small, in five limes iU weight of rectified essential nit of turpentine, (ethereal spirit of turpentine of the shops), by keeping them some days together ; then boil one ounce of this solution in eight ounces of drying litiseed oil for a few minutes ; strain the solution and use it warm.— The car or boat is beat made of wicker.work, covered with leather, aud pahiled ) and the proper method jDfsuspending ii, is by ropes proceeding from the net which goes over the balloon. The net should be formed to tlie shape of the ballouii, and fall down to the middle of it, with various conb proceeding from it to the circumference of a circle about two feet below the balloon ; and from that circle other lopes should go to Ibe edge of the boat. This circle may be made of wttod, or of levcial (Heces of slender cane hound together. The mesbei of the iMt may be small at top, against which part of the balloon tbe inflam- mable air exerts tbe greatest force ; and increase in siae ai tbcj reaede from tbe lap. I With regard to the rarefied-air machines, Mr. Cavallo recom>
theliinWii mmniMHiimof Ifce basket to the body of the pin. chttlei md cspeciilly m the waot of a perpendicular cord passing horn the car to the centre of the concave of the umbrella, by the abience of which the velocity of the descent is certain to be very rapid before the machioe becomes at all distended ; whereas, if a cofd were thus disposed, the centre of the parachute would be the porlioo first drawn downwards by the appended weight, and the machiae woald be almost immediafely at its full extension. Having finind^ by experimenty the diameter, required for insuring safety, the further Ibe basket or car is from the umbrella, the less fear shall we have of ao inversion of the whole from violent oscillations ; yet, the longer the space between the car and the head of tlie machine, the longer will be the sfmce run through in each vibration when once faegUB, yet by so much the more will they be steadier ; and this OHgfat to be attended to, as when by the violence of the oscilla* tioBt the ear became (in 6amerin*i experiment) on a line with the borisoiital axis of the machine (or, iu other words, the point of sus. pensatioo^) the force of gravity, or the gravitating power of the weight m the car, on the umbrella, being at that crisis reduced to Aothmg, the slightest cause might have carried the body of the aMchine in a lateral direction, reversing the concavity of tlie ttm« biella,and M. Gamerin, perhaps, have fallen upon the now convex yel interiial portion of the bag, and the whole have descended coo- fuarillj together.— It now remains to give some account of the method by which aerostatic machines may be 611ed ; and here we are able to determine with much greater precision concerning the inflammable^air balloons than the other kind. With regard to these, a primary eonsideration is, the most effectual and cheap method of |«ociiriiig the inflaramable.air. It will be found that the most ad« faalayouf methods are, by applying acids to certain metals ; by expoiiQg animal, vegetable, and some mineral substances, in a close vessel to a strong fire ; or lastly, by transmitting the vapour of cer* taiB Mii through red.hot tubes. For obtaining mflammable-w finom pita^eaU asphaltum, amber, &c« &c« Mr. Cavallo recon* menda the following apparatus : let a vessel be made of clay, or ffttber of ifoa,hi the shape of a Florence flask, somewhat latger, mat wliofe ntA k longer and larger. Put the substance to be Mid kito this vesml, ao as to fill about four-fifths or less of its cavity. If the attbataaee be of such a nature at to swell much hf ^imaativii of tlit ii^kite a tobe of bii% or $aX a bivm »<
c9
S4 coKkTBocTion or baliooks.
tbea m leaden tvibe, to the oecb of llw Tewel ; bmI let tbe end of (lie tulte be so Umped tlial going int* the water it may tcnninate uiiiler a loit of inverted tcsmI, to tlie ufiper aper- ture of Hbich llie balloon it adapted. Thiugi tiiui prepared, if tbe |wrt of the vessel is put into the fire, aiid wade red.hol, the ioflamniable air produced will come out of iIm tabc, and puling Ibrough the water will at last enter into tbe balloon. Previous to the operation, u a coniidersble quantity of common air rcmaint io the inverted vessel, which it ii more proper to espet, Ibe vessel should have a stop-cock, through which the common air may be sucked out, and tlie water ascend as high as tbe stop^xock. To procure inflammable air by means of steam. Dr. Priestify used a lube of red.hot bran, upon which tbe steam of water has no effect, and which he fills wilb the tuniiugs of ino that are separated in the boring of cannon.' By ihb meani he obtaiaed an inflammable air, tbe »|)ecilic gravity of which b to that of common air as 1 lo 13. In this nielbod, not yet indeed reduced to geaervl practice, a lube about three- quarters of an inch in diameter, and about three feet long, is filled with iron lumingt ; then the neck of a retort, or close boiler, is luted lo one of it* ends, and the worm of a icfrigeratoiy is adapted to its other extremity. The middle part of the tube is then surrounded with burning coals, %o ailo keep about one foot in length of it red. hoi, and a fire is alwaya mnda under ihe retort or boiler sufiicieul to make the water boi( with ve- hemence. In this process a considerable quantity of inflammable air cnines out of tbe refrigeratory. It ia said that iron yields one
dowtt; "^iliBst fillib|r> by ropes passing through loops or holes •bottl its eqMtor ; and these ropes ma^ easii^f be disengaged from tht madim, by slipping them through the loo)»s when it is able to sua* fain itself. The proper combustibles, to be lighted in the wel)| are those which bum quick and clear, rather tbaii imch as produce rauch smoke; because it is hotair, and not smoke« that is required. Small wood and straw are very fit for this purpose. As the current of htft airaacendsy the machine will dilate^ and lift itself above the scaffold and gallery whkh was covered by it. The pas^^engert, fuel, instru. ments, 6cc. are then placed in the gallery. When the machine makes efforts to ascend, its aperture must be brought, by means of the ropes annexed to it, towards the side of the well a little above the scaffold ; the (ire-place is then suspended in it, the fire lighted in the grate^ and the lateral ropes being slipped off, the machine is let go. It haa been determined by accurate experiments, that only one.thirdof the common air can be expelled from these large machines ; and there* fore the ascending power of the rarefied air in them can be estimated as only equal to half an ounce avoirdupoise for every cubic foot.
The conduct of balloons, when constructed, filled, and actually ascended in the atmosphere, is an object of great importance in tha practice of aerostation. The method generally used for elevating or lowering the balloons with rarefied air, has been the increase or diminution of the fire $ and this is entirely at the command of the aeroMlut, as long as he has any fuel m the gallery. The inflamma* Ue*air balloons have been generally raised or lowered by diminishing their ballast, or by letting out some of the gas through the valve: but the alternate escape of the air in descending, and discharge of the ballast for ascending, will by degrees render the machine inea* paUe of floating ; for in the air it is impossible to supply the loss of balkttt, and very difficult to supply that of inflammable air. These ballooiis will also rise or fiill by means of the rarefaction or con- densation of the inclosed air, occasioned by heat and cold, as has been already observed. Wings or oars are the only means of this sort that bave been used with any probable success ; and as Mr. Cavallo observes, they seem to be capable of considerable improfe* ment, though much is not to be expected from them, when the ■mehine goes at a great rate. It is a matter of surprise, that the variout bints for directing balloons appear to lie dormant with their prt^tors wIk> seem indisposed to make any attempts to terjr their pkuM into ixecittiott : thw the hiviiitXNis of professor
«8
t6 COHtTlUtTlAlr OV BAILOOM.
DMicI (Pbilowphial Idigutoc, wai. h.) sbo of Uuttn, ml tbs pmpoMli fw pcHbrming the Mmc by laMin of eagle* trained for Um purpoie ; or b; ■ rem ned panchulc M ratatd tlie diraet pn* grtH of the Mlnoiif wheiebj lew power will be aaenmj to iaoptl it in a lateral dircctmi t all tboe |^m remain obaoUU aad ynprac tbed from Ibe liiue of their inncation. With rcvpcrt to the pro. tebMitj of direeting aoroatalic machtncf, we nMj infier it to be ponible, although (he metboda hereto tried ban beco iBwlrt|Tittt ; peihapt beeaiue fhejr were not luffideally powerful ; aa, to tipect to make m la^ a body a> a balloon to varj from the wind by ibo impuliioD of ao oar of aia or eight feet in length tod ona or two in breadth (and that bj only endearmiiing to draw tbt car or! of iha peTpen<liculBr)ist»cxpectf bymeauofaboafaoarflo iaifial aiblp of burthen. Oar> are doublleM the moat likdj neana to eflbct tfaii purpoM, if they were of dimcnuou proportionate to the efcdi they arcwiahed to produce. The addition of taiU, were any vtriitkM from the wind i> detired, will prove iiyurioiii till we ban altAad • method (pcrhapi only to be accomplidwd by oart) of haa|Hng tba mme point of the balloon continually in a giTcn direction. Tet we doubt not but these alw might proTe of great aervica in qdcli dik patchci, by water ) m, fur iutance, where it ii required to pnm • tailrtu or fleet for the Huccoar of a beneged town, or coaray dia> palche* iheicin : a uubII balloon, of lea or twelve feel diaaMteft provided with saib lo eipote a large aurface l« the wind, being at* tached b^ a long rope to a boat, would oulilrip the quickeat vaaacl, and uiiglil alao be made to devnte from the coorae of Iho wiwl % u
COHSTRUCTIOR OF BALLOONS. , t?
danger. They slso expedite liie communkalioD of imporlaDl event! b; signals, aori ietve fur exploring frotn a great clevaiion adjacent COM* or regioDi, flecli and tnniei. Tfaui, tbe French ascribe to tile ciention of a balloon, and the iafora)alioa ablained in coiue- (jiiiiDCC of Ibiu rrcounoitciittg the anny of tbe enemy, tbe signal victory gained in llie battle of Fleurua, in 1794. Balloons maj like* wiw Mne to eiplore and ascertain (be nature of the air in tbe faigber Kgiona of tbe atmospbere. One of ibe finest experiments made on Ihii point b tbat of Gay-Ijusmc ; wbo, being elevated in a balloon to t|)e bei((ht of sgoo metre* (nearly eight miles) tbe greatest ever attained by any person, brougbt some atmosplicric air from tbose region*, wbicb on being anBly*ed, was found to furnisli tbe principle* of ozygeDi aaole, bydrogeu, and carbonic acid gai, in tbe same propor- tions as at Ibe aurlace of ibe earth. Balloons would also enable ui to detcmiine Ibe changes in the direction of the (rinds at different ahiludcs, and the law of the diminution of heat at different elera- tion*. .In fact, the application of these machine* to the advance- ment of our knowledge of tbe various phsDomena in meteorolofy stand* prominent a* the, perhaps, only means of maturing our acquaintance with causes jet known only by their effect*. Their use will also be indicated in many urgent caaes where otfaer mean* of conveyance might fall short. At tbe same time we conclude with remarking, thut tbe Uilberlo unsuccessful atlempU to render aarial na*%alion of service to mankind, ought to furnish no argument for causing il to be discouraged by men of sense, or prohibited by civil authority. Many arts and sciences from which commercial nations now derive so much benefit were long in rearing to maturity, and were only at length produced for tbe public good, in consequence of patient investigation and reiterated experiments. — Much useful in- fbmation on tlie theory and practice of aerostation may be obtained fruna Baldwin's Aeropaidia, Ciivallo on Aerostation, and Description ^M EiptricDces Aerostati^ues, par M. Paujas St. Fond.
[f an/o/ogio.
i 8S ]
CHAP. V.
GASS LIGHTS.
SBCTION I.
introductory Remark*.
± nt term gal) or gas (from the German gheiti ur spirit, whence OUT own ghott, ghottl^f aghaily ghtutty) ia used in modarn che- miftrjr, to express all tbose aerial flnids, whether produced by chemical experiments or frolved in natural processes, which are not condeniiblfl by the cold of our atmosphere, and which differ from atmospheric air, which is indeed a compound, consisting of three distinct gasses, as we have already observed in a former part of this work.
Of these fluids, some are inflammable, others not. Of the for. mer, the chief are hydrogen, and the gass emitted from phosphorus. It is possible, however, that phosphorus itself is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, with a peculiar base, and consequently, that hydrogen is Ihe innammable principle in this instance. Be this as it may, phosphorus, concerning which we shall treat presenlly, is by no means so easily procured as hydrogen, and
QASa LlflUTS. 90
40ontl/s<'t »t liberty by ftrmfntations, or spnnlaa«ou9 decompa- siliuDS, ij thrown lorth Irom bogi au<l marshes, wbcD, fram a spark of iialiiral rlcclrii: Grt, oc some othrr ace dt'iiUl causf, il ii Oficn seeit burning undtr ihc form tiS ignet falui\ or aiU-o'.lhe- wkiipt ; is occasionally kindlf'd by similar caust-, ia cual or me- tallic mioes, with dreadful explosions and miscbief, of which we hare already giren varioui examples in the preceding part of tbit work; and is collected at times from substances that possets it ia the lari;estabaadaii(», for purposes of ECONOMICAL jllumihatiok. It is under this last character that we are alone to consider it opOD the present occasion. Aa the general principle of inftam. malions, all iuflaminable bodies necessarily conlaia it in a greater or lest degree: such more especially as metals, BlltohoU, oils, aa4 bitnjneiu or coals of every kind, and it consfitules the fine blae or porett part of the Bame emilied from a candle or a fire, wheo made with good round coals, that melt into pitcb. Of tbeae dif-> fereot sobstapcea, loals or bitamens nmy be obtained in the largeit abundance, and with the greatest eatie ; and it is hence by a dis* tillatioD of these, that the gass is usually procured, which iato,. played in gass lights. The means by which this is accomplMfd, the eipeace atteodiog the process, and the great advantage ot having recourse to it in ezteosire manofactories, at other placH where large bodies or lengths of light are absolutely necessary, wfr ibaU now proceed to explain from a very valuable paper cotti^ manicated to the Raysl Society, by the iogenious artist and phi- losopher, who may justly be regarded as the inventor of the prac- tical application of the light of hydrogen gass to useful purposes. lEditor.
SECTION 11.
cation of Ike 6<ut fioui Coal to tamomtcat Purpose*. ■ B; Mr. fflllUm Monlocb. Tkb facts and results intended to be communicated in this pa< per, are founded upon observations made, during the present winter, at the cotton manufactory of Messrs. Diilips and Lee at Manchester, where Ihc light obtained by the combustion of the gass from coal is used upon a very large scale ; the apparatus for Its production and application having been prepared by me at (he works of Messrs. BosltoD) Watt, and Co. at Suho.
90 OASS LIGHTS.
The wboli of the noroi of tbli cotton nill, which ii, I belicTe, the most exteniive in tha naited kingdom, an well u iU counting. booMt and ttora-rooms, and the adjacent dwelling.housei of Mr, Lee, are lighted wilh the gau from coal. The total quantity of light uied during the hours of horning, hu been ascertained, by a comparison of shadows, to he about equal lo the lights which 3300 mould candles of six to the pound would give ; each of the candles, with which the comparliou was made consuming at tha rate of -l-lOtlM of an ounce (175 grdns) of tallow per hour.
The qbuititf of light is neceHarily liable to some variation, from the difficultj of adjusting all the flames, so as to I»e perfectly equal at all times ; but the admirable precision and exactness with which the business of this mill is conducted, afforded aa exeallmt aa opportunity of making the comparative trials I had in view, as ii perhapa likely to be ever obtained in f{eneral practico. And the experiments Iwing nade upon so large a scale, and for a consider, able portion of time, may, I think, be ossumed as a iufflciently accurate standard for determining the advantages to be expected from the use of the gass lights under favourable circumslances.
It is not my intention, in the present paper, to enter into a particular detcrlption of the apparatus employed for prodndug the gas ; but I may obierve generally, that the coal u distilled in large Iron retorts, which during the winter leaion are kept coo. atantly at work, except during (he intervals of charging; aod that the gess, as it rises from them, is conveyed by iron pipes into large
u mril^arTe^tiibe wHk ft conical end, htflog tlitve circular tper- tiir«8 or pf rforationt, of about a thirtieth of an inch in diameter, one at the point of the cone, and two lateral ones, through which the ^as9 is9ues, forming three dirergent jets of flames, somewhat like a fleur.de. Us. 1'he shape and general appearance of' this tube, has procured it among the workmen, the name of the cock- spar burner.
The number of burners employed in all the buildings, amounts to 971 Argands, and 633 cockspurs ; each of the former giring alight equal to that of four candles of the description abf»ve. nentioned ; and each of the latter, a light equal to two and a quar. ter of the same candles ; making therefore the total of the gass light a little more than equal force to that of 2500 candles When thns reptulatedf the whole of the a bore burners require an hourly supply of \*ibO cubic feet of the gass produced from cannel coal ; the superior qnalit> and quantity of the gass produced from that material having ^ivc^n it a d<Ti(ted preference in this situatioo, over every other coal, iiot^ivithstandins^ its higher price.
The time daring which the gas» light is used, may, upon an a?a« rage of the whole year, be stated at least two hours per day of twenty.four hours. In some mills, where there is over work, It will be three hours ; and in the few where night.work is still cod- tinaed, nearly twelve hours. But taking two hours per day aa the common average throughout the year, the consumption ia Messrs. Philips' and Lee's mill, will be 1950 X 9 =: 2500 cubic feet of gass per day ; to produce which, seven hundred weight of cannel coal is required in the retort The price of the best Wigan cannel (the sort used) b 13^. per cwt. (228. per ton), delivered at the mill, or say about eight shillings for the seven hundred weight. Multiplying by the number of working days in the year (313), the annual consumption of cannel coal will be 1 10 tons, aad Htcostjfl ^25.
Aboot one.third of the above quantity, or say forty tons of good common coaL value ten shillings per ton, is required for fnel to heat the retorts ; the annual amount of which is j^20.
The 110 tons of cannel coal when distilled, produce about 70 tons of good coak, which is sold upon the spot at Is. 4d. per cwt. and will therefore amount annually to the sum of j£ 03.
The quantity of tar produced from each too of cannel coal ia fMB eieran to twilf* aiargaiioas, rndLlag a li^ aiiattai prodaoe
92 OAS8 LIGHTS.
of alMut liSO air galloni, wliich not having been jet sold, 1 cait. not determine its value ; but wheBover it conies to be man n fact u red in large quRDtilte;, it cannot be >Dcb as tnateriuUy to influence the economical statement, unlets indeed new applicaUons of it should be discovered.
The quantity of aqueus Quid nhich came over in the coarse of the observations which I am now giving an account of, wu not ei> actly agcertained, from some springs having got into the raiervoir ; and •■ it has not been yet applied to any useful parpoM, I may omit further notice of it in this statement.
The interest of the capital expended in the necessary ippantns and buildings, together with what is consiiJered as an ample allow- ance for wear and tear, is stated tiy Mr, l^i: at about ^££0. per annum: in which some allowauce it made fur this apparatus being Dade upon a scale adequate to the supply of a still greater quan- tity of light, than he lias occasion to make use of.
He is of opinion, that the cost of attendance npon candlei would be as much, if not more, than upon the gass apparatus ; so that in forming 'he comparisan, nothing need be stated upon tfaat •core, on either side.
The economical statement for one year then stands thus: Cost of 1 to (oni of cannel coal . jS. 145
Ditto of 40 tons of common ditto . 20
14S D(;duct the value of 70 tons of coak
l>er Jay, the ad*aiiUge wool.l be still more in fnToor of ihe gass li^hl; the interest of the capital, and wejr iind (ear of Ihc nppa- niM, amtMoing Marty t^BUMi ai in the fonner c*m ; thus,
1960X3=3710 cBbic Uet •( gim prr day, which wo atd ba> pndaced by lOJcwt of canae4 eoii* ; this niHliiplini by the nam.' berof work ing days, gives 108 Iodb per aoDum, whirh, Tal«ed aa brfsK, KDounti to > . jf. 188
' Afld 00 tuaicoainan coal, for burning under the retprti,' will amoant to 30
Dedact 105 tons of coak, at 96 j. 6d. . 140
LAa*tng (he expenditure in coal, after deduction of ffie coA, and without allowance for the tar, at 78 iiddtug to w!iich the interest, and wear and tear of apparatus, «v before, the total annual cost will not be more than rf. 6flO ; wbHlt tbiit of tallow, rated as before, will be £. 3000.
It wHI readily occur, that the grt-atpr number of hours the gisl is biirDt^ the greater will be its comparative economy ; althoogli, in extending It beyond three hours, an increase of some pt'rtl of the apparatus would be necessary.
If the economical comparison were made with oils, the adVaiu tages would be less than with tallow.
The introduction of this species of light, into the establishmenC of Wessrs. Philips and Lee, has been gradual; beginning in the year 1805, with two rooms of the mill, the coonting.houses, and' Mr. Lee's dwelling-house. After which it was extended through the whole manufactory, as expeditiously as the apparatus could btf prepared.
At first some inconvenience was experienced from the imell of the nn consumed, or imperfectly purified gas, which may in a great measure be attributed to the introiluclion of successive impron>' ments in the construction of the apparatus, as ihs work proceedetK' Out since its coniplelion, and since the persons to whose care Ifb confided, have become familiar with its mana^ipmpni, this tacoti- venience has been obviated, not only in tlie mill, but also in Mt. Lee's house, which is most brillianlly illuminated with' it, to flitf nclosinn of etery other species of artificial light.
The peculiar softaeu and clearness of this light, with its $inip^t
94 GAII LlttBTS.
anmyinit tnlmify, iam branght it into gntt lannr wWh the work.pto|il*. And Ha bnng frw froni the lacoBveniaaM aad daoRPr mulling fron the fparlu And frwqardC laufiog of candlri, ii K dminkUnce ol n4(rrMl inporliKe, u IfDdlng to diainiib t^ haurd of trtf lo which cation ailli »r« known to bo ranch •ipoH-d.
The above putirnlir*, it ■• coocpiTad, contain ini'h infonution M may (mil ta lllDslr>tp the general advkntaget attending the nw of the gus liKtit ; bnr neverlheleu the Hojal iJocietf nwy parbnpa not dtrm It enintrrrftiag to be tpprited of the cirennitancea which origioallj give riM in ntj mind to ita applicntioo, h an •conomfcal lubsttiate for oiti and tallow.
It i* now nearly tiit««n yean ilnce, in a eoane of esperfnenta I waa raaking at Rrdruth, in Cornwall, upon the qunntitiei and qnalitifi of the gaMei produced bj diatiUallon, frqm diffefrnt mineral and vegt-table lubitancef, I wai indaced, by mhsc obaer- vationi I had preriously made npon the barniog of coal^ lo trf the combnitible properly of the gauei produced from It, ■• well aa from peat, wood, and other Inflammable lubitmncrt. And being itmck with the great qnantitlca of gate which ihej aOsrded, aa well ai with the brilliancy of the light, and the raclDlj of It! production, I inilitoted aerersl eipetinwnti, wiih a riew ofuoer. tuning the eott at which it might be bbialned, compared with thnt of cqnal quantitiet of light ) ielited by oili and Ullow.
Mj apparalui coniiated of an iron retorl, with tinned copper and iron tobei, through which the gu* was condncted to a oonaider.
pBosPHonos. flS-
unlii the Peace of 180%, when a puhlic dUplay of thh light vu xasnie by mp, in the illuminalion of Mr. Buulloii's maanfoGtorj', tit Suho, upon that occatlon.
Since that pr riod I tuve, Hod'T the sanction of Mestn. Bonlton, Watt, and Co., «xteaded tho appsratus at Soho foundry, so as ta give light to all the principal shops, vhnto it is in regular nw, to lh« exclusion of other artificial light ; but I have preferred grring tlw results from Messrs. Philips' and Lee's apparatus, both OD accoont of its greater extent, and the greater uniformity of the lights, which rendered the comparison with candles less difficult.
At the Mune time I commenced my experiments, I was certainly anacqnaiDted with the circumstance of the gus from coal haTJog been obierved by others to be capable of combnstion ; but I ain rinca iRfonned, that the current of gus escaping from Lord Dun. donald'a tar oTens had been frequently fired ; and I find that Dr. Clayton, in a paper In Toiume xli., of the Traouctioni of the Royal Society, so long ago as the year 1739, gave an acconat of some obMrrations aod experiments made by him, which clearly manifest his knowledge of the inflammable property of the gua, which be denominates " the spirit of coals;" but the idn di applying It as an economical sabslitate for oils and tallow, doet not appear to hare occurred to this gentleman ; and I beUere I may, without presuming too mach, claim both the first ides of applying, aad the 6nt actoal appltcation of this gass to economical pupOMI- [PAiV. Trant. I80&
CHAP. VI. VHOtPaOHVS op KUHCKBL *.
Phoiphoric Bottles and Matches. S^BOtraoftai It well known to be a peculiar substance capable of inflaming or emitting a luminous anra, when exposed to the air of the atnuMphare in a common temperature, and hence the buii of thoie cnriOBi lOcki, matches, and battles, which have of late
• XteaOathMiaf r«e9»erw,tcelhacasMagih.M.
00 PHOSPH0RC9.
ypMTt be«ii dcTiied far giving light inslantlj ani) spontaneously, as soon M they ar'' micoTPred and comp in contact with the air.
'] 'his hat hitherto been r-'i^arili'd as a ilmpie combo it ibl(r, anil most be so rogardeil at present ; thougb larioui expcnmenti with very high d' grrcs of Toltaic vlt'clriritj' appear to hnvp delected that it is « eompnunct, po'S'-cRing hyrlroj;en and oxyf[Pn with a peculiar ban. In consistfncp it resemiiles wai j whfn pare it it nearly of the transparenry of gum opal, of a colour varying from amber red to (he faintest straw, highly combustible, ami when oiygenated producing a strong and peculiur acid.
It was discovered liy a German chemist of (he name of Brandt, about a hnndreil and fifty years it;;o, and the preparation tru fong kept a lucralire secret iu the hands of a few persons. It was tiow> ever well known, from various facts that had escaped, that it was procured in &ome nay or other from haman urine ; and it haa at length been found that it is in consequence of this substance eon> truing a peculiar salt, hence deoooiinated phosphoric salt (a mix- ture of phosphorus and oxygen), that phosphorus can be procured from it; as it has also that it can in like manner be procured from any other animal substance impregnated with the same material ; and consequently from the bones and crustaceous integumenls of animals, in which it exists in a larger abundance, and wbich are now therefore usually employed for this purpose.
One of the earliest chemists, next to Brandt, who devoted his at. tention in a very considerable degree towards obtaining tbts com.
vRosrKomos. Of
LoodoB in 1680. It i» aiserted, ind*e(J, by Krafftj thit he disco. Ttred ihe lecret la Mr. Bojie bavjog Ja (be y»r IG78, citrried m small pipce of it to Lonilon lo show it to (he royal family ; bat there is litrle probability that B man of such inli^grity as Mr. Boyle would daim the diicoTery of the process u till own^ and comniii. nicatoit to the Royal Society, if this hod not bern the case. Mr. Boyte GonmuDicated the process to Godfrey Haokwitz, an apo< tbecary of Londoa, who far iDaoy years supplied Europe with phoipborns, and heoce it went under the name of English phospha- nu. In tlie year 1774, the Swedish chemists, Gahn aod Scheele) iMde the important discoTt-ry.that phosphorus is contained in booaa of anlmaii, and they improTed the processes for procuring It.
The most coDTenient process for obtaining phosphonii leemt to be that recommended by t'ojrcroy and Vanquelia, which we shall tTMucrilw. Take a qoanlity of burnt boof s, and reduce them to powder. Pnt 100 parts of this powder into a porcelain or itone- ware bason, and dilute it with four times iti weigttt of water. Forty parts of snlphurlc acid are then to be added in sm^l portions^ taking care to stir the misture after the addition of every portion. A violent effervescence takes place, and agreat qnantlty of air il disengaged. Let the mixiure remain for Iwenty.foiir hours, atir- ring it occaiianally, to cxijose every part of the powder totho action of the acid, 'I'he burnt bones consist of the phosphoric acid and lime ; bat the sulphnric acid has a greater aflinity for the limt than the phosphoric acid. The action of the sulphuric acid uniting with the time, and the separation of the phu'tphoric acid, occasion the effervescence. The sulphuric acid and itii- lime combine toge> (her, being insoluble, and fall to the butlom. Pour the whole mix- ture on a cloth filler, so that the liquid pnrt, which is to bn received In a porcelain vessel, may pass throu^ih. A white powder, which is the insoluble snlphate of lime, remaiiu on the filter. Af er thii has been repeatedly washed with watfr, it may be thrown away ; but the water is to be added to that part of the liquid which passed through the filter. Take a solution of sueur of lead in water, and pour It gradually into Ihe liquid in the poneUin haooti. A whito powder falls to (he bottom, and (he sugar of lead ma^tt be added so long U any precipitation takes place. The uhole is again to bo poured upon a filler, and the while powder u hich remains is to bo well washed and dried. The dried powder is then to be mixed with ona.iiztb of ill wdght of charcoal powder. Fat this mixtor*
TOL. Tl. a
gk pBotrBoavi.
iato an ear(li«Bwar« ntort, tod pbce It in » Mod btt&, wUk A* brak plunged intoa renel ofwater. Appljheat, and let it bi* gradually increaacd, tilV the retort becomM red.bot. Ai the Iwat incnMes, air-bubblei rush in abaudaDce through the beak of tba i«(ort, Eome o1 trblch are inflanied when &ej come In contact with the air at (he mrrace of the water. A aubitance at lut drops out iliillar to melfed wax, which congealt voder the water. Thit ia phosphoru*. To have it quite pure, melt it in warm water, and itraio it leTeial time* through a piece of ihamof leather nnder the larface of the water. To monld it into iticka, take a glau funnel with a long tube, which must be stopped with a cork. Fill It with water, and put the phoapboraa into it. Immene the fmnel in boiling water, and when (he phoRphorus ii melted, and flowi into tba tube of the funnel, then plunge It lata cold water, and when the pboaphorni hai become eolid, remore the cork, and paib thephoi- phorut from the mould with a piece of wood. Thus prepared, it must be preierved In ctoie reisels, containing pure water. When Ithosphonil Is perfectly pure, U Is semi-transparent, anit hai tha consistence of waa. It is so soft, that it may lie cut with a knife. Its specific gravity Is from 1.77 to 9.03. It has an acHd and dit. afreeabte taste, and a peculhr smelt, somewhat rtsembllng gariic. When a atlck of phosphorus Is broken, it exhibits soroeappear< mice of crystallliatlon. The crystals are needle shaped, or long octahedrons ; but to obtain them in their most perfect state, the surface of the phoipfaoms, just when it becomes solid, shonld bo [derced, that the Internal liquid phosphorns may flow oat, tod
TOUCHWOOD TINDEK-BOX. ff^
In etWj and « Tevy beautiful experimpnf consisfs in ponrhigthb phosphoric etherin small portions, anil in a dark p1ari=,on (hesurrace of bat water. The phosphoric matches consist of phosphorus ei. tremelj' dry, minntely divided, and perhaps a little oxygrniied. Tlw timpleat mode of making them is (o put a little phosphorns, dried bf blottihit paper, into a small phial ; heat the phial, and i^ra the phosphoms is melted turn it round, so that the phospfaorni naj adhere to the tides. Cork the phial closely, and it is pre. pared. On patting a common sulphnr match into the bottle, and idrring It about, the phogphorus will adhere to the match, and will take flr« when brough't out into the air.
Th« white smoke given forth hy phosphorus when exposed to « beat of 148°, appears when collected and examined to be an acid of a peculiar kind, and it is this which is now denominated phos. pfaoric acid.
[^Pantohgia. AikiiCsCbtm. Diet.
CHAP. VH.
PNEUMATIC, OR TOUCHWOOD, TINDER-BOX.
-1 Bts Is a most usefal, simple, yet curions machine, altogether of nodern- iavention, bearing a near analogy to the phosphoric matches we have described in the preceding chapter ; and which may con. Mquently be employed for the same purposes.
Touchwood is the common, and we may say generic, name, given to a variety of snhsUnces that easily lake fire, as rotten- wood and agaric, some of which occasionally emit spontaneoui light In the dark.
The moat inflammable tonchwoods we are acquainted with ara dlRerent ipeciei of the fungus called Boletns, *uch as B. ignL arius, tondi wood- spank, and B, pin! laricis, agaric : and a vetj cnrEoDS fact luu been lately discovered by the French chemitts^ in consequence of this corafaustibillty, which nay lead to nie- ftil and important purposes : it is, that if a column of the flesh of •Mier of the above fpeciet of boletus (spnnk or toacbwood) be io- trodnG«d into a (rrin^, and presied opoll hj It* common plitoii.
loo ' TOUCHWOOD TIHOBB-IIOX.
clo«ia( with gr«at accnracj', it will catch fire from th« ia«n com* prftstoB of the GolDma ot air forced doira npoo it, and furra a BH»t conreaipnt and ready tinder-box.
Thpte machines, under the name o( pneumatic, ipanlc, or touch, wood, tin der-bosei are now common in France ; and their origin, principle, and conitruction, hare been aa full]' inrettigated and explained by M. Le Bouvier Desmorliers, in toI. txiH. of the Journal de Phyiique, that we feel it oar duly to copy at tome length the paper for the information of our readers.
** The inSaiBinatloD of ipunk in tlie pneumatic tinrfer.box, by the oompreuion of air alone, !■ a pbagnomenon, with wUch chance, the father of dUcorery, hae lately enriched natural philosophy. Many have reasoned on its cause ; which some considtr to be caloric, others electricity ; but no one, that I Lnow of^ has at. tempted to support hU opinion by experiments. Without bias of any ypothesis, I hare made tome researchei on the construction and effects of the pneumatic tinder-box, the results of which ihall be the subject of the preient paper. In the first place, I ihall consider what relate) to the atructare of the instrmoent; in the ■econd, I (hall gire an acconnt of the exparimenta that tend to the discovery of the cause of its eflTecti.
*' I. The first constraction of these tinder-boxes wai a little faolty in the piston being commonly eighteen or twenty lines long. This was said to be necessary, that the air might not escape when the piston was In action ; for if there were any point not accu- rately fitted to the inside of the tube, the air escapes, and the
TOUCHWOOD TIHUBR-BOX. JU
" Tbtj ihoold be employed also In the syringes of xlr^BS, of founlaini acting by compressed air, of the apparatai for artificial mineni waters, of fire-cDjiiiM, which are woriced with lo irmch labour, and even of air.pnmpx. As th« shortening th« piston ii an adrantage to the pump, we obtain a greater el&ct with lest labour, and in a shorter time, than with long pistoDS.
" It is essential too, that the instrnment does not leak at the part where the spunk ii placed, because there the tranuent action of inflaminatioD takes place, and a slight emission of air would pretcnt the effect, but this effect is produced, though the piMon doe* suffer the air in the tube to pass it. To aatisfy myself of this, I made the following eaperimeul, at which ihey who hare teen it wer* greatly surprised.
*' In the irngth of the piston I made a groove a quarter of a line broad. The spunk took fire as before. Three other grooTei were added successively opposite one another, so as to diiido tho pistoB into four equal parts ; and still the spank took fire. Whea the gTooTed piston is moved backward* and forwards in the tube^ the air may be heard entering or issuing oat ; and the friction la so ■light, that the effect of the instrument is easily obtained by push- ing it with the hand. This kind of piston would be preferable to tboM that lit accurately, if a solid substance were emplojed, hard Mongh to resist the continual friclioD of the air passing through the grooTes, if I may be allowed the expression. The grooToa la leather pistons soon alter their shape, and spread so ai to altoir the air to pass in too large quantity.
*' The pbton with fout grooves acting rery well, I made on* with a single groove, of dimensions equal to the other four, and what I foresaw actually took place : there was no infiammation. The following are the reasons of this dlfTereace.
*• The extremity of the grooved pistons exhibits the area of a circle, the periphery of which touches the interior edge of tho groove*. The column of air contained in the tube rests almost Kliolljr on this base. There are only the parts corresponding to the groove*, that are continued throngh the length of the piston, and communicate with the external air. When the piston f» pvshed with saSdent velocity to kindle the spank, the part* of tiw column corresponding to the grooves rush into them wilb equal vriodty; but the fricQon they experience in passing through snch awrow tabu occaiioM it ndstanc* to tbeir pamga, a kind of
lOt TOOCHWOOS TIKDBm-BOX.
choking, thit suffer! odI; b part to «scap«, while the CoIodiii rmt iag on (he area of the piiton U piuhed sntirely toward tha-extra- mity or the.lwbF, where (be ipnnk to be kindled liei.
" Id the pUton with a single broad groove, the area of the drcte, on which the column of air reita, is mnch imaUer, con- ■equentljr the colann iticlf ia leu. The rcil*tanc« the Kir expe. risDcei in pactiog through the groove it nest to nothiag ; for we hear no noiie on moTing the piston backward and forward ; and as air expands in all directions, when the piston is Morad, the column resting on the area of the circle, resting at tlio mm* time kterally on that which answers to the groove, it recudaa fron all the points of contact, and flows entirely* through the dBuwri it finds opens. It ii lo tme, that it wholly flows oatf tkat the piston, when it touches the extremity of the tube, renaiM there; while with other pistons a luEBcient quantity of air Is retained to occaMon a spring and repel them.
** I think it proper to say a word or two oa the qaality of the spunk. The driest, softest, and least impregnated with nitre, iboold be chosen. In that of the best quality a picea will not always be found equally good throughout. Some contains a great deal of nitre, and is kindled with raore difficulty*. This may be known by tho cold taste it leaTFs on the tongue ; or by kindiiug it i for when it has taken fire the nitre melts, and sonetimei throws out sparks, that may be dangerous when (bey ipirt out of the instrument, particularly if made with a cock. As It is nenal II tlie '^punk. tu try whellifr it bi- kiri
hen. Tk«M I sImII give lo the second part of this pap^r, cqo- ctodiflg the preaeaC with am importaiit obsenratioa oa the coastruc* tion of pistoBS.
M If we eonld find an elastic substance -sufficiently compact to be tnraed in a lathe, we should have perfect pittons) that would epriof and adapt themaelTes to the inequalities of the tube, with. •nt tnffering a bnbUe of air to escape. I have nade some with caontchonc, softened before (he 6re, in order to gife it a degree of elasticity more obedient to the inequalities of the tube. But oa •ttempting to tarn it in a lathe, it bent under the tool. E^en tba edge of a naor would not take hold it ; so that the piston remained luwvan and almost ragged, and yielded like soft wax under thi fingers. Ia this imperfect state it so far prevents the air ffom gjcaping, that a column of three inches is sufficient to kindle tha •pank ; hat after a few strokes of the piston the heat dilates it ta aach a degree, that it cannot be moved without considerable forces If a drop of oil be put on it, it moves easily ; hot this soon spoila the iastrament ; for the oil dissolves the caoatchouc, and forms a varttiah, which, as the piston grows hot, makes it adhere still mora strongly to the sides of the tube.
^' Might not these inconveniences be avoided, by arming tha piston rod with caoutchonc, and covering this with leather i Ji this process succeeded, it might be applied with advantage to aJi •orts of pumps.
^^ To attain, if possible, a knowledge of the principle of inflame Bsation ia the pneumatic tinder-box, four things are to be considered —the materials of the tube, the matter contained in the tube, tha materials of the piston, and the friction. Among the materials aC the piston I include the grease, with which it is coated, to make it move more easily, and render it fitter to intercept the passage of the air.
^^ In aiaminiog the qaestion whether the spunk be kindled by alectritf, I consider,
^^ latyThat no part of the instroment is insulated ; and that ia-^ solatian il^a tieeessary condition for producing sensible electricitjr with any ei the machines we know. I say machines that we know^ because the aalnml electricity, that manifests Itself without insula^ tian, is an axctpHan to oar mechanical Mattf^ itad cannot here bi i(dMMi fBti> coaiiiliatiab*
h4
IM TovavveoB TiifVL<i->ox.
- *<9dlf, ThafrictioDof the jrirtoD, which tfagmiij'bodjtaphiit a Batallk inbilaiKe, U not calcukud to prodace clectrkkjr.
** Sdlf , EiperUnca dcmomtntM, tbit, anim daring stonni* th* atmoiphcre Ktdoin eshibits »nj iiignt of electricity at tfa« height Id which we breathe it; and that we murt March fortbem withln- ■Iramenti in a more elerated rrgioOf or wb*n electric clendi are patting over onr heads. How then ihail we eillmate the infiDitely amall qaanlKy of electric matter in a cubic inch of air, or CWB leo^ vbich the iutmroeat contain! ?
H 4tbljr, It it not withoat great difficnitj, that we eta kMlt ■pank with itrong electric ipark*. I have discharged a large jar OB ^nnk strewed with powdered resin, and it hat renainad on- kJndledf thongh the resin onight (ire, and burned entirely away.
'.* At long as the initrnment was made with metallic substances obIj, wa wera obliged to conSae ourschf s to the exterior marks of inflammation alone, without being able to attlgn tbe tnie catita, or at least fnmiib proofs of it. For to gncss it not snfficiant in natiiral pfailoioph/ ; we must domonitrate, in order to gira to facts that degrea of certainty, which befits science : and thia we cannot do her«, without teeing what passes at thf very point of iBflaai* sution.
(t Thb means ate Tcry simple. Nothing is necessary, bat to anbttitnte a glass for a metal tube. Those found in (he shops betag too tligftt, I applied (o ft^r. Laurent, the inrenter of glass flutaa, i«questiog him to procure me tabes of a similar quality. This •rtisi, as much distinguished by his cifility as by his talents, for.
TOrCRWOOD TtKDER-BOX. M6
be produced severil times in -lucci^asion, merely by puriilQg tlia pisluii with the hand. This vapour is so thin and diaph^noDS, that ft ii Rot pemptible in > rtnag light. It requirei « sort of twilight tosceltwril.
** But whence irisc* this nponr, and what is its natnre ? At. nredly it is not furnished by the materials of the instruraent ; it on only proceed, thererore, from what it contains, from the atroo- S[^ricair. Now, according to the present state of onrknowledgr^ tile air contains only nitrogen, oxygen, and a very small portion of oiTbonic acid; all gassiform substances, which are Icept in thit state by (be great qnantity of caloric that penetrates them, and are conaeqnantly heaTier than it. But in compressing the air con. taioed in the tnbe, what is the substance that must firttgire way ? Ii it not that which is lightest, the caloric, that general solrent, that priiieiple of fluidity and volatilization, which gives wings even to metals to raise themselves in the air ? Is then the vapoor in quet. tion caloric, rendered visible by the approximation of its particles, which are coapressed by the sorronndiiig air, as air becomes vifiblc io paiiiog throngh liquids ? This idea, which 1 am far from pre^ senting as a thing proved, acquires more probability from tb« foU lowing experiments.
*' I sabstitoted hydrogen for common air, and the taponT ■bowed itself as before j but tbe spunk did not take fire. With carbonic acid gass, and with nitrogen, the effects were the sam«. The Utter, which contained a little nilroDS gas, gave a somewhat deoier vapour. Oxygen, lightly compressed, yielded a raponr more rare and transient than that from common air. It had scarcely fallen on the piston when it rebounded and disappeared^ y/btn I compressed oxygen with a proiier force for producing in- flamaatlon, the spunk, which commonly takes fire only a( the anterior part, was almost entirely burned : yet for this experiment I tued a copper instrument, the piston of which lost air so much, that it wonld no longer kindle spnnk (wJlh common air).
" Peibaps it will be said, that the vapour came from the greasy matter on tbe piston, which adheres to the sides of the tube ; and tiiat it U expanded by the heat produced by the friction. To this I answer, in tUt cue, 1st. The vapour should not shew itself be* fore the greasy roatltr is deposited on the sides of the tnbe ; ytt it Appears at the flrst stroke of the pixton, before the tnbe becomes fm^, Mljr. It ifetdl itew itidf below At ^rtOD, la the part
100 TOUCnWOOD TIRUBK-BOX.
wUdi the piiton hai left; but, on the contru7, it tiwkjt Aews ■bove. Sdly. Tliete ii do Tsponr, wb«n the piston locM mnch air, if the friction be erer to rapid. 4thly. The Taponr abonld be more epparent, when the piston exerts its friction throughout the whole length of the tQbe, than when it it confined to a smnll part of its iipper extremity ; jet the reverie frequently happem. fithly. When the air is entirely decomposed no more vapour ^pearS) but It shows itself again, if ever so little fresh air be iotrodnced.
*( As it was essential to ascertain whether the npMr did nnt contain an acid principle, I fastened to the surface of tbo piston, with a little green wax, a piece of mnilin dipped in Infniion of litmus, and afterward dried. After twenty strokes of the piston tlie colonr was not clianged. 1 pnt on a lecond pieot of muslin brger than the first, and the edges of which were loose, Tliis was burned alt round, without the colour of the rest being altered. Laitly, a third piece, which was wet, experienced no change of
*< From these experiments It followi, that no acid principla ii developed; that all serirorm substances, as well as common air* produce a light vapour ; that no other gais, except oxygen and common air, kindiei the spunk ; that oxygen prodnois a mnch Mwre powerful combustion than common air, consequently oxygen acts an Important part in the inflaromatioa ; tltat as it can exert ita action only when set free by the decomposition of the common air, of which it constitute! a fourth part, it follows, that the air con- tained in the tube ii decomposed by the simple force of compres*
CHAR V4IL
PHOftPHOBBSCBNCB, OR SPONTANEOUS ILLUMINATION^ ANIMAL, VfiGBTABLEy AND MINERAL.
1 Ills is a most extraordinary and interesting subject, and a perusal of the three preceding chapters will, in a considerable degree, en. able the reader to understand its general principles, though there is much that has hitherto eluded pursuit, and still remains to be de? •• loped.
Phosphorescence, in its broadest latitude, imports light thrown forth from substances that at the same time emit little or no heat at the common temperature of the atmosphere, and which are deno* mioated phosphoric.
The phosphorus properly so called, and which is usually under* stood In chemical books, and employed in chemical processes, is that commonly known by the name of Kunckel's pho^phoruS) and which we shall describe under that designation. But there are various other substances that possess, in different degrees^ the same kind of illuminating power, and which it is hence necessary to take some notice of, as well as of the effects they produce.
Of these kinds the phosphorescent substances there are thret leading divisions. The first comprehends those which require n previous exposure to the solar or other light, in order to become luminous ; whence they are called solar phosphori : the second in* eludes those which, without any necessary previous exposure io light, become luminous when moderately heated, which are deno« iplnated calorized phosphori, or phosphori from heat : the third
comprehends those substances belonging to the animal and vege.
table kingdoms, which emit light spontaneously at the common
temperature, without the necessity of a previous exposure to light^
and these are called spontaneous phosphori.
SECTION I. Solar Phosphori*
A CA8VA& discovery by Vincenzio Cascariolo, a shoemaker of Bologna, aboat IMO, was the first circumstanee that attracted the ^otifie of philosophini to this eorioas s«bject This man being la^
108 sotiK raeimosi.
qnmt of Mm« alchamlcal vtcnt wai indncM) to nido* t psml of Bolognian «par (aiub'ipecitlofhMVj iparor nKtire talphat of b>- iyle)y which he had procured from Monte Pateruo, in the nmgh« bonrhood of the city; and ohierred, (hat whenever thii rabitftnc*} thai prepared, traa placed in a dark room, after having been ex* poied to the lun, it contthaed to emit faiat rayt of light for lome houn afterwards.
Inconsequence ofthii Intereiting diicoTery, the BolognUn ipu came Into con aiderable demand among natural phiioiopbcnt aiKl the cnrioDS in general, to that the beat way of preparisg ft wu found an object of lome pecuniary importance. This lami to hare been hit upon by the family of Zagon), who anpptied all Ea. rope with Bolognian phoipboms, till the diicoyery of moro power, ful phoiphuric pnt an end to their monopoly. Margraaf, Mno year* atterwardi, proved that other specie* of ioli^ialod baryta might, under particular management, be made to produce • lial. lar tWeet.
In the year 1077, nearly half • eentnry after the iaeanrf ot the Bolognian phoipborns, G, A. Baldwin, a native of Mttnh, obMrved, that if nitrat of lime were evaporated to dryneM, and then fomtd into a compact man by fusion at a red beat, ft would exhibit the Mme property of imbibing and emitting light *i tlit former, only lomewhat inferior in degree ; hence thii prepUKtloa obtained the name of Baldwin'! pboiphoroi.
In 1730, M. da Pay, who it jnitly celebrated for hit eleetrleai retearcbei, directed hii attention to thii lubject, andobMired, tlut
minate cTfStaU of qnarli ; most comiiound salts, nhea clMr tod cryitalliietl, pfirticularly Glauber's nitre, and borai, were alio found to be phoaphorescent ; of vegetaUa tubdancet all the faria naceoii) and oilf leed), all (lie gumi, and leTeral of (he resins^ fbe white woods, and Tegetable fibrr, either in (he form of paper or linen i also starch and loaf-sugar prorM to be good phosphorl, after being made tboronghl; dry, and exposed to the direct rays of the inn. Sundry animal matters, by a liniiUr treatment, were also converted into good phosphori, particularly bone, either fresh or calcined, linew, glew, hair, horn, hootT, feathers, and Gsh shells. The same property, he-obserred, might be communicated to rock, chr/ital, and some other of the gems, by rubbing them aj^ainst each other, lo as to roogben their surface, and (hen placing them for •one minntet in tbe focus of a lens, by which the rays of light were •OQcentnted npon them at tbe same time that (hey were also iDod«> ratelj heated.
In the year 170S, Mr. Canton conlributpd some important fkcts relative to solar phosphori, and comcnunkaled a method of prepaTa ing a 'very powerful one, which, after the inventor, is usnall/ called Canton's pfaoiphoros. It is thus made: Calcine oyster*' ■Irallt in the open fire for half an hour ; tfaen select the widest and largest pieces, and mix them with flowers of sulphur in the pro* portion of one part of the latter to three parts of (he former ; pack tbe whole closely in a crncible ; lute on a cover, and heat it pretty strongly for one hour ; wheo the crucible has again become quite cold, turn out its contents, and select tbe whitest pieces for use. Mr. Canton atGTms, that his phosphorus, inclosed in a glass flask, and hermetically sealed, relains ils property of t>ecoming laminons for at least four years, without any apparent decrease of activity.
Mr. Wilson found that a much greater brilliancy of colonr wonld be produced by letting the oyster.shells come in direct con- tact with tbe burning coals, or other inflammable mailer, and by being covered with it; and that ifthe covering matter be iron, tb* Inminoimeis will be very brii;ht ; if steel, still brighter and mor« iridescent ; but if plates of charcoal, most so ot all.
If a conmoD box Emoothing-irun, heated in llie usual manDer, be placed for half a miaute on a sheet of dry, white paper, and the paper be then expoaed to the light, and afterwards examined in ■ dark closet, it will Iw found that the whole paper will be InmiBovs, that part however on which tbe iron had Itood being much more •UniDg than the reft
no ANIMAL AMD VBGITAaLB VHOSPHOBl.
SECTION II.
Catorixed Phoipkori.
Besi iiEt Ihose subslBDCCB that are phosphorescent b^ expoinre to (ha rays of the sua, the^are others which give out light when sim- ply heated. These materially differ from the former In this circum. stance, that after liaTiog been Gantinued at any partlcnUf tempe- rature till their iuminoaSDeas is exhausted, they are iocapable of becoming again luminous, except at a greater heat thaa that (o which they were first subjected. The range of tempertturc >t which these bodies become luminous is not xery eitensiTO, coos- mandng at about 400° Fabr. and terminating at the lowest illible red heat. The following is a list of substances exhibidog this, properly arraoged by Mr. S. Wedgewood, according to the bril> liancy of (he tight.
That variety of the blue floor spar of Derbyshire, which, wben scraped or struck, emitsafetid, bituminous odour, is themottphoa« pboreaceot by heat of all the known lobstances : it glows, when moderately heated, with a pale emerald green light, taSdentlf Intense to be Tery risible even in daylight. To the second rank belong the common swine.itone, the common blue flnor, and red fel-spar, all which, as well as the following, exhibit a whita or red> dbh l^ht. The third class includes the diamond, the ruby, carbo. pated baryte, chalk, colourless calcareous spar, sea.shells, granite, and white fluor. The fourth elass comprehends while sand, car.
LUMtNOItS flt>SSTAKC89 Ml
eircumslancM ; some of Ihem while lirins, and otht^rt nffttlll tJtm death. Ws ihall first iiotire the geiiiral history of (liis Mtraordl- nuj bet, and the obiarTationa apon it which tiral 8ugi>egted theauelTMtotiiOM who renMrked and examined it, and afterwards glaiic* at a few of the nunerOD) modes of which it tuu of late jpears been attempted to be acconnted for. «•>
General History and earlieit Noticei. That light occasionally proceeds from putrescent animal and ve- getable substances, as well as from liTing glow-worms, wai noticed by Aristotle. Columba, an industrions nataralist, ob> lerred long after, that several insects emitted light, and that sach light Is not extinguished immediately upon the death of the animal. Bat tbe flrat distinct account that we meet with of light proceeding fron pntraicent animal flesh, is that which is given by Fabrlcias ab Aqnapendeote, (DeVisioue, p. 45.> who says, that when tbre« Roman youths, residing at Padua, had bought a lamb, and had eaten part of it on Easter-day, 1493, several pieces of the re- mainder, which they kept till the day following, shone like somanjr •andlea when they were casually viewed in the dark. I^rt of tUt lumlnoDs flesh was immediately sent to Aqnapendente, who wii professor of anatomy in (hat city. He observed, that both the lean and the fat of this meat shone with a whitish kind of light, and also took notice, that some pieces of kid's flesh, which had h^penecf to have lain in contact with it, were luminous, ai well a> tbe flngeis and other parts of the bodies of those persons who touched it. Those parts, he observed, shone the most which were soft to the touch, and seemed (o be transparent in candle-light; but when the flesh was thick and solid, or where abone was near the outside, it did not shine.
From this period we must descend to the era of Thomas Bar- tholin, before we meet with any similar notice. This writer, in a disllnd treatise De luce animalium (p.l83, 206) mentions foa^ kindi of luminous insects, two of which were possessed of wing*, and Iwowtnglesi, or apterous. He also takes notice of one Instance in which it was observed to issue from dead matter. This happened at Hontpelier In 1S41, when a poor old woman had bonght apiece ti flcib in tba market, intending to make use of it the day follow- ing. But happening not to be able to sleep well that night, and W bed and putry Mng in the Mme rooa, she observed so much
112 ANIMAL AKD TKOBTABLB PfiOflPaoMI.
light come from the flesh, » to illnmimte til (he plue vhen it hung. A part of this luminom fleih wu carried u ■ cniloiity to Heory Bourboii, duke of Condi, the governor of tho plue, who viewed i( forEeTcrBl hours with thegresteat aitonUhment.
This light was observed to be whitish } and not to cover the whole surface of the Atsh, bnl certain parts only, ssif gcBf of nn. equal splendour bail been scattered over it. This flesh was kept till it begin to putriTy, when the light vanished ; whicb, as wm* religioui people fancied, it did in the form of a crois.
Boyle tried (he effect of his air-pump upon these luminou nb- ■tancei ; and found that the light of rotten wood was extinguished In vacuo, and revived again on the admission of the air, even after a long continuance [n vacuo; but the extinguishing of this light was not so complete immediately upon exhausting the receiver, $M sorao little time afterwards. He could not perceive, however, that the light of rotten wood was increased in condensed air ; bnt tUs, bo imagined, might arise from his not bdng able to judge very wdlof the degree of lighl, through so thick and cloudy a glass vevel as ho then made use of; but we find that the tight ofa shining fiiK, which wu put Into a condensing engine before the Royal Society, in 166S, was rendered more vivid by that meant. The principal of Mr. Boyle's experiments were msde in October, 1667>
This philosopher attended to a great variety of circnnatancei relating to this curious phenomeDon. Among other things, he ob- Mrved, that change of air was sot necessary to the maintenance of this light; for it continued a long time when a piece of tho wood
AMIMAL AKD V««BTABI.B FH9BPII«! 11»
per for uh- The tervaal immedialely made his master acqaaiote^ with this exlraordinarf upptarHnce ; and though be nas then in bed, he ordered it to be immediately brought to him, and he exa- mined it with the greatest atteDlion. Suspecting tiiat tlie state oC tb*«tpM||bcr« bM Mni|i.f|>fE» io tlia productiao of Ihii pbenoae. VtOtk^ ttjfi>tt notice^ after 4pwritutig the appearance, that the wind VMIMtk>if«st4uidblBSteriij, the air hot for the««aioD, the mooQ W pa*( U> lut qnartei, and t)ie maraury in lh« baiometer wai tt 90 S>l6th inciiM.
Mr. Bojria waa oftpa diiappointed in his experiments an ihiaing filllfn ] Sadilig thai the^ did not always shine in the very same eir* 'TflffiWirtit, ai Car at he conld jndfe, with othen which had ifaiatd befon. At a»e time that the; failed to (hiae* according to Ut expectntkHU, he obaerred that the weather waa TartaUe, and not Tttkwt MWe diya «f trf>tt and snow. In generai he made aie of whitias^ ^^^PS thaa th^ fittest for his purpose, b a discoarrai Iwwer^i, npw tUt aaJyect at the Royal Socie^, In !»!, itwu a«artpd» that, of sU fithy ivUtfncM, the egff of lobitera, afier tluf bad ham boikd, shoaa the brighteat. Olig. Jaeobteai obaerm*, that, npon opening a sea polype, it was so losaiitou iff to aUftte aevenl parsons who saw it ; aad lie sayi (bat incorrectly according to later ezperioMDta} tl|at the more patrid the fish was, the mor« IpipJmaf it grew. Th* nails aUo, ud the fingen ot the persoiil tW touched it, beeuw Inmhrnia; and the blaek Uquir' vhkk isRwd from the aninwl, and iritich is Its bile, abone ilM, bat vUb aierjtlintUgbt.
Mt< Ittjifi dra^i a nhnto conipariaen betwe«ii tbe light «f bnroiog ohIb and thai <4 shining wood or fish, showing in what pan. ticnlart Agy agrfte, a«4 in what they cUSer. Among other things h? obiene^ that ntreme coU eztingnisbes the light ot ihiaiiv V0^#^ appeared whenapieceor it was pat into a glass tnbe, and bfdd Mt niitiganfic ntintnre, a Uxt which ^nutely agrees with Dn, 9olfllfl',pHve anodern esperinKntB npon dead anhasl tinatter. Ho also fpffVi^ ^ rotten wood M not waste itadf by* shining, and Oal the application of a thermometer to it did not discorer the least do> |rae of h^a;U
The shalhfiph Otfed pbotai, or pbloas, which form for toelf bfllM In TarionaUiHh of stone, &c. was one of the eartiastsabjcds
#ift-Ti'-i ii li-iitiiiie ■ilur ..,
,, . .'•Jhct.flala.'Ml.T.r.jrtt.'- ' '-'-
IH JtaiM AL AlTD TBOBTAILI VBOBPBORX.
of tttantiov. Tbat tiiia tlih ii InmlnoDi wu noticed by Ptlnj ; «b0 obMrreij th&t H ihhiei In tin Bonth of the pmon wbo nu it, and, if It touch hit hand! or dotbai, makn tbcm lualnow. He Klio Mf I, that th« light dependa npon ita moiatsn.
Reaumnr obierTM, &t, wbfla other fiiha give light when fltcy tend to pati«>G«iic«, tllia la mora lamtnoiu in proportlpn to its bdog freih ; that when the^ ira dried, their light will rerire if they be moiitened either with freah or islt water, fant that brandjr immediately eitingnithea It. lie endeafoored to make tUs light permanent, but none of his tchemei aacceeded.
The attention of the Bolognlan academicians wu engaged to this intiiect b/ M, F. Haralgli, In 17U, wbo brought a number of these fishes, and the stones in which thej were inclosed, to Bologoa, OR purpose for their examination.
Beccarla obserred, that though this fish ceased to shine aim It wu putrid, yet that in its most putrid state, it wenld shine, and make IIm water in which it was imnmsed InmlDoaa, when they were agi- tated. Galeeti and Hontl finad, that wine or Tiaegar astbgnlsh- ed this light : that Id common oil It eontimied some daja; but in rectified spirit of wine or nrine, hardly a miante.
In order to observe In what manner this light wai aiecttd by dUfereat degree* of beet, tbcy made nse of Reaomnr's tharmoae. ter, ami foond' (hat water rendered Inmlnons by these £Am In- creased in light till the h«U arrired to 4fi degrees ; but t^ It tbm became snddanly extinct, and coald not be rerlvcd.
In tka experbnenti of Beccaila, a solation of sea salt iKcreaxed
AltlHAt AITD VeOBTABtS PtfOSFBOltT. ftS
partirutar colour, but only light that wns percFittd in Ihi^i eate. }t4 (hen Jippi'i] bonrd^ pHJiitfil Hilbllie iliDiTtntcaloiirs, in<l kiso glass tubrs, ti\h-d Willi !iubslances of diflVrtrit cotuurs, in wAkr rendfred {■minons by fiihes. In both these cases the red was hardly visible, the yellow was th« brightpst, and the violet the dullest. But on the boards the blue was Dearly equal lo the yellow, and the green more languid ; whereas in Ibe glasses, the blue was inferior lo tha green.
' Of all the liquors into which he put the phloades, milk was ren. itnd the most lumiaous. A single phloas made seven ounces of nflkto Ininlnons, that the faces of persons might be distinguished ty It, Mid It looked as if it was transparent.
Air appmred to be necessary to this light; for when Beccarla put the InninaDi milk into glass tabes, no agitation would make it ■blne^ bnlMi bobbles of air were mixed with it. Alto Monti and Grieatl found, that, In an exhausted Teceiier, the phloaa lost its light, bat the water was sometimes made more luminous ; which they uerflMd to the rising of babbles of ur throogh it.
Beeearia, as well as Reaumur, had many schemes to render tlui light of tiiese phloades permanent. For Ibis purpose h« kMaded thejoioe Into a kind of paste, with floor, and found that ItwavM gin light when it wis Imnened in warm water ; but It answered beet to preeerrethe fish In honey. In any other method of preterm nUtM), the property of becoming Inmlnoas would not continoo longer than six montba, but in honey it had lasted above a yeer^ aixl then It woald, when plnnged in tvarm water, give as mnch l^ht ai crer It hid tenet
Similar, In some respects, to those obserrations on tb« light at Ibt' p)iloa», was that which was observed to proceed from wood wUeh ms moist, but not In a pntrid state, which was very conspi. CDoMln the dark.
That Ibe ■«• is sometlmei luminons, eflpecially when It is pot in MotloB b<r the dashing of oars o^ the beating of it against a ship, hai been alWlliwlwith admintion bya great number of persons. Mr.- Boyle, after reciting all the clrcomstancei of this appearance, as' far as ha could collect -them from the accounts of navigators; as l(| beltig extendedur^ u the eye could reach, and at bther times being visible onlywbeii the water was dashed against tome other bMy; Ibtt, in iotiHna,'4his phenomenon is aceonpanled by some piMMtar windi, biitwkHii atben } ud ttotwillmea on part of
Il6 AHIMAL AMD TKUTABLB VHOIVBOll.
Iht Hft will ba IniniiKHif, wlwii imtbcr part* not brfroiB it, will Dot be M ; concludef with uying, tb«t be could not help tBipecting that theie odd phBDomene, beloogiog to greit lUitH of water, were Id some mcaiure owing to Mme coiinical law or cnitoni of the terrestrial globe, or at leaat of the plaoftsry Tortcx.
Some Guriuiu obserratjoiii on the thiDing of some fiihn, and the |Hckle in which Id they were iiDmerHd,.were mad* hj Dr. Beal, in Uay 1S8£, and, bad they been properly attended to and pnnued, might hate led to the discovery of the cause of this appcutsce. HaTiDg put some boiled mackarel into water, together with salt and fweet herbt; when the cook was some time after stirri^ it, in or. der to take out some of the fishes, she observed, that, at the irst notion, the water was very Inminou ; and that the fish shining through the water added much to the light which the water yielded. Tlie water was of itself thick and blackish, rather than of nnj other colour ; and yet it shined oo being stirred, and at thn same tine the fishes appeared more luminona than the water. WInmer the drops of Ihte water, after it had been stirred, fell to the giooad, Ihejr shined ; and the children in the family diTcrtad thMasalies with taking the drops, which were as broad as a pennj, and run. •Ing with them about the hoasa. The cook obserTed^ that when ■be tnmed ap that «da of the fish that was lowest, no light cane (son it ; and that, when the water had settled for soma tiao, it did ■ot shine at all. The day following, the water gave bnt little Hght, and only after a brisk agitatioB, though the fishes continued to shine as wril from the insUe as the oatside, and espeeiallj about
AKIWAL ARD TBOCTABLE PHOSPHOI , llf
three days longer for farther trial; but (he westher being Tcty ho^ they became ftitid ; and, contrary to his cupectalions, there was ■■ «on li^t pradoMd ciAer by the imitation of tbe water or ia
Fatbw Bopnn, is Mi wjage to the Indiea in 1704, took par. licnlar aotlce of the lamiaou appearance of the sea. The light ««■ aaapliiw m greatj^ that be C4wlri easily read the title of a book bf k, tboogh be wai aine or ten feet from the surface of the water. SMMtiaiei be eouU eaiily diiliogniah, in the wake of tiie •Mp) Uie particle! tiiat were iHminous from thoee that were not; -•nd Uwy appeared not to be all of the same fignre. Some of then -VMralike p«hita of light, and others such a< lUri appear to tbe adMd aye. Some of them were Ufce globei, of a Hoe or two In dlWMtor ; and others ai big u one'i head. Sometime* they form. .Ml tbetil?ei into squares of three or four inches long, and oa« or two broad. Sometimes all these diiTcrent fignres were rlsHile at the sanM Om* ; and sometimes there were what he calls Tortices of light, which at one particnlar time appeared and dSaappearcd inu laadialtly Uk« Bashes of lightning.
Nor did only tbe woke of tine ship prodnce this light, but fisbis also, la swimningj left so luminous a track behind them, that both their atae and species night be distinguished by it. When bo took soBM of the water out of tbe sea, and stirred it erer so littlo wUh hit haod, In the dirk, he always saw in it an infinite number •f bri^ particles ; ami be had tbe same appearance whenerer he dipped a piece of linen in the sea, and wrung it in a dark [4aee, oven tboii^ it was half dry; and he observed, thit when thsi iporUea fell npon any thing that was solid, it wonid contioBo shining for sonw honn together.
After mentioning Mfaial drcumatances which did not contributo to this appearance, this Father obserres, that it depends very mnsb iqion the quality of the water ; and he was pretty sure that tUs iight is tha greatest when the water is fattest, and foUest of foam. Fat ta^tho nain sea, he says, the water is not every where equally pure ; and that sometimes, if linen be dipped in the sea, it ii danmy whan it is drawn up again i and he often observed, that ■IwB tbe wiko tt tbe ahip was the brightest, the water was the iMt fat and glatfawas, and that lioen moistened with it prodncod :i«^eBt<tial of llgbtf if U was stirred or moved briakly. Besides, i^HHMfartivf thtjW>» Amw a sMUtaw iiko wwUiait, soma. tS
118 AiriMAL ARD TBOBTABLE PROIPHOI.
(Imu red and sometimes j'etlov ; uid when be drew op the water In tboie placet, It wai always viiconi and glatinooi. The nilon told him, that it was the tpawn of whalei: tint there are great qaanlitit^s of it in the north, and that sometimes, in the nigbt, thej appeared all over of a bright light^ without being put in motion by any Tewi4 or fish passing by tbem.
Ai a confirmation of this conjecture, tJut the mora (Intinoas the sea water is, the more it is disposed to become Imlwmi, he obMT'ei, that one day they took a fith that was callid a hoolte, the inaide of the mouth of which was so Inminous, that, wiUiont any other light, he k-ould read the same characters which be had before read by the light in the wake of the ship ; and the month of this fish was full of a risconi matter, which, when it was rubb- ed upon a piece of wood, made it immediately all orer luminous ; though, when the moiitnre was dried up, the light wmi estin- guithed.
The abb4 Nollet wax Tnnch itmck with the luroinontnew of tte sea when he was at Venice in 1749; and after taking n great deal of pains to ascertain the circumstancea of H, concluded that II was occasioned by a shining Insect; and harlng examined the water Tery often, be at length did find a small insect, which he partlcn- larly describes, and to which he attributes the light. The Mma hypothesis bad also occurred to M.Vianelll, professor of medidne In Chioggia, near Venice ; and both he and M. Griiellfni, a pfay. alcian in Venice, ha*e giren drawings of the insects from which thf-y imaiiined thh tight (o proceed.
ANtMAI/ AND TBCBTA8LB FHOSPSC JtW
vitli i(; Km] in the nigbt tbe same particles, as he eoadaiei, lui the Bppnrance of Gre. Taking ■ quantity of ihp water, tbe aam* ■ mill ipirlu «|qmi«d whenever it wti tgiiated ; but, u was Db- •ened with mpvet to Dr. Beal't experimentii, every lacceuiTC agiUfioD produced a lew effect than tlie preceding, except after ' betng anffered ta reit awhile ; for then a fresh ablation would make K ahnoat at Inminou ai the firaL Thii water, be obtened, wonid retain itf property of ibiniDg by agitation a day or twof bat it diMppeared immediately on beinn i«t on the fire, tfaoagh it waa aot made to boiL
U. AnL Martin made many cxperiawnti on the light of fiiko^ with a view to discorer the cau^iL- uf (he light of the lea. He thoaght that be had reason (o conclude, from a great rariety if •ipariaieoti, that all aea-Gsbea bate this property ; bat that it b iwt t* be found In any that are produced in freib water. Nothing la Us opinion depended npoD the colour of the fiahea, except that be^oaght (hat the white ones, and especially tboae that had white tcalea, were a little more laminoas than othert. TUs light, km foaad, waa increased by a nnall quantity of salt; and also by ■ aniall d^rec of warmth, though a greater degree eztinguiikad it. This agrees vith another obserration of his, that It dependl catirely upon a kind of moisture which they had about then, and which a imall decree of heat would eipel, when an olUnen reinala> ad which did not give this light, but wpuid bum in tbe fire. Light from the flesh of birds or beasts is not so bright, be says, ai that which proceeds from fishes. Unman bodies, he says, hare some- times emitted light about (be time that tbey began to pi)tr)fy, and tbe walls and roof of a place In which d^ad bodies had ofttn been exposed, had a kind of dejr or clammloeis upon It, wUsh was sometimes luminous ; and be imagined that the lights wfakh are sud to be seen in bnrying.grDunda may be owing to thii canse.
Fron some experiments made by Mr. Canton, he cDndndeif
that the Israinousness of tea-water is owing to the slimy and other
putrescent substances it contains. On the eTening of the iflk tt
Jiine 1768, he put a small fresh whiting into a galloo of sea.waler}
Jn a pan which was abont fourteen inches in diameter, and took
. notice that neither the whiting nor the water, when agitated, gar*
i.nnjrUght. A Fa^nheit'a thenuometer, in the cellar where tbe
Hwm wu placed, mnid i!i,H'- ^I)* ' M ««^ti d>rt f^^
IflO AKIHlL Aim TtaETABlB VaOBPHOEI.
the &i)i which «u even with Ac tiwihe* of tta water WM Imlim^ bat the water itself wu dark. H* drew the end of dw >Uck through it, from one aids of the pantolh* other, nd tb« wBterap> peered Inminoni liehlad the (tick Kit the iny, but gen Ught oolj Where it was diatarbed. When all the water wu itirrtd, tbe whole bemme IuidIdoui, and appeared like milk, giTtatg a eoaiK derable degree or light to the ride of the pan ; and it eoatiaaed to do 10 for lome time after it waa at rMt. The water waa MWt la- ninoni when the fish had been In It abont twenty-eight boart ; bat would not girs any light hj being atirred, after it had boaa la H
flelhen pnt a gallon of fresh water into one pan, aad ao eqaal qoantlty of sea-water into another, and into each pas be pat « fresh berriag of abont three ounces. The next night At whole anrbco of the sea-water was lamlnoni, withont beingiUrred; bat h was mnch more ao when It wai pat into motion ; and tba npper port of the herring, which was conrideiably below the aorfcoa of Ibe water, was also Tery bright} while at the same time tha freih wafer, and the fish that was in It, were quite dark. Thefo were ■emal yery bright luminona apotB on diflennt porta of tbe •arikce of the sea-water ; and the whole, when viewed b/ Ae Hgbt of a candle, seemed eorered whh a greasy scum. The third night, the Ught of the see-water, while at rest, was rerr little, if at all, tesi than before ; but when stirred its light was so gnat as to dlfcorer the time t^ a watch, and the fish In it appearod as a dark substance. After this its Hglit waa evidently decraarii^} bat
AlmR«l> MW VBaSTASte PHOIPDO W
could bt made, n«Ter gtje any lighl. The herring wIlU WM taken sut or it ths serenth nigiit, and washed froa iU «dl, was found firm and sweet ; but Ihe other herring was very soft and IrtrBy KMk aw* M than tbtt which kad bwn kept •■ long in fcttk iMttVi . . If a bafrilig, ia twam weather, be put into ten gal* I— W aatlfidal ■» waHir^ Initead of on«, the water, he mji^ wiU ttU fcifpine latainou, kot its light will not be «> strong.
It appeand bj wme vf the firat obMrrations on this subject, Ikat beat ei^Dgoiibei the light of pntreicent sabstancei. Hr. CaBton alio attended to this circumstance; and obserres, that tbongb the greatest mniner beat is well known to promote putre. UoOom, yet twentj degrees more than that of the human blood waaa to Uadcr it. For petting a small piece of a lumkms fiA iBto.a<biB glaH ball, lie fomd, that water of the (teat of 118 depMB wmU eztlaguiib ks light ia Ins than half a ninnte; bat Itatt, on liking it not of the water, it would begin to recover tta light In aboat ten seconds ; but it wss nerer afterwards so bright tobefore.
liv.CHal«D taade the saaae obserralioii fliat Mr. Ant. Martin had dotie^ Til. tiiat several kinds of rirer fishes covid not be nade Co give light, in the same mrcMBstances in which mj seaAfc bsb «aMe InniDoas. He says, however, that a piece of carp made Ibe valer vesy hsniinous, though the ontsido, or scaly part of it, did •otaUneatail.
For tke sake of those persons wlio maj choose to repeat hh •Kperlments, be obserres, Hiat artificial sea.water may be made vltbont the nie of an hydrometer, by the proportion of fonr •nnoea aMirdapois of salt, to seven pints of water, wine-meaaare. From -andoubted obserTations, however, it appears, that in iumy^ilaees of the ocean it is coTered with luminous insects to a very considerable extenL Mr. Dagelet, a French astronomer, srbo Mlaraed from the Terra Aastralis, in tlte year 1774, brought with y« sa 1 1 ral kinds of worms, which shine In water wbea It Is ■et ia motiMi ; and M. Rigaod, in a paper inserted (if we are Mt aiiatakafe) h the Jonrnal dea Sfsvans, for the month of Mmk, 1770) ■Snail ^^^ tba lamiaovs sarhce of the sea, from the port «f Bnb^ 4»ae AntUles, contains an immense qaantily of little, foand, lUufaig palypgset, of about a qaarter of a line in a dia. •atcr. Other iMiiiHid men, who ackaowMge tbe oistence of
1S8 AmMAL AKD TIOITASLB PHOirBOKI.
tli«m tf tbe caiiH of all that light and KiDtillation that appaar on the turface or the ocean : tfaaj think that sokm cnbitaaea of tha phoiphorui kipd, ariBlng fron pulraflKtiaa, mart ha advitted as one of the causei of tiiii phanomeiwD. M. Godboa haa paUiakMi curious obterrations on a kind of fish catlad, In Freaak, hontttt already mentioned ; and though ha haa ohierved, and aecnrately described, leveral of the luminoua iaaecta that are tammi la ««>• nater, he it, nevertheleM, of opinion, that the tcintiUatlMi and flaming light of die sea proceed from the oily and grauy nb* alMcea with which It impregnated.
The abb^ NoUet wai long of opiaion, that the light of tha a«a proceeded from electricity, thou^ be afterwards leemad incUiMd to think, that tbii phenomenon wu caviod by small iiiImIi^ either by their luminom aspect, or at least by some liquor or effluvia uluch they emitted. He did not, however, exclude otbw caaiea; among these, the spawn or fry of fiih deserves to be aotlced. M. Dagelet, sailing into the bay of Antogil, in the island of Ha. dagAEcar, obserred a prodigious quantity of fry, which eorered Uw surfoco of the sea aboTe a mile in length, and which ha at first took for banks of saud, on account of their colour; they exhaled a disagreeable odour, and the sea had appeared with nBeomiDOD splendor some days before. Tbe same accurate obaerraTf per- ceiving the sea remarkably luminous. In the road to tha C^^ of Good Hope, duTJog a perfect calm, remarked, that the oan of thecanoei productrd a whitish and pearly kind of lustre ; when he took in his hand the water which cuntained this phoaphoros, h«
AirntAI. AND VBeBTABte VBOSPnORI. IM
thorn; Tor the same reason also [t probably had its Latin tuma ignis fituus.
TUi kind of light It laM to be frequent abont burying placei awl doBg.hUli. Bome countries are also remarkablf for it, as •boot Bologoa, In Italy ; and some parts of Spain and Ethiopia. W»haT« noticed and eadffaToared to arconnt for this phenomenon already ; but as the following carious example of it has escaped ni, we will notice It now. It is giren hj Doctor Shav, in liis Trareli to Urn BAj Land.
It ^ipeared in the *allevs of monnt Ephraim, and attended him and hti company for more than an hour. Sometimes it wonld appear globular, or in the shape of the flame of a candle; at otiwrs it woald spread to such a degree as to inTolre the whola ctnapany in a pale inoffenstre light, then contract itself, and sud- denly-disappear; bat in less than a minute wonld appear again; Bometimei rnnning swiftly along, it would expand itself at cartain interraU, over more than two or three acres of the adjacent nKian> t^os. The atmosphere, from the beginning of the efening, had been remarkably ttdck and hazy ; and the dew, as they felt it on the bridles of ttwir horses, was Tery clammy and nnctnoui.
We liare also aJrrady obserred that lights resembling the %nii fataas are sometimes to be met with at sea, skipping about the matfi and riggingof ships; andDr.Shaw informs us, that he has seen jhesa 'insucb weather as that just mentioned, when he saw the ignis fatHtiB in Palestine. Similar appearances hare been obserred in variona other sitoatians ; and we are told of one which appeared about the bed of a woman in Milan, surrounding it, as well as her l)ody, en* tirely. Tkia lightfledfrom the hand which approached it; butwai *t le^h entirely dispersed by the motion of the ur.
Philosophy of Spontaneous lllamination. 'It b a fact now folly ascertained and rendered incontestable, ' that liihit has a constderabte influence upon all animal and t^«- InhU Uetag aubstanees, exposed to its intlaeace : that all imbibe it ia aana dtgree, and many rapidly and voraciously. Most of t]w discous towan, by some power nnkoown to us, follow the sun In his course. They attend him to his ereniiig retreat, and meet hil rising lustre in the morning with the same uDerring law. If a plant also ts shut up in a dark room, and a small holt ta afli^r- wards opened by wliich the light (if the sun may entt^r, the plant wiU tarn towards that hole, and even alter its own shape in order
J
184 ANIMAL AND VB«BT*BL1I ^HOtPHOBt.
to get HMr U ; w Ott though It w» itnlght Imfore, It wfll In thA
become crooked, that it atmy get Dear th« light. It k not tho heat, but the light of the inn, which it thai coTeti; for, though a firo be kept in the room, capable of girtng a much ilroager beat than the luo, the plant will turn away from the firo Ib order to CDJoy the inn'a light, The greeo colour of planti alio depaadi on the SDD'g light being allowed to ibine upon them ; for wlthoBt thil thej are alwaj* white.
With the varioas lecretioDS, and eren solid parta of mh^ •( thna lobitancei, the matter of light unites most liirlmalaij ; In odwr claiKS of aniauli and vegetables it eiiati more Ioooal]>, ami eODMqneotly is more easilj separated from them.
This separation appears to take place in two ways : firat Airing life, by a peculiar set of orgaas, which have a power of aocreting It from the general fluids of the rest of tlie bod/; and sooowlly, by the tendency to de composition, which nnifonniy takaa plaoo wpon deadi ; in consequence of which, agreeably to the aaliMsal la* of diemical affinity, homogeneous particlea nnhe Ihamielvei wiA homogeneous particles, and eac^w in a more lODittle, bew caosa in a more aggregate and concentrated form.
Upon thb simple view of the sntgect we may eaally aoeoawt for all the phmnomena noticed by socceasive observer*, aad umlad In the preceding part of tills article, as well as for a mriity vf others of a similar character. The light thus Ibrowa forth wm till very lately regarded as phosphorescent, especially by 8p«Uaa> nni aad Fonrcroy; while Caradln believed it to be iuMrtO, nd
AKIHAI. AMD VBGBTABLE PHOIFHO Ml
Into the bodies of taminous animab, in t!ie form of food^ aiid mif be separated from its respeclite comUnations by iti Inmiaoni
Living luminout Substances. TImh «n my numerout, though they hare never hitherto been ami^td into any dbtinct Gta«Bi6cation, or tabular form. Thej MWibt cUeflf , and almoit esclusiTety, of iniecli and zoophyUtj moUuKMU m»rms f though instances ir* occasionally met with HMHig ottor warmt. Insecti fnrnish nearly a doien distinct g«> Miif at wkick almost all the species are laninouB. The chief art tiM lamfjrti, or gloir.worm, and Rre.fly tribes ; the fulgora, TTT iTt'i" "j : the soolopeadra, or centipede; the fauns sposrOa CMMi Ae dater noctilurns, and the cancer falgens. Among th« Wona-dMl the principal are the phloas, or pholas, as it is now feQaraU]r,b*tem>n*oo>lydenominated, the pyrofoma, tb« medaM phoaphacea, the oefeia aoc til aca, thepennstula, orseapea, m^Ta* tMWS ^coias »t the sepia or cottle.fish. The atmosphere in MIM parts of Italy appears occasionally to be on fire, in the eTening, fioB the great qnaatttiet of one specie! of the lampyris that throng toge. than. A tingle ipdirJdoai of the Soutk-Americanfolgora, fixed apoQ Hm t«j) nf a cane, or other staff, will afford light eoongh to read bfi The streams of light that issue from the elater noctilocna an ■• iteang in tka aigkt, that ereu the smallest print may be read bf their Inetre. fhe pyrotoms, when at rest, emit* a pala U«i lustre } but iibea in motion » much stronger light, Tkri^tad hf all tite colonrs of the rainbow. The phloaa secretes a Inminow iviMf ev«7 drop, at vhicb illuminates, for a length of tmtf wbatenr substance it falls upon, or ereo touches ; and the awmal, after daatb, nay be prewrred so as to retain its Inminons power for at l«ast a tifeWemonth. The noctilucent nereis often illaad^ naleifkif its Qtsmbers, the waters it inhabits, ts a rery considev* able axtHtt and gives so bright a splendour to the waves thal^ Ulu Uh ntaMHphere whni lighted up by the lampyris italica, (haf appeavM tiMHigk they were in a full flame. The organ from wUok the InmlaMM anttei is thrown forth, in these different ansmals, it «f a very dUhaapt character, and placed in very dtfiisrart parts of the^bwdyi siiawliiaM in (he head, somettmes in the tail, aometiiMS » over the surfase itntrall]^.
106 ANIMAL Am VSOITABLV *BOftHK««
Deadlumtnoui SuhttOMCtt, " '"**"'
light, u «« bave ftlread; obwrred, bainf «on or 1h» '•b. ■orbed by bodlei of all kiodi, nwj b« mpectod, udar ilrciM- ■buicM which tend to imite or oggregtte its paitidM, to isw off in ft pndpiwt form from bU titOM wUcb Inn ■liiilifci<» la a gnater degrae, or rataln it after abwrptioa in & )aoma MMto-tkaa othen, Tbas It txiiti in the iMIi of marino-fahM, m^Mmhm wonni, and b >et at liber^ ud 8«wi off la a fWUt AHVrihv - catdnatifm. It utliti is th« dead truakaof vaitoas :iii|pM||lMy and faeaoe, on tb« conaiMicmMnt ol a putreAictire d Oa particlM tultc tagether agneaUy ts dw tain of a nitf , and Sow off la like mannar: wbenoa the loidM aac« azhibited to Tariona tpedas of rottaikwood. \m the bodiM of many Uoda of aoim^ and bmo brgaly la mm» animal organi than la othen ; heaca w« aoe it Undng'MpMinN tern pntreacmt fieih, Boiaatimni from boaoi, tMtli^'ii^Mik ■apbrilie, and arlnary calooll, aad«gg.AnUB tet hMaft^im •»« poMdtothoHB. ^l•V■
la mariM fiahea it appeart to bo mora nMnHnWa*4hiri4> tirt bodiaa of wj aalmab, thongh (or want of oppapriMMiMMW wgita tboaa ara not fcmd to lacTCto K(at loMt Mt HP^lHi^Nai* pa^aUy) dnring Ufa. ita^^u -.ui
Fm tha beat nparimenti we poBSem opsa «• mii0mvmm ladablad to Dr. Holme, who, wUk be haa tcoOM mtt^ktmm •f Aeuriyati, hMConlimedtbe more Important ndHMHiiilb
ANIMAL AKD TBOETABLB PBOSFHI tl. 127
tnlntloni of Epssm and olh^r =all3, and Tuund liint in slight ia\u. tiuti" it ihoiie brishlT : but ihal iti slronj; ^tilutikins it birame vppBimlly esliiiguiiliFd, though it again rfiiTcd bj mixing more wKtrr, Bad ixlucinfc the HtlatioD (o its |ir iper d<'bility ; and thus by ■Itprnalel/ adding freih salt, tnd net* loppiies of italer, be has ■ometimH n-tiTed the »ame light after ten exIiDctions. Great cold md heat are ilio foniid to extingDiah it ; yet a moderate heat ren. d«n H Diere brilliant : it begins to b« exIinguishEd at 90"; and when tbe thermometer it nmd to 100 it can be no more reTired. I( h however cspable of being retired, after being frozen bj frigo- riic miitiiM*.
. Jtii Uwnforft an noomalons fact, that the light of dead glow. worn*' centinnM to wigment in heated water, increaied to 114
iMminoui appearance of tbe Sea.
From wbathas alteadf been obserred, Ibis beantifnl and bri). liant pbenontenOD is not difficult (o be accounted for la most casei : for tbe vast mau of the ocean oMitaioi in itself whatever haa tho peatMt tendency to the production of such a phenomcnoD. It i» the natural province of the greater nvmber of (hose aoimala that ■ecrete light from peculiar organs with « hich they are endoired for tbia purpose, of phloades, nereidi, meduMi, and luminous can. OMi; it holds in its immense bosom, at all times, an enormoni quantity of that kind of animal laatter, (marine fishes) which b most disposed to throw forth its latent light, in an aggregate and visible form, during its first progress of decomposition ; and unites tbe different drcumstBnces which chiefly foTonr such an evolstion ; ■ucfa) for instance, as a fluid menstrnom, temperate warmth, and a Mlatioa of mnriat of soda or common salt.
If then we see occasionally, in vegetable matter undergoing a ■low decomposition, as in rotten wood, a certain portion of light poured forth in a visible form ; If we sec it Issuing In a still greater degree fifo^ bones and shells that have undergone the process <rf calciiialjim'; If we see it still more freely at times, and nnde^ circnmsta^s, thrown forth from the animal exuvia of churcb. yards, and atterhig to the surface of the spot from which it issoes. In like manner as tbe light scraped off from the scales Of pieces of vni*rescent fisbes, Issoened in salt water, adheres tb the knife or in|«r) that art ployed for this | ; bow mscb mora
nay «• aspect to sw it thn< and la bow Mack
1<8 IPOMTAKBOUS COIIBDITIOH.
larger qiMDtltlei, from diSamit fMjta of tba ocua^ anAir Mrcnia* ■Uocei that majr faroor it> escape ; oflui adbering to th« M^m of veiwbj or of (heir oan m they ar« ilternalel; rajied (|«« tb* water, and producing a long line, or an extended ibeet^ of .woO- derful brilliancy, not nnfrequently variegated bjr every glffwllHW of colour.
It eppean obrioni, moreover, that it b not to one CUffe only, but to many, tbat sucli pbatnomena are to be aacribed, «t dUfaiMtt periodt, and ia different parta of Ibe world. Linusna tuMarf l9 confine it chiefly to TMt flocki of tbe nereia tnbo : b«t w* kutf already obierred, that eren at tea, and among lirivc wiMNlh BednHS, wpiaa, peaoatolaij pyroaoaaa, and phtnajn afvally concur t while, on other occwioni, the wavea appear b(UU*ntly illominated, end throngh ■ very ezteuive range, witboat ft tnoe of any living Bubstance whatever, pOMesied of a luminoM power ; and can only acquire thdr light froaa the decoapMltioa of dead uimal matter. IPmt^M^
CHAP. IX.
•POMTAMSOIta COMBUITIOH.
In the preceding chapter we have conGned our remarliB to (ub.
tkU MMiji ^nepiktUm MbiUacet, hlijkiy diied and keaped tof^lMr^ will heat, aoorch, and at lart burn ioto flame* Of these the most rtaarhabte is a raiature of the expressed oil of the fariDaceooi wedsi as rape or linseed oil, with almost aay other dry Tegetable fibre, SQch as hemp, cotton, matting, &c. and still more, if alsa united with lamp-black, or any carbonaceous substance. These mixtures if kept for a time undisturbed, in close bundles, and in a warm temperature, even in small quantities, will often heat, and bum with a mouldering fire for some hours ; and if air be admitted freely, will then burst into flame. To this without doubt may be attributed several accidental conflagrations in storehouses, and places where quantities ef these substances are kept, as has bees proved by direct experiments. The most important of these exp«» riments were made by Mr. George, and a cdmmittee of the Royal Academy at Petersbargh, in the year 1781, in consequence of the destraodoo, by fire, of a frigate in the harbour of Cronstadt; the coaflagfutlon of a large hemp magazine, in the same place, io the same year ; and a slight fire on board another frigate, in the sane port. In the following year.
These accidents led to a rery strict examination of the sutjeef, by the Russian gorernmeot ; when it came oat, that, at the time of the second accident, sereral parcels of matting, tied with pack* thread. In which the soot of barnt fir.wood had been mixed with <lll, for painting the ship, had been lying some time on the floor of the cabin, whence the fire broke out. In consequence of which, the following experiments were made: forty pounds of fir wood soot were soaked with about thirty-five pounds of hemp oil var- nish, and Hie whole was wrapped up in a mat, and put in a close cabin. In aboat sixteen hours it was observed to give out a smoke, which rapidly increased, and when the door was opened, and the air freely admitted, the whole burst into a flame. Three pounds of fir-iUack were mixed with five pounds of hemp-oil varnish, and the whole bound up in linen, and shut up in a chest. In sixteen hours It emitted a very nauseous putrid smell and steam ; and two hours afterwards It was actually on fire, and burnt to ashes. In another experiment, the same occurrences took place, but not till the end of forty.one hours after the mixture had been made ; and in these and many similar experiments, they all succeeded l>etter, and kindled sooner on bright, than on rainy days. Chimney soot oied hstead of* iMspiMack did not answer, nor was any effect
▼01.. VI. K
XM
Mtownmmvt ••nvAvcBK
fMjHri* wlM dl or tvpMHM WM MMIMsd bV At Imp or
■on MoAlj wiA the e wMtkolnerMitt; (MtAoproportloiHorttobUcktoliwollJM «ot sppMf to Im of raj frat nommt. flonvdoMi, ht «■( vw- thor, thaw viilnrM ontj bMoqw iMt kt mmm boof^aid tken Molad >g^o> wftheat RctDsllf toeing Ira.
In all thaw <»■•• tka toot or bUi^ wu froB woa^ iWi ■■» oeal. TlMpcewac«aflaHp.Mtd, ortnrotlwrdrfMrtMMMM aatter, it not MCMMrj kowerer ; for ■ tpoataooMw MhHMIlNl
wHl teko idaea io Iwmp or eottoa, itapl/ toUed in oa^^C-lfeMO •cpmaodollit whan iu eoBridnaUo qnaotitj, of ■■Atr^aloHM* ■(Meat fliToonbU to tUi pncttt, u in rwy kot wmMMT) ov dotolf that up. A^occUant of thb sort kti^enml at.Ctfetbo. rough, in lineolniUro, fn Jalj, 17B4, with ft bole oC-fomof laOtt., aceUeataUj loaktd to roperfiU i which, ftAirmil||liif fai ft' wardKHitt for Mrertl dayi, bapn to moka, to MMftrWt noBttoBt taMlI> ftod iaftlly to bont oot in ■ noot iMfl Uma, A dmlltr toddent^ with a totj iMftH qoaiUttr of t' hftppmtdHBonbor. A bottle of Itoteed oH had b IniOHft^haat; (Ut had be«i thmni down bf ai IJMifcmHi a^kt, the oU nn hto ft ehatt which cDotaiiwd toMe OMB»riMHl doO, oadifttheBondiieaaoMhwat fawd tco»AlH' tt^ mi reduced Dttrly to tinder, and the wood ol the ch<!st charred on the inside. On subsequent trial, a piece of the same cloth was soaked in oil, shut up in a bo>, and in no longer time than three
(POKTANBOUS 9DBSTAHCBS. IJl
o( tlic Turin Academy, to bare happeoeil at a flour warehouie at Turiu, cunlainiug abuul three huutJred sacks of flour. Il begaa b^ a violent explosion, on a lamp being brought iuto tbe wHrea hsBM, ud tiM whola wai Mon after io Bamei. Charcual kIods ■In hn been known to take in ia powder. milla, when quantitiea of k in powder have boeo kept for Mime time doielj packed. Aiwtber, and totallj difiereot ipecies of ipontaueoua eorabuitioo,, it that wbick occur* dnring the oxygenation or vitrioliiation o( pftites, orMdpfcBr«t*of iron, copper, Jfcc
A moat carlona, and, if not well aathendcatMl, a icarcely cre- dible apacka of ipontaiieons inflammation, is that in a few rare inatneea, known to occur in tlie human body. It ii not qnit^ certain. indeed, whether tbe firit inflammation ha« been qnite ipop* tanaona, or canied by the approach of a lighted aobitance ; bat iv tlwae nnii»rhn1f accidents, tbe body of tbe nnfortnnate lufl^reri bai been bemight to a *tate of Mch high comboitibility, that tb» flaaa once Idodled, has gone on without other fuel, to tbe entiro deatrection of every part, (tbe bope* and extremities excepted) and, aa it a^wan, baa been attended with actual flaoae, of a Ian. bent bint light. This change is the more ramarkablCf u te linaan bodj, in all Its nsoa] states, both of health and disease, U ■carcely at all of itself combnstlble, and cannot be reduced to •fhea withont the assistance of a rery large pile of bggota, or olbei fod ; as DuiTenal experience, in tbe very ancient mode of sepnU tare, and the history of martyrdoms, abundantly shews. Cases of this JMiiaaii eonbustioa on record, hare occurred in different couBa tries. Two of them, well authenticated, are recorded in tlie Phaoaoptical Transactions, and occurred in England ; and a few oUwrs in Italy, Fnoee, and elsewhere. In all but one, the snb. joda «f then have been -females rather adranced la life, of indolent habits, and apparently much addicted to spiritaoui liquors.
The accident has generally be»n detected by the penetrating fetIA smell of burning and suoty Eima, which hare spresd to a great distance j and the suiTerers have in eiery Instance been discovered dead, and with the body more or less completely burnt up, leaving In the burnt parU only an oily, crumbly, sooty, and extremely fetid matter. Another circumslarice in which titeie case* all agree, is the comparative weakness uf the heat produced by this conihna. tioo, notwithstanding the very complete disorganixatioD of tbo body itself, so that the furniture of the a cbairt, JfcC
1S# c'siMtext ArrmiTr.
fbsnd wttbtn O* mch of th* baraliig bodj, wan la wanj in. •tancea absolotolf unhurt, and In othm onlj icorclwd; the hot aot hBTJog be«D itrong «DOBgh to Mt then on flro. It b ImpoML bio to glre an adeqnats rouoa for this remarkablo change) BOr doei It M»Di before the Very tine of the accident to have pndnced V»Y jery leasible alteration in the appearance and fonttlBiM of the bo^, which to certahilj a most astonUhing circnmstBKe. With rtgatd to the effect vhlch the me of ardent tpiriti it wp(»OM< to have In thii caw, it ii impouible not to Ima^ae that thb cHon Itmf cbntribnte targelj to thli change ; bat the instanees of tta'aNbd of i(tMh are w innumenble, and thott of thb inrprning watortfon aita M ntrcmeljr rare, that rerj little MtiifacUon can Ba obtained f^on thii eipUnadoD. IPttttMagia.
CHAP. X.
bUBUICAb AFFINITY.
1. All the great bodiea which conitltote the solar tjftHUM nw urged towards each other bj a force which preserreo QMk Id tMr orbits, and regulates their motions. This force has neMti the c il. be iiiiie-
it If mataal ; fkat it •ztends to indefinite dbtancet ; and that all bodin, as far at IS known^ are possessed of it.
J. When two bodies are brooght within a certain distance, they adhere together, and require a considerable force to separate them. This is the case, for instance, with two polished pieces of marble or glass. When a piece of metal, or indeed almost anj body whaceier, is plunged into water and drawn out again, its surface is moistened, that is to - say, part of the water adheres to it. When a rod of gold is plunged into mercury, it comes out stained indelibly with a white colour, because it retains and carriet with it a portion of the mercury. Hence it is evident that there is a force which nrges these bodies towards each other, and keeps them together ; consequently there is an attraction between them. Bodies, therefore, are not only attracted towards the earth and the planetary bodies, but towards each other. The nature of this attraction cannot be assigned any more than that of gravitation ; but its existence is equally certain, as far at least as regards by far the greater number of bodies.
4. In all cases we find the particles of matter united together in masses ; diffiering indeed from each oth^r in magnitude, but oon. taining all of them a great number of particles. These particles remain united, and cannot be separated without the application of a considerable force ; consequently they are kept together by a force which nrges them towards each other, since it opposes their separation. Consequently this force is an attraction.
Thus we see that there is a certain unknown forpe which urges bodies towards each other ; a force which acts not only upon large masses of matter, as the sun and the planets, but upon the smaller component parts of these bodies, and even upon the particles of which these bodies are composed. Attraction, therefore, as far as we know, extends to all matter, and exists mutually between all matter. It is not annihilated at how great a distance soever we may suppose bodies to be placed from each other; neither does it disappear, though they be placed ever so near each other. The nature of this attraction, or the cause which produces it, is alto, gether unknown; but its existence is demonstrated by all the phaenomeaa of nature.
6. This attraetion was long accounted for, by supposing that tliere exbted a .certain unknown substaocoi which impelled all bodiei towgrda en^ ath^ri-a^ypothfyis t^ which j^l^losophort
k3
134 enBMiCAL ir#ivirT.
bad rtcoorte, fnim m opinion long adnlttod u • Irst principle, ** d»t no body can act wbera !t to sot:" «( If it wero nor* diffi. calt to conceive wfaj' a change Is pradaced tn a body by anotWr which to placed at a great dlttance, than whj It to pradnoed hj one which !■ iltuted at a Binall dtotaacc. It is not Mljr inpo*> olble to expldn the ptnenonena of atlracHoo by impalAa, but it to a* dlfficnlt to conceive bow bodlea ihonld be urgti towardi each other bj the action of an external inbitance, as how thejr ibsnM bt nqed toward! each other bj a power Inherent In tbemwlm^ Tbe Ihct b, that w# can neither comprehend the one nor Hw other; nor can any rcaion be aaigned why the Almighty might wot « eaitly beitow npon malter the power oT acting npon matter at a dlitance, a> tb« power of being acted upon and changed by matter In actnal contact.
Bat fiulber, we have no reason for soppoiing that bodlee are •rer In my case actnally in contact. For all bodies are dialnbhed la bulk by cold, that li lo say, their particles are brongbt nearer to each other, which would be impossible, nnless they had been at some distance before the application of the cold. Almost all bodies are Amloished In bulk by pressure, and canseqnenlty their parllcles are brought nearer each other; and the dinmUM of bnlk to always proportional to the pressnre. Newton ban ihiWM, that It reqnired a force of many pounds to bring two glassat wWUm Iha 800th part of an loch of each oiher; that a much grenlrr waa necessary to dli^niih that distance ; and that no pressnr* wheb
CHEMicit ArriniTT. tti
pUus, and which ii ilwajs diminishing tht i'nttnct bctwacB bodies, aale.vs when they are prevenled from approaching ndl other by some other force equally powerful.
0. The chaiig* wUch Bttractkm prodncet on badici, it a dlmL B«don of tiwir dbUnce. Now the diitancu of bodits from each otkar are of two kioda, ettlwr too small to be perceived by onr WHta, or great enoigh to be easily perceired and estimated. In ike itat caaa, the change of distance prodaced by attraction muit be hucBtible ; In the second cose it mnst be risible, Beoce tlie attractions of bodies, as far as regards as, naturally dfride tbem. ■rivci into two dusea : 1. Those which act at senilble distances; S. Those which act at insenrible dtstiuices. The first class obTiously ■pplles to iMdiet in masses of sensible magnitude ; the second dasi Must be confined to the particles of bodies, because they alone nr« Kt insmsiblo distances from each otiier.
r. It hu beat demonstrated, that the intensi^ of the fint ctasi . of attrmdioni varies with the mass and the distance of tbe aftracb ing bodks. It increases with the mau of these bodies, bst diml. nisbcsM tbe distance between them increases. Hence we see tint in this class of attractions every particle of the attracting bodha net, aince the ram of llie attracting force is always proportloni W the number <tf particles in the attracting bodies. Why it Ai^ Bidtes as tbe diatance increases, it la impossible to say ; bnt Iho ftet is certain, and is almost incompatible with the sapposition of Impnlsion aa the cause of attraction. The rate of vatiaHoa km been demonstrated to be inversely as tlie square of the (BstUMa, !■ nil cnses of attraction belonging to llie flnt dasa.
8. The attraction belon^ng to tbe 6rBt class nnst be as nuBfw Tont as there are boties sitaated at sen^ble distances; but ItbM been ascertained that they may be all reduced to three diftrent kinA; namely, !■ Gravitation; 2. Electridty; 3. Magnetfim. The fint of these hu been sliewn by Newton to belo^ to bB matter, m flir is we have an opportunity of enmiolog, and therk fore to be nahersal. The other two are partial, being confined to oertaio aets of bodies, while the rest of matter is destihite of tbam ; for it ia weU known, that all bodiea are not electric, and tlut aearcely nnjr bndiea an magnetic, except iron, cobnit, ^kel, and
Tbn faiteasity «f .«Ma tkiM nttnctiou Imkmm u the ■
19$ <m»Ut9*f. AfllMITY.
f|ifi,atir|cUn(. bodle*, ud dlmiBidiM m tks iquM* «f 4h» dblana* iacreftiM. TEm first nteod* to 4he 2n«t«tt dUtaiwa.M *>udi bodies ire known to be leptnted from each other. Uow fkr elec* tricl^ extendi hu not be«n ucoitaLned ; but m^mitiiw i^teads at leut ai &r u the MDiidiuneter of tbe earth. All bodiw ponaw gnvity ; but it has been anppoied that tbe otbor two Uttactioai are emfined to two or three labtile flHida, wbidi conitilpt* « part of ail thoM bodiei which exhibit the iltiactknu of akctrioity «r mgoetim. This nut; be m; but itii not, and tctn^mM bo domontlraled.
9. Tbe abiolute fore* of tbeae attraction! in giTea bo4i«* «») only be meai ured lij the force neceaiary to counteract Iha ofleot of tbcM attntctjoni, or bjr the ipace which giTen bodiaa,~4ctad on merely by these attractiona, trafene in a given Iibo.. If wo compare the difi'prent bodiet acted on by graTitutioo, we iball find th«t th« abtolate force of their graTilalion towardi each otbf r la In all caau the lanio, provided their diitauoei fron each 9t)|pf^,»Bd their nau, be tbe aaine ; but Ihii if bjr do neans the fwa with ^octrinl and nagnetic bodiei. In them tbe foroM bywUffb they u« attracted towardi each other, called electricity aad.i%netiiiji, fn ^xotfdiogly Tarioiu, oven whon the maM and the dfaCmpa^aro tha:Hne. SometinM tbete force* disappear almuit eaUlnlji.at other tJDMi they ai* exceedingly inteoM. Gravity, thaqeloi%^ a forco inheratt in bodies ; electricity end magnatisni not so; a.oiiw cnnitanco vldch renders the opinion of their dopendilf ;qf|«i peculiar fluids exceedingly probable. If we oompBra tho«tNtettf
|
n^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
^ |
|||
|
CBBUICAL ArPIHITr. |
19? |
|||
|
DFous. Bf heterogpBcous pai |
(icles are meuit |
those |
which con. |
|
|
pose |
different bodies ; thus a |
pBrticle of iron, |
and i |
1 parlicle of |
|
lead. |
are he(eraj;eneou8. |
|||
|
N, |
imoeeneousi'linily uri!»s |
the homogpneoi |
ii< pari; |
icles lowardf |
ud k««pi tboa It inirnHble distances from each Mbcr; aad CMMHKiaealljr ii tkc eaow why bodies ■loioit alwaji taW aaited togelber, so.h to constitale masses of sensible migni. tmit. TUs afiailj: is wwtly denoted bj the term cohesion, and ■frtJMM by wlbeMOB. ivben iJie surfsGes of bodies are va\j ftlsrrad'tD. BomogeaMnH affinity is nearly nniterul; as fsr as ia4i>0WB, oaUrlc and light only are destitute of it.
HsIariflMiicniw afflnlty urj^es heterogeneons pKrticl«s towudt OKb-'Othn-, aad keeps tkeia mt insensible distamses fnioi eadi ekta^•p■d'•r coone U tba canle of the formation of new inlegnU p•r(■ota^ oMspoaed of t certain nnmber of heterogeneons par. tides. Tkeae MW iKlcgrant particles afterwards uito by eoba. eioDf and Corw -masses of oomponnd bodies. Thai an intograBt paitleleof water is composed of particles of hydrogen and osygiB, nrg«dcto««rds rad other, snd kept at an insensiUe dM«ce by haterogeneoin affinity ; spd a mais of water is cotopoMd of m iadafinlte Dnmber of iotegrtnt particles of (bat fluid, tn^ed to. wmrdAeach otber by homogeneons affinity. HetrrogeaeoasmffiDhy ift raJvrnal, as far as is known ; tjiat is to say, there Is no hffitf whose particles are not attracted by the particles of soki* oAer bodv : %at whether the particles of all bodies hate aptfinstr '**' tiie |iartii'le& of all ulhtr hudiis, j« a point whirli we have no means of ascetlaii'ing. It is, hon'e>er. i-sceedinglj- probable, and tisK bepn eeDf rally tuktn for granted ; though it is certainly assum- ing more than e«en snalojjy can uarrant.
II. Affinity, like sensible altraclion, varies witli the mass and thedisUnce of the attraclini; bodies. That cohesion varies with the nusB, cannot indeed be ssctrtained ; bpcause we have no method of rsrying the mass, nithout at the same lime alcring the iUstaiic«. But in cases of the adhesion of the surfaces of homo, geneuus bodies, which is undoubtedly an instance of homogeneous affinity, it has been demonstrated, that tlie force of adhesion in. cri^BSes with the surface, that is to say, with (he mass; for the number of adhering [larticles must increase willi the sarface.
That heterogeneous affinity increases wilb the mass, has been obMrred long ago in particular instances, aad has been lately
138 CaiMlCAL AFranTT.
flmwntntad hy BmOoIM ta bM ia •vwy oMt ttM a (hm portiati nl water k r«taiMd mart sbMioatetr bf » higt jiii lllj of snlplmriG add, than Iqr » mill qnaadtf. Onygaa <fc ■■■• •Hlly abttnclMl froa Oom dxUm, hUA an oiMlsd <»i— J. BMm, than from tboM which art oxMbed le a MlataiB; Ifai if to ny, that a large bhui of aatel ntain a ghaa fwalilj wt oiygm Dora riolentlj thia a mbbH msm. Liwa d^Hftna |»b aih of oalj a portion of Itt carbonic acid ; and aalplMiB -aali d^ri*M phoapboric add of onlj a portioa of te ■■•••■Ml wUdi It U nnited in pboiphate of lloM. !■ tktatr^^mmf other Inataacea that night be ennoMrated, a laall |nillm| tn body ia iciahad bj a girao qnaotlfy of aaotbM, MNMMM|ljr ttan a Urg« qnantitr. And Bertholict baa abowa,.4ift ia all caataalargcqnantitjofa body li capable <rf riwtraLlMjayrtbw of anotiwr, from a auall portion of a third ; bow waafcaaaMrtbo aflaity between the lint and lecend of tbeaa boHmtt^UmMmm atnmg (oercr the affinHr beiwceu tiM aeoeod aid tba Mliii Thm wbaa eqaal qoaatiliea of Um A^wing bodlae
I (Salphiitoof btiytet a J^
' jn>tBib \PMaak'
^ rSttlpbateof potaih
i»oda '■ (Potaah-'twsibN.
, rSulphatoof potaah ^ ( CarbonamMM
* IUkm ' (Potub - t>i ^h
tbe aaenwbhad bate abatnctad part of Um add, fi>M <» l^i with whtrh it was prefiou'^lj' conibiiicd; (hom;ti i
CHEMICAL APPINirr. \5Q
The TorcM of afliniljr, though also Ihn sane io kind, are still more Buni'rous than those of sensible allractioD; for insli-at] of tlirt'e, they amount to as many ai there are hetero^pneou! hodii-s. The rate, indeed, at which Ih^y juy when thf disianre uf the aliracting bodies increases or iliminishes, is probab'y the same in all. and so is also their variations as far as it regards the mass, But ina when both of these rircumstances, as Far as we i-an eslimi<e (hi'm, »e thp same, the affiriilj of two liodips for a third is nut the same, Thos barjtes has a slrooKer afltnily for sulphuric acid than potash has ; for if equal qaantilie^ of edcb be mixed with a small portion of SDlphuric acid, the barytes seizes a much greater proportion of the acid than the potash does, Tbis dilferenct in intensity extendi to particles of all bodies ; for there are scarcely any two bodies wfcaw fKftlriM kne praciadj the aftine affinity for a tbird f and MMcal^ nj two b«diea, tbm particles of each of wbicb cohere to* gather vitb ezactty the SMoe force.
It ia tWa diflnvnee in Intensity which constilntes the most itn. G murk of Affinity, and which explains the dif. ■ and changes which one body occarions la miknt.
!%■§ h ^Ipean at first sight, that there are as many different aSaitleB as there are bodies ; and that affinity, instead of being •■« faroe like grantation, which is always the same when the cir- I same, consbts of a variety of different forces, nI, iadeed, by the same kind of lairs, but all of them dif. farcnt from each other. These affinities do not vary like magne. tisD and cteetricitp, though the mass contiaues the same, but are ahnya of eqnal inteaiity when other circumstances are equal, H— oa it is rcaaooable to conclade, that these affinities cannot^ Uke magnetism and electricity, depend upon peculiar fluids, the J of lehich may rary ; but that they are permanent forces, rt n erery atom of the attracting bodies.
Is. It ta vary possible that this variation of intensity, which forms M TCHUkabte a distinction between affinity and gravitatioD} Bty be oolj appafciit and not real. For even in gravitation the intensity variea with the distance and the mass, and the same vari. ■tiim holds in wSmitj. Bat as the attraction of affinity acts upon bo- Hf situated at iateuibl* distances from each other, it is evident ttat, Mrictly spaakligi m have no meaas of ascertaining that mott laJ niniaqmtly that it way n ttMT ditcover-
140 cHiHicAL ArrmiTT.
ikg tlw TftrUtitm. Bat vnrj aach rariBtiim la ^Ubmce occuioii « GorrMpODrting Tiriation in Um inteniify of lh« attr) force. It may be, thwi, that \iia,tyttt altncts ntphkrfo adc greater mteniily than potash, beoiiiM tb* pvtIclM of ta when the; act npon the acid, an at a iDiallar diilanoa-ibvMi I the parUclei of the potash are.
BotitBMybeaiked, Why, ifbaiTtaa, potash, andidphliric are all mizad together in water, tha paiticlM of poCaih 4o » proach ai near the add ai tfaote of tha barytes, lineaAtfM at liberty to act r To tkii it may be answered, that InaH J bilitytlwy do approach each of them f o the Hine I tance, (if the aiprenlon be allowed)) but that, their re«/ diilance may contlnDe different. The paiHaM ( dle«, bow minnte aoerer we mppoie tiiem to be, caaartlw tate of mngaitade. They most have a certain leqgllli bv and thickneu, and therefore mait al«rayi poMeH hMs'^M figure or other. Then particles. Indeed, are a great tef ^ti Bate for n> to detect thetr slMpe ; bat itil) K b cerirf* thai nait hare some shape. Now It It very eoneelTabtaltat tfa tides of every particular body may have a shape pecoller to •elm, and differing from the shape of (be particles otMsi^ body. Thus the particlva of salpharic acid may bm Ma i those of barytei another, and those of poUih a third. '
Bntif the partlelea of bodies have length, breadth, and •ais, we cannot aroid conceiving them as composed iaf ai lumbor of still m^irv mumtp paitU-li s or iitomf.
CHBMICAt. ArptiriTr. 141
of coone the cube will attract the tliird particle mote itron^lj than tlie tetrahedron ; that is, it will hare a greater affinity Tor it than the tetralieilron.
Bui if the particles of boJies differ from ench other in figure, they may dilff r qIso in density ami in size : and this must abo alter the absolute force of alfinlly, even when the distances and the fij;iire of the attracting particles are the wme. The first of these two drcnmitaaces, indeed, naj tw considered as a diRerence in the tnau of the attractiag bodies, and therefore may be detected by Um weiffht of the aggregate ; but the second, thoogh also no less K Tariation in the mass, cannot be detected by any such method, tboDgh its effect upon tke strength of affiuity may be Tery con- dderable.
There is no doubt that, upon the sapposttion that sach differ' ences in the Rgure, density, and size of the ittracting particles, really exist, and it is in the higbeit degree probable that they do nist, the TBtiation in intengity which characterises chemical affi- nity may be accounted for, nithont suppoaing the intensity of ■fiinily, as a force inhere'it In the ultimate particles or atoms of bodies, is really different. The same thing may be applied to electricity and magm^tism. It is certainly possible, therefore, timt attraction, both sensible and insensible, may not only vary Mt the same rate, and according to the same laws, bnt lie abso- lutely the same force inlnrent la the atoms of matter, modified nerely by the number and situation of the altracling atoms. This is certainly possibk ; and it must be allowed that it corresponds well with those tioliims of (he simplicity of nature, in which we are accustomed to iudalge ouiselves. But the truth is, that we are by no tneans good jndges of the simplicity of nature; we hare but an imperfect glimpse here and there through the veil with which her operations are covered; and from the few points which we see, we are constantly forming conjectnres concerning the whole of the machinery by which these operations are carried on, Snperiot'lMhiM tibile at oor theories ss we smile at the reasonings of an Hifiuit; nid were the veil which conceals the machine from oar ^W to be inddeoly withdrawn, we ourselves, ia all proba. Ullty, would 1w equally astonished and confounded at the wide dtffereuce bet*Mli oar theories and conjectores, and the real pow- . ttt by which the lAcUDery of the nair<>"<> in mored. Let us not iWttfon b* too pMdlAtitt In dnwlng canclmloas : bnf
Ua OV CtTftTALUaRAPHT«
let 08 rather wait with patkMt till Aitam ikmmim adTaoce farther ; and satisfy oarsalves is Am mmk Una witk ranging those laws of affinity wbidi hmm baea aaeafftaisadl, witb. ont deciding whether it be the sasa fwo» wilb fwritaiioay or a
different one. {TkomiQn.
CHAP. XL
ON CRVaTALLOGRAPIlY.
1 HE word crystal {Hpvrla\>As) originally stgnUiad ioa $ bat it was afterwards applied by tlie ancients to ciystaUimd sWca, or rock crystal ; because, as Pliny informt «a, they eooaidefad that body as nothing ebe than water congealed by d^ actiOB of cold. Chemists afterwards applied the word to all traniHP^raDt bodloa of a regular shape ; and at present it is employed to denote^ in feotrali the regular figure which ixxlies assume when their particles haro full liberty to combine according to the laws of cohesion. Thei^ regular bodies occur very frequently in the mineral kiogdom, and hare long attracted attention on aocount of their great beauty and regularity. By far the greater number of the salts as* sume likewise a crystalline fbrm ; and as these substances are mostly soluble in water, we baTe it in our power to gifo tba tcfu- lar shape of crystals fai fiome measure at pleasart.
1. Afost solid bodies either occur in the state of cryilals, or are capable of being made to assume that form. Now it has Umg^ been obserred by chemists and mberalogists, that diaro b a par- ticular form which every indifidual substance always aSMla when it crystallfaies : this indeed is considered as one of the best asarlss for distinguishing one substance from another. Thus ooauaon salt b obsenred to assume the shape of a cube^ and alum that of octaba* dron, consisting of two four-sided pyramids, applied base to base. Saltpetre affects the form oi a slulded prismi and sulphate of magnesia that of a four-sided prism ; and carbonate of lime Is of* ten found in the state of a rhomboid. Not that erer^ indifidual jubstaoce always uniformly ciystaUiscs in the same form ; for this
^p
Olr ORVSTAIXOCIUPHT. 143
in liable to coDsiderableTariatioos accordinglo the circumalance; of the cue: bnt there are a certain number of forma peculiar to ererf inbttBnce, and the crystals of that substance, in every case, adopts one or other of these forms, and no other ; and thus com- ■M Mlt, when cryitalliied, lias always either the figure of a Mbe or octahedron, or lome figure reducible to these.
t. At the particlei of bodlet must be at liberty to moTe before they crjstallixe, it Is obvioin that we cannot reduce any bodies to On itate of crystali, except those which we are able to make fluid. Now there ve two ways of rendering the bodies fluid, namely, MriutioD in » liquid, and fusion by heat. These of coarse are the 9miy Methods of forming crysUls in our power.
Solntian is the common method of cryatalliziag salts. They ar« dissolf ed iu the water: the water is slovily evaporated, the saliuc particles gradually approach each other, combine together, and form small crystals; which become constantly larger by the addi- tion of other particles, till at lait they fall by their gravity to the bottom of the *ess«l. It ought to be remarked, however, that there are two kinds of solution, each of which presents different phenomena of i-rystallization. SometalttdissoWeiD very small pro. portions in cold water, but are very solable in hot water; that is to say, water at the common lamperature has little effect upon them, but water combined with caloric distolres them readily. When hot water saturated with any of these salts cools, it be- comes incapable of holding them in solution : the consequence of which is, that the saline parliclc* gradually spproach each other and crystaHiif. Sulphate of soda b a salt of this kind. To crys* tallize such salta, nothing more is necessary than to saturate hot water with them, and set it by to cool. But were we to attempt to crystallize them by eTapomtiog the hot water, we should not succeed ; nothing could be procured but a shapeless mass. Many of the salli which follow this law of crystallization combine with a great deal of water ; or, which is the game thing, many crystals formed in this manner contain agreat power of crys tall iza tin n.
There are other salts again which are nearly equally soluble ia hot and cold water ; common salt for instance. It is evident that such salts cannot be crystallized by coating: but they ciystillise very well by evaporating their solution while hot These salt* generally contain but Utile water of crystal! ItaHoa.
There are many lubstauces, howerer, neitter MlDble la water
144 OK CET8T«LL0aRA»HT.
Boroth«r tiqatdt, whlcb, netwlthilindhrg, arvei^wMtVPiMBBilig « cryatallinf form. Thi> li th« mm with tb« HMtmh^ witt glaN, and'iome otfa^r budlei. The nirthod MBplojed to crjitalBie tfcarn is fusioD, which is a n)liition bj njeani of etloric. Bj tUi natkod the partlclei ar« separated froin one another ; and If tte MoHiif goPB on gradually, thej are at Mbtaty to arnmge theBMlvM in r»- gular cryitats.
3. To obtain large artificial crystals of a regalar almpt, raqnbci considerable addreii and much paiient atteiilion. TUt oarhwi branch of (iracticat cheotistrj' hat been improred by Mr. hAUae ; .who has not only succeeded in oblainini; regal&r crystal! of almort any liie at pleasure, but has made many fnterfiting obiorntiont on crystallisation in general*. His mt- tbod it as 'fiiHowi : The •alt to be crystallized is to be dissoWed in water, and mporated to such a consistency that it shall crystallite on coolinf . 'M H by, and when quite cold pour the liquid part olF the man of eijitals at the bottom, and put it Into a flat.bottemed retsel. SuBUij ciy>. tals form it some dbtance from each other, and theio te^ be ob> serred gndnalty increasing. Pick oat the most regnlAi' itf these, and put them into a flat.botlomed tessel at some diBtarfe^flon ouA other, and pour orer them a quantity of liquid obtaHM' In Oa •ame way, by evaporating a solution of the salt, till tt ci OD cooling. Alter the position of erery crystal once at leatt w day with a glass rod, that all the hces may be alternately e to the action of the liquid ; for the face on which the oryttsi' (wta never receWes any increment. By this process the cryitali gnAv.
t&^MifMy (he liqaid must be poured off, and a portion of nev liquid pat in its place ; otherwise the crystal is tnfallibl/ des- troyed, Mr* Leblanc has obseryed, that this singular change be^ fins first at the surface of the liquid, and extends gradually to the bottom ; so that a crystal, if large, may be often perceived in a fltate of increase at its lower end, while it is disappearing at its up- per extremity. Mr. Leblanc even affirms that saline solutions al- most always increase in density according to their depth from the surface*
4. The phenomena of crystallization seem to have attracted but little of the attention of the ancient philosophers. Their theory, indeed, that the elements of bodies possess certain regular geome. trical figures, may haye been suggested by these phaenomeaa ; but we are ignorant of their haYing made any regular attempt to ex- plain them. The schoolmen ascribed the regular figure of crys- tals to their substantial forms ; without giving themselves much trouble about explaining the meaning of the term. This notion was attacked by Boyle ; who proved, that crystals are formed by the mere aggregation of particles *• But it still remained to ex. plain, why that aggregation took place ; and why the particles united in such a manner as to form regular figures?
The aggregation is evidently the consequence of that attractive force which has been examined in the last section. But to explain the cause of regular figures is a more difficult task. Newton has re. marked, that the particles of bodies, while in a state of solution, are arranged in the solvent in regular order and at regular distances j the consequence of which must be, that when the force of cohesion becomes sufiiciently strong to separate them from the solvent they will naturally combine in groups, composed of those particles which are nearest each other. Mow all the particles of the same body must be supposed to have the same figure ; and the combi. nation of a determinate nnmber of similar bodies must produce nU milar figures, Hauy has made it exceedingly probable that thes« integrant particles always combine in the same body in the same way ; that is to say, that the same fiices, or the same edges, al. ways attach tliemselves together ; but that these differ in different crystals. This can scarcely be accounted for, without supposing that the particles of bodies are endowed with a certain polarity
• Treatise sia'tlit or||^ of forntt and foallties. TOL. Ti. !•
140 OM CSYtTAttOOaAPHr.
which Bskei tbem kttract one pkrt of tnolher parlido aaA repel tho other ptrti. Thia polarity would esplain th« r^aUrit; of crfitaUisation ; but it b itwlf InesplinUe.
It Is ranurkAble that crjtUlt not «nl; uinine regular Gfvrei, but are elwif ■ bounded by pUne larbcei. It is nrj rmreljr in- deed that cnrre lurfacei are observed in theie boditi ; and wben thoy are, the ciystab always give nneqiuTocal proofi of imperfec. tioD. Bnt this conilant tendency towards pbne surhoea ia iocon. ceirable, unlei* the particlef of which the cryitali an eonpoiod are themnlrei regular fignrei, and bonndod by plane i srlaeM.
S. If the figure of cryitali dapendi upon the figure of tMr Id- t^nuit parllclei, and upon the manner in which they eomblM, It b reuonable to mppoie that the lame partidei, wben at'fUl liber. tf, will alwayi comUna in the lama way, and conscqceatly (hat the cryilala of every particular body will be dwayi the mbh. Nothing at Giat light can appear farther from the trath Opa thb. The different fonns which the cryit^ of the aame body >•■■■• art oRan vary nnmeroni, and exceedingly different from mck other. Carbonate of lime, for initanca, bai bean obierred cryiUUied in no fewer than forty different formi, flnate of Ume in «%ht dlfihr. ent forma, and aulphate of lime in nearly an equal nnabarr
But this incondilMicy b not lo great ai might at flnt •%■* ^i. pear. Rami da Lble hai ihewn that every body naceptlbla of cryttallisatlon bu a particular forin which it moat freqwady u- inmei, or at leait to which It moit freqaently approadwc Bwg-
D baa demoutrated, that this primitive form, u Bany W mIU
oil SBYaTAI-lOGBAPBT. 147
caik be demonstrated that no subspqueiit division can alter Its <!• gure. Consequently it can be conlinued till the figure which It assDmM is similar to that of its integrant particles. ' MwKj imM found ttat tkt figure of tbe iotegrant particlea of b*dlca, u fn u •zpeiimflsC hu gvne, mtj be radaced to three ;
1. Tbe paratlelopiped, the simplest of the solids, whoM lacei ■n tiz ID namber, and parallel two and two.
%. Tka tnangnltr pritn, the aimpleit of pritmi.
S. The tetnbedroD, the ainplest of pyramids. Even this imall ■QMhar ot prtaitire fornii, If we coniider the almost endleta dl> Teiritjr ^ "*") proportion, and densitj, to which particlei of difeveiBt bodiea, tbovgh they have the aame figure, naj still ta HaUe, wUt be fonnd fally nficient to account for all the differ. •aeti 1« Eohwiun and keterogeneoni affinity, without haring ro- CstiM to Afitrent abaolate farces,
Tbeaabtegrantparticlei, when they anSte to fem tbe prhoMr* cryatala, do not atwaji join tf^ether in the nne way. SometiliM ttef anha by tbeir faces, aad at other timei by their edges, lear- ing WMiderable racaitlei between each. ThUexpUini wbylnto. grant partldee, tbongh they have tbe nne form, auy compoae peU Mitire erystala of diKrent fignrag.
' Mr. Hany has aacerfained that the primitlre tortaa ot crystali art risbinnaber; namely,
I, Tbe psralleloiuped, which includes the cube, tbe rhomboi^ and all loUds terminated by six fiues, parallel two and two.
S. Tbe regular tetrahedron.
». Tbe oetabedroB with triangular faces.
4. Theiix.aidedprUm.
f. The dodecabedroD, teraalnated by rhombs.
•. The dodecahedron, with Isosceles triangular ftcei.
BaA of tlieie mey be nppotei to occur as the primttlve form, or tbe oadeM !■ a Tariety of bodiea ; but those only which are reg»« lar, 81 Ika cabe and tbe octabedron, luve bitherto been found in •nj wiasHei^hi nnnber.
Bat haJss, whm ciystalllKed, do not always appear in 0it
primitire form ; some of them indeed very seldom affect Ibat form ;
and all of them bare a certain latitude and a certain namber of
forms, wfaich thej assume occaiionall)' as well at the priiiiiti*a form.
Jt2
148 OK CItTSTALLOGBAP,HY,
Thni Ou primitire form ot flute of lime U the octahedron that salt i> often found crystallized in cubes, in rhomtMldal < cahedrons, and in other formi. All these difierent fomi < a body assames, the priioitiTe excepted, have been dMonii by Hauy leeondaryformi. Now what is the reason of tU tude io crystallizing i why do bodies assame so often thei eoodary forms ?
7. To this it may be answered ;
iBt, That those secondary forms are wmetimes owing to tions In the ingredients which compose the integrant partk any particular body. Alum, for instance, crystallizes in « droni } bat when a quantity of alumina^ is added, it cryslalli cnbei ; and when there u an excess of alumina, it doea not tallizeatall. If the proportion of alumina Tsries between which produces octahedrons and what produces cublo cr^ the crystals become figures wilh fourteen sides ; six of whit ftamllel (o those of the cube, and eight to those of the ooUhai %nd according as tile proportions approach nearer tO'tkom' form cobei or octahedrons, the orystals assume mora or I the form of cnbes or octahedrons. What is still more, if a crystal of alnm be put into a solution that would afford ootal crystals, it passes into an octahedron : and, on the other ban ectebednd crystal put into a solution that would afford cubic tals becomes itself a cube *. Now, how difficult a soaUar I proportion the different ingredients with absolute c appear evident to all.
WAtVftB OF TlfB DlAlf OilD. 149
• - •
pithed bf Ae theory of ciystilllsation, for whioli we are indebted t6 the sagacity of Mr. Haay ; a theory which, for its ingenuity, clearness, and importance, must eyer ranlc high, and which must be considered as one of the greatest acquisitions which mineralo- gy, and even chemistry, have hitherto attained.
According to this theory, the additional matter which enTelopes the primitife nucleus consists of thin slices or layers of particles laid one above another upon the faces of that nucleus, and each layer decreasing in size, in consequence of the abstraction of one or more rows of integrant particles from Its edges or angles.
[^Thomson.
CHAP. XL
ON TUB NATURE OP THE DIAMOKD*
1 HE diamond is not more an object of attention to the jeweller or lapidary than to the chemist ; for it is as singular in its compo*. sition amoDc;^ the crystals, as it Is Taluable, on account of its rarity and lustre, among the gems : having of late been fully ascertained to consist of nothing more than pure charcoal under a peculiar state of crystallization.
Upon this subject we shall copy Mr. Smithson Tenant's interest- ing paper, as communicated to the Royal Society in 1797.
Sir Isaac Newton having observed that inflammable bodies had a greater refraction, in proportion to their density, than other bodies, and that the diamond resembled them in this property, was induced to conjecture that the diamond itself was of an in- flammable nature. The inflammable substances which he employ- ed were camphire, oil of turpentine, oil of olives, and amber;, these he called ^^ fat, sulphureous, unctuous bodies;" and using, the same expression respecting the dianaond, he says, it is pro- bably ^^ an unctuous body coagulated." This remarkable conjec- ture of Sir Isaac Newton has been since confirmed by ^posted experiments. It wu found, that though the diamond was capable of resisting the efiects of a violent heat when the air was carefully excluded, yet that onbeing exposed to the action of heat and air,^ it might be entirely coniaBBed. tint as the' iole object of theio
£3
150 NAT0RB Of THB DIAUOVD.
experiiie&ts was to uoertoin dM iiflMiiiMible mitoM of tbo dit. monAj no attention was paid to tlie prodncts aflbrded by its com- bustion ; and it still therefore remained to be determined whether the diamond was a distinct substance^ or one of tlie linown in. flammable bodies. Nor was any attempt made to decide this question till M. ILAfoisier, in 1779, undertook a series of expert, ments for this purpose. He exposed the diamond to the heat pro. duced by a large lens, and was thus enabled to bum it in close glass vessels. He observed that the air in which the inflammation had taken place had become partly soluble In water, and precipi. tated from lime* water a white powder which appeared to be chalk, being soluble in acids with efferrescence. As M. Lavoisier seems to have had little doubt that this precipitation was occasioned by the production of fixed air, similar to that which is afibrded by calcareous substances, he might, as we know at present, have in. ferred that the diamond contained charcoal ; but the relation be- tween that substance and fixed air, was then too imperfectly understood to justify this conclusion. Though he observed the resemblance of charcoal to the diamond, yet he thought that no* thing more could be reasonably deduced from their analogy, than that each of these substances belonged to the class of inflammable
bodies.
As the nature of the diamond is so extremely singular, it seemed deser? ing of further examination ; and It will appear from the following experiments, that it consists entirely of charcoal, differing from the usnal state of that substance only by its crystal. Used form. From the extreme hardness of the diamond, a stronger degree of heat is required to inflame it, when exposed merely to air, than can easily be applied in close vessels, except by means of a strong burning lens ; bnt with nitre its combustion may be effected in a moderate heat. To expose it to the action of heated nitre free from extraneons matters, a tobe of gold was procured^ which by having one end closed might serve the purpose of a re« tort, a glass tube being adapted to the open end for collecting the air produced. To be certain that the gold vessel was perfectly dosed, and that it did not contain any nnperceived impurities which could occasion the production of fixed air, some nitre was heated in It till It had become alkaline, and afterwards dlssohed out by water ; bnt the solution was i>erfectly free from fixed air, aa it did not affect the transparency of lime-water. When the
• HATVmi OV THl BIAMOVD. 151
dIaaMiid ms deitroyed in the gold vessel by mttej tbe BubstaDce which mnained precipitated lime from lime-water, and with acids afforded nitrous and fixed air ; and it appeared solely to consist of nitre partly decomposed, and of aerated alkali.
In order to estimate the quantity of fixed air which might be obtained from a gifen weight of diamonds, 2^ grs. of small dia« monds were weighed with great accuracy, and being put into the tube with ^ oz. of nitre, were kept iu a strong red heat for about an hour and a half. The heat being gradually increased^ the nitre was in some degree rendered alkaline before the diamond began to be Inflamed, by which means almost all the fixed air was re- tained by the alkali of the nitre. The air which came over was produced by the decomposition of the nitre, and contained so little fixed air as to occasion only a very slight precipitation from lime* water. After the tube had cooled, the alkaline matter contained in it was dissolved in water, and the whole of the diamonds were found to have been destroyed. As an acid would disengage nitrous air from this solution as well as the fixed air, the quantity of the latter conld not in that manner be accurately determined. To obviate this inconvenience, the fixed air was made to unite with calcareous earth, by pouring into the alkaline solution a sufficient quantity of a saturated solution of marble in marine acid. The vessel wliich contained them being closed, was left undisturbed till the precipitate had fallen to the bottom, the solution having been previonsly heated that it might subside more perfectly. The clear liquor being found, by means of lime-water, to be quite free from fixed air, was carefully poured off from the calcareous precipitate*. The vessel nsed on this occasion was a glass globe, having a tube annexed to it, that the quantity of the fixed air might be more accurately measured. After as much quicksilver had been poured into the glass globe containing calcareous precipitate as was neces* sary to fill it, it was inverted in a vessel of the same fluid. Some marine acid being then made to pass up into it, the fixed air was expelled from the calcareous earth ; and in this experiment, in which H grs. of diamonds had been employed, occupied the space
• If laech water kmd remained, a coosidereble portion of tbe fixed air would have been alMorbed by ix. Bat by tbe same method at that described above, I observed, that as much fixed air might be obtaiaed from a solatioo of mineral alkali, as by adfllng aa acid to an eqiaU quantity of the same kind if alkali.— Oaifl.
L4
IAS NATCKS or THE DIAUORO.
of 4 Utflfl more than 10.1 oz. of water. The temiieritars of tb* room Hben the sir wbi meuured, wu at 6V, uid the tarometer ■tood at about 30,8 iucbes.
From another experiment made in a lioiilar manner with I gr. nd a half of diamondi, th« air obtained occupied iha apace of 0.18 oz. of watei', according to wliich proportion tlie bulk of the 6sfd air from 2 and I gr. would hare been equal to 10.3 M.
Tbe quBQtitjr of fixtd air thui produced by the diaiaoad, doei not differ much from that which, according to M. Levoitieri might be obtained from an e^oal weight of charcoal, la the Haaoin of the French Academy of Sciences, for the year 1781, ba haa related the various experiments which be made to ucertala the proportion of charcoal and oxygen in fixed air. From tboet which he Gooaidered as most accurate, he concluded that 100 parts of fixed air contain nearlj' S8 parts of charcoal and 73 of oxj'gan. He estimates the Height of a cubic Inch of fixed air, onder the pressure and in thta temperature abore-mentioned, to be Mi P^ita of a grain. If we reduce the French weights and measorei to' Ei^lish, and them compute how much fixed air, accordsag to this proportion, 2^ grs. of charcoal would produce, we shall fijid that it ought to occupy nty nearly the bulk of 10 ox. of water*
M- Lafoitier seems to hare thought that the aerial flnid p br the combustion of the diamond wan not so soluble ia water, w, that procured from calcareous substances. From its rrarmMawia howFTer, in rarious properties, hardly any doubt conU kb^jb that it consisted uf the same ingredients ; and I found, on C
i
UAMVWAnVMM OV OLAM. 15S
mhxAm pTOptrij iiicl0wd in a cnicible, was eiposed to the heat of a Uait lanuiee, by which the diamond disappeared, and the metal was fasedy and con? erted into a small mass or bottom of cast steel.
lEdiior.
CHAP- XII.
MANUPACTURB OF GLASS.
CjTlass is a strictly chemical substance, and well entitled, to our attention as to its history , properties, and manufacture.
SECTION T.
HiBtory of the discovery^
Ths word gl(i99 is formed of the Latin glastuwif a plant, ealled hy the Greeks, tsatis ; by the Romans, viirum ; by the ancient Britons, guadum ; by the English, woad* We find frequent men* tion of this plant in ancient writers, particularly Caesar, VitruTius, Pliny, &c. who relate, that the ancient Britons painted or dyed their bodies with glastum, guadum, Titrnm, Sec. i. e. with the blue colour procured from this plant. And hence the factitious matter we are speaking of came to be called glass, as having always somewhat of this blueishness in it.
At what time the art of glass-making was first inrented is altogether uncertain^ Some imagine it to have been invented be« fore the flood : but of this we have no direct proof, though there is no improbability in the 8uppo<(ition ; for we know, that it is al- most impossible to excite a very violent fire, such as is necessary in metallargie operations, without vitrifying part of the bricks or stones wherewith the furnace is built. This, indeed, might furnish the first hints of glass-making ; thovgh it is also very probable, that such imperfect vitrifications would be observed a long time before people thought of making any use of them.
The Egyptians boast, that this art was taught them by their great Hermes. Aristophanes, Aristotle, Alexander, Aphrodiseusji LvcNtins, and St John the difint^ put it mt of all doubt that
IM MAM OFiCTOBB OF 0LAIS.
glui wu »ed Id tbrir dxji. Wkj reUtn, fh&t it WN tnt dlt- cowfed accidcntallj in Sfria, tt Oe rnontli of the ifMV fielus, bf certain merchuiti driven thither bj k 1101111 tt m« ; «ki> bei^ oUiged to coDtiane there, and dreu their rictuali by miking k fire on the gronnd, where there wu great plentf of the harb kali ; tltat plant burning to athet, its laltl mixed and incorporated with the land, or stones fit for rltrificatiun, and thns prodMad glaii ; and that, this accident 1>emg known, the people of SUM la (hat neighbourhood euayed the work, and brought glass intont; ^Ma which time the art has been continnally ImproTing. Bo tUt ■ it niajr> ttowever, tlie first glass-kouas mentioned in history ware erected in the city of Tyre, and here was the only stapk of An nmanfactnre for many ages. The sand which lay on tlM Svre for fcboat Iiair a mile round the month of the rirer Belns Ms pecn]i> kriy adapted to the making of glass, as being neat and gHttariag ; and the wide range of Tyrian commerce gave an ample TMt for the productions of the furnace.
Air. Niion, in his ohservationi on a plate of glass fooai *t Her* {■laaeaia, which wasdeatroyed A. I>. 80, on which oflcMw Pliny ' iMt Ma life, oficra sererai probable conjectures as l»«ttai«M« to which sndi pUtea might be ap[died. Such plates, night serve for specnta, or looking-glasses ; for Pliny, (b 1| of SUon, adds, Siqnidem etiam specula ezcogitaverat ; tloo of images from these ancient specula being efeCtMlfe^ |i»^ anearlng them behind, or tinging them through with soMCdIriMb. H-liicli lln-y m'Li;lil Ijt- --niplaycd was for adoni.
If AHVrACTVmS OV OLAIfl. 153
thougli Mronioi Arbiter and some others assure qs, that the em. peror ordered the artist to be beheaded fur his inTention.
It appears, howerer, that before the conquest of Britain by the
Romans, glass-houses had been erected in this island, as well as in
Gaul, Spain, and Italy. Hence in many parts of the country
are to k>e found annulets of glass, haTing a narrow perforation
and thick rim, denominated by the reqiaining Britons gleineu nal.
greedh, or glass adders, and which were probably in former times
used as annulets by the druids. It can scarcely be questioned
that the Britons were sufficiently well rersed in the manufacture
of glass, to form out of it many more useful instruments than the
glass beads. History indeed assures us, that they did manufac*
tnre a considerable quantity of glass Tessels. These, like their
annulets, were most probably green, blue, yellow, or black, and
many of them curiously streaked with other colours. The process
in the manufacture would be nearly the same with that of the
Gauls and Spaniards. The sand of their shores, being reduced
to a sufficient degree of fineness by art, was mixed with three.
fourths of its weight of their nitre (much the same with out kelp),
and both were melted together. The metal was then poured into
other Tessels, where it was left to harden into a mass, and after*
wards replaced in the furnace, where it became transparent in the
boiling, and was afterwards figured by blowing or modelling in
the lathe iuto such vessels as they wanted.
It is not probable that the arrival of the Romans would improve the gUsa manufacture among the Britons. The taste of the Romans at that time was just the reverse of that of the inhabitants of this island. The former preferred silver and gold to glass for the com. position of their drinlung-vessels. They made, indeed, great inu provements in their own at Rome, during the government of Nero. The vessels then formed of this metal rivalled the bowls of porce* lain in their dearness, and equalled the cups of crystal in their clearness. But these were by far too costly for common use ; and therefore, In all probability, were never attempted in Britain. The glass commonly made use of by the Romans was of a qoality greatly inferior ; and from the fragments which have been disco, vered, at the stations or towns of either, appear to have consisted of a thick, sometimes white, but mostly blue green metal.
According to the venerable Bede^ artificers skilled In making glaia lor windows were brought ever into&i^nd In the year 074^
156 MA^ VPACTUEB OF OLA8S.
by abbot Benedict, wlio were emplojred in glazing the churcli and monastery of Weremouth. According to others, they were first brought oTcr by Wilfrid, bishop of Worcester, about the same time. Till this time the art of making snch glass was unknown in Britain ; though glass windows did not begin to be common be. fore the year 1 180 : till this period they were rery scarce in prf. Tate houses, and considered- as a kind of luxury, and as marks of great magnificence. Italy had them first; next Fnince,. from whence they came into England.
Venice for many years excelled all Europe in the fineness of its glasses; and in the thirteenth century the Venetians were the only people that had the secret of making crystal looking-glasses. The great glass-works were at Muran, or Muraso, a flllage near the city, which furnished all Europe with the finest and largest glasses.
The glass manufacture was first begun in England in 1557 : the finer sort was made in the place called Crutched Friars, in Lo\i. don • the fine Aiat glass, little inferior to that of Venice, was first made in the ISa?oy.house, in the Strand, hctiim^! '*Th\s manu. facture appears to haye been much improved in 1635, when it was carried on with sea- coal or pit-coal instead of wood ; and a monopoly was granted to Sir Robert Mansell, who was allowed to import ttie fine Venetian flint glasses for drinking, the art of making which was not brought to perfection before the reign of William III. But the first glass plates, for looking-glasses and coachrwtnddws, were made in 1673, at Lambeth, by the encou- TUgn^iat of tiie Duke of Buckingham; who in 1670 introduced the manufketure of fine glass into England, by means of Venetian artists, with amazing success. So that within a century past, the French and English hare not only come up to, but even surpassed, the Venetians ; and we are now no longer supplied from abroad.
The French made a considerable improvement' in the art of glass, by the invention of a method of casting very large plates, till then unknown, and scarce practised jet by any but them.' selves and the English. That court applied itself with a laudable industry to cultivate and- improve the glass manufacture. A tonu pany of glass. men was established 'by letters patent; and It was provided by an arret, not only that the working ita glatf should* not derogate any thing from nobility, but even t|uct'none but nobles should be allowed to woirk in it.
An extensive mai^ttfliettfry of this elegant and valuable branch
vmaxmmnms ov glass; 157
of. fiomvtifs was first ettiblislied in Laticsshire, about <he jear 1773^ tbroBgii lira spirited exertions of a rerj respectable body of proprietors, who were, incorporated by an act of parliament. FfOB those various difficulties constantly attendant upon new un« di^rtakings, when tliey bare to contend with powerful foreign cMabl ishmen tSy it has not^ however, been conducted with any gisat degree of success.
SECTION II.
Properties of Glass.
The properties of glass are highly interesting and remarkable. The following are among the most curious.
1. Glass is one of the most elastic bodies in nature. If the force with which glass balls strike each other be reckoned sixteen^ that wherewith they recede by Tirtue of their elasticity will be nearly fifteen.
3. When glass is suddenly cooled, it becomes exceedingly brit^ tie ; and this brittleness Is sometimes attended with Tery surprising phsenomena. Hollow bells made of annealed glass, with a small hole In them, will fly to pieces by the heat of the hand only, if the hole by which the internal and external air communicate be' stopped with a finger. Lately, howerer, some vessels made of iuch annealed glass have been discovered, which have the remarks able property of resistlug very hard strokes given from without^ though they shiver to pieces by the shocks received from the fait of very light and minute bodies dropped into their cavities. Theser ghtsses may be made of any shape ; all that need be observed iir making tbem is, that their bottom be thicker than their sides.' The thicker the bottom is, the easier do the glasses break. One' whose l>ottom is three fingers breadth in thickness flies with as much ease at least as the thinnest glass. Some of these vessels* Have been tried with strokes of a mallet sufficient to drive a nail" into wood tolerably hard, and have held good without breaking. They have also resisted the shock of several heavy bodies let falf into their cavities, from the height of two or three feet 5 as musket- balls, pieces of iron or other metal, pyrites, jasper, wood, l)one^ ftc. But tUi b not surprising, as other glasses of the same shape and size will do the same : but the wonder Is, that taking a shiver of flint of the sise pf a small pea, and letting it fall into the glass only from the height of three inches^ in about two seconds the
158 PROPBRTIBt OP tfLASS.
glass iiesy and sometimM at tha paij OMMBant of Hm dioek ; najr, a bit of flint no larger than a grain dropped into sereral glasses successively, tkough It did not iflsniediatelj break tliem, yet when set by, they all flew in less than three quarters of an hoar. Some other bodies produce this effect as well as flint ; as sapphire, dia« mond) porcelain, hard tempered steel ; also marbles such as boys play with, and likewise pearls. These experiments were made be. fore the Royal Society, and succeeded equally when the glasses were held In the hand, when they were rested on a pillow, put in water, or filled with water. It is also remarkable, that the glasses broke upon having their bottoms slightly rubbed with tlie finger, ihoogh some of them did not fly till half an hour after the rubbing. If the glasses are every where extremely tbin, they do not breidL in these circumstances.
Some have pretended to account for these phsenomena^ by say- ing, that the bodies dropped into the vessels cause a concussion which is stronger than the cohesive force of the glass^ and conse- quently that a rupture must ensue. But why does not a ball of Iron, gold, silver, or copper, which are perha^ a thousand times heavier than flint, produce the same effect ? It is because they aro not elastic. But surely iron is more elastic than the end of one's finger. Mr. Euler has endeavoured to account for these appear* ances from his principles of percussion. He thinks that this ez« periment entirely overthrows the opinion of those who measure the force of percussion by the vis viva, or absolute apparent strength of the stroke. According to his principles, the great hardness and angular figure of the flint, which makes the space of contact with the gUus extremely small, ought to cause an impres* sion on the glass vastly greater than lead, or any other metal ; and this may account for the flint's breaking the resisl, though the bullet, even iiUling from a considerable height} does no damage. Hollow cups made of green bottle.g|ass, some of them tiiree inchei thick at the bottom, were instantly broken by a shiver of flin^ welling about two grains, though they had resisted the shock of a mnsket*ball from tlie height of three feet.
That Mr. Enler's theory cannot be oonclusire any more than the other, must appear eyldent from a very slight consldeiatioii. It is not by angular bodies alone that the glasses are broken. Tlio marbki with which children play are round, and yet they Imvo the pamo effect with the angulnr flint. Beaides, if It waa tfw omto
rftopBETiB* or 6i.Ats. 159
force of ptreofsion which broke the glasses, undoubtedly the fracture would always take place at the Tery instant of the stroke; but we faa?e seen, that this did not happen sometimes till a very considerable space of time had elapsed. It is eTident^ therefore, that this effect is occasioned by the putting in motion some subtile fluid with which the substance of the glass is filled, and that the motions of this fluid, when once excited in a particular part of the glass, soon propagate themselfes through the whole or greatest part of it, by which means the cohesiye power becomes at last ioo weak to resist them. There can be little doubt that the fluid just DOW mentioned is that of electricity. It is known to exist in glass in ikxj great quantity ; and it also is known Xo be capable of breaking glasses, eren when annealed with the greatest care^ If put into too Violent a motion. Probably the cooling of glass hastily may make it more electric than is consistent with its cohesife power, wo that it is broken by the least increase of motion in the electric fluid by friction or otherwise. This is e? idently the case when it is broken by rubbing with the finger ; but why it should also break by the mere contact of flint and the other bodies aboTementioned, has not j^i been satisfactorily accounted for.
A most remarkable phenomenon also is produced in glass tubes placed in certain circumstances. When these are laid before a fire in an horizontal position, having their extremities properly supported, they acquire a rotatory motion round their axis, and also a progressiTe motion towards the fire, even when their sup- ports are declining from the fire, so that the tubes will move a little way up hill towards the fire. When the tubes are placed in a nearly upright posture, leaning to the right hand, the motion will be from east to west ; but if they lean to the left hand, their mo- tion will be from west to east ; and the nearer they are placed to the perfectly upright posture, the less will the motion be either way. If the tube is placed horizontally on a glass plane, the frag, nent, for instance, of coach window-glass, instead of moving to. wards the fire, it will move from It, and about its axis in a eon. trary direction to what it had done before ; nay, it will recede from the fire, and move a little up hill when the plane inclines towards the fire. These experiments are recorded in the Philoso- phical Transactions. They succeeded best with tubes about twenty or twenty.two inches long, which had in each end a pretty strong pin fixed in cork for an axis.
160 PB0PBRTIK8 OF OtASS.
Th« reuon ^nn for theie phnnomens is the nrtUag o tabei towardi the fire bj the heat, which ii Itnown to eipan bodies. For, lay the adopteri of this hjrpath«iis, grantiDg th istence of such k swelling, grtiitj must pull the tube don ' supported aear its extremities ; and a fresh part beiog eiipo* the fire, it must also swell out and fall dowD, and idpti. without going farther la the ezplauatioD of tlus bjpothesl may be here remarked, that the fundamental prindl^ on ' it proceeds is false: for though fire indeed makes bbdlei nq it docs sot increase them in weight j and therefore this lii tlM tube, though one of them is expanded bj the fire, must sU main In equllibrio ; and hence we must conclude, that Iba c« these phnnomena remains jet to be discorered.
i_. Glass is less dilatable by heat than metalline sahftuees solid glass sticlcs are less dilatable than tubes. This wai firs coTered hy Colonel Roy', in making experiments [a ordtrl d«ce barometers to a greater degree of ezactnew than IwaU been found practicable ; and dnce his experiments wB^^pade of the tubes eighteen inches long, beiog compared wUb a ntld rod of the same length, the former was found by a pjroD^r I pand fonr times as much as the other, in a heat approaehbig ti of bo'ning oiL On account of the general quality which ghM I •xptn^ttg less than metal, H. de Luc recommends it to be ni pendnlnms : and, he says, it has also this good quality, that i pansions are always equable and proportioued to th* dopt heat ; a qualify which i,s nul to be foil mi in any oilier subalaiu
tM
avcTiOf III. Mmnttfadure of Gian.
Drinking J Waich^ Window, mnd Plate^Glatf.
Glatt ii a eombiiiaHon of tand, flint, Bpar, or fome oUmf tUL •iibt^ncet, witb one or other of the fixed alkalies, and ia cases with a metallic ozyd. Of the alkalies, soda is com- iljr preferred : and of the siliceons substances, white sand is Most in repute at present, as it requires no preparation for coarse goods, while mere washing in water is sufficient for those of a finer fpaUtj. The metallic ozyd usually employed is litharge, or some other preparation of lead, as being the cheapest metal we can have iwooarseto.
It is also necessary that the siliceous matter should be fiued in contact with something called a flux. The substances proper for Alp purpose are lead, borax, arsenic, nitre, or any alkaline matter. The lead is wsed in the state of red-lead ; and the alkalies are soday pearl*ashes, sea.salt, and wood-asbes. When red-lead is used alone, it gires the glass a yellow cast, and requires the addition of irftre to correct it. Arsenic, in the same manner, if used in excess^ Is apt to render the glass milky. For a perfectly transparent glass, the pearKashes are found much superior to lead ; perhaps batter than any other flux, except it be borax, which is too expen. stve to be used, except for experiments, or for the best looking* glasses.
The materials for making glass most first be reduced to powder, .which is done in mortars or by horse-mills. After sifting out the coarse parts, the proper proportions of silex and flux are mixed together and put into the calcining furnace, where they are kept in a moderate heat for fire or six hours, being frequently stirred about daring tiM process. When taken out, the matter is called frit. Frit is easily conrerted into glass by only pounding it, and Titriiy* ijBg it ia the melting pots of the glau furnace : but in making fine glass, it will sometimes require a small addition of flux to the frit to correct any fiinlt For, as the flux is the most expensire article, the manufacturer wUl rather put too little at first than otiierwise, aa he can remedy this defset in the melting pot The heat ia the fliniace mast be kept pp ntU the glass is bf9l^|lt to a state of per.
▼OL. ?!• If
f(Bct fufiofi ; tnd daring 0ib pwotii aoy teum which arises ma&t be temoved by ladles. Whea ^ gleii Ui tMrfectly melted, the glass blowers commence their •perations* .
The following compositions of the ingredients for glass are ex. tracted from the Handmaid to the Aste :
<< For the best flint-glass, iMbs. of white sand, 50lbs. of red lead, '40lbs. of thn'bMt pear1«ashes, CDJbs. of nitre, and fire onnces of nhUhetia ; If a ^ponnd^ two isfaitoeilfe be tfAded, tbe-oomposi* tinn %lll ftnb taiiieli qnitkM*, aiid wiliia lower tMn^erctttiv.
<< For a cheaper fllnt.glaN, 190lbs. 6f white eaad, 95lbf. e^ pttirluslies,401bt.'0fred.Iead, iSlbs. of tiltM, rik pounds of anenic, alid fMir dances of magnMla. «
<< This teqnires a lottg heating to tfate cleat glcsb ; and ihe heat should be brought on gradually, or the arsenic is in danger of sublimiog before the fusion commences. A still cheaper compo. sition Is made by omitting the arsetoic to the foregolligf and sub- stituting common sea-salt.
<< Tor the best German crystal ghus, ISUbs. of ealcined flmts m white sand, die best pearl-ashes 70Ibs., Mtpetre lOlbs., aitenk half a pound, and fire ounces of magnesia. Or, a cheaper com. position for the same purpose is, 120lb8. of sand or flints, 46lbs. of pearUcshes, seven ponkids of nitre, six pounds of arsenic, and fiye ounces of magnesia. This will require a long continuance in the ftomaee'; as do all others where much of the arsenic is employed.
^< Folr loolLlng.'glass pTates, washed white sand, OOlbs., purified pearl.ashcfs 25lbs., nitre ISlbs., and seVen pounds of borax. If properly managed, this glass will be colourless. But if it should be tinged liy acddent, a trifling qnantity of arsenic, and an equal quantity of magfieshi, will correct it ; an ounce of each 'toMy be tried iirst| itod the qitantlty indmsed if necessary.
^ The Ingiedients for the best crown-glftss ikiust be prepared in tha'MnO'nianner-es^r looking.'glasses, sind mixed in the following propbHtbvB^ <Mbs;of white sand, 301bs. of pearl-ashes, and 15lbs. ^Mtiw, liflMk't pound, and half a pound of arsenic.
<* The eMpdiltlott ftfr comnioil green window glass is iMlbis. Of white sand, 50(bf. ^ unfpitrlfied pMrl -ashes, wood-aihse well bnmt and sifted, Mbs., fcommon ttdt 20lbs., and fito poniitf s of arseiile.
« Common green bOtHe-gJlUs b mtde frtai «Odlbs. 6t Wood- ashes, and YOOlbs. of send ; or iTOlbs. df aAes, itMbs. of sand,
ud 6Mi.«f 'Hm lnva^f-M fa M tmmm%i% t tlm ■■Urtilimapt ba MUaind«^
The nuitorialt Mnplofed Ib .Uw vtnafkot^tfj of gltit •?• t^ dit- «ib|i ndaeed to ttrtt ekaSMy auMlf, alkallM, «Milif» and at. tallic oxides.
The iiBtd alkalies oajr ba aapfajrad todifferently ; bot sada is ppaferred in this coairtr/. Tia soda of oooimerca is osiully mixed wMhconman^salt, and conbiaad widi carbonic acid. It fo proper to porify it ftosB both of these foreign bodies before nsing It. Thb, boweTer, is aeldoai done.
The earths «re sllicia, (the basis of flints), lime, and sometimes m little alnmloa, (the basis of clay). Sflichi constitutes the basis ef gtess. It is employed in the state of fine sands or flints; anfl aonatimee, fi>r making rery fine glass, rock crystal is employed. When sand is used, it ought if possible to be perfectly white; for when It is coloared with metallic oxides, the transparency of the gllass is injured. Such send can only be empliqred for Tery eoarse gtasm. It Is necessary to free the sand from all the loose earthy particles with which it may be mixed, which is done by washing it well with water.
'Lime renders glass less brittle, and enables It to withstand'better ibe action of the atmosphere. It ought in lio case to exceed the iaeulieth part of the sIHcia employed, otherwise It corrodes the glass pots. This indeed may be prevented by throwing a littie clay Into the melted glass ; but in that case a green glass only b ob. tatned.
The metallic oxyds employed are the red oxyd of lead or litharge, and the white oxyd of arsenic. The red oxyd of lead, when added in sufficient quantity, enters into fusion with silicia, and forms a gkns without the addition of any other ingredient. Five parts of emlem and two of silicta form a glass of an orange-colonr and full of strisB. Its specific grarity Is fire. The red oxyd of lead ren« ders glass less brittle aud more fusible ; but, when added 1>eyond a certain proportion, it injures the transparency and the wUteness of the glass.
The white oxyd of arsenic answers tiie same purposes widi that of lead ; but oir account of its poisonous qualities it is seldom used. It is customary to add a little nitre to the white oxyd of arsenic, to prerent the heat fromrevlring it, and renderiag it volatile. When added beyond a cerfidn pcoportion^ it reiillta gjBui opaque and
MS
M4 UMMVtkewBMZ or ax-ui.
rflyllto tU iU t^^ti^w^A. Vfhmmy immhmnA It pfocnt, it ii uul tn iom ■uobctam ta add aHUb •cjdefuMKk. ThtaHp|dTlBgaaj(cn,tiMooaabHtlhlBli arfUnoff} «Uk tte mind «Mak b at Oa HMlte tUlMd.
Ttenara ttmalUaiaitlifiutafimftaA todibrwtMM, hMtudBBrt bauUrd va tba Uat udtkapkte^hM. mk" "■11 Bade, ara perfactlj traa^went aad ealatakmt ud briUiant. Thar.ara conpoaad of ized alkali, fan d •and, caklnad Unti, and litharge, in difiei«t proparttow ^t-|'™ contiiiu a Urg« quantity of oxyd »f lead, wUah i tain pracmw i> aaiUjr wparatrd. The plaie-^au if powad inalfrrt data npoo a taU* ^rarad with copper. Tha flata feaU an inch thick, or more, and ii ground down to a proper »f thinsau, and then poUdied.
. Crovai^Uu, that iiwd for windowi, ii made atlhnil chiefly of filed alkali fnted with liiieiou land, to wUA h aomablackozydafmaogaoeM, which U apt to girethoghui of pBrjdc.
BottIe.|la» if the coareef t and cfaeapeat kind : into Wi I ao fiiad alkali eotart the compoaition. It confUU of aa i earth eomUoad wUb alualoa and ailica. In thii coaati compoaed of Mad and the refute of the ioap-boiler,wUGh4 of the Una aaplnyed in renderiag hit alkali cauatlc, and Hithjr nattaia mUk wUch the alkali was contaainatad UMt faabla b flint glaia, and the leaat fiuible ii bottle glaM
OptUiM, who «iBplo7 glMs for optictl tatrattaote, often com- pUio of (1m mtiiy defects voder whidi it ia!>ours. Tlie chief of tktfo jure the foUowing :
Streaks.'^The^e are wa;red lines, often Tisible in glass, which interrnpt distinct Tision. Th^ are probably owing sometimes to want of complete fasion, which preyentt the different materials from combining snfficientlj ; bnt in some cases also they may be prodoced by the workmen lifting op, at two different times, ^he gkss which is to go to the formation of one Tessel or instrument.
Teari,-~Thc9e are white specks or knots, occasioned by the tI* ^-trified clay of the furnaces, or by the presence of some foreign Mlt.
Ilii66fe#.— These are air-bubbles which have not been allowed to escape. They indicate want of complete fusion, either from too little alkali, or the application of too little heat.
Cordi. — ^These are the asperities on the surface of tho glass, in consequence of too little heat.
Glass-blowing,
The art of forming vessejs of glass is termed blowing, from its being in agreat measure performed by the operator blowing through an iron tube, and by that means inflating a piece of glass which Is heated so as to become soft and eiceediogly pliable. By a series of the most simple and dexterous operations, this beantifnl mate- rial is wrought into the various utensils of elegance and utility, by methods which require but very few tools, and those of the most simple construction. '
Watch.glasses are made by first blowing a hollow globe, the proper radius for the glasses ; then by touching it with an iron ring. This cracks out a watch-glass in an instant. The same globe will make several glasses.
Window or table glass is worked nearly in the same manner : the workman blows and manages the metal, so that it extends two or three feet in a cylindrical form. It is then carried to the fire, and the operation of blowing repeated till the metatis stretched to the dimensions required, the side to which the pipe is fixed diminishing gradually till it ends in a pyramidal form ; but, in order to bring both ends nearly to the same diameter, while the glass continues flexible, a small portion of hot metal is added to the pipe ; the whole is drawn ont with a pair of iron plnoeri| tad the tame end is cot off with a little cold water aa abovow
MS
>6fi BWwnV B*ort^
Tla orU&dM tkH«pnat M*Md li fHBTMd to Oi Martli of tlie fiirMCc* whtn it i* eat fey th« aU af eeHA wttor, !■< rippad vp Anpih \tM whale length by ■ pair of Iran riMatt ; BftorwWeli it 1> pwiaMj heoM an aa earthern table, la order to onfaUilatalth, wbila tlw worhoait wkb aaother InM' tool tiltTmattHf twhm and dipreiHi the two hatrca of the cjrUaderi bf wUdiyaaceie, (be •M half aaooamoilataa itaalf ta the «bw «at ftmn ai «» atiicr.
nato^lue Ii tbi laM aad moet ratalUa himi, and taahaa slHad fr<MalUbeiefiaft»platetOr large ihaela: It 'n alawit aolMimly aMplograd br nlnaM oe lookiag^htiei, anl for tbt *lb*a*i of
Plalcglan «u foraeriy blown ; but that method ba*ia( bees faoailmj laeeaTmint, eaitiod wu invented j nane^i <N liqfuid netel Ir noMeyed fnrni tba faraace to a larfe table, qk whloh it la poured, end all escmceace*, or babblei, ere iweihraly r»- qorad bj a eoller that » tw>ftl]> paued o*er U. Kktlnvaa- aaaMiBthenianiMralreBdr referred to. ■■;■■■
SKCtlOH IV. A^erPi Vropt. Balavian Teart. Bologniamiiit^^ Tmta, ara pacoUar modificatioM of glav, for tho pwfOM^fida. cqitien or amaieiMnt ' ,•-
Bapert'eDiDpa,.aBalqg»ntgUut07, areiimpty foraed^p^iriai • ftaaU wild lamp af grcaa bottle glau, when red-hot, tetft <>>ir, kf wbUh ■eau Ibo roaadad Inaip aHniaeB gradually ^
Tkcst dfops are also callad, on tlie continent, Lannet Batavu ques, or Beta? iaa Tears.
All glass, not regularly annealed, or, io other words, cooled eoddenly instead of progressUely, has a tendency towards the same frangibility. Thus, in coflMDon window glass, if it be properly annealed, the diamond cuts it with moderate ease, making an uni. form smooth furrow, at first dark, but gradually opening, and appearing like a bright si'Ter thread : but when the glass is badly annealed, the diamond works with much more difficulty, the cut opens very slowly, and often flies into a different direction, or the glass entirely breaks.
There is another equally curious glass toy, formed upon the tame principle, aad evincing the same effect, called the Bologna phial. This b simply a phial, of any shape whatever, made of any kind of glass, but much thicker at the bottom than at top, and cooled immediately, without annealing. These being pwtty stout, from their thickness will bear a smart blow from a wooden mallet, or any blont instrument, or the concussion of a leaden bullet drop* p«d from a considerable height, without iigury : but if any sharp body, however small, such as a large grain of sand, or which is still better, the shiver of agun.flint, be dropped in from only a few inches height, the bottom cracks all around, just above the thickest part^ and drops off. The same effect takes place^ if the bottom be slightly scratcbed with any hard body* When very brittle, if a hard angular substance, as a cut diamond, be dropt in, it will sometimes pass through the bottom, though very thick, with apparently as little resistance as through a spider's web. These glasses, when they have received the first injury, do not always crack immediately, bot remain whole, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours, and then suddenly give way«
IPantohgia. Aikin't Chem. Diet.
k4
C i«=1
CHAP. XUl.
ODHPOWOBE.
Oflht time wAcn gunponder waijirtt dUtntr0C
J/HE Ui(of7 of tba diMomj of gtrnpowder b larolrellV ofatraritf; tba mott ancient ■nthora differing from oMk'U ttrirMKouti'ttf tUi matter, and many of them confbMlhi dbtioet Inqairiet ; the discorerf of tb« comporition of Ririlf'*' ■od the diccoterjr of tbe mhiu of appl/iag tt to the Iffarpo war.
Father Kh^i* allraii, thit wlthMt coBtrBrerey w«'*i| atWbste Oe ioTCDtlon of gaiipovder to BartbtM SAwari ButiiM Ae Mack, a moak of Goelv In Germaoy^ andvyni dcbenkt TUi man baTla^ alnd tegtOwr, with a iimM|A nitre, titlpliar, and chareoal, a apark acddentsll/ fU] -i^ miffar*, bt«w ap the pot In whkh It wu contained, and tn draidfidil eiplodoD. ■ The nook, wtnrfdwd at the erenti ■• ivral repeaUoDi of Mi eaperliaent, and thereby folly dlMB tiwnBtareOfganpowder, Intbeyear ISM. Kircher glrai tM out of a very old German book which he professes Co baT» n kisTi acinuut of the first use which Schwartz maile of hU
i<to
ho wU« might never he huided down to posteritj. He farther hifbma WBf that this Gennnn inrented tlso an iron tube, and taagbt the Yenedanf the mr of gnnt, in the year 1380 *•
Tlib is the common aceoont of the discorerj of gunpowder; its truth howerer is rendered donbtfal bj what follows.
'The battle of Cressf was fonght in the year 1340 ; and an his. torhin who Ihred at that time is quoted by Spondaous as affirming, that the English greatlj increased the confosiun Uip French had been thrown intOy bj discharging upon them from their cannon hot ifon ballets f • Three years before the battle of Cressy , the Moors were besieged by the Spaniards in the city of Alg<^airas ; and we learn from Mariana, the Spanibh historian, ^< that the besieged did great harm aomig the Christians with iron ballets they shot ;" the same author adds, ^^ this is the first time we find any ssention of gunpowder and ball in our histories |." The EarU of Uerbj and Salisbury are mentioned by Mariana as having assisted at the sl^ of Algeiiras ; and as they retamed to England in the latter end of the year 1348, it is not an improbable conjecture, that, haring been witnesses of the haroclL occasioned by the Moorish fire-arms, they brought the secret from Spain to England, and introduced the use of artillery into the English army at the battle of Creasy. The use of guns in Spain in the year 1343, is proof sufficient either that Schwarta was not the inreotor of gunpowder^ or that Kircher and others are nustaken in fixing his discorery so late as the year 1354*
There ia reason, howeTcr, to beliere, that both gunpowder and guns were known in Germany at least forty years before the period assigned by the Spanish historian for their first introduction into Spain. In the armory at Amberg, in the Palatinate of Bayaria, tilereis a piece of ordnance, on which is inscribe li the year I30S§. This is the earliest account I hare yet met with of the certain use of gunpowder in war ; and it seems probable enough, as the Pope
• Pelyd. Yiig. de loTcn. Renim, Ub. II. C. XI.
t Spead. Ann. Eccl. ann. 1349.
X Mariaaa't Hist, of Spain, En a:. Trans.
§ Qoani optekmeai (of Schwartz being the inTentor of gunpowder) feaeratlt- •iaiuf Scettenlm refyifaty com ez eo qnod Ambergn Palatinatns Saperiorit in ottdaa armoma reperlatar tenneatom iiiilitare» cui tit aaam 1309 Ijitcriptiis* Acta Brad. i709tp»19.
170 cmnp^wwaM.
Mi lh« IMe of Bfttarili tm tWaglit to biM bMA iW %i«^ prtecM
who Made Mltpetroln Eairopo*.
It ought not to bo comoMUod fiOM tht ffodor, that Comenirint quotes a Danish historian^ as rolating that Christopher, kins of the Danes, was killed in battle hj the stroke of a gtm^ in the \%BOt. Upon examining the passage qaoted bj Ciweraiios %y it is only said, that Christopher, the son of Kior Waldemar, wae killed ia the beginning of an engegement by a gan, a wafUko iostraaNtnt tiMQ kitelf dlseorered. Now it appears^ that WaUeaMi^ Cbristophef^ Ihther, did not succeed to the crown of Denmark till the year ISit, and Ibst his son wai killed in a naval engagement eeveial jean afterwardsll, probablj about the time assigned by Manster Ibr the flrst use of gunpowder in Denmark.
But we are able, npon good grounds, to carr j the diseovery of gunpowder to a period antecedent to the date of the Amberg pieoe of ordnance ; and it Is probable enough, that its compositioa was |inown long before we read any thing of its use in war.
Roger Bacon died at Oxford in \%9%. In the printed oopps of the works of this renowned Monk, there are two or thioe passage!, from which it may fairly be inferred, that ho knew the eompo- sitKm of gunpowder f ; and a manuscript copy is said to hare been teen**, wherein saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, are expressly mentioned, as the ingredients of a composition which would burn at any distance. But though it bo allowed, that Bacon was well acquauted with the composition of gunpowder, it will not follow, either ttat ho was the £nt dlscovermr of it^ or that he knew its ap* plication io flre-arme*
^rmmrm^^^im^
« Clarke't Nmt. Uuu af SaUretre.
f Cnnxius scribit Cbriitophonun Danomm regfm in prallo bmalwrdc ichj occisoBi aano 1880. Camera. Hor. Sobf. Con. p. 9. 9U.
t Cnatiw Vandal. Lib. YIII. <X 89.
S Cnmsim Daalw. Ub. VII. & 98.
I U. lib. VII. C. 98.
1 Io omneoi dbtaotiam qnam veluaim, pmmmni artiflclaliler conpoacre igneM coodbiireiitcm tx sale petra et aliis. IL Bacon de Mirab. Potet. Artis et Natone, Epb. C. VI. — sed tamen saliit petna Lum ropo Tir can ntrlet salpho* iiietskfiMieiCoallnimetconiicaUoBen,siKiMMliUclmn. Id.ib.C.XI* It is fery probable^ that la the flfstorthcie pasmgcs* Bacoi» concealed sdpbar and ebaicoal aadei tiM wofdaliisf and chat ia tbe last, bavUg meatlaaed saltpetre and salpbar, he coocealed charcoal aod the method of mixing the three ingre- dients, nnder the barbarous terms. Lam Topo Tir can atrict.
• • Rotf s Nat. Ills, of Oxfordshire.
w
€d bf loaM to hftf • been dw ilvst ptnoot who UMd ^npowdcr in the piootita of wat ; Ibey. alio brought ioto Europe o great maoy ArMaB books, mad lotmdaecd a tasto for ebenistrj into diffprent eomitries, aboot tha limo in which Bacon flourished. It b con. fofoed, on all iiaads, that Bacon was no stranger to Aral>ian litem- tnro ; s great part of bis optical disquisitions, being eridently boifowod from Alhaaen tlie Arab ; and it is not a supposition whoUj void of probability, that he derived his knowledge of the compoWtion of gunpowder from the same source. As to his know* ledge of the use of it in war, he certahily had some idea of it ; for he inlimatps, that cities and armies might be destroyed by it in varions ways : bnt it is not equally certain that he had any specific notion of tlie manner of using gunpowder, which uoquestionably premiled soon after his death.
It is one thing to throw out a conjecture coDceming tlie efiects which might be produced by the proper application of a known snl>stance- ; another, to describe the means of applying it. There are substances in nature, from a combination of which it is possible to destrof a ship, or a citadel, or an army, by a shower of liquid fire spontaneously lighted in the air ; every person who is aware of the dreadful fiery explosion which attends the mixture of two or three quarts of spirit of turpentine with strong acid of nitre, nnst acknowledge the trnth of the assertion ; but the simple knowle4%e of the possibility of eflfecting such a destruction, is a very different matter frosithe knowledge of its practicability ; though future ages may, perhaps, invent as many different ways of making these snb* stinces nnite in the air, so as to fall down in drops of lire, 9m have been invented of making gunpowder a sa instrument of the des« tmction of our species skice the time of Bacon.
From the accounts given of the attempts of Salmoneus and Call, gula to imitate thunder and lightning, some have been of opinion that gunpowder was known to the ancients* ; be that as it may, we cannot hesitate in admitting that it has been long known in varL ons parts of Asia. It would be useless to cite a variety of autho* rities in proof of this point ; I will content myself with that of Lord Bacon :— ^^ Certain it is, that ordnance was known in the city of
• See Dotcos* Ea^siry into the DlMoveriet ef (he Moderas, p. 808. EogHih Xiaasiatlon.
178 aanrowMW.
callid tkudv ud^U|^4o)a«, Md Mgkk. Aadittowrflki (iHt iha «M cf ordauM hatk bMB la Chha >bBM tOOO f«H<
Owof tbe Hoa KMAl^plioMloM af gnpswdar, b t»«te< nUii^. Tlw huHMT ud nettiUe wdigw wen prabiMf 4ki iHtraoMiito which neo ned for Um a^ttiog of rocka. - Ifea a cMioo of wooden wedget to the wo* pwpoM, mmu tl^Wn iBMT* Meant diaco*er]' : itii tbe fnpmtty ot try woalMMMI Uwl^ wheo wettfld with wttcr ; mlMn hn« had iDgaarilpH^ taandl thsMCFlves of this propert^t for it b a pnctioa MMi- ladrin wadgM of dr/ wood into the natoral or artifidil mn of roelu, aad to hcMbd tbe wadgM with walcr. Vmi Inbibiag Boirtara, iwellt in ererj' dineauon ; and thafaMo aipanaian ii (officiant, in dmb/ caia*, to datack largoflMH tha main body of a rock. Bat the eipaniiva forca of •futfa U laooaipuaUj groater than that <rf noiitanod wood, tktm diSarant acoDnnts trf tha tina wbea pwpewdar waa fint«|fll the liU*tii« of n^. lUarin rdatea that in 1«S7, tteM •f»l«M waa broofht from Hnn^uj, and Introduced iMhl ■ia Minat t but Baj'er nja, that in 1813, it waa IotmIi llarflaFrqr|»ld,atFroib«rg4'. .t^v^i
laanawar to an ioqiUrjr which I nade eoncemiDg UwtteM Uaating waa iDtradnaed at tlie fanona copper-tnioa ai Ell Staff-r*'"~( I rocoivad tba following acconnt from a vm| aad btalligaot peraon. " 1 can gire yon a little bettat IMbni oooeenilagtWaCiirof Uaating. 1 hare known that o
1?«
▼try Will MafiMed •? tho iawA of the Aon tnditioiit becaiiM ihm tehen of mj infomtn niglit be very well acqoiinted with the aiaeriet that iotrodaced blasting among them." In addition to this accoont I woald obsenroi that the manner of splittiog rocks hf gunpowder, as practised at liege, was pablished by the Royal Society, in 1606 ; and that it was not till about the year l684» that the miners in Somersetshire began to use gunpowder*. In the year 1008 Prince Rupert was chosen goTemor of the Society for the Mines Royal -f ; and as he li?ed fourteen years after that appoint* aent, it is not improbable that he might send for the German miners in consequence of his connection with that society.
Before the discoTery of blasting rocks by gunpowder, it was the custom in our Euglbh mines, as well as in Germany, to split them by wood iires. This method is minutely described by Agricola X9 and it is not yet wholly fallen into disuse §. It is a very ancient mode of mining, being mentioned by Diodorus Siculns, as practised tn some Egyptian mines || : he gives us, in the place here referred to, such a melancholy account of the condition of the poor slaves who were employed in those mines, as must make the heart of every hauMne man, who has a rational respect for the natural rights of every individual of our species, swell with indignation, and thrill with horror. Would to God, that the clemency of the task, masters in the mines of Peru, and in other settlements of European Christians, could induce us to believe that Diodorus Siculns had exaggerated the barbarity of Heathen policy I But there is much to be done, much, I fear, to be suffered, by all the states of Christen* dom, before the Gospel of Christ can be said to be established amongst them as a rule of life influencing their conduct.
It is related of Hannibal, that he opened himself a passage through the Alps, by applying fire and vinegar to the rocks which opposed his route. This mode of splitting rocks was, probably, not invented by Hannibal ; he might have had frequent opportu. nitles of observing a similar practice in the silver mines in Spain, which daUy afforded him three hundred pounds weight of silver ft
• Pidlos. Tteai!
t Aceoant of Miact, p. SO.
^(DelUllieCaL
S PUlof. Traas. im» p. 414.
I Lib. III.
I Mifm adhac per Hkpaniai ab Hanaibalf iochoatos poteot duare, lua ab iaveataribei aoerfnabriwatia Ka quels BebaieappeilBtarhodleqiie, qui CCC poBteflMBibaUfabmlaisienlMtlaiiet! Flfas.'ln«uMat.L.SS.i.Slt
174 COMFOtlTlOM AkB MtAViBt OF CUNFOWDKS.
Than b BoOliif, todnd, add of vlMg«r hi 4h» dttcil|iM>» of th* Egfpdui intiMt befttre nmUoiwd : bnt Piinj ezprealy ■ffroii, Oat It wM the qmllty of Thwgsr, vbeo ^imd opon roAi, to split nch u an uitMedent Are bad wrt qiUt ; sod that it wu ttroHtom of ntncn to bant tho rocki thef met wltb, by in uA *ltg)»i *. TUs occoBRt of Hanoibol'i nifaig vioegar In apltltiBg tW i>oek>, i* fnwrallj lookod npoa a< fobolooa : for my part, I can mtHij cod- oaive, tint a few barreli of yiavgar might have been of gitM ki^ if the racks were of the limeitoDe Und ] and, wlMtlier (hoywHI to or not, 1 leaTC to be wttled bj tboM, wlio have riiited the [flHi «%m thli faawai attempt waa tnade. Vinegar corrodei all lOTtBOniBO- atono and marble roeka ; and hence, liriDg iatiodMadlatelbe crack made by tbe Gre, It might be veiy effieaeloai !■ -vfdenlog tiwm, and rendering the leparalhn of large fumpf bylhiB crowa and wedgci more emMy. It ii erromovily lappoied, ttat a large qoantity of rlnegar was reqoulte, for the vlacgar did BOt Himoa tbm whole man of rocki Into a pnlp ; dnce Lhy clearly W^ravvt, that arter the action of both (he fire and viD^ar, they warcoMlged to open their patiage by iron inBtmmenta, which woiU tan Iwen wholly nnneceaMry, had tiie main body of the rocks bMrflMilfed bytheTlncBir-f.
UVTIOK II. Comforttian tmd Aiuitytii of Gutrpoxsder. ""-'
GusPOWDER is an artificial eompofiliori, consisdiig of sullpelre,
171
»fifl«w«n«fMlplnur; tattlMraU talpter M^g mack cbe^ptr thma Um flowort of aolphiir, sod beiog wh^^d-m gratt dcgrve of pwitj, it if the oolj sort which ii vsed iq tht iDAttttliMtvriag of gmipoi^er. With relation to the charcoal^ it ii«t bcoa generailj belicred that the coal from soft and light woodi wwibotter adapted to the niakiog of gunpowder, than that fraoi the hard aad biarj ones ; thus Ef elyn sajt of the haael, that ** ftnekei one of die best eoahi used for gunpowder, being very fina aad light, till thef -found alder to be more fit*." And in another place be thinks that lime.tree coal is still better than that from alder f. An eminent French chemist has shewn, from actual ex* perioMnt, tint this opinion In fa? onr of coal from light woods is 111 Ibnnded; he affirms, that powder made from lime.tree coal, orcren from the oaat of the pith of alJer.tree, is in no respect preferable to that mtdt ffom the coal of the hardest woods, such as guaiacam aodolik|. Thb remark, if it lie confirmed bjlbtora aaperience, may ke of no small use to the makers of gunpowder ; as it is not always an ca^j matter for them to procure a sufficient quantity of tho coal of soft ^ood.
The nixture of the materiab of which gunpowder to BMde, should be as intimate and as uniform as possible ; for, in whatever manner the oxplosion may be accounted for, it Is certain that tho three ingredients are necessary to produce it. Saltpetre and anl- pbor mlied together ghe no eiploslon ; sulphur and charooai gWe too cKploBion ; and though saltpetre and charcoal, when in- timately mixed, do give an explosion, y^ it is, probably, of for less foroa than what* is produced from a mixture of the three ingredients. I hare said probably ^ because this point does not seem to be quite settled at present, u may iqjpear from the following opinions, of two eminent chemists, each of whom ap« peals to oitperience. — *< Un mfthinge de six onoes de nitre et d'nne once ckarbon produit nne poudce qui a moitU moim de force que tontes -oellBi dans lesquelles on fait entrer du soufre : cette iab* Btaaee «rt done absolument easentlelle Ak composition de la poudra. Dans la temps que je trafailiois sor cette matiere, qneiqnes particulien propoeerent de Ikire de la poudre sans soufiw: Us promettoieift qa*ello seroit plus forte. La poudre daas laquelle bn fait entrer aae petite quantite de soufre, augmente deforce
• Evelyn's SUva. ^ Dr. Hooter, p. 88S* f Id..p. MC
( Ghfm. par M • JNimtk loU It p. 4Wi , .
17S csHw^nov -*■» AHAirnn-e* vtmti
ia dnbkl."— <' Tha prtaelpd li«n OoM to wkkh it ow« to Hmw, in i Obm tiro ingndtnti well niivd togvtlHr, eamlilM* '|np*w. 4er Kt loint equal, if not npnter In ttmgth to MMMB X^a- powder, (u I finnd bj experinice,) snd naj bn mm In the Memoiro of Connt Sslace, InMrted In the Mdnaget deflMloMpkle at do HathenatlqBM, dn I'Acodemla Rojolo doTnf*;"^ Tka ■«). pliarMenu to lerra only for the parpoM of lettlag fivl»4r'B»» wUk a lea degree ol beat*." If I maj trait MMoa et«d»«ip«rU ■anti wkkk 1 have made wia a cammon powdn trier, I BUtic. cede to the opinion of H, Baaam^,- «• I rapeatedlj tamai tkat aqval bolki of com von powder, and of tba nroe tort »f powder, freed from Iti talphnr by a gentte araporatloo, dtferaivtif nach both In the loadnew and force of the explodon f tba powiei which had loM Iti nlphar being Inferior to the other in both partknian. It If not without reason, that equal bolki ere here ipoaHiif for any deGnltire raeatare of coatnoo powder weigha ■■(• IfeM Ae •ama moaiare of powder which haa lott H» aulplnr ; hMW the ie> nit of ezperimenli made with eqnal welghta of theMp«Mt»i will be dlferent from that which la dorlred from Oe expM*«f ^qoal bnlkl I may not tbb obaerratian tend to reeondle tbo apUMM-bo. ton MMitioiiedl Bat whether lulphur be an abcolotalf BMiHHy ingredient In the compA^tJonof gunpowder or not, UJaiaiWo that an aeearate mixture of the Ingredlenti la eMcntiallf raqpMMi In order to accompUah thli accurate mixture, the ii^PiJl— teio iiisly reilucpd into coarse poivik-rs, and afterwardj ground
COMVOSlTTOIT AKD ANAT.rsiS OT OTTKTO^
portion of the saltpetre (the other two ingredients not being solable in water :) for upon drying the powder, the disgolved saltpetre will be crystallized !□ particles much larger than those were, nliich en- tered into (he composition of the gunpowder, and thus the niiitnra will be less inlimaie and uniform, than it was before the wetting. This Hefting of gunpowder is often orcasioned by (he mere mois- ture of the atmosphere. Great complaints were made concerning the baduirsi of the gunpowder used by the English in their engage- neot with the French Ueet off Grenada, in July 1779 ; the French iMTing doDF much damage to the masts and rigging of the English, wlwa the EnglMi ilwt wovld not reach them. When thU muter «IR ioqniiMl into by tlu Hoiue of Cammoni, it appeared that the powder bed heM iqured bf the moisture of the atmo^here; it b»d concreted IMo l^e lampe, in the middle of whi<^ the saltpetre wu ritibla to the naked eye. If the wetting has been couiderable, (he pomler ii nndered wholly unfit for use ; but if no foqeign sab* ■tance hu been auzed with U except fresh water, it may be made iato good gBUpowder again, by being properly pounded and grs- aulated. If the wetting has been occasioned by salt water, and .that to any considerable degree, the sea salt, upon drying the pow- ' der, will remain mixed with it, and may su fur vitiate Its qoality, that it can never be used again in the form of gunpowder. How-* Wer, as by solution in water acid subsequent crystallization, the BM»t ?aluable part of the gunpowder, namely, the saltpetre, may he titracted, and in its original purity, even from ponder that hai been welted by sea water, or otherwise spoiled, the saTiog a da- maged powder is a matter of national economy, and deservedly at- tended to in the elaboratory at Woolwich.
The proportions in which the ingredients of gunpowder are com- bined together, are not the same in different nations, nor in dif- ferent works of the same nation, eren for powder destined to the same use. It is difHcnlt to obtain from (he makers of gunpowder, any information upon this subject; their backwardness in tbia par- ticular arises, not so much from any of them fancying Ihemselves possessed of the best possible proportion, as from an afleclation of mystery common to most manuractitrers, and an apprehension of discovering to the world that they do not use so much saltpetre as they ought to do, or as their competitors in trade really do use. Saltpetre is not only a much dearer commodilr than eiliter sulphur or charcoal, bnt it enten also in a inu4i r proportion into
•KAMA A»M«tlftft« aU)l«VHM
.«k MspMitira «r gMpwvdir, tUa %rth iM« ««|mM .tsgadwr; henu, llwr* U ■ grit to«ip<»BoQ t« hMWi<>" i «r tlM Mltp«tr«, ftad ta ■ngwiH tb«t of tbs olbfJaH hkI llw fnid ii not euilj. detected, tiiwe gimpowdM* JiJ •splode readily aad londly, may b» PMHle wilk nMii i .fiwitiUwor nllpetre. n ^
Biptula Ports died in the year 1615; he giref itm» ( ■portioB] for making of gnopowder, ecoording u ^MIVmI M be of different streogth*. I Iwre reduced Ui pqimril Alt the Hsder toMj Me the qoentitiei of the leveiiil Jny dia ItiO pounds weight of each Mrtof pot^^)^^..
It!;
|
Weak. Saltpetre 6G^it>. Sulphur Id 4 Cliarcoal 16^ 100 |
Strong. 76 12-| 100 |
Strongest. SO 10 10 too |
that in all these proporlk I in equal quantities. Caril.
is' somewhat remarkabli liulphur and charcoal are u! about i'lXty yean aftiT Bapdsia Porin, and in that Inter propurtions of the ingredients of gunpowder seem to hare gi>ne a great change. Cardan's jiroporlions fur great, lizi'd, and small guns, are expressed in the rollowing tabit
|
I - r . . COMPeStTIOI? ASTD AITALTSIS OP OffKPO' |
>B«. n» |
||
|
Sallpelre 75 ^alpbnr IS Charcoal lU •joo |
Frince, Sweden. 75 75 .9i IS 154 9 lOOll lOOj |
Poland. 80 I* _L loot |
it.i,. io<nt |
|
Several experim |
enli have been lately made in Franc |
e, in order |
* tke Icsact proporfloQ) of the leveral ingradieats which w*ald prodtKc Ha ftrongett pouible power; Ihme propartioni when rednnd, aa all the reit have been, to tha qaaolity compot. ing OBo hnadrad pogndf of gnnpowder, are
S«kp*tr* .... 60 lb.
Chuwoal .... IS
SolplMr ....»'
■ ; 100
Fron hnc* it wonld appear, tliat in a ccrtsin waiglit of aalfpetn^ the powder would prnduce the greatest effect, whan the we%ht«t tile charcoal wu to that ot the aulpfaur, a* 3 to 1. On tibe Mkor band, ezperiineiits are produced from which it is to b« coneladedt that ia a certain weight of laltpetre the beat powder ia aade, wbm tha nlphnr i> to the charcoal, in the proportioa of 3 to 1 . FrMi thcM diBcrent accounti, it leems as if the problem of determiniag the very beat pouible proportioo was not yet aoWed.
In drying gas-powder, .after it is redaced into grains, there an two Ihingi to be aToided, too mnch and too little heat. If the heat h too great, a porlion of the salphur will be dri*«n off, and thus tho proportion of the ingredients being changed, tl>e goodima of tbo powd^, to far as it depends on that proportion, will be injured. Inorderto see what quantity of sulphur might be teparated from gnn-pvwdec, by a degree of heat not inSdent to explode it, I took 94 graioeof the powder marked tf in thesbopf, and placin|
• Thfte are uid lo be Ihi- pripPtiioni of g-.VL-tnrofnl powder.— Pfinh. Ckem. p. effl.
H Cbem. Diet. & Banuit'- Clipm. Vol. I. 186,
J Mem. <le. Chrm. Vol. II. p. IJS- whrtp il is raid, thW Iwo ipcclmciu ot powder from HnIUnd(avaoi.l> lllb. of salipf (re from lOOjfjfow^Efc.
Comin. ScicD. BDaoD.Vol.IV.p. 133- •^t^.-ti] v •
N2
it «n ■ !>»«■ <rpoIUw« eopser, I ^nM ikt Mp|»r WUd M^lba fl«i]i«ot«caiid)a; Ikfl fu*.poi*dar M*n Motlpffk ph^Moai TspoDf ] ud wbet^it had Imm dried m louf 4kii|M fa«M«fiWllcaBldbeAistiB|iii>Mf tl(a Mnftisdw wd||Mk tMa grainy, the lim unountliig ta (t* gnhn. Tin nKmkii' mA axplodB by t flptrk. like gnnpoWdcr, but lika • iiilrtiyt o petra and Aarcoml, and it really wu notliing alM, aS«IH
WVOiadto'tlM hMt«f lb*MV, MitUi Mtk«d U dMM J'nMMj tad !• Mna AAer wfc<w ; irfberwaidi ft Mfljll MM*d«r«pMii«llta ahMt «9<al h> ttat of boiling mtt pfMMt It b BHUt gsunlly i« K^kid driad in ato>i>IWI (fcttt iron pad j with any tolenbla oantion na dangaralop Bead ba apprebtaded from tbii dmUmkI. All. Ae wnlny p the gunpowder may be evaporated by a degree of heat greati Iban tbat in which gunpowder explodes ; (hat degree haring tKcrtained by some iale experiments, to be about theSOOth ( on Fahrenheit's scale, in which the he4it of faoDiiig water is fi Sl2> There is more danger of evaporating a portion otthegi ia this way of drying gunpowder, llian when it is dried by ei] to the »un.
The necessity of freeing gunpowder from all i(s moiib; sbTlous from the following eipmment, which was made iome ago before the Royal Society. A riuantity of gunpowder was out of a barrel, and dried with a heat equal to thai in which a piece of ordnance was charged v
coMrMinoii Aii0 ahaiiTsm o» avmw^wmmw. 181
potriMt to pwierTC powd«r fr«e froa nobtare, tod fr<mi the lo» of a part of its sulphur in bot climates, by keeping it iq gUse4 earthen bottles, or in bottles made of copper or tin, well corked ?
This disposition to attract the hamidity of the air, is differetil ia different sorts of powder, it is the least in that which is made from the purest saltpetre ; pure saltpetre, which has been dried as gunpowder is dried, does not become heavier by exposure to the atmosphere ; at least, Its increase of weight is very small, not amount, log, AS far as my experiments hare informed me, to abo? e one fid part of its weight ; I rather think that it does not acquire any in« crease of weight. But saltpetre mixed with sea salt, attracts the humidity very sensibly ; and hence, though there should be the same w«ght of saline matter in a certain weight of gunpowder, yet the goodness of the powder may be Tery variable, not only from the foretgn satine matter, be it sea salt, or any other salt, injuring the quality of the powder as being an improper ingredient, but from its rendering the powder more liable to become humid.
Saltpetre beiug the ingredient, in which there is the greatest room lor fraud, in the c4>mposition of gunpowder, and on the quantity of which its strength chiefly depends, the reader will excuse the mU nuteness of the following process, to ascertain the quantity of salt* petre contained in any specimen of gunpowder.
Take any quantity of gunpowder, pound it in a glass mortar till all the grains are broken, lay it before a gentle ire till it be quito dry ; in that state weigh accurately any quantity of k, suppose tout ounces ; boil these four ounces in about a quart of water ; the boiling need neither be violent nor long continued, for the water will readily dissolve all the saltpetre, or other saline matter, and sot a particle of either the sulphur or the charcoal of the powder* In order to separate the water containing the saltpetre, from the sulphur and charcoal, pour the whole into a filter made of brown paper; the water containing the saltpetre will run through the paper, and must be carefully preserved ; the charcoal and sulphur will remain upon the paper. But as some particles of saltpetre will stick both to the filtering paper, and to the mass of silphur a|id charcoal, these aro tp be repeatedly washed, by pouring hot water upon them, t9l the water in running through the filter k quite In- sipid ; then we may be oertain^ that we hafe M theaaltpotre ort» l^aUj contained in thopowder^ now diiiihrid inlhi wniitr^ «o4
v3
IM toarr«fmdir ami AifXLYtns'tfFOvrfMlrtMA';
^^Dic'iDlptmriWl ehkmdfHMUiilD|«'lix«d'TnaM aiMtflKlil llMe mpectin quratftiet ttmf ^ ■wertalnvd wIthtfafWieli i txltf. TIm mtH- cantaMiig tte UndtrmA taltpetre, iMllt M'l fMBtad br A-gantWhMt; 'ttMUl(p«to« eUhot b» erapidfAMJ «B« dagiw of bett which eraporatn tba water ; dl WP1lil| tkAcantBinad in tbe guDpowtfer, vlt) remiia ■fteriflfeWit dbfterud, nd being amtttVy collected snd weighed/ W*^R1 i tiM qitnllty of laline nillcr c^Mncd in Oi^ powMif**tk) «afe of nlpliar ind chucwi. by l«>tng the filtcridjfll^ilH tafaiiiqt it before tbe fire; it MtooM be msde u dry uiN^lAN WM bflfote it wM diuoWed in tb« water : in that *UtriflK|l Mitpetn ebd diareMt ; end, .trben the experiment liifWVl mMj tnadv, Ike weight of (he »l(pelre, added to that^lirHe ! tare' of anipknr end Dhereoal, trill just atnoent to foitr'^Mli vdgM of the powder. ' The quantity of mH Ae nktterttMMN ■>r apatelMen of 'gnniMwder, bring thai' iBcertainedt^l^^ nay be known 'by diuolvfuf it la water, and er)riMliHf¥ ny paHtof it eryitallizeB 1b lltllv cabei, It to aiign ttriftfean Mb-mK; orif any part of it, after beiKgdalyenpoftllJI(|Nrlll Mjataltiie, it ia a ligB that it contains another lOrrtMH^ cttadby nkpetTe naken, tfaa mctker of nitre, nhiA^mt attracta the humidity oTthe air. taMmrj
7'he gunpowder mBrkt^'d rF, was analysed in Ihe following i ner. Twenty. four grains, by eTaporaliiig the sulphur, wer duced to ninetren ; these nineteen groins gave, by solutia !-i»teen [
COMMSmoV AlW AVAJbXftU 0» amfOWDBA. 18S
fkr fli I kifv Irkd thMB, te tlM qwuititj of tlit laltpetrt they con- tain. FriMi some Mrti of powder, I hate got after the rate of 761b. of saltpetre, from tOOlb. of the gunpowder.
The method of aoalyving gunpowder, by eraporating the sulphur, is not wholly to be relied upon ; I hate often obserred, that when niztores of snlphor and charcoal have been eiposed to e^aponu tion, on a plate of heated copper, the remainder has weighed less than tiM charcoal which entered the composition, part of it ha?ing been carried off by the Tioleot evaporation of the sulphur: and hence the proportion of sulphur in the above analysis is probably too great. I am aware that this observation b wholly opposite to the condusioa of M. Beaum6, who contends, that one twenty.fourtb part of the weight of the sulphur employed in any mixture of sulphur aLd charcoal, adheres so strongly to the charcoal, that it cannot be se- parated from it without burning the charcoal.— I can only say, that he separated the sulphur by burning it, and 1 separated mine by Miblimiog it without suffering it to take fire, and this difference in the manner of making the experiment, may perhaps be sufficient to account for the different results. — But it is unnecessary to pursue this subject further ; there are several things to be attended to in forming a complete analysis of gunpowder, which any person tole- rably well versed in chemistry, would certainly take notice of, if the analysis of any particular powder was required to be made^ and which cannot, in this general view, be minutely described i and, indeed, it is the less necessary to enter into a detail on this •object, as the strength of the powder is not so much affected bj small variations in the quantities of the sulphur and charcoal, which enter into its composition; and the method of ascertaining the quantity and quality of the saltpetre, in any particular gunpowder^ has been sufficiently explained.
In order to judge with more certainty concerning the effect of sea.salt, when mixed with saltpetre in attracting the humidity of the air, I made the following experiment. Five parts of pure salt* petre in powder, were exposed for a month to a moist atmosphere^ but I did not observe that the saltpetre had gained the least increase of weight ; for the same length of time, and in the same place, f exposed fonr parts of saltpetre mixed with one of common salt, and this mixtoro had attracted so much moisture, that it was in a •tate of fluidity.
[Biihop Waiion. N4
184 FULVHIATXirO HOWDllMk
a%Mm wltpato* t tht wHil»<tM» whMiii tiwcth# iagwilirf Sa taltpetre, tlMre are mioat Mbtr Miiiiy m dl« osjBttriatiey (diloriae of Da? j)^ tiM l^jrper oxyrnvrMfey te iiMfc, tve^ttic^ si^lybdic, t&d colmnbie, tluit ara powtrlal svpportMt of OMBbvs- tioii. Of these tiM nott eaej of aoceei it Hm OKjmvrfaiUc ; and tirit has In conteqiieiiee been tried eidier iiiitead of , or bi oonfone. tion wfth^ tiie nitric add, to ascertain whetker It be poweisod of flwre power. The beet experiMents npoo te svtjjcet are tbote of Bdward Howard, Esq. as commmnkated lo the Rojal Soeielj. The efiect, according to these, is f ery singnhv, In the espioyment of thst oxjrmariat of potash, the only form In which the oxy amriaHc add has hitherto been made nse of. It acts with considerably nM>re energy so far as its range extends; bnt tlds range is far short of that produced by sdtpetre, or nitrat ci potash. It prodnces also a rnnch more violent explosion ; and an explosion which. In one Instance, bnrst the Tcssd, and nearly dmtioyed tho eyeoight of the bold and ingenions experinwnter. \^Bdiior.
CHAP. XIV.
FULMINATINO FOWOBRS.
1 Hinx are Tarions combinationa nnder this name that possess a near resemblance to gunpowder in their oenstitoent parts, easily intamo, and explode with great Tiofeence, bnt require a certain degree of heat to produce this eflbct. We shall notioe the ooou men and the metallk iblminating powders.
aBCTION I.
Common Fulminating Powder. *
Tnxa is prepared as follows : take three parts of nttre^ two of purified pearLash, and one of flowers of sulphur, flsisL tile uhela very accurately in an earthmi mortar, and jdace it on a tile or plaie before the fire, till It is perfectly dij: then transfer it while hoi into a ground stopper bottl^aad itnugc be kept withentMumry tm any length of time. Jo order to experience Its efi^t% ten tofoHy grains Into an Iran ladle, and place It oirer
»IIl.irHI*TU)0 HOLD AHS SltTBR. iM
ia ftsbort tiiDe th« ponder becomes bfonn and acquires a pasty tioashtemx ; a blue Inmbent flame then ap^ars on the surface, and in an instant after the whole explodes with a stunning noiie BO'' J slight momentary Qash- If the mass be remoTed from the fire as soon as it is fused, and kept in a dry welLclosed vial, it may at any time be eipiodeil hy a spark, in which case it burns Ulce (Hitpowdar, bat more rapidly and with greater d«tDDatkin ; h«t *hh f ff*^ MMWt V prodBGed on the ■nmelted powder, kow Mcb- .9t(^ toevw til* iogrediestB of it are raized together, ^kac fl|llini*'"t powder ii Id finioti, but not heatad to tba dejpraa m- ^UHIIiji to.prodnc* the bin* Same, a particle af igDited cbareoal i^ojia nppn it will occaiion immediately a remarlubty load «b
It •pp«u> DM tka iogredienti sf thit powder do not asqnln thtir ^■Vi'VMwg praparty till combined byfuiioo; iiotberwofdi} yjlths psM>dl>«f ralphHr form lulpttnret of pot-atht wheno* filk ninating powder may alio be mada by mixlBg MlphtBiat of p&^ uh with lutre, ioatead of by ad^ng the snlphar and alkali lepa- nte.
In *U tk«M the CMiM of the detonation, or folnination, !• aot ■ccondtly aodentood. la limple fulmiaating powder, thai* ba T*ry laqe portion of elattic gsii evolved ; in falmniatiog gold •r diver, a mncti imaller ; yet the ezploiion in the lattov cuo .li infisftelf greater than that in the former.
Fulminating Gold. Dheatve pwte gtdd in nitro-marintic acid ta lataration, and AU l«t» tbo nlvtini wMb three times it> bulk of distilled water, nd ■dd to it gradnally some pure aninonia ; a yellow precipitate will te obtahied, whidi mast ke repeatedlf washed witb dialilled water, and drkd on a chalk stone, or in a filter. When perfectiy dry, it b called fulminating gold, and detonates by beat, aa may be shewn hy hMaog ft few grains of it on tk* point of a knife over the candle.
' ',."',,., FutmimaliMf Silver.
LMsioln ine Aver in pale nltrie add, and preciintato tht aoh. tina ky BMs-bii • decant the 4nid, mix the preclpitilto with liquid Roiminiia, sod slir it till it assumes a black colour ; then de- cant the fluid, and leave it in the open air to dry. This product is futminatiDg iUver, lAaA when once obtained cannot be touched
106 vvLiHirAyiifGWMeoiy.
wMhont prndoeing & Ticrtcflt «p1oflan. It h Ob ttM Aotj
{■npcration knon, fiir iht tmntMti of in la nst B'
it to d«toDil«. It «xplodei l^tba aen touch. lt('|l
•o huardana, that it ot^t not 1o b» attUDptad «
wkh ttrong gUaa ^ea, upon tk« face. No mor* 4lMb«
(nin ought at anj lime to Ih tried «■ an eipaiimMt^ 'Th
inreBtrd hy M. B«Hhollet. wi;.
H. CheiMTiz hai inTeiit«d a fatminating lilrer, not iM|MI| aa that jmt nvntioiwd. It nplodei only by a iligWMM contact with tonbnitiMe bodi«>. Ith tbni prepaftdO* '<■ qaaalit; oralMnina tbrongh <rat«r, and let a carrentdMI^ Maifatk mU gaai pais throngh it for Mma time, "WW ■onw phoiphate o( lilrer on the aolnlion of the ozygewAil-iii W AlmsiDa, and eraporate It ■lowl}'. The proiMt^tib mUl b« a kypfr.ojcygeBated mnrtate of illrer, a iiaghl'|B ^Mctt, in ConUct with two or Ihreo of sulphnr, wlHlrilM tHrtly wHh the ilightMt frietiiHi. . *« l^i
Fulmmeting Mrrcury.
The mernirlal prcparatioDs which rulminatG, nhon mixe nlphur, and gradually eipospd to a genllt ht'Hl, are well kn< chemists : they were discoTered, and ha»e becu fully describ Mr. Rayen.
MM. Brugiiatclli and Van Mons hare likeirise produce ruinations by concussion, as well by nitral of mercury and pliorus, «! »ilh jiliosphottis and mOFit 5(!irr nitrsts.
FCtMISATIRO MEKfcuBT. 187
Blcnhol and nilric aeiJ as might (by prpdlspoiing affinily) favour as well at altrtcl an acid comliination of Hie hydrogen of the one, anil' (he oxygen of Ihe other. The pure reil t>xyd of mercury appeared not unfit for IhU purpose} it was therefore intPmiiited with alcohol, and npon both nitric acid was atTused. The acid did not act upon the alcohol so iinmediately as when these fluids are alone mixed to. gether, but first gradually dissolTcd the oxyde ; however, after some minutes had elapsed, a smell of ether uas perceplihie, and a white dense smuke, much risemblin^' that from the liquor fumans of Libatius, was emitted with ebullition. The mixture then threw down a dark.eolourfd precipitate, which by degrees became nearly white. This precipitate I separated by filtration ; nndbbserTing it to be crystnllized in smaller acicular cry»tal5, of a saline taste, and also Sndiiiga part of the mercury rolatilized in the white fumes, I* mhM MkMnfMgc, I wai not altogether w ithou t hopei that Buriatie acid had been fonned, and united to the mercarisl oiide ; I tbere. f»r«, for obTiont reoaoM, poored sulphnric ie]d npon the dried cryftalline maia^ when a violent efiervescence «Hned, and, to my , great astonlifament, an explosion took place. The lingnlarltf of Ah «sploalon Indnced me to repeat (he proeen leveral times; aad $nXag Hmt I always obtained Ihe sam« kind of powder, I pn* fbred a qoantity of it, and was led to make Ihe series of experl. ments which I shall hate the honour to relate ia this paper. ■ If** I iirst attempted to make the mercoriat powder fulminate bjr . Mneasrion ; and for that purpose laid about a grain of it npoo a Mtd aavH, and struck it with a hammer, likewise cold. It deto> aated iligMy, not beiof , as I suppose, struck with a flat blow ; for wpon using tbrco or (out grains, a very stanning disagreeable obIm «u prodaced, and the faces both of the hammer and the anril wera »ncfa ivdmted.
.. • M Qiif ^ grain, or a grain, if quite dry, is as much as ooght to be Hied cm sQtIi an occasion.
** Tfee Abck of an electrical battery, sent through fire or six graioa' of' tiM powder, products a rery similar effect. It seens, indeed, tbafK Mrong electrical shock generally acts on falmlnatbtg ■abatane^ Iik# the blow of a hammer. Messrs. Fonrcrof and Vaaqnelia ftftHd fU> to be the cue, with all their mixtores of oxy> vnritte of p«taH.' ' - *
'<>^'Toa)bBVttlirttwlU't«mperatnre the^BKAiriil powder ex.
tM V¥Mfi]IATIiNI^BSOIIBY.
iMfte; tile Iwifc of ^ F JhFMilurB HiwinaBKItr wu made jial t# iMieh tlie Mdhce of tlie oM, wlikk wia tlran gradwaiy heated tiU the powder ezpMled, m the MMemy reiched the 86M1 degree.
^ Dtsiroiis of comperii^ the strength of the Mercofial eompound wkh that of gunpowder, I mede the following esqperimeot in the peeseBce of my friend Mr. Abemethj.
^ Fhiding that the powder could not be fired wi& flint and fteely without a disagreeable noise, a coohmmi gwpowder proof, eapable of containing eleven grains of fine gnnpowdcr, was filled with It, and fiied in the usual way : tiie report was sharp, but not ksidr The person who held the instrument In his hand felt no to', coilf hut tiie explosion laid open the upper part of the barrel, iMnrly from the touch Jide to the muiale, and stmek off the hand ^of the register^ the surface of which was OTOnly faMlented, to the deptii of 0.1 of an inch, as if it had receired the impression of a punch.
<< The instrument used hi thb experiment being familiarlj known, it h therefore scarcely necessary to describe It : suttee it to say, that k was brass, menoted with a spring regisler, the mo?eable hand of which closed up the musile, to receire and graduate the violence of the explosion. The barrel was half an' inch in calfllrcl^ and nearly h^ an inch thick, except where a spring ci the lock Impaired half its thidmess.
<« A gun belonging to Mr. Keir, an ingenions artist of Camden- Towaij wu next charged with serenteen grams of the mercurial pwwdei, and a leaden bullet. A bk>ck of wood was )phced at abbot e^ht yasdi^lirom the mnnle to reoelTO the bdl, and the gun waefifOd by -a Isise* No recoil seemed to hav« takes pteoe, as the barrel was aotmeued firom Us po8ition,althoughit wisin ao ways confined. The report was feeble; the bullet, Mr. KMroMeelrfMi^ ftom tielmpreision made wfom the wood^ had beetf projeded with about half the force it would hare been bf as or^nary chatfoy offitety-eight fisinsy of the best gunpowder. We tiMretoe re. chaiyd tiie guA with thlv^four grains of the mereurlal powder f and ae the great etreagtt of the piece wmnmd any appreheoitosrei danger, Mr. Keif lied it from Msefaonlder, aiming at the samo bkwk of wood. The report was like the fin^ ehifp, tait Wff louder than might hare been expected firom a chai^ge olfWip»wder> BDrtupalflly MKlUirwi# MthnH; Imt ttio gn twtn ftrnnfl^ «» tKhrfsmrdiMry oMumr* 9ii bioei* mas irhat ia iriM # |Mti0^
*OI.MII(ATISI> MBBODBT* 189
one, of th* but forged iroD, consisting uf a cliamber 0.4 of an inch thick all round, and 0.4 of an incli in calibre ; it was torn open and flawed in manv directions, and the gold toucb-hole driven out, Tiie barrel into which the breecb was screwed was 0.5 of an inch tftick i i( xod split by ■ singtv crack thre« inches lone, but tliU did not apprar to mc lo be tlit immediate etfi^ct cif the ixplosion. I tMuh the scxew of the bre«ch, bein^ suddenly enbrgtd, acted as a wedge npon llit: barrel. The ball missed the block of wood, and ■track against a irail, which had alrendj been the receptable of so ■any bullels, that we could not siitiafy ourstUps about tbe impies. riou made ()_v this last,
" As it was pretty plain that no gun could confine a quantity of the mercucial powder sufficient to project a bullet with a greater force than an ordinary charge of gunpowder, I determined (o try • its comparative strength in another way. I procured two blocks of wood, very nearly of the same size and strength, and bored them with the same instrument to the same depth. The one was charged with half an ounce of the best Dartford gunpowder, and the other wilh half an ounce of (he mercurial powder ; both w«te vlilu hwriad in aand, «nd fired by a train camnimicatiag «itk Ifef fmwdan fe/a ■mall tonclbbok. The block contalniag Um gn* f*wd*r «M Amply tpUt into three pieces : that charged \iUk tin ■nVBriai powder was bunt in every direction, and tba puto !■■ MMUiMj cootignens to the powder were absolutely poimdMif y«C (ha wbola bang together, whereas the block split by tha giOw fo«d*i had Ui parta fairly separated. The sand lommiidiag. tht ganpowder wu nadoabtedly the most disturbed ; in short, tbt Marcorial powder appttarad to haTO acted with tbe greatest eMsgy, bat only within certain liHits.
< ** Tlw efiect* of the iMKiirial powder, in the last experioaeiits, ■■da na lM4iev« that it Might be confined, during Its exploiion, ia the eaatra of a hollow glass globe, iianng tlierefoN provided snck a vesNl, wmtm iochea in diameter, and nearly half an inch tbick^ noantad wtt brass caps,and a stopcock,! plaoed tan grains of nsr* cnrial pombr on thin paper, laid on iron wire MSthofanindiAkk •cross the papafj thn^ tbe midst cl the powder, aa^ ckMingOt jgt^Tf tied U lint, at both exti«>itlM with ailk totbavin. As Iba iaclosad jp«vdsr vu mw attatsbed to tha ■ktdla at tke win, «cliaBd of wbkb w>Bwectad witfadia taniaa^ay tbe packet «f ^baontlv .HhtnaiHiiii, 6m 4hB WBtra of *h»
,r«H|ia4feM| and ^mmmtttpH
190 F«LMHiATiii« ttsaoaKT.
tfw iHm, « « pKlinlaarj mpHhiwot (witk Mr. OriMertsM'l •toctronwter) hid sheivB ■» would, by tntkiog tlM«ln red hot, intuie the poWdw. Th« (Ian gUbe vitMsod Um lifliriuit^ ud «f coarM ratainMl wfaatorer gaMM wtre genent«d| Itetatefior VM thinlj' coated with qnickillTW, in a rerj divUl* rtato. A bent glass tube wu now screwed to the itop^ock nMfcafcran cap, which being introdaccd under a glau jar Kanding ia4|lFB«rcnrial bath, tiie itop-cock was opened. Three cnbical 4Mlfev «f air nuhed ost, and a fonrth wai set at liberty when tbo mn^laHm woTod to the water tub. The ezplOMon being rejMflM^ atfl Ibe air all recaired over water, the quantity did not VMf, ' lEvatoM an error from change of lemperaiure, the glass globe was, both be- fore and after the explosion, iinm«rstd in water of the lame tem- pcraluri!. It appears, therefore, (list the ten grains of powder produced four cubical Inches only of air.
"To continue the compaiiiiin between the mercnrial powder and gunpowder, ten grains of the best Dartford gunpowder were in a aimilBr manner set Tire to in (he glass globe : it lenained en. tire. Tile wiioie of the powder did not explode, for BOme com. ptete grains were to be observed adhering to (he interior turface of the glass. Little need be said of (he nature of the gaiMt ganented during the combustion of (he gunpowder ; they must htTO Iwcn carbonic acid gass, sulphureous acid gass, nitrogen g«S8, and (ac- cording to Lavoisier) perhaps hydrogen g3!-s. As to the quantity of these, it is obvious that it could not be ascertained : because llie two first were, at Icnst in part, speedily ah?nrf)ed by the alkaH itl'
BBLHWArrma mbboorv. 191
aetiJIr, is to be drsKn through the hi>l«>. The screw bi-ing now fixed in Hi place, and th^' wire drawn tight, is (» be secured hy pntbing the irrpgular wooden plug into the a^ierture of the scretr, taking care to leave a paisage for the air. The 5lo|>.cock is non ta be screwed on. The glass tube h bent, that it may more conve. nienllf be inlrodiiceJ undvr the receivtrr of » pneiimalic apparatus. " From so neoftheexperinient^ (continues Mr. Howard) in uhich Ibe gunpowder proof and the gun were burst, it might be inferred, th&tthe astonishing force of the mercurial powJeristo be attributed to the rapidity of its combustion ; and a train ofsereral inches in length being consumed in a single flash, it is evident that its combus- tion must be rapid. But from other experiments it is plain that this force is restrained to a narrow limit, both because the block of wood charged with the mercurial powder was more shattered than IbM charged with the gunpowder, whilst the sanj surrounding it was least disturbed, and likewise because the glass ^lobe withstood the eiplo- lion of ten grains of the powder fixed in it.- centre; a charge 1 hod twice found sulTicient to destroy old ;iialul lfarri;ts, which were OOC injured by being fired when full of ilii; best gunpowder. It also Bppeari from the last experiment, that ten grains of the powder produced hy ignition four cubical inches only of air ; and it ia not to be supposed that the generation, however rapid, of four cubical inches of air, will alone account fur the described force; neither can it be accounted for by the formation of a little water^ wbicb, ft! will hereafter be shewn, happens at the saine moment j th« quantity formed from ton grnius must be so triOing, that I cannot ascribe much force to the expansion of its vapour, The sudden vaporalion of a part of the mercury seems to me a principal cause of this immense yet limited force; because its limitation may then be explained, as it is well known that mercury easily parts with ca> lorie, and requires a temperature of 600° of Fahienlveit, to lie maintained in the vaporous state. That the mercury is really con* verted into vapour, by ignition of the powder, may be inferred from the thin coal of divided quicksilver, which, after the explo- sion in the glass globe, covered its interior surface; and likewisa from the quick'>ilTer wiib which a tallow candle, or a piece of gold, may be evenly coated, by being held at a small distance from lbs inlianied powder. These facts certainly render it more than pro. bnble, although they do not dtmon'.lrate that the mercury is vols, tilizedj because it is nut unlikely t mercurial particles
vra oMehaiilcftllj inpelM i^giiMttlM nrfiMt of the glut, IIm goU^ and tiM tallow.
^ At to the force of tho diUleA marearj, M. BeftiimA relates a remarkablt instance of it, as follows :
^ Un alchjniste se pr^senta k Mr* Geoffrey, et Tassnra qn'il afoit trovT^ le moyen de fixer le mercore par nne operation fort simple. II fit constmire six bottcs rondes od for fort ^pals, qni en- troient les ones dans les antres ; la demlAre ^toit assojettie par deux cercles de fer qui se croisoleiit en an^es droits. On atvrft mis qnelqaes litres de mercnre dans la capadti de laprtniire ; on mit Get apparell dans un foumean asses rmpfi de charbon poor fUre rouglr i blanc les bottes de fer; mafs, lorsqne la chalenr ent pfo^tr^ soffisamment le mercnre, les bottes crerArent, atec nne telle explosion qn*ll se fit nn bmlt ^pouTantable ; des moroeanx de bottes furent lane6s avec tant de rapidity quil j en eut qui pass^ rent an trarers de deux planchers ; d'antres firent sur la muraille des efiets semblables a ceux den £clats de bombes**'*
^^ Had the alchemist proposed to fix water bj the same appa* ratns, the nest of boxes must, I suppose, have likewise been nip. tured ; yet it does not follow that the explosion would hare been so tremendous ; indeed, It is probable that it would not, for if (as Mr. Kirwan remarked to me) substances which hare the greatest specific grarlty have likewise the greatest attraction of cohesion, iStie supposition that the raponr of water, would agree with a posi. tion of Sir Isaac Newton, that those particles recede from one mother with the greatest force, and are most difficultly brought to^ getter, wUch upon contact cohere most strongly.
^ Before I attempt to investigate the constituent principles of this powder, it will be proper to describe the process and manipu. lationt wifeidi, from frequent trials, seem to be best calculated to produce it. One hundred grains, oi^ a greater proportional quan. tity of qnlcksilTer, (not exceeding 500 grains), are to be dissoWed^ with beat, in a measured ounce and a half of idtric acid. This sola- Hon being poured eold upon two measured ounces of alcohol, preyi* ously introduced into any con?enient glass ressel, a moderate heat h to be applied until an ^flerfescence is exdted. A white fume then begins to undulate on die surbce of the liquor ; and fhe powder will be gradnally preci]^tated, upon the cessation of action and re.
• Chjmle SipMaeatale et Raiioaa6» ton. It p. m*
tctioo* The precipitate is to be immediately collected on a filter, well washed with distilled water, and carefully dried in a heat not mnch exceeding that of a water-bath. The immediate edalcoration of the powder is material, because it is liable to the reaction of ni. trie acid ; and, whilst any of that acid adheres to it, it is very sub- ject to the influence of light. Let it also be cautiously remembered, that the mercurial solution is to be poured upon the alcohol.
*^ I ha7e recommended quicksilver to be used in preference to lin oxyd, because it seems to answer equally, and is less expensive ; otherwise, not only the pure red oxyd, but the red nitrous oxide, and turpeth, may be substituted ; neither does it seem essential to attend to the precise specific gravity of the acid, or the alcohol. The rectified spirit of wine, and the nitrous acid of commerce, never failed with me, to produce a fulminating mercury. It is in» deed true, that the powder prepared without attention is produced in different quantities, varieties in colour, and probably in strength. From analogy, I am disposed to think the whitest is the strongest ; for it IS well known that the black precipitates of mercury ap- proach nearest to the metallic state. The variation in quantity is remarkable ; the smallest quantity I ever obtained from 100 grains of quicksilver being 120 grains, aud the largest 132 grains. Much depends on very minute circumstances. The greatest product seems to be obtained when a vessel is used which condenses and causes most ether to return into the mother liquor ; besides which, care is to be had in applying the requisite heat, that a speedy and not a violent action be effected. One hundred grains of an oxide are not so productive as 100 grains of quicksilver.
^^ As to the colour, it seems to incline to black when the action of the acid of the alcohol is most violent, and vice versa,
^^ I need not observe, that the gasses which were generated dur« ing the combustion of the pchvder in the glass globe, were neces- sarily mixed with atmospheric air ; the facility with which the electric fluid passes through a vacuum, made such a mixture un* avoidable.
" The cubical inch of gass received over water was not readily absorbed by it; and, as it soon extinguished a taper without be. coming red, or being itself inflamed, barytes water was let up to the three cubical inches received over mercnry, when a carbonate^^ 4if barytes was imotiediately precipitated.
'* The residue of scvenl explosions) after the oiiWnic acid had VOL. vu o
196 FutmHATiifo MMevftT.
spparated, I infrodaced into a T^ry tmll tdniU^ted retort fiftj graim of the mercarlal powder, and poured opon it three drachms, by measure, of snipharic add, frith the aisiMaace of a gentle heat. I first receiyed it orer qoicksii? er ; the sarfiice of which, dorhig the operation, partially corered itself witli a little black powder.
<* The gass, by dMTerent trials, amoanted td from twenty-eight to thirty*one cubical inches : it first appeared to be nothio^ bat carbonic acid, as it precipitated baiytei water^ and eatiiigiiished a taper, withoot being itself inflamed, or beeotting red; BoC npott letting up to it liquid caustic amrnonla, tiiere #ai a reside of fh>m fire to seren inches, of a peculiar inflammable gte, #liieh bomt with a greenish-blue flame. Wbeh I macfe use of the water-tub, I obtained, from the same materials^ ftom twenty»flVe to twenty, seren inches only of gass, althottgfa Che ateri^'qiiaiitity of the peculiar inflammable gass was likewise from Art to sercfn inches: therefore, the difierenire of the aggregate product^ orer die two fluids, must hate arisen from the abfsorpcido', by the ^ater, of k part of the carbonic acid iv He naseeiit stMe. 'tbb Tarhthm of the quantify of the inflammable gass, when fiowdi^ Mm tUi sMbo parcel is usedj seems to depend upon Ae ilcUd hMg it fitlfe inoiro or less dilhttf.
<< With respect to the nature of the pectrlfanr IdflaatmsUe piv^ H is plain to me, ftom the reasonsr I shall immediately adddde, (hat it Is no odker than the gass (in a pure state) intd which Or^ UliUHm etheriied gsss can be resohred j by ti^tment witli dUute Sid^Wnrlt acid.
<< The DatOk chemists bare shewn, thattbe nlth>tali€tlierisMgasft can be reaolred into nitrous- gass, by exposure tb itmcMfxtk shf. phurit add ; and timt, by usfaig a dlltrte instead of H- cMcentMite add, a gass is obtained which enlarges the flfloi^' of a bMtibg taper, so mtidi like the gasseous oidde of* taott^- flMt tllby ndstMk K for thit snbiltancei until tfi^ diseor ered t&ii it wiis p^iittitaeut oter wat^ ; refilled <o detoikatb with: h:^AogcRa ; and thatt AM faUadons appearaio^ into owfaig to a miittiti of nlti^ui gMr Wttik Inflammable gass.'
^^ The ittflammebie gass, separated fitei (be pMrde^, aiisW^M to the description of the gass MIA at flht decehed '^ IJUtdt chettisU: Irt, In being pmsiMMtdfer water; ^, rifidlttf tb
fniiMik 4TiMfBi Msmcoir. 197
iMoute wKh hjdrogra ; and adij, bafiag the tf^Mrance of tlie gmtoui oxide of asote, when mixed with nitrons gass.
<< The gass separable by the same acid, from nitrous etherized gaif, and from the nercarial powder, have therefore the same properties. Ererj cliemist would thence conclude, that the ni. trout otherixed gats is a constituent part of the powder; and the inflammable and nitrous gats, instead of the inflammable and car. bonic acid gass, liad been the mixed product extricated from it by dilute tulphpric add.
^^ It howerer appears to me, that nitrous ^ass was retllj pro- duced by the action of the dilute sulphuric acid; and that, wlien produced, it united to an excess of oxygen, present in the oxalate of mercury.
^^ To explain how tUs change might happen, I must premise, that my experiments have shewn me, that oxalate of mercury cap exist in. two, if not in three states. 1st. By the discorery of Mr. Ameilon, the precipitate obtained by oxalic acid, from nitrate of mercury, fuses with a hissing noise. The precipitate is an oxalate of mercury, seemingly with excess of oxygen. Mercury dissolred in sulphuric acid, and precipitated hy oxalic acid, and also the pure red oxide of mercury, digested with oxalic acid, gi? e oxalates In the same state. 2dly. Acetate of mercury, precipitated by oxalic acid, although a true oxalate is formed, has no kind of inflammability. I consider it as an oxalate, with less oxygen than those above-mentioned. 3dly. A solution of nitrate of mercury^ boiled with dnldfied spirit of nitre, gifes an oxalate more inflam- mable than any other ; perhaps it contains most oxygen.
^^ The oxalate of mercury, remaining from the powder in the solphuric liquor^ is not only always in the same state as that preci- pitated from acetate of mercury, entirely devoid of inflammability, but contains globules of quicksilver, consequently it roust have parted with even more than its excess of oxygen ; and if nitrous gass wu present, it would of course seise at least a portion ^t th»t oxygen* It is true, that globules of quicksilver may seem IncompatilAi with nitrous acid ; but the quantity of the one may not correspond with that of the other, or the dilution of the acid may destroy its action.
*^ As to tho presence of the carbonic acid, it must have arisen elttier from a complete decomposition of a part of the oxalate, or
admitting the mtj^on et]|iri^.gm ^.N f ffWtttaent principle of
o3
198 FULMINATING MBBtiURT.
(lie powdvr, from ■ portion of Oie oxygen, not (alcen up b] nitrous gaiii, being united with the ctrbon of ttie elheriied gai
** The muriatic Rctd, digested with the mercarial powder, ■oliet B portion of it, withoat extricating atj notable qunti gau. The dissolution, eviijorated to t drf ult, taitullk corrosive soblimile ; and the portion which the add doa not up ia left in a state of an inflammahle oxalate.
" These eifects all (end to eatablisb the existenre of (ba Bt etheriied gasi, as a constituent part of the powder; and Wa corroborate (he explanation I hare ventured to give of the m of the snliriiurlc acid. Moreover, a meatared ounce and a of nitrons acid, holding 100 grains of mercury in solvtfon, two measured ounces of alcohol, jield ninety cubical InriwB of gau : whereas, without the intervention of mercury, they SIO inches. Upon the whole, I tniit K will be (bovgh( naaoi to conclude, that th« Biercurial powder is composed ot At Rtl otlierised gasi, and of oxalate of mercory with excess of oxj lst< Because the nitric converts the mercurial powder entirely nttrons gasi, carbonic acid gass, acetous acid, and nitrvt* of cury. 3dly. Because the dilute inlphnric acid revolvei H hi unlnflanimable oxalate of mercury, and separates from It a gu aciDbltnglballnto which the same acid retolvei thenitTonaolbe gass. Sdty. Because an nninflatnmable oxalate is likewise after the mnriatic acid has converted a part of it intn anblh 4tUy. Became it cannot be formed by boiling nitrate of men
#dLMlNATINO MBBCURT. • 199
refiTedy and, I presume, thrown into yapour, as may well be imagined, from the immense quantity of caloric extricated, by adding concentrate sulpharic acid to the mercurial powder.
^' I will not venture to state, with accuracy, in what propor. tions its constituent principles are combined. The affinities 1 have brought into play are complicated, and the constitution of the substances I have to deal with not fully known, fiut to make round numbers, I will resume the statement, that 100 grains of the mercurial powder lost sixteen grains of its original weight, by treatment with dilute sulphuric acid : eighty-four grains of the mercurial oxalate, mixed with a few minute globules of quick, silver, remained undissolved in the acid. The sulphuric liquor was saturated with carbonic of potash, and yielded 3.4 grains of carbonate of mercury. If 1.4 grains should be thought a proper allowance for the weight of carbonic acid in the 3.4 grains, I will make that deduction, and add the remaining two grains to the eighty.four grains of mercurial oxalate and quicksilver; I shall then have^
Of oxalate and mercury - 86 grains.
And a deficit, to be ascribed to the nitrous etherized gass^ and excess of oxygen 14
100
'^ It may perhaps be proper to proceed still further, and recur to the 48.5 grains, separated by nitrate of lime from the eighty.four grains of mercurial oxalate, and globules of quicksilver. These 48.5 grains were proved to be oxalate of lime; but they contained a minute inseparable quantity of mercury, almost in the state of quicksilver, formerly part of the eighty.four grains from which they were separated. Had the 48.5 grains bet-n pure cal. careous oxalate, the quantity of pure oxalic acid in them would, according to Bergmann, be 23.28 grains. Hence, by omitting the two grains of mercury, in the 3.4 grains of carbonate, 100 grains of the mercurial powder might have been said to contain, of pure oxalic at id, 23.28 grains; of mercury 62.72 grains; and of nitrous etherized gass, and excess of oxygen, fourteen grains. But as the 48.5 grains were not pure oxalate, inasmuch as they contained the mercury they received from the ejghty.four grains, from which tuey were generated by the nitrate of lime, some allowance must be made for the mercury, successively intermixed
o4
4pp rULMtHATlHO MBKCDIT*
with ,0m eighty-four graiiUi «iid tii« 4&,S gnink ^a, 0td< mke correiponding nuniben, ud ^low tot moaxoMulft errt niaM eitimtte the <iaantitj of tbat BMrcnry to hara aMoaati two craini, which I most of course dejduQl frop the SS.IB ■ o^ oxalic Kcid. I sjiall then have the following iililiinifl i . That 100 grains of fuloiiiiatii^ mtiany . i.t,..
oDgbt to contain, of pwo ^palic acid, SLW^iiiw.
Of marcurj', formerlj nniUd to ' .tfiifK
tht oiLalic acid, . 00.73 alimi-
pfwric liquor, . 2 , j ;,.
. A>>0 ^ ^fvry. left la the aol- .-.t-it,
pborie llqnqr, after the w^ . ,,,^
ration of the gauei, - 3
Total of mercury, 04.73. ..^
0^ nitrooi etherised ncf^ and exceas of ' .^ .
'oxygen, - ' - - u ' "' '
IQOi'Uvi- ■
*' Since 100 grains of Qie powder seem to contalKVUl^
of nercary, R Will be imnediately niqoired, what betiMVfll
grains of qoit^filTer, when treated as directed, in th« toari
of the process for f'^P*'''"g "i* fulminaling oiprcury.
" It has been Slated, that 100 grnins of qiiirkMlrer pro under diiierent circumslaiiccs, from 130 to I3'2 grains «f ir
WV^niVATlVQ VBECUET. 901
tubsUncefl cad combine with mercury, is not mj present object. After observing that the mercary Uft in the residuary liquor can be precipitated in a rery subtle ddik powder, by carbonate of pot» a«h, I shall content myself with exaniining the nature of the white fomtfs.
^^ It is clear that these white fume^ contain mercury : they may be wholly condensed in a range o*. Wolfe's apparatus, charged with a solution of muriate of ammonia. Whf n the operation is oyer, a white powder is seen floating with ether on the saline liquor, which, if the bottles are agitated, is entirely dissohed. After the mixture has been boiled, nr for some time exposed to the atmosphere, it yields to caustic ammonia a precipitate, in all respects similar to that which is separated by caustic ammonia, from corrosiye sublimate.
^^ I would infer from these facts, that the white dense fumes consist of mercury, or perhaps oxide of mercury, united to the nitrons etherized gass ; and that, whi n the muriate of ammonia containing tliem is exposed to the atmosphere, or is boiled, the gass separates from the mercury, and the excess of nitrous acid, which always comes oyer with nitrous ether, decomposes the am. moniacal muriate of sublimate, and forms corrosiye mercurial muriate or sublimate. This theory is corroborated by compar- log the quantity of gass estimated to be contained in the fulmi. nating mercury with the quanties of gass yielded from alcohol and nitrous acid, with and without mercury in solution ; not t^ mention that more ether, as well as more gass, is produced with- out the interyention of mercury ; and that, according to the Dutch chemists, the product of ether is always in the inverse ratio to the product of nitrous etherized gass. Should a further proof be thous^ht necessary to the existence of the nidrius etherized gass, in the fulminating m^-rcury, as well as in the white druse fumes, ^t may be added, that if a mixture of alcohol and nitrous acid, hold- ing mercury in solution, be so dilute, and exposed of a temper^ ture so low, that neither ether nor nitrous etherized cass are pro- duced, the fnlminating mercury, or the white fumes, ykill neyer be generated ; for, under such circomstanccs, the mercury is pre- cipitated chiefly io the state of ao inflammable oxalate. Further, when we consider the difl*erent substances formed by an union of nitrous acid and alcohol, we are so far acquainted with all, except the ether and the nitrous etherized gass, as to create a presump*
202 FULMINATING MCBCURT.
tfoO) tiiat no others are capable of folatilislog mercury, at the Tery low temperature in which the white fames exist i since, dor. faig some minutes, they are permanent over water 40^ Fahrenheit. << Hitherto, as much only has l>een said of the gass which is separated from the mercurial powder, by dilute sulphuric acid, as was necessary to identify it with that into which the same acid can resolye the nitrous etherized gass : I have further to speak of its peculiarity.
<< The characteristic properties of the Inflammable gass seem to me to be the following : 1st. It does not diminish in rolume, either with oxygen or nitrous gass. 2d]y. It will not explode with oxy. gen, by the electric shock, in a close tessel. 3dly. It bums like hydrocarbonate, bat with a blueisb^reen flame : and 4thly. It is permanent over water*
<< It is of course either not formed, or is conrertible Into nitrous gass by the concentrate nitric and muriatic acids ; because, by those acids, no inflammable gass was extricated from the powder.
<* Should this Inflammable gass prote not to be hydrocarbonate^ I shall be disposed to conclude, that it lias nitrogen for Its basis ; indeed, I am at this moment inclined to that opinion, because I find that Dr. Priestley, during his experiments on his dephlogistL gated nitrons air, once produced a gass which seems to bare re* aemt»led this inflammable gass, both in the mode of burning and In the colour of the flame.
<< Afler the termination of the common solution of iron, in spirit of nitre, he used heat, and got, says he, < such a kind of idr as I had brought nitrous air to be, by exposing it to iron, or liter of sulphur ; for, on the first trial, a candle burned In it with a much enlarged flame. At tnother time, the application of a candle to air produced in this manner, was attended with a real, though not a loud explosion j and immedhitely after this a green. ish.coloured flame descended from the top to the bottom of the Tessel, in which the air was contained* In the next produce of mir, from the same process, the flame descended blue, and Tery rapidly, from the top to the bottom of the ressel.'
<< These greenish and blne*coloured flames, descending from the top to the lH>ttom of the Teiae]^ are precisely descriptire of the injBammable gass separated from the powder* If it can ba pro.
rvLMiKiTrvro u bacuhy. 203
doced with certainty, by the repetition of Dr. Priestley's ezperi- ments, or should it by any means be got pure from the nitrous etherized gass, my curiosity will excite me to make it the object of future research ; otherwise, I must confess, I shall feel more dis- posed to prosecute other chemical subjects : for baring reason to think, that the density of the acid made a rariation in the product of this gass, and having nerer found that any acid, howerer dense, produced an immediate explosion, I oiice poured six drachms of concentrate acid upon fifty grains of the powder. An explosion, nearly at the instant of contact, was effected : I was wounded se- verely, and most of my apparatus destroyed. A quantity more. orer of the gass I had previously prepared was lost, by the inad- vertency of a person who went into my laboratory, whilst I was confined by the consequences of this discouraging accidenf. But should any one be desirous of giving the gass a further examina« tion, I again repeat, that as far as I am enabled to judge, it may with safety be prepared, by pouring three drachms of sulphuric acid, diluted with the same quantity of water, upon fifty grains of the powder, and then applying the flame of a candle until gats begins to be extricated. The only attempt I have made to decom- pose it, was by exposing it to copper and ammonia ; which, during several weeks, did not effect the least alteration.
^^ I will now conclude (continues Mr. Howard), by observing, that the fulminating mercury seems to be characterised by the fol- lowing properties :
<^ It takes fire at the temperature of 368 Fahrenheit ; it ex- plodes by friction, by flint and steel, and by being thrown into concentrate sulphuric acid. It is equally inflammable under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, as surrounded by atmospheric air ; and it detonates loudly, both by the blow of a hammer, and by a strong electrical shock.
^^ Notwithstanding the compositions of fulminating silver, and of fulminating gold, differ essentially from that of fulminating mercury ; all three have similar qualities. In tremendous efiects, silver undoubtedly stands first, and gold perhaps the last. The efiects of the mercurial powder, and of gunpowder, admit of little comparison. The one exerts, within certain limits, an almost in- conceivable force : its agents seem to be gass and caloric, very suddenly set at liberty, and both mercury and water thrown into irapoar. The other displays a more extended^ bot inferior power i
£04 FULHIVATIHa HEKCVRY.
^8 and calorie arey ixmipantifdjr 0pe«lLiiig, liberated by degrees ; apd water, according to count Rnrnford, is thrown into vapour.
<< Hence it seems tbat the fnlminating mercuij) from the limi- tation of its sphere pf action, can seldom, if e^er, be applied to mining ; and, from the immensity of its initial force, cannot be vsed in fire-arms, unless in cases where it becomes an object to destroy them ; and where it is the practice to spike cannon, it may be of service, because I apprehend it m^y be used in such a man. ner as to burst cannon, without dispersing any splinters.
<< The inflammation of fulminating mercury, by concussion, offers nothing more novel or remarki^ble than the inflammation, by concussion, of many other substances. The theory of such inflam* mations has been long since exposed by the celebrated Mr. Ber« thoUet, and confirmed by Messieurs Fourcroy and Vauquelin: yet, I must confess, I am at a loss to understand why a small ^quantity of mercurial powder, made to detonate by the hammer or the electric shock, should produce a report so much louder than when it is inflamed by a match, or by flint and steel. It might at first be imagined,, that the loudness of the import could be ac» counted for, by supposing the instant of the inflammation, and that of the powder's confinement, between the hammer and anvU^ to be precisely the same ; but, when the electrical shock is sent through or over a few grains of the powder, merely laid on ivory, and a loud report in consequence, I can form no idea of wbp/t causes such a report.
^^ Thf operation by which the powder is prepared, is perhaps on^ of the most beautiful and surprising in chemistry ; and it is not a little interesting to consider tjie affinities which are brought pnto play. The s.^pie^Qndant nitrous ^cid, of the oii^rcurial solu^ tion, must first i|ct on the alcohol, aad geperaite «thfr, nitrons etherised gass, and oxalic acid. The mercnrj unites to the two last, ip their nascent state, and relinquishai frosh niitrous acid, to act upon nnalteced alcohol. With r^sp^et to the oxalic aoid, a predisposf ng affinl[ty ^ms exerted in U^fom of its quantity, as it if e? idently not Conoid fiut enough to f«l^iA all the mercury ; othar* wise, no whitjs fumes daring a copsl^fiffble period of the op^cattoq, bot fulminating mercery alone will be produced.
<* Should any doubt still Jbe entertained of the exiftmce of the aflinities which have bean called predisposmg or consphring, a proof thut such affinitiei really exi9t| will, I think, be afforded,
hj compirlng the qoantity of oialic acid wKich can be generated from giren measures of nitrous acid and alcohol, with the inter- Tention of mercury, and the interrention of other metals. For Instance, when two measured ounces of alcohol are treated with a solution of 100 grains of nickel, in a measured ounce and a half of nitrous acid, little or no precipitate is produced ; yet, by the addition of oxalic acid to the residuary liquor, a quantity of oxa- late of nickel, after some repose, is deposited. Copper affords Another illustration; 100 grains of copper, dissoWed in a mea- sured ounce and a half of nitrous acid, and treated with alcohol, yielded me about eighteen grains of oxalate, although cupreous oxalate was plentifully generated, by dropping oxalic acid into the residuary liquor. About twenty-one grains of pure oxalic acid seem to be produced from the same materials, vvhen 100 grains of mercury are interposed. Besides, according to the Dutch paper, lAore thati once referred to, acetous acid is the principal residue after the preparations of nitrous ether. IIow can we explain the formafion of a greater quantity of oxalic acid, from the same materials, with the intervention of 100 grains of mercury, than with the intervention of 100 grains of copper, otherwise than by the notion of conspiring affinities, so analogous to what we see in other phaenomena of nature ?
^^ I have attempted, without success, to communicate fulminat- ing properties, by means of alcohol, to gold, platina, antimony, ttn, copper, iron^ lead, zinC, nickel, bismuth, cobalt, arsenic, and manganese ; but I have not yet sufficiently yarled my experiments to enable me to speak with absolute certainty. Silver, when twenty grains of it were treated with nearly the samie proportions dt nitrous acid and alcohol, as 100 grains of mercury, yielded, at tMe end of the operation, about three grains of a grey precipitate, which ftHmitiated with extreme violence. Mr. Cruickshank had fhe goodness to repeat the experiment : he dissolved forty grains of silver, in two ounces of the strongest nitrous acid, diluted with an equal i|tiadtity of water, and obtained (by means of two ounces of klcoho!) sfxty grains of a yery white powder, which fulminated Hke the grey precipitate above described. It probably combines with the samd principles as the mercury, and of course differs from lilt. Berthollet's folminatihg silver, before alluded tO0 I observe, fliat a white precipitate is always produced in the first instance ; tnd^ ihit it nUy be preserved by adding water as soon as it is
SOO VULUINATlKa MBKCDRT.
Ctrmed ; otherwiH, when the mother liquor ii abiia4«i becomes grey, and ii re-d[uoU«d."
*• Serenl triaU of tbe mercurU powder were aftpr* at Woolwich, in conjuiiGtioD with Colonel lIloomBeld Cmiduhank, apoo heary gum, carronades, Sec. from Howard generally inf^n, that any piece oi ordnancB deitroyed, by employing a qtuuitity of the niercurin equal in weight to oue-half of the lerrice-GharKe of gv and, from the terenth and lait experimeat, we may also that It would be pouible so to proportion the charge of powder, to the size of diflerent cannons, ai to burst the dispening aoy spliaten. Bat the great dangT otlcndi of fnlmlnaling mercnry, on acconnt of the t»c'iVity witl Mplodet, will probably preyent iti being employed for poM.
'* In addition to the other singular propertie mercury (says Mr, Howard}, it may he observed, I inflamed in the open air, seeai to produce a report mu than when the same quantity is exploded in a gun, cap: sisling its action. Mr. Cruickshank, who made some ol der by my process, remarked, that it would not inSami der. In consequenre of which, we spread a mixture and flne.grained gunpowder upon a parcel of the mere der; and after (he inllammalion of the latter, we colle< If not all, of the grains of gunpowder. Can this cxtl fact be explained by the rapidity of the combustion of f
3 of (baj >d, that^
and tbe whole aMames aJiUck, or Tery dark oolour. Mr. Cruick. thanks likewise informs me, that after the combustion of good fuopoirder under mercurj, no water is ever perceptible."
iPantolog. PhiL Trans.
aacTiON III.
Jxoianej or the Detonating Substance of M. Dulong.
This constitates one of the latest discoyeries in modern chemia* try; and almost all that we know of it in our own coontrr^ b throogh the correspondence and eiperiments of Sir Humphry Dafy.
In September I8I35 this philosopher received from M. Ampere^ then residing at Paris, a letter containing the following passage : *^ Yon are doubtless apprised, Sir, of the discovery made at Paris^ nearly a year ago, of a combination of azotic gass and calorine, which has the appearance of an oil, heavier than water, and which detonates with ail the violence of the fulminating metals, on the simple heat of the hand ; an effect which has deprived the author «f this discovery of an eye and a finger. This detonation takes place by the simple separation of the two gasses, namely the com« bination of oxygen and calorine ; li^ht and heat are largely and equally produced by this detonation, in which a single liquid be* comes decomposed into two gasses *."
The farther account of this curious substance we shall give in Sir
Humphry's own words, as contained in the Philosophical Trans.
actions for 1813.
<^ The letter," says he, ^< contained no account of the mode of
preparation of this substance, nor any other details respecting it.
80 curious and importiEint a result could not fail to interest
me, particularly as I have long been engaged in experiments on
the action of azote and chlorine, without gaining any decided
proofs of their power of combining with each other. I perused
with avidity the different French chemical and physical journals^
especially Les Annales de Chimie and Le Journal de Physique, of
which the complete series of the last year have arrived in this coun«
irj^ in hopes of discovering some detail respecting the prepanu
tion of this substance ; but in vain. I was unable to find any
tting relative to it in these publications, or in the Moniteur.
.— ' , ■ ' ■ ■ .1 ■ 1 ■ ■ 11
* '* Tow avcs laoi donte appiiii,! Ac. sec FMl. IVaM. fbr I8l3rp« U
t08 NEW D^dNATXNO Sl/s'StANClE.
<< It wii e?id«nt frcmi the notice, that it cobTd not be formed la any operations in which heat is concerned; I therefore thought of attempting to combine azote and chto'rin^ under circamstances which I had nerer tri^d before, that of presenting them to each other artificially cooled, the aiote being in a nascent state. For this purpose I made a solutiort of ammonfa^ cooled it by a mixture of ice and muriate of lime, and slowly passed into it chlorine, cooled by the same means. There was immediately a yiolent action, ac- companied by fnrtes of a peculiarly disagreeable smefl j nt the aanw thne a jtWoW substence wus seed to Mnti in miniUte films on the svrflaee of the liqooi^ ; bQt it was ef anescent, and immediately resolved itself into gass. I was preparing to repeat the eiperi. ment, aubstitnting the pmssiate of amttiQ^nia and other ammontacal compounds, in which less heat might be produced by the action o^ the chlorine, than in the pure solution of the gass, when my friend Mr. J« 6. Children put me in mlud of a circumstance of which he iMtd written to me an acconnt, in the end of July, which promised to elucidate the enquiry, ih. that Mr. James Burton, jun. In ex. posing chlorine to a solution of nitrate of ammonia, had observed tlie formation of a yellow oil, which he had not been able to col. lect so as to examine its pi-opertles, as it was rapidly dissipated by exposure to the atmosphere. Mr. Children had tried the same ex. periment with iimilar results.
<< I immediately exposed a phial, containing about six cubical inches of chlorine, to a satkirated solution of nitrate of ammonia, at the temperatut^ of about fifty degrees in common day-light. A diminution of the gass speedily took place; in a fei^ minutes a ifan, which bad the aijipeilVanee of oil, was seen oil the snrlkce of the ilald ; by shaiking the phial it collected in small glolftiles, and fcU to the bottom. I took out one of the globules, atid exposed it In'OOntitt with wHter to a gentle h^bt : loiig before the wate^ begin b boH, H explofled with a very briltiant Ugiht, bdt without eny fMcnce of loiiifd.-
<< I tmniedlitdy {MpMed to Mi". Chfldren, that Hre shoulQ in^ tttte a terfeif of ei^eriteetitt np<Ai ih (ireptfrtition and itiT proper- ties. We coris^tMiifiy c<Mbmeta(:ed the"dt>erations, the results ot WWch I shall describe. We Wen itoifted in our lUbo^V^ which iMe etrried oti in Mr. ChildWi^'s latXorstory at TuhbiUl^, by Mr. Warburtoft.
** Itiiprfbiltt d tlfCt tk^ sinuftonjBf oxalate of ammonia^ or a rery
•HSW OBVOHAVIVa tOBlTANCS. £00
wetk solution of pore •aoioiiia, answered the purpose as well as the solotion of nitrate of amiDonia. It wa« formed most rapidly in the solotion of ammonia^ but it was white and cloaded ; and though less eranescent than in the strons: solution I first used, it was far from being as permanent as in the solutions of nitrate and oxalate. The solution of prussiate of ammoaia acted on by chlo- rine^ afforded none of the peculiar oil ; but produced white fumes, and became of a bright green colour. An attempt was made to procure the snbttaiice in large quantities, by passing chlorine into Wolfe's bottles containing the different solutions : but a single trial prored the danger of this mode of operating ; the compound had scarcely begun to form, when, by the action of some aromoniacal Tapour on chlorine, heat was produced, which occasioned a riolent explosion, and the whole apparatus was destroyed.
^^ I shall now describe the properties of the new substance. Its colour is very nearly that of olive oil, and it is as transparent, and more perfectly liquid. I hare not been able to ascertain its speci* fie gravity with accuracy, but it is probably above 1*6. Its smell is very nauseous, strongly resembling that of the combination of carbonic oxide and chlorine, discovered by my brother; and its effect on the eyes is peculiarly pungent and distressing. A little of it was introduced under water into the receiver of an air pump, and the receirer exhausted ; it became an elastic fluid and in its gasseous state was rapidly absorbed or decomposed by the water. When warm water was poured into a glass containing it, it expand- ed into a globule of elastic fluid, of an orange colour, which dimi. nished as it passed through the water.
^' I attempted to collect the products of the explosion of the new substance, by applying the heat of a spirit lamp to a globule of it, confined in a curted glass tube over water: a little gass was at first extricated ; but long before the water had attained the tern, perature of ebullition, a violent flash of light was perceived, with a sharp report 3 the tube and glass were broken into small frag, ments, and I received a severe wound in the transparent corner of the eye, which has produced a considerable inflammation of the eye, and obliges me to make the communication by an amaooensis. This experiment proves what extreme caution is necessary in ope. rating on this substance, for the quantity I used was scarcely as large as a grain of mustard seed.
<< A small globule of II thrown into a glass of <^ft oi|^ produced
VOL. VI. P
410 xBw DjnmiATiKS iniTAiin.
a mM violMt eipltniuD ; Mil Iha |lut, thMgh ■tronB i— ■fcroKfB into fragmrat*. Siraikr sffecU vn* pradnnd bjr IttmetiQa an oil ortarpeDtme and naplitbi. WhM U^wm tkra<r»)tHs aiktr, there wts a very alight action ; gau wai dbengaf[«d i»iattt ^Mn- titiM, ami a lalnUnoe lika wax vaa lomMl, wbkh kMl- bmt Ibe obanKtertotic prc^rtiet or the naw bodf > Oa alMM it acted slowl/, lost it! colonr, aod twcana a wkito oily anbatiBMi wilbonl mplMin powers. When a particle of it waa tonctwdaaMr mkr bf a particl* of phoipbonu, a btUliaot light wa* paa^iiHiAwKler tJw water, and permaDCBt gau waa diifgigeH, haTiaf itlfl Amm. ten of aaotok • ^* < .^,i
'* Wbesqaantiliei larger than a grain of mnitard laa^iHwied Air the contact with phoipkortia, tbeezploiioa wai ahitJ|B40 rio. lent ai to break the veiiel lot wbicb tbe uperiawnt MM mad*. Tba new bodjr, when aeted upon ander water by marcaiy^ Mind- ed a snb»lance, having the appearance of corrosive sublimate) and gaH wai disengaged. On tin foil and zinc it exerted no action ; it bad MO aclion on sulphnr, nor on resin. In iheir alcohalic soluli. one It diioppeared as in pure alcohol. Itdetoaated most violently when thrown into a solution of phosphoras in ether, or in alcobol. Phosphorus iolrodnced into ether, into which a glubule of tlie sub. alam^e had been put immediately before, produced no ellWct. In muriatic acid it gare oir gasa rapidly, and disappeared without ec- plosion. Ou dilute sulphuric acid it exerted no lioknt action. It immediatel} disappeared withoulexploiion in Libafius's liquor, tit which it impnrled a yellow lingf.
^tkB Btdbanteal foree of thii eompouad in detonation, seemi to be loperior to that of way other known, not eren excepting the am. BioBiical folminating tilTer. The Telocitj of its action appears to be likewise greater.
In a sohseqaent paper pabluhed in the same ? olame, Sir Ttnm^ phry DtLwj obserfes as follows :
^* I reoeived in April, a daplicate of the letter in which the dis« coferj was annonnced, containing an Appendix, in which the method of preparing it was described. M. Ampere, my corre- spondent, states that the author obtained it by passing a mixture of azote and chlorine through aqueous solutions of sulphate, or muriate of ammonia* It is ob? ions, from this statement that the substance dbcoTered in France, is the same as that which occasioned my acd* dent The asote cannot be necessary ; for the result is obtained by the exposure of pure chlorine to any common ammoniacai salt*
'* Since I recovered the use of my eyes, I have made many expert, ments on this eonpound ; it is probable that most of them haTO been made before in France ; but as no accounts of the iuTei. tigations of M. Dulong on the substance hare appeared in any of the foreign journals which hare rearJied this country, and as somo dlfierence of opinion and doubts exist respecting its composition^ I conceiTe a few details on its properties and nature will not bo entirely detold of Interest."
We cannot follow the analysis. Which Is too copious and ope. rose for. the present work. The author concludes by observing| that, the compound of chlorine and azote agrees with the oom^ pounds of the same substance with sulphur, phosphorus, and the metals, in being a non-conductor of electricity ; and these conu ponnds are likewise decomposable by heat, though they require that of Voltaic electricity^
Sulphur combines only in one proportion with chlorine ; and bence the netion of Solpburane, or Dr. Thompson's muriatic liquor npon water, like that of the new compound, is not a simple pheno« menOB of double decomposition.
Itseemspropertodesignatethbnewbodybysomename: Azotano says Sir Homphry ^ is the term that would be applied to it, accor^iing to my IdeM of its analogy to the other bodies which contain chlorine ; bnt I am not desirous, in the present imperfect and fluctuating state of chemical nomenclature, to press the adoption of any new word, pnrticttlarly as applied to a sobstance not discorered by myself."
GALL^SRY ■:;
OF "'_'_ '/''■
NATURE AND ART.
BOOK a ..„..
PTROTECBNY, or the ART tf CONSTRm^ FIRB-ffORKS. '"'■""
CONBTBVeTIOH Ot THE CAKTBIDOBB OF BUCV.'kfK
Rockets msy Im ngniM u Oe gniul bub of allflrMMl
«r BOULITI. SIS
To give Oe ctitridgw tiie mom length tod thickness, in order thit aaj Doaber of rockets vaj be prepared of the same size and fbroe, tbej are put into a hollow cylinder of strong wood, called a aoold. This mould is sometimes of metal ; but at any rate it onght to be made of some Tery hard wood.
This mould must not be confounded with another piece of wood, called the former or roller, around which is rolled the thick paper employed to make the cartridge. If the calibre of the mould Im divided into 8 equal parts, the diameter of the roller must be equal to 5 of these parts. The Tscuity between the roller and the int«» rior surface oi the mould, that is to say •( of the calibre of the mould, will be exactly filled by the cartridge.
As rockets are made of different sizes, moulds of different lengths and diameters must be pro? ided. The calibre of a cannon is nothing else than the diameter of its mouth ; and we here apply the same term to the diameter of the aperture of the mould. The size of the mould Is measured by its calibre ; but the length of the moulds for different rockets does not always bear the same proportion to the calibre, the length being diminished as the calibre is increased. The length of the mould for small rockets ought to be six times tho cslibre, but for rockets of the mean and larger size, it will be sufi* dent if the length of the mould be five times or four times the calibre of the moulds.
At the end of this chapter we shall giTe two tables, one of which contains the calibres of moulds below a pound bullet ; and the other the calibres from a pound to a hundred pounds bullet*
For making the cartridges, large stiff paper is employed. This paper is wrapped round the roller, and then cemented by means of common paste. The thickness of the paper when rolled up in this isanner, ought to be about one-eighth and a half of the calibre of the mould, according to the proportion giren to the diameter of the roller. Bnt if the diameter of the roller be made equal to | the calibre of ihm mould, the thickness of the cartridge must be a twelflh and a half of (hat calibre.
When tiie fMrtridge is formed, the roller is drawn out, by tunu lug it round, until it is distant from the edge of the cartridge the length of Its diameter. A piece of cord is then made to pass twice round the cartridge at the extremity of the roller. And into the vacuity left in the eartridge, another roller is Introduced, so as to letve some space between the two. Ope epil of thf pack-thread
SU OF ROCKETS.
must be fastened to some thing fixed, end tlie other to a stick con* Teyed between the legs, and placed in such a manner, as to be behind the person who choaks the cartridge. The cord is then to be stretched by retiring backwards, and the cartridge must be pinched until there remains onlj an aperture capable of admitting the piercer. The cord employed for pinching it Is then remoted, and its place is supplied bj a piece of pack.thread, which most be drawn rerj tight, passing it several times round the cartridge, after which it is secared by means of running knots made one abore the other.
Besides the roller, a rod is used, which being employed to knid the cartridge, must be somewhat smaller than the roller, in order that it may be easily introduced into the cartridge. The red Is pierced lengthwise, to a sufficient depth to receive the piercer, which must enter into the mould, and unite with it exactly at i<s lower part. The piercer, which decreases in size, is introduced into the car. tridge through the part where it has been choaked, and serres to preserve a cavity within It. Its length, besides the nipple or but* ton, must be equal to about two.thirds that of the mould. Lastlj, if the thickness of the base be a fourth part of the calibre of the mould, the point must be made equal to a sixth of the calibre.
It if evident that there must be at least three rods, pierced in proportion to the diminution of the piercer. In order that the powder which Is rammed in by means of a mallet, may be uniformly peeked throughout the whole length of the rocket. It may be easily percebed also, that these rods ought to be made of some very luird wood, to resist the strokes of the mallet.
In loading rockets, It is more convenient not to employ a piercer. When loaded on a nipple, without a piercer^ by means of one massy lod, they are pierced with a bit and a piercer fitted into the end of a lilt-brace. Care however must be taken to make this hole inlted to the proportion assigned for the diminution of the piercer. That if to lay, the extremity of the hole at the choaked part of the cartridge, ought to be about a fourth of the calibre of the mould ; and the extremity of the hole which is in the inside for about two- Alrds of the length of the rocket oogbt to be a sixth of the calibre. This hole mnst pass directly through the middle of the rocket In short, experience and Ingennitj will suggest what is most conve* Blent, and in what manner the metiiod of loadbg rbcketsi which w^ Anil kre eiplain^ ma^ be TiHe4t
•»MlcaTC. fil5
Ailtr At dtff rldg« b pliotd la the movU^ po«r gndnall j into it the prepawd composition ; taliiog care to poor only two spoon* fols tt n time, and to ram it immediately down witli the rod, strik. Iif it in a perpendicnlar direction with a maliet of a proper size, and giving an equal number of strokes, for example, 3 or 4, each time that a new quantity of the composition is poured in.
l¥hen die cartridge u about half filled, separate with a bodkin iht half of the folds of the paper which remains, and having turned Ikem back on the composition, press them down with the rod and a few stibkes of tlie mallet, in order to compress the paper on the composition.
Then pierce three or four holes in the folded paper, by means of 4 piercer, which most be made to penetrate to the composition of the rocket. These holes serre to form a communication between the body of the rocket and the vacuity at the extremity of the car* fridge, or that part which has been l^ft empty.
In small rockets this vacuity is filled with granulated powder, which serves to let them off : they are then covered with paper, and pinched in the same manner as at the other extremity. But in other rockets, the pot containing stars, serpents, and ninnlng rockets is adapted to it, as will be shewn hereafter.
It may be sufficient however to make, with a bit or piercer, only one hole, which must be neither too large nor too small, such as a fourth part of the diameter of the rocket, to set fire to the powder, taking care that this hole be as straight as possible, and exactly in the middle of the composition. A little of the composition of the rocket must be put into these holes, that the fire may not fail to be commnnicated to it.
It now remains to fix the rocket to its rod, which is done in the following manner. "When the rocket has been constructed as above described, make flut to it a rod of light wood, such as fir or willow, broad and flat at the end next the rocket, and decreasing to. wards the other. It must be as straight and free from knots as possible, and ought to be dressed, if necessary,, with a plane. Its length aud weight must be proportioned to the rocket ; that is to say, it ought to be six, seven, or eight feet long« so as to remain in equilibrium with it, when suspended on the finger, within an inch or an inch and a half of the neciu Before it is fired, pbice it with the neck downwards, and let it rest on two nails, in a direction perpendicular to the horixon. To make it aiciiid itraighter and to
v4
216 ^f BOcseT«»
a gveftMr bdght, adapt t» ill s««aiit a poioted cq^ or top, mtda of common paper, whick wQl Mr? a to facUiUte its paiaage tbrougk the air.
These rockets, in general, are made in a more complex manner, sereral other things being added to them to render them more agreeable, such for example as a petard, which is a box of tio*plate, filled with fine gunpowder, placed on tike summit. The petard is deposited on the composition, at the end where it has been .filled; and the remaining paper of the cartridge is folded down OTer it to keep it firpk The petard produces its eifoct when the rocket is in the air and the composition is consumed.
Stars, golden rain, serpents, satidssons, and scTeral other amusing things, the composition of which we shall explain here. after) are also added to them. This is done bj adjusting to the head of the rockt^t, an empty pot or cartridge, much larger than the rocket, in order that it may contain serpents, stars, and rarions Other appendages, to render it more beautifuL
Rockets may be made to rise into the air without rods. For this purpose four wings must be atbtoked to them in the form of a cross, and similar to those seen on arrows or darts. In length, these wings must be equal to two-thirds that of the rocket ; their breadth towards the bottom should be half their length, and their thickness ought to be equal to that of a card.
But (his method of making rockets ascend is less certain , and more incouTenient than that where a rod is used ; and for this rea- son it is rarely employed.
We shall now skew the method of finding the diameters or calibre of rockets, according to their weight ; but we must first obserfo that a pound rocket, is that just capable of admitting a leaden bullet of a pooad weight, and so of the rest. The calibre for the different dtes may be found by the two following tables, one of which is calcnlaiid for rockets of a pound weight and below ; and the other for those from a pound weight to 60 pounds.
II- . '■ .1
ei7
I. TSiUf 1/ A« tolibre ^momU$ tf a pound weight and Mom,
|
Ounces. |
Lines. ^ |
Urams. |
Lines. |
|
10 |
m |
14 |
n |
|
12 |
17 |
12 |
7 |
|
8 |
15 |
10 |
6i |
|
7 |
14i |
8 |
6i |
|
0 |
141 |
6 |
4 |
|
5 |
13 |
4 |
|
|
4 |
12i 111 |
2 |
H |
|
3 |
|||
|
2 1 |
The use of this table will be understood merely by inspection ; for it is eTident that a rocket of 12 ounces ought to be 17 lines in diameter ; one of 8 ounces, 15 lines ; one of 10 drams, 6\ lines ; and so of the rest.
On the other hand, if the diameter of the rockpt be giTen, it will be easy to find the weight of the ball corresponding to that calibre. For example, if the diameter be 13 lines, it will be immediately seen, by looking for that number in the column of lines, that it cor- responds to a ball of 5 ounces.
IL Tabic of the calibre of moulds from 1 to bO pounds ball.
|
Pounds. |
Calibre. |
Pounds. |
Calibre. |
Pounds |
|
1 |
too |
14 |
241 |
27 |
|
2 |
126 t |
15 |
247 |
'^8 |
|
3 |
144 |
IC |
25«i |
^9 |
|
4 |
158 |
17 |
257 |
30 |
|
5 |
171 |
18 |
262 |
31 |
|
0 |
181 |
19 |
267 |
32 |
|
7 |
191 |
20 |
271 |
33 |
|
8 |
200 |
21 |
275 |
34 |
|
0 |
208 |
22 |
280 |
35 |
|
10 |
216 |
23 |
284 |
3(5 |
|
11 |
222 |
24 |
288 |
3? |
|
12 |
228 |
25 |
292 |
38 |
|
13 |
235 |
26 |
296 |
39 |
Calibre.
3Lv; 304 307 310 3U 317 32() 32J
330 333 336 339
Pounds. Calibre,
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 bO
341
344
347
350
3o3
355
358
361
363
^6S
The use of the second table is as follows : If the weight of the ball be gi? en^ which we shall suppose to be 24 pounds, seek for
tl9 coifPOfitTioir or bockbts.'
that mabar la tbt colomn of pMod*, tod oppottto fe U,
Goloinn of calibrei, will be round the namber 388. Then 100 is to ig|, w i> S88 to ■ fonitb tern, whid will namber of line* of tfaa calibre required ; or maltipl^ tho n foand, that is 288, b7 1 1)|, and from the product 56'IB, nt two lait figures : the required calibra tberefore will M A0*1( or 4 inches 8 linos.
Oo tbe other band, the calibre being given in liaei, Ow va Am ball mty be foond with eqnat ease : ir the calibre, for a be S8 lines, say as |D{ is to 28, so is 100 to a fourth Ink, will be 143*5, or nearly 144. Bat in the above table, oppc 144, io tbe second column, will be found the number S In tbi which ihews that a rocket, the diameter or calibre of lAkl IbtM) Is Brocket of ft 9 pounds ball. . .
eOHFOtlTIOn OFTHBTOWSBErORmOCXKTfj ARS MAMNBR or FILLIHO THEM.
J. HE composition of tbe powder for rockets most bo dW Recording to the different ^lei ; as that proper for small m •wonld be too itrong for Urge ones. This Is a fact respoetlm '
COMMtmOir Of EOCKBTC. - 819
Vw m rocket ofjbur mmcet.
To firar pounds of gunpowder, add a pound 'of saltpetre, and four ounces of charcoal t jou maj add also, if jou choose, half an ounce of sulphur ; or to one pound two ounces and a half of gun. powder^ add four ounces of saltpetre, and two ounces of charcoal ; or to a pound of powder, add four ounces of saltpetre, and ona ounce of charcoal ; or to serenteen ounces of gunpowder, add four ounces of saltpetre, and the same quantity of charcoal ; or to three ounces and a half of gunpowder, add ten ounces of saltpetre, and three ounces and a half of charcoal. But the composition will be strongest, if to ten ounces of gunpowder, you add three ounces and a half of saltpetre, and three ounces of charcoal.
For rocket i of Jive or iix ounces ^
To two pounds five ounces of gunpowder, add half a poond of saltpetre, two ounces of sulphur, six ounces of charcoal, and two ounces of iron filings.
For rockets of seven or eight ounces.
To serenteen ounces of gunpowder^ add four ounces of saltpetre imd three ounces of sulphur.
For rockets of from eight to ten ounces.
To two pounds and fire ounces of gunpowder, add half a pound of saltpetre, two ounces of sulphur, seven ounces of charcoal, and three ounces of iron filings.
For rockets of from ten to twelve ounces.
To seventeen ounces of gunpowder, add four ounces of saltpetre^ three ounees and a half of sulphur, and one ounce of charcoal.
For rockets of from fourteen toff teen ounces.
To two pounds four ounces of gunpowder, add nine ounces of saltpetre, three ounces of sulphur, fiye ounces of charcoal^ and threo ounces of iron filings.
For rockets of one pound.
To one pound of gunpowder^ add one ounce of sulphur^ and three ounces of chareod.
na COMPOflTIOM or KOCKBTS. ,
lot a ratkti o/ two pound*. To OBC pound four oudom of giuipowder, add toe oa Nltpctrt, one oance of inlphnr, time ounce) of clMrw*l» K OBBGcs (tf iron Alingi.
For a rocket of three poundt.
To OirQroancei of ikltpetre, edd seren auncea«iil*. MlfkaTf and eteren ODDceG of charcoal.
Ar rocketi o/ /our, fioe, ux, or $ev«n potatA,''
. To tyrty-o— ponndi of tellpcfae, add four poundtalri K nlpbvr, isd ten pooadi of charcoal. .>'•
For roeketi of eight, nine, or ten pound: " T« right pOBids of nltpetra, add ooe pound four o«NW phor, and two pound* twdTO ouncet of charcoal. ' ■ - ■
We (hall here obterre, that then IngredieDtamuitboMdh] •d wparatety^ and sifted ; they are then to be weig^e^ Md together for the purpose of loading the cartrldgei, #lkk oi bekaptreadyinthoinoiildi. TbacartridgefmHtbeaiA>«| paper, doubled, and cemented bjr meami of atrong pNl^»| Im floor and very pure water.
0/ Matches.
r. . '. v' • iij*^"^ '■ *' ' "t*!- 1
•<
CHAP. III.
OS THE CAU8B WHICH MAKES ROCKETS ASCBND INTO
THB AIR.
As this caase it nearly the same as that which produces recoil la f re-arms, it is best explained by illustrating the latter.
When the powder is suddenly inflamed in the chamber, or at the bottom of the barrel, it necessarily exercises an action two ways at the same time ; that is to say, against the breech of the piece, and against the bullet or wadding, which is placed aboTe it. Besides this, it acts also against the sides of the chamber which it occupies ; and as they oppose a resistance almost insurmountable, the whole effort of the elastic fluid, produced by the inflammation, is exerted in the two directions aboTe mentioned. But the resistance opposed by the bvUet^ being much less than that opposed by the mass of the barrel or cannon, the bullet is forced out with great Telocity. It is Impossible, howerer, that the body of the piece itself should not ex* perience a movement backwards ; for if a spring is suddenly let Ipose, between two moveable obstacles, it will impel them both, and communicate to them Telocities in the inverse ratio of their masses ; the piece therefore must acquire a velocity backwards nearly in the inverse ratio of its mass to that of the bnllet. We make use of the term nearly, because there are various clrcum* stances wliich ^ve to this ratio certain modifications ; bnt it is always true that the body of the piece is driven backwards, and Oat if it weighs with its carriage, a thousand times more than the buUet, it acquires a velocity, which is a thousand times less, and which is soon annihilated by the friction of the wheels against the ground, ftc.
The cause of the ascent of the rocket is nearly the same. At the moment when the powder begins to inflame, its expansion produces a torrent of elastic fluid, which acts in every direction ; that is, against the air which opposes its escape from the eartridga, and against the upper part of the rocket ; bnt the resistance of the air b more considarable than the weight of tha roeket^ m account of
£fl2 CUINB8S AtD liEtLtlAHT PIRB«
tlie eitfeme npiditj with whidi the elastic field issaes through thtf neck of the rocket to throw itielf downwardly and therefore the rocket ascends by the ezoesi of tiie ode of these forces oyer the
other.
This however wdnld not be the case, unless the rocket were pierced to a certain deptlu A suflkient quantity of elastic fluid would not be produced ; for the composition wonid inflame only in circular coats of a diameter equal to that of the rocket | and expe« rience shews that this is not sufficient. Recourse then is had Co the Teiy ingenious idea of piercing the rocket with a conical hole, which makes the composition burn in conical strata, which have much greater surface, and therefore produce a much greater quan« titj of bflamed matter and fluid. This expedient was certaiulj not the work of a moment
CHAP, IV.
UltlLilANt FIRB AND CHINB8B tlkt.
As iion flings, #heri thfbwn iflto the fire, Inflame and emit a strong light, thb property, discovered no doubt by chance, gave rise to the Idea of rendering the fire of fockets much more brillianti than when gunpowder, or the substances of which it is composed, are alone enploTed. Nothing is necessarj but to take Iron filings, verjr clean and free from mst, and to mix them with the compost. lion of the locket. It most however be observed, that rockets of tUi kind will not keep longer than a week ; because the moisture contracted bjr the saltpetre rusts the iron-filings, and destroys the efiect thej are intended to produce.
But the Chinese hafe long been in possession of a method of ren« Bering this fiie mnch more brilliant and variegated in its colours ; and we are indebted to father d'lncnrville, a Jesuit, for having made it known. It oonsisis In the use of a verjr simple ingredient; nameljy cast iron rednoed to a powder more or less fine; the Chinese gave it a name^ wUch Is equlfilent to that of iron sand.
To prepare this sand, take an oM Iron pot, and bavfaig broken H to ptecet on an anvil^ pulverise the fragments till the grains are not
CHUIM
wmtUMMnr mkb*
hrstr ttu ndhk Mcd : tken lUlt them tkfoogh six gTMiiuit«d sieti% to Mpftmte the diier»BC simei, and preterre theae liz dif« ferenC kioda in a Tery dry place, to secore them from rnt, wliicb woaid render this sand absolutely unfit for the proposed end. We moit here remark, that the grains which pass through the qlosest riere, are called sand of the first order; those which pass through the next in size, sand of the second order ; and so on.
This sand, when it inflames, emits a light exceedingly yiTid. It if Tery surprising to see fragments of this matter no bigger than a poppy seed, form all of a sudden luminous flowers or stars, 13 and 15 lines in diameter. These flowers are also of diflerent forms, according to that of the inflamed grain, and eren of diflerent colours according to the matters with which the grains are mixed. Bat rockets into which this composition enters, cannot be long pre. aenre^^ as those which contain the finest sand will not keep longer than eight days, and those which contain the coarsest, fifteen. The following tables exhibit the proportions of the different ingredkntl for rockets of from 12 to 36 pounds.
For red Chinese fire.
|
Calibres. Pbundi. |
Saltpetre. Pbonds. |
Sulpbnr. Ounces. |
Charcoal. Ounces. |
Sandofthe 1st order. oz% dr. |
|
13 to 15 18 to 21 %% to 36 |
1 1 I |
3 3 4 |
4 5 6 |
7 7 8 8 |
For nhiie Chinese fire.
CaUbres. iSaltpetre.
Pooadt.
13 to 15 18 to 91 34 to 3fl
Ponnds.
1 1 1
Bruised
Gnnpowdei
Ounces.
13 11 II
Charcoal, dr.
oz.
7 8 8
8
8
Sandofthe
3d order.
ox. dr.
11 tl 13
8
When these materials hare been weighed, the saltpetre and char* coal most be three times sifted through a hair siere, in order that ikey may be 'well mixed : the iron sand is then to be moi sfened with food brandy, to make the sulphur adhere, aad they most b^.
M4 FasMiTOBB or lOCItlTt.
tbonnghlx laMrporatod. The Mod thm mlpbarad mm bo sprMd orcr the mizliire of laltpelrc ud charcod, and tkc whale nust be bIsmI t<^tlier bj tpreadiag it orer % table villi a ipitNk.
OF TUC rORMITORR OF KOCXETI.
T!bb upper pert of rockeb b genvrally fnrnlihed witt tome GompoittioD, which takinj^ 6re nfaen It hai reached to lb greate>t height, emits a roniiderab1« blaze, or produce) a loud report, and very often both these together. Of thi> kind are MaciiMns, marroona, itarn, ihowen of fire, &c.
To make room for thii artifice, the rocket b crowDcd wllfc a part of a grestpr diainetpr, called the pot. The method of BaklDg tkta pot, and connecting it with ihe body of the rocket, is ai follows.
The mould for forming the pot, though of one piece, msat conslit of two CTHndrlc parts of different diameters. That tm wlfok tte pot if rolled up, mast be three diameters of the rockcfi In langtli, and its diameter must be three fourths that of the nwkrt ; (be length of the other ought to be equal to two of these diamotoiyand its diameter to | that of the tocket. I
PX'->%* 'vB^F^i^i^r^r^^ >^
pKpttfi Wkmf 1111} iiligfcitiphw»^ >ndft6potwiitb»coffwa wtthfi^i^ eMNKttd te Ito «igct : if ft pointed MMmlt or ctp ht then added to it, tiie rocket wUi then be retdj for use.
We ;iliBli now. gifo in eoebinit of the different artifices with which such rockets «re looded.
tXOTlON I.
Of Serpenii*
SnptlTTS Mt% small llyhig rockets, without rods, which instead ofrisingiaaperpendicatar direction^ meant obllqaely, and fall back ^n a sig.sag form without ascending to a great height. The com- position of them is nearly the same as that of rockets ; and there* fore nothing more is necesSdry than to determine the proportion and oonstmction of the cartridge, which is as follows.
The length of the cartridgemay he about 4 inches; it must be rolled ronad a stick somewhat larger U»n the barrel of a goose quill, and filer being ehoaked at one of its ends, fill it with tlie composition n little beyond its middle, and then pinch it so as to leaTe a small aper* turn. The remainder must be filled With grained powder, which wiH make a report when it bursts. Lastly, choak the cartridge antirely towards the extremity ; and at the other extremity plac^ a train of moist powder, to which, if fire be applied, it will be com» asuaieated to the composition, and cause the whole to rise in tho air. The serpent, as it falls will make seTeral tarlie in atig-Mg direction, till the fire is communicated to the grained powder ; OA which it will burst with a loud iteport before it fidls to the grouild. If the serpent be not ehoaked towards the middle, instead of' moTiag In a iig*iag dhreetion, it will ascend and descend with an mndnlatinf motion, and then burst as befolre.
The cartridges of serpents are generally made with playing cards. These cards are rolled round a rod of iron or hard wood, a little larger, as already said, than the barrel of a goose quill. To con. fine the card, a piece of strong paper is cemented over it*
The length of the mould most be proportioned to th|it of the cards employed, and the piercer of the nipple ipust be tiiree or fbur lines In leli(tili. The** serpenfil dfe loadhd with brnilM pow. der, mixed Mf ifMi a tery •nail qMbtltjr of ChtMoAl. To In. tirodtte* Die ^ni^Mithiirlailo tlm durht^, A qid^ €at Into the Toiy TX. a
^-MS VABK(MKV^«i«AttCltB01ll.
■MM of « mmU rod, to wUsh • hm ■Mi»llwwiiii«Wlii'« anlt IMltet. . «■ ■ -f l-:i-^ f. . ■ ,■ ■ Bl-feti:.:!. .j
put, yon ma; introduca Into It a vatA-Mad, Mid ^aMf^MNMlMMt
powder abore it to 6tl op the reaulBder. Aboro thu pander place
a ■mall pellet of cbewed paper, wd tbeb rhoak the attir end of
the cartridge. If yon are desironi of making larger M
raent two playing cards together; and, tiiat they imjIi
milk MOM «ua^ DMUtaa tben a Utile with water.
ii^i of a pM^ iMda.of broiwd powder, and a ■
water* . f iM-a
•SeTIOH XI. MM
Marhooms are small cubical boxes, filled with a compoilCon proper fur making then bnrst, and may be constructed with great
Cut a piece of pastebnrd, according to the tnethod taught In geometry to form (lie cube; join these aquarea at the edges, leoviog only one to be cemented, and Gil the cavity of the cube with pained powder) then cement stroag paper in various directions over thi* body, and wrap round It two rows of pack-thread, dipped io strong glue ; then make a hole in one of the corners, and introdnoe into
Wte feiii h tte iUM aamer as m rocket; and a pdlet of pif)^ fi drifvn Mir Aa apiHai>'#lifch^ Mea left,' hi oi^ to fill it op. Thef are tWa chaffed #ltiigtaiiBedpowdar, abova whieh ii placed a ball of paper gaatif preeMd dbwa^ to prevent the jwwder froat kdog braiiHl; tke eecond end 6f the iaadiion beiag afterwards ^^oaked) the edges are pared on both sides, aod the whole is coa Tared with sereral tarns of pack*thread, dipped in strong glne^ and then left to dry*
Wlien yon are desirous of diarging them, pierce a hole in on6 ot tta ends | and apply a auUchi in the saose amnner as to aurreons^
akcTioH ivrf
StafL
Stabs are sandl globes of a composition which emits a brilliant Haht^ thit may be compared to the light of the stars in the hear ens^ Tliese balls are not larger than a ovtmeg or mnsket ballet, and when put into the rockuts mast be wrapped up in tow, prepared for that purpose. The composition of these stars is as follows.
To a pound of fine gunpowder well pnlTerised, add four poanda of saltpetre, ahd two pounds of sulphur. When these ingiedieflts are thoroughly incorporated, ^ke about the size of a nutmeg of this mixture, and baring wrapt it up in a piece of linen rag, or of paper, form it into a ball ; then tie it closely round with a paob thread, and pierce a hole through the middle of it, sufficiently Intg/b to receive a piece of prepared tow, which will serve as a match. This star, when lighted, will exhibit a most beautiful appeatance | besides tiie fire, as it issues from the two ends of the hole in tho middle, wiU extend to a greater distance^ and make It appear much larger.
If you a^ desirous to employ a moist composition In the form of a paste, instead of a dry one, it will not be necessary to wrap up the star in any thing but prepared tow ; because, when made of such paste, tt can retain its spherical figure. 1 here will be no need also of piefdng a hole in it, to receive the match ; because, when newly made, add consequently moist, it may be rolled in puira* rised gunpowder, which will adhere to it. This powder, when kindled, will serve as a match, ami inflame the compositipn of tho Star, which in dslUng will form itself into tears.
^-^t ""'-^ — Hrg ttT\tUninStMt.
Mis IbrM OBMM of Mhritn, «kh oae sum of wOpkat, aoA tm dnai of prirwfaii gmpowdtr ; or nil fsw iiiiiioi oJF nl- phir, with Ob MM qoaUty of MltiNtn, nd cl^t owM of ^I. MHMd gnnpowdn-. Whta tkiM wUorWa kTo bM»«dltlft«d, lnyiotlB tWB wkk braadr, I* wfeM s iM» gam im boan db. solTsd, uid than make ap tfca atar In tha fallawing manir.
Take a rockat moild, viglit or nba Itaaa ia diatii8lar,-Mi'Mnb dMohtokaalpiile, the plaroer 9t uMA ia of a nUbm ib« tiiraa^oiit, and aqaal In kagth to tbe baiglit of the aoald. Pat Into tUa moald % cartridge, aad by maaaa of a piercad rod load it with one of tha pneediof comporitloiia ; whan loadadf tika it from tbamonld* without ranoTing the nipple, the |iTiiii ii iif ■hliTipaiari thraogh tlie conrpoiitton, nd then cat tlie cartridge* qvlla mnd Into plaoaa of tbe tUekneta of three or foar Hnei. Ite cntridga being thua eut, draw out the piercer gentif , and Hie ptaeat, wUdi raMMblo the nni empl^ad for plaTiog at drafU, piorcad ttnmgk die middle, will be atari, wUch mat be filed on ■ wAh thnad, irhkh, If 7*9 (Aooae, u»f ba covered with tow.
To give more hriiliaiicrf to atara of tUa kind, a eutMgi dykfcar' dWD tha abora dtaHniloiM, and tUoMr Hian that of a ^rtlfflidnt of the aame itie, majr be employed ; bnt, before It b cat hlo pleaea, fin or lix kdea mut bo pierced in the circnaAvaaM flf each piece to be cat. When tha cartridge b cut, aad flit itaaai hare been filled, cement otcf the composition small bHiofcard)
ptstoyttirtwilbtnoMtdtotfeit NoCUngirfllbeiMeefiarjis tbat am^ hcA to taaTt • little wmn of tkt papor hollow at the end of the noeistoii wUA bee been pierced, for the purpose of intro* doeiiig the compoeitbn ; and to place In the Tacnitj, towarde the aeck of the mbi iaeoat aope grahied powder^ which wift coaauaii. flile*fre to the saaciiiOB when the compoiition li cootaned*
% As there are 1000 stars which in the end become petaidiy others ma/ be made, which shall conclude with beoomfaif serpents* Bnt this maj be so cosily cooceifed and carried into execBtton, that it wonid be losing tine to enlaige further on the snl^ect. We sha9 oidjr obsefffCy that these sters are not in nse^ becanse it is diacntt fsr a rocket to car rj them to a considerable height in the afar: the/ dfaninish the effict of the rocket or sandssoo^ and moch tine b ro« 4)riffedlo aake theas.
aSCTlON ▼•
8h9W9r 0/ FiM.
To form a shower of fre, monld small pqier cartri^gef « en Iron rod, two lines and a half in diametsfy and make them two Inches and a half in length. Thcj most not be cboaked, as it witt be safficient to twist the end of the cartridge, and ha? ing pvt tto rod into it to beat it, in order to moke it assume its form. When the cartridges are filled, which is done bjr immersing Asm in the oempoiition, fold down the other end, and tlieo appljr 0 asatA The fnmitaie will fill tiie air with an undulating fii%. The Mlow* ihg are some of the composidons proper for stars of this kiod»
Chinese /r^.— PulTerlsed gunpowder one ponnd| snipbar ttro OHces, iron sand of the first order five ounces,
.^liicleiif ^re.«<«PulTerised gunpowder one pound, Aarcoal two flwncea.
JBHUtef^^,— Puhrerieed gunpowder one pounds Iron BHap four ounces.
The CUnese firo is oeitdBi^ Oe moil beautif uL
••
v»
BBCTMN Tt.
0/ Sfm-ki.
SrAtBi ilfkr from itan ool/ in their litm tnS daratfart f« fn made smaller than itan ; and an connmed iOoiier. Tbi iMde in the rollowing raanner.
Having put into an earthen venel an ounce of pnlffcHlld powder, two onneei of polTeriied laltpetre, one onnsolBC'' niltpetre, and four onnces of camphor rrdoced to a lort ■T'l poor »nt tbii mlifiire lome gnm-vatrr, or brandj In «Udl •diagantt or gnm.anibic hu been dluelred, till the etfkpa ■cqnlre the couifatenco of a thick loifp. Then lake abn which hy bfwi boiled in brandj, oj in Tinegat, or tjm il Mtrc, and then dri^ and unrarFlled, and throw ipto fhf n: pich a qoantlt]' of it u li fnScieot tQ fbiorb {t enttrelj, I fan to itir it well.
Form thii matter into imaU.bklU qc glohei of the ii«o af a and having dried them la the ivn or the abade, beeprUUc with puhrerlied gunpowder. In ordfr tluf thev maj tlM Bfi
A»ot\et Met\ad of making Sparh.
Take the saw.dust o{ any kind of wood that burns readily, a> &r, eldcr-lree, poplar, laurel. Sic. and boil il in uattr in
ihwir •! ^ wMA ii^rilt* gtMten ndo. Th« Batiiod of con. •traediig thM !• M followi*
FQI the barrels of tome goose qoills with the composition of flj* iif <#ocketa| ftod plaoe vpoo the mouth of each a little moist gun. fcwder, both to keep !■ the oompositioo, and to ser? e as a match. If a Jjiag^rocket be then loaded with these qaills, they will pro. Asee^ at the eod^ a verj agreeable shower of fire^ which on account Hf ilabeaatj has been called golden rain.
CHAP. VI.
#F 80X1 XOCKBT8 DIFFERENT IN THBIR IFFSCT FBOM
COMMON ROCKETS.
{)snsRAL Tery amusing and ingenious works are made by mean of simple rockets, of which it Is necejnary that ijre should here giie the reader some idea.
SECTION I.
OJ Couraniinif or Rockeii which Jty along a Rope.
AcowMOR rocket, which however ought not to be Tery larfa, may be made to run along an eitended rope. For this purposoi affif to the pocket ao empty cartridge, and introduce into it the rope which is .to carry it ; placing the head of the rocket towards that side on which yon intend It to more : if you then set fire to the rocket, adju9ted in this manner, it will run along the rope without stopping, till the matter it contains is entirely exhausted.
If yon are desirous that the rocket should moTe In a retrograde direction ; first fill oa^ half of it with the composition, and corer it with a smaii round piece of wood, to serre as a partition between it and that put into the other lyalf ; thep make a hole below this par. tition, so as to correspond with a small canal filled with bruised powder, and terminating at the other end of the rocket : by these ineans the fire, when It ceases in the first half of the rocket, will be Rioatttd thr^mk^tko hole into tlM small caial^ wUch wll
44
rock«t«iU voT« bukwai4>, MdntMvtktlwptawffamwIM
ttMt.Wt. r I .. .. , ■ ,1, ■ .
. Two rocfaliolayil ■!», .h— i. tagitkwL ifji mrnmtt > pUot irf itrang pa^fttiMd, Md 4)i|Mipd ■■ Mck « MUMT *a tte kM4 (tf tlw M* >teU b* oppwitt t* Ike MMk flC Aa aOw, ttal wktn tlw fit* hti DQOtu*^ tin c**pMilioa U tiu^tse, It v^ b* eomnwib ntHl totbuin thaetlierf u4 •Mij* holhorikni toMOMln RMb trogradfl direction, may mlso be adJDBtvd t« the rapt by Beaai of » piece of bollov reed. Bot to preTent the fire of the lonMr frem bel^ coBwmnJCTted to the ucawi toe mmb, they osght Is be co- vend iritli oCdoth, or to be wrapped ip hi paper.
liacMiit of diil UkI tn geMntUj enpk^d kr wttting fire to Tarioni other piecei .ifkeo l«r(e ftrerorbi Ue exhibited; and to reader them mora agreeable, thejr are made In the fonn of difiereat aninall, such as lerpenti, dragonfl, &&; on wfakh acconst tbaj •re caU^jfyi^ dragotu, TbeK ing09» v« Tnty a^ HiiBfe aipe, <^1j wMo fiJlM.with wioiis coippotUjtoaii ntck^i i^l^ rata, long hair, &c. They might be made to dlscfui^ Hrpenti froiy &«r moMtki, whicb would produce a rery pleaiiog efled^ aad pre aem« greater raiemblaiic^ to ■drfP'*- 4VCTI0N U>
JbwM* vUek jte «A»tr a Rppe^ md tun nmitd t tJienmt tine.
WoTiiisc Is easier than to give to a rocket of this kind a rotary motion around (he rope aloo^ which it advances; it will be suffi. dent for this purpose, to tie it to another rocket, placed in a (rans- verBal direction. But the aperture of thp taUer, instead of being at the bottom, ought to be in the »de, near one of the ends. If both rockets be fired at (he same time, the latter will make the other revoire aroand the rope, while it adraocei along it.
' - ■■ titdfio* tti.'''' "■"'■'•
. t TMOflB fiis nd MMlor MlMlMdli*B* «f ft my <^pMito«aiMo»
i«ce ftilr ilhtt tf>Mi la tfie w«l^i but m Hmj trt Amii Mow the WBler, tkepleiBare of seeing them it lost ; for this reosoii, when it is reqatred to caose rockets to bam u tbey flost on tbo water, it will be necessarj to mtke some change in tiie proportions of the Moulds, and the materials of which thej are composed. • Id regard to tlie mould, it may be e^t or nine inches in length, and an inch in diameter : the former, on which the cartridge is rolled up^ may be nine lines in thickness, and the rod for loading the cartridge must as usnal be somewhat less. For loading the cartridge, there is no need for a piercer with a nipple.
The composition may be made in two ways ; for if it be required that the rocket, while borning on the water, should appear as bright as a candle, it must be composed of three materials mixed together, tis. three ounces of puherisedanci sifted gunpowder, one povnd of saltpetre, and eight ounces of sulphur. Bnt if you are desirous that it should appear on the water with a beautiful tail, the composition roiiiit consist of eight ounces of gunpowder pnlrerised and sifted, one ponrd of saltpetre, eight ounces of pounded and sifted sulphur, and two ounces of charcoal.
When the composition has been prepared according to these pro. portions, and the rocket has been filled in the manner abore de. scribed, apply a saucisson to the end of it ; and haying coyered the rocket with wax, black pitch, resin, or any other substance ca« pable of prey en ting the n^per from being spoiled in the water, attach to it a small rod of white willow, about two feet in length, tiMt the rocket may conreniently float.
If it be required that these rockets should plunge down, and again rise up ; a certain quantity of pulrerised gunpowder, with- out any mixture, must be introduced into them, at certain dis. tances, such for example, as two, three, or four lines, according to the size of the cartridge.
REMARKS.
1* Small rockets of this kind may be made, without changing the mould or composition, in seyeral different ways, which, for the sake of brevity, we are obliged to omit. Such of our readers as are desirous of further information on this subject, may consult those authors who have written expressly on pyrotechoy, some of whom we shall mentioB at the end of thb book.
t. It is possiUo also to make a rodcet wUcb, after it his burni
f9f ItOCKBTS TO EWdlfftliT iAOU|l£S ZN THB Alt,
aftac tlieypttdi fire ihiill «i6tii4 falto (he mir. This nay be done Vy dividing ilM rocket into two pertSy by meane of a round pieoe of woody JpaYiog »ho)e ip the ■iddle. 3|ho vpf^r part must bo filled with th.e UMial.conpoiitioii of jocketiy and the lower with starti whic)^ VW^t. hp fai^ied yjth gnMn«d apd pidTeri^ed gun* pow^^r, iiQ*
Sf A rpc^ which takes fire in the water^ andy after buriung there half the time pf its ducatioo, mounta into the air wHh great Telocity, may he constructed ia the loUowiag manner.
Take a fly log rocket, furnished with its wpd^ and by means of f little glue ijtta^h it. to a wat^ rocket, but only at the middley la such a laaanery that the latter shaU haye its neck uppermost, and the other its oeok downward. Adjust to their eatreasity a saMdl tube, to communicate the fire from the one end to the other, and cover both with ^ cof^ipg of pitch, wu^, ^c^ th^ f^J WX ^^ ^ ifap^ged by the water.
Then attach to the flying rocket, after it has-been thus cemented to the aquatic one, a rod of the kind described in the second ar^^ ticle } aad suspend a piece of pack-thread, to support a musket boUei mode f^t to the rod by means of a needle or bit of iroii wire. When these arrangements have been made, set fire to the part after the. rocket is in the watery and when the composition Is consnaed, the fire will be communicated through the small tube to t|ie other rocket : the Utter will then rise and leave tiie other^ which will not be able to foUow |t on account of the weig)it f^ keripgtoitf
8BCT10N IV.
Bjf aif«iif of Roekeity iq repretent ieveraljfuret in iht Air.
Ir several small rockets be placed upon a large one, their rods being filed around the large cartridge, which b usually attached to the head of the vooket, to contain what it is destined to carry up into the abr; andiClhesosauillrocketsbesetoafire while the kuigt one is asoendiogy they will represent^ In a very agreeable amnner^ a treoy the trunk of whidi will be the large rocket, and the branches the small poes.
If these small rockets take five when the large one is heif bwi#d In thu aiTf they if ill repiesentlk cornel; and when.th»^Jaisotnif ia
GLOBES AMB HALLS.
tnUmly iii«rted,' so that its head beeins to point downwards, in •uler la fall, they will rppreseut a kind of (it-ry (ouutaifi.
if the barrels of seieral quills, filled with the composition of ^ying rockets, as abote described, be placed on a Urge rocket ; when ihise quills catch lire, they will represent, to an eye placed below them, a beauliful chovrer of fire, or of bait frizzled bair, if Iha pye be [)laced on one side.
If 5e»eral serpents be attached to the rocket with a piece of p«ck.thread, by the ends that do not catch fire ; and if the pack, tfiread be suffered to hang down two or three iocheR, between erery two, (his arrangement will produce a Tarielj- of agri-eahle an4
J Ktcket w^i^k atcen4t in the Form ofaplertm. ,. A sTRAiauT rod, aa cxperienM abewa, makai p iock«t MCMnI ^rpntdicnkrir, waA Id a straiglit Une : it may b* coapared to tits; fndder of ft afclp, or the tail of a bird, the effect of which ia to mak* t^ TtpitA oi bird turn towkid* that lida to which it ii iacHMAt' if, b«Dt rod therefore be titscbrd to a rochat, iti first ^bct ■wSt bo to make the rocket incline towarda tb«t aide to which itk butt}i mt iti centra of gravity bringing it aRevwaidi into a vertical lita. «lioo, the iMult of tbeM two opponteefforU will be tbalOorockeC HBl aacead in a sig-iag oi spiral form. In thii cbm indeed* aa It tftplacM ■ greater Tolnmo of air, and deacribea a tonger liae, it will not aacand lo high, aa if it bad been impelled in a straight dU Mction ; bnt, on accomit of the siagnlarity of thii motion, it will ■radncc an agreesblo alecb
CHAP. VII.
' ^.^pf OI.0BKS AMD VIRB BALLS.
Wi htm Mthftto i^m oolrofn>eheta,.aiid tWdlAfratklnda
«|«ioria aiiiefcmaliBflifWrtclad bjr tkaii a -B«t tim« am.
■t panj otter feiwoika, the nuntti feksC wNcbm.
tSS ■ wAtrnt m%ommt.
wUek ve Inbadad to pradM* «ik aAMt fai wUHt^^NI atlBiig w iM^g OH a» griMit mA khm, wkMNM iMifei, d* th* MM bi tJw Ik. 1 '<!>'»
-tBCnoH 1. - »•'*■'
GMti ukteh bmm m tkt WalT. w^^ ■ TWm gkbM, w in bilb, in mlt h tbiw SUmHk ■ifenlad, iplttraUd, or (jUndrieal j bat wa iiliilHi<tf| — m>>— to tk iplwriw]. c""
To OMk* B qihtrical fin ball) coutrnct % hollow iMdH of any lin at plauun, and rery round both vlthin ai^ w. •0 tliat lu tUduww nay bo aqual to about tho nintk f«t diameter. loserf ia the upper part of it a right coDcave ej the breadth of which may be equal to tiie fifth part of the diai ■ad having aa aperture e<]ual to the thlckneis, that ii, to tht part of tha diameter. It is through this Hp«rture that the ootnmuoicated to the globe, when it has been filled with the Gompositiou, through Ihu lower aperture. A petard of loade4 with good grained powder, is to be Introduced aUo tl Que lower aperture, and to be placed horizootally.
When this is done, close up the aperture, which is nesrl) t« the thickness of the cylindur, by means of a wooden tci dipped in warm pitch ; and melt over it snch a quantity < that its weight may cause the globe t
«f Imyy Md 8 poniidi of Mw-dott tyravmsljr bolted in a tol«fioii of nitpitre, and dried in the aiiade^ or in the snn.
Or, to 9 pounds of braised gunpowder, add 12 poundt of salt- petre, 6 pounds of sulphur, 4 pounds of iron filings, and 1 pound of Greek pitch.
It is not necessary that this composition should be beaten so fine U that intended for rockets : it requires neither to be pulyerised nor sifted ; it is sufficient to be well mixed and incorporated. But to prevent it from lieeoming too dry, it will be proper to besprinlde it with a little oil^ or any other liquid susceptible of inflammation*
SECTION II*
Of Qlobei which leap or roll on the Ground.
I. Hathio constructed a wooden globe with a cylinder, similar 10 that aboTe described, and having loaded it with the same com- position, introduce into it four petards, or eyen more, loaded with good grained gunpowder to their orifices, which must be well stop« ped with paper or tow. If a globe, prepared in this manner, be fired by means of a match, it will leap about, as it bums, on a smooth horiiontal plane, according as the petards are set on firei>
Ifnstead of placing these petards in the inside, they maybt sJBzed to tiie exterior surfiice of the gjlobe ; which they wHl make lo toll and leap as they catch fire. They may be applied in any' saaancT to the surface of the globe.
9. A shnllar globe may be made to roll about on a hoiliontal plane, with a very rapid motion. Construct two equal hemispheres of pasteboard, and adjust in one of them three common rockets fined and pierced like flying rockets thathaye no petard: tiieso rodtets must not exceed the interior breadth of the hemisphere, and ought to be arranged in such a manner, that the head of the one shall correspond to tiie tdl of the other.
The rockets befaig thus arranged, join the two hemlspherts, by cementing them together with strong paper, in such a manner that they shall not separate, while the g^obe is moring and turning, at tiie same time that the rockets produce their effect. To set fire to fte first, make a hole In tiie globe opporite to the tail of it, and in. troduce into it a match. This match will communicate fre to die firstrocket j wiridi, wben consumed, will set fire to the second by^ of aaothtr match, and so on to the fsst; so that the globo.
lfpliMdMia«Moa horisooMpMun, iriU bi lwp(l||^eMitlaW awdoB.
It is here to be oJNerred, tbt % few more helM mnit.tt.pijiin tte globe, othcririie it will banL
The two heodipherpt of puteboard liMj be prtpm^jlatbl M- lewing manner : conttrnct ■ verf round globe of eolMlfiwdi and cover it with melted wax ; then cerocnt over it MTCn||;^bnad( of coane paper, aboat two lachea.in breadth, ^ling It M«Ni^|||f||(i at thkkind, to the thickneH of abont two lioet. Or.«|^|Ug|Ji ■ttU euior and better, baTing diMolTad, In glne water, MlULki palp enplojed b^ the paper makers, coref wHh It ttikMlJUB «/ tbe e^be ; then drf it gradukll/ tt a ilow fire, aod ctt H fkn^H Id tbe middle ; hy *hldi means jon will have twd tsit§ hemi. sphere*. The woodefl gk>b« mnjr be ceiBf lepanted fntflbe pn*te< boArd bj meant of heat; for If the whole be applied Jt^)t<f^ro^ fire &e *az will diwolre, to that the glotw nu/ be ^ffff^Jlf' Ipttccd af melted waz^ loap may be emplo/ed* ,^j -^^,
SECTION ill. jc^..
• Of J?ria! Ghbei, called Bombi. -^
These globes uro called aerial, because they are tlirown intd the air from a mortar, which is a sboTl thick piece of artillery of a targe calibre.
Though these globes are of irood, and tiaTe a suitable tliicknesi, namely, equal fo the twelflh part of tlirtr dinmelfr^, if too mech
fte hoUfim OMpM •.««Jidclv^ alTMilj mU, Mut bt of wd«d# 1*116 dnaitr for the powder ,q»ut be pierced obliquely, witko tmall fiaiblet ; to tbat the aperture corresponding to the aperture of the metal mortal, the fire applied to the latter may be commuoi. eated to the powder which If at the bottom of the chamber, irone. dbtely below the globe. By these means the globe will catch fire, . and make an agreeable noise as it rises into the air ; bnt it woald not SQcceed so. well, if any racaity were left between the powder and the globe,
A profile or perpendicular section of such a globe is represented by the rightjuigled parallelogram, the breadth of which is nearly equal to the height, 'the thickness of the wood, towards the two sides, h'eqnal, as aboTO said, to the twelfth part of the diameter of the globe; and the thickness of the cover is double the preceding, or equal to a sizth part of the diameter. The height of the cham« ber, where the match is applied, and which is terminated by a 8emi« circle, is equal to the fourth part of the breadth ; and its breadth is equal to the sixth part.
We must here observe that it Is dangerous to put wooden covers on aerial balloons or globes ; for these covers may be so heavy, as to wound those on whom they htppen to fall. It will be sufficient to place turf or hay above the globe, in order that the powder maj experience some resistance.
The globe must be filled with several pieces of cane or conunod. reedy tqjomi in length to the interior height of the globe, and charged with a slow composition, made of three ounces of pounded gun* powder, an ounce of sulphur moistened nith a small quantity of petroleum oil, and two ounces of charcoal ; and in order that theae reeds or canes may catch fire sooner, and with more facility, they must be charged at the lower ends, which rest on the bottom of the l^obe, with pulverised gunpowder moistened in the same manner with petroleum oil, or well besprinkled with brandy, and then dried.
The bottom of the globe ought to be covered with a little gun^ powder half pulverised and half grained ; which, when set on fire^ by means of a match applied to the end of the chamber, will set' fire to the lower part of the reed. But care must have been takea to fill the chamber with a composition sunilar to that in the reeds^
i|r with enotber iloif composMosi made of eight onvces of g/am^
t40 ^iti M tuuk
pcnviMr^ fmir mnMet of id^ptin^ tvo ootef 6t lalplkar, and oM OB^ee df duu'coal : the whok iMit be wiB ponodM and mixed.
Iiiit^ad of reedty the globe iliftf be charged with rannlDg rockets, or paper petards, and a qoantitf of fiery itart or sparks nixed with polTerlsed gnnpowder, ptaced trtflioiit any order above these pe- tards, which must be clioaked at vneqaal belghtiy that they may perform their eifoet at dlifereiit times.
These globes may be coostmoted fai taiioiis oOer waysy wliich it woald be tedloos here to enumerate. We sliall only obeenre, that when loaded, they must l>e well eorered at the top; they mnst be wrapped up in a piece of cloth Apped h glue, and a pfece of woollett doth past l>e tied rovnd Om^ so as to coTer'dii hale whidi contdns W match.
CHAP. VIII.
JBT8 OV FIRB.
tFns of fire are a kind of fixed rodcetsy tbe eCM of iriUdk ts to throw op faito the afar jets of fit<e, siarflar to jeti of walsif. They aervo niso to represent cascades; for if a series of sndt fodteis bo phMwd horiiontally on dM same line, it maybe eadly aeen that the fire ttey eadt, wID resemble a sheet of water. When aihwged fia a dtenlar fsrm^ Hke fha radB of a circle, they Ibrm what far cdletf
To Ibrm jeti of tUs kind, (bit cartridge for l»rlfliaiftt fires most, in thIalBieiiij bo e^nal ton fonrtb part of the diaoietbr, and fVr Chhieia firo, only to a sixth part.
The cartridge is loaded on n nipple, having a pomt eqnal in' length to the same diameter, and inthlckneaston fourth part itk$ but as it geoetaUy happens Oat the menth of die jet becohM bnger than b necesaaiy for dm oife^st ofdm fte, you muit begta to Aarge die cartridge^ as dm ChiMse dSb bf filling it to ahei|(hto4tttf to n fourUi part of the dfattMt# iMI' day, which must be ralmncd do«d as If it were gnnpowdeiC BSrAMoonans thejetirlllaseend' andi Uli^. When the chaifa ii oompleted widi dm compost-
•<*ir ' -.roiMMMMHlL : • : 4f|^
tiiiUM ^rw— d, ibofve wUth It nmt lie ^«ik«dL
Iftt tnio or Bfttch niMt Ue of the tame composition ts tbtt em. tlaf^ lor iCMidiag ; o«lwnrlii UiodiktAtioB of the air eoataioed in At lolo Made b^ tiM piercer, Woald causa tlie jet to borst.
Clayed rockets taij be Jrferced with two holes near the neek^ in otder to haTo three jets in the same plane.
IfnUadof topi, piaroad wHh aaamberof bolas^ bo added to Am, tbaf will inritate a bnbbliog foanUlo.
Jata intaoded for representing sheets of fire ought not to be Aaahsdn Thaj ninsf bo placed bi a horiioatal potitioD| or In. aiiBM m little downwards.
It appears tn ns tiiat they might be choaked so as to form a kind of idit, and be pierced In the same manner ; which woold oontrl* bate to eirtend the sheet of 6re still farther. A kind of long nar- row month might eren be provided for this particular purpose.
PniMCirAL COMPOSITIOHS FOB JETS OT FIES.
lit Jeti ofjve lines or fert , of interior diameter*
Ckinete fire. — Saltpetre 1 pound, pulverised gunpowder 1 poand, sulphur^ 8 ounces, charcoal i ounces.
.W3^0>irtf.— Saltpetre 1 pound, pulrarised gunpowder 8 ounces^ filphnr 3 ooneaSy charcoal 2 ounces. Iron sand of the £nit order • •■nces.
2d. Sett of from ten to twelve lines in ditmeier.
Britliantfire.'^Vvl^iigeAgan^^irdeTl pound, iron-fliogsofa aMOB siaa^ 5 ounces.
nPUfa/Ttf^— Saltpetre 1 pound, pulrerised gunpowder 1 pound, •nlpbur 8 ounces, charcoAl 3 ounces.
C3UiBaaa/r#«--SaItpetre 1 pound 4 ouneas^ sulphur 5 Ounoas^ sand of tha thM order 13 onncaa.
3d. Jalf ^f fifteen or eitktotm theee in dkmettr.
CkineHjlr9.--^isUpekn I ponnd 4 Mnces, sulphur f imidm^ dkarcoal 6 oonots^ of the six diffmnft kinda of siOftd niS6k«d rS
Plncarfilk^ in tfi WBoIrs on tUs f)it|{i^ hn proporttMia far <ha tooq^tka of tkiM^;
YOL. IT. m
44V riKii OF mrrKtcmtn coloubs.
Mitm oanrim to wUtfcMtoMlwn nU, ud >tfctAi mdcr to &• mOm't monriii, lAich vill W foaMi in thiMhuwrf d^ PJriiJUUr. ■■■■■. p.«i -
' TIm nitpetra, putreriwd (np««dn>, ud ctnrvHl} -aWArM time! sifted through k hair tlere. The Iron MDd fetaipil^led With lulfihttr, mtUr bring mpiiteBcd with alHUe hrtBjy, thftt the fnlpliar majr adhere to It; mod they tre then mixed 'iMlbar: tho Mlphnred nnd h then iprewl oter the flnt iriztvrttf iMMin viftle It niied with m ladle only ; for tf n An* were iw|l^|ij||l|— » •epantolhenndfrani the other Dwterials. WbenMllaigHillu OM of the wcmd order bnMdjttMCompoiition ii MlllliMMpitb bnndy, m ttet It formt itwlf Into balli, and the J*:«M tben landed I If tboro wore toe ma^ moirtnre, the land wanilflot per- form Ittoieet. f
IBCTION i.
Of Firn sf afferent (khmri.
Iris much (o be wislietl that, fur the sake of Taricty, different co- tours could be giren to these fireworks at pleasure ; but thoDgh we are acquainted irilh several materials whicli communicate to Same tariouc colours, it has hiiherto been jwssible to introduce only a. rery few colours into that of inllamed gunpowder.
To make white &re, the gunpowder must be mixed with iron or rather steel filings.
To make red Bre, iron sand of the first order must be employed
pAvn voB iMMMis IV f IBS. MS
*•■ ftMfi^pirhMygbvftelMrfgMorftiilTweol^ ' m little Id thtt of lead; or rather e white dutUng flame. * Greek pitch produces a reddish flame, of a bronze colour.
Black pitch, a dvakj flamO| like a thick smoke, which obscures the atmosphere.
Sulphur, mixed in a moderate quautltj, makes the flame appear blueiih. • Sal ammoniac and Teidigris give a §reenish flame.
Baspiofs of jrellow amber communicate to the flame a lemon colour.
Crtide antimonj gives a russet colour.
Borax ought to produce a bloe flame ; for spirit of wine, In. which sedatife salt, one of the component parta of bora% ie dissolTod by the means of heat, bums with a benntllUl gfoett' flame.
Miich, howcTer, still remains to be done in regard to this sub* ject ; but it would add to the beauty of artificial fireworks, if thsj could be Turied bjr giring them different colours :. this wonkL bo eaeating for the qres a new pleasure.
. '• •
SECTlOir II.
Gompoiition of a Paste proper for repreeenHng Antnudey mti
other Devices in Fire,
It is to the Chinese also that we are iadebted for this methoid of representing figures with fire. For this purpose, take sulphur reduced to an impalpable powder, and having formed it into a paste with starch, cot er with it the figure you are desirous of representing on fire : it Is here to be observed, that the figure must first be coated over with ctay, to prevent it from being burnt.
AYhen the figure has been covered with this paste, besprinkle it while still mdbt with pulverised gunpowder ; and when the whole is perfectly dry, arrange some small matches on the principal parts of it, that the fire may be speedily communicated to It on all sides.
The same paste may be employed on figures of clay, to form de« vices and various designs. Thus, for example, festoons, garlands, and other ornaments, the flowers of which might be imitated by fire of different colours, eonld be formed on the friese of a piece of ar« eUtectort covered with plaster. The Chinese Imitate grapes eXm
at' *- ■
«M*tf r wttk ^ <*Wpv wmM «ii|ta* i4ft «HA» •'^
SECTION UI. 'T
Oj SuiUf bolh fixed and moveable.
XoNC of tli« pyrotechnic iDiendons can be emplojfd wilh so mncb succeis, in utificUl fireworks, u sans ; of which there are ^o kindi, fixed and revohiDg : the method of coDslmcttng bolh is very siirple.
For fixed surb, cause to be constructed a round piece of wood, into the circnmferAOce of which can be screwed twelve or fifteea pieces in the form of radii ; and to theie radii attach jela of fire, th« compotition of which ha£ been already described ; so that they may appear as radii teodtog to the same cnlre, the mouth of the jet being towards the circumference. Apply a match In such » manner, that the fire communicated at (he centre may be conveyed, at the same time, to the mouth of each of the jets ; by whUh means, each tbrowiog out its fire, there will be produced the appearance of a radiating sun. We here suppose thai the wheel is placed in a position perpendicular to the horizon.
These rockets or jets may be so arranged as to cross each other in an angular manner; in which case, instead of a sun, you will have a star, or a sort of cross resembling that of Malta. Some of these suns are made also with seteral rows of jels ; these are calfed
froBi wydi II wOI proeecd to Am lecondy tbt m? tBtb^ the twelfth, the Mfenteenthy and eo od. These four recketi will make the wheel turn round witd rapidity*
If two timilar sant be placed one behind the other, and made to tarn in a contrary direction, ihef will produce a reiy pretty effect of cross»fire.
Three or /bar ftnnS) with horicontal aies pissed Oroogh them, might be implanted in a rertlcal axis, moveable in the middle of a table. These suns, rerolring aroond the table, will seem to pur* sne each other. It may be easily perceired that, to make them turn around the table they must be fixed on their axes, and these axes, at the place where they rest on the table, ought to be furnished with a Tery moveable roller.
IMontuela'i Oxanan. Frezter TraitS det Feux d'Jrtim Jke, Perriftei d'Orone. Manuel de VArtificier*
The attention which has lately been paid to the amusing subject of pyrotechny in this metropolis, in the course of the public fire« works exhibited with so much spirit, and upon so extensive a scale^ in the royal parks, has made us fuller in this department than per* haps we otherwise should hare been. We beliere there is scareally a device which Mr. Congrere has exhibited, that we ha?e not ex* plained.
ml
GALLERY
or
NATURE AND ART.
PART II.
A R T.
BOOK HI. OJ METALLVKOr, mndlUARTS eonneaUmm
ttkntio In flM pnccillitg part or thii work tremtad ^,« logy, and metallic nloN, wo ihall derate the pre«eat%^ few eiuiplea of the coHoai modee of working and oililiig i end flie m'oet important niei to wiiicii tkef are applied.-
«U A to *« 9Mr MdacM*. WtAdvedtfennc* toUrMlfesrIljry I wo«UI obscr?*, that Ittdkn cdMni it not iikt tin. Maoj jears ago the Dutch took a PortogoMo toswI whidi i»ai ladkiD with calacaf ; and from all tiie experimenti wUcfa were ■adc vpon that itthataiieey it appeared to be linc^ or that metallic iihstance which we in Eerope liaTO rery latelj learned the method of «rtractieg from cftkniBe. Both calamine and zinc have the propeity of changing copper to e yellow colour; and thit is the BOit diatlngniBhiog property of them l>oth ; it is that for which they are both sought after in commerce : and as cUmia end calaem havetlie same radical letters, and denote in the Arabic and Indian kngnegei two substances which agree in one of their most charac. teristic properties, I lea?e it to others to determine whether they are not the same word, and in which of the two languages that word was originally formed. The other ore of sine b called by the Germans blende, from its blinding or misleading appearance; it looking like an ore of lead, but yielding (as was formerly thought) no metallic substance of any kind]:. A particular tort of lead ore has been called by Pliny, galena, from a Greek word signifying to shine, because it is composed of shining particles ; our potters ere and the Derbyshire lead ore are of this sort : l||ende much resembles galena ; but, yielding no lead, it has been called Mse or pseodo.galena, ormock«lead: our English miners hate called it blackjack, and that is the name by which it is known to the makers of brass. Black jack resembles lead ore so much, that the miners sometimes succeed in selling, to inexperienced smelterS| black jack Instead of lead ore : I hare heard of the fraud being earned to so great an extent in Derbyshire, that from si ton of ore
* Gudnla Arsblbni dicitnr cilmUf quod qaidam pronuiicianiBt calitoia, nude Grscla receotioribns MXi/tM* laterdiim fcribiiaf* ande uiitrii GaUU caUuiiBa ^ lapii cataBinarif : qaam voceia qaidam pnepotteri dedocunt ab Indico ca» lacm, quod netalli genu eft ilanno itiiiiie» baud lon^^ ez Blalacca end loU* torn. Salm. de Homony. Hy. laC, C CXII.
f Savotnide Nam. P. II. C. XIY.
t Pifiwla gilf na noaieD town esinde acSqaisIf it, quod CMlcai quasi alaertt pluBibem pns ae faial, aed mentiator, cwn id revera non cootiacat qood «in» terno aspecta fNtUlcetv, Qcrmaoi# appallatur bieodc> a blendea ) qaki caia &lsQ speciem adnerm atamiom prm le feil» eziode ocoloi teciae|» yel lit haponat. Pott de Pbeado-galeiMi, p. KKk-^They hare la Stefbrdsbire |i lort of iraa, wMdi they call bitade-Metel, of which thqr anfce aaUs. bemaen* Ac. PloCsteft ....*..,
m4
• >
of iiiuidalterated 1m4 •!« jW4» ui DerbjtUrt, at m armgii fi>qr|eeD ojr fifteen httQ4r9d wfight of Ifltd.
CaUmine it found in most parjtt of Europe; we beve greet plenty of it in Spmersetsliirey FUalsbire, DerbjaUre^ end le meoy other parts of EogUud* It is scarcely to be dtstingiiislMsd by Its appearance from some sorts of iime^stooe; for it has none of the metallic lostre usually appertaining to ores : It difiers, howereri by its weight from every sort of stone; it being, bulk for bnlky near twice u heary as either flint or limestone. Before the reign of Elizabeth, this mineral was hdd in ?ery little estimatioa in Great Britain ; and eren at so late a period as towards the end of the 17th centary, it was commonly carried out of the kingdom as ballast by the ships which traded to fore^ {Mtrts, especially to Holland.* It use is now as perfectly understood in England, as in any part of the world ; and as we ha?e greater plenty of cala. pine, and that of a better sort, than most other nations haTO, there vk no fear of our losing the adiantagee in this artiole of trade which we are now possessed of.
Great quantities of calamine have of late years been dug In Der* byshire, on a spot called Bonsale Moor, in the neighbourhood of Matlock. A. bed of iron stone, about four feet In thickness lies OTer the calamine ; and the calamine is much mixed not only with this iron stone, but with cawk, lead ore» and limestone. The calamine miners never wish to meet with lead ore; they say that \fk eats up the calamine: and the lead miners in return never wish to meet with calamine in a rich ' vein of lead ore, since they are peri«ua4^d that it iiyures the quality of the ore. tt would be too much to infer, from these observations of the miners, that one of these substances arises from the natural decomposition of the other. Josiaposition of substances in the bowels of the earth, Is no cer« tain proof of their being derived from each otber: for no one will contend that chert is derived from tlie limestone In which It in bedded, or flint and pyrites from the chalk In which they are found; yet when agfOitYeriety of snbstanoee are iannd mixed together is the same little lump, the mind cannot help coiijecturing that a fltore improved state of mineralogy wiH shew some connection in their origin. 1 have often, seen calamine^ and black jaek» and lead
— ^— *— ^•— ■ . ■ ^T"^— ■ ■■■. ' ■■ ' ■■■■11 — *»^i^^f^TW>^^
m ■ !■■■■-
• BwyeaMetia: Wonb by Sir J. Petty, and PUL ThuHp iw IM*.
JkB mlmdm MBMlljr itiifd io Derlijrthtatt aaoQalt to abovl 1100 IBM. Sixty jrart nfff (at I wit teforsMd by an iottlligeat dnltr in calmine^ whtw Mker was om of tha fin t who d«f 1% ia that commtwj)^ ibi&f did not raise foitj tons in a year. Tim Darlqrtbire calamiaa dots not bear to good a price ai Iba't which it goMn about IM endip in Sonertetehire ; the former being told for aboQt fortj ihilliiigf , and the latter for tixtj-fiTe or wrentf lUi* Hqp a ton, before dreating s whc^n thoroughly dretsed, tlie Derby* ihira calaaiioe may be iKiught for about six guineat, and the other for eight ponndf, a too. This dressing of the calandne consists^ pradpaliy, in piclLing ont all the pieces of lead ore, limestone^ Iron stone, oawk, and other heterogeneoas snbstances wiiich are adxed with it, when it Is first dug from the mine ; this pielced caia* mine is timi ealdned In proper fomaces, and by oalcinaHon it loses between a third and a fonrth of its weight.
The sabstanee which is lou daring calcination of tlie calamino is not eitlier sniphnr or arsenic, or any thing which can lie eoim lected hj the sides of an liorixontal chimney, as Is the Case in some sorts of copper and lead ores , lience it woold be qoite nnservlee» aUe to roast calamine in a fomace with snch a chimney, Tim trnth of tills remark will appear from the following eap«'rlment»
I took ISO grains of the best Derbyshire calamiooi and dissolrel them in a dilated vitriolic acid : the solution was made in a Flo* ranee Flask, and the weight of tlie acid and flask was taken l>efore the solntion eommenced* About twenty hours after the solution had been finished, I weighed the flask and iU contents, and found that there had been a loss of forty grains, or one third the weight of the calamine ; about a grain of earth remained at the bottom undissohred. If the same quaattty of the purest Umestone had been dissoiied io the same way, there would have been a lorn ef weight efaal to fifty-four grains t the substance which is separated from calamine by odcinatioo, or by solution in an acid, U of th4 same nature with that which b separable from limestone by the same processes— -fixed air. This air baring the property of change ifl^ the blue eolonv of Tegetables to red, as well as agtany other piopertiee of an add, and iielng contained In great abondancp in the atmospheiwi has been called by some^ aerial add; and by
others, from ils constituting nlnt parU in twenty of chalk and other Cftlcarroas earlhs, chalky acid ; and from its briag dcstrac- tire of Ratae and animal lire, some hare denominated it ncphltic ■ir. The weight which wat thus lost by dissolting the Derbyshire calamine in an atid, corresponds suHicienfly with that which the workmen observe to be lost during (he calcination of that mineral ; bQ thai these processes mutually confirm each other.
Bergman ol)serTes lliat 100 grains of Flintshire calamme lost by calcinatioti thirly four grains* ; now this quantity corresponds, n* much as can be expected in thing< of this sort, with (he loss which I observed daring the solution of 120 grains of the Derbyshire calamine ; for if I had dissolved only 100 grains, the Io«b would hare been 334- 'fhe ^ame author, howerer, remarks that 100 gruns of Flintshire calamine', when dissolved in an acid, gave only Iwenty.pight grains of air: and ho thinks that six grains of water are contained in every 100 grains of that sort of calamine ; for he takes tiie difference which he observed between the weight of air obtained by solution, and the loss of weight sustained during the calcination of 100 grains of calamine^ to be owing to the Hnfer which is dispersed during the process of caldnatloni-. Fonlana obtained IDO grains of lixed air from 570 grains of So0MtetAh-e calamine : according to (he same proportion, had he usfd^tf lOO grains, he would have had thirly-lhree grains of lixed air, iDiteid of the tuenly.eight which Bergman got from the Flintshire cala. mine; I say instead of the tw^nty.eight, for I am inclined to think tliHl the DerhjshJrc, Flintshire, and Somi-rsct.^hire calamines
rnnlii|i|,M ftpt JWayfMrtat Jiltwttct ia tkt aiMlyies of Asm lltft JUBttoifld, proCMds rather from the mode of operating than Irap ihe .nbatancei thenueWei. Bnt, though future experience jAobU piore that verj pare piecei of the calamines we are speakidg fii do ezactlj agree to the quantity of air contained in them, it will BOt follow that the calaminei, as prepared for sale by the miners Off burners, will be similar to each other in all their properties ; ^oe they may be mixed with different quantities and with different ,Sorts of heterogeneous substances, from which it may be impos* iible wholly to free them.
The reader must not conclude, from what has been said, that all sorts of calamine lose one third of their weight by calcination, 0W afford fi;Kd air by solution in acids. Bergman analysed some jcalamine from Hungary, and he found 100 grains of it to consist of eighty.^ur grains of the earth of zinc, three of the earth of iron, one of clay, and twel? e of siliceous earth ; no mention is made of water in tbi; analysis.*
In the great works where calamine is prepsred for the brass makers, after H has been property calcined, by which processi as has been obserfed, it loses between a third and a fourth part of its weight, it is again carefully picked, the heterogeneous parts bav* log been rendered more discernahle by the action of the fire ; it is then ground to a fine powder : afterwards it is washed in a gentle rill of water, in order to free it as much as possible from the earthy particles with which it may be mixed; for these, being twice as light as the particles of the calamine, are carried off from it by the water : it is then made up for sale. A ton of the crude Derbyshire calamine, as dug from the mine, i» reduced, by the various processes it undergoes before it becomes saleable, to about twelve hundred weight : and hence it has lost eight parts in twenty. Of the eight hundred weight thus lost in a ton, 6^ may be esteem, ed fixed air: the remaining part, amounting to l^y consists of some imparities which have been picked out or washed away, and of some portion of the metallic part of the calamine, which is ia. flamed and driven off during the calcination : for I cannot agree with Wallerinsi*, in supposing that the ores of zinc lose #o part of their substance doring the ordinary process of calcination ; the blue flame which is visible in the furnace where the calamine is
• Befg. Chea». Eb. vol. IL p. 8Sft. . ,f Meuaior.
•
9M$ MITAIAHBttY*
MldDcd. tmi the itjnf UtAA tb* e*adM laitdMflMi oMacd wltb IcM itrong > fin, ire pfooft tD tiM tontiWy: It bt poiiibi* to we oluDiDB for tbt pnrpON cf MB>miWi AolclQing U; for tbe fixed ilrmidd to ^MipidAa If^ A ■pplled In mtking the bnus. But, u kx ulag ft ton d^'ilM Mlraine, there wonld to totwem dx uif Mren baiilU * pBt into the brus poti wUcfa wonld be of no mwioer rf'rilB operation, it li ■ wiKr method to get rid of M Urgo'dMUi BRserriceable matter ; iKpeelftlly U iIm carrUge of W«i^ hondred weight to the diitvice to which the prepirrtd pWi ■mt for the DMldng of brut, would cost more thia tUIMMI <f a ton of It amonnti to. *^l_ ^
Ttore ere menj lorta of blende or bluk jt^ 'Mlik fkom MCh other not only la tliefr externel appetranoiylU'll hteroel constitation. In genent they contain afnettAM united logclher by the infervfcntion of iron, or ot calcareous i and they mu&t be previuuiily freed rrom their sulphar by 01 tion, bi?fore they can be applied to (he making of braM, sorts of black jack lose ooe. fourth, others about oDe.ttath o weight by calcination : ychat is thus dispersed consists prim of sulphur, with a little water ; what remains consisti of a portion of zinc earth, mixed with one or more of the foil lubstances, tIz. iron, lead, copper, clay, and flint. Blad is found in North Wales, in Cornwall, and in Derbytblre probably it may be met with la many other parts of Great B ; for many years been iisei), as well as calamine, f
^^TwJM^"*wi^^^^^ ^^^^
JKiimtm^ te wtWi wrtlji wm mfancted faw tlidr fti. Moil am miKi^ Iq ^ ftoMd In oontict with charcoftl, or some other oooteioing pblogiAton, before tbty will yield their ; end when they ere thus fluxed^ the aetal| instead of dispersed ia t^mmuti is collected into a mess el the bottom of tlbe Tessel, or Auroece, in which tlie operation is performed. CMsmine, in like manner, most be united to phlogiston, before its metallic part^ whieh is called zinc, will be property formed ; titos soon as k is.fbrmed, it flies off in n^ur, and taking fire, keme with aiTirid flame. This phenomenon is easily made appa. MHt, by mixio^ calamine in powder and charcoal dust together, and enpesing the ndzture to a melting heat ; for a flame will issue from k very dillerent from what charcoal alone would yield : no meas ef wof metaWo substance will be found at the bottom of the Yessel; bnt ha the place whore the experiment is made, there will be seen mony wUto flocks floating in the air : these flocks are the ashes of tte metattlir.snbitance of the calamine i they are called flowere of aiaei Imm philosophorum, nihil album, and by other &ncifttl ajunee* Tho metallic rapour which rises from a mixture of cala» iritto and oharcoel, when exposed to a proper degree of heat, and the iriaf of which causes the flame which may be obserred, can. not bum withont air ; and it was on this principle that Margpnt' proeeeded, when ho exiraoted zinc from calamine by distiUalion in; etoee kernels in 1746» He put eight parts of powdered cdtsmioe^ and one of powdered charcoal, well mixed together, into ax ear* ten retoefc; and hafing fitted a receirer, with a little water in it^ to the neck of the retort, in such a manner as to exclude the air^ fte onpoeed the mlktnro Da a strong heat; there rose into the neek oC tkn retort^ whete k wee condensed, the metaliic rspour of the nelamlne» By thb method he escertained the quantity of zino centekediki diffsrent sorta of calamine.
Pftrts. Pirts;
CalamHis flrom near Cracow • • , 18 gaye 9f of zinc.'
from England'...*** 16— <-9
— — *from Bresiaw .•••••• 16 4J
fromHungsry..... 16 — Jf
— ^ttPl Holywell in Flintshire 16 7
He tried some stonea from Alx.la-Chapelle| wUA had been giren 1^ for calamine! in the same way^ bnt oUdned^ po zinc from
them ; and tkeiiee he conclwWl Uitt they were not calamine stones ; for erery stone, says he, which being mixed with charcoal, and exposed in close Tessels to the action of a violent fire, does not yield xinc, or which in an open fire does not with copper and charcoal prodace brass, ooght not to be considered as a calamine stone*. Henckel had long before giren a similar definition of xinc, when he obserfed that it was the only sobstance in nature which had die quality of giting copper a yellow colonrf •
Pott wrote a dissertation on xinc in 1741, in which he enters into the history of the dlscoTery of this semi-metal. Bergman has aTalled himself of ail that Pott knew on that subject, and has added se?eral things of his own : I cannot compress the matter into a less compass than he has done. << The semi-metal which at present is called xinc, was not known so much as by name to the ancient Greeks and Arabians, The name which it bears at pre. sent first occurs in Theophrastns ParacekusJ, but no one as yet Imm been able to discover the origin of this appellation. A* G. AgrI* cola calls it contrefeyn §; Boyle^ speltruml : by othen it is deno« minated spianter, and Indian tinf • Albertns Magnas, more pro* perly called Bolstadt, who died in 1280^, b the first who makes express mention of this semi-metaU He calls it golden marcadte, asserts that it approaches to a metallic nature, and relates that it is inflammable. Howeyer, as xinc is white, the name of golden marcasite is not rery proper ; it would therefore appear probable that it deriTes that name from the golden colour which it coasmu* aicates to copper, had not Albertns expressly said, that copper united with golden asareasite becomes white ; but he has probably either misunderstood or misrepresented what he had hoard rdated by others* It may also happen that xinc was formerly thought to contain gold. J. Matthesiosf f , in 156t, mentioned m white and a red xinc ; but the jpellowness and redness are only to be under, stood of the ores. Hollandus, Basil Valentine, Aldrorandus, Caesiua, Cmsalpinus, Falioplus^ and Scroeder, obaenre a profound silence on that head. $ j: The eastern Indians hare long since been in possession of the method of extractfi^ ppre xinc from the ore ;
• Opot. de Ifftrg. toI. L p.94. f iFjFrito. French Tiani. p. MS. i Id Operibw peMim. f De Re raetallica.
I Psodcrib. FlMuusi f Tnde Trifida OiTinica
• • In Libfo Mieemliom. ^ ^ Sarepca. tt PottoaZbic.
ftttettifrfaitbe eoirte of Aellit oeofvrf thii mtM ww brooglit from tiwca to Europe. Jangias mentfoos the importttion of tino fiom liidiB, in 1974*; a metal of this kind, onder the name of toteoag, ii ttill brought from theoce, which moit be. carefolly dit« tiOfQithed from the conipoiind metal of that name. G. £• Van Lohneisfl tells os, in 1817, that a long time before, sine had been collected bj fusion at Goslarf • It has been long used to form oricbalcum from the ores of sine,- by the addition of copper ; bnt it does not yet appear at what time this art was invented. Plinj makes mention of the orichalcom, as also of three species of Co« finthlan vaset, one of which is yellow, and of the nature of gold{. Kmmns Ebner, of Noremberg, in the year 1550, was the first who used the cadmia of Goslar for this purpose. In the year 1741 y Hencktol indeed mentioned that zino might be obtained from lapis cakmlnarif by means of phlogiston, but he conceals the me. thodV The celebrated Anton. Van Swab, In 174t, extracted it from the ores by distillation, at Westerwick, in Dialecarlia||. It was determined to found a work for the purpose of extracting larger qoantitles of this semi-metal ; but afterwards, for irarions reasons^ this project was laid aside: therefore the illnstrioos Marg. graf^ not knowing what had been done by the Swedish minenu legists. In the jear 1749 published a method of performing tins operation, wliich he had dlscorered himself f. It is not knowa 1n>w sine Is extracted in China* A certain -Englishman, Wlio sstsm nl yeara ago took a Toyage to that country for tlie purpose of learning the art, returned safely home indeed, and appean to Iwro been sofUciently instructed in the secret^ bnt he carefully concealed
• Da MinenKboi.
f Bcricht Von. Bergverclttn.
t HItt. Nat XXX. C. II.
S Pyflloiogia— Heockcrt wofds deienre to be quoted { I take them firoia Che Frearh traattetlon of the Pyritologia, p. 896. Oo fkit, par esemple, avec la cahMrfaey ooo tenlenient da fur, U est Trai eo petite qaantite* bmIi eacofe aae trte-graiide qaaatitft de aiac, qoe Ton obcieat son-eealeaMBt ca lui preteataat le corps a? ec If qoel 11 peut s'lncorporery c*est-a-dire le calfre qui est toa aiaaui, nais cacore ce deminaetal le montre simpleaMat par Tad- ditioo d*aaa aatli^ grana qui metalliiei II fkat sealemeat, poar cfiter qna ce pheaix ae sc ledalsa ea eeadre, eaip^cber qa*il ne te hfile, et abserirer le teawet les cirreaitiatti.
I BloglBBi BMgai hqlm MctaHaqil coiaa R. Asai. flisek, leeHatma.
f llcm.de rAc«i,«B^Bedla. H
■M . MITALtfVKaT.
k. W« Ml aAwwudi flat a mnfMtorr had bMa'wU ^ Brbtol, «hm sIm b »id to W vbtdMd by "iMlnJ dMMMin. W* km klfvidij Hn tkt it Iwd bMB Ml
tiiMd Is SwadM kjr dutUktwB pn sMann*, »kk|| tfiaf wu vfteted in Urgtw qMntit; by HtM. Crantsttjii^l two TSij catobntad B^acrtlogiits utd metaHirgitti. :Sh» d tiw occuioDwl by (li« voUtil* Md conOMidbl* ntimaClHt ht m iMV Una ratardad tha knowladga of tke or» aWllU Mr U tbM woBdarfol ; aa, baiog of a melalUc foro, t^tm to onr tteaa bean coaaidarad ai oenpoaed of two or HMw diMta. AUtarlBa Uagaw tUdu Iron ma inpMlieat».nM etfad It 0 ■pnriaw (OB of eoppar ; LanHry bolda it toM • I •f Maaiith; Glaobar, a^ uny akbevliti. BWwiJarH— •■ hnvatorc aolar nlphar ; H<»>barg, ai a n^stnv ■( N IrMi Knnelwl aa a fla^olilad aarcory; SaUvtar, 4l.lfel Mtfla by aalphnr, *& Tha oalebf^ad Brandt, la iMi, * tkBtble»de(OBlataodslBi^;«adaooB altar D.BwabMl«d Ir&tteil it from the Dologninn pseudo-galena, which poateaaes tallic iplendor. The Baron Funch, id 1744, determiued the pr of zinc in pseudo-galena from the Aacne and the floneref; I7t6, Mr. Marggraf set tiie matter out of doubt.
BergmaB in his history of the iliscovery 0 trocting zinc from calamiDP, wholly omi Lai*ioD ; of whom Pott, in his Essay o fully, acquainting ut that he really obuined some graiii%|| semt-metal from calamine. So that though Heitckel wa»(|
louht.
of the methMl] ' mention of DM ;, speka veryjj
Af.Piyee wyi, ^^^the kte Dr. I. Lawwa ohBerriog that the flowert of hpif cakoiiaitfis were the same as those of ziac, and llMt ill ^MtctB oa copper were also the same with that semi.metal^ aerer reoiittt^ his endeaToars till he found the method of sepa* ratifig pare aioc from that ore." Aod Dr. Campbell, in his Sur* Ve/ of Britain^ is still more particular; ^^ + the credit, if nut the valve of calamine, is Tery much raised since an ingenious country. BBQ of ours discorerod that it was the true mine of zinc ; this OOVotrTiiian was Dr. !• Lawsou, who died before he had made any advantage of his discorerjr." The authors of the Supplement to Chambers' Dictionary, published in 175:^, expressly affirm, that ^ f, Dr. Lewson was the first person who shewed that c?ilamine coatained ainc ; we hare now on foot at home a work established hy the discoverer of this ore, which will probably make it rery wmecessary to bring any ainc into EiKland." To all this I shall only add oae teslimony more, from which it may appear that the English knew how to extract zinc from calamine, liefore Mr. Van Swab taught the Swedes the method of doing it ; though this gen* tleman, onless I hare been misinformed, instructed the late Mr« Champion of Bristol, either in the use of Mack jark for the same purpose as calamine, or taught him some improrements to the method of obtaining sine from its ores* The testimony occurs in a dissertation of Henckel's on Zinc, published in 1737: he is there •peaking of the great hopes which some persons had entertained of the possibility of obtaining zinc from calamine ; hopes, he says^ which had been realised in England, Ce qu*on Anglois arrir^ de« puis pen de Bristol, dit aroir ru r^ossir dans son pays §.
The manufactory, howerer, of zinc was not established at Oris* lol till about the year 1743, when Mr. Champion obtained a patent far the makifi^ of zinc. About 900 tons of zinc are annually made •t the place where the roanvfaetory was first set up ; and about •even yeais ago, zinc began to be made at Henham, near Bristol, lljr Jamea Gnersoo, who had been many years manager of that krandi mdor Mr. Champion, and his successors in the business.
• Mineral. Ceniuai p. 46.
t Artie Calam. 4 2iQC.
^ Thi» obMrvadea wm flrBt pabliahed in the 4di vol* of the Acta Phyiico- Hedica Acad. Nat Cor. 17S7 » bat I hare made the qootaliea fimai the ed« of llcjickeri Woikf^ pobllilwd at Parii^ 1760, YoklULi. 4i«i
TOSi. Jl. t
SW MITALLVBOT.
Nor twenty jtmh ago, I mw die operatloa of prae from celui^iM perfonned at Iff. dwmirfoa'i coppw w Bnttol ; It iras thea a great aeeret, and tbongh It be n kaown, jet I am not certain whetker thrre are any ww kind yet ettabliihed in any other part of either Bngtand t eicept that before incntloned «t Henbatn. In a cirmli oTen, like a gla».boaM fornace, there were placed all four feet each in height, mBch reaembling targe oil jaia lato the bottom of each pot wai itucrted an iron tube, wl throagh the floor of the faroaco into a rcffel of water, were filled with a mlzlore of calamine and charcoal, and of each wai then close Htopped with clay. The fire beisi applied, the metallic vaponr of the calamine iuued tl iron tube, there being no other place through which it eape, and the air bring eiclnded. It did not talce fire condensed into very tmall 'partidei in the water, and melted was formed into ingoti, and tent to Blmungfaaa name of line or ipelter*. The reader will undentan ainc wiil be more or leti pare, accordiag ai the calaal from or mlied with iron, lead, copper, or other ne( itancei. At Gotlar la Germany, they smelt an ore wMel lead, and sllnr, and copper, and iron, and bIdg in tiwji the ore li smelted for the pnrpoie of procuring the lead i and by a particmar contrlrsnce in the famace, which li scribed by Cramert, they obtain a portion of xiac in i anotiier portion of it li inflamed, and the aihei of the I
MBTALLTJIOY. ^99
tOfS ; And lieiice if tbe lightness of zinc be a crifeHon of its pu- rity, oor English cine is preferable to the Indian, and nearljr •qiial to tbe Gprman ftinc.
If the reader has never seen a piece of zinc, it will gWe him iNMne idea of it to be told, that in colour it is not unlilLe lead ; that it if liard and sonorous, and malleable in a small degree; that it does not melt so easUj as tin or lead, but more easily thau silver or eopper ; that in a degree of heat just sufficient to melt it, it burns awaj into a kind of grey ashes without b^tint; inflamed ; that in a itronger heat it burns with » yellowish blue or green flame, resolr* ing itself into a white earth, which is driven off by the violence of the tn during tbe combustion, or remains surrounding the burning line Uke a piece of cotton wool. This combustion of zinc is as striking an experiment as any in chemistry, and it is in the power of any person to make it, by sprinkling filings of zinc on a pan of burning charcoal, or on a poker, or other piece of iron beated to a white heat ; it is this property ^hich renders fine filings of zinc of great use in fireworks. Zinc is a very singular metal- lic substance ; it not only burns when sufficiently heated with a Tivid flame, but it yields an inflammable air by solution in tbt acids of vitriol and of sea' salt, and even in some of its ores it ma« nifests a phosphoric quality : 1 have seen a piece of black jack torn Freiburg, which being scratched in the dark with the nail of a inger emitted a strong white -light. The Chinese zinc is said to contain about half a pound of lead in an hundred, and the German zinc somewhat more* ; and our English zinc is thought by some to make the copper with which it is melted harsher and less mallear ble than whc^h either of the other sorts of zinc is used ; though this opinion I suspect is rather founded in prejudice than in truth. There is an easy method, when pure zinc is required, of obtaining it : nothing more is required than to melt it with sulphur and some hi substance to prevent its calcination, for the sulphur will unite itself to the lead, the copper, or the iron contained in the zinc, and reduce them to a kind of scoria, which may be separated from the melted zinc, but it has no action on the zinc itself +. The zinc
« BerK.EM.Vol. II. p.818,DOte.
f I am aware that Mr. Mor?eaa has found out a method of combifllog zioc with tolphor { but in this general view, I purposely pass oyer many things which are deterrcdly etteeaed oipttA importance by persons deeply skilled in cht-
s9
nuide hy Mr. Emttwa b wUtor and Mghter ttMUtan/ ^tlier illfctf EngHak or foreign line ; bnC I do sot koow tkat it owes these qoiw lUies to itt being porified bj sulphur. Zinc fiid copper, whev pelted together in different proportions, oonstitato whit are called ]^achbeckB, kc. of different yellow eoloura. MaiggraC melted pure zioc and pare copper together, in a great Tarie^ of propoi^ ^ons, and he found that eleven, or eren twelvo parti oC oopQflr being mixed with one part of aioc (by pntCiqg the lino into tta o^ per when melted) gave a most hoantifQi and very maUoable jhNpiiiwo or pinchbeck*. Mr. Banmi gires the foUowing procem for mke Itig a metal, which ho says is called Or 4s JfanAciai, wb4 wUck is used for imitating gold in a variety of toys* and also on l|oa«-w Melt an ounce and a half of copper, add to it three drams of sinf;^ cover instantly the mixture with charcoal dost to prevent Ih^ c^ dnation of the ilncf • This coveting the melted mass with chftr* coal is certaioiy serviceable in the way the author mentJons; and it is on a similar principle, that when they melt steel at ShofioU they keep the surface of it covered with dnurcoal ; bnt I think it probable also, that the charcoal coatribntes to azalt tha goldp colour of the pinchbeck. These yellow' metals are seldop so mL leabU as brass, on account of the sine which is used in maUwg them not being in so pure a state, ns that is whioh is combined with copper when brass b made; yet it appears from the ejq;»eiima9l9 of Marggraf and Banmi before mentioned, that when pure niiip ond pare copper are used in proper proportioni^ very mailoaMe bram may be mad<s thereby. Mr. Emerson has a patent lor mi|u ing brass with line and copper, as I haie been infoimed ; i|pi4 til bram ip said to be more malleable ; moraheautifiitf andof aoolom asoire resembling fold than oidinary brass is. It is qfiiCi free fimif Icnoti or hard places, arisii^g from iroq, to which other biais la snt^ ject; ind this qi|aU^» m it retqpects the vMtP^fifi iieedle^ radofi tt of jgiept i(r^rtanoe bi making compasses* Thf method nf^Eval^ lo|. ^iiiafy brass I will now describe.
' Cofg^ ii9 thin plates, or which is hattSTi egfper rednead Af beliig poarejf when melted, into water). Info gmlna of ttn 4wff l^Tgff shot, is ndzad with r aiamina and ohaiooaL both- in-powdesw and exposed in a meltfaig pot for iofwal hours to a Sre notiinlto ifroog eno«|^ to melt tho copper, Mt sidftclent for nnKIn^ the metallic earth of the cafaunfaM tp.the phlogiston of (he qchiIj thh
«
• Mem. of Berila, 1774. t Cby. parM, Bsasi^ Yei.IL^ Ml.
ttrfm fcnit t ttelilIHe tnbstaice, whieb penetntes the eot)per eont^otttto it, cfasnging its colour from r^ to yellow, and aag* mvMng its weight in a great proportion. The greater the surface of a definitite weight of copper, the nore space has the metallic Tapour af the calamine to attach itself to ; and this is the reason that the cop. par is granulated, and that it is Icept from melting and running into a mass at the l>oftom of the vessel, till near the end of the •ptratioD, wlien the heat is increased for that purpose.
The German brass^makers, in the time of Erckern, used to mix Jfacty.four pounds of small pieces of copper with forty- six pounds #f calamine and charcoal, and from this mixture they generally obtained go pounds of brass *• Cramer recommends three parti of powdered calamine to be mixed with an equal weight of charcoal dust and two parts of copper, and says that the brass obtained by the process exceeds the weight of copper by a fonrth, of even a third part of Its weight f. At most of our English brass, works Hiey use forty.five pounds of copper to sixty pounds of calamine for making ingot brass, and they seldom obtain Jess than sixty, or Daore than seventy, pounds of brass ; at Holywell they reckoned the medium product to be slxty.eight : and hence a ton of copper by this operation^ becomes rather more than a ton and a half of brass. This is a larger increase of weight in the copper than is observed in any of the foreign manufactories that I have ever read of; and It may be attributed to two causes — to the superior excel* iMce of our calamine, and to our using granulated copper* Poi« tlethwayte, in his Commercial Dictionary, attributes the difference tn the increaife of weight acquired by the brass to the different na. tures of the coppers which are used : ^' There is an increase of fbrty-elght or fifty pounds in an hundred, if copper of Hungary or Sweden be used ; that of Norway yields but thirty .eight, and that of Italy but twenty.'' When they make brass which is to lie east into plates, from which pans and kettles are to be made, and wire is to be drawn, they use calamine of the finest sort, and in a greater proportion than when common brass is made — generally fifty* six pounds of calamine to thirty .four of copper. Old brass which has been frequently exposed to the action of fire, when mix» ed with the copper and calamine in the making of brass, renders
* FleU iiiliior» by Sir J. Pettyi . Jt« 286. Newman gives the laiiii proportioof* p. 65. t CrsBU An Poc« YoL II, p. 846.
s3
•
Om bnm fcr MOM d«eUl»| v^ itte for thf viking of fioewlir^ tkM it would be without il ; bat Uie 6«mMUi brtst, particolariy tliat made at NuroBiberg, lii wImq drawo ioto wire,^ Raid to bo INToferable to any made in England for muaical inttramentB. If tbia preference be real| it will ct«3e to eiist at toon as any ingenious van shall undertake to eziunine the tubje^; for our materiaU for making brasa are at go«>d as any in Uie world. The quantity, qf charcoal, which is used, it not the tame at all works ; it is gene* rally about a fourth part of the weight of tlie calamine s an eiceti of charcoal can be attended with do other iocooTenience than that wf nielettly filling up the pott in which tlie bratt it made; but {wwdered pitcoal which it uted at tome worlui In cooj unction wfthp or In tlie place of charcoal, greatly liyoret the malleability of .tlw bratt. At to black jack, the other ore of alnc, it it not to ooobu monly uted at calamine for the making of brats. The manufactnr« ers hare l>een somewhat capricious in their sentiments ooncerniii^ Jft; tome hare preferred it to calamine, and othert hare wholly jieglected it i and the tame persons at different timet hare made gr«at use of it, or entirely laid it aside. There must hare been JOOM uncertainty in the produce or goodness of brass made by thia mineral, to hare occasioned such different opinions concerning it ; and this uncertainty may hare proceeded either from the rariablo ^oalitiet of tiie mineral itself^ or from the unskllfolnest of the operatort in calcining, ftc a mineral to which they had not been •much necuatomed. Sereral thip loadt of it were tent a few years ago from Cornwall to firittol, at the price of fcirty thiUingt down to a moidore aten *• Upon the whole, howerer, experience has ■ot brought R Into reputatiQu at BrittoL • 1.. For many pnrpoaea brasa fo more useful than copper; It ia 4i|^tor^ kaidaff, more sonorous, more fusible, less liable to scale In the -tey and to mat in the air. It is not malleable when ho^ 4Mm1 la tUs respect It la inferior to copper s but when cold it maj •be bent ont inio thin iearea, aa may be aeei| in the brasa leaf, which emulntfatecniouf and thkweaa gold \^ If n binaa leaf be Md is the ianie.of>n eaindle, the asetalUc part of the calamine will bo bsiamed, and the bnsna wlU be changed into copper. Thia ebaigf of brasa into copper. vOl take place in the laigeat maaaea, aa well aa fai thin learta of it, if the braaa be kept a aufilcient time is n
e M hMT. Osma. f. 47.
HitTAlLVHOT. iBS
state of IWoB. Tbe Tarieties in the oolonr, malleabtiitj, and ducHNfJr of brass, proceed from the qnantity and qaality of the calamhie imbibed by the copper ; and the quality of the copper ifself is a circumstance of no small importance in the making of brass. ^^ I hare obserred, says Dr. Lewis *, in a large set of ex- periments on this subject, that a little of the calamine (that is, of the cine contained in the calamine) dilutes the colour of the cop. per, and renders it pale ; that when the copper has imbibed about one- twelfth of it's own weight, the colour inclines to yellow ; that the yellowness increases more and more till the proportion comes almost to one-half ; that on further augmenting the calamine, the brass becomes paler and paler, and at last white.*' As to the different qualities of different kinds of copper, they are suflSci. ently known to workmen employed in fabricating it ; and philo* sophers hare so far observed them, as to distinguish the different sorts of copper by the different weights which appertain to equal bulks of them* The lightest copper which Musschenbroeck has noticed, is that which is precipitated from the copper waters in Hungary; a cubic foot of this sort weighed, when melted, 7942 ounces : and the heafiest sort he mentions is the Japan cop. per ; a cubic foot of it, when simply melted, weighed 8726 ounces. The difference of the weights of equal bulks of these two sorts of copper is Tery considerable ; but yet it is much less than what may be observed between two specimens of the same sort of copper, one of which has been cast, and the other has been wrought : the same Hungarian copper, which, when barely melt* ed, weighed 7242 ounces to the cubic foot, when it had been con. densed by being long hammered, weighed 0020. Many of our English writers estimate the weight of a cubic foot of copper at 9000 ounces f , but they do not say whether the copper was melt- ed merely, or hammered ; nor from what mine it was procured. I found the weight of a cubic foot of plate.brass from Bristol to be 844 1 ounces, and that of a cubic foot of old brass from tht bottom of an old kettle to t>e 8810 ; which shews that it approach, ed to the weight of copper, and indeed from the redness of it's ap- pearance it seemed as if all the tine had been burned away. I had a present made me of a fine celt (the antiquaries are not
* Newman*! Cbem. by Lewlt, notes, p. d5. •¥ Cotes, FerguMiD, MartiBf Gampliell.
s4
■gTMd CMctnuig ik» OKI to wbiek tba ceUi vera ipplM, aor wlvthrr tbej &i« to be wttcned Brili*k or fiomu UMtniMenU) ; it wu cavi-red OT«r with ■ (hick potiM. I htmtti it i« the fin, ia ord«r to get rid of tbia precious puku, or groea mt, ani t*ok tteiprcrfic f rarity of it when qaite fteed from iti rwt, wttk groat flare ; ■ cubic Toot of it wonld have waighod ooly nSfraB^n*. It wa* not malli-iiUe rither wben hot w cold. I thra Malladitl when iffl a •tal« of fnion it emitted a fatne fluae, anil alUak wUta ■moke, which are etteemed cortaio aiuki of line. I ariM it t Mcond lime, bat there wai no ippearaoce of either flama at ■wkoi (be sine had be*n all cooniroed : I eaold not obierva ai^ laad ha It] a cubic fuiit of it, after it was grat\j cooled froB Ita atata of fasion, wagbed 8490 ounc<>* ; aod it was now BalleaUa^ ai cold brass a1w«ys is : it was composed, 1 think, of copper, ealaslDe, and tin ; ind I hare beard that sone celts contain a Itttla iUvar. Tbe change of teiture which it bad undergone, by baii^ laagh«> ried In the cirth. occa.-ioned its comparative LeTlly i Ikb ilmttm- ^n of wMj^bt, which dt-caying briss lu stains, is not yacaliar t» brass ; it probably belongs to iron and other meiailia Mhatancea tnhji'Ct to decay ; and it eertoinly belongs to nany ipwiii af •toups. I bare in another pbice obsfrvrd, that a ciMailiifl«f toadstnne baa ditfirent weights, accordin/i uthe stooabMIVW less decayed ; that whirb is mmt decayed being the UgMl4i • V* baie a stratum of blueisb grej ragslone in W«imoraln^;j^Mpfc lies under the limestone ; Itrge cobbles of this sort of alM%,vlM are eiposed to the lir. are decayed to a certain deptk tft^-lt*
nt'tmivwiv. ' MB
«««r7atf«M{cB(MiiMimAiiilMid. WHi flvgftfi 40' frrriiuf M^ot iton^t^ in wbkh tUb cAx of Irofi Is tioC anil ibpiilasiflttate^, this decomporitioii is easily miderstood t fer^lit Mix gndaallj brcMi^s moK di^phlogislicaled by the action af ti» wat^r and air, attracts wa(»r aad filed air, and loses Its nilierenee vitk the siKceoos ^ other stony particles : this is seen lo happen to basaltes^ toadstone, fermghieoiis Ifmestone, he. In Other sloneS) this deeoBposMon wmj arise from their eontaining aakareoos earth in a caostic state, or nnuiganese ; for these will gsadnaily attract water and fixed air, and then swell, barst, and the whole vextnre of the stone, as we see liappen to bricks
contain Kme. Thus also glass is decomposed by long expo.
to the air, the alkali attracting water and aerial acid. Mor- tar, on the eonttarj, hardens bjr long exposure to the air, becaisa, Ihongh iho aerial acid be attracted, yet a great part of the water aihales^." The changes produced bj the long exposure of bodiee In Iho air, and the causes of then, deserre a more ndnnte inrestL fnHon than hw hitlierto been bestowed on them ; some ad?antagO might, perhaps, be derived from the inquiry to our manufaett^ ion ; far 1 haye caui>e to think that iron, which has been exposed lo the air Ibr three or four years, is a fery different snlistanee hd^ Ibe same iron whea just made t and the saaie ohserration will pra* iahly hold with respect to copper and bram.^«But to retam front Ma digression. The calamine of Bohemia contains iron ; most of Otv Kngiish calamine contains lead ; and there are some sorta Wldch oontain both iron and lead, and other metals in different s these sorts can seldom be frsed from the extraneona ; and hence, In the ordinary method of making brass, they tHU ba mixed with k, being lasible In the degree of heat nsually In making brass. Cramer mentions a rery ingenlona of ssaiing brass, by whidi, if it should be thought neces. snrjr In db It, the brass may bopreserred pure from these hetenu ganeonandilnrea. He orders the calassino and charcoal to l>e mix. ad with asolrtanad day, and mannad to the bottom of the melting pat^ nod ths eapper mixed with charcoal to be placed upon the dqr } ttan, the proper degree of heat being applied, the raponr off the ainc lOtalnsd hi the calamine will ascend through the clay,
attach itnlf tote capper, but the Iron or lead contained in the
966 Mmrkhtvmmr.
eiliiiiiM) iMt Mng Tobdl^y wiU foiMhi In th« dtf, mdtlMlimf wkMi tk» whole is nMited will not hm nized wkk tImD, bot rest |ilir« on the florface of tlM dajr. Mr, John ChaniploD, brother to Un who first established the maniifactorj of tiae at Bristol, Is a very iogenioos metallorgist, and he has lateljr obtained a patent for paking brass bj oovblning tine in raponr with heated copper plates, and the brass is said to be Yerj fine ; whether the proessi he OSes has any correspondence with this mentioned by Cranery or aoty his brass will certainly be free from the miztnre of lead^ ftc* Bot the care to pnrify brass from snch metallic miztnree aa way be accidentally contained in the calamine, is, or is not neces* sary, according to the porposes to which brass is applied. These mixtures may probably injure the malleability of the brass, bnC they may at the same time increase its hardness, or render it sns* ceptibleof a better polish, or giTe it a particularity of colour, or some other quality by which it may he more useful in certain ma. Dofactories, than if it was quite free from them, and consisted of nothing but the purest metallic part of the calamine, united to the purest copper. This may be illustrated from what is observable in other metals. The red iron ore* from Furness, in Lancashire, pro. duces an iron which is as tough as Spanish iron ; it makes reiy fine wire ; but when oonrerted Into bars, it is not esteemed so good aa that which Is made in the forest of Dean, and other places. Thero are but few sorts of iron which, though useful In other respects, are fit for being converted into steel : some sorts of iron will ad. mit a high polish, as may be seen in many expensire grates which are sold as grates of polished steel, though they are nothing but iron; widlst others take but a very indifierent polish ; the 8we. dish, Russian, and English irons, and eren the irons made at dif- Isreat fnmaoes in the same country, are respectively fit for soma porpoaasy. and unfit for other ; he who should attempt to use tho saose iron for the makhig of wire, and for cosch and waggos wheels^ would l>etray great ignorance in bis business. In Kko mannery a notairfe dMerenee may be obserred in difierent sorts of copper, yet all of them have their respective uses : the Swedish copper is moro malkHible tiian the copper of Hungary ; the copper of Anglesey difiers from the copper of Cornwall and of Staffsrd. shire. The braaierstMrefer that copper which they can work with ^ greatest facility ; but the malleability of copper should not be esteemed the only criterion. of Ht goodness; for the copper vhkh
MSTAIiLUftOT. 907
ii lets atUeabte ma/ admit a finer polish, and maj last longer when exposed, as in breweries, in tlie nav/, &c. to the action of the fire, than the copper which is more malleable. This has been proved by experiment. Three plates of copper, equal to each other In surface and thickness, were exposed, for the same length of time, to a fiolent 6re, with a view of seeing which would best sustain its action ; one plate was made of copper which had been purified by a chemical process, another was made of copper from Hungary, and the third of Swedish copper. The purified copper, when freed from the calcinated scales, had lost five grains of its weight, that of Hungary had lost eight, and that of Sweden ele. yen grains *•
Queen Elizabeth, in 1565, granted by patent all the calamine in England and within the English pale of Ireland to her assay mas. ter William Humphrey, and one Christopher Schutz, a German, and, as the patent sets forth, a workman of great cunning, knowledge, and experience, as well in the finding of calamine^ as in the proper use of it for the composition of the niixt metal called latten or brass f . With these patentees were soon after associ* ated some of the greatest men in the kingdom, as Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earls of Pembroke and Leices- ter, Lord Cobham, Sir William Cecil, and others, and the whole were incorporated into a society, called. The Society for the Mi- neral and Battery Works, in the year 1568. Mines of latten, whatever may have been at that period meant by the word, are mentioned in the time of Henry VI. who made his chaplain, John Bottw right, comptroller of all his mines of gold and silver, cop. per, latten, lead, within the counties of Devon and Corn vi all j:; yet I am disposed to think, that the beginning of the brass mana« factory in England may be properly referred to the policy of Eli- zabeth, who invited into the kingdom various persons from Grr. many, who were well skilled in metallurgy and mining. In 1630, a prockimation was issued prohibiting the importation of brags wire§; and about the year 1650, one Demetrius, a German, set
♦ Mem.drBniK. Vol. IV.
f Opera Mineralia Ezplicata, p. 34. This work was written by Moses Stringer, M.D. in 171S« and contains a complete history of (he ancient corpo- ration of the city of London^ of and for the mines, the mineral and battery works.
t Id. p. 20. \ Id. p. 147.
408 MBTAIiLVSOY,
vpabnw trerk b Sarrr, tttiiaeipenMof ibcthoaMBd^iidi*; aad«bo4e eight tboaaand men are ntd to hm tmen OBpfejad in tba iraa manufactoriea which wen eatabliiliad to Notttn^miikln} ud near London ; yet Sir Jobn Pettui in hll ueoottt tt roffti ■inei, published in 1670, obierrei that these bran wofki were Hun decayed, and the art of making brais almost gM»' With tba ■rtittsf. But Ihongli the art wai Hi en si molt gone, jetltwain«> wr, after Its first establishment, altogether lost ; forBlMtt6Mjatr 1708, we find that there were brasi manuracttiren in BBgUdd, isd Oat they presented a memorial to the Honse of Commottl, MtflBg, forth WTeral reaioni for continaing the brass minu&ctorj ill (Ul kingdom, and soliciting for it the protection of parlianadt^. In Ab memorial they stated, that England, by reason of tbo buxhins. dUe plenty of calamine, might become the staple of brascmnufacto. ry for Itself and foreign parts ; that the contbntng the briM woiki in England wonid occasion plenty of rough copper to bft brotgbt In, and make It the ita[de (in time) of copper and brant tktt'fho Swedes bad endearoured to inbrert the English brass maaalkctor)', ty lowering the price of Swedish brass wire, inrel^lhig away workmen, and other means. In compliance with the iM^ort of tUa memorial, an act of parliament was passed in tba MM/MTj by which the former dntiei payable on the exportation dt tt^far of the prodnce of Great Britain, and of brass wire, wM lik«n off, and these articles were allowed to be exported frM' tt Ai^. In mo It was remarked, that this nation could supply tttff '«tfk copppr nml br:is! of Us own produce, sufTiciiTit for all occislons,
UBTAhhVtLQY^ teg
bmnu Ifl the rdgn of Edward III. the exportation of iron, either Oiade at home or brought into Eugland, had beeo prohibited upon tho pain of forfeiting doulSle the value of the quAntitjr exported *• And in the re^ns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. se?eral acts of parliament had been passed, prohibiting the exportation of brass, oc^pper, latten, belUmetal, pan.metal, gun-metal, shrof.metal, nn* dor the same penalty f. The general reason for passing these acts certainly does not apply to the present state of our mines and ma- oniacttttes, for the reason was this — lest there should not be metal enough left in the kiogdom fit for making of guns and other en- gines of war, nor for household utensils. The forementioned acts of parliament were particularly repealed, by an act passed in the sixth year of William and Mary, by which it was rendered lawfnl to export, after the 25th of March, 1604, all manner of iron, cop- per, or muodick metal ; but the prohibilion of the other metals was continued. The brass-makers in 1783 applied for the same Uberty which had been granted to the iron and copper smelters, a liberty of exporting the crude commodity ; this liberty was not granted them by the legislature, for the bill which had passed the House of Commons, was thrown out by the Lords. The Birming. ham manufacturers presented a petition to the House of Com« mons, against the bill which was then pending; in which petitioa it was represented — that frequent attempts had been made to erect manufactnres similar to those of Birmingham in different parts of Europe, and that the excellence of some of the Birmingham artL cles depended upon brass of ?ery different qualities ; and that, for* Innately foi this country, there were several sorts of brass that were peculiarly adapted to the different branches of their manufac- tures ; 10 that the sort which was suitable for one article, was im- l^roper £»r another : and that they had reason to believe, that the manner of adapting the various sorts of English brass to different avticles in their manufactures, was not known to foreigners ; but that if free liberty was giren to export brass, every maker might be indneed to discover the pecnliar uses of his sort, and that very disagreeable consequences to their manufactnres might thereby be produoedi The petitioners also represented — that brass-makers, in different proTincesof this kingdom, had not succeeded in making
i^W^— — — ii^— — III 11 ■ I 1 H— —.Mi— — .^— .<
« 98 Ed. III. c A.
t « Bm, VIlLe^lil-OHeB. yiU.e.1««4JUS4«TX.«»S7.
5!70 MitALLVtoV.
th€ toi^ dfhnsf Bad» in oditr pniflnoet ; aiM tfiat MM grcAt^eonpin of brui.iiiaker8 litd not tiiecceded in obking brui anitable for the Birmingham market, tlioogli tiiejr bad profeited an earnest detiro- to do io« And the/ hamblj apprehended, that there never luid been snch a qnantitjr of bran exported as to render it a national digect ; and that there was not a prdbabllitjr of any Mdi qaantitj being exported, though to mnch might be as to raise a minons competition to tlieir mannfhctores, ftc.
The brass malLers, it may |>e said, suiered an injnrj in liefog pro. Iiibited from exporting a commodity by which they might be gainerSy merely lest the great brass mannfiietnrers should lose somewhat of their proflt, by having a less extensire trade. But this is not a pro- per state of the case ^ it is not for die sake of the great brass bmi> nufactorers that the prohibition of exporting brass is continued, nor is there any. want of that metal in the kingdom ; but lest foreigners should rival us in a trade which, in affording employment to OMoy thousands of people, b of the greatest consequence to the kingdom in general. The proprietors of fullers eartii have been prohibited from exporting that material ; not out of any partial regard of thr' legislature for the great woollen manufacturers, but lest the number of persons employed in that manufecture should be mnch lessened^ if foreigners were supplied with an article so essentially necessary to its perfection, as fullers earth is found to be ; and though other nations have fullers earth, yet that which is met with in England is reckoned to be itter for the woollen mannfitctory, than any other which has yet been found in any part of the world. This obsenra. tion may be applied to the sub|ect we are speaking of. Great quantities of good brass are made by most nations in Enrope, u lirell as by the English ; but the English brass is more adapted to the Birmingham mannfhctories than any other sort is ; and hcnoo In France-, Portugal, Russia^ and Germany, our nrnhannfactured brass Is allowed to be imported free of duty, but henry duties are imposed In those countries on mannfiictnred Inrass when imported. The manner of ndxing difl^nt sorts of brass, so as to asako the mixture 8t for partlenlar nmnnfhctnres, is not known to foreigners i though this is a dreuasstanee of the greatest Importance : bat there can be little doubt, tiiat if foreign nations were posseMed of iH the- sorts of English brass, they woald soon sednee our workaesi (a- instmct them in the manner of mixing them, and in Jome.other little dnAnnstanoes, whidi are not>§anarally known, 4mt cm iMA
the SQCCCfa of the maDufactore depeoch in a great degree. On these and other accounts, till comiscrce puts on a more liberal appear* ance than it has hitherto done in Europe ; till different nations shall be disposed to consider themselves, with respect to commercial hiterests, as different provinces only of the same kingdom ; it may, probably, be thought expedient to continue the acts prohibiting the exportation of un wrought brass, though the reasons which induced the legislature to pass them have long since ceased to exi^t. I do not enter into the inquiry, when the custom-house officers began to make a distinction between wrought and unwrought brass, so as to admit the former to an entry for exportation and not the latter ; but I apprehend it was in the year 1721, when various goods and merchandizes of the product or manufactures of Great Britain were allowed, by act of parliament, to be exported free of duty ; lapis calaminaris, lead, and several other articles are enumerated in the act, on which the duty was to be continued ; but in this enumenu tion there is no mention made of unwrought brass, though it may properly be considered as a merchandize of the product of Great Britain 3 but the quafitity of brass which was then made in the kingdom was so small, that it did not, probably, enter into the con. temptation of the legislature to forbid an exportation, which did not seem likely ever to take place. Brass is made in various parts of Great Britain ; but the Bristol, Macclesfield, and Warrington companies are the only ones, I believe, which go through all the processes of smelting the copper from its ore, of preparing the cala« mine, and of uniting it with copper for the making of brass. The trade of brass making has within these few months been much de- ranged throughout the nation, by an agreement which has been entered into by some of the principal copper companies, to the exclusion of others, to buy up all the copper of the mines now at work in the kingdom. The effect of this plan is not yet generally either felt or foreseen.
iBiihop Watson.
C v% 1
CHAP. 11.
ON ORICRALCUMy AUSICMALCUM, OB THB BRASS OF TMR'
AKCIBNT8.
W C ha?e a proof, from the writhigs of Cicero, that the Romaoiy in his time, understood bj the term orichalcum, a metallic substSBce resembling gold in colour, but yerjr inferior to it iu i^aloe. He pots the following cast— *^ Whether, if a person shoold offer B piece of gold to sale, thinking that he was only disposing of a piece of orichalcnm, an honest man ought to inform him that it was reallj gold, or might fairly btfy for a penny what was worth a thousand times as much*." It Is not contended, that the argument, in thb place, required any ^reat accuracy in ascertaining the reladve Ta» lues of gold and orichalcum ; yet we may reasonably conclude from It, that orichalcum might by an ignorant person be mistake« for gold, and that it was but of small estimation when compared with H.
Julius Csesar robbed the capitol of three thousand pound weight of gold, and substituted as much gilded copper In its stead f ; in this species of sacrilege, he was followed by Vitellius, who despoiled (he temples of tMr gifts and ornaments, replacing the gold and silver by tin and orichalcum j^. From this circumstance also, wo may collect, tiiat the Roman orichalcum resembled gold in coloari Aough it was fkr inferior to it in value.
It is probable, that the orichalcum, here spoken of, was a metal. 8c snbitince greatly analogous to our brass, if not wholly the same with Hm The value of our brass is much less than that of gold, and tke resemblance of brass to gold in colour, is obvious at first sight. Both brass and gold, indeed, are susceptible of a variety of shades of yellow ; and, if very pale brass be compared with gold mLnd with much copper, snch as the foreign goldsmiths, especially, nse Ib tlieir toys, a disparity may l»e seen ; but the nearness of tlie
• Circer. de Off. L. III. f Soet. in Jul. Cm. C. UV.
ON OmiCHALCVIff. tfS
Uance is nftciently aseertahied in general, from observing that sobsCaoces gilded with brass, or, as it is commonly called* Dutch leaf, are not easily disdngntshed from such as are gilded with gold leaf.
The Romans were not only in posspssion of a metallic sub'^tance, called by them oricbalcnm, and resemblint^ gold ^n colour, but thpy knew also the manner of making it ; and the materials from \i hich tiiey made it, were the very same from which we make brass. I am sensible, that in advancing this opinion. I dissent from authors of great credit, who esteem the art of nnaKin^ brass to be wholly a modem invention. Thus M. Cfonstedt (though ( ditfer in opinion from him) ^^ does not think it just to conclude, from old coins and odier antiquities, that it is evidently proved, that the making of brass was known in the most ancient times * ;*' the authors of the French Encyclopedie assure us, that ^^ our brass is a very recent iavention f ;*' and Dr. Laughton % says, ^^ the vessels here called brasen, after ancient authors, cannot have bnen of the materials oar present brass b composed of ; the art of making it is a modern discovery."
Plioy, speaking of some copper which had been discovered near
Cordoba in the province of Andalusia in Spain, says, ^< this of all
the kinds of copper, the Livian excepted, absorbs most cadmia^
ao4 Imitates the goodness of aurichalcum §•" The expression^
^ absorbs most cadmia,' seems to indicate, that the copper was
increased in bulk, or in weight, or in both, by means of the cadmia.
Now It is well known, that any definite quantity of copper is
greatly increased, both in bulk and in weight, when it is made into
brass by bdng taxed In conjunction with calamine. The other
attribute of the copper, when mixed with cadmia, was, its resembling
amriehalcum. We have seen from Cicero, that the term orichalcum
^was applied to a substance far less valuable than gold, but similar
to it fa colonr ; and it is tfkely enough, that the Romans, com.
monly called the mixture of copper and cadmia, orichalcum, thougli
niYly saySjthit it only resembled it ; he, as a naturalist, speaking
with precision, and distinguishing the real orichalcum, which in his
time, he says, was bo where produced, from the factitious one^
which from its resemblance to it, had usurped its name.
• Miner, p. 218. f Art« Orictaalqae.
X Uughton't Hist, of Ancient Bgypt, p. 58. § Hist Nat. L. XXXIV. S. U.
TOL, TI. t
S74 OH OlICRALCCW^
Sextnl Pompeiui Fcitoi tbtUgsd « work of Vwrin FIft frammariao of coniiderabla not* in tha dma of Aagmtai. abridgment, h« definu cadtak to ba an earth which ia t upon copper, in order to chaogo it into orichalcum*. Tha whidi Feitoi flottriahed ii not aacertaiaad : he waa nnqn ablj poaterior to Martial, and soaa hare thongbt that Itt U* der the Cbriitian Emperort. fiat leaviag that point to ba I^ the critic), if he expreised himself in the worda of Iha wboM work he abridged, we have from falo a deciaiva pm cadnia wai conudered ai a apeciea of earth, and that tba I ued it for the conTertiog of copper into a metallic tDtwtaaaa la the Angnafan age, oridiatcam.
J a oppoiition to thia, it ongbt to ba renarked, tiiat Mna •tandbytbacadniiaDf Flinj, not Gabuninc, butnatiieaaaak. team la bav* bean ted into thia opinion, from oluerring thai aaya, Upif xrona wai called cadmia. For apprehendti^ J Upii sroina Pliny andaralood a kind of itone which eaatad and eroiioDi in the Aaih of tboK who were occopied la « it, and knowing that anenlc produced anch an effect,' the concluded that cadmia wai uatiTe aneoic-f. Thia, prafeibt miitake arinog from a miiinterpretation of the word knw* Diaallf , if bot conitaotlj', appUei that word to isbitapnali copper i> contained, withoat baring anj retpect to tka^nril ■«ch inbatancea on the fleah of anlmali. Anenlc, momva^ B^xed with copper, doea not gire a gold, bat a lilTer-Uhi H aoca to copper. And butlf, Flinj^, inanotber plaea M]
Msth tmiiifj obtfffet, tiMt tnricluilciiai was made from eopper ^ brosglit to a goMen coloar bf a loog coottniiod boat, and the ad^ ttiztoroof adrag*. IfMomt, bishop of SeTiUe in Spain, in the Asrtnth crataiy, deacribot aorichalcom as possessing the splendor of gold, and the hardness of copper^ and he uses the lery words of Primasios respecting tlie manner of it's being madef • The drag spoken of by these three bbhops was probably cadmia. Prepared cadoua is highly comteended by Pliny as usefni in disord^v of the sfes$ ; and it is still with ns, under the more common appellation of calamine, in some repute for the same purpose. Hence, consi.k dering the testimonies of Festns and Pliny to the application of cadmia in making either orichalcum, or a substance imitating tho goodness of orichalcum^ we cannot hare mush doubt in supposing| that cadmia was the drug alluded to by Ambrose, and by thoso who seemed to hare borrowedj with some inac(!uracy of eipression^ Us description of ih» manner of making orichalcum.
What we call brass, was anciently in the French language called archal; and brass wire Is still not unfrequently denominated fit d^archal. Now if we can infer, from the analogy of hiogoages^ that archal is a corruption of aurichalcum, we may reasonably conjecture, that our biHss, whidh is the same with the French ar* chal. Is the same also with the Roman aurichalcum.
Though we may, from what has been adranced, conclude, with« out much apprehension of error, that the Romans knew the me« thod of making brass, by melting together calamine and copper; yet the in?entk>n was probably derived to them from some other country.
We meet with two passages, one in Aristotle, the other in Strabo^ from which we may collect, that brass was made in Asia, much after the same manner In which it appears to hare been made at Rome.
Strabo informs us, that in the enrirons of AndAra, a ctty of Phrygia, a wonderful kind of stone was met with, which bting calcined became iron ; and beidg then fluxed with a certain earthy
^
* AuricluilciUB ex are At, cum ig^oe malto i et medicamioe adhibitot pcrdi^ •iturad aureoin colorem.— Prima, in Apjc. C. I.
f Aoricbalcum dictam, quod et splrndorem auri, et darittam erispomi irat ^ it aotem ev ere et if ne miilto» ac medicamiidbas perdncltar ad aarcan sola* lem.— tsid. Orig.
t Hist. X^at. L. XXXIV. C, X.
X %
tf0 Oir OBICBILCVM.
dnppid oat r lilnrJookiag m*Ul, wUdb, twigc oiMd-wU pw, feriMd K oonporitioii «Uck knm edlad wlfhahw*. aot impratwbre, I tUnk, that tUi itow nMmbted blMk j« MM* otker ore of itoc Biaek Jack wqr, ift a canaiB i ■p^ng, bfl aUcd a atone. It alwdi h Ima ; aai, «ha <taad,looki Ilka aa inn carOi; it ylaMa ilac by dlaWiaftM, Uwa aaxed witk rilnr and iMd I and bath tka Betrills nb wUch may ba aztractad fn^ Uack jack, aid tba loHtalite MbM tnm ft vUbt ft ii inwltcd, will, vban miaid vMha ■akabma.
Tha HoaajiMwl iababiiad a eoaatrj not far fnan tlia Bain Md tMr eopper, acaarding to Arfatode, wai aaid to ban b ^landU and white, BotfraB tha addition of tin, brt ftc biiag Bind and aaaintad with an aartb fonnd in ttat oaa TUa oamntlaK of ctvpar with a* earth, is wbtt b daM^ >raM h mada, by nailing copper with calamine, whick b ailed, and indeed hai Ibt aktemal ^paaraaoe of, aa mtfk that Alia waa celebrated far ili endmia or calamine, w» bn< iMtfanonj or FUnyt. Tba copper oftbe Blowymeoi iaaaiil baeoM wUto by thii operwtioii. WbitaiMH appeitaka M riftir ibfalntely or raiatiTely ; for bnu> U aot oidy MMfci than copper, bnt whan it la made with a certain qoanU^tfi tiealar lort of caUaiine, far there are very variou aoite iC- •nUnary yellow odanr it changed into a white. CieanfM aaan, nppaaea that oikbalmm nl^t hare been mistahaHto
fatdy Inolmr; but whicb^ upon being lumdled, alwijt emits a Wttmg aad peeoliar aMeU, not obterrable eitlier in gold or gilded oapper.
The iLingt of Persia^ wiio preceded tiie Darius meotioned b)r Afistotie, were in possession of similar Tessets ; but tliey seem to luvre been rare, and of ooaine were held in high estimation. Among Utt magnificent presents of gold and silrer ressifls which Artaxences and his counsellors gare to Ears, for the service of the temple at Jemsalem) there were twentj basons of gold, and but two resaelt of jellow shining copper, precious as gold, or, as some render the words, resembling gold*. Sir John Chardin, in his MS. note^ has mentioned a mixed metal used in the East, and highly esteemed there ; and, as the origin of this composition Is unknown, it might, lor aught we know, be as old as the time of Ezra, and be bfougllt from those more remote countries Into Persia, where these two ba. sons were given to be conveyed to Jerusalem. ^* 1 have heard,** says the note, <* some Dutch gentlemen speak of a metal in the island of Sumatra, and among the Macassars, much more esteemed than gold, which royal personages alone might wear. It is a mis- tnro, if I remember ri^ht, of gold and steel, or of copper andstoA^ He afterwards added to this note (for the colour of the ink dlibrs), ^^ Calmt>ae is this metal composed of gold and copper. It in co^ kNir nearly resembles the pate carnation rose, has a very fine graln^ the perish extremely lively. I have seen something of it, itc. GoM is not of so lively and brilliant a colour ; 1 beliere there is alert mixed with the gold and copper." He seems to be in doubt abont the composition, but very positive as to its beauty and high estk mationt.
The supposition of brass having been anciently made in India, seems to be rendered improbable by both Pliny and Strabo; Pliny expressly saying, that the Indians had no copper:):, and without copper we are certain that brass cannot be made ; and Strabo ro» presenting them as so ignorant of the art of fiuxing metals^, that according to him, if they had been possessed of the materials, they would not have had the ability to use them for the composing oi brass. But these writers, it is apprdiended, knew fery little of India. Strabo, hi particular, laments his want of materials to compose a consistent account of India; and few of the anthori
• Exm viii. ST. f Hamer's Obfc M Mg. YjgL U.^ 491.
t Hilt, NaC L. XXXIY. C. XVIL S O^UXlf.
T 3
87$ *>" omCBAlCDM.
from whoM worlci Plii^ conpilad hit Nktvnl IltitBfj, aa b« suppoied to hkvr l|ad any InUreoiirM witk tk«t eoniilf^. Slnbo, mareover, contiadicU both Pliny'* obwrratioa, mn<l hU o«a> ia 4e>Gribii|g tba greU panp with which fODM of tlie Ia4ikM wars •ccnitpiuHl to ^le)>Tata their fMti*«Ui bt ipeakt or bp flit keU tlMi copi, •nd tabiM, m»da of lodiui eappet^i fion vhkb it ap. ycarit not ooty that tlw {odiani war* not deititato of topper, bvt that Uiay ware ikilful matallurgiita, linu they knew how to loK it, to fom it into veMeli of Tarioiu kindi, aiid to glU tU Par* iMpa, tfaii Indian copper of which tba tmwcIi wf re nwla, taitad qf beios gilt, only reaanbled go)d is colour, and WH rwliy » Mrt 0( brait. It ii granted that Ibii if but a conjecturv, hat.tt i> not 4aT<4d of pi«b^ilityi fnr, not to mentioD that the Mthor,, who> •nr ba was, fron' ^bftw Strabo extracted this acconnt,- might in ■ public a(bibitiqn havB taitily raiitaken polished bran for gilt *»p- pef j nor the little probabilitj tiiat eanldroni, and iatOm, and ncl) Tecaeli a| were in coaitaat nK, would be gilded )■ any eaqa- trjj we haye reason to balier*, from what bai been obMrred ba* J^na, that a pacaliar kind of reuali, probably res^emUi*! aone of tiloae ayhit^ted In tba ]ndian faitirfdi, had been loBg la wo Id f ania, aqd that thaj war« owde of Indiao copper wMMHMf Riding. We knpw that there it found in India, not oa|^>>«hp^r ftrictlT >0 caU«d> bnt sina alto, which being mixed -«ftt aifpw jMnttitptai brait, pinchbeofc,- tombac, ■imilor, and wUMtlt^ VataUic misturea which reiemble gold in culonr. On'JhfrVhlk, ■(jhable lo m--. lliat brass wa; made '
ON OllOBAlCOM. €79
ttew b ao Inpossibility in nipposiog that copper ore mtj be so intimCelj blended with an ore of zinc, or of some other metallic snhf taoce, that the compound, when smelted, may jie4d a mizt me^ tel of a paler hue than copper, and resembling the colour of either goM or silTer. In Da Halde*s History of China, we meet with the following account of the Chinese white copper. ^^ The most extraordinary copper is called pe-tong, or white copper: It is white when dog oat of the mine, and still more white within than wiffaont. It appears, by a rest number of experiments made at Pe. king, that its colour is owing to no mixture ; on the contrary, all mixtures diminish it's beauty; for when it is rightly managed, it looks exactly like silrer : and were there not a necessity of mixing a little tutenag, or some such metal with it, to soften it, and pre. Tent its brittleness, it would be so much the more extraordinary ; as this sort of copper is, perhaps to be met with no where but in China, and that only in the proTlnce of Yunnan*.** Notwith« standing what Is here said, of the colour of this copper being owing to no tnixture, it Is certain that the Chinese white copper, as brought to us, is a mixt metal; 'so that the ore, from wldch it is extracted, most consist of yarious metallic substances ; and from aome such ore it is possible that the natural orichalcum, if ever it existed, may hare been made. Bot, though the existence of natu* ral orichalcum cannot be shewn to be impossible, yet there is some reason to doubt whether it erer had a rea3 existence or not : for I pay not much attention to what Father Kircher has said of orlchal* cum being found between Mexico and the straits of Darien ; be* cause no other author has confirmed his account, at least none on whose skill in mineralogy we may relyi.
We know of no country in which It is found at present 3 nor was it any where found in the age of Pliny, nor does he seems to hare known the country where it erer had been found. He admits, in. deed, its haying been formerly dog out of the earth ; but it is re- markable that, in the rery passage he is mentioning by name the countries most celebrated for the production of different kinds of copper, he only says in general, concerning orichalcum, that it had been found In other countries, without specifying any particular country. Plato acknowledges that orichalcum was a thing only
e FdI. Tians. VoUI. p. le. i Xirdu Muad^Sub,
t4
180 OH oiicHAteeai.
tallud of eren in bit tinM ; it wm ao wbera thm to b* Mat though in th« inland of Atlanlii it had bean formerly citiwild lu mine. The Greekj war* in powniionof ■ mcnlHc mM Mtlcd orichilcum, before tha fonndatloii of Rome ; tor It ll tioaed by Homer and bj HeMod, and bj both of tbon !■ ■ manner at ihew > that it vaa held in great eiUem. Olhar a writers hare axpreufd (tiemielTef in limilar termi of ema tion ; and it is principally fnun the drcomitaim of Aa U| paled f ilaa of aricbalcum, tliat authors are induced I* M tlie ancieut oricbalcun to bare Iwen a niitoral inbatatwr^ ■■■ different from tiw ftctitious one in ase at Roma^ and fnlba Alia ; and wluch, it has Iwcn shewn, wat nothing ilUbiwI oar brau.
But this circunutanca, when properlj' considered, doai i pear to be of weight sufficient to establish tlie point. Wti the method of making brass wai first found oat, it is mtUk it moat bare been for somo tiae, perbapa for sone Ifsn, t ■Ctrce commoditjr ; and this icarcitf , added to its twi i^w u a n^lallic mbitance, must bava rendered it Terj TVlifU cntilltrd it to the greatest enconians. Diodorw Meatai 91 a people who willinglj bartered their gold fur an equiffp iron or copptr*; and the Europeans Iht* long carriadata I kind of coqimerce with varioui nations. Gold* in a^pia ia justly cstremed the most valaa tile of met^; in o(hB%lpi the most important to the well being of maokiod, h ljm,%
oji omiOBAiouii. . Ml
woffid, tad copper iiwtniiiieiits, d?il and mOitary, ware, alaott tbe only ones id iiae*, a metallic mixturey Tesembliiig gold in 8plen« dour, and preferable to copper, on account of its superior hard* aess, and being less liable to mst, lnu^t hare greatly excited the attentiiin of mankind^ been eagerly sought after, and highly ex* tolled by them. The Romans, no doubt, when it had been stipo* lated in the^leagne which Pors«fniia made with them^ after the ex» pulsion of the Tarquins, that they should not use iron, except in agricoltorv, rnunt have estet^med a metallic mixture such as brass, at a rate not caiiily to be creditfdt. It is not here attempted to prove, that th<^re nf^r^r was a metallic substance called orichalcum, •up«*rior io ralne and diflfereot in quality from brass ; but merelj to i»hew, that thp common reason assigned for its existence, is not an cogent as is generally supposed.
Considering the few ancient writers we have remaining, whoso particular business it was to speak with precision concerning sub. jects of art, or of natural history, we ought not to be surprised at the uncertainty in which they hare left us concerning orichaU cum. Men have b(*en er<>T much the same in all ages ; or, if anj general superiority in understanding is to be allowed, it may seem to foe more properly ascribed to those who lire in ibe manhood or old age of the world, than to those who existed in its infancy or ehildhood : especially as the means of acquiring and commani. eating knowledge, with us, are far more attainable than they wero in the times of either Greece or liome. The compass enables us to extend our researches to erery quarter of the globe with the greatest ease j; ; and an historical narration of what is seen in dis^ tant conntries, is now iuGnitely more dittused than it could have been, before the invention of printing; yet, even with these ad- vantages, we are, in a great measure, strangers to the natural his*
« Heiiod.
i 1b fasdere qaod, ezpulsis regibns, populo RomaDo dedit Ponenna, oo- BiiBatim comprehensom invenimns, ne ferro nisi in a^ricultura otercntar. Plio. Hht. Nat. Vol. II. p. 660.— Wat Portenna iiiduc d to prohibit the Romans the use of Iron anu, from the opinion, wMcb seemi to have prevailed in Greece two handred years afterward— that wooodoy made with copper weapons, were more easily healed, than those made with iron ? Aris. Op. L. I V. p. 43.
I Button qnotet Honier*ii Od>i.«ey, and some Chinete aatlion, to prove that the twe of the mariner*! compass in navigation was known to the aiicientfc, at least three thoosand yean ago. Nat. Hist, by Bofbo^ Vok iX. p. IT. SmelUe*« Tiraas.
■M OK OllCHALCnU.
totf of tfc* «srtli, ud tiM ciTil Uitoiy of the nalioai whicli inhibit it. H» wboimporia tuteiug rram the £uL lodiu, or white cap- per from Chini or Japu), ■■ avre of meetiag with m rendj tourket fn- hii mcrchendise in Europe, without being aiked unj qsntlons coBoemtng the meaner how, or the pluM where, thejr u* pre. pared. An ingenloui oianufutarer of theie melaUk iMbitBncei night wbh, probebljr, to ecqulre lome informfttion ihoBt them, In order to sttempt a domestic imitAtwD of them ; bat tW ■■rrhint who (mporti them, lecmi to be too little iotereited iD tht nCGHi of hit endeeTours, to teke much pains io procuring for Ub> the Toqnlilte infonnttion. Imilationi, howerer, hare boia mido of them, and we have an European tatenag, and an Eoropew white coppei*, (Uflertng, in some qualities, from those which we brought from Asia, but resembling titem in so ntaay other, that tbof hare acquired their names. Something of tbb kind maj hare beaa the flMe with respect to ariefaalcnm, and (be most aacient Gnaka ■•/ - have known no more of tho manner in which it was nada, thu wa do of that En which the Chinese prepare their wWta. copper: tbejr maj hare had too an imitation of tlie original,. iwd their •nthors maj have ofteo misuken the one for the otbei^ Rfd, Hm hava Introdiiecd an lucertaiDljr and confnsion into thcir.-jifdintl of it.
Tlwre is U little agreement amongit the learned &atufda§,i^ etymology of orichalcnm, as coaceraing its origin. Tta|M vbo write it narichalcnm, eapposo that it is en hybridous wmJf' JpHU nifjing copprr, and a Latin
ov emieBALCutc. ggs
vMch Mag smelted yielded a copper of tke colour of gold, and that this copper was called oriclialcuro, or the moDDtain copper it is much to be wondered at, that neither the poets nor the phi« losophers of aotlqnity have bestowed a single line in its coiUnien. dation ; for as to the Atlantis of Plato, before mentioned, no one it is conceived, will bnild an argument for the existence of natural orichalcum, on such an uncertain foundation : and, if there had been any such mountain, it is probable, that the copper it pro. duced would hare retained its name, just as at this time of day we spealc of Bcton cepper in Staffordshire, and Paris-mountain copper in Anglesey*
Some men are fond of etymological inquiries, and to them I would suggest a fery different derivation of orichalcum. The He* brew word or^ atir, signifies light, fire, flame ; the Latin terms firoy to burn, and aurum, gold, are derived from it, inasmuch as gold resembles the colour of flame ; and hence, it is not impro. bable, that orichalcum may be composed of an Hebrew and Greek , term, and that it Is rightly rendered, flame-coloured copper. In confirmation of this it may be observed, that the Latin epithet lufidumy and the Greek one ^asivor, are both applied to orichaU com by the ancients ; but I would be understood to submit this conjecture, with great deference, to those who are much better skilled than I am in etymological learning.
^Bithop Watson.
Pr. lYatsqn has justly observed In the preceding essay, that none of the poets or philosophers h^ve spoken in favour of orim chalcum. Among the Roman poets the term employed both for copper and brass, or orichalcum, was ees ; which is the only term adopted by Lucretius when he evidently means mineral copper, either in its ores or in metallic veins. This, however, by his translators is iq almost all cases translated brass, but most erro* neously $ for, as we have just seen, brass is a mixed metal, and has never, that we know of, been traced in a native state. Mr* Good is the only one of the translators who has entered into the scientiHc meaning of the term, and has avoided the error: nor can we conclude this chapter better than by quoting his translation of the ^^ Nature of Things," which describes the mode by which phi- losophers in the time of Lucretius supposed mankind to have ac« paired their first fude knowledge of metals.
t84 0> OBIOHALIIUlr.
lAua Mst 0ml «Unr, «bU/ Lndi budier oomm^ ina^ flnt v«ra tncM " Wban e'er the faUl*, mum eonAsgntlea din <.■ .(' . Bara'd from iU bub th« dwp'rootod gron ; By lightningi haply kindled, or tbm omft ...^ •
Of boiti eotiUDding o'er 1^ weodUad iceiMt, i, -vi-<- A deublfl fear tbut itriking^ tbrongfa their fowt i .(r- , Or by the ahepherd't wish bU boundi t' eaIufeHTi« ■,. O'er tracd of specioni pronuM ; or, perchiBl%(.jn-» WUd beuti to ilaagbter, end lh«ir tpoili poweNi ;,■■ Forsncb, with fire and guUeful pit, mankind -t ,' ■ Pint caught, ere hoiiodi were nanhall'd Ui tho4l|Hl| Or ronnd the copM Uw tnesy net. work drawn. «,.
WhaU'er thx caose, when bow the wictBOiiS ImM Bad from their ntmoat root*, with hufeon craih,.- FeU'd the taU trees, and, wlA EU torrU beat, tf^ . -< The eoll deep.reddan'd, riUa of Mq^ gold, . ■ ^, Land, ailrer, coppir, throng Ui foi^ porei tt V .
■ Quod iDpcr cit, S^i atquc auruni, rcmimqiie rrpcrluD ttt, ftci Ub-V.T, Tfar piusage is too lonf for lu lo quale the originnl at 1 of )( brfoTP 01 the Icmrned irantlalor hai Ihr (blowing B lu the originn), ii gTnenill]i iiitrrprclcd In (he difeieni ■1 a ficncilc EulMIUitkr, tl will tuiduublcdly includr, oi krmu, ihc >ppro[iriste Irtm for nhicta U avricAtlcam, being s complri of labfcqueiit tgtt, ii is obrlous the poei here rdjl
-Hi*
01l*liBTAt8. t8i
Glided a»ahi, and everj hollow fill'd.
Tbese wiien, condensed, long after men snrrej'd
Gfisteuiog in earth, attracted hy the glare,
The splendid mass they dug ; and mark'd, surprized.
Each form'd alike, and, to the channell'd bed
Where late it lay, adapted most precise.
Then iostant deem'd they, liquified by flame.
The power was theirs each ?arious shape t* assume,
Drawn dextrous out, of point or edge acute ;
The power unrivaird theirs each tool to frame
Art needs to fell the forest, and its trees
Moald into planks or beams ; to cleare, or smooth,
Pierce, hollow, scoop, whate'er the plan conceiT'd.
Nor stroTe they less such instruments V obtain From gold, or siWer, than stern copper's strength. Yet mnly : for their softer texture fatl'd, Powerless to bear the sturdy toil requir'd. Whence copper chief they courted, while all gold Neglected lay, too blunt, and dull for use. Now triumphs gold, while copper sinks despised. So rolling years the seasons change of things : What once was Talii'd loses all its worth. And what was worthless rises in its stead. Swells into notice daily, erery hour Blooms with new praise, and captiye leads the world.
lEdiior.
CHAP. III. OP oun-metal; bronze, or statuary-metal; bell
METAL; POT-METAL; ANI> SPECULUM-METAL, OR ME- TALLIC MIRRORS.
JLJESiDES brass there are many other metallic mixtures, info which copper enters as the principal ingredient ; the most remarkable of these are gun-metal, bell.metal, pot*metal, and speculnm.metal.
It has been remarked of Queen Elizabeth, that she left more biass ordnance at he? death, than she found of iron on her acces.
389 oif irCTALi.
rioa to the throne. TUs MHt Ml to «d«ftlood at If godr tetot was in her time aiada chieiy of brass, for die term brass was sometimes used to denote copper ; and sometimes a oomposif ion of irooy copper, and calamine, was called lirass $ and we at this day commonly speak of brass cannon, thoogh brass does not enter into the composition nsed for the casting of cannon« Aldroraiidas* informs ns, that 100 pounds weight of copper, widi twetre Of tin, made gun^anetal ; and that if, instead of twelfe, twenty poonds weight of tin was nsed, the aseini becaaM beli^metal. The work* men were accostomed to call tlds compositioa metal, or^bronze, according as a greater or a less proportion of tin had been nsed* Some indiTidnals,.he says, for the sake of cheapness, need brass or lead instead of tin, and thns ferased a khid of bronae for Tari^ ous works. I do not luow whether connoisseurs esteem the metal, of which the ancients cast their statues, to be of a qnality^ superior to oar modem bronse ; Irat if we should wish to imitate the Romans in this point, Pliny has enalded us to do it ; for he bas told u8, that the metal for their statues, and for the plates on irhich they engraved inscriptions^ was composed in the following manner. They first melted a quantity of copper ; into the n»lted copper they pat a third of its weight of old copper, which had been long in use ; to erery hundred pounds weight of this mfaLture they added twelre pounds and a half of a mixtnre, composed of eqttal parts of lead and tin f •
In Diego Ufano*s Artillery, published in 1014, we ha?e an ac« count of the different metallic mixtures then used for the casting of cannon, by the principal gun.founders in Europe.
Copper • 160—100—100—100 parts.
Tin • • 10^ SO— 8— 8
Brass • • 8— 6— 5— O
The belt posrible metallic mixture catinot be easd/ ascertained, u Tariooa mixtures auy answer equally well the rude purpose to which ordnance Is applied. Some nuxtues, howe? er, are unques* tionably better adapted to tills parfkMe timn others, in some partis cnUir points. Of two metallic adxtnree^ which should bOt^uaHf strong, the l%htest wonM hare the prefarence : at the last siege of Prague, part of the ordnance of the besiegers was melted by the
Mte
« AMmaadas, p.loa»' ♦ fikt.Kat.L^XUiiy.i»£E.
ON MirAAi. M7
freqneaqr of tbe firing ; the nixtare of which it was made con* tained a large portion of lead ; and it would ha? e been less prone to melt) and consequently preferable, bad it contained none.
Woolwich, I belief e, is the only place in England, where there is a foundry fbr the casting of brass cannon. The metallic com. position there used, eonsists of copper and tin. The proportion in which these two metals are combined, is not always (he same, because the copper is not always of equal purity, and the finest copper requires the most tin ; they seldom use more than twelve, or less than eight parts of tin to every 100 of copper. This metallic mixture is sold, before casting, for j6.75 a ton, and Gorernment pays for casting it i^. 60 a ton. The guns of the East India Company are less ornamented than those of Gorern. mert; on that and other accounts they are cast for j6.40 a ton. I have here put down the weights of the brass ordnance, now most generally in use, as cast at Woolwich.
«
Weight of brass cannon now in use.
cwt. qr. lb.
42 pounders • . 01 3 10 34 . .. • 51 0 0 IS . . 39 0 0
6 . • . 19 0 0
These were on board the Royal George In 1780, but had been removed, I believe, before she was lost.
Battering cannon.
43 pounders
33 • . .
34 • • . 18 • • • 13 • • .
9 • . • .
Field-pieces. 84 ponndera ;
13 • . *
6 • « •
3 • • *
|
61 |
3 10 |
|
55 |
3 10 |
|
51 |
0 0 |
|
48 |
0 0 |
|
39 |
0 0 |
|
35 |
0 0 |
|
19 |
0 0 |
|
10 |
3 13 |
|
8 |
3 8 |
|
4 |
3 10 |
|
3 |
3 10 |
«■ MITAU.
|
«»tV. lb. |
|
|
w |
t IS |
|
i# |
'< M' |
|
■4' |
01* |
|
>•' |
0 0 |
|
u> |
;■» » |
|
*..*,«. |
|
|
1 |
1 » |
|
o' |
»-0 |
|
81* |
1 a |
|
M |
■» r |
MorUn(Laii<SwffiM}. ISincWt 10 . . .
Mortan (8m Sarrie*).
Id cuBng tbew piscM of canaon. Hay gmtnUj indv fka Sick. MM of the lidei, nMr Um nnule, half Oa diui«ter «f 'flia^^ot, wd at tbs t<nch.hoU, w charting cjIMnr* tiiiM-fDwthi of tha Aamatar. Bran caanoH ara Atmrtr than tboaa mait «( inn ; Utif which is a diiiadTantsge, (h^y gire a loudsr ivport at the time of eiplosion, so as to occasion a liogling id the ears of the persons on sbipbOBrd, which takes away for a time the facall/ of hearing.
Cannon might be cast of copper alone ; but the mbttnre of tin and copper is harder and denser, and leas liable to rutt than pure copper is, and opon these accounts it is preferable to capper.
0» ItSVAU. 809
to be addbd*. It mtj in general be obserred, that a Ipss propor. tioo of tin is used for making church bells than clock bells, and that thej add a little zinc for the bells of repeatlnij wat< hes and other small bells. Thm zinc becomes manifest on melting these bells, by the blue flame which it exhibits.
There is a very remarkable experiment mentioned by Glauber+. •* Make," says he, ** two balls of copper, and cwo of pore tin not mixed with lead, of one and the same form and quantify, the weight of which balls observe exactly j which done, again melt the aforesaid balls or bullets into one, and first the copper, to which melted add the tin, lest much tin evaporate in the melting:, and presently pour out the mixture melted into tlie mould ol the first balls, and there will not come forth fonr, nor scarce three balls, the weight of the four balls being reserved.'' This subject has been prosecuted since Glauber's time J, and it has been disco. Tered, that when metallic substances are melted together, it seldom happens that a cubic inch of each of the two ingredients will form a mass exactly equal to two cubic inches ; the mixture will in some instances be greater, and in other less than two cubic inches. In the instance of tin and copper, where the bulk of the mixture is go much less than the sum of the bulks of the two component partSj it might be expected that the compound metal would possess pro. perties, not merely intermediate between those of copper and tin^ but essentially different from them both* And accordingly we find, Unit this mixture- is not only more brittle, more hard, and more sonorous, than either.copper or tin ; but it is more dense also, than either of them ; a cubic foot of it weighing, not only more than a cubic foot of tin, but than a cubic foot of copper itself*
Pot.lnetal is made of copper and lead, the lead being one.fourtk or one.^dtfa the "weight of the copp#r. In Pliny's time pot.metal (ollaria temperature) was made of a pound and a half or two pOtlnds of lead', and an equal' portion of tin, mixed with 100 parts of coppet. ^Copper and lead seem not to be combined together In the saaie wiiy that copper and tin are ; for when pot.metal u exposed to a ntfelting heat, the lead Is first fused, and shews itself
• Waller. MSner. vol. II. p. 84S. NewCbem. by Lcwii^ p. 60^ Macq. Cbem; vol. I, p. 10. Eng. Tnm.
+ Glaaber's Works, fol. ed. 1689, p. 81.
% Gellerf I Chy. Metal.' ft Chtm. Pict. art. Allay. • TOL*TI. U ^
SQO OK METAL9.
In littl* dropi over th« surfu* of tlw pflt-meUI, wbilM Off i
mnaiai uofaseil.
It ii reported of Jbdips H. thtt h* niplted dowa and cola the brtu icupt in Ireland, and aflerwardi proceeded to oo pewter with this inscription— Jtf«//fri'( teiierm fall. TIm gKU in America bad recoune to tlie same expedient; ttoj leveral pieces of aboat an inch and a balf in diamettrf and grains in weight ; on one tide of which wag intcril>ed h ■ e ring near Ibe ed^e—Conlintnlal Currencj/, 177(1 — and wltl ring a riling lun, with — fugio — at the ude of it, ihlahg i dial, uniler which VM—Mind your buiinea. — On tin i were thirteen small circles joined together like the rinp of a on each of which was inscribed the name of some one vf tb teen itatea ; on another circular ring, within these, wai Inter American Congreu — and in the central space— ^ mr$ 0 bare been particular in the mention of this piece of bom cause, like the leaden monej which was itrnck at Vienna, that city was besieged by the Turks in 1539, it «■)! ■*<>* ^ a great curiosity. I estimated the weight of a cuUe foot coDtioental currency ; it was equal to 7446 oanceit tkh i the weight of a cubic foot of our bes^t sort of pewter, and Ml of that of oar wont ; I conjecture that the metal of A* nental currency consisted of twelve parts of tin andofoaa* Plautus*, and other Roman authors, make mention of \ttA ney; some are of opinion Ibit we ought to understand I eipressinn, copper mixed with lead ; but that cannot ba Al
Oir MBTALS. £01
The MX iMife io all ages used some coDfrifance or other to en. aMe tlmi to set off their dress to tha best advantage ; and the men ware probably never without their attention to that point. We find Jntenal* satiriaing the emperor Otho for making a speculum part of his camp equipage.
Res memoranda novis annalibus, atque recenti Hbtoria, speculum cifilis sarcina belli.
Homer, in describing Juno at her toilet +, makes no mention of a speculum ; but in CaHimachus X we see, though it suited not the majesty of Juno, nor the wisdom of Pallas, to use a speculum iMfora thejr exhibited their persons to Paris, who was to determine the prize of beauty ; that Venus, on the same occasion, had fre. qoent recourse to one, before she could adjust her locks to her own satisfaction. The most ancient account we have of the use of specula is that in Exodus (xxxviii. 8.) ^^ And he made the laver of brass [copper, or a mixture of copper and tin] and the foot of it of brass of the looking-glasses of the women." The English reader may wonder how a vessel of brass could be made out of looking-glasses ; the Hebrew word might properly be rendered by ■pecula, or metallic mirrors. The Jewish women were, probably, I>resented with these mirrors, as they were with other articles of ▼aJae by their Egyptian neighbours, when they left the country ; for it was the custom of the Egyptians, when they went to their ttmples, to carry a mirror in their left hand§: it is remarkabley that the Peruvians, who had so many customs in common with the Dgyptians, were very fond also of mirrors ; which they ordinarily formed of a sort of lava that bore a fine polish.
Pliny II says, that the best specula were anciently made at Brun. dosium of copper and tin ; that Praxiteles, in the time of Pompey tiie Great, was the first who made one of silver ; but that silver ones were in his time become so common, that they were used even by the maid servants. The metallic mixture of tin and cop«
AUter aQtem comparata sunt nnmlonata pott atalem Severl cnia, quippe ex qnibos puttvls qaBdam plambi, ^el nodico ignw calore diTcnit in locii expri* nontnr.— 8avot de Num. Ant. P. II. C. I. Thete pot-metal medab wert pro* bably cast
• Sat. IT. 1. 1 W. t !!• ^ XIV. I 110.
X Hym. in Lavac. Pallad. S CyriL de Ado.
f Hilt. NaC. L. XXXIII. 8. XLV.
tgl OM MBTAti.
ptr wai knimn loig bifbra tb age cf FII117 } it (i an bf Ariitotlo*, incideotdlr, wten ha k dBH^ttiDg a natl rndering ctqiper while, but oot bj tin ) and fnta U« gtmt 1 it wiU pnbably uner Ul into diraw. We ham cttiMj li ■toce the introduction of glan mirran, to me it 1» lh» '^ ancient« did; but it ia «till of great qm umngit ui» lioc* t^ i of reflecting toleKopei are commonly made of it. Mr. 1 Ihu ucertainedt, not only the beat proportion in whick the 1 and tm should be mixed together, hot has feond ont nlto « i of casting the ipecnla withont porei, & obaerrea^ Sit fl fection of the metal, of which the ipecnlnm ihoirid lifc conriati in Hi faardnen, whiteneaa, and oompactneia. ' m qnanttly of tin U a third of the whole compoiltkin, li» tati bai ill utmost whiteness ; bnt it b at tiie lamo duo rtadai bard that It cannot be pollahed withont baTing its liAtiuu tered and broke np. After many ezperinwnta, he at Ii^fll Oat fonrteen ounces and one half of grain tin^, and' HM f of n^per made tlw best composiHon ; an addition of Uf ■■ more tin rendered the compoiitioa too hard to be piuiM^ ] cd. The catting the metal so as that it may be compiatM mt pores, b a matter of the greatest conseqnenco; WW fte manner of doing it by acddent. His osnal way it Al i|Mculam metal, was to melt the copper and to add dialM] melted copper : the mass when cast was seldom free Itaaf ' After faBThig used all bb copper in trying ezperimenti tt i dib defect, he recollected that he had some metal whkkVi
ON HMTAiS. 2Q3
had done, compact and free from pores. He accounts for this dif. ference bj obsert iog, that the heat necessary to melt copper, caU dnes part of the tin ; and th^ earthy calcined particles of the tin, being mixed in the mass of the metal, render it porous; but the composition of tin and copper,, meking with less than half the heat requisite to melt the copper, the tin is not liable to be calcined in the second melting, as in the first. I am rather disposed to think, that the absence of the pores is to be attributed to the more perfect fusion of (he metal : for I hate observed at Sheffield, that the same weight of melted steel will fill the same mould to a greater or less height, according io the degree of fusion the steel has been In ; if it has been in a strong heat, and thin fusion, the bar of cast fteel will be an inch in thirty.dix shorter than when the fusion has been less perfect. Upon breaking one of the bars, which had been made from steel in an imperfect fusion, its inside was full of blebs ; a shorter bar df the same weight and diameter, which had been in a thin fusion, was of a closer texture. Now the mixture of tin and cop[ier meltis far easier thain copper does, and it is likeljy on that account, to be in a thinner fusion when it is cast.
It may deserve to be remarked, and I shall have no other oppor. ttenity of dohig it, that the melting or casting of steel was fntro- dnced at Sheffield, about forty years ago, by one trailer from Londoh ; and was afterWards much practised by one Huntsman^ fh>m whom steel so prepared, acquired the name of Huntiman^s e'oit steel. It wa^ first sold for fourteen-pence, but may now be bad forten.pence a pound ; it costs three-pence a pound in being knelted, and for drawing ingots bf cast steel into bars of the size of razors, they ^ay only six shillings for a hundred weight, and ten 'shillings for the same quantity when they make the bars into a size fltYor small files, '&c. The cast steel will not bear more than a red lieat ; In a welding heat it iruns away under the hammer like sand. Before the art of casting steel Was Introduced at Sheffield, all the cast steel lised in the kin^dtfm wus brought fr6m trermany ; ihe business is carried on at Slieffidd with greater advantage than ait most other pAaces, for their manufactures furnish them with great abundance t>f broken tools ; and these bits of old steel they pur« cliase at a penny a poutid, and melt )!h'em, and on that account they can afibrd their cast ateel cheaper than where it Is made altogether from fr^h bin'«r'tfte«l.
V 3
i 904 }
CHAP. IV,
or TIHRIHa 00rPBK--?IK— rBWTBm<
Uhbafpilt for minkind, th« fatal accidentt aUtodlag As ■■* of copper TCM^k, in the pr^pantioa of food and phfrie* an too I, and too well attestnl, to require a particnlaroHmnatlon
or proof: scarce a jrear pauea, bat we hear of some of^WB, aipe. dally iu foreign conotriei ; and manj ilitfbter malidiei, Miginatlng from the same toorce, daily escape Qbtenatioii, or are nbrred to etber canst-s, io oar own.
In consequence of some representations from tkt Colkft of Health, the use of copper ressels in the fleets and armhi of Swe- den was abolished in the year 17S4; and tinned iron was ordered to be substituted in Ihelr stead*. The Swedish gonranMnt do. serves (he greater commendation for this proceeding, m they bare great \Atntf of eicellent copper in the mines of that ooo||ti7^ bat no tin. An intelligent surgeon suggested, in 1797, Up p^tilflHy of the use of copper ressels in the utvy, being one of tk* cfmm of the sea scurry, and recommended the having Ihem clu ■els of IroD ; he remarked, that of the 200 sail of ships w^i to sea from Scarborough, most of them used iron pola.flir hi
TiiiNfNO coppfiB^ 8ce. £95
it bas bem frequently, in this country at least, used alone. In that year, The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufac tores mnd Commerce, thought it an object deserving their attention, to offer a premrum for the tinning copper and brass vessels with pare tin, without lead or tmy other alloy. There were several candidates for the premium; and since that time, the tinning with pure tni, and hammering it upon the copper, has become feiy general in England. Bat this mode of tinning does not appear to have been known, or at least it does not appear to have been adopted in other countries ; for in the Memoirs of the Koyal Aca. demy at Brussels, for the year 1780, M. l*Abb6 .Marci recom- mends, as a new practice, the tinning with pure block-tin from England ; though, he says, block tin is a compouud body, even as it Is imported from England; but he thinks it a much safer co. Tering for copper than what is ordinarily used by the braziers ; and he gives some directions as to the manner of performing the operation. The Lieutenant General of the Police at Paris, gave it in commission to the College of Pharmacy, in 1781, to make all the experiments which might be necessary for determining— whe. ther pure tin might or might not be used for domestic purposes, without danger to health ? The researches which were made, in consequence of this commission, by Messieurs Charlandand Bayen with great ability, were published by order of the French govern, ment ; and they have greatly contributed to lessen the apprehen* ilons relative to the use of tin, which had been generally excited by the expfriments of Marggraf, published first in the Berlin Memoirs for 1747. That gentleman, In pursuing an experiment of Henckel, who first discovered arsenic in tin, shewed, that, though there was a sort of tin which being fluxed from an ore of a particular kind, contained no arsenic, the East India tin, which is generally esteemed die purest of all others, contained a great deal of arsenic. M. Bosc d* Antic, in his works, which were published at Paris, 1780, sets aside the authority of Marggraf, Cramer, and Hellot, relative to the existence of arsenic in tin ; and is not only of opinion, that the Cornish tin does not conceal any arsenic in its substance, but that its use as kitchen furniture is not dangerous. Messieurs Charland and Bayen found that neither the East India, nor the purest sort of English tin, contained any arsenic ; but that the English tin, QAiially met with in commerce, did contain arsenic ; .though in so small a proportion that it did not amount^ in that species of tin
v4
S96 TimiiHO coFPut, 8tc.
which contained the mou of tt| to moi* tbu oiw fnbiin u ounce ; that ii, it did not comtitnte inore than one fira-huidraddi •and aeTentjr.Bixth part of the weigiit of the tin, IlieM btriag A7S grains in a French ouare. Tliii proportion o( araenic li ■• wjinllj incoptiderablp, that it is very properly conclnded, that tko Ipteraal nue of sucli small portions itt tin, as can mix theaudn(,«illi our food, from being pi^'parid in tinned t«s>4.U, can be La 09 teRsible degree daugtrons un acc^iunt of the arsenic whlrh the Up witg eon- ifia. But thoufth tin may not b«' noxious, on acconqit 9fij^ anenic which it liolHs, it slill rcD'aina to be decided, whathcrit tu*f not be poiionoui ot itself; as lead is uniTeraally alla^eit toi^^ Kheo taken ioto the stomach. The large, qoanlitiea of tin, wbicb are lomeiimes f{iren in medicine with much ssfely, afd.thc con* ■tant uie which our ancestors madeof it in plates and dufajPi before the intro'uctiun of china or <fhir pBith<n ware, witWnte^pyrl- anrin^ any mi>ci.i(f, n-nder ^dl oher itrunf of tbe innooiiif m|tme of t'urt- till srprrduoiis. And hence it may be proper to |l4d%fiW obvervBliuus ' om-frning the purity of tin.
Toe ores of mi tallic labstancei often contain man JH^|>tailCia than that particular one from which they rtreive Uw^iHg^wlp^- tioo. M.EDfr, of Berlin, had in his collection an ore,,)||^imfip laJned gold snd stiver, and iron and quickiilnr, cl44f|l|[,^|i||T0 together in the some nass. Lead ore, it his been rf^|A(i^,|f oflen coi>tH n» siUer, that it is selilom found vrithout it ; it is often al^o mixed with u sulphureous pyiitcs, which is a eort of iroD ore, anii ttith hbrk iack, ^vhich is an ore of z'mc ; so lliat lead, and
at lead ; md as t mizhire coa^sting of a large portion of tin with a small one of lead, cannot easily be dbtiiiguisbed from a luass o£ pure tin ; the temptation to adulterate tin is grpat, and the fear of detection imalL In Cornwall, the parity of tin is ascertained, before it is exposed to sale, by what is called its coioage : the tin, when smelted from the ore, is poured into quadrangular moulds of stoae, containing about 3ttO pounds weight of metal, which, when hardened, is called a block of tin : each block of tin is roiued in the following manner:— ^^ The officers appointed by the Duke of Cornwall assay it, by taking off a piece of one of the under cor« DCfs ol the block, partly by cutting, and partly by breaking ; and if well purified, they stamp the face of the block with the impression of the seal of the Duchy, which stamp is a permission for the owner to selU and at the same time an assurance that the tin so marked hat been purposely examined, and found merchantable *." This rode mode of assay, is not wholly improper; for if the tin be mixed with lead, the lead will by its superior weight sink to the bottom, and thus be liable to be discovered, when tht- bottom cor. ner of the block is examined. Bat though the seal of the Duchy maj be some security to the original purchasers of block tin, it can be none at all to those foreigners who. purchase our tin from Holland ; for, if we may believe an author of great note — '^ in Holland erery tin founder has EnglUh stamps, and whatever his tin be, the in. scription, block tin, makes it pass for English f •" This foreign adulteration of English tin may be the reason that Miisschenbroeck, who was many years professor of natural philosophy at Urecht, pats the specific gravity of what he calls pure tin equal to 7320, but that of English tin, and he has been followed by Wallerius, equal to 7471 X ; for it will appear presently, that such sort of tin must have contained near one.tenth of its weight of lead.
• Borlase's Nat Hif;t. of Corow. p. 183.
f Newman*! Cbero. by Lewis, p. 89.
i Mnsschen. Ess. de Phy». 1739. French Trans. Wallerii Mio. vol. I. p, 154. There is a very good Table of Specific Gravities, publisihed in (he second to- lame of MnsschenbroeckN Intmductio ad Philusophiam Naiuralem, 1168, in which the author does more justice to English tin, putting the weight of a cnbic ft>ot of the purest sort equal to 7295; avoir, oun. One specimen of the purest sort of Malacca tin gave 7331, and another 6185 onoces a cubic foot^ which is the lighteit of all the tins which he examined.
i
f9B Tl KMINO COPPXA^ <IC.
Weight of a cnbic foot of £nglish tin, according to different antliort.
Cotes, Ferguson, Emerson 7320 oz. a? oir. Boerhaa?e's Cliem* by Sbaw 7391 Musscbenbroeck & Wallerias 7471 ^
Martin _ _ — 755D From tlie following experiments it may appear probable, that not one of these authors, in estimating the specific grayity of tiui has used the purest sort, but rather a mixture of that with lead, or some other metal.
A block of tin, when it is heated till it is near melting, or after being melted, and before it becomes quite fixed, is so brittle tiiat It may be shattered into a great many long pieces like icicles, by a smart blow of a hammer* : tin in this form is called by our own manufacturers grain tin, by foreigners yirgin tin, or tears of tin ; and they tell us, that its exportation from Britain is prohibited nnder pain of deathf . The tin which I nsed in the following ex- periments, was of this sort, but I first melted it, and let it cool gra- dually; a circumstance, I snspecti of some consequence In de. determining the specific gravity not only of tin, but of other me- tals. I have put down in the following table> the specific graHtj of this tin, and of the lead I mixed with it by fusion, and of the several mixtures when quite cold ; the water in which they were weighed was 60^. Weight of a cubic foot of lead, tin, &c.
Lead — — 11270 oz. avoir.
Tin — - 7170
Tin 32 parts, lead 1—7321
|
Tin 16 — lead 1—7438 |
||
|
Tin 10 — lead 1—7492 |
||
|
Tin 8 — lead 1—7560 Tin 5 — lead 1—7645 Tin 3 — lead 1—7940 |
||
|
Tin 3 — lead 1—8160 |
■" |
|
|
Tin 1 — lead 1...^8817 |
• This property k not peculiar to tin i I hate seen masses of lead which, imder similar circumtunces, eihibited sioiUar appearances i and it has been (teerved, that sine, ivhen heated till it it just ready to he fiised| is brittle.
t Eacy. Fiaa* and Mr. Bamnfe calls It •* itain eo roche, 4 cause que sa fenne
TINHIHG CaPFBR, &c 999
Blodu of tin are often nelted bjr the pewteren into small rods ; I think the rods are not so pure as the grain tin ; at least, I found that a coble foot of the specimen I examined^ weighed 7^46 canoes: but eren this sort exceeds in purity any of the kinds ex* amined by the authors abore mentioned. Chemistry affords cer. tain methods of discovering the quantity of lead with which tin is alloyed, but these methods are often troublesome In the applica^ tion ; an enlarged table, of the kind of which I ha^e here giren a apecimen, will enable us to judge with sufficient precision of the quantity of lead contained in any mixture of tin and lead, of which we know the specific grarity. Pewterers, howeyer, and other dealers in tin, use not so accurate a method of judging of its pn. rity, but one founded on the same principle ; for the specific gra« Titles of bodies being nothing but the weights of equal bulks of them, they cast a bullet of pure tin, and another of the mixture of tin and lead, which they want to examine, in the same mould ; and the more the ballet of the mixture exceeds the ballet of pure tin in weight, the more lead they conclude it contains.
Pewter is a mixed metal ; it consists of tin united to small por. tions of other metallic substances, such as lead, zinc, bismuth, and the metallic part, commonly called regulus of antimony. We have three sorts of pewter io common use ; they are distinguished by the. names of plate — trifle— ley. The plate pewter is used for platea lod dishes ; the trifle chiefly for pints and quarts ; and the ley« metal for wine measures, kc. Our very best sort of pewter is said to consist of 100 parts of tin, and of J 7 of regulus of anti. mony,* though others allow only 10 parts of regulus to lOO of tinf ; to this composition the French add a little copper. Crude antimony, which consists of nearly equal portions of sulphur and of a metallic substance, may be taken inwardly with great safety ; bat the metallic part, or regulus, when separated from the sulphur^ is held to be very poisonous. Yet plate pewter may be a very in. nocent metal, the tin may lessen or annihilate the noxious qualities of the metallic part of the antimony. We have an instance some« what similar to this in standard silver, the use of which has never
ressemble k des italactitM;"* he says also, that its eiporlation is prohibited, but Chat he does not see the reason for the prohibition, as it is not more pare than Cornish tin: and In this observation he It right. It is nothini^ hot Cornish tin in a particolar form. Chyro. par M. Bauai^, vol. HI. p. 488
• Med. Trans, vol. L p. 886*
f Pemb. Chem. p. S88.
^^•fA e«M9«d mvho&voM^ BotwithrtMidiiigit coiitiiiif mu iii«. twelfth of iU m.elgkt of copper. Tlbosg h sUndburd tilrer htt aU wpji| bees coosidtred ■• a 8$fe. BMtaly when med foy cnliiiary pur- poses ; yet it it not altogether lo, the copper It containi it liable (o be corrodc'd by laline tiibataooet into Terdigrit. Thit it ire' ^uentl^ teeo^ when commoo talt it tuffered to ttajr m few dayt in ailf er taltcellart, which hate not a gold gilding ; and «fen saUne draughttv made with Tolatile talt and jaioe of lemoat, have been obiened to corrode a diver tea^tpoon, which had beelt left a #eA iotJ^mUtnrt. The weight of a coble loot of each Of time I6rti of pewter fe^
Plato — i- 7M8
Trido — — 7B$9 h^ — _ 7P68
If the plate pewter be ceapoeed of i|n and regidttt of aaiinioag^^ there it no reason to eipeet^ that a cubic foot of It thonld be hen. vier than it appears to be ; since vegnlos of aMsMnjr^ acmdlng to the different wi^ fai wMch It it nade^ ift heavier or Mg|der thn pore tbu A very fine siltniUooidng metal -is laid to bo oolnpdted df 100 pounds of tm, 8 of refulua of atiltaionf^ lof bbasdlh^iaat 4 of copper. The ley powter, if we miiy judge oflts cuii|lusiUidt by copMog its weigbt wMi the weights of the mittaMroriHt mi hfA, menthmed in ti|e table, contains not eo mnch^s^n tidfd^' bat more than atiftti fhirt of to wel^ of lead; mMqoMkfWt lead Is fkf loo'nmch^ consMerh^s oneof the nsii to which ^ttis'ibll olpowterie epfdred^ fovaMd wines wHIf^Mlily dorrode the MM df thefl^fons^ in wMch tiiey ire Hieasured, into sugar of kdHsttb danger is not «o gi^t with us, where wine is «|ldoni sold by IM meatoro, as it isin dther eonntrles wbere* itle gemaMly'JoM to^ and thetr wUie ase^ikma eontalfti, probably, wmm letd ihhn • Mftt do. Our Bn^lih pewterers>hnve4t all thftesiwdeiteysteiy^ their.ait; and.dMlrcawtion'^as ibrmerly«DWii4i«tieov»hg«fdb9^ Hw fegWatuTo, that an aitt of parliement wn piM«tt, l^ttdeHbgr II untawfol fbr nayt muter pewtetfur to'tafte da hpflNmtlee, ortd'l^' ploy a Jour«<»ymab^ who^l^araibrelgltfct; 'Iif the pf^t^t llli{>ril¥M state of chemistry, this caution is useleHTi' slftce atiy one lolera^ skilled In tliat ^iinpe^ ,VP^^ be a](il^. to. discover the quality* aul quantity of the metallic jilbslancef, ufad in any. particular eorl 4sf pewter; and it lsnetrotii^lmelN»ilb#^%«t«uo%ould baVo'te^^ it must have been always eo j whUsI ttai, "Che pridc!^ lb(
Turvmo ooFpam, Qcc. 301
WM fomid b BO part of Earope in so pure a state, nor in so great pleoty as Id England.
fiorlasf" and Pryce, w^o have written so minutely on fhe method of prpparing the tin in C'orawall, are both of them silent, as to any operation the tin undergoes subsequent to its coinage ; nor do they say any thing of its being mixed with other metallic substances pre? ious to its coinage ; but assure us, that the tin, as it flowa from the ore, is laded into troughs, each of which contains about three hundred pounds weight of metal, called slabs, blocks^ or jttftces of tin, in which she and form it is sold in eyery market in Europe. Foreigners, howejer, in general assert, that our tin as exported is a mixed metal ; and the French Encyclopedists in par- ticular (article Etiun) inform us, on the authority of Mr. Rouelle, that the Tirg^n tin is again melted and cast into iron moulds of half a foot in thickness ; that the metal is cooled very slowly ; that when cold it is dirided horizontally into three layers ; that the up. permost, being Tery soft pure tin, is afterwards mixed with cop- per, in the proportion of 3 pounds of copper to 100 of tin; that the second layer, being of a harsher nature, has 5 pounds of lead added to 100 of the tin ; and that the lowest layer is mixed with 9 pounds of lead to an hundred of the tin ; the whole is then re* melted, and cooled quickly ; and this, they say, is the ordinary tin of England : and Geoffroy had formerly given much the same ac<^ count*. There is, probably, no other foundation for this report^ but that pejBFter has been mistaken for tin, these metals being some- times called by the same name ; and fine pewter being sometimea made from a mixture of I part of copper with 20 or 30 parts of tin.
The mixture generally used for the tinning of copper resselsf conaists of 3 pounds of lead, and of 5 pounds of pewter ; when a finer composition is required, ten parts of lead are mixed with six- teen of tin ; or one part of lead with two of tin : but the proportions in which lead and tin arc mlted together, even for the same kind of work, are not every where the same; different artists having di£i
* -~-^ ftuores aperto furni ostlolo, metallum in formas quasdam ex aren^ paralBs dilBsere tinunt, ibique in manas grandiores concrescit. Superfor iUiDne» maidlB pan adeo mollis est et flezilis, at sola claborari nequeat sine capri miscela* trinm scilicet libraram tnprr stanni Hbras centm. Ma^se pen media binas tantam cupri libras recipit. loflma rero adeo fnipUs est et in- tracfabilis, nt CQm lnjio» metaili cpnmoi libris pluBibi iibmi octodecim cob« saciKe ^poncat. Geoff. Mat. Med, voU I. p. 88S*
SOS TlNRfHO COPMK, &C
frrmt mitoiM, Veuch tinned with pare tin, or with tb kind of pewlPF, which conlaini no IifmI, do not itBia tk* f when rubb^ with them ; whilst IhoM which u« tinn«l with (mifion, into which leid enten u ■ conilituant pu<, mIoi finger* with a bkrkiih tinge.
Zinc wai long ago recammended for the tinning of Wfp* (eh, in preference both to the raixtare of tin snd lead, mmi ti tin* : and cine certainlj hai the adranlage of being imiti tin, and of bearing a greater d^reo of heat befoi* II « melted from the lorface of the capper ; ao that on both "tti oonnti it would, when applied on the inrraceorcoppar^lMtl tbaA tiD ; juit a* tin, for (he tame reaioni, laiti longer thin ■ tnreof tinand lead. Bnt whether zinc maketanypartof the pound metal for tinning copper, m u to prerrnt tho Mieai ivpeated tinning, for which a patent wat granted tumtfmt ia what I cannot affirm. Whatever may the exceUaaM M Gompotition, or of an)> other compoiition, which naj bilMi with reapect (o iu dnnbiiltj, and iti not contractlg^ VMt It ODght not to be admitted into general dm, till it haa hMa pi Oat it it not lolable in regetabie addi, or that ita Mhtfoi not noxhinif. A method haa of lata yean been tatkadii Rosen, of applying a coat of line upon hammered Utt- 1 pui. The vetiela are first made Tery bright, to that nMj ipeck can be aeen ; they are then rubbed with a aohrtUa^ ammoniac, and afterward! dipped into an iron pot fUiifB tine, and b^ng taken ont, the atnc ii found to cover tl
Tiiiiri]|l».€OPPBB> he. 909
The MniDMMi method of tiooiag consists in nskinf^ the surface •f the copper tessel quite bright, by scraping it, and by washing it with a solation of sal ammoniac ; it is then heated, and the tin, or metailic miiture designed for tinning, is melted, aud poured into it, and being made to flow qaiclLly over e?ery part of the sur- face of the vessel, it incorporates with the copper, and, when cold, remains united with it. Rosin or pitch is sometimes used, to pre. tent the tin from being calcined, and the copper from being scaled, either of which circumstances would hinder the sticking of the tin.
I had the curiosity to estimate the quantity of pure tin, which is nsed in tinning a definite surface of copper. The vessel was ac« curately weighed before and after it was tinned, its surface was equal to 264 square inches ; its weight, before it was tinned, was 46 ounces, and its weight, after the operation, was barely 46-f ounces ; so that half an ounce of tin was spread over 234 square inches, or somewhat less than a grain of tin upon each square inch. How innocent soever pure tin may be, yet the tenuity of the coat of it, by which copper vessels are covered, in the ordinary way of tinning, cannot fail to excite the serious apprehensions of those who consider it; for in the experiment which I have mentioned, the tin was laid on with a thicker coat than in the common way ; Instead of a grain, I suspect that not a quarter of a grain of tin is spread over a square inch in the common way of tinning. A dia* covery has been lately made at Paris of a method of gif ing to cop* per or iron a coat of any required thickness, by tinning them ; the composition used for the tinning is not mentioned ; but it is said that a piece of copper, which in the common way of tinning only absorbed 21 grains of tin, absorbed of the new com position 432 grains, or above twenty times as much*. Till this discovery is generally known, our workmen should study to cover the cop- per with as thick a coat as they are able of pure tin. The dan- ger from the corrosion or solution of the tin by vinegar, juice of lemons, or other vegetable j^cids, if any at all, cannot it is appro* hended, be sensibly felt, except in very irritable habits, or where sour broths, sauces, or syrups, are suffered to stand long in tinned vessels before they are used. And, indeed, a pro« per attention to keeping the yessels clean, might render the use of
copper itself, for the boiling of food, especially, of animal food, ^ ' ' — — — — ^^——i »
• L'EiprIt (|efl Joomaax, Mai, ITSli
aoi TiHNiiro onnuf Sec.
-whpllr tafo. Tbe I^rench b»j ba kllow«d to czeel na Ir wekttjf but ne probably fxcel them la dunlineu ; for tb* Mriuchalj BGi:i'lt'nri attending the use of coppar imeb, *ra aac4 Im flra> (vcnL in EnglauU tbaa ia Fruce ; and thb difimnei pndMib, I CoBjfctDre, frum tht> superior care of the Eo^liib in kMfb| their TeiHils cleao, and from the cheapneii and purity of tlw M 4r« «ae in tinning copper. We are not certain that tbe ait 'Wf tfnnin; Mpper Teswtt waa known to die Jevi, vhrn they AM out of Egypt ; the *e»eli used in tb« temple service were mtUt-nP Wp- per by dirfne appointment, and by being conilsntiy kept-tttMt M inconreniences followed. The wort» from which malt UqjUor ii browed, ii boiled in CopperveiMli; the diittilera and e—fcLlluliOra prepare their apirita and aympt tn un.tJnned THaels oCtbe larae metal, without our nSerlng any thing in onr health tmn these practices; at least, witbont our being generally penritdtd that wo anffer any thing. A new copper vesael, or a cofpatOMIel newly tinned, ti more dangerons than after it ha> bamttti^i'^t- came its pores, which the eye cannot dhtingnbh} gM UM np with die nbatancei which are boiled In it, and all flielkiPp edgea of the prominent parts become Unnted, and are thi/dty rMidircd iaii liable to be abraded. "'* '
M. 4e la Unde, in de«;riblng the cabinet at Porfldf 4 Alt the kitchen utensili, which have been dugiip'atXI ■re almost all of t&em made of a compound metal Ilka A and that many of the Tessets are covered with silver, fa them with tin ; and hence he concludes, that tbe nsefid'fttW ip-
to bcltovei thtt Oe Rmuhm, it te«il whtn Pliny wrote that 1>ook^^ did vsditftend tie iMtlMd of timiiag copper wfaich is now in use ; for tUv gieeft luitariliit assaret ns in express terms, that tin, itaMtied vpon copper yessels, rendered the taste more agreeablei aid restrained the Tirmleace of copper rast. It is to no purpose to object, that the tin (staaanm) of Pliny was a sabstance different ilroai our tin; for thongh it slKinld lie in some measure granted that it was a mixtoKO of lead and silver, yet the same author tells ns, in the same place, that white lead (plnmbnm album), by whidi It is nnifersaNy allowed onr tin is meant,* was so incorporated with
* Mr. Qoody While he acknowledges that by plumbum album was generally flieant tin, Infotms m that by the same term pewter, or a mixture of lead and tin, was also aceadoBally lateoded* The paaage we refer to is ia hit aotenpon Lwrretias. ¥1.510.
Denique, et auro res aumm coacopniat una, JEriqoe ass rujuao fit atei jongatar ab albo* One cement sole with gold concentrates gold. And nought bat PtwTsa bras with bran unites.
The cement here referred fo, says he^ is doubtless, the chrysocoUa, a mineral sand, found oa the shores of the Red Sea, of an elegant green colour, deno- minated by the natives of modem times tincar, or tincal. The borax, now la use for similar purposes, does not diifer essentially from the chrysocolla, when dlssoWed and crystalised, and is, by some chemists, supposed to be precisely ' the same.
Pewter is, in the present day, the common solder for copper and brass; it is generally a combination of tin, lead, and regains of antimony. From the lead employed in the manufacture, and the splendid whiteness of its appear- ance when too much lowered or adulterated, it is here happily denominated by our poet plumbum album ; literally '* white lead :*' and by this term it is erroneously translated by Guernier. I say, erroneously $ for the cerusse, or white lead of modern days, is no solder whatever in metallic preparations. Creech omits the verse eotlrely, and thus dfsxteronsly runs away from the dif» fieidty. De Coutures is wrong in the whole passage : ** Targent,*' says be, ** est allie a?ec Tor, et rairain avee le plomb.** ** Silver unites itself with gold, and brass with lead." Marchetti is quite correct s
con lo stagno il nune SI salda al nunc*
I must leave It to the chemists to detennine what substance was employed formerly, instead of the regains of antimony; or whether the ancients were acquainted with a metal of this description, apd iU different powers in dif« ferent states of combination. Tet, probably, the plumbum album, or copper solder of the Romans, was a mixture of lead and tin alone.
Since writing the a|»ove, I have met with an excdlent m^olr of M. Klap« foth, inserted in the BerUa Memoirs de 1' Academic Royale (Lps Sciences, Vol. for 1798^1795; In which the author asserts, that (he plmnbum nlgnwi of the Romans was lead, and the plnmbnm album, candidami or aigentarlum, tin, enheaMmrsffff of die Gredn. There can be no deaW ttat this afypcUatlea
TOL, TI, X
90G TIIIHIITO COPFBM, fcc.
copper by boiling, that th« copper conld scarcely be diiliagnished from silier, * Nay, k appears that the Romans not only used pnre tin, but the same mixture of tin and lead, which aume of our work* jotn use at this lime in tinning ressels. A mixture of equal parti of tin and lead, they called argentarium; a mixture of.two parts nf lead and one of tin, they cull tertiarium ; and oilti equal parti «f tertiarium and tin, tliat is, with two parts of tin and one of lead, they tinned whatever Tessels they thought fit. They, nioreoTer, kfjptied silver npon copper, in the same way in which Q»j applied tin upon it ;+ and they used this silrered copper (I do not call it plated, because copper is plated by a different proceii) in onia. menting their carriages, and the harness of their horses, u we now use plated copper; on this head Pltny obserres, and a rigid phi- losopher will apply the observation to ourselves, that •uch was the luxury of the Ramans, that it was then dimply reckoned a pieca of elegance to consume in the ornaments of coaches, and in the
was generally applied to (in alone; bat ai Ihii metal, uhen employot ainply, will be fnund a verj indiffcrtnl (older for ct-pper, ii ii obTiom, Ibai the plnis. buiD Btbum oroor puel, ntid or the Romsn coppersmiths in gensial, D>u( aba hare incluJed a compound of tin with lead, or some olhei metal, as well ai pure unmixed tin. M. Klaproth, who has paid much nllentioD to nnmionatic aoaljEis, ba< ditcoTend that the colni of Mdjitib Gtxria and Stcily eooitded of copper, allDjed with fiom an eighth to a ITcelfth pari of lead, aad b«lf u miirh of tin. The Koman cains he has al limes found to have been hrawd dT pure copper; and accmionally wilh an aUo; of one-fourlh, or Due-'<iidi,paTlofKinr, aad n small portion of lin. Tfap ancicnis were only acquainlrd with tine in ill on-, wbicb iical.tmliwi their brau was denoniinatrd aurichalcinn, and was
tnippiB|l 4f ItotMt, vaUlt^ wUck Orir >ic«ttort coald sot nie In drinking vhmI*, witboat being utonbhed at thair »wa prodigality -. we ■)« Dot jtH, howerar, arrired at tb« eztnngkDce of Nero and U« wife, wbo ibod their fiivonrite hones Witb gold and ailTer.
niaj mentioiu an experiment U characteriitic of tin — tbat when melted and poured vpon p^icrt it Memed to break the paper by its Wright, ntber than by itabeat; and Aristotle, long before Fliny, bad remarked the imall degree of beat which wu reqnisite to fiue Celtic (Britiab) tin.* Thii metal melu with leii heat than anj other umple metallic lubitance, except qnicluiWer ; it re- qniring for iti fniion not twice the beat in which water boil> ; but compoaition* of tin and lead, which are nied in tinning, melt with a (till leiB degree of beat, than what is reqaiilte to melt simple tin i and a mixture compoeed of 6 parts of lead, 3 of tin, and S of Ihi. mntfa, tbongb solid in the heat of the atmospbere, melts with a less degree of beet, than tbat in which water boils.
IWatton't Chentical Ettagi,
Of timiag iron— Of plating, and gilding copper.
laoNlstinnedina different manner frcimcopper. Inseneforelgo eonntrieSt particularly in Ftance, Bohemia, and Sweden, the iron plates, which are to be tinned, are put under a heary hammer which gives, in some works, 76 strokes in a mhinte ; they can hi on» week, witb one hammer, hbricate 4320 plates ; (be Iron Is heated In a fomace right timet, and pnt eight timet nnder the hammer during the opeiadon, and it lotet near an eighth part of its weight. Iron and copper are both of thera very apt to be scaled by hebg heated, and they thereby lose greatly of their weight. Twenty-fonr hnndred weight of pnre plate copper wDl not, when mannfoctnred Into tea-kettles, pant, &c. give abovo twenty- three hnndred weight. Twenty.aae hnndred weight of bar iron will give a ton, when split into nds ; bnt taking into considerattn ail Iron and steel wares, from a needle to an anchor, it is estlntted tbat thirty hundred of bar iron will, at an average, yield a ton of wares, f ^^^^^^_^^^^^_______^^_^^^___
• Dc Mirab.
t See u InMiwiiTC fMppUcI, Intitlcd, A Replj to Sir L. O'BiltD, hj W. 1189.
908 TIHNIKO, PLATIKO, &e.
Thirty liuadred ireight of cast iruo isreduceiIlo(irenly,wtieiiitH to be made Into wire ; and twenly-six to twenty-twoi when it u to be made into bar iron. Steel suffers Bioch less losa of weight in being hammered, than iron does. Cast steel does not loie kboTe (wo parts, and bar steel not above four, in one faondied, when drawn into the shape or rasors, tiles, &c. The iron plates in England are not hammered, but rolled to proper dimensioas bjr being pot between two cylinders of cast iron, cased with sted. This me. Ihod of rolling iron is prnctis<-d in Norway, when thef form the plates with which they cover their houses; but whether it was in- vented by the English, or borrowed from soma other country (as many of our mventions in Dietaltorgy hare been, eapflcialJy from Germany), I hate not been able to learn. In the first account which I have seen uf its being practised in England, h is said to have been an invention of Major Hanbury at Pontypool ; the ac. count was wriica in 1697j and many plates had then been rolled*. The milling of lead, however, which is an operation of the same kind, had been practised in the year 1670 ; for an act of parlia. men t was passed in that year, granting unto Sir Philip Howard and Francis Watson, Esq. the sole use of (he manafacture of milled lead for the sheathing of ships. A book was published in l6g\, intitled, The New Invention of Milled I^ad for sheathing of Ships, &c. It appears from this hook, that about twenty ships, belonging to the navy, had been sheathed with lead ; but Ibe prac. (ice was discontinued, on account of compiaiats of the officers of Hie navy, that the rudder irons and bolts under water had been
■boddUoMe Tsll Mtabliiksd^ that Alpf Bbeathedwlth lead or copper wilt not last ■» long u Aaw wbkli an vDsheadied, or sbeatlu ed bdIj wjlh wood, it wtt»M btf a problem welt deierring the con. ■ickntton of ckemiits, to tn^Dira into the msnaer kov a metallic coveriag operalet in injarkig the comtmction of the iliips, and whetber that operation is exerted on tte iron bolts, or on the tim- bers of the ship. When tlie iron plates have been either ham. Eoered or rolled to a proper tbickaess, thej are steeped in an acid liqaor, whicb is produoad from the fermentation of baTle)* meal, thoagb anj oQicr weak acid would answer the purpose; this steep, iagj and a inbwqvcnt se«aring, cleans the sarifice of the iron from erer^ speck of mit or blackness, the least of which would hinder the Uo fron sticking to the iron, since no metal will combine itself with sn7 enrth, aad rnst is the earth of iron. After the plates have been Bade qnite bright, they are put into an Iron pot filled with Metlad tin ; the torface of the melted tin is kept covered witk soet or pitch, or seme fat sabatance, to pnrent it from being cat. cined ; the tin presently unites itself ta (he iron, corering each ude of every plate with a titin white coat : tbe plates are then taken ont of tbe mdted tin ; and nnder^tng some further operatloos, wUch render fhem acre neat aad saleable, hot are not essential to (bt pnipose of tinnSi^ them, they are packed up in boxes, and an every where t« be met with in commerce under the name of tin- platea, though the prladpal part of tlieir substance is iron; mad hence the Fvench have called tbea /er blanc, or white Iron : Sir John Pettoi says, that they wen widi us vulgarly called laUen; thongh tlmt wepd mora nsoally I think denoted brass.
Th> is not, but iron is, liable to contract nut by exposure to rir and saoistan, and hence the diief use (rf tinning iron is to binder It from becoming nnty ; and it is a question of some importance, whether IrM of a greater tfaifikaess than the plates we have been speaking of, nighl not be advantageonily tiniML I desired a workman to break off the end of a pah- of phieeri, which bad been long used in taldng the plates ont of the melted tin; the iron of (lie pincers seemed to have been penetrated throagh it's whole sab- Stance by tbe tin i it was of a white rolenr, and had preserved it's malleability. It Is usmI to cover iron stirraps, baekles, Md bri- dle bits, with a coat of tin, by dipping them after they are made, Into melted tin; aad ptns, which are tnade of copper wire, are
310 TIHHINO, PLATING, SCC
whitMied, by bfing boiled for a long time with grsnnlitod tin in • lye made of allum and fBrtar, Would the iron bolts mad in ship. Iiuittlmg be prcsprvtd from rnsling by being long boiled in melted tin? — Would it be possible to sihcr iron plates by subtti toting melted silier for melted tin ? I do not Itnow that this experiment has eyer bei^n tried ; but an intelligent manufacturer will see many advantages whirh would attend the success of if.
It h customary, in some plareii, to alloy the tin, ii^ed for tinning iron plates, withebout one.seveniieth part of its weight of copper : foreigners matie a great secret of this practice : I do not know wbelheranyof our manuraclurers use copper i some of tbeni I have reason to believe do not. Too much copper renders tb* plfttn of a blackish hue; and if there is loo little, the tin is too fiuck upon the plates i but this tliicknesa, though it may render the plates dearer, or the profit of the manufacturer less, will make th«m last longer. When the tin is heated to (oo great a pitch, sone of the plates have yellowish spots on them ; but the coat of tia is thinner and more even, when the tin is of a great, thaa of a moderate heat; and the yellowness may be taken away, by boiling the plates for two or three miiiDteit in lees of wine; or, where tb^ cmiuiot be had, sour amall beer, or other similar liquors, may, probably, be used Hith the same success. The tjuantity of tin used ja tinning a definite number of plates, each of a definite size, is not Hie stune at different manufactories. In some fabrics in Bohemia, they nse fourteen pounds weight of (fn for making three bundled plates, each of them being eleven and onf.third inches long, b? eight and
TIHNINO, PLATING, 8lc. 311
years in different parts of EngliDtl and Wales. SaXMf lad put «f Bobemia formerly supplied all the known world witb the com- modity; but England now exports large quantities of it to HolUnd, Fluden, Franoe^ Sptia, Italjr, md other placet. About the yctr I07O> Andrew YtrriBgtoB, (he deaerTei a tt«tu« for the iL tempt) nndertook, at the ezpeow of Mine caterprizing persou, a joanej into Saxony, in order to discover the art of making tin platei : lie laoceeded to hii ntmoit irishet ; and, on hii retnni, •ereral parcels of tin platei were made, which met the approbatioa of the tin-men in London and Worceitet*. Upon thii sncceHj preparetiona were made for lettiag «p a toanafaotory, hj the nma perwHU wiw bad expended their moDejr in making the diaotTerf ; tmt a patent being obtained by lome othen, the detlga wu aban. daned by the fint projectan, and the patAideei Dever nude any platei ; io OiMt the wbele scheme wenis «o hare been given tip till the year 17S0, when the fiibricatiag of tia platei made one of the ■lany mj naefnl projects (thoagh they were Miiaed with mpm which were impracticable) for which that year will erer be mamo- rabte. How mod after tliat year the maflaEactnre of tin plates gained a laiting establlsbment, and where they were first made, are points on which I am aot sufficiently iDfermed ; an old Cambridge workman has told me, that he used them at Lynn, in Norfolk, in the year 1790, and that tl>ey came from Pontypool. The tia.men, atthefirstintrodnctionoftbe English plates, were greatly delighted with than ; tiiey had a better coloiw, and were more pliable Aaa the foreign ones, which were then, and still continne to be ham- mered ; it being impoisible to liammer eitiier Iron or copper to so nniibrm a tUAneii, as tlieie metals are reduced to by being rcdled. It is said tliat a Cornish tin>man flying ont of Eogl^d for a mar. der ia lUS, discovered tin in Saxony, and fliat before that diico- very, titme wu no tin In Enrope, except in England f ; ^ Homiih priest, converted to be a Lntberan, carried the art of miUng tin platei from Bohemia into Saxony, about the year IflSO % ; and An. drew YarringtoD, as we have seen, brought it from Saxony into England abont the year 1670; Saxony at that time being tbe only place in whid tbe platea were mada. They are now made not
I b; Sea aa< LaDd, by Aadrew TarrlBftoD,
312 TZHNIN9, PI.4TINO, &C.
tn\j Ib Eogltnd, but itt France^ HoUandy Sweden, &c. though from th^ cheapness of our liB| and the exceUencjr of some sorta of our iron, the greatest share of the tin plate trade must ever center yvith ourselves. Our coal is another circumstance which tends to give Great Britain an adfaatage over some other coun- tries, in such manufactures as require a great consumption of fuel. Wood was scarce in Saiony about a century ago, and it is now still more scarce in France. They are beginning, it is said, in that country, to use coal and coak, or charred pit-coal, called by them chMrbon de ierre Spuria and they hare granted a patent to an indiTidual lor the preparation of it*. Another indiTidual has begun to distil tar from pit-coal, and he gets about fi?e ponads weight of tar from an hundred of oeal (which is pretty nearly what I suggested, in 1781, as possible to be obtained from ih* same quantity, Vol. II. p. 362). The French f expect great ad- vantage from this mode of depurating odal : but we hare nothing toapprehend on thai score ; for the patriotic seal of the Earl of Dundonald has put us in possession of every advantage which can be expected from a discovery, wiiich he has had the honour of bringing to perfection.
The plating of copper is performed in the following manner ; Upon email ingots of copper they bind plates of silver with iron wire, generally allowing one ounce of silver to twelve ounces of copper. The surface of tiie plate of silver is not quite so large as that of the copper ingot ; upon the edges of the copper, which are not covered by the silver, they put a little borax ; and exposing the whole to a strong heat, the borax melts, and in rndtiug contri* botes to melt that part of the silver to which it is contiguous, and to attach it in that mdted state to the copper. The ingot, with k*s silver plate, is then rolled under steel rollers, moved by a water whed, tilt it is of a ceitaiii thickness ; it is. afterwards further
•Acad des Sciea. a Paris, 1781 ^ where M. Lavobier gites an useful me- moir OD the compeiative ezcellencies of pit-coal, eoak, WMd, and chafcoo), as fuels. — It rait de cei ^erfeeces, que pour produire ia effets fgaux, it fiiut employeri cherfoon de CenM §90 Itfreti daiboa de terre charbonii6 66S; charboB de boit miM 960 ; beii de Utn 1195 ; hols de chene 1089.
f II suffit de dire qu'elie pent fournir 4 la capitale un nouTeau chauifage, de- renn D^essaire dans un moment ou Ton est menac^ d*une disette de bois; qfi'e% pentoufiir daas le roysmne um ii*af eUe hnmee de commerce i etablir de noBvelles manufactures; ftiire valoir des mines, rest^es jusqu*a present ioii* tile8.*L'£sprit desJoura. JttUIeC„ 1765.
tMeA hy knd MUen, to m gMitor Or lew «tmt, aMUrdlog to dm (uc for wMch it ii int«ttd«d ; llw tUnoeit ia >pplkd to the lining of druBkin; hiwnf. OiMoaacsof^vcriiaftaii rolled out intoftnir- fue 0t abont three iqaue feet, lad Its tbicknes* ii ebovt the thre« tkoniandtk part of mi uofa i mat bmoe we need not wonder at the lilTor bdng looa woni off firen the siiarp anglei of plated cop* per, when it is rolled to le gnat u extent Plated copper hai, of late yean, becMie rery ftaUoaable for tbe nwnldings of coaebaa, aod for tbe bMkles, riagi, fti. of iiorse faameu. It might Iw naid jerj advanUgeondf io kitchen nteniili, hj tbote who dislike tke nse of (inned eom>er, and cannot afford to be at the expence of iilTer mbc^im, Ac. The siWer, instead of being rolled on the copper to so great a thiooeis as it is in most works, might be left in kitchen fomltare comtdarabdy thicker, bo that an amice of sil« ver ai^t be tpwaA orat one square foot ; tbe silrer coiting would in Ibii case still be fery thia, jet U would last a long time. Fire does not coainme silrer, and tbe watte in (hickneis, which a piee* of plate snstains from being in constant nse for a centnrj. Is not much ; as nay be collected from comparing the present weight of any piece of college plate, which baa been dallj used, with tba wei^ it had an hmndred yean aga.
I do not know whether anj attempt has erer been made to ^ate copper with tin instead of aitTer ; I am aware of some difficnity, which might attend the operation; but yet It might, ItUnk, bo performed ; and if it could, we might then hare oopper tesseb corered with a cMt of tin of any required tbickneat, wUch is the great deaideratam in die present mode of tianing : bat it ought to be remaAed, that the thicker the coat of tin (he more liable it would be to be melted off the copper by strong fires.
Tbe art sf plating copper hu not been long practised in £ng. land ; nor do I know whether It wis practised at an early period. in any other cenntry ; for tbe Roman method of silrerlng copper WU diflerent, I think, from that sow in ua. Tbomaa Botoorer of Sheffield, in the year 174S, wai tbe fint ptrswi in Eng. land who plated copper ; it was applied by him to die purposes only of making bottons and inufT-boxes : soon after it was nsed for Tarious other worki ; a person of the nsjne of Hoyland, at ShefEeld, was the first who made a plated candlestick.
What is commonly called French plate, is not to be confounded with the plated copper of which we hare been tpeaUng; for thoagh
314 TINNinC, PLATINS, &«.
both tb«se Bubatuces constat of copper covered with a tUn i nal silter, f«t they are not made in the ume way. tb e French plate, G<9per, or more commonly brass, is heated to tain degref , aod silver leaf is applied upoo the heated mei which it adberes by beiog rubbed with a proper butaisher. evident, thai the durability of the plating must depend on th( ber of lea* ea which are applied on (he same quantity of e' For ornaments which are not much used, ten leSves may be ent; but an hundred will nut last long, without betraying tl tal they are designed to cover, if they be exposed to nncb ling, or frequently washed. After the same manner may go be fixed, either on iron or copper. Gold is applied on sili coating a silver rod with gold leaf ; and the rod being aftei drawn into wire, the gold adheres to it ; the smallest proj of gold, allowed by act of parliament, is 100 grains tc grains of silver ; and the best double.gilt wire is said to bavE twenty grains more of gold to the same quantity of ailvei has been calculated, that when common gilt wire is fiattei grain of gold b stretched on the flatted wire to the length oi 401 feet, to a surface of above 100 square inches, and thinness of the 492090th part of an inch ; and M. de Ri Bays, that a grain of gold may be extended to 2900 feet, ii Ter a surface of more than 1400 square inches ; andthatthe ness of the gold, in the thinnest parts of some gilt wire, i exceed the fourteen millionth part of an inchf . The gold, ipplied, is thinner than when eilrer is gilt in the fol
fsw ]
CHAP. V.
SILDINB IK OB HOOLU; USB OT auiCKSILTKB IN BX. TKACTINO SOLD AND tlLVBR FftOM BARTHS J BXPB- BIHBNTtOr BOBBHAAVB OK QUICKSILTES j IILTRB- tNO LOOKING-GLASSBS, AND THB TIHB VHBN THAT AST VAS DISeOTBBBD.
X MXAX !■ waoOtn method of tpflylag gold od copper or silver, which 1> mnch pTUtiwd; It Is cilled gilding in Or Maulm. Qnlck. lilver diMohei girid iriA grut fkcilitj : \t 700 fpread a gold leaf (not what la called Doteh leaf, which ii made of bran) on the palm of jouT hand, and pour a Uttle qaickslTer npon it, jron wiU lee tiM qnickiitrer abMrbIng the gold, jnit at water abiorha into ita iubitanca a piece of i^t or aogar. Penont who hara taken mercurial preparations intemalt j, seldom fail to obiem tha readiness with which the mercnry traotodes tlirovgh their pores, attacUng itself to the gold of their watches, rings, iteere- buttons, or aar'riiigs, and rendering them of a white coloar. A piece of gold, of the thickness eren of a guinea, being rubbed with quick* rilver, is soon penetrated bj it, and thereby made so fragile, that it may be broken between the fingers with ease : and if more qnicksilTer be added, the miztnre will become a Und of paste, of different degrees of coosiBtence according to the quantity of qoick. tilrer wtuch is nsad. A {aece of this paste is spread, fay ways well known to the artists, npon the surface of the copper which is to be gilded in or moola, and the metal is then exposed to a proper degree of heat : quicksilrer may be evaporated in a far less d^ree of heat, than what is required to melt either gold or copper ; when therefore the miitore of gold and qnlcksilrer is exposed to the action of fire, the quicksilver is driven off in vapour j and the gold, not being susceptible of evaporation, remains attached to the snrface of the copper, and undergoing the opeiutiona of bunii->h- ing, &c. too minute to be described, becomes gilt. This method of gUding cf^ifwr, by means of quicksiWer and gold, wa^ known
3l6 USES OF QUICKSILVER, &C.
to the Romans*. QuicksiWer will not unite with iron, yet by an easy operation, iron may be gilded in the same way that copper or 6il?er may. The iron is first to be made bright, and then immers. ed in a solution of blue vitriol, its surface will thereby become covered with a thin coat of copper, and it will then admit the gild, ing as if its whole substance was copper.
It is thi^ property which quicksilver has of uniting itself witb gold, and it does the same with siher, which has rendered it of such great use to the Spaniards In America. They reduce the earths or stones, containing gold or siWer in their metallic states, into a Tery fine powder; they mix this pawder with qnicksilTer ; and the quicksilrer, having the quality of uniting itself with e?ery particle of these precious metals, but being incapable of con» tracting any union with any particle of earth, extracts these me- tals from the largest portions of earth. The qwcksiirer, which has absorbed either gold, or silver, or a mixture of both^ is se- parated from the substance it has absorbed by evaporation ; the quicksilver flies off in rapour, and the substance remains in the vessel used In the operation. We have no mines of mercury in England ; Sir John Pettus, indeed, says, that a Kitle cinnabar is now and then met with in our copper mines ; and Mr. Penniit obscnres, that quicksiWer has been found in its native state on the mountains of Scotland ; and t have been shewn a piece of clay, said to ha?e been dug near Berwick, in which there were seme mercurial globules : but there are no works at present, whete mercury is procured in any part of Great Britain ; nor are there many mines of mercury in any part of the world. In the PhHoso. phical Transactions fer 1665, we have an account of the quidbiJ. Ter mines of Idria, a town situated iu the country andently called Forum Julii, now Ptidria de Friouli, subject to tlie regency, and included in the circles of the lower Austria, in Germany. These mines have been constantly wrought for above 980 years, and are thought, one year with another, to yield abofe one hundred tons of quick silrer. In Hungary also, there are mines winch yield quick- silrer, bat net so coptoealy now as fonnerly. Alonso Barba men-
* J^ inaurari argento Yivo, ant certe by4rargyrOy Icgititum erat. Plin. Hist. KaU XXXllI* Pliny understood by aigenCam Tlvaniy native quicksilver^ which is found in a fluid state in many mhift i and by faydrarfyrom he under* stood qmekfHver sepamted fttmi it» eie by^ Are i they are the same substance.
tiona MMH faickiUnr niaei in America, notr Ritwi*, wUcb, Iw sAjs, God Um'tgi-tj pmiivi to suptdy the loss of this mineral, wbicb ii rer; coniideroble ia eztractiag the lilver from the eoi-du aiid itanes with which It U diixed : but the mines of Almideu in S[«ia are ^e richest, and probably kare been wronght for the longest time of any in tbe world. Pliny speaks of the cinnabar which the Romans, with so Dneh jealousy, annuaUy fetched from Spain, and it is Tery probable that they had It from Almaden. M. Jniiien infonns as t, that in 1717 thero remaned above 1300 tona of qatcluilTer in the magaaines at Almaden, after a great deal had been sent to Serilie in order to be exported to Pern, where the qaickiilver, wbidi Is lost in extracting the silver, is said to be at least equal In weight to the silver which iscxtracted. From 1574, when they began to register the quicksilTer, which came to Potoii upoa the king of Span's account, to the year 1640, there had been received, according to Alonso Barba, 204,SOO qnintala, be- sides a fut qnantity Irregularly brought in npon odier acconats. This application of qniek^ver to the extraction of gold and silver from the enatba In which they are fonnd, has rendered tbe coii« sumption of It far more considerable since the dlicorery of the American mines, tban it wai amongst tbe ancients. Uoffmait forma a calculation, and conclndes, that fifly times as much gold a* quicksilver was annually extracted from the bowels of the earth : Cramer % admits the truth of this calculation, but insinuates a nspicion worth attending to— that mercury may often exist in mi- nerals, and yet not be discovered by miners ; since in the open fires in which minerals, whose properties are not known, an usually examlued, the marcnry would fly off in fume.* Earths or mine- rals of any kind, containing mercury, are most accurately assayed by distilling then with iron filings ; but whether a mineral con- taini mercnry or not, may be easily discovered, by strewing it when powdered, on a plate of hot iron, or on a hot brick covered with iron filings, and inverting over it a ^ms of any kind; tbe maiatiry, If tha nneral contains any, will ascend, and attach it- self la small gMndea to tbe side of tlit glass. Mercury is divided, by the writers of systems of miocialagy, into native mercury, and Bercnry miaeraliaod by snlphar : native mercury it fonnd ia its
* TraHtoeoniirieli.a<.byAtoas>aatba. Eae. Tram, p, IIS.
tUtst. 4t»AeaA.diiaeiakl710- t An Dm im. Cram. Vol. I-f-ISI.
31S OSES 09 QTlCrBILVKK, fcd
niDiiiDi; state, and qatte par«^, m it U said (though this may be doubled, from the facility with which mercury dissoWet gold, and ■ilrer, and other metals), in the mioei of Idria, Almaden, &c. ■ It is more frequently, howerer, imbedded in calcareooB exrtba, or days of diflferent colouri, from which it may be separated either by tritiiT&tioa and lotion, the smaller filobnles coaleidng by mu- tual coutact into larger; or by distillation. The ruuDing native mercnry, which requires no process for its extraction is more es- teemed, and thought to have some pi-culiar propeitiea which do not belong to that obtained by simple distillation, though thmy bath come onder the denomination of virgin mercury. Mercury mine- ralised by sulphur, is called cinnabar, which some say is an Afri- can word denoting the blood of a dragoa *. Cinnabar is the most common ore of mercury ; it is found in an earthy form resembling red ochre, sometimes in an indurated state, and, though gene, rally red, it hath been observed of a yellowish or blackish cast : tt is mostly opaque, bat some pieces are as transparent a> a mby. This ore consists of mercury and sulphur combined together in different proportions ; some cinnabars yielding as far u seren, others not three parts in eight of their weight of mercury. Sulphur and mercury, being both volatile in a small degree of heat, would rise together in distillation, unless some substance, such as quick- lime or iron filings, was added to the cinnabar, which by its supe. rior affinity, unites itst'lf with and detains the sulphur : whilst the mercury, not being able to support the heal, is elevated in vapour, and condensed in various ways in diffetent works. It sometimes
b gntt rtMM to beUara Uist Oe Dntch inpow upon tlie world s hftiiM nauhctnre, under th» lUme of Japia dniiabar : tbo tiad« for soldi copper, uid claiwtMU, to Japan 1a exceedingljr lacntire^ ind 1 beliere wboltf , aa to Earop«, in the liands of the Dateh.
Those who are acqAainted #tth the difficulty of making cbemt* cal expcTiments, will admire tke great patience and indnilry with which BoerbaAe lnreifigated the oatnre of mercnfy. He was hu dnced to nndertake this talk, from t deilre of rcrtfjing or refet* log the doctrines of the alchemiiti. Tbeie adepts bad taoght, that mercury was the matter of wUck all metals cenaiited ; tnd that if It conid be cleansed from totat original imparitiei, with wblcb, even in its virgin state, they held It to be polluted, It wootd then become it aatriment for the seed of every metdllc lobstaDce; for, according to tkaat, erery metal sprang from its pecalisr seed, wUch, when It met wifii its proper poAu/wm, ia a proper matriXf tttended with a doe fostering tieat, by a Tirifymg principle mnlti^ plied hielf, and received an sogmentation of parti, in a manner similar to that by wbicb plants aaA onimab are dilated in Aeir di- meniiau. The inreitigation of nature Is infinite ; cTery age adds somewhat to the common itock, which renders die laboon of pre- ceding ages wholly nseless. We oo longer tronble onrselrei wMi the works of the aichenliti which remain, nor do we regret soefa of them SI have been deronred by time, or were burned by tke order of Diocletian; nay, even the Herculean laboon of Bon^ haare ai« become less luteresting to as, and probably nerer wonU bare been nndertaken by him, had he been aware, that mercnry would. In a proper d^ree of cold, become, like other metoli, sofid andmalleaUe. IntiiaTnuisactionsofonrRoyalSodefy, forOe year 173S, we 'meet with Boerkaare's first dinertation upon mer- cnry : hii flnt experiments respect the change which tbe pnreit mercory undergoes from eontlnnal agitation; he incladed two ounces, wUchr bad been distilled above lix^ times, hi a clean bottle, and ftsteoing the bottle to the Itammer of a ftalling milt which wai almost constantly going, found in about eight months lime above one eighth of the fiold, splendid, insipid meroDy, changed into a black powder, of an acrid brassy taste. He neit digested mercory In a gentle heat, (180* of Fahrenbelt's thermo- meter), and fouad it, iv a tew nxmAs, cbaaged Into a powder, li- mllar to what had l»en produced by agitatlwi t Iiotb these pow dert fat » gnatei depaa o( beat wato i oviriM, or became mn<
3M USBS OF aUICKSILVBRi &C.
mug mercury agMn* He then inquired into the change which re« peated distillation could produce ; after each operation he found a red acrid powder remaining in the retort ; and he obserret, that this powder was as copiously separated, after the mercury had been abo?e 500 times distilled, at at first ; and thence reasonably concludes, that it ought rather to be attributed to a change of the mercury itself, than to any impurity contained in it. This pow. der, like the preceding, by a superior degree of heat became run. ning mercury ; eicept about a seventy^second part, which, though fixed in a strong fire, and vitrifiable with borax, could not sup- port the action of lead, but ?anished entirely, lea?ing no signs of any metallic substance upon the cupel ; this shews the little pro* bability of conrerting mercury into gold or silver by the action of a violent fire. In the following year he presented a memoir to the Royal Academy of Sciences, at Paris, upon the same subject. We there learn, that mercury, kept in digestion for fifteen years, with a constant heat of 100^, was not fixed, nor any how changed, ez« cept that a little black powder (which by simple grinding in a mortar became running mercury) was found floating upon itf sur- face. Hence is inferred, the impossibility of mercury's being changed in the bowels of the earth into any other metal, the heat In mines scarcely ever amounting to 100^ Though it might be impossible to change mercury into a metal, yet the philosophers by fire contended, that mercury, united to a particular kind of sul- phur, entered into the composition of all metals, and might by art be extracted from them ; lead was of all others thought the most likely, and the experiment had been reported to succeed by Van Belmont, and o^ers; but Boerhaave is positive, that nothing can be expected from its combination with salts, and lead, or tin. It was stiU thought by the alchemists, that mercury could never be Creed from its original impurity, but by being joined to some pure body of the same nature with it&elf : this they thon^t gold and silver to be* Boerhaave, in order fully to submt their high pre. tensions, gave in, ip the Royal Society, anoAer puper, in the latter end of the year 1730f 9Pntainwg an aecount of the unchangeable* less both of metoiry and gold»^ how aften soever they were dis« tiUed together. He repeated the diltUUrtion of mercury from gold ubove 860 timei; liio a^ercury.wei »qI in any respect changed^ its apedfic gravity waa the same m at first, nor had it lost the pro. perCy of bemg converted into a ved powder by a due d^ree of
keat. Them w«ve «U ike trteto wUdi were pibliihed during the life-tiiBe of Boeriuiate; lie died in September) 1738, and left his pafiert to his two brothers, and after their deaths thej fell into the hands of Charles Frederic Krosc, physician to the Empress of Rnssia ; this gentleman hath published a short extract from Boer, haate's Diary, and promises a fuller account of still more labo. rious operations. We learn from this eitract*, that Boerhaa^e had distilled the same mercury 1009 times, and its specific grarity was to that of water, as 13 -^ to 1 ; whilst that which had been but once dbtilled^was as 13 -f^ to 1 ; a difference which may ea. sily be attributed to the different tenfperatures of the air when the experiments were made, or to other accidental circumstances, which the accuracy of Graresande, with whom he made the expe. riment, could not protide against*
The mixture of quicksilter with gold, or silver^ or lead, or tin, or copper, or any metallic substance with which it is capable of uniting, is called an amalgam ; and the operation by which the union is effected, is called amalgamation. Authors are not agreed as to the derivation of the word amalgam; some think that it is composed of two Greek words, (a|xa yajxfiy), by which the inti. mate union, or marriage, as it were, of the two metals is denoted ; others are of opinion, that it ought to be written a malagma^ and that it is derive(\^ from a Greek word {^mXa^^uj) signifyii^ to soften, inasmuch as the metal, be it what it may, is always soft^ ened by its union with the mercury. An amalgam, made of four parts of tin and one of quicksilTer, in the form of a ball, is used by some under the pretence of purifying water ; it cannot, I think, contribute in any manner to that end ; but as the ball is always boiled in the water, the seeds of vegetables, or the fish spawn, or the animalcules, &c. with which water is often polluted, may be precipitated by the action of boiling. But there is another pur* pose to which a mixture of tin and quicksilTer is applied with great utility— the silvering of looking-glasses.
Tin may be beat out into leaves not thicker than paper, called foils; on tin-foil, fitly dispoiied dn a flat table, quicksilver is poured, and gently rubbed with a hare's foot ; it soon unites Itself with the tin, which then becomes vei^y splendid, or, as the work- men say, is quickened : a plate of glass is^ then cautiously slid . . — '■ i\ \ ' - - ^ ■ ■ *'■•' ' ■
• NofiCoBuneiuPelrof. fSBKia^ •
VOL. VI. ▼
Siz TtnmnQ, plating, &c.
opoa the tin leaf, in tach a manner as to sweep oflf the redunchtttt quioksiWer, which is not incorporated with the tin ; leaden weights are then placed on the glass ; and in a little time (be quicksilvered tin-foil adheres so firmly to (he glass^ that the weigh(s may be re- moved without any danger of its falling off. The glass (hus sil- vered is a common looking-glass. Abont two ounces of quicksilver are sufficient for covering three square feet of glass.
It is generally believed , that the art of making looking-glasses, by applying to their back surface a metallic covering, is a very modem invention. Mnratori expressly says, that glass specula^ such he means as are now In use, are not of any great antiqnrty.— * Serae antem antiquitati novimus fuisse specula^ qnomm usns nnn- quam deslit ; sed eorum fabricam apud Italos nnice forsan Teneti per tempora multa. servarunt et adhuc servant : quae tamen alio translata nunc in alits quoque regnb floret*. — ^Tbe authors of the French Encyclopedief have adopted the same opinion, and quoted a Memoir, printed in the twenty-third volnme of the Academy of Inscriptions, &c.— -II est d^autant plus ^tonnant qne les anciens n'aient pas connu I'art de rendre le verre propre i conseryer la re« presentation des ebjets, en appliquant I'etain derriere les glaces^ que les progris de la decomrerte da verre fnrent, chex euz, poussis fort loin. — Mr. Nixon, in speaking of the glass specula of the ancients, says, ^^ before the application of quicksilver, in the con- struction of these glasses, (which I presume is of no great antU qmity), the reflection of images by soch specula must have been effected by their being besmeared behind, or tinged through with some dark colour, especially black :(•" I have bestowed more time in searching out the age in which the applying a metallic covering to one side of a looking-glass was introduced, than the subject^ in the estimation of many, will seem to deserve; and, indeed, more than it deserved in my own estimation : but the difficileg nuga, the iiuUui labor tneptiarum) when once the mind gets entangled with them, cannot be easily abandoned : one feels, moreover, a singular reloctanoe In giving up an unsuccessful pursuit. The reader would pardon the introduction of this reflection, if he knew kow many musty Tolumes I turned oyer, before I could meet with any information whieh eould satisfy me, in any degree, on this sub-
• Momtori Antiq. vol. ii. p. S9S. f Art. Miroir.
tPbil.TrMis.n58rprM9;
ject; I am liot yet quite Mtisfitd;'tlioiigli I take the libertjr to Mj, in oppositioii to Muratori, aod the other respectable aathorities which I have quoted, that the applying a metallic covering to look. Ing.glasses is not a modem in?entioo; it is probable it was known in the first century) if not sooner; and it is certain, I apprehend^ tliat it was known in the second.
The Romans, iM^ore the time of the younger Pliny, not only iised glass, instead of gold and siWer, for drinking Tessels, but they knew how to glase their windows with it, and they fixed it in the walls of their rooms to render their apartments more pleasant. Now a piece of flat glass, fixed in the side of a room, is a sort of looking-glass, and if the stucco into which it is fixed be of a dark colour, it will not be a very bad one. And hence I think the Romans could not fail of hating a sort of glass specula in use : but this, though admitted, does not come up to the point ; the question is, whether they covered the posterior surface of the glass with a metallic plate ? It has been observed before, that the Ro. mans knew how to make a paste of gold and quicksilver ; and it appears from Pliny also, that they knew how to beat gold into thin leaves, and to apply it in that state both on wood and metal : now there is a passage in Pliny, from whence it may be collected, that the Romans began in his time to apply a coat of metal to glass specula, and that this coat was of gold. The passage occurs in the very place where Pliny professes to finish all he had to observe concerning specula*. An opinion, says he, has lately been enter- tained, that the application of gold to the back part of a speculum^ renders the Image better defined. It is hardly possible that any one should be of opinion, that a plate of gold put behind a metallic speculum, could have any effect in improving the reflected image ; but supposing Pliny (whose transitions In writing are often abrupt) to have passed from the mention of metallic to that of glass specula, then the propriety of the observation relative to the improved stato of the image i§ very obvious. If we suppose the Romans, in Pliny's age, to have simply applied some black substance to the back surface of the glass, or even to have known how to put tii^ behind it, yet the observation of the image being rendered more
* Atqoe at oinnia de ipecolii pei«gaatai hoc loeo-^Optima apud nujores ftierant Braodniina ttanDo et mn mixla. Prtflata rant argentca. Primur fecit PfBzitclet, macnl Ponpell state. Nnper credi cceptoa certiorea baa- glnem rcddl aitfo appoilto avcrili. Hbt. Kat. 1. xxxfli. s. alv«
TINNING, PLATIWO, &.C.
ilcstincl by means of gold, mighl have bt*n made willi more joslic* (han ii generally °uji|iosi.-<l : far BulTon h of opinion, that u locik. ing-glat^ made with a corering of gold and quIcksilTer, wonid re- p made in (he ordinary nay witb tin and Pliny's expression, certiarem imaginem will lie accurately true. IS (lourhhed toirards Ihe end of tiu secoiiil al works in Greek, and among the rest
Itect more light than i qukksilter • ; and hem rettili iiufo apposi/o
Alexander Aphrodist century; he wrolp scvk two liooks of Probli-ms
e of his problems i^ this -f :
AiK ri ra usAiva jtaTsirJf* Xawirsiri ayat ; Why are glass specula so very resplendent ?
The only part of Che aniwer which we are concerned irilli, i
Ori Ei-faSiv atla, ^^lairi xa.o'iiiTi^w, 13ecau3e they besmear the inside of Ibem u
htin.
The Greek word which I have heri' rendered besmear, does not clearly point out the manner in which (he ojjeration of fixing the tin upon the glass was performed. Pliny iv's a Litin word (illitum) uf exactly the same import as this Greek one, when be speaks of capper vessels being tinned ; and as in that operation, tin is melted and spread o»er the surface of Ihu copper, I see no difficulty in supposing, that the tin may have been, in the time of Alexander Aphrodisens, melted and spread over Ihp surface of the
TIHMIMO, PLATlKe, tie. <S6
to think) tiat if the Sydonians had only inTented the art of using a flat piece of glass as a speculam, without knowing how to give it a metallic coating, on which its excellency chiefly depends, they wonld not hare merited the mention which Pliny makes of them ; for their looking-glasses most have been inferior to the metallic mirrors then in use at Rome. There seems to be but one objec. tton of any consequence to this conclusion : — had the method of giving a metallic covering to plates of glass been known at least to the Romans, (for it might have been known in Asia long before it was known in Italy), it seems probable, that the metallic specula would have fallen into general disuse, much sooner than there ia cause to think they did, for it would have been much easier to make a looking-glass, than to polish a metallic mirror ; and the image from the glass would have been superior to that from the metal, and on both accounts the mirrors would hare become un- fiishionable.
The first mode of fixing a coat of tin on a looking-glass, I sus- pect to have beenthat of pouring the melted metal on the glass; and I have some reason, not now to be insisted on, to think, that this mode was not disused in the fourteenth century. — Baptista Porta lived in the fifteenth, and died towards the beginning of the sixteenth century ; he gives us a very accurate description* of the manner in which looking-glasses were then silvered ; it differs from that now in use only in this, that the tin.foil, when silvered, was taken up and gently drawn upon the glass. J. Maurice Hoffman published his Acta Laboratorii Chemici, in 1719; he there speaks f of a mixture of one part of tin with three of quicksilver, which some time ago, he says, was usually applied to the hack surfaces of looking-glasses ; although the Venetians did then make looking- glasses by pouring quicksilver upon tin.foil placed on the back surface of the glass. — This mode of silvering the glass was not then invented by the Venetians, as appears from what Baptista Porta had advanced above two hundred years before ; though the mode of silvering the tin-foil, when laid upon the glass, was an improve, ment on that prescribed by Baptista Porta, just as the mode now in use is a great improvement on that practised by the Venetians in the time of Hoffman.
The men who are employed in silvering looking-glasses often
« Ifag. Na(. U iv. e. zviii. t U* P* S46,
y3
StS TIHNIKO, PLATING, StC.
become paralylic, is b the case alao with those who work in quick, sllrer taiDes ; this ii not to be wondered at, if we may credit Mr. Boyle, who BSBures us that mercury has been several limes fonod in the beads of artificers exposed to its fumes*. In the Philoso- ])h1cBl Tran5actioDS+, there is an account of a man, who haTing ceaned working in quicksilver for six months, had his body still io impregnated with it, that bj putting a piece of copper into hii month, orrubbing it with his hands, it instantly acquired S BiWer colour. This, though a surprising, is not a fact of a singular na. tare; it Is well known that sulphur, taken inwardly, will blacken ■liter which ii carded in the pocket ; and 1 have somewhere read of a man whose keys were rusted in his pocket ; from V» having taken, for a long time, targe quantities of diluted acid of vitriol. J remember baring seen, at Birmingham, a very stout man ren- dered paralytic in the space of sis months, by being employed in fixing an amalgam of gold and quiclisilTer on copper; be stood before the mouth of a small oven strongly healed ; the mercury was converted into vapour, and that vapour was inhaled by him. A kind of chimney, I believe, hai of late been opened at the farther ride of the oven, into which the mercurial vapour is driven, and tbe health of the operator is attended to. The person I saw was very sensible of the cause of his disorder, but had not conra^e to withstand the temptation of high wages, which enabled htm to con- tinue in a state of intoucalion for three days in the week, instead •f, whatil the uBoal practice, two.
IiBA]> TEBB. d£7
trtes or jlkniti, wUch are stOi usually known by the Latin name oiarbon; 9» the arbor DianWf or siltsr-tbeb ; arbor MartUy or iBOjr.TRBB ; and arbor Plumbi^ or leab-tree. These expe- riments are simple as well as curious and entertaining, and we shall, therefore, subjoin the following as the easiest processes for working them.
Silver Tree. — Arbor Dianas.
In this experiment the bran^es and figure of a tree are repre* sented by an amalgam of silrer and mercury, which appear to yege* tate in a very beautiful manner. To obtain it, one part of siWer, dissolved in nitrous acid to saturation, is mixed with twenty parts of clean water^ and poured upon two parts of mercury. When left standing quietly, the desired crystallization will take place after some time. A cylindrical glnss vessel is best suited for the purpose ; and that the process may succeed, it is necessary that the ingredients be in their utmost purity.
Iron Tree. — Arbor Martii.
An apparent vegetation of iron, resembling a natural plant. It IS formed by dissolving iron 6lings in diluted nitric acid, and adding to the solution a quantity of carbonate of potash in a deliquescent state, or what was formerly called oil of tartar per deliquium. The mixture swells contiderably, and is no sooner at rest than the branches spring out on the surface of the glass.
Lead Tree. — Arbor Piumbi.
Is a beautiful vegeUtion of lead. To form it, two drams of ace- tite of lead (sugar of lead) are dissolved in six ounces of distilled water ; the filtered solution is poured into a cylindrical glass, and a thin roll of ainc being hung in it, the whole is left standing at rest. The lead precipitates^ adhering to the alnc in metallic leaves, in the form of a tree.
lEditor.
THE
GALLERY
I
NATURE AND ART,
PART ir, ART.
1
i
BOOK IV. POLITE ylRTS, <.!■ Ilioie conntcleci mlb LITERATI
PAPBB MAKING. 520
In some places and ages thej have even written on the skins of fishes ; in others, on the intestines of serpents ; and in others, on the baclcs of tortoises. Mabill. de Re Dipiom. lib. i. cap. 8. Fa. brie. Biblioth* Nat cap. 21, &c. There are few sorts of plants bat have at some time been nsed for paper and books : and hence the several terms, biblos, codex, liber, folium, tabula, tillura, philura, scheda, &c. which express the several parts on which they were written : and though in Europe all these disappeared upon the introduction of the papyms and parchment, yet in some other countries the use of dirers of them obtains to this day. In Ceylon, for instance, they write on the leaves of the talipot. And the Bramin MSS. in the Tulinga language, sent to Oxford from Fort St. Geori^e, are written on leaves of the ampana, or palma Malaba. rica : Hermannus givc-s an account of a monstrous palm.tree called codda palma, or palma montana Malabarica, which about the thirty.iifth year of its age rises to be sixty or seventy feet high, with plicated leaves nearly round, twenty feet broad, wherewith they commonly cover their houses, and on which they also write, part of one leaf sufficing to make a moderate book* They write be« tween the folds, making the characters through the outer cuticle. Knox. Hist. Ceyl. lib. iii. Le Clerc. Bibl. Univ. tom. xxiii. p. 242. Phil. Trans. No. 226, p. 422, seq. Vide Hort. Ind. Maiab. p. 3. Phil. Trans. No. 145, p. 108.
In the Maldive islands, the natives are said to write on the leaves of a tree called macaraquean, which are a fathom and a half long, and about a foot broad. And in divers parls of the East Indies, the leaves of the musa arbor, or plantain.tree, dried in the sun, served for the same use.
Egyptian paper was principally used among the ancients ; being made of the papyrus, or biblus, a species of rush, which grew on the banks of the Nile : in making it into paper, they began with lopping off the two extremes of the plant, the head and the root : the remaining part, which was the stem, they cut lengthwise into two nearly equal parts, and from each of these they stripped the icaly pellicles of which it consisted. The innermost of these pel. licles were looked on as the best, and that nearest the rind the worst : they were therefore kept apart, and made to constitute two different sorH of paper. As the pellicles were taken off, they extended them on atable^ laying them over each other transversely, lo that the fibres made right angles: in this state they ware gloed
\
330
PAPER UAKIN
together by th« muddj waters or the Nile| or, when tbow i not lo be liad, with paste made of the GdcsI wheat flour, mixed hut wuter aud a sprinkling of lioegar. The pell idea were i jiressed, to get out ttie water, Ihen dried, and laslly flatted BEDoothed, ))}- beating them with a mallet : Ihis was t]}e Egjf paper, which was sometimes further polished by rubbing it ni glass ball, or the like.
bark paper was only the inner whitish rind, incloMd bett the bark and the wood of several trees, aj the maple, plane, be and elii), but especially the tilia, or lindea.tree, which was mostly used for this purpose. On this, stripped oil', flatted, dried, theancietits wrote books, sereral of which are said to be
Chinese pajHir is of larious kinds j some is made of the rinil barks of trees, especially the mulberry-tree and elm, but chiefl the bambuo and colton-tree. In fact, almost each profince ha scTC'rul paper. The preparations of paper made of the barks of I insy be instanced in that of the bamboo, which isalreeof the or reed kind. The second skin of the bark, which is soft and w is ordinarily made use of for paper i this is beat in fair w to a pulp, which they take up in large moulds', so (hat some il are above twelve feet in length ; they are completed by dip them, sheet by sheet, in alum water, which serves instead ol bize among us, and not only hinders the paper from imbibio| ink, but makes il look as if varnishtd over. The paper is wl ^ofl. and close. willioiH the least r
getlwr Ctfrnrad witk i wtrt Mt, ind pvt io motion bj Iti connezloa with MM>e put of (be duUMtj'. A eoDrenient quantity of nga before tha lelection an incloied io the dDiter, and the rapidity of its motloD lepanitM th« dmt from tbem, and forcepi It tbrongh tho wire. It it of coaiidenbl* adnuitage to lue tbe dotter tiefore •«• lection, as It maltet that openttioii lest prrnicioas to the (^lectori.
The lelectioB ii then to be made ; and it in fouod more conre* oient to liare the tables for catting off the knots and stitching, and for forming tbem into a proper shape, in the lune place with tho cgtting.table. Tbe inrfoce, both of these and of the en tting. table, u composed of a wire net, which in erery part of the operation allows the Temnining part and refuse of every kind to escape.
The rags, withont any kind of pntrefaction, are again carried from the cntting.table back to tbe doiter, and from tbenoe to aa engine, where, In general, they are in the space of six hours re* daced to the staff proper for making paper. The luud and soft of tbe same qnali^ are placed in different lots; bat they can be n- duced to staff at the lame time, prorided tbe soft is pnt somewhat later into the engine.
Tbe engine is that part of tbe mill which performs tbe wkote action of r«duciag the rags to paste, or, as it may be termed, of tritnralion. The number of engines depends on the extent of tbe paper-work, or the force of water, or on the construction of tbo mochhwry.
'When (he stuff is brought to perfection, it is conreyed Into a general repository, which supplies the vat from which the sheets of paper are formed. This Tat ii made of wood; and generally al>oit ive feet in diameter, and two and a half In depth. It is kept in temperature by means of a grate introduced by a bole, andsor. rounded on tbe inside of the Tat with a case of copper. For fuel to tiiia grate, charcoal or wood is used ; and frequently, to pre. went swdu, the wall of the building comes in contact with on* part of the vat, and tbe fira has no conununication with tbe place when they make tbe paper.
Every lat is famished on the upper part with pUnks closed in. wards, and eren railed in with wood, to prevent any of the stuff from mnaing over in the operation. Across the vat is a ptank which they call tbe trepan, pierced with boles at one of the extre- ■itiei, and resting on the planks wbicb surround tbo rat.
Tha forms or moulds are composed ol ifc, and nofatUa
352 PAPIB UAKINO,
rrame. It is witb these that they fetch up the staff from the vat, in order to furm the sheets of paper. The aides of the ronn are made of oak, which is previously steeped in water, and otherwise pre> pared to present warping. The wire doth is made larger Umq the sheet of paper, and the eicess of it on all sides is covered with a moveable frame. This frame is necessary to retain the stnll' uf which (he paper is made on the cloth; and it must be exactly adapted to the form, otherwise the edges of the pnper will be rag- ged aud badly finished. The wire cloth of the form is varied in proportion to Ihe fim ness of the paper and the oalure of the stuff.
The fells are pieces of woollen cloth spread over every cbeet of paper, and upon which the sheets are laid to detach them from the iidjoining, topreveiitth^m from adhering together, to imbibe part uf the water with which the stuff is charged, and to carry off the whole of it when pressed under the action of the press. The two sideg of the felt are differently raised : that of which the hair is longest is applied (o the sheets which arc laid down ; and any alteration of this disposition would produce a change in the texture of the paper. The stuff of which the fells are made sliould be siifhciendy strong, io order that it may be stretched exactly on the sheets without forming into folds; and, at Ihe same time, sufficiently pliant to yield in every direction without injury to the wet paper. As the felts have to resist the reiterated efforts of Ihe press, it appears ne> cessary that the warp be very strong, of combed wool| KBiIwell twisted. On the other hand, as they have to imbib* ft OWtUn
a proof flttii it bat been well tritarated ; and Hme parts of the rags which have escaped the rollers also appear.
After this operation the workman takes one of the forms, fur- nished with its framei bj the middle of the short sides ; and fixing the frame round the wire cloth with his thumbs, he plunges it ob. liquefy four or fi?e inches into the Tat, beginning by the long side, which is nearest to him. After the immersion he raises it to a leTel : by these movements he fetches up on the form a sufficient quantity of stuff; and as soon as the form is raised, the water escapes through the wire cloth, and the superfluity of the stuflT orer the sides of the frame. The fibrous parts of the stuff arrange them* selres regularly on the wire cloth of the form, not only in propor- tion as the water escapes, but also as the workman favours thb effect by gently shaking the form. Afterwards, having pkced the form on a piece of board, the workman takes off the frame or deckle, and glides this form towards the coucher ; who, having previously laid his felt, places it with his left hand hi an Inclined situation, on a plank fixed on the edge of the vat, and full of holes. During this operation the workman applies his frame, and begins a second sheet. The coucher seizes this instant, takes with his left hand the form, now sufficiently dry, and, having laid the sheet of paper upon the felt, returns the form by gliding it along the trepan of the vat.
They proceed in this manner, laying alternately a sheet and a felt, till they have made six quires of paper, which is called a poft: and this they do with such swiftness, that, in many sorts of paper, two men make upwards of twenty posts in a day. When the last sheet of the post is covered with the last felt, the workmen about the vat unite together, and submit the whole heap to the action of the press. They begin at first to press it with a middling lever, and afterwards with a lever about fifteen feet in length. After this operation, another person separates the sheets of paper from the felts, laying them in a heap ; and several of these heaps collected together are again put under the press.
The stuff which forms a sheet of paper is received, as we have already said, on a form made of wire cloth, whith is more-or less fine in proportion to the stuff, and surrounded with a wooden frame, and supported in the middle by many cross bars of wood. In consequence of this construction, it is easy to perceive, that the sheet of paper wOl take and preserve the impressioni of all the
334 PIPES UAKINO.
plecei wliich compose the form, and ol the eidpty (pace* between tbem.
1 hf tracts of the wire cloth are evidently perceived on the side of the iheet which was attached to the form, and od the oppoiite aide Iht-r rorm an assfmblage of parallrl and rounded risingi. At in the paper nhicb is most highly &nished the regularity of theao impressions is atill vi^ibji', it is evident that alt operdtioas to whicit it is submilted have cbieBy in view to soften these impreujons with, out destroying them. It is of consequence, Ihererore, to attend to the combination of labour which operates on these impnttioni. The CDUcher, in turnini; the forin on the felt, flattens a little the rounded eminences which are in relievo on one of the snr/acei, knd occasions at the same time the hollow places made by the wire cloth to be partly hlled up. Meanwhile, the effort which is made in de. taching the form produces an infinite number of small haJrs on every protuberant part of the sheet.
Under the action of the press, first with the felts and then with- out them, the perfecting of the grain paper stilt goes on. The ves- tiges of the protuberances made by the wires are altogether flat- tened, and of consequence the hollows opposite to them difsppear also ; but the traces formed by the interstices of the wire, in con. sequence of their thiclLness, appear on both sides, and are rounded by the press.
The risings traced on each side of the paper, and which can be discovered by the eye on that which is most highly finished, form what is called the grain of paper. The dilferent operations ought
consist 10 preserrhig, and at the same time in higlilj softening, the grain : the Dutch ha^e carried this to tlie highest perfection.
The exchange succeeds tlM operation last described. It is con* docted in a hall contiguous to the Tat, supplied with seTeral presses, and with a long table. The workman arranges on this table the paper, newly fabricated, into heaps ; each heap containing eight or ten of those last under the press, kept separate by a woollen felt« The press is large enough to receive two of them at once, placed the one at the other's side. When the compression is judged suf« ficieut, the heaps of paper are carried back to the table, and the whole turned sheet by sheet, in such a manner that the' surface of crery sheet is exposed to a new one ; and in this situation they are again brought under the press. It is in conducting these two ope* rations to four or five times, or as often as the nature of the paper requires, that the perfection of the Dutch plan consbts. If the stuff is fine, or the paper slender,'U£e exchange is less frequently repeated. In this operation it is necessary to alter the situation of the heaps, with regard to one another, erery time they are put an* der the press ; and also, as the heaps are highest toward the middle, to place small pieces of felt at the extremities, in order to bring every part of them under an equal pressure. A single man, with four or five presses, may exchange all the paper produced by two Tats, proTided the previous pressing at the Tats is well performed. The work of the exchange generally lasts about two days on a given quantity of paper.
When the paper has undergone these operations, it is not only softened on the surface, but better felted, and rendered more pliant in the interior parts of the stuff. In short, a great part of the wa. ter which it had Imbibed in the operation of the Tat is dissipated. By the felting of paper« is understood the approximation of the fibres of the stuff, and their adhering more closely together. The paper is Celted in proportion as the water escapes, and this effect is produced by the management and reiterated action of the press. Were it not for the gradual operation of the press, the paper would be porous, and composed of filaments adhering closely together. The superiority of the Dutch over the French paper depends al- most entirely on this operation.
If the sheets of paper are found to adhere together, it is a proof that the business of the press has been badly conducted. To avoid this inconveniency, it is necessary to bring down the press at first
536 PAPBR HAKINO.
gent\jt and by degrees with greater force, and to raise it as mi* denly as possible. By thii means the water, which is impelled to the sides of the heaps, which has not yet escaped, ri^tnrns to the centre ; thf sheets are equally dry, and the operation is executed without difficulty.
According to the state of dryness in which the paper is found when it comes from the apartment of the Tat, it is either pressed before or after (he first exchange. The operation of the press should be reiterated, and managed with great care ; otherwise, in the soft state of the paper there is a danger that its grain and trans, parency are totally destroyed. Another essential principle to the success of the exchange is, that the grain of the paper is originally well raised. For this purpose the wire cloth of the Dutch forms is composed of a rounder w*^'>' than that used in France, by which they gain the greatest degree^ f*'a'*<'ptttency, and are in no danger of destroying the grain. Pebtr.es this, the Dutch take care to pro- portion (he wires, even where the forms are equal, to the thickness of the paper.
Almost every kind of paper is considerably improved by the ex. change, and receives a degree of perfection which renders it more agreeable in the use. But it is necessary to observe at the same time, that all papers are not equally susceptible of this melioration ; on the contrary, if the stuff is unequal, dry, or weakened by the destruction of the fine parts, it acquires nothing of that lustre and softness, and appearance of velvet, which the exchange gives to stuff properly prepared.
The sheds for drying the paper are in the neighbourhood of the paper-mill, and are furnished with a vast number of cords, on whldi they hang the sheets both before and after the sizing. The sheds are surrounded with moveable lattices, to admit a quantity of air sufficient for drying the paper. The cords of the shed are stretched as much as possible; and the paper, four or five sheets of it toge* ther, is placed on them by means of a wooden instrument resem- bling a pick*axe. The principal difficulty in drying the paper, consists in gradually admitting the external air, and in preventing the cords from imbibing moisture. With regard to the first of these, the Dutch use very low sheds, and construct their lattices with great exactness. By this means the Dutch paper is dried equally, and is extremely supple before the sizing. They prevent the cords from imbibing the water by covering them with wax.
PAP&R MAKING. 387
In Qsiog such cords, the moistore does not continue in the line of contact between the paper and the cord, which preTents the sheet from stretching in that particular place bj its weight, and from the folds which the moisture in the subsequent operations might occa. sion. The Dutch also employ cords of considerable thickness, and place fewer of them under the sheets ; by which means they dimi« nish the points of contact, and give a freer and more equal circular tion to the air.
The size for paper is made of the shreds and parings got from tanners, curriers, and parchment. makers. All the putrefied parts and the lime are carefully separated from them, and they are in- closed in a kind of basket, and let down by a rope and pulley into the cauldron. This is a late invention, and serves two valuable purposes. It makes it easy to draw o'lt the pieces of leather when the size is extracted from t^ie||^^ boiling, or easy to return them into the boiler if the operation i^ IIq^ complete. When the sub* stance is sufficiently extracted, it is alloifVed to settle for some time ; and it is twice filtered before it is put into the vessel into which they dip the paper.
Immediately before the operation, a certain quantity of alum it added to the size. The work. man takes a handful of the sheets, smoothed and rendered as supple as possible, in his left hand, dips them into the vessel, and holds them separate with his right, that they may equally imbibe the size. After holding them above the vessel for a space of time, he seizes on the other side with his right hand, and again dips them into the vessel. When he has finished ten or a dozen of these handfuls, they are submitted to the action of the press. The superfluous size is carried back to the vessel by means of a small pipe. The vessel in which the paper is sized is made of copper, and furnished with a grate, to give the size when necessary a due temperature : and a piece of thin board or felt is placed be. tween every handful as they are laid on the table of the press.
The Dutch are very careful in sizing their paper, to have every sheet in the same handful of equal dryness ; because it is found that the dry sheets imbibe the size more slowly than those which retain tome degree of moisture. They begin by selecting the padges in the drying.house ; and after having made them supple, and having de. stroyed the adherence between the sheets, they separate them into handfuls in proportion to the dryness, each of them containing that number which they can dip at one time. Beiidei this precaotion^
vol. VI.
333 PAPER MAKING.
they take care to apply two sheets of brown paper of an equal sire to every handful. This brown paper, firin, solid, and already sized, is of use to support the sheets.
As soon as the paper is sized, it is the practice at some paper- mills to carry it immediately to the drying.house, and hang it be« fore it cools, sheet by sheet, on the cords. The paper, unless par. ticular attention is paid to the lattices of the drying.house, is apt to dry too fast, whereby a great part of the size goes off in era. poration : or, if too slow, it falls to the ground. The Dutch dry- ing.houses are the best to prevent these inconveniences : but the exchange after the sizing, which is generally practised in Holland, is the best remedy. They begin this operation on the handfols of paper, either while they are still hot, or otherwise as they find it convenient* But, after the exchange, they are carefnl to allow the heaps to be altogether cold before they are submitted to the press. Without this precaution the size would either be wholly squeezed out by the press of the exchange, or the surface of the paper become very irregular. It is of consequence that the paper, still warm from the sizing, grows gradually firm, under the operation of the ex. change, in proportion as it cools. By this method it receives that varnish which is afterwards brought to perfection under the press, and in which the excellence of the paper either for writing or draw- ing chiefly consists, ft is in consequence of the exchanging and pressing that the Dutch paper is soft and equal ; and that the size penetrates into the body of it, and is extended equally over its surface.
The exchange after the sizing ought to be conducted with the greatest skill and attention, because the grain of the paper then re- ceives impressions which can never be eradicated. When the sized paper is also exchanged, it is possible to hang more sheets together on the cores of the drying house. The paper dries better in this condition, and the size is preserved without any sensible waste, be* cause the sheets of paper mutually prevent the rapid operation of the external air. And as the size has already penetrated into the paper, and is fixed on the surface, the insensible progress of a well, conducted drying.house renders all the good effects more perfect in proportion as it is slowly dried.
If to these considerations is added the damage done to the paper in drying it immediately after the press of the sizing«room, whe- ther it 18 done in raiting the hairs by separating the sheets^ or in
PA^eR MAKING. Sd9
cracking the surface, it is evident that the trouble of the second exchange is infinitely overpaid by the advantage.
When the paper is sufficiently dry, it is carried to the finishing, room, where it is pressed, selected, examined, folded, made up into quires, and finally into reams. It is here put twice under the press ; first, when it is at its full size, and secondly, after it is folded.
The principal labour of this place consists in assorting the paper into different lots, according to its quality and faults ; after which it is made up into qaires. The person who does this must possess great skill, and be capable of attention, because he acts as a check on those who separated the paper into different lots. He takes the sheets with his right hand, folds them, examines them, lays them over his left arm till he has the number requisite for a quire, brings the sides parallel to one another, and places them in heaps under the table. An expert workman, if proper care has been taken in assorting the lots, will finish In this manner near 6000 quires in a day.
The paper is afterwards collected into reams of 20 quires each, and for the last time put under the presi^, where it Is continued for 10 or 12 hours, or as long as the demand of the paper-mill permits.
In different volumes of the Annalcs de Chimie we meet with some useful hints relative to the manner of re- manufacturing the paper of old books, or any letters or other paper already used for writ* Ing or printing, by MM. Deyeux, Pelletier, Molard, and Ver- kaven.
I. Process for re-fabricating printed paper : — All paper of the same quality should be collected, and separated from such as may have any writing on the pages ; the edges of those leaves which may have become yellow, and also the backs of books, being cut off by the instrument used by book.binders. One hundred weight of paper is now to be put, sheet by sheets Into vats, sufficiently capacious to contain it, together with 500 quarts of hot water, but which ought to be filled about oncthird : the whole is next stirred by two men for the space of one hour, who are gradually to add as much water as will rise about three inches above the paper ; after which it is left to macerate four or five hours ; the agitation bf ing occasionally repeated, so as to separate, and at length to form the paper into a kind of paste*
z 2
340 PAPBR MAKING.
The water i<. now drawn off by means o( pi|>cs, and the pulp conveyed to the mill, where it is to be coarsely ground for une hour ; at the expiration of which it is boiled in a cauldron for a nlmilar space, with a sufficient quantity of water to rise four or five inches above it, A short time before the mixture begins to boil, thirteen quarts of caustic ley of potash arc to be added to every cwt, of paper. The ley alluded (o i>i prepared by dissolving lOOlbs, of potash in 300 quarts of boiling water, to which are to be added 30 lbs. of pulverized quick-lime ; and the whole must he briskly agitatedi till it become of an uniform consistence, when it is suf- fered to stand for 13 hours; at the end of this time it must be drawn off, and 7d quarts of boiling water added (o the sediment, which being stirred for half an hour, and suffered to stand till it become cltKr, i» to be mixed with the liquor first decanted.
When the paste hss boiled in this ley for one hour, the fire is to be extinguished, and the matter suffered to macerate for 12 hour) ; after which it must be taken out, drained, put into bngs, and sub- mitted to the action of a strong press for a similar length of time, to deprive it of all moisture; aod, if it appear white, so that the printer's ink be properly extracted, it may be re-nianufutured in the usual manner.
II. Process for the re-Jabrtcation of arillen paper. — The paper must be sorted; the yellow edges cutoff; and the whole thrown, leaf by leaf, into a tub half full of boiling water, where it is to be agitated as before directed. After it has macerated four hours, (lie water should be drawn oiT; a frpsh quantity of boiling
PAPER MAKING. 341
In the year ISOt, a patent nas granted fo Mr. Koopi, forex. tracttng ink from printed paper, and re^turiug it to its original state. His process Tartes little fron that above described; tbe paper b«. ing agitated in hot water to extract tbe size, and redoce it into a pulp ; next, the adhestoii of tbe ink is to be r^moTed by a cauittc alkali prepared of lime and potash, tbe quantities of vhich should be proportioned to those of the paper. After discharging the ink^ he directs the pulp to be bleached by means of the oxygenated marine acid, io I he proportion of 10 or 13 gallons to 140 lbs. of the mate, rial ; and when snffidently whitened, it is re-manafactnred in the usual manner. According to the patentee's account, writing paper does not require so large a proportion, if any, of the caustic alkali ; but is bleached by confining it in a wooden box, rendered air tight; into which the acid gass is thrown directly fr«m the retort wherein it WIS prodaced.
The staining or dyeing of paper is performed byapjdylng, with soft brushes, any of tbe colours used for tinging other substances, after tempering tbem properly witli siie or gum-water. Should tbe paper not be sufficiently hard to receWe the tint without sinking, it will first be necessary to size it, or to employ a larger proporllon of gum with the tinging matters. And if the paper is to be of aq uniform colour, the latter must be fixed by sereral thin coatings,, each being sufiered lo dry before another is applied ;*•!]» ahadt will otherwise appear unequal.
As writing paper it often imperfectly sized, in conseqaence of wbich the ink is apt lo liak, it has beeu recommended to dissoWo a small piece of Roman alum In a glass of pure water. This liquor should be gently spread oter the suspected part, with a soft sppage { and, after becoming dry, it may be safely used for writing. Should there be any occasion to write on a printed book; or on paper that is too fresh and moist, it will only be necessary to mix a little gun| with the ink. Lastly, in case any book or manuscript be stained with oil, or grease, it has beeu directed to ralcine and puWerixe tli« bones of sheep's trotters ;'and to apply a small portion of the powder to each side of the stain, which should be placed between two sheeti of white paper, and tbe whole submitted for the space of twelro boors to the action of a press : if the stains do not disappear,the pro. cess should be repeated in a warm place,
[Pantoiog. ^nnelei de Chimie,
-[ s« 3
CIIAI'. II.
IIGIN ^ND TKOtiKESS UF WitlTIKG.
Ob Uieroglgphic and I'klure.ztriling.
X HK (lestre of conimunicatiiig ideas, seems to be i m plan led Jn every liuniau breast. The two mo&t usual metliods uf gratifying this di'slre^ are, by suunils adilressed tu the ear ; or, by rpprtsi'n. tatiuns or marks exhibitc^d to the eye ; or, in other worils, by speech and writing. The first method «as rendered more rom pie te by the invention of the second, because it opened a door for com- municating informalioii, through the sense of sigiit as well as that of hearing. Speech may be considered as the substance ; and nriting, as the shadow which followed it. — These remarks imy be illnstraled, by slating a few observations concerning the former, which nill natumlly lead us to the origin of the latd-r.
Oneof the greatest advantages which we possess is that of speech, or the power of expressing the conceptions of the mind by uticu* late sounds. Dy Ibis faculty we are capable of social intsrcDarse, of enjoying the endearments of friendship and the communications
OH HIEROGLYPHIC AND PICT URE-WRITING. 343
nut DDe.fpnth of an incb, llirough which the breath, traasmitted from ihe longs, passes with ransiilcraMi! tclocity : in its patsage it is said to give a brisk Tibr&tory niolion to the tnetnbranous lips of the gluttia, which prodncea the sound called voica, by an operation similar to that which prodoces sound from tlie two lips of a haul- bo/. Gakn aod others affirm, Ihatboth the larynx and the wind- pipe co-operate id rendering the brealh rocal ; but later authors do not agree in this opinion. It geems howerer necessary for the pro- duction of Toice, that a degree of tenseness should be commanicated to the larynx, or at least to the two membrane* aboTe mentioned. Th« Toice thus formed is strengthened and mellowed by a reverbe* ration from the palate, and other hollow places of the inside of th« mouth and nostrils ; and as these are better or worse shaped for this rererberalion, the voice is said to be more or less agreeable; and thus the vocalorgans of man appear to be, as it were, a species of date or hautboy, whereof the membraaoaB lips of the glottis arc the month or reed, and the inside of the throat, palate and noitrlls the body ; Ihe windpipe being nothing more than the lobe or canal vhich GonTeys Ihe wind from the longs to the apertnte of tlui musi> cal instrument*.
The learned and ingenious author of Hermes f, with grat strength of argument, shews, that language is founded in compact, and not in nature. His friend, lord Monhoddo, with great kam- Ing and ingenuity, supports the same opinion, and insists that lan- guage is not natnraj to man ; but that it is acquired : and, in tha course of his reflections, he adduces the opinions not only of heathen philosophers, poets, and historians, but of christian di- Ttnes Iwth ancient and modem |.
• See Dr. Beatlie on Ihe Theory nf Laugnaje, p. 84e, Lond. 1783, ito.
+ See Hermei, b; Janei Harris, Eiq. book iii. p. 314, 32T.
t Tblsantborii of opinion Uiat nankiod took the hintiof die moat aaefnlarti from tke fainte creatioo, " for," nllk be, " II may be thai men Bnl leaned la *' bnlM bom the nrallow t from Ibe ^ider, to weave ] and frtnn the birds, lo " sing." SeeManboddo on the OriglnaodProgreuofLaiigDage, bookii. aad ii. p. SST and 376.
" The fini words of men, like their flnl ideaa," swth Mr. Harris, " had an " immediate reference (o lensible objects i and, Ip Bftertimei, whea men began " to dltcoTtr wf Ih their iaIelleclB, they took ihoie wordi which Ihey fannd aU " ready made, and Irantferrcd them, bjmetapborftointelleclMlconceplloM." Kemci, p. 269.
24.
344 HIEnOGLYPllIC AND •
Though languagp, as :t U generally considereJ by ^'lamniaciuns, is a work of art ; yet it is fvidcnt that voml naunds are foaniled in nature ; and man would vary thotie snuiidt, as im]ielkd hy his pas. lions, or urged b^ his necessities. This eKercise of Ihe orj;ans of speech irould produce articulate voices, which tire ppcuUar to the human si>ccies ; vocal sounds, expressive uf emotiimj, being n&tural to brutes as well as to men. Thtiie nriiculat'- voices are Ihe tirst advances towards the formation of a language. The huroBii organs are not, like those of most brutes, confiaed to particular sounds ; but, as men arc capable of learning to imitate the several soonds of the brute creation, by that means they arquire a greater variety of sounds than other animals. It is evident that children learn to speak by imitation ; tfaey acquire articulate sounds before they comprehend the ideas of which those sounds are significant.
It would be digressing from the suliject immediat('!y before us, to say more at present concerning the nature uf speech, or audible language ; our inquiry being into the origin of visible or written language.
It is obvious that men woold soon discover the ditiiculty of con. veying new ideas by sounds alone ; for, as Mr, Ilarris oburres*, '* the senses never exceed their natural limits ; the eye perceives •' no sounds, the ear perceives no figures nor colours ;" therefore it became necessary to call in the assistaune of the eye where the ear alone was insuiTicient.
It will presently be demonstrated that n)eo, even in tbeir most uncivili/ed state, display a faculty of imitntiunt, which efiablM
picrusB WBIT1NC. 345
common to all nations, and perliaps coctbI with tlie Srat locietiei or i.'omTiinnill?s of mankintl.
It isnot [irobBble that (he art of pi dure, writ iog was bronght to any degree of perfection bf one man or nation, or ctcq by one genera, lion; but was gradually improved and extendi'd, by the saccessiTe hands of iniliTiduali, in the societies through which it passed -, and that more or Ie|s, according to the getiius of each people, and their state of civilization ; the rudtr nations requiring fewer signs or repreMntatioiis, than the more cultivated. At first, each 6gDre meant specifically what it represented. Thus, the figare of the snn expressed or denoted that planet only ; a lion or a dog, simply the animals there depicted ; but, in process of time, when men acquired more knowledge, and attempted to describe qualities, as well ai sensible objects, these delineations were more 6gurati<rely ex- plained ; then the tigare of the sun, besides its origirtal meaning, denoted glory and genial warmth ; that of the lion, courage ; aad that of the dog, fidelity.
A still further improvement in cirilization occasioned these deli- neations (o tiecome too Tolumnioua ; every new object requiring a new picture, this induced the delineator to abridge the representa- tions, re(:^ning so much of each figure as would express its species. Thus, fur example, instead of an accurate representation of a lioa, a slight sketch, or more general figure of that animal was sub- stituted ; and for a serpent, cither a spiral or crooked line like the letter S. Besides this, as there occurred a number of ideas, not to be represented by painting, for these it was necessary to affix arbitrary signs.
This transition was not so great as at first it may appear. In all probability, these signs were introduced slowly, and by degrees, and in such manner, aa to be always esplaiued by the context, until generally known and adopted.
That such was the origin and progress of this invention, history, and the journals of trarellers, furnish us with a variety of proofs ; hierogtypliics, in all their different stages being found in reiy distant parts of the globe. Of these we shall mention some In- stances.
Joseph d'Acosta relates, that on the first arrival of the Spantitb squadron on the coast of Mexico, expresses were sent to Monle- ■lama, with exact representations of the ships, painted on cloth ; in vfhich mtvnncT they ktpt their records, historiesj and cnlendars j
346 ON HlEaOOLYPHIC AND ^
repr«senling things tliat liod liixlily shapes, in th^ir proper figures ; auJ Ihose that hod noiiu, in iirbitrary siguifitant characters.— It ii here to he obscTTed, that the Mexicans had lung beeu a ciyilixcc] people ; so that this kind of nritino ma} be cousidered among thein as almost advanced (o its laoii perfect stuli^.
Specimens of Mexican pninLing have been giren by Puichns in silly-si)! plates. His wurk is diriiled into tliree parts. The first contaJDS the hiatury ofthi; Mf^xicao L-mpirc, under its teninonarchs ; the second is a tribute-roll, representing » ha teacii conquered town paid into (he royal treasury : and the third is a code of their iasli- luljons, civil, political, and military*. Another specimen of Mexican painting has been published, in thirly.tvru plates, by the prtsent archbishop of Toledo. To all these is annexed b full ex- planation of what the figures were intended fo represnit ; which V3S obtained by the Spaniards from Indians well acfiuainted with their own arts. Thv stile of painting in all these is the same ; and they may be justly considered as the most curious rooantnenta of art, brought from the new world +.
• The originalii arc in Iho BtxIIHan litinirj a( Oiford, No. SlSt, unaDi; Mr. Seidell 't MSS. Ill llirMitnrlihriiry, No. at>as, iBBbimkof MeMunUtfOlly- phic! pginlPd upon thick ikins, wbirhaicc'ivirrd wiiliacha1k]rc«np<i**'*'i''< and fuldi-d in eleven talis. No. 3136, is a lionk of Mexican tHrtaiilyrltik^ (lainleil upoD >i ml lar skins, and TuMeil in Icn raid;. No. 3S0T, i«a roll coalmin- ing Meiican hlrrngl;phics, p«inled nnback. Thcii' painlingf arc hijhlj woriliv
PICT0BE-WBITINO. 347
Cbarlefoix ind lereral other traTellers testify, tLtt this kind of wriHng, or rather painting, was used by the North American In. diaus, to record their past events, and to communicate their thoughts to^ their distant friends. The same kind of characters were found by Strahlenberg upon the rocks in Siberia ; and the author of the iiook, intitked, De vet. Lit. Hon. Scyth. p. ] 5, mentions certain innkeepers in Hungary^ ivho used hieroglyphic represents, tions, not only to keep their accounts, but to describe their debt- ors : so that if one^ was a soldier, they drew a rude kind of sword ; for a smith or (^rp<>nter, a hammer or an axe ; and, if a carter, s whip. See Histoire Generate des Voyages, Paris, 1754, 4to.
The inhabitants of the Friendly Islands, visited by Captain Cook, in 1770, made a great number of rude figures, to represent their deities. Captain King, who accompanied Captain Cook on his last expedition, brought from one of these islands a piece of cloth, made of bark, on which several rude representations, of men, birds, and ornaments of dress, are depicted. Besides these, there are some delineations, which have the appearance of arbitrary marks.
This cloth is divided into twenty.three compartments ; in one of which, near the centre, is a rude figure, larger than the rest, per. haps of some deity, having a bird standing upon each hand : that on the right hand appears to be addressing itself to his ear. This figure is surrounded by three smaller ones, which may be intended as ministers or attendants. The great figure is much in the stile of the Mexican hieroglyphic paintings at Oxford *•
The Egyptians undoubtedly carried this art to its greatest ex- tent ; and this is one reason why they have been generally con-
royal treasory : the figure of a circle represented a unit ; aod, in small nombers, the computation was made by repeating it. Larger numbers were expressed by peculiar marks ; and they had such as denoted all integral numbers, from twenty to eight thousand. The short duration of their empire prevented the Mexicaof from advancing farther in that long course, which conducts men, from the la» hour of delineating real objects, to the simplicity and ease of alphabetic writing.
Their records, notwithstanding some dawn of such ideas as might have led to a more perfect stile, can be considered as nothing more than a species of picture* writing, so far improved, as to mark their superiority over the savage tribes of North America ; but still so defective, as to prove that they had not proceeded far beyond the first stage, in that progress which must be completed, before any people can be ranked among polished nations. See Dr. Robertson's Hist, of America, vol. ii. p. 880, and note 54, p. 479—482.
* This cloth is now in my possession.
348 HIEROGLYPHIC AND
sidered as llie inrcniort of it ; every species of hieroglypUcs being recorded in their history.
Hieroglyphic writing, striclly so called, is a simple represeiifa. tiun, or mere picture. The abridgnienls afterwords introduced DiBy be divided into three kinds.
First, when the principal circumstance was made to represent (he whole. lu order to signify a battle, two hands were dsUneated ; one holding a bow, another a shield : a tumult, or popuUr insur. reclion, was expressed by an armed man casting arrows ; and n tiege, by a scaling-ladder. This may be stJIed » picture character ; or, as the learned Dr. Warfaurlon, bishop of Gloucester, called it, " a Curiologic Hieroglyphic."
The second, aod more artiticial method of contraction, was by pulling the iniitrument f»r the thing itself. Thus, an eye in the clouds, or eminently placed, was designed to represent God'j omniscience, as perceiving all things j an eye and sceptre, to re- presenta king; and a ship and piloi, the Governor of the imirerse. This may be called the Tropical Hieroglyphic.
The third, and ttill more artificial method of abridging picture. writing, was, by conversion, or making one thing aland for, or re- present another : Ibr example, ihe Bull Apis stood for Osiris, and not Ihe picture or image of Osiris •. This hath been denominated the Symbolic Hieroglyphic +.
FICTUBB WRITIffTO. SA§
ThiS) aod die enormoiis bolk of the picture rolumes, produced a further change in writing ; the figures were totally rejected ; and. In their room, certain arbitrary marks were instituted, ex. pressing not only visible objects, but mental conceptions. These of necessity must be exceedingly nnmerous, as is the case in the Chinese writings, in which some authors have asserted, they could atill trace out the remains of the picture character.
The learned bishop of Gloucester, Dr. VVarburton, in his Di?ine Legation of Moses*, observes, that all the barbarous nations upon earth, before tte invention or introduction of letters, made use of hieroglyphics, or signs, to record their meaning. Such a general concurrence in the method of preserving events, could never be the effect of chance, imitation, or partial purposes ; but must needs be esteemed the uniform voice of nature, speaking to the first rude conceptions of mankind ; '^ for," adds the learned prelate, ^^ not only the Chinese of the east, the Mexicans of the west, and the Egyptians of the south, but the Scythians likewise of the north, as well as those intermediate inhabitants of the earth, the Indians, Phenicians, Ethiopians, Etruscans, &c. all used the same way of writing, by picture and hieroglyphic."
We shall dismiss the present section, by endeavouring to im« press the minds of our readers with a distinction which will be found to be of great importance in the present inquiry ; namely, the difference between imitative characters and symbolic or arbitrary marks.
^* Every medium," says Mr. Harris, in his Hermes, p. 331, 332, ^^ through which we exhibit any thing to another's contem- plation, is either derived from natural attributes, and then it is an Imitation ; or else from accidents quite arbitrary, and then
Taaatns, or Thotb, was the Mercury, on which name and family all the inven- tions of the various kinds of writin(E^, were very liberally bestowed ; that here mentioned as the improvement of Taautns, beinjf the very hieroglyphics above described $ and that as before practised by Ouranus, the same with the simple American paintiofj^s.
Such then was the ancient Efryptian hieroglyphic ; and this the second mode of invention for recording mens actions, not as hitherto thought a device of choice for secresy, but an expedient from necessity for general use. In pro- cess of time, their symbols and delineations turning on the least obvious, or even perhaps on imaginary properties of the animal or thing represented, either to form or construe this» required no small degree of learning and ingenuity.
• Vol, iii. p. 97 to 305.
350
ORtOIK OF LKTTSRS,
It J9 a Symbol," The former may be truly said to tlpriTe Us origin from that imil^iLire facully which is no cn^i'Hciioiis in ihe human sppcies ; Ihp latlpr is founded in neceEsily or nmT«irietiee, anil becomes significant by compact : tlie one hath only an imme. liiatp refcrenrp to sensiile objects, which [in-setit themsehw tO the sight ; the other lo mentul conceptions ; in short, the fOTtat-r is s[>. plicable to liierogljphic representations ; the latter conipr^hends lymbuls and marks for soun-ls, significant of ideas by adoption. Henrft we may roncludt^, that all representations, marVs, or clia. racters, which wsre ever used, by any nation or people, must have been either iroilatire or symbolic *.
SECTIOK II.
On the Origin of Leilers, and the Invention of Mphabets.
TiiE art of drawing ideas into Ttsion, or of esliibiling the con- ception of the mind by legible characters, may justly be deemed the noblest ond most btneficial invention of which human iitge. nuity can boast : an inTention which hnlh contributed more than all others to the Improvemtnt of mankind.
This subject has engaged the attention and perplexed (he aagBcily, of many able and judicious persons for more than two centuries: some of the most respectable writer* bara rfa. soned upon erroneous principles, and, by their workii bave ob-
THE INVBHTION OF ALPHABETS. 351
scored the tnie path which might have led to the discoTery of let* ters. Monsieur Fonrmoiit, Bishop Warhnrtoo, and Monsieur Gebelio, have endeavoured to shew, that alphabets were originalljr made up of hieroglyphic diaracters ; but it will presently appear^ that the letters of an alphabet were essentially different from the characteristic marks deduced from hieroglyphics, which last are marks for things and ideas, in the same manner as the ancient and modern characters of the Chinese ; whereas the former are only marks for sounds ; and, though we should allow -it an easy transi. tion, from the Egyptian hieroglyphics, to the characteristic marki of the Chinese, which have been demonstrated by Du Halde and others to be perfectly hieroglyphic, yet, it doth not follow, that the invention of an alphabet must naturally succeed these marks. It is true, there is a resemblance between the Mexican picture* writing, the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the Chinese characters ; but these are foreign to alphabetic letters, and, in reality, do not bear the least relation to them.
The hieroglyphic characters of the Chinese, which are lery nu* merous, are in their nature imitative, and do not combine into words, like arbitrary marks for sounds or letters, which are very few, and are of a symbolic nature. We shall shew, that these authors, whose learning and ingenuity entitle them to the highest respect, and whose writings have furnished many useful hints to* wards the discovery of alphabetic characters, have not filled up the great chasm between picture-writing and letters, which, thoughr the most difficult, was the most necessary thing for them to have done, before they could attempt to account for the formation of aa alphabet. We shall demonstrate, that letters do not derive their powers from their forms, and that originally their forms en* tirely depended on the fancy or will of those who made them *.— Other writers who have considered this difficult subject, have freely confessed that it was above their comprehension f.
Many learned men have supposed that the alphabet was of di* vine origin ; and several writers have asserted, that letters were
* See Mods. Foarmont^s Reflections Crit. rar les Hist, drs Anc. Peuples, torn, ii. a Paris, 1735.— Tiie Divine Legation of Moscr, by the late Dr. Warbor- ton, bishop of Gloocester, ?ol. iii. p. 121. Mons. •Ccbelin's Monde Primiiif, ▼ol. iii. Paris, 1775.
f Mr. Wise's E^say on the Origin of the Language and Letters of Europe, p. 92, 93. See Uni venal History, vol. xz. p. 18, n. H»
352
ORIGIN' OF LETTBHS,
first communicatei] to Mosfs by God hiniscir*; uliilst otiitrshuve conteniled, tbat the Decalogue was the fir^t >il ptialK'lic writing.
It is higlily proper for us to inquire hoir far (hesi? opinions arc well fouiiiled ; for, if they can be supporled, there is an end ofour pursuit ; but if it shall appeor thai they arc uarrnnltd neither by reason nor by scripture, we shall be at full libirly lo pnnue our inquiry: fur the latisfaclion therefore of those who hate adupt"(l those opinions, it is incumbent on u» (o hare recourse to the Holy Scriptures themselves.
The first mention of writing recorded in Scripture, will be fboiid in Exoilui sf ii. i. 14 ; " And tbc Lord said unto Moses, Writ« i this, for a memorial, in a book ; and rehearse It in tlie earl of Jo> >hua ; for 1 will utd riy put out (he remembrance of Amalek. from under heaven." This command was giTcn immediately after the defeat of (he AmaleVites near Horeb, and before the arrifal of (he Israelites at Mount Sinai.
It is observable, that there is not the least hint fo lodaee ui (o believe (hat wridng was then newly iuTenled ; on the contrary, we may conclude, (hat Moses understood what wn.s meant bf writing in a book; othertvise God would ha«e instructtd him, u he had dune Noah in building the arkt ; for he would not h»Te been commanded to wri(c in a book, if he had been ignorant of (lie art orwri(ing; but Moses expressed no diUlcuIly of comprehetisloii, when he received (his command. We also llnd that Mosm wrote all (he words anil all the judgments of (he Lord, conlaiaed in the twen(y-Grst and Ihe tno followinf; chapters nf the book of Exodui,
JkKD THBINVENTSON OP ALPHABETS. Sij
cighteeiAli Tene of tba thirtj-fint chftpteri after God had made an end of commoning with him npon the mount *, though the ten comroandroentt were promulgated immediately after his third de« scent.
It is obserTable, tliat Moses no where mentions that the alphabet was a new thing in his time, much lesd that he was the infentor of it; on the contrary, he speaks of the art of writing as a thing well known, and in familiar use; for. Exodus xxTiii. t. 21, he sajs, ^' And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve ; according to their names, like the engraTings of a signet, erery one with his name, shall they be, according to the twelve tribes.*' And again, t. 30, ^^ And thou &halt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, Holi. ness to the Lord." Can lauguage be more expressive ? Would it not be too absurd to deny that this sentence must have been in words and letters ? But writing was known and practised by the people in general in the time of Moses, as appears from the following texts, Deut. chap. vi. v. 9; chap. xi. v. 20; chap. xvii. v. 18; chap. xxiv. v. 1 ; chap, xxvii. v. 3, 8. By this last text, the people are commanded to write the law on stones ; and it is observable, that some of the above texts, relate to transactions previous to the delivery of the law at Mount Sinai.
If Moses had been the inventor of the alphabet, or received lef» ters from God, which till then had been unknown to the Israelites, it would have been well worthy of his understanding, and very suitable to his character, to have explained to them the nature and use of this invaluable art which God had communicated to him : and may we not naturally suppose, that he would have said, when he directed the workmen to engrave names and sentences on stones and gold f , *' And in these engravings you shall use the alphab.etio characters which God hath communicated to me, or which I have now invented, and taught you the use of?" But theitrutb is, ho
* The ditferent times of M'>set' ascending and descending the Mpuqt ar» distingaiihed :n the following passages.
First a-etnl, Eiod. six. V. 3. First dtictnt, Exod. six. ▼. 7.
Second ascnt* Exod. six. V. 8.
Second descent, Exod.xix. ▼. 14.
J%ird ascent, Exod. six. V. Sa
Third descent, Exod. xiz. V. 25,
f See more texts on this subject in Genesis, chap, xxviii. venes 9, 10, 11 4 and chap, xxxix. v. 34 1 Deal. chap, xxviii. v. 58 and 61 ^ and chap. xxix. VOL. VI. 2 A
Fourth mecmt, Exod. xxiv. V, IS*
Fourth descent, Exod. xxxU.vi 15,
Sj-t ORIGIN OF LETTEB9,
refers Ihpm fo a nioJel in fsmiliar usp, " like ihe cDgnWiigs of a sigDcl j" for the anticnt people of Ihe East, engraved naniesant] sen- tences on their seab in Ihe ssme manner as is now practised by the great Lama uf Tarlary, the princes lit ludia, tha Emperor of 6on. stan(Ino|i1e, and his subordinate rulers.
In (he Stnte Paper officf at Whitehall, are a great namber of let- ters from enslern princi-s to the kings of England, the seals of Vrhich have not the likeness of any thing impressed npon them, but are iiiscribpd wilh moral sentences. This cnsfoDi Is not peculiar alone to the princes «ho profi.'ss the Mahometan religion, but it rooimon all over the Eiist.
A lelirr from Shall Suleiman, King of Persia, to King Charles the Second, nas Inclosed in a silken bag, at the mouth df vhtch ii a signet or privy seal of wax, impressed with Ihe following lentence, in Ihe Persian language and characters, which arc thus Iranslaled by Dr. Hyde : " Shnh Soleiman is Ihe serrant of religion, 1687." At the ttoltom of Ihe letter is the great seal, which is stamped oi
printed on the paper with ink. Within a seniicircle, on the npper
part of the seal, is this sentence, in Fersian : *' Have God before
thiaeeyes,"
Round the seal, are words in Persian to the following porpttrl :
" Praise be lo God who hath bestowed upon ua his serrants Ihe
Ttrtue of justice, and hath turned away many evils from the sue.
cessors of Mahomet and his family."
In the centre are the following words ; " This is from Soleiman,
and it is in the name of God gracious and merciful, t068."
AND THfi IVT9IITIOH OF AI.PHABBTS. 355
If this trt had been a new discovery in his time, he woold pro. iMblj have commemorated it, as well as the other inTPntions of music ^ ftc. ; nor is there anjr reason to suppose, that God was the immediate revealer of the art ; for Moses cotiJd n^^ver have omit- ted to have recorded the history of so important a circumstance, as the memory of it would have been one of the strongest barriers against idolatry.
It is incurcbent on us to mention, that several respectable pro- phane authors, attribute the discovery of letters to the gods, or to some di?ine man Plato delivers his sentiments very plainly * upon this subjf'ct. Eirn^rj fwylou aiesipoy xarsvorjo-ev etrs ns 0£d^ etre xai Gsog Av^pvjir^. The same author, in his Phaedrus, makes the god Thtfuth or Mercury, the inventor of letters. Diodorus Siculus tells us, that Mercury invented the first characters of writing, and taught men the rudiments of astronomy + ; and Cicero, in his Tusc. Quest, lib. i. delivers his opinion upon this subject in the following words: ^^ Quid ilia vis, quse tandem est, quas investigat occulta? aut qui sonos vocis, qui infiniti Tidebantur, paucis Itteraram no^is terminavit? — Philosophia vero omnium mater arlium, quid est aliud, ni>i, ut Plato ait, donum, ut ego inventnm Deorum ?" The same author, in his Natura Deorum, lib. iii. says, that Hermes oir the fifth Mercury, whom the Egyptians called Thoth, iirst commu- nicated letters to that people. The Gentoos affirm, that letters were rommunicated to their ancestors by the Supreme Being, «^hom they call Brahmah X,
Although, from these authorities, we may infer that the art of writing Is of great ant!quity, yet they discover to us that the ancients had very tmp<.'rfect ideas of its true origin ; for Plato says §, '* that some, when they could not unravel a difficulty^ brought down a f^od^ as in a machine, to cut the knot :" and the
Claraval, Monsieur du Pin, iu bis Universal HUtorical Library, p. 21, supports these aothoritiej ; and adds, that there is an infinite number of anetent and mo- dern stones thus t-ngraven, which were used forsignets. That signets were incd by the Hebrews, before they w^nt into E^pt, w^ learn from Gen. chap, xxzviii. V. 18, where it appears, that Jodah gave Tbamar his sijpiet, &c. : and it is reasonable* to suppose, that this signet was similar to tboie used by tht Ikraelites, and the other oeighbonring nations*
• See vol ii. p. 18 ; edit. Serran.
+ Lib. i. sect. 1.
J Stie Mr. Halhed's preface to the Gealoo Laws*
^ Se% the Cratylis edit. Fitc. p.S^l.
a A 2
356 ORIGIN OF LETTEItf,
karned bishop of Gloutester obser?eg, that llie ancients gave no. thing to tlif gods, of uliose original th^y had any records ; bat where the memory of the inienlion was lost, as of seed corn, winp, writing, d»il society, &<:. the gods stiztJ the property, by Ihtt kind of right which gives slrays to the lord ot the manor •.
The holy scripturt s having left Ihil subject opvn to ioTestigation, anJ (he prophane writers having given us nolhitig salisfactory upon it, wu are at liberty to pursue our inquiry into the origin of let- ters ; bul, in order lo qualify ourselves for this task, it maybe proper lo etiter into a philusophical contemplation of the nature of lellerj, and of their powers, which will best enable us to discover the true origin of their invention,
A little reflection will discover, that men, in their rude uncultt. fated state, bad neither leisure, inclination, nor inilucement, to cultivate the powers of the mind lo a degree suflicicnt for the for- Biation of an alphabet -, bul when a people arrived at such a slate of civiliealion, as required them lo represent the conception! of the mind which had no corfwresl forms, necessity, the mother of inven. lion, would occasion further exertions of the human faculties, and would urge such a people to find out a more expeditious manner of transacting their business, and of recording ihtir events, than by picture-writing; for the impossibility of conveying a variety ol" intellectual and melaphysical ideas, and of representing sounds by (he embleoiBtic mode of writing, would naturally occur, lad there- fore the nccestily of seeking out some other that would be more comprehtnsire, would present itself.
Aim TUB iinrsimoK of alvbabbts. 337
Bpd commerce of each country, prodaced the necessity of devising tome expeditious manner of communicating information to their •ubjects, or commercial correspondents at a distance. Such an improvement was of the greatest use, not only to the sovereign and the statesman, but to the manufacturer and the mercl»ant.
We shall for the present, omit the mention of several modes of writing which were practised by different nations, in the course of their progress towards civilixation, because such accounts would more properly come nnder the history of the writing of each conn* try ; particularly under that of Egypt, whose inhabitants displayed every species of writing in the course of their improvements. At present we shall pursue that part of our inquiry which relates to the formation of an alphabet.
Let us then in this place just premise, that arbitrary marks are of different "kinds. First, those used by the Chinese ; many of which were originally picture»characters. Secondly, those used by the notarii amongst the ancients, and by the present shorLhand writers ; and thirdly, marks for sounds } such as elt^roentary cba. racters or letters, and musical notes.
The marks of the first and second kind are very numerous, at will appear hereafter ; those of the third are very few^ as will pra* sently be demonstrated.
It seems obvious, that whilst the picture or hieroglyphic pre. sented itself to the sight, the writer's idea was confined to the figure or object itself; bnt when the picture was contracted into a mark^ the sound annexed to the thing signified by such mark, would beb come familiar ; and when the writer reflected, how small a number of sounds he made use of in speech to express all his ideas, ft would occur, that a much fewer number of marks than he had been accustomed to use, would be sufficient for the notation of all the sounds which he could articulate, lliese considerations would in* duce him to reflect on the nature and power of sounds; and it would occur, that, sounds being the matter of audible language^ marks for them must be the elements of words.
Aristotle justly observes, ^' that words are the marks of thoughts; and letters, of words.*' Words are sounds significant, and letters iare marks for such sounds *•
The learned author of Hermes above quoted, informs nsf,
• See Lord Bacon's Worki by Shaw, voL 1. p. 1S7. t Book iU. chap. 2. p. 934.
HAS
,'}58 OBIGIH OF LETTERS,
*' Thai to nbout twenty plain i>lenientary soumis, we o«f« that m- riety of articulate voices which have bpeo Enflicieiil lo (-xplain the GenliTnents of so iniiumi-rable a multitude, as all the prexent and past generations of men."
As there are bat a small number of marks for soundt, called notes in music, so there are bot a small nnmlier of disliucl articutiite sounils in ttery lonyoage. In diflerent languaites Ihplr nomber differs J an'l there are but few sounc's in any two lonj;uagM that are exactly the same; although by the great intercourse bftw-en the European nnliuns, the sounds of different Innguai;e5 dallv assimila'e.
Mr. Sheridan snys, that the number of simjile auunds in nur tongue is tuenly.eight*. Dr. Kt'nrick says, "c haTt elrten distinct i^pecies of articulate --ounds, which ev-n by conlraction, pri'lofg.Uion, and compiisition, are iucrrased only to the number of sixleFD ; erery h} liable or arliculaie sound in our language, being one of this ntiniber I. Bishop VVilkins, and Doctor William Holder, speak of about thirty-two or lhirly-thr>'«' distinct sounds.
It ha-i been -aid, that among the Gre< ks and Elomans. thtir writ, ten alphabet exactly accorded to the sereral distinct sounds and modes of articulation in their languages; so that each sound had its distinct mark, by which it was uniformly and invariably repre- sented. Ten simple marks or characters, hare been found snffi- Cicnl fnr all the purposes of numerical calculations, which extend tOiiilinity.
Seven notes comfrise the whole of mu'ic : these, by their dif-
AirO THB III1SIITI6M OF ItPHABETS. 359
iBg of 8 strtam, ftc that are not adapted tp the human organs of utterance.
It wonld be digressing too far from our subject, to enter into a discussion concerning the number of sounds that are known to exist, nor is this necessary ; for as sounds are few, the marks for them need not be manyi bnt marks for things are Tery nome. rons.
It is howerer requisite for our readers to distinguish between lu sible and audible language. This distinction is justly made by St. Augustine in the following words : ^^ Signa sunt Terba visibilla, Terba signa audibilia."
The articulate sounds of vocal or audible language are resoWable into sentences, words, and syllables; and the analysis of language into elementary sounds, seems first to have led to the invention of symbols, or marks, for mental conceptions. This invention must have taken place much about the time that men began to reform the barbarous jargon they first spoke, and form a language; for which purpose, the knowledge of elementary sounds and their powers, was absolutely necessary. The progress in this sciencey as has been already observed, must have been by degrees : men would begin no doubt, by distinguishing the sound of one word from that of another, — this irould not be difficult ; then they would resolve words into syllables, which would not be so easy : but it Is likely that they stopt there for a long time, perhaps for ages, be* fore they came to the last resolution of syllables into the distinct sounds of which they are composed. This was a very extraor- dinary work of art, which could only be performed by those who had considered the laws of sounds ; and could not be the result of chance, as some specnlatists have imagined ; for this was in fact, the decomposition of a language into the sounds of which it was composed.
The next step towards the notation of language, would be the delineation of a separate mark or letter to denote or stand for each sound ; which marks though few In number, would admit of so great a variety of arrangements and combinations, as would be ca» pable of producing an infinity of articulate sounds, sufficient for the composition of syllables, words, and sentences ; and conse- quently for the notation of language.
That able mathematician Tacquet informs us, that the various combinations of the twenty.four letten (without any repeticion)
S A4
Sto onlOIN OF LETTERS,
will BDiount (o 0aO,448,4Ol,733.23<),439,36O,OO0. Th(« il 1« evidi'nt, Ihut twctity-fuur If iters will ndmit of an inlinity of combu nalions acid nrrnngcments, suEEcieDt to represent not uiilj all the concfpIioD!^ or the mind, but all words in all UnguagHfi whd« «rr,
ll is easy to conceive the Af^toni-hnm-nt of Ihi' liuman toind, at the lirsl discovery of the doctrine and powers of combina)ii>n5, wbich immfdialfly led to the composition of wriiten langnnse, by the asGislance of a Mnall namber ot marks or letters ; tlioogh the transferring of idt'as by these meani from the ear to ilir eye. uas a tery rnlrBurdinvn' elfort of the humao mind ; yet if we suppose thut the aoalysib of the sounds of language was already made, it was no more than finding out marks for what was ktiown before ; and we have already shewn, that s_\mbuls were in ^tneral use among mankind, beAxe they knew the use nf letters ; and there- fore the invention of Ihe latter, was iiolliing mare than the trans, fcriing the former method of representation, to the elements ot Mun^l. If (he notaliuii of masic had been invented before Ii'tters, wiiich ml ht liave happemd, the discovery would have been just as great as that of t>-tters.
As theri- art more soundii In some languages than in others, it follows of course Ih.il the number of elementary characters or let. ters, must vary in thu alphabets of diftcrent langizagfs. The He- brew, Samaritan, and !tyriac alphabets, have twenty.l wo letterg; (he Arabic tMi'uty-ei^hl; the Persic, the Egjplian or Coptic, thaftf- Iho; the presi'nt llussian forty. one; the Shanscrit fifty; theCuh-
AMD THB IXVBIITIOII OF ALPHABBT8. 56l
md lyllables ; to writteo'or Tbible Ungaage is composed of letters, syllablesy words, and sentences.
A lftt«r is an arbirrary mark, made to signify or stand for a par« ticular sound significant by compact ; and may be properly termed a mark for a certain known sound.
A determinate or established number of these marks, constitutes the elements or alphabet of written laugnane. The combinations and arrangements of these elements or letters, as settled by con- sent or compact, compose the written languages of clTilized nations.
The first step towards the composition of written language, is to couTey an idea of some sound ; either by a single mark or charac ter, or by writing two or more of them, which form a syllable : one or more of these syllables make a word ; which is a voice articulate, and significant by compact : a sentence is a compoond quantity of sounds significant ; of nhich certain parts are tiiemselves also sig- nificant : several words make a sentence, and several sentences a memoir or discourse.
Writing then, may be defined by the art of exhibiting to the sight the conceptions of the mind, by means of marks or characters significant by compact of the sounds of language, which enable as to transfer ideas from the eye to the ear^ and vice versa.
Thus it has t>een shewn how ideas may become the objects of vision, and be exhibited to the eye in legible charactfr^; and that the notation of language may be performed, by making a sufficient number of marks for sounds, and by arranging and combining them properly.
The elements of all written language are divided into vowels and consonants ; the former of i»hich is defined to be a simple articu- late sound, uttered by a Binj;le impulse of the voice, and forming an articulate sound by itself ; whereas a consonant forms no arti- culate souud of itself, but only assists in forming a sound.
The vowels were probably invented first, but the consonants form the body of language, and are properly termed the bones and sinews thereof.
The consonants are divided into mutes, and liquids, which will seldom join together in the same syllable ; nor will any two of the mutes associate in a syllable, either in English or in Latin. There are some exceptions as to the association of mutes.
The first composition of written language, is of letters into syl.
see OBIOIW OF LETTERS, &C.
lablea ; but it is observable, that all letters will not compound with all ; the vowels will not only mix with each other, or form diph. thongs; but they will compound in syllables with all the conso. nants so called, because they sound in company irilh ihe vowels. But this dors not hold of Ihe consonants with respect to one ano- ther; for only some of them sonnd together in syllables, whilst others cannot associate together in that way ; the rcBBon of whirh is, that the configuration of the mouth, and the action of its or> gans, are to difieient in the pronunciation of some of (hem, that they cannot be joined together in the Eaoie eiiuncialion, nor with, out Gome rest or pau^e brtivixt; so that there must be finie (ogive a diffci'ent configuration and action to the organs ; whereas, when the pronunciation is not so different, the sounds may be so ran to. getber, as to incorporate in one syllable ; and in this way, five, or even six consonants, may be joined in the same syllable, as in the English word, strength.
The next composition of articulate sounds, is of syllables into words; and the better the composers of such words were ac quainted with the nature and harmony of sounds, Ihe more haroio- nious would be their written language. On the contrary, a defi. ctency in the knowledge of sounds, is a considerable obstruction to the discovery of what consonants will incorporate with each other ; and from this ignorance proceet^s that redundaucy and su. perSuity of letters, which is conspicuous in many languages.
It is observable, that many of the consonants, which admit of a
AiTTtttviTY or wmiTiii«. 389
of opInloD, fktt they must be found included within the Bpecict aboTementioned.
SECTION III.
AiUiquitff of Writings mid ike Claims of different Natiom to
ike Honour of its Invention*
The art of writing is of great antiquitj, and the writtpn annals of ancient nations are so imperfert or fabaloas, that it will be ex. tremelj difficult to decide to what nation or people the honour of the inTention belongs ; for, as Sir Isaac Newton justly obscnres, <^ there is the utmost uncertainty in the chronolojj^j of ancient kingdoms, arising from the vanity of each in claiming the greatest antiquity, while those pretentions were favoured by their IwTing no exact accounts of time."
It has already been observed, that letters were the produce of a certani degree of civilization among mankind; And therefore it is most proliable, that we shall obtain the best information, by having recourse to the history of those nations who appear to have beea first civilized.
<^ Egtptiaxs.
As a great number of authors have decided in favour of the Egyptians, who have an undoubted claim to an early civilization, we shall beg*n our inquiries with that people ; and, as they dis- played every species of writing in the course of their improve* ments, we shall pursue the thread of their history, which Hill r<:flect considerable light on what has been already advanced.
Dr. Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, aflirms, that the Egyp. tians were the first people who discovered the knovilrdge of the divine nature; and amonipst the lirst who ta'i,ht the im. mortality of the soul*. In anutiier place he ^iv^s us an account of the state of their learning and hupirftlitions in the timr of Moses. He contends, that Egypt was the pan t«t of all tac learning of Greece, and was resorted to by the Grecian l<gis.afors, naturalists^ and philosophers. The same prelate, witn great erudition, and
• Divine Le|(at of MotM, vol. i. p. ie5| vol. ii. p. 100 to 105; vol. ill. p. 17 I Ibid. p. 25 to 39. We are indebted to this pfclate fof areat part of what is bere laid of tbe Egyptians.
564 ANTIfiDlTY OF WRITING.
strength of argument| endeaTOors to proTe^ that Egypt was pro* babl^ one of the Grst civilized countries on the globe.
In order to give the reader a clear idea of the several kinds of Egyptian writing, it will be proper to obscrre, that this writing was of four kinds. The first, hieroglyphic ; the second, symbolic; the third, epistolic; and, the fourth, and last, hierogrammic.
Porphyry *, speaking of Pythagoras, informs us, ^* That he so.
jonrned with the priests in Egypt, and learnt the wisdom and Ian.
guage of the country, together with their three sorts of letters ;
the epistolic, the hieroglyphic, and the symbolic ) of which, the
hieroglyphic expressed the meaning of the writer, by an imitation
or picture of the thing intended to be expressed ; and the symbolic,
by allegorical enigmas." Clemens Alexandrinus Is larger and more
explicit — ^' Now those who were instructed in the Egyptian wis-
dom, learnt, first of all, the method of their several sorts of letters ;
the first of which is called epistolic ; the second, sacerdotal, as
being used by the sacred scribes ; the last, with which they con.
dude their instructions, hieroglyphical. Of these different me.
thods, the one is in the plain and common way of writing by the
first elements of words, or letters of an alphabet; the other, by
symbols. Of the symbolic way of writing, which is of three
kinds ; the first is, that plain and common one, of imitating the
figure of the thing represented; the second is, by tropical marks ;
and the third) in a contrary way, of allegorizing by enigmas.
Of the first sort, namely, by a plain and direct imitation of the figure, let this stand for an instance: — to signify the sun, they made a c'rcle ; the moon, a half circle. The second, or tropical way of writing, is by changing and transferring the object with justness and propriety : this they do sometimes by a simple change, sometin^es by a complex multifarious transformation; thus they have engraven on stone and pillars, the praises of their kings, un« der the cover of theologic fables. Of the third sort, by enigmas, take this example ; the oblique course of the stars, occasioned their representing them by the bodies of serpents; but the sun they likened to a scarabaeus, because this insect makes a round ball of beast's dung, and rolls it circularly, with its face opposed to that luminary,*'
These two learned Greeks, though not quite correct in their de.
• De Vita Pytbag. cap. zi. p. IS.
AI9T100ITT OF WAITIMO. S&
finitiootofwritiiif, prove, that the leferal kinds aboTementioned were oied by the Egyptians. Indeed, they reckon but three kinds of writing, when in fact, there were four. Porf^jry names only three sorts, epistolic, hieroglyphic^ and symbolic : and this was not much amiss; because the fourth, the hierogrammic or sacerdotal, not dif. fering from the eputolic in its nature, he comprised it under the general term of epiitolic.-— It is observable, that Porphyry judici. ously omits to explain epistolary writing, as supposing it to be well known : but Clement adds to epistolic the hierogrammic, which was alphabetic, but being confined to the use of the priests was not so well known : he with equal judgment explains the nature of these characters.
The Egyptians, as hath been obsenred, in the most early ages, wrote like all other infant nations, by pictures ; of which rude ori# ginal essays some traces are yet remaining amongst the hierogly. phics of HorapoUo, who tells us, that the ancient Egyptians painted a man's two feet in water to signify a fuller ; and smoke ascending to denote fire*. But to render this rude in?ention less incommo. dious, they soon de?ised the more artful and expeditions way of putting the principal part for the whole, or by putting one thing of resembling qualities for another. The former was the curiologic hieroglyphic ; the latter, the tropical hieroglyphic ; which last was a gradual improvement on the first, as appears both from the nature of the thing, and from the records of antiquity -f .
These alterations, in the manner of delineating hieroglyphic figures, produced and perfected another character, which hath been called the mnning hand of hieroglyphics, resembling the Chinese writing, which haying been first formed by the outlines of each figure Xy became at length a kind of marks : the natural eflects of which were, that the constant use of them, would take ofi* the at. tention from the symbol, and fix it on the thing signified ; by which means the study of symbolic writing would be mach abbreviated, because the writer or decypherer, would have then little to do, but
• Lib. I. c. 65 1 Lib. ii. c 16.
f Many imCances of tbis kind may befoaod io HorapoUo^ lib. i. c 14 and 40. Plutarch !•. and Otirw DIod. Sic. lib. I.
X The ioqoititive reader, by comparing Klrcher*s Account of Egyptian life* roglyphlCH with thoie pablisbed by Parchat, will find that the former exactly re* •cmble the Meiican, not only in their me, butf ai Pnrchai (p. 60) and Diodoras Siculiis (p. 184) Mv, in their formi and figarct.
S6fi
AKTlgUITY OP WRITING.
f 0 remember Ihe power of the symbolic mark : whereas before, the properties of (he thing or animal ilelioeHted were (o b^ Jeamt. This, togFllier with their oilier marks by institution to deiiga mon- tal roncepliun!), would reduce Ihe charartcrii to the present atutm of thp Chinese*; snil these wtre properly what the anctenta call hlero^raphical. Dr. Robert Huntington, in his Hcronnt of the Porphyry Pi1lnr<i tells us. that there are yet same ancient monu. menN of this kind of wrfting remaining in Elgypt t.
Apuleius X Jescribis the sacred book, or ritual of the E^plians (as partly written in symhulic, and partly in these hierographie cha- racters of arbitrary inslitulion, resenibling the Chinese) in the fol- lowing manner. " Ik- (the hierophanl) drew out cortun books from the secret repositories of the sanctuary, written inUDknown characters, which contained the words of the sacred formuls com- pendiously expressed, partly by figures of animals, and partly by certain marks or nutes intricately knotted, reTolving in the manner of a M heel, and crowded together, anil curled inward like the ten. drils of a vine, so as to hide the meaning from the cnriosilj of the profane." These hierographic characters are mixed with the sym. bolic in the ritual of Apuleius, and in the Bembtne tables, as like, wise on several of the obelisks, where they are found miied bath with the proper hieroglyphic and with the symbolic.
That letters were of great antiquity amouj; the Egyptians, may reasonably be sujiposed, because we hare indubitable proofs of their civilization; hut there is strong evidence to induce us to belie Te t Ihe first inventors of an alphabet, — Mr. Jackson ^,
ANTIQUITT OF WBITIKO. .307
dorus relates, that this Egjrptian Hermes was the inyentor of gram, mar and tnasic, and that he added many words to the Egyptian language: that he invented letters, rhythm, and harmony of sounds. This was the Hermes so greatly celebrated by the Greek writers, who knew no older Hermes than him.
Mr. Wise * insists, that Moses and Cadmus could not learn the alphabet in Egypt ; and that the Egyptians had no alphabet in their time. He adduces several reasons to prove that they had no al- phabet till they received what is called the Coptic^ which was intro. doced either in the time of the Ptolomeys, or earlier, nnder Psam. mitichns or Amasis : and these letters, which are the oldest alpha- betic characters of the Egyptians that can now be produced, are plainly derived from the Greek. It seems to us, that if the Egyp* tians used letters before the time mentioned by Mr. Wise, they were probably the characters of their neighbours the Phenicians.
Herodotus, the most ancient Greek historian, whose works have reached us +, seems very sincere in his Egyptian history ; for he ingenuously owns, that all he relates before the reign of Psammi. tichu8:{; is uncertain; and that he reports the early transactions of that nation on the credit of the Egyptian priests, on which he did not much depend. Diodorus Siculus is also reported to have been greatly imposed upon by the priests in Egypt. ^
Manetho, the oldest Egyptian historian, translated out of the Egyptian into the Greek the Sacred Registers of Egypt, which are said, by Syncellus, to have been written in the sacred letters, and to have been laid up by the second Mercury in the Egyptian temples. This work was divided into three parts. The first, con- tained the history of the gods ; the second, that of the demi-gods; the third, the dynasties, which ended in Nectanebus, King of Egypt, who was driven out by Ochus, three hundred and fifry yean before Christ. This author seems to have written his dynasties about two hundred and fifty years before the christian sra, and, as
* See his Enquiries concerning the first inhabitants, language, &c. of Eu- rope, p. 104—109.
f He wrote his history of the first year of the eighty-fourth olympiad ; three hundred and (en after the foundation of Rome ; and four hundred and forty- four before Christ.
X He reigned about sii hundred and sixty years before the christian era. Syncellus informs us, that the Greeks had very little commerce with the Egyp- tians till the reign of this king.
368 ANtigtiiTV OF writino.
Syncellus tells u% •, aliout !'n yt-ars sft.^r Rcrosui hnd written his Chaldean History. — Manethoalluws the Egyptian i;ods (ohi*e been morlal mpn ; hut his history was very much cnrrnptid by (he Grcekii, and h.ith been callpH In queMion by several writers, from the acciiunt nhich he himKelTf^ve of it.
The ohji'ctions to Maoeiho's Chronology are well foaoded ; for hisounibir ufthrte thousand tire hundred and fifty yeart, belongs wholly to ihcsnccessors of Menes, thoui;h he is more modest than many other writers of the F^yptian history. — Kusebius, in his Ca- non+, omits the lirst sixteen dynasties of M^kiietho, and begins their chronology with the stM'eiiteenth. — After Cambyses had car- ried away the Egyptian rt'cords, the E^gyptian priests, to supply their loss, nod to keep up their pretensions to antiquity, began to write new records, wheiein they nut only unaroiilably made great mislukes, but added much of their own inTenllon, especially as to distant times. — Josephus, Plutarch, Porphyry, and Eusebius, speak well of Manetho. The curious fragments transcribed froni him by Josephus, before his copies had been corrupted, stem to confirm the good opinion of these authors.
FHENICI&Nl.
We shall ne»t consider the claim of the Phenicians to the inren- tion of letters as we have the strongest proofs of the early ci*i!tia- lion of this people. — Sanconialho of Uerylus, the most ancient, as also the most celebrated Phenician historian, compiUd the Pbenician
history with trt-nl ruactness, from the
a Rieiiiciia fiiTfte, ami MweHaiUj Terted fai tfllaniUilt ietrnlog^ li« sa^rf *, "that SanttODiate of Bjtytas rtlatedi «ii hii Uitory, the Jewish affain wiik gnat rmmdky ?-»U»lt lie dUdkatad his «rork to Kimg Abibaliisf and hia katarj was aAbwed 4o be true, bodi hy the king, and by those who were appointed by him to examine It,
This most asdant pralme kistoriafi expressly related, that let. ters were first isTeated in Pheakiai by Taaut, who iived in Uiftt country in the twetfth and thirteenth geaeratiofis after the creation {• *< Misor was tiM son of Haasyn. The son of Misor was Taaat, ^* who inrented the first letters for writing." The Egyptians caii him Tooth | the Alexandrians ThoyA, and the Greeks, Hermes, or Mercvry,
Sanoonmtho is said to haTe dertred his first books, of the Origin of Gods and Men, from writings ascribed to Taaut the first flermes ; he makes FSrotogoaus the first man, and JEon, or life, the first wo. man ; of Frotogonas and iEoa were begot two chiMran Gre&m and Genoa, who dwi^t in Fhenida, aad in time of a drought, prayed to the Saa, and worshipped him, as the only God and Lord of hearea. From these two persons Taaut is lineally descended, as we ha?e just mentioned (in note f); this author carries the Worship of the Sun to the second man of human race. PhUo observes, that the Greeks claimed most of Sanconiadw's history of the gods to themseWes, to which they added many pleaidng &bfes« Hence it was, saith he, that Heslod, and the itineimry poets, sung about in their poems, generations of gods and battka of gfamts and Titans ; and men being accnstomed from tiieir infancy to hear nothing but these fictions,
!*«*■
^ te Eiuebiai Pnspuat. Hit^is^ Ub. i. c 9» p. 30, &c. t King Abibalnt \>qsfkn to rdgn one thoinand leveDtj-three yean befora Christ I be was the fiither of Hinun, who was Solomon's ally. t Tbe genealogy of Taant, as given by Sanconiatho : 1 Protogottos, a HypsnraalnS} or MesMraaias, 9 Agroferas i (Norfk), 8 Geao^ 6 AgreoSf 10 Amyn, (Hamyn, ot Ham)
S Ur, Pbos, 7 Chrysorv 11 Misor, or Misraim,
4 CassiHf, 8 Tecbnites, 18 TaaoU
This author SMkes -^"'^'■^ U?e in Fhenida} and places Hypnnanias at Tyn. The plan of the history is quite different from that of Moses, and seems to be grounded upon a tery different traditioo rehuing to the trst ages. Some writen have attempted to prove the works of diis author spurious i but tbeiratgumenti are to frivolous that they scarcely deserve an answer* See many curious par- ticulars concerning the author and his vTrlliags, in the Uaiv. Hiia vol. I. pre- face, p. 10, and p. 88, 181, 167, 188, M, le 880 1 Vol. vL p. M I ?ol* arlii. p. 18, note D^^And /acksoa*s Chronol. Aatiq. ^. lii. p $ to 87.
570 AKTIgTIlTT Of WtlTIIfO.
wliicb gihrd Credit from long contiouance, it was not easy (o dh. pDMess tliHr mindi of the belief of them. There is oo doabi, bat the Greeks rcMived tin hittor; of the gods from the Phenicians ■nd Egjptiuas, antl applied them to their otra either real or fieigned heroes.
In the time of this Tunt or B«nne5, PheDrcis, and the adjacent countrf, was gOTerned by Uranus ; and, after bim, bybissonSi. lurn, or Cronus.^ He invented letters, saith Sanconiatbo, either in the reign of Uranus, or Cronus ; and stiid iit Fhenicla, with Cro- nus, till the thirty-second year of hii reign. Cronua, after (he death of his father Uranus, made sereral settlements of his family *, ai»d trttelled into other parts ; and, when he camo to the south conn, try, he gare alt Egy^l to the god Taantus, that it should be hia kingdom.
Sanconlatho began his history with the creation, and ended it with placing Taaulnt upon the throne of Fgypl. He doth not men- tion the deluj;e, hut be makes two more generations in Cain's line, from FrologoDut te Agroverus (or from Adam to Noab) than Aloses.
As Sanconiatha has not told ns in what reign, whethet of Ura. nus or Chronus, Taaut inienled letters, he might have inreoted (hem in either reign ; *' and we cauiiot err much," says Mr. Jadi- Kon, (in hts Cbronol. Antlq. toI. ili. p. 94), " if we place his ioTen. tion of Ihem fiTe humlred and fifty years afti'r the (iooi), or twenty yenrs utter the dispersion ; and t\(o thousaiiiJ ^ix hundred and nine- ycara before the christian a
AXTiaimrr ot wbitivg a 87 r
firtmitcftl obftetvttionsi and nsfal and martial arts ^.^-Cfartids sayi ^ that tbe Tyrian nation are related to be the first, wko either taagh^. or learned letters -I ; and Ltican says, the Phenicians were the first- who attempted to express soonds (or words) by letters ^. To these r authorities may be added that of Easebios§| who tells us, from? Porphyry, that ** Sanconiatho stodied with great application the writings of Taaut, knowing that he was the first who inrentedlt' ters ;" and on these he laid the foundation of his history. *
It is obsenrable, that the Greek writers seem to hare known no- older Hermes than the second Hermes or Mercery, who is record* ed to hare lived about four hundred years after the Mezrite Taaut, or Hermes ; which second Hermes, Plato calls Th'enth, and coun. seller and sacred scribe to king Thamus, but it is not said that he erer reigned in Egypt : whereas the Mezrite Taaut, or Athothes, as Manetho calls him, was the immediate successor of Menes, the first king of Egypt. The second Mercury, if we beliere Manetho, composed sereral books of the Egyptian history, and many incredi* ble things are attributed to him ; who being more knosra, and more famous in Egypt than the Mezrite Hermes, and haTing im. prored both their language and letters, the Egyptians attributed the arts and inrentions of the former^ to him ||.
The Phenician language has been generally allowed to be, at least a dialect of the Hebrew; and though their alphabet doth not en* tirely agree with the Samaritan, yet it will hereafter appear, that there is a great similarity between them f • Arithmetic and Astro* nomy were much cultivated by them, in the most early ages**.
* Ipsa gens Pfaasnicnm in glorti^ magna Uteramm inventioBis et ndenun^ na- valiomqoe ac bellicamm artium. Nau Hist. lib. t. c. 19.
f Si famsB libet credere hsc (Tyriomm) gens literas prima ant decnit, aat didicit, lib. ▼!. c 4.
i Phoenicet primi, fiune li creditnr, anai,
Mansoram mdibus Tocem aignare flgorit. Lib. Hi. v. 890, 921.
^ De abttioenl. lib. ii. sect. 56.
II Cooceming this second Hermes, see Da Pin*s UniTenal Historical Library, vol. i. p. 34 and 59; and Jackson's Chronol. Antiq. vol. iii. p. 94.
f Tbej had circorocision, as well as other cutoms, in common with the Ht- brews, saith Heiodotos.
•• They were from the beginning, as it were,addicted to philosophical eicr- cises of the mind ; insomnch that a Sidoolao, by name Moschnt, is said to have, taught tbe doctrine of Atoms, before the Trqfan war ; and Abdomenos of Tyre, challenged Solomon, though tbe wisest king npon earthy by the subtle qoaitioos he^
2b«
372 AKflBUlTY Of WRITlKCr.
Their fine linen, tbeir parpk, and their glass, were raperior ta thMe of any other people ; and their ektraordinary skill in architec- tare and other arts, was snch, that whatever was great, elegant, or pleasing, whether in baildtngs, apparel, vessels, or toys, were dis- tinguished by the epithet of Tyr&an or Sidonian *•
The Sidonians or Phenicians were the first people who ventured out to sea in ships f ; they were the greatest commercial people of all antiquity, and engrossed all the commerce of the western world. This very early and high degree of civiliiatioBy justly entitles them to niige the strongest pretensions to the firat use of alphabetic cha« racters %*
ffopmf d to him. Phenlola conttoaed to be one of the seats of learnio|^ ; and both Tyre and Sidon produced fhetr pliilosopbcn of later ages f Boetbm and Diodatns of Sidon, Antfpnter of Tyre, and Apollonios of the same place, gave an account of the writings and disciples of Zeno. Universal Hist. vol. ii. p. 346.
♦ Tyre and Sidon were the principiil cities in Phenicia.— See the Treaty which king Solomon entered into with Hiram king of Tyre, for artificer', as it is recorded in 2 Chron. chap. 11. v. 7 — 16. Hiram began to reign in the one thoosand .l^iree hundred and twenty-ninth year after the deluge, and one thmi<- iand and twenty years before the christian sra. Solomon also contracted with king Hiram, for ships to bring gold and precious stones for ornamenting bit buildings. 8 Chron. v. 18, and chap. ix. v. 10 and 18.
f Sanconiatho says, th^t the Phenicians mode ships of harden in which they sailed itt the time of Saturn, or Cronus. And Dfionysius says, the Pheniciana were the fir^t who ventured to sea in ships. Perieg. v. 097.
f The learned anihon of the Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique, not only eor* rohorate but 'Hlustrate this opinion.— Enfln, tout depose ezclusivcment en faveur de ranti^uitd de la langue Phenicienne. Par la Phenicle on nVnter.d paa seulemeat Ics vllles de la cdte maritime de la Palestine, mais de plus la Jud^ & }es pays de& Chanan^cns ft dei Hfbrcux. Hdrodote lui-mtme, lib. ii.col. 104, par les Ph^nieiens d^ignoH^videmmeiit lei H^reua ou Ics Juifs, puisf ne, telea hii,lef Ph£niciens so Mioiett dreoDCire, ft que let Tyrieas, Ics Sidonient, ftc. n'^toient poiftt dans cct asage. Par €cri(QTe Phenicienne, on entend done, la Samaritahie, c*est-4 direroncien H6breu, [5oMcett,2)tf«rr/at»n !nr let JIMatl/«r Hthroitpu p. 4 ^] different de riidMr^ti^BaiTe onChaldaique,t|ui estkmoderne, que let Juis ont adepts depdSs la ca|itWite de Btfyylone, alasl que Teat peoi^e S. JMme, S. Irdn6^, S. Clement d^Alexandrie, ftc. ftc.
Let aotettfs qai atyagent l^rotiquitl 4 r^ritare Samaritaine toat tans nambre. Genebrard, Benarmln, le Piefe Merln, M. Huet, Dorrt. Mont5iuceti, l>oa. Oal- m«t, M. Renaudot, Joseph ^ealiger, Gretl«s,Gasauboar Walton, Beehaiti, Yes- Bins, PridcauT, Capelle, Simon, ftc. ftc. le M>nt bautenent d^clardt en fliTeiir en ce leiitiment f and Us sent appuy^ tarl^ Au^rs anclcns and lur ranalogief dcs camcterei Samariiaint avee let caraeteres Grecs r resemblaace ajcetsaire pour obfriilr laglolre de raot^alt^^ paisiltle la demiers te petdent daat la aoit det tempti, aad qoe cependaatce a*ett point eax qui Let ont inventdes. £acombina»t la descendance des lettres^il en rdsuUera beaucoupde jour suf
AVTIQIJITT OF WltlTlMtf. 575
ClLALDEANS.
Wira respect to the claim of tke Chaldeans/the Jews, Arabians, aad Indians, have it by tradition, that the Egyptianswere instruct^ ed in all their knowledge by Abraham, who was a Chaldean. These traditions deserte, at least, as much credit as any traditions of the Egypfiaiis, however credited and adopted by the Greeks ; because they arf>, in some degree, confirmed by most of the western writers, who ascribe the inventions of arithemetic and astronomy to the Chaldeans *• Josephus, lib, I. cap. 9. is very express that the Egyptians were ignorant of the sciences of arithm^^tic and astro- nomy before they were instructed by Abraham ; and it is probable that the relation of the Jewish historian, may have induced manj. succeeding writers to attribute the inrention of letters to thac cele* brated patriarch f . Sir Isaac Newton admits that letters were known in the Abrahamic line for some centuries befere Moses.
Though the cosmogony of the Chaldeans and Babylonians it deeply involved in fables, as is the case with all ancient nations, yet they evince that they cultivated the sciences in the n|iost remote ^ times.
The Chaldaic letters are derived from the ancient Hebrew, or Samaritan^ which are the same, or nearly so, with the old Pheni« clan ^. The prophet Ezra is supposed to have exchanged the old Hebrew characters, for the more beautiful and commodious Chaldee| which are still in use.
Berosns, the most ancient Chaldean historian, was bom (as he tells us himself) during the minority of Alexander the great ; he wrote in three books, the Chaldean and Babylonish history, which comprehended that of the Medes. He is allowed to have been a ▼ery respectable writer, but he does not mention that he believed the Chaldeans to have been the inventors of letters §.
ce syst^mcy et un nouTel appai pour le demfer tentiineiit. I>ict. IMpl. torn. U p. 410.
• After the food, all UMikiad lived togttfKr is Ghaklti^ tiU the days of Pelcg. See Ub»v. Hisl. vol. iv. p»aS2, 375 | aad Sir Isaac Newton*! Chrooolosy of Aocieat kiBKdoiiu» London, MiBp 4to. The tower of Babel, aod the city of Babylon* we le in the province which it now called Erica Arable.
f Abraham did not retire from Ur« in Chaldea^ to settle at Haian In Canaaa, till he was upwards of arrenty year* oM. ^
t Univ. Hitt. voL lU. p. 917*
§ See an accoont of him and hia werttslo the Ua&v. Hist, vol. i. pref. p. I3« and p. 89, so ; and the rabttaace of tb fta|iients of his history thai are Kill remaining, at p. 192—105.
%M3
AKTieDlTY OP WBITIMG.
/\
STalAMS.
Lbt ushriflty examine thr'pretensjon* of some other natiom to the earlj use of Itllers. — The npst nation that clsims attention IS the Syrian. The language of the SyriaoB is menlioned in the Uai?ersal History, vol. i. |>. 347, 348 ; and was adistinct tongue in the days of Jacob. It was also the language of Mesopotamia anil Cbaldea. — As to (lie arts and learning of the Syrians, they were by ■ome anciently joined with the Fhenicians, as the first iDventors of letters ; but, without entering into this matter, certain it is, that they yielded to no nation in human knouleilge, and skill in the fine arts. From their happy situation they may almost bo said to hare been in the centre of the old world ; and, in (hr' zi-oiih of their em- pire, they enriched themselves with the spoils, tribute, and com- merce, of the nations far and near, and arose to a great pitch of splendour ar.d magnificeiice, irhich are the chief encouragers of ingenuity and industry*. Their language is prt-ttuded to have been the Tcrracular of all the oriental tongues, which was divided info three Jialecis ; First, the Aramean, used in Mesopotamia, and by the inhabilnnts of Roha, or Edesa, of llarram, and the Outer Syria : Secondly, the dialect of PaleslinP, spoken by tiie Inhabitants ofDamasrus, Mount Li ban us, and the Inner Syria : Thirdly, the Chaldce or Nabathean dialect, the mo<«f unpolished of the thrrr, and spoken in the mountainous parts of Assyria, and the Tillages of Itki or B.btUiia.
It hath been a received opinion, that no nation of equal antiquity
AKTIfiUtTT Of WEITINO; 373
nerce of the Euphrates ; wkiUt the PheBicbuis traded to the most^ distant couatrieB.
Notwithstanding the above drcinsstances, which may seem to Ik* voar the claim of the Syrians, the oldest characters or letters of that nation that are at present known^arebut about three centaries before the birth of Christ Their letters are of two sorts : the Estrangelo^ which is the more ancient ; and that called the Fshito, the simple or common character, which is more expeditions and beantUnl *^«
INDIlNS,
Tub period of time is happily arrived, when the study of orientaS litcTature is not only become useful, but fashionable. The learned Sir William Jones greatly facilitated the attainment of the know, ledge of the Persian language ; Mr. Richardson that of the Arabic ; and Doctor Woide, the Egyptian and the Coptic ; by the publica- tion of their respective grammars. Mr. Halhed, the editor of a work intitled the Gentoo Laws, hath written a grammar of the Shanscrit language +, which he informs us, is not only the grand source of Indian literature, but the parent of almost every dialect from the Persian gulph to the Chinese seas, and is a language of the most venerable antiquity ; and, although at present shut up in the libraries of Bramius, and appropriated solely to the records of their religion, appears to have been once current over most of the oricutal world, as traces of its original extent may sHU be' dis- covered, in almost every district of Asia.
" There is,'* says Mr. Halhed, ** a great similarity between the Shanscrit words and those of the Persian and Arabick, «id even of Latin and Greek ; and these, not in technical and m<>taphorical terms, which the mutation of refined arts and improved manimrs might have occasionally introduced, but in the main ground-works of language; in monosyllables, in the names of numben,'and the appellations of such things as would be first discriminated, on the immediate dawn of civilization. The resemblance which may be observed in the characters upon the medals and signets of various districts of Asia, the light Which they reciprocally reflect upon each
• See these character! io the Univ. Hint. vol. ii. p. 294.
f This ingenioiB gentlemaD, assiited by Mr. Wilkin, a descendant vf the learned bishop of that namef not only formed the types of the Ocotoe alphabet but printed this cranunar, at Hoogly in Bengali 4to. lll$»
304
97A AKTtQDITT OP WKITINO. '
Alhrr, anil tho general analogy nhieh they ill bear to the grand protolype, afTords another ample titld for curioaily.
That coins of Assam, Napsul, Cnshmiria, and many other king- dons, ere all stampi with Sbanscrit letters, and mostly coitlain al- Insions to the old Shanicrit mythology. The same MnfacHUy I hare oEiscrTed on the imprrsatoos of seals from Bootan andTkibtt." That pait of Asia between the Indus and the Gang«, still prt. serves the Shanscric language pura and inriolate, and often a great numbpr of books (o the perusal of the curious, many of which have been religioQsly handed down from the earliest period of their cl- lilizalion.
There are seven dilliireiit sorts of Tndian hand-wntingi, all com. prised under tho general (trin of Naagoree, nhich may be inti.-r- pteted wriling. The elegant Shanscrit is slilcd l):ieb naagoree, or the writing of the immorlals * ; which may not improbably be a lelinemeiit from the more simple Naagoree of the earliest ages. The BtDgal k-Itcrs are another branch of the same slock. The Benga. lese Qramins hare all their Shanicrit books copied in this national alphabet ; and (hey transpose into them all the Daeb>Tiaaguree MSS. for their own perusal. The dialect called by us the Moorish, is (hat species of llindostanic nbich owes its existence to the Ma. bomclan conqiicsls.
Thr^re are about seven hundred radical words in the Shanscrit language ; the funUamenlal part of which is diiidcd into three cUtsei.
First, Dhaat— or roots ofTCrbs.
AMTieVlTT aP WBITIKO. 377
impart. Mr. Halhcd hiots^ tbat the learniDg of Hindostao mi^ht hafe been transplauted into Egypt, and thas luiTe become familiar to Moses *• HoweTor this Boay be, several authors agree In opi« nion, that the ancient Egyptians possessed themsches of the trade of the East by the Red Sea ; and that they carried on a consider- able traffic with the Indian nations before the time of Sesostris^ 'who was contemporary with Abraham t.-— The Red Sea was called by the ancients the Indian Sea ; and they nsnally denominated the Ethiopians, and the rest of the nations under the torrid zone, In* dians ^.
A translation of the Indian book called Bagajadam, one of the eighteen Pourananh or sacred books of the Genfoos, hath lately been published in France. This translation was made by Meridas Poulld, a learned man of Indian origin, and chief interpreter to the supreme council of Poodicherry ; and was sent by him to M. Bertin, his protector, in 1769. This Bagavadam, or divine his. tory, claims an antiquity of above five thonsaud years. Monsieur Poull^ tells US, in his preface, that the book was composed by Vias* scr the son of Brahma, and is of sacred authority amongst the wor- shippers of Vischnow. The language of the original text is Shanscrit^ but the translation was made from a version in Tamoul.
There are several traditions and relations of the Indians, calcu- lated to ascertain the antiquity of this book, and they all tend to date its composition three thousand one hundred and sixteen years before the christian aera : but Mons. De Guines § hath not only invalidated these traditions, but proves also, that the pretensions of this book to such a remote antiquity are inconclusive and unsa* tisfactory. Hence we may conclude, that though a further inquiry into the literature of the Indian nations may be laudable, yet we must by no means give too easy credit to their relations con. cerning the high antiquity of their manuscripts, and early dvilL zation.
PERSIANS.
Thb Perdans had no great leamiog among them till the time of Ilystaspes, the father of the emperor Darius Hystaspes. The for-
* Preface to Gentoo Laws, p. 44.
t RoUio's Hist. p. 50, 60 ; aod Univ. Hist. voU i. p. 513. X PrelSice to GcBtoo Laws, p. 44.
S See his reflections on this book, published in the 38lh vol. of the Histoire de ^*Academie Royal, &c. Paris, 1777.
378
ANTIQUITY OV WBITtHO,
mer, we ire fold, travelled into Indii, and wai iostrtieted In th« BclcDCes by tbe Bramlns, for which lliey w<Te tt that time famed *. The ancient Persians coDtemned riebes, and wvre slrangcrt to com* nercc ; they had no monry amongst them, till after the conqupst of Lydia+t It appears by sCTeral inscriptiuos laken from (he ruhiii of the palace of Pi-rsfpolis, which was built near seven hun- dred years before thi- christian sra, that (he Pfrsiana soraetimi a wrote in perpendicular columns, after Ihe manner uf the Chinese, This mode of writing was first used ujion th<> stems of trees, or pillars, or obeli&ks. As for those 'simple character? loaod upon the west side of the staircase at Persepnlis, some au(h<ir>. hari- sup. posed them to be alphabetic; othrrs, hieroglyphic; it hilst others hate asserted them to be ante.diluriao : but our learned Dr. Hyde pronounces ihem to hare been mere whim^i'il uruanients, thuu^h a late writer % inppoaei they may be fragmeats of Egyptian anli> quity, taken by Camhyses froin the spoils ofThebei. In the st-rond volume of Niobuhr's TraveU in Arabia, p. ^5, several of the ia- icriptions at Pers'polis are engraven. This author says, that they furnish three different alphabets, which havi; long been disused. They are certainly alpbabeiic, and not hieroglyphic or mereoina. menls, as some wrilers have supposed. In line, the learned seem generally agreed, that the ancient Persians were Idler than many of dieir neighbours in civiliiaEion : it was never pretended that they were the inveators of letters §.
JkimgVITT'M VRITIBC. • 9f9
Mr. RicbfrduD, in bis Arabic Gnmmar, obserTn, ii m proof of the rlchocM of tbis loogaigrj that it consisti of two thousand ra- dical wordfl.
'f lie old Arabic character* an laid to be of Terj high antiquity ; for Ebn Haihem relate*, that an inscription in it was fonad in Yaman, as old as the time of Joseph. These traditions may hara given occSftioD to some authors to sappose thq Arabians to haio been the iuTenlors ai letters; and Sir Isaac Newton* sup. poses, that Moses learned the alphabet from the Midiauites, who were Arabiaus.
- The Arabian alphabet consists of tweuty.eight letters, which aro somewhat similar to the ancient Kufic, in which characters the first copies of the Alcoran 4rere written.
The present Arabic characters were formed by Ebn Moklah, n learned Arablao, who Hred about three hundred years after Mafaoa net. We learn from the Arabian writers Ihemsehes, that their alphabet Is not ancient. — AI Asmahi says, that the Koreish wer« aslced, " From whom did you learn writing ?" and that tliey an- swered, " From Hirah.'* That the peopto of Uirah were asked, <* From whom did yoa learn writing !" and they said <* From the Ambarites." — ICbn Al Habli and Al Heisbam Ebn Admi relate, that Abi SoRan, Mabomet'i great opposer, wai asked, " From whom did yonr father receire this form of writing i" and that ho Mid, " From Ashlam Ebn Sidrah ;" and, that Ashlara being gskad, " From whom did you recelT* writing ?" his answer was, '* From the person that invented it, Horamer Ebn Morrab ;" and that thejr Tcceived this form of writing but a little before Islamism +,
OBSKKTAIIONS AMD RZrLECriONS,
Bsrona we cooclnde, we shall make a few Reflections on tho foregoing daims of different nations to the ioTentlon of letters. The ranlty of each nation induces them to pretend to the most early civilization ; but such is the uncertainty of ancient history, that it is difficolt to decide to whom the honour is due. It however should seem, from what hath been advanced in the course of this part of oar inquiry, that the contest may Iw confined to the Egyptians, tte Fhenidans, and the Chaldeans. The Greek writers, and most
• CbroDologj of Eg}pC, p. 303, Svck edil.
f \nM,DaIliefintiDbablianri,&c.afEnropc,p>»,
S80 ANTISUITY Of WRITING.
of those who hare copied them^ decide io farour of Egjpt, because their information is derived from the Egyptians themselres. The positive claim of the Phenicians, doth not depend upon the sole testimony of Sanconiatho ; the credit of his hbtory is so well sup- ported by Philo of Biblus his translator, Porphyry, Pliny, Curtius, JLucan, and other ancient authors, who might have seen his works entire, and whose relations deserve at least as mnch credit as those of the Egyptian and Greek writers. It must be allowed, that San. coniatho*s history contains many fabulous traditions ; but does not the ancient history of the Egyptians, the Greeks, and most other nations, abound with them to a much greater degree ? The frag« nents which we have of this most ancient historian, are chiefly furnished by Eusebius, who took all possible advantages to repre* sent the Pagan writers in the worst light, and to render their theology absurd and ridiculous.
Cicero * distinguishes five Mercuries, two of which are Egyptian. Authors are much divided as to the ages in which they lived, but the most ancient is generally allowed to be the Fhenician Taaut^ who passed from thence to £g>'pt It is probable that he might teach the Egyptians the use of letters ; and that the second Taaut, Mercury, or Hermes Trtsmegistus, improved both the alphabet and language, as Diodoms and others have asserted« The Phenician and Egyptian languages are very similar, but the latter is said to be more large and full, which is an indication of its being of a later date.
The opinion of Mr. Wise, that the ancient Egyptians had not tUe knowledge of letters, seems to be erroneous : as they had commer« cial intercourse with their neighbours the Phenicians, they probably had the knowledge of letters, if their policy (like that of the Chinese at this day) did noi prohibit the use of them.
The Chaldeans, who caltrvated astronomy in the most reoMte ages, used symbols, or arbitrary marks, in their ceknlations ; and we have shewn that these were the parents of letters. This dronn* stance greatly favours their claim io the invention, because Chaldea, and the countries a^acent, are allowed by all authors, beth sacred and prefene, io have been peopled before Egypt ; and it it ear • tain that many whole aations, recorded to be descended from Sheaa
. » De Nat. Deer. lib. ill.
AMttgViTt Of Wftltllia* 381
and Japhety liad their lettan from tbe PkeniciaiiSi wlio wer# descended from (lam *•
It is obser Table, that the Chaldeans, the Syrians, the PhenicianS| and Egyptians, all bordered npon each other ; and as the Phenicians were the greatest^ as well as the most ancient commercial nation, it is very probable, that they communicated letters to the Egyptians, the ports of Tyre and Sidon, and those Of the Egyptians, being not far distant from each other.
Mr. Jackson is eridently mistaken, when he says, that lettera were invented two thousand six hundred and nineteen years before the birth of Christ, The deluge, recorded by Moses, was two thousand three hundred and forty.nine years before that event ; and if letters were not invented till five hundred and fifty yeara after, as he asserts, we mist date their recovery only one thousand seven hnodred and ninety-nine years before the christian asra, which is four hundred and tea years after the reign of Menes, ths first king of Egypt, who (according to Geo. Syncellus and others) is said to have been the same person with the Misorof Sanconiatho, the MIzraim of the Scriptures, and the Osiris of the Egyptians ; but whether this be true or not, Egypt b frequently called in the Scriptures, the land of Mizraim f •
This Miaraim, the aeoond son of Amyn or Ham, seated himself near the entrance of Egypt at Zoan, in the year before Christ two thousand one hundred and eighty^efght, and one hundred and sixty years after the flood ; he afterwards built Thebes, and some say Memphis, He is by Herodotus, by Diodoms, Eratostheaes, and Affkanuty by Eusebiusand Syncellus, called Menes $•
Before Ihe time that Micraim went into Egypt, Taaut his son had Invented letters In Phenfcia ; and if this invention took place tea years before the migration of his father into Egypt, as Mr. Jackson supposes, wo can trace letters as far back, as the year two thousand one hundred and seventy-etghC before Christ, and one hundred and fifty after the deluge recorded by Moses ; and beyond this period^ the written annals of mankind, which have been hitherto trans. — '" — ■ — "— "^ - |. ■■ ■ ^
• Mitvaim, tbe ion of Ham» led colonies Into Egypt, and laid tbe fooodatioii of a kiofioMy whicli tailed one tboannd six bandred and sixty-three yean i wlience Egyi^ is, in tbe Holy Scriptorci) called tbe land of Ham.
f Uoitenai Hlsloiy, tel. v. p. 99a
% Tbcsa aathon say ba went Into Igypt twenty-oae yean sonner $ but tbls aecouet affteet best wUh tbe Scrlptaiesi Sst SiRttema's Hist, of Ae BiUe p. 90a«-Uaiv. Hist. vol. sd. p. J*^
9Bt aktIquitt or wKiriAa.
Bittttd to us, wilt not enable us to trace th« knowledge af thttr (hough this want of matemls is no proof, thai letten were n< known, until a century a:>d a half after the ilduge.
As for the pretensioDS of tlie Indian nations, we mnit bcbett acquainted with their records, before we can admit of Iheir clai to the firs! use of letters j eapeciftlly as none of Iheir MSS. of gre: antiquity hive bk yet apptarcd in Europi'. That tha Arabiai were not Iho imcntors of k-tlers^ hath appeared by the confessic of their own authors.
Plato somewhere mentions Hyperhorean letters, verj diAerei from the Greek ; these might have be«n the character! tued by d Tartars, or ancient Scythians.
ANTE.DILDFljm WnlTINO.
It may he expected, that something should he said concernii those books, mentioned by somt authors to have been written b fore the delude ■ ; but as Moses is silent upon the subject, we ha no materials that will enable ui to form an opinion. St. Jude, his Epistle, t. 14, tells us, that Enoch prophesied ; bat this aposi might quote a Jewish tradition, for he does not say that Rno wrote. The tales which have been told us concerning the books this patriarch, aretooabsurd (o deserve serious attcutioD'f. Wi respect therefore to Writings attributed to the ante^ilurian*, seems not only decent but rational, to say, that we know nothii concerning them ; though it might be improper to assart, that k ters were unknown before the deluge recorded by MoseS.
IMfTRUMBHTS FOE WEiT|NQ vnn;n. S9S
upon the whole, it appemrs to os, that the Phenicians hate tho best claim to the honoar of the ioTention of letters.
IJsilc.
SBCTXOK IV*
Instfumenii for writing with.
It is obTious, that when men wrote, or rather engraTed, on hard Substances, instruments of metal were necessary, such as the chbel and stylus; but the latter was chiefly used for writing npon boards, waxed tablets, or on bark: these were sometimes made of iron, but afterwards of siWer, brass, or bone, called in Greek ypa^iOXy and in Latin stylus ; though the Romans adopted the Greek word, as appears by this Terse in Of id :
Quid digitos opus est graphium lassare tenendo?
The stylus was made sharp at one end to write with, and blunt at the other to deface and correct what was not approTed ; hence the phrase veriere Milium to blot out, became common among the Romans. The iron styles were dangerous weapons^ and were pro* hihited by the Romans, and those of bone or irory were used tn their stead, Suetonius tells us, that Caesar seized the arm of Caa. aius in full senate, and pierced it with his stylus. He alto says that Caligula excited the people to massacre a Roman senator with their st) les. And Seneca mentions that one Erixo, a Roman knight in his time, haying scourged his son to death, was attacked in the forum by the mob, who stabbed him in many parta of hla body, Miih the iron styles which belonged to their pngillares, ao that he narrowly escaped being killed, though the emperor in. terposed his authority *• Prudentius ? ery emphatically describea the tortures which Cassianns f was put to by hla scholars, who killed him with their pugillares and styles :
Bnxa crepant cerata genia impacta croentb, Rubetque ab ictu cnnra humeoa pagina ;
• De Clemrntia, lib. I. cap. 14.
f THisGanianin was the first bishop of 8ibeo, lo Gemmny, where be buk a eharch in S50; but be was driTen away by the Pafans> and fled Co Romey where he comaenccd schoolmaster for a tiMitence. In the year 305« he wasy by t^e order of the Boiperac Jaifau^ c ayasad la the ■ittUawiaga of bis scholars*
384 INSTRUMBNTS FOB WRITING WITH. ^
Inile alii alitntilus, et acnmina Terrea vibrant, Qui parte aratb ccra lulcis scribiiur.
IlEfi jrEfaviuj', p. 93.
Wlicn the snciendi wrote on soFUt matcriaU tban wood or me- tal, other inslrumenla were used fur writing wilb, of which reeds anil tantd seem to hari; bern the finU PlJny aya that Egypt fur. nijlied a great quuntily af the kind of reeds which were used for writing with *: and Martial bath tbeat.' words :
" Da( cliartU babtles calamos Meoiphitica tellusf ."
Rpcds aitd cnnP!S are slill used as iustruments fur writing with hy th<! Tartars, the Indians, the Persians, the Turks, and the Greek?. Mr. Flnlhi'd (clla me thnt the two first of these natiooi write with &Diall reeds btaring the hanil exceedingly lightly. Tararoier, in one of his fuynges says the same of the Persians. Ilaowolff, who travelled in 1583, relates, (hat the Turks, Muors, and Miter n na. tions, use canes for pens, which are smalt and hoUow withia, ■mooth withont, and of a brownish red colour X-
The canes in Persia are cut in March, which tbey drjr In the smoiik far about six mouths ; (bose which are covered witli % fine vamlsh of black and yellow, arc esteemed the belt for writing with.
The Indians more frequently write with the cane called bamboo, ^vliich is cut about tin.' length and fhickness of our |)ens.
INKS* 385
•Dim verba paginis infiguntnr; sed calamus arboris est, penna avis, cujus acumen dividitor in dao *."
Some of the instruments necessary for the occupation of a libra- rius or book.writer are delineated in a book of the four gospels in the Uarleian library (No. 2820), written in Italy in the tenth cen- tury. The Tellum, on which this book is written, is stained of dif- ferent colours at the beginning of each gospel.
SECTION V.
Inks,
Ink has not only been useful in all ages, but still continues abso« Itttely necessary to the preservation and improvement of every art and science, and for conducting the ordinary transactions of life.
Daily experience shews, that the most common objects, generally prove most useful and beneficial to mankind. The constant occa* sion we have for ink, evinces its convenience and utility. From the important benefits arising to society from its use, and the inju* ries individuals may suffer from the frauds of designing men in tlM abuse of this necessary article, it is to be wished that the legislature would frame some regulation to promote its improvement, find prevent knavery and avarice from making it instrumental to th«« accomplishment of any base purposes.
Simple as the composition of ink may be thought, and really is, it is a fact well known, that we havr at present none equal in beauty and colour to that used by the ancients ; as will appear by an in« spection of many of the MSS. above quoted, especially those writ* ten in England in the times of the Saxons« What occasions so great a disparity ? Does it arise from our ignorance, or from our want of materials ? From neither, but from the negligence of the present race -, as very little attention would soon demonstrate, that we want neither skill nor ingredients to make ink as good now, as at any former period.
It is an object of the utmost importance that the records of par. liament, the decisions and adjudications of the courts of justice, conveyances from man to man, wills, testaments, and other instru- ments, which affect property, should be written with ink of such
• IskU Hiip. Oiig. lib. vU cap. U. VOL* VI. 3 C
386
1VB3J
dornbte (juality, as may beat resbt the disfructive pun^n of (rrrrr and Ihe elements. The necessity of paying greater iilti'ittiun tn (hi* nialtrr maybe rpadily seen by comparing the rulls and recuiJ?, that liare been written rrom the lifteenlli century to the end of the se*enteenth, wilh lh« writings we bare remaidng of vtrtwol C^t from Ihe tiflh to the ttrelTlb centuries. NotwithstaodingthBinperiur antiquity or the latter, they are in excellent preserratna ; but ve- freqtfnity find the former, thongh of more modcru date, >o much defaced, that they are scarcely Usibte.
Inks are of various sorts, asencaiistlc or Tarnish, Indian ink, gold and silver, ptirple, black, red, green, and variuni other co- lours : tbcte are also secret and sympathetic inks.
The ink nsed by the ancients had nothing in common wiUi ourr, but tlie colour and gum. Gall nuts, copperas, and giKn, make ap the cvmposition of our iak : nhcreas soot, or ivory black, was the chief ingredient in that of the ancients ; so that very old charters might be suspected, if ivritten with ink iniirely similar to what we use ; but the most acute and delicate discernment is necessary in Ihi-i matter, for tome of Ihe inks formerly used were liaUe to fade and decay, and are found to bave turned red, yellow, or pale : those imperfections are however rare in MSS. prior to the tenth century.
There is a method of reviving the writing, but this eipedJent «hould not be hazarded, lest a Buspicioo of deceit should arise, and the suj'port depended on be lost.
Golden ink was used by various nations, as may be leen in ae. ofchurchL-s. Silver ink was >lso
tKlts. 387
COLOUB.
Thd eolout of the ink is of no great assistance in authenticating MSS. and charters. There is, says Mr. Astle, in my library^ along roll of parchment, at the head of which, is a letter that iras carried Ofer the greatest part of England by two devout monks, requesting prayers fbr Lucia de Vere, countess of Ox* ford, a pious lady, who died in 1199; who had founded the house of Henningham, in Essex, and done many other acts of piety. This roll consists of many membranes, or skins of parchment sewed together ; all of which, except the first, contain certificates from the different religious houses, that the two monks had Tiaited them, and that they had ordered prayers to be offered up for the countess, and had entered her name in their bead-rolls. It is observable, that time hath had very different effects on the various inks, with which these certificates were written ; some are as fresh and black as if written yesterday, others are changed brown, and some are of a yeUow hue^ It may naturally be supposed that there is a great variety of band- writings upon this roll ; but the fact b otherwise, for they may be reduced to three.
The letter at the head of the roll is written in modern Gothic characters*: four-fifths of the certificates are Norman, which shews that this mode of writing had taken place of almost every other* Some of the certificates are in modem Gothic letters, which we conceive were written by English monks ; and a very few are in Lombardic small letters. It may however be said in ge* neral that black ink of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth cen. turies, at least amongst the Anglo-Saxons, preserves its originil blackness much better than that of succeeding ages f ; not even excepting the sixteenth and seventeenth, in which it was frequently very bad. IVde ink very rarely occurs before the four last cen- turies. ,
Peter Caniparins, Professor of Medicine at Venice, wrote a curious book concerning inks, which is now scarce, though there is an edition of it printed in London in 1660, 4to. The title is, ^^ De Atramentis cujuscunque generis opus san^ novum. Hactenus
« The letter, with an account of it, is in Weever't Funeral Monuments^ last edit. Lond. 1767, 4to. p. S79.
f The Tezta Sancti Cathberti in the Cottonian library', (NeroD.4.)dfmon- •trates the troth of this anertion.
2C?
3B8
Inks.
i ncmine prom u I gal urn." Tta» work h divided intg six | The first of which tn»U genprall; of inks made from pyijtca, st ■sd metals.
The lecond treats more particularly of ibLe made fion i and calws.
The third of ink made from soots and vitriols.
The fourth of the different kinds of inks used by A« libra bouk-writen, as well as by printers and engravers, and of sta or writing upon marble, stucco or acaliolta, and of encaaitic n of writing ; at aUo of liquids for pointing or colonring of lea cloths, linen, and woollen, and for restoring Inks that have bee facfd by time; as likewise many metliods of effacing writing staring decayed paper, and of various modes of secret wriUtig,
The Ijftli part treats of inks for writing, made itt difiercnt i tries, of various materials and cotuors ; as from gums, wood juice of plants, jcc. and also of dilTerent kinds of Tarnishes.
The sixth part treats of the various operations of extroctii triol, and of its chemical oses.
This woikabounds with agreat variety of philosophicd, cl cal, and historical knowledge, and we conceive wilt gire great ( taiomeat to those who wish for ioforniatioa on this subject I curious particulars concerning ink will be found in Wadwr Secrelis*. This genllt^mau also gives recipc-s for oiakjog in the colour of gold and silier, composed as well wich (hoMmeb witlioul them; also directions for making variety of inks tor & nd for dcfacini
INKS. S89
ingenious chemists bare been induced to make experiments) in order to render it more perfect.
M. Ribaucourt, in the^< Annates de Chimie/' directseight ounces of Aleppo galls, and four ounces of logwood, to be boiled in twelve pounds of water, till the quantity is reduced to one half ; when the liquor should be strained through a linen or hair sieTe into a proper vessel. Four ounces of sulphate of iron (green vitriol); three ounces of gum.arabic ; one ounce of sulphate of copper (blu« vitriol) ; and a similar quantity of sugar* candy , are now to be added : the liquid should be frequently shaken, to facilitate the so- lution of the salts. As soon as these ingredients are perfectly dis- solved, the composition is suffered to subside for twenty.four hours ; when the ink may be decanted from the gross sediment, and pre- served for use in glass or stone bottles, vrell stopped.
This ink exhibits a purplish black colour in the bottles ; bat the writing performed with it is said to be of a beautiful black cast, which it retains, unaltered, for a considerable length of time. Eaqh ^uart of the preparation contains :
Of Galls ... Green vitriol Logwood • • Gum • • • Blue vitriol Sugar.candy
M. Ribaucourt is of opinion, that ink thus prepared, may be preserved several years in a state of perfection, without depositing either galls or iron.
The ink commonly used, is manufactured by stationers, accord- ing to Dr. Lewis's recipe ; but it is ill calculated for keeping, as it deposits a black sediment, while the fluid itself is of a pale colour. Each quart of this ink contains :
o«« drs. grs* Of Galls .... 3 0 0 Green vitriol -10 0 Logwood . • 0 5 24 Gum - • • 1 0 0 Neither blue vitriol nor sugar are employed in this preparation. At, however, both the ink made after the latter method, and that oomjioianded according to other redpet^ are not adapted to resist
Sea
|
o«. |
drs. gn. |
|
2 |
5 20 |
|
1 |
2 40 |
|
1 |
2 40 |
|
1 |
0 0 |
|
0 |
2 40 |
|
0 |
2 40 |
SQO INKS.
the eifecis of acids, am! are coDscqupntly bj no m^ans fit for records, deeds, and olher docunienls; M. Westrumb Tccommendi the fol. lowing ingreditnls, as being well calciiUteil to remedy this incon- Tpniencp. Hr directii one ounce of BTaziUwood, wd k cbnilar quantity of gall-nuts, lo be bailed in fort>'-six oubcm (toinetrbat less than tlirpe pints) or water, till :he whole be reduced to thiity (wn ounces, or about l<vo (juarts.
This decoction is to be poured, while hot, upon hdf an ounce of copperas, or preen Titriol ; a iguaTter of an ounce otgiim-tnbtc^ and a simitar quantity of u hite tu^ar. Ae soon as a perfect solii- tinn of these substances has (alien place, one ounce and a quarter of iniligo finely pulTerized is to be added; together vith three quarters of an ounce of the purest lamp black, previonsly diluted in one ounce of the best brandy. Thii whole is to be well incor. porated ; anJ, after it has aub^^idcd, M. VVestrumb asserts that it will form an ink absolutely indestructible by ecids,
A more simple compojition, is that proposed by M. Bosse, who directs one ounce of i3razil-wood to be boiled in twelra onnces of water, with half an ounce of alum, till the liquid be tedaced la eight ounces ; when one ounce of calcined tnanganeu is to be mixed with half an ounca of gum-arabic, and added to the liqnor, which should be previously decanted, in order to render it perfect ly lim[jid. This preparation is said to possess the proper^ of being indelible by the use of any kind of acid, and to be superior to that proposed by M. Westrumb,
INKS. ^1
imWerlEpd gun.araVic, and preserf ing it io a glass bottle, or glazed «ar(heo vessel, sightly covered with paper.
Van Mons lias applied the discoveries of Proust to the prepara- tion of common writing ink* He has found that the sulphate of iroo xalcined to whiteness, always gives a most beautiful black preci« pitate. By the following mixture, he obtained ezcelleat ink : galls 4 oc. ; sulphate of iron, calcined to whiteness, 2| oz. ; and two pints of water. The whole must be left to macerate cold for U hours : theu add gum-arabic 10 drams, and preserve it in a stone Jar open, or covered merely with paper. Chaptal has also em. ployed the calcined sulphate, in connection with the decoction of gall nuts and logwood.
M* Desormeauz, Junr. of Vine court, Spitalfields, who has long been In the habit of preparing ink upon a large scale, has commu* nicated to the Philosophical Magazine, a valuable paper on the subject, from which the following directions are extracted. In six quarts, beer-measure, of water, (it does not appear of importaooe whether it be rain, river, or spring water) boil ibur ounces of the best Campeachy logwood, chipped very thin across the grain (the boiling may be continued near an hour) ; adding from time to timo a little boiling water, to compensate for weight by evaporation. Strain the liquor, while hot ; suffer it to cool, and make up tht quantity equal to five quarts, by the further addition -of cold water. To this cold decoction, put one pound averdnpois waste of bloo galls, or 20oz. of the best galls in sorts, which should be first coarsely bruised ; 4 oz. of sulphate of iron, calcined to whiteness ; 1^ oz. of the acetite of copper, which should be triturated in a mor* tar, moistened by a little of the decoction gradually added till it bo brought to the form of a smooth paste, and then thoroughly inter, mixed with the whole mass. Three ounces of coarse brown sugar and six ounces of good gum Senegal, or Arabic, are also to be added. These several ingredients may be introduced one after the other Immediately, contrary to the advice of some, who recom- mend the gum, &c. to be added when the ink is nearly made; as gum, however, is at present exorbitantly dear, three or four ounces wlU be found sufficient, with only one and a half ounce of sugar, unless, for particular purposes^ it is wanted to bear a higher gloss than common. ' As the common writing inks are delible by many of the adds, especially the ozymuriatic, several chemists and •then, partiddarly 11 FittI of Mindeoi Dr« Lootiiiy Wli(|lb|
SC4
sge
IHKS.
Westfumb, Thorey, M. Boise, of Hamburfih, hare endeBronred to discoter a cfimpusition which woald rp'ist the action of this acid, and moi>t of thim haTt succeeded iit the nltempt. The twu follow- ing methods are gi»en by Basse. 1. Ilni! 1 oi, oCbrasU-wood with 13 OZB. of Wftter for a quarter of an hour ; ndd ^ °^- O^ alam; era- porale the wliolc to 8 ozs,, and mix wilh iho liquor 1 oz. of ex- ceediDgly soft finely pulverized manganese, miied up witk |oz. of puWeiized ^tini-aral)ic ; or 'i. Boil 4 oz, of Brazil woud, and 3 oxs. of coarsely pulverized gulls, wilh 9 uzs. of vinegar and as uvcb water, for the space of eight minutes ; in the liijuor nlttt being ftraiued, diibolve if^oz.of iiulpbetoriron,and 1 ox. ofgBm.onliic ; and then add to (he ivhole a solution of 4 oz. of indigo in 1 os> of concentrated sulphuric acid. M. Bosse also prepared aa iak from the prinripal ingredients of common ink, lint, instead of tbe usual liquids, he eniployed the expre&sed juice oi some plant : those which be found most efticacioUB were obtained from (he leaves of the caper apurgv, Eupharliia Lalki/rii, Linn, the common holly, SamAu~ eu» Niger., and common grass.
Ikk fowder. Common liquid ink, themethodof making which we ha*e already di-scribed, ii not easily transported from one place to another ; and, besides this inconvenience, it is apt to dry in the ink-holder. In bo(tle«, unless well corked, it becomes decomposed and eraporafes ; and if the bottles happen to break, it may spoil clothes, or any other articles near it. For the conTenieDc* tliers- fore of those nho travel either by land or by sea, ink powder hu been inventi il, which is niilhiiij; rl-e (Ikhi (he substances employed
pretty thick solution of gam-arabic in water, andj kaTiag mixed It with the powder, grind the whole on a stone, in the same manner as colour-men grind their colours. Nothing is then necessary, but to put the paste into some small moulds, formed of cards, and rubbed OTer with white wax, to present it from adhering to them.
In regard to the smell of the China ink, it arises from a little musk, which the Chinese add to the gum-water, and may easily be imitated. The figures seen on the sticks of China ink, are the par* ticular marks of the manufacturers, who, as in all other countries^ are desirous of distinguishing whatever comes from their hands.
Dr. Lewis thinks, from the information of Father du Halde, that China ink is composed of nothing but lamp black and animal glue. Having boiled a stick of China ink in several portions of water, fa& order to extract all the soluble parts ; and having filtered the dif. ferent liquors, which he evaporated in a stone vessel, he found that the liquors had the same odour as glue, and that they left, after evaporation, a pretty considerable quantity of a tenacious sub» stance, which seemed to difier in nothing from common glue*
Coloured Inks. Few of these are used except red ink. The preparation of this is very simple, consisting either of decoctiona of the different colouring or dying materials in water, and thickened with gum-arabic, or of coloured metallic oxides, or insoluble pow* ders, merely diffused in gum water. The proportion of g«m« arable to be used, may be the same as for black writing ink. AU that applies to the fixed or fugitive nature of the several articlea used in dyeing, may be applied in general to the use of the same substances as inks.
Red Ink is usually made by boiling about two ounces of Bnu cil wood in a pint of water, for a quarter of an hour, and adding to the decoction the requisite quantity of gum, and about half as much alum. The alum both heightens the colour and makes it less fugi- tive. Probably a little madder would make it more durable.
Blue Ink may be made by diffusing Prussian blue or indige throuh strong gum.water.
Yellow lux may be made by a solution of gamboge in gum- water.
Most of the common water.colour cakes diffused in water, will make sufficiently good coloured inks for most purposes.
Inks of other colours may be made from a strong decoction of the ingredients used in dying, mixed with a lilUe alum end gniu
Sgl INKS.
vnbir. For example, a strong <]pcoclion of Brazil wood, irilh tt tnocb alum as it can dissol^p, and a liltle gum, formi a good red Ink. These proccsi«!i roiisist io forming a lake, and reUrdins ita prccipitalion by Ihe gum.
On many ocrasiona it is of importance to employ ■■ ink inda- atractible b^ any proceas, that will nnt equally dralroy the malrrial on which it is applied. Mr. Close haa recommended tor ttii& pur. p«e 25 grains of copal in powder dissoWed in ?00 gralniof ml of laTcnder, by fho astiatsnce uf gentle heat, and ihcn mi*»6 with Sj grains of lamp black, and half a grain of indigo ; or ISOgraina of oil of lavenOrr, 17 grains of cupat, and 60 graiiis of vermilioot A little oil of iQTf oder, or of turpentine, may be added, if the Nik bs found loo thick. Mr. Sheldrake suggests, that B miitqrfr orf;enu- iu« a«phal(um ditsulred in oil of turpentine, amber, vAntish, and lamp black, would be still superior.
When writing wit!i common ink bas been tflaced by means of oiygeoiEed muriatic acid, Ihe vapour of sulphuret of ammonta, or immersion impregnated with this tulphuret, will render it again legible, Or if the pnpet that contained the writing be p«t into « weak solution of pruseiate of potash, and when it is thoroughly wet a sulphuric acici be added 10 the liquor, so as to render it sli^htl/ acidulous, the same purpose will be answered.
Golden Ike.. As writing, before the invention of printing, vas the only method of transmitting to posterity Ihe worka and discoveriea of celebrated men, it became in the fourteenth and fifhcfllh renlurie^ an art mi.ch cuidvat.d, and in which n
IKK8. a9s
Prinief^i Ink. This is a veiy singular coinpositioni partaking much of the nature of an oil yaroish, but differing from it io tlie quality of adhering firmly to moistened paper, and in being to a considerable degree soluble in soap.water.
It is, when used by the printers, of the consistence of rather thin jelly, so that it may be smeared over the types readily and thinly^ when applied by leather cushions, and it dries yery speedily on tha paper without running through to the other side, or passing tha limits of the letter.
The method of making printer's ink is thus described by Dr. Lewis. Ten or twelve gallons of nut.oil are set over the fire in a large iron pot, and brought to boil. It is then stirred with an iron ladle, and whilst boiling, the inflammable vapour rising from it either takes fire of itself, or is kindled, and suffered to bum in tliis way for about half an hour, the pot being partially covered, so as to regulate the body of the flame, and consequently the heat com- municated to the oil. It is frequently stirred during this time, that , the whole may be heated equally, otherwise a part would be charred and the rest left imperfect. The flame is then extinguished by entirely covering the pot. The oil by this process has much of its unctuous quality destroyed,and when cold is of the consistence of soft turpentine, and is then called varnish. After this it is made into ink by mixture with the requisite quantity of lamp.black, of which about two ounces and a half are sufficient for siiteen ounces of the prepared oil. The oil loses by the boiling about an eighth of its weight, and emits very offensive fumes. Several other additions are made to the oil during the boiling, such as crusts of bread, onions, and sometimes turpentine. These are kept secret by the preparers. The intention of them is more effectually to destroy part of the unctuous quality of oil, to give it more body io enable it to adhere better to the wetted paper, and to spread on the types neatly and uniformly.
Besides these additions, others are made by the printers, of which the most important is generally understood to be a little fine indigo in powder, to improve the beauty of the colour.
Red printer's ink, is made by adding to the varnish, about half its weight of vennilion. A little carmine also improves the colour.
Ink, SympathetiSy.^ liquor employed for writing on. paper, so that it may retain ita natural whiteness after the letters are formed,
396 INKS.
till it is hi-ld near the fire, rnbbed with another liquor, or iome other expedient is used to render the characters legible.
Sympathetic inks are prepared from various subbtances, such as bismulh, lead, &c. Thus, a snluiion of rooimon sugar uf lead in water, if employed with a clean pen, will remain concealid till it ii wetted with a solution of the liver of sulphur, ur U exposed to tlie vapours of sach liquid; in which rose it vt ill assume b dwper or lighter brown shade, in proportion to the strength of tbe sulphu- reous gas. By the same process, words wriltfn with a solution of bismuth inspirit of nitre, will appear of a deep black colour.
Another sympathetic ink may be eobily prepaied, by diluting oil of vitriol with a sufficient quantity of n-aier, to prevent the paper from being corroded. Letters drawn with this lluid are invisible when dry, but, on being held near the fire, they assume a perfect black colour. The juices of lemons or onions ; a solaliou of sal ammoniac, &c. wiU answer a similar purpose, though their appli- cation is more difficult, and they afterwards require a greater de- gree of heat.
Ink, removing the ituini of. The stuns of iuk, on clotfa, paper or wood, may be removed by almost all acids; but those acids are to be preferred, which are least likely lo injure the itiiureuf the It ained substance. The muri'itic acid, diluted with five or six times its weight of water, may be applied to the spol, and, after a minute or two, may be washed off, r^'pealiiig (he application as often as may he found necessary. But the tegetable acids are «.t.
iHKS. 597
tine, and with this is to he mixed lamp hlack, or black lead lo fine powder, so as to make an ink of a proper consistence, for printing with types. Another, the blackish sulphate left after expelling oxygen gas from oxide of manganese with a moderate heat being dissolved and filtered, the dark grey pasty oxide left on the filter b to be mixed with a very little solution of gum tragacanth, and the cloth marked with this is to be dipped in a solution of potash or soda, mild or caustic, in about ten parts of water.
An ingenious correspondent, Mr. J. S. Gaskoin, has fayonred ns with the following receipt for the composition of the ^< Chemical Indelible Ink," sold for the purpose of marking linen. The linen, that the black colour may be produced and fixed, is first moistened with a mordant, which is a solution of soda, made thus ; take of prepared soda 4 drams, distilled or common soft water 1 ounce, saffron 1 grain, gum»arabic 15 grs. The constituents of the hik are, lanar caustic 1 scruple, distilled water 1| dram ; or, if com. mon soft water be used, two drops of nitrous acid should be added to the solution. The mordant with which the Unen has been mots* tened being suffered perfectly to dry by a gentle heat, the part where the linen has been moistened, is written upon with a dean pen dipped in the ink.
Imk, for the Rolling Pre€S is made of linseed oil bnmt in the same manner as that for common printing ink, and then mixed with Francfort black, and finely ground. There are no certain proportions which can be determined in this kind of ink ; every workman adding oil or black to his ink as he thinks proper, in order to make it suit his purpose. Some, however, mix a portion of common boiled oil which has never been burnt ; but this must necessarily be a bad practice, as such oil is apt to go through the paper ; a fault very common in prints, especially if the paper ii not very thick. No soap is added ; because the ink is not cleared off from the copper. plates with alkaline ley as in common printing, but with a brush dipped in oil.
IPaniologia.
OBIOIH AMD PKOGBESfl
ffECTIDH TI.
II
Origin and Progreii of Printing,
At the invention or rather tlie introduction of printing into Ea> rope has been attended witb the most bBnelicial advantage* to man- kiad, some account of (be origin and progress of that art nay be acceptable.
It has not been pretended lliat the nrl of printing books was ever practised by the Romans, and yet the names they stumped on (heir earthen Tessela were in eSect nothing else but printing, and (he letters on the malricesorstamps used for making these impressioDS were necessarily reversed, at printing types ; several of thete ma- trices are extflnt in the Uritish Museum, and in other places, nhicli are cutout of, or are cast in one solid piece of metal.
Many hundred pieces of the Roman pottery, impressed with thete stamps have been fonnd in the sands near Reculver in Kenti and on the eastern side of the Isle of Shepway, where they are fre* quenlly dragged up by tlie fishermen. The art of iropretung le> gends upon coins is nothing more than printing on metals.
It is generally allowed, that printing from wooden blocks has been practised in China for many centuries. According to the accoants of the Chinese, and of P. JotIus, Osorius, and several other Kuro. peans, printing began there about the year of Christ 937, in tiw reign of iVling>Tcoung, the second emperor under the dfBHtJ'Of Heou.Thang: se*eral of these blocks, which are cut upon cbOBf,
Of l>RtRTIKd« 9g§
The Kafopean blocks were carred upon beech, pear.tree, and «ther soft woods, which soon failed, and the letters frequently broke; this put them upon the method of repairing the block, hj barring new letters, and gluing them in, which necessity, seems to hare suggested the hint of moveable types of metal ; these were not so liable to break as (he soft European woods, which had been before used.
One great and obf ious advantage of moveable types was, that by separating them tbej^would serve for any other work ; whereas the blocks of wood served onlj for one work : though the use of moveable metal types was a very fortunate discovery, yet they de. rived their origin rather from the imperfection or unfitness of our woods for printing blocks, than from any great ingenuity of thoso who first used them. In short, necessity, the mother of all arts^ introduced moveable types.
It has been a matter of contest, wlio first practised the art of printing in Europe. Faust or Fust of Mentz, G ottenberg of Stra8« burgh, and Coster of Haerlem, have each their advocates. The pretensions in favour of Fust seem to be best supported ; but wo shall not trespass upon the patience of our readers by entering into a discussion of this matter, because such a discussion would, in our opinion, be of little importance, it having been generally agreed, that printing with moveable types was not practised till after tho middle of the fifteenth century, although prints from blocks of wood are traced as far back as the year 1493.
It seems probable, that the art of printing might have been in* troduced into Europe by some European who Mid travelled into China, and had seen some of their printing tablets, as it is known that several Europeans bad been over-land into China before this time; and what strengthens this probability is, the Europeans first printed on one side of the paper only, in the same manner as the Chinese do at present ; but however this may be, the progress of the art was as follows :
First, pictures from blocks of wood without teit. Secondly, pictures with text.
Thirdly, whole pages of text cut on blocks of wood, some- times for the explanation of prints which accompanied them. And, Fourthly, moveable types. Specimens of all which are given im Ib'e Idie general^ des Estampes. Thero tun several aocieBl UosM extant which were nsed io the
40O
OBiaiM AND PKOOBKaa
(tfteeoth century ; some aie in poisession of Capt. Thoin^D, of Dulwicb, ID Rent.
I presented a block to Earl Spencer carted on a soft wuixl, which is the second in the " KUturia Saitcti Johannis Erangelitta: rjusque Visrniips Apocalyplicie," generall]' called the Apocalypse,
Two of the copies of the book, to whicb the block referred to belongs, were formi'rly in the library of Mons. Gaignat : they are now in his majesty's library at the quren's house. These books are printed on one side of the paper only. '
The Speculum Humanx Salraliones is also printed on one side of the paper ; a copy of it is in Eiirl Speucer's library, who hai KTeral of these early books printed on one side of the paper.
The Bistory of the Old and New Testament ia fi^ is also printed on one side of the paper. There is a complete copy of this work io his majesty's library, which was purchased from that of Mons, Gaignat. Earl Spencer has aJso a copy. Mr. Ueineken says, there is one copy of this work in the library of tbe Senate of Leipsic, containing forty leaves ; one was in that of tbe Duke de la Valliere, which has only twenty. two leaves ; and one io the Electoral library at Dresden, besides seieral others.
Tbe Ars Moriendi contains twelre leaf esj printed on one side of the paper only ; there is a copy of the first edition of titis work id the library at Wolfeiibutlel ; and there are seven leaves of this edi- tion in the public library at Memminghnm. There are MVentl other editions of this work ; for an accouDt of which sea Heine- ken's Idepgeneraled'Est.irnpi'l, in which mention is made of other
bp pAtNtiMo. 401
types of wood, but I cannot belieTe thikt more than a few pages were ever printed by them with sach types.
(Gruttehberg separated from Fast in H55 ; and Fast with Schoef* fer, his senrant and son-in«1aw, printed a Psalter at Mentz, in 1457, with moveable types: the capitals were of wood, and the small letters of metal ; but Meerman says, that these were cut types, and not the improved cast types; and asserts, ihkt the first book printed with the latter, was Durandi Rationale, printed atMentz, in 1469.
Heineken (p. 264) mentions several copies of the Psalter of Mentz, particularly a very fair' one in the Imperial library at Vienna ; at the end of which are the following words :
<^ Presens Fudmorum codex venustate capitalium decoratus ru. bricationibusque snificieikter distinctns, ab inventione arti6closa imprimendi ac characterisandi, absque calami ezaradone sic effi* giatus, ad Eosebiam del Industrie est consummatus per Joannem Fust civem Moguntiuum, et Petrum Schoefier de Gernszheimi Anno Domini Millesimo ccccLvki. in Vigilla Assnmptionis."
His majesty has lately procured a fine copy of this rare book for his noble library; and Earl Spencer has also one very fair; besides these, there are only four others known to be extant. Earl Spencer has also another edition of this Psalter, printed at Mentz in 1469. His lordship has also an Indulgence printed in move, able metal types in 1455^ during the pontificate of Nicholas tha Fifth.
In 1460 Fust and Schoeflref published with their improved types the Clitholicbn, which hath the following Colophon :
<* Altissimi presidio, cujns nutu infantium lingue finnt diserte* Qui^ue numero sepe parvulis revelat, quod sapientibuit celat. Hie liber egregius Catholicon, Dominice incamationis annis m.cccc.lz* alma in Urbe Moguntina Nationis indite Germanice, quam Dei dementia tam alto ingenii lumine donoque gratuito, ceteris terra, rum Nationibus prseferre illustrareque dignatus est. Nou calami^ styli aut penne suffragio, sed mira patronarum formarumque con* cordia proportione et modulo impressns atque confectus est."
There is a fine copy of this edition in his majesty's library at tha queen's house ; another copy is in the Royal library at Paris.
In 1462 Fust and Schoeffer printed an edition of the Bible at Mentz in two volumes folio, in Gothie characters, which is jostly Mwened a good perfenaance ; there art several copies of this adi*
T0L» VI* tm
402 ORIGIN AND FROGBBSS
tion exiant, particularly one in fait Diajfsty's Hbriry, where there is a fair copy of the New Tetlament, of the same place and date, printed on vellum. If thp pretended edition of 1450, without the Coloplion was compared with this of 1462, the queattOD, whether they are dillerenl #dilion9 or not, would be decided.
In 1465. Fust and Schoeffer printed at Mentz an edition of Tully'8 OfHces, and i[i the nrzl year another edition of the same work. Some hare aEserted, that these were one and the same book, but botli the editions are in his majesty's library, which i hare seen. The Col<^hon to that first printed is as foUnw) :
Presena Marci Tullg clarissimu' opus. Jo.
hannet Fust, Mogu'tinus ciris. no" atramo
to. plumali ca'nanrq'aerea. Sed arte qua.
dam perpulcra. Petti mana pueri met felL ^^
citer efieci fioiluni. Auno M. cccc. liv. ^^
The second edition hath this Colophon :
Prescni Marci Tullij claiissiDiu' opus, Jo. _
hannes Fust Mogu'tinus ci?i3. no" alrame'a to, plumali ca'na neq~ aerea. Sed arte qua. damperpulcra. manu Pelri de Gernshem pueri met feliciter effeci finitum. Anno M. cccc.liri. quarta diemeniisfebruarij,S(e,
of pilMTIHO* 403
In Oe coane of the next jear Spira pabliahed an editkm of Virgil, which thoagh well prioted b not to be compared with the book last mentioned,
Iq the year 1472 Nicholai Jenton printed at Venice a most ele« gant edition of Plin> 's works ; he seems to have endeaTOured to excel his master Spira : both these beautiful editions of the worka of Pllnj are in the iiojral library in the Queen's house, and also in earl Spencer's library, and they may be tmly said to be in the per* fection of the art. Jenson's edition of Aulus GellioS) printed in the same year, doth him great credit.
In 1470 printing was practised at Paris, Cologne, and Milan*
In the year 1471, "^txtus Ries^tenger printed at Naples, and An- drew Gallnsat Ferrary. Henry t^gestein had a printing press at Strasbargh. There were also presses in this year at Bologna and at Lnbec.
In 1472, Bernard and Dominic Cenini prioted at Florence: in the same year printing presses were established at Padna, Parma^ Mantaa, and Verona : in this year printing was practised in Sax* ony, and in a few years afterwards in the most considerable parts of Europe.
Italy claims the honour of first printing in Greek characters. In the edition of Lactantius*s Institutes aboTe mentioned, wliick appeared in the 1465, the quotations from the Greek authors are in very neat Greek letters. Earl Spencer has a fair copy of this book.
The first whole book that was prioted in that language, b sap* posed to have been the Grammar of Constantinus Lascaris in 4tOy produced from the press of Dionysius Palayisinus at Milan in 1476. In 1481 the Greek Ptolter was printed in that city, as were£sf^*s Fables m 4to.
In 1486 two Greek books were printed at Venice, namely, the Pfealter, and the Batrachomyomachia ; the former by Alexander^ the latter by Laonicus, both nathes of Crete; these books art printed in uncommon characters, the latter of them with accenta and spirits, and also with scholia. Earl Spencer hu a ikir copjr of this work.
The folio edition of Homer's woria^ which was produced froai the press of Demetriils^ a natiTe of Crete, who first printed Greek at Florence in i486, eclipsed aU foraer pnblicatioaa la tUa
404 ORIGIf^ AND PROGRESS
language. A fine copy of (his edition is in the library of the Royal Society, and another in earl Spencer's, and two more i^ the British Museum.
In 1493, a fine folio edition of Isocrates was printed at Milan, by German and Sebastian. AH the abore works are prior in time to those of Aldus, who is erroneously supposed to have been the first Greek printer ; but the beauty, correctness, and neatness of his editions place bim in a much higher rank than his predeces. sors ; and his characters in general were more elegant than anj* before used. He waaborn in 1445, and died in 1515, and was the inventor of the Italic characters, which are still used, called from him Aldine or Cursi?e. The Greek editions of the celebrated fa- mily of Stephens are much esteemed.
Printing in Hebrew was practised as early as 1477, when the Psalms appeared in that language. In 1482 the Pentateuch wars printed. In 1484 the prior Prophets ; the posterior, in 1486. — The Hagiographia, in 1487, and the whole Bible Text in one to* lume at Sancino with Towel points by Abraham fil. Babbi Hhaiim in 1488*
The first Polyglott work was printed at Genoa 1516, by Pettr Paul Porrus, who undertook to print the Pentaglott Psalter of Au« gustin Justinian, bishop of Nebo, It was in Hebrew, Arabfc, Chaldaic, and Greek, with the Latin yerses, glosses, and scholia^ which last made the eighth column in folio. !■ 1518 John Potken published at Cologne, the Psalter in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Ethiopic. In the year 1522 the Complutensian Bible, consisting of six large folio volumes, was printed under the auspices of that great man, cardinal Ximenes. A polyglott Pentateuch, was printed at Constantinople in 1546, and another in 1547.
In the year 1636 the congregation, pro propaganda Fide ^ at Rome, had types for the Samaritan, for the Syriac, both Fshito, and Estrangelo, for the Coptic, for the Armenian, and for the He- raclean or ancient language of the Chaldees. Since which time they have cast types for the G«ntoo, Tartar, Bramin, Bengalese^ Malabaric, and several other Asiatic languages.
Some years ago Ferdinand the late prince of Parma furnished that University whi^h ho re-established, with the types of twenty different eastern languages, which appear in a most magnificent book priated at Parma, atthe Royal press in 1776, on the mar. riage tf the prince of Piedmont, with Mary Adelaide Clothilda of
ov PiiMtiNO. 405
France, in twenty-four languages. Ttiii book is in hb Mi^esty'i librarj.
OFPRIMTING IN ENCLAND.
William Caxton hath been generally allowed to hate first intro. duced and practised the Art of Printing in England in the reign of king Edward IV. He was born in the Weald of Kent, and was first a citizen and mercer of London ; at length he became a repii« table merchant, and in 1464 he was one of the persons enu ployed by king Edward IV. in negociating a treaty of commerce with the duke of Burgundy, and was afterwards patronised by Margaret duchess of Burgundy, sister to that king. Caxton having received a good education in his youth, had a taste for learning, and made himself master of the Art of Printing. He tells us him. self, that he began to print his translation of ^< Le Recneii des His. toir^s de Tropes," at Bruges in 1468, that he continued the work at Ghent, and that he finished it at Cologne in 1471. A fair copy of this book is in hb Majesty's library.
The first book, which Caiton printed in England, was the Game at Chess, which was finished in the Abbey of Westminster the last day of March 1474. In 1 175 he printed the Book of Jason. In 1477 the Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers. For an account of the other books printed by Caxton, see Herbert's History of Printing.
The first letters used by Caxton were of the sort called Secre. tary, and of these he had two founts : afterwards his letters were more like the modem Gothic characters, written by the English Monks in the fifteenth century. Of these he had three founts of Great Primer, tlie first rude, which he used in 1474 ; another something better ; and a third cut about the year 1488. Besides these he had two founts of English or Pica, the latest and best of which were cut about 1483; one of Double Pica, good, which first appeared in 1400 ; and one of Long Primer, at least agreeing with the bodies which have since been called by those names ; all these resemble the written characters of that age, which have been dis» tingnished by the name of Monkish-English. Those characters nearly resemble tlieir prototypes used^by the first printers in Germany.
In the year 1478 printing was first practised in the two Univer* sitiei of Oxford and Cambridge; and two years afterwards we find
Sp3
\
a6 ORICIM AHD PHOOBBSS
K prMi >t St.Alhan's, Specimens of the fint tjp« utad by CaK> ton, sod by ptlnUrs at the places above meniioiied, ma; b« seen Id Herberl'c Hiilury of Printing.
Canon liTfil till the yt^er 14B1, when be was succeeded by Wyiikyn Ue WorJe, who had ^i'TTed him for many ytan, and was connected with bim in business at ibe Imie of liis death, Wynkyn made (.ou^i lie rable advances in llie Art of friniing, and anriiihed bis fmindtry wilh a vanety of new types ; his letters were what ara called the Old Fn^lisfi (or Square English), which bare bten th« pattern for hib succrtsors for black letter priniitig. He is xard (o have first brought into England the use of round Roman letters, though it does not upp^ar that he ever printed in those [etter>> The first Roman, which i remtmbfi' to have seen, is a marginal quota, tion in Pica, at the lallcr end of the second part uf a book imituied, *' the Extiipiilion of Igiioraucy compylrd by Sir Paule Buihe^ Preeste, and Bonhoine ol Bdyiidon," printed by Pyngon wiihuBt* dat*-: but in 1518 Pynaon printed a book Hholly in Roman typei, B8 appears in Amis (p. 130). Fynson's con ten. porn ry, William Faques, in 1 503 made a fount of EngliAh It-llirs. oquul, if not ex. ceeding, bi beauty, any which our founders at thU day produce. The fdvouiit'' characters uf these times itere large types, and par- ticularly Great Primer. Allhous^h considerable progress was made in the Art of Printing in the fiftienth century, yet ihe Englitti presses produced no noik* in the Greek, or in ihe OnriituI Jao* gua^es tdi the siitleenth. The first (.'reek book I knirwof, that was printed in England, is the H<'n)ilit;s set forth Uj Sir John
or PSINTINO.
^
407
£ainbridi;« in the beginiiingor the sixteenth ceotarf, no books were printed hen to Belirew ebancten twfore tbe year ifiH, when Dr> Khese published his lo^litutioDes Liagux Cauibro.Bri* taniiicfr.
In iti« ypnr 1657 the Enelbh Polyglolt in six volumes folio waa |)riiitefl ai London, under th? auspicts of archbishop Uiiher and bishu^i Walton This megniGceat worli was begun in 1653, and coiiiuinH Oit^sacrtd text in tbe Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, Chal- dean, Arabic, Persic, j^thiopic, Greek, and Latin languages, all piloted in tb^ir proper characters. Besides (he cliaracters eihiliitvd in the body of ihis great work, the Prolegomena fur. nish us with more; oamely, the Rabbinical, the Hebrew, the Sy> ■rlac duplices, Nestnrian, and Kstruogelan, the Armenian, the Egyptian, the lllyrian, both Cyriliian atxl HiiTonymi»ii, the Ibe- rian, and tbe ancient Gothic. Most of tbe rar>- books above Specitied are to be found in his Mujpsty's library at tbe Queen's bouse, in the British Museom, or in that of earl Spencer.
The ffreatest difficult}, which tbe first letter. founders had to cncounler, was the discovery of tbe necessary nomber of each letter for a font of tjpes Id any particular language ; and in order to know this they would endearour to find out how mucb uftener ooe letter occurred than another in such a language. Perhaps thb discorery was mode by casting utf the copy, as the printers call it ; which is by calculdting the number of letters necessary for cootpo. nng any glreo nsmber of pages, and by counting the number of each letter which ocrors in tiiose pa^es ; this would io some degree )mt>- painted out the proportional number of one letter to another, but whether it was done by this, or by nhat other method, is not nsy to discover : however it is generally supposed, tbe letter, founder's bill wa^ made in the Sfteentb century, but on what prin- ciple ail writers are silent : the variaus ligatures and abbreviatioai Bseuby the early printers made more types necessary than at present.
Printers divide a tout of letters into two classes, naoii^l}, the up- per.case and the lower-case. The upper-case contuios large capi, tals, small capitals, accented letters^ figures, and marks of refer, ences. The lower-coie contains small letters, ligatures, points, Bpacei, and quadrates.
{4tttt.
( «9 )
P
JHITATIVK ARTS, COMfHISINO, DESIGNING, PAINTINO, ■ ENAMELLING, miNTING, LNGHAVINC, BOULPTl'll E, roTTEIir, AND 1'OnCEI.AlN-MODKLLING.
lECrrDN I.
Kito;eUtlge of the Aneicnta in reipect to the Imilalive Arts.
It was not, (o the philosophj' of li£;hl, shade, md colours atone, that the ancicnis directed Iheir Htteniion. Thejr made a practical ust of them in the drganl nits of designing Utd painting, in sll the dilferent branches of which they acquirtil ■ degree of perrecliou «bicb may well vie with that of later ai;es. ThoH who haTe iiliidkd the hiitorv of thete arts, as anciently bnt Hti*Euto. TJIy compiled by Pliny, must be convinced, that there u scarcely a style of modern drawing or colouring which was not {EBOwti to the Greeks ; who united la these exquisite accompliahiMiito all the collateral rnniilicatiiiiis of cmbroiilery, tapestry, brou^Dgt d"* mask-work, i[i the time of Homer denominated E^sturrNfiiidsvery ipecies of DiosatL', which, accordiog to tlic Roman iiuwlbt) hed adilTerent dsnuminatioD assigned to earh. Thus, we meet with one set of arranged and coltiured Eloues which was called lilhos. (ratsi another, opus tcs-i'liitum : a third, musiviim ; fourth, *m.
OF THB IMITATIVB ABTt. 409
coti(H(e method of tracing the mere outline of the haman shadow
whipn projected upon a wall^ a method which still exists among oar*
selfes under the name of a iilhouette^ — br& hominis lineai cir-- cumducia.
This species of drawing, and, probably, painting, strictly to called, must have been of very early origin indeed. Embroidery and tapestry, in which colours were introduced, we know to have been of high antiquity e?en among the Jews and Babyloneans ; but both these arts presuppose the existence of outlines, or line draw* Ings, for the artist necessarily worked from a pattern. The hibtory of Pandion, king of Athens, and of his daughter Philomela, wbo informed Progn^ of her misfortunes by describing them on tapestry, may, perhaps, be fabulous. Be this, however, as it may, we know that this fable is of very remote origin, ard as it is related by ApoU lodorus, was, probably, the production of one of the Cyclic poeti^ concerning whom the reader will find an account in Note on Book y. ▼• 330. of the present version. According to this admirable roythologist, Philomela did not indeed paint her history, but enu broidered it in characters on a veil. Yet, at the period when this fable was. invented, we can scarcely conceive, that embroidery was confined to the exhibition of characters alone ; it was unquestion^ bly employed, and with more freedom, in the art of tracing and de* signing. In the time of Homer, however, we have undoubted proof of the application of tapestry to the dignity of historical subjects. Iris, in the third book of the Iliad, finds Helen occu- pied in representing on tapestry the evils which the Greeks and Trojans had suffered on her account in their battles. Such an undertaking, even supposing it were executed in cammeo, or with- a single colour, evinces a considerable perfection of the art she was practising. But the Trojans are stated to have been also ac- quainted with the mode of intermixing difi*erent colours in their tapestries. When Andromache learned the death of Hector, she was at work in a retired part of her palace, and representing, ii| tapestry, flowers of a variety of tinctures.
AXA, ijy* irroy vfmy avvw B^fiov 't;\InjAo<o,
Ih. K. 439. Far in the close recesses of the dome *■
Pensive she ply'd the melancholy loom ; A growing work employed her secret views, Spotted divene with intermimgM hun^ Pow
410
knowledob of thb ancients
To th« mere outline or siLhouette, the Corintliiin or Sicyo- dUd artisi, according to Fliny, added strokes to its interior, —Jam tunc spargeates lineal inlus ; o style which is yet re. toiaed whenever llie quill or the crayon h employed ; and some admirable drairlngs, in nhich are still preserved at Uome as the production of Polydorc of Caravagio, a cek'brated pupil of Raphael ; the mode of e&eruting irhich is denominated by the Ita< lians at tgrufuto. Our historian then advances to a second epoch, regarding the mere outline, and the outline with internal strokes as one and the same, although I cannot but a^rec nith M. Le. vesque, in bis very ingenious essay on this subject, ( Meoi, de . I'lnstit. Nat. Lit. et B. Arts, 1.) that the farmer mu)l, for a long period, have preceded the latter. This second epoch of Pliny comprises the use of a single colour alone, and its style was, in consequence, denominated by the Greeks, Monochrotnaton, and is still retained, in modern limes, under the appellation of cammeo. For this improvement the Roman hisi^irian presents us with two competitors also, without deciding on the superiority uf their pre- tensions ; Philoclcs, whom he asserts to have been of Egypt, and Cleantbes of Corinth. This seems to have been a great improve- ment upon the style of stroke or linear drawing ; for although tha former may have been founded upon an observation of the eflects of light and shade, and an attempt to introduce such effects upon paper, yet, every attempt must, in the first instance, and by the use of strokes alone, have been harsh and inharmonious ; it must have wanted relief, and been incapable of exhibiting Ibe gradaal
IK mXtnOT OV TSB IMITATITB AETf » 411
Pedle— Slid the neridkii age of App«;Uei, wIk>, fn the language
of CicerOy conaummated this noble inTention—** jam perfecta^*^
said h<?, *^ mmt omnia.^* To draw a comparison between tbete
and others of equal celebrity, and the painters of modern times,
would be as invidioas as foreign to the plan I have prescribed to
myself. It is enough to observe, that their excellence has been
admitted, to its utmost extent^ by Raphael and Poussin | and we
cannot err in applauding them after such antecedent panegyilcs.
Upon the subjects of Grecian statuary and engraring, so nearly
connected with painting, I have not space to enter. The perfec«
tion of the former art may be fuily appreciated from the preciont
reliques which have d' scended to our own days ; and that of the
latter, from the description of the shields oi their heroes as pre.
sented to us by their poets. Bnt I ou^ht not to forbear noticing,
that amidst many other proofs of their ingenuity^ which are totally
lost to us, b to be enumerated their mode of encaustic painting aa
well in wax as on ivory. Of the inventors of these very cnrioua
arts we know nothing. The style of painting in wax was in com*
mon use at least as early as the age of Anacreon, who, as the
friend of Polycrsites of Samos, must have flourished upwards of five
hundred years anterior to the Christian «ra $ for he expressly men.
tions it in several places, and particularly in Ode xxviii. in which
he gives his direction to the painter, who was taking a likeness of
his mistress.
A^tsxtr BXncta yap avnt^v Ta;^^ Ktiptf Kou )^\y^vni.
Enough — *tis she— her air, her cheek— O W Ax 1 thou Hoon wilt learn to speak.
There was also another mode of employing wax in ship.painting, which was obviously inrented for the sake of duration, but which is equally lost to us. The little with wh.ch we are acquainted of these difierent methods is preserved by Pliny in the following pas. sage, xi. 41: Encauslo pingendi duo fui^^se antiquitus genera constat, cerft et in ebore« cestro, id est, verrulo j donee classes pingi coDpere. Hoc tertmm adcessit, resolutis igni ceris penicello ntendi } qnsD pictnra in navibns nee sole nee sale, ventisque corrnm- pitnr. *^ There were formeriy two modes of painting in encaustic^ with wax, and on ivory, by the use of a cestram, or graver, till, at length, ships began In be painled, A third mode wai then hkm
.* >•
4 It
PAINTING Iir GLASS.
*en(H), which consisted in employing a pencil brush with yrax d\». SOlTed OTPr a firu ; wliich prodnced a paiiillii^ for teskIi th:it nas Jitter injured by the sun, the s«B-ffHt«r, or the winda." The pas. lage h liy no means pprspicuouii ; and Fliny, who wa$ no painter Mmsplf, does not appear to have been in the secfel in ntheT case. All we can collect is, that every mode was alike encaustic, or cor. rosive by mean? of fire: that, in the two former, a OHlruoi or pointed graver was employed; and, in the Utter, a pen ciL brush. M. Leresquc observes, therefore, as Las been ohserTed alM by M, Scheffer, ((iraphice, par. IC.) that the painting upon irorj was less properly i painting than an engrariiig, the point of the graver being heated in the lire to a red Ileal— that the linac ir«re of one colour alone, and this a liliick or n lawny. I Jnww not, however, whit reaiioii these writers have for limiting Um encauBtic painting on ivory to any individual mlour : those in wax, most at. suredly comprehend every kind and combination of coloiir ; for, in the ode of Anacreoa above referred to, he makes express mention of black, white, blue, and red; and as the instruuentcaipiiiyed in both these modes was the same, as they were both fffifcted by a similar process of Gre, and as Pliny dues not inform tlitfuit theie was any diiferenc<: in the npplication of the inhtrument, we may ai readily supposi: that the encaustic on ivory admitted the iutrodiic- tiou of diltereut colours, as the encaustic in wax. M. I« Coii)|ite de Caylus imagined lie had rt'coven-d Ihu Greciaci mode of Hicaus. tic ship-painting a fi'W years ago; but his method, though inge- nious, is rather a new invention than a revival of that spoken of
^AINTfirO IN OLASd.' 419
bltek witb water coloars, tnd etching the draperies after the Bame manner on glasses of the colour of the object they designed to paint. For the carnation they used glass of a bright red colour ; and npon this they drew the principal lineaments of the face, &c. with black. At length, the taste for this sort of painting improTing considerably, and the art being found applicable to the adorning of churdbes^ palaces, &c» they found out means of incorporating the colours in the glass itself, by heating them in a fire to a proper degree, having first laid on the colours. A French painter at Mar. aeilles is said to have given the first notion of this improvement^ upon going to Rome under the pontificate of Julius II ; but Albert Durer and Lucas of Ley den were the first that carried it to any height.
This art, however, has frequently met with much Interruptioo, and sometimes been almost totally lost ; of which Mr. Walpole gives the following account in his Anecdotes of Painting in Eng* land : ^^ The first interruption given to it was by the reformation^ which banished the art out of churches ; yet it was in some man» ner kept up in the escutcheons of the nobility and gentry in the windows of their seats. Towards the end of queen Elizabeth's reign, indeed, it was omitted even there ; yet the practice did not entirely cease. The chapel of our Lady at Warwick was oxusu mented anew by Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester and his countess, and the cipher of the glass. painter's name yet remains, with the date 1574 ; and in some of the chapels at Oxford, the art again appears, dating itself in 1622, by the hand of no contemptible master,
^^ I could supply even this gap of 48 years by many dates on Flemish glass: but nobody ever supposed that the secret was lost so early as the reign of James I. ; and that it has not perished since will be evident from the following series, reaching to the present hour.
<< The portraits in the windows of the library at Mi Souls, Ox., ford. In the chapel at Queen's College there are twelve windows dated 1518. P.C. a cipher on the painted glass in the chapel at Warwick, 1674. The windows at Wadha:n-college ; the drawing pT^tty good, and the colours fine, by Bernard Van Linge, l6i3« In the chapel at Lincoln's Inn, a window, with the name Bernard, 1623. This was probably the preceding Van Linge. In the church of St. Leonard, Shorcdttchy two windows by Baptist*
414
FAINTtNO ^K OLA89.
Snilon, 1634. The windows in the chapel at Univenitr- college Henry Gilfa pinxit i687. At Christ (hurch, I»aac Olirer, a^ed 84, 17CX). Window in Merton.chapel, William Price, 1700. Windows ai Qutfa's N<^w cotltpp and Maudlin, by Williani Price, the soil, now living, whose colours arp fine, whose ilrawing la g«od, and whose taiti^ in ornantpnls and Mosaic Js far ouperior to any oF his preileces^drii ; t a equal to the antiqae, to I he good Italian masters, and onlj surpassed b> his own singular modesty.
'' It inay not be uiiwelcoiLie to llic curious reader lo tee some anecdotes of the revival of taste for painted glass in England, Price, as we have said, was the only pain'cr iu that stile for iiMny ypun in England. Afterwards one liowcll, a plumber at Rnfing, did some things, parricularly for the late Hrnry Earl of Pembroke ; but Rowi ll's colonrs soon ranihhed. At last be found oal a rery durabi-' and beautiful r>>d ; but he died in a year or two, «nd tha tecret with him. A man at Birmingham be^an the same art in I7SI) or 1757, and fitted ap ft window for Lord Lyttli^ton in thfl church of llagley, but soon brok.'. A little after him, one Peckittftt Ywh began the same business, and has made good proficiency. A few lovers of that art collected some dispersed panes from tDcienI buildings, particularly the late LordCohham, who erected a gothic temple at Slowe, and filled it with arms of the old nobility, Ac. About the year 1733, one Asciotti, an Italian, who had married a Flemish woman, brought a parcel of painted glass from Ftandera, and sold it for a few guineas to the Hon. Mr. Baiemao, of Old Windsor. Upon that I Sfut Asciotti auain lo Flanders, who
FAIMTIMO IH OLAIt» 4IA
For black, take 8cal«!8 of iron^ one oance^ scales of copper, ono ouncu ; j^t^ half an ounce ; red ace them to powder, and mix them. For blue, take powder of blue, one pound ; nitre, half a pound j mix them and grind them well together. For carnation, take red chalk, eight ounces ; iron scales, and litharge of sUver, of each two ounces ; gum-arabic, half an ounce ; dissoWe in water, grind alto- gether for half an hour as stiflf as you can ; then put it in a glass and stir it well, and let it stand to settle fourteen dajs. For green, take red lead, one pound ; scales of copper, one pound ; and flint, five pounds ; diride them into three parts, and add to them as roudi nitre ; put them into a crucible, and melt them with a strong fire; and when it b cold» powder it, and grind it on a porphyry. For gold colour, takasiWer, an ounce ; antimony, half an ounce ; melt them in a crucible ; then pound the mass to powder, and grind it on a copper plate ; add to It yellow ochre, or brick-dost calcined again, fifteen ounces ; and grind them well together with water. For purple, take miniam, one pound ; brown stone, one pound ; white flint, five pounds ; divide them into three parts, and add to them as much nitre as one of the parts ; calcine, melt, and grind it U yon did the green. For red, take jet, four ounces ; litharge of silver, two ounces ; red chalk one ounce; powder them fine, and mix them. For white, take jet, two parts ; white flint, ground on a glass very fine, one part ; mix them. For yellow, take Spanish brown, ten parts ; leaf-silrer, one part ; antimony, half a part; put all into a crucible, and calcine them well.
In all the windows of ancient churches, &c. there are to be seea the most beantifnl and ? ivid colours imaginable, which far exceed any of those used by the moderns, not so much because the secret of making those colours is entirely lost, as that the moderns will not go to the charge of tliem, nor be at the necessary pains, bj reason that this sort of painting is not now so much in esteem at formerly. Those beautiful works, which were made in the glass, liooses, were of two kinds.
In some^ the coknir was diffused through the whole substanet of the glass* In others wliich were far the most common, Urn colonr was only on one side, scarce penetrating within the substanet above one.third of a line ; though diis was more or less according to the nature of the colour, the yellow being always found to enter the deepest These last, though not so strong and beantiftil as the foffOMry were of more ftdvantage to the worknen, bjr reteon thU
PAIHTINQ IN GLASS.
on tlie same gla&t*, 1hou°h alreiuly coloured, they could sliew olhei kinds of colours wheru (iicre was occasion to (rmbroider drapprii'S^
enrich thorn wilh roliogcs
siUer, Sec.
■ represent other ornaments of gold,
In order la this, they i down the surface of the pli the colour lo the clear gli
colours on the olhev side of the glass. By tbi colours were hindered from ninning and mixir
)p use of emery, grinding or wearing
till such time as they Here got tbrougli
This done, they applied Hw proper
pans, the new
Ii the former,
when they exposed the glasses to the lire, as will appear hcreafrer. When indeed the ornaments were to appear ivhile, the glass was only bared of its colour with emery, without tinging the phce wilh any colour at all ; and this was the manner by which tliey wrought their lights and heightening* on all kinds of colour.
The first thing to be done, in order to paint or stain glass in the modem way, is to design, and even colour the whole subject ou paper. Then they choose such pieces of glass as are clear, eren, end smoolh, and proper to receive the several parts ; and proceed to distribute the design itself, or the paper it is drawn on, into pieces suitable to those of the glass, always taking care that the glasses may join ill the contours of the figtires, and the fold* of the draperies ; that the carnations and other Aner p;irts may not be impaired by the lead wilh which the pieces are to be joiueJ together. The dUtribulion being made, they mark all the glasses as well as papers, that they may be known again : which done, applying ilLoflliL ''-?:?k'.i Vi'?\i nn:.J.iss irduuled for il,_they_
PAlMTlMG \n I^LASS* 4I7
A>r the greater secarity, to apply them on the other side ; especially yellow, which is tery pernicious to the other colours, by blending therewith. And here to, as in pieces of black and white, parti- cular regard must always be had not to lay colour on colour, or put on a new lay, till such time as the former is well dried.
When the painting of all the pieces is finished, they are carried to the furnace to anneal or bake the colours.
Having often been delighied with the grand effect produced by the windows of stained glass in old churches and monasteries, we have regretted that such fine and durable colouring should, in so many cases, have been prostituted upon wretched designs inferior to the productions of our sign post daubers* We have wished that some mode could be devised of copying and multiplying pictures upon glass — some mechanical mode, which should require the aid of the artist in the first instance only, and leave all the subsequent operations to be performed by inferior hands, as in the case of copper-plate printing. Portraits at least, on a single piece of glass which should perpetuate the features of great men and beautiful women, secure from that decay of colour and of canvas which has already begun to obliterate the finest paintings of the greatest art* ists whom the world has ever produced, might possibly be produced in the following way.
Suppose, after the outline of a likeness is drawn, that blocks were cut from it after the same manner as for callicoes, or paper- hangings, onl)( with superior nicety, and in greater number for the purpose of multiplying and better blending the tints.
Enamellers must determine what shall be the proper substances for the different colours, and with what liquid they shall be mois- tened, that they may be readily taken up by the blocks, and thence transferred to another body by pressure.
From these blocks, and with these colours, let the figure be printed on paper : and, to prevent inaccuracy in bringing the se* parate parts^ cut on the difierent blocks, to unite into a complete whole, let the paper^ placed under a frame secured in an im- moveable position during the operation. The blocks being accu- rately squared, all exactly of the same dimensions, and each nicely fitting the frame, cannot, in parsing through it to deliver their se« veral impressions, make the smallest deviation from their intended places, but must produce an exact picture — at least on the paper.
To transfer that impression to glass, is, indeed, a work of nicety ▼OL. rr. 9 B
413
INTJNG IN CLASS.
and diflicult;. Wf to it not for some smaller strokes irblch must necessarily be in wood, the entire impTession might in the oulstt be made on the gU-s iUe\f, tiithoat aoy iiiterTeiilion oF paper ; since experience has proTi'd to the call Co- printer!, that the great iiiiisses of colour cminot be successfully deiivered from wood ; wherefurc thty ate obliged. Id thoHe parts of their pattns*, lo use bils of smooth woni-uuC beafer-hat, which might rerf nell be pressed on the glass.plate.
However, from whit we every Any see elTecteil in (he CMC of prints afhicil to gXjAa witliuut any of the paper remaining, tod ftlao of copper.plite embellishtiientg upon porcelain and queen's ware, we doubt nut thut tlie picture, while frcsli, m.iy, by weUmiuged pressure, be Iranjferred from the paper to an even plate Aground glass coaled with a proper gluten uhich shall not, at leiit not ma. terially, olTuscalt^ its transparency ; and experiment must dttermiae whether the paper may aftfrwaid be gently drawn or peded fl^or must be burned away, or destroyed by a cortosiie liquid, If Wty such can be fuuud which will uut injure the colours.
Suppose, however, the operation of removing the paper lo be satiBfaclority performed, proceed we now to secure the indelibility of the picture.
Let a square plate of cast. iron, an inch or two in thickness, and M Icrel and smooth as possible, be furnished on every lide with a metal ledge rifling an inch or more in height, which ought to be in two separate pieces, the one permanently fastened lo the pUle, the other capable of being remoted nt pleasure, for tlie purpose of lay-
ENAMELLING.
419
snuffboxes, Stuis^ &c. &c. will not conceWe much difficiilty in this use of the glass. It may be managed by tho aid of a machine some- what similar to, but more powerful than, a common printing press, with a solid metal platine, to fit and fill the frame, as above ; though much better contrivances may be found among tho multifarious en- gines employed at Birmingham for the purposes of coining, and striking the heavy dies, than any we can possibly suggest. la whatever manner the two glasses may be pressed into union, the united body may be afterward ground ami polished.
[Pantologia, fValpoie.
SECTION 111.
Enamelling,
The delicate and beautiful art of enamelling consists in the application of a smooth coating of vitrified matter (transparent or opaque, and with or without colour, figures and other ornaments), to a bright polished metallic substance. It is, therefore, a kind of varnish made uf glass, and melted upon the substance to which it is applied, and affording a fine uniform ground for an infinite vari. ety of ornaments which are also fixed on by heat.
The general principles on which enamelling is founded, are on the whole very simple, but, perhaps, there is none of ail the che- mico-mechanical arts which requires, for the finer parts, a greater degree of practical skill and dexterity, and of patient and accurate attention to minute pro^:osaes.
The concealment observed by those who profess this art, is pro- portioned to the difficulty of acquiring it ; the general chemist must, therefore, content himself with the general principles of enamelling, and the detail of those particulars that are commonly known.
Though the term enamelling is usually confined to the ornamen. tal glazing of metallic^surfaces, it strictly applies to the gl izing of pottery or porcelain, the difference bein^ only that in th<^ latter the surface is of baked clay. With regard to the composition of co- loured enamels (which are all tinged by different metallic oxyds; a very general account of the substances used will suffice In this place, the rest of the subject having been treated of in the article of coloured glass. The enamelling on metals, therefore, will only be noticed in this place. The only metals that are enamelled,
2 fi 2
4Q0 EMAMKLLING.
are gold and copper ; and with the latter tha opaque enarot oalf uHei). Wbrrc the enamel U transparent and coIoutci meUl cliusou should bo of that kind, as not only to bsve id face unalterable when fully red hot, but nlso to be in no d chemically altered by the close contact of melted glaM, coi ing an abundance of sotnf kind of metallic oiyd. Thii ii the reason why coloured enamelling on silver ia impracticable, tl (he brilliance of lis eurfoco ii not impairtd by mere heat, for 1 example) an enamel mide yellow with oxyd of lead, or anti 19 laid on the surface of bright silver, and kept melfed on it certain time, the silver and the enamel act on each other so pi full]', that the colour soon changes from a yellow to an or and lastly to a dirty olire. Copper is equally altered by tt loured anamels, so that gold is the only metal which can ber long contact of the coloured glasses at n full red heat, w being altered by them.
The simplest kind of enamel is that fine white opo^ne which is applied to the dial plate of watches. The procen a ing it on (which may serve as a general example of the art) following.
A piece of thin copper iheet, hammered of the requiellt TCXity, is first accurately cut out, a hole drilled in the midc the axis of the hands, and both the surfaces made perfectly I with a scratch brush.
A small rim is then made round the circumference, iritis brass band risinit n little above the level, and a similar rlofl
fiNAMBLLIMO. 421
enamel is only aboot half the thickness on the concave as on the convex side. For flat plates, the thickness is the same on both sides.
The plate, covered with the moist enamel powder, is warmed and thoroughlj dried, then gently set upon a thin earthen ring, that supports it only by touching the outer rim, and put gradually into the red hot muffle of the enameller's furnace. This furnace if constructed somewhat like the assay furnace, but the upper part alone of the muffle is much heated, and some peculiarities are ob. served in the construction, to enable the artist to govern the fire more accurately.
The precise degree of fire to be given here as in all enamelling, b that at which the particles of the enamel run together into an uniform pasty consistence, and eitend themselves evenly over the surface, shewing a fine polished face, carefully avoiding on the other hand so great a heat as would endanger the melting of the thin metallic plate. When the enamel is thus seen to sweat down, as it were, to an uniform glossy glaaing, the piece it gradually withdrawn and cooled, otherwise it would fly by the action of the cold air.
A second coating of enamel is then laid on and fired as before, but this time the finest powder of enamel is taken, or that which remains suspended in the washings. It is then ready to receive the figures and division marks, which are made of a black enamel, ground in an agate mortar, with much labour, to a most impalpable powder, worked up on a pallet with oil of lavender^ or spike, and laid on with an extremely fine hair brush. The plate is then stored to evaporate the essential oil, and the figure burnt in as before. The polishing with tripoli, and minuter parts of the process, need not be here mentioned.
If the enamel be chipped off a dial plate (which may be done with the utmost ease, by bending it backwards and forwards, at the adhesion between the metal and glazing is t ery slight) the part immediately in contact with the copper will be found deeply and nearly uniformly browned, which shews how unfit copper alone would be for the transparent enamels.
The regulation of the fire appears to be the most difficult of all the parts of this nice process, particnlarly in the fine enamelling of gold for ornamental purposes, of designs, miniatures, and the like, where three, fonr, or sometimes five separate firings are re*
^ s S
422 LNAMBLLING.
quired. If the beat is too low, the enamel does not spread and vitrify as it ought; if too high, it iray be enough to melt the metal itself, whose fusing point is but a small step above that of the ena- mel, or else (what is an equal mortification to the artist) the deli- cate tigures, laid on with so much care and judgement, meltdown in a moment, and the piece exhibits only a confused assemblage of lines, and fragments of designs.
The exact composition of the opaque white enamel, is a matter of considerable importance, and is procured by the enamellers from persons whose business it is to prepare it. A good enamel of this kind, fit to be applied to porcelain and metals, should be of a Tory clear fine white, so nearly opaque, as only to be translucent at the edges ; and at a moderate red heat it should run into that kind of paste, or imperfect fusion which allows it to extend itself freely and uniformly, and to acquire a glossy even surface, without, however, fully melting into a thin glass, i he opaque white of this enarot'l is given by the oxyd of tin, which possesses, even in a small proportion, the property of rendering vitrescent mixtures white and opaque^ or in still less proportion, milky ; and when otherwise coloured, opalescent. The oxyd of tin is always mixed with three or four times its quantity of oxyd of lead ; and it ap. pears necessary that the metals should be previously mixed by melting, and the alloy then calcined. The following are the direc- tions given by Clouet for the composition of this enamel. Mix 100 parts of pure lead with from 20 to 25 of the best tin, and bring them to a low red heat in an open vessel. The mixture then burns nearly as rapidly as charcoal, and oxidates very fast. Skim off the crusts of oxyd, successively formed, till the whole is tho- roughly calcined. It is better then to mix all (he skimmings, and a^ain heat as before, till no flame arisrs from them, and the whole is of an uniform grey colour. Take 100 parts of this oxyd, lOO of sand, and 25 or 30 of common salt, and melt the whole in a moderate heat* This gives a greyish mass, often porous and appa- rently imperfect, but which, however, runs to a good enamel when afterwards heated. This is the enamel used for porcelain, but for metals and finer works the sand is previously calcined in a very strong heat with a fourth of its weight, or, if a more fusible com- pound is wanted, as much of the oxyd of tin and lead as of salt is taken, and the whole melted to a white porous mass. This is then employed instead of the rough sand as in the above-mentioned pro.
SNAMBLLINO. 423
cess. The abore proportions, howeyer^ are not inrariable, for if more fusibility is wanted, the dose of oxyd is increased, and that of the sand diminished, the quantity of common salt remaining the same. The sand employed in this process, according to Mr. Clouet, is not the common sort, howerer fine, but a micaceous sand, in which the mica forms about one.fourth of the mixture.
Neri^ in his valuable treatise on glass*making, has given long ago the following proportions for the common material of all the opaque enamels, which Runckel and other practical chemists have confirmed. Calcine 30 parts of lead, with 33 of tin, with the precautions mentioned above. Take of this calcined mixed oxyd 50 pounds, and as much of powdered flints (prepared by being thrown into water when red hot, and then ground to powder), and eight ounces of salt of tartar ; melt the mixture in a strong fire kept up for ten hours, after which reduce the mass to powder. This is the common material for the opaque enamels, and is of a grey white. To make this fine enamel quite whito, mix six pounds of this material with 48 grains of the best black oxyd of manga- nese, and melt in a clear fire. When fully fused, throw it into cold water, then re.melt and cool as before two or three times, till the enamel is quite white and fine. Konckel observes on this pro- cess, that he tried it without the oxyd of manganese, but the ena* mel, instead of being milk white, was blueish and not good, so that there is no doubt but that this oxyd is highly important. If too much is used, the enamel becomes of a rose purple. For far- ther observations on this subject, see the article Glass. Colour- ed enamels are composed of a common basis, which is a fusible mixture of vitrifiable materials, and of some metallic oxyd. In general, the coloured enamels are required to be transparent, in which case, the basts is a kind of glass, composed of borax, sand, and oxyd of lead, or other vitrescent mixtures, in which the proportion of saline or metallic flux is more or less accord- ing to the degree of heat that the colouring oxyd will bear with- out decomposition. When the coloure^l enamej is to be opaque, or opalescent, a certain portion of the white opaque enamel, or of the oxyd of tin, is added to the mixture. The most beau- tiful and costly colour known in enamelling, is an exquisitely fine rich red, with a purplish tinge, given by the salts and oxyds of gold, especially tjie purple precipitate^ formed by tin in od9
3x4
424
BHAMEILINC.
nd also by the fnlminsU s much Bkill )r ibe artist
wa mMt perfect, it
111 aftenrtrda r
ilours wiU D
form or other, and nilro mumtof gold, ing pold. This btHulKul colojr rpquiies to be fully broLiL.ht ouT It h ttt\d, thot shouW coini' from ihe fire quite colourU-si, its colour by the flaoie uf a candle. Gold violent firp.
Oth^r and common r«ds are given by the oiyd ot irgo, but this requires the tDiK^ureof alumiup, or Bome other substance refrac- tory ill the fire, olheririse at a full red heat the colour will dc^eoe- rate into black.
Yelloiv is g'\wea either by the oxyd of silver alonej or by the oxydn of lead and antimony, with similar mixtures to those re- quired for iron. The silver is as tender a colour as gold* Kod rea- dily injurL-d or lost in a high heat.
Green is given by the oxyd uf copper, or it may also be pro. curi'd hy a miilure of blue and yellow colours.
blue U given by cobalt ? and this ticeuis of all enamel colours the must cerluiii, and easily manogeubles.
Black is produced by a mixture of cobalt and maDgaaoM.
The reader nay cuncHve huiv much the dilTicuItieioC this nice art are increased, when the object is not mt-nly to lay as noirorm coloured glaring on a metallic lurfaie, but also to ptiat that sur- face vt'nh figures end other designs, that require eitreae delicacy of outline, accuracy of shading, and selection of colouriog. The enamel painter ha^ to work, not with actual colours, but with mixtures, which lie oiily knows from experience will produce cer>
EllCAVSTIC I^AINTINO. 425
metallic oiyds, melted with tome Titrescent miiture, aod ground to extreme finoDess. These are worked up with an essential oil (rhtt of spike is preferred, and next to it oil of lavender) to (he proper consistence of oil colours, and are laid on nith a very fino hair brush. The essential oil should he rery pure, and the use of this, rather than any fixed oil, is probably that the whole may era. porate completely in a moderate heat, and leave no curbonaceoni matter in contact with the colour when red hot, which might affect its degree of oxidation, and thence the shade of colour which it is intended to produce. As the colour of some vitrified metallic exyds (such as that of gold) will stand only at a very moderate heat, whilst others will bear, and even require, a higher tempera, ture to be properly fixed, it forms a great part of the technical skill of the artist to supply the diiferent colours in proper order; fixing first those shades which are produced by the colours that will endure the highest heat, and finishing with those that demand the least heat. The outline of the design is first traced on the eoa* mel, ground and burnt in ; after which, the parts are filled upgra* dually with repeated burnings, to the last and finest touches of the tenderest enamel.
Transparent enamels are scarcely ever laid upon any other me* tal than gold, on account of the discoloration produced by other metals, as already explained. If, however, copper b the metal used, it is first covered with a thin enamel coating, over which gold leaf is laid and burnt in, so that, in fact, it is still this metal that if the basis of the ornamental enamel. Wi:h regard to the vast nnnu ber of important minutiae in the selection and order of applying the colours, the management of the fire, &c. Sec, almost the whole of what is known on this subject is confined to the practical artist| nor could this knowledge, if obtained, interest the general reader,
IPantolog. Clouet. Kunckel.
SECTION ly.
Encaustic painting.
We have already observed* that this is an art upon which the ancients highly prided themselves ; invented to ^x by fire the co- lours made use of by the artist, who employed wax to give them % gloss, and preserve them from being injured by the air*
* 8cclioii 1 , of the preieot QiapCer.
426 ENCAUSTIC PAIMTINO.
This ancient art, after hoiing been long lost, was mtorf d bjr count Caylu?, a niPmber of the Academy uf ln?fiiptions in Franre ; and tVip mtltiodof pDiiiiing in wax waa announced to ihe AcnJcDiy of PainliT'g ami ReMen L>(ti^r3, in (he year L7A3 ; ihongh M. Bachc- lier, thi' author tif a treatise De I'Hislolro Sc du Secret it In Pein- tureen (.in-, had actually pai'iled a ptcturi- in wax iu 1749 ; ant] lie was the 6r?t uiio coirmunicalcd to th<> public the melhuil of performing the rppratinn of inustion, which is thp prtncipal cha- racteristic of the i-iirnuMic pa)DtiD|r. The count kept lili method a lerri't for some time, contenting himself with exhibiting » pIclHre «t the Louvre in 1754, n presenting the head of Minem, painted in the manner of (he anctenis, which excited the curioMjr of the puhlic and was very mncli admired. In the inlTTal of Dispense, seTcrnl nlleniptn were made to recover the ancient method of paint. ing. The 6rst scheme adopted was thul of melting wax and oil of tnrpentine together, and using Ihis composition as a vehicle for raising and laying on the colours. But this metliod did not ti. plain Pliny's meaning, as thp wax is not burnt in this w»y of ma- nning il. In another attempt, which was much more itgrecablf Id the historian's description of encaustic jMinlin^', tlie wax was melted with strong lixivium of Hit of tartar, and with this the go. lours were ground. When the picture vaS finished, it «as gra. dually presented lo the fire, so as to milt the wax ; which was thus diffused throiifili all the particlps of (he colours, so that they were fixed to the ground, and secured from the access of air or moisture. Unt 'he nuthod of count Caylus is mnch more simple; the cloth
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING. 427
. on cloth, he directs it to be prepared by stretching it on a frame and robbing one side several times over with a piece of bees-wax, or Tirgin-wax, till it iscovcred with a coat of wax of considerable thickness. In fine linen this is the only operation necessary pre- jiovL> to painting; bat coarse cloth must be rubbed gently on the unwaxed side with a pumice stone, to tnke oif all those knots which would prevent the free and accurate working of the [)encil. Then the subject is to be painted on the unwaxed side with colours pre- pared and tempered with water ; and when the picture is finished it must be brought nt-ar the tire, that the wax may melt and (ix the colours. This m^'thod, however, con only be applied to cloth or paper, through the substance of which the wax may pass ; but in wood, stone, metals or plaster, the former method of count Caylus must be observed.
Mr. Muntz has also discovered a method of forming grounds for painting with crayons, and fixm/ these, as well as^ water-colours, employed with the pencil. On the unwaxed side of a linen cloth, stretched and waxed as before, lay an even and thick coat of the colour proper for the ground ; having prepared this colour by mix- ing Sonne proper pigment with an equal quantity of chalk, and tem- pering them with water. When the colour is dry, bring the pic-
. ture to the fire that the wax may melt, pass through the cloth, and fix the ground. An additional quantity of wax may be applied to the back of the picture, if that which was first rubbed on should not ho sufficient for the body of colour ; but as this must be laid on without heat, the wax should be dissolved in oil of turpentine, and applied with a brush, and the canvas be again exposed to the fire, that the fresh supply of wax may pass through the cloth, and be absorbed by the colour ; and thus a firm and good body will be formed for working on with the crayons. If cloth and paper are joined together, the cloth must be first fixed to the straining frame, aud then the paper must be pasted to it with a composition of paste made with wheaten flour, or starch, and water, and about a twelfth part of its weight of common turpentine. The turpentine must be added to the paste when it is almost sufficiently boiled, and the composition well stirred, and left to simmer over the fire for hje or six minutes ; let wax be dissolved in oil of turpentine to the consistence of a thin paste ; and when the cloth and paper are dry, let them be held near a fire ; and with a brush lay a coat of the wax and turpentine on both sides of the joined cloth and paper, im
4*^8 ENCAUSTIC PAJNTIKO.
tuch I. degree of thickness, that bulh surfaces may shine (hrough- out without :\ny appnarauue of duU spots. Thi'n expme the cloth to Ihe lir« or to the son ; by which means the oil irill eTapornie, and the wax become solid, and lie fit (u receive any composition of colour proper for a ground, \fliicli i< to be laid on ai alMve di- rected in thi' case of clolh withuut pn|)pr>
Almost all Iht culours (hat arc sled in oil.painling mugr br also applied in the eiicauslk melhod, Mr. Munia ohj^rta, indeed, to brown Mghl pink, and uiiburnt terra di Sienna; became thett-, on account of Iheir gummy or stony tflture, will not admit inch a cohesion with the wax as will properly lu them ; but other colonrs which cannot be admitted in oil-painting, as red lead, red orpi. ment, crystals of verdigris, and red precipitate of mercBry, in»]r be used hi're. 'I'he crayons u^ed in encitiiatk (laintlBg are the tame with those used in the mmmon way ui' crayon painting, ex. cepling those that in (hair cuoipoisiliun are too teuaciuus ; and the method of using them is the same in both cases.
The encaustic painting has many peculiar adrantagei ; thougb the coioiirt bnve nut the natural varnish or shining which they ac- qnire with oil, they have all the strength of painlingi iu oil, and all the airiness of ualer-roloiirs, without partuking of the ap[MU<eat character or defects of eillitr ; they may be looked at is any Ught and in any situation, without any fidee glare ; the coloun are firm, and will bear washing; and a picture, ufter having; been smoked, and then exposed to the dew, becomes as ilean us if it had been but just painted. It may alno be retouched at pleasure, without
BMCAUtTIC rAINTINO. 429
disBolred or corroded by any chemical menstirm ; nor, like the glassy colours of enamel^ to run out of the drawing on the fire« This method is described in the second part of the xlixth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, No. 100. Yet, notwithstanding the ingenuity of this communication, we find the ancient or soma similar method of painting in wax remained a desideratum upwards of twenty-five years; and till, in 1787, a method was communi. cated to the Society of Arts by Miss Greenland. The ground of her information she received at Florence, through the acquaintance of an amateur of painting, who procured her the satisfaction of seeing some paintings in the ancient Grecian st)rle, executed by sig. nora Parent!, a professor of that place, who had been instructed by a Jesuit at Pavia, the person who made the farthest discoveries in that art. Miss Greenland's friend, knowing she was fond of paints ing, informed her what were the materials the paintress used, but could not tell her the proportions of the composition ; however, from her anxiety to succeed in such an acquisition, she made ya. rious experiments, and at last obtained such a sufficient knowledge of the quantities of the different ingredients as to begin and finish a picture, which she afterwards presented to the society for their inspection.
Her method is as follows : ^' Take an ounce of white wax, and the same weight of gum mastich powdered. Put the wax in a glazed earthen vessel over a very slow fire ; and when it is quite dissolved, strew in the mastich, a little at a time, stirring the wax continually until the whole quantity of gum is perfectly melted and incorporated : then throw the paste into coUl water, and when it is hard, take it out of the water, wipe it dry, and beat it in one of Mr. Wedgewood's mortars, observing to pound it at first in a linen cloth to absorb some drops of water that will remain in the paste, and would prevent the possibility of reducing it to a powder, which must be so fine as to pass through a thick gauze. It should be pounded in a cold place, and but a little while at a time, as after long beating the friction will in a degree soften the wax and gum, and instead of their becoming a powder they will return to a paste.
'* Make strong gum arable water, and when you paint, take a little of the powder, some colour, and mix them together with the gum water. Light colours require but a small quantity of the powder, but more of it must be put iu proportion to the body and
4S0
BHCAOSTtC PAIHTINO.
darkDMiof the colours ; aud to bUcktbere should be almost m macb of the powder u colour.
" Having mixed the colours aod no mate than can be lued before thfy ^row dry, paint with fair water, bs is prctdised in painting with natiT rolnuts, a ground on the wood beinK first painted of Eome proper colour pr' pared in the same manner ai b dc»crih«d for the iiicture ; nalnut-tree and oak aie the surts o[ wood com- monly made vif of in Italy for this purpose. The paisting should be very highly finished; otherwise, when varnished, the ttnta will not appear united.
'* When the painting is quite dry, with rather a hard brush, pas. ting it one way, varnish it with white iraz, which is pot into an earthen vtm-l, and kept m-lted over a yery slow fire till the pic- ture is varnished, taking great care that the wax does not boil. AflprwaTds hold the | icture before a Gre, near enough te melt the wii:, but not to make it run ; and when the varnish ia Mtlkcly cold and hnrd, ruli it gently with a linen cloth. Should Un TBt. ni»h blister, warm the picture again very slowly, and tbe bubbles will subside. When the picture is dirty, it need only be waiihed with cold water.''
The opinion given by the society upon the above is. The me- thod made use of by Miss Greenland provides againl all inconve- iiiencies ; and the brilliancy of the colours in the picture painted by her, and e\ldbited to the society, fully justifies the opIoJoa, that the art of pninling in wax, as above described, highly merited |]|p reward of a ^-old pallet voted to her on
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING. 451
and the gum-waCer and mastich are quite boiling, without taking them off the fire, add life ounces of white wax, broken into small pieces, stirring and beating the difFerent ingredients to .ether, till the wax is perfectly melted tnd has boiled. Then takp the com* position off the fire, as boilini; it lonsrer than necessary would only harden the wax, and prevent its mixing so wfll afterwards with water. When the composition is taken off the fire, and in the glazed earthen vessel, it should be beaten hard, and whilst hot (but not boiling) mix with it by degrees a pint (wine measure) or sixteen ounces more of cold spring water, then strain the compost* tion, as some dirt will boil out of the gum.mastich, and put it into bottles : the composition, if properly made, should be like a cream, and the colours when mixed with it as smooth as with oil. The method of using it is to mix with the composition, upon an earthea palette, such colours in powder as are used in painting with oil, and such a quantity of the composition to be mixed with the co- lours as to render them of the usual consistency of oil colours ; then paint with fair water. The colours when mixed with the composition may be laid on either thick or thin, as may best suit your subject, on which account, this composition is very advanta- geous, where any particular transparency of colouring is required, but in most cases it answers best, if the colours be laid on thick, and they require the same use of the brush as if painting with body colours, and the same brushes as used in oil painting. The co* lours, if grown dry, when mixed, with the composition, maybe used by putting a little fair water over them ; but it is less trouble to put some water when the colours are observed to be growing dry. In painting with this connposition the colours blend without difficulty when wet, and even when dry the tints may easily be united by means of a brush and a very small quantity of fair water. When the painting is finished, put some white wax into a glazed earthen vessel over a slow fire, and when melted, but not boiling, with a hard brush cover the painting with the wax ; and when cold take a moderately hot iron, such as is used for ironing linen, and so cold at not to hiss if touched with any thing wet, and draw it lightly over the wax. The painting will appear as if under a cloud till the was is perfectly cold, as also whatever the picture 18 painted upon is quite cold : but if, when So, the painting should not appear sufficiently clear, it may be held before the fire, so far from it as to melt the wax but slowj ; or the wax may be
432
BSCADSTIC PAIVTll
ineltpd by holding u liot |ioker at such a dlstaqce as Iff tnell U gentlj, especiiiliy such jvirts of the picture as shuiild act appear tuRiciently (raiispiniit or brilliant ; for the oftcDi-r h«tl is applied to the picture, the greaKr will b» the transparency and brilliancy of coloorint ; but the contrary pflect would be prt>duB9ilif too sudden ur too erf's! a r1c;;ree uf h<'at was applied, or Gh ton long B timet as it would ilraw the wax too miicli lo the (M&cf, aiul might UkcwiM crack the paiut. Should the co.it of way put ovtr (he painting when liiii»h<?J appear in any part uneTBiif it41t)< I>^ remedied tiy drawing a modei^alrty hot iron over it agaUt n before mentioned, or even by scraping the wax xilh a knife : and iriiauld the wax by too great or too long an appliialion of beat fnin into bubbles at particular places, by applying a poker heated^ oi even a tobacco.pipe made hot, the bubbles would subside ; or anch d«_ fects may Ik remoTsd by drawing any thing hard over the wai, which would close any small cavities. . " When the picture is cold, rub it with a line linen cloLb, Paint- ings may be ejcocnled in this manner upon wood (having fint places of wood let in liehind, acruH the grain of the wood, to flppent its warpiag) canvas, card, or plaster uT Paris. The plastfr of Paris would require do olh«r prcjiaratiun than mixing some fioft plotter of Paris in powder with cold wnter the Ihicknc^ii ol a titetm i thtrn put it on a looking-glass, having first mad<: a Trame of bMUW^K OD a looking-glass tlie form and liiickne>s you uould ttidt tile plaster of Paris tu lie of, and when dry take it oil', and there will be a very innooth surrace lo paint upon. Wood and CMitas Arc
following manner. Take twelve ounces, or three quarters of a pint, wine measure, of cold spring water, and four ounces and a half of gum-arabic ; put them into a glazed earthen vessel, and when the gum is dissolved, add eight ounces of white wax. Put the earthen vessel with the ghm->^ater and wax upon a slow fire^ and stir them till the wax is dissolved and has boiled a few mi* nutes : then take them off the fire and throw them into a bason, as by remaining in the hot earthen vessel the wax would become rather hard ; beat the gum. water and wax till quite cold. As there is but a small proportion of water in comparison to the quantity of gum and wax, it would be necessary in mixing this composition with the colours, to put also some fair water. Should the compo. sitton be so made as to occasion the ingredients to separate in the bottle, it will become equally serviceable if shaken before used to mix with the colours.
^^ I had lately an opportunity of discovering that the composi* tion which had remained in a bottle since the year 1792, in which time it had grown dry and become as solid a substance as wax, re« turned to a cream-like consistence, and became again in as proper a state to mix with colours as when it was first made, by putting a little cold water upon it, and suffering it to remain on a short time. I also lately found some of the mixture composed of only gum-arabic water and gum-mastich, of which I sent a specimen to the Society of Arts in 1792 ; it was become dry, and had much the appearance and consistency of horn. I found, on letting some cold water remain over it, that it became as fit for painting with as when the composition was first prepared."
[Cai/lus, Mantz. Pantolog, Transactions of the Societif of Arts, Conimtrcey and Manufactures,
SBCTION V.
Painting of Paper Hangings,
Thbrb are three methods of effecting this. The first by print* ing on the colours ; the second by using the stencil ; and the third by laying them on with a pencil, as in other kinds of painting. When (he colours arc laid on by printing, the impression is made by wooden prints, which are cut in such a manner that the figure to be expressed is made to project from the surface by cutting away
VOL. VI. 2 F "
434
PAINTINO OF VAPSB HANeiKGB.
iill tli« other part ; aiii! lUh,b«ing charged with the colaars tem- pered with their itropi't Tehicle, by letting it gently dawn on the block, ou whirh the coluut is pTemualy spread, conveys it from Ihrore to the ground of the p^pcr, on Mhicti it h mad'' lo fall more forcilily by means of its wciglit, and the effort of tlt« un of the person nho usei the print. It is easy to conclude that there most be SB many itcparale prluts as there are colours to be prlotrd. But where there are more (Ian one, great caro must bu lakan, after the first, to let the print fnll tsactly in the same part of the paper as that which wtnt before ; otherwise the Ggure of the design wonld be brought into imgularity and confusion. In common paper of low price, it ii usual, Ibcrefore, to print only the outlines, ukI lay OD the re»t nf liic colours by stencilling, which both saves the ex. pence of cutiin,> more prints, and can be practised by Common workmen, nor requiring the great care and dexterity necessary to the using several prints. The manner of stencilling the coloan is this : the figure, which all the parts of any fiarticulur colon Mike in the design to be painted, is to be cut out in a piece of tbtn lea. ther or oil. cloth, which pieces of leather, or oil-clolb, km called ■tencils ; and being laid flat on the sheets of paper to be printed, spread on a table or floor, are to be rubbtd over with th* cotonr^ properly tempered by means of a large brush. The colour passlog over the whole, is consequently spread on those parta of the paper where the cloth or leather is cut aviy,' and give the same effect as if laid on by a print. This is nevertheless only practicable in parts where there are only detached masses or spots of colours*, for
' PAlNtmO OF PAl^^R HAN01M09. 4S5
{ngs in water or varTiisb. It is sometimes used only to fill the out- lines already formed by printing, where the price of the colour, or the exai'tof'ss of fhe manner in wr<ic'i it is requirfd to be laid on, render the stencilling or printing it le:3S proper ; at other times it Is used tor foiniing or delin«'ating some parts of the design, where a spirit of freedom and variety, not to be had printed ia out* lines* are desirable in the worlc. The paper designed for receiy- Ing the flock, is first prepared with a varnish. gruuml with some proper colour, or by that of the paper itsrif. It i> frequently practised to print some Mosaic, or oiher small rnn» ing figure in colours, on the ijrounil, before th^ flo^'k be laid on; and it may be done with any pigment of the colour desired, tempered with var- * nish, and laid on by u print cut correspondently to that end. The method of laying on the flock is this : a wooden print being cut, as is above described, for lading on the colour in ^uch manner that the part of the design which is intended for the flock may j)roject beyond the rest of the surface^ the varnish is put on a block cover- ed with leather or oil-cloth, and the print is to be used also in the same manner, to lay the varnish on all the parts where the flock is to be fixed. The sheet, thus. prepared by the varnished impres- sion, is then (o be removed to another block, or table, and to be strewed over with flock, nhich is afterwards to be gently com- pressed by a board, or some other flat body, to make the varnisft take the better hold of it : and then the sheet is to be hung on a frame till the varnish be perfectly dry, at which time the super- fluous part of flock is to be brushed off by a soft camePs-hair brush, and the proper flock will be found to adhere In a very strong manner. The method of preparing the flock is, by cutting woollen rags or pieces of cloth with the hand, by means of a large bill or chopping, knife ; or by m4ans of a machine worked by a horse- mill. There Is a. kind of counterfeit flock-paper, which, when well managed, has very much the same effect to the eye as the real, though done with less e:fpence. The manner of making this sort IS, by laying a ground of varnish on the paper, and having after- wards printed the design of the flock In vai-nish, in the same man. ner as for the true; instead of the flock, some pigment or dry colour, of the same hue with the flock required by the design, but somewhat of a darker shade, being well powdered, is strewed on the printed varnish, and produces nearly the tame appearance.
2 »2
456
NTlNe OP PAFtTt HAAGIAGS.
Mr. John Middleton lately comniunicBted some improTCBienls in iUe printiog or paper-hangings, to the Society of Arts. Tbcy are iatended to fqcilitate the conveyance of the paper over the print, iog.tablc, and to give a grealeT preHure than usual lo the block, when priiiling dark grounda.
To facilitate the convfyance of the paper, two cordl 36 feet long, are stretched from the printers table to the other end of the roorn, through rings, inhere they arc kept tight by ■ weight ap> pended to their extremities. The paper to be printed is rolled up OD a wooden roller at one side of the tatde, and Its endi faroaghb ■cross the table, and fastened between two flat ledges Ihat ar« con- nected at one end by an hinge, and at the other by a sliding ring ; these ledges slide along the two cords on pullles placed at each end of them, and serie to draw forward the paper as it is printed ; from the middle of these ledges a cord proceeds to the end of the room, between the other two cords, where it passes over a pnllej, and thence returns to a roller under the table ; the circle of thia roUer extends beyond the table, and there has a wheel fastened to it, from which projects three pins, each about four inches long, bj pressing on which with the foot, the wheel is turned ronnd, and with it the roller ; by means of which, the paper is drawn forward Oa the cords a space corresponding to the distance between the l^ns in the wheel.
The contrivance forgiving an extraordinary pressure (o the block, consists of a long and a short lever, projecting from one side of an axle, placed over head, above the printers' table, trhich levers and
CAi.ICO-PRlMTlNO; 437
SBCTIOH Vf.
Calico-printing.
This ingenious art consists in dyeing cloth with certain colosri «nd figures upon a ground of a different hue ; the colours, when they will not take hold of the cloth readHy, being fixed to them by means of intermedes, or mordants, as they were formerly called, constituting materials that have a chemical affinity or attraction for both the materials that form the colour, and the cloth to which the colour is to be applied. It was long ago supposed that these inter, medes corroded their way into the interior of the cloth, and carried the colouring matter along with them, and it was on this account they were called mordants ; but since the science of che^i mistry has been better studied and understood, it has been suffi. ciently ascertained, that they only act or hold the dye and the cloth together, -by a mutual affinity or attraction.
The mordant which is principally used in the general process is a preparation of alum, called in ^he new nomenclature acetate of argil. It is prepared by dissolving 3lbs. of alum and lib. of ace. tate of lead in Slbs. of warm water. An exchange of the princi^ pies of these salts takes place: the sulphuric acid of the alum combines with the oxide of lead, and the compound thus formed being insoluble, is precipitated, the acetic acid remains united with the argil of the alum in solution. There are added at the Bame time two ounces of the potash of commerce, and two ounces of chalk ; the principal use of which appears to be, to neutralize the excess of acid that might act on the colouring matter and alter its shade.
The superiority of thb acetate of argil as a mordant to the cheaper tulphat of argil or alum, arises principally from Iwo cir. Gumstances ; from the affinity between its principles being weaker, in consequence of which, the argil more easily separates from thft acid, and unkes with the doth and the colouring matter; and, 3dly, from the acetic acid disen^ged in the process not acting with the same force on the colouring matter as the sulphuric acid would do. The acetate being also Tery soluble, and having little ten. deney to crystallize, can be more equally mixed and applied. The discoTiry of this mordant, so essential in the art of calico-printing, was altogether accidental, or rather empirical. The recipes of the calico-printers were at one time very complicated : different arti.
43S CALIC0*?ltINTin6.
cles were from time to time omitted or changed, until at length the simple mixture of alum and acetate of lead wm found to answer as a mordant, equally with compogitions more complicated.
After the mordants have been applied, the cloth must be com- » pletely dried. It is proper for this purpose to employ arttficial heat, which will contribute something towards the separation off the acetous acid from its base, and towards its evaporation, by which the mordant will combine in a greater proportion, and more intimately with the cloth.
When the cloth is sufficiently dried, it is to be washed with warm water and cow.dung, till all the flonr, or gum, employed to thicken the mordants, and all those parts of the mordants which are on* combined with the cloth, are removed. The cow.dung serves tqt entangle these loose parts of the mordants, and \o prevent thnut from combining with those parts of the cloth which are te remaia white. After this, the cloth is thoroughly rinsed ip elean water*
Almost the only dye.stufis employed by calico-printers are in- digo, madder, and quercitron bark) or weld. This last substance^ however, is but little used by the printers of this country, except for delicate greenish yellows. The quercitron bark haf alroosl superseded it, because it gives colours equally good, and is mndi cheaper and more convenient, not requiring so great a heat to &ik it. Indigo, not requiring any mordant, is commanJy applied a| once, either with a block or^a pencil. It is prepared bj boiling together indigo and potash made caustic by quick lime, ae4 orpi* ment ; the solution is afterwards thickened with gum. It musi be carefully secluded from the air, otherwise the iedigo would sooii be regenerated, which would render the solutibn useless. Df* Bancroft has proposed to substitnte coarse brown segar for orpi- ment : it is equally efficacious in decomposing the indigo, and rendering it soluble ; while it likewbe serves all the puf posea ef gum.
Let vs now give an eiample or two of. the manner in which the printers give particalar colours to calicoes. Some calicoes are only printed of one colour, others hifve two, others three or more, oven to the number of eight, ten, or twelve. The smeller Uie Bomber of colours, the fewer in general are the .processes*
J. One of the most common colours on cotton prints h a kiad of nankeen yellow, of various sbadee down to a deep yeUowiah brown^ or drab. It Is nsoally in atripea or spots. To produce it,
CALICO-FRINTING. 4391
the printers besmear a block, cut out into the figure of the print, with acetic of iron, thickened with gum or flour ; and appij it to the cotton, which, after being dried and cleansed in the usual nanner, is plunged into a potash ley. The quantity of acetite of iron is always pro|)ortioned to the depth of the shade. 2. For yellow, the block is besmeared with acetite of alumina. The cloth, after receiving this mordant, is dyed with quercitron bark, and then bleached. 3. Red is communicated by the same process ; only madder is substituted for the bark. 4. I'he tine light blues which appear so often on printed cottons, are produced by apply- ing to the cloth a block besmeared with a composition, consisting partly of wax, which covers all those parts of the cloth which are to remain white. 1 he cloth is theq died in a cold indigo yat ; and after it is dry, the was composition is removed by hot water. 5* Lilac, flea brown, and blackith brown, are given by means of ace* tite of iron : the quantity of which is always proportioned to the depth of the shade. For very deep colours, a little sumach is added. The cotton is afterwards dyed in the usual manner with madder, and then bleached. 6. Dove.colour and drab, by acetitt of iron Aid quercitron bark.
When different colours are to appear in the same print, a greater nnmbey of operations are necessary. Two or more blocks are employed, upon each of which that part of the print only is cut, which is to be of some particular colour. These are besmeared trith different mordants, and applied to the cloth, which is after- wards died as usual.
Mr. Henry Mandeslay has a patent press for calicorprinting: it is described in No. 54, Rep. of Arts, N. S., and No. 7, Retro- spect of Discoveries.
In the towns of Manchester, Glasgow, Paisley, &c. many thou- sands of industrious hands are employed in the manufacture of this article; which, according to its different degrees of fineness, is sold from 6d. to 6s. and upwards a yard.
Cotton cloth is an intermediate substance between that made of flaXand animal wool; but by no means deserves to be commended as a substitute for flannel, next the skin. Calico imbibes and rev tains the perspired humours, unless it be as frequently changed as linen ; while flannel admits a free evaporation tlirough its nume* roDS pores.
[Bancroft, Ckaptal* Gregory^ Nicholson.
KHOBATIHG.
SECTION VII.
I
Engraving. ^
Tuts curious and Taluablu art is for the most part ofil Inrentiun, having its rise no earlier than the middle of the fi century. The ancients, indeed, practised engraving on p stoaes and trystals wilh lery good success; and there a many of their works remaining equal lo any produciioD of t) ages. But (be art of vni^raTin^ on plains and blocks of wt ftflord prints or impressions, ivas not knoxn till afti-r the ini of painting in oil. Of ttiesc last, the moKtanclfni mode ii I wood, the first impressions on paper havini; been taken from nooden blocks. For this inreotiun we are indebted to the tualeri, or makers of playing cards, who practised ibe art i many about the beginning of (he fifteenlh century. Fr ■ame source may perhaps be traced the first idea of moTeablt which appeared not long after ; for these bricf.malera did i tirely couSni.' themscUes to the printing and palnfiiig of car produced also subjects of a more devout nature ; many of taken from holy writ, arc still preserved in German libnfri' the explanatory text facing (he figure;, ihe whole eni;raTed k Thus a species of books was formed ; such as. )ii>toria Sai kannis, ejuEipje Visiones Apocalypllmi Ilistoria Velerij « Totaroenli. known by the name of the Poor Mao's Bible, short menif ntos were printed only on one tide ; and two t
SNORAT1VO. 441
ieentb cenfnry and the beginning of the sixteenth centnry, it be« came customary for almost every one of the German engrayers on copper to pngrave on wood also* The works of Albert Durer in this style of engraTiog are justly held in the highest esteem. Italy, France, and Holland, have produced many capital artists of this kind ; but for boldness and spirit we must see the prints of Christopher Jegher, who worked under the direction of Rubens^ and was without doubt assisted by that great master. The in. Tention of that species of engraving distinguished by the appella. tion of chiaro.scuroj seems also to be justly claimed by the Ger« mans, and first practised by Mair ; one of whose prints of this jLind is dated 1499. Many excellent works in chiaro-scuro have been produced in France ; and in Italy it was honoured with the performances of Titian and Parmegiano; but the attempts of Jackson, Kirkall, and others in Kn^land, have not been suc- cessful. A set of excellent prints in this way have lately been published by J. Skippe, esq. a connoisseur and dillettante. In Germany, about A. D. 1450, prints from engraved copper first made their appearance. The earliest date of a copperplate print is indeed »onIy 1461 ; but however faulty this print may be with respect to the drawing, or defe tive in point of taste, the mecha- nical part of the execution of it has by no means the appearance of being one of the first'productions of the graver. We have also several other engravings evidently the work of the same master ; |n which the impressions are so neatly taken from the plates, and the engravings so clearly printed in every part, that according to all appearance, they could not be executed in a much better man- ner in the present day, with all the conv^niencies which the cop- perplate printers now possess, and the additional knowl«*dge they must necessarily have acquired in the course of more than three centuries. Hence we may fairly conclude, that if they were not the first specimens of the engraver's workmanship, they were much less the first efforts of the copperplate printer's ability. It is likewise to be observed, that Martin Shoen, who is said to have worked from 1460 to i486, was apparently the scholar of Stoltz. hirs : for he followed his style of engraving, and copied from him a set of prints, represehtiui; the passion of our Saviour. Now, allowing Stoltzhirs to have preceded his disciple only ten years^ this carries the era of the art back to 1460, as was said above. There is no groand to soppose that it was known to the Italiaoi
442 BNORAVIFO.
till at least ten years afterwards. The earliest prints that art known to be theirs are a set of the seven planets, and an alroanme by way of frontispiece; on which are directions for 6ndi ng Easter from 146 J to 1617 inclusive : and we may be assured that the en- gravings were not antedated, as the almanac would have thus beea lessvaluable. These prints must therefore have been executed in 1464, which is only four years later than the Italians claim. The three earliest Italian engravers are Finiguerra, Botirelli, and Bal. dini. If we are to refer these prints to any of the three, we shall naturally conclude them to be the work of Finiguerra or BaJdioi ; for they are not equal either in drawing or composition to those ascribed to Bottcelli, which we know at least were designed by him ; and as Baldini is expressly said to have worked from the de« signs of Boticelli, it will appear most probable that they belong to Ffnignerra. With respect to the invention of etching, it seems to be not well known to whom it is to be ascribed. One of the most early specimens is the print by Albert Durer, known by the name of the Cannon, dated 1518, and thought by some, with little foun. dation, to have been worked on a plate of iron. Another etching by the same artist is Moses receiving the tables of the law, dated 1524. It was also practised in Italy soon after this by Parme- giano, in whose etchings we discover the band of the artist work- ing out a system as it were from his own imagination, and 8trivii$g to produce the forms he wanted to expres$. We see the difficulty he laboured under, and cannot doubt, from the examination of the" mechanical pirt of the execution of bis works, that he had no in- struction ; and that it was something entirely new to him. If the story is true, that he kept an engraver by profession in bis house, the novelty of the art is rendered so much the more probable. He died in 1 540. As to that species of engraving in which the modes of etching and cutting with the graver are united, it must have been found necessary immediately upon the invention of etching ; it was, however, first carried to perfection by G. Audran, and is now al* most universally practised, whether the work 'A in strokes or in dots. Engraving in dots, the present fashionable method, is a very old invention, and the only mode discovered by the Italians. Agos. tino de Musis, commonly called Augustine of Venice, a pupil of Marc Antonio, used it in several of his earliest works, but confined it to the flesh, as in the undated print of an old man seated upon a Imnk, trith a cottage in the back ground. He flourished from 1509
BNOBAVINO. 443
to 1556. We also find it in a print of a single figure standing, holding a cup and looking upwards, by Giulio Campagnola, who engrayed about the year 15 J 6. The back ground is execntt>d with round dots, made apparently with a dry point. The figure is out. lined with a s«r .jke deeply engraved, and finished with dots, in a manner greatly resembling those prints which Demarteau engraved at Paris in imitation of red chalk. The hair and beard are cxpres. sed by strokes. Stephen de Laulne, a native of Germany, fol. lowed the steps of Campagnola ; and many of his slight works are executed in dot.s only. John tioulan^er, a French artist, who flou. rished in the middle of the last century, and his contemporary Ni. cholas Van Plattenberg, improved greatly on this method, and prac- tised it with much success, it is only, however, of late, that it has been considered as an object worthy of general imitation. John Lutma executed this kind of work witii a hammer and a small punch or chisel. Engraving in mezzotinto was invented about the^ middle of the seventeenth century ; and the invention has gene, rally been attributed to prince Rupert. Engraving in aqua- tinta is quite a recent invention, and seems at once to have been carried to perfection by Sandby, and other artists of the present f age. Engraving with the tool was the kind originally prac.
tised, and it is yet retained for many purposes. For though etching be more easy, and other advantages attend it ; yet where great regularity and exactness of the stroke or linns are required, the working with the ^raver is much more etiectual : on which account it is more suitable to the precision necessary in the execution of portraits ; as there every thing the most minute must be made out and expressed accordioit lo the original sub- ject, without any licence to the fancy of the designer in d« viat. ing from it, or varying the eflfect either by that mastfrly negligence and simplicity in some parts, or tho>e bold sallies of the Imagi* nation and hand in others, which give spirit and force to history painting.
Historical engravings for the port folio and furniture seemed at one period to advance rapidly towards perfection, to which the late alderman Boydell lately contribnted ; but the death of Strange, Hall, and Wooilet, have been almost fatal to the hopes of theama. teur, which rest, in a great measure, upon Heath, Sharp, Bromley, and a few others, as in this particular instance we do not include
X
444 SNORAVINO.
those eminent foreigners who have, or do at present reside in England. IVhatever deficiencies we may discoTer in the prosecn^ tion of the arts in this country, is fortunately not to be attributed to want of genius, or relaxation from study in the artist ; the chill of apathy io the rich, who view a wretched coloured aquatint with the same or more pleasure than the most laboured production of the graver, is the baleful cause of the languishing state of historical en. graving. When persons capable of affording patronage are taught discrimination, future Woollets will fascinate the best judges of engraving. We have, however, some very fine engravers, in dif- ferent departments, among whom it would be unjust not lo specify the names of Milton, Scott, Lowry, and Mrs. Grifl&ths.
[ WalpoU. Phil. Trans. Pantol.
A very ingenious process has of late years been employed on the continent to answer at the same time both the purposes of de- signing and engraving ; or, in other words, to produce an engraving by the art of designing. This art or process is called lithography or stone-engraving : and among the German artists, who have recourse to it, chemische druckery^ or chemical printing* From Germany it has spread into our own country, and still more lately into France and Italy. It consists in being first provided with a few small blocks of marble, about the size of Dutch tiles, orlarger, according to the intended dimensions of the print ; the thickness should be about two inches. The landscape, or other subject, is then to be traced over with a pencil ; and the pencil lines to be afterwards at leisure retraced with a particular ink which was at first a great secret. It is now, however, known to consist of a so- lution of lae in potash, coloured black by soot from burning wax. When the design has been gone over with this ink, it is left to dry, which commonly takes about two hours, though this will depend upon the temperature and dryness of the atmosphere. The face of the marble being, after this process, washed with nitric acid more or less diluted according to the degree of relief desired, the whole surface will be corroded except where defended by the resinous ink. The operation is now completed, and to obtain printed co- pies nothing more is necessary than to wash the marble clean ; to distribute over it, by means of printers' balls, an ink similar to that commonly used by printers ; and to press down upon the dtm
8CULPTVBB. 445
tign, by a copper roller or copper-plate press, a sheet of paper pro- perly disposed ia a frame*
A few of such marble tiles or blocks are now frequently taken by travellers through picturesque scenery, who produce at one and the same time the drawing and the engraving, and the latter with far more correctness to the former than can possibly be obtained by copying. And as soon as a sufficient number of prints have been struck off, nothing more is necessary than to replane and repolish the marble tiles, when they will be immediately ready for other subjects. A particular account of this process, drawn up by M. Marcel de Serres, will be found in the Annales de Chemie, vol. Ixxit.
lEdiior.
SECTION VIII.
ii Sculpture.
Ji
W £noravimg is occasionally called working en creux^ sculpture
working in relievo : yet in its most comprehensive range the word
sculpture has been applied to both these.
The studies necessary for the young sculptor, towards the attain- ment of his art, are so similar to those which form the painter (with the obvious exceptions arising from the difference of materials em- ployed in the two arts), that very little remains here to be enlarged on, under the head of studies. The principal acquisitions to which the student must direct his endeavours are, a knowledge of compo- sition, form (including anatomy), and expression ; to which, as in painting, must be added the difficult study of grace.
The method of study most recommended to young sculptors is^ to begin with copying, and to end with rivalling, the forms of the Greek statues.
ft
^^ Yos exemplaria Grsca
Nocturn^ versate manv, versate dinrnIL ;"
•
•ays Da Fresnoy : nor can it be questioned that the sculptors are, generally speaking, the safest guides to the study of nature. But it should not pass unnoticed, that although the forms of the Greek sculpture are, in general, not only more beautiful, but more appro- priately so than any other; yet in sone instances they liave bteir
446
•CCLrTtTRK.
n sculptori, as in the forrai of latnls by Fl«.
iur)M3wd bymoder niiigo.
Thp mflhod of e»eiOiion in tho Grff-k outues and other works of sculpture, »e(?nis to h*TC been txtmni'ly diHerent from that which is uFoerHlly in use among tnodTii irtista. In the Kncl<-nt stNttic), we frequfnllv liT)d ilrlking proofs of the freedom and boldness that accompanied each stroke of the chisel, mi which re. suited from the nrtiil'x being perfectly sure of the accuracy of the method which he pursued. L.Ten in the moot minute parti of the figare, no indication of timorousoess or diHidpnce appeart.* nothing that can Induce us fo belieie. that the arlist feared he might hare occasion to correct his strokes. It is difficult to Rnd, even in the secondTiite productions of the Grecian artists, &iiy marks of a false or a random touch. This firmness and precision of the Grecian chisel were certainly dcrired from a more det«-rmioed and parfect set of rules, than those of which we are masters. ^
Besides studying, therefore, in the productions of the Gneian niBiters, their choice and eipression of select nature, whether beaotifol, suldime, or graceful, together with that seilate grandeur and simplicity which pervade all their works, the artist will da well 10 inresttgnti' the manual and mechnnicol purt of thfir operailona, as they may lead to the perception of their mode of progress.
As soon o-s the artist hai rendered himself familiarly acqualnfed with the beauties of the Grecian Ktalues, and formed Ms taafe on the admirable models li'ey exhibit, he may then ptocaeil witli ad. vantage and ossDrance (o tht- tmiialioti of oatore. The ideas he
SOULPTVBB. 447
are' taken from a variety of objects, and combined and blended into one regular whole* All kinds of copies belong to the first kind of imitation ; and productions of this sort must necessarily be ezei. cuted in a confined and seryilc manner, with high finishing, and little or no invention. But the second kind of imitation leads directly to the inyestigatiou and discovery of true beauty, of tliat beauty whose perfect idea is only to be found within the mind.
Of the different modes of process in sculpture* — Works of of sculpture are performed, either by hollowing or excavating, as in metals, agates, and other precious stones, and in marbles of every description ; or by working in relief, as in bas-reliefs In the materials just mentioned, or in statues of metal, clay, wood, wax, marble, or stone.
The excavation of precious stones forms a particular branch of art called intaglio, which, together with the working them in re« lievo, when the term camayeu is applied to them, belongs to the art of seal-engraving.
The excavation of metals consitutes^the art of engraving, in its various branches, on metal of any kind ; and its relief comprises enchasing, casting in bronze, &c«
The process of hollowing hard stone or marble will need no par« ticular description ; eH^^ecially as it is now wholly in disuse, ex. cept for the forming of letters in monumental or other inscriptions*
In working in relief the process is necessarily different, accord* ing to the materials in which the work is performed.
As not only the beginning of sculpture was in clay, for the pur- pose of forming statues, but as models are still made in clay or wax^ for every work undertaken by the sculptor ; we shall first consider the method of modelling figures in clay or wax.
Few tools are necessary for modelling in clay. The clay being placed on a stand or sculptor's easel, the artist begins the work with his hands, and puts the whole into form by the same means. The most expert practitioners of this art seldom use any other tool than their fingers, except in such small or sharp parts of their work as the fingers cannot reach. For these occasions, they are pro. vided with three or foar small tools of wood, about seven or eight inches in length, which are rounded at one end, and at the other- iat and shaped into a sort of claws. These tools are called by the French ebauchoirs. In some of these the claws are smooth, for the parpose of smoothing the surface of the model; and in. others are
44B
9CDLPTDBB.
mnde with teeth, to rake or scratch the clay, which It the firtt pro- CH< of the iDol on the worV, and in which -^tate many parts of the tnodtl are frequently left hy artists, to give an appearance of free* (lorn anil bkill to their work.
irday cuulil be made to preserve its original tnoistnre, it would undoubtedly be the fitte-t sublance for the models of the icuTptor; bat whi^n il is placed either in the 6rf , or left to dry tflperceptibly 111 the air, its solid parls grow more compact, and Iha work shrinks, or loses a part of ils dimensions. This diminution in Sen would be of no consi'quencc, tf it aOected the whole work equally, so as to preserve lis proportions. But this is not always the cue : for (he smaller parts of Ihe figure drying sooner than tb« larger; and thus losing more of (heir dimensions in tlie same spam of time, than the latter do ; the symmetry and proportions of the vork in. erilably suffer.
This inconrenicDce, howcTer, is obrialcd by formtqg thtt model first in clay, and moulding it in plaisler of Paris before it beitiu to dry, and the taking a plaister cast from that mould, and the re. pairing it carefully from the original work ; by whick means yon have the exact counterpart of the model in its most perfect stale ; and you have, besides, your clay at liberty for any other work.
In order to modfl in wax, prepare the wax in the foils wing man- ner ; to a pound of wax add half a pound of scammoaj {MOM mi.'s turpentine also), and melt the whole together with oil of ollves ; putting more or less oil as you would have your modeHlog was harder or softer. Vermillion is sometimes mixed with thb oompo-
|
■."■"■• |
• ■ ' ' ' ■ ■ ■ |
|
|
1 |
^ |
Btiri.ptiiiis« |
.S"-
% «
449
tif di^i dtf ided Into degrees, with a moveable rale fastened in Ihtf ventre of the circle, and likewise divided into parts. From the extremity of the rule hangs a line with a lead, which directs him ia taking all the points, whidh are to be transferred from the model to the marble ; and from the top of the marble is hung also a line^ tallying with that which is hung from the model | by the corre* Bpondence of which two lines^ the points are ascertained in the marble •
Many eminent sculptors prefer measurements taken by the com* passes to the method just described ; for this reason, that if the model is mored but ever so little from its level, the points are no longer the same.
This method, however, offers the best means, by which mecha* kiical precisjpn may be attained } but it is manifest, that ianough yet remains to exercise and display the genius and skill of the artist. For, first, as it is impossible, by the means of a straight line, to determine with precision the procedure of a curVe, the artist de* riveS from thb method no certain rule to guide him, as often as the line which he is to describe deviates from the direction of the plumb* line. It is also evident, that this method affords no certain rule to determine exactly the proportion, which the various parts of the figure ought to bear to each other considered in their mutual rela- tion and connections. This defect, indeed, may be partly supplied by intersecting the plumb-lines by horizontal ones ; but even this resource has its inconveniences ; since the squares totnked by trans- versal lines that are at a distance from the figure (though they are exactly equal), yet 'represent th^ parts of the figure as greater or smaller, according as they are more or less removed from our point of view*
Of sculpture in toood.'-^k sculptor id wood should first take care to choose wood of the best quality, and the most proper for the work which he intends to execute. If be undertakes a large work, requiring strength and solidity, he ought to choose the hardest wood, and that which keeps best, as oak and chesnut ; but for works of moderate size, pear or apple-tree serve very well. As even these latter woods are still of considerable hardness, if the work consists only of delicate ornaments, the artist will ind It preferable to take some more tender wood, provided it is Irt the same time firm and close ; as, for Instance, the Indian tree, which
VOI.« VI* %^
f »
• ■■ .<■
1 ..
■ J.
. "I ,
450 SCOLPTURK.
is eicellent for (tiis pnrpoBc, as the chisel cuts it more neatly sdcI earily th»n any other wuod.
The ancient,- niadf statues out of iilmost every different kind of wood. At Sicyon wis n atalue uf Apollo made of box j the statue of Diana at Ephesus wjs of cedar. As tlitse (wo sorts of wood are extremely hard and undecaying ; and as cedar, in particular, is of !iuch a nature, as, according to FUny, to be neaTly indestructible^ the ancients preferred them for the images of their difinities.
In the temple built on mount Cyllene in honour of Mercury, Fausanias relates, that there was a statue of that god made of citron-wood, eight feet in height. This wood was alao much esteemed.
The. cypress likewise, being a wood not apt to spoil, n6r to be damaged hy worn«, was also nsed for statues ; as were the palm, tree, oliTe, and ebony, of which latter, according to Pliny's ac- count, there was another statue of Diana at Ephesus,
Several other kinds of wood were equally employed for tlui purpose, even the vine, of which the same author says there vers statues of Jupiter, Juno, and Diana.
Felibien speaks of a French artist at Florence, of the name of Janni, who executed several statues in wood, in a style of finishing equal to marble, and particularly one of St. Rocque, which Vasari considered as a marvellous production.
The beauty of sculpture in wood consists in the tender manner of cutting the wood, free from all appearance of hardness or dryness.
For any work of large dimensions, even thongh it consists of a single figure, it is better, to join togetiier seveial smaller pieces of wood than to make the whole of a single large piece j which is more liable to warp and crack, ob account of its not being always dry at heart, although it appears perfectly dry on tfa« ontside.
No wood can be properly fit for works of this kind that has not beeu cut at least ten years before.
The tools used for sculpture in wood are the same as those of the joiner or cabinet-maker.
Of teulpture in Hone and marble.— For sculpture la marblt and other stone, the artist must make use of tools made ofgood steel, *ellMpapered, and of streD^th proportioned to the hardnesi of tbt
fCULPTUKB.
«{k
The first thing to be done {•, to mw out from a larger block of marble, a block proportioned to the size of the work which Is on. dertaken. After this, the sculptor shapes the gross masses of the forms he designs to represent, by knocking off the superfluous parts of marble with a strong mallet or beel, and a strong steel tool called a point.
When the block is thus hewn out agreeably to the measures pre- viously taken for the performance of the work, the sculptor brings it nearer to the intended form by means of a finer point ; and some- times of a tool called a dog's tooth, having two points, but less sharp than the single one.
After this he uses the gradine, which is a flat cutting tool, with three teeth, but is not so strong as the point.
Ha? ing adranced his work with the gradine, he nsesthe chisel to take off the ridges left by the former tools ; and by the dexte- rous and delicate use of this instrument, he gives softness and ten. derness to the figure, till at length, by taking a rasp, which is a sort of a file, he brings his work into a proper state for being po. Ushed.
Rasps are of several kinds, some straight, some curved, and some harder or softer than others.
When the sculptor has thus far finished his work with the best tools he can procure, wherever certain parts or particnlar works require polishing, he uses pumice-stone to make all the parts smooth and even. He then goes over them with tripoli, an4 when he would gtTe a still higher gloss, he rubs them with leatlier and straw«ashes. «
Besides the tools already mentioned, sculptors use also the pidc, which is a small hammer pointed at one end, and at the otlier ' formed with teeth made of good steel and squared, to render them the stronger. This serves to break the marble, and is used in all places where the two hands cannot be employed to manage the mallet and chisel.
The bouchard, which is a piece of iron, well steeled at the bot- tom, and formed into sereral strong and short points like a dia- mond, is used for making a hole of equal dimensions, which cannot be done with cutting tools. The bouchard is driTen with the mal- let or beetle, and its points bruise the marble and redj||| it to powder. Water is thrown into the hole from time to tim^^l^ pro. portion to the deptli that is made, to bring out the dnst of tht
■""*■?
■-.■ . -Ji
A
- ^'i
■J'p
■ ■■§■
i-
■•'?■
s.
■i
■s.
. -I
V .
^.-
•". ■••■•./
irt. iT*--'
.. '.' V.='?*^-
|
■ .*! • .1 |
||
|
• n |
"«. |
|
|
> |
• |
« . |
|
i^l- |
452 POTTERY AND VORCBLAIK.
tDftrble, and to prevent (he tool from heating, which would deslray its temper; for the free-stone dust on which tools are edged, It only moistened with water to prcTent the iron from healing and taking olT the temper of the tool by being rubbed dry ; and the trepans are welted for the same reason.
The sculptor uses the bouchard to bore or pierce snch parts of his work as the chisel cannot reach without danger of spoiling or breaking them. In using it, he passes it through a piece of lea. ther, which leather covers the hole made by the bouchard, and pre. Tents the water from spirting up in his face.
The tools necessary fur sculpture on marble or stone, are th* roundel, which is a sort of rounded chisel; the houguet, which Ii a chisel squared and painted ; and various compasses to take th« fequisile measures.
The process of sculpture in stone is the same as in marble, ex- cepting that the material being less hard than marble, the tools used are not so strong, and some of them are of a different form, as the rasp, the hand saw, (he ripe, the straight chisel with three teeth, the roundel, and the grater.
If the work is executed in free-stone, tools are employed which are made on purpose, as the free-Stone is apt to scale, and does not work like hard stone or marble.
Sculptors in stone have commonly a bowl in which thej keep a powder composed of plaister of Paris, mixed with the same stone in which their work is executed. With this composition ihey gll np the small holes, and repair the defects which tbey meet with ia the stone itself.
IfValpole. ffinckelmann. Du Fremoy. Pantalog.
Poller^ and Porcelain,
Porcelain may be regarded as (he finest kind of pottery ; th« art of which consists in working and moulding plastic earths, more or less simple into hard brittle vessels of rarious kinds and forms, and designed for Yarious purposes.
The essential material of pottery is clay, which alone possesses the tir|i requisite qualities of being in its natural slate so plastic that wiHl water it becomes a soft uniformly extensible mass, capa- bl« of assuming and letaioingKiiy any form ; and when tfaorongMf
POTTERY AKD POHCBLAIN. itiei and undergone a red h«at for a time, of losing fhli plasticity,
becoming
irretenriTe of water to a texture, and able more •
>nsiderable r leu perfectly (o
hard, infine all
close j
liquids cunlaiaed wittiio its hollow.
Clay, however, is in all instances a*ery compound substance : It owes its [tlaiticity lo alumino, which forms a constiluent part of it ; bat the proportion of alumine varies considerably in different species, and almost as much as (he oiber sabstances with which it b combined.
It may hence be suppoaed that many of the impare- coloured natural clays are of Ihemsekes sufficiently mt.^ed wilh other earths for the potter's use without any addition : but the white and finer clays mostly require dilution with silei in some form or other, which may be done to a considerable extent without taking away i the plasticity requisite for working.
The most important circumstances requisite to be considered Id aelecling the materials for pottery are plaslicily, contractility, soUa dity, and compactness after drying, colour, and fusibility.
The plasticity seems to be simply owing to the proportion of clay need, or relaliTely to the original plasticity of the clay itself; for all clays are not equally plastic, and the superadded substances in no instance increase thU properly, and in many cases considerably diminish it.
The texture, including the qualitieB of hardness and compftct- aess, depends partly on the mixture of siliceous (Binty or sandy) Ingredients with (he clay, and partly on the heat employed in the bnrning of the pottery. The purer natural clays are almost in> fusible in any furnace heat; their hardness b nearly progressiie If ith the intensity of the Rre, but they have the essential defects ot drying very slowly, of shrinking very considerably, and of becom- ing rifty or full of minute cracks when dried, so as on this account
to be porous. It is therefore necessary ti
X them intimately
with any other earth of qualities opposite to those of clay -, that ia which absorbs but little water, and quickly parts with it,(qiialitiei directly opposite (o plasticity) and which dries compact and close. The colour of the earths used is also of essential importance in the finer pottery, in which the great desideratum is to And a clay which after burning remains perfectly white. The appearanee be- fore burniag cannot always be depended upon, for though in geue- I ral the whitest clays before burning ara thoM that remain white of-
4J4 POTTERV AND PORCELAIN.
terwBTil9,it is only in a few districts that clays are to be found that retain a perfecf iihiUnPss. Thus ihert e^i&ts at (he foot of a range of high hills that directly overlook the Staffordshire potteries, s slratiim of wliite clay to appearance fully equal if not superior to the best Devonshire clays, which cannot be employed for fine pottery from its acijviiriiig in biiniing a yellowish cream colour which no art can correct. This colour is supposed to depend oa an intermixture of iron.
The fusibility of clays and of other pottery earths is a subject of extreme importance, as it is this propirty that principally codsIi. tiites the difTeTGiice between common pottery and porcelain.
We liave defini-d porcelain lo be a species of pottery ware com. posed of an earthy mixlure which resists complete fusion in a Tery considerable heat, bul has been brought b> a less heal than ill melting point to a state of incipipnt lusion, and is th^Teby rendered extremely hard, sonorous, and semi.[raiis|iarent, and pussesses a semi.conchoidal splentery fracture approaching to the vitreouS) which is completely conchoidat. This |jst is quite a diatinrtive character between porcelain and pottery, for the fracture of pot. tery is eitremely granular : and hence porcelain may correctly be regarded as a substance of a middle nature between pottery and gla,!.
From these circumstancea !t appears probable that no chemical action takes place in any pottery combination till it arrives at th« slate of porcelaip. Tbe most perfect and beautiful porcelains of Japan in China are composed of two distinct earths ; one in which silex predominates, and which melts in a strong lire; aud another which is infusible per se : and by the union of those t»o earths a porcelain is produced which scarcely vitrifies at the utmost furnace heat which art can eicite. This substance possesses the combined excellencies ofgreat hardnessj beautiful semi- transparency, exqui. site whiteness, where not arlificially coloured, strong (oughnesi and cohesion; so that it has strengtl) enough for the purposes for which it is designed when made very tbio, and bears sudden beat- • log and cooling without cracking.
Of the beautiful European porcelains which have been made in imitation of the oriental, it does not appear that any of them unite all ill Excellencies. Earthy combinations have been made eqaa ly strong, tough, and infusible, and m» truly porcelaioeouB when burnt, but tliey have not quite rivalled the best Japanese in delicatk
\-
»0TTE1(Y AND POKGELAIN.
455
wbitenesB and lastre. As these last qualities, however, are es« teemed most essential, that of iufasibility (which indeed is of no great consequence for any of the common uses of porcelain) has been sacrificed ; and hence those that make a near approach to the oriental in beauty and delicate lustre, of which many manufac- tures in diffc^rent parts of Europe have afforded splendid examples, are frequently found to soften and melt down in an intense heat of a wind-furnace, at which the true Nankin and Japan china undergo no change.
The manufacture of the ordinary pottery is on the whole very simple where a due selection of materials is made ; but the orna« mental branches of it, such as those of modelling, enamelling, painting, and gilding, which often display exquisite beauty, are accompanied with much delicacy^ and require a combination of perseverance, skill, and practical nicety of management, that are rarely equalled in any other chemical manufacture.
An intimate mixture of the ingredients used in pottery is of great importance to the beauty, compactness, and soundness of th« ware. Formerly the wet clay and ground flint, or whatever else was employed, were beaten together with long continued manual labour, no more water being added than was necessary to render the clay thoroughly plastic. This laborious and expensive method has now been laid aside in the larger potteries ; and the ingenioni method has been substituted of bringing each material first to an impalpable powder, and diffusing them separately in as much wa« ter as will bring them to the consistence of thick cream, mixing them in due proportion by measure, and when thoroughly stirred together, evaporating the superfluous water till the mass is brought to a proper consistence for iForkiug.
In the Staffordshire process the materials are a fine clay, brought chiefly from Devonshire, and a siliceous stone called chert, or else common flint reduced to powder by heating it red-hot, quenching it in water, and then grinding it by windmills. Each material is passed through fine brass sieves, then diffused in water, mixed by measure, and brought to a plastic state as above.
The wheel and lathe are the chief, and almost the only, iustro- ments made use of : the first for large works, and the last for small. The potter's wheel consists principally in the nut, which is H beam or axis^ whose foot or pivot plays perpendicularly on a free-stonesole or bottom. From the four corners of this beam^
3o4
^> ■.
r ■.'_ "-;? V
i-- V.-»f. ^
456
yOTTERY AND PdRCELAlK.
wbich iott not exceed two feet in height, arise four iron cklW the ipok«B of the whet-l : nhkh, (orming disgonm] Unea th>- beam, descend, and are fastened it hollom to the edges ■Irung wuocleii circle, fuur f«et in diameter, perfectly like Ih loes uf a coach.whiel, eicept Ihat it has neither axis nor radii is onlj jiiintd to ihe beam, wLich serves it as an axis, bf ihi bar». The lop of llie nut in Bit, of a circular figure, and a f diaroelcr : and un (his i.s Inid the chy wliich is to be ttifnci failiiuued. The wheel, tbui disposed, h encompassed witl ■idei of four dilfcrent pieces of wood fastened on a Huodeo fr the hind-piece, which is that on which the workn^in sits, ia ft Utile inclining towards the wht^cl; on the fori'.piere are p the pr< pared earth ; on thf si.'«!.|ii<-ces he rests his tei^t, and are made inclining, to giie him mure or less room, llavini pared ihe eurlh, the potter lajs a round pitcp of it un the ell head of the nul, and sitting down, turm the Hhtt-l wiib bl till it his gul tlie proper l«locity ; ihen, wetting hi^ huuds wit ter, he presses his Gat or hi* 6nger-eiid!i into the middle ( lump, and thus forms Ihe cavity of the vessel, continuing to ' it from the middle ; and thus turning the inside iiiiu fonii wil hand, while he proportions the outside with the other, the coiifiaiitly turning all the while, and he wetting his hindi lime to lime. When the vessel is loo (hick, he Uiif a flat pi iron, somewhat sharp on the edge, tu pare off nhtil is r'tluni and when it is linishf d, it Is taken olf from the circular head, wire passi-il iinderneaih the vessel.
»0TTEB1f ATfD PORCBLAIH* *^T^
while Die nbecl is turning round, but the feet and liaadles ara'^ made by themselves, and set on wilh Iht hand ; and if there be any sculpture in the work, i( is usually done in wooden moulds, and Btuck on piece by piece on the on (side of the Tessel.
Handles, spouts, 8ic. are afterwards fixed on to the moulded pifce if required ; and tt is then set to dry for some days in & warm room, where It becomes so hard as to bear handling without altering its shape. When dry f noui^h it Is Inclosed along with many other* in baked clay cases of the shape of bandboisfs, called ipggaTS, which are mado of the coarse clays of Ihe country. These are next ranged in the kiln or furnace so as (o fill it except ■ space in the middle for the fuel. Here (he ware is baked till it hat remained fully red hot fur a considerable lime, which in the larger kilns consumes ten or fifteen Ions of coals : after which tha fire is allowed to go out, and when all Is cooled, the seggars are taken out, and their contents Unpacked.
The ware is now in a state ^( biscuit, perfectly void of gloM, and resembling a clean egg.shetl. In order to glaze it, which if the next process, the biscuit ware Is dipped in a lub containing a mixture of about sixty parts of lilharge, (eu of clay, and twenty of ground Hint, diffused^ in wa(er to a creamy consistence, and whfn 'sk<-n out, enough adheres to the piece to gife an nniforra glazing, when aj^Hin heated : for which pnrpose the pieces are re> packed up in the seggars, with small bits of pottery interposed between each, and lixed in Ihe kiln as before. The glaiing mix- ture fuses at B Tery moderate heat, and gives an uniform glossy coating, which finishes the process for common white ware ; though the painting and gilding require subsequent attention.
IPantologiu. D'Enlrecollei. Lettret Ed^fiantn el Curie tties.
[ 458 ]
CHAP. IV.
BUnXINO MIHROSS.
X HX fertile genius of Archimedes i 11 u stria u sly appears, not oaly in those works of his which have been handed down to us, but alio in the aiimirnbie descriptions which the authors of his liioe hare ghen us of his discoveries in mathematics and mechanici. Some of the inTentiona of this great man have appeared so far to snrpus human ability and imagination, that some celebrated philosophers hare called Ihem in question *, and even gone so fur as to pretend to pnive their impossibility, The following pages will produce many proofs of what is here advanced : meanwhile, our present ob- ject is to t xamine into the subject of the burning glasses, employed by Archimedes to set fire to the Roman fleet at the siege of Syra* cuse. Kepler, Naudeus, and Descartes, have treated it as a mere fable, though the reality of it hath been attested by Diodorus Sicu. lus, Lucian, Dton, Zunaras, Galen, Anihemius, Euslathius, Tzet- les, Bnd others. Nay, some have even pretended to demonstrate by the rules of catoptrics the impossibility of it, notwithstanding the asseveration of such respectable authors, whose feitimony ought to have prevented them from rejecting so lightly a fact so . well supported.
Yet alt modern enquiries have not been involved in this mistake. Father Kircher, attentively observing the description which Tzetzes gives of the burning glasses of Archimedes, resolved to prove the possibility of this; and having, by means of a number of plain mirrors, collected the sun's rays into one focus, he so augmented f
* OcBcartes in hia Dioptrica, Discourse 8tb, p. ISS. Fonlenplle, and many otbei,
+ Kiichcr, ie Arte M^gns Lnch, et Umbrs, lib. 10, y. 3. p. 8T4 ni flncm, et Problem. 4, 3« part, de Ma^ift Catoptricfi—And p. 884, 887, he dcliTCn Ihe catoptric rules fiir malting burning (■lassi's by a projter disposition of many plain mi n'nn. And in p. 88, relBtesan riperimrnt of Ms own, wherrhjhe pro- duced a beat iolente ennugh lo burn, by means of five mirroredirrcting the i«;i of the SDn into one focus i he luppotes ihal Procius by such meaDb might «et Ire to Vitellius't fleet, and iuvitestlie skilful ctrbriDgihisanay lo perfectioD.
J
. ^J
ftUENINO MIRK0E8.
459
the solar heat, that at last by encreasing the number of mirrors, he could produce the most intense degree of it.
Tzetzes's description of the glass Archimedes made use of, ii indeed Tery proper io raise such an idea as Kircber entertained. That author says, that Archimedes set fire t^> MarC'-i'us's navy, by means of a burningglass composed of small square mirrors, moving e?ery way upon hinges ; which, when placed in the sun's rays, di- rected them upon the Roman fleet, so as to reduc<> it to ashes at the distance of a bow.shot. It is probable Mr. De Buffnn availed him. self of this description, in constructing his burning glass, composed of 168 little plain mirrors, which produced so considerable a heat, as to set wood in flames at the distance of two hundred and nine feet ; melt lead, at that of one hundred and twenty ; and silver, at that of fifty.
Another testimony occurs, which leaves not the least doubt in this case, but resolves all in favour of Archimedes. Antbemiuf of Tralles, in Lydia, a celebrated architect, able sculptor, and learned mathematician, who in the emperor Justinian^s time built thf^ church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, wrote a small treatise in Greek, which is extant only in manuscript, intitled Mechanical Paradoxes. That work, among other things, has a chapter re. .specfing burning glasses, where we meet with the most complete descrpitioii of the requisites that Archimedes, according to this author, must needs have been possessed of, to enable him to set fire to the Roman fleet. He begins with this enquiry, ** flow in any given place, at a bow.shot's distance, a conflagration maybe raised by means of the sun's rays ?" And immediately lays it down as a first principle " That the situation of the place must be such, that the rays of the sun may be reflected upon it in an oblique, or even opposite direction to that in which they came from the sun itself." And he adds, «< that the assigned distance being so very considerable, it might appear at first impossible to eficct this by means of the reflection of the sun*s rays ; but as the glory Archi. medes had gained by thus setting fire to the Roman vessels, was a fact uniTersally agreed in, he thought it reasonable to admit the possibility of it, upon the principles he had laid down." He after- wards advances farther, in this enquiry, establishing certain neces- sary propositions in order to come at a solution of it. ^* To find out therefore in what position a plain mirror should be placed to carry the son's rays by reflection to a given point, he demonstrates
I'. .. ••!■■,
• 1
■■♦•\
460
BURNING MIRRORS.
that thp anole of inriiJpnce is equal (o the anale of reflection ; and hartng shi'wn thai, in no just a posiiiun ot the gUss, the sun's rav* might be retleclnl tu the given place, hi ohBerves that hy means of ■ number or clis^es r. Hictirig the rays iiiin the same fucus, there muKtarifcal tlie tlt-n place iIip riniHanraiion required, for in 9 am. ing heal is the rifult of tl'iis cuncent rating ihr- suii'> rays j Bnd that when a boily is tlius set oo lire, ii kindle, ih- air aroiini ft, so that , it Cornell to be acted ti^iun by the iwu fortes »t onie, that of the ■un, and thai of the cirfumamhii nt air, recprotii'ly aujtairntiiig and increasing the heat ; whence", ronlinui-s In, '* it neretMriljr results, that byaprtiptr number of plai.i mirmrs uly Hiiposed, the sun's raye miuhl be reflectfd in .= uch iiuaniiiy into a common focus, at a bow. shot dintance, as to set all in II <mei arountl it. At to the manner of |)Utting this in praeiite," tie -h . s. ^ ii might be done by employing many hanils to hold the tuirrurs in the de- Rcrihed position : but to avoid the ronfuHioii that '.liglit thence arise, twenty. four mirrors at lea;,! being n quisite to citimiintcate flame at such distance, he fixes upon arioth<-r methud, that of a plain hexagon mirror, areonimodated on eTtry side by lesser ones, ad- hering to it by means of plutis, Ijands, or hinges connec^Dg them mutually together, so as to be moved ur fixed ^t pteasBre In mny direction. Thus hiTiiig adapted ti:e laii;e or miildle mirror to the rays of the sun, so as (o pniut ihem to the givin pljce, ItwUl be easy in the same manner to dispose the re>l, so that atl the nys together may meet in (he same focus ; and by multiplying com-
BUtHiHa M1BB0I19. S(■^||^X' .'\-
lag nf twenty-four rnirrors, whirli conveying the rayn of the itin Into ■ coinman foros, produced in exireordiniry degree of beat. And Lacian speaking of Archimedes, sajt, that at the siege of Sjr- racnie he reduced, by a singular contrivance, the Roman ships to '_^ whes. And Galen; that with burninsplasseg he fired the ihips of the enemiei of Syrarase. Zonaras aleo speaks of Archimedei* '' - glasies. in mentioning those of Proclus, vbo, he says, burnt the - fleet of Vitetlius at lh» siege of Constantinople, in imitation of ' .^ Archimedes, vho set fire to (be Roman d<'et at (he siege of Syrsa cose. He intimates, thai the mnnnT wherein Proclus effected thif| was by launching upon iheenemies Tes^els, from (he surface of re- flecting mirrors, such a quantity of flame ss reduced them to ,, Kshes.
Eastathias, in his Couitnentary tipon the Iliad, jwys that Archimedes, by a catoptric mKrbine, burnt (he Boman fleet at » bow.shot's distance. Insomuch that there is scarcely any fact In history, warranted by more aufhrRtic testimony; so that it would be difficult Dot to surren^ler (o such evideaee, eren aItii(-uEh w» ' could not comprehend how it were possible for Archimedes to '' hiTe constructed such gUsse? : bat now that the experiments of father Kjrcher and Mr. de Buffnn have made it apparent, that .:' nothing is more easy la the eiecntion, than what some gentlemen have denied the possibility of ; what ought (liey (o think of (ht genius of that man, whose inrenlinns, eren by their own acoonots, surpass the cooception of the mo^t celehratid mathematicians of oar days, who ihink they have done something rery extraordlnarj, when they have shewed thi-mselves capable of imititlng.in soma degree, the sketches of thns>^ great masters, of whom, honerer. '
Ibey are tery uowllllng tu be thoosht the disi:ipl< s i
Again, it appears (bat the ancients wvre afqiiainted with re* fractinii burning glasses; for wu find in Ari^tophanes's Comedj ^ of the Clouds, a p^ss-igs whii^h clearly tre^t) of the elT.'C's of thos* ■', glosses. The author intro'tures Socrates as examining Strep^iades about the method he hnd diKcivered for getling Gle>ir for erer of his debts. He replies, that he thought of making use of a buriu i
ing<glas>, which he had hitherto used in kitiiiling his dre ; for^ f
says he, shoald they britig a writ agairutme, I'll iiotuudiately place my class in the sun, at same litilu distance Irom the writ, and >at ' it a fire. Where we see he apeaki of a glass which burned at k, ' duUnce, and which coiild be no otbar than a wnrcz glaii. PUor, ;
4€& BUHMINO GLASS. ^^H
&nd E.actnn(iii<i havr also spoken of glasses that bar&t bf tion. The furmer culls ihem balls or globes or glasi, or cl which viiiosed to the sun, transmit a heat sufficient to lel doth, or corrode away the dead flesh of thosu patients wh in need of caustics; and the latter, after Clemens AWzan takes notice that Gre may be kindled, by interposing glassc with water, between the sun and the object, so as to trans rftys to it. [Cu
Among the moderns one of the earliest who deTised a 1 mirror, was the celebrated Lord Napier, the inventor ofloga who, in a paper containing bintg of secret inieutions, dat« 4, ISBG, (the original of which is now among tbe MSS Lambeth library, marked 658, anno.lBgS), says,
" First, The invention, proof, and perfect ilcmonslratio metrical and algebraical, of a burning mirror, which rece dispersed beams of the sun, doth reflex the same beams alt united, and concurring precisely in one malhemalical point which point, most necessarily it cngendereth Are ; with au demonstration of their error who nilirm this to be made a p( ■ectioG. The use of this Inrention serveth for the bonta enemy's ships at whatsoever appointed distance. -1
"Secondly, The invention and sure demonsfralioBoAl mirror, which receiving the dispersed beams of any iMCari or Game, yieldeth also the former effect, and serveth for t
.■■.'■y *'.
■i.'j
'.*'.■
' hig^giaff, each six* indies iqoare; by means of wMdi, withtlie faint rayi of tlie son in tlie montli of March, be set on fire boards '• of beech wood at 150 feet distance. Besides, his machine Iiai the conTeniencjr of burning downwards, or horizontally, as one pleases ; each specolom being moTeable, so as, by the means of three screws, to be set to a proper inclination for directing the rays towards any giren point ; and it turns either in its greater focus, or in any nearer interval, which our common burning-glassei cannot do, their focus being fixed and determined. M. de Buffon^ at another time, burnt wood at the distance of 200 feet. He also melted tin and lead at the distance of above 120 feet, and silver at 50.
Mr. Parker, of Fleet* street, London, was induced, at an ex. pence of upwards of 700/. to contrive^ and at length to complete a large transparent lens, that would serve the purpose of fusing and vitrifying such substances as resist the fires of ordinary fur. naces, and more especially of applying heat in yacno, and in other circumstances in which it cannot be applied by any other means. After directing his attention for several years to this object, and performing a great variety of experiments in the prosecution of it, he at last succeeded in the construction of a lens, of flint-glass^ three feet in diameter, which, when fixed in its frame, exposes a snrfaoe of 32 inches in the clear ; the distance of the focus is 6 feet 8 inches, and its diameter 1 inch. The rays from this large lens are received and transmitted through a smaller, of 13 inches diameter, in the clear within the frame, its focal length 29 inches, and diameter of its focus ^ths of an inch : so that this second lens increases the power of the former more than 7 times, or as the square of 8 to the square of 3.
From a great number of experiments made with this lens, the following are selected to serve as spedmens of its powers :
. .-I
SuManceifiMdf wUh their wetgktf amd Hmfffiuion.
Scoria of wrought iron
Common slate
Silver, pure
Platina, pure
Nickel
Cast bon^ a cobe
• • •
|
Time |
Wgt. |
|
in sec. |
in gn. |
|
2 |
12 |
|
2 |
10 |
|
3 |
20 |
|
3 |
10 |
|
3 ' |
10 |
|
3 |
10 |
■ '"*'.
;i-
BURNING GLASS.
|
S,iiUKts fu>cd .- tfi(A Ikiir irr/gM, and time -f/usian. |
J'Z |
Wri. ir. g,,. |
|
Koar«h |
3 |
lO |
|
Gold, pure . , . . ' , |
4 |
20 |
|
Crysla! jj.^ible .... |
S |
7 |
|
Cauk, or terra ponilerosx |
7 |
10 |
|
Ufa .... |
7 |
10 |
|
Asbestos . . , . |
10 |
10 |
|
Bar iron, a cube |
1» |
10 |
|
Sleel, a tube . . . . |
1« |
]0 |
|
Garnet . . . . . |
17 |
10 |
|
Copper, pure . , . . |
20 |
33 |
|
Onyx . . . . |
43 |
lO |
|
Zeoliles .... |
23 |
10 |
|
Puraice stone . ... |
24 |
10 |
|
Oriental emerald . ' |
25 |
2 |
|
Jasper ... . . |
25 |
10 |
|
White agale . . ... |
30 |
10 |
|
Flint, oriental . . . . |
30 |
10 |
|
Topaz, orchrysolite |
45 |
3 |
|
Commun limestone |
55 |
10 |
|
White rhomhoidal spar |
BO |
10 |
|
Volcanic clay . . . . |
60 |
10 |
|
Cornish moorstone |
(K) |
10 |
|
(lough corneliaD |
75 |
10 |
|
Rotten stone . . .... |
SO |
10 |
Wliat is remarkable with regard to experimenls on iron, is, that the lower part, i. e. that part in contact with the charcoal, was
ARCHltECTURB ANDMBCHlNICAL SCIENClKfl. 465
were made od limestODe, some of which were Titrified, but all of which were agglutinated ; it is, howeyer, suspected that "^ome ex- traneous substance must have been intermixed* A. globule pro- duced from one of the specimens, on being put iilto the mouth, flew into a thousano pieces, occasioned, it Is presumed, by the moisture*
iPantologia*
CHAP* V.
GENERAL ARCHITECTURE AND MECHANICAL SCIENCES;
SECTION t.
Architecture and Mechanical Sciences of the Ancients.
rxRCiiiMEDES alone would afford sufficient matter for a yolnmej in giving a detail of the marrellous discoyeries of a genius so profound, and fertile in inyention. We haye seen in the pre- ceding chapters, thai some of his discoveries appeared so much above the reach of men, that many of the learned of our days found it more easy to call them in doubt, than even to imagine the means whereby he had acquired them. We are again going to produce proofs of the fecundity of genius belonging to this cele- brated man ; and in how high a degree of excellence he possessed this inventive faculty, may easily be judged of by the greatness of those events which were eflected by it* Leibnitz, who was one of the greatest mathematicians of his age, did justice to the genius of Archimedes when he said, that if we were better acquainted with the admirable productions of that great man, we would throw away much less of our applause on the discoveries of eminent moderns*
Wallis also, in speaking of Archimedes, calls him a man of admirable sagacity, who laid the foundation of almost all those inventions, which our age glories in having brought to perfection* In reality^ what a glorious light hath he diflused over the mathe- matics, in his attempt to square the circle ; and in discovering the square of the parabola, the properties of spiral lines, the propor* VOL. VJ* S 4
4fiG ABCHITBCTUAE AND MECHANICAL SCI
lion of ihe sphere to the cylinder, atiJ the true principles of static» ■ud hydroslaiics ? What a proof of bis sagacity did he gi»e in (lis. covering the quantity of silver, that was mixed along with the gold, in the crown of King Ilierom ; whilst he reasoned upon that prin- ciple, tltat all bodies immersed ill water, lose just eo much of their weight, as a quantity of water equal (o them in bnlk weighs ? Hence he drew this consequence, that gold being more compact, must lose less of Hf weight, and silver mure ; and tlwt a mingled ■nais of both, must lose in proportion to the qiiantittn miiif;)ed. Weighing therefore the crown in water und in air, and two masset, the one of gold, the other of silver, equal in weight to the crown ; he thenoe determined what each lost of their weight, uidM> re- soWed the problem, lie likewise invented a pcrpetml Bcrew, TQluable on account of its being capable to uvercome any resist- ance ; and the screw, that still goes by Mis own name, nied in ele. TRling of \Tater. Ho, of himself alone, defended the city of Syracuse, by opposing to the efforts of a Koman genertl, the re. sources he found in his own genius. By means of many varioni warlike machines, all of his own construction, he reodfTod Syra. cose inaccessible to the enemy. Sometimes he burled Upon their land-forces stones of such an enormous size, a; cnnhed whole bodies of them at once, and put the whole army into confution. And when they retired from the walls, he slill found neaoa to annoy (hem ; for with catapults and balisliE, he overwbelined them with arrows innumerable, and beams of a prodigious weight. If their vessels approached the forf, he seized them by the prows with
AllcHlTBCTlTRB.AND MBCHAHlCAt SCIBNCB8. 467
he bad adranced, by laoncbtng singly by himself a ship of a prodU giouB size. He built likewise for the king ati immense galley, of twenty banks of oars, containing spacious apartments, gardens^ walks, ponds, and all other conveniences suitable t<r the dignity of a great King. He constructed also a sphere, representing the motions of the stars, which Cicero esteemed one of the inventions which did the highest honour to human genius. He perfected the manner of augmenting the mechanic powers by the multiplication of wheels and pullics ; and, in short, carried mechanics so far, that the works he produced of this kind, even surpass imagination.
Nor was Archimedes tKe only one who succeeded in mechanics* The immense machin<>S; and of such astonishing force, as were those which the art of the ancicnfs adapted to the purposes of war, are a proof they came nothing behind us in this respect. It is with difficulty we can conceive how they reared those bulky moving towers, an hundred aud fifty .two feet in heighth, and sixty in com* pass, ascending by many stories, having at bottom a battering ram^ a machine of strength sufficient to beat down walls ; in the middle a draw.bridge, to be let down upon the wall of the city attacked, in order to open a passage into the town for the assailants ; and at top a body of meo, who, being placed above the besieged, harrassed them without running any risk. An ancient historian hath trans* mitted to us an action of an engineer at Alexandria, which deserve* a place here^ In defending that city against the army of Julius Caesar, who attacked it, he by means of wheels, pumps, and other machines, drew from the sea a prodigious quantity of water, which he after\»'ards turoed upon the adverse army to their extreme annoy- ance. In short, the art of war gave occasion for a great number of proofs of this kind, which cannot but excite in us the highest idea of the enterprizing gf'niusof the ancients, and the vigour with which they put their designs in execution. The invention of pumps by Ctesibius ; and that of water-clocks, automatical figures, wind* machines, cranes, &c. by Heron, who lived in the second century; and the other discoveries of the Grecian geometricians, are so very numerous, that it would exceed the limits of a chapter, even to mention them*
Should we pass to other considerations, we shall find equally in« contestable evidences of greatness of genius among the ancients, in the difficult, and indeed astonishing enterprizes, in which they so inccetsfully engaged. Egypt and Palestine still present as with
dH3
46d ascbitbctdre and mechanical scib:
proor« of (his, the one in i(s pyramids, the otiipr in the rains of I'Blmjraand liallnc*. Italy h filled with inonumenlt, and the rnins of tnunumcnts, which aid ui In cumprehcniling the former magni licence of that people ; and ancient Rome eien dow altracts much more of our admiration than the modern.
The grenlest cities of Europe give but ft faint idea of tiiat gnn- dent, which all historians unanimously ascribe (o the luious citjr of Babylon, which being fifteen leagues in circumferenH) was en. compnHed wilh walls twu hantlred feet in height, uid fifty in breadth, whose sides were adorned with gardens of A pRxligious extent, which arose in terasses one above another, to Ota rrry sammit of the walls ; and for the watering of those gwAnt 0key bad contrived aiachioes, which raised the water of IbsBvphratei to the very highest of those tcrrastes ; a height equaUIng that to which the water is carried by the machine of Marly. The tower of Belu9, arising out uf the middle of a temple, was of BO vast a height, that some ancient authors have tiiit ventured to Uiign the meaiure uf it ; others pat it at a thousand paces.
Ecbatane, the capital of Media, was of immense mipiificcnee, being eight leagues in cirrumference, and surrounded vith seven walls, in form of an amphitheatre, the Imtlkmeotsof iMtth Were of various colours, white, black, scarlet, blue, aiidom^; but all of them covered with silrer or with gold. PersepoUi wu also a city, which all historians speak of as une of tlic mMt ■oef«nt and noble of Asia. Th<re remain the ruins of one of Ml palHWs, which mraiured six hundred {teces in front, and slill dtefdajra the
ABCfllTECTURE AND MBCHANICAL ICIBNCBt* 469
The other pyramids of Egypt, in their largeness and solidity, so far surpass whaterer we know of edifices, that we should be ready to doubt of the reality of their having e?er existed, did they not still subsist to this day. Mr. de Chezele, of the Academy - of Scipnccs, who travelled into £gypt to measure them, assigns to one of the sides of the base of (he highest pyramid, a length of six hundred and sixty feet, which reduced to its perpendicu- lar altitude, makes four hundred sixty and six feet. The free* Intones, of which it is composed, are each of them thirty feet long ; to that we cannot imagine how the Egyptians found means to rear such heavy masses to so prodigious a height.
The Colossus of Rhodes was another of the marvellous produc* tions of the ancients. To give an idea of its exces<;ive bigness, it need only be observed, that the fingers of it were as large as sta. tues, and very few were able, with outstretched arms, to encom- pass the thumb ^.
In short, what shall we say of the other structures of the anci« ents, which still remain to be spoken of ? Of their cement, which in hardness equalled even marble itself ; of the firmness of their highways, some of which were paved with large blocks of black marble ; and of their bridges, some of which still subsist irrefra. gable monuments of the greatness of their conceptions ? The bridge at Gard, three leagues from Nines, is one of them. It serves at once as a bridge and an aqueduct* It goes across the river Gar* don, and joins together the two mountains, between which it Is inclosed. It comprehends three stories ; the third is the aqueduct^ which conveys the waters of the Eure into a great reservoir, which
• Plin. book 34, chap. 7, ftiid Diodoms Sicaluiy book 9, relate that Seniin- mil made the mountain B3|[;i«itany between Babylon and Media, be cat out into a itatne of herielf, which was seventeen itadcs hij^h ; tliat is, above half a French league ; and around it were an hundred other statues, of proportion- able size, though less large. And Plutarch, vol. 2, p. S35, speaks of a very great undertaking which one Stestcrates proposed to Alexander ; viz. to make a statue of him out of Mount Athos, wkkh would have been an hundred and fifty miles in circumference^ and about ten in height. His design was to make him hold in his left hand a city, large enough to contain ten thousand inhabit- ants ; and in the other ao urn, out of which should flow a river, poured by him into the sea. See also the same, Plutarch, vol. I, p. 705, in the Life of Alex- ander. Yitruvius, In the preface to his 9d Book, gives to this statuary the name of DiDocrates. Strabo, lib. 14, p. 641, calb him Chiromocrates* Tzetzes, Chiliad. 8, 199.
2a8
470 ASCHITBCTDRE AND MSC»AKICAL SCIfiSCtr.'-
npplips the amphilheatre and cify of Nimens. The bridge of Alcaolara, Lpun thi- Tagus, h still a work fit to rahe in na ft great idcii of the Roman inagni6fMice : it is six huDdrpd and seventy feet long, and contains six arches, each of which measute abare a hundred feet from une pj^r to the other ; and its htigbt fram the Burface of the water is two hundred feet. The broken remains of Trajan's bridg<- orer the Danube, are still to be seen ; which had twenty piers of frcp Stoue, some of which are slill standing, B hun. dred and firiy f<«t high, sixty in circumferenre, and distant one from another an hundred and feveoty. I should never end, were I to enumerate all the admirable monumcnls left us by tlw anci- ents ; the sligbt sketch here given of them, will more tban anffiee to answer my purpose. As to the ornamt'nls and conTpnlmcieG of their buildings, amon^ many I shall mention but one, that of their wing glaM in their windows, and in the inside of their apartments, just in the same manner as we do. Seneca and Pliny inform us, that they decorated their rooms with glasses ; and do not we the same In the use of mirrors and pier glasses ? But what will more shock the general prejudices is, that they sliould know how to glaie their windows, so as to enjoy the benefit of light, without being injured by the air; yet this they did very early. Before they discovered this manner of applying g'a^s, which is so delight- ful and so commodious, the rich made use of transparent stvues in their windows such as the agat, the alabaster, the phengites, the talcum, &C. whilst the poor were under a necessity of being ex-
ABCHITECTURB AND MBCHAMICAL SCIENCES. 471
mals out of irory, which were so extremely small, that their com- ponent parts were scarcely to be distinguished. He says also in the same place, that one of those artists wrote a distitch in golden letters, which he enclosed in the rind of a grain of cdrn.
It is natural here to enquire, whether in such undertakings as our best artists cannot accomplish without the assistance of microscopes, the ancients had no such aid ; and the result of this research will be that they had several ways of helping the sight, of strengthening it, and of magnifying small objects. Jamblichus says of Pythagoras, that he applied himself to find out instruments as efficacious to aid the hearing, as a ruler, or a square, or even optic glasses, ^loitrpcc^ were to the sight. Plutarch speaks of mathematical instruments which Archimedes made use of, io manifest to the eye the large, ness of the sun ; which may be meant of Telescopes. Aulus Gel. lius having spoken of mirrors that multiplied objects, makes men- tion of those which inrerted them ; and these of course, must be cSncave or convex glasses. Pliny says, that in his time, artificers made use of emeralds to assist their sight, in works that require a nice eye ; and to prevent us from thinking that it was on account of its green colour only that he had recourse to it, he adds, that they were made concave, the better to collect the visual rays ; and that Nero made use of them in viewing the combats of the Gladia- tors. In short, Seneca is very full and clear upon this head, when he says, that the smallest characters in writing, even sach as almo9t intlrely escape the naked eye, may easily be brought io view bj means of a little glass ball, filled with water, which had all the effect of a microscope, in rendering them large and clear ; and indeed this was the very sort of microscope that Mr. Gray made use of in his observations. To all this aidd the burning glasses made mention of before, which were in reality magnifying glasses i nor could this property of them remain unobserved,
[Dutens,
SECTION II.
Comparative View of the Architecture of different Aget.
TuAT architecture is of great antiquity is undeniable. But the primitive buildings were very different from the specimens of architecture we now meet with in civilized countries. In those mild climates wludi leem to have been the first inhabited parts of
2b4
474
ABOHITBCTUKB OF OIFFBREMT ACB
this globe, mankind stuod more in need ur shade from the bdd than of sbelleT from the inclemency of the weather. A ¥ery iBiall addi- tioa to the shade of the woods, sefTcd them for a dwelling. Sticks bid across from tree to tree, and covered n-ilh b rusk wood and leaves, formed the first houses in those delightful regiooi. At po- pulation and tl>e arts imiiroied, these huts were gradnallf refined Into commodious dwellings. The materials were the SSM^ but more artfully put together. At last agriculture led the inhabiUDtB out of llic woods into the open country. The connectioa betwWP th« inhabitant and the soil became more constant and moreintveMing. The wish lo preserre this connectioa was natural, and ftm) oatab. lislim«nts followed of course. Durable buildings were amr* dtnlr. able than those temporary and perishable cottages, etoMwas sub. Ktiluted for limber. But as these improved hahitationi were gra. dual refinemenis on (he primitive hut, traces of its construct ion re- mainvd, even wben the choice of more durable materials made il in some measure inconvenient. Thus it happens that the trunks of trees, upright, represent columns ; the girts or bande, which serTc to keep the trunks from bursting, eipress base! utd cspi. tsls ; and the summers, laid across, gave a hint of entablatures ; as tlie coverings, ending in points, did of pediments.
We shall not enter minutely into a history of Hie progresa of ar- chitecture ; but shall shew that the above view of ornaueiital archi. tecture will go far in accounting for some of the more gneral dif- ferences of national style which may be observed io diibreal pXrts of thf world. The Greeks borrowed many of their aria from tlwir
ARCHITBCTURB OF DIFFERENT AOB8. 473
tal in perfectioD, pointing oat the rery origin of this ornameot, yiz. a number of long gracefal leaves tied round the head of the colnmn with a fillet ; a custom which we know was common in their temples and banqueting rooms. Where the distance between the columns is great, so that each had to support a weight too great foe. one tree^ we see the columns clustered or fluted, &c. In short, we see every thing of the Grecian architecture, but the sloped roof or pediment; a thing not wanted in a country where it hardly ever rains. In the stone-buildings of the Greeks, the roofs were imitations of the wooden ones ; hence the lintels, flying corniches, . ceilings in compartments, &c.
The ancient Egyptian architecture seems to be a refinement on the hut built of clay, or unburnt bricks mixed with straw : every thing is massive, clumsy, and timid; small intercolumniations, and \ hardly any projections.
The Arabian architecture seem a refinement on the tent. A rao.squo is like a little camp, consisting of a number of little bell tents, stuck close together round a great one. A caravansary is a court surrounded by a row of such tents, each iiaving its own dome. The Greek church of St Sophia at Constantinople has imitated this in some degree ; and the copies from it, which have been multiplied in tlussia as the sacred form of a Christian church, have adhered to the original model of clustered tents in the strict- est manner. We are sometimes disposed to think that the painted glass (a fashion brought from the cast) was an imitation of the painted hangings of the Arabs.
The Chinese architecture is an evident imitation of a wooden building. Sir George Staunton says, that the singular form of their roofs is a professed imitation of the cover of a square tent.
The great incorporation of architects who built most of the ca« thedrals of Europe departed entirely from the styles of ancient Greece and Home, and introduced another in which arcades made the principal part. Not linding in every place quarries from which blocks could be raised, in abundance, of sufficient size for forming the far-projecting cornicbes of the Greek orders, they relinquished those proportions, and adopted a style of ornament which required no such projections : and having substituted arches for the bori* zontal architrave or lintel, they were able to erect buildings of vast extent with spacious openings, and all this with very small piecee
474 ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERINT AGEt.
of ston^. The form wliicti had been adoptrJ for a Chriitian tcm. pie occa&ionecl many intprstctions of vauliing^, and mvltipliec) the arches exceedingly. Conslant pracUce aftorded opporttinidu of givinj! bU potslbk varieties of these intersections, and Uaght th« ■ rt or balancing arch agnlnsi arch in every variety of slliiatiim. In a little time arcliea became their principal <irnsment, udfl, wall or ceiling was not thonglit properly deroiated till it wa« filled full of mock arches, crossing and butltni; on each other in enry direc- tion. In this process in their ceilingi these architerti found that the projecting mouldings, which we now call the Gotbic (neery, formed the chief support of the roofi. The plane surfaCM incladed between those ribs were commonly vaulled with very siutl atones, seldom exceed ing six or fighl inches in thickness. TMb tracery, therefore, was not a random oioament. I'.very rib tudcpositioa and direction that was not only proper, but even necetmry. Ha. bitualed (o this scientific arrangement of the tnouldingi, th^ did not deviate from it when they ornamenled a smooth sorftrae with mock arches ; and in none of the highly ornamented aodnt balld- ings shall we lind any false positions. This is far froWbeing the casein most of the modern imilationsof Ihisipecies ofor^teclure. We call the middle ages rude and barbarous, and gtr* (o dieir architecture the appellation Gothic; but there was lordf much knowledge in those who could execute such magnilicent and difficult works. The more appropriate terms, we conci-rve, woidd bt those of Saxon and Norman arrhitecturi', at least, so far u mlatea to (urh work5 in Britain; giving thf first term la that kind dlstin.
ARGHXTBCTURS OP DIFFERENT A6B8. 475
necessary part of the building. Thus we frequently see small build- ings having buttresses on the sides. These are necessary in a large vaulted building, for withstanding the outward thrust of the vaulting ; but they are useless when there is a flalk ceiling within. Pinnacles en the heads of buttresses are now considered as ornaments ; but originally they were put there to increase the weight of the buttress: even the great tower in the centre of a cathedral, which now continues its chief ornament, is a load almost indispensably ne« cessary, for enabling the four principal columns to withstand the combined dependences of the aisles, of the naves, and transepts. In short, the more closely we eiamine the ornaments of this archi. tecture, the more shall we perceive that they are essential parts, or derived from them by imitation : and the more we consider the whole style of it, the more clearly do we see that it is all de« duced from the relish for arcades, indulged in the extremes^ - and pushed to the limit of possibility of execution.
From the end of the 15th century, this architecture began to decline ; and was soon after supplanted by a mixed style, if we may venture to call it so ; wherein the Grecian and Gothic, how. ever discordant and irreconcilable, are jumbled together. Con* cerning this mode of building, Mr. Warton^, in his observations on 6pencer*s Fairy Queen, has the following anecdotes and remarks:
^^ Although the Roman or Grecian architecture did not begin to prevail in England till the time of Inigo Jones, yet our communi- cation with the Italians, and our imitation of their manners, pro- duced some specimens of that style much earlier. Perhaps the earliest was Somerset. house in the Strand, built about the year 1519, by the duke of Somerset, uncle to Edward VI.
In the year 1613, the magnificent portico of the schools at Ox« ford was erected, in which, along with the old Gothic style, the architect has aflfectedly displayed his extraordinary skill in the Grecian and Roman architecture, and has introduced all the five orders toj^ether.
^' In the 15th and l6th centuries, when learning of all kindi began to revive, the chaste architecture of the Greeks and Romans seemed, as it were, to be recalled into life. The first improve* mentH of it began in Italy, and even owed their existence to the many ruins of the ancient Roman structures that were to he found in that country, from whence an improved method of building was ' gradually brought into the other coantries of Europe : and Uioagb
♦T^S
laCHlTECTURB op DIFPERBNT ADB^
the Italians for a. loiig time retaiofd the Rtiperioiily as Srchitecls, over the other Europpan nft(ion!i, ytt as men of genEnt from all qoarters constantly visited Italy for tlie purpose of improvemeDt in architecture, na well as the ullicr arts, since that ptriod they have bevn equalled, if not surpassed, by architects of utker nati- ons, and even of our own country,"
The orders, as now executed by architerfs, are fiTe, liz. the Tuscan, the Doric, Iht Ionic, the Corinthian, and the Composite ; which are distiuguished from each other by the colnflfl wUh its
The Tu cc, and it tlmafore )ess are in&t«d; it that durwUe monu- n at Hone; indeed for such purposes
base and capital, and by the entablature, characterised by its plain and robust appeai used only in works where Strength and pla has been used with great effect and elegance ment of ancient grandeur, the Trojan coli general consent hu established lis pruporii beyond all olliers. The Doric possesses nearly the same characte) tor slronglh as the Tuscan, but is enlivened by its peculiar or n a. menis; thetriglyph, mutule, and guile or drops undef the trig, lyjih ; these decorations characterise the Doric order, Md in part are inseparable from it. Its proportions rccommendad it wlierc united strength and grandeur are wanted. The Ionic pnrtakes of more delicacy than either of the former, and therefore as well as on account of its origin, is called Feminine, and not improperlj' £U|^x>sed to hare a malronlc appearance. It is a niediun betwepn the masculine Tuscan and Doric, and the lirginal slenderoeu nf tlin Connlhiari: tlio holdncss of the capital, «ifh (he beauty of the
tABTRINTHS. 477-
of Viiruvins, who li?ed in the reign of Julias Cesar and Augustus, Since Vitruvius, the principal authors are Alberti, Baldus, Barba. rus, Blonde], Catanei, Demoniosius, Freard, Goldman, GulieL mus, Langley, Mayer, Nicholson, Pain, Palladio, Perrault, Ri« vius, Serlio, Scamozzi, Vignoti, and Ware. On the subject of Gothic architecture, we refer to Essays on Gothic Architecture, published by Taylor^ and to a paper in toI. i?. Trans. Royal So« ciety Edin. by sir James Hall.
\Pantologia*
SECTION III.
Labyrinths.
Amono the architectural curiosities of antiquity, there are few entitled to more attention than the complicated and extraordinary edifices known by the name of labyrinths. The most celebrated were those of Crete, Lemnos, and Egypt. The first stood near mount Ida, and was the production of the celebrated Daedalus. All we know oi it, however, is from loose rumour, or casual refer, ence. £?en in Pliny's time not a vestige of it was to be traced ; and Bellonius has been so much of an infidel as to conjecture that it was nothing but an ancient quarry excavated by digging the stones that served to build the neighbouring towns of Gortynas and Grossas.
The labyrinth of Lemnos is aupposed by Pliny to have been more magnificent than that of Crete, when both were in their full per* fection. It was a vast and splendid pile supported by forty columns of extraordinary height and circumference. The architects em* ployed in raising it were, Zinilus, Rhodus and Theodorus, the last a native of the island. In Pliny's time its vestiges were still to be traced ; but Bellonius could not discover a relic of it during his visit to Lemnos.
Of all the labyrinths, however, of antiquity, that of Egypt was the largest and most costly : and it is said to have furnished to Daedalus the model of that of Crete, though he imitated not more than the hundredth part of it. It was so extraordinary, that He* rodotus who saw it says, that it far surpassed the report of fame, being, in his judgment, even more admirable than the pyramids. As there were at least three buildings of this kind, ancient writers,
478 LABYRINTHS. ^^
not dislin^Disbing llieni, generally speak bat of one, and cottse^ quenlly with i^rcil confusion anil disHgo'ement.
They lell us tlie labyrinth of Egypt stood in ihelleracleatic aomp) near the cily ot Crocodiles, or Arsinoe, a little above the lake Mterii. Pliny places it in the lake, and says, it nu biilt by Pelesaccua, or Titlioes, one of the demi.gods, foat Itianmd six hnn^ dred years bcfure his time ; but that Demoteles would Ihk it to be the palace of iMothcrudes ; Lyceas, the sspnichre of MaeH> ; and othersth<.-tenipleofthpSun. It is recordt^d by Manet ha, that I^scba- resor Labares the successor of Sesostris, built a labyriotb far hia noniiDieiit. And Diudorus writes, thatMendc!:, or Marns made another for the samepurpose, which was not so considerable on account of its niBgniliide, as for the artificial contri?ance of it ; bat this seems to be adilTerent building from that described bj him a little after; whicb is,inall probability, the same with the Ubyrinlh of Herodotus ; furthey both agree in the situation. Thay njr it was the work of twelve kings, among whom Kgypt wu at one time dirided ; and that they built it at their common charge.
This structure seems to bare been designed as a pantheon, or universal temple of all the Egyptian deities, which wera wparately worshipped In the provinces. It was also the place at tin general assembly of the magistracy of the whole nation, for those of all the provinces or nomcs met here to feast and sacrificp, and to judge causes of great consequence. For this reason, every nome had a hall or palace appropriatfd to it ; the whole edilicc roatalmng, ac. cording to Herodotus, twelve ; Kf(j pt being then divided into so
LABTAINTMS. 479
passages out of the cabinets, and out of the chamber into the mor« spacious rooms. All the roofs and walls within were incrusted with marble, and adorned with figures in sculpture. The halli were surrounded with pillars of white stone finely polished ; and at the angle, where the labyrinth ended, stood the pyramid formerly mentioned, which Strabo asserts to be the sepulchre of the princa who built the labyrinth.
To this description of Herodotus, others add, tliat it stood in thai midst of an immense square, surrounded with buildings at a great distance ; that the porch was of Parian marble, and all the other pillars of marble of Sycne -, that within were the temples of their se?eral deities, and galleries, to which was an ascent of ninety steps, adorned with many columns of porphyry, images of their gods, and statues of their kings, of a colossal size ; that the whole edifice con* sisted of stone, the floors being laid with Tost flags, and the roof appearing like a canopy of stone ; that the passages met, and crossed each other with such intricacy, that it was impossible for a stranger to find his way, either in or out, without a guide; and that several of the apartments were so contrif ed, that on opening of the doors, there was heard within a terrible noise of thunder.
We shall subjoin part of the description given by Diodorus of a fabric, which though he does not call it a labyrinth, but a sepulchre, yet appears to be the same we are noy speaking of. He says it was of a square form, each side a furlong in length, built of most beautiful stone, the sculpture and other ornaments of which posterity could not exceed ; that on passing the outward inclosure, a building presented itself to view, surrounded by an arcade, every side con- sisting of four hundred pillars ; and that it contained the ensigns or memorials of the country of each king ; and was, in all respects, a work so sumptuous, and of such vast dimensions, that if the twelve princes who began it, had not been dethroned before it was finished, the magnificence of it could never have been surpassed* Whence it seems, that Psammetichus, one of the twelve, who, ex- pelling his associates, made himself master of all Egypt, finished the design^ but not with a grandeur answerable to the rest of tiie struc- ture ; though Mela attributes the glory of the whole to that king.
The solidity of this wonderful builJing was such, that it with- stood, for many ages, not only the rage of time, but that of the in- habitants of Heracleopolis, who, worshipping the ichneumon, the
480 GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
mortal enemy of the crocodile, which was the peculiar deity of Af* since, bore an irreconcileable hatred to the labyriath, which serTed also for a sepulchre to the sacred crocodiles, and therefore they strove to demolish it. Pliny says, it was remaining in his days ; and that al)out five hundred years before Alexander, Circunamon eunuch to king Nectabis, was reported to have bestowed some small reparations on it, supporting the building with beams of acacia, or the Egyptian thorn, boiled in oil, while the arches of square stone were erecting.
[^Ancient Univ. Hist.
SECTION IV.
Great Wall of China.
The chief remain of ancient art in China is that stupendous wall, extending across the northern boundary *. This work, which is de- servedly esteemed among the grandest labours of art, is conducted over the summits of high mountains, some of which rise to the height of 5225 feet, across the deepest vales, over wide rivers by means of arches ; and in many parts is doubled or trebled to com* maud important passes : at the distance of almost every hundred yards is a tower or massy bastion. The extent is computed at 1500 miles; but in some parts of smaller danger it is not equally strong or complete, and towards the N. W. only a rampart of earth. For the precise height and dimensions of this amazing forti. fication the reader is referred to Sir George Staunton already quoted, whence it appears that near Koopekoo the wall is twenty- five feet in height, and at the top about ^he^n feet thick : some of the towers, which are square^ are forty.eight feet high, and about forty feet wide« The stone employed in the foundations, angles, &c. is a strong grey granite ; but the greatest part consists of bluish bricks^ and the mortar is remarkably pure and white.
Sir George Staunton considers the era of this great barrier as absolutely ascertained, and he asserts that it has existed for two thousand years. In -this asseveration he seems to have followed Du Ualde, who informs us that ^^ this prodigious work was con. structed two hundred and fifteen years before the birth of Christ, by the orders of the first emperor of the family of Tsin, to protect
*. Sir G.Staaoton^s Embassy, voL ii,360.8fO.
TBMPLB OF EL BPHAMTA. 481
three Itrge protiaces from the irmptions of the TartarB*.** Bat In the History of China, contained in his first Tolnme, he ascribes this erection to the second emperor of the dynasty of Tsin, namely Clii Hoang Ti ; and the date immediately preceding the narrative of this construction is the year 137 before the birth of Christ f. Hence suspicions may well arise, not only concerning the epoch of this work, but even with regard to the purity and precision of the Chl« nese annals in general. Mr. Bell, who resided for some time in China, and whose travels are deservedly esteemed for the accuracy •f their intelligence, assures usf , that this wall was built about six hundred years ago (that is about the year 1160), by one of the enu perors, to prevent the frequent incursions of the Mooguls, whose numerous cavalry nsed to ravage the provinces, and escape before an army could be assembled to oppose them. Renaudot observes that no oriental geographer, above three hundred years In anti^ quity, mentions this wall§ : and it is surprising that it should have escaped Marco Polo ; who, supposing that he had entered China by a different rout, can hardly be conceived, during his long resip dence in the north of China, and in the country of the Monguls, to have remained ignorant of so .stupendous a work ||. Amidst these difficulties, perhaps it may be conjectured 'that similar modes of de- fence had been adopted in different ages ; and -that the ancient rude barrier having fallen into decay, was replaced, perhaps after the in. jvasion of Zingis, by the present erection, which even from the state fit lis preservation can scarcely aspire to much antiquity.
[Dti Haide. SlautUon* Pinkerton,
•SECTION V.
Temple of Elephanta.
Wa got into our boat at Mazagong a little before sunrise, and had the pleasure of marking the gradual increase of day as it broke over the Mahratta mountains. First the woody tops of Caranja aud Elephanta became illuminated, then Bombay, with its forts and villages stretching along the north of the bay, while the bases of the rocky i&lands to the south, slowly became distinguishable from the reflecting waves. After -an hour's row, during whiclTwe
Pi • Tome ii., p. 64. f Tome i.340.
i TraTels, ii. 112.8vo. S Ut supra, 137.
g SiMne, however, deny that be entered Chine* VOL. VI. * J I
■*e«
TEMPLE 07 BLBPHAITTA.
passed Gutclier's Island, called by the natives Dera DnI, or htAf bland, we arriteil at Elepbaota, « mounlaitt isle with a dmbl? top nood«d to the summit; Oppotite to tiie landing-place is the co- |os«al i^ne elephant, from which llie Portuguese nami-'d the place. It is now eracked and mutilated, a« tradition says, by the Pqrta.
guese.
It must haT
I carted out of the rock on irtaich it
stands, for it appears too \3.c^e to have b«en carried to Ht present slluatimi. After passing a Tillage which, as w«ll as whole bland, the natires call Gbaripoori, we ascended the hill through r»imntJc passes, sometimes of ershadowed with wood, sometimes walled bjr rocks, tin we arrived at the cave. 'We came ti[ion it rineipecledly, and I coofeii that I never felt su»h a sensatiaii of astotrihment as when the cavern opened upon me> At (irst it Bppenr^ all dark- ness, while on the hilt above, btluw, and around, slirubs and doweri of Ihc most IirJIIiiint hues uere waving in iKe Toll suQghlne, At I entered, my sight became gradually more <tiatinct, and I wu able to consider the wonderful chamber in trhith I stood. The entrance isfifry.live feet wide, its faeight h eighteen, and iti length abouteqnal to its width. It is supported hy inassy pjllus, carved in the solid rock ; the capita) of these res»-mbles a cosiprtssed caehiou bound with a fillet ; thf; abacus is likp a bunch of mds supporting a b(vam, six of ivhich run across the whole cave ; bHotv the capital the column may be cumgiared to a fluted bell resfiag oq a plain octagonal member placed on a dif, uu euih corner of which sits Uanuman, Ganesa, or some of the other iDfcrinr godt. The ^ides of thecaiernare sculptured in compirlments, representing
TEMFLB or BLBPHAVTA. 483
•
The lengtli from the chio to the crown of the hetd is rii feet ; the caps are abont three feet more. No part of the bust is mutilated but the two hands in front, which are quite destroyed. Concealed steps behind Siva's hand lead to a convenient ledge or bench be- hind the cap of the bust, where a Bramin might have hidden him* self for any purpose of priestly imposition. On each side of the irimurti is a pilaster, the front of which is filled up by a figure fourteen feet high, leaning on a dwarf; these are much defaced. To the right is a large square compartment, hollowed a little, caryed into a great variety of figures, the largest of which fs sixteen Ceet high, representing the double figure of Siva and ParTati, called Viraj or Ardha Nari, half male half female, the right side of which is Siva and the left his wife ; it is four-handed ; the two lower hands, one of which appears to have rested on the ^undi, are broken ; the upper right hand has a cobra.capeHa, and the left a shield. On the right of the Viraj is Braroa, four-faced, sitting on a lotus ; and on the It^ft is Vishnu on the shoulders of Garuda. Near Brahma are Indra and Indranee on thf ir elephant, and be. low is a female figure holding a chamara or chowree ^. The upper part of the compartment is filled with small figures in the attitudes of adoration.
On the other side of the jtrimurti is a compartment answering to that 1 have just described. The principal figure I take to be Siva ; at his left hand stands Parvati, on whose shoulder he leans ; between them is a dwarf, on whose he^d is one of Siva's hands, and near Parvati is another. Over Siva's shoulder hangs the ze. naar, and he holds the cobra«capella in one of his four hands. He is surrounded by the same figures which fill up the compart, ment of the Veraji ; his own height (which we measured by a plumb-line dropped from his head,) is fourteen feet, and that of Parvati is ten. All these figures are in alto.relieyo, as are those of the other jsides of the cavern, the most remarkable of which is one of Siva in his vindictive character; he is eight.handed, with a chaplct of skulls round his neck, and appears in the act of per* forming the human sacrifice.
On the right hand, as you enter thh cave, is a square apartment
■' ■ "■*■ -
• The chamara is a whisk to kei^p off fliet, made either of a cow's tail or peacock's featheri, or ivory shaviogt, set io a handle two feet long. They are always carried behind penoos of rank.
2|2
484 TEMPLB OF ELBPHANTA,
ifkh four doors, supported by eight cdpssal figures ; it contains a gigantic symbol of Maha Deo, and is cut out of the rock like the cest of the care. There is a similar chamber in a smaller and more secret cavern, to which there is access from the corner next to the Viraji ; the covering of the passage has fallen in, but^ on climbing over the rubbish, we found ourselves in a little area which has no outlet, and is lighted from above, the whole thickness of (he hill being cut through. The cavern to which it belongs con- tains nothing but the square chamber of Maha Deoy and a bath at each end, one of which is decorated with rich sculpture.
When we had tired ourselves with eKaroining the various won* ders of the cavern of Elephaota, I sat down to take a sketch of the great compartments opposite to the entrance, and on our return to Bombay, comparing the drawing with those in Ni^biihr, we were satisfied that its resemblance to the original is the most cor. rect. I am sorry to observe, that the pillars and sculptures of the cave are defaced in every part, by having the names of most who visit them either carved or daubed with black chalk upon them ; and the intemperate zeal of the Portuguese, who made war upon the gods and temples, as well as upon the armies of India, added to the havoc of time, has reduced this stupendous monu* ment of idolatry to a state of ruin. Fragments of statues strew the floor; columns, deprived of their bases, are suspended from the parent roof, and others without capitals, and spmetimes split in two, threaten to leave the massy hill that covers them without
support.
The temple of Elephanta, and other equally wonderful caverns in the neighbourhood, must have been the works of a people far advanced in the works of civilised life, and possessed of wealth and power ; but these were lodged in the hands of a crafty priesthood, who kept science, affluence, and honour, for their own fraternity, . and, possessed of better ideas, preached a miserable and degrad* ing superstition to the multitude. It would be curious to follow out the advancement and fall of the arts which produced such mo- numents ; but not a trace of their history remains, and we ^re left to seek it in the natural progress of a people subtle and ingenious, but depressed by superstition, and the utter impossibility of rising individually, by any virtues or any talents, to a higher rank iq society than that occupied by their forefathers.
IMrs. Grahame.
tBliPLB OF JUOOSXIIAUT.* 4\SS
SECTION TI.
Temple of Juggernauff
<' Buddruck in Orisia^ May SOihy 1806.
<< We know that we are approaching Juggernant (and yet we are more than fifty miles from it) by the human bones which we have seen for some days strewed by the way. At this place we have been joined by several large bodies of pilgrim^ perhaps ^oo in number, who have come from various parts of Northern India. Some or (hem with whom I have conversed, say that they have been two months on their march travelling slowly in the hottest season of the year, with their wives and children. Some old persons are among them who wish to die at Juggernaut. Numbers of pilgrims die on the road ; and their bodies generally remain unburied. On a plain by the river, near the Pilgrim's Caraveusera at this place, there are more than a hundred skulls. The dogs, jackals, and vultures, seem to live here on hnman prey. The vultures exhibit a shocking tameness. The obscene animals will not leave the body sometimes till we come close to them. This Buddruck is a horrid place. Wherever I turn my eyes, I meet death in some shape or other. Surely Juggernaut cannot be worse than Bud^ druck/'
^< In sight of Juggernaut J l^th June^ 1806. Many thousands of pilgrims have accompanied us for
cc
some days past. They cover the road before and behind as far ai the eye can reach. At nine o'clock this morning, the temple of Juggernaut appeared in view at a great distance. When the muUitude tirst saw it, they gave a shout, and fell to the ground and worshipped. I have heard nothing to.day but shout» and ao* clamations by the successive bodies of pilgrims. From the place where I now stand I have a view of a host of people like an army^ encamped at the outer gate of the town of Juggernaut: where a guard of soldiers is posted to prevent their entering the towoi until they have paid the pilgrim's tax.— I passed a devotee to-day who laid himself down at every step, measuring the road to Jug* gemaut by the length of his body, as a penance of merit tm please the God."
Si3
480 • TBMPLB OF JUOOBRNAUT.
<< Outter Gate of Juggernaut^ \^th JunCy 1806. <( ■ A disaster has just occurred. — As I approached the gate, the pilgrims crowded from all qu&rters around me, and shouted, as they usually did when I passed them on the road, an expression of welcome aud respect. I was a little alarmed at their number, and looked round for my guard. A guard of soldien accompanied me from Cutack, the last military station ; but thej were now about a quarter of a mile behind with my senraots and the baggage. The pilgrims cried out that they were entitled to some indulgence, that they were poor, tliat they could not pa/ th« tax ; but I was not aware of their design. At this moment, wben I was within a few yards of the gate, an old Sanyasiee (or holy man) who had travelled some days by the side of my horse, cauM up and said, ' Sir you are in danger ; the people are going to rush through the gate when it Is opened for yon.' I immediately disu mounted, and endeavoured to escape to one side ; but it was too late. The mob was now in motion, and with a tumultuous shoat pressed violently towards the gate. The guard within seeing my danger opened it, and the multitude rushing through, carried me forward in the torrent a considerable space \ so that I was literally borne into Juggernaut by the Hindoos themselves. A distressii^ •cene followed. As the number and strength of the mob increased, the narrow way was choaked up by the mass of people ; and I np. prehended that many of them would have been suffocated, or bruised to death. My horse was yet among them. But suddenly one of the side posts of the gate, which was of wood, gave way^and fell to the ground. And perhaps iMs circumstance alone prevented the loss of lives. Notice of the event was immediately commnni* cated to Mr.J9unter, the superintendant of the temple^ who re- paired to the spot, and sent an additional guard to the inner gate> lest 4he people should force that also ; for there is an outer and an inner gate ip the town of Jnggenaut i but both of them are ' alightly ccAstructed. Mr« Hnnter told me that similar accklenta f ometiaies occur, and that many hare been crushed to death bj the pressure of the Inob. He added, that loraetlmei a body of pilgrims, (consisting ehiefly of women and children, and old men) tmiting ta the phyttcal weight of their mass, will make, what he ealled a charge on the armed guards, and OTerwhdm them ; ike gnardi not being willing^ in (rack drduostances^ (o oppo99 their bajonets»''
TElf PLB OV JUGOBBKAUt. 487
<< Juggernaut, \4tk June^ 1800.
<^ -— ^ I have seen Juggernaut. The scene at Buddruck is but ihe vestibule to Juggernaut. No record of ancient or modern his- tory can giTe, I think, an adequate idea of this valley of death ; it may be truly compared with the ^ valley of Hinnom." The idol called Juggernaut, has been considered as the Moloch of the pre- sent age ; and he is justly so named, for the sacrifices offered up to him by self-devotement, are not less criminal, perhaps not less numerous, than those recorded of the Moloch of Canaan, Two other idols accompany Juggernaut, namely, Boloram and Shubu« dra, his brother and sister : for there are three deities worshipped here. They receive equal adoration, and sit on thrones of nearly equal height."
^^ — - This morning I viewed the temple ; a stupendous fabric, and truly commensurate with the extensive sway of ^ the horrid king.' As other temples are usually adorned with figures emblema« tical of their religion, so Juggernaut has representations (nume- rous and varied) of that vice which constitutes the essence of his worship. The walls and gates are covered with indecent emblems^ in massive and durable sculpture.— I have also visited the sand plains by the sea, in some places whitened with the bones of the pilgrims ; and another place a little way out of (he town, called by the English, the Golgotha, where the dead bodies are usually cast forth ; and where dogs and vultures are ever seen*/'
^^ The grand Hindoo festival of the Rutt Jattra, takes place on the 18th instant, when the idol is to be brought forth to the peo. pie. I reside during my stay here at the house of James Hunter^ Esq. the Company's collector of the tax on pilgrims, and supcrin- tendant of the temple, formerly a student in the Colfpge of Fort William ; by whom I am hospitably entertained, and also by Cap.
* The valCures grncrally find oat the prey first ; and begin with the infefl* tines ; for the flesh of the body is too firm for their beaks immediately after death. Bat the dogs soon receive notice of the cireomslancet generaUy from teeing the horries, or corpse-carriers^ returning from the place. On the ap- proach of the dogs, the vultures retire a few yards, and wait till ihe body be iufliciently torn for easy deglutition. The vultures and dogs often feed toge- ther ; and sometimes begin their attack before the pilgrim be quite dead. There are four animals which may be seen about a carcase at the sane tiwm^ vis. the dog, the jackal,, the vnltarc^ and tba hurfeeU, or aifjataat, calleA by Pennant, the gigantic crane.
Si4
488 TEMPLE OF JITGOBRKAirT.
tain Patton, and lieutenant Woodcock, commanding the militart' force. Mr. Uunter distinguished himself at the college by hit pro- ficiency in the Oriental Languages. He is a gentleman of polished manners and of classical taste. The agreeable society of these gentlemen is very refreshing to my spirits in the midst of the pre« sent scenes. I was surprised to see how little they seemed to be moved by the scenes at Juggernaut. They said they were now so accustomed to them, they thought little of them. They had almost forgot their first impressions. Their houses are on the sea-shore, about a mile or more from the temple. They cannot lire nearer, on account of the offenshe effluvia of the town. For, independ. ently of the enormity of the superstition, there are other circam. stances which renders Juggernaut noisome in an extreme degree. The senses are assailed by the squalid and ghastly appearance of the famished pilgrims ; many of wfiom die in the streets of want or of disease ; while the devotees, with clotted hair and painted flesh, are seen practising their various austerities, and modes of self tor- ture. Persons of both sexes, with little regard to concealment, sit down on the sani's close to the town in public view ; and the Sa- cred Bulls walk about among them and eat the ordure^."
*^ The vicinity of Juggernaut to the sea probably prevents the contagion which otherwise would be produced by the putrefac« tion of the place. There is scarcely any verdure to refresh flie sight near Juggernaut ; the temple and town being nearly encom- passed by hills of sand, which has been cast up in the lapse of ages hy the surge of the ocean. All is barren and desolate to the eye ; and in the ear there is the never-intermitting sound of the roar, ing sea.'*
<< Juggernaut^ ISihofJune^ 180ff«
^^ I have returned home from witnessing a scene which I shall pever forget. At twelve o'clock of this day, being the great day of the feast, the Moloch of Hindostan was brought oat of his teiii* pie amidst the acclamations of hundreds of thousands of hb wor« shippers. When the idol was placed on his throne, a shout was raised by the multitude, such as I had never heard before. l€
• This iiing:alBr fstt wai pointed out to me by the gentlemen here. There im no vegetatUn for the sacred Bolls on the sand^plains. They are fed geoenlly With vegetables from the hands of the pilgrinfi*
TBlf »LB OF JITOOBBKA VT. 489
ContiDiied equable for a few minutes, and then gradatlly died away. After a thort interral of silence, a murmer was heard at a distance ; all eyes were turned towards the place, and, behold, a grore ad* Tancing. A body of men, having green branches, or palms, iu their hands, approached with great celerity. The people opened a way for them ; and when they had come up to the throne, they fell down before him that sat thereon, and worshipped. And the multitude again sent forth a voice ^ like the sound of a great thun. der.' — But the voices 1 now heard, were not those of melody or of joyful acclamation ; - for there is no harmony in the praise of Mo. loch*s worshippers. Their number indeed brought to my mind the countless multitude of the Revelations ; but their voices gave no tuneful Hosanaa or Hallelujah ; but rather a yell of approbation, united with a kind of hissing applause.* — I was at a loss how to ac. count for this latter noise, until I was directed to notice the wo- men ; who emitted a sound like that of whistling, with the lips circular and the tongue vibrating : as if a serpent would speak by their organs, uttering human sounds."
*^ The throne of the idol was placed on a stupendous car or tower about sixty feet in height, resting on wheels which indented the ground deeply, as they turned slowly under the ponderoui machine. Attached to it were six cables, of the size and length of a ship^s cable, by which the people drew it along. Thousands of men, women, and children pulled by each cable, crowding so closely, that some could only use one hand. Infants are made to exert their strength in this office, for it is accounted a merit of righteousness to move the god. Upon the tower were the priesti and satalites of the idol, surrounding his throne. 1 was told that there were about a hundred and twenty persons upon the car alto- gether. The idol is a block of wood, having a frightful visage painted black, with a distended mouth of a bloody colour. His arms are of gold, and he is dressed in gorgeous apparel. The other two idols are of a white and yellow colour. — Five elephants preceded the three towers, bearing towering flags, dressed in crinu •on caparisons, and having bells hanging to their caparisons, which sounded musically as they moved."
^^ I went on in the procession, close by the tower of Moloch ; which, as it was drawn with difficulty, < grated on its many
« SctMUton'f PaDdemoBiuB, Book X.
1-1=
490 TEMPLE OV JUCGB8KACT.
wheels harsb tbuoder*.' After a few minutes it stopped ; and uow the worshi)] of tUe god b^sn. A high priest moiHited the car in front of the idol, and pronounced lii& obsceue titaiuaft in tlw Mrs of the people ; wbo respooded at intervnls in tbe gaaMatraln. * These soDgs,' said ho, ' are the delight of tlie god. Qjm car au ' onlj more when he ia pleased with tbe soDg.' The car moved on a little way and then stopped. A boy ol about twelve yearfl was then brought forth to attempt somcihing yet mure LudrtotiS} if peradieflture the god would move. The ■ child perfected &■ praise' of hit idol with such ardent expres.^ion and geitniVf that the god was pleased, and (he multitude, emitting a scnsnal j^Il of delight, urged the car aloug. After a few minutes it atopped again. An aged minister of ^e idol then Gtood up, and with a long rod in his hand, which he morcd with indecent action, com. pleted the variety of this disgusting exhibition. I felt a conscious. neis of doing wrong in witnessing it. 1 was also somewhat ap. palled at the magnitude and horror of the spectacle ; 1 felt like a guilty person on whom all eyM were fixed, and 1 was «boat to withdraw. But a scene of a different kind was now ta be pre. ■ented. The characteristic of Moloch's worship are obscenity and blood. We hate seen tlie former. Now comes the blood.
*' After the tower had proceeded some way^ a pilgrim an- nounced that he was ready to olTer himself a sacrifice (o the idol. He laid himself down in (he road before the tower as it was ihot. ing along, lying on his face, with his arms stretched ferwardi. — Thu multitude passed round him, leaving l)ic spact' ck-ar, and he
TKMPLB OF JUOOERICAITT. 491
the blood is made. The people threw cowries, or small moaeji 00 the body of the tictim, in approbation of the deed. He was left to view a considerable time, and was then carried by the liar, ries to the Golgotha, where I have just been viewing his remains. How much I wished that the proprietors of India stock could have attended the wheels of Juggernaut, and seen this peculiar source of their revenue."
" Juggernaut^ ^Otk June^ 1806.
'* Molloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood *' Of haman ircriflce, and parents' tean. — Miltoh.
^* — — The horrid solemnities still continue. Yesterday a wo- man devoted herself to the idol. She laid hersf'lf down on the road in an oblique direction, so that the wheel did not kill her instantaneously, as is generally the case ; but she died in a few hours. This rooming as I passed the Place of Skulls, nothing remained of her but her bones.
^^ And this, thought I, is the worship of the Brahmins of Hin. dostan, and their worship in its sublime^t degree ! What then shall we think of their private manners, and their moral principles I For it is equally true of India as of Euro^ie. If you would know the state of the people, look at the state of the Temple.
'^ I was surprised to see the Brahmins with their heads unco* vered in the open plain falling down in the midst of the Sooden before ^ the horrid shape,' and mingling so complacently with < that polluted cast.' But this proved what I have before heard, that so great a god is this, that the dignity of high cast disappears before him. This great king recognises no distinction of rank among his subjects, all men are equal in his presence."
^^Juggernautj %\ii June^ 1806.
^^ The idolatrous processions continue for some days longer, but my spirits are so exhausted by the constant view of these enor* mities, that I mean to hasten away from this place sooner than I at first intended. I beheld another distressing scene this morning at the Place of Skulls ;— -a poor woman lying dead, or noarly dead, and her two children by her, looking at the dogs and vultures which were near. The people passed by without noticing the children. I asked them where was their home. They said,
49i
TEMPLE OF JUG G ESN
* the; had ao home but vhere their roothtr wns.'— O, there is no pity in Jiijjefrnnut ! do merfy, no tpnilpriiesa of heart in Muloch's kinii-iom ! Thuee who support hia kingdom, err, I trust, from ignorance. ' They know nol what thej do."
" As to the number of worsMppers assembled here at tills time, fio acciirati- calrulalion can be made. The natives tiiemiielTes when speaking ol tb^ numbers at particular festivals, osntlly say that a lack uf people (100,000) would not be missed. 1 asked a Brahmin ho'* many he supposed were present at the most nu- merous feauTal he had e»er witnessed. ' Hoi» can I tell,' said be, ' how many grain; there are in a handful of sand ?"
" The languages spoken htre are various, as (here are Hindoos from CTery country in InJi ; hut the two chief Uni^uages in use by those who are resident, are the Orissa and the Tellogs. The border of thi- Telinga country is only a few miles distant frotB the tower uf JuggernRnt*."
" Chilka Lake, UtkJune. '( -^^ I felt my mind relieved and happy when I hid passed beyond (he':onlines of Juggernaut. I certainly was not prepared for this scene. But no one can know what it is who has not seen it. From an eminence + on the pleasant banks of the Chilka Lake (where no human bunea are seen) I had a view of ttie lofty tairer of Juifgernaut far remote ; and while 1 viewed it, Us nbomioalions came to mind. It was on (he morning of the Sabbath, lluminat.
TIM PLB OF JUOOBRVAUT. 49S
Annual Expemes of the Idol Juggernaut^ presented to the
English Government.
[Extracted from the Official Account.]
Rupees. £, Sterling.
1. Expanses attending the table of the idol 36,115 or 4,514
3. Dittoof his drfss or wearing apparel • 3,712 339
3. Ditto of the wages of his servents • . 10,057 1,259 4* Ditto of rontingeni expenses at the dif-
fi-tent seasons of pilgrimage • . • 10,989 1,373
5. Ditto of hif) elephants and hurses • • 3,030 378
6. Ditto of his rutt or annual state carriage 6,713 839
Rupees 6%6k6 jf8702
<< In item third, < wages of his serrants,' are included th% wages of the courtesans, who are kept for ihe serrice of the temple*
^* Ittm sixth. — What is here call d in ihe ofiiiriai account ^ the state carriage,' is the same as the car or tower. Mr. Hunter in* formed me that the three ^ state carriages' were decorated this year (in June 1806) with upward^ of 200/. sterling worth of English broad cloth.
*^ Of the rites celebrated in the interior of Juggernaut, called the Daily Service, I can say nothing of my own knowledge, not hafing been within the temple*.'*
Dr. Buchanan^s Christian Researches in India,
• "At the Temple of Jogf emaat, the En|r|iMh government levy a tax od pll- grimt MS a Rource of revenue. Tlie first law, enacted by the Benfcal goTrrnmeiit for this parpose, was eotitled " A regulation for levyiii|[; a tax from pilft^rint resortinfr to the Temple, of Joxgernaut, and foi the superintcndance of aud ma^ nagementof tl« Temple.- P .«fed Sd of April, 18(»6." Another reAalatioa was pasted in Benjpil, in April, 1809, rcitrlndinir so much of the former as re« lated to the /* inlerior management and cootrnor* of the Templf^ i hot sancti- oning the levying the tax from pilgriou for admission to the temple; allotting a smn toward the expenses of the idol i and ippoiiiting .tn officer of govern- ment to ooltecl the tax. Of this second regularion, the author received no in- timation until the third edition of bis work wa.<« put to pross. In the former editions, it was stated that the Temple was under the immediate manigement and contronl of the English government i which he is nof^ happy to fitid was not the fiict at the time. Whether the accooat of (he new rrgulation bad
p
494 UORAI,OB CKMBTBr AND TEMPLE,
SECTION VII.
Morai, or Cemetery and Temple of the AMtralasian liland*. OxB of tbe molt singular iliscoTeries which occurrc'd to Captain Cook kt Otahcile, was the sacred tdiJJcts which the iahkUtuits denomitisti'd Morats, and which were appraprialed tottsdouble purpose of placds of worship, and sppulclircs : and the nunc has since appeared to Ihe learned uarlil as extraordinnry as the fact ; for the word Mor-ai ie literally a Greek compound Map aia, " the region of death ; though it is probable that the AusiraUsians, at well aa the Greeks, derived tbe term from the Sanscrit, in which it ia equally to bv found.
nwticil Englnnd bttote the Ul of Jaly, 1810, when he had orrnalon fini lo
aanicsw to Ibp poblk the (ulUwing SDIhcolic iDfurmalioD, n liii:h, in jMice la the tioautabli- Courl of Dlrrclon, ai to ihc pari Ibc} bavp taken \a Dib aul-
WbcQIhr (kngalsovrrnincnlllrsl annoDoccd Iheir regiilalion of Ihe 3il of April, ISM, to Ihe Court of Dircctnn, (irhkh ibir; did by Idler, dated ISih May, 1886,) thry commanioiKd Iheir Uilrnlian ''■ maklag llic followinic alle- nliont IherpiD | — namely to pcnnil " ceitnin officrerf of Ihe Irin|ile to collect (heir fce» directly fiom Ihe pilgrinu a«reeahly (o tbruier mage, intlFad of rc- eclvini; Ihe amount nflhoKe fret fraia the public Irainry: lonllaiv Ihe PoDditj, who are to miperlnlrnd the offliin of the lemplr. In be elected b; parlirular rlwieiof p>r(ancalla--hed loll, iuilead of hcing appainled br (be (tavam. id to veil in Ihe Punillts en clei-led, the entire coDtroul owtt the t«m-
OVTHB AUSTBALASIAN ISLANDS, 495
The Moral has'since been found in ihe Sandwich Islands, and in almost all the various groups which belong to Australasia ; but in Otaheite we meet with it in its most extensiyeand celebrated form. In this island it consists of a pile of stone raised pyramidically upon an oblong base or square two hundred and sixty-seven feet long, and eighty^even wide. On each side is a flight of steps ; those at the sides being broader than those at the ends ; so that it termi. nated not in a dquare of the same figure with the base, but in a ridge like the roof of a house. There were eleven of these steps to one of the morals, each of which was four feet high, so that the height of the pile was forty-four feet ; each step was formed of one course of white coral stone, which was neatly squared and po. lished ; the rest of the mass (for there was no hollow within) con.
ever, were over-ruled in this proceeding by a superior authority, which thoughie it sufficient to acquiesce gerierally in what the Bengal government, in their above- mentioned letter of the 10th May, isoo, proposed should be done.
By the same superior authority another dispatch was substiiuted to that efiect, in uhich it was stated, that as the tax on pilgrims reso*^ting to Allahabad and Juggernaut, was established during the Nawaub's and the Mahraita govemmcnty three did not appear to be any objccton to its continuance under the British goremment.
This substituted dispatch went, as the law directs, in the name of the Court of Directors, although it was in opposition to their sentiments. But, before it ar- rived in Bengal, the government there had passed, by their own authority, the regnlation of April, ISOO.
That part of the province of Orissa, which contains the Temple of Jugger- naut, first became subject to the British Empire under •the administration of Marquis Wellesley, who permitted the pilgrims at 6»t to visit Juggernaut with- out paying tribute. It was proposed to his lordship, soon after, to pass the regu- lation first above-mentioned for the management of the temple, and levying the tax ; but he did not approve of it, and actually left the government without giving his sanction to the opprobrious law. When the measure was discussed by the succeeding government, it was resisted by George Udney, Esq. one of the members of the Supreme Council, who recorded his solemn dissent on the "pro- ceedings of government, for transmission to England. The other members con- sidered Juggernaut to be a legitimate source of revenue, on the principle, I be^ lieve, that money from othor temples in Hindustan had long been bronghl into the treasury. It is just (hat I should state that these gentlemen are men of the most honourable principles and of onimpeacbed integrity. Nor would any one of them, I believe, (for I have the honour to know them) do any thing which be thought injurious to the honour or religion of his country. But the truth is this, that those persons who go to India in early youth, and wimes the Hindoo customs all their life, seeing little at the same time of the Christian religion to counteract the ttkct, are disposed to view them with complacency, and are sometimes in danger of at Uosth coosideiiog them even as proper or neoesstfy."
A9G AKcniTBCTURAL REMAINS AT MTLA««i'.-
•isied of round pebble, v/hich from the regularity of Uieir figure, Beem tu have beea wruught. The fouadation was of rock stones, which were also squared. In the middle of the top stood an image of a bird carTed in wood, and near it lay the broken one of a fish carved in ittone. The whole of this pyramid made part of one side of a spacious area or srjuare three hundred and sixtj- fMt by Ihree liDndrt'd and rifty.faur, wiiich was walled in with slooB, and paved with flat stones in its whole oxtei)!. About one hundred yards to the weel of this building was another paved area or court, ia which were several small stages raised on wooden pillars about seren ftet high, which are called by the Indians eaaltai, and seem to be a kiud of altars, as upon these are placed provisions of all kinds, as ofTeritigfi to their gods. On some of them were seen whole hogs, and on others the skulls of above tifty, besides the skulls of many dogs. The principal object of ambition among the natives is to have a magniQcent moral. The male deities (for they hiTo titem of Iioth sexes) are worshipped by tlic men, and the female bjp ^ wo- men ; and each havemorus, to which the other sex it not admitted, though Ibey have slso morais common to both.
{^Cook's f^oi/ages. Hamkeiisorth.
SECTION VIII. ^V
Jrchkecturat itewmint, ut Mytaia. ^
MylAsa, or Mylassa, was the capital of HecatonUUH) lUiij of Caria, nnd father of Mausolns. It has been described fls titoated
AiteAttECTttftAt kEMAniB At MtLA8A« 497
Imean, with trees interspersed, llie air is accounted bad ; atid scorpions abound as antiently ; entering often at the doors and trindows, and larking in the rooms. The plain is surrounded by lofty moitntainsi and cultiyated ; but has long been parched and bare, except some spots green with the tobacco plant, which in flower is pleasing to the eye.
Our first enquiry was for the temple, erected tibout twelre years before the Christian sera, by the people of Mylasa, to Augustus Caesar, and the Goddess of Rome ; which was standin/i; not many years ago. We were shown the basement, which remains ; and were informed, the ruin had been demolished, and a new Mosque^ which we saw on the mountain-sido, abore the town, raised with the marble. The house of a Turk occupying the site, we em. ployed tlie Hungnriaii to treat with him for admission ; but he affirmed we could see nothing ; and added^ that there was his harem, or the apartment of his women, which was an obstacle not to be surmounted. It had six columns in fronts and the whoU number had been twenty .two*
On the hill, and not far from the basement of the temple. Is a column, of the Corinthian order, standing, with a flat.roofed cot* tage, upon a piece of solid wall. It has supported a statue; and on the rhafi is an inscription *. ^^ The people have erected it to Menander, son of Quliades, son of Euthydemus, a benefactor to his country, and descended from benefactors." The Turk, who lived in the cottage, readily permitted a ladder to be placed on the ter« race for measuring the capital, which was done as expeditiously as possible, but not before we were informed, that several of the inhabitants murmured, because their houses were overlooked. Besides this, two fluted columns, of the Ionic order, remained not mauy years since.
Euthydemus the ancestor of Menander, was contemporary with Augustus Cesar* He was of an illustrious family, and possessed an ample patrimony. He was eloquent, and not only great in hii own country, but respected as the first person of Asia Minor. His power was so advantageous to the city, that, ifit savoured of tyranny, the odium was overcome by its utility. Hybreas con« eluded an oradon, with telling him he was a necessary evil. This demagogue, who succeeded Euthydemus, liad inherited on\f a mule
l^ViW.
* loKript. Ant. p. S7i ▼•t. YI. a ft
498
ABCHITECTUBAb REMAINS AT MYLAUy
and ita driver, emplujreil then, as many now are, id brining wooJ from Ihe muimtains for sale*.
Benealli the hill, on Ihc cast side of the town, is an arch or gate- way of roarblc, of the Corinthian order. On the key-itooa of tlje eitvrior front, which is eastward, we observed a double-hatchel^ as OD the two marbUs near Myfls. II was with dilTiculty we procured laddt^rs to reach the top ; and some were broken, before we could 6nd three suSicitiiitly long and strong for our purpose. The going up, when these were united, was not without danger. Tfae Aga had eiprtssed some wonder at our emploj'meul, as describei] to Mm ; and seeing one of my companions on (he arch, from a win. dow of bis house, which was opposile, pronounced falmt fa -we were told, a brave fellow, but williout brains. We desired him to accept our umbrella, on his sending to purchase it fur a present lo B lady of his harem, who wns going into the country. By the arch was a fonntain, to wliiuh women came with earthen pitchers for water, and with their faces muffled.
We saw a broad marble pavement, witli vestiges of A theatre, near Ihe Corinthian column. Toward the centre of the town, w« observed a small pool of water, and by tt llie massive irches of some public ediiice. In the conrt of the Aga's hoiue Waa An altar much ornamented. Wc found an altar lilcewise fa the streets, and a pedestal or two half buried, with pieces of uiljent wall. Itound Ihe town arc ranges of broken columus, the rem- nants of porticoes, now, with rubbish, bounding ihe linejrards. A large portion of the plain is coTcred with scattered fragments,
TBMPLB OF HBLIOPOLI8« 499
fluted, some of which have suffered from Tiolence, being hewn near the bases, with a view to destroy the fabric for the iron and mate* rials. The shafts are not circular, but elliptical* ; and in the angu. * lar columns square. The reason is, the sides, which are now open, were closed with marble pannels ; and that form was necessary to give them a due projection. The inside has been painted blue. This structure is the first object, as you approach from Jasus, and stands by the road. The entrance was on the farther side, the ascent to it probably by a pair of steps, occasionally applied and removed. [Chandler.
SBCTION IX.
Temple of Heliapolis or Balbedc.
Hkliopolis, the Balbeck of more modern times, is mentioned by the Arabians as the wonder of Syria ; and such of our European travellers as have vbited it, are so charmed with what they bdieid there, that they are at a loss how to express their admiration. On the south west of the town, which stands in a delightful plain on the west foot of Antilibanus, is an heathen temple, with the remains ol some other edifices ; and, among the rest, of a magnificent palace* These ancient structures have been patched and pieced in later times, and converted into a castle, as it is called. As you draw near to these venerable ruins, you meet with a rotunda, or round pile of building, incircled with pillars of the Corinthian order, which support a cornice that runs all round the structure ; the whole of great elegance and stateliness, but now in a very tottering condition. It is mostly of marble, and, though round on the out« side, is an octagon within ; being, in the inside, adorned with eight arches, supported by eight: Corinthian columns, each of one piece. It is now open at top, but appears to have been covered and em- bellished with the figures of eagles. The Greeks, who have con. verted this round into a church, have spoiled the beauty of the in* side, by daubing it over with plaster. Leaving this, you come to a large, firm, and very lofty pile of building, through which you pass into a noble arched walk or portico, one hundred and fifty paces long, that leads to the temple.
•t
* See a cdmnD ^cacribed at tingiilar by Tovrs«fort, p. SSO. 8t« Pe* cfocke, p*56t
500
TKMPLE OP HELIOPOLIS.
This (einple fins resisted the mjaries of time, and the HMdiie^s of superstition, being yet almost entire. It b an oblong squire, iii ttx penrral fnrm and proportion, exaetty like St. Pwl'a, Covent Garden; but, for magnificence of structure and dimeHskm, tfacre is scarce nny comparison, this temple being almoit M trig again erery way. Its length on the outside is one hunrlretl Hid nint^ty. tvo feet, ond its brendlh nincty.gix ; its length in tin Inside one hundred and tnenly feet, &nd its breadth sixty. Tho prooaos, or ante-temple, took up Hfty'four feet of the hundred sad niBctjr, bnt is now ruined; and the pillars ffbich sopporled it, ara broken. The whole body of this temple, as it now stands, is Biim>uad«d with a noble ))Ortico, supported by pillars of the CoriothUn or- der, six feet three inches in diameter, about fifty. foar in hsigbt, and each of three stones apiece. Their distance from each other, andfromthe vralj of the temple, is nine feet. There are f<Mirt«en of them on each side of the temple, and eight at each end, emtnl. ing the corner pillars in each number. ThearchitraTe u>d cornice, which are supported all round by these pillars, ara exquisitely carved. And, as you walk raond this temple, between its wall and the pillars which go round it, you have, over head, a solid ar. cade all the way, of great stones hollowed out arcfawiH ; in Ibe centre of each of which is a god, a goddess, or a hero ilruok ont with that life, that is not to be conceived, and all roand the foot of Ihe wall of the temple itself is a double border of marble} th« lowest part of which ia a continued bas-relief in mtnlatnte, ex.
TEMPLE OF UBLIOPOLIS* 501
6oor of the temple, in depth about twenty • four feet, and in breadth ^izty odd : through these pillars appears the door of the temple, under the vault of the portico ; but it there appears with great majesty, and without the least confusion ; so nice are the propor- tions of the pillars, their distance from each other, and the recess of the door itself. The door-case, or portal, is square, and of marble, in proportion and construction just like the great marble portal at the west end of St, Paul's, but for richer in sculpture^ and larger, if we mistake not* The whole height of it is about forty feet, and its whole width about twenty -eight, with an opening of about twenty feet wide* Tou are no sooner under this portal^ but, looking up, you «ee the bottom of the lintel, enriched urith a piece of sculpture, hardly to be equalled. It b a vast eagle in bas-relief, expanding his wings^ and carrying a caduceus in his pounce ; and on each side of him is a Rame or Cupid supporting one end of a festoon by a string or ribband, the other bemg held ia the eagle's beak.
As to the inside of the temple, it is divided into three bles, two narrow on the sides, and one broad in the middle, after the manner of our churches, being formed by two rows of fluted Corinthian pillars, of between three and four feet diameter, and in height^ including the pedestal, about thirty .six. These pillars are twelve in number, six on a side, at the distance of about eighteen feet from each other, and about twelve from the walls of the temple. Tho walls are adorned with two rows or orders of pilasters one over another, and between each two of the lowermost is a round niche about fifteen feet high* Tlie bottom of the niches is upon a level with the bases of the pillars, and the wall to that height is wrought in the proportions of a Corinthian pedestal, and the niches them, flelves are Corinthian in all their parts, with the strictest precision, and nicest delicacy. Over these round niches is a row of square ones between the pilasters of the upper order : the ornaments be. longing to them are all marble, and they are each crowned with a triangular pediment Towards the west end of the middle isle yon ascend to a choir, as it is called, by thirteen steps, which are the whole breadth of this part. This choir is distinguished from tho rest of the temple bj two large square columns adorned with pilasters, which form a noble entrance, exactly corresponding with that of the temple itself. Here is a great profusion of astonishing sculp* tore; bnt the architt^turo is the same here as in the body of the
3ft ^
502 TEMPLE or HEtlOI'OI.lS.
t'tnple, except Ihat Ihc pillars liate no prdrstnU, and the ntcbcs »(aiitl npuii the pavement. The t«o large equare pillan, which so remaTkably i!istint;uish this part of the temple, are thought to have Eupporleil a cani>py ; but nothing of that kiod in tu bn ifinD 'now. In thp hodom of this choir is a vast marble niche, nh«« flt«6d the prinLipal tlcilj here worshipped. In this choir are wm the most finel) imagined aculpluri'S, festoons, bird», flowers, fnrflB ; and fine bas-reliefs, Neplunes, Tritmis, fishes, sea. gods, AHon and his dolphin, and ulher niarini: li^ures. The deling or *aalt of this ^mpic is bold, and divided into compartments filled with excellent cartings. It is open towards the middle ; but uhelher a cnpolB or lantern stood there for the admissiuti of light, or -whctim It was at. trays open, cannot be judi^ed at this distance of time. In a word, the charming symmetry, the correct taste, and the height wherewith all the carvings are finished, even at such elevation?, where so grritt nlceness is thought unnecessary, are such, that it may be tmljr said, the whole pile is wiihoot the least blemish. Tlie whole ifauds upon faults of such excellent architecture, and so bold i tnm, that it is thought they served for something more than merely the sup. port of the superincamhent weight, and tjtay hare bi"Ml a anbter- raoeous temple, applied to some particular service in the l^gait worshiii. And, thoogh this temple novr slauds by itself, Atre are evident marks that it was accompanied by other buildings, no way DDworthy of it; among which are reckoned four di^ient ascents to it, one upon each angle, with marble steps so long that el^t or
TBMPLB OF HELIOPOLIS. 503
lifted twenty feet from the gronod. The rest of the stones of this wall are of surprising dimensions,' bnt none quite so large as these. Going through the long arched walk, which we have already mentioned as leading to the temple, and which looks like a subter- raneous passage, adorned with many busts, which for want of light cannot well be discerned, the first object which strikes (he sight is a spacious hexagonal building or wall, forming a kind of a spacious theatre, which is open at the other end, and presents you with a terrace, to which you ascend by marble steps. Thisi aperture ad* mits you into a square court, larger than the first, round which are magnificent buildings. On each hand you hare a double row of pillars, which form porticoes or galleries of sixty-six fathom in length, and eight in breadth. The bottom of this court was taken up by a third building, more sumptuous than the rest, and deeper, which seems to haie been the body of the palace, fronting east, ai all the fronts in this castle do. The columns belonging to this part are of such size, that they are compared with those of the hippo- drome at Constantinople. Nine of these columns are standing, and a good piece of the entablature, which evince it to have been one of the wonders of Asia ; and, to crown all, each of these nine pillars is but one block. Many considerable and distinct yestiges of the several parts of this palace are still extant. The Corinthian order prevails chiefly throughout the whole ; and scarce are any where to be found such precious remains of architecture and sculpture. The ornaments are Tarious, but without any of the wild extrava- gancies of modem architects. The fine taste of Greece, and the magnificence of Rome, here meet ; statues without number, busts of all sorts, proud trophies, curiously wrought niches, walls and cielings enriched with bas-reliefs, incrustations, and other works of the finest marble; therms and caryatides, judiciously placed. Un- derneath the whole are vast vaults ; where from time to time you discover^ through the ruins, long flights of marble stairs, near two hundred in a flight. The turn and elevation of these vaults are bold and sarprtsing : and in these subterraneous parts yon find many rooms, halls, rich apartments entire, and many marble tombs. The walls here also are adorned with niches, bas.reliefs, and in. acriptjons In Roman characters; but these inscriptions are quite effaced by the length of time, and the damps. Some of these vault are quite dark, and must be visited with lights, either because of their great depth, or becauie the passages which may have given
11x4
504 MAGNIFICfiKT RUIIIS OF PALMYRA.
tbem Ugbt ire stopped up by rubbish ; but others reoeWo light bjr: great windows, which stand on the level of the grovnd above : mmdi lastly, all these edifices are built with stones of the enormooa sise already mentioned, without any visible mortar, cement, or bindiof whatsoever. The temple and these ruins stand in the same iocto. sure, as we have said, and may challenge any monument of antJ* quity now exant, cither at Athens or at Rome, or even in Egypt All over and about the town, you, at every step, meet with fomo melancholy fragment of antiquity. The quarry fron whence tbey had the stone for these works is a little way ont of tiie town. It is cut out in steps something like an amphitheatre, wheve lies one stone ready hewn, which seems to surpass all that have bees already described. A notion prevailed, that it was too heavy to be moved ; but, upon a nice examination, it was found fastened to the rock»^ Such was the city of Balbeck, and from its surprising grandeur Mid magnificence we may well conclude it to have been once the most considerable place in Syria, and the delight of some mighty prince, who there chose to reside,
IJnc. Univ. MUi.
SECTION R.
Magnificent Ruins of Palmyra^
The splendid city of Palmyra, as it was called by the Greeks and Romans; by the scripture writers, Tadmor in the wikl«r« ness ; by Josephus, Palmira and Thadamor ; by the septua. gint copies, Theodmor and Thedroor; and by the Arabs and Syrians at this day, Tadmor, Tadmor, and ■ atmor ; was ence n noble city in the south-eastern parts of Syria. The origin of these names is dark and uncertain It stood on a fertile inland, if we may so call it, surrounded onfall sides by a thirsty and barteii desert. The first object that now occurs as you approach this for-. lorn place, is a castle of mean architeclare, and. uncertain loiuida« iknkj though formerly by situatioa impregnable, about half an houv froas the ci^« This castle stands on the north side of the city, and from thence yon descry Tadmor, inckised on three sides by long ridges of mountains ; bat to the sonth is • vast plain, which stretches ont of sight. The air is eaiceediog good ; bat the soil is barreo^ affordipg aothiog greea but a few palm-trees in the gardeas, aad a few more scattered up aad dpwsw The dty miut bave beea^ large eitent by the space now taken np by the ruins i but tiiieri '
1IAGVI9ICBMT RUINS OW FALlf TRA* 505
are no vestiges of the walhi whereby to judge of its ancient form. It is now a deplorable spectacle to behold, being only inhabited by thirty or forty miserable families^ who hav^e bnitt poor huts of mud, within a spacious court, which once inclosed a magnificent heathen temple.
To begin the description here : This court, which stands about the south end of the city, is two hundred and twenty yards on each side, with an high and stately wall of large square stone, adorned with pilasters within and without, to the number, as near as could be judged, of sizty.two on a side. The beautiful cornices haTO been purposely beaten down by the Turks, who hare thereby de« prif ed the world of one of the finest works of the kind that perhaps was erer seen, as here.and-there a fragment, which has escaped their fury, abundantly eTinces. The west side of this court, by which you enter it, is most of it broken down ; and towards the middle of it there are remains of an old castle, built by the Mam. l(kks, as is supposed, out of part of the ruins whicn are here in such abundance. This castle shrouds the remains of an ancient fabric of exquisite beauty, as appears by what is still standing of its en. trance, being two stones of thirty-fiie feet in length, carred with Tines and clusters of grapes, exceeding bold, and to the life. They are both in their right places, and by them it appears, that the door or gate was fifteen feet wide. In this great court are the remains of two rows of fery noble marble pillars thirty.sefen feet high with capitals of the finest carded work ; and the cornices must haTO been of equal beauty, though quite destroyed by the relentless su« perstition of the Mohammedans. Of these pillars fi fty^eight are intire. They must hare been many more in number; for, by wliat appears, they went quite round the court, and supported a most spadous double piazza or cloister. The walks on the west side of this piazza, which face the front of the temple, seem to have been the most spacious and stately of all ; and at each end of it are two niches for statues at their full length, with their pedestals, bor. ders, supporters, and canopies, carded with the greatest artifice and curiosity. The space within this once beautiful inclosure. Is conceived to have been an open court, as we ha?e already called it, in the midst of which stands the temple, incompassed with another row of pillars of a different order, and iar exceeding the former in dimensions, being fifty feet high. Of these, sixteen are now atanding ; but there most have been about doable that number,
506 MAGNIFICENT KUINS OF PALMYRA,
which, whether they formed an inner court, or supported the roof of a cloister, is uncertain. One great stone lies on the ground which seems to have reached from these pillars to the walls of the temple ; so that the latter conjecture may naturally enough take place. The whole space contained wilhin these pillars, is one hundred and seventy-seven feet in length, and in breadth, eighty- four. In the midst of this space is the temple, extending ninetj- nine feet in length, and in breadth, about forty. It has a sump, tuous entrance on (he west, exactly in the middle of the building, and, by what remains, it seems to hare been one of the most glo- rious edifices in the world. You here see vines and clusters of grapes executed to the life ; and over the door you can just trace out a spread eagle, as at Balbeck, which takes up the whole width ; with some angels or Cupids accompanying it on the same stone, and several eagles seen upon stones that are fallen down. No* thing of this temple is standing but the walls, in which it is obser. Table, that the windows, though not large, are narrower at top than at bottom, but mightily enriched with sculpture. It has been aukwardly patched up to serve for a mosque, all but the north end, where are very precious reliques ; which, whether they were in the nature of canopies over altars, or to what use else they served, is not easy to conjecture. They are beautified with the most curious fret work and sculpture ; in the midst of which is a dome or cupola, six feet diameter, all of one piece ; but whether they are hewn out of the solid rock, or molded of fine cement or composition, is made a doubt.
When you leave this court and temple, a prodigious number of marble pillars present themselves to your sight, scattered up and down for the space of near a mile ; but, in such confusion^ that there is no room to guess for what end they were framed.
Advancing towards the north, as you leave the temple, you have a tall and stately obelisk or pillar before you, consisting of seven large stones, besides Its capital. It is wreathed ; and the sculpture here, as every-where else, extremely fine. It is above fifty feet in height, twelve feet and an half In compass just above the pedestal, and a statue is conceived to have once stood upon it. On the east and west pf this, at the distance of a quarter of a mile, is a large pillar, and a piece of another near to the eastern pillar, which- looks as if t^ere had been once a continued row of them. The height of this eastern pillar, as taken by a quadrant, is above forty feet. Us
MAGNIFICENT RUIN8 OP PALMYRA. ^07
circumference is proportionable, and on the body of it b a Greek inscription in commemoration of two patriots, by an order of the senate and people, which, with the others of the same and other kinds we may hereafter meet with, we shall pass over for the pre. sent, that we may not break in upon the thread of this description The western pillar has anothf'r inscription of the like sort; but not quite so perfect as the former.
Proceeding on from the obelisk or pillar last- mentioned, at the distance of one hundred paces, is a magnificent entrance, vastly large and lofty, and for workmanship nothing inferior to any piece hitherto described ; but unhappily it has suffered the same fate with the rest. Thb entrance leads into a noble piazza, above half a mile long, and forty feet broad, formed by two rows of stately marble pillars twenty -six feet high, and eight or nine about. Of these pillars one hundred and twenty.nine are standing ; but by a mode- rate calculation they cannot have been fewer at first, than five huiu dred and sixy. Covering oyer them there is none remaining, nor pavement beneath, that can be seen. Upon most of these pillars are inscriptions in Greek and Palmy rene characters ; so that this seems to have been a much frequented and most conspicuous part of the city, and therefore most proper for the daily and honourable commemoration of such as had deserved well of their fellow.citizenSi or friends and relations* And, as if inscriptions were notsufiicient^ it seems as if here they placed the statues also of celebrated persons ; there being pedestals jetliug out from these pillars, sometimes one way, and sometimes more, whereon must have stood statues, which have long ago fallen victims to the furious and barbarous zeal of the Mohammedans ; and upon these pedestals are incriptions, even when none are on the pillar they belong to, and sometimes too when there are. The upper end of this spacious piazza was shnt in by a row of pillars, standing closer together than those on each side ; and perhaps a banqoeting.room stood upon them, though no sign of it remains. But, on the left hand, a little farther, appear the ruins of a very stately pile, which may have been of such a kind ; of finer marble than is observed in the piazza, and with an air of delicacy throughout the whole> far surpassing what is observed in the piazza itself. The pillars which supported this last pile are all of one stone, twenty two feet long, and eight feet nine inches round. Among these ruins is found the only Latin inscription that was leem at this place.
508
MAGRIFICENT IDIN'S 01 PALHYBA.
In the west sidp of the abare piaine are aeveral oi^«Diflgs, sup. posed to liave been for gates^ which led into the court of the palace. Two of these gates look as if they had been the mobt ■nagnificcnt and glorious in the norld, both for the elegance of the work in general, and for (he stately par|ihyry pillars, wherewith they were adorned. Each gate hud four, not standing in n itne with (huse of the wbII, but ptartd by couples in the frunt of fbe gate, facing the palace, two on Iht one hand.and two on the other. Of thtse porphyry pillars, tlicre are bnt two intire, and but one stand- ing iu its proper place. They are about thirty feet iu length, and nine in circumference, and of so Tery hard a consistence, that it iB a difficult matter to injure them. These, of all the pieces ofporphyry here fouud, are the most beautiful. The palace itself is so com- pletely demolished, that there is no forming a judgment of what it has been, either for majesty or ornament. It plainly appears to have been thrown down by violence, which, together with the lengtb of lime, has <{uite defaced (his once noble pile, there being only broken pieces of its nails left standing here-nnd-tlieie. But it is very likely, that it fronted the famous piazza before-DWDliaoed, and that it was surrounded with rows of pillars of diOerent orders, many of which arc still standing, some plain, and some wrought and chanelled, as those immediately encompassing the temple. To these pillars also there are pedestals with inscriptions.
On the cast side of the same piazza is, if tb« eipression may be allowed, a wood of marble pillars, some perfect, some depr'ued oC tlieir bc.iiitiful capilaTs, but so scattered and confused, that there is
IIAONlVICEMt RUINS OF PAtMY«A. 509
pulchres, which are square towers^ four or five stories high, stancU iDg on each side of a hollow way, towards the north end of the citjr. I'hejr extend a mile, and may anciently have extended farther. At a distance they look like the steeples of decayed churches, or the bastions of a ruined fortification. Many of them, though built of marble, have sunk under the weight of years^ or submitted to the malice of violent hands. They are all of one form, but of different size, in proportion to the fortune of the founder. In the ruins of one of them, that was entirely marble, were found pieces of two statues, the one of a man, the other of a woman, in a sitting, or rather leaning posture. By these it is discovered^ that their habit was very noble, rather agreeing with the European, than the present eastern fashions ; whence they are conjectured to haye been Romans. Of all these sepulchres, there are two which seem to be more intire than the rest. They are square towers, five stories high, their outsides of common stone, but their partitions and floors within, of marble. They are beautified with Tery lively carvings and paintings, and figures both of men and women, as far as the breast and shoulders, but miserably defaced. Under them, or on one side, are Palmyrenian characters, which are thought to be the names of the persons there deposited. To judge of the con* struction of the rest of these sepulchres, by what is observed in one of them ; they had a walk quite across from north to south, exactly in the middle, by which they entered. The vault below was di» ▼ided in the same manner, and the division on each hand subdivided by thick walls into six, or more or less, partitions, each big enongh to receive the largest corpse, and deep enough to contain at least six or seven one upon another. In the lowest, second, and third stories, these partitions were the same, excepting that the second had a partition, answering to the main entrance, for the convenience of a stair.case. Higher up this method was discontinued ; because the building, growing narrower towards the top, could no longer admit of it. In the two uppermost rooms it is likely that no bodies were deposited, except that of the founder himself, whose statue, wrapt up in funeral apparal, and in a lying posture, is placed in n nich, or rather window, in the front of the monument, so as to be visible both within and without. Here is a Greek epitaph.
Such were once the magnificent alx>des» and such the noble se^ pulchres of the Palmyrenians. From what we have said of bot^ we may well conclude^ that the worU MTer saw a more glorious
510
SPLfiKDID RUINS OF PERSBPOLIS.
ci^ ; K citf not more rpraarkable fur its stately bnildingfi th the ei t ran rdi nary personages who once flourished in it i wbom tli<- renowned Zenobia, and the incomparable Lac muet for efer be remembered with admirolion and regret.
[^fVood, I'hil. Trans. Ancient Univ. h
SBCTIOH XI.
Splendid Ruini of Persepoiis. Ai we had still tvra hours of day.light bcFore uj]
,.»:
Persepoiis, and took b cursory Tiew of the ruins. Ouf fittl indeed lasting impressions were aatonisfiment at the imme tnd admiration at the btaaties of the fabric. Although thei nothing, either in the architecture of the buildings, or i •culptures and reliefs on the rocks, which could bear a c comparison with the dtlicate proportions and perfect statu th« Greeks, yet, without trying Persepnlis by a stands which it nei^r was amenable, ne yielded at once to emotioi nott lively anil the most enraptured.
At the distance of about 6ve miles is a conspicuem hi the top of which, and risible to the rye from PersepoltS| «: remains of a fortress. This hill is now called IsfaUur, i quite distinct from Persepoiis. Persepoiis itself is comi atyled by the people of the conntry " TaJiht Jemsheed,'^ ^ of Jemsheed: tt is also called " Chehel Minar»^4 ins of this hill oil
SPLBNDID BUIN8 OF P£B8BPOU8. SH
tMe and iU tarrounding walls. Two grand flights^ which face each other, lead to the principal platform. To the right is an immense wall of the finest masonry, atid of the most massiye stones : to the left are other walls equally well bnilt, but not so imposing. On arriving at the summit of the staircase, the first objects, which present themselves directly facing the platform, are four vast portals and two columns. Two portals first, then the columns, and then two portals again. On the front of each are represented, in basso. relieyo, figures of animals, which, for want of a better name, we have called sphinxes* The two sphinxes on the first portals face outwardly, i. e. towards the plain and the front of the building. The two others, on the second portals, face Inwardly, i. e. towards the mountain. From the first (to the right, on a straight line) at the distance of fifty-four paces, is a staircase of thirty steps, the sides of which are ornamented with bas-reliefs, originally in three rows, but now partly reduced by the accumulation of earth beneath, and by mutilation above. This staircase leads to the principal compartment of the whole ruins, which may be called a small plain, thickly studded with columns, sixteen of which are now erect. Having crossed this plain, on an eminence are numerous stupendous remains of frames, both of windows and doors, formed by blocks of marble of sizes most magnificent. These frames are ranged in a square, and indicate an apartment the most royal that can be conceived. On each side of the frames are sculptured figures, and the marble still retains a polish which, in its original state, must have vied with the finest mirrors. On each corner of this room are pedestals, of an eleva. tion much more considerable than the surrounding frames; one is formed of a single block of marble. The front of this apartment seems to have been to the S. W. for we saw few marks of masonry on that exposure, and observed, that the base of that side of it was richly sculptured and ornamented. This front opens upon a square platform, on which no building appears to have been raised, fiat on the iilde opposite to the room which I have just mentioned, there is the same appearance of a corresponding apartment, although nothing but the bases of some small columns and the fquare of Its floor attest it to have been such. The interval be- tween these two rooms (on those angles which are the farthest dls« tant from the grand front of the building) is filled up by the base
5\i
BPLCMDID RUINS dl* PERSBFOllS.
cf a sculpture similnT (o fho bas^s of the tt*o room* j Mceptinef thai the centre of it U occupied by b snwll flight of tteps. Be. hind, and contiguous to these ruins, are the remiiiw Of vnotlwr iqaare room, surroundeH on all its sides by frames of dDBftand niiidows. On the floor are the bs'^es of columns : from dw Mrder ia which they appeared to me to have stood, they formed rix rows, each of six columns. A siairca«e cut into an joimcan mans of rock (and from its small dimennoDi, probably the etetdier derobe of the paUce) leads into the lesser and enclosed plain b«lo«r. To- wards the plain are also three tuialler room:!, or rather one room and the bases of two rloiets. Every thing on Ihia pkrt of the building indicates rooms of rest or rftlrcnient.
In the rear of (he whole of these remains, are the beds of aqueducts which are cot into the solid rock. They met us ia erery part of the building ; and are probably therefore u exten> live in their course, as they are magniGceot in construction. The great aqueduct is to be dtscorered among r confused hcapof Moaes, not far behind the buildings (which I hate been describing] on this quarter of the palace, and almost adjoiuing to a ruined Maircase. We descended into Its bed, which in some places Is c*l ten feet Into the rock. This bed leads east and west ; to the ualwjd its descent is rapid about twenly.gre pices ; It there narwrs, W ttat we could only crawl through it ; and again it enlarge*, as tkat a man of common height may stand upright in it. It lenainates by an abrupt rock,
Proreeding from this towards thy mounf^iiits, (situated in the
SPLBIIJbXO RUINS Ot PBRSBPOtlS. 513^
southward of that is another, in like manner on the mountain's surface ; between both (and just on that point where the ascent from the plain commences) is a reserroir of water.
These constitute the sum of the principal objects among the ruins of Persepolis, some of which I will now endeavour to de. scribe in more detail. The grand staircase consists of a northern and a southern ascent, which spring from the plain at the distafice of forty. six feet from each other. Each again is divided into two flights; the first, terminated by a magnificent platform, contains iifty«four steps on a base of siity-siz feet six inches^ measured from the first step to a perpendicular dropt from the highest at the landing place : the second, to the extreme summit of the whole, consists of forty-eight steps on a base of forty. six feet ei^ht inches. Each step is in breadth twenty-six feet six inches, and in height three inches and a half. So easy therefore is the ascent, that the people of the country always mount it on horseback. The plat- form, where the two grand diyisions meet, is thirty-four feet from the ground, and In length seventy. From the front of this plat- form to the portals behind it is likewise seventy feet.
The portals are composed of immense oblong blocks of marble : their length is twenty-four feet six inches, breath five feet, and distance from one another thirteen feet. The two first are faced by spinxes ; the remaining parts of whose bodies are deline. ated in a basso-relievo on the interior surface of the portal. In passing through these, the next objects before the more distant portals are two columns, but (as there is a sufficient space for two others, and as the symmetry would be defective without such an arrangement) I presume that the original structure was completed by four columns. The second portals correspond in size with the former, bat differ from them not only in presenting their fronts towards the mountain, but in the subject of the sculptures with which they are adorned. The animals on the two first portals are elevated on a base. From the contour of the mutilatiou, the heads appear to have been similar to those of horse?, and thi>ir feet have hoofs ; on their legs and haunches the veius and muscles are strongly marked. Their necks, chests, shoulders, and backs, are encrustated with ornaments of roses and beads.
The sphinkes on the second portals appear to have had human heads, with crowned ornaments, under which are collected mas- •iTe carls, and other decorations of a head-dress, which seems to
VOL. VI. % L
514 SPLENDID RUINS OF PER^i^FOti^.
faave been a faTourite fashion among the ancient Persians. T&eir wings are worked with great art and labour, and extend from their shoulders to the very summit of the wall. The intention of the sculptor is evidently, that these figures (emblematical perhaps of power and strength) should appear to bear on their backs the mass of the portico, including not only the block immediately above each, but the cover ing also, which, though now lost, certainly in the original state of the palace, connected the two sides and roofed the entrance. In these, as in the first portals, the faces of the animals form the fronts, and the bulk of their bodies, ^called forth to a certain extent by the basso-relievo on the sides) is supposed to constitute the substance of the walls.
Under the staircase of the first sphinx on the right, are carved, scratched, and painted the names of many travellers ; and amongst others we discovered those of Le Brun, Mandelsloe, and Niebuhr. Niebuhr's name is written in red chalk, and seems to have been done but yesterday.
A square reservoir of water, broken in many places, yet still appearing to have been of one single block, was in the space between the portals and the staircase which led to the grand hall of columns. The breadth of that staircase is fifteen feet four inches. It has two corresponding flights, the front of which, though now much mutilated, was originally highly carved and or. namented with figures in bass-relief. The stones which support the terrace of the columns are all carved in the same style, and are as perfect as when Le Brun made his drawings. On compar. ing, indeed, his designs with the originals, I found that he had given to some of the figures a mutilation which does not exist; for I dis. covered on a close inspection many interesting details of dress, posture, and character, which are omitted in his plates. Oae great defect pervades this part of bis collection ; in order to eluci- date by the human form the comparative dimeusions of the build. ings, he has introduced figures so small, that, measured by them as a standard, the actual size of the objects represented would be three times their real magnitude. In fact, a man who stands close to the sculptured wall touches the summit with his chin, though the figures in the drawings of Le Brun would not reach half way.
Immediately on ascending this staircase, stands a single column, but on closer observation I counted the bases (or spots at least where once bases were) of eleven more columns of two rows ;
SPLENDID Bums OP PB&SBPOUf • 515
forming} with the first, six In each row* They are quite distinct from the great cluster in the centre of the hall, and was therefore probably a grand entrance to It*
Passing forwards through this double range, we pbserred large blocks of stone, placed at symmetrical distances (to corre- spond with the arrangement of the columns at the entrance, and those In the centre), and forming, probably, the bases of sphinxes or other colossal figures* Having taken some pains to ascertain the real plan and the original number of the columns in the great hall, I came to the following conclusions : 1 observed, in Ihe first place, that there were two orders of columns, distinct in their capitals as well as in their height, and that, of the highest, two TOWS were severally placed at the £• and W. extremiiies of the Jiall.
Between these and the mass of columns of less height and a difierent capital is the space on either side of one row, in whicb^ however, no trace whatever of bases exists, and through which run the channels of aqueducts* The remainder in the centre con« sists of six columns In front, and composes with the four exterior rows a line of ten columns ; each row contains in depth six bases^ forming, with the twelve at the entrance, a grand total of seventy, two. On drawing out a plan of this arrangement, I find that It is symmetrical in all its points^ and in every way in which I can view it satisfies my imagination ; but, on comparing it with that laid down by Niebuhr, my own conceptions Jiave accorded so exactly with those of that great traveller on this, (as well as on the ichnography of the general remains) that the introduction of my sketch becomes unnecessary.
On one of the highest columns is the remains of the sphinx^ so common in all the ornaments at Pers^polis ; and I could distin. guish on the summit of every one a something quite unconnected with the capitals. The high columns have, strictly speaking, no capitals whatever, being each a long sl^t to the very summit, on which the sphinx rests. The capitals o^ the lesser columns are of a complicated order, composed of many pieces. I marked three distinct species of base. The shafts are fluted in the Doric man* ner, but the flutes are more closely fitted together. Their circum- ference is sixteen feet seven inches* Some of their bases have a square plinth, the side of one of which I measured, and found it to be seven feet; the diameter of.tb« base was five feet four
3l3
:i
516 SPLENDID RUINS OF PBRSEPOLIS.
inches, diameter of columns four feet two incIreS) distance frc centre of base to the next centre twenty- eight feet. To the em ward of one of these, and close at the foot of one of the highi columns, are the fragments of an immense figure. The head ai part of the fore- legs I could easily trace ; the head appeared to i more like that of a lion than of any other animal, and the k confirmed tills supposition ; as it has claws so placed, as to ioc cate that the posture of the figure was couchant.
The grand collection of porticoes, walls, and other comp Dent parts of a magnificent hall, are situated behind the column at the distance perhaps of fifty paces, and are arranged ia square.
On the interior sides of the porticoes or door frames, a many sculptured figures, which have been drawn with accuracy ] Le Brun. They represent the state and magnificence of a kin seated in a high chair with his feet resting on a footstooL
To the north of these remains is the frame of what was on a portico, and where the outfioes of a sphinx are to be trac among the rude and stupendous masses of stone. Further o nearly on the same line and bearing, is the head of a horse, pi of which is buried in the ground. It b ornamented like t remains of that which we call the sphinx on the great portals, a is certainly the horse's head, which Le Brun drew, declaring tl he could not discover the part to which It had belonged. Close it, however, are the remains of an immense column, eight feet diameter; the difierent parts of the shaft have fallen in a din line with this head, and obviously formed with it one connect piece in the original structure, in which probably the fragment < the ground surmounted the capital, as the sphinx still crowns soi of the remaining columns.
In the time of Mandelsloe, (who visited Persepolb, t9 January, 1638) the number of columns erect was nineteen: h letter indeed to Olearius, (written from Madagascar on the 19 of July, 1639, and published by his correspondent) he states, tl thirty remained; but, as be does not specify their position, might have included those lying on the ground, and at any rate was writing a private letter, from memory, in a distant connti at the interval of a year and a half. His own authority therefc in his book is a better evidence of the fact ; and as he there om another and much more cnrioas circumstance which he had i
8PLBNDID BUIN8 OP PBRSBPOUt. 51?
serted in the same letter, the yalae of that document becomes still more suspicious. Speaking of the celebrated iascriptiofis at Perse- polls, he says, ^ on voit aussi plnsieurs caracteres anciens mais fort bieo marqu(6s, et consenraot uoe partie de Tur, dont iU out et^ remplis.' Sir Thomas Herbert alsoy however, mtmtions that the letters at Persepolis were gilt.
17th. Oa quitting Persepolis, I left our partj in order to examine a ruined building on the plains, which at a disUince is generally pointed out u a demolished cara?anserai. I passed the stream of the Kood Khon^h Sewund to the north, nearly where the road takes a N. £. direction, and came to a fine mass of stone, thirty-seven feet four inches square, which appears to have formed the base of some building. It is composed of two laj^ers of marble blocks, the lower range of which extends about two feet beyond the line of the upper. The largest blocks, according to my mea- surement, are ten feet four inches in length, four feet (our In depth, and three feet four in breadth ; all still retain a moulding^ and traces here and there of masonry which must have connected them with others. The whole building is filled up in the middle by a black marble, and in its J^f . £• angle one stone is raised higher than the rest. In the same angle is a channel cut, as if something had been fitted into it. I took the following bearings ; foot of the rocks of Nakshi Rustam, N. 10 W. two miles; foot of the mountain of Persepolis, S. two miles ; our encampment S. 20 W. two miles ; road to Ispahan, N. 80 £.
I was called from this spot by a chatter sent by the envoy to conduct me to some scnlptures, which he had himself seen, (about four miles froin the place on the same mountain of Persepolis,) by the side of the road to Ispahan. I found them indeed worthy of the minutest investigation, as no preceding traveller has described them with any su^cient accuracy. They are situated in a recess of the mountain, formed by projecting and picturesque rocks* The sculpture facing the road is composed of seven colossal figures and two small ones. The two principal characters are placed in the centre : the pne to the left i^ tbs same (not in position indeed, but In general pircnmstance) as that which we had so often seen represented at Shaponr and Nakshi Rnstam. He has the distin^ guishing globe on his head, and ofiers a ring to the op|>osite figure ; who, seizing it with his ri^t handy holds a staff or jc\vh iu bk left. Behind the personage with ttus gjUbOf ar« ^wo fignresi on^
%l3
518 SPLENDID RUINS OF PEttSBPOLlS.
of whom, "With a young and pleasing face holds the fan, the ciw- tomary ensign of dignity : and the other, with hard and marked features, and a beard, rests on the pommel of his sword with one hand, and beckons with the other. Behind the chief on the right, are two figures, which from the feminine cast of their coonte* nances appear to be women ; one wears an extraordinary cap, and the other, whose hair falls in ringlets on her shoulders, makes an expressive motion with her right hand, as if she were saying, * Be silent.' Between the two principal figures are introduced two Tery diminished beings, who do not reach higher than the knees of their colossal companions. In dress they differ materially from each other, and one holds a long staff. To the left, on a fragment of the rock, is the bust of a figure, who also holds bis hand in a beconing and significant posture. The largest of these figures I reckoned to be ten feet in height ; the small ones two feet eight inches. The whole of this is so much disfigured, that it is difficult to ascertain its various and singular details.
In the same recess, and to the left of this sculptured rock, forming an angle with it, is another monument in a much higher state of preservation ; parts of it indeed have suffered so little, that they appear to be fresh at this day from the chisel. The same royal personage so often represented with a globe on his head, and seated on horseback, here forms the principal character of the groupe. His face, indeed, has been completely destroyed by the Mahomedans, but the ornaments of hts person and those of his horse, (more profusely bestowed on both, than on any of the similar figures which we bad seen) are likewise more accurately preserved. They merit a particular description ; because as the composition was probably designed to represent the king in his greatest state, every part of his dress is distinctly delineated. I assign this subject to the sculpture, because no other personage of rival dignity appears in the piece ; and because the attitude of the chief announces parade and command ; for he presents a full face to the spectator, atfd his right hand, though now much mutilated, still rests on his side to indicate his ease and his independence. Nide figures, of which the first is nine feet high, waftt behind him; and, from the marks of respect in which they stand, can be attendants only on his grandeor. On each side of his head swells an immense clrcuniferen<;e of curls ; he wears an embossed neck, lace, which iaOs low ^ on his breast, and is therefore, perhaps,
SUINS OF JERUSALEM. 510
T&tber the upper terminatioQ of his garment ; but its counterpart, an ornament of the same description round the waist, is certainly a girdle. His cloak is fastened on his left breast by two massive clasps. A rich belt is carried from his right shoulder to his left hip, across an under garment, which, from the extreme delicacy of its folds, appears to be formed of a very fine cloth or muslin. The drapery of some loose trowsers, which co?er his legs dawn to the yery ancles, displays equal delicacy, and is probably, there, fore, of the same texture* From the ancles a sort of bandage extends itself in flowing folds, and adds a rich finish to the whole. On the thigh there appears to hang a dagger* The horse is splen. didly accoutred with chains of a circular ornament : his length, from the breast to the tail, is seven feet two inches ; and on the chest is a Greek inscription, of which the letters are about an inch in height, and correspond in form with those of the latter empire.
[^Morier.
SECTION XII.
Ruim and present Jppearance of Jerutalem»
At three, p. M. we again mounted our horses, and proceeded on our route* No sensation of fatigue or heat could counter* l^Mlance the eagerness and zeal which animated ^1 our party, in the approach to Jerusalem; every indiTidual pressed forward, hoping first to announce the joyfql intelligence of its appearance. We passed some insignificant ruins, either of antient buildings or of modern villages ; but had they been of more importance, they would have excited little notice at the time, so earnestly bent was every niind towards the main object of interest and curiosity. At length, after about two hours had been passed in this state of anxiety and suspense, ascendihg a hill towards the south — < Hagio* polls 1' exclaimed a Greek in the van of our cavalcade ; and in. stantly throwing himself from his horse, was seen bare.headed, upon his knees, facing the prospect he surveyed. Suddenly (he sjfght burst upon us a^ll. Who shall describe it? The effect pro. jduced was that of total silence throughout the whole company. ;)Mlany of ^e party, by an immediate impulse, took off their hats, as if entering a church, without being sensible of so doing. The Greeks tnd Catholics shed torrents of tears ; and presently begin, j^iflg. to cross themselTeSi with unfeigned devotion^ asked if they
^h4
5^ RUINS OP JBRUSALBM.
might be permitted to take off the covering from their feet, and proceed, barefooted, to the Holy Sepulchre. We had not been prepared for the grandeur of the spectacle which the city alone exhibited. Instead of a wretched and ruined town, by some described as the desolated remnant of Jerusalem, we beheld, as it were, a flourishing and stately metropolis ; presenting a magnu ficent assemblage of domes, towers, palaces, churches, and monas. teries; all of which, glittering in the sun's rays, shone with inconceivable sjjlendour. As we drew nearer, our whole atten- tion was engrossed by its noble and interesting appearance. The lofty hills whereby it is surrounded give to the city itself an appearance of elevation inferior to that which it really possesses* About three quarters of an hour before we reached the walls, we passed a large ruin upon our right hand, close to the road. Tliis, by the reticulated st^le of masonry upon its walls, as well as by the remains of its vaulted foundations of brick.work, evidently denoted a Roman building. We could not obtain any account of it ; neither is it mentioned by the authors who have described the antiquities of the country.
At this place, two Turkish officers, mounted on beautiful horses
sumptuously caparisoned, came to inform us, that the govemor,
having intelligence of our approach, had sent them to escort us
into the town. When they arrived, we were all assembled upon
an eminence, admiring the splendid appearance of the city ; and
being impressed with other ideas than those of a vain ostentation,
would gladly have declined the parade, together with the interrup*
tion caused by a public entry. This was, however, said to be
unavoidable ; it was described as a necessary mark of respect doe
to Gjezzar Pacha, under whose protection we travelled : as well
as of consequence to our future safety. We therefore confined
ourselves to all the etiquette of our Mahometan masters of cere.
mony, and were marshalled accordingly. Our attendants were
ordered to fall back in the rear ; and it was evident, by the man.
ner of placing us, that we were expected to form a procession to
the governor's house, and to appear as dependants, swelling the
train of our Moslem conductors* Our British tars, not relishing
this, would now and then prance towards the post of honour, and
were with difficulty restrained from taking the lead. As we ap.
proached t^e city, the concourse of people became very great, t^e
walls and the road side being covered with spectators. An immense
RUINS OF JERUSALEM* 521
loaltttade, at the same time, accompanied us on foot; some of "whom, welcoming the procession with compliments and caresses, cried out ' Bon' Inglesi! Viya l*Ingilterra!" others, cursing and reriling, called us a set of rascally Christian dogs, and filthy infi. dels. We could neTer learn wherefore so much curiosity had been excited ; unless it were, that of late, owing to the turbulent state of public affairs, the resort of strangers to Jerusalem had become more uncommon ; or that they expected another visit from Sir Sidney Smith, who had marched into Jerusalem with colours dying and drums beating, at the head of a party of English sailors. He protected the Christian guardians of the Holy Sepulchre from the tyranny of their Turkish rulers, by hoisting the British standard upon the walls of their monastery. Novelty, at any period, produces considerable bustle at Jerusalem : the idleness of its inhabitants, and the uniform tenor of their 11 res, rendered more monotonous by the cessation of pilgrimage^ naturally dis« pose them to run after a new sight, or to listen to new intelli- gence. The arrival of a Tartar courier from the vizier's army, or the coming of foreigners to the city, rouses Christians from their prayers, Jews from their traffic, and even Moslems from their tobacco or their opium, in search of something new.
Thus attended, we reached the gate of Damascus about seven o'clock in the evening. Ch&teaubriand calls this Bab.el.HamoDd, or Bab-el*Cham, the Gate of the Column. ^^ When,'' says he, ^^ Simon the Cyrenian met Christ, he was coming from the gate of Damascus $" thereby adopting a topography suited to the notions generally entertained of the relative situation of Mount Calvary and the Praetorium, with regard to this gate ; Simon being describ. ed as coming out of the country, and therefore, of course, enter* ing by that gate of the city contiguous to the dolorous way. It were, indeed, a rash undertaking to attempt any refutation of opinions so long entertained, concerning what are called the Holy Places of this memorable city. << Nerer," says the author now cited, << v^ subject less known to modern readers, and nerer -was subject more completely exhausted*" Men entitled to the highest consideration, under whose authority even reverence is due, have written for its illustration: and some of the ablest modern geographers, quitting more extensive investigations, have applied all their ingenuity, talents, and information, to the topo. fraphy ef Jerusalem. It would ther^ore seem like wanton teme.
522
3 op JERUSALEM.
tity, to disputo Ihe idt^nlily of places whose situation lipt been so ably discussed and so generally admitted, nere tbere not this oburvatiun ti^urge, that Ihe descriptions of Jeiusalem since the Crusades have principally issued from men who had no ocoUr evi- dence concprninc; the places they describe. Like ThpTHwt, writ- ing an account of scenea in Asia without exer ha«igg quitted Europe, they have proved tlie possibiliy of giTina to I £c^on an air of so much nality, tliat it has been died, even ttf Uttorians, B9 authority. If, as spectators upoo the spot, we conftind mr- (lelvcs dissalislied with the supposed idcntily of cerlain poistE of observation in Jerusalem, it is Imcause we refused to tradition alone, what appeared contradictory to the evidence of nu tenses. Of (his it will be proper to expiate more fully in the seqnei. It is now only necessary to admonish the reader, that be nil! not lind in these pages a renewal of the statements made by Sandfij knd MaundrelJ, and Pocockc, with the host of Greek and Lotiii pU- grims from the age of Phocas down to lirtidenhnch piid Qnues- Diius, We should no more think of enumerating all ^ absurdi> ties to which the Franciscan friars direct Ihe altention of (levellers, than of copyinj;, like another Cotofic, the whole of the hjcniu sung by tlie pilgrims at every station. Possessing as mpcfc eothn- siasm as might be necessary in travellers viewing thia baUonred city, we still retain the power of our understandings snS/aeoUy to admire tho credulity for which do degree of prepostUVIUIMU Eeemed (oo mighty ; which converted eten the pacaU** of oor exhihiliiiji, as holy reUm
KV1K8 OF JERUSALEM. 525
mount, into gilded chapels, and of disgvisiog the face of nature with painted domes and marble coverings, by way of commemo. rating the scenes of onr Sarioar^s life and death, is so evident and 80 lamentable, that even Sandys, with all his credulity, could not avoid a happy application of the reproof directed by the Roman sa- tirist against anrn'tlarvtolatiooof the Egerian Fonntain*
We were conducted to the house of the governor, who re. cerved us in very great state ; offering his protection, and exhibit- Ing the ordinary pomp of Turkish hospitality, and in the number of slaves richly dressed, who brought fuming incense, coffee, con* served fruit, and pipes, to all tiie party, profusely sprinkling us, as usual, with rose and orange-flower water, fieing then informed of all our- projects, he ordered his interpreter to go with us to the Franciscan Convent of St. Salvador, a large building like a fortress^ the gates of which were thrown open to receive our whole caval- cade. Here, when we were admitted into a court, with all our horses and camels, the vast portals were again closed, and a party of the most corpulent friars we had ever seen from the warmest cloistors of Spain and of Italy, waddled round us, and heartily welcomed our arrival.
From the court of the Convent we were next conducted, by a stone staircase, to the refectory, wnere the monks who had received us introduced us to r he superior, not a wit less corpulent than any of his companions. In all the convents I had ever visited (and these are not few in number) i had never beheld such friars as the Fran- ciscans of St. Salvador. The figures sometimes brought upon the stage, to burlesque the monasterial character, may convey some notion of their appearance. The influence which a peculiar mode of life has upon the constitution, in this climate, might be rendered evident by contrasting one of these jolly fellows with the Propa- ganda Missionaries. The latter are as meagre and as pale, as the former are corpulent and ruddy. The life of the missionaries is necessarily a state of constant activity and of privation. The guardians of the Holy Sepnlchrei or, according to the name they bear, the TemuSanta friars, are confined to the walls of their com* fortable convent, which, when compared with the usual accommo- dations of the Holy Land, is like asnmptuous and well-furnished hotel, open to all comers whom curk»ity or devotion may bring lo this mansion of rest and refreshment.
After being legaltdwith eoffoe^'tid Mome ddidooa Imniidpy
524,
ROIKS or J ERTSALEM.
me w«Te shewn to our apartiDeiiU, (o repose ourselvUMt per. The room allotted to our English p»rty we found to sane which many travellers have before described. It Wig znd its walls were while- washed. The beils, also, had a C appearance; alihough a few bugs warned ui to spiead oni mocks upon the floor, where we slept for once unmolested, the substantial door of this chamber, whuse roof was of v ■tane, the names of maoy F.nglish trarrllers had been c Atnong others, we h;id the satisfaction to notice that of T Shaw, the most learned writer who has yet appeared in the de tioiM of the Levant. Dr. Shaw had skpt in the same q>ar leTcnty-nine years before oar coming.
A plentifal bupper was served, in a large room called (h grim's Chamber. Almost all the monks, togtttier with their rior, were present. These men did not eat with us ; having meals private. After we bad supped, and retired to thedom one of the friars, an lUlian, in the dress worn by the Franci came into our ajiartmeDt, and, giving os a wink, look gome I Df Noyau from his bosom, desiring us to taste il ; he said t could supply US with any quantity, or quality, of the best liq either for our consumption while we staid, or for our jonraej asked him whence it was obtained ; and he informed m, It had made it ; explaining the nature of his situation in tlie n tery, by saying, that he was a conTectioDer ; that the monk ployed him in works of ornament suited to his profesiion ; bv
BUIN8 OP JBRUS4LSM« 525
evening while we remained^ in large bowls, and we drank it out of pewter porringers. For this salutary gift the monks positiTeljr refused to accept our offers of compensation, at a time when a few drachms of any kind of tea could with difficulty be procured from the English ships' in the Mediterranean, at the most enormous prices. Persons who have not travelled in these latitudes will per. haps not readily conceive the importance of such an acquisition. The exhaused traveller, reduced by continual fever, and worn by incessant toil, without a hope of any comfortable repose, expe- riences in thb infusion the most cooling and balsamic virtues : the heat of his blood abates ; his spirits revive ; his parched skin re- laxes ; his strength is renovated. As almost all the disorders of the country, and particularly those to which a traveller is most liable, originate in obstructed perspiration, the medicinal properties of tea in this country may perhaps explain the cause of its long ce- lebrity in China. Jerusalem is in the same latitude with Nankin, and it is eight degrees further to the south than Pekin ; the influ- ence of climate and of medicine, in disorders of the body, may therefore, perhaps, be similar. Certain it is, that travellers in China, so long ago as the ninth century, mention an infusion made from the leaves of a certain herb, named Sah, as a cure for all dis- eases ; which is proved to be the same now called tea by European nations.
In the commotions and changes that have taken place in Jerusa- lem, the convent of St. Salvador has been often plundered and strip- ped of its effects. Still, however, the riches of the treasury are said to be considerable ; but the principal part of its wealth is jery pro. perly concealed from all chance of observation. At present, it has a small library, full of books of little value, the writings of pole, mical divines, and stale dissertations upon peculiar points of fMth. We examined them carefully, but found nothing so much worth notice as the Oxford edition of iVlaundrell's Journey* This volume tome traveller had left ; the worthy monks were very proud of it, although unable to read a syllable it contained. In the church, as well as in the chambers of the monastery, we noticed several pic tares ; all of these were bad, although some of them appeared to have l>een copied from originals that possessed greater merit. In the pilgrim's chamber, a printed advertisement, pasted upon a board, is suspended from the w«ll, Hiving notice, that ^ no pilgrim shall be allowed to remain in the oonveiit longer than one month x'
526 SUINS OF JERUSALEM.
a sufficient time, certainly, for all purposes of devotion, rest curiosity. The Franciscans complain heaTily of tke exactions the Turks, who make frequent and large demands npon them money ; but the fact of their being able to answer these demac affords a proof of the wealth of. the convent. Sir Sydney Sm during his visit to Jerusalem, rendered them essential service, remonstrating with the Turkish governor against one of th avanias, as they are called, and finally compelling him to withdi the charge. The monks assured us, that the English, altboi protestants, are the best friends the catholics hate in JemsaU and the most effectual guardians of the holy sepulchre. T ser?ed, indeed, as a prelude to a request that we would also int cede for them with the governor, by representing to him, Uiat a ill usage offered to christians would be resented by the British i tion. We rendered them ail the service in our power, and tt were very thankful.
Friday, July 10.— *This morning our room was filled with Arn
nians and Jews, bringing for sale the only produce of the Jera
lem manufactures ; beads, crosses, shells, 8cc. The shells w<
of the kind we call mother-of-pearl, ingeniously, although coarse
sculptured, and formed into various shapes. Those of the larg
size, and the most perfect, are formed into clasps for the zoues
the Greek women. Such clasps are worn by the ladies oSCypri
Crete, Rhodes, and the islands of the Archipelago* All thes
after being purchased, are taken to the church of the Holy §
pulchre, where they recei?e a sort of benediction ; exactly after t
manner in which the beads and crosses, purchased at Lor^tto
Italy, are placed in a wooden bowl belonging to the house of t
Virgin Mary. Afterwards, they are worn as reliques. T
bea^s are manufactured, either from date stones, or from a ve
hard kind of wood, whose natural history we could not learn.
was called Mecca fruit, and, when first wrought, appeared of tl
colour of box: it is then dyed yellow, black, or red. The bea
are of various sizes ; and they are all strung as rosaries ; tl
smaller being the most esteemed, on account of the greater nun
ber requisite to fill a string, and the greater labour necessari
required in making them. They sell at higher prices when th<
have been long worn, because they have then acquired, by frictio
a higher polish. This sort of trumpery is ridiculed by all travc
iers^ but we cannot aay it 19 flcoated by way of them ; for there b
BITXKS OF JfiRirSALElf. 527
jiot been one who did not encourage the Jerusalem manufactories by the purchases he made. It offers an easy method of obtaintn^^ a large quantity of acceptable presents, which occupy little space, for the inhabitants of Greek and catholic countries, as well as for Turks and Arabs. We provided ourselres with a considerable cargo, and found them useful in our subsequent journey. The custom of cslrrying such strings of beads was in use long before the Christian sera ; and the practice of bearing them in the hand pre- Tails, aniong men of rank, all over the east It is not so easy to account for the origin of the shell, as a badge worn by pilgrims : but it decidedly refers to much earlier oriental customs than the journeys of Christians to the Holy Land, and its history will pro- bably be found in the mythology of eastern nations. Among the substances which they had wrought in the manufacture of rosaries, and for amulets, we were glad to notice the black fetid limestone of the Lake Asphaltites ; because it enabled us to procure very large specimens of that mineral, in its natural state. It is worn in the east as a charm against the plague ; and that a similar superstition attached to this stone in very early ages, is evident from the cir. cumstance of our having afterwards found amulets of the same substance in the Subterrahean chambers below the pyramids of Saqufi.ra, in Upper Egypt* The cause of the fetid effluvia emitted from this stone, when partially decomposed by means of friction, is now known to be owing to the presence of sulphureted hydro, gen. All bituminous limestone does not possess this property. It is very|c6tenion in the sort of limestone called black marble in England, though not always its characteristic. The workmen employed by stone-masons often complain of the unpleasant smell which escapes from it during their labours. The ancient Gothic monuments in France frequently consisted of fetid limestone. The fragments which we obtained from the Dead Sea had this property in a very remarkable degree ; and it may generally be observed, that the oriental specimens are more strongly impregnated with hydro-suU puret than any which are found in Europe. The water of the Dead Sea has a similar odour. The monks of St. Salvador kept it in jars, together with the bitumen of the same lake, among the ar. tides of their pharmacy ; both the one and the other being also esteemed on account of their medical virtues.
We set out to visit what are called the Holy Places. These are all amply described by at least i an hundred authors. From the^
528 RUINS OF JERUSALEM.
monastery we descended to the church of the holy sepulchn attended by several pilgrims, bearing with them rosaries and crc cifixes for consecration iu the tomb of Jesus Christ. Coacernin the identity of this most memorable relique, there is every evkJenc but that which should result from a view of the sepulchre itsel After an attentive perusal of all that may be addnced, and all tlu has been urged, in support of it, from Eusebius, Lactantius, So zomen, Jerom, Severus, and Nicephorus, it may be supposed tha the question is for ever decided. If these testimonies be insufficient '^ we might," says Chateaubriand, ^^ adduce those of Cyril, o Theodoret, and even of the itinerary from Bourdeau to JerusoJem,' in the middle of the fourth century. From the time of the Emperoi Adrian, when the cruciiixion and burial of our Saviour was almot in the memory of man, unto the age of Constantine, an image o Jupiter marked the site of the holy sepulchre, and Mount Calvar continued to be profaned by a statue of Venus. This powerfi record of the means used by the pagans to obliterate the rites c Christianity, seems to afford decisive evidence concerning the loci lity of the tomb, and to place its situation beyond the reach a doubt. Theodoret affirms, that Helena, upon her arrival, foun the fane of Venus, and ordered it to be thrown down. To whs then can be attributed the want of every document within th building now called the church of the holy sepulchre, which mi^li denote the site of such a monument ? The sepulchres o( the Jews as has been already maintained, were, in the age of the crucifixion of a nature to withstand every attack of time : they were excaYa tions made in the heart of solid rocks, which even earthquake would scarcely remove or alter. Indeed, we have evidence froi the Gospel itself, that earthquakes, in certain instances, had n power over them ; for the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, Biad before the earthquake which accompanied the crucifixion, is Ai icribed, after that event had taken place, as his own new toml which he had hewn out of the rock. Even the grooving for th stone at the door was unchanged and entire, for he rolled the grei stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed; and it was aftei wards sealed and made sure. Quaresmius, by an engaving for th< illustration of the mode of burial then practised, has shewn, ac corHing to a model familiar to the learned monk, from his resident in the Holy Land where such sepulchres now exist, the sort o tomb described by the Evangelists. But there is uothing of tbi
BUIVS OP JERUSALEM. 5^9
kind in the charch of the holy sepulchre ; nothing that can be re- coDciled with the history ot our ba^iour's burial, in ordi^r to do away this glaring inconsistency, it is atiirnieJ that Mount Calvary was levelled for the foundations of the church ; that the word opo^j mon$j does not necetssarily signify a mountain, but sometimes a small hill ; that the se^julchre of Christ alone remained after this lefellini; had taken place, in the centre of the area; and that this was incased with marble! — not a syllable of which is supported by any existing evidence offered in the contemplation of what is now called the Tomb. Let us therefore proceed to describe what regally remalDs*
We came to a goodly structure, whose external appearance re- sembled that of any ordinary Roman catholic church. Over the door we observed a tms.reUef, executed in a style of sculpture meriting more attention than it has hitherto received. At first sight, it seemed of higher antiquity than the existence of any place of christian worship ; but, upon a nearer view, we recognised the history of the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem — the mi.titude strew, ing palm branches before him. The figures were very numerous. Perhaps it may be considered as offering an example of the first work in which pagan sculptors represented a christian theme. £n* tering the churchy the first thing they shewed to us was a slab of white marble in the pavement, surrounded by a rail. It seemed like one of the grave-stones in the floor of our English churches. This, they told us, was the spot where our Saviour's body was anointed by Joseph of Arimathea. We next advanced towards a dusty fabric, standing, like a huge pepper. box, in the midbt of the principal aible, and beneath the main dome. This rested upon a building, partly circular, and partly oblong, as upon a pedestal. The interior of this strange fabric is divided into two parts. Ilav. Ing entered the first part, which is a kind of ante.chapel, they i(hew# you, before the mouth of what is called the sepulchre, th/ stone whereoa the angel sat t this is a block of white marble, neither corresponding with the mouth of the sepulchre, nor with the sub- stance from which it must have been hewn ; for the rocks of Jeru- salem are all of a common compact limestone. Shaw, speaking of the holy sepulchre, says, that all the surrounding rocks were cut away, to form the level of the church; so that now it is a grotto above ground : bat even this is not true ; there are no remains whatsoever of aoj Mdeot known sepulchre, that, with the most
?0^ VI. 3 M
.130
BlUNS OP JERUSALEM
altenlivi; and scrupulouB examination, we cuutd possibly discovor. The sides consist of thick skl>s of (hat beautiful breccia, vulgarly called TFrd.antii)ue roarlilM ; and over Ihe entrance, whicb IB lag- ged and broken, owing to Ihe pieces carried ulTas rcli^iiM, the lubilance is of the Name nature. Alt that can therefsn DOV be afTirmeil with any shadow of reason, is this ; that, if H«l«na had reason (o believe she could identify the spot where tha sepukhrc was, she look espi'cial care to remove eiery existing trtu of it, ■□ order to introduce Ihe fanciful and modern work which HOW re- mains. The place may be the same pointed to her; but not s rem- nant of the original sepulchre can now be. ascertained. 79t| wilb all our sceptical feelings thus awakened, it may prove how power- ful the effect of sympathy is, if we conffBS that, when v« entered ioto the sanctum sanctorum, and beheld, by the light of lam[>s, there eoiitinually burning, the venerable figure of an aged monk, with streaming eyes, and a loni; white beard, pointing to tb« place T Lord was, and calling upon us to kned and or our sins — we knelt, and pa^Up&t^ >» e credulous pilgrims. Captain CnltM^use, in LS of religion and of patriotism wero jlimniiilili ^ in, drew from its scabbard the swonlhvhadso ofti-n wielded in the defencL- of his country, and placed It vpan Ihe tomb. Uumblcr comers heaped Ihe memorials of an aeconpluihed pilgrima^r ; and while their sighs alone interrupted Ihe «jlsnce of the sanctuiiry, a nolemn service was begun. Thus ended our rUit to the sepulchre.
where the body of o ecperiencc pardor the feelings of mor whose mind the idea with firmer
RtriKS OP JBftT^SALBlt. 5dl
H fissure or cleft in the natural rock ; and this, ihej say, happened at the crucifixion. Who shall presume to contradict the tale ? But, to complete the naivete of the tradition, it is also added, that the head of Adam was found within the fissure. Then, if the trareller has not already heard and seen enough to make him re« gret his wasted time, he may ascend by a few steps into a room aboTCt There they will shew him the same crack again ; and irnme. diately in front of it, a modem aUar. This they venerate as Mount Calrary, the place of crucifixion ; exhibiting upon this contracted piece of masonry the marks, or holes, of the three crosses, without the smallest regard to the space necessary for their erection. After this he may be conducted through such a farrago of absurdities, that it is wonderful the learned men, who hare described Jerusa1em| should hare filled their pages with any serious detail of them* Nothing, howerer, can surpass the fidelity with which Sandys has particnlarized every circumstance of all this trumpery ; and his rude cuts are characterized by equal exactness* Among others, should be mentioned the place where the cross was found ; because the identity of the timber, which has since supplied all Christendom with its reliques, was confirmed by a miracle,— proof equally infallible with that afforded by the eagle at the tomb of Theseus, in the isle of Scyra, when Cimon the Athenian sought the bones of the son of ^geus
It is time to quit these degrading falUciea : let us break from our monkish instructors ; and, instead of Tie wing Jerusalem as pil* grims, examine it by the light of history, with the Bible in our hands* We shall thus find many interesting objects of contempla* tion. If Mount CaWary has sunk beneath the oferwhelming in. fluence of superstition, studiously eadeaYouring to modify and to disfigure it, through so many ages; if the situation of Mount Sion yet remains to be ascertained ; the Mount of OliTes, undisguised by fanatical labours, exhibits the appearance it presented in all the periods of its history. From its elerated summit almost all the principal features of the city may be discerned, and the changes that eighteen centuries have wrought in its topography may perhaps be ascertained. The features of nature continue the same, though works of art hare been done away : the beautiful gate of the tempio is no more ; but Siloa^s fountain haply flows, and Kedron some, times murmurs in the Talley of Jehosaphat*
It waa thii rasolfte, and the determination, of using our own
3m2
RUINS OP JSnUBALBM. S$S
iTc^ption of immense stones^ once squared and fitted to (he grooves^ by way of closing the entrances. Of such a nature vrere, indispu* tably, the tombs of the sons of Heth, of the kings of Israel, of Ja* zarus, and of Christ. This has been also proTed by Shaw ; but th« subject has been more satisfactorily elucidated by the learned Qoa« resmjus, in hU dissertation concerning ancient sepolchres. The cemetries of the ancients were universally excluded from the pre* cincts of their cities. In order, therefore to account for the seeming contradiction implied by the situation of the place now shewn as the tomb of the Messiah, it is pretended that it was origin nally on the outside of the walls of Jerusalem ; although a doubt must necessarily arise as to the want of sufficient space for the po* pulation.of the city, between a boundary so situated, and the bill which is now called Mount Sion. The sepolchres we are describe ing carry, in their very nature, satisfactory evidence of their being situated out of the ancient city, as they are now out of the modern. They are not to be confounded with those tombs» commooly called the sepulchres of the kings, to the north of Jerusalem, believed to be the burial-place of Helena, queen of Adieben^. What there* fore are they ? Some of them, from their magnificence, are the immense labour necessary to form the numerous repositories they contain, might lay claim to regal honours; and there is one which appears to have been constructed for the purpose of inhuming a single individual. The Karaoah Jews, of all other the most tena* cious in adhering to the customs of their ancestors, have, from time immemorial, been in the practice of bringing their dead to this place for interment ; although this fact was not wanted to prove it an ancient Jewish cemetry, as will be seen in the sequel. The sepulchres themselves, accbrding to the ancient practice, are sta- tioned in the midst of gardens. From all these circumstances, are we not authorised to seek here for the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, who, as a pious Jew, necessarily had his burying-place in the cemetry of his countrymen, among the graves of his forefa- thers ? The Jews were remarkable for their rigid aoherence to this custom : they adorned their burial-places with trees and gardens : and the tomb of this Jew is accordingly described as being in a garden ; and it was in the place where our Saviour was crucified. Of what nature was that place of crucifixion ? It Is very worthy of observation, that ^jerj one of the Evangelists (and among these he that saw it| and bare record), aflirm that it was the place of a
ItUIKS OF JBBUSALEM. 535
+ HN THC
ArlACCIVVN
ila?ing reached the extremity of this second chamber, we could proceed no further, owing to the rubbish which obstructed our passage. Perhaps the remoTal of this may, at some future period, lead to other discoveries. It was evident that we had not attained the remotest part of these ca?«rns. There were others v ith similar Greek inscriptions, and one which particularly attracted our no- tice, from its extraordinary coincidence with all the circumstances attaching to the history of our Saviour^s tomb. The large stone that once closed its mouth had been, perhaps for ages, rolled away. Stooping down to look into it, we observed, within, a fair sepulchre, containing a repository, upon one side only, for a single body ; whereas, in most of the others, there were two, and in many of them more than two. It is placed exactly opposite to that which is now called Mount Sion. As we viewed this sepuL chre, and read upon the spot the description given of Mary Mag. dalene and the disciples coming in the morning, it was impossible to divest our minds of the probability that here might have been the identical tomb of Jesus Christ ; and that up the steep which led to it, after descending from the gate of the city, the disciples strove together, when John did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. They are indi? idually described as stooping down to look into it; they express their doubts as to the possibility of removing so huge a stone, that when once fixed and sealed, it might have bafiled every human effort. Rut upon this, as upon the others already mentioned, instead of a Hebrew or a Phcenician inscription, there were the same Greek characters, destitute only of the Greek cross prefixed in the former instances. The inscrip. tion stood thus,
THCAPIAC CIWN
the letters being very large, and deeply carved in the rugged sur. face of the rock.
The Hebrew inscriptions, instead of being over the entrances, were by the side of the doors. Having but little knowledge of the characters with which they were written, all that could be attempted was, to make as faithful a representation as possible of every incUloD upon the stone, without attempting to supply any
3h4
BUIN8 OF THB PLAIN OF TBOY. 537
of Zechariah and AbsalotD) and abo?e these, almost to the top of the Mount of Olives, the Jews resident in the city bury their dead, adhering still to the rem' try of their ancestors : but having long lost the art of constructing the immense sepulchres novr described, they content theroselTes in placing Hebrew inscriptions upon small upri|j;ht slabs of marOle, or of common limestone, raised after the manner at present generally in use throughout the East. [/)r. Clarke.
SECTION XIIT.
Interesting Ruins of the Plain of Troi/,
We crossed the Mender by a wooden bridge, immediately after leavi la Koum.kal6; and ascertained its breadth, in that part, to equal an hundred and thirty ya*ds. We then entered an immense plain^ in which some I'urks were ttii^a^ed hunting wild boars. Peasants were also employed in plou^liing a deep and rich soil of yegetable earth. Proce^'ding towards the east, and round the bay distinctly pointed out by Strain)^ as the harbour in which the Grecian fleet was stationed, wo arrived at the Sepulchre of Ajax, upon the ant<ent Rhoefean Promontory. Concerning this tomulas there is every reason to believe our information correct. If we bad only the text of Strabo for our guidance, there would be little ground for incredulity ; and, by the evidence afforded in a view of the monument itself, we have the best comment upon this accuracy, it is one of the mo^t interesting objects to which the att* ntion of the literary traveller can possibly be directed. In* stead of the simple Stele, usually employed to decorate the sum. mit of the roost antient sepulchral mounds, all writers, who haye mentioned the tomb of Ajaz, relate, that it was surmounted by a shrine, in whirh a statue' of the hero was preserved. Religious regard for this hallowed spot continued through so many ages, that even to the time in which Christianity decreed the destruction of the Pa^an idols, the sanctity of the A'ianteum was maintained and venerated. *^uch importance was annexed to the inviolability of the monument, that after Anthony had rarried into Kgypt the consecrated image, it was again recovered by Augustus, and restored to its pristine shrine. Tiiese facts may possibly serve to account for the present appearance of the tomb, on whose sum- mit that shrine itself, and a considerable portioo of the super*
RUINS OF TUE PLAIN OP TROT. 539
From the Aianteom we passed over a heathy country to Halil Elly, a yillage near the Thymbrius, in whose Ticinity we had been instructed to seek the remains of a temple once sacred to the Thymbrean Apollo. The ruins we found were rather the remains of ten temples than of one. The earth to a ^ery considerable extent was covered by subverted and broken columns of marble granite, and of every order in architecture. Doric, lonic^ and Corinthian capitals, lay dispersed in alt directions, and some of these were of great beauty. We observed a bas.relief represent* ing a person on horseback pursued by a winged figure ; also a beautiful representation, sculptured after the same manner of Ceres in her car drawn by two scaly serpents. Of three inscrip. tions which I copied among these ruins, the first was engraven upon the shaft of a marble pillar. This we removed, and brought to England. It is now in the vestibule of the public library at Cambridge ; and commemorates the public services of a phrontistes of Drusus Ctesar. The names of persons belonging to the family of GermanicuB occur frequently among inscriptions found in and near Troas. Drucus, the son of Germanicus, was himself ap« pointed to a government In the district. Whatsoever tends in any degree to illustrate the origin of the ruins in which it was discover, ed, will be considered interesting ; although, after ail, we must remain in a state of the greatest uncertainty with regard to the city alluded to in either of these documents. Possibly it may have been Scamandria ; but in the multitude of cities belonging to Troasi a mere conjecture, without any positive evidence, is less pardonable than silence. The inscription, qfiering our only re- maining clue, sets forth that the tribe Attalis commemorated Sex. tus Julius Festus, a magistrate of the ci ty , and praefect of the Flavian cohort, who had bee a Gymnasiarch, and given magnificently and largely, to the senators and all citizens, oil and ointment for some public festival.
The third inscription and perhaps the most important, had these remarkable wordi
*^ THE ILIEANS TO THBIR C0UNTR'y*8 GOD iENCAS.''
If this had been found by a late respectable and learned author, it might have confirmed him la the notion that the Thymbrios iraa
,5iO nuiNSOF THE PLAIN OF 1 KOY. ^
in fact (be Simo'is as he bel!«ved ; and perhaps have EujgDeitei thf present name of the plate, Hal'il Hi, (or, as I havo wrltl llitlil Ellj, to conform to the mode of prununciatioti,) an (-tymc from A ON.
From tlia ruini at Halil F.lly, we proceeded (Iirough ■ d«l ful salley, full of vineyards, and Bloiund trees in foil bfonm lending to pan the ni^ltt at the village of Thy mbreck. We f nu antiquities, nor did we hear of any io the neigfalKwi^ The neift day returning toward Halil Ktly, we feftil ri^hl, and crossed the Thynibrius by a ford. In iuiiiiiin'4 becomes almost dry; but during uinter it often presents B^ ful torrent, carrying all before it. Not one of (lie maps, oroi works yet piibli»het] upon Troas, lioa informed us of iti ti natiun : according to some, it empties ilscif into the Meader its emboucbare ; others describe it as forming a junction TthibUck ; a circumstance of considerable importance ; for t: last po^iiiuo b« true, the ruins at Tchiblack may Le those el Temple of the Tbyinhrxan Apollo. Strabo expriS'^ly stftlwa ft tuaticin of the temple to be near the place where tbe Tfayml discharges itself into the Scamander. At'ier we hinl pused ford, we ascended a ridge of hills, and fouitd tbe remuimof a ancient pated way. We then came Io the town or viltaj Tcbiblack, where we noticed very considerable remains orui Eculpliire, but in such a state of disorder and ruin, Oinl ti«-|M deicriplioD of them can be given. The most remarlcablatMM the (op of B hill calbd Bfyan M<7nl.'y, nenr tlic lowflj'H
RUINS OF THE PLAIN OF TROr* 541.
tive situation of this Hill and Palaio Callifat, or Old Callifat, where New Ilitim stood ; as will hereafter be proved. Or may it bt* considered the eminence described by Strabo as the beautiful Co- lone, five stadia in cirrnmference, near which Simois flowed; and Tchiblack, the Pagus Iliensiura ? It was rather more than a mile distant from the village of the Ilieans, and stood above it ; ex. actly as this hill h situated with regard to Tchiblack.
It will now be curious to observe, whether an inscription we discovered here does not connect itself with these inquiries. It was found upon the fluted marble shaft of a Doric pillar two (eet in diameter ; so constructed, as to contain a Cippus, or inscribed slab, Qpon one side of it.
The inscription records the consecration of a Stoa, and all things belonging to it, to Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus^ the em« peror, and to Julia Augusta Agrippina, his wife, and their cbiU dren, and to iNl Inerva of Ilium. The reason why the emperor Clamlius and his children were honoured by the Iliehses, is given by Suetonius, and Tacitus. Eckhel mentions, I know not on what authority, a fane consecrated to the Iliean Minerva, as hav. ing existed in the Pagas Iliensium, which Alexander adorned after his victory at Granicus. Arrian states merely the offerings to Minerva of Ilium, making no meotion of the fane ; but Strabo, who expressly alludes to the temple, places it in the Iliensian city. But whence originated the sanctity of this remarkable spot, still shaded by a grove of venerable oaks, beneath whose branches a multitude of votive offerings yet entirely cover the summit of the hilil Ad inscription commemorating the pious tribute of a people in erecting a portico to the family of Claudius Caesar and the Ileaa Minerva, can only be referred to the inhabitants of that district of Troas who were styled Ilieaces. It has been shewn that Clau* dins, after the example of Alexander, had perpetually exempted them from (he payment of any tribute. In their district stood the Pagus IlieDnum, with the (Callicone) beautiful hill ; and nearly thirty stadia farther towards the west, reversing the order of the bearing f^iven by Strabo, the Hiliensium Civitos. If therefore this hill, so pre^^eminently entitled to the appellation of Calllcoiooe, from the regvlarity of its form, and the groves by which it seems for ages to have been adorned, be further considered, on account of its aiitiquities, an indication of the former vicinity of the llien« siau village^ it tthould (ollinfj that ohsertliig a westward €ow§%
RUINS OF THB PLAIN OF TROT* 545
upon the coast, by the moath of the Mender. It reaches nearly to a small and almost stagnant ri?er, hitherto unnoticed, called Callifat Osmack, or Callifat Water, taking its name from the Til- lage near which it falls into the Mender : our road to thai place afterwards led us along the top of the monnd. Here then both art and nature have combined to mark the plain bj circumstances of feature and association not likely to occur elsewhere ; although such as any accurate description of the country might well be ex. pected to include : and if the Poems of Homer, with reference to the Plain of Troy, have similarly associated an artificial tumulus and a natural mound, a conclusion seems warranted, that these are the objects to which he alludes. This appears to be the case in the account he has given of the Tomb of Ilus and the Mound of the Plain.
Upon the surface of the Tomb itself, in several small channels caused by rain, we found fragments of the vases of Antient Greece. I know not any other cause to assign for their appearance, than the superstitious veneration paid to the tombs of Troas in all the ages of history, until the introduction of Christianity. Whe. ther they be considered as the remains of offerings and libations made by Greeks or Romans, they are indisputably not of modern origin. The antiquity of earthen. ware, from the wheel of a Gre* cian potter, is as easily cognizable as any work left for modern observation ; and, as a vestige of that people, denoting the site of their cities, towns, and public monuments, may be deemed per* haps equal in importance to medals and inscriptions.
From this tomb we rode along the top of the mound of the plain, in a south-western direction, towards Callifat* After we had proceeded about half its length, its inclination became southward. Having attained its extremity in that direction, we descended into the plain,! when our guides brought us to the western side of it, neajr its Sgiithern termination, to notice a tumulus, less consider, ablejthan (he last described, about three hundred paces from the mound, almost concealed from observation by being continually overflowed, upon whose top two small oak trees were then grow* ing. This tumulus will not be easily discerned by future travel, lers, from the uniformity of its appearance at a distance with the rest of the vast plain in which it is situated, being either covered with corn, or furrowed by the plough. The view it commands of the coast, towards the month of the Mender, may possibly en«
RUINS OF TRB PLAIN OP TROT* 545
concerning the place whence that river issues, or the nature of Us torrent. It is with htm, Scamander, flowing from Idean Jove ; MErAS nOTAMOS BAGTAINHS, the great vortiginous river ; bearing on his giddy tide the body of Polydoras to the sea; the angry Scamander. The springs by which Achilles pursues Hector were two fountains, or rivulets, near the bed of the river, as expressly stated by the Poet ; but they had no connection with the source of the Scamander, and therefore the rise of that river in Mount Ida causes no objection to Homer's narrative. The whole country abounds both with hot and with cold springs ; so that unauthorized by the poet to ascend to the source of the Sea. mander in search of them^ we may rest satisfied with their posi. tion elsewhere.
Continuing along the southern side of Callifat Water, after hav- ing crossed the ford, we came to some suins upon its banks, by which the ground was covered to a considerable extent. These consisted of the most beautiful Doric pillars, whose capitals and shafts, of the finest white marble, were lying in the utmost disor- der. Among them we also noticed some entire shafls of granite. The temple of Jupiter being always of the Doric order, we might suppose these ruins to mark the site of a fame consecrated to Idean Jove ; bnt Doric was evidently the prevailing order among the ancient edifices of the Troas, as it is found every where in the district, and all the temples in that part of Phrygia could not have been consecrated to the same deity. The ruins by the CaK. lifat Water have not been hitherto remarked by any traveller; al- though Akerblad obtained, and published in a very inaccurate manner, an inscription I also copied there. It is as old as the Archonship of Euclid. Having already twice before published it, both in the account of the Greek marbles preserved in the Vest!* bule of the Public Library at Cambridge, and also in the Appen. dlx to the Dissertation on the Soros of Alexander, the introduction' of the original legend here would be deemed an unnecessary repe- tition. It was inscribed upon the lower part of a plain marble pillar : this we removed to the Dardanelles, and afterwards sent to England. The interpretation sets forth, that those partaking of the sacrifice, and of the games, and of the whole festival, ho* nonred Pytha, daughter to Scamandrotimus, native of Illum> who performed the oflice of Canephoros in an exemplary and dis- tinguished manner, for her piety towards the goddess. In the
VOL. VI. 9n
EUINS OP THB PLAIN OP TROV. 547
the peasants said tliey found the medals they offered to as, and most frequently after heajy rains. Many had been discovered in con- sequence of the recent excavations made there of the Turks, who were removing the materials of the old foundations for the purpose of constructing works at the Dardanelles. As these medals, bear, ing indisputable legends to designate the people by whom they were fabricated, have also, in the circumstances of thfir discovery, a peculiar connection with the ruins here, they may be considered as indicating, with tolerable certainty, the situation of the city to which they belonged. Had we observed, in our route from Tchi- black, precisely the line of direction mentioned by Strabo, and continued a due course from east to west, instead of turning to. wards the south in the Simo'isian Plain to visit the villa/i^e of Cat. lifat, we should have terminated the distance he has mentioned, of thirty stadia, (as separating the city from the village of the Hi. ensians) by the discovery of these ruins. They may have been the same which Kauffer noticed in his map, by the title of Ville de Constantine ; but evidently appear to be the remains of New III. um ; whether we regard the testimony aflbrded by their situation, as accordant with the text of §trabo ; or the discovery there made of medals of the city. Once in possession of this importantp int a light breaks in upon the dark labyrinth of Troas ; we stand with Strabo upon the very spot whence he deduced his observations concerning other objects in the district ; looking down upon the Simo'isian Plain, and viewing the junction of the two rivers (one flowing towards Sigeum, and the other towards Rhaeteum, pre. ei^iely as described by him) in front of the Iliensian city ; being guided, at the same time, to Callicolone, the village of the IlieanSf and the sepulchres of iEsyetes, Batieia, and Ilus, by tbs clue he has afforded. From the natural or artificial elevation of the territory on which the city stood, (an insulated object In the plain) we beheld almost every landmark to which that author has alluded. The splended spectacle presented tou-ards the west by the snr»w. clad top of Saroothrace, towering behind Imbrus, would baffle every attempt of delineation : it rose with indescribable gran- deur, to a height beyond all i had seen for a long time ; and while its aethereal summit shone with inconceivable brightness in a sky without a cloud, seemed, notwithstanding its remote sitoation, as its vastness would overwhelm all Troas, should an earthquake heave it from its base. Nearer to the eye appeared the moutb of the
SH2
6CULPTURB AND ARCHITBCTUBB OF ATHENS. 54Q
On this snggestioD, lord Elgin proposed to his majesty's go. ▼emment, that they should send out English artists of known emi. nence, capable of collecting this information in the most perfect manner ; but the prospect appeared of too doubtful an issue for jninisters to engage in the expence attending it* Lord Elgin then endeavoured to engage some of these artists at his own charge ; bat ihe Talue of their time was far beyond hi3 means. When, howeTer, he reached Sicily, on the recommendation of Sir William Hamilton, he was so fortunate as to prevail on Don Tita Lusieri, one of the best general painters in Europe, of groat knowledge in the arts, infinite taste, and most scrupnlously exact in copying any subject he is to represent, to undertake the execution of this plan ; and Mr. Hamilton, who was then accompanying lord Elgin to Constantinople, immediately went with Mr. Lusieri to Rome ; where, in consequence of the late revolutions in Italy, they wero enabled to engage two of the most eminent formatori to make the madreformi for the casts : Signior Ealestra, the first architect there, along with Ittar, a young man of great talent, to undertake the ar. chitectnral part of the plan ; and one Theodore, a Calmouk, who had distinguished himself during several years at Rome, in the ca- pacity of figure painter.
After much difficulty, lord Elgin obtained permission from the Turkish government to establish these six artists at Athens ; where they prosecuted the business of their several departments during three years, acting on one general system, with the advantage of mutual control, and under the general su peri n tendance of M. Lu- sieri. They at length completed lord Elgin's plan in all its parts. ^^ Accordingly, every monument, of which there are any re- mains in Athens, has been thus most carefully and minutely raea.. sured ; and, from the rough draughts of the architects, (all of which are preserved, finished drawings have been made of the plans, elevations, and details of the most remarkable objects ; in which the Calmouk has restored and inserted all the sculpture, with exquisite taste and ability. He has beside drawn, with astonishing accuracy all the bas. reliefs on the several temples, in the precise state of decay and mutilation in which they at present exist.
Most of the bas-reliefs, and nearly all the characteristic features of architecture, in the various monuments at Athens, have been monlded, and the moulds of them have been brought to London. Besides tke architectore and tcnlptare at Athens, all remains
3n3
SCtLt^fUBB AKD ABCHITECTURS OF ATHENS. 551
conveyed to France, where they are held in the rery highest esti* mation, and some of them occupy conspicuous places in the gallery of the LoQTre. And the same agents were remaining at Athens during lord Elgin's embassy, waiting only the return of French in- fluence at the Porte to renew their operations. Actuated by these inducements, lord Elgin made use of all his means, and ultimately with such success, that he had brought to England, from the ruin- ed temples at Athens, from the modern walls and fortifications, in which many fragments had been used as so many blocks of stone, and from excavations made on purpose, a greater quantity of ori- ginal Athenian sculpture, in statues, alti and bassi relievi, capitals, cornices, frizes, and columns, than exists in any other part of Europe.
Lord Elgin is in possession of several of the origiual metopes from the Temple of Minerva. These represent the battles be- tween the Centaurs and Lapithse, at the nuptials of Plrithous.— Each metope contains two figures, grouped in various attitudes*; sometimes the Lapithse victorious, sometimes the Centaurs. The figure of one of the Lapithae, who is lying dead and trampled on by a Centaur, is one of the finest productions of the art ; as well as the groupe adjoining to it, of Hyppodamia, the bride, carried off by the Centaur Eurytion ; the furious style of whose gallopmg In order to secure his prize, and his shrinking from the spear that has been hurled after him, arc expressed with prodigious animation. They are all in such high relief, as to seem groups of statues ; and they are in general finished with as much attention behind as be- fore. They were originally continued round the entablature of the Parthenon, and formed ninety.two groups. The zeal of the early Christians, the barbarism of the Turks, and the explosions which took place when the temple was used as a gon.powder ma- gazine, have demolished a very large portion of them : so that, with the exception of those preserved by lord Elgin, it is In general dif- ficult to trace even the outlines of the original subject.
The frize, which was carried along the top of the walls of the cell, offered a continuation of sculptures in low relief, and of the most interesting kind. This frize being unbroken by triglyphs, had presented much more unity of subject than the detached and the insulated groups on the metropes of the peristyle. It repre- sented the whole of the solemn procession to the Temple of Mi- nerva during the Panathenaic festival : many of the figures are on
2n4
\
8CULPTUAB AND ARCHITECTURE OF ATHENS. 555
mer excayations, obtained leate, after much difficulty, to pull down this house also, and continue his researches. But no frag- ments were here discovered ; and the Turk, who had been induced, though most reluctantly, to give up his house to be demolished, then exultingly pointed out the places in the modern fortification, and in his own buildings, where the cement employed had been formed frem the very statues which lord Elgin had been in hopes of Onding. And it was afterwards ascertained, on incontrovertible evidence, that these statues had .been reduced to powder, and so used. Then, and then only, did lord Elgin employ means to res- cue what still remained from a similar fate. Among these objects is a horse's head, which far surpasses any thing of the kind, both in the truth and spirit of the execution* The nostrils are dis- tended, the ears erect ; the Teins swollen, one might almost say throbbing : his mouth is open, and he seems to neigh with the con- scious pride of belonging to the ruler of the waves. Besides this inimitable head, lord Elgin has procured, from the same pediment, two colossal groups, each consisting of two female figures. They are formed of single massive blocks of Pentelic marble : their atti- tudes are most graceful ; and the lightness and elegance of the dra« pery exquisite. From the same pediment has also been procured a male statue in a reclining posture, supposed to represent Nep- tune. And, above all, the figure denominated the Theseus, which is universally admitted to be superior to any piece of statuary ever brought into England. Each of these statues is worked with such care, and the finishing even carried so far, that every part, and the very plinth itself in which they rest, are equally polished on every side.
From the Opisthodoroos of the Parthenon, lord Elgin also procured some valuable inscriptions, written in the manner called Kionedon or Columnar, next in antiquity to the Boustrophedon. The greatest care is taken to preserve an equal number of letters in each line ; even monosyllables are separated occasionally into two parts, if the line has had its complement, and the next line then begins with the end of the broken word. The letters range per- pendicularly, as well as horizontally, so as to render it almost im- possible to make any interpolation or erasure of the original text. The subject of these monuments are public decrees of the people ; accounts of the riches contained in the treasury, and delivered by the administrators to their successors in office ; enumerations of
SC&LPTlTftB AMD ARCHlVfeCtCbfe 09 AttlBNB. 553
each member is so petfect in the details of its execution, that lord Elgin was at great pains to obtain a Doric and an Ionic capital from its ruins. On the right hand of the Propylsea, was a temple dedicated to victory without wings ; an epithet to which many ex- planations have been giren. This temple was built from the sale of the spoils won in the glorious struggles for freedom at Marathon, Salamis, and Piata^a. On its friie were sculptured many incidents of these memorable battles ; in a syle that has been thought by no means inferior to the metopes of the Parthenon. The only frag, ments of it that had escaped the ravages of barbarians, were built into the wall of a gun. powder magazine near it, and the finest block was inserted upside downwards. It required the whole of lord Elgin's'influence at the Porte, very gnat sacrifices, and much per* severance to remove them ; but he at length^ succeeded. They re- present the Athenians in close combat viith the Pen^ians, and the sculptor has marked the diflerrnt dresses and arirour of the vari« ous forces serving under the great king. The long garments and zones of the Persians, hnd induced former travellers, from the hasty and imperfect view they had of them, to suppose the subject was the battle between Theseus and the Amazons, who invaded Attica, under the command of Antiope ; but the Persian tiares, the Phrygian bonnets, and many other particulars, prove them to be mistaken. The spirit with which the groups of combatants are portrayed, is wonderful ;— -one remarks, in particular, the contest of four warriors to rescue the dead body of one of their comrades, which is expressed with uncommon animation. These bas-reliefs, and some of the most valuable scul{>ture, especially the representa. tion of a marriage, taken from the parapet of the modern fortifica. tion, were embarked in the Mentor, a vessel belonging to lord Elgin, which was unfortunately wrecked off the island of Cerigo : but Mr. Hamilton, who was at the time on board, and most provi* deutially saved, immediately directed his whole energies to disco* ver some means of rescuing so valuable a cargo; and, in the course of several months directed to that endeavour, he succeeded in pro. curing some very expert divers from the islands of Syme and Calym- Do, near Rhodes ; who were able, with immense labour and per* severance, to extricate a few of the cases from the hold of the ship, while she lay in twelve fathoms water. It was impossible to recover the remainder, before the storms of two winteni had effectnally destroyed the timbers of the Tessri,
SCULPTURB AND ARCHITBCTURE OP ATHENS. 557
and the women not only condemned to the most senrile employ- ments, bttt those of rank and family forced in this abject condition, to wear their ancient dresses and ornaments. In ttus state they are here exhibited. The drapery is fine, the air of each figure ii braided in a different manner, and a kind of diadem they wear on their head forms the capital. Besides drawings and mouldings of all these particulars, Lord Elgin has brought to England one of the original statues. The Lacedsemonians had used a species of rengeance similar to that above mentioned in constructing the Per- sian Portico, which they had erected at Sparta, in honour of their ▼ictory oyer the forces of Mardonius at Plataea : placing statues of Persians in their rich oriental dref ses, instead of columns, to sup. port the entablature.
The architects have also made a ground plan of the Acropolis, in which they have not only inserted all the existing monuments, but have likewise added those, the position of which could be ascer. tained from traces of their foundations. Among these are the tem. pie and cave of Pan ; to whom the Athenians thought themselves so much indebted for the success of the battle of Marathon, as to vow him a temple. All traces of it are now nearly obliterated ; as well as of that of Aglauros, who devoted herself to death to save her country* Here the young citizens of Athens received their first armour, enrolled their names, and swore to fight to the last for the liberties of their country. Near this spot the Persians' scaled the wall of the citadel, when Themistocles had retired with the remainder of the army, and the whole Athenian navy, to Salamis.
The remains of the original wall may still be traced in the midst of the Turkish and Venetian additions, and they are distinguishable by three modes of construction at very remarkable epochs,— the Pelasgic, the Cecropian, and that of the age of Cimon and Pericles; It was at this last brilliant period, that the Acropolis, in its whole extent, was contemplated with the same veneration as a consecrated temple ; consistent with which sublime conception, the Athenians crowned its lofty walls with an entablature of grand proportions surmounted by a cornice. Some of the massy triglyphs and mo. tules still remain in their original position, and producing a most imposing effect.
The ancient walls of the city of Athens, as they existed in tho Feloponnesian war, have been traced by Lord Elgin's artists in
SCULPTURE AND ARCMITECTURB OF ATHENS. 559
A beautiful little temple near It, raised for a similar prize gained by Lysfcrates, and commonly called the Lantern of Demosthenes, has also been drawn and modelled with minute attention. It is one of the most exquisite productions of Greek architecture. The ele« vntion, ground. plan, and other details of the octagonal temple, raised by Andronitus Cyrrhestes to the winds, hare also been exe- cuted wish care ; hut the sculpture on its frize is in so heary a style that it was not judged worthy of being modelled in plaister.
Permission was obtained from the archbishop of Athens, to ex- amine the interior of all the churches and conrents in Athens and its neighbourhood, in search of antiquities ; and his authority was fre. quently employed, to permit Lord Elgin to carry away sereral curious fragments of antiquity. This search furnished many ralu. able bas-reliefs, inscriptions, ancient dials, a Gymnasiarch's chair in marble, on the back of which are figures of ITarmodius and Aris. togiton. with daggers in their hands, and the death of Lexna, who bit out her tongue during the torture, rather than confess what she knew of the conspiracy against the Pisistratidx. The fountain in the couft.yard of the CngUsh consul Logotheti*s house was deco. rated with a bas-relief of Bacchantes, in the style called Graoco * Etniscam ; Lord F^lgin has obtained this, as well as a quadriga in bas relief, with a victory hovering oyer the charioteer, probably an ex voto^ for some victory at the Olympic games. Amongst the funeral Cippi found in different places, are some remarkable names, particularly that of Socrates ; and in the Ceramicas itself Lord Elgin discovered an inscription in elegiac verse, on the Athenians who fell at Potidaea, and whose eulogy was delivered with pathetic eloquence in the funeral oration of Pericles.
The peasants at Athens generally put into a niche over the door of their cottages, any fragment they discover in ploughingthe fields. Out of these, were selected and purchased many curious antiqae Totive tablets, with sculpture and inscriptions. A complete seriet has oho been formed of capitals, of the only three orders known in Greece, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian ; from the earliest dawn of art in Athens, to its zenith under Pericles ; and from thence> through all its degradations, to the dark ages of the lower empire.
At a convent called Daphne, about half way between Athens and Elensis, where the remains of an Ionic temple of Venus, equally remarkable for the brilliancy of the marble, the bold %ty\9
MOVUMSNTJIL BSMAXlli, 561
feet in he^ht| and dcrifts its Dame from its hsTiiig a china or por. celaia^coatiog. Of its ftmnder, antiqni^, or the ctnse of its erection, we hare no ioformation. It was the Portagnese who first gave to these edifices the name of pagodu, and attribated them to devotional purposes; but there can be little donbt that in manj instances thej have been rattier erected as public memoriab or ornaments, like the columns of the Greeks and Romans.
lEditor.
SBCTIOH XV] !•
Colosfui of Rhodes*
This enormous building lias justly been classed among the won« ders of ancient architecture. It was a vut structure of brass, or statuary metal, erected in lionowr of Apollo or the sun, the tute- lary god of the island; whose stride wu fifty feet asunder^ each foot being placed on a rock at this distance from each other, and ^ which bounded the entrance into the haven : its height, according to Pliny, was not less than a hundred and five feet, or seventy cu* bits; and hence ships of considerable burden were capable of sailing between its legs. It is said to have been erected by the Rhodians with the money produced by the sale of the engines of war which Demetrius Poliorcetes employed in fruitlessly besieging the city for a twelvemonth, and which he gave to them upon his reconciliation. Pliny affirms that it was commenced by Chares of LIndus, a disciple of Lysippus, and finished upon his death by Laches of the same town. It was thrown down by an earthquake sixty years after Its completion. [Plin. Euseb. Editor.
8BCTION XTIII.
Italian Monuments and Archiiecture.
Italti like Egypt, abounds so largely with magnificent ruins and relics of difierent ages, that we can only indicate a few of the most singular or most celebrated.
From the former we may select for description the famous cam- panill or leaning tower, erected in a square close to the great church at Pisa. It is composed wholly of white marble, and was built for the purpose of containing the bells. Its height Is about two hundred feet, and its Inclination nearly fifUen feet from the
TOL, TI. 9 o
MONASTBRT OF M0NT8BRRAT. 563
«s, dedicating it, as (be Latin name brieiljr denotes, to Divine Wisdom. Its architecture indeed, is greatly inferior to that of a higher and mc^e classical period'; yet the effect is grand and im- pressive, and the copola is admired as a bold and skilful effect of Ihe art, while the seeming weight is diminisliisd by the lightness of the materials, which are bricks formed of a particalar clay that will float in the water. The interior is adorned with a profusion of marble columns of various beautiful descriptions, the purple Phrygian, green Spartun, red and white Carian, African of a saf* fron colour, and many other kinds.
There is a very beautiful cathedral at Salerno, which, though less expressive, may be compared with the temple of Sancta Sophia in point of splendour, and in some part of it has a considerable resemblance to it.
The temple of Sancta Sophia, however, has been less happy in -its fate; for upon the triumph of the Ottomans, it was converted into a Turkish Mosque, and continues such to the present day.
lEdiior.
SECTION XX«
Monastery of Montserrat.
MoNTSERRAT IS Well kuowu to be one of the most romantic mountains of Spain : it is situated in the vicinity of Barcelona, and has given its name to one of the Leeward Carabbee Islands from a 8 'pposed resemblance to it. Towards the summit of this craggy and perpendicular steep, are erected a monastery and chapel dedi- cated to the Virgin Mary. The scenery is highly picturesque ; and from the difficulty of the ascent, it has long been resorted to by pilgrims, who wish to show a proof of their zeal and superiority to fatigue. It is inhabited by monks of several nations, who enter* tain gratuitously, for some days, all who visit them, whether from curiosity or devotion.
The mountain is calculated at ten miles in circumference, and three thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea; towering over a hilly country like a pile of grotto- work, or Gothic spires.
9o3
STONJS-HBNGB. 565
towards the east, four feet broad, and sixteen feet long ; which,
whether it be an altar or no, this author refers to the judgment of
others. The great stones which are made the entrances from the
outside of the trench, are seven feet broad, three teet thick, and
twenty feet high. The parallel stones on the Inside of the trench
are four feet broad, and three feet thick; but they are so broken^
that their proportions in height cannot be exactly measured. The
stones which make the outward circle are seven feet broad, three
feet and a half thick, and fifteen feet and a half high ; each stone
having two tenons mortised into the architrave continuing upon
them, throughout the whole circumference. For these architraves
being jointed exactly in the middle of each of the perpendicular
stones, that their weight might have an equal bearing ; and upon
each side of the joint a tendon wrought (as remains yet to be seen)
it may hence positively be concluded, that the architrave is con.
tinued round about this outward circle. The smaller stones of
the inner circle are one foot and a half broad, one foot thick, and
six feet high. These had no architrave upon them, but were raised
perpendicular, of a pyramidal form. The stones of the greater
hexagon are seven feet and a half broad, three feet and three*
quarters thick, and twenty feet high, each stone having one tenon
in the middle. The stones of the inner hexagon are two feet and
a half broad, one foot and a half thick, and eight feet high, in
form pyramidal, like those of the inner circle* The architrave
lying round about upon the perpendicular stones of the outward
circle, is three feet and a half broad, and two feet and a half high.
The architrave on the top of the great stones of the ontward hexa.
gon, is sixteen feet long, 3| feet broad, and 3 J feet high. This
architrave, continuing only from stone to stone, left l>etwixt every
two and two, a void space free to the air, ni&covered. The vulgar
have thought it ominous, and indeed absolutely impossible, to count
the number of stones composing this ancient monument. To this
legendary talc Sydney refers in his sonnet of the wonders of Eng.
land, when he says,
Near Wilton SMreet, huj^e heaps of stones are found, But so confused, that neither any eye Can count them just, nor reason try.
What force brought them to so unlikely ground.
In reference to this absurd superstition, Mr. Jones says, that i( any one will observe the orders of tha circles as they now sppeftr,
tlo3
MONUMENTAL REMAINS. 567
The cromlech is usually found open at (lie sides ; if it be in. closed, 6o as to form a kind of rude coffin or sarcophagus, it is called a Kistmvacn,
BARROWS.
Of these Dr. Plott takes notice of two sorts in Oxfordshire; one placed on the military ways, the other in the fields, meadows, or woods ; the first fort doubtless of lioman erection, the other more probably erected by the Britons or Danes. We haye an examination of the barrows in Cornwall by Dr. Williams, in the Phil. Trans. N° 458, from whose obser rations we find that they are composed of foreign or adventitious earth ; that is, such as does not originally belong to the place, but is fetched from some distance. Monuments of this kind are also very frequent in Scotland. On digging iiito the barrows, urns have been found in some of them, made of calcined earth, and containing burnt bones and ashes ; in others, stone chests containing bones entire; in others, bones net* ther lodged in chests nor deposited in urns. These tumuli are round, not greatly elevated, and generally at their bases surrounded with a foss. They are of dificrent sizes ; in proportion, it is sup. posed, to the greatness, rank, and power, of the deceased person. The links or sands of Skail, in Sandwich, one of the Orkneys, abound in round barrows. Some are formed of earth alone, others of stone covered with earth- In the former was found a coffin, made of six flat stones. They are too short to receive a body at full length : the skeletons found in them lie with the knees pressed to the breast^ and the legs doubled Uong the thighs. A bag, made of rushes, has been found at the feet of some of these skele* tons, containing the bones, most probably, of another of the fa. mily. In one were to be seen multitudes of small beetles; and as similar insects have been discovered in the bag which enclosed tlie sacred IbiSy we may suppose that the Egyptians, and the nation to whom these tumuli belong, might have had the same superstition respecting them. On some of the corpses interred in this island, the mode of burning was observed. The ashes deposited in the urn which was covered on the top with a flat stone, have been found in the cell of one of the barrows. This coffin or cell was placed on the ground, then covered with a heap of stones, and that again cased with earth and sods. Both barrow and contents evince them to be of a different age from the former. - These in* muli were in the nature of family vaults : in them have been foond
2o4
JIOIIOM BMTAL BBWAINS, 569
Bcriptioni. The famoits burrow of the Atheoiaoi in the plain of Marathon, described by Pausanias, is an instance of the latter asage. An ancieot monament in Italy by the Appian.way, called withoat reason the sepulchre of the Curictii, has the same nnmber of /er- mini as remained on the barrow of Alyattes ; the basement which Is square, sepporting fire round pyramids. Of the barrow of Alyattes the original magnitude is described by trarellers as now much diminished, and the bottom rendered wider and less distinct than before, by the gradual increase of the soil below. It stands in the midst of others by the lake Gygaeus ; where the burying* place of the Lydian princes was situated. The barrows are of ▼arious siz^s, the smaller made perhaps for children of the younger branches of the royal family. Four or fire are distinguished by their superior magnitude, and are Tisible as hills at a great distance. That of Alyattes is greatly supereminent. The lake it is likely * furnished the soil. All of them are co? ered with green turf; and all retain their conical form without any sinking in of the top.
Barrows^ or similar tumuli, are also found in great numbers in America. These are of different sizess, according to Mr. Jeffer. son's account ; some of them constructed of earth, and some of loose stones. That they were repositories of the dead has been obvious to all ; but on what particular occasion constructed, was matter of doubt. Some have thought they covered the bones of those who have fallen in battles fought on the spot of interment. Some ascribed them to the custom said to prevail among the In- dians, of collecting at certain periods the bones of all their dead, wheresoever deposited at the time of death. Others again sup. posed them the general sepulchres for towns, conjectured to have been on or near these grounds ; and this opinion was supported by the quality of the lands in which they are found (those con« structed of earth being generally in the softest and most fertile meadow grounds on river sides), and by a tradition, said to be handed down from the aboriginal Indians, that when they settled in a town, the first person who died was placed erect, and earth put about him, so as to cover and support him ; that when another died, a narrow passage was dug to the first, the second reclined against him, and the cover of the earth replaced, and so on. — ** There being one of these barrows in my neighbourhood (says Mr. Jefferson), I wished to satisfy myself whether any, and which of these opinions were Just. For this purpose I determined to o|Mi and Mamino it thoroughly. It was situated on the low
IfONUMBNTAL RBlffAIlfS. 571
pcnnltinoBie grinder of the aduU. This bone was white, all the others of a sand colour. The bones of infants being soft, they probably decay sooner, which might be the case so few were found here, i proceeded then to make a perpendicular cut through the body of the barrow, that I might examine its internal struc- ture. This passed about three feet from its centre, was opened to the former surface of the earth, and was wide enough for a man to walk through and examine its sides. At the bottom, that is on the leTel of the circumjacent plain, I found bones ; above these a few stones, brought from a cliff a quarter of a mile off, and from the riTer one.eighth of a mile off; then a large interval of earth, then a stratum of bones, and so on. At one end of the section were four strata of bones plainly distinguishable ; at the other, three ; the strata in one part not ranging with those in another. The bones nearest the surface were least decayed. No holes were discovered in any of them, as if made ^ith bullets, arrows, or other weapons. I conjectured that in this barrow might have been a thousand skeletons. Every one will readily seize the cir- cumstances above related, which militate against the opinion that it covered the bones only of persons fallen in battle ; and against the tradition also which would make it the common sepulchre of a town, in which the bodies were placed upright, and touching each other. Appearances certainly indicate that it has derived both origin and growth from the accustomary collection of bones, and deposition of them togetiier ; that the first collection had been de. posited on the common surface of the earth, a few stones put over it, and then a covering of earth ; that the second had been laid on this, had covered more or less of it in proportion to the number of bones, and was then also covered with earth, and so on. The following are the particular circumstances which ^ive it this as- pect. 1, The number of bones. 2. Their confused position. 3. Their being in different strata. 4. The strata in one part having no correspondence with tliose in another. 5. The different states of decay in these strata, which seem to indicate a difference in the time of inhum.ilion. 6. The existence of infant bones among them. But on whatever occasion they may have been made, they are of consider lUe notoriety among the Indians : for a party passing, about thirty years ago, through the part of the country where this barrow is, went through the woods directly to it, with, out any instructions or enquiry; and having staid about it some
&
( .•
"*
m ..f..- :..^;.- :■
» .** 1
MONVMBKTAL BBMAlNt. 573
for the sepulchral protection of heroes and great men. The stone chests, the repository of the urns and ashes, are lodged in the earth beneath : sometimes only one, sometimes more, are found thus deposited; and Mr. Pennant mentions an instance of 17 being discoTered under the same pile.
Gums are of different sizes, some of them very large. Mr* Pennant describes one in the island of Arran, 114 feet over, and of a vast height. They may justly be supposed to have been pro* portioned in size to the rank of the person, or to his popularity ; the people of a whole district assembled to show their respect to the deceased ; and, by an active honouring of his memory, soon accumulated heaps equal to those that astonish us at this time. But these honours were not merely those of the day, as long as the memory of the deceased endured, not a passenger went by without adding a stone to the heap : they supposed it would be an honour to the dead, and acceptable to his manes.
Quanquam festinas, non est mora longa : licebit, Injecto ter pulvere, curras.
To this monument there is a proTerbial eipression among the highlanders allusive to the old practice ; a suppliant will tell his patro, Currimi ciocher do charne^ ^* I will add a stone to your cairn ;" meaning, When you are no more, I will do all possible honour to your memory.
Cairns are to be found in all parts of our islands^ in Cornwall, Wales, and all parts of North Britain ; they were in use among the northern nations. In Wales they are called carneddau; but the proverb taken from them there, is not of the complimental kind : Karn ar dy ben^ or, ^' A cairn on your head," is a token of imprecation.
CROMLBCHS.
This kind of ancient monument, consists, as we have already observed, of huge, broad, flat stones, raised upon other stones set upon end for that purpose.
These monuments are spoken of largely by Mr. Rowland, bj Dr. Borlase, and by Wormius, under the name of jtra or altar. Mr. Rowland, however, is divided in his opinion ; for he partly inclines to the notion of their having been altars, partly to their having been sepulchres : he supposes thein to have been originallj
MONUMENTAL ItBMAINS. 575
remove it from its present situation. It is called the Loganstone and it is such a height from the ground that no person can b«lieve that it was raised to its present position by art. But there are other rocking stones, which are so shsiped and so situated, that there can be no doubt but that they were erected by human strength. Of this kind Borlase thinks the gri>at Quoii or Karum iehauy in the parish of Tywidnck, to be. It is 39 feet in circum. ference, and four feet thick at a medium, and stands on a single pedestal. There is also a remarkable stone of the same kind in the island of St. Agnes in Scilly. The under rock is 10 feet six inches high, 47 feet round the middle, and touches the ground with no more than half its base. The upper rock rests on one point only, and is so nicely balanced, that two or three men with a pole can move it. It is eight feet six inches high, and 47 in circumfe. rence. On the top there is a bason hollowed out, three feet elevea inches in diameter at a medium, but wider at the brim, and three feet deep. From the globular shape of this upper stone, it is highly probable that it was rounded by human art, and perhaps even placed on its pedestal by human strength* In Sithney pa- rish, near Ilelston, in Cornwall, stood the famous logan, or rock- ing stone, commonly called Men Amber^ q. d. Men an Bar^ or the top-stone. It was eleven feet by six, and four high, and so nicely poised on another stone that a little child could move it, and all travellers who came this way desired to see it. But Shrub, sail, Cromwell's governor of Pendennis, with much ado caused it to be undermined, to the great grief of the country. There are some marks of the tool on it, and by its quadrangular shape, it was probably dedicated to Mercury.
That the rocking stones are monuments erected by the Druids cannot be doubted ; but tradition has not informed us for what purpose they were intended. Mr. Toland thinks that the Druids made the people believe that they alone could move them, and that by a miracle ; and that by this pretended miracle they con- demned or acquitted the accused, and brought criminals to confesB what could not otherwise be extorted from them. • How far this conjecture is right we shall leave to those who are deeply versed in the knowledge of antiquities to determine.
\Enct/clop9dia Britannica.
: S
ARiC OP llOAft. /)77
Lamy says, that it was an hundred and ten feet longer than the church of St«Mary at Paris, and sixtyfoar feet narrower; to which bis English translator adds^ that it mast hare been longer than St. Paul's church in London, from west to east, broader than that church is high in the inside, and about fifty.four feet In height of our measure.
The things contained in the ark were, besides eight persons of Noah's family, one pair of every species of unclean animals, and seven pair of every species of clean animals, with provisons for them all, during the whole year.*— The former appears, at first view, al* most infinite : but if come Co a calculus, the number of species of animals will be found much smaller than is generally imagined ; out of which, in this case, are to be excepted such animals as can live in the Water ; and Bishop Wilkiiis imagines, that only seventy, two of the quadruped kind needed a place in the ark.
It appears to have been divided into three stories; and It is agreed on, as most probable, that the lowest story was destined for the beasts, the middle for the food, and the upper for the birds^ with Noah and his family ; each story being subdivided into dif. ferent apartments, stalU, &c. Though Josephvs, Philo, and other commentators, add a kind of fourth story, under all the rest ; being, as it were, the hold of the vessel, to contain the ballast, and receire the filth and fieces of so many animals.
Drexelius makes three hundred apartments; fSather Fournler^ thtee hundred and three ; the anonymous author of the Qoestioni on Genesis, four hundred ; Buteo, Temporarius, Arias Montanus, Wilkins, Lamy, and others, suppose as many partitions as there were different sorts of animals. — Pelletier only makes seventy.twoj viz. thirty.six for the birds, and as many for the beasts : his reason b^ that if we soppose a greater number, as three hundred and thirty* three, or four hundred, each of the eight persons in the ark must have had thirty-seven, forty -one, or fifty stalls to attend and cleanse daily, which he thinks impossible, fiut there is not much in this ; to diminish the number of stalls, without a diminution of the ani. inals, is vain ; it being, perhaps, more difllicuit to take care of thre« hundred animals in seventy.two stalls^than in three hundred.
Buteo computes, that all the animals contained in the ark could not be equal to five hundred horses ; he even reduces the whole to the dimensions of fifty .six pair of oxen. Father Lamy enlarges it to sixty.foor pair, or an hundred and tweaty.eight
V0L% VI* 3 P
GALLEY OF HIBRO. 579
SECTION II«
Galley of Hiero,
It is to Hiero that Syracuse was indebted for those amazing machines of war, which the Syracusians made use of when be. sieged by the Romans* The public buildings, such as palaces, templeS) arsenals, 8cc. which were erected in Syracuse by his drder, and under the direction of Archimedes, were the greatest ornaments of that stately metropolis. He caused also an infinite number of ships to be built for the exportation of corn, in which the whole riches of the island consisted. We are told of a sralley built by his order, which was looked upon as one of the wonders of that age. Archimedes, who was overseer of the work, spent a whole year in finishing it, Hiero daily animating the workmen with his presence. This ship had twenty benches of oiirs, three spacious apartments, and all the conreniencies of a large palace. Thr floors of the middle apartment were all inlaid, and represented in various colours the stories of Homer's Iliad. The rielings, windows, and all other parts, were finished with wonderful art, and embellished with all kinds of ornaments. In the uppermost apartment there was a spacious gymnasium, or place of exercise, and walks, with gardens and plants of all kinds, disposed in wonderful order. Pipes, some of hardened clay, and others of lead, conveyed water all around to refresh them. But the finest of the apartments was that of Venus, the floors being inlaid with agats, and other precious stones, the inside lined with cypress*wood, the windows adorned with ivory, paintings, and small statues. In this apartment there was a library, and a bath wirh three great coppers, and a bathing vessel made of one single stone of various colours, and containing two hundred and fifty quarts* It was supplied with water from a great reservoir at the head of the ship, which heid an hundred thou, sand quarts. The vessel was adorned on all sides with fine paint* ings, and had eight towers of equal dimensions, two at the head, two at the stern, and four in the middle. Round these towers were parapets, whence stones might be discharged against the enemy's vessels when they approached. Each tower was con.^tantly guarded by four young men completely armed, and two archers. To the side of the vessel was fastened an engine made by Archi. medes, which threw a stone of three hundred weight, and an arrow ef eighteen fee^ the .distance of a stadium, or an hundred and
3p3
XB&XES*6 BR I DOB OF BOAT« 581
sea side ; the one was a passage to be cot through mount Atbos. This mouDtain reaches a great way iuto the sea, ia the form of a peninsula, and is joined to the land by an isthmus twebe furlongs OTcr. The sea, in (his place, is very tempestuous, and the Persian fleet had formerly suffered shipwreck in doubling thi3 promontory* To prevent the like disaster, Xerxes caused a passage to be cut through the mountain, broad enough to let two galleys, with three banks of oars each, pass in front. By this means he severed from the continent the cities of Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoon, ThysuSp and Cleone. It is said however, that Xerxes undertook this enterprize only out of ostentation, and to perpetuate the memory of his name, since he might, with far less trouble, have caused his fleet^to be conveyed over tha isthmus, as was the practice in thosa days.
He likewise commanded a bridge of boats to be laid over the Hellespont, for the passing of his forces from Asia Into Europe^ The sea which separates Sestos and Abydus, where the bridge was built, is seven furlongs over. The work was carried on with great expedition by the PhocDicians and Egyptians, who had no sooner finbhed it, but a violent storm arising, broke it in pieces, and dis* persed or dashed against the shore the vessels of which it was com* posed : which when Xerxes heard, he fell into such a violent trans* port of anger, that he commanded three hundred stripes to be inflicted on the sea, and a pair of fetters to be thrown iuto it, io. joining those who were trusted with the execution of his orders, to pronounce these words : ^^ Thou salt and bitter element, thy master has condemned thee to this punishment, for ofiending iiim without cause ; and is resolved to pa^ over thee, in spite of thy billows, and insolent resistance." The extravagant folly and madness of this prince did not stop here ; he commanded the heads of those who had the direction of the work to be struck off.
In their room he appointed more experienced architects to bniid two other bridges, one for the army, the otiier for the beasts of burden, and the baggage. * When the whole work was completed, and the vessels which formed the bridges secure against the violence of the winds, and the current of the water, Xerxes departed from Sardis, where the army had wintered, and directed his march to Abydus, W hen he arrived at that city, he desired to see all hia forces together ; and, to that end, ascending a stately edihce of white atone, which the Abydenians had built, on purpose to receive
3 P 3
ir£BXB&''8 BRIDGE OF BOATS. 583
With no impediment so great as to hinder him from carrying his con* qnering arms to the utmost limits of Europe. This done he threw the cop into the Hellespont, with a golden bowl, and a Persian scjmitar ; and the foot and horse began to pass over that bridge, which was next to the Eoaine, while the carriages and beasts of burden passed over the «ther, which was placed nearer the ^gean sea. The bridges were boarded, and corered oyer with earth, having rails on each side, that the horses and cattle might not be frightened at the si^ht of the sea. The army spent seven days and nights in passing over, though they marched day and night, without intermission, and were, by frequent blows, obliged to quicken their pace. At the same time, the fleet made to the coasts of Europe. After the whole army was passed^ Xerxes advanced with his land forces, through the Thracian Chersonesus to Doriscus, a city at the month of the river Hebrus, in Thrace : but the fleet steered a quite different course, standing to the westward for the promontory of Sarpedon, where they were commanded to attend farther orders. Xerxes, having encamped in the large plains of Doriscus, and jndg* ing them convenient for reviewing and numbering his troops, dis. patched orders to his admirals to bring the fleet to the adjacent shore, that he might take an account both of his sea and land forces. His land army, upon the muster, was found to consist of one mil- lion seven hnndred thousand foot, and fourscore thousand horse ; which, together with twenty thousand men that conducted the camels, and took care of the baggage, amounted to one million eight hundred thousand men. His fleet consisted of tirelve hundred and seven large ships, and three thousand galUes and transports : on board all these vessels, there were found to be five hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ten men. So that the whole number of sea and land forces, which Xerxes led out of Asia to invade Greece, amounted to two millions three hundred an4 seventeen thousand six hundced and ten men. We are told, that, on his passing the Hellespont, to enter Europe, an inhabitant of that country cried out : ^^ O Jupiter, why art thou come to destroy Greece, in the shape jof a Persian, and under the name of XerzeSy with all mankind following thee ; whereas thy own power is suffi- cient to do this, without their assistance?" After he had entered Europe, the nations on this side the Hellespont that submitted to him, added to his land forces three hnndred thousand more, and Iwo hundred and twenty ships to hii fleet^ on board of which wero
BRIB6ES. 585
obliged to place guards in all quarters of (he city, lest the thieves should lay hold of that opportunity to plunder the empty and aban- doned houses. Augustus had frequently ent^ rtained the people with tights of lions, tygers, elephants, rhinoceroses. Sec. but now the new canal appeared all qn a sudden covered with crocodiles, of which thirty-six were killed by Egyptians brought from the bauks of the Nile for that purpose. The multitude were h'ghly delighted by this sight, which was quite new j but the sea-fight, which ensued, afiorded them still greater diversion. For, at the opposite ends of the lake or caual, t^o fleets appeared, the gallies one being built after the Greek, and those of the other after the Persian, maimer. Both fleets engaged ; and, as they fought in good earnest, most of the combatants being persons sentenced to death, the battle proved very bloody. \^Anc. Univ. Hist.
CHAP. VIL
BRIDGES AMD LIOUT-HOUSES.
SECTION I.
Bridges most curious or interesting.
1\ BRIDGE is the work of carpentry or masonry, built on a river^ canal, or the lake, for th'* convenience of pa^si^(; from one side to the other ; and may ha considered as a road over water, supported by one or more arches, and these again supported by proper piers or buttments. Besides these e«S( ntial parts, may be added the paving at top, the banquet, or raised footway, on earh side, leav- ing a sufficient br<adth in the middle for horsts anJ carriages, also the parapet wall either with or without a balustrade, or other orna* mental and useful parts. The breadth of a bridge for a great city should be such, as to allow an easy passage for three carriages and two horsemen abreast in the middle way, and for three foot pas. s( nqers in the same manner on each banquet : but for other smaller bridges a less breadth.
The conditions required in a bridge are, that it be well designed, commodious, durable, and suitably decorated. It should be of such a height as to be quite coDvenient for the passage over it, aod
BRIDGBS. 587
throQgh (he middle of (he breadth ; the second a transTerse one, or across it, and through the summit of an arch ; and the third also across, bat taken upon a pier. The elevation is an orthognu phic projection of one side or face of the bridge, or its appear* ance as viewed at a distance, shewing the exterior aspect of the materials, with tbe manner in which they are disposed, 8tc.
In the construction of stone bridges many difficulties must be encountered, particularly those of laying foundations and walling under water ; these are best overcome by means of the coffer-dam. A due regard must be paid to the size and shape of the arch^ and the magnitude of the pier. Much information on these subjects nay be obtained from the works of Alberti, Gautier, Blonde Rio, Palladio, Labelye, Perronet, and the ingenious and useful trea* tises of Dr.Hutton and M.Bassuet.
The chief foreign bridges are, the bridge of Trajan, over the Danube, the bridge of Avignon, the Pont de Garde, in France, the bridge at Munster, in Bothnia, the aqueduct bridge of Alcan- tara, near Lisbon, and the Rialto of Venice. There are nearly 500 bridges of different sizes over the canals at Venice. Tbe RiaKo, the principal of these, is esteemed a master.piece of art : it consists of one flat and bold arch, nearly 100 feet span, and only 23 feet high above the water, and was built in 1588, — 1591, after a design by Michael Angelo. The breadth of the bridge, ivhich is 43 feet, is divided by two rows of shops, into three nar* row streets, that in the middle being the widest ; and there is in the centre an open archway, by which the three streets commnni- cate with one another. At each end of the Rialto, is an ascent of 56 steps : the view from its summit is very lively and magnifi* cent. The whole exterior of the shops and of the bridge is of marble. The foundation extends 90 feet, and rests upon 12,000 elm piles. This structure cost the republic 250,000 ducats.
We have many bridges of considerable note in oar own coun- try : such is the bridge at York, whose master arch in the middle, is 82 feet and a half in the clear wide, and 27 feet high. Rociies* ter bridge is built in the same style with that of London ; it is 650 feet long, and consists of 11 arches, the biggest of which is more than 50 feet. The two middle arches of this fine old bridge have been recently thrown into one by that skilful and scientific archi« tect Mr. Daniel Alexander. The bridge of Blenheim consists of three arches, the chief of which spans 101| feet. There is a bridge Af er the river Don, near OM Aberdeen, very much celebrated, la
LIGHT-HOUSES. SHQ
above the sterlings, is 450 feet^ scarce half the width of the ri? er ; and Mow the sterlings, the water-way is reduced to 194 feet. Thus a river 900 feet wide, is here forced through a chanoel of 194 feet. This bridge, it is expected, will be taken down ere long, and one of cast iron has been proposed to be erected in liea of it. Opinions are much divided^ however, as to the propriety of such an erection, but, as to the necessity of a new bridge there can be no doubt ; the piling of the old one being in such a con- dition as to place the whole structure in a very precarious state.
Of modern bridges there are few, if any, which excel the West- minster and Blackfriars' bridges over the river Thames. The for. mer is l^W feet long, and 44 feet wide, having a commodious foot-path on each side for passengers. It consists of 15 arches; was finished in 1750, and cost 389,500/. The latter, nearly oppo- site the centre of the city of London, was finiiihed ia 1770 : it con- sists of 9 large and elegant arches, nearly eliptical, of which the centre arch is 100 feet wide : the breadth of the bridge is 43 feet, and its length from wharf to wharf 995. It cost 150^840/.
[Hutton. Perronet. Pantolog.
SBCTION II.
Lighi'houses, exemplified by those of Phasclus, Pharofs, and
the Eddyttone Rocks.
A LIGHT-HOUSE is a building erected upon a cape or promontory on the sea-coast, or upon some rock in the sea, and having on Its top in the night-time a great fire, or light formed by candles, which is constantly attended by some careful person, so as to be seen at a great distance from the land. It is used to direct the shipping on the coast, that might otherwise run ashore, or steer an improper course when the darkness of the night and the uncertainty of cur- rents, &c. might render their situation with regard to the shore extremely doubtful, fjamp^lights are, on many accounts, prefer- able to coal- fires or candles ; and the effect of these may be in- creased by placing them either liehind glass-hemispheres, or before properly disposed glass or metal reflectors, which last method is now very generally adopted.
In the supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, under the word Reflector, It is stated that «< Mr. Thomas Smith, tin-plate worker, Edinburgh, seems tobave conceived the ideaof illamiiuU-
LIGHT-noUSES. 591
Bometimes throw the whole rays of light into the air, and thas mis- lead the bewildered seamen. This opinion, we know, was actually entertained of them by one of the profoundest philosophers and most scientiBc mechanicians of the age. Experience, however, convinced him, as well as the poblic nt large, that such apprelien. sions are groundless, and that light-houses with lamps and reflectors are, in every point of view, preferable to those with fires burning in the open air. They are supported at much less expence $ their light is more brilliant, and seen at a greater distance, whilst it can never be obscured by smoke, or beaten down on the lee side by a violent gust of wind ; and what is perhaps of still greater import, ance, the reflectors with their lamps may be so variously placed, that one light.house cannot be mistaken for another. If we add to all this, that the lamps do not stand in need of trimming so often as open fires require fuel, anil that the light-man is never exposed either to cold or to wet by aitendin^ to his duty, we must be cob. vinced that light-houses with reflectors are much less liable to be neglected in stormy weather than those yrith open fires, and that this circumstance alone would be enough to give the former a pre* ference, almost incalculable, over the latter.
According to Josephus one or two, and perhaps more, of the watch-towers of Jerusalem were of this kind. He particularly speaks of the Phaselus, which he describes as resembling the Pharos near Alexandria, but much larger, and calculates it as a square building of forty cubits or sixty feet on each side, and ninety cu« bits or a hnndr.*d and thirty feet high.
But the light.house of Pharos acquired a much higher celebrity. It was commen-ed by Ptolemy Soter, and finished some years af. terwards in the joint reign of himself and his son Ptolemy Phila. delphus. It is common-y called the Tower of Pharos, and was counted by the ancients among the wonders of the world. It was a large square structure of white marble, on the top of which fires were kept constantly burning for the direction of sailors. It cost eight hundred talents, vihicb, if they were Attic talents, amounts to one hundred and sixty five thousand pounds sterling and up* war Is ; if Alexandridu, to twice that sum. The architect employed by Ptolemy in this wonderful structure, was Sostratus of Cnidus. who by the ToUowing crafty device, attempted to usurp the whole glory of it to himself. He was ordered to engrave on it the foL lowing inscription ; ^^ K ng Ptolemy to the i;ods the saviours for the benefit of sailors v'' but instead of Ptoleipy's name^ he cut oat
LIGHT-nOUSKS. 593
by mariners to be very great and heavy in those seas, and particu- larly in the bay of Biscay. It is to be observed, that the sound, ings of the sea from the south-westward toward the Eddystone are from eighty fathoms to forty, and everywhere till you come near the Eddystone the sea is full thirty fathoms in depth ; so that all the heavy seas from the south-west come uncontrouled upon the Eddy- stone rocks, and break on them with the utmost fury,
The force and height of these seas is increased by the circum* stance of the rocks stretching across the channel, in a north and south direction, to the length of above a hundred fathoms, and by their lying in a sloping manner toward the south. west quarter. This striving of the rocks, as it is technically called, does not cease at low water, but still goes on progressively ; so that, at fifty fa- thoms westward, there are twelve fathoms water ; nor do they ter. minate altogether at the distance of a mile. From (his configura* tion it happens, that the seas are swelled to such a degree in storms and hard gales of wind, as to break on the rocks with the utmost violence.
The effect of this slope is likewise sensibly felt in moderate, and even in calm weather; for the libration of the water, caused in the bay of Biscay in hard gales at sonfh.west, continues in those deep waters for many days, though succeeded by a calm ; insomuch, that when the sea is to all appearance smooth and even, and its surface unruffled by the slightest breeze, yet those librations still continuing, which are called the ground- swell, and meeting the slope of the rocks, the sea breaks upon them in a frightful man* ner, so as not only to obstruct any work being done on the rock, but even the landing upon it, when figuratively speaking, you might go to sea in a walnut Shell. A circumstance wh'di still farther increases the difficulty of working on the rock is, there being a sudden drop of the surface of the rock, fonuing a step of about four and a half, or five feet high ; so that the seas, which in moderate weather comes swelling to this part, meet so sodden a check, that they frequently fly to the height of thirty or forty feet.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, it is not surprising that the dangers to which navigators were exposed by the Eddystone rocks should make a commercial nation desirous of having a light.house on them. The wonder is that any one should be found hardy enough to undertake the building. Such a man was first found ia the person of Henry Winstanley, of Littlebury, in Essex, gent.
VOL. ri. 2 q
LIGHT-HOUSES. B95
rally reduced by ao elegant curre, concave to (he eye, to a diame- ter less by at least one-third, and sometimes to half its original base. From thence, its taper diminishing more slowly, its sides by degrees come into a perpendicular, and for some height form a cylinder. After that, a preparation of more circumference be- comes necessary, for the strong insertion and establishment of the principal boughs, which produces a swelling of its diametcT. Now we can hardly doubt^ but that every section of the tree is nearly of an equal strength in proportion to what it has to resist; and were we to lop off its principal boughs, and expose it in that state to a rapid current of water, we should find it as capable of resisting the action of the heavier fluid, when divested of the greater part of its clothing, as it was that of the lighter, when all its spreading ornaments were exposed to the fury of the wind : and hence we may derive an idea of what the proper shape of a column of the greatest stability ought to be, to resist the action of external vio« lence, when the quantity of matter is given of which it is to be composed."
With these views as to the proper form of the superstructure, Mr. Smeaton began the work on the 2d of April, 1757, and finished it in August 4, 1759. The rock, which slopes towards the S.W. is cut into horizontal steps, into which are dovetailed^ and united by a strong cement, Portland stone and granite. The whole, to the height of thirty-five feet from the foundation, is a solid of stones, engrafted into each other, and united by every means of additional strength. The building has four rooms^ one over the other, and at the top a gallery and lantern* The stone floors are flat above, but concave beneath, and are kept from pressing against the sides of the building by a chain let into the walls. It is nearly eighty feet high, and since its completion has been assaulted by the fury of the elements, without sufiering the smallest injury.
We regret that we cannot with propriety trace out the progress of this great work, and shew with what skill and judgment this ^pparalleled engineer overcame the greatest difficulties : we, how. ever> beg to recommend to our curious readers Mr. Smeaton*s own Account of the Eddystone Light-house, not doubting that they will be highly gratified by the perusal. According to the Requisite Tables, this light-house is situated in lat. 60. 8 N. Loo. 4. 24 W. #f Greenwich, or 4* 18. 33 W. of London.
2a2
VJ^m^E Off MBCHANICAL INVBKTIOHS.
537
Proportional compasses iafepted by L. da Viaci, before : 1519
SpioQing. wheel iqveDted by Jurgen of Brunswick » 1530
Pins brought from France • • •1543
Needles made in England • • • 1545
Air gons made at Nuremberg • . . 1560
Stockings first knit in Spain about • • 1550 Many Flemish weavers were dri?en to England by fte Duke
of Alya's pf rsecution • • • 1567
Three clockmakers came to England from Delft • 1 568
Lpg line used • • • • 1570
Coaches used in England • • •I 580
Bombs invented at Venloo . « . 1688
Stacking weaving invenled by I^e of Cambridge • 1589
A slitting mill erected at Dartford v • • 1690
New Hiier brought to London ^^,.^, . , 1614
The dimensions of bricksr^fTOted • • 1695
TWujigr's indexjm^^^rEnown • • • 1631
Clocks and watches generally used about . • 1631 Bows and arrows still used in England, and artillery with
stone bullets • • . • 1640
Newton born • . • • 1 642
Guericke invented the air pump , , . 1654
Fromantil is said to have applied pendulums to clocks in 1656
Hook's watch i%itha balance spring • 1658
Hooke fmisheH his air pump . • . 1658
SaTery had erected steam engines , . • 1696
Chain shot invented by Dewit . * , 1 666
Threshing machines with flails invented • • 1700
China made at Dresden • • • • 1703
China made at Chelsea • . • . 1763
Wedgwood's improvements in pottery • • 1763
Muslins made in England • • ^ • 1781
Balloons invented by Montgolfier • , • 1783
Lunardi ascended in Moorfields • • 1784
In 1787 about twenty-three million pounds of cotton were ma. nufactured in Britain ; about six were imported froqn the British colonies, six from the Levant, and ten from the settlemt nts of other European nations. Half the quantity was employed in white goods, one.fourth in fustianSy one fourth in hosiery, mixtures, and candle wicks; giving emoloyment to 60,000 spinners, and
ANTIBNT WBIOHTS ANJ> IIBASURBS.
•S99
Greek, phyleterian foot 1.167 PlatCon
Hebrew, foot • • 1.2 12 IIuttoQ Hebrew, cubit • 1.817 Hutton
Hebyw, sacred cubit 2.002 Button
Hebrew, great cubi(=:0 common cubits. Button
Macedonian, foot Natural foot Ptolemaic= Greek foot, Roman^ foot ^.
1.160 Button
.814 Hutton Hutton
•070 Bernard
•967 Picard and GresTes
.966 T „ ..
.967} ^^^^'^^^
•970 before Titus. Raper
.965 after Titos. Raper. •9672 from rules. Shuckbnrgh .9681 from buildings. Shuckburgh .9696 from a stone. Shuckburgh.
.967 Hutton Roman mile of Pliny 4810.5 Cavallo Roman mile of Strabo 4903. Sicilian foot of Archi. medes . .^30 Hutton
SKCTION n. Ancient Weights.
1. Greek JVeighis^ in English Grains.
Attic obolus . 8.2 Christiana
9.1 Arbuthnot 51.9 Christian! 54.6 Arbuthnot 3892. =75 drachms. Christian! 5189. =100 drachms. Christiaoi 5464. Arbuthnot 6994. Arbuthnot Attic and other talent8=60 minae Old Greek drachm 146.5 Arbuthnot
Another Gretk drachm 62.5=Roman denarius. Arbnthnot
Attic drachma
Attic lesser mina Attic greater miua
Attic medical mina
INDEX.
jOlBANO, description of the baths of,
iii, 170 Aberdeen, remarkable storni at,iv,S13 Aberration of the fixed stars, disco- very of, i, 3$ Abyss, on the great, i, 252 AbyMinia, mountains in, ii, 429 > on the rains of, iv, 144; winds in, IRQ Academy of sciences, institution of the,
i, 32 Aeid, on the atmospheric carbonic,
iy, 19 Acidulous waters, analysis of, iii, 183 Aconite, experiments with the juice
of, V, 230, 236 Acroteri, account of the isle of, i, 497 Actinioy or sea anemone described, v,
363 Adlersberg, remarkable cavern at, ii, 79 Adrian, remains of the villa of, iii, 6S ^rial globes, how made, vi, 238 jErolites, remarkable shower of, iv, 459 ; general history of, 468 ; ana- lysis of, 470 ; origin of, 475 Prestation, pnnciples of, vi, 63 j his- torical account of, 64 ^s, on the antieut, vi, 283 Affinity, nature of chemical, vi, 132 Africa^ volcanoes of, i, 467 ; ujctals and ores of, ii, 292 ; mountains of, 428 ; on the rivers of, iii, 13 ; deserts of, ii ,483 ; on the climate of, iv, 82 Agaric, the cause of fairy-rings, v, 318 Agates found in Scotland, ii, 326 \ note, Agnano, account of the lake of, iii, 242 Agricola, George, character of, vi, 9 Air, on the properties of the, iv, 4 ; instruments for measuring the, 8 ; remarkable hghts in the, 400, 416 Aix, account of the bnths of, iii, 169 Aix-la-ckapelle, mineral springs at, iii,
166 Akkabaahs, caravans so named, ii, 484 A Iberti, affecting story of, ii, 333 Alchemy, antiquity of, vi, 5 Alcohol, experiments on, v, 226 Alexandria, account of the school of,
i, 9 > the stadium of, 1 1 Alleghany mountains described, ii, 431 Allier, St. remarkable bridge of, iii, l69 Alligator, description of the, v, 550
VOL. VI.
yl//tifia/ formations of the earth, i, 826 Almicanters, definition of, i, 307 Almonds, on the essential oil of bitter,
V, 229, 236 Aloes tree described, v, 191 Alphabets, invention of, vi, 351 Alphonso o( CasiUe, account of, i, 19 Alpine plants, account of, v, 34 Alps, general description of the, ii, 410
waterfalls in the, iii, 219; red snow
on the, iv, 173 ; passage of Hannibal
over the, vi, 173 Alum collected in Solfatara, i, 526 Amazons, description of the river of^
• • • . ^
ni, 4.'> Ambergris on the coast of Ireland, ii,
177
America, volcanoes of, i»479; metals and mines of, ii, 292 ; mineralogy of north, 313 ; mountains of, 431; rivers in north, iii, 38 \ in south, 44
ifmianMuj, description of the, ii, 39^
Ammoniac, on caustic, iii, 190
Ammoniucum, properties of the gum, V, 208
Ammonian fountain, its existence prov- ed, iii, 140
Amphibials, particulars of, v, 542
Amphiscii, what, i, 313
Amphitheatre of Vespasian, account oi^
iii, 67
Amsterdam, description of the isle of, iv, 102
Analysis, observations on mathemati- cal, i, 176
Anaxagoras, system of, i, 7
Anaximander, maps constructed by» i» 298
Andes, remarkable caves in the, ii, 81 ; description of, 434 j temperature of the, iv, 61 ; rain in, 149
Anglesey copper-mines, account of the, ii, 318
Angn4tnra bark, account of, v, 158
Animalcules described, v, 345
Animals, chararteristics of, v, I ; classi- fication of, V, 325
Anio, scenery on the river, iii, 67
Ant, natural history of the, v, 449; ac- count of the white, ib. 47 1
Jntartic circle, voyages to, iv, 89
INDEX.
BalOf description of the lake of,iii, 244 ^aUtclavOy iu the Crimea, described,
ii, 453 Balbeck, temple of Ileliopolis or, vi,
497 Baldwin, Mr. his a&rial voyage, vi, 7^ Jial loons f construction of, vi, 80 JBallSf account of blazing, iv, 425 j ob- servations on fire, ib. 46o Balmm tree, description of, v, 77 Baltic sea, on the waters of, iii, 312 Bananm tree, described, v, 53 Banian tree, ac€;(>unt of the, v, 45 Banks, Sir Joseph, anecdote of, iv, 87 Baobab^ or calabai^ tree, described, v,
61 Barbadoes, remarkable caves in, ii, 81 Barbartf^ earthquakes in, ii, 40 Bardella, site of the antient, iii, 73 Bark, different kinds, v, 146 Barometer^ principles of, iv. 25 ^ de- scent of, 143 Barrows, account of, vi, 500 JBfua/lejrof Vesuviuit, i, 354 Basaltic hummocks described, i, 293 ; columns, general account of, ii, 47 1 Batavia, unhealthiuess of, v, 84 . Bath, description of the city, iii, 171 Baths, inchhnted ones of Africa, iii, l62 Beccher, his character, vi, 1 1 Bee, natural history of, v, 421 Beech, letters found in one, v, 314 Beet root, mode of extracting sugar
from, V, 86 Bejucos, peculiar bridges in South
America, ii, 436 Belemnites, description of, ii, 151 Bell metal, composition of, vi, 286 Beuffore, description of the promonto- ry of, i, 273 Bent Abbeu, in Algiers, described, ii,
428 Bemn^oH, remarkable cavern near, ii,82 Besseley ghaut in India, described, ii,
447 Bethesda, observations on the pool of,
in, 142 Be^djf Frith, in Scotland, described,
iii, 273 Bifds, classification of terrestrial, v,
337 s aquatic, 338 ^ natural history
o('v, 585 ; migpration, 640 J^ittofitnoiafouotaia at Cracow, iii, 149
Blackbird, natural history of, v, 623 Mlack jack, on the properties of, vi, 14»
246 Blanc, height of Mount, ii, 411 Blanchard, the atrial voyages of, vi,
71,-77
Blasting rocks, method of, ii, 273
Blende, nature of, vi, 246
Blind persons, their quickness of per- ception, iv, 545
Blue colour of the sky, cause of, iv, 5
mountains of Jamaica described^
ii,43d
Boa, description of the great, v, 573
Bogs ia Ireland, description o(ii, 124; origin of, iii, 226
Bohan Upas, on the, v, 279
Boiling springs^ general account o( iii^ 104
Bolognian stone, properties of, ii, 385 ; phial, nature of, vi, l67
Bolsena, cape, described, iii, 241
Bombs, construction of, vi, 238
Bones, account of remarkable, ii, 152; enormous ones in ^Siberia, 178; fos- sil, 182; general history of, 189; is- lands formed of, 193
Bononia, remarkable light seen at, iv, 418
Borrowdale in Cumberland, described, iii, 261
Borystkenes, present state of the, iii, 21
Boston in America, earth<|uake at, ii, 44
Botany, particular divisions of, v, 1 ; systems of, 6
Bothnia, temperature of tlie gulph of, iv,33
Bourbon, volcanoes in the isle of, i, 477 ; river in America, iii, 39
Bonrget in Savoy, lake of, iii, 236
Bovey coal, origin and properties o(
ii, 339 Boyle, anecdote of, vi, 8 ; character, ib.
10; discovers phosphorus, ib. 113 Brachmans, visited by Pyth^igoras, i, 7 Bradley, Dr. discoveries of, i, 33, 43 Bramins, astronomy ^f tlie, i, 34 Brass, preparation of, vi, 260 ; of the
antients, on the, ib. 272 Braybrook, Northamptonshire, storm
at, iv, 253 Brazil, mineral productions of, ii» 299,
302
a3
INDEX.
Cause waif Sf on basaltine, ii, 47 1 Cavendish, Mr. experiments ofj iv, 9 Caverns^ brief survey of foreign, ii, 76; remarkable ones in Enj^land, ib. 83; Ireland, 94 ; in the Hebrides, 96; at Paris, 1 13 ; in the Crimea, 46o ; Gi- braltar, 464 Cawk^ on the utility of, vi, 15 CawHpore, heat at, iv,' 75 Caxtoiij William, account of, vi, 405 CeLtino, description of the lake, iii„ 63 Celestial worlds, conjectures on, i, SQ ;
organization of, i, 6I Cents, mount, method of passing, ii,
413; description of, ib. 415 Cerastes, or hooded snake, account of,
V, 577 Ceriffo, earthquake at, ii,21 'Ceylon, land-winds in, iv, 2J9; ele- phant-hunt in, V, 659 ; trade of, v, 128 Chatodon, natural history of the, v, 512 Chaldeans^ their astronomy, i, 3 ChumtBUon^ natural history of, v, 552 Champlain, description of lake, iii, 247 Chapman, Capt sweetens sea- water, iii,
370 Charcoal, identity of diamond and, vi,
150 Charles, Mr. his aerial voyages, vi, 70 Cheddar cliffs, Somerset, described, ii,
90 Cheltenham, description of, iii, 175 Chemical affinity, nature of, vi, 132 Chemistrjf, rise and progress of, vi, 1 ; in its infancy, 12 ; uses of, 13 ; pro- posal for the improvement of, 15 C/ieny laurel, qualities of, v, 240 Cherso island, description of, iii, 237 Chesapcak bay described, iii, 43 Cheshire rock-salt, account of, ii, 369 ;
remarkable storm in, iv, 182 Cheviot hills, description of, ii, 441 Chimboraco in South America, describ- ed, i, 490 China, antitjuity of astronomy in, i, 5 ; account of the sonorous stones of, ii, 380 ; mountains, 427 ; rivers, hi, 12 ; cotton tree, v, 284 ; cultivation of tea in, V, 102; wail of, vi, 480 Chinese, their astronomical claims dis- puted, i, 34 ; tradition of the deluge among the, 248 ; white copper, vi, 279 ; Hrr, how to make, vi, 214
Chios, famous for its wines, v, 75 Chlorine, experiments on, ii, 208 Christopher, hills in the isle of St. ii, 433 Ch urchilts ri ver,etrects of cold in,i v, 114 Cinnamon tree, account of, v, 1 19 Cintra mountain described, ii, 421 Circles on the globe defined, i, 306 Civita Turchiono, ruins at, ii, 258 Classification, systematic, v, 5 Cleopatra, death of, v, 580 Climates, dxwmon oi, i, 312; varieties,
iv, 42 : effects on vegetation, v. 19 Clitumnus, source of the river, iii, 53 Clocks, sympathy in the action of two^
iv. 547 Clouds, on the solar, i, 53 ; formatiou
of, iv, 143, 146 Clwi/d, phenomencm seen in the valf
of, iv, 530 Coal, nature and origin of, ii, 324 ^ ap*
plication of gas from, vi, 89 ■ mines, of England, ii, 279 ; Ame- rica, 316; Scotland, 324; Ireland^ 329; general description of, 337 » accidents in, 344 Cobra de Capello described, v, 584 Cobham in Surrey, agitation of water
at,ii,50 Coca plant described, ii, 296 Cochineal insect described, v, 396 Cocoa tree, description of tlie, v, 1 18 Cod-fish, description of, v, 504 Co/^e tree described, v, 106; how to
use, ib. 109 Cold, effects of severe, iv, 86 ; in Hud- son's bay, 114; at Glasgow, 121 Coldstream in Scotland, storm at, iv,330 Colebrooke da]c, description of, ii, 322 Cole^s cave iu Barbadoes, described, ii,
81 Coloqnintida described, v, 203 Colosseum of Vespasian, site of, iii, 67 Colossus of Rhodes destroyed, ii, 3, vij,
500 Colnmbo, temperature at, iv, 75 ; de- scription of the root, v, 205 Columbus, voyages of, iii, 44 Columns, account of basaltine, i* 354 Combustion, on spontaneous, vi. 128 Comets, doctrine of Pythagoras on, i. 8 ; observations on that of 1 8 1 1, 1 14; construction of the same, 130, 132 ; passage of, 138 ; deluge ascribed to
•3
INDEX.
Denbiffhf violent storm at, iv, 155 Derbyshire, pliaonomenon iu the lead mines of, ii, 40*, natural wonders at the peak of, ib. 83 j springs and foun- tains in, iii, 17C ^ lunar rainbow in, iv. 5^9 Derweiit water, description of, iii, 243 Descartes, h} pothesJK of, i, l68 j on the
doctrines of, ib. 2l6, ii'iO Deserts, of Arabia, described, iv, 78}
of Africa, 81 Desiifiiiny, on the art of, vi, 408 Detonating substance, vi, 207 Dencalions flood, ol»ervations oo, i,
247 Devils hill, at the Cape of Good Hope,
ii, 430 ,^ .- hole, Derbyshire, described, ii.
84
mill, in Ireland, iii, 230
Devonshire, shocks of an earthquake
felt in, i, 54 ; remarkable well in,
iii, 85 ; cataract in, 222} storm in,
iv,3l7 Dew, on the formation of, iv. 139 > but- ter like, 152 Diamonds, on the discovery of, ii, 270 } specific gravity of, 27 1 ; on the seat of, 275 ; of Goiconda, mines of, 289 } remarkable ones, 291 ; of Brazil, 302; description of Cornish, 322; on the nature of, vi, 149 Distillation, examination of mhieral
waterf by, iii, 204 DodoiuCs spring, account of, iii, 144 Dole, in Switzerland, view from, ii,
412 Domes, account of whispering, iv, 533 Don, description of the river, iii, 21 Douee, in France, ice house at, ii, 82 Dover, communication between Calais and, iii, 301 } remarkable well at, iv,73 DragmCs wood or calamus, described,
V, 169 Drawing, origin of, vi, 408 Dr6me, disappearance of the river, iii, 9 Dropping well at Knaresliorough, iii,
283 Druids^ on the temples of the, iv, 376 DucK natural history of the, v, 645 Duck-bill, a remarkable quadruped,
r,666
Ducks, in the lake of Zirknitz, de- scribed, iii, 103 Dmlletf, Mr. on embankments, iii, 377 D along, M. discovers the detonating
substance, vi, 207 Z>i(nmoi£; park, Ireland, curiosities o(
ii.94 DuHjnnll, description of, i, 293 Dust, account of a shower of, iv, l6l Dykes, in Holland, description of the^
iii, 286 Dwina, description of the river, iii, 21 Eagles eyrie, in Cumberland, iii, 265 Earth, ancient measurement of tlie, i» 10} astronomical elements of the, i, 152 } general structure of the, 230; cause of inequality on the, 27 1 } ge- neral description of the, 296 } me- thod of measuring the, 299 } form of the, 302 ; superficial phenomena of the, ii, S94 ; on the temperature of the, iii, 107.} structure of the in- ternal parts of the, iv, 377 Earthquakes, cause of, i. 330 ; general history of, ii, 1 } chronological list of, 12} ascribed to electricity, 13; great one at Lisbon, 31; varioui^ 45 ; in Iceland, iii, 137 Earths, observations on metalline, ii.
967 East Indies, effects of lightning in, iv.
343 Ebro, course of the river, iii, 31 Echoes, observations on, iv, 542; r^
markable, 546 Eclipses, ancient account of, i , 3 } the doctrine of, ib. l64 } of the satellite^ 202 Ecliptic, on the obliquity of, i, 12 Ecton hill, Derbyshire, mines of^ it
318 Eel, natural history of, v, 484; de- scription of the electrical, 497 Egypt, remarkable mountain in, ii^ 429} description of, iii, 14} on the climate of, iv, 77 } magnificent re- mains of ruins iu, vi, 547 Egyptians, their knowledge in astro- namy, i, 4 } their traditions of the deluge, 247 } their mode of reckon- ing, 203} maps invented by, 297; their skill in chemistry, vi, 3 } art of writing among, 365
INDEX.
Flnxiani, the invention of, U 175 Jfog, account of a remarkably dense,
iv, 153 ; in Africa, !427 Forests, account of subterraneous, ii,
133, 146, 154, 158 Formations of rocks, classes ef, i, 32*2 Fossil remains, general account of, i, 2C9 ; remarks on, ii. 144 , shells and zooi>}iitcs, ib. 14.S ; bones of animals, 151, 174 j on artiHci;il, 154; plants, description of, ib. ; origin of ve*j;c- table, 169 ; observations on fossil bones, 182; jjjencral history of, 189 ; utensils and ornaments, ^1 ; on the crystallization of, v, 3 Fountains, intermitting, iii, SO ; tepid and boiling, lo4 ; existence of the Ammouian, 142 : inflammable, 144 France, on the vines of, v, 77 Frankincense, description of, v, 17G Franklin, Dr. on water spouts, iv, 261 ; on electricity, 270 ; on thunder, and lightning, 301 \ his electrical kite, 305 Frog, natural history of the, v, 558 Frogs, experiments on, vi, 44 Frontignac, excellent wine of, lii, 243 ^tfcinuj, description of the lake, iii, 63 Fulgoria Lantemaria, description of,
V. 383 Fulminating compositions, account of
various, vi, 184 Furia, description of the, v, 378 Fyers, description of the fall of, iii, 2 1 7 Galileo, astronomical discoveries of, i, 22 ; death and character of, 23 ; on the suction of the atmosphere, iv, 29 Crulvanism, on the phenomena of, vi, 32 ; Davy*8 experiments on, 36 ; on the electricity of, 43 Gambia, description of the river, iii, 18 Ganges, description of the, iii, 10 Gamerin, his aerial voyage, vi, 77 ; on
the parachute of, 82 Garonne, description of the, iii, 27 Gasses, on the conversion of,iv, 57 Gas ligkts, on the application of, vi, 88 Gassendi, on the system of, i, 2l6 Gaul, on the wines of ancient, v, 72 Gauts, or Indian appennines account of,
ii, 426, 447 Gaylenreuth cave described, ii, 201 Geier, chemical work« of, vi, 6
VOL. VI.
Genaturxn Abyssinia described, ii, 451 Geneva, earthquake felt at, ii, 44 ; lake of, iii, 234 ; tlujc and reflux in the, 3 13 ; description of the city of, 235 Genoa, descent of red snow at, iv, 172 Geographi/, history of, i,296 ; principles
of, 302 ; popular divisions of, 315 Geologji, general system of, i, 230 ;
questions relative to, ib. 281 Geognosr/, definition of, i, 230 Geitmetrjf, ad\ antages of, i, 3 1 Gvonje^ situation of lake, iii, 247 Georgia, discovery of southern, iv, 92 Geovgium Sidits, elements of the, i, I6 1 j
observations on, 194 Germano, sudatories of St. iii, 242 Geyzers in Iceland, iii, 122, 127 GianCs causeway, country al)out the^
i, 271 ; description of the, ii, 472 Gibraltar, description of the rock o( ii,
462 ; fossil bones in, ib. 467 GiggleswickvfeW in Yorkshire describ- ed, iii, 86 ; observations on, 9^ Gilding, the art of, vi, 315 Gilead, properties of the balm of, v, 178 Ginger plant described, v. 124 Glaciers in Swisserland described, ii,
410,415 Glamma cascade, account of, iii, 224 Glacis, the canton of, described, ii, 415 Glasgow, astronomical observations at, i, 132 ; extraordinary cold at, iv, 12i Glass, Mx. his journey to the Peak, i,
471 Glass, phenomenon of natural, i, 372 ; on the expansion of, iv, 51 ; liistory of, vi, 153 ; properties of, 157 ; ma- nufacture of, 161 ; blowing of, l65; used by the Romans, 323 ; art of painting on, vi, 412 Glass, the art of painting on, vi. 412 Glasses, art of silvering looking, vi,3S3 Glastonbury waters, properties o( iii,
175 Globe, subterraneousphenomenaof the
i, 318 G^/o6m, of fire-work how made,vi, 235 Glommen in Norway, described, iii, 222 Glory seen on mount Realt, v, 399 Gloucester, whisperinggallery at,iv,546 Glow worm, description of the, v, 381 Gnat, natural history of, v, 417 GoUonda, diamond mines in, ii, 289 b
mDEX.
u
Henbane^ description of the b]ack,v/2?i6 f Herbannnif preparation and uses ol' a,
v,321 HeiU'on, description of, 408 Herailanenm, destruction of, i, 335 j discovery of the ruins of, ii,!2$9 — 237 Herarlea, remarkable cave at, ii, 70 HeYcynian forest described, ii, ^02 Herriiiff, natural history of, v, .>'i8 Hersthely Dr. his astronomical disco- veries, i, 63 — 107 ; recapitulation of, 111 ; on the change of the stars, 1 13 ; observations on the comet, 114; on the planet Venus, 178 ', on lun;ir volcanoes, 183 Hertfordshire, storm in, iv, 184 Heveluu, his astronomical discoveries,
i, 30 Hiero, on the galley of, vi, 518 Hieroglyphic writing, on, vi, 349 Hindoos, their invocation of the Gan-
gPh, iii, 1 1 Htpparchus, his discoveries in astro- nomy, i, 12; geography indebted to, 14: the inventor of maps, 297 Holkham, whirlwind at,iv,254 Holland, inundations in, iii, 285^ on
the embankments of, 379 Holywell in Flintshire, described, iii,
175 Hooker, Mrs. mode of painting, vi, 430 Honey dew, cause of, iv, 1 53, note Horace, account of the villa of, iii, 72 Horizon^ definition of the, i, 3o6 Horns of an enormous size, ii^ 174,
found in a tree, v, 315 Horse, natural history of the, v, 682 -^— racing, antiquity of it, 685 Hortns sicais, advantages of an, v,321 Howard, Mr. on meteoric stones, iv,
469
Huber, M. his observation on bees, v,4
Hudson s bay, remarkable well in, iii,
143 ', description of, iv, 39 ; effects of
cold in, 114; river described, iii, 42
Human bodies, preservation o(iii, 121,
142 Humher, description of the, iii, 36 Humboldt, on the brightness of stars, i, 190 ; on the mines of South Ame- rica, ii, 297 Hnmmocks, a(!Count of basaltic, i,293 Humming bird^ descnption of, v, 589
Il'inter, Dr. on fossil bones, li, 182 ^ on
thr ciiinate of Juinaica, iii, 107 fTftntin/.'dvnAhhf, storm in, iv, 244 fl'iitmnun 8 steel f discovery of, vi, 293 H'fron, destription of the lake, iii, 249 Hurricanes, general causes of, iv, 203; in the East Indies, 235; on the In- dian ro:i8t, 238 ; in Huntingdon- shire, 244 ; at Brighton, 246 ; in Northamptonshire, 252 Hnttonian theory of the earth, i, 232 H-nigens, his discoveries, i, 30; on the
planetary worlds, 30 Hydrogen gas, in the atmosphere, iv, 22 Hifdrostatics, principles of, iii, 385 Ht/grometcrs, construction of, iv, 15 Ice, on the molecules of, ii, 282; on the etfusion of the polar, iii, 336 ; extent of flje northern, iv, 46; on the formation of, 52 ; in the arctic circle, 103; fields of, iv, 109, lllj islands, account of, 95 Icebergs, dcs<!ri{>tioii of, iv, 102 Icehouses, account of natural, ii, 31 Iceland, on the volcanoes in, i, 446; bones of an elephant found in, i\, 192 ; hot springs in, iii, 1 19 Ice valleys in S^isscrland, ii, 415 Ichneumon insect, described, v, 420 Ida, description of mount, ii, 408 Idria, quicksilver mines in, ii, 329 len-e in France, phcenomona of the,
ni, 9 Ignns fatui, general account of, iv, 49*;
observed in England, 498 Illuminations, on s[ioiitaneous, vi, 107 Imitative arts, knowledge of the an- cients in the, vi, 408 Inchanted baths in Africa, iii, l62 Incombustible cloth, nature of, ii, 391 Indian const, hurricanes on, iv, 238; rubber, account of, v, 295; ink* composition of, 359; ocean, winds in the, i v, 1 87 ; corn, account of, v, 58 Indians, on the fables of the, i, 5 ; an- tiquity of letters among the, vi, 37 Indigo plant described, v, 287 Indus, course of tlie river, iii, 10 Indiistria, ruins of the ancient city of,
11, 259 Inequalities of the earth, i, 286 Ingtebrough, Yorkshire, height of, ii, 445
b 2
INDEX.
15
Lantern flMiccount of the, v, S81 Lapis nuiBnToaaris, description of the,
ii, 459 Laplace, astronomical observations of,
i, 144 Lapland, remarkable lake in» iii, 171 Lark, natural history of the, v, 632 Latham, Mr. on the earthquake at Lis- bon, ii, 35 ; on an atmospherical re- fraction, iv, 514 Latitudes and longitudes, invention of,
i,297 Laurel mountains, in North America,
ii, 432 Lauro cerasns, poisonous quality of
the, V, 24G Lava, extraordinary flood of, i, 369 ; observations on, 373; a river of, 4 1 6j iron in, 512; various kinds of,52 1 Lavoisier, memoir of, i, 5, note Lawdoor waterfall, described, iii, 26 1 Lawrence, description of the river St.
iii, 41 Laywell spring, account of, iii, 85 Lead, found in Ireland, ii, 323 Leadenhall-street, Roman pavement
found in, ii, 266 Lead hills in Scotland, ii, 323 liead mines in Derbyshire, pheenome- uon in, ii, 46 ; in Louisiana, account of it, 314 Lead tree, how to make the, vi, 327 Leather, description of mountain,ii,391 Leland, his observation on WaleSyii, 1 27 Lemnos, labyrinth of, vi, 477 Lestwithiel church, injured by light- ning, iv, 324 Letters found in a tree, v, 314 — — origin of, vi, 351 Leuck, account of the baths of, iii, 165 Leyden, agitation of waters at, ii, 58 Lioanus' mount, description of, ii, 425 Lichens, observations on, v, 35 Lidford waterfall, account of, iii, 222 Liffanthin river, source of the, iii, 66 Light, on zodiacal, i, 93 ; of the stars,
187; on the velocity of, 189 Ldght-hauses, account of, vi, 528 lightning, on the cause and effects of, ii, 15; used in blasting rocks, 281 ; on the electricity of, iv, 300 ; drawn from the clouds, 306; how to secure buildings from, 308 ; strange effects of, 312^-^61
Lights in the air, iv, 400 ; remarkable
red, 416; various meteorou% 427;
uses of gas, vi, 88 Lima, destruction of the city of, ii, 7» 8 Lime stone, nature of, ii, 279 Lime water, uses of, iii, 189 Lincolnshire, fossil remains found in^
ii, l66; Roman antiquities in, 217;
water spout in, iv, 269 Linen, ink for marking, vi, 396 LinfUBus, his system of plants, v, 17 ;
his classification of animals, 327 Lions hill, at the Cape of Good Hope^
ii, 430 Lipari islands, volcanoes in, i, 435 i
water spout seen near, iv, 266 Liquorice plant described, v, 142 Lisbon, account of the earthquake at^
11,31 Literature, arts connected with, vi, 328 Lithography, or stone eng^ving, art
of, ii, 444 Loadstone, observations on the, i, 228 Lobster, natural history of the, v, 480 Loch Leven, account of, iii, 245
Lomond, description of, iii, 268
Ness, description of, iii, 218, 272
Tay, agitation of, iii, 287
Locust, natural history of the, v, S84 Logarithms, invention of, i, 30 Loggan stones, account of, vi, 505 Logwood, uses of, v, 289 Loire, course of the river, iii, 27 London^ stars visible at, i, 203 ; mean
temperature at, iv, 7& Longevity, instances of, iii, 27 1 Longitude, on the invention of, i, 297 ;
on the difference of, 308 Lough Lene in Ireland de8cribed,iii,24 Lough Neagh, the scenery of, iii, 246^
274 Louisiana, lead mines in, ii, 314, 317 Lucia, St. volcanic remains at, i, 491 Lucretius on Etna, i, 405 ; on the Nile,
iii, 16; on hot springs, 140; on mag- netism, iv, 321 Lucrine lake described, iii, 56 Ludgevan, Cornwall, storm at, iv, 321 Luily, Raymond, his doctrine, vi, 9 Lumen Boreale, observations on the»
iv, 414 Luminous arches, account of, iv, 421 ; exhalations, iVy 501
INDEX.
15
MeioHf astronomical observations of, i|
Mexicans, C8)endar of the, i, 35 ; hienv
gl} phi(!s o( vi, S46 Mexico, volcanoes in, i, 479 ; mines of,
ii,293} lake of, iii, 3 14 Methom mineral springs, iii, l67 Michael, St. phienomenon at the isle
of, i, 503 y on the Caldeirao^ iii, 1 14 Micheffon, description of the lake, iii,
349 Miekell, Mr. on the fixed stars, i, 185 MiddLeton, Sir Hugh, account of, iii, 37 Migration of birds, on the, v, 640 Milky way, observations on, i, 191 Milo, or Melos, situation of, ii, 77 Mimosa nilotica, properties of, v, 294 Mineral kingdom, on the, v, 3 Mineralogy, remarks on, i, 507 i s} s-
tem of, ii, *268 Minerals, various species of, ii, 2G9 Mineral waters, general view of, iii, l6l ; domestic, 171) ^^ analysing, 178 Jfitte«, general viewof,ii, 274 ; of Great Britain, 279, 318 ^ of Europe, 283 : in Asia, 287 i Africa, 292 ; of Ame- rica, ib. ; Mexico, 297 ; the United States, 313 ; in Ireland, 326 ; quick* silver, 329 > account of coal, 337 ; description of the salt, 366 Mining, observations on, ii, 273 ; on
terms in, 276; process of, 280 Mirages, or optical delusions, iv, 505 Mirrors, on metalhc, vi, 291 > on burn- ing, 458 Misery, description of mount, ii, 433 Missel bird, account of the, v, 620 Missimpi river descril)€(l, iii, 39 Mist, incidental arches in a, iv, 526 Mistralj a wind in the Alps, iv, 234 Mists, causes of, iv, 1 42 Mocking bird described, v, 624 Modena, ancient remains of, iii, 296 Moiris, on the lake, vi, 458 Mofete,fi perniL*iou8 vapour, i, 397 ; ef- fects of the, ib. 402 Moisture, on tlie force of, iii, 410 Molecules of ice, on the, ii, 282 MolUiscous worms, described, v, 356 Monkey, of the preacher, v, 6^9 MoHSoons,o( the Indian ocean, iv, 186 ;
causes of, 201 ; account of, 211 MontagnahaovOfin the Lucrinelake, 1,349
Montgolfier, Messrs. invent the bal« 1oon,vi, Q&
Montserrat, volcanic mountains ot, iy 492 ', monastery of, vi, 502
Monumental antiquities, vi, 505
Moon, observations on the, i, 13 ; libra- tion o( 14 j elements of, 1 62 ; volca- noes in, 183; mountains of, 194; rivers in, 196; eclipses of, 200 ; in fiuence on the tides, iii, 330
Moon, mountains of the, in Africa, ii,
429 Moose deer, extinction of the, ii, 177 Morai, or cemetry and temple of the
Australasian Islands, vi, 494 Morisque bath in Portugal, ii, 422 Morocco, earthquake in, ii, 422 ; seal of
the emperor of, vi, 354 Mosaic account of the creation, i, 244 ;
of the deluge, 246 Mosambique channel, monsoons in, iv,
213 Mosedale beck, WestmorlaiKl, m 285 Moses, the inventor of letlLTsi;, vi, 353 Mosses, on bog ajjd IMtat, ii, 1 18 ', iii Scotland, 121 ; of Kincardine, 129 ; irruption of the Solway, 139 > pre- servative power of, 142 Mother of pearl shell described, v, 369 Moths, description of, v, 408 Motion, on circular, i, 14
■ ■ ■- of the earth, on the, iv, 197 Motions of the planets, i, 208 Mountains, on the lunar, i, 194 ; for- mation of, i, 240 ; on primitive, ii» 395; on the sulphur, 458 ; descrip- tion of the chief, 402—440 ; fre- quency of rains on, iv, 149 Mules, the sagacity of, ii, 438 Mulgrave, voyage of Lord, iv, 100 Multivalve shells, account of, v, 375 Muriatic acid, efficacy of, iv, 24 Music, ancient manuscript on* ii, 245 Musquito, description of the, v, 417 Mylassa, the remains of, vi, 505 Mjfrrh, account of, v, l63 Bfyrtle, the candle-berry, y, 309 Mysore, high lands in the, iv, 220 Names, derived from situations, i,31S Nankiny porcelain tower of, vi, 500 Napier, his invention of logarithms,
1,30 Naples, alarming state of, i, 359 ; earth- quakes at, 377 9 meteors at, iv,4l6
INDEX.
17
Oswego, course of the river, iii, 948 Oitaiano, ruin of the town of, i, 365 OveiUf account of volcanic, i, 481 Or, natural history of the, v, 676 Ox/brrfM/r^, agitation ofwater8iu,ii,53 Oxney isle in Kent, formation of the,
iii, 9QS Ox's eye indicative of a storm, ii, 16 Oxygen gas, experiments on, iv, 6;
emitted by plants, 22 Oxymurta/icorii/, composition of, iv,9i Oldster shells, remarkable beds of, ii, 1 49 Pacific ocean, observations on the, iii,
S89 ; temperature of the, iv, 38 Paderborn^ of the springs of, iii, 83 Padwt, meteor seen at, iv, 417 Painting, history of the art of, vi, 410 ;
on glass, 412; encaustic, 425 ; of
paper hangings, 430 Pallas, on the planet, i, 193 Pallas, professor, account of, ii, 457 Palm oil tree described, v, 1 19
wine, how prepared, v, 1 19
Palma, account of the isle of, i, 469 Palmyra, situation of, iv, 8 1 Pangteus, description of mount, ii, 402 Paper, art of making, vi, 328
of the ancients, vi, 386
■■■ " ■ nautilus, description of, y, 365 — - tree of Japan described, V, 282 Papyri, discovery of ancient, ii, 246 Parallax of the fixed stars, i, 58 Parallels, on celestial, i, 310 Paraselenites, account of, vi, 504 Parhelia, observations on, i v, 506 ; seen
at Dantzic, 521 ; at Sudbury, 523 ;
at Lyndon, 524 Paris, subterranean caves at, ii, 1 13 ;
on the petrifactions of, 205 Parnassus, account of mount, ii, 408 Parrot, natural history of the, v, 59 1 Parthenium,cffthe promontory of, ii,452 Parys mountain, Anglesey, described,
ii,318 Pasaic river. North America, course
of, iii, 225 Pasto, in South America, described,
1,488 Pataxet, iron works on the, ii, 316 Pavements, discovery of Roman, ii, 220,
866 Peak of Teneriffe, journey to, i, 47 1 — — of Derbyshire described, ii, 83 Peaks, of mountains on the, ii, 411
TOL. YI.
Pearl muscle, description of, v, 369 ;
fisheries, account of the, 370 ; nau-
tihis, V, 366 Peat mosses, account of, ii, 129 Pebbles, origin of, ii, 386 Peckham, meteor seen at, iv, 442 Peei'less pool, phaenomenon in, ii, 51 Peipus lake, description of, iii, 232 Pelion, description of mount, ii, 407 Pembrokeshire, exhalations m, iv, 502 Pendnlnm, on the invention of the,
i, 30 j shortened at the equator, 154 Pendulums, sympathy of two, iv, 547 Feneus, description of the stream of,
ii, 407 Penmau'mawr in Wales, height of,
ii, 443 Pen-park hole, in Gloucestershire, de*
scribed, ii, 91 Peninsula defined, i, 315 Pennsylvania, earthquake in, ii, 45 Pepper plant, description of, v, 131 ;
tree of Jamaica, v, 125
Perch, natural history of the, v, 513 Perihelion of the comet, on the, i, 138 ;
of the planets, 148 Periled, account of the, i, 314 Persia, on the deserts of, ii, 482 Persians, on the learning of the, vi, 377 Perthshire, on the mosses of, ii, 1 29 Perugia, description of the lake of,
iii, 241 Peruvian bark, account of the, v, 146
lantern fly described, v, 383
Pertt, no rains in, iv, 151 Petersburgh, situation of, iii, 22 Petrifactions, remarks on, ii, 144 ; on
vegetable, 1 46 ; shells and zoo- phytes, 1 48 ; singular species o( 150 ;
bones, 151; in tiie suburbs of Paris,
205 Petrifying springs in Ireland, iii. 276 Pewter, composition of, vi, 299 Fevrerius, his system of preadamites,
1,250 Pharsalia, on the plains of, ii, 407 PheniciaM, knowledge of letters among
the, vi, 368 PAt'/odemtij, account of, ii, 255 Phipps, Capt voyage of, iv, 101 Phtegraan field described, i,5l3 Phlogisticated alkali, on the, iii, 194 Phosphorescent stones, account of, ii,385 Phosphonts applied to the abstraction c
INDEX.
19
its use in extracting gold and silver, vi, 310; experimnrita on, 310; ap- plied to mirrors, 3i29 Quito, description of the city of, i,
4S9; of the plain of, ii, 434
Rttciiiffy anti()uity of horse, v, 685
iiaiV/, its effect on rocks, i, 938 ; general
observations on, iii, 3 ; experiments
on, iv, 20; causes of, 143; at the.
equator, 148; on mountains, 149;
lUJtisual fall of, 150 ; violent at Dcn-
l%h, 155; atKipponden, 156; salt,
157 ; observations on the same, 158 ;
- volcanic, l6l ; of anew kind, l62;
of fishes, 166 HtdnhoWf an inverted, vi, 524 ; solar and lunar, 528 ; lunar one in Derby- shire, 529 Baleiffh on the height of mountains,
i,260 Ramsffate, optical deception at, iv, 516 Jtarefitction, observations on, iv, 203 HaUletnakei natural history of the, v, 560 ; on the rattle of, 569 ; on the fascinating power of, 570 ; experi- ments on, 57 1 Ray, his botanical system, v, 10;
witty remark of, v, 358 Hending, in Berkshire, phaenomcnon at, i"i, 53 ; bed of oyster shells at, 149 He-agentSy observations on, iii, 188 Realt mount, glory seen on, iv,530 iiedbreast, natural history of the, v,G36 Red lights in the air, iv, 4l6 Red &uoyr at Genoa, iv, 172; on the
Alps, 173 Refi'octionff atmospherical and double,
iv, 514, 516 ReffiUuSf fate of the army of, v, 576 i^f/VAfimM island, descri[)tion of,iii,234 Retnora, description of the, v, 508 ;
origin of the fable concerning, 51 1 Repulsion, on the power of, iv, 56 ; on
electric, vi, 24 Retina, in Italy, lemarkablc well at,
ii, 229 Returning stroke in eletricity, iv, 336 /^rvo/fi/tott, duration of a sidereal, i, 147 Reifkmn springs in Iceland, account of,
iii, 1 19 Rhea, or American ostrich, described,
V, 615 Rhine, gold in the sand of the, ii, 296; ' course of the river, iii, 23
Rhodes destroyed by an carthqtiake, ii,2 Hhodope, description of mount, ii, 408 Rhone, account of the river, iii, 25;
{)eculiar wind on the, iv, 234 Rhubarb, description of, v, 196 ; two
sorts of, 108 ; purgative qualities of,
199- Ribar in Hungnry, baths of, iii, l65
Rice, on the culture of, v, 50
Richman, professor, death of, iv, 353,
357 Ricks, spontaneous combustion of, iv,
502 Rille, in France, disappearance of the»
HI, 7
Ring o\xzt\, description of the, v, 624 Rinns, cause of fairy, v, 3l6 Riobambo, South America, destroyed*
i, 487 Rio Janeiro, commerce of, ii, 304 Rio de la Plata, description of, iii, 48 Rion, lieutenant, sutterings of, iv, 99 Rippendon, violent rain at, iv, 156 Rivers, on the course of, i, 317; on the origin of, iii, 5 ; disappearance of» 6, description of principal, 10 — .50 Roads, construction of Roman, ii, 137 Rochford, phenomenon at, ii, 52 Rockets, construction of, vi, 212 Rocks, method of blasting, ii, 275 Rocks, description of, i, 319; struc- ture of, 320; formation of, 322; on volcanic, 508 ; on the vegetable pro- ductions of, V, 32 Rock-bridge in V'irginia, described, ii»
439 Rock-salt in Cheshire, works of, ii, 369 Rochia, Joseph, remarkable history
of, iv, 177 Roger Rain's house, Derbyshire, ii, 85 Roggewein, voyage of, iv, 89 Roman antiquities in Britain, ii, 165,
217,221,227 ; at Herculaneum, 229
empire, extent of, i, 302
Romans, their improvements, i, 301 ;
their destruction of forests, ii, 135»
147 ; luxury of the, v, 619 Rome, caverns near, ii, 76 Romaine, M. melancholy fate of, vi, 71 Rose-hill, Suzjscx, phenomenon at, iv*
420 Rosia-bay, Gibraltar, cave at, ii, 469 Rosin, nature of, v, 175 c2
INDEX.
^l
Shirehum mrit/e,phoenomenonat,ii,5d ^hoal of pumice-stones, iv, l65 SkoerU, or volcauic glass described^ i,
511, 518 Shropshire^ mines in, if, 329 Showers, YoicaniCtiv, 161 ; of fishes, 166 SiberiOf bones in the rivers of, ii, 178,
105 y on the mines of, ii, 286 Sicilian diver, account of the, v, 370 Sieiljf, earthquakes in, ii, 6^ 59 Sidereal revolution, duration oi; i, 147 iSV«rrtt ^eona mountains described, ii,429 Silk-worm, natural history of the, v,
407 y on the culture o( 410 Silver mines in Norway, ii, 284; in Potosi, 292; method of working, 293 ; in Ireland, 327 ; on fulminat- ing, vi, 185 Silver-tree, method of making, vi, 327 Simoom, a pestilential wind, iv, 233 Siiiai, description of mount, ii, 425 ;
on the desert of, iv, 80 Siren, natural history of tlie, v, 564 Sirocco, a destructive wind, iv, 223 Skiddaw, in Cumberland, described, ii,
444 Shy, on the blue colour of tlie, iv, 5 ; on the clearness of the, 69 ; on lights in the, 427 Shy-lark, natural hbtory of the, v, 632 Snaefell Jokul, volcanic peak of, i, 461 Snake, description of the rattle, v,566;
the iiorned, 577 ; the hooded, 584 Snow, nature of, iv, i66; quantity of water equal to, l68 ; mode of forma- tion of, 170; red, 172, 3; avalanches of, 175; a family buried in the, 177; of the appeimiues, exhalations on,
501 Snowdon, in Wales, described, ii, 443 Solander, Dr. anecdote of, iv, 87 Solar agency in cometic phenomena,
i, 135; iris, a remarkable, iv, 528;
phosphori, vi, 107 iLVo^/«ra,nearNapIes, account of, i,500 Solids, expansion of, iv, 51; on the
fusion of, 56 Solution of water in nir, iv, 145 Solway moss, irruption of, ii, 139 Somma, description of mount, i, 366 Soujffrieres, in the West Indies, i, 492 Sounds, on the velocity of, iv, 287; on
the nature of, 533 SotUh polar regions, cold of, iv, 86
Sjpain, minerals of, ii, 283 ; mountains
of, 419; on the wines at, r, 77 Speculum metal, composition of, vi, 291 Spiders, natural history of, v, 466; silk spun from the, 469 ; flight of the, 470 Spofiges, naturad history of, v, 355 Spontaneous illumination^ vi, 128 Spots, on the solar, i, 44 Spouts, water, on, iv, 262, 269 Spunk, inflammability of, vi, 100 Staffa, description of the isle of, ii, 97 Staff*s horns, enormous, ii, 174 Stanhope, lord, on the returning stroke,
iv,336 Star-fish, natural history of, r, 364 Stars, nature of the fixed, i, 58 ; rela- tive situation of double, 1 13 ; twink- ling of the, 185; observations on the, 1 89 ; distances of the, 190 ; Ught of the, ib. ; visible in London, 203; on shooting, iv, 492 Statuary metal, composition of, vi, 285 Statues, remarkable, ii, 243, 251 Steel, method pf casting, vi, 293 Stellar nehiilad, observations on, i, 108 Sterlet, natural history of the, v, 537 Stone-henge, on the temple of, iv, 376 Stones, of phosphorescent, ii, 385 ; on sonorous, 386; remarkable hail, iv, 182, 184; shower of, 459; history of meteoric, 468 ; analysis of, 473 ; ori- gin of, 475; on burning, iv, 425 Storms, violent one in Denbighshire, iv, 155; at Ripponden, 156; in Sus* sex, 157 ; remarkable hail, 182, 184; on the course of, 203: extraordinary thunder, iv, 312, 361 Strata of the earth, i, 233; on basaltic^
273 ; of rocks, 327 Streaming, on luminous, iv, 414 Stroke, on the returning, iv, 336 Strondfoli, account of, i, 436 Stukely, Dr. on earthquakes, ii, 13 Sturgeon, natural history of the, v, 534 Subterranean phoenomena of the globe, i, 3 19 ; quarries, ii, 1 13 ; trees, 154, 158; horns, 174; ruins, 258, 9 Sucker, description of the, v, 532 Suction of the atmosphere, iv, 29 Sudbury, parhelia seen at, iv, 523 Sugar, natural history of, v, 78; on maple, 84 ; of beet root, 85 ; chemi- cal properties of, 87 ; of wheat, 92 ; preparation of the candy of, 100
INDEX.
23
Tm-pcdo, of the electrical, y, 488 Tone del Greco, fate of, i, 38S ToiTiceUif discoveries of, iv, 29 Torrid zone, description of, i, 3 14 ^ heat
of, iv, 197 Tortoise, description of the land, v, 542 Touchwood tinder-box described, vi, 99 Toumefort's botanical system, v, 12 Tourtnaline, electrical properties of
the, ii, 272 Trade winds, observations on, iv, 185 ;
account of, v, 207 Trajan, tlie column of, vi, 501 Transition, formations on, i, 324 Trees, on subterranean, ii, 133, 154,
158 \ extraneous substances in, v,
313j on metallic, vi, 326 Trent, course of the river, iii, 35 Trichoda, description of the, v, 350 Trinidad, pitch lake in, iii, 150 Tripod, a beautiful, ii, 250 Troas, the hot springs at, iii, 117 Iropical sea winds, iv, 2 11 ^ laud winds,
219 Tropics, definition of, i, 31 1 Trout, natural history of the, v, 523 Tumuli, description of various, vi, 505 Tunbridge, waters agitated at, ii, 51 ;
description of, iii, 177 > on the spring
of, 178 Tuuffuragua, a mountain in Mexico, i,
490 Turf-hogs of Ireland, iii, 229 Turpentine, various kinds of, v, 172;
on the oil of, 175 Tutenag, account of, vi, 282 TwilightfOn the phscnomenon of, i, 188 Twinkling of the stars, on the, i, 185 Tyiho Brake, account of, i, 23 Typlion, derivation of, iv, 2lG Ulster, gold found in, ii, 327 Vlswattr, description of, iii, 244, 258 United States, mineralogy of, ii, 313 Upasantiar, description of, v, 238; of
thcBoban, 279 Urana, account of the lake of^ iii, 236 Uranilfurg, on the observatory of, i, 24 Uranus, discovery of the planet, i, 146 ;
elements of, l6l ; satellites of, l68;
on the climate of, 194 rVf, Mr. his astronomical observa- tions, i, 132 Un, mountainous situation of, ii, 413 itrecht, situation of, iii, 25
Vaaina, account of the temple of, iii, 73 Vacuum, observations on a, i, 216 Vadimon, account of the lake, iii, 55 Valais, description of the, ii, 416 Valais, hot batlis in the, iii, l65 Valentine, Basil, chemistry of, vi, 7 Vapour, observations on, iv, l6; on tlie quantity of, 19 ; on the qualities of, 129 Variation of the magnetic needle, iv,
377 ; observations on, vi, 59 Vegetable fossils, cause of, ii, l66; phosphori, vi, 110; petrefactious, account of, 146; poisons, v, 221 Vegetables, on marine, i, 240 ; charac- teristics of, V, 1 ; classification of, 5 Vegetation, observations on, v. 20 Veins in rocks, remarks on, i, 327 Venice, description of the city of, iii, 237 ; manufactory of glass at, vi, 155 Ventaroli, description of, i, 368 Venus, atmosphere of, i, 46; elements of, 151; observations on, 178; in the climate of, 19'^ Verd, volcanoes of Cape do, i, 468 Vermes, cla^>sification of, v, 343 Verofia, curiosities near, ii, 191 Vespasian, the amphitheatre of, vi,50l Vessel, on the velocity dof a, iii, S6% Vesta, discovery of the planet, i, 146 Vesuvius, eruptions of mount, i,334,402 Vilette, M. de, burning mirror of,vi,462 Vine, natural history of tlie, v, 70;
management of, 7 1 Vineyards in Britain, v, 72 Virginia, lead mines in, ii, 313; natu- ral bridge in, 439 Vistula, description of the, iii, 26 Vitrified matter, observations on, i,355 Volcanic formations, on, i, 326; peak, 461 ; materials, 510; showers,iv, 16l Volcanoes, on tbe lunar, i, 183, 198; general view of, 330 ; Vesuvius, 334, 402 ; Etna, 403, 434 ; Lipari islands, 435; Iceland, 446; Japan, 464; Kamtschatka, 465 ; New Hebrides, 466; African islands, 467; St. He- lena, 468 ; Cape de Verd, ib.; Ca- naries, 469 ; Isle of Bourbon, 477 ; Mexico, 479; New Grenada, 485; West Indies, 491 Volga, description of the, iii, 20 Volta, on the electricity of, vi, 43 ; his experiments, 47
'.»•■'
1*1
V*i